Chapter 1: Izuku Midoriya’s Time
Summary:
Izuku Midoriya's fate changes for the better.
Notes:
Hello everyone I know it's been a while since I have updated anything. My life has gone over some major changes lately and I have had some time to reflect on my past writings. After which I was inspired to writ this one and I hope to keep up with it as best as I can. I hope to update at least once a week but there is no confirmed update schedule. I really hope you enjoy this latest work of mine.
Important Author's Note and end of chapter.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
“People are not born equal. That’s the hard truth I learned at age four. But that was my first and last setback.”
“It all began in Keiki City in China with the news that a bioluminescent baby was born. After that the “exceptional” individuals began popping up all over the world.”
“The cause was unclear. There are many theories from rats carrying a mutating virus, to human evolution, even vampire bees… or it could have simply been an accident that was beyond our control or knowledge.”
“Time passed and the “exceptional” became the norm. Fantasy became reality! At present 80% of the world’s population consists of superhumans with special abilities. The world fell into chaos. And a new profession that everyone once only dreamed about entered the spotlight! Along with the exceptional abilities came an explosion in crime rate. While nations struggled to overhaul their legal systems, brave individuals took up the mantle of heroes straight out of comic books. Protecting the people from evildoers! With public support, some quickly acquired the right to serve as heroes in an official capacity.”
“Fantasy became reality.”
“My name is Izuku Midoriya and this is the story of how I became one of the world’s great hero… and arguably the greatest hero of other worlds as well.”
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Izuku Midoriya happily writes about the newest hero that debuted that same morning into his notebook, titled “Hero Analysis for the Future #13”. This is a little, or big, hobby of his: to analyze quirks, fighting techniques, and even the personalities of any and all heroes that he is able to find. Hopefully, a lot of this information can help support his dream and if not it’s a great way to keep his mind active.
While he’s engaging himself, his homeroom teacher swats a stack of papers across his desk and proclaims how it’s time for the third-year class to start taking their future careers seriously. He, however, assumes that most of his students wish to become heroes. The students cheer in response proving his assumption correct.
One of his classmates, an old childhood friend named Katsuki Bakugou, scoffs at their classmates’ cheers. He proceeds to spout on about his own superiority by declaring how he’ll enter U.A. High, the birthplace of heroes, and surpass even All Might, the Number One Hero.
Meanwhile, Izuku tries to be as invisible as possible, but that proves difficult, especially as the teacher carelessly mentions that he too wants to attend U.A. This, of course, results in the entire class laughing and mocking him. Not exactly the best way to start the day.
As Izuku tries to explain his reasoning, Bakugou slams his hand down setting off an explosion that knocks the cinnamon bun off his desk. “COME ON, DEKU!!!” The maniac towers over the cowering Izuku. “You’re totally Quirkless. And you think you can rub shoulders with me?!”
Izuku futilely scoots away. “Wa-wait, no, Kacchan. I wasn’t trying to compete with you! Not at all! It’s just… been my dream. Since I was little, and well… there’s no harm in trying…”
“TRY?! Try what?! The Entrance Exam?!” Sparks and smoke from Bakugou’s palms threaten to end Izuku’s very existence. “What can you even do?!”
It’s always like this ever since Izuku was classified as Quirkless. This only justified what Bakugou had already known. That he’s better than everybody else, especially Izuku. Bakugou had always had a giant ego thinking that he’s the most important and best person to have ever walked this goddamn planet. Because he was lucky, lucky to be born with a powerful quirk, a gift that he didn’t earn and arguably didn’t deserve. But that’s reality. Sometimes those undeserving are given what others could only dream of having. However, there is always a chance that something will change one’s destiny.
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In a galaxy far, far-actually in a galaxy very, very close… so close in fact that it’s the same galaxy, two spaceships are locked in an epic chase.
A large menacing ship with lava red sacs around the temples and a forward gun that makes up the frontal half of the main haul is firing lasers upon a small blue ship with green markings. The tiny spacecraft swiftly dances around the shower of lasers. However, despite its speed the large cruiser is able to keep up and land a few solid hits. That said the tiny ship is not without its own means of attack. The speedy spacecraft simultaneously aims two lasers at the large haul carving into its side resulting in a few explosions.
From inside the battleship’s bridge many black and red humanoid drones monitor and operate the ship’s functions and guns.
“Haul damage 20%,” a drone turns to its master from its post at a monitor. “but the system is still operational.”
The commander of the battleship leans forward in his throne his red eyes following the flight of their target.
The commander of the ship is a real freak of nature especially since his head resembles that of an octopus. His tentacles dangle from the front of his face, like a beard. His skin is pale-green with yellowish spots, noticeably he doesn't have a nose nor visible ears. He dawns a black and red-brownish armored suit with spiked shoulder and arm pads.
The commander smashes his fist against the armrest. “I have come too far to be denied. The Omnitrix shall be mine, and there is not a being in the galaxy that dare stand in my way!”
The battleship continues its onslaught; however, the little ship is clearly having trouble keeping its lead. A single shot hits the rear engine causing the end of the blue ship to explode.
The commander watches from his throne. “Prepare the cannon! We will salvage the Omnitrix from the remains.”
As the enemy’s large frontal cannon charges, a green sphere from atop the tiny ship fires a green energy beam right at the bridge of the cruiser. The impact sets off a chain reaction of explosions that decimates the tower of the battleship with the commander inside. The octopus-faced being is sent flying back screaming in pain as flames and shrapnel tear his body apart.
Meanwhile, the cannon finishes charging and fires a large beam at the blue ship. 80% of the ship is blown away leaving the main haul somewhat intact. Just before the haul is ripped apart by the vacuum of space a silver pod is launched out of the haul. The pod flies through space until reaching the atmosphere of the blue and green planet below. The spherical pod crashes into the ocean, a large cloud of steam rises from the water as the pod floats back up to the surface. As the spherical pod bobs about the water the ocean currents begin to push the pod towards where it’s meant to be.
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The school day finally ends. Izuku scrolls through his phone reading up on the incident from that morning. He reaches for his hero notebook only for it to be swiped away.
Bakugou holds the notebook up. “We ain’t done here, Deku.”
Bakugou’s cronies laugh and jeer upon seeing the title of the notebook.
“C-come on. Give it back!!” Izuku begs.
Bakugou sneers and claps his hands together destroying the journal with a burning explosion. Izuku yelps in surprise as Bakugou unceremoniously throws it out the window.
“The best heroes out there, well they showed signs of greatness even as students. I’m a perfectionist. I’ll be the first and only hero from this crappy public middle school! The first to win the honor of becoming a student at U.A. High.” Bakugou sneers and grabs Izuku’s shoulder. Smoke rises from his grip. “In other words, don’t you dare get into U.A.” A vindictive gleam from Bakugou’s eyes dares Izuku to challenge him.
Izuku is shaking, sweat dripping from his face, he can’t even look Bakugou in the eye in fear of what his tormentor would do. Even so he tries to say something; he opens his mouth, but words fail to form giving Bakugou and his cronies an opportunity to belittle him.
From seemingly nowhere a firm hand grabs Bakugou’s arm and flings it away while also pushing the blonde backwards.
Bakugou screeches, “WHAT THE FUCK!?!”
A cool mocking voice sneers back at the bomber. “Sheesh, you really think you can be a hero when you act like that?” The newcomer combs back his greasy black hair. “Not to mention that foul mouth of yours.”
The mere presence of this person is enough to snap Izuku out of his daze. “Henzu?”
Bakugou growls as he eyes the intruder, behind him his cronies back off in fear of the new arrival. “Uuichi, what are you doing here.”
Henzu Uuichi smirks in response, as if looking for trouble is fun for him “What? Just because I’m in a different class doesn’t mean I can’t visit my best friend.” With that Henzu slings an arm over Izuku’s shoulders.
Henzu Uuichi is a tall and fit young man with shoulder-length black hair, pale skin, and dark brown eyes with black-discolored marks around them, almost as if he hasn’t slept for a period of time. His attire screams degenerate with his shirt untucked and unbuttoned, even the sleeves are ripped off, and his pants are ripped, he also wears a padlock necklace with the number 11 on it.
Bakugou’s growl deepens as his hands begin to spark and smoke. “Back off, Uuichi.”
“Now Blasty, that’s no way to greet a friend.” Henzu lets go of Izuku and pushes him back away from the hothead. As he does this, his other hand reaches for his back pocket.
“Shut up, you BASTARD!” Bakugou blasts the taller teen.
Izuku and the cronies are blinded by the flash they cover their eyes from the smoke and dust.
Bakugou smirks in satisfaction but it quickly turns into shock. Henzu stands there completely unscaved, well his clothes are slightly burnt but his uniform is so messed up already that it makes no difference, his entire body appears to have changed from skin and flesh to iron.
Bakugou tsks and balls his fists, his glare is so intense you would think that he’s trying to blow Henzu up with his mind.
Izuku begins mumbling to himself. “That was Henzu’s quirk: Osmosis. It can absorb nearly any type of solid matter that he comes into contact with and it allows him to transform his entire body into the substance. He can also absorb energy, mainly electricity, and discharge it. But admittedly he does become more erratic and unpredictable when he does absorb energy. It's both a power and versatile quirk wi-”
“SHUT UP, DEKU!!”
“AH, sorry!”
“Sheesh,” Henzu jabs a finger into his ear in an attempt to recover his hearing. “do you ever stop shouting?”
Sparks fly out of Bakugou’s palms. “SHUT THE FUCK UP!!”
Henzu glares at the blonde “Go home, Blasty.”
“Huh?!”
“I said hit the road.” He slides a large steel wrench out from his back pocket. “Or are we going to have a problem?”
The sparks from Bakugou’s hands die down as he eventually balls them into fists.
Izuku watches from the sidelines. ‘Henzu’s amazing! He’s probably the only one at this school that can rival Kacchan. The only reason Bakugou doesn’t go after him is because Henzu has no desire to be a hero. In fact… he’s a thug!! Seriously, the first time we met he actually threatened me for my money! He can also pick locks! Locks!’
“Hey, Izuku.”
‘I’m pretty sure he’s stolen a car before… maybe… 40% sure.’
“Izuku.”
‘Also, there was that time he walked in with a blood stain on his shirt. He said it was fine since it wasn’t his.’
“Hey.”
‘And there was that other time-’
Thump! Thump! Thump!
“Quite spacing out!” Henzu shouts as he bangs his knuckles against Izuku’s skull. While Izuku was spacing out he had placed the wrench back into his pocket and his skin had returned to normal.
“Oh, sorry Hechan!”
“Dude, don’t call me that.”
“Oh, right sorry. Hey where’s Kacchan?!”
The black-haired teen jabs a thumb at the door. “They left already.”
“Oh, okay…” Izuku’s eyes fall back to the floor as an awkward silence falls over them.
Henzu takes a breath before looking Izuku in the eye. “So, you going to tell me what that was about?”
And like that Izuku is reduced to the cowering Deku from before. “O-oh, um, nothing! It’s just Kacchan being Kacchan.”
“Izuku?”
“Y-yeah?”
“Why do you call him that?”
“W-what?!”
“Blasty, why do you call him Kacchan?”
“Well… um, he’s-”
“Not your friend.” Izuku’s eyes snap up to look at Henzu. “Come on Izuku why do you defend him? Do you think he’s going to pay your respect back? Do you think that you owe him something?”
Izuku can’t come up with an answer.
“I mean, I get it. It would be useless to report him to the teachers or the principal.” Henzu’s face scrunches up in anger. “This society will bend over backwards to please those that they view as perfect… as hero worthy. And they'll trample anyone who doesn’t fit that mold.”
Izuku’s heart drops as he lets those words sink in and he does have to agree. Even if he went to a teacher for help, he’ll most likely be ignored or called a liar. And it would all be so Bakugou could be a hero.
“I know it sounds harsh but face it dude.” He points directly at Izuku’s chest. “You don’t have a quirk,” Using his other hand he touches a nearby outlet on the wall. “you can’t do what Blasty and I can do.” He pulls his hand away from the outlet and electricity sparks out from his fingertips. “You have to face reality, alright?”
“Yeah… but I can… try.” A tear falls with Izuku’s spirit.
Silence occurs between the two. Neither, knowing what to do or say.
“Sheesh, I can’t take this!”
That’s enough to distract Izuku from his depression. “Huh?!”
“Come on, let's get the hell out of here. I got a friend who can hook us up with some sweet car parts, that may or may not have been stolen. Though I have to admit the guy’s a rat and I mean literally he’s actually a rat, but with porcupine quills.”
Izuku thinks about it but decides against it. He’s just not feeling up to hanging out right now. “Thanks, Henzu. But I should head home.”
“You sure?”
Izuku simply nods his head in response his eyes don’t meet the taller teen’s gaze.
“Alright, I’ll see you later dude. And try not to let Blasty walk all over ya, kay?”
“Okay…”
And with that Henzu takes off to who knows where leaving Izuku to his thoughts. As Izuku heads home and retrieves his notebook from a fish pond, his thoughts recount his latest encounter with his former friend and his current friend the entire time. Admittedly they have some very good points. Why bother trying? He’s quirkless. How can he ever hope to become a hero let alone pass the U.A. Entrance Exam? How can someone so powerless so useless hope to become a hero?
He remembers an old video that he loved to watch as a kid. Where All Might saves a hundred lives and all with a gigantic and inspiring smile on his face. And he remembers that despite how hopeless, despite being quirkless, no matter how many people doubt him, he must continue to smile.
With a determined look he straightens up and tries to mimic All Might’s laugh. ‘I have to keep my chin up and keep moving forward!!’
Unknown to the turmoiled youth, a green sludge begins to ooze its way out from the sewers and reform itself into a monstrous shape.
The sludge gurgles as eyes form from the top of the abomination. “A medium sized skin suit to hide in…”
And just like that Izuku found himself surrounded by the nasty substance. The sludge swirled around his body clawing towards his face.
The villain’s mouth forms above Izuku’s head. “Don’t worry. I’m just hijacking your body. It’ll only hurt for a few seconds. Then It’ll all be over.”
Izuku’s notebook falls to the ground as he claws at the villain’s fluid body but it’s no use. ‘I can’t breathe! My body… getting weak… I’m dying! I’m gonna die?!’ His struggling weakens. ‘Someone help! I’m dying!’ Tears stream out from the poor boy’s eyes as sludge and despair consume him. His vision turns to black.
Suddenly a manhole cover is launched away and from it appears a man that is the epiphany of heroism, All Might!
“I AM HERE… TEXAS SMASH!!”
The Sludge Villain never stood a chance as his entire body is blown away by the sheer power of All Might’s punch. The hero moves so quickly he is able to siphon the villain into a soda bottle he happened to be carrying.
“ANOTHER JOB WELL DONE. HM?” All Might looks over and notices Izuku unconscious on the ground.
“OOPS, I HOPE I DIDN’T HURT HIM.” Bending down the muscular hero checks the kid’s pulse. ‘HE’S BREATHING. THAT’S GOOD AND I DON’T SEE ANY INJURIES.’’ Doing a quick scan of the area All Might notices a notebook. ‘WHAT’S THIS?’ All Might grabs the burnt journal and opens it up. ‘AH, SO HIS NAME IS IZUKU MIDORIYA.’ He continues to scroll through the pages and reads a couple of entries. ‘WOW, THESE ARE WRITTEN IN GREAT DETAIL. MY THESE ARE VERY IMPRESSIVE. HE MUST HAVE SOME KIND OF ANALYSIS TYPE QUIRK.’ After checking out a few more pages All Might suddenly slams the book closed. ‘WAIT!! I CAN’T GO THROUGH HIS STUFF, ESPECIALLY IF I WAS THE ONE WHO KNOCKED HIM OUT. HMMM, HA, I KNOW. I’LL GIVE HIM AN AUTOGRAPH! YES!!’ All Might skips to the first clean page he finds and signs it. ‘BUT SERIOUSLY I SHOULD MAKE SURE THAT HE’S OKAY.’ The giant bends down and begins to lightly slap Izuku’s face.
“HEY! … HEY!! … HEY!! OH, THANK GOODNESS.”
Izuku’s eyes fly open and in front of him stands the greatest hero known to man, the Number One Hero, the Symbol of Peace, ALL MIGHT!!! He’s absolutely amazing, he’s larger than life with an immortal smile and amazing hair. He’s even drawn differently. And it gets better, All Might even signed Izuku’s hero notebook already.
“Wowww!! Thank you so much!! It’ll be my family heirloom!!”
‘I SHOULD HAVE FIGURED THAT HE WAS A FANBOY.’ All Might waves him off. “NOW I MUST BRING THIS FELLOW TO THE STATION! SEE YOU ON THE FLIPSIDE!”
“Um! Wait… I…”
“A PRO BATTLES NOT ONLY ENEMIES BUT ALSO TIME.”
“Wait!! I need to ask you something!”
“SORRY, NO TIME. TRY SENDING A MESSAGE THROUGH MY SITE.” And with that the Number One Hero launches himself into the air. “THANKS FOR YOUR CONTINUED SUPPORT!!!”
While in midair All Might can’t help but notice some extra weight. “HM?” The hero takes a look. “HEY, NOW!!” Clinging to his leg is the green fanboy. “Hey, LET GO! I LOVE MY FANS BUT THIS IS TOO MUCH!”
Izuku struggles to speak in with the wind. “If I… let go now… I’ll die!”
“OH, THAT’S A GOOD POINT.”
“I… need to ask you… something… All Might-GAH!”
“OKAY, OKAY, JUST COVER YOUR EYES AND MOUTH.” Izuku shuts his eyes and uses All Might’s leg as a shield to block the wind.
As All Might grabs the kid’s back, he can’t help but feel his throat scratching at him. “Ahem… NN…” A trickle of blood forms from the side of his mouth. ‘DAMN!!’
After a few minutes of falling with style, the two of them land on top of an apartment building where the greenette keels over wheezing in fear while All Might instructs him on knocking on the door until someone lets him down. And with that All Might prepares to jump once again.
“Wait! Um…”
“NO!! I WILL NOT WAIT.”
Mustering what little courage he has Izuku asks the fated question. “Can someone without a quirk… become a hero like you?!”
All Might pauses, considering the young man’s question. “WITHOUT A QUIRK…” Suddenly a sharp pain courses through All Might as steam begins to pour out of his body. ‘OH NO… DAMN IT ALL…’
“I’m a kid without any powers. That’s why… maybe that’s why… I think that saving people is just about the coolest thing someone can do.” His speech and fondness for heroes gets to him and finally he smiles cheerfully at his hero with great admiration. “The way you save people with that fearless smile! I want to be a great hero, just like y-WHAAAAAT!?!”
Slouched in front of the surprised teen is a skinny blonde-haired skeleton. After freaking out for a minute the crippled All Might explains his condition. He explains that he was injured 5 years ago and now he can only do hero work for about 3 hours a day. Even now this information is strictly classified and not known to the public if that were to occur chaos and villainy would surely ensue. So Izuku promises not to go blabbing about it. At the end, All Might brings the conversation back to Izuku’s question.
“A Symbol of Peace who saves people with a smile must never be daunted by evil. The reason I smile is to stave off the overwhelming pressure I feel.”
This revelation is a major shock to Izuku; the hope in his heart begins to fade.
“A hero should always be ready to risk his life. As for your question…”
Izuku’s heart cracks as despair begins to take root. His mind reels back to the years of torment he’s faced by the hands of Bakugou, the laughter and mocking of his classmates, the indifference of strangers and his teachers, the lack of support from his mother, and how his father is no longer present in his life. One can only assume why he left.
“…No, I don’t think you can become a hero without a quirk.”
And just like that Izuku’s dream is crushed. “…Ah…”
All Might tries to give the boy some comfort with little effect. He says something about how noble it is to help others and that if he wants to do good then he should just join the police, but nothing really registers with Izuku’s broken spirit.
Except for the last thing that the Number One Hero says to him. “It’s not wrong to dream. But you need to be realistic.”
And with that the injured hero leaves the boy to his inner sorrow and pain.
All Might rubs his head sighing in grief. ‘That could have gone better. Maybe I should have been a bit easier on the kid, afterall I know where he’s coming from.’ All Might reaches for the bottle in his pocket. “Now to get you to the station… huh?” Swiveling back and forth All Might becomes very aware that he lost the sludge villain. ‘Damnit!’
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The bottled villain moans in pain as his vision returns “Where am I? What happened?” The Sludge Villain realizes that he’s still under the same bridge. He recalls attacking the green-haired kid and then getting beaten by All Might. “Oh, yeah he showed up.” He shakes with rage from within his plastic prison. “Damn you, All Might!”
“Well, what do we have here?” asks a sarcastic male voice.
The villain peers up and sees a kid with greasy black-hair.
“Hey, kid! Let me out will ya!”
The kid’s grin mischievously. “Sure, I’ll help you out. You villain.”
“Thanks kid I really-wait what did you say?”
“Please you’re a pile of sludge and your stuck inside a bottle. Obviously, a hero must have done this to ya. Am I right?”
“So, what if they did. Listen if you don’t release me then I’ll-”
“You’ll what?” The kid grabs onto a nearby light post, electricity sparks out of the pole and flows towards the teen’s body. “Kill me?” The kid raises his other hand and from it electricity discharges striking the ground and metal nearby. The teen’s grin widens with malice. “You can go ahead and try.”
The villain doesn’t respond now that he understands the full scope of his situation. Electricity is one of the few things that can actually hurt him.
“To be honest if you are a villain than I’m more inclined to help ya.”
“Huh? Really?” This honestly take the Sludge Villain by surprise.
“Yeah, you bet. But there’s something you gotta do for me.”
“Sure, anything you want.”
“Hehe, There’s someone I want you to get rid of for me.”
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Izuku is in a daze as he stumbles home. He’s too stunned to notice what direction he’s walking in. He’s so out of it that he barely blinks an eye when he falls over the ledge of the local beach. He lands roughly on the sand below, luckily without getting to many bruises. Sitting up Izuku hazily peers at all the garbage towering over him. Sighing he pushes himself up and slowly trudges his way through the mounds of trash.
‘Even… the best of the best said it…’ His tears refuse to stop flowing. ‘Don’t cry! You knew already, right?! This is reality… It’s because I knew… that I tried so damned hard.’
Izuku eventually makes it through the junk and arrives at the ocean. Looking out towards the sunset his mind begins to wander. ‘Everyone was right.’ He turns his head towards a nearby trash pile. ‘I’m like this beach, nothing but useless junk and a waste of space.’ He rubs his nose in an attempt to stop the tears. ‘If… if only… I had a quirk.’ He starts walking towards the nearest trash heap which also happens to be the one closest to the ocean. ‘If I had a quirk than maybe I wouldn’t be so useless…’ He peers down at the lowest part of the junk pile which sits within the shallow water. His fist balls up as he stares down at the scraps of metal. ‘Maybe people would care about my dreams if I had a quirk.’ He scowls and his fists tighten. ‘Maybe Dad would still be around if I had a quirk!’ Izuku screams at the top of his lungs. “WHY CAN’T I HAVE A QUIRK!?!” He kicks the trash as hard as he could, putting all of his anger into it.
Unfortunately, it did not have the desired effect. “AAAHHHHH!!!” Izuku grabs his, possibly broken, foot and falls backward. He screams in pain as he rolls across the beach in agony.
“That… was not… the best idea!” Izuku leans forward. “What the heck did I kick?”
He wobbles and brushes away the surrounding trash revealing a spherical metal orb underneath. “What is this?”
The strange sphere shifts slightly and steam spews out from the metal gears and shafts. Izuku flinches in response. The orb opens and a bright green light emanates from within.
Izuku cautiously peers inside and is very surprised by what he finds. Izuku is rightfully confused for sitting inside the sphere is a strange wristwatch like object.
The watch is rather large in size, it’s primarily black and grey in color with white trims. A black faceplate is centered in the middle which has a green hourglass shape within it. The green hourglass is what’s illuminating the eerie green light.
Izuku grabs a metal pipe in his right hand and uses it to poke the watch. ‘Could it be radioactive?’ He brings the tip of the pipe back towards him and probes the tip that touched the strange device. ‘It’s not hot so it must be safe. Right?’
The green light seems to illuminate brighter as if tempting Izuku. Curiously, the green haired boy uses his left hand to grab the watch. The moment Izuku’s hand enters the sphere the watch seemingly springs to life and wraps itself around his left wrist.
“Ahhh!!” Izuku flails his arm about trying to fling the device away. He bangs the pipe against it. “There isn’t even a scratch!” The glossy surface of the watch gleams as if to tease its new host. Izuku throws the pipe away and tries to wrangle the watch off of himself. “Come on. There’s got to be some kind of button or switch to get this thing off.”
The teen presses down on two points on the black faceplate causing a dial to spring up out of the watch. Izuku gazes down at the dial and that’s when he notices that the hourglass symbol from before has changed to that of a diamond; inside the green diamond is a strange black silhouette that appears to have four arms. Izuku cautiously grips the dial accidently turning it causing a new silhouette to appear. The new figure has its head floating above its body with horns curving up from its shoulders. He turns the dial once more and this time it becomes a tall silhouette that has tendrils on its head and a tail.
He’s not sure what it is, maybe it was fate or simple curiosity, maybe even stupidity, but the unsuspecting teen places a single finger on top of the dial and pushes down. The dial clicks in place and a blinding flash of green light envelops Izuku’s entire body.
Izuku goes blind, all he sees is the flash of bright green light and although it lasted less than a second, a strange convulsion surges throughout his entire being down all the way to every single one of his cells. He can feel his arms and legs stretching as if being pulled, his skull is shifting like someone is remolding it, and an electrical feeling circulates through his insides.
In less than a second, the odd sensations stop.
Izuku grabs his head as a headache begins to form. “What just happened?” Izuku asks himself noticing the staticky sound of his voice. “Huh, what’s wrong with my voice?!” He checks his wrist, looking for the watch, but finds a slim black hand with gold colored plugs at the end of his fingertips. “Aaahh, my hand!” He looks down at the rest of his body and takes note of his black skin and tall stature. “Aaahh, where are my clothes!?!” He tries to cover himself up, but the weirdness of the whole situation gets to him. “What the heck is going on?!” Izuku is so freaked out that he begins running in circles crashing and bumping into abandoned appliances and trash as he goes. He eventually arrives somewhere in the center of the unofficial garbage dump. There he tries to figure out his bearings and glances over at a trashed car. “Aaahh!!” The frightened teen screams at the face looking back at him. After a moment of screams he grabs his face and realizes that he’s looking at his own reflection. “What happened to me?”
He takes a good hard look at himself. Somehow, he has transformed into a single green-eyed being with black skin. He notices the change in height as well as the two tendrils on his head and that he has a tail now. He takes note of the gold plug like appendages on his tendrils, tail, and fingers.
“What the heck am I?! What did that thing do to me?!”
Izuku tries to clear his mind by shaking his head, the tendrils whoosh behind him. “Okay, okay… calm down Izuku just analyze the situation. I-I went to the beach, kicked trash, and then found that wat-THE WATCH!!!” The transfigured Izuku pats himself until he finds the faceplate of the watch embedded in his chest. He grabs the device and starts yanking it as hard as he can. “Get… off!!” Izuku is thrashing about so much that he trips over his own tail and crashes into a nearby trash heap. “Ouch, well that didn’t work.” He rubs his head as he sits up. “Oh, how am I going to explain this to everyone?” Izuku kicks his legs in the air and falls back. “Forget that! How am I going to explain this to Mom?!” Taking a breath, he calms himself down. “I guess it could be worse… Hmm?”
Looking over Izuku notices that one of his tendrils is waving its plug as if it’s attracted to something in particular. Curiously Izuku follows the seemingly conscious tendril which leads him towards the hood of the trashed car from before. The black tendril shakes above the hood, curious to see where this goes Izuku pops the hood of the car allowing the tendril to latch itself to the car’s battery. Almost immediately electricity surges through the golden-plug up the tendril and into Izuku’s body. The teen can feel the electricity charging up within him. The current is stopped when the battery completely runs out of juice.
Izuku can feel the electricity coursing through him, raising his hand sparks fly out from his fingertips. “H-how… how is this possible?” Izuku begins to mumble up a storm. He throws around theories from having been mutated by a radioactive watch, to some sort of weird nightmare, and so on. Eventually one consideration sticks in his mind. ”Do… I have a quirk?” A grin spreads across his face. “Did that watch give me a quirk?! An honest to goodness quirk?!” The sparks in his hands increase.
Izuku’s grin widens as he extends his hands and a stream of electricity shoots out frying a junked refrigerator. “I… I can’t believe it. This body, this power. I wonder what else it can do.”
The antennas on his head curve upward as if reacting to something. Izuku hears static but a clear message comes through that almost sounds like it’s coming from a radio. “Requesting backup. A villain is attacking the shopping district at Tatooin Station.”
Izuku holds the side of his head as if adjusting an earpiece. “Wait, what’s happening? I must be picking up a radio signal.”
The radio signal continues. “Requesting backup for all available heroes. You are needed at the Tatooin Station shopping district. A villain has captured a child. The villain’s body is made of fluid that prevents on the scene heroes from detaining him and the victim’s quirk is setting off explosions causing a great amount of damage and fires.”
‘A fluid body… a person that can make explosions… No, it can’t be.’
“The hostage has been identified as Katsuki Bakugou.”
“Kacchan!!” Izuku begins running towards the street. “Tatooin Station is close if I book it maybe I can-Woah!!” Izuku accidentally leaps into the air. “Wow, I can really jump.” Izuku lands on the concrete street and immediately begins running. He can’t help but take note of his agility. “Huh, I’m fast too. At this rate I can make it there in less than a minute or two.”
If Izuku had continued to listen to the radio broadcast, he possibly could have picked up the latest transmission. “This is Thirteen I’m on my way.”
Somewhere else in Musutafu the skeletal All Might had back tracked towards the bridge, but he didn’t find anything, so he made his way towards the station to report a missing villain. However, before he can get there, he spots smoke rising in the near distance along with the resonating sounds of explosions and sirens.
He starts to make a dash towards it. ‘Please, don’t let it be what I think it is.’
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Henzu Uuichi laughs from his perch atop a nearby building. Below him the heroes are struggling against the Sludge Villain and Bakugou’s explosions are definitely not helping. “Ha! This is so great! Look at all these morons tripping over themselves!”
Behind the black-haired teen is a humanoid rat with black quills on his head. “Yeah, a real show.” He sounds rather uninterested and would rather get somewhere that’s far away from the heroes. The rat pulls up the collar of his orange jacket. “So, hey, I helped you track the brat down. Now you got to hold up your end of the deal.” He jabs an accusing finger at Henzu.
Without looking, Henzu casually slips the rat man a large roll of cash. “Come on, you know I’m good for it, Argit.”
Argit smiles and begins his descent down the fire escape. “It’s always a pleasure doing business with you.” The rat leaves while Henzu continues to watch.
Henzu’s malicious smile widens as Bakugou’s explosion causes so much damage that a barrier of fire and smoke prevents the heroes and witnesses from even seeing the futile struggle below. ‘Goodbye, Blasty. This world will be better off without ya.’ The twisted teen breaks into another fit of haunting laughter.
While Henzu takes time to appreciate Bakugou’s flailing about, Argit makes his way down to the ally below. Luckily for him there are no people there to see him, they are all to busy watching the situation. Argit tucks the cash into his jacket when something tall and fast rushes past him. “Huh?” The rodent looks over and sees a tall black figure staring wide eyed at the Sludge Villain.
The rodent mutters to himself, cupping his chin. “What’s a Contuctoid doing here?”
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All Might finally arrives on the scene. Unfortunately, he can’t see a thing amongst all the smoke and flames blocking his view. Around him heroes are trying to keep the civilians calm while they also deal with the fires. He overhears a few civilians talking about a sludge-based villain and how it captured a child, one civilian even points out that All Might himself was chasing after the villain earlier.
All Might’s gaze falls downward as he grabs his injury. ‘Pathetic…’ His hand tightens around his wound. ‘Pathetic! How can I call myself a hero… especially after what I told that boy.’ All Might can hear the sounds of explosions dying off. ‘I’m sorry… hopefully a hero with the right quirk will arrive soon.’ All Might gazes up towards the flames and for a split second amongst the smoke and fire he notices a strange symbol moving beyond the inferno an illuminating green hourglass within a black circle.
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Neither Bakugou nor the villain notice as a tall black-skinned being peers out of the ally and stares at the scene in front of him. ‘It really is Kacchan and that same villain from before…’ Covering his mouth, tears begin to form in his single green eye. ‘It’s the same one… so that means… it’s my fault! I distracted All Might and prevented him from doing his job.’ His mind flashes back to All Might’s injury. ‘And All Might’s weak… he can’t… do anything. It’s my fault.’ Bakugou’s explosions stop. ‘This guy can’t be caught. We have to wait for someone with the right quirk to show up!’ Bakugou has his eyes shut as he tries to pull himself away from his attacker. ‘Hang in there, Kacchan… I’m so sorry!’ Bakugou’s struggling decreases dramatically. ‘A hero’s bound to come…’ Bakugou is clearly losing his breath. ‘I’m so sorry! Someone will come to save you soon…’ In a moment of pure desperation Bakugou’s eyes shoot open begging for mercy… begging for a hero to save his life.
And in that moment, Izuku’s mind went blank as pure instinct took over. He charges head first towards Bakugou. ‘What am I doing?! Why am I running?!’
The living pile of sludge notices the stranger charging at him.
He gurgles out a roar. “Get away from me!” The villain takes a swipe to fend off the intruder.
Despite the oncoming attack Izuku keeps charging. “Eep!”
‘What do I do?! What do I Do?! At a time like this…’ Izuku’s mind flashes to page 25 of his hero notebook and gets an idea. Izuku’s tendrils wrap around a garbage can and flings towards the villain’s face. “Hiyah!!”
Garbage flies out from the can and jabs the attacker’s eyes. The villain screams in pain as Izuku’s grabs Bakugou and with one swift motion he pulls the blonde free from the sludge’s grasp. “Kacchan!”
Bakugou coughs, breathing heavily, as he’s pulled free. “Who… the fuck.. are you?” He asks between gasps.
As Izuku pulls Bakugou away from his capturer he tries to explain himself. “Kacchan it’s-Oof!” Izuku’s whipped so hard that he tumbles down, Bakugou falls with him.
The villain sends out several tentacles towards the two. “You’re in my way!”
Acting fast, Izuku grabs Bakugou and tosses him towards a nearby ally way that’s clear of people and fire. “Quick get away from here!” A large tentacle knocks the morphed Izuku into a burning food stand. “Aaahhh!!”
Bakugou rolls on the ground a few feet and when he looks up, he sees his black-skinned rescuer getting knocked around by sludge attacks. The blonde hesitates for a moment but shakes it off, despite nearly dying, he moves as fast as he can away from the scene.
From further down the alley the hero Thirteen appears. The hero notices the wobbling Bakugou and grabs his shoulders to help steady him. “Hey, it’s okay now I got you.”
Bakugou’s eyes snap up in temporary fear but he visibly relaxes when he recognizes the hero. “Yeah, well who's got that other guy?”
“What other guy?”
Bakugou gestures behind him and Thirteen takes a look. Their eyes widen as the rescue hero witnesses an alien-like being doing its best to avoid being whipped, honestly, it’s not doing a very good job of dodging. ‘A Contuctoid?! What are they doing here?! Why would it take such a risk?!’
Before the rescue hero can get their answers, they’re hailed over their radio. “Thirteen are you engaged with the enemy?”
Thirteen tries to come up with a reply. “Um, ah, please keep the area clear. The villain is resisting.” Thirteen leads the injured blonde away from the battle. ‘I’ll have to deal with the Contuctoid afterwards.’
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The Sludge Villain roars as he continues his onslaught against the wannabe hero. “Stop getting in my way!!”
Izuku’s body has really taken a beating. He’s covered in dirt and grime and although it’s hard to tell he’s pretty sure that he’s covered in bruises.
Izuku uses his slim yet strong arms to block the attacks, it’s not much but it’s something especially considering how battered he is. ‘Why did my legs move on their own?! Why did I jump in to help?! I Dunno!!’ Izuku endures the quick and powerful blows. ‘No… I know why. It’s because he looked like…’ He can’t help but remember the look in his childhood friend’s eyes. ‘he needed saving!’
The villain’s sludge begins to swirl around making a spiral like motion above the villain’s head. The slime screeches as he sends out a powerful attack of spinning sludge. “Die, HERO!!!”
Izuku’s tendrils and tail stretch out and latch themselves onto a nearby powerbox. Electricity immediately begins to course through him. “I won’t let you hurt anyone else!” Izuku balls his hands together allowing the electricity to charge up. “It’s time... to be a hero!!!” He aims his hands out towards his attacker and a thundering beam of lightning rushes forward.
The villain’s attack is blown away as the lightening thunders straight for him! “AAAHHH!!!” The villain screams in pain as watts of electricity begins to surge through him.
All around him metal and other electronics are getting similar treatment. The blast is too much, the villain’s body rips apart sending bits and pieces of sludge flying all across the burning street.
Izuku cuts off the flow of electricity as slime and embers fall around him. “I did it… I really did it!” Izuku wobbles backwards towards the alley he originally entered from. ‘I did it and with a quirk no less!’
Just as the unlicensed-hero stumbles back into the alley the dial on his chest begins to beep and flash red, but it goes unnoticed by the teen even as a red flash of light envelopes his entire body.
Izuku falls onto his knees just as he turns back to normal. He gazes at the red illuminated watch on his battered yet human wrist. Finally, exhaustion from the day’s events catches up to the teen; he’s so exhausted that he falls face forward onto the pavement. And with that he begins to fade out of consciousness the last thing he sees other than the red glowing watch is a pair of yellow shoes approaching him. “I can be a hero…”
Notes:
Thanks for reading please comment and/or leave helpful criticism. I do want to make my writing better, however, this is still just for fun. Anyway I have some things to say:
*To clarify Izuku will not be getting One For All. I don't like it when someone gives Izuku an already OP Quirk, great control over said quirk, and One For All that to me is too much and thus someone else will be getting One For All.
*The Ben Ten Aliens within the Omnitrix will come in sets of 9 rather then 10 as a homage to Deku (cannon) as the 9th-holder of One For All.
*Henzu Uuichi is essentially Kevin Levin from the main Ben Ten Series: appearance, personality, and powers. I gave him a different name as to not affect his new backstory.
*As for my descriptions of all future Ben Ten Aliens I will be keeping the descriptions very vague. That is because most of the aliens have different versions of themselves so I will be keeping the descriptions vague as to allow you, the reader, to envision which version of the aliens that you prefer.
I will also be somewhat expanding weakness for Ben Ten Aliens, as to not make them OP.
Chapter 2: Accept This New Reality
Summary:
Izuku's world becomes a whole lot bigger.
Notes:
Hey everyone thanks for logging in for my latest chapter I really appreciate it and I hope you enjoy it.
Before we begin I just want state that although I am a fan of the Ben Ten series I have not watched the newest rebooted version of Ben Ten. So, none of the new aliens or new characters (if there are any) from that series will appear. Sorry for those of you that are disappointed by that fact. truthfully I tried to give it a chance but it's just not for me. Anyway, let's move on to Chapter 2.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
An hour has passed since the Sludge Villain attack, the sun has begun to set, yet heroes are still occupying the scene as to help clean up and ease the people’s nerves.
Their presence however does not help Henzu Uuichi’s mood. ‘Well, this sucks.’
The black-haired teen is leaned up against a wall from across the street watching as the heroes such as Mount Lady and Death Arms are interviewed and the police take statements. ‘Man, why did that hero have to ruin my fun, sheesh.’ Henzu is, of course, referring to the guy with the one green eye and tendrils on his head. ‘Well no use sticking around.’ He kicks himself off the wall, from the corner of his eye he spots the bandaged Bakugou receiving compliments from pro heroes that witnessed his quirk ‘s power in action. ‘Looks like you get to stick around for a little longer, Blasty.’ Henzu absorbs the iron from his wrench and proceeds to punch the cement wall breaking a small crater into it, he stuffs his hands into his pockets and strolls off. “One day, you will get what’s coming to ya.”
Eventually, the heroes are done praising Bakugou, and the police have already gotten a statement from him, leaving him to his thoughts. Throughout the entire time he gave the police and the heroes very little information about what happened at most he said that he was caught by the pile of crap and then a hero saved him. Bakugou did however say that it was Thirteen who saved him and who fought the villain, like Thirteen asked him to. Honestly, Bakugou could care less about which hero took the credit, but what does have him interested is what the weirdo called him. That tall black-skinned freak called him “Kacchan”. ‘The only one who calls me that is Deku. That couldn’t have been Deku? Ha, yeah right. The guy probably had some kind of telepathic aspect to his quirk or something. Maybe the bastard already knew who I was and decided to try and get chummy. Yeah, that’s probably it.’ Bakugou trods off towards home, laughing at the idea of Izuku ever having a quirk.
As he leaves, he unknowingly passes by the Number One Hero in all of Japan.
‘Pathetic…this is all my fault.’ The skeletal All Might stands alone, his dark thoughts are all that give him company as he watches pro heroes, active heroes, heroes that are capable, doing their duty. ‘Apparently, Thirteen was able to make it inside and handle the situation, but…’ He grabs his injury as if it personally offends him. ‘I wasn’t able to do anything! I was useless… All I was good for was watching from the sidelines and hope that someone else would save the day.’ All Might shakes his head in denial. ‘No, stop that! This was bound to happen eventually that’s why… I need to continue my search for a worthy successor. One that can take my place and become a new Symbol of Peace.’
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“Ugh…” Everything aches as Izuku opens his eyes to a bright blinding light. With his head spinning he can eventually make out a white clean ceiling. “Huh?! Where am I?!” Sitting up, his head swinging from side to side, he realizes that he’s in a hospital. “How’d I get here? What happened?” His memory of transforming and saving Bakugou return to him. “Oh yeah, I jumped in and saved Kacchan… THAT WAS SO SCARY!!! Maybe it was a dream?!” That’s when he notices that the watch is still attached to his wrist. It green-light blinks as if to say hello. “It was real! What was I thinking?! That was so stupid! I bet I’m going to be arrested for vigilantism! Maybe they think I’m a villain! Oh my God, how am I going to explain myself?!”
“Wow, you’re sure a lively one.”
Izuku shakily turns to the door his eyes full of dread. However, the gleam in his eyes turns to that of surprise and despite the looming fear he can’t help but smile. His eyes sparkle as his terrified and nervous expression turns to one of excitement and joy. “You’re the Space Hero Thirteen!” Indeed, the Rescue hero themself is standing at the entrance of the hospital room. “I’m a huge fan! You’re so amazing! A top-notch rescue hero with the ability to create blackholes that can be used to clear any debris it’s-”
Thirteen cuts him off. “Haha, yes, yes, thank you. That’s very nice of you to say. I am more concerned about you.” Thirteen takes a seat in the chair closest the bed. “How are you feeling.”
“Oh, I, um, feel pretty good all things considered. Just a little banged up here and there.”
“That’s good,” Their voice becomes deadly serious. “now I have some questions for you.” The greenette’s mouth snaps shut as Thirteen stares him in the eyes and leans forward. “What are you doing here on Earth?”
“Huh?”
“Come on don’t play dumb. Where did you get Level 20 technology?” Thirteen’s voice rises with annoyance.
“Um.”
“How did you avoid registration? Why did you interfere today? Where are you from?! Who sent you?! Who gave you that device?!”
“I-uh, sorry but I don’t understand…”
Thirteen sighs, leaning back on their seat. “Alright, let’s start from the top.” Thirteen opens the folder that they were carrying under their arm. “According to these files your name’s Izuku Midoriya, age 14, attends Aldera Junior High, and you’re registered as Quirkless.” Thirteen eyes Izuku suspiciously before continuing. “I ran a test of your DNA while you were unconscious, and it came up as purely human.” They close the folder. “So, tell me, how were you able to become a Conductoid and then revert back to human?”
Izuku blinks. “I still don’t understand…what you’re saying.”
The space suited hero sighs heavily. “How were you able to transform into the black-skinned being that can absorb and release electricity?”
“Oh, um, I’m not completely sure myself.”
“Well just explain the best you can.”
“Um, well, I was at Dagobah Beach and I found a strange metal sphere…” Izuku hesitates, if he continues there’s a good chance that the hero will think he’s either crazy or a liar, maybe both. Thirteen, meanwhile, encouragingly gestures for him to continue. Izuku continues deciding to stick with the truth, maybe his story won’t seem as crazy as he thinks. “And I found this strange watch.” Izuku raises his left arm to indicate the item in question. “It just leapt onto my wrist and when I tried to remove it… it turned me into that . . . thing.”
Thirteen cups their helmet as if holding their chin. “Interesting. So, why did you engage with the slime villain?”
“Oh, um, well my legs...they just sort-of...moved on their own. I saw Kacchan’s face and I just thought that… he needed saving.”
Thirteen takes a moment to think before standing up. “I think I understand now.”
That makes one of them, Izuku still isn’t sure about everything that’s happened. What did Thirteen mean by their questions? They were so bizarre; they almost suggested that he committed a horrible offense.
Izuku is pulled out of his musing by Thirteen. “I think I owe you some answers.” Thirteen points at the newly revealed watch. “While you were unconscious, I ran some tests on that...watch. That thing on your wrist appears to be Level 20 - or extremely advanced technology that has the capability to overwrite and reprogram the wearer’s DNA to that of other beings.”
“Transform DNA?”
“Yes, it’s a device like none other on this planet or any other planet for that matter. This device can break up your human DNA and relater it to that of other living lifeforms.”
“What are you saying?”
“Midoriya, do you believe in aliens?”
Izuku stares dumbfounded at the pro hero. “Excuse me?”
Thirteen rather than play this gentle decides to drop the truth. “Aliens exist.” Izuku’s stupefied expression somehow increases. “You know extra-terrestrials, intelligent life, aliens?! Well they are very real…in fact it’s my job to watch over and monitor aliens that come to Earth, even make sure that they follow intergalactic laws and such. For you see I am a… Plumber.”
Izuku gives the hero a quizzical look. “A...plumber?”
“Not that kind of plumber. The Plumbers are an interstellar disciplinary force that uphold justice across the known galaxies. Basically, heroes but in space.”
“Oh…” Izuku’s eyes comedically widen in realization. “W-wait! You’re being completely serious here?!”
Thirteen deadpans. “Yes.”
“But that doesn’t make sense! Aliens don’t exist! I mean of course there is a possibility, but wouldn’t we have some kind of evidence by now. Not to mention this puts science and even our own history into question. There’s also the chance that the world’s governments are aware of this…”
Thirteen can only stare as the teen begins to ramble on into a storm of muttering that lasts for a good length of time. Izuku eventually realizes what he’s doing and silences himself, but only after a few minutes have already passed by.
When he’s done, Thirteen decides to continue. “Anyway, as I was saying… As a Plumber it’s my job to make sure that any and all aliens on Earth behave themselves...usually that isn’t an issue. That also includes tracking any and all alien technology, products, and goods. So, I’ve definitely seen a thing or two.” Thirteen rubs the back of their head. “Admittedly, I’ve never encountered or even heard of anything like this.” They gesture towards the watch. “A device that can transform people into aliens.”
The two sit in silence. Thirteen lets Izuku’s mind process everything, while Izuku honestly has no idea what to think of all of this.
Izuku fidgets from his uncomfortable seat. “So...what now?” His green eyes meet Thirteen’s.
“Well, this piece of Level 20 tech, um…” The look on Izuku’s face tells them that he’s confused. “This piece of technology is so advanced that it would take millions of years for regular humans to make it. For comparison the Earth has only Level 3, arguably Level 4, technology.” Thirteen reaches into his back pocket.
“Ah.” Izuku nods his head in understanding.
Thirteen pulls out a small light gray disc that’s shaped like a circular hourglass with a bright red dot in the middle.
Izuku watches in fascination as Thirteen touches the red dot. The dot lights up and projects a hologram of a screen where Thirteen proceeds to type in a few things. “What’s that?”
“My Plumber’s badge. I have no knowledge on things like this so I would like to file a report and see if other officers know of anything like this.”
“Ah.”
“Yup, hopefully we can get this thing off of you.”
Izuku’s inside fill with nervousness. “Do...do you really have to take it?” He subconsciously grabs the watch. “It’s just that this thing, this watch, gave me the opportunity...to do something.” Thirteen only watches as Izuku continues. “It gave me the chance to be useful, to help someone else...to be a hero. So, can’t I just...keep it?” A few tears escape Izuku’s eyes as he begs for this.
Thirteen’s heart goes out to the boy, but they have a job and a responsibility to uphold. “I’m sorry but no. It goes against protocol for humans to possess Level 20 tech. Heck, I don’t even know what this thing is fully capable of. I can’t just let you keep it.” Thirteen looks away from Izuku’s dejected appearance. “I’m sorry, but that’s just how it’s going to be.” Thirteen scratches the side of their face/helmet. “However, according to the test results. The watch has fused with your own genetic structure.”
“What, what does that mean?”
“It means that it’s bound not just to your wrist but your DNA.” Izuku’s head snaps up in worry. “Although I said that you can’t keep it, it’s not like I can keep you here as well and trying to lock it in portable case will look too suspicious.”
A flicker of hope lights up within the teen’s heart. “Does that mean?”
“Yeah, you can hold onto it for now.” It’s unclear but Izuku is pretty sure that Thirteen is smiling from under their helmet. “It should be fine, as long as you don’t draw attention to it or yourself.”
Tears of joy slide down the boy’s cheeks as his hold tightens around the watch. “Thank you.”
“Don’t get too excited, I’m still not sure about what it can do. Also try to avoid using it. The last thing we need is for some lunatic to go after it.”
“Yeah,” Izuku chuckles lightly. “I wouldn’t want that.”
“Definitely. Now, I’m sure you have more questions, but it’s gotten pretty late. Let’s get you home, alright? We can discuss more later.”
“Yeah, wait, how am I going to explain everything to my Mom?”
Thirteen smiles and gives the teen a thumbs up. “Don’t worry I got it covered.”
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“Izuku, honey! Are you alright?!” Izuku is enveloped in a bone crushing, yet very loving, embrace.
“I, uh, I’m fine Mom.” He returns the hug. “I was really well cared for.”
Inko Midoriya examines, making sure there’s nothing other than the few bandages dispersed across his body. “Oh, thank goodness. You must be starving I kept dinner warm for you.”
Izuku smiles brightly. “Thanks, Mom.” There’s a hint of regret in his aura. ‘She really doesn’t suspect a thing.’ As Thirteen had explained, they really did have this covered.
##########(Flashback)#########
After Thirteen had questioned Izuku, the hero not only generously paid for Izuku’s medical bill but drove the teen from the hospital and back to his apartment complex. Before Izuku can head towards the elevator Thirteen stopped him. “Just to make sure, what’s the cover story?”
“Um, after school I was hanging around the shopping district when the villain attacked, and I was knocked unconscious. Then you rescued me, took me to the hospital to be checked over, and even paid for my medical bill.”
“Correct, which works well since I already had my agency call your mother ahead of time when I apprehended you.”
“Yeah.”
“As for the watch just say that you bought it okay.”
“Kay.”
Thirteen holds a card out to Izuku. “Here, take this. It’s my contact information, I’ll be in touch. I gotta make sure you’re not abusing this thing and I’ll give you any information that comes in about it. Oh, and keep all this alien and space talk down to the bare minimum alright, last thing we need is a global panic.”
########(End Flashback)#######
After dinner and bidding his mother a goodnight, Izuku heads straight to his room. He dumps his uniform into the laundry and changes into some fresh clothes. ‘I don’t really like lying to Mom but what can I do?’ Izuku falls back onto his All Might themed bed. ‘Today has been one giant roller coaster of emotions.’ He raises up his fist gazing up at the alien transforming watch, a hopeful glint shines in his eyes. ‘I know I’m not allowed to use this thing, but…maybe, just maybe, I can use it to become a hero. A hero that saves everyone with a smile. Wait, Thirteen said that the Plumbers, that’s such a horrible name, are like space heroes. Maybe I can join them and if I do, I can use the watch.’ Izuku sits up raising his fists in determination. ‘Next chance I get I’ll talk to Thirteen about it. But in the meantime…’ He stands up, walks over to his desk and grabs a notebook, it’s similar to his hero analysis one except this one has clearly never been used. Once he grabs a pen, he heads for the kitchen. “Hey Mom.”
Inko is busy washing dishes. “Yes?”
“I’m going to walk around the block for a little bit, I need some air. Is that okay?”
Inko would really like to say no, but she has no real reason to. “Um, well, as long as you’re nearby then I guess it’s okay.”
“Thanks Mom, and don’t worry I won’t be gone for more than 10-20 minutes or so.”
“Take care sweetie.”
Izuku hugs his mother, slips on his shoes, and heads for the alleyway behind his building. The alleyway is dark with only a few street lights illuminating it. Izuku, innocently, places his new notebook on top of a shiny American muscle car that’s magenta in color. The car belongs to an elderly neighbor of his.
‘I know Thirteen said not to use it,’ He grips the watch almost affectionately. ‘but if I want to convince Thirteen in letting me keep it then I have to learn as much about this watch as possible.’ Izuku writes a new title onto the cover of the notebook, “Hero Transformations #1”.
Izuku grips the watch making sure the coast is clear he activates the watch. The dial shoots up the diamond-symbol forming in the middle reveals the same tendril silhouette from before. Izuku rotates the dial and takes count of all the different silhouettes; he counts a total of nine forms before returning to the first form he transformed into. With little hesitation, and a lot of excitement, Izuku slams the dial down. A flash of green light envelopes the greenette and the teen can feel his body changing all the way down to the microscopic level.
“Aw, yeah!” The Conductoid cheers grinning happily at his form. The morphed Izuku turns to the muscle car as a mirror uses it to examine his new body. “You know now that I’m aware this is an alien body, I don’t feel so embarrassed that I’m not wearing clothes...Oh, who am I kidding it’s still weird.” Izuku tries to cover himself, but he knows that there’s no point anymore. “Well anyway.”
Izuku takes a few moments to draw out the general shape and look of this transformation. When he’s satisfied with his drawing, he puts down the pen. “Now for this form’s powers.”
The two tendrils on his head stretch up and attach themselves onto the street lamp that hangs above his head. The tendrils absorb the electricity causing the lamp to flicker. Izuku removes the tendrils and aims a finger out towards a garbage can, a small beam of electricity flies out and knocks the can away. “So cool.”
Izuku, as the Conductoid, takes time to write down what he does know about this alien into his new journal: agility, can hear radio waves, feeds on electricity, has tendrils on the back of his head, staticky voice, etc.
“Okay, I should probably give this form a name, like what some pro heroes with Transformation type quirks do.” He presses his pencil against his lips. “What did Thirteen call this thing by the way? I think they said Conductoid, that must be this guy’s species or something.” Izuku jots the species name down before taking a moment to look over what he has written. The words “feed” and “back” stick out to him. “Feed...back… Oh, I like that. Feedback. It fits and it sort of plays off this guy’s staticky voice!” He picks up the notebook and writes in big bold letters, “Feedback”.
Feedback is so excited that his tail and tendrils reach towards the nearest electrical items they can find: lamp, electrical lines, etc. Having charged up on electricity, Feedback begins firing small blasts from individual fingers at various items namely garbage. He gets a little too carried away thou, the teen swings his hand to the side and accidentally releases a ray of lightning that’s ten times more powerful than what he’s been releasing. The sound of metal being fried and the smell of burning rubber and leather fills the alien’s nostrils, assuming he has those.
Feedback gasps as his green-eye widens in shock. The once shining American muscle car that Izuku was using as a table is now charred with melting tires and burned leather seats, somehow the alarm is still able to work and is blaring. The Conductoid is shaking as he looks upon the result of his carelessness. By some fortunate coincidence his notebook had been flung off the car allowing it to evade being fried to a crisp. “NO! Not Mr. Baumann’s car!”
Now for some context; Mr. Baumann is an elderly gentleman that moved to Japan from America many years ago. He’s Izuku’s neighbor and he apparently runs some kind of foreign grocery store somewhere in the warehouse district. Unfortunately, Mr. Baumann doesn’t exactly enjoy Izuku’s company... in fact he doesn’t like Izuku period, but unlike Bakugou his reasons are a bit more justified. For you see Izuku has accidentally caused Mr. Baumann great misfortune, usually involving the man’s car, which was the only thing the shop owner brought with him from America.
For example, when Izuku was five he spotted Mr. Baumann waxing his car. Like a playful child Izuku tried to inspect the car using a magnifying glass and he just so happened to notice that the gentleman had missed a spot on the hood of his car. Unfortunately, the sun had direct access to the magnifying glass and because Izuku had the magnifying glass over the waxed hood for too long the car actually caught on fire. Izuku ran away as Mr. Baumann shouted and cursed at him. There were several other similar instances like this as the years went by.
Not wanting to be scolded or seen in his altered form, Izuku quickly retreats down the alley hoping to avoid his angry neighbor.
Feedback rounds the corner and a few seconds later Mr. Baumann himself makes his way down the alley having heard his car alarm from his apartment.
Ignacius Baumann is a short potbellied man with a little black mustache over his lip. He’s always wearing his magenta apron and bowtie over a light pink-striped yellow dress shirt with brown pants.
Mr. Baumann rushes over to his crisped car. Steam practically explodes from his head. “Oohh, this has got Izuku written all over it!” The grouchy neighbor grumbles various ways to make the teen take responsibility for this. He becomes silent as the bumper of his car unceremoniously collapses to the ground.
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The following morning.
“I’M LATE!!!” Izuku scrambles out of his home and down the street with a piece of toast dangling from his mouth as he tries to adjust his school blazer. ‘I can’t believe I slept in!’
Izuku was kept up late last night. After running off it took about four more minutes for the watch to begin beeping and flashing red reverting Feedback back into Izuku. Izuku also noted that he was Feedback for about ten minutes, he also took note that the watch was red instead of green for another ten minutes after.
But that isn’t what kept the teen up. After Izuku returned home and showered, Mr. Boumann stopped by and, despite little to no proof, gave Izuku an earful for nearly an hour. Followed by another five or so minutes of Izuku apologizing and explaining that he accidentally kicked a loose electrical wire at the car. Considering he set the car on fire with a magnifying glass once, Mr. Boumann believed him.
Izuku continues his exhausting sprint having just finished his toast. ‘There’s no way I’ll make it in time!’ Izuku stops dead in his tracks, skidding across the ground. He jumps into a nearby alleyway and begins fiddling with the watch. ‘I know. Maybe Feedback can get me to school on time.’ He believes that he found Feedback’s silhouette but before he presses down the dial he hesitates. ‘But Thirteen said try not using this thing too much, but they didn’t say that I couldn’t use it at all. And this is an emergency, I mean Thirteen is a teacher at U.A. , so they should understand the importance of making it to class on time.’
With that reasoning to comfort him, Izuku slams the dial down. Green energy surrounds him and Izuku feels his body changing. Except it’s different this time. He feels himself becoming skinnier rather than bigger or taller, his feet reshape, and his fingers join together, a stretching feeling originates near his tailbone.
“What da? This isn’t Feedback.”
Indeed, it seems that the watch turned the teen into the wrong alien. His current form resembles a semi-armored Velociraptor. It has black orbs on its feet and wears a black conoid helmet. The raptor like alien has a blue face, green eyes, and black lips. The alien’s skin is blue with black stripes along its long tail. Its arms are thin with three sharp black talon-like fingers. It wears the Omnitrix symbol on its chest. “Interesting I wonder what it is, hmmm.” The morphed Izuku tries to move forward and in a blink of an eye Izuku finds himself across the street. “Woah!” A black visor now covers his face to protect it from wind and debris. “This guy is fast.”
From under the visor the reptilian alien smiles gleefully. Like a speeding bullet Izuku takes off leaving only a blue streak behind him. “Man, this guy has such amazing speed. Just look at how he accelerates. Oh, that’s a good name, accel-no XLR8. Yeah, that’s it.”
To avoid drawing attention to other people and the authorities, XLR8 uses various backways and unpopulated streets, that he learned from Henzu and his own endeavors in order to avoid Bakugou. XLR8 makes it to school in a mere three minutes. In fact, he makes it there so quickly he has about twenty minutes to spare. So, to make use of that time Izuku scribbles down a drawing, characteristics, and the speed of the new alien into his new notebook. Notably XLR8’s speed doesn’t just involve his speed but his basic motor functions as well, in this case he finishes his notes in less than five seconds.
Izuku spends a few seconds thinking about what to do until the timer runs out. In one second, he types and sends Henzu a text asking how he’s doing. XLR8 taps his foot rapidly waiting for a reply which comes a few minutes later; Henzu is ditching school today. Usually Izuku would have a small panic attack but this is pretty normal for his best friend.
‘Ah, man I really wanted to show the watch off to Henzu…’ XLR8’s mind reals back to the last thing he showed Henzu. It was a limited edition All Might figurine and for some reason he “lent” it to the delinquent only for Henzu to go behind his back and return with a huge wad of cash with him, although he did split some of the cash with him. ‘You know what maybe I shouldn’t mention it. I’ll have a real hard time explaining myself.’
After replying back, a few students pass XLR8. When Izuku notices them, he flinches expecting to be ridiculed but his classmates simply walk right by him without so much as a glance.
“Huh?” Izuku looks at his sharp claws. ‘They must think I’m someone with a mutation quirk.’
“You were so cool!”
“Yeah man just like a hero!”
“Your quirk’s so powerful!”
XLR8 spins around and sees an annoyed Bakugou surrounded by some of their classmates. They seem to be praising him for surviving the Sludge Villain attack yesterday.
XLR8 cautiously watches on as the group walks closer. He thinks about hiding but figures that he won’t be recognized.
Bakugou stomps forward doing his best to ignore the annoying fucks. ‘Stupid extras.’ Bakugou thinks back to yesterday’s events, specifically to the strange person that saved him from the slime. ‘Tch, that bastard. How dare he think of me as some helpless, useless punk! I could have killed that guy if I wanted to!!’ His grip around his backpack strap tightens in frustration as if he doesn’t believe that himself.
As the group of noisy kids pass by the blue-scaled alien, Bakugou’s eyes divert down towards the symbol on the lizard’s chest. Bakugou, recognizing it as the same symbol that the other hero had, so he stops and turns towards what he thinks is a person with a Mutation type quirk. “Hey, Lizard Tail.” The students surrounding Bakugou shut up and freeze in place, afraid of interrupting their item of worship.
XLR8 freezes up in fear, which is the only thing preventing him from running away. “Y-yes?”
Bakugou points at the watch’s faceplate. “What’s with that fucking badge? And do you know a strange one-eyed tentacle bastard with black skin? If so” He raises his palm as if to threaten the reptile with an explosion. “Then tell me about him.”
Izuku is shaking in fear, but with a shake of his head he registers the questions. “Badge? Tentacle Freak?” He looks down where the dial shines on his chest. “Oh, um, it-“ The dial begins to beep and flash red. “Um, sorry, but I have somewhere to be.” XLR8 gives a friendly yet nervous smile before taking off as fast as he possibly can, which is of course extremely fast.
Bakugou blinks and then glares angrily towards where Lizard Tail ran off to. “What the fuck?!”
Meanwhile, XLR8 makes it to the other side of the school grounds before he reverts back into his human form. “Phew, that was close.” Izuku wipes the sweat off his head. “I have got to be more careful.” Gripping his backpack, he noticed that his backpack transformed and reverted back with him, the greenette heads to class. ‘Kacchan recognized the watch.’ He pulls his sleeve up to hide the said object. ‘I better be careful. I don’t need another reason for Kacchan to come after me.’
The school day goes uneventfully especially since Bakugou seems content to keep his anger to himself today. Izuku ignores everything, his mind is only focused on Thirteen, the Plumbers, and what other aliens he has access to. He even tries to theorize if certain events in human history were caused by extraterrestrial influences: building of the pyramids, U.F.O. sightings, Area 51, even Atlantis.
As the end of the school day approaches, Izuku can’t help but write a few of his thoughts into his journal allowing the classroom to empty out. He also took time to text Thirteen about the next time they can talk.
As Izuku packs up he gets a text from Thirteen asking him if he would like to stop by their agency; they figure that Izuku has many follow up questions to ask.
Izuku grabs his “Hero Transformations” notebook and heads for the exit as he eagerly replies with yes and promises to meet the hero in a hour.
“Hey, Deku!”
Izuku turns stark white and shakily turns towards his old childhood friend. “Y-yes, Ka-Kacchan?”
Bakugou eyes Izuku’s wrist. “What’s with the stupid looking watch?”
The greenette slowly averts his eyes towards his wrist where the watch, with its green hourglass symbol, is in full display; he had forgotten about covering it up with his sleeve.
Bakugou growls. “That’s the third time I’ve seen that thing.” He raises his palm in a threatening manner, tiny explosions pop from it. “What is it and why do you have it?”
“Oh, I, uh, bought it. Yeah! I got it yesterday at a little gift shop.”
Bakugou scowls. “You better not be lying to me you little shit.”
“I’m not! I swear!”
“Good.” Bakugou turns away so he can fetch his backpack from his desk. Seeing that he’s free to go Izuku waddles towards the exit clutching his new notebook for comfort as he goes.
Bakugou glances back and spots the none burnt notebook and notices the word “Hero” on it. “Hold it nerd!”
Izuku freezes in place, a tear leaks from his eye.
Bakugou jabs an accusing finger at the notebook. “What’s. With. That?”
Izuku follows the angry blonde’s finger but his brain is too nerve racked to reply. And in that brief moment Izuku’s instincts went into fight or flight mode.
Izuku seemingly flies down the hallway, leaving behind a trail of terrified tears.
“GET BACK HERE SHITTY DEKU!!!”
Izuku can hear the sounds of small explosions coming after him. ‘What do I do?! What do I do?! Oh, da, of course! He won’t recognize me if I go alien… I need a better way to refer to transforming.’ Rounding a corner, the teen activates the dial and disappears behind a flash of green light.
Izuku can feel his head widening, his eyes bulging, but for some reason his entire body shrinking at the exact same time. All this occurs just as Bakugou catches up with him.
“DEKU!!!” Bakugou turns the corner with smoke emanates from his hands, but his target is nowhere in sight. “DAMMIT!!! Where’s that bastard?!” The completely pissed off Bakugou charges down the hall in order to hunt down his prey.
The sound of detonations eventually gets further away. “Phew, he’s gone. For now, at least.” A tiny bipedal amphibian steps out from behind a garbage can.
The little guy has grey skin, a wide head with large green eyes and rectangular pupils. The face dial of Izuku’s watch is lodged onto its back.
Izuku takes a moment to examine his new form. “This form worked out better than expected. After all, if I turned into Feedback or XLR8 then I really would have gotten Kacchan’s attention.” The tiny Izuku shivers at the thought. “Even with Kacchan gone I have another problem…I’M SO TINY!!! And Kacchan is still after me!” The frog-like alien takes a deep breath. “Maybe this new form will work to my advantage. It’ll be harder for Kacchan to find me if I’m only five inches tall. But he’ll recognize the watch if he sees it. Plus, I could accidently get stepped on. So, how do I get out of here?” The little guy looks around and spots an air vent near the ceiling.
After further scanning he notices that the janitor left his mop and bucket cart in the hall; the amphibian smirks. A few seconds later one would be a bit shocked to see a gray frog riding the janitor cart towards the wall. The cart slams into the wall, the change in momentum launches the mop forward allowing the frog to grab on and be flung towards the vent. Izuku crashes into the vent cover and tries to grab it but he slides down, he adjusts his fingers and he stops moving. That’s when Izuku realizes that this form can stick to walls. “Huh, I probably could have climbed up if I had known.”
Izuku takes a moment or two to unscrew the vent with his finger before crawling inside. Once inside he takes a moment to take a little pride in himself. “I guess being little has its advantages. Now how do I navigate this place.” Izuku taps his chin in thought, he then squats down and begins drawing out an overview of the school with his finger onto the dusty floor of the vent. “Well I’m near the science room so I’m on the east side of the building and if I remember correctly the air conditioning units are over here on the roof. Based off that I can determine how the vents are laid out in comparison to the school facilities and thus I can find the best route to get outside.” Izuku points at his exit, and jogs towards it. “Strange, I don’t mean to toot my own horn, but I’m pretty smart on my own. However, it seems that this specific alien species has an increased intellect.” As Izuku makes a few turns here and there and even a high jump at one point he can eventually spot sunlight in the distance. The entire time he’s trying to come up with a good name for this alien. “IQ? No. Tiny Genius! No...How about Ace Student? That’s even worse!” Izuku glances at his grey hand. “Grey Anatomy? Grey...Matter? Ah, that’s it! I shall call this new form Grey Matter!” Grey Matter pries the exit vent open as he declares his name to the world.
Grey Matter smiles proudly as he takes a breath of fresh air and enjoys the heat of the sun. Not to mention bask in the fact that he managed to avoid Bakugou. Grey Matter peers down and sees the barrier surrounding the school a mere five feet away. Walking back a few feet (human feet) Grey Matter takes a running stance and with a determined look in his eye he sprints towards freedom. The grey alien leaps off the vent flying through the air and lands safely onto the barrier. From there he sticks himself to the side of the outer wall and safely climbs down. Just in time for the watch to flash red transforming the alien back to human.
Izuku glows with pure joy that he got away scot free. Happily holding his backpack and notebook Izuku heads off for Thirteen's agency with high hopes.
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“Hi, Thirteen!!” Izuku is so excited that his yell actually shakes a few items in Thirteen’s office.
Thirteen adjusts their helmet’s earpiece just encase Izuku’s voice becomes too loud again. “Oh, hello Midoriya. Good to see you.” Thirteen places a few papers onto their desk.
Izuku replies from his seat. “Nice to see you too.”
“Listen, I filed the report about... the watch but I have yet to receive any information back and there hasn’t been any requests or reports made for its location or return.” Izuku sits up with a hopeful look. “That said I’m still not completely comfortable with you having it.” Izuku slouches in his chair in dejection. “I understand.”
“Not to mention… You already used it three separate times!” Thirteen grabs their computer monitor and spins it around showing several images of Izuku in his various alien forms.
The photos seem to be taken by various security cameras: one photo is Izuku in the alleyway as Feedback, another is a photo taken while he was zipping around as XLR8 so you only see the streak of blue, and the last photo is of Grey Matter climbing down the school wall.
“How’d you get those?!”
“Like I mentioned yesterday, my job as a Plumber is to monitor any and all alien activity on Earth. That includes teenagers that don’t follow directions and use alien devices as toys!”
Izuku bows his head. “I’m sorry.”
Thirteen sighs. “Luckily for you. I am able to erase footage like this in order for aliens and those associated with them to remain discreet. But that doesn’t mean it’s a sound system. Even if people assume that it’s just someone with a mutation there is still the risk of aliens being exposed.” Thirteen glares at the ashamed teen. “What you did was incredibly irresponsible. Do you understand that?”
Izuku is trembling, he feels so ashamed that he can’t look the pro hero in the eye. “Y-yes and...I’m sorry...I’m sorry that I disappointed you.”
Thirteen’s eyes soften. “I’m not disappointed. Heck, I’m not even mad at you.” They lean back into their chair. “I’m a bit frustrated by all of this and with myself. After all I really should have expressed the severity of this situation better to you. And I’m just worried about what the watch can do and what unforeseen consequences it may have.”
“So, I shouldn’t be allowed to use it.” Izuku grips the watch as if it’ll be ripped away from
him. “It’ll just be a strange watch that can’t tell time…it’ll just be something…useless.” A tear drips from his freckled cheek.
“That’s how it should be.”
“Oh...okay.” The tears begin flowing, Izuku tries his best to hide them by slouching forward allowing his hair to cover his face.
Thirteen watches on in thoughtful reflection. ‘This boy. He means well but he lacks restraint. Then again that might be expected when one grows up without a quirk. Seeing everyone do amazing feats like it’s normal but never be able to have what makes yourself unique. This watch really is a dream come true for him…’
“Can you answer something for me, Midoriya?”
Izuku sniffs rubbing his eyes as he picks his head up.
Thirteen looks the young man in the eye as they ask him a question. “Why do you want to be a hero?”
Izuku thinks about his answer before answering. “I’m… a quirkless kid without any powers. But ever since I could remember all I’ve ever wanted to do was be a hero, a hero that saves everyone with a smile. A smile that inspires and gives them hope. And honestly I nearly gave up on that dream…” Izuku holds the watch up in appreciation. “But then I found this watch and it’s able to give me powers. Powers that I could only dream about, powers that I would hopelessly wish for. Yet here it is sitting on my wrist. So, maybe it’s a sign…a sign that I can be a hero.” Izuku’s eyes burn with a silent passion that’s determined to prove his self-worth.
And Thirteen can sense it. “Alright.”
“Huh?”
“I think, no, I believe that you can be a hero.” Izuku stares wide eyed at the rescue hero. “Really?”
“Yup, and I’ll help you make that dream into a reality.”
“Really?!” Izuku shoots up out of the chair with a mix of disbelief and excitement.
“Yes, but there will be some caveats.”
“Anything is fine with me!”
Thirteen holds up a finger. “1. Don’t go using the watch for personal gain. 2. Don’t tell anyone about the watch, aliens, or the Plumbers.”
Izuku comedically bows rapidly. “Okay, I promise!”
“Wait, there’s a third condition. The last condition is that you must assist me in Plumber work.”
Izuku gives the hero a surprised look. “Excuse me?”
“You heard right. You see the Plumbers on Earth are extremely understaffed and bringing in pro heroes could complicate things. Also, while employed under the Plumber name you will be allowed to keep and use the watch as you see fit. So, this is also in your favor as well.”
Tears of joy begin to form. “So, this really means…”
“Yes, you can be a hero.” Thirteen stands and raises their hand towards the boy. “I will help you achieve that goal.”
“Thank you…that means a lot to me...” Izuku clenches at his heart as he tries to prevent himself from crying.
Thirteen pats his shoulder and lets him get his emotions out. ‘I wonder if I should tell Midoriya about him… No, it’s not my place to tell. Perhaps someday, he will find out for himself. In the meantime, I’ll watch over him. Who knows what the future has in store?’
Notes:
Yay! You made it to the end I know it was nothing too exciting, but I hope you liked Chapter 2. I promise that Chapter 3 will make up for it. How is Thirteen as a character? How did you guys enjoy the new aliens? Did you guys like the Mr. Boumann scene? Please leave a comment or helpful criticism. Thanks again, I should have the next chapter up by next week. It's already turning out amazingly. A few notes:
*So, I gave the Omnitrix a set time limit. It always kind of annoyed me how in the main series they never clarified how long Ben stays in alien form or how long it actually takes for the watch to recharge. I'm hoping that this will make Izuku something to work against in his pursuit to become a hero.
*Yes, I made Thirteen a Plumber. Originally, I was going to have a different character or OC take Izuku on as a student but then remembered that Thirteen is the literal space hero. So it was perfect.
*Also, I am referring to Thirteen as a "they", "their", "them", etc. Namely because in several My Hero Academia forums (Wiki, manga, etc.) Thirteen is referred to as either male or female and I wasn't sure which was true and decided to keep it neutral.
*More information about the Plumbers, aliens, and transformations will be explains further in Chapter 3.
Chapter 3: Work For It, Izuku!
Summary:
Izuku learns a lot about hard work, the Plumbers, and aliens.
Notes:
What's up thanks for checking out Ch.3 I really think you guys will enjoy this one. I know I had a really fun time writing it up. Please enjoy.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Early the following Friday morning, a tall muscular mutant with red skin and four arms is hauling around junked appliances and trash.
“I’m sorry, but why am I doing this again?” The red hulk turns towards the street where Thirteen is watching him.
Thirteen walks over towards the red alien. “You need to get a handle on your...powers. This place is secluded, free of the public eye, and well hidden. The perfect place for you to train and practice. Not to mention you can do some real good for the public by removing all of this waste and trash.”
“If that’s the case.” The red alien easily chucks the broken appliances onto the side of the road. “Then Four Arms is perfect for the job!” Four Arms flexes to emphasize his point.
Thirteen raises an eyebrow at the morphed Izuku. “Four Arms?”
Four Arms sheepishly smiles while two of his hand rub fingers and another hand rubs the back of his neck. “Yeah, I’ve, uh, been given these aliens names.”
“Oh, I guess that’s alright. I don’t really have a problem with it.”
They will latter regret that statement.
“Where is all this trash going anyway?”
“The metal is going to U.A. where the Support Course can make great use of it. The rest is going either to the recycling plant or the dump.”
“It’s always good to recycle.”
“Also, I wanted to show you this.” Thirteen hands the red alien a binder.
Four Arms flips through the binder, reading the title. “The All-American Dream Plan?”
“A new colleague of mine wrote it up for me. It’s a detailed training regiment to help you prepare for the U.A. Entrance Exam in ten months. I did however edit a few things here and there to accommodate for alien transformation training.”
The four-eyed alien grips the binder a little tighter. “Do you really think I can do it?”
Thirteen places a hand on the “kid’s” shoulder. “Of course.”
“Thanks, I do have one question though. What’s this physical and stamina training?”
“Oh, that. Well, because of the transformation time limit you need to be able to hold your own without it.” Thirteen takes the binder and flips to a different page. “This will help build your strength, speed, and stamina so you can last long enough to transform after the ten-minute recharge time is up.”
Fittingly the watch begins to flash red. “Speaking of ten minutes.”
Izuku squeezes his arm and pats himself, a single tear forms from his eye. “Goodbye, muscles.”
“Don’t worry hopefully with this you’ll have your own.” Thirteen hands Izuku back the binder before taking a look at their phone. “But for now, you should get to school. For this morning, I just wanted to explain how we’ll be going about your training.”
“Right so I should come back right after school.”
“Correct.”
“Alright, I’ll see you then. And thanks for everything.”
“You’re welcome.”
Izuku slings his backpack over his shoulder and runs off for school with a grateful smile on his face. ‘I’m going to have to work hard.’ Izuku glances down at his wrist. ‘It may have been luck that I found this, but...when you think about it, I haven’t earned it. That’s why I’ll make it my goal to clean the entire beach, I’m going to train and work hard, and I’ll prove that I’ve earned this gift. And I won’t let anything stop me from becoming a hero!’
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Izuku pushed through the school day, the only thing on his mind was his preparation work for the U.A. Entrance Exam. After reading through the entire “All-American Dream Plan”, why does that sound like something All Might would write up, he figures that he should try and fit in as much physical training as he can in his off hours: home, school, etc.
Izuku writes all of his ideas down into his regular school notebook, not wanting to risk attract Bakugou’s attention again with either his hero nor alien notebooks. To be honest, the hot tempered and foulmouthed blonde has actually been behaving himself today… well, he’s still cursing and shouting at people, but he has yet to blow anybody up. So, that’s a good sign. Right?
At the end of the school day, an arm flings itself onto Izuku’s shoulders.
Henzu Uuichi nonchalantly smiles as Izuku freezes up thinking he was Bakugou. “Hey buddy, sorry for flaking out on you yesterday, but I needed to blow off some steam.”
“Y-yeah, I understand.” Izuku shy looks away. “But...what got you so upset?”
“Nothing really there’s just this guy that’s been bugging a friend of mine and he won’t cut it out. I tried to get him to go away, but it didn’t work out the way I wanted it to.”
“Oh, I’m sorry to hear that.”
‘Dude, you’re so naive.’ Henzu smiles anyway. “Thanks man.” The black-haired teen spots Izuku’s watch. Henzu’s eyes widen in surprise and annoyance, recognizing the green symbol as the same one that black-skinned tentacled hero was wearing when he rescued Bakugou. “Cool, watch. Where’d you get it?”
Izuku pulls the watch out of sight. “I-it was…a gift! Yeah, a very special gift.” Henzu doesn’t look convinced. “Um, it came from...um, a...very kind and...friendly store owner...that I know...” Izuku is sweating profusely as Henzu considers his answer.
“Is that so?” Henzu shrugs. “I have no reason to doubt ya. So, you wanna get a bite to eat.”
“Um, sure but really quick I have somewhere to be later.”
“Sweet, what is it you have planned?”
“I have, um…training.” Izuku flinches expecting a bad response.
Henzu frowns. “Training? For what-oh, don’t tell me.”
Izuku shyly presses his fingers together. “Well the test is ten months away so I should start training sooner rather than later.”
“Dude, although I like your resolve, and this is going to sound harsh, but I gotta ask. Why are you doing this to yourself?”
Izuku silently gasps before asking in a near silent whisper. “What do you mean?”
The rugged teen sighs heavily in annoyance and disappointment. “You. Are. Quirkless!” Izuku’s heart drops. “Even if you train as hard as you possibly can, even if you get accepted. You’ll always be at a major disadvantage; you’ll never be able to compete on the same level as everyone else.”
Izuku is shaking, his breathing is hitched, but he does his best to come up with a reply. “You...don’t know that. I can…still give it a try, can’t I?”
Henzu tsks. “Whatever, I still think you’re wasting your time. Hell, I still don’t know what you see in heroes.”
Izuku immediately becomes defensive. “But they’re so cool thei-”
“Save me the propaganda, man.” Henzu waves Izuku off before stomping away.
“W-where are you going? Aren’t we going to get something to eat?”
Henzu’s hand grazes a nearby light switch, absorbing the electricity. “Na, I lost my appetite. Instead, I’m going to go blow off some steam.” A small amount of electricity discharges from his hand as the dark-marks under his eyes spread further down his face. Henzu smiles maliciously. ‘Or maybe I’ll go beat up some whelp for some sweet cash.’
Izuku watches as his disgruntled friend marches away. “There he goes…” Izuku takes his time leaving the school. ‘What he said hurts, but I know that he means well… Besides, I've got the watch now.’ A small smile begins to form. ‘I can compete and stand tall with everyone else. That’s why I’m training to get stronger, to get better, to become a hero!’ Smiling brightly and with a glint in his eye Izuku looks towards a bright future. “I will become a hero that saves everyone with a smile!” Smiling with glee Izuku sprints towards the beach and his goals.
And so, began Izuku’s hellish training under Thirteen’s supervision and coaching. The rescue hero’s experience as a teacher really pulled through in keeping the teen motivated. Every week they would focus the training on one alien transformation for example one-week Izuku practiced using Feedback’s powers and abilities by absorbing electricity from abandoned electronics and then blasting designated target (trash) across the dump site. The next week, XLR8 was running around the trash while also avoiding being sucked up by surprise attacks from Thirteen. The following week, Thirteen provided many different types of puzzles, questions, and equations to test Grey Matter’s knowledge; they also had the little Galvin run across the junk piles as if in an obstacle course. The fourth week, Four Arms was hauling tons of trash across the beach with various techniques. However, what was the most grueling thing for Izuku was when he wasn’t in alien form. Whenever the watch timed out, Thirteen would have him train his body for an hour before he was allowed to continue practicing. While as a human, Thirteen would have him haul trash through various methods as to help develop all of his muscles rather than a select few, even bringing out exercise equipment every now and then.
Then of course there was Izuku’s own personal training regimen. He began the habit of doing small exercises while in class by bringing in smaller weights, he would jog early in the mornings, and he even got his mother to cook healthier foods for him. He also stopped using the watch outside of training just in case he ran into Bakugou or Henzu in one of his altered forms.
Throughout his training he did manage to make time to hang out with his best friend, Henzu. Even if most of the time it results in Izuku having a heart attack or getting into trouble. Much to his mother’s dismay. She really doesn’t approve of Izuku’s friendship with the delinquent, but she allows it cause he’s her son’s only friend.
As for school, Izuku managed to keep up and excel in his classes. Partially because Thirteen would actually allow Izuku to use Grey Matter to do some of his homework as to test the alien’s intellect; heck, it’s actually gotten to the point that Thirteen brought in some advanced workbooks from U.A. Another plus side is that Bakugou seemingly decided to outright ignore his childhood friend, but every now and then he tried to put Izuku’s in what he thinks is his place.
And this is what Izuku’s life was like for the next month. Throughout the month he also learned a few things about the Plumbers and aliens. So, yes aliens to live on Earth but they keep their presence on the down low and keep to themselves most of the time. Most of them can easily blend into modern day society since they can pass themselves off as having mutation type quirks. However, there is not that large of a population of aliens on Earth for serval reason: no real reason to come to Earth, the earthlings have yet to achieve efficient space travel, but mainly because of the heroes and quirks. With such powerful heroes that are trained to take on powerful villains it’s a bit of a risk to have one discover their identity for fear that the public will see them as a threat. Plus, even conquering cultures of alien don’t interact with Earth seeing it as too much of a challenge and a waste of resources. That leaves a small population of quiet and peaceful aliens that choose to make Earth their home. Because of this these aliens don’t cause any trouble hence why the Plumbers in Japan are understaffed: there isn’t a lot of reason to prioritize resources for a division that gets no trouble from the aliens they’re supposed to be monitoring. And as things are now that’s not really going to change any time soon.
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Somewhere above Earth’s orbit a damaged spacecruiser is currently undergoing repairs. Within the medical bay there is a large cylindrical recovery tank that’s filled with tentacle-like wires all of which are attached to a green-skinned octopus-like alien in a comatose like state. Nearly half of its body is burned away with much of the body missing such as an entire leg and arm, and even part of its upper body.
A red and black humanoid-drone approaches the tank while observing a monitor. “Vitals are stable. Waking in 3, 2, 1. Greetings master.”
The commander awakens from within the tank a respirator attached to his mouth is assisting his breathing. Taking a heavy and painful breath the alien speaks between gasps. “How…long…have…I been…like this?”
The monitor drone replies. “730 hours.”
“I’ve…been unconscious…for a month… Report! Where is…the Omnitrix?”
“The Omnitrix is not in our possession.”
The alien commander is so angry that he would destroy the monitor drone if he could. “What?! The battle… nearly cost me my life! And you say… the Omnitrix is not in my possession!”
“Sensors indicated that a probe was jettisoned from the ship before it was destroyed, and it landed on the planet below.” The monitor drone generates a projection of Earth. “While you were under, master, we have been monitoring the Omnitrix. We’ve been able to pinpoint when and where the Omnitrix has been activated.”
“Use?! As in someone… has already claimed it?!”
“Yes.”
“Have you…tracked it down?”
“Yes, the wearer of the Omnitrix seems to be located on Earth in a country called… Japan.”
For a split second, the commander looks surprised and then intrigued. “Earth…I know of it. It’s the Firebreather’s home world. And if I’m not mistaken many beings on that planet…are equipped with unique powers and abilities.” The commander considers his options. “This complicates everything…if the population of this planet become wise to my intentions…there is no thought that they will rise up to challenge me… I need to think about this…strategically.”
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It’s Friday, and Izuku had agreed to meet Thirteen near the warehouse district.
As Izuku nears the warehouse that Thirteen directed him to, he excitedly ran up to his trainer, who is already waiting for him there. “HI, THIRTEEN!!!”
Thirteen futilely tries to cover their ears. “You have got to stop doing that.”
“Sorry. So, why are we here?”
“We are here because you need a change of pace.”
“Excuse me?”
Thirteen gives Izuku a stern look. “You’ve been over exerting yourself.” Izuku rightfully looks ashamed, probably for being caught. “The All-American Dream Plan was designed to efficiently get you in shape while making sure that you could handle it. However, you haven’t been following it instead you’ve been pushing yourself far too much.”
Izuku looks away in embarrassment. “How could you tell?”
“When you’re a teacher you pick up on things like this.” Thirteen chuckles to themselves. “So, I figured why not change things up for today. For today we will be doing some Plumber business.”
“Huh, like a mission?” Izuku smiles excitedly.
“No, no, nothing like that. This is more of a… inspection.”
“Inspection?” Izuku looks at the large warehouse. “Does it have anything to do with this building?”
Thirteen smiles and waves Izuku towards the doors. “Follow me and find out. Oh, and try not to get over excited, alright? It may start a panic.” Thirteen opens the large metal doors, stepping inside.
Izuku hesitates before following, he has no idea what he’s in for. Is he entering a secret alien base, an alien hive? Just what kind of horrible monstrosities wait for our young hero within this gigantic warehouse?
A grocery store apparently. Yup, just a very large and normal grocery store. Well mostly normal as long as you can ignore the nonhuman shoppers, bizarre foods and products, and the strange smells. Aliens, not humans with mutation, but real alien from across the cosmos are going about their business. Each one of them is different they’re slimy, creepy, fast, and strong they’re every shape and size! Each one more bizarre than the last. Some however are wearing regular human clothing, since most if not all of them can pass as mutated humans. For example, there is a pink rabbit-like alien with what looks like metal encases his yellow eyes who’s buying a bag of tentacles. There’s a fat alien with pale-pink and dull purple skin with a large round nose, four eye balls, and a blue tongue the yellow Hawaiian shirt is nice thou. There’s also an alien that has an egg like exoskeleton with the top half made of glass, two thin robot arms on the side, and a metal mouth mimicking sharp teeth in the front within the egg are two eye balls held up by a green like slime. Obviously, some have an easier time blending in than others.
And they are all shopping for delicacies, products, and supplies that are literally out of this world. Hell, some of the food products still look alive.
“This is amazing!” Izuku furiously scribbles away into his “Hero Transformation #1” Notebook making new sections for aliens not in the watch, alien items, and other information.
Thirteen tries to quiet down the excitable teen. “Midoriya, stop. You’re scaring everybody.”
Indeed, the strange aliens are ironically weirded out by the kid’s muttering and frantic writing. Some even leave the store, worried about their status as aliens being exposed.
Thirteen eventually has to drag Izuku by the collar because he’s too absorbed in his hobby.
The space hero drags Izuku towards a food counter near the center of the giant store. Behind the counter is an elderly gentleman who’s busy restocking cans. “How are you doing today, Mr. Baumann?”
Izuku stops writing as a sense of dread runs down his spine.
Mr. Baumann sets down the last of the cans before turning around with a friendly smile. “I’m doing well thanks for asking, Thirteen… wait, Izuku?!”
The teen and old man stared at each other for a few seconds, unsure about what to do. “What are you doing here/What are you doing here?!” They both ask at the same time.
Thirteen raises an eyebrow. “You two know each other?”
Izuku is the one to reply. “Yeah. We’re neighbors.”
Mr. Baumann gives the teen a suspicious look. “Yes. And last time I checked you’re no alien.” Izuku opens his mouth to ask a question but the shopkeeper beats him to it. “And no! Before you ask, I am not an alien.”
Thirteen claps their hand together. “Well this makes things easier, I wanted Midoriya to get acquainted and familiar with this place.”
Mr. Baumann slams his fists onto the counter. “No, no, no! Get out. Get out! Get out!!” He jabs a finger in Izuku’s face making the teen flinch. “I will not have this walking disaster in my shop!”
Izuku raises his hands in surrender while smiling sheepishly. “So, you’re still mad about your car?”
Mr. Baumann leers into Izuku’s quivering face. “I’m furious.”
Thirteen cups their chin. “Car? Wait, was that the one you fried as Feedback?”
Mr. Baumann raises an eyebrow. “Feedback?”
“Oh, yeah there’s another reason why we came to you today.” Thirteen leans in raising their hand to cover their mouth, which is unnecessary since they already wear a dark helmet at all times. “We need to inspect a few things…outback.”
The old man becomes silent, he walks away from the counter towards the south end of the store. Silently, Thirteen gestures for them and Izuku to follow. Mr. Baumann gets to the back of the store there he takes them to the back room. From there Mr. Baumann heads to the freezer, leaving the other two outside, there he reveals a hidden keypad behind some hanging meat, and he types in a code. In the backroom with Izuku and Thirteen a hidden door opens up from the wall revealing a secret panic room. Mr. Baumann locks the freezer room as Thirteen leads Izuku inside, once inside Mr. Baumann locks the room shut.
After making sure that no one is spy on them Mr. Baumann speaks. “Alright, let’s make this quick. The sooner you’re out of here the better.” He glares at Izuku when he said that last part.
“Oh, come on Mr. Baumann that’s not fair.”
Mr. Baumann simply grumbles to himself in response, trying not to curse in front of a pro hero and a plumber.
Thirteen steps in before the situation escalates. “Let’s move on shall we.” The Plumber gestures for the teen to hold up his left wrist. “Please, take a look at this.”
Mr. Baumann leans into to examine Izuku’s watch. “What is it supposed to be?”
Thirteen can’t help but admit that they feel a little disappointed by that answer. “We were hoping you could tell us.”
Izuku finally snaps, not completely understanding why they’re here. “I’m sorry, but what can Mr. Baumann tell us about it? I mean I once had to show him how to record stuff on the TV.”
Mr. Baumann was about to scold the boy but Thirteen cut him off.
“Mr. Baumann owns one of if not the best intergalactic grocery stores in all of Japan. Meaning any and all alien lifeforms come here to shop. Making Mr. Baumann one of the best informants out there since he has direct access to gossip, rumors, and other information.”
Mr. Baumann adjust his glasses, examining the watch. “Tell me, what do you know about it?”
“It’s a device that transformers the wearer’s DNA to that of several different alien species, albeit for ten minutes at a time.”
Mr. Baumann takes a minute to think. “Hmmm, sorry but I’ve never heard of anything like this before.” A thought crosses the storeowner’s mind that makes him frown. “Does your mother know about this young man?”
Izuku’s legs begin to tremble. “Um, well, no not exactly.” At least Izuku has the sense to look ashamed.
Mr. Baumann shakes his head in disapproval. “I guess it's not my place to say anything.” Another thought enters his mind and his deposition turns to anger. “Wait a minute! You were wearing that thing when I lectured you a month ago.”
Izuku blanches. “Y-yes.”
“So, you lied about the faulty wiring accident?”
Izuku gives Mr. Baumann a sheepish smile.
Mr. Baumann facepalms. “I can’t believe I bought that story. You’re going to pay back the damage you did to my car!”
“B-but Mr. Baumann!”
“No, buts! You’re going to take responsibility for what you did.”
Thirteen sees an opportunity here. “Actually, this will be mutually beneficial for everyone.”
Not taking his eyes off Izuku, Mr. Baumann inquires clarification. “How so?”
“Midoriya, will work here at your store every Saturday to pay off the damages.”
Izuku’s eyes would have popped out of his head if they weren’t attached to his skull. “What?! But what about training?”
“You’ve been pushing yourself too hard. Working here will allow you to take it relatively easy while also getting familiar with the alien community in Japan.”
Izuku considers the proposal such as the fact that he can meet new aliens and learn a whole lot from them. “I guess that works for me.”
Thirteen and Izuku look to Mr. Baumann. “I suppose it works for me as well.”
Thirteen nods their head in approval. “Good,” They turn towards the greenette. “also, I think we can work in some more alien practice while you’re here.”
Izuku immediately perks up. “Really? How?”
Thirteen grabs the watch, activating the dial. “Go ahead and try this alien out, it’s a real team player.”
Izuku gives his mentor a very curious look.
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The monitor drone sprints towards his greatly wounded commander. “Master, the sensors have detected the Omnitrix.”
The alien commander remains silent for a moment.
“Send an infiltration drone…to retrieve the Omnitrix!” The commander has a coughing fit, after calming down he continues. “Kill the wielder…of the Omnitrix…if that is…required.”
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“Clean up on aisle 9!”
“That’ll be 39,126.77 yen.”
“Can anyone tell me where we keep the flubbergusts?”
“Ah, figure it out for yourself buddy.”
“Excuse me customers there is a 20% discount off all blue milk.”
The number of aliens inside Mr. Baumann’s store has greatly increased, however, most of the alien population is actually one person.
Running around the store are child sized aliens, all of which are wearing a miniature version of Mr. Baumann’s dark pink store apron.
The aliens have white skin, a black and white face, and black shoulders. The little employees' hands are large with 4 digits and stubby feet. They each have three fin-like growths on their heads, and gem-like orbs on their arms and waists.
While the little aliens around about, Mr. Baumann is busy hand drying a glass cup with a contempt smile on his face, enjoying the lack of stress and work. “This is working out better than I thought.”
Thirteen who is sitting at the booth nods. “Agreed.”
One of the short aliens sits next to the Plumber. “Yeah, I’ll say.” The slacking alien takes a sip from his soda.
Mr. Baumann’s eyebrows scrunch. “Shouldn’t you be working?”
“I’m taking my break.”
Thirteen and Mr. Baumann glace over to a second clone that’s seated next to the first. This clone however is writing away in his notebook. “I’m just doing some observations. Don’t mind me.”
Mr. Baumann and Thirteen stare blankly.
Mr. Baumann shrugs. “I guess it doesn’t matter.”
Thirteen gains the two aliens’ attention. “So, how’s the new alien.”
The clones smile brightly. “He’s awesome.”
The second clone nods in agreement. “Ditto”
The first clone looks over to his counterpart. “Oh, that’s a good name!”
The other clone scratches his head. “I’m not so sure.”
“Then let’s put it to a vote. All those in favor of the name Ditto say aye.” In less than a second a small army of clones multiply out from the first alien, and all together they state their votes. “Aye!!”
The first clone jumps for joy. “And democracy has won the day!”
“This election was rigged!!”
Mr. Baumann rubs his head trying to prevent a migraine. “Quiet down all of you! And get back to work!”
Nearly the entire army of Dittos salute in response. “Yes, sir!!” They then disperse across the store to help in various tasks, minus the first Ditto who took his seat back.
“You know Izuku at this rate you’ll pay up your debt in another month or less.”
“Sweet.” Ditto looks up towards Mr. Baumann with a hopeful glint in his eyes. “So, all is forgiven?”
Mr. Baumann scrunches up his face in thought before giving a calm smiling. “All is forgiven.”
“Woohoo!!”
A knocking can be heard from behind the large entrance doors.
A Ditto manning a checkout booth is the first to hear it. The knocking continues.
The little clone decides to see what’s making the continuous noise. “Alright. Alright! I’m coming. I’m com-GAH!!!” A decent sized explosion sends the Ditto flying.
Mr. Baumann, Thirteen, and the rest of the Dittos stand at attention hearing the blast and the clone’s scream of surprise.
Back near the entrance the down Ditto rubs his head as some of his fellow comrades help him up.
One of the customers an alien that kinda looks like they’re flesh is made of marshmallows yells out in fear. “What the heck is that?!”
A 40-foot-tall red and orange robot bursts through the entrance. The tall attack drone has humanoid like features, large metal claws, large red insect-like eyes, and three insectoid legs.
The alien customers begin to scream and panic as they make their way to the exits all the while Mr. Baumann, Thirteen, and other Dittos get them all to safety.
The assault drone steps forward locking onto the surprised and cowering Dittos, specifically onto the symbols on their heads. The robot’s eyes glow red as a laser beam fire out.
Acting fast the Dittos merge into one clone to avoid the beam. The remaining Ditto scrambles away in fear screaming all the way.
The robot gives chase shooting lasers at the fleeing alien. As the robot rampages the other extraterrestrials are stampeding away, one of the Dittos is heavily bothered by their terrified expressions. The same Ditto glares up at the rampaging intruder.
Meanwhile, the Ditto being chased dives behind some shelves, the robot takes aim ready to blast its target. A tin can clanks off its head.
“Hey buddy!” The robot turns its metallic head. “If you mess with one of me, then you mess with all of me!” The Ditto holds his hands up wide as other Dittos stand with him.
The robot actually takes a step back as if wary of the increasingly large army.
“What’s the matter?”
“Are we too much to handle?”
One of the clones folds his arms together looking very smug. “If you wanted a fight then you should have brought some friends with ya!”
The robot’s eyes blink before taking a moment to scan the entire store picking up on all other Dittos in the area. Now fully understanding the situation the bot’s metallic shoulders begin to shift and two orange and red disks fly out. The disks begin to expand until they become U.F/O shaped drones with thin insectoid arms.
The hover drones aim target lights at the bewildered Dittos.
The Dittos are too stunned to move. One of the clones deadpans a look at the clone that decided to be smug. “You just had to say something?”
The once-smug clone smiles in embarrassment.
The hover drones open fire on the Dittos who scream in fear, a few even have tears in their eyes, as they runaway.
The assault robot joins in on the onslaught blasting lasers from its eyes. The Dittos manage to avoid the blasts, but the same cannot be said about the store shelves. As the Dittos spread out so do the attackers, the latter trying to eliminate as many clones as they can.
One of the lasers detonates a little too close to one Ditto. The Ditto is blown away skidding across the ground. The morphed Izuku can feel the heat from the blast burning his arm and his harsh fall doesn’t help matters.
Three other Dittos scream out at once, despite only one of them being hit. “Ouch!! That hurt!!”
The downed Ditto looks up at the other three. “Wait, you felt that?”
“I did!”
“I felt it, too!”
Another Ditto points at his clones. “Wait, how did you guys feel that? You weren’t even hit!”
A looming shadow falls over the small group of clones. Hovering above them is one of the hover drones, aiming its blasters at the distracted aliens. As the Dittos stare up in horror as the blaster makes a buzzing sound as it prepares to fire.
The wind picks up, dust, debris, and store products begin to flow towards a single point. The hover drone gets pulled by some invisible force as food and broken shelves fly around it. Also being gravitated away, the Dittos multiply to form an alien chain that attaches itself onto a metal pole, the chain them reemerge with themselves until only one Ditto is attached to the pole.
The hover drone is eventually sucked into Thirteen’s Blackhole.
Thirteen covers their finger, stopping the attack. “Midoriya you’re a Splixon!”
“No, I’m an alien!”
“Yes, an alien that has shared senses!”
Another Ditto seemingly pops his head out from a pile of cans. “What does that mean?!”
“It means-” A hover drone latches onto Thirteen trying to push them away, Thirteen in turn tries to pry the enemy away. “if one clone feels pain then all clones feel it.”
“Oh, is that all?”
“No!” Thirteen manages to push the drone over their head letting it fly a distance away. Thirteen activates their quirk, sucking up the hover drone. “If one of your clones die…”
A mechanical clank resounds over them drawing Thirteen’s and Ditto’s attention. The assault robot towers over them flexing its metallic claws that shift and change to form into dual arm cannons. The cannons begin to charge up as the metal monstrosity takes aim.
More Dittos pop out from their hiding places as the main Ditto gulps. “Then.”
“We.”
“All.”
“DIE!!!”
The robot open fires sending the heroes diving for cover. Thirteen slides away towards the store’s center food stall, they then jump over the counter to use it for cover. A blast launches a Ditto towards the stand. The Ditto rolls on the ground before slamming into the side of the food stall. The dizzy Ditto lands upside down against the booth.
The Ditto shakes his head, regaining his senses. “What do we do?!”
Thirteen’s eyes furrow as they stand up watching as the assault robot gets distracted by other Dittos running around. “We stand and fight.”
Another Ditto pops out from one of the cupboards. “What?! But what about the other heroes?! Someone must have noticed by now and called the police!”
“No, they wouldn’t.”
The Ditto that slammed against the booth joins Thirteen behind it. “How come?”
“There’s a holographic cloaking device around the entire perimeter that prevents bystanders, and heroes, from noticing this place.”
“Well…isn’t that convenient?”
“It sure is.” Replies the Ditto in the cupboard.
“I was being sarcastic!”
Thirteen jumps back over the counter. “Come on, we need to stop these things.”
“But how?!”
“I’m a short alien, with no speed nor strength! I can’t even shoot lasers! How am I supposed to help?! I mean if just one of me dies then rest of me will die!” Izuku is truly inhabiting the Dittos because each one of them in the vicinity begin to mutter and ramble on in a panic about what they/he can and cannot do.
Thirteen places a calming hand on the nearest Ditto. “Izuku.” The reassuring voice, a clearly practiced and well-tuned voice that came after years of rescuing panicked victims, instantly calms Izuku right down. So much so that even the other Dittos that aren’t even present quiet down as well.
Kneeling down, Thirteen looks the aliened Izuku right in the eye, their gaze silently saying that everything is going to work out. “We all have one life. Life isn’t a video game where you get restarts and extra lives. This is reality. And in reality, everybody only gets one chance, one life, there are never due overs. Once, you’re gone, you're gone.”
Ditto frowns, feeling very scared and even smaller than he already is.
“Life is fragile but that is what makes life so precious. Because everyone only gets one life we need heroes that are willing to put their lives on the line. To ensure that the innocent can live their lives out in peace.”
Izuku meets Thirteen’s eyes, their words really resonating within him.
“Do you think you can risk your life for others?”
With a determined glow in his eyes, Ditto stands straighter and gives the pro hero a nod.
Thirteen nods back. “Then it’s time to be a hero.”
Thirteen and Ditto march towards the rampaging assault robot, more Dittos join in formation behind the two.
The remaining Dittos around the store join in, but rather than join the procession, they all morph back into each other bringing the number of Dittos down to 7.
Noticing the lack of targets the robot turns to face off against the approaching heroes.
Standing tall Ditto raises a fist and proclaims. “Bring it on you giant tin can!”
Only for the watch to flash red reverting all the Dittos back into a single bewildered Izuku.
Thirteen stares wide eyed at this new predicament. “Time for another lesson…you can’t save others if you can’t save yourself.”
Such wisdom.
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Outside the warehouse store, Mr. Baumann is running as fast as he can, which isn’t really that fast, to his American 1967 muscle car. That car is his most prized possession, he’d be crazy to leave it behind and risk having it get destroyed by the manic robot or worse Izuku. He fumbles with his keys trying to unlock the door. Once unlocked he steps inside and sighs a breath of relief.
The bane of Mr. Baumann’s existence bursts out of the emergency exit door screaming in terror at the top of his lungs. Izuku is in such hysteria that he slams into the side of Mr. Baumann’s car denting the hood. Adrenaline allows Izuku to ignore the pain as he thrusts himself away.
As he runs the greenette shouts back an apology. “I’m sorry, Mr. Baumann!”
Mr. Baumann steps out of his car shaking his fist. “Izuku! Get back here and clean up this mess!”
The side of the store is blasted away as the assault robot smashes through it. Hanging onto its shoulder is Thirteen. The space hero does their best to wrestle the robot away from the fleeing Izuku. It works a bit, throwing the tall robot off balance. The robot side steps nearly stepping on the American muscle car. Mr. Baumann crouches down begging for the menace to not damage his car as the robot’s insectoid legs dance around the vehicle nearly smashing it to bits.
The robot grabs Thirteen, prying them off of itself. Thirteen is able to pry themselves from its grip ,falling down to the cement below, and narrowly landing on Mr. Baumann’s car.
Mr. Baumann watches as the robot begins to march in the direction that Izuku took off from.
Holding their head, Thirteen aims their finger directly at the robot. The gravitational pull slows the monstrosity down. In response, the robot turns its head, it’s eyes light up before launching a beam at the hero. Thirteen ducks, ending their attack, with the laser whizzing past their head. The beam continues its path. Unfortunately, that path leads right towards Mr. Baumann’s car. The laser passes right through the side of the car as if it was made of paper leaving a gaping circular hole right through the center.
Mr. Baumann falls to his knees as Thirteen continues the battle. “NO! Not again!”
Meanwhile, Izuku continues running with tears leaking from his eyes and a terrified expression on his face. He doesn’t have a destination in mind, in truth he just keeps running. He eventually recognizes a few streets and corner stores that he usually passes by whenever he goes to Dagobah Municipal Beach from school. He figures that hiding amongst the large heaps of trash will be perfect for laying low at least until Thirteen can reach him.
It doesn’t take long for Izuku to reach the involuntary junkyard; it’s enough time for the watch to finish recharging. Izuku bends over breathing heavily trying to regain his breath.
Slowing down his racing heart is not Izuku’s main concern rather the regret he feels is. Afterall he left Thirteen behind to face the metal menace alone. Sure, the customers and Mr. Baumann were able to escape, but that doesn’t lessen the pit in his stomach. How could he leave his mentor, his teacher, the first person to believe in him, behind like that? Thirteen’s last piece of advice enters his mind, that one cannot save others if they can’t save themselves. This advice circles in his mind, until it clicks. There is no shame in retreating, afterall, if he stayed, he would have just been deadweight, slowing the professional hero down, and putting himself in danger. But now that he’s safe, Thirteen can focus on the fight without worrying about him. Also, that robot was really scary, so it works out that he was able to escape.
Izuku smiles softly in relief. “At least I’m safe here.”
The sound of a helicopter resonates overhead getting increasingly louder. Curiously, Izuku looks up, he spots the source of the noise, and his eyes expand with dread.
The assault robot crashes down onto a junk pile, smashing it into the sand and generating a cloud of dust that swirls around the metal beast. The robot towers over Izuku its beady red-eyes glowing with the intent to harm.
The instinct to run is there but Izuku’s legs refuse to move. His mind replays recent events: the rampage at the store, targeting him, and Thirteen’s lesson on heroism. Right now, with nobody to worry about, with no witnesses, it is the perfect time to be a hero.
“It’s hero time!” Izuku slams down on his watch.
The boy can feel his body changing within the green energy. His feels his jaw lengthen and his teeth sharpening. He can feel his skin turn dry and flaky. He can even feel gaps in his neck forming. Eventually the odd sensations end.
Now standing on the beach is a tall fishman with a mouth full of protruding sharp teeth, webbed hands and feet, greenish-grey skin, and a lure like that of an angler fish sits upon its forehead.
“Woah, now this is cool.”
The robot shifts, from its shoulders two more hover drones emerge.
The fishman growls. “What’s the matter? Can’t take me on alone?”
The assault bot slams its claw down but Izuku is too quick on his feet, ironic since he's a fish out of water. The alien fish uses the bot’s arm as a springboard at the same time that the robot pulls its arm free from the sand. The force of the jump propels Izuku towards one of the hover drones. Expanding his mouth, displaying his sharp jagged teeth, Izuku takes a giant bite out of the drone. Izuku lands safely onto the sand just as the remains of the bitten drone combust and crash into a junk pile.
“Man I’m…going to have to…clean that up…later, guh.”
Izuku is having trouble breathing, he’s actually gasping for air. So much so that he almost feels like he’s choking, like he’s completely running out of oxygen. That’s when he holds his neck and realizes something that should have been pretty obvious to him from the start. He has gills!!
The robot and the remaining drone charge, firing lasers at the fishman. Izuku barely avoids the onslaught as he rushes towards the ocean. With a mighty leap, Izuku dives into the refreshing and breathable water. The fish alien takes deep breaths, looking down Izuku notices that his legs have merged together to become a mermaid-like tail.
Up on the beach the assault robot aims its arm cannons down towards the waves firing a barrage of lasers into the water. Acting fast, Izuku swiftly and somewhat gracefully evades them all. Meanwhile, the hover drone flies over the water trying to pinpoint him. Izuku leaps out of the water and with one chomp Izuku grabs the drone and pulls down into the water. Where it leaks oil, sparking from its gash marks before shutting down. Making sure to finish the job, Izuku lodges his sharp claws into it and using his increased strength to tear the drone in half.
“I think it’s time to go after the whopper.”
Izuku pops his head out of the water before diving back down just in time to avoid getting his head vaporized. The assault robot continues its barrage of attacks using its sensors to lock-on to Izuku’s alien watch. Unfortunately for the tin can, Izuku is too quick for it especially in the water. Izuku lunges out of the water grabbing onto the robot’s right cannon, he takes a bite ripping off the robot’s arm.
“Lose something, tin can?”
The robot uses it last claw to swipe at the fishman, it hits its mark launching Izuku into the sand, and acting fast the robot pins him down.
“Apparently not.”
The robot leans in its eyes glowing, aiming a laser for the fishman’s head.
Not letting fear take over, Izuku grabs a metal pole and lodges it into the robot’s arm. With the grip loosened Izuku wiggles free just as the laser blasts the sand. The detonation was too close and powerful that the robot’s face is damaged by its own attack. The robot sparks as it straightens up, not giving it a chance to recover, Izuku tears through two of the bot’s legs. The robot tips over falling onto a pile of scrap metal. A large piece of metal pierces through the robot’s right shoulder making its right cannon useless. The robot shakily turns its head, sparks flying out from its eyes and neck, trying to find its target. Izuku jumps up his piercing claws at the ready, and stabs through the chest of the downed robot. The sound of gears shifting stops as the glow of the robot’s eyes dim.
Izuku frees his scaly hand from the robot, taking a few deep breaths, before remembering that he needs water. Turning around Izuku dives into the shallow shore so that at least his gills are in the water.
Izuku smiles in contempt. “Ah, much better.”
With his back turned he fails to notice the red-eyes blinking back to life. The robot’s head shakes violently as it aims one final attack. It never gets the chance too however as it and the entire scrapheap it was laying on gets sucked up into the nothingness that is Thirteen’s Blackhole.
“Midoriya, are you alright?”
Finally taking notice, Izuku reels around. “I’m real good. Ha, Thirteen you should have seen me I was ripping through these guys like they were nothing!”
Thirteen approaches the water. “Understandable, Piscciss Volanns are known for their powerful jaws that can rip through anything.”
Izuku cups his chin, or where his chin would be, but fish don’t have chins. “Jaws…rip. Jawsrip? No. Ripjaws? Yeah.” Ripjaws smiles happy with his name, he takes a mental note to write that name down in his notebook.
After some time, Izuku turns back to normal. Together, Thirteen and him, look out to the open ocean simply enjoying the fresh ocean breeze and the gorgeous view.
Thirteen places a hand on the boy’s shoulder. “Good job today, Midoriya.”
Izuku is a little nervous to ask. “Really?”
“Oh, yeah. For being untrained in combat, or hero work in general, you did amazing work today.”
And it’s true, he not only fought off three killer robots all on his own, but he also helped guide aliens away from danger back at the store when he was Ditto. Also, because he went to the beach, he was able to avoid involving other people and heroes into the mix.
“Thanks.”
“Don’t mention it. Though it is a bit concerning.”
“What is?”
“That robot was targeting you.”
“Do you think it was after the watch?”
“Maybe, can’t be too certain. Who knows, maybe it just didn’t like your hair.”
“Why wouldn’t it like my hair?! And why does that even matter?!”
Thirteen gives Izuku a deadpanned expression. “What I mean is that I have no clue why it came after you.”
“Oh…”
Thirteen waves it off. “Don’t worry about it. Just take the day off tomorrow, alright? And in the meantime, I have to file a report. I’ll also look into what that bot was after.” Thirteen doesn’t look very happy, probably because this will take too much paperwork that’s going to keep them up for several hours tonight.
Izuku nods. “Sounds good. Also, Thirteen…”
“Hm?”
“Thanks for saving me today.”
Thirteen pats Izuku’s head, fluffing up his already messy green hair. “It was no problem, no problem at all.”
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The alien commander examines the footage that was broadcasted by the assault robots and its drones. The commander glares at the sight of the Omnitrix upon the Splixons. The image of one of Earth’s heroes interfering really frustrates him as well. And the sight of the drones being torn apart by the Piscciss Volann infuriates him to no end. The Omnitrix should be his and not in the hands of a lower life form. His entire plan, his ambitions are falling apart because of some child! Yes, the most upsetting piece of information received was that of a human child wearing the Omnitrix. The most powerful weapon in the galaxy is controlled by a being whose species haven't been able to achieve space travel. Talk about pathetic! Yet, here it is, a small boy with green hair and a freckled face is all that stands between the commander and his quest for galactic conquest. Unfortunately for the boy, this being has experience with removing obstacles that hinder his ambitions.
Notes:
So how was Ch.3, did you like it? How funny were the Dittos? Was Ripjaws badass or what? Just for reference those two aliens are some of my favorites from the Ben 10 series. Let me know what ben 10 aliens are your favorites.
Also did you catch the Lilo & Stitch, Jimmy Neutron, Star Wars, and other ben 10 easter eggs? Please be sure to leave a review with your thoughts, questions, comments, etc. I'm hoping to have Ch.4 up by next week but it already looks like it's going to be a longer chapter than expected so it may take a little bit longer so please be patient for it to upload. That said I do think the wait will be worth it. Especially since I will be introducing a fan favorite character from My Hero Academia.*I want to apologize if you thought Four Arms didn't get enough screen time. I will make up for it. I promise that he will get his time to shine.
*Just to clarify I want to introduce 1-2 new alien transformation for Izuku before he gets to U.A.
*As of now Izuku only has access to 9 aliens in the Omnitrix, however, that number will not remain that way for long but that won't happen until he gets to U.A.
*Side note, when Thirteen said they asked a "coworker" to make the exercise plan they actually asked All Might to write up them. Thirteen just didn't tell All Might who it was for.
*It wasn't much but I will be exploring the alien community in Japan a little more in later chapters. As the story progresses the alien community in Japan will be explored more and more. This was just it for now.
*Just to clarify Japan has a relatively small population of aliens living there because of high risk of being exposed if they aren't careful.
Chapter 4: Mutant Mayhem
Summary:
Izuku and his best friend, Henzu Uuichi, decide to hangout for the day. While doing so they make a new friend and a new enemy.
Notes:
Hey guys thanks for waiting but Ch.4 is here. I hope you like it.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
A week has passed since the robot attack, but no mention of the robots ever made it onto the news. As it turns out, Thirteen wasn’t lying about the giant hologram around the warehouse. Nobody noticed a thing, plus as a bonus the robot actually turned invisible to escape Thirteen before using its legs as helicopter blades to go after Izuku. So, no one witnessed it flying over the buildings.
Training picked right back up with Izuku’s strength training combined with some practice as Ditto. According to Thirteen, his physical capabilities should transfer over to his alien forms and vice versa. So, with an army of Dittos, Izuku took to clearing the trashed beach. Unfortunately, he was ten times more exhausted by the end of each workout when compared to before. It also doesn’t help that Ditto is half his own size.
Saturday eventually rolled around, early that morning Izuku set off for Mr. Baumann’s store only for the old man to kick him out. According to Mr. Baumann, he literally can’t afford to have Izuku anywhere near his store claiming that he’s the reason for ruining his store and scaring his customers. Of course, that isn’t completely true but in Mr. Baumann’s eyes it might as well be.
So, with nothing else to do Izuku decides to text Henzu Uuichi, figuring it’s been awhile since they’ve hung out, while treading off away from the warehouse district. Henzu gets back to him rather quickly, complaining about how early it is, but suggests that they should head over to the Kiyashi Ward Shopping Mall. There’s a new arcade there that he’s been wanting to scout out.
Smiling happily Izuku heads for the train station.
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Somewhere in Kiyashi Ward a man dressed in a brown business suit slams his fist onto the door of a rundown and shabby apartment building. The windows are cracked and boarded up, the sides of the outer wall are falling apart, and the cement walkway is cracked.
“Yo, Animo! I know you’re in there! Open up!”
Getting no reply, the man pulls out a key, unlocks the door, and steps inside.
The apartment is cluttered with filthy tanks and cages strewn about with various animals from fish, lizards, birds, and rodents. The TV appears to be left on in the corner of the large room.
The man holds his nose. “Smells like a zoo in here.”
He walks through the apartment, steeping over the smaller cages, looking for the only human resident. Entering the farthest end of the living room, the man curiously watches a large frog hop about its terrarium, oblivious to the figure approaching him from behind.
The man turns around and yelps in surprise.
“How did you get in?” Demands a scratchy voiced old man.
The withered old man has greenish skin, long white hair that clearly hasn't been washed in weeks, and crooked teeth. The man’s clothes are dark and ragged they too have not been washed or mended to seen as his shirt is torn up in places.
The man composes himself, fixing his tie. “The key, I am still your landlord, remember? Maybe not because your rent is 6 months past due.”
Animo stares at the man as if he’s crazy before shrugging him off. “All my funds go into my research.” He says it in a way that sounds like that should have been obvious. “Now get out! You’re disturbing me.” Animo turns away and fiddles with something on his desk.
The landlord gazes at the state of the apartment noting the smells, grime, and animals. “Looks like you were disturbed long before I got here, pal. Listen doc. You and your furry friends are out on the street unless you pony up the green.”
Animo smirks. “Pony up?” He turns opening the terrarium and reaches in for the large frog. “Interesting choice of phrases.” He places the frog on the floor before reaching for something from his desk. “You must be an animal lover. Then you’re gonna love this.”
Animo equips himself with a very strange device that looks like it was put together with various pieces of kitchen utensils, pieces of household appliances, and other small electronic devices. The helmet part of the device is literally a bowl strainer with two long antennas attached to it. Strapped to his chest is a circular disk with red lights and various dials.
Staring at the device the landlord bends over holding his gut in a fit of laughing.
Ignoring the laughter Animo continues. “This is my transmodulator. Tell me, do you know what my quirk does?”
The landlord wipes away his tears standing back up. “Why would I care?”
“You should. My quirk allows me to alter the DNA of animals as long as I understand the physiology of the species. Admittedly, my quirk is not all that powerful the most I can do is give these creatures longer lifespans and make them a bit bigger, maybe even change their pigmentations. However, this device will change all that. It will accelerate the mutation process at a genetic level. Observe.” Pressing a few buttons and rotating a dial the circular chest piece and the ends of the antennas spark red.
The red sparks form into thin beams that fire out and begin to surge into the bullfrog.
The frog starts to grow larger and larger as its warts begin to expand on its back, horns burst from its head, and its muscles convulse.
The landlord falls back screaming in horror as a giant mutant frog with bull-like horns and four red-eyes stares down at his cowering form.
Smiling like the maniac he is, Animo explains the other function of his invention. “Oh, I should also mention that this device gives me complete control over my creatures.” Animo begins to laugh hysterically to himself as the extra-large amphibian leans towards the horrified landlord.
Like the monster it is, it gulps up the landlord before he can even blink. Panicking, the landlord desperately tries to free himself. From outside the frog one can see the desperate attempts for freedom of flailing about in its enlarged throat.
“Hahaha, I’m sorry I can’t hear you. Sounds like you got a frog in your throat. Hahaha! Or is that the other way around?” Animo nearly falls over in laughter as the thrashing begins to diminish.
Animo eventually stops laughing, sighing he rubs his eyes. “My work is truly brilliant, but how am I, Dr. Aloysius J. Animo, supposed to show the world my genius?”
Leaning against his abomination Dr. Animo wonders what to do next. He doesn’t have a lot of options considering he’s seen as a mockery by the science community. He has no connections, no allies, and no money. All because no one can see the potential in his quirk or in his mind. He can evolve animals, give them power that quirked individuals would be envious of. They would upstage heroes and bring a new order into this world. Yet they deny him of his rightful glory.
That’s when out of corner of his eyes he notices the TV flash to a commercial advertising the Kiyashi Ward Shopping Mall.
Dr. Animo grins a plan hatching within his mind. “Ah, just what the doctor ordered.”
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The Kiyashi Ward Shopping Mall is huge with stores that sell nearly everything you can think of. The mall is so large that other companies rent out their own parts of the buildings. For example, one part of the mall is used to house a radio tower.
Izuku, however, is outside the mall wandering around through the expansive parking lot. ‘Where is he?’ He turns here and there searching for Henzu.
Henzu texted him saying that he’s near the eastside of the parking lot, but this place is overcrowded with people and cars.
A heavy hand made of red steel grips the lost teen’s shoulder from behind making Izuku freeze up.
“Give me your cash if you know what’s good for ya.”
Izuku visibly relaxes. “Does it even matter? I mean, you’re probably going to make me pay for everything today anyway.” He turns smiling at his best friend.
Henzu grins, shrugging his shoulders. “Fair point.” He releases his quirk turning his skin from a red metallic color back into flesh. “Good to see ya, buddy. It’s been a while since we did something like this.”
“Yeah.” Izuku can’t help but feel bothered by the fact that Henzu was red, because when that occurs it’s because of when he absorbs something, he also gains the pigment of said object. “Did you break into something.” Henzu doesn’t even flinch at Izuku’s bluntness, at this point both of them are used to this sort of interaction.
Instead of looking embarrassed Henzu looks almost proud. “I may or may not have broken into a car or two, besides it’s not like you got any proof.”
Izuku internally deadpans. ‘He’s too much sometimes!’
With hearty laughs the two head for the mall passing by a red car with a busted window.
Izuku has a great time at the mall. They window shopped on their way to the arcade with a few stores catching their attention. The greenette was practically drooling at the sight of the hero merchandise store his eyes mesmerized by all the posters, figurines, and other collectables. So much so that Henzu had to drag him away. Even though Henzu was annoyed by the sight of the store he did find Izuku’s reaction a bit amusing.
They eventually get to their destination, a brand new and expansive arcade with all the latest gaming technologies and games of all genres: shooting, dancing, racing, and even pinball. Henzu dominates most of the competitive games such as the racing game, Street Fighters, and air hockey. That said, Izuku does prove himself at the co-op shooting games, ski ball, and most solo player games. At one-point Henzu got into an argument with a group of delinquent high schoolers, Izuku tried to break them up before a fight broke out, but Henzu got an idea. A few minutes later, Henzu is walking away a little bit richer after defeating the punks at Street Fighters. Although, Izuku is pretty sure he cheated by absorbing some electricity to shock his opponents in order to throw them off. Deciding that it was enough the duo decide to head down to the cafeteria for some lunch.
Izuku folds his arms feeling very disappointed while also trying to avoid bumping into other shoppers. “Why did you have to do that?”
“What?”
“You know…”
Realizing what he meant, Henzu rolls his eyes. “Come on Izuku, they were asking for it. Someone had to put them in their place.”
Izuku mutters under his breath. “You didn’t even win fairly.”
Henzu suddenly stops becoming serious, he turns so he can face his friend face-to-face. “You’ve got to stop thinking like that.”
Stopping, Izuku’s eyes widen. “Like what?”
“That playing by the rules is going to lead you to success. News flash the concept of fair-and-square is total bullshit! Those rules are only in place to stop those that are superior from outshining their inferiors.” Henzu folds his arms, his eyes soften slightly, but he holds his serious expression. “This is something that you oughta know by now.”
Izuku’s head droops. “That doesn’t make it right though.”
“What’s right and what’s wrong are totally subjective.”
Izuku is not entirely sure what his friend is talking about.
Realizing this Henzu continues. “Okay for example stealing is wrong, right?”
“Of course.”
“Okay, but what if someone stole so they could provide for their family? Is it wrong then?”
That’s a tricky question. “Um, well, if they had the time, I’m sure they could find another way…”
Henzu shakes his head in disapproval. “Time isn’t the problem. It's society, it’s the rules that govern it, that can lead people to break the rules, to not play fairly.” Izuku is still not sold on this idea. “Ultimately life ain’t fair, so why should you play fair? If you have the skills to survive and provide for yourself, even if it breaks the law, then you should be able to do it.”
Henzu notices a girl strolling towards them, Izuku hasn’t noticed her. She has shoulder-length chestnut-hair with two longer clumps curving towards her round face. She is completely oblivious to the two of them within the bustling crowd.
She passes them by without so much as a glance.
As she walks away Henzu turns back to Izuku. “So, if I need cash for some new game system then I should be completely justified to take it, because I have the ability to do so without anyone noticing.” Henzu holds up a little pink wallet that clearly isn’t his.
Instantly Izuku understands the situation; he pickpocketed the poor girl. “Henzu!! Stop! You can’t do that!”
“Relax she didn’t even notice.” Henzu smirks feeling very cocky as he waves the wallet around. ‘Besides it’s not like you’d rat me out.’
“Hey!! That’s mine!” A feminine voice with a crossed tone yells back at them.
Henzu twists around as Izuku silently begins to panic. Behind them stands the same girl that Henzu just pickpocketed.
She is a short girl of slender yet feminine build. She is fair-skinned with a perpetual blush on her cheeks. Her eyes are large and round, their irises a warm brown. She’s wearing a dark pink t-shirt and black gym shorts that extend to her knees, and white shoes.
She holds her hand out trying her best to look firm. “Give it back.” She demands with as much conviction as she can muster.
Henzu gives Izuku a look, smirking mischievously, seeing an opportunity to have a teaching moment for his friend.
Henzu gives the girl a nasty grin. “Aw, you want it? Then you’re going to have to take it back.” Henzu touches the ground, absorbing the tile thus changing his skin to the hardened substance.
The round-faced girl tries her best to stay composed, but it’s clear that she’s not so sure about this anymore. But that’s all the money she has, she literally can’t afford for this thug to take it from her.
Henzu is able to pick up on her hesitation. After years of taunting and picking fights you pick up on people’s mannerisms, especially when it comes to confrontations. Clearly this girl would like to run, but she won’t for whatever reason. It’s an opportunity to show Izuku that if she’s capable of taking the wallet back then she earned it, but if she has to use her quirk thus break the law to do so the better. Even if she doesn’t Henzu will still get his point across by using his quirk. That if you want something, you need to have the will to break the rules to get it.
Izuku, not quite sure what’s going on, doesn’t want a fight to break out. Last thing he needs is for the authorities to arrest them for thievery and illegal quirk usage.
With one swift motion Izuku swipes the wallet from the taller teen’s hand.
He falls onto his knees bowing for forgiveness, holding up the wallet like an offering. “I’m so sorry! Please forgive my friend, he didn’t mean it!”
The girl’s eyes pop out for a minute staring at the begging greenette. “N-no, I’m pretty sure he did.”
Even Henzu has to agree. “Yeah, I did.”
She scowls at him while he smirks in response.
“I’m really really sorry! Please, I’m begging you don’t report us!” A fountain of tears gushes out from the greenette’s eyes so much so that it begins to soak through their shoes. Other customers notice and begin to move away.
The girl steps back avoiding the growing puddle. “Ahh, okay, okay.” She takes back her wallet.
Izuku sniffs, regaining himself. “Thank you!!”
Henzu rubs his ear. “You’re too loud.”
The girl firmly grips her wallet. “That said I don’t appreciate being robbed.”
Henzu opens his mouth readying a smartass remark but Izuku jumps back up onto his feet “Here I’ll make it up to you! We were just heading to the cafeteria I can pay for your lunch; you can get whatever you want, it’ll be my treat!”
Henzu isn’t so sure it’ll be that easy. ‘Nice try Izuku, but there is no way she’ll accept.’
Her reaction is not what he’s expecting. Her eyes are glazed over, glowing with excitement, as drool drips from her gaping mouth as if imagining all the tasty treats she can have.
‘You gotta be kidding.’
As the girl happily accepts the offer, the three teens don’t notice a smelly man with a large box walking past them. Dr. Animo gazes up at the pet shop a floor above them. He smiles putting his crooked teeth on display.
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The round-faced girl holds her cheek, tongue sticking out, enjoying the delicious jumbo sundae that she ordered. “Hm, it’s so good.”
Henzu is sitting across from her with a plate of cheese fries. He’s taken slightly aback by the result of his thievery. ‘I wasn’t expecting this.’
Izuku is sitting between the two, tears streaming down his eyes, all he has is a cup of water. ‘My poor wallet, it’s empty.’ Deciding not to feel down, Izuku attempts to distract himself. “So, can we assume that all is forgiven.”
The cute girl nods her head, dipping her spoon in for another scoop. “Oh, heck yeah!” After taking a bite, she puts down the spoon. “Oh, I guess I should introduce myself my name is Ochaco Uraraka.”
“H-hi, I’m I-Izuku Midoriya a-and t-this is Henzu Uuichi.” Izuku becomes very nervous now that he realizes that he’s actually having a conversation with a girl!
“It’s nice to meet you Midoriya.” Her smile turns mischievous as she shifts her attention to the black-haired thug. “And it’s nice to know the name of the person who robbed me. Now I can properly file a report to the police.”
Henzu growls. “Huh, where was that confidence earlier?”
That immediately shuts her up, she pouts making her cheeks puff out in annoyance.
Izuku immediately jumps in trying to mediate the situation. “So, Uraraka what brings you here today?”
The distraction works. “Oh, I’m just browsing for today, you know trying to get the lay of the land.” She becomes embarrassed, rubbing her head. “I actually don’t have enough money to buy anything too big.”
Henzu sits up straight, deadpanning. ‘Then why did you stand up to me?!’
“Lay of the land? Did you just move here?”
“No, not yet. Well, maybe, it depends on if I pass the U.A. Entrance Exam.”
The freckled face boy immediately lights up. “You’re going to take the exam too?!”
“Yeah! Wait, so you’re taking it too? This is so great! I’ll know somebody maybe we can help each other out.”
“Y-yeah.”
Henzu throws his head back in exasperation. “Ah, not another one.”
Ochaco looks to Izuku for clarification.
“He doesn’t like heroes all too much.”
“What?!” Ochaco can’t help but stare. “How could you not like heroes?”
“What is there to like in the first place?”
Ochaco looks ready to argue but from the corner of her eye she can see Izuku gesturing and shaking his head. Understanding that he’s saying not to drag out an argument, she shuts her mouth and sits back.
Izuku gives her a grateful smile.
“I don’t get something.”
“What’s that?”
“How are you two friends?” She points at them. “I mean you’re so nice while he’s so mean. You like heroes and he doesn’t. You follow the rules and he’s a delinquent.”
Henzu grins and gives her a thumbs up, taking the insult as a compliment. “I can answer that question.” Said delinquents leans onto his friend. “This guy, despite his hero obsession, is one of the most honest and loyal people I know. No matter what bad shit I pull or drag him into I know he’ll have my back, and I have his. Right buddy?”
“R-right.”
Truth be told, Izuku is not sold with his own answer. Of course, he’ll always have Henzu’s back but as for the honesty part… He’s going to have to disagree with that statement. After all he still hasn’t told Henzu about his watch, or at least that he has a “quirk”. Sure, he promised Thirteen that he’d keep it a secret, but he did consider telling his best friend about it. Maybe he should say something now? If he gets into U.A. then he’s going to find out anyway, plus Thirteen and him have already come up with a cover story.
“H-hey Henzu there’s something I need to tell you.”
“What is it?”
Before Izuku can tell him, a loud rumble and an eruption of screams resonate throughout the shopping mall. A cloud of dust and smoke emerge from the opposite end of the mall from the cafeteria. Some patrons, mostly those with small children, make their way to the exits as fast as they can while most of the bystanders stand and watch.
“What was that?!”
“Is it a villain?”
“I wonder which hero is going to show up.”
Ochaco is freaking out. “Oh my god! What are we going to do?!”
Henzu replies, he’s really annoyed by how dumb some people can be. “Leave obviously.”
Henzu grabs Izuku by the shoulder and begins leading him away. Ochaco fearfully follows them, unsure about what to do.
While being led away, Izuku can’t help but wonder what’s happening. Force of habit is nagging at him to get his Hero Analysis notebook out, but there’s no way Henzu is going to let him stay and watch.
Ochaco glances back at the smoke, fear and surprise spread across her face at what she sees. Without a second to waste she throws herself at the two boys. “Get down!!” She shoves them to the ground with her just as something big and screeching whooshes past their heads.
Henzu, flipping himself over, snarls. “What was that…for?” The teen’s voice softens, staring wide eyed at the monster flying above them.
Izuku, rubbing his head, looks up and begins shaking in fear. Flying above the open roof of the mall is a monster of a bird. It looks like a giant 6 foot-tall cockatiel with grey sharp-feathers, a jagged beak, and piercing red eyes. The mutant bird gives a terrifying and rattling cry before swooping down on the shocked crowd. People finally realize the situation and begin to panic, throwing the entire mall into chaos. The bird tries to snatch up a few customers only to grab their bags or miss them completely amongst the chaos, although it does manage to knock some poor people over.
Izuku is shaking watching the chaos ensue. “What is that thing?!”
Henzu picks himself up. “Whatever it is, I’m not staying to find out!” Henzu gestures to a nearby emergency exit; it’s gone unnoticed by the fleeing patrons mainly because it’s in a narrow hallway between two food stalls.
The three rush over with Henzu flinging the door open only to stop dead in his tracks with Izuku and Ochaco slamming into his back.
Izuku’s nerves are really getting to him. “Why’d you stop?!” Looking up he gets his answer.
A giant monster frog with horns is staring down at them with four red eyes.
The four individuals hold their gaze, unable to look away.
“Nevermind.”
And with that, the three kids scramble back through the emergency exit just as the frog lashes its disgusting green tongue at them. Luckily, Henzu is able to slam the door shut before it can reach them.
Catching their breath, they check up on the situation within the rest of the mall. It’s a complete disaster although there are clearly less people around there are still a few that are unable to escape the onslaught for the entire mall appears to have been taken over by giant mutated animals. There are not only more mutated frogs and birds, but giant hamsters with spider-like eyes, mutated goldfish that have grown legs that look like a combination of fins and reptile feet, and saber-tooth like cats with spikes protruding from their backs.
Ochacko is nearly in tears. “What the heck is happening right now?! There are monsters everywhere!”
Henzu is not able to come up with a reply, even he finds the scene disturbing.
Izuku’s heart beats faster, his breath stiffens, as he watches innocent people being attacked. Their screams and cries of fear fills his ears, they’re begging for help, for someone to save them, for a hero.
“We have to help them.”
It takes the other two a minute to realize what he just said.
Henzu spins around so fast that Izuku thinks that his head would have flung off. “Are you crazy?!”
Ochacko speaks up as well, although she looks a bit hesitant as if she wants to agree with Izuku instead. “The heroes should be here soon. There’s no need to put ourselves in danger.”
“No, they won’t be. If they were then they’d be here already.”
“What do you mean?”
“That frog was guarding the exit. Not just to keep us in, but to keep anyone from getting in.”
Ochaco puts two and two together. “As in keep in the heroes out?”
Izuku nods, his eyes turning serious with worry. “Yeah.”
Henzu throws his head back, really annoyed by the news. “Phft, typical, heroes are all talk and no bite.”
There’s something else bothering Ochaco. “Wait, if that thing and others like it are on guard and other monsters are attacking. Then that means this attack was planned.”
“Yeah, there must be a villain running around turning pets into monsters and is able to organize them. Probably with some kind of mind control.” The greenette begins to ramble on into a storm of muttering.
The muttering weirds out the chestnut-haired girl. “He’s really good at figuring these kinds of things out, isn’t he?”
Henzu deadpans. “You have no idea.”
Izuku looks out again, he spots a TV across from them. The TV is on the news channel and is broadcasting the attack on the mall. From what he can tell several heroes have arrived on the scene, but as he thought frogs are guarding the entrance, mutant birds are blockading the sky, and even monster fish are patrolling the sewers. Help is clearly not coming anytime soon.
“We’re wasting time. We need to save these people!”
Henzu smacks Izuku over the head before hoisting him up by the collar. “Don’t be stupid! How are you supposed to help them? You’re quirkless, after all!”
Ochaco’s eyes widen in surprise, she had honestly thought that there weren’t any quirkless people left in Japan, at least those that are around her age. Yet he wants to be a hero, that’s crazy, but also kind of inspiring and noble.
Izuku’s eyes shift downwards. “Even if I’m quirkless, even if I’m crippled, even if there is no hope…I can't just stand by and do nothing. I have to do something. It’s a hero’s job to save everybody!” He locks eyes with his friend, daring him to try and stop him, his soul burning for action and to carry out his words.
Henzu glares back feeling very frustrated right now.
Izuku’s words ring throughout Ochaco’s head. ‘Save everybody…’
Henzu looks away, his hair blocking the view of his eyes. “That’s very admirable, it is, but you… Are. Quirkless!!” Henzu shoves Izuku against the wall. “What do you expect to do?! Go out there and run around like a tasty treat for all those things?!”
“No, I’m going to run out there and save them!” Abandoning his reservations about his “quirk” Izuku activates his watch.
Henzu raises an eyebrow and Ochaco stares in awe at the alien green glow emanating from the strange device. Izuku rotates the dial, finding the correct transformation, and slams the dial down.
In a flash of light Izuku disappears and is replaced by a blue raptor like creature.
“You can stay here if you want, I won’t force you to help.”
Henzu’s mouth drops in pure shock, and Ochaco’s eyes expand in surprise.
“Oh, um, I’m not quirkless by the way.” XLR8 stats a matter of factually, he then notices a mutant hamster approaching a fallen girl. “Look, I’ll explain later, but for now.” A visor covers XLR8’s face before he zooms away, leaving the other two in a very stunned and confused state.
Henzu continues to stare as the morphed Izuku zips around grabbing victims before they can be harmed and getting them to safety outside. Henzu notices the TV broadcasting the news from it he can actually see a blue blur moving in and out of the mall leaving behind surprised and dazed people.
His shock however turns into frustration. How could Izuku do this?! How could he lie to him?! Has he been lying the entire time?! Was he just playing everyone?! He’d be impressed if he wasn’t one of the people being conned.
Ochacko is amazed at what she’s seeing. Her new friend just shapeshifted into a dinosaur that can run at lighting fast speed. It’s incredible he’s doing exactly what he said he would! He’s saving everybody, but she thought that Uuichi said that he was quirkless.
Meanwhile, XLR8 is dashing across the mall snatching up people left and right before taking them outside and away from danger. He considered grabbing a hero or two and taking them into the mall, but they are too busy preventing any mutants form harming the people he just saved or the crowd of spectators that has formed around the entire mall.
As he reenters the mall a well-timed tongue lash from a giant frog trips the speedster sending him crashing into a few tables in the cafeteria.
Luckily his helmet is strong enough to prevent a concussion, but his body aches in pain. “Ouch.”
The frog croaks just before it lunges itself forward its mouth wide open to scoop up and chomp down on the blue reptile.
XLR8 flinches his arms raised to protect himself, but nothing happens other than the sound of croaking moving away from him. Opening his eyes, he stares as the giant frog floats skyward into the air while it struggles to regain its balance.
That’s when XLR8 notices Ochaco standing there with her hands raised forward. She couldn’t stand by and do nothing. Izuku is out here and giving it his all, she can’t standby and watch as he gets eaten by a monster.
With confidence she presses her hands together. “Release!”
The mutant begins to plummet crash landing onto a small kiosk.
XLR8 dashes over to Ochaco. “Uraraka that was amazing?! Was that your quirk? Is it gravity based? Is it an emitter or a mutation? Can you use it on me?!”
Ochaco can’t possible answer the barrage of questions, especially since XLR8 is throwing them out a mile a minute. “I, uh, um, it’s my quirk. It’s called Zero Gravity. I can make anything that I touch weightless.” She furiously rubs the back of head feeling very bashful.
“Wow, so cool!”
The frog begins to stir. It corrects its orientation and lashes out its tongue. Acting fast XLR8 grabs Ochaco and runs away allowing the tongue to smash into a table. The frog continues its attack with XLR8 just barely managing to avoid the tongue lashes. XLR8 makes a mad dash for the nearby escalator, it should take them up to the second floor and away from the amphibian.
Before they can make it, one of the mutated cats pounces out from above, blocking their path. Unable to stop XLR8 slides past the feral cat slamming into the wall, he uses his body to cushion the blow for Ochaco.
The frog joins the saber cat, the two beasts growling as they prepare to maul the downed teens. The monster feline goes first, pouncing with its sharp black claws out and ready to slash them to ribbons.
XLR8 instinctively moves to cover Ochaco, while she herself cowers in fear.
“Get away from them!!” The sound of clanging metal bashes into the large cat’s head redirecting it and sending it crashing through the store window.
A metalized Henzu, having absorbed the matter from a metal pipe, couldn’t let those two idiots get into trouble without him. He’s the ultimate troublemaker! It’s an insult if he stays back and misses the opportunity to break those stupid quirk regulation laws. Plus, the prospect of fighting giant monsters is way too awesome to pass up.
Henzu turns to the other two who are staring at him in complete surprise. “Don’t gawk at me! We have some heads to bash.” He back hands the frog’s tongue away before it can hit him. “Also, Izuku, we’re going to have a long talk after all this.”
Ochaco and Izuku look to each other, they nod in agreement before getting up. XLR8 begins spinning around the frog distracting it, it works as the frog tries to lash out at him but misses every time. Ochaco presses her hands onto Henzu’s back pushing him up into the air. When he rises above the frog, she releases her Zero Gravity effect and he plummets downward. He piledrives into the frog’s skull smashing it into the ground and knocking it unconscious.
Henzu raises his fists into the air. “I gotta admit, that was pretty cool!” He proclaims, grinning like an idiot all the while.
Ochaco gives a big thumbs up. “Yeah, it was!”
XLR8 smiles as well but a distant scream startles him. “We’re not done. There may still be some people left!”
Ochacko frowns. “You’re right, we need to do something.”
“We scour the mall and save whomever we can. Are you with me?”
“Yeah!”
Henzu jokingly postures himself to look like he’s thinking. “Hmmm, fine.”
XLR8 smiles in appreciation. “Then let’s be heroes!”
The three unlicensed heroes make their way through the mall. Luckily most of the mutants have migrated outside the mall to help prevent pro heroes from entering. That said there are still quite a bit of them within the mall itself. With their speed, strength, and support they are able to fend off or at least distract the mutants allowing XLR8 to speed any victims away. Fortunately, there are not many people left behind.
Each of them gets a moment to shine throughout the next few minutes. Within a clothes store, XLR8 took a frog for a spin by using its own tongue to tie it up by running around it. In a video game store, Henzu punches a mutant hamster so hard in the face that he shattered its giant teeth; he also may have taken a game or two with him as he left. In a furniture store, Ochaco uses her quirk to move a large couch that she uses to pin down a mutated goldfish with piranha-like teeth.
Later, inside a bookstore, Ochaco levitates a fallen shelf that landed on an unconscious woman, XLR8 picks the woman up and speeds away. Ochaco immediately barfs up what looks like rainbow glitter, the side effect of her quirk has finally caught up with her.
Henzu fends off another mutant hamster. “You alright!?”
Ochaco coughs. “Y-yeah…I just…need a minute.”
XLR8 returns, tackling the hamster and knocking it away. “I checked the rest of the mall. We can make a run for it now.”
Henzu reverts his skin back to normal. “Was that a pun?”
“Yeah, I thought it would be funny.”
Between breaths, Ochaco chirps in. “It needs work.”
“Noted. Anyway, we’ll do this one at a time. I’ll get you guys outside, and we can leave the rest to the heroes.”
Ochaco nods, if she tries to talk there’s a good chance that her breakfast will join her lunch on the floor. Meanwhile, Henzu walks over to a broken cash register, grinning like a Cheshire cat, he immedialty snatches up any loose bucks.
XLR8 bends down to pick up the round-faced girl who’s covering her mouth. “Good job, hero.” He picks her up bridal style.
Ochaco looks away blushing. “Yeah, you too…hero.”
XLR8 grins but his delightfulness is cut short by the sound of beeping and a flash of red light.
Izuku immediately falls over, with Ochaco landing on top of him, as he returns to normal. Izuku has a hard time breathing with Ochaco sitting on his chest. Ochaco is too dumbfounded to move.
Henzu finally notices, Izuku struggling underneath the confused girl. “What the hell happened?!”
Ochaco finally scrambles away as Izuku sits up. “It’s my wat-Quirk!! It’s my quirk. I can transform but only for ten minutes.”
“Cool, so just transform back.”
“I can’t it takes another ten minutes for my…quirk to recharge.”
“We really need to have a talk.”
Before Izuku can respond, more rumbling and animalistic cries shake the mall.
Ochaco chokes out in confusion. “What was that?”
They sneakily peer out the store window seeing even more mutant pet animals patrolling the mall: large dinosaur-like turtles, horrifying lizards, and nightmarish rabbits.
“There’s even more of them.” Ochaco whispers harshly as the three of them sneak back towards the end of the store to avoid detection. “What’s even causing this?”
A fixated look crosses Izuku’s eyes. “The villain.”
Henzu immediately recognizes that stupid look. “No way! You can’t be serious.”
Ochaco is rightly puzzled. “What is it?”
“He wants to go after the villain.”
“What?!”
Izuku has the decency to look embarrassed. “The heroes are still stuck outside, and there are even more mutants, if they get out, they can cause a disaster.” Not to mention haunt people’s dreams for years to come. “We have to at least slow down the villain’s plan until a pro hero can get here.”
Henzu can’t help but be frustrated. “GAH! Do you have a death wish or something?”
Ochaco doesn’t agree with that statement, but even she has to agree with him. “He’s kind of right, Midoriya… You don’t even know where the villain is.”
That’s true, for all he knows this may be a horrible accident caused by radiation or a secret government experiment that’s gotten loose somehow. Izuku’s mind fills with every possible detail, explanation, and question. What do they want? What are they after? What is their quirk? Where are they? Izuku’s mind spins these questions around his head. Until it all clicks together.
“The cell tower.”
Ochaco tilts her head. “What?”
“The cell tower. That’s what the villain is after.”
“Why do you say that?”
“Nothing is being taken, not even the money.”
Henzu’s eyes dart to the cash register that he stole from. It’s true, the mutant hamster didn’t even glance at the money.
“And even their assault. They weren’t trying to keep people in they were trying to chase them out.”
Izuku’s reasoning begins to make sense in Ochaco’s mind.
“And look where the monsters are coming from.”
Ochaco glances over the shelves noticing that the monsters are all headed away from the same direction. “From the same direction as the cell tower.”
“Yup.”
Henzu folds his arms. “But why would the bastard want the cell tower for?”
“Control.” He clearly lost Henzu and Ochaco. “If they can control these things, what’s to say they can’t control other animals, or make even more of them.”
Ochaco considers the possibility. As she thinks about it, Izuku’s logic makes more and more sense. What if this is only the first wave, the calm before the storm? What would happen if more monsters appear or even if everyday pets go wild? The damage could be too great.
The brunette nods, her hair bouncing slightly. “Okay, let’s go get that villain.”
Izuku is a bit surprised, he really thought that they’d be unwilling. “Really?! You sure? You don’t have to do this if you don’t want to.”
Ochaco shakes her head. “It doesn’t matter if I want to or not. I have to do this; I can’t stand the thought of people getting hurt by these things. I’m with you, Midoriya.”
Izuku gives her a grateful smile, one she is happy to return.
Izuku glances at Henzu, he doesn’t have to ask but he does. “What about you?”
Henzu looks away feeling very annoyed and upset.
“You with me or not?” Izuku hesitates before continuing. “Or was all that talk about having my back a lie?”
Anger flashes in Henzu’s eyes and Izuku immediately regrets saying anything.
Henzu ultimately gives in. “I’ve got your back.” He gives the shorter teen a small smirk. “You know I’m kinda proud. That was a really dirty trick you just pulled.”
“I learned from the best.” Izuku turns gazing out at the ever-increasing threat as his companions join his side. “Let’s do this guys.” His eyes fixate onto the distant cell tower and their goal. “It’s hero time!”
Notes:
I know, boo boo! A cliff hanger, boo! But it had to be done. I decided to split Ch.4 into 2 parts because it ended up being 50 pages long! I'm also hoping it will allow me time to work on Ch.6 since this is the case. That said please expect Ch.5 to be up sooner rather than later, I'll probably post it either on Monday or Tuesday.
Please leave a review, I absolutely adore hearing from you guys.*That's right I have officially incorporated Ochaco Uraraka into the narrative so get used to seeing her around, obviously.
*I loved writing for Dr. Animo mainly because his character is so cartoonish and over the top. Do you guys like the inclusion of this character?
*Also get ready for a new alien next chapter. Any guesses which one it is?
Chapter 5: Mutant Mayhem Part II
Summary:
Izuku, Henzu, and Ochaco confront Dr. Animo and his mutants.
Notes:
Happy Holidays everyone please enjoy yourselves this Holiday Season. Now, enjoy Mutant Mayhem Part II.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
The weakened All Might is strolling through the now repaired and calm Tatooin Station shopping district. He stopped by to do some grocery shopping and to reflect on his failure from a month ago.
Pathetic. This place may be up and running with happy faces and a peaceful atmosphere, yet he wasn’t the one to help make it that way. No, he had to uselessly watch while someone else, a real hero, stepped in to clean up his mess. Dammit!! He already had the Slime Villain captured, but he allowed himself to be distracted. No, he will not blame the boy, actually, he feels even worse because of what he said to that kid with the mop of messy green hair and freckles. He’ll never forget the boy’s face when he told him to give up on his dream. Pathetic!! He needs to fix this, maybe he should track the boy down. Izuku Midoriya was his name. It would be pretty easy; he could just ask Tsukauchi to look him up for him. But what would he say? What could he do? Would the boy even want to talk to him? He knows that he himself wouldn’t want to.
A small crowd has formed around a TV store, they appear to be watching the news. All Might is so lost in his thoughts to notice.
“We’re live outside the Kiyashi Ward Shopping Mall, where animal-like monsters have gone on a rampage.”
All Might stops and spins around, he tries his best to look over the shoulders of those in front. He can see the local news anchor standing in a parking lot, behind her he can see a few pro heroes wrangling what appears to be a large hamster.
“According to our sources, the pro heroes cannot enter the premise thanks to monsters blockading the entire mall, even the sewers are blocked off by fish monsters.”
A pit forms in All Might’s stomach.
“However, one hero may have gotten in and has saved a number of victims.”
A clip plays, it was taken by a hand held phone so the picture is not that good, but it’s enough. The cameraman is outside the mall watching the heroes fighting a mutant frog. A blue blur passes by them all, the camera spins around, showing a confused and startled woman with disheveled hair and clothes standing there as a gust of wind rushes by. The blue blur returns several more times and each time a new person is rescued.
All Might watches in amazement; he can’t think of any hero with that kind of speed or wears blue. Sure, there are speedster heroes out there like Ingenium, but this doesn’t appear to be his work. Maybe they’re a new hero or someone who’s not as well known. Yet there they are running head first into danger, putting their lives on the line, in order to save others. A real hero unlike him. Shit!! He’s supposed to be a teacher soon and he has to find and mentor a new successor. But, how can he? Sure, there’s Sir Nighteye’s recommendation but what if he crushes his dreams, too? What if he’s not good enough to teach, to mentor, to inspire others?
All Might shakes his head. ‘No, stop it!! Don’t think like that. Just keep smiling.’
The young broadcaster continues her coverage while running. “We have a new development! More monsters have emerged from within the mall and are now driving back the heroes. We have been ordered to evacuate to a safe distance.”
Monster turtles, lizards, and rabbits charge out of the main entrance where pro heroes intercept them.
All Might glares at the offending beasts. That’s it!! No more standing by! He is determined to fix his failure and he can start now.
The Number One hero pulls out his cellphone, making a quick call. “Tsukauchi, I need you pick me up from the Tatooin Station shopping district.” He takes off hoping to meet Tsukauchi halfway.
Meanwhile, Thirteen watches the same broadcast from his desk computer at their agency. They immediately recognizes the blue blur as Izuku’s XLR8 form.
Thirteen rubs their head, trying to stop a migraine from forming. “This kid is going to drive me insane.”
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Somewhere within Earth’s orbit, the damaged alien cruiser is still monitoring the Omnitrix’s activity. The commander is alerted about the Omnitrix activating again, thanks to their sensors pinpointing where it was activated. The monitor drone pulls up the same news broadcast that All Might was watching. An idea forms in the commander's head as he watches the mutant animals engage Earth’s heroes.
The commander has a hard time speaking from within his medical tank. “This is…an opportunity.”
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The cell tower is located in the middle of a large open ceiling room, surrounded by other service units such as air conditioners, fans, vents, electrical boxes, etc.
A scientist with shaggy white hair and pale-green skin can be found at the base of the cell tower. Dr. Animo has installed makeshift computers and wires all across the tower. Mutant cockatiels are perched among the tower and other mutant animals patrol around it. He continues to jury rig the wiring trying to gain control over the cell tower.
“Soon I will show the world the genius of Dr. Aloysius J. Animo!” He plugs in a few wires into the circular device on his chest. “With this cell tower I will be able to broadcast my mutation ray throughout a large area and with my transmodulator I will gain control over all those wonderful mutants! And then, and only then, will everyone see my genius!” Dr. Animo laughs maniacally, dreaming of his scientific victory.
Behind a nearby air conditioning unit, Izuku, Henzu, and Ochaco sweat drop. ‘Wow, he villain monologued and everything.’ They are really surprised that the villain was so idiotic to spill out all that information.
The three of them had snuck their way over to the cell tower using the stores, benches, and anything else to hide themselves from the mutants. Ochaco even floated them across from the second to the third floor to avoid a prowling mutant cat. They arrived at the cell tower in time to hear Dr. Animo’s evil plan. Coincidentally, the time it took for them to get there gave Izuku’s watch enough time to recharge.
Henzu can’t take his eyes off the madman. “This idiot is the one attacking the mall?”
Ochaco and Izuku look downward with embarrassed grins, unsure on how to respond.
Ochaco looks to Izuku for answers. “What do we do now, Midoriya?”
“Well thanks to his *cough* speech we now know his full plan and quirk. So, the best course of action is to get that device.” Izuku points at Dr. Animo’s odd helmet and the device on his chest.
“But he’s being guarded by mutants, how do we get close?”
Izuku takes a second to think and consider the options. “I’ll draw them away with one of my transformations. That’s when you guys will double team him, get the device, and smash it.”
Ochaco looks like she wants to say something but doesn’t.
Henzu however notices. “Take Uraraka with you.”
Both Izuku and Ochaco don’t see the question coming. “What?”
“Two of you will make better bait, plus if something goes wrong both of you can cover for each other, besides I don’t think the quack is actually that dangerous on his own.”
As if to prove his point, Dr. Animo zaps himself while hotwiring.
Izuku nods. “Okay.” He turns to the brunette. “You ready?”
“Yeah.”
“Then let’s go.”
The three split up with Izuku and Ochaco going left while Henzu heads right.
Once in position behind an exposed air vent, Izuku gives Ochaco a pointed look as he activates the watch allowing the faceplate to shoot up. “Once I transform, they’ll know that we’re here. Are you sure you want to do this?”
Ochaco’s eyes tell him that she’s more than ready.
“Alright, it’s hero time!” Izuku slams the faceplate down, hoping for Four Arms, and sending out a flash of green light as a result.
The mutants’ and Dr. Animo’s attention are instantly drawn to the flash of bright light.
They spot, standing behind the air vent, a large bipedal turtle with holes in the front of its shell with large flipper-like arms, and stumpy legs.
The turtle looks at his hands. “Uh, oh.”
Ochaco’s eyes widen. “Uh, oh?! Why uh, oh?!”
“I’ve never used this guy before.” The morphed Izuku states simply, shrugging his shoulders.
Ochaco blanches as she screams in shock. “WHAT!?!”
Dr. Animo’s voice calls out to them. “Hey, who are you?!”
Izuku turns his head, finally realizing that all eyes are on him. He rotates his head making sure that there’s nobody else they could be looking at other than Ochaco, who they haven’t noticed yet from her crouched position. “Oh, me? I’m, um, um, you know what I’m not really that sure. Can I get back to you on that?”
Dr. Animo snarls. “Are you mocking me? You dare mock the genius that is Dr. Animo?!”
“What? Oh, um, yeah totally. I am totally mocking you. Yeah, you are such a…bad man.”
Ochaco gives him a look from behind her hiding spot, silently asking if he’s serious.
Izuku shrugs as if to say that he’s trying.
“How dare you!!”
Somehow his horrible attempt at mocking the villain works. Before he knows it, something fast tackles him to the ground. A big mutant cat has him pinned its claws digging into his chest, there is no pain thanks to the shell even if it does have holes in it. The cat growls and takes a swipe at his head. Instinctively Izuku retracts his head into the shell.
“Woah, now. Let’s not lose are heads alright.”
Dr. Animo slams a fist against the side of the cell tower. “What are you waiting for? Kill him already!”
Izuku’s arm reach up, trying to swat the mutant away. “No, get away!” With his arms flailing about they begin to straighten before beginning to rotating much like a fan. The spinning rapidly increases until a large current of air begins to levitate the cat off of his chest. The surprised mutant is shocked but before it can process what’s happening the wind picks up sending the cat flying.
Dr. Animo looks completely outraged. “What?!”
Izuku stops spinning, popping his head out to look. “Huh, so that’s what he can do.”
Ochaco stares in awe before shaking her head and helping the large turtle onto his feet. “What now?”
Looking over to the psycho, Dr. Animo growls while his mutants group around him snarling. He jabs a finger at the offenders. “Get them!!” The mutants charge.
Ochaco and Izuku scream. “Run!!”
They both take off with Ochaco taking the lead seeing as Izuku is having a hard time running with his stubby legs. One of the mutant hamsters jumps onto Izuku’s back making him fall down face first. Izuku tucks his head in, his arms and legs begin to rotate again, and his entire body begins to hover off the ground. As they are lifted up the hamster loses its balance and falls off while unintentionally pushing the hovering Izuku forward.
“I can fly. Sweet. Hey Uraraka?”
Ochaco looks back while running. “Yeah, woah!”
Using his shell, Izuku pushes her onto his back. “Hang on.”
Izuku propels the two of them away as the mutants give chase. The morphed Izuku heads towards the main stretch of the mall.
Ochaco can’t help but smile at the sensation of flying. “This amazing, Midoriya!”
“Terraspin.”
“Excuse me?”
“Sorry, Terraspin is the new name for this form. What do you think?”
“I like it-AAHH!!” Something big and feathery knocks Ochaco off Terraspin’s back.
A mutant cockatiel, that was patrolling the sky, spotted the two teens running away and had swooped down to intercept them. The cockatiel gives an earsplitting cry as it grabs Ochaco before taking off down the mall’s main open hall.
“Uraraka!”
Terraspin chases after them swiveling between pillars and indoor trees.
Ochaco wouldn’t be lying if she said she wasn’t scared out of her mind. Is this how it ends for her? No, it’s not! She has to become a hero for her parents! She won’t let some overgrown chicken get in the way of her dream.
Twisting her body, Ochaco presses her hands onto the bird’s leg hoping that the zero gravity will throw it off. It does, when the bird tries to make a turn to avoid Terraspin, it flaps its wings down but the force is so strong that it propels the bird towards the side where it crashes into the side of the second-floor wall. The impact is enough to drop Ochaco. Seeing the new development, Terraspin speeds up as Ochaco begins to fall.
Terraspin stops rotating, grabs Ochaco, and lands on his back sliding across the tile floor until coming to a stop. “Are you okay?”
“Yeah, I think so.”
“Roar!!!” A loud roar startled them as the hoard of mutants that’s been following them finally catches up.
“I got this!” Terraspin's arms straighten and his legs merge to form fan-like blades. The appendages begin to rotate and a current of wind hits the mutants at full force. But it’s not enough to deter them, they force themselves forward, pushing against the wind.
Ochaco frantically looks around looking for a solution. One comes to her. “Hold them off for as long as you can!”
“Okay, but hurry!”
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Back at the cell tower, Henzu is hiding behind an electrical box. He watched as a flash of green light and Izuku’s horrible attempt at insults somehow manage to distract Dr. Animo. Dr. Animo then idiotically sends all of the mutants after Izuku and Ochaco, admittedly Henzu assumes that Izuku transformed back into his blue raptor form.
Henzu walks forward and leans against the electrical box, crossing his arms, and trying to look cool. “What’s up doc?”
Henzu’s question startles Dr. Animo who flails his arms about in surprise. “What?! Another one?!”
“Alright doc.” Henzu grips his trusty wrench absorbing its matter and turning his skin into iron. “You ready to take your medicine?”
Dr. Animo growls but he soon transitions into a fit of maniacal laughter.
The teen is thoroughly confused. “What’s so funny?”
Dr. Animo wipes a tear from his eye. “You are. You see I’m not that kind of doctor. For you see I am a scientist! One that specializes in mutations and animal biology. Would you care to see my greatest experiment yet?” Dr. Animo excitedly rubs his hands together.
Henzu becomes very alarmed as the ground begins to shake and a loud growl can be heard as something big approaches.
“Meet my greatest creation!” Dr. Animo violently laughs as a monstrous being towers over the teen who struggles to keep his composure. And like the idiotic and campy villain he is he just has to add another villain trope into the mix. “And your doom.”
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Back in the main hall of the mall, Ochaco is running around and pressing her hands onto anything that isn’t bolted down while Terraspin continues his whirlwind as the mutants inch their way closer and closer.
“Midoriya use these!”
Terraspin pops his head out of his shell, taking a look at all the tables, carts, stands, and trash cans floating in the air. “Oh, I get it.”
Terraspin flies back behind the floating items, the mutants take advantage and run forward. With Ochaco safely behind him, Terraspin renews his whirlwind launching the large objects at the terrifying creatures. With the objects moving quickly, Ochaco returns their weight making them the perfect blunt weapons. None of the mutants are able to avoid the attack with each of them getting smacked around, immobilized, or knocked away.
When there appears to be no risk of being attacked anymore, Terraspin stops the vortex and lands beside Ochaco. “Great plan. Although it was a little more destructive than I would’ve liked.” Terraspin sweat drops at the sight of the wreckage: garbage is lying everywhere, the floor is partially torn up, the indoor trees are missing leaves, and of course mutant animals are lying about the place.
Ochaco gives an awkward smile. “Oops. Well at least it worked.”
“It sure did. Now let’s head back hopefully Henzu was able to stop Dr. Animo.”
Without being told, Ochaco hops onto Terraspin’s back who immediately flies them back towards the cell tower. Terraspin goes through the mall not flying higher than the third floor since there are still some mutant birds patrolling the sky, although they seem to be engaged with flying based heroes and police helicopters.
Now that the threat has passed, the teens make it back quickly, but they are in for a surprise.
Dr. Animo stands victorious, laughing with pride, the antennas on his head glowing red with flying red sparks. But that is not what has the teens so scared but the monster standing beside him.
A three headed dog that looks like it was summoned from hell itself, a Cerberus. The hellhound is about 20 feet tall, its fur is a mix of grey, black, and red with glowing red eyes and menacing fangs.
And it’s using a metalized and banged up Henzu as a literal chew toy. Even with his skin made of iron, Henzu can still feel the pain of the sharp giant fangs trying to pierce through his hide. The head chewing on him tosses him up and the middle head snatches him by the foot. Henzu is in too much pain to put up much of a struggle. He tried his best at fighting off the monster, but it was far too strong for him. All he can do now is will himself to keep his quirk activated or risk being eaten alive.
Dr. Animo continues to laugh while Ochaco and Terraspin are too stunned to even move. “Yes, soon my ingenious plan will come to fruition! I will have full control over every single animal in all of Kiyashi Ward. Just a few more minutes and I will have achieved greatness, hahaha!!”
Terraspin and Ochaco have the same reaction. ‘He gave everything away again.’
But what can they do? To be honest they’ve been really, and I mean, really lucky today. Seriously, nothing they’ve done should have worked as well as they did. And now, they’re up against a giant three-headed monster that managed to take out their best fighter. They have to do something, even the insane doctor himself said that his plan is nearly complete.
They don’t get another minute to think up a plan before something big crashes right between the opposing sides. Dust and a large gust force everyone to cover their faces and to brace themselves. Dr. Animo, however, is frozen in time with a proud and ambitious expression on his face.
Something tall and made of metal moves within the dust cloud, its red insect-like eyes scan the area before locking onto the symbol on Terraspin’s chest.
Terraspin instantly recognizes the newcomer. It’s another attack robot, its identical to the one that attacked him less than a day ago. And like the last one, this one instantly draws its attention towards him.
The robot lifts its insect-like leg, but it stops when a shout reverberates from below it.
“How dare you!?”
Dr. Animo is definitely not appreciating the interruption. “I will not let some government issued toy interfere with my genius!! Destroy that abomination of science!!” The three headed dog unceremoniously drops Henzu who bangs against an air conditioner unit. The Cerberus growls before lunging at the robot, taking a bite out of its arm and ripping it off.
The robot’s eyes flash red as if to display how pissed off it is. In response a total of four hover drones are ejected from the slots within its shoulders. The hover drones take aim and open fire upon the Cerberus. The dog’s three heads bark and bite back in response, managing to bite down on one of the drones that got a little too close.
With all the threats distracted Terraspin sees the perfect opportunity to get both Henzu and Dr. Animo. “Quick, while they’re fighting. Let’s grab Henzu, the device, and scram.”
Ochaco rotates her head between the battle and Terraspin. “You sure?”
“Yeah, I mean, it’s not like it can get any worse.”
As if the universe itself was listening another attack robot smashes into the ground behind the two teens.
The two shakily look up at the menacing figure. “Oh, never mind it just got worse… I’LL HOLD IT OFF!!!”
Terraspin generates a powerful vortex and slightly pushes the robot back.
“Uraraka! Get Henzu!”
“On it!”
The chestnut-haired girl sprints towards the downed Henzu who after his fall reverted his skin back into flesh. Not concerned with being seen Ochaco leaps and bounds over rubble and vents before pressing a hand onto Henzu’s back making him float. She pulls him by the arm like a balloon and away from the fight. Looking back, she sees that Terraspin is grappling with one of the robots while the other robot is blasting lasers at the Cerberus’ faces, one of its heads managed to take down one of the other hover drones. She stumbles as the ground shakes from the battle raging behind her, but she manages to get Henzu and herself to a narrow hallway that looks like it leads to several maintenance and tech rooms.
She leans Henzu against the wall and out of sight before exposing him to Earth’s gravity. She finally takes a real look at him. He’s banged up, covered in scratches, and, ewe, is that saliva?
Henzu breathes heavily, looking up at Ochaco. “Where’s…Izuku?”
“Um, he’s there.”
Henzu struggles to move his head but when he does, he isn’t happy with what he sees. Even as a transformed bipedal turtle, Henzu can recognize Izuku no matter how he looks, he just gives off a certain air or aura that screams foolish dedication to heroes. But what’s really got him upset is that not only was Izuku hiding a transformation quirk from him, but that he has more than one transformation! What else is he hiding from him?! How long has he been hiding the truth?! How many times has he lied to his face?!
Ochaco decided to check up on the situation. It’s not good. Shrapnel and pieces of the hover drones are scattered across the battlefield; however, three other hover drones have joined the fight. They probably arrived with the second attack robot; from the corner of her eye she notices that one of the dog heads is chewing on a fourth drone. The first attack robot is wrestling with the mutant hellhound as one of the heads tries to bite it, the robot blasts lasers from its eyes in response. Dr. Animo is crazily shouting orders at his mutant dog, he is very aware that he has lost all control over the situation. Finally, two drones are circling the second robot as it holds Terraspin down by the back of his shell. Luckily, Terraspin managed to take cover in his shell as the metal enemy fires lasers at his armored hide. But the heat of the lasers are slowly working through his tough exterior.
With Izuku in need of help, Ochaco doesn’t hesitate to run right into the fray. Her lack of hesitation should have been a clear mistake to her especially as a shower of lasers dance across her path. Jumping to the side Ochaco looks up to see the two other hover drones levitating over her head, their blasters aimed right at her.
Ochaco can’t look away as a threatening buzz of the blasters charging can be heard. ‘This is it? I’m going to die. I couldn’t save Midoriya or Uuichi…I won’t be able to give my parents the life they deserve.’
Ochaco closes her eyes, accepting her fate, but she would rather not like to see the end coming.
A rumbling can be heard in the distance, at first it is soft, a mere whisper, but it grows increasingly louder. So much so that all parties slowly freeze in place, their caution taking hold as they try to identify the source. And in less than a second a powerful gust of wind zooms seemingly out of nowhere smashing into two hover drones, knocks back the attack drone, and grabs Terraspin.
Ochaco covers her eyes from the wind and dust but looking up she can’t help but stare in awe of the figure posing above her.
“ I AM HERE!”
Everybody, even the mutant hound, shouts at the top of their lungs in astonishment. “All Might!!!”
Henzu is the only to remain silent, frowning.
“YES, IT IS I, ALL MIGHT!” The Number One hero, in his full glory and costume, stands tall with his immortal smile as he holds Terraspin up in the air.
After seeing the news feed, All Might had Tsukauchi drop him off nearby. As they were approaching the mall, they spotted two large objects falling seemingly from the sky and into the far end of the mall as well as destroying the cell tower. Assuming that’s where the villain is, All Might charged right past the mutant animals that were blocking off the area, and straight to where the cell tower is located.
All Might looks like the Greek hero Atlas as he holds a tucked up Terraspin up over his head like a glorified trophy. All Might smiles down at the amazed girl. “FEAR NOT YOUNG LADY. I SHALL SAVE YOU FROM THESE MONSTERS AND MACHINES.”
Terraspin’s eyes popout from his shell ‘Wait, monsters? He doesn’t think that I’m a mutant, too, does he?’
Before he can say something, All Might throws him like he’s a giant frisbee right at the enemies. Izuku can feel his shell spinning through the air before slamming through a robot, completely destroying it. All Might must have watched those old Marvel movies because like Captain America’s shield Terraspin ricochets off the wall before slamming into the Cerberus pushing it back, and then the alien turtle crashes into the last robot smashing it to bits.
Terraspin finally pops out of his shell, his head spinning, and his ears are ringing. “Ah, I think I’m going to barf, bleh.”
A shadow falls over him. The Cerberus’s heads growl in unison at the offending turtle.
Terraspin flails his arms about in an attempt to pick himself up. “Aaahh!!”
“DETROIT!” All Might’s voice gains their attention. “SMASH!” The Symbol of Peace’s fist collides with the side of the beast’s face, the powerful blow dominos to all three heads, and the force of the impact launches the Cerberus right at the cell tower.
The mutant dog wails as it crashes into the metal exterior, breaking wires, cables, and the base of the tower. Red sparks immediately fly out and fry the hound making it howl in pain before passing out. The red sparks however travel upward to the top of the tower where they violently discharge and dissipate.
Dr. Animo watches in horror as his plan goes up in smoke. “No. No! NO!!!” Dr. Animo scowls at the Number One Hero. “How could you?! Do you have any idea what you’ve done?!”
“OF COURSE, I DO.” All Might seemingly teleports in front of the villain. Before Dr. Animo could even process what happened, All Might grabs him by the collar and lifts him up to eye level. “I SAVED THE DAY.” All Might grabs the device on the doctor’s head and rips it off.
The transmodulator bounces off the ground, an antenna breaks off from the helmet, and red sparks violently fly out before the device falls silent and the red glow from the antennas die out.
“NO!!!” As Dr. Animo falls into despair red sparks begin to emanate from the mutant dog and from what they can see in the sky so do the mutant birds flying the perimeter. They can’t see it but all the mutants across the mall are having the same reaction. They all watch as the Cerberus begins to shrink and split apart become three small puppies.
It appears that the mutations must cause some major regeneration to occur since the three puppies immediately wake up and begin playing around like nothing ever happened, their fur aren’t even messed up.
Ochaco holds her face, infatuation written all over her features. “Awe, so cute!” She runs over and scoops up the little darlings who happily wag their tiny tails and lick her face with affection making Ochaco giggle.
Everyone watches in slight confusion.
Dr. Animo struggles waving his fists about. “Curse you, All Might!” He attempts to punch All Might, but he clearly has never thrown a proper punch in his life. “You’ll regret this!”
All Might literally laughs in the face of evil, or in this case Dr. Animo, before cuffing him and dropping him to the ground. “STAY PUT I WOULDN’T LIKE TO HURT AN ELDERLY GENTLEMAN SUCH AS YOURSELF.”
“Who you calling old?! You’re only-”
All Might chops Dr. Animo behind the head knocking him out cold. “HAHA, THAT’S ENOUGH OUT OF YOU.”
All Might finally notices something; that large turtle never transformed back… Oh, no.
Terraspin is backup on his feet rubbing his head in pain. Terraspin flinches slightly as All Might approaches him, sweat dripping rapidly down his face. “Oh, uh, uh, uh, hi…” Terraspin cowers in fear. “Please don’t hurt me!!”
Despite his giant grin a hint of shame can be expressed on All Might’s face. “MY APOLOGIES PLEASE I BEG YOUR FORGIVENESS.”
“For what?”
“FOR TREATING YOU AS A VILLAIN. WITH ALL THE DIFFERENT MONSTERS RUNNING AROUND I JUST ASSUMED YOU WERE ONE OF THEM.”
Well technically All Might was correct, but that assumption still hurts. “It’s okay. I…get it. There’s no need to apologize. Besides” Terraspin knocks his flipper against his shell. “I’m pretty durable.”
“THANK YOU. HOWEVER, I DEEPLY REGRET MY ACTIONS. SO PLEASE LET ME MAKE UP FOR IT SOMEHOW.”
“Oh, uh, there’s no need for that.”
“YOU TRULY HAVE A HEROIC SPIRIT. BUT PLEASE IF THERE IS ANYTHING, I COULD DO FOR YOU JUST SAY THE WORD.”
All Might’s eyes shift down examining the bipedal turtle before landing on the green hourglass-symbol upon the creature’s chest. Something seems familiar about the symbol. Where has he seen it before? Perhaps at the store? On a sign? Maybe a commercial? “PARDON ME, BUT THAT SYMBOL ON YOUR CHEST. WHAT IS IT EXACTLY?”
Terraspin begins to panic on the inside. “I-it’s a, um, a-”
A voice calls out to them. “Ha, there you all are!”
A hero in a spacesuit getup is jogging over to them waving.
Ochaco instantly lights up in excitement. “Oh my gosh it’s Thirteen!”
“AH, THIRTEEN. GOOD TO SEE YOU.”
Thirteen finally makes it to the group, they’re slightly out of breath. “Same, but we do have a problem.”
Terraspin tilts his head slightly. “What’s that?”
Thirteen deadpans. “You broke the law.” For a split-second Thirteen's eyes emit a terrifying and threatening leer at the transformed Izuku. “Both of you,” He gestures to Ochaco, who finally released the furballs. “took partook in illegal quirk use.”
Terraspin’s stomach drops. ‘How could I forget my promise?! Please forgive me!!’
Ochaco blanches. ‘This really is the end for me. There’s no way U.A. will accept me now.’
“THERE’S NO NEED TO WORRY ABOUT THAT.”
The teens whitened faces regain their color. “Huh?”
“I’LL COVER FOR YOU, I’LL TAKE RESPONSIBILITY. PLUS, I HAVE A TRUSTED FRIEND IN THE POLICE FORCE THAT CAN HELP COVER THIS UP. DON’T WORRY HE CAN KEEP A SECRET, HEH.”
Thirteen considers the suggestion, they are still pretty upset thou. “Hmm, alright. That works for me. I would hate to ruin future opportunities for them.”
Terraspin clasps his flippers together as if praying and tears of joy stream down his face. ‘Thank you All Might. And thank you for forgiving me, Thirteen.’
Thirteen places a hand onto Terraspin’s back as they start to lead him away. “I’ll lead them out to safety.” The rescue hero waves back at All Might. “You distract the other pro heroes and the media. No doubt they’re swarming the place as we speak.”
“RIGHT, I’M ON IT. FAREWELL YOU TWO, BUT BEFORE WE DEPART CAN I AT LEAST GET THE NAMES OF TODAY’S REAL HEROES?”
With amazement still glues to her face the chestnut-haired girl answers first. “I’m Ochaco Uraraka.”
“And I’m…” For some reason Izuku’s mind flashes back to his conversation he had with All Might from a month ago and the despair he felt afterwards. He also remembers that he told All Might that he was quirkless! How is he supposed to explain his sudden quirk?! Shit he’s been waiting for too long. How should he respond? His mouth seems to come up with a response for him. “Deku… I’m Deku.”
Ochaco and Thirteen are rightfully confused but they choose not to say anything; one out of respect for Izuku’s wishes, while the other assumes that Izuku is trying to keep his “quirk” and himself undercover.
Thirteen’s eyes tell Terraspin that they expect an explanation later.
All Might raises an eyebrow finding the name a bit odd, but he doesn’t comment on it. “THANK YOU FOR INDULGING ME.” All Might notices that Dr. Animo is stirring from his position on the ground. The hero throws the villain over his shoulder. “NOW IF YOU EXCUSE ME I HAVE SOMEWHERE TO BE!”
And with that All Might disappears in a gust of wind.
The three left behind have that same reaction. ‘There he goes.’
Thirteen claps their hands together. “Anyway, let’s get you two out of here.”
Terraspin remembers something very important. “Wait, our friend is here, too! He got really banged up during the fight!”
Thirteen silently fumes in exasperation. “Where are they?”
Ochaco waves them over to the hallway where she hide Henzu in. “He’s over here, follow me.”
They are in for a surprise when they arrive.
Ochaco holds her head in alarm. “Where’d he go?!”
Indeed, Henzu is no longer present near the emergency exit. Quickly scanning the area, they confirm that he is no longer in the mall.
“I can call him.” Terraspin pulls out his cell phone.
Ochaco’s eyes widen in wonder. ‘Where was he keeping that?’
Terraspin fumbles with the phone before accidently dropping it. He leans forward to grab it, but his fins just can’t seem to grip the tiny object. “Curse these giant flippers!”
After what seems like forever, the watch finally times out and in a flash of red Izuku turns back to normal. Izuku grabs his face to confirm it, sighing in relief, he bends down, and finally snags his phone off the ground.
Thirteen's eyes widen, trying to act like they’re amazed. “Ah, you must have a transformation type quirk.”
While dialing Henzu, Izuku gives his mentor an odd look. Thirteen returns the silent inquiry with an expression that says: act like we don’t know each other.
Izuku catches on. “Oh, uh, right. I-I mean, yes.”
Izuku lifts the phone up to his ear, but the call goes straight to voicemail. “He’s not answering.” But when he thinks about it. It makes sense that he would bail, after all he’s been arrested a few times already. Plus, Izuku has seen him take some real beatings before, he’ll bounce back quickly. “He should be fine though.”
Thirteen doesn’t look too sure. “Are you sure?”
“Yeah, I can check up on him in person if need be.”
“Okay, anyway I need your names and some basic info.”
Ochaco and Izuku visibly tense up.
“Don’t worry. It’s just so we can properly cover this up.”
Izuku continues the act. “Oh, um, I’m Izuku Midoriya.”
Izuku looks to his accomplice. “Ochaco Uraraka.”
“A pleasure to meet you both. Now let’s get you both home before your parents worry. But before that I’d like to take you both to the hospital, don’t worry I’ll cover all the expenses.”
The teen bow in gratitude. “Thank you for everything.”
And with that said the three sneak their way through the emergency exit and towards Thirteen’s car. A detective by the name of Naomasa Tsukauchi intercepts them and he explains that All Might has already filled him in on the situation. He does admit that he doesn't fully approve of it, but he ultimately sees no issue with it considering the circumstances. He also takes the time to thank the teens for putting their lives on the line. The two adults then lead the teens to Thirteen’s car acting like they were victims that got caught in the attack as to not draw suspicion. Tsukauchi waves them off as they drive away.
The hospital is relatively close by, even so traffic seems to have built up thanks to the attack. “Hey, Midoriya.”
With the adrenaline out of his system, Izuku reverts back into his old shy self now realizing that a real girl is seeking conversation with him. He shifts in his seat so he can face Ochaco. “Y-yeah?”
Ochaco gives him a kind smile one that’s full of respect. “Thank you.”
“For what?”
Ochaco runs a hand through her hair, her finger plays with one of her bangs. “You were really inspiring. You encouraged me to be a hero today. I don’t think I could have done what I did without you there with me.”
“Oh, well, I, um, thanks for supporting me as well.” Izuku looks away trying to hide his furiously blushing face. It finally hits him that not only is he talking to a girl but that he’s been interacting with her, working with her, even physically coming into contact with her all throughout the day. It’s too much to take in. But it all happened so fast, he wasn’t even thinking when she climbed onto his back, or when he decided to pick her up and get her to safety.
Ochaco’s voice brings him out of it. “Can I get your number?”
“Huh?!”
“Well, you said you wanted to get into U.A. earlier. You know before…this all happened. And I think it would be great if we continued to support each other.”
He did mention that, earlier didn’t he? The greenette doesn’t take long to think about it. Having another friend would be nice, especially one that won’t drag you into trouble might be a nice change in pace. Wait, didn’t he do that to her? “Yeah. I’d like that.”
With a smile, Ochaco holds her hand out for his phone. Izuku obliges her, handing it over. She immediately types in her contact info.
Ochaco hands it back. “By the way can I call you Deku?”
“Wha?”
“Oh, well, it’s what you told All Might to call you. Is it a nickname?”
Izuku’s nerves shoot up. “N-no, not exactly. I-it’s actually an insult.”
“What? That’s so weird. I mean, Deku sounds like it gives off a ‘you can do it’ vibe. So, I kinda like it.”
A blushing and a highly strung Izuku stiffens. “You can call me Deku!”
Thirteen chuckles from the driver's seat.
The teens freeze up, they totally forgot that the hero was even there.
“Oh, don't mind me you two. Just pretend that I’m not here.” Thirteen laughs, amused by their antics, and by the blushes that now adorn their faces. Moments like these are what makes being a teacher worthwhile: the opportunity to embarrass teenagers.
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Within a dark and garbage ridden alley, a dark-haired teen limps by with an angry scowl. Henzu has definitely looked better, but he can’t really complain. When All Might arrived, he took that as a sign to hightail it out of there. He has no desire to be arrested, usually he’d feel pretty bad about leaving Izuku behind to fend for himself, but that anger and betrayal he feels about being lied to stops him from even thinking about it.
What really set him off is when All Might so casually proclaimed that he’ll take responsibility for their actions. Or as how Henzu sees it, All Might wants all the glory for himself. The Number One hero himself is going for an easy win that he didn’t earn, and he’s going to lie about it to the masses, for more fame and glory. Fuck that!
Luckily, sneaking out of the mall wasn’t too difficult. The exit he used was near the back of the mall and most of the crowds had gathered near the front of the mall as to get a better view. Henzu limped away until exhaustion hit him, leaning against the wall of the alleyway, he collapses to the ground.
Henzu snarls, absolutely pissed with this whole fucking situation. ‘Damn, these heroes. And damn, you Deku…’
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An armored police transport is making its way towards Tartarus prison. From within the holding cell Dr. Animo sits alone, cuffed, and soundly beaten.
“Curse those meddling kids! Curse that teenage mutant turtle! Curse you All Might!! Nobody, nobody understands the true genius, the epiphany of brilliance, that is Dr. Animo!”
A calm yet shadowy voice whispers. “I beg to differ.”
Dr. Animo frantically looks about the cabin. “What? Who’s there?”
A wisp of black smoke swirls over Dr. Animo’s head.
The pale green man stares up in both awe and fear as the shadowy voice whispers its answer. “Someone that can appreciate your…genius.”
And without a sound the swirling mass expands, engulfing the mad doctor.
Notes:
Yay, it's done! Man this took me nearly 2 weeks to finish, Ch.4 and Ch.5 were over 50 pages combined! (I wrote them as one chapter originally and then split it in half). It's also why the ending might seem a bit...rushed at times, I just really needed to finish this. Anyway please leave a review and again have a Happy Holidays!
*So I want to apologize and point out a mistake. After I had finished writing this chapter did I realize that I went over Izuku's ten minute time limit. I had him in his Terraspin form for way too long, oops. I will do better with that next time, promise. That said I hope you still enjoyed the screen time Terraspin had.
*I also apologize for not showing off more Omnitrix aliens, that said I hope Ch.6 will make up for it.
*During fights, I want Izuku to be spitting out one-liners and quips as he fights, but I rather have him develop that habit as the story goes. So, for now his attempts at taunting will be mediocre at best.
*I have exciting plans for most of these characters that appeared during this chapter: Ochaco, Henzu, Dr. Animo, All Might, etc. Some of these plans will begin to play out within the next couple of chapters, but others may take a little longer until you see them playout.
*Also, we are getting really close to all the U.A. stuff so please be patient with me. After these next few chapters I will begin the U.A. Entrance Exam, and then the story really kicks off.
*Finally, I will post Ch.6 by next week. This way I can try to get ahead in some of my writing.
Chapter 6: Rebel Without a Cause
Summary:
Izuku works somethings out with his best friend, Henzu Uuichi, but not everything can be resolved peacefully.
Notes:
Happy New Year!!! To commemorate the start of 2020 I made this chapter a longer one than usual. Warning thou, I tried to make this chapter a bit more emotionally driven, but I still got a lot of alien action in. So, please enjoy.
Important notice in Author's Note at the end of the chapter.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
It’s early in the morning, the sun having just barely risen less than an hour ago giving the sky a beautiful hue of colors and producing a tranquil atmosphere. But a loud clang of metal disrupts this atmosphere as a stream of highly pressurized water blasts apart a trash heap. Scraps of metal and garbage are thrown across a beach splashing into puddles of water while a red, mollusk-like humanoid with green eyes blasts water out from their palms.
“I gotta admit Water Hazard is pretty nifty.” Water Hazard blasts a rusted car, the blast sends bits of trash and broken car pieces into the air. Seeing an opportunity Water Hazard quickly fires out another stream of water, propelling the debris away. “Ha, this is actually kinda fun.”
“It’s NOT supposed to be fun!!”
The transformed Izuku stumbles in place. Watching or more like glaring at him is a steaming Thirteen. The pro hero is rightly pissed about Izuku’s stupid stunt at the mall a few days ago. That said on one hand, the mentor side of Thirteen couldn’t be prouder, but the professional and more responsible side of the hero overrides most of that feeling and replaces it with righteous fury and disappointment.
As a result, Thirteen has been working Izuku’s butt off this entire week during training sessions. So much so that Izuku has passed out on his bed whenever he gets home afterward. His mom actually had to shake him awake in order to feed him dinner and get him to bathe.
However, through all of this, Izuku doesn’t peep a word of complaint. He does have to face the consequences of his actions, if only those consequences didn’t spread to school as well. The attack on the mall or better known as the “Mutant Siege” is the only thing anyone seems to be able to talk about. The media is blowing it up with praises of All Might for his victory against Dr. Animo and his evil army of monsters.
Speaking of the quack, the police are under fire for losing the villain that managed to organize a terrorist attack while holding off the heroes. The police transport vehicle arrived at its destination, but they were in for a shock when they had no prisoner and no trace of where he went. Of course, the media swarmed upon them like flies on a corpse demanding to know how and why the police could let this happen.
And of course, Izuku’s classmates just have to give their opinions on both matters. Most aren’t really concerned with Dr. Animo’s disappearance. Instead they can’t help but find the monsters cool and obviously All Might is always the highlight of any conversation.
All the chatter around the two just hammer on Izuku’s conscious, afterall he did get a good scolding from Thirteen afterwards because of the villain. But what really has him bothered is Henzu. While he was getting checked over at the hospital, Henzu finally texted him back saying that he was fine but would rather be left alone for a while. Figuring that he would get a chance to talk to him at school, Izuku shrugged it off as nothing to worry about. It’s been five days and Izuku’s nerves of guilt and worry can’t seem to leave him be. Apparently Henzu skipped school on Monday and Tuesday and then on Wednesday he outright avoided Izuku. That move alone made Izuku feel absolutely shitty. In fact, he spent all of Wednesday chasing after his friend, but to no avail. Henzu actually ended up ditching class halfway through the day just to get out of interacting with his liar of a best friend.
“Don’t just stand there. Keep it up!”
Water Hazard snaps out of his musing, but since he’s not paying attention, with his hands down he accidently releases a blast of water downward causing water, sand, and a bit of trash so shoot back up at his face. “Ah, sand in my eyes!”
Izuku furiously rubs his eyes until he remembers that he’s a living water gun before firing water at his face. The blast is a bit too strong and it actually knocks him backward.
Thirteen watches blankly shaking their head as Water Hazard splashes himself in the face. Sighing the hero pinches the center of their helmet where their nose would be. “Alright, let’s take a quick break.”
With a heavy sigh, Water Hazard unceremoniously falls back onto his rear accepting the order. He could keep going, but he’s just not really feeling up to it. This predicament with Henzu is really weighing on him, the guilt just won’t go away. Afterall he lied to his face, Henzu probably thinks that he’s been lying to him since they met 4 years back. There’s got to be some way to make it up to him or at least to explain himself.
Water Hazard falls back on the beach grabbing his forehead. ‘Maybe I should tell him the full truth: the watch, the Plumbers, the aliens? NO!!! Bad idea, I promised Thirteen that I wouldn’t tell a soul. Heck, I haven’t even told my mom. Well I mean I did sorta mention my new “quirk” to her, but that’s it I swear!’ By that he means he told her about developing a quirk late in life.
Water Hazard comedically flails about in the sand, unsure about how to go about this situation.
Thirteen can’t help but find the alien flailing in the sand a bit odd. Sensing that something else is bothering their young protégé. “Hey, are you feeling up to this today?”
Water Hazard springs up, sitting up straight. “Wha?! Of course, I am!”
Thirteen isn’t convinced. “No. You’re not.”
It almost seems like the watch agrees with Thirteen because it coincidentally times out then and there. Rather than argue Izuku blinks before slouching down in silent defeat seeing no point in continuing to argue.
Thirteen takes a knee trying to be at eye level with the youth. “You want to tell me what’s bothering you?”
Izuku glances away, as if in deep thought, though he probably doesn’t know what to say.
“Midoriya.”
Izuku doesn’t turn to look.
Understanding that Izuku’s not going to participate in the conversation, positions themselves as to appear a bit more relaxed but still holding their attention on the boy. “I understand if you don’t want to say anything to me, but it’s not good for you to keep your feelings pent up.” Izuku’s head turns slightly. “Whatever’s bothering you, you need to confront it, say what’s on your mind, do what you have to, do what feels right. Okay?”
Izuku nods, accepting the advice. “Okay.”
Thirteen nods. “Good,” Thirteen pushes themselves off the ground. “let’s call it early today. Why don’t you get ready for school in the meantime?”
Izuku doesn’t respond, allowing the soft breeze of the ocean to calm him but yet one can tell that he’s uncomfortable, not because of the soft wet sand he’s sitting on but from something internal.
Assuming that they won’t get an answer Thirteen turns to leave.
“Thirteen.” Thirteen turns and is greeted by a pair of emerald eyes staring back at them. “Thank you. For everything.”
Thirteen smiles, and even if it’s behind their helmet, Izuku can sense that they’re smiling. “You’re welcome. Just keep at it, the Entrance Exam will be here before you know it.”
Izuku raises his left fist and gives his mentor a curt nod. “Right.”
And with that Thirteen turns to make their commute to U.A. ‘This boy has a lot of growing to do. Not just with his skills but mentally and emotionally as well…I can only imagine what he’ll become.’ Thirteen looks up at the awakening sky with a faraway look in their eyes as they reminisce about the past. There are still some stars lingering above, not yet having been outshone by the sun. ‘He’s just like you, senpai.’
As Thirteen heads off for work, Izuku takes a minute to think about his options. ‘I need to confront whatever’s bothering me…’ Maybe he should tell Henzu? Afterall Henzu’s been nothing but honest with him even when telling him to give up his dream, he does it not out of spite or prejudice, but because he cares. And it’s an insult that he’s not as honest in return. He has to make this right. He will make this right!
‘Today. After school, I’m going to tell him all about the watch. Sorry, Thirteen I know I shouldn’t, but I have to.’
Izuku is back on his feet, watching the sunrise make a full appearance in the horizon. ‘I’ll make this right. I promise Henzu.’
Izuku takes off for home so he can take a quick shower and get some food in his system. ‘Um, maybe I shouldn’t mention Thirteen and the Plumbers…I mean it’s not lying if I don’t say anything. Right?’
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Izuku is practically shaking with anticipation watching the hands on the clock tease his freedom from the classroom. It’s been a painstakingly slow day, so much so that Izuku’s nerves and mumbling has disrupted the class several times throughout the day. Usually resulting in him getting embarrassed, mocked, and/or laughed at by his classmates. Thankfully the one advantage of the slowly paced day was that it gave the nervous wreck of a teen time to think of the best way to tell Henzu about the watch.
Izuku was hugging his backpack ready to just spring out of his desk and make a run for it. If he’s not on top of this, he’ll miss his opportunity. He already knows that Henzu will try to be the first one out of his class, so he’s got to be there immediately.
Finally, after hours of anticipation the bell rings and Izuku doesn’t waste a second. He practically jumps out of his seat, nearly toppling his chair, and sprints the hell out of there. His classmates blink in confusion but don’t pay it any mind, assuming the quirkless weirdo is just being his normal odd self.
Bakugou glares at the door having just watched Izuku book the hell out of there. He tsks figuring it’s not worth his time to chase the nerd down. But a small nagging part of him can’t help but feel the urge to find the useless prick and get some info from him. Don’t think that he hasn’t noticed the subtle changes in Deku: he’s been more confident, not breaking down into a ball of nerves as often, he even looks to be in better health these days. There’s got to be a reason for that right? No way the nerd is doing some kind of training for U.A. That thought alone nearly makes Bakugou laugh out loud. ‘Besides even if he trains his body, there’s no way U.A. will accept a useless fuck like him. Ha.’
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Izuku arrives at Henzu’s classroom, Class 3-E, just after the students started to leave for the day.
There amongst the crowd Izuku can see his friend’s black-hair as he attempts to leave in the opposite direction. Not caring about the others in his way Izuku pushes and budges his way through, throwing out a few apologies here and there.
“Henzu!”
“Henzu!”
‘Dammit.’ It looks like he’ll have to go there. “Henchan!”
Henzu instantly spins around, looking very annoyed. “I told you not to call me that!” The scope of what he did hits him. “Fuck.”
Izuku can’t help but chuckle, calling him “Henchan” never fails to get a reaction. “Henzu. I have some explaining to do.”
Henzu rubs his neck, trying to act annoyed while not making eye contact. “Yeah. Let’s talk somewhere else though.” Henzu eyes dart to his classmates who are sidestepping around them. “Too many ears here.”
Henzu turns and leads Izuku away to a staircase that leads up to the roof.
Once there, the two teens stand opposite of each other with a fair distance between them.
They remain like that for several minutes, while Izuku is literally twiddling his thumbs unsure on how to start. “I, um, I guess I should start with that I’m sorry.”
Henzu doesn’t respond and Izuku can’t gauge his reaction thanks to his black-hair covering his eyes.
Unsure how to continue, and his nerves starting to rise up within him, Izuku figures that he’s got to power through this. “I’m sorry I kept this from you. I’m sorry that lied to you.” He takes a breath, making sure he says all the right things. “And I know that I hurt you by hiding the truth I should have told you right away.”
“Yeah, you should have.”
The response throws Izuku off but he shakily continues. “R-right. And well I want to make amends and do what I should have done from the start.” He’s going to go through with this. Izuku fearfully raises his left hand, displaying the alien watch. “You see this…watch?”
“Hard not to.” Henzu glares at the watch as if it personally offended him. “Let me guess you lied about where you got it.”
“Y-yeah. Sorry. But, um, it's the reason…” Izuku stops, his breathing is shaky, and his body is trembling in worry.
Henzu is clearly losing patience. “The reason?”
Izuku takes a deep breath, now is the time for the truth. “The reason why I have a…quirk.”
Henzu blinks in confusion.
“Truth is…I have always been quirkless.”
“Phft, no you’re not.” Henzu laughs but it quickly dies down to that of a growl. “Dammit, Izuku. I thought you were done with the lies.”
“I am! Just-just let me finish. Alright?”
Henzu tsks. “Fine.”
“About a month ago, after school, I went to Dagobah Beach where I found this sphere, this pod, and inside was this watch.” He taps the watch making sure Henzu is following along. “When I reached in to grab it…it latched itself onto me.” He rotates the watch to show that there’s no clear way to remove it. “And I can’t seem to find a way to take it off.”
‘Not that I want to.’ Izuku thinks briefly. “Anyway, this watch. After I found it, I discovered what it can do. While fiddling with it I activated it and it gave me a quirk…” Izuku makes air quotes when he says quirk. “or quirks if you will.”
Izuku pauses to allow the teen a moment to process the information.
“Wait, are you saying that that watch is the reason why you can transform?” Henzu asks in disbelief.
“Yeah, I know just bear with me.”
Henzu’s eyes narrow, but he nods giving Izuku permission to continue.
Izuku has to choose his next words carefully. After a moment to think he figures that he’s blown his friend’s mind enough and he won’t mention anything space or alien related. “Anyway, I have no idea where it came from or who made it. All I know is what it can do.” He silently begs Henzu for forgiveness, since he once again is omitting some info.
“And that is?”
“It can transform me into nine different forms such as the ones you saw last weekend.”
Henzu’s mind is going at hundred miles per hour as all these new revelations circle through his head. A few memories standout in his mind. “Wait, a month ago? Was that the same day-”
“As the Sludge Villain attack? Yeah.”
“By chance, that hero with the black skin and tentacles was that was you?” Henzu makes hand gestures as to mimic having tendrils on his head and rear.
Izuku, although still nervous, stands a bit straighter feeling somewhat proud. “Yup, and just for the record that form is called Feedback.” he smiles, proud of the name.
“That’s a stupid name.”
Izuku falls over feeling dejected.
Henzu eyes the watch, but now that he understands the full implications of the item, he needs to see it in action. “Show me.”
“Huh?”
“Show me what you can do.”
“Oh, um, not here.”
Feeling a little more confident now, Izuku takes Henzu to his favorite (and only) training site, Dagobah Beach. Once there Izuku doesn’t waste a second, he’s too afraid that if he does, he’ll break into a wobbling nervous wreck, and he transforms into an alien. After a few moments of Izuku demonstrating his form both Henzu and him are laughing their asses off.
“FOUR!!! … Arms, hehe.” Four Arms swings a large heavy pipe right into a microwave like a golfer, sending it flying high into the sky before it curves and crashes down into the ocean.
Henzu is clapping his hands together laughing with joy as he nearly falls from his seat atop of a refrigerator. “Oh, oh, oh, man!”
Izuku cannot describe how happy he is with how Henzu is taking this. Feeling so overjoyed he swings the pipe right into a junk pile blasting the garbage away like a burst of confetti.
“Woah-ho, now that is cool!”
“I know right?” Four Arms drops the pipe. “Check this out.” He falls to the ground, catching himself. With a cocky grin the alien starts doing pushups after every push he removes one appendage until he’s using one hand. “Look, one hand.”
Henzu is in such a good mood that he doesn’t bother calling Izuku out on the lame joke instead he laughs along.
For the next ten minutes or so the two friends take time to make up for lost time. At one point, Henzu absorbs some nearby iron and he lets Four Arms to chuck pieces of scrap metal at him, Henzu in return punches the projectiles breaking them into smaller pieces. Later Henzu, still encased in iron, allows Four Arms to use him like a bat to smash at various appliances: washing machines, fridges, and even a few cars. The two teens are laughing like idiots the entire time as they enjoy their stupidly violent fun. Eventually though Izuku returns to normal and while he finds a comfy spot in the sand, Henzu goes off and comes back with sodas from a nearby convenience store.
The rugged teen returns after a few short minutes. Henzu lazily falls back onto the sand next to Izuku, handing his friend a soda can. “I gotta admit, but that watch was a pretty great find.”
Izuku takes the soda. “Thanks. And I couldn’t agree more.”
The two take a moment to enjoy their fizzy soft drinks as they watch the beautiful horizon. Izuku hasn’t been this happy in a while now, finally he can share this amazing secret with someone, and not just anyone but with his best friend. Maybe he can talk Thirteen about letting Henzu in on the Plumbers and alien stuff, too. That’d be fantastic just imagine them teaming up to fight aliens, robots, and mad scientists! Oh, wait they already did that.
Henzu is also having some fond thoughts: just imagine what they can do with this…wait why think about it? He grins mischievously finishing his soda.
“Hey, Izuku.”
Izuku takes a gulp of his drink. “Yeah?”
“Have you registered the watch-er your…quirk yet?”
Izuku can’t help but feel a little embarrassed that he forgot to do that exact thing. “Oh, um, no not yet.” He was going to wait until he had a good handle on each of his abilities.
“Is that so?” Henzu’s smile turns wicked as he crushes his empty soda can. “Let’s take advantage of that and have some fun.”
“Wha-What?!” Izuku’s eyes practically pop out of their sockets.
“Oh, come on.” Henzu stands up tossing the can to the side. “Let’s go make some trou-…fun, let’s go have some fun. I mean it’s not like you’ll get caught.”
“Wha-What a-are you saying?”
“Let’s ditch this literal dump and continue our reunion! It’ll be great, it’ll be you, me…and possibly the cops.” He throws in the last part as an afterthought.
“What?!”
Not acknowledging the greenette, Henzu continues. “Come on, Izuku! You already bailed on me once before.” For a moment, Henzu’s eyes glaze over with spite. He gestures at his wrist, Izuku understands that he’s indicating to the watch. Izuku’s shoulders slump as guilt once again overcomes him. “Just go along with this. Just, think of it as you making it up to me.”
Izuku is thrown for a loop. On one hand he still feels guilty and thus he has to do more to make up for his mistake. On the other, this can turn out really badly for him in the end. But he owes him, he’s done so much for him, he has an obligation to make amends.
Henzu’s smirk widens. “So, what do you say?”
“I…I guess it wouldn’t hurt.”
Henzu ecstatically claps his hands together in victory. “My man!”
That doesn’t make Izuku feel better in anyway. ‘Something tells me that I’m going to regret this…’
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“Henzu, why are we here?”
The two teens currently find themselves within the confines of a local grocery store hidden by the freezer section. There’s nothing too spectacular about the store, it’s perfectly normal with no signs of trouble. The only things out of place are them amongst the small crowd of shoppers bustling across the various aisles.
Henzu is leaning against the wall with his arms crossed. “Relax man, don’t worry about it.” He pushes himself off the wall and slings an arm over Izuku’s shoulders. “Just do as I tell ya and it will all workout.”
Somehow that only makes Izuku feel worse. The blood is gone from his face, and tears threaten to leak out. Something’s not right here, Izuku’s been dragged into Henzu’s…schemes before and none of them ended well. Sure, nothing too terrible took place, but it was always murder on his spirit.
Henzu releases the nerved racked Izuku, clapping his hands together. “Alright, first order of business. Go ahead and transform!”
Sighing in submission Izuku activates the watch and transforms. Luckily their location is secluded enough that no one notices the flash of green light.
The morphed Izuku lightly knocks his red shell. “I call this guy Water Hazard.”
Henzu’s smile widens. “Cool, so I assume he works with water.”
Water Hazard nods. “You guessed it; in this form I can fire out high pressurized water from my palms.”
Henzu’s eyes flash with opportunity. “Really? Alright, go ahead and spray the floor.” He gestures towards the freezer aisle.
Water Hazard tilts to the side; why the hell would he do that? “Spray the floor?”
“Yeah, give it a good wash.” Henzu slaps Water Hazard’s back, shoving him forward.
Izuku takes note of how the slap didn’t hurt him, thanks to his exoskeleton.
Anyway, Water Hazard shrugs. “Um, okay, not sure what the purpose is, but okay.”
He walks forward, before squatting down, and placing both hands onto the floor. Water Hazard looks back up at Henzu, silently asking if this is okay. To which Henzu silently replies with a confident yes.
Taking a deep breath, Water Hazard releases a stream of water against the floor. The pressure is low enough not to make too much noise but high enough that a large puddle of water starts to flow through the aisle.
When a good layer of water has spread across the tile, Izuku cuts off the flow of water. “Now what?”
Henzu laughs to himself. “Now we wait.”
‘Wait? Wait for what exactly?’
Izuku would soon get his answer. A group of shoppers obliviously march through the soaked aisle and the result is immediate. The shoppers begin to slip, fall, and crash into the hard-wet floor. Their carts are flung forward causing them to crash into shelves and/or each other spilling their contents of food products across the aisle. It’s a huge mess and the screams and yelps of the victimized shoppers just add to the total chaos especially as employees of the store run over to check the situation only to end up slipping across the tile themselves.
All the while Henzu is laughing his ass off. He’s brought to tears and his gut is hurting from how hard he’s laughing. “Ha, this is great! Hilarious! Hahahahaha! Look at them all! Hahahaha!”
Meanwhile, Water Hazard’s reaction couldn’t be more different to his companion’s. ‘This is awful! Those poor people, I have to help th-’ Just as he’s about to move a strong hand pushes down on his shoulder.
Turning around, Water Hazard stares up at a smirking Henzu; who somehow was able to recover quickly from his laughing hysteria.
“Just relax, man.”
“But Henzu-”
“Seriously dude, it’s alright. It’s not like we’re committing a crime.”
“But-”
“Come on, just let this one go. Afterall,” Despite his smile Henzu’s expression turns shady. “you owe me, Izuku.”
Water Hazard freezes. He’s right, he caused Henzu a lot of grief. So maybe just this once, he’ll let it go. That of course is easier said than done.
The poor victims of their prank finally manage to compose themselves and begin to recover. Seeing that the fun is over Henzu takes off for the exit with a large grin on his face. Water Hazard shyly yet hastily chases after him, not wanting to be left behind.
Henzu leads Water Hazard out and away from the store.
Henzu’s smile never fades as the duo enter the main downtown area of Mustafu. They pass by various people as they go about their day. “That was hilarious!”
Water Hazard catches up to the delinquent. “No, it wasn’t! That was awful, I can’t believe I caused that. Those poor people I bet they hate me. They must be covered in bruises, someone really could have gotten hurt, and we could have been caught! I really hope no one finds out about this-”
Not wanting to let Izuku’s muttering storm to strengthen Henzu cuts him off. “Dude chill out. No harm was done, trust me.”
“Are you sure?”
“Hell yeah.”
“Oh…that’s good.” He’s not convinced.
The two weave in and out of waves of people.
“Don’t let this get you down. We’re just having some fun after all. Besides, technically, we’re not doing anything illegal since you’re technically not using a real quirk.”
“I…guess that makes sense.” Still doesn’t feel right though.
“It makes complete sense. Now let’s head out.” Henzu turns and starts to cross the street.
Water Hazard stops to watch him. “Head out? To where?”
Henzu makes it across and spins around, smiling. “Anywhere that we can have some fun,” He turns around and continues walking with a smirk. “and stir up some trouble.”
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And stir up trouble they did. As it turns out the prank at the store was just the beginning.
After Izuku transformed back into human, Henzu lead him to Tatooin Station. The place was packed with people commuting home and while others waited for their trains, they enjoyed themselves at one of the many food stalls and vendors.
For most it was a rather quiet afternoon but that couldn’t be said for others. Since a gang of Dittos were running around causing trouble by committing pranks on poor unsuspecting commuters. Henzu assigned each Ditto with a different prank ranging from tying shoe laces to elaborate schemes.
For example, Henzu pressured a duo of Dittos to drop banana peels across various areas. One Ditto lazily tossed the peels around while the other Ditto ate so many bananas that his stomach expanded.
Another pair of Dittos each stood at opposite ends of a hallway with a rope between them. They pulled the rope at the same time, tripping over a wave of oncoming people. The Dittos ran off before anyone could spot them. One Ditto found the whole thing very amusing, but the other clone was quick to reprimand him.
Other Dittos ran about tipping over trash cans, placed gum on top of water fountains, a group of clones poured paint atop a group of people, and one copy even made a stink bomb and threw it into the middle of a crowd… admittedly some of the Dittos started to enjoy themselves a little too much; prompting Izuku to take a mental note to ask Thirteen if Ditto’s clones can have slightly altered personalities. All the while the original Ditto cowered in shame next to Henzu, who was absolutely enjoying the show. Izuku was just happy that because of the huge crowds of people no one was really able to notice the little aliens running around… hopefully.
Afterwards at a nearby road crowded with more commuters a huge whirlwind swept through the street stopping people in their tracks as they braced themselves. Unfortunately, many of their loose belongings such as cash, papers, hats, trash, and anything else that wasn’t tied down were blown off their person.
If any of them had looked up, they would have been surprised to see a flying turtle shell hovering above them. A terrified Terraspin quickly disappears over the buildings allowing everyone a reprieve. Many of them are disheveled as they try to gather their things and clean themselves up. At the same time, Henzu casually strolls up and snatches up anything of value he finds on the ground: money, cards, he even found an expensive watch.
Later at a local beach many beach goers are screaming in fear as they flee towards their cars. A depressed, and slightly insulted, Ripjaws watches them from the water. Henzu had him swim around and bare his fangs at a few swimmers. Speaking of that devil, Henzu was busy scavenging through everything that was left behind by the beach goers.
After that last incident Henzu really started to push the limits of how far he could push Izuku into doing what he wants.
He took Izuku to a junkyard and had him fight off some thugs as Four Arms. He was nice enough to allow the morphed Izuku to disguise himself, albeit with a big blanket that he used as a cloak. The fight was less of a fight and more of Four Arms throwing the thugs around, one of them managed to hit him with a bat but it split in half when it collided with the brute’s tough red hide. The whole time Four Arms is profusely apologizing for his actions. Henzu of course was digging through the guys’ hideout for “merch” and “goods”.
They then went across town to a storage facility for a video game company. There the black-haired delinquent got Grey Matter to hack the security system and allow them access. The whole time Izuku let his worries and fears heard, but Henzu expertly persuaded him to see this through and he promised that he wouldn’t take anything; he just wanted to checkout the newest games coming in. The tiny alien somehow bought the act, mainly because his worries clouded his judgment, but he remained outside while Henzu browsed the large crates and boxes. As they left, Grey Matter hopped a ride on the taller teen’s shoulder; from up on his perch he could have sworn that he saw Henzu tuck something away into his pocket something that said Sumo Slammers or something on it.
Finally, the “partners” in crime made their way to an arcade. There Feedback used his tendrils to hotwire the rows and rows of arcade machines and games causing them to spark to life and shoot out a torrent of coins, so much so that the aisles were flooded with the stuff. Henzu was nearly swimming in quarters as he used a trash can to scoop up the loot.
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Izuku is exhausted both physically and emotionally; this is all too much for him. Sure, he wants to patch things up with his best friend, but is this really the best way to go about it? This entire day is like nothing he’s ever experienced; he’s never felt so terrible or ashamed of himself until now. And with every task and scheme the seemingly endless pit in his stomach worsens.
And the current setting is not helping. The subway tunnel is cold and damp the only light sources are the dim lamps creaking above their heads. Izuku’s pretty sure that a rat ran across his foot at one point and he doesn’t want to even think about what that gooey substance he stepped in was.
Henzu’s voice pierces through Izuku’s daze. “Alright we’re here.”
Izuku nearly trips as he comes to a halt. Shakily looking up he finds himself in what appears to be an abandoned subway station with several tunnel entrances and a pair of train tracks running parallel to each other. The place clearly hasn’t received too many visitors over the years, yet the train track still look to be in good condition so trains must still be running through here.
“Come on.” Henzu rushes over towards a fusion box and trailing point where a track intersects between the parallel rails.
Henzu places his hands on the fusion box, absorbing the electricity that sparks off his bare arms. When he has enough, he grabs the large trailing point lever charging it up until the train order lights turn on and the lever shifts. At the same time the tracks clank in place diverging the tracks into a single point.
Izuku looks between the tunnels unsure about what’s going on. “What are you doing?”
Henzu smirks. “A cargo train that’s supposed to be carrying a shitload of gold is supposed to be coming down this track.”
Izuku’s stomach drops. “And?”
“And so, when it crashes into the oncoming subway train…Boom! Instant payday! You’ll transform into that XLR8 guy, grab the gold, and get us the hell outta here.”
“What?!” Clear panic rings through Izuku’s voice. “No! No way. I’m not going through with this.” Henzu can’t be serious. Taking quarters from an arcade is one thing, but a train heist is something else entirely… Wait. Did he say subway train? No.
“Henzu… the subway train… is it…” The question dies in his mouth. It can’t be true, it can’t.
“Don’t you worry about that just worry about your part.”
Izuku’s breathing becomes heavy and despite the cold of the tunnel he’s starting to break into a cold sweat. “Part?”
Henzu, sensing Izuku’s hesitation, decides to divert his attention. “After this we’ll be square.” Izuku is so shaken he struggles to come up with a response, but his eyes turn towards the taller teen. “Look at it this way when this is over all will be forgiven between the two of us, he’ll be set for life, and no one will ever find out about this.”
But they’ll know… he’ll know… How can he live with himself after this? Henzu has always been… rough, but he’d never intentionally hurt anyone.
That’s a lie, he’s obviously not against hurting others. He steals, he hurts, and he doesn’t care about the consequences of his actions.
Izuku’s legs are shaking, his cold sweat has become worse, and the tunnel seems so dark and cold now. The shadows crawl up towards him ready to devour him into despair and agony. He tries to speak but a terrified choke squeaks out instead. He has to say something, do something. He can’t let this happen!
A single word manages to escape his lips, it’s more or less a whisper but nonetheless it is audible. “No.”
Henzu’s smile disappears and the spark of mischief in his eyes are gone and replaced by that of malice.
He can’t bear to look at Henzu’s face. “I… I can’t do this… it’s wrong so wrong. People can get hurt, can be killed. And… if I want to call myself a… hero one day then I have to stop this.” He takes a shaky breath lifting his head up to face this challenge with a smile just like All Might. “I have to be a hero.” He gives a shaky smile as to show his determination and hoping that Henzu will see reason.
Henzu’s fists ball up, his temper rising to dangerous levels. He’s absolutely pissed off by this second backstabbing! How dare this wimp, this wannabe standup to him? Who in the hell does he think he is? He’s no hero.
The thug snarls. “Shut the fuck up.”
Izuku freezes in place, his pupils dilating out of dread.
“Who the fuck do you think you are, huh? All Might?!” Henzu grinds his teeth trying to hold himself back. If he screws up there’s no way, he’ll have another opportunity like this. “You listen to me you bastard,” He jabs a finger into Izuku’s shoulder. “you owe me.”
Izuku’s fists ball up. ‘No, I don’t. I’ve done more than enough, you’re just… taking advantage of me… And I won’t stand for that.’ He leers up at the taller teen. “I don’t owe you any-”
“YES, YOU DO!!!” Henzu roars out in fury.
Izuku stumbles backward not expecting that response.
“You owe me you piece of shit! And I’m not just talking about these favors.”
Izuku’s breath hitches in surprise.
“You owe me for defending you from that living pile of trash, Blasty. You owe me for hanging out with you.” Henzu’s rage is so toxic that he’s shaking even though his muscles are tense. “You owe me,” Through his black strands of hair he locks eyes with Izuku. “for making me trust you! And calling you a FRIEND!!” Henzu grabs his head, throwing it back as if in defeat. “In this world… everything is give and take. No one really cares for others. Even those stupid heroes are in it for their own gain whether it’s for fame, money, or attention! The only thing you can trust is that people will use each other to get what they want! So, you can’t trust anyone! Yet… you were able to make me trust you!” Within his rage and despair he begins to laugh hysterically as if this is all a cruel joke.
He fell for it again, he can’t believe it. He promised himself that he’d never be betrayed by someone that he trusted again. “Ha…ha…hahahaha!! Ha, it’s hilarious! A quirkless useless wimp with no hope for the future was able to gain my trust, and make me open up to someone…” His expression turns dark once again. “But then you go behind my back and betray my trust. And that… is unacceptable.”
It hurts, the insults hurt but they don’t compare to the pain and regret he has for his friend, his best friend. After all, it really was a challenge for them to even consider themselves as friends.
##########(Flashback)#########
It was the end of the school day for the students of Aldera Junior High. A ten-year-old Izuku Midoriya was strolling down an empty hallway heading towards the principal’s office to drop off some papers that his homeroom teacher asked him to deliver for her.
“Hey, broccoli head!”
“Huh?” Izuku turns his head to a see a taller boy with long black hair jogging towards him with a friendly smile and wave to boot.
The taller boy catches up to Izuku. “Phew, I caught up to you, ha.”
Izuku nervously yet curiously pipes up a question. “C-can I help you with something?”
The taller boy’s expression brightens. “Yeah.” He pats Izuku’s shoulder. “Give me your money.”
“What?!” It’s a shake down?!
The delinquent lightly grabs Izuku’s shoulder. “Yeah, I’m short on cash and I really need some right away.” The delinquent places his other hand against the wall. “Just think of it as giving to charity.” He activates his quirk, absorbing the matter of the wall and thus transforming his skin into the same thing. His grip tightens around the greenette’s shoulder and despite his friendly smile the atmosphere around him is that of danger. “So, do ya think you can help a friend out?”
Izuku’s legs nearly give out from under him. “Some charity!”
And just like that Izuku’s wallet was drained completely dry and the delinquent got away scot free.
Izuku is bent over on the floor his wallet laying below him, a few tears leak from his eyes. “My poor wallet… I hope this never happens again…” He has a feeling that that promise won’t hold true.
Sighing he grabs his wallet along with the papers and continues on towards the principal's office. ‘Who was that guy? And his quirk I wonder what it is? It looked like he absorbed the wall or something. Can he only absorb what he touches? And if so what kind of substances can he absorb? I bet with a quirk like his he can become a very versatile hero.’ An idea strikes him. ‘I know! I’ll ask him, tomorrow… But maybe I’ll just leave my allowance at home tomorrow.’
The following day, Izuku manages to locate the delinquent’s classroom. He asked some of the older students about a guy with absorbing powers and, luckily, they knew who he was talking about, but that doesn’t explain why some of them look scared when he asked about the boy.
Izuku arrives at the classroom, he’s in luck the only soul present is actually the person he’s been looking for.
The person in question is sitting at his desk polishing what looks like to be a wrench. He spots Izuku at the door. “Whadda you want?”
“Oh-um, I, uh.”
The delinquent springs from his chair and casually yet confidently sways towards the smaller student. “What? Want me to shake you down again? Because I will.”
Izuku gives a nervous laugh. “No, no. I huh just wanted to ask you something.”
The delinquent frowns and his eyes furrow. “Oh, yeah? What?”
Izuku begins to sweat and shake with nervousness. “I, um, I’m I-Izuku M-Midroiya and, well, you see, I uh-”
“Spit it out!”
Izuku yelps, shutting his eyes. When there’s no strike he opens his eyes and holds up his notebook, it’s titled “Hero Analysis For The Future #10”. “I uh wanted to ask you about your quirk.” Izuku gives him a cheery smile that would lighten up even the darkest cave.
That was not what the black-haired boy was expecting. “Wha?”
“Yeah, I wanted to learn more about your quirk. So, can you absorb anything or is it more of a specialist type quirk? Would you classify it was an Emitter, Transformation, or Mutation? How-”
“Shut up!!”
Izuku’s mouth clamps shut as his body goes stiff.
The delinquent is angry, the last thing he needs is for some stupid punk to try and get one over on him. “That’s my business and my business alone. The only ones that can know that kind of stuff are those I trust, but guess what? That means nobody. So, do yourself a favor and buzz off.” The boy slings his bag over his shoulder and pushes past Izuku, knocking into his shoulder. The hit shoves Izuku into the door frame. “Don’t bother me again or you’ll regret it.” He marches off leaving a shaken Izuku behind in his thoughts.
‘What the heck was that?! Did I offend him somehow?’ He takes a breath, calming himself back down. ‘You know… he almost seemed sad. I wonder if something happened to him. Maybe I should apologize.’ He tucks his notebook closer to his chest and decides to head home for the day. ‘He did say that those he trusts can know him so maybe that’s what I’ll do. Yeah, I’ll get to know him and then he can tell me all about his quirk!’ With a shit-eating grin on his face Izuku takes off for home so he can come up with the best way to approach the prickly boy.
What followed the next few days was a series of failed attempts to even approach the black-haired boy. Everyday whether during, before, or after school Izuku was doing whatever he could to approach the delinquent. The greenette tried intercepting him at his classroom in the morning but when the delinquent spotted him, he turned right around and left. Izuku stayed there at least until the bell rang, he later returned but found out that the guy had actually ditched class all day.
The next day Izuku tried to locate his target within the cafeteria. The truant was sitting alone at his own table in the corner, Izuku was radiating with glee at the opportunity, but one mean look from the black-haired boy sent Izuku backing away. His sense of self-preservation was actually able to influence him for once.
More and more attempts were made in similar fashions. Occasionally they were a bit more creative for example Izuku straight out tried to ambush the delinquent by hiding in a tree near the school gate. The guy in question easily spotted Izuku and simply kicked the tree causing the smaller boy to lose his grip and crash to the ground. Fortunately, it was a rather short fall thanks to the bushes.
After a bit, the delinquent actually found the attempts somewhat entertaining, but in an annoying type of way.
Finally, on the thirteenth attempt did Izuku’s luck change.
“What’d the hell did you just say to me you bastard?!” Bakugou’s voice rings out from the school yard.
Izuku rounds the corner so he can see what the commotion is all about. A ten-year-old Bakugou and a few of his cronies are standing off with the same delinquent Izuku’s been after. The guy looks confident and really smug, he probably said something to piss Bakugou off. Although that’s not really that difficult to do.
The guy smirks with spite. “I asked, if you farted would an explosion come out of your ass?”
Izuku can practically feel Bakugou’s fuming anger from his position and it nearly makes him pass out from shock.
“You bastard! You’re dead!!” The angry blonde charges his palms bared and ready to strike a powerful blow.
As if on instinct Izuku’s feet take off from the ground. “No don’t!”
The delinquent's grip tightens around his wrench ready to absorb the material.
Bakugou’s hand lunges forward. “Now DIE!!!”
Just before an explosion can be let loose a green blur jumps between the two punks. Bakugou’s blast shrouds the figure in smoke and heat.
The delinquent can’t help but stare in confusion and shock at the kid with burnt green-hair lying on the ground writhing in pain. ‘No way? Why would he do that? Is he stupid or something?’
Bakugou’s scowl hardens when he recognizes the interloper. “Dammit, Deku! What the hell are you doing?! You wanna die or something?!”
Izuku gives the hot-tempered blonde a fearful grin. “Ah, uh, no Kacchan I just sort of moved on my own. Without thinking I, uh-”
“Shut the fuck up, Deku!!”
Izuku screams in response.
Bakugou swings his right arm back for another attack, but the delinquent quickly realizes what’s about to happen.
The angry boy gives his lesser a nasty glare. “Just move it…or die!!”
Another explosion fires out from his palm. But this time when the explosion was detonated someone else had taken the brunt of the attack except this time not a scratch or a burn mark could be found on the back-haired boy’s literal iron hide.
Bakugou is of course outraged as if what he’s witnessing is blasphemy. “What the hell?! That should have burned you to a crisp!! No one can stand up to my quirk!!”
The defiant thug smirks with spiteful intent. “Oh, yeah? Then this must be extremely embarrassing for you? Huh, Blasty?”
“Don’t fucking call me that, you son of a bitch!!”
“I’ll call you whatever the hell I want. Got it, Blasty?” The delinquent’s smirk becomes larger. “Of course, you could always try and make me stop,” He bangs his iron fists together and the sound of heavy metal clanging together echoes out. “but you’ll have to make me.”
Bakugou’s only response is to snarl. Izuku stares up at the iron-hided boy with something akin to admiration.
“Just keep in mind, I’m sure a teacher or two heard your foulmouth and, in all honesty, I could care less about getting into trouble. So tell me,” The delinquent's smile becomes wicked. “which one of us has more to lose here?”
Bakugou’s hands are furiously popping out mini explosions, he so desperately wants to kill this smug faced fucker, but even he has to admit that this guy has a point. If this becomes a drawn out fight the teachers will have no choice but to write him up, and the last thing he needs is a stain on his perfect record.
“Whatever!” Bakugou spins around, stomping away. “If I ever see your stupid face again, I’m going to blast it into a million pieces!” He shouts back as his cronies nervously trail behind him.
The delinquent's skin turns back to normal as he chuckles to himself. “I doubt that.”
With that out of the way that only leaves one more nuisance to deal with.
“So,” The guy looks down on the greenette who has yet to pick himself off the ground. “care to tell me why you jumped in like that? What do you have some kind of death wish that involves a “blaze of glory” type thing or what?”
“Huh?!” Izuku flails his hands in denial. “N-no! Nothing like that. I…just thought that, well, you may have, um, needed some help.”
The guy raises in eyebrow in confusion. This guy is so weird to him. Who in their right mind would take an explosion head on and defend someone he barely knows? He must be after something…maybe. “You’re an odd one, aren’t you?”
Izuku responds with a sheepish laugh. “Yeah, I guess you can say that.”
“So, did you do that just so you can find out about my quirk? For your own interest?”
Izuku stops laughing, staring up at the taller boy with silent confusion and wariness. “N-no. I mean sure that would be a plus but that’s honestly not why I did it. So, no I didn’t do it for my own interest.”
That actually surprises the delinquent. “Come on there’s got to be something you want from me?”
Izuku blinks, he tilts his head down thinking over his response. “Well I guess there is one thing…”
The guy tenses up ready to hear what this kid, this enigma, is after.
“How about…your name?”
For a split second the only noise is that of the wind rolling across the lawn as the black-haired boy deadpans. “HAHAHA!!!”
The sudden burst of laughter makes Izuku cower in surprise.
“Hahaha! Really?!” The delinquent asks between laughs. “You’ve been chasing me all week and you don’t even know my name.” He wipes a tear from his eye. Man, what a surprise this turned out to be. This kid is really entertaining.
Izuku sweat drops. “Yeah, well it’s not like you gave it to me.”
The guy chokes back his laughter. “True.” He stops to think, smiling softly to himself. Maybe this one time someone won’t betray him. But there’s only one real way to find out. “Alright, then let’s start from the beginning.” He reaches his hand down towards the smaller youth. “The name’s Henzu Uuichi.”
Izuku smiles warmly. “Nice to meet you, Uuichi. I’m Izuku Midoriya.” He grabs Henzu’s hand.
“I th-think we’ll be good friends.”
…
“Let’s not get ahead of ourselves…”
########(End Flashback)#######
Izuku cries out, shouting in desperation, he has to make this right! “I am your friend! And as your friend I would never betray you! Did I lie to you? Yes, that was wrong of me, and I’m so sorry!!”
Henzu roars back at him with fury that can outmatch Bakugou’s. “SHUT UP!!! You’re not my friend! You’re just a useless, quirkless… DEKU!!!”
Something inside Izuku snaps. Henzu…how could he? He knows. He knows what that name means. How could he? Izuku feels like part of his heart had shattered, every memory of Henzu replays in his mind like a film, but rather than the usual bright colors and fondness those memories usually bring to him this time they are seen with regret and melancholy.
“Even with that garbage on your wrist you'll never be anything more. Now get out of my way, Deku!!”
There it is again. He called him…Deku… ‘No. I’m not a Deku… I’m not… I’m not!’ All of Izuku’s regret and sorrow has festered to that of anger. “NO!!! I’m not a Deku! I’m Izuku! I’m a…Hero!!”
Henzu rage subsides thanks to being surprise by Izuku’s outburst, but before his rage can spring back Izuku continues his tirade.
“I am a hero, dammit! I’ve fought killer robots! I saved people’s lives! I even saved Kacchan!” The sheer anger and resolve in his eyes are enough to make Henzu take a step back. “And if I want to continue to call myself a hero, then I can’t let you do this, Henzu!”
Henzu is more than a little shocked. This can’t be right? Izuku has never stood up to him before. He’s too much of a coward. He’s weak and quirkless. He’s supposed to be his friend, someone he can trust, but here he is defying him. But if he’s being honest with himself maybe they were never truly friends, hell he had a feeling that it would never last anyway. Remember in this world, it’s every man for themselves and sometimes you have to step over others to get what you want… “Are you really going to get in my way?”
With a determined glare Izuku activates the watch, disappearing in a flash of green light, and having his human form replaced.
More precisely, he’s replaced by a tall alien with its head floating between arch-like horns on its shoulders. It’s black with yellow markings along its crab-like claws, feet, and chest. Izuku has transformed into the alien he calls Lodestar. An alien he first transformed into during his off time a few weeks back. He had wanted to see what other aliens he had, and this one is currently his ninth.
Lodestar looks back at Henzu who is starting to come to his senses after staring at this odd form. He glares, standing tall and with a purpose he gives his answer. “Yes.”
Henzu grinds his teeth together in frustration, it’s official now, they are no longer friends. Deku is no longer his friend. He slams his hand against the track lever, absorbing the steel into his body. “Fine then, just remember,” Using his strength, added with the strength of steel skin, he snaps the lever in half before throwing the broken half away. “you asked for this!”
He charges readying his fists, trying to make the first strike.
Lodestar aims his arm out and an invisible force waves out from his hand. Suddenly the steeled Henzu finds himself flying backwards away from the extraterrestrial. He falls backward and is pushed across the ground until Lodestar cuts off his power.
“It’s not too late to stop this, Henzu.”
Henzu doesn’t respond instead he gets right back up and charges ahead at full speed.
Lodestar pushes him back once again but this time the pulse is so strong that Henzu is flung against the wall. That’s when he realizes this transformation’s true power.
Smirking he gets back on his feet, grabbing the wall, and absorbing the stone instead. “I get it now. That form messes around with magnetism, doesn’t it?”
Lodestar doesn't like that he was able to figure it out so quickly, but he nods seeing no point in hiding the truth at this point.
Henzu chuckles, he’s thrilled with his discovery. Now he knows he can win. “You’re going down Deku!” He charges and this time Lodestar can't stop him. Even with this distance between them not even Izuku can come up with a plan to win.
‘What do I do!?!’ Lodestar is internally panicking. He hasn’t had a lot of practice with this transformation all he can do at most is repel and attract metal… ‘Wait, that just maybe enough.’
Acting fast Lodestar sticks both hands forward allowing a field of magnetism to grow and intensify. The tunnel rattles and even shakes, dust falls and spurts out from the air as nails, screws, metal shards, loose piping, and metallic trash comes flying towards the tall being. ‘Time it just right and now!’ With expert timing Lodestar is able to adjust the pull of the magnetism just before a swarm of metal can lodge themselves into him making the items crowd around him like a large veil of metal.
Seeing that Henzu is close now Lodestar proceeds to step two of his plan: reversing the pull of the magnetic field. Acting fast Lodestar holds himself tight, holding back the energy before releasing a powerful pulse that launches all the metal surrounding him backwards and right into his attacker’s path.
Seeing the wave of scrap and metal flying at him Henzu stops and braces himself. The metallic items crash into him: tin cans harmlessly bounce off, some nails are able to embed themselves into his skin, but they don’t go far, the most damage comes from the bigger pieces of scrap metal and pipes which are able to knock him back.
Henzu growls. “Throwing garbage?! That’s you’re plan?” He flexes his muscles breaking off the nails, thus removing any hindrances. “Is that really all you got?! I thought you were able to fight off monsters and robots? Or was that all just dumb luck?”
Lodestar gives Henzu an offended look. “It wasn’t dumb luck.”
“Oh, yeah?”
“Yes, and I can prove it.” Lodestar points towards the broken track lever.
Henzu warily yet curiously glances over and what he sees makes him gasp out loud. The lever and the tracks have been switched back to their original positions. But how?!
Lodestar must be able to tell what he’s thinking just from his expression. “The final magnetic pulse had enough strength behind it to push the lever to reset the track. Good luck trying to reset it.”
It’s true since Henzu broke the top half of the lever the only part of the lever is what’s encased in the ground, thus inaccessible to him. His plan has failed, there will be no payday today.
Henzu roars out in anger as he charges forward, and this time Lodestar has no time to react. “You bastard!!” His fist slams into Lodestar’s gut making the alien wheeze and bend over in pain.
Henzu flings his knee up striking his former friend in the gut again before raising his elbow and slams it down on his back; Lodestar hits the ground hard. Lodestar groans in pain as he rolls over but before he can pick himself up Henzu pushes him down with his foot, the heavy stone easily pins him down.
Henzu glares down at the altered form of his former best friend. His eyes screaming at Izuku that his betrayal hurt him more than he could ever know. He’s breathing heavily but he refuses to let up his quirk. “You cost me a fortune. You owe me for that.”
Lodestar is able to choke out an answer. “I don’t…owe you… shit.”
That actually makes the delinquent laugh a little. “Ha, tough guy. Look at you, huh?” He jabs a finger at the dial on Lodestar’s chest. “But that tough guy act is a facade, these transformations are nothing but costumes, masks, for you to hide yourself behind. Isn’t that right Deku?”
‘No, that’s not true. This is me…right?’
“The only reason you can do what you can do now, why you can call yourself a hero is because of this thing! All because of dumb luck and by chance you found it at a dump of all places. Ha, fitting since you’re a piece of trash anyway. Now that’s the real you! The real you is useless. The real you is quirkless. The real you isn’t a hero. And this will prove it…” Henzu gives Lodestar a malicious frown as his hand opens up and over the watch’s faceplate.
Lodestar’s eyes widen with worry. “Wait, what are you-”
Henzu cut off, not by a shout or scream, but by a whisper. “You don’t deserve this gift.”
Henzu grabs the dial, activating his quirk. As he tries to absorb the energy, to absorb the watch, and take it for himself green-energy sparks wildly out of control from the alien device.
Lodestar screams out in pain. It hurts, it hurts so bad! But why?! Why does it hurt so much?! It’s as if his heart is being pried right out of him. “Stop it! Stop it!” His cries of pain go unanswered as Henzu continues to tug at the device.
“Come on, give it up.” He groans trying his hardest to pry the device away. “Since you made me lose out on being set for life, I’m going to take this as compensation.” Henzu’s starting to feel it, whatever energy this watch is omitting is finally starting to be absorbed by his quirk, and that makes him smile. “I bet I could get a real pretty penny for it.” He grins crazily, feeling excited as the prospects of what this could mean for him are. “Or maybe I’ll just use it for myself and go on a crime spree. With access to so many powers and my quirk no one would be able to stop me! Not even All Might!!”
Even though he’s in pain, and the green energy has only begun to become more erratic as it discharges from the device, Lodestar is able to speak. “T-that’s…n-not… going to happen, Henzu!!” He can’t let it end like this, he can’t let this villain take the watch for himself, just imagine the harm he’ll do with it. ‘I refuse, I refuse to let this watch fall into the wrong hands. It’s my responsibility as a hero to keep it out of the wrong hands!’
And just like that the sparking dies down and the device becomes silent.
Henzu smirks. “Ha, what was that you were-”
BANG!!! A blast of green energy bursts out from the watch engulfing both combatants. The two boys are flung backwards, and both had returned to their original states. Henzu is now leaning against the opposite wall and a normal Izuku is lying between the two parallel train tracks.
The boys groan in pain, they are bruised, battered, and dirty. They struggle to pick themselves back up, that blast really took it out of them.
Izuku is able to lift himself up before bowing over in pain, clenching his wrist, and struggling to breath. He felt like he was being choked to death suddenly. It must be a side effect from trying to extract the watch.
Henzu meanwhile is able to get on his feet, he’s breathing heavily, and something definitely feels broken. But that doesn't matter, what matters is finishing what he started.
He barely takes a step before a cargo train speeds right past him its whistle howling through the tunnel. Henzu blinks in confusion he also notices that the subway train is running along the opposite track. An important detail sticks out to him, Izuku is trapped between the two trains. The black-haired teen smiles finding this amusing, of course Deku’s luck would put him in a situation like this. He places his hand against the wall, ready for his quirk to take effect.
A moment passes and there is no change, wind whips at his face as the trains continue to zip by. Izuku meanwhile is stumbling about trying to pick himself back up, but failing.
Henzu stares at his hand in confusion, he counts all five fingers, he’s touching the wall. What could be the problem? He thinks for a moment trying to come up with a possibility. Then it hits him like a truck. He. Is. Now. Quirkless. “NOOOOO!!!!”
Henzu slams his hand against the wall trying to get his quirk to work. To see if it’s still there. “No! No! No!! No!! NO!!!” He slams his hand against the cold stone wall. His hand stings and it’s bleeding there’s even a red print of his hand on the wall’s surface now. ‘This can’t be happening. It can’t. Now I’m just like-’ He spins around locking eyes with Izuku through the gaps of the train. Izuku is breathing heavily and staring back at him. ‘I’m just like Deku now.’ That thought alone almost wants to make him fall over and cry, but he won’t he has to get out of here. Now, now Deku is the strong one. Henzu turns around and sees an old sewer drain.
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
Izuku is exhausted he can’t stand much more of this and the watch has timed out for some reason; it’s blinking red and making that annoying buzzing sound as it recharges. He can somewhat see Henzu through the gaps of the train but it’s hard with dust and wind whipping past him. But it doesn’t matter. He will defend himself; he will fight for what he knows is right.
Both of the trains disappear through their respective tunnels leaving Izuku alone in the dark and cold silence. Izuku cautiously scans the tunnel before realizing that Henzu is gone. He left, ran off to save himself, and leaving an exhausted Izuku behind. Henzu has officially turned his back on him and left him behind. And with that, their friendship has officially ended.
It hurts, it hurts more than the cuts and bruises coating his body. Not even the tears that stream down his face provide any relief. Izuku drops to his knees, the tears pour out as he cries out in anguish and grief. “I’m sorry, Henzu! I’m so sorry for ruining our friendship!!”
The only response are the echoes of his own wails of heartbreak from losing the only friend he had.
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
‘Dammit.’
‘Dammit!’
‘Dammit!!’
Henzu’s limping and holding his side, he knew something was broken. He hates this, especially how the tunnel reeks plus it’s filthy, but that’s a given. A few rats scurry about running away from the much larger being.
‘I hate you Deku. I fucking hate you!’ Henzu grips the wall trying to prevent himself from falling over. “Next time I see you Deku you’re so dead!!” His fingers scrape the wall in anger, but he doesn’t expect the sound of shredding metal to accompany the action.
Staring up at his hand Henzu’s eyes widen in shock and amazement. His hand has claws, large sharp claws with webbing, and coated in dry grey scales. Bringing his hand to his face Henzu stares at it trying to comprehend what has happened to him, the rest of him looks normal but his hand is… his hand is… Then he realizes the truth, this glorious truth, and it makes him laugh. He laughs hard with maddening joy. He didn’t notice it before, but he feels the change, he can feel something where his quirk used to be. He throws his head back letting this new found power to invade his entire being: he can feel scales spread over parts of his body, a fin or two stretch out from his elbows, and the sharp jagged teeth only help to make his smile that much more menacing. And why shouldn’t he smile, just imagine what kind of trouble he can get into with this new found gift.
Notes:
So, yeah, that happened. Please leave a review about your feelings and thoughts of the events of Ch.6. How were the alien scenes? Did you see this betrayal coming? Did the emotional scene's work? Please let me know so I can properly adjust and improve my writing accordingly.
IMPORTANT NOTICE: Updates will have longer waiting periods so I may only update every 2 weeks. This is because I had up tp Ch.5 done ahead of time but because of life I've caught up to it already. So, updates will be slower. That said I will try my best to get them pout on a weekly schedule. Sorry, please understand that I'm only doing this so I can make sure that I have a good and well written story to publish. Thank you.
*Quick reminder that Henzu Uuichi, is essentially Kevin Levin from Ben 10, so that should clarify somethings.
*Water Hazard and Lodestar are Izuku's 8th and 9th official alien transformations. However! That doesn't mean he won't be getting more aliens in his arsenal. We will have new ones but it will be a bit of a wait (hopefully not that long).
*I have also planned out when Izuku will be receiving new aliens and how.
*Also, some of you may have noticed that I described Lodestar's powers a bit differently than what he does in the show. That's because I want Izuku to work/train his alien powers rather than be a master in them as soon as he transform into them for the first time. So as time passes on in this story, he will become more proficient with his powers and abilities.
*Look forward to chapter 7, admittedly it will also be more emotionally and character driven but it will still have a good portion of action in it. I will also be using a lesser known Ben 10 character in Ch.7. Any guesses on who? I will also bringing in guest star, Ochaco Uraraka, back for Ch.7. So look forward to next time. If things workout I can have Ch.7 up by next week.
Chapter 7: Lost One's Rojo
Summary:
Izuku deals with the aftermath of losing a friend through his new friendships. However, later when he's accompanying Ochaco Uraraka an unknown villain interrupts their day and causes some trouble.
Notes:
Hey, I'm sorry for being late things have not been working for me as of late. My job had me work seven days in a row and I was really running on fumes near the end, but I tried my best to get this chapter done as soon as I could. This chapter is 54 pages long!!! Holy shit, I think I was a bit too ambitious with this one. I just really wanted a lot of different things to happen, that said I still think I did a good job all things considered. I did have to take a few things out that I will either explore or explain in the next chapter. Either way enjoy Ch.7 it was a bit of a wait after all and you all deserve a reward for your patience.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Things are not going well.
Thirteen is tapping their foot watching as Lodestar struggles to levitate a swarm of swirling metal trash over his head. “Come on, concentrate.”
The sad part is he really is.
“I am.” Lodestar replies impatiently, his arms are shaking slightly from the tension of the magnetic waves he’s producing.
For the last week Thirteen and Izuku have been training on Izuku’s Biosovortian form. Their goal is to get Lodestar to compress his magnetism as to focus in on singular objects rather than generating an entire magnetic field that affects everything in the vicinity.
“You need to focus.”
The swarm of trash shakes violently as the magnetic wave begins to falter. “I’m trying!!”
The magnetic pulse begins to break apart, some of trash manages to get loose and gets flung away. In the end though Lodestar can’t hold it any longer and the hoard of trash comes crashing down onto the beach below.
Lodestar glares at the trash like it personally offended him and in a roar of frustration he releases a magnetic burst that blasts away several trash piles surrounding him.
Luckily, Thirteen happened to be standing by a pile of tires; thus, they were able to use them as a blockade. The pro hero steps out from their hiding spot shaking their head in disapproval.
The alien device blinks red as it does Izuku falls back onto the sand with a humph.
Thirteen strides over as Izuku falls back staring up at the few seagulls flying above, their squawks kind of sound as if they’re mocking him. And they might as well be because Izuku’s progress hasn’t exactly been that remarkable all week, unless you count failing every exercise this week remarkable. All because of the heavy weight on his heart.
Thirteen’s head comes into his view blocking out the seagulls.
“How are you feeling?”
Izuku gives his mentor a look at asks if they’re being serious. “Frustrated.”
“That’s obvious, I meant what’s bothering you?”
Izuku turns his head, he can feel sand grinding against his green locks. “Nothing… I’m just kind of… out of it.”
Thirteen sighs crossing their arms, they’re looking for a real answer. “Be honest with me, Midoriya. I am a teacher after all I can tell that something’s weighing on your mind.”
Izuku’s cheek presses on the sand, he can’t bother to look Thirteen in the eye. “It’s… nothing, really.”
‘He’s lying, anyone can see that. But why? Something must have happened.’
Rather than call him out, Thirteen steps over Izuku’s prone form and sits down next to him. They gaze out of the ocean silently, not speaking a word, just watching as the waves roll across the shore the setting sun gives the view a magnificent hue of color. God this beach would be beautiful if it wasn’t so trashed, but it is getting better thanks to Izuku’s efforts. At least now there are parts of the beach where they can sit on the sand without having to worry about shards of glass and nails.
Izuku lays there waiting for Thirteen to speak. After a moment the teen props himself up, following Thirteen’s line of sight he too watches the ocean.
The two sit in silence gazing out towards the warming light and soft ocean breeze. Izuku inhales the calming smell of the sea letting it ease his frustration away.
Thirteen takes a soft soothing breath releasing all of their tension. “It’s okay to be frustrated, just don’t let it fester.” They wait for Izuku to react before continuing. “You don’t have to tell me what’s wrong, but everyone needs someone to confide in.” Hopefully, this advice will get through to the boy. “Sometimes it’s good to get everything off your chest, to let it all out, and just by talking to someone you can ease your troubles.” Thirteen looks over and finds Izuku watching them with a thoughtful expression. “Do you get what I’m saying?”
The soft wind makes his hair sway as he thinks for his answer. He gets what Thirteen’s saying but honestly, he’s not so sure he can follow through with it. Either way he quietly nods his head.
Thirteen appreciates the answer thou. “Take the weekend off alright? Take it easy and figure out your feelings. It’s never good to let them build up.”
And like that, they are back to enjoying the serene atmosphere.
“Thirteen.”
“Hmp?”
“Thanks.”
“You’re welcome.”
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Inko leans over her plate as to get closer to her son who’s busy fumbling his food around his plate. “How was your day, sweety?”
“Good, Mom.” Izuku states rather bluntly without looking up from his distraction.
“What’d you do today?”
“Train.” There it is again, the uninterested and somewhat annoyed tone, and he’s back to stirring his food around his plate.
Inko’s gaze falls to her own dish feeling rather dejected. “Izuku.” She speaks gently not wanting to upset her dear child. “Is everything alright?”
“Yeah.”
“You are sure? I’m here if you want to talk.”
“I know, Mom.”
With that the two Midoriya’s fall into a sullen silence with only the clink of their plates and utensils making any sort of noise. Inko really looks like she wants to say something, but she hesitates and allows the stillness of the room to overtake them.
An excited smile stretches across her face as a great idea pops into her head. With an excited smile she stretches her hand out, she activates her quirk, and a few moments later two letters float towards her from the living room. She grabs the letters from midair. “These came in today.” She holds out the letter that hasn’t been opened out towards Izuku. “It’s a letter from your father.”
That gets his attention, although he doesn’t show it, his eyes shift towards the letter observing the crinkled edges and somewhat faded scribble of their address.
“He actually sent two but this one is for you. I’ve already read mine, oh, that man he’s such a charmer.” Inko holds the side of her face reminiscing about the good old days when they were both young.
For some reason the disappointment in Izuku’s heart grows as he hesitantly grabs the letter. ‘At least she has fond memories of him.’
“It’s such a shame his job sent him away for so long, it’s been a decade now.”
‘Yeah, a shame and convenient that his “job” pulls him away just after the doctor identified me as quirkless.’
“But I guess that’s to be expected when you work for the Self-Defense Force.”
‘Of course, he has to “work” for his family rather than be here with them.’
“I’ve already written my response; I even mentioned how hard you’re training now a days. He’ll be so proud.”
‘Would he?’
“Oh, I know you, should tell him about your quirk finally awakening!”
Izuku’s breath hitches and his grip nearly tears through the letter.
“That’ll really surprise him, it sure did for me. To think you were just a late bloomer. I’m so happy for you Izuku!”
Even though he appreciates the sentiment, he can’t deal with this right now. Izuku springs out of his chair, startling his mom. “Thanks for dinner, Mom.”
“Oh, uh, sure honey.”
Without looking at her face to gauge her reaction he unceremoniously grabs his plate before trudging off for the kitchen.
Inko is internally panicking. Did she upset him somehow? “Is everything okay?”
“Yeah…” Izuku dumps out his leftovers and heads for the sink. “I’m just tired.”
“Oh, well, alright.” Inko grabs her plate and follows. “Why don’t you just leave the dishes there, I’ll take care of it.”
Izuku nods and walks off for his room. “Alright.”
Inko watches in quite remorse as Izuku walks away from her, his head hung low, and the letter being harshly crumbled into his fist. Clenching towards her heart she turns to stare longingly at an old photo hanging on the wall. It’s one of her husband who’s holding up a baby Izuku in his arms. She holds up the photo staring longingly for her significant other, Hisashi Midoriya.
She takes a moment to examine his handsome features, she can’t help but notice how much her boy has grown to look so much like his father. The resemblance is uncanny the main differences obviously being age, Hisashi’s hair being black, their eyes with Hisashi’s being brown, and the fact that Izuku’s face is much rounder, but that’s as far as the differences go. They both have similar freckles speckled on their cheeks, unruly hair that can’t be tamed no matter how much Inko tried to comb it back, and that special glint in their eyes that just radiates cheerfulness and goodwill.
Inko strokes a finger across her husband’s smiling face, hoping that he’d return. “Oh, how I wish you were here. You would know what to do.”
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Izuku falls back leaning against his bedroom door, the room is dark since he doesn’t bother to turn on the lights. His mind mixing between anger, regret, and depression and all of those feelings are now focused in on the wrinkled letter.
Izuku lumbers over to his closet, pausing slightly he slowly swings open the door. There’s nothing out of the ordinary in there, except for Izuku’s collectable All Might hoodies. However, tucked in the corner behind a strategic pile of laundry is a little shoe box. Getting onto his knees Izuku digs it out from its tomb. The box is old and covered in dust but despite that it actually has some weight to it as the contents shift inside.
He holds the letter his finger playing with the folds but there’s no real attempt to open it. “Proud of me, huh?” He gently takes off the lid revealing a stockpile of old unopened letters each one written out to the same person and address. “I have to wonder if that’s even true.”
He has no intention of ever opening or answering those accursed letters; they’re just sad attempts for that man to say he has some sort of connection with him. But they don’t. It’s even gotten to the point that Izuku doesn’t even register the few photos that there are of the man. But why should he? He took off a little after reality tried to crush his hopes and dreams. He’s just using work as an excuse to not admit that his own son is a quirkless weakling.
He drops the letter, adding it to the ever-growing number of unread questions, stories, and possible connections with his father.
With the deed done, Izuku places the box back into its hiding place and hoping that his mother never finds it.
Izuku scoffs at himself. ‘God, I never learn.’ After all, lying and keeping secrets from those he cares about is what got him into this state of mind to begin with. Just look at the secrets and lies he told. He lied and betrayed his only friend, he lied about his “quirk” awakening late to his own mother, he even has the gull to keep the truth of it all away from her even now. ‘Maybe the universe just hates me or something.’
Things after all have been pretty shitty all week and not just from his lack of progress during training but at school too. His grades haven’t been too hot this week, but that’s the least of his concerns. What’s really weighing on him is Henzu’s absence. He never showed up for class the entire week; Izuku even contacted Henzu’s foster home but they didn’t seem too concerned since Henzu rarely spends any time there. He tried calling him too but Henzu’s phone is no longer in service, so no dice. In full honesty, he’s not going to put in a police report for several reasons: 1. He already betrayed Henzu once so he can’t bear to rat him out to the police. 2. Henzu has some experience with avoiding police, that should have been a red flag, but he was the only one that was nice to him. And 3. It may draw unwanted attention to himself and more importantly the alien watch. So, he has even more secrets and lies to keep.
‘God, I have a problem.’ I guess this is how things are going to be from now on. He grips the watch remembering the choking feeling of Henzu trying to pry it from his chest. ‘I’ll just have to deal with these issues myself.’
*Ping*
Izuku’s eyes snap up at attention his eyes quickly scanning the room. But there’s no other soul in sight. “What was that?”
*Ping*
That ping is familiar to him. “Oh… it’s my phone.”
Yup, it was a text that snapped him out of his daze. There are two texts on his phone: the first text was a simple greeting with Ochaco stating that it’s in fact her contacting him. The second text was her explaining how she wants to explore more of Musutafu, but she’d like someone local to guide her and the only person she knows is him.
Izuku is not sure how to respond. Should he say he’s too busy? He’s not available? No. Those are just more excuses and lies, he can’t be doing this for every single thing. Besides, it might be good to get out of the house for a while. Especially because his mom is going to be even more attentive to him after his episode.
After weighing the pros and cons Izuku decides to accept the invitation.
Ochaco is quick to respond with a resounding Great and smiley face emoji.
They agree to meet up tomorrow at the train station.
That makes Izuku sweat a little, his mind flashing back to previous events.
Once all of that is set, Izuku flops onto his bed staring up at the blank ceiling. Maybe he should grab a new All Might poster while he’s out he has a great space for it.
Trying to distract himself Izuku pulls up his phone to read up on some of the latest hero activities.
‘Huh, looks like Kamui Woods is chasing after a thief that raided a hero commission transport vehicle. I wonder what was inside.’
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“Damn that was close.”
A shifty silhouette props open a window of an abandoned warehouse that contains nothing but large crates, some heavy machinery, and a number of pests scurrying about the dust and grime.
They swing their leg over the ledge and into the warehouse from atop a pile of crates and from there they jump down to the ground.
This person approaches a single table, the only item that isn’t covered in a layer of dust, and conveniently has the only light source hovering above it as the only working lamp swings above it.
They are a woman, one in their early twenties, she has dark maroon hair and pale skin. Her lips have been applied with black lipstick that matches her brown jeans and gothic black jacket with its spikes and skull insignias on each shoulder. Her piercing and the spikes of her jacket sheen in the light. On her side is a large brown duffle bag which is clearly holding something large and bulky.
“Ha, oh, Rojo you’ve done it again.” Rojo praises herself, as she drops the heavy bag onto the table letting it clang against the hard metal surface.
She really did a good job: she not only was able to rob a heavily armored transport vehicle from “the” hero commission, but she managed to escape scot free. Well mostly her favorite blaster got scrapped by that human tree guy; damn, it was a costume job, too.
“This thing better have been worth it.” Rojo opens the bag before lifting up the contents.
She glides her hand across the slightly bent surface of the heavily damaged hover drone. The drone is heavily damaged, its head is bound to its body by wires, an insectoid arm dangles from its side, and the outer shell is heavily dented.
Apparently, it’s part of one of the rumored robots that attacked some mall along with some giant monsters or whatever. The sight of the item makes Rojo’s heart pump, this will hopefully give her the edge she needs. For you see, it’s all part of her quirk.
Her quick, Attachment, allows her to attach technology to her body. It does have its limits for example just because she attaches a phone to her arm doesn’t mean she can use it at will, she would still need to physically type into the phone to make a call. She’s also limited, she can only attach tech to the surface of her body and even then, she has to be sparse with it or it’ll hinder her maneuverability.
That’s kind of why she’s upset about losing her blaster. She had it embedded into the top of her arm and a special activation switch on her hand that acted as a trigger. This way she wouldn’t have to be holding the gun, and she keeps her hands free. But Kamui Woods latched onto the blaster, thus forcing her to release it so she could escape.
That’s why this score better be worth it. Apparently, this robot was able to hold its own against the mutant monsters and sure it may have gotten obliterated by All Might but so what? It’s not like she plans on taking him on any time soon. Either way, if she can figure this thing out, she might just change her luck. But first she has to make sure it can actually power on.
She lugs over a car battery and after some tinkering, she’s able to successfully attach the robot to the battery.
“Come on. Come on.” She tries and tries but the robot just won’t activate. “Dammit!” Rojo yells out in anger slamming her fist onto the table, denting it slightly. By some miracle the orange-red eyes blink to life as electricity surges through its components. “Yes! Haha!”
The drone makes strange sounds as it tries to move and access its missing limbs.
Rojo grabs and pokes at it. “Now what is it you can do?”
Rojo watches curiously as the drone shakes and shifts, and then suddenly, without warning, wires and cables burst out from its body and latch onto Rojo’s arms and torso.
“Woah, what the hell!?” Rojo tries to step away but the drone refuses to release her. “Fuck, let go of me!” She struggles to free herself as the cables tighten around her. Acting on instinct, she activates her quirk, Attachment. The effect is immediate, suddenly the entire drone seemingly jumps up and latches onto her like a metal parasite.
Rojo panics screaming and flailing her arms about to get the thing off of her, but all attempts fail. The husk of the drone seems to meld onto her body, she can feel as electricity and a powerful headache strikes her making her scream out in both pain and shock. The cold strange metal claws at her skin as it imbeds itself. Finally, after a few grueling minutes the pain is over.
Rojo is freaked out, breathing frantically, holding herself up against a crate trying to regain herself.
She grabs her head, trying and failing to stop a migraine. “Glad that’s ov-AH!” Her hand! What the hell is wrong with her hand!? It’s not her normal pale tone but dark red with long metallic fingers that look like they can tear through a car. After some internal panicking she rushes over where she knows there’s a mirror. She finds it behind a junked forklift, she throws off the blanket that’s covering it and what she sees nearly sends her jumping back in fright.
It’s her she’s looking at, she can tell right away, but she’s drastically different from before. Her entire body has been transmuted to a shade of red, she has not two but four red cybernetic eyes, and strange red orbs protruding from her shoulders. Running along her arms are sharp gleaming blades. She’s buffer too, she can feel how much her muscle mass has increased so much so that her jacket and pants have torn around her arms and legs, even her feet have expanded to the point that they ripped through her boots.
“What the hell?” She grabs at her face trying to comprehend what had happened to her.
Then it hits her, and it makes her smile. This had turned out better than expected, she’s been upgraded. For once her quirk was actually useful and whatever this robot was it has power strange unexplainable power. And she loves it.
“This is so great!” She eyes the forklift, smiling she slashes at the vehicle creating a huge gash into its side while also pushing back. “This is so goddamn great! I wonder what else I can do.” In response the red orbs on her shoulders move upward, propped up by metal limbs, the orbs glow red before beams of light shootout burning away at part of the ceiling. Rojo grins with mad amusement as she traces the scorched marks left behind. “With this power, I can get my biggest score yet!” She glides her long claws long body as the orbs retract themselves. “Look out Japan because Rojo’s going to have some fun.”
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Izuku is so not ready for this. Currently he’s in downtown Musutafu waiting by a water fountain surrounded by crowds of people. He’s fidgeting in place pulling at his collar, his hands are clammy with nervousness. If it weren’t for the fact that he’s in public right now he would be having a full-blown meltdown. The reason being is a girl. It didn’t hit Izuku until this morning that he had agreed to meet up with a girl; he agreed to take Ochaco out by himself, with nobody else, in public.
Man, he’s so nervous, so much so that he begins to spout out his concerns under his breath. “Holy shit this is happening. Should I have combed my hair? Did I over dress? I mean it’s just a black polo and khakis, but still. Oh, no! What if I’m underdressed!? What do I do!? What do I say!? I don’t even know where to take her. What would we even talk about? Maybe about heroes… the weather … life changing questions!? And-“
“Hi, Deku.”
“Ahah!” Izuku nearly falls backward in surprise.
Ochaco Uraraka looks a bit worried, Izuku’s response kind of startled her. “Are you okay!?”
Izuku tries to save some of his already little dignity by standing up straighter and fixing the hem of his shirt. “Y-yeah, I-I’m all good.”
He takes a moment to examine her. She’s wearing a lavender shirt with a teal skirt and black leggings. Along with pink converse and a matching drawstring bag on her back.
“That’s good.” Ochaco leans forwards smiling up at him, pumping her fists.
‘She’s so close!’
“Thanks again for accepting my invitation.”
“O-oh, it was no problem.”
“Yeah, well, it would have really been boring by myself so thanks anyway.” Ochaco claps her hands together, smiling with anticipation. “Now what do you say for getting this show on the road?”
“Oh, uh, yeah sure. Let’s do that.”
Ochaco’s smile brightens in appreciation. She twirls around and heads for the nearest shop that had caught her interest.
Izuku tails behind her before matching pace with her.
She gives him a cheery grin to which he returns in a similar fashion, albeit sheepishly. ‘Maybe this won’t be so bad afterall.’
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“Master!” One of the humanoid drones in red and black armor reports to his ship’s commander. Who is still regaining his health from their battle. “We are receiving a combined signal from the planet.”
The commander takes a minute to breathe through his breathing apparatus. “Explain…”
“One of the drones has somehow merged with one of Earth’s lifeforms.” The drone types away into a table like device, pulling up more information. “We are receiving one combined signal and that signal is on the move.”
“Hmmmm. An interesting…development. Perhaps one head…is better than two.”
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“Look out!”
“What is that?!”
“Ahhhhh!!”
The sounds of lasers being fired out in tandem can be heard emanating from within the jewelry store. It’s a small store located in a less populated part of town, which means not a whole lot of heroes patrol this area thanks to the lack of news coverage. And that is unfortunate for some of the local shops such as this one.
People flea in fear from the jewelry store as laser fly at them, thankfully none connect.
Rojo is grinning, she’s very happy with how easy this job is. All she had to do was give a mean glare to make them runaway, albeit the lasers shooting out from her shoulder-blasters did help.
She aims one of the lasers, protruding from her shoulder, down at the glass display. She fires out a laser melting away the top part of the display case. Her smile widens as she reaches in and grabs the jewels inside. She opens her palm admiring the very expensive gems, wondering how much they’ll fetch for. Her thoughts are interrupted when a high pitch sonic wail pierces through her head. Rojo groans in pain holding her head before falling to her knees.
The high pitch sonic wail ceases but is replaced by baleful voice. “Listen to me… whoever you are…”
She wobbles as she tries keeps to pick herself up while still holding her aching head. “Where… are you? Who are you?” She’s able to fight through the receding pain so she can stand back up. “How’d you get in my head?!” She frantically observes her surroundings looking for the culprit. Looks.
“No questions!” The voice screams out in irritation. “You are here to serve me.”
That makes Rojo scowl. “Guess again. I work for me and only me!”
The high pitch sonic wail returns but this time is far worse. The wailing is louder and a shock of pain courses through her entire body causing her to keel over, screaming out in pain. Mercifully the shocking stops rather quickly, but the threat is clear.
“You now possess power you could have never imagined.” The voice continues to echo through her ears. “Fulfill my demand and I will give you even more power, more technology for you to equip… However, if you fail me then I will turn you to dust!”
The proposal is tempting. This voice, whoever it is, must be the creator or owner of that robot she stole. And look at what one broken drone did to her, what would happen if she got a hold of more tech just like it. She could be unstoppable… “So, what do you want?”
She can almost hear the voice smirk despite not seeing their face. “Only one thing. A piece of valuable technology missing from my possession. And luckily you are already programmed to find it.” In that moment, a visual display like that of a video game appears in her vision. It already appears to be tracking the item in question. “Now go and get me my Omnitrix.”
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“Awe, what a cute little playground.”
Ochaco gushes at the public playground just a few yards from their perch on a park bench. The recreational area is decently sized with trees, large playground sets, a volleyball court, gazebos, and even a pond for ducks and fish.
Izuku figured that he should show Ochaco some of Musutafu’s main attractions. And what else than the local park?
Izuku visibly relaxes in his seat. “Yeah, it’s pretty nice here. It’s a great place to hang out outside, get some exercise, and think.”
Ochaco nods in agreement, watching as a mother duck leads her young towards the water. “No doubt, this will be perfect when I eventually have to move here. Or I should say “if” I have to move here. Hehehe.”
Izuku grimaces with tension, although the U.A. Entrance Exam is still a way off they still have a lot of work to do. Far more work before they can even consider passing the exam. “Oh, yeah. You plan on taking the U.A. Entrance Exam, too right?”
“Sure do!” Ochaco sheepishly rubs the back of her head, trying not to look overconfident. “But I have to admit that I’m still pretty nervous about it.”
“Yeah, same.” An idea pops into his head. “Oh, hey, Uraraka.”
“What’s up, Deku?”
It makes him flinch when she says Deku, but she doesn’t seem to notice. That’s good because he really doesn’t want to start feeling depressed anytime soon. “I had some questions about your quirk. Would you mind answering some of them?” He holds up his “Hero Analysis for the Future #13” notebook for Ochaco to see. Making her wonder where he was keeping that thing anyway.
Ochaco is slightly put off, but she sees no harm in it. “Um, sure. Why not?”
With the go ahead, Izuku begins his interview. “So, your quick, Zero Gravity, allows you to make anything you touch weightless, correct?”
“Yes, but there's more to it than that.” The gravity manipulator holds out her open palm, displaying the tips of her fingers. They somewhat remind the greenette of paw pads on a cat. “It’s my fingers, all five have to make contact with whatever it is I want to float. Admittedly, there’s also a limit before I get nauseous.” She looks a little embarrassed admitting that. “It’s really nothing that special.”
Izuku can’t help but feel somewhat offended, not for what she said. But for what she implied; that her quirk isn’t good enough, that she isn’t good enough. “Are you kidding!?”
“Wha-!?”
“You have an amazing quirk! With a quirk like that you’d be a key player in rescue operations especially in disaster zones. You could float rubble away from civilians, heck you can even float large heavy objects at villains to use them as weapons.”
Ochaco blinks not really sure how to take all this praise. “Yeah, I guess you’re right.” She twiddles her thumbs not sure how to feel. “But it’s nowhere as versatile as your quirk. What does it do exactly?”
Now it’s Izuku’s turn to blink, yeah, he totally overlooked that part. “Oh, yeah I guess I never fully explained it, did I?” He already knows this will leave a bad taste in his mouth, but he can’t tell her the truth. So, for now, he’ll use the cover story both Thirteen and him worked out. “My quirk is called… One Man Army. It allows me to reconstruct my DNA so I can transform into about nine different…forms. Oh, and each one has its own abilities, weaknesses, and I think they somewhat alter my personality a little bit.” Izuku chuckles thinking about Ditto’s sass, Four Arm’s confidence, and XLR8’s excitable demeanor.
Ochaco stares, that’s mind blowing. How could one person be so lucky to be born with a quirk like that? “Wow, now that’s amazing. Almost seems unfair...” She can’t help but sulk about her own usefulness.
Izuku can seemingly sense the doubt she has in herself, afterall he has a lot of experience with that. “I, uh, wouldn’t say that after all I have a time limit of when I can use… my quirk and that includes a recharge time. Oh, I also have to use this special device,” He taps a finger against the bulky watch. “to help me activate my quirk; it also acts as a timer. Letting me know when I can transform and even helping me select which form to take.”
Ochaco eyes the watch and Izuku has a hard time gauging her thoughts. ‘Please buy that explanation.’
Ochaco shrugs, figuring that it makes sense: nearly all quirks have some kind of drawback after all. Well except for maybe All Might’s quirk; whatever it is. “Huh, well, it’s still a pretty awesome quirk though, right?”
“Yeah…” It is amazing, this watch has an impossible ability, but yet it’s sitting on his powerless wrist. “but sometimes I think this power is more trouble than it’s worth…” Afterall it did cost him a friendship.
Ochaco notices the change in Izuku’s demeanor. His shoulders are sagged, and his eyes have a far-off look. “Hey, Deku.”
Izuku tenses but he slumps over trying to look calm.
“Are you okay?”
“Huh, I’m um I’m fine.”
That’s all the brunette needs to hear. “No, you’re not.” She states with all seriousness.
He looks away trying to avoid eye contact.
Ochaco leans forward trying to keep his attention. “I can tell when people are trying to keep their problems to themselves.” My parents often try to do the same thing, especially when the bills start to build up. “and I can tell that it’s weighing you down.”
Ochaco silently assesses him, he’s clearly trying to think of what to say, and she doesn’t want to interrupt his thought process. Honestly, she might be pushing him too far. They don’t really know each other that well, heck, this is only their second time interacting with each other. So, he really doesn’t owe her answers, but she can’t just let this sit. He’s clearly hurting, and if she can help then she will.
Izuku’s astonished she saw right through him. Then again, he was never very good at hiding his emotions. But what can he say? Tell her that he’s one of the soul keepers of some ground shattering secrets: aliens, the Plumbers, and this powerful watch. How is he supposed to explain his feelings while also withdrawing information?
He remembers how Thirteen also tried to help him by getting him to converse. He remembers their advice; that sometimes talking to someone can help ease one’s pain. So, maybe he can talk about something, talk about what’s really plaguing his mind. “There have been some… things bothering me recently.” He admits, his eyes hesitate to meet Ochaco’s.
The round-faced girl shifts from her spot, situating herself, allowing Izuku to know that he has her full undivided attention.
Izuku prepares himself, taking a breath, trying to ease his worries. “Do you remember Henzu Uuichi?”
Ochaco nods. “Yeah, your… friend from the mall.”
“Yeah, well, we sort of got into a fight and now…” Izuku can feel tears begin to form, so he looks away slightly as to not let Ochaco notice. “we’re no longer on speaking terms.” Izuku presses a hand over his heart remembering the ripping away sensation when Henzu pried on the watch. The pain almost seems unbearable now thanks to the betrayal and shame he feels.
Ochaco notices the change in Izuku’s emotional state. “I’m so sorry. Are you alright?”
“I’m fine physically, but… emotionally I’m not.” He takes a shaky breath; God why is this so hard? A bit of tears starts to drip from his eyes, he runs his hands together trying to keep himself together. “He was about to do something that we’d…both regret and I had to stop him.” He begins to sniffle; he runs his arm across his face in a poor attempt to wipe away his tears. “I know I did the right thing, but…it hurts. Why does it hurt so much?” The dam broke, tears streaming down his face he hides his head in his arms trying not to let Ochaco see him. Why does it hurt so much? I did the right thing. I did what a hero should, but…I lost a friend…the only friend I’ve ever known or had. “And the worst part…” He’s shaking while festering in a pit of melancholy and regret. “the worst part is that…I caused all of it.” He’s having a hard time speaking between his tears and sniffs. “I lied to him and…so that propelled him to do it. If I had been honest…from the start…then we’d…still be friends. And none of this would have happened!” Izuku wails out throwing his head down in defeat, giving up on trying to hold back his emotions allowing the tears to flow unhindered.
Ochaco isn’t sure what she could say to make him feel better. So, she doesn’t say a thing. She shifts over, placing a gentle hand on the boy’s back letting him know that he’s not alone in this.
Izuku remains in a heaping mess as he lets his tears run their course. After a few minutes he finally calms down enough to wipe his face clean.
Izuku is able to compose himself and get his breathing under control. “Thanks, Uraraka. *Sniff* Sorry, for dumping all of that on you.”
“It’s okay.” Ochaco keeps her hand on his shoulder allowing him to lean on her slightly. “Just tell me, do you feel better now?”
Izuku thinks about and honestly, he does feel a lot lighter and somewhat refreshed now. “Yeah., I do. It felt really good to get that off my chest.”
That makes Ochaco smile both for Izuku’s emotional health and the fact that she was able to help him in a small way.
Izuku can’t help but smile, too. He really does feel a whole lot better. ‘I guess Thirteen was right after all, sometimes it is good to just talk to someone, even if it doesn’t solve the issue, it does help to calm my emotions.’
*Grrrrr*
‘What was that?!’ Izuku flails his head about looking for the source of the growl.
*Grrrrr*
Ochaco covers her mouth trying to stop herself from outright laughing in his face. “Pft.”
Izuku hears that, he spins towards her his eyes wide and nervous. His expression is what sets Ochaco off into a fit of laughter.
As Ochaco tries and fails to hold back her laughter, Izuku stares at her as if she’s gone mad only for another growl to resonate…from his stomach. ‘Oh, it was me…’ The realization make Izuku want to crawl into a hole for a little away, at least until the embarrassment wares off. “I think that’s a sign for us to have lunch.”
Ochaco manages to take a breath, clearing her eyes of tears. “Sounds good, any place in mind?”
Feeling like he regained some dignity, Izuku stands up. “There’s a great restaurant I know of not too far from here.”
“Sounds good,” Ochaco follows his example. “lead the way.”
And with that the two teens make their way out of the park and towards the downtown area.
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
Rojo is frustrated to say the least, she’s still trying to understand all the strange symbols showing up on her visual display the only comprehensible icon on her display is that of a lock-on symbol that has her tracing it with her eyes. The target symbol is moving across the screen, but she can’t see or even tell how close the Omnitrix is. So, to help locate it, she climbed onto the tallest building she could find in the area. “Now where is it?” She scans the area until finally the target symbol moves towards the open street and locks onto a black watch with a green hourglass symbol on it. “There you are.”
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
Meanwhile, Izuku and Ochaco stroll through the street passing by quiet stores, services, and a small number of pedestrians.
Ochaco leans in close, staring in awe at the green glowing watch wrapped around Izuku’s wrist. “Woah, so what’s that one do?”
Izuku can’t help but chuckle. He’s currently walking Ochaco through his arsenal of transformations, by displaying their silhouettes on the watch’s dial. “I call this one Ripjaws. Basically, I become a tall fishman with razor sharp teeth and claws.”
“Haha I bet it's hilarious to see.”
Izuku winces in embarrassment. “Eh, I wouldn’t hold my breath.” He grins awkwardly hoping his joke was somewhat funny.
It works in a way, because Ochaco spittakes in response. “Pft, was that a joke?!” She tries and fails to hold back her laughter making Izuku slouch in humiliation.
“It was that bad, huh?”
“No, no.” Ochaco waves off his concern. “It was good, just need to work on your delivery.”
Izuku is able to smile appreciating the advice but feeling self-conscious for even having to be given advice at all. “I’ll try.”
A moment of silence falls over them as they continue their trek. “Uh, h-hey, Uraraka?”
Ochaco stops, blinking in curiosity. “Yes, Deku.”
“I…I never asked, but,” Oh, God is he nervous. “How are you doing?!”
“Um, I’m doing fine?” Why is he asking this now? Is he trying to start a conversation? Or what?
Sensing her confusion Izuku clarifies. “What I mean is, how are you doing after…the mall trip?”
“Mall trip?” She takes a moment to think about what he means and when she makes sense of it, a feeling of dread fills her stomach. “Oh, yeah…that trip.” She’s clearly become uncomfortable, Izuku notices but he’s unsure what to do about it. He’s too afraid of accidentally upsetting her. He attempts to reach out to her, but his handshakes so badly with nervousness that it’s slow to get there. His hand never reaches her shoulder to comfort her thou. “The day in the mall…when I really think about it…it was the SCARIEST thing I’ve ever done in my life!!”
The blood drains from Izuku’s face.
Ochaco cradles her stomach as if she’s going to hurl as the images of mutant animals and a deranged doctor flow through her head. “It was terrifying, we could have been killed!” Tears start to leak out from her eyes. “We shouldn’t have gone after the villain! We should have never even fought those monsters!” She grabs at her eyes trying to stop the inevitable stream of tears to break through. “I can’t bear the thought if one of us had died…and what that would mean…for those we care about…” And like that the dam breaks and tears pour out as Ochaco chokes on her regret.
Izuku is beyond stunned, but mostly he feels guilty. Guilty because it was him that dragged her into it, it was him that nearly got her killed, it was him that nearly cost her everything. “I-I’m…I’m sorry…”
Ochaco gives a harsh sniff wiping her nose with her arm. “W-why are you sorry?”
“It was all my fault. I led you and Henzu into that fight. I was the one that risked our lives. And I am so sorry for putting you through that.” That’s right, he’s the one at fault. And he truly regrets involving them in his theatrics, but in all honesty, he doesn’t regret what they accomplished. “In full confidence thou, I’m obliged to say that I don’t regret what we did.”
Ochaco’s eyes widen in shock. How could he be so insensitive?
Realizing how badly he worded that, Izuku continues. “What I mean is, that I regret forcing you to action, but I don't regret nor am I ashamed that we were able to save lives that day.” He states this like the fact it is, full of confidence and conviction. “We saved a lot of good…innocent people that day.” His eyes lock onto to the brunette’s. “We were heroes.” He gives her the most comforting smile he can offer.
Ochaco inhales sharply, even though she still feels like she’s going to breakdown from the experience, she can’t help the sense of pride and gratification she feels as well when she really thinks about it. A tiny soft smile just barely begins to form on her face.
A woman’s voice interrupts in a sarcastic tone of voice. “Awe, ain’t this cute?”
Both teens look forward and instantly alarm bells are ringing in Izuku’s head. Something's not right about this woman. Her… features are off but they're familiar. And then it hits him. ‘The alien drone… Is she one of them?’
Ochaco, also senses something off, she can’t help but find something familiar about this person. “Who are you?”
“Me? I was a nobody, but now,” Rojo smirks flexing her metallic claws. “I can be whatever I want, and I want to be powerful.”
Well there goes the possibility that she’s friendly.
Izuku and Ochaco take a step back ready to run if need be. Izuku leans forward and positions his hand over the watch. ‘I guess she’s not an alien robot then, she must have merged with one somehow… maybe it’s her quirk.’
Rojo notices Izuku’s hand hovering over the watch, reminding her of her mission. “But I can only do that if you hand over the Omnitrix.”
That throws Izuku off. “The what?”
Ochaco looks over towards the greenette. “What’s she talking about?”
“Don’t play dumb!” Rojo snaps annoyed with their reactions. The red plates on her shoulders move upward and begin to buzz as a laser begins to charge. “Now are you going to hand it over or will I have to take it from your melted corpse?” She sticks her hand out ready for these kids to willingly handover what she’s looking for.
Ochaco turns to him, worry written across her face, looking for an answer.
‘This is bad.’ Izuku grimaces. What’s he supposed to do? What is she even talking about? What could she possibly want from them?
Rojo is losing patience, she needs the Omnitrix in exchange for more technology. “Okay, kid. Time’s up give me the Omnitrix” She stomps forward standing next to a light pole, she swings her arm slashing through the steel with her razor spines on her arms. “or I’ll slice off your arm to get it.” The light pole tips over, crashing onto the street with a loud clang.
‘Arm? What is she…’ Izuku slowly peers down at his wrist as realization dawns on him. She’s referring to the alien watch!
No, he can’t allow her to take it. If someone like her would to have control over this device, it could be catastrophic. Who knows what mayhem she’ll cause or how many people she’ll harm?
One thing is clear though. He’ll do what he can to stop her from getting it.
Izuku grips the…Omnitrix ready to defend it. “If you want it,” He grips the Omnitrix, disappearing in a flash of greenlight. “you’re going to have to pry it from my cold dead hands.” Four Arms flexes raising his fists as to exaggerate his point. ‘Nailed it.’ He thinks smugly, happy that he was able to get a quip in.
Ochaco gasps silently at Izuku. Is he crazy!? They should run and call the police, maybe find a hero to handle this.
Rojo is taken aback by this development. That damn voice should have told her about this kid’s quirk. “Woah, hey what the hell just happened?”
Four Arms grins. “Simple, I buffed up.”
“Tsk, funny guy. Well I’m more than willing to accommodate.” Rojo raises her claws positioning herself like that of a beast ready to pounce. “Let’s dance big boy.”
And with that Rojo leaps into action. She’s fast, in less than a second, she’s cleared over half the distance between them, her arms stretched to the sides as to ready slashing attacks.
Four Arms, noticing the outstretched claws, readies to defend himself. By some odd coincidence, his experiences with Bakugou as well as analysis heroes and their battles over the many years have given Izuku a good, albeit inexperienced battle sense. But as of now they are paying off seeing as his prediction was correct.
As she approaches Rojo draws back her left arm before lunging it forward towards the red alien. Using his bulky forelimb, Four Arms easily parries the attack. Rojo swipes with her other claw but it’s effortlessly blocked.
Now that both her attack and defense are down, Four Arms uses his two lower arms to grab onto Rojo’s arms.
“Damn!” Rojo snarls trying but failing to pull away thanks to Four Arms’ grip. “Let go of me!”
“Sure thing.” Four Arms swings his body pulling the robotic villain along with him. “There you go!” He throws her around both him and Ochaco towards the upper floor of a nearby building.
Rojo bounces off the brick wall before landing with a loud crash onto the hard street below.
She doesn’t move, thinking they’re fine Four Arms takes a moment to check on Ochaco.
Her face is written in worry and nervousness, her eyes glued to the still form of the villain.
“Uraraka,” She flinches, drawing her attention towards the hulking mass of muscle. “Go ahead and-”
“You bastard!” Ochaco gasps as Izuku scowls when they realize that Rojo is fine.
As she stands up Four Arms takes note of the fact that there’s not a single scratch on her. She doesn’t even look fazed by being thrown at a building.
“You think you’re hot-stuff? You think that thanks to your quirk than that makes you some kind of hero, don’t ya?” Although she’s fine physically it’s clear to anyone that she’s more than pissed. “Hate to break it to you but with my new power,” Her fingers begin to shift becoming thinner and notably sharper. “not only will I be taking the Omnitrix, but I’ll make sure to hurt you so bad that you won’t even be able to hold a fucking pencil!” Her newly formed claws sheen in the light of the day, they are twice as long as they were before, they are more akin to blades. “Prepare yourself for a world of pain!” She runs forward swinging her blades wildly with no real technique or plan other than to tear through the kid’s hide.
Fearing for not only his life but Ochaco’s, Four Arms grabs the brunette before jumping backwards just barely avoiding Rojo’s attack. She doesn’t let up though as she chases after her prey who has little to no time to defend himself as he continues to dodge attack after attack. Four Arms, using one arm to secure Ochaco, does his best to parry, dodge, and defend from the onslaught. Luckily, this alien’s hide is tougher than one would think so not many of the slashes actually pierce through the skin, thankfully. However, human flesh is a different story. One wrong move and he risks Ochaco’s life and if he doesn’t finish this or get them away in time he’ll revert back to human and it’ll for sure be over for them both.
Ochaco is terrified, this villain really has her on edge. All she wanted was a peaceful afternoon, one that doesn’t involve monsters, robots, or villains. ‘But Why? Why is this happening? What the heck is she after? And why? Why aren’t I doing anything?’ Four Arms dodges another slash, acting fast he grabs Rojo’s wrist, and then he flings her into a light pole. The light pole bends as the villain is slammed into it. ‘Deku is so amazing. He’s scared, I know that, but he’s still able to stand and fight. And here I am terrified out of my mind, unable to help.’ Rojo quickly springs back up and continues her assault but this time Four Arms is able to counter with his own punches. While using his body to shield Ochaco. ‘I’m a hinderance. He’s only trying to defend me.’ Rojo manages to get a clean strike to Izuku’s chest making him wince as he stumbles backwards. ‘I’m slowing him down!’
Rojo lands a solid punch to Four Arms’ gut making him keel over, wheezing from the blow. “Not so tough now are ya?”
While bent over Four Arms latches on to Rojo’s leg lifting her up. He then swings her downward slamming her into the ground again and again until he launches her away. The robotic woman skids across the ground the sound of metal scraping across the concrete accompanies her.
With a small moment of reprieve Four Arms finally puts Ochaco down. She wobbles on her feet, her nerves now allowing her to keep her balance. “Uraraka, go and call for help.”
Ochaco looks somewhat relieved but still very much worried. “Ar-are y-you sure?”
Four Arms nods his head. “Yes.”
While those two have a quick strategy meeting Rojo leaps back onto her feet. Seeing that his opponent is back on their feet Four Arms readies himself to continue. Meanwhile, Ochaco remains rooted to her spot her eyes glued to Rojo’s metallic red form.
“What’s going on here?!” A male voice shouts out from afar.
Four Arms and Ochaco spin around spotting what appears to be a hero running towards them. They must have received a call about a couple of mutant quirk users duking it out.
The pro hero appears to be Mr. Brave at least that’s what Ochaco and Rojo are able to make out from Four Arms’ muttering from when he recognizes the lesser-known pro hero.
Rojo also spots the pro hero making a beeline for them. ‘Shit! I got to think fast here.’ This is bad, she’s already wasting too much time with this overgrown child and now a hero is here to arrest her. If this fight drags on any longer no doubt more heroes will show up to help take her down. She may now be stronger but even she knows that the numbers in battle can defeat the strongest of foes. She has to think of a way to keep the hero at bay while also getting this brat alone… She glances over taking note of the girl that the red brute’s been hauling around. Rojo smirks gleefully as a devious idea forms in her head.
Mr. Brave is nearly upon them and with no time to waste Rojo sprints forward and grabs onto her target. She binds her arm around the surprised and terrified Ochaco before jumping onto the outer wall of a five-story building. She digs her free claw and her clawed feet into the WALL allowing her to hold to the side.
Four Arms realizes his blunder of letting his guard down, fearing for Ochaco’s life. “Uraraka!”
“Deku!” Ochaco screams out squirming in Rojo’s tight hold. She is unable to get her hands free and thus unable to reach anything that she can use her quirk on and allow her to break free.
Rojo crawls up the wall as Ochaco squirms and begins to tear up. As she hops onto the roof, she calls back down at Four Arms. “If you want your girl back, you’ll have to give up the Omnitrix you brat!” And with that she takes off via leaping from roof to roof.
“Hey, get back here villain!” Having just witnessed a kidnapping Mr. Brave takes off after Rojo, but due to lack of acrobatics he must follow from the streets below.
Four Arms calls out to the pro hero. “Hey, wait!” But it’s too late the pro hero is already out of earshot. ‘This is really bad.’ Four Arms takes off running, chasing after the pro hero and the villain. ‘This is all my fault! How could I have let her get taken like that?! Oh, I hope Uraraka is okay!’ He’s now in a full-on sprint passing by driving cars and unsuspecting bystanders, from above he can spot Rojo roof jumping with a struggling Ochaco in her arms, and not too far away is the hero Mr. Brave who looks to be calling in backup. ‘What do I do?! What do I do?!’
Rojo turns her head to analyze the situation, she grins spotting both the hero and big red muscle head following below. She continues on her way but with much more urgency.
Noticing the change in speed Four Arms attempts to speed up as well but he’s so busy trying to keep an eye on the kidnapper that he fails to pay attention to where he’s going. More precisely, he fails to see oncoming traffic.
*CLANG!!!*
A truck slams right into the bulky alien. Four Arms yelps as he bounces off the grill and onto the street. Pedestrians gasp and some even wince as they witness the large mutant getting plowed by the heavy vehicle.
“Ow.” Four Arms groans as he pushes himself off the ground, holding his head with one hand, and holding his side with another. After taking a moment to pat himself down he’s happy to report that nothing appears to be broken the worst thing he has is probably a very large bruise and road burn, thank God he was Four Arms and not Ditto he definitely would have ended up like a bug on a windshield.
People surround him asking if he’s alright but he’s a bit preoccupied he’s scanning the roofs looking for Rojo. ‘Shit!’ He can’t see her, nor does he spot the pro hero anywhere. ‘No. No! No!! This can’t be happening!’ He’s panicking as he stumbles here and there trying but failing to gently move those around him as they can only stare at him in confusion or concern. “Where are they?! Where are they?!”
“They went that way.” A cool calm voice responses from within the crowd.
“What?” Four Arms spins around and for a second, he thinks he’s staring at another alien, but he quickly brushes off that idea.
A tall and rather muscular young man with pale gray hair, that’s swept forwards, and that covers most of his face and his eye. He has six arms that are all attached to each other by a web of skin, his two upper arms have hands at the end but the rest end in what appear to be ears, eyes, and even a nose. He’s also wearing a blue mask that happens to cover the lower half of his face. Izuku is instinctively curious of what’s under the mask.
The young man steps forward as he approaches Four Arms takes note that the young man is about a foot shorter than him. “You were chasing after that villain, right? The one carrying the girl?”
Four Arms’ heart begins to race as he remembers his mission .“Yes, she took my friend! Do you know which way they went?”
“Yes, I saw them heading in that direction.” The multi-armed man points west. “I can even hear them from here, just go down a few blocks and you should be able to hear sirens. When you do follow them.”
Those are some specific directions, must be thanks to his quirk. “Okay, thanks so much!” Four Arms bows his large body making it a rather hilarious sight. “I really appreciate it!”
“No thanks are necessary.” The young man waves it off as Four Arms stands backup. “Now you better hurry, sounds like things are only escalating over there.”
“Right,” Four Arms breaks into a run, as he does, he waves back at the helpful soul. “thanks again.”
The masked youth gives the red hulk a thumbs up in response.
‘What a nice guy.’ Izuku thinks to himself.
As he rounds the corner the watch or more precisely the Omnitrix flashes red regressing Izuku to his original form. And it couldn’t have happened at a worse time, even though he’s been training his athletic ability is nowhere near Four Arms’ meaning it takes him longer than anticipated to get into earshot of the sirens the tall muscular man had told him about. After nearly three minutes Izuku can finally hear the sound of police sirens in the distance, he follows the sirens until it’s clear where they are originating from.
After taking a shortcut through an alleyway Izuku finds himself lost amongst a rather large crowd of people. “What da?” Due to his stature he is unable to make out what is happening.
So, he follows along the edge of the crowd making his way around until he gets a clear enough view of the situation. A number of police and pro heroes such as Mr. Brave, Air Jet, Death Arms, Backdraft, Slugger, Kamui Woods, and Mount Lady are present and they seem to be surrounding a store that seems to specialize in selling various appliances: fridges, washing machines, dishwashers, etc.
“What’s happening? Where’s Uraraka?”
A very familiar and welcoming voice calls out to Izuku. “Midoriya!”
Instantly recognizing that voice Izuku spins around and spots someone approaching him from behind. “Thirteen!” Indeed, Thirteen has arrived behind is their car left a distance away from the crowd as to not get in anyone’s way or to draw attention. “What’s going on?!”
Thirteen frowns. “It’s not good a villain has taken a hostage.”
“I know that already!” Izuku stats rather bluntly.
…
Thirteen gives him a questioning look. “Excuse me?”
Rather than let his blunder throw him off Izuku focuses in on the main issue. “The villain took Uraraka while we were together!”
Thirteen recognizes the name as the girl that Izuku fought Dr. Animo with. “Alright, explain everything.”
“Alright,” Izuku takes a single deep breath before explaining all that’s transpired. “We, Uraraka and I, had met up earlier today and while we were heading for lunch when the villain.”
Thirteen nods. “Right and then they kidnapped Uraraka.”
Izuku tenses up realizing that Thirteen doesn’t in fact understand the full situation. “No, the villain they…they wanted something…from me.” Izuku grips the watch in a tight hold as if even finishing the sentence will magically teleport the device away.
Thirteen instantly picks up what Izuku’s trying to say. “They wanted the watch.” They say it like it’s a fact and not a question.
Izuku nods. “They wanted the Omnitrix. It’s what she called the watch.” He finishes after Thirteen gives Izuku a puzzled look.
“The Omnitrix, huh?”
“Yeah,” Izuku nods, his hands fumbling together. He’s trying his best from his letting his nerves take over and he goes into a panic. “she demanded that I hand it over and when I didn’t, she took Uraraka.” He takes a quick shaky breath in the meantime Thirteen keeps their full attention on the fearful greenette. “And that’s not all. The villain it looked like she’s fused with one of those attack drones we’ve been encountering.” Thirteen’s eyes visibly widen. “It must be thanks to her quirk or something, but she’s fast, strong, and dangerous. Oh, she also doesn’t know what the Omnitrix does, but for some reason she’s after it.” He throws in the last bit of info rather half-hazardly.
Thirteen allows all the information to process in their mind. “Okay, that explains quite a few things: I had gotten a ping on my surveillance system about alien technology being activated and I tracked it here.” Well that explains why they’re here in the first place. “However, the fact that the technology has fused with the villain is not at all comforting.” Izuku begins to shake, but he wills himself to keep it together. “Whoever this person is they know about the wat-Omnitrix, a major power boost with unknown capabilities, and a hostage. We’ll have to search for answers later, especially about why they’re after the Omnitrix in the first place if they’re not even sure about what it does.”
Now comes Izuku’s panic attack, he’s sweating as dark thoughts swirl in his head. “This is terrible. It’s all my fault. I must have done something, someone must have found out about it and hired her to get it or something.” Maybe it was Henzu Uuichi. “And now Uraraka could be hurt or worse. And the villain might get away. And if they get what they want, who knows what they’ll do. And-”
A firm yet comforting hand grips Izuku’s shoulder. It’s a firm grip that is well practiced in calming panicking and hyperventilating victims in disaster zones. Izuku calms down, allowing Thirteen’s presence to comfort him. “Relax, alright?”
Although he was much calmer now, he still can’t help the feeling of dread and regret rise up in his throat. “How am I supposed to relax? When it’s thanks to me that my…friend is being held against her will. Those robots they’ve been targeting me and while I’m around everyone I care about is at risk. How can I just standby and do nothing while those I care about are caught in the crossfire?!”
Amongst the storm of Izuku’s tirade Thirteen’s firm voice cuts are through the barrage of panic. “Then don’t.” Izuku instantly quiets down, unsure what the pro hero means. “You’ve never, not once, since I’ve known you have you been willing to just wait for someone else to save the day.”
That is somewhat true Izuku thinks.
“It’s why you’re so quick to use the Omnitrix because for the first time in your life you have the power to do something, to save others, and that’s incredible. So, why stop now?” Thirteen grabs both Izuku’s shoulders and gives him a quick shake, anticipating an answer.
Izuku is still lost. “What are you getting at?”
Thirteen sighs, he needs to be forward with this one. “I’m going to be honest with you. What I’m about to say could get me reprimanded, but I think it’s necessary. The villain has the appliance store sealed really good and we, the heroes, don’t have a clear idea about what’s going on in there.” Izuku’s breath hitches. “The villain is refusing to respond to police negotiations and none of the heroes can make a move without risking Uraraka’s wellbeing.”
“Why are you telling me this?”
“I’m telling you all this, because I…” They pause to correct themselves. “we need you to sneak in there and stop the villain.”
“What!?!”
Thirteen isn’t at all surprised by the teen’s reaction. “I know but hear me out.” Thirteen points at the store. “That villain has fused with technology. Alien technology. Meaning this situation falls under Plumber jurisdiction, but…” Thirteen leaves the sentence hanging hoping their message finally clicks with Izuku.
It does. “We can’t risk being found out.” Izuku finishes, his voice is serious but obviously full of fear.
“Exactly, and if pro heroes get involved not only will they have the villain, but they’ll have access to level 10 alien technology.” Thirteen shivers not wanting to think about what could potentially happen if that’s the case. “And that could be catastrophic. And since there’s no chance that I can get in there, let alone by myself, I need you to go in there and stop this villain. I need you to disable the alien technology within them. And I…we need you to save your friend.”
Saying that this is a lot of responsibility is an understatement. How can he possibly do this by himself? This different than anything he’s tackled to this point so far: monsters and robots are one thing. They can’t strategize, adapt, or process emotions…but a villain, a human, with the ability to make decisions and a hostage is a whole other ballpark.
Noticing Izuku’s discomfort Thirteen decides that he should be responsible and not try to force his protege into this. “If you don’t feel comfortable with this than I understand.”
Izuku can tell what they’re trying to do, they’re trying to give him an out a chance to step away. But that would mean risking the risk of alien technology being released into the world, the villain getting away, and abandoning Ochaco. How could he possibly do that? Can he really just walk away? … No, he can’t.
Despite his nervous disposition he delivers a steely glare. “I’ll do it.”
Thirteen is a bit surprised, but they really shouldn’t be. They definitely can’t stop the sense of pride rising in their chest.
Izuku gives the pro hero a shaky and somehow a confident grin. “And I think I have a plan.”
If Thirteen wasn’t wearing a helmet Izuku would have seen one of the biggest grins of his life. “Then let’s hear it.”
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
A few miles away All Might, in his civilian clothes, holds up a very dizzy and possibly concussed purse thief. “FEAR NOT CITIZEN THIS THIEF WILL NOT TROUBLE YOU ANYMORE.”
A small crowd of admiring faces have gathers aweing in All Might’s glory. A single woman bows repeatedly as All Might returns her purse to her.
“HAVE A WONDERFUL DAY, NOW WATCH AS I MAKE MY EXIT!”
*Whoosh!*
And just like that All Might disappears in a blink of an eye the only evidence of him ever being there is the and tied up unconscious thief and a gust of wind.
The small crowd barley starts to disperse many of them are still hyped up about encountering and witnessing the Symbol of Peace in action.
“Woah, look at him go!”
“How? He took off so quick.”
“He’s so cool!”
“You’re amazing All Might!”
An extremely thin All Might overhears and blushes from the praise, glad that he could help. He steps out from his hiding spot, the backside of a nearby dumpster within a nearby ally. He takes a moment to regain his breath after all he’s nearly at his limit for the day already. He’s just about to walk away as the chatter behind him continues.
“I wonder where he went?”
“Probably to that hostage situation across town.”
That makes the pro hero freeze up. ‘A hostage situation?’
The two pedestrians continue not noticing the skeletal man eavesdropping on their conversation. “Yeah, the heroes got the whole place taped off and they can’t seem to get inside. Apparently, the villain has a strong quirk and the hostage is just some middle school girl.”
“That’s too bad. I hope it all turns out okay for her.”
“Yeah, me too.”
All Might’s mind can’t help but remember the Slime Villain attack, but more precisely he remembers how useless he was. He couldn’t be the hero that day for a lot of people: not for the crowd, the hostage, and definitely not for that boy, Izuku Midoriya.
No matter how much he’d like to he’ll never forget what he did to that poor boy. A Quirkless boy so full of hope and he outright crushed it with little to no remorse. ‘I could have done more…I should have done more, but I didn’t I just turned his back on the kid.’
He feels uncomfortable when he considers how much that must happen to the boy, how often people turn their backs on each other because of their status, appearances, and/or abilities. ‘Maybe…he was the one.’
It’s not the first time he’s considered this; perhaps that boy could be his successor, but… ‘Would he even want to see me? Would he even listen? Would he even accept after everything I said?’
A dreadful feeling tells him that no the boy would not accept him. Sure, he could go and track him down, but would that really fix things? Probably not, and they may never know. Maybe in an alternate reality it all worked out from them. But in this reality, he has to find the right successor one that understands what it means to be a hero and can become a symbol.
But for now, he’s the holder of One For All and the Symbol of Peace so for now he’ll focus on his duties as such starting with the hostage situation.
As fast as he can muster, while in his weakened state, All Might takes off calling Tsukauchi to find out where the villain is held up. Hopefully he can make it there in time.
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
*Sniff*
‘Someone please hurry.’
CLANK!!!
The sound of metal being smashed echoes throughout the building making Ochaco recoil in fright.
Rojo pulls her fist away in frustration from the smashed washing machine. “Dammit, he’s taking too long.” Rojo snarls kicking a different washing machine. She kicks it so hard that it’s flung away, bouncing off other appliances before landing hard onto the tile floor.
Ochaco flinches from her seat on the cold floor. Her wrists are bound to a pipe as to not let her slip away. The villain also took her phone and her bag throwing them towards the opposite corner away from her.
Ever since Rojo brought her here, after nearly making her lose her lunch from hopping from rooftop to rooftop, they’ve been cooped up in this appliance store for nearly fifteen minutes and already she can hear the sound of police and heroes surrounding them. It gave her hope knowing that they’re here, but it’s been fleeting ever since they tried to hail the villain to negotiate, but she answered back with a round of lasers from her shoulder blasters.
Now here she is, scared witless as a killer robotic psycho paces back and forth through the store as if expecting something to happen.
“Arrrgh!!” Rojo screams out slashing down at a refrigerator knocking it to the ground in a fit of rage. She spins around marching straight towards a terrified Ochaco. “Where is he!?!” She screams directly into the girl’s face, Ochaco can smell the older woman’s breath, and she grimaces as specs of spit fly at her face.
“W-who’s he?”
Rojo spits out her reply. “You’re boyfriend!”
‘Oh, Deku…’ Wait. “He’s not my boyfriend!” She (comedically) yelps out in embarrassment and shock.
Rojo clicks her tongue. “Whatever, either way he’ll be showing himself sooner or later.”
Ochaco tenses up, knowing the risk of accidental provoking the villain. “W-why do you say that?”
Rojo smirks, she can practically taste victory. “Simple, he knows what I’m after.” She pinches Ochaco
‘S face with two metallic fingers, squeezing her cheeks. Ochaco has to fight the urge to pull away as to not risk getting her face sliced off. “And if he doesn’t want anything to happen to your cute round face” Rojo clutches her hand. “Then he’ll have to deliver the Omnitrix to me on a silver platter.”
Rojo mercifully releases the girl’s face.
Ochaco rubs her cheeks. “T-the Omnitrix?”
“Yeah, that thing on his wrist.”
She can’t be serious. “His watch?” Why would she be after that thing? It’s only function, as far as she knows, is to help Izuku control his quirk. She doesn’t know why but she has one final question that needs to be answered. “Why?”
The question makes Rojo pause before drawing her full attention onto the prisoner. “Why? Why do people do anything?”
Ochaco’s not sure if she should answer so she remains quiet.
“People will do anything for power and money! Those are the only things that drive people to do anything in this life!” Rojo states this with such righteous confidence that Ochaco actually starts to consider what she’s spouting out. “Just look at me I’m fucking jacked!” Rojo gestures to herself admiring her red and mechanical physique. “I finally have the firepower to do what I want and after this I will be even more powerful.” The blasters on Rojo’s shoulder extend and blast an unexpecting dishwasher burning a hole right through it. “And with this power, this strength, I can take and do whatever I want! I’ll be rich and known as one of the greatest bandits in the whole world! After this I bet, I’ll even be able to take on All Might himself!”
A shiver runs down Ochaco’s spine. ‘She’s insane.’
Rojo seems to notice Ochaco’s reaction. “You’re right to be scared, because no hero will come to save you.”
“Th-that’s n-not true.”
“Isn’t it?” Rojo asks rather coldly. “Those heroes out there are not here to save you. But to make themselves look good so they can become famous, get a fatter paycheck, and with that comes power. That’s also why they won’t risk coming in here. Because if they fail then that’s bad press, with bad press comes a loss in popularity, which equals a real loss of money.”
Ochaco hates how much sense the villain is making.
With a giant grin, Rojo glances towards the large store windows watching the number of heroes, police, and innocents outside waiting for something to happen. “Don’t you see? The only way you’re getting out of here is if your…friend delivers the Omnitrix or…” Rojo makes a slicing motion to her neck. “in a body bag.”
Ochaco breaks down into a fit of tears, turning her head away as to not give the villain the satisfaction of seeing that she got to her.
Rojo chuckles to herself satisfied with the girl’s reaction, she then marches off to survey the situation outside.
Ochaco is really having a tough time keeping it together as she slumps down in defeat, her hands bound over her head thanks to the binds. She just really wants to be home right now with her parents wearing her favorite pajamas. She’d rather be anywhere but here. ‘It’s not true. She’s wrong! Someone will come. The heroes will come.’
“Don’t let her get to you.” A squeaky voice chirps out from above her head.
With tears clouding her eyes, Ochaco peers up not knowing what to expect, she certainly didn’t expect to see a grey frog with bulging green eyes staring down at her. The little frog like thing is hanging off the side of the pipe that she’s bound to. She blinks away the tears and that’s when she notices the familiar green hourglass symbol on the medallion like disc on the frog’s back.
“Deku?”
Grey Matter nods gesturing for Ochaco to keep her voice low. “Yeah, it’s me.”
Ochaco stiffs up and in a fit of panic she quickly scans for Rojo, but the villain isn’t in her direct line of sight. “What are you doing here?” She whispers harshly at the grey bipedal frog.
Grey matter slides down the pipe until he’s resting on Ochaco’s arm. He grabs the bindings, sticking the rope into his mouth, before biting down hard. As he chews away, he tries to reply. “I, grrr, came to, grrr, get you, grrr, obviously.”
*Snap*
And with that Ochaco’s arms are free. The brunette rubs her wrists gently trying to regain blood circulation within her hands. Rojo is nowhere in sight, thankfully, but she can return any moment and how the hell are they supposed to get out of here? Make a run for it? No, they’ll get caught before they can even make it to the door. Hide? She’ll easily find them. Fight? No chance.
Even though she’s no longer tied up, the cage of defeat still looms around her. She holds Grey matter in her hands, the little alien looking up at her with his big eyes that are full of concern and worry. “You should just leave.”
The question comes totally out of nowhere for Grey Matter. What could she possibly mean? Just what did the villain do to her? “Uraraka, I can’t just leave you here. We need to get out of here.”
Ochaco gives her little friend a soft but deeply saddened smile. “Thank you, Deku. But you shouldn’t have come.”
Grey Matter has no idea how to react to this, should he say something? What should he do?
Ochaco chokes back a sob. “Why risk everything for me? I’m no hero.” That really hurts to admit. “I can’t do what you can do. I’m not powerful, I’m not skilled, I’m just a stupid girl with an unachievable dream. So, please Deku…just leave me…”
‘Uraraka…I’m so sorry, this must be so terrifying for you. And it’s thanks to me that you’re even here.’ He has to make this right, but first he has to get her out of here. He will get her to safety, and he’ll beg for forgiveness, he’ll do whatever it takes to make it up to her. “Uraraka I-”
“What’s this?!” A red hand seemingly out of nowhere snatches onto the tiny alien. Ochaco yelps back in fright as Rojo holds up the frog-like alien examining it and noticing the dial on its back.
Grey Matter flails about struggling to break free from Rojo’s grip. “Ah, Ah!”
“Deku! Are you okay?!”
Grey Matter tries to push and pull himself free of Rojo’s claw. “Yeah, she just has really cold hands!” That’s probably not the most pressing matter at the moment.
Grey Matter’s body seems to squeak like a rubber duck as Rojo gives his body a few squeezes. “I knew you’d show up. Ready to give up the Omnitrix?”
If he wasn’t an amphibian he would be breaking into a cold sweat right about now. “I, uh, not really. I’m rather attached to it in case you haven’t noticed.”
Rojo actually finds the quip amusing. “I’ll be taking it anyway.” Her silver claws glean as she turns Grey Matter over and tries to tinker with the strange alien device trying to find some way to get it off.
Grey Matter can feel the cold sharp claws scratching and digging into the Omnitrix faceplate and his flesh. He starts pounding on Rojo’s hand, but it hardly phases her, it doesn’t even tickle, instead it provokes her to tighten her grip to the point that he’s actually struggling to breath. In between breaths he’s somehow able to call out to a frozen Ochaco. “Uraraka…run.”
The order goes unanswered as Ochaco continues to cower watching helplessly as her friend is being tormented by the mad woman. ‘Deku…even when your backs against the wall you’re still looking out for others…I’m not like you…I’m not a hero.’ She hates how something deep in her mind seems to agree, and it hurts because it’s true. How can someone like her, someone with such a weak will possibly be a hero? She’s nothing like Deku! He never seems to hesitate to help others, but she always does she can’t even save herself. She can’t even will herself to move. ‘How could I even consider the possibility of getting into U.A. and becoming a hero? How can I ever take care of my parents?’
Her parents, they work themselves to the bone just so they can keep a roof over their heads, cloth themselves, and get food on the table. And to thank them she really wanted to make a lot of money as a hero to give them the life they deserve. It’s ironic really with how right the villain was; heroes only act for their own self-interests… No, that’s not true. Just look at Deku…what could he possibly be getting out of this: not fame, fortune, or power he’s here for the sole purpose to save her so she can live her life feeling safe and with a happy smile on her face. Happy smiles…that’s what really drew her into the appeal of pro heroes they just seem to make everyone feel safer and happier with their presence alone. She had always dreamed of that the most, bringing smiles to people’s faces, allowing them to live their lives free of fear and harm. That’s the future she strives for one where not only her parents, but everybody can live their lives free of worry and strife. They can live their lives with smiles on their faces.
Something clicks inside her heart as she gazes up at the pathetic struggle above her. Grey Matter is doing his best to break free while trying to choke back the squeals of pain from having what feels like his own heart being tampered with.
‘If I want to achieve my dreams…then I have to make a stand. I have to fight back. I have to save my friend!’ Seemingly without thinking, as if by instinct, her legs seem to move on their own. “Leave him alone!!”
She lunges at the villain, acting fast she presses a firm hand onto Rojo’s shoulder making her weightless and without any hesitation she throws the much bigger woman backwards and right into the ground.
The attack didn’t so much as hurt but it certainly came as a surprise and it does manage to knock the wind out of her allowing her to lose her grip and thus lose her quarry.
Without a second to lose Ochaco grabs Grey Matter and makes a beeline straight for the exit at the front of the store.
From within a much warmer and friendlier grip Grey Matter calls out to his savior. “Uraraka, that was amazing!”
She doesn’t voice a reply, she’s too focused on getting them out of there, but her eyes sheen down at her friend soundlessly appreciating the comment a great deal.
Rojo screams out in outrage. “You bitch!!”
The morphed Izuku spins around in Ochaco’s hand, his eyes widening in fear, as Rojo leaps up to her feet and the shoulder blasters extend upwards.
“Look out!!” He barley shouts that out before a pair of laser beams are fired out right towards them.
Either by luck or skill Ochaco falls to the ground allowing the lasers to zip past her head, although the smell of singed hair does reach their noses. The lasers continue forward blasting apart a poor unexpecting drying machine. The blast is loud enough that everyone such as the news, heroes, and police are able to hear it.
“Get back here you brats!!” Rojo roars out as she sends out a rapid-fire of lasers. “That watch is the key to my successes!!”
Ochaco frantically ducks behind a row of refrigerators. The large machines provide enough cover to keep her out of sight which is good because Rojo fails to notice Ochaco scrambling towards the opposite end of the aisle and away from Rojo’s aim.
Grey Matter peeks over the side observing the situation. He takes a moment to examine Rojo’s body taking note of how much that alien drone actually melded with her human flesh… Perhaps to the point that he could rewire her! He could shut her down or make her go haywire! As Grey matter he’ll definitely have the knowhow to complete such a task, but first he has to get close to her to do that. “Uraraka try to get me close to her.”
“What?!” Ochaco harshly whispers, she accidentally squeezes the tiny Izuku making him wheeze.
“I think I can disable the technology encasing her body, but I need access to her inner wiring and components.” He pauses to consider their options; he needs to stop her and retrieve the alien technology. Maybe with Ochaco’s Zero-Gravity she could float him up and he could sneak up on her from above. “Throw me while she’s not looking.”
Ochaco considers the order, understanding what he’s trying to do, but she quickly realizes the possible risks such as Deku being spotted as she throws him. “No, that won’t work…but this will.” Without warning she takes off in a sprint back towards the entrance of the store, not bothering with stealth, her hands tucked in front of her as to keep Grey Matter out of Rojo’s sight.
Rojo takes the bait, she snarls in frustration not liking the idea of losing out on her payday, and gives chase leaping over and throwing machines that are in her way. “Stop running!”
The Izuku within Grey Matter rears his head as he has a panic attack. “What are you doing?!”
Ochaco speaks with the most conviction she can muster. “Giving you an opening.”
She activates her quick on her friend, who instantly feels the effect of being weightless, while still running from a fast approaching Rojo she tosses him up and over her head.
Thankfully, Grey Matter is smart enough to remain quiet despite how much he wants to scream out in fear. It feels really weird to be floating in midair and watching as your friend fleas for her life as a mad woman chases after her. Speaking of which, Ochaco glances back at the nearing Rojo when the sprinting villain is nearly underneath Grey Matter the brunette gives a shaky smirk as she presses her fingertips together, releasing her quirk.
Grey Matter falls from above and lands, somehow quietly, on Rojo’s shoulder thankfully with how much she’s running around and crashing through things he goes unnoticed by her. Which is good because he’s struggling to crawl his way towards the back of her head thanks to all the thrashing around. But he has to do this, he promised Thirteen, plus it wasn’t exactly easy to get in here those vents were extremely dusty.
At this point, Rojo is practically at Ochaco’s heels so much so that she takes a few swipes at the poor girl. Despite the real threat of being slashed into pieces Ochaco is surprisingly calm, she only a few aisles away from the exit. Sensing an oncoming attack, she ducks her head forward avoiding a swipe to her head, she then banks left into an aisle of more kitchen appliances: microwaves, refrigerators, etc.
Rojo follows but with a less than gentle manner, with a swing of her arm she bashes her arm against the stacks of appliances knocking them away, a few stray microwaves clash against Ochaco’s legs tripping her up. The brunette tries her best but ultimately, she lands on the tile floor with a loud thud.
Ochaco groans propping herself up she’s just about to get up when a shadow looms over her.
Rojo is huffing down at her with malice. “You’re beaten. Now hand over the Omnitrix.”
Ochaco glares up at her, but her expression breaks for a second not because of the villain but because of the little grey alien climbing on her shoulder blade; the adrenaline must be keeping her from noticing or maybe the robot skin is preventing her from sensing the additional weight.
“No, I don’t think I will.” With a cheeky smile Ochaco reveals her empty hands.
If it weren't for her altered eyes they would be widening in surprise. “Where is he?!”
From behind Rojo’s neck Grey Matter can make out what appears to be the main circuit board of what was once the drone.
Ochaco takes a second to examine what’s around her and from the corner of her eye the perfect weapon stands out. She then peers up at the villain, deciding to humor her question. “He’s closer than you might think.”
“What?”
Meanwhile, Grey Matter has somehow gotten through the steel skin to the circuiting underneath, and with as much strength he can manage with such a tiny body he tugs on the wires breaking a few of them free.
“Ahhhhh!!” Rojo screams out in pain as a high-pitched static screeches through her head and electricity sparks out from the back of her neck, the sparks nearly fry the little alien who’s holding on tight as to not get thrown off by Rojo’s floundering. Rojo desperately tries to grab at Grey Matter but the little alien is a bit too slippery for her to even touch.
With the villain distracted Ochaco reaches for the one kitchen appliance that’s stood out to her.
“What are you doing to me?!” Rojo roars out in desperation trying to get rid of the grey pest. She can feel it, she’s losing control over own body, it’s weakening. The strength, the surge of electricity, the power is all starting to fade away as the little pest continues to rip away at her inner wiring.
“Hey!”
Rojo spins around to face the girl what she sees really takes her by surprise. Ochaco’s wielding large silver refrigerator holding it the cord making it look like a giant-sized balloon, the large size makes her look even smaller than she really is. But somehow that only enhances how intimidating she is right now with such a determined look in her eyes.
“Have a taste of this!” Even though she’s scared, even though she’s exhausted, even though she feels like she may puke at any given second she will not back down from this. She swings the fridge as if it was a giant flail right at Rojo.
The refrigerator slams right into Rojo, who stands there like an idiot thinking that her armor would protect her, it does not. Because in that same moment Grey Matter was able to complete his part of the mission, thus bringing her defense down to that of a normal human being. As the large machine slams into Rojo, Ochaco not only let’s go of the cord but releases her quirk enhancing the impact of the attack. The impact comes in so fast and hard that the hit shatters the robotic exoskeleton making it crumble away like a potato chip being smashed. Add in the fact that now about 300 pounds of moving force not only has the strength to break things but to launch them too. Both Rojo and the fridge are sent flying towards the store entrance, both crash right through taking the crowd of reports, heroes, and bystanders by surprise.
Rojo passes out as she skids across the street completely stripped of her power and enhancements, reverting her back to her normal self, as a broken refrigerator lies not too far away.
Everyone's attention is so focused on the downed villain that most people don’t notice the grey amphibian roll across the ground at the same time the villain was launched through the store.
The entire crowd is silent as they all gaze up towards the store entrance, and there waiting to greet them is a battered and exhausted Ochaco Uraraka she’s out of breath and slightly queasy, either way she remains composed and standing. She wipes away sweat from the side of her face with her arm and breathing heavily while glaring down at the once mechanical criminal with disdain. What she says is a mere whisper, but because of the silence it is clearly audible. “I…can be a hero. And I will keep everyone safe!” Ochaco declares out to the world with a tired yet victorious smile.
And with that the crowd goes insane with thunderous applause and cheers, which totally take Ochaco by surprise making her pink-cheeks become even darker in color. The noise seems to snap the pro heroes and police out of their daze as they charge in to apprehend the villain, some of them enter the store to make sure no one else was inside, and a few pro heroes immediately descend upon Ochaco as well as any reporters that were starving for an interview.
Mt. Lady makes it to Ochaco first. “You were absolutely amazing!”
Ochaco squawks, making a comically confused expression with her mouth agape. “Wha?”
The reaction makes Mt. Lady squeal with delight. “Eee, you’re so goddamn adorable! You just gotta join my agency when you go pro.”
Before Ochaco could reply even more words are thrown right in her face by other pro heroes and reporters.
“That was spectacular!”
“Miss how are you feeling right now?!”
“How did you manage to defeat the villain?!”
“What exactly is your quirk?!”
“Do you plan on becoming a hero?! If so, join my agency!”
Grey Matter watches on at first, but it becomes increasingly difficult as reporters move-in nearly crushing him in the process. Luckily for the little guy a friendly hand snatches him up, bringing him to eye level.
Thirteen, holding Grey Matter in his open palms, watches as the Galvin tries to calm his racing heart. “You okay?”
Grey Matter nods waving off the adrenaline. “Yeah, just give me a minute.” As his heart rate calm Grey Matter takes a moment to look over to where Ochaco is.
She’s smiling, and blushing profusely, as heroes and reports praise her for not only rescuing herself, but for managing to bring down a dangerous villain all on her own. Even though the praise is extremely flattering it’s clear that Ochaco is really suffering from embarrassment. Thirteen takes note of how uncomfortable she is amongst the swarm of new fans. “Come one let’s go rescue her…again.”
“You got it.”
Thirteen places Grey Matter onto their shoulder before proceeding to squeeze their way through the sea of people in order to save Ochaco from the barrage of praise, inquiries, and agency offers.
Unbeknownst to the two of them they pass by a strange man with blonde hair and sunken eyes. He’s dangerously skinny, his clothes hanging off of him, and he’s having trouble breathing not surprising considering he ran all the way here and was able to catch the tail end of the ordeal. Thanks to his lankiness and height he watches as the police lead the round-faced girl way for her statement and a checkup. ‘My search just might be over…’
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Meanwhile, someone else comes to their own realization.
“Worthless!!” The alien commander with an octopus like head roars out in anger. Oh, how he urges to destroy or kill something, but alas he can only voice his frustration thanks to being stuck in a healing pod. He continues to spout out words of anger until they begin to wheeze and cough.
One of the humanoid drones is busy monitoring their commander’s vitals through a holographic screen. “Master please you are still recovering!”
The commander’s wheezing stops, thanks to the breathing apparatus attached to his mouth and gills, and he composes himself “Silence…” The commander of alien cruiser peers upward at a large holographic monitor which is projecting what appears to be the day’s events from Rojo’s point of view.
The commander watches as the monitor replays the same scene over and over, the scene of a human girl somehow managing to takedown his agent with a single attack. “This…endeavor has proven…to be fruitless.”
“Master should we send more drones?”
The commander takes a moment to think. How does he continue from here? How can he possibly retrieve the Omnitrix now? The inhabitants of this world are proving to be a greater nuisance than originally foreseen. The so called “pro heroes” are crawling all over this place called Japan, one of them was even able to take out his attack drones with a single strike. And now this, an adolescent child was able to defeat his minion. This cannot stand! However, it is clear that drones will not get him what he so desperately desires. “No…”
All of the drones within the command center stop what they are doing to check on the status of their leader. “Master?”
“We…will decrease the deployment of drones…for now we will standby and observe. We will take time…to learn about this backwater planet and its inhabitants…until an opportunity…presents itself.”
Yes, this is the right strategy. He needs time not only to heal but to work around those pesky “heroes”, he cannot just simply use force to take the Omnitrix, he needs to be more…resourceful. So, for now, he will learn what he can and perhaps if the hero presence on this world is so great than so too must be the criminal underworld. Perhaps a solution lies there.
Notes:
And that was Ch.7, wow that was a lot, huh? Please let me know your thoughts of the chapter. Please leave a review, tell me what you liked, ask questions, even throw in some helpful criticism I would really love to hear from you guys and get your thoughts.
*I am hoping to have Ch.8 up within the next two weeks or less but it is unclear when that will occur. Work has gotten a bit chaotic recently so my schedule has been frustrating.
*Ch.8 will another character driven chapter, but it should be relatively shorter especially when compared to this chapter.
*I will have a few scenes in Ch.8 that were originally meant for this chapter, but I excluded them because this chapter was already way too long.
*Finally, Ch.8 will be the last of what I'm calling the "Pre-U.A.". That's right after Ch.8 we will begin the U.A. Entrance Exam so be ready for the story to really begin to take off.
Chapter 8: Space Cadets
Summary:
While out enjoying himself Izuku reflects on how Thirteen and him got Ochaco Uraraka to join their little gtoup.
Notes:
Woah, I finished Ch.8 on time! I knew I would finish it, but honestly this chapter ended up being longer than I originally thought. I really need to work on that, this way I could try and post sooner. Anyway please enjoy.
*Some part(s) were meant to be in Ch.7 but I cut them out and put them here instead because Ch.7 was already way too long. So if some parts seem out of place then I apologize in advanced.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
“Thank you for the help sweetie.”
Izuku smiles warmly at the kind old woman he offered to carry groceries to her home. “You’re very welcome, ma’am.”
With a friendly wave, Izuku went off on his merry way. For a good portion of the day, he’s just gone about strolling through Musutafu. He has no particular plan other than helping those he can. And why shouldn’t he? Now that he’s completely cleaned up Dagobah Beach, he has officially completed his training with Thirteen. And he couldn't feel anymore pride for himself than now, also the newly developed muscles didn’t hurt either. Seriously, the “All American Dream Plan” really worked better than he ever expected it to. Of course, there is still more to learn, especially about his aliens and powers but he can focus on that stuff at U.A. assuming he’ll make it in.
For now, he’ll just help those he can. He’s already done so much such as using Feedback to help a little girl get her cat down from a tree, give a nice elderly gentleman direction, and he even picked up some trash around the park as Ditto.
It feels nice to do those good deeds, and the beautiful weather really helps his mood. The sun is out but it’s not too hot or humid, a nice breeze gently moves his hair, and the birds’ songs only help to raise his spirits.
*Ping*
That was his phone, he pulls it out seeing one new message from Ochaco Uraraka. They’ve stayed in contact, especially after what took place nearly eight months ago, and especially what happened afterwards…
##########(Flashback)#########
“Uraraka!! I’m so sorry!!” Streams of tears are just gushing out from Izuku’s eyes, so much so that Ochaco has to shield herself from the splashes.
“Whatever for?!”
The dam closes up very briefly, enough so Izuku can reply. “If it weren’t for me, you’d have never been kidnapped!” The dam opens back up and the tears resume to act like geysers, so much so that tears begin to pool at their feet.
Ochaco so desperately try to calm the poor greenette down before he draws any more attention to themselves. Luckily, the Tatooine Train Station is void of crowds especially at this hour, it’s nearly dusk and the orange tint to the sky only confirms this.
It took a while for the police to get their statements from Ochaco about the villain and the events that led up to her kidnapping. They seemed to be rather lax and sensitive to her especially since she was only defending herself and with the villain, identified as Rojo, now in custody they saw this as a case closed. So, they didn’t push too hard with their questions. That said Thirteen did remain nearby to make sure nothing led to talks about the Omnitrix, aliens, or the alien tech. Ochaco herself kept things to a minimum, such as not mentioning that Izuku had broken into the store to help her, she was afraid of what they would do to him since it’s illegal to use your quirks without a license and that he snuck past the police.
When all was said and done, even after some more pros approached Ochaco with offers, the police escorted her to the train station on her insistence since Izuku sent her a quick text to meet there. Thirteen generously gave Izuku a ride to the train station so he could meet up with his friend. Now here they are at said train station, Izuku crying his heart out with apologies and Ochaco can do nothing but smile sheepishly for his sincerity, all the while Thirteen keeps to themselves watching from afar as to not disturb them.
“Deku, really, it’s fine. I don’t blame you for anything.”
Izuku sniffs, his tears calming to a drip. “R-really?”
Ochaco can’t help but chuckle at his somewhat cute and funny expression “Yes, it was the villain, Rojo, that ruined our day out, not you.”
Izuku fidgets with the hem of his shirt. “S-so, all is forgiven?”
Ochaco gives him a warm soft smile to help reassure him. “Of course.”
“Ah, thank goodness.”
Ochaco nods in confirmation. “Hm.” It’s true, she doesn’t see this as Izuku’s fault in anyway.
…
But Rojo really wanted to get her hands on his watch thing, the Omnifix-no the Omnitrix, but why? It should only work with Izuku’s quirk, One Man Army, right? Perhaps she wanted to use it for something else? Maybe Deku knows why, maybe she should ask? Yeah, there shouldn’t be any harm in asking. “Hey Deku.”
Izuku tilts his head to the side a naive smile on his face. “Hmp?”
“What is the Omnitrix?”
His reaction is not what she’s expecting, Izuku is shocked so much so that he nearly stumbles over in surprise. “T-the Omnitrix?” His eyes dart towards Thirteen, but they are too far away to have heard the question. Thirteen notices Izuku’s distress and begins to make their way over to assist their student. But for now, Izuku is on his own. “The Omnitrix is my watch, just like I said earlier.”
“I know that,” Ochaco eyes the black and green device with much curiosity. “but what I mean is, why was Rojo after it?”
What should he say? Should he tell her how the Omnitrix is Level 20 alien technology that can give its user access to alien quirks? “I…I don’t know.” He hates how easily he was able to lie like that, especially after what happened last time he lied to a friend.
Ochaco tilts her head slightly with a raised eyebrow. “Really Rojo made it sound like she would be more powerful after she got it.” Ochaco notices that Thirteen has approached them, but they seem to respect that Ochaco is the one speaking and doesn’t want to interrupt. “Maybe…she thought it could do something for her.”
Thirteen decides to chime in. “Or maybe she was trying to retrieve it for someone else.” After all the past drones were all after the Omnitrix as well. Perhaps whomever is controlling them went with a different approach.
“But that still doesn’t answer my question. Why would anyone be after his watch? Does it do something else?” Izuku and Thirteen share a nervous look, well at least Izuku does. Ochaco finally realizes how incredibly rude and nosy she’s being right now. “I mean you don’t have to tell me, but I mean my life was at risk because of it, but still!”
Izuku’s eyes cast downward in shame. She’s right after all her life was in danger because of him, because of the device on his arm. He needs to make it right, but what about Thirteen will they be alright with him filling her in? “Uraraka…you see, well, my watch is special, but I, um-”
“Why don’t we discuss this at a later time?” Thirteen calmly interjects before Izuku could continue any further.
Both teens give the adult odd looks. “Wha?”
Ochaco looks uncomfortable, but she speaks up anyway. “Um, I’m sorry Thirteen, and I don’t mean to be rude, but I was talking to Deku.”
“I’m sorry, too, Miss Uraraka buy I’m afraid this matter does concern me. Also, I want to apologize for deceiving you,” Thirteen gestures to the quivering greenette beside them. “but Midoriya and I have known each other for some time now.”
“What?!” Ochaco stares at the equally surprised Deku, although he’s surprised because Thirteen was the one to spill the truth. “Why would you keep the fact that you know a pro hero a secret?”
Before Izuku could reply Thirteen continues their explanation. “Miss Uraraka please understand that the…Omnitrix is a highly sensitive matter.”
The brunette gaps in shock as the worst comes to mind. “Oh, my gosh! It’s a government secret isn’t it! Oh no! Now you have to silence me, hide my body, and erase my files to the point that I never existed!!”
“What?! We don’t do that! We don’t just make our problems “disappear” or “send” them away…most of the time.” Thirteen coughs the last part into their hand, hopefully the girl didn’t hear that part.
Izuku however did catch it. ‘What do they mean by that?!’
“What I mean is we need special permission to share that information with you,” Thirteen’s eyes shift towards Izuku before back at the brunette. “after that we’ll be happy to share what we know with you.”
‘Wow, this must be really serious.’ Ochaco thinks. “Really, it’s not too much trouble is it?”
“It’s not,” Thirteen really sounds both professional and sympathetic which is good since both teens seem like they are both nervous about something or other. “but please keep in mind that this…secret could change your perspective on things. Just keep that in mind, alright?”
Ochaco easily picks up the warning tone of Thirteen’s voice. “Alright.”
Thirteen instantly brightens, clapping their hands together as a means to signal the end of the conversation. “Great, well, I think you two have earned yourselves a nice long rest. Wouldn’t you say?”
Izuku’s eyes widen as he finally takes note of how late it is, they can almost see the stars begin to emerge as the sun slowly disappears in the horizon. “Oh, yeah.”
Ochaco checks her phone, noticing the time and the texts from her parents. “Right, I should get going. I wouldn't want to worry my parents any more than I have already.”
Izuku nods. “Same.”
Thirteen pats Izuku’s shoulder. “How about I see you home Midoriya?”
“Uh, sure.” The greenette turns to Ochaco. “I’ll let you know if we can tell you anything, and…” he bows, his back straight, and his eyes shut. “I’m sorry for keeping secrets!”
Ochaco blushes from the display. “It’s fine, everyone has their secrets, and if you can’t tell me than I understand. Even if I really want to know.” She rubs her head flashing him a sheepish smile.
“Thanks, I’m…I’m grateful.”
In that moment the speakers across the station turn on. “Attention all commuters the last train to Endori will be departing shortly.”
“Oh, that’s me. Text me later, alright?” Ochaco grips her backpack and takes off for the train, she can’t afford to miss it. “Take care!”
Izuku calls back to her. “Right, see ya.”
Thirteen and Izuku watch as Ochaco enters the station and makes a beeline for her train.
Without looking away Izuku decides now is the time to bring something up to the Plumber. “Are we really going to ask permission to tell Uraraka about…everything?”
“That depends,” Thirteen turns and looks directly into Izuku’s green shimmering eyes and with all seriousness they ask, “do you really want to tell her?”
“What?! But I thought you said we needed permission to do that.”
“Midoriya, understand, that I have all the authority to let those that I see as necessary to know about my work. And you are part of it, also with the number of Plumbers on Earth being so low we need as much help as we can get. That said we can’t go around telling everyone we think can keep a secret. If Uraraka accepts our terms then I see no reason to not bring her into the fold, plus she’s already proven herself well against those alien robots.”
“So, it’s up to me?”
Thirteen nods. “I trust you.”
He has to think about this. This is what he wanted, isn't it? He doesn’t have to keep lying to her. Unsure, Izuku watches as Ochaco boards the train, she hops on making it seem like she just barely made it, but the train’s doors haven’t even shut closed yet. She turns and with a cheery smile she waves back at them. “Yeah, I think we should.”
“Okay, I’ll prepare what’s needed to help convince her.”
‘I wonder what that entails.’ Finally, there’s only one more thing weighing on his mind. “Hey, Thirteen.”
“Yes?”
“Something else has been bothering me. How did Rojo get her hands on the robot in the first place.”
Rather than wait to think about how and why, Thirteen already has an answer to that question. “I already looked into it; she stole the robot from a transport vehicle being driven by the Hero Association.”
Izuku internally gasps. “Do they know?” He means, do they know about aliens and the Plumbers?
“The organization as a whole…no.” Izuku visibly relaxes. “But the leaders do,” Izuku’s eyes widen in astonishment. “and they sometimes go behind my back to take alien contraband, specifically alien technology.”
“Is that bad?”
“Yes, they wish to unlock new technology, but like I said that could lead to catastrophe. I’ll have to give them a call and make sure that it doesn’t happen again.” The train’s whistle decides to interject itself to allow all those that hear it to know that the train will be leaving now. “You don’t have to worry about that thou, I made sure to collect all that was left of the evidence this time.”
The train doors shut closed, Izuku and Thirteen watch on as Ochaco sits down near the large window with her back towards the duo. Even from their position they can see her ease into her seat letting exhaustion take her over.
Thirteen is glad, it seems that his young protege really took his advice about finding someone to confide in. Someone he can trust and help ease his troubles. “She’s a good one.”
“Huh?”
“I mean as a friend, she’s a good friend, she seems like a good person you can confide in, right?”
“Yeah.” Izuku watches as the train begins to ease itself forward onto the tracks. He watches as his friend’s train car begins to move as well. He thinks about what Thirteen said and he has to agree. Ochaco really has become someone he can see as a friend…a real friend at that. For now, he can only wonder about what will happen next and how well she will handle the truth about the Omnitrix…and him.
Just as Ochaco’s train car leaves his direct line of sight Izuku spots only a single other person sitting in the same car on the opposite side of the car from her. Sitting with their back towards the window there is a skinny blonde-haired man with an overly sized white shirt. ‘Was that… No, it must have been my imagination. I’ve had a long day after all. Yeah, that’s it. Afterall why would All Might be heading to Endori, in Mei Prefecture, when his agency is in Tokyo? Oh well, it wasn’t him anyway. Now time to get home before Mom cries herself to dehydration.’
########(End Flashback)#######
Izuku unlocks his phone and he is greeted by a selfie from Ochaco Uraraka with the caption
[Woah, my training regimen is tough! But I think it’ll be well worth it!]
Izuku smiles at the photo, it was taken recently, he can tell from how much light is in the photo. It’s of her in exercise clothes, her face is dirty and slightly scraped up, and she’s sweating that much he can tell, but despite that she’s smiling and giving him a big thumbs up from within the photo. Judging from the background she appears to be in a forest near her home, which makes sense all things considered. According to earlier conversations she was able to find a trainer that was willing to help her to develop her quirk and her physical capabilities as well. He tried to ask who her trainer was but all she said was that it was a personal connection of her dad’s construction company. Either way it’s good that she’s working hard to achieve her dreams.
He sends her a quick response.
[Keep up the hard work!]
[Let’s try to meet up before the U.A. Entrance Exam next month?]
[Sounds good to me]
[Great, how about we go to this new mochi place that opened up?]
[Yes yes yes]
[I must have MOCHI :D]
[I mean sure. Why not?]
Izuku laughs at Ochaco’s silliness. [K, I’ll send you the address later]
[Cool see you then]
[Talk to you later, space cadet]
[Same to you fellow space cadet]
Izuku chuckles warmly at the stupid nickname she dubbed them with. Well it’s certainly better than yelling out Plumber or space hero. After all, neither of them has earned those titles quite yet, but one day they just might.
The thought makes Izuku grin like there’s no tomorrow, they did make a promise to each other all those months ago, and he has no intention of ever breaking that promise…
##########(Flashback)#########
“Maybe this wasn’t such a good idea. I mean what if she freaks out or has a mental break down? She might think I’m some kind of freak! What if she regrets this decision? This can go badly in so many different ways! I bet she freaks out at the first sight of them!”
“She might freak out, but from your muttering more likely.” Thirteen deadpans in slight annoyance, they’re never going to get used to Izuku’s muttering habit.
“Huh?! Oh, right sorry. I’m just so nervous.” Izuku gazes up at the large warehouse standing behind them. ‘Uraraka isn’t the only person’s reaction that I’m worried about.’ Izuku shudders with nervousness.
Thirteen lazily texts away on their phone oblivious to Izuku’s worries. “It’s no big deal. Just relax.” Thirteen pockets their phone, eyeing the slightly shaking teen. “You trust her, right?”
“Of course.” Izuku answers with little to no hesitation.
“Then you have nothing to worry about.”
Izuku smiles softly before turning away to keep an eye out for Ochaco.
While he’s distracted Thirteen gently taps a hidden device in his pocket. ‘Besides I could use this to erase her memories encase this doesn't go as planned.’ It’s such a convenient device, they don’t actually get to use it that often these days, which is a shame since it was such a great gift from some friends from out of town. “You ready?”
“Honestly…no.”
“Oh, well that’s too bad.” Thirteen states rather carelessly.
“Why?!”
Rather than answer Thirteen holds up three fingers, Izuku watches on in confusion as Thirteen begins to silently count down to one. And when they get to zero the pro hero simply points a finger towards the front of the warehouse yard.
“Deku! Thirteen!” Uraraka waves over taking off into a jog towards them.
Izuku freezes up. “U-uraraka!”
Thirteen’s not ashamed to admit that they feel rather smug right now. “Right on time.” Thirteen smiles at the brunette as she approaches them. “Thanks for agreeing to meet us here, I know it’s rather inconvenient for you to make the trip all the way out here.”
“No, no, it’s fine, I completely understand. Besides now I get to checkout your secret government facility!” Ochaco’s smiles with joy, waving her fists up and down with little stars glimmering in her eyes as the anticipation within her heart begins to swell up. “I bet it’s nearby, it must have a super cool secret entrance, laser guns, retinal scans, and secret agent gadgets! Oh, I just can’t wait!”
Thirteen sweat drops from Ochaco’s apparent overexcitement. ‘She’s had too much time to think about this.’
Izuku mimics his mentor’s expression as he presses his index fingers together. ‘Now I feel like she’s going to be disappointed.’
Thirteen sighs, reclaiming the teens’ attention. “Alright, I think it’s best if we just ripe off this Band-Aid.” Thirteen takes a deep calming breath preparing themselves for the possibly disastrous outcome that may unfold. “Miss Uraraka once again I have to be utterly clear with you, but what we are about to share with you cannot only affect you personally but the entire world as we know it. So, please understand that you can never share what you learn here with anyone. Do we have your word?”
Ochaco’s gaze falls as she ponders the question. ‘In all honestly, I’ve already been entrusted with one Earth shattering secret this week alone, and that one was a lot to take in. So, how mind blowing could this next one be?’ Ochaco inhales summing all the courage and fortitude she can muster. “Yes.”
“Good, Midoriya why don’t you explain what you can to her.”
For a split second, Izuku looks like he’s going to pass out, but he composes himself just as fast. Albeit with a shaky smile that fails to be comforting or convincing. “Right, so…I’m an alien!!!”
…
Ochaco stares at the greenette as if he spontaneously grew a second head.
Thirteen facepalms themselves, never have they been more embarrassed for someone other than themselves in their entire life. “Maybe this was a bad idea.”
Izuku can’t help but feel somewhat betrayed. “See I told you!”
Thirteen sighs in defeat stepping forward to take the lead. “You know what I’ll just take the lead. Miss Uraraka,” That snaps Ochaco out of her daze. “The first thing you should know is that Midoriya here is actually Quirkless.” With pride Thirteen affectionately pats Izuku on the shoulder feeling proud that they can say that a Quirkless boy can be a hero. Izuku can hear the blatant pride in Thirteen’s voice and it makes his chest swell up too. The moment doesn’t last long thou namely because of the bewildered expression Ochaco is giving them. “I know, I know. Hard to believe right, but not when you consider the possibility that the watch, or rather the Omnitrix, has the ability to give Midoriya various powers.”
‘Okay that’s a lot more to take in than I was expecting.’ Ochaco looks over at Izuku who’s too busy sweating and clamming up in place, he’s clearly uncomfortable with where the situation has gone. ‘Could Thirteen be serious, is Deku really Quirkless?’ She unsure, but she decides to see where this goes for now. “Let’s just say if I did believe you, then I would have to say that it's all pretty incredible.” Izuku straightens up slightly perhaps she will accept the truth in a positive light. “Especially, considering that you’re Quirkless that just makes it…” Izuku curls in on himself as if expecting to be hit hard by an insensitive remark. “even more amazing!”
Well he certainly wasn’t expecting that.
Ochaco brightens up letting her good nature and elation bubble up. “Seriously, that’d be super cool a Quirkless hero who with a brief change of fate has the opportunity to live out their dream. That kind of stuff only happens in movies and comic books and seeing it in real life would be amazing!!” Her expression falls. “But we don’t live in a comic book, so I don’t fully understand how a little device could give someone multiple quirks.”
Thirteen sticks a finger into the air. “And that segways us into the next and most important part.” Thirteen’s demeanor becomes serious they carry an air of professionalism that a pro hero in a disaster situation would conduct themselves during planning phases. “Do you believe in extraterrestrial life?”
Izuku’s not sure if he should cry or laugh right now. ‘Come on Thirteen, I thought you’d take a more subtle approach than that.’
“Absolutely!!” Ochaco seems to be radiating a cheery light, her eyes look like a child who was just given a whole bowl of candy on Halloween.
Izuku gasps. “Seriously?!”
“I do!” Ochaco practically cheers with enthusiasm. “After all there are like a gazillion stars in our galaxy alone the odds of there being no other life out in the universe is impossible. Who knows what’s out there! Just imagine what they must be like! I can only imagine what they’re like, I bet they’re slimy, creepy, fast, and strong! They’re every shape and size!” Ochaco, disturbingly, begins to chat away to herself in a storm of muttering, much like what Izuku does whenever he talks about heroes and quirks.
That fact is not lost on said teen as he stares wide eyed at an excitedly muttering Ochaco. He finally understands why everyone else is so put off when he himself does this. ‘So, that’s what it feels like.’
Ochaco becomes stock still as her face drains of all color, she finally realized how much of her geeky side she just displayed. “Sorry, I’m kind of a…space nerd.”
‘No way.’
Ochaco grabs her face, turning away to hide her embarrassment. She frantically shakes her hand at him as if to wave him away. “Oh, gosh this is so embarrassing!” Ochaco gasps, remembering something from before. “Wait!” She points two finger guns at Izuku. “So, your quirk “One Man Army” is actually a cover for the Omnitrix!” She steps closer as if being closer would help her to sniff out any lies. “And if that’s the case then are you trying to say that the Omnitrix is actually an alien device that can alter your DNA to that of other sentient beings?!”
Thirteen blinks a few times processing what just transpired. “Wow, you got that on the first try.”
Ochaco coughs trying to save grace. “But even if all of that was true, no matter how much I wish it was, I don’t think I actually believe anything your saying.”
“And that’s why we’re here.” Thirteen waves a hand at the giant warehouse as if it was a magical place of majesty.
Ochaco, however, is not impressed by the crumby looking building with barbed wire fencing, broken windows, and rusted doorway.
It’s here where Izuku finally decides to air his grievance. “About that…” Izuku strolls over to Thirteen waving a finger at them. He tries to keep his composure while negative thoughts flow through his head. “Is it possible we could do this anywhere else but here?” He jabs a thumb at the warehouse, acting like there’s something inside that he’s dreading.
“Midoriya we talked about this, this is the safest and most appropriate place to conduct this.”
Ochaco says nothing she just watches on as Izuku and Thirteen have their little discussion. ‘What is Deku so worried about?’
Thirteen grabs the door bar before turning to face the pinked-cheeked girl. “This is it Miss Uraraka, this is your last chance to back out.”
Ochaco gives the pro hero the best confident look she can muster. “I’m not backing out, I want to know, and help out in any way that I can.”
Thirteen nods, they turn back to the door, and with some hesitation Thirteen slowly begins to push the large metal doors open.
The anticipation is torture on her. ‘Just what is inside that has Deku so scared? Could it be a hive of brain eating aliens, is it a spaceport that’s housing U.F.O.s, or maybe it’s the entrance way to an underground city full of aliens!!’
“Welcome to Mr. Baumann’s Store for the Far Traveled and Newly Localized!”
The look on Ochaco’s face, with a stupid grin and wide eyes, would be comical if it wasn’t for the dazed and far off look in her eye. It’s unclear if she’s reacting this way thanks to her exaggerated expectations, or the number of other worldly beings, goods, and atmosphere of the facility. Probably the latter.
Thirteen leads the way gesturing Ochaco inside, it takes a soft nudge from Izuku to get her moving. She remains stiff even as she slowly marches along, like she’s literally walking on eggshells. The brunette stiffly rotates her head here and there observing what she can while trying to process the overwhelming flow of new information.
Everything and everyone here are clearly an alien, sure most can obviously be passed off as humans with mutant type quirks, but amongst the unearthly food, products, and other beings it’s clear what they truly are.
A group of aliens that look like crabs with big yellow eyes and large red pincers are gorging themselves on pieces of scrap metal.
A purple bipedal sloth with a skull like face and insect antennas is browsing a selection of oddly colored fruits.
Nearby, a green slug-like alien with a tubular mouth disgustingly spits out what looks like a spitball that’s made of boogers and vomit.
Ochaco looks like she’s going to throw up at the mere sight of the revolting thing, she can even smell it from their distance.
During the entire walk, Izuku has been gagging Ochaco’s reactions, and from what he can tell none of this is going as planned. There’s no thought that if they continue, she’s going to have a mental break down. There has to be something he can do to fix this. “H-hey, U-Uraraka. A-are you al-alright?”
She doesn’t reply right away, she doesn’t even turn to face him, but she does react by freezing in place. “Deku…”
Izuku flinches, here comes the explosion of emotions and outrage. Meanwhile, Thirteen finally notices that the two teens have stopped moving.
“I’m…FANTASTIC!!!” Her eyes light up like Christmas lights, full of wonder and passion.
Izuku certainly wasn’t expecting that as a reaction.
“This is so amazing! I’ve only ever dreamed of this kind of stuff. I mean look at that alien!” She points towards a young alien that looks like a literal seamonkey on legs and wearing overalls. “Or that one!” She excitedly points to another alien; this one looks like a purple squid wearing a glass tube as a helmet to breath a noxious gas. Ochaco spins around admiring everything in sight from the grotesque to the fascinating. “This place is my greatest fantasy come true! Well, it would be if there was a mountain of mochi.”
“Sorry but we don’t sell human food here.” A highly annoyed voice responds.
Izuku begins to sweat profusely, he can never mistake that voice with all its irritation and anger. “Mr. Baumann!”
Mr. Baumann, the elderly and grouchy store owner, marches towards the odd trio with as much dominance as possible. Izuku winces as Mr. Baumann leers down at him. “Izuku Midoriya, what are you doing in my store?”
Izuku blanches. Oh man this is the last thing he wanted today. Mr. Baumann’s scolding always puts him off. “Oh, I uh, well-”
“Nice to see you Mr. Baumann.” Leave it to Thirteen to come to the rescue.
Mr. Baumann’s expression softens, not by much, but it’s enough to draw attention away from Izuku allowing the boy to catch his breath. “Same to you, now would you care to explain why you brought this menace into my store!” Mr. Baumann points a finger at Izuku; however, he’s so close and aggressive about it that he actually jams his finger into Izuku’s cheek.
Thirteen, even with their helmet, gives the store owner a friendly smile. “Ah, yes, we are conducting some possible recruitment today, and your store is the best place to get our points across.”
“Recruitment?” Mr. Baumann raises an eyebrow, crossing his arms. “Am I to assume it’s the human girl that’s busy disturbing my customers?”
“Huh?” Both Izuku and Thirteen look over to Ochaco to realize what he meant.
She’s gone!
Izuku, on the verge of panicking, swivels around frantically trying to spot her. Thirteen also looks around, but with much more composure.
They spot her alright, she’s enthusiastically running about the store interacting with everything and everyone she encounters. She shakes hands or tentacles with an alien that looks like a cross between a swamp monster and a blue octopus. She rudely taps on the metal exoskeleton of a robotic-like alien with blue skin and yellow eyes who happened to be going through an alien sock aisle. She even tries to take a bite out of something that looks like an orange with purple spots, only to have the piece of fruit to try and take a literal bite out of her. Her antics seem to be putting some of the other shoppers on edge, seeing a strange human girl running around isn’t exactly something one sees around here all that often.
Thirteen gives the elderly gentleman a slight bow. “My apologizes Mr. Baumann she doesn’t mean any harm.”
Mr. Baumann crosses his arms, sticking his nose upward. “Funny that’s what most people say about this one,” He gestures to Izuku who finally looks away from watching Ochaco run about the store. “but I know the truth.”
Izuku’s shoulders slump, feeling dejected. “Harsh…”
Thirteen pats Izuku on the shoulder trying to show sympathy. “Don’t worry, we'll be out of your hair before you know it.”
Mr. Baumann takes a moment to ponder. “Alright, but the moment this one does anything that will harm my business I’m kicking you all out!”
“Fair enough.”
Satisfied, especially after letting Izuku know whose boss, Mr. Baumann stomps away deciding that he needs to finish restocking his pyramid of canned vegetables.
“He really hates me.” Izuku grumbles, glad that the tension has been cut.
“Yup!” Izuku can’t help but think that Thirteen agreed to that statement way too quickly. “Now let’s go get Uraraka before she accidentally offends someone.”
The duo walk off to resume their search, they eventually find her amongst an aisle of cleaning products. She appears to be talking to a rather odd duo: a short alien and an even shorter robot.
The alien is a stereotypical "little green man from outer space" including thin antennae. He has large bug-like ruby eyes and green skin. He’s wearing a red tunic-like garment with three black stripes and a triangular pink collar and sleeves, as well as black boots, leggings, and gloves. He also has an ovular light-gray pack on his back.
The grey robot is just as weird looking: it’s two feet tall with a large head, thin arms, triangular legs, large circular eyes that illuminate in a teal-color, and a cross-hatched mouth.
Ochaco happily looks down at the short alien, she’s thoroughly enthralled by their conversation. This little guy is really interesting. “So, what exactly are your plans for planet Earth?”
The little green alien eyes Ochaco warily, but despite his reserves, he indulges her curiosity anyway; either out of custody or arrogance. “My plans for conquest are beyond your puny comprehension filthy human Urth girl!”
“There’s going to be tacos!” The tiny robot interjects sounding like it just gave the most obvious answer.
“Yes! Oh, such tacos will I give!” The alien pauses realizing his blunder. “Wait, no. There will be no tacos!” He glares at his robot servant who gleefully and naively smiles back at his master.
It takes a moment for it to process that his request was denied. And thus, the little robot begins to randomly scream out as if in pain, cry out in despair as it brainlessly begins to flail about on the floor acting like a child who just lost their favorite toy. After a few awkward minutes the robot randomly pops back up onto its feet acting like nothing ever happened. “Okay!” He states with so much cheer that it’s infectious, the little robot then begins to run in a circle, judging by the stupid grin on its face it is clearly having the best time of its life. “Weeeeeeee!!!!”
“Silence!” At its master’s command the robot does silence itself, but it doesn’t stop running in a circle, its arms waving frantically at its sides. “As for your question,” The alien eyes Ochaco who has been patiently waiting for him to continue. “although it is beneath me to even speak to you as seen that you are part of an inferior species, I will humor you. My ingenious plan will result in your entire worthless and ugly species becoming slaves to me and my people! You will serve us chocolates, clean our toilets, and bow to your supreme warlord, me!!” He takes a deep breath before entering into a fit of deranged and maniacal laughter. “Mwahahahaha!!!”
“Hm, I see.” Ochaco nods seemingly like she completely understands where the little creep is coming from.
Izuku and Thirteen, meanwhile, watch as the little alien eventually begins to choke on his own ego, thus ruining his own moment.
Izuku blinks, he’s unsure how to react to the little invader’s declaration. “Should we be concerned?”
Thirteen casually waves off his concern. “Na, he’s been plotting world domination since 2001.”
“Wow, he’s been trying to take over the world for centuries, huh?!”
“Yeah, I should arrest him, but I think he’s entertaining. In that weird and disturbed kind of way.”
Ochaco leaves behind the odd duo who are now busy gathering as much cleaning supplies as they can, in preparation for their purge against germs. “I agree, he is rather silly. I think it’s great!”
“Nice to see that you’re enjoying yourself.”
Ochaco nods with a joyful smile on her face. “Hmp.”
Izuku approaches her worried that she may be hurt. “That’s good, but you should be more careful. You don’t know what anybody is capable of.”
Thirteen full heartedly agrees. “He’s right, although most aliens in Japan are well meaning people, there are some unsavory characters mixed in.” From the corner of their eye, Thirteen thinks they see something with grey fur try and pocket a pack of food into their orange jacket. “Speaking of unsavory characters.” Thirteen turns leering at the thief. “You better be behaving yourself, Argit.”
A large rat with long spiky black hair freezes in place having been caught red handed trying to steal food. His eyes dart over to Thirteen, after realizing who called him out, he tries to be coy. “Thirteen, long time no see buddy! You look good, been working out?”
“Save the act for the suckers you swindle credits off of. I don’t need to hear it.”
The two teens eye the alien rodent warily, but it’s Izuku who decides to speak up. “Thirteen, who’s this?”
“This is one of the biggest rats in all of Musutafu, both in the literal and metaphorical sense of the word.” Izuku is unsure what they mean. “He’s a con artist.” Thirteen explains.
Argit interrupts, feeling somewhat offended. “I prefer the term entrepreneur.”
Thirteen gives the rodent a nasty glare.
Argit appropriately takes a few steps back, airing on the side of caution. “Hey come on, now. I mean a rat’s gotta make a living, you know?”
The Plumber’s glare intensifies tenfold.
Ochaco decides to risk her well-being by speaking up. “I don’t mean to step on your toes, Thirteen, but shouldn't you arrest him.”
Argit gulps but he keeps his composure despite the situation. “He…” He pauses. “she…um, they wouldn’t dare, not without good cause, plus I am following Intergalactic law, because my…” He pauses to think. “business dealings in no way compromise the wellbeing of my fellow space travelers...”
Thirteen’s glare somehow becomes even more terrifying.
Argit sighs in defeat. “I’m also a part time snitch and informant for the Red Spot.” He gestures towards Thirteen.
Thirteen sticks a finger out towards the rat, threatening to use their quirk.
Argit flinches, he’s sweating now, the situation is getting increasingly worse for him. He has to correct himself. “I mean the Plumbers.” Mercifully Argit’s cell phone rings alerting him of a new message. Argit sneaks a peak to quickly read the text.
[Meet me at the construction site we need to talk about meeting your partner]
Seeing an out, Argit is quick to take it. “I hate to run but I promised a friend that I’d meet up with him today so… See ya!!” And with that Argit scurries away for the exit like the rat he is leaving behind a trail of disturbed dust.
Izuku sweat drops watching the rat make his escape from the store. “He’s quick to make an escape, isn’t he?”
Thirteen deadpans, at times like these they could really go for some Advil. “You have no idea.”
While Izuku and Thirteen have their little discussion Ochaco can’t help but look around again. Although this time she decides that it’s better to stay in place. ‘This is amazing, I’m so grateful that I could be here, that I can know the truth. Gosh, there’s so much I need to know, there are just so many different kinds of aliens here. I had no idea that not only is there life in the universe but they’re already among us. I have so many questions that I need to ask.’ Ochaco excitedly turns to the other two humans. “Hey guys-”
Before she can get a word out something small, fast, and blue streaks past her legs zooming by in a blur. “Woah, what is that?!”
The blue blur zips by again behind Izuku nearly tripping him over. “Ahhh!”
The blur continuous zipping around them leaving behind trails of blue streaks. Thirteen tries to reach for the teens before anything bad occurs. “Look out!”
Ochaco braces herself as the speedy attacker continues to zip past them. She can feel it rush by wiping her hair and nearly making her lose her balance a few times. “What’s going on?!”
As if reacting to her question the blur crashes into her chest.
“Ompf!!” Ochaco gasps falling backwards landing onto the tile floor with a thud. “Ow.” That really hurt and something is weighing on her stomach.
“That looked like it hurt.” That voice sounds like it’s coming from a little girl, that said it does sound more amused than concerned with her pain.
Ochaco groans lift her head up to glare up at the little girl using her as a chair. “Yeah, it did…” In all honesty Ochaco was expecting a little human girl, which she shouldn’t considering their location, but instead sitting on her is a little reptilian alien that looks very similar to Izuku’s XLR8 form.
Izuku blinks as the little alien hops off Ochaco with a mischievous smirk. She’s a Kineceleran, no wonder that explains the little blue streak zooming around them, it was just a little girl playing around.
“You need to work on your reflexes, dummy.” The little Kineceleran places her hands at her sides trying to look impressive while looking down on the much taller human girl.
The Kineceleran child’s head has a similar helmet like feature as XLR8, she of course has blue skin, white eyes, and a black striped tail. She’s wearing a white and pink jacket that stretches past her tiny knees.
Ochaco frowns leering at the little creature as she stands back up. “And you need to work on your manners.”
The Kineceleran, for some reason, takes offense to that. “Oh, yeah? Well, your face is too round!”
Ochaco’s cheeks puff out in annoyance, a part of her wants to be immature and throw insults back, but she’s better than that. Yes, mature…at least that’s what she tells herself. “Hm, well you may think so but that’s just part of my charm, see!” Without any provocation Ochaco poses like the cute anime girl she is with her fingers pressed against her blushing cheeks. “They help accentuate my cuteness!” She completes the look with a cute girlish giggle.
Izuku turns away hiding his extremely red face while clutching at his heart. ‘She’s too cute!’
While Izuku has an episode, the Kineceleran girl however sees this action as if a gauntlet has been thrown down. And she is more than ready to accept the challenge. “I’m cute too, watch!” The child takes a shy stance with a hand over her mouth and the other behind her back, she fidgets in place acting shy and insecure, aided by her big innocent eyes she just radiates innocence.
Izuku claps his hands together as if praying. ‘Adorable!’
At least someone is enjoying this showdown because the two involved certainly aren’t. The two are glaring daggers at each other while also trying to pull off the cutest pose with the most charm.
After nearly a minute of holding the same pose Ochaco breaks down gasping for air as she bends over pressing down on her knees in defeat. “Oh, I admit defeat.”
“Ha, I win!” The Kineceleran proclaims happily, proud of her victory.
“Yeah, I guess you do…”
The two remain like that one hunched over and the other with their chest puffed out. After a moment Ochaco begins to chuckle lightly finding the situation rather humorous, before long she begins to outright laugh at herself. Just look at her she just had a cute off against a five-year-old and lost, now that’s hilarious.
Said five-year-old seems to realize it too, after blinking at the strange laughing human, she too begins to laugh along with her. Hahaha. “I guess you’re not so bad either.”
“Haha. Thanks, and neither are you.”
Ochaco reaches over petting the little girl on the head, it surprises her how smooth and cool the helmet like feature really is.
“ML-E!!” A woman’s voice calls out from the other side of a nearby aisle.
Ochaco looks around for the source of the voice. “ML-E?”
“Yeah, that’s my name.” The Kineceleran, ML-E (pronounced as Emily), explains.
“My, that’s an adorable name.”
“ML-E, there you are.” What appears to be ML-E’s mother rounds the corner and spotting her daughter.
ML-E's mother, obviously a Kineceleran as well, is wearing a green head scarf over her head along with a matching mini-green jacket, a long dark green dress, and white gloves.
ML-E waves her arms up, glad to see her parental figure. “Mommy!”
“And where have you been young lady?”
“I was playing!” ML-E states as if it was obvious.
The Kineceleran sighs, she then realizes that they have company one of note is the Plumber on duty. “Oh, my, Thirteen! I’m so sorry if my daughter caused you any trouble.” She bows with much remorse, hoping that her daughter hadn’t done anything to disturb the hardworking hero.
Thirteen chuckles, alleviating her worries. “No ma’am, a hyperactive child is nothing new for me.”
Now that hurts, Izuku can practically feel a giant arrow stab him in the head over that remark.
The alien mother must have picked up on Izuku’s discomfort and she finally notices the two other humans invading the store. “Oh, who are these two?”
“Right this is Izuku Midoriya, he’s a new recruit, and she’s…” Thirteen gestures toward Ochaco who doesn’t pick up right away that she’s supposed to introduce herself.
“Oh, uh, hi, I’m Ochaco Uraraka.”
“A pleasure.” The mother smiles and bows in greeting before grabbing her daughter’s hand. “Thank you for finding my daughter, she just loves to runoff on her own.”
Everyone can’t help but have the same response. ‘That seems like an understatement.’
The mother is oblivious to their inner thoughts. “Thanks again, perhaps we’ll see you around some time. If so don’t hesitate to say hello.”
Ochaco gives her a grateful smile nodding her head in agreement.
Satisfied with her response, she leads her young one away for the register.
While being led away ML-E waves back at the smiling brunette. “Bye, Ochan!”
Ochaco’s heart flutters for a second, her smile grows as she waves the adorable child off.
Thirteen chuckles at her reaction. “Seems like someone made a new friend.”
Ochaco nods seeing no reason to argue or get embarrassed by her newest achievement, becoming friends with an alien.
Hopefully with no more interruptions, Thirteen can finally ask what’s really on their mind. “Uraraka, tell me. What do you think of all of this, so far?”
“What do I think…” What does she think of all this? What does she think of the bizarre yet colorful aliens? “Today has been such an experience for me. In just a few minutes I’ve seen things that most people would never believe, heck they’d probably have an episode, and yet here I am.” No words can really describe how she’s feeling so there’s only one thing she can really say. “It’s all just so amazing.”
“I’m really glad to hear you say that.”
“Same.” Izuku smiles, her reaction is really better than what he thought would happen.
“That said,” Thirteen cuts in on the moment becoming rather somber in tone. “I hope you can understand the gravity of the situation.”
Ochaco cups her chin with a questioning look on her face. “What do you mean?”
“The dangers of if you were to let anyone know what you’ve learned here.”
‘What do they mean?’ Oh, right, it’s so obvious. People, or rather humans. Human beings are instinctually wary of the unknown and what’s more unknown than outer space and alien life? And the fear that can rise from that could prove to be…tragic. “I do understand, and…” Her mind flashes to the child she just befriended, ML-E. “I would hate to bother any of these people.” That’s the truth, if she slips up ML-E and her family may get hurt, imprisoned, and experimented on the government. People, or villains, may come after them for possible knowledge and alien technology. She can’t let that happen to them. It’s just like what she promised All Might, if she’s not careful those she cares about could be targeted and put into harm's way. “If I want to be a hero then I need to respect all living beings no matter where they come from.” That’s right this is just one more secret she has to keep from the public’s knowledge. Now time to address the third secret she is willing to bear. “And that’s the same for you, Deku. I promise to never reveal the truth about the Omnitrix.”
“Really?” Although he always expected her to keep that part quiet, he is none the less appreciative of the gesture.
“Yes, I trust you and it doesn’t matter that you’re Quirkless because with that thing you are definitely a hero.”
The cinnamon bun can’t help but let tears prick his eyes. That’s so kind of her to say, no one, not even his own family, have been able to look him in the eyes and say those words. “T-thank you, U-Uraraka” He sniffs but he doesn’t even bother to try and stop the tears. ‘Thank you, thank you.’
“Oh, come on now. There’s no need to cry.”
Thirteen smiles softly to themselves as Ochaco tries to cheer up the sniveling boy. ‘It seems Midoriya was right about this one.’ They wait until Izuku finally calms down enough that the tears stop and he’s able to wipe his face clean. “Now onto the third reason you’re here today.”
Ochaco draws her attention back to the pro hero. “In case you haven’t guessed it for yourself already, I am part of a covert law-enforcement organization that monitors, regulates, and manages the alien population on Earth.”
“Woah, that’s so cool.” Ochaco awes in amazement, she turns to Izuku who nearly laughs at her expression of amazement. “Are you part of this organization too, Deku?”
Izuku smiles humbly not afraid to admit the facts. “Not officially, but I’m working hard to make it in.” He sheepishly rubs the back of his head. “But there’s a lot I need to learn first.”
Thirteen nods in agreement. “You sure do,” Thirteen agrees before eyeing the other possible trainee. “the both of you.”
Now that throws Ochaco for a loop. “The both of us?”
“Yes. Uraraka, if you don’t mind, I would like to formally request for you to join our team.” Thirteen holds a hand out to her as to literally reach out for her to accept the request.
“Join?!”
“Yes, it’d be great to have someone like you at our side, and I believe you have what it takes to become one of us.”
“A space hero…” That would be amazing, it almost seems too good to be true. Gosh, when did she become so lucky? First, she’s entrusted with the future of Japan but now…she might just be entrusted with the fate of the whole world. That should scare her, it should terrify her, but it doesn’t. Instead she can feel the resolve swelling up within her. No, this is no burden it is an honor. How could she look at herself in the mirror and call herself a hero when she turned her back on those that need her? But…what if she’s not cut out for this. Perhaps she’s taking on too much. What if…everyone is wrong about her? “I…this is so much all at once. I, I don’t know what to say. It’s so much responsibility and I’m not sure if I’m the right person for this.”
Izuku…he understands more than he cares to admit. Afterall it was dumb luck that he got the Omnitrix in the first place, who’s to say that he deserves to have it. It was only from the praise and faith from others that he could even begin to think of the Omnitrix as his own. “Uraraka, you are more than capable.” It’s true, she is more than worthy to be here with them. And now it’s his turn to show someone else their true potential. “You said that I’m a hero, well the same is true for you!” Ochaco gasps, not out of shock, but surprise. “You have so much courage, you’re so kind and selfless, and…and…” His confidence he started with is gone, but he has to say this. He has to tell her the truth. “you’re the first real…friend that I’ve had in a long time.” It hurts quite a bit to admit that, but it is of course the obvious truth. Kacchan can’t even view him as a human being and Henzu… “You care about others and these aliens, these people, they need someone like you…like us to help them. To allow them to live their lives with smiles on their faces and without worry!”
Ochaco’s eyes widen, something in her heart resonates from within her. “You’re right!” Of course, he is, that’s why she dreams of being a hero, why she accepted All Might’s legacy, and now this as well. “Thirteen!”
“Uh, yes?!”Thirteen snaps out of their lull, shamefully they went quite while Ochaco and Izuku each had their piece and they figured it wasn't their place to interrupt.
“I accept your offer!”
Izuku’s face lights up as if Christmas came early. “Really?!”
“Yeah, let’s do it Deku!” She shoots her fist into the air. “We’ll get into U.A. and then we’ll become space heroes! And I promise that I’ll never tell a soul about anything I learned here. Not the truth about the Omnitrix, aliens, or your secret organization!” There’s no doubt in her mind that she made the right choice today. “And I promise to work hard!”
Her enthusiasm is so contagious, She even gets Izuku’s blood pumping for some action. “So, will I!” He shoots his fist into the air, mimicking her movements.
Ochaco grins with anticipation. “And our first step…”
“Will be getting into…”
“ U.A.!!” They both cry out in unison.
They exchange smiles, knowing full well that they’ll both will most certainly make it to the top hero school in all of Japan.
Ochaco giggles in delight. “I guess that makes us space cadets now.”
“What?”
“You know, space cadets that’s what we’ll call ourselves.”
Izuku isn’t too sure, but what’s the harm? “Uh, sure.”
“Oh, by the way.” Ochaco tilts her head to the side curious about something. “Does your organization have a name?”
Izuku blanches. ‘Oh, yeah, we sort of looked over that…I was hoping she wouldn’t notice.’
“Ye-yeah…”
“Oh, what is it?”
Seeing their que Thirteen proudly steps in and as if an imaginary banner suddenly appeared behind them, they proudly proclaim their alias. “We’re known as…the Plumbers!!” They are so full of conviction that one can practically touch it.
…
“No, seriously, what is it?” She says this with such a deadpanned expression.
Izuku smiles in embarrassment as Thirteen instantly begins ranting away at the teen girl, feeling rather insulted by her comment. ‘Things just became a whole lot more interesting.’
########(End Flashback)#######
Izuku smiles with fondness of the memory, it really was a good day. It’s been great having Ochaco in on the secret, it’s nice to have someone his age to bounce his thoughts on aliens, the Omnitrix, and quirks off of. Plus, it helps that she too is very passionate when it comes to the topic of anything related to aliens and outer space. It’s so nice to see that other people can have a nerdy side too, it makes Izuku feel less like a freak and more like a normal human with normal feelings and tendencies.
Of course, they did have to clear up a few things here and there. For example, he did of course have to explain how he came across the Omnitrix in the first place and why it won’t come off his arm no matter what.
Thirteen was excited to have someone else to train, but it would prove rather difficult since she lives a fair distance away. As it turns out, by mere luck, she had just acquired a new personal trainer! Apparently, it was some retired pro hero from America. Izuku was instantly on her, begging to know who it was and what was their quirk, but she was quick to deny him stating that said hero would rather stay on the downlow as to live their retirement in peace. Izuku wasn’t convinced but he didn’t want to pry so he let it go.
Speaking of not knowing certain things, those unknown robots that kept coming after him seemingly have stopped coming. It’s been months since the last one showed up. ‘I wonder why. Maybe whoever was sending them just gave up or something.’
*Screech*
‘I may have spoken too soon.’ Man, and just when he thought he was in the clear another robot appears.
The sound of screeching tires intensifies, Izuku turns around and spots a runaway delivery truck tearing its way down the street. As the speeding truck zooms by Izuku spots the driver inside, he’s panicking screaming at the top of his lungs while trying to hit the brakes, but they’re not working.
Analyzing the situation quickly Izuku realizes the issue. The other problem however is that there are no heroes present to stop the truck. There, it’s up to him to stop it. He grips the Omnitrix looking for the right alien. ‘It may not be a robot but it’s no less an emergency.’ And it just got so much worse, further down the street, a group of three people, it looks to be an older sister and her two much younger siblings, are strolling along the sidewalk blissfully unaware of the out of control vehicle. ‘And it just got a whole lot worse!’
Without a second to lose, Izuku’s feet begin to move forward on their own. Sure, there’s no way his own capabilities will get him there in time, there is of course an alternate route. Knowing this himself, Izuku activates his trusty Omnitrix and thus becoming the best suited alien for the job.
The older sister, after getting distracted by her baby sister’s antics, looks up, and although she doesn’t outwardly express her surprise, anyone can see the shock of dread course through after noticing the dangerously fast approaching truck.
While in a panic the driver sticks his head out the window while screaming out at the top of his lungs. “Get out of the way!!”
The sister doesn’t panic, not now, not when her siblings are depending on her to save them, she lashes out her frog like tongue wrapping it around her siblings. The truck is way too close there’s no way she can get them all out of the way in time! Despite the low chance of success, she squats down, but why is she going to jump over the truck?
Guess they’ll never know, because there’s no time to spare! Just before tragedy strikes XLR8 runs into action, and as if in slow-motion, he grabs the frog-like girl just as she’s about to launch herself and her siblings up. In a blink of an eye XLR8 carries the three away from the threat, dropping them off further up the street where the runway truck can’t get to them.
The older sister blinks, unsure of what just happened.
XLR8 wipes away imaginary sweat from his brow. “Phew, that was a close one, huh?”
*Screech!*
“Oops, still got one more thing to take care of.” He flashes the trio a toothy grin. “Take care of yourselves. Now, I gotta run!” He zips away after the delivery truck silently praising himself not only for saving their lives but for his great line. ‘Ha ha, Nailed it!’
‘Was that supposed to be funny?’ The frog-like girl tilts her head to the side as she watches the blue lizard man sprint away. A few questions pop into her mind. ‘Just who was that?’ She curiously watches on as a blue blur spins around the delivery truck. After a few seconds the wheel pop right off and the truck drops down, it’s bottom grinding against the pavement as sparks fly out from its sides. The driver still continues to scream like a maniac even as the truck comes to a complete stop.
Eventually reality settles in and the driver passes out, he’s exhausted after this crazy ordeal, his heart clearly can’t take it.
XLR8 chuckles to himself on a job well done. “Another day, saved! Now I’m off to do more good deeds!” And with a step to the side he’s off again to who knows where, with no plan other than to look for trouble and help those in need of it. ‘Now this is what I’ve been working for, and now in less than a month I will be taking the U.A. Entrance Exam.’ He zigs and zags his way from road to road leaving a trail of wind, disturbed papers and leaves, and a few smiling faces from people he helped out from painting a fence in less than three seconds, catching a rogue baseball before it can smash into a windshield, and distributing lost cat posters before finding and delivering the same cat back to her owner’s arms. ‘I will pass the Exam and when I do then I’ll really be on the right path to become a hero.’ The little girl gives him one of the biggest smiles he’s ever seen as she holds her kitty closer to her chest. ‘But for now, I’ll happily settle for this.’
Yeah, the future is definitely looking up.
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
“Gah, where is he?!”
In an abandoned construction project, a dark figure is throwing a tantrum, smashing his fists into several support beams. The sound of the bending iron echoes throughout the dark and damp basement scaring away a few rats, including the big one in an orange jacket.
Argit nearly falls from his perch atop a barrel. “Chill man! He’ll be here.”
“He better be.” The figure growls in annoyance. “I’m tired of waiting. This guy better be worth it, especially after making me wait for months just so I can talk to him.”
“My apologies for making you wait.” A cool collected voice full of mirth decides to let itself be known. Followed by the tapping of expensive dress shoes against the cold concrete floor. “But nonetheless thank you for your patience.”
A middle-aged man of moderate height and slight build, with eyebrows that appear to be drawn up with notably squinted-looking pink eyes approaches the duo. He has short gray hair parted to his right with side bangs hanging above his eyes, along with a small mustache and goatee on his chin, and one of his front teeth seems to be missing, leaving a gap in his grin. He’s also wearing a pair of dress pants and a matching blazer, along with plain black shoes and a shirt which he leaves partially unbuttoned at the top. He has a thick, golden tube-like necklace along, he’s also sporting a pair of circular glasses on his face.
He pulls out a cigarette from his pocket sticking it into his mouth. “Please understand that I am a very busy man.” He pulls out a lighter igniting the end of his smoke. “I have quite a lot of clients and each one of them needs my attention.”
“Be quiet,” The figure snarls in annoyance. “and don’t act all polite I know the type of things you deal with.” The figure glares daggers at the much taller man trying to intimidate him. “And the type of people you deal with, too.”
The man humorously smiles at the figure, his eyes wary yet full of interest. “None the less I did take time to meet with you, did I not?” He puffs out some smoke as he speaks.
The figure doesn’t find the man’s sarcasm amusing, not whatsoever. “Quite bullshitting me, old man.”
“Old man, huh? I’m somewhat insulted by that.” And yet has a grin on his face. “Very well, the truth is I had to do some prior research on ya,” He takes out the smoke grinning like a murderer going in for the kill. “Henzu Uuichi.”
Henzu turns and glares at Argit, his eyes screaming that he’s tear the rat a new one for ratting him out. “I told you not to tell him who I am!”
“Wha?! I didn’t, promise!” Argit scurries behind his perch hopping the flimsy wood will protect him from Henzu’s wrath.
The man chuckles regaining their attention. “No need to blame the rat, although I can’t say I blame ya.”
Argit gaps at the man, why is he always getting blamed for shit like this?!
The man continues. “After all, I did some personal research of my own.”
Henzu eyes the man warily. “And what did you learn?”
“A lot,” Giran smiles anticipating a reaction. “and a lot of it was interesting. For example, you’re an orphan, delinquent, and now a runaway with a versatile quirk to boot. You’re really something aren't ya?” Henzu’s fist balls up, he really hates it when people pry into his business. “So, shall we get down to business? Just why did you make me come all the way down to this…” He eyes the crumbling site. “fine establishment?”
“I want in.” Henzu states simply no ifs, whats, or buts about it.
The man’s smile falters, but he recovers trying to pull off his friendlier facade. “In? I’m afraid I don’t follow.” Just what is this kid after?
“Don’t play dumb.” Henzu smirks, knowing full well that he’s in control now. “Afterall you’re not the only one who did their research, Giran.”
Giran’s smile drops, he doesn’t bother disguising it either, letting the delinquent and the rat know that they are truly beginning to conduct their business.
“Over these past few months I’ve been keeping myself busy learning some new…tricks.” Henzu rubs his arm, he can feel his muscles and vein bulge underneath his fingertips as a portion of his new strength flows through. “But I’ve also become more aware of Japan’s crime world, and did you know a good number of criminals here in Musutafu has been going silent, as if they’ve all just disappeared?”
Giran tenses up. ‘Just how much does this kid know?’
“I know it was you, you’ve been recruiting criminals from all over.”
Giran clears his throat before speaking. “Even if I was, how would you even know about it?”
Henzu outright scoffs at the question. “I have my ways, namely my newly acquired skills.”
Yeah, that tiny frog guy is way more useful than he originally thought. And what luck he accidently spotted Giran talking to some lowlife in an abandoned building.
“So now what?”
“I already told you, I want in on whatever it is you’re doing.” He points a finger at Giran as if to make sure he’s listening. “More specifically, I want to meet whomever it is you’re working for.”
“What?”
“You said it yourself, you have a lot of clients. Am I wrong to assume one of them hired you to do some recruitment?”
Giran scowls. ‘Just what is this kid’s deal?’
“If so, with the large number of criminals you’ve already gathered, it’s got to be for some big operation, right?” Henzu seems almost too excited about this.
Meanwhile, Argit watches on while silently becoming more and more nervous. It’s possible things might go south and quick, especially when Henzu is involved.
“And if it is?” Giran’s voice softened, he’s a bit wary now of this punk.
“Well, I think my skills will greatly benefit your employer.”
“Osmosis, that’s your quirk, right? It definitely has its uses, but I can’t guarantee an audience.” That is the truth, most of the guys he found haven't even met their leader yet. They just happen to fear the true mastermind.
“I wasn’t talking about Osmosis.” Henzu interrupts.
“Hm?” Now that’s a surprise.
Without a word, Henzu’s whole entire right arm changes, morphing into something inhuman. It becomes grey with scales, a narrow fin shoots out from his elbow, and his finger become razor sharp claws. With no provocation Henzu swerves around digging his claws right through another metal support beam slashing it, leaving a massive gap in its side.
‘What the hell was that?! Did he absorb some weird metal or something?’
Henzu continues this time his arm becomes black in color but a red like shell encases his forearm leading up to sharp grey fingers. He takes aim and fires out a powerful stream of water at the wall. After a few seconds he cuts off the water to reveal a crater inside his target.
Giran pulls out another cigarette and sticks it between his teeth, letting this new piece of information to process. “Now that changes things.” he lights the smoke enjoying its flavor. “You got it kid; I’ll get you your audience.”
Henzu’s grin like a kid that was promised a trip to the circus.
“Just answer me one thing. Why?”
Henzu’s smile widens revealing a row of enlarging fangs. “Honestly, it sounds like a lot of fun, ha ha.”
Notes:
Well that was fun. What are your thoughts? Please let me know. Did any of you get the Invader Zim cameo? If not then you're missing out. Again I would love a review from you guys. Let me know what you enjoyed? What you didn't like? What you wanted more of? Even ask a question or two I will try to answer to the best of my ability without spoiling too much. Finally, Ch.9 will be the U.A. Entrance Exam so get hyped! And once that happens the story really takes off.
*Ch.9 will focus on Ochaco a bit more, and if you wanted some All Might and Ochaco interactions then you will get them!
*ML-E (pronounced as Emily) is the little Kineceleran girl from Ben Ten Omniverse, incase you need to look her up. I hope she's a welcome addiction to the roster of characters. Some of the other aliens in Mr. Baumann's store are from Ben Ten Omniverse as well. I do hope to explore the alien community on Earth more, but for now this will have to do.
*I just want to clarify a few things. 1. Henzu has been training his new abilities ever since he got them, and in the meantime he's been trying to figure out how to use them. 2. Although Argit works with Giran at times, Giran doesn't actually know that Argit is an alien and neither does Henzu; they just assume he's a human with a rat-like quirk. 3. The reason Argit doesn't reveal his identity about being an alien is because he fears Earth's heroes and government capturing him and experimenting on him. (Not to mention, he watched too many alien invasion movies where the humans won when he first arrived on Earth, hence the fear). That said he conducts his business on Earth mainly because he's not welcomed on any other planets...you can assume why.
*Look up and watch Invader Zim incase you haven't, already. I hope to throw in more cameos and easter eggs not just from Invader Zim but from other properties: Star Wars, Ben Ten, and anything else related to aliens. It should be fun and I would happily take suggestions. So, please share them with me.
*I want to apologize to those that wanted to see Izuku use his alien forms more in this chapter. I do apologize, but don't worry you'll get plenty of it next time.
Chapter 9: Starting Line
Summary:
Izuku and Ochaco take the U.A. Entrance Exam. Will they fail? Will they succeed? Hopefully their hard work will pay off especially as we get to see how Ochaco's training went under All Might's tutelage.
Notes:
Woah woo! My schedule really worked out for me this week so I was able to finish this chapter a head of schedule. Awesome right? Anyway here's Ch.9 and the U.A. Entrance Exam! Enjoy and be sure to leave a comment at the end.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
“Hmmm, that was so good!” Ochaco holds her cheeks, her tongue sticking up to the side, savoring the flavor left in her mouth after a delicious breakfast of mochi. Probably not the best thing to have especially after her crazy workout regimen, but she deserves a cheat day every now and then.
Izuku smiles although it is a rather pained smile. “Yup.” He grips his wallet, peering inside to how desolate its interior really is. ‘My poor wallet. Why did I offer to pay?’ Why does he always seem to run out of money when it comes to his friends?
Currently the pair of teens are making their way towards their future, U.A. However, they made sure to stop first at a new mochi place that’s not too far from the school.
Their morning has been pretty good so far, it’s been quiet and peaceful. Izuku can’t help but feel like it’s only the calm before the storm though, the anticipation for the test is already starting to well up inside him.
*Ping*
That was his phone, wasn’t it? He pulls it out to check, and sure enough he's got a new message from Thirteen that reads the following: [Good luck you two, I’m rooting for you both!!]
“Hey, Uraraka, read this.” Izuku holds his phone out to her as to let her sneak a peek.
Ochaco leans over, her smile seems to become even more tender after reading it. “Awe, that sure was nice of them.”
“Sure was.”
Ochaco straightens herself back up, enjoying their nice stroll towards the hero academy. Even though it’s still winter, the lack of a breeze and with the sun shining down on them, it’s actually a rather warm day.
Even though they’re moving at a good pace, there is a hint of excitement with each step she takes. “Sheesh, I’m so nervous and yet I can’t wait for the exam to start!”
“I know what you mean. We both worked so hard for this day, I honestly can’t wait to see how our hard work pays off.”
Even now they can see the results of their training, they just seem to be holding themselves up a bit taller like they have something to be proud of. And they do, heck their physical abilities are leaps and bounds above from what they used to be. ‘Guess clearing that beach over time really did do its intended purpose, thank you “All-American Dream Plan” and whomever wrote you!’
Ochaco steals a glance at Izuku who is oblivious to her staring. Something’s been on her mind for a while now, but she’s keeps putting it off namely because she doesn’t know where to even begin. After everything he was so willing to show her, to trust her with, she can’t help but feel a little guilty about keeping secrets from him. Especially, a secret so great that even the Number One hero can’t afford to let others know about it. ‘I wonder if it’s okay if I tell him…’
Afterall All Might put his faith in her so he should trust her to tell those that she herself can trust as well, right?
##########(Flashback)#########
“Phew, finally I’m home.” Well sort of, Ochaco still has to make her way from the train station to her actual home.
Ochaco inhales taking a whiff of the fresh air of her hometown of Endori, even with the sun down, the building lights can’t outshine the stars that are twinkling like fireflies. It’s a decently sized town, it’s nowhere near the size of other cities but it has a big enough population that pro heroes do decide to station themselves here. Surrounding Endori is a sea of forests and of course Lothaal Mountain stands nearby as if watching over the people like a guardian. The singing mountain breeze hauntingly sounds like the howl of wolves that once populated the region centuries ago, but rather than a terrifying screech it plays more like a harmonious yet eerie song that somehow calms the nerves.
She’s got a bit of a walk before she can call it a night, luckily, she called her parents on the train to not let them worry. She stretches raising her arms and pulling them back, getting ready for the trek down the hill and towards home. She pulls her head back, stretching, the lamp light blinds her making her wince.
“Gah, my eyes! That wasn’t very smart.” She whines rubbing her eyes.
Maybe it was thanks to her exhaustion but Ochaco failed to notice that she was not in fact the only person at the station.
A large and firm yet thin hand plants itself on to her shoulder from behind, spooking the poor girl.
“Stranger danger!!” Ochaco flips out, she grabs her bag by the straps and swings it around like a bludgeon.
Her backpack slams into a skeletal blonde-man's side. “Gah!!!” Oh, god, she hit him so hard that he’s spitting up blood!
“Oh, my gosh!” Ochaco is panicking, sure she was only defending herself from a possible creep, but she didn’t mean to hurt him that badly. “I-I’m so sorry! Please forgive me!”
The man’s is rubbing his side, wincing in pain as blood drips from his mouth. *Cough* “No, no it’s alright.” *Cough* “My apologies miss.” *Cough* “It was completely my fault; I shouldn’t have approached you from behind.” The blood finally stops as the blond skeleton rubs his head in embarrassment. His sunken eyes pleading for forgiveness. “Anyway, I should probably introduce myself, my name is Yagi Toshinori.”
Ochaco’s not sure what to make of this man. His skinny and sickly figure isn’t helping his cause not to mention he surprised her in a barren place at night. But that said, he seems approachable enough. “Um, pleasure to meet you, I’m Ochaco…Ochaco Uraraka.” Maybe this man just needs help…like directions…to a hospital. “If you don’t mind me asking, is there something you needed from me?”
“Yes, I just…want to talk to you.”
“Talk to me?”
“Yes,” Yagi suddenly becomes shy as if he saw something he wasn’t supposed to. “you see I saw what you did today…against the villain.” He’s referring to how Rojo kidnapped her, but she was able to rescue herself.
Ochaco smiles sheepishly. “Oh, you did?”
“Yes, and I just wanted to say that I was quite impressed by your resolve and capability.”
“I, uh, thank you…”
“That said I have a single question for you and I would greatly appreciate an honest answer.” Yagi replays the recent events from earlier that day, most importantly he remembers what she declared to the world when she brought down the villain single handedly. {“I…can be a hero. And I will keep everyone safe!”} Her words, her actions, spoke to him and drive him to, admittedly, follow her here hoping he could have a word with her and find out for himself whether she is worthy or not. “Why do you want to become a hero?”
Well, she certainly wasn’t expecting that. But it is a good question. ‘Why?’ It doesn’t take long for her to have her answer. “I want to be a hero because…I want to bring smiles to people’s faces. Smiles that let everyone know that they are safe, happy, and living their lives without worry.” The thoughts of those future smiles, including her parents, classmates, and even Deku float through her mind. She smiles finding the images both fond and inspiring. “That’s why I want to become a hero…”
Yagi grins as if he just found the one thing that he’s been searching for decades. “I knew it.”
“Excuse me,” Ochaco tilts her head to the side, unsure what the strange man means. “you knew what?”
“Young Uraraka…” He needs to do this, plus he’s running out of time, he can’t afford putting off finding a successor any longer, and she is most definitely worthy: she’s got a good handle on her quirk, is very capable, brave, and she has a great motive. “I believe you’re worthy…of inheriting my power!”
Ochaco’s expression of dazed confusion is so hilarious that Yagi has to bite his tongue to prevent himself from outright laughing. “I…I don’t…understand.”
“Perhaps I should have led with this. And I should also make it clear, but we’ve actually met once before already.” Inhaling a deep breath, Yagi’s form disappears behind a poof of smoke, only for a towering titan of a man to stand before her in all his power and glory. “I AM HERE!” All Might flashes her his signature grin, posing like the pro hero he is as to accentuate his point.
…
“Oh my GOSH!!! You’re ALL MIGHT!!!” The last time they met was at the Kamino Mall, but it was so brief she didn’t get a chance to fangirl a bit.
Huh, she figured that one out fairly quickly. “YES, IT IS I, ALL MI-phew!” And in a puff of smoke, All Might is back to being Yagi Toshinori.
“Ahh!” Ochaco gawks at the sudden change, her mind still trying to process everything.
They take a seat on a nearby bench and Yagi tries his best to explain how and why he ended up in his current condition. Of course, being sure to skip over a few minor (important) details here and there. He tells her about how he’s become weaker, slower, and because of that he’s even begun to fail to save the day; the Sludge Villain incident is the first to come to mind. He tells her that because of his shortcomings he’s been actively trying to resolve as many situations as he can while he still can and that led him to Rojo holding her hostage and him witnessing her conviction.
“There you have it, that’s why I had to sought you out.”
“That’s a lot to take in, but I still don’t quite understand how this involves me. I’m sorry, but I’m still lost here…”
“Right, there’s still another matter I need to discuss with you…” Here goes nothing. “You see…I wasn’t actually…born with my Quirk. I’m not a natural born hero, my power was given to me. ”
“WHA-”
Just before she could scream out in shock, All Might claps a hand over her mouth saving his eardrums from excruciating pain. “Please, let me finish.” He removes his hand allowing the girl to breathe. “As I was saying…my Quirk was passed down to me…by someone else…”
“No way?!”
“Yes, way. For you see young Uraraka…” The glint in All Might’s eyes hardens as his resolve shines through. “My Quirk, the Quirk that was transferred to me, is known as…ONE FOR ALL!”
So, that’s his Quirk. The significance of this revelation is not lost on her. She is well aware of how secretive and elusive All Might can be whenever people try and find out what exactly his Quirk is. And yet here he is the man himself, revealing the truth to her. “One. For. All.”
Yagi stands up, his arms outstretched at his sides. “The first person cultivates the power and then passes it to another. The next refines it and passes it on again… In this way, those crying out to be saved and those with brave and true hearts link to form… A crystalline network of power!!”
There’s no right way to respond to this, all she can feel is a great awe and confusion. “Why? Why are you telling me all this?”
Yagi looks her right in the eye, not wanting her to mix his words in anyway. “I’m in need of a successor, a successor that’s willing to take up my mantle and my power.” He holds his hand out to her hoping that she will take his offer. “And I fully believe that you’re worthy of receiving my Quirk!”
‘Me, worthy of…All Might’s Quirk? I don’t know…this has got to be a dream or something, maybe my mind is playing a trick on me. This can’t be real, there’s no way All Might, the Symbol of Peace, would take me of all people under his wing and make me his successor. I just don’t think I’m the right fit…’
All Might can tell that the girl is having some inner conflict. “Young Uraraka what you did today took not only courage but great resolve. And from your words, I can tell that you meant what you said about wanting to bring smiles to people’s faces. Smiles that let everyone know that they are safe. Because of all this I know, without a shadow of a doubt, that you can become a great hero!”
Tears begin to prick at Ochaco’s eyes, as a smile is on the edge of forming. ‘Is this real…yes, I think it is. All Might really thinks I’m capable…he believes in me.’
“I ask you again young Uraraka, do you accept the responsibility and the honor of receiving my Quirk, making it your own, and becoming the next pillar of peace and justice?!”
‘Become the next pillar of peace and justice?! Can I really do it? Well, if All Might thinks so…but what about my family, what about Deku would they think I’m worthy? My parents work so hard for so little, and Deku has really inspired me to chase after my dreams. Then maybe I should accept, but not for myself but for them so that I can show everyone my thanks, that their faith in me wasn’t a waste. Because someday I will become the Number One Hero that brings a smile to everyone’s face.’ With a grin that could rival All Might’s one day, she gives a resounding response. “Yes!”
########(End Flashback)#######
And so, began her 8 months of training under All Might’s supervision or as she calls it 8 months of torture. Curse All Might and his All-American Dream Plan: the Lady Liberty Version! But she survived and she’s really come a long way, now look at her she’s really developed well-toned muscles making her body the perfect vessel for One For All.
While walking, Ochaco cups her mouth, feeling slightly queasy. ‘I just wish there was some other way to accept his Quirk.’
“We’re here.”
Ochaco snaps out of her pondering and sure enough Izuku is right. Standing before them is the entirety of U.A.
A fifteen-story building with shining windows, grand arches, and protective walls stand proudly as a symbol of bright futures that await those who enter its doors. This remarkable place has produced some of the world’s greatest heroes, and now it’s their turn.
‘This is it!’ Ochaco raises her fist into the air declaring to the world that she is here! “Get ready U.A. because Deku and I are here!!”
“Yeah!” Izuku pumps his fist into the air, mimicking Ochaco’s stance as well. Can you blame him though, Ochaco’s energy is just contagious.
Unfortunately, the moment, along with Izuku’s confidence, is cut way too short by a rather annoyed growl. “What the hell are you so excited about, stupid Deku.”
Izuku recognizes the voice instantly and he quickly reverts back to his normally shy and spineless self. “Kacchan!!” He spins around and sure enough Katsuki Bakugou is there with an angry snarl on his face. “G-good to s-see you! L-let’s a-all do our b-best t-today!”
Bakugou scoffs, brushing past his terrified classmate. “Just stay out of my fucking way!!”
Izuku nervously nods while also fighting the urge to run away.
Ochaco watches on with uncertainty. Debating whether Izuku was friends with this guy or was being threatened by him.
When Bakugou is eventually out of sight, Izuku finally relaxes sighing in relief. ‘That’s Kacchan…’ Although, ever since the Sludge Villain incident he has been…tamer than usual. He hasn’t even been on Izuku’s case all too much these recent months. Perhaps having to be shown up and rescued by an unknown hero or vigilante was a good humbling experience. ‘Maybe one day, we can finally be friends again… Maybe I shouldn’t get my hopes up.’
Ochaco taps his shoulder. “You know him?”
Izuku’s eyes nearly pop out, for a minute there he had forgotten she was even there. “Y-yeah, that’s Katsuki Bakugou and he’s…a friend, hehe.”
Ochaco gives him a deadpan look, not taking him seriously. After all, doesn’t he remember his last “friend”, Henzu? ‘Deku, you really have bad taste in friends… Excluding me of course.’ Deciding to move on from the subject that is Katsuki Bakugou, she strides forward with purpose and gusto. “All right, shall we?”
“S-sure.”
“Come on, there’s no reason to be nervous. Besides with your ali-I mean transformations there’s no way you won’t pass. So, what could go wrong?”
Izuku gives her a grateful smile, he really needed that right now. “You’re right.” He walks forward, taking a step towards his future. This is one small step for Izuku Midoriya, and one embarrassing fall for his self-worth, as he trips over his own feet, plummeting face first onto the hard ground.
“DEKU!!!” Oh, gosh, is he okay?! ‘If only I was standing next to him, I could have saved him!’
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
“You can do this. You can do this. You can do this. You can do this. You can-”
Ochaco sweat drops, placing a hand onto Izuku’s shoulder. “Deku, you’re freaking me, and everyone else, out.”
“Oh, my bad, sorry…” Izuku takes a breath before rolling up the sleeves of his light green jacket making sure the Omnitrix is free for him to activate. He can’t afford to get distracted now not when the U.A. Exam Entrance is going to start.
Right now, both him, Ochaco, and a number of other examinees are gathered in front of a giant metal doorway that’s supposed to lead into a fake empty city. According to Present Mic, the pro hero that oversaw the explanation of the exam, they’ll be battling against faux-villain robots that give them a certain number of points when they’re destroyed.
Ochaco’s expression softens in understanding. “It’s okay, we’re lucky to end up in the same testing facility.”
“Yeah, lucky…” A thought crosses Izuku’s mind, he’s been considering it for a little while now and now’s going to be the last chance to say something. “but I think we should go about this on our own.”
Ochaco’s jaw drops as a jolt of shock runs through her heart. ‘Is this what it’s like to be rejected?!’
Worried that he may have upset her Izuku quickly tries to save the situation. “What I mean is! I want to see how far I’ve come, we’ve both worked so hard and I want to use this test as a way to gauge how much I’ve improved.”
The color returns to her face. “Oh, I gotcha, well in that case” She gives her friend a big thumbs up. “Then let’s do it.”
Izuku smiles. “I’m glad you agree.”
“You two!” A loud stern voice interjects itself into their conversation.
Izuku and Ochaco spot a tall navy blue-haired boy with glasses striding towards them, swinging his arms out at his side like a robot.
“Tell me why you are here?” He karate chops the air demanding an answer. “Are you hoping to interfere and prevent the rest of us from passing?”
Izuku internally gasps, is this how everyone sees him?! “Eh, no no, of course not.”
Meanwhile, Ochaco finds the taller teen’s accusations insulting. It’s not right, he shouldn’t just jump to conclusions. “Hey, don’t be mean.”
“You two ought to know better, this exam is for those that strive to earn the great honor of becoming heroes. I will not stand for two degenerates to interfere with anyone’s chances!”
Ochaco’s expression hardens, there’s no way she’s taking this lying down. “Listen, we’re-”
“AND BEGIN!!” Present Mic’s voice rings out in full force, although it’s difficult to say if that was over the intercoms or he shouted that out loud instead.
Izuku blinks, looking towards the radio tower the pro hero is currently stationed in. “Huh?”
“What’s wrong? There are no countdowns in real battles!! Run! Run! Run Listeners! You’re wasting your time here!!
It finally dawns on them, without a moment to waste the entire group of examinees charges forward into the fake city, including Izuku, Ochaco, and the stern blue-haired teen.
Despite the stampede of charging bodies of people Izuku manages to call out to Uraraka. “Good luck, space cadet Uraraka!”
“Back at ya, space cadet Deku!”
And with that the two split up in different directions, doing as they said they would, complete this test on their own.
Izuku grips his Omnitrix, the dial shoots up providing his roster of aliens. ‘All right Omnitrix, let’s do this right.’ Thinking in a professional sense, U.A. is considered to be All Might’s alma mater. That said, it stands to reason that U.A. probably prefers students with similar power/strength type quirks. Meaning in order to ensure a spot he needs to appeal to the judges and who better than Four Arms, who personifies strength. Izuku grins, dialing up the Tetraman DNA.
A green 1-point robot bursts out from between two buildings. Its single red eye dialing in on the greenette. “Target sighted, eliminate!”
Izuku grins with confidence. “Let’s go Four Arms!” He slams the dial down, and a flash of green eerie light engulfs him just as the robot charges.
From within the flash of green a black tendril lashes out, latching itself onto the robot before draining said robot of all its power; successfully shutting it down.
“Feedback?” Feedback gazes down at his slim tall alien form. “Aw man, I really wanted to smash the robots not fry them…” His tendrils drop down in disappointment.
Another robot, this time a 2-pointer, leaps out from above readying to tackle the tall examinee.
Feedback takes aim firing a ray of lighting, the blast not only fries the bot but propels it causing it to crash into the side of a building.
Feedbacks grins, he’s honestly, enjoying himself a little bit right now. “Okay, Omnitrix, I admit it. Maybe, Feedback was the right choice.”
Another robot, a 3-pointer, rounds the corner, it hasn’t spotted him yet. Feedback leaps forward his tendrils embedding themselves into the robot’s exterior. The robot sputters as it loses power.
A smiling Feedback turns his head and the sight before him is both terrifying yet thrilling. This street looks like a battlefield with participants and robots fighting it out all over the place. Not wanting to miss out on points, or action, Feedback rushes in his tendrils ready to strike and his hands ready to fire out beams of electricity at a moment’s notice.
Feedback tears it up, draining villain robots of their power, and blasting others into heaps of burnt metal. He keeps at it as much as he can, keeping track of his points .
He blasts apart a three-point villain just as it was charging at him. “45 points. Phew, I better keep going. Not sure what the threshold is for a passing grade here, I better get as much as I can.”
Nearby a blonde-haired teen with a slim build and a rather feminine face is firing out lasers from a large special belt around his waist. After blasting a 2-pointer, the teen cuts off his laser taking a moment to rest. Unbeknownst to him a 3-pointer is readying an attack from behind.
“Look out!” Feedback lashes out his tendril wrapping itself around the teen’s waist before pulling him away from the attack. The teen yelps in surprise as he’s yanked off his feet and a beam of electricity flies past him and into the 3-pointer.
“That was a close one, huh?” Feedback places the teen down who is quick to compose himself as if he was a fabulous prince.
“Ha, thank you for the save, mon ami, but I believe you’ve could have done it with a little more panache.” After flashing the alien a pompous smile, the teen takes off running to find another robot.
“Um, you’re welcome…I guess.” Oh, well, at least he’s up to 48 points now. “Get ready you dumb robots, because Feedback’s going to come out on top!”
*Bleep* ‘Oh, no, was that?’ Feedback looks down and sure enough the Omnitrix is flashing red. Has it really been ten minutes already? “Oh, please not now!”
In a flash of red light, Izuku finds himself Quirkless, helpless, and surrounded by brawling examinees and robots. “This is just my luck…” Grumbling to himself, Izuku slouches forward.
“Eliminate!!”
Izuku’s freezes up, one of the robots has spotted him and had quickly decided to target him. “Ahhhh!!”
The robot is nearly on top of him when several firm grips grab him and pull him back allowing the robot to race by.
“You need to be more aware of your surroundings.” Says a calm male voice.
Izuku blinks up at his savior, his eyes widening when he recognizes him. The person who saved him is the same guy that helped him out when he lost Rojo after she kidnapped Uraraka months ago. It’s hard to forget someone like him, namely because of his odd mutation Quirk that gives him multiple limbs; as of now, each end of his limbs has a different body part growing out of them: eye balls, ears, and hands.
“Hey it’s you!” Izuku proclaims as the multi-limbed rescuer puts him down.
“Um, yeah. Anyway, be careful these robots aren’t going to go easy on us.” The guy takes off noticing a lone 3-pointer not that far away.
‘He’s right. I already have 48 points, that should be enough, so for now I just need to survive the rest of the exam…’ That’s easier said than done, though. ‘I wonder how Uraraka’s doing.’
Suddenly, there’s a loud boom as the ground begins to shake violently.
“What’s going on?!”
“Is it an earthquake?!
“Everybody run!!”
Izuku’s totally lost, frozen in place, amongst the sudden panic and confusion as other examinees run past him. ‘Run?! Run from what?!’
There’s another booming crash as an entire building is knocked out of the way of a giant.
“Uraraka, wherever you are…I hope you’re having better luck than me.”
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
Meanwhile, taking place a little bit after Izuku and Ochaco first split up.
“Release!” A 1-pointer crashes into the ground after being suspended in midair by Ochaco’s Zero-Gravity. “All right, that brings me to 32.” Ochaco swipes her arm across her head, wiping away sweat and dust. She takes a few deep breathes trying to push back the feeling of nausea that’s starting to plague her.
After splitting up from Deku, she was quick to find a hoard of robots. After which she touched as many as she could to make them float so she could release her quirk in one go rather than one at a time. She has not yet tried to use All Might’s Quirk, to be honest the idea of her limbs popping off like balloons isn’t exactly comforting. Besides she only just received it last night and she certainly doesn’t feel any different than before.
“Meatbag detected! Eliminate!” Another 3-pointer seemingly lunges of a pile of rubble like an energized zombie.
“Meatbag?!” Ochaco readies herself, waiting for the robot to get close so she can use her Quirk. “I’ll show you.”
She wouldn’t get the chance, however, because the tall blue-haired teen leaps out of nowhere. His leg, which she now notices has an engine embedded into it, smashes against the robot’s head breaking it into bits. “That brings me to 45!”
The surprise on Ochaco’s face is very apparent. “45!!”
The teen with glasses seems to notice Ochaco’s state. “You better get into high gear!” He calls out, his engine legs spurt out steam as he speeds forward smashing a two-pointer with a mighty kick. “Or you’ll never succeed!”
Ochaco’s expression hardens, with a shake to her senses she runs off looking for more robots. ‘He’s right. I need to pass because my parents, Deku, and All Might all believe in me and I can’t let them down. I worked too hard for this; I won’t fail!’
##########(Flashback)#########
Near the top of Lothaal Mountain there is a decently sized crater that’s surrounded by large boulders and filled with coniferous trees making the crater look like a cove but filled with trees and grasses. This tree canopy is dense allowing little to no light to puncture through the the grove’s forest floor.
“It’s…too…heavy!” Ochaco is really struggling. How the hell is she supposed to haul this load of logs when a super buff pro hero is sitting on top of them? Ochaco falls forward releasing the rope she was using to pull the logs. She groans as she flips herself over, her face covered in sweat and dirt. “This would be a lot easier if I used my Quirk.”
All Might bursts out laughing from atop his perch. “HA HA HA! I’M SURE IT WOULD!!” He pulls out his phone snapping a few photos of the downed and dejected girl. “BUT SERIOUSLY, THAT WOULD DEFEAT THE PURPOSE.”
Ochaco sits up, her legs crossed as she gives the Number one hero a suspicious look. “And that would be?”
“WE NEED TO WORK ON YOUR PHYSICAL CAPABILITIES, OR IN OTHER WORDS…YOU NEED TO GET RIPPED!!” All Might shoots himself off the logs and flexes demonstrating his point.
“What for?” Seriously, what purpose does this serve other than to make sure she’s physically fit. Then again does anybody really need a reason to have abs?
All Might suddenly becomes shy rubbing his neck as he begins to break into a cold sweat. “WELL, YOUR BODY, AND DON’T TAKE THIS THE WRONG WAY, BUT YOUR BODY ISN’T READY…”
“What?!” Oh, god, she had suspected but she never thought it was obvious! She knew she put on a little more weight recently, but that was because of stress eating! And that was because of those horrible robots and mutant monsters!
“WHAT I MEAN IS, YOUR BODY WON’T BE ABLE TO HANDLE THE FULL POWER OF ONE FOR ALL. YOUR LIMBS WOULD MOST LIKELY EXPLODE WHEN YOU TRY TO USE IT.”
“Is that really true?!”
“SURE IS, NOW THAT ISN’T THE ONLY REASON, YOU’RE HERE. BACK BEFORE QUIRKS, HEROES WERE CONSIDERED TO BE THOSE THAT SERVED THEIR COMMUNITIES, BUT IN MORE RECENT DAYS IT’S ALL ABOUT RESOLVING THE MOST CONFLICTS ESPECIALLY AGAINST VILLAINS.” All Might marches over to the thickest tree in the grove he knocks his fist against it as if to test how thick it really is. “I DID SOME RESEARCH ABOUT THIS MOUNTAIN AND I FOUND THAT ALTHOUGH IS QUITE SCENIC NOT A LOT OF PEOPLE ACTUALLY HIKE UP HERE. THAT’S WHY,” Without warning he begins to grapple with the large tree, prying up at its base. “IT WILL BE YOUR JOB TO TURN THIS SPOT INTO A BEAUTIFUL SCENIC VIEW!” Ochaco can hear the roots snapping away as All Might rips the tree right out the ground. Sunlight breaks through the canopy shining down on All Might like a spotlight. “WHEN YOU’VE COMPLETED THIS, THEN AND ONLY THEN WILL YOUR TRAINING BE COMPLETE.” His blue eyes shine in the light as he leans the tree against his shoulder making him look like a mighty titan of the forest.
“That’s great and all, but will this really help build up my strength?”
“I’M GLAD YOU ASKED,” All Might drops the tree and pulls out a folder seemingly out of nowhere. “THAT’S WHY I HAVE THIS!” Ochaco takes the folder and begins to flip through its pages. “THIS IS YOUR “ALL-AMERICAN DREAM PLAN: THE LADY LIBERTY VERSION”!!! IN IT I HAVE MARKED DOWN EVERY ASPECT OF YOUR DAILY ROUTINE FROM DIET, EXERCISES, AND SLEEP!”
“Wow, it’s so detailed!” And damn was he thorough, he has sheets of healthy foods, detailed stretches, and even notes on how to have undisturbed rest. “But why “the Lady Liberty Version?””
“OH, A COWORKER OF MINE ACTUALLY ASKED ME TO MAKE ONE FOR THEM FIRST AS TO HELP THEIR OWN STUDENT. SO, THIS ONE IS A MORE REFINED COPY.”
‘Wow, someone else willingly decided to go through with this crazy schedule too, huh? Well looks like I have no excuse to not do it then.’ Ochaco gives All Might a nervous yet determined smile. “So, when do we start?”
All Might’s grin widens. “RIGHT NOW!”
What followed was probably the most excruciating yet most rewarding experience in all of Ochaco Uraraka’s life.
Every day for the next eight months she was on Lothaal Mountain pushing herself to her limits while All Might was nearly always there lending his support and coaching. Everyday her body ached all over since she not only had to chop down trees with no assistance but then haul the timber down the mountain. If the wood was too rotten or unfit for lumber All Might made sure she did different exercises to remove the debris so she could work on various muscle groups.
As for the rest, she’d carry the timber to a local lumber yard near the base of the mountain. The lumber yard is a rustic little place run by a family of mutant type Quirk users that look like living teddy bears, her dad often goes to them for his company’s lumber and woodcraft needs. Funny enough she brought them up to Thirteen who explained that the family of teddy bears were actually aliens called Ewoks. Go figure.
Anyway, every trip down the mountain Ochaco made, she made the same trip back up but this time with a load of prepared and trimmed pieces of lumber that she’d have to haul up like a sled dog. There were so many times she just wanted to use her quirk and be done with the agony, but All Might often joined her on these treks to make sure she kept true to the workout. Although, most of the time he would be using a rental AT-V so he wouldn’t actually have to make the trek himself.
After several trips up and down the mountain Ochaco would remain there till nearly dusk. Why? Because after stockpiling a good number of lumber both her and All Might got to work on constructing a nice rest stop for hikers. Even though her father never wanted her to take part in his construction projects, she did pick up quite a few things over the years. They started by building a wooden platform this also meant she had to dig through clay and rock to set the boards evenly. Eventually they were able to move on to making a split-rail fence, benches across the trails, and install steps and platforms where they were needed. They even had to build a little bridge across a stream.
Predictably, there were times when it would become way too much…
“Oof…”
Yagi stops the AT-V, taking off his helmet he turns around and sees that Ochaco has collapsed face first onto the ground, the load of wood she was pulling slowly begins to slide back down the slope. “Come on, now. This is no time to give up.”
“I’m…not…giving up.” Ochaco picks her head up, that’s all she can move since her entire body aches of pain from the strain on her muscles. “Don’t assume…that because my body quit…that I did, too!”
Yagi bulks up, his signature grin on in full force as he steps off the AT-V which is way too small for him now. “HAHAHA!” He picks Ochaco up by the scruff of her jacket much like a mother lion would her cub. “YOU HAVE SPIRIT YOUNG URARAKA THAT WILL GET YOU FAR, I CAN PROMISE YOU THAT! FOR NOW, RELAX, THIS OLD MAN WILL GET YOU HOME WHERE YOU CAN REST.”
“Old…just how old are you, All Might?”
He never did answer her question, but that’s not important. What is important is that with All Might’s support, her parents love, and even talking to Deku got her through it, until it all of the hard work and support finally payed off.
In less than 24 hours the U.A. Entrance Exam will take place. Currently, Yagi is strolling his way up the now very familiar mountain just as the sun is about to set. He’s been unavailable since Nezu called him away to help prepare for the exam and thus he’s missed out on Ochaco’s training for the last week or so. So, he’s here to see if she’s okay and how far she’s progressed since he’s been gone. He’s almost there he can see where the canopy finally begins to open up, allowing what little sunlight there is to shine into his eyes.
“VICTORY!!” What greets him is a true sight to behold, Ochaco is standing atop of the split-rail fence overlooking the valley below. The setting sun paints the sky with a beautiful hue of colors, the town on Endori slowly begins to light up as the residents turn their lights on, the mountain wind howls a melodic song.
‘Whoa!! She did it! Damn, she did an incredible job, just look at that view!! Amazing!!’
It really is a beautiful view. The grove is now the perfect hiking destination with a sturdy balcony that overlooks the mountainside, a stable split-rail fence, masterfully crafted benches, and even a little wooden awning to provide some shade. Not to mention the wooden steps, platforms, and benches that are strewn about the trails allowing hikers an easier and more comfortable experience.
“You finished in time! And you exceeded my expectations! It’s…WONDERFUL!!” Yagi pops into his muscular form, shouting the last part loudly.
The loud booming voice surprises Ochaco from her thin perch, she spins around to see who’s snuck up on her, but in doing so she slips.
But she has no need to worry, in a blink of an eye All Might grabs her and places her onto the ground. “GREAT JOB, YOUNG URARAKA.”
Ochaco blinks up, her eyes expanding in surprise and slight embarrassment. Did he hear her scream out in victory?! “All Might?! I-I uh, finished!”
“YOU SURE DID! IT’S ASTOUNDING!” All Might digs through his coat pocket, pulling out his cell phone. He scrolls through it looking for a specific image. “HERE TAKE A LOOK AT THIS!” He holds up the phone’s screen.
Ochaco peers at it, the photo is of her. She’s on the ground, her face covered with dirt, looking weak and pathetic. “Is that…me?”
“YUP, FROM 8 MONTHS AGO. BACK THEN YOU WERE SO FRAIL AND MEAK, BARELY ABLE TO HIKE UP AND DOWN THIS MOUNTAIN!”
“Hey!” Ochaco’s cheeks puff out in anger.
All Might continues, choosing to ignore her outburst. “NOW LOOK AT YOURSELF, YOU’VE REALLY BECOME THE PERFECT VESSEL!”
Ochaco gazes down at her body, raising her arm up flexing it as she observes the newly developed muscles. Holy shit, what happened to her body? She has muscles, very real muscles! And abs, yes!! In all seriousness though, her physique is nothing like it used to be. Sure, she was never close to being overweight or anything and she always did fairly well during school athletic tests, but this is a whole other level. Her body is that of an Olympic swimmer with her arms well developed, her stomach is well toned, and her legs are well built.
A faint smile forms, she grips her arm. This is real, she did it, she really did it. She can’t stop the tears that begin to leak out from the corners of her eyes. “It feels like…I don't really…deserve any of this.” She tries and fails to wipe away the tears. “I’ve had so much support from you, my family, and my friends…I just don’t think I earned anything.”
“YOU’RE WRONG THIS IS BECAUSE OF YOUR OWN EFFORTS.” All Might directs her to the stunning view. The sun is officially gone and was replaced by a sea of stars, Endori’s buildings illuminate below like Christmas lights giving the valley a celebratory atmosphere. Ochaco’s eye’s shine like the stars, who knew the view was this amazing, guess that’s why All Might chose this spot for her training.
All Might plucks a single strand of hair from his head, holding on to it like a prize he can’t afford to lose. “SOMEONE WISE TOLD ME THIS ONCE: THERE’S A BIG DIFFERENCE BETWEEN BEING LUCKY AND DESERVING, ONE’S AN ACCIDENT THE OTHER AN REWARD. NEVER GET THE TWO MIXED UP.” Ochaco stares up at the hero, letting his words sink in. “TAKE THAT TO HEART YOUNG LADY, BECAUSE THIS GIFT YOU EARNED IT WITH YOUR OWN VALIANT EFFORTS.”
With watery eyes and a determined smile Ochaco is ready to receive One For All and become the next Symbol of Peace!
Despite his grin an air of disgust and shame radiates off of the Number One Hero as he presents the strand of blonde hair. “EAT THIS…”
“Huh?”
“YOU GOT TO INGEST SOME OF MY DNA, THAT’S HOW IT WORKS!”
“What?! No way?!”
“YES WAY! NOW EAT IT!”
########(End Flashback)#######
‘At least I was able to get home to rest…and get some much-needed mouthwash.’ Ochaco covers her mouth trying not to throw up. Hey at least this time, it’s not her Quirk that’s making her nauseous. Slapping the sides of her face, she finds new found resolve. ‘Can’t get distracted not now! I have All Might’s Quirk; I can do this!’ She takes a deep breath before declaring to the world. “Nothing can stop me now!!”
A building collapses in the distance, an earthshaking crash follows as the building crumbles away, and a gust of wind whips at her hair and clothes. Ochaco shakily turns around and only a few blocks away is a behemoth of a robot. It’s a hulking green mass, easily bigger and heavier than any of the fake buildings. “No way!!” Her jaw drops. ‘Is that the 0-pointer?! What is U.A. thinking? Plus Ultra, I guess…’
Ochaco’s not the only one freaking out. Most of the other examinees are in a panic, realization finally set it that some of them will get hurt or worse during this exam, they stampede past the stunned brunette choosing to save themselves.
The 0-pointer moves forward pushing past the buildings on its side causing chunks of rubble to break off. One piece of rubble is flung so far forward it nearly crushes Ochaco, but she was able to stay calm and move out of the way in time.
“This is crazy! Someone could get hurt!”
“Move it or lose it people!”
“Ahh!” It was faint, but she heard it, it was a scream, a familiar scream.
Quickly scanning for the source, she spots something that makes her heart stop. Izuku is down, his leg pinned down by a pile of debris. And he’s not alone, someone, a tall examinee, with white hair and way too many arms is trying to lift the rubble off of her friend.
But the 0-pointer is right over them, there’s no way they’ll get out of the way in time! But…she can give them time.
With literally no time to spare Ochaco charges straight towards danger ignoring the looks of shock and worry that crosses the faces of other examinees including that rather rude engine-boy in glasses. She has no plan, no strategy, just a motive: save them!
The muscular multi-limbed examinee is finally able to lift up the rubble just enough to allow Izuku to slip out. “Thanks.” He gives the taller teen a grateful nod, who kindly returns the gesture.
Their moment of relief is short lived as a dark looming shadow towers above them. The two are stunned as they gaze up at the metal menace. How could they possibly get away in time?! What could they possibly do?!
Ochaco is so close, she’s so close! Suddenly, a powerful surge of strength and energy courses through her body like someone just opened the floodgates to a hidden inner strength. Her instincts take over, she still has no plan in mind, only to stop the behemoth at all costs.
If she had looked down, she would have seen her legs emitting a pink aura, but instead she jumps high into the air launching herself straight at the monstrosity like a rocket. There’s no time to comprehend what’s going on, or how she did that, only one thing requires her focus. Coming face to face with the faux-villain Ochaco reels back her fist as an elegant pink aura surrounds her entire arm and with a mighty roar, she smashes her fist against the hulking mass’ face.
To those watching the magnificent display of power, it looked like they witnessed a pink shooting star rocketing itself into the giant tank of metal.
The faux-villain is knocked back as if it ran face first into an impenetrable wall with its head caved-in on itself and its hulking body begins to break apart as it begins to descend backwards crashing onto the street.
“I did it…I saved them…” With a soft yet pained smile Ochaco passes out midair, the feeling of nausea, exhaustion, and pain coursing through her limbs being too much for her. Without her Zero-Gravity to assist her she begins to plummet back down to Earth.
Meanwhile, Izuku quickly picks up that something is wrong. She’s not moving! If he doesn’t do something, she’s going to become street pizza! He grips his Omnitrix trying to activate it but all he gets is the infuriating beeping and the illuminating red light as the Omnitrix recharges. ‘I need to help her somehow!’
By some miracle he is able to hold back his panic so he can take in his options. He looks at his rescuer’s bulging muscles and multiple arms, and an idea quickly forms in his head. “Quick throw me!!”
The tall examinee snaps out of his daze, having witnessed Ochaco’s amazing feat. “Pardon?”
“Throw me, now!” Izuku points at Ochaco’s falling form.
Understanding what he’s getting at, the much taller guy grabs Izuku by his arm and leg. He spins him around and swings his arms out throwing Izuku as hard as he can right at their savior.
The wind wipes at his face making him tear up, but he refuses to blink, he’s not going to risk losing sight of her unconscious form.
The guy’s throw was stronger than he thought because he quickly reaches Ochaco’s still form and latching onto her like a lifeline. While in midair Izuku repositions them so his back is towards the ground, perhaps he can soften her landing by using his body instead. He only has a few seconds, from behind her back he wriggles the Omnitrix in his fingers trying to get it to work, but the red light is still present. The ground is so close now, with no other choice Izuku wraps himself around Ochaco as much as he can at the very least, she’ll be okay. God, his heart is pounding, beating so hard that it hurts his ears, pure adrenaline and fear courses through his veins as the wind harshly wheezes past his ears as they pick up momentum.
With no warning, and before the appropriate recharge time, the Omnitrix’s faceplate turns without any provocation, its dial changing from red to green.
Only a meter away from the asphalt both teens are surrounded by a blinding green light followed by a hollow thunk hitting the ground.
Out of reflex, Terraspin tucks his head-in while keeping his large flippers secured around Ochaco to protect her. Terraspin’s shell bounces off the ground, even flipping them over a few times, before finally they come to a much-needed stop.
Terraspin sighs, allowing himself to relax. “Ugh…I’m definitely going to feel that in the morning.” He looks up taking note that he’s stuck on his back with Ochaco laying atop his stomach.
Thank goodness she’s unconscious the last thing he needs is for her to see his blushing red face. ‘Ah-ah-ah!! S-she’s s-so c-close!! I-I d-didn’t mean to d-do t-this!!’ He lifts up his flippers as to not risk touching something that he shouldn’t.
That’s when he notices the damage to her body; the sleeves around both her legs and her right arm are torn revealing her very red and swollen limbs underneath. Her knuckles are bleeding from the impact and her shoes are nowhere to be seen. Luckily nothing seems to be broken, but the strain on her muscles must be painful.
‘What was that anyway? How did sh-’
Present Mic’s voice booms through the arena. “TIME’S UP!! THE EXAM IS OVER!!”
“Already?!”
The multi-limbed guy approaches having just witnessed some of the most daring acts of heroism and recklessness in his entire life. “You okay?”
“I’m fine, thanks for the assist by the way. That’s four I owe ya.” He’s referring to the Rojo incident, saving him from a robot, freeing him from the rubble, and throwing him to save Ochaco.
“Four?”
“Oh, well you see-”
An elderly woman’s voice makes itself known. “Pardon me dearies, please let me through.”
Terraspin tries to twist his head so he can see who’s approaching. He gasps his eyes gleaming with nerdy excitement. “Oh, my gosh! You’re the Youthful Heroine, Recovery Girl!! Your Quirk allows you to heal others to complete health. You’re really the backbone of this school and why it can get away with such dangerous and admittedly life-threatening exercises. You and your Quirk are truly amazing!”
Recovery Girl chuckles, finding the sight of an excited turtle rather endearing. “My, aren’t you sweet. Now let’s fix this young lady back to the way she was.” She puckers her lips, before her mouth lungs out planting a kiss on Ochaco’s head. *Smooch*
Terraspin watches on in amazement as Ochaco’s limbs magically begin to recover, she visibly relaxes as her limbs go from red and swollen to her normal coloration.
“Alright, she’s all better now. “ Recovery Girl taps her giant syringe of a cane against Terraspin’s shell “Do you need any attention dearie?”
“Um, no I’m good, thanks.” He blinks considering the offer. “Although there is something…”
“What is it?”
“Can…someone flip me over?” A palpable silence befalls everyone who was in earshot. “I’m stuck.” The request is odd but understandable after all turtles always have a tough time flipping themselves upright.
With a sigh, the taller teen steps forward. “I got you.”
“Thanks…that’s five now.”
While Terraspin is pushed back onto his feet the other examinees have finally calmed down. They decided to head back and see what resulted of the robot and its conquerors. Now that things have settled down, they let their opinions flow unfiltered.
“Man, those guys are insane!”
“Did you see what she did?”
“How could I not?”
“But why risk the exam to help each other? It doesn’t make sense?”
“Maybe they got so many points already they didn’t need to get anymore…”
“Still doesn’t make sense, not like they could get any points for taking down that monster.”
Listening in, the teen with engines in his legs can’t help but be bothered by their statements. ‘Don’t they get it; they didn’t do this for the exam. They chose to be selfless… they chose to help each other.’ He’s shaking with frustration. ‘If this wasn’t an exam…then, of course, I would have done the same!’ Something important pops into his head, his breath hitches with the revelation. ‘Hang on, the judges they saw that didn’t they?’ The rather stern young man’s gaze drifts away as Recovery Girl leads the large bipedal turtle, who is carrying the unconscious but healed brunette girl, to the infirmary. ‘Perhaps those two are more disciplined that I initially thought…’
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
After an hour of being stuck in a hospital bed, Izuku and Ochaco are finally free to head home.
Izuku yawns still feeling the effects of Recovery Girl’s Quirk. ‘Finally, I thought we’d never leave. Who knew Recovery Girl’s Quirk drained the victim’s own stamina? Gosh, I’m tired.’
Funny enough, after he carried Ochaco all the way to the infirmary room that’s when he finally noticed the pain in his leg. And just in time too because he turned back to human. Unfortunately, he nearly gave Recovery Girl a heart attack thanks to the flash of light. Anyway, Izuku finally remembered that his ankle was recently pinned under a pile of rubble, leaving behind a nasty bruise. Not wanting to risk letting him go, Recovery Girl opted to use her Quirk on him, just to make sure he was truly okay. Well, she did, after which she bonked him on the head and demanded to know how he couldn’t have noticed such a thing. To let the lesson sink in, she refused to heal the very bump that she gave him.
After adjusting his backpack, Izuku rubs said bump, thankfully it’s gone down. ‘For someone that specializes in healing, she sure is violent.’ But no need to worry about that, for now he’ll just concentrate on getting home to his bed and his mom’s cooking.
He dusts off the Omnitrix, inspecting it for dust and scratches; it of course doesn’t have any. ‘Why did it recharge so quickly? Did it get an upgrade…? No, it didn't because I was still Terraspin for ten minutes and it took another ten minutes for it to recharge afterwards. I’ll bring it up to Thirteen next time I see them.’
“You have no sense of self-preservation, do you?”
“Excuse me?!” Izuku snaps out of his lull blinking in surprise. To his right Ochaco is leering at him, her arms tucked in, and her cheeks puffed out in frustration. She didn’t take hearing about how he saved her well, namely him having no plan; only succeeded because the Omnitrix happened to recharge quickly…for some reason. Better bring that up to Thirteen later.
Izuku has the decency to look away in shame, but his mouth has other ideas. “I could say the same about you…”
Ochaco growls. “What was that?”
“Nothing!” Izuku replies trying to sound innocent, despite the obvious nervous sweat dripping down his face.
The pink-cheeked girl sighs deciding to let it go for now. “Well, in any case,” She smiles. “thanks for the save.”
“Any time, besides you saved me from the 0-pointer first. So, thanks for that.”
Ochaco beams in gratitude, but her smile wavers as she rubs her arm although it’s fully healed she can still somewhat feel the strain on her muscles. ‘I know All Might warned me about the risks, but I thought that’s why we trained. So, why did I still end up getting hurt? Was I not ready? Was All Might wrong choosing me?’
“Hey, Uraraka…”
“What’s up, Deku?”
“What was that today? That thing you did to the 0-pointer, was that your Quirk?”
“Oh, yeah…that.” Ochaco’s eyes drift away. ‘Oh, no! What do I tell him?! What can I say?!’ All Might never did expresses a real need for secrecy, but this Quirk just seems a little too important not to keep it a secret. ‘But this is Deku, he has to keep his Quirklessness and the existence of aliens a secret so if there’s anyone that would understand it would be him…’ Ochaco looks up at Izuku considering her options.
Not sure what she’s thinking Izuku offers her a soft comforting smile.
‘I’ll tell him what I can for now and ask All Might later about what more I can tell him.’ She exhales readying herself for the possible fallout. “Hey, Deku about that…what if told you that…” She averts her eyes. “IgotanotherQuirkfromsomeoneelse!”
Izuku sticks a finger into his ear as if to clean it. “I’m sorry, what was that?”
She takes a deep breath, trying to lower her blood pressure. “I said…I got another Quirk from someone else.” She flinches expecting an outburst when there is none she continues. When there’s no verbal response, she opens one eye to look upon the results of her revelation.
What she sees is both horrifying yet hilarious; Izuku is frozen stiff as if someone had pressed pause on him, a stupid smile still plastered to his face.
‘Oh no I can practically see his brain short circuiting. Okay, stay calm, Ochaco. Be ready for when he flips out.’
…
“Oh, that’s cool.” And with that Izuku continues his stroll towards home.
“Wait!!” Ochaco nearly crashes into him as she sprints past him. “That’s it?! I say something mind-blowing and you just smile and wave it off?!”
Izuku leans his head to the side. “Well, considering that there’s all sort of Quirks in the world it’s not exactly impossible.”
“Oh…good point.”
“Also…I can’t really judge. I mean, I wear an alien watch that turns me into different aliens. Heck, learning that aliens exist was probably the most mind-blowing revelation I’ve ever had. So, anything else in comparison is sort of watered down.”
Ochaco chuckles softly. “Ha, yeah I guess so.” She sighs in relief, God this could have been worse, but still she feels rather guilty for still withdrawing some information.
Izuku seems to pick up on her distress. “I’m still willing to hear you out if you want.”
Ochaco looks him dead in the eye, this is it. “Keep in mind, I’m not actually sure how much I can tell you, but I recently…very recently got a second Quirk from someone that could transfer it to me. Don’t ask me who or how! I still need to ask them permission, so don't be mad if they say no.”
Izuku chuckles at Ochaco’s apparent nervousness. Is this what he’s like when he’s scared about something? “Uraraka, relax I understand.”
“Y-you do?”
“Of course, and your secret is safe with me.”
“Thanks, Deku.”
“Your welcome, and thanks for trusting in me…now then can I ask you some questions about your new Quirk?”
“I suppose so, I just can’t tell you its name and who gave it to me.”
“Cool, in that case,” Almost like magic Izuku’s Quirk Analysis notebook appears in his hands. “How does your new Quirk work? Is an Emitter, Mutation, or Transformation type? Why did you get hurt when using it?! What else can you do with it?!”
The onslaught of questions makes her head spin, but she can’t refuse his enthusiastic and nerdy smile. “Oh, I, uh, um, well; not sure, I thought Transformation but it might be an Emitter, it’s too strong for me, and I still have to find out.”
Izuku scribbles away in a frenzy like a maniac that just learned an important weakness about their prey. “Amazing, I wonder how it’ll affect your Zero-Gravity Quirk. Maybe you can combine them.”
“Who knows, I guess we’ll find out with time and experience.”
“And we’ll get plenty of that.” Izuku gestures towards the U.A. building, have they really not left the campus yet?
“Yeah,” Ochaco gazes up at the magnificent school, the very one that will lead them to the road of becoming heroes. “we sure will.”
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
Meanwhile, in a surveillance room filled with monitors that are all replaying videos of the day’s exams. Each one is displaying a different hero candidate, each one with their own unique Quirks, resolves, and ambitions. Watching the video feed is nearly all of U.A.’s staff members.
A woman leans forward in her seat, watching as a girl with pink-skin melts a robot with her acid. “We have quite an impressive batch of candidates this year.”
A man wearing a cowboy hat nods in agreement. “Quiet some of them are well adapted to combat.” He’s watching the video of Bakugou taking down an entire hoard of 3-pointers.
A cherry mousy voice changes the image of the center screen. “I’m more impressed by this odd duo.”
The main screen displays two sets of videos: one of Feedback and the other of Ochaco both of which are running around and taking down groups of robots.
Yagi Toshinori can’t move his gaze away from the monitor. Pride swells in his chest making him sit up straighter at the sight of his pupil proving her worth as a hero.
The image changes, this time the screen only shows one image and it’s of Terraspin saving Ochaco. Yagi quickly recognizes the bipedal turtle from the mutant monster attack from 8 months ago. ‘Huh, he must have a Transformation type Quirk.’
Yagi watches as the video feed replays once again starting from the beginning when Feedback first appeared on the scene, until…in a flash of red light a plain faced boy with messy green hair appears in the being’s place. ‘Why does that boy seem so familiar?’
Yagi turns to the person to his left. “Pardon, but who is that young man?”
Before anyone could answer, sitting behind All Might is Thirteen who is quick to reply. “Oh, that’s Izuku Midoriya.” There’s a slight hint of pride in their voice, but everyone’s attention is on the screen and thus nobody seems to have noticed.
‘Midoriya! That’s why he’s so familiar, he’s the boy whose dream I unjustly crushed…’ The guilt in his heart comes back, just like every time his mind wanders back to the depressing and shameful memory. He had always wondered what happened to him afterword, guess he got his answer... ‘But I thought he said that he didn’t have a Quirk.’ Yagi watches on, the video changes this time displaying Izuku saving Ochaco and this time Yagi doesn’t miss how the boy transforms into Terraspin. ‘Does he have…multiple Quirk?’
The video replays again, displaying Feedback running around the fake city electrifying a legion of robots.
‘Just who are you, Izuku Midoriya? And how did you get a Quirk?’
Standing against the opposite wall is a strange reclusive man that looks like he hasn’t gotten a good night's rest in a while.
He's a slender pale-skinned man with messy, shoulder-length black hair that partially hangs in front of his face. His facial hair is unkempt, and his black eyes look tired and flat. He sports a ragged black outfit that consists of a long-sleeved shirt and matching pants that are tucked into his boots. He also wears a utility belt and a strange long grey scarf is wrapped around his neck and shoulders.
This man is also observing the phenomenons known as Izuku Midoriya and Ochaco Uraraka. ‘Looks like this school year is going to cost me a lot of sleep.’ He sighs in defeat dreading all the future headaches these two problem children are guaranteed to give him.
############################################
Sukima
(Play “ Bill Conti - Gonna Fly Now ”)
A few weeks before Ochaco completed the grove, All Might had a great idea for the next part of her training.
Ochaco, dressed in sweatpants, a pink hoodie, and a beanie takes a jog across the outskirts of Endori.
Later during the busiest time of the day, she jogs through the main street where the local market is. She’s keeping a decent pace, while keeping her breath even, as her neighbors and classmates watch on in curiosity. One of the friendlier fruit vendors tosses her an apple, Ochaco catches it, and flashes him a grateful smile. He’s always so nice giving her family extra fruit, after all they did build his little shop for him.
After jogging all across town Yagi takes her to the local gym. There he coaches Ochaco how to properly throw a punch.
He’s keeping the punching bag in place as Ochaco tries to work on her form. “Come on, put all your weight behind it! Go Beyond, Plus Ultra!!”
Ochaco glares at the offending punching bag taking a mighty swing at it. The hit is so fast and hard that Yagi can actually feel the impact, it’s so strong he begins to cough up blood.
“Oh, my gosh! Are you okay?!”
Afterwards he has her doing pushups as fast as she can, yelling in her ear, motivating her to do better, especially when it seems her arms are going to give out from under her.
“Come on! You call that a pushup, I’ve seen old men move faster than you!” At least Gran Torino could keep up a fast pace.
He keeps it up, pushing her through sit ups and pull ups. After every moment of struggle, she pushes through refusing to give in.
Finally, when she got to the point of completing the exercises with little signs of failure the duo jog from one side of town to the other before reaching their final obstacle, Lothaal Mountain.
Together the two jog their way up, passing by the Ewoks’ lumber yard, past a few hikers, and up a every staircase before finally reaching their destination, the grove that they’ve been clearing out for months.
With their blood pumping and full of euphoria, Ochaco and All Might raise both of their fists into the air celebrating their great achievement as if they just won a grueling battle against an impossible foe, but in reality, it is so they can prepare themselves for a grueling challenge taking place in the near future.
All Might’s grin widens, watching the sun begin to set in the distance. ‘SOON SHE WILL BE READY TO RECEIVE ONE FOR ALL. AND SHE WILL PASS THE U.A. ENTRANCE EXAM!’
“Hey, All Might…”
“WHAT IS IT YOUNG URARAKA?” All Might turns hoping to gaze upon his pupils elated expression.
“Why are we doing this?”
(Stop the music)
…
Well, that ruined the mood.
All Might begins to sweat as his face turns slightly red from embarrassment. “OH, UH, WELL,” He twiddles his two index fingers together, trying not to make direct eye contact in fear of her reaction. “I ALWAYS WANTED TO BE PART OF A TRAINING MONTAGE.”
“… Seriously?”
“DON’T JUDGE, ME!!”
Notes:
I loved writing this chapter, I really had so much fun creating it! And I sure hope you found the chapter fun as well. I would love a comment and review from you guys. Please let me know what you liked, what didn't work, what you found funny and enjoyable, and any questions you may have. I will try to answer them to the best of my abilities without spoiling too much.
*Real quick, sorry but I have to apologize again. We will not be going to U.A. next chapter instead I want to dedicate some time to more plot development and setting some last things up for later before moving on. That said after Ch.10 We will officially and surely enter the doors of U.A. I promise.
*Ochaco's home of Endori is obviously supposed to be a reference to Endor from Star Wars, hence the Ewoks that live in the forest. It's alos supposed to represent how far Ochaco lives from U.A. and in a forested area.
*Lothaal Mountain is a reference to the planet Lothal from Star Wars Rebels, but it also represents how Ochaco's family is from the area much like how Ezra Bridger's family is from Lothal, and like Ezra she is trained by a great warrior (All Might = Kanan Jarrus) while on Lothal before they move on to greater and better things. The extinct wolves are a reference to the Loth Wolves from the Star Wars Rebels series as well.
*I don't think Ochaco should get as much backlash from using One For All as Izuku did in canon for several reasons: 1. I feel like her training was much more intense compared to what Izuku had to do. 2. Ochaco is used to having a Quirk, especially a Quick that she can't shut off. Thus her mind is already wired to think that One For All shouldn't be completely shut off like a switch. Which is something Izuku figured this out while he was under Gran Torino's tutelage. 3. I don't want Ochaco to have the exact same issues as Izuku when it comes to handling One For All.
* The Sukima was a Rocky style training montage for those that don't know. It also expresses All Might's love for America.
*A Sukima is meant to be a sidestory that is canon to this fanfic but it adds nothing to the overall story and isn't meant to be taken seriously. It's just meant to be for laughs. Also, I've based the Sukima off the way they are handled in the anime series known as "Mairimashita! Iruma-kun!" check it out if you haven't, I think it's a funny anime.
*I hope to have more Sukimas and Omakes in the future: they are meant to be short, fun, and/or sweet so if you have any suggestions than please let me know what you want to see.
Chapter 10: Acceptance
Summary:
Izuku and Ochaco receive their acceptance letters from U.A., All Might explains One For All to his successor, and Thirteen takes the new recruits on a surprise field-trip.
Notes:
Hey, what's up everybody? How are you all doing? I hope you're ready for Ch.10 because here it is. However, I want to be upfront and say that this chapter feels like a bit of filler but there were some things that needed to be addressed and introduced before Izuku and Ochaco go to U.A. That said, I promise that Ch.11 will take place at U.A. and will be much more fun so please be patient. Either way, I hope you enjoy Ch.10 nonetheless.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
‘What if I didn’t pass? No, no, don’t think like that! I’ve worked too hard and waited so long for this, there’s no way I failed. I walked away with 48 points that has to be more than enough. But what if it wasn’t?! Hundreds of people took the exam, and only 40 will make it in! That’s such a tiny margin! There’s no way I made it! No, calm down Izuku, just relax. Just relax. Just RELAX!!’
It’s been about a week since the U.A. Entrance Exam, and Izuku has done nothing but wait and ponder about his results. There’s been no word from Thirteen either other than a quick text saying they are going to be too busy the next coming weeks. Both of these circumstances have not been beneficial for his nerves. After all hundreds of potential candidates try and go for the Hero Course there’s no guarantee that he’ll make it in. And you know what they say, there’s always someone better.
“IZUKU!!” His mother, Inko Midoriya, bursts into his room flailing her hands. “Your letter from U.A.! It’s here!” She holds out the letter. It’s large with the U.A. sigil stamped onto it, and something bulky is hidden inside.
Hesitantly, Izuku takes the letter taking note of how heavy it really is probably thanks to whatever’s inside. Inko decided it would be best to leave him to it alone, so she leaves as silently as she can, but she can’t help but worry. After everything he’s endured thanks to his Quirk awakening so late, she hopes his trials and tribulations would have been worth it.
Izuku sits there on his bed staring at the letter observing the sharp edges and slightly wrinkled corner from where his mom was holding it.
No point in wondering any more. Time to rip off the Band-Aid! “Here goes nothing.” He grips the letter ripping in half, nearly falling back when the letter rips in two and something drops to the floor.
Almost instantly as a strange disc like device plops on to the ground a maniacal yet cheery laugh invades Izuku’s bedroom. “Ha ha ha ha ha ha!” At the same time a holographic screen is projected up displaying the U.A. logo.
“What is this?!”
On the projection, a small figure jumps into view waving its hand up in greeting. “Why, hello there! Nice to meet you!”
Izuku blinks unsure about what he’s seeing. On the projection, there is a short man that looks like some kind of combination of a dog, a mouse and a bear. There’s a large scar over the bear-dog thing’s right eye, he has relatively square-shaped ears with pale pink insides slanting outwards from the top of his head, and an elongated muzzle with a small round nose. His fur is white and has large, dog-like paws with pink pads and a thin tail like that of a cat. He is sporting a white dress shirt, a dark red tie around his neck, a black double-breasted waistcoat and that match his dress pants.
The chimera bows introducing himself. “My name is Nezu and I’m…the principle of U.A.!” Nezu’s smile is bright and cheerful proclaiming his position with much pride and gusto.
Izuku’s hand grazes his Quirk Analysis Notebook as if ready to draw it out for reference. ‘I’ve heard of him before.’
The pre-recording doesn’t wait for Izuku to process the outburst of a greeting before Principal Nezu straightens himself. “Now on to your results. You did quite well on your written exam and thus you’ve qualified for General Studies. But that’s not what you want to hear now is it?! I’m sure you would like to know about the Hero Course Exam. But before that I would like to go over this with you!”
From the corner of the projection a video appears displaying a clip of Izuku as Feedback running about the arena. The video changes this time to Izuku transforming into Terraspin. The video stops and then it changes to displaying two parallel photos: one of Feedback and the other of Terraspin.
Nezu eyes the photos curiously. “I must say, you have quite a fascinating…Quirk, Mr. Midoriya.” Nezu peers down seemingly lost in thought with a far-off gaze in his dark eyes. “Reminds me of another Quirk I knew back in the day.” After a deep somber sigh, Nezu turns back to the camera tilting his head to the side much like an animal that’s spotted something of interest.
Izuku mimics the motions but not in interest but in confusion. ‘I wonder what kind of Quirk he’s thinking of?’
Nezu smiles before reaching for something off screen, a moment later he is holding a portfolio. He flips it open tracing the words with his finger/paw. “According to your Quirk Registry your Quirk, One Man Army, allows you access to a variety of Quirks by transforming your entire body into different forms. It is odd, how you waited so long to update it considering you were classified as Quirkless for so long. Almost like you gained a Quirk overnight.” Although Nezu states this as a joke, there is a clear underlining hint that he means more than what he’s letting on.
Izuku pulls on his shirt collar feeling very sweaty all of the sudden. ‘Does he know? No, he probably just saw me use the Omnitrix and figures it’s for my Quirk. I did write into my Quirk Registry that the watch helps me sort through my transformations as well as a timer.’
“But that is none of my concern, for now I’ll just say that I am looking forward to seeing what other tricks you have up your sleeve, Mr. Midoriya.” Nezu raises his left arm and with his right paw he pats his left wrist.
Izuku eyes widen. ‘Look forward… Does he mean?’
“That’s right with a Battle Score of 48 points you’ve more than reached a passing grade!”
“YES!!!” Izuku fist pumps into the air in celebration a giant grin plastered to his face.
“However, Battle Points weren’t the only criteria we searched for.”
‘What is he talking about?’
The photos change into two separate videos: one of Feedback but this time he’s saving the pompous blonde teen, and the other plays the scene of Terraspin rescuing Ochaco starting with the multi-limbed guy tossing Izuku up into the air.
“You’ve proven yourself worthy of the Hero Course through your ability to adapt to your situation, cooperate with others, and your passionate selflessness to save others. For that we have awarded you 45 rescue points! Brining you to a total of 93 points for the entire exam!”
“93 POINTS!?!” Izuku’s jaw drops in disbelief. ‘No way?! That's insane according to Kacchan he had gotten 77 points! Does this mean I beat him?!’
“Not only that you’ve skyrocket your way to first place among all other examinees! CONGRATULATIONS!!!” A barrage of confetti shoots out from outside the screen surrounding the pieces of paper fluttering around Nezu like a swarm of colorful bees.
“FIRST PLACE!?!”
“Mr. Midoriya, you’ve more than shown us that you are ready for U.A. and I would like to welcome you to your Hero Academia! Hooray!!”
Izuku is up on his feet with one of the biggest and brightest grins on his face. This is real, very very real! He’s going to U.A.!! Nothing can ruin this moment!
“I look forward to watching your progress,” The next part is rather strange either some weird editing was done or Nezu can move at the speed of light, but either way his face is directly in front of the camera. His dark round eyes peering through the screen as if he can see through the camera and right at Izuku. It doesn’t help that with the light now to his back his face is shadowed over, and his ever-present smile makes it all that more uncomfortable. “I bet it will be…fascinating. Mwah ha ha ha ha!!” The recording freezes as it reaches the end leaving Nezu’s looming figure on screen and his maniacal laughter hanging in the air.
A part of Izuku is outright freaking out, he should definitely be concerned, but that is nothing, but a whisper compared to the emotions flooding his system: pure euphoria and excitement. He’s going to U.A.!! How could he not be happy?! All his life he’s dreamed of going to U.A. and becoming a hero and now he’s just been accepted to begin ascending the stairs that will lead him to his dream.
Before that though there’s something he should do first.
Just outside his bedroom Inko is pacing across the hallway stricken with worry. She prays and prays that her baby’s efforts have paid off.
Izuku’s bedroom door swings open, Inko is quick to react. The anticipation is really getting to her, it doesn't help he could hear yelling from the other side of the door.
Izuku walks out looking rather calm and somber. He blinks up, glancing at his dear loving caretaker, who is silently begging to know how he’s holding up.
Without a word, Izuku flashes her a bright and worry-free smile.
The message is clear, Inko’s eyes well up with tears of joy. “MY BABY GOT INTO U.A.!!!” So, begins the infamous Midoriya water works, with geysers of tears pouring out of the dotting mother’s eyes.
Izuku tries and fails to calm her. “Mom! If you keep crying, you're going to flood the apartment!”
“I’m sorry! I’m…I’m just so proud! Wah!!”
These tears are just his mother’s way of showing her love and support… Albeit her cooking his favorite dinner would work just as well.
Izuku sighs. “Mom…” Even though he can feel his socks becoming damp from the excess amount of tears, Izuku can’t help but smile, embracing his mother in a comforting hug. “Thanks for all of your support.”
Between her sniveling Inko manages to get a word out. “I’ll…I’ll always…support you!”
Her hold tightens around him, enjoying the warmth of her dear baby boy. ‘I promise Izuku no matter what happens I will give you as much support as I can. Just know that I will always love you…and I’m sure your father does too.’
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
Meanwhile, in Endori the Uraraka family find themselves at their dinner table. Their home is small with two bedrooms, a single kitchen/dining area, and one bathroom. Their dinner table is small and low to the floor, so they have to kneel around the table in order to eat their meals.
Speaking of meals, Ochaco is busy stirring her’s around her bowl with a far off look in her eyes.
‘Why hasn’t he contacted me?’
A week, it’s been a week since All Might’s even said a word to her. The last one was just a quick text saying “good job” after she texted him how many points she earned.
‘Maybe I didn’t do as well as I thought… Maybe he’d want his Quirk back.’ Ochaco sniffs rubbing her eyes with the back of her hand. ‘I’m sorry Deku…looks like I won’t be going to U.A. with you.’
Ochaco’s mother holds up a large dish filled with nori. “Ochaco, would you like more nori?”
“No, thanks. You can have it.”
Ochaco eyes the nori she has left in her bowl with slight disdain. She turns her gazes to the table; there’s hardly any food for their first servings let alone seconds. Now, because she’s failed the U.A. Entrance Exam this will continue to be the norm for her poor parents; starving themselves just to see her with a smiling face and a full belly. They don’t deserve this situation.
Ochaco’s mother’s instincts seem to detect that something is bothering her daughter. “Ochaco…”
Ochaco slowly raises her head trying her best to give her mother her full attention.
Her mother shares a look with her husband, who is quick to understand her intentions, nodding his head in confirmation.
Ochaco’s mother takes a deep breath before speaking. “We just wanted to say how proud we are of you for chasing your dream and no matter the result we couldn’t be prouder.”
Ochaco perks up a bit, not a lot, but it’s definitely a positive reaction. “Really?”
“Of course.”
Her father is the one to continue reaching over and planting a gentle yet firm pat to her hand. “We love you sweetie and no matter what happens as long as we support and love each other then everything is bound to work out.” Both he and his loving wife beam at their daughter letting her know that that is the truth.
They truly believe that as long as their daughter was happy then that’s all they really needed.
Ochaco’s eyes begin to water. Despite their abysmal financial situation, she has to ask herself. ‘How did I get so lucky to have them as parents?’
*Clink*
That was the mailbox. Something must have just arrived.
Ochaco blinks away the forming tears shaking her head. She stands up flashing a grateful smile to her parents. “I better get that.”
Her folks flash her loving smiles as she passes them by.
Even though she takes her time exiting the tiny kitchen she is quick to arrive at their front door which is only around the corner.
There on the floor at the foot of the door is a letter, one with the U.A. insignia stamped on it.
And just like that the color drains from her face as she shakily bends down and picks it up between her fingers.
With her eyes locked onto the letter, she makes her way towards her room passing by the kitchen area. She glances towards her parents as she walks by, they spot the letter, and give her encouraging grins. Her mother nods gesturing for Ochaco to head to her room to open it, beside her is Ochaco’s father giving her a thumbs up.
Knowing her parents have her back, Ochaco enters her room.
It’s small just enough for her bed and a desk to sit next to it facing towards the only window. On her desk sits one of the most expensive items she owns a high-powered telescope perfect for stargazing, she had to save up her money for years in order to purchase it. Over her bed are an assortment of space-themed posters: one is a complete overlook of the solar system, another poster is in the shape of a yield sign with the image of a UFO and the words “UFO Crossing” on it, the last poster is a protesting for Pluto to be classified as a planet again. On the ceiling are carefully laid out glow in the dark stars that map out the constellations. At the head of her bed sitting on top of her pillow is a large stuffed toy; it’s a blue koala well if koalas had four arms and a pair of antennas on their heads.
Ochaco takes a seat on her bed, it creaks as she sits down because it’s never been replaced since they got it, at least her sheets are nice and soft.
‘Here goes nothing.’ She grabs a pair of scissors cutting open the top of the envelope. Inside there’s a disc-like device and a letter. Curiously, Ochaco picks up the disc eyeing it with interest before placing it on to her bed. She grips the letter scanning it to see if it states whether she passed or not.
Without warning a booming voice bursts out as a strange light source lets their presence known.
“I AM HERE IN THE PROJECTION!!”
Ochaco nearly jumps out of her own skin in surprise. “All Might?! But how?! I thought this was a letter from U.A.?”
The pre-recording continues on. “YOUNG URARAKA, I APOLOGIZE FOR NOT REACHING OUT TO YOU SOONER. UNFORTUNATELY, THERE WAS A LOT MORE PAPERWORK INVOLVED THAN I HAD THOUGHT. ANYWAY, YOU’RE PROBABLY WONDERING WHY I AM COMING TO YOU AS A PRERECORDED MESSAGE.”
Ochaco nods, somehow, she hasn’t realized that All Might can’t actually see her.
“THE REASON BEING I’VE RECENTLY ACCEPTED A TEACHING POSITION HERE AT U.A.!”
“No way?!”
“AND AS THE NEWEST MEMBER OF THE U.A. STAFF I HAVE MANY RESPONSIBILITIES SUCH AS DISTRIBUTING THE RESULTS OF THE EXAM!!”
Ochaco visibly tenses up, here it comes the moment of truth.
“LET’S BEGIN, STARING WITH THE WRITTEN PORTION OF THE EXAM YOU GOT AN AVERAGE SCORE.” Noticeably, All Might begins to shake slightly with embarrassment. “SORRY, I GUESS I SHOULD HAVE DEDICATED MORE TIME TO YOUR STUDIES, HA HA HA!” Thinking back on it, he did leave very little time dedicated to studying in the “All-American Dream Plan: the Lady Liberty Version”.
Ochaco sweat drops glaring at the projection of All Might with annoyance. ‘Sure, he can laugh something like that off. It’s not his grades that are being the ones affected.’
“NOW ONTO THE PRACTICAL EXAM: YOU SCORED 32 POINTS AGAINST THE ROBOTS. WELL DONE, BUT THE GOOD NEWS DOESN’T END THERE!”
‘What is he talking about?’
“HERE’S A VIDEO FOR YOUR VIEWING PLEASURE”
All Might points to the upper right side of the screen just as a video begins to play.
The video is a recording of her pushing her way through the stampede of other examinees and sprinting straight towards the gigantic 0-point robot. Ochaco watches in amazement as the recording of herself is surrounded by a pink aura. ‘Is that…One For All?’ She gasps in surprise as her recorded self is seemingly propelled off the ground before she slammed her fist into the robot’s head. She’s unable to look away as she watches Izuku fly in grabbing onto her before transforming into his Terraspin saving both himself and her in the process while the 0-pointer crashes as a pile of heap behind them.
“DURING THIS EXAM WE WERE NOT JUST LOOKING FOR COMBAT POINTS!” All Might turns away from the video. “SO, TELL ME! HOW CAN WE POSSIBLY REJECT A POTENTIAL STUDENT AND ONE THAT EXEMPLIFIES THE TRUE NATURE OF BEING A HERO?!”
Ochaco’s eyes widen. ‘Is he saying what I think he’s saying?’
“IN THIS JOB, YOU RISK YOUR LIFE FOR THOSE THAT CANNOT PROTECT THEMSELVES! THAT’S WHAT IT MEANS TO BE A HERO! THAT’S WHY WE HAVE RESCUE POINTS!!” All Might puffs out his chest standing tall with his fists at his sides. “AND YOU, OCHACO URARAKA, HAVE GAINED 60 RESCUE POINTS FOR YOUR EFFORTS!! BRINGING YOUR TOTAL TO A WHOPPING 92!! MORE THAN WHAT’S REQUIRED TO PASS!” His grin despite its already massive size somehow becomes even more expansive as he beams with pride and joy.
Tears prick at her eyes threatening to spill out.
“YOUNG URARAKA, ALL OF YOUR EFFORTS HAVE NOT FAILED YOU.” He reaches out towards her ready for her to step forward. “SO, LET ME BE THE FIRST TO SAY…WELCOME. WELCOME TO YOUR HERO ACADEMIA!”
Ochaco grips the letter tighter her arms are shaking as a giant smile begins to form. “I…did it.” She’s still processing the information, but before she can her thoughts are interrupted by her door being flung open.
“HOORAY!!”
“THAT’S MY GIRL!!”
Ochaco’s mother and father, respectively, let themselves in with grins on their faces and their arms outstretched over their heads in celebration.
‘Were they eavesdropping?!’
Before she knows it, Ochaco is wrapped up by two separate pairs of arms as her parents practically scream into her ears. “We’re so proud of you!!”
“Mom! Dad!” The brunette struggles to break free, wiggling her body, but it’s no use. Eventually she sighs in defeat, accepting her fate.
From the side of her vision she notices that the projection has changed; All Might has disappeared and has been replaced by a list showcasing the exam rankings. From within the hug cocoon, she notices that Izuku has made 1st place beating her out by exactly 1 point. ‘Way to go Deku, I knew you’d make it!’ Ochaco can’t help but smile; both her and her friend have made it into U.A. Not only that, they just happened to snag the top spots for themselves! There’s no doubt that all of their hard work and determination was truly well worth their time and effort. ‘This is really it isn’t it! It’s official now, I’m chasing after my dreams!’
As she settles in her parent’s arms, with a soft smile, she doesn’t notice her phone lighting up on her desk. There on the screen is a single voicemail from Yagi Toshinori.
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
It’s a rather quiet morning atop Lothaal Mountain. The sun is just starting to rise in the distance as the Earth itself begins to awaken in the sunlight.
Ochaco jogs her way up the familiar path with relative ease, as she arrives at the grove, she spots Yagi Toshinori sitting on a bench enjoying the soft mountain breeze.
Her excitement is too much to bare, as she arrives, she can’t help but scream at the top of her lungs. “How are you, ALL MIGHT!?!” She’s so loud that her voice echoes across the valley.
Yagi deadpans. “Why not call the news media while you’re at it.”
At least, Ochaco has the sense to feel shame. Bowing her head in apology. “Sorry…”
“Well, anyway…” Yagi raises his hand for a high five. “Congrats on passing the exam.”
Ochaco returns the gesture, her hand clapping against his.
“For full disclosure, you should know that I haven’t told the school about our relationship. So, don’t worry about favoritism of any kind. And I wasn’t a judge so I had no say in how many rescue points you could have received.”
‘That’s actually really nice to hear.’ It only confirms that she earned her spot fair and square. “Thanks, All Might. I appreciate it.”
Now that the formalities are out of the way there’s been something she’s been wanting to bring up since last night. “So, you’re going to be a teacher huh? Makes sense really cause of your time limit and all.”
“Well,” Yagi peers up at the sky just as a song bird soars overhead. “that’s certainly part of it. But mostly I figured I could take the job at U.A. and search for a successor.”
Ochaco’s smile falls as she considers Yagi’s words. ‘That…makes a whole lot of sense. He was going to choose from amongst the students… He was going to choose someone with an amazing Quirk and raw talent…’ She stares at her hands, the hands that can not only call upon Zero-Gravity but One For All as well. “During the exam…I tried and failed to use One For All… there was so much backlash after just a single punch. I…I can’t wield it properly…even after all the work we did.”
“Don’t let that get you down. That’s just how it is nobody expected you to fully control it on the first try.”
She can’t help but notice the way he phrased his sentence. “Wait… You knew this would happen?!” Ochaco yells out feeling scandalous and slightly betrayed.
Yagi grips his neck trying to find the right words to justify his lack of instructions. “Well, there wasn’t enough time. But, hey, everything worked out in the end!” Yagi bends down grabbing hold of a small but thick branch off the rocky ground. “For now, it’s all or nothing. But once you figured out how to regulate your power output you should have no issues.”
Ochaco isn’t sure what he means exactly; he needs a better way to explain this.
“Right now, your body is capable of containing One For All, but it still needs to become more tempered, more balanced, as to allow you better control of the power you now wield.” He flexes his skinny arm holding up the branch. “When that happens,” With a pop All Might bulks up while snapping the branch in two with his mighty grip. “IT WILL BE A SNAP FOR YOU TO CONTROL!”
Ochaco gazes up in awe of the Symbol of Peace before once again contemplating her own worthiness. This power is borrowed, but one day she may just make it her own.
‘UNDERSTAND THIS YOUNG URARAKA, LIKE PASSING AN OLYMPIC FLAME, I HAVE ONLY GIVEN YOU A SMALL PORTION OF ONE FOR ALL BUT AS TIME MOVES FORWARD AND YOU GAIN EXPERIENCE THAT TINY FLAME WILL BECOME A GIANT INFERNO THAT YOU CAN MANIPULATE TO YOUR WILL!’ All Might looks out to the horizon as the sun fully reveals itself. ‘SOON MY TIME WILL COME AS MY FLAME SLOWLY DIES OUT… BUT I HAVE NO DOUBT THAT A NEW SHINING FIRE WILL OUTSHINE EVEN ME…’
“Hey, All Might?”
“WHAT IS IT?”
Ochaco fidgets around, twiddling her hands together as she looks away with a slight blush of nervousness.
All Might coughs into his fist. ‘CUTE!’
“There’s something I’ve been meaning to ask you concerning One For All.”
“OKAY?”
“I was wondering if I could tell a good friend of mine about it.”
All Might tilts to the side, waiting for her to explain further.
“You see my friend has really stuck their neck out for me. They’ve inspired and shown me so much and, admittedly, it feels sort of wrong to keep all of this a secret from them.”
“HMMMM. THIS PERSON SOUNDS IMPORTANT TO YOU…” All Might considers the prospect, he after all has people he trusts with this secret, but he’s known them for decades now. He can’t afford to be too liberal with not only his Quirk but his situation as a whole. “WELL I SHOULD START WITH TELLING YOU SOMETHING I PROBABLY SHOULD HAVE TOLD YOU MONTHS AGO, ABOUT ONE FOR ALL.”
Ochaco stiffens with all of her attention on her mentor.
“ONE FOR ALL IS A HEAVILY GUARDED SECRET AND IT MUST REMAIN AS SUCH.” Even with his happy go lucky grin, Ochaco can’t ignore the underlying serious tone of the pro hero’s voice. “IF PEOPLE WERE TO FIND OUT THAT EITHER YOU OR I WERE GIVEN SUCH A POWER RATHER THAN BEING BORN WITH IT; IT WILL PUT THE WORLD ON ITS HEAD AND POSSIBLE CHAOS WOULD ENSUE AS INDIVIDUALS ALL VIE FOR THIS EVER-GROWING POWER.”
A wave of dread washes over her like a flood of arctic water making her freeze in place. What has she done? She may have unknowingly plastered a target not on herself, but Izuku. He already has so much he’s striving to protect and now this… “ I really screwed up.” She grips her face as shame and regret flow through her veins. “Although I didn’t tell them about One For All I did tell them that I gained a second Quirk from someone else, don’t worry I didn’t say who. And they promised not to say a word to anyone else.”
All Might understands her worries far more than what she thinks or what he’s even willing to tell. “THAT’S OFFLY RISKY, BUT I’LL TRUST YOUR JUDGEMENT FOR NOW.” All Might lightly rubs her head, messing up her hair.
The gesture is enough to get his young successor to smile.
“HOWEVER, YOU MUST BE MORE CAREFUL IN THE FUTURE. UNDERSTAND?”
“Hm.” And a firm nod seals the promise.
“GOOD, NOW ALL THAT IS SAID I WOULD LIKE TO MEET THIS FRIEND OF YOURS FIRST BEFORE I CAN SAFELY SAY THAT IT’S ALRIGHT TO SHARE THE FULL EXTENT OF THIS LEGACY ONTO THEM.”
‘I think he’ll understand just fine.’ Ochaco chuckles at her own inner joke. “Perfect, you can meet him at U.A. he’s going to be a new student too.”
“REALLY? THEN PRAYTELL WHAT IS HIS NAME?”
“Izuku Midoriya!”
A jolt of surprise pierces All Might’s heart. “…OH, YES, HE’S THE ONE THAT CAN TRANSFORM CORRECT?”
Ochaco nods, assuming that All Might must have witnessed Izuku’s display of abilities during the U.A. Entrance Exam. “Yup, you actually met him before, but Deku can be rather shy at times.”
“RIGHT…” Of course, he’s already realized this for himself, it’s hard to forget a large bipedal turtle especially one he mistook for a mutant monster. “YES, I THOUGHT I RECOGNIZED HIM. SO, YOU’VE KNOWN HIM FOR A WHILE NOW?”
Ochaco chuckles sheepishly. “Well, actually I met him the same exact day as you. I guess you really bond with people when you’re forced to fight alongside them.”
‘YOU HAVE NO IDEA.’ All Might coughs trying not to be conspicuous about his true feelings. “WELL, HE SOUNDS LIKE A FINE YOUNG MAN. I CAN’T WAIT TO OFFICIALLY MEET HIM.”
“Trust me, he would love nothing more!” She’s seen his notes and far too many of them are about the Number One Hero.
Ochaco’s phone begins to buzz from her pocket. She flips it open finding a call coming in from Thirteen. She points at her phone for All Might to see. “Sorry, I have to take this.” She turns away, saying hello.
While Ochaco’s caller chats away, All Might’s thoughts begin to wonder. ‘IZUKU MIDORIYA, SEEMS LIKE YOUR REACH IS FAR GREATER THAN I HAD FIRST IMAGINED… JUST HOW DID YOU GAIN SUCH A QUIRK? WAS IT FROM HIM? … NO, HE IS NO LONGER A THREAT… BUT…STILL.’ All Might eyes Ochaco admiring her cheerful and naive smile. ‘I MUST BE ON GUARD; IF I’M NOT THERE COULD BE DIRE CONSEQUENCES FOR NOT ONLY MYSELF, BUT URARAKA AS WELL…’
The call ends as Ochaco hangs up. “Sorry, All Might, but I actually have to meet up with Deku sooner rather than later. Something important just came up last minute.”
“VERY WELL ALLOW ME TO ACCOMPANY YOU. I ACTUALLY NEED TO HEAD INTO U.A. FOR SOME MORE PAPERWORK.”
The young girl smiles brightly accepting the offer.
And with that the duo start making their way down the mountain. ‘I MUST LOOK INTO THE ENIGMA THAT IS IZUKU MIDORIYA. I JUST HOPE THAT MY CONCERNS ARE UNFOUNDED.’
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
Ochaco jogs up to the meeting spot that Thirteen had set up for them. Already waiting there is Izuku, tapping his foot waiting for the others to arrive. She waves while calling out to him. “Yo, Deku!”
Izuku snaps to attention, waving back at Ochaco. “Hi, Uraraka. Congrats on making it into U.A.”
Her grin widens, finally reaching her destination. “Thanks, and to you as well.” She punches his shoulder. “And way to go on snagging the first-place spot!”
Izuku rubs his arm, her punches are surprisingly strong. “Ha, yeah, that was a bit of a surprise.”
“So, do you know why Thirteen called us here?”
“No idea.” Izuku peers up at the hillside ahead of them.
Currently they are in the part of Musutafu that’s south of U.A. itself. Heck they can somewhat see the outline of the school from here. But the vast hill and thick woods are blocking their view. Behind them is a row of buildings, but rather than have them meet up at a restaurant or the little rundown tea shop nearby, Thirteen told them to meet at this specific location: in front of the hiking trail leading up towards U.A.
Ochaco eyes said trail wondering where it could possibly lead. “Do you think they meant to send us to U.A. instead?”
“Hmmm, maybe?”
“Ah, there you two are!” Speak of the devil.
Both teens beam with glee. “Thirteen!!”
Thirteen casually strolls up, they are clearly in no rush. “Good to see you future heroes in the making.” They give a friendly wink. “Congrats on passing the exam by the way. I never doubted either of you for a second!”
Ochaco fans her face, she’s unable to stop blushing from the comment. “Thanks.”
Izuku is equally embarrassed. “It was nothing.”
Thirteen chuckles in response. “Don’t let Principal Nezu hear you say that; he’ll take that as a challenge.”
Even though it was a joke, Izuku freezes up in fear his mind flashes back to how intimidating Nezu was during the recording.
Ochaco seems to notice Izuku’s reaction, curiously she taps a finger against his stiff form, trying to see if he’s alright.
“Well, anyway, to commemorate the both of passing the exam I have a little surprise for the both of you!”
Ochaco gasps, completely forgetting about Izuku’s condition. “Oh, what is it?!” She absolutely loves surprises, especially if they’re free!
“You’ll see.” Thirteen’s voice sounds rather excited, like a kid who’s more than willing to share a juicy secret.
Thirteen walks over to the start of the trail waving for them to follow, to which they do with no hesitation.
The trail is easy to walk, the slope isn’t at all steep, but after a few short minutes the buildings are completely gone from their view of vision thanks to the thick woods.
Izuku and Ochaco are walking behind Thirteen wondering the same things over and over in their heads. ‘Where are they taking us? What’s the surprise?’
“We’re here!”
The teens instantly perk up peering around the Plumber’s back so that they can finally lay their eyes upon their surprise.
…
Izuku and Ochaco can practically hear a trombone playing “Wa wa waaaaaa” to accompany their reactions of shock and disgust. “It’s an outhouse!?!”
It sure is, the hiking path doesn’t lead to some grand secret hideaway or some amazing alien ship, but an outhouse. The outhouse is a piece of crap, pun intended, with it creaking panels, leaning frame, and the flies buzz about near the tin roof. The only reason it hasn’t collapsed is probably because of its rather large frame making it wider than most outhouses.
Thirteen swings open the decaying wooden door. “Well come on.”
Thirteen can’t really expect them to follow, can they? But then again Thirteen must have a reason for bringing them here, and they’ve already came all this way, they might as well continue.
They enter finding it just as disgusting and unkempt as they thought it would be. There’s more room inside than they initially thought, which is odd, because only a single high tank toilet inside with a chain flush dangling in the air.
Izuku grimaces at the sight of the moldy toilet bowl. “Thirteen…why are we in here?”
Thirteen giggles like a child, they’re really enjoying the teen’s reactions. “You’ll see.”
Thirteen grabs the cord’s handle before tugging down to flush the toilet. But instead of a flush the floor itself shifts temporarily throwing the teens off balance.
Izuku internally panics, just what is Thirteen up to?! “Thirteen…”
“Patience, Midoriya.”
Before long the floor begins to sink down, causing the worry in the teens’ hearts to grow, especially as the wall begins to rise around them. The walls quickly change from wooden planks to sheen metallic walls, as they continue downward, they pass marker lights that provide momentary moments of bright light.
Izuku grabs Thirteen’s shoulder, he needs to know what the hell is happening. “What’s going on!?!”
Thirteen turns to face Izuku, who is unable to read their expression thanks to Thirteen’s pitch-black space helmet. Without a word, Thirteen’s eyes narrow as if laughing at a personal joke before turning away ignoring Izuku’s question.
The floor continues to sink downward like that of an elevator. So, they must be moving downward, but to where?!
The anticipation is killing them, to the point that neither of them can contain themselves. “Thirteen!! Why are we here?!”
“This is why.”
On que the elevator comes to a complete stop in front of a pair of sliding doors.
Thirteen turns to face the duo, rubbing their hands in anticipation. “Are you two ready for your surprise?”
“YES!!!” The howl of their shouts nearly blow away Thirteen’s helmet.
“He he, right, sorry. Anyway welcome,” With no warning the doors slide open as blinding neon green lights flood their vision. “welcome to Japan’s Plumber Base!”
Ochaco and Izuku’s jaws drop as they stare in awe of the Plumber Base. What greets them is a large room illuminated by green neon lights giving the place a quiet glow to it. Everything in here looks somewhat alien by design, with several rows of metallic desks welded to the floor, large curving pillars supporting the ceiling, as well as strange yet blinking monitors mounted across the walls as if scanning everything in their path. Above them on the ceiling corners are large metallic frames, they are big and bulky, but it's unclear whether they are there for support, aesthetics, or perhaps they aid in security.
Izuku watches as Ochaco slides her hand across the smooth surface of a desk. It’s cool to the touch, as she slides her palm across the surface, the main frame lights up and a hologram of what appears to be Japan is projected into midair. “So, cool.”
Thirteen is so glad they like it. “You two haven’t seen anything yet. Come on.”
And so, begins their tour of Japan’s Plumber Base. From what Thirteen refers to the main lobby area they lead the group toward the back of the large open lobby where there are three octagon shaped tunnels. They take the middle one, the tunnel is long and rather large so much so that if Izuku wanted to he’d have enough room as Terraspin to fly right throw it without any hindrances.
At the end of the tunnel, there is a large set of metal doors. When Thirteen opens the doors, they see what appears to be a large cargo area, about 30 ft long, 20 ft wide, and 25 ft tall, filled with giant metal crates and containers along the walls. In the middle of the cargo bay there appears to be a large hydraulic lift with a spaceship sitting on the platform. There’s a catwalk over head that’s about 15 feet above the floor of the cargo bay. It follows along the walls with a three-foot gap between the railing of the catwalk and the wall thus leaving a large rectangular shaped gap above their heads. There are a set of stairs on either side of the cargo area against the wall toward the back that allow access to the catwalk.
But none of this garners the teens’ attention. Nope, all of their focus is singled in on one specific item of interest.
“SPACESHIP!!!” They both gush with epic proportions of nerdy energy as they practically worship the magnificent alien craft.
The ship’s size is a bit bigger than that of a van and like a van its main haul is rectangular with a small with a triangular cockpit lined with pitch-black windows. On the sides are a pair of wings and at each end there are highly advanced turbo engines. The loading bay is located at the rear of the ship.
“Hey, get away from that! I know it’s cool but come on!” Thirteen tries their best to pry them away from it, but they’re latched onto it tight admiring it’s unearthly metal exterior.
They can’t really blame them, logically, they should have seen this reaction coming.
Ochaco climbs onto the wing so she could gain a different view. “Thirteen can we take a ride in this?! It would be so cool!”
Izuku chirps in as well. “Yeah!”
“No!!” Thirteen grabs them both by the scruffs of their shirts and dragging them away before they can do something stupid. “There will be time for that later! For now, I don’t want either of you anywhere near that thing! It’s a highly advanced piece of technology that neither of you are ready for.”
Ochaco feet drag against the floor as she slides her arms about at her sides nearly smacking Deku in the face in the process. “But you could just fly it for us!” She wails.
“This spacecraft is not a toy! There will be opportunities to fly it at a later time.” Besides the camouflage projector is broken so they couldn’t take it out even if they wanted to or else risk being discovered.
Thirteen eventually releases the teens allowing them to walk by themselves, they then follow the Plumber to the back of the large cargo bay, there appears to be a medium sized oval shape door.
When the door opens, they see what appears to be a small hallway. On the left end of the hallway there appears to be a set of stairs to the upper level. The right end of the hallway leads to a small common area with a coffee table surrounded by a few chairs. On the left side of the common area is another door that leads to what seems to be an infirmary. The sick bay is rather large with clean white cabinets lining the walls filled with all sorts of medicine and other medical supplies. There is a space between the upper and lower cabinets to act as a counter to place different types of medical tools on. The sick bay also has three operating tables bolted to the floor with medical lights above each one all spread out in a row and evenly spaced from one another to allow for easy maneuverability.
Thirteen states that they have all sorts of remedies from all over the galaxy to help treat any and all alien beings on Earth.
Behind the common area, there is another hallway lined with what appears to be holding cells with reinforced walls and force field gates. There only seems to be three holding cells in the hallway. On the left are two medium sized cells while on the right a single large cell. However, as they continue down the hallway, there is another door which leads to a larger but still modest underground prison. The prison cells line the walls like honeycombs spiraling downward across three levels with forcefield gates and cold hard walls. Even though there’s a good number of cells not one of them is occupied.
Thirteen chuckles humbly at the sight. “Admittedly not many criminals decide to make a claim on Earth.” A single tear leaks out from their eye. “I don’t get to use them that often…”
Ochaco would like to laugh but she’s more considered by Thirteen reaction. ‘Isn’t that a good thing, though?’
The group goes back to the common area to take the stairs that lead up to the second level.
When they arrive at the second level, they find themselves in the middle of a hallway. This hallway is much narrower than the previous ones and has grey walls and orange lines running in parallel lines across the floor.
Thirteen decides to lead them toward the front of the hallway which leads to the dining area that seats above the cargo bay. In the middle of the room is a large wooden family table with wooden chairs seated around it. The table rests on a large octagonal shaped beige rug and with the soft illuminating lights it gives off a nice homey atmosphere. To their immediate right, there is a circular area that appears to be a cozy lounge area with chairs and couches, and a kitchen to boot.
Encasing the entire room, there appear to be small windows that go around the perimeter of the walls, but all there is to see is pure darkness.
Thirteen then lead back the hallway they just came.
At the end of the hallway is the generator/engine room where a giant generator is emitting an immense amount of power with orbs of light mounted near the mouth of the machine as sparks of plasma occasionally spark out near the large antennas at the top of the giant generator.
Thirteen proudly taps against the side of the generator. “We have to remain off the grid; hence we have our own energy system.”
Ochaco and Izuku smile at the sight of the generator’s immense amounts of energy being discharged. “Huh, that’s handy.”
Izuku studies the alien generator as if trying to piece together how it was built and how it runs. “This is really amazing.”
“Just you wait, I’ve saved the best for last.” Thirteen leads them back toward the dining hall and towards the door on the far end of the dining hall.
Izuku and Ochaco happily follow as they pass through the hallway, this one is a bit longer than the last one and on a slight incline as they make their way up, they come along another set of doors, but Thirteen ends up marching right past them as if they didn’t exist. Perhaps they didn’t notice them.
Izuku and Ochaco stop to stare at the door. It’s different, the doors look like they belong in a bunker with thick metal doors that lock into on another, no windows, and even a large circular hitch lodge into its center.
Without looking, Ochaco reaches for the door so she can try and open it. “Hey Thirteen, what’s-”
“NO!!” With record speed Thirteen slams their back against the door, their arms outstretched to block their entrance. “You two aren’t allowed in here.”
Izuku nearly jumps out of skin in surprise. “How come?!”
Thirteen, although tense, tries to relax. Pushing themselves off the door’s frame. “Sorry, but this leads to the armory and contraband.”
Both of the teens’ eyes light up.
Ochaco smiles raising her fists in joy. “Armory?!” There’s got to be laser guns, and cool blasters in there just waiting to be tested out. Oh, Ochaco can already imagine herself as a badass sci-fi hero wielding a giant laser cannon as a weapon.
“Contraband?!” Izuku smiles in glee wondering about the different kinds of alien gear and tech that must be hidden behind those doors. Perhaps there’s hoverboards, spaceships, or even cool alien armor that grant the wielder powerful abilities. “Can we-”
“No.” Thirteen doesn’t even give him a chance, getting straight to the point with a deadpanned tone.
“But-”
“I said no.” Thirteen grabs each of their shoulders before pushing the teens forward and away from the forbidden door. “Sorry, but for safety only I can access this area. Now let’s get moving.”
After nearly tripping a few times from being pushed from behind they quickly arrive at another oval shaped door. But unlike the others this door proudly displays a large glowing red dot.
Thirteen pulls out their Plumber’s badge; a white metal badge with an exact replica of the glowing red dot on the door. They hold it up to the door’s red light, both devices flash in recognition, and the door slides away.
Thirteen stands to the side allowing their guests to have a better view. “Now, this is where the magic happens, this is the heart of our operation, this is our top of the line Surveillance and Monitoring System!”
Izuku scans the large white room noticing how it's laid out much like a cockpit of a spaceship like the ones you see in movies. There are about four workstations each with their own monitors. The entire front of the curving wall is a pitch-black screen that stretches across the entire length of the space. This screen is what’s primarily used for observing the monitored aliens of Earth. At the base of the monitor is an oval-shaped console with a circular port at the top of it, the port looks to be big enough to fit a soccer ball inside.
‘Thirteen must manage this all on their own. I mean, this place is just void of people right now.’ Izuku fidgets trying to think of the best way to word his question. “Just how can you do all this while maintaining your duties as a teacher and a pro hero?”
“Oh, well, I have a pretty good assistant.”
Before Thirteen could explain further a rather small but cheery voice makes itself known. ^Thirteen is that you? Did you bring guests?^
It is immediately accompanied by a similar sounding voice, but this one sounds much drier and more somber. ^You should have warned me I would have cleaned up. This place is such a pigsty…^
^Well I think it’s homey.^
^You would…^
‘Just where are those voices coming from?’ Izuku scans the Surveillance Room but there’s nobody else in here other than the three of them.
Ochaco gasps cupping her face as a giant grin forms on her face. “Oh my God it’s a robot!”
Izuku spins around to where she’s pointing and there sure is a robot sitting right on top the nearest workstation. With its short stature and white coating that matches the desk it’s no wonder they overlooked it when they first entered. And it’s certainly not what he expected an alien robot to look like.
The robot is more like a small white orb with four stubby legs, and a black band running vertically around its spherical body. Between the electronic black band are 2 pairs of tiny white circles, which are meant to be the robot’s eyes.
The ball shaped robot leers up at Ochaco. ^I prefer sentient mechanical being…^ Its voice drips with dry sarcasm. The robot holds one of its tiny legs at itself, its voice changing to a cheerful tone. ^But you can just call me One-^
^One…^
Izuku smiles warily of One-One, apparently the little guy has two voices: a Glad-One and a Sad-One. He wonders why that is, perhaps it was a programming error.
One-One blinks up at the brunette. ^And who are you?^
Ochaco smiles kindly. “I’m-”
^Are you a spy?^ Glad-One asks with a hint of suspicion.
“What?”
Glad-One repeats the question. ^Are you a spy?^
“Um, no.”
^Then you’ve come to bring me the sweet release of death…^
Even if it’s a bit morbid Ochaco gives a nervous chuckle in response breaking the tension. “Also no.” Ochaco looks to Thirteen hoping for some sort of explanation.
Thirteen laughs at One-One’s antics. “Sorry about him One-One can be a bit odd at times.”
Ochaco nods in understanding before picking up One-One’s small frame. “Well, nice to meet you One-One. I’m Ochaco Uraraka and this is Deku.”
She turns One-One so he can see the green-haired boy for himself.
Izuku feels a bit uncomfortable about how Ochaco introduced him. It’s one thing for her to call him Deku but it’s another thing when it comes to someone/thing else.
He never gets to voice his complaint.
^A pleasure to meet you Miss. Uraraka and Mr. Deku. I’ve heard so much about you both, I’m glad we’re finally able to meet. I hope we can be good friends!^
^Or mortal enemies…either way is fine with me…^
Izuku raises an eyebrow looking to Thirteen with a very confused and slightly concerned look. “Um…”
Thirteen shrugs. “Yeah, he has a literal split personality.”
“What do you mean by literal?”
To demonstrate One-One splits into two halves. Each half falls out of Ochaco’s grip before landing on the ground with a soft thud. Each half is a half-circle shape with the black electronic band running along the bottom, each has only one white eye, and their stubby legs also divided giving each pair 4 tiny limbs.
^Tada!^
^Uh, I feel so exposed.^
Ochaco awes as Glad-One scampers around her feet while Sad-One simply stands by. “Awe it’s twice the robot for the price of one!”
Thirteen walks towards the main monitor. “That’s not all he can do. One-One why don’t you show our guests?” They stop near a strange console at the base of the monitors, embedded into the console is a circular indent big enough for One-One to fit himself in to.
^You got it! Yay!^
^But I really don't want to.^
One-One puts himself back together before using his round boy to roll himself over to the strange console. With catlike mobility the little round bot jumps up and embeds himself into the round slot.
White light begins to surround the bot as a powerful surge of energy flows into his tiny but highly advanced system. The entire base seems to react as the lights become brighter, sounds of the generator roar through the halls, and the Surveillance room hauntedly comes to life as various monitors and screen flash on, a hologram of the planet Earth is projected into the middle of the room, and the large area of seemingly black space is flooded with hundreds of video surveillance of Japan’s resident aliens.
Ochaco awes at the screens, just look at all those aliens! “Woah!”
Without prying his eyes away from the hundreds of videos Izuku questions Thirteen. “What is this?”
“This is how we monitor any and all alien activity in Japan.”
Izuku’s eyes wonder the entire space taking in how each monitor seems to have its own task: one monitor is scrolling through a list of what appears to be wanted alien criminals of the galaxy, another looks like is meant for communication since it’s receiving messages from other Plumbers on Earth, and another monitor seems to be scanning through the Plumber base’s status and conditions.
“This is amazing!”
Ochaco points at one of the small video recordings playing. “Look it’s ML-E!” Sure enough, there on the screen is the little Kineceleran girl they met a while back; she’s holding her mother’s hand as they stroll through a park.
One clip catches Izuku’s attention. “Hey that’s Mr. Baumann’s store.”
One camera must have constant surveillance on Mr. Baumann’s store.”
Thirteen nods, enjoying their positive reactions. “Pretty cool, huh?”
They teens nod in agreement. “Oh yeah.” Although, they can’t help but feel this is sort of a breach in privacy.
Thirteen pats the console that One-One is embedded in. “This system specifically locks in on any and all DNA signatures of all alien beings that are registered into the Plumber database.” This of course includes registered criminals, but they don’t get too many of those around here.
“You’ll find that a lot of our programs and regulations involve identifying one’s DNA. In fact, to prevent anyone from just entering this base their DNA has to be recognized by the system first.”
A worrying thought pops into Ochaco’s head. “Wait! If we were able to enter than that must mean you already have our DNA in the system, right?!”
“That is correct.”
“Okay, so, how did you get our DNA?”
…
“It doesn’t matter…”
“I KINDA DOES!!!”
Thirteen clears their throat before deciding to move on. “And none of this would be possible without One-One here. Since he’s able to process all incoming surveillance at 10 times the speed.”
Ochaco sends the hero a nasty look but they don’t even take notice. ‘Don’t ignore my question.’
One-One pops out of the console, the entire base calms down as he ejects himself from the circular port. ^Awe, thank you!^
^Don’t patronize me.^
“He’s also the main reason why I can also hold up as a pro hero and a teacher. Basically One-One is a one-man crew; he even keeps maintenance over the entire base.”
Izuku smiles petting the smooth round surface of the bot’s form. “Huh, that’s handy. With him you wouldn’t need any other Plumbers.”
One-One nods his entire body as if to agree, meanwhile Thirteen waves a so-so gesture. “Sort of sure One-One is a great help, but he’s not designed or fit to aid in combat or missions other than providing information.”
^Hehe, yup I’m more of a lover than a fighter! And I even have a heart to prove it.^
^Even if that heart is actually made up of cold soulless wires and circuits…^
“My point is that now that the both of you are going to be part of the Hero Course my plan is that as you gain experience, I hope to take you all out on more missions.”
Ochaco gasps with worry and a bit of thrill, oddly enough. “Does that mean?”
“Combat…well yes and no. I’m certainly not against you assisting but we have to keep any and all combat on the downlow since illegal Quirk usage still applies. At least until your second years and you get your Provisional Licenses.” Thirteen sticks a finger near Ochaco’s face making her nervous. “That said school will come first. If your grades slip, then forget about your… extracurricular activities. Am I clear?” Thirteen sends them a warning look.
They both reply. “Crystal.”
“Good, other than that you guys now have full range of this entire base. Minus the armory and contraband of course.”
‘This is all so much.’ Izuku grips the Omnitrix, feeling it cool smooth surface under his fingers. ‘They’re giving us access to all of this…and after using up so much of their time to help me. To help train my powers. There’s absolutely no way I would be here without Thirteen’s help and guidance. And now they’re trusting me with an entire alien base! Doesn’t he deserve this? Perhaps, he does, it was his efforts that also got him this far, not just Thirteen’s.’
“Thirteen.” Izuku looks Thirteen right in the eye as he speaks. “Thank you for putting your faith in me. Without your guidance I would have never gotten as far as I have.” Keeping his back straight he bows as low as he can in gratitude and respect. “Thank you.”
Thirteen smiles with appreciation, petting Izuku’s hair ruffling it up a bit. “Believe me Midoriya the honor is all mine. You’ll be an excellent hero someday. That I’m certain of.”
Wow, Thirteen is really that great of a person. Aren’t they?
“Uraraka, I want to thank you as well.”
Ochaco is a bit surprised, mainly because she thought this was a moment between the two of them and not her.
“You were my first real friend in a long time, I can’t thank you enough for that.” Once again, Izuku is bowing in gratitude to someone else who has been just as kind to him over these long months.
A blush rises to her cheeks, this is rather embarrassing for Ochaco having someone else thank them like this. “There’s no need to thank me, if anything I should be thanking you. But that said, it’s been great getting to know you too Deku and I hope that we keep moving forward and getting better together.” She holds her fist out. “Now let’s go become heroes!”
Izuku fists bumps her hand. “Yeah, and Plumbers too!”
Despite her cheery smile, a sweat drop forms on Ochaco’s head. ‘That’s still a stupid name…’
One-One decides now is the time to remind everyone of his presence. ^Hooray we have new companions to join us in our valiant efforts to upholding the peace on Earth!^
Sad-One is quick to interrupt as he speaks with a very rapid and highly professional tone. ^By-agreeing-to-be-in-association-with-the-Plumbers-you-agree-to-release-this-intergalactic-body-of any-liability. This-may-include-mental, emotional, and physical-harm, injury, and/or death-that-may-occur-while-performing-your-line-of-duty.^
It takes a minute for the two teens’ minds to process the onslaught of flying information. When they finally comprehend the message, their anxieties take over as they beg for One-One to explain why he had to say that.
Izuku begs to know what kind of dangers there are, while Ochaco hounds the bot for work compensation for possible future injuries.
Meanwhile, Thirteen watches from the side finding it all entertaining. ‘This is going to be interesting.’
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
‘Interesting.' Yagi Toshinori continues scrolling through the school issued computer. He’s currently in U.A.’s staff room where each staff member has their own work desk and computer to use. And right now, Yagi is using his to read up on one odd green-haired boy. 'It appears young Midoriya registered his Quirk shortly after we met. But why is that? Just what could it mean? Is there a chance I pushed him too far and he ended up making a deal with that devil?! No, no, I took care of that threat a long time ago…’
“What are you looking at?”
“EEEEKKKK!!!” He nearly has a heart attack, and at his age that’s really dangerous. Yagi clutches at his heart, spinning around in his chair so he can get a good look at his almost murder. “Oh, it’s just you.”
Leaning over him, his eyes trained on the screen, is a man with long black hair and is in desperate need of a good night’s sleep. “So, this one caught your attention, too, huh?”
Yagi turns back to the screen currently their eyes are locked on a clip of Izuku’s performance at the U.A. Entrance Exam. “You could say that…”
Yagi clicks on the next video this one is a recording of the Izuku saving a brown-haired girl with a round face, and vice versa.
The tired slender man sighs as if accepting a fate that’s out of his control. “I have a feeling these two are going to be major pains.”
Dread for the future students makes Yagi stiffen up. “What exactly are you planning?”
The man straightens up before making his way for the exit. He slides open the door, probability to go find a quiet place to sleep. Not before he makes his leave he peers back at Yagi with a single red eye. “I’m planning to push them past their limits.”
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In Yokohama, Kamino there is a seedy little bar that’s hidden away in a quiet and unassuming alley. This place was meant to be long abandoned but yet there are two patrons sitting inside the rather well-kept bar.
One man is extremely slim with deathly-pale skin and tangled blue-grey hair. His attire is simple consisting of a black and unkempt long-sleeve shirt, matching pants, and a red pair of sneakers. The most disturbing part of his attire is the severed grey hand latched onto the front of his face blocking his sour scowl from view.
“I don’t like him. He thinks too high and mighty of himself; it’s disgusting.”
The other patron, the bartender, whose body appears to be made up of a dark purple mist save for his glowing yellow eyes. His attire is definitely that of a bartender with only the metal brace around his collar bone standing out of place.
“Please, calm yourself he could prove useful.”
“Pft. The only reason he’s here is thanks to his Quirk. And you know that I hate players that use cheat codes!” The slim pale-skinned man scratches at his neck so vigorously that he may just tear off his own skin. “Just where did Giran find this punk? And why the hell does he have more than one Quirk?!”
“Why indeed.” A calm yet dominating voice resonates throughout the bar silencing the other two patrons.
The two look over to a single TV sitting near the end of the bar. The TV isn’t displaying a station, rather static plays in the background, but someone is using it to communicate through.
“I’m rather curious about this one as well.” With no provocation a single image appears on screen, it’s of Henzu Uuichi. The picture is dark and hard to make out amongst the static, but one can clearly see a teen with messy long dark hair and a paddock lock hanging from his neck. “But as for his Quirk it is unclear as of now whether it is similar to my own, or if it’s a mere coincidence.”
“I still don’t like it. I'd rather just keep him as an NPC that’s better served as cannon fodder.”
“You don’t need to enjoy his company, but with his array of abilities and weak mind you can certainly use him to your advantage. He could prove useful to you in the future.”
“I doubt it. I rather see him die in a dark alley.” There’s a finality to the young man’s voice, before he grabs a nearby cup of water and drinks what’s left inside with a few sips.
The bartender decides to move the conversation on. “Master is the weapon ready?”
“It will be but our doctor’s newest…associate is seeing to some rather unique modifications.”
The blue-grey haired man finishes his drink. “Like what? What could a quack with an animal fetish have to offer.”
“His Quirk. His Quirk allows him to alter the DNA of animals, and with some…modifications to his device we have been able to expand on his capabilities. In other words, we used his skills, knowledge, and Quirk to our advantage in order to help serve our own purposes.”
The pale-skinned man peers through his hand-mask leering at the photo of Henzu. The photo is a bit clear now and this time he can make out the faint outline of a second pair of arms growing out of the punk’s sides. “Fine. If he wants to prove himself then he’ll get his chance,” He holds up the empty glass circling it around in front of him. “but if he fails.” With no warning he grips the glass within his entire hand, the glass is quick to shatter and break apart showering down onto the bar in a rain of broken glass and sand like particles. “then that will be the end of Henzu Uuichi.”
############################################
Sukima
(Takes place a few months back, after Izuku and Thirteen came up with a cover story to explain the Omnitrix and Izuku’s new “Quirk”.)
Izuku and his mother are in their living room, sitting across from each other. Izuku has just explained that his Quirk “manifested” late because it is an extremely rare case of a new mutation of his Quirk Factor. He also explained that “One Man Army” allows him to transform into…monster-like forms with the aid of the special watch.
“Okay, Mom. I’m going to show you my Quirk, but you have to promise that you won’t freak out.”
Inko gives her son a stern look. “Honey, please, give me a little more credit.” She smiles softly. “Besides I’m just so happy that you gained a Quirk! Anyway, I’m ready when you are.”
Izuku activates the Omnitrix, its faceplate shoots up, and the green-haired boy scrolls through the selection of aliens. ‘I don’t want to scare her so I should probably go for my more friendlier looking forms…maybe Ditto? Yeah, he’ll work he’s small, funny, and not at all threatening. He’s perfect.’ With a few turns Ditto’s DNA is selected. ”Alright, here goes.”
Inko has to shield her eyes from the bright eerie green light as it engulfs her child. She rubs her eyes, recovering from the flash, and finally she opens them to see what kind of Quirk her son really has.
She’s greeted by the sight of scaly fiend with a maw of jagged-razor teeth that’s roaring right in her face. “RAAAAA!!!”
“AAAAAHHHH!!!” Inko jumps backwards so fast she knocks over the couch, the only reason she stops moving is because she crashes into the wall.
She’s clutching at her little heart, as she hyperventilates at the sight of the freaky fish man.
Tears stream out of her eyes in shock and fear. ‘What happened to my baby?! Where did this thing come from?! Izuku!!’
Meanwhile, Ripjaws is gasping holding his throat as if choking. “Water, I need…water!” He didn’t expect this, although he should have, and because of that the moment he transformed his gasp to breathe came out like that of a roar.
He needs water fast! Gasping for oxygen Ripjaws steps forward toward the kitchen and that’s when he notices how cool and wet his feet feel. Curiously, he blinks down noticing water flooding the apartment floor. Not one to look a gift horse in the mouth, he plunges his head forward into the living saving water.
“Ahhhhh.” The Piscciss Volann sighs in relief as he picks his head out of the water. “Sweet relief, but where did all this water come from?”
He turns and what he discovers is shocking, disturbing, and concerning. His mother is crying so hard with shock that the tears are pouring out of her eyes like geysers flooding the entire apartment like a swimming pool.
“Mom!! Stop!! We don’t have flood insurance!!”
“WAAHH!!! MY BABY BOY HAS A QUIRK!!!”
Notes:
Well that was Ch.10 I really hoped it was still enjoyable even if it feels like it's mostly exposition, descriptions, and filler. I did add a fun little Sukima in the end to make this chapter a bit more light hearted. I would love a review; let me know what you like? Disliked? And feel me to ask me questions about anything you're curious about or need clarification on. Again, I promise that Ch.11 will be much more enjoyable, mainly because we're finally getting to U.A.
*One-One is a character from the Cartoon Network series known as "Infinity Train" check it out it's a great watch. I was actually thinking about introducing this character all the way back in Ch.1 but I wasn't sure how to fit him in properly or justify him being there. But my beta-readers (my brothers) pestered me to include this character and I gave in. Obviously.
*Just to clarify, One-One can split himself into two parts that are independent of each other and the creators of "Infinity Train" refer to each one as "Glad-One" and "Sad-One" because if their personalities.
*Ochaco's stuffed toy is supposed to be Stitch from Disney's "Lilo and Stitch".
*A Sukima is meant to be a sidestory that is canon to this fanfic but it adds nothing to the overall story and isn't meant to be taken seriously. It's just meant to be for laughs. Also, I've based the Sukima off the way they are handled in the anime series known as "Mairimashita! Iruma-kun!" check it out if you haven't, I think it's a funny anime.
*I hope to have more Sukimas and Omakes in the future: they are meant to be short, fun, and/or sweet so if you have any suggestions than please let me know what you want to see.
Chapter 11: Know Your Limits
Summary:
Izuku and Ochaco finally arrive at U.A. for their first day as part of the Hero Course. Unfortunately, they don't receive the warm welcome that they were expecting.
Notes:
Sorry for being late with this update. Would you believe that my laptop broke thankfully I save my stuff on Google Docs and a flashdrive, and I was temporarily lent a computer. My laptop won't be back for a little bit so the next chapter may take a while to get here.
Anyway enjoy Ch.11 it's a long one, 54 pages long! But it was surprisingly easy to write despite the set backs.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
‘This is it, I’m finally going to be part of U.A. and make my way to becoming a hero!’
U.A. somehow looks even more magnificent than from when they were last here. It may be that thanks to the sunny sky is clear, song birds are about, the smell of watered flowers lingers in the air, and the cherry blossoms are dancing in the wind. Or perhaps it’s just because now this magnificent school represents all of their hopes and dreams.
Izuku Midoriya with an excited happy smile on his face leans his head to the side, curious about Ochaco Uraraka’s reaction. He tries his best to ignore how nice she looks in the U.A. school uniform.
She’s not looking at him her eyes locked onto the hero academy, presumably she’s having the same reaction as him, judging by the expression on her face and the glimmer in her eyes.
From out of the corner of her eye she spots Izuku watching her. She flashes him a smile. “Let’s do this! Let’s make our first day a good one!”
Izuku nods. “Yeah!”
Together they make their way inside passing by other U.A. students whether they’re Hero Course, General, or any other.
It doesn’t take them long to find their destination, Classroom 1-A.
Ochaco gaps at the giant sliding door. “That door is massive!!” It makes sense though, this school should be accommodating to all sorts of Quirks and people. “I just hope that those mean guys aren’t part of our class.”
That comment confuses him slightly, “Mean guys?” He’s quick to realize whom she is talking about, and as a result his face drains of color. ‘Oh, she means Kacchan and the blue-haired guy with glasses.’ Shaking away his fears, Izuku grips his backpack in an attempt to calm his nerves. “Maybe we got lucky and neither of them are here.” Summoning all of his courage Izuku rips open the door not wanting to delay the inevitable.
“Remove your foot from that desk!! Such an action is insulting to those who came to U.A. before us!!”
“Like I care!! Hey, what middle school are you from?”
Izuku is in so much shock and despair he can almost feel his body dissipating into nothingness. ‘The universe must hate me…’
They’re both here. Of course they are! Why wouldn’t they be? Even with his steaming pile of crap personality there shouldn’t have been any doubt that Katsuki Bakugou made it in. Plus there’s only two freshman Hero Course classes so it was a 50/50 chance that he would be in the same one.
Same goes for the stern young man with combed blue-hair and glasses.
Currently the stern teen is berating Bakugou who is seated at his desk with his feet kicked back onto the desk.
Even if he’s a bit put-off by Bakugou’s crude reaction, the young man introduces himself anyway. “I-I’m from Somei Private Academy. My name is Tenya Iida.”
“Somei?!” Bakugou’s teeth clatter. “You probably think of yourself as high and mighty, huh? I should blow you to bits!”
‘Blow me to bits?!’ Tenya is visibly surprised. “You’re awful! Do you really wish to become a hero?!”
Before either of them could continue they both spot a terrified green-haired boy and an exasperated round-faced girl watching them from the doorway.
Realizing they’ve been spotted both Izuku and Ochaco freeze up ready to be either reprimanded by the stern engine-legged teen or cursed at by the angry Pomeranian.
With no hesitation or restraint Iida marches straight towards them his arms waving like that of a robot’s at his sides. “Hello, I’m Teny-!”
Izuku cuts him off by raising a hand. “Yeah, we heard you before. Ah…I’m Izuku Midoriya. Pleased to meet you, Iida…” Even though the teen puts him off he tries his best at a friendly smile.
She might as well introduce herself as well. “And I’m Ochaco Uraraka…”
Now that Iida has acquired both their names there’s no reason for him not to say what he has to. “Midoriya…Uraraka…you both perceived the true nature of the exam far better than I could.” He grimaces in shame, grinding his teeth. “I completely misjudged you both. I hate to admit it, but you were both far superior candidates than myself.”
Why is he acting like they’re geniuses? Ochaco looks to her counterpart for clarification. “Um, Deku, do you know what he’s talking about?”
Her counterpart shrugs in response, he’s just as confused as she is.
Iida waves his arms up and down in a frenzy. “How could you not know?! You…” He pauses to consider the facts: these two arrived at the same time, one has a nickname for the other, and they seem to carry a sense of familiarity with each other. Could they have…? “Wait!!” His outburst makes the two of them jump back in surprise. “Were you two already acquainted with each other before the exam?!”
Ochaco is the one to answer. “Uh, yeah we were…”
“Unacceptable!!” They cheated!!! “The exam was designed and organized to force the examinees to work alone and to ensure that everyone is judged on equal ground!! Yet you two managed to bypass this and work together!! Were those rescues staged?! How could U.A. allow this?!”
Okay, now that was offensive.
Ochaco leers at the taller teen, just what gives him the right to judge them like that?! “Woah! Woah! Woah! We did not cheat!!”
Izuku furiously nods his head in agreement. “Yeah, it was just dumb luck we ended up in the same arena!! And besides before the test we agreed to go at it alone!!”
“You did…?” Iida bows, his back bent at a perfect 180 degree angle. “My sincerest apologies!! I’ve overstepped and misjudged both of you a second time!! Shame on me!!”
Feeling somewhat bad for snapping at him, Ochaco tries to wave off his worries. “No, no, it’s okay. You didn’t know.”
Not wanting to be on bad terms either Izuku tries to shrug off the whole ordeal. “Yeah, it would seem fishy to anyone.”
As Iida thanks them for understanding someone else from the entrance exam let’s their presence be known. “It’s nice to see that the two of you made it in as well.”
Looking upward Izuku is greeted by the sight of the multi-limbed fellow from the entrance exam as well as the time Rojo kidnapped Ochaco. “Oh, it’s you!! You’re that handyman…!!” Realizing he said that last part out loud Izuku shields his face from view, it’s red with embarrassment. ‘Oh my God, I’m terrible!’
It’s hard to tell whether he’s smiling or not thanks to his facemask but nonetheless he doesn’t sound offended in anyway. He seems the type to let things like this slide. “My name is Mezo Shoji.”
“Right, sorry.” Okay, Izuku time to salvage the situation. “Anyway, it’s nice to officially introduce myself to you. My name is -”
“Yeah, I heard you from before.”
Was that a sarcastic callback?!
Shoji rises one of his limbs, attached to the end is a human mouth. “When I heard about the rescue points, I knew right away that the two of you would be here.”
Izuku ignores the mouth to speak with Shoji. He then introduces Ochaco to Shoji explaining to her that he couldn’t save her without his help. Iida also takes a moment to introduce himself to Shoji even though the multi-limbed teen already stated that he overheard them introduce themselves already.
Forgotten in the background, is Bakugou. He could care less about any of these extras so he doesn’t bother to even attempt to remember their names. Instead he’s too busy glaring at the target of his frustrations. “Deku.”
##########(Flashback)#########
“How wonderful that two of our students have made it into U.A.!” Izuku’s middle school teacher turns in his seat to gaze up at both Bakugou and Izuku. “Especially you, Midoriya! That’s a miracle we never expected!”
Izuku has no doubt that that is the truth.
It was a relatively brief meeting just a formal congratulations thing. Nothing too fancy or drawn out. So they are released to go home rather quickly. At least Izuku would have liked too…
“What dirty trick did you pull, you Quirkless piece of shit?!” Bakugou has Izuku by the front of his shirt so tightly that Izuku’s shirt squeezes around his neck making it rather difficult to breath. “HUH!?!” God, he’s so pissed off right now, it’s a miracle that his hands haven’t even begun to spark with mini-blasts yet.
Izuku flinches back, bracing himself for the inevitable explosion that’s going to be sent his way.
After being released Bakugou dragged Izuku to the back of the school building; away from prying eyes and far enough away where his explosions won’t be heard.
“I was supposed to be the first and only one to get into U.A. from this crumby school!” Bakugou has Izuku by his collar hoisting him up as to better push him around. “Not only that, but you somehow stole the first place spot for yourself!! Just what the hell did you do?!” He shoves Izuku against the wall; a bruise is sure to be there in the morning. “You just had to fucking screw up my grand plan didn’t ya! You worthless piece of shit!! I thought I told you to give up on becoming a hero!!”
Now that crossed a line.
Izuku grabs Bakugou’s arm. He’s heard enough from Bakugou’s foul mouth, and there’s no way in hell he’s going to let this asshole ruin anything for him.
The grab tightens around his arm, it doesn’t necessarily hurt but it’s enough to throw Bakugou off. Izuku’s never done this…he’s never fought back before.
Well that changes now. “S-someone… No, my f-friends believe in me…that I can become a hero…!” Izuku finds his footing allowing him to take a more stable stance. “A-and I know that I can be one, t-too! Th-that’s why…” His steely eyes lock on to Bakugou’s and for a brief moment Izuku is the dominant one. “I’m…I’m going to U.A. no matter what! And you can’t stop me!!”
########(End Flashback)#######
The school bell rings signaling the official start of the school day.
But it’s largely ignored by the entire class, especially the odd group of four gathered at the door.
Meanwhile, Bakugou continues to simmer in annoyance from his seat, his eyes never leaving Izuku’s form. ‘He actually stood up to me… Something smells fishy about all this. Dammit, Deku!’
Shoji lays a hand on Izuku’s shoulder gaining his attention. “By the way during the exam you said something odd.”
Izuku tenses up. “Huh, I did?”
“Yeah, you mentioned something about owing me for something I apparently did for you. Did we meet before by chance?”
‘Oh, yeah. I guess he wouldn’t have recognized me unless I was Four Arms.’ Rubbing his head sheepishly Izuku attempts to explain how Shoji gave him directions so he could find and track down Rojo. “Oh, well we did, but you see-”
“If you’re here to socialize, then get out.” A dreary tired voice cuts it way through the conversation not only gaining the group’s attention but the entire class’ at the same time.
Izuku and Ochaco turn around shakily; the underlying tone of a threat did not go unnoticed.
There’s a giant yellow slug on the floor!! How did they miss something like that?!
The slug moves and that when they notice a tired looking face sticking out from the mouth of the slug.
“This is…the Hero Course.” A hand pops out of the mouth with a juice pouch which the man inside is quick to drink up.
A hushed silence falls over the entire classroom as they all have the same exact reaction. ‘There’s someone in there!?!’ In retrospect they should have noticed that the slug was actually a sleeping bag from the beginning.
Then again when you live in a society of Quirks you never know what you’ll see.
With the juice pouch now empty the man indie the sleeping bag tucks it away before opening up the sack. “It took eight seconds for you to quiet down.” He gets up and out of his overly sized sleeping bag.
Now that he’s in full view Izuku and the others take a moment to examine this strange stranger.
This man is rather slender with pale-skin and messy, shoulder-length black hair. His black outfit is ragged. The only items worthy of noting are his utility belt and the strange long grey scarf around his neck and shoulders.
“Time is a precious resource. You lot aren’t very rational are you?”
Izuku continues to obverse this man as he steps out from his cozy cocoon. ‘All of U.A.’s staff are pro heroes. So, he’s got to be a pro hero too, right…? But…he doesn’t look familiar also…What’s his deal?!’
“I’m your homeroom teacher, Shota Aizawa.”
Most of the class reacts simultaneously. “Homeroom teacher?!”
“Quickly now.” Aizawa reaches into his sleeping bag and pulls out a standard U.A. gym uniform. “Change into your gym clothes and head out to the grounds.”
The students blink unsure about their teacher’s intentions, but what choice do they have? They might as well go along with it. Who knows it could be fun.
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Yagi Toshinori is busying himself in U.A.’s records room reading through one of his coworker’s files. ‘The system here at U.A. is like no other. Here the teachers can have free reign when it comes to how they approach their classes. But this is going too far!!’ He can’t help but feel sorry for the newest batch of students since their homeroom teacher has been known to expel his students, even entire classrooms.
Hell according to his records he’s already expelled a whopping 154 students before.
Yagi grabs at his forehead, he can feel a migraine beginning to form. ‘And of course she got him of all people as her homeroom teacher.’ He sighs in defeat, he might as well accept perhaps if worse comes to worse he could just intervene on Ochaco’s behalf. ‘Just what is that man thinking?’
“Morning All Might.”
“Ah, Thirteen, morning. How are you today?”
“I’m alright. Hm?” Thirteen spots the file of Aizawa on Yagi’s desk.
Realizing he’s been caught, Yagi shuts it and springs up and out of his seat. “Excuse me I was just leaving!” With a stiff form he marches for the exit trying and failing to be subtle.
“Are you going to spy on Class 1-A?”
“What gave me away?!” Oops, he didn’t mean to say that out loud. “Uh, y-yes. W-why do you ask?”
“Thinking rationally, you’ve never really taught a class before. Am I right?”
Yagi looks away, a part of his pride doesn’t want to admit the truth.
Thirteen picks up Yagi’s obvious discomfort, they for one understand. “Ha ha ha, it’s okay to be nervous everybody is at the beginning. But since you're so nervous about it, you want to get to know your students as soon as possible so you know how to best deal with them. And Class 1-A is going to be your first ever trial as a teacher so of course you are going to go learn as much as you can about them.”
Well that’s partly true anyway, mostly he just wants to see how well Ochaco is doing. Also, see what that Midoriya kid’s been up to. “That’s more or less correct…I am rather curious about their abilities.”
“Well, then why don’t I join you?”
“Huh?”
“Honestly, I’m rather curious about Class 1-A myself.” Thirteen turns for the exit. “And Aizawa’s tests will certainly help us have a better understanding of their capabilities.”
“Wait, what do you mean tests…?”
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All Might and Thirteen find just the right spot to watch Class 1-A while remaining out of sight. They don’t want to get any closer, believing that their presence, or at least All Might’s, might take focus away from Aizawa and his tests.
Either way it’s amusing to see a buffed up All Might hiding himself away like a school girl trying to hide from her crush. ‘GOOD LUCK YOUNG URARAKA.’
Thirteen tilts their head. ‘I wonder how they’ll do.’
Meanwhile, amongst the entrance of the P.E. Grounds.
Class 1-A cries out in surprise. “A Quirk Apprehension Test?!”
Ochaco worried tries to make her concerns heard. “What about the Entrance Ceremony?! Or Guidance Sessions?!”
Aizawa replies, without turning to even face her. “No time to waste on that stuff if you want to become heroes.”
“...?!”
“U.A. is known for its “freestyle” educational system.” He peers back at her, making her freeze up, as he leers at her. “That applies to us teachers as well.”
‘Just what is his deal?!’
“Standard physical tests. You did all these in middle school, yes?” A few of the students are just about to answer but a quick look from their teacher lets them know that the question was rhetorical. “This country still insists on prohibiting Quirks when calculating the averages of those records. It’s not rational. The Department of Education is just procrastinating.”
He’s right, Japan’s Department of Education wants students to feel like they are all on equal ground. However, with the inclusion of Quirks that is no longer the reality, and thus many children and to extent adults don’t have as much skill or experience to even use their Quirks. And sometimes that can lead those with more “problematic” Quirks down a less than ideal path in life…
“It’s important for us to know our limits. That’s the first rational step to figuring out what kind of heroes you’ll become. That’s why we are having this Quirk Apprehension Test.”
“Oh, I get it!” A girl with pink skin and curved yellow horns waves her hands in excitement. “Ha, this is awesome essentially we get to use our Quirks all we want for this test!”
A teen with odd elbows grins. “For real?! Man the Hero Course is great!”
“This is so awesome! It’s getting me pumped up!” The lone red-head of the class pounds his knuckles together in anticipation.
Their excitement is short lived however. “…Awesome you say?” Aizawa stares at his hand his eyes lost in a brief moment of grief as he recalls a sad memory from long ago. Oh how naive the youth can be. “You’re hoping to become heroes after three years here… And you think it’ll be all fun and games?” There’s underlying darkness to his voice, but it’s not so much a threat but a warning. He eyes the students making sure that he has their full attention. “Right. The one who fails to show their potential will be judged as hopeless… and will be expelled.”
“WHAAAA!?!” All Might and Thirteen cry out in outrage but they quickly cut themselves off and jump back into their hiding place before they are noticed.
Luckily most of the class are too preoccupied with Aizawa’s declaration to notice. Although those that did weren't fast enough to spot who it was that screamed out.
“Your fates are in our hands.” Aizawa grins like a cat toying with its prey, brushing up his long back-hair over his face. “Welcome. This is the Hero Course at U.A. High!!’
There’s general worry across most of the class minus those that are confident enough on their skills.
“That’s not fair!” Ochaco doesn’t stop to think before she decides to call out this blatant use of power. “It’s only the first day! I mean, even if it weren’t… That’s totally unfair!!”
“Unfair…?” Aizawa’s voice cuts through like a knife. “Natural disasters, accidents, rampaging villains…calamity is always right around the corner. I’d say that life is full of unfairness.” he sighs, he should be a little lighter thou after all he is dealing with children. “Heroes are the ones…who correct all the unfairness. If you were hoping to spend your time here slacking off, well, I’m sorry to tell you that for the next three years…” he grins madly, his smile like that of a twisted version of Totoro. “U.A. is going to run you all through the wringer.” he flexes a finger as if to gesture them forward to take on the gauntlet that is U.A. “That’s Plus Ultra.”
The class’s determined expressions are good enough of an answer; as they psych themselves up.
As for Izuku he is having the complete opposite reaction. ‘Oh, man. Alright don’t panic Izuku you’ve done plenty of training with Thirteen in these types of exercises before. It’ll be a snap as long as I don’t come in last place then I’ll be fine…but what about…?’ Izuku’s eyes drift over to gage Bakugou’s reaction.
Bakugou is grinning like a madman that’s about to commit a massacre just for fun.
Izuku has a feeling that he would be the first one targeted in such a scenario.
While Izuku tempers his worries, Ochaco is having some issues of her own.
‘This is so not how I imagined my first day would go. Being threatened with expulsion! Oh, but all I can rely on is Zero-Gravity if I even attempt to use One For All now all I’ll be doing is disabling myself. But…’ Ochaco’s hand balls up into a fist her nails digging into the palm of her hand. ‘I can’t use that as an excuse All Might is counting on me and I won’t let him down. I will master One For All one way or another!’
Aizawa’s eyes scan the group of wannabe heroes each one is different with their own unique Quirks, personalities, and abilities. But there’s only a few that truly stand out to him in this crowd. So, let’s begin with the most perplexing of the group.
“Midoriya.” Izuku flinches not expecting to be singled out already. “You scored first place during the Entrance Exam so you go first.”
A soft ball seemingly appears in Aizawa’s hand and he tosses it over to the greeneete who nearly drops it after fumbling with it in midair.
Nobody notices the irk mark appearing on Bakugou’s head at the mention of Izuku placing first in the exam.
“How far could you throw in middle school?”
“Oh, um, about 40 meters.” A few snickers are heard amongst the class much to Izuku’s chagrin.
Aizawa is clearly not amused or impressed with either the snickers or the abysmal throwing distance. “...Okay, try it with your Quirk. Do whatever you need to. Just don’t leave the circle.”
Izuku steps forward into a chalk circle of the P.E. Grounds ahead of him are parallel lines marking distances across the field.
It’s simple just throw the ball as far as he can with his Quirk…there’s just one issue with that. Bakugou. Izuku’s been trying to avoid eye contact with him all morning but he knows that the ash-blonde has been watching (glaring) at him the entire time.
As a form of comfort, Izuku grips the Omnitrix allowing its presence alone to help stabilize his nerves. Why does he have to go first? And why expulsion?! He was just really hoping he could go about this without his aliens but that’s no longer a possibility. But why would he not want to use them? Simple, it’s because what happened the last time he revealed his Quirk to a so called “friend”.
Even though it’s been nearly a year now the confrontation between himself and Henzu Uuichi still weighs on him from time to time. Hell, he hasn’t seen either head or tail of his former friend since then. But then again Henzu’s always been a survivor so something tells him that no matter where he is he’s alive and probably kicking someone’s ass.
But now he may just relive those terrible events and the inevitable fallout that will most definitely occur. Shit, he knew that he should have packed burn cream before leaving home today.
Aizawa is losing his patience. “Get a move on already, you’re wasting time.”
“R-right! Sorry!”
While Izuku tries to figure out what to do Bakugou can’t help but smirk to himself. ‘Ha, goodbye stupid Deku! You’ll fuck it up and show everyone how useless you really are!’
Sadly Bakugou may not be the only one with similar opinions.
“What’s with this guy? He’s taking a while.”
“Maybe his Quirk isn’t good for this kind of stuff.”
“He lacks style and flare.”
“He looks so innocent though. How did he come in first for the exam?”
“Maybe he cheated.”
“Perhaps he’s concentrating, kero.”
Ochaco heard that, she spins around glaring at the puny kid with purple balls on his head. Her glare is so intense and out of nowhere that the tiny student looks like he’s going to pee himself with fright.
Shoji steps between Ochaco and her quarry. “Excuse me, Uraraka.” Shoji gestures towards Izuku. “Is he okay?”
“I…I hope so.” She frowns. ‘Come on Deku, you can do it.’
At her side Iida remains silent watching Izuku with interest wondering why he hasn’t transformed into his turtle-like form yet.
Meanwhile, from across the grounds Thirteen and All Might are anxiously waiting for Izuku to go. “WHAT IS HE WAITING FOR?”
“I’m not sure.”
Izuku lifts up the Omnitrix admiring the sun shining down on its smooth metallic frame. The way it shines and the green illuminates from it is as if the watch is trying to encourage him forward. ‘I have to do this, even if Kacchan takes it horribly, I can’t hold myself back, not for him!!’
Izuku activates the Omnitrix the sound of it activating is enough to gather everyone's attention.
Aizawa’s eyes narrow.
Izuku finds the proper alien for this job. Before he pushes down on the dial he looks back straight at Ochaco who gives him a friendly smile and an encouraging nod.
That’s all he needed.
He raises his hand up high and with a mighty swing he slams down onto the Omnitrix. Blinding rays of green light envelope around him, the green neon glow causes many of his classmates to shield their eyes. But a few manage not to turn away: Ochaco whose smile could reach the stars, Bakugou whose shock is very apparent, and Aizawa who watches on with indifference.
“Lodestar!!” Lodestar lifts up his pincer like a hand to examine yet. “Hey I got the guy I wanted.”
Not wanting to delay any further Lodestar looks out to the open field in front of him, he’s ready to take it on. He’s not so much as holding the ball but rather it’s floating between his hand thanks to the magnetic pull he’s exerting on its center. Looks like he was right about the ball having a metal interior and tracker.
With the soft ball in his hand he reels his arm back behind him and swings his arm to the side forward thrusting the ball up and away. With the ball released into the air Lodestar increases the push of his magnetic pulse so that it’s strong enough to propel the ball even further into the sky.
The ball is really flying now, racing through the air like that of a falcon diving at its prey. He keeps up the magnetic push for as long as he can until eventually the ball is actually pushed out of his reach at that point he can do nothing but let gravity do its job.
It doesn't take long for the ball to eventually reach the ground.
Lodestar releases a breath that he wasn’t aware that he was holding.
Aizawa peers down at his phone. “Took you long enough, but the result speaks for itself.”
Aizawa turns his phone around allowing everyone to see the results for themselves: 705.2 meters!
The entire class erupts into cheers. “WOAH!!”
“Way to go, Deku!”
“That was so manly!”
“What was with that light?”
“That certainly had flare.”
“I wonder if he was controlling the air pressure, or perhaps gravity, no maybe he was using magnetism.”
Even Thirteen is cheering for Izuku. “YES!!!”
All Might blinks wondering why his coworker is so excited, perhaps the tension was getting to them.
Thirteen unceremoniously walks back into their hiding spot trying to not to look All Might in the eye.
Shoji and Iida have similar stunned reactions. ‘What just happened?! I thought his Quirk turns him into a turtle!!’
They are both referring to Terraspin which was the only transformation either of them witnessed during the U.A. Entrance Exam.
Aizawa tries to regain the class's attention. “Stop chatting, we have work to do!”
In that brief moment, Aizawa’s attention is drawn away from Izuku and that is a mistake.
“DEKU!!!”
That’s Lodestar’s only warning of his impending doom.
“DIE!!!” Bakugou swings his arm forward ready to blast his ex-friend into oblivion.
Lodestar freezes in place bracing himself for the inevitable, but the fiery inferno never comes.
Instead Bakugou, unintentionally, slams his palm against Lodestar’s floating head. The swing is so strong that his head literally flies off his body!
The class screams out in horror. “HOLY SHIT!!!”
Ochaco is probably one of the loudest. “Deku!!” She scrambles out of the crowd and after Lodestar’s bouncing head.
The metallic head comes to a stop, she falls to her knees, and gently picks it. “Are you okay?!”
Class 1-A balk. Why would someone do that?! He killed him!!
“Sshee, ow, careful.” Lodestar blinks, his head is spinning and he’s got a major migraine. “Anyway, yeah I think so…”
Ochaco looks like she’s going to vomit, and not because of her Zero-Gravity Quirk. “But your body!!”
Lodestar tries to turn his neck only to realize that he doesn’t currently have one. “Oh, wow okay. Just give me a minute to pull myself together.”
“Nani?”
Something cold taps her shoulder, turning around Ochaco gaps at the headless form of Lodestar’s body. ‘It’s moving on its own?!’
Lodestar’s body reaches down and grabs his head out of Ochaco’s arms before placing it between his horned shoulders he turns his head like a screw as if to secure it. “Aw, there we go that’s much better. Man, the first day and I’m already losing my head.”
Class 1-A, including Ochaco, are staring in shock and awe of what they just witnessed. ‘How is that possible?!’
Noticing their apparent disbelief, Lodestar shrugs trying to come off as humble. “What can I say? I’m much more durable than I look.”
That’s not a good enough answer for the brunette. “But how’d you do that?!”
Lodestar leans in and whispers. “Thirteen told me that Biosovortian can repair damage to their bodies by pulling in their parts back together but only as long as their heads remain intact.” Good thing he wrote it down in his notebook, “Hero Transformations #1”.
“Oh.” Ochaco plants her fist into her hand to confirm that she understands.
Thirteen in the meantime is sighing in relief and very happy that they happened to share that tidbit with Izuku.
Meanwhile, Bakugou is at a complete loss of words. ‘What the hell?! How?! How?! How is this possible?! There’s no way!! How could shitty Deku have a Quirk?! I knew he was hiding something from me!!’ Bakugou’s glare hardens. “Hey, De-”
A long thin cloth wraps itself around Bakugou’s head and upper body before tightening up and restraining him. “What the hell?!” He struggles to break free of the bindings he flexes his palms but there’s no explosion. “What is this?!”
“It’s a capture weapon made of carbon fibers and special alloy wire.” Aizawa’s eyes glow red as his hair rises waving around as if he was underwater. His long grey scarf, the capture weapon, is also floating around him along with his hair. “Also, stop trying to use your Quirk already. I’m getting a serious dry eye over here.”
“Too bad that Quirk is seriously amazing!!” Proclaim Class 1-A.
Lodestar really wants to nerd out right now, their homeroom teacher is the pro hero Eraserhead!! His Quirk, Erasure, allows him to cancel out any and all Quirks when he looks at someone. He’s only ever heard of this hero through online fandoms so it’s great to see him in person.
Aizawa tightens his hold on the mad bomber. “What made you think that was a good idea?”
“Huh?! What the hell are you talking about?!”
The pro hero gives the bastard a critical look.
Bakugou, knowing not to push his luck, stops struggling decided that for now he needs to play by the rules.
“If you want to be a hero then you need to do some serious thinking about your actions…and your attitude.”
Bakugou looks like he wants to snap back at their homeroom teacher, but he bites his tongue considering the pro hero’s words. This is way too confusing for him, no teacher has ever bothered to stand up to him, especially when it concerns Deku. But this guy did, and he has a jackoff of a Quirk that cancels his!!
“I don’t know what beef you have with him, but here you put that aside or else.” Aizawa cuts off his Quirk, his hair dropping back down, and the scarf slacks around his shoulders. “Now with your tantrum over with.” Aizawa looks over to Izuku inspecting him for any injuries. “Midoriya, how are you holding up?”
Ochaco and Lodestar rejoin the main group.
Ochaco makes sure to walk between Lodestar and Bakugou ready to intervene in case he tries anything again.
Lodestar rubs his metallic head. “Um, I’m fine sir. N-no harm done.”
“Hmm, alright.” And with that, the scarf completely unravels itself from Bakugou releasing the feral dog from his leash.
Thankfully said feral dog has enough sense not to do anything that may ruin his record.
Aizawa’s going to have to keep an eye on that one too. He has talent that’s for sure, hopefully he’ll grow out of his ego. “You’ve wasted enough of our time.” He turns to the rest of the class. “If anyone else decides to do something stupid they’ll be the first ones to be expelled from the Hero Course.” His eyes flash red enhancing his warning. “Am I understood?”
“Yes, sir!!”
“Good now let’s move on.”
Ochaco grabs Lodestar’s arm. “Are you sure you can continue?”
“I’m fine.” He pushes her hand away and tries to give her a smile.
It’s small but it’s enough to satisfy her.
Lodestar looks over towards Bakugou who is still standing there in the same spot. ‘Kacchan…’
For now he’s not going to dwell on it, Bakugou isn’t what’s important right now, the Quirk Apprehension Test is and he’s got to focus on it here and now.
And so the Quirk Apprehension Test truly begins.
Aizawa leads the students away to start a different exercise instead. Like he said they can’t afford to waste time here.
First up is a 50-Meter Dash across a track with a camera bot stationed near the finish line.
Izuku eventually reverts back to normal, thankfully there doesn’t appear to be any lasting damage from Bakugou’s attack minus a few spots of soot on his clothes and in his hair.
Luckily for him by the time Aizawa gets through his explanation and the students get themselves organized the Omnitrix is back to being fully charged.
They’ll each go individually, so Izuku places himself in the middle of the line.
Tenya Iida’s up first and with his Engine Quirk perfectly tailored for this test he walks away with 3.04 seconds.
After him a girl by the name of Tsuyu Asui, a girl with features similar to that of a frog, literally hops across the finish line with a score of 5.58 seconds. Izuku can’t help but feel like he’s seen her before from somewhere, but he can’t seem to recall where or when.
A few others go such as that pompous blonde that Izuku saved at the entrance exam. He uses his Naval Laser to rocket himself across the track although he constantly had to stop and refire the laser in order to continue.
The girl with pink skin and matching fluffy hair is next, sliding across the track with acid spilling out from the bottom of her feet.
Next up is the one and only Ochaco Uraraka. ‘Okay, if I concentrate maybe I can call upon One For All…’ Her face falls with disappointment. ‘But then again if I overdue it then there’s no way I’m going to be able to even attempt the next exercises. I guess I’ll just have to rely on my physical training rather than One For All.’ But that doesn’t mean she can’t rely on her other Quirk. “I’ll just make my clothes weightless that ought help me out a little.”
Unbeknownst to her, Aizawa eyes narrow in response as if he can tell what Ochaco is thinking.
The camera bot declares her score. “6.14 seconds!”
Ochaco grins clapping her hands together. ‘Not bad all things considered.’
Next is Bakugou, the way he carries himself suggests that something is weighing on his mind; whether it’s about his near act of murder or Izuku magically possessing a Quirk is unclear.
Bakugou looks back at the line behind him, his red eyes locking in on Izuku. The green-haired boy looks away in fright but his eyes drift back towards the ash-blonde. Their eyes lock making Izuku still up before he offers a shaky smile as to be friendly.
It fails, epically, Bakugou’s pupils shrink back like that of a predator and his usual scowl returns. ‘I’ll show you what a real Quirk can do, Deku!!’
With his arms outstretched at his sides Bakugou releases a series of explosions, they’re not powerful, but they’re strong enough to launch him forward. “Die!!” Like a runaway rocket on a runway Bakugou flies across the track, when he passes the finish line his feet skid across the ground as he comes to a complete stop.
“4.13 seconds!”
“Ha, my Quirk is the most versatile one here!!”
A couple of his classmates have the same opinion. ‘What a prick…’
Eventually, after a few more students go, it’s Izuku’s turn. ‘All right Omnitrix don’t screw this up for me.’
The students that were unfortunate to stand behind Izuku are once again blinded by a green eerie light.
“XLR8!!” XLR8 flicks his tail to test if it’s true, it is. “Ha, yes I’m two for two!!”
He’s so thrilled about the Omnitrix turning him into the correct alien that he misses his classmates’ astonished expressions.
After getting into a running stance XLR8 zips across the 50-meter track leaving behind a trail of wind, dust, and looks of bewilderment.
“1.03 seconds!”
XLR8 zips by the camera bot leaning against it with his arms crossed. “Ah man, I thought I’d be faster.”
The class bursts out into an uproar. “FASTER!?!”
Even Iida’s pride as a speedster is a bit wounded.
“What the hell?!”
“What’s with this guy?!”
“Just how many Quirks does he have?!”
Aizawa’s doesn’t take his eyes off the blue raptor, examining his features, and all with a face of disinterest.
Ochaco approaches the transformed Izuku. “Why do you do that?”
“Do what?”
“Call out the name of your…transformation?” She looks around making sure nobody's listening in.
XLR8 all of a sudden becomes bashful. “Oh, I ah well, I thought it would be cool. You know to call out the names of my…transformations. You know?”
Ochaco shakes her head, it’s not of shame because of the entertained smile on her face. “You’re such a dork.”
The very confused crowd watch on before they decide to move on with their own runs, among them a girl with frog-like features holds a finger to her chin in curiosity.
Bakugou is just as if not more confused. ‘What. The. Hell?!’ How? How could Deku’s Quirk be so…so, versatile?! And why does this shitty blue lizard look so familiar?
Luckily, for XLR8, there’s no time for Bakugou to search, or threaten, for answers since they must move on with the exercises.
Next up is the Grip Strength, Aizawa leads them indoors for this one, handing out hand dynamometers.
Ochaco glares at her like it’s personally challenging her to an extremely difficult task. ‘Okay Ochaco you have to do it. Now’s the time. You have to use One For All.’ Or at least a fraction of it, if she can’t use it for such a simple task then there may not be any hope for her to control it.
She squeezes the dynamometer with as much strength as she can muster, trying to call upon her new power, the dynamometer sends out a beep when she reaches her max grip strength.
She’s very disappointed to see that it’s only 54 kg, not exactly the world record breaker she wanted.
“Wow!!”
Ochaco’s attention snaps over towards Shoji. It appears he’s gained a tiny audience. The guy with strange circular elbows grins up at the multi-limbed teen. “540 kg?! Are you a gorilla or an octopus?!”
A height challenged boy stares up at Shoji, his face suggestion he’s thinking of something that’s very very wrong.
‘I wonder how Deku’s doing?’ Ochaco’s eyes wonder the group before landing on a red mass of muscle.
“Hi, Uraraka!” Four Arms waves over to her, in two of his hands are dynamometers. “Look I got 650 kg!”
Shoji and his admirers over hear him.
The one with odd elbows deadpans. “Upstage much, dude?”
Four Arms offers an apologetic smile in return. He winces back when he notices Ochaco’s face.
She’s steaming mad, growling with irritation a part of just wants to scream out in frustration.
Shoji however looks like he’s just seen a ghost. “Oh, now I get it”
The boy with odd elbows raises an eyebrow. “Get what?”
“We did meet before.”
Four Arms trots over, finally he can properly explain himself. “We did you gave me directions that one time.”
“Indeed I did, I had no idea the same scrawny guy I saved at the exam was you though.”
Four Arms grins rubbing the back of his head. “Yeah, I know but tha-Hey! Who you calling scrawny?!”
The next event is the Standing Long Jump. Those with Quirks that can aid their mobility have a much easier time making it across such as Bakugou who once again uses his explosions to rocket himself across.
Eventually Izuku’s up and this time as Terraspin.
Both Iida and Shoji both watch on in interest, glad to have some sense of knowing what this form is capable of.
Iida cups his chin. “Oh, so he does turn into a turtle.”
Shoji nods in agreement. “I suppose so.”
“His Quirk is odd isn’t it?”
A sweat drop forms on Shoji’s head; wondering if he of all people should even agree with Iida’s statement.
Once again with the right alien at his beck and call this task proves to be a sitch for Izuku all he does is fly right over the sand pit and to the other side. He even raises his arms up in self-celebration, both Aizawa and Bakugou are a bit irked by his display of vanity.
Ochaco is next, she considers using One For All again but her Zero-Gravity will probably prove just as useful if not better. She backs up and then press the tips of her fingers against her clothes, she then rolls back her sleeves and crosses her arms making sure to plant her fingers onto her skin activating her Quirk. With a running start she floats right over the sandpit albeit as she nears the end she’s moving so slowly that she has to do butterflies in midair in order to make it any further.
The fourth event is the Side-Stepping both Izuku and Ochaco go about this without aid of their superhuman powers, not fully sure how they could apply them in this situation.
Although the same cannot be said for some of their classmates who did manage to find ways incorporate their Quirks into the exercise such as the purple kid making clumps of his purple hair to act as springs while he bounces off of them at rapid speed.
Once everyone completed the Side-Stepping Aizawa takes every one back for the Ball Throw.
Aizawa let’s Izuku sit this one out since he’s already got the teen’s score from earlier.
Bakugou decides that he’ll go first, snatching the ball from his teacher’s hand. He eyes Izuku as he stomps his way towards the circle, making the shorter teen quiver. ‘I’ll show you what a real Quirk can do!’
He reels back his arm along with all the anger he has over Izuku’s sudden Quirk, for sure he’s going to address that issue later, and with a mighty roar he chucks the ball into the air firing off an explosion that equal in strength to the one he attacked Lodestar with. “DIE!!!”
Somehow his roar of murder is louder than the actual explosion.
The soft ball flies through the air like a runaway meteor until it reaches the other side of the P.E. Grounds.
“706.4 meters!”
“HA!!! I win Deku!!”
“Wha?!”
He sure did…by 1.1 meters, it’s small but it’s enough for Bakugou to feel like he’s reasserted his dominance. God, is he going to let Deku have it later, but not while Eraserhead is around though. For now he’ll savor this victory, no matter how shallow it is.
Ochaco observes the stupid grin on the ash-blonde’s face, she hates to admit how much she would love to plant her fist against that face, especially after what he did to Deku. But an idea pops into her head, a brilliant idea, one that makes her smirk with evil delight.
With a soft ball in hand she purposely marches in front of Bakugou as he steps away from the circle. Their eyes meet and for a second the blonde is thrown off by the spiteful glint in her eyes.
‘What’s her deal?’
Ochaco looks between the ball and back at Bakugou to ensure that he’s watching; he is but mainly because he doesn’t understand why she’s looking at him the way she is.
The round-faced girl never stops smirking as she grips the ball, letting Zero-Gravity to take hold of it, before she tosses straight towards the sky.
The ball soars higher…and higher…and higher. Holy shit, it’s not stopping!
“Whoops!” Ochaco smirks back at the pile of shit that is Bakugou, sarcasm dripping from her voice. “Looks like I threw it too hard.”
‘What is she…?’ Bakugou’s eyes widen in pure horror, his eyes locked in on Ochaco’s score.
Several members of Class 1-A cry out in shock. “Infinity?!”
Sure enough the infinity symbol is on full display upon Aizawa’s phone as he holds it out for them all to witness.
Bakugou’s reaction though is what’s important to the gravity girl. ‘She…she completely…blew my score out of the water!! And she…WASN’T EVEN TRYING!?!’
Ochaco’s smirk becomes even more self-indulgent, his face is priceless, oh if only she had a camera! ‘Take that Bakugou you’re Quirk isn’t the end all be all!’
‘What. The. Hell?!’ Bakugou stares daggers at Ochaco’s retreating form, she doesn’t even look back at him to acknowledge him. ‘I will not be shown up! Not by Deku and not by some round-faced bitch!!’
During the next event Bakugou is sure he keeps the lead especially against Izuku and Ochaco. Although the event was an Endurance Run so it was somewhat complete overkill to throw thruster explosions into the mix to move faster, but Bakugou will be Bakugou.
Despite that both Ochaco and Izuku do well thankfully all of their physical training doesn’t allow them to wear out by the time it’s done.
The final two events are just as easy for them with them being the Seated-Toe Touch and Sit-Ups, but with no real foreseeable reason to use their “Quirks” they both decide to rely on their physical capabilities alone.
Unbeknownst to them, Aizawa leers at them the entire time they perform the exercises as if irritated about their lack of something in particular. Perhaps he’s irritated by their sense of safety thinking they’re safe from being terminated from the Hero Course. Nothing irks him more than those that don’t take things seriously.
And with that, the Quirk Apprehension Test is complete.
“Here are the results.” Aizawa’s electronic device lights up and a holographic projector forms in midair displaying the class’ rankings.
All the students scan the board for their names, Izuku and Ochaco find theirs having earned 6th and 7th place respectively. They both sigh in sweet relief knowing that they’re safe from being expelled from the Hero Course.
Although it’s too bad for the last placed kid, now identified as Minoru Mineta, the poor guy looks like he’s going to collapse from the shock.
Minoru is a very small young man with a large, round head, and rather large cheeks. His nose is small and stubby, and it sticks slightly upwards, and he has an unusually distinguishable philtrum, oval-shaped eyes with large, black pupils, and notably thin eyebrows. He has four large purple and black balls in something resembling a mohawk where his hair should be.
Even though it’s a tragic scenario both Izuku and Ochaco are just happy that they get to survive their first day of U.A. ‘Too bad for him, at least it’s not us.’
Aizawa notices the duo’s very relaxed and reassured expression. “Midoriya, Uraraka…” The named teens looks to their teacher in confusion. “You two are out, go home.”
And just like that their reality shatters around them, goodbye hopes and dreams. Even All Might’s face pales in shock, his usual immortal grin is now that of a gaping fish; Thirteen however just looks rather annoyed by all of this.
There are out cries amongst the class.
An invisible girl, like she’s actually invisible, gasps. “What?! Why?!”
A raven-haired girl with a rather mature physique for her age is visibly depressed. “I was wrong…?” She must have assumed that the expulsion was a ruse.
A muscular teen with large lips is completely astonished. “Oh, harsh.”
Standing next to him is Bakugou, who’s wearing a stupid satisfied grin on his face. ‘Ha, take that Deku! I knew U.A. would eventually wise up and realize you weren’t worthy of being here!’
A spiky red-haired teen with sharp teeth pushes his way forward through the crowd. “Hang on! That’s not right, man.”
“Yeah,” The teen with a wide grin and black-hair nods. “I thought that the person that gets last place was the one getting expelled?”
“I never said that,” Aizawa eyes the students, apparently they need to work on their listening skills. “I said that “the one who fails to show their potential will be judged as hopeless and will be expelled”. You were the ones that assumed I meant the one who came in last place.”
Mineta releases a large sigh, looks like he’s in the clear.
Iida, however, will not stand for this outrage. “You deceived us?! How could a professional as part of U.A. do such a thing?!” His right arm waves up and down as if to hammer in every word that comes out of his mouth.
Aizawa shrugs uncaringly. “I wouldn’t get so worked up about it.” Aizawa sighs, he might as well come forward. “Besides, I only said I would expel someone just to ensure that you all would do your best.”
The class blinks. Wait…? Is he saying what they think he’s saying?
“Yup,” Aizawa’s Totoro-like smile pops out from behind his scarf. “it was a rational deception!” He only went through with the lie to see Ochaco’s and Izuku’s faces.
Hey, bringing misery to teenagers is one of the main perks of becoming a teacher, and there’s no way Aizawa is going to miss out on the fun.
The mature physiqued girl holds hand to her chest as she sighs in relief. “Thank goodness, I was right…”
From their hiding spot, Thirteen eyes at Aizawa with an exasperated look. ‘I knew it.’
But what’s important are the non-expelled students’ reactions. ‘A deception? So, that means…’ tears of joy leak from their eyes as they both simultaneously cheer in pure joy at the sky. “We’re not expelled!!”
Their homeroom teacher’s voice cuts right through their moment. “I wouldn’t be so sure.” he turns to the rest of the class. “Understand this, at any point if we find any of you unfit to become heroes any teacher here has the right to expel any of you.” He eyes Bakugou specifically, the teen at least has the sense to look somewhat perturbed. “Am I understood?”
“Yes, sir!”
Satisfied with his class’ answer Aizawa figures that he’s tormented them enough for today. “All of you are dismissed, with the exception of you two.” He’s of course referring to our main duo.
Class 1-A begins to leave for the locker rooms, few of them look back in worry for their classmates’ situation wondering what their teacher has to say to them.
All Might and Thirteen continue to watch on from afar.
“WHAT IS HE UP TO?”
“I’m…not completely sure.”
For now all they can do is watch.
Izuku fidgets in place, he really doesn’t like this, just what is their teacher planning?
Ochaco is equally if not more worried if her fidgeting hands are any indication.
Aizawa taps away at his phone, probably to prepare for whatever he has planned. “Midoriya.”
“Y-yes!” Why does his reply sound like a yap of a scared little dog?
If she wasn’t so nervous, Ochaco would have giggled at Izuku’s yelp.
“How…many of those transformations do you have?”
“Uh, nine…?” Come on Izuku be more confident with your answers.
“And each one has its own…abilities?”
Izuku hesitantly nods his head.
“Alright,” From the space between his scarf he tosses Izuku a soft ball much like the one from before. “I want you to do all the tests again.”
Izuku tilts his head to the side. What purpose would that serve?
“I want you to do all the tests again but this time each one of your transformations, including how you are now, have to complete each and every task.”
“H-how come, sir?”
Aizawa is really exasperated now. “The point of the Quirk Apprehension Test was to help not only you all to gauge your capabilities but for me as well. As your teacher I need as much info that I can get about my students in order to best prepare all of you for the future.”
Oh, that makes sense. So he needs as much info not just on Izuku but on his forms as well since they are technically him as well.
Ochaco takes a cautious step forward, her hand is up warily like one would do to ask an embarrassing question. “Um, do I have to do the tests again too?”
Aizawa tucks his hands into his pockets. “Not sure, it depends.”
“Depends?”
Rather than answer her, the black-haired man turns his attention back to the freckled-faced boy. “What are you waiting for?”
Izuku blinks.
“I gave you your instructions.” He waves the back of his hand as to get the kid moving. “And make sure to be quick about it. I couldn’t help but notice the apparent time limit you have, we’ll have to work on that.”
“Um?” Izuku looks down at the soft ball before scanning the P.E. Grounds; the camera bots are still positioned at the various exercise stations, there’s even an extra camera bot but this one is holding equipment to help with the Grip Strength, Seated-Toe Touch, and Sit-Ups.
Izuku curiously looks back towards his teacher and the sight makes him blanches.
Eraserhead’s hair rises up as his eyes flash red. “Stop wasting my time.” His voice drips with irritation.
Out of pure reflex Izuku salutes in response. “R-right, right away sir!!” And without looking he activates and slams down on the Omnitrix.
Aizawa and Ochaco have to cover their eyes, when they are able to look again, a very nervous Feedback is already running over towards the pitching circle.
As Feedback begins the tests using his electricity to fire the ball into the air, Ochaco is left to suffer in the festering awkward silence between her and her teacher as the watch Feedback race over to the 50-meter dash tacks.
“Um, Mr. Aizawa, you never fully answered my question from before…”
Aizawa looks on in disinterest acting like he never heard her.
And so they’re back to watching Feedback run around the P.E. Grounds from the Standing Long Jump to the Endurance Run. The stewing silence is really getting to the round-faced girl now, just how much longer are they just going to stand her?!
“Uraraka.”
Ochaco nearly jumps in surprise, she had gotten so used to the silence that she wasn’t expecting Aizawa to say something. “Y-yes?”
“Would you care to explain your secondary Quirk to me?”
…
Que total and utter panic. Ochaco leaps back as if to get away waving her arms about in a frenzy as a look of horror adorns her face. Could he have found out about All Might’s Quirk? “Wha?! What-secondary-Quirk? What-is-that-anyway? Never-heard-of-one! Where-do-you-get-one?! I’m-not-acting-weird! You’re acting weird”
Way to be subtle, Uraraka, he’ll never suspect a thing.
Aizawa doesn’t look at all disturbed by her reaction, in fact he may have been expecting it. “I already know about your Zero-Gravity Quirk thanks to your file. But I’m talking about that Quirk you used during the entrance exam.”
“The entrance exam?” Oh, right he means how she punched the 0-pointer’s face in.
How is she going to explain this? All Might and her never even thought about a cover story…that probably should have been something to prioritize, even Deku has an alibi to explain the Omnitrix.
‘What should I do? Do I tell him the truth? No…or maybe…?’ Maybe she should just play along with Aizawa’s assumption. “To be honest, I didn’t become aware of it until the entrance exam.” That is pretty much the truth. “And I’m not fully sure what it is or what it’s capable of and because of that I didn’t see how updating my Quirk Registry would be any help.”
In the background Feedback flops onto the ground having completed the Endurance Run and now he’s onto the Seated-Toe Touch.
Aizawa scratches at his cheek his mind replaying what he witnessed during the exam. “From what I understand you’re Zero-Gravity is pretty straight forward: press all five fingers onto something and it becomes weightless, pressing your fingers together releases this effect, and if you use it too much you could get nauseous. Am I correct?” His eyes drift to her right arm, the arm that she used to demolish the behemoth of a robot. “But that power you used, even unintentionally, was not something you could feasible do with Zero-Gravity and so my conclusion is…your Quirk evolved.”
‘Evolved…?’ This may be an out for her, but she has some questions. “What do you mean?”
“It’s rare, but it does occur, where people experience a dramatic change or facet of their Quirks, usually in extremely stressful situations. Sort of like a last minute safeguard.”
“How could that be though?”
He shrugs. “Not sure, honestly, there’s so much we as a society don’t understand about Quirks. Hell, we can’t even say how or why we were given these abilities, yet we have them.” Aizawa’s eyes drift upward towards the clear blue sky as if it holds the answers, before his gaze falls back towards the P.E. Grounds. “Honestly, I thought Midoriya had multiple Quirks as well, but from what I’ve seen he only has one OP Quirk…although with a major weakness.”
Ochaco isn’t quite sure what he means until she takes a look for herself. He has a time limit. It looks like the Omnitrix has timed out and Izuku, as a human, is going through the tests again so Aizawa can compare his basic stats.
“There are all kinds of Quirks out in the world, it’s not at all surprising.”
‘Huh, what do you know? I guess he doesn’t know about All Might’s Quirk, but…what is he getting at?’ Ochaco inhales before speaking. “But sir, what does this have to do with my quote-on-quote expulsion?”
“Just like with Midoriya we need to understand the limits and capabilities of your latent Quirk. So, I need you to run the tests again but only use the…superpowered version of your Quirk.”
That may be an issue.
“But sir,” Ochaco gazes at her open hand. “I can’t fully control it yet,” Her frown deepens. “heck, I don’t even know how to properly summon it.”
And if she can’t even summon One For All how could she even consider herself All Might’s successor?
Aizawa scratches his head, an annoyed expression adorns his face. “Ugh, well I guess that explains why you never used it in the first place.” He exhales. “Alright, I guess we have a starting point now.” He cups his mouth thinking on how to move on from here.
Eventually something comes to mind. “Meditate.”
“W-what?”
“You are going to meditate. I want you to sit and think on your Quirk.” Aizawa turns pointing a finger at her head. “You need to reflect on how and why your Quirk activated. What were you feeling? What was going on in your mind when it appeared? And what do you know about it? Contemplate on all of these things.” He moves his finger downward until it’s pointing at her heart. “When you do then and only then will you truly know how to summon your new found power.” He begins to step away so he can check up on Izuku’s progress (he’s currently performing the Standing Long Jump). “You have until Midoriya fully completes the tests that should give you plenty of time.” With that final piece of instructions her homeroom teacher takes his leave.
Ochaco grips her wrist, her mind repeating Aizawa’s instructions. ‘Reflect on how I felt, huh…?’ But what was she feeling, thinking, during that moment? ‘It was just so fast she can’t recall any of those things. Was she scared? Yes. Happy? No. Angry? Maybe. Sad? No.
But what was going through her mind? What was it…?
Ochaco grabs her head in frustration. “Hmmm, this may take longer than I thought!”
And so for the next hour or so this is how things played out: Ochaco eventually took a seat under a nearby tree to ponder about how to properly summon One For All. When she thinks she has a breakthrough she would focus as hard as she can, her hands balled up into tight fists, trying to get One For All to show some kind of response. All attempts end in failure, and her becoming more and more frustrated. It gets so bad at one point that she actually screams out in madden fury as she rolls around the dirt like a child throwing a tantrum.
Meanwhile, Izuku wears himself ragged as he goes through transformation after transformation the only rest is when the Omnitrix has to recharge allowing him to relief himself and get some much needed water.
Four Arms really proved himself during the physical tests, for obvious reasons, though he did skip the Grip Strength mainly because he already did it earlier.
Water Hazard also does fairly well especially on the ball throw and the long jump. For the last one Izuku took a page out of Bakugou’s playbook by rocketing himself up and over the sand pit by blasting water behind him. The Sit-Ups and Seated Touches, however, were embarrassing to say the least; as it turns out Water Hazard isn’t exactly flexible.
Ditto, though, does really well at the Sit-Ups considering his diminutive size, heck a clone was actually holding his feet down for him for this one. The clones also proved useful during the Standing-Long Jump and Endurance Run: Izuku tried to do a human (Splixson) ladder to reach across to the other side, but they ended up tipping over and only made it a quarter of the way and as for the Endurance Run Ditto would create a clone to tag in and continue after a few laps… Stubby short legs are really not meant for this kind of stuff.
Terraspin does a fairly average job all things considered, although, he messed up on the ball throw. The whirlwind he made ended up throwing the ball off course and so it didn’t reach as far as he thought it would.
XLR8 also proved himself during most of the exercises minus the Grip Strength, his species isn’t really built towards strength, just look at his thin arms.
Izuku struggles the most as Grey Matter and Ripjaws: one because of his tiny size and the other because they had to stop and hose him down with water in order for him to even breathe. Aizawa really didn’t find it at all amusing to see a fishman flop around on the ground gasping for breath.
While Izuku rests after nearly suffocating, Ochaco continues to try and fail to summon All Might’s Quirk. “I can’t do it!” Ochaco flops onto her back trying to find solace amongst the clouds.
She keeps trying to call upon the fear she felt and worry she felt when she took down the 0-pointer but still nothing.
Deciding to take a quick break, for the hundredth time, Ochaco sits up cross legged as Lodestar sprints the 50-Meter Dash, well, more like he pulls himself forward by magnetizing the metal chain fence at the other end of the P.E. Grounds.
‘How does he do it?’ Her face scrunches up in irritation. ‘He’s Quirkless and yet he never seems to struggle with activating his powers. I have two and I can’t even turn one on!’
She’s missing something, but what is it? Maybe…maybe she’s focusing on the wrong thing.
She inhales and then exhales. ‘Okay Ochaco let’s think back one last time. What was going on: there was a loud crash, then the ground shook, people were screaming, and she was scared… No.’ She shakes her head, her hair whipping around her face. ‘That’s not everything I…I saw Deku he was trapped and he…was going to die! And I was terrified! No!! Stop it Ochaco fear and adrenaline wasn’t the answer…but what is?’ Deku was trapped and going to die. He was in trouble. He was scared. He…needed saving.
“That’s it!!” Ochaco springs to her feet as eureka strikes. “I have been focusing on the wrong thing!” She raises her fists readying another attempt. ‘I need to focus on that, the need I felt to do something, to take action, to save the day!’ She didn’t force One For All out it surged through her, she unknowingly willed it forward, that’s what she must do not force it but releases it!
She takes a fighting stance her fist reeling behind her, a look of focus and determination adorns her features.
All Might continues to observe it’s all he really can do other than ponder on and on about what’s she’s going to do.
There it is the flow, the rushing wave of immense power coursed her arm in the form of a pink illuminating aura. “Now!” She launches her fist upward and in spectacular fashion a whirlwind blasts forward into the air like a beam of light.
The blast of wind kicks up the earth around her launching dust and grass at her teacher and Lodestar both were caught off guard by the sudden display of power.
Ochaco stares in wonder of her great feat, her eyes drift down to her arm that’s encased in a heavenly glow. “I…I… I did it!!” She cries out in pure blissful joy. She’s really done it! “Ow, but it hurts.” The pink aura evaporates as she gently grabs her arm, it’s red, bruised, and swelling. ‘Hgn, I really need to dial it back.’
“Well, done.” Aizawa approaches, although she does notice that his voice remains as indifferent as ever. “Although it took you longer than expected.” Yeah, nearly two hours. “Did you figure it out?”
“I-I think so, although it seems I need to work on the output though.” She raises her arm, wincing in pain, so he could take a look for himself.
“It appears so.” Aizawa pulls out a little piece of paper and a pen, before jotting something down. “Here go see Recovery Girl and get that fixed up.”
She takes the note, reading it over; it’s an injury notice for the school’s nurse. “Right.”
An exhausted Lodestar joins the two, he slouches over as he regains his breath. “Nice…job…Uraraka.”
In a flash of red light Izuku takes Lodestar’s place.
“Thanks, Deku. But are you okay?”
Izuku nods his head, his hair sticking to his sweaty forehead. Man, he’s really sweating like a pig understandable considering he had to perform the Quirk Apprehension Test multiple times!
Aizawa doesn’t even offer the boy a sympathetic look as if he’s expected to work himself to the bone. Well, when you consider the school’s modo then that just may be the case. “We really need to see if we can change that time limit of yours.” He pulls out his phone before a large holographic display projects itself above them.
Names: Ranks:
Four Arms 1st
Feedback 2nd
Water Hazard 3rd
XLR8 4th
Terraspin 5th
Lodestar 6th
Izuku Midoriya 7th
Ditto 8th
Ripjaws 9th
Grey Matter 10th
Izuku smiles, proud of the results.
“Don’t look so smug. But good job nonetheless, now I have a good base to work with. However, I hope you know what this means.”
Izuku leans his head to the side. “What sir?”
Ochaco wonders the same thing, she might as well listen up as well.
Their teacher releases an exasperated breath. “Even with your Quirk, especially because of your Quirk, you have to work even more than anyone else here.”
“What do you mean?”
Even Ochaco looks a bit taken back, their teacher is really confusing!
“Since your Quirk allows you access to multiple Quirks that means you have to train yourself to use each and every one of them to their full potential.”
‘He’s right,’ The alien transforming human peers back up at the scoreboard looking over all of his scores. ‘Just because I have access to all these aliens doesn’t mean I can slack off. If anything right now I have to work 10 times harder not only for my aliens but for myself as well…’ He views his own results, as in his normal weak human form results; 7th place not that impressive when you think about it, heck it should be 8th considering Ripjaws did so poorly because they had to stop and get him water the entire time. ‘Compared to my aliens I’m actually pretty weak and fragile in comparison even with Thirteen’s physical training.’ And there will definitely be times where he can’t rely on the Omnitrix. What if it were to malfunction or run out of power while he was confronting a villain or performing a rescue?! He needs to make sure that he’s efficient with all of his transformations, he needs to be adaptable, and he can’t ignore his own capabilities. “I’ll work hard, sir!”
His teacher approves, although he gives no indication of showing it.
Ochaco, still cradling her injury, considers her own progress or lack thereof. She too has a lot of hard work ahead of her, starting with her power output.
“Well any way I say that’s enough for the day. Midoriya do you mind seeing Uraraka to the infirmary I rather she not get injured any further.”
“You got it.”
After a farewell nod of their heads Izuku leads the way to the infirmary, besides hopefully this little side quest will give him some time to relax.
Aizawa watches as his students enter the building before he decides to call out his somewhat incompetent colleagues. “Did you two enjoy the show?” He doesn’t even turn to look at them and after what they’ve been doing there’s no need to show them that much respect. “Don’t bother hiding, honestly, it’s amazing none of the students noticed, especially you.” He is of course referring to All Might and his magnificent glory that is only out completed by the sun itself.
The Number One Hero steps away from behind his hideaway and approaches the less than friendly pro hero. “THAT WAS A PRETTY NASTY PRANK YOU PULLED. THREATENING EXPULSION, SERIOUSLY?”
“What makes you think it was a prank?”
“NANI?” That remark makes All Might a bit wary.
“I was being completely serious if any of those students at any point demonstrated that they don’t have what it takes to become heroes then there’s no point in keeping them around.”
All Might grimaces. ‘ISN’T THAT A BIT HARSH THOUGH?’
“But anyway care to explain why you were watching?”
Thirteen appears from behind All Might’s muscular form. “We were curious about Class 1-A since they’ll be both of our first classes this semester.”
“R-RIGHT!”
Aizawa eyes his colleagues try to gauge if they’re lying or not. “Hm, if that’s the case I’ll send you the results of the Quirk Apprehension Test.”
The Number One Hero gives him a big thumbs up. “MUCH APPRECIATED!”
Aizawa eyes All Might for a moment, silently coming to some sort of conclusion, before turning away to leave. “All Might since I’m technically your senior when it comes to teaching how about some free advice?”
“LAY IT ONE ME!”
“As a teacher it’s your job to prepare your students for any and all situations.” He shifts his head ever so slightly making sure that the big buffoon is listening to his words. “Fail to do that and it could spell disaster for everyone.” With nothing left to do Aizawa takes his leave probably to find a quiet place to nap.
As they watch him lurk away Thirteen pats All Might’s arm gaining his attention. “He’s right you know. You have to make sure you’re giving each student the proper amount of time and effort to help them succeed. That includes considering their feelings and even circumstances.”
“WHAT DO YOU MEAN?”
“Every student is different and I don’t just mean their personalities and Quirks but their values, ambitions, and circumstances. It’s good when you keep yourself open to those kinds of things as to better understand them allowing you to better teach them.”
All Might considers the advice eyeing his much shorter colleague. He really can’t tell if they’re serious or not thanks to the large black helmet.
Thirteen sighs waving his hand as if to say not to take things too seriously. “Other than that just be yourself.”
Their phone rumbles in their pocket, Thirteen slides it out of his pocket to find a message requesting for their presence.
“Ah, that would be our boss. I better get going and see what he wants.” Thirteen pockets their phone before jogging away for the main U.A. building. They wave All Might goodbye. “Take care All Might!”
“SEE YA!” He returns the wave keeping it up until All Might is the only one left on the P.E. grounds. ‘I NEED TO TAKE THEIR ADVICE TO HEART…’ He sighs looking up to the once clear sky, it looks like clouds have started rolling in, and maybe it’s a sign of a storm occurring in the future. ‘I NEED TO DO BETTER FOR YOUNG URARAKA.’ He recalls watching with festering anguish as Ochaco struggled to summon One For All. ‘I SHOULD HAVE BETTER PREPARED HER, THEN AGAIN I NEVER REALLY HAD THAT MUCH TROUBLE WITH ONE FOR ALL…I GUESS THAT’S WHAT THIRTEEN MEANS BY EVERYONE BEING DIFFERENT.’ All Might coughs into his hand as a splatter of blood appears on his hand. Realizing he’s been buffed out for far too long today he poofs back into his much weaker form. “Tomorrow is a new day. So, I’ll just have to make sure I do things right.”
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
Ochaco lets out one big yawn as both her and Izuku exited through the main U.A. doors.
“How’s the arm?”
Ochaco flexes said arm. “It’s in tiptop shape!” Her smile wavers slightly. ‘For now at least. It’s more likely I’m going to experience even more pain in the future if I want to master All Might’s Quirk.’
“So, this new power of yours are you finally going to tell me about it?” In a flash, Izuku has his Quirk Analysis notebook out and ready.
‘He sure is quick with that thing.’ Ochaco offers a worried smile. “Yeah, about that.” She claps her hands together. “I’m so sorry but they haven’t given me permission to talk about it yet! I’m sorry!”
“It’s okay I understand, there’s no rush.” Despite his smile, his mind can’t help but be disappointed. ‘Although I really want to know about this transferring Quirk and what it can do.’
“So, what do you think of our teacher, Mr. Aizawa?”
“Oh, uh, he’s…strict.”
‘That may be an understatement.’ Ochaco holds a finger to her chin. “You said he was the pro hero Eraserhead right?”
“Yeah, he can cancel Quirks just by looking at you.”
Ochaco’s eyes widen in amazement. “Oh, wow. Then you must have been really lucky.”
“Hm?”
Ochaco points at her own eyes with one hand and pulls up her hair with the other. “Well, if he used his Quirk on you then there’s a pretty good chance that it wouldn’t work, right?” She releases her hair. “Cause you don’t really have a Quirk.”
…
“Aaaahhhh!!” Izuku collapses right then and there, holding his head as he presses it against the ground.
“Deku?! Are you okay?!”
“Oh, m-m-m-m-my G-g-g-g-god! H-he c-could e-end up e-e-ex-exposing m-me!”
He totally overlooked this! If Eraserhead decides to use his Quirk on Izuku then it won’t work and he may discover the truth! What is he supposed to do then? Play oblivious? Beg him to keep a world shattering secret? Oh, man, this could be a disaster.
Ochaco pales. “W-well, I-I’m s-sure we c-can find a work around like…” Ochaco presses her fist into her palm. “I got it!! We’ll throw a blanket over you every time we think he’s going to use it on you.”
Izuku presses his head onto the ground further wishing he could bury it into the dirt as he releases a painstaking moan.
“What is this? You are a student of U.A. you should not be laying in the dirt like some boar! You have to represent this great establishment at all times!”
As Izuku stops moaning and lifts his head up, Ochaco smiles worried at the newcomers hoping they didn’t hear their conversation. “Oh, hi Iida, Shoji.”
Iida and Shoji are both hanging around the main gate of U.A. They’re both in their school uniforms with their bags slinged over their shoulders.
Iida’s arm shoots up quickly like a robot trying to mimic waving. “Hello, Uraraka.”
“What are you two doing here still?” She looks between the both of them waiting for an answer.
Shoji is the one to reply. “Well, after we were sent back to the classroom the principal came by to give us our own welcome speech and guidance sessions. Since Mr. Aizawa didn’t let us attend the real one.”
Iida decides to cut in on this. “Yes, it was quite the warm welcome like that one would expect from such a prestigious academy that is U.A. Although, I did think the principal was a rather odd man, but even so he held himself with such professionalism. It was really quite inspiring! …”
Shoji gives his classmate an odd and somewhat concerned look. ‘You must have been the only one to enjoy it, since it was nearly two hours long.’
As Iida continues to ramble on about the level of grandeur here, Izuku gets back on his feet and listens on to his fellow classmate. ‘You know I thought he was mean at first, but really he just has a lot of respect for heroes and school.’
Iida cups his chin as if to consider something critical. “Although, I don’t think that can be said for everyone here.” Iida grimaces shaking his head from side to side. “Our own homeroom teacher isn’t above pulling dirty tricks. And what’s up with that Bakugou character he outright tried to attack a fellow student! Unforgivable.”
Izuku sheepishly chuckles, mostly to himself, at that remark. ‘To be honest, Kacchan’s reaction may have been justified…for once.’
“Excuse me, kero.”
Ochaco turns around as Izuku peeks around her, standing behind her is the frog-like girl who must have approached them while they were talking. She must have been hiding out somewhere nearby and waiting to talk to them.
She’s short with a relatively slender build, her hands are notably large, with a very wide yet somewhat cute mouth, and oval-shaped eyes. Her hair is a dark sea-green color, and is very long, reaching all the way to her waist, the ends tied together at the bottom in a bow of hair.
“Nice to meet you, I’m Tsuyu Asui but please call me Tsu.”
Everyone is quick to greet her with friendly smiles “Nice to meet you Tsu/Asui.”
Izuku offers a smile. “Is there something we can help you with?”
“In a way. I just wanted to talk to you.” She points a large finger at the only other greenette of Class 1-A. “Specifically you Midoriya.”
What is she talking about? “Oh, about what?”
“It’s about that form you took, the blue dinosaur one; the one that can move really fast, kero.” If anyone was paying attention they would have noticed Iida in the background clutching at his chest as if it was stabbed.
Izuku takes a moment to think. “Oh, you mean XLR8?” He asks with a smile.
Tsuyu nods. “Yes. Do you mind changing into it real quick, kero?”
Izuku shrugs his shoulders. “Um, sure I don’t see the harm.” With little to no hesitation Izuku transforms himself into the requested form.
The iridescent light is quick to disappear allowing XLR8 to appear. “Well here I am!”
Tsuyu eyes scan the creature from head to tail, before coming to a conclusion. “I knew it.”
XLR8 slowly lowers his hands. “Pardon?”
“You probably don’t remember but you saved me once.”
“I did?!” Now that’s a shock! Where and when did he save her?! The mall maybe?
“Yes, but I understand if you forget it was a rather quick thing.” It’s really hard to gauge whether or not she’s offended by his forgetfulness, but her voice doesn’t seem to hint at an animosity. “It was a runaway truck. It was going to crash into me and my little siblings, but you used your speed to save us.”
“Siblings…?” XLR8 scratches his chin trying to remember such an incident. “Oh, I remember now! It was a month before the entrance exam! The driver had lost control over the truck and was screaming like a mad man.”
He did save her, so those little kids were her siblings, and she’s in the hero course, too! What are the odds? Well, that explains a lot after all she did look like she was calm and ready to jump over the truck so she must be really good with her Quirk if she’s here. “
“That’s the one.”
“Oh, my I never even recognized you.” XLR8 bows repeated at such a fast speed that Tsuyu can almost use him as a fan. “I’m so sorry!”
“Why are you apologizing?” XLR8 stops to peer up at her. “You saved me and for that,” She bows her long green hair flips over her head as she does so. “Thank you, you saved not only my life but the lives of my precious siblings. Thank you.”
XLR8 is left speechless; the last thing he honestly expected was a thank you. It’s not like he did it for the recognition, even so he can’t stop the sense of pride in his heart. He feels light yet like he could take on anything. Maybe he can with all his aliens there’s no situation that he can’t handle. He can save the day!
“Well done, Midoriya!” Thanks Iida, you killed the moment.
XLR8 flinches in response, he was not mentally prepared for Iida’s loud and stern voice.
With a mischievous grin, like one of a cat playing with its prey, Ochaco coyly elbows Izuku’s side. “Look at you already saving damsels in distress.”
It feels like XLR8’s face is boiling with scalding hot water. He's pretty sure that steam is emitting from his mouth as if his soul has withdrawn from his own body. Ochaco laughs at the sight of a blue reptile’s face turning into a complete shade of red. It’s so bad XLR8 has his visor shut close as to help hide his face, but despite that he still uses his claws hands to hide behind as he begs Ochaco to stop mocking him.
While XLR8 tries to calm down Shoji approaches Tsuyu and introduces himself. Afterwards they watch on as Iida continues to praise XLR8 for his chivalry and Ochaco enjoys his reactions. “You know the first time I met him he was trying to save Uraraka then, too.”
“That doesn’t surprise me, kero.” Tsuyu looks up to the giant of a teen. He looks down and finds a kind friendly smile on her face, and despite her mostly unreadable expression it is clear that she is smiling. “It is nice to know that we have such amazing people in our class, huh?”
“Absolutely.”
Iida once again cuts the moment short, “Come on now! Let’s not dawdle we all need to be at our respective homes before dusk!” He begins marching past the main gates. “Let’s go!”
Everyone else salutes simultaneously before following along. “Aye!!”
A thought pops into XLR8’s mind, he unnecessarily zips himself to Ochaco’s side. “Speaking of which, you live in Endori, correct? That's pretty far from here. I could give you a ride if you want. I mean…?” He gestures to himself, knowing that she would understand what he’s offering.
Ochaco gasps, but not of worry but of a simple mistake. “Oh, I didn’t tell you.”
XLR8 blinks. “Tell me what?”
“My folks were so proud of me for getting into the Hero Course that they got me my own apartment here in Musutafu!”
“Really? That’s great.”
“Yup, it’s a tiny little thing; it’s a studio apartment” It’s basically one big room with enough space for a makeshift kitchen. “But since I’m the only one using it I don’t really need a whole lot of space.” Her eyes drift away as she considers something else. “But I’ve been thinking of getting a part time job to help pay for necessities. This way my folks don’t have to pay for everything.”
“That’d be nice. Any ideas what you would do?”
She smiles softly. “I have one idea.”
As the newly group of five make their way to the train station a certain ash-blonde bastard with a pension to violence glares at their retreating forms.
“Dammit, Deku! Just what the hell is going on?! You’re supposed to be Quirkless?! Have you been lying all this time just so humiliate me?! Well guess what? You better not get comfortable shitty Deku, because the first chance I get to put you back in your place I can guarantee,” There’s a maddening glint in his crimson eyes. “I’ll fucking kill you!”
Notes:
Well that was Ch.11. What do you think? Please let me know. Again Ch.12 may take a while to get here, mainly because my laptop is broken. Look forward to Ch.12 nonetheless since it'll be All Might's combat training!
Chapter 12: Boiling Point
Summary:
Battle!! It's time for Izuku to confront yet another terrible excuse for a friend! And this time there is no holding back. Let's go Izuku! You can do it!
Notes:
Hey everyone!! I got my laptop back and it’s as good as new! And even better news, inspiration really struck while I was writing this chapter hence why it’s out earlier than expected. Isn’t that great?! I think you’re all are really going to enjoy this one.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
The following morning, Class 1-A took part in their normal everyday classes, with many of them wishing that they were doing anything else. Such classes include English with Present Mic, who is way too enthusiastic and loud for that early in the morning.
Present Mic stands at the front of the class holding a standard English textbook.
Present Mic is a tall, slim man with long blond hair, which he wears spiked upwards in a huge tuft behind his head, and a small mustache. He has rectangular eyes with concentric greenish-yellow pupils, which are hidden behind a pair of orange-tinted shades.
His hero costume consists of a black jacket with a very tall collar with studs, matching black pants, and knee-high boots. Around his neck is a large directional speaker which is clearly used to assist his Quirk.
He turns to the class and notices their dulled expressions. “Now which of these sentences contains a mistake?”
‘So, boring…’
“What’s with those bored expressions?!” He swings his arm into the air with too much energy that is physically possible that early in the morning. “All right everybody! HANDS UP AND SHOW ME SOME SPIRIT!!!”
‘Too loud!’ Ochaco has to press her textbook around her ears in order to even muffle his voice. He’s so loud in fact that it’s actually making her head spin.
Next up for them is Midnight’s Modern Hero Art History.
Midnight is a tall, curvaceous woman with sky blue eyes, and red painted nails. She has abundant spiky dark purple hair with strands reaching down below her waist.
Her hero costume is very similar to one of a traditional dominatrix. She wears a black leather breastless leotard over a white bodysuit, which emphasizes her…assets, the leotard possessing red gemstone-like accessories in a vertical pattern from the collar to the midriff. She also wears translucent black thigh-high stockings and black knee-boots. She has a small, red mask outlining her eyes, a handcuff on each wrist, and a red utility belt decorated with gold studs around her hips, a matching pentagonal buckle in its center. And for some reason she’s constantly whipping around a flogger-style whip.
Izuku is furiously blushing in his seat as Midnight trots between the aisles as if she’s modeling for a fashion show. ‘Why the heck did someone let her become a teacher?!’
He’s not the only one being affected, even some of the girls look a little hot and bothered by her antics. But whether Midnight is aware or not of her effect on them is unclear.
Midnight swings around to face the class. “The Sokovia Accords were signed in 2016 to further regulate superpowered and enhanced individuals. However, the Accords resulted in the split of one of the most prominent hero organizations of the twenty first century.” She cracks her flogger-style whip. “Can anyone tell me why they split up?!”
The dark-haired girl sitting a seat behind Izuku raises her hand. “I can, ma’am.”
“Yaoyorozu!”
Momo Yaoyorozu is a fairly tall teenage girl with a rather mature physique, considering her age. She has long black hair that’s tied into a spiky ponytail with onyx eyes.
Yaoyorozu stands clearing her throat before she speaks. “You see, one side believed that those with Quirks should be placed in check and overseen by the government. While the opposite side believed that everyone had the freedom to choose how and when they can use their Quirks.”
‘Wow, she’s smart. Did she have that memorized already?’
That’s how their morning went until it was lunch time. Where they discovered that the food is to die for, even the cheap stuff; it’s like it came straight out of a five-star restaurant! Although that’s thanks to the Cook Hero: Lunch Rush’s master craftsmanship.
Afterwards Class 1-A find themselves back in their homeroom class waiting in anticipation for what’s bound to be their first ever true class of the Hero Course.
A girl with earphone jacks hanging from each of her earlobes leans forward in her seat as to talk to Shoji who is sitting directly in front of her. “I wonder who our teacher is going to be.”
Her name is Kyoka Jiro and she’s a petite, slender built girl with triangular, lazy-looking onyx eyes. Her hair is short, about chin length, and is dark purple in color with an asymmetrical fringe, and two reflections shaped like sound waves on either side of her head. Her most prominent features are of course the earphone jacks that act like extra limbs.
Shoji turns to address her. “I heard they got someone new this year. But I’m not sure who it is.”
Tsuyu overhears them. “Maybe Mr. Aizawa will be in charge of it, kero.”
“I hope not.” A pinked-skin girl leans back in her seat. “He’s a total downer.”
Listening in, Ochaco internally gasps. ‘Wait, didn’t All Might mention something about working here. So that must mean…’ A wide smug smile spreads on her face. ‘No way?! He is, oh I can’t wait!’ Her eyes gleam with anticipation, she can’t wait, this class is so going to be awesome! ‘I bet Deku’s reaction will be the best, he’s going to be so surprised I wouldn’t doubt if he started cheering like Present Mic.’ She giggles at the thought, although she would much prefer it if he didn't scream out like their loudmouthed teacher.
“I. AM. HERE!” That’s the signal, before the class door swings open and a glorious titan of a figure presents himself, his cape bellowing forward emphasizing his entrance “WALKING THROUGH THE DOOR LIKE A NORMAL PERSON!”
“It’s All Might!! Incredible he’s really gonna teach us!!”
“That his Silver Age costume!”
“His text is even different from ours!!”
“HELLO STUDENTS ARE YOU READY FOR,” he pauses for effect. “HERO BASIC TRAINING?!”
“YEAH!!!” The class roars in excitement, their hearts are racing, making them even more pumped for what’s to come.
All Might let’s out a full-hearted laugh as the students decide to bask in his greatness.
Izuku’s eyes immediately light up like that of a child waking up on Christmas and discovering a mountain of gifts under the tree. ‘It’s All Might!! It’s really All Might!!’ His grin is huge and full of pure joy, almost as if he won the lottery. ‘I, I can’t believe it! He’s here, he’s really here! And as a teacher!’
Ochaco, who’s gotten used to All Might more than dramatic entrances, is busy observing Izuku’s reaction, finding his shining grin a sight to behold.
Somehow his grin becomes even wider and brighter. ‘Amazing, with the Number One Hero teaching us, there’s no doubt we’ll become outstanding heroes!’ A brilliantly light lightbulb pops into his mind. ‘Wait, I should ask him about different techniques to apply to my transformations!’ Izuku hurriedly digs through his backpack looking for his Quirk Analysis notebook. ‘This’ll be great! I can ask him all sorts of things, about his Quirk, how to best apply myself, and…and…’
Oh, no. Izuku’s grin and previously bright demeanor falls apart. ‘Wait…’ Izuku shakily looks up toward the Symbol of Peace who is trying and failing to calm the class. ‘He…he knows. I-I told him I was Quirkless!!’ Izuku grips his head before smashing it down onto the hard surface of his desk, in an attempt to hide himself for as long as he can. ‘What do I do?! Should I call Thirteen?! Should I fake being sick?! Oh, this is terrible!!’ It really is! With all the excitement of his idol being his teacher, he had temporarily forgotten that he already encountered All Might once before! Not exactly his fondest memory for him; it’s not every day when your own personal hero tells you to give up on your dreams. ‘What do I tell him?! Maybe he doesn’t recognize me!! Oh, but what if he does? If I’m not careful he could end up finding out the truth.’ Izuku grumbles to himself as he stews in self-agony.
Ochaco notices and she is not liking what she’s seeing. ‘Deku…are you alright?’
She’s not the only one who’s noticed the boy’s state of mind. All Might glances over towards Izuku trying to gauge his reaction. ‘IT’S TOO SOON TO OUTRIGHT CONFRONT YOU. FOR NOW, I’LL WAIT AND SEE WHAT YOU CAN DO. AND MAYBE…SOME THINGS WILL COME TO LIGHT.’
All Might claps his hands, the class still hasn’t settled down, but he needs to get things moving.
“AS I WAS SAYING, THIS CLASS WILL PUT YOU THROUGH ALL SORTS OF SPECIAL TRAINING TO MOLD YOU INTO FINE HEROES!!” Not to mention a ton of credits. “NO TIME TO DALLY. TODAY’S ACTIVITY IS THIS!!” He flashes out a large laminated card with the word BATTLE written out on it in big bold lettering. “BATTLE TRAINING!!”
Bakugou grins like a feral dog, as Izuku finally pops his head up a worried expression having fallen over his face. Meanwhile, Ochaco balls her fists raising one up as to show how ready she is for this.
“AND FOR THAT…YOU NEED THESE!” All Might clicks on a remote that he must have been hiding away somewhere.
Four slots begin to rumble out of the left wall nearest the board revealing rows of silver suitcases with bolded numbers on them. Inside are undoubtedly their costumes that they specifically requested, the thought of showing off their unique and creative designs gets some of them so excited that they’re already leaping out of their seats.
“AFTER YOU CHANGE, MEET ME IN GROUND BETA!!”
While most of the class rush for their costumes, Izuku hesitantly grips his backpack. In other circumstances he’d probably be just as pumped as everybody else, but how could he be excited when the man, the hero, the legend that is All Might is right there? The very same All Might that turned his back on him and told him to give it all up.
Bakugou grabs his briefcase before his red eyes trace back to Izuku. Seeing Izuku’s hopeless expression is enough to make the ash-blonde grin. ‘Damn, right you better be scared Deku. Because today’s the day I show all these losers, including All Might, how much better I am than all of them!’ He swings the case over his shoulder before stomping off for the locker rooms. ‘And I’ll do it by destroying your weak and useless ass.’
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“Wow, just check out your bod!” The pink-skinned girl stands way too close for Ochaco’s liking.
Currently the girls of Class 1-A find themselves in the girls’ locker room changing into their bright and colorful hero costumes.
Ochaco had just unbuttoned and removed her uniform top when suddenly her shameless classmate, who’s already ditch the U.A. jacket, started admiring her muscles.
The pink-skinned girl with fluffy hair boldly pokes at Ochaco’s stomach, admiring her abs. “You must work out like crazy.”
Mina Ashido is a girl of medium height. And probably due to her Quirk, her skin is a light shade of pink with rather square eyes, their sclera black and their irises bright yellow. Her face is framed by fluffy unruly hair, which is a pleasant pink color, slightly darker than that of her skin. She has two thin, pale yellow horns protruding from her head, hooked squarely and leaning diagonally to opposite sides.
Ochaco’s cheeks blush even more than they already are. “Oh, uh, I guess you could say that. But they’re nothing special.”
Yeah, right! Thanks to “The All-American Dream Plan: the Lady Liberty Version” Ochaco’s muscles and body have really developed. At first, she was afraid that she would become a bit too buff, not exactly the best look for her in her own opinion, but her body is like that of an Olympic swimmer! Well-toned, slim, and it easily makes her probably the most physically able female of Class 1-A. Unless that invisible girl, Tooru Hagakure, is secretly muscular as well. Either way she should be a bit prouder, it took a lot of hard work and discipline to gain these results.
Mina backs off slightly looking very unconvinced. “Ah, geeze, you gotta be kidding me! Your muscles are so awesome!” With an annoyed expression Mina raises her fist into the air in protest. “Don’t be scared to show off your goods, girl!”
Hagakure joins in too presumably she raises her fist into the air too, the only indication of her is her shirt. “Yeah!”
Oh, the irony.
As Mina and Hagakure continue to howl on about being proud of one’s body, Ochaco tries whatever she can to redirect the conversation. She fails.
Standing nearby in front of her own locker, Jiro recoils at the sudden declarations, becoming extremely flustered all of a sudden. A slight blush forms on her face, as she holds her leather jacket closer. “What?!” Her gaze drifts to Yaoyorozu, specifically towards her more impressive…features. The purple-haired girl’s expression darkness with despair as she admires the taller female’s body.
Yaoyorozu pulls up her large utility belt around her sleeveless crimson leotard that is way less modest than it has any right to be.
Said girl notices Jiro staring. “Is something the matter?”
Jiro’s entire face floods with blood as she spins away. “N-no!”
Tsuyu smiles softly from the bench enjoying the sight of her classmates interacting. “Kero.”
But fun can come later, right now they must prepare for Hero Basic Training.
Mina and Hagakure end their tirades so they could get their own costumes on finally allowing Ochaco a moment to breathe. ‘Combat training, huh?’ Ochaco opens up her silver briefcase and gazes upon her own hero costume. ‘Today I’ll show everyone, and All Might what I’m capable of.’ She grips her costume. ‘I will make you proud!’
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Izuku waits along with the rest of Class 1-A’s male population. He’s so glad he brought his Quirk Analysis Notebook with him. ‘Everyone’s costumes are so cool!’ He scribbles away, doodling each and every costume that he’s presented with from Iida’s knight like armor to a tailed male’s basic karate gi attire.
Everyone's designs are so different with their own unique styles, colors, and functions. It all makes Izuku a bit self-conscious of his own.
His costume is really nothing all that special when you look at it. The main center piece is of course the Omnitrix on his left wrist. Thankfully his mother had the foresight to make his left sleeve a bit shorter as to not cover his "watch". Other than that, his costume is a green full-body jumpsuit with a red belt, elbow pads, knee pads, and gloves, all of which match his signature red boots. He also has a mesh respirator with a makeshift smile as to mimic All Might's own immortal smile and hanging down behind his neck is a mask with long ear-like protrusions that are meant to resemble All Might's hair of all things.
Izuku regrets that part greatly, hence why he’s decided not to put it on. But he’s not sure if he should have it removed altogether yet, after all his own mother made it for him as to show him that she fully supports his dream. It’s a symbol for him and him alone, so that he always remembers that his mother is always cheering him on. ‘How could I wear anything else?! Who cares if it’s not “efficient” or “cutting-edge? This is my hero costume!!’
And he’s going to wear it proudly, minus the mask of course. But honestly, he’s actually struggling with throwing that thing on anyway, at the very least it’ll cover his face especially from the man himself, All Might.
Just because Izuku’s been going along with everything doesn’t mean he’s any less worried about All Might’s reaction to him getting into U.A. A Quirkless kid somehow gains a Quirk and enters into U.A. of all places should be impossible. And it is, at least in his case he is technically still Quirkless. ‘Huh now that I think about it. I’m actually the first and only Quirkless student in the hero course.’ Rather than feeling like his self-worth is in question, Izuku’s heart swells with a bit of pride instead. ‘I guess…I unintentionally proved All Might wrong.’
That still doesn’t change the ever-growing storm of worry in his stomach. Because when this is all over there’s a good chance that if, by chance, All Might recognizes him then he needs a proper way to explain himself. Sure, he can fall back on being a late bloomer but that would seem suspiciously convenient to the hero. Also, Thirteen said that not all heroes are or should be made aware of aliens so he can’t outright tell the man the truth. But then again…does he really owe him an answer?
He was the one that nearly sent Izuku down a spiraling path, thankfully the Omnitrix arrived just in time to prevent it, but his heart still aches. Yet it makes sense why All Might said what he said, he’s the Number One Hero yet even he gets injured and has weaknesses. So, it makes sense why he would tell a Quirkless defenseless kid to not pursue their dream of becoming a hero. He was looking out for him… That still doesn’t make him feel any better.
But he understands if the Symbol of Peace could be weakened then that is especially true for someone Quirkless. ‘Huh, maybe that’s why All Might is teaching at U.A. This way he can cover up his time limit from the public by saying he’s using his time to teach.’ Izuku nods. ‘Yeah, that must be it. I mean, why else would he be here?’
“Looking good, Deku!” That was Ochaco’s voice.
Izuku spins around to greet her. “Thanks, Ura-RAKAKA!?!” His face flushes red.
Ochaco looks so amazing in her hero costume!
It’s a black full-bodysuit with a pale pink design down the middle of her torso with two black circles over her chest. She has circular wrist guards, a dark pink handle on the back of each one, wide knee-high boots with magenta soles and a two-piece belt around her waist, a pale-pink helmet with a tinted visor.
Ochaco manages a smile albeit a shy one as she rubs the back of her head. “I wish I’d been more specific on my request form. This suit’s so revealing. It’s embarrassing…” But she could probably get used to it, even she has to admit that it looks really good on her.
And she’s not the only one to think the same thing. Especially as all the other girls of the Hero Course join the rest of their class, who can’t help but admire their choices in costumes.
Especially two of the class’s male students, a blond-haired guy by the name of Denki Kaminari and Mineta. The two smile smugly each holding up a pair of thumbs up. “Being in the Hero Course rocks!”
Denki Kaminari is on the skinny side at least compared to his other classmates. He has relatively short blond hair with a black lightning-shaped streak on the left of his side fringe.
His hero costume consists of a black jacket with a white lightning pattern across his back, and matching pants with two lines running down his legs. He has a single, square-shaped earphone over his right ear with something resembling a radio antenna sticking out of the top.
His fellow pervert, Minoru Mineta is the shortest student in their entire class with a large, round head, and rather large cheeks. His most notable features are his four large purple and black balls in something resembling a mohawk where his hair should be.
His hero costume is very simplistic, consisting only of a purple shirt and mask with a yellow cape, boots, and gloves. His pants are white with a lighter purple trim, it kinda looks like a fruit bowl but it could also look like a diaper to others.
‘Perverts…’ Izuku is embarrassed for the two of them.
With a quick shake of his head in attempt to rid himself of his own red cheeks he decides to change the subject. “So, you excited for combat training?”
“Oh, heck, yeah!” She pumps her fist forward in a display of her coolness. “I can’t wait.”
“Hm, hm, me too. Do you plan on showing off your…Quirk today?”
Ochaco needs a second to realize what he means. “Oh, uh, yeah I sure hope so.” She rubs her arm. “I still need to work on properly summoning it, but I’m hoping that I can accomplish that with today’s training.”
“That’s great and…” Izuku raises up his Quirk Analysis notebook “I can’t wait to witness your power, again! And this time I’ll be ready with my own notes.” He leans in close for the next part. “By the way, I don’t mean to be a bother, but…” He scans the area making sure nobody is listening in. “did you get permission yet?”
“Hm? Oh, yeah don’t worry about it.” Ochaco smiles tilting to the side with her hands behind her back. “I should have an answer for you by the end of the day.”
While Izuku is unclear by what she’s getting at, he is nonetheless satisfied by that answer. Unbeknownst to him, All Might happened to notice Ochaco’s smile and subtle glance towards him. Even if he didn’t hear her something tells him that she’s reminding him of what they discussed a while back: telling Izuku Midoriya about One For All. He’s not so sure about that.
Now that everyone is present, he decides now is the time to begin, All Might clears his throat before speaking. “SHALL WE BEGIN, MY WARDS?!” That draws everyone’s attention. “IT’S TIME FOR BATTLE TRAINING!!”
Iida steps forward with an inquiry. “Sir! This appears to be the same field used in the Entrance Exam. Will we once again be performing cityscape maneuvers?!”
Ochaco cups her hand over her mouth whispering into Deku’s ear. “Iida’s costume is so cool”
Izuku cups his mouth too. “I know right.”
Iida’s costume consists of a black one-piece suit with a high collar, over which he wears various pieces of armor, all a pale silver in color. He wears a helmet covering his entire face with two curved horns just behind and a single spike sticking out of the back of his head. On his feet, he wears silver knee-high boots with gold accessories, and around his torso, he has three thick metal pipes.
All Might continues his explanation. “NOPE! YOU’LL BE MOVING ON TO STEP TWO! INDOOR ANTIPERSONNEL BATTLE TRAINING!!” He eyes his students ensuring they don’t miss his words. “VILLAIN BATTLES ARE MOST COMMONLY SEEN OUTDOORS, BUT…” His tone falls slightly taking a more serious vibe. “STATISTICALLY, THE MOST HEINOUS VILLAINS ARE MORE LIKELY TO APPEAR INDOORS.”
Both, Izuku’s and Ochaco’s minds flashback to how they fought off the villain Rojo in a store. Coming to the conclusion that All Might knows what he’s talking about.
“BETWEEN CONFINEMENT, HOUSE ARREST, AND BLACKMARKET DEALS… IN THIS HERO-FILLED SOCIETY OF OURS… AHEM. THE CLEVEREST VILLAINS OUT THERE…LURK INDOORS!!”
Now it’s time for him to explain the exercise. “YOU’LL NOW BE SPLIT INTO “VILLAIN” TEAMS AND “HERO” TEAMS AND FACE OFF IN TWO-ON-TO BATTLES!!”
Battles already?! Now this is a surprise for the class, most of them thought there would be more directional lessons before they moved on to actual combat. Heck, some of them have never really fought another living being before: human, alien, or otherwise.
Tsuyu decides to voice what’s on everybody’s mind. “So, no basic training?”
Her hero costume consists of a bright green bodysuit, tan-colored gloves, and two matching belts, one above her chest, and one around her waist. Two black lines run all the way down her suit, each framed with yellow, and she wears tight black boots with green webbed flippers resembling frogs’ toes on her feet. She wears a tan headband with goggles that have dark green-tinted lenses attached on either side.
“PRACTICAL EXPERIENCE TEACHES YOU THE BASICS! THE DISTINCTION HERE IS THAT YOU WON’T BE FIGHTING DISPOSABLE ROBOTS.”
“Sir, what determines victory?”
“Can I just blast everyone away?”
“Are you threatening to expel someone, like Mr. Aizawa did…?”
“How do we proceed to divide ourselves into teams?!”
“How fabulous is my cape?”
All Might points finger from one student to the next as he replies to each of their questions. “I’LL ANSWER THAT IN A MINUTE. NO! ALSO, NO! YOU’LL SEE. AND IT’S DAZZLING!”
Izuku is gobsmacked. ‘Huh, he was able to get all that.’
All Might pulls out and flips open a little piece of paper.
‘A cheatsheet…!’ Now that’s a surprise to Izuku.
The same cannot be said for Ochaco. ‘I’m honestly not surprised…’
All Might then begins to read off his cheatsheet which apparently has his entire script written onto it. He explains that the villain team will hide and protect a “fake” nuclear weapon in the building, and it will be the hero team’s job to find the bomb and secure it. There is a time limit; the heroes have to either capture both villains or secure the bomb within the time limit while the villains have to protect the bomb until time is up or they too can capture the heroes.
Throwing away his cheatsheet, All Might pulls out two separate boxes with holes cut out of them. “YOUR BATTLE PARTNERS WILL BE DECIDED BY DRAWING LOTS!”
That doesn’t seem right to Iida. “Is that really the best way?!”
Izuku unwittingly speaks up, his hero nerd side temporarily revealing itself. “Makes sense because pros often have to team up with heroes from other agencies on the spot during emergencies.”
Shoji also chimes in. “In other words, in a real villain situation we won’t really get a say on who we get to team up with. So, we have to get used to adapting and cooperating with others.”
“I see…!” Iida turns back to their teacher putting up a hand in solace. “I apologize for getting ahead of myself. My mistake!”
“IT’S FINE!! LET’S JUST GET TO IT!!”
And so, began the team pairs:
Team A: Izuku Midoriya & Mezo Shoji
Team B: Shoto Todoroki & Hanta Sero
Team C: Momo Yaoyorozu & Minoru Mineta
Team D: Katsuki Bakugou & Eijiro Kirishima
Team E: Yuga Aoyama & Tenya Iida
Team F: Rikido Sato & Koji Koda
Team G: Denki Kaminari & Kyoka Jiro
Team H: Fumikage Tokoyami & Tsuyu Asui
Team I: Mashirao Ojiro & Toru Hagakure
Team J: Ochaco Uraraka & Mina Ashido
Shoji places his large hand onto the smaller teen’s shoulder. “It looks like we’ll be teaming up for this one.”
“Yeah, looking forward to it.”
“By the way I like your costume, it’s a very simple design.”
“Thanks, back at ya…”
Shoji’s hero costume consists of a tight blue tank top, six white markings resembling eyes decorating it like a dice, connected at the top to a darker, more indigo-colored mask. He has a belt with another, larger eye shape embedded into its center, this time yellow, below which he wears slightly baggy trousers to match his shirt, and indigo boots.
Meanwhile, Ochaco and Mina are having their own interaction.
Mina squats down before fisting her hand into the air. “Check it out Team Pink is ready for some action!”
Ochaco raises an eyebrow. “Team Pink?”
“Yeah, because of our colors.” Mina points to her skin and then to Ochaco’s suit. She then rubs a finger on her chin. “Hm, that or we could do Team Astro!”
“Team…Astro?”
“Yeah, because your costume is like an astronaut. And I’m an alien!” She proclaims as if it was the most obvious thing in this world.
Ochaco gasps as the blood drains from her face. “Are you serious?!” How could she say that out into the open so carelessly?! What if someone else heard her?! There could be worldwide panic!!
“Nah, I’m just kidding.” Mina grins amusedly at Ochaco’s reaction.
Ochaco releases one of the biggest sighs of her life. ‘Thank goodness…’
“It’s not like aliens actually exist.”
‘You’d be surprised Mina… Heck, she could probably pass for one, even her costume helps to sell the whole alien vibe she has going on.’
Her hero costume consists of a plain white eyemask, and a purple and turquoise skintight bodysuit with a camouflage pattern, ending just above her breasts. Over this, she wears a cropped, sleeveless tan-colored waistcoat with white fur along its collar, which she leaves unbuttoned. She is also wearing custom made plum-violet and beige acid-proof boots with holes in the soles.
After the rest of the class have gotten acquainted with their own partners All Might continues the lesson.
“MOVING ON, THE FIRST ONES UP ARE…” He sticks his giant meaty hands into two separate boxes: one labeled as “Hero” and the other as “Villain”. “THESE GUYS!!” He withdraws two large bingo balls one labeled with the letter A and the other with the letter D. “THE HEROES ARE TEAM A!! AND THE VILLAINS WILL BE TEAM D!!”
Both Izuku and Bakugou are stunned for a moment neither of them expecting a confrontation so soon after just starting at U.A.
All Might gestures to the nearby faux office building. “THE VILLAINS WILL ENTER FIRST! THE TIMER STARTS IN FIVE MINUTES AT WHICH POINT THE HEROES WILL BE ALLOWED TO ENTER. THE REST OF US WILL WATCH VIA CCTV!”
“KIRISHIMA. BAKUGOU, YOU BOYS NEED TO ADOPT A VILLAIN MIND-SET! THIS IS PRACTICAL EXPERIENCE SO MAKE SURE TO GO ALL OUT. DON’T HOLD BACK!” He decides last minute to throw in this next part. “THOUGH I WILL STOP YOU IF YOU TAKE THINGS TOO FAR…”
After his explanation All Might hands both pairs a rough blueprint of the building before, he starts herding the rest of the class to the monitor room. As All Might turns away Izuku and Bakugou do their best not to acknowledge the other, they just stand there in festering silence.
Izuku glances over to his former friend taking in his costume.
Bakugou’s costume is composed of a tight, black, sleeveless tank top, with an orange “X” across the middle. There are two dots along the left line of his collar much like Ochaco’s. He also has a metallic neck brace worn with rectangular ends that have three holes on each side. His sleeves reach from within his large grenade-like gauntlets to his biceps. His belt, which also carries grenades, holds up his baggy pants, and he has knee-high combat boots. His mask is jagged and black with orange-rimmed flare shape protrusions at each side.
Eventually Bakugou decides to head inside with a boisterous Kirishima following alongside him trying to get Bakugou to get pumped up for the exercise too.
As the class begins to clear the field, Ochaco looks back in worry for her friend. Out of everyone else there she’s the only one who’s somewhat aware of the two’s…relationship. Plus, there was Bakugou’s rather explosive reaction from yesterday so there’s no doubt in her mind that this exercise may take a turn for the worst.
But what can she do? She is not Izuku’s partner for the Battle Trial and she doesn’t want to step on All Might’s toes either. So, for now all she can do is remain silent and follow her classmates to survey the match. ‘You got this Deku! Show everyone what you got!’
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A few minutes later Bakugou and Kirishima found the fake bomb in a large room full of crates and large concrete pillars decorated across the length of the room.
Eijiro Kirishima is a muscular young man of average height, with a rather impressive physique and spiky bright-red hair. He has red eyes and a small scar just above his right eye. He also has small eyebrows and very pointed teeth.
His hero costume has two gear-shaped shoulder pads, dark red in color, a jagged sash joining the one in his left to the right side of his belt, which has a red “R” set into its center. Below this, he wears baggy black pants and half cape with a ripped hem and sporting black boots. His chest is bare, and he wears a wired guard around his face, reaching from just above his hairline to below his jaw with an extra piece going over the bridge of his nose. Overall, he has the look of an Oni.
Kirishima stares up at the large faux nuclear bomb, taking note that it’s simply paper-mache. “So, we’re the villains, huh? Well we better act the part!” Kirishima grins displaying his shark-like teeth. “This is going to be awesome! What do you think?” He is of course addressing Bakugou who isn’t bothering to even look at his partner.
Instead he stands with his back to Kirishima, his fists clutching in his hands, and his eyes cast down at his boots. “Hey. Do you really think Deku has a Quirk…?”
“Who the hell is Deku?” Kirishima takes a second to think before remembering that Bakugou is referring to the green-haired kid with the cool hi-tech watch. “Oh, you mean Midoriya. Yeah of course he does… Actually, does he have more than one Quirk or something…? Lucky.”
‘More than one Quirk?!’ Oh, that is it! There will be no mercy for him no matter how much he begs. ‘He’s been punking me this whole time?!’ A grin that oughta be on a crazed villain appears on Bakugou’s face instead. “That damned nerd!! I’ll murder him to hell!!”
Kirishima isn’t quite sure how he should react. “Well, that’s not very manly.” But then again, they are supposed to act like villains so maybe Bakugou is onto something.
Bakugou’s grin somehow becomes even more threatening as he waits for the battle to start.
Despite the scary grin, Kirishima can’t help but find it a bit amusing. “Huh, that’s a scary look. Do you have a plan or something?”
“Yeah, I got a plan alright. I’m going to take on that shitty nerd and teach him his place.”
“Sounds like you want a one on one fight, I’m not sure of your reasons, but” He gives Bakugou a friendly thumbs up. “A fated match between men sounds great! So good luck!” He’ll just stay out of the way and protect the bomb; he is built for defense anyway.
Bakugou doesn’t bother to acknowledge his teammate as mini explosions begin to spark within his hands. ‘Get ready shitty Deku! Because I’m going to hurt you so badly that they’ll have to scrape you off the floor!’
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“We better memorize these since we’re not allowed to use them when we start.” Shoji is referring to the building blueprints that All Might handed them before he left.
Currently Shoji and Izuku stand outside the faux building reading through the building schematics.
Shoji generates several extra eyes from his arms as to scan the blueprints thoroughly. “Hmm, considering how my Quirk is more surveillance based and yours is so…unpredictable we should have no problem with this Battle Trial.” But there is one major issue. “Hmm, but that Bakugou guy may be a problem. His explosion seemed powerful. What do you thi-are you alright?!”
He has a reason for concern because his much shorter partner is literally quaking in his boots. “I, uh uh, I, uh, ye-yeah. I-I’m fine.” His grip tightens to the point that his nails are digging through his gloves and are beginning to tear into the paper.
“You’re clearly not…”
“Ah, uh, y-yeah I guess you got me.” Izuku smiles humbly accepting defeat. “I guess you can say that I’m pretty nervous.” That’s stretching the truth. ‘More like terrified!’
And it’s not just because he has to face off against Kacchan, but because of who’s watching him fight Kacchan. So, far All Might hasn’t given any signals that he even remembers him…that kinda hurts all things considered, especially after what he did. But hopefully that’s for the best. Otherwise, he has no idea if the Number One Hero will buy his alibi. And All Might must already be aware of his “Quirk”. He is a teacher after all, so he really doesn’t have a reason to hide the Omnitrix during this exercise. But the fear and anxiousness are still there!
“Wanna…wanna talk about it?”
Izuku doesn’t react to the question initially, instead he considers it. Sure, All Might being here could end up terrible, but the prospect of having to fight an ex-friend isn’t any better. In fact, it feels a little bit like Deja vu for him. Wow, Ochaco was right he really does have the worst taste in friends. Even so…it doesn’t help to swallow down his fear.
“It’s Kacchan…”
‘Kacchan? Is he referring to Bakugou?’
Noticing Shoji’s confused expression Izuku clarifies whom he’s referring to. “Uh, he’s the one that can explode.”
“Ah, gotcha.”
“Well, you see…” Should he really continue? Yes, it was Thirteen who told him it’s better to share one’s worries with someone rather than let them build up and implode on you. “We’ve known each other our entire lives and well things have never exactly been…good between us.”
Ever since he got his Quirk… Ever since then he’s always viewed himself as the be all end all, as number one, as the best thing to ever inhabit the Earth. And his goals of surpassing even All Might…
“He may be a jerk, but he’s amazing… His goals. His confidence. His strength. His Quirk. He’s so much better than me in every way.” Izuku drops his hands, slouching forward, staring into the ground hoping it would swallow him up. “So, I guess I don’t think I can actually beat him.”
Shoji gives his partner a deadpanned glare. “Are you serious?”
“Huh?!”
Shoji sighs, facepalming himself. “The first time I met you, you were running headfirst to a villain that captured your friend. Then you jumped right in to save the very same friend when they were in danger. And to top it all off! You have such a powerful and versatile Quirk! And yet you don’t think you stand a chance against a guy with angerment issues?”
He’s right… Everything he said was right! He did do all those things, and more!! He fought killer robots way before the U.A. Entrance Exam! He fended off literal monsters and saved an entire prefecture from a mutant invasion! Hell, he even fought the very same Sludge Villain that attacked him and Kacchan, and that was something even All Might failed to complete!
In general, he has the most combat experience out of everybody in his entire class, and that includes the prone to violence Kacchan!
“Yeah, you’re right.” With a new found resolve Izuku gazes up at the building in front of them, ready to take on this fight head on. “I can’t just roll over for him and give up right before we even start.” He raises his fists with purpose. “I don’t wanna lose… No, I won’t lose! Not to him!”
“That’s what I like to hear! Nothing like a spirited fight between rivals.”
“Uh uh, y-yeah! Sure…” Perhaps that statement has more merit to it than he would like to believe.
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All Might and the rest of Class 1-A find themselves in a large dark room filled with monitors each one displaying a different part of the building where the first battle trial is to take place.
Ochaco’s eyes never leave the screen that’s displaying Izuku and Shoji, she can’t hear anything, but she can tell that they’re discussing their game plan. And judging from the expression on Izuku’s face he’s dead serious about something. ‘I wonder what he’s planning.’
Tsuyu must be wondering the same thing. “How do you think this will go, kero?”
“I…don’t know.” replies Ochaco still not looking away from the screen.
Kaminari speaks up letting his opinion be heard. “I bet that Bakugou has this in the bag! He’s like crazy strong.”
His classmate who has odd round elbows responds. “Hm, I don’t know I think that Midoriya guy is going to surprise us.”
His name is Hanta Sero. He’s a tall, lean young man with black hair, and a wide straight toothed grin. His elbows have the shape of cylindrical tape dispensers.
His hero costume consists of a black, skin-tight bodysuit, with a white design on his mid-torso area, and two yellow trimmings. He wears white boots, lined with yellow, and a yellow helmet, shaped similarly to that of a tape dispenser which has a large black visor obscuring his face.
Mashirao Ojiro’s tail droops down with disappointment.
He’s a young man of a muscular build with short blond hair, swept to the front of his head. He has thin eyes and a long tail with a hairy tip.
Ojiro folds his arm together. “It’s kind of unfair, his Quirk is really amazing. I mean a Quirk that grants you access to even more Quirks has got to be impossible.”
If anyone was paying attention, they would have noticed All Might’s smile falter for a second.
A student with a crow-like head speaks in an ominous tone. “And yet such is the mystery of this world, we have witnessed it for ourselves.”
The student’s name is Fumikage Tokoyami and other than having a head of a black bird his body is that of a normal human.
His costume is rather simple too consisting of a black cloak that covers his entire body, only stopping halfway down his shins, and knee-high black boots.
Jiro looks to Yaoyorozu for her opinion. “What do you think?”
Jiro’s costume resembles that of a punk rocker: black leather jacket, long salmon-colored shirt with several rips at the collar and hem, black pants, and boots with stereos built into their shafts. She also has two small, triangular red paint marks just below her eyes, a plain black choker, and white fingerless gloves.
Yaoyorozu cups her chin observing the two teams on the screens. “I believe the one with the most strategic prowess will win.”
“I agree!” Chimes Iida.
That doesn’t answer Jiro’s question though. “So, who then would win?”
“Hm, I’m afraid I cannot say.” Yaoyorozu points at the first screen, which is displaying Bakugou’s terrifying grin for some reason. “From what I can tell Bakugou is far too violent, Kirishima seems a bit too straightforward, Shoji is a bit of an enigma to me, and Midoriya’s… Quirk is far too unpredictable.”
“So…it’s anybody’s game.”
All Might has to agree with the young woman’s last observation. ‘YES, HIS QUIRK IS…UNPREDICTABLE.’ Although from what he saw yesterday Izuku has about nine different Quirks but for some reason he’s got a time limit for how long he can use them. Curious. ‘I’LL BE WATCHING YOUNG MAN, BUT NOT OUT OF SUSPICION BUT AS YOUR TEACHER!’ Even so. ‘BUT WHO KNOWS MAYBE SOME THINGS WILL COME TO LIGHT DURING TODAY’S LESSON. AND HOPEFULLY I CAN FIND OUT IF MY SUSPICIONS ARE TRULY UNFOUNDED.’
All Might turns to address the class readying his own personal clipboard as to take notes and give scores. “WATCH CLOSELY AND TRY TO LEARN SOMETHING, EVERYONE!”
“Yes, sir!”
Ochaco cups grips her hands together. Hope resonates within her at the sight of Izuku’s determined expression. It’s obvious to anyone that knows Izuku and his relationship with Bakugou that there’s only one true goal on his mind. ‘Kick his ass, Deku!’
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“Infiltration is a success.” Izuku whispers out loud, pressing his back against the cold tiled wall scanning his current environment as he gently shuts the window behind him. ‘Lots of blind corners, I better be careful.’ The interior of the building seems to be comprised of narrow hallways leading to a number of doors, and evenly distributed across the outer walls are rows and rows of windows. In fact, most if not all the light in the building is thanks to the natural sunlight filtering through said windows.
He cautiously moves forward his eyes constantly scanning ahead and behind him. Maybe he shouldn’t have split up from Shoji having him here would probably help ease the tension.
The micro-transceiver in Izuku’s ear buzzes alerting him on an incoming message. He holds the micro-transceiver close as to not miss a word. On the other side is Shoji’s voice.
Izuku nods even though Shoji isn’t there to see it, he presses on the micro-transceiver so he could respond back. “Got it, keep to the plan and locate the bomb.”
He continues forward, no point in delaying the inevitable, and if his instincts are right…Bakugou will come for him.
His micro-transceivers buzzes with an alert.
Izuku instantly leaps backward and at the same time Bakugou leaps out from behind a corner. The mad bomber releases a booming explosion that destroys the spot Izuku was just occupying.
As rubble and dust cloud the hallway Izuku takes note of his lack of any visible damage. ‘He missed!’
“Nice dodging, Deku.” Bakugou has his hand lodged into the broken wall, a quick tug removes it from its confinement.
Izuku readies himself his instincts telling him to flee, but his heart…his spirit makes him hold his ground. “I knew you would come straight at me.”
“Did ya? Well, do you know what I’m going to do to you?” Bakugou releases a massive maniacal grin as he swings his right arm backwards readying one hell of an explosion. “I’ll mess you up so bad that they’ll have to stop the match!!”
Before he can fully swing his palm forward Izuku latches onto arm halting its movement and taking Bakugou by surprise.
With his opponent temporarily stunned Izuku spins around quickly.
‘What the?! Did he just read my moves?!’ Is the horrifying question in Bakugou’s mind as Izuku wrenches his body up and over himself.
“RAHHHH!!!” Izuku roars out in defiance as he slams his tormentor against the ground, hard.
“Urk…!!” The hit knocks the wind out of Bakugou, his eyes dazed over in disbelief, as if he just experienced something that should have never occurred not in a million years!
Izuku is breathing heavily, for a moment there pure adrenaline had taken over making his heart race faster than ever before. “Kacchan…you almost always lead with a big right hook. I’ve seen it…I’ve experienced it enough to know!” Izuku begins to straighten himself back up, as Bakugou props forward. Now time to drop the bomb on the literal living bomb. “You see, I’ve analyzed heroes I think are awesome…in that notebook of mine! The same one you blew up and chucked out the window!”
Bakugou reels back his head with a nasty scowl adorning his features. He can’t believe that shitty Deku had something like that written away in the piece of junk book!
From the monitor room All Might’s mind rewinds to the day he met the young man, specifically he remembers the contents of the boy’s notebook. Guess he now knows why the notebook was in such poor condition.
Izuku glares down at his long-time tormentor, ready to set things straight. “I’m not gonna be your worthless punching bag anymore! I’M THE DEKU THAT WILL ALWAYS DO HIS BEST!!!”
Just like Ochaco said, that what the name Deku should mean.
Bakugou snarls, he actually recognizes this side of Izuku. The side that either too stupid or too brave to backdown from him! The side of him that always gets in his way! “You spout that crap…all while scared out of your mind.” Bakugou roars like a monster that’s been released from its cage. “IT PISSES ME OFF!!!”
As both Izuku and Bakugou ready themselves the ash-blonde’s micro-transceiver receives a message.
“Yo, Bakugou! How’s it going man? Did you find them?”
“Shut up! I’m going to wreck this damned nerd!”
“Uh, okay? I guess…”
Meanwhile, a bored and oblivious Kirishima stretches his arms waiting patiently for someone to arrive. “Hmmm, I kinda wish one of them would get here.” His arms harden just before he clangs them together. “I really want to fight!”
Sorry, Kirishima you’ll just have to wait. Because it’s their turn to fight it out!
Bakugou launches himself forward much like he did during the Quirk Apprehension Test, but this time he only uses a single hand to do it. “Take this Deku!!” Bakugou aims a nasty kick at the side of Izuku’s head, who takes the kick at full force only using his arms to help disperse the blow.
*Zwip*
There’s something thin wrapping around Bakugou’s leg. Darting his head down he discovers what it is. ‘The capture tape?!’
Yup, Izuku isn’t dumb enough to not dodge such an obvious attack. Instead he’ll try to finish this as quickly as he can.
As he tries to bind it around his foe’s legs, he recalls the strategy he had written up in one of his older notebooks. But Bakugou’s movement is changing, sensing an oncoming attack, Izuku releases the tape before scrambling forward just narrowly avoiding being cooked alive.
Back at the monitor room, Ochaco is grinning widely. She really shouldn’t be surprised, Izuku has always been good at this kind of stuff, making plans on the fly. And with all the experience he’s gathered up to this point there’s no way he’s going to take any blast just sitting down.
‘So, the capture tape failed... Fine. Then it’s time to show everyone what I’m made of!!’ Izuku rises back up, his aim locked-on to Bakugou. “Like I said, Kac-Bakugou, I’m not going to be your punching bag anymore!!” It’s time for the big guns! By which, Izuku means the Omnitrix and an alien that’s more than capable to take on Bakugou.
The sudden change in how Izuku refers to him strikes an odd cord within him, but it’s easily wiped away.
Bakugou releases smoking explosions from his palms. “BRING IT ON!!! EVEN WITH A QUIRK I’LL STILL CRUSH YOU!!!” That’s enough talk, he charges forward just as Izuku slams down onto his watch’s faceplate!
The living nuke releases a giant explosion and this time his attack makes its mark. Izuku’s form is launched backward, crashing into the wall in a cloud of smoke and ash which completely conceal his condition!
“And it’s over…” Bakugou’s glare lightens, not a lot, but it’s clearly over to him. No way someone, especially Deku survived that. ‘This is how things should be, Deku. You’re nothing but a fucking pebble, a useless, Quirkless, waste of space.’ His mind replays every memory he has of Deku: from being weak, unskilled, meek, but most importantly…how defiant he’s been especially in more recent memories.
Whereas he, Bakugou, has been anything but what Deku is. He’s strong, he’s nowhere near useless, he’s skilled at everything, and he has the best Quirk! ‘Why can’t you understand that?! Why don’t you understand how much…’ He howls. “BETTER I AM THAN YOU!?!”
There is no response, and why should there be? Deku is down for the count.
Or is he?
Bakugou has no idea what hits him until it’s too late, from within the cloud of smoke a highly pressurized stream of water crashes into him pushing him backwards until he slams into the wall his form going limp as he drops to the floor.
Groaning Bakugou is left in shock and in disbelief of what just occurred.
“Sorry, to rain on your parade.” The smoke clears revealing Izuku’s condition. “But we’re just getting started.” Water Hazard makes a swipe with his hand clearing away the smoke; revealing his unscathed inhuman transformation.
Most of the class, including Bakugou have the same reaction. ‘Another form?! How many transformations does he have?!’
Bakugou pushes himself back up. He’s completely drenched but that does nothing to cool his raging hot temper. “You think a little water can stop me?!”
“I don’t know.” Water Hazard replies matter-of-factually as he raises his fists. “Let’s find out. Shall we?”
“Die!!” Shouting is Bakugou’s reply followed by a swift blast to the Orishan’s face. “Ha, got you!”
From within the smoke Water Hazard’s claw springs out latching onto Bakugou’s forehead. “I think you mean I got you!”
He slams Bakugou’s down, the back of his head smashes into the ground. “Gah!!” The room spins for a second and his vision temporarily blurry. ‘How did he withstand that?!’
He doesn’t have time to think because Water Hazard is towering over him ready to deliver one hell of a punch. Bakugou quickly rolls to the side avoiding his head getting smashed in by the powerful punch, it’s so strong in fact Water Hazard’s fist cracks the hard floor underneath.
“Rah!!” Bakugou unleashes a flurry of smaller blasts while Water Hazard is leaned forward, but not one seems to do any damage other than cover Izuku’s transformed body in soot. The only thing they seemed to have done was push the taller being back a bit. ‘What the hell is going on?!’
A powerful water stream to his chest sends the ash-blonde into the air. He expertly blasts himself away from the torrent and redirects himself back down at his foe with another well-timed explosion.
He’s coming way too quick for Water Hazard to dodge or block allowing Bakugou to deliver a strong axe kick that could break any of his opponents. Unfortunately, for him he isn’t fighting against any normal opponent.
The back of his foot strikes the top of Water Hazard’s hood-like shell and sure the force makes the alien slouch forward Water Hazard doesn’t actually feel any pain.
The same could not be said for his adversary. After delivering the kick Bakugou had enough acrobatics to leap back, but when he landed his foot instantly inflamed with pain. ‘God, damn, just how strong is that fucking shell?!’ Luckily, for him his foot doesn’t seem to be seriously injured probably because of his thick combat boots.
“My shell is too thick to crack.” Water Hazard knocks his hand onto his red hood-like shell. As Bakugou regains his composure and stands back up. “Fitting, because I won’t let you hurt me anymore.”
Bakugou does something that Water Hazard is not expecting; he smiles. “We’ll see about that, Deku!!” Bakugou raises his right hand keeping it outstretched in front of him; specifically, he has his grenade shaped gauntlet at the ready. “Guessing you know this from all your stalking, but the sweat glands on my palms secrete a nitroglycerine like liquid. That’s how I make my explosions.”
Being the Quirk nerd that he is the morphed Izuku can’t help but be a little curious. ‘What is he getting at?’
“Assuming they honored my design request,” Bakugou sticks a single finger into the pin of his grenade gauntlet. “This gauntlet’s been storing my sweat.”
Water Hazard instantly understands where things are going. He raises his own palms readying to counter with his own powerful attack.
All Might’s voice comes through the micro-transceiver. “YOUNG BAKUGOU. STOP THIS NOW! YOU’LL KILL HIM!!”
“He’ll be fine as long as it’s not a direct hit!!” And with a maddening look that should only be reserved for a villain, Bakugou pulls the pin.
The effect is almost immediate a powerful searing explosion booms outward like a beam of energy and charges straight for Bakugou’s potential burn victim.
With a deep breath, Water Hazard releases his own blast of torrential water.
The two opposing elemental beams collide head on with each other generating a powerful shockwave as they do, the shockwave demolishing the surrounding walls and floor, and the two forces ended up releasing a giant burst of steam that rushes through the entire building.
‘What. The. Hell?! I got jipped!!’ Bakugou is steaming mad! That attack was supposed to be way more powerful than that weak shit! The support company must have fucked up!!
No time to consider faulty gear he needs to find Deku and finish this. That’s easier said than done because the entire hallway has been encroached by a thick mist of steam; making it difficult to tell Deku’s position.
Typical Deku, he really shouldn’t be surprised that he’d pull such a wimpy ass move as to run and hide in this mist. “QUITE MOCKING ME!!!” His voice echoes through the hall. “Ever since we were kids!!” Ever since Deku tried to “help” him out of that stream. “YOU’VE BEEN LOOKING DOWN ON ME!!!”
A moment passes and there’s no sign of Deku, not a peep, or any movement.
Eventually Water Hazard’s voice echoes out from within the mist. “That’s not true… I never looked down on you.”
“Bullshit!! You’re doing it right now!!” Bakugou is hysterically darting his eyes around trying to pinpoint Izuku’s location.
“No…in truth I…always looked up to you. You’ve always been so amazing.” The tone shifts in Water Hazard’s voice. “And because of that… ” Like a ghost Water Hazard seemingly materializes out of the fog and behind the hysterical Bakugou. “I’M GONNA BEAT YOU, YOU IDIOT!!!”
Before Bakugou can even process what’s happening, Water Hazard delivers a fierce sucker punch into the side of the human’s face.
The single strike knocks Bakugou away; he crashes hard onto the ground groaning in pain. With a new found fury he leaps up to deliver a quick barrage of explosions, but they are smaller than what he’s expecting.
The Orishan counters with his own stream of water generating even more steam to add to the mist before he disappears back into the fog.
Bakugou pounces forward to where Deku should be but he just ends up kissing the wall.
“Having some performance issues, are we?”
Bakugou swings around attempting to backhand the annoying fuck, but there’s nothing “You did something didn’t you?!”
There’s a light chuckle before Water Hazard’s voice responds. “I did, but I thought you would have solved it by now.”
“Shut up and show yourself you coward!!”
“Haven’t you figured it out yet?”
“What?!”
“Why your Explosion Quirk is so…useless against me?”
Now that strikes a chord with the living nuke, turning his fury into a silent anger. As disbelief washes over him. “What…what the hell are you talking about?”
“As you stated before, you secret nitroglycerin from your palms, the root of your explosions. But do you know what happens when nitroglycerin mixes with water?”
Bakugou’s eyes widen with pure shock as the answer crosses his mind; it dissolves.
Water hazard must be able to make out Bakugou’s expression, probably because his species lives in such dark oceans. “That’s right, nitroglycerin is soluble to water.”
Basically, Izuku figured early on, it was actually one of his first Quirk analysis that he discovered this, that water and cold temperatures were Bakugou’s main weaknesses. So, by having Water Hazard constantly drenching Bakugou in water he knew the water would soak his palms and thus weaken his Explosion Quirk. That’s also why Bakugou’s grenade gauntlet was weaker than he thought it would be, although that was just an accidental bonus.
“You could have seen this coming, but why even consider that I had a brain? That was your mistake…Bakugou.” The mist is finally thin enough to make out what’s around them. “In other words…THIS MATCH IS MINE!!!”
There he is, Water Hazard has positioned himself at the end of the narrow hallway his arms poised behind him as his palms absorb the water vapor in the air. And with a plentiful water supply he is ready to finish this match once and for all.
The morphed Izuku fires out a highly pressurized stream of water onto the wall behind him. The force of the blasts are enough to rocket him forward just like how Bakugou uses his explosions.
Bakugou is absolutely stunned, Deku is using his moves against him! With actual fear in his eyes Bakugou scrambles to ready his other grenade gauntlet in an attempt to defend himself. “D-DEKU!!!” With no time to waste he pulls the pin unleashing a second long-range explosion.
With adrenaline rushing through his veins Water Hazard begins to spin generating a whirlpool like jetstream behind him making him spin faster and faster like a flying torpedo. “Improvised Special Attack: DEEP-SIX TORPEDO!!!”
The two special attacks collide but unlike last time, they are not evenly matched. The force and water generated by Water Hazard’s Deep-Six Torpedo completely overwhelms Bakugou’s explosion. Thanks to the combination of Water Hazard’s thick shell, spinning momentum, and gushing water he easily breaks through the fiery attack like an arrow piercing through paper.
Bakugou’s eyes flash with despair, disbelief, and confusion just before Water Hazard’s spinning form crashes right into him.
The powerful impact smashes both opponents right through the outer wall of the faux building, launching debris and rubble into the air as a tidal wave of water floods the street below.
Bakugou lays limp on the ground, his prone form lying atop a pile of rubble as water pools around him.
He moans in agony as his eyes shakily peer open, when his vision clears, he discovers an out of breath Water Hazard towering over him casting a shadow over his form.
“I win, Bakugou. I beat you.” And with that Izuku has won the match.
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“Holy. SHIT!!!” Class 1-A is in a complete uproar over the outcome of the first battle trial.
Tears of excitement leak out from Kaminari’s eyes. “He beat him, he really beat him!!”
“That was so epic!!” Proclaims Mina.
“It was absolutely dazzling.” Take a guess which student said this.
“Most impressive.” Concludes Tokoyami.
However, none of their reactions can compare to the bright relieved smile adorning Ochaco. ‘Way to go, Deku.’
While the class continues to praise Izuku’s efforts All Might is one of the few to not speak up. ‘I GUESS I WAS RIGHT, SOME THINGS DID COME TO LIGHT…’ Although it wasn’t what he was expecting, not at all.
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
With Bakugou clearly down for the count Water Hazard turns holding his aching arm as he limps away back to the building, he still has an exercise to complete and he’s already wasted too much time. Unfortunately, the impact of that last attack did more of a number on him than he thought it would. Then again, he wasn’t really thinking when he decided to go through with it, but he’s not going to argue with the results.
As he limps away Bakugou is left to fester in the aftermath of his defeat. ‘I…lost. I lost…to Deku. To fucken Deku?! Oh, hell no!!’ There’s no way he can expect this as the outcome! He’s supposed to be the best! The cream of the crop! The one that’s going to surpass All Might and become the Number One Hero in the entire world!! He will not lose to Deku no matter what!!
Bakugou’s entire body screams in pain as he shakily lifts himself off the ground, his eyes never leaving Water Hazard’s retreating form.
‘I’ll fucking kill you…’ He raises his palm readying one final blast. ‘YOU BASTARD!!!’
He never gets the chance as something large and muscular slams into him from behind. Several pairs of muscular arms wrap around him binding him in capture tape and all before he even hits the ground face first. A strong large hand presses down on his back keeping him there.
“You heard him, didn’t you?” Asks Shoji as he peers down at his defeated classmate. “It’s already over for you. There’s no point in resisting any longer.”
All Might’s voice rings out through the micro-transceivers. “BAKUGOU IS CAPTURED HE IS OUT FOR THE REST OF THE EXERCISE.”
Water Hazard turns around not at all surprised to see Shoji standing there pinning Bakugou down.
Shoji eyes his partner. “Make sure to use the capture tape before you decide to walk away next time.”
Water Hazard nods. “R-right.”
Bakugou struggles in his bonds, they’re not that tight, but what’s the point he’s not even allowed to continue any more. “Where the hell…did you come from?”
Shoji looks down deciding to indulge the faux villain. “I’ll tell you.”
##########(Flashback)#########
Back before the start of the match Izuku and Shoji continue to plan out how they’ll approach this exercise.
“Kacchan will come for me, I can guarantee it.”
“Alright, so I’ll sneak in and find the bomb while you distract him.”
Izuku shakes his head. “No.” He looks up but not to the target building but the ones standing next to it. “Like you said your Quirk is built more towards surveillance so let’s use that. If you climb up to these buildings instead you could peer into the windows and act as sort-of our eyes in the sky.”
Shoji understands what he’s getting at. “Oh, I see. I can not only locate the bomb, but I could also locate both Bakugou and Kirishima, and warn you when they’re nearby.”
Izuku grins at his partner. “Exactly.” His smile drops. “But could you let me fight Kacchan one on one first?” He has a faraway look in his eyes. “I…need to settle something between us.”
Shoji considers the options; he sighs when he comes to a conclusion. “Alright. I won’t interfere until after you’re done, but I will step in when things get out of hand.”
Izuku smiles gratefully. “Fair enough.”
########(End Flashback)#######
“When I saw that you were going to attack while Midoriya’s back was turned I figured that enough was enough.” He actually used his limbs as makeshift wings to glide his way down, thanks to a genius suggestion from Midoriya.
Bakugou glances between the crustacean and octopus. His mind still unable to process how he could have lost to Deku of all people.
Confident that he won’t do anything, Shoji releases Bakugou before approaching his now taller than him partner. “Shall we finish this? I did locate Kirishima and the bomb a while ago.”
Water Hazard nods. “Sure.”
The two enter the target building leaving behind the distraught Bakugou to fester in his grueling failure.
He remains there for several minutes, his mind constantly questioning and replaying everything that’s occurred. From Deku having a Quirk that he’s been hiding all this time. To what he said to him after they were both accepted into the Hero Course. To how he had the gull to spout in his face during their fight. And even to how seemingly weak Deku was back when they were just mere children.
“It…just…doesn’t make sense.” Bakugou whispers mostly to himself. “Is Deku…stronger than me? That…just can’t be possible.”
And yet he lost to Deku. Deku was able to predict his every move. Deku was able to pinpoint an actual flaw in his Explosion Quirk. Deku was the one to humiliate him in front of the entire class. Deku was the one he lost to.
And if it wasn’t clear to him then it sure is now as All Might’s rings through the micro-transceiver one last time. “THE BOMB HAS BEEN SECURED.”
‘No! Then that means…’
“THE HERO TEAM WINS!!!”
Notes:
And that was “Ch.12 Boiling Point” please leave a review and tell me what you think. How was the battle between Izuku and Bakugou? How were my depictions of the rest of the class? Please let me know what you enjoyed about “Ch.12 Boiling Point”.
*Ch.13 will continue All Might’s Battle Trial class but it’ll focus in on Ochaco’s match as well as the rest of the students’.
*I'll also show Kirishima's stance against Izuku and Shoji at the start of the next chapter.
*I was originally going to have Izuku paired up with Ochaco like in the manga/anime but that would have made the chapter way too long and I would have had to split between two separate fights. And I rather Izuku and Ochaco both get time to develop so I switched around some of the teams.
*Water Hazard’s special attack was originally going to be called “Aqua Comet” but one of my “editors” suggested “Deep-Six Torpedo” instead and I honestly like it better. Reason being is that "deep-six" comes from the Navy's description of something that is thrown overboard at or greater than 6 fathoms in depth which would difficult, if not impossible, to recover. Essentially, if this special attack makes contact without any interference it shouldn't allow anyone who has been hit by it a chance to recover. But since Bakugou was able to counter the attack this was not the case, plus the attack has some major recoil for the user.
Chapter 13: Cool Down
Summary:
It's Ochaco Uraraka and Mina Ashido vs. Shoto Todoroki and Hanta Sero. How will our fair maidens match up against their opponents, especially one that is a recommended student?
Notes:
Sorry I’m late with this chapter, my schedule got super busy so much so I’d get home exhausted and would have little energy to work on this. But I tried my best to work on it as much as I could. That said I do feel like this is somewhat of a weaker chapter so if somethings feel off, I apologize, that’s what happens when you make so much progress then stop and then continue on later the next day. Like I said, I tried my best and I hope you still get something out of this. I’ll be back to a normal schedule soon so hopefully Ch.14 will get here faster than how long it took to get Ch.13 here.
*I just want to state that I do read the manga and I do keep up with it. That said I will try to avoid manga spoilers for the most part and if there are spoilers than I will be sure to warn you. (There are no spoilers for this chapter by the way I just wanted to let you know).
*I also want to state that I have officially completed a full plan on how, when, and where each Ben Ten alien will be added to Izuku’s Omnitrix. As the story continues his arsenal will grow and grow, just some aliens will take longer to get here than others, so if there’s a specific alien you are dying to see then please be patient with me. I promise that they will eventually make their way into the story. Thank you for understanding.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
“BAKUGOU IS CAPTURED HE IS OUT FOR THE REST OF THE EXERCISE.”
“Seriously?!” Kirishima gaps in surprise. “Shit after all that shaking and weird mist he up and loses?!” He cups his chin. “I wonder what happened…” A single tear escapes his eye as he balls his fist in frustration. “I bet it was a super manly fight!! Ahhhh!! I can't believe I missed it!”
He takes a breath deciding now’s not the time to worry about that. “Fine then.” His arms harden before he slams his knuckles together. “Then it’s all up to me! Bring it on fellas I’m ready for ya!”
Kirishima grins in excitement; he is really gearing up for a fight and one that will no doubt get his blood pumping and his spirit roaring. He’ll defend the bomb until time runs out and he’ll win it all for his team!
With him positioned in front of the fake bomb furthest from the entrance way, now that’s left for him to do is to wait for Team A to show themselves. And it looks like he doesn’t have to wait long.
At the opposite end of the large pillared room the door handle jiggles slightly. Kirishima’s entire body hardens up, his arms becoming edged as he straightens them up like blunt blades.
The doorknob stops moving as the door creaks open just a crack. The red-haired faux villain doesn’t see any apparent movement although he is rather a fair distance away.
Nothing occurs for a few painstaking seconds that feel like they’re dragging on for hours, nothing but silence across the entire building only the sound of Kirishima’s own beating heart keeps him aware as the anticipation grows.
And just when it seems the wait has become unbearably painful, suddenly, just like that everything is in an uproar.
Shoji bursts through the door, smashing it to pieces, as a stream of water propels him forward like a bullet flying at its target.
He’s moving way too fast, Kirishima doesn’t have enough time to defend himself as Shoji crosses the width of the room in less than a second thanks to the mysterious geyser of water rocketing him forward.
The multi-limbed hero slams into Kirishima grappling him to the ground.
“Urk!” Kirishima flails in his muscular binds, his arms pressed against his chest. “Grr, it’s not over yet!”
If Shoji wasn’t wearing his mask Kirishima would have noticed him smirking (assuming that there is a mouth underneath). “Yes, it is.”
“Huh?”
That’s when he notices it…not all of Shoji’s arms are being used to bind him. His upper right arm is extended upward, following his arm upward Kirishima is in for another surprise. Out of Shoji’s hand is a second arm, and at the end of that second arm is a firm hand tagging the bomb. Kirishima gasps. “Oh, no!!”
All Might’s voice rings through the micro-transceiver one last time. “THE BOMB HAS BEEN SECURED. THE HERO TEAM WINS!!!”
Kirishima deactivates his hardened skin. “Ah, man!! I really wanted to show off what I can do!”
An unrecognizable voice, at least to Kirishima, calls out from the hallway. “Sorry, that’s my bad.”
A slightly limping Water Hazard enters through the doorway as water drips from its frame. Even though he’s on his feet he’s a little worse for wear, besides the limp his right arm is aching, and his frame is slightly singed probably due to Bakugou’s last attempt at victory.
“Midoriya?”
Water Hazard nods, confirming his identity. “Yeah, anyway, I just…wanted to get this over with.” He’s way more exhausted than he had first thought.
Shoji releases Kirishima, he even provides a helping hand to get the red-head back on his feet. “I wouldn’t let this get to you. In all honesty you just got the shortstraw when it came to partners today.”
Kirishima is oblivious to Shoji’s comment. “What…what do you mean?”
Neither Shoji nor Water Hazard have the heart to tell him figuring it might be better if he wasn’t made aware.
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After a quick message from All Might to head to the monitor room, Team A and Team D have rejoined their classmates. Except for a disturbingly silent Bakugou who was carried away on a stretcher by Mini Conveyor-Bots.
“WELL DONE EVERYONE!” Greets All Might. “WAY TO START THIS CLASS OFF WITH A BANG! IT WAS EXCELLENT!”
An embarrassed Izuku shyly rubs the back of his head while Shoji seems indifferent to the praise, and Kirishima seems depressed about missing out on all the action.
A round of cheers and praise erupt from class making Izuku’s cheeks blush.
Ochaco’s cheer is the loudest among the crowd. “Way to go Deku!” She runs up to him pumping her arms into the air. “That was so cool!”
“U-uh, t-thanks!” Izuku’s entire face turns bright red so red that Shoji eyes him with concern.
From the side Jiro can’t help but chuckle at the sight of Izuku’s red face because it reminds her of a tomato. “He’s not so confident when he’s back to normal is he?”
A muscular guy with big lips replies. “Maybe it’s a side effect or something.”
Rikido Sato is a very muscular young man with a wide build. His brown hair is short and spiked upwards away from his head. He has very full lips which are slightly darker in color than the rest of his skin, and a notably large, round nose.
His costume consists of a yellow full-body suit, covering the entirety of his body, the only exceptions being the holes around his mouth, eyes, and hair. He wears white gloves and boots, and a utility belt around his waist.
As Ochaco continues to praise the blushing greenette she finally takes note of Izuku’s condition.
Ochaco gasps in concern. “Deku, are you okay?! You’re all burnt up!”
He really is; he looks like he just came from a disaster of a cookout. He’s covered in soot from head to toe. His hair is somehow even messier and darker than usual thanks to all the ash; heck some of the ends of his are even smoking. Should they be considered about that?
And the same could be said for his costume! Hell, it’s in even worse condition not only is it covered in ash and dust, but it's torn and covered in burn marks. Not even his hood survived the battle.
Izuku is already aware of all of this. “I-I’m all good. Promise.”
“You sure?”
“Yeah, just some minor burns and scrapes nothing too serious.” All things considered he’s used to it, after all, being Bakugou’s personal victim for the last decade will do that to you. At least now he actually stood up for himself, so now the burns aren’t so much a reminder of how weak he is, but badges of honor that are proof that he overcame Bakugou.
As for his leg and arm…they aren’t as bad as they seem. At least that’s what he tells himself, he really doesn’t want to give All Might a reason to send him away. He’d rather not miss out on everyone else’s matches.
Although there is a reason to be concerned: it appears the damage received while in alien form transfers over to his regular human form. And in this case although Water Hazard’s shell protected him from most of the physical damage and pain, his shell still took the brunt of Bakugou’s explosions and thus the damage caused by the flames carried over to his costume. Wait, what happens to his clothes when he transforms? Do they transform with him? Do they get sent to a pocket dimension or something? Guess it’s just another mystery to add to the enigma that is the Omnitrix.
Mina rushes up as well practically leaping onto Ochaco and bouncing off of her. “That was amazing! Hey, what was with that fire-hydrant transformation?”
“Oh, i-it was, I-I call it-him Water Hazard.” Izuku assumes that’s what she’s talking about. “In that form I can launch pressurized blasts of water through the portholes in my hands. As well as absorb moisture from the air through the same portholes. Water Hazard’s armored exoskeleton protects my body from most physical damage although it’s clear to me now that he has a slight vulnerability to heat attacks, ironically. Water Hazard also has a bit of enhanced strength and-”
The class backs away, feeling just a little bit disturbed by their classmate’s unnatural muttering. “Creepy.”
“O-ops. Sorry!”
As Izuku suffers from the traumatic embarrassment, Ochaco laughs awkwardly at his side.
While the rest of the class continue to awe in the aftermath of the first match, All Might’s thoughts wonder to what he overheard over the microphones that are strewn about the building during the battle.
‘WELL THAT MATCH CERTAINLY REVEALED QUITE A FEW THINGS, ALTHOUGH NONE OF IT WAS EXACTLY EXPECTED.’ Even though he read that both Bakugou and Midoriya are from the same middle school, he never expected that they had such a…troubled relationship. Although relationship probably isn’t the right word.
His mind wanders to the ash-blond boy that got hauled away to the infirmary. ‘YOUNG BAKUGOU FROM WHAT I SAW YOUR EGO IS FAR TOO INFLATED FOR YOUR OWN GOOD. TAKE HEART, HOPEFULLY TODAY HAS TAUGHT YOU A VALUABLE LESSON.’
It’s just as Thirteen said he has to consider each student’s feelings and circumstances in order to better understand them and to better lead them onto the path of becoming heroes.
Speaking of which it’s time to continue their education. “YES, YES, MIDORIYA HAD A GREAT SHOWING OUT THERE, BUT LET US BREAK DOWN THE MATCH EVEN FURTHER! FOR STARTERS I NAME THE V.I.P. OF THIS MATCH AS SHOJI!!”
Everyone stares at All Might like he grew a second head. “...Huh?”
Tsuyu holds a finger to her chin. “Not Midoriya? Even though he did most of the fighting?”
“EXCELLENT POINT! DOES ANYONE CARE TO GUESS WHY?!”
“I do.” Yaoyorozu’s hand shoots up at attention. “It’s because Shoji was the most adapt to the scenario.”
Without any indication to stop speaking, she explains her reasoning. “From what I saw, Bakugou’s every action was motivated by an obvious personal grudge: from charging head first into a fight to rejecting help from his teammate. And his destructive attack indoors was extremely foolish. Such destructive power is counterintuitive both as a hero and in this case as a villain. It went completely against the objective of the exercise.”
If his powerful last attack was any more destructive there could have been a chance that he'd destroy the bomb; such an attack would be unthinkable if the nuclear weapon was real.
Yaoyorozu moves on to the other combatant of the battle. “The same can be said for Midoriya’s performance. He too upright abandoned the main goal of the exercise to pursue a fight with Bakugou.”
Izuku winces. ‘She’s right, she’s absolutely right. Honestly, I totally disregarded the exercise and my attacks…especially since Deep-Six Torpedo was far too destructive for indoor use. I need to keep that in mind, I definitely don’t want to cause unnecessary destruction.’ Yeah, could you imagine? An Omnitrix wielder causing unwarranted destruction wherever they went? Ridiculous!
“As for Kirishima… He was too complacent: he allowed Bakugou to face the enemy alone, and then he did no prep work for Team A’s arrival. And thus, was completely overwhelmed.”
Kirishima grimaces in anguish. “Why don’t you tell me how you really feel?”
Yaoyorozu frowns trying not to react to Kirishima’s reaction. “But as for Shoji he cooperated with his teammate even though Midoriya was pursuing a personal goal, he made fine use of the surrounding area to scout out and pinpoint the enemy and the bomb. He’s proven himself well as not only a supporting role but as a key player in any given scenario.” He did an amazing job as a surveillance and a scout, as well as when he was used as a living cannon ball. “He was the only one to remain focused on the task at hand even saving Midoriya from an attack more than once.”
He did warn Midoriya about Bakugou’s sneak attack and not to mention he saved him when Bakugou tried to attack him from behind.
“The hero team won, not because of Midoriya’s fighting abilities but because Shoji’s adaptability to the situation at hand.”
A harsh silence befalls the class. Even All Might is a little put off by the overwhelming explanation.
‘SHE SAID IT BETTER THAN I COULD!! HELL, I HAVE NOTHING TO EVEN ADD TO THAT…’ With a shaky smile All Might gives her a big thumbs up. “Y-YES…YOU’RE CORRECT…!”
Yaoyorozu stands proud with her hands on her hips. “Hmph. We’ve got to start at the bottom and work up! And if we don’t earnestly cheer each other on. We’ll never be top heroes!”
‘WELL, SHE CERTAINLY EARNED THAT NUMBER 1 RECOMMENDED SPOT AMONGST THE FIRST YEARS.’ All Might swings his arm drawing in everyone's attention. “ALRIGHT, LET’S KEEP THIS MOMENTUM GOING AND GET ON WITH OUR SECOND PAIRS THAT WILL DUKE IT OUT!! SAY IT WITH ME NOW! GO BEYOND!!” The entire class joins All Might in one mighty cheer. “PLUS ULTRA!!!”
Next up is Team E: Yuga Aoyama and Tenya Iida as the heroes.
Iida waves his arm about stiffly. “Aoyama, Let’s give this all we got!”
Aoyama nods swerving around to show off his glittering cape. “Yes, we will show everyone our style and flare.”
And the villains will be Team I: Mashirao Ojiro and Toru Hagakure.
“I’m going all-out, Ojiro. The gloves and boots are coming off.” Hagakure proceeds to remove said gloves and boot.
“Y-yeah cool…” The plain-looking boy averts his gaze in an attempt to preserve his innocence and Hagakure’s purity. ‘Hagakure is using her Quirk to our advantage, but it’s kind of weird to know that there’s a naked girl standing by me… What exactly am I supposed to do here…?’
Hagakure must have realized this as well. “Ahah, Just don’t look okay.”
“What’s the difference?”
The rest of Class 1-A remain in the monitor room watching the two teams prepare from the screens.
Sato eyes the screens. “Who do you think is going to win?”
Sero leans back a bit with his hands at his sides. “Hm, I think Iida.”
Mina is quick to refute. “Nah, I bet it’s Hagakure she can just sneak right up on them.”
Ochaco looks to see if Izuku has a guess. “What do you think De…ku?”
Her voice trails off as she’s drowned out by Izuku’s own muttering aided by the sound of a scribbling pencil. “Aoyama definitely has the advantage since he’s the only one that can attack from long range. But then again from what I’ve seen he can’t fire repeated shots for too long without repercussions. As for Iida he’s without a doubt the fastest but Ojiro seems to know how to put up a fight thanks to his clear martial arts background so he may just be able to counter Iida’s attacks. I think the real one to look out for is ironically Hagakure since no one participating has any sensory type Quirks she can easily sneak up on any of them and take them out. There’s also the fact that-”
Jiro deadpans. “Does he have a mute button or something?”
“Ah?!” Izuku nearly drops his pencil in surprise.
While Izuku tries to compose himself and hide his embarrassment Yaoyorozu thinks about what he had to say. “Midoriya brings up some very good points. Ultimately the ones that are able to pull off the best teamwork will win.”
And without any further ado All Might begins the second battle trial.
And sure, enough both Izuku and Yaoyorozu were right about how the match would go. After Iida and Aoyama snuck into the building, Hagakure snuck up behind them and managed to bind Aoyama’s hands while he was busy posing with his hands over his head.
He was quickly declared captured and thus out of the battle.
Iida was swift to retaliate, since he was standing directly in front of his partner, he can only assume that Hagakure is positioned right behind Aoyama since she’d have to be close enough to cuff him. So, with a quick shove to move Aoyama out of the way he delivers a swift kick that crashes into Hagakure. Looks like his hunch was correct and the kick slams Hagakure against the wall. Hagakure shoves herself off the wall to try and get away as to prepare another sneak attack, but it appears Iida was ready for that. He takes his capture tape and runs through the hallway and right past the invisible girl. When he feels a tug on the tape, he knows that it’s snared her, so he expertly turns around and sprints in the opposite direction until the tape bends and he knows for sure where his target is. With a quick run around he has Hagakure bound with capture tape taking her out of the match as well.
It’s at this point that Izuku becomes aware that no one else can hear what the combatants are saying to each other. Because it looks like Iida is apologizing, possibly for attacking a woman.
After of which, Iida moves on to continue his search for the fake bomb and for the last faux villain.
He is of course fast at tracking down the bomb and by extension Ojiro. The tailed-teen actually tries to ambush Iida with a tail slap from above, he was hanging from the ceiling just above the door. The strike lands knocking away Iida’s helmet, but it doesn’t seem to faze the speedster because the very next second, he spins around landing a strong kick to Ojiro’s side. The hit knocks the tailed-boy away allowing Iida just enough time to speed away and grab the bomb; winning the entire match for the hero team!
The two teams rejoin the class where once again Yaoyorozu is quick to praise Iida for being the V.I.P. of the match. And this is the general trend for the rest of the battles.
Next up are Team H: Fumikage Tokoyami and Tsuyu Asui vs. Team F: Rikido Sato and Koji Koda.
Koda is wide with a muscular build with peach-colored skin. His head is like that of a rock, which is unevenly shaped, and he has a square-shaped jaw. His hero costume is a tight yellow suit with large red markings over his torso and sleeves. On his chest there’s a symbol resembling an open mouth.
The match goes in Team H’s favor, but not at first. They were actually attacked by a horde of rats and pigeons brought on by Koda’s Quirk. Tokoyami’s Dark Shadow easily dispeled the swarm while Tsuyu calmly and expertly leaped around the wide hallway to avoid the pests. Eventually the duo arrived at the bomb, where they clashed with Team F. Sato’s Sugar Rush looked to be strong enough to repel Dark Shadow for a time, but Tsuyu’s Frog Quirk allowed her to achieve victory. Combined with her great jumping skills, acrobatics, and long tongue she swiftly claimed the bomb bringing an end to the battle.
The following match consisted of Team G: Denki Kaminari and Kyoka Jiro vs. Team C: Momo Yaoyorozu and Minoru Mineta. And despite Team G’s best efforts it was actually Team C that pulled away with the victory. Although it was mainly thanks to Yaoyorozu’s competence and Kaminari’s lack thereof. After Jiro used her earphone jacks to locate Team G the electric teen tried to electrify them, but thanks to Yaoyorozu preparedness the dumbass ended up frying his own brain making it very easy to capture him. After that it was a simple matter for Mineta to glue Jiro in place and Yaoyorozu to launch a net at her, and thus winning the match for the villain team.
While the class waits for the four to return Mina excitedly jogs over to Ochaco. “It looks like we’re up next.”
Ochaco smiles nervously while nodding her head. “Hm hmph.”
“So, who are we facing?”
Izuku, who is standing next to Ochaco, points across the room without looking up from his notebook. “Them.”
Mina and Ochaco follow his finger and it leads them to Team B’s Sero and his teammate, Shoto Todoroki.
Todoroki is well-built for his age with dual-colored hair that’s evenly split between two colors: white on his right-side and crimson red on his left. His eyes also possess heterochromia iridium: the left eye’s iris is turquoise, and his right is a dark gray. The other standout feature is the large burn scar on the left side of his face. Although they cannot see it thanks to the ice like material shrouding the left side of his body.
That last part might actually be a piece of his hero costume: it’s a plain off-white shirt with matching pants and boots. As for the material resembling ice, it not only covers his entire left half of his body, but a single red lens covers his left eye. It really enhances his intimidation factor.
Said glowing red eye seems to trail towards Mina and Ochaco as if he can sense them watching him.
Mina holds her hands up. “We…may be in trouble.”
“No kidding!” If the gravity girl wasn’t nervous before she sure is now. ‘But I can’t afford to get nervous. Not now.’ Her fist balls up at her side. “Hey Deku.”
“Yeah?” He refuses to lift his head up and away from his journal.
“Do you have any info on Team B?”
Now that makes him think. Izuku actually stops writing as to skim through his notebook until he finds what he’s looking for. “Hmmm, I have a few notes from what I saw yesterday. I think Sero can shoot out tape from his elbows and Todoroki…”
“Can create ice. Yeah, that part was obvious.” Not going to lie, she was kind of hoping for something more. “Do you have anything else?”
“Um, no. Sorry.” He’s actually disappointed in himself for not knowing more.
Ochaco sighs in defeat. ‘Well that’s no good. We have little to no intel on them and I can’t use One For All properly. And wasn’t Todoroki one of the Recommended students?! Ah, we’re so screwed!!’ She shakes her head of those bad thoughts. ‘Come on Ochaco! If I accept defeat now, then will surely lose!’
Izuku’s instincts tell him that something is bothering her. “Is something else the matter?”
Ochaco blinks having been caught off guard by the question, at first, she is unsure on how to answer before deciding to let Izuku hear her out. “Yeah, it’s about my…Quirk. I’m still having trouble controlling it and summoning it for that matter.” She rubs the back of her head and pushes her hair up exposing her neck and ears. “It’s kind of frustrating you know. I mean you have no trouble using your…transformations’ powers considering you’re… you know.”
Yeah, he knows. He’s Quirkless.
“Why is that exactly?” She means, why is Izuku seemingly so good at using his aliens’ powers?
Izuku thinks on it for a minute. “Hmmm, I never really thought about it, I guess…I just let it go, you know.”
Ochaco deadpanned look says it all. “No, I don’t.”
“What I mean is…I don’t force those powers out I just let them…loose. It’s like a dam, I just open the gates and let the water flow.”
“Let, the water flow?” Ochaco shudders worried about what that could mean for her. “Not sure if I can really do that without getting seriously injured.”
“Yeah, well to be fair my transformations are evolved around their powers, so they are much more adapted to use them naturally.”
“Makes sense.”
A loud overly excited and bubbly voice cuts itself into their conversation. “What ya talking about?!” Mina demands with a happy-go-lucky smile on her face.
Both teens freeze in place, looking like they were just caught committing a crime. “Nothing!!”
“Oh, really?” Mina asks teasingly, leaning in with a mischievous and knowing smirk. “You sure it wasn’t anything a little more intimate?”
Both teen’s faces turn several shades of red.
Ochaco flails her hands about as if she can bat this problem away. “No no no no no!”
Izuku’s reaction is just as bad. “W-we, we w-ere j-just t-talking strategy, right?!”
“Y-yeah, a-absolutely!”
Mina can’t help but laugh at their reactions.
All Might observes the trio from afar. ‘DO YOUR BEST YOUNG URARAKA. AS YOUR TEACHER I CANNOT SHOW FAVORITISM, BUT JUST KNOW THAT I WISH YOU THE BEST DURING THIS EXERCISE. GIVE IT ALL YOU GOT!’ All Might turns to face the class just as Teams G and C arrive back at the monitor room. “ALRIGHT YOU NEWBIES!!” Now that grabs their attention. “LET’S GET STARTED SHALL WE? THE FINAL MATCH IS ON IT’S WAY!!”
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The final match, it’s Team J: Ochaco Uraraka and Mina Ashido vs. Team B: Shoto Todoroki and Hanta Sero! Just which one of these teams will come out on top?
Ochaco scans the building schematics, the building they’re entering is a 15-story office building with a surprisingly small number of windows, and only one main entrance.
Ochaco eyes the building, her heart pounding with anticipation for what lies ahead. ‘I have so much more work to do. Not only do I have to work on One For All but also my own Zero-Gravity Quirk. This will be the perfect testing ground; I'll do my best to take everything I’ve learned up to this point and make it into reality.’
Mina puts down her copy of the blueprints after noticing how intense Ochaco seems to be. “You look so serious. Are you alright?”
“Yeah. I’m just ready to get started.”
Now that puts a smile on the pink girl’s face. “Then let’s show these boys what we’re made of!” She shoots her fist into the air. “Team Pink is on the case!”
“Hehe, yeah!” She’s still not so sure about that team name…Team Astro was probably the better choice. Although both are still more on point than anyone would realize.
“Okay, partner here’s the plan!” Mina jabs a finger at the towering building as if it itself is their opponent. “We go in there guns blazing, take them out, and win this whole thing!”
Ochaco unceremoniously falls over. “That’s your plan?!”
“Well, do you have anything better?”
“Not really…”
“Then we go with my plan.”
Ochaco slouches over in defeat. “Sure, I guess.”
Maybe she should have asked Deku for a plan before she left. He is good at this kind of stuff after all. Oh well, she’s just going to have to think on her feet for this one. ‘No problem, I mean how strong could these guys really be?’
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Meanwhile inside the 15-story building, Team B is stationed in a wide room with a low ceiling no windows, and a lot of concrete pillars. There appears to be only one entrance, which is perfect for them since in the center of the room is the fake nuke that they are assigned to protect.
Todoroki speaks out his tone as cold as the ice he wields. “Listen to me.”
Sero continues stretching his arms while Todoroki stands a few feet ahead of him with his back towards the nuke. “Huh, what was that?”
“Use your tape to lift yourself off the ground.”
“Um, sure.” Sero aims his elbow up and fires a single strand of tape onto the ceiling before he reels himself up into the air like a fishing line. “But why?”
Before Todoroki could answer, assuming he was going to, All Might’s voice booms through their micro-transceivers. “OKAY, THE FINAL MATCH OF THE BATTLE TRIAL BEGINS NOW!!”
Todoroki inhales and as he exhales a wave of ice rushes forward like a crawling wave freezing the entire room. His power doesn’t stop there as the ice rushes outward until it floods into the hallways and through the windows of the building until the entire 15-story building is suddenly a tower of ice. Every square inch is covered with solid ice, glaciers gauged their way through the windows curving up like horns, an ice wall blocks the entrance, and the surrounding air around the building is so cold that there are pockets of snowfall in and around the pillars of ice.
Everyone, as in Class 1-A, watch in shock and awe at the sight. ‘Just how powerful is this guy?!’
There are pieces of frost clinging to Sero’s body and costume as he dangles in the air on a frozen piece of tape. “S-s-s-so c-c-c-cold.”
Todoroki doesn’t even pause to take in his handiwork or to even apologize to his partner before he makes his way to the exit, the ice cracking under the weight of his boots. “Let’s go.”
“R-r-right.”
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“I’m freezing!” Mina cries as she presses her hand against another ice wall, melting it with her acid until it becomes so weak that it finally shatters into pieces, then Ochaco releases her Zero Gravity and the ice falls to the ground. “I can’t believe he made a freakin’ ice castle!” She grabs at her arms rubbing them in an attempt to warm up. “It’s so cold!”
“Ice castle?” Ochaco thinks back to how the building looked to her before they entered. ‘Huh, it does kinda look like that.’
Their progress has not exactly been efficient, thanks to Todoroki’s ice he not only made an ice castle, but every entrance was blocked off by ice walls, and nearly every hallway entrance is blocked by walls of ice as well.
And so far, they haven’t even made it to the third floor without arriving at an eighth ice wall. To break through Ochaco would use Zero-Gravity to release the pressure and strength of the ice and then with Mina’s Acid to melt it; it becomes easy enough for them to break through.
Ochaco would then make herself weightless and hold on to Mina’s shoulders while the pink girl skates across the ice using her acid to slip and slide their way through, but they never seem to make it far before another barrier blocks their way. Plus, the cold is really getting to them considering that neither of their costumes are geared to handle such frigid temperatures.
After each ice wall Ochaco silently thinks to herself that she wishes she could properly use One For All then she could just smash her way through each ice wall without having to stop. Then again that would probably give away their location way too soon.
“This is so annoying!” Complains Mina as they arrive at another ice wall.
Ochaco gently falls back to the ground. “There’s not much else we can do.” They do need to step it up though at this rate they’re going to run out of time before they even encounter Todoroki and Sero. “Besides I don’t think we need to worry too much, at least for now, I bet those two are guarding the bomb hoping the ice slows us down enough for time to run out.”
“Yeah, maybe, but I’m not so sure.” Mina’s horn twitch slightly like ears that have picked up on something in the distance.
Ochaco presses a hand to the ice the tips of her fingers glow pink as her Quirk activates.
The alarm bells are practically roaring in Mina’s head as she watches the ice lose its strength. “Wait, no!”
With no warning, Sero’s body crashes through the weakened ice like a maniac breaking through a window. With proficient acrobatics he whips out two tape whips that lash out at his sides.
One of the tape whips wraps around Ochaco while the other whips past Mina’s head, luckily, she leaned back with excellent flexibility and reaction time that she avoided capture.
The tape binds Ochaco’s arms to her sides before she’s hoisted into the air and she’s left dangling there.
From behind his helmet Sero’s grin widens. “You know I’ve always sort of dreamed of having a girl all tied up, but I never thought it would happen so soon.”
Mina rushes in spraying acid at the tape. “Don’t be a pervert!” The acid dissolves the tape holding Ochaco up. It snaps before she falls to the cold floor. “You alright, Uraraka?”
“Y-yeah, I’m fine.” Ochaco rips away the last of the tape as she squats up on one knee. ‘The same can’t be said for my dignity though.’ A shiver runs down her spine almost like she can sense that Mineta was getting off on that.
“You sure are.” Sero comments cockingly as he backs away putting a good distance between himself and his opponents; he’d rather not get involved in a two on one fight.
But it doesn’t seem like he’ll be alone for long as the sound of boots breaking ice approaches. Todoroki rounds the corner his glowing red-lens pierces through the dark cold air. With absolutely no sense of urgency he walks past Sero. “Don’t get cocky. If you had gotten them both this would be over all ready.”
“Come on man, you shouldn’t be so cold towards your teammate.”
Ignoring him, Todoroki eventually stops a few feet ahead of him. He leans his right side forward readying an attack.
Mina instantly picks up on his hostile intent, her horns twitching in response. “We have to move!!” She grabs Ochaco’s arm and begins to sprint towards the end of the hall where the frozen door leading to the staircase lies.
Ochaco stumbles at first but she quickly gains her footing as she runs at Mina’s side.
With a deep exhale Todoroki unleashes an ice blast, the ice rushes towards them like a giant lance.
Ochaco gazes back with horror in her eye, the ice is nearly upon them. If it hits this match is over before they could even get started.
As if on instinct, Ochaco whips her arm out of Mina’s grip, spinning around to face the oncoming attack of frozen water.
Her left-hand glows pink as an aura illuminates around it. ‘It’s like Deku said I just need to let it go!’ She swings her fist towards the oncoming wave. “Smash!!” Just as the ice is upon both her and Mina, she thrusts her fist forward and a powerful gale of pressurized wind smashes right through the ice.
The strike is so strong that the ice is not only obliterated but everything is launched right back at its creator. As well as tears away Ochaco’s sleeve but somehow her arm brace survives although it’s partially dented.
Todoroki is more than surprised, his eyes widening in shock, thankfully he reacts fast enough to create a barrier for him and Sero to hide behind as a whirlwind of broken ice and rubble blast right past them.
Mina gaps in awe at the sight before her.
Ochaco stands in the middle of the narrow hallway her bleeding fist and bare arm are stretched out in front of her towards an open passage with a long stretching crater that reaches to Team B’s shield.
Ochaco is breathing heavily as she drops her hand, her heart is racing, she begins to move quickly grabbing Mina’s hand before she body checks the door leading into a staircase. With no time to waste she drags her partner up the staircase sprinting as fast as she can.
Mina struggles to keep pace as she’s pulled behind her partner. “What was that?!”
Ochaco doesn’t respond, instead she leaps through the fifth floor’s doorway and begins sprinting her way through searching for the next staircase.
Todoroki peers out from his barrier, he doesn’t see either Mina nor Ochaco the only sign of them is the large stretching crater, and the smashed in door at the end of the hall. He glares at the doorway knowing full well that those two are heading straight for the bomb. The air around him seemingly becomes even colder than it was before, producing a soft mist from his left side.
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Sato jabs his hand towards the screen. “Did you see that?!”
He is referring to Ochaco’s sudden display of overwhelming power.
“I saw it.” Responds Kirishima. “I just can’t believe it.”
Iida cups his chin although his face is still hidden behind his helmet. “Hm, that looks like the power Uraraka used during the Entrance Exam.”
Shoji nods. “Yeah, but did you notice her hand? I think it’s injured.”
“Well that would explain why she didn’t use it during Mr. Aizawa’s test.”
Aoyama can’t help but butt in. “It was far from elegant, but it certainly was just as magnificent as last time.”
‘Way to go Uraraka!’ Izuku internally cheers. ‘You’re getting better at summoning your new Quirk; now you can really show everyone what you got! Also…’ A stupid excited grin adorns his face as he scribbles away madly into his notebook. ‘you’re providing me with some amazing notes right now!’ Not only on her Quirk but also Sero’s, Todoroki’s, and Mina’s Quirks; they’re also just so amazing and different he really couldn’t have asked for anything better!
All Might’s feelings of glee are nearly on par with Izuku’s. ‘WELL DONE URARAKA! I KNEW YOU HAD IT IN YOU! WE’LL HAVE TO WORK ON YOUR POWER OUTPOUT IT SEEMS BUT FOR NOW I’M JUST SO PROUD ON THE PROGRESS YOU’RE MAKING.’
They can work on that later, for now he must be not only her mentor but a teacher to the rest of the entire class. So, he watches as Ochaco and Mina arrive at the sixth floor.
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Ochaco arrives on the sixth floor where she quickly finds a small secluded room. It's the best place for her to catch her breath and to assess the damage of her hand.
She sits down to check, her knuckles are bloodied, her hand’s red, and her sleeve is all but gone but it could be worse at least she’s still got her dominant hand and she can still move her fingers so she can still use Zero-Gravity.
Mina plops down beside her throwing her head back allowing the adrenaline to wash away. “Sheesh, when were you going to tell me you had that kind of power? You could have led with that from the beginning.”
Ochaco answers between breaths. “I…can’t…control it.” She lifts her hand showing Mina what she means. “It’s too much power for me, that’s why I can only rely on…one aspect of my Quirk.”
“Really?” Mina raises an eyebrow, silently questioning if Ochaco is lying to her. But she sees no reason why she would have to lie so she quickly let’s it go. “Well, I guess that makes sense.” Mina jumps up onto her feet, she’s ready to get a move on. “Alright, I think it’s obvious that we need a plan.”
Ochaco nearly snaps at her partner. ‘You don’t say?!’
She is of course oblivious to Ochaco’s irritation. “So, since my plan didn’t work. I need you to come up with one!”
“I’ll…get right on that.” The brunette takes a moment to think, she peers at the ice encasing the room. There’s a light mist, and she can’t help but notice that the temperature has actually dropped since they moved upward. That’s when a lightbulb goes off in her head. “I got it!”
“Got what?”
Ochaco gives her teammate a reassuring and confident smile. “I got a plan.”
Mina holds her breath in anticipation with a stupid excited grin plastered on to her face as she waits for Ochaco to go into details.
Nearly a minute passes between the two of them as they both grin at each other.
“So, are you going to tell me?”
“Oh, right!”
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Sero arrives at the sixth floor with Todoroki in toe. “Wow, I can’t believe she was hiding that kind of power. The girl can really pack a punch!”
“No kidding. Although…” Todoroki thinks back to the fifth floor hallway when they left to chase after the heroes, he noticed a splatter of blood on the ground. ‘She probably can’t control that power of hers. That’s why she didn’t use it during the Quirk Apprehension Test. Still though if she’s strong enough to break through my ice then I can’t afford to underestimate her again. I will defeat her and show that old man that I can be a hero with just my mother’s Quirk.’
But they need to find Team J first and it’s not like they’re just going to walk right up to them looking for a fight more likely they’re going after the bomb.
“How’s it going boys?”
Then of course he could be wrong.
The two spin around to spot which one of the heroes has snuck up on them.
Sero gaps. “Ashido?!”
Mina leans against a nearby corner her hand on her hip and her tongue sticking out of the side of her smirk. “The one and only. Now, let’s dance!” She whips her hand out spraying a splash of Acid at Team B.
Todoroki makes an ice shield while Sero leaps back avoiding the acid.
Sero shakes his fist in anger. “Hey, watch it! You could really hurt someone with that!”
“Well if you're that upset about it.” Mina turns and winks before using her acid to skate her way across the jagged frozen floor, she goes back the way she came down the narrow-frozen hallway. “Then why not come and get me!”
Sero thwips out a strand of tape to pull himself over the iced floor. “Hey, get back here!” He continues to launch himself through the hallway using his tapes to reel himself in as he chases after the slippery Acid producing girl.
Todoroki follows on foot; he turns the corner just in time to watch as Mina rounds another corner with Sero hot on her heels.
“You won’t escape!”
“Then you better hurry and catch me!”
Todoroki runs a few paces before he slowly comes to a stop. His expression remaining indifferent as he slowly turns away from where Mina and Sero took off for. He can tell that something is up, and he will not fall for it. ‘Where are you, Uraraka?’
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“Come on, where is it?” Ochaco breaks her way through another ice wall having used her Zero-Gravity to weaken it before she slams her way through it.
She is currently on the eight floor and if her hunch is correct then the bomb should be here.
If logic serves, Todoroki essentially made a giant freezer and from what she’s seen he is all about making ice barriers for them to block their path. Now with all this ice he cannot constantly be regulating the temperature to keep the ice from melting. That means, Team B must have put the bomb where Todoroki wouldn’t have to keep an eye on it since he probably blocked it off with nothing but ice walls. But what does this all mean? It means that Team B must be keeping the bomb in the coldest part of the building: the center of the building where it’s the most insulated with the freezing cold temperatures.
So, her plan is a simple one: Mina distracts the boys with her feminine wiles (as Mina put it) while Ochaco goes after and captures the bomb. Simple.
She locates another ice wall this one is much larger, but she can almost make out the telltale signs of a doorway behind it. She presses her finger tips against the ice making it weightless. She then takes a few steps back, ice crunching under her feet, before she charges right through the ice wall like she just jumped through a window. Her landing is less than graceful as when she lands her foot slips and she ends up kissing the floor.
“Ow.” She groans, she lifts her head up and a loud pop sound is made as her face is peeled off the floor. Her cheeks are even redder either because of the embarrassment or the fact that the floor is super cold. “Not my finest moment.”
She rubs her cheeks as she kneels up and scans the new area. Her eyes become wide circles as she spots the very thing she’s been looking for. The bomb! It’s just sitting there unintended surrounded by pillars of ice and even a few small mounds of snow.
“I knew it!” Ochaco cheers in delight as she springs up into the air.
She jogs forward as fast she can, but the slippery icy floor is of no help.
A rumbling and the sound ice shards scraping against each other grows increasingly louder until a column of ice intercepts her path.
“Ahhh?!” Ochaco’s arms flail at her side as her foot slides across the ice until she eventually comes to a stop just before she hits the ice column.
“I knew you were up to something.” Todoroki steps forward blocking the direct path between Ochaco and the bomb. “It was very predictable on your part.”
“Shit.” Ochaco backs off her arms poised for a fight. ‘Looks like Mina’s distraction didn’t work.’
“Before we begin, I think it’s fair to give you a chance to surrender.”
“Huh?”
Todoroki stares blankly at Ochaco like he doesn’t perceive her as a threat. “You’re not going to win against me. From what I’ve seen your Quirk mostly involves close quarters combat. Except for what you did earlier.” He gestures to Ochaco’s left fist. “But judging from your hand there’s some major whiplash for when you use that strange Quirk of yours. Am I right?”
It feels like a bolt of lightning has struck her. ‘He read me like a book.’
“So, this is your last chance.” Todoroki holds a hand out as to represent her to accept his offer. “Surrender.”
‘What do I?’ Ochaco scowls. ‘He’s right realistically speaking he’s better than I am! He’s a recommended student, has a powerful and versatile Quirk, and he’s smart able to analyze his opponents, just like Deku.’ But then again, she’s not exactly a push over either. ‘But…I’ve actually faced real villains before! I’ve worked hard to get this far! I am All Might’s successor! And I refuse to give up!’ She peers at her hands the very source of her Quirks before she peers up at Todoroki.
Just from her expression Todoroki pieces together her answer. “So, that is your choice?”
With a frown and new found resolve Ochaco nods refusing to look away from her opponent.
Todoroki sighs in annoyance. “Very well.” He raises his right arm readying to swing it forward at a moment's notice. “Don’t be too disappointed when you lose, alright?”
“I think you have it backwards, Todoroki.”
“Hm?”
“Because, I’m going to win this!!” With no hesitation Ochaco jumps over the column of ice and charges straight towards her enemy.
“You fool.” Todoroki swings his arm to the side and a cluster of ice rushes towards her, his plan is to freeze her legs in place.
But Ochaco isn’t as predictable as he thinks. Because just before the ice can reach her, she jumps into the air launching herself up and towards the ceiling having made herself weightless.
“Not so fast!” Todoroki slams his foot against the ground generating a large ice spear that rushes towards the gravity defying girl.
Reacting quickly Ochaco spins around and kicks herself off the ceiling and towards a pillar of ice effectively avoiding the giant icicle.
Todoroki follows it up with another icicle but she’s too quick in the air. She bounces herself off the ice pillar just in time to avoid being skewered. This goes on and on with Todoroki trying and failing to land a strike on his agile target and she’s only getting faster. She just keeps building more and more momentum until she’s practically buzzing about the pillared room like a ricocheting ball, she’s even using Todoroki’s icicles as jumping boards.
“Hold still dammit!” Todoroki launches another ice missile which only adds onto the already large amount of them in the wide room.
Ochaco practically runs on the ceiling easily evading the icicle. She jumps down launching herself over Todoroki and right at the faux bomb while also releasing her Quirk to let gravity pull her down. “Victory is mine!”
“I don’t think so!” The ice wielder fires off a large wave of ice, not towards Ochaco, but towards the bomb itself.
Ochaco gasps in horror as the bomb is completely buried in a wave of ice. The ice is like a glacier that formed itself around the bomb. Ochaco crashes hard into the side of the glacier before falling to the frozen floor below.
“I got you.”
There’s no time to think as Ochaco takes off towards the other side of the room just as a wave of ice crashes after her.
The crashing wave is on her heels, so much so that the cold frost forms at the ends of her hair. Acting fast and using the iced floor to her advantage Ochaco drops down sliding across the ice towards a pre-existing ice pillar. She grabs the end of the pillar, swinging herself around it for cover, and just in time too as the wave catches up to her. The ice crashes into the opposite side of the pillar as jagged icicles surrounded around her at all sides, but luckily none of them strike her.
Todoroki stomps his way around the glaciered bomb, he scans the area, but he doesn’t seem to spot Ochaco. He wasn’t really looking when he generated that wave of ice, he was just trying to make a wide ranged attack in the hopes of trapping her.
“You’ve done well so far, but that ends now. You still have no way of winning against me.”
Ochaco covers her mouth in order to muffle her heavy breathing. She’s really not in the best condition right now. She’s exhausted from all the jumping around, the cold certainly doesn’t help whatsoever, her hand is injured, and add in the fact that she’s starting to feel nauseous after using her Quirk so much she’s not doing too hot.
‘It’s not over yet, Todoroki. I can still pull this off!’ The gravity manipulator considers all of her options. ‘Zero-Gravity isn’t enough, I need to use One For All. It’s my only chance.’ Only One For All has the power to get her past Todoroki but also the glacier surrounding the bomb. It’s way too thick for her to just use Zero-Gravity on it. ‘I need to go in fast while he’s still looking for me.’
She stands up, still hidden behind the frozen pillar, she holds her arms at her side and to her fists out front, as she concentrates on summoning All Might’s Quirk. ‘It’s like Deku said I can’t force One For All out I need to let it flow freely. To open the gates and let it free.’ She breathes in and out and before long her arms and legs glow pink as One For All flows through her limbs. ‘This is it!!’
She can already feel the strain on her body, she needs to make this quick before it becomes too much.
She races out moving at an incredible rate trailing behind her are broken shards of ice and rubble as she sprints across the frozen floor. The power surging through her legs tears away at her boots shattering them to pieces, but that doesn’t matter as she charges forward.
Todoroki is completely taken by surprise, in less than a few seconds she’s already upon him her eyes leering at him as they glow with a pink hue.
Without thinking the snow-like material on the left side of his body seemingly crumbles away as an eruption of flames burst out in response to Ochaco’s attack.
In a blink of an eye, Ochaco leaps backward to avoid the flames, unfortunately the jump was a bit too strong and she ends up smashing into the ceiling before bouncing off of it and landing hard onto the melting floor. She’s in too much shock to register the pain. ‘Fire?! He can shoot out fire, too?! That would be so cool if it wasn’t so unfair!!’ Not to mention those flames are really strong, they’ve already melting away must of the ice surrounding her dual-elemental classmate.
Todoroki’s heart is filled with instant regret as apparent shock adorns his features. ‘No…!!’ He gazes in horror as his flames roar from his left side, his mind is so disturbed that he fails to cut it off.
Ochaco scrambles back onto her feet as the flames continue to dance across her path to victory. ‘I won’t let this stop me! I will win!!’ Her entire body glows with a heavenly pink aura. “I’ll go beyond!” She clenches her fists and from within her grip her finger tips glow brighter and brighter as Zero-Gravity activates. “Plus Ultra!!”
She releases all that she has letting One For All flow through her, and that’s when something unexpected takes place. The pink aura begins to grow outward from her fists in large spheres, the spheres expand slowly before encompassing around Ochaco encasing her in a sphere of pink light. ‘What’s happening?! What’s going on?! Did…did One For All…combine with my Zero-Gravity?!’
This may work out in her favor, so she lets One For All pour out like a crashing waterfall. The orb bursts outward; the entire room shakes and rumbles as the pink light rushes forward. As the light absorbs everything in its path, anything and everything that is swallowed up by it suddenly finds itself weightless; water droplets rise and dance in the air, rubble and shards of ice float upward, steam from the rising flames and ice seem to freeze in place, and yet there is an overwhelming pressure despite the weightlessness as if anything inside will and can be crushed in a moment’s notice.
And neither Todoroki nor his flames are immune to the effects of the strange expanding space.
His feet leave the ground making him lose his balance; it’s finally enough to snap him out of his daze and he releases his Quirk by swinging his arm. ‘What is this? Is she…manipulating the gravity around her?’ The force of the swing makes his body rotate in midair until his back is towards the ceiling and he watches as he rises further into the air.
This is the moment she's been waiting for. “Now’s my chance!!” With a mighty kick she propels herself forward rocketing herself straight towards the bomb and thanks to the Zero-Gravity she breezes through the air as she rushes by ice shards and rubble are blown away as she zooms by.
“I won’t let you!!” Todoroki shoves his hand forward and a giant icicle ejects itself outward directly into Ochaco’s path, the icicle crashes into the ground and with the combination of the force and the weightlessness Todoroki is pushed backwards his back slamming into the ceiling.
As for the giant ice spear, it doesn’t do anything to stop the charging gravity-wielder.
“That won’t stop me!!” Ochaco charges right through the icicle, obliterating it into a thousand pieces as Todoroki looks on in shock. Hero visor shatters and breaks as she crashes through it.
Now there’s only one obstacle left between her and her goal; the glacier that’s protecting the fake bomb.
She reels back her strained fist, she can feel pain surging through it especially as her sleeve is torn apart from all the power being released, and the nausea in her stomach is a clear sign that’s she’s pushed herself far beyond her limit. “Special move!!” But despite that she refuses to give in. She will win this match and show All Might just how far she’s willing to go!! “VENUS SMASH!!!”
Although her momentum stops right when her fist collides with the glacier, thanks to the Zero-Gravity Field, the power of her attack does not. The entire glacier discharges into shards of ice as a powerful gale force bursts out between Ochaco’s fist and the glacier’s side. The powerful whirlwind floods the entire space taking everything along with it; the walls are smashed apart as a barrage of ice shards and rubble rocket into them, Todoroki covers his body in ice in order to defend himself from oncoming debris, and the ice pillars are easily blown away as if made of paper mache.
“I…did it.” She sure did and with that she shuts down One For All.
The Zero-Gravity Field seemingly dissipates as it phases out of existence as it does everything returns to its normal hue before they collapse onto the ground. The floor shakes as the numerous amounts of ice and rubble crash down under their own weight, and that includes Todoroki who lands on the ground with a loud thud.
Ochaco’s breathing is shaky and her balance is faltering as she remains poised with her fist out in front of her. Her arm is completely exposed, colored red as it swells in pain, and her knuckle bleeds. Her bare feet are numb from the pain, good thing too because the cold id probably bitting at the bottom of her feet. She lets her right arm fall and not too soon because the very next second, she’s let’s out a lurching belch just before she barfs up a rainbow, literally.
Todoroki groans as he pushes his upper body off the ground, he winces but fights through the slight aching pain. ‘What the hell is she? How could someone like her…wield such power?’
And more importantly, how could he have lost? There’s no way and worst of all. ‘She…made me use that bastard’s Quirk.’ He stares at his left hand like it personally betrayed his trust. ‘It’s the first real day of hero training…and I already broke my promise.’ His steely cold gaze leers up towards his opponent, who is struggling to keep herself on her feet. ‘What was that power of yours? It kind of…’ His gaze falls as if he realizes something. ‘It’s kind of like All Might’s power.’ Or at least what he’s seen on the news.
All Might’s voice calls out through their micro-transceivers. “I HAVE THE RESULTS!”
Todoroki’s eyes shoot upwards. ‘Is it really over already?’
From her hunched over form, Ochaco raises her head unsure what All Might’s getting at. After all, she hasn’t captured the bomb yet. But…what if…? She hurriedly scans the room, her head swiveling from side to side as she tries to locate the bomb. It’s nowhere in sight!! It isn’t where the glacier used to be!
And then it hits her, she fully understands the predicament almost instantly.
“IT’S A DRAW!!”
Ochaco falls to her knees her eyes wide and full of defeat as she realizes the truth of the matter; she accidently destroyed the fake bomb with her last all-out attack.
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
“This is so not right!” Mina wines for all to hear. “I demand a rematch! There’s no way we can just call it a draw?!”
Herself and Team B are standing outside the melting ice castle as the rest of their classmates group up with them with their teacher in toe.
All Might practically sprints to the front of the group. “HAVE HEART ASHIDO YOU EACH GAVE US A FINE SHOWING!”
An irked Mina’s cheeks puff out. “Don’t patronize me.”
From the side Todoroki gaze drifts away, avoiding eye contact with any of his peers.
A robotic voice cuts through the crowd. “Bring to nurses’ office---” Proclaims a Mini Conveyor-Bot, latched behind it is a stretcher with an injured Ochaco laying on top of it and at the opposite end is a second Mini Conveyor-Bot.
“I know---” Responds the second Mini Conveyor-Bot.
“Uraraka, are you alright?!” Mina runs up to her partner, the robots stop to allow her access, and Deku follows close behind the Acid girl with his notebook held close to his chest.
Ochaco peers up at them, grateful for their concern. “Yeah, I’m fine. I’m just…a little worse for wear.” If you call swollen limbs, bleeding knuckles, and a torn costume a little worse for wear.
Iida literally cuts himself into the conversation. “Uraraka! It is irresponsible to downplay your injuries!” His arms rapidly shake up and down in a robotic like manner, the display is so awkward-looking that Ochaco has to look away to prevent herself from laughing.
Mina’s horns twitch before she too looks away holding her gut as she tries to hold back her chuckles.
“YOUNG URARAKA!” Their attention is drawing to their larger than life sensei, his signature ever present as his cape bellows in the wind.
A brief jolt of nervousness courses through the new wielder of One For All as she lies there injured and helpless. She failed the exercise. Is he upset? Did she…disappoint him? And she was really giving it her all, too.
A big thumbs up is all she receives from her predecessor, but it’s enough to ease her worries. “YOU DID VERY WELL! I CAN’T WAIT TO SEE WHAT YOU HAVE IN STORE FOR US IN THE FUTURE.”
The message is clear: they have much more work to do, but there’s no doubt that he’s proud. Despite his towering form he somehow looks like he’s standing taller with his chest out as if in pride. But not pride in himself but pride in his student.
A light blush of gratitude rises on her cheeks. “T-thanks, All Might!”
“HEY, NO SWEAT. NOW AWAY TO THE NURSES’ OFFICE WITH YOU!” He swings his arm to the side as to emphasize the order.
Both bots respond simultaneously before they kart her away. “We know---” And with that they wheel away a light buzzing noise following them as they leave the arena.
Sero removes his helmet sticking it under his arm. “Who knew she had that kind of firepower.” He is of course referring to the attack she pulled when he and Todoroki first encountered her.
Jiro raises her hands behind her head. “It’s kinda scary.” Her mind thinks back on the strange pink field she had generated.
“It was so manly!!” Proclaims Kirishima, just watching her standup to the ice and fire master was more than enough to get his blood pumping!
Hagakure, presumably, tilts her head as she places a finger on her cheek. “Was that a compliment?”
A smiling Kaminari lets his own thoughts known. “She wasn’t the only one full of surprises, though.”
Mina’s not completely sure what he’s talking about. “What do you mean?”
Sero leans in, unsure what Kaminari is talking about as well.
Kaminari pauses for effect before giving his answer. “He can also generate fire!” He holds his hands out like it’s a big surprise.
Sero’s jaw drops. “Really?!” If that’s the case, then why didn’t he ever witness him using it?! Then again, he never really told him his full plan so guess it’s not that of a surprise.
Ojiro’s tail sways as he confirms Sero’s question. “Oh, yeah. It was really something.” He smiles sheepishly as a troubling thought crosses his mind. “Honestly, if it was anyone else, they probably wouldn’t have stood a chance against him.”
Oh, how right he really is.
Mina gushes in awe of the new information. “Wow! He’s handsome and has such an amazing Quirk too!” She swivels around before rushing up to the down casted Todoroki, whom at this point has been avoiding interacting with any of his classmates at this point not wanting to discuss those wretched flames. “You gotta show me!”
If he’s put off by Mina’s overbearing enthusiasm then he doesn’t show it, instead he keeps his calm and indifferent demeanor. “I’d…rather not.”
“Aw, but why?!”
And just like that Todoroki’s apathy is gone and replaced with a flash of an intense inner rage that threatens to spill outward like a violent storm.
Mina’s cheerful and excited smile vanishes as a look of concern appears on her face, she backs up holding her head down in shame, bowing her head apologetically.
Everyone else seems to notice Todoroki’s change but they don’t press the matter, chalking it up to the fact that he’s unsatisfied with the results of the battle trial.
Izuku watches on worried at his classmate’s reaction to being questioned. Silently he flips open his notebook searching for the page he set aside for one Shoto Todoroki. He locates the page it has a rough sketch of Todoroki’s overall appearance while in costume, a general height and weight estimates, and of course extensive notes on his Quirk, Half-Cold and, apparently, Half-Hot.
‘His Quirk, Half-Cold Half-Hot, is definitely one of the most multifaceted powers here, other than my own.’ His gaze rises up to the ice castle: chunks of ice shatter and fall as water pools around it as the frozen liquid melts away. ‘And it’s an impressive Quirk…a very impressive Quirk.’ He did freeze an entire building and he was still able to use his Quirk effectively afterwards. ‘But those flames, his fire, now that was the real surprise.’ He eyes the few notes he has on those flames. ‘I wonder why he didn’t use them sooner.’
He decides not to ponder on it for too long before he flips through the pages until he comes across the page that’s dedicated to his friend, Ochaco Uraraka. This single page alone is already filled to the brim with notes, observations, and uses for her Quirk(s). He’s probably going to need to dedicate a new page or two so he can draw up her costume and of course jot down the amazing phenomena he had just witnessed.
He finds a clean page and begins writing away. ‘Just what was that pink sphere she made? And why did it expand the way it did? It had to be some sort of weird Zero-Gravity Field that makes anything inside of it weightless. But I thought Uraraka’s Quirk only worked when she makes physical contact with her hands. So, was that an effect of her second Quirk? Like they...combined or something?’
Unknown to the analytical nerd the only pro hero in the room is having similar thoughts. ‘JUST WHAT THE HECK WAS THAT?! DID…ONE FOR ALL BOOST HER ORIGINAL QUIRK?!’ A part of him is admittedly a bit apprehensive about this. ‘WE’LL DEFINITELY NEED TO DISCUSS THIS BUT FOR NOW I NEED TO CONTINUE WITH BEING A TEACHER.’
All Might raises his hand in the air. “THAT’S ENOUGH TALK! LET’S DISCUSS THE RESULTS!” He pulls his hand down looking at the students expectedly. “NOW WHO CAN TELL ME WHICH ONE OF THESE FINE CLASSMATES YOURS WAS THE M.V.P.?!”
Yaoyorozu doesn’t even wait to begin; by this point it’s almost expected of her to have the answer. “Looking at everything at face value I would say Todoroki was the most valuable player of the match.”
Most of the class have looks of agreement although they can’t help but feel that her deduction is not quite right.
And Yaoyorozu must feel the same way. “But that being said, Todoroki’s performance was far from efficient.”
The very teen in question eyes the other recommended student with a wary gaze, unsure by what she means.
“Although Todoroki’s Quirk is powerful as demonstrated by his defensive strategy to protect the target, he however clearly underestimated his opponents. And in doing so it allowed for them to gain a proper plan of attack; thanks to Uraraka’s efforts. That was further evident when he confronted Uraraka. During their confrontation he was surprised by her skill and capabilities and thus he lost his composure, using large scale attacks that are far too destructive for such an exercise. And even if it was declared a draw, he ultimately failed in protecting the bomb and was completely overwhelmed by Uraraka’s last attack.”
“AS YOU’VE SHOWN US, YOU ARE RIGHT ON THE MONEY!! WELL, SAID YAOYOROZU!” All Might turns to the rest of the class. “DOES ANYONE ELSE HAVE ANYTHING TO ADD?”
No one seems to be willing to speak up, but a shy timid voice nervously wiggles its way through.
Izuku shakily rotates his pen between his fingers trying to keep his composure. “D-during the match…both Ashido and Sero did their parts for their individual teams.” Izuku jolts in place for a second when he realizes that everyone's attention is on him, and that includes All Might’s. “B-both k-kept their composers and kept with their respective goals: to capture the other or the bomb. And as for Uraraka, she lacked a clear plan when they initially entered the building. And although she was able to deduce the location of the bomb, her powerful attack…admittedly much like my own. Caused far too much collateral damage. She was probably far too focused on defeating her opponent that she didn’t hold back and thus the bomb being destroyed was the end result.” He finally takes a moment to breath. “At least, that’s my take on it. Huh?”
He grimaces as his nerves return; everyone is staring at him like he’s grown a second pair of eyes; his muttering must have really thrown them off.
All Might tries to brush off the odd display by coughing. “N-NICELY SAID, Y-YOUNG MIDORIYA. YOU’VE BROUGHT UP SOME EXCELLENT POINTS.” The pro hero swings his arms in attempt to wash the feelings of discomfort away. “AS MIDORIYA JUST EXPLAINED IT IS IMPORTANT TO WORK TOGETHER AND SUPPORT EACH OTHER ESPECIALLY AS YOU ALL GROW AND LEARN WITH EACH OTHER. NOT ONLY THAT IT IS IMPORTANT TO NEVER UNDERESTIMATE THOSE AROUND YOU BECAUSE THEY CAN BE HIDING ALL SORTS OF SURPRISES.”
Izuku almost wants to laugh at that. ‘You have no idea.’
“WELL I THINK THAT’S ENOUGH FOR THE DAY. SO WELL DONE ON A HARD DAY’S WORK! HA!” He stands tall and proud with his fists at his sides. “WITH THE EXCEPTION OF TWO SERIOUS INJURIES YOU ALL DID EXTREMELY WELL FOR YOUR FIRST TRAINING EXERCISE!”
Tsuyu smiles up at their teacher. “Coming after Mr. Aizawa’s class, it’s nice having such a straight-forward class.”
“YOU’RE WELCOME! WE TEACHERS ARE FREE TO HOLD NO-NONSENSE CLASSES IF WE CHOOSE! NOW, I’M OFF TO GO CHECK ON OUR INJURED COMPANIONS!” With a swoosh he spins around turning towards the exit. “CHANGE OUT OF THOSE COSTUMES AND HEAD BACK TO THE CLASSROOM!” He swings back his arms and his leg like he’s ready to take off in a mad sprint. “NOW WATCH AS A HERO MAKES AN EXIT,” He takes off like a race car jacked on rocket boosters. “LIKE HE’S GOT SOMEWHERE TO BE!!”
“He’s so fast!!” Shouts Mina.
Ojiro feels dejected. “There’s no way I can get to that speed.”
Kaminari’s smiling like an idiot. “So cool!”
Izuku watches on in fascination as his pen fidgets about in his notebook as he estimates All Might’s possible top speed.
Meanwhile, one dual-haired teen leers into the distance where All Might disappeared towards, there’s a dark almost suspicious look in his eye as if he’s in serious thought. ‘I underestimated her…and she made me use his Quirk.’ He grips his left wrist like it’s a direct insult to his pride. ‘Even after I told myself that I would never use it…I go right ahead and break my own promise. At this rate I’ll never surpass him, and he’ll win.’ He exhales a breath of cold frigid air. ‘I won’t let that happen again. And next time, I won’t underestimate my opponents.’
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
Recovery Girl waves as a fully recovered Bakugou trudges towards the infirmary’s exit.
Currently he’s all healed up, not a a scratch to be seen, the only thing out of place is his regular school uniform especially his baggy school pants.
“Enjoy the rest of your day dearie.”
He brushes her off as he approaches the door. “Whatever.”
Well someone is clearly in a bad mood. And why wouldn't he? He just got his ass handed to him by the very person he’s towered over for years. And it was in front of all those loser nobodies he has for classmates, how the hell is he supposed to show off his superiority if he lost to Deku? To fucking Deku?!
The nurses’ office door swings open.
“We have arrived at the nurses’ office---!”
“I know---!”
Bakugou reels back in surprise at the sudden appearance of the Mini Conveyor-Bots. “What the hell-Oof!!” He holds his gut after taking a direct hit from Recovery Girl’s cane.
“Watch your volume, young man. You need to be quiet when in the nurses’ office; think about the other patients.”
“Shut up!” Whether he snapped at her out of anger or pain is unclear.
Ochaco groans as she attempts to cover her ears, but her arms refuse to move. “So…loud.”
“Huh?” That when he finally notices that the Mini Conveyor-Bots are in fact carrying an injured Ochaco into the infirmary. He takes note of her shredded arm and pant sleeves and more importantly her swollen and red limbs. “What the hell happened to you? You get the crap beaten out of you?”
Despite the pain she can’t help but bite back at the jerkwad. “Like you’re one to talk?”
Bakugou winces a flash of anger courses through him. “T-that was just a fluke! The stupid nerd tricked me!”
“No…he didn’t.” Ochaco is not trying to be malicious, she’s just trying to speak the truth. “He beat the living shit out of you.” Okay, maybe she should have been a little more considerate about how she worded that.
Bakugou looks like he is ready to explode, but a quick look from Recovery Girl holds him back. “What…what’s it matter to you?”
“I’m…his friend. And I’ve seen the way you treat him. And it’s terrible.”
Now that throws Bakugou a bit for a loop. “You’re, his, friend? I thought that stupid nerd only had one friend, Uuichi.”
Ochaco eyes Bakugou warily unsure if he’s messing with her or not. “Uuichi? You mean you don’t know?” She probably shouldn’t be surprised all things considered; from what she’s seen he could care less about anything that concerns Deku. “They had a falling out. And I guess so did you.”
His glare softens, it’s not much of a difference though. “What are you getting at?”
“You’re strong Bakugou, you earned your top ranking in the Entrance Exam, but” She gives him the most deadpanned look that she can muster from laying on the stretcher. “your personality is crap.”
His entire body is shaking in silent rage in response, but he somehow bites back his tongue.
“Deku, is not helpless or useless. He’s brave and willing to do what’s right. And today he stood up to you. I don't know what you said to each other, but Deku doesn’t hate you, he’s too nice like that, but” The two lock eyes helping to assert the seriousness of what she has to say. “he’s more than what you give him credit for.”
Bakugou is honestly not sure how to respond to that. So he doesn’t instead he turns away brushing her off like she’s lost her goddamn mind. “Whatever, you’re clearly delusional from all the pain.” He stomps through the exit. “See ya later, Roundface!”
Ochaco gasps. “Roundface?!”
Meanwhile, Recovery Girl chuckles to herself at her reaction.
The Mini Conveyor-Bots finally move her to a bed and softly help her onto it. And after a quick reprimand from Recovery Girl about her lack of self-preservation she kisses her cheek and her limbs quickly begin to heal themselves.
As Recovery Girl does her magic Ochaco thinks back on what she’s observed from Bakugou so far. ‘His ego is so inflated, but who knows maybe this will calm him down a bit… Although the look on his face when he lost was oddly satisfying to witness.’ She smiles smugly to herself as she reminisces in the memory of Bakugou taking on Deku’s last attack.
Her recovery goes smoothly enough although the exhaustion hits her hard and she’s struggling to keep her eyes open and the bed is starting to feel very comfortable right about now. It wouldn’t be a bad idea to take a quick nap would it?
“I am here!”
Well, she’ll have to put that nap on hold.
“Quiet!!” Recovery Girl is quick to swing her syringe like cane into the Number One Hero’s frail stomach.
“Gahh!!” Toshinori wheezes in pain, grabbing his gut as Recovery Girl fumes in annoyance.
“Al-All Might?!” That wakes her right up. Why is he here?! What’s going on?! Wait!! Oh, no. She shakily turns towards Recovery Girl who is busy reprimanding the injured All Might about being more considerate when in a place of healing. ‘Oh, no. I…I accidentally gave away his identity.’
Toshinori notices the worried look in her eyes, he smiles gently trying to put her at ease. “Oh, don’t worry, Recovery Girl knows all about me and…my power.”
Recovery Girl offers a friendly smile in confirmation. “It’s true, and might I add that I think All Might has chosen a fine young lady to be his successor.”
That makes her blush slightly more than she always does. “T-thank you, mam.”
Recovery Girl nods before strolling off to sort through her medicine cabinet allowing Toshinori and Ochaco a moment to themselves.
Toshinori takes a seat in an open chair next to her bed. “Hey, kid. How you holding up?”
“I’ve been better.”
“Yeah, I guess it could have been worse.”
“Worse?!” Recovery Girl wheels around shaking her cane in a threatening manner. “Are you implying that this is the best-case scenario?!”
Toshinori hastily shakes his hands in denial. “No no no of course not. It’s just…” He turns back to his successor. “you did such a good job out there today.”
“But…I failed the exercise.”
“It was a draw and you gave it your all.” He pats her on the head gently. “And as a teacher, how can I fail a student who is so willing to go beyond?”
Ochaco smiles in gratitude as she takes in the praise from her mentor. Until she remembers something very important. “Oh, All Might! That thing! The strange light!!” She means the Zero-Gravity Field.
Toshinori understands what she’s talking about. “Ah, yes. We need to discuss that.”
There’s only one thing she can really ask. “What was it?”
“I think…One For All somehow boosted your Zero-Gravity Quirk.”
“But I was still able to use One For All while emitting that weird effect.”
“Hmmm, maybe you were able to somehow use both Quirks at once. That may explain why One For All boosted your Quirk in the first place. It’s definitely something we need to work on. It could be a huge asset for you in the future.”
Ochaco suddenly becomes very shy thanks to All Might’s praise. “You think so?”
Toshinori gives her a grin, it’s nothing like his signature smile but it’s just as strong in letting her know that everything is right with the world. “Without a doubt.”
Recovery Girl can’t help but let her opinion be known. “Then you best not come back here with anymore injuries!”
Both wielders of One For All cry out defensively. “Yes, mam!”
Toshinori pushes himself off his seat. “Well, I best be off. I just wanted to check in on you before I do some paperwork.”
“Wait, All Might!” She just remembered something very important. “So, this is a quick change in topic but,” She fidgets in her bed trying to sit up, but her limbs won’t allow her that privilege. “do you remember what I asked you before school started?” She means, can she tell Deku about One For All?
Recovery Girl observes silently from the side curious about what Ochaco’s getting at but doesn’t initially pry into it.
“About that.” Toshinori rubs his neck. He's not that confident in how he should approach this “From what I’ve seen, Midoriya is a fine young man. With a good head and his shoulders and a heroic spirit.”
Recovery Girl watches on giggling to herself. ‘He sounds like a father assessing his daughter’s boyfriend.’
Toshinori is oblivious to Recovery Girl’s comparison. “He’s smart, able to analyze his opponents and plan accordingly, and his Quirk certainly makes him a force to be reckoned with.”
Ochaco smiles with raising hope; she can finally tell Deku all about her and All Might. Oh, the look on his face is going to be amazing!
“But I think it’s best if you don't involve Midoriya with the knowledge of One For All.”
Well, another dream dies. “But why?!”
All Might inhales before delving into his explanation. “Allow me to explain a few things first.” He holds a hand towards his chest. “Number one all the staff here know about this true form and my injury. However, only you, Recovery Girl, and the Principal know about the true nature of my Quirk. And it is a secret to all others.” His eyes gaze pierces into Ochaco’s allowing the seriousness of the situation to take root. “And it must remain that way.”
The underlining seriousness of the statement instantly resonates within her. She looks up with worry and surprise hoping that he will continue to explain his reasoning.
“You must be aware of the responsibility that comes with this power. Should the world learn of our power, I have no doubt that all manner of scum would come and try to steal it away! This secret is all that prevents our society from falling into chaos. It’s also meant to protect you and those around you. Understand?”
She does. She now understands the full weight of the situation. If anyone, if villains, found out about One For All and what it can do then they would do anything in their power to get it. Even if that means threatening her life and those she loves: her parents, her friends, or anybody that she has any connection to. And if she shares that info with Deku then she essentially paints a giant target on his back, and she cannot willingly do that to him. He already has enough secrets to keep, there’s no reason to make him worry about anything else.
“I…understand.” There’s a hint of regret and sorrow in her voice. “All Might…”
“Yes.”
“I’m…I’m sorry.”
He smiles down at her, a smile that reads that there is no need to worry about it. “It’s okay. I should have been clearer with you. And it’s admirable of you to want to include your friend, but for his sake and yours it’s best to leave him ignorant to it all.”
“I…yes, sir.”
He continues to smile as Ochaco’s eyes begin to droop.
She’s been doing her best to stave off the exhaustion from Recovery Girl’s Quirk, but it’s now a losing battle and she is ready to call it in. “Now…if you don’t mind…I’m gonna sleep now.”
Toshinori chuckles. “You do that.”
And with a soft thankful smile Ochaco allows herself to be overcome by the overwhelming need to rest.
A minute passes and already Ochaco is out like a light, her chest rising ever so slightly with each breath she takes.
When she thinks that the girl isn’t going to wake back up anytime soon, Recovery Girl swivels around in her rotating seat. “Tell me. Why don’t you want her to include her friend?” Toshinori doesn’t initially respond so she continues. “You have your own allies, why not allow her to choose her own?”
Toshinori takes a moment to think about his response before he delivers it. “It’s not that she can’t say anything, but it’s more if she should.”
Recovery Girl tilts her head to the side. “Hm?”
Toshinori sits back down, he slouches forward with something heavy weighing on his mind. “That Midoriya boy…I had a run in with him almost a year ago.”
“Oh?” Now that is a surprise.
“Yes.” His voice…it’s different rather than full of hope and joy it’s now sewn with sorrow and shame. “And I did something…that I am constantly regretting.” His blue eyes peer up at the older heroine, seeking comfort for his mistake. “I…I rejected his dream. I told him…that someone Quirkless couldn’t be a hero.”
“I don’t quite follow.” Her confusion is not unfounded after all that Midoriya boy does possess a Quirk, and an impressive Quirk at that.
“When I met him…he told me…he was Quirkless.”
Now that changes everything. If that’s true, then how could he have gained his powers? “Are you sure he wasn’t just lying?”
“I’m positive that it was the truth.” Toshinori turns away unable to look the heroine in the eye any longer. “The look in his eyes told me all that I needed to know.”
“What are you saying?”
“Before Midoriya came to U.A. he was in fact Quirkless and I denied him of his dream of becoming a hero. Yet here he is with a Quirk that miraculously grants him access to other…Quirks!” He slouches forward even more, his hands gripping his knees as he thinks about the horrible possibilities of what may have brought about the change in Midoriya’s current statues.
Recovery Girl pales at the mere thought as well. “Are you saying…he’s somehow connected to that…monster?”
Toshinori exhales. “That is unclear. I hope it isn’t the case and I’m just being a paranoid old man, but every fiber of my being is telling that something is amiss and that something is not right with that boy.” He sighs, mostly to himself. “Then again, it could be all my fault. Perhaps I was too harsh and as a result he sought help from others…perhaps he came into contact with…him. And he granted the boy a Quirk that’s on par with his own. But knowing how that devil operates he’s probably manipulating young Midoriya, making him a potential victim in all of this.”
“You can’t be serious?” She worried now, if that were true that that would mean that the monster is alive and still operating from the shadows.
“I’m afraid I am.”
“But…it’s crazy! He’s been gone for over a decade now. You defeated him yourself!”
“I am aware, but someone like him doesn’t seem like the type to stay away forever.”
Recovery Girl leans back in her chair trying to calm her old nerves. “Have you told anyone else this?”
“No. I don’t want to bring it up to anyone else; not until I have some standing evidence or proof. Like I said, if I’m wrong about this I would have liked to not have involved anyone else in worrying about it.”
“So…why tell me?” Why make her worry about all this then?
“You’re U.A.’s head nurse, meaning you have access to personal files and information on everybody at this school an-”
“Now hold it right there, All Might!” He better not be suggesting what she thinks he’s suggesting. “I cannot willingly just hand you personal information about my patients no matter who they are!”
“I know that!” He snaps defensively. “All I’m saying is that if you find anything…out of order for him that you’d let me know about it.”
Recovery Girl sits back thinking about what All Might has just proposed. It’s unethical, but it just might be necessary. “Very well, I will keep an eye on things, but you should know that I don’t agree with it not one bit!”
“I understand.”
“Hmpf!” She swings in her seat turning her back towards the Number One Hero and his successor. “What do you plan on doing in the meantime?”
“In the meantime I will continue to teach and guide these youths on the path of heroism. Especially for the two of them,” He looks at the sleeping Ochaco thinking about her and her…friend. “if young Midoriya is being manipulated by him then it’s my fault and my responsibility to make things right. I will keep an eye on him and guide him on the right path. I just hope that it’s not too late.”
“I hope you know what you're doing.”
Toshinori continues to watch his successor resting peacefully in a calm sleep, blissfully unaware of the possible turmoil and evil brewing in the shadows. “So, do I.”
He truly hopes that he’s wrong… But if he isn’t then it could spell catastrophic for all of U.A. and the world if that devil did survive the battle. Not only that he doesn’t think his young successor would be able to handle the possibility that her friend is a…villain and a traitor. It could potentially break her spirit if the one she trusts is the enemy… At times like this he can’t help but wonder how his old master would handle this situation. ‘Just who are you Midoriya? And what are you hiding?’
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
“What a day!” Ojiro leans back in his desk chair as his classmates prepare themselves for the end of the day.
Sato flops down into his seat. “I’m exhausted.”
“No kidding.” Agrees Sero. “ That battle trial was intense.”
Iida stands tall in between the rows of desks, his arm out in front of him. “Everyone’s efforts were exemplary!”
Kirishima groans in disappointment. “Speak for yourselves, I never got to do anything.”
Mina slaps his shoulder repeatedly in a friendly manner. “Cheer up, there will always be next time.”
Kaminari enters the room alongside Jiro both of them are carrying stacks of textbooks. “All Might was so cool! I still can’t believe we have him as a teacher!”
Jiro approaches the front desk and plops her stack on top of it. “Yeah, it’s pretty crazy to think about isn’t it?”
Izuku remains silent, listening from his desk behind his former friend who returned to the class not too long ago, but he’s refused to even acknowledge him since his return.
But Izuku isn’t that concerned with him right now, because his thoughts are somewhere else.
He’s still hung up on All Might being their newest teacher and he’s not sure if he should be excited or terrified because of it. Sure the Number One Hero will be overseeing their education as heroes, but what happens if All Might discovers the Omnitrix and aliens?! But then again, maybe he doesn’t have anything to worry about. It didn’t seem like All Might remembers him or what they discussed. And that makes sense, it was a while ago and he’s sure that All Might meets all sorts of fans every single day so there’s no way he’d remember him amongst all those faces. A part of him wishes that it wasn’t the case, thinking you’re just another forgettable face is not exactly comforting, especially considering how the pro hero practically stepped on his dream. And in all honestly it would have been nice to be able to show All Might how wrong he is, but there’s no point in bringing up that depressing moment now. So, he might as well let it go and move on…still hurts though.
The school bell signaling the end of the day snaps him out of his thoughts as well as silence the rest of the class.
Almost immediately as soon as the bell finishes Bakugou pushes out of his seat and sulks over towards the exit where he makes his leave without so much as acknowledging anybody.
Sero sits atop a desk watching as Bakugou heads out for the day. “That guy really needed an attitude adjustment.”
Mineta nods his head. “No kidding.”
Izuku can’t help but feel a little guilty about that. When he thinks back on it, he really did have Bakugou have it. And it’s almost concerning how quiet he’s been since then, it’s just not like him.
Tokoyami places a textbook into his bag. “He’s a tormented soul one full of darkness and rage.”
Mina walks past overhearing the crow-headed classmate. “Yeah, but at least Midoriya was able to bring him down a peg or two.” She flashes said boy a big thumbs up.
Hagakure walks beside her. “More like a whole staircase.”
Okay if he was on the verge of feeling guilty then he definitely does now. Sure Bakugou is a jerk but his desire to become a hero was always so grand and inspiring to him. He doesn’t want Bakugou to lose his fiery passion, he just wanted to stop the torment that he constantly has to put him through.
Tsuyu remains seated as she fills out her day planner. “I don’t know, it seems like his loss is really eating away at him.”
Shoji overhears as he gets up from his seat. “I agree, but who knows maybe this will be good for him.”
Will it though? Maybe it will be, maybe he’ll tone it down a bit…but that’s not what he wants! Izuku grabs at his hair trying to sort through his thoughts and emotions. Sure Kacchan is a jerk, he’s crude, a pottymouth, and prone to violence and aggression, but…his ambitions are great! He’s not a terrible person and he knows that he can become one of the greats. And if he’s somehow responsible for making Bakugou feel insignificant then that can compromise his own dream! He can’t allow for that to happen; he has to make this right! Yes, Kacchan hasn’t exactly been the supportive type but he can and will become a hero. And Izuku will make sure of that!
Izuku leaps off his seat so fast that his chair falls backwards, it draws the attention of his classmates, but before they can voice their concerns, greenette takes off spring out of the classroom leaving his confused and concerned classmates behind.
Izuku runs as fast as he can. He has to get to Bakugou before he walks away, before his dream is compromised! He’s so focused on chasing after his former friend that Izuku fails to catch Iida shouting at him to stop running in the halls.
It doesn’t take him long to reach the front entrance and there he is, his back turned towards U.A. as he trudges his way to the main gates.
“Kacchan!!”
Bakugou freezes in place, he had thought that Deku was done calling him that; he turns his head ever so slightly towards the offending target. “What do you want?” His voice is soft but gruff just barely a whisper.
“I…want to talk.”
“Didn’t…you say enough already?”
Izuku’s eyes cast downwards. “Well, I did say what I wanted to say; there’s still some things I need to say…” He grips the Omnitrix, its smooth surface is a comfort letting him know that it’s still there. Like it would be anywhere else? “I can’t say much. But you should know this at the very least… I never lied to you about having a Quirk…” That’s…partially true, he did never outright tell Bakugou that he has a Quirk. “My…abilities didn’t reveal themselves to me… until nearly a year ago. I’m a late bloomer…” Well that’s mostly true he did only have the Omnitrix for less than a year now, but it still leaves a bad taste in his mouth but what else can he do. He can’t tell Kacchan about the true nature of his powers, who knows how he would take that information. Probably not that well. And hopefully with this explanation Kacchan won’t pry any further into the cause of his powers. Hopefully.
Bakugou’s eyes are shadowed over by his ash-blonde hair. Through the strands he eyes at Izuku assessing whether he’s telling the truth or bullshitting with him.
“And that’s not all…there’s something I need to show you.”
Bakugou shifts his body so he doesn’t have to crane his neck any longer.
Izuku pinches the ends of the Omnitrix, the face dial pops upward and he scans for the alien he wants to share with his former friend. Izuku finds it and peers back up at Bakugou making sure that he’s still there, he is. With a gulp Izuku presses the faceplate down and a flash of green envelops him.
Bakugou now expecting the green flash was ready he cast his eyes away so as to not be blinded. However, when he peers back up, he is in for a major surprise. His eyes widen as he silently gasps at the sight before him.
Feedback stands tall with his tendrils curled downward as he grips his left wrist.
Bakugou’s eyes say it all; he clearly recognizes the offending figure. ‘It was him?! He was…Deku was…the one that…saved me?!’ All this time he had just assumed that the electrical fucker was a random unpopular hero that ended up losing his credit to someone else.
Feedback doesn’t have to be a mind reader to tell what Bakugou is thinking. “Yes, I was the one that saved you from that Slime Villain all those months ago. In fact, that was the day I gained these powers.” Now that’s the truth, and it’s what resparked his own desire to become a hero.
Feedback raises his black-skinned hands taking a moment to observe the inhuman appendages. “This power of mine…it’s like nothing I’ve ever seen. I don’t fully understand it myself and ever since I gained it my entire life has completely transformed.” No pun intended, but it’s the truth. Sure he’s still technically Quirkless but he’s not useless or worthless. He is on his way to becoming a hero not just for humanity but for all beings on this planet. “And there’s even more things I need to learn about it all, but with this power I can finally be a hero! I am going to become a hero that saves everybody with a smile.”
Bakugou’s eyes gloss over with a burning frustrating rage, his teeth clenching as his hands clutch into themselves at his sides.
Feedback’s eye pops out like dinner plates after realizing how stupid he’s being. ‘Ah, shit! I came to tell him that I wasn’t tricking him, but I went on a tangent…’
Bakugou wobbles into place adjusting himself so he’s directly facing the one he had always thought of as inferior. “What the hell…? You’re a late bloomer…? Bullshit… You expect me to buy that shit? You’re just trying to make a bigger fool out of me, right?! I mean, what the hell?!” He’s burning up on the inside, he just wants to lash out, but he holds himself back and instead let his emotions to burst out instead. “I…lost to you of all people, today!! I got my asses handed by you, the one I looked down on for so long!!” He grips his forehead, almost as if he’s trying to hold back tears.
It’s as if everything he's ever known has been thrown into question; Deku was only meant to be an insignificant pebble on his path to becoming a hero, he’s supposed to be Quirkless, he’s not supposed to even be here!! And yet he is. “But not only do I find out you have a badass Quirk, but you also saved my ass, too!!” His hands are shaking in furious rage like he’s trying to will out explosions, but something is holding them from igniting. “Dammit!! Dammit!! Dammit!!”
This is not how things were supposed to be! He was supposed to be number one here, the top hero candidate, he was supposed to be the very best...!! But who’s to say that he still can’t? Who has the right to tell him otherwise? Nobody can tell him that he isn't the best, it’s been true all his life, and he is not going to let that change any time soon!!
“FROM HERE ON IN!!! I’M GONNA…BEAT YOU ALL!!!”
Feedback flinches blinking in surprise, he was not expecting the sudden outcry from Kacchan. Bakugou reals around stomping away for home. “So, enjoy your win! It’ll never happen again!! Dammit!!”
Feedback’s eyebrows, nodding his head with a determined huff. If Bakugou is going to continue to push forward, then so will he.
Bakugou stops just before gate, he swings his head back, and proclaims out for the entire world to hear. “I’ll be a hero who surpasses even All Might!”
Feedback watches as Bakugou marches off. Sure that…talk could have gone better; he certainly could have handled it differently. But he can’t argue with the results… Perhaps now, they can move on and better themselves. Their fuses have been lit and now they no longer have to hold back. They will turn their dreams into a reality.
Unbeknownst to the transformed Izuku there is someone else watching in on the two of them. From above them within the U.A. building a white-haired chimera observes as Feedback makes his way back into the building to gather his things.
“Fascinating…very fascinating.” There’s an almost mischievous glint in his eyes as if they're plotting something maniacal. “I’m excited to see just what kind of heroes you will become.”
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In a small rundown bar within the outskirts of Kamino the pale-skinned man with an appreciation for hand-based wear is skimming through the local newspaper; what has his attention is the main header: ALL MIGHT TO TEACH AT U.A.!!
He sets the newspaper down onto the bar counter allowing the black-misted bartender a look. “You see this? He’s officially a teacher now…” He rotates in his chair to have a better look at the two beings behind him.
One patron is big, really big, with bulging muscles, and a terrifying shark-toothed grin, but most of his features are shrouded by the shadows casted by the deadlights he had decided to take shelter under.
The other patron is someone that is a little more familiar. Henzu leans back against the cold wall inspecting his hand that’s been altered to have blue skin and his fingers have become slick black claws. He’s long foregone the torn student uniform instead he opted more for a ragged black shirt that had its sleeves torn off, dark brown cargo shorts, and large black combat boots. His signature lock dangles from his neck.
“Tell me.” The blue-grey haired man slouches forward in his seat eyeing Henzu with an almost irritated look. “What do you think would happen if villains…killed the Symbol of Peace?”
Henzu doesn’t reply; instead he looks up at a poster of said Symbol of Peace hanging on the wall. In a blink of an eye there’s three slashes across the hero’s image as shreds of paper drift downward.
In response the pale-skinned man smirks from under his hand-mask, the bartender continues to polish and clean the counter, and the muscular monstrosity stares blankly ahead as a low growl rumbles through its core.
Henzu’s hand turns back to normal, he grins maliciously at his hand like it holds the key to their success. “I think…it would be a lot of fun.”
Notes:
Like I said at the beginning, I felt like this was not my strongest chapter for me, but maybe you all enjoyed it more than I thought. Please let me know, it would be greatly appreciated. And hopefully with the return of a normal schedule for me I can hopefully get Ch.14 out faster than it took for me to finish Ch.13 Cool Down.
*I didn’t want to explain each individual battle trail word for word, so I hope it was fine when I just glossed over them.
*Ochaco’s special attack, Venus Smash, is when she uses her Zero-Gravity Field along with a punch that’s being boosted by One For All.
*Speaking of the Zero-Gravity Field it’s something I thought up a while back and it’s going to help lead into some new abilities for Ochaco to utilize later on. Essentially, it’s her own Zero-Gravity Quirk being boosted by One For All.
*How did you guys like Mina Ashido? Just a heads up I do have an idea on what I want to do with her character, in fact I already hinted to some things in this chapters.
*Izuku will begin to refer to Bakugou as his real name rather than Kacchan but every now and then he will have a slip up just like in the last scene between the two of them.
Chapter 14: Shocking Development
Summary:
Class 1-A decide on a Class President but several various groups are making their moves at the same time.
Notes:
Hey everyone, here’s Ch.14 I hope you enjoy it. I know it’s not when I usually post chapters, but this will have to do. Real quick this chapter is not meant to be taken so seriously so if somethings don’t add up or have lasting impacts then please don’t hold it against me. I just wanted a fun chapter before things really heat up.
Also make sure to stay safe and wash your hands, and not just for your own well-being but for those around you. I'm currently stuck at home, myself, right and even though I’m trying not to go out I still wash my hands frequently. So, please take care of yourselves and those that can’t.
*Important Author’s note at the end of the chapter!*
*Also I think I should restate this, but I will be keeping any and all descriptions of Izuku’s aliens as general as possible. Not out of laziness but because a lot of the Ben Ten aliens have different versions of themselves, I didn’t want to have you, the readers, be forced to imagine a version of the aliens that you don’t like. So if you imagine Four Arms as he was during the original series then that is how he is, but if you like the Omniverse version then that is what he is. I didn’t want to restrict you guys. Plus I like some versions over others like I love the Alien Force version of Big Chill, but I like the Omniverse version of Wildvine. So, I hope this clarifies a few things.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
“Repairs among the ship are now up to 80 percent, master.” A worker drone reads off the latest status report to the commander of the battle cruiser.
The repairs have been slow, thanks to the lack of supplies and manpower to deal with the issues. Most of them were damaged or ejected into space when the ship undertook that last attack by their prey. So most of the parts have to be delivered to them from beyond this solar system since the inhabitants of Earth have not achieved space travel. The commander could have his minions go down to the planet and seek out the materials they need from the alien inhabitants but that could alert the Plumbers of their presence. Fortunately, the ship’s cloaking device and signal scrambler are intact and free of damage. It’s also why it’s taking so long for the supplies to reach them since most of the ships have to be small, alone, and remain undetected by the Plumbers.
This irks the commander greatly, he would love nothing more than to tear through those Plumbers, but those red spots are quick to retaliate when it comes to avenging their own. So for now he must show restraint.
Besides he is still healing himself but at least now he can speak without having to stop and take deep breaths. His arms have nearly finished healing, but they remain weak and frail, and his legs are just starting to form. There’s not much he can do thanks to his condition but just because his body is damaged does not mean his mind is.
For the past several months he’s been studying, watching, and observing everything and anything he could. He has holographic displays of newsreels, magazines, newspapers, tv interviews, and website articles and each one contains different content whether that be about a pro hero, villain attack, new support items, and any information he can gather about how the humans perceive alien life. All of this information, all of this data, is to answer one question: what opposition will he find on the planet, specifically Japan?
And what he’s found has been more than interesting. He’s read and observed the one known as the planet’s Symbol of Peace, All Might. Apparently, he is Earth’s mightiest champion, hell, the humans practically worship the lower life form as a god. Oh, how wrong they are.
But All Might is not his only concern. The place known as Japan is infested with so called heroes, warriors that defend the peace, and each one is unique with their own mutations, abilities, and fighting styles.
More than what his drones are capable of handling. Drones lack subtlety, intelligence, and the skills to adapt to their situations. Then perhaps he shouldn’t be using drones? Perhaps…he should look towards other means of retrieving his desired prize?
A monitor drone warily approaches the regeneration tank. “Master.”
Its master shifts slightly away from his studies, eyeing his underling with vague annoyance.
“The Omnitrix has been activated again and it appears to be on the move.”
The ships’ commander turns back to his displays but he’s not paying attention to them. Instead his mind wanders in deep thoughts.
‘The heroes and the Plumbers are far too much of an annoyance. And the boy, the boy that has stolen my weapon, is far more adapting at keeping the Omnitrix out of my reach than I had thought. I need something…no, someone that is proficient in combat especially against beings with varying abilities, I need someone who can bypass and avoid the red spots, and I need someone who is merciless and will be willing to take back what is mine.’
The drone watches his master concernedly. “Master?”
The commander eyes his holograms specifically one of a newspaper article with the headline ALL MIGHT TO TEACH AT U.A.!!
“Prepare a transmission. There is an old ally whose assistance I…require.”
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Thirteen shoves open the large heavy doors of the worn-down factory, the morning light pours in shining down on the large amounts of dusty crates, heavy machinery, and broken conveyor belts.
While Thirteen steps inside with light steps as to not make noise, Ochaco, in her U.A. uniform, is a bit more casual and just strolls right in peering at the equipment curiously.
Feedback is close behind her yawning into his hand. It’s too early in the morning for Thirteen to just call them up and tell them to meet up half-way across town, and it’s another to lead them to a deserted part of town filled with rundown factories and worn out buildings.
But then again, Thirteen did say it was Plumber related or more accurately this is their first real assignment as future Plumbers. So, he doesn’t really have a reason to say no.
Apparently One-One received a call from one of the resident aliens earlier that morning. The resident was reporting a sighting of another alien that was apparently causing trouble inside this very factory.
Thirteen watches their Plumber’s badge carefully as it continues to blink red while a sonar-like display appears inside of it. “Midoriya, do you sense anything?”
Feedback gives his mentor a deadpanned leer that reads: are you serious?
Thirteen releases an exasperated sigh. “I mean…Feedback, do you sense anything?”
Feedback grins in approval as his antennas reach forward wiggling slightly like noses sniffing the air. “I am picking a small electrical field.” The tendrils curve slightly to his right. “Over there.” Feedback points a golden-tipped finger towards a stockpile of heavy machinery such as forklifts, trucks, and other machines.
Thirteen eyes the machinery warily for any signs of life. “Great, our foe is electrical based so your Conductoid form will be perfect for this job.” They then take a few cautious steps towards the large devices.
The two trainees follow close behind, although they are less than cautious about it.
Ochaco tilts her head to the side. “So, what exactly are we dealing with?”
Thirteen pauses, turning to look Ochaco dead in the eye while continuing to step towards the stockpile of the machines. “We are dealing with a highly vivacious and an extremely destructive being. Capable of sewing chaos into civilizations across the galaxies. They are a terror to all that they come across putting their victims through unspeakable agony and trauma.”
A chill runs down the teens’ spines. Is this being really all that powerful? Then why the hell are they here? Oh, right. Can’t exactly bring in normal pro heroes to take on an alien-life form.
Thirteen steps closer to an abandoned truck that’s sitting next to one of the large machines that operates the conveyor belts. “Prepare yourselves young ones. This just may be the biggest battle of your lives.”
Rather than allow fear to take over, Feedback and Ochaco ready themselves for battle. There’s no way they are going to let such a monster run loose on their planet.
Aware of their standing, Thirteen give them an approving and proud nod before turning away towards this monstrosity.
Sparks of light are flashing from just beyond the large machine like something is tampering with its innards. Feedback’s antennas raise forward so he can sense the electricity stored up just on the other side.
The trio edge closer and closer trying to get as close as possible before they spring into action. The Plumber takes one last look at their underlings giving them one last opportunity to back down. They don’t.
And with that this band of Earth’s defenders leap out to face their most terrifying foe yet.
“Nani bzzzzz?” A tiny little Megawatt stares up in confusion at the humans. It’s currently floating in the air while it holds onto several wires of the nearby machine.
…
Feedback and Ochaco fall flat on their faces while Thirteen aims his finger out like a gun towards the tiny alien.
“Stay calm you two. There’s no telling what it’s plotting.”
The Megawatt blinks at the Plumber, oblivious to the danger it’s really in, before deciding to continue his breakfast of electricity courtesy of the heavy machinery and generators. Electricity sparks out of the wires but the little being’s body glows yellow as it absorbs its favorite meal.
The Megawatt is a tiny alien, about a foot tall, that would be the perfect example of a battery that grew three-fingered arms, pointy legs, and a mouth. It has black skin with wide yellow lightning-shaped markings on its belly.
Feedback pushes himself off the ground, feeling very dejected and almost betrayed by Thirteen’s build up. “Thirteen…is that…the destructive being you were talking about?” Please say no.
With no indication of humor or sarcasm Thirteen delivers their response. “Yes.”
“Seriously…?” A good amount of skepticism courses through Feedback’s tone.
Now that is not what Thirteen wants to hear. “ARE YOU DOUBTING ME!?!”
Feedback has to bite his tongue before he says something, he knows that he will regret.
Thirteen holds a hand out towards the very thing they came here to capture. “THAT THING IS A MENACE TO SOCIETY!!! IT’S NOTHING BUT PURE EVIL!!!”
The Megawatt stops the flow of electricity to release a small burp.
“I doubt that very much.”
Thirteen is so enraged by Feedback’s lack of urgency that they’re actually shaking. “I can't believe this! We have a potential crisis on our hands, and you aren’t taking it seriously!”
Ochaco finally chimes in after observing the Megawatt feed itself. “No offense or anything, but aren’t you just blowing this all out of proportion?”
Thirteen dramatically jabs their finger right at Ochaco’s face. “YOU WOULD THINK SO WOULDN’T YOU!?!” They grab Ochaco by the shoulders before literally shaking some sense into her. “These things are the absolute worst!! They are foul tricksters that just love pulling the worst kinds of pranks, pranks that always result in destruction, chaos, and a HUGE AMOUNT OF PAPERWORK FOR ME!!!” Thirteen finally releases Ochaco from her torment as she’s shoved away before collapsing to the ground; her eyes spinning and her breakfast threatening to spill out.
Feedback watches as the Megawatt releases the wires before turning to a nearby forklift where it demonstrates its surprising strength by prying open the hood to gain access to the battery inside.
“Thirteen, what kind of alien is it?”
Thirteen glares towards the Megawatt as it continues to feed. “That is a Nosedeenian, or better known as a Megawatt, they’re an electrical based species that feed off electricity. They can even inhabit electrical devices by becoming electricity. Not to mention they just love pulling pranks.” Those are also the main reason why they can be such a nuisance especially to cities and worlds that are so dependent on technology.
Part of that explanation explains a lot about the transformed Izuku. “Oh, so that’s why you wanted Feedback.” Feedback can sense the electrical field around the alien, and if it can become electricity then he should be able to track it with no sweat.
They watch on as the Megawatt pries out the forklift’s battery, it holds the large battery over its head before it loses its balance and falls over with the battery falling atop of it. It flails about underneath, struggling to break free.
Ochaco spit-takes as she struggles not to laugh at the poor little guy; it’s just so cute, how could anyone find it threatening?
Thirteen hears Ochaco’s gasp, turning to watch as the Megawatt finally breaks free from its prison. “I know…it's hideous.” Their eyes narrow at the sight of the Nosedeenian.
Ochaco scowls in disapproval, sure that little guy is a bit odd looking but that’s just part of its charm. Like a pug.
Feedback draws back Thirteen’s attention. “So, how exactly should we handle this?”
“Oh, right.” Thirteen pulls out a strange metallic device that kind of resembles a large narrow thermos with a cylindrical glass center as to peer inside the device, which is hollow. “This is a special containment device specifically designed to handle Megawatts.”
“Oh, cool.”
“Right, plus your Conductoid form should be more than enough to handle this terror. Since you can siphon off its own electricity.”
Feedback smiles, happy he could be of service. “Great, I can actually do some real Plumber work.”
“Yup, I thought this would be good for you two. You know, to get some experience.”
Feedback peers to the side noticing something out of place. “Speaking of the two of us…where’s Uraraka?”
“Nani?” Thirteen swivels their head; he’s right Uraraka’s gone!
They spin around and finally spot their missing student who is crouched down in front of the foot-tall alien with a friendly smile on her face.
Thirteen grabs at their head as they internally scream in pure horror at the sight before them. How could she be so stupid and naive?!
Feedback just stands back currently more concerned about Thirteen’s obvious mental breakdown.
Ochaco scoots a little closer to the wary alien. “Hey, little guy.”
The Megawatt eyes her suspiciously but it doesn't seem like it’s going to panic.
“Sorry for disturbing you during your breakfast but my friends and I need you to come with us.” She gestures towards herself and her compatriots, one of which gives the little alien the stink eye. “Apparently someone like you is capable of causing…messes and we would like to make sure that doesn’t happen. Is that alright with you?”
The Megawatt considers Ochaco’s words before coming to a decision. The little guy smiles and sticks his puny hand out in friendship.
Ochaco lights up. “Glad you agree.” She sends a smug smirk in Thirteen’s direction, proud that diplomacy and some rational thinking has won the day.
She reaches her hand out and claps it around the Nosedeenian’s tiny grip sealing the deal.
While Ochaco smiles away towards her friends, the Megawatt grins mischievously and with an electrical obnoxious laugh it releases a current of electricity up and through Ochaco’s hand.
“Ahhhh!!!” Ochaco screams out at the unexpected pain as she endures the alien’s zapping.
She manages to break her hand free of the little menace accidentally throwing herself back so hard that she collapses.
Feedback and Thirteen shout out in concern. “Uraraka!!”
“Hahahahaha bzzzzz!” The Megawatt’s body seemingly flashes away into electricity before it speeds away zipping over Thirteen and Feedback’s heads.
The two duck and cover as electricity crackles above them, but their main concern is Ochaco.
Thirteen helps prop Ochaco up; despite being electrocuted she appears to be fine other than her hair being a bit fizzled up. “Are you okay?”
Ochaco shakes her head trying to compose herself. “Yeah, I’m fine.”
“Good, now I don’t have to feel guilty about this.” Thirteen takes a deep breath before smugly leering at their students. “I WARNED YOU!!!”
Ochaco gives the professional hero a deadpanned look, but in all honesty, they did warn her about that alien. “Yeah, yeah. Hey where is that thing?”
“Hm?” Thirteen peers around and sure enough the Megawatt is nowhere in sight, it must have zipped away while they were tending to Ochaco. “Feedback, are you picking up on the little demon’s electrical field?”
Feedback’s antennas rise upward. “Give me a minute I think I-”
Unanticipatedly a runaway forklift crashes into Thirteen, zooming by, and taking the Plumber with it.
The teens call out in a panic. “Thirteen?!”
Thirteen groans as the forklift speeds away. The vehicle's engine roars as it’s lights glow brightly in a hue of yellow light as sparks of electricity dance across the forklift’s frame. Thirteen immediately understands the situation, that menace is possessing the vehicle.
Thirteen manages to hold on as the forklift swerves around and around the maze of machinery and conveyor belts. “You accursed demon, I shall defeat you!!” Thirteen’s gloved finger opens up as their Quirk, Blackhole, activates.
Blackhole immediately goes to work, sucking up the forklift like jello being sucked through a straw until there’s nothing left. Before the machine could be fully absorbed a small stream of electricity zips away escaping into the maze of machines and dusty crates.
As Thirteen finally comes to a stop, skidding across the hard floor, Feedback and Ochaco are quick to catch up.
Feedback sprints forward reaching the hero first. “Thirteen!”
“Are you alright?” bzzzzz
“I’m fine. Just really ticked off.” A tick mark appears on Thirteen’s forehead.
Ochaco peers upward trying to spot the Megawatt. “Where is it?”
Feedback’s antennas swiftly point upwards. “There!”
The group look upwards and to their surprise the Megawatt is sitting atop a large machine that operates a variety of conveyor belts. It’s sitting down, its legs hanging off the side, as it smirks down at the trio like they are a source of entertainment.
“It’s mine!” Feedback leaps up gripping the side of the machine before climbing upward like some sort of lizard.
Thirteen cups their hands around their mouth as the Conductoid continues to climb up. “Careful Feedback! Megawatts are a crafty bunch!”
Feedback arrives at a conveyor belt where he leaps up onto it. “I think I can handle a living battery.” He is a Conductoid after all, he can not only track down the Megawatt but use his electrical powers to drain its own energy.
The Megawatt, suspiciously, acts like nothing is wrong allowing the much taller alien to climb closer and closer.
Feedback grips the sides of the conveyor belt as he cautiously steps forward. “Come here little guy.” He slowly reaches his hand out to snag the smaller creature who looks way to calm in this situation.
He’s nearly there just a few more inches and he’ll have it.
Too bad the little gremlin has a very different idea.
The Megawatt gives Feedback a wicked grin like that of a psycho forming a malicious plot. The Megawatt laughs mischievously as it reels a bolt of electricity right through the conveyor belt.
The impact is immediate especially to Feedback as the conveyor belt jolts backward before speeding him down the long track.
Feedback holds on for dear life his tendrils waving before his head as he’s rocketed backwards. And unfortunately for him his ride ends sooner than he would think, he quickly reaches the end where he’s launched backwards screaming in fear as he crashes into a crate smashing it to bits.
Ochaco and Thirteen watch on in horror as Feedback groans in pain, and possibly embarrassment.
“Hahahahaha bzzzzz!” The Megawatt laughs hysterically rolling across the machine, its legs kicking into the air as it goes through a laughing fit.
It’s moment of laughter is cut short when it feels like gravity itself begins to pull in a different direction. The Megawatt scowls at Thirteen as they try to swallow up the alien with their Quirk.
The Megawatt growls before it zips away leaving a trail of electricity behind it as it flies off and through a nearby window.
“It’s getting away!” Thirteen sprints off for the exit. “Come on!”
Ochaco follows but she can’t help but to look back to the downed Feedback. “What about Deku?!”
“He’ll catch up! Now let’s move it!”
Thirteen practically tackles their way through the exit door making sure to look upward for any sign of the Nosedeenian.
A trail of sparks flow through a nearby power cable that trails over a nearby back alley.
“There it goes!” The duo sprint after it making sure not to lose sight of the sparks as they run through the back alley.
Although they are able to keep pace for the most part the Megawatt just seems to be toying with them allowing them to keep up but just so it can have fun watching them struggle to do so.
Ochaco is actually starting to break into a sweat from the early morning workout. “It’s way too fast!”
“Not for me it isn’t!”
Ochaco and Thirteen turn their heads and they are delighted to see Feedback running across the powerlines after the escaping Megawatt.
Thanks to the electrical boosts provided by the powerlines Feedback is able to gain just enough speed to catch up to the Nosedeenian who upon being caught up to zaps itself out of the powerlines before trying to fly off to safety.
Feedback comes to a halt as his tendrils lash out whipping away at the tiny target who manages to evade the attacks though zigzagging motions.
Without warning it feels like a giant vacuum has been turned on as air begins to flow downward and begins to pull on the little alien.
The worried and upset Megawatt blows a raspberry at the pro hero, but it’s mocking is its mistake. As the Megawatt struggles to break free from the pull of the Blackhole Thirteen hands Ochaco the containment unit.
“Deku!” She throws the container as hard as she can upwards as it flies upward it begins to be veered off course by the Blackhole.
Acting quickly, Feedback’s tendril whips out latching on to the container before reeling it back in. The tall alien eyes the struggling Megawatt, which is now, firing off bolts of electricity down at the pro hero in one last ditch effort to escape.
Feedback eyes the distance between them because of its struggling it’s a bit too far out to just reach out and capture it. Looks like he’s going to have to jump. With the capture unit tightly secured in his grasp, Feedback leaps out towards the very upset and very surprised Megawatt who screams out in shock as Feedback opens the capture device.
Feedback expertly scoops up the Megawatt with the device before shutting it closed. “I got it!!”
Thirteen cuts off their Quirk as Ochaco smiles on with relief.
Unfortunately for the morphed Izuku, his part isn’t over yet as he remembers a very basic rule that governs this world: gravity.
With no support and way too far to grab onto something secure, Feedback begins to fall back down to Earth and even worse he’s too far for Ochaco to try and get to him in time.
The Omnitrix beeps red as Feedback falls and crashes into an open dumpster that with all the amount of trash inside it is able to break his fall. Garbage flies out as Feedback crashes into the dumpster and a flash of red spills out.
Izuku groans as he lays on his back on the mound of trash and garbage. He can smell the putrid stench that’s definitely going to linger for the rest of the day. He slowly lifts his head up and looks around for the capture device, it must have landed into the dumpster before he did so he, disgustingly, has to dig through the smelly garbage. The dumpster absolutely reeks of rotting food such as rotten eggs, spoiled milk, and bad fruit.
Thirteen and Ochaco jog up to him. “Did you get it?”
Izuku groans, brushing away chunks of rotting food, shivering in disgust as he does so. “Y-yeah, I think so…” His voice trails off as he finds the capture device, the glass in the center is broken and empty of any prisoners. “N-Nevermind.”
“You lost it?!” Snaps Thirteen.
“Hey, I-I t-tried my best.” Izuku can’t help but feel a bit offended, he practically just dove into garbage to help ensure that they capture the thing.
Ochaco holds her nose grimacing at the terrible smell. “Y-yeah, and that smell is proof.”
Izuku grumbles in response, not appreciating Ochaco rubbing the salt on the wound.
Thirteen sighs in irritation, they were really hoping to have this thing captured by now before it makes a mess of things; dammit this is going to be so much more paperwork. “Alright, you two best be off for school.”
Izuku climbs out of the dumpster as Ochaco eyes Thirteen. “What are you going to do?”
“I’m going to continue the search for that thing. Can’t have it running around on its own.” They eye the back alley warily as if the Megawatt is going to appear at any moment.
“Well, good luck.” Ochaco adjusts her backpack. “Sorry we couldn’t be of any help.”
“Na, you guys did plenty.” Despite sounding nonchalantly Thirteen’s eyes narrow glaring at the teens. “But next time you think I’m over exaggerating just know that I’m being dead serious for next time. Got it?”
Izuku and Ochaco stiffen. “Yes!”
“Good, now get going you don’t want to be late.”
“Right.” Ochaco turns and begins making her way to the main street. “Come on Deku.”
“C-coming!” Izuku speeds up making sure to catch up to his friend.
Thirteen waves them off until they round a corner and out of sight. “Now where did that fiend get off to?”
Meanwhile, Izuku and Ochaco hurriedly jog towards the station hoping to catch the next train that’ll get them to school. As they make a run for it small yellow-sparks flicker from Izuku’s pants pocket.
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During the entire train ride Ochaco fidgets around in her seat and not from the terrible odor emitted by her friend. Poor Izuku sat a seat away from her trying not to let the stench bother him, even worse he struggled to ignore the odd looks of disgust from the other passengers.
Thankfully it wasn’t that long of a train ride and the fresh morning air helped to alleviate the stench but it’s still very much present.
But that’s not important. What is important is that she needs to have a talk with Izuku… The sooner the better.
Ochaco, while continuing towards U.A., turns to Izuku. She bites her lip before deciding that she might as well rip away this bandage. “Hey, Deku.”
“Yeah?” He sounds really dejected probably because of the foul odor that he’s definitely going to be carrying around for the rest of the day.
“This may be a bad time, considering that we’re not exactly having the best morning, but it’s about my…Quirk.”
That makes him light up instantly, and almost like magic his notebook and his pen are in his hands. Will he finally be able to know the full truth about Ochaco’s powers?! This will be so great! There’s so much he wants to know! And he could even help her develop her powers!!
Ochaco’s heart aches knowing she’s about to crush the cinnamon bun’s hopes. “Yeah…” She comes to a halt bowing forward with her hands clapped together. “I’m sorry!!”
Izuku nearly stumbles forward, trying to stop himself from moving forward. “What for?”
Her eyes drift to the side in shame. “Well…”
She then explains to him as best as she can about the sensitivity of her new Quirk. She doesn’t outright mention or say All Might nor One For All, but she thinks she gets the message across, nonetheless. One thing she makes clear is that this is actually for his own good, that it’s for his safety, at least according to her “mentor”. Plus the less people know about it the better, they can’t risk having her power exposed for what it truly is it could cause some major chaos if villains were to find out about it.
When she’s finished with her explanation, she braces herself for the foreseeable outrage that inevitably will be targeted at her. There’s no doubt that Deku is going to feel a bit betrayed by the lack of trust, sure it’s not really her fault but she can’t stop herself from feeling responsible.
Izuku, although disappointed, can tell that this is extremely important to her, and it’s pretty obvious that she’s already feeling enough guilt over this. “I understand.”
‘Huh? Wow, he took that better than I had thought.’ Ochaco feels a bit more at ease but still… “Again, I really am sorry.”
The greenette offers her a kind sympathetic smile. “It’s okay, Uraraka. I for one understand what it’s like to have such a sensitive secret.” He is a kid with an alien device permanently attached to his arm. “But that said, I am glad you decided to be honest with me. I really appreciate it.”
“Sure…”
And with that the two continue their trek to school but at a much slower pace. Mainly because Ochaco trudges forward with her head cast downward.
‘Of course he’s not upset about it, Deku wouldn’t let something like this get to him…but it doesn’t make it right. I really wanted to share One For All with him and even show off that All Might is my mentor! I bet that would really make him jealous. He is a huge hero nerd after all.’ The U.A. building is just ahead; they can see the upper half of the building lying just above the roofs of the houses. ‘I should try and make it up to him…maybe I should get him a gift or something. Something useful and meaningful…’
As they get closer and closer to their destination Ochaco continues to mull over possible things to gift her friend and ally, but nothing really sticks out to her.
“Are you two part of the Hero Course?!”
Izuku and Ochaco jolt in surprise at the sudden outcry. Somehow they both failed to notice the large crowd of reporters swarming around U.A.’s main gates.
Before they know it a number of microphones are pushed into their faces as reporters and journalists demand answers.
“What’s it like learning from All Might?!”
“Tell us what the Symbol of Peace looks like in front of the class!!”
“Tell us about “All Might, the Teacher”!”
“Does All Might provide you with one on one lessons?”
“How is All Might’s approach to teaching?”
“What is that smell? Don’t you shower?”
That last one makes Izuku grimace in embarrassment which just adds onto his already shy and nervous demeanor. He shakes as he slowly pushes his way through the swarm of vultures hoping to reach sanctuary.
Ochaco seems to be faring better than he is all things considered although she looks to be a bit put off by how forward some of these reporters are. “P-pardon me, but…we’re trying to get to class on time and-”
A young female reporter with dark-hair wearing a blue business suit shoves her microphone against Ochaco’s cheek. “Then just give us a brief comment! How does All Might compose himself when teaching?”
Ochaco’s mind instantly snaps back to how All Might overplayed his entrance. “Enthusiastically.” She deadpans in a hushed tone.
“Huh?”
Izuku’s situation is even worse, these reporters must be able to sense a weak link when they smell one, and no it’s not the foul odor that gives it away. Izuku’s head spins in confusion as he’s assaulted by a barrage of inquiries and demands.
“That’s enough.” Cuts in a dryer-sleepless voice.
Izuku and Ochaco stare in awe of their savior, their homeroom teacher, Mr. Aizawa!
Shota Aizawa stands just in front of the gates looking like he didn’t get a wink of sleep at all last night. But somehow, he is not only able to stand but function like a normal human being.
The crowd parts for him allowing Aizawa a clear path towards his students.
The young report who was just hounding Ochaco is quick to push her aside. “You! You’re a teacher, right?!” She marches forward to get the pro hero on record. “Tell us what is All Might like as your newest coworker!”
“He’s off today. Now leave.” He waves his hand as if shewing away an insect. “You’re disturbing my students as is.”
Ochaco eyes dart between the reporter and her teacher before she actually approaches his side. No one peeps a word as Aizawa eyes each and every one of them like a hawk evaluating its next meal. When he's sure that none of them are going to pull anything he grabs Izuku by the back of his collar and drags him forward and through the gate with Ochaco in toe.
“Hey, wait!” The young reporter chases after them, fearing that she’s going to lose her chance at the next biggest scope. “At least get us an interview with him!!”
Her coworker shouts out from behind her. “No don’t!”
*BEEEP!!*
That’s the only warning as thick metallic walls rise up from below the ground all around U.A.’s campus.
The female reporter, understandably, freaks out after nearly getting crushed by the terrifying gate. “WAHHH, WHAT THE HELL!?!”
Her coworker as well as the other reports gap at the sudden display. “It’s the U.A. Barrier. This whole place locks down if someone without proper clearance approaches the gate.”
“The nerve! Shutting us out like this without a single comment!!”
“For real. I’ve been here for two whole days and we don’t even have a line to show for it.”
As the crowd of vultures continue to swarm around the school gates hoping in vain for All Might himself to show up an odd pair of characters watch on from the sidelines having just arrived a moment ago.
Henzu leans back, combing his hair to the side and away from his eyes. “So, that’s U.A.” It’s more impressive than he thought it would be.
Beside him stands a tall pale-skinned young man with dry skin and grey-blue hair. “Yeah…it’s a real shit show isn’t it?”
Henzu actually chuckles at the insult. “He, yeah.”
The man throws his head back in exasperation eyeing Henzu with malice and contempt. “Are you really up for this… if you screw up.” His glare hardens. “There’s nothing to stop me from killing you.”
“Oh, be quiet, Handjob.”
The now nicknamed Handjob tiks at the teenager’s insult.
Henzu eyes the gate as he adjusts his “borrowed” U.A. jacket. “This is going to be fun. So, just stand back and watch the show.”
“Whatever…”
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‘It’s too early to deal with this. How does All Might get anything done with those morons stepping on his cape?’ Aizawa silently grumbles to himself as he leads both Izuku and Ochaco to their homeroom class.
The two students are more than grateful for their teacher’s intervention. ‘Thank you for saving us.’
“Midroiya, Uraraka.”
They are startled before they calm down and respond in tandem. “Y-yes!”
Aizawa doesn’t look back at them while he continues his way to class. “Good work with yesterday’s battle training.”
Both of the teens’ eyes pop out in surprise not expecting the conversation to head towards that particular topic.
He continues. “I’ve looked over your grades and evaluations.” He shifts his head peering through his locks of black-hair towards Izuku. “Midoriya.”
A shiver runs down Izuku’s spin under his homeroom teacher’s piercing gaze.
“You can’t let personal grudges overshadow your true goals; I don’t want to see that happen again. Got it?”
“Y-yes, sir.”
He turns away. “Other than that, your plan was well executed, and your battle strategy was sound.”
Izuku’s heart warms up in pride.
“Well other than all the unnecessary damage you caused.”
And just like that his sense of pride is gone. Well you know what they say, easy come easy go.
Ochaco does not feel the least bit guilty about giggling at Izuku’s misery, covering her mouth with her hand as she does so.
“Uraraka.”
“Y-yes!” She jolts up just as Izuku had.
Speaking of, he sends a smug smirk right back at her enjoying his little piece of revenge.
Aizawa stops just in front of Class 1-A’s homeroom door. “It seems like you severely injured yourself again, yesterday.” He turns, this time facing the two students directly. “Stop it. You need to control that aspect of your Quirk, but seeing as you managed to properly summon it, I have to say a job well done.”
Ochaco finds the complaint very gratifying.
“You’re clearly making progress. Keep at it, Uraraka.”
“Right!”
“Good.”
Aizawa grips the door’s handle and is about to open it before he decides to mention one last thing. “Oh, Midoriya.”
“Hm?” Izuku blinks unsure what his teacher is going to say next.
“Try to do something about that smell.”
Izuku glowers in dejection as Aizawa casually slides open the door and steps inside.
Dammit, maybe he should have stopped by the locker room for a quick shower or something…
Iida shoots out of his seat as Aizawa steps towards the front desk. “Good morning, Mr. Aizawa!”
The drowsy hero responds with a mere grumble, probably something on the lines of how it is not a good morning, but he’s nice enough not to say it outloud.
Ochaco makes her way to her seat taking off her backpack and rotating it to her front so she can hold it.
Mina leans to the side offering a friendly wave to Ochaco. “Hey Uraraka!”
Ochaco smiles warmly. “Hi, Ashido. How are you this morning?”
“I’m doing swell!”
“That’s good.” Ochaco’s smile although just as cheerful wavers just a bit as her mind thinks back over the morning’s events. “A lot better than what I can say.”
“Why’s that?”
Tsuyu, who was listening in from behind Mina, presses a finger to her cheek. “Did you have a run in with the paparazzi, too?”
Ochaco aims two finger guns at the frog girl. “Yeah, we did.” She spins around looking for Izuku to back her claim. “Right, Deku?”
He doesn’t respond; instead he’s trying not to let the disgusted looks of his classmates get to him. They’re plugging their noses and groaning at his terrible stench as he passes them by.
Izuku smiles sheepishly at Ochaco in an attempt to seem like everything is normal. “Yeah…” He pulls back his seat and sits down.
So far it seems like only Bakugou is unaffected by his odor but that just may be because he’s outright ignoring him. Understandable after what happened yesterday.
Mineta pinches his nose and backs away in his seat. “Holy crap, dude. You stink!”
Izuku droops in his seat wondering how this could possibly get worse.
Iida shoots out from his seat, his arms waving up and down. “Midoriya, it’s bad form for a student of U.A. to not shower!”
Okay now that straight up offends the greenette. “B-b-but I-I-”
Shoji’s chair creeks as he turns in his seat. “No offense, but you reek.”
Izuku slouches in his seat in response.
Kaminari decides to chime in bringing up a good point. “Maybe if he transforms the smell will go away.”
Jiro props her head on her hand. “Maybe.”
“Yeah, that’s it!” Kirishima jumps up from his seat, having way too much energy for this early in the morning. “Hey, Midoriya, go ahead and transform so we don’t have to suffer!”
Izuku frowns at his way too chipper classmate. ‘You could have been a bit gentler about it!!’
Aizawa slams his hands against the front desk drawing everyone’s attention. “Enough.”
A hushed silence falls over the entire room as every student suddenly finds themselves in their assigned seats.
“Now onto homeroom business.” Aizawa eyes the class as they gaze right back at him.
They’re tensing up readying themselves for a possible test of will with the result of failure ending in expulsion. ‘What is it?! Is it another brutal test?!’
“You’ll pick a class president.”
The class cheer in exhilaration. “SUCH A NORMAL SCHOOL THING!!!”
And just like that everyone’s hands shoot upwards they beg for the position of Class President, everyone has their hands up from the boisterous Kirishima to the quiet and shy Koji Koda.
“I wanna be President!! Lemme do it!!” Shouts Kirishima.
Jiro casually raises her hand. “I’d like to do it.”
“In my administration, girls will have to show 30 cm of thigh!!” Shouts the diminutive pervert.
“The position was made for me.” Proclaims the calm and ever glamorous Aoyama.
“I wanna be a leader!!” Declares Mina.
“Pick me god dammit!! I’m your only choice!!” Roars the explosive blonde, his shout makes Izuku jump in his seat.
Izuku internally smiles, glad that Bakugou is back to his old self…even if his old self is a bit too loud for his taste.
As for Izuku himself, he is one of the only few that doesn’t have his hand raised. ‘I’m sure being Class President will help boost future prospects for me, especially in hero work, but I feel like it would just be too much responsibility right now. I already have my responsibilities to help out Thirteen with their Plumber work and being Class president will just interfere with that.’ So for now he’ll just sit back and let his classmates sort this all out; assuming that they’ll stop demanding the job and come up with some sort of system.
“Quiet down, everyone!!”
Everyone freezes in place, their arms raised and jaws open, as they turn to face their most strict classmate, Tenya Iida.
“Ambition does not equate to ability!!” He’s dead serious, his eye brows are furrowed, and his tone is low. “This sacred office demands the trust of its constituents! If this is to be a democracy, then I put forward the motion…that our true leader must be chosen by election!!” His hand shoots up into the air, shaking in worry like he’s silently begging for the position.
The Class responds in earnest. “This is just a classroom!! Not a congress!!”
Tsuyu turns in her seat. “But Iida, we haven’t known each other long enough to build trust.”
Her neighbor, Kirishima adds in his opinion. “And everyone'll just vote for themselves!”
Iida however has a response. “That’s precisely why anyone who manages to earn multiple votes will be the best-suited individual for the job!!”
He turns to their homeroom teacher who is currently squirming into his oversized sleeping bag. “Will you allow this?!”
“Go ahead, just make it quick.” And with that, Aizawa collapses to enjoy a quick nap.
“Understood!”
And after a few minutes of getting sorted and counting votes here are the results:
Yuuga Aoyama = 0
Mina Ashido = 0
Tsuyu Asui = 1
Tenya Iida = 2
Ochaco Uraraka = 1
Mashirao Ojiro = 1
Denki Kaminari = 1
Eijirou Kirishima = 1
Kouji Koda = 1
Rikidou Sato = 1
Mezou Shoji = 0
Kyouka Jiro = 1
Hanta Sero = 1
Fumikage Tokoyami = 1
Shoto Todoroki = 0
Tooru Hagakure = 1
Katsuki Bakugou = 1
Izuku Midoriya = 3
Minoru Mineta = 1
Momo Yaoyorozu = 2
Izuku gaps in shock at the results. “I GOT THREE VOTES!?!” How is that possible?! Who in the world voted for him?! Not even he voted for himself!!
And it seems that Bakugou is sharing some similar thoughts. “Okay, losers!! Who the hell voted for him?!”
Hanta Sero gives the explosive blonde an odd look. “Did you think anyone was going to vote for you?”
Ochaco quietly whistles to herself in the background, deciding that she better keep her vote to herself.
She is curious about the one vote she did receive. ‘I wonder who voted for me.’
Meanwhile, Iida is slouched forward on his desk as if he’s been wounded. “Two votes…perhaps I should have used my vote on myself.” Don’t get him wrong, he’s somewhat happy that two of his classmates deem him worthy of being Class President but the loss still hurts.
Yaoyorozu overhears him. “So you voted for someone else…?” Although she is somewhat concerned with Iida’s distress, she herself is also a bit disappointed with the results. Just one more vote and she too could have been President.
Sato shakes his head in disapproval. “You’re the one who proposed an election. What exactly did you expect, Iida?”
While Iida deals with his own feelings of self-worth, Izuku is having his own doubts. Is he really up for this?! Can he handle this?! He didn’t even want the job! Is it too late to decline?!
Kirishima pats Kaminari on the shoulder. “I think Midoriya’s got the right stuff to be President.”
Kirishima grins back at him but he’s definitely not as enthusiastic about the situation as Kirishima’s. “Maybe, although, I think I would have liked some with a bit more…confidence.”
Mina is quick to reprimand him. “Are you kidding, didn't you see him during the battle training? If he can stand off against Bakugou then I’m sure he can handle this.”
Izuku can’t stop his face from turning a light shade of red. It’s kind of nice to actually be complimented by his classmates rather than ridiculed. U.A. truly is an amazing place… or perhaps this is all just a dream.
Aizawa crawls out of his comfy cocoon. “Looks like your President’s Midroiya however we cannot have a tie for Vice President you will all need a tie breaker later this afternoon.”
He finishes with his instructions just as the homeroom bell rings signifying the start of the school day.
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The morning classes eventually reach their end and so begins the much-anticipated moment of relief, lunch time.
Droves of students swarm and congregate in and around the cafeteria bustling about with their friend while trying to enjoy Lunch-Rush’s out of this world cooking.
Ochaco is especially enjoying the delicious, and affordable, food.
She continues to munch away along with Izuku, Iida, Shoji, and Mina. Izuku is sitting by himself opposite to the others, according to them it’s just how they ended up seated, but part of Izuku knows that they don’t want to endure his terrible smell.
But his hygiene isn’t what’s bothering him, instead he’s a bit too preoccupied to eat his lunch. “I’m just a little worried about whether or not I can really be Class President…”
Ochaco, her cheeks full of food, gives him a so-so answer. “You can.”
One of Shoji’s arms becomes a mouth as another pair of hands are scooping up and eating on his noodles. “I agree.”
“Midoriya.” Iida takes a bite of his curry before continuing on. “Your grit and decisiveness in a pinch makes you perfectly suited to lead us all. That’s why I voted for you, anyway.”
Although what he said was nice, Izuku’s mind only processed the very last part. ‘One of those votes was you!!’
Shoji nods. “I agree. Everything Iida said was true. You’re quick on your feet and you don’t skip over the details, yet you’re straight to the point. The type of things we need in a leader.”
‘I’m starting to think you were my second vote…’ Even so it’s nice to know that his friends have such high views of him.
Ochaco, as she chews on even more food, nods her head happily in agreement. “Hmhm!”
Mina leans forward to peer around Iida and towards Ochaco. “So, who did you vote for?”
The gravity wielder spit-takes wasting all of her tasty morsels.
Mina tilts her head, not bothered by her teammate’s reaction. “Well I voted for you and you only had one vote so that means you voted for someone else.”
‘You voted for me?!’ Ochaco’s mouth drops down in surprise. She was wondering who had voted for her and she honestly had no clue who it could have been. Looks like she got her answer.
As for her answer to Mina’s question. “Um…” Her eyes drift over to Deku before she returns to eating her meal. “That doesn’t really matter.”
Mina eyes Ochaco suspiciously like she has a nice juicy secret to tell while the boys just watch on in silent curiosity.
Ochaco, sweating in response, decides that she needs to change the subject. “Hey Iida, didn’t you wanna be President too? You’ve got glasses and everything.” Okay so that probably wasn’t the best way to change topics but it will have to do.
Shoji eyes her oddly. ‘That doesn’t really justify anything…’
A sweat drop forms on Izuku’s head. ‘She really just says whatever pops into her head, huh.’
Iida doesn’t find the comment odd, instead he takes a sip of his drink before moving on. “Again ambition and suitability are different matters. I humbly made the choice I felt was correct.”
Ochaco, with a bit of rice on her cheek, grins excitedly at Iida. “The way you talk Iida, are you…a rich kid?!”
Izuku gaps at her directness. “So blunt!”
Everyone one of them stares at Iida who shyly looks away picking at his food in an attempt to ignore their inquiring gazes. “…I don’t like people to know, so I try to hide it but yes.” He puts his spoon as to speak clearly and proudly. “I’m part of a renowned hero family.”
Ochaco awes, who knew he was part of such a high-class family? “Whoa. Cool!!”
Mina is just as much amazement as Ochaco. “So rad!!”
Iida begins to smile a little bit glad about their reactions. “Do you know of the Turbo Hero, Ingenium?”
“Of course!!” Izuku practically springs out of his seat in nerdy excitement. “He employs 65 sidekicks at his office in Tokyo!!”
Shoji raises a grown mouth towards Izuku’s ear. “You didn’t need to go into detail…”
Meanwhile, Mina gives Iida a curious look as her horns twitch. “Iida, are you-”
“Yes! He is my elder brother.” Iida shoots up in his seat, pushing his glasses upward, as he stands proudly with a missive grin on his face.
“He’s so frank about it!!”
“Wow!!”
“Look at that smile!”
“He’s so proud.”
And why shouldn’t he be proud? Iida’s older brother is a true hero that leads those under him with unwavering adherence to the rules and regulations. Along with his cooperative and friendly personality he is truly a beloved hero.
“It’s my admiration for my brother that’s inspired my own desire to become a hero.” Iida’s grin softens as he remembers how he lost the most recent election. “Though I realize I’m not yet ready to lead anyone.” He gestures his hand towards Izuku, “As the superior candidate, it was right that the role should go to you, Midoriya.”
They all blink up at him in awe, amazed at his declaration.
“That’s really admiral of you.”
“That was beautiful.”
“Don’t worry Iida, you sure got our votes during the tiebreaker.”
Iida offers his friends a grateful smile. “Thank you.”
Izuku gets caught up in the kind atmosphere that he too pitches in. “That’s right Iida! After all you had my vote!”
Iida’s composure break, but only for a second. “Really?!”
“Woah, no way!” Mina points between Izuku and the gaping Iida. “You each voted for the other?!”
While Izuku tries to explain his own reasoning for voting for Iida, mostly because he just seems so responsible and reasonable, Ochaco quietly watches on with a soft smile. ‘He may be a bit strict but…it’s just because he’s inspired by his own personal hero, his brother. Just like Deku and I are both inspired by All Might.’
Lunch continues as normal with the group of teens chatting about this ad that until Izuku’s phone rudely bursts alive ringing so loud that a few upper classmates leer at Izuku to keep it down.
“S-sorry!” Izuku scrambles to slip his phone out of pocket.
“Midoriya your phone should be silenced while at school!” Iida’s arms chop the air as he reprimands the embarrassed greenette.
Mina smirks tauntingly at the freckled boy. “Way to set an example Class President.”
Izuku laughs sheepishly in response as he tries to shut off his ringing phone. But it appears that his phone really doesn’t want to cooperate as it not only continues ringing but the screen seems to jump from app to app and from website to website. Izuku eyes the phone gingerly concerned if his phone’s been hacked or infected with some sort of virus.
Shoji notices Izuku’s distress. “Hey, Midoriya is everything okay?”
“Y-yeah, I t-think my phone is just-Ow!!!” His phone zapped him! It outright zapped him like a tazer!
He drops his phone; the screen lights up as yellow electricity sparks out from within the cellular device. The phone even jostles around on the table before a beam of electricity shoots upward, startling the group of students as the beam travels upward and into the fluorescent lights above. The fluorescent lights burst and shatter into pieces as the electricity courses through them; sparks and broken glass shower down on the students below immediately drawing the attention of everyone in the cafeteria. Amongst the screams and outcries there’s a faint sound of staticky laughter emitting from above.
No one picks up on the eerie laugh, except for Izuku who shoots up from his seat with fear in his eyes.
“Deku?!”
“Where are you going?!”
Izuku doesn’t hear the girls calling out to him as he takes off. His eyes trace upward, and he manages to spot the trail of bright yellow electricity traveling from fluorescent light to fluorescent light; the lights breaking into pieces helps with the search. Izuku follows underneath pushing past panicking and surprised students who scream out as they try to cover themselves from the rain of glass and sparks.
The trail of electricity reaches the end of the cafeteria, just above the kitchen, where it spins around a pipe and into the kitchen itself.
Izuku shoves himself towards the kitchen counter and just in time to witness the chaos released into Lunch-Rush's domain. The kitchen appliances seemingly come to life: the giant fridges’ doors slam themselves open and close, the electrical stoves fire up, burning away anything and everything atop of them, and any and every lightbulb shatters as electricity zips past them.
Lunch-Rush and his cooks are thrown into a panic and they try to shut down the rogue appliances.
And somehow amongst all the disorder and noise Izuku manages to spot it, the cause of all of this, the Megawatt! The very one that he and the others were hunting down that very morning.
“Hahaha bzzzzz!” The floating Megawatt laughs hysterically from the corner as one of the cooks gets burned by the malfunctioning stove.
Izuku glares at the Megawatt! “You!”
The Megawatt stops laughing, its beady eyes shift to Izuku. It seems to recognize him because after blinking curiously at him, it smirks, and shoots Izuku with a twin pistol pose before it transforms into lightning and enters a nearby outlet.
With the adrenaline washing away, dread takes its place. This is his fault… He failed to capture it and it must have snuck into his phone where it decided to hide out in there for a little while before it had gotten impatient. And because of his ignorance he just released a tiny lunatic into U.A., one that can travel undetected, and cause as much chaos as it likes. And worst of all…it could potentially expose itself to not only the students but the teachers!! To the professional heroes!!
In the background Izuku vaguely witnesses how a floating Iida manages to calm the scared and startled U.A. students. “EVERYTHING’S FINE!!!” He shouts out above them all, from below Ochaco, Mina, and Shoji watch on. “It’s just a wiring malfunction! There’s no reason to panic. We’re fine! This is U.A.! Behave in a way befitting this great institution!”
The crowd immediately begin to calm down, most of the students find Iida’s reasoning to be sound, while others just don’t want to be shown up by a first year. Ochaco releases her Quirk and Iida plummets back down to Earth, but luckily Shoji is there to catch him, breaking his fall.
Mina cheers aloud as Shoji lets the Engine Quirked teen down. “Well done Iida!”
A pale Izuku shakily returns to his table, his arms sagged down, and his face crestfallen.
Ochaco notices him first. “Oh, hey Deku! What was all that?”
“Uraraka…I know what happened to that Megawatt this morning…”
“Really?”
Luckily for Izuku his friends are preoccupied by their other classmates who came by to thank Iida for stepping up. So, he nods and whispers what he thinks happened into her ear.
“What?!”
He’s quick to shush her clamping a hand over her mouth. “Shhhhh, Please keep it down!”
When he’s sure Ochaco’s not going to yell out he removes his hand.
She softy-cries out. “This is really bad!”
“I know.”
“What do we do?!”
Izuku thinks about it for a second before coming to a conclusion. “We go after it.”
Ochaco shakes her head, begrudgingly accepting the plan. “I have a bad feeling about this.”
And with that the two of them abandon their lunches and sneak their way to the exit hoping to catch up to the alien that’s now terrorizing the halls of U.A.
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Izuku and Ochaco are jogging across an empty hallway; they're in a panic rushing to locate the little menace.
Ochaco’s eyes dart from one end of the hallway to the other. “We have to call Thirteen! They should be able to track it!”
They better hurry too because Thirteen’s probably still near the abandoned factory thinking the Nosedeenian is still there.
“I can’t, my phone’s busted!” Izuku flashes her his phone, it refuses to turn on and a bit of smoke is leaking out of it.
While running Ochaco flips open her personal phone, it’s a small flip-phone nothing like Izuku’s smart phone. “Alright I’ll call them.”
She dials in Thirteen’s personal number; she can hear the phone ringing and she waits for the hero to answer.
Eventually Thirteen picks up. “Hello?”
“Hey Thir-”
*ZAP!*
Seemingly out of nowhere a beam of electricity blasts Ochaco’s flip-phone making it spark out of control before falling apart in her hand.
“No, my phone!” Ochaco falls to her knees as she stares at what is left of the cheap item, she had to spend her entire allowance on it and now it’s just a collection of burned and broken parts.
Floating above their heads is their very target. “Hahaha bzzzzz!” It takes off down the hall leaving a trail of electricity behind it as it flies off.
“There it goes! Come on!” Izuku takes off after it before realizing that his partner isn’t following. “Uraraka!”
Ochaco gathers up the pieces she can before taking off. “Sorry.” Her eyes cast downward as they follow the alien.
“You alright?”
“Yeah…I just won’t be able to afford a new phone for a while.” Even if she got the cheapest thing out there, it goes out of her budget meant for groceries and other essentials.
Throughout their time together, Izuku has had a long time to find out about Ochaco’s…financial situation. So he understands why she’s so glum about her phone getting destroyed.
They continue chasing the little demon until it zips away into an empty classroom.
The space cadets come to a screeching halt just in front of the oversized door. They share a look of determination before Izuku quietly slides the door open.
The room is a normal classroom except it’s in a bit of a messy state. The Megawatt is zipping around the room throwing around papers, knocking over chairs, and zapping electricity at the walls and lights.
The Megawatt eventually discovers dry erase markers, especially how much fun it is to draw whatever it wants onto the board. With it distracted, doodling away whatever it wants to on to the board, Izuku and Ochaco crouch down and sneak into the classroom.
They need to capture this thing as soon as possible before anybody, either students or staff, discovers it.
Izuku gestures for Ochaco to sneak up from one end while he sneaks up from the other. Ochaco nods in understanding and they crawl through the aisles using the desks as cover to sneak up onto the Megawatt that’s now drawn a larger doodle of itself onto the board.
The teens are attempting a pincer maneuver by approaching the alien from both sides, in an attempt to cut off as many escape routes as possible.
The Megawatt smiles at its handy work before it catches something moving out of the corner of its eye. It wheels around spotting Ochaco who is frozen in place filling with dread of being spotted.
Knowing that they’re cover has been blown, Izuku pounces forward from behind. “You’re mine!”
The Megawatt, unfortunately, moves like lightning and in a flash, it zips away as Izuku flings forward and tumbles onto the floor landing at Ochaco’s feet.
“Hahaha bzzzzz!”
They glare up at the alien as it mocks them before it decides to up the hilarity by showering them in bolts of electricity.
Izuku and Ochaco are forced to take cover under the nearby desks as the Megawatt zooms about as it attempts to zap them.
Sure Ochaco could just float the desk and use them as weapons but the point is to not leave any evidence that an alien broke into the school. Luckily, the very desk she’s hiding under has some items of interest such as a few textbooks, a backpack, and other school items.
So she begins to chuck whatever she can at the creep who easily evades everything: the books, the bag, pens, and even the erasers. All this accomplishes for them are a few short moments of relief where they’re not getting shot at. Nonetheless she keeps at it until she grabs a metal ruler from within the desk, with nothing else to lose she throws it as hard as she can at the Megawatt hoping this will at least knock the alien off balance.
The ruler chops through the air like helicopter blades as it flies right at the laughing Megawatt and like a blade the metal ruler cuts right through the alien cutting it right in half.
And just like that the teens forget all about capturing the alien and are more concerned about its well-being.
They gasp in trepidation. Holy shit what have they done?! They just killed an innocent, sort-of, creature! What do they do know?! Do they just gather up the floating halves of a Mega-WAIT!! it’s still floating…
The two students are able to control their hyperventilation enough to witness something that’s both amazing and disturbing.
The two cut-halves of the Megawatt just sprout out the new halves of their own bodies, essentially creating two separate Megawatts.
The Megawatts appear just as confused, but only for a second, before they begin to laugh hysterically at the outcome.
Ochaco cries out in anguish. “What the hell?!”
“It can do that?!” Izuku’s reaction is just as panicked.
It looks like they should have kept their mouths shut however because the Megawatts finally remember that they’re there, grinning maniacally down at the helpless teens.
“Oh, no…”
And with that the two kids are at the mercy of the Megawatts. They end up running around the room as an individual Nosedeenian chases after them while zapping them from behind, laughing all the while they do it.
Thankfully the electrical fiends are not trying to lethally harm them but just give them enough of a shock to register pain.
In desperation Izuku grabs a nearby backpack from atop a desk and swings it around slamming it against the Megawatt that’s been chasing him.
The electric alien is knocked away and slams against the wall. It shakes its head and glares at Izuku for interrupting its fun, but something catches its eye instead.
In the upper corner of the classroom is a vent, a metallic vent with sharp thin grates. And the huge grin on its face is enough to tell that it’s plotting something maniacal.
The alien dog-whistles at his counterpart who stops chasing a terrified Ochaco. The first Megawatt points to the vent and says something that neither Izuku nor Ochaco can decipher because the only sounds emanating from its tiny mouth sound like static and electrical interference.
The other Nosedeenian grins wickedly along with its partner in crime before they shoot up and towards the vent. They ready themselves taking a running-like start before they both fly themselves right into the vent and through the grates cutting themselves up like cheese through a shredder.
Izuku and Ochaco watch on in horror as laughter echoes out from within the vent as yellow light
flashes from within. The laughter only seems to increase as several other Megawatts suddenly throw themselves through the vent again dividing themselves into even more pieces. Each piece sprouts into a newly formed Nosedeenian and each one is just as rambunctious as the last.
As for the teens they are far from a laughing mood as a swarm of twenty Nosedeenians levitate above them.
One of the Megawatts, presumably the leader, whistles gathering the others’ attention. It says something intelligible before they all salute at each other, but that’s the only hint of organization they have before each and every one of them takes off to who knows where.
Ochaco grasps at her hair, pulling at her hair. “Oh, no no no no no!!” This is absolutely terrible, that just goes without saying! But now they have an entire swarm of Megawatts to deal with and if one of them is enough to cause so much damage then she doesn’t want to imagine what twenty of them could do. “We need to find them!”
They can’t have the school up all in a panic over intruders: just seeing the U.A. students get riled up back at the lunchroom is enough to confirm this. They’ll all probably just panic and stampede out to the exits.
Izuku is in just as bad a state as her, and not just because of his lingering odor, his hair is even more frazzled from him grabbing at it and sweat beads down his face. “I know but what do we do?!”
“We need Thirteen!”
“That’s obvious! But they're probably still by the factory looking for the Megawatt!”
“Well the two of us aren’t enough to hunt them down!”
She’s right. She’s absolutely right. There’s literally no one else to turn to, not unless they want to expose alien life. Not the teachers, not their fellow classmates, they are literally on their own…
But maybe they're not as alone as they think.
A smile, a genuine smile, appears on Izuku’s face. “Then let’s get some help.”
Ochaco, still grabbing her head, gives Izuku a confused look.
He doesn’t bother to clarify as he grips the Omnitrix and slams down onto the faceplate.
Ochaco fails to shield her eyes in time, but when her eyesight returns, she has her answer. “Ditto?”
“Yup.” Ditto smile sup at the taller being. “The Megawatts aren’t the only ones-”
A second Ditto splits away from the original. “-that can multiply.”
Ochaco brushes her hair down with her fingers trying to wash away her nervousness. She cups her chin as she thinks about this strategy. “This could work.”
The original Ditto crosses his arms feeling confident with this plan. “I know.”
Its clone is quick to agree. “It’s our plan afterall.”
Even if it was technically himself that gave the compliment the first Ditto still smiles in appreciation. “Yeah. And like what could go wrong?”
Oh, the poor naive boy. He has no idea what he’s in for.
Starting with the sound of the school bell. Specifically the bell signifying the end of the lunch period.
The second Ditto glares at his original. “Seriously, dude?”
Ditto prime is greatly offended by the accusation. “Don’t blame me!” It’s not like he’s in charge when classes start.
These kids just can’t seem to catch a break. How in the hell are they supposed to go to class and hunt down little black and yellow aliens…? And if neither of them show up then they’re really going to get it from Mr. Aizawa later.
Ochaco is really in a pickle here. Looks like there’s only one thing they can do. “Come on!” She grabs one of the Dittos by the arm and drags it away.
“Wh-where are we going!!”
“To class!”
The second Ditto follows along as they exit the classroom. “But what about the Megawatts!!”
Ochaco stops and turns to face the morphed Izuku. “Your clones can go after them.” She’ll just have to trust Deku to handle this all on his own. She would like to be out here helping him in the search but looks like his clones will have to handle this all on their own.
With that she pulls the original Ditto away leaving behind the other one.
The second Ditto flashes her a reassuring smile. “Don’t you worry! I’ll have all of this wrapped up in no time!”
The Ditto steps back as several Dittos morph out of him until twenty of them are standing at attention.
“Alright men now is not the time to falter or let fear take you down into the unforgiving abyss. Now is the time to step up and save our school!”
The squadron of Dittos let out a resounding cheer.
“Yeah!”
“We got this!”
“I have my reservations.”
Ignoring that last comment each of them take off for different parts of U.A. in search of the enemy that U.A. itself is unaware of.
One Ditto grins towards one of his counterparts as they make their way towards the second floor. “I have a good feeling about this.”
“Me too.”
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The Ditto currently being towed along by Ochaco gulps. “I have a bad feeling about this.”
Ochaco releases the little alien as they reach Class 1-A’s door. “Quiet you. This will work.”
“But everyone is going to wonder why I’m Ditto.”
Ochaco grips the door handle. “Well you were the one that decided to transform so you’re going to have to deal with it.” She flings open the door silently hoping that they won’t find a Megawatt inside.
They don’t find a Megawatt instead they are greeted by the rest of their class who must have just arrived because some of them are not in their own seats yet.
Iida is of course the first one to notice the two of them. “There you two are.” He gives them a stern look for ditching them in the middle of lunch. “You shouldn’t run off!”
Mina looks just as upset about it as well. “Yeah! Why did you two run off on us?” She eyes Ochaco suspiciously as a sly smirk grows on her face. “Where were you getting up to?” She asks teasingly.
Ochaco jolts as she walks past Mina’s desk. “N-nothing?”
Mina’s horn twitches and the pink-skinned girl’s smirk widens. “Oh it was something.”
While Ochaco tries to ignore Mina’s questioning, Ditto makes his way to his own seat. His other classmates look on with silent questions like if that really is Midoriya or if it’s someone else completely. Or at least they are curious about this new form that they’ve never seen.
Thankfully Shoji recognizes the Omnitrix symbol on the little guy’s form. “Why are you like that?”
Ditto sighs before continuing his way to his desk where his backpack and school supplies are waiting for him. “Um, my Quirk…was acting a bit funny so I’ll be like this for a little while.” He really hopes everyone buys that and doesn’t try to dig for any more details.
Bakugou, overhead his explanation, scoffs but doesn’t say a word after that. He just glares off to the side, keeping his mouth shut.
Ditto eyes him worriedly but not out of his own concern but for Bakugou’s. Usually he would be the first one to call him out but he’s not saying a word. Or even looking at him for that matter. He thinks about saying something, but he won’t get the chance because at that moment Aizawa appears at the entrance way and everyone immediately goes silent.
“Good, you’re all finally understanding how precious time is.” He eyes the class and his gaze falls on Ditto.
The Splixson nervously sinks into his seat hoping that his stern and somewhat scary teacher won’t decide to ask why he’s not currently human.
Eventually Aizawa turns away, choosing to ignore Izuku’s current state. “You all still need to decide on which of these two” He gestures to Iida and Yaoyorozu respectively. “Will be your Vice President.”
While the rest of class nods in understanding, Ditto lays his head onto his desk as one worry is replaced with another. ‘Oh right. I forgot. I’m now the Class President.’ Is there any way for him to get out of it? Maybe he should just ask or say he doesn’t want the job. May he should- “OW!!” He cries out in pain after a shocking sensation strikes his backside.
But he’s nowhere near Kaminari and there doesn’t appear to be any Megawatts running about.
Aizawa’s eye twitches in annoyance, not appreciating the interruption. “Midoriya?”
And he’s not the only one giving Ditto an odd look, the rest of the class are just as confused by his sudden outburst.
Kirishima, bless his soul, is the only one to outright ask the morphed Izuku what’s wrong. “You okay, man?”
Ditto takes a quick breath, calming himself from the shocking pain that keeps registering across his body. “Y-yes. I-I’m fine. It’s j-just a…cramp.” He internally prays that everyone buys that terrible excuse of a lie. It certainly doesn’t help that he’s clearly struggling to keep his composure despite the repeated jolts of pain.
From across the room Ochaco sends Ditto a very worried look. A look that Ditto returns with a shaky smile and a not so reassuring thumbs up. She knows that he’s lying and just doesn’t want her to worry, but she can’t help it. The poor guy is literally all on his own. And even though using a multiplying alien was a good idea at the time they had forgotten one small detail: Splixsons share a link meaning if one feels pain then so do the others.
That just leaves one question… WHAT THE HELL ARE THOSE DITTOS DOING!?!
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Meanwhile, somewhere else within the walls of U.A.
“My baby!!” A female’s voice screams out as the clanging sound of heavy metal stomps around within the Support Course classroom.
“Ahhh!!” Ditto screams out in terror as he fleas from the scene.
Less than a second later a robotic monstrosity smashes through the doorway, it’s a hulking mass of a juggernaut with white metallic armor and a black helmet structure similar to Thirteen’s. Yellow sparks and a faint maniacal laughter resonate around the charging robot.
The iron hulk takes a few swings at the fleeing Ditto who manages, for the most part to avoid being squashed by its giant hands. His luck runs out as the robot manages to grab him around his torso before tightening its grip making the little alien squeak like a squeaky toy.
At the same time, the original Ditto holds his gut while trying to stop himself from groaning out loud or else drawing more attention to himself to his class than he already has.
In the teachers’ lounge a duo of Dittos are getting tazed by a pair of Megawatts as they run around the couch table, and chairs. One Ditto takes cover under a chair but one of the Megawatts grins as it melds into a coffee machine. The coffee maker begins to levitate as sparks fly around it and it spews out piping hot coffee onto its unsuspecting victim.
Back in Class 1-A, Ditto prime’s entire body shakes as he bites his own lip trying not to scream out in agony.
A little later a single clone is chasing down one of the rogue Megawatts outside the school building specifically in the teachers’ parking lot. There the two aliens end up chasing each other between the vehicles. At times Ditto is the one doing the chasing but when the Nosedeenian has had enough it ends up firing bolts of lightning back at its pursuer. The Ditto takes cover under a a canary-yellow Nissan GT-R. The Megawatt raises its little arms and a ball of lightning begins to form and crackle just above its head before it throws its hands down and a ray of lightning strikes down on the poor Nissan. The car doesn’t stand a chance as it’s fried to a crisp turning the canary-yellow paint to black and dark brown, even the windows shatter under the large amounts of volts coursing through it.
The Megawatt, thinking its job is done, takes off zipping across the sky and back towards the school building. Unbeknownst to it, the Ditto underneath is actually fine, there isn’t a scratch on him. So there’s no excuse for him not to chase after the Nosedeenian leaving the smoking car behind.
A few seconds later a whistling Present Mic strolls up to his car, but what he finds is a crisped heap of metal that was once his car. He’s stunned at what he finds so much so that he screams out in misery.
In the meantime, while all of these events are playing out. A lone figure sits back in their oversized chair, sipping on some tea, as several monitors record and play out all of these events.
On one screen a pitching machine in one of U.A. sports rooms are firing away at a group of helpless Dittos who are really getting nailed by the flying baseballs.
On another screen there’s a large hulking robot that’s come to a standstill with a traumatized Ditto laying before its frozen form. A pink-haired girl stands nearby inspecting the robot, it seems she hasn’t even noticed the little alien laying on the floor.
Another screen displays the image of a Megawatt making faces at the hidden camera.
The lone figure brings the tea cup up to his lips before taking a sip like they don’t have a care in the world. “Fascinating.”
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Back in Class 1-A’s classroom, the original Ditto is noiselessly suffering in his seat. All this time he’s had to endure excruciating pain of shocks, beating, burns, and whatever other torment his clones are going through. And he’s had to bite his lip, drawing blood a few times, all to keep quiet and not draw too much attention.
That’s definitely easier said than done.
Aizawa counts up the last remaining votes. “Looks like it’s decided. Tenya Iida is your Vice President.”
A round of applause goes out to the Engine Quirked teen.
Iida smiles gratefully as he rises up from his seat. “Thank you everyone! I promise to do my very best as your Vice President!”
As the class give resounding comments of support, Yaoyorozu remains seated slouched forward in her seat in disappointment over the outcome.
Just a few seats ahead of her is Ditto, who is slowly building up his pain tolerance. ‘Well done Iida. I know I can rely on you.’ Maybe he can get Iida to take on more responsibility and allow himself some more free time to dedicate to Plumber work.
The Omnitrix begins to beep and flash red. Good thing too because the transformed Izuku isn’t too sure if he can handle any more of this torture. But dread floods within him, sure his torment will be over, but what about the Megawatts? They are still out there and doing who knows what!!
But there isn’t much he can do as the alien watch continues to beep until his entire body is enveloped in glowing red light.
The rest of the class’ attention are turned away from Iida and instead are given the confused Splixson sitting in Izuku’s desk.
“What the?” Ditto confusedly stares at his hands and stubby legs. He’s not seeing things despite the Omnitrix timing out he is still Ditto.
Aizawa sighs, he’s clearly tired of this. “Midoriya these distractions are getting bothersome.”
“S-sorry sir.”
Shoji, one the few who understands Izuku’s Quirk, wheels around in his seat. “Hey, shouldn’t you have changed back by now?”
Ditto nervously sweats trying not to look too suspicious. “I-I s-should have, but I’m not sure why I haven’t.”
He peers to his right towards his fellow space cadet, who sends him a concerned look silently asking if everything is okay?
He shrugs his shoulders in response, not sure what exactly went wrong himself. Perhaps…he can’t turn back. Maybe…all of his clones have to be near each other for him to turn back.
Well at least they can continue capturing the Megawatts, but on the other hand, it looks like he’s going to have to endure even more torment until then.
And that’s how the next class period goes with Ditto fidgeting in his seat and every ten minutes or so the Omnitrix flashes red, but Ditto never turns back into human. It didn’t take long for his classmates and teacher to get annoyed by it, but all he’d say was that his Quirk has been acting up all morning.
Some point during the middle of the class the intercom turns on and Present Mic’s voice rings through, but it's noticeably not as lively as it usually is. “Ochaco Uraraka *sniff* please report to the Principal’s office *sniff*. I repeat *sniff* Uraraka please go to the Principal’s office *sniff* immediately.”
Ochaco gasps in surprise. ‘ME!?!’
“Ooooo.” Mina teasingly smiles at her. “You’re in trouble.”
Aizawa watches the intercom curiously. ‘He sounds depressed. That’s supposed to be my thing.’ Oh, well he’ll just have to ask Hizashi later. “Uraraka.”
“Y-yes?!”
“You’re excused, so head on out to the Principal’s office. It’s on the fourth floor.”
“Uh, right.” She gets up and leaves as her classmates watch on wondering why she’s been summoned by their principal of all people.
She looks back before she exits, specifically at Ditto who waves her off before wincing in pain.
With nothing else she can do she leaves for the fourth floor.
After a few minutes of wandering around she eventually finds herself in front of the doorways of the Principal’s office.
She’s honestly a bit worried, mainly because she has no idea why she was called here, but here she is. So, with a shaky breath she grips the door handle and slides the door open ready to face the Principal of U.A.
“Welcome!” Greets the Principal with a cheery grin and a friendly wave from his oversized leather desk chair.
‘He’s a teddy bear?!’
He sure is! The principal is a short man who appears to be a possible combination of several different animals such as a dog, a mouse and a bear, which would make him a chimera. He has the head of a mouse with circular black eyes, a large scar over the right one, relatively square-shaped ears with pale pink insides slanting outwards from the top of his head, and an elongated muzzle with a small round nose. His fur is white and has large, dog-like paws with pink pads and a thin tail like that of a cat.
He sports a white dress shirt, a dark red tie around his neck, a black double-breasted waistcoat and matching dress pants. He wears orange lace-up sneakers with incredibly thick soles which seem to be quite large on him.
He puts his little paw down before placing it on his chest. “Allow me to introduce myself. I am the Principal of U.A., Nezu!” He looks so happy to declare his position of power, especially to a human. “It’s very nice to meet you, Ms. Uraraka, I've heard so much about you.”
“Y-you have?” She nervously steps forward, she sort of finds the little creature’s analytical gaze a bit uncomfortable.
“Why of course! It’s my job to know all that goes on in my school.” He leans forward in his seat, and despite the friendly smile, a dark aura emanates from his little form. “And I do mean everything.”
The gravity wielder gulps before speaking. “Such as?”
Principal Nezu smiles softly before leaning back and gesturing to the seat across from him. “Why don’t you take a seat. We have much to discuss.”
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The class period finally ends, and Ditto is the first one out just as the Omnitrix flashes red once again for the humpthinth time, but of course he remains the same. He really can’t take this anymore, he just wants to scream out in pain, but he holds himself back. So instead he needs to wrangle up the electrical demons as soon as possible.
He takes off looking for any sign of his clones or the Megawatts. And it doesn’t take long to find at least one of them as he rounds a corner.
“Ow!”
“Ow!”
Both Dittos collide with each other so hard that they both fall backwards.
The other clone rubs his head. “Ow, watch where you’re going!”
“Me?! You watch where you’re going!” The original Ditto picks himself up. “What are you running from anyway?”
The clone’s eyes widen in fear before he scrambles onto his feet and takes off down the hall. “From them!”
“Huh?” He looks around the corner and what he sees instantly makes his heart plummet.
A group of five or so Megawatts are flying down the hall right at them, laughing the entire way as they approach their intended targets.
“Wait, for me!” He takes off after his clone as the Megawatts get closer and closer.
The Nosedeenians fire out bolt after bolt at the two Splixsons who avoid the attacks for the most part. The two clones run up the staircase to the second floor and once they’re through the doors there’s a lone trash can standing off to the side.
Acting on reflex the two clones merge into one and then the single Ditto dives right into the plastic can to take cover from the onslaught of invaders.
The Megawatts laugh and jeer at him as they circle above their victim’s hiding hole finding the whole situation rather amusing.
Ditto prays for them to make it quick, otherwise, this is going to be very painful.
By some miracle, something big and quick grabs two of the five Megawatts and swats them away.
“Get away from him!” Ochaco shouts as she lunges at the other aliens, on her hands are a pair of thick rubber gloves.
Knowing that she has the advantage the little menaces are quick to retreat down the hall and away from the odd duo.
Ochaco glares at their retreating forms before giving her attention to the one that needs it. “Are you alright?”
The trash can tips over as Ditto crawls out of it. “Uraraka!” He latches onto his savior’s leg as tears of relief leak out from his eyes. “I’m so glad to see you!” He was sure that she’d be stuck in the Principal’s office for way longer.
“Good, because we have a plan!”
Ditto sniffs, rubbing the tears and snot away. “We?”
“Yeah, we have to send word to your clones to lead the Megawatts down to U.A.’s basement.” She then begins to run off as to get started.
Ditto, unsure about all of this, chases after her. “And then what?!”
“And then we win!”
And just like that, the duo are off to spread the message. They somehow manage to locate and find the other Dittos, although the original Ditto did end up making even more clones to help get the word out even faster. And like rumors that spread like wildfires in schools across the world, the plan of action gets around to every clone within the walls of U.A.
As the plan gets out, Ochaco positions herself at the basement entrance. The door is like that of any other door within U.A. the only difference is how it’s labeled.
A single Ditto sprints across the opposite end of the hall as a pair of Megawatts chase him.
Acting fast Ochaco catches the Megawatts in the air just as the Ditto sprints by. “I got you!”
The Megawatts glare and struggle in her grasp, but the rubber gloves are enough to insult their electricity from firing out at their capturer.
The Ditto huffs trying to catch his breath. “Is everything set?”
Ochaco shrugs. “I sure hope so.” After all the plan wasn’t really all that detailed out to her in the first place.
“What?” She hopes so? Wasn’t this her plan? She shouldn’t be hoping that it works, she should say that it will work.
She must understand how nonreassuring she sounds because she can only provide a sheepish smile in response.
Ditto doesn’t have the chance to ask for clarification as a roar of screams and shouts echo from down the hall. The two watch on in surprise as a squadron of Dittos are being chased by a very angry swarm of Megawatts, looks like these little guys are really sensitive to being insulted.
There’s nowhere for Ochaco or the original Ditto to go, there’s no way they can get out of the way of this stampede, so they desperately wave their arms about trying to get the other Dittos to stop.
The stampede doesn't even register their presence as they crash right into them and every single one of them are flung down the tall set of stairs. Many cries and shouts of pain ring out as they all tumble all the way down until they finally collapse at the bottom of the steps.
“Ow…”
“My leg!”
“Ew, you reek, dude.”
Ochaco’s head pops out from within the pile of groaning Dittos. “Is everyone okay?”
Almost every clone replies with the same answer. “No…”
Thankfully the Omnitrix times out once and again, but this time with all of them gathered together, Izuku finally turns back to normal.
Izuku groans as he props himself up next to Ochaco. “Oh, finally.” He grabs at his face making sure it actually worked.
It appears his theory was correct that Ditto can’t transform back unless every clone is within a certain range.
“No time for that. We need to move!” Ochaco shoots off the ground, grabs his arm, and pulls him up before she takes off into the large dark space that is the basement of U.A.
It appears to be a large storage area filled with boxes, odd machines, and decorations for any and all occasions.
“Why are we running?!”
“Look!” Ochaco jabs a finger towards the top of the staircase where about twenty or so Megawatts are gathered.
The electrical fiends spot the two feeling teens and immediately fly down to give chase.
“Quick lead them to that thing!” Ochaco releases Izuku’s arm and points to a large object hidden behind a large dusty sheet standing from across the room.
The object looks very bulky as it stands at a height of about 12 feet. And that’s all Izuku is able to tell before he sprints right to it. It appears that the Megawatts must have recognized his signature watch and have assumed that he was the one that has been chasing them all day. Oh, how the tables have turned.
Izuku sprints as hard as he can away from the swarm, as just ahead of him Ochaco actually makes it to the device first. She stands beside it holding onto a nearby lever protruding out of the side of whatever it is underneath. “Quickly! Bring them this way!”
“I’m trying!” Izuku cries out as he makes a mad dash towards his fellow space cadet.
He is so close now; the object is just barely a few meters away now. But just like everything seems to be out for him today, he doesn’t make it.
A few of the Megawatts actually manage to stun him with high energy bolts that make his entire body freeze up as his muscles scream in pain, and he collapses just a few feet away. And like flies to garbage the Megawatts are on him in an instant, dog piling on him, as to shock and torture him even further. They bounce on him and grab at his hair, shocking him all the while. Their laughter rings out across the room. A few of them even grab at the Omnitrix trying to absorb the electricity from within it
As for Ochaco, she is not just going to stand by as her friend is assaulted by these little freaks, so with a mighty tug she pulls down the lever and the effect is almost immediate.
A loud engine roars to life and lights flash from behind the sheet as it begins to whip around from the wind being generated from the machine it’s covering.
The sheet is blown clean off and a large hulking machine stands tall above the surprised and confused Megawatts. The machine is huge with a circular outer frame all wrapped around a cylindrical pillar of wires, pipes, and cables. Embedded into the outer frame are individual cylindrical bulbs. And at the base of the machine is a large metal shaft that appears to lead into the machine.
The machine lights up as a powerful vacuum begins to suck everything into the large open shaft.
The Megawatts scream out in terror, knowing that this can’t be anything good for them, so they try to escape the powerful vacuum. Unfortunately, for them they are far too close to the machine and there is little hope for escape and each and every one of them are slowly sucked into the machine. A few noises of electricity being produced are heard, and the machine grows brighter with each alien that is captured. It appears after being transferred through the machine the Megawatts are spit out within the large cylindrical bulbs themselves, acting as makeshift prisons for the already diminutive beings.
It’s not long before every single Megawatt is sucked up and secured within an individual capsule.
Ochaco pushes up on the lever effectively shutting off the vacuum. “We did it!”
They really did it! Although she appears to be the only one happy about it as the Megawatts themselves glare at her through their glass prisons. Some of them are even bashing themselves against them to break free, but they have no chance of accomplishing this.
“You sure did.” Calls out a calm cheery voice.
Ochaco spins around towards the staircase. “Principal Nezu, glad you could join us.”
Principal Nezu calmly approaches the girl, his arms tucked behind his back. In any normal circumstances he would have taken more of a direct role in all of this, but he really wanted to see how these two potential Plumbers would overcome this trial
“Likewise. And might I say that it was absolutely splendid to see you pull this off.” He places a paw over his mouth as to whisper up to her ear. “All Might really has chosen a fine successor.”
That makes Ochaco smile. “Thank you.” She then jabs a thumb towards the machine. “But hey how’d you get this thing here so fast?”
“Hm? Oh, it was always here. We often use this space for abandoned or failed inventions made by the Support Course.” Nezu approaches the machine, gazing up at the alien inside as they make rather rude hand gestures at him. “This particular machine was meant to collect energy from electrical based Quirks. So, I knew it would be more than enough to handle these little rascals.”
“Oh. I see.” Ochaco blinks up at the machine, internally she thanks whomever it was that was smart enough to build it. She then peers around the basement at all the other leftover inventions and junk. At least until she notices that something or someone specific is missing. “Wait, where’s Deku?”
“Hm?”
Ochaco and Principal Nezu scan the room and sure enough it looks as if Izuku has up and disappeared.
“Where could he have gone?”
There’s really no sign of him. Not an article of clothing, a scrape of hair, or even the Omnitrix for that matter.
Nezu eventually gazes back up at the machine and he spots something rather unexpected. “Oh, my.”
“What is it?”
“I found him.” Nezu gestures upward towards the machine.
Ochaco curiously looks up and she too is in for a bewildering surprise.
Inside one of the capsules is a Megawatt, but it’s different from the others specifically it has the Omnitrix embedded into itself, also it appears to be desperately trying to communicate with them.
It doesn’t take long for Ochaco to assume who that is. “DEKU!?!”
After a few moments of hyperventilation courtesy of Ochaco, Nezu manages to release the single Megawatt from his containment.
The little creature stumbles out of his glass case glad to be freed from his imprisonment. “Phew, uh, thanks bzzz.”
Nezu is glad to lend a helping hand or paw in his case. “You’re welcome.”
“Ah, Principal Nezu!” The morphed Izuku has finally registered who else is with them.
He’s only ever read or seen Nezu in magazines and newspapers, and now here he is right in front of him.
“The very one!”
“What are you doing here?!”
Ochaco shyly steps forward. “Well, I think I can explain.”
##########(Flashback)#########
Back when Ochaco was called up into Nezu’s office.
The Principal of U.A. sips a bit of his tea before speaking. “Would you like some?” He gestures to the pot of tea sitting atop his desk.
“No thank you.” Ochaco shifts in her seat. “So, what did you want to see me about?”
Nezu takes another sip of his tea before putting it down onto his desk. “There’s just a few things that have gained my attention. And I’d like to get to know them better.”
“Such as?”
“Such as, what is All Might’s successor like?”
Good thing she hadn’t taken that tea because she definitely would have spat it out. “A-Al-All M-M-Might’s s-s-s-successor?!” She’s breaking into a cold sweat now, as she hurriedly tries to fix the situation. “I’m not sure what you mean?”
“Hahaha! Not to worry dear child. I know all about One For All!”
“You do?!” Why didn’t All Might tell her? That would have been nice to know!
“Why, yes. But I’m sure your mentor didn’t want to bring it up just in case you ended up feeling like your being unnecessarily evaluated.”
“That…makes sense.” She wouldn't want to feel like she’s getting unfair treatment, but then again maybe she already is, she is here after all.
“But there’s another reason I called you here.”
“Really?”
“Yes, in fact I would have liked to call up one other student here today. But it seems he’s a bit too preoccupied right now.”
“Really? Who is it?”
“Why it’s Izuku Midoriya of course.” He states rather bluntly. “He’s really having a hard time gathering up those Nosedeenians.”
…
“What?” Ochaco is completely dumbfounded, her brain unable to fully process what Nezu’s just implied.
“Oh, did Thirteen not tell you either?” He stands atop his chair holding his paw out proudly to declare the following. “You see, young lady I am not only the Principal of U.A. but I’m also…”
########(End Flashback)#######
“The Magister of the Plumber Japan Branch bzzzzz?!” Shouts the Megawatt version of Izuku.
Nezu nods in confirmation. “Yup! Isn’t that wonderful? Hahahaha!”
Ochaco’s glad that it’s all cleared up now. Although she did leave out the parts involving All Might and One For All.
And yeah, it was a bit of a shock for her as well when she found out. But apparently Nezu is in fact the head honcho of both U.A. and the Plumbers here in Japan. Another way to look at it is that he is Thirteen’s boss for two different jobs! And now it appears he is also in charge of them both at school and when it comes to Plumber work.
Thankfully being the principal and a Plumber comes with benefits such as having access to alien technology or gadgets created here on Earth to help combat alien life such as the makeshift Megawatt catcher.
Speaking of Megawatts. “Hey, Deku.”
“Yes bzzz?”
“Why are you?” She gestures to his tiny form.
“Oh, I’m not sure.” He looks down and examines the new alien form. “When those Megawatts attacked me, I just sort of panicked and reached for the Omnitrix and the next thing I know I’m trapped inside this tiny little body.”
“But I thought you could only transform into nine aliens.”
“So, did I.” This new alien is really a surprise, he never even considered this a possibility. Although maybe it’s the universe’s way of giving him a break after making him go through all that pain and suffering today.
Nezu cups his chin as he too examines Izuku’s newest transformation. “Fascinating. Simply fascinating.”
The Nosedeenian Izuku moans, he really doesn’t want to deal with any of this right now. “Uh, I’ve had too long of a day to deal with this.” Maybe they can address this later, after he’s showered, and his aches and pains go away. “Quick question bzzz. Aren’t your responsibilities too much for you bzzz? I mean shouldn't someone else be helping you out bzzz?”
Nezu shakes his head, not at all offended by the question. “Well I wouldn’t say my responsibilities are all that different from each other.” Makes sense when you think about it. He’s only in charge of a few staff members for each position and his position as the head of U.A. allows him access and certain pull with certain individuals making it easier for him to cover up alien activity in Japan. “And besides I’m more than capable of handling all the responsibilities of both tasks.”
Ochaco blinks in awe of the chimera. “Wow, that’s impressive.”
“Indeed it is bzzz!” The transformed Izuku peers around noticing that someone else isn’t there. “By the way, where is Thirteen bzzz?”
Nezu claps his paws together. “Oh, I gave them a call already to notify them about the situation. But they got called away, apparently One-One detected a transmission, but they weren’t able to identify the source. So, they’re both looking into it.” Hopefully it’s nothing serious. “But that is nothing for either of you to be concerned about. Instead you two should return to class. I may be a Plumber but I’m still a Principal.”
“Yes, sir!” The space cadets salute before heading off for the exit.
Ochaco walks off at a normal pace while the Megawatt Izuku has to jog to keep up, his legs tapping away underneath him at a fast pace.
Nezu waves them off with an encouraging smile. “And don’t you worry about this lot. I’ll handle things from here.”
He watches as the two climb the steps and exit through the doorway, they give him one last wave before they disappear from sight. ‘I can’t wait to see what the future holds for the two of you.’ One will grow to be the successor that surpasses All Might, that much is certain. As for the other…his future is a bit more uncertain but one thing's for certain. “He’s just like you.” Nezu whispers this to himself thinking of an old ally that he hasn’t had the pleasure of seeing in a long time now.
In the meantime, Ochaco and a jogging Megawatt are approaching their homeroom class.
“What a day bzzz.” It really has been for the transformed Izuku.
He’s been zapped, burned, and attacked as well as dumpster dived twice now, meaning he still smells like a walking dump, and to add on to the humiliation he knows for a fact that everyone’s been weirded out by his constant fidgeting while enduring the pain as Ditto.
Ochaco sighs. “I know right. At least the worst is over.”
“Easy for you to say bzzz. You’re not the one with tiny legs bzzz!”
Ochaco blinks down at the little alien as it tries to keep pace with her, she probably should have just picked him up by now. “Can’t you fly?”
The small alien stops in his tracks, thinking about her suggestion.
He grins, much like the other Megawatts. “Oh, yeah bzzz!” He tucks his arms in and concentrates trying to allow his natural powers to reveal themselves.
Electricity builds around him before his entire body seems to transform into an electrical beam that snakes its way into the air, but something’s definitely off. The electrical beam swivels and zigzags in the air before it rockets away down the hall. Ochaco watches on, her eyes popping out of her head as Izuku zips around until the electricity stream phases right through the Class 1-A door.
The moment the entire beam of electricity enters there is an explosion of noise.
*ZAP!!*
“WHAT THE HELL!?!”
“What is that?!”
“Gah, that smell!”
*ZAP!!*
“Ow!!”
*ZAP!!*
“Kaminari!!”
“It’s not me!!”
“Watch out!!”
*ZAP!!*
As the gravity wielder approaches the door in a frenzy, the noise dies down a bit inside, but she doesn’t even register the change as she flings the door aside.
The entire classroom is in disarray with things scattered all across the floor, a few desks and chairs are turned over, scorch marks line the floor and walls, and many of the students are out of their seats some of them are even laying on the ground as if they had taken cover.
“What hap-Oh my gosh!!” She cuts herself off when her eyes trail towards the front of the class where a very pissed Aizawa is.
His eyes are glowing red as his hair floats upward, he holds his scarf while attached to the end is a small bundle floating in the air. A pair of small nonhuman eyes peer out and cower under Mr. Aizawa’s gaze.
Ochaco gulps.
Aizawa examines the little being in his capture weapon and he notices the Omnitrix embedded into its body. “Midoriya?” It barely comes out as a whisper, and more like a soft-spoken threat.
The Megawatt manages to free his mouth from the binding. “Y-yes…”
Aizawa’s gaze hardens and his eyes glow an even brighter crimson making him even more imposing and menacing as he glares down at his victim, who screams out in terror.
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
It’s finally the end of the school day, or at least it is for most of the student body. Unfortunately, one of them has to stay behind and serve detention for the next week or so.
“What did I do to deserve this?” Izuku plops his mop down onto the floor, part of his detention is that he has to clean the school and all without his powers. It’s Aizawa’s orders.
Apparently despite his best efforts some students reported spotting little battery-like beings causing mayhem across the school, and since Izuku’s new Megawatt form fit the bill…well you can assume what occurred. He got blamed for the messes and destruction they caused from the Support Course robot going haywire to the frying of Present Mic’s car. The pro hero literally yelled his ear off for that one and now there’s a constant ringing in his ears. Thankfully the only reason he got off so lightly was that thanks to a quick intervention from Nezu himself. They lied and explained that his powers went haywire, probably as a side effect for gaining a new transformation. By some miracle Mr. Aizawa bought it probably from the quick display that he witnessed it did seem like Izuku couldn’t control his new form’s flight path.
But that doesn’t mean he was outright forgiven, Mr. Aizawa also made him hand over his Class President position. So in the end Iida ended up as Class President and Yaoyorozu, as the follow up, got the Vice President position. Both were more than happy to have the jobs, but they did feel a little sour about how it was achieved. But hey Izuku’s just glad he has one less responsibility to deal with, so he’ll take this as a win.
All in all, he did do his job, despite his own personal outcome. No one suspects a thing and alien life remains a secret to the students and staff of U.A. Also he learned quite a bit today, like who would have guessed that Nezu was a Magister for the Plumbers?! But maybe that’s the point, after all who would expect a school principal of taking part in covert operations.
“I’m very disappointed in you.”
Izuku stops moping and looks up and is greeted by the sight of a frowning Iida. He must be so ashamed to see someone he had seen as worthy of the position to cause such a mess across this prestigious school.
Izuku sighs, not bothering to argue and just accepts the reprimand. “I know.”
His other classmates pass by either with looks of amusement or dismissal.
“Can you believe him?”
“I thought he was so well behaved.”
“I think he’s the official problem child of our class.”
“I heard he vandalized Present Mic’s car.”
“I even heard that he snuck into the teacher’s lounge.”
“I wonder if he went into the girl’s locker room.”
“There’s something wrong with you.”
Izuku keeps his mouth shut as they all head home for the day. Then again, they did just step on his newly cleaned floor so that irks him a bit, but he’s too good nature to say anything. So, he sucks it up and continues with his punishment. And all in the name of keeping an intergalactic secret.
“Hey.”
With his gaze turned down to the floor a pair of thin brown dress shoes appear just in front of him. He peers up and standing before him is Ochaco holding a mop in her hands.
“Shouldn’t you be heading home?”
“I would but…” Ochaco dunks her mop into the bucket. “you already had to deal with the Megawatts alone and it just seems wrong to let go through this all by yourself too.”
Izuku gives her a grateful smile. “Thanks.”
She returns the smile and then they both get to work, moping their way across the school floors.
They go at it for a few minutes and Ochaco’s mind begins to wander. Or more accurately her mind lingers on the feeling of guilt that’s built up all throughout the day. Specifically how she had to let Deku take on most of the work already, now this too. Life really is unfair at times. And not only that but she couldn’t even tell him about One For All. That really puts a sour taste in her mouth.
Maybe there’s something she can do for him other than help him clean…maybe she should get him a gift or something. Yeah, that would do. Well, it may not make up for everything, but it’ll be a start.
How about a watch? No, no watch could compare to what he already has. An All Might poster? He definitely would love that, but she might not be able to afford it. Hmmm. Maybe a jacket or a hoodie would do…?
While mopping away a funny thought crosses Izuku’s mind. “You know I guess Thirteen was right.”
Ochaco dunks her mop into the bucket. “About what?”
“Megawatts really are the worst, aren’t they?”
Ochaco thinks back to how Thirteen was acting earlier that morning, specifically how over dramatic they were acting, but it seems like they knew what they were talking about all along.
Ochaco chuckles at the joke. “Yeah, I guess you’re right. Megawatts really are the worst.”
“I TOLD YOU SO!!!” Thirteen leaps out from a nearby classroom yelling at the top of their lungs.
Ochaco nearly tumbles backwards in surprise. “Thirteen?!”
Izuku is just as surprised. “What are you doing here?!”
The U.A. teacher blinks. “…I work here.”
“Oh, I mean…” Izuku sighs, deciding not to pursue an argument, it’s already been too long of a day for this. “Nevermind.”
Ochaco however does pursue a conversation. “What brings you here?”
“Oh, I just wanted to see how you two were holding up. And also,” The Plumber places gentle hands onto their heads ruffling up their hair with affectionate rubs. “I wanted to say good job today. You really stepped up when we needed you.”
The two smile in appreciation. “Thanks.”
Thirteen releases them and Izuku decides to bring up something important. “Oh, Thirteen did you hear?”
“Hear what?”
“I got a new transformation today!”
“Really?” The Plumber is genuinely surprised, they didn’t think the Omnitrix had more transformations for the boy, but it looks like they were wrong. But what alien did he gain access to? “What is it?”
Decided to show rather than tell, Izuku activates his alien watch and in a flash of green light his new Megawatt waves up at the taller hero.
Thirteen doesn’t allow a second to go by before they’re in a complete panic. “Ahhhh!! It’s a Megawatt!!”
Ochaco tries to refute them. “No, it’s-”
“Quick get it!” Thirteen jabs their finger out and immediately activates their Quirk.
“Ahhhh bzzzzz!!” The aliened Izuku screams out in horror as he tries to escape the suction of Thirteen’s Blackhole, while Ochaco grips Thirteen’s arm trying to aim their Quirk away from her friend.
Maybe outright displaying his new form to Thirteen wasn’t the best idea. A part of Izuku and Ochaco wonder what could have caused such a deep hatred for the species but maybe it would be best to leave that topic alone. What matters now is not being sucked up and turned into dusk thanks to an endless void that is Blackhole.
Hopefully things will start looking up for them, especially Izuku, but only time will tell whether or not that is the case.
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
Amongst the back alleys of Kamino Ward a hidden bar is serving a small number of patrons.
One of the patrons is scrolling through his laptop, specifically he’s scanning through U.A. itinerary. “The game is all set.”
Looks like that Henzu punk really pulled it off for them. Then again Giran was able to get a hold of a U.A. uniform so he wouldn’t stick out while walking the halls. And with his combination of speed and intelligence Quirks he was able to hack and sneak his way into the school.
The bartender turns towards the small television sitting atop a thin table at the corner of the room. “Master, have all the preparations been made?”
“Yes.”
“Good.” The pale-skinned man with a hand for a mask swivels in his seat, turning away from his laptop. “You did well, perhaps you’re not complete trash.”
Henzu is seated at the opposite end of the counter. “Glad I could make you happy, Handjob.” His voice is dripping with sarcasm.
But in all honestly, he was actually thrilled to have snuck into one of the most secure places in the country. He kind of wishes he was spotted so that way he could take credit, but after what these guys have planned it would upstage his own efforts.
The young man scratches at his dry-skinned neck, growling in response to Henzu’s tone.
Henzu only smirks in response, finding the hostility somewhat entertaining. “Whatever it is you have planned…I bet it’s going to be a real riot.”
From nearby a hulking muscular mass growls to itself in anticipation for what’s to come.
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
Within the interior of the spacecruiser one of the robotic drones bows at his master’s form.
“Master!”
The commander shifts away from his studies of news articles. “What is it?”
“The one you called for has arrived.”
In that moment, the metallic gates open wide and a large figure steps forward. Their feet stomps echo across the cold metal floor as they approach the ship commander’s healing tank.
The arrival gazes up at the commander awaiting their order.
The commander takes a breath through his breathing apparatus before he goes into any details. “I have a new task for you.”
The commander’s eyes shift towards the holographic images, specifically to one of them. It’s an image of Izuku gripping the Omnitrix as he prepares to face off against one of the commander’s assault drones from months ago.
The commander would be smiling if it weren’t for his breathing apparatus. Soon, very soon, he will have what rightfully belongs to him.
Notes:
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
And that was Ch.14 Shocking Development. So, what did you all think? In all honestly this chapter was way too long, 73 pages, sheesh!! I really need to figure out how to make these chapters smaller, mainly so I could update this story sooner. For the next parts they will be split up into at least 2-3 chapters so just a heads up. And yes, we are finally going to begin the U.S.J. Arc!! Hooray!! I think you’re all really going to enjoy it. Also please read the important Author’s Note down below.
*(Important Author’s Note)* I have been getting a lot of questions and comments about this, so I think I need to address it. Do you guys want ships in this fanfic? Seriously, I need an answer. I wasn't honestly going to include them unless I felt like it was needed or it would be interesting, but because of all the inquiries I wanted to get everyone’s opinion. So, please let me know if you would like ships to be included into this fanfic. Also feel free to tell me what your favorite ships are, keep in mind I plan on writing this story out for a while so if there are certain ships you want played out then please let me know what you want to see. And depending how this poll goes I may include them. So, please the more responses the better. Thanks.
*As I said in the beginning please don’t take some of these parts as critically like the Megawatts. Most of this chapter was admittedly just filler and I just really wanted to include them and give Izuku Buzzshock as an alien. So, if you thought certain things were going to be addressed or fleshed out then I’m sorry. But hopefully the next coming chapters will make up for it. This chapter was meant to help set up a few things in the coming arc.
*Speaking of Buzzshock I hope none of you are too upset that he’s Izuku’s newest alien. If it makes you feel better Izuku will be gaining some new aliens in the coming future and I think you are all really going to enjoy them. Just wait and see.
*I was going to give Henzu a few more scenes but I didn’t get to write them, because this chapter is already so long. So, if you have questions about how he stole the information then please feel free to ask.
Chapter 15: It’s Hero Time
Summary:
Class 1-A are off for the Rescue Training but what awaits them at their destination.
Notes:
Hey everyone! Isn’t this great I was able to upload earlier this time! Wow! Well any way I have an announcement about the poll. An overwhelming majority of you are for ships (relationships) to appear in this story. So, I will try my best to include them. HOWEVER, the ships are not my priority and I don’t just want to throw them in without any real effort. So I will introduce the ships gradually and when I feel like that the time is right then I may make them official. Honestly, I may set up another poll later on to vote on which ships should occur, but that’s for another time. Anyway let us begin the U.S.J. Arc!
Also, I need to point this out. But in the last chapter when Izuku’s classmates were being “mean” to him. That was meant to be a temporary joke and it will not have lasting effects. So, Sorry if that caused some unnecessary worry.*This story is also on Fanfiction.net. It’s under the same name and author.
*EXTREMELY Important Author’s note at the end of the chapter!*
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Early Wednesday morning Izuku and Inko are at their dining room table enjoying a quick breakfast.
Inko swallows a bit of her Miso Shiru before she continues their conversation. “So, how’s detention?”
“Uh…” Izuku’s mind naturally thinks back to the past few days, how he’s had to spend them staying behind and cleaning the school after hours. He’s scrubbed enough floors and toilets to last a lifetime and he rather not have to think about it. “It’s going well.”
“Really?” Inko doesn’t sound convinced, but she doesn’t push him. Instead she just shakes her head before going back to her food. “You worry me sometimes.”
Izuku actually looks ashamed, but that’s more because he doesn’t like to disappoint his mother period. Even if in this case it wasn’t totally his own fault. “Sorry Mom, but it’s not my fault.” That’s sort of the truth. “My Quirk just went haywire on me.” Okay now that part’s a clear lie. But what else can he say? Oh, hey Mom I got detention today but don’t worry I didn’t do anything wrong. I just have to do this to cover up a government conspiracy that aliens are here and roaming among us. Yeah, that will go over really well.
Inko sighs. “Even so I’m still worried. I don’t want you to get hurt, sweetie.”
She really does care, but she knows that her son has the habit to try and wave off her worries when it comes to his well-being.
“I know, Mom.” He knows that she cares and it’s not like he is actively seeking danger… Okay, he is but it’s not like he wants to cause her any real worry. Even so he’s come so far, and he has so much further to go, but he will try his best not to worry her too much. “But I’m working hard, and…I think I’m making friends.” That should alleviate her worries somewhat.
And he’s sort of right, because his mom cracks a smile until she also bursts into tears. “My baby’s growing up so fast!” Her tears gush out in buckets.
“Mom! Please calm down! Think about the carpet!”
Inko sniffs away her tears. “Sorry.” She can be so darn emotional, and so can Izuku for that matter. “You know me, I’ve always been prone to crying.”
“Hehe, yeah I know. I’m the same way after all.”
Inko out right chuckles at his little joke before they continue with their morning meal.
“Alright, I better be heading out.” Izuku grabs his tray before dropping it off into the sink.
“Alright, you take care.”
“Thanks Mom.” Izuku opens the door and takes off for another exciting adventure. “Love you!”
“Love you, too.”
Inko watches from the kitchen table as her son waves back to her as the door shuts closed. She sighs, content with the situation hoping that he’ll return home without any incidents. Izuku has always been rather reserved and sensitive much like her, but he has a tendency to find trouble…much like his father. Always rushing in head first into any situation and not thinking about the consequences. Always working hard toward his goals. They really are so similar.
As Inko thinks on and compares how similar her loved ones are the television in the living room is currently televising a hostage situation in downtown Musutafu.
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In the middle of Musutafu, a huge crowd of morning commuters watch on in horror and slight fascination as heroes square off against a large ugly villain.
“See this lucky little family? Come after me and I’ll snap their necks!!” The hulking villain flicks off the pro heroes as a family of three struggle to breathe in his muscular arm. “Got that?! Stay back, heroes!!”
This guy is an enormous, muscular humanoid villain with an unusual extension from his shoulders that grows up and over his head, which gives it a hood-like appearance. His face is largely concealed within this hood, only showing round, white eyes and a large mouth. He’s wearing an armored half-vest with a chain over his right shoulder and cargo pants with additional plating.
A slightly scuffed up Mt. Lady glares at the villain in front of her. “Serial robber and murderer, Trapezius Headgear!!”
Mt. Lady is a voluptuous young woman with purple eyes and long, voluminous, creamy blonde hair. Her hero costume is composed of a purple and pale tan-colored skintight bodysuit. With purple colored gloves and boots. The suit also has three peculiar orange diamond-shaped dots on the purple top that are located under her chest, and she also wears a purple domino mask with horn-like protrusions on the sides.
Meanwhile, laying on his back after being smack backwards is Kamui Woods. “Not only strong…but a quick strategist!”
Kamui Woods is adorning a dark blue bodysuit that includes a wooden belt, wooden knee pads, wooden shoes, and a small rose veil hangs from the left side of his belt.
The family cries out in anguish from within the huge villain’s crushing grip. “Save us, heroes!!”
Trapezius Headgear bursts into laughter, he just can’t believe how useless these heroes are right now. And now with his incredible agility he can easily make his escape. And nothing, absolutely nothing, can stop him now!
“FEAR NOT, GOOD CITIZENS.”
Before anyone can comprehend what’s happening, All Might, the Number One Hero himself, charges in like a missile from seemingly out of nowhere.
“MISSOURI SMASH!” The Symbol of Peace karate chops the huge villain from behind while also snagging the family right out of his grasp. “WHY, YOU ASK?” All Might turns flashing his inspiring grin for the world to see as Trapezius Headgear collapses to the ground. “BECAUSE I’M ON MY MORNING COMMUTE!”
The crowd of spectators cheer in response. “YEAH!!!”
“All Might!!”
“You’re amazing!!”
But not everyone is exactly thrilled to see him.
Mt. Lady’s face shades over, she smiles but it’s clearly forced. “We appreciate it, but…”
“He’ll put us out of business…” Finishes Kamui Woods as he remains laying on the ground with his legs upward like a splattered bug.
It’s really no surprise that they feel like their victory was stolen right from under them. For starters, their own success depends on the number of crimes and villains that they defeat. It helps to grow their own popularity and as a result gets them a higher paycheck. Or in some cases, resources to help them in future hero work or endeavors.
All Might lets the thankful family down before saluting at the officers who have arrived to haul the villain away. “HAPPY TO HELP!”
Before he can continue on his commute, his ear twitches as it picks up a faraway cry for help.
“Kyahh, a hit-and-run!!”
“HMM, I MUSTN'T BE LATE…” But he can’t ignore a plea for help. So, the pro hero squats down, tensing up as he prepares himself to spring into the air. “HOWEVER.” With a mighty leap he launches himself into the air like a mini rocket ship.
While falling through the air with style All Might can’t help but notice how much his speed has actually dropped. Although it isn’t a lot, he can tell that something is different. In truth he’s been weakening ever since he passed his power onto young Uraraka. Not only that but his maximum duration has shortened as well.
But his own capabilities as a hero are not the only things weighing on his mind, but his capabilities as a mentor. ‘I NEED A WAY TO HELP YOUNG URARAKA CONTROL ONE FOR ALL WITHOUT DAMAGING HER BODY.’ Unfortunately, he can’t fully understand why or how to do that. Probably because he always had a knack when it came to controlling his power. But then there’s something else to consider. ‘I ALSO NEED TO FIGURE OUT HOW AND WHY ONE FOR ALL IS BOOSTING HER ZERO-GRAVITY. IF I DON’T PREPARE HER, SHE MAY END UP CAUSING MORE DAMAGE TO NOT ONLY HERSELF BUT TO THOSE AROUND HER.’ Speaking of those around her. ‘I NEED TO KEEP AN EYE ON THAT MIDORIYA BOY. IT SEEMS HE’S GOTTEN CLOSE TO YOUNG URARAKA…AND IF MY SUSPICIONS OF HIM ARE TRUE THEN…I FEAR FOR WHAT IT MAY MEAN FOR THE TWO OF THEM. AND IF I MAKE A MISTAKE AND THE WORST COMES TO PAST THEN URARAKA MAYBE IN MORE DANGER THAN I HAD PREVIOUSLY THOUGHT.’
All Might lands just in front of the runaway vehicle, and without so much as trying he stops the speeding car with a single hand. 'SUITABLE SUCCESSOR OR NOT, SHE’S STILL JUST A 15-YEAR-OLD KID. THERE IS STILL SO MUCH FOR HER TO LEARN.’
“I heard there’s a hostage crisis in the next town over!”
“HMMM!!” Looks like duty calls, hopefully he’ll still make it to today’s lesson on time.
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The school bell rings signaling the start of the students’ next class.
Aizawa stands before his students looking as lethargic as ever. “Now for today’s Basic Hero Training. This time, All Might, myself, and one other will supervise.”
Izuku instantly picks up on Aizawa’s wording. ‘This time? So, it’s a special class.’
His neighbor, Hanta Sero, raises his arm with a question. “Um, what’re we doing, exactly?!”
“Preparing you for disaster relief, from fires to floods.” To help his point their homeroom teacher holds up a large white-card with RESCUE inscribed on it.
The class excitedly finishes for him. “It’s Rescue Training!!”
Kaminari smirks at the idea. “Rescue, huh. Sounds like another rough day.”
Mina grins back at him. “Right!”
Kirishima rebuts the two of them. “Come on, this is what being a hero’s all about!! I’m pumped!!”
“You’re always pumped!!”
“You know it!”
Meanwhile, Tsuyu thinks aloud to herself. “I’ll be right at home in a flood, kero.”
Aizawa glares at the rambunctious kids “I’m not done.”
They immediately go rigid in fear allowing their teacher to continue with his explanation. He explains that it’s each of their own choice whether or not they want to wear their hero costumes. But they need to consider that some of their gear are not suited to this particular activity. He also adds in that the training site for this course is a bit remote. So, they will need to travel by bus to get there. “That’s all. Get ready.”
The class respectively replies. “Yes, sir.”
As the rest of the class get up to grab their individual costumes Izuku is trying his best to contain his excitement. ‘Rescue Training…!!’ He’s seriously hyped up for this! Rescuing people is literally the main role of being a hero. Saving those that can’t save themselves from all sorts of threats. ‘This’ll help me become the greatest hero I know I can be! I’ll do my best!’
While Izuku quietly contains his enthusiasm, Ochaco giggles at the sight of his overly excited expression.
She holds a large brown shopping bag in her hands as she waits for her classmates to clear out and head to the locker rooms. She’s been meaning to give Deku this all morning but she sort of overslept and was nearly late so she never had the chance. But it looks like she’ll have her chance right now. “Hey Deku.”
Despite his excitement he doesn’t yell out excitedly. Instead he greets his friend with a happy smile. “What’s up, Uraraka?”
Ochaco nervously rubs her arm, as she grips the bag and to an extent Deku’s gift a little tighter. “I had something I wanted to give you.”
“Hmm?”
“Yeah, w-well, y-you see. I sort of feel…bad.” Her head droops down. “You’ve been so kind and supportive to me from the start and it’s sort of unfair for me not to be able to be completely honest with you.” She is referring to how she’s not allowed to explain One For All to him, or even tell him about her connection to All Might. “And so I wanted to make it up to you. Even if it’s in a small way.”
“Uh, okay?”
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‘Wow! It feels like I was always meant to wear this thing!’ Izuku admires how comfortable Ochaco’s gift really is.
Apparently, she got him a brand-new hoodie, but there’s a little more to it than that. The hoodie is black in color with dark-green trims around the ends, pockets, and zipper. Two pairs of dark-green lines encircle around the arms. But what makes this hoodie a bit more personal is the hand-sewn logo of the Omnitrix on the left chest.
“This is so great! Thanks Uraraka!” He rubs his hands across the material. “I don’t know what it’s made of. It’s so warm but it breathes.”
And as a bonus it’ll make for the perfect temporary costume for the day.
Apparently, his real costume is still undergoing repairs and so he’s left without one. But thanks to Uraraka’s timely gift he can somewhat match his fellow classmates in style.
As of now, his current attire includes his new hoodie that he’s forgone zipping up allowing his black undershirt to be on display. He is, however, wearing the standard gym pants, but he also salvaged his hero costume’s gloves, respirator mask, and red utility belt.
Uraraka smiles cheerfully. “Hehe, I’m glad you liked it.”
Which is good because it took her several days to sew on the Omnitrix symbol. She wanted it to be just right if not perfect. Plus that hoodie wasn’t exactly cheap, so she’s glad that it was well worth the effort…and money.
Maybe she should have splurged a little for herself as well, because she too can’t wear her costume. Thanks to One For All her costume was torn apart and heavily damaged. The only real item that survived her power was her own pink belt, which really doesn’t go well with the U.A. gym uniform.
But it’ll have to do for today.
*Tweet! Tweet! Tweet!* Tenya Iida tweets away into his new shiny whistle, it’s the newest tool he deemed as necessary to help wrangle in his classmates. “Line up according to your I.D. numbers. Fill those seats in an orderly fashion.”
*Tweet!* *Tweet! Tweet!*
He’s a little too loud with that thing that some of them have to cover their ears in irritation. While Iida continues to whistle away and direct everyone aboard with his waving arms.
Izuku, however, just finds the scene odd. “Looks like Iida’s going full throttle…!”
Ochaco nods in agreement, finding the scene just as odd. “Yup…”
Soon they’re all packed into the bus with Aizawa at the wheel. With everyone ready to go they’re off to their next big adventure with feelings of excitement and good cheer all around.
At least for the most part.
“Darn. It was this type of bus!” Iida slouches over in his seat, holding his head down in disappointment.
His entire seating arrangement has been thrown off because the bus doesn’t have the standard seat arrangement. Making his plan a waste of time and effort. Instead the bus has an open arrangement in the front portion while the back of the bus is your standard bus seating arrangement. Currently only Kirishima, Tsuyu, Izuku, Sato, Kaminari, Aoyama, Mina, and Iida are sitting in the front half while the others sit in the back.
Mina, sitting beside Iida, decides to confirm all of this, finding Iida’s dejection amusing. “All that for nothing.”
Everyone else remains silent not wanting to comment on the subject.
Tsuyu Asui for one is ready to change the subject.
She turns to face Izuku who’s sitting beside her. “Pardon me Midoriya. But you should know. I generally say what’s on my mind’
Izuku accidently flinches, surprised that she wants to talk to him of all people. And from out of nowhere it seems. “Oh? Is that so? Then what is it you’d like to say, Asui?”
“Call me Tsuyu.” She deadpans, although her facial expression doesn’t change that much as she makes her statement. “Anyway your Quirk is really amazing.”
“Huh, thank you…”
“But it’s broken.” As in, it's way too powerful for its own good.
“Whaa?!”
From Izuku’s other side, Rikido Sato adds in his thoughts. “You know I’ve been thinking the exact same thing.”
Denki Kaminari eyes Izuku questionly. “For real, man, I mean what kind of monster are you?”
Izuku jolts up in his seat. “Monster?!”
From her seat in the back, Ochaco looks on in worry hoping Izuku can handle this on his own. Not that she wouldn’t help him, but she may just make things worse if she just butts in.
From behind Ochaco, Mezo Shoji speaks out as well. “To be honest I don’t fully understand your Quirk all too well either.” Even though it was somewhat explained to him before he would still like to know more.
Iida cups his chin in thought, he thinks about the forms he’s seen Izuku use before such as Terraspin, XLR8, Water Hazard, and his newest form from a few days ago. “I feel the same way. I would also like to know more about your Quirk myself.”
“You too, huh?” Izuku droops down in his seat, not appreciating his classmates’ attention being on him. Literally everyone seems to be asking him the same questions as they observe him curiously, even the reserved and usually distant Todoroki. The only one that seems uninterested is Bakugou who’s too busy glaring out the window.
Izuku scans the bus and sure enough they’re all nodding or giving him looks that silently ask him to explain his enigma of a Quirk.
Well, he might as well and give the people what they want. “I guess I can explain.”
Some of his classmates lean forward in their seats in anticipation. As for Ochaco she stiffens in her seat next to Momo Yaoyorozu, she really hopes that Izuku knows what he’s doing.
“Well, I guess I should start off with what my Quirk is called.” Or at least the alibi that both Thirteen and him came up with months ago. Now it’s really time to put their alibi to the test. “It’s called One Man Army.”
Kyouka Jiro’s head tilts to the side as she gives the greenette a questionable look. “One Man Army?”
“Yes, you see my Quirk allows me to transform into different forms and each form has its own unique powers and abilities.”
Eijirou Kirishima pats his fist into his open hand in realization. “Oh, so that’s why it’s called One Man Army. It’s because you literally are a one-man army.” He raises his balled-up fist as a tear escapes his eye in admiration. “That’s so cool.”
“Ha, uh, yeah.”
Tsuyu cuts herself in between the two. “But that’s not all there is to it is it, kero?” She’s very observant, isn’t she?
Izuku nods. “You’re right. There is a bit more to it.”
“Seriously?!” Kaminari falls back into his seat in defeat. “That’s so not fair!”
“Not exactly.”
“Huh?”
“As of now I only have ten transformations or so.”
Shoji is not sure if he heard Izuku right. “Ten? I thought you had nine?” At least that’s what Izuku told him near the beginning of the school year.
Oh, yeah. Izuku forgot about the fact that he can apparently get new forms. “W-well I did have nine, but I just got a new one not too long ago.”
Mina thinks about it before she comes to a conclusion. “Oh, right. There was that little battery form you had. You know when you crashed into the classroom.”
“Y-yeah…” His eyes light up as he remembers something that he thinks is interesting. “Oh, I decided to call that form Buzzshock by the way.”
…
Everyone stares at Izuku like he’s grown a second head, even Ochaco has to fight the urge to facepalm herself.
Like the blunt one she is, Tsuyu decides to ask the question on everyone’s mind. “You…name your transformations?”
“Yup.” Izuku puffs out his chest a bit, he’s admittedly proud about his naming schemes. It’s a lot of fun and they’re really creative, if he does say so himself.
“That’s dumb.”
Goodbye pride, Izuku hardly knew you. “A-Anyway. Even with these forms I can only stay in a single form for ten minutes before I need to recharge for another ten minutes.”
Sato scratches the side of his head. “Huh, that is a pretty big drawback.”
Iida decides to summarize that piece of info. “Basically, you can only use your Quirk for ten minutes at a time.”
Izuku gives him a thumbs up. “That’s correct.”
Iida cups his chin. “Interesting.”
Mashirao Ojiro pipes up from the back of the bus. “And the watch?”
“Huh?”
“Your watch. I noticed that before you transform that you seem to do something with it.”
Oh he means the Omnitrix. Luckily Thirteen and him were ready for this. “Oh, that. Well I can’t exactly will my Quirk to work on its own. I need this watch to help activate my transformations, it also acts as a timer letting me know whenever I’m ready to transform.” Izuku offers a friendly smile hoping to show them that he’s really not all that. “So, you see. Despite my versatile powers I still have my drawbacks.”
Mina pouts from her seat. “It’s still unfair though.”
Izuku immediately sinks into his seat feeling dejected as he grumbles to himself.
Everyone chuckles at the sight of him being embarrassed and exasperated, thankfully Kirishima seems to notice Izuku’s discomfort and helps to change the item of interest. “If you want to talk about unfair Quirks,” he looks towards the back half of the bus. “then there’s Bakugou, Todoroki, and Uraraka to consider.”
Neither Bakugou nor Todoroki acknowledge Kirishima’s praise, but Ochaco for one lights up glad that people see her as strong and capable.
“That’s true,” Confirms Iida. “but it seems that Uraraka’s Quirk has some major backlash as well. So much so that it injures her.”
Ochaco’s head falls to the side as her sense of self-worth takes a hit.
Tsuyu decides to add something to the conversation. “And Bakugou’s too unhinged. He’d never be that popular.”
Throughout this entire discussion the ash-blonde was quiet and minding his business. But calling him out is a one-way ticket to being cursed at. “What’d you say, Frog-face?!”
“See.” She’s not even affected by his shouting.
“Don’t ignore-” Bakugou catches something out from the corner of his eye.
Looking over he notices Ochaco’s piercing glare as if she’s mentally trying to tell him to sit down and be quiet. Normally, he’d curse her out for trying to order him around, but instead he remembers what she had to tell him the other day in the nurses’ office. Deciding that shouting at his classmates isn’t worth his time, he plops back down in his seat with a huff.
While they’re classmates continue to converse, Izuku is busy as he has an internal meltdown. He’s holding his head as to stabilize himself in this upside-down world. ‘Bakugou’s getting teased?! Who’d have thought?! Guess that’s U.A. for ya…’
Aizawa’s stern voice makes itself known to them all. “We’re here. Look sharp.”
“Okay!!” Responds Class 1-A.
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“WHOAAAAA!!!” Almost every member of Class 1-A cry out in delightful surprise at the sight before them. “IS THIS UNIVERSAL STUDIOS JAPAN!?!”
The facility before them consists of a dome-shaped building composed of eight main sections, with six of them emulating a particular disaster scenario: the Central Plaza, the Ruins Zone, the Landslide Zone, the Mountain Zone, the Conflagration Zone, the Flood Zone, and the Downpour Zone.
“Every disaster and accident you can imagine.” A very familiar voice calls out to the students as they admire their surroundings. “I built this facility myself. I call it…The Unforeseen Simulation Joint! Or U.S.J.!!” Thirteen proclaims proudly for them all to hear.
Most of the class share the same thought. ‘Just like Universal Studios Japan…’
Izuku and Ochaco are excited to see their mentor (and superior) here! But they shouldn’t be so surprised they knew they were a teacher here, and Thirteen’s known by the normal Japan community to be a topnotch rescue hero.
Mina gushes at the sight of the pro hero. “Woah, it’s the space hero, Thirteen!”
Tooru Hagakure awes. “So, cool!”
Ochaco and Izuku bite back their tongues so as to not call out to their mentor. The reason being is something that Thirteen brought up a while back: that they should act like they’ve all never met each other. Sure, that was nearly a year ago when the mutant monsters attacked but they’re sure that they should keep up the act at least for today.
So, that’s what they’ll do. Act like they never met the space hero before.
“Hi, Midoriya! Hi, Uraraka!” Thirteen openly waves towards them excitedly, glad to finally have them here at the U.S.J.
Izuku and Ochaco nearly collapse onto the ground because of the blatant disregard for subtlety.
Mina stares at the two teens with jealous awe. “You two know them?”
“Uh…”
“Yup!” Thirteen buts in. “I saved these two nearly a year ago and we’ve had a few run-ins with each other afterwards. So it’s nice to see them here.” He flashes a thumbs up to his proteges as if to say that they’ve got this covered.
The two teens grumble but return the gesture.
Aizawa approaches his colleague as he scans the U.S.J. looking for someone particular. “Thirteen. Where’s All Might? I thought he was meeting us here.”
“About that.” Thirteen raises up three fingers as they whisper their response. “It seems he just reached his limit during his morning commute. He’s currently resting in the break room, back at U.A..”
All Might sounded really apologetic over the phone when he called to notify Thirteen about the situation.
“The height of irrationality.” Aizawa states with a hint of irritation. “So be it. Let’s get started.”
Thirteen turns to the crowd of teenagers. “Before we do, I have one or two things to say…or three…or four…or-”
“We get it.” The class deadpans.
“As I’m sure you are aware, my Quirk is called Blackhole. It can suck in and tear apart anything that gets sucked into it.”
Izuku is happy to confirm this. “And you’ve used it to save people in all sorts of disasters.
Ochaco rapidly nods her head next to him.
“Indeed. However my power could easily kill.”
A harsh coldness washes over the class, they were not expecting Thirteen to go into the topic of death.
“I’ve no doubt there are some among you with similar abilities. In our super-powered society, the use of Quirks is heavily restricted and monitored. It may seem that this system is a stable one, but we must never forget that it only takes one wrong move with an uncontrollable Quirk for people to Die.”
Thirteen pauses before continuing on.
“During Aizawa’s Quirk Apprehension Test you came to learn of your own hidden potential. And through All Might’s Battle Training you experienced first-hand the danger that your respective Quirks can pose to others. This class will show you a new perspective! You will learn how to utilize your Quirks to save lives.”
The students slowly begin to smile, ready to get started as Thirteen encourages them forward.
“Your powers are not meant to inflict harm. I hope you leave today with the understanding that you’re meant to help people.” The pro hero takes a dramatic bow bringing their speech to an end. “That is all. I thank you for listening.”
A few of the students are kind enough to applaud the teacher.
“Way to go Thirteen!” Cheers Izuku.
“Awesome job!” Ochaco praises them for a job well done.
“Bravo!! Braaavo!!” Iida is probably the most enthusiastic, his hands clapping together rapidly.
Aizawa leans against the railing of the entrance area that overlooks the Central Plaza. “Great. first off…” His voice trails off as a feeling of trepidation washes over him as if a ghost just passed right through him and now, he’s left feeling cold and fearful. It’s like after years of being a pro hero has given him a sixth sense for danger.
He’s not the only one to sense that something’s off, Thirteen gets the same exact feeling, and Minas horn twitch making her brace herself as a feeling of hatred and malice emanates from somewhere nearby.
That’s when Aizawa notices something at the base of the staircase in the Central Plaza; it’s a small black swirl. The swirling black mist gradually becomes bigger and a human hand begins to claw its way out. Until the face of their doom reveals itself their piercing red eyes piercing up at them.
A young man with dry-pale skin, messy gray-blue hair, and a hand for a mask steps out of the ever-growing black mist. His attire is just as foreboding and it’s because of his black shirt and pants but the fourteen embalmed hands in total and all positioned so they’re holding onto him from his head to his arms.
There is no time to waste, as Aizawa immediately understands the gravity of the situation. “Everyone! Huddle up and don’t move!”
Iida, and the rest of the class, are rightfully confused. “Huh?”
“Thirteen!! Protect the Students!” Aizawa’s in a panic now, this much worse than he had first thought.
Especially as even a flood of unsavory characters appear out from within the mist after their apparent leader. Amongst them are all sorts of crooks, criminals, and murders.
Kirishima peers down at the Central Plaza, completely oblivious to the full weight of the predicament. “What the heck’s that? More battle robots? Like during the Entrance Exam?”
Aizawa pulls up a pair of yellow goggles from within his capture weapon. “Don’t Move. Those Are Villains!!”
And that is enough to get the students to understand that they are in real danger. That this is not part of the course. This is real.
Even more villains pour out from within the mist as a young man wearing a black shirt, brown cargo pants while a grey bandana is wrapped around their head with the number 11 written onto the side with marker.
Another villain that looks more like a monster with an extremely muscular build claws its way out behind the young man.
The black swirling mist seems to almost conjure into a shadowy misty form with glowing yellow eyes observing the students and the teachers above. “Thirteen and Eraserhead, is it? According to the staff schedule we received the other day All Might is supposed to be here.”
Aizawa eyes the mist villain with anger. He can only assume that he is the one responsible for teleporting all these villains into the U.S.J.
The leader of this hoard throws his head back with mild frustration. “Where is he…? We’ve come all this way and brought so many friends. All Might…the Symbol of Peace…is he here?” His piercing red eyes gaze up to the terrified students. “I wonder if he’ll show up if we kill some kids? What do you think…Nue?”
From the leader’s side, the young man now identified as Nue chuckles from behind his bandana. He’s so been looking forward to this.
Back up near the entrance, Yaoyorozu calls to Thirteen for answers. “Thirteen, aren’t there intruder sensors?”
The rescue hero nods. “Yes, of course there are!”
Shoto Todoroki steps forward as to gaze down at the intruders. Noticeably he’s without the icy-material of his costume today.
He doesn’t seem too worried, but he definitely doesn’t appreciate the villains being here. “Are they only here, or also at the main building? Either way if the sensors aren’t working then it has to be one of their Quirks that’s doing it.” And that’s not the only thing he points out. “This place is far from campus, and they picked a time when there’d be few people here. So maybe they’re not as dumb as they seem. They must have an objective. Because this is a well-coordinated sneak attack.”
His explanation makes sense, and somehow it only helps the fear sink in even further into their hearts.
Aizawa grips his capture weapon. “Thirteen! Begin the Evacuation! And try calling the school!” He theorizes that one of these villains must be jamming the signal, but they need to be sure. “Kaminari try using your Quirk to signal for help.”
“G-got it!” Kaminari tries to use his little headset but nothing is getting through to the main campus.
Aizawa steps forward towards the steps preparing himself mentally for an all-out brawl.
Izuku hastily calls out to his homeroom teacher, he really doesn’t see how this can go well for the pro hero. “But Mr. Aizawa you can’t fight them all alone!! Against that many…even you can’t nullify all their Quirks!!” He’s really scared and worried, if these really are villains then…their teacher can really get hurt or worse. “As Eraserhead, your fighting style involves Erasure and a quick binding capture. A head-on battle isn’t your forte!”
Aizawa, no Eraserhead, looks back at Izuku and with the utmost confidence he says the following. “No good hero is a one-trick pony.”
Izuku blinks but he remains silent, he had already said his piece and you should put more faith into the pro hero.
Eraserhead has one last thing to say and this time to his colleague. “Thirteen. Take care of them.”
Thirteen nods. “Right.”
And with that, Eraserhead leaps into action. Literally he leaps right over the staircase, like a falcon swooping down towards its prey.
Both Izuku and Ochaco, who have the most combat experience of the class, nearly jump in after him, but a quick look from Thirteen makes them stop in their tracks. It looks like Eraserhead truly is on his own.
Eraserhead expertly and efficiently begins to take down the villains. He cancels out three villains’ Quirk all at once before he uses his unique capture scarf to tie them up and knock them out by pulling and bashing their heads together. Some villains are somehow able to recognize the pro hero and even think that they have an advantage. Oh, how stupid they are because Eraserhead almost effortlessly takes them out one by one. While totally looking like a complete badass so much so that the villains are actually hesitant to engage in battle with him.
Nue watches on from the sidelines along with his boss. “That’s a pro hero for ya. They’re always ready to show off.” He sounds more amused than annoyed.
The villains’ leader scratches at his neck. “I hate pro heroes. Ordinary villains don’t stand a chance against them.”
Back at the entrance, both Izuku and Ochaco are completely absorbed in their teacher’s display of badassery. “Wow! He really is a pro.”
His friend can’t help but agree. “Yeah, even when out-numbered!”
As the rest of the class is trying to evacuate, Iida, the Class President, notices the two stragglers. “This is no time for analysis! Hurry up and evacuate!”
Suddenly the black misty villain that warped the villains into the U.S.J. looms over them blocking their escape route. “I won’t allow that.”
Everyone is taken by surprise not expecting a villain to make their way up here so quickly.
Eraserhead seems to have noticed that the wrapping villain is no longer in the Central Plaza. ‘Dammit! In a blink of an eye the most dangerous one got away!’ He turns to make his way back up the steps, but more villains block his path.
The swirling mist leers down over the students and the pro hero. “Greetings. We are the League of Villains. Forgive our audacity but today, we’ve come here to U.A. High School-this bastion of heroism to end the life…of All Might, the Symbol of Peace.”
Some of the students, mostly Ochaco and Izuku, tense up as their stomachs drop and righteous panic surges forth.
“We were under the impression that All Might would be here today, but it seems his schedule was revised?” The villain’s misty body begins to expand crawling along around them. “Well no matter.”
Thirteen, knowing that the villain is going to pull something, readies their Quirk to attack.
“My role remains unchanged.”
Before either the villain or the hero can pull anything two figures rush in without a second thought. Bakugou releases a booming explosion as Kirishima chops his hardened arm through the villain’s smoky form.
Bakugou lands on his feet with a scowl. “Not if we end you first!”
“Betcha didn’t see that coming!!” Shouts Kirishima.
The two of them stand tall, proud of their initiative, but they’ve indirectly landed in Thirteen’s path.
Unfortunately, it seems their attacks did little to nothing but slow down the villain's attack. “That was close. Yes, students though you may be, you are the best of the best.”
Thirteen shouts out, dreading what’s to come. “No, get back! Both of you!” Thirteen needs a clear window to use their Quirk otherwise they can accidently kill both of the boys.
But it’s too late. “BEGONE!!!” The villain’s mist explodes outward like a wave that consumes everything in its path.
Nearly every student, despite their efforts to get away, are swallowed up by the mysterious mist and warped away to their impending doom.
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It’s dark, it’s cold, and it’s so unnatural as if he’s being flown through the afterlife until, finally, light pierces through the never-ending void.
“Wahh?!” Izuku yelps out as he finds himself falling from midair.
As he falls, he only has a second to take in his surroundings, he’s in the Flood Zone, and his plunge into the cold water only confirms this.
Being thrown into the water did not provide Izuku enough time to catch his breath, thankfully he reacts fast enough to transform before he runs out of oxygen.
“Ripjaws!” The Piscciss Volann takes a few deep breaths. “Phew.” Man, he is so glad the Omnitrix gave him the alien he needed. Now with his breathing under control he can take in what he knows of the situation. ‘He teleported us! Must be his Quirk. And not only that but they wanna kill All Might? Just…what the hell is going on here?’
Something big slams into him from behind sending the muttering Ripjaws down further into the depths of the water.
Ripjaws manages to control his descent. ‘Was that a villain ?! No matter, I'll take them on!’ He spins around ready to confront his foe. “I’ll fight-GAHH!!!” Ripjaws freezes in place, somehow his face even turns pale, as he takes in his…opponent. “Monster!!” Ripjaws cries out in fear as he backs away quickly.
It’s no villain staring down at him but a huge monster fish. The monster almost resembles a koi fish but much more monstrous. The fish is as big as a killer whale. Its scales are sharp and stick out as if they had no organization when they grew out. Its fins are long and look like shredded cloaks that dance in the water. There are two separate pairs of glowing red eyes glaring back at him, and it has a large mouth that’s filled to capacity with long saber-like teeth that stick out in all directions, like an angler fish.
The monster fish lunges forward trying to take a chunk out of Ripjaws’ tailfin. “Hey, watch it! I ain’t fish food you know.”
Acting fast, Ripjaws swims along the side of the monster as it swims by, hopefully by the time it turns around he will be far enough away to make an escape.
Unfortunately, something just as large crashes into him from the side. The fishman flips himself around, not letting the pain sink in, as a giant figure is circling around him. No, not one figure but two large figures are circling him; it’s two other monster koi fish. The third, or rather the first, monster fish joins his school as they circle around their prey.
The morphed Izuku is having a very hard time trying not to let the fear sink in. “What the hell?! What are these things?! Where did they come from?!” He takes a quick moment to think. “They were probably warped here by that mist villain.”
Well, it doesn’t matter how they got here. What matters is that he needs to get out of here.
The monster fish continue to circle around him, proving him a moment to scan his surroundings. There isn’t much to see but a large expansion of water, and he’s too far away to the shore. But there’s something, something not too far from where he is. There’s some kind of commotion, it looks as if a group of actual villains, of humans, are trying to attack something at the surface of the water.
“It must be one of my classmates!” He needs to get over there, he can’t just leave them to take on the villains alone.
One of the monster fish decides to leave the circling school and charges the Piscciss Volann. This is his opportunity, Ripjaws with his superior agility in water easily evades the abomination and makes his way towards the weakened death circle. The other two monster fish give chase essentiality breaking apart their trap. Ripjaws expertly flips and circles around them until he is free of them. Thanks to the fishes' long bodies they are not flexible or agile enough to turn around instead they have to circle their way around in order to give chase, and this is exactly what Ripjaws needs as he takes off towards the villains and their potential victim.
The villains don’t notice his approach. They are too preoccupied with their current quarry, Iida. Iida’s near the surface of the water and with the power of his engine legs he’s able to inflict swift kicks to keep the aquatic villains at bay.
“Get him!” Shouts one of the villains, that resembles that of a shark wearing scuba gear.
One of the villains snaps back as they try to grab Iida’s leg. “I’m try-AHHH!!”
Ripjaws slams right into the villain pushing him away from Iida.
Iida doesn’t notice the newcomer instead he’s trying to get to the surface before he drowns.
One of the villains notices his escape attempt but Ripjaws intercept the villain snapping his terrifying jaws at the criminal who yelps in fear and backs away in fright.
Ripjaws turns to check on Iida when something long and pink wraps around his torso just as he reaches the surface and reels him away.
Initially, fearing the worst, Ripjaws notices that the Iida is being pulled onto what seems to be a nearby yacht. Hoping this is a good sign, Ripjaws evades the other villains as they attempt to strike at him, but it looks like the Piscciss Volann is too fast for them.
One of them shouts in anger as they swim after him. “Get back here!”
“Yeah, no.” Ripjaws dives down before launching himself upward, building enough momentum to launch himself out of the water.
His lower-half becomes a pair of legs just before he lands atop the large boat. “Phew, made it.”
Iida’s coughing voice shouts out in alarm. “A villain!”
“Where?!” Ripjaws’ head swivels from side to side looking for the villain that’s waiting for them.
Well according to Iida, he’s mistakenly thinks he’s villain because with no hesitation he lands a strong kick right into Ripjaws’ gut. “Ooww, that hurt.” Ripjaws falls to his knees as he holds his gut, trying in vain to keep his breakfast down.
“Kero? Iida, I think that’s Midoriya.”
Oh, so Tsuyu’s here too. Guess she was the one that rescued Iida and pulled him aboard. And she must have recognized the Omnitrix symbol on Ripjaws’ person.
Ripjaws groans but manages to nod his head. “Y-yeah, it’s me.”
Iida gasps feeling absolutely terrible and disappointed with his actions. He didn’t mean to attack his classmate! How was he supposed to recognize him in this form? He just assumed he was a villain chasing after both Tsuyu and himself. “My apologies, Midoriya!” He bows repeatedly and so fast that water splashes off of him. “I thought you were one of the villains.”
Ripjaws stands back up rubbing his abdomen. “It’s alright, this kind of thing happens quite a bit when I’m Ripjaws.”
Heck, the first time he showed this form to Ochaco she freaked out and ran away. He was really offended by that but forgave her. It’s understandable why people assume Ripjaws is a monster he's way too scary.
Tsuyu looks up at the fishman curiously. “Ripjaws?”
“Oh, I like to name my transformation.” Ripjaws smiles down at her, but it probably comes off creepier than he intended.
“Like I said, that’s dumb.”
Ripjaws frowns unhappy that Tsuyu doesn’t appreciate his creativity.
But enough about that, they have more pressing matters. It looks like the villains are opting to stay in the water, thankfully as are the monster fish.
Ripjaws backs away from the side of the boat just in case any of them decide to pull something. “It’s like Todoroki said. They've been waiting for this chance, and they prepared well for it.”
Iida doesn’t quite understand, especially what the villains are hoping to achieve. “But there’s no conceivable way that they can actually kill All Might is there?”
Tsuyu responds with a logical answer. “They must’ve figured out a way to kill him. Otherwise, why come here just to get beaten?’
“Fair point…”
One of the villains is really getting antsy while waiting in the water. “Come down here you brats!!”
The trio look over the side and what they find is more than troubling. The boat is completely surrounded by maybe 20 villains or so and that’s not including the three monster koi fish swimming about like sharks.
“There’s a whole school of them!” Ripjaws, despite shouting in fear, couldn’t resist a good pun.
“Is this really the time for a pun, kero?”
Ripjaws responds defensively as he glares at his froggy classmate. “There is always time for a pun!”
Sheesh, she not only dislikes his naming schemes but also his puns! There’s just no pleasing her is there?!
Ripjaws breathes in, before coughing. Oh, yeah, he forgot; he’s going to need water soon otherwise he may suffocate up here. “This is bad. Really really bad. Asui’s right though, they must have figured out a way to beat All Might… Probability, that must be it. It doesn’t make sense otherwise! But why kill him? Because he’s the Symbol of Peace? Because he stands against villains? Against evil? There’s got to be some specific reason…” He gasps. ‘Do…do they know? DO they know about his weakened state?’ He tries not to think about it, after all it’s not exactly a comforting thing to think that the Symbol of Peace can only do his job for a limited amount of time.
Ripjaws shakes his head, cutting off his own muttering. “No the reason doesn’t matter. What does matter is that we need to survive and get out of here.”
They all need to make it out of this, for themselves, for each other, and for their loved ones.
Tsuyu and Iida wait for the morphed Izuku to continue. They were a little creeped out by the fishman’s muttering but when he cut himself off, they couldn’t help but worry.
“If they…if there's even a chance that they have a way to beat All Might…” Ripjaws stands up straight and looks his classmates in the eye. “Then we have a fight to win!!” As for the others he can only hope that they too have come to the same conclusion. There is no retreating from this, if any of them want to make it out then they need to make their stand here and now. “It’s hero time!!”
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Meanwhile, someone appears atop the Landslide Zone; they approach a nearby ledge as to look over the entirety of the U.S.J. The figure peers down at the tracker that was provided to them to make sure that this is where their target is located. It is, so that means that they will soon have the Omnitrix in their grasp.
Notes:
Woah!! And the U.S.J. Arc has officially begun!! How was it?! I know it was a lot (may be too much) like the anime/manga but it just worked out that way. I still hope you enjoyed it, and most of this chapter was to help set up for what’s to come during this arc. So, get ready because things are going to get crazy.
*(Important Author’s Note)*
My story has been stolen!! What I mean is that someone else has been blatantly plagiarizing my entire story!!
The story is called "Deku's Omnitrix" by "TheJStar6" and like I said before it's clearly a plagiarized version of my own story, and by plagiarized, I mean that the entire story from characters, words, and elements are exactly the same. Like the guy didn't even try to hide or change things up to disguise it!! I mean most of the story is exactly the same, copy and pasted, and word for word the same.
For example, how Henzu/Kevin is introduced is the exact same way that I did it. Also the scene where I have Thirteen decide to take on Izuku as a student is exactly the same, instead Thirteen is replaced by Nezu but what he says is straight up the same exact dialogue that I have. Hell, even the organization of the chapters, and even the Author's Notes, are the exact same way that I organized it!! If you don't believe me go ahead and read "Deku's Omnitrix" and try to tell me that TheJStar6 isn't stealing from me!
Now don't get me wrong. I love the fact that I was able to inspire someone to write a story, especially an MHA and Ben Ten crossover, but what really ticks me off is it hurts that I spent a lot of time and effort on my story. And I mean months just to prepare my story before I even began to write it! Only for SOMEONE to up and try to take the credit by not trying at all is EXTREMELY FRUSTRATING!!!I know that some of you reading this are also writers and I hope that you can all understand my frustration. And if you're one of my loyal readers then I greatly appreciate all the support you've given me up till this point. Don't worry I'm not going to stop writing, heck, I'm actually making great progress, but this news really hurts.
So, please if there's a way to report him please help me to boycott this “author’s” story. Report it. Let his readers know the truth, etc. But, please, no (death) threats to them or those they care about, that is totally unnecessary and unethical. And although I am upset about this, I don't want to stop someone from writing, I just want them to stop stealing.
Also, TheJStar6 if you're reading this then please, I am willing to talk and figure this out with you. I have actually tried to reach out to you, but you haven’t responded. But you have to understand that what you did is extremely wrong. If you want advice or even someone to help you to make your own unique story, then I am more than willing to help. But you need to make things right first.Thank you for hearing me out, and I hope you understand my feelings.
Chapter 16: It's Hero Time Part II
Notes:
Woah!! Let us continue the U.S.J. Arc with this second installment!! Hope you like.
Also be sure to take care of yourselves, true believers!! With everything going on, now is the time to make smart and safe decisions for everyone’s wellbeing.
*This story is also on Fanfiction.net. It’s under the same name and author.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Toshinori, in his weakened state, takes a load off in the U.A. break room in his hand he holds his cellphone after just making a few calls. “Hm, I can’t contact Thirteen or Aizawa.” He sighs in his seat, hopefully they’ll be willing to forgive him for missing out. “Good reason or not, I put my hero work ahead of my teaching, that was quite foolish. What do I tell them when I show up at the end? Maybe say something flashy and encouraging? Anyway, I should be fine in another twenty minutes or so…”
His muscles puff out as straights up in his seat. “NO, I’M GOING!!” A bit of blood spurts out of his grin.
Someone slides open the door. “Hold your horses.”
“OH!” All Might looks up in mild surprise. “HELLO NEZU, SIR!”
Sure enough the strange little chimera is at the door looking as chipper as ever. “That’s right! The one who could be a mouse, a dog, or a bear, though the only important thing is…I’m the Principal!” He looks so happy to be able to say that.
All Might scoots forward onto the floor. “YOUR COAT IS LOOKING EXTRA SHINY TODAY SIR.”
Nezu approaches the crouching hero. “My secret is keratin, but I don’t think humans can produce such luster. Enough of that, though. Look!” He holds up his tablet and shows All Might articles about his most recent excursions that same morning. “Shall I read it to you? It says you resolved three incidents in just one hour!”
All Might winces not wanting to think about where this discussion is going.
Nezu sighs in exasperation before he places his tablet down onto the nearby coffee table. “The ne’er-do-wells in this city haven’t let up despite you being here, but you also have to learn not to react every time you hear of an incident. You haven’t changed at all these years. You’ve always been proactive. Only now your heroism must be limited due to your injury.” He then strolls his way towards the couch as to take a seat. “Plus you have the added work of training One For All’s successor. You insist on remaining the Symbol of Peace and the only way you can justify staying out of the spotlight is by teaching.”
At this point All Might’s body begins to steam, a clear sign that he’s already reaching his limit.
“That’s why I gave you this job.” He turns around in time to notice the steam escaping All Might’s form. “Oh, dear you’re smoking that can’t be good.”
Toshinori doesn’t show any form of response as his muscular body deflates itself.
Nezu doesn’t react to Toshinori’s transformation, rather he continues to smile as he climbs atop the oversized couch. “It looks like you need to stay here in the lounge a little while longer.” Nezu continues to speak as he climbs atop the oversized couch. “The other teachers will understand. They’re more than capable.” he should know he hired them after all. “But now that you are a teacher here, All Might, I really do wish you’d prioritize your students over your hero work. They deserve it.” Especially since they will all someday become heroes of their own and ones trained by All Might could potentially benefit society in the long run, especially for two of those students. “This city has enough hero agencies to deal with common criminals.”
The ashamed pro hero continues to sit on the floor. “You’re absolutely right. So, I was gonna head over to the U.S.J. now, actually, if you don’t mind.”
Nezu begins to pour tea into the tea set that was left on the coffee table. “Even if you went now, you’d have to return almost right away. So, you might as well stick around and listen to some of my teaching philosophies.”
‘Great.’ Even in his own mind, Toshinori sounds exasperated. ‘This is turning into a lecture.’ He groans.
Nezu pushes a cup of tea across the table. “Here drink up.”
As Nezu takes a sip out of his own cup, Toshinori can’t help but wonder how long-winded Nezu gets when lecturing while sipping tea.
“First, on the inevitable stresses and burdens when walking the line between hero and educator.”
“You haven’t changed all that much all these years either, sir…”
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“Ahhh!! We’re all going to die!!” Minoru Mineta is balling his eyes out in pure unadulterated terror. “This creep’s already killed the others!! We need to get the hell out of here!!”
“No, everyone else is still alive.” Mezo Shoji stands nearby, and his many limbs are at attention with eyes and ears growing out at the ends. “They’ve been scattered across the facility. But our classmates are still here, and they are most definitely alive.”
Everyone else sighs in relief. Both of these teens are some of the few that somehow weren’t warped away by the misty warp villain. The others include Mina Ashido, Yuga Aoyama, Tooru Hagakure, Rikido Sato, Hanta Sero, and of course the pro hero Thirteen.
Sero stands near the back of the group as the black-mist villain looms just ahead of them. “Physical attacks are no good. He just warps away! This guy’s Quirk is too tough to handle!”
Thirteen considers their options. They need to get a message out to the other heroes at U.A. but if the alarms nor the phones are working then there's only one other option. They need to go and get help. But how? Ashido could use her acid to slip and slide her way back to campus. But there’s also Sero who can use his tape to swing and reel himself back for help. He’ll have to do. Too, bad that Iida kid isn’t here. This job was made for him, but beggars can’t be choosers.
“Sero.”
“Y-yeah?”
“Your job will be to escape and run back to the school and report what’s happening. You going back is our best option!”
“W-what? Are you sure?” Sero is understandably unsure about the plan.
Shoji steps forward ready to defend his ally. “It’s a good idea. As for the rest of us…”
Sato joins his side, his fists at the ready. “We’ll hold off this freak.”
Mineta does not share their sense of fortitude. “You’re all crazy!!” The little guy is literally quivering in his boots.
As is Aoyama, even though he is trying to keep his usual calm composure.
Mina leaps forward her arms outstretched. “Shape up you two! This is serious!”
“We can do this!” Shouts Hagakure who tries to sound encouraging, but a hint of fear is heard within her voice.
Thirteen without removing their eyes from the villain calls out to Sero. “Use your Quirk to save us all!!”
Not wanting to disappoint those around him, especially after most of them are willing to step up to the plate. How can he just ignore their resolve? “You got it!”
Too bad the villain doesn’t seem to enjoy their sense of duty. “Aside from the fact that you have no hope, what sort of fool discusses their plan in front of your enemy?”
If Thirteen was smiling, then no one could tell from their dark helmet. “It won’t matter if you know what we’re planning or not when I’m done with you!” They stick their hand out and their Quirk immediately gets to work sucking in the black mist surrounding their foe. “Blackhole!”
Blackhole does what a blackhole does and begins to pull in the villain, but it doesn’t seem like he’s all too concerned about it. “Ah, Blackhole, the Quirk that sucks up matter and turns it to dust. Such an astounding power.”
Thirteen really doesn’t like how calm this guy is, despite his life being sucked away from him.
“However, you’re a rescue hero, Thirteen, skilled at saving people from disasters.” A warp portal begins to emerge from within the villain’s large misty mass. “ Consequently, that means you have little fighting experience or battlefield awareness.”
Blackhole immediately passes through the warp gate until disaster strikes, a second warp gate forms right behind Thirteen and with it comes the pull of the pro hero’s own Blackhole.
The students watch on in horror as their teacher’s suit begins to slowly disintegrate and get pulled into the warp gate.
The villain must sense victory because he begins monologuing, shutting his eyes in the process to savor it. “It’s over for you. You shall be turned to dust by your own Quirk!!”
“You would think so, wouldn't you?” Asks Thirteen in a calm, and somewhat amused tone.
“Huh?”
If he was paying attention then he would have noticed Thirteen cutting off their Quirk in time, but then the pro hero jumped backwards through the warp gate that was right behind them. And now they're positioned right in front of the villain with their Quirk at the ready.
The villain panics and makes a hasty retreat backward as Thirteen releases their Quirk again, but the villain gets far enough away that it doesn’t really get a chance to do anything. As for Thirteen they were in midair when they activated their Quirk, so they shut it off as they rolled backwards on the ground before skidding across the ground on their knee and coming to a halt at their students’ feet.
The students gap in awe at what they’ve just seen as Thirteen gets back up and glares daggers at their opponent.
Noticeably the back of Thirteen’s costume is not as damaged as they thought, that said, the first layer of their costume is completely gone but a second protective layer just barely seen has a few tears in it.
The villain just can’t believe his eyes. “How is this possible?!” How is this hero still in one piece, and how were they able to pull off such an attack?!
Unbeknownst to anybody but two other people in this entire building, Thirteen is a Plumber!! Their hero costume’s design is not an accident, it’s actually meant to allow the hero to survive in the vacuum of space itself!! Of course it would be able withstand Blackhole’s pull, at least for a time.
And not only that, it’s like the villain said, Thirteen is known as a rescue hero and thus not known for taking part in combat. At least to the human population of Japan.
Thirteen’s eyes sparkle as if glad they get to show off their combat skills a little. “Surprised, are we? There’s more to me than just a friendly face, you know!”
That’s for sure. Thanks to their position as a Plumber, Nezu sends them out to take on any and all sorts of missions. And sometimes, although rarely, an alien or two isn’t willing to cooperate. So, other means of…negotiation are sometimes needed.
But this is no alien, this is a human being and a murderous one at that.
Thirteen doesn’t take their eyes off the villain. “Sero, you need to leave.”
The student flinches as he snaps out of his daze. “R-right.” He quickly sprints off for the exit, his fellow classmates following behind as to cover him.
Not wanting to fail his mission, the villain lunges forward. “Oh, no you don’t!”
“Hey, I’m your opponent!” Thirteen charges moving rather quickly for such a short stature.
The villain flings a warp gate at Thirteen trying to send the troublesome hero away. But Thirteen is quick on their feet and they easily skip to the side before charging in close and delivers a hail-Mary of a swift chop into the villain’s midsection.
As the villain reels back and groans, Thirteen jumps back keeping their distance just in case this villain has a surprise up their sleeve. “How’d you like that?”
The black-mist leers back at the nuisance. He severely underestimated this pro hero, guess U.A. has higher standards than he had originally thought. Perhaps, it’s time to take things seriously. “I admit you certainly have caught me off guard… But I’m full of surprises myself.” The black-mist begins to expand outward as two warp gates appear at their sides.
Thirteen stands at the ready, they don’t ready their Quirk in case the villain tries to pull the same trick again. ‘What’s he trying to pull?’
Something’s moving from within each of the warp gates, slithering about as if unsure whether to step out from the dark abyss. Without warning the two figures breeze past Thirteen in a blink of an eye not giving the hero any time to react. All they witness are black-lengthy figures zipping past them.
The two figures intercept Sero’s path, snaking past the other students as they go by.
“What the hell?!” Sero comes to a panicked halt as does the rest of his classmates.
“Hisssss.”
Standing before them, blocking their path to freedom, are two mutant snakes.
The snakes are coiled up making them as tall as a man, but when outstretched they are twenty feet long. The serpents’ heads look as if their skulls grew outward giving them a spooky like appearance along with the wispy black feathers that coat their backs and their black undersides. Their red eyes glow from within their enlarged and outgrow skulls, their fangs are sharp and dripping with acid that drips down melting parts of the floor. Their long tongues hiss and whip towards the students as if taunting them.
Tears gush out of Mineta’s eyes. “Ah, monsters!!” He cowers away behind Shoji’s much larger form.
One of the monster serpents snaps at Sero who leaps back just in the nick of time. “Woah!!”
“Hisssss.” The serpent almost sounds as if it’s glad it missed, now it has the opportunity to really play with its food.
The looming villain is amused by his victims’ reactions. “Do you like my pets? Would you believe that they were a gift?”
Two more monster snakes slither out from the warp gates.
Thirteen takes a step back not liking the situation at all. “Some gift.”
The villain chuckles in response.
Thirteen tries to make a break for it, they need to get to the students, but they’re too far away.
The serpents are too quick, and the new additions swiftly intercept Thirteen’s path, their bodies crossing each other as they block the way.
Mineta is a complete mess if he wasn’t before. “W-we’re all going to die!!”
Mina, although scared as well, stands at the ready in case the serpents try to pull something. “Get up! This is no time for that!”
The others gather around each other, ready to defend themselves as the monster serpents circle around them waiting for an opening.
“HOW CAN YOU ALL BE SO CALM!?!”
Sato is nervously sweating, but he keeps his fists up. “Calm down, man.”
Sero keeps his grin despite the terrible situation, but he’s probably keeping it out of nervousness. “Yeah, your screaming isn’t helping one bit.”
“Hisssss!”
“Ahhhh!!” Cries Mineta.
Hagakure begins to remove her gloves. “I’ll escape and get help.” Soon her boots are off as well, and the rest of the students can only assume she’s quietly making her way to the exit.
Suddenly one of the monster serpents spins around before spitting acid towards the path that leads to the entrance.
Hagakure screams out as she flails backwards. She quickly scrambles back towards the group.
“Are you okay?!” Mina cries out in worry.
“It-it can see me?!”
Kurogiri overhears the student’s panic. “More like it can sense your presence.” After all snakes have an excellent sense of smell and can see things in the thermal spectrum, so invisibility is useless against them.
The villain’s black-misty body begins to swirl expanding upward as he towers over them all. “Are you ready young heroes? Here is where you will all meet your demise.”
Thirteen scowls from behind their helmet, this is not how things were supposed to go. They were hoping to at least get one student out to warn the heroes and bring back up. But now…now it looks like they’re all trapped inside the arena with a hoard of villains and monsters. Each student is going to have to survive on their own or perish.
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Thankfully, some of the students have already come to this conclusion themselves. Such as the trio of students stuck on the yacht in the Flood Zone.
Tenya Iida has started breaking into a cold sweat, although that could just be water dripping from his face. “Midoriya, I advise against this! We cannot possibly take on all those villains and…monster fish on our own. And I hate to admit it, but you’re contradicting yourself. How could we possibly fight them when they potentially have the capability to defeat All Might himself?”
Ripjaws rubs the back of his neck in thought. “Hm, that’s…a good point. But that’s what we need to figure out.” He peers over the ledge to take a quick peek at the villains below. “All of those guys are clearly suited to aquatic combat.”
Tsuyu Asui adds to this point. “So, they were recruited because their team knew about the U.S.J.’s different environments.”
That’s a valid point, these villains must have at some point gotten intel on not only their schedule but also the facility’s schematics.
Iida then comes to the realization, a mistake on the villains’ part. “Wait, then if they knew ahead time then… Why did they send Asui here?”
“Kero?” She’s not sure how she’s supposed to mean that.
It takes a moment but Ripjaws gasps in pleasant surprise as genius strikes. “That’s it!!”
Tsuyu gazes up at the tall fishman, hoping he explains further. “What’s it?”
“They don’t know about our Quirks!”
Iida’s eyes light up in response. “You’re right.”
Tsuyu thinks on it before looking over to the Conflagration Zone located across the giant indoor lake. “If they knew about me having frog powers then they would have dumped me into that fiery area.”
And that’s the point Ripjaws is trying to get at. “And that’s because they don’t know about our Quirks. So, their strategy was to scatter us and overwhelm us with numbers.” And to prove his point he gestures towards the edge of the boat. “Look.”
The other two look over the edge and all they see is that the villains are still wading around in the water.
“They’re not trying to get on board. That supports my theory.” Ripjaws takes a deep breath after saying this, unbeknownst to the others, he’s starting to run out of oxygen.
The frog girl looks to the others for a plan. “So, what do we do?”
“First thing’s first.” Ripjaws squats down so they can discuss quietly. “Let’s explain our Quirks this way we can have a full understanding of what we can do.”
Tsuyu nods signaling that she will go first. “I can jump really high and stick to walls. My tongue can stretch to about twenty meters and I secret a poisonous fluid, I say poisonous, but it really just stings a bit. Oh, I can also spit up my stomach to clean it…”
“Weird flex but okay.” Comments Ripjaws in all seriousness before moving on. “Anyway, my current form is essentially a walking and talking fishman. I’m super agile in the water and my powerful large jaws are my main selling point. Oh, my claws are also great at tearing anything apart.”
And now it’s Iida’s turn. “My Quirk, Engine, is a Mutation Type Quirk that grants me the ability to reach high speeds when running.” He looks worried and a bit ashamed to admit this next part. “But I don’t quite know how I can benefit us in this situation.”
During the entire explanation, Ripjaws has been huffing louder and louder as he gasps for oxygen. It’s at this point that the others take notice of his predicament.
Tsuyu however takes notice. “Are…are you okay, kero?”
Ripjaws replies between gasps for breath. “N-no, I…I need…water.”
Iida raises an eyebrow. “Huh?”
“Wh…when I…transform I gain…weaknesses…too.” He’s grabbing his throat now like he’s choking.
Instantly, Tsuyu and Iida understand the dilemma but before they can do anything about it a strong water blast smashes into the side of the yacht making it lurch while also breaking apart part of the haul.
The villains shout out to them. “I’m getting bored over here!”
“Yeah, Let’s finish this already!”
“Come on we’ll make it quirk. Promise.”
The trio of students brace themselves as water showers down onto them.
Thankfully, it’s actually what Ripjaws needed. “Ah, I can breathe! Woah!!”
The boat rocks even more as the monster fish have decided to join in and ram themselves against the bottom of the boat damaging the haul even further and causing even more water to flood inside.
While the teens hang on for dear life, the villains are also dealing with their own issues. Some of them are quick to back off and put as much distance between themselves and the monster fish, even after they’ve dived back down to the depths.
“Ahh, watch it!”
“Those things are real monsters.”
“I am not ready to be chum.”
The analytical Izuku even in a different form instantly picks up on the villains’ apparent discomfort. ‘They’re…they’re scared of the monsters?!’
Speaking of, Ripjaws can’t help but feel like there is some kind of familiarity when it comes to those monster koi fish. But he just can’t seem to figure out why. Until the realization hits him like a truck, those monsters are actually mutants. They’re just regular koi fish that must have been mutated by the lunatic that attacked the mall a year ago or so, Dr. Animo. Ripjaws recalls how Dr. Animo was reported missing after being arrested. Guess he’s been busy since his escape.
Although this information isn’t exactly useful, at least now Ripjaws has something to go off.
Dr. Animo’s mutants always seemed to be prone to anger, they’re easily provoked, and will attack anything in front of them…he wonders if that holds true.
Tsuyu is visibly starting to look worried as the boat continues to sink. “Isn’t there something else we can try?”
“…No.”
Neither Tsuyu nor Iida expected such a response, especially from their usually hopeful classmate.
Ripjaws delves into his reasoning. “We…are no longer in class. We don't get to fail and try again with a different plan. We only got one shot at this.”
This is the hard truth; this is not some homework assignment or a class exercise. They can’t just try and fail only to try again, no they got only one chance to pull something off. They can’t afford to fail.
Ripjaws points at the Omnitrix. “And we need to hurry.”
Iida recalls what Izuku said about his Quirk, One Man Army, when they were still on the bus. “Y-your transformation. You can only be in it for ten minutes.”
“Yeah, and we already lost five of those minutes.”
Okay, so not only do they have to face off against a school of villains and monsters but they are also on a time limit.
Ripjaws stands back up hoping that he can inspire his classmates to take action. “The moment when the enemy thinks they’ve won represents your best chance.” He looks around and spots a nearby sheet of fiberglass that was torn off the boat when the villain attacked. “All Might once said that during a documentary interview.” He grabs the fiberglass before turning to his teammates. “This is the only way we can win!!”
Tsuyu and Iida share a look, making sure that the other agrees, they do and they confirm this with a determined nod.
Ripjaws doesn’t smile, smiling will come later after they’ve won, instead he tears his sharp claw right through the fiberglass in order to begin his plan.
While Ripjaws explains his thrown-together plan the villains are really getting antsy down below.
“I bet they’re pissing themselves up there. What a bunch of babies.”
“Careful. Remember what Shigaraki said to not get careless. We can’t judge them on their age, but on their Quirks.” The same villain eyes the boat in excitement. “Then again, our Quirks have the advantage in the water. So, I’m not exactly worried for us. If anything, only that fish-punk has a chance but we clearly outnumber the freak.”
There are chuckles from the others, they too just can’t wait to play their parts.
Almost too soon their good time is interrupted when Iida uses one of their heads as a landing platform.
The villains cry out in surprise. “What the hell?!”
Currently Iida is not only standing on a submerged villain head but also a makeshift board made of fiberglass.
And despite being scared out of his mind, he glares down at the pathetic excuses for people. “You will not succeed you villains!”
His Engines rev up roaring to life before Iida launches forward skating across the water as if he was on a jet ski.
The villains are quick to go after the fleeing brat. “Get him!!”
“What about the others?!”
“Leave them. They’re fish food.” As in the monster fish are still circling down below the water waiting for the boat to sink beneath the waves.
With the other brats’ fates practically sealed, the school of villains swim after Iida.
Even with his head start, the villains still manage to catch up to Iida. They are literally on his heels, but with some quick maneuvers he’s able to avoid their attempts at grabbing him. ‘I won’t let them stop me. I’ll carry out your plan, Midoriya. You’ve always excelled at planning ahead. I saw as much during the Battle Training. It’s why I picked you to be the Class President.’
“Hold still, dammit!!” One of the aquatic villains’ lunges at Iida but he ducks down allowing the criminal to fly over his head.
Water splashes up into Iida’s eyes but there’s nothing that will distract him from his role. ‘Even if I was given the role by default. I will not fail you or our classmates. I will…we will succeed!!’
His Engines roar as jetblue flames stream out of his exhausts and suddenly he’s racing even faster across the surface of the water.
Meanwhile, Iida’s teammates watch on from the yacht as he leads the villains away. He makes a few u-turns and swivels to keep the villains distracted.
“He did it. Kero.”
“Now it’s my turn.” Ripjaws pushes himself off the ledge of the boat and dives into the water.
As Ripjaws plunges into the cold waters, Tsuyu watches on with her ever indifferent expression, but unbeknownst to most she really has to admire Izuku’s drive and determination in the face of adversity. “You really are the problem child of Class 1-A, aren’t you? Midoriya.” He’s at least going to be a problem for the villains, that is.
Ripjaws doesn’t have to swim down far to find what he’s looking for, Animo’s mutated koi fish.
The monster fish are circling around below him, they seem to be distracted by a few large pieces of the boat that have already broken off and sunken below.
Working to his advantage, Ripjaws swims down to them as their attention is drawn elsewhere. He moves quickly through the water, really showing how well adapted Piscciss Volanns really are. But that’s not the only thing that Piscciss Volanns are known for. When he finally gets close enough to the monster fish, Ripjaws does what he does best.
With his lower jaw unhinging, he takes a bite out of one of the abominations, ripping away a huge chunk of the fish’s flesh. The monster fish releases a bloodcurdling screech of agony that reverberates through the water.
All three monster fish turn, their red eyes glare daggers at the Omnitrix wielder who spits out the chunk of mutated flesh in disgust. “Come and get me!”
They are more than willing to oblige. They frantically pounce at the young hero, but thanks to his smaller and more agile size he’s able to evade their attempts at turning him into lunch.
But neither side is done, Ripjaws takes off leaving a stream of bubbles behind him as he takes off for the surface like a torpedo. The monster fish take some time to circle before they swim up after him towards the surface. The Piscciss Volann breaches the surface of the water, but it’s no time to slow down, and he knows it. He continues to swim across the surface of the water as the three orca-sized fish shadow him from just below the water’s surface only their backfins end up breaching the water. Ripjaws snakes side to side to avoid being chomped up by the mutated predators. Looking over Ripjaws takes note of Iida’s position, as well as how far they are from the yacht, and then he makes his way towards Iida and his unsavory followers.
Iida spots Ripjaws heading towards him from across the manmade lake. He makes a sharp turn, avoiding a wave generated by one the villain’s Quirks, before making a beeline to his teammate. They need to time this just right, if not, then this will be the end for both of them.
One of the villains notices the speedster’s path, especially taking note of the monster fish quickly approaching them from the front. “This is our chance!”
The school of murderers pick up their pace, thinking that these kids are too stupid to make a proper escape plan.
Unfortunately for them, that’s what these two kids were hoping for. None of the villains are remotely suspicious how quickly both Iida and Ripjaws are racing towards each other like their lives depend on it. The Omnitrix begins to countdown, flashing red, making the morphed Izuku to pick up his pace.
Finally, when the two students are only a few meters away from colliding head on they both leap into the air. “TSUYU!!”
They collide in midair, grabbing onto each other, as the Omnitrix flashes red blinding the villains and the monster fish. Just as the red-light fades, Tsuyu leaps off the boat and above their heads while her long tongue lashes out and wraps around their torsos. Before pulling them away and out of the path of the impending collision.
As for the villains, in response to being blinded one of the villains sends a powerful wave forward in an attempt to strike the annoying brats. He hits something, but it’s the last thing he wanted to upset.
The villains’ eyesight returns too little too late. Because they are greeted by the sight of growling angler-toothed monsters glaring at them for daring to attack them and interrupt their hunt. The monster fish lurch forward, deciding that the villains themselves will make just as good a meal as the kids.
Tsuyu watches from midair as the villains flee in terror, completely forgetting about the hero students. “That takes care of them. Not too shabby.”
Iida and Izuku could care less about the awkward position instead they too can’t help but admire their efforts.
“You guys are amazing. Both of you.”
They truly did pull it off, and now hopefully they are one step closer to ending this nightmare.
“Looks like we passed the Flood Zone.”
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“Divide and conquer, huh?” Todoroki’s breath can be seen as he exhales. “Forgive me for saying so, but…” A cold breeze shifts across the frozen Landslide zone. “it’s hard to see you guys as any more than thugs with Quirks you can’t even handle.”
The entirety of the Landslide Zone is frozen in thick layers of ice and that includes every single villain that were awaiting his arrival.
The villains shiver in place within their ice cocoons, but it’s unclear whether they’re shaking out of fear or from the cold.
Ochaco sheepishly pops out to the side behind Todoroki. “Yo-You’re really s-scary.” Yeah, she’s here too and oh boy was it a surprise to be warped away here of all places, and with Todoroki to boot.
Todoroki ignores her, he’d rather keep his mind on task. “They want to kill All Might. At first, it seemed like they were elite. They’d use their numbers to overwhelm him.”
“Don’t ignore me…” She grumbles mostly to herself with a small pout.
“Taking a closer look, the pawns are just here for us. Nothing but a gang of low-level cannon fodder.”
Ochaco thinks about it. “Yeah, as far as I can tell only a few of them seem to be dangerous.” Specifically, that creepy guy with all the disembodied hands on his body and the warping villain made of purple mist.
“But they wouldn’t have come without a plan.” Todoroki decides to walk over to one of his frozen victims.
‘Oh, so now he addresses me.’ Ochaco thinks as she begrudgingly decides to follow him.
She passes by a few frozen pieces of debris until she passes by something so unexpected that she yelps in surprise.
Frozen in place is a monstrous creature that somewhat resembles a hamster that was grossly mutated into existence.
Despite being frozen in place the monster rodent let’s out a stuttering growl as if it can still try and be intimidating.
Ochaco backs away cautiously. “I’ve seen you before…but from where?” She tries to figure out where she could have possibly seen this thing…
She can't seem to remember, so for now she’ll just follow her classmate and hope that they don’t run into anything.
Todoroki approaches one of the frozen villains. “Hey.”
The shivering villain’s eyes snap up at the dual-haired teen. “At this rate, your skin will rot away from frostbite.”
Ochaco squawks. “That’s so cold!!”
He ignores her and continues on with his interrogation. “But I’m trying to become a hero, and heroes don't do such horrible things. So tell me.” His right hand reaches up towards the villain’s exposed face.
Tears are beginning to leak out of the villain’s eyes, as a look of terror adorns their face.
“How do you plan to kill All Might?” Todoroki’s cold piercing gaze stares directly into the villain’s own fearful and teary eyes. “Tell me.”
“T-tthe p-plan…the p-plan, t-the p-pla-”
“Get on with it.”
“Ah! W-w-we…we b-br-brought a monster.”
“Hm?” Both Todoroki and Ochaco give the cowering villain a deadpan expression.
Ochaco points back to the frozen mutant hamster just behind them. “You mean like that thing?”
The villain moves his head as if to shake it in denial. “N-no, this thing. It’s different, a-ap-apparently it’s sole purpose is to kill All Might.”
Ochaco doesn’t like how her stomach drops because of that. Just what does they mean? How could one guy take down the Symbol of Peace, the Number One Hero that is All Might? Yet…these villains wouldn’t be here if there wasn’t some kind of truth behind this bold statement. Could it be that…that they know about All Might’s injury? His time limit? Just how much do they know and just what exactly are they planning?
While Ochaco is internally worrying, Todoroki goes ahead and begins to heat up the Landslide Zone. It’s not much, all it really does is melt away the first layer of ice so that the villains won’t get frostbite, but they’ll remain secured for a while.
Ochaco tentatively walks up to Todoroki. “So, now what?”
The heterochromia teen eyes Ochaco, his expression doesn’t display any real emotions, before he turns away and begins to walk down the icy slope.
Ochaco is a bit surprised by being ignored. “D-don’t leave me!” She wails as she flails after him, trying not to slip on the ice.
She catches up to him, following behind him like a shadow.
He isn’t necessarily moving quickly, but he’s definitely moving with purpose. “We need to hurry, Mr. Aizawa can’t possibly take on those villains all by himself.”
“And we need to help our classmates.”
Todoroki doesn’t respond for a few sluggish seconds, only the sound of their feet trekking on the ground accompanies them as they leave the frozen villains and mutant hamsters behind.
Ochaco becomes way too uncomfortable with his lack of response. “Say something!” Does he not care or something?!
Her eyes close as she sighs, not wanting his distant personality to get to her. Closing her eyes was a mistake because she bumps into his still form from behind.
She grabs her forehead, as she wonders why Todoroki suddenly came to a stop. “S-sorry. But why’d we sto-” She cuts herself off as she peers over his shoulder.
It looks like one villain managed to avoid Todoroki’s initial freezing attack, and as of now that same villain is standing in their way.
The villain has a large bulky build standing tall at about eight feet. They have a normal humanoid build that’s completely encased in a shiny grey and black suit, a large utility belt, and thick black shoulder pads with green triangle insignias on them. The most standout part of their attire is the rectangular black helmet shrouding the villain’s entire head with only a small triangular visor to see through.
The villain doesn’t initially even notice them instead they seem a bit distracted by the device in their large gloved hand. The villain peers upward and notices the hero students.
Ochaco warily joins Todoroki’s side. “Guess you missed one.”
Todoroki’s gaze hardens as he begins to lean forward. “Not for long.”
A sheet of ice floods across the ground until it reaches the villain’s feet and then the ice rises up and encases the intruder in their own cocoon of ice.
With the villain securely immobilized, Ochaco visibly relaxes as Todoroki prepares to keep moving forward.
The sound of cracking ice snaps them both out of their moment of relief.
They watch on in shock as the villain breaks out of the ice simply by flexing. He brushes off the few shards of ice away completely unbothered by the cold. “This is irritating, but impressive for such a young being to have so much power.”
Todoroki actually looks a bit annoyed, looks like they're going to have to fight. Ochaco senses it too, so she raises her hands out in front ready to use Zero-Gravity at a moment's notice.
The intruder shifts to face the teens, it’s hard to tell what he's thinking thanks to his helmet. “Tell me.”
The students tense up in response.
“Where is the Omnitrix?”
And just like that, Ochaco goes cold and not because of Todoroki’s freezing Quirk. ‘How…? How…? How do they know about the Omnitrix?!’
Todoroki tenses up as he leers down at the villain. “I don’t know what you’re after, but if you’re here then you’re clearly a villain.”
“Is that so?”
“Yes.” Todoroki sends an ice pillar crashing into the villain, the ice completely engulfs him bursting outward as it comes to a sudden halt. “That should stop him.”
“Didn’t you learn anything?” The villain steps out to the side from the frozen burst of ice, somehow, he managed to block the ice before it could reach him. “It’s going to take more than that to stop me.”
Todoroki scowls in irritation.
“I’d rather not have to take out children, but I have a job to do. Now tell me, where is the Omnitrix?”
Ochaco tenses up even further as dread wells up inside of her. The same thoughts are bouncing around in her mind and each one indicates something horrendous. Are the villains here for the Omnitrix or for All Might? Maybe they’re here for both? But if they are after the Omnitrix what are they going to do to Deku when they find it? What are we going to do?! She can’t let them get to it! If they do there’s no telling what they’re going to do with the alien device. According to Thirteen it can’t be anything good, in fact it could potentially result in the end of the world!
‘Maybe…maybe that’s why they want it….’ A dark thought crosses her mind. ‘Maybe they want the Omnitrix to use its powers to kill All Might!’
All these thoughts finally get to her and she snaps at the intruder. “Y-you w-won’t get it!!”
Todoroki looks back at her in surprise, but not because she suddenly raised her voice but because she may know what the villain is talking about.
The villain is probably smiling underneath his helmet. “Ah, so you do know what it is.” He begins to march up towards them, his heavy feet stomp across the frozen ground.
Todoroki stands at the ready, whatever this guy’s Quirk is it’s perfect for dealing with his Half-Cold and Half-Hot. “Uraraka.”
“Y-yeah?” Ochaco nervously replies.
“I’m…going to need your help to take this guy.”
She’s not sure if she heard him right. “Seriously?”
“He’s not bothered by my ice. So we need to rely on your Quirk.”
The gravity-welder isn’t too sure about this plan. “Why don’t you try your fire?”
The heterochromia teen’s eyes shift towards her. She flinches back at the dark and almost infuriated look in them, but she doesn’t say anything.
Eventually he draws his attention back to the approaching threat. “I’ll distract him so you can get close.”
Ochaco doesn’t have time to consider why he blew off her legitimate question. For now she has no choice but to do as he says. “Alright, I’m with you, Todoroki.”
With both of them on the same page, Todoroki releases a wave of ice letting it crash into their opponent. He knows it won’t hold him off for long, but it’s not meant to stop him.
Ochaco takes the opportunity to speed off to the side taking cover behind large debris and other frozen villains and monsters. If this works, she’ll be able to sneak up on their opponent and bring him down.
Their opponent breaks out of the ice, punching a hole outward and crawling out. “You are really starting to become a nuisance.” He grabs a chunk of ice off his shoulder. “If you’re going to resist, then…” He crushes the ice in his grip. “I’ll show you how a real warrior does it.”
Almost out on nowhere, the villain is sprinting across the Landslide Zone and all too soon he’s upon the more inexperienced fighter. Thankfully Todoroki is skilled enough to generate a small glacier to act as a shield and jump back just as his attacker smashes through the glacier of ice.
Todoroki scowls as he puts some distance between himself and the brute. ‘He’s far more agile than I first thought.’
With the villain’s attention purely on Todoroki, Ochaco leaps up and over a nearby boulder. All she needs to do is get one hand on the villain and make him weightless. After that it’ll be simple enough to just push him away and let him float off to somewhere else.
But it looks like she's a bit over her head, she had assumed that thanks to a bulky helmet with such a low viewing space would make it hard to spot her, and she was wrong.
The villain easily spins around and backhands her away before she can secure a single finger onto him. He hits her hard and Ochaco can’t help but compare the feeling to being gut punched by a metal beam. She’s pushed backwards and she lands hard on the frozen ground.
The villain stomps over toward Ochaco’s prone form. “This is getting bothersome.” He growls. “Where is the wielder of the Omnitrix?”
Ochaco’s shaking in fear as the villain is nearly upon her.
Thankfully Todoroki decides then and there to step in by generating a wall of ice between his classmate and her attacker. “Get up, Uraraka!”
Acting on instinct Ochaco pushes herself off the ground and takes off towards Todoroki as the villain smashes his way through the ice wall.
“Get back here-Ah!” The villain comes to a sudden halt as their legs are ensnared by ice.
As the villain pries his legs free Ochaco and Todoroki retreat and take cover behind a half-broken wall in order to regroup.
Ochaco pushes against the wall trying to steady her breathing before she accidently gives them away. ‘This is bad. No, this is terrible! Just what the hell is this guy’s Quirk? Some kind of immunity? Super strength? Durability? Whatever it is he’s quick and he’s clearly unaffected by the cold. If they’re going to get past this villain, then they need a new strategy.’ She looks over to her teammate who’s just as out of breath as her. “Todoroki.”
The dual-haired teen looks over at her in response.
“Can you use your fire on him?”
There’s genuine surprise on his face as if he never considered that idea himself.
“We’re running out of options. This guy can shrug off your ice and he’s a lot faster than we thought. So relying on my Zero-Gravity isn’t sound since he’s far more experienced than we are.” She grips her arm as if to hold One For All itself. “And…if I go all out with my Quirk, I’ll only injure myself and if he can somehow take it then we’ll only have more things to worry about.” Like how can she possibly fight him off with a broken limb?
Todoroki lets her words sink in. He turns away as he does so, so Ochaco can’t see his face or gauge his reaction. “I…I can’t…”
Okay, that was not the answer she was expecting. “W-why not?”
Todoroki doesn’t have the decency to look her in the eye instead he keeps his head turned as he gives her the silent treatment.
Worrying that she may have accidentally struck a nerve she cautiously reaches out to him. “Todo-Ahhh!!”
The villain crashes his way through the stone wall like a tank, nearly smashing into them as a result. “I’m done playing games!!”
‘Shit!!’ Ochaco jumps forward as Todoroki leaps away to the side. “Use your flames, Todoroki!!”
Todoroki turns to face the villain. Ochaco can’t see his eyes past his locks of dual-colored hair as he screams out in frustration.
“Ahhhhh!!” He generates a giant wave of ice that rushes forward.
The wave of ice slams into their foe taking him up into the air before freezing in place. The giant wave of ice nearly takes up half of the Landslide Zone leaving Ochaco gaping in shock and awe.
Todoroki is breathing heavily; his breath can be seen in the cold air. “I…will not use…his Quirk.” He sounds angry and frustrated, and for some reason he’s actually shaking either because of the cold or perhaps because of some internal rage.
‘His?’ Ochaco has no chance to ponder as she notices the villain moving near the top of the frozen wave.
She yelps as the villain once again breaks free of the ice, completely unfazed, and begins to run down the wave of ice before pouncing right at Todoroki.
The frustrated boy sends a frozen lance in his direction, but the villain is nimbler than he looks and evades it. Before either teen can comprehend it, their foe lands a direct punch into Todoroki’s midsection throwing him to the ground.
“Gah!” Todoroki coughs as he’s thrown onto his back, and before he can do anything, the foe pins him down with his foot holding him in place.
The villain peers down at the boy, as if he can’t freeze him simply by touching him. “You’re too far reliant on that power of yours. You need to learn how to adapt and use your own skills when in battle.”
The boy growls in frustration. “Be…quiet.” His hand slowly trails up, if he can grab the villain's leg perhaps, he can freeze him in place even if it'll cause some frostbite.
Their opponent aims a strange pistol down at Todoroki’s head.
Both teens’ eyes widen in fear and desperation. They were not expecting this villain to be packing a weapon, especially a gun of all things.
Without removing his gun the villain’s attention shifts to Ochaco who’s positioned a few meters away down the frozen slope. “If you don’t want your companion’s journey to end. Then you will reveal the location of the Omnitrix to me.” The sooner he gets it the better, and since his radar can only give him the general vicinity of the Omnitrix when it is activated, he needs a better way to track it down.
Ochaco considers her options. She could charge the villain but there’s no way she’s faster than a bullet even with All Might’s power; it’ll only injure her legs and make her useless. She can’t even think of a conceivable way to use her Zero Gravity either. Should she just lie and tell him where Deku could be? But she could just end up causing him to go after a different classmate of hers. But…what else can she do?
During the entire battle they all nearly had forgotten that this battlefield is filled with other frozen villains and monster hamsters.
While lost to her own panicking thoughts she doesn’t notice one of the monster hamsters breaking out of its imprisonment. After shaking off the cold the monstrous creature notices how defenseless Ochaco is at the moment and it just cannot resist. It’s quick to pounce upon her ready to tear her to shreds.
From his position on the ground, Todoroki spots the abomination a little too late. “Uraraka!!”
She doesn’t react, instead as if she’s in a daze, only to be greeted by the sight of the monster’s gaping maw ready to snap her head off. But before she can even blink a laserbolt strikes the monster’s head, knocking it back and possibly killing it in the process if the smoking wound on its head is any indication.
The villain sighs, he’s getting pretty annoyed with all these interrupts. “You need to learn how to be more decisive.” He aims his blaster back down at the boy, who is still running off of fear for Ochaco’s life. “But what else can I expect from mere children.”
‘We may be young, but we can handle ourselves.’ Her eyes drift towards the blaster. ‘But maybe not in this situation…’
This guy is serious. If she doesn’t make a decision soon then he might end Todoroki’s life here and now. But both One For All and Zero-Gravity are useless to her unless she can guarantee a hit on this guy… Inspiration strikes! Perhaps there is a way.
All Might’s successor glares up at the villain, she inhales allowing both of her Quirks to flood into being; her hands emitting a dim pink light as a result. “Perhaps you will learn that lesson with time. Which is something I don't have.” He’s really getting frustrated now. If he doesn’t have the Omnitrix soon then there could be dire consequences. “So, I ask again. Where. Is. The. Omnitrix?”
The pink aura spreads up her arms until nearly her entire body is surrounded by One For All’s pink aura. With her power building up inside of her, Ochaco locks eyes with the villain letting him know that she’s not ready or willing to give up, and her response confirms her feelings. “Up your ass, you damn villain.”
Todoroki is visibly surprised; he didn’t expect her of all people to say something akin to Bakugou’s foul language.
Ochaco lets out a determined roar as a giant sphere of pink light explodes out from her body and engulfs everything in the surrounding area.
Looks like her plan worked because the villains clearly affected by her Zero-gravity Field, as he slowly begins to float upward as debris and shattered ice levitate around them.
“Woah?!” The villain tries to regain their balance, perplexed by the phenomenon surrounding them.
As for Todoroki, he recognizes the Zero-Gravity Field and knowing its capabilities he’s quick to generate an icicle lance that spears itself into the villain’s side pushing him upward.
“Have you learned nothing?!” The villain, not one to be deterred, smashes through the icicle lance that’s weaker under the effect of the Zero-Gravity.
The skillful fighter floats back down to the ground but thanks to Todoroki’s attack he’s now a fair distance away from him. ‘These humans truly are full of surprises.’
He truly has no idea, because while he was handling Todoroki and his Quirk, he lost track of the gravity wielder despite being surrounded by an illuminating pink light.
“Ahhh!!” Ochaco after a running start lunges herself reeling her left arm backward, ready to deliver a finishing move.
The villain can see the attack coming from a mile away, but he knows he can take whatever she dishes out his way, so he crosses his arm over his front in defense. “You can’t harm me!”
All Might’s successor doesn't bother with retorting, mainly due to the pain and adrenaline coursing through her. Her gym uniform’s sleeve tears apart from the immense pressure building up within her as she throws her fist forward. “VENUS SMASH!!!”
Her glowing fist collides with the villain’s arms, and on contact a burst of power blasts the villain away. The villain leaves a trailing crater as they are rocketed across the top of the frozen ground, smashing through various weightless boulders, debris and walls, before crashing into the side of the U.S.J.
All sorts of debris and even a few frozen villains and hamsters are floating in the air, and if they were scared of Todoroki then they’re literally pissing themselves at the sight of Ochaco’s own power.
Speaking of which, the Zero-Gravity Field gives way, dissipating into thin air and as a result all the floating debris and villains come crashing down back to earth.
Ochaco has her left arm outstretched in front of her and she’s positioned in the follow through of her attack. Breathing heavily she relaxes, although painfully, as her swollen arm falls to her side. She delicately holds it, hoping not to irritate it further.
Todoroki hesitantly approaches her. He looks almost cautious as she does so. “Uraraka…are you alright?”
“I’m…fine.” Her pained yet determined gaze drifts into Todoroki’s. “Just…doing my part.”
Todoroki actually shows emotion, shame. His shoulders slump down as his gaze falls to Ochaco’s now disabled limb. He really did fail them both, if he had used…those damned flames then they might have ended the fight sooner and she would have never had to injure herself. He could have done more but he didn’t…
Ochaco’s voice cuts through his thoughts. “Come…on.” She offers him a small smile, as if she understands how he’s feeling. “We need to help the others.”
Todoroki is honestly surprised by her gesture, but he’s in quick agreement. “Alright.”
“Well done.”
That voice, it makes the two teens freeze up.
The villain is back on his feet, looking like he took very little damage, although the way he’s holding his right arm may be an indication that she was able to damage him. Although taking him out of the picture entirely would have been more than ideal.
The villain limps to a stop. “You certainly exceeded my expectations. I was not expecting such raw power, especially from you.” He sounds almost amused, as if these children are far better warriors than others, he’s had the displeasure of facing in the past.
Ochaco is a little offended by the remark, but she’s far too anxious to form a retort.
“However.” The solemnity of the villain's tone turns cold as their gaze pierces into the fletching heroes. “I still have a mission to complete.”
Even with her injury and despite the sweltering pain she will not allow that to happen. “You’re not getting the Omnitrix. And you will not hurt, Deku.” This is a declaration, not a suggestion or a wishful dream.
Todoroki is astonished by her resolve despite her current condition. Not to mention he’s a bit curious about how Midoriya’s involved in this, but he remains silent. Instead he readies himself, standing with her and ready to take on their opponent for another go.
The villain peers down at the girl. “Deku.” He lets the name sit making sure that he engraves it into his memory. “I assume they’re the one that wields the Omnitrix.”
Ochaco scowls; she probably shouldn’t have given that piece of information away. “He is…” She raises her fists even her injured one. “And you’ll never get to him.”
The villain shifts his head to the side, but it's impossible to tell what he’s thinking from behind his visor. “Well I think we’ve had a misunderstanding.”
Okay, that is not exactly what they were expecting. Just what is this villain getting at? Isn’t he here to kill Deku and take the Omnitrix for himself?
“I’m not here to harm this Deku. No, I’m here to save them from a far greater threat.”
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Iida pushes his way through the waist-deep water. “I may need to rethink my costume’s design. It’s clearly not capable of maneuvering in aquatic settings. Perhaps I should make the board a permanent addition to my gear.”
As Iida considers a new piece of gear, Izuku, Tsuyu, and Iida are making their way through the shallow end of the Flood Zone. Hopefully these shallows aren’t deep enough for the monster koi fish to follow them although they seem pretty distracted if the commotion of splashing and screams in the distance are any indication.
Izuku grips the glowing red Omnitrix as they continue onward. “Lucky that managed to get them all. Because honestly that was a real gamble. If my transformation timed out a second sooner than I definitely would have been fish chow. Not only that, if they’d been smart then they could have prevented our plan. We really need to be careful, who knows what else-”
Tsuyu wades by his side. “Midoriya, stop it. It’s scary.” She says this even though her own face doesn’t express it.
“Oh, sorry!”
They keep moving until eventually they make it to the shoreline, but rather than hop out of the water they remain wading inside the man-made lake.
Tsuyu looks to either of them for options. “So, what should we do now?”
Izuku wrings out the end of his brand-new hoodie, upset that he’s already gotten it wet after just only receiving it that same day. “For now calling for help is our top priority. If possible, we should follow the shoreline and make for the exit.”
The teens look past the Central Plaza towards the entrance, but there’s a commotion in the Central plaza that draws their attention. It looks like Eraserhead is still dealing with the hoard of villains, and by himself no less.
Tsuyu shrinks back down into the water. “It looks like Mr. Aizawa is drawing a large number of them to the plaza.”
Izuku can’t help but worry for him, his earlier conclusions about Eraserhead’s fighting skills racing into his mind. “There’s too many of them.”
Iida moves his arm about like a robot. “Even so, we must trust in him. He’s definitely more than capable.”
The wielder of the Omnitrix isn’t so sure about that. “I’m sure he is… But it’s too much for him. He knew that, but he jumped in to protect us.” He really wants to help in some way, after all he dreams of becoming a hero and how can he call himself that if he’s willing to leave his own teacher to a possibly grim fate.
Iida must have noticed the look in the greenette’s eye. “Midoriya, just what are you thinking? Whatever it is I cannot advise it.”
“Kero?”
Izuku gazes back at the Central Plaza where Eraserhead is fighting not only for his lift but all of theirs too. “I’m not saying we should dive right into a fight. I just think that we can watch for an opening and do what we can to lighten Mr. Aizawa’s load.”
That’s the end of the discussion, the other two can’t really deny that they wouldn’t like to aid their teacher in some way if possible, and besides they have to pass the Central Plaza in order to get to the exit anyway. So, they continue wading through the water silently hoping that they aren’t about to commit a huge mistake.
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Eraserhead continues fending off the hoard of murderers using his Erasure Quirk to cancel out each of their Quirks before taking them out.
The villain’s boss eyes the pro hero studying him for any signs of weakness. “Twenty-three seconds…”
Nue raises an eyebrow at his boss from underneath his bandanna. “What was that?”
Instead of acknowledging his underling, the villain boss takes off in a full-on sprint making a beeline for the pro hero who sees him coming.
Eraserhead’s hair floats upward as he activates his Quirk. “So, you’re the boss?” He lashes out his capture scarf towards the villain.
The strangely dressed man grabs the capture weapon in midair. “Twenty-four seconds.” He tosses aside the scarf as he continues charging. “Twenty seconds.”
However, Eraserhead is far quicker running in low.
“Seventeen seconds.”
The pro hero slams his elbow right into the villain’s abdomen. If he can take this guy out, then the faster he can bring this nightmare to an end. But…the villain doesn’t so much as to fall over or even groan in pain for that matter.
“It’s hard to tell when you’re scampering around with those goggles, but there are moments when your hair falls and rises.” It appears the boss grabbed Eraserhead’s elbow before it could make impact.
Eraserhead’s sleeve begins to rot and tear away until his bare skin is exposed.
“That’s your tell, and your max duration’s getting shorter and shorter.”
Suddenly a crawling sharp pain spikes from his elbow as Eraserhead watches in horror as his skin breaks away before his flesh begins to rot away.
“Don’t overdo it now, Eraserhead.”
A quick punch to the side of the villain’s masked face is just enough for Eraserhead to retreat as the villain topples over. ‘My elbow’s been disintegrated! There’s no doubt, it must be this punk’s Quirk.’
The leader shrugs off the hit as he pushes himself off the ground. “Your Quirk, it’s not good in long, group battles, huh? This is kinda different from your usual work, yeah? You specialize in quick sneak attacks.”
Eraserhead doesn’t like this, even though they were foolish enough to come here this villain somehow has intel on him and he was able to analyze his fighting techniques. Otherwise he would have never been able to actually land a hit on the pro hero.
The villain is back on his feet, but he doesn’t take another attempt to take down the hero. “Yet you jumped right into this fight hoping to make the kids feel safe.” He scratches at his neck in annoyance, but even so he sounds almost amused. “You really are so cool, Eraserhead.”
Nue watches on from the sidelines, throwing his head to the side. “I’m so bored…”
His commander ignores him, keeping his full attention on his opponent. “By the way, Hero… I am not the final boss.”
Amongst all the fighting Eraserhead failed yet again to keep aware of the big players. This is reaffirmed as seemingly out of nowhere a powerful force slams him headfirst into the ground. A crushing cold grip snaps his arm, breaking it like a twig as a giant hand only adds pressure pushing him into the harsh ground. A deep and animalistic growl hovers over Eraserhead’s prone form.
The villain grins maniacally from underneath his hand-mask. “Meet the Anti-Symbol of Peace, the bio-engineered Nomu.”
A monstrous inhuman screech rings in Eraserhead’s ears making his head spin in agony.
Unbeknownst to any of them, Izuku, Iida, and Tsuyu watch on in absolute horror from within the shallows of the Flood Zone. They cannot believe what they are witnessing. Not only has their teacher, a pro hero, been taken out by a single blow but by a creature like the Earth’s never seen before.
The Nomu is a true monster; it’s a large, black humanoid monster with a very muscular body that has many scars on it. His brain is exposed on the top of his head, while his large eyes are around it beading out and while also looking vacant. He has a beak-like mouth with an array of sharp teeth.
However the monstrosity’s features don’t end there. Not only does this think look like a cross between a hulking human and a bird but also a mutated crab. Its right arm is a giant claw that can crush anything within its grip such as Eraserhead’s bones, whereas his left hand is that of a human’s. A second pair of skinny flimsy arms twiddle together just above its abdomen. And to bring the atrocity together the Nomu is sporting shell-like armor that spikes out from the abomination’s back. Clearly whatever this Frankenstein esc monster is, it’s been heavily altered by some foreign power.
The Nomu growls, leering down at its latest plaything as he awaits his master’s command.
Its so-called master is shaking with excitement, he just loves how useless and pitiful the pro hero looks. He is truly enjoying himself.
Meanwhile, Tsuyu grabs at her mouth trying to hold herself from retching.
Iida too looks a bit paler, his hands balling at his sides unsure on what to do.
And Izuku can only look on, feeling as useless as he did before the Omnitrix. “Mr. Aizawa…”
One of the villains hears him; Nue’s gaze slowly turns until he spots their audience. His eyes scan each of their features from the teen in a knight’s outfit, to the frog-like girl, and finally landing on Izuku where it lingers on him making the boy freeze up in fear after realizing that they've been spotted.
Nue smirks from underneath his mask, he was not expecting this. It looks like he found the cure for his boredom.
Notes:
I am not sorry for the cliff hanger! It was a necessary evil for getting this chapter out early. That said, the next chapter is only going to be even crazier, so the wait is going to be worth it. Any guess on what may occur next?
*Incase it isn’t obvious, the intruder that fought Todoroki and Ochaco was Tetrax Shard…he’s great J However, I know some of you were hoping for 6-6 and I want to say that there’s no need to worry. SixSix will have his own moment to shine, it just won’t occur during this current Arc.
*Dr. Animo only altered the already existing Nomu. I just wanted to point that out, although the mutated monster animals are all his.
*As you already know Thirteen is a Plumber in this fic, but they only really display their combat ability when up against alien criminals and not normal villains. One reason is that their Quirk is way to deadly to use against regular humans/villains, so they opted to do rescue work instead. And because of that Thirteen can spend more time working as a Plumber while remaining available to do hero work out in the open. And in this case, the lack of information blew up in Kurogiri’s face.
*As I mentioned previously, Iida being warped by Kurogiri will affect how things playout in the future. That’s all I’m going to say on that matter.
Chapter 17: It's Hero Time Part III
Summary:
The final battle of the U.S.J. attack is here! How will our young heroes fair against these unfavorable odds?
Notes:
Here it is the final part of the U.S.J. Arc!! I thank each and every one of you for your patience, and to show my thanks you are all in for a long chapter so get comfortable. I also hope this chapter helps to pay off a lot that’s been set up to this point. Anyway enjoy.
Also please be sure to stay safe out there.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Several explosions ring out from within one of the destroyed office buildings within the Collapsed Zone of the U.S.J.
“Say goodbye!!” Katsuki Bakugou jumps forward thrusting his hand forward blasting away a mutant monster rat right out of the building through the fifth story wall.
Meanwhile, Eijirou Kirishima is facing off against his own foe, using his hardened arms to slice through the villain’s blade before delivering a swift chop into the criminal’s side.
That appears to be the last of their attackers as the two boys take a moment to catch their breaths. Kirishima appears to be fine, as does Bakugou but it looks like that at some point he lost one of his grenade gauntlets possibly to one of the monster rats.
Bakugou gazes over the fallen villains and mutant rats, none of them appear to be getting up any time soon. “Think that's the last of these guys. Buncha weaklings.”
Kirishima releases his Quirk so he can wipe away the sweat on his face without injuring himself. “All right, let’s hurry and find the rest of our class. If we’re both still in the U.S.J. then everyone else probably is, too. And not all of them have the offensive skills we do.”
He thinks back to how both of them tried and failed to take out the warping villain before they and their classmates were scattered across the U.S.J. “We gotta make sure they’re safe. Especially since we screwed things up when we got in the way earlier.”
He can’t help but feel somewhat at fault for getting their classmates warped away into unknown danger. “If Thirteen had been able to suck up that villain then we never would’ve been separated like that.” Kirishima looks at Bakugou hoping he feels the same way. “We have to make it up to the others!”
Bakugou brushes him off with a frown. “You wanna track everyone down, have fun, but I’m gonna go destroy that warpy bastard.”
“Huh?!” Kirishima can’t believe it! Is this guy so apathetic that he doesn’t care what happened to the others?! “Our physical attacks didn’t hurt that guy. C’mon. Don’t be an idiot, man.”
The ash-blonde snaps at the red-head. “Shut up! I’m gonna take him down because he’s their way in and out. If I cut off their escape route, they’ll be stuck here and have to pay for what they’ve done. We’ll just have to figure it out.”
While Bakugou explains his own plan a camouflaged villain that resembles a humanoid chameleon crawls along the floor, stalking towards the oblivious students with a dagger at hand. Once in the best position the camouflaged villain attacks aiming to stab Bakugou in the back. ‘You let your guard dow-Oof!!”
With masterful reflexes, Bakugou side steps and grabs the villain by the back of the head before releasing a fiery explosion into his wannabe killer.
“Anyway.” Bakugou holds up the head of the stunned and charred lizard man. “If all these villains are small fries like these guys were then our classmates can handle ‘em.”
The villain groans in pain, his tongue hanging out to the side.
Kirishima is understandably impressed by what he just witnessed. “That reaction time was insane. Also… Since when do you act so calm and rational? Usually you’re all like…” He thinks about Bakugou’s usually furious demeanor like how he was relentless against Midoriya, how he snaps at everyone, and that he loves to tell everyone that he’ll kill them with a maniacal grin.
The teen in question must have a mind reading Quirk because he snaps in anger at the red-head. “I’m always calm and rational red-haired loser!!”
Kirishima smirks, glad to see the old Bakugou. “Yeah! There you are.”
Bakugou huffs as he tosses the charred villain aside like a piece of trash. “Go find the others if you want to.” He begins to step away to the exit.
“Wait, hold up.”
Bakugou stops in place, he’s willing to hear out what Kirishima has to say.
“I think what you’re really saying is that you believe in our classmates.” He raises his hardening arms clanging his fists together. “And that’s thinkin’ like a man, Bakugou.” He gives his teammate a sharp-toothed grin.
Looks like these two are teaming up again, but this time they’re the heroes.
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‘This is bad. Really really bad.’ Thirteen jumps away avoiding a bite from one of the monster serpents before ducking down as a second monster snake lunges at their head.
Thirteen then dives out of the way of an incoming warp gate that the purple-mist villain propelled towards them.
Thirteen needs to get to the kids! Before it’s too late, but these monsters are not making it easy for them.
Currently the students that didn’t get warped away are trying to fend off their own pair of monster serpents who are too fast for any of them to really counter their movement.
Some however are doing better than others.
“Ahhhh!!!” A tear gushing Mineta frantically throws his Sticky Balls in a frenzy at one of the upcoming snakes as it slides over the ground.
The purple Sticky Balls scatter across the ground and the serpent, clueless to what they are, slides over them before coming to a sudden halt, the serpent thrashes about trying to escape the sticky trap but it’s of no use.
Rikido Sato smiles at the sight as the whining Mineta scrambles behind him. “Hey, it’s working!”
The monster serpent finally stops flailing about to take in its surrounding, noticing the Sticky Balls holding it in place. The serpent becomes still, laying its head down low before its entire body begins to shake and shift as its own skin begins to pull and tear away from its body.
Sato and Mineta turn pale and stock still as they watch with their jaws dropped as the serpent tears out of its skin, its feathers peeling away as well as the serpent frees itself from Mineta’s snare. The serpent’s entire scaly body is clean but completely white in color, probably a result of the fresh layer of skin it just exposed.
The newly freed serpent lunges forward away from the Sticky Balls, opening its maw wide, and spitting out a spray of acid at the boys who clamber backward.
Mina Ashido takes note of the acid spitting. “Hey that’s my thing!!” She runs ahead of the boys, swinging her arm and thus throwing a splash of her own acid at the mutant snake.
The acid makes contact coating the serpent's scales, but it hardly reacts to the acid only finding it mildly annoying.
“Oh, come on! That’s so not fair! Ahhh!”
The serpent lunges at her, it’s mouth open ready to bite off her head.
A flying strand of white tape wraps around the serpent’s mouth before being pulled away and missing Mina entirely.
Hanta Sero grins proud that he could help. “How do you like that?!”
The muzzled monster snake shakes its head violently desperately trying to remove the annoying hindrance while also wishing it had hands to do it.
One of its companions slithers up and uses its own fangs to tear away the tape.
Sero sweats nervously as the serpents look his way. “I spoke too soon…”
Sero backs away and joins the others as they prepare themselves to fend off these abominations. Mezo Shoji takes the front with his arms outstretched to his sides to defend his classmates while also intimidating the monster snakes.
Thirteen notice their struggle even while dealing with their own attacking serpents. ‘I have to help them!’ Thirteen jumps up as a serpent snaps at their feet, Thirteen uses the serpent’s head as a jumping board and takes off towards the students.
But the warping villain is not going to allow that. “Where do you think you’re going Thirteen?” The villain intercepts Thirteen’s path, his misty exterior fanning out making him even bigger than before. “Things are just getting interesting…let’s not end it here.”
The pro hero glares up at the villain. “Trust me, I’d love nothing more for this to be over. But I’d prefer to end it with your defeat!”
“That’s some big talk for someone of your stature.”
While the two argue, one of the serpents decides to take the opportunity to set up a sneak attack, slithering as low as it can across the ground aiming to attack the pro hero from the side.
Unlike the villain, Thirteen does notice the stalking monster as it inches its way closer, and an idea pops into their mind. “Blackhole!!” With no hesitation Thirteen activates their Quirk.
“That again?” The villain quickly generates a warp gate to intercept the pull of Blackhole and at the same moment the serpent lunges at the hero just as a second warp gate begins to form behind them.
But this is exactly what Thirteen was planning. With masterful skills, Thirteen ducks their head forward allowing the serpent to fly over their head before Thirteen swings their head back knocking the snake towards the second warp gate.
Blackhole’s pull immedialty begins tearing away at the serpent, it screeches in agony as it disintegrates and pieces of itself are pulled through the warp gates and into Thirteen’s Blackhole.
The warp villain realizes his blunder far too late. “Damn serpent!!” He closes the warp gates in an attempt to salvage the situation, but that’s just another mistake on his part.
‘Now’s my chance!’ Thirteen deactivates the Blackhole and sprints past the warp villain as the serpent lays silent on the ground with its back completely ripped away.
Thirteen passes over a fourth monster snake as they take off to the students.
It appears that Yuga Aoyama is having some trouble, the trembling teen is firing away at one of the serpents but it’s far too quick for him to get a clean shot. Thirteen comes in and kicks the serpent right in the head knocking it away.
Aoyama looks visibly relieved and grateful.
Thirteen eyes each of them, making sure that none of them have been hurt. “Is everyone alright?”
The other students finally take notice that their teacher had rejoined their group. “Thirteen!”
“Everyone stay close together. Defend each other’s backs.” Thirteen steps forward as the students huddle up behind them.
Tooru Hagakure nervously backs into the group. “Thirteen…”
She’s understandably nervous because the remaining three monster snakes have begun to circle around their little group.
Sato is just as freaked out as his classmate. “This looks bad.”
Mineta cries out from below. “You think?!”
Mina looks to Thirteen for a solution. “Wh-what do we do now?”
Thirteen…doesn’t know. ‘What do we do…? I don’t know…’ They can’t hope to outright defeat the villain and his pets in time they need someone to get back to the school and get help. They need at least one of them to make it out! “Everyone we need to get to the exit.”
Sero brings up a good point. “But the others!”
“We can’t help them. I know it sounds harsh but if we want to save everyone one of use needs to escape and get help. And if we all work together then hopefully at least one of us can escape.”
The warp villain approaches as the snakes continue to circle around them like a pack of sharks. “Not a very well thought out plan. It’s essentially the same as before. But then again, there’s nothing else you can do, is there?”
Thirteen takes in the situation, and nothing is in their favor: surrounded by monsters, students that never faced real villains, and a villain with a powerful Quirk. Not exactly the best conditions to stage a plan of action, but sometimes you gotta work with what you have.
For one thing, Thirteen has knowledge. For starters while fighting the villain they noticed an odd metal brace within the misty exterior, why else would a villain have that other than to protect something. Not only that but Thirteen made sure to pay attention during Aizawa’s Quirk Apprehension Tests; they understand the students’ Quirks, too. And with this knowledge, perhaps they can pull something off.
Thirteen whispers their next lines extremely softly. “Shoji…” Their dark helmet prevents anyone from seeing their mouth move as they speak. “Shoji.”
One of Shoji’s hands is currently an ear and it picks up on the whispering. Shoji eyes Thirteen letting the hero know that he’s listening.
Thirteen continues to speak in the quietest tone possible. “I apologize but in order for this to work, I need your cooperation. Be warned…you may get…hurt.”
There’s an underlying tone of dread in Thirteen’s voice that makes Shoji hesitate, but he ever so slightly nods his head.
Although Shoji is willing to cooperate, Thirteen in fact becomes even more tense with anticipation. “Thank you. Okay here’s what we’re going to do…”
The villain is getting impatient, looming over the group of fighters. “This is the end!! Your journeys will end here before they even begin!!”
A large warp gate hovers over the group casting a looming shadow over them, however, the large portal blocks the view the villain has over them, but with them surrounded at all sides they should not be going anywhere but where he wants to send them.
Looks like there isn’t going to be another time to make their move. “Now!!” That’s the only warning as Thirteen rushes forward towards the obscured villain.
The students gap in shock as their teacher charges head first towards the circling serpents.
The monster snakes immediately set themselves on the pro hero lunging at them while spraying them with acid that eats away at the pro hero’s space suit.
Shoji, the only one expecting such a brazen move, jumps forward and with his multiple-limbs he grows out chains of arms that latch onto the serpents before pulling them inward. The snake flails around to strike but Shoji grapples them to the ground making sure to keep their mouths shut.
Even while wrestling with these monsters Shoji is able to call out to his classmates. “Go to the exit!!”
It takes his classmates a moment to fully process what has happened and follow his order, sprinting as fast as they can for the exit.
Meanwhile, Thirteen gets up close to the surprised villain. Thirteen aims just below the metal brace and with a swift chop they strike what may be the villain’s main body.
The villain groans as the wind is knocked out of them and as a result the warp gate dissipates to nothing.
The villain falls to the ground reeling in pain, he truly isn’t suited to close quarters combat. “Impertinent Hero!!” The villain propels a warp gate at the hero who easily spins out of the way before turning around and taking off to help the students escape while the villain is down.
Shoji continues to wrestle with the thrashing serpents. “Quickly! I can’t hold them!!”
The snakes pull off a lucky hit with their tails, breaking loose of Shoji’s grip, but rather than strike him down they immediately begin to chase after the other students. After all their orders are to prevent any of them from escaping.
“Look out!!”
Shoji’s shout is the only warning they get.
Sato, spins around, as the rest keep moving forward. “Keep going!!”
He throws his fist forward, smashing into one of the serpent’s heads before he uses his other hand to essentially slap its head away from his body. Acting quickly he grabs the serpent's tail and begins to swing it around and around before letting it go, letting it fly through the air and over the edge of the platform letting gravity take it from there.
Unfortunately, while he was taking care of one of them, the other two monster snakes slithered on by racing towards his classmates.
Hagakure sees the reptiles chasing after them. “They’re coming!!”
Aoyama, after seeing his allies throw themselves into danger, decides to follow their sparkling examples. He skids to a halt throwing his hands behind his head before firing off his Naval Laser. The sparkling laser travels onto the ground until trailing right into both of the oncoming beasts.
Aoyama’s signature smile widens, feeling somewhat proud for getting both of them and buying some time for the others. “You can’t handle my sparkle, can you?”
The serpents shake their heads before they race forward once again,
Aoyama fires out a barrage of lasers, but the monsters have wisened up, weaving through the shower of laser beams before they zip right past the flashy teenager.
“Oh, no!!”
The serpents are quickly gaining on the remaining four students.
Mineta, with tears in his eyes, turns around to see if his classmates managed to save their asses, but instead he sees his inevitable demise as one of the serpents pounces upon him, its large jaws opened so wide that it could probably swallow him whole.
“AHHHH!!!” Without thought, Mineta panicly begins rapidly ripping off his Sticky Balls and throwing them as quickly as he can at the serpent. “Get away from me!! Don’t kill me!! I have so much to live for!!”
The others stop to help him, there’s no way he can defend himself, he’ll be killed!! But…what they find instead is actually a pleasant surprise.
Unintentionally, Mineta threw his Sticky Balls right into the creature's mouth. The purple spheres are jammed into the teary-eyed monster’s mouth as if it tried to swallow a whole vineyard of grapes in one gulp. The serpent desperately tries to regain its breath, the Sticky Balls blocking its windpipe and after a few short seconds it falls unconscious from the lack of oxygen.
Mina grins juvenilely. “Way to go!”
As does Hagakure. “Yay!!”
Normally, Mineta would probably bask in the fact that he’s being praised by a couple of girls but right now, he’s just so happy that he isn’t dead. For a while there he was pissing himself scared…
In their moment of relief they’d forgotten the last of the mutant snakes, and it makes its presences well known.
The pale-scaled serpent wraps itself around Mina, its long slithery body coiling around her waist and legs before hoisting her up as she screams in terror.
Her classmate cries out for her. “Ashido!!”
The serpent tightens its grip around her, making the girl wheeze in pain. Tears begin to prick into her eyes under the pressure as she gazes up at the serpent as it hisses down at her. Knowing that it now has its prey well in hand, the serpent bears its fangs ready to finish her off once and for all.
Tears begin to flow from Mina’s eyes as she can do nothing but watch her death fall upon her.
Thirteen, however, will not allow that to happen. All this time the hero’s been racing across the platform like a wild stallion when they noticed Mina’s predicament.
In a hasty sprint, Thirteen rushes forward lunging themselves right towards Mina’s trapped form. They can’t use Blackhole otherwise they could kill Mina so there’s only one thing they can do to ensure her life. Just as the serpent’s fangs are upon the poor girl, Thirteen throws their arm right into the monster’s jaws. Blood and acid sprays out as the fangs pierce right through the tattered spacesuit and into Thirteen’s flesh.
Mina cries out in sheer terror. “Thirteen!!”
The hero can’t respond, they still have a job to do. “Raaaaahh!! Leave my students alone!!”
With the snake’s fangs still lodged inside their arm, Thirteen pulls their arm back taking the snake along with it.
The abomination is not expecting the sudden change in direction and it dislodges from the hero’s arm as it is slammed onto the ground.
With adrenaline still pumping through their veins, Thirteen quickly activates their Quirk. The serpent screeches and flails about as it completely begins to disintegrate and get pulled into the never-ending void.
While the snake withers in pain Thirteen cries out to the students. “What are you waiting for!! GET MOVING!!!”
The students especially Mina are far too stunned to even move.
“Be heroes!! And escape as fast as you can!! GET HELP!!” The serpent is completely gone by this point, as Thirteen collapses from exhaustion.
The remaining three students take off without another thought. “You can count on us!!”
The villain, who recovered from the blow not too long ago is catching up to them.
“I won’t let you!!” He’s nearly upon them, his misty form stretching upward in order to warp them away. “Be gone!!”
“No!!” Hagakure throws herself at the villain, grabbing him by the metal brace and thus slowing him down.
“Stupid child!” Kurogiri throws her off but Hagakure’s interference was just enough.
Mina, with blinding tears in her eyes, throws her hands forward and a wave of acid is propelled out and onto the door, melting a hole right through the metal frame. “Go!! Sero!!”
With no time to waste, Sero launches two strands of tape at the ends of the door before slingshotting himself forward and right through the hole with pin point accuracy.
The villain bursts out in anger. “No!! Ahh!!” He winces in pain as acid eats away at his brace and body.
Mina swings her hand again, sending another splash at the villain that makes him jump back in fear. “That’s for Thirteen!!” She cries out, in rage and sorrow.
The villain eyes the now melted exit as Sero uses his tape to the best of his abilities to swing and pull himself forward.
“If he calls for help…it’s game over.” The villain considers what to do; he can’t stay even with Thirteen out of commission he’s now outnumbered by the now congregation students. “I should warn Shigaraki…” And with that the villain warps himself away.
Sato breathes in heavily. “Woah, he just up and left.”
Shoji offers up an explanation on why. “He failed his mission, there’s no point for him in staying.”
Thirteen’s weak and soft voice manages to reach their ears. “You…were all…so amazing…”
“Thirteen?!” The students quickly gather around their teacher.
Mina carefully lifts the hero’s head, resting them on her lap. “A-are…y-you okay?” Tears are streaming down her face as she takes in the hero’s condition.
Thirteen is completely battered; their hero costume has melted away at places, residue acid drips off of the suit, their helmets cracked, and a bit of blood is slowly dripping out of the bite wound on their arm.
Thirteen coughs while replying. “I…could be…better.”
Their reply makes Mina choke on her tears.
Hagakure watches on helplessly unsure what to do. “There’s got to be something we can do?”
Sato offers up a naive suggestion. “Should we suck the poison out?”
Thirteen manages a soft chuckle in response to the naive suggestion. “No…that only works…in the movies.”
Shoji places a hand on Thirteen's chest to ensure that they’re not going to try and move around. “Easy now, just rest. Help should be here soon.”
“I know it…will.”
“Thirteen…” Mina coughs through the tears.
Thirteen turns their attention to her, as a few drops drip onto their helmet.
Mina’s a complete mess, her eyes flooded with tears. “I’m…I-I’m sorry.” She’s in complete disarray, because of her mistake she’s caused Thirteen so much pain right now that could possibly end their life. She continues to cry in anguish. “If it wasn’t for me…you wouldn’t…have gotten…” She can’t even articulate what she’s feeling, the thought is way too dismal for her to form the proper words.
While Mina’s body shakes, Thirteen affectionately places a comforting hand on her head. The gesture is small but it’s enough for Mina to start slowly crying. Without any words the hero gently pats her head, careful as to not touch her sensitive horns. As they continue Mina visibly begins to calm down, her tears eventually stopping all together.
“It wasn’t…your fault.” Thirteen wheezes. “I was just…doing my duty…” Yes, they were doing their duty as a teacher, as a pro hero, and as a Plumber. “All of you.” Thirteen peers at each and every one of them, happy that none of them have sustained any injuries. “Hang in there…the heroes…will be here…soon…” And with that Thirteen’s eyes close shut ready for a long rest, with the comforting thought that these kids…that these heroes are more than capable of protecting themselves.
Hagakure cries out at the sight, fearing the worst. “No, Thirteen!!”
Mina is frozen in place holding the hero’s head as Shoji places a few fingers on the hero’s wrist.
Shoji sighs in solace. “They’re alive, they just need to rest.”
Everyone smiles, happy to hear the good news, not only that but they can also enjoy the fact that help will soon be on its way.
Hagakure cheers. “They’ll be here before we know it!”
“Really?!” Shouts Mineta.
Shoji’s eyes furrow. “Hopefully, but…and I don’t mean to get our hopes down, but I doubt they’ll make it that quickly.”
Now that’s a hard pill to swallow; Sero is far from the fastest in their class and they are far from the main campus, so it’s still going to take quite a bit of time for the pro heroes to even get the S.O.S.
Sato gulps. “So, what do we do?”
Shoji replies. “We stay and watch over Thirteen.” Shoji turns, his multiple grown eyes staring out into the massive interior of the U.S.J. “Some of our classmates have already begun to move. So, they should be making their way over here. We need to keep this spot safe so we can all get out of here.”
They all understand, this is no time to relax. If they hope for everyone to escape, then they need to hold this position.
As they each take a position over the platform, ready to defend it from further villains, Mina promotes herself to watch Thirteen silently praying that the pro heroes will get here on time.
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
The Frankenstiened Nomu continues to hold Eraserhead down, pushing him further into the hard ground.
The villain boss wobbles on his feet as he gazes down at the pinned pro hero. “Canceling out Quirks. Pretty cool, but nothing special. Up against crazy strength you might as well be a Quirkless child.” He chuckles amusedly at the sight of the struggling pro hero.
Eraserhead desperately reaches his hand forward in one last attempt to escape, but Nomu grabs his other arm and snaps it too.
“GWAHH!!!” Eraserhead screams out in agony. ‘He snapped my arm like a twig!! Looking at any part of his body should be enough to nullify his Quirk, but his base strength is immense.’
Nomu grabs the pro hero’s hand, crushing it within its meaty fingers, and more blood drips down the hero’s face.
‘I think he’s as strong as All Might…’
And with that the Nomu smashes Eraserhead’s head into the ground.
From within the shore of the nearby Flood Zone, Izuku and the others gasp at the gruesome sight.
Iida is visibly shaken at the sight; he can’t believe what he’s seeing. “This is bad…”
Tsuyu fearfully sinks further down into the water until only the upper half of her head is sticking out. “Kero…”
Izuku is completely frozen in place, but not just because of what’s occurred to his teacher, but because he’s locked eyes with that Nue character.
Nue remains silent and he looks like he’s about to move towards them, but a swirling mass of mist appears next to the villain leader.
The leader notices the new arrival. “Kurogiri.”
The misty villain, Kurogiri, warps into place. “Shigaraki, I have returned.”
Nue scuffs. “Took you long enough.”
The leader, now dubbed Shigaraki, is wondering why the mist villain has come here. “Is Thirteen dead?”
“They’re incapacitated, but there were some students I couldn’t warp away and one of them…made it outside.”
Nue bursts into laughter. “Hahaha!! Looks like you failed mist man, ha!”
Kurogiri’s yellow eyes leer at the shorter villain, but he keeps his composure.
Shigaraki considers the update, and in doing so he becomes outright irritated, scratching at his neck furiously as if that will solve the issue at hand. “Kurogiri, you…” He scratches at his neck even more so much so that he may draw blood. “I’d turn you to dust if you weren’t our ticket out of here.” He suddenly stops scratching, removing his hands from his neck. “We won’t stand a chance against pros. It’s game over. We’re leaving.”
Iida isn’t too sure that he heard the villain correctly. “Leaving? Now?”
Tsuyu hopes she heard him correctly too. “I think so…” However, she too noticed how that Nue guy was eyeing them earlier. “I got a bad feeling about this.”
Izuku agrees. “Yeah, me too.”
But perhaps the villains are going to retreat, there’s no way they can take on a hoard of pro heroes. Perhaps they are all going to survive this after all.
Nue enters into another fit of laughter. “Haha, you’re funny Handjob!”
Shigaraki doesn’t want to deal with this punk’s antics. “Little shit! I told you not to call me that.”
“Yeah, yeah, but I don’t want to leave yet.” Nue points towards the Flood Zone. “Because there’s still some fun to be had.”
Shigaraki and Kurogiri follow Nue’s line of sight towards the children who freeze in place like that will somehow make them disappear.
Shigaraki smiles form underneath the disembodied-hand on his face. “You know what, I think you’re right Nue. The game isn’t quite over yet.” He steps forward. “Let’s hurt the pride of the Symbol of Peace, shall we?”
“Actually.”
“Huh?”
Nue steps ahead of him. “Let me handle this one. Why should I let you have all the fun, right?”
Shigaraki really doesn’t like how casual he’s treating this. “What are you playing at?”
“Oh, nothing.” Nue waves him off as he approaches the water and the three hero course students.
The teens themselves ready themselves taking a few steps back in case they need to make a run for it.
Izuku’s hand instinctively begins to reach for the Omnitrix as he considers everything. ‘Who is this guy? What’s his Quirk? Is he…is he going to attack us? Just what are they planning?!’
The villain continues to approach, strolling forward like he has absolutely nothing to fear nor is there a rush to get things going.
Izuku grips the Omnitrix now, ready for a fight.
Iida too readies himself as does Tsuyu as she begins to crouch ready to jump into action at a moment’s notice.
However, before Nue can even get that close he stops leaving a big gap between himself and them. “It’s been a while, hasn’t it…Deku.” The way the name rolls off his tongue, it’s clear to everyone that he’s using the name as an insult.
A cold feeling of alarm runs down their spines, especially Izuku’s. ‘How?! How does he know…who I am?!’
Maybe this guy can read minds, but the way he said Deku sounds as if he’s familiar with him somehow. Like saying Deku would instantly upset him, much like how Bakugou uses the name.
“This is really great isn’t it?!” Nue sounds excited like he’s been waiting for this. “I should have known you’d be here! You never shut up about this place!! Shit, I wish I had realized it sooner, hahaha!” He takes a breath wiping away a tear from his eye. “Oh, well. Now we can hang out, like old times.”
Shigaraki leers at Nue’s back. ‘So, he knows one of them…’
He’s not the only one interested as Eraserhead’s prone from twitches slightly as if reacting to the news.
Tsuyu leans in towards Izuku while still keeping an eye on the villain. “Midoriya do you…know this person?” She recognized the name Deku thanks to Bakugou and Ochaco.
Izuku’s broken into a bit of sweat, his mind trying to piece together who the hell this person is and how they would know who he is. “I…I don’t.” But that voice…
Nue fakes hurt while clenching at his heart. “Aw, seriously did you forget about me already? Did our friendship mean nothing to you?” He throws his head to the side. “But then again it wasn’t really a friendship now was it?” His smirk widens. “I mean, friendship is just a means to an end. After all…In this world everything is give and take.”
Izuku’s eyes widen, he only knowns one person whom lives by that motto. It can't be, it just can’t be! There’s no way! “He-Henzu?”
“Ding ding ding!! We have a winner. And now for your prize!!” Nue grabs and rips away his bandana revealing his true identity.
“You’re…you’re…you’re-”
“A villain.” Henzu Uuichi finishes Izuku’s sentence as he grins down at the shorter boy.
Iida grabs Izuku’s shoulder. “Midoriya, what is going on?! Who is this?!”
Henzu overhears Iida. “Really, he never mentioned me, his best friend?”
Iida and Tsuyu’s eyes widen, not expecting that in the slightest. Just what kind of crowd does Midoriya hang out with? Are these two really friends?! That can’t be the case! Midoriya has shown them all throughout their time together that he cares for others and that he wants to be a hero. So, how could he possibly be on friendly terms with a villain?!
Izuku truly cannot believe his eyes, is this really what happened to Henzu after that day… “Henzu…what…what happened to you?” Yeah, they fought, and he left the school, but this cannot be. “After everything you just…disappeared. Is this where you’ve been all this time?”
Henzu waves it off. “Ha, nah not at first at least but…” Henzu gives Izuku and his teammates a wicked grin. “They’re a fun group. But I share some sentiments with them.” His grin widens. “Like taking down the so-called heroes!”
Iida is desperate for answers now, just how do these two know each other?! “Midoriya, please…explain.”
Izuku…gives in seeing no point in trying to cover this up. “This is…Henzu Uuichi and we…used to be friends.”
Tsuyu eyes him oddly. “Used to be?”
“Yeah, we had a…falling out.”
Henzu laughs out loud at that. “Ha, falling out?! More like you betrayed my trust!!” With his maniacal grin he holds his hands out to the side, gesturing to himself. “And now look at the result of your betrayal, Deku.”
Okay, sure Izuku probably could have handled that past situation better, but he is not going to take the blame for Henzu’s decisions. It was his own decisions that put him with the villains, and sure Izuku would like to know how that came about, but he will not take this sitting down.
“It…it is your own fault. I never betrayed you, but I couldn't stand by and let you hurt innocent people.”
Henzu tsks. “You’ve always been a stick-in-the-mud.” He then smirks. “But since we finally have a reunion, I’d like us to pick up where we left off.”
Izuku leers up at him. “What are playing at, Henzu?”
Henzu gives the boy his familiar mischievous grin. “Nothing. I just want a rematch.”
‘A rematch? Is that seriously all he’s after?’ Izuku eyes the other villains. ‘No way he wants a fair fight. I bet the others will jump in and attack the others when the moment presents itself.’
Henzu can tell exactly what Izuku’s thinking, but he really just wants a…fair fight. And he’s going to get it. “Here I’ll cut you a deal.”
Everyone, even the villains, are a bit stunned by this declaration. There’s no way that Nue is serious about that, is he?
“During this fight there will be no interference.” Henzu peers back at his boss, flashing him a grin. “Is that okay, Shigaraki?”
Shigaraki doesn’t initially respond, instead he turns his head away. “Pft, fine do what you want.”
Honestly, he couldn’t find this more annoying at the time, considering that the heroes may be on their way here soon. But he has to admit that he wants to find out a little bit more about Nue’s powers and why he’s so determined to fight that green-haired brat.
Henzu smiles, glad that Shigaraki is willing to play by his rules. “Well you heard him.” He turns back to Izuku. “And I’ll sweeten the deal if you win…you and your two pals can leave.”
Okay, if Izuku wasn’t trusting him before, which he wasn’t, then he definitely knows that something’s up. It’s one thing for that Shigaraki guy to go ahead and approve their “rematch” but it’s another if Henzu actually thinks that they’re going to leave Iida and Tsuyu alone. But…what if he is serious? What if…what if they keep to their word. Then he can get himself and the others out or at the very least to safety and then they can make a plan to save Eraserhead and the others…
But he needs to be sure, first. “And if I refuse?”
Henzu’s grin widened, he was waiting for that question. “Then…they’ll be added to the list of friends that you abandoned!!”
That actually hurts Izuku a bit, mainly because he can’t really deny it.
He needs to think about this. If they make a run for it, that warping villain, Kurogiri, will catch them easily. If they all try to fight then there’s no way they can win, that Nomu guy looks way too powerful, maybe Four Arms could take him, but there’s no guarantee. Also, they still have Mr. Aizawa as a captive and they can’t just leave him… he could try to stall for time, but they could get impatient and a fight would be inevitable. But if he agrees to fight then…then there’s a chance that they can get out of here.
Iida must sense Izuku’s inner thoughts and he grabs his arm, snapping him out of his dire thoughts. “Midoriya, you can’t trust him.”
Izuku’s breath hitches.
“I understand that there’s some kind of history between the two of you, but he’s clearly deceiving you. There’s something about this that isn’t right.”
Tsuyu grabs his arm too, pulling him into the water slightly. “He’s right. Whomever this guy is, he really has it out for you. And there’s no telling what the other three will do or if they’ll agree.”
Izuku scowls, they’re right. They’re both absolutely right, no matter how they look at the situation there’s no way things are going to play out in their favor.
But…this may be their only option. “I have to.” Izuku meets their wavering gazes, he hopes he can convince them to trust in his decision. “He may have been my friend once, and this could just be a big setup, but…” He turns to meet his exfriend’s gleeful gaze. “Right now, he’s trying to hurt my friends and I just can’t stand for that.”
His eyes narrow with determination, he will win, and he will get them all out of here. And he does mean all of them.
Tsuyu and Iida consider his words… Neither of them like this, not one bit, leaving Midoriya to fight on his own just doesn’t sit right with them. But…this may be the best bet for them all.
Without any words or rebuttals, they both release his arm.
Izuku smiles at them gratefully. “If this doesn’t go right…I’m trusting you two to help us.” He approaches the man-made lake’s edge.
Tsuyu picked up on his choice of wording. ‘Us?’
Izuku pulls himself out of the water.
Iida calls out. “Midoriya…”
Izuku looks back to see what else his Class President has to say. Instead he doesn’t say anything instead he offers his own confident look, silently conveying that he’s decided to put his faith into the wielder of the Omnitrix.
As does Tsuyu who offers her own words of encouragement. “No matter what…we trust you.”
Izuku offers them a small appreciative smile along with a nod. ‘I will save you all.’
Henzu is starting to get antsy. “So, do you accept the terms?”
Izuku takes a breath before turning to Henzu, his hardened gaze wordlessly says it all. He will win this fight.
“Hehe, alright then let’s get started.” Henzu…no Nue gestures for Izuku to step forward. “You can make the first move.”
That makes Izuku nervous, Henzu knows how his powers work. So, to let him take a moment to pick out a transformation like this, has to mean he’s planning something.
Iida and Tsuyu realize this as well, as they remain in the water, but they don’t voice their concerns knowing full well that Izuku must have come to the same conclusion on his own.
This is truly Henzu’s game, Izuku grips Omnitrix switching from one option to the other considering all the possible battle strategies. Unfortunately, Henzu knows the basics of all of his transformations: Feedback’s electricity, Four Arms’ strength, Ditto’s cloning, he knows all of them. Well there’s Buzzshock, but Izuku hasn’t gotten a real handle on that alien yet, mainly because his usual time for practice has been taken up by serving detention. But…there’s got to be one alien that’s perfect for this job.
At this point Nue is ready to get started. “Hurry up, we don’t got all day!”
Well Nue’s Quirk is Osmosis and he doesn’t appear to have any metal on him, other than his lock necklace, but it’s not enough to absorb. So, Lodestar wouldn’t be useful. The only solid material around appears to the floor… which as he’s seen isn’t the most durable substance.
With that in mind Izuku picks the right alien for the job. “Hey…Nue.”
“What?”
“I just want to say…that I’m sorry.”
“Huh?”
Izuku’s gaze casts downward. “I made some mistakes, I see that, but so are you. And I hope it isn’t too late… But” He glares back up at his opponent. “I can’t afford to hold back.”
Nue smiles excitedly. “Good boy.”
Izuku raises his hand over the alien device. “It’s hero time!!” He slams his palm down onto the dial and in a flash of familiar light Izuku disappears from sight.
He can feel his body growing, his muscles expanding, and his bones shifting as he transforms into one of his most reliable forms. “FOUR ARMS!!!”
With a powerful kick the Tetramand charges straight for Nue ready to end this as quickly as possible.
Shigaraki is blown away by what he’s seeing!! ‘How is this possible?! How could there be two of you with similar Quirks to Master?!’
Four Arms is quickly upon his opponent. “Let’s see you stand up to this!!” He throws his two right fists forward ready to deliver some swift punches.
Nue, however, couldn’t be happier to show his exfriend how well he’ll take the attack.
His entire body buffs and expands, his bones shift painfully as a third arm forms from his left side and two muscular red arms grab onto Four Arms’ wrists stopping his attack.
Four Arms gasps as his classmates’ jaws drop at the sight.
Four Arms is visibly shaken. “H…how?”
Nue’s entire body has changed into a somewhat bizzaro form of a Tetramand but with the features of Henzu.
The morphed Nue grins, his four yellow eyes narrowing in glee. “Surprised?”
Four Arms is too stunned to speak his mind racing with all sorts of questions. ‘How? How is this possible?! Just what the hell happened to him?! Did he get his own Omnitrix?!’
Nue laughs, finding Four Arms’ reaction absolutely priceless. “If you like that, then you’ll love this.”
His red skin begins to poke out as it becomes scaly, his lower pair of hands turn into sharp claws with fins piercing out from his elbows, and jagged fangs rip out from his mouth as an angler-fish antenna grows out of his head.
Four Arms tries to back away at the hideous sight, but Nue’s holding him in place. ‘How?! How?!’
Nue’s entire body…it’s a combination of Four Arms and Ripjaws. Not even he can do that?! So, how can Nue do this?! And without an Omnitrix no less?!
Nue smiles, licking his horribly jagged teeth before he uses his right arms to punch and slash at Four Arms simultaneously.
Iida and Tsuyu gasp in shock as Four Arms winces at the pain, the claws actually pierced through Four Arms’ hide most likely because of the boost in strength.
Nue throws him to the side.
Four Arms groans, holding his side as he gets right back up. “How did you…?” He leaves the question hanging in the air.
Nue smiles broadly. “Cool right?” He peers down at his muscular morphed body. “After our…argument I couldn’t access my Osmosis Quirk… But then I noticed a change.” he smashes his fists together, it’s not like he really has to explain any further.
Izuku immediately understood; back then when Henzu tried to pry off the Omnitrix he must have activated his Osmosis Quirk and absorbed the energy of the alien device. And as a result it gave him access to the alien DNA within the Omnitrix.
No wonder he was so eager to let Izuku make the first move and pick his alien, because it didn’t matter!! No matter who he picked Nue would be able to counter any of them!!
There’s no way he can win this!! But he has no choice but to try.
“I’ll stop you!” Four Arms lunges forward ready to deliver a powerful punch.
Nue smiles as Four Arms throws his punches, Nue’s body shrinks until it becomes an odd version of a Kineceleran.
Four Arms throws more punches but it’s simple child’s play for the Kineceleran to zip and zoom around to evade each and every attack, all the while laughing in Four Arms’ face making the morphed Izuku even more frustrated.
In a desperate attempt to land a hit, Four Arms throws such a strong punch that his fist embeds itself into the ground. With his defense down Nue speeds in delivering quick running strikes to his head until knocking him onto his back.
Nue smiles down at Four Arms. “ I got to say.” He flexes his claws admiring their ferocity. “I’m deeply enjoying these powers.”
“Rahh!!” Four Arms, in a fit of rage, kicks himself off the ground to attack his opponent.
Nue simply smiles as he zips away, as he runs his body shifts as a shell-like armor protrudes out from his body and his arms become larger and red in color.
The combination of XLR8 and Water Hazzard rocket forward until smashing head first into Four Arms’ gut.
“Gahh!!” The powerful collision knocks Four Arms back but before he can even hit the ground Nue zipped behind him and thanks to his speed he crashes into the Tetramand from behind. “AHHH!!!”
And the cycle continues with Four Arms unable to get any time to react as Nue relentlessly delivers attack after attack.
Tsuyu and Iida watch on in horror, feeling absolutely useless and helpless as their classmate, teammate, and friend takes one beating after another.
Meanwhile, Shigaraki and Kurogiri watch on in mild interest.
Kurogiri’s eyes narrow. “He’s really a beast, isn’t he? Perhaps he would have been enough to take down All Might on his own, after all.”
Shigaraki growls in response. “Maybe…but I think he’s getting just a bit too cocky.” He begins to scratch at his neck in irritation. ‘Honestly, I wouldn’t mind if Nue got what’s coming to him.’
The hits are so strong that pretty soon Four Arms is just getting thrown around like a lightweight, so much so he begins to tumble here and there.
As he’s about to fall, Nue transforms into a Tetramand, grabbing Four Arms by the head before he falls over completely. “Not yet, I’m not done yet.” He kicks Four Arms backward.
The dazed Four Arms stumbles back before throwing his leg back in order to stabilize himself. He wheezes in pain, grabbing at his now bleeding side. He’s really taking a beating here and he has no plan…no idea on how to win.
Nue’s glad to see that Deku isn’t giving up yet. If he’ll admit one thing is that Deku was always rather resilient and difficult to put down.
Nue’s Tetramand form begins to shift and change, this time becoming somewhat smaller in size as fin-like growths form on his head and gem-like orbs pop out from his body.
Nue begins to laugh at Four Arms’ confused face which becomes one of surprise as a clone of Nue’s current form rips away from the original. Soon there’s a whole squad of Tetramand/Splixson Nues and they descend upon the outnumbered Deku like a swarm each one delivering two to four punches each. All Four Arms can do is hold himself in place and endure it as best he can. Thankfully the Splixson DNA seems to have weakened the Tetramand strength but they’re still stronger than an average human so they still deliver some strong hits.
Iida’s fist clench, he so desperately wants to help, but…he’d be risking not only his life but Tsuyu’s and Aizawa’s, and he…just can’t risk it. “Midoriya…” His voice cracks, and tears begin to prick at his eyes.
Tsuyu is in no better condition, her entire body trembling as she holds her hands over her mouth as hot fresh tears stream down her face. “Oh, God…please no…”
Eventually the Nue clones back away and form into one being. No longer being surrounded, Four Arms’ legs give out and he instantly collapses onto the ground.
Nue turns back to human and he actually frowns at the sight, he didn’t think their rematch would be so one sided… Okay maybe he did, but he would have liked it if it was somewhat of a challenge. “Are you really part of the hero course, Deku?”
Four Arms remains silent as he desperately tries to regain his strength.
Nue then turns to the two spectators. “I thought you guys were supposed to be the best? I guess I was wrong.”
The two students don’t reply, not like they could if they wanted, it feels like they’re tongues have turned to lead, and their entire bodies are refusing to budge.
Nue throws his head back in a fit of laughter. “Hahahahahaha!!”
His laughter rings through the morphed Deku’s ears. He struggles to pick himself up, but he’s so worn down that Nue, without transforming, is able to push him back down with just his foot.
Nue rubs his foot against the downed Tetramand like a doormat, enjoying the very satisfying view. “It’s like I always told you; you can’t be a hero.”
The transformed Izuku can’t help but feel like…he’s right. All his life he’s been nothing but a Quirkless, useless nobody with only dreams of the impossible to keep him going, And now…now in the face of real villains he can’t do anything. There’s no way he can save any of them, even if his first plan was a fluke, it could have easily gone array! And now, now he’s clearly in over his head against an opponent that’s had nothing but time to hone his own powers. While he himself is still the old powerless Deku, and no Omnitrix can change that.
With a maddening grin plastered onto his face Nue roars out for all those to hear. “You’re nothing but a useless, powerless Deku!! A nobody with no hope for the future!!”
Four Arms stops struggling as the harsh truth of the matter really sinks into his heart. ‘Perhaps…perhaps he’s right…’
“Don’t give up!”
Four Arm’s eyes jolt open in response, he drags his head across the ground to peer over to the Flood Zone.
Tsuyu, with tears in her eyes, cries out in desperation. “Don’t listen to him! He’s nothing but a freak that doesn’t know what he’s talking about!!”
Iida is a bit taken back by her outburst as well but he full heartedly agrees. He wipes away his own tears before shouting out to his friend. “She’s right, Midoriya! You’re by far one of if not the most heroic person in our entire class! You can’t give up now!!”
The two cry out in unison. “Don’t let this villain beat you!!”
Four Arms stays quiet allowing their cheers to swirl in his head.
Nue snaps at the two of them, not appreciating how they're interrupting his fun. “Shut up!! This backstabber deserves what’s coming to him! So, stay out of it!!”
Four Arms’ body jolts in place drawing Nue’s attention. However, before he can act upon it, he gets thrown back as Four Arms leaps back onto his feet.
Nue stumbles and then backs off, putting some distance between the two of them. He grins excitedly as Deku glares back at him, ready to continue with their brawl. “Oh, not done, are we? You always were persistent. But can you really keep going?”
Four Arms replies between deep breaths of air. “I can do this all day.”
“Haha! Good one!” Nue’s smile widens. “But I had my fun, so I think you deserve a turn.”
His body shifts and expands becoming a terrible combination of a Tetramand and a Geochelone Aerio, essentially his main physique is that of Four Arms but with the features, namely the shell, of Terraspin. With this form he can take any hit that Four Arms can dish out.
Four Arms however will not let that stop him as he takes off into a run, charging straight for Nue’s larger form.
“Come on, do it!”
Four Arms picks up speed.
“I want you to hit me!”
Four Arms runs even faster.
“Show me what you got!”
He’s in a full-on sprint his arms swinging out in rapid succession as he charges.
“Show me how weak you really are!!”
However, instead of a punch colliding with his heavily defended body Four Arms instead tackles the larger foe. His muscular arms wrapping around Nue’s own, as he grapples him backwards.
“What are you doing?!”
“AHHHHH!!!” Four Arms roars out in a righteous fury. “STRONG ARM TOSS!!!” He spins around and with his built-up momentum and throws Nue as hard as he can. Right. At. The. Nomu.
Nue’s large form crashes into the unsuspecting Nomu, the other villains flinch in surprise. They too did not expect such a stunt from the kid.
With the Nomu’s grip temporarily loosened, Four Arms snags Eraserhead from underneath the monstrosity before taking off for the Flood Zone, when close enough he tosses his teacher at his friends. “Guys!!”
The two snap into action, Tsuyu lashes out her tongue catching Aizawa in midair before reeling him into Iida’s waiting arms.
Shigaraki hollers out in anger. “That brat, I’ll kill you!!” He lunges forward but a black tendril wraps around his leg and pulls him down.
“No!!” Shouts Nue as he stands back up. “He’s mine!!”
His form is still using the Tetramand DNA and Ripjaws as a base, but he’s also combined with the features of a Conductoid. The long slender tendrils bursting out from behind his head and the tips of his claws have turned gold in color.
Nue charges his claws and tendrils flailing about in a frenzy. He can't stand the thought of Deku pulling off another fast one over his head, not again!!
Things aren’t looking good; Four Arms stands with his fists up ready to defend his friends and teacher from this stampeding monster. That’s not the only issue: Shigaraki and Kurogiri are now on edge after his stunt. Also, the villains that Eraserhead took down earlier are beginning to stir, and finally he’s way too exhausted to properly be able to fend them all off let alone Nue, who is clearly out for his blood.
Nue jumps forward roaring at the top of his lungs. “You’re No Hero!!”
Four Arms readies himself for the inevitable, if he moves then the others behind them will…will be killed. So, he’ll be the hero. He’ll face this villain head on…even if it kills him.
Nue opens his jaws up wide ready to rip and tear through him. “And You Never Will Be!!”
“SMASH!!!” Something all-powerful smashes right into Nue’s charging form, striking him so hard that several teeth break away and his bones crack as he’s sent flying away before crashing into the side of the U.S.J. leaving behind a gaping crater in his wake.
A powerful whirlwind kicks up so much rubble and dust that Four Arms has to brace himself as do the villains.
A powerful figure moves within the cloud of dust as they ready themselves for battle.
Shigaraki is visibly shaken by the newcomer, he has his hands out at the ready. “All Might?!” Is it him, has he finally come?!
Kurogiri leers into the shroud of dust trying to see if it’s truly the Symbol of Peace himself. “Is it him?”
There’s something there, whomever it was that struck down one of their strongest players is a real powerhouse. Everyone can just feel the pure flowing power radiating off, a power that is somehow both terrifying to the villains yet comforting to the young heroes.
Four Arms wheezes. “All Might?” Is it truly him? Did his classmate make it back to campus on time?
“Have no fear!” The dust begins to clear away revealing their savior. “Because I am here!!” Ochaco Uraraka proclaims out loud for the world to hear.
Four Arms and the others blink in surprise. “Uraraka?”
Was…was that really her that performed that smash? Wow, she’s so much more powerful than they thought.
Ochaco flexes her arm in surprise. ‘No way, it didn’t break.’ It’s true her arm’s totally fine, did she intensity control the output or something?
Shigaraki glares from behind his mask, taking in this little girl who holds a power similar to All Might’s own. “Who hell is this?! And what was with that smash?” He furiously scratches at his neck. “Is she a disciple of All Might?”
Ochaco’s head swirls from side to side until she spots Four Arms, her eyes widen in worry at the sight of his injuries. “Deku! Are you okay?”
He yells out in response. “Am I okay?! Are you okay?!” Sure he’s just gone through a major beating, but her entire left arm is all swollen. It may have been from an earlier fight, but he can’t tell.
Ochaco quickly approaches him. “I’m fine! But you look terrible.”
He feels terrible too, now with the adrenaline leaving his system he shakes and stumbles struggling to keep himself up.
As Shigaraki, Kurogiri, and Nomu watch on hesitantly wondering where in the hell this little girl came from and how the hell, she was able to take out Nue.
While the villain leaders compose themselves, their minions are stirring and pick themselves up on their feet. They notice the group of students with their injured pro hero teacher. They can already smell the blood as they are ready to swarm the children. Before they can even move, a sheering cold freezes them in place, cocooning each of them in a sheet of freezing-cold ice.
Shigaraki throws his head to the side to see what could have caused it.
Shoto Todoroki calmly approaches his classmates from within the frozen horde. “You villains don’t stand a chance.” His gaze falls on Shigaraki. “None of you ever stood a chance.”
If he wasn’t mad before then he sure as hell is now. Shigaraki is absolutely fuming with rage; how could this have happened?! These brats are way more powerful than he could have imagined!! None of his minions have proven at all useful even Kurogiri and Nue! One slipped and let a student escape to get help and the other got smacked away by a little girl of all things! Now they’re without one of their tanks. The pro heroes will soon be upon them. Hell they don’t even have a hostage to use!! Just how in the fucking hell did things go wrong!! And to top it all off, All Might never even showed up!! Their mission was a failure from the very start!
Kurogiri seems to have analyzed the dire situation as well. “Shigaraki what shall we do?”
Shigaraki cries out in a fury. “Nomu kill these brats!!”
The obedient Nomu lets out an inhuman screech as it finally takes action and charges.
Ochaco and Todoroki take the front ready to defend their injured and worn out peers, but it looks like they may not have to interfere quite yet.
Because a new arrival plunges down from above. “You are no warrior.” The new arrival tackles the mutated Nomu. “You’re nothing but a beast!!” He throws his crossed arms forward, knocking Nomu back.
Four Arms, Tsuyu, and Iida have the same exact reaction, “Who’s this guy?!”
Ochaco smiles sheepishly. “Don’t worry he’s a…uh, a friend?”
A sweatdrop forms on Four Arms’ head. “Why don’t you sound convinced?”
Ochaco ignores him waving a hand towards their newest alley. “Anyway, everybody meet Tetrax.”
Tetrax turns to face the others, it's unclear to tell what he's thinking from behind his visor, but none of them recognize him. Is he a hero or something? Maybe a traitor?
“A pleasure, as Uraraka has stated my name is Tetrax. Tetrax Shard.”
##########(Flashback)#########
“I’m not here to harm this Deku. No, I’m here to save them from a far greater threat.”
Ochaco can’t believe what she’s just heard: part of the fact that that line was cliché, but also is this guy really here to save Deku? That can’t be. “What are you saying?”
The foe holds his hands up trying to be as unthreatening as possible. “I’m saying that we are having a misunderstanding. I am not here to harm anybody, in fact I’m on a retrieval mission.”
“Retrieval?”
“Yes, I came to retrieve the Omnitrix.”
“And like I said you can’t have it!”
Todoroki decides now to get some answers. “What is the Omnitrix?”
Woops, Ochaco forgot that Todoroki doesn’t know anything about that stuff. “Oh, um, it’s uh Deku’s watch-thingy. You know for his…Quirk.”
“Hm?”
Their foe decides to clarify further. “The Omnitrix is a pow-”
Ochaco practically throws herself into the sentence frantically throwing together a reasonable explanation. “Hahaha yeah it’s a super neat piece of technology that was costumed made for him!” She’s totally bullshititng but she can’t risk letting even Todoroki to find out the truth.
The intruder silently watches as Ochaco rambles on, but he understands these humans don’t know anything about his kind and it should remain that way. “Yes, and my client would like to have it.”
Todoroki leers at him. “Your client…you mean that leader with the severed hands?”
“I’m sorry, but I don’t follow. I was sent here by someone else to retrieve the device, but I never had any intention to harm any of you.”
“Then why did you attack us?”
“Technically, you attacked me first.”
Ochaco and Todoroki stiffen in response, they can’t really argue with that. They were the ones to attack first so technically he was only defending himself at least at first.
Todoroki still isn’t having it. “You still snuck in here, that seems pretty suspicious to me.”
“True but I have no real reason to fight you any longer. Also, the harming of innocents doesn’t sit right with me. I refuse to cross that line.”
Ochaco has one more question for this strange man. “So, what are you going to do now?”
He looks around taking in all the frozen villains. “From what I’ve gathered this army of degenerates have invaded and intend on bringing harm to this establishment and the inhabitants within it, which I’m assuming are fellow children, correct?”
Neither of them initially replies, but Ochaco gives in. “Yes.”
“Well I’ll never complete my mission with these…villains, as you called them, are about. And I can’t allow harm to come to those that are not deserving of it, especially children.” He grabs at his chin, assuming he has one underneath his helmet. “So, I will provide my assistance in their removal.”
He doesn’t really think that they’ll buy that, does he?
Todoroki steps forward ready to deliver another ice-based attack. “What makes you think we can trust you?”
“You can’t.” He responds rather bluntly. “But let’s change that shall we?” He holds his hand out in greeting. “My name is Tetrax Shard.”
Ochaco decides to indulge their foe, perhaps if he’s willing to cooperate then maybe they should accept his help. He’s more than a capable fighter, and not to mention he was able to take a punch of One For All and get right back up. So, she for one would rather have him on their side than on the villains’.
“I’m…Ochaco Uraraka.”
Todoroki eyes her, thinking that she’s made the wrong decision, but then again, he’s proven that he hasn’t been making the right calls today so maybe he should just stick to following her lead. “Shoto Todoroki.”
Tetrax is grateful for their cooperation. “Uraraka, Todoroki will you allow me to assist you?”
Ochaco gulps, hoping she isn’t about to make a huge mistake that she’ll end up regretting later. “Answer me this first, alright?”
Tetrax allows it.
“You said that you aren’t here to harm Deku, but that you’re here to save him. Save him from what exactly?”
Tetrax eyes shift from Ochaco to Todoroki. “All I can say is that this threat is truly…out of this world.”
Todoroki is rightfully confused by odd language. ‘What kind of answer is that?’
As for Ochaco, she completely gets the message. Tetrax was sent not by a villain but by an alien, so that means that Tetrax must be an alien too! And if that’s the case then he can’t risk harming any innocent humans otherwise he would have the Plumbers sent upon them.
Of course, there’s the concern that another alien knows about the Omnitrix and sent Tetrax to get it, but that’s a worry for latter.
Tetrax stretches his hand forward. “I ask again, will you accept my help?”
Ochaco looks the man right in the eye, if he’s really here to “save” Deku. Then he can’t be all bad, and he sounded genuinely sincere when he said he can’t stand the thought of innocent lives being lost.
With all this in mind, she can’t pass up the opportunity to gain a new powerful alley, even if it’s temporary. “Yes.”
Todoroki is completely caught off guard by her answer. “Uraraka?! No!”
“Todoroki.”
Like a dog being hushed he quiets down.
“We need all the help we can get right now. He’s not here to harm any of us and he can fight, we need someone like him right now. Both Eraserhead and Thirteen are outnumbered and outgunned, and our classmates are all on their own, without All Might to save them.”
That sticks a chord with Todoroki, his gaze softens as he begins to understand her reasoning.
“We’d be fools to refuse Tetrax’s help.” Ochaco then steps forward towards the being in question. “Okay, Tetrax I’m going to put my faith in you.” She reaches out shaking the alien’s much larger and stronger hand.
Tetrax smiles from underneath his visor, not because she agreed to accept his assistance, but because she’s starting to become more decisive. “When this is done, I will be glad to explain myself, but for now.”
He pulls out an odd circular device, he tosses it down and the device opens up and becomes a high-teched hoverboard.
Ochaco and Todoroki’s eyes popout in surprise at the amazing piece of technology.
Tetrax steps aboard the floating device before gesturing for them to hop on. “Come now, let’s go help your companions.”
Ochaco offers up an almost excited smile; she may have made the right decision after all.
########(End Flashback)#######
Tetrax scans Four Arms until his eyes fall upon the Omnitrix. “So, you’re the one who wields the Omnitrix.”
The transformed Izuku internally gasps. ‘How does he know about it?!’ His eyes drift to Ochaco for answers.
She can only offer a sheepish smile at best. “I’ll…tell you later. But he’s definitely on our side.”
He’ll just have to accept that for now, besides turning away a potential alley isn’t the best idea right now anyway. But he’ll definitely want a full explanation later.
Shigaraki is even more pissed off as Nomu picks itself up. “Now who’s this?! He’s not one of the heroes that was supposed to be here today?!” He turns to his abomination. “Nomu!!”
The monster screeches, its pincer clanking together before stampeding towards them all!
In response, Tetrax fires off a few rounds of laser bolts that burn in the creature's tough hide, but Nomu refuses to stop and in less than a second, it’s upon Tetrax. It slashes at him with its claw but Tetrax sidesteps and then delivers a sucker punch to his face making it reel back.
While Tetrax handles Nomu, Ochaco looks to her friend for some information. “Deku, what’s the deal with these guys?”
Everyone quiets down as they listen in.
“That guy with the hands on his body is called Shigaraki, and whatever you do don’t let him touch you otherwise you’ll start to decay.”
Ochaco gulps.
“Of course there’s the warping villain from before, I think his name is Kurogiri. And there’s that Nomu, but…something is off about it.”
They all watch as both Tetrax and Nomu trade blows, but Tetrax’s superior combat experience seems to be pulling through.
Todoroki begins to approach the fight, as he does so he turns back to his classmates namely the injured Four Arms. “You need to leave.” His eyes then drift over to Ochaco. “We’ll handle them.”
Ochaco gives him a curt nod, agreeing with his plan, before following the dual-haired boy.
Four Arms isn’t too sure, he’d rather stay and help them fight off these villains, and he’s just about to follow them into battle when Tsuyu grabs onto one of his hands..
Tsuyu gently tugs on his arm, looking up at him with eyes filled with worry. “Midoriya…”
She can’t bring herself to say it, but both her and Iida can’t just keep watching as he willingly throws himself into another death match. Their hearts, especially hers, can’t take it. And with his injuries he’s in no condition to continue fighting.
Izuku’s mind thinks back to earlier that morning; how he promised his mother that he’d be more careful and stay safe. And now…now someone else is expressing that same concern. “Alright…”
Although he doesn’t want to, he will retreat as to not worry his friends anymore. Besides if he were to stay, he’d only be a liability plus the Omnitrix will time out soon anyway.
Ochaco watches on in concern as Tsuyu leads the limping Four Arms away, she’d normally laugh at the comedic sight of Tsuyu’s small frame trying to help prop up the much larger begin but now is not the time for that.
Iida, with the injured Eraserhead on his back, leads the way back to the Entrance making sure to keep a fair distance between themselves and the immobilized villains incased by Todoroki’s ice.
While they make their retreat Tetrax rejoins the other two hero course students as Nomu backs off awaiting his master’s instructions.
Tetrax, without removing his gaze from the monster, gives his orders. “I’ll take the beast; you handle the other two.”
Ochaco raises her hands ready to utilize Zero-Gravity and Todoroki’s whole right side begins to produce a cold mist.
Shigaraki eyes the students with disdain. “Kurogiri.”
The mist villain steps forward. “Yes, Shigaraki.”
“Don’t you dare hold back.”
With that all three villains jump into action charging straight for them.
Tetrax intercepts the Nomu bringing the behemoth to a screeching halt as the other two villains pursue the children.
That Shigaraki guy is a lot faster than he seems because before they can even process it, he’s in front of them with his hand outstretched and ready to kill them.
Out of reflex if anything else the two jump back with Todoroki generating a small ice wall to separate them from the murderer.
Shigaraki easily breaks through the ice thanks to his Decay Quirk and he lunges after the two of them.
Ochaco doesn’t back down this time, instead she allows Shigaraki’s hand to brush by and in that moment, she grabs his arm, twists her body, and pulls. Shigaraki’s body gets tossed over hers and she slams him into the ground.
Todoroki’s eyes widen in pleasant surprise. ‘That move…it was the same one Midoriya pulled on Bakugou, during the Battle Training.’
It sure was, after all this time hanging out with Deku she picked up a thing or two and after seeing that move work so well on Bakugou she knew that she had to remember it for later.
Shigaraki growls before leaping up and taking a swipe at her, but Ochaco jumps back in the nick of time as Todoroki freezes Shigaraki’s feet in place.
“You damned brat!” Shigaraki howls. “I’ll kill you!!”
Kurogiri comes swooping in. “I’ll handle them!” He generates a warp gate that doesn’t strike the students but Shigaraki before warping him a fair distance away.
Kurogiri then turns his attention onto the children. “Now for you.”
As he looms over them something shiny within the mist catches Ochaco’s eye.
Todoroki strikes first firing off a pair of icicle lances that pierce through the mist without injuring the villain.
“You have to do better than that.” Kurogiri taunts, but maybe he shouldn’t be running his mouth.
Because Ochaco runs in low and throws herself towards the middle of the villain’s mist. Within the dark space she grabs onto something cold and metallic, acting fast she places her fingertips upon it. She can feel the villain becoming weightless, and she tosses him up into the air.
“What is this?!”
“Todoroki!!”
Upon hearing his name the recommended student generates a large icicle lance that races upward and collides with Kurogiri freezing him in place.
While those two were fighting off the leaders, Tetrax continued his one on one fight with Nomu.
The creature fights without thought, it’s simply trying to rip and crush away at his opponent. Tetrax’s fighting style is far superior with quick evasions and blocks before delivering several critical hits upon the monster. However, despite all this the creature is unrelenting as it screeches and growls while never appearing to be losing any stamina or strength. The same could not be said for Tetrax, he’s been trading blows with this thing for a while now, but it’s showing no sign of slowing down anytime soon. In fact it looks as if it’s just finally taking this match seriously.
He throws another punch into the creature’s armored shoulder but unlike before his fist hardly makes a dent. “What’s going on?”
Nomu growls in response, and with a sudden burst of speed its pincer collides with Tetrax’s midsection pushing him back.
Meanwhile, Shigaraki watches on and he actually smiles at the sight of Nomu’s success. “How do you like that…hero? That’s Nomu’s Shock Absorption at work.”
Ochaco overhears the villain. “Shock…Absorption?”
“Why yes.” He’s actually going to indulge a bit here. “Nomu was specifically designed to take on All Might himself and his Shock Absorption was tailored made for that. No matter how hard you strike him he’ll just shrug it off and turn that power into his own strength.” He grins maniacally from underneath the hand on his face. “There’s no way any of you can defeat him!”
The Nomu roars in response to Shigaraki’s declaration.
While Nomu roars, Kurogiri manages to break himself free from his imprisonment before warping himself to Shigaraki’s side.
Shigaraki leers to their opponents. “This is where your luck runs out, brats.” He raises his hand towards them. “Here’s where we’ll kill you.”
The three heroes glare right back at the villains, if they are going to be killed then they better believe that they’ll go down swinging.
At the same time, Iida, Tsuyu, Aizawa, and an injured Izuku have finally made it to the large staircase. Aizawa is still propped onto Iida’s back and Tsuyu is helping Izuku along, he’s gained a bit of strength back so he’s not as wobble and because he’s now transformed back Tsuyu can now properly support his weight.
His fingers rub against the now dirty and torn hoodie, he hopes that someone could fix it. He only had it for less than a day, it shouldn’t have been messed up so soon.
But that’s all insignificant as he peers back to see the progress of the fight.
Iida calls back knowing full well that if he doesn’t keep an eye on Midoriya that he’ll just run right back in there. “Come on, we have to keep moving.”
“R-right!” Izuku looks like a kid caught doing something wrong.
They all begin to ascend the stairs, looking up they see Shoji running down to meet them. “I’m on my way!”
They all smile up at him, happy to see that he and the others are alright.
Shoji meets them and he offers to take the injured Aizawa off Iida’s hands. As they transfer their teacher Izuku continuously peers back at the battle, silently hoping that they can handle it, but he so desperately wants to help too.
The entire time he’s been looking back, Tsuyu has been quietly observing him; she knows what he wants to do and so she removes his arm and steps away.
Izuku, not expecting the gesture, looks at her in confusion. “What are you-”
She can’t bear to look him in the eye. “Go. I figured out that there’s no way to stop you.”
Izuku offers her an apologetic smile. “Thank you.”
“Just…just promise me that you’ll be okay.”
“I promise.” He will make it out alive and intact, not just for her but for his friends, classmates, teachers, and his mom.
With no other words to exchange between them, Izuku turns right around and takes off to enter right back into the fray.
Iida finally notices Izuku leaving them. “Where is he going?!”
Tsuyu offers up a sad smile. “Probably to do something reckless.”
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Things have been getting more and more dire as the battle rages on. Tetrax is still taking on the Nomu but its landing more and more hits as Tetrax’s stamina slowly begins to drain away piece by piece.
Ochaco and Todoroki aren’t faring any better, now that the villains have a read on their Quirks, they are much more prepared to deal with them both. They make an effort not to let Ochaco get too close while also keeping an eye on Todoroki before he pulls off an ice attack.
At one point, Shigaraki swipes his hand at Ochaco’s face, and in a panic to avoid being hit she allows her body to fall backwards. With his opponent down, Shigaraki propels his hand downward but Ochaco swiftly rolls out of the way as Shigaraki’s hand slams onto the ground, decaying it in the process.
Todoroki pulls Ochaco further away from Shigaraki. “Are you okay?”
She holds the back of her head, it smacked itself against the ground when she fell. “I-I think so.”
They’re distracted now, it’s the villains' chance to strike! “Kurogiri, now!”
“Right!” Kurogiri launches himself towards the students to engulf them into his mist.
Ochaco and Todoroki don’t have enough time to react, as Kurogiri is upon them.
“Get away from them!!” Izuku roars out as he charges right towards the villain.
Todoroki and Ochaco now watch on in shock as Izuku throws himself at the just as surprised villain.
But before any of them can collide a booming explosion strikes Kurogiri from behind. “Get The Hell Outta My Way, Deku!!”
The teens cry out in surprise. “Bakugou?!” ‘
As Izuku skids across the ground, Bakugou slams Kurogiri down, pinning him in place by pushing down on the villain’s metallic brace.
With their opponent down, Todoroki shifts his attention to Tetrax and Nomu. An idea forms into his head and fires out a sheet of ice and crawls across the ground until enveloping both the Nomu and Tetrax as they grapple with each other. Both combatants become completely frozen in place, bringing them both a complete halt, but Todoroki knows that his ice will only affect one of them. Proven by the fact that Tetrax flexes and breaks himself free of the ice. As for the Nomu, it shivers and growls softly, unlike Tetrax it is affected by the cold which has already set in causing the monster’s skin and flesh to freeze up under the sub-zero temperatures.
Shigaraki growls in irritation, but he doesn’t have time to get distracted as he avoids an incoming attack by Kirishima.
“Gahh!!” Kirishima slashes at Shigaraki but the villain dodges each attempt before leaping away. “Crap! That was gonna be cool!”
Bakugou grins down at the struggling Kurogiri. “Guess I found your body that time ya smoky bastard!”
Izuku is so happy to see Bakugou that he slips up. “Kacchan…”
Bakugou catches the slip of the name, but he doesn’t call it out.
The tables have really turned in their favor.
Shigaraki has realized this as well. “Kurogiri. How could you let this brat get the best of you?” He rubs the back of his neck. “You’ve gotten us into a real jam here.”
Bakugou smiles away has he presses his hand down onto Kurogiri’s metal brace. “Heh, he got careless, you dumb villain.” He leers down at the smoky bastard himself. “It wasn’t hard to figure you out. Only certain parts of you turn into that smoky warp gate.” Namely his head and arms. “You use that mist to hide your actual body as kind of distraction. Thinking that made you safe!” Which is why his and Kirishima’s earlier attacks failed to hit. “That’s why we missed.”
His hand pushed down on the villain. “But if you didn’t have a body you wouldn’t be wearing this neck armor, right? You’re not immune to physical attacks if they’re well aimed.”
Kurogiri grunts as his yellow eyes narrow in anger, but Bakugou give him a fiery warning by setting off a few explosive bursts onto the neck armor.
Kurogiri groans as if in aching pain, maybe that brace was there for a reason after all.
“Don’t move!” Bakugou’s grin is so wide and terrifying he looks like a psycho that’s captured his next victim. “You try anything funny and I’ll blow your ass up right now. You got it? They’ll be cleaning you up for weeks.”
Kirishima can’t help but smile at Bakugou’s…odd threat. “Oh. That doesn’t sound very heroic.”
Shigaraki, rather than becoming furious and lashes out, instead holds his hands together and calmly assesses his predicament.
“You’ve taken down both of our heaviest hitters, and you captured our way out. and most of you are still at full health…”
The group of heroes group together wary about what this villain is going to do in response.
“Kids these days really are something, our League of Villains really didn’t stand a chance…” Shigaraki calmly looks to the frozen Nomu. “Nomu…take out that explosive brat we need our escape route back.”
Everyone watches on in shock and awe as the obedient creature begins to free itself, but with most of its body frozen large chunks of frozen flesh break away from its body. The Nomu hardly makes a noise as its legs and an arm break away like glass and it slowly wobbles its way forward as more pieces of frozen flesh and muscle break away.
Izuku grabs at his mouth. “His body’s falling apart, but…he’s still moving?!”
Tetrax steps to the front throwing his arm out to the side. “All of you, get back!! There’s no telling what else it can do!”
Kirishima finally notices the unfamiliar Tetrax. “Oh, who’s that guy?”
Ochaco quickly throws in a reply. “Oh, uh, he’s a friend. Yeah.” This really isn’t the time to have a conversation.
Something else is wrong here, and Todoroki wants to know what it is. “Hang on. How can this guy have two Quirks? I thought his Quirk was Shock Absorption.”
Shigaraki grins. “I don’t remember saying that’s all he can do. This is Hyper-Regeneration.”
And sure enough all the damaged flesh and armor that broke away is just as quickly replaced as the Nomu’s muscles and shell regrow themselves until hardly any damage is left.
“Nomu is a super-powered living sandbag designed to withstand even All Might’s power!”
Just as it’s claw fully develops, Nomu charges moving at a blistering speed right for Bakugou.
He’s way too fast for most of them and in a blink of an eye the Nomu is set upon the stunned Bakugou. It throws a powerful slash that knocks his target away until they crash right into the side of the Conflagration Zone.
Izuku cries out in horror, there’s no way Bakugou survived such a brutal attack. “KACCHAN!!!”
“I’m…I’m alright.” And sure enough he is, well he’s a bit scratched up but he’s fine he’s a few feet away from where he started but he’s fine. ‘I couldn’t do a thing…!’
Kirishima’s jaw drops. “Wha?! You dodged that?! Wow!”
“Shut up, I didn’t…”
Ochaco tilts her head. “Wait, then how…?” She then turns to the collision and she gets her answer.
A downed Tetrax is smashed into the side of the wall and judging from his posture he isn't’ getting back up any time soon.
Ochaco cries out to him. “Tetrax!”
Todoroki is just as equally stunned as his teammate. “That attack actually hurt him?!”
It did. During that attack, Tetrax was able to shove Bakugou out of the way at the last second but in doing so he couldn’t properly defend himself from Nomu's attack. Combined with the fact that he was already getting worn down, there was no way he’s going to recover fast enough. He can feel his side breaking away from underneath his suit and even his helmet has been cracked.
Shigaraki eyes Tetrax, happy to see that the last real hero has been dealt with. ‘He took the hit for the kid.’ He chuckles at the thought. “Anything to save a comrade, right?” he turns his attention back on the teens. “You know you kids are really becoming a pain. This entire time you've done nothing but get in our way, and what’s worse is that not even All Might decided to show up!! We’ve efficiently lost our chance!! This is a failed Quest!! And that just makes me so frustrated!!”
Kurogiri and Nomu rejoin their leader’s side.
“And if I can’t kill All Might, then I’ll settle for killing his pride!!” Shigaraki howl's out into the U.S.J.
Knowing full well that another battle is imminent Bakugou pushes Izuku back. “Get back Deku!!”
Whether that’s out of concern is unclear, but it’s the smart decision he can’t do much while the Omnitrix is recharging anyway.
Before either side can make a move something else finally returns to the battlefield after being taken out.
An abomination of a Tetramand, a Piscciss Volann, and a Conductoid bursts into the scene. “We’re not done yet, Deku!!”
Kirishima reels back in shock at the sight of the hideous creature. “What the hell is that?! Is it another guy like Nomu?!”
Nue stomps his way forward taking in the situation. “Huh?!” He comes to a stop and gives a jagged toothed smile. “Well, looks like we have a real reunion on our hands here!” One of his mutated arms points a claw at Ochaco. “You’re that gravity girl, right? I haven’t seen you since the Kiyashi Ward Mall.”
“Kiyashi Ward Mall?”
Nue then points at Bakugou, his smile widening as he does so. “Good to see you too, Blasty! I’ve wanted to take you on for a while as well.”
In typical Bakugou fashion he roars out at the villain. “Who the hell are you calling Blasty?!”
Shigaraki eyes his most troublesome ally. ‘How many of these brats does he know?’
Ochaco recognizes the creature as the thing she smashed away from before, but she had assumed that it was out of commission. But what really concerns her is how this monster with…familiar features knows who she is.
Upon noticing both Ochaco's and Bakugou’s confused expression Izuku chokes down his fears and decides to let them in on it. “Guys…that’s Henzu Uuichi.”
Both gasp in shock. “Uuichi?!”
Ochaco looks back at the creature and sure enough that's his face right there, even though they met once it’s hard to forget the face of someone like him. ‘There’s no way! How and why is he like that?! I knew they had a falling out but… What the heck happened to him?!’
Bakugou scuffs in annoyance. “So, that’s Uuichi is it? He’s just as fucking ugly as I remember him to be.” Bakugou brushes himself off as he gets back on his feet. ‘But…what’s with his Quirk? Why does he look like a freakier version of Deku?’
“Hahaha!! Oh, you’re just as funny as always Blasty!” Nue licks his lips. “Now die!!” Nue sprints forward.
The fletching heroes, minus Izuku, jump into action to take on the monster.
Shigaraki growls in frustration. He'd like to jump in too, but Nue is too unpredictable right now! He’s already interfered before, so he’d mostly likely do it again. So for now he gestures for Kurogiri and Nomu to be on standby; they'll let Nue handle this for now.
As the teens take on Nue, Izuku falls back to check up on Tetrax hoping he can help in some way. “Hey, are you okay? That was a pretty nasty hit.”
Tetrax groans. “I’ll be fine. I just need to heal.”
Izuku grabs his large arm and tries to pull him up but he’s heavier than he appears. “We have to get you out of here.”
Tetrax hardly budges, but he does grab Izuku’s arm.
Izuku freezes in place when he realizes that Tetrax is taking in the sight of the Omnitrix admiring the small alien device.
“Is this the Omnitrix?”
“How…how do you know about it?”
Tetrax peers up at the boy. “…Tell me, what do you know about it?”
Izuku’s mouth instantly shuts tight, not willing to reveal his secrets.
Tetrax chuckles at the sight of the nervous child. “Judging from your silence I’m assuming you know enough that it shouldn’t be in the wrong hands.” Tetrax’s grip tightens around Izuku’s arm but not out of aggression, more like to make sure that it’s something to revere. “Good, nice to know someone capable of reasoning is wielding it.”
“Why…why do you care so much?”
“I was tasked with retrieving the Omnitrix.”
“Retrieve it?” Retrieve it for who? And for what? How’d his client even find out about the Omnitrix?
“Yes, but that is not my mission.”
“You’re mission?” This guy is really confusing, just what is he here to do?!
“Yes. The Omnitrix is one of the most powerful weapons in the entire universe. There is nothing else like it and it cannot fall into those that will utilize its power for conquest and destruction!” Tetrax takes a breath and his voice softens as he falls into a depressive state of mind. “A lesson I learned far too late…”
Izuku remains silent as Tetrax is clearly dealing with some internal emotions. He’s still trying to wrap his head around this guy, and especially about what he had to say about the Omnitrix. ‘It’s a weapon? And the one of the most powerful in the…universe? Just who would have built such a thing? And how?!’
“From what I’ve witnessed you’re not too impressive of a warrior.”
Izuku a little taken back by that, just how much of his fight did this guy see? Well he did throw himself at the Kurogiri guy without a real plan so…
“You’re far too reckless, and you’re too willing to throw yourself in the line of fire for others, a dangerous trait.”
Okay he does have Izuku there.
“But also…a noble one.” Tetrax lifts Izuku’s arm displaying his alien device. “I’m not one for destiny and fate but perhaps there is a reason you wield the Omnitrix… Perhaps you can help in more ways than you know.”
“What do you mean?”
“…I can’t stand the idea of the wicked bringing harm to those who are innocent. And I’d like to believe that you’re the same way.” He falls silent before speaking again, there’s just one last thing he needs to know. “Tell me why do you wield this power?”
That’s…a question Izuku was not expecting, but he has an answer. “I’m…I’m someone that's always felt useless, like I couldn’t help anyone no matter what I tried…but I always dreamed of being a hero. A hero that saves everyone with a smile on my face.” Izuku places a gentle hand onto the Omnitrix. “And the Omnitrix allows me to live out my dream. I don’t wield its power for my sake, but for the sake of others.”
“Good answer.” Izuku can’t see it but Tetrax is smiling from underneath his helmet. “Alright, then I leave it in your hands.” Tetrax grips the Omnitrix holding it tightly. “Harness its power not for yourselves but to serve others. To save and preserve life…!! On all worlds!!”
Izuku is more than willing to do as he says, he will use this device not for himself but for others. Starting with saving his friends, and as if agreeing with his resolve, the Omnitrix shifts and glows green ready to get back in the action.
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Shigaraki watches on as Nue tosses Kirishima away, the rock-solid teen bounces off the ground but comes to a stop when Todoroki stops him with an ice wall. “Aren’t any of you ready to give up yet, there’s no chance any of you are going to survive this.”
Bakugou blasts Nue in the face before blasting himself back and out of reach, “Go to hell, Handjob!!”
Nue chuckles. “Hehehe, see someone gets it.”
“Shut up!” Shigaraki snaps. “If you weren’t so damn useful, I’d turn you into dust right here and now.”
Nue simply laughs back at his supposed leader giving the teens a moment to regroup.
Ochaco holds her swollen arm. “We have to do something different!” Everything they have done doesn’t seem to be doing anything and there’s still the rest of the villain, especially that Nomu, to worry about.
Kirishima raises his hardened arms up. “Yeah, but what?”
Bakugou glances down at his only grenade gauntlet, he’d love to use it but with that misty bastard in play there’s no guarantee he can pull off since he’ll only get one shot.
Ochaco takes in Nue’s massive form of Four Arms, Ripjaws, and Feedback and she comes to a possible weakness. “Todoroki, try your flames!”
Todoroki looks to her in surprise as do the others; it’s a good idea. Nue’s current forms would be weak against the heat.
“I know you don’t like it, but it could stop them!!”
“I…” His voice trails off, he can’t bring himself to use that man’s Quirk. But if he doesn’t…
Shigaraki has had enough of just waiting on the sidelines, they’ve wasted far too much time. “Nomu, Nue, Kurogiri let’s take them.” He charges with the others in toe. “Let’s clear the game and go home!”
Nue grins. “You got it!!” He gets ahead of himself and readies himself for one last attack. “I’ve been looking forward to this for a long time Blasty!!”
Bakugou scowls. ‘Shit!’
The others ready themselves for one last showdown, but in full honesty there is no way for them to win this. Nue and Nomu were one thing by themselves, but now they have to take on both of them and the other murderous villains are just too much for them. There’s no conceivable way they can all get out of this alive.
Just as they are ready to accept their grim fate, Izuku runs right past them without so much as glancing at them.
“Deku/Midoriya!!”
Nue grins in pleasant surprise at Izuku’s brash decision. “Ready for another beating?! Alright!!” He reels his arms back, his golden tip claws radiating electricity. “There ain’t nothing you can do that I can’t do better, Deku!!”
“I said it before, and I’ll say it again!” With no hesitation Izuku’s hand slams down on the Omnitrix. “IT’S HERO TIME!!!”
Bam!! His entire body gets enveloped in blinding green light. But that hardly fazes Nue as he thrusts his claws forward to tear apart his exbestfriend. “Die, DEKU!!!”
Before his claws can even scratch Izuku a massive wave of diamond-like crystals rushes forward crashing into Nue’s large frame. The wave of crystal slams and smashes him backwards, Nue desperately tries to regain his footing but it’s of no use, as the crystals send him crashing right into the side of the U.S.J. before entrapping him in said diamonds. Hopefully that will keep him out of the fight for a while.
The transformed Izuku stands tall with confidence and the resolve to fight on. “I probably should have mentioned this sooner, but…” The Petrosapian takes deep breath before declaring to the world that. “Deku is the name of a hero!!”
Everyone even the villains watch with astounded expression they cannot believe what they just saw. Izuku Midoriya, A.K.A. Deku, has a new transformation.
This new form looks to be a silicon-based life form whose body is composed of durable indigo and diamond-like crystals. He has a sharp rectangular head with a back fin, and several long shards are protruding from the being’s shoulder blades.
Bakugou is a bit pissed by Deku’s newest form, but mainly he’s just surprised that Deku of all people was able to pull something like this out of his ass. “Who the hell is this diamonded headed guy?!”
The Petrosapian grabs his chin. “Hm, diamond headed… Diamondhead, yeah I like it.” He gives Bakugou a big crystal thumbs up.
Bakugou is quick to snap back in his usual fashion. “Like what?!”
Kirishima shoves Bakugou aside. “Woah, Midoriya is that you?”
The newly dubbed Diamondhead smirks. “Yup, I got a brand-new transformation.” He raises his diamond fist admiring the unnatural yet beautiful example of evolution.
At least someone can appreciate Diamondhead’s arrival, because Shigaraki sure as hell doesn’t. “Nomu!!”
Nomu springs into action and Diamondhead is more than willing to take him head on.
Ochaco tries to call after him. “Deku, wait!!”
“I got this!!”
And he does, Nomu thrusts his claw forward and grabs Diamondhead’s arm. It then squeezes down in an attempt to slice and crush its opponent’s arm clean off, but instead its own claw is what breaks apart making the monster cry out in agony.
With its defense down, Diamondhead grabs Nomu bashes his own head as hard as he can against the monster’s shelled head. His headbutt struck Nomu's exposed brain, making it groan while stumbling backwards. Not one to waste an opportunity, Diamondhead rushes in to deliver some swift punches but thanks to the creature’s Shock Absorption it doesn’t do much and thanks to its Hyper-Regeneration it’s back up to full strength.
“Not good, pure force isn’t the answer.” Diamondhead raises his arms examining, perhaps he can try something else.
Either by instinct or reflex he thrusts his hands towards the Nomu. His hands seemingly shift into his arm and a shower of crystal shards fly out and impale themselves into the Nomu.
Diamondhead, and some of the others, grin with satisfaction. “Oo, you are so in for it now.”
He rapidly fires more shards into the monster; it screeches and roars in pain as its Hyper-Regeneration tries to keep up. Out of desperation it swings its claw wildly to swat away the bullet-like crystals, but it only worsens its situation as the shards pierce right through its shell.
Nomu roars and in that moment one of the shards impales its exposed brain making the beast come to a sudden halt as its brain functions temporarily cease.
Not going to get another opportunity like this, Diamondhead presses his hand against the ground and crystals burst out from his hand and towards the Nomu before entombing it in the diamond-like material.
Diamondhead smiles at a job well done, but his moment is cut short by a cry from Ochaco. “Look out!!”
During his fight, he failed to keep track of the other villains, specifically Shigaraki who managed to sneak up to him while running at full speed. “I’ll kill you!!” He slams his hand against Diamondhead’s chest.
The alien braces himself for the worst as his teammates gasp and watch on in horror, and Shigaraki grins madly at his pressed hand waiting for Decay to do its work and kill the bothersome teenager.
But it never comes, it gets to the point that Diamondhead opens his eyes and sees absolutely nothing happening to his body. “Um, are you having performance issues?”
Shigaraki growls up at the alien before slamming his hands around the freak’s head. “No!! It can’t be!!” His Quirk, his Decay, doesn’t work on this guy!!
Diamondhead is oddly calm despite the villain's attempt to kill him.
Shigaraki lets go of the morphed boy knowing full well that he can’t do a thing to him. “You…CHEATED!!!” His entire body is trembling, not of fear, but of fuming rage.
Shigaraki leaps back as a sheet of ice nearly ensnares him in place.
Looks like Todoroki was trying to capture him and thus bring this all to an end. “Don’t go throwing a tantrum just because of your lack of competence.”
Ochaco runs up to Diamondhead examining his body for any sign of injuries. “Deku, how’d you survive that?”
“I’m not sure. Well I am made out of crystals and crystal doesn’t decay.” That has to be it, he’s immune to Shigaraki’s Quirk!
Kirishima grins happily at the explanation. “If that’s true then.”
Bakugou’s face turns into that of an excited predator. “Then we can kill these punks.”
Ochaco isn’t too sure about that. “No offense, but how? That monster can regenerate and take anything we dish at it!”
Diamondhead shakes his crystal skull. “No…it can only take anything All Might dishes at it.” He examines each of his teammates until his eyes come upon Bakugou’s remaining gauntlet. “I have a plan, but we need to hold off that warping villain. He’s the wild card here.”
Todoroki caresses his left arm. Throughout this fight and the one against Tetrax he’s been more of a liability than being useful. All because he’s been relying on his mother’s Quirk. And sure it’s proven useful against the weaker villains, key word being “weaker”. But when it comes to these monsters: Shigaraki, Kurogiri, Nue, and especially that Nomu guy… He’s nothing to this group.
His mind replays how Ochaco essentially begged him to use his fire earlier, but he refused then too. Why, because of pride? Because of its…that man’s Quirk? Probably. But he made a vow, to become a hero using his mother’s Quirk. But now…that isn’t enough anymore. And if he wants to call himself a hero than he needs to step up. “I’ll handle him.”
Ochaco raises an eyebrow at Todoroki. “Are you sure?”
Todoroki meets her gaze. “Yes.”
Diamondhead shrugs, if his plan is to work then it might as well be Todoroki. “Alright, we’ll leave him to you.”
Todoroki walks forward with purpose and a fire in his heart.
Kurogiri spots him approaching, and knowing of his powerful ice Quirk, he quickly nominates himself to take care of the oncoming issue. “Say farewell!!”
In response, Todoroki does something that nobody was expecting. With a wave of his left arm a torrent of flames burst to life colliding with the misty villain.
Kurogiri yelps, as he tries and fails to avoid the oncoming flames forcing him back.
Kirishima is completely gobsmacked. “He’s using his fire, woah!!”
Diamondhead holds his hands close to his chin, wishing he had his Quirk notebook. “So cool.”
Even Bakugou looks amazed by the dancing inferno.
But the flames mean something a little bit more to Ochaco. All day he’s been so against using that side of his Quirk, and now he finally man’s up and let his fiery side known to the world. And it is spectacular. ‘Thank you, Todoroki.’
Todoroki keeps it up, his flames dancing before him as if to celebrate being released from their confinement. ‘For now…I’ll use his Quirk. But…that’s because even I have to admit it’s powerful. So for now, I’ll use it for myself until Half-Cold becomes strong enough to rival it.’ The flames burst out even more. ‘Take a good hard look Uraraka. Because after this…I will not be using my flames ever again.’
Diamondhead grins, with Todoroki’s keeping Kurogiri at bay then there’s nothing to stop them from achieving victory. “Everyone listen to me and follow my plan to a T otherwise it’s over for all of us.”
“You got it!”
“I’m with you, diamond man!”
Bakugou growls in response, but he pulls off a smirk letting the others know that he’s more than willing to cooperate.
As Diamondhead quickly shares his plan, Shigaraki orders the Nomu to attack the flame-spewing hero. They need Kurogiri to escape, which is looking more and more appealing of a plan than any.
With his master’s orders ringing in his head, Nomu manages to tear its way out of his crystal tomb, its clawed arm ripping out of its socket as he does.
Despite the lack of a limb the monstrosity charges right for Todoroki.
It doesn’t get far as a wall of diamonds burst forth from the ground cutting it off from Todoroki and Kurogiri.
With the Nomu isolated, Diamondhead's ready for the next part of the plan. “Uraraka!!”
“Right!” Ochaco presses her hands together allowing Zero-Gravity and One For All to surge into being.
Her entire body is enveloped in a heavenly pink aura before it explodes outward swallowing up everything within the Central Plaza in a weightless, floating field of pink light.
Of course this does mean everyone. None of them are unaffected by the Zero-Gravity Field: Nomu, Shigaraki, and even Kurogiri begin to float upward.
Shigaraki struggles to reach out to something solid but he continues to float upward. “What’s going on?!” His gaze falls upon Ochaco whose face is all puffed up and tight as she tries to keep the Zero-Gravity Field going. “She’s the one causing this! Just how much power does she hold…?! ”
Kurogiri spots the girl from above. “I’ll get her! Argh!”
Another burst of flames prevents him from moving any further.
Todoroki, who at this point has gotten used to Ochaco’s field, stands before the villain. “You still have to get past me.”
Diamondhead too slowly floats upward, but he could care less about that and more on how Nomu is flailing about in the air. Now's the time to end this!! “Bakugou!!”
Nearby both Kirishima and Bakugou stand at the ready. Kirishima’s entire body is hardened while his legs and arm are embedded into the ground while using his free hand to hold Bakugou in place, acting as a back support.
Bakugou smiles like a maniac as he aims his right arm and gauntlet right towards the weightless Nomu. “I’ve been waiting to show this off since day one.” He grabs the pin. “So long you sorry pile of shit!!” And he pulls it. “DIE!!!”
Bakugou unleashes his raw explosive power as a fiery-beam of explosive energy surges forth. The shearing power radiates heat and wind bellows around them propelling them against Diamondhead’s crystal wall. They all watch on as the beam speeds right towards its awaiting and helpless target, the blast completely engulfs the screeching and roaring monstrosity launching it upward until it smashes right into the roof of the U.S.J. where a section of the roof is blown away as the beam explodes outward in a fiery eruption generating powerful shockwaves that reverberate across the entirety of the U.S.J..
And with the Nomu gone, Ochaco releases her Quirk resulting in everyone collapsing on the ground. She holds a hand over her mouth before inevitably vomiting up her stomach’s contents. But despite the nauseousness and the strain on her body the only emotion she can feel is relief and joy. They had done it!
Shigaraki lays defeated on the ground, his eyes locked onto the fresh gaping hole in the U.S.J.’s roof. He can’t believe it! The bio-engineered specifically created to destroy All Might was defeated by a bunch of kids!! “Nomu…he’s…he’s…”
Before he can get another word out, he finds himself entombed in a case of crystals with only his head sticking out of the top.
Diamondhead lifts his hand off the ground after the villain’s been secured. “He’s been defeated as have you.”
Kurogiri attempts to rush to Shigaraki’s side, but he gets encased in a similar tomb of ice.
“You’re not going anywhere either.” Todoroki presses his left hand against the ice tomb, his skin steams as he readies his flames giving the message that if he makes a move then he’ll be burned to a crisp.
Ochaco jumps up in gleeful joy. “We did it!” They survived and somehow defeated the villains! They saved everybody!
Kirishima feels similarly. “Heck yeah we did!”
Bakugou stomps over towards Todoroki. “These bastards were nothing. Complete garbage.”
Todoroki raises an eyebrow, not appreciating Bakugou’s blatant disregard of their opponents' abilities but he has to admit it. It does feel rather good to have contributed to this win.
While the heroes cheer in celebration, a human formed Nue crawls out from the wave of still crystals. He had to shrink back into his regular form in order to slip out of the tight positions.
He is pissed and surprised to see the results of the battle, specifically his eyes fall on the Omnitrix dial on the unfamiliar form of Deku’s.
He growls under his breath. “Deku…”
What the hell is his power?! How could he have another form?! Was he hiding it all this time?! Was he trying to trick him earlier?! Fine, if Deku wants to hoard all the power for himself then there’s only one logical conclusion. ‘I’ll just take it for myself!’
And so while the hero course students see to each of their injuries and plan out what to do next, Nue sneaks his way forward using the large crystals as a means to hide behind. The hero students are so content believing that the worst is over that they don’t even consider that a villain is approaching them.
And that will be a mistake that they will end up regretting for a long time.
“You’re mine!!!” Nue leaps out and rushes the unsuspecting morphed Deku.
Nue crashes right into him, his hand immediately getting to work to absorb and pry at the Omnitrix.
“No!!” Diamondhead grabs at Nue’s arm trying to pry him off but his exfriend transforms himself into his Tetramand form ensuring that he’s not going anywhere .
Ochaco throws herself at Nue. “Get away from him!”
He simply bats her away with one of his extra arms and does the same with Kirishima who tried and failed to save Midoriya.
Diamondhead howls in pain as the familiar feeling of suffocation prevents him from forming words. His howls of pain grows when Nue’s absorption increases making him feel like he is ripping at his own heart. The Omnitrix discharges and sparks with green energy as if itself is also flailing about to remove the unwanted attacker.
Nue grabs at Diamondhead’s skull squeezing it within his deathgrip.
“The power!! You don’t deserve it!!” His Osmosis increases its pull on the device.
“AHHHH!!!” Diamondhead roars out in agony as he desperately tries to pry the much stronger foe way, but it is of no avail.
As if heading its wearer’s plea for help, the Omnitrix’s energy explodes outward generating a blast that knocks everybody away. The blast is so powerful that something big smashes into the side of the diamond wall.
The blast also results in Todoroki getting knocked over and the ice entrapping Kurogiri breaks apart, freeing the warping villain.
Izuku groans grabbing at his fleshy chest, he’s very relieved to find himself in one piece and the Omnitrix safely secured on his wrist.
Ochaco brushes off a few pieces of dust and rocks that fell atop of her. “Deku, are you alright?”
After gaining control of his breathing Izuku answers, “I’ve been better.” He then takes notice of the red light Omnitrix, and his mind thinks back to how Henzu first gained his abilities. “Wait, where’s-”
“RRRRRAAAAAAGGGGGGHHHHHH!!!” A monstrous inhuman roar reverberates out as something big and hulking crawls out from within the partly shared crystal wall.
It’s Nue…or at least it looks like him, because it’s a complete monster if they’ve ever seen one. Nue’s mutated form is a mashup of all the Omnitrix aliens Izuku has gathered so far and he’s so large that his shirt and shoes have given away exposing the true catastrophe of the incident.
The base form is that of a Tetramand but with many key differences. Nue’s upper right arm is that of Diamondhead’s while his upper left arm is that of Lodestar’s. His lower pair of arms are that of Water Hazard’s. Large gaping holes like that of Terraspin’s are embedded into Nue’s chest and abdomen, and the Geochelone Aerio shell somehow morphed into part of his back acting like a thin layer of skin. Ditto’s fins poke out from his shoulder and two slim black tendrils have grown out from his shoulder blades. Several circular protrusions glow green down his back, thanks to Buzzshock’s DNA. And finally a Kineceleran tail swishes behind him. But what really brings the monstrosity together is Nue’s mutated face. His jaws are that of Ripjaws and his left eyes have split like that of Four Arms while only a single large eye like that of Grey Matter is on his right, and finally Ripjaws’ lore is dangling from Nue’s forehead poking out of his long black locks.
“RRRRRAAAAAAGGGGGGHHHHHH!!!” With so much power and rage clouding his mind Nue is thrown into a complete frenzy as his many limbs lash out at anything and everything that moves before him.
The fletching heroes quickly make use of their evasion and blocking skills. Kirishima simply hardens his body as Nue whips his tendrils at him. Todoroki uses a small pillar of ice to spring himself away. Bakugou uses an explosion to repel Nue’s thrashing tail, and Ochaco grabs Izuku pulling him out of the way before he could be smashed to bits by Nue’s crystalized fist.
Nue is in such a distorted frenzy that he smashes his crystallized fist against Shigaraki’s tomb, either because he wanted to release him, or he was straight up trying to attack him is unclear.
Shigaraki is swift to retreat towards Kurogiri not wanting to get in the middle of this ordeal. ‘What the hell?! What’s happened to him?!’
Unbeknownst to anyone, but Izuku is sharing some similar thoughts. ‘No. No! No! No!! He’s mutated himself even further! He’s…he’s a complete monster now!’ He rolls out of the way as Nue’s Lodestar-like hand smashes against the ground. ‘If he’s not stopped…he could destroy this place alone!’
That is not as impossible as one would think. There are no more heroes, the students are still scattered across the facility, they’ve used up Bakugou’s most powerful attack, the villain leaders are free, and the Omnitrix is back to red! It’s going to take a real miracle for them to stop this rampaging monster.
In that moment, as if a higher being decided to answer their prayers, the doors to the U.S.J. are smashed right open as something or rather someone finally makes their entrance.
A total and complete silence has fallen over the entirety of the U.S.J. as a result and everyone's attention turns to the main gate, even the thrashing Nue stops for a moment to see what’s happening, but all they can see is giant dust cloud veiling whoever has arrived.
Footsteps echo out as a tall hulking figure appears.
The group of students that were near the entrance are smiling brightly at the sight before them, tears stream down a few of their faces, even Shoji’s extra limbs have become extra smiling grins.
And how could they not smile for when the deeper the darkness is around you…the brighter the light shines when a ray of hope appears!
Mineta cheers excitedly. “We-we’re saved!!”
Tears of joy and relief stream down Mina’s and Hagakure’s faces.
Even Tsuyu’s eyes aren’t without tears as she breaks into a smile.
Iida stares up in awe as he gently holds Aizawa. “He’s here…All Might.”
He sure is, the Number One Hero himself has arrived and he is certainly not happy.
With a terrifying frown All Might tosses his suit jacket aside before stepping out from the dust cloud. “I COULDN’T SHAKE THE FEELING THAT SOMETHING HAD GONE WRONG HERE WHEN AIZAWA AND THIRTEEN DIDN’T ANSWER MY CALLS. SO I HURRIED OVER.” All though in his skinner form originally as to save on his daily limit. “AND HOW COULD I MISS THAT EXPLOSION FROM ATOP THE U.S.J.” That was truly a sight to behold although at the time he had assumed the worst. “I THEN RAN INTO YOUNG SERO ALONG THE WAY. HE TOLD ME OF THE VILLAINY AT WORK HERE.”
His frown hardens as his teeth grind together. ‘I CAN’T BELIEVE ALL OF THIS WENT DOWN WHILE I WAS RESTING AND GETTING LECTURED.’ He’s an absolute failure as a hero if he couldn't even be here to do his job. He can’t stand to think about how frightened all the children must have been all this time. And how hard his colleagues had to fight in order to protect them. The only thing he can do now is reassure them that things will be okay and end this quickly. ‘THAT’S MY DUTY AS THE SYMBOL OF PEACE.’
He stands atop the staircase looking down upon the Central Plaza like a mighty god. “HAVE NO FEAR, STUDENTS.” He rips away his tie in anger. “BECAUSE I AM HERE!!”
Tears prick at Ochaco’s eyes as a grin adorns her face. “He’s here, he’s really here.” Her smile soon vanishes upon noticing All Might’s furious expression. “And…he’s not smiling.”
Shigaraki instinctively steps back out of fear despite All Might being a fair distance away. “After everything that’s transpired…the heroic piece of trash has finally decided to show up.”
Almost in a blink of an eye All Might disappears from atop the staircase and with a rush of wind he appears standing before his students as to protect them from the abomination known as Nue.
Kirishima awes at All Might’s crazy speed. “So, fast!”
“STAND BACK STUDENTS!”
The other students follow his instructions taking position behind him.
Ochaco however has other concerns. Even though it’s All Might, he’s still reached his limit for the day so he must really be pushing himself. So, if this battle drags on the villain may succeed in their goal. “All Might be careful! They’re here to kill you!”
All Might’s frown shakes in anger and despair. Is that true? Were these villains really after him this whole time? And…and his students had to suffer the consequences of his arrogance?! These kids have had to deal with so much because of him, he needs to show them that everything will be okay. “YOUNG URARAKA.” He turns around flashing his signature joyful smile with a peace sign over his eye. “FEAR NOT!”
It works because it makes her smile albeit softly.
Not one to be ignored Nue returns to rampaging. “RRRRRAAAAAAGGGGGGHHHHHH!!!” Nue thrusts his diamond fist forward.
All Might turns to face the monster, internally wondering what sort of Quirks could have resulted in such an abomination. “OH, YOU’RE A BIG ONE. BUT I’VE FOUGHT BIGGER!” All Might catches the fist, pushing it upward and over his head.
His smile must enrage Nue, because he lets loose another inhuman screech. “RRRRRAAAAAAGGGGGGHHHHHH!!!” Before he can do anything the Number One Hero bats him backwards but Nue quickly recovers and gets right back up. His arms and limbs flailing about wildly smashing anything within reach.
In the meantime, Kurogiri leans into Shigaraki’s ear. “Shigaraki we should take our leave.”
The furious villain scowls. “We can’t! The final boss has finally made an appearance! If we run…we may never get another chance like this again!”
“There will be more opportunities, but we should retreat.” Kurogiri looks out to the ensuing battle. “Because of his current state, Nue is far too unpredictable to rely on. And despite his abilities he is of no match when against All Might.”
As to prove his point, All Might delivers a Carolina Smash into the beast’s midsection making him groan and scream in anger as he stumbles back.
Shigaraki is visibly steaming, his body trembling with rage, but he has to agree. Without the Nomu they can’t hope to kill All Might, also the fact that the other pro heroes will indefinitely be here soon is another mess to deal with if they chose to stay.
Although not happy about it, Shigaraki gives Kurogiri the go ahead.
The misty villain produces a warp gate for them to escape through.
All Might takes notice of them leaving. “OH NO YOU DON’T!” before he can make a move Nue lunges and grapples the pro hero in place. “LET GO OF ME!” He tries to pry off the monster, but it’s got a strong hold on him.
Before stepping through the warp gate Shigaraki takes one last look back at the heroes. “This may be Game Over but the next time we meet you’re dead, All Might.” His gaze drifts to the hero course students. “As for those kids…” His glare hardens underneath the severed-hand. “I’ll be sure to make each of their demise a slow and painful one.” And with that both he and Kurogiri step through the gate leaving the U.S.J. behind.
“HANG ON THERE!” All Might breaks Nue’s grip and lunges for the warp gate, but it’s too late. All he catches in his grip are a few black wisps that dissipate into the air. “DAMN, VILLAIN!”
“RRRRRAAAAAAGGGGGGHHHHHH!!!”
“OH, DON’T WORRY I DIDN’T FORGET YOU.”
Nue throws his body forward at the rather pissed off hero.
All Might, however, is not willing to drag this out. If he can’t bring justice to those that have escaped, then he for sure as hell will bring it down upon this villain. “DETROIT SMASH!!”
Nue doesn’t stand a chance as his face collides with All Might’s signature move. Nue wails as he’s sent flying into the air. However, before he collides with the ceiling of the U.S.J. a black wisp starts to swirl around him.
Kurogiri’s voice whispers out from within the mist. “We’re not done with you yet; you can still prove useful.”
The black mist swallows up Nue before shrinking away into nothingness.
‘DAMMIT!’
The pro hero would have much preferred it if he had caught that monster, but it looks like he had made another error in judgement. But to be fair he had thought that the warping villain had taken his leave already, perhaps he simply warped himself nearby and awaited for an opportunity to retrieve his ally.
Whatever the case, the fight is over and the leaders of this army of villains are gone.
And with them gone there’s one last thing to do. “HOW ARE YOU ALL HOLDING UP?”
“All Might!” Ochaco throws herself at the hero hugging his side as she balls her eyes out. “I-it w-was s-so scary!!”
His smile falters for a second. “I’M SO SORRY.”
“Huh?”
“IF IT WEREN’T FOR ME…NONE OF YOU WOULD HAVE GONE THROUGH SUCH AN ORDEAL.” His gaze falls upon each of them. “BUT I’M ALSO SO HAPPY.”
Ochaco blinks up at him. “Happy?”
“YES, I COULDN’T BE PROUDER OF EACH AND EVERYONE OF YOU.” He stands tall flashing his shining grin down upon them. “TODAY, YOU HAVE PROVEN THAT YOU REALLY ARE…HEROES.”
They’re not sure if it’s because of the praise or the fact that it truly is over, but they just can’t help but smile in response. Tears leak out from Ochaco and Izuku’s eyes, even Kirishima looks like he is holding his own back. Todoroki stands tall accepting the praise with dignity. While Bakugou smirks thinking that he was always a hero and that he doesn’t need to be told that.
Finally, Sero returns with the entirety of the U.A. staff who are led by the one and only Principal Nezu. None of the pro heroes hesitate to take action, spreading out across the U.S.J. in search of other villains and the remaining Class 1-A students.
And after what felt like an eternity, the attack on the U.S.J. has finally come to an end. With the heroes…no with these future heroes coming out on top.
Notes:
And with that we have reached the end of Season 1, but unlike the anime I will not make you wait for Season 2! That’s right you all know what’s coming next!! Although I may take my time with the next chapter, we’ll see. Also we still need to get through a few chapters first, before the main event can occur, but I have some ideas for them, and I think you’ll enjoy them...hopefully. Anyway how was Ch.17? Did you like it? How did it make you feel? Do you have any questions? Let me know in a review.
*So this where I’ll explain some of my decisions that went into this Arc. First off I always wanted All Might to enter late into the fight. This way I can give the students their time to shine instead. This is mainly why I had Iida get warped away as well. Because without his speed he wouldn’t have made it in time, and sure Sero is fast, but I think we can agree that his speed is nowhere near Iida’s.
*If you’re struggling to imagine Henzu/Nue’s final form then don’t worry I’ll try to clarify his new appearance here. Basically imagine Kevin Leven’s mutated form from the original series and then swap out his left arm for Lodestar’s arm. His wings for Feedback’s tendrils. His back is green and looks similar to Terraspin’s shell but smaller sized. Add Ditto’s head fins to Nue’s shoulders, and finally throw on the battery like protrusions on his back. And boom you have this version of Kevin Levin!
*Also I may just start referring to Henzu Uuichi as Nue (his villain name), but I may change that. It depends.
*If some of you are wondering why I chose to have Four Arms take on Nue, it’s because I wanted to give Four Arms some action. That’s it, I just wanted to include him.
*I didn’t get a chance to address this but Tetrax is not discovered or arrested by the heroes. I will explain this next chapter so please wait until then for me to explain how and why.
*Also in case any of you are worried, Thirteen and Aizawa will live. They are some of my favorite characters right now, I’d be crazy to kill them off.
*Finally, I have to admit that the ending for this chapter was probably the weakest point. I think I just wanted to wrap it up at that point, plus most of what happens after the U.A. staff arrives is pretty much the exact same as it is in the anime. So, I figured that most of you should be able to tell what happens.
Chapter 18: Exposition Ex Machina
Summary:
The aftermath of the U.S.J. Incident.
Notes:
Warning, this chapter is nothing too special. Sorry if you were expecting some kind of action, you’ll just have to wait a little while until we can get back to the fun stuff. Essentially the name of this chapter is kind of on point is what I’m trying to say. But it’s a necessary one.
Thanks for reading by the way, also take care of yourselves out there and be supportive of those around you. Everyone needs to stay as positive as they can be in these times, and we’ll have our moments of frustration leak out and when it does be sure not to lash out at the wrong people. Thank you.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Slowly expanding into existence, a dark swirling warp gate forms just inside an empty well-kept bar.
A shaking Shigaraki steps through his hands furiously scratching at his exposed neck. “We got crushed...they got Nomu…our cannon fodder was taken down in a flash, and all because of those…kids!” He pounds his fist against the counter as the warp gate vanishes behind him. “The Symbol of Peace is in perfect health! He took down Nue like he was nothing!” He leers over towards the television screen sitting at the end of the counter. “You were wrong, Master.”
“No, I wasn’t.” A disembodied voice responds from behind the screen, out of sight, and somewhere disclosed. “We merely got ahead of ourselves. Yes, we underestimated him. Good thing that League of Villains came cheap.”
Shigaraki is just about to correct his master, when the warp gate returns and a mutated Nue collapses onto the hardwood floor, followed by Kurogiri who calmly steps over Nue’s prone form.
“What has happened to Nue?”
Kurogiri briefly examines Nue’s new features.
He’s almost unrecognizable, only his torn clothes and long black hair serving as a reminder of the once human teenager. But now he’s just as tall if not taller than Nomu was and his physique is equally as powerful, but yet so much more mutated with unmatching features and limbs.
“We are…unsure.”
A second voice speaks out from the screen. “Unsure, what do you mean?”
Shigaraki grips his neck in frustration. “There was a kid there… He had…the same powers as Nue, here.” His gaze narrows towards the dark screen. “Similar powers to you.”
Yes that boy, that kid with green hair and freckles was able to transform into almost identical forms as Nue. But how is that possible, Quirks are hereditary yet neither of them look at all similar. And now…Nue’s some sort of monster… Just what the hell are these two?!
“Deku…”
Everyone turns to the hulking figure that’s currently attached to their admittedly once clean floor.
“It was Deku…” Nue shakily adjusts his head enough to look Shigaraki in the eye. “He did this.”
“Deku?” Shigaraki can only assume he’s referring to that green-haired kid that Nue challenged to fight. “Yes, that brat could transform, too.”
“Yeah…that’s him.” Nue pushes himself enough off the ground that his upper body will allow him to sit up. “I’ll kill him!!”
“Calm yourself, Nue.”
Nue instantly silences himself in response to the command, but he’s still fuming in anger.
“We will need a full explanation from you, at a later time.”
The second voice cuts in. “Now tell us, what of our creation? Nomu? Why is he not with you?”
Kurogiri is the one to respond. “He was sent flying, and without proper coordinates, there was no way for me to find him.” He then gestures to Nue. “Although I thought it best to hold on to this one.”
“After all the trouble we went through to make him as strong as All Might, he was still unable to defeat him.”
Shigaraki begins to scratch at his neck again, if he doesn’t stop that soon he will end up drawing blood. “No…he didn’t…”
The second person behind the screen is rightfully confused. As well as offended, as if Shigaraki is saying that their hard work and effort was but a waste. “What are you saying? Nomu was the greatest doomsday weapon against the Symbol of Peace we had! We even had my assistant mutate him further to boost his strength and endurance. He was more than suited to kill All Might!”
“Nomu…was taken out by…children.”
“Preposterous! That is impossible! No one! Not even All Might could defeat him!”
Shigaraki slams his fist against the counter. “Well, they did! Those kids…those brats, were able to take down all of our pawns like they were nothing!!” He then looks towards the defeated chimera who’s taken to leaning his massive frame against the wall. “And one of them…that Deku could transform just like him!! Then there was the one that blew Nomu away with a single shot!!” He raises his hand flexing his fingers as if imagining decaying each of the brats’ heads in his palm. “But…the most irritating one was her…”
“Her…?”
“There was one…one kid who seemed almost as strong as All Might…”
That girl with the round face and brown-bobbed hair. She delivered a smash so strong that he slightly thought that All Might himself was standing before them like an almighty god descended down from the heavens to put mere mortals in their place.
“…Oh?” There’s a hint of interest in his Master’s voice.
“She…I think she had two Quirks.”
Now the second voice sounds intrigued. “Really?”
Nue jolts up a bit with confusion. ‘Two Quirks? She only said she had one the last time we met…’
Shigaraki decides to take a seat before going into an explanation. “She used a Smash attack to attack Nue here…and then…it seemed as if she could manipulate gravity too.” He grabs his head, leaning forward into it in frustration. “She was the key to their victory.”
Without her power, Nomu would have certainly survived that blonde’s explosive blast. Sure Nomu would have still been dealt burn damage, but he would have recovered. The only reason that last attack worked so well as it did was because that girl, at least from what Shigaraki can tell, could make things weightless with that pink light of hers. And so Nomu had no support nor a chance to defend himself from the blast and due to his weightlessness, he was easily launched out and away from him and the U.S.J.
He grips his head even harder. “Without that pest we might have actually gotten the chance to use Nomu against All Might…”
“No use crying over spilled milk. This endeavor was not a complete loss… I believe you’ve learned a lot, haven’t you?”
Shigaraki would hate to admit aloud especially in front of the others, but he has learned a bit. First off, he made far too many mistakes, it wouldn’t be so farfetched to say that he failed from the very start. He failed to consider the students’ Quirks and abilities, he failed to properly look into Nue’s background, and he had no definite way to confirm whether All Might would actually be there or not. And of course, he never accounted for other unknown variables such as surprise appearances by unknown heroes like that hero that took on Nomu for a little while. Just who was that guy anyway? Was he really a hero? Either way he can take away a lot from this defeat.
Understanding what he must do next time Shigaraki nods, showing his Master that he has learned.
“Good. Now focus on finding stronger troops, take all the time you need.” That will be Shigaraki’s next step. “We can’t move freely. That’s why we need a Symbol like you, Tomura Shigaraki. Next time, the world will know of the Terror you represent.”
Shigaraki, despite his rage and frustration, smirks from underneath the severed-hand attached to his face. He will not fail in his mission; he will bring about Terror onto this society and its heroes.
While they’ve been exchanging words, Nue has come to his own dark realization. He is unable to transform himself back to human!! How?! Why?! Just what did Deku do to him?! He will not live his life out as a monster!! “RRRRRAAAAAAGGGGGGHHHHHH!!!”
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
A police detective watches on as his colleagues and pro heroes herd the horde of villains into a transport vehicle awaiting them just outside the U.S.J.
The detective is a tall man with short, black hair and black eyes. As a member of the police force, he’s wearing a standard tan overcoat and matching hat, underneath he wears a black suit, a green tie with matching slacks, and dress shoes.
“That’s a lot of villains… How many is that so far?”
One of his fellow officers replies while taking a head count of the criminals as they march. “Not including those…animals we have over sixty individuals.”
A few screams and shouts ring out as one of the mutated koi fish thrashes about snapping at anybody that gets within range.
The detective is quick to take charge. “Make sure to keep that thing secure!! The last thing we need are mutant animals running amuck in the ecosystem.”
One of the pro heroes, Cementoss, steps forward. “Allow me to assist you.”
Cementoss appears to be a humanoid block of cement with black eyes and gray hair tied into a short ponytail. His body shape is even blocky all around his body. His eyes are generally closed, and his lips are pulled upwards. His hero costume consists of a sleeveless brown suit that includes yellow stripes, shorts, and an elongated collar. He also sports gray shoes with yellow soles.
Cementoss slaps his hands against the cement ground and several pillars of cement burst from the ground and surround the thrashing mutant fish. The thin pillars wrap themselves around the fish, restraining it like ring-shaped weights. With the koi fish completely immobilized Cementoss uses his Quirk to push the cement forward to the transport vehicle.
With that potential crisis avoided, the detective decides to see the students as several members of the U.A. staff decide to check on them as well. “Well besides two of them, it looks like they’re all unharmed.”
Nezu, the ever chipper principal of U.A., is more than happy to confirm the detective’s statement. “Yes, all in all I’d say we were quite lucky that no other major injuries have occurred.”
Present Mic looks to his fellow coworkers. “Hey, where’s the big guy, All Might?”
Snipe points towards the direction of the main school. “He went on back to campus, said something about wanting to check in on our injured students.”
Snipe has the appearance of a stereotypical western cowboy. His face is covered by an old-school tan gas mask with his purplish shoulder-length dreadlocks visible from the back and sides. On his head, he wears a brown cowboy hat with a large “S” stamped in the middle of it. He wears a large red cloak under which he wears a plain black tank top with white armor strapped over the right side of his torso, and a brown belt with a gun holster attached at his hip. He has baggy black pants with yellow chaps over them in stereotypical cowboy fashion.
Meanwhile, the students of Class 1-A are huddled together as one big group, probably because after being separated like they were they are not ready to leave each other’s side just yet.
Tooru Hagakure notices the soot clinging onto Mashirao Ojiro’s costume and tail. “Ojiro, looks like it was into the fire for you this time, and all alone? Nice going.” She offers a friendly pat to his shoulder.
“I thought everyone was alone… I only survived with hit-and-run tactics.” He rubs the back of his aching neck. “Although those flaming salamanders didn’t make it easy.”
In the background a large red lizard-like creature spews out flames from its mouth before scurrying away only to be intercepted by the pro hero, Ectoplasm and his clones.
Tenya Iida is bowing his head in respect to one Hanta Sero. “Sero! Thank you for your service, your efforts saved us all!”
Sero is admittedly a bit embarrassed, but he still appreciates the praise. “It was no trouble, man. I bet you’d have done the same.”
From nearby Minoru Mineta is holding his head in anguish, with tears of relief flowing down his cheeks. “That was terrifying.”
Denki Kaminari nods. “No kidding, I got held hostage and we had to fend off a flock of monster birds.”
Momo Yaoyorozu quickly tries to correct his statement. “They were actually cockatiels; you could tell by their beak and wing structures. Although they appear to have undergone some sort of mutated evolution of some sort.”
Kyoka Jiro smiles sheepishly from her side. “I…don’t think that really matters.”
Fumikage Tokoyami is having a discussion with Koji Koda, Eijiro Kirishima, and Mezo Shoji. “Right, guess those lowlifes were spread out, waiting for us.”
Kirishima frowns. “Looking down on us, cuz we’re kids. So unmanly.”
Shoji eyes each of them looking for any signs of injury. “How’d you guys handle yourselves?”
Tokoyami smirks. “Very well, Koda here was most valuable in the battle.” He gives his shy teammate a smile. “He was even able to take command of the monster frogs.” Heck at one-point Koda commanded the mutant frogs to attack the villains.
“Kero?”
Tokoyami jolts finally realizing that their resident frog-girl was in hearing distance. “Um, no offense.”
Tsuyu Asui is quick to brush it off. “None taken.” She holds a finger to her cheek. “I’m just worried about Midoriya and Uraraka.”
Principal Nezu overhears and is swift to ease her worries. “Not to worry, they’ve already been sent to the Nurses' Office. Recovery Girl should have them back up to optimal health in no time!”
Tsuyu sighs at the reassurance. “Thank goodness.”
Mina Ashido shoves her way to the front of the group. “What about Thirteen?!” After what’s happened the worry has done nothing but build up in her mind.
The detective is the one who responds. “Thirteen has terrible lacerations and burns across their body, as well as a gash in their arm, along with an undisclosed amount of venom injected into them.” Upon seeing the concerned and worried looks of the students, he quickly changes gears. “But the best of the best doctors are already on the case! In fact, Thirteen’s condition is already stabilizing so their life isn’t in any more danger.”
Tsuyu has one other person to worry about. “And Mr. Aizawa?”
“Both of his arms were smashed to splinters. His face is also fractured. Thankfully he doesn’t have any brain damage, and Recovery Girl will oversee his recovery as well.”
The students visibly relax, glad to hear that their teachers are going to make it.
Iida propels his hand into the air, drawing the detective's, and everyone else's, attention. “Sir, what of Midoriya and Uraraka?!”
“Midoriya and Uraraka… Ah! It seems they were sent to the Nurses’ Office since both of their injuries were miniscule compared to your teachers’. I actually have some business over there myself.” Deciding now is a good time to make his leave, the detective turns to one of his coworkers so that they can oversee the students. “Sansa, I’ll leave the rest to you.”
Sansa, a literal catman, salutes in response to his superior. “Understood.”
Mina and Hagakure blink in surprise upon seeing the police cat. ‘He’s a cat?’
Hagakure gushes at the sight. ‘Aw, look at his little bell.’
‘Is it weird that I want to pet his head?’
Nezu in the meantime is considering how they can prevent this situation from ever occurring again. “We’ll need to completely revamp our security systems.” He cups his chin while in thought. ‘Perhaps I can get One-One to assist me.’
One of the police officers, one that resembles an oni, runs up and salutes his superior. “Detective Tsukauchi! I have a report. We’ve apprehended what seems to be a villain in a thicket about 400 meters from here!”
The detective turns to face the officer. “In what condition?” From what he’s heard, one of the villains was sent flying out of the U.S.J. so he must be in critical condition.
“He seems unharmed and he’s not resisting arrest oddly enough, he’s not responding in any way.”
Knowing he is no longer needed; the detective turns to the principal of U.A. “Principal. I’d like to go over the school with a fine-toothed comb, if you don’t mind.”
Nezu smiles up at the taller man. “Ah, of course. I’m sure some won’t be happy, but the police certainly have jurisdiction! Investigations are your field of expertise. Do what you feel is necessary! U.A. will fully cooperate.”
“Thank you. Principal.”
Before he can leave, Shoto Todoroki approaches the two authority figures and addresses the detective. “Sir.”
“Ah, yes?”
“What of that man? Tetrax Shard?”
“I’m sorry, who?”
Nezu’s smile falls, he’s just as confused as the detective is.
Todoroki goes ahead and explains. “There was another intruder, he’s a large man wearing a strange grey and black suit with a helmet completely covering their head. His name is Tetrax, Tetrax Shard. Uraraka and I encountered him and then he helped us fight off Nomu, but he was injured. I was wondering what ever happened to him afterward.”
“I’m sorry, but we didn’t find anybody with that description.” The detective quickly looks towards the transport vehicle and the villains inside in an attempt to spot the man fitting the boy’s description.
Nezu, unable to let his curiosity and concern slide, addresses the young man. “Mr. Todoroki. Please tell me, why was this intruder here?”
“He said he was searching something?’
“What pray tell?”
“I believe he called it the…Omnitrix.”
For a brief moment, Nezu’s eyes widen with shock, before returning a neutral glint. It was so fast that hardly anyone could have noticed it.
But the detective…somehow must have sensed the flash of emotion in Nezu because he gazes down at the short chimera with slight concern and intrigue. “And what is that?”
“Well, according to Uraraka, it’s that support item Midoriya wears.” Todoroki gestures to his left wrist. “His watch.”
“Hm, I’ll look into it. Thank you for letting me know.” With a bow of his head the detective leaves for U.A. ‘The…Omnitrix, huh? Why would a villain be after a student’s support item?’ Guess he’ll just have to try and find out.
Meanwhile, Nezu is lost in his own thoughts. ‘Tetrax Shard…was after the Omnitrix? I have to find this mysterious intruder…’
A few possibilities on how to find this Tetrax cross his mind, but none seem like they’ll be successful. As he continues to ponder his phone begins to ring in his pocket.
He checks the number before popping it into his ear. “Hello, how may I help you?” He listens as the caller explains themselves. “Ah, yes. Thank you for calling…I was hoping to have a chat with you. If you would I’d like to speak to you in person…”
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Ochaco Uraraka enjoys the surprisingly comfortable bed and sheets, but that could just be she’s so exhausted that anything other than pain would feel comfortable right about now. Her left arm is all bandaged up and thanks to Recovery Girl the swelling has already gone down.
On the bed next to her own, is Izuku Midoriya. He’s in way worse shape than she is with a bruise on his cheek, and bandages across his chest and arms. His once new hoodie is now folded up as neatly as it could be on the chair next to his bed.
They both release their built-up stress with a deep exhale. “What a day…”
Recovery Girl swings around in her high seat. “The situation being what it was I won’t scold you two as harshly this time.”
They both visibly relax, grateful that they can avoid getting an earful for their actions.
“This time.” She warns sternly.
They both go stiff in response, silently promising themselves to try and not be back at the Nurses’ Office any time soon.
Without any warning, the infirmary’s doors slam open. “I AM-GWAH!!” There’s a loud thud as something collides with All Might’s stomach.
“Be quiet!” Recovery Girl removes her cane from All Might’s stomach. “These children have already been through enough without you disrupting their rest.”
All Might rubs his side, and for a moment the Symbol of Peace himself looks scared. “Y-YES, MA’AM.”
Izuku tries to sit up in his bed but a sharp pain from his side prevents him from doing so. “All Might?”
Ochaco sits up from her seat. “What are you doing here?”
All Might is happy to answer with a shining smile and chipper attitude. “ISN’T IT OBVIOUS? I CAME TO APOLOGIZE OF COURSE!”
A harsh silence falls upon the students and the nurse, it’s hard to take an apology seriously with his current demeanor.
All Might also identifies the issue. “BUT IF I MAY I DON’T THINK THIS THE PROPER FORM TO DO IT.” With a puff of smoke All Might is gone, replaced with his much weaker and skinnier form, and just like that Yagi Toshinori is here.
Ochaco’s jaws drops down in absolute horror and shock! Did he forget that Izuku was there?! How is he supposed to explain his weakened form?!
Unbeknownst to her, Izuku is just as surprised as she is, but because he assumes the same exact thing as her: how could All Might just expose himself in front of the others, especially Uraraka?!
Both Izuku and Ochaco yell out simultaneously. “What are you doing?! You can’t show that form!” They then turn to each other after realizing what the other had said. “What you knew?!” They both shyly look away. “Um, no…yes, wait what?!” They then jab accusing fingers at each other. “Why didn’t you say anything?!” They then both turn their glares onto Toshinori. “Why didn’t you say anything?!”
Toshinori chokes back a chuckle. ‘They’re both in sync…’ He coughs, catching a few drops of blood in his hand. “I’m sorry for the scare, but yes everyone in this room knows about my true form…and my injury.”
Izuku’s eyes widen, so Ochaco really did know about All Might’s condition, guess now he only has one real question for her. “W-when did you find out?”
Before Ochaco can answer Toshinori answers for her. “Last year, I had a run in with each of you on separate occasions.” He gestures to Ochaco. “I met Uraraka after her escape from the Rojo villain.”
Ochaco remembers that day vividly, after escaping the villain and talking to the police she went home and met All Might at the station. Who knew this is where they would be a year later?
“And I met young Midoriya a month or so before that…”
‘So…he did remember me.’ A part of Izuku is actually kind of glad to know that All Might remembered him, but the other part of him is shaking with worry. Worried because he told All Might that he was Quirkless!! Will he really believe that he’s a late-bloomer?! But if he does remember him, does that mean he remembers…what he said? What he did?
Toshinori continues on. “After these recent events, I thought it only be fair to disclose this to the both of you. Not to mention I don’t have to strain myself to keep up my facade when around either of you…and Recovery Girl…but she’s known about this for a long time.”
Ochaco is unsure how to take in the fact that Deku already knew about All Might’s predicament, sure it’s nice to have one less secret to keep from him, but on the other hand… If Deku already knows about All Might’s condition, why not include Deku in on One For All? Is All Might still worried about potential threats or does he not trust Deku?
Toshinori positions himself at the foot of their beds, this way he can look them directly in the eye. “I’m sure you both have questions, but…if you would indulge me. I have some things I’d like to get off my chest.”
The two settle their minds to focus solely on All Might and what he has to say.
“First of all I wanted to apologize to the both of you…” Toshinori takes a deep breath before continuing. “You both suffered so much because of my arrogance…earlier today I wasted my time limit and as a result you and your classmates had to face those villains all on your own without me. What’s worse is that you all essentially were protecting me since the villains were there to kill me.” His eyes cast themselves downward, hiding the look of shame washing over them.
“Not only that but I’ve clearly been negligent in my duties as a teacher.” He gazes up at his successor, hoping she is willing to forgive him for his arrogance and mistakes. ‘You are unable to properly control your power and I should have better prepared you to wield One For All. I should have helped you more, otherwise you wouldn’t have been as injured as you are, and you could wield it without fear or restraint.’ He bows his head. “I promise to do better as a teacher, not just to you and Midoriya, but to every single one of you students.”
He raises his head to address the young man. “Finally, I have to apologize for not being the hero I’m supposed to be.” Their eyes lock together, and a silent message is passed onto Izuku. ‘I’m sorry for not supporting your dream.’
Somehow, Izuku understands what All Might is trying to communicate to him. All Might really does remember that day, which means he does remember what he did to Izuku. And now, now he’s trying to make amends… Izuku would really like to accept the apology and let bygones be bygones, but he can’t lie and say that there isn't a part of him that isn’t going to forgive the pro hero. After all he was…is a Quirkless kid with dreams of becoming a hero. Is All Might saying this because he thinks that now that he has a Quirk, he can be a hero? Or is he saying…that even someone who is Quirkless can be a hero? Then again maybe…maybe he’s overthinking this, and All Might just wants to set things right between them…
With his individual pieces said, Toshinori bows his head to the both of them. “Please accept my humble apologies. From now on I promise to the both of you that I will be more diligent in my responsibilities as your teacher.”
Neither of them respond initially, one is still wrapped up in his own mind and conflicting emotions, so that only leaves Ochaco with the capability to answer. “All Might…this wasn’t your fault. You couldn’t have known that those villains would try something like this. I mean you’re still only human, how could you have known?”
Izuku has to agree, no matter his feelings towards the hero, it wasn’t his fault that the villains attack them. “…She’s right, it’s not your fault. And I’m sure the rest of our class feels the same way.” He offers a small smile in return in an attempt to appease the hero.
That small smile is enough for Toshinori, because it fills his heart with such great relief and happiness to hear that, so much so that tears begin to leak out from his eyes. “Thank you…”
While Toshinori wipes away his tears, Recovery Girl watches on with a warming smile. She can’t help but find the sight so endearing.
From behind her the door slides back open.
The detective from earlier removes his hat while greeting them all with a friendly smile. “Pardon me.”
Recovery Girl smiles back at the familiar face. “Aw, so nice to see you.”
The detective turns his attention to Toshinori. “Long time no see, All Might.”
Toshinori’s eyes light up, he’s so excited that a bit of blood splorts out from between his teeth. “Tsukauchi! Didn’t know you were here!”
Ochaco eyes the newcomer worriedly, he’s seen All Might in his weakened form! “All Might! Is this, uh, o-okay?!”
Toshinori chuckles. “Yeah, it’s fine. This is my favorite detective on the force, good old Naomasa Tsukauchi!”
Naomasa Tsukauchi laughs as he closes the door behind him. “Ha ha, thanks for the weird intro.” He steps forward to greet the students. “It’s a pleasure to meet the two of you, as All Might said I’m Detective Tsukauchi.”
The two children respectfully respond in kind. “Nice to meet you, sir.”
“Not to rush any of you, but I’d like to get your statements, especially about the villains. If we can I’d like to start with you, All Might.”
Toshinori holds up his hands as to gesture for the detective to wait for a second. “Wait, hold on. Are the students all right? And how are Aizawa…Eraserhead and Thirteen?”
Detective Tsukauchi smiles, he appreciates how even while weaker than before All Might will always worry over others. “Besides your friends over here, the students got nothing more than a few bumps and bruises, nothing to stress over. And the two teachers are out of danger, for now. If you three heroes hadn’t put your lives on the line the students wouldn’t have made it out unscathed.”
Toshinori frowns in response to the detective’s praise. “I see but you’ve got one thing wrong, Tsukauchi.” He gestures a hand to the very children that just fought off an army of villains. “In this fight, the Students put their lives on the line too!! In fact, they did much more than the rest of us. Especially me.” After all, how can he have the gall to say that he saved the day? If anything, these students were more capable than all of the pro heroes today. “To be thrown into a real battle so young…and survive. Now these first-years know how scary the world can be. Have you ever heard of such a class?!” He can’t stop the sense of pride flooding through his chest and out through his voice. “Those foolish villains picked the Wrong fight! Because the members of Class 1-A are going to be Mighty heroes indeed!!” He offers a grin to the future heroes in question, who have been listening on with admiring and shining gazes. “I’m…going to make sure of it.”
That makes Tsukauchi smile. “I’m sure you will. But I’d still like a statement either way.”
“Of course.” Toshinori follows the detective out of the infirmary, but not before one last wave to the students and a respectful bow to Recovery Girl.
Recovery Girl grins cheerfully. “Not to worry, Miss Uraraka will be able to leave as soon as I remove her bandages.”
“Great, then I’ll collect her statement right after.” Tsukauchi closes the door behind Toshinori as they both make their exit.
Ochaco waves one last time as the door shuts closed. “Now then…” In a flash she swirls around in her seat. “You knew?!”
The sudden outburst makes Izuku jump back in fright. “Ah, uh, y-yeah! B-but i-it was a w-while ago!” He leans to the side to look at Recovery Girl. “Y-you knew too, though?”
Recovery Girl smirks in response. “Of course I did, who do you think oversaw his recovery when he first got injured?” She jumps off from her seat before approaching Ochaco. “Now let’s get you all fixed up.” She puckers her lips ready to heal Ochaco’s last remaining wounds.
Ochaco nervously backs away not really wanting a kiss to the cheek from the elderly woman.
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Ochaco yawns into her palm as she makes her way to the exit.
Recovery Girl waves her off from her chair. “Have a safe trip home sweetie! But make sure you see the detective first; you’ll find him in the break room.”
“Of course. Thanks again for healing me.”
“It was my pleasure.” She waves her cane at her, mocking to hit her if she doesn’t leave. “Now I got to get this one out of here.” She points her cane towards Izuku, who flinches at the sight of the swinging cane that resembles a large syringe.
Ochaco chuckles as she waves him goodbye. “I’ll see you later, Deku.”
Izuku waves back. “You too, hero.”
That really makes her happy to hear as her grin stretches even further across her features. That last compliment gives her a little boost to her step as she takes off for the break room.
When she arrives in such a high spirit, she decides to steal her mentor’s line one last time, maybe it’ll amuse his friend. “I am here!”
“That’s my line!!” Toshinori snaps at her from within the break room.
Seated next to him on the couch, Tsukauchi laughs into his hand. Ochaco smiles apologetically to her mentor as she takes the seat across from them.
After calming down from his laughing fit, Detective Tsukauchi stands and reaches his hand out to the girl. “It’s a pleasure to finally meet you, Miss Uraraka. All Might’s told me a lot about you.”
Ochaco’s steely eyes shift over towards Toshinori. “How much did he say?” She asks with suspicion, wondering what else he had to say about her.
Toshinori nervously sweats under her gaze, turning away and whistling to himself in an attempt to look innocent.
Detective Tsukauchi smirks. “Enough to know that you’ve taken more than his lines.”
Ochaco’s eyes jolt up in astonishment before she jabs a finger at Toshinori. “He knows, too?! Is there anyone you didn’t tell?!”
The Symbol of Peace retreats back from her accusing finger. “Um, y-yeah, so I probably should have told you in the beginning, but Tsukauchi knows all about One For All and by extension you.”
“Is there anyone else I should know about?”
“Not many, other than us there’s Recovery Girl, Nezu, and two others.”
“Well I knew about Nezu.”
“You did?” Toshinori sounds surprised.
“We met the other day when you weren’t at school.”
“Ah…” He can’t help but wonder what exactly they talked about…probably about him.
“Wait!” Ochaco slams her hands against the coffee table. “How come you get to tell people about One For All, and I can’t get Deku in on it?!”
Tsukauchi sits quietly by, but he raises an eyebrow at Ochaco’s request. Just who is this Deku person?
Toshinori admittedly saw this conversation coming. “Young Midoriya is a fine young man, but as I mentioned before this knowledge will paint a target on everybody who knows about it. Tsukauchi here is a long-time trusted friend as are the others that know about our secret.”
“Deku can be trusted!” Seriously, he is really good at keeping secrets, especially Earth-shattering ones.
“Can you guarantee that?” Toshinori asks with all seriousness. “I’m not trying to question your friendship, but sometimes a secret like this can be too much for someone to handle.” That and also…if they were to let the young man know about One For All, he also has to explain that he himself is also Quirkless. And he doesn't look forward to the fact that he’d also look like a hypocrite to the dear boy, he’s already been through enough he doesn’t need to know that his inspiration is a liar too. “After all knowing that the Symbol of Peace is not a naturally born hero may be enough to set him on edge.”
“But Deku…he isn’t like that. I’m sure he’d understand.” She leans back in her seat. ‘All Might was Quirkless before he got One For All. And Deku is still technically Quirkless so he would understand better than anyone. Wouldn’t he?’
“Maybe…but I feel it best if you keep him in the dark for now.”
“But-”
Tsukauchi rudely inserts himself into the conversation. “If I may…I agree with All Might.”
Ochaco is taken back by the officer’s sudden interruption but she doesn’t voice it.
“Think of it this way, if the knowledge of One For All were to get out, what do you think those villains you fought today would do with that?”
Ochaco’s entire body stiffens as she thinks about how much worse the attack would have been if the villains had decided to come after her instead. There’s no way she would have been able to stand up to that Nomu nor any of the villains by herself…
Tsukauchi knows that he’s got her thinking. “They’d try and take it for themselves and they’d target Mr. Midoriya in order to get you and One For All. Do you understand?”
“I do, but…it just seems so unfair.”
“It is unfair, but that’s just how it has to be.” Tsukauchi removes his hat and places atop the coffee table as a way to make himself look more approachable. “But rather than thinking of it as a lie or secret, think of it as a means to protect him.”
“I…guess I can do that.” It might be for the best…but that doesn’t mean she has to like it.
Toshinori smiles glad to hear that she’ll stop trying to tell young Midoriya about One For All. Even with today’s events, he still is a bit wary of the boy. If anything, showing him his weakened form again was an attempt to get the boy to open up to the pro hero. And in doing so maybe he’d give some clues away about his newly acquired…Quirks.
Tsukauchi is also glad to hear Ochaco complying. “Alright, I’d like to get started with gathering your statement. If that’s okay?” He pulls out a small notepad and pen to take notes, since this is All Might’s successor, he doesn’t want to use a recorder in case any of them bring up that fact into the conversation.
Toshinori looks expectantly at the detective. “I hope you don’t mind, but I’d like to stay and hear this for myself.” Since he showed up so late, he’s still not clear on exactly how things went.
Tsukauchi completely understands Toshinori’s reasoning. “I don’t mind.”
Ochaco understands too. “Me neither.”
Without any more delays the detective would like to get right to it. “Great. So, tell us everything that occurred from your perspective.”
Ochaco then spends the next few minutes describing how the events of the U.S.J. played out. Starting with how they met Thirteen there and then the villains wrapped themselves into the U.S.J. Then of course how they were all warped away by a villain named Kurogiri. She explains how she was warped away to the Landslide Zone with Shoto Todoroki and how expertly efficient he was in freezing all villains and monster hamsters before they could even make a move.
Tsukauchi looks over his notes. “If I may; one of your friends, Shoto Todoroki, brought up how you ran into an unknown intruder.”
A look of concern crosses Toshinori’s features. “Who was it you ran into?”
Ochaco looks between the two adults, they are clearly waiting for an answer. She has no idea how much Todoroki actually told the detective so she might as well answer as truthfully as she can. “His name was…Tetrax Shard.” She then realizes something. “Wait, whatever happened to him?! He was hurt pretty bad?”
Tsukauchi shakes his head. “We couldn't find him; he was just as slippery escaping the U.S.J. as he was getting into it.”
Ochaco sighs glad to hear that a possible alien wasn’t apprehended by the human police. “Oh, uh, that’s too bad…I kinda wanted to ask him a few things.” But where did he go? She’ll have to bring it up to Principal Nezu later.
“Speaking of which, did he mention anything to you?”
“I…don’t think so.”
Tsukauchi’s eyes narrow as if sensing her lie. “Did he mention something called the Omnitrix?”
Ochaco is actually surprised that Tsukauchi knows about the Omnitrix, before remembering that Todoroki must have brought it up to him earlier. “Yeah…he did.”
“For full disclosure, Mr. Todoroki said that you knew what it was. Care to fill us in on it?”
‘I knew it.’ She needs to play her cards right, if not she may just cause way more trouble for everyone. “The Omnitrix…is that watch-thing Deku wears, to help access his powers.”
“Deku is…?”
Toshinori answers for her. “He’s young Midoriya.”
“Ah.” He gives Ochaco a curious look before moving on. “Why would this Tetrax be after Midoriya’s support item?”
Ochaco thinks about her response, again she has no idea how much Todoroki said already and if she's caught in a lie then there’s going to be even more questions that she may not be able to answer. “He said…he said he was sent there to get it.”
“Then who sent him?”
“I…don’t know. He never said.”
“Was he not sent by the same villains?”
“No.”
Tsukauchi and Toshinori share a look of concern and intrigue, just who is this Tetrax guy and why was he after a seemingly useless support item. After all support items are specifically made for their wearer’s own Quirks and bodies, they would be useless to anybody else other than the intended owner.
“Alright, what happened next?”
“We fought him and then…” She considers mentioning how Tetrax explained a possible threat on Izuku’s life, but she decides to keep that part out of this. That something she needs to bring up to Principal Nezu and Thirteen instead. “He offered to help us fight the villains.”
Both the pro hero and the officer are justified in their astonishment. “He what?”
Ochaco can sympathize with their confusion. “He said he can’t stand the idea of the villains attacking innocent children.”
“So, he didn’t arrive with the villains?”
“I don’t think so, that Shigaraki guy didn’t seem to know who he was either.”
Toshinori has a burning question. “Wait, so he did help you fight the villains?”
Ochaco suddenly becomes nervous, looking away shyly. “Yyyeeeaaahhh, I sort of…accepted his…offer to help.”
“You what?!” Toshinori bursts out in outrage.
Ochaco flails her hands about in self-defense. “I didn’t have much of a choice! He was a good fighter, even Todoroki had a hard time taking him on, and he just offered a truce. So…I made a decision, and…I feel like it was the right one at the time.” She nods her head as if to confirm her choice.
Toshinori calms himself, dragging a hand down his face in an attempt to do so. “I don’t fault you for your decision, but it was too risky. He could have been trying to trick you.”
“He…wasn’t. He seemed really sincere.”
Tsukauchi finishes scribbling away into his notepad. “Well whatever the case. What happened next?”
“Well after we came to an agreement we went to the Central Plaza and there we saw Deku fighting against someone who turned out to be Henzu Uuichi.”
“Who?”
Oops, she didn’t mean to let his name slip out. “Oh, he’s a…um, guy that…um.”
“Uraraka.”
She sighs giving into the detective’s demand. “I met Henzu Uuichi a while back…during the mutant attack on the mall a year ago.”
Toshinori jumps up from his seat. “He was there?! A villain was there?!”
“Well…he wasn’t a villain at the time. Actually he helped us fight off the mutants, but he left afterwards.”
Toshinori sits back down. “Why was he there at the mall in the first place? Why did he help then?”
“Well…he was there with…Deku.”
Both of the adults sit up a little straighter, and Toshinori’s worries grows tenfold.
“Yeah, Deku was just as surprised to see him. Actually the two of them had a sort-of falling out after the mall incident and they haven’t spoken since then.”
The detective makes sure to jot this info down for later. “Interesting. I’ll be sure to ask Midoriya about this.” This Midoriya kid is certainly a magnet for odd individuals, isn’t he?
Ochaco cups her chin. “When I think about it Bakugou knew him too. And if I remember correctly Deku said that all three of them went to the same school.”
Tsukauchi writes that down as well. “Thank you. Please, continue.”
“R-right. Well Tetrax, Todoroki, and I fought off the villains while Tsuyu, Iida, and Deku got to safety. But then Deku came back to help!” She’s starting to get excited recapping the day’s events like one would excitedly explain an epic fight scene from one’s favorite anime. “But then Bakugou came out of nowhere, and bam!! He captured that warping villain!! It was super cool and badass…!!” It finally dawns on her that she’s singing Bakugou’s praises, and that’s scary to think about. “Don’t tell him I said that.” It comes off more as an order than a suggestion.
The adults let out a few chuckles before composing themselves.
Ochaco decides to get things back on track. “Another thing, that Nomu guy was way too strong: he apparently had two Quirk!!”
Both adults nearly shoot out from their seats. “What did you say?!”
“Yeah, I remember, that villain with the hands, Shigaraki, said that Nomu had more than one Quirk! He had Shock Absorption and I think some kind of Regeneration-type Quirk.”
The authority figures share a very worried look, it’s clear to them all that this cannot be in any way good for them and society as a whole.
Detective Tsukauchi adjusts his tie. “Well thankfully, Nomu has been captured so we’ll look into it.”
“Anyway that guy was way too fast for us and Tetrax took a hit for Bakugou.”
“Took a hit?”
“Yeah, he protected him, but he got injured in the process.” She makes a few punching motions with her fists. “But we couldn't stop. So, we fought on and then Deku came in and saved us!!”
“Saved you?”
Ochaco gets excited again, with stars in her eyes as she replays the epic scene in her mind. “Yeah, he got a new transformation that was able to take on Nomu! Hell he was even immune to Shigaraki’s Decay Quirk!” She pumps her fist into the air. “And together we were able to use my Zero-Gravity and Bakugou’s Explosion to blast Nomu away!” Her smile falters and she slowly lowers her hand as she takes on a much more somber tune. “After that, Uuichi…did something.”
Tsukauchi tilts his head to the side. “Did what?”
“I’m…not sure. He just grabbed Deku’s Omnitrix and then boom he was a giant mutated monster!”
Toshinori recalls the foul monster that escaped in the end. “You mean the one I fought?”
“Yeah, and from there you arrived and that was about it. The villains left and Uuichi got away.”
Tsukauchi leans back in his seat overlooking his notes. “I just have a few follow up questions: Would you say the leader was this Shigaraki?”
Ochaco nods her head rapidly. “Yeah, that warping villain kept looking to him for directions and he was ordering that Nomu thing around.”
“What else can you say about them?”
“Hm, that Shigaraki guy was…easily aggravated almost like a kid. But he was fast, and his Decay Quirk was terrifying.” She shivers at the thought of how close he was to disintegrating her own face; now that’s an image she doesn’t need.
“Another question: did Shigaraki ever say anything that could suggest how the Nomu came to be?”
“Um, not really… Oh, he did mention something about Nomu being created or made to kill you.” She points at the deflated All Might.
“Kill me?”
“Yeah… All Might?”
“Yes.”
Ochaco fidgets in her seat. “Do you think…do you think they know about your…injury?”
Toshinori shares a look with his friend before giving his reply. “I don't know. As I said my secret is a well-guarded one so I know without a doubt that those that do know about it could have let it slip.” Although he can’t really say the same about young Midoriya… “Again it could be possible that they didn’t know about it and were just trying to take me on.”
Ochaco doesn’t look too relieved, it’s not exactly comforting to think that the villains could have potentially brought down the Symbol of Peace.
Deciding that they’ve grilled the girl enough for answers, Tsukauchi grabs his hat off the coffee table. “Okay, I think that’s enough.”
Ochaco rubs her fingers together. “Are…are you sure?”
Tsukauchi offers her a kind reassuring smile. “Absolutely, this will be of great help to us.” He holds up his notepad and waves it around in his hand. “Hopefully we can get some answers and track down the villains responsible for all of this.” He stands up and bows to the young woman. “Thank you for your time, Miss Uraraka we greatly appreciate it.”
“Oh, y-you’re welcome. I’m just glad I could help in some way.” She bows in return. “I-it was also nice to meet you.”
“Same. Now please be careful on your way home.”
“Thanks.” Ochaco picks herself up and walks towards the exit, but not before turning around. “And All Might…thank you for what you said…earlier .”
Toshinori offers a kind smile in return along with a small nod.
Glad to be done, Ochaco is more than happy to take her leave and head on home for a well-earned rest.
The two adults sit in silence as Ochaco closes the door and leaves.
When they are sure she isn’t returning, Toshinori turns to his friend. “What do you think?”
Tsukauchi grins back at him. “I like her, I can see why you picked her.” His grin falls though as does his bright demeanor. “But if you mean my thoughts about what she said…there was much of it I wasn’t expecting.”
“Such as…”
“This Tetrax fellow, the Nomu, and how this Henzu Uuichi plays into this.” He reviews his notes and can’t help but notice how often Deku was written out onto it. “But what’s most concerning is how two of these factors are somehow related to Mr. Midoriya.”
Toshinori can’t help but agree with his friend’s inference. “He should be healed enough for questioning by now.”
Tsukauchi stands up and adjusts his hat. “Probably, Recovery Girl does work quickly. But I think it’d be best if I questioned him alone.”
“I understand.”
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
Recovery Girl takes her seat and begins typing away at her computer. “How are you feeling?”
Izuku groans from exhaustion, but at least most of his injuries are taken care of. “Better.” His gaze falls upon his tattered hoodie sitting on the chair nearby. “Wish I could say the same for my new hoodie.”
“I’m sure if you brought it to the support course, they’d fix it for you. After all it was ruined partly because of our obliviousness so it's the least that we can do.”
“Thank you. I appreciate it.”
Recovery Girl swirls in her seat. “Why’d you bring it, if I may ask?”
Izuku is happy to share how he got it. “Oh, it was actually a gift from Uraraka.”
“Oh, was it now?” A sly smile appears on Recovery Girls’ face.
Izuku blushes a deep red in response. “Wait! No, I mean yes! I-it’s not like that!”
The infirmary door slides open, and Detective Tsukauchi makes his return. “Am I interrupting something?”
Recovery Girl smiles up at the man. “Back already?”
He steps inside, removing his hat in the process. “Yup, I need to get a statement from Mr. Midoriya here. Is it alright if we had the room to ourselves?”
“Of course but be careful.” She jumps down from her seat before strolling her way out. “Don’t be pressing him too hard, all of these students have gone through enough already.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
Tsukauchi takes a seat by Izuku’s bed, as Recovery closes the door. “Are you ready to get started?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Great, alright walk me through everything that occurred from the beginning.”
That’s what Izuku does. He walks the detective through everything that occurred from his perspective: their arrival at the U.S.J., the villains invading, and Kurogiri warping them all away. He then explains how Tsuyu, Iida, and him ended up in the Flood Zone, and using their combined efforts and reasoning, they were able to escape the villains and the giant koi fish. Next, he tells the detective how they tried to get back to the entrance, and they ended up passing by the Central plaza where they unfortunately witnessed Mr. Aizawa’s crushing defeat in the hands (and claw) of the Nomu. He goes on to explain that the villain Nue called Izuku out and they had a fight, during the fight he was able to save Aizawa and get him to Tsuyu before Nue could attack. He then goes on to say how Ochaco, Todoroki, and the others arrived just in the nick of time and together they were all able to fight off the villains and defeat the monster known as Nomu.
Detective Tsukauchi briefly looks over his notes. “Now I have some follow up questions.”
“Alright.”
“Can you explain to me what the…Omnitrix is?”
Izuku internally gasps, how does this police officer know about the Omnitrix?! Did Ochaco say something? Or did they…did they find Tetrax? “The…?”
“Omnitrix.”
“Oh, r-right… Um, my Omnitrix is this.” Izuku lifts his left arm and gestures to the strange device attached to his wrist. “It’s my one of a kind support item.”
Tsukauchi eyes the device, as if he’s engraving the design into his mind for later. “It certainly is one of a kind, I definitely have never seen something like it before.”
“Its purpose is to help me control my Quirk, One Man Army.”
Tsukauchi’s smile falters and his eyes give away to a brief moment of distrust. “Ah, yes your Quirk from what I hear it’s a very unique one.”
Izuku smiles sheepishly. “Yeah, I guess it is.”
Tsukauchi’s gaze hardened ever so slightly. “Mind tell me when and where you got your…Omnitrix?”
“Oh, um…about…a year ago.”
Tsukauchi makes sure to write that down. “So, you haven't had it for that long?”
“N-no.”
Tsukauchi eyes the device suspiciously, his mind full of swirling questions and possible answers, but none of them seem to be correct.
Izuku fidgets under the detective’s gaze become very uncomfortable with where this conversation is going. “Sir, if you don’t mind me asking, but why are you so hung up on my Omnitrix?”
Tsukauchi eyes the young man before deciding to indulge him. “I’ll level with you I want to know why someone would risk breaking into U.A. to take it from you.”
“Take it?” Izuku’s mind instantly goes to Tetrax, and if the heroes ended up capturing him.
“There was a separate intruder today, who was searching for this item and I would like to know why that is.”
“Oh, well…I’m not sure… I don’t know why he wanted it.” Yes, he does, but he can’t tell that to the officer. Not like he’d believe him anyway.
Unbeknownst to him, Tsukauchi doesn’t believe his current answer. “Well, I can’t assume you would know the reasons behind someone else’s motives. I guess it can’t be helped.” He has to be careful how he goes about his questioning otherwise he could tip the boy off.
“Is that all, sir?”
“No, not yet.” Tsukauchi goes through his notes to make sure he isn’t skipping over anything. He would like to ask more questions about his supposed Quirk, but he’s already pushing his luck. So, it’s time to change topics. “Can you explain your relationship with one Henzu Uuichi, A.K.A. Nue?”
Izuku instantly gets that the detective has already been made aware of Nue’s identity, after all several of his classmates overheard him saying it so it’s not unexpected. So, there’s no avoiding this anymore. “Y-yes.”
“I was told you two had a history, care to specify?”
Izuku rubs the back of his neck, while avoiding eye contact with the officer. “We uh…used to be friends…”
Tsukauchi raises an eyebrow. “Used to be?”
“We…had a pretty bad fight, and we haven’t talked since…” Izuku’s eyes cast themselves downward before drifting to his watch, and the source of their dead friendship.
“Until today…” Tsukauchi finishes.
“Y-yeah, that was a surprise.” Was it though? Henzu basically disappeared off the face of the Earth after their fight, and he was never a model citizen, so it really shouldn't have been that much of a surprise.
“I know All Might fought him, and according to All Might, Uuichi’s or Nue’s body had some…similarities to your forms. Do you know why?”
“Well…I think it’s because of this.” Izuku gestures to his watch.
‘Now we’re getting somewhere.’ Tsukauchi gestures for him to go on.
“Well understand that Henz-...Nue’s Quirk is called Osmosis and it allows him to absorb all kinds of solid matter, and even certain types of energy like electricity.”
Tsukauchi quickly writes down these details.
“During our…fight he grabbed my Omnitrix and tried to take it from me. His Quirk must have been active and because this thing is so…closely linked to my powers he must have absorbed my powers rather than the item themselves.” That is honestly his best assumption on what happened. How else can he explain Nue’s new abilities? “He tried the same thing today…but that didn’t work out for him so well.” No kidding, the guy completely transformed in one of the most monstrous things he’s ever seen!
Tsukauchi closes his notepad before getting up to his feet. “Alright, that’s all I needed from you. Thank you for indulging me for so long.”
“O-oh, i-it’s okay! I’m happy to help.”
Recovery Girl decides then to reenter the room. “Are you two finally done?”
Tsukauchi places his hat back on. “We just ended, ma’am.”
“Good, I’d like to let this one rest before he can go home.”
“Understood, I’ll take my leave.” Tsukauchi steps through the door before looking back at the young man. “It was a pleasure meeting you Mr. Midoriya, I look forward to what the future holds for you.”
“Thank you.”
Tsukauchi leaves without another word, he makes his way back to the break room while flipping through his notes.
When he arrives Toshinori is awaiting his return, his head quickly snaps up towards the door. “How’d it go?”
Tsukauchi rubs his forehead. “…I’m beginning to see why you’re so wary of him.”
“Why?! What’d he say?”
“It’s more like what he didn’t say.” He scans his notes. “That boy…he is for sure hiding something.” His Lie Detector Quirk definitely picked up on it, the boy was lying through his teeth when he gave certain answers, and it all has to revolve around that watch of his and his Quirk…
Toshinori is dying to know. “Like what?”
“That is unclear. But…whatever it is, it’s definitely related to his supposed Quirk.”
Toshinori looks visibly shaken, he knows full and well that if Tsukauchi is unsure about something then it’s something to worry about. Is there a chance that young Midoriya somehow gained a Quirk since he last saw him? “You don’t think…?”
“I hope not…but we supposedly have one villain with multiple Quirks, and a student capable of using multiple Quirks…”
Toshinori grabs at his head, he really hopes this is not the worst-case scenario, but the dread filling up within him tells him otherwise. It can’t be though, he defeated that devil a long time ago there’s no way he could still be lurking around. “It can’t be… Do you think…?!”
“I hope not.” Tsukauchi turns grim. “But if there’s a connection between the two of them then that could explain a lot. For example, how did the villains know about the U.S.J. and that you’d be there?”
“I…” The Number One Hero’s eyes widen with shock. “They could have been…told.” Was it young Midoriya that told them?! Is he somehow connected to these villains?! And if he is…then it’s his fault! He turned the boy away and now his negligence is coming back to haunt him. “This is all my fault…I shouldn’t have been so harsh with the boy.”
“Toshi…?”
“I…met him…a year ago, in this form. And…he asked me if someone Quirkless could be a hero…”
Tsukauchi eyes widen as if everything has just clicked into place. “You…didn’t?”
“I did…I said no.” Toshinori shakes with grief and guilt. “The instant I said that…I knew I crushed his dream, but I just…walked away, I turned my back on him.”
“Toshi…”
“And because of me…he got himself involved with those villains…all so he can be a hero.”
“What are you saying?”
“Maybe…Midoriya is not a willing participant but an unknowing victim…perhaps he’s being manipulated.”
That has to be it! Perhaps he’s unknowing handing the villains and that devil what they want to know! That’s a possibility, isn’t it?! Then again this could just be All Might’s way to gain some semblance of hope. Hope that young Midoriya can be saved and released from his servitude to the villains. But that’s assuming that this is the case.
“Perhaps…” Tsukauchi puts away his notepad. “I’m going to hold my own investigation on Izuku Midoriya.”
Toshinori was not expecting that. “Are you sure?”
“I think it’d be for the best. The best-case scenario is that I don’t find anything incriminating and we can all just brush this under the rug.”
Toshinori doesn’t want to ask, but he does. “And the worst case…?”
“The worst case is…that we have a traitor among the students of Class 1-A.”
‘Dear God, please don’t let it be true…’
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
Izuku finishes tucking his torn hoodie into his yellow backpack just as the elevator shaft opens up.
Ochaco steps through first, examining the main lobby of Japan’s Plumber Base. “It’s been a while since we’ve been here.”
Izuku smiles, brushing his hand against the bandage on his cheek. According to Recovery Girl, a bruise isn’t a big enough injury to justify using her Quirk on it. “You said it. Why do you think Nezu called us in so suddenly?”
As Ochaco was leaving her interview, both her and Izuku had gotten a text from Principal Nezu asking them to report to the Plumber Base before they head on home.
Ochaco shrugs as they make their way to the main hanger. “Don’t know…maybe it has something to do with that Tetrax guy.” Speaking of which, Ochaco can’t help but wonder whatever became of him. ‘Tetrax…just who are you? And where did you go?’
It doesn’t take them long to reach the second level where the doors open up to a meeting area with a large table and at the end of the rooms are two separate gates that lead to different parts of the ship.
“We are here!” You know, maybe they should stop using that line so often before it loses its luster.
Seated upon the head chair is Principal or rather Magister Nezu and posted nearby on top of the table is a little spherical-robot named One-One.
Glad-One cheers at the announcement of their arrival. ^Hooray!! It’s so good to see you!^
Sad-One’s reaction couldn’t be any more different. ^Darn, I thought you too were dead…^
Ochaco and Izuku deadpan at the dual-personality robot. “Thanks for the vote of confidence…”
Magister Nezu smiles at their antics. “Please, don't mind One-One he was very worried for the both of you.”
Upon being addressed by an authority figure, the teens greet the little chimera. “Good to see you, sir.”
“Likewise, and might I say I am so glad to see both of you on your feet.” Magister Nezu’s smile falls as he bows his head slightly forward and he holds his paw to his chest. “I also must apologize, neither of you should have been in any way involved in this egregious act of villainy.”
Izuku is quick to wave away the accusation. “It’s okay, there was no way to know what the villains were planning to do.”
“Thank you for trying to elevate my worries, but it still stands that the entirety of U.A. has been compromised.” Nezu claps his paws together. “But that is not why I called either of you here for. Now I hate to make you both relive through today’s events, but there’s something that must be addressed.”
Ochaco goes ahead and takes a seat. “What is it, sir?”
The doors leading to the operations room opens up and a lone figure steps out. “Me.”
Ochaco shoots out of her seat so fast that she knocks it over. “It’s you! You’re Tetrax!”
Izuku is just as confused, slamming his hands against the table. “What are you doing here?!”
Tetrax Shard strolls over to the table, his helmet is still cracked but other than that he’s walking around fine, free of injury.
He takes a seat opposite of the teenagers. “It’s like I promised, I need to explain myself to you all.”
^How kind of you.^
^I don’t trust him. I bet he’s here for our organs so he can sell them off.^
Izuku looks to their superior to see if this is alright. “Principal Nezu?”
Magister Nezu adjusting himself on his seat which is made up of a small stack of books so he can properly see over the table. “It’s quite alright. I can guarantee that he was not in any way in league with the villains.”
Now that is a relief to hear, the last thing either Ochaco or Izuku want are to get involved in another all-out fight, especially with someone so capable.
Nezu turns to their guest. “Mr. Shard please indulge our curiosities.”
Tetrax nods his head from behind his helmet. “Of course, let’s begin by explaining why I am here. If you couldn’t tell, I am not in fact human.”
Ochaco gives the alien a deadpanned stare. “Yeah, we sort-of figured that out for ourselves.”
“Right, but as an extraterrestrial being, I knew I couldn’t be found out by your planet’s heroes…” Tetrax makes air quotes while saying “heroes”. “And so after I witnessed your fantastic display of strategic battling, I made my escape and came here.” He gestures to their current surroundings.
Izuku curiously stares up at the being. “But how’d you know it was here?”
Glad-One graciously provides an answer. ^Well how else do you think all the aliens that come here find us? It’s public knowledge to them! Much like how everyone knows where their local police station is.^
Sad-One is of course ready with a quip of his own. ^It also makes it easier for our enemies to find us.^
The teens roll their eyes, figuring the robot was exaggerating.
Tetrax sheepishly rubs the back of his helmet. “They’re actually right about that.”
“What?!” They both cry out in surprise! Sure it makes sense but isn’t it bad if alien criminals can find them too?!
The ever chipper Nezu simply laughs off their worries. “Hahaha!”
While Nezu calms himself down, Tetrax decides to get things moving. “Anyway if I may. After I arrived here, I had your little droid here contact the local Plumbers, and Magister Nezu arrived shortly after.”
Well that explains how he got here and why Nezu called the two over here.
But that only increases Izuku’s inner curiosity. “Wait, if you’re an alien, what kind of alien are you?” He excitedly has his Hero Transformation Notebook at the ready, he’s also been filing its pages with new aliens that he’s had the pleasure of coming across in Mr. Baumann’s store.
Tetrax smiles from underneath his helmet. “See for yourself.” Tetrax reaches behind his head and after a switch of a button his helmet shifts and opens up until it sheathes itself back into his suit.
Nezu smiles on as the space cadets’ jaws drop at the sight before them. “Diamondhead?!”
Tetrax looks at them with confusion. “Who?”
If he knew what they were talking about he certainly wouldn’t be in the unknown. Tetrax is seemingly a carbon-copy of Diamondhead, because he’s a Petrosapien. Although with a few differences such as a slightly different frame and no long shards of crystal sticking out from his hide.
“Huh, so that’s how I got my new transformation.” Izuku peers down at the Omnitrix. “When you grabbed it, it must have absorbed your DNA… That might explain how I got the Megawatt DNA as well when I think about it.”
Tetrax approves of Izuku’s deductive reasoning. “Yes, the Omnitrix is a device that stores and collects DNA of all intelligent life forms in the known universe. While also providing the wielder access to all of the DNA within it.” His tone changes, becoming deeper and more foreboding. “And there are many that would do anything to get it.”
Ochaco nervously sinks down into her seat. “Such as the one that sent you after it?”
“Yes.”
“By the way…are you still here to take it?” Ochaco gestures to the watch, and in response Izuku instinctually backs away gripping said device protectively.
“…No, it’s like I said, I am here to ensure it doesn’t fall into the wrong hands.” Tetrax then adds in the following with a casual demeanor. “And besides I couldn’t take it even if I wanted to.”
“Good point.” Ochaco sweat drops, she had forgotten that the Omnitrix is literally fused to her friend's arm. So, he couldn't exactly press and button and slip it off, now could he? “Then why were you searching for it if you were sent to take it?”
“The one who hired me will only use its power to destroy and conquer, I couldn’t risk it. So I took advantage of the situation deciding that I would ensure the Omnitrix’s safety.”
Izuku pipes in his take. “In other words you went against your orders.”
Tetrax gives the kid a cocky smirk. “Exactly. And it’s a good thing too.”
Nezu claps his paws together and places them atop the table before addressing the Petrosapien. “Mr. Shard, please. Would you care to tell us who it is that hired you?”
“Yes…it was the most dangerous being in the universe, the one known as…Vilgax…” He draws out the threat’s name to express how dreadful the danger truly is.
Nezu’s usual calm and cheery demeanor is shaken, at least for a brief moment. “Are you sure?”
“Yes.” There’s no sugar coating this, Vilgax is the one that hired and sent him here.
“Oh my.”
Ochaco rubs her ear, not sure if she heard the bounty hunter correctly. “Vil-what?”
Izuku is just as lost as she is. “Who is that?”
Nue gestures for Tetrax to explain away.
“Vilgax is a conquer and destroyer of worlds, a powerful being who has made dictators grovel at his feet to appease his violent tendencies. He’s destroyed civilizations not for their resources but for sport! Wiped out entire species of aliens! He’s so dreaded planets have surrendered themselves just to avoid his wrath bearing itself down upon them!”
The space cadets gulp, is this Vilgax guy really all that dangerous?
Nezu rubs his scar which runs down his face. “And somehow, he’s been made aware of the Omnitrix’s existence and he has his sights after it.”
Tetrax grimaces. “Yes. And with it he will certainly create an army of transforming minions that can tear through any environment, army, and force that they come across all in the name of galactic conquest.”
Izuku’s eyes widen with realization. It must have been this Vilgax guy sending all those robots down after him all those months ago, but he had assumed that whomever was sending them had given up. Guess not…
Ochaco grips her hands together, in an attempt to keep herself cool and collected. “W-What do we do? H-how can w-we defeat him?!”
“You can’t.” Tetrax delivers this line rather bluntly.
Izuku and Ochaco freeze up, the blood draining from their faces as the temperature drops several hundred degrees.
Nezu tries to offer the two a kind reassuring smile. “Now, now there is no need to panic.”
They both cry out while completely in sync. “How are you not panicking?!”
Nezu holds up a single finger. “A lesson for you both. Panicking never helped anyone; it's much more productive to stay calm and take everything at face value.” As of now this is how things stand. “For one, a benefit of living here on Earth, especially in such a place as Japan, are our fine pro heroes that risk life and limb to defend the innocent and withhold the peace.” Unbeknownst to the heroes, they are actually the main reason why the Plumbers of Earth don’t have to deal with such vile alien criminals. “As such many of those who would otherwise cause harm to Earth or its inhabitants opt to stay away and not jeopardize their own resources on such an endeavor.”
Tetrax takes over the explanation from here. “Especially when you consider how unique each humans’ powers can be, there’s no possible way for any enemy army to assume what the enemy has waiting for them. Not to mention you have the Symbol of Peace, All Might, protecting over your country and not to mention your place of education.”
Izuku’s eyes disappear from under his green locks. “Wait…you know about All Might?”
“Why of course. Someone with such great power as his doesn’t exactly go unnoticed.”
Ochaco blinks in rupees. ‘Huh, how do you like that? All Might’s also famous across the galaxy and not just the planet. Wow, I really have a lot to live up to, don’t I?’
Tetrax continues. “In other words as long as you remain here on Earth, even Vilgax will play things cautiously.”
Izuku isn’t too reassured by that claim. “Will he?”
“He has to.” Nezu turns in his seat so he can reassure the boy properly. “For you see, our fellow Plumbers station across the galaxies have recently established a truce with this very same Vilgax.” He sighs in defeat. “However, we cannot make a move on him either.”
“Why not?”
“As Mr. Shard has said, Vilgax is a highly dangerous individual so much so that our so-called truce is more of a cease fire and any aggression from either side could result in the destruction of not only Earth but many other planets across the universe.”
Ochaco is actually shaking in her seat. “B-but t-then…w-what do we do?”
Nezu frowns in response, shaking his head. “I don’t know.”
“That’s not reassuring…”
Tetrax raises his hand with an offer. “If I may, I might just have a solution.”
The others look at him expectantly waiting for him to continue.
“This base is capable of scanning the entirety of Japan in order to keep track of any and all registered aliens living upon it. Correct?”
Nezu nods. “Why of course.”
“Right well Vilgax gave me this.” The bounty hunter pulls out a small rectangular device that’s red in color and has a small screen embedded into its surface. “It’s a special device that uses the same technology that allows Vilgax to locate the Omnitrix whenever it is activated.” He hands the device to Magister Nezu so he can examine it himself. “So using the same technology and with the help of your droid we should be able to create a program of sorts to act as a jammer.” He gestures towards the Omnitrix wielder. “Whenever Midoriya activates the Omnitrix the frequency it releases as a result will be scrambled across your scanner and hence Vilgax will be unable to detect his location.”
Ochaco leans forward in her seat. “But will that really get rid of him?”
“It’s no guarantee, as long as the Omnitrix remains here he will undoubtedly send more agents here to retrieve it.”
Well that’s not good, they’d prefer a more permanent solution, but it’s still not a bad idea.
But Tetrax isn’t done yet, there’s one more thing they can do. “So, we must also take the Omnitrix off world.”
Neither of the teens find the joke funny. “What?!”
He can’t be serious?! Does he really expect Izuku to just pack up and leave for who knows where?! While a maniacal conqueror purses him until the end of his days?! Or does Tetrax mean they should try and remove the Omnitrix? There are several issues with that two: one, they can’t remove it unless he plans to cut his arm off. And two, Izuku really doesn’t want to part with the device…it’s given him so much, and not just powers. Giving it up would bring everything he’s worked towards to a screeching halt, and there will be no way for him to become a hero.
Tetrax can almost sense the despair and fear radiating off the boy, so he quickly tries to make amends. “Hold on, allow me to explain. What I mean is we lead him away with a fake Omnitrix.”
That instantly snaps Izuku out of his funk. “A fake Omnitrix?”
Ochaco is equally just as confused. “How will we do that?”
“Simple.” Tetrax takes the device back from Nezu and holds it up. “Using this device I can mimic the signal given off by the Omnitrix and as such Vilgax will believe that I have it. And that I am on my way to hide it and keep it out of his possession. In doing so he will abandon Earth to pursue me.”
Izuku shakes his head, that can’t be their best strategy. “That’s crazy! If you were to do that he’d come after you and those you care about!”
Tetrax offers the boy a smile. “I appreciate the concern, but you have no need to worry.” He jabs his thumb towards his puffed-out chest. “I’m pretty slippery despite my physique and besides…I have no one to lose…” His voice falls slightly.
They all notice the change in tone, but neither of them wants to be the one to point it out.
Tetrax coughs bring them back to the plan at hand. “What do you say Magister?”
Nezu hums to himself while in though, but it doesn’t take long for him to have an answer. “I think it’s our best option. To ensure Mr. Midoriya’s safety, we must see this through.”
“Thank you.”
Ochaco isn’t buying this either. “Are you sure you’re okay with this? You could stay and we can come up with something else?”
Izuku agrees. “Yeah, you could always just say and help me with the Omnitrix and maybe my new Diamondhead form.”
Tetrax shakes his head in denial. “I wish I could, but I cannot stay.”
“Why not?”
“One, Vilgax will know I betrayed him and send others after me. So, either way I will be hunted. Also…I’m a wanted fugitive here now.”
“Huh?”
Nezu scratches his ear trying to make this bit of news sound casual. “Yes, you see after hearing the collective statements of the students, there’s a nationwide search for our dear Mr. Shard. He cannot stay, not without risking the exposure of aliens.”
“I understand, sir.”
Tetrax nods before getting up from his seat. “Good.” He turns to One-One who’s been quietly listening from the sidelines. “Now, droid let’s get started on this program.”
^Aye! Aye!^
^You can’t boss me around.^
One-One hops off the table and follows Tetrax to the main operating room so they can begin programming their scanner and Tetrax’s detector.
Nezu leans back in his seat. “In the meantime, there’s a few things I’d like to discuss with the two of you.”
Ochaco takes a guess about what it is. “Is it about the U.S.J.?”
“It is. During the police investigation…I granted them access to the U.S.J.’s camera footage.”
Izuku and Ochaco share the same thought. ‘There were cameras?’ But then again not like they would have come in handy since all signals were cut off from the main campus.
“And there were some things that really concern me…such as the villain known as Nue, or rather Henzu Uuichi.” The cameras are also installed with microphones, so they were able to pick up on certain conversations. “From my understanding of the situation the two of you know this person, do you not?”
Izuku swallows a bit of saliva before nodding. “We do…” he takes a breath before continuing on. “He…was my best friend back in junior high.”
“Was he?”
“Y-yes, but we had a fight…” he would rather not get into it.
“Mr. Midoriya.”
Izuku peers up at the principal.
“Please…tell me, you will not be in any trouble.”
Izuku believes him and goes ahead with his story. “Nue…or rather Henzu was a friend and we all got caught up at the Mutant incident at the Kiyashi Ward Shopping Mall, that’s actually the first time I met Uraraka. But before that…he had always known me to be Quirkless… He…felt betrayed…and so I wanted to explain myself to him…”
This is the first time Ochaco’s hearing the full story as well. “Deku what happened?”
“I told him…I mean sort-of I didn’t tell him about aliens or anything…I just said that I finally got my Quirk is all.” And that lie made him feel like he owed Henzu. “But then…he wanted me to make it up to him.” So he did, and he can only look back at the results with a powerful taste. “And there was a train…apparently it was filled with gold or something…”
“Deku…”
“Henzu…Nue wanted me to help him rob it by…crashing the train into a passenger train…”
Ochaco lets out a gasp while Nezu remains silent.
“That…was when I couldn’t stand by anymore and…we had a fight.”
“Like an argument?”
“No…I became Lodestar and we had an all-out brawl…but he did something.”
Nezu gives his student an inquisitive look, while Ochaco pushes for answers. “Did what?”
“Do you remember how he grabbed the Omnitrix?”
“Yeah.”
“Well, he did the same thing then and…I think he got my alien powers through his Osmosis Quirk. And after the U.S.J….well you all saw what happened to him.” He became a monster. “And that was it…he didn’t come back to school and he never answered my calls…our friendship had officially come to an end.”
Nezu hops off from his pedestal and approaches the boy, placing a gentle paw to his hand. “My boy, you have my sincerest apologies for your loss. Losing a friend is never easy, especially to villainy.” Or any situation for that matter. “In any case, this does clear up a lot.” He removes his paw. “We best be careful from here on out when it comes to safeguarding the Omnitrix, and not just from Vilgax, but from Nue and others that could potentially use its power for nefarious ploys.”
Ochaco shoots out from her seat, her fists balled up and raised as she leers determinedly at her allies. “I’ll help too.” There’s no way she’s going to let Deku get attacked by some cosmic villain, at least not alone.
“Thanks.” Izuku smiles up to them , appreciating their support. “But are we sure I should be the one to have this…?”
He stares down at the alien device. Is it okay for him to be the one to wield this power? Especially if it’s capable of being used to destroy and conquer worlds? Is it okay to leave it in the hands of a child?
“Mr. Midoriya.”
Izuku snaps out of his stupor, as Nezu waits for him to calm down.
“I don’t think there is anyone else more suited to wielding the Omnitrix than you.” Nezu eyes the young man with pride. “You are a smart and capable young man, one of the finest I’ve ever met. So, believe me when I say that I don’t think there’s anyone else more suited to wield this device.” Well there may be one other person that he can think of, but they’re not here anyway so it doesn’t matter. “Besides we can’t give it to someone else even if we wanted to! Hahahaha!”
Nezu may be laughing, but Izuku’s just happy to hear that the Principal of U.A. believes in him.
All too soon the main doors open back up and One-One rolls his way into the room. ^We finished!^
^You may now sing my praises.^
Ochaco gaps at One-One as Tetrax follow close behind the robot. “That was fast!”
Tetrax helps One-One onto the table. “Your droid here is a lot more efficient than it would seem.”
Sad-One leers up at the Petrosapien. ^Don’t patronize me.^
“The jamming program is up and running.” Tetrax holds up his newly upgraded detector. “And this now has the capability to not only locate the Omnitrix but mimic its signature.”
Ochaco examines the device with intrigue. “How do we know if it worked?”
Tetrax looks to Izuku for the answer. “Let’s try it.”
Izuku smiles in understanding, excitedly he presses down the Omnitrix and is replaced with the one and only Grey Matter.
Ochaco allows the little alien to step into her open palms so she can lift him up and keep him at eye level.
Tetrax turns the signal detector towards them, with a pleased smile on his face.
Grey Matter tilts his head to the side while examining the screen. “It worked?”
Nezu is also pleased with the results. “It appears so.”
Tetrax pockets the device. “Now that this device can send out signals, Vilgax will have no way to locate your position.”
Nezu hates to bring down the mood, but he’s the type to look at things as they are. “Even so we must proceed with caution. Vilgax is a patient and calculating foe, he may very well still send his agents here to Earth.” He offers an encouraging smile to the students. “But I think we’ll be more than ready for when he does.”
“Well in any case, I think I should take my leave.”
The rag tag group of various species head on down to the hanger where a ship that neither Ochaco nor Izuku recognize sits. Apparently after making his escape from the U.S.J. Tetrax used the cloaking device of the small ship to make his escape and come here to the Plumber Base.
Before Tetrax can take off however, One-One goes ahead and begins inspecting the shuttle to ensure it’s capable of space travel.
The ship is nothing special, it’s a simple ship with the small cargo area leading into the pilot's seat. The docking hatch is the back of the shuttle, with a ramp as the means to climb aboard.
Even though it is nothing that spectacular Ochaco can’t help but admire the spacecraft. “Is this your ship?”
Tetrax knocks his knuckles against the side of the shuttle. “Um…it’s more of a rental.” His real spaceship is undergoing repairs on another planet, so he had to settle for this.
Before Ochaco or Izuku can ask what Tetrax means, One-One jumps down from atop the shuttle. ^Mr. Shiny-man your ship is fully operational!^
^We are not legally obligated to ensure your safety in the incident of the ship imploding.^
“Thank you.” Tetrax steps aboard the ramp, but not before facing the space cadets one last time. “Well it’s been quite the experience.” He holds his crystallized hand out to them both. “It’s been a pleasure to fight by your side.”
“Same.” Izuku takes and shakes the man’s hand, although he struggles to stop himself from wincing under Tetrax’s firm grip.
Ochaco bows in appreciation. “Thank you for your help.”
“You’re welcome.” He turns to leave climbing up the ramp towards the cargo duct.
“Wait!” Ochaco just remembered that there was something else she needed to ask. “You could have just walked away; you didn’t need to help us.”
Tetrax stops to hear the girl out.
“So, I guess my question is…why?”
Tetrax takes a minute to think of his response. There’s a lot he can say on the matter such as his less than spotless past and his innocent people, but there’s no need to bog down these children with those details. “I once walked away from my responsibilities… I turned my back on those that couldn’t defend themselves…after that I chose to never allow that to happen again.” That’s right, he’d rather risk his own life for those that cannot. “Before I leave I have just a few pieces of advice for each of you.”
He points to the gravity manipulator to ensure that she’s listening. “Be more decisive with your decisions and trust in yourself and those around you. Sometimes your instincts are a far greater means of decision making, don’t let fear and uncertainty hold you back. ”
Ochaco looks up at the warrior with an expression that radiates resolve. “I will.”
Tetrax nods pleased that she will take his advice seriously before he turns his attention onto the wielder of the Omnitrix. “And you…you can’t rely on the Omnitrix.”
That is not the advice Izuku was expecting. “Pardon?”
“You rely too heavily on the Omnitrix, and in doing so you risk not only your life but those around you, and the Omnitrix itself.” He pounds his fist over his chest. “You have a warrior’s heart and a strategic mind, being able to fight without the Omnitrix will only increase your own capabilities in a fight.”
Izuku considers the advice and comes to the conclusion that Tetrax knows what he’s talking about. He thinks back to how earlier that day how the others kept him back from the fight. Because in truth there was nothing he could do at the time, not with the Omnitrix out of commission. He needs a way to fight when the Omnitrix’s aliens aren’t accessible to him. But how? Maybe he should look into some kind of support gear or weapon? But what?
With nothing else to say Tetrax boards his ship, until he decides on one last thing. “One more thing.” He grabs a dark flat disk from his belt before tossing down to Izuku.
The disk flops between Izuku’s hands before he finally catches it. Upon being caught the disk expands and shoots outward, the sudden movement surprises Izuku so much that he drops it. But the device doesn’t fall to the ground instead it hovers just above the floor.
Izuku grins excitedly as he examines his brand-new support item. “A hoverboard?!”
The hoverboard is a rectangular shape with a light green base and a strange green alien insignia inscribed on it.
Ochaco awes at the device as Izuku picks it up and continues to examine it.
Tetrax finds their expression rather amusing, if only they knew how common this technology truly is in the galaxies. “I think you’ll have more use for that than me.” Besides he could always get another one.
Izuku presses down on the side of the hoverboard and it shrinks back down into its original disc form. “So, cool!”
“Aw, no fair! Don’t I get one?” Ochaco’s cheeks puff out as she grumbles about the unfairness of the situation.
That complaint honestly takes Tetrax by surprise. “What? Can’t you already fly?”
Ochaco blinks in bewilderment “Excuse me?”
“You manipulate gravity, don’t you? I figured you would use the ability to fly.”
Ochaco’s eyes light up. Holy shit! That’s true isn’t it?! Why didn’t she think of it before?! Well now all she needs to do is figure out how to do it. Look out Deku, you’re not going to be the only one ruling the skies!
While Ochaco revels in her new found realization, Nezu takes the chance to address their new friend. “Mr. Shard, thank you for everything. You protected my students and now you’re giving yourself up to the wolves.” Nezu bows, his back at a perfectly 90-degree angle. “I thank you for your service, and I can guarantee that you will receive all cooperation from the Plumbers.” He salutes as a way to honor his promise.
Tetrax offers a salute of his own, accepting the kind offer. He gives the students one last look of expectancy and with a curt nod he enters into his shuttle just as the ramp rises and closes up the interior of the spaceship.
Izuku and Ochaco watch on as the shuttle roars to life and wind gushes out from its engines as the shuttle begins to float up and into the air, from above a hatch opens up revealing the bright blue sky above. The ship slowly rises out through the narrow tunnel, it’s cloaking device activates turning the entire ship invisible, the only sign that it’s left the tunnel is how the leaves and the branches of the trees above whip around. And with a loud boom like that of a jet the trees fall silent as Tetrax begins to ascend to the planet’s upper atmosphere.
The students watch on as the trees finally settle and the passage begins to seal itself back up and then they are left alone in their thoughts. Thoughts on what their possible futures hold for them now, and the hope that this plan will work out in their favor.
But Nezu has another concern, one that falls upon the responsibilities as a principle rather than a Plumber. ‘Our students have gone through so much on their own… But I fear for how the public will view this incident. We need to assure the people of Japan that there is nothing to fear, that this was a temporary lapse in preparedness.’ Hopefully an opportunity to show how well the school is actually conducting itself will be upon them soon.
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A humanoid drone addresses the commander of his ship. “Master, we’ve detected Tetrax Shard’s ship exiting the planet’s atmosphere.”
The commander or rather Vilgax, the destroyer of worlds smiles from underneath his breathing apparatus. ‘I knew I could rely on him. He was so willing to betray his own people; I knew he’d be perfect to complete this mission. And soon I will have the Omnitrix in my grasp.’
Another drone rushes up to its master’s healing pod. “Master! Tetrax Shard is not trying to board our ship, instead he’s activated his hyperdrive!”
“What?!”
A third drone wheels around from its post. “Master, we’ve detected the Omnitrix and the signal is coming from abroad Tetrax Shard’s ship!”
“It cannot be?!” But then again. “Prepare to intercept him!!” They must intercept his ship before it can escape.
“It is too late, he just entered hyperspace.” With one last beep of the drone’s monitor, it confirms that Tetrax has left the solar system.
Vilgax roars out in anger, if only he wasn’t restrained to this accursed pod, he would be thrashing about smashing away his useless minions. “Rahhh!!” That traitor, Tetrax, will not outrun him so easily! He will hunt him down and take what is rightfully his. “Quickly we must pursue him!!”
“We cannot, the ship’s main reactor is still undergoing repairs.” Even though they’ve been working on the ship for months it’s difficult doing repairs when they cannot return to their own planet and instead have to resort to sneaking in shipments of supplies and material.
Vilgax is seething with rage. How dare that insulate bug defy him?! “If we cannot pursue him, then we will send another after him. Someone who will not give up his Hunt or betray me.” Yes, he will hire someone that will not give up a hunt, someone who will honor their allegiance, someone who will hunt Tetrax to the very edges of the universe if they must.
Then again…his well-toned and experienced instincts are betraying his rage. Perhaps Tetrax doesn’t mean to escape with the Omnitrix but lead him and his army away from it. Perhaps the Omnitrix is still on the planet?
Either way he cannot pursue Tetrax without a properly functioning ship, so he is stuck here for the time being. With only the Earth’s various media outlets to occupy his time. Admittedly he’s become rather fascinated with this planet, just how does a population of lesser lifeforms evolve so spontaneously with powers that could rival his own strength? Not like that fact scares him in any way…in fact it only serves to intrigue him further. Perhaps this planet will prove to be a worthy challenge, and a fine addition to his grand empire.
A news article projects itself onto the surface of the healing pod. Vilgax examines the article and its headline; “U.A. Attacked by the League of Villains”.
Vilgax rereads the header, it looks like things are getting even more interesting.
Notes:
You were warned, it was a bit of a boring chapter. But it was a necessary one in my opinion and I hope you all feel the same way. The next few chapters will be similarly the same, but I will try to add a few more action scenes here and there when I can. Anyway I’ll see you all next time.
*For full disclosure, Nue will remain in his mutated form moving forward.
*I know some of you wanted All Might to tell Izuku about One For All, but I want to hold off on that for now.
*If you don’t know, One-One is a character form the “Infinity Train” series. Go check it out it is well worth it.
*Izuku’s new hoverboard is the X321 model. Or the original version of Ben Ten’s hoverboard.
*As for Izuku’s and Ochaco’s future support items, I already have ideas on what I want to give them and how they get them. Hopefully the next chapter will continue to see this go through.
*Also I’m going to say this because I know a lot of you are going to ask, but Vilgax is going to hire the greatest huntsman in the galaxy to go after Tetrax.
*Speaking of Tetrax we will not be seeing him for a while. Keep in mind that I took a lot of inspiration from the Ben Ten series so I’m treating Tetrax the same way. He will eventually return every now and then, but I would not expect him back any time soon.
*Also for disclosure we won’t be starting the Sports Festival Arc for another 2-3 chapters mainly because there’s a few more things I want to address and add in one chapter for fun before we get to the Sports Festival.
Chapter 19: Prepare Youselves
Summary:
Class 1-A are finally informed about their next big challenge.
Notes:
Hey, everyone! I know right? I was really able to get this chapter out, quickly wasn’t I? To be fair this chapter is heavily inspired by the manga/anime, so it was a bit easier to craft. But I still hope you can take something away from it. Enjoy.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
The tiny TV set is on, its bright screen providing just enough light to brighten the small room. There’s nothing much to the room other than a small coffee table, and couch. “Up next an update on yesterday’s incident at the U.A. rescue training center where hero course students were attacked by a gang of villains.” The newscaster checks over her notes. “According to police officials the criminal forces called themselves ‘the League of Villains.’ Investigators have reportedly uncovered that this group has been plotting to kill U.A. teacher and popular hero, All Might, since the spring of this year. Police arrested 72 villains at the scene, but the League’s leader escaped. His whereabouts are unknown.”
The news continues with its coverage, as the light of the TV illuminates the contents of the room. But what stands out amongst the clutter is a single hand written letter laid out onto the table.
<Greetings.
The air is warm here, it feels like summer is just around the corner. I hope this letter finds you well, sir. In good health and even better spirits. This semester I took a position as a teacher at U.A. High School. Heh, that’s right. I’m now guiding the next generation of heroes. I was hoping to find someone worthy of inheriting my power among the elite students at the school. A hero-in-training with outstanding test scores and a powerful Quirk.
However, before I ever began my tenure at U.A., I met a young woman. Even though she was weak and had a less than combative Quirk, she’s shown me incredible bravery and fortitude. She was even able to save herself from a dangerous situation that caused pro heroes, including myself, to hesitate. She managed to save her own life in the process and apprehend a dangerous villain all on her own. She may not have had a proper plan when she acted, but she knew she had to do something.
I feel like watching her spring into action taught me something that day. It reminded me of the virtues I must embody in order to call myself a pro…a hero. That’s why…I meant it when I said to her: that she can become a great hero. I told this pupil the secret of my Quirk and proposed that I transfer it to her. This ability I have that’s been passed on from person to person, cultivated, and made stronger. The crystallization of power that binds itself to a courageous heart for the good of those in need, One For All. She accepted my power and I began training her for the trials she’d need to overcome in order to be accepted into the hero course at U.A. High School. Even though she sometimes struggles with her newfound abilities. She never stopped trying, giving it 100 percent, and somehow pulling away in victory and harnessing One For All.
I don’t like to toot my own horn, but I believe I found the perfect person to pass my Quirk on to. She has shown me time and again that she has what it takes to be a real hero. I’m still quite new to the role of instructor. The day may come when I must trouble you my old teacher for advice. I’ll be counting on your wisdom and patience when that time comes. Until then please take care of yourself as the seasons begin to change. I’ll continue to keep you updated about what’s happening especially in light of these current events.
Sincerely yours,
Toshinori Yagi>
A lone figure hobbles his way into the room before spotting the very letter that was sent to them. “So, Toshinori has found a worthy successor.” Good, this should make things more fun.
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“Our investigators are trying to learn everything they can about this so-called ‘League of Villains.’” Naomasa Tsukauchi reads off his papers making sure he doesn’t miss a piece of information. “We’ve made some progress, but we can’t find anything on this Tomura Shigaraki so far.”
It’s rather late in the day when Detective Tsukauchi begins his report with several members of the U.A. Staff in the school’s very own Conference Room, not all of them could be there mainly because after a few days of extensive investigations the students will be returning to class soon enough.
Detective Tsukauchi addresses the pro heroes in attendance. “We’ve searched our records for men in their twenties who are registered as having some sort of disintegration Quirk, but so far we’ve come up empty. Same for the Warp Gate villain Kurogiri. So they’re not citizens or they’re using aliases. Hard to find either way.” He checks over his notes real quick. “The same can be said for the intruder known as Tetrax Shard.”
Each of the staff members comb through their own piles of sheets, scanning them for details. Since none of them were really there for a majority of the action they only have brief moments of video tapes, the little info they could get out of the captured villains, and the statements of the students themselves. But out of the said statements, the best ones they can seem to rely on are those that participated in the final battle as well as Iida’s and Asui’s.
Snipe drops his papers onto the conference table. “So what you’re saying is that we know next to nothing… I reckon we oughta learn fast or the leader of these varmints, Shigaraki, decides to have another go. What a pain.”
Yagi Toshinori scoffs. “Leader, huh…”
From the seat beside him, Principal Nezu peers up at the weakened All Might with intrigue. “Something on your mind, All Might?”
“It's just that nothing about this feels normal, the attack was too bold. It was such a daring attack, and not just in the meticulous planning, but no sane adult would ever attempt it.” Toshinori browses the statements before coming upon the sections where the students discussed Shigaraki. “And according to these notes, although he didn’t say anything particular about his own Quirk, he was shooting his mouth off, bragging about that guy Nomu’s Quirk…Quirks.” He corrects. “And when things didn’t go his way? He started throwing tantrums.”
Toshinori cups his chin. “Well…the bit about Nomu having two Quirks could have been a way to provoke the students…” Not like it did any good in the end all things considered.
Principal Nezu has something to add. “Even so, it seems counterproductive and utterly foolish in a battle to reveal one’s Quirks and waste the element of surprise.”
And that is exactly what Toshinori’s trying to get at. “Bragging about the toy he brought along. The poor lack of planning. And simple-mindedly thinking everything would go his way. If we think about how the attack was carried out, it seems clear that this Shigaraki character couldn't quite hide his childish nature. That sense that he does whatever he wants… He’s a man-child.”
Vlad King huffs in response to the statement. “A child with incredible power though.”
Vlad King is a very tall man with a muscular build. He has short pale gray hair; he has a wide mouth with two prominent lower canines. His hero costume consists of a dark red skin-tight suit with a very low u-shaped collar. He wears white over-the-knee boots and thick vambraces over his lower arms, a thin wire snaking from one of the two small protrusions on the left one to the back of his neck, red gloves, and he wears an orange mask over his eyes.
Midnight tries to offer up a reason. “Maybe he never received General Quirk Counseling in elementary school…”
Vlad King is quick to brush it off. “So?! What does that matter anyway?!”
Tsukauchi interjects, with the intention of clearing some things up. “We apprehended a total of 72 villains and 23 mutated animals, not to mention Nomu.” But this is the real kicker. “They were all just back-alley thugs, but… What worries me is that this “man-child” got them all to follow his crazy plan. They viewed him as a real leader.”
Now that is a real puzzler. And with it the detective has the heroes’ undivided attention.
“Nowadays, our society is saturated with heroes. So maybe small-time villains like them, who always get kicked around are drawn in by that sort of pure, simple-minded villainy.”
Toshinori can’t help but think how there are in fact many individuals out there in the world that can’t resist the urge to use their powers. And that often results in many individuals turning to villainy.
Vlad King huffs. “Guess that makes sense.”
Snipe leans back in his seat. “There are plenty a’ people out there lookin’ for a cause to get behind.”
Midnight’s gaze falls to the files in her hands. “So, what do we do to stop them?”
Tsukauchi looks over his notes. “Well thanks to you heroes…thanks to your students, we can focus on our investigation. We’ll expand our search and devote our efforts to apprehending the perpetrators.”
Nezu loses himself to his thoughts. “A man-child, huh…?” His little musing draws in everyone else’s attention. “In some ways, he shares common ground with our students. They both have so much potential.” Nobody likes what the principal is getting at. “And like our students, I suppose it is possible, someone is guiding him trying to nurture his malice and villainy.”
Toshinori sighs, not liking that though one bit. “I don’t wanna think about what that could mean…”
The other staff members feel similarly. What Principal Nezu is implying is a rather hard pill to swallow; basically in other circumstances, their own students could have very well been led onto the same path of evil.
With a shake of his head, Vlad King goes through a section of the files, and something else peeks his interest. “He’s not the only one that could have turned out differently, now is he?”
Tsukauchi looks over and notices which file has Vlad King’s intrigue. “I believe you are referring to the villain known as Nue, or rather Henzu Uuichi. Unlike the other two we actually have quite a bit on this one.” Tsukauchi flips through notes before locating his own notes of the villain. “Abused at a young age, he ended up in the foster care system, after that he began building a record of various offenses from minor to incriminating even ending up in juvie a few times. Apparently, his Quirk is called Osmosis it’s apparently an Emitter type that allows him to absorb matter of nonliving things and fuse it to his body.”
Midnight raises an eyebrow. “Osmosis?” That can’t be right, they all saw the video tapes, and that Nue guy clearly had some other kind of Quirk. “Then how do you explain how he was transforming much like Midoriya?”
It’s hard not to notice a child with the capability to access multiple types of powers. Heck this isn’t even the first time Midnight has seen people with Quirks that allow them to stockpile other people’s Quirks. But from what she’s hearing, this Osmosis Quirk can’t possibly do that.
Tsukauchi has an answer for her. “Well, for full disclosure. Izuku Midoriya, and by extension Katsuki Bakugou and Ochaco Uraraka, have a bit of history with the villain in question.”
The heroes all sit up a little straighter in response to the news, although All Might and Nezu are the exceptions since they were already aware of this.
Vlad King growls. “Are you saying they’re all friends with this punk?!”
“No, nothing like that. The only one that seemed to have a good relationship with Uuichi was Midoriya but according to the young man their friendship broke apart about a year ago.”
Snipe presses his finger against his papers. “That still doesn’t explain why their abilities are so similar.”
“We have a working theory, courtesy of Mr. Midoriya.” The detective tries to recall what Izuku had brought up the other day. “From what we were told, Mr. Midoriya’s support item is somewhat directly connected to his Quirk. At some point Uuichi tried to take the item while using his Osmosis, and as a result he accidentally absorbed Midoriya’s Quirk, One Man Army.”
All Might’s brow furrows in response, that can’t be right. There are far too many flaws with this theory, but then again, they don’t have much to go off of.
The detective picks up on Toshinori’s unconvinced expression. “However, I must disclose that this is only a working theory. I cannot deny or confirm whether any of this is true.”
Midnight leans back in her seat. “Just another question I suppose.”
Snipe holds up his papers. “What of this Tetrax fella? The one that escaped during the skirmish.”
Tsukauchi nods before replying. “We have virtually nothing to work with, he all but disappeared.”
Vlad King slams his fist against the table. “Don’t be ridiculous! There’s got to be something!”
“There isn’t…he had his face concealed the entire time, so nobody knows what he looks like. It’s also unclear what his Quirk was, we can only speculate that it was some kind of durability Quirk.” But even that’s a stretch. “We literally have no details on this intruder.” Hell they can’t even say if Tetrax Shard is the guy’s real name or an alias.
“Are you serious?! Can you at least tell us why he was there?!”
“I can.” Tsukauchi flips through his papers until he finds the ones he wants. “According to Shoto Todoroki and Ochaco Uraraka, Tetrax Shard was after Izuku Midoriya’s Omnitrix.”
Principal Nezu jolts but keeps his composure before anyone could notice.
Midnight raises an eyebrow in confusion. “I’m sorry…?”
Tsukauchi adjusts his tie before continuing. “Let me elaborate, for some unknown reason this Tetrax fellow was after Midoriya’s support item, his watch, also known as the Omnitrix.”
“Cool name.” Remarks Snipe. “But…why would a villain be after a child’s support item?”
“That…is unclear as well. Possibly to sell it on the black-market…” But like everything else, that is only a theory. For all they know, they wanted the Omnitrix because it looked cool. But whatever the reason, it must have been worth breaking into the U.S.J. to go and take it from a group of heroes. “We have already put out a country wide search for Tetrax, as well as all the villains who escaped. Hopefully we can locate them and get some answers.”
Principal Nezu cups his paws together as he sorts-through his thoughts. ‘Good thing we sent Tetrax off world, if he stayed there could have been a chance for him to be discovered… But what concerns me is that there will be more agents coming here to pursue the Omnitrix. I best make sure we are ready and prepared to defend ourselves and our secrets.’ Nezu claps his paws together to gather the other heroes’ attention. “I think it’s time for a tea break.”
Toshinori gives his superior a questioning look. “Sir?”
“The answers are not going to drop into our laps just because we want them to, and sometimes a quick tea break allows one to take a step back and look at the issue from a different angel.” He quickly checks his watch, taking note of how late it really is. “Besides we might as well take a break while we can. After all, after this meeting we have much more to discuss.” He pats the stack of folders sitting beside him, and within it are the potential plans for hosting their next school event.
Tsukauchi offers a friendly smile. “Very well Principal.”
With that, the other teachers take their leave. They either make their way to the break room where Nezu will prepare them some tea or they head on outside for some much-needed fresh air.
Before Toshinori can leave, his old friend intercepts him. “All Might.”
“Tsukauchi, is there something else I can help you with?” Toshinori steps back into the Conference Room allowing Tsukauchi a chance to seal it closed.
“More like, what I can help you with.” Tsukauchi turns and hands Toshinori a separate file.
He takes it and opens it up, and the first thing that pops out is the single photo of Izuku Midoriya but also the stack of papers within the folder.
“You found all this already?!”
Tsukauchi smirks. “What can I say? I work fast.” He gestures for them to sit down, which they promptly do. “But in any case, this is what I was able to scrounge around about our young friend.”
And it's a lot, it seems, there’s a pile of papers. “You did all this while also investigating into the League of Villains?”
“I did, in fact it wasn’t as difficult as you might think, and don’t be too excited most of the papers are his physical examinations and report cards. Although…there were some things that I found that were just…odd.”
“Like what?”
Tsukauchi reaches over and grabs a few papers from within the pile. “For one thing, Midoriya updated his Quirk Registry less than a year ago and before that he was in fact registered as Quirkless. And just to make sure I looked into his old medical records and even that confirms that he was in fact Quirkless.” Admittedly, Tsukauchi was unable to get into contact with Izuku’s original doctor, he instead had to go through several different channels to get his physical and health reports.
Toshinori slouches back into his seat as if in defeat. “He…he wasn’t lying to me then…he was Quirkless.” Izuku Midoriya was Quirkless and now he isn’t. Just how can that be? There’s only one other way someone can gain a Quirk. “Does that mean…?”
Tsukauchi understands Toshinori’s concern. “Does it mean that monster’s back? I don’t know for certain.” He pulls out another sheet. “But…this next piece might interest you too.”
“What is it?”
“I decided to keep digging into Midoriya by investigating his family.”
Instantly a rush of panic fills Toshinori’s heart with dread. “Is everything okay in his home?” Oh god, is he living in an abusive home?
Tsukauchi is quick to brush off his worry. “Nothing like that, as far as I can tell he grew up in a pretty stable home…except for one factor.” Tsukauchi’s eyes fall back to the file. “During my research I tried looking into his father…and I came up with some rather suspicious findings.”
Toshinori isn’t sure how this is at all important, but he trusts Tsukauchi. So, if he thinks it’s important then he’ll hear him out.
“His father, Hisashi Midoriya…was a student here in the U.A. hero course.”
Now that is interesting. “Really?” Toshinori can’t help but think which of his fellow heroes could be Hisashi Midoriya.
“Yes, but after receiving his hero license he just fell off the grid only appearing in a few instances here and there.” Tsukauchi cups his chin in thought. “It was almost as if he was staying away from the hero spotlight.”
“Like Eraserhead?”
“Perhaps…but unlike Eraserhead he never actually reported any situations he resolved or participated in. And the few times he did report an incident, the suspect often or not escaped…it got so bad that there was even an investigation into Hisashi Midoriya because he was accused of aided the very criminals to escape. But when they tried to keep a close eye on him, they came up empty.”
Now that is really interesting. Toshinori can’t help but feel a bit sorry for the man. Even if he graduated from such a prestigious school as U.A. there is no guarantee that every graduate will make it as a hero. So it is possible that Hisashi Midoriya had little success as a hero and possibly fell into the wrong crowd, possibly even caught up in some less than savory deals and characters.
“Do you think he was caught up in some kind of criminal activity?”
“That’s what I’m getting to.” Tsukauchi goes through and finds another sheet of notes. “Shortly after Izuku Midoriya was proclaimed Quirkless, his father basically disappeared.”
“He…walked out on him?”
“Possibly…but what I mean is…there are no more records of him in the last decade.”
Toshinori’s eyes widened in shock. “No records for an entire decade?”
“Not even a receipt, he all but disappeared.”
“Did he go missing? Is he dead?”
“I don’t think so, the Midoriya household is receiving a steady income suggesting that he is in fact supporting his family. But through what means is unclear, because whatever it is.” Tsukauchi’s gaze hardens as he meets Toshinori’s own. “It is not hero work.”
“What does this all mean?”
“I have a few ideas.” Tsukauchi puts down his notes. “Unfortunately, the sad truth of the matter is that not everybody has what it takes to become a professional hero, even if they graduated from U.A., heck some don’t even break the double digits.” The competition is far too stiff, and the fact that people can still make mistakes. For all they know Hisashi Midoriya was a gambler, fell into debt, and is now paying it back somehow. “Considering that as well as the skeptical reports, we can only assume that Hisashi Midoriya was involved in something that he didn’t want the public, police, or heroes to know about. And with the combined fact that he disappeared shortly after his own son was diagnosed as Quirkless, there’s just one theory that makes sense to me.”
And unfortunately, it’s one he rather not even consider a possibility, but under the light of everything so far, he has to consider it. “I think that shortly after graduating U.A., Hisashi Midoriya somehow got involved with him.”
Toshinori gasps holding his hand up to his mouth in an attempt to cover his shock. “But…why would he?”
“My guess, he was a failing hero and probably got involved with a dangerous crowd at the time which led him to that monster. And after his own son was declared powerless, he must have cut a deal with him to give his son a chance in life.” Even Tsukauchi knows how depressing a life is for someone that is Quirkless, as a detective he often gets cases where a Quirkless or weak-Quirked individual couldn’t take the pressure of life anymore.
Toshinori, however, is having a hard time accepting this possibility. “No…”
This cannot be right. But it just fits almost too perfectly: a failed hero, a boy suddenly gaining a powerful Quirk, a father doing what he can for his son, even if that means making a deal with the devil himself. But it fits, it all fits! Hisashi Midoriya must have come into contact with him and has been gone all this time to work off his deal so Izuku could be granted a Quirk.
But that just leaves a few more questions. “And young Midoriya…?” Is he involved somehow? Is he aware of his father’s actions?
Tsukauchi frowns, shaking his head. “Well, from what you’ve told me. Mr. Midoriya is a fine young man with the aspirations of becoming a hero, which no one can doubt after recent events.” They all saw the videos, that kid really held his own against the villains. Even if the videos couldn’t show everything. “So, my guess, may be that he actually believes that he is in fact a late bloomer and is completely oblivious to his father’s dealings.”
Toshinori hates it but he truly hopes that is the case. It would be better if young Midoriya remained unaware of all of this. No need to worry the youth while he pursues his dream, the dream that All Might himself denied the boy. But now is his chance to make things right, even if young Midoriya’s Quirk came from an unnatural means it doesn’t mean the boy cannot become a hero. And he will see to that. He will try to keep himself close to the boy, act as a fellow mentor and friend he can reach out to, to ensure he doesn’t fall to villainy like his father. He’ll protect him and his classmates from that monster.
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After a few days off from school, Class 1-A is back at U.A. and now with the threat having passed by them are back to their usual fun selves.
“You guys!” Tooru Hagakure turns to her neighbors, Mezo Shoji and Mashirao Ojiro. “Did you watch the news last night?”
Ojiro gives a quick nod. “Yeah.”
“It was so cool that we got a few seconds of screen time!” Her tone drops as she holds an invisible hand to her chest. “Though I bet nobody noticed me hanging out in the background.”
Despite the apparent disappointment in her voice, Shoji is a bit less than tactful in his response. “Probably not.”
Ojiro, shocked by Shoji’s blatant disregard for her feelings, tries to offer up his own reassurance. “I-it is difficult to stand out when you’re just gloves.” He’s probably not helping as much as he thinks he is.
A grinning Denki Kaminari leans back in his seat so he can talk to his own neighbors. “We’re totally big deals. Those news channels love us, we’re basically celebrities.”
Eijiro Kirishima is still in disbelief of it all. “Yeah, it’s kinda crazy, right?”
Kyoka Jiro is ready to brush away their delusions. “Get over yourselves. The hero course that pumps out pros was attacked, and that’s what they care about.”
Hanta Sero folds his arms and rests them onto his desk. “Who knows what woulda happened to us if the teachers hadn’t shown up.”
Minoru Mineta bursts into tears from across the room after hearing Sero’s comment. “Why’d you say that?!” He flails his arms about frantically as tears leak from his eyes. “I’m gonna pee myself just thinking about it!!”
His crying gets to one of the most anger prone students of the class. “Oh, shut up!!” Snaps Katsuki Bakugou. “Grow a pair, will ya!!”
Rikido Sato leans forward into his seat so he can talk to Fumikage Tokoyami. “Did you guys see Midoriya and the others fight that bird guy?” He thrusts his fists forward as if to reenact the fight. “That dude was super strong, and they still destroyed him!”
Tokoyami smiles while reminiscing about the U.S.J. attack. “Yes, their strength is truly a thing of wonder.”
In response to the praise, both Izuku and Ochaco’s faces blush red. Whereas Bakugou grins satisfied with the fact that his classmates have finally recognized his superior fire power. Even Kirishima smiles sheepishly in response to the praise.
Shoto Todoroki, however, is not taking the praise as well as his other teammates. Instead his gaze is cast downward towards his left arm. His gaze hardens as he clenches his left hand as he makes a silent promise to himself.
With no warning, Tenya Iida bursts into the room. “Attention! Homeroom class is about to begin!” He races to the front podium where he throws his hands out in a dramatic fashion. “Everyone stop talking and take your seats!”
The entire class falls silent as they watch their Class President make a fool of himself.
Kirishima tries his best to help his Class President. “Uh, we’re all sitting…”
Sero adds in. “Yeah. You’re the only one standing.”
Iida begrudgingly plops down into his seat with a disgruntled grimace that makes his neighbor, Koji Koda nervous. “Dang it!” He’s actually shaking in frustration for failing to properly do his job.
Ochaco tries to comfort him, but she knows he’s only upset because he’s trying to do his best. “Don’t sweat it.”
Meanwhile, Mina Ashido pushes back on her back rest, leaning back on her chair. “Hey, Tsu. So-woah!” Her seat falls back a bit but Tsuyu Asui manages to catch her and push her back up. “Who do you think’s gonna teach class today?”
Tsuyu presses a finger to her cheek. “No idea. Mr. Aizawa’s still in the hospital recovering from his injuries.”
Suddenly the classroom door scrapes open, drawing in everyone’s eyes forward.
“Morning class.” A heavily bandaged Shota Aizawa gives a muffled greeting from the doorway, his entire face is wrapped in bandages while both of his arms hang in casts over his chest.
The students cry out all at once. “Mr. Aizawa, what are you doing here?!”
Kaminari is almost appalled by the amount of resolve his teacher has. “Whoa! What a pro…”
From behind him, Kirishima is having the opposite reaction, he is in fact in awe of Aizawa’s ability to shrug off the pain.
Iida’s arm shoots up as Aizawa limps his way to the podium. “Mr. Aizawa! I’m glad you’re okay.”
Ochaco isn’t so sure about that, to her their homeroom teacher looks like a living mummy. “ You call that…okay?”
Aizawa’s muffled voice responds. “My well-being is irrelevant. What’s more important is that your fight isn’t over yet.”
Bakugou leers at their teacher. “Our fight?”
Izuku stiffens in his seat. “Don’t tell me…”
Ochaco jolts up in fear. “More villains…”
Aizawa’s red eyes leer through his bandages, and with as much seriousness as he can he finishes his statement. “The U.A. Sports Festival is about to start.”
The students burst into an outcry. “Ugh!! Why would you scare us like that?!”
Kirishima, however, bursts out of his seat in excitement. “Let’s go kick some ass!!” He’s really roaring to go.
Kaminari is quick to spring out of his own seat, he slaps Kirishima’s head pushing the red-head back down to Earth for missing an important detail. “Wait a second.”
Jiro takes the opening to air everyone’s concern. “Is it really such a good idea to hold the Sports Festival so soon after the villains snuck inside?”
Ojiro agrees. “They could attack once we’re all in the same place.”
Shoji adds in his own thoughts. “Especially considering that the leader got away scot free and they have that warp gate villain, too.”
Aizawa is somewhat glad his students realize the logical issue, but he also understands why they can’t simply cancel this event. “Apparently, the administration thinks this is a good way to show that the threat has been handled and our school is safer than ever.” He thinks back to the meeting and how adamant Principal Nezu was about this, even promising a new kind of security measure into the school grounds. Whatever that means? “Plus they’re beefing up security compared to past years.”
He eyes his students; they need to understand the real reason why the Sports Festival isn’t going to be canceled. “This event is a huge opportunity for all students at U.A. It’s not something we can cancel because of a few villains.”
Mineta, the ever-panicky runt, still isn’t sold on this. “Uh. I’m sorry, but why not? It’s just a sports festival.”
That surprises Izuku of all people, who turns in his seat to make sure Mineta understands what he’s implying. “Huh? Mineta, don’t you know how important this competition is?”
“Of course I do! I just don’t wanna get murdered.”
Aizawa decides to elaborate on the situation. “Our Sports Festival is one of the most-watched events in the entire world. In the past, everyone obsessed over the Olympic games, but then Quirks started appearing. Now, the Olympics have been drastically reduced in terms of scale and viewership. For anyone who cares about competition there’s only one tournament that matters. The U.A. Sports Festival.” Although Aizawa does think that the loud cheering crowds are more annoying than they need to be.
Momo Yaoyorozu agrees with their teacher’s statements. “That’s right. And top heroes everywhere will be watching.” She raises her clenched fist showing her determination. “This is where we get scouted.”
Mineta sweats nervously. “Sure, unless you’re dead.”
Kaminari smiles, trying to explain further. “She’s right. After graduating a lot of people join pro agencies as a sidekick.” He gives a thumbs up and his own winning smile to help elevate anyone's worries.
Jiro however is there to deflect his ambitions. “Yeah, but that’s as far as some people go. They miss their chance to go indie and stay eternal sidekicks.” She considers Kaminari for a second. “Actually, that’s probably where you’re headed. You’re kinda dumb.”
Kaminari winces feeling absolutely dejected and shamed. His face contorts itself into a nasty grimace as his sense of self-worth takes a nasty nose dive.
Aizawa continues on. “It’s true that joining a famous hero agency can garner you greater experience and popularity.” Such as joining Best Jeanist’s or Endeavor’s agencies would instantly garner anyone a place in the spotlight. “That’s why the festival matters. If you wanna go pro one day, then this event could open a path for you.”
Bakugou grins wickedly in response, he’s ready to show the world what he’s got and that he’s the best.
“One chance a year.”
Ochaco’s brow furrows as her fists clench together in anticipation.
“Three chances in a lifetime.”
Izuku grips his Omnitrix as if readying himself for a fight.
“No aspiring hero can afford to miss this festival.”
Todoroki looks somewhat bored, despite the growing anticipation in the room
“That means you better not slack off on your training.”
Class 1-A responds in tandem. “Yes, sir!”
“Class is dismissed.”
Izuku reaches for his books so he can prepare himself for English class but Aizawa isn’t exactly done yet.
“Midoriya, Ashido meet me in the hallway.” And with that their homeroom teacher limps out of the classroom.
Now that’s odd whatever could he need them for? Well there’s only one way they’ll find out so both Izuku and Mina pop out of their seats and join their teacher in the hallway.
As they exit the room, Present Mic arrives and closes the door behind them leaving the odd trio alone in the hallway.
Izuku nervously fidgets with his hands. “Is there something we can do for you Mr. Aizawa?” What reason could he have called them both out here for?
Mina seems to be just as confused. “Yeah, why’d you call us out here?”
Aizawa leans his back against the wall before responding. “We wanted to have a few words with the two of you.”
The kids tilt their heads to the side. “We?”
“Howdy!” A new voice shouts out in a friendly greeting.
Izuku and Mina immediately light up, as giant grins spread across their features. “Thirteen!”
Mina is so happy that she has tears in her eyes. “You’re alive!”
Izuku is almost shaking with relief. “I’m so glad you’re okay!” He had heard about Thirteen’s injuries and fight against the mutant serpents from the rest of the class.
But Thirteen seems fine, they’re walking around albeit slowly, but they appear to be in one piece. Even their hero costume has been fixed up.
Thirteen smiles from underneath their helmet. “Of course I’m alive. I mean why wouldn’t I be?” With a wave of their hand, they pat their chest. “All that happened to me was that my back got severed, my skin was burned with acid, and I got laced with…venom…” Their voice trails off as it finally dawns on them why everyone else was so worried. “Oh…I see why you’re all so concerned now.”
Izuku can’t take it, how could Thirteen go through all that and still be here acting like everything is perfectly fine ?! “How are you even standing?!”
“What? Oh, I’m on some really good meds, and you can’t tell but I’m practically covered in bandages under this thing.” Actually the bandages are really itchy, Thirteen’s been resisting the urge to scratch all day so far and it is a losing battle.
Mina raises an eyebrow. “Really?” Guess she’ll just have to take Thirteen’s word for it.
A thought crosses Izuku’s mind. ‘Now that I think about it…I’ve actually never seen Thirteen outside their costume…’ Oh, well that doesn’t matter right now. He’s just glad his mentor is back on their feet. “So, what was it you wanted to talk to us about?”
The space hero rubs the back of their head as if embarrassed. “I just wanted to make sure you were all okay with my own eyes.” Their gaze shifts to the pink-skinned girl. “And I wanted to let you both know I was okay.” Their eyes then trace over to Izuku. “And to let you know that I’ve been made aware of the whole situation.”
Izuku immediately gets what Thirteen’s trying to tell him. That they’ve been made aware of the situation with Tetrax Shard and the jamming program within Plumber Base. Izuku can only assume that Magister Nezu had filled the hero in at some point. ‘Overall, I’m glad that Thirteen came by to say hello and show that they're okay, but if that was the case then why didn’t they ask for Uraraka to be out here too? Unless…’ Izuku’s eyes drift towards Mina. ‘Unless they actually asked to see Mina.’ Which makes sense, even he heard how Thirteen threw themselves at a mutant monster to save her. So, of course as a hero they would want to reassure her. ‘So, then why am I here? Thirteen could have always given me a call?’ Izuku’s attention goes towards his homeroom teacher who's been silently observing from the side.
Thirteen turns their attention back on Mina. “I heard you looked after me when I was down, and that you were pretty worried about me.” They bow their head as best they can despite the injuries. “You have my thanks.”
Mina sniffs. “N-no…t-thank you *sniff* Thirteen.” She wipes her palms against her face to cover up the leaking tears, for the last few days she’s been secretly bottling up her feeling of worry and grief especially after what had happened. She had witnessed her teacher throw their life on the line just to save her, that’s something that isn’t so easily forgotten or shrugged off.
Despite the tears of relief pricking her eyes, Mina manages a smile. “I’m *sniff* just super glad you’re okay.” She wipes her nose and tries to give her best cheerful grin. “And back on your feet!”
Thirteen chuckles at her sudden enthusiasm. “What can I say? It’ll take a lot more than this to keep me down.” Thirteen's smile stiffens from underneath their helmet. ‘Besides I have a promise to uphold. So, I can’t afford to let some injuries stop me from seeing it through.’
Aizawa is beginning to get a bit impatient, probably because he wants to lie down and take a nap somewhere, or maybe it’s the fact that Present Mic’s voice is so loud that he can hear him through the walls and it’s beginning to give him a migraine. “Thirteen, I know you wanted to reassure them, but they still need to get to class.”
“Of course, I won’t hold you up.” The space hero turns back to the students. “If you two need anything just let me know.”
Izuku gives the hero a curt nod. “Right.”
Mina gives the hero a big thumbs up. “You got it!”
Thirteen smiles and offers a friendly wave as they begin to head back. “Good luck in the Sports Festival by the way. I’m sure you’ll both do great.”
Mina grins proudly, standing tall with her hands at her sides. “You bet we will!”
Izuku smiles sheepishly with a soft chuckle, he’s not that confident to join in with Mina’s proclamation.
Aizawa cuts into the moment. “Ashido, head on back to class, I need to have a few words with Midoriya.”
“Sure!” Mina waves as she skips back to class. “See ya, Midoriya. And good luck!”
“Why would you say that?!” Izuku calls after her but she just slams the class door closed leaving him alone with their less than sympathetic teacher.
Aizawa pushes himself off the wall so he can stand directly in front of the boy. “Midoriya.”
“W-what is it sir?”
The hero’s piercing red eyes peek out through his bandages, making him look like a malicious mummy that’s ready to put a curse on him. ““If I wasn’t injured, I’d be strangling you with my scarf right now.”
Izuku is rightfully startled by the declaration, and a part of him truly believes that his teacher would not hesitate to do so. “W-what f-for?!”
“I heard what you did at the U.S.J., you fought that Nue villain all on your own.”
Oh, yeah, he did do that. Didn’t he?
“I was made aware that you know this Nue guy and that the villains baited you into a fight.”
Izuku gulps, he really hopes Mr. Aizawa isn’t going to go digging for answers on how he knows Henzu.
“I’m not going to pry into your past but understand this.” His piercing glare somehow became seven times more intense and serious. “What you did was probably the rashest and most suicidal thing you could have done.”
Okay, Izuku really wasn’t expecting that as a response. But truthfully, he probably should have seen it coming.
“If the others hadn’t arrived in time to save you, you’d have been dead and so could have Asui and Iida. You not only put your life on the line but theirs too.” There is no way Aizawa is going to sugarcoat this, this boy needs to understand how close to death he really was. “As a hero, we risk our lives day in and day out, but we cannot act recklessly and without a proper plan otherwise we risk the lives of those around us and our comrades. Do you understand that?”
He does. Izuku understands that what he did was far from the smartest decision he could have made. Heck, if he really wanted to save his friends and Aizawa then XLR8 would have been more than fast enough to get them all out of there and get help. Hell, he could have used XLR8 from the beginning to go get help!! But…he didn’t. He messed up and tried to be the hero… And if he failed…his friends’ lives could have been lost.
”Y…yes, sir…”
Aizawa can tell that the boy has taken his words to heart, which is a good thing that means they don’t have to waste any more time on the issue. “Good.” The hero turns so he can leave. “One last thing.”
Izuku stands a bit straighter, wondering if he’s going to get scolded for some other reason.
“Thank you, for saving my life.” And with that, Aizawa begins to limp away so he can take a nap.
Izuku is at first surprised, but he can’t help but smile. During the scolding, he had forgotten that he did in fact save Eraserhead from Nomu’s clutches. Even though what he did was reckless he did save Mr. Aizawa’s life, and that’s something to be proud of. Even so he’ll make sure not to be so stupidly reckless in the future… Okay, he’ll at least try not to. Because a part of him feels like there’s no conceivable way that he can uphold that promise.
Aizawa doesn't make it that far before adding in one last bit of information. “Oh, before I forget. You need to come up with a speech.”
“Pardon?”
“You scored as number one in the Entrance Exam, and its school tradition that the number one spot gives the student pledge during the Sports Festival.” He turns and finally takes his leave. “Try not to embarrass yourself while on stage and in front of millions of viewers.”
If he could see the boy’s face, there’s no doubt he’d break into a fit of laughter. Izuku is in a complete disarray of nervousness, he had totally forgotten that that is a rule here at U.A. And with all the excitement he failed to remember that he did in fact score the highest and thus the speech will be left to him. Just him talking into a microphone, while his face is being broadcasted across the entire world… Sure no big deal? He can handle that… Right?
Aizawa turns the corner officially leaving Izuku alone to stir in his own trepidations. ‘You’re a very capable kid, but if you can’t learn self-preservation it will only end in tragedy for not just you, but for those you leave behind…’ Aizawa for one understands how hard it is to lose someone like that, to lose someone you care about for making reckless mistakes and hesitating when you need to step up. Hopefully, this boy can succeed where he had failed to learn that lesson too late.
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As the lunch bell rings, Cementoss exits Class 1-A so he can enjoy his own lunch while the students break off into individual groups so they can chat.
Kirishima gives his classmates a wide grin. “That villain stuff sucked sure, but I’m pumped for these games!”
Sero bumps the thrilled lad with his elbow. “We put on a good show, and we’re basically on the road to bein’ pros!”
Sato smirks from his seat. “Yeah, this is why I’m even here in the first place.” He slams his fist into his palm to exaggerate his point.
Tokoyami nods while perches atop a nearby desk. “We get so few chances. We have to make the most of this.”
At the front of the room, Hagakure excitedly bounces off the balls of her feet. “Oh man, Ojiro. I’m getting kind of nervous about the festival. I have to come up with a way to get noticed!”
Ojiro offers up a kind, but sheepish smile. “Uh, sure.”
“Maybe with a cheer!” Hagakure begins to create a cheer while Ojiro comments.
“Maybe you should be looking at a shinier costume or something? Otherwise you’re gonna have to try really hard.”
Yuga Aoyama smirks while twirling around the front of the room. “My what’s a boy to do? I stand out even when I’m standing still. That means the scouts won’t be able to take their eyes off me!” He spins around in dazzling fashion holding out his hand towards the Koda.
In response, Koda steps back in fright of the overbearing classmate.
Aoyama leans in a little too close for Koda’s comfort. “Don’t you agree?”
Koda frantically nods his head, not because he agrees, but so Aoyama would leave him alone a lot quicker.
Kaminari takes a seat upon Shoji’s desk while Jiro and Yaoyorozu join in on their conversation. “You’re so lucky, Shoji. People are bound to notice your unique Quirk.”
Shoji isn’t so sure. “Sure, but what matters is that I show them how useful I can be.”
Jiro releases a small chuckle, before pointing a finger at Kaminari “No doubt you’ll make a scene, too.” She remembers how dumb Kaminari gets when he uses his electricity too much and fries his brain.
Kaminari on the other hand doesn’t find it at all amusing. Instead he growls at her in annoyance.
In the meantime, Izuku is observing how everyone is trying to get themselves psyched up for the Sports Festival. “This is gonna be nuts! Everyone’s so excited.”
Iida springs out of his seat. “Well, yeah, of course we are. We enrolled at this school with the sole aim to become heroes.” He throws his arms at the side while pumping his fists rather slowly up and down and swaying from side to side in an attempt to look like he’s excited. “So, naturally we’re all getting fired up.”
Mina and Tsuyu find his actions rather amusing. “Wow, Iida. Those are some interesting moves. Kero.”
Iida ignores her, but thankfully he stops whatever it was he was doing. “You have to be excited, too, right, Midoriya?”
“Well, yeah, of course I am.” Izuku’s shoulders droop for a moment. “And also nervous.”
“Deku! Iida!
The two boys in question turn to face their friend Ochaco, but what they see is something totally unexpected.
Ochaco’s entire demeanor is so much more intense than it usually is with a dark intense aura emanating around her, a dark scary grin is plastered onto her face. It’s so maniacal that it could rival Bakugou’s own wicked smile. “Let’s do our best in the Sports Festival.” It comes off more as an order than a friendly suggestion.
Izuku and Iida are both taken back by her out-of-character demeanor. “U-Uraraka, w-what happened to your face?!”
And they’re not the only ones, as Mina pops herself into the discussion too. “Seriously, what's up? You’re normally, way more laid back than this.”
Perhaps she’s just excited…but this is too intense for mere excitement.
Ochaco stomps her foot to the side while shooting her fist into the air. Her shining glare pierces through her group of friends. “EVERYONE!!! I’M GONNA DO MY BEST!!!”
“Yeah!!” Iida and Midoriya mimic her stance as do Mina and Tsuyu.
Ochaco reels around to face the rest of the class who didn’t participate. “I SAID I’M GONNA DO MY BEST!!!”
However, instead of getting the other groups involved she instead shouted right into the face of one annoyed Katsuki Bakugou.
“Shut up will ya!! Nobody wants to hear your pathetic promises!!”
Ochaco is incredibly offended. “Pathetic?! The only pathetic one is you!!”
“What did you say?!”
As the two are drawn into a shouting match, the rest of the class watch on in a combination of interest and concern.
Sero frowns at the sight. “Is she okay?”
Kirishima shakes his head. “I don’t know… She kinda looks like she’s losing it.”
In a desperate attempt to break up the fight, Izuku grabs Ochaco’s shoulders and tries to pull her away before punches, or explosions, are thrown. “Sorry, Bakugou, she's just really excited.”
Without looking, both of the hot-heads turn on the cinnamon roll. “Shut it, Deku!!”
“S-so, mean!” Izuku whines. “Fine, well I’m heading to the Support Course.”
Iida questions him before he can leave. “The Support Course? Whatever for?”
“Oh, I wanted to talk to them and see if they’d fix my hoodie.” Izuku holds up his torn hoodie, the very same one that Ochaco gave to him.
As if on cue, Ochaco reels around so fast that it takes a minute for Bakugou to realize that she’s ditched their match. “I’ll go with you!” She states all too innocently as if a second ago she wasn’t yelling her head off.
The entire class has the same thought in response to her sudden change in attitude. ‘What a 180!’
A sweatdrop forms on Izuku’s head. “Um, sure. I don’t see why not.”
The two make their way for the exit leaving behind an annoyed Bakugou who’s grinding his teeth together in frustration.
The rest of the class follow their example and head on out for lunch, from his desk Todoroki eyes the doorway where Izuku and Ochaco just disappeared from.
Izuku holds his hoodie a little closer as they move. “So, why do you need to go to the Support Course?”
Ochaco digs into her pocket until she pulls out a folded piece of paper. “I wanted to talk to Mr. Power Loader about this.” She hands the paper to Izuku.
He unfolds it and examines the drawing and notes she’s jotted down on it. “Is this?”
“Yup, my design for a support item. I got the idea after what Tetrax said, so I brainstormed some ideas, and this was the best one.” And she’s rather proud of it, it took her hours to come up with a cool design.
The design is a not so simple one. Basically it’s a drawing of her in an awesome in her very own over the top battle suit. With lasers, missiles, and rockets she can fly around all she likes. She figures that with her Zero-Gravity she could make the armor weightless and thus moving it around wouldn’t be that much of an issue.
Pretty soon the two of them are nearing the Support Course’s Development Studio, they can already see the doorway up ahead.
As they approach, they can almost hear muffled shouts coming from within the room. It sounds like someone is shouting about shutting something down and quickly, followed by a lot of bangs and crashes of metal against something.
The two stop just a few feet from the door, they both eye the door wary unsure if they want to get involved with whatever’s happening within.
Ochaco doesn’t remove her eyes from the door in case something bursts out. “Wh-what do you think is happening?”
“Don’t know…maybe an experiment gone wrong?” His mind reels back to when one of the Megawatts took over a robot. “Maybe it’s a robot going out of control…”
“No way. Why would someone have something so dangerous in a school building?”
Suddenly, something big and fast crashes through the Development Studio door smashing it to bits as the sounds of wheels screeching against the tile pierces their ears. “Target sighted! Preparing to eliminate!”
Ochaco and Izuku are taken back by the sudden appearance of what appears to be a villain bot, the very same one used in the Entrance Exam and if they recall correctly it appears to be a 1-Point villain.
The 1-Point bot’s tires spin before it races forward. “Prepare to be eliminated!”
The bot swings its large metallic arm forward.
As if on instinct, Ochaco and Izuku jump back just in time to avoid getting their heads smashed in. Out of reflex Izuku activates the Omnitrix and disappears behind a veil of green light. As he transforms Ochaco quickly presses her hands against the robot’s arm making it weightless.
“Die!” The bot takes another swing at her, but she ducks down just as the robot begins to float upward.
Acting quickly, she slams her palm upward propelling the robot up and away from them both. The bot glares down and aims it’s gatling gun at her, but a slender black tendril wraps around its arm and redirects it.
“I don’t think so.” Feedback’s other tendril and tail lash out, his plugs pierce through the bot’s metallic exterior and the bot’s battery is drained away in mere seconds.
With the danger gone Ochaco releases her Zero-Gravity and the bot comes crashing down onto the tile floor, and the students allow themselves to relax taking deep breaths to slow their racing hearts.
An angry Power Loader steps out of the room as he shouts back at someone else within it. “Dammit, Hatsume!! Look at what you’ve done!!”
A rather feminine yet maniacal laugh rings out. “Hahaha, it’s all in the name of progress!”
“Progress!! What progress!! I told you to leave that thing alone!! You’re only making more work for me!!” Power Loader sighs before turning his attention on the Hero Course students.
Power Loader is a short, skinny man. He has spiky ginger hair, his hands appear to be the largest part of his body, disproportionate to his rather small frame, and, due to his Quirk, he has an orange L-shaped piece at the end of each finger. His hero costume consists of a large yellow helmet in the shape of a rectangular excavator claw. He’s shirtless while also wearing a pair of large, fingerless gray gloves with metal guards that extend down his arms, as well as a pair of plain cyan pants.
“I am so sorry about that; we had a bit of a malfunction.” He turns back to the room. “And it wasn’t the robot that was malfunctioning!!”
“Hahaha!”
He sighs before continuing. “Anyway, thank you for handling the situation. You two must be in the Hero Course, is that correct?”
Feedback blinks in confusion, wondering who the hero was yelling at, but with a shake of his head he forms a reply. “We are, sir.”
“Figured, the way you two reacted I can tell you’re from Class 1-A. Am I right?”
Ochaco nods. “You are.”
“Knew it, I heard about how well you guys fought off the villains.” His eyes drift over to the depowered robot. “And judging from what I just saw I can tell that the two of you are going to be worth keeping an eye on.”
The two teens smile in appreciation. And it’s true, they really did take out the robot rather efficiently. Perhaps they’ve just grown that much or…perhaps they’ve learned to not hesitate in such situations anymore. The same could probably be said for their classmates, too. All in all the Sports Festival is really going to be something.
Power Loader gestures for them to step inside, they happily oblige since they are here to see him.
The Development Studio is a complete mess with overturned tables and chairs, papers scattered across the floor, and a few broken and smashed up pieces of machines and metal lying about here and there.
There’s someone else in the room too. And it appears to be a girl around their own age with salmon-pink hair styled into thick dreadlocks. She has her back to them as she’s too busy working on some other machine with a welding torch.
Power Loader scowls at the sight of the girl. “Are you seriously working on something else already?! Shouldn’t you be cleaning up this mess?! Which by the way you caused!!”
The girl simply laughs off Power Loader’s scolding. “No time! With the Sports Festival soon on the way, I need to be ready to show off my super cute babies!”
Feedback and Ochaco blink in confusion. ‘Babies?’
Power Loader sighs in frustration, but ultimately let’s it go for now so he can attend to students who aren’t as destructive and overbearing. “So, what can I help you with?”
Feedback is happy to answer. “We wanted to get some support items.”
Ochaco holds up her design a little higher as she nods her head in excitement. “Right, my name is Ochaco Uraraka and my Quirk is Zero-Gravity so I was hoping I could get an item that-”
In a blink of an eye, a swift hand snatches her design right from her fingers.
The pink-haired girl looks over Ochaco’s design with a grin that should be on a mad scientist. “Why of course! I’d be happy to make them for you!”
“Hatsume!! I never agreed to this!!” Power Loader roars.
“Not yet you haven’t!” She states all too happily like she doesn't fear any repercussions. She smiles up at the Hero Course students so they can get a proper look at her. “The name’s Mei Hatsume, inventor extraordinaire and your future supplier for gear and other support items!”
“They haven’t agreed to anything either!!”
Mei Hatsume is a reasonably short girl with quite a mature build. She has salmon pink hair, which is shoulder-length, and styled into thick dreadlocks. Her eyes are wide, and their irises are yellow in color with a cross-aim in the center, making them look somewhat like scope lenses.
Hatsume ignores her teacher’s scolding, before leaning in uncomfortably close to Ochaco’s own face. “Either way I’d be more than happy to help you by making you one of my glorious babies!”
A light blush forms on Ochaco’s face. “B-babies…?”
“You betcha!” Hatsume finally backs off allowing Ochaco a chance to calm her nerves. “Although your design is absolute trash.” She unceremoniously crumbles the paper up before tossing it aside like regular trash and not something Ochaco had spent hours working on.
The gravity-wielder's jaw drops open in astonishment of the brutal honesty of the girl.
Power Loader picks up and unfolds the sheet so he can have a look. “Hm, she’s actually right. Although you have the right idea, this design will only hinder your maneuverability.” And considering how her Quirk works it will also hold her back in a fight.
Hatsume grins, holding a hand to her chest as if giving a grand speech. “That’s right, which is why I will oversee its production!”
“You will do no such thing!!” Power Loader snaps. “Did you forget how you made that Villain Robot go berserk?! I told you to leave it alone, but the moment I turn away you’re playing around with it!!”
“Hahaha, that’s okay! I was just trying to improve it.”
Power Loader grabs at his head, trying to prevent himself from outright attacking this stupid girl. “You know what…go ahead. Maybe it’ll keep you distracted for a while”
“Hooray!!” Hatsume immediately runs back to her work station where she shoves away her previous work and begins grabbing every sheet of paper so she can come up with her own design.
Meanwhile, Ochaco and Feedback have been watching on while at a complete loss for words. ‘What just happened?’
Ochaco shyly presses her fingers together. “So, if that’s all. I guess I’ll be heading off to lunch.”
“You might as well.” Power Loader agrees. “And don’t you worry bout a thing, we should have this item good and ready by the end of the Sports Festival.”
“Thank you.” Ochaco bows, before turning to her friend. “I’ll see you later, alright?”
Feedback smiles down at her. “That’s fine. I still need to put my order in, too.”
If he was paying attention, he would have noticed Hatsume jolting up in excitement.
Ochaco waves back at them as she walks away in haste just in case that Hatsume girl causes anymore issues.
Power Loader looks up at the much taller being. “So, what is that you need?”
Feedback turns to him and grins excitedly as he grips his hoodie. Hopefully, he too will get the exact upgrade he needs to perform as a hero.
Meanwhile, Ochaco has finally made it down the hallway and as such is now a safe distance away from the Development Studio and Mei Hatsume. Despite the girl brushing off her hard work, there’s still a good amount of excitement in her heart, hopefully she’ll soon have what she needs to conquer the skies!
“HA HA HA HA HA HA!!” An all too familiar presence runs in from out of nowhere, appearing before Ochaco in spectacular fashion. “YOUNG URARAKA IS HERE!”
Ochaco is somehow calm, as if expecting such a thing from All might whereas others probably would have jumped back in fright at his sudden boisterous appearance. “Hi, All Might. What are you doing here?”
“LUNCH.” He holds up his own little bento box as he crouches down holding his hands together. “YOU WANNA EAT WITH ME?”
Ochaco spit-takes. “That’s adorable!”
“IS THAT A YES?”
It is and so the two make their way to the U.A. break room. Unbeknownst to either of them a third party is quietly observing from the shadows.
Todoroki leers at their retreating forms with mild intrigue. ‘All Might and Ochaco Uraraka, huh?’
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Toshinori takes a seat on the couch as he prepares a batch of tea for himself and his student. “Even though it’s shameful that I couldn’t be there. I can’t stress enough how proud and impressed by you I am.”
Ochaco smiles shyly from her seat opposite of the weakened All Might.
“But I am happier knowing that you were able to walk away with minimal injuries.” Not to mention zero casualties on their side, but he doesn’t want to think about how close they were for that to occur.
Toshinori pours them each a cup before sliding it across the coffee table. “I brought you here to talk about the festival. The problem is you still can’t fully control One For All yet. So then, what’s your plan?”
Ochaco grips her cup in though. “Ah! Wait. I did once!” She did control One For All, when she protected Deku from Nue. “When I landed a smash on Uuichi, there was no backlash at all!”
Her right arm was totally fine, no swelling, it wasn’t broken, and she was even able to use her Zero-Gravity Field later on without that much of a struggle. Although her stomach was a bit queasy afterwards.
Toshinori's head jumps up a bit in astonishment. “Oh, that’s right, you did mention that. What was different about that smash?”
“Um, well…” Her tone falls becoming somber. “Maybe it’s because I knew I had to do something. We were facing real-life villains and I knew they would have killed my friends if I did nothing. And I wasn’t really thinking when I threw myself at Uuichi.” She folds her arms together trying to think of a better explanation.
Toshinori holds his chin. “Hm…sounds like you succeeded in subconsciously putting on the brakes so you wouldn’t have to kill anyone.” At least it’s some kind of progress. “Maybe you need to search your feelings and find that drive once again. And with it you could use it to help you control your power’s output.”
Taking a sip of her tea, Ochaco considers her mentor’s advice. It had to be the feeling of protecting others that drove her to controlling One For All. So if she can draw on that feeling, on that sense of duty, she can properly wield One For All without injuring herself.
Toshinori gets up, walking over towards the window where he’s greeted by his own reflection. “To be frank. I don’t have much time left as the world’s Symbol of Peace. Soon I’ll have to put that title to bed.”
That fact is truer than ever, especially if he considers how differently things could have played out if he was at the U.S.J. from the start. If he was, he’d definitely would have over exceeded his time limit and the villains could have very well have finished him off once and for all. But he’s been given a chance and he is not going to waste it. He needs to use his time left as the Symbol of peace wisely by ensuring that his successor can take his place before evil can take a foothold and rise up.
“The U.S.J. incident is proof that there are some villains out there that have taken notice.” Taken notice that he’s not around as much as he used to be, that he’s become weaker. His gaze falls upon the city below U.A. where countless innocents live their lives. “Someone has to step up and keep the people safe.”
Ochaco stands up from her seat to face Toshinori. She’s no fool, she understands what he’s asking of her.
The Number One Hero turns to her, holding up his hand and clenching his fist with unflinching resolve. “I gave you my power for one reason: because you will be the hero who takes my place.”
Ochaco’s mind flashes back to all those moments when her parents couldn’t provide enough for themselves. They always sacrificed their own wellbeing and happiness so she could have a chance in life. And to thank them she really wanted to make a lot of money as a hero to give them the life they deserve. So they can live their lives with smiles on their faces, free of worry and fear. And not just them, but her ultimate dream for everyone. Is it naive? Sure. But those that make it a less than worthy dream to pursue? Absolutely not. She will become a hero that can make everyone feel safe and happy with her presence alone.
“Do you still feel the same way when we met? Do you still wanna be a hero?”
Ochaco looks up at Toshinori with an intense and determined aura. She nods promising that she still has the same drive as before, no she is in fact even more driven than before to succeed,
“Excellent.” Toshinori grins. “The time has come for you to prove it. This Sports Festival, it’s something that the pros--no, the entire county will be watching very closely. I want you to think of this Sports Festival as your debut. You are the fledgling Symbol of Peace. The next All Might!” His gaze pierces through her own. “Ochaco Uraraka.” Their eyes lock and Ochaco can almost feel herself being pulled into his sapphire eyes, his gateways to this soul of bright racing colors that shine with the power of One For All. “I want you to introduce yourself to the world and proudly say “I am here!!””
Ochaco’s previous intensity returns from before, her shining gleaming in exhilaration as she grins madly up at the hero. “All Might…” She threw her fist into the air. “I’M GONNA DO MY BEST!!!”
“S-scary…”
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Izuku steps over the rubble of the smashed door. “Thanks for the help, I greatly appreciate it.”
Power Loader sees the boy out. “Any time, Midoriya. I’m glad we can be of help. And don’t you worry you’ll have your hoodie back as good as new, if not better in no time.”
Hatsume pops her head out as she waves about the schematics for Izuku’s design. “And I’ll be sure to make this design a top tier support item!” With that she pops right back into the studio.
“Hatsume!! I didn’t say you’d be working on this one, too!!” Power Loader jumps back into the room before she blows something up or destroys a section of the school.
Fearing for his own safety, Izuku retreats down the hallway to safety.
“Ah, there you are.”
Izuku turns and smiles. “Oh, hey Thirteen!”
Thirteen smiles as they approach Izuku. “Hey, Midoriya. Sorry we couldn’t speak properly before.”
“It’s alright, I understand why.” Mr. Aizawa and Mina were right there so they couldn’t exactly discuss Tetrax and Vilgax so casually. “And I am really glad to see that you’re okay.”
“Me, too.” Thirteen gestures to the nearby empty classroom. “Anyway I wanted to talk to you real quick.”
Izuku steps inside. “About what?”
Thirteen steps inside and shuts the door behind them. “Well I just wanted to make sure you aren’t nervous for the Sports Festival.”
Izuku rubs the back of his head shyly. “Yeah…I’d be lying if I say I wasn’t.”
Not to mention he now has to prepare a big speech to the entire world, no big deal he’ll only be humiliating himself in front of every single hero in existence. No reason to be worried, right?
“Why, though? You’ve already faced far worse things than the Sports Festival if anything, I’d figured you’d be more excited.” Thirteen flexes and raises their arms in excitement. “You can really make it far, heck I bet you could win it all if you wanted, too!”
“I guess…” Izuku states with the least amount of confidence he could.
Thirteen flops so hard on the ground that their helmet nearly cracks.
Izuku quickly tries to remedy the situation. “Ah, b-b-but it’s not like this is my last chance to get scouted! I mean, aren’t I just going to be recruited by you and Principal Nezu?”
“About that.” Thirteen picks themselves back up. “We both agreed not to scout you.”
“What?!”
“Relax, what I mean is. You should take this opportunity to get some…” Thirteen leans in close, covering their mouth despite it being hidden by a helmet. “real world experience.” What they mean is; Izuku needs some Earth experience, some human hero work.
“Oh, I see your point.”
“Right, this is a great opportunity for you…also for us.”
“Huh?”
“Midoriya, you have to understand this.” Thirteen grips the boy’s shoulder. “When you use your powers in front of everyone what are they going to see?”
“Um, they’ll see me transforming into…” And then it hits him. “Aliens!!”
“Right.”
“Oh, my God! I didn’t even consider it. Oh, what am I going to do?! What if someone finds out?! What about my old classmates, they might go online or to the press and tell them I’m supposed to be Quirkless!! And they’ll definitely see it since the U.A. Sports Festival is broadcasted across the world!!”
“And space.”
“Yeah and space… Wait… WHAT!?!”
Thirteen shrugs like it’s no big deal. “Yeah, Nezu likes to broadcast the Sports Festival into space. It apparently helps deter any wannabe invaders, because if they see how strong our children are then they’ll be too afraid to take on adult humans.”
“What about this Vilgax guy?! Won’t he see it?!”
“Nope!” Thirteen states a matter-of-factually. “Nezu uses the Plumber’s own secured communications network to broadcast the event to the Plumbers and they in turn broadcast it to selected planets. So, I wouldn’t worry too much about Vilgax. And besides even if he knows the Omnitrix is still on Earth he can’t exactly track you down anymore.”
Besides, even Vilgax has to think twice about coming down to Earth and attacking. Not even he’s capable of taking on Earth’s heroes alone. Although Thirteen would rather they deal with the issue directly, but with things in such a state as they are. They can’t do anything without risking an intergalactic incident.
Izuku’s shoulder slump down. “Oh, okay… But that doesn’t make me feel any better.” In fact he feels worse, there’s so much more pressure now. Now the population of the planet seems like a tiny crowd of people he’d have to talk in front of, but now he has an entire universe to perform in front of?! Yeah, that’s comforting.
Thirteen can almost sense the distress radiating off the boy, Izuku’s pokerface is just that terrible, either way they need to reassure the boy. “Midoriya. You want to be a hero, don’t you?”
“Of course.” Izuku replies with little to no hesitation.
“Well, aliens need heroes, too. And Nezu and I both believe that through your participation in the Sports Festival you will inspire a great deal of others out there in the cosmos to stand up to tyranny and villainy.” Yes, he will inspire others to stand up for what’s right whether that means defending their homes or joining the Plumbers. And hopefully the Plumbers of Earth can get some much-needed reinforcements to help out with their responsibilities. “You will be the one to inspire them, to bring about future heroes that will work in unison to protect not just Earth but all worlds.”
That’s not exactly comforting, but…it is something to strive for. Thirteen really isn’t asking for much, all they’re really asking Izuku to do is to do his best and give it his all. “I’ll…I’ll try.”
“And that’s all I ask.”
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Mina throws her head back as she tries to shake off the stress of the day. “What a day!”
Kaminari scratches at his head, ruffling up his hair. “My brain is fried.”
Jiro chuckles. “I bet it is.”
“Would you just leave me alone, Jiro?!”
While the students begin to pack it up for the day, Iida and Tsuyu approach Izuku.
Iida stands before him trying to be as polite as he possibly can hold himself. “Hey, Midoriya.”
“What’s up?”
“We don’t mean to pry but we just can’t help but wonder, so please don’t think ill of us.”
“I won’t.” What is it they want to talk about?
Tsuyu finally pipes up. “How did you know that Nue guy?”
Unfortunately, Tsuyu was a bit too loud when she asked and everyone in the class overheard.
Kirishima immediately let’s it be known that he overheard them. “Oh, yeah. Didn’t he know you too Bakugou?”
Bakugou scowls, leaning back in his seat like it’s no big deal. “Yeah, I knew him. And honestly I can’t say I’m surprised how he turned out.”
“Harsh man.”
“Midoriya?” Tsuyu tries to refocus the conversation.
Izuku jolts up in his seat. “Oh, uh, we actually used to be friends.”
Shoji peers at Izuku with a questioning look. “You…used to be friends with a villain?”
Sero is in just as much disbelief. “Man, and here I thought you were a modeled citizen.”
Izuku takes a bit of an offense to that. “Hey! He wasn’t a villain before!” He then slumps back into his seat. “Well…he did get in fights…and detentions…I know he was in juvie for a time…and-”
“We get it.” Interrupt the entire class.
“S-sorry! Anyway…we were friends…but we had a falling out.” That’s definitely an understatement. “And after that we never spoke to each other again, hell he even stopped coming to school.”
Bakugou’s eyes pop open for a minute. “Oh, so that’s why he stopped showing his face. I just figured he got sick and tired of everybody.”
Sero raises an eyebrow at Bakugou. “I’m honestly surprised you didn’t get along with this guy when Midoriya could.”
“Shut up, Elbows!!”
Tsuyu's eyes cast themselves downward. “It must have been a pretty nasty break up if he beat you up as badly as he did.”
Izuku nods slowly. “Yeah…I’d rather not relive any of those moments.”
Iida holds his hand over his heart as he addresses the greenette. “Midoriya. Thank you for indulging our curiosity. And you should know that we don’t think any less of you.”
If anything he holds even great respect for his classmate, and he never really questioned his loyalty; he just wanted to satiate his curiosity. After all there’s no way Izuku Midoriya of all people would purposely get involved with such a terrible crowd especially after he so willingly threw his life on the line for them.
“We know you’re not someone that means ill-will to anyone. Honestly, I can almost wager that your relationship with this villain was more of a toxic one, and glad to see you here, seeking out a much brighter future than your so-called friend.”
Izuku appreciates the sentiment. “Thanks.”
Kirishima grabs Izuku’s shoulder and gives him a bit of a shove. “And besides, the way you took that guy was totally badass!!”
Izuku blushes under the sudden praise.
Ojiro’s tail rises up as if interested. “What do you mean?”
“Oh, you guys should have seen it! Midoriya charged in and transformed into this super cool crystal guy and totally demolished that villain like he was nothing!! It was a total one-hit K.O.!!”
“No way?!”
Mina awes. “Woah!”
Hagakure excitedly waves her hands about. “Can we see this transformation?”
Izuku is at first startled by the sudden enthusiasm, but he doesn’t see the harm in showing them. “Uh, sure I guess I can.”
Izuku gets up and stands at the front of the room while dialing up the correct alien as his classmates await with bated breath.
With a deep calming breath Izuku presses his finger down on the dial.
“Diamondhead!” Diamondhead appears before everyone standing taller than Shoji allowing everyone to awe at his crystalized body and commanding demeanor.
“So, cool.” The class awes.
Aoyama applauds. “I must admit, you have quite the sparkle.”
Tsuyu frowns. “Diamondhead?”
Diamondhead nods. “Yeah, it’s this guy’s name.”
“Lame.”
Diamondhead gives her a deadpanned look; will she ever appreciate the names for his transformations? “It was Bakugou’s idea.”
“Huh?!” The blonde in question scowls. When in the hell did, he come up with a name for stupid Deku?
Todoroki glares up at the crystal being with a skeptical look. “How did you get a new transformation anyway?”
“Um…I don’t know…”
Todoroki’s glare hardens in response, he definitely is not buying that excuse. But he isn’t going to pursue an answer. It’s not his business after all.
Kaminari lets out an exasperated sigh. “Ah, this is so not fair! Why does Midoriya get the cool upgrade just before the Sports Festival?!”
Sato slumps in defeat as well. “Yeah, you said it.”
Tokoyami nods in agreement. “This world is full of mysteries, and our dear classmate just happens to be one of them.”
Yaoyorozu approaches the living crystal with an intrigue but suspicious look in her eye. “Midoriya could I have a closer look?”
Diamondhead holds his crystallized arm out so Yaoyorozu can have a look. “Um, sure?”
If Diamondhead could blush, he definitely would as Yaoyorozu’s strokes his arm as she examines the being’s lack of flesh and skin.
Mineta can be heard whining in the background. “No fair, why does Midoriya get the attention?”
Tsuyu’s tongue immediately lashes out across the room and slaps the little shit.
Yaoyorozu, thankfully, seems to have ignored Mineta’s whining as she continues to examine the crystal. “Can I take a shard?”
“Oh, uh, s-sure.” Diamondhead produces a small shard in between his fingers before dropping it into Yaoyorozu’s waiting palm.
Jiro curiously watches as Yaoyorozu examines the tiny shard. “Why would you want that thing?”
Hagakure tries to give her own explanation. “Well, who doesn’t like diamonds?”
Yaoyorozu, however, denies that statement. “Well I’m not so sure if this is diamond.”
Diamondhead would beg to differ. “Excuse me?”
“Oh, it’s just that my family owns quite a bit of diamond encrusted jewelry at home. So, I’ve developed quite a keen eye for such things. I even learned how to produce diamonds myself so I could practice with my Quirk.” Yaoyorozu says this in an absolutely friendly and innocent way, so no one can really hate on her for essentially flexing her wealth at them.
Except for maybe Ochaco. ‘Did she just tell us she’s rich?’
Yaoyorozu turns back to her transformed classmate. “I’d like to study this crystal if you don’t mind, Midoriya. It’s like nothing I’ve ever seen.”
“Uh, okay. I don’t have a problem with it.” Besides he has to admit, he’s a bit curious to see what she finds out as well.
Ochaco claps her hands together gathering everyone’s attention. “Well I think we all had a rousing day, and so I think it’s time we all head out for the day.”
Sero grins. “Yeah, good call.”
Shoji nods. “Yeah, I’m ready to go home.”
Diamondhead grabs his bag before cupping his chin as he remembers something. “Same I promised my mom; I’d help with some chores today.” Huh, maybe he should get Ditto or XLR8 to help out again?
After grabbing their things Ochaco, Iida, and a still transformed Izuku are the first ones to approach the door.
Ochaco is the one to swing it open, but what she finds is not at all what anybody was expecting. “U-um, why the heck are you all here?!”
Standing before them, blocking the exit, is a huge crowd of U.A. students all of which are observing the class with wonder and curiosity. Some even have their phones out to record Class 1-A.
Iida, like the Class President he is, addresses them. “Do you students have some sort of business with our class?”
Mineta runs up to his side. “Why are you blocking our doorway?!” He begins to panic grabbing onto Diamondhead’s leg. “Don’t let them hold us hostage!!” He cries up at the much larger being.
Diamondhead almost feels pity for the little creature. “Calm down, will ya?”
Bakugou stomps forward, as if there is no crowd of onlookers before them. “They’re scouting out the competition, idiots.”
Ochaco steps aside as Bakugou approaches the crowd. “Bakugou.” She warns, he better not do something mean.
While she’s thinking this, Diamondhead is silently praying that he won't explode anybody.
Bakugou eyes her as he comes to a stop, originally, he was just going to shove right past these fools, but he’ll indulge them for now. “We’re the classroom that survived and took on a real villain attack. They want to see us with their own eyes.”
The crowd backs away nervously as Bakugou seems to be able to glare at each and every one of them. “At least now you know what a future pro looks like. Now move it, extras!”
And that was it, that was the last straw. As Ochaco’s fist finds itself embedded into Bakugou’s gut.
“WHAT THE HELL!?!”
“You know what!!” Ochaco shouts back. She can’t believe that this idiot would outright call a group of people extras, like they don’t matter!! You can’t say that to someone when you don’t know who they are!! “You need to fix that attitude of yours!!”
The two soon find themselves in a deathglare competition, which doesn’t serve a purpose other than to make the crowd a bit fearful for their own wellbeing.
Class 1-A’s President tries his best to calm the situation. “Stop! You two mustn’t fight like this!”
“So this is Class 1-A.” An unfamiliar voice calls out from within the crowd, as someone new pushes himself forward through the crowd. “I heard you guys were impressive, but you just sound like an ass.”
“Huh?” Bakugou growls at the newcomer.
“You know it’s true.” Ochaco huffs.
The newcomer steps to the front of the crowd. The young man has messy, indigo-colored hair that flares out in large tufts around his head. His eyes are dark purple and half-closed with very dark eye bags underneath them much like their teacher Mr. Aizawa.
He’s holding the back of his neck as if to show that he isn’t at all scared of the wannabe heroes. “Is everyone in the Hero Course delusional or just you?”
As Bakugou glares at his new target of hate, everyone else, including Diamondhead, is frantically shaking their heads in denial of the accusation.
The indigo-haired teen frowns. “How sad to come here and find a bunch of ego maniacs. Well I guess except for her.” His eyes look over towards Ochaco, since she willing tries to put her own classmate in his place. “Although she appears to be a violent type as well.”
Ochaco’s visibly shaken as all color drains from her face. ‘I’m…violent…?’ That’s not supposed to be her image, she’s supposed to be the never giving up bubbly type, not…violent…not be like…Bakugou.
The aggravator sighs before addressing the entire class as a whole. “I wanted to be in the hero course, but like many others here I was forced to choose a different track. Such is life.”
“Tch.” Bakugou tsks.
“I didn’t cut it the first time around, but I have another chance.” The aggravator’s eyes furrow. “If any of us do well in the Sports Festival the teachers can decide to transfer us to the hero course. And they’ll have to transfer people out to make room.”
Diamondhead, Iida, and Ochaco stiffen before their eyes drift towards the equally surprised and nervous Mineta.
“Scouting the competition?” The aggravator eyes his competition making sure to memorize each of their faces, so he knows who’s an enemy. “Maybe some of my peers are, but I’m here to let you know that if you don’t bring your very best, I’ll steal your spot right from under you.” His eyes land on Diamondhead. “Consider this a declaration of war.”
Iida, Izuku, and Ochaco share the same thought. ‘Where did this guy even come from?!’
Bakugou leers back at this punk, and if it weren’t for all the witnesses, he’d definitely explode this guy’s ass up to kingdom come.
Somehow someone else from within the crowd manages to break up the tension. “Hey you!” A silver-haired teen with odd eyes pops out from the back of the crowd. He must have just arrived because he can’t seem to pick up on the already present hostility. “I’m from Class 1-B next door to you! We heard you fought some villains and I came to see if that was true!! But you’re just a bunch of brats who think you’re better than us!!”
The trio grimace in response. ‘Crap, everyone hates our class now…’
The loud student continues with his outcry. “Talk all ya want! It’ll just be more embarrassing when you’re KO’d!”
Almost uncharacteristically, Bakugou doesn't even address the guy; instead he walks right on by as the nervous crowd part away to let him through.
“Don’t you ignore me!!”
Kirishima runs up towards the front of the class. “Dude, where are you going?! You gotta say something. It’s your fault they’re all hating on us, Bakugou.”
Bakugou stops before he can get too far. “These people don't matter.”
“Huh?”
“The only thing that’s important is that I beat them.”
Both Ochaco’s and Diamondhead’s heads shoot up as if struck by inspiration.
With nothing else to say, Bakugou heads on out for the day.
The loud Class 1-B student yells after him. “Hey! I’m coming for you!!”
Kirishima grunts in frustration, as he holds up his fist, and a single tear forms in his eye. “I hate that that was such a manly exit.” Even though the guy’s personality is crap, he can’t help but admire the guy’s fortitude.
Kaminari, however, doesn’t understand his thought process. “Huh?”
Sato cups his large chin. “You said it.”
Kaminari looks at him like he also lost his mind. “Huh?!”
Tokoyami agrees as well. “We have to beat them; he wasn’t wrong.”
Kaminari has had enough. “Yeah sure, but this sucks! He made us everyone’s enemies.”
Mineta’s on Kaminari’s side. “Yeah, that’s right! All of these dumb students will be gunning for us in the festival now!”
Diamondhead thinks back to his conversation with Bakugou back near the start of the year, specifically after their big fight. How Bakugou proclaimed that Deku will never beat him again and how he will ensure his dream of becoming the number one hero and even surpass All Might. No matter what it takes!
“Kacchan…” Diamondhead’s fist clenches.
He thinks back to everyone else and their ambitions: to Iida’s own dream of being like his brother, Ingenium, to Ochaco’s wish to make everyone happy and safe, to what Thirteen hopes he can achieve in the Sports Festival, and even how Mr. Aizawa explained why this event is so important in the first place.
He has to give this event the very best that he can. He can’t afford to hold back, or he will be left behind by those around him. And he’d rather walk alongside his peers than try to catch up to them. He will take on this challenge head on, he will work hard, and in the end, he will walk away as the winner of the U.A. Sports Festival.
But he better work hard because nobody, absolutely nobody, is going to lounge around and let him take the gold without a fight. Because from this point on the entirety of Class 1-A and their competition will be preparing themselves these next two weeks for one of the biggest fights of their young lives. All for the sake of their own individual dreams.
Notes:
And that was Ch.19, I really hope you liked it and if you didn’t then that’s okay. Ch.20 will be a bit more original and a bit more on the fun side of things. Yeah so Ch.20 will be the last chapter before we officially begin the Sports Festival. Why? Because I want to. That said, it’s more on the Ben Ten side of things, and no there will not be a new alien next chapter, sorry. But I still think you’ll enjoy it. Also, I’m not sure when I can have Ch.20 up by. It will definitely not be as fast as it took for Ch.19 to be uploaded.
*Yeah, I know All Might and Tsukauchi are jumping to some real conclusion. But I’m not a professional writer, and I thought it would be the best way to convey the drama. Plus now All Might sees Izuku more as an unsuspecting victim than an actual threat.
*Also Tsukauchi’s investigation was strictly looking at records and files rather than conducting interviews. This way he can be a bit more subtle about digging for answers.
*As for Hisashi Midoriya, not to worry I have a plan on how to handle this character.
*Izuku’s hoodie will return and will be back for Ch.20. In fact I decided that whenever Izuku is in civilian wear he will almost always have the custom hoodie, much like how Ben always had his own signature jacket, hoodie, and shirts.
*As for Izuku’s and Ochaco’s support items, they will not be introduced until the Internship Arc so just put a pin on them for now. I do have ideas on what I am going to give them, and no it is not the Proto-tool I am saving that item for…someone else. And if this chapter hints to anything hopefully you can guess who that is. Even if they may not appear for a while.
Chapter 20: Last Laugh
Summary:
Inko decides that Izuku needs a break so she takes him out for some fun, but a group of villains have something else in mind.
Notes:
Huh, I was able to get this one out rather fast too. Man, I am on fire with my updating right now. It’s great! Anyway I just want to state that before you start reading please keep in mind that this chapter is mainly supposed to be fun/filler. So, a lot of this chapter isn’t meant to be taken too seriously, mainly because a lot of it won’t have any overall effect on the story. It’s just supposed to be fun. So, please enjoy and I hope you have fun with it.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Lodestar inhales and then exhales, his pincer like hands flex as he leers at the challenge before him. “Here we go.”
He aims his arm forward, standing tall as he towers over this dastardly foe. “Rahhhh!!”
Lodestar releases a magnetic pulse that latches onto his target, he then struggles to flex his arm upward, until finally his target gives out and his arm is flung upward.
Lodestar lets out a victorious shout. “Ha, check me out! ”
Levitating above him is nothing but a large barbell.
“Look at me! I’m doing it!”
Mezo Shoji sets down his own barbell back onto the bench press before sitting up. “Isn’t that cheating?”
Lodestar is rightfully offended. “What?! Of course not!” Then again… “I think…” He lowers the heavy barbell.
Izuku’s been exercising for over an hour now at the U.A. indoor gym since classes let out for the day. And he needs all the preparation he can get since they only have a total of two weeks to prepare themselves for the Sports Festival. And he’s already been training practically nonstop for nine days straight now.
And he’s far from the only one putting in the effort. Off to the side Ochaco Uraraka is coaching Tooru Hagakure while she tries to do some pull ups.
While Hagakure struggles to hang in there, Ochaco takes the opportunity to run over towards the boys. “Let me give it a shot!”
Without waiting for permission, Ochaco stands over the same barbell, rubbing her hands together in preparation.
Lodestar and Shoji share an amused look, they honestly don’t think she’d be able to lift that thing off the ground.
They couldn’t be more wrong, because Ochaco manages to lift it up with one arm while grinning brightly like the sun.
Lodestar’s jaw drops followed by his own head; it clangs off the ground as Shoji watches on in shock while both of their pride as strong young men take a serious wound.
Ochaco can’t help but smirk a little at their reactions. “How’s this boy?”
Hagakure happily cheers in the background. “Way to show ‘em, girl!!”
From his head’s new vantage point, Lodestar finally notices how Ochaco’s fingers are clearly pressed onto the bar.
Lodestar deadpans up at Shoji. “And you said I cheated…”
Shoji laughs nervously. “You did…”
Ochaco chuckles realizing that she’s been found out. “Sorry, I couldn’t resist.” She lets go of the barbell, but it doesn’t fall to the ground instead it floats in the air like a balloon.
“Release.” Ochaco presses her finger tips together and the barbell comes crashing back onto the mats as its weight returns.
Lodestar scoops his head off the ground and places it back between his horned-shoulders, he turns his head as if screwing it into place. “Real funny, Uraraka.”
“Hehe, hey it’s good to let loose every now and then. Just because we’re all getting ready and working hard, doesn’t mean we can’t have some fun too.” Then again if her plans go well, she’ll hopefully be having a fun time tomorrow too.
Besides she too has been working her butt off. Just yesterday her and Mina went out to the U.S.J. where Ochaco practiced her Zero-Gravity on all sorts of objects and heavy debris while Mina practiced with her Acid. Heck, even Aoyama ended up joining them, but he had to leave early after a floating rock fell and landed on his head.
“By the way, Deku.”
Lodestar folds his arms. “Yeah?”
“How’s it been going with your own training?”
Lodestar slouches forward as if thinking about it makes him tired. “Man, it’s been exhausting. I’ve spent almost every day working on a different…transformation.”
Lodestar then begins to explain how he’s been going about his training. “As Feedback I absorbed electricity straight from…batteries to test my limit.” In all fairness those batteries were actually the Megawatts that they caught a while back. Apparently Nezu kept them around and is actually paying them to help generate power for the school, so Izuku got special permission to use them for training.
“Then as XLR8, I raced around the U.S.J. for a while.” That was fun, he learned that if he moves fast enough, he can even run on water. Yeah, that was a very surreal experience.
“Whenever I was Grey Matter, I just ran through my own obstacle course.”
Ochaco tilts her head to the side. “Your own obstacle course?”
Lodestar shyly rubs his head. “Yeah, I say obstacle course but it’s more like a little mouse maze I made for myself.” He even used his old toys and other items to make traps and other obstacles while he ran his little course.
Shoji decides to answer for the next one. “Then you wrestled with me as…I think it was Four Arms?”
“Yup.” Lodestar smiles. “Then I flew through the woods nearby as Terraspin.”
That wasn’t as much fun as he thought it would be. He kept crashing into trees the entire time, but eventually he was able to make it through the gauntlet without crashing into anything.
“I practiced with Water Hazard’s water propulsion to fly for a bit, kinda like riding a flyboard.” Now that really was fun…until he crashed at least.
“Oh, I also figured out how to do this thing with Diamondhead, too.” Yeah, he figured out that he could make blades with Diamondhead’s arms… You know what, that probably would have been really useful during the U.S.J. incident. Oh, well.
Ochaco claps her hands together, just hearing about Deku’s efforts are getting her pumped up for the Sports Festival. “And Ripjaws?”
Lodestar jolts in place as if surprised and worried by that question. “Oh, uh, I challenged Tsuyu to a race while at the school pool.”
Hagakure pops herself into the conversation. “Who won?”
“Um…” Lodestar thinks back to said race, when in reality it was more like a competition to grab a toy fish, and they decided that they could use any means to win. His face still hurts for when she used his face as a springboard to grab the target. “She did…” He presses his hands together shyly while not meeting any of their eyes.
Ochaco has one last question. “What about Ditto?”
“Uh…”
##########(Flashback)#########
“I HATE YOU!!!”
“Oh!! Well next time, don’t steal my monopoly!!”
A group of four Dittos are seated around the kitchen table with a game of Monopoly set up on the table. Originally, Izuku wanted to use the game as a means of improving his multitasking abilities by playing as Ditto, but things immediately went off the rails.
Ditto 1 tries to establish order, by being the adult in the situation. “Ditto, give Ditto your $200. You landed on his property.”
Ditto 3 can’t believe this injustice!! “No! He’s in jail!! I’m not going to give my money to a criminal!!”
Ditto 2 has had enough with Ditto 3’s excuses. “That’s not how you PLAY!!!” He shouts, flailing his arms about in a tantrum.
The fourth Ditto shyly backs away in fright before turning to Ditto 1. “Ditto, why is Ditto screaming?”
Ditto 1 instantly loses his shit. “Shut the fuck up Ditto!! You don’t get to talk after stealing my last RAILROAD!!!”
Ditto 2 wails in frustration. “I WISH I WAS NEVER BORN!!!”
“ME TOO!!!” Cries Ditto 1 as he slams his hands against the table. “YOU THINK I WANTED THIS!?!”
“AaAAAaaA!!!!!”
########(End Flashback)#######
“I…still need to work on Ditto…”
Ochaco eyes Lodestar concerned but she doesn’t pry into it.
With a harsh shake to his head, Lodestar claps his claws together. “Well this has been fun, but I gotta get going.”
He promised his mom that he’d be home early today, and he’s mainly cooperating because ever since the U.S.J. Incident his mother’s been way more overprotective and worrisome then before. Not like he can blame her, after all her own child could have been killed.
Ochaco blinks up at the taller being. “Oh, okay. I’ll see ya later. I’m not going to stick around that much longer either, I’ve got a long day of work tomorrow.”
Hagakure is surprised by her statement. “You have a job?”
“Yeah, I needed to make some extra money on the side.” She’s actually had the job for a little while now, it’s actually why she was able to buy a brand-new phone so quickly, too.
Izuku is also surprised by the news, but he can’t dwell on it otherwise he’ll be drawn into another conversation and be late to the train. “Well good luck.” Lodestar begins walking away towards the exit, transforming back into his normal self just as he reaches the doors. “I’ll be seeing you guys later!”
“Kay!” Ochaco waves back at him.
Shoji salutes him away. “Take care, alright?”
“Bye!” Shouts Hagakure.
Izuku waves through the glass wall as he makes his way to the locker room. As he walks through the long hallway, Izuku examines other sections of the indoor gym where other students are doing their own work outs. Such as a trio of older students playing a game of basketball.
One of the buffer teens with blond hair looks like he’s phasing through the floor before popping out of the ground and stealing the ball away from his blue-haired classmate as a weird spinning energy keeps her afloat in the air. All the while their third friend is slouching in the corner as if he’s too shy and embarrassed to even be there.
He spots Tsuyu back at the pool area, and he even sees Kirishima sparring with Bakugou. But what really gets his attention is when he’s just about to enter the locker room. The indigo-haired guy who called out Izuku’s class exits the locker room.
Izuku stops dead in his tracks. ‘Oh, n-no, i-it’s him!’ This is terrible, he doesn’t want to deal with this guy alone! He’s scary.
Luckily for Izuku, the aggravator eyes Izuku as if annoyed but then continues to walk right past him like he’s no threat to him.
Izuku observes him as he walks by; the teen’s sleeves are rolled up showing off his rather lean biceps. Seriously, they must have been well hidden under his school uniform, there’s no doubt he’s been putting in his own effort. Clearly, he’s trying to uphold his promise to Class 1-A and fight his way into the Hero Course.
Izuku finds that rather admirable, sure he’s kinda scary, but…if someone is willing to work that hard to be a hero, then how bad can they really be?
“G-good luck!”
The teen stops, shifting his head so he can observe Izuku. “Who are you?”
“Oh, I, uh, uh…” That’s right, he was Diamondhead when they first met so he wouldn’t recognize him.
The guy seems to have lost patience and doesn’t bother to wait for Izuku’s answer. After all he needs to continue training, every second he wastes is another second for Class 1-A to pull ahead.
Izuku watches as the teen strides forward with purpose. ‘I have to keep going. I have to work harder if I want to succeed!’
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
After a quick train ride, Izuku makes it home with enough time to spare. “Hey Mom, I’m home!”
“Izuku!!” Inko Midoriya barrels out of the kitchen and right into her son. He barely has enough time to register the crushing hug before she begins to frantically examine him for any sign of injury. “Are you okay?! Are you hurt?! Did you have any run-ins with villains?!”
“M-Mom, I’m fine.” Izuku smiles down at his loving mother while prying her hands away from him. “Promise.”
“Oh, okay. But you’ll tell me if you are, right?!” Tears of worry well up in her eyes as she begs the question.
Izuku offers up a reassuring smile. “Of course.”
Inko is happy to accept that answer, as she wipes away her tears. “Alright, I bet you’re hungry. So, let’s get some food in you.”
“Sounds good.” Izuku takes his shoes off as Inko makes her way back to the kitchen.
He really can’t help but have appreciation for his mother. And even though her worrying can be a bit annoying he just can’t bring himself to tell her otherwise. She’s his mom; she's always going to worry about him. Besides she’s already done so much for him, especially be there for him so he doesn’t really have a right to complain.
Pretty soon the two of them are seated and enjoying their freshly cooked dinner. But throughout the meal, Inko keeps throwing Izuku worried and concerned looks as if at any moment he’s going to break down in front of her.
“So, how’s your training coming along?”
Izuku swallows his bite. “Good, I was just at the gym with some friends.”
Inko immediately lightens up. “That’s fantastic sweety! Did you have fun?”
“Um, sure. I guess.”
“You…guess?” She’s worried again.
Izuku immediately picks up on it and tries to alleviate her worries. “Oh, it’s just that, we were more focused on our training then having fun.”
Wrong answer Izuku, because Inko’s expression hardens. “I wish you’d take it easy every now and then, sweety. Especially after your little fiasco the other day…” She’s referring to the Ditto fiasco, she actually had to step in and break them up before they started throwing punches.
Izuku grimaces, smiling sheepishly in response.
“Don’t get me wrong I love how hard you’re working towards your dream, but you really need to learn to relax every now and then.”
“Sure Mom.” He goes right back to eating, chalking up her concern to her normal level of worrying.
“I’m serious.” Sometimes Inko can really be annoyed by Izuku’s stubbornness. He’s always been so determined and hardworking…just like him… But this is starting to be too much, at this rate he’s going to overwork himself into exhaustion. And as the loving parent she is, she cannot allow that. “That’s why we’re going out tomorrow.”
Izuku perks up. “Where’re we going”
‘Now I have your attention?’ Inko smiles excitedly. “It’s a surprise, but I promise you’re going to love it!”
“Sounds like fun, Mom. Say when will we be going?”
“Tomorrow, Saturday, at 2 o’clock.”
“Perfect.” That gives him plenty of time to squeeze in a quick training session before they have to leave.
Inko greatly enjoys the rest of the meal, happy that her son is willing to go along with her. It should be fun, and it’s been a while since either of them have gone out, so she’s more than a little excited. She smiles happily as she looks over to the counter where a lone pamphlet lies with the following header: “Circus in Town! A Barrel of Laughs Await You at Zombozo’s Traveling Circus of Laughs!! It’ll be a killer of a good time.”
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
“Woo-wo!” Terraspin swirls around the building flying like a helicopter through the back alleys of his neighborhood.
He figured he'd try and get in some last-minute training even this late into the day as Terraspin before he goes out with his mom to whatever it is, she has planned for family time.
*bwAAAAAAAHHHP!!*
Oh, that’s his phone. Terraspin quickly lands before reaching for his phone before it can let loose another foghorn alarm.
“Ne, nuh, ha! Nope.” He struggles to grab his phone with his large flippers and in the end, he can’t even hold it as it flops onto the ground.
He sighs in exasperation before just deciding to read the text message off the dropped phone.
It’s a text from his mom and it reads: [Leaving in 5 minutes, meet me by the car].
“Looks like my training is over for now.”
Terraspin struggles to pick up his phone, eventually he has to scoop it up while pushing it against the nearby wall. And after putting it away He takes off back into the sky, zipping through the backstreets and alleys towards home.
He rises higher and higher as his apartment building comes into view. ‘I wonder where Mom’s taking me anyway. A hero convention? Maybe to a movie? Even the zoo or the aquarium would be fun. There’s also-’ Something fast and large strikes Terrapin's side just before he can land. “Ah, drone!!”
Before Terraspin could land a flying drone crashes into his side knocking him backwards and away from the roof. “Help. Help! Help!!”
He flails his arms about as he falls backwards, he tries to maneuver himself around but it’s too late as his hard-durable shell crashes down onto something hard and metallic
Terraspin wobbles back and forth before he's able to dislodge his back from his unfortunate landing-pad.
“Ow, man. People got to be more careful with those things.” Seriously, thank goodness he has such a hard shell. “What did I land on anyway?” He turns around to have a look, it must have been a dumpster or perhaps a group of garbage cans. “Uh, oh.” Nope, it was neither.
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Inko sits inside her car anxiously waiting for her son to arrive. “Oh, where is he? We’re going to be late.”
“Ahh!!” Terraspin flees in terror from behind the apartment building, waving his arms up in the air as he tries to run away from whatever it is that’s chasing him.
Just before he gets to the car, he transforms back into Izuku in a flash of red light and jumps right into the passenger seat.
“Izuku?! What’s the matter?”
“Just drive!!”
“What?”
“DRIVE!!!”
“Oh, okay…” Inko eyes her son worriedly as the car begins to roll forward and soon, they’re off for their destination.
As they drive away from the building, Izuku cowers in fear from his seat as he eyes their building.
‘I wonder what’s got him so scared?’
Meanwhile, Mr. Baumann exits the apartment complex while carrying a box of groceries he’s been meaning to deliver.
But when he steps into the back alley and finds what’s awaiting him, he drops the box, glass jars shatter under the impact, but that’s the least of Mr. Baumann’s worries. After all, someone smashed in his car’s ROOF!!! It’s totally smashed in, with a huge dent, crumbled metal, and shattered windows.
“IZUKU!!!”
Said boy can almost sense Mr. Baumann’s rage even as they drive further and further away from the building. He can only pray that Mr. Baumann calms down by the time they get home.
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The tent for Zombozo’s Traveling Circus of Laughs stands tall surrounded by a variety of stalls and carnival games.
Izuku adjusts his hoodie as he steps out of the parked car. “Is this what you wanted to do?”
“Yup!” Inko states ecstatically. “It’ll be fun, promise!”
Izuku believes her, after all who doesn’t enjoy a good circus? “Shall we?”
“Of course, and I already have the tickets.”
The two Midoriyas make their way through the crowded street and up towards the circus tent. As they make their way, Izuku can’t help but feel that something is a bit off about the place. The stalls that should have bright fun colors are dreary and dark in color. The carnival games look rundown and the prizes are rather odd: fake shrunken heads, creepy masks, voodoo dolls, and other odd trinkets. There’s also an abundance of decorations of the same creepy clown plastered all over the place, the eyes of the signs and decorations really make Izuku’s skin crawl as if they’re watching his every step.
Inko, however, notices something else about the circus. “With this crowd, you’d think the entire town showed up for the show.” She chuckles as both Izuku and her come across a large crowd of people who are trying to make their way inside the giant tent.
Izuku chuckles. “No kidding.” He’s pretty sure he spotted a few of his old classmates from junior high school.
A part of him feels a bit smug and excited that pretty soon he’s going to get the chance to show them all up. To prove that they were all wrong about him! God, he really can’t wait for the Sports Festival to arrive.
As the two wait in line to enter a carny steps upon a nearby stage swinging his cane around to gather the crowd’s attention. “Step right up! Step right up and see! A fingerless Freak of nature! Whose strength knows no bounds, Thumbskull!”
A large hulking figure steps out from behind the dark-purple curtains and his name is definitely fitting.
As Thumbskull’s name implies, he has a giant toenail on his otherwise bald forehead. Not to mention, his large size is rather intimidating, and his dark-colored jumpsuit with grey stripes that match his pale skin.
Thumbskull takes a long metal bar and places it atop his skull. He then grips the ends of the bar with his meaty hands and pulls down on the ends; bending the bar into a perfect U-shape.
The crowd applaud as Thumbskull tosses up the bent bar into the air.
An orange-red tendril lashes out and grabs the bent bar while it’s spinning in midair.
The carny takes his que to introduce the next Freak. “And presenting Frightwig!”
Frightwig is a woman with pale skin with black-paint coated on her cheeks and head. Speaking of her head, a series of orange-red tendrils protrude out as locks of hair with little black balls attached to the ends. She’s wearing a black tight-fitting jumpsuit with yellows stripes.
“When this beauty lets down her hair there’s no telling what could happen.”
Frightwig smiles as her hair grips the bar and begins to twist it with minimal effort to the point that she essentially creates a large metal pretzel.
As the crowd cheers, she passes on the metal pretzel, placing it atop a nearby anvil.
“And last but not least, the Freak whose unique skill is as vile as his attitude, Acid Breath!”
Acid Breaths is a wrinkly, pale skin man that stands with a hunched back, and he too is wearing a loose black-jumpsuit with orange stripes.
Acid Breath bends down over the metal pretzel and anvil, he then removes his mask and opens his mouth wide revealing a nasty set of teeth and green gums. And as his name implies, an eerie green smog filters out from his maw and pours out onto the metal objects melting them down and even through the wooden floor of the stage.
The crowd gags but clap out of politeness as the Freaks take a bow.
Inko covers her mouth. “G-gross.” She looks over to Izuku and she isn’t that surprised to see him scribbling away in his Quirk Analysis notebook.
She should have expected that he’d try to jot down everything he could tell about the Freaks’ Quirks. His muttering however is starting to ward people away from them.
“Izuku, come on. The show’s going to start soon.”
“Coming!” Izuku tucks away his notebook as he follows the rest of the crowd.
If he had taken one last look at the Freaks, he would have noticed them watching the crowd disappear into the tent with suspicious smirks on their faces.
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It seems like Izuku’s weird vibes about the circus were more unfounded then he’d first thought. The show so far’s been pretty fun. He greatly enjoyed the acrobatics show; his adrenaline was really going when a group of motorcycle daredevils came out. Although Inko looked like she was going to have a panic attack from watching all their crazy stunts. That said, she did greatly enjoy the cute puppies that came out to perform a set of fun tricks.
Shortly after that the ringleader steps back into the center just as the lights dim down. “Ladies and gentlemen, children of all ages! Zombozo’s Traveling Circus of Laughs is proud to present the sultan of smiles! The crown prince of chuckles! The grim tickler himself!! The star of our circus, Zombozo the Clown!!”
From the end of the tent a small cartoonish car zips its way into the center ring as slapstick music plays in the background. The impossibly small car comes to a halt and from it out steps a full-grown human, he squeezes out of the car like toothpaste from a tube, springing up at his full height without any issues from being in such a cramped space.
Good thing Izuku isn’t afraid of clowns because Zombozo has to be one of the creepiest clowns he’s ever seen.
The guy is wearing such dark colors, his dark-clown suit and top hat are the complete opposite of what clowns should represent. The only things that suggest that this guy is a clown is his pale skin, face paint, messy red hair, oversized shoes, and dark-blue clown nose. And his grin, oh his wicked grin, is absolutely disturbing with his yellow stained teeth. Finally, cryptic eerie blue orbs are embedded into his sleeves and hat.
Zombozo holds his arms out in greeting to the crowd as they applaud his entrance.
As Zombozo’s car begins to act on its own accord, as part of the act, Izuku reaches into the popcorn bag only to realize that it’s empty. “Hey, Mom. I’m going to go get more popcorn. Want anything?”
Zombozo defeats his rampaging car in comedic fashion making the audience laugh in the process.
“Ha ha, oh, no. That’s okay, you get whatever you like.” Inko can’t seem to take her eyes off the show, she’s clearly having a good time and that fact makes Izuku happy he agreed to come with her.
His mom deserves to be happy and it makes him happy to know that he can spend it with her. “Okay, I’ll be right back.”
As Zombozo finishes his opening act he finally has a chance to address the audience. “Good evening, ladies and germs!! If you love clowns, then this is the place to be! Be sure to keep your eyes on me; you’re going to die laughing.” He grins maniacally as the spheres on his arms and head light up enveloping the audience with its eerie blue glow. “That’s a Zombozo guarantee.”
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“Where is that darn popcorn stand?” Somehow Izuku managed to get himself lost amongst the empty stalls and carnival games, and he just can’t seem to find the popcorn stand.
He’s been looking for a little bit now so much so that he’s already made his way back towards the main entrance to the circus’s property. With nowhere else to go Izuku turns right around to head on back to the show, he’ll just have to accept that they won’t be having anymore popcorn. Oh, well.
He barely turns away when the sound of shattering glass hits his ears. “What was that?!”
Being the Hero Course student that he is, Izuku forgets all about the circus and takes off down the street. It doesn’t take him long to find the source of the disturbance, a band of three felons are robbing a jewelry store.
Izuku takes cover behind a nearby car and uses his time to analyze the whole situation. One, the entire street is closed off thanks to the circus being so close and by extension all the businesses nearby have closed up shop for the day. Two, this part of town is so far from the main downtown area that there aren’t a lot of hero agencies around so a chance of a hero stumbling onto the scene is low. Three, each of the felons are disguised in varying clown getups the only real difference he can tell between the three are their disproportionate sizes to each other.
Izuku continues to watch as the biggest of the three clowns enters the busted-up store while the other two head off to do their own things. One of them approaches a nearby car and breathes down on it and a familiar green smoke eats away at the metallic surface. The clown reaches in and pulls out a purse. Finally the thinnest of the clowns walks over towards an ATM machine that’s been built into the brick wall of the Jewelry Store. Their clown costume consists of three pink-sleeves that stretch from their head and wave behind them as if alive.
The clothed tendrils lash out and pierce right through the bricks and with a sharp tug the ATM is priced right out of the wall.
The skinny clown laughs in glee as the tendrils hold up their prize. “Hahahaha! It’s payday!” Judging from the clown’s voice, Izuku can instantly tell that it’s a woman hidden under the very concealing and baggy clown costume.
Izuku easily puts two and two together, those clowns are actually those Circus Freaks he saw earlier. A group like them are not forgotten that quickly as they would think. ‘They must be using the circus as a way to get around and commit crimes without any witnesses. Is the rest of the circus in on it? Or is it just them?’ Izuku shakes his head. ‘It doesn't matter, they need to be stopped first. Answers can come later.’
But there’s another issue, there are no heroes around and even if he calls the police it’s going to take them a while to get here anyway. And by then these guys might be long gone.
So there’s only one thing he can do.
Izuku grips the Omnitrix. ‘Looks like it’s up to me.’ He stops dialing up an alien when a sudden thought occurs to him. ‘Maybe after I report the robbery to the police.’ This way by the time he stops them the police and the heroes will get here.
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The biggest of the disguised clowns, mostly likely that Thumbskull guy, notices a bright green flash from behind a nearby car after placing his loot inside their escape vehicle.
“What was that?”
He approaches the car, leaning over it to have a look only to be met by the sight of jagged fangs lunging at him.
“Wha!!” Thumbskull jumps back in fright just as a pair of powerful jaws snap shut.
Ripjaws growls and bares his teeth as the Freak backs away in fright.
“Good fishy. No reason to pick a fight.”
“I think there is.” Ripjaws smirks before jumping up and over the car, he throws his webbed-feet forward and just as he lands on Thumbskull, slamming him into the ground.
The fishman moves fast, faster than a fish-out-of-water should, right towards what he assumes are Acid Breath and Frightwig.
Acid Breath doesn’t react fast enough to fire off his Quirk when Ripjaws grabs his head and slams him face first into the asphalt.
“Too slow. Woah!” Ripjaws leaps away as Frightwig lashes out at him with her three-clothed tendrils.
Assuming that there are more tendrils inside the sleeves than he can see, Ripjaws opens his maw and catches one of the strands while using his free hands to catch the others midair. With his built-up momentum, he spins himself around and with it pulls the disguised Frightwig along before she’s tossed away, skidding across the street.
With the Freaks currently down, Ripjaws makes a move for their escape car, a van. He digs his claws into the side and tears the metal away like tinfoil revealing the stolen goods and money. He even bits down and rips away an entire wheel ensuring that they can’t escape.
Thumbskull doesn’t like that. “Hey, that’s our stuff!!” He doesn’t recognize this guy as a hero, so it must be another villain.
Acid Breath glares up at the fishman. “No, fish is going to steal my loot. Get him!!” Acid Breath takes a deep breath before releasing a steam of acidic gas.
The experienced hero student sees the attack coming from a mile away giving him plenty of time to get out of the acid cloud’s way by jumping on and off the van to gain some height.
The acidic breath melts away at the van and by extension all the stuff they stole.
“Now that wasn’t too smart.” Ripjaws lands right between the Circus Freak Trio.
He body checks Acid Breath from behind, and spins around to deliver a side kick that strikes Frightwig’s side, and while still in motion he delivers a swift backhand into Thumbskull knocking him away, too.
“You guys really need to clean up your acts.” Ripjaws grins from his little joke. “I mean for real; you all need to stop clowning around, Ha ha ha!”
Frightwig growls up at Ripjaws as she’s the first one to get back on their feet, which is a mistake. Because now she’s the first one to have the fishman’s full attention. “What’s the matter? Haven’t you seen someone as freaky as me before?”
“Believe it or not…yes.”
Part of Ripjaws wants to know, but the other part of him wants to end this. He charges right back in but Frightwig is ready as she lashes out at him with her sleeved-tendrils creating a temporary barrier between her and the Piscciss Volann.
In the meantime, Thumbskull and Acid Breath are back on their feet.
Thumbskull looks to his teammate for guidance. “Should we call the boss?”
“Are you crazy?!” Acid Breath snaps. “He’s busy feeding.” They need to finish this guy off on their own. “Come on!! It’s time for a fish fry!!”
Acid Breath rushes in and this time he’s ready letting out a large puff of green eerie smog at Ripjaws’ back.
Ripjaws can almost sense the oncoming attack, good thing too because he vaults himself to the side allowing the acidic smog to float on by. The cloud continues with its trajectory and melts away the side of the jewelry store.
The morphed Izuku grimaces at the fight. “I’m so glad I don’t have nostrils.” He can only imagine how bad that Acid Breath’s breath is, and he doesn’t want to imagine it.
He doesn’t have much time to collect himself as Thumbskull is soon upon him. Ripjaws barely has enough time to sidestep Thumbskull’s powerful fist as it smashes into the asphalt. “Dammit, you would have been roadkill.”
“And you’re fish food! Roahhh!!” Ripjaws pounces at Thumbskull but Frightwig’s animated hair wraps around his feet and pulls him down.
Ripjaws gawks in surprise before adrenaline kicks in, making him roll out of the way of Thumbskull’s oversized foot before he could crush Ripjaws’ skull. The Piscciss Volann uses his claws to sheer the hair wrapped around his legs, freeing himself and just in time too because Acid Breath is back and with another belch of horrific acidic smoke.
He needs some elbow room, so Ripjaws jumps up and onto the side of jewelry store, his sharp claws dig into the bricks and with a secure hold he begins to climb his way up the three-story building.
The Freaks watch on in anger as the fishman climbs his way to safety.
Thumbskull chuckles at the sight. “What do you call a fish that can climb?”
Acid Breath, for some reason, humors him. “What?”
“A catfish, Ha ha.” The lughead smiles, proud of his oh-so clever joke. “Get it? Because…cats climb but…fish don’t.”
The other two members of the Circus Freak Trio leer at their comrade through their clown masks, wondering why someone as stupid as him is part of their gang.
Meanwhile, Ripjaws is safe upon the roof; he’s taking deep desperate breaths. He’s been lucky up till now that his lack of water intake has finally started to take ahold. But if he doesn’t do anything soon, he’s going to choke on air.
No, in truth it would have been better if Izuku actually paid attention to which alien he dialed up. That’s what he gets for assuming the Omnitrix would just give him the correct alien every time. Lesson learned.
But right now he has a more pressing matter, he needs water! But where can he get it?!
He scans the street below and spots his oasis, a lone fire hydrant is stationed next to a patch of wild bushes and trees. Maybe he can sneak his way into the woods to get there, before the Freaks notice him.
Before he can enact his plan, Frightwig used her acrobatic skills to leap upon the roof and whip the fishman’s back making him stumble forward.
“You can’t just run away after what you did!” She jumps into the air, twirling her body around while stretching out her hair.
Her whirling hair uppercuts Ripjaws striking him so hard that he’s launched backwards and off the roof.
With sharp reflexes, Ripjaws jabs his claws into the side of the building, stopping his fall.
Acid Breath smiles up at Ripjaws. “You’d look good as a wall mount.” He releases a huge cloud of acid that climbs its way up towards the fishman.
Ripjaws kicks himself off the wall and lands atop a parked car, making its alarm blare out. He grabs at his neck as that familiar sense of choking strikes him. He needs water, and soon.
Frightwig uses her hair to scale the wall before she lands gracefully on her feet. “Aw, what’s the matter? Don’t you have a funny quip?”
Acid Breath grins. “Maybe the big mouth’s bitten off more than he can chew.”
Ripjaws glares at them, and he so would love to put the villains in their place, but first he needs water. No!! He needs to stop them first.
‘I don’t need it. I don’t need it.’ But it’s so close, just a few meters away is his key to even breath. ‘I definitely don’t need it.’ He doesn't need H2O he can get on just fine without it. It’s only ten minutes he can handle that. ‘I don’t need it. I don’t need it.’’ He chants this mantra in his head over and over as he turns to face the approaching villains.
They can tell that the fight’s in their favor now since they’re taking their time to get to him.
‘I don’t need it.’ He continues to chant even as he huffs and puffs from being out of breath.
…
“III NEEED IIIT!!!” Ripjaws’ will power gives out as he whirls right around and practically flies right towards the fire hydrant.
He’s so desperate for the life-giving liquid, he rips away the hydrant with just one bite releasing a geyser of water that crashes right into his gills. “Aw, sweet relief.”
“Got ya.” Thumbskull’s voice laughs out.
Before he knows it a flying car crashes right into the Piscciss Volann, launching them both into the bushes and thorns.
Thumbskull smiles from underneath his clown mask. “I got him!”
“You sure did.” Frightwig smirks.
Acid Breath laughs. “Let’s finish him.”
Before they can the sound of fast approaching sirens are heard in the distance.
Thumbskull gaps. “It’s the cops!”
“And mostly likely heroes, too.” Adds Frightwig.
“We need to go.” Acid Breath begins to run back towards the circus.
“What about the boss? He’s not going to like this.” Asks Thumbskull.
That’s actually a smart observation from Thumbskull of all people. Their boss really isn’t going to like how they’ll be returning empty handed except for heroes knocking on their doorstep. Oh, well the boss is smart enough to draw them away hopefully.
Acid breath frowns. “Come on, let’s get out of here.”
The Circus Freaks take off in sprints, or at least the best they can while wearing baggy clown costumes. Leaving behind an unconscious Izuku Midoriya to lie in the thorn bushes.
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“Hey, kid. Please, wake up. Kid!”
Izuku groans as his eyes blink open. “K-Kamui W-Woods?!”
“At your service.” Sure enough the pro hero, Kamui Woods, is standing over Izuku.
Izuku sits up and notices that he’s lying on the grass, the heroes must have pulled him free of the thorn bushes while he was unconscious. “W-what happened?”
He briefly checks himself over for any signs of injuries, it looks like he got out scot free other than a few scratches here and there. On the plus side, he has his black and green hoodie on, and he’s glad to find that it got out of the skirmish without a single tear. Looks like Power Loader was serious when he said that they laced the hoodie with a good amount of kevlar to help make it more durable.
“We were hoping you’d tell us.” States someone else.
Izuku peers around Kamui Woods and spots two other heroes: Mt. Lady and Death Arms as well as a patrol of police cars overseeing the crowds of people that are leaving the circus tent.
Death Arms was the one to ask Izuku for clarification.
Death Arms is a very tall, muscular man of a wide build, slightly-tanned skin, a square jaw, and spiked-short white hair. As part of his hero costume, he wears a large headband with a yellow and black-striped caution pattern, matching his thick wrist-guards and the belt. He wears a cyan-colored cardigan, which exposes his lower torso and the center of his pectorals. His pants are dark blue and baggy.
Mt. Lady casually checks out her finger nails not at all interested in being here. “Spill kid.”
Izuku’s eyes pop out. “Oh, yeah! It was the Freaks!”
Kamui Woods eyes Izuku oddly. “The freaks? Going to need more specifics than that.”
“The Freaks! The Circus Freaks, there’s three of them. They were the ones that robbed the jewelry store, car, and ATM. I saw them!” Well actually he saw and fought them, but that last part doesn’t matter. “I saw their Quirks and everything, they must have run back to the circus.”
Kamui Woods nods in understanding and heads off to inform the police officers, so they can all investigate and interrogate the said Circus Freaks.
In the meantime, Death Arms eyes Izuku suspiciously. “So, why did we find you pinned under a flipped car?”
‘Flipped car?!’ Wow, nice to know his hoodie was able to survive that too. “Um, that big guy, Thumbskull, threw it at me.”
“He threw it at you?” He scans Izuku up and down taking note of unscathed he is,
“Uh, I’m much more durable than I look.” Or at least Ripjaws is.
Soon after the heroes lead Izuku away towards the circus tent where they meet Kamui Woods and the police officers inside. They appear to have approached the Circus Freaks but as well as Zombozo who is explaining the situation.
Zombozo waves his arms about as he hams up his performance. “My dear officers there appears to be a misunderstanding. My valued employees couldn’t have been the ones to perform those heinous crimes, after all they were here performing to the audience!” He throws his hands up gesturing to the now empty bleachers. “If you’d like, please feel free to search the premise. I doubt you’ll find anything out of place.”
Kamui Woods stands tall trying to remain as the authority figure of the situation. “We’ll take you up on the offer.”
The police officers head off to investigate and with any luck they’ll turn up with something.
Death Arms crosses his arms as he looks at the suspicious Freaks. “Do you three have an alibi?”
“Of course.”
“Yeah.”
“We were here, performing.”
Izuku rushes in, he is not going to stand for this. “That’s a lie!”
Kamui Woods grabs Izuku’s shoulder and pulls him back. “Easy kid, let the adults handle this.”
“But they’re lying! I saw them robbing the jewelry store!”
The Freaks glare at Izuku. They don't know what this brat has against them, maybe he did see them take on the fishman.
Zombozo eyes Izuku with intrigue. “Are you sure about that?” He asks with a smile like he already knows the answer.
“Of course I am.”
Zombozo thrust his head forward, grinning madly, right into Izuku’s face, making the teen flinch as well as uncomfortable. “Really? Are you sure you saw them? Or are you just looking for attention.”
“Excuse me?”
“I get it, trust me, I mean I am a clown.” His entire living is about drawing in the attention of others. “And I like a good joke as much as the next guy, but you can’t just go around and throw accusations like that.” He leans in covering his mouth as if sharing a secret. “You may find yourself in a hole you can’t climb out of.”
That suspiciously sounds like a death threat.
Izuku backs away so the clown isn’t in his personal space. “But I’m not! They’re villains and I bet you’re in on it, too!”
“Oh, my.” Zombozo feigns being hurt. “You wound me!” He grins wildly. “But I’m a reasonable man. So, I say let’s bury the hatchet!”
Zombozo pulls out a cartoonishly large hatchet from seemingly out of nowhere, holding it over his head as he prepares to swing it down onto the teen’s head.
The startled heroes panic. “No, wait!!”
Izuku grips his Omnitrix just as Zombozo brings the hatchet down on him. But rather than his head getting chopped in two, the rubber hatchet harmlessly bounces right off.
The heroes, police, and Izuku blink in confusion as Zombozo cackles. “Hahahaha!!” He wipes his eye free of tears. “Sorry, I couldn’t resist. I am a clown after all.” He grins widely like that should explain everything.
Death Arms deadpans. ‘Talk about morbid.’
‘Creep.’ Thinks Mt. Lady.
“Excuse me.” Two of the police officers return.
“What is it officer?” greets Kamui Woods.
“We investigated the jewelry store for evidence, and we came upon this video surveillance system.” The officer holds up a laptop which begins to display video footage of a trio of criminals dressed as clowns robbing the store.
The clown costumes are big and baggy, easily disguising any obvious features of the robbers.
The other officer chimes in. “We also took statements from the audience and we can confirm that these…” He pauses when gesturing towards the strange looking Freaks. “circus performers were indeed on stage at the same time as the indicated time of the video.” He points to the video’s timestamp to confirm his point.
Izuku is totally stumped. “What?! That can’t be!”
Zombozo shrugs it off nonchalantly like. “See, what did I say?”
Kamui Woods eyes the video curiously before addressing the boy. “I can see why you were mistaken.”
“What?!” Izuku snaps.
Zombozo smirks. “It’s obvious isn’t it? What kind of villains would commit a robbery, in clown costumes, and next to a circus?” Clearly the villains used the circus to their advantage to frame the circus for their crimes. “The real thieves are still out there. How awful, especially after they tried framing my poor innocent employees.” Zombozo pouts as he pulls down Thumbskull and pinches the giant’s cheek.
Thumbskull nervously smiles, trying to look as innocent as possible. And somehow, it’s working. Mt. Lady cups her chin in thought. “Makes sense to me.”
Izuku is absolutely stunned. “You can’t actually believe him!!”
“Quiet kid, after all you lied to us.” growls Death Arms.
“Huh?!”
Kamui Woods nods. “He’s right. You said you saw these three robbing the bank, when you really saw three people disguised as clowns.”
“But I know it was them! I saw their Quirks!” Izuku is completely astounded, are these professional heroes seriously considering this excuse!?
“For shame.” Zombozo frowns, shaking his head in disapproval.
Izuku can’t help but feel nervous as a cold shiver runs down his spine.
“Kids these days, always jumping to the wrong conclusions.” Zombozo shakes his finger at Izuku like a parent scolding a child. “I am very ashamed in you, young man.”
“Huh?”
Zombozo grabs at his suit, adjusting his collar. “You see, I provide an opportunity for people with odd mutations such as my precious flunkies.” He gestures towards said flunkies who all smile, but it comes off as awkward rather than comforting. “I give them purpose, a place to stay, and allow them to use their special gifts to bring smiles into this world!” Zombozo grins happily. “Doesn’t that sound nice?”
Kamui Woods agrees, finding the clown’s motives to be quite admirable. “It does.” He drops his kind demeanor as he turns his attention onto Izuku. “As for you. You can’t judge people based off their appearances!!”
“I-I’m not.” Izuku is restored to his usual nervous self. His mind trying to figure out how the tables could have been turned on him so quickly.
“No excuses!” Kamui Woods is really annoyed now. “You’ve not only distracted us from pursuing the real criminals, but you falsely accused these carnies just because they’re different.” He folds his arms and shakes his head. “Shameful.”
“But I-”
Zombozo cuts in before Izuku could defend himself. “Oh, it’s no harm done. This young man was just trying to do his civic duty.” He grins and wraps his arm around Izuku’s shoulders. The boy stiffens up in fright, he can smell the clown foul breath, as Zombozo leans in closer. “Perhaps now he’ll learn not to stick his nose where it doesn’t belong.” For comedic effect, Zombozo squeezes his own blue clown nose, it squeaks in response, but Izuku doesn’t find it at all charming.
The clown, thankfully, releases the boy. “But I would hate to think that you fine heroes wasted a trip all the way out here. So, as a sign of good will. You can all feel free to stick around for our next show! It should be starting in another hour or so.”
“I’d be happy to take you up on that offer.” Kamui Woods accepts the offer, but more likely he accepts the invitation out of politeness.
“Same.” adds Death Arms.
Mt. Lady shrugs. “Sure, why not?”
The clown turns his smiling face to the nervous and stunned greenette. “The offer goes for you, too, boy.”
No way in hell is he going to stick around. But more importantly, how could the heroes just brush him off so easily?! Can’t they see that these guys are up to no good?! They should be hounding them, not him!!
He needs to get out of here, this is all too much.
Death Arms calls out to Izuku as he runs right out of the tent. “Hey, don’t you walk away!”
At least he’s being attenuative because the heroine of the group is completely uninterested twirling her hair around with her fingers.
Zombozo waves it off. “Oh, let the boy go. He meant no harm, he’s probably just a bit embarrassed.” He chuckles. “Ha, he’s really got to learn to just laugh things off!”
“Right, well anyway.” Kamui Woods rubs his head sheepishly as he turns to Zombozo. “Sorry to bother you.”
With nothing else to say, the heroes and the police officers leave the tent as Zombozo and his Freaks wave them off.
The moment the heroes are gone Zombozo drops his facade. “Meet me in the back.” He growls as he turns to face the cowering Freaks. “We need to have a little chat.”
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
“Where is she?” Izuku asks mostly to himself as he circles around the main circus tent.
Things are really not going Izuku’s way. First, he got his ass handed to him by literal clowns. He's been dismissed as a nuisance by his own local heroes. And finally, he just can’t seem to find his own mother.
He’s been searching for her all over the place, even making his way to their parked car to make sure she didn’t leave without him. Not that she would ever do that, of course. But the longer it takes to find her, the more freaked out Izuku becomes.
‘Come on, Mom. Where are you?’
This is bad, what if the Freaks got to her?! Hell is she freaking out herself?! She’s been way more wired than lately, and the show’s been over for a while now. There’s no doubt she’d be panicking, crying her eyes out, because she lost her darling baby boy!
“I should call her.” He hastily grabs his phone and begins dialing, hopefully she’s fine and he’s just somehow walking past her without realizing it. “Pick up. Pick up. Pick up.”
The phone’s ringing and he prays that she answers, but the worst happens. “This is Inko Midoriya. I can’t answer your call at the mo-”
“Shit!” He hangs up. ‘Come on, Mom. Where are you?’
“You morons!! Buffoons!!”
That’s Zombozo’s voice, and he sounds angry.
Izuku scans the area and notices a little back entrance to the circus tent. He tiptoes his way over and peeks inside through the curtains. Inside he sees what appears to be the backstage area of the circus with stored props, makeup tables and mirrors, and other circus-related items. But what really has Izuku’s attention is the mad clown that’s shouting at the trio of circus Freaks.
“Do you have any idea how close we were to being caught?!”
The Freaks cower in fear. “Sorry boss.”
“Sorry?!” Zombozo strikes each of them with one long slap. “Sorry, doesn't make us rich or powerful.” He grabs Acid Breath by the collar, pulling him in so close that Zombozo’s nose is squeezed between them. “You listen here. Because of your blunder we have no loot, and we have unwanted attention by pro heroes!!” He shoves Acid Breath away. “You’re lucky your disguises threw them off.”
Talk about hiding in plain sight: the idea was that if they were caught, none of the heroes would suspect the circus because it would look like they were being set up. Which of course worked out in their own favor.
Acid Breath growls. “But boss!”
“It was that fish freaks’ fault.” Finishes Thumbskull.
“And that brat!” Frightwig adds.
Zombozo scowls at them, silencing them with a single look. “I don’t care who’s fault it is, I just want it fixed!!” The mad clown drags a hand down his face, releasing an exasperated sigh. “At least it’s not a complete loss, that last show was really…satisfying.” He licks his lips as if savoring the taste of a delicious meal.
And Izuku picks up on it. ‘Wh-What…does he mean?’
Acid Breath tries to look as non-threatening as possible. “Look boss we’re sorry. We screwed up.”
Thumbskull nods looking mighty ashamed as well. “Yeah, we can go rob more stuff.”
Zombozo shakes his head. “No, you can’t.”
“Why not?”
“Because idiot! We now have the heroes on guard.” They can’t pull anything otherwise they risk being found out. But they are not the only ones they need to worry about. “That fish freak is still out there too. No to mention that kid.” The clown strokes his chin. “I didn’t like that look in his eye. Like he’s not going to let this go. And that can be very bad for us.”
Frightwig asks the million-dollar question. “Then what do we do?”
“Nothing.” Zombozo states rather simply and calmly. “For now we just act like everything is normal. We put on our next show and then move on. This place is a bust anyway.”
Izuku sighs, relieved that he did effectively stop their potential crime spree.
However, that feeling soon vanishes as Acid Breath brings up some new information. “Hey, boss. What about the hostages?”
It feels like everything has gone cold, even his heart stops beating for a moment. ‘Hos…hostages…?’
Zombozo acts like the question wasn’t out of place for them. “Just follow procedure. Just be sure to keep them quiet, we don’t need the heroes to find out about our little operation.”
Izuku is literally panicking, sweat buckets as he scrambles for his phone. ‘Oh, God. Please don’t let it be her!!’
His mind keeps telling him the worst possible outcome, but he refuses to believe it! She has to be okay! She just has to be!
Her phone’s ringing! And it’s close!! Oh thank God! Wait…
Izuku slowly reels around and peeks back into the tent and what he sees shakes him to his very core.
Izuku watches in horror as Zombozo picks up his mother’s phone off the floor. “I thought I told you morons to get rid of these!” He tosses the phone towards the Freaks.
“Acid Breath, get rid of it! We can’t leave any evidence behind.”
Izuku is absolutely horrified as a feeling of uselessness and helplessness washes over him just as the phone melts away along with any sign of Inko Midoriya’s presence.
Izuku feels like he’s going to hurl as tears leak out of his eyes. He has to get away from here and fast! So, he takes off running his thoughts filled with images of unspeakable terror his mother must be going through. This is the worst thing that could happen!! What’s he supposed to do?! The heroes aren’t going to take him seriously without proof, same for the police. And he’s totally outnumbered by those Freaks. And now, now because he had to get wrapped up in all this his own mother, the only parent that’s been a constant throughout his life, is gone. And he’s helpless to do anything about… he’s back to being the weak, useless Deku from a year ago.
But…he’s not that useless Deku anymore. He’s the Deku that can do anything! If the heroes won’t help him then he’ll just have to take matters into his own hands. Besides it’s his mother that’s in danger, he should be the one to save her!
But maybe not by himself. If he runs into all those circus villains at once, his chances of winning will be too slim. He needs backup, but who? Thirteen is still recovering so they’re out. And Magister Nezu’s been far too busy with preparations for the Sports Festival so fat chance of him even picking up his phone. But there is one person that lives relatively close, and he knows that they will have his back.
So with a lot to lose, Izuku makes a quick call. “Please, please, please pick up.”
“Hello, Deku?”
“Oh, Uraraka.” He’s so happy to hear a friendly voice that he could cry. “I-I’m s-so happy to hear your voice.”
He can almost hear Ochaco blushing from the opposite end. “W-What?! Is something the matter?’
“Y-yeah. Listen I need your help.” His voice drops in sorrow.
“Um, sure with what?”
“Okay, I’m at the circus at the edge of town. Can you make it here within the next hour?”
“…Wait, which circus?”
“Zombozo’s Traveling Circus of Laughs. Why?”
“Hang on.” She ends the call then and there.
Did she just hang up on him? How rude! What’s with that?!
“Deku?”
Izuku freezes up. That didn’t come from his phone. He turns around and comes face to face with his very good friend, Ochaco.
…
“I’M SO HAPPY TO SEE YOU!!” The wielder of the Omnitrix practically throws himself at her, wailing at the top of his lungs as streams of tears flow freely down his cheeks.
Ochaco struggles to free herself from Izuku’s crushing hug. “Woah, Deku?! What’s the matter?!”
Before Izuku can form a reply a second much younger voice interrupts. “Stop crying will ya. Sheesh, and people say that I whine a lot.”
Izuku sniffs peering down at the little girl holding onto Ochaco’s hand. “Oh, I remember you. ML-E right?”
Sure enough, accompanying Ochaco is the little Kineceleran girl that they both met at Mr. Baumann’s store a while back.
“The one and only.” ML-E waves up at Izuku as he finally releases Ochaco.
Izuku eyes the two of them. “Wait, did you two come here together?”
Ochaco smiles. “Hehe, yeah. After I moved into my new apartment, I needed some extra cash. So, I talked to Thirteen and they got in contact with ML-E’s mom for me and I’ve been babysitting for her ever since.” And it’s been great.
“Oh, good for you.”
ML-E thinks so too. “Yeah, she’s great. Ochan is so cool and fun!”
Ochaco is smiling brightly in response to the compliment. “Why, thank you.”
Wow, Izuku can almost see the praise inflating her ego.
“But I can’t be the only one with all the praise.”
Izuku raises an eyebrow. “Why’s that?”
“Because ML-E here is essentially my meal-ticket!!” Ochaco’s smile shines like the sun as she holds up the little Kineceleran like she’s a prized possession. And ML-E is more than happy to be treated as such.
“Don’t say things like that!!” Izuku cries out, looking around to make sure nobody hears and takes it the wrong way.
“But it’s true!! Thanks to her, I’ve been raking in the dough!!” At least for what a babysitting job can get you, but it’s more than enough. “She’s why I was able to get a new phone! And she’s even the reason I was able to afford your hoodie!” She finally seems to notice that he is wearing the very same hoodie. “Oh, it looks like Power Loader fixed it already.”
“Oh, yeah he did.” Izuku grins as he pulls at the hoodie’s end so Ochaco can have a proper look. “It’s laced with kevlar so it's much more durable.” Hang on a minute. “Wait!! No! There was something I needed to tell you.”
Izuku proceeds to explain the whole situation to them both starting at the very beginning. From how his mom wanted to bring him here, to him witnessing the Freaks rob the jewelry store, how Zombozo is totally in on it and is running the gang, and finally how they’ve kidnapped his own mother for some nefarious purpose.
“Oh, my gosh! That’s horrible!” Ochaco gasps as she reaches for her phone. “We have to call the heroes.”
“I already tried that.” Izuku replies. “They didn’t believe me.”
“What?!”
“Boo! Boo!” ML-E boos in response; what kind of heroes don’t do their job properly?
Ochaco worriedly looks around in case the Freaks show up. “So, what are you planning to do now?”
Izuku slumps back against the chain link fence, flopping onto the ground. “I…I don’t know.”
“I thought you guys were heroes.” ML-E states this like it’s the most obvious thing in the world.
“Huh?”
“Ochan said you two are hero students or something, right? So, shouldn’t you stop the bad guys?”
Izuku shakes his head in defeat. “It’s not that simple.” How can he properly explain this to her?
Ochaco strikes her chin. “Or maybe it is.”
“Huh?”
“Deku, we’ve fought real villains before. We survived the U.S.J. Incident, I think we can handle a few clowns.”
“But their Quirks are dangerous.”
“And you analyzed them, right?”
“Of course.” he pulls out his Quirk Analysis Notebook and opens it up revealing the notes he was able to jot down about them.
“Then we have enough info to make a plan.” Ochaco reaches her hand out to her friend. “Come on Deku. We can do this?”
“Yeah!” cheers ML-E.
“What’s the worst that could happen?” Ochaco asks naively.
Izuku smiles up at her. She’s right they’re more than enough to take on these Freaks. Together they'll show them what experienced Space Cadets/Hero Course students can really do. All they need now is a plan.
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
The same carny from before waves his cane around as he herds the crowd inside for the next show. “Step right in folks! For Zombozo’s Traveling Circus of Laughs!! Step right in, we promise you’ll be knocked dead just from laughing!”
Mt. Lady chews away at her popcorn. “It sure is a big crowd.”
“No kidding.” Death Arms marches on taking in the large crowd around them. He notices how Kamui Woods is holding himself. “What’s with you?”
The Arbor Quirked hero is acting like a weight is sitting upon his shoulders. “I was just thinking about that kid. He sure seemed really upset.”
Mt. Lady swallows her food. “I wouldn’t worry about it. Kids like him are just after attention.”
‘You would know, wouldn’t you?’ thinks Death Arms.
Kamui Woods chuckles as if sensing Death Arms’ thoughts, but while he’s distracted, he accidentally bumps into someone from behind. “Oh, pardon me. I’m so sorry.”
A blue-skinned raptor wearing a yellow poncho peers around and upon laying his eyes on the hero a look of worry flashes across the reptile’s face. “It’s okay, no harm done.”
The reptile walks away pulling along what the hero assumes is the reptile’s little sister behind him.
XLR8 and ML-E are able to catch up to Ochaco.
“Deku, are you okay?”
“Yeah, I’m fine.” At least he thinks so, his heart’s racing though. Somehow, he forgot that the heroes would be here too.
In all fairness, they did only have twenty minutes to throw together a plan. Basically, Izuku bought them three tickets to get inside, and then he transformed into XLR8 and threw on a poncho to hide the Omnitrix. And since both ML-E and him are the same species, it would hopefully help sell the disguise that they are just a pair of siblings tagging along with a friend on a trip to the circus.
As they near the entrance, they pass up the Freaks’ stage where the Circus Freak Trio are performing their acts once again for the waiting audience. But they seem to be more on edge than last time, they’re constantly scanning the crowd as if looking out for any unwanted intruders, mainly Ripjaws or Izuku.
ML-E points up at them. “Are those the Freaks?”
“Yeah.” nods the older Kineceleran.
Acid Breath, once again, melts away a metal bar and anvil with a single breath.
Ochaco gags. “Ew.”
ML-E however has a different reaction. “Cool!”
XLR8 pulls ML-E along a little faster, the sooner they’re inside the better. Ochaco hurriedly follows along, she just wants to get away from the Freaks, that guy with a toenail growing out of his forehead is disturbing to her.
They eventually make their way inside and just in time too as Izuku’s Omnitrix times out, thankfully the poncho was big enough to cover up most of the flashing red light and his sudden transformation.
The show goes the same as last time with acrobatics and daredevils. But Izuku can’t bring himself to enjoy the show, he’s far too nervous. Although he can’t help but laugh at how similar Ochaco’s reaction is to his mom’s after the puppies came out to perform.
Finally. After what feels like forever Zombozo takes center stage.
With Zombozo distracted on stage, this will be their best chance to search the premise for Inko and the other hostages.
“Alright, let’s go.” Leading them under the bleachers, as the audience laughs away at Zombozo’s act.
From there they sneak their way under the tent sheet and find themselves among the empty food stalls and carnival games.
“This is so cool!” ML-E quietly cheers.
Ochaco suddenly remembers something. “Um, hey ML-E.”
“Yeah?”
“You’re not going to tell your mom about this are you?”
ML-E stares up at her babysitter as if expecting something.
Ochaco sighs in defeat, digging into her pocket, before handing the little girl some cash.
ML-E happily accepts, making a gesture of locking her lips and throwing away the key.
Ochaco, however, greatly dislikes the taste of being blackmailed by a six-year-old.
The trio snake through the thankfully empty stalls, checking each one for any sign of hostages. As Ochaco crawls around a stall she quickly jumps back before she’s spotted by Thumbskull.
The trio sneak a peek, The Freaks look like they’re patrolling the circus grounds. They’re probably keeping an eye out for any intruders, they probably think Izuku or Ripjaws are going to try and sneak back in.
Looks like they’re going to have to be more careful, if they get drawn into a fight, they might lose their chance to rescue Izuku’s mom.
As they quietly sneak behind a carnival tent Izuku is too busy keeping his eye on the Freaks that he fails to notice the wire strung tightly off the ground, and he trips right over it slamming into several boxes that clatter against the ground.
The Freaks spin around and smile when they spot the very intruder they were ordered to find.
“Hahahaha, look who it is boys.” Frightwig smiles wickedly. “Looks like someone wants to see the show without buying a ticket.”
Izuku gulps. “Oops.”
“Get out of here, Deku!” Without waiting, Ochaco charges the Freaks. “I’ve got them!”
The Freaks are definitely surprised by the sudden appearance of another kid.
“Stupid girl!” shouts Thumbskull.
“Get out of our way.” growls Acid Breath.
“Hm, na.” Ochaco states with a smirk as she raises her fists for a fight.
With the Freaks occupied Izuku grabs ML-E and takes off. “ML-E come on!”
Frightwig spots Izuku fleeing the scene. One of her hair-tendrils lash out and swing her up and over the stalls, she twirls in the air, and leaps from stall top to stall top chasing after Izuku and ML-E.
With a flip, Frightwig whips her hair at Izuku’s back. The Hero Course student acts quickly shoving ML-E away as he jumps back allowing the tendril to whip between them.
Frightwig lands between the two, effectively separating them from each other. She leers down at Izuku with a sadistic smirk. “I think I’ll convince the boss to let me keep you. You’d make a good laborer.” She whips her hair. “Or at least a nice little play thing.”
The way she licks her lips makes Izuku very uncomfortable.
Frightwig chuckles at the sight of Izuku’s nervous expression, she is so going to enjoy this.
A little blue blur spins around her feet, as if a mini tornado decided to target her, making her stumble and throwing her back into a stack of boxes filled with soda.
A little Kineceleran laughs at the sight of a grown woman being humiliated by a six-year-old.
“ML-E!” scolds Izuku, what is she doing?! She should be running away not running into danger. That’s his thing!
ML-E doesn’t see the issue. “What? It’s fine. Besides I’m way faster than her, she’ll never hit me.”
Frightwig growls. “Why you little-” Before she can even get back up ML-E speeds over and whacks her with her tail before running back to Izuku.
Izuku blinks as Frightwig rubs her head. “O-okay…just don’t let her catch you. And run back to Uraraka when it gets bad.”
ML-E grin. “Okay!”
Izuku runs off to a nearby Mirror Maze that’s located next to the main circus tent, if there’s any place they could hide hostages it might just be in there.
He must be on the right track because Frightwig isn’t going to let him just stroll in. “Oh, no you don't’!” She whips her hair out at Izuku but ML-E spins around her feet again and throws the woman off balance.
As Frightwig lands onto the ground, ML-E smiles and blows a raspberry before running away as a little blue-blur.
“Get back here you little shit!!” Frightwig uselessly chases after what she assumes is a little girl with a Mutation type Quirk.
Meanwhile, a weightless Ochaco jumps atop a small tent to get away from Thumbskull’s fists. She then leaps away to another tent as the one she was on melts away from Acid Breath’s breath. Ochaco releases her Quirk as she slides down the side of the tent and takes off running and just in time too as Thumbskull charges right through, missing her by just a hair.
“Hold still!”
“Ha, you really are a clown!” laughs Ochaco as she sprints away. “Because that was funny!”
Thumbskull growls as Acid Breath chases after her.
Ochaco ducks behind a row of carnival games, as Acid Breath runs on by. She crawls low against the ground until she comes upon a strength test game with an oversized wooden mallet.
She smirks mischievously at the sight of the potential weapon.
Acid Breath continues to scan through the various carny games, but he just can’t seem to find her.
“Looking for someone?”
Acid Breath frowns peering around for the annoying girl but she’s nowhere in sight.
“Yoo-hoo!” A grinning Ochaco jumps down from her perch with a weightless giant mallet in her hands.
Acid Breath looks up, opening his mouth to ready an attack.
Ochaco swings the huge mallet down on to Acid Breath. The mallet smashes right into the side of the Freak’s head, a few of his teeth fly out, as his entire body spins in the air before he crashes onto the ground.
Ochaco presses her fingertips against the huge mallet and then heaves it onto her shoulder and smiles at Acid Breath’s still form. “And then there was one.”
“Rah!” Thumbskull crashes through a food stall.
He takes a few swings at Ochaco, but she twists her body in order to move herself out of the way. She holds out her mallet and swings around, hopefully with this momentum she can take out the hug lug with one hit. She swings around and BAM the mallet collides with Thumbskull’s skull.
“Gah!!” Thumbskull yelps as the mallet collides into his face, he keels over as he holds his head.
With his guard down, Ochaco presses her fingers onto the huge Freak’s shoulder and a pink glow emanates out. Ochaco then swings her mallet like a golf club right into Thumbskull’s chin and because of the Zero-Gravity he gets launched into the air, spinning uncontrollably.
When he gets high enough, Ochaco releases her Quirk and watches as Thumbskull plummets downward landing right into a dunktank of all things.
Ochaco picks up the mallet, admiring how effective of a weapon it turned out to be. “Maybe I should hold on to this… you know, just in case.”
Meanwhile, ML-E continues to zigzag her way from stall to stall, from hiding spot to hiding spot as Frightwig lashes out and misses her every single time.
“Hold still!! You little brat!!”
ML-E pops her head out of a barrel, and tee-hee’s the annoyed Freak.
“Rahh!!” Frightwig lashes out all of her tendrils.
ML-E smirks as the hair appears to be moving in slow-motion, at least to her. She grabs a strand and runs straight for Frightwig, she then spins around her while still holding onto the strand of hair.
“Woah! What are you-Ah!” Frightwig falls over as ML-E finishes wrapping her up in her own hair.
“Woah-woo! That was fun!” cheers ML-E.
“ML-E!” Ochaco comes running, dragging her large mallet behind her. “Are you okay?”
“Yup!”
Ochaco releases a relieved sigh. “Oh, thank goodness.”
ML-E holds her hand out, waiting for Ochaco to hand something over.
The older girl raises an eyebrow. “What?”
ML-E clenches her hand before opening it again.
Ochaco lets out an exasperated sigh as she digs out her wallet and hands over some more cash to the six-year-old. Hopefully this will ensure that she keeps quiet about all this and doesn’t tell her mom that she fought a villain.
But she can’t be too upset, now they’ve given themselves a better chance of saving the hostages and helping Deku. Wherever he is.
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
Izuku bumps his head first into another mirror. This is really starting to get irritating; he’s been running into nothing, but dead-ends and he’s so turned around he can’t even find the exit. It doesn’t help that this place is so dark and devoid of life, but Izuku just can’t shake the feeling that he’s being watched.
All he can do is keep going with only his reflections to keep him company. The reflection that follows him from mirror to mirror copying his every move…at least until his reflections are replaced by images of a disturbed clown.
“Huh?!” Izuku gasps as he reels back in fright as the reflections of Zombozo smile gleefully at him through the glass mirrors.
“Well, hello again, son!” Shouts the disturbed clowns. “I knew from when I first saw you that you’d be a barrel full of laughs!”
The reflections of the mad clown run off leaving behind the very confused and startled boy.
Izuku chases after them, there just might be a chance that they’ll lead him to the exit or at least the hostages. He’ll just have to be ready to fight off the clown in order to get out. Or he would if he doesn’t hit another dead-end.
“Hey Mr. Serious.” Zombozo’s floating head appears in the mirror in front of Izuku’s face. “How about a smile?” His grin somehow stretches past what’s capable of a human.
Izuku backs away in horror as each mirror surrounding him displays a towering Zombozo of their own. “What is this?!”
“I’m a clown kid, haven’t you ever heard of magic?” As to prove his point, the reflections are somehow able to reach out of the mirrors. “Now why don’t you give me a hand?”
Before Izuku can finish processing, what’s happening the many cold-dead hands grab at him and begin to pull him, throwing him around between reflection to reflection all the while laughing in his face. After being flung around so fast and hard Izuku takes a tumble landing hard on his rear.
Before he can reach for the Omnitrix, the reflections reach out and prop him up before restraining his arms.
“So, what’s your story? Why are you being so persistent?”
“Let go!” screams Izuku as he struggles to free himself but the Zombozo reflections are much stronger than they look. “And give me back my Mom!!”
“Oh, so that’s it, isn’t it?” An oddly colored version of Zombozo steps out of his mirror standing before Izuku with a mad grin and a gleam of mischievousness in his eye. “You want your dear old mommy back! Hahahaha!” Zombozo strolls forward swaying side to side. “You know what! I’ll take you to your mommy!” He grabs Izuku’s head, pulling him by his hair so they can be at eye level. “And when I do…I want to see you smile with joy!” Zombozo’s devilish smile stretches cartoonishly wide before he gives a hard shove.
Izuku yelps as he falls backward except, he doesn’t land on the ground, instead he's plummeting into an endless void of darkness!
“Ahhh!!” screams Izuku. What the hell is going on?! Is this Zombozo’s Quirk at work?! It has to be. “Oof!!” His gut landed right on a trapeze of all things.
Izuku groans as he adjusts himself, but his hand slips. “Woah!” Thankfully he’s able to securely grip the trapeze, although now he’s just dangling there helplessly.
“Hahahaha!”
Izuku peers up to find Zombozo standing atop of the trapeze.
The clown smiles down at Izuku. “You better hold on!” He grins madly as he makes hand scissors and with one snip, he cuts the rope with his fingers alone.
“Yahhhh!!” Izuku screams in terror as he falls towards a fiery ring below.
The fiery ring morphs and shifts becoming a large flaming image of Zombozo’s grinning face. The flaming clown opens his maw as if gulping Izuku up with one flaming bite.
Izuku shields his eyes as he continues to spiral in the air until he crashes onto something thin and sticky.
Izuku peeks his eyes open and finds himself bound to a giant eerie green spider web. And a giant spider is crawling towards him.
The spider lurks above him, but what’s most disturbing about the creepy-crawly is that its head is actually Zombozo’s only it’s upside down amplifying the scare factor.
“Come on, kid! You really got to learn to loosen up! Crack a smile! Laugh a little!” The mutated spider presses his sharp pincers against Izuku’s neck. “It’s what keeps me going.” His grin somehow widens before he rears his sharp pincers back and slashes downward.
Izuku shuts his eyes expecting the worst but instead the spider cuts his own web and Izuku plummets down even further.
Thankfully he lands on what he believes is solid ground as an uproar of laughter echoes around him.
Izuku groans, taking in his surroundings. Somehow, he ended up in the middle of the circus tent and during the show no less because the audience are still seated, laughing away at what they think is a performance.
‘What’s wrong with them? Can’t they see what’s going on here?’
A bright spotlight shines down on Zombozo who’s laughing down at Izuku’s prone form. “What a performance kid! You’re really killing ‘em! Hahahahaha!”
The audience laugh along with Zombozo. The clown’s eerie blue orbs glow as the audience laughs leading Izuku to assume that whatever’s going on it has to do with him!
Izuku crawls away from the terrifying clown. He needs to get away and form a real plan! He needs to find his Mom! He needs to stop this psychotic clown!
Zombozo kicks his feet and he begins to float in the air, following Izuku without having to take a step. “Now don’t tell me you have stage fright!”
Izuku glares up at the clown and immediately begins to laugh. “Hahaha!”
He clasps his hands over his mouth to stop himself from laughing, but he just can’t seem to stop. He shakes his head violently and finally he’s able to rid himself of his giggling fit. “What…just…happened?”
“Hahahahaha! You know, you’re a lot of fun.” Zombozo soars into the air, holding his arms out for the continuously laughing audience. “Tell me, do you know what I’m after?”
Izuku glares up at the clown again, only to enter another fit of laughter. With a shake of his head, he's able to stop. “I…don’t know…money maybe.”
“Hahaha! Ah, wrong!” Zombozo slips down to Izuku. “I want what any clown worth his floppy shoes wants; to make people laugh!” He towers over Izuku, and all his features become cartoonishly monstrous with a large head, sharp fingers, and crooked teeth. “Then drain their positive energy like a sponge in a pool party!” he deflates back to his normal size. “Is that so wrong?” He asks innocently enough.
Izuku is able to speak, but he doesn't peer up at the clown as he speaks. “There’s more to it, isn’t there?” After all neither the heroes nor the actual audience are reacting; they’ve been laughing nonstop, that can’t be healthy for them.
“Oh, you really are a sharp one, aren’t ya?” Zombozo twirls and flies up into the air and the spotlights follow his every move. “But yes! It’s my Quirk: PsyClown! Isn’t that right, folks?!”
The audience laughs even harder so much so that some of them are coughing and choking from the lack of oxygen intake.
“PsyClown allows me to drain the positive energy of others through their own laughter!” With a pop he comes cartoonishly monstrous again. “But that’s not all it can do!!” With a snap of his fingers the upper half of the circus tent lights up.
Izuku looks up and spots a broken trapeze dangling over a hoop of fire, which is positioned over a slashed-up safety net. Izuku puts two and two together, the clown somehow messed with his sense of perception. ‘Can he make illusions?’
Zombozo flies around among the stage props. “What do you think I do with all this positive energy?! I make it my own to bend the laws of physics to my will!” He rockets down and whispers the following into Izuku’s ear. “But between you and me, my favorite trick is to make mirages. Ha ha ha!” he soars back into the air, throwing his hand out as bright sparkling lights spark in front of the audience.
Izuku glares up at the clown only to spontaneously laugh again! He throws his head down as he tries to catch his breath. ‘PsyClown? That explains why no one can stop laughing. And it explains so much more. Like that hatchet from earlier was definitely real, he must have messed with the object’s elasticity. And those reflections were just mirages and so were the other terrifying imagery I had to go through.’
Zombozo glides over the audience. “Soon I will have stockpiled enough power and I will be strong enough to do whatever I please!”
He’ll be able to collapse buildings with a little love tap! Make money erupt out of bank vaults! And most importantly. “Not even All Might will be able to touch me!”
Izuku finally jumps back up to his feet. “I’m going to stop you-Hahahaha!!” he covers his mouth and looks away to catch his breath.
Zombozo smirks down at the boy. “Oh, really? Allow me to give you a full demonstration of my power!” A new spotlight snaps on. “Look up will ya.”
Izuku does look up, and his heart drops at what he finds.
His mother is all tied up in a thin rope, dangling high up in the air as an almost lifeless corpse. The only sign that she’s still alive is that every now and then she lets out a weak wheeze that is supposed to be a laugh.
“Mom!!”
“Oh, so that is your mommy.” Zombozo flies up and examines Inko’s features. “I can see the resemblance. But it surprises me that you care about her.”
“What?!”
The crazy clown lowers back down to Izuku’s level. “Do you know how we pick our hostages?”
“Because you’re a sick freak?” snaps Izuku.
“Hahaha! Nope!” Zombozo is pleasantly surprised by the kid’s foul language. “We pick out those that we assumed had come alone! This way no one would be looking for them for some time, giving me the opportunity to completely drain them of their energy!” he whispers this next part. “And their lives.”
‘No… Mom…’ He didn’t mean to leave her alone. He just…he just wanted to be the hero… But what does it matter if she gets…if she gets killed? ‘Is this what Mr. Aizawa meant?’ That if he acts recklessly, he’d put himself and his loved ones in danger? It must be, and he failed to learn his lesson. Because Izuku did leave her behind, and now…now she may just lose her life because of him, her own son. But if he got them into this mess then he’ll be the one to get them out.
“Not if I can stop it!” Izuku grips his Omnitrix, the faceplate pops up, and he raises up his right hand. “It’s hero time!”
He slams his hand down onto the alien device and it immediately gets to work.
Izuku can feel his body shifting, becoming smaller and smaller as a staticky surge of energy sparks within him.
“Buzzshock bzzz!” The Megawatt glares up at the tall villain. “You’re going down clown, hahaha bzzz!” He enters another laughing fit, even so that doesn’t stop him from launching out sparks of electricity.
The sparks harmlessly bounce off the grinning mad man. “I told you kid; I can bend the laws of physics to my will.” Well, depending on how much energy he has stored up anyway.
“Hahaha bzzz!” Buzzshock keeps it up out of frustration, he floats upward as he continually fires off bolt after bolt of electricity.
Zombozo however is completely unaffected even going as far to seem bored, yawning into his hand.
Buzzshock keeps it up until he has to stop and try in vain to regain his breath after laughing for so long.
“My turn!” Zombozo pulls out the same hatchet from before out of his pocket.
Buzzshock grimaces in fright as Zombozo takes a swing at him. Fortunately, the little alien is far too small and fast for the clown to land a hit. “Stay still now! I only want to axe you a question!”
He takes another swing at the little nuisance, he of course misses. With an opening to strike, the giggling Nosedeenian fires off another bolt of sparks. The shock is strong enough to break Zombozo’s hold and the hatchet goes spiraling through the air landing within the bleachers. Thankfully without burying itself into someone’s head.
With his weapon gone, the psychotic clown takes a deep breath and then blows out a hurricane wind that blows Buzzshock away.
Buzzshock harmlessly bounces off the side of the tent, he then zips downward taking cover behind the laughing audience.
Zombozo flies over trying to locate the little nuisance. “Sorry, kid. I sell the tricks; I don’t buy them!” He floats over the audience trying to see if he can spot the transforming hero wannabe.
Meanwhile, said hero wannabe is small enough that he can run along the bleachers without standing out. And he’s making a beeline for the immobilized and laughing pro heroes.
“Come on, guys bzzz. This isn’t funny anymore bzzz!” He floats up and knocks his little fist against Kamui Wood’s helmet, but he gets no reaction.
The hero just continues laughing away in pain.
“I’m sorry about this bzzz.” Buzzshock sticks his finger out and releases a tiny static shock into the hero’s side.
The hero jolts up a bit in his seat, but he doesn’t stop laughing.
“What tha bzzz?” Buzzshock lowers himself back down and observes the other two heroes.
They seem to be in the exact same state, laughing, unmoving, and unable to take their eyes off Zombozo. It’s almost creepy to watch as their eyes shift from one end to another as Zombozo zips around the tent.
“Wait…his Quirk, PsyClown…bzzz. There’s even more to it bzzz. Isn’t there bzzz?” That’s it! A Quirk like his has to have a major drawback! It’s almost a staple when it comes to Quirks! And Zombozo’s is that his victims have to be watching him in order for his Quirk to take effect.
“And judging by everyone’s reactions bzzz, the longer they watch him the further they fall into his spell bzzz.” They’re essentially in a trance of some kind, continuously laughing until their bodies eventually give out.
“But how can I use that to my advantage bzzz?”
Something shiny peeks out from the corner of his eye. Looking over, Buzzshock spots Zombozo’s hatchet embedded into the bleachers, with most of its blade sticking out.
An idea begins to form in the morphed Izuku’s head as he eyes the sharp blade. “Maybe I can …bzzz.”
He approaches the hatchet, rubbing his hand against its sharp edge. “Oh, boy bzzz.” He gulps as his idea continues to form.
With a deep breath and a grimace, Buzzshock looks away as he sticks his arm out shakily. And with a terrified wince he thrusts his arm up and into the blade. Surprisingly there’s very little pain. Huh, who knew losing a limb could feel like a pinch.
Buzzshock watches on in intrigue as his chopped-off arm floats into the air and green electricity sparks out as a second Buzzshock begins to take shape.
The duplicate blinks at the original who is just amazed at how well his plan worked.
The original morphed Izuku grins wickedly. “Are you thinking what I’m thinking bzzz?”
His duplicate grins right back. “I’m pretty sure I am bzzz.”
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Zombozo is starting to get impatient. “This isn’t funny anymore!” Did the kid run off? His mom is still here so he’s not going to leave.
“Hahahahahaha bzzz!!”
“Oh, there you are.” Zombozo spins around and floats on over towards the stands.
There he spots a lone Buzzshock laughing his head off at the sight of the clown. “Hahahahahaha bzzz!!”
Zombozo smiles at the sight. “See, now isn’t that better?”
“Hahahahahaha bzzz!!”
The clown licks his lips. “Oo, that is some good eating!” Oh, he so does enjoy the taste of laughter and the vitality of his audience.
“Hahahahahaha bzzz!!”
“Hahahahahaha bzzz!!”
“Hahahahahaha bzzz!!”
Those are three different laughs all coming from behind him. Zombozo spins around and is very surprised to find three more Buzzshocks floating in the air, all of which are laughing at him.
“Hahahaha, man you’re a freak too kid!” He smiles as the Buzzshocks laugh even louder. “Who knew you could multiply, too! And transform, oh! I wonder what else you can do!” He leers up at the three little nuisances. “Too, bad I’ll never get to find out.”
“Hahahahahaha bzzz!!”
“Hahahahahaha bzzz!!”
“Hahahahahaha bzzz!!”
“Hahahahahaha bzzz!!”
More laughter rings out.
Zombozo grins widely as he takes a look, but what he sees makes him a bit nervous. There’s an entire swarm of Buzzshock all of whom are laughing gleefully as they float and zip about in the air, surrounding him in a ball of sparking green lights.
“What’s happening?! What’s going on?!” The clown is starting to panic, mainly because this kid is up to something fishy.
He pulls out a soda siphon bottle and fires off a blast of highly carbonated liquid out at the Buzzshocks.
He successfully blasts a portion of them away, but they are quickly replaced by even more Buzzshock as if they’re continually multiplying from within the bleachers.
Which they are, a number of Megawatts are running about the depths of the bleachers using anything sharp edge that they can come across as a means to make even more friends to combat the killer clown.
Zombozo’s soda siphon runs dry, so he tosses it at Buzzshock, but they easily swat the item away. The laughing swarm now begins to encircle around the very nervous clown.
“Hahahahahaha bzzz!!”
“Hahahahahaha bzzz!!”
“Hahahahahaha bzzz!!”
“Stop it! Stop it What are you doing?!” It’s starting to become too much for him! There’s too much laughter for him to take all at once! It’s as if someone is shoving gallons of food down his throat.
“Hahahahahaha bzzz!!”
“Hahahahahaha bzzz!!”
“Hahahahahaha bzzz!!”
“Stop laughing!! I said stop laughing!!”
“Hahahahahaha bzzz!!”
“Hahahahahaha bzzz!!”
“Hahahahahaha bzzz!!”
It’s too much! All those smiling…laughing…faces…all mocking him!!
“No!! No!! NO!!” Zombozo grabs at his head as flashes of terror appear in his mind. All the while the swarming mass of light continues to envelop him and laugh in his face. “Don’t laugh at me!!” He desperately swats at the laughing terror as the feeling of being stuffed becomes too much. “Stop it!! Stop it!! STOP LAUGHING AT ME!!!”
“Hahahahahaha bzzz!!”
“Hahahahahaha bzzz!!”
“Hahahahahaha bzzz!!”
“Hahahahahaha bzzz!!”
“Hahahahahaha bzzz!!”
“Hahahahahaha bzzz!!”
“Hahahahahaha bzzz!!”
“Hahahahahaha bzzz!!”
“Hahahahahaha bzzz!!”
It’s all too much for the sad clown as his entire body begins to inflate like a balloon. And like a balloon, he pops releasing a loud bang as a large puff of smoke, confetti, and wind whips around scattering the large swarm and ruffling the circus tent.
Zombozo plummets and flops to the ground, his blue eerie spheres are cracked, the upper half of his top hat is ripped away, and his eyes spin around in a daze. Blue eerie silhouettes leak out of the clown in mass, the blue silhouettes float back to their respective bodies revitalizing them all.
Even the heroes snap out of their trance looking around in confusion.
Meanwhile, Zombozo lets out a weak pathetic wheeze as he becomes terrifyingly skinny.
A lone Buzzshock smiles down at the defeated clown. “Look like I got the last laugh, creep bzzz.”
Zombozo glares up at the little menace.
Green sparks begin to discharge around the little guy’s body. “Oh, one more thing.” He points upward.
Zombozo looks up and if he wasn’t already pale-skinned then the color would have drained from his face as the swarm of sparking Buzzshocks grins menacingly down at him.
A tear escapes the sad clown’s eye as he waves a tiny white flag between his fingers. “Mercy?”
Izuku isn’t sure if it’s the Nosedeenian DNA, or his own vindictiveness, but he grins wickedly, and the smiling swarm descends upon the helpless clown who lets out an ear-piercing scream as thousands of volts are released upon him.
The Buzzshock eventually disperse revealing a charred and paralyzed Zombozo. While the original Buzzshock admires his handy work another group of Buzzshocks are lowering down his revitalized mom.
“Mom bzzz!” Buzzshock zips over to her just as his duplicates gently lay her on the ground.
She’s unconscious probably from laughing for so long.
He tries to hug her even in his diminutive state. “I’m so sorry Mom bzzz.” He sniffs as he shuts his eyes closed. “I shouldn’t have left you alone like that. I’m so sorry.”
Inko’s hand moves and caresses the small alien’s back. “You have nothing to be sorry about.”
Buzzshock opens his eyes and sees his mother smiling down at him. Tears well up in his eyes before he leaps into her arms. “Mom!!”
Inko caresses her shrunken son, hugging him like she used to when he was a toddler. She doesn’t speak a word instead she savors the moment, happy to be with her loving son once again.
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“Well that was fun!” states Ochaco with a smile as she flops down on the bench.
“Maybe for you it was.” retorts Izuku.
After saving the day, the heroes were finally able to do their parts: they arrested the Freaks, found the other hostages, and led the remaining audiences away to safety.
“Then again it wasn’t a complete loss.” Izuku smiles down at his notebook, admiring the three new autographs that he was able to snag.
After saving the day, the admittedly shamed and embarrassed heroes offered to make it up to Izuku for not taking him seriously. Izuku’s never been one for rewards; however, he’s not above missing a chance to add to his hero fanatic collection in some way. Hence, he asked them each for autographs, which they were all too happy to comply with.
Not to mention, they’re not going to write Izuku up for interfering in hero work, mainly because it would involve admitting that they got their own asses saved by a kid. But Izuku’s not going to press them, he’s just happy to have his mom back.
And so here they are. Izuku, Inko, Ochaco and ML-E watch as the police haul the dazed Zombozo away.
Zombozo wobbles around, unable to keep his balance with his arms bound by the restraint jacket. “So…many…smiles. Stop…laughing…stop laughing…at me…”
“Shut it.” The officers shove him inside the transport vehicle along with his captured and equally humiliated Freaks.
Izuku turns to Ochaco and ML-E as they eat away at some cotton candy. “So, what happened after I left?”
Ochaco swallows her bite and shrugs. “Oh, nothing much. We stopped the bad guys and then searched for the hostages.” She takes another bite out of the cotton candy.
“Was searching the snack bar part of the search?” Izuku asks snarky.
Ochaco chokes on her candy and ML-E laughs at her reaction.
“Also what’s with the hammer?”
Ochaco peers over at her brand-new hammer as it sits beside her. “Souvenir.” She states a matter-of-factually.
Izuku shrugs, deciding not to dwell on it any further.
“Izuku.”
The greenette turns to his mother. “Yes, Mom?”
Her eyes cast downward. “I’m so sorry, honey. Today was meant to be fun. To let you unwind and relax…so much for that idea.”
“Mom…” Just because it didn’t turn out the way she wanted doesn’t mean it’s her fault. “Mom, I had a great time. Minus the killer clown part, but I still had fun.” He grabs her hand letting her know that he’s here and that he’s not at all upset with her. “Mom, I’m glad I was able to spend the day with you. I’ve always enjoyed our time together and I can’t blame you for this. You just wanted to show me a good time. And I thank you for that.” He wraps his arms around her. “I’m just glad to have you back, safe and sound.”
Inko sniffs as tears leak from her eyes and she returns the gesture. “Oh, I love you Izuku, my baby!”
Izuku chuckles. “I love you too, Mom.”
While the Midoriyas hug it out, Ochaco watches with a bright smile. She so loves touching moments such as these.
Inko releases her son. “I’m also so proud of you.”
“You are?” Izuku shyly asks.
“Of course, I got to see my baby be a hero today.” Inko’s smiles just as brightly as the sun. “And I couldn’t be prouder!”
Izuku can’t help but smile. Hearing that his mother is proud of him is probably one of the greatest rewards he could receive. Literally nothing can ruin this moment.
ML-E tugs on Izuku’s hoodie.
Izuku smiles down at the little girl. “What is it ML-E?”
ML-E innocently smiles up at the Hero Course student. “Wanna see what I found?”
“Sure.” He’ll humor her.
ML-E smiles before turning around and putting on some sort of mask before spinning around showing off her smiling clown mask.
“Eeeek!!”
The three girls blink in astonishment from Izuku’s reaction. Is he…?
To test the theory ML-E leans in closer with her clown mask.
“Eeeek!!”
Uh, oh.
Ochaco sweat drops as Izuku remains frozen in fear. ‘Oh, boy. I hope this doesn’t come back to bite him one day.’
This is probably the worst time to develop a new phobia, after all they only got five days left until the Sports Festival. Hopefully, her friend can snap out of this before then.
Notes:
Well, I thought it was fun and hope you guys thought so too. Besides the next chapter will officially begin the Sports Festival Arc! So this was sort of my last opportunity to do something a bit more original and fun for a little while.
Also, I am well aware that some characters made some odd choices during this chapter. For example, Ochaco could have tried to call All Might, but that would defeat the purpose of what I wanted to do with this chapter. There’s also how the heroes just brushed off Izuku; I actually like Kamui Woods, Death Arms, and Mt. Lady and I just wanted to include them in this chapter somehow. Overall, this chapter was meant to be fun and not taken too seriously.
*The title of this chapter, Last Laugh, is also the name of the episode this chapter is based off of.
*Did any of you get “TheOdd1sOut” joke for the Ditto Monopoly scene? If so, then I’m sure you greatly enjoyed it. If you don’t know what I’m talking about then check out “TheOdd1sOut” on YouTube and watch his “Tabletop Games” video. James is hilarious and I’m sure you’ll all love his content. Here’s the link: https://youtu.be/rvUzuK0ygI4
*There was also a SpongeBob reference in this chapter.
*One thing I’m most proud about this chapter is that I was able to display Izuku as six different aliens rather than limiting him to one or two. I got him to be Lodestar, Ditto in a flashback, Terraspin, Ripjaws, XLR8, and I gave Buzzshock some much needed attention.
*Also, I know someone is going to say it, but there was a reason why Izuku didn’t get Ghostfreak in this chapter. There’s a specific way I want to introduce that alien so please be patient. He is on the way.
*I’m sorry, not sorry for the puns scattered throughout the chapter. I like a good groan inducing pun, plus I feel like they’re a staple of the Ben Ten series, so I thought they were justified.
*If you don’t remember the character ML-E then you can check out Ch.8 Space Cadets. Other than that she’s the little Kineceleran girl from Ben Ten Omniverse.
*Another thing, I actually wanted to have Ochaco babysit ML-E for a while now, but I was never able to address it until now.
*Speaking of ML-E, this next part has to do with the odd character decisions in this chapter. I just want to say that I know that neither Izuku nor Ochaco would willingly put a child as young as her in danger. But in fairness, it’s not the first time Izuku actually did involve a child in a fight. For example, when he saved Kota, he could have easily grabbed Kota and ran away, but he didn’t. Also He literally had Eri involved with the fight against Overhaul. So, I feel like this wasn’t that far of a stretch or even as dangerous as the other two scenarios.
*Ochaco’s hammer was thrown in at the last second because I got some last inspiration to include it. Because the hammer is inspired by Harley Quinn’s own hammer, the idea occurred when it sunk in that Ochaco was fighting clowns with carnival games all over the place. So, yeah, she has a new weapon now. But it’s not going to be permanent, it’s just going to be a nice funny gag every now and again. So I wouldn’t expect to see it again for a long while.
*If you know your Ben Ten villains then you know that Zombozo’s Quirk, PsyClown, is also the name of the machine he used in the original episode. The original PsyClown was the source of his powers anyway so I just made it his Quirk for this story.
Chapter 21: Roaring Start
Summary:
The Sports Festival has officially begun with a rousing speech from Izuku Midoriya before he, Ochaco Uraraka, and their classmates race through an Obstacle Course!
Notes:
Let’s just get to it! Go! Go! Go to the start of the Sports Festival Arc!
*By the way! There is a fun little surprise for you all at the end of the chapter! Okay get going!
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Izuku Midoriya sits down as he ties up his signature red shoes.
His mother stands by nervously. “Izuku, please be careful and don’t get hurt.”
“I won’t.” Izuku grabs his bag and pushes himself up.
“I’ll record the whole festival in HD!”
Izuku chuckles and smiles at her, appreciating the sentiment.
Inko gives her son a worried yet excited smile. “Do your best, son.”
Izuku nods before turning to the door. “Okay, I’m off!”
That’s right, he’s off to U.A.’s Sports Festival!
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Hordes of media outlets and reports are swarming U.A.’s main gate as fireworks go off above and stalls of food, games, and shops line U.A.’s campus.
A young woman can’t stand waiting around until she’s allowed to enter. “This security line is huge. What’s the deal?”
Her cameraman answers. “A bunch of villains did just break in. Of course the school’s being stricter this year. Some people think they shouldn’t be holding the festival, considering what happened.”
The reporter grins with a predatory-like smile. “Perfect! Nothing brings ratings up like a little controversy! Plus, everybody will tune in to see Class 1-A!!” She declares excitedly.
She’s right on the nose about that fact. Most of the spectators here today are going to attend the first-year’s competition. Usually they’d all be lining up for the third-years because they have the most experience with their Quirks, and thus it’s usually a better show. But the draw of witnessing the very students that fought off real villains without any proper experience is too difficult of a notion to pass up.
As for the controversy, U.A. or rather Nezu has a plan for that. Part of it was to call upon a number of pro heroes to help patrol the school grounds as the competition plays out.
Speaking of which.
Mt. Lady eyes the takoyaki greedily. “I’ll take one order to go please.”
The vendor perks up at the sight of her. “Whoa! Mt. Lady is it really you?”
It is and she’s accompanied by Kamui Woods and Death Arms, all of which are wearing security passes to help establish their roles here today.
Mt. Lady ignores the vendor’s question as drool drips from the corner of her mouth. “And hold the salt, will you?”
“Of course!” He immediately begins prepping her order. “That’s gonna be 1,074.78 yen.”
She gaps, not expecting that response at all. It looks like she needs to use a secret technique that only a few can hope to pull off.
She wiggles her hips and presses her arm against her chest as she emanates an alluring charm. “Um…Oh, no, my money is in another costume.”
Her technique worked.
“So hot!!” The vendor hands over the takoyaki. “This is on the house!!”
“Aren't you a dear?!” asks Mt. Lady with just as much passion.
Meanwhile, her companions watch on in disapproval. “Have you no sense of shame?”
After she snags her takoyaki, the three continue with their patrol.
Kamui Woods eyes each vendor and bystander making sure they are clear of any suspicious activity. “I was hoping I’d get to do some scouting while I was here.”
Death Arms peers back at the shorter hero. “Yeah, too bad we’re stuck working security this time.”
Mt. Lady sticks one of the takoyaki into her mouth. “Looks like they called in pro heroes from all over to guard this thing. Quite a show.”
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“Aw, man.” Mina Ashido pulls down on her gym uniform shirt. “I was totally hoping I could wear my costume.”
Mashirao Ojiro is stretching his arms nearby. “At least everyone’ll be in uniforms. That’ll help keep things fair, right?”
Currently the students of Class 1-A are hanging out in their designated waiting area awaiting the signal to begin heading out to the stadium. So in the meantime, they’re trying to psych themselves up while calming their own nerves.
Rikido Sato nervously wrings his hands together over the table. “I wonder what they have in store for us in the first round.”
Fumikage Tokoyami is seated nearby. “No matter what they’ve prepared, we must persevere.”
Mezo Shoji nods his head. “Right.”
The taller multi-limbed student turns to a shaking Izuku as the boy frantically goes over his notecards. “Are you okay…?”
Izuku is too busy to look up. “N-no…!” He has to make sure his speech is a good one, it’s only going to be broadcasted worldwide… Oh, no wait it’s going to be broadcasted across the whole universe…sure, no pressure or whatever.
The waiting room’s door slides open as Tenya Iida, the Class President, bursts into the room. “Everyone get your game faces on! We’re entering the arena soon!”
Ochaco Uraraka takes a deep calming breath from her seat.
Tsuyu Asui and Tooru Hagakure are sitting next to her, but they’re busy dealing with their own stomach butterflies.
“Uraraka.” Calls out a cold-indifferent tone.
Ochaco turns in her seat. “Oh, Todoroki. What’s up?”
Izuku and the rest of the class’ attention is drawn to Shoto Todoroki as he peers down at the shorter girl.
The dual-haired teen, however, could care less about everyone else listening in on what he has to say. “During the Battle Training…you beat me all on your own.”
Oh, that’s right she did do that didn’t she. Man that was scary, but what’s he getting at?
“I underestimated you and I can promise that it will never happen again.” The cold-indifferent youth peers down at his left fist. “Twice now you’ve forced me into wielding those cursed flames.” He glares up at her making her wince under his dark-hateful gaze. “I will defeat you only with my ice and prove that I am more capable than you.”
Ochaco doesn't know what to say. She thinks back and yeah during the Battle Training it was sort of lucky that she won. In retrospect, she shouldn’t have won like she did, hell it actually ended in a draw. Then there was the U.S.J. Incident where she begged him to use his flames…but he refused. Why though? “Todo-”
“Not only that, you’ve got All Might in your corner, helping you out.”
That instantly silences her as she stiffens up in fear that her secret’s been found out, from the corner of her eye she sees both Izuku’s and Bakugou’s ears perk up.
“I’m not here to pry about what’s going on between you two.” His cold dual-colored eyes pierce into All Might’s successor’s. “But know that I will beat you.”
Ochaco is more than taken back by the bold statement. Where did all this hostility even come from?!
Todoroki turns and lays his eyes on the nervously observing greenette. “The same goes for you.”
“Huh?!” The Omnitrix wielder is greatly startled by the sudden change in attention.
He can sense the rest of the class now has their eyes on him.
Todoroki’s eyes shift away as if he doesn’t want to admit this next part aloud. “You…are by far the most unpredictable and arguably the most powerful of everyone in this very room.” The dual-haired teen lets out a deep heavy sigh releasing a cold breath of air. “I don’t understand you. Not at all. There’s so many things about you that don’t add up or make sense: you have such a mysterious and powerful Quirk… You’re strategic and that makes you dangerous… But also…you’re keeping secrets.”
Izuku’s breath halts for a minute, what is Todoroki getting at? And by secrets…does he suspect something? Maybe…did Tetrax reveal too much, according to Uraraka he didn’t.
Todoroki, however, isn’t finished yet. “During the attack on the U.S.J…you were by far the most useful among us.”
Specifically how Midoriya was able to fight off the villains all on his own and then single-handedly took out Nue and even Shigaraki all with minimal effort. He even led them to their victory against the League of Villains. Whereas, his ice was useless against Tetrax, Nomu, and there’s no doubt that the other villains would have been able to escape his ice. So he gave in and used that bastard’s Quirk to fight…and it was maddening! He needs to get stronger; he needs to prove that he can be a hero without that bastard’s influence.
“For all intents and purposes, you are the one to beat, today.”
Midoriya is, isn’t he? His strategic mind and large arsenal of powers makes him the top contender here today.
“And like I told Uraraka, I will beat you, too.”
“Todoroki…” Izuku really isn’t sure how he’s supposed to respond. He’s never been threatened or somewhat complimented at the same time before. Yet now…now Todoroki’s made it clear that he will be gunning for him. And what’s worse, he’s now just realizing how silent the rest of the class is, as if they too have just started to realize the truth. Out of everyone in this very room, Midoriya is the top contender for the number one spot.
Bakugou scowls, he loathes that assumption.
Denki Kaminari gasps from his seat. “What’s with all these declarations of war lately?” First it was the dude from General Studies, then that loud guy from Class 1-B, and now there's infighting in his own class too.
Eijiro Kirishima gets up looking really concerned. “Yeah, what’s the big deal?” He grabs Todoroki’s shoulder to try and calm him down. “Why are you pickin’ a fight all of a sudden? And right before we get started.”
Todoroki bats his hand away, irritated. “We’re not here to be each other’s friends.” He turns and marches away. “Don’t forget. This isn’t a team effort.”
Ochaco can’t leave things as they are. “Todoroki!”
The teen in question stops in his tracks. He’s willing to hear his opponent out if she desires to speak her own mind. It’s only fair.
“You’re right… About everything.”
Izuku is stunned, but he doesn’t interrupt.
“Between the two of us you’re the most capable with your Quirk.” She inhales readying herself for what she’s about to admit. “And I have to agree, if we had a real fight back at the Battle Training you definitely would have won.”
The only reason Todoroki considers it a loss was because she surprised and overpowered him at the time. But now things are different, this challenge will be about skills, power, and their own wits all things that Todoroki has in spades compared to her.
“But…I’ve grown and improved so much since then.” Sure it’s been slow, but she’s ready to take the next step in becoming a true wielder of One For All. “So I’m not going to just lay down and let you take victory. I have things worth fighting for, and I am going to make them come true.” She glares right up at her challenger. “I’m going to show the world what I got!” For the sake of her dream, she will achieve victory.
Her determined eyes leer towards Izuku, letting him know that this goes for him as well. After all it’s like Todoroki he said, he’s the one to beat and if that’s what she has to do to win then so be it.
Izuku is a bit taken back by being directed as such, but he understands what she’s trying to say.
Todoroki huffs. “Fine. Let’s see what you got then.”
Bakugou leers at the two, offended that he wasn’t even considered a threat by either of them.
Izuku falls into a sullen silence…can he say the same thing? Can he…show the world…the universe what he’s got…?
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“Hey-o!” Present Mic’s image pops up onto the giant flat screens surrounding the interior of the stadium.
The massive crowd of spectators roar in excitement as Present Mic begins to start things off.
“Make some noise all you rabid sports fans! Get those cameras prepped, media hordes!” Present Mic waves his arms about, even jumping out of his seat as pure excitement takes hold. “This year we’re bringing you some of the hottest performances in U.A.’s Sports Festival history, guaranteed!”
Sitting beside Present Mic is a mummified Shota Aizawa who ducks down just in time to avoid an accidental slap from his co-host.
Present Mic didn’t even notice what he almost did. “I’ve only got one question before we start this show: Are you ready?!”
The crowd cheers in response as Present Mic’s booming voice plays over the sound system.
“Let me hear ya scream as our students make their way to the main stage!!”
Present Mic’s voice echoes down the dark narrow passageway, as the students of Class 1-A march their way forward ready to take on their next big steps to becoming pro heroes.
Ochaco can almost hear All Might’s declaration echoing in her head: That she must think of this as her debut, to introduce herself to the world, and proudly say “I am here!”
Present Mic’s voice screams through the speakers as the entirety of Class 1-A steps out onto the field. “This first group are no strangers to the spotlight! You know them for withstanding a villain attack, they’re the dazzling students lighting up your TVs with solid gold skills!”
The crowd is in a complete frenzy as they cheer and roar.
“That’s right! It’s The Hero Course students of Class 1-A!!”
Class 1-A gaze up at the massive stadium, they are completely caught off guard by the sight, there are far more people than they expected. It's almost as if all of Japan is here. And all to watch them compete for the glory.
Ochaco suddenly gets hit by a wave of nervousness. “Oh, wow! I didn’t know there’d be so many people.”
Izuku considers if he should have told Uraraka about how Nezu will be broadcasting all of this into the cosmos, but maybe it would be best to tell her after the competition. No need to scare her even more before they start.
Iida awes at the sight of the screaming audience. “I hope we’re still able to give our best performances even though all these eyes are watching us.”
Izuku chuckles nervously ‘More than you know…’
“I supposed it’s just another aspect of being a hero we all have to learn to get used to.”
Kirishima gives a tense grin as they all march forward. “Present Mic sure did talk us up a lot. Kinda makes me nervous.” He looks to the ash-blonde that’s been uncharacteristically quiet all morning. “How you feelin’, man?”
“I’m not worried.” Bakugou grins darkly. “Makes me wanna win this thing even more.”
Present Mic continues to introduce the rest of the first-year classes. “They haven’t been getting nearly as much screen time, but this next group is still chock full of talent! Welcome, Hero Course Class 1-B!”
A group of twenty Hero course students march out from a separate gateway from within their group is that loud punk with silver-hair who came to check out their class along with the rest of the school.
“Next up, General Studies Classes C, D, and E!”
Over sixty students march out of the same gateway together, leading the large herd of students is the indigo-haired boy who made it clear to Class 1-A that the entirety of first-years will be gunning for their Hero Course spots.
He stands tall and ready to take his place in said Hero Course.
“Support Classes F, G, and H!”
Mei Hatsume is among this group, and she looks absolutely thrilled to be here.
“And finally, the Business Classes I, J, and K!”
The final of the first-years students walk onto the field.
“Give it up for all of U.A.’s first-year contestants!”
The audience members cheer loudly for the students, they can’t wait for this competition to get started.
However, not everyone is happy to be there. Namely those in the General Studies courses.
“I get the feeling we’re just here to make the hero students look better.”
“I can’t wait for this to be over.”
The indigo-haired teen ignores his classmates as he moves forward.
“Hey, where’s that crystal guy? I thought he was part of Class 1-A.”
“He, maybe he got scared off.”
“That chick with the pony-tail is hot.”
“Shut it.”
The feminine and wildly thrilled voice of the chief umpire calls out to the students as they approach the main stage. “Now the introductory speech!”
Everyone quiets down as Midnight struts her stuff across the stage making sure to flaunt her rather risqué costume.
Kirishima has a light blush on his face, as do a number of his fellow classmates. “Uh, someone should talk to Ms. Midnight about what she’s wearing.”
Kaminari nods. “Yeah. That costume should come with a warning.”
Tokoyami, hard to tell if he’s affected by Midnight’s charm, frowns. “Is that really appropriate apparel for a high school game?”
Minoru Mineta certainly doesn’t think so.
“Silence, everyone!” Midnight whips her flogger-style whip. “And for the student pledge we have Izuku Midoriya!”
Class 1-A is surprised to hear that one of their shyest classmates has to give the student pledge.
Izuku nervously and stiffly approaches the stage much like a robot trying to mimic human movements.
Bakugou glares at Izuku’s back, he’s almost tempted to beat up the nerd. Not just for hogging the attention but for stealing the top spot from under him.
Ochaco is surprised, Deku didn’t say anything about this. “Huh, I didn’t know Deku was our first-year rep?”
Hanta Sero leans in close. “Well, I guess that broccoli-head did finish first in the Entrance Exam.” Not that surprising though, after everything they’ve seen him do.
A girl from the General Course sighs in annoyance. “Only for the Hero Course exams.” She points out.
Ochaco nods. “Oh, right.”
Sero frowns. “That girl obviously hates us.”
Kaminari grumbles. “Yeah, and we’ve got Bakugou to thank for them not liking our class”
Bakugou growls. “Shut up! They don’t matter anyway.”
Izuku makes it the microphone, he digs into his pocket for his notecards, but his hands are shaking so badly he drops the notecards scattering them across the stage. He desperately drops down to gather them up and tries his best to ignore the laughs and chuckles coming from Class 1-B and the General Course students.
“This guy is the student rep?”
“How embarrassing?”
“Ha, I thought Class 1-A was supposed to be better than us-OW!!!”
“Be nice.”
“Ha, he looks like he’s going to wet himself.”
They’re hurtful comments are not at all helping as Izuku frantically tries to put his notecards back in order, but it’s no use.
Midnight tries to calm him down by placing a gentle hand on his shoulder. It at least slows down his shaking.
Izuku nervously looks back to his own classmates and several of them offer up kind encouraging smiles and gestures of good luck.
Izuku peers down at his mess of notecards, before tucking them away back into his pocket.
He then takes a look at the audience…
Wow, there’s so many of them but yet this is less than a fraction of the beings actually watching him right now. You know, for someone who’s about to give a speech to an audience that stretches across the universe, Izuku is surprisingly calm maybe because of how surreal the situation is. But maybe he shouldn’t focus on who is watching, but rather who he will be competing against. Yes, he needs to focus here at this moment, in this place, on these people. Otherwise he will never achieve his goals.
So with a calming breath, Izuku approaches the microphone leaning in, he takes another deep breath before beginning.
“Powerless. Useless. Weak.”
Immediately, it’s like the entire galaxy has silenced itself.
“Those were all things people used to say to me. What hurt the most was when they said that I could never be a hero.” Izuku scans the audience and he spots Toshinori Yagi among his fellow teachers in the stands.
“But I’ve been given a chance and I’ve been working hard to not let this chance go to waste. And ever since, I’ve been through so much and so much has changed in my life, and everyday I’m reminded of that.”
He has powers now, he has friends, people that willingly support him, and now his entire worldview has been expanded far more than he could have ever conceived on his own.
“And now here I am ready to take on the next big challenge in my life.”
Izuku grips the microphone off its stand before turning away to face his fellow competitors.
“I’ve been made aware that many of you today are seeking to carve out your destinies. You want to defeat my classmates and I.”
He eyes Class 1-B.
“You want to become the very best there is.”
His eyes drift towards his own class namely to Ochaco and Bakugou.
“And you want to become heroes yourselves.”
He scans for the indigo-haired teen.
“Well if you want any of your dreams to come true then you better be willing to work for it. To fight for it!”
He turns back to the spectators. “No matter your background, abilities, or even where you may come from. Then you must fight tooth-and-nail for your dreams and uphold what you believe in!” That is the undisputed truth, hopefully there are those out in the world or rather worlds watching that will be inspired to do what’s right. To become part of something bigger than themselves.
“Someone said something today that I never expected; they said I was the most capable one out of Class 1-A.” His eyes leer back at the very person who called him out. “And I believe them. As of now I stand at the top of all the other first-years!” He spins around and raises a hand to his competition. “So, if any of you want to succeed then I’m the one to beat today!!”
The galactic wide silence stretches on until suddenly cheers erupt from the audience.
As for the student themselves, many of those in the Hero Course look like they’re ready to go! Even Bakugou looks excited, but that may be because Deku just essentially painted a giant-ass target on his back. Ochaco is especially excited, admiring Izuku’s sudden resolve. As for Todoroki, he is a bit less than pleased to have his own words thrown back at him. But if Midoriya wants them all to fight to achieve the very top then so be it.
Izuku hands the microphone back to Midnight as he confidently strides back down the stage. Those in General Studies back away as if afraid of what he’s capable of. Unbeknownst to anyone here is what Izuku is really feeling: ‘OH MY GOD!!! THAT WAS SO SCARY!!!’ He’s having an internal panics attack, thankfully his own expression doesn’t hint to it. ‘What was I thinking?! Why did I do that?! Why didn’t I stick to my script?!’
Iida claps Izuku on the back. “Well done Midoriya! That was a fine speech!”
Kirishima grins widely. “No kidding. Ah! I’m so pumped!!”
Kyoka Jiro the ever-observant states the obvious. “I hope you know what you’re doing, Midoriya. Because now everyone’s going to be going after you.”
“Eh…!” is his only response.
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From within the teachers’ personal viewing room, Thirteen just can’t seem to stop grinning from underneath their helmet. ‘Sheesh, kid! That was great! I can’t wait to see how you pull this off.’
Snipe chuckles from beside them. “Ha, that took some real-balls to say.”
Vlad King adds in from behind. “No, kidding. He essentially just challenged the entire first-year student body. Heh, he may regret that.” His own students will see to that.
Toshinori is unusually silent as his colleague chatter away. ‘I guess he hasn’t truly forgiven me…’ He had no real idea what that Midoriya boy went through before they met, but now…now it just hurts to think about.
Useless, powerless, weak and then being told he couldn’t be a hero… Is that how the boy felt when he reached out to him…? When he, the Number One Hero, rejected his dream?
Toshinori eyes the young boy as his classmates surround him. ‘Young Midoriya, you truly are something else, aren’t you? Despite everything you truly want to become a hero…’
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Midnight sees no point in dragging this out any further. “Without further ado! It’s time for us to get started!” She whips her flogger. “This is where you begin feeling the pain! The first fateful game of the festival!” A giant holographic screen appears behind her. An image of a large slot appears and begins rolling. “What could it be?”
The students hold their breath as the slot machine continues to spin and spin until it finally comes to a sudden stop.
“Ta-dah!” Midnight sings as the first challenge is presented.
Izuku’s brow furrows. “So, it’s gonna be an obstacle course.”
Midnight goes on to explain the rules. “All eleven classes will participate in this treacherous contest. The track is four kilometers around the outside of the stadium.” She raises her flogger. “I don’t wanna restrain anyone, at least not in this game.” She licks lips as she eyes the little darlings. “As long as you don’t leave the course, you’re free to do whatever your heart desires!”
The audience is in an uproar, but whether because the competition is going to start or from Midnight’s innuendo is unclear.
“Now then, take your places, contestants!”
The students immediately turn and gather around a large red archway that leads into a narrow passage leading to the outside of the stadium. Atop the archway, there are three glowing lights that will be used to signal the starting countdown.
Ochaco readies herself among the sea of students. ‘All Might…’ She thinks back to her mentor’s very words of what she is to achieve today. ‘“You must introduce yourself to the world, and proudly say ‘I am here!’”’ She eyes her fellow friends and classmates, each one of them have their own dreams and goals and all of them are aiming for the number one spot. ‘I may not be able to fully use One For All but that will change! I’ll make sure of it!’
One of the lights shut off.
Izuku grips the Omnitrix, ready to activate in a moment's notice. ‘There’s so much I have to live up to and for.’ He will become a hero and he will live up to the expectations of those supporting him.
From his mom, to his mentor, even Tetrax, and to those out in the universe that may one day depend on him.
The second light dims.
Both Izuku and Ochaco are ready to start. ‘I have to go BEYOND!!!’
Last light shuts off just as the umpire, Midnight, shouts. “BEGIN!!!”
A stampede of students charge forward all clambering through the narrow hallway.
Izuku races forward, activating the source of his powers, and disappears under a flash of green light.
Ochaco doesn’t bother to look at what he turns into, instead she has to focus on herself. As she takes off with her classmates; she can hear Present Mic’s voice over the speakers. “And we’re off to a racing start! How bout some color commentary. Mummy Man?”
Aizawa sighs. “How did you talk me into this?”
“What should we be paying attention to in the early stages of the race?”
“The doorway.” Her homeroom teacher states it like it’s the most obvious thing in the world.
“Hey, Hey!”
“You’re trampling me!”
“Eek!! Something tiny ran over my foot!”
“This is too narrow!”
Students are shoving and pushing their way through the far too small hallway. They are jammed together like a school of sardines trying to fit through a single pipe.
Ochaco tries to elbow and shove her way through, but the sea of students is too much, ‘I get it; the teachers are testing us. They want to see how we make it through.’
Ochaco grips her arms and activates her Quirk and with a hard shove she floats up into the air until she’s above the sea of students. She kicks off the wall to the opposite end and just in too as the hallway suddenly becomes as cold as a blizzard and ice floods the interior freezing the entire hallway.
Todoroki takes off running and claims the lead right from the start. “Apologies.”
He froze almost every student in place, effectively taking many of them out of the running.
Ochaco continues to float forward as she watches others who made it past Todoroki’s initial act of sabotage.
Kirishima leaps forward. “Here I come!”
Momo Yaoyorozu pole-vaults herself over the frozen ice and contestants. “Nice trick. Todoroki!”
Bakugou is like a mad dog as he flies through the air. “I won’t let you get away so easily!” He thrust his hands back as he releases a blast, pushing himself forward. “You Icy-Hot Bastard!!”
Ochaco makes it out of the hallway, releasing her Quirk just as Ojiro, Mina, and Tokoyami pass her by.
As she lands, her feet slip-n-slide across the ice but she soon regains her balance. “I wonder what happened to Deku? I figured he’d be in the lead by now.” He could have breezed through all of this as XLR8, or fly over everything as Terraspin, even Feedback is athletic enough to make it through.
“Ahh!!”
She recognizes that scream! Ochaco reels around and spots something completely unexpected.
A terrified Grey Matter is slipping and sliding across the ice while also trying to avoid being stepped on by other contestants that also avoided the ice.
“Deku!!”
Grey Matter spins around when he hears his name, but a nearby student slips and accidentally kicks the Galvan forward.
“Ahhh!!” Grey matter slides across the ice, screaming his head off as feet stomp around him.
Acting fast, Ochaco scoops him up while also trying to keep moving. “Why aren’t you XLR8?!”
“YOU THINK I WANTED THIS!?!” The Omnitrix decided to mess with him at the last second!! It’s not his fault the blasted thing has a sense of irony to it!!
Meanwhile, the indigo-haired teen watches Class 1-A take the lead as a group of dazed students carry him across the ice. “So they are good at using their powers. Huh?” He smirks.
The current lead, Todoroki, peers back at the stampede of students who managed to avoid his attack. “I didn’t expect so many people to dodge that. Especially those from other classes.”
He’s surprised to see how quickly Mineta is catching up to him. His shorter classmate is using his Sticky Balls as a means to bounce across the ice.
Grey Matter watches from Ochaco’s shoulder as Mineta readies to attack Todoroki from behind, but it doesn’t go as well as he thinks as a robot bursts out and dunks on the unsuspecting Mineta.
“Are you okay?!” shouts Grey Matter as a 1-Point Mecha blocks their way.
“Targets acquired. Terminate them.”
Ochaco comes to a halt as more robots appear before the students. “It’s those robots… from the Entrance Exam.”
Present Mic’s voice rings out. “Ooh! Enemies have shown up out of nowhere!” He must be watching from all the camera robots posted in and around the track. “I bet we’re in for a treat here! A test of strength and cunning!”
Todoroki gazes up at huge robotic behemoths.
“It’s a Robo Inferno!!”
An entire army of robots from the Entrance Exam are blocking the way. You have the 1-Pointers to 3-Pointers, but the ones that stand out are the number of giant Zero-Point Mechas towering over them.
Kaminari skids to a halt along with many others. “Are those the Zero-Point villains from the practical test?!”
Todoroki eyes the behemoths. “So, this is what the other students face in their entrance exams.”
Yaoyorozu is in just the same amount of disbelief. “Where’s the school even get the funding for these things?” That is an honestly good question, too bad nobody has an answer.
One of the goliath robots stretches its arm down at Todoroki to squash him like a bug.
Todoroki stomps his foot to the ground as ice encases his arm. “They obviously went through a lot of trouble, but I wish they’d prepared something a little more difficult.” He presses his hand against the ground and ice floods out around him. He glares up at the Zero-Point Mecha as its giant hand looms over him. “Especially since my dear-old man is watching.”
He waves his hand upward and a blizzard of ice pushes the metallic monstrosity back.
The dual-haired teen releases a cold breath of air and takes off not admiring how his own ice has frozen the entire giant in place.
As he runs past the bots, his competitors finally snap out of their astonishment after witnessing such a grand display of power.
“Dude, he stopped the robot!”
“Look! Between its legs! We can get through!”
“Careful, now.” states Todoroki. “I froze it while it was off its balance.”
Pieces of the robot break apart as the towering mass begins to fall forward.
“On purpose.” He doesn’t bother to look back as the frozen Zero-Point Mecha collapses onto the ground and possibly onto some students.
Present Mic shouts out gleefully from the commentator’s booth. “That’s Todoroki from Class 1-A pulling ahead to an early lead with a devastating display! Amazing! He’s one we should watch! It almost seems unfair! Thoughts?”
Aizawa's voice cuts in. “His attack was both offensive and defensive.”
“No wonder he was let in on recommendations!”
Todoroki keeps going as his teachers sing his praises.
“He’d never even fought those Robo Infernos before! But they didn’t stand a chance against his chart-topping moves!”
Meanwhile, more robots appear from within the dust-cloud in the aftermath of Todoroki’s wake.
Ochaco scowls in frustration. ‘I need to catch up.’
She better keep her wits about her otherwise the other obstacles are going to catch her.
Grey Matter glares at the fallen behemoth. ‘Come on Izuku, think! What do I do?’ He can’t rely on Ochaco for long, he needs to prove himself.
The little alien peers at his hand and a brilliant idea comes to mind making him smile.
Meanwhile, other students are panicking with fear after witnessing the robot collapse on top of a few individuals.
Their concern is unfounded as something or rather someone breaks through the frozen metal husk.
“I’m alive!!” screams Kirishima as his hardened skin pushes back the metal.
“Kirishima from Class 1-A! What a hardcore debut for this rookie!”
Kirishima growls at Todoroki’s moving form. “Todoroki, I can’t believe you pulled something like that. Jeez. Anyone but me woulda been killed.”
A different voice echoes from within the metal husk. “Class 1-A really is full a’ jerks!” The same guy from Class 1-B breaks through the robot. “I’ll smash that ice guy when I get my hands on him!!” His entire skin has turned to steel which shines in the sunlight.
“Woah!! Tetsutetsu from Class 1-B was also stuck underneath! What are the odds?!”
Tetsutetsu Tetsutetsu has long, messy gray hair, his eyes are each lined with a very thick, jagged, tan-colored substance. Like Kirishima, he has rows of sharp, pointed fangs as teeth.
“Ya know, anyone other than me woulda been killed.”
Kirishima takes off running as a trail of tears leaks from his eyes. “Our Quirks are basically the same! How am I supposed to stand out now?!”
Tetsutetsu runs off after him. “You damn copycat!”
Others make their own way over the hulking metal monsters, such as Bakugou.
With a booming explosion the mad bomber blasts his way up and over a Zero-Point Mecha. ‘No way I’m letting Todoroki beat me.’
With expert aerial acrobatics, he evades a massive punch from the robot before soaring past the goliath’s head.
“Class 1-A’s Bakugou is rocketing over the obstacles! Clever!!”
It is rather surprising to see him purposefully avoiding a fight, but perhaps he’s just keeping his eye on the true prize.
Tokoyami and Sero follow along behind him each using their respective Quirks to scale over the metal menace.
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The massive audience cheers from within the stadium as they watch the students from the giant screens.
Snipe watches as Bakugou flies away from the first obstacle. “Looks like all the pack leaders are from Class 1-A.”
Vlad King huffs. “For now at least.”
Thirteen peers over at their colleague. “Maybe but you have to admit that Class 1-A’s really doing well today.” But where is Midoriya? He hasn’t appeared on screen once. And neither has Uraraka for that matter.
Toshinori adds in his own thoughts. “It’s not that 1-B and the other students are doing poorly. It’s just…”
Aizawa’s voice takes over from the commentator's booth. “Class 1-A’s learned not to hesitate.”
The entire stadium watches as Iida kick stomps a robot. Followed by Jiro jamming her Earphone Jacks into a pair of bots and blasting them with a high-pitched frequency. Even Kaminari takes down a 1-Point Mecha.
Aizawa continues with his explanation. “They’ve seen what the real world is like. They’ve felt the fear of facing villains.”
Shoji grapples a 1-Point Mecha and with immense strength he flips it onto its back.
“Yet they fight on, trying to overcome that fear.”
Ojiro spins through the air before slamming his tail into a bot, hitting its head clean off.
“They’ve grown. All of them. And they know that they have to act quickly if they want to stay alive.”
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‘I need to try and use One For All otherwise I’m never going to win this!’ Ochaco dodges an attack several 1-Point Mechas as Grey Matter hangs on for dear life.
She presses her hands against the two bots before pushing them upward. ‘But that doesn’t mean I’m helpless!’ She grins as the robots fly up.
She releases her Quirk and the bots come crashing down onto the dirt.
Before she can runoff, Grey Matter hops off her shoulder.
“What are you doing?! We have to keep going!”
Grey Matter lands atop one of the bots. “No! This is a competition!” He turns so he can face his friend. “Todoroki was right, we are not friends today. Today we are rivals!”
“What?”
“Uraraka, we each have our own goals! We can't rely on each other. All we can do is use our own skills if we want to make it as heroes.”
“But-” She’s silenced by a wave of a hand.
She hates to admit it, but he’s right. She can’t be worried about his problems right now; she needs to focus on her own. Today everyone is a rival.
Grey Matter offers up a grin. “You keep going. I’ll catch up.” That’s a promise.
Ochaco hesitates but gives in. “You may regret that decision. Because I’m going to win!” She turns away and takes off to regain lost time.
Grey Matter smiles and turns to bots as members of Class 1-B and other contestants run on by. “Now.” He cracks his fingers, prepping them for what’s to come. “Let’s get to work.”
In the meantime, Ochaco finally arrives at the end of the first obstacle now she just has to be on the lookout for the next one.
From behind her several of the Zero-Point Mechas’ heads implode as projectiles are fired into them.
“A piece of cake!” declares Yaoyorozu as she leaves behind the large cannon she built.
Ochaco gazes back in amazement, glad that she’s far enough away from the collapsing giants. “Wow, she beat a Zero-Pointer that easily?! No wonder she got in on recommendations!”
But just because she was let in on recommendations doesn’t mean the rest of the competitors are slackers either. Ochaco spots a girl from Class 1-B using her vine like hair to move across the track.
At the sight of the skillful competition, Ochaco speeds up. She can almost sense that All Might is watching her, pushing her forward as he cheers her on. Now that there’s no more ice or robots in the way she can really let her agility shine through. With the legs that climbed up a mountain for months, she blitzes her way forward with such a fast speed that could make Iida jealous.
Present Mic screams through the speakers. “For those of you who thought the first obstacle was easy. Let’s see how ya feel about the second one!”
‘Second one?’ Ochaco soon catches up to the midway point, and in front of her she sees that she’s caught up to Tsuyu and Mina.
She picks up her pace hoping to pass them by. As she does, she leaps forward to claim the lead. That was a mistake.
“Ahhh!!” She screams out at the deep dark trench below her.
Tsuyu’s sticky pink tongue lashes out, wraps around her waist, and pulls her in before she falls to a useable doom.
Ochaco keels over onto the ground. “Oh, thank you.”
Tsuyu smiles down at her. “I guess you should have looked before you leaped.”
Mina perks up. “Was that a pun?”
“…Don’t tell Midoriya.”
As Mina chuckles at Tsuyu’s response, Ochaco takes another look at the trench.
“If they take a spill, they’re out! If they wanna pass this test, they’ll have to get creative. It’s The Fall!!”
The Fall is a vast dark pit filled with tall stone pillars that are all connected by tightropes.
Ochaco backpedals away from the edge. “When did they even have time to build something like this?”
Tsuyu steps past the gravity-manipulator and then squats down.
Mina eyes the frog girl. “What are you doing?”
“Kero!” Tsuyu jumps out and lands onto a tightrope with no issues. “Kero.” She starts moving forward one hand and foot moving at a time. “This is my moment. Easy peasy.”
“She’s fast.” Awes Mina.
A thrilled cackle echoes from behind Ochaco and Mina.
“Yes. Finally.” Mei Hatsume’s goggles sheen in the light. “This is my chance to show off what I can do.”
All across her form, she’s wearing an assortment of support items and gear from metallic shoes, strange devices hooked to her belt, and of course her steampunk like goggles.
“My support items are gonna steal the spotlight from these wannabe heroes. Everyone!” She throws hands out in dramatic fashion. “Observe what my brilliant gadgets can do!”
Ochaco instantly recognizes her. “Hey, you’re Hatsume!”
“That’s right…now who are you?”
“What?! You mean you don’t know?!” After all, Hatsume is supposed to be the one creating her support gear!
“Nope.” Hatsume states flatly without a care if she sounds rude.
Ochaco sighs not enjoying how self-absorbed this strange girl is.
Mina, however, is upset about a clear injustice. “Hey! How come you got to bring all that stuff?”
Hatsume smiles eagerly, more than happy to explain why she has the gear that she does. “Students in the Hero Course get all kinds of combat training for their Quirks.” Her smile turns devilishly mischievous for a moment. “In order to keep things fair and give us a fighting chance, we’re allowed to bring whatever gadgets and costumes we want into the games. So long as we developed them ourselves.”
She then steps forward. “So, sit back and enjoy the show!” Her wire arrows fire out and pierce into one of the pillars.
“For those of us in the Support Course, this is the perfect obstacle to show off our ingenious ideas and creations to any companies that may want to recruit us!” Her hover soles fire and launch her forward. “Hahahaha!” She jumps into the trench without a care in the world. “I hope employers are watching!” As she descends down, she presses a button and the wire reels her up and onto the side of the pillar. “My super cute little babies are sure to make a splash!” Her hover soles shoot her upward as she cackles in delight. “Hehahaha!! Hehahaha!!”
“Talk about annoying,” grumbles the pink-skinned teen.
Ochaco glares, she can’t let the Support Course student get ahead of her. “I won’t lose!” She runs forward, pressing her hands against her face and jumps forward allowing Zero-Gravity to do its thing.
“Ugh! This is so unfair!” Mina runs forward too.
Other students run up to take on the next obstacle. One of them happens to be the indigo-haired boy with bags under his eyes. “Interesting.” He smirks creepily, watching the students of Class 1-A make their way across. “Heh.”
Present Mic comments. “In the world of heroes, it can be hard to get popular without a flashy Quirk. Right, Eraserhead?”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about, idiot.” Present Mic is lucky that Aizawa can’t move his arms right now, otherwise he wouldn’t hesitate to strangle him with his scarf.
Ochaco lands atop the first pillar, she looks ahead to see how much further she has to go, and she spots Todoroki skating over a frozen tightrope to make it to the opposite end of the obstacle. Bakugou appears to be in hot pursuit of their dual-haired classmate as he flies over The Fall.
She observes the situation and notices how ridiculous Iida looks as he T-poses his way on a tightrope, using his engines to push himself forward. “He looks so silly!!” she spit-takes.
She slaps her cheeks and shakes her head. “Don’t get distracted! I have a Sports Festival to win.”
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The stadium is full of chatter as the screens display the skillfulness of each student, especially of those in the lead. Many of the pro heroes in attendance take notice of them especially.
“The dude in first place is so far ahead. Not even that kid who gave the speech is anywhere to be seen.”
“His Quirk is really powerful, but it’s his natural athletic talent and keen judgment keeping him in first place.”
“I’m not surprised. Don’t you know who his father is? The Flame Hero, Endeavor!”
“Wait, for real?!”
“That guy’s second only to All Might himself.”
“Everyone’ll be fighting to have him as a Sidekick for sure.”
Toshinori can hear them all talking above him. And he has to agree, but this Sports Festival is only just beginning. Anything can happen.
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Ochaco makes it across The Fall as Shoji glides over to the end and Yuga Aoyama launches himself over with his Navel Laser.
“The leader’s pulling distance between him and the students stuck at The Fall!” shouts Present Mic. “It hasn’t been announced how many competitors will make it through to the next round. So, there’s no time to relax.”
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Inko gitters around on the couch, unable to pry her eyes off the television. “Come on, Izuku.”
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ML-E bounces off her family’s couch, cheering at the top of her lungs. “Go Ochan! Go!”
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At the same time a crowd of aliens gaze up at the holographic screen displayed over Mr. Baumann's bar.
“This year’s first-years really are something.”
“No kidding, no wonder they were able to hold off villains all on their own.”
“Hey, what happened to that kid with the Omni-something.”
“Omnitrix.” Mr. Baumann corrects.
Information spreads fast through the alien community of Japan, namely because it is rather small. But even so with Thirteen coming by every now and again, it was only a matter of time before the aliens of Earth found out. So, the pro hero just came out with it so none of them would be thrown for a loop.
“Isn’t that girl with the pink-cheeks a Plumber, too?”
“Na, she’s more of a cadet.”
A rodent-like being throws his head back in annoyance. “Gah! Why are we even watching this?! It's just hero propaganda.”
Mr. Baumann tosses a can at the big mouthed rodent. “Shut it, Argit! You can leave if you don’t want to watch!”
Argit glowers but keeps his mouth shut.
Mr. Baumann goes back to watching the screen along with his otherworldly customers. ‘Come on, Izuku. Where’s that fighting spirit of yours?’
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A panting Todoroki arrives at the third and final obstacle of the Obstacle Race.
Present Mic’s voice booms out to introduce it. “And now, we’re finally approaching the last obstacle. Everyone had better tread carefully. You’re stepping onto a Minefield!!”
The final obstacle is a minefield that stretches far into the distance. Looking closely little mounds of dirt protrude upward, clearly that is where the bombs are hidden. Only issue is the ground is absolutely littered with them.
“If you look carefully you can see where those little bombs are buried. So, keep your eyes on the ground, folks.” He adds in the next part for liability sake. “By the way, those land mines were designed for the games. So, they might be loud and flashy, but they’re not all that powerful. JUST ENOUGH TO MAKE YOU WET YOUR PANTS!!!”
Aizawa retorts dryly. “Get a hold of yourself.”
Ochaco’s head snaps up after hearing Present Mic’s announcement ‘No way! Did Todoroki already make it to the final obstacle?’ She needs to move it! ‘Move it Ochaco! You can do it! You can still win this! Maybe…’ As she runs, she passes by some more students even those from Class 1-B.
She just needs to call upon One For All if she wants to achieve victory, but the question is: how? How can she utilize its power without disabling herself, or at least with the minimal amount of damage to her body?
As Ochaco nears the third obstacle, other students are making their own way across, but with so many hidden bombs, they only end up getting blown up by booming pink smoke.
With so many bombs everywhere, Todoroki has been reduced to a fast walk instead of a run. ‘Very clever. Those in the lead are actually at a disadvantage here.’ He keeps his balance despite the explosions in the background. 'Guess it makes for good entertainment.’
A different kind of explosion roars out from behind him.
Todoroki turns around and sees a wickedly grinning Bakugou flying at him at full speed.
“Ha ha ha. It’s over. Bastard!” He screams out as one final blast pushes him past Todoroki. “Your declaration of war was to the wrong person!!” He thrusts his hand out, but Todoroki dodges his fiery palm.
“Just like that a new student takes the lead!” shouts Present Mic.
They can hear the audience from there, they are in a complete uproar now that Bakugou has caught up to the leader.
“The media here is going crazy! There’s nothing they love more than an upset!” And judging from Present Mic’s voice he loves it too.
While those two duke it out, other students take advantage of the situation to catch up such as those in the Hero Course classes.
“Hey, hey, hey! The rest of the competitors are catching up, too!” Present Mic returns his attention back to the leaders. “And what’s this?!”
Todoroki deflects Bakugou’s hand as they keep moving while also avoiding landmines.
“Can our two leaders fight each other and stay in front of the competition?!”
Todoroki grabs Bakugou’s arm partly freezing it but the blonde shakes him off before he can do too much damage.
Back at the start of the Minefield, Ochaco has just arrived. ‘Darn, they’re so far ahead.’ She can see the two of them fighting it out, she can assume that Bakugou’s ego must have reached its limit and now he’s trying to regain some sense of dominance.
But his blunder will be her salvation, she just needs to use it, she needs to use One For All…but how? She could power up her legs with it, but then what? Launch herself forward and hope it’s strong enough to get her all the way to the finish line? Unlikely… But what if it wasn’t her entire leg?
With a new brilliant idea, Ochaco sets herself up. First, she uses Zero-Gravity on herself making her weightless and then she gets into a running stance lowering herself so she can take off.
While traversing the start of the Minefield, Jiro notices Ochaco’s running stance. “What’s Uraraka doing?” She doesn’t have time to see and keeps going using her stretching Earphone Jacks to help locate the bombs.
‘Focus. Just Focus.’ All Might’s successor inhales and then exhales calming her mind as she focuses on the task at hand. ‘Focus on one point.’
She focuses on that feeling of protecting, of saving others that All Might told her to call upon. Her entire body lights up in a dazzling pink aura as One For All courses through her. Her entire body stiffens if she moves there’s no doubt, she’d damage her body, now she can't move so she focuses even more, and the light flows down to her legs. Ochaco can feel the immense amount of power flowing through her entire body as One For All streams through her leg and then her foot lights as One For All concentrates within her toe.
And that’s all she needs as she takes off like a bullet! She soars over the landmines as a powerful whirlwind trails behind her. “BURST COMET!!!”
Explosions boom out behind her as she rockets past her fellow classmates and competitors.
The roaring explosion draw Bakugou’s and Todoroki’s attention and they are more than surprised to see Ochaco racing towards them.
Ochaco is nothing but a blur flying just a foot above the minefield, only her Zero-Gravity to protect her from an exploding fate, as explosions roar behind her in her wake.
She can almost hear All Might screaming “YES!!!” all the way from the stands, but the pain and swelling of her toe as well as the whipping wind in her face prevent her from hearing him or even Present Mic’s commentary.
“Wow!! How is she doing that?! Whatever the case, Class 1-A’s Ochaco Uraraka is now vying for the top spot!”
She’s quickly clearing the Minefield; at this rate she will catch up to the leaders in no time.
“Dammit, Roundface!!”
“Uraraka!!”
Bakugou thrusts his arm back and releases a thundering explosion right into the girl’s path, he is not about to let someone else take the lead.
Ochaco’s eyes widen in terror as she flies uncontrollably right to the fiery eruption.
“Release!!” Gravity’s pull returns and drags her down and she tumbles across the ground until a landmine bursts into a cloud of pink smoke, thrusting her up into the air.
Despite ending up in an explosion either way, she keeps her composure as she’s launched into the air again and right over the two boys before falling back towards the ground.
She quickly uses Zero-Gravity to soften her descent. And just in time too because Todoroki launches a sheet of ice across the ground in an attempt to freeze her in place, unfortunately for him, he essentially created a slippery landing pad for the gravity girl.
“Get out of the way!” shouts Bakugou as he runs forward, he throws his hand as bursts flare out.
Out of reflex, Ochaco grabs Bakugou’s arm, turns her boy and pulls him up and over her shoulder slamming him into the ground and onto a landmine that blasts both of them, and the nearby charging Todoroki away.
The three leads are able to regain their balance and keep moving forward while also avoiding attacks from each other.
Bakugou tries to blast them away but they evade or brush off his palms. Ochaco does her best to ignore the pain in her foot while also trying to land a hand on them. But Todoroki encases his skin in ice to repel the effect of her Zero-Gravity.
“Wha?! It’s now a three-way brawl for the fini-...” Present Mic goes quiet as someone notified him about something. Whatever it is it must be big if it were to distract him from the three-way brawl for the finish. “Hang on! Hang on! Hang on!”
Ochaco is just able to slap away Todoroki’s hand after he grabbed her shoulder and encased it in ice. She vaguely wonders what Present Mic is talking about, but she has to focus on the here and now.
“What’s this, it's Izuku Midoriya!! And he’s quickly approaching from the rear!!”
“What?!” cry out the three clashing leaders.
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“Yeah, baby!!” Grey Matter shouts gleefully from within his newly decked out Mecha as he races through the Obstacle Course at high speed.
After leaving Uraraka he got to work on hijacking a 1-Point Mecha. While taking some parts from a second downed 1-Point Mecha.
His decked out Mecha uses a 1-Point Mecha as the main frame, it’s leaning backwards with a second tire hitched to its back for double the speed, the bot’s arms are positioned backwards at its sides with its gatling guns towards its rear to act as thrusters, and finally it’s robotic head its atop its belly acting as a cockpit for the little alien to drive.
It took him some time of course but definitely well worth it because he's already made it to The Fall.
Grey Matter steps on the gas and with a pull of some wires his high-speed vehicle springs upward as it leaps over the gorge, bouncing from pillar to pillar.
Grey Matter feels a bit guilty as he jumps around, but he’s moving far too quickly for other students to move out of the way in time.
“Look out!”
“Coming through!”
“Sorry!”
“Ooh!” That had to hurt.
He instantly arrives at the other side; the tires spin wildly before racing forward with a screech kicking up dirt in its wake.
Grey Matter tugs on more wires making the vehicle race even faster and soon he’s coming upon the Minefield. Knowing he can’t slow down now; he kicks it into high gear for one last burst of speed that rockets him straight into the Minefield and past his competition.
Explosions trail behind the metallic vehicle, which is durable enough to withstand the blasts, the same could not be said for the students that are unfortunate to be in his direct path.
Meanwhile, the three racing leads are in complete and other awe as Grey Matter races across the entirety of the Minefield.
They only have Present Mic’s announcement to clarify who it is that’s catching up to them. “Class 1-A’s Izuku Midoriya just went from dead last to suddenly being in pursuit for first place!”
“Oh! What a day! What a lovely day!!” shouts Grey Matter as he plows right past Ochaco, Bakugou, and Todoroki.
“Strike that!! THE LEAD IS HIS!!!”
The audience roars out at the thrilling development, so much so that they shake the stadium.
The vehicle's thrusters give out, slowing its pace but Grey Matter still keeps the lead. “Hahahaha! Ingenious!” Yes! This worked out so much better than he had thought! ‘This is what it means to use what you got!’
And what Grey Matter has is an advanced intellect, and a lot of spare parts to work with! ‘Now I’m about to win a race of speed and athletics with pure brain power!!’
He better not get too comfortable because the three leads immediately take off after him. “DEKU!!!” Bakugou rockets after him with a crazed look in his eye. “What the hell do you think you’re doing, huh?!”
Todoroki generates an ice path in front of him as he sprints forward. ‘This ice path will end up helping others. But there’s no time to worry about them!’ He’s actually somewhat worried now, he was too complacent thinking nobody would catch up to him and now he’s paying the price.
Ochaco runs as fast as she can, while still avoiding bombs. ‘Sheesh, Deku! You show off!’
“Look at this plot twist!!” shouts Present Mic. “Those three aren’t fighting anymore! They’re chasing Midoriya!! That’s what having a common enemy will do in this competition! This fight is still far from over, though!”
That’s right, anything can still happen.
Ochaco scowls, she’s falling behind the others and fast. ‘I can’t lose! Come on Ochaco!’ Her toe is still swollen, but her adrenaline is pushing back her pain.
She needs to use One For All, there are no other options. ‘I need to focus! Focus on that feeling of protecting, of saving, of…of…’ And then it hits her. ‘No…that's not all. I need to allow One For All to flow, while maintaining focus!’ But most importantly. ‘I have to stop thinking and just do it!!’ As her resolve shines through, her magnificent pink-aura illuminates around her.
And with a final kick off the ground Ochaco charges forward with such a force of speed and power that she zooms past Bakugou and Todoroki leaving them to deal with the bombs going off behind her.
“Move it, Deku!!”
Grey Matter reels around, his eyes popping open just as Ochaco plows right through his Mecha shattering it in a burst of scrapes and wires.
She flies forward, losing focus on One For All. She is not at all sorry as she rolls across the ground, and then slides to her feet. She never stops moving, sprinting forward as fast as her legs can carry her, happily noting that her legs are okay! She had done it! For a minute there she had control of a portion of One For All’s power!!
Present Mic is going crazy over the new development. “In a stunning move, Uraraka has blasted past her classmates from 1-A. Even demolishing Midoriya’s super cool Mecha!!”
Ochaco sprints as fast as she can even as something weighs her arm down. She has no time to worry about it, she has to keep going and win this!!
Especially as Bakugou and Todoroki are fast approaching, with their more reliable Quirks they are quickly closing the gap.
“Eraserhead, your students are amazing! What the heck are you teaching them?!”
Aizawa’s muffled voice speaks with a hint of pride. “This has nothing to do with me.”
The three main leads keep on going, moving as fast as their natural abilities can take them through the narrow passageway.
“Each of them is powered by their own drive to succeed.”
Ochaco can see the light at the end of the tunnel! She’s almost there!
Present Mic laughs out. “There you have it, Eraserhead is a terrible teacher!”
“I’m what?!” shouts Aizawa.
Bakugou’s blast echoes behind Ochaco as if he’s only an inch behind her.
Present Mic continues to comment. “Who would have imagined at the beginning of this race that the climax would be a non-stop mega mix of surprises?!”
Ochaco can feel the cold-touch of Todoroki’s ice on her heels.
So, with one last push with the support of her loved ones and for the sake of her dreams spurring her one Ochaco calls upon One For All one last time.
“BURST COMET!!!”
And just as Bakugou and Todoroki are about to pass her by, she blasts right past them like a pink-colored comet had fired down from the stars and all to claim victory over the Obstacle Course.
All Might’s successor surges into the stadium to the sound of resounding cheers and screams. A tired yet thrilled smile adorns her face as she swings her arm forward just before the finish line. But that’s when she notices it. Perched upon her shoulder, Grey Matter smirks at her with a mischievous yet proud look in his eyes.
It takes a second for her to realize that he latched onto her when she blasted straight through his Mecha. But that means…
“How unprecedented!! Ochaco Uraraka and Izuku Midoriya are our champions!!”
“How It Should Have Ended” (HISHI)
Back just before the race began the final light shuts off just as Midnight shouts. “BEGIN!!!”
A stampede of students charge forward all clambering through the narrow hallway.
Izuku races forward, activating the source of his powers, and disappears under a flash of green light and is replaced by the one-and-only XLR8.
The Kineceleran weaves in and out, around the sea of slow-moving students, even running along the vertical wall at a high speed to avoid the flow of stampeding contestants.
XLR8 bursts out of the doorway far before Todoroki could attempt to freeze anyone in place.
XLR8 is but a blur as he speeds past the Robo Inferno, he’s so fast the robots couldn’t even register that he ran right past them.
Even The Fall is of no consequence as XLR8 easily skates across the tightropes, zig zagging between pillars before he’s on the other side. He turns around briefly to admire how deep the gorge really is before taking off again.
In less than a minute he’s already at the Minefield, but even unaware of the dangers ahead of him he keeps on going. Taking advantage of the Kineceleran’s natural speed. He blazes a trail right through the Minefield, moving so quickly that the bombs blow up far too late to do anything. Even the sonic blast of the bomb can’t reach him as he’s already running straight through the passageway and swirls around to a stop after bursting through the finish line and into the stadium to the sound of a stunned audience.
“What!! The!! HELL!!!” cries an astonished Present Mic. “IZUKU MIDORIYA OF CLASS 1-A FINISHED THE ENTIRE COURSE IN LESS THAN A MINUTE!!!”
That’s got to be some kind of U.A. record right there!!
XLR8 looks towards the start of the race and he can actually still see the last flow of students trying to get through. “Huh… What do you know?”
He honestly thought it would have taken him a lot longer than this. Even the obstacles weren’t that bad…sure they look scary, but it was no big deal.
Aizawa deadpans. “This is why I said we should have included more obstacles.” Like a maze or some sort of giant obstacle for the students to climb over, even an obstacle that made them stop to solve a puzzle could have at least slowed down the boy a bit.
XLR8 sheepishly chuckles. “He, yeah, sorry…I was too excited.” And lucky thing too that the Omnitrix gave him the right alien he needed.
Could you imagine if he became someone like Grey Matter or Ditto? He certainly doesn’t want to think about it.
XLR8 looks over at the equally stunned Midnight. “So, now what do I do?”
Midnight snaps out of her daze. “Oh, um…” She tries to regain her composure by whipping her flogger. “You can run the course again!!” Oops, she was so out of it she said the worst thing possible.
XLR8 grins as his visor closes down over his face. “Okay!” He zips away to the arch away and begins to lap the other students before most of them are even through the Robo Inferno.
Meanwhile, Toshinori pales in his seat. ‘Just…just what is this kid?!’
Thirteen is shaking their head. ‘Dammit, Midoriya…I know I said to make a splash, but don’t humiliate your classmates in the process, too…!’
Before long XLR8 speeds back into the stadium from the opposite end. “Can I go again?!”
Nearly the entire arena and possibly the entire galaxy cries out all at once. “NOOOOO!!!!”
Notes:
And that was Ch.21 Roaring Start, I thought it was fun. Plus it was the fastest chapter I was able to upload in the history of this fic. To be fair, I had a preexisting outline to work with (manga/anime). That said, I don’t know if I can get the next chapter out just as fast or not, so no promises when it will get here. To be honest I am most excited to get to the individual tournament battles, but we need to get through a few more stuff first. Anyway how was Ch.21? Did you like it? Did you not? Please let me know.
Also I should have probably made this clear sooner, but this fic essentially has two protagonists (Izuku and Ochaco) with the main focus being on Izuku most of the time. So, if you felt like there was a great deal of focus on her in this chapter; that was on purpose. Don’t worry though, as I said the main focus will mostly be on Izuku for the most part.
Also The “How It Should Have Ended” (HISHI) above is basically an Omaki but I titled it after a YouTube channel under the same name. They basically animate versions of movies and explain that one or two simple decisions could have changed the entire outcomes of movies: Avengers, Jurassic Park, Star Wars, and so much more. So, basically what I was doing with the Omaki scene was to show what would have happened if the Omnitrix gave Izuku XLR8 from the start. But he ended up getting Grey Matter instead and I’m sticking to that timeline. Anyway I hope you enjoyed the HISHE!
Oh, and for fun let me know which alien (any Ben Ten alien) you would have given Izuku to use during this Obstacle Race and how they would have done it. I’m curious.
*So, I basically combined Episode 15 and 16 of the anime. I didn’t see any point of making you guys wait for an outcome by leaving a cliffhanger half way through so I tried to fit the Obstacle Course all in one go. I may not be able to do the same for the next events, however.
*As for why I chose Grey Matter: 1.) I haven’t been able to give him a good amount of screen time yet. 2.) I thought it would be nice/fun to have him trick out a robot to win. 3.) Show that brains can beat brawn. 4.) It made it easier to craft out the chapter since I could leave him out near the start of the race and then bring him back in the end for a major comeback.
*Speaking of comebacks, Ochaco’s newest special move, Burst Comet, is a move I hope to evolve as she gains more control over One For All.
Chapter 22: Friends and Foes
Summary:
The students of U.A. take part in the second round of the Sports Festival; the Cavalry Battle!!
Notes:
Hey it’s me, sorry for the late update. I’ve been real busy lately so we may be back to updates only once a week. But to make up for being late, this is my longest chapter yet.
*Also I think I caused some confusion with the last chapter's title. When I said “Roaring” I didn’t mean to hint to Rath. I was trying to say ““Roaring Start” to the Sports Festival.” But that title is too long. Rath will eventually arrive but not for a while.
*I want to restate a few things:
Every Ben Ten alien from the original series, Alien Force, Ultimate Alien, and Omniverse will be included into this story. (The ultimate aliens are still on the fence though).
I am not trying to live a power fantasy with this fanfic and thus I have given myself a set of rules to follow on how, when, and where Izuku gains new aliens.
I have not watched the rebooted series (I tried to), so don’t expect any aliens, elements, or anything from that series.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
“BURST COMET!!!
Ochaco Uraraka rockets into the stadium to the resounding roar of the stadium along with a little grey frog latched onto her shoulder.
“How unprecedented!! Ochaco Uraraka and Izuku Midoriya are our champions!!” screams Present Mic over the intercoms.
The audience goes crazy over the results as fireworks boom in the sky and confetti showers down! None of them could have guessed how the Obstacle Courses ended the way it did!
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Inko Midoriya is moved to tears after seeing her son take the win. So much so that she slips right off the family couch. “Oh, my baby Izuku!!”
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“Way!! To!! Go!! Ochan!!” ML-E is so hyped up that she’s running about her family’s living room like a chibi-tornado.
Her mother on the other hand. “ML-E settle down this instant!” Just by running around her daughter has already broken a vase and papers were thrown into the air.
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“Woah-woo!!” Mr. Baumann’s otherworldly customers cheer as Izuku and Ochaco’s images play over the screen.
“Way to go!”
“That was amazing!”
“Those two really know how to play with suspense don’t they!”
“Meh, it’s all just for show.”
“Shut it, Argit!”
Mr. Baumann, himself, cannot stop smiling. “Woah-woo! Way to go Izuku! I knew you had it in you! I-” He finally notices how the aliens are eyeing him like he grew a second head, which isn’t even that strange for some of these aliens.
Mr. Boumann coughs into his fist while fixing his apron. “I mean…if he does well, then he can become a pro faster… And he can pay me back for all the damages he caused, sooner!” Why does it feel like he threw the last part in as an excuse?
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From outside the stadium Death Arms turns around to see what the big fuss is all about. And on the flat screen he watches as a little frog transforms into Izuku Midoriya.
“Hey, it’s those kids.”
Kamui Woods turns to see what his partner is talking about. Peering up at the screen he sees pictures of Ochaco and Izuku being announced as the winners. “Oh, yeah. They were the ones that took down that creepy clown… Should have figured they were Hero Course students.”
And that must mean they are part of the famous Class 1-A. Wow, that might explain why they were able to take on the Freaks and Zombozo.
Death Arms smirks. “I guess those two will be the ones to watch.”
“No kidding.” Maybe he should try and scout them, assuming they’ll accept.
Meanwhile, Mt. Lady isn’t even bothering to pay attention as she poses for a small group of cameramen nearby.
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Tomura Shigaraki slouches forward in his seat, scratching at his neck in irritation, as he keeps his eyes on the screen. “It’s those brats again…”
Nue, or Henzu Uuichi, sits in the dark corner behind Shigaraki. He snarls at the image of his once upon a time friend.
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Ochaco is panting very heavily, her foot is numb, and her heart is pounding. Meanwhile, Izuku stands nearby ready to provide any assistance.
Ochaco eventually throws her head up and takes in the cheering crowd as does Izuku. The entire stadium is alive with cheers and praise after witnessing such a thrilling start to the Sports Festival.
The First-Place winners scan the audience until their eyes locate the teacher’s booth. From within they can see all the teachers, specifically All Might and Thirteen, giving standing ovations.
Izuku and Ochaco smile up at the mentors who are more than thrilled to return the gestures with their own gleaming smiles of pride.
Izuku and Ochaco share a look with each other, and smile, laughing while savoring the taste of victory even if it was a tie.
Toshinori Yagi watches as his successor dries her eyes before tears of joy have a chance to leak out. This Sports Festival’s a competition where everyone aims for the top. Even though that means defeating your friends and classmates. And for professional heroes, popularity plays a huge part in their careers. So, they have to want to be the best. It’s a bloodthirsty world.’
He peers up at the screen that’s replaying Ochaco’s Burst Comet that allowed her to rocket past Bakugou, Todoroki, and Midoriya’s Mecha.
He looks back down at his grinning successor. ‘At your core, you want to help others. That’s why I chose you, Young Uraraka. But in all honesty, I also thought your kindness could be your weakness.’ He smiles and claps his hands together. ‘Turns out I was worried over nothing! You are a fighter!’
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As the audience somewhat begins to settle down, Katsuki Bakugou is off by himself panting hard after such a grueling race.
He grips his arm tightly as his entire body shakes with rage and…shock. “Deku… No way… Not…again…” First the Entrance Exam, then the Battle Trail, and now…and now this… How can this be?! He’s supposed to be the strongest, the best of the best!! Not Deku!! Not him!!
Meanwhile, steam evaporates from Todoroki’s body as he too tries to catch his breath. He really pushed himself in the end there, but it wasn’t enough…and he can’t accept that. His ice has to be enough, otherwise what is he doing with himself?
Todoroki eyes the two First Place winners as Present Mic’s voice drowns out his thoughts.
“The contestants are pouring in one after the other! Let’s hear some applause for all our competitors as we prepare the results.”
“Uraraka, that was amazing!” shouts Izuku, the way she took the lead like she did was incredible! He just can’t stop grinning when he thinks about it.
“Me amazing?!” Ochaco grins back at Deku. “What about you?! That robot-thing was so cool! I’m jealous!” No kidding, while she was booking it all the way across, Deku just had to sit back and freakin drive through the Obstacle Course. “Although…” Her cheeks puff out making them round as she pouts. “Weren’t you the one that said we couldn’t help each other? That we were rivals today?”
Izuku at least has the decency to be embarrassed. “He he, yeah sorry about that. But to be fair, you did destroy my mech.”
“Touché…” She has to give him that one, she did do that.
As the audience continues to go crazy over the result, Ochaco takes a moment to reflect. ‘To be honest, I got lucky. I was able to use One For All properly for a few moments back there, but…does that means I have control over it or was I just lucky?’ She balls her fist. ‘Either way I will control All Might’s Quirk.’
Izuku holds up the Omnitrix admiring its glistening metal texture in the sunlight. ‘I’m so glad I was able to think on my feet back there, but this just proves that anything can happen.’ He watches as more of his classmates sprint into the stadium. ‘My real abilities will be tested after this. Whatever comes next? I need to be able to adapt.’
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A panting Momo Yaoyorozu finally arrives into the stadium as something on her back weighs her down. “How could this happen?” She’s a recommended student, she should have been further in the lead than this.
A creepy maniacally laugh rings out behind her, where Minoru Mineta is gleefully perched to her back, using his Sticky Balls as a means to hold on. “Two birds with one stone. I’m a genius!”
“You are the worst!!”
Eventually all the other students finally finish the Obstacle Course giving those with minor injuries enough time to get patched up before the announcement for the next event.
Recovery Girl just wrapped up Ochaco’s toe to hold back the swelling for now. Thankfully, Ochaco’s shoe was tight enough not to let the swelling to get too bad so she’ll be able to participate in the next event without much hinderance.
Midnight strides upon the stage as the sea of students crowd around to await the results. “The first game for the first-years is finally over and what a game it was! Now, let’s take a quick look at the standings, shall we?”
1st: Ochaco Uraraka & Izuku Midoriya
2nd: Shoto Todoroki
3rd: Katsuki Bakugou
4th: Ibara Shiozaki
5th: Juzo Honenuki
6th: Tenya Iida
7th: Fumikage Tokoyami
8th: Hanta Sero
9th: Eijiro Kirishima
10th: Tetsutetsu Tetsutetsu
11th: Mashirao Ojiro
12th: Yosetsu Awase
13th: Tsuyu Asui
14th: Mezo Shoji
15th: Rikido Sato
16th: Momo Yaoyorozu
17th: Minoru Mineta
18th: Mina Ashido
19th: Koji Koda
20th: Kyoka Jiro
21st: Hitoshi Shinso
22nd: Sen Kaibara
23rd: Kosei Tsuburba
24th: Denki Kaminari
25th: Kejiro Bondo
26th: Reiko Yanagi
27th: Itsuka Kendo
28th: Jurota Shishida
29th: Shihai Kuroiro
30th: Yui Kodai
31st: Hiryu Rin
32nd: Nirengeki Shoda
33rd: Kinoko Komori
34th: Togaru Kamakiri
35th: Neito Monoma
36th: Pony Tsunotori
37th: Tooru Hagakure
38th: Setsuna Tokage
39th: Manga Fukidashi
40th: Mei Hatsume
41st: Yuga Aoyama
Midnight continues with her announcement. “Only the top forty-two contestants will advance to the next round!” However, because there is a tie for first-place the cut off is the 41st place. “But don’t be too let down if you didn’t make the cut. We’ve prepared other opportunities for you to shine.” She licks the sides of her lips, suggesting something else entirely. “Now the real fun is about to begin. The chance to fully move yourselves into the limelight! Give it your best!”
She has no idea how true some of the contestants are going to take that advice such as the humiliated and infuriated Bakugou and Todoroki.
Midnight whips her flogger to activate the holographic slot machine behind her. The image spins and spins and spins as if building up tension before revealing the next event. “Let’s see what we have in store for you next.” continues Midnight. “Will your wildest fantasies come to life? What could it be the waiting is torture!”
Izuku gulps, the anticipation is torture.
“Prepare, yourselves…for this!!”
The slot machine comes to a halt revealing the next event: CAVALRY BATTLE.
Denki Kaminari frowns at the announcement. “Cavalry battles? I’m terrible at those.” he whines.
Tsuyu Asui rubs her chin. “Huh, it’s not an individual event.” That’s odd, she figured there would be no cooperating with each other today. “I wonder how they’ll split us up.”
The chief umpire overhears her comments. “Allow me to explain.” She turns to the screen and an image of Thirteen, Present Mic, and Snipe stand together, linking their hands, while All Might stands atop of them their palms.
“The participants will form teams of two-to-four people as they see fit.” She peers back at the students. “In theory, it’s basically the same as a regular playground game. But there is one difference.”
The students stand at attention, wondering what that difference is.
“Each player has been assigned a point value based on the results from the obstacle course.”
Rikido Sato nods in understanding. “I get it, a point-based system like the Entrance Exams. That seems pretty simple.”
Ochaco adds in her own thoughts. “So, that means each team will have a different point value based on which students are on it.”
Mina Ashido finger guns at the gravity wielder. “Uh-huh!”
Midnight whips her flogger angrily against the stage startling the girls. “Maybe you should shut up and let me explain things to you!!”
On the screen, a set of points appear next to each student’s name and ranking.
“Now, then.” With the attention back on her, the umpire continues with her explanation. “The point assignments go up by increments of five, starting from the bottom. For example, 41st place is worth five points and 40th is worth ten.”
Izuku and Ochaco eye the ranking curiously. “Huh?” So if their math is correct then they should have something like 205 points. But they are about to be made aware of just how naive they both truly are.
“And the point value assigned to the first-place contestant is…TEN MILLION!!!”
For the two first-place winners it feels like their hearts have gone silent along with the rest of the universe, even as their brains shut off temporarily. And then the reality of the entire situation comes rushing back into them like a humongous tidal wave.
“Ten…”
“Million…?”
Midnight cuts in amongst their inner chaos. “Because we have two winners for first place, we will be dividing the points up between them making each of them worth…FIVE MILLION POINTS EACH!!!”
That in no way makes either of them feel any better.
The other contestants instantly turn to their newly established targets.
The indigo-haired teen smirks. ‘Really.’
A dark-smile is plastered onto Mei Hatsume’s features. ‘In other words if you take down their team…’
Everyone eyes the two winners like they’re lost sheep amongst a lion’s den. ‘You’ll win the Cavalry Game and take the lead yourself.’
“That’s right.” Midnight smirks down at the glorious and exciting sight of youth being motivated like this. “It’s survival of the fittest with a chance for those at the bottom to overthrow the top!!”
Both Ochaco and Izuku step a little closer as the hungry eyes of their classmates and competition emanate with bloodlust.
The prey’s hearts pound against their chests as anticipation for what’s to come grows.
Izuku’s mind flashes back to all the times his old classmates and especially how Bakugou used to claim that he [Izuku Midoriya] would never be able to hang with the best-of-the-best, that he was just a Quirkless wannabe… Oh, how the tables have turned.
‘Things have changed so much since junior high, but I’m still a target.’ Izuku’s fists clench. ‘Fine. It’s like I said before, I’m the one to beat.’
Meanwhile, Toshinori, the Number One hero himself, gazes down at the two students. ‘Now you both know the burden of being the best.’
Ochaco eyes the five million points displayed next to her name on the screen, as a combination of thrilling excitement and drowning dread swirl within her. ‘So, what they say is true. It’s hard being at the top. Right, All Might?’
“First-years!!” Midnight swings her arm towards the screen. “These are the rules you will abide by.” The previous image of the teachers as a cavalry team pops onto the screen, “The game itself will last fifteen minutes. Individual point values will be added together to reach your team total. Everyone will know how much you’re worth thanks to your headbands.”
They are beginning to see where this is going.
“Swipe as many headbands as you can to raise your team’s score.”
A few of the contestants smirk as if they’ve already formed a plan for this event.
“Stolen headbands must be worn from the neck up. So, the more you steal the harder it’ll be to manage them.” Essentially take too much and they could suffocate themselves with headbands. “And another thing. Even if your headband gets stolen or your team falls down, you can keep playing until time’s up!”
Yaoyorozu considers the challenge. “It’s anyone’s game, then.”
Sato agrees. “And since there are forty-two contestants there’ll be ten or twelve teams fighting on the field the entire time.”
“Sounds hard.” interjects a rather worried Yuga Aoyama.
Mina considers something else. “So, if you lose your headband at the beginning you have more time to make up a plan.”
Tsuyu isn’t too sure about that. “I dunno, Mina. Maybe we should wait and see how the teams turn out before we start strategizing.”
Midnight poses atop the stage, swinging her flogger around like a whip “This is going to be rough. You may use your Quirks as much as you like. But there are still rules! Make a team fall on purpose and I’ll slap you with a red card. You’ll be disqualified!!”
Bakugou scoffs in the background, looks like there goes his main strategy.
A timer for fifteen minutes pops onto the screen.
“Now, you’ve got fifteen minutes to build your teams. I recommend you get started.” And with that Midnight leaves them to it.
Izuku cups his chin in thought as his classmates begin to look for others that they’d work well with. ‘It doesn't matter how many points my teammates have since I’ve got so many. I just need to make sure I pick the right people. But who…?’
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While the students begin to form teams Kamui Woods, Mt. Lady, and Death Arms are all seated in the Staff Break Room for all the pro heroes guarding this event can take a seat and watch a bit of the Sports Festival.
Death Arms rolls his cigarette between his fingers. “The Sports Festival isn’t really about seeing how prepared they are at being heroes. It’s more about simulating the competition they’ll face if they go pro.” He sticks the smoke back into his lips.
“Huh?” Mt. Lady sits up in her seat. “What are you talking about?”
Death Arms breaths out a large puff of smoke before replying. “We both know this country is overrun with agencies right now. If you wanna put food on the table you’ve gotta be willing to step on top of other heroes. That was the whole point of the first round.”
Mt. Lady covers her mouth and tries to wave away the puff of smoke. “That’s such a sad way of looking at our jobs.”
Kamui Woods is instantly there to call her out. “Seriously?! You’ve never had a problem stealing the spotlight.”
Death Arms puffs out more smoke. “But on the other hand even if you're battling each other for popularity there are plenty of cases where you have to work together.”
She actually understood that. “Huh. You’re right, it’s just like this Cavalry Battle! Every point you score is not just for you, but for your teammates as well. Plus you have to think about how Quirks work together and who you’re compatible with.”
Kamui Woods twists the bottle cap off his water. “It’s kind of like coordinating with your Sidekick or doing Quirk training with other agencies.” He lifts the bottle up to his mouth but is stopped by his own mask, he wears the thing so often he forgets that he’s even wearing it at times.
The more muscular of the three shrugs. “I’m sure at least some of the kids are thinking about all this. If they become pros it’ll be their way of life.”
Mt. Lady leans back. “They’ve still got a long road ahead of ‘em.”
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The students are still trying to form teams and many of Class 1-A have their sights on a select few on who to join.
Sato jabs a thumb towards himself. “You should team with me!”
Mina cuts in. “No, you definitely want me by your side.”
Aoyama stands nearby while trying to keep his guts from spilling out. “I don’t wanna beg, but please.”
These are only the few of Class 1-A that are gathered around Bakugou, begging to be on his team.
Unfortunately for them, Bakugou is at a complete loss here. “Wait, remind me what your Quirks are again. And your names.”
Now that hurts.
Mina is absolutely appalled. “You’re kidding! We’re your classmates!” How does he not know everyone’s names by now?
Sato offers up a theory on why. “Can you really be that self-centered?!”
The answer: he can.
Toshinori watches on as the kids figure out teams. “He’s a hot head, but he came in third and he has 195 points. And considering how versatile his Quirk is I’m not surprised people are trying to join up with him.”
“Bakugou!” Eijiro Kirishima shoves his way past Tooru Hagakure and Sato. “I was gonna try Todoroki, but he already picked a group. So, hey! We should team up.”
“Hey, Shitty Hair.” greets Bakugou with a bored tone.
“My name is Kirishima!!” snaps the red-head. “And my hair’s not that different from yours.” That’s a good point, and so is this next part. “Come on. You wanna be the rider, right? So you’re gonna need a strong front horse who won’t be hurt by your blasts.” To prove his point Kirishima hardens up his arm. “That’d be me.” It’s not a suggestion.
But Bakugou still isn’t convinced. “I need someone with guts.”
Perfect. “My Quirk was made for this! I got you covered, man!” This is his final point. “Let’s go charging into battle together.”
That instantly strikes a chord with the elitist and Kirishima knows he’s got him now.
“Ten Million. Bring it.” That’s a promise.
Bakugou growls as a fiery grin forms on his face. Hell, yeah. They’ll definitely take the top spot.
At the same time, teams are still forming.
“Shoji! Shoji!!” Mineta balls until the taller classmates finally notices the crying excuse for a decent human being. “None of the girls wanna team up with me!! Please, be my partner!!”
Shoji instantly begins walking away intending on finding someone else.
“I’m super tiny so I can’t be a horse! But for some reason no one wants me to climb on top of them so I can be a rider!” He may have just answered his own question. “With your huge body and those tentacles you could cover me completely. So, no one’ll take my headband!”
Mezo Shoji actually stops, that’s actually a sound strategy.
“Right?! Please?!”
Shoji quickly grows a mouth out of one of his extra limbs and smiles. “Good idea. Let’s go.”
Izuku watches on as other teams are starting to take shape as well: Todoroki speaks to Yaoyorozu and Mina shows off her Quirk to Bakugou.
‘Everyone's sticking to the people in their homeroom class so far. It’s too much of a gamble to partner with someone if you don’t know what their Quirk can do. I need to find a team of my own and fast.’
There’s just one problem… He’s been completely isolated by everyone else!!
‘Everyone’s totally avoiding me since I’m worth so much!’ And it doesn’t help that he painted a target on himself during the Student Pledge either. Basically anyone on his team is going to have a rough time no matter their strategy.
Speaking strategy it would be better if a team could focus on stealing headbands than trying to keep their own. So of course no one is going to seek him out as a teammate.
But…there is someone. Someone that he can trust and rely on that may be willing to join his team. And from what he can tell she’s having just as much of a difficult time finding a team.
“Hey, Uraraka. Y-you wanna be on a team?”
The co-winner responds. “Um…n-no thanks.” The co-winner responds.
“Great, well we can… WHAT!?!” Did he hear her right, did she say no?!
She did, but not because she doesn’t want to, but because she feels like she shouldn’t be. “I’m sorry Deku, but…I want to win this.” No she needs to win this.
In order to realize her own dream and why she accepted All Might’s Quirk in the first place. To become a hero that keeps everyone safe and make them feel happy with just her presence. But she totally believes that she needs to prove her resolve by winning the Sports Festival through her own efforts. To prove to herself and All Might that she was the right choice to inherit his power.
Ochaco speaks with all seriousness. “Deku.”
The greenette waits for her to speak.
“I want you to give it your all. Because I’m going to beat you.”
He doesn’t expect that.
“I want to win this, Deku. Even though it was a tie, I want to make it clear who’s the best out of our class. I want to win this! And even though you are my friend…I think I’m starting to rely on you too much.”
She relied on him to save her during the mutant attack on the mall. He inspired her when she was kidnapped. She relied on him for a plan during the U.S.J. Incident. And even during the Obstacle Course she was willing and ready to work with him almost immediately. She needs to show that she can be a hero, a champion, all on her own. And this where she can begin to do that.
“I’m going to win and show the world that…I am here.”
Izuku understands. He gets it because of the glimmer of determination in Ochaco’s eyes. “Okay…”
Ochaco nods in appreciation. “Good. And besides…you were the one that said we aren’t friends today, but rivals.”
Izuku keels over as the feeling of rejection stabs him. It really hurts to have your own words thrown back at you, doesn’t it? “Y-yeah…I did say that.” He shakes himself off as he gets back onto his feet.
He offers up a determined grin. “Just remember you asked…ordered me to go all out. So, don’t expect any mercy from me.”
Ochaco grins right back. “I won’t.”
It’s official these two friends are now competing for the number one spot. And if that means taking the other out of the running then so be it.
“Good luck, Uraraka.”
“You too, Deku.”
And with that the challengers turn their backs to each other and march away to find their own separate teams. And even though it somewhat hurts to challenge each other like this, there’s still a thrill of competition pumping through their veins that just keeps driving them forward.
Izuku spots Iida and quickly approaches him. “Iida.”
Tenya Iida turns to face his shorter classmate.
Izuku smiles up at him and gestures for him to lean in close.
Iida goes ahead and decides to hear Izuku out.
“Listen, I think the two of us would be a good match for this Cavalry Battle.”
Iida doesn’t say a word; his face remains calm and stern so Izuku assumes he can continue with his plan.
“I don’t know if you remember from the Quirk Apprehension Test, but I have a transformation, XLR8, that grants me superspeed. So, you can be our initial horse, using your speed to evade everyone. And then when there’s only ten minutes left, I’ll transform, and we’ll switch so I’m the horse. Together there’ll be no chance of anyone catching us. So, what do you think…?”
Iida remains silent, but Izuku can’t tell whether he’s considering the plan or ignoring him.
“I know it’s not much, but it's the only evasive plan I could think of this fast.”
Iida finally reacts. “A good strategy, but I’m sorry.”
“Uh…”
“I’m afraid I must refuse your offer.”
“Huh?” gasps Izuku.
It feels like a heavy unshackled weight is pulling down on Iida, but he remains standing refusing to buckle under the pressure. “Since this all started, I’ve been losing to you.” Even though it was just one event. “Please don’t take this as an insult. You’re a great friend, but if I continue to follow you, I’ll never get stronger.”
Izuku gasps, it’s just like Uraraka. Like Todoroki and even Bakugou, too.
And Iida understands this as well. “Todoroki has already challenged both you and Uraraka already, but he’s not the only one who sees the two of you as rivals.”
Iida turns away and begins marching to his own team that have been patiently waiting for him on the sidelines. “Midoriya, I have something to prove too.” That he has what it takes to be like his brother and be a hero.
“Iida…” Izuku can’t hold it against him. ‘So, it’s already begun. Everyone's an enemy. I’m at the top and they’ll all be coming for me.’ Izuku gulps. ‘I can’t rely on anyone either. Not this time.’
That may sound cool on paper, but the reality is still that he needs teammates if he even wants to participate in this event.
So, Izuku strides past the other competitors with purpose looking for anyone that’s still in need of a teammate or two. He sees Ojiro with his back to him, maybe he’ll be on his team.
“Hey, Ojiro. Be on my team!” No time for politeness, he’ll imitate Bakugou's manners if he must. He needs a team and fast!
The tailed teen doesn’t respond; in fact he hardly acknowledges Izuku’s presence.
“Um, Ojiro?” Izuku grabs the teen’s shoulder while also peering up at him and he can instantly tell that something is wrong.
Ojiro’s eyes are shadowed over as if in a trance.
“Hey, Ojiro!” He shakes the teen’s shoulder.
It must work because Ojiro’s eyes blink and return back to normal “Oh, what happened?”
“Um…I was asking if you’d join my team.”
“What?!” Ojiro actually looks scared, he’s already back away from Izuku’s personal space. “Sorry, man…”
Ouch, now that hurt. He’s been rejected three times in the span of five minutes! Is this how Mineta feels?! “Ooh, what am I going to do?”
“Tch.” someone scoffs annoyingly.
Izuku finally takes notice that Ojiro was actually with someone else, that scary guy with messy indigo-hair.
“H-Hi…” Izuku offers up a meek wave.
The teen leers at Izuku before turning away, deciding to find someone else to snag onto his team.
As the teen begins to move away Izuku realizes something, he must be responsible for Ojiro’s lack of response. Was it his Quirk? Maybe he was manipulating Ojiro or at least he stunned him for time. A Quirk like that may work!
“Wait!” Izuku throws himself at the teen, latching onto his legs. “Please join my team!!” he begs.
“Let go of me!!” snaps the teen.
“But I can really use a Quirk like yours on my team!”
The teen freezes in place. “What did you say?”
Izuku blinks up, he wasn’t actually expecting the teen to stop and hear him out. “I-I s-said that I could use someone with a Quirk like yours…”
The teen actually looks nervous for some reason like he’s just been found out. He quickly looks around to make sure no one is listening in before hauling Izuku up by his collar. He’s surprisingly a lot stronger than he appears to be. “And what exactly do you know about my Quirk?” It’s less of a question and more like a demand.
Izuku’s going to play along with this. If this works out, he may actually have a teammate. “Uh, from what I can tell you were able to put Ojiro in some kind of trance. With a Quirk like that we could stop the competition in their tracks before they can get anywhere near us.”
The teen is actually a bit astonished by Izuku’s reply. He releases the greenette before turning his back on him. “You can’t rely on my Quirk like that…” his voice almost sounds…sorrowful.
And Izuku recognizes that sorrow…because it’s the same kind he’d always have to deal with growing up.
“Why not?”
The teen glares at Izuku, he doesn’t appreciate his nosiness. “Leave me alone already.”
Okay now this is ridiculous. Izuku’s brows furrow as he steps up and grabs the teen’s shoulder. “No.”
“Excuse me?” There’s an underline threat in the teen’s voice.
“I said, no. Not until you join my team.” Come on man, he’s desperate! People have already started to form teams of three or four.
The teen will humor him. “Fine, then tell me why I should join the team of the biggest target here?”
Okay…that’s a fair point. “Well…my…Quirk is very versatile!”
The teen’s eyes flash with irritation. “Tch, typical.”
“W-what?”
“Your kind is all the same, born lucky and you think the world owes you for it.” spats the teen. “I’m going to get through this Sports Festival with my own Quirk and show everyone that I can be a hero.”
Izuku finally gets it…this guy…is just like him. His Quirk is weak, it’s not flashy or powerful. In this society those with no or weak Quirks are often put down especially if they desire to become heroes.
Izuku recalls what this guy had to say back to his class from a few weeks ago. That he wanted to be in the Hero Course too, but he couldn't. And now he knows why. Whatever his Quirk is, it can’t be used on machines. But guess what? They won’t be fighting machines during this event.
“I…I don’t know your Quirk or your life for that matter.”
The teen was really getting thrown off by Izuku’s lack of an outburst.
“But I understand.”
He better not be surprised that the teen’s reaction is less than friendly. “No you don’t.” he growls. “How can you possibly understand?!”
Izuku rubs his arm, the same arm that’s attached to the Omnitrix. “Did you…listen to my speech? At the start of the festival?”
He did listen and…he remembers what Izuku had to say. That people put down his dream too. That bugged the teen greatly, how could the number one student of the Hero Course be told that he should give up on his heroic dreams?! He didn’t see the guy actually use his Quirk during the Obstacle Course, but he did see the crazy decked out Mecha race on by. Maybe…this guy’s Quirk is more unique then he gives credit for. Maybe it’s unreliable and he worked to make it work for him? Something he wishes he could do.
The teen frowns. “Yeah…I did.”
“Then you know what I’ve been through! Because you’ve been through the same thing…you’re going through the same thing.” Izuku grips the Omnitrix. “You see…I’m kind of a late bloomer, and I mean late.”
The teen’s eyes widen in shock as it finally dawns on him. They really are alike, aren’t they?
“And I believe that together we can win this event and move on to the final event! We can win this!”
The indigo-haired teen is really getting thrown for a loop here. Just what’s with this guy? “Why are you so hooked on getting me on your team? You don’t know my Quirk or me. Sure, you may understand how I feel, but why do you think I’ll be a good fit? What makes you think…we can win this?”
Izuku doesn’t even have to think about his response. “Because guys like us don’t know when to give up.”
That strikes a chord within the teen’s heart. This guy…Izuku Midoriya really does understand doesn’t he…
He takes a deep sigh, accepting the inevitable. “Fine…”
Izuku blinks in confusion. “Excuse me?”
“I said, fine. I’ll join your team.”
“Really?!”
The teen looks away rubbing the back of his head in annoyance. “Yeah, fine. But you know everyone is going to be after us.”
Izuku smiles. “Not to worry. I already have a plan to deal with them.” There’s just one more thing they need to take care of. “Oh, my name is Izuku Midoriya by the way.”
“I know.” It’s hard not to know the name of the guy that snagged first place.
Izuku smiles sheepishly. “O-oh, r-right…”
The teen eyes him, he doesn’t understand how someone like Izuku could exist. Someone that’s somehow both determined, and a nervous wreck should be impossible, but here it is in front of him. And…there’s something to admire about that.
“Shinso.”
Izuku’s head snaps up. “Huh?”
“Shinso…my name is Hitoshi Shinso.” The teen looks away, he might actually be embarrassed.
Izuku smiles in appreciation. “Nice to meet you, Shinso. Now are you ready to win?”
Shinso considers it and offers up his own smirk “Yeah.”
Looks like Izuku’s finally got a teammate now if only they can get two more.
“Do you have room for two more?”
“Kero.”
Izuku and Shinso turn to take a look at what may be their newest teammates.
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
“Would someone please join my team?!” cries Ochaco as she wanders around from contestant to contestant.
Each one of them has a similar response:
“Sorry.”
“I’m already part of a team.”
“Maybe if you give me your number.”
“I don’t want to be a target.”
“Nope!”
It’s been the same, nothing but rejection. Is this how Mineta feels?! Maybe she should have accepted Deku’s offer… No! It’s good that she didn’t and she’s going to stand by her decision. She’ll find a team no matter what it takes! She just needs to pump up the charm and use those persuasion skills that she never developed. After all, it’s not like a teammate is just going to willingly come to her.
A mad giggling encroaches on Ochaco from behind. “Oh, perfect, you’re still alone. And you’re the star.”
Ochaco curiously turns around to see who’s talking about her.
Hatsume rockets forward nearly smashing her face against Ochaco’s “Team up with me, person in first place!!”
How rude?!
Hatsume smiles as she removes her steampunk-like goggles revealing her yellow cross-sectioned eyes. “The name’s Mei Hatsume of the Support Course.”
Ochaco’s head slouches downward as she deadpans. “I know who you are…”
Hatsume is thrilled by the news. “Really?! Am I that famous already?!”
“No!” snaps Ochaco. “We’ve already met!!” Twice in fact.
“I don’t remember ya!” She’s not even ashamed to admit that.
“Ugh!” Ochaco facepalms. “You know…! You’re building the support item to help me fly.”
She can almost see the gears turning in the odd-girl's head.
“…Oh right!! You were the one that made the horrible design of a gadget!”
“Is that how you remember me?!”
Hatsume brushes off her outburst. “Anyway, I want to use your current fame to my personal advantage.”
“That’s so straight forward!!”
Hatsume practically zips forward in a blink of an eye, as if getting closer to Ochaco physically will make her agree, while chatting away at super lightning speed. “If I team up with you then I’ll be in the spotlight! Part of the team that everyone is keeping their eyes on.” She zooms closer, making Ochaco step back in fright even more. “That means my super-cute little babies will inevitably be seen by the big CEOs who’re tuning into the Sports Festival!” She zips forward again, so close that Ochaco can actually see the veins in her eyes. “And following that line of reasoning this is the best way for me and my marvelous gadgets to get recruited!”
Ochaco scrambles backwards. “Could you slow down a minute?” This girl is a complete riddle to her, a very confusing riddle. “Did you bring babies here, or-”
Hatsume isn’t done yet. “Plus, you will definitely benefit from…” She continues to ramble on as Ochaco is forced to hear her out.
‘Oh, she doesn’t actually care about my opinion.’
From seemingly out of nowhere Hatsume pulls out a massive chest and opens it up revealing a trunk load of gadgets and machines. “As you know, the Support Course specializes in creating equipment that helps heroes deal with their Quirks and enhance their skills.”
Hatsume digs through the trunk showing off each invention of hers, cackling with far too much enthusiasm. “Hehahaha! I packed a ton of powerful babies to bring with me. So, I’m sure you’ll find something you like floating around my arsenal!”
Ochaco scans the trunk and a peculiar item stands out to her.
Hatsume catches on that she’s got Ochaco’s interest now. “Oh, I see one’s caught your eye.” Hatsume pulls out a jetpack.
“Is that support item for me?!”
“Ha ha ha, nope! I have something else in mind for you.” Hatsume hoists up the jetpack and smirks. “But since we’re on a team, I’ll let you use it if you want to.”
‘I never officially agreed!!’ Ochaco shouldn’t really complain though now that she can actually form a team, but still…it be better if they could somehow get two more people
“Excuse me, you’re Ochaco Uraraka correct?”
Ochaco blinks up and finds two strangers approaching her. “Yeah, I am. Why do you ask?”
“If it’s not a burden, we would like to join your team. If you will allow it.”
Ochaco is not about to look a gift horse in the mouth. “Of course! Welcome to the team!”
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
The teams have officially formed but with time still left on the clock many of them are huddled away from each other so they can each come up with strategies.
Such teams include those that are composed of Class 1-B.
“Almost everyone in the audience is foaming at the mouth for Class 1-A. Why is that?” The blonde-student of Class 1-B does not expect an answer from his teammates. “They’re so full of themselves. Just like Tetsutetsu said earlier. Why are they stars?” The blonde says wickedly as he eyes his three teammates. “The only difference between us and them is that they fought a couple of villains. Just because we’re Class 1-B doesn’t mean we’re second rate or can’t win this whole thing. So, let’s step it up and show those jerks what we can do. Are ya with me?”
They are.
But they’re not the only ones with a set goal in mind.
“I chose the three of you because I believe we’ll make the most stable formation possible.”
Todoroki’s team remains silent as he addresses them.
“Kaminari’s our left wing. He can use his Quirk to keep enemies at bay.” Todoroki turns to his next teammate. “Yaoyorozu you’ll take the right wing. Focus on insulation and defense.” And finally he turns to the last member. “Iida, you’ll take the front. We’ll rely on you for mobility and physical defense.”
Iida likes this strategy, but he wants to clear something up about the plan. “And you’ll be attacking and creating diversions of ice and fire. Is that right?”
“Not quite.” Todoroki isn’t offended by the question, but he looks away towards a particular part of the stands. “When I’m in battle…” His fists clench up tightly as he spots the target of his fury. “I never use my left side.” It’s clear that there will be no changing his mind on the matter, he needs to prove that only his ice, only his mother’s Quirk, will be enough for him to become a hero.
Kaminari decides to keep the ball rolling. “So, are we going to go after Midoriya first or what?”
Todoroki pries his eyes away from whatever had his attention. “No. We’ll save him for last.”
“Huh, how come?!”
Yaoyorozu offers up an answer. “Think about it. Midoriya’s Quirk, One Man Army, may be able to use multiple Quirks but he can only do so one at a time.”
“And for only ten minutes at a time.” adds in Iida.
Kaminari smiles. “Oh, I get ya.”
Todoroki nods. “Right. We’ll let him tire himself out and when he’s reached his time limit, we’ll go after him.” It’ll be easy pickings to take it from him, and if his team strategy works out like he thinks then they’ll definitely win this event hands-down.
All too soon the fifteen minutes are up and a siren signals that the Cavalry Battle is about to begin.
“Oh, goody.” Midnight stretches her arms excitedly as she smiles down at the curiously formed teams. “It’s time to get this party started.”
Present Mic cuts in. “After fifteen minutes to pick teammates and talk strategy. Twelve cavalry teams are preparing to go head-to-head!”
Aizawa leans forward examining said teams. “I see some unexpected student combinations.”
Present Mic takes over again to get the crowd pumping! “Come on, everyone get your hands in the air! It’s time for an arena-thumping U.A. battle royal!!”
Izuku tightens his 5,000,360-point headband.
“Let me hear ya scream!!”
The crowd cheers as the competitors line up around the field.
The number one target peers down at his teammates. “You ready?”
At his front, Shinso eyes Izuku before smirking. “Yeah…”
Izuku nods and turns to the horse on his left. “Asui?”
Tsuyu blinks up at the boy. “I told you to call me Tsu?”
“Jiro?”
Jiro’s Earphone Jacks stand at attention. “I’m good.”
Izuku inhales before declaring with as much enthusiasm as possible. “Let’s do this!!”
He is so grateful that they both willingly sought him out to join his team. And it makes sense why. Tsuyu knows what Izuku is capable of, she’s seen him act on his feet in dire situations before. So, she’s fairly certain in his capabilities here and now.
As for Jiro…it’s more or less the same reasons. That and she just sort of took pity on the boy, especially after hearing what he went through during the Student Pledge. So, she just feels like she should help him out as if to help him get back at those who were wrong about him. Plus, she was all in after hearing Izuku threw together a rather solid plan.
“Okay, all you first-years! I hope you’re happy with your chosen teams!” shouts the boisterous commentator.
Ochaco grips her own headband tightly because if she loses it then she loses a total of 5,000,257 points! She then adjusts the clips of Hatsume’s jetpack before shifting her attention down at her valued teammates. “Are you ready Hatsume?”
From the right-wing, Hatsume chuckles in response.
“And what about you two?”
Itsuka Kendo and Ibara Shiozaki offer up confident grins from the front and left respectively.
“We’re good to go!” cheers Kendo.
Itsuka Kendo has a similar muscular build to Ochaco. She has teal eyes and long, ginger hair that she wears tied into a high ponytail on the left side of her head.
Ibra nods. “Our victory will be assured.”
Ibara Shiozaki has green, thorn-covered vines for hair that rests just above her waist. She carries a certain air of calmness and reason around her, that just seems to make her seem more pleasant to the eye and to be around.
“Let’s get this party started!” declares Present Mic. “One final countdown before the game starts!”
Every single team ready themselves, and nearly each one of them has their eyes trailed on the same targets.
“Three!”
“Get ‘em.” Bakugou cracks his knuckles from atop Kirishima, Tokoyami, and Mina.
“Two!”
“They’re ours.” states Todoroki from atop his team.
“One!”
Izuku gulps as he places his hand over the Omnitrix and at the same time from the opposite side of the field Ochaco grips her teammates’ shoulders.
Midnight cracks her flogger-like whip. “Begin!!”
Almost every single team takes off and right to two targets worth over five million points.
At the exact same time Izuku disappears in a flashlight, his teammates nearly topple down as more weight pulls them down as Terraspin appears above them with the headband’s strings waving behind his head.
“Woah!! Izuku Midoriya has just transformed himself into a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle!! So rad!!” Present Mic is really geeking out here, he loved that franchise as a kid! So, seeing something similar in the flesh is almost a dream come true!
“Stop geeking out.” Leave it to Aizawa to bring down the moment.
Tetsutetsu’s team takes the lead during the initial charge.
His front horse, Juzo Honenuki, is at a complete loss. “Woah, did he just transform or something! Is that his Quirk?”
Juzo Honenuki is a pale-skinned young man with mid-length spiked hair of beige color. His most unusual feature is his mouth; he has no lips and as a result his teeth are always on display giving him a skull-like appearance.
Tetsutetsu scowls, never pulling his eyes away from the prize. “It doesn't matter! If Class 1-A’s top student’s Quirk is just to become a turtle, then we’re definitely going to put them down to size!”
They’re not the only ones after Midoriya’s Team, everyone wants a piece of the pie. No, they all want the entire pie, the 5,000,360-point pie.
With no time to waste Terraspin jumps up into the air. “Let’s fly!!”
He immediately begins to hover in place, he then glides down just as Tsuyu wraps her tongue around their teammates and jumps up allowing Terraspin to catch them in midair.
“Team Midoriya’s members have switched positions!” declares Present Mic.
“What the hell?! That turtle guy can fly?!” shouts Tetsutetsu.
A flying turtle?! How does that make any lick of sense?!
“Is that even allowed?!” yells Juzo as they keep running.
Midnight smirks, licking her lips. “Why of course it is! Changing positions while in the middle of all the intensity keeps things fresh and exciting!!”
Plus, it’s not actually against the rules, and he never touched the ground so it’s all good.
Aizawa is really regretting that he agreed to commentate with these two. “Stop making innuendos. You are aware that children are watching this.”
Terraspin immediately takes off for the sky, leaving behind all the poor suckers who were not blessed with the ability to fly. “Everyone hold on tight!!”
Shinso grips the front of Terraspin’s shell while also laying down. Tsuyu’s natural ability to stick to walls keeps her in place. And Jiro grips Shinso’s shirt as a way to hold on.
Tetsutetsu’s team comes to a halt, their hair gets whipped around as Terraspin flies right over their heads.
Tetsutetsu ducks down until they finally fly high enough away from them. “Hey, get back here!”
Juzo spots something. “Where’s the headband?!”
Tetsutetsu grabs at his head, their headbands missing!! He peers up and spots one of Jiro’s Earphone Jacks pulling itself back to its owner with their team’s headband wrapped around the end.
“DAMMIT!!!” Tetsutetsu is absolutely infuriated, he was so going to show up the Class 1-A jerkwads!
“What’s this?! Team Midoriya is just full of surprises!” Present Mic turns to his co-host. “Yeah!! How about some insight?”
Aizawa complies. “Midoriya’s current form allows him the ability to fly while also generating gusts of wind. Combine that with Jiro’s and Asui’s extendable reaches they make for a dangerous combination.”
Basically they can keep themselves far from danger while also playing an active role in stealing more points. Aizawa can only assume that Midoriya is aware that he will eventually have to land and that when they do there is a chance that they'll lose their five million points. So, having more headbands will help ensure that they stay in the game.
Jiro snags the headband, it seems Midoriya’s plan is working out better than she had thought. “This is so cool.” Jiro grins down as everyone is now trying to follow them on foot, hoping that eventually Midoriya’s team will have to land eventually. “And you can keep this up indefinitely?”
Terraspin sticks his head out and offers a smile “Oh, yeah. I can keep this going for a while.”
Well at least until his ten minutes are up. For now he just wants to observe and keep their own points as safe as they can be.
While he has his head out Tsuyu takes the headband from Jiro and wraps it around as best she can around Terraspin's neck. His neck is so short that it’s tucked inside his shell so it’s even more protected than the one wrapped around his head.
“Don’t think you’re safe just because you can fly!!” shouts Sero from below, as he rides Ojiro and Sato.
The grinning teen fires off a stream of tape that flies through the air right towards Terraspin.
“I don’t think so!” The propelling turtle simply shifts his body and amplifies his air currents, generating a strong enough whirlwind to deflect the tape. “Sorry but taking our points isn’t going to be a breeze for you!”
Tsuyu actually groans. “Midoriya, please stop with the puns.”
“He he, sorry I can’t help it. Blame my transformations.”
Sero’s team continues to run after them. “Ojiro! Sato!”
“Right!”
“We got you!”
Sero positions himself onto Ojiro’s tail and Sato places his hand underneath. Together the two horses use their combined strength to launch Sero right into the air.
Midoriya’s team is in for a surprise as Sero quickly reaches their height.
“Those points are mine!!” Sero fires off twin strands of tape onto the flying turtle’s shell and quickly begins to reel himself in.
“Woah!!” shouts Present Mic. “Sero purposely flung himself away from his horses! Is that against the rules?!”
Midnight’s voice cuts in through the intercom system. “He never touched the ground so technically it’s okay.”
Terraspin tries to swerve around in the air but it’s not working, if he does anything too dramatic, he might just lose his own teammates. “Tsu! Jiro!”
Tsuyu’s tongue lashes out right for Sero whacking him across the head, while its natural stickiness snags the headband. While Jiro’s Earphone Jacks rip through his tape.
With the tape cleared Shinso gives the go ahead. “Move it! Shellhead!”
“Call me Terraspin!” The temporarily named Shellhead snaps as he swerves away from Sero.
“Oh, man.” The falling teen frowns as he shoots a tape to his muscular teammate who grabs it and pulls him in, where they catch him.
He was trying to take points not lose his own.
“Nice try!” jeers Jiro as they fly off.
Even Tsuyu is smiling, gripping the newly acquired headband in her hand. “Midoriya, this plan of yours it’s amazing.”
Terraspin chuckles. “I can’t take all the credit. None of this would have worked out if it weren’t for all of you.”
Jiro and Tsuyu grin, but Shinso looks a bit ashamed that he can’t really do more but hold on.
The morphed Izuku picks up on his sullen silence. “And you have an important job, too. While we’re all busy you need to be our eyes.”
That’s right, because Geochelone Aerios can only see what’s directly in front or below them when they use their abilities. So, Shinso needs to be on his guard to watch their sides and their flank.
Shinso nods. “You got it. Just try not to get shell-shocked when someone else tries to come after us.”
Terraspin tries to choke back a laugh but fails.
Tsuyu shakes her head. ‘Guh, there’s two of them.’
Jiro smirks and scans the area; from the other side of the field she can see that they are not the only ones who’ve taken to the sky for safety.
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
Meanwhile, at the other side of the stadium, at the exact same time as the match began.
Ochaco uses Zero-Gravity on herself, Hatsume, and Ibara as the rest of the opposition make a beeline right for their 5,000,257-point headband. “We got this!”
The other teams are already charging right for them, hoping to secure what they think will be the key to their victory.
“They are not even going to offer up mercy to us. How brazen!” Ibara frowns. “Such is the fate of those that seek those who are persecuted.”
Kendo readies herself; she’ll be the main runner since everyone else is weightless. “This is it.”
Despite the fast approaching enemies, Hatsume is still smiling. “Here they come.”
Ochaco glares as the approaching foes. “Then get ready!”
Before they can enact their plan, a member of Class 1-B fires out a glue-like substance from the many holes on his face.
He is very large and muscular in stature, possessing very wide shoulders in comparison to his slender waist, and unusually sizable hands. His skin is a yellow straw-like color, and his head is shaped somewhat like a glue-dispenser with a lappet on top, along with seven "eye-holes" on his face.
The glue comes flying at them like a gushing wave.
“Shiozaki!” shouts Kendo.
Ibara’s vine-like hair quickly embedded themselves into the ground and before the wave of gunk can strike them a wall of vines shields them, acting as the perfect barrier, blocking the glue.
“Would you look at that!” shouts Present Mic. “Class 1-B’s Shiozaki has successfully stopped her classmate’s attack!”
Glue drips off of the edges of the vines, slowly seeping through.
“What is that?!” cries Ochaco.
Kendo pulls her team behind her; she enlarges her hands to have a better grip over them as she begins to run away. Her agility really is something. It’s probably on par with Ochaco’s, but Hatsume’s hoversole boots might also be helping along with that.
Even while running she is able to offer up an answer.
“That’s Kejiro Bondo’s Quirk, Cemedine, and it’s essentially a fast-acting glue, so if we get caught in it, we'll be done for!”
“Really?!” shouts Ochaco.
Then it was a good thing Ibara and Kendo acted so quickly.
“Wow, Shiozaki you’re Quirk is really something isn’t it?!”
Ibara smiles up at the rider. “Thank you for the praise. But I’m afraid our battle has only just begun.”
“Hahaha!” cackles a shirtless Hagakure as a blushing Aoyama and Koda carry her forward. “We’ll be taking that headband, Uraraka!”
By his rider’s command, Aoyama fires off a series of laser bolts.
Without waiting Ibara generates another vine shield.
“Ooo! And Shiozaki’s vine wall has returned for a second showing!! But will it be enough to protect her and her teammates from this onslaught?!”
Ochaco can smell the vines being burned away and the longer they remain behind the vine wall the more surrounded they are becoming. “Hatsume!”
“Yeah?” replies the engineer.
Ochaco gestures to the jetpack. “You sure this is going to work?”
“Of course!” She’s actually offended that Ochaco would think otherwise.
Suddenly before they can do anything else Mineta’s maddening cackle rings out from nowhere. “Hahaha!! Hahaha!!”
Ochaco spins around but she doesn’t see Mineta all she sees is a spring Shoji racing right towards the. He has his arms up behind him acting as a tent for his back. She can only assume that Mineta must be inside.
“This is too easy!” declares the purple shorty. “It’s not a fight! It’s more like a massacre!!”
“Who the hell is that?!” shouts Kendo.
“Language.” snaps Ibara.
A shiver runs down Ochaco’s spine. “It’s Shoji and Mineta!”
Hatsume is actually worried as she peers around at Hagakure’s and Bondo’s teams charging for them. “Hey, we gotta get moving!”
If they stay, they will be trapped by multiple opponents. And their likelihood of winning will go with them.
“We have to get out of here!” yells the brunette of the group.
“I won’t let you!!” shouts Mineta.
Like a gatling gun from within a heavily armored vehicle purple Sticky Balls shoot out from between Shoji’s arms.
Bondo releases another wave of glue from his eyes.
And a flock of birds, under Koda’s control, zip past him, Hagakure, and Aoyama.
Ochaco glares at the oncoming teams and their attacks. “It won’t be that easy!”
She closes her eyes and focuses and before any of the attacks can land a sphere of heavenly pink light booms out, pushing back the attacks, before they all stop and float in midair.
“Oh, no!” cries Hagakure.
Hagakure’s team tries to stop, they recognize that move, but it’s too late. They get swallowed up by the pink light as do the other teams and begin to float up into the air. Their legs flail about as they try in vain to regain traction.
“Hahaha! There it is! Uraraka’s famous Zero-Gravity Field, just look at that thing it’s like a giant dome of dazzling light!”
The crowd erupts into cheers, they can’t get enough of Uraraka’s surprises, they’re totally freaking out.
Kendo is sort of freaking out as well, sure Uraraka said she could manipulate gravity, but she didn’t think it was to this extent.
Ochaco’s voice cuts through the cheering of the crowd. “Kendo!”
Kendo snaps out of it and repositions herself, the hoversoles fire up just as Ochaco fires up the jetpack, and then they are all launched high into the air and away from the danger.
Ibara gazes down as they rise into the air and everything has pink hue to it. “What is this heavenly light?”
From what she can tell the sphere of light seems to be following Ochaco and it stretches about a quarter the width of the whole field. If she were to stray too close to the audience, then she’d most likely affect them too.
“It’s part of my Zero-Gravity Quirk. If I focus, I can unleash it over a big area.”
Kendo shivers with goosebumps. “Sheesh, I knew you had some power in you, but this was totally unexpected.”
As they continue to fly up, Ochaco takes a few seconds to admire the looks of determination and thrill of the teammates that belong to Class 1-B. They have no idea how grateful she is that they joined up with her.
##########(Flashback)#########
“You want to join my team?!”
Kendo isn’t offended by the question; in fact she was kinda expecting it. “Yeah, we do.”
“Um, not that I’m ungrateful or anything, but…why?”
Ibara claps her hands together as if praying. “Your spirit has sung out to us and we wish to put our faith in your capabilities to lead us into victory.”
Ochaco looks to Kendo for translation.
“We saw how you went from zero to a hundred, and we think we actually have the best shot at moving on if we join you.”
Ochaco blushes. “Really?!”
Did she really inspire them with just her performance?! Guess actions do speak louder than words.
“But are you sure? Don’t you want to be with members of your own class?” That’s what everyone else is doing.
“Yeah, we could.” agrees Kendo.
Ibara continues the explanation. “Although that is strategic, there is something to be said by utilizing the best from both groups. Class 1-A is unaware of our Quirks, and Class 1-B will be intimidated by yours.”
Kendo nods. “So, if we use our differences to work together.” She thrusts her fist forward like throwing a punch. “Then we’ll seriously kick some ass!”
Ochaco smiles, she really likes this girl. She has that older sister type vibe about her, but if you get on her bad side then she can kick your ass easily.
“Well I see no reason to say no so… Welcome to the team.”
Kendo smiles. “Thank you for having us.”
Ibara is grateful too. “We put our faith in you, Ochaco Uraraka.”
########(End Flashback)#######
Ochaco releases her Quirks and the jetpack goes silent when she feels like they’ve reached a good enough height.
Hatsume smiles up at Ochaco. “So, what do you think of my babies? Aren’t they just precious? Cuteness can be manufactured you know!”
Ochaco chuckles, she’s actually starting to find this odd girl somewhat charming in her own strange way. “They’re working just fine! Your babies are really something, Hatsume! I can’t wait to see what you come up with for my own support item.”
“Aw, thanks! And I promise it’ll be one of mine best creations yet!”
And now they use her gadgets to keep them in the air. For as long as they can, they’ll use the jetpack and hoversoles to drift back down to the ground. In the meantime, they can let the other teams duke it out between themselves now that they can’t even reach the five million points.
Heck it seems like Hagakure’s Team has lost their own headband somehow after the pull of gravity returned.
“Yeah!” cheers the humanoid cockatoo. “Watch those headbands! You can even ignore the five million points and go after other chart toppers!”
Ochaco can’t help but smile with the thrill of a challenge making her heart pump. This competition is really starting to heat up. But she better stay on her guard, there’s still quite a bit of this event left. And all it will take is for someone to step in the way of their victory.
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Terraspin’s passengers hold on tightly as their ride bobs and weaves in the air, avoiding a pair of incoming projectiles.
After getting away from Sero’s team, another team decided to step up to the plate and challenge them. And it was a girl from Class 1-B.
The girl, Pony Tsunotori, is short, with a round face, and a short equine muzzle. Her face is framed by thick, wavy blonde hair which reaches halfway down her back. Her eyes are very large and round and blue in color. Her calves are notably rounded, shaped similarly to those of a horse, and she has brown hooves for feet. There’s also a short horse tail poking out from the end of her tailbone. But what really stands out is the pair of tall, lyre-shaped pale tan horns on her head.
Which is what she launched at them from the ground level.
“Midoriya's Team isn’t doing too hot! Looks like the skies weren’t as safe as they first thought.” It’s almost comical to the main announcer. “Class 1-B’s Pony Tsunotori is really giving them a hard time and without having to be anywhere near them!”
From what the morphed Izuku can tell, Pony's Quirk allows her to fire off her horns and control their trajectory. But as of now she’s only controlling two of her horns while another pair has already grown back on her head. He doesn’t want to think how hard of time he’d be having when she eventually figures out how to control more than two at a time.
The horns buzz around Team Midoriya while two of its more long-range members try to bat them out of the sky, with little to no luck.
A horn slips through Jiro’s whipping Earphone Jacks and makes a beeline for her head.
“Ahh!!” she screams out, holding on tighter to Shino’s shirt.
With his teammate’s scream in his ear, Shinso does something unexpected. He leaps forward and catches the flying horn before it can slam into Jiro’s face.
Shinso growls. “Quick, get rid of it!”
Snapping out of her surprise. Jiro pierces the horn with one of her jacks, she sends a high-pitched frequency through it shattering the horn into pieces.
Both sigh in relief as the horn shatters away in the wind.
Shinso leans back onto Terraspin’s back. “That was close.”
“No kidding.” breathes Jiro.
“Don’t get too comfortable.” interrupts Terraspin. “We still got one more.”
The last horn zips around them as if looking for an opening. It finds one and zooms in from the rear.
Tsuyu lashes out at it as does Jiro but they both miss as their individual appendages clash. Actually just as fast as before, Shinso waits and kicks the horn away. The horn gets knocked back and caught in Terraspin's spinning arms where it gets chopped up and batted away.
“Phew.” The morphed Izuku is so glad that’s over.
A resounding boom comes from underneath them. As if to say that his worries are only going to get worse.
Terraspin looks down, his eyes widen with fear. “Bakugou!!”
A very angry Bakugou is rocketing through the air, propelling himself with dual explosions. “Don’t think for a second that you’re safe.”
Tsuyu and Jiro lash out at him, but the flying bomber knocks them away with a swing of his arm.
And all too soon he’s upon them. “I’ve got you!!”
Out of instinct Terraspin positions his body so that his underbelly faces his childhood friend and tormentor.
Bakugou thrusts his arm forward and releases a fiery explosion.
The crowd goes wild over the new development, finally someone is able to challenge Midoriya to a fight. By taking to the sky too!
Terraspin groans, as his underbelly feels like it was just thrown onto a patch of hot coal while his passengers desperately try to hold on for dear life. Tsuyu used her tongue to secure the other two, and Jiro jams her Earphone Jacks into Terraspin’s shell to keep her from falling off.
“How’d you like that, Deku?!” God, it feels good to put Deku back in his place.
Bakugou throws his arms back and rockets straight for Terraspin.
Shinso scowls. “This guy is like a mad dog.”
Jiro can’t help but agree. “You have no idea. It doesn’t help that he’s had it out for Midoriya for a while now.” Yeah, it’s hard to miss all the death glares Bakugou gives to the greenette on a daily basis.
Terraspin tries to swerve away quickly, but Bakugou’s maneuverability is far more dynamic.
“Die!!” Bakugou sets off another explosion that strikes Terraspin from behind.
“That’s smart. Looks Like Team Midoriya is in a real pickle here! Looks like Bakugou isn’t going to let them go scot free!”
Not satisfied yet, Bakugou flies in to give a little more. “I want that headband, Deku!!”
Shinso has had enough, he didn’t want to use it yet. He was really hoping to save it until the final event where it’ll matter the most but if he wants to even make it to the last event then he has no other choice.
Shinso calls out to Bakugou. “Tell me, why are you so hell bent on Midoriya?!”
Bakugou glares at the indigo-haired teen. “Shut it-...” Bakugou’s eyes gloss over, much like how Ojiro’s were earlier.
Shinso smirks as Bakugou goes quiet and his explosions stop all together, and as expected he immediately begins to plummet back down to the Earth.
“What?! What?! What just happened there?! One second Bakugou is an unrelenting attack dog and then the next second he’s just gives up?!”
Aizawa sighs. “There’s a little more to it than that.”
The silent and clearly out-of-it Bakugou continues to plummet but the sentient Dark Shadow zooms in from below and catches the ash-blonde. “Got ya!”
Upon impact Bakugou snaps out of his daze, while Dark Shadow carries him back down to his team. “Huh? What the hell happened?”
“Don’t know?” replies Dark Shadow. “You were attacking Midoriya and then the next thing we know you’re falling.”
“What?!” Bakugou tries to recall what just happened, he was stupefied for a brief moment back up there. It couldn’t have been Deku’s goddamned Quirk, and the other two can’t pull off something like that. So, it had to be that fucking extra’s fault. His Quirk must have made him freeze up somehow. Dammit, with him on Deku’s team he won't be able to get anywhere near the five million headband.
Dark Shadow carries Bakugou back to his team.
“Nice catch, guys!” praises Kirishima upon Bakugou’s return.
Dark Shadow drops the bomber onto their hands and gives a big thumbs up. “It wasn’t a problem.”
“Shut up!” snaps an ungrateful Bakugou. “I was fine on my own!”
“You really weren’t…” murmurs Mina.
Tokoyami appears to be unaffected by Bakugou’s tantrum. “Is that so, next time I will be sure not to interfere.”
Bakugou growls and glares at the crow-headed teen, not appreciating his sarcasm.
Meanwhile, Terraspin flies off and goes just a tad bit higher to ensure that Bakugou isn’t going to assault them any time soon.
Jiro looks back as Bakugou is safely returned to his team. “What was that?”
Tsuyu peers down at Shinso, who’s gone offlay quiet for some reason. “Was that you? Was that your Quirk?”
Shinso eyes her warily, but he doesn’t respond as he considers whether or not to divulge the knowledge of his Quirk to them. “Yeah…it was.” He winces, bracing himself for possible scorn.
“Amazing!” shouts an overly enthusiastic Terraspin with sparkling eyes. “So, is your Quirk activated through speech?”
Shinso jolts up, he wasn’t expecting them to figure it out that quickly. “Y-yeah…”
“So, cool! What else can you do?”
Shinso becomes quiet again, he’s hesitant to answer. “I rather not say…”
The other members of his team frown, they can tell that something’s bothering him. Like he’s worried, not about the competition, but about something more personal.
“Aw, man…” sighs Terraspin. “I love learning about a new Quirk. You sure you don’t want to share?”
“Sorry, but you’ll just have to wait and see.” Maybe Shinso can dilute a little. “Just know that it only activates when I speak.”
Jiro grins. “Cool, just don’t use it against us, alright?”
She meant it as a joke but judging from Shinso’s frozen expression he doesn’t feel the same way.
Jiro frowns, she didn’t want to upset him. “Hey, it was a joke. You understand, that right?”
“Yeah, sure…”
Terraspin can tell that something's eating his teammate, the teammate that he can relate to the most. “Quirks are what you make of them, not what others think of them.”
Shinso and the others remain silent as Terraspin continues.
“All Might often said that in interviews and take it from a guy that can turn into monsters.” Well-aliens but still. “Quirks are what you make of them, not what others think of them.”
The team continues to soar in the air for a minute until Shinso finally speaks up. “Brainwashing.”
“Huh?”
“Brainwashing is the name of my Quirk. I can make others do whatever I want as long as they respond to me verbally.”
“Woah…” Jiro and Tsuyu are completely blown away, who knew a Quirk like that was on their team?
Shinso winces bracing himself for the indefinite hurtful comments and scorn. Good thing he’s with someone that’s far too sympathetic to others.
“That’s absolutely amazing!!”
He was not expecting that reaction.
Terraspin’s head pops out so he can try and awe at Shinso himself. “You can be an amazing hero with a Quirk like that!!”
Shinso’s entire demeanor lightens up, but he’s still in disbelief as if he’s dreaming. “Are…are you serious?”
“Huh?! Of course I am! You can stop hostage situations, calm down panicking victims, and even have villains arrest themselves!! And all with a few words! How can I not be amazed?!”
Shinso’s looks like he’s about to cry like he wants to believe Midoriya’s words, but he’s not naive. He knows that if he gets his hopes up, he’s only going to get burned…again.
Tsuyu nods. “That’s true…huh now I can see why you couldn’t get past the Entrance Exam. What a waste.”
“Wh-what?” Shinso blinks up at her.
Jiro agrees. “You’re Quirk only works on living things, right? Otherwise you’d have scored way higher on the Entrance Exam if we fought faux villains that were alive and not non-living machines.”
Are they serious right now?! This is not what the Brainwashing student was expecting at all. “That's right. I was essentially set up to fail from the start.”
“And that’s why you need to do well in the Sports Festival.” adds Terraspin.
Shinso leers down at the turtle. “Yes, I need to prove myself. And that my Quirk can be used for hero work…so that I can be a hero.”
Terraspin smiles. “Then let’s make it happen.”
“Pardon?”
Tsuyu adjusts herself so she can look Shinso in the eye. “Don’t you get it? You’ve just become our team's secret weapon. Kero.”
Jiro nods. “She’s right. And with our combined powers we can definitely make it to the next round.”
Shinso still can’t believe what he’s hearing, or rather what he’s not hearing. Usually when people find out about his Quirk, they are usually so quick to say that it’s a villain’s Quirk or that he can use it to do and take whatever he likes. But that was never him, never the purpose of his Quirk. And now he’s being told by real people, people he scorned himself, that his Quirk is amazing and fitting of a hero. And now…now they want to work with him to win this whole thing.
He smirks. “You Hero Course students are really something aren't you?”
Terraspin chuckles. “You can say that. Now how about we win this whole thing?”
“Sure, why not?”
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Back in the pro hero break room, the pro heroes are gathered around the television watching Midoriya and his team fly through the air.
“As expected, everybody is after the first-place teams!” announces Present Mic. “But both teams have taken to the sky for safety giving them each some much needed time to breath. Clever, ain’t it?”
Kamui Woods smiles from underneath his helmet. “Those two really are something?” Damn, if only he and the others cooperated with them, they could have been on good standing when they send them scouting offers.
Death Arms grins. “Wow, those Class 1-A guys are pretty good.”
Each one of them is unique with their own flashy Quirks. Hell those in the stands are starting to have a hard time about which ones they should watch.
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The aliens in Mr. Baumann’s store are going crazy. Class 1-A is really putting on a good show.
“Amazing!!”
“Way to go Midoriya! Way to go Uraraka!”
“The rest of their class isn’t too bad either.”
“Looks like the experience fighting villains made them level up superfast.”
Argit scowls. “Psh, they probably just got lucky and now full of themselves for livin’.”
“Na, they’re amazing!”
“Oh-boy! I can’t wait for the final event. It’s going to be epic!”
“Either way Class 1-A is doing an amazing job.
Mr. Baumann frowns at the screen. “I’m not so sure about that…”
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Back at the stadium the event has just reached its half-way point so Present Mic decides that it’s as good a time as any to check on the current rankings.
“Now who wants to take a look at each team’s points so far? So, let’s get those rankings thrown up on the screen!”
Everyone, heroes and civilians alike stare at their screens with the same assumptions: Class 1-A is in the lead. But what they see instead is far from what they could have expected.
The audience collectively gasps at the sight.
Not even Present Mic, or Aizawa, was expecting this. “Hold on here. This is an unexpected turn.”
As Present Mic’s voice echoes across the stadium, Bakugou can feel his headband being ripped away from his head.
“Other than Midoriya and Uraraka, Class 1-A’s not doing so hot.”
The member of Class 1-B that stole Bakugou’s points smirks.
“Even Bakugou is losing!” He currently stands at zero points!
Bakugou gasps, wheels around as a smirking blonde passes them by while on his own team.
The blonde smirks at Bakugou’s surprised expression. “Your class is too small minded. Think bigger.”
Mina gasps. “He got us!”
Her gasp is drowned out by Bakugou’s own outburst. “What did you say?! Come back here!”
The blond isn't even afraid as his team slows down allowing him a moment to rub the win in Class 1-A’s face. Around his neck he wears not only his own team’s headband but also Hagakure’s.
“Midnight said the Obstacle Course was just the first game and we figured they wouldn’t cut that many of us right off the bat. Would they?” The blonde, Neito Monoma, smirks back at Bakugou.
Monoma has slick blond hair that’s parted to the left. His irises are a periwinkle purple, and his pupils are white. His smirk fits comfortably on his face as if it’s part of his signature look making him look contemptuous.
Bakugou isn’t sure where this guy is going with his stupid rambling.
“Assuming they’d keep at least forty contestants for the next event, all we had to do was make sure we stayed within that group as we ran.”
And from there they watched how Class 1-A used their powers and abilities to clear the way throughout the event.
“From our spots in the middle ranks we could fully observe the Quirks our rivals had and judge their capabilities.”
Although Midoriya was the exception to that rule since they didn’t really get to see him in action.
But he doesn’t matter right now, what matters is putting Class 1-A in their place, mainly by putting down the one that is the most bloodthirsty for victory. “Only a fool would obsess over winning the preliminary rounds, wouldn’t you agree?”
Bakugou scowls, he gets it now. “You planned this as a class?”
Monoma chuckles. “It wasn’t totally unanimous. Hell some of my classmates have completely ignored our little rivalry.”
But even with those two traitors, the plan is still going over fairly well. Midoriya looked like he was really struggling to get away from Tsunotori’s flying horns. But that’s just proof that they’re strategy is working. Because Class 1-A has no info on any of their own Quirks. And often in long-term battles, those with the most knowledge win the war.
“It’s better than chasing after a temporary frontrunner like a horse with a carrot waving in his face.”
Okay showing how smart you are in one thing, but directly insulting Bakugou was just a stupid idea.
Monoma is completely oblivious to the spark he just set off as he continues to mock Bakugou. “You know it’s funny. Midoriya said he was the one to beat, but in truth it was really Class 1-B you had to look out for the whole time. Talk about irony, huh?”
Bakugou is really starting to get angry, more than usual somehow.
Monoma isn’t done yet. He’s absolutely enjoying the furious expression on Bakugou’s face. “Oh, while I have your attention. You’re kinda infamous, aren’t you? For surviving the attack by a sludge villain.” His smirk somehow becomes even more condescending. “You’ll have to tell me about it sometime.”
Bakugou is shaking with rage, his eye twitches as he glares daggers at the egotistical jerkwad.
“It must be strange to always find yourself in the role of the victim.” First the sludge victim and then the League of Villains. “I thought heroes were supposed to be able to save themselves, not the other way around.”
And that…was the final straw.
“Kirishima, we have a change of plans.” Bakugou’s voice is burning with a silent rage that’s waiting to show itself at the right time.
Kirishima looks back at his rider and his face is absolutely terrifying as Bakugou radiates an inferno of rage around himself. The others feel it too becoming slightly concerned with their own safety.
Mina and Kirishima whimper in fright as Bakugou’s dark and raging aura dances around him. They would have never figured that his anger could get to this point.
Bakugou’s eyes flash red like he’s been possessed by a chaotic demon. “Before we take down Deku. We’re going to kill every last one of these B-list idiots!”
Monoma smirks once again unaware of how much he’s going to regret picking a fight with Bakugou.
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Ochaco’s team lands again onto the field before they take off in a full sprint. They’ve been keeping with the same strategy, run for as long as they can and use Ibara’s vines to block attacks. And when things begin to get too hairy, they take to the sky to put distance between themselves and the other teams. But because both her team and Deku’s have decided to fly around, the other teams have now begun to target each other, seeing the two of them as impossible to catch.
Ochaco smiles with relief. “Everyone, I think we’re going to be okay.”
She may have spoken too soon as a new team intercepts their path.
Kendo hits the breaks bringing them to a sharp stop.
Standing before them is Todoroki’s Team and their leader has a very intense and determined look in his eye.
Not even Present Mic’s voice can cut through the intensity. “And now we’ve reached the halfway point of the game!”
Ochaco glares right back at Todoroki with the same amount of intensity. “I guess the funs not over yet.”
The crowd’s cheers ring out throughout the stadium, but none of their cheers reach the two opposing sides.
“As the cavalry battle enters its second half it’s still anyone’s game!”
How true as other teams begin to lose their headbands to each other.
“Class 1-B has made an unexpected showing, but who will wear the five million points in the end? That’s the real question, sports fans!”
Todoroki and Ochaco continue to square off as they wait for the right moment to strike.
Todoroki makes the first move in the form of a declaration. “I’ll be taking that, now.”
Meanwhile, not too far from their position Mineta and Shoji spot the two foes squaring off and distracted.
“This is our chance.” cackles Mineta. “Shoji! Full-on attack mode!!”
Shoji’s arms rip away from each other and burst forward like huge bat wings with a multitude of arms and hands at the ends. And with no second to waste he takes off, sprinting right for the two leads.
Mineta shouts. “We’ll use all our power to steal the points from those two teams!”
They are not the only ones with the same idea as other teams charge in from all sides.
In the meantime, Kendo steps back a bit wary of the new challengers. “He really seems to have it out for ya, Uraraka. What’s with that?”
Ochaco doesn't move her eyes away from her opponent. “Pride.”
Kendo wants to request that she give a little more detail but it’s not really the time for that. “Well we can’t stop now. The event’s nearly over!”
Ochaco looks down at Kendo and nods in agreement.
In that brief moment when she looks away, Todoroki takes command of the situation. “Now, Iida. Forward!”
“Right!” Iida’s engines come to live and hot steam shoots backward, launching Iida’s legs forward.
The team leader addresses his left-horse. “Yaoyorozu. Be ready to protect us.”
“On it!” Immediately Yaoyorozu begins to manifest several items from her bare arm and belly.
Todoroki calls out his final teammate. “Kaminari-”
“Oh, I know what I gotta do.” interrupts the grinning blonde.
Ochaco grimaces the situation is getting dire as other teams are beginning to surround them. “Careful! They’re coming from all sides!”
Sparks fly off of Kaminari as they race towards the five million points. “I hope you made something strong, Yaoyorozu!” That’s the only warning he gives.
Todoroki grabs a blanket from the girl while she in turn stabs a rod-like structure into the ground, while they are still in motion.
“Indiscriminate Shock: 1.3 MILLION VOLTS!!!” Kaminari discharges his stored electricity, the bright burning energy dances and foods the surrounding area.
Ochaco flinches as does most of her team, but the ever calm Ibara thrusts her vines into the ground and a wall of greenery shields them from Kaminari’s attack. But not everyone is as lucky as they are.
All the other teams that went charging in, from Classes 1-A and 1-B, are treated to a special kind of shock treatment making them howl in pain as their body’s freeze up from the powerful jolts.
“Dammit, Kaminari!!” shouts Mineta between all the pain.
Soon the electrical boy shuts off his Quirk allowing Todoroki to ditch the insulated sheet.
Todoroki’s right hand begins to freeze up. “It’s time to make a move!” He grabs the rod-like structure on Yaoyorozu’s arm and uses it to direct his ice downward into the ground.
The ice flows down the staff, over the ground, and all before encasing the other teams’ feet, effectively locking them in place.
“Sorry, but there’s no other way.”
The teams struggle to pry themselves out of the ice, but it’s just too strong.
Present Mic is just as surprised by the move as they are. “Will you look at that! He’s stopped all those teams cold in their tracks!”
Aizawa has something to add about that. “But only after Kaminari had immobilized the students using his electricity.” Aizawa recalls how Todoroki froze many of the students at the beginning of the last event. “In the Obstacle Course, he was surprised by how many people avoided his attack.” In other words. “He’s adapting his strategy.”
Present Mic gives his friend a thumbs up. “Nice commentary.”
Back down on the field Todoroki raises his arm up as he passes by the last frozen team. “I might as well take these.” In his hand are a couple of headbands.
“Get back here!!”
“What mine too?!”
“Damn you, Todoroki!”
The dual-haired teen ignores them as large icicles burst out of the ground behind him.
Ochaco’s team backpedals quickly while Ochaco tries to fire off the jetpack, but instead of it starting up it gives a weak puff before breaking down. “The jetpack’s stopped working!”
Hatsume is devastated by the news. “Baby! Guess it needs some upgrades…”
Kendo tries to use the hoversoles while pushing back on her team, but it’s not enough, Iida is just too fast. “We can’t get away!”
“Allow me to disperse them!” Ibara’s hair lashes out as one moving appendage right for their pursuers, but she unknowingly aims for Todoroki’s right side.
“No wait!!”
Ochaco’s warning comes too late as Todoroki throws his hand forward and ice rushes through the vines freezing them in ice.
Ibara gaps as the ice encroaches quickly towards her and her team.
To Ochaco it’s almost as if everything is in slow motion while her mind works into overdrive. She can’t allow his ice to make contact with them. Otherwise it’ll all be over. She needs a pla-NO she needs to act!
As the ice is nearly upon Ibara, Ochaco throws her arm down as a pink hue surrounds it. With One For All boosting her strength, her arm chops right through Ibara’s vine mere inches away from the oncoming ice.
With the frozen vines still in his grasp Todoroki gets pulled down by the sudden weight, slowing his team down slightly.
Kendo makes use of the opportunity to put as much distance as she can between them all.
Ibara examines her hair with regret, it’s up to her shoulders, which is way less than what she had before. She looks up at Ochaco who’s holding her aching and red-colored arm. “Dear Uraraka, what did you do just now?”
Ochaco winces as she braces her delicate arm. “It's an aspect of my Quirk that gives me a boost of strength!”
And hurts her in the process. She takes note of her injured arm and figures that she still needs to control the output of One For All. It also hits home that she may have gotten lucky during the last stretch of the Obstacle Course. Otherwise who knows what would have happened.
“Are you for real?!” shouts a disbelieving Kendo. “I thought your Quirk was Zero-Gravity!”
“It is!” defends Ochaco. “But this is new, I’m still figuring it out!” That’s true at least. “Gah!”
Her team comes to an abrupt stop. She spins around and sees that they’ve been backed against the playing field’s end, one step backwards and they’ll be disqualified.
Present Mic’s voice cuts through all the tension. “Team Uraraka has nowhere left to run.”
Ochaco scowls about how true that statement is. Not only is the jetpack kaput, but Todoroki has cut them off from the rest of the field.
Ice rushes around them from both sides creating a large jagged glacier, trapping the two teams inside. The circular glacier is so vast that it’ll definitely keep other teams out while also creating a miniature stadium for the two teams to fight it out.
With little chance to escape Team Todoroki makes a final run at them.
“What do we do?” cries Hatsume.
Kendo doesn’t take her eyes off their opponents. “What about your Zero-Gravity Field? Or that move you pulled earlier?”
Ochaco shakes her head. “Zero-Gravity isn’t that reliable.” Especially under these circumstances, if she uses it now, she may just push her own team out of bounds. Plus the hoversoles aren’t meant to fly them up but to help them land and move on the ground, so it just adds to the risk. “Also, if I use the same move again, I’ll just be putting myself out of the game.” Ochaco gestures to her red left arm.
Kendo swallows her spit with worry. “Then…what now?”
She has no idea. They can pray for a miracle… Or they can make one.
“I don’t know…but I’m not going to take this lying down!”
That’s right, if she wants to survive against Todoroki then she needs to take action.
Ochaco glares with determination as Todoroki and his team continue to charge forward. And that’s when her eyes land on Todoroki’s left side…the side that he outright said he would not be using today.
All Might’s successor gives a sly smirk as an idea pops into her head.
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“Kirishima, we have a change of plans.” Bakugou’s voice is burning with a silent rage that’s waiting to show itself at the right time.
Kirishima looks back at his rider and his face is absolutely terrifying as Bakugou radiates an inferno of rage around himself. The others feel it too becoming slightly concerned with their own safety.
Mina and Kirishima whimper in fright as Bakugou’s dark and raging aura dances around him. They would have never figured that his ager could get to this point.
Bakugou’s eyes flash red like he’s been possessed by a chaotic demon. “Before we take down Deku. We’re going to kill every last one of these B-list idiots!”
Monoma smirks once again unaware of how much he’s going to regret picking a fight with Bakugou.
“Monoma.” One of Monoma’s teammates actually has some sense of self-preservation. “Don’t provoke him, man. That’s the kinda thing he would do.”
“Yeah, I guess you’re right.” Monoma throws his hands out to the side with full sarcasm. “It’s not very heroic of me.” He gives a dark smirk back towards his target of ridicule. “Besides, you know how these things work. Heroes are always being hounded by moronic villains desperate for some kind of revenge.”
Bakugou is shaking with rage, so much so that his horses are getting rather concerned.
“Calm yourself, Bakugou.” states the ever calm Tokoyami.
Kirishima very much agrees with that statement. “Yeah, you’ve gotta keep a level head or we’ll never get our points back!”
“Shut up!” Shouts Bakugou as he slams his fist against his palm, they flare up as they smash together. “I’ve never been calmer.” His voice is deadly calm, like he knows screaming isn’t going to help his case. “Can’t you tell? Now get after them, Kirishima!” There’s a maddeningly evil grin on his face that should belong to a villain, not a hero.
“Please, don’t make us regret this.”
And with that Team Bakugou takes off after Monoma who is staying rather composed even with Bakugou screaming his head off.
“You think you’re tough?!” Bakugou throws his arm forward fully intending to put this bastard in their place. “Die!!”
The smirking Monoma calmly shifts his head to the side while brushing his palm against Bakugou’s arm as his explosive hand misses and his team runs on by.
Bakugou is absolutely thrown for the loop. ‘How in the hell was he able to dodge that?!’
He snarls, spinning around to try again but he’s in for a surprise when Monoma’s palm reaches towards his face and then… Boom. Monoma’s hand sets off a rather small explosion right into Bakugou’s face.
Monoma grins excitedly. “Huh. Wow. I see why you like this Quirk!”
As Bakugou reels back from the Explosion, Monoma throws his hand down, brushing his fingers against Kirishima’s forehead.
Bakugou shakes off the attack. “My power…”
Kirishima seems to be in a more state of shock than his leader is. “Whoa, weird! That guy has your Quirk!”
Bakugou snarls, no way is he going to be shown up! He swings his arm at Monoma. “Damn it!!” As his hand slams into Monoma he releases a fiery detonation that envelops Monoma in smoke and heat.
However, there is no sound of pain or scream from within the attack, instead Monoma sounds like it wasn’t a bother at all. “You both have impressive powers.” The smoke clears revealing that the left side of his body has hardened up like a rock. “But I think you’ll agree mine’s better.”
Now Bakugou is surprised so much so that he actually gasps in shock.
Kirishima and the others are just as stunned. “Huh? What? Mine, too?”
Mina frowns with worry. “His Quirk….is it like Midoriya’s?” Does he have access to several Quirks or something?
“No.” replies Bakugou, gaining his team’s attention. “That bastard. His Quirk. He can copy other powers.”
Monoma chuckles. “Very good.” He can copy the Quirks of those he touches, but only for five minutes or so, and one at a time. “So even an idiot could figure it out.”
Bakugou is really getting tired of this bastard’s bullshit, but before he can make a move Bondo and his team appear, and the big lug spews out a steam of glue between Bakugou’s and Monoma’s teams.
Monoma smiles at his approaching classmates. “Nice one. Thanks for the backup, Bondo.”
Monoma’s teammate interrupts. “Monoma! If we keep those headbands, we’re good. As long as no one gets near us we’ll make our class proud.” With that Team Monoma begins to turn and run off away from Bakugou.
Bakugou scowls as Monoma runs away from their fight. “Stop ‘em!”
“It’s too sticky! Crap!” Looking down they notice that Kirishima’s leg has been ensnared by Bondo’s glue. “I can’t move!”
Mina presses her foot against the glue and acid begins to pour out from the soles of her shoes, melting away the glue. “No prob!” Steam rises as the glue begins to melt away.
Tokoyami observes how far Team Monoma already is. “Try to be quick about it. The longer it takes the longer we sit with zero points.”
Monoma must have heard that because he turns around and waves mockingly at Bakugou. “Oh, no hard feelings, right?” He sets off a pop of Bakugou’s Explosion. “If it makes you feel better, I’ll definitely be the one to take out Midoriya. After all, he’s the one to beat.” He really doesn’t know when to shut his trap, does he?
Bakugou grins with a combination of rage and excitement, like he knows exactly how he’ll make the fucker pay. ‘This isn’t over. I’m still gonna come out on top. And I won’t just make it to first place, I’ll be the undeniable champion.’
As they move away from Bakugou and the other teams, Monoma checks out the scoreboard and sees that their team has a total of 1,095 points. “Third place. We’ve done pretty well for ourselves. Sure if we can take a few more points, but I think we can let the clock run out.”
Bakugou’s voice rings out from behind them. “Losers! Get back here!”
Monoma groans, what’s the use of yelling when he can’t even catch them? “Doesn’t he ever give up? Knowing you’ve been bested is an important part of being a hero.”
That is bullshit and Bakugou is going to show this bastard why.
Firstly, he blasts himself away from his team, charging in from overhead towards Monoma and his headbands, which are all wrapped around his neck.
Kirishima calls after his team leader. “Hey, don’t just fly off on your own!”
Monoma is actually surprised and worried now. “Tsuburba! Stop him!”
Monoma’s front horse inhales and then blows his breath out and a glass-like shield appears in midair. Unable to stop, Bakugou slams into the shield, but he quickly grips the sides of it to prevent himself from falling and being disqualified.
Tsuburaba grins at the results. “Alright!”
Kosei Tsuburaba is nothing too unique compared to those in either class. He has spiky short brown-hair and oval-shaped eyes with large pupils.
Bakugou pounds his fist against the Solid Air but it’s not making a dent.
“Ha ha.” laughs Tsuburaba as their team turns away. “You look pretty stupid fighting with air.”
He should have kept his mouth shut too, because that gives Bakugou the drive to smash right through the air shield like it was glass. The ash-blonde grips the headbands.
Monoma only has less than a second to react, he grips the headband as Bakugou rips his hand away taking with him two of Monoma’ headbands.
“Crap, he snatched some of ‘em!”
The crowd roars, they are thrilled to see someone like Bakugou display his fighting spirit.
Bakugou leaps backward before Monoma can retaliate and Tokoyami’s Dark Shadow manages to catch the mad bomber.
“Let go of me, Bird Stand!”
Dark Shadow smiles, “Na, I want to join in.”
“Huh?!”
“Bakugou!” calls Tokoyami as the rest of his team try to catch up. “Don’t forget. You’re not the only one that wants to win this!”
And that is the fucking truth.
Bakugou grins, proud of his choice for minions. “Then let’s tear these assholes a new one. We’re going to be the indisputable champions of the game!!”
“Aye aye!” replies Dark Shadow.
Bakugou’s team charges forward with Dark Shadow way ahead of them with a grinning Bakugou in its claws.
“They’re coming!” cries Tsuburaba.
Team Monoma tries to run as fast as they can while using Monoma’s Copy and Tsuburaba’s Solid Air to defend from other teams.
“Not to worry!” Monoma grips the 655-point headband as if his life depends on it. “If we defend this one to the death and take a few more we’ll be able to move forward.”
Aizawa smiles from underneath his heavily bandaged face. “Now look at this. Class 1-B’s strategy was a reasonable one. But there’s one thing they never bothered to consider.”
Bakugou adjusts himself in Dark Shadow’s grip. “Bird Stand, get me in close!”
“Right!” Dark Shadow rushes forward like a black and winding rollercoaster.
While Bakugou is flown through the air, Toshinori watches the display of pride and determination with sheer amazement. ‘Young Bakugou. You understand something crucial, a truth no one had to teach you.’ He watches as Dark Shadow pulls Bakugou back like it’s going to throw him like a baseball. ‘That there’s a difference between those who aim for the top, and those who will settle.’ Dark Shadow throws Bakugou, its arm stretching and pushing Bakugou forward to give him more speed. ‘And that difference matters.’
Aizawa finishes his thought at the same time. “Class 1-B didn’t take into account Bakugou’s overwhelming tenacity.”
Tsuburaba puts up one of the biggest Solid Air shields that he can muster, but it’s nothing compared to Bakugou’s own will power and rage.
The mad bomber throws his hand out, unleashing a fiery demise that completely obliterates the pathetic excuse for a shield, snagging his points right off the bastard's neck.
Present Mic and the entire stadium cheers. “Bakugou is a merciless force! A point hog! That was a shield break heard ‘round that arena! And I can’t wait to watch the replay!!”
Dark Shadow grabs Bakugou and carries him back to his team who are grinning just as widely as their leader is. “Now! We’re going after Deku!!”
Bakugou looks upward and spots the turtle-looking Deku flying towards the opposite end of the field where Todoroki’s ice is.
Team Bakugou turns to head right on over there, seeing no point in arguing with Bakugou anymore. However other teams have already diverted their attention towards them, intercepting and blocking his path.
Tokoyami frowns as Dark Shadow snakes around them acting like a living shield that’s ready to deflect any attacks. “It appears none of them are going to let us through that easily.”
“Fine then.” Bakugou grins excitedly. “Then we’ll tear right through them too.” They’ll all be a warm up for when he destroys Deku!
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
Kendo swallows her spit with worry. “Then…what now?”
She has no idea. They can pray for a miracle… Or they can make one.
“I don’t know…but I’m not going to take this lying down!”
That’s right, if she wants to survive against Todoroki then she needs to take action.
Ochaco glares with determination as Todoroki and his team continue to charge forward. And that’s when her eyes land on Todoroki’s left side…the side that he outright said he would not be using today.
All Might’s successor gives a sly smirk as an idea pops into her head. Even though that in a few short minutes the enemy will be upon them…or so they think.
“In coming!!”
Iida comes to a screeching halt, his feet skidding across the dirt before Terraspin cuts his way between the two teams, drawing a line in the sand with his propelling blades as he flies past them.
Terraspin circles around before stopping and leaning back. His team jumps down to the ground with Shinso in front all before Izuku turns back to normal and lands on their linked hands.
Izuku smirks. “Sorry for cutting in, but I hate feeling left out.”
Shinso chuckles. “Nailed it.” He’s so glad he recommended that line.
Tsuyu just shakes her head in disapproval.
Todoroki is astonished to have Izuku willingly throw himself at them, and while he’s distracted Ochaco guides her team to a safer position. Thankfully Present Mic’s booming voice provides the right amount of cover.
“After Todoroki put so much thought and effort into getting some alone time with the item of his attention, Midoriya swoops in interrupting the fun and is now their third wheel!” Present Mic laughs at his own joke.
Aizawa deadpans. “You’ve been hanging out with Midnight for too long.”
“But seriously why’d he bother transforming back now? I thought he’d be flying around the rest of the game.”
At that moment Aizawa decides to indulge that very answer. “Midoriya’s Quirk can only last for ten minutes and he has to wait another ten minutes before he can transform back.”
“Now that’s inconvenient!”
Inconvenient for Izuku perhaps, but for Todoroki it’s the most convenient thing to happen to him all day.
Todoroki’s team adjust themselves so that their leader can properly use the right side of his Quirk. “I wanted to save you for last, but if you’re just going to trap yourself then so be it!” He’s about to grip the staff but the look Midoriya’s teammate is giving him makes him hesitate.
Shinso smirks maniacally. “What’s the matter? Aren’t you going to attack?”
Todoroki is hesitating and for good reason: that guy looks so calm like he wants him to attack, even Midoriya is smirking like he knows something that Todoroki doesn’t, hell his team isn’t even moving like they think they’ll be safe if he strikes at them.
Shinso eggs him on some more. “What’s the matter? Feel free to attack, we won’t even move.”
Iida doesn’t like the look of them either. “Todoroki what do we do?”
Todoroki scowls before checking on Uraraka. Her and her team have moved away from the edge of the field and have now positioned themselves to Todoroki’s left, and away from his ice Quirk.
Yaoyorozu’s eyes switch between the two teams. “This isn’t good. We’re the ones who are trapped.”
Izuku smirks, happy to hear that their bluff is working. He and his team watched as Class 1-B took on Bakugou and their other classmates, and now that they are reaching the end the others are getting more desperate for points. But in here, they have a better chance of winning and moving on to the next event. Their main plan is for Shinso to act as a red herring by instigating Todoroki who is far to level minded to carelessly attack anyone. And that’s what they’re banking on, that Todoroki will think that Shinso’s Quirk can somehow counter his ice. Of course to pull this off the rest of them have to act as calmly as possible as if they have nothing to worry about, Tsuyu is unsurprisingly good at that actually.
Besides this place offers some other benefits, sure it puts them with some of the most powerful competitors but if they lose their points in here then they will have a better chance of recovering said points then out there where it will undoubtedly be a feeding frenzy.
And this is working out so much better than he could have hoped, Todoroki looks flustered. He wants to go after Izuku but there’s just one issue.
‘That guy…he’s from General Studies, right?’ Todoroki eyes Shinso. ‘Dammit, I have no idea what his Quirk is. For all I know it can counter my ice or any of the other’s Quirks.’ And then there’s Uraraka to consider.
‘She’s staying to my left side. That’s her strategy. From this position if I try to freeze them, I’ll hit Iida.’ Sure he could redirect himself to go after Uraraka, but he can tell that she’s using his own promise to himself as his own weakness. She’s trying to keep her team on his left side, the side he promised that he’d never use. ‘Damn her!’
And if he readjusts himself to go after her, there’s nothing to stop Midoriya and his team from attacking him. And the same is true if he goes after Midoriya.
‘Plus, the girl from Class 1-B, with the vines, can defend against Kaminari’s electricity. And for all I know that indigo-haired guy can counter it too…’ He eyes his two opponents. ‘You bastards.’
Looks like Yaoyorozu was right. Rather than trapping Uraraka in a cage, he ended up trapping himself in a cage with two powerful foes.
And so they stay there, each team gauging each other for an opening. Each one of them wants to win this and they’ll do anything to do it. That said this is not a real two on one fight, Ochaco and Izuku keep sending each other looks like they know that this truce is extremely temporary, because the moment anything happens, then it’s all out on the table. Today they are both friends and foes.
This stalemate continues, every now and then someone would cautiously make a move to a new position, but the others would mimic the response. By the time three minutes pass everyone is walking on eggshells, waiting for the inevitable bomb to go off.
It’s then Iida decides that now is the time to take some drastic measures, after all he has something to prove too. “Everyone, we have less than 120 seconds. I’m gonna do something that’ll make me useless to you.”
This takes Todoroki and the others by surprise. “What are you gonna do?”
Iida props his leg forward as his Engines buzz at the ready. “Make sure you get that headband.” His Engines buzz even louder as Iida leans forward. “Brace yourselves. Hold on tight!”
That’s their last warning as blue flames roar out of Iida’s Engines, supercharging them and heating up so much that the metal turns red hot.
“Torque Over!!” Like a missile Iida rockets forward.
Ochaco gasps. “Watch the-”
“RECUPROBURST!!!”
But it’s too late, in a blink of an eye…Iida moved nearly as fast as XLR8 and in that time, Todoroki managed to grab her 5,000,257 headband.
Iida zooms away before curving to the side and then coming to a halt as his Engines give out. But he was able to put some distance between his team and Ochaco’s but ended up closer to Izuku’s.
Present Mic is in absolute amazement. “Wha-ho-ho!! What just happened?! That was one big blur!”
He’s not the only one who’s in amazement so is the crowd, and Iida’s own teammates.
“Holy smokes, folks! Why didn’t he show off that super speed in the preliminaries?”
Todoroki is still wide eyed over the whole rush of the moment, as he wraps Uraraka’s headband backwards around his neck adding it to his collection. “Iida. What was that?”
Iida is trying to catch his breath, when he’s good does he reply. “Forced my torque and RPM into overdrive, which gave me explosive power.” The ends of his Engines are releasing streams of smoke as he speaks. “Unfortunately, the recoil stalls my engines for a while. It’s a secret move I’ve been saving. No one in the class knew about it.”
And it worked out, because both Ochaco and Izuku are at complete losses here. Izuku only assumed he’d ever see XLR8 move that fast, and Ochaco would have never guessed that he’d move so fast that they’d never get the chance to react.
Iida leers over at them both, before grinning with satisfaction. “I told you…I have something to prove too.”
The crowd loves this new upset, one of the main leaders of the game has finally been toppled after holding onto one of the top spots for so long!
“Insanity!! The entire game was just turned completely on its head! Todoroki’s team has five million points and Uraraka’s team is suddenly left with nothing at all!”
“We have to get them!” screams Ochaco.
“But his ice!” points out Ibara, her hair has grown back to its normal length.
“Let’s go!” Ochaco shakes her head in frustration. She can’t lose, not here! “We’ll get our points back! I know it!”
Kendo scowls at Todoroki. “Okay! We’ll put our trust in you.” She charges forward, the hoversoles giving her a much-needed boost.
Izuku has a similar idea. “Let’s go!”
“Right!” His team doesn’t even hesitate, Izuku has been a great leader for them so far, they are not going to question him now.
Izuku is determined to take Todoroki’s headband. ‘If we manage to take his points, then we can eliminate him from the competition here and now!’ And possibly Uraraka, too.
Izuku and Ochaco are upon Todoroki in mere seconds.
The dual-Quirk user glares at his main opposition, the two top contenders for Class 1-A and possibly U.A. He can feel their determination emanating from their very souls.
As a result he doesn’t even hesitate or register what he does next to defend himself. He thrusts his left arm forward, igniting with flames, as to use it as a means to drive off his attackers.
Ochaco throws her hand out just as One For All flows through it giving it it’s signature pink hue. She didn’t even think about it until her fingers were mere inches away from the dancing flames.
Ochaco swings her arm to the side, extinguishing Todoroki’s flames and throwing his arm away, leaving him wide open to attack.
Todoroki internally gasps, not because of Ochaco’s attack, but because of his own. ‘My left side. What am I doing?!’
He should really be paying attention to the real issue of the matter.
Ochaco briefly examines her hand, how it’s not injured, normally she’d be thrilled but now is not the time.
Izuku is upon Todoroki as well. And noticed how Todoroki has turned the bands around to hide their point value. Ochaco realizes this too, but they have no choice. Both latch onto a different headband, praying that it’s the five million points.
“I got it!” they both cry out as their teams race on by.
Izuku grins before checking the headband. “What?1! It’s not it!” It’s sure isn’t it’s instead 205 points.
He wheels around and judging from Ochaco’s devastated reaction, she didn’t get the five million points either.
Yaoyorozu clears it up for them. “We mixed the headbands up. There’s no way we’d leave the prize on top. You both underestimate us.”
The two scowl.
Iida checks on their leader who’s grimacing while glaring at his left arm for having a mind of its own. “Todoroki. Better watch yourself. That was too close!”
“Oh, no!” shouts Present Mic. “Neither Team Midoriya nor Team Uraraka got the points after all that! Is this the end for Team Uraraka?!”
Ochaco gazes at the scoreboard and sees that she only has 125 points.
“The game is almost over!”
Ochaco glares at Todoroki. “It’s not over, we still have a chance!!”
“Right!”
“Of course!”
“We’re with you!”
Team Uraraka charges fully intending to take what is rightfully theirs!! They will be moving on!!
While Team Midoriya watches on. ‘You can do it, Uraraka.’ Damn, if only he can stop Todoroki here and now if only…if only… He can’t take it, something inside of him snaps, maybe it’s the pressure of the whole competition or the thrill of the challenge, but he knows he can’t let up. Not now!
“Screw it!!” Izuku screams and desperately slams down on the Omnitrix, hoping in vain that it’ll work despite the lack of recharge time.
To his surprise and to those of his team, Izuku disappears behind a flash of green light. They all nearly topple over as Izuku’s weight miraculously becomes heavier than what it was.
Todoroki gasp as Ochaco’s team pounces at them while he throws the rubber sheet over them. “Kaminari!”
Kaminari unleashes his electrifying Quirk, but black tendrils with golden plugs wrap around Todoroki, binding his arms in place while also absorbing the electricity. “What?!”
“It’s over Todoroki!!” shouts Feedback.
And it is, with nothing to interfere, Ochaco’s team charges forward to claim victory.
The side of the ice wall is blasted away as Bakugou leaps onto the scene. “Deku!!”
Feedback gasps, but Shinso reacts quickly enough. “Stay back!! Will ya?!”
“Shut-” Bakugou falls silent but Dark Shadow, who was following along, grabs him before he collapses.
Ochaco thrusts her hand out at Todoroki, meanwhile Ibara’s vines lash out in all directions giving them the look of Amazonian warriors out to make a kill through the jungle.
“You won't win!!” Cries Todoroki as he unleashes his ice, the ice courses down Feedback’s tendril but with the boost from Kaminari, he lets electricity to flow through his veins and act as a heater to slow the frozen attack.
While trying to hold up her team leader, Tsuyu lashes her tongue out towards the two clashing teams.
Bakugou, after snapping out of it, notices how everyone is directed on Todoroki and quickly assumes that he has the most points. “Dammit, Ice-Hot!!” He blasts himself right towards the teen.
And that is the current state of things as Ochaco just barely touches a headband, when Present Mic’s voice somehow cuts through all the action. “Time’s up!!”
Everyone freezes in place, even Bakugou somehow defies physics as he just plops unceremoniously to the ground below.
The crowd screams loudly after such a battle.
“And with that, the second round is officially over!”
Ochaco scowls in frustration, She couldn't get the last headband. ‘N-no…’
Meanwhile, Bakugou’s team run up to check on their leader. “Bakugou!”
Kirishima makes it first. “Are you okay, man?”
Bakugou’s only response is to press his face harder against the ground, screaming his lungs off, while pounding his hand against the field like a child having a tantrum.
Todoroki jumps down off his team as Feedback releases him. “Damn it…” He lost again, to both of them…
Team Midoriya sighs in relief as they can finally let the much heavier and taller teammate down.
Shinso frowns. “Shit, how many transformations do you have?”
“11 and counting.” Replies a grinning Feedback with a thumbs up to boost their ego.
Jiro scowls up at Feedback. “You could have warned us before transforming you know!”
“I…didn’t think that would work.”
“Huh?”
Tsuyu frowns before she realizes something major. “That’s right, your recharge time is ten minutes but that was way less than that.”
Jiro finally registers it too. “Yeah, then how were you able to use your Quirk again so quickly?”
Feedback looks down, rubbing his neck as he thinks about it. “I…honestly have no idea.” He eyes the Omnitrix symbol on his chest. ‘Was…was it the lifeguard mode again…? It couldn’t be, it only does that when I’m in danger. Was it something else, or just a fluke?’
Feedback shakes his head. “No matter, what matters is that we came in first.” Yeah, they did. That makes two events in a row where he came in first, guess he really is the one to beat.
“It is irresponsible to assume that victory could come so easily.”
Team Midoriya looks over at Ibara, who unlike the rest of her team doesn’t look like she finds their defeat all that devastating.
Ochaco chokes back a sob. “Shiozaki…wh-why do you say that?”
“Hm? Oh, my. My mistake, I guess I should reveal this.”
One of Ibara’s vines stretches out and at the end sits a headband. A headband with 5,000,360 points.
Everyone screams out all at once. “WHAT!?!”
During the last skirmish, when she threw her hair out, a few of them stretched over and took Team Midoriya’s headband while they were all distracted.
Feedback plants his palm against his head and sure enough his headband is gone. “No way!!” he gasps.
He falls to his knees. “Did…we lose…?”
“Nope. Kero.”
They all turn to the poker faced Tsuyu. “Shiozaki isn’t the only one who had a similar idea.” She sticks out her tongue cheekily, as she holds up Todoroki’s own headband worth 600 points.
Shinso blinks. “Wait, if you have that then that means…”
Present Mic will happily reveal the answer. “Now, let’s take a look at who our top teams are!”
The scoreboard displays said teams.
“In first place we have the team that faced off against death and then spat in its face. It’s Team Uraraka!!”
That’s right! Ochaco and her team were able to pull away with a total of 5,000,485 points!!
Ochaco and Kendo inhale and then leap into the air throwing their arms up in celebration. “Yeah!!”
Ibara smiles at them enjoying their display of joy while Hatsume is not paying attention as she tries to fix the damaged jetpack.
“In second place we have Team Todoroki!” They have 5,00,257 points and from just one headband.
Yayorozu sighs, although they didn’t exactly claim victory they did somewhat win and will be moving on. “We ended in second place, but it was too close for comfort.”
Iida clenches his fist in shame. “I’m sorry. I let everyone down, didn’t I?” Perhaps he used his special move far too soon.
“That’s not true.” His teammate offers him a kind and appreciative smile. “You’re the reason we won. Thank goodness for that special move of yours.”
While she comforts him, Kaminari is wandering around in the background. He has a stupefied expression on his face while thrusting dual thumbs up at everyone. His brain was fried during the last attack, even though Feedback was absorbing his power he didn’t realize it and kept it up until he fired his own brain.
“In third place, we have one of the front runners who managed to cling onto victory at the last second! Team Midoriya!!”
Feedback and the others stare up at the scoreboard where their team is displayed next to a point count of 1,760 points. Not as impressive as five million, but it’s enough to get them through and that’s all any of them could have asked for.
“We did it!” shouts Feedback
Shinso looks like he’s in complete disbelief, but grins excitedly at the board. Soon he will have his chance to shine.
Jiro smiles and gives Tsuyu an appreciative shoulder pat. “Way to go back there.”
“Thanks, but I had a lot of help.” Tsuyu looks at Feedback. “Isn’t that right, Midoriya.”
Feedback flashes her a giant grin.
Jiro tilts her head to the side. “So, how come we’ve never seen this guy before?” He seems pretty useful; he can absorb electricity and has appendages similar to her own. Is he copying her?
Feedback examines his current physique. “Oh, Feedback. Yeah, I don't always get to use him but when I do, I promise it’ll be one heck of a show.” Assume the Omnitrix would give him the Conductoid.
Present Mic finishes off the rankings. “And finally bringing up the rear, it’s Team Bakugou!!”
This team sits at 1,095 points, enough to pass.
Mina shakes her hands, as if shaking off her stress. “Ugh! We were so close to snagging first place.” They really weren’t, if they had a few more seconds who knows if Bakugou would have been able to do something about it.
Tokoyami hums. “Hm. Perhaps, but it is not best to dwell on things. We are moving on to the final round, and we should be grateful for that.”
Kirishima sheepishly smiles, he is not convinced. “I don’t think our leader would agree with you.” He watches as Bakugou sits up on the ground, he’s shaking, but not from pain. “Like at all.”
Bakugou screams with fury. He lost!! He fucking lost not only to Deku but to the other bastards, too!! For a second event in a row.
“With the guidance of the same exact winners of the last event, these four valiant teams will advance on to the final round!!”
From the stands, All Might and Thirteen release sighs that neither knew they were holding.
Meanwhile, a very quiet and somber Todoroki is eyeing Izuku and Ochaco. He may have gotten second place, but in technicality he actually lost to the two of them.
He then draws his eyes to his offending left arm. ‘I said I’d never use this to attack. I even made a point of it earlier…but as soon as I was overwhelmed, I broke my own promise.’ He clenches his left fist, digging his nails into his palm. “At this rate…he’ll win, and I’ll end up exactly who he wants me to be…” He cannot allow that to pass, no matter what.
Up in the stadium, the crowd disperses for snacks, restrooms, and other needs.
“Now, let’s take an hour lunch break before we start the afternoon festivities! See ya soon!” Present Mic turns to his co-host, forgetting to shut off his mic. “Hey Eraserhead. Let’s grab some food.”
They can hear Aizawa plopping to the ground in his sleeping bag. “I’m taking a nap.”
“Whew.” huffs Present Mic.
Back on the field, the students begin to make their way to the exits.
“Way to go Deku, you’re moving on!” cheers Ochaco.
Sure they’re rivals today, but that doesn’t mean they can’t cheer each other on too.
“And so are you!” shouts Feedback. “And way to snag first place.”
“He, thanks, but I had a pretty great team on my side.”
“I hear ya.” Feedback flashes a smile and points at his own team. “The same goes for me.”
Shinso smirks back at him. “Thanks, but I only joined because I pitied you.”
“What?!” Feedback can’t believe this. “Dude, I thought we bonded. We had a moment together! We made puns!”
Tsuyu passes by with an annoyed frown, she definitely could have lived without those puns.
Shinso chuckles at his face. “I’m just messing with ya. But I have to admit.” He eyes the taller being with a healthy amount of respect. “Thank you…for giving me a chance.”
Feedback understands, he’s thanking him for sympathizing with his dreams. “Any time, and good luck in the final round.”
“You two, but if we face.” Shinso jabs a finger at his chest. “Then don’t expect me to hold back.”
“Hehe, I wouldn’t dream of it.”
Shinso smirks one last time before leaving to get some food.
While other students pass on by Ochaco leans up to the Conductoid. “So, um quick question. Why are you Feedback?!”
Feedback leans in close before whispering. “I…don’t know. It was some kind of quick recharge or something, but I don’t know what caused it.”
“Was it the lifeguard mode, you mentioned it a few times here and there.”
“Um, maybe but I’m not so sure, hm…”
While the two ponder and make their way through the exit, someone interrupts their wandering minds.
“Hey, um sorry, Kendo here.”
Feedback spins around and finds Ochaco’s teammate waving up at him alongside Ibara. “Oh, hello.”
Ochaco beams. “Kendo! Ibara!” She leaps forward grabbing both of their hands. “Thanks again for joining my team. You were both so amazing and I couldn’t have done it without either of you!”
They smile and Ibara returns the hand holding gesture. “We should be thanking you. We put our faith in you, and you didn't let us down. You are strong willed, and I wish you the best during the next challenge.”
“Awe, thanks.”
Kendo raises her hand. “I have a question to ask.”
“Okay, shoot.”
Kendo actually addresses Feedback. “What is your Quirk exactly?”
Feedback is a bit taken back, not expecting the question, but after everything he did it makes senses people would have questions.
“It’s called One Man Army; I can transform my body into different forms that grant me different abilities.”
Ochaco chips into the conversation. “Like how his turtle form allows him to fly.”
In the distance Tetsutetsu’s yells rigs out. “That still doesn’t make sense!!” Feedback moves on ignoring the loud member of Class 1-B. “Yeah, and I have more forms. Each with their own power sets and skills.” And weaknesses, but no need to tell anyone about them.
Kendo and Ibara gasp, even other students of their class who were listening in gasp in surprise.
“Aw, man! How can someone like you exist?!” whines Tsuburaba.
Juzo frowns. “I know right?” He never even got to use his Quirk just because Midoriya could fly.
Ibara strokes her chin. “It’s almost like Monoma’s Quirk.”
Like a demon summoned from hell, Monoma literally pushes himself into the discussion, with a desperate grin on his face as if trying to pretend his loss to Bakugou isn’t eating away at him from the inside. “There’s no way! No one can have a Quirk like mine!” Is this serious?! Can this plain-faced kid really have a Quirk like that?! There’s no way it’s got to be a trick. “Well with power like that, you wouldn’t mind sharing it would you?!” He desperately reaches his hand out to touch Feedback’s arm. “I bet it’s just an illusion or something! No way Class 1-A has someone like you. I bet you cheated. I’m sure of it!!” he rushes forward. “Hahaha-Ack!”
He collapses onto the floor with a thud and a bump on his head.
Kendo sighs as she lowers her hand after delivering a swift chop to the back of her classmate's head. “Sorry about him. He’s just compensating for his loss.”
In the background Bakugou is grinning, finding the display rather amusing.
Meanwhile both Feedback and Ochaco are stunned, how could Kendo of all people consciously hurt her own classmate like that?!
“She was so composed!”
“Has she done this before?!”
Kendo enlargens her hand and picks up the unconscious yet hauntingly still grinning Monoma. “And sorry about him. And thanks for answering my question.” She shakes her head with a smile. “I guess it goes to show you that there are all sorts of Quirks out there huh?”
Ochaco grins. “You have no idea.” Seriously, she has no idea.
Kendo gives a final wave before running off to catch up to the rest of her classmates, Ibara strides alongside her. “Anyway take care you two, and if we face off in the next event then let’s make it a good one!”
Ochaco waves after her. “You got it!”
Meanwhile, other teams and students are having similar interactions.
Tsuyu walks up to Mina. “Mina, congrats.” Both of them are moving on.
The pink-girl doesn’t feel the same way. “Thanks, but Bakugou only asked me to join because I could melt Todoroki’s ice. That or hurt Midoriya somehow.” Her frown then changes to a smile. “But I heard you did real well. I was told you snagged the winning headband for your team.”
“I did.”
Sero is walking alongside Jiro. “I can’t believe you guys stole my headband, that was just cold.”
“Well, you attacked us. Seems only fair.”
Nearby Ochaco and Izuku have caught up to Iida.
“Iida, you were holding out on us!” Exclaims Ochaco as she runs in place, a poor imitation of Iida’s special move.
Feedback nods his head rapidly in agreement. “I had no idea you could do that!” He wishes he had his Quirk Analysis notebook, maybe later he can try and record Iida’s speed or something.
Iida waves his hand. “Rest assured it wasn’t my intention to deceive any of you. I was just being strategic.”
In that moment, a stupefied Kaminari joins the conversation, but all he can contribute is a stupid grin, far off look, and two thumbs up.
“I merely wanted to show that I could compete with you both.”
The morphed Izuku smiles. “And you sure did. That was absolutely amazing.” He gives his own thumbs up alongside Kaminari.
“Midoriya. Uraraka.”
The ones that were called out turn to face a cold faced Todoroki. And immediately all their feelings of joy and exhilaration are gone and replaced with a sense of dread. It's almost as if Todoroki is emulating the use of the cold-side of his Quirk to affect their own psyches.
Ochaco decides to break the ice first. “Wh…what’s up, Todoroki?”
He doesn’t respond not right away but when he does, he has one simple demand. “Come with me. I need to speak with the two of you.”
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Meanwhile, within the halls of the stadium a loan hero roams with flames dancing across his body.
This flaming hero is a tall, sturdily-built man with a very muscular physique. He has short crimson hair which he wears spiked up around his head, and sharp turquoise eyes. His beard and mustache appear to be made of fire. His hero costume consists of a tight, navy turquoise bodysuit with lines of flames streaming across his chest, upper torso, arms and most prominently his shoulders. He uses his flames as a makeshift mask around his eyes, and the tall boots he wears appear to be either made of fire themselves or constantly left alight, as only their soles and laces are visible around the flames. He sports white bracers on his lower arms, styled in a cage pattern, and a blue belt with a pouch attached on either side.
This man, this pro hero, marches on with a sense of motivation and pride. He is on a mission and he would rather not be interrupted. But he’s not as alone as he would think.
“YO!”
The pro hero stops, he can never mistake that voice.
All Might smiles down at his fellow pro hero. “LONG TIME NO SEE! LET’S CATCH UP. ENDEAVOR.”
Endeavor’s flames dance upward as if responding to their master’s will. “All Might.” Endeavor turns to leer at the Number One Hero as if his very presence is an insult to the Flame Hero.
Notes:
And that was Ch.22 Friends and Foes. Like I said, it was a long one. And soon we will begin the individual battles. Those chapters may be shorter than others because I’ll want to focus on some major character elements later. But hopefully that means I can get the next chapter out sooner rather than later, no promises though.
*This chapter made up nearly 3 episodes from the anime. I was going to split it in half-but I'd rather get the Cavalry battle out of the way so we can get to the really good parts: the Tournament!!
*Throughout the chapter you could probably tell that I didn’t describe every team in full detail. That was on purpose because I thought it would distract from the main action and dialogue throughout the chapter. But here is a list of the teams and how many points they had in total.
5,000,360: Izuku Midoriya, Hitoshi Shinso, Tsuyu Asui, and Kyoka Jiro
5,000,257: Ochaco Uraraka, Mei Hatsume, Itsuka Kendo, and Ibara Shiozaki
655: Katsuki Bakugou, Eijiro Kirishima, Mina Ashido, and Fumikage Tokoyami
600: Shoto Todoroki, Momo Yaoyorozu, Denki Kaminari, and Tenya Iida
495: Tetsutetsu Tetsutetsu, Juzo Honenuki, and Yosetsu Awase
460: Hanta Sero, Masahiro Ojiro, and Rikido Sato
295: Neito Monoma, Kosei Tsuburaba, Sen Kaibara, and Shihai Kuroiro
265: Mezo Shoji and Minoru Mineta
205: Yui Kodai, Reiko Yanagi, Setsuna Tokage, and Kinoko Komori
150: Nirengeki Shoda, Kejiro Bando, and Manga Fukidashi
145: Tooru Hagakure, Yuga Aoyama, and Koji Koda
125: Kiryu Rin and Jurota Shishida
70: Togaru Kamakiri and Pony Tsunotori
Chapter 23: What We Are
Summary:
Round 1 of the Tournament begins. But first Todoroki has something to address with Izuku and Ochaco.
Notes:
Happy Mother's Day! Let's try and make it a good one for all the wonderful mothers in the world.
Alright, let’s start off the best part of the Sports Festival with Round 1 of the Tournament fights. But before that we must ask the question of who our characters are and why?
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Izuku Midoriya shutters under Shoto Todoroki’s cold gaze. ‘Why'd he bring us here?’
He peers over at Ochaco Uraraka who is just as uncomfortable as he is in this dark and empty passageway.
They’ve been here for a minute now allowing the other students to leave and, in that time, Izuku turned back to normal. But that was a minute ago and the uncomfortable and cold tension is really starting to build up.
“So, you brought us here. Now what?”
Todoroki doesn’t give any hint of a response, nor a reaction to suggest that he even heard the nervous greenette. Instead he just stares at them both with a cold indifferent stare, making it difficult for them to read his thoughts.
Ochaco tries to offer up a friendly smile, but none of the confidence is there behind it. “W-we should really get something to eat. Don’t want to be hungry during the next event, r-right?”
No response, no reaction, the dual-haired teen is unfazed and unresponsive as he stares at them unblinking.
Ochaco and Izuku share a look, they’re starting to get worried now. They know Todoroki’s not going to attack them or anything, but…they’d like answers. He dragged them over here and yet…nothing.
Izuku gulps. ‘He’s all cold intimidation, way different from Bakugou.’ He grips the recharging Omnitrix for a sense of comfort.
“I was overwhelmed.”
They both gasp, he finally said something and it’s not at all what they were expecting.
Todoroki’s face remains indifferent, but there’s a hint of anger. “And it made me break the promise I made to myself a long time ago.”
Ochaco’s eyes drift down to Todoroki’s left arm. She recalls how he used his flames during the Battle Trial and U.S.J. Incident, but he was so reluctant and upset when he did so. And if he's talking about a vow he made to himself before U.A., then she forced him to break it…several times.
Izuku eyes Todoroki’s left side too from his burn scar on his face to his left hand hidden away in his pocket. ‘It would have given him such an advantage to use his left side.’ He could have easily taken the lead in the last two events if he used his flames: given him a speed boost, melt Grey Matter’s mech, and he could have used them to fight both his team and Uraraka’s team back at the Cavalry Battle. ‘And yet…he didn’t.’
Todoroki pulls his left hand out from his pocket and glares at it like it’s the culprit. “Iida and Kaminari…Yaoyorozu, Asui, and Jiro… None of them felt it.” He glares at the two of them as his mind recalls how they all clashed with each other at the end of the Cavalry Battle; how they both overwhelmed him with their spirit and power. But specifically he recalls what he felt with Uraraka used her Quirk to brush his flaming arm away. “In that moment, I was the only one who could sense your true power. It reminded me of something…” He thinks back to the U.S.J. Incident and how he felt when he witnessed All Might use his own power to take out the Nue villain with a single blow. “Experiencing All Might’s Quirk.”
“Oh, yeah? Okay…” Ochaco is rightfully worried now, and she’s trying not to show how uncomfortable she is on where this conversation has led to.
Izuku is quiet, his eyes drifting from Todoroki to Ochaco and back.
Izuku gulps. “I-is that all?”
The heterochromia eyes of Todoroki shift to him. “And your power…powers are like nothing that should exist.”
“Wh-what are you s-saying?”
Now Izuku’s wrought with worry alongside Ochaco, both scared that Todoroki may know something he shouldn’t and he’s on the cusp of revealing some very sensitive and Earth-shattering secrets.
“Midoriya. Uraraka. Tell me.” Todoroki locks eyes with the both of them. “Why were you created?”
…
“WHAT!?!” Both of the teens are blushing profusely, they didn’t expect the conversation to go down this route.
Does this guy really not know? Shit! How should they explain it to him? Isn’t that a job for his parents?!
Izuku's blush floods his entire face. “Um, w-well when…a wife and husband-”
“You misunderstand.” Todoroki’s eyebrows furrow, annoyed that his classmates would think of him as that oblivious. “What I mean is…was there a purpose behind it?”
What is he talking about?
The dual-haired teen lets out an exasperated sigh, looks like he’ll have to be more direct. He’ll start with Ochaco. “Uraraka.”
Ochaco jolts up. “Y-yes?!”
“What is your relationship with All Might?” There is no hint of humor or sarcasm, he’s completely serious with his question.
“Huh?!” Ochaco’s jaw drops. ‘What kind of relationship does he think they have?!’
But then she recalls what Todoroki said before the start of the Sports Festival: that All Might has his eye on her. Does he think they’re related somehow?!
She waves her hands back and forth in denial. “T-there’s n-nothin! N-nothing at all!” Well that’s a lie. But even if she told the full truth it’s not like Todoroki would even believe her. “I mean…he’s just my teacher is all.” Okay, that’s true but she’s not going to divulge how true that really is. “Anyway, I promise you’ve got the wrong idea. But…Why would you even think there was more to it?”
Todoroki is not convinced, and his leering eyes are a big give away. “I know there’s something between you two, but you’re not supposed to talk about it.”
Izuku eyes his friend curiously. Part of him wants to ask and bring up some things, but he can tell that she’s not comfortable with speaking about whatever it is. So, he’ll let it go for now. Right now, Todoroki is the center of their interest.
Todoroki glares at Ochaco and then to Izuku, pondering on how to best approach this situation. Perhaps he needs to give some context so he can properly get an answer from these two. “My father is the hero Endeavor. You both must’ve heard of him. Which means you’re both aware that he’s the number-two hero.” He eyes All Might’s successor. “So, if you’re connected to the Number One Hero, All Might, in some way… That would mean… That I have even more reason to beat you.”
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All Might smiles down at his fellow pro hero. “LONG TIME NO SEE! LET’S CATCH UP. ENDEAVOR.”
Endeavor’s flames dance upward as if responding to their master’s will. “All Might.” Endeavor turns to leer at the Number One Hero as if his very presence is an insult to the Flame Hero.
All Might is oblivious to the Flame Hero’s hostility. “I HAVEN’T TALKED TO YOU SINCE THAT PRESS CONFERENCE YEARS AGO. BEEN A WHILE. I SAW YOU AND FIGURED I’D SAY HI.”
“Did you now?” Endeavor turns away, he has no interest in starting a friendly conversation. “Well then, if that’s all you wanted to do, we’re done.” That is an order, not a suggestion.
Endeavor continues down the stairs, already putting All Might and this conversation behind him.
“HUH?”
Endeavor really can’t believe how naive All Might really is sometimes. “Chatting like we’re old friends. What a joke.”
“HAHAHAHA!” All Might, the ever oblivious, laughs as he spins over the number-two hero and lands in his path. “COME ONE, WHY THE COLD SHOULDER?” Get it, because Endeavor’s shoulder is on fire. It’s ironic, isn’t it?
Endeavor growls, not appreciating All Might’s flamboyance or games.
“YOU SHOULD BE THRILLED. AFTER ALL, YOUR SON’S DOING VERY WELL OUT THERE, JUST USING HALF HIS POWER.” All Might’s grin widens. “YOU MUST BE A GREAT TEACHER!”
Endeavor’s eyes flash with danger as if All Might has discovered a dark secret or weakness of his. “Are you implying something?”
“NO, I WANT TO KNOW YOUR SECRETS. HOW DO WE TRAIN THE NEXT GENERATIONS OF HEROES?”
The number-two hero frowns. “Do you really think I’d tell you anything I’ve taught the boy?” He’s not going to divulge into his techniques just because the Number One Hero asked him to.
So, with nothing to contribute the hostile Flaming Hero marches on by the Symbol of Peace. “You’re all flash and no brains as usual.” His shoulder shoves past All Might’s. “Outta my way.” And he means it more than stepping aside.
All Might’s smile falters for a second, afraid that he may have offended his fellow hero. “O-OKAY.”
Endeavor continues to march away before stopping. He does have something he’d like to throw in the Number One Hero’s face. “Let me assure you of one thing, All Might.” He glares back at the Symbol of Peace with an internal raging inferno of ambition that refuses to be extinguished. “Whatever it takes… That kid of mine will beat you someday.” The Flame Hero grins widely, like when that occurs it will be the happiest and most prized moment of his life. “I’ll make sure of it. That’s why I made him.”
It finally hits All Might, who frowns as his gut fills with concern. “YOU DID WHAT?”
“He’s in a rebellious phase right now. But he will take your place. I’ll make sure of it.” Endeavor locks eyes, his blue eyes that are so narrow and filled with rage that there’s no doubt that if he had the chance, he would burn All Might here and now if he could.
But since he can’t he has no choice but dream of the day when All Might will be put in his place. And with that thought Endeavor leaves with a smile that could rival Bakugou’s while leaving All Might in a state of worry and…fear.
‘WHAT WAS THAT? THAT WAS NOT SOME WISHFUL THINKING, BUT THE EYES OF SOMEONE WITH A PLAN…WITH AMBITION. JUST WHAT IN THE HELL HAVE YOU DONE, ENDEAVOR?’
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“My old man is ambitious. He aims for the top.” continues Todoroki. “He used his power to make a name for himself as a hero. But he was never able to best All Might, so the Symbol of Peace is living proof of his failure.”
Ochaco and Izuku are stunned and listen intently.
“He’s still at it, though trying to take down All Might… One way or another.”
Ochaco nervously rubs her arm. “Um, sorry, but…I’m not really sure what you’re getting at…”
Izuku nods, his eyes unable to meet Todoroki’s. “What are you trying to tell us, Todoroki?”
Todoroki eyes them hesitantly almost like he’s actually nervous about what he’s about to say. “Have you ever heard of…Quirk marriages?”
Izuku goes rigid…he has heard of them.
Ochaco has no clue what those are but judging from the others’ reactions she can assume it’s nothing good.
“They became a problem in the first few generations after superpowers became widespread.” explains the dual-haired teen. “There were those who sought out potential mates solely with the intention of creating powerful children. Many people were forced into relationships. They were simply viewed as old-fashioned arranged marriages. But clearly it was unethical.” Not that it stopped any of it anytime soon, even now there are some cases of this occurring all across the world, but they aren’t as publicized and often covered up.
“My father has not only a rich history of accomplishments but plenty of money to throw at his problems.” Such as to fund shady deals and create cover ups. “He bought my mother’s relatives to get his hands on her Quirk.” He sounds disgusted and betrayed, and rightfully so. “And now he’s using me to usurp All Might.”
It hits the space cadets like a truck, and they are horrified with what they are hearing.
“It’s so annoying.” spits Todoroki in righteous anger and frustration. “I refuse to be a tool for that scumbag.”
And that is a vow he fully intends to keep.
Although he’s probably already said too much, maybe there’s a part of him that needs to get this stuff off of his chest. And so he continues on with his…story.
“In every memory of my mother…I only see her crying.” He can still hear her agonizing and fearful sobbing.
“I remember she called my left side unbearable…” Todoroki hesitantly reaches up and grabs at his burn scar as his eyes flashback to the very moment that he received it. “before she poured boiling water on my face.”
The space cadets gasp in shock and horror. Just…just what kind of horror did their classmate have to go through? Not only that, how could his own mother do that to him? They can’t ever picture their own mothers doing such a thing to them, and if they did…they couldn’t imagine how soul crushing something like that would be. But…Todoroki’s mother was just a victim, too… God, they feel like they should throw up after hearing how disgusting of a person Endeavor, the Number Two Hero in all of Japan, is really like. How can that even be? How can a “hero” do such a thing? And all for what? Power? Pride?
“The reason I picked a fight with you both was to show my old man what I was capable of doing. Without having to rely on his damned fire Quirk.” Todoroki removes his hand away from his scar revealing his hate filled blue eye. “You see. I’m going to show him that I reject his power, and I can take first place without using it.”
Ochaco and Izuku are in complete emotional whiplash. First, they are told about their classmate’s horribly tragic backstory and now…now he’s back to declaring war on them. But at least now…it makes sense.
Unbeknownst to any of them, they are not the only ones stunned by all the revelations as someone else remains silent and holds a soft gaze from down the dark hallway and remains out of sight.
This has all left a bad taste in the greenette’s mouth. ‘The life he’s led is so different than mine. It sounds terrifying.’ He eyes Todoroki taking in how angry and…sorrowful he really is. ‘How strange that we could be aiming for the same thing despite such different childhoods.’
Ochaco is just as horrified, yet…there’s something that still isn't adding up. “B-but…” She takes a deep breath. “Why…are you telling us this?” With all due respect everything he’s telling them should probably be reserved for a therapist or the police…then again, they’d all be bought out by Todoroki’s scumbag of a father.
Todoroki considers the question. “I wanted you to understand why I’m aiming to defeat both of you. But I also wanted to know…” He glares at them trying to disguise his inner turmoil. “If there was more like me.”
“Like…you…?”
He nods. “I wanted to know if we all shared the same background, came from the same place…” He grabs his scar. “have the same…scars.”
They get it…he wants to know…if they were born under similar circumstances. That they are not here of their own free will, that they were essentially created to become…weapons.
He eyes Ochaco almost with fear, but not of her but her possible answer. As if asking such a thing would destroy whatever's left of him. “And I just need to know…did…did All Might create you, to succeed him? Did he craft you into what he wants you to be? And what did he do to do it?”
She knows what he’s asking of her…he wants to know if All Might, the Symbol of Peace, did the same things as Endeavor. To ensure his own glory and success. The sad part is that in a way, that’s actually correct. All Might helped in molding her to be his successor and he wants her to succeed him, to be the next Symbol of Peace. And he gave her his own Quirk to do it.
But that’s not what Todoroki needs to hear. He needs to hear that there are still heroes out there that he can rely on, that are real heroes and don’t use their name or wealth to get what they desire.
“I am not related to All Might in any way if you’re asking, and no he hasn’t forced me to do anything that I didn’t want to. He just…likes me because our Quirks are so similar in some aspects.”
Todoroki is visibly relieved to hear that. “That’s good…it’s good to know that whatever connection you two may have at least it’s a positive one.”
Todoroki turns to the other member of the conversation. “And you?”
Izuku is startled by being called out, but he’s mostly confused. Does Todoroki think All Might’s related to him too?
“There’s a lot I don’t understand about you, especially.” Todoroki’s gaze falls to the strange device latched around Izuku’s wrist. “You’re Quirk…despite your need for an external force to activate it…something like you shouldn’t exist.” His dual-colored eyes pierce into Izuku’s own jade eyes. “What are you?”
It’s a fairly simple worded question, but one with a lot of meaning. What is he? How can he have a Quirk such as One Man Army? How is that possible? Was he a result of generations of Quirk Marriages? Is he a weapon? And what is his purpose? Why is he here, trying to become a hero?
Izuku is shaking unsure how to respond: should he tell the truth? No. Should he give an off handed answer? No, that’d be a slap in the face to Todoroki after he just spilled his troubles out to them.
Speaking of, the cold teen scowls in anger and grabs Izuku’s support item, raising it up to eye level, and snapping Izuku to pay attention. “Don’t give me the cowards act, it’s getting old.” he snaps.
Izuku can’t help but crumble a little under Todoroki’s enraged gaze.
The anger fades away as Todoroki composes himself, but he doesn’t release the Omnitrix instead he gazes down at it. “You are a complete enigma to me. Nothing about you makes sense, not at all.”
“Todoroki…”
“From your pledge, you stated that people said you couldn’t be a hero. And yet here you are, with a one of a kind Quirk.” Most people in this society practically worship those with outstanding and heroic like Quirks, which result in people like Bakugou. But Midoriya is not like that; he's shy, lacks confidence, and has a more heroic spirit than most.
“And then during the U.S.J., I learned some more things about you.”
Izuku goes stiff, he’s too afraid to ask. “L-like w-what…?”
Todoroki’s grip around the watch tightens. “This thing, the Omnitrix I believe, was being targeted by that Tetrax guy.” His piercing gaze hardens. “And you personally knew that Nue guy. Hell, he even had the same powers as you. What’s with that?”
Izuku…has no clue what to say. He looks to Ochaco for some assistance, but she’s been brought to a stunned silence.
“Just what are you?!” snaps Todoroki as he holds onto the Omnitrix pulling it towards him. “What is this thing? Why would someone be after it? How could someone else have the same powers? What are you?!”
Izuku can only stare back at the taller teen, his eyes shaking with fear from Todoroki’s outburst. But…after everything he’s learned about his classmate; he feels obligated to at least provide some kind of answer.
“What I am…to be honest I’m not sure.”
Todoroki looks like he’s about to snap again but Izuku continues.
“But…I know what I want to be.” He straightens his stance and makes sure to look Todoroki right in the eye. “I want to be a hero.”
Todoroki’s gaze softens with astonishment, as does Ochaco’s.
“For most of my life, I was looked down on, told that I could never be a hero…” By his so-called friends, classmates, teachers, and even his personal hero. “But that changed.”
He gazes down at the Omnitrix as it continues to glow red while recharging. “I was given a chance by some miracle and there were those who fully supported me.” His mother, Thirteen, Uraraka, Tetrax, and now his new teachers and friends.
“There were…bumps along the way.” He thinks back to how his friendship with Henzu crumbled away, the robot attacks, Dr. Animo, his battle with Bakugou, and the U.S.J. fights.
“However, every experience has helped me to move forward on my journey.” He learns what it means to be a hero, what he’s fighting for, gains new skills, gains new aliens, and all for the sake of others. But also for his own goal of becoming one of the greatest heroes that there ever will be.
“So, to answer your question: what am I?” The answer is simple. “I’m a hero.” With that he pulls his hand away from Todoroki freeing the Omnitrix, he holds it out in front of him like a shield. “And winning the Sports Festival will bring me closer to my dream. So, Todoroki…” The freed Omnitrix lights up and shifts glowing brightly with Izuku’s shining resolve. “I am going to beat you.”
Todoroki’s piercing eyes glare back at the short teen.
While Ochaco is in complete astonishment in response to Izuku’s answer and resolve.
Todoroki sighs leave it to the mysterious Midoriya to give him a vague yet honest answer.
Knowing he won’t get any more out of the two of them, he turns and exits the passageway. “Clearly you both have your secrets and I understand if you don’t want to share them.” He stops to look at them one last time. “But no matter what either of you throw at me or how fiercely you come at me in the future I will defeat you both using only my right side. I can assure you of that.” With that he leaves.
The two space cadets watch on as their opponent walks away and under a new light.
Ochaco’s eyes are filled with worry. ‘So, this is why Todoroki’s so focused and so serious. He’s like a comic book character. A hero with a tragic backstory. Fighting to rise above it.’ That’s what he is.
But…what is she? Is she just a girl that got lucky? Someone hand-picked by All Might himself? Or was that just luck? A mistake? Can she really say what she is? A hero…
“Hey, wait!”
Izuku is surprised to see Ochaco run past him so she can catch up to Todoroki.
Todoroki stops dead in his tracks and turns to see Ochaco breathing heavily behind him. She stands tall looking him dead in the eye.
“I’m here…because I need to be!”
Todoroki’s eyes widen. What does she mean exactly?
Ochaco gazes down at her hands. “I’m here because I need to be. I have ambitions too.” She thinks of her family. “I grew up pretty poor, and my family was always scrounging for work. They sacrificed so much for me just so I can chase my dreams. And it’s my dream to help them.” She clenches her fist. “But that’s not all. I’ve always wanted to be the kind of hero All Might is. One that can make people smile with their presence alone.” A hero with the strength and courage to make people feel safe.
“Ever since I really began to pursue my dream, I’ve met so many amazing people and they’ve each supported me along the way.” She flashes a smile back at Izuku while also thinking back to her own loving parents, Thirteen, her friends new and old, and of course her mentor.
“I wanna be just like All Might and more. But I have to be strong enough to become number one…to become a symbol.”
Todoroki’s eyes narrow.
“I know my ambition may seem dumb to you, but…” She glares up at her tragic foe. “It means everything to me.!!”
Izuku is stunned as well as Todoroki.
“I can’t afford to lose either. I owe it to everyone who’s supported me to try my best.”
Ochaco raises her fists as she speaks with no sign of doubt. “I am going to beat you.” She looks back at Izuku. “All of you. And I won’t give up until I do.” That is her own vow and who she is: someone that will refuse to give up until the bitter end.
The three competitors are left in complete silence, not even the wind dares to break the tension.
With each one having finished what they had to say they begin to take their leave. And they all understand now: that all of them are aiming for the top but only one of them can make it.
As Todoroki heads for lunch, Katsuki Bakugou peers around the corner and out of the shadows. His gaze is soft yet wary. He knows he heard a lot that he shouldn’t have, but yet it did give a bit of perspective on things. Things he will keep in mind as the Tournament commences.
Ochaco leaves after Todoroki leaving Izuku to stir in his own thoughts.
‘Todoroki… Uraraka…you’re both so driven. But so am I!’ He gazes down at his Omnitrix, admiring its soft green glow. ‘Wait…it wasn’t ten minutes yet. How come…?’
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
“Get those foam fingers in the air!” shouts Present Mic after returning to the commentator's box after finishing his lunch. “It’s almost time for the last round! But before that: good news for everyone who didn’t make the finals.”
Down in the stadium below all of the students from every course are walking back onto the field.
“Since this is a Sports Festival, we’ve prepared some super-fun side games everyone can participate in!”
A group of cheerleaders wearing U.A. themed orange outfits are performing on the sidelines.
“We even brought in cheerleaders from America to get your blood pumping!”
“Ah-” Aizawa notices something…peculiar.
And so does Present Mic. “Hold up.”
“What are they doing?” questions Aizawa.
Many of the students are wondering the same thing, but not that many of the male population are complaining though. In fact most of them are blushing as they awe at the views before them.
“Looks like Class 1-A is goin’ full on fanservice!” shouts Present Mic.
And sure enough all the Class 1-A girls are wearing similarly designed cheerleader outfits. From the short frilly skirts, exposed midriffs, and even pom poms to boot. But judging from their faces, it seems as if they were not expecting to be humiliated as such.
Minoru Mineta and Denki Kaminari laugh and share grins while admiring their handy work.
Momo Yaoyorozu is steaming mad. “What?! You tricked us?! You’re gonna regret this!”
##########(Flashback)#########
During the lunch break Mineta and his partner in crime, Kaminari decided to pull a little…“prank” on their classmates.
Kaminari, with all seriousness, addresses their targets. “Yaoyorozu. Jiro.”
Yaoyorozu and Kyoka Jiro turn to face Kaminari and Mineta while they hold trays of food.
Yaoyorozu is oblivious to their intent. “Uh-huh, do you need something?”
Mineta responses first. “Well, I’m sure you already know since you’re like a class rep.” He then points to the opposite side of the cafeteria where a group of cheerleaders are happily skipping by. “But they said all the girls have to wear those uniforms for the big cheer battle this afternoon.”
Jiro is rightfully startled by the news as a light blush adorns her face. “Huh?!”
Yaoyorozu raises an eyebrow. “That’s odd. This is the first I’m hearing about it. Are you sure?” It’s a good thing Mineta turned around otherwise his face would give away the deception. “You don’t have to believe me if you wanna get in trouble. But this is coming straight from Mr. Aizawa.”
Kaminari is nodding his head, trying to help sell the act.
“I thought maybe you’d forgotten, so I figured I’d remind you, just in case.”
And it somehow worked!
########(End Flashback)#######
Yaoyorozu falls to her knees in defeat and shame. “Why is that I always end up falling for the little pervert’s stupid schemes?” She’s nearly in tears because of their lies. “I even used my Quirk to make these outfits.”
Ochaco squats down and pats her friend’s shoulder in comfort, debating whether she should explain to Yaoyorozu how naive she can really be at times. She can only assume that it must be the result of being homeschooled all your life. This rich girl has little experience dealing with guys like Mineta and Kaminari. But how Jiro fell for it is a mystery.
Speaking of, the purple haired girl yells as she throws down her pom poms. “Ugh! I hate those guys!” She’s so embarrassed and is trying to save face by covering up her bare midriff while also glaring at the giggling perverts.
Toru Hagakure is completely unbothered by the predicament. “Well, we do have a little time before the finals start, and I kinda like these uniforms, so…” She shakes hips and waves her pom poms up and down in succession. “How ‘bout we just roll with it!”
“ARE YOU CRAZY!?!” cries a stunned Jiro.
Tsuyu Asui looks past the stunned Jiro’s shoulder, admiring Hagakure’s cheer moves. “Wow, Toru. You’ve got skills.”
Anyway let’s move on, at least that’s what Present Mic tries to do. “Have fun competing in these little side games, everyone!”
The big flat screens hung above the stadium light up as a tournament bracket appears.
“After they’re over, the 16 students from the top four teams will be duking it out one-on-one in a tournament-style fighting competition!”
Said students are getting pumped.
“I promise you’re not gonna wanna miss these epic match ups!”
The crowd cheers as students view the screen waiting for the match ups to be announced.
“Aw, yeah.” grins Eijiro Kirishima. “Finally gettin’ the chance to show what we’re made of.” His eyes are shaking with excitement. “I watch these finals every year, and now I’m actually in them!”
Mina Ashido, also wearing a cheer outfit, eyes him curiously. “So, wait. Is it always a tournament?”
Hanta Sero provides the answer. “The final’s always a one-on-one competition, but they switch it up every time.” This time happens to be like this. “Last year it was a foam sword-fighting match.” That actually sounds like fun.
Up on the little stage Midnight strides up with a big yellow box. “Come closer and draw lots to see who you’re up against. Then enjoy the pleasure of the recreational games before we start.” She gazes down at the competitors. “The sixteen finalists have the option of participating in those activities or sitting out to prepare for battle.” Some may need to calm their nerves or may want to use their time for other preparations. “I’m sure you all want to conserve your stamina.” She gives a seductive smile while licking her lips. “Now let’s find out who each of you will be fighting off against!”
She has each finalist pull a number out of the box before moving on to the next fighter and all too soon they have their tournament bracket filled.
Midnight whips her flogger. “Take a look at the bracket, my dears. These are your opponents!”
The names flip onto the screens and the crowd screams in response, they are really looking forward to some of these fights.
1st Match: Tsuyu Asui vs. Izuku Midoriya
‘I’m the first match of the first bracket.’ Izuku gives a shaky smile as he stares up at the screen. ‘Great.’
Tsuyu approaches the greenette. “Looks like we’re up first. Good luck then.”
“Same to you, Asui.”
“Call me Tsu.”
2nd Match: Fumikage Tokoyami vs. Momo Yaoyorozu
“I’ll give it my all.” declares Fumikage Tokoyami.
“Good.” responds Yaoyorozu. “That’s all that I ask of you.”
3rd Match: Mina Ashido vs. Shoto Todoroki
Mina’s head drops. “Oh, man…so unfair.” She’s up against one of the most powerful fighters first.
Todoroki is busy eyeing Izuku’s name. ‘He could be my third match.’ He eyes his possible future opponent. ‘You must advance. So I can beat you with one hand.’
4th Match: Tenya Iida vs. Mei Hatsume
Mei Hatsume walks up to Tenya Iida. “Hey, legs. You’re Iida, right?”
“Hm?” Iida takes notice of her. “Correct, I’m Tenya Iida.”
“Oh! That’s perfect!” Her eyes light up even behind her steampunk goggles. “I have something nice for you!”
5th Match: Ochaco Uraraka vs. Hitoshi Shinso
“Hitoshi Shinso, huh?” Ochaco eyes her opponent’s name. ‘Wasn’t he that guy on Deku’s team?’
“That is you, right? Ochaco Uraraka?”
The sudden appearance of Hitoshi Shinso makes her leap forward in surprise. She spins around to find her opponent silently judging her reaction.
‘It’s him! Wait…’ She recalls how he’s actually the same one that declared war on Class 1-A from a few weeks ago, she almost forgot about that. Yet Deku took him on as a teammate…?
Shinso doesn’t offer up a smile or a hand, but he does try to be civil. “It’s a pleasure. So, you excited?”
“Uh… Yes…”
Shinso smiles but then frowns, he spots Izuku watching him not too far away. Shinso eyes the nervous Ochaco before offering a smirk.
“Hm, good. So, am I.” And he walks off.
‘What’s with that guy?’
Izuku remains silent as he watches Shinso wonder off. ‘Shinso… good luck.’
6th Match: Eijiro Kirishima vs. Itsuka Kendo
Kirishima grins. “Bring it.”
“I will, just don’t hold back.” replies Itsuka Kendo.
7th Match: Denki Kaminari vs. Kyoka Jiro
Kaminari grinds at his opponent. “Looks like we’re up first, huh?”
Jiro’s eyes light up like a cat that’s going to tear through a mouse.
8th Match: Katsuki Bakugou vs. Ibara Shiozaki
Bakugou raises an eyebrow at his opponent’s name. “Shiozaki? Who the hell is that?”
Ibara Shiozaki frowns with dejection.
“Okay!” shouts Present Mic. “Let’s press pause for a momentary interlude before the battles begin. It’s time for some pulse-pounding side games!”
“Woohoo!!” Hagakure jumps into the air alongside the other Class 1-A girls each with varying degrees of enthusiasm.
“First, how about a scavenger hunt?”
Soon most of the finalists clear out and allow their fellow classmates to enjoy themselves. Many of the students run about the playing field until they find a card on the ground, grab it, and turn it over reading what item they have to seek out.
Sero looks to the crowd. “Hey, anyone up there got a bag they can give me?”
Rikido Sato eyes his card. “A cat? Anyone sneak a cat in?!”
Not everyone was as lucky such as Mineta who has to find “back fat” for some strange reason. Karma is probably at play here.
Neito Monoma waves his own card around, watching the others play. “What a joke. They’re actually taking these dumb side games seriously?” He smirks watching Kaminari find his item. “As usual, those Class 1-A idiots really need to get their priorities in check.”
“Monoma!” Kendo runs up to him looking very serious. “If you’re not playing, come with me.”
“Okay?” What could she want? Advice on how to take down Class 1-A?
She holds up her card, it reads “Perverse Person.”
She doesn’t even wait for his reaction as she grabs him with her enlarged hands and hauls him away to the main stage.
Monoma is a little less than impressed. “Uh…I think you may have the wrong impression of me, Kendo.”
“Trust me. This fits.”
Even though they were told to have fun, most of those in the Tournament couldn’t relax. Some tried to come up with strategies. Such as Izuku who’s secluded himself in the locker room as he scribbles through his notebook with different battle strategies to use against everybody in the Tournament.
Some try to rest their bodies. Like Tokoyami who’s perched himself in a tree to help him relax. Maybe it’s a bird thing…
There were those who prepared for the fight. Like Iida who's chugging down cans of juice to refuel his engines.
Or tried to hype themselves up. Like Bakugou and Todoroki who have each secluded themselves outside the stadium to stew in their own thoughts and motives.
And others still who just focused on trying to calm their nerves.
Like Ochaco who’s going along with Hagakure’s cheering performance. Yaoyorozu is going along too but less enthusiastically, but she appears to be enjoying herself at least.
Then there are those that are routing for them to lose. Such as those watching from unknown locations.
And of course the ones that want them to win like their family and friends.
Each fighter wanted to be ready for anything. And before they knew it, the finals were ready to begin.
Down in the middle of the stadium Cementoss’ hand glows a light green as he bends the wet cement to his will creating a large and well-constructed battle field. “That’s it. I’m pretty much done here.”
The battle arena is a large rectangular stage made purely of cement. There are stairs leading up to where the contestants will enter from and on the four corners of the stage are pits that will be lit on fire at the start of each match.
“Thank you, Cementoss!” thanks Present Mic. “Hey sports fans. Are ya ready?”
Yes, yes, they are if they’re screams are anything to go by.
“After all the action you’ve already witnessed. It’s time for the real battles to begin! Can you feel the excitement?!” He sure can.
Izuku nervously caresses the Omnitrix while he waits in the dark lonely gateway, waiting to be called into the arena.
Although Present Mic’s booming voice isn’t helping his nerves. “Our competitors are on their own now! Sometimes, heroes have only themselves to rely on! Heart. Skill. Strength. Wisdom. Courage. They’ll have to use all of these things to rise to the top!”
Izuku will be sure to use all of them.
Meanwhile, the students of the Hero Course have their own seating balcony so that they can watch the upcoming fights and cheer their classmates on. But unfortunately for some of them, both classes of the Hero Course have to share the same seating area.
Tetsutetsu Tetsutetsu screams into the air. “Agh! This is so not fair! Why couldn’t I be in the finals?” Perhaps in an alternate timeline he could have participated, but a greater force must have intervened this time.
Kirishima tries to consult the similarly Quirked individual, “Don’t let it get to you, man. Just sit back and enjoy.”
“Easy for you to say!” shouts Monoma with a dark smug grin plastered on his face. “But you watch, our dear Kendo and Shiozaki will destroy you and your pathetic classmates! Hahahaha!”
The entirety of Class 1-A deadpan. ‘What a prick.’
Kendo shakes her head in embarrassment, for herself and her class, and for Monoma.
“Shut it, loser!!” roars Bakugou from his seat alone in the corner. “Or I’ll kill you!!”
“Oh, that’s not heroic now is it?” Monoma turns to Bakugou with an insane look in his eye. “Maybe I should defeat you here and take your place in the Tournament! Hahaha!”
While laughing his head off, Kendo sneaks behind him.
“Why you bastard!!” While Bakugou is fuming with rage, Ochaco sneaks up behind him.
Both girls shout as they strike their individual class mental cases simultaneously.
“What the hell?!” Bakugou rubs the back of his head after Ochaco slapped it.
Ochaco is steaming mad, her cheeks puffed out in annoyance. “Behave yourself will ya?”
Kendo glares down at the unconscious Monoma after she chopped him over the head. Even when knocked out cold, he’s still grinning like a madman.
A sweatdrop forms on Masahiro Ojiro’s forehead. “Huh. So, you guys have your own obnoxious nuisance.”
Class 1-B’s Jurota Shishida nods as he pushes up his glasses. “Yes, but we can rely on our Class President to keep him in check.”
Jurota is a tall young man with a very beastly appearance because of his shaggy, brown, chin-length hair, beard, and fur that covers most of his body. He has sharp teeth and his large jaw sticks out a fair amount, with two of his lower canines poking upwards from between his lips. He also wears small, rectangular glasses with thick lenses.
Juzo Honenuki is laughing while watching Kendo drag off Monoma and Ochaco forces Bakugou to sit back down. “Ha ha ha! Oh, man this is hilarious.”
Sato frowns. “I’m not so sure about that.”
The class settles down as flames burst from pits at corners of the battle field. However the flames have the opposite effect on the crowd as they scream and cheer in anticipation. Finally, the main event is about to begin!!
Present Mic’s voice echoes through the entire stadium. “All right, audience! Let’s cut to the good stuff and not delay these finals any longer. Welcome our first fighters!”
As he speaks the screens display pictures of the two fighters: Tsuyu Asui vs. Izuku Midoriya.
Tsuyu’s photo is calm as per her usual demeanor and her face unemotional. Whereas, Izuku’s photo kind of looks like he was being held at gunpoint while taking the photo.
“Whoa, he looks kinda scared in that picture, doesn’t he? Even though he’s and I quote ‘the one to beat’.”
Izuku walks across the field with a nervous smile wishing he never declared himself that. Already he can feel the eyes of the world…worlds gazing down on him. Watching him.
“It’s Izuku Midoriya!”
The crowd cheers in response to seeing him and hearing his name! This kid’s been in the top running since the beginning, especially since he gave such a rousing Student Pledge, they’ve been unable to take their eyes off of him. So, it’s understandable why they’re foaming at the mouth to see him in action without any other distractions.
“And his opponent is the level headed amphibian, Tsuyu Asui!”
The crowd cheers as Tsuyu walks across the field.
The two fighters stand at opposite ends of the arena.
“The rules are simple: immobilize your opponent or force them outta the ring! You can also win by getting the other person to cry uncle.”
Izuku inhales and then exhales, calming his nerves. “I’m not going to hold back!” he shouts.
“Ready?!”
“I hoped you wouldn’t.” responds Tsuyu
“Begin!!”
Izuku reaches for the Omnitrix. “It’s hero ti-”
“Na ha!” Tsuyu lashes her tongue out and grabs Izuku’s right arm pulling his hand away from his Omnitrix before he can even activate the dial.
“What the?!”
“Whoaaa!! Would you take a look at this!”
Izuku pulls against Tsuyu but her grip is too strong. He tries to bring his left hand up to his right while pulling against the stretchy and strong appendage but Tsuyu pulls his arm away, throwing him off balance and preventing him from activating the device. She tries to pull him towards the edge of the ring so Izuku plants his feet in place before she can pull him across.
“Hahaha! Looks like Midoriya is in a real jam here! He can’t activate his Quirk without access to his support item, and it looks like his own classmate is going to take advantage of that weakness!”
Aizawa chimes in. “It’s a fair strategy. If she can stop him from using his Quirk, then she can guarantee her own victory.” But from what he’s had the pleasure of seeing, Midoriya will find a way out of this situation. The only question is how he’ll do it.
Tsuyu and Izuku continue with their little tug of war game. Every now and then Tsuyu would pivot her body and swing him towards the edge of the arena but it’d always end the same with Izuku slamming his feet and free hand against the dirt to keep himself from being flung out.
“You’re really not making this easy. Kero.”
Izuku grunts. “Neither are you.”
He needs to think of something, and quickly. She’s just wearing out his stamina, she thinks that as long as he can’t use the Omnitrix then all she has to do is wait for him to get tired. Dammit, if only the Omnitrix was mentally connected with him or something!
But it’s not. And so he needs to find another way to activate the faceplate and slam it back down but how? His hands are literally tied up at the moment and if he even makes a move to bring his hands together Tsuyu will just throw him off balance again. So, what to do… ‘I got it!’
Izuku lifts up the Omnitrix, not up to his hand, but to his face. He lines up his teeth and bits down on the two main points of contact and the dial pops up with a ding.
Tsuyu’s eyes flash with worry and she immediately kicks it into overdrive. She leaps back and pulls Izuku along with her, flinging him up.
“Ahh!” Izuku yelps while being flung into the air with Tsuyu’s tongue still wrapped around his hand. ‘I’m not going to lose here!’
No time to be picky, he slams down the Omnitrix against his side.
The crowd roars as they recognize that flash of green light.
Tsuyu’s movement all but stops as something much heavier lands back on the ground kicking up a small dust cloud.
Tsuyu follows her tongue towards the small cloud as it begins to dissipate and reveals a grinning four-eyed beast.
“Oh, yeah.” grins Four Arms while Tsuyu’s tongue is wrapped around only one of his arms.
The crowd is going crazy over seeing a new and admittedly cool transformation.
And so is Present Mic. “There it is! Somehow Midor-sorry, I man Four Arms was able to pull off a transformation. Yeah!”
Aizawa eyes his co-host curiously. “Four Arms?”
“Oh, that’s the name Midoriya gave that form. During lunch I asked him to provide me a list of his transformations to help commentate.” In other words, he will be referring to Midoriya as his transformations rather than his name.
“That feels unnecessary.”
Four Arms grins at Tsuyu. “Sorry, for the delay. I was a little tied up.”
Tsuyu frowns in annoyance of the pun.
Four Arms reaches for her slippery tongue, but it slides off of him before he can get a grip.
He is hoping to throw her out of the arena himself, but it looks like he’ll have to get his hands dirty.
“Here I come!” He charges throwing his two right arms back, reading a dual-punches.
Tsuyu is rather calm despite the charging brute, she quickly squats down on all fours and leaps away just before Four Arms slams his fists against the ground.
Four Arms scowls but is met by two kicks to the face as Tsuyu plants her feet against his head and kicks off of him. Knocking him back a bit while putting more distance between them.
Four Arms rubs his cheek, that was not pleasant.
Tsuyu actually smirks. “That was for the puns.”
The crowd cheers and laughs as karma was just served.
Four Arms smirks back. “Fair enough.”
Four Arms springs back into action charging at Tsuyu but she just jumps right over him and bounces off his back before his other arms could grab her. While in midair she lashes out and uses her tongue like a whip striking his back.
Midnight swoons. “Ooh! She’s into that type of foreplay.”
They can hear Aizawa give an exasperated sigh over his microphone.
“Get back here!” shouts the Tetraman as he reels around and goes after his froggy opponent.
The following moments of the match go about the same with Fours Arms throwing punch after punch only for Tsuyu to use her much smaller size and agility to evade his attacks while using her tongue to trip him up every now and again.
At this point all she can do is wait Midoriya out at least until his ten minutes are up, but she’s actually the one draining her own stamina now so even that strategy isn’t sound.
“That’s the U.A. Sports Festival right there, despite the clear unbalance in power, Asui proves that speed and strategy can outwit any foe! Yeah! Especially the hulking red mass that is Four Arms.”
Tsuyu kicks off Four Arm’s shoulder, leaping away before he can grab her. Damn he may have a strong build but he’s too darn slow compared to her. ‘I need to throw her off balance, but how?’
He needs to change up his strategy, but how? He watches her land back onto the ground before crouching down on all fours waiting for him to make the next move. She’s trying to read him.
‘Come on Izuku think! Asui is fast and can strike from a distance. And those are my biggest issues.’ He gazes down at Tsuyu before his two pairs of eyes drift down to the cement ground. ‘That’s it!’
Tsuyu’s eyes widen as Four Arms grins.
“Four Arms!” The red hulking mass raises all his hands over his head. “Smash!” He slams his fists down onto the ground as hard as he can creating a small tremor that tears apart the surface of the arena.
“What’s this?! Can he say something like that without being sued for copyright? But in any case, Four Arms has just smashed apart the entire of the ring!”
Tsuyu wobbles in place, temporarily losing her balance with her off balance Four Arms enacts the next part of his plan.
He jabs his hands into the ground and pries out two large chunks of rubble. With a roar he swings his body and tosses the first boulder, spins around, and tosses the other one right at the frog girl.
“Throwing rocks is that really your plan?” She jumps up and over the first flying chunk, but she inadvertently threw herself in the path of the second projectile.
She remains calm, however, and lashes her tongue out to the side where it grips the ground and like a fishing line, she reels herself towards the side and out of the way of the boulder before it can crash into her. She has no time to relax as Four Arms was expecting that and is already upon her. She leaps up and over him, but that’s okay because he expected that too.
The smirking Four Arms spins around but as he does so he jabs his right hands into the ground and swings them around and throws them out along with a barrage of broken up cement.
This wave of rubble is far too wide for her to simply dodge while in midair, so with no options she braces herself as she’s pelted by debris. She tries to block it with her thin arms and even tucks in her legs to help defend her body, but even so the damage has been done. Not only did the projectiles wear her down but they offset her balance when they collided with her so when she lands, she falls onto her back with a thud.
“Sorry, Tsu but I’m going to win this!” The morphed Izuku jumps high so he can deliver a powerful high jump kick.
Tsuyu’s eyes pop wide and she hastily rolls away, shoves herself off the ground, and leaps a few feet away from the original spot just as Four Arms muscular legs smash right in the same spot. His landing creates another tremor that shakes and breaks apart the battlefield even more.
Tsuyu scowls, this is not how she was hoping this would go. At this rate she’ll lose, she needs to end this quickly.
Four Arms’ eyes gleam with the thrill of battle as he turns around and throws dual-punches at her. “Rahhh!!”
Tsuyu allows the fists to get close before she sidesteps and jumps forward, she grabs Four Arms’ shoulder and then uses it to bounce off of, kicking him forward.
But he was expecting that, with a grin Four Arms uses his punches to dig his hands into the ground, and with two points of support he twists his entire body up behind and either by luck or good planning he back kicks Tsuyu’s side.
Tsuyu slams back on the ground, rolling across it before she plants her hands and feet in place. And with no time to waste she lashes her tongue out at him, aiming for his head.
But her sudden impatience will be her downfall as Four Arms grabs her tongue in midair.
“Let’s bring things in full swing, shall we?” grins Four Arms as he grips her tongue and swings her around like a centripetal ball throw before letting her go allowing her to fly through the air with no chance of her recovering.
And she is aware of this as her entire body flies out of the battle field, and out of bounds. ‘Well done, Midoriya.’ She calmly lands on her feet, like a frog, onto the grassy field.
Midnight, the umpire, throws her hand up to signal the end of the match. “Asui has been thrown out of bounds! Midoriya advances to Round Two!”
The crowd cheers and howlers with delight, those two really gave them a bit of a show, a good way to start the tournament.
Four Arms and Tsuyu stand opposite each other back on the broken battlefield. The two shake hands and gaze at each other with respect.
“I may have won, but you definitely didn’t make it easy.”
“Thank, kero. But don’t relax now. Something tells me that your fights are only to get harder from here on out.”
Present Mic screams out. “Thanks for the show you two! Well done the both of you! But this was only the first fight of many to come, so hang because I’m willing to bet things are only going to get crazier!”
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“Way to go guys!” greets Ochaco as the two fighters of the first match arrive. “That was great!”
Tsuyu frowns. “Thanks, but it is disappointing.”
Four Arms sheepishly grins as he tries to maneuver his much larger body around the benches.
As he tries to get to a seat Iida intercepts him. “Well done, Midoriya! Your quick thinking and creative mind have allowed you to claim victory!”
At the same time Bakugou scowls. “Whatever, you just wait. I’ll show you all what a real winner looks like!”
Sero eyes him curiously. “Sore-loser’s more like it.”
“What’d you say Tape Arms?!”
Juzo, of Class 1-B, eyes the Class 1-A students. “Class 1-A sure is a rowdy bunch.”
Tsuburaba nods. “No kidding.”
Ibara scowls. “He doesn't bother to learn his own classmates’ names. Shameful.”
Mina chuckles. “You think that’s bad. He’s never called Midoriya by his real name even though they’ve known each other since preschool.” At least that’s what she heard from Ochaco.
Bakugou turns his attention to the pink girl. “Shut up!! Of course I know shitty Deku’s name!”
“Oh really?” Mina’s voice is laced with sarcasm. “What is it?” A simple yet effective question.
An irk mark forms on Bakugou’s head, before turning away in annoyance. “It doesn’t fucking matter!! Shitty Deku is shitty Deku!!”
The boy in question is stunned, his jaw dropped while in shock. ‘Are you serious?! Or does he not care?!’
Ochaco sweat drops as she pats Four Arms’ shoulder. “Don’t let him bother you.” She then leers over at Bakugou with a sly smirk. “He’s not worth it.”
Bakugou snaps. “Huh?!” He’s about to leap out of his seat but Kaminari and Kirishima grab his shoulder holding him in place before he does something that kicks him out of the Tournament.
While Bakugou curses up a storm, the Omnitrix beeps and flashes red and as such Izuku is able to properly plop down into his seat.
“Phew.”
The bright red light blinded a few students of Class 1-B who are not yet accustomed to Izuku’s transformations yet.
“My eyes!”
“So, bright!”
“How can someone so plain looking, become something so…alien?”
Shoji smiles down at his shorter classmate. “Welcome back.”
Izuku smiles back up at the multi-limbed teen. “Uh, yeah, thanks. But I never left.” Even so the sentiment was nice.
Present Mic’s voice echoes through the arena. “Okay all you cheering Sports Fans who’s ready to get the match going?!”
The audience explodes in response.
“After such a smashing first match, our handy Cementoss has already repaired the arena. So, let's keep the ball rolling!”
Izuku lights up and he summons his Quirk Analysis notebook seemingly from thin air. The Sports Festival is the best time for him to get new notes on his classmates and plus whoever wins this fight will face him next.
Down below the next two competitors take center stage.
“Offense and defense in one! The dark samurai and his darker shadow! From the Hero Course, Fumikage Tokoyami!”
Tokoyami has his arms folded together as the pillar of flames dance at his sides.
“Versus! The great creator! She was admitted because of recommendations and I think we can all see why. Also from Class 1-A, Momo Yaoyorozu!”
Yaoyorozu has the look of someone ready to prove why she got in by recommendations. She’s aiming to prove that she has the right to be here.
Ojiro leans forward in his seat so he can talk to Izuku. “How do you think this one will end?” He noticed Izuku’s notebook and its many scribbles. “Any clue?”
Without prying his eyes away from the fighters Izuku responds. “Timing is going to be the key thing here.”
“Oh? How so?”
Izuku leans in closer to his notebook, his pen at the ready to take notes., “You’ll see.”
Too bad he wasn’t around to give the black-haired girl some pointers because she has come up with her own conclusions. ‘Present Mic’s description of Tokoyami was accurate. With Dark Shadow he’s skilled at both attacking and defending.’ And that puts her at a major disadvantage.
Heck, Tokoyami is definitely aware of his advantage as he stands across from her with a stoic and undetering gaze.
The top student continues to think strategically about her opponent’s possible moves. ‘He can also call upon the creature instantaneously. So, there’s little doubt he’ll start the match with a preemptive strike. If I can make a simple shield, I can block him.’ There’s just one issue. ‘But I’ll have to be fast about it or else this fight will be over in a matter of seconds. Just like that. Then, if I have enough time to make-’
“Second match. Begin!”
Yaoyorozu gasps, being taken by surprise, by the sudden start to the match. Her thoughts and strategy leave her just as suddenly.
And her hesitation will cost her as her opponent takes action.
“Go, Dark Shadow!”
The sentient being springs out of Tokoyami’s chest. “I’ve got her!”
Yaoyorozu scowls as light particles glow from her arm. ‘Quickly! A shield!’ She creates a small iron shield and just in time too.
Dark Shadow rams against the shield but gets deflected upward.
With a quick opening, Yaoyorozu’s other hand readies itself to create something. “Now it’s my turn to attack!”
That’s not how this game goes, because Dark Shadow reels back around and divebombs her.
She barely has enough time to block its attack with her shield, but her Quirk was interrupted, and she remains weaponless. ‘I can’t focus on my Quirk!’
And once again Dark Shadow dives bomb her again, but the living Quirk slashes out his claws and knocks away her shield.
Yaoyorozu yelps as she’s thrown back and left defenseless.
Dark Shadow is right back at her, swinging his claws but she’s fast enough to create a new shield to defend against it. The claws slam into her so hard that she's shoved away, thankfully she is able to keep her balance and prevent herself from falling, but the blow still did a toll. Heck she’s about ten feet away from where she was by that single attack.
But this distance could save her, she secures her stance and readies her shield for another attack. But it never comes, instead Tokoyami remains rotted to his spot with Dark Shadow hover above in the air.
She’s surprised. ‘Why has he stopped?’ She throws her hand out and generates a metal bow staff. ‘This is my chance!’
Before she can make a move, Midnight puts a stop to her whole plan. “Yaoyorozu!”
The girl in question is surprised by being called out as such but Midnight continues.
“You’re out!”
Yaoyorozu gasps in shock, that can’t be right? She must have misheard Midnight, right? But still… The recommended student gazes down and sure enough, that last attack pushed her right foot straight out of the arena.
“This match goes to Tokoyami!” announces the umpire as the audience applaud and cheer for Tokoyami’s overpowering show.
The raven-headed boy recalls Dark Shadow and without so much as speaking a word the entire fight, bow in respect to his opponent before turning and heading for the exit.
Unfortunately, his opponent is still in disbelief and left there feeling like she wasted her opportunity.
“Yikes! Now that was a fast, overwhelming victory!” Present Mic really isn’t one for tack. “Is it possible that Tokoyami’s Dark Shadow is one of the greatest Quirks ever? I think so!” That may be jumping the gun. “But that said, his next match may prove that to be true, we’ll see!” After all, Tokoyami will now be facing Izuku in Round Two.
Yaoyorozu watches in continual disbelief and grief as Tokoyami leaves her behind and moves on to the next round. “I lost…I didn’t even…do anything.”
She’s not the only one in disbelief, however. “Tokoyami is way too powerful.” says the kid with the alien watch. “I can’t believe he forced her out of bounds by focusing his attacks on her shield. He obviously had a strategy worked out.”
Ojiro can’t help but agree with that assessment. “Yeah, I guess so. Maybe he didn’t wanna hurt her.”
Izuku nods in agreement.
Ojiro frowns. “I bet she’s really upset about how that went down.”
They both turn and watch Yaoyorozu, the recommended student, drag herself off the field; she walks slowly with her head cast down and an air of sorrow follows her.
“I feel bad for her.”
“Yeah, me too…” Izuku frowns as the disappointed Yaoyorozu makes her exit.
In that same moment the Omnitrix finished recharging, lighting back up to green instead of red. And Izuku instantly takes note that only half the time has passed for it to recharge.
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As Yaoyorozu and Tokoyami return to their seats, Todoroki leaves the waiting room so he can partake in his own match.
He didn’t really care for the second match, instead he’s still thinking about Izuku’s own match. ‘You won your first, Midoriya, just defeat Tokoyami and then it’ll be my turn.’
He turns the corner so he can enter the field but his heterochromia eyes spots something unpleasant blocking his path. “What do you want?” His voice is laced with malice, like he doesn’t really care for the other person’s presence.
His father, Endeavor, glares down at his offspring, not appreciating his lack of respect for him. “You’re acting disgracefully, Shoto.”
The younger Todoroki doesn’t even acknowledge what his father had to say. Instead he marches forward intending to ignore his old man.
Endeavor’s cold yet furious gaze follows his child. “If you simply used the power in your left side you would’ve had an overwhelming victory in both of the first rounds.” His scowl deepens for a second as he spits out his next line. “You could have easily defeated that Midoriya brat.”
Todoroki remains silent, avoiding his father’s gaze, and he marches right past him.
“It’s time to stop this childish rebellion of yours.”
“Tch.” the young man scowls. Of course this jackass would see his resolve as childish.
“You have a duty to surpass the imbecile All Might.”
Still no reply.
“Do you understand what I’m saying?” The Number Two Hero watches his child continue to turn his back on him in both a literal and metaphorical sense. “You’re different from your siblings. You’re my greatest masterpiece.” Surely the boy will understand.
Todoroki does understand, far too well. “Is that all you have to say to me, you bastard?” His fist clench, his nails nearly piercing through his skin, and he grinds his teeth together to keep himself from yelling out. “I’ll win this match and the next one using only Mom’s Quirk.” That will show the bastard that he doesn’t need him. “I won’t give you the pleasure of seeing me use yours.”
Endeavor cold, furious eyes drift away from his rebellious spawn. “Even if that works for you in this tournament, you’ll soon find the limits of that power.”
Unbeknownst to the pro hero, Todoroki is doing all he can to keep his emotions bottled up before he explodes with righteous rage and fury. The light of the sun as he enters the field shines down on him, but with his head casts downward and his terrible scowl; it all gives him the look of a rabid beast whose master has been pulling on its chain for far too long.
The flames outlining the arena burst back into existence signaling his and his opponent’s arrival onto the battle ring.
“Enough standing around!” shouts Present Mic over the roar of the crowd. “Now welcome to the ring our next players.”
The screens project images of the cold and indifferent Shoto Todoroki vs. the excitable and cheery Mina.
“She’s got skills! And some unique yet delightful looks. From the Hero Course it’s Mina Ashido!”
Mina thrusts her fist into the air in pure joy and excitement. “This is going to be so great!”
“Versus, an early frontrunner in the competition who’s way too strong for his own good! Someone who rightfully got into the hero course based on recommendations! It’s Shoto Todoroki!”
The dual-colored hair of his casts a shadow over his eyes.
The audience is oblivious to Todoroki’s inner turmoil as his rage and sorrow boils within him. However, from the stands both Izuku and Ochaco watch on with fearful gazes. Even from there they can sense that something is troubling their rival.
“And now, for the third match of Round One. Ready?” It’s a rhetorical question. “Begin!”
Mina charges in without a second thought. “I’ll give it my best try!” She’s grinning from ear to ear as she slides across the arena with her acid.
Mina gets about ten feet away from him when she senses that something is wrong, her grin disappears and is replaced quickly with concern. And her senses may just save her from a cruel demise.
Todoroki’s dark cold gaze pierces through her, with no hint of sympathy. “Apologies.”
Ice rushes forward through his right foot and rushes towards Mina before exploding into a powerful earthshaking eruption of frozen water that rises above and out of the entire stadium.
In the moments following it seems like the entire Earth or even the galaxy is stunned to silence. Not even Present Mic whispers a peep.
Those in the Hero Course Classes gasp and back away from the giant impaling glacier that stopped a mere few inches from their faces.
And the pro heroes on guard outside the stadium such as Death Arms and Kamui Woods are completely gobsmacked by the powerful earthquake and the spiky glacier hanging off the top of the stadium.
“Holy crap.”
Death Arms’ words probably say it best. The glacier erupted from one side of the stadium and is so large that it blocks out the sun giving it the appearance of an impenetrable frozen fortress.
Within the stadium, Todoroki’s entire right side is layered in a thin sheet of ice, he exhales releasing a small seeable breath. That attack must have done more for him emotionally, as if it was a response to his inner fury.
As for Mina…she is alright just shaken up even with tears in her eyes.
Thanks to her preemptive senses she leaped out of the way before the ice could initially grab her, but now…now she is stunned as everybody else as she gazes upon his magnificent display of power. But what really has her in such a fright is his…emotion state.
Just before his attack…she could almost sense the boiling mess of anger that was just about to be released onto the world. Whatever that anger is, it has a source, an external yet deeply emotional source to it.
And even though he seems calmer, there is just a dangerous yet sorrowful air around him. As if any small amount of irritation will set him off again.
And she doesn’t want to be what sets him off. She’d like to choose life, thanks. “I-I…I g-give up…” It hurts to admit that, but…there’s just no way she can win. Especially when he’s like this.
Midnight, with half her body frozen by the attack and the other half is left shivering, tries to fulfill her role. “M-Mina A-Ashido h-has given u-up. T-To-Todoroki is t-the winner.”
Even though it was such an amazing display of power, the entire audience is still left in a state of shock. Possibly because of how terrifyingly powerful the son of Endeavor truly is.
Todoroki releases a breath of air, trying to compose himself. “Sorry about that. It was a bit much.” His eyes fall downward…down to his left side. “I was angry, is all.”
Izuku watches with worry as Todoroki remains rooted to his spot, before his devastating ice eruption. But…for some reason, in that moment, the Omnitrix wielder can’t help but notice how incredibly sad the boy looks. Like he wished the match…that the entire Sports Festival could have gone differently.
Izuku can only assume that whatever is eating away and destroying Todoroki from the inside…it has to do with his accursed flames.
Notes:
Ch. 23 What Are We is over, and the next chapter will focus in on the rest of the fights of Round One. I thought about including them here, but I feel like it’s important to draw on Todoroki’s situation and including the other fights would distract from it. So just to be clear next time it will be these fights in this order:
1. Tenya Iida vs. Mei Hatsume
2. Ochaco Uraraka vs. Hitoshi Shinso
3. Eijirou Kirishima vs. Itsuka Kendo
4. Denki Kaminari vs. Kyoka Jiro
5. Katsuki Bakugou vs. Ibara Shiozaki*Just to be clear Izuku will be facing Tokoyami, not Todoroki, for his next match.
*Present Mic is aware that Izuku has names for his transformations and will refer to each of them by name.
*If you’ve been wondering why I’ve been late with these updates it’s because of two reasons:
1. Busy life stuff.
2. Fire Emblem…I just started playing the game for the first time and it is so much more addicting and time consuming than I thought it was going to be.So if you want someone or something to blame for these later updates…you can blame Nintendo for making a story rich and engaging game. Sure you can blame me for even starting the game, but it’s not like I’m going to stop any time soon. Either way I’m still going to write so I think it’s all good.
*Anyway, stay safe out there everyone. Make smart and safe decisions and take care of yourselves and those around you.
Chapter 24: Fight! Fight! Fight!
Summary:
Round 1 of the Tournament meets its end.
Notes:
Alright here we go, let’s finish off Round One of the Tournament with a bang!
*Warning! There is a tiny manga spoiler within this chapter. It’s nothing that major but just a heads up.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
“Rahh!!” cries Tenya Iida as he returns from his own fight, although fight may not be the right word to use. “That foul woman, she made me look like a fool!”
Kyoka Jiro chuckles. “It was pretty funny if you ask me.”
“Gah!!”
Itsuka Kendo shakes her head in disapproval. “Sheesh, I knew Hatsume was an odd one, but…”
Yui Kodai cups her chin while nodding in agreement. “Hm, hm.”
Yui has black bob-shaped hair with an athletic build, cerulean eyes, and she adorns a neutral expression on her face.
The beast of Class 1-B, Jurota Shishida, adjusts his glasses with a scowl. “I think it’s a disgrace to this Tournament. This is supposed to be an event that allows us the opportunity to show off our skills. Not be a ten-minute-long commercial for some degenerate’s toys and gadgets.”
Iida plops down into his seat beside Izuku with a frustrated scowl. “I still can’t believe I fell for it!”
Izuku shivers as he recalls Iida’s match. “Iida…you’re too sincere, you trusted her motives.”
Before the match, Mei Hatsume tricked Iida into wearing some of her inventions. She then proceeded to use his attacks and moves to help display and show off her gadgets to support companies watching the Sports Festival. But the way she went about it was a bit crueller then she needed to be. She absolutely humiliated Iida by demonstrating her gadgets and weapons out on him: flying over him with her jetpack, using specialized cables to fling herself away, capture nets, and many others.
Izuku sweat drops. “She probably made it sound like she was doing you a favor.”
“Well, I thought it was fine. You and Aoyama got to wear your devices!”
Yuga Aoyama cuts in. “That is true, monsieur, however.” He allows Izuku to explain further.
Izuku is happy to explain. “We put in the proper paperwork since we both need our items to use our Quirks.”
Aoyama needs his belt to control his Naval Laser's output, and Izuku needs the Omnitrix to help activate his transformations.
Iida grimaces. “Now…you tell me…”
Toru Hagakure offers up a smile, or she would if they could see it. “I say your match was a nice change of pace, especially after…the one before it.” She looks to Mina Ashido who’s been rather quiet since her match with Todoroki.
Mina notices her concern. “I-I’m fine…” She offers up a smile hoping to appear confident. She looks over to the corner of the Hero Course viewing box to where Shoto Todoroki is silently sulking in the corner. ‘Although he’s the one I’m more concerned about.’
Juzo Honenuki shakes his head in denial. “You know I know Midoriya has quite the Quirk on him, but so does Todoroki. I mean that was just crazy.” Seriously some of them were nearly impaled by the giant icicles.
Tetsutetsu Tetsutetsu scoffs. “Ha, it was nothing! I could have taken it!” Who knows, maybe he could have.
“Hahahaha!!” A very disturbed and maniacal laughter echoes through the viewing box. “Yes, it seems that 1-A has some prized geese in their flock!!” Neito Monoma, with a deranged grin, leaps in front of the unsuspecting and very much startled Izuku and Iida. “But all it takes for someone to steal the golden egg to make it big.” His grubby like fingers crawl in the air. “How about I try your power out for myself, huh?”
He slaps Izuku’s head.
Izuku, in typical fashion, flips out and grabs at his head. “Why’d you do that?!”
“Hahaha! Is my class and I that beneath you that you never bothered to learn our Quirks?!” Monoma only displayed and explained it a few chapters ago.
Monoma sighs. “Ah, fine I will indulge you.” He spins around dramatically poking his finger against Izuku’s eye making sure she gets the point while also personally attacking him. “I can copy other people’s Quirks when I touch them!”
While Class 1-A are stunned by the revelation, Izuku feels like the rug has been pulled right from underneath him while his stomach sucks in on itself. “What?”
“Hahahaha!! Yes, it is true! I now have One Man Army!” Monoma waves his hands about at his sides as if to allow his peers to take in his full glory. “Now I will utilize your Quirk and show you what Class 1-B can truly do! Hahahahaha!!” Monoma holds his pose with his mad deranged grin as everyone holds their breaths in anticipation expecting Monoma to disappear behind a veil of green light.
However, the flash of light signaling a transformation never arrives instead both classes are left in a disappointing awkwardness with Monoma just making a fool out of himself.
Monoma, still grinning, tries to save face. “Dammit, it appears you’re a Blank.”
“Uh, uh, uh…” Izuku is still way too stunned to form words.
So Kendo asks the question that’s bugging everyone. “A…blank?”
Monoma sighs with...defeat? “It appears Midoriya is a Blank.”
“A…what?”
The copycat sighs. “Well, it’s my way of saying that his Quirk requires something to be stored up first before it can be properly used.” He drags a hand over his eye as if trying to hold back his aggression. “My power only copies the bare-bones essence of a Quirk. But if the copied ability needs to convert some stockpiled resource into energy, or something else to even use said Quirk, then I won’t be able to replicate whatever is accumulated.”
Momo Yaoyorozu lights up as it all clicks together. “Oh! I get it. If you were to copy my Quirk you would need proper fats to use your lipids to create objects as well as the knowledge of the structure and materials needed to make such items.”
“That is correct!” Monoma is delighted that someone else was actually listening to him. “It’s an issue I run into, now and then…and the reason why I couldn’t manifest his One Man Army, even after copying it.”
Izuku internally sighs with relief. ‘Oh, thank goodness! For a minute there…I thought we’d have another Nue on our hands.’ Just the thought of another mutant monster with his powers running around is enough to make his skin crawl.
“Hahaha!!”
That sudden laughter makes Izuku freeze up, he knows that laugh all too well.
Katsuki Bakugou is laughing his head off from his seat. “Hahaha! You kidding, not only is your Quirk to rip off others, it can’t even rip off Deku’s Quirk?! Ha, that’s rich!”
Monoma instantly turns his attention on Bakugou and begins ranting about his own superiority despite his Quirk’s newly established limit.
While Bakugou and Monoma have a little shouting match, Eijiro Kirishima turns to see who’s up next to fight. “Well in any case. Who’s up next?”
Rikido Sato responds. “It’s Uraraka.”
Hanta Sero raises an eyebrow. “Really? This should be interesting then.”
Kirishima turns to Sato. “She’s facing off against that guy from General Studies, right?”
“I think so.” replies Sato
Sero has another question to add. “But what’s his Quirk?”
Izuku internally gasps when he overhears their conversation. Ochaco left before he could even warn her about Shinso’s Quirk. Well, it looks like there’s only one way this match is going to end.
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Ochaco Uraraka gazes out into the sunlit arena from within the dark passageway, where she is waiting for Present Mic to introduce her into the stadium. But while she waits, she tries to calm her nervousness through some breathing exercises and a few arm stretches.
And she has a good reason to be nervous, she’s about to face off against an opponent without really having any real knowledge about him.
But to be fair, she sort of did that on purpose. She needs to show her worth to the world and to herself, so she purposely avoided asking Tsuyu, Jiro, and even Deku for some info. She needs to prove her worth to herself, and in order to do that she needs to rely on her own strength, courage, and skill. Of course that’s easier said than done.
“Hey.”
Ochaco jolts with alarm but relaxes upon seeing that it’s only her mentor, Yagi Toshinori.
“Sorry I haven’t said hi. You’ve been doing great, I’m so proud.” Toshinori grins and offers up a big thumbs up. “You harnessed One For All!”
Ochaco shakes her head. “No…not yet any way.” It was just a bit of instinct and adrenaline at work when she used it and didn’t experience any whiplash. “But…I can feel a change. And I’m getting there. But still this power…there’s still so much I don’t understand about it. I’m still having trouble with the output, all those other times…I was just lucky. Even with all your training my body still can’t handle all of One For All yet.”
“Yeah.” Toshinori cups his chin. “If we’re talkin’ about how much of One For All you'd be able to use at this point. I’d say my closest guess would be somewhere between five or maybe ten percent.”
“Gah…! That low?!” That’s disheartening. “Then I have been really lucky in these last events.”
Without any warning, Toshinori karate chops his successor on the head. “All I want to hear is that you’ll do your best dammit. There’s no such thing as luck!”
Ochaco holds her aching head with an adorable yet puffed out pout.
“So, enough talk like that!” continues the Number One hero. “Besides, do you really think you got by on luck alone?!”
Ochaco begrudgingly thinks back on the past events: her use of One For All during the Obstacle Course and how she was able to call upon it during the Cavalry Battle.
“It was your will and determination to never give up that’s gotten you this far, and that attitude will keep pushing you forward.” Toshinori gazes down at his rightfully nervous successor, he’s putting a lot of pressure on her. But he knows she can handle it and even if she doesn’t win, he’ll still be proud of her. “You may not be the most skilled, have the most versatile Quirk, or even the smartest person here!”
Ochaco pouts. ‘I thought this was supposed to be a pep talk…’
“Just remember.” Toshinori’s body steams and with a puff of smoke, All Might stands before the girl with a massive and inspiring grin. “WHENEVER YOU’RE SCARED OR NERVOUS ABOUT ANY CHALLENGE THAT MAY COME YOUR WAY. JUST TRY AND DEAL WITH IT BY SMILING!”
“Really is that it…?”
“OF COURSE! THINK OF IT AS A SORT OF CHEAT SHEET TO GET RID OF YOUR FEARS. STAND TALL AND SMILE AGAINST ANY ADVERSARY WILL FILL YOU WITH CONFIDENCE!”
Ochaco gets it, that it’s a good way to psyche herself into feeling more confident even if she’s against an impossible challenge. “I’ll give it my all! I’ll show everyone what I got!”
“OF COURSE YOU WILL! AND DON’T FORGOT THAT I’M ROOTING FOR YOU, YOUNG URARAKA.”
She smiles up at him feeling a bit better but still nervous. She turns and approaches the exit allowing the sunlight to shine down on her as All Might deflates back into his thinner form.
“Alright, alright, alright!” calls out Present Mic. “Admittedly our last few fights could have been a bit more on the rousing side of things. But even so I’m willing to bet that things will change here and now!”
The flatscreens light up with images of the two competitors.
“From Class 1-A’s Hero Course we have the warm yet bubbly space girl, Ochaco Uraraka!!”
The nervously smiling Ochaco strides across the field towards the battle arena as the audience cheer her name and wish her luck.
“She's up against the rather phlegmatic member of General Studies who managed to sneak his way into the finals, Hitoshi Shinso!”
Hitoshi Shinso remains impassive to the cheers of the crowd, keeping his lackluster eyes forward.
The two stand across from each other as Present Mic continues his commentary.
“Now I probably should have pointed this out sooner but bring on the injuries. Because we got our very own Recovery Girl waiting on standby!” He’s hoping that this will spur these two on to have a real fight. Seriously, they need a fight otherwise they may lose the audience. “So, put your morals aside and don’t be afraid to play dirty! But of course no life-threatening crap, folks. It’s not allowed.”
From down below on the field, Cementoss constructs a chair for himself out of cement and takes a seat before smiling at the contestants. “I’ll stop anyone who goes too far.” After what happened with Todoroki, they decided that he should remain ready and on standby by remaining on the field. “And I’ll be sure to stop any attacks from hitting the audience.” They had to thaw out some of the bleachers and even part of the audience. So it would be best if they can avoid that again.
Ochaco inhales and then exhales trying to calm her racing heart.
“Scared, are you?” inquires the indifferent yet somewhat biting Shinso. “In a way, this is a test of how strong your spirit is” His dark cold yet staunch gaze hardens. “If you know what you want your future to hold for you, you can’t worry about what other people think.”
“Ready?!” shouts Present Mic.
Shinso continues to glare at his opponent. “Broccoli head up there believes that too. I can tell.”
“Begin!”
“But you…you’re not like him. Are you?”
Ochaco looks like she’s just been slapped across the face, is he saying that she’s not as…committed or as skilled as Deku? And if so…then she can’t help but feel like he’s correct.
“You don’t understand what it means to work hard.” His glare hardens like Ochaco’s very existence is an insult to him. “You’re just a little girl with no sense of purpose.”
Ochaco snaps, her face turning into a scowl. How dare this punk say that about her! She’s gone through so much and has to work her ass off just as hard if not harder than others! No way she’s going to take this smack talk lying down.
She kicks herself forward. “You don’t know what I’ve been through!”
And like that something in her mind switches off, her eyes glaze over as she goes silent, and she comes to a stop.
Shinso continues to glare at her still form. “That’s it. I win.”
Up in the Hero Course section Izuku, Jiro, and Tsuyu watch on with worry. They’ve already figured out what‘s happened. Shinso tricked Uraraka into falling under his control.
Izuku groans. “Gah! Why didn’t we say anything?!”
Tsuyu Asui replies. “I tried to, but she cut me off saying she wanted to figure it out on her own.”
“Really?!” Could that be true? It does sound like her, but still?
“Yeah.” responds Kyoka Jiro while twiddling an Earphone Jack between her fingers. “She doesn’t want to rely on anybody, so she shushed us as soon as we tried to say something.” She pokes her chin in thought. “Although I did give her some advice, even if she didn’t want it.”
Izuku lights up. “You did?!”
“Yeah, but it wasn’t much. I just told her to watch what she says to Shinso.”
Izuku blinks unsure if that advice was actually useful.
Jiro shrugs upon seeing Izuku’s doubtful expression. “Hey, it was all I could say without her snapping at me to shut up.”
Izuku grimaces because as far as any of them can tell, that advice was not enough. If anything…Ochaco is officially out of the running. ‘She’s…going to be devastated.’
And so Izuku can only watch on as Ochaco remains rooted to the spot with a blank and dazed expression as the stadium echoes with murmurs and questions.
Present Mic contributes to the confusion. “Huh?! Hey, hey, what’s the dealio? I promised a high stakes fight with tons of action! Don’t make me look bad you guys! Why aren't you moving?!”
Ochaco can’t even respond; it's like her entire body is devoid of any sense of will.
“The fight has just begun and Ochaco Uraraka is…completely frozen? She’s not moving a muscle!”
The audience are stunned by the news. They have no clue what’s going on and are at a complete loss. They’ve seen this girl pull off some incredible feats so far and to have her brought to such a state so quickly is rather mind blowing to them.
“And what’s with that look on her face? Could this be a Quirk at work? Shinso seems to have Uraraka completely stunned!”
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
Present Mic continues announcing from within the announcers’ box. “He didn’t stand out in the first rounds at all but it’s possible Shinso’s crazy powerful! Who could have imagined this turn of events?!”
Shouta Aizawa could have. “It’s a perfect example of why the Entrance Exam isn’t rational.”
Present Mic raises an eyebrow at his longtime friend. “Huh? Why’s that?”
“You're not the only one who did some research during the break.” Within his casted arms, Aizawa holds up several sheets of paper. “Since we’re on the individual matches, I had some information compiled about all our competitors.” He gazes down at the info, specifically peering down at Shino’s file. “Shinso failed the practical exam to get into the hero course, albeit by a small margin.”
Shinso used his athletic abilities to get to the off switches located on the robots, but it wasn’t enough.
“Since he also applied for General Studies, he probably figures that would happen.” Mainly because of the nature of his Quirk. “His Quirk is incredibly strong, but that entrance test consisted of fighting faux villains. Robots.” Basically he can’t use his Quirk on nonliving things and with the rules they had in place that prevent examinees from interfering with each other, Shinso really had no opportunity to use his Brainwashing Quirk.
“The robots gave a huge advantage to those who have physical superpowers they could show off.”
Like Aoyama and his lasers, Feedback and his electrical powers, Bakugou and his Explosions, and especially Uraraka’s display of power that smashed an entire Zero-Point bot.
Aizawa eyes the indigo-haired boy, his eyes filled with what may be sympathy and admiration. “Despite his abilities, Shinso never stood a chance at passing.” He peers back down at the papers. “But he’s been putting in the effort.”
Along with the sheets, Aizawa has a timetable from the U.A. gym and on it lists out the various times Shino has used the facility since the start of the school year. The answer is that he’s been there nearly every single day. In other words, he’s been preparing for the Sports Festival and covering his weaknesses since day one.
‘Impressive.’
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
Ochaco remains stock still, much like a puppet dangling from its strings while the puppetmaster simply examines his newest plaything.
“So, here we are.” Shinso fists clench at his side and a belligerent frown adorns his face. “You’re lucky to have been so blessed, Ochaco Uraraka.” After all she was born with such a unique and flashy Quirk. “Now turn around and walk out of bounds like a good little hero.”
Like a zombie, Ochaco slowly turns around and slowly stomps back the way she came.
“Uh…What?!” shouts Present Mic. “Ah! Uraraka, your opponent’s the other way!!”
Izuku’s fists clench white as he grinds his teeth together. “Come on, Uraraka. Snap out of it.”
Although Izuku sympathizes with Shinso’s plight, he doesn’t want to see his friend lose either. But then again, he doesn’t want Shinso to lose either, after all he honestly believes that someone like Shinso could be a hero. But if he doesn’t make a big impression, he’s not going to make it into the Hero Course… Dammit!
Izuku’s emotions are stuck between a rock and a hard place, but even so it looks like there is only one way this is going to end.
Iida flails his arms out like a robot beside him. “She can’t walk out of the ring! She’ll lose the match if she does!”
Bakugou remains seated with an annoyed scowl on his face.
Todoroki watches wondering if this is the end for her, and if so, that is rather disappointing. He really desired the chance to confront and defeat her himself.
Meanwhile, Toshinori is in a state of panic from within the dark passageway. His fingers are digging into the edge of the gate as he fearfully eyes his successor’s zombie-like demeanor. “What is this power?” It’s terrifying!
Present Mic finally manages to pry Shinso’s file away from Aizawa. “Oh, here we go! His Quirk is Brainwashing!” He says it like it explains everything.
Basically Shinso’s Brainwashing Quirk works as such: when an opponent answers his question, it flips a switch in their minds forcing them to do whatever he says. Not every question does it, though, because he only brainwashes when he wants to.
As in the case of the blank-eyed brunette who’s slowly approaching the out of bounds line.
The panicking Toshinori yelps out. “What are you doing, kid?! Get back in there and show ‘im what you’re made of!” What happened to her fighting spirit? Is this kid’s Brainwashing that strong?!
Unbeknownst to anybody, Ochaco is actually somewhat aware of what's going on. Although she is at a complete loss. ‘What’s…going on…? My body’s…moving all on its own…’
In truth she can’t even hear the crowd or her own friends shouting down at her. It’s like Shinso’s voice is the only thing she can hear. That said, she can somewhat see and feel her own body moving, it’s an odd sensation like she’s a puppet that is unable to move unless her handler allows it.
‘My head is…it’s so… foggy. Wh-what’s happening…?’ Through her blurry vision she can see how dangerously close she is to walking out of bounds. ‘N-no…! I…I have to…fight…for everybody…! I’m…I’m such an idiot…I should have…I should have asked about his power. About his Quirk…’ Through her foggy mind something finally gets through. ‘Hang on…it’s a Quirk. Which means…it has a limit or a weakness!’ She just needs to figure it somehow, but what could it be?
‘But…even if I figure it out…there’s not enough time. I’m…going to lose! It’s all…over.’ She is only a few steps away now. ‘Even though…so many…of my friends and family…are counting on me…’
If she could, she’d be crying. She needs to show what she can do, so she can get scouted to a good agency so she can guarantee her success as a hero. Without that her parents will have to suffer even longer! All Might will have to wait longer for her to take over as the Symbol of Peace. And her friends and classmates will move on without her, they’ll get stronger while she’s still trying to figure out her own Quirks… ‘They’re all watching me… All of them! They’ll all see me fail them!’
Something within her breaks through her sorrow, as if her very soul has been lit aflame. Her gaze trails forward for a moment to the dark passageway where her mentor stands watching.
But she doesn’t see him, instead from within the dark void are shining stars that are flashing various colors that flood her vision, but despite the bright color show she doesn’t flinch or gets blinded. Instead the rays of light flow into her as if giving her energy and the confidence she needs.
All too soon the color show dissipates, and the dark passageway returns to her vision but instead of being greeted by the sight of her predecessor she instead gazes upon several ominous and shrouded silhouettes. Each individual looks back at her with resolute gazes, but their gazes aren’t looking at her per say but her very soul. As if they are examining her character…
And all too soon, those bright lights before come flooding back, hindering her vision. But she feels something, something…almost supernatural as One For All activates all on its own accord. Two of her fingers glow brightly with a pink aura, she can feel it happening, but…she is not the one willing it to do so.
Shinso, unaware of the phenomena, continues to glare at Ochaco’s retreating form. “Even with a Quirk like this, I have my own dreams of becoming a great hero.” And he will make it a reality.
At this point her foot is nearly over the line.
“So, lose for me.” Lose for his dream.
Sorry Shinso but whatever force is acting upon One For All has other plans. Because Ochaco’s fingers flick downward and instantly generates a gale of wind that sends out a powerful shockwave that shakes the entire battlefield and throws Shinso, All Might, Deku, and even Ochaco herself for a loop.
Ochaco pants heavily as her senses finally return and not too soon because her feet are less than an inch away from walking out of bounds.
Present Mic shouts into his microphone. “What’s this?! Uraraka stopped just in time!”
The audience is going crazy, this is such an upset. They truly thought it was all over then and there.
Iida shoots out from his seat. “That's the way to do it!!”
Izuku is just as excited. “Yeah, Uraraka!!”
“She did it?!” cry Tsuyu and Jiro, they didn’t think it would be possible to break out of Shinso’s Quirk unless an external force struck her.
From above Aizawa gasps as he notices Ochaco’s injury. ‘Her fingers.’ They’re swollen and red. ‘She damaged them in order to stop Shinso’s Quirk…reckless but well played.’
The panting Ochaco turns and glares back at the astonished and rather scared Shinso.
Shinso backpedals to get away from the powerful beast. “No. Impossible.” He growls before erupting at her. “You’re not supposed to be able to fight back! What did you do?!”
The panting Ochaco is still reeling back from what just occurred to even register Shinso’s demands. ‘What…what was that? My hand…used One For All all on its…own… No that’s not right. It was like someone else activated it…controlled it. But it wasn’t me. It was like people I didn’t know came into my mind. And for a split second…it was clear…could it be that…’
She recalls the secret All Might shared with her about One For All: that it’s “a sacred torch that’s been passed on from person to person.” And just like that it all clicks together. ‘Those silhouettes! Were they-’
“HOW’D YOU DO THAT!?!” Shinso roars, his extremely aggravated voice interrupting her pondering.
Ochaco grips her injured hand, forgetting all about her theory for now. Right now she needs to focus on the fight, it’s not over yet after all.
“What the hell are you?!”
She opens her mouth to refute back but then stops…she realizes something. During the Cavalry Battle she saw how Bakugou went silent all of a sudden. And it was when Shinso called out to him. And then there’s Jiro’s advice. She said to watch what you say around this guy…was that a warning, a hint?
She steadies her stance. ‘That’s got to be it…but if I’m wrong.. Then it truly is over.’
Shinso picks up on her deduction and scowls. ‘She’s not answering. Did she figure it out?’ He studies her expression, her steadfast expression. ‘Yeah…she did. Didn’t she. Shit! This is why I was hoping to sneak my way into the Tournament without being in the spotlight. But Broccoli head had to go and screw all that up, didn’t he? Did he warn her? Did he tell her…? No, he didn’t. He’s too modest and honorable for that. And even if he did, he knows that guys like him and me-’ Shinso stands tall trying to seem imposing. ‘-don’t give up that easily.’
But first he should test to see if she really did figure him out already. “Come on say something.”
Ochaco frowns while readying herself to make a move, keeping her mouth shut the entire time.
Shinso tries to offer up a smile, maybe it will help her relax and slip up. “I didn’t know you had so much power…well I mean I had an idea, but I wasn’t sure.” Actually it’s why he was so quick to use his Quirk on her because of how terrifyingly powerful this girl is. “You really are blessed, aren’t you?”
Ochaco begins to run forward, but with a slow start thanks to the pain. ‘No I’m not blessed…I had to earn my place here, too.’
“Thanks to the way my Quirk works. I’ve always been at a big disadvantage. But someone as blessed as you wouldn’t understand that!!” Shinso snaps, he’s beginning to freak out with her lack of a response.
‘I understand…I do.’ She starts to gain speed. ‘You may not understand me, but I think I understand you. You were born into circumstances you couldn't control.’ Much like how she was born into a family drowning in poverty or how Deku was born without a Quirk. ‘But you will do anything to achieve your dream, too! Like me!’
“You’re lucky enough to have a heroic Quirk!! It’ll be so easy for you to reach your goal!!”
She’s gaining more speed. ‘You’re half right…I am lucky, but…it’ll be far from easy’ She was lucky enough to be trained by the Symbol of Peace, but she still had to earn his power. She was lucky to make friends with Deku, but she still has to pull her own weight and show she can handle herself! And she only has so much more to work for! ‘That’s why I’m here!!’
All too quickly for Shinso to follow, Ochaco is upon him, and she thrusts her good hand out at him. She’ll use Zero-Gravity to push him right out of the ring and bring this match to a close. It’ll be as simple as that.
But then again, she should know by now that things are much more complicated than that.
Shinso glares at her as her hand is nearly upon him, and in that moment, he can’t help but think back to why he’s even standing before her in the first place.
##########(Flashback)#########
It was just another day at Nabu Middle School, and a younger Hitoshi Shinso was simply minding his own business alone in his seat.
“Your Quirk is Brainwashing?” asks a rather too hyperactive classmate. “That’s so cool!”
Shinso just stares up at the boy blankly before the second boy interrupts. “Seriously?! I can’t think of anyone who’s had that power.”
Another classmate, a girl this time, interjects herself into the conversation. “I’m so jealous, Shinso.”
The first student smiles. “Imagine all the cool stuff you could do by controlling people.”
The other boy has a devious look in his eyes like he’s thinking of something pervy and definitely law breaking. “Yeah, you can do any bad thing you want.”
The girl chuckles. “And no one would ever know it was you. Just promise you won’t make us your slaves, okay?”
These three are joking of course but…it still hurts. It actually hurts Shinso to know that this is how his peers see him and his Quirk, and the potential they both have. They believe he’s perfect for the role of villain.
“Heh…” Shinso tries to smile it off. “Everyone always says that.”
But that is not how he truly felt at the time. ‘Of course, I’d probably think anyone with my power would use it for evil, too.’
In times like this he can’t help but think back to the kinds of things people always say about him:
“Sounds criminal, Shinso.”
“It’s the perfect power for a villain to have.”
“I’m afraid he’ll make me do something… “
Of course there are also those who remain silent as if afraid of him and what he may do to them if they answered him.
‘I’m used to people looking at me like I’m the bad guy.’ But he never did get used to it or how…lonely it can be. So much that…it really hurts at times. ‘But you know what? I’m not…I’m not a villain.’
########(End Flashback)#######
Shinso glares at Ochaco as her hand is nearly upon him. And with a sly smirk the wrongly judged puppeteer side steps and lets Ochaco rush right past him.
Almost in slow motion, he smirks down at Ochaco’s shock expression and with a quick move he slugs her across the face knocking her away.
Ochaco nearly loses her balance before coming to a stop, holding her cheek as she wonders what just happened. How could he have been that quick?
Shinso smirks, finding her bewilderment amusing. “Sorry, but it’s not going to be that easy.”
Present Mic was also caught off guard by the sudden move by Shinso. “What was that?! Rather than Uraraka landing a hit it was Shinso! Are we finally going to have a real fight?”
Shinso snickers, as he takes a more combative ready stance and gestures for Ochaco to make another move at him.
The audience screams with excitement. They love this new development.
The round-faced student glowers, she’s still a bit shaken by the One For All’s sudden activation and with Shinso’s surprising moves, she knows that if she tries to use All Might’s Quirk again, she’ll only injure herself further. So, for now, she can only rely on Zero-Gravity assuming Shinso will let her get a hit on him.
‘If you wanna fight…then let’s fight!’ Ochaco leaps at Shinso again, biting her tongue to prevent herself from speaking.
Ochaco thrusts her open hand forward but Shinso grabs her wrist and pushes her away, letting her run on by without touching him.
“You’ve probably figured it out, but my Quirk requires you to speak.” Shinso smirks. “But your Quirk has its own requirements too. That last attack, rather than going for a punch you tried tagging me.”
Ochaco grimaces with worry. ‘Did he figure me out?!’
He did. “To use your Quirk you need to tag me, so I just won’t let that happen either.”
Present Mic bellows into the microphone. “Haha, looks like Shinso read Uraraka’s moves like a book! How will she cope?!”
Aizawa leans forward in his seat. “Both have their own restrictions. One can’t be allowed to speak while the other can’t afford to be touched.” This should make things interesting. “I wonder how they’ll cope.”
Ochaco runs forward, with only one hand at the ready since the other is disabled. ‘I have to get him! Fast!’
This time rather than sidestepping Shinso grabs her wrist and falls backwards. He takes Ochaco with him, using his weight and her momentum to pull her over him. He then kicks his leg up from under her and launches her over himself. She slams against the ground with a groan and a yelp of pain.
All too soon Shinso is back on his feet just as Ochaco pushes herself off the ground.
“I’m going to give this my all!!” He roars as he jumps forward reading to deal a massive blow with a devastating knee to the face.
Ochaco acts quickly using her left arm to block and deflect the kick, throwing Shinso off balance. She leaps forward and body checks him.
“Ooff!!” Shinso grunts as Ochaco smashes into his gut making him stagger backward.
Ochaco isn’t done; she's already running right for him with her good hand ready to strike. ‘I’ve got you!!’
Shinso, able to pick up on her body language, grabs her wrist once again and knocks it away. However while using his arm to deflect her hand, he is left wide open and Ochaco’s injured hand slams against him. Her injured fingertips light up as Zero-Gravity takes effect.
Shinso internally gasps. ‘Her hand…clever. I didn’t even think she’d be so reckless.’ No doubt her hand feels like it’s on fire from all the pain.
Shinso, despite having his body become weightless and is now slowly floating backwards, smiles. Sure defeat is imminent, there’s no way he can hope to stop the effects of her Quirk. Even so he can’t help but respect his opponent.
“I guess I was wrong about you.”
Ochaco nearly gasps in surprise but cuts herself off, not completely trusting this guy.
Shinso snickers. “That last move was reckless…like someone who’s desperate to win. It was an action of someone…who has a purpose.”
Ochaco actually relaxes, she’s almost relieved to hear that her opponent can understand her too.
Shinso’s body is nearly over the out of bounds line. “You do know what it means to work hard don't you?”
She nods with no hesitation.
Shinso can only smile as he crosses over the line. “That’s good…I’m glad to see Broccoli head isn’t the only one that understands what it means to be a hero.”
And just like that the match is over.
Midnight throws her hand up to signal its end. “Shinso is out of bounds! Uraraka advances on to her next match!”
The entire stadium erupts into cheers of joy. Even though that fight wasn’t anything too flashy it was still a nice change of pace after everything they’ve seen.
Ochaco pants heavily as she releases her hold on Shinso and the indigo-haired teen’s feet land back on the ground. Although his smile has softened and is a bit more…sorrowful.
Meanwhile, up in the bleachers Izuku sighs as he shrinks back into his seat. “Ugh, that was so nerve-wracking…”
Jiro nods, wiping the sweat from her brow. “No kidding, I honestly thought it was all over when she fell for his Quirk.”
Tsuyu nods although her expression remains calm and neutral. “So, did I, but I’m happy for her.”
And they aren’t the only ones happy for her victory.
Iida is giving his classmate a standing ovation. “Turning the tables on the last moment, I expect nothing less from Uraraka.”
Yui of Class 1-B isn’t smiling but that could be because of her more indifferent and stoic expression. Even so she nods along with Iida’s statement.
Kendo beams beside her. “Yeah, she did.”
“Hm, Shinso’s power is amazing.” A dark and sinister snicker adorns Monoma’s face. “I can really make use of Quirk like his.”
Kendo sheepishly chuckles at his comment. “Stop thinking up cockamamy schemes, Monoma. You’re only going to embarrass yourself.”
Meanwhile, Aizawa is also praising Ochaco’s efforts. ‘She focused her power like she did during the Obstacle Course, and she’s been using her opponent’s moves against them. Like how she used Shigaraki’s moment to flip him over during the USJ or how she used Shinso’s own defense to leave him open to attack. She’s not just learning from her experiences: she’s using every trick she’s picked up until now to improve her own chances.’ And he’s willing to bet that she’s only going to accumulate more experiences to help cultivate her own abilities.
His co-host practically shouts into his ear. “Oh, Yeah!! That was a somewhat more boring fight compared to the others, but yet it still had us all on the edges of our seats! So, way to go you two! You really are something!”
Back on the battlefield, Shinso stands opposite of Ochaco who is cradling her swelling and inflamed hand.
“Let’s show them some love, everyone!”
The audience kindly applaud their efforts.
Ochaco’s eyes cast downward as the applause fall on death ears. Although she’s earned Shinso’s respect, she is still bugged by what he said: ‘“Someone as blessed as you could never understand!”’
She gazes upon him and he kindly smiles back at her, but…she can tell. There’s a look in his eyes that show how really dispirited he is from this loss.
‘“It’ll be so easy for you to reach your goal!”’
She can’t leave things be after that. She needs to know. “Why…Why do you want to become a hero?”
It’s a simple question but a question that can reveal a lot about someone’s character: their goals, personality, and reasoning.
The puppeteer grunts, he should have expected a question like that from her. “You can’t help the things your heart longs for.” He turns and begins to walk away. “You get that, don’t you?”
She does, better than anyone.
However, there is something else that bothers her. Even though he seems okay, she can tell that he’s still troubled that he may have lost his opportunity to even become a hero. And here she is, a hero in training, and she can’t offer up any kind, inspiring words or a smile that’ll make him feel better. All she can do is watch her tragic opponent head back to his solitude and depression.
At the same time, Izuku can also sense how downhearted Shinso really is. And he understands why too because he can sympathize with him. They were both born with unfair circumstances that caused others to view them differently than everyone else. And that led to everyone around them to continuously deny their dreams of becoming heroes. That they were only chasing after impossible dreams. And yet here they are…
Izuku simmers before gripping the Omnitrix and jumping off the ledge of the viewing box.
“Midoriya?!”
“Wait!!”
“What are you doing?!”
“Ahh! That’s so bright!”
The light of the Omnitrix fades away and Buzzshock zooms down the side of the stadium, zipping his way to his teammate. “You were amazing out there Shinso bzz!!”
Shinso blinks up at the tiny being and judging from the creatures’ overly positive demeanor he easily deduces that this thing is actually Broccoli Head.
Ochaco is just as surprised to see Deku here.
“You should be proud bzz!” proclaims the Megawatt. “You gave it your all bzz! And I know it wasn’t all a waste bzz!”
The puppeteer continues to blink up at Buzzshock, unsure if the little monster is messing with him or not.
“I know you’ll become a hero; I just know it bzz!”
“What…?” Shinso really doesn’t understand this guy. Is he just trying to get his hopes up?
Buzzshock spins around in midair before raising his hand out towards the audience. “Just listen to them bzz!”
Many of Shinso’s own classmates are singing his praises from the bleachers above.
“Wow, he never said he was that good!”
“I can’t believe he put up such a great fight against the gal who was in first place earlier!”
“He’s so cool!”
Shinso is rightly amazed by what he’s hearing.
Buzzshock can almost seem his eyes glimmering with hope but the kid’s own reservedness is holding it back.
“And that’s not all bzzz!”
There are pro heroes also admiring him and his Quirk.
“With a Quirk like that it would be very simple to capture dangerous villains.”
“Wish I had it.”
“I can’t believe they stuck him in general Studies. Those idiots.”
“Well, there are a ton of applicants each year. Guess sometimes people slip through the cracks.”
“If only he had more combat experience.”
“Yeah, I bet he would’ve dominated.”
“What a waste.”
The morphed Izuku grins down at the indigo-haired hopeful. “Shinso, you hear that, right bzz?!”
He does.
“They think you’re incredible bzz…! No-” Buzzshock shakes his head and beams. “-you are incredible bzz!”
Shinso is still in disbelief…this can’t be real can it?
“It’s true!” shouts his previous opponent.
Shinso turns to face her, she has the look of someone who needs to get something off her chest. To offer her own words of encouragement.
“Your Quirk…your skills really gave me a tough time!” Seriously just by speaking he forced her to injure herself. “And I know…And I know that with some more practice.” All Might’s successor looks him dead in the eye. “You can become a great hero!”
Shinso turns away from, soaking in the warm sunlight as if soaking in her words as well. A soft breeze brushes his messy hair, as if Mother Nature herself is offering up a comforting pat to the head.
“Depending on the results, they might transfer people into the Hero Course. Remember that.”
Ochaco and Buzzshock are taken back by his response.
“Even if it didn’t work out this time. I’m not giving up. I’ll get onto the hero track, get certified, and then…” Shinso declares up to the sky with a growl. “I’ll become a better pro than any of you.”
Both of the Hero Course students inhale and nod with a grunt; they hold him to that. As they release their grunts, they both fall under Shinso’s spell.
‘He got me again! But why? The match is over.’
‘Huh, so this is what it’s like bzz.’
Shinso chuckles. “You know, usually people tense up whenever they talk to me.” He smiles, a genuine smile, back at them. “If neither of you are on guard, someone’s going to defeat you. So be careful.” That’s an order brought to them by his Quirk, so they have to obey that order.
And with that, they are both free of his Brainwashing.
Shinso continues his path forward, moving past Buzzshock. “Uraraka, you better not lose and make me look bad. Especially to Greeny over there, he needs a reality check.”
“Huh bzz?!” exclaims Buzzshock.
‘Shinso…’ Ochaco’s eyebrows furrow. “You can count on it!”
She gasps as she falls for his Brainwashing again.
“…” Shinso glares back at her with an unreadable expression, while Buzzshock chuckles to himself.
Aizawa continues observing as Shinso exits the arena. The Class 1-A homeroom teacher reaches for the sheet he printed out about the boy and tucks it away for later.
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“Mmmmwah!” Recovery Girl removes her lips from Ochaco’s healed up hand as she finishes wrapping up her fingers in bandages. “That should do it.” The Youthful Heroine sinks back into her chair.
Ochaco leans back in her seat and takes in the makeshift Nurses’ Office. It’s smaller than Recovery Girl’s usual office but it serves its purpose.
The brunette eyes up at her mentor, Toshinori, who’s propped himself against Recovery Girl’s desk. “That match with Shinso…I…I couldn’t smile through it like…like you could.”
Toshinori sighs in understanding, holding the side of his neck. “I heard some of the things he said to you. And it didn’t help that you couldn’t go easy on him either.” Situations like that are never easy.
“Yeah, I just…didn’t know what to say or do... “ But Deku did, he always knows what to do and say: he was able to smile and make Shinso feel at ease. Something she wasn’t able to do.
Toshinori understands more than he cares to admit. “Well, no one expected you to have the answers.”
Ochaco gasps up, worried that she’s done something wrong.
Toshinori continues. “What I mean is…you don’t have to force yourself into understanding everyone’s predicaments. There are all sorts of people out there with different backgrounds, personalities, and problems. Naturally there will be those you can’t connect with. No matter how hard you may try.”
Ochaco sinks down into her chair, feeling more dejected than before.
“But sometimes a simple gesture can provide a lot to a person in trouble.”
Ochaco peers up at her mentor.
“Sometimes all we can do is offer up our help and reach out to those that may need our help; however, they don’t always accept our help. That said a simple kind gesture lets someone know that there are people out there that are willing to help, that are willing to save them.” The Number One Hero makes sure to look at his successor right in the eye before he delivers his next line. “That's what it means to be a Symbol of Peace, it’s a signal to those that need saving will be saved.”
Ochaco smiles, taking his words to heart. And he is right, she couldn’t do much, but maybe her respect and understanding to Shinso will be enough to get through to him. “Thanks All Might, I’ll remember that.”
“Good.”
Ochaco wipes the side of her mouth with the back of her hand. “Alright, I’m good as new. I’ll keep my eye on the prize and aim for the top! Just like you told me to!”
Recovery Girl frowns somberly. “Oh, dear. You poor little darling.” She turns on Toshinori as does her kind demeanor which takes on a more hostile nature. “Have you been putting too much pressure on her again?!” She unforgivingly slams her fist against the Number One Hero’s ribcage.
They can all hear his ribs crack even through Toshinori’s loud yelp of pain.
The tall lanky man groans and rubs his aching side. “It was necessary! And that really hurt!”
Ochaco tries to cover up her giggling. Something about seeing the Symbol of Peace getting put down by a sweet old lady is just hilarious to her.
She cuts herself off and remembers something that she needs to bring up and the sooner the better. “Oh, yeah, All Might.”
Toshinori hisses in pain as he continues to sooth his aching side; thankfully it wasn’t where his injury lies.
“I had…some sort of vision…during the match.”
That instantly grabs his attention so much, so he forgets all about his pain.
“There were…people. Maybe eight of them or so? I’m not really sure…it was also so bizarre and fast…” But she can almost recall every piece of it. “When Shinso had me under his Quirk it felt like my brain was all foggy and my senses were dimmed. But…when my sight came back, I saw them. And that’s when One For All moved all on its own!” She thinks back on it and remembers how one of the figures seemed to have sunken eyes and a rather thin frame. “Actually…one of them kinda looked like you, All Might.” She gazes down at her bandaged hand. “Do you think that…all the others who had your power in the past were there? Were they helping me? Guiding me? Like spirits?” She looks up to her mentor for information, but rather than finding a knowing wise leader she finds a shaking scared dolt.
“Spooky. I’m a…g-ghost?” asks the mightily disturbed Toshinori.
“Wha?! I don’t know! Are you?!” That’s a dumb question, of course he isn’t a ghost…well then again, aliens do exist so maybe that ain’t too far off.
The Symbol of Peace composes himself. “Actually, I saw something like that, too. In my younger days.”
Ochaco and Recovery Girl peer up at him.
“It’s a clear sign that you’re getting closer to making One For All your own power.”
“So…what was it?”
He considers how to best explain the phenomenon. “Hm, tell me have you ever seen the series Avatar: the Last Airbender?”
“No.”
“Gah!” Her answer actually hurt him, making him fall flat on his face. “Dammit, I was really banking on that. Sheesh, you kids these days don’t know good TV when they see it.” Well then, he needs a different way to explain it.
“Anyway, I think it’s like a trace or imprint left by the user’s spirit that’s left behind in One For All when it’s passed on.”
Ochaco silently freaks out wondering if there are eight random souls living within her or something.
Upon seeing how disturbed she is by that concept, Toshinori quickly tries to salvage the situation. “Don’t worry. Whatever you saw, it won’t be interfering with you or your progress in the future, I’m sure. In other words, that vision wasn’t what got rid of the Brainwashing effects. Regardless of what you saw out there it was your passion that allowed you to overcome Shinso’s power.” At least that’s what he believes anyway. “If it was only long enough for you to wiggle your fingertips and expel some energy.”
Ochaco takes a moment to consider his explanation and she only has one word to describe it. “Lame.” Yeah, that’s the word for it. “That explanation was really lame. I thought you’d have answers not assumptions.”
“Forget about it!” replies Toshinori trying to move the conversation along. “More importantly shouldn’t you be worrying about who you’re fighting next?”
“Huh?!”
“Next up is Young Kirishima vs. that Kendo girl.”
Ochaco’s eye pop open, so she jumps out of her seat and she bolts for the exit. “Oh right! I better be going! Thank you for healing my hand.”
Recovery Girl smiles back at the girl as she takes off. “Of course but be careful. I don’t want to see you again until the festival is over! You hear?!”
“Yes, ma’am!” Ochaco slams the door behind her and runs off leaving the two heroes behind.
The two of them remain there in silence with only the echoes of Ochaco’s footsteps filling the void.
When the girl’s footsteps fade away Recovery Girl peers up at the Symbol of Peace with something akin to sympathy. “So, she saw you there, too.”
There is unspoken conversation exchanged between the two. Like they both know that she shouldn’t say anything more than that.
The tired hero’s eyes shadow over as he replies in a soft dismal voice. “That’s a good thing.”
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“Welcome to the next match of the finals!!” greets Present Mic as Ochaco returns to the stands. “Now after such a teeter totter of a fight let’s keep the blood pumping with our next two challengers!”
The screens light up with the images of the next fighters.
“One of them’s a passionate manly fighter made of rock! The Hero Course’s Eijiro Kirishima!”
Kirishima claps his hardened fists together. “Bring it!”
“He’s up against a spirited maiden of skill and action. It’s Class 1-B’s own big sis, Itsuka Kendo!”
Kendo kindly waves up at the cheering audience, appreciating their support.
“Make us proud, Kendo!” shouts Tetsutetsu. “Kick his ass!”
Juzo chuckles at the sight of Tetsutetsu. “Hahaha, something tells me this is going to be fun to watch.”
“Come on Kirishima!!” Mineta’s shouting draws in everyone’s attention. “Treat this like a video game where her clothes get ripped off!!”
“You’re the worst!!” shouts the entire Hero Course.
Izuku readies his pen. “Kirishima definitely has the advantage considering his high defense stats. And his hardened skin can turn his arms into the perfect bludgeoning weapons. Basically he’s wielding dual battle axes, and if he can land a hit it would definitely cause some major damage. In other words, I think Kirishima already has this fight in the bag. Unless of course Kendo’s Quirk can attack from long range. Then Kirishima won’t even be able to get close to land a single hit. Of course you can also consider the fact that-”
Ochaco taps his shoulder, interrupting his rapid muttering. “Um, Deku you’re freaking everyone out…”
Izuku blinks and spins around to see everyone else staring at him with disturbed and confused expression. He smiles sheepishly before sinking in his seat trying to make himself disappear.
Thankfully, Present Mic pulls everyone’s attention back to the battlefield. “Can’t wait to see how this one ends! Begin!”
“Oh, yeah!” Kirishima takes off in a full sprint. “Let’s make this a real manly fight!”
Kendo can only assume he means that in a nice way.
“Rahh!!” Kirishima throws his hardened hand at her, but she ducks down, evading it with ease and goes in for her own karate chop to his ribs.
Her hand inefficiently taps against his rock-like skin. “Oh, boy.”
“Hehe, oh come on.” snickers Kirishima. “Is that all ya got?”
Kendo smirks. “No, it’s not.”
She thrusts her open hand up in an uppercut but just as her palm claps with his hardened chin, her entire hand expands to be nearly as big as her entire body.
The sudden expansion of her moving hand slams against Kirishima’s chin.
“Gahh!!” His head is thrown back and his shark-like teeth nearly bite off his own tongue.
Present Mic screams with joy. “What a move! Just when it seemed like her moves were ineffective, she slugs him with a critical hit! That’s got to bite.”
Kirishima grins and adjusts his aching jaw. “Damn, that hurt!”
He growls and throws another rock-hard punch her way.
Kendo expertly enlarges her other hand and catches his entire arm in her giant fingers.
Kirishima is shocked, she completely immobilized his arm.
Kendo snickers up at his astonished face. “Tell me, does this hurt?!”
She spins him and flings him away. Kirishima’s hardened body bounces and then skids across the ground before coming to a halt.
Kirishima pushes himself off the ground. “Gah…uh…no.” He gets back on his feet and grins back at Kendo. “But this will!”
He charges her like a berserker on a rampage, his arms swinging while letting out a battle cry. “Rahhh!!”
Kendo shrinks her hands to become much lighter as she zigzags backwards evading several swings while Kirishima continues his charge. The shark-toothed redhead keeps up his assault sending blow after blow at Kendo who manages to evade each of his telegraphed attacks. When she expands her hands again to block or catch his attacks, only to deliver swift strikes with her free hand to his midsection and side.
Kendo thrusts her small hand towards Kirishima’s head, but the redhead swerves his head to the side, but as her hand passes by it expands and the side smacks against his head.
Kirishima snarls and throws another punch but Kendo jumps away just in the nick of time.
“Just let me hit you!” demands the irritated redhead.
“That’s not how it works!” snaps Kendo.
The crowd is going crazy; they just love an all-out fist fight.
And so does Present Mic. “Wahoo!! Bring it on you two! Now this is a duel of fists! It’s the untrained yet brawling berserker against the more precise and skilled moves of a martial artist!”
Kendo lands another hit before she barely has time to throw her arm in the way to block a swing from Kirishima.
“Even so Kirishima’s Hardening is still providing him a wicked defensive boost.”
Kendo leaps forward and throws her own enlarged punch at Kirishima, her knuckles clash against his chest and the force is so strong that Kirishima is forced backwards.
“Rahh!!” Kirishima’s skin clinks and clanks as it hardens even more with his fighting spirit.
He then charges like a stampeding bull with his axe like arms out at his sides ready to deliver powerful blows.
Kendo squats down with her leg behind her and one shrunk hand on the ground before her. She glares up at the stampeding berserker and just as he’s upon her she literally leaps into action. She jumps into the air, but as she does, she expands her hand and uses it to propel herself further up into the air and over the very surprised and still moving Kirishima.
With a steadfast glint in her eye, Kendo twists her body around in midair and expands her opposite hand. With her spinning motion and Kirishima off balance, she easily backhands him and knocks him away.
The redhead falls to his side against the ground just as Kendo lands on her feet, using her shrunken hand to help catch herself. While panting she smirks at the fallen Kirishima. “Did that hurt?”
The audience erupts into cheers and laughs, they love a good comeback.
But she doesn't have time to soak in their praise, the fight isn’t over yet. The redhead is already getting back up on his feat, so acting quickly, Kendo rushes him and tackles him back to the ground. She twists her body and by wrapping both her legs around his shoulders and head while grappling his arm in place performing a triangle hold. With this new position, he is unable to reach her with his opposite hand and with his upper body and arm bound she effectively pins him down.
“Let go of me, will ya?!” He struggles to break free, hoping his hardened skin scraping against her skin does anything to deter her, but she is far too tough for something like that to make her lose her advantage.
Kirishima tries to move his arm but all he can do is wiggle it in place, her hold is far too strong as she is far more flexible than he is. He tries to reach for her with his free arm, but his hardened skin doesn't allow him to reach over properly, so he releases his Quirk around his arm and is able to grip her leg. But it does little to deter her.
Kendo strengthens her grip. “Give. It. Up.”
“No way!!” Kirishima refuses to let it end here.
Summoning all of his strength and forcing his legs to comply despite the odd angle he props his feet against the ground and shakily begins to lift his body off the ground just with the power in his legs alone.
Kendo can only hang on as she’s lifted into the air along with Kirishima’s bound arm.
“Rahh!! I’m not done yet!!” Kirishima roars as he throws his bound arm down and slams Kendo’s back against the hard surface of the battlefield.
“Gahh!” Kendo groans, the hit was hard enough to break her hold.
Present Mic smiles down at the students. “Way to go Kirishima! Way to show off that fighting spirit, kid!”
Kirishima grins down at his downed opponent. “Ha, weren’t expecting that, were ya?”
While still down, Kendo quickly spins her body around and low sweeps Kirishima, kicking up his feet right from under him.
Even with his hardened hide, he falls to the ground hard and just as he’s falling Kendo springs up and expands her hand, and with her open palm she slams her giant hand down on Kirishima pinning his entire body against the battlefield.
Kendo snickers down at the immobilized redhead. “Weren’t expecting that, huh?”
Present Mic booms with laughter. “Ha, she just proved that paper really beats rock!”
Kirishima can’t help but chuckle; she got him, she really got him good. He can barely wiggle his body under her immense grip strength.
Midnight fulfills her role as umpire. “Kirishima can you continue fighting?”
Kirishima accepts his fate with a smile. “Although I hate to admit it, I'm done.” At least he can be proud that he gave it his all.
Midnight throws her hand into the air. “Kirishima has conceded defeat! Kendo is the winner!”
The entire stadium applauds Kendo’s efforts as Present Mic’s voice cuts through their supportive sheers. “And with a well-timed finishing move, Itsuka Kendo of Class 1-B takes the win! But way to fight for it Kirishima, better luck next time.”
With the fight over, Kirishima finally releases his Quirk as he sits up. “No kidding. Ahh! Man that sucked!”
“Hey.”
Kirishima looks up to see Kendo smiling down at him with her hand out to help him up. “You did well, if you put a little more effort into your fighting style. I’m sure you would have had the upper hand.”
The redhead gives her a shark-toothed grin. “Yeah, maybe.” He takes her hand and she pulls him to his feet. “But you earned this win. Just be sure to give it your all during your next match.”
“You can count on it.”
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“Yeeaaahhh!!” Tetsutetsu lets out a gleeful roar. “Way to go Kendo! Way to represent Class 1-B!”
Ibara smiles happily from her seat. “Yes, she did well.”
Yui nods.
Sato chuckles consolingly. “Man, I thought Kirishima had this in the bag.”
Sero frowns. “Yeah, I thought Hardening would have had the advantage over her Big Fists Quirk.”
“Hahaha ha ha!” Monoma’s rises from his seat like a vampire that’s awoken from his slumber. “What was that? Is Class 1-A shocked to see us, their superiors, out class them?! Who would have guessed? Hahaha ha! Ha!”
Both hero classes deadpan, finding Monoma’s tirade tiring. ‘What a tool…’
Izuku is the only one not to react since he refuses to move his eyes away from his newly acquired notes. “You know, Monoma isn’t that far off.”
Everyone instantly reacts to the greenette’s comment.
“Huh?!”
“What are you saying?!”
“Traitor!!”
“He has truly lost his way.”
Izuku blushes with embarrassment. “Wh-what I mean is we can’t afford to underestimate anyone.”
Everyone quiets down allowing him to explain further.
“W-well, for example everyone thought Kirishima’s Quirk is stronger, and arguably it was. But Kendo actually knew how to put technique behind her attacks while also incorporating her Quirk.”
Ochaco gets what he’s getting at. “Oh, you mean to say that Kendo was essentially the better fighter because of her skills rather than just relying on her Quirk.”
“Yeah!”
Bakugou scoffs. “Whatever. In the end the one that has a powerful Quirk and the skills to use it will come out on top.”
The entire room stares at Bakugou like he’s grown a second head.
He predictably snaps at them. “What the fuck are you all looking at?!”
Sero grins while raising an eyebrow. “Well, that was actually some sound commentary.”
Mina chuckles from her seat. “Which is surprising when it comes from you.”
“Shut up!!” roars the ash-blonde rising from his seat. “I’ll kill you!!”
Sero turns away, not even bothered by Bakugou's threat. “And he’s back.”
Izuku chuckles sheepishly from his seat as Bakugou curses Sero’s and everyone else’s very existence.
Beside him Ochaco gazes down at her own bandaged hand. ‘The one who can utilize their skills and their Quirk will come out on top, huh.’ Her hand coils up turning into a fist. ‘Then I’ll be sure to use everything at my disposal.’
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Her time may come sooner rather than later because it only seems like a few seconds later the next match is already gearing up to be a good one.
If Present Mic’s hype up is anything to go by. “The boy with the electric personality! From Class 1-A it’s Denki Kaminari!”
The grinning Denki Kaminari tries to suavely salute the crowd, who go along with it and cheer in response.
“And going up against him is someone cut from the same cloth as me, Kyoka Jiro!”
Across from Kaminari is the punk rocker herself with her Earphone Jacks positioned up in front of her like tiny raised fists.
Kaminari snickers at the sight of his opponent, so much so he tries and fails to cover up his grinning mug.
Jiro raises an eyebrow at the boy. “What’s so funny?”
“Oh, nothing.” Kaminari tries to act all nonchalant but the sly smile on his face says otherwise. “I was just thinking about that cheer outfit you had on earlier.”
Jiro quivers in place as her face turns red with embarrassment.
“Yeah, it actually looked quite good on you.”
Jiro snarls, glaring daggers at Kaminari as if she’s trying to set him on fire with her mind.
“Enough talk! Are you ready?!”
Even as Present Mic is about to start the match, Kaminari continues to run his mouth. “Come one don’t be like that.” He chuckles with a stupid grin plastered on his face. “You should take it as a compliment.”
“Begin!!”
Sparks dance around the electrical boy. “After this maybe-” Jiro’s Earphone Jack jabs itself right into his eye. “YAAAAAAHHHH!!!”
Kaminari leaps back grabbing his face and his burning eye, but while he’s distracted the dual Earphone Jacks embed themselves into his ears and Jiro releases a sonic burst right through them.
“YAAAAAAHHHH!!!” Kaminari falls over holding his ears like it’s going to explode!
“That was for tricking us you pervert!” shouts the immensely aggravated Jiro.
Present Mic quivers as Kaminari withers in pain. “Poor guy, he shouldn’t have poked the bear.”
Aizawa sighs. “This is why I tell you not to run your mouth so much.”
Kaminari continues to scream in pain and now Jiro is standing over him kicking him while he’s down.
“You jerk! You perverted Pikachu looking asshole! This is for humiliating us! You prick!”
The boys of Class 1-A shiver as they watch, taking mental notes to never mess with any of the girls in any way unless they too wish to meet a similar fate.
Whereas, the girls of Class 1-A silently beam from the inside allowing Jiro’s action to speak for them.
After a few short moments, an eternity for Kaminari, Midnight calls the match in Jiro’s favor. Especially after blood started to seep out of his ears.
And just like Jiro firmly established the new law of Class 1-A. It’s not right to mess with a woman just for one’s own personal pervertedness. Hopefully Mineta was paying attention.
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Kaminari had to be carried out off the battlefield by some medical bots while the audience, mainly the female percentage, applauded her one-sided victory.
But with such a short match, Present Mic felt the need to continue on. “Even beautiful flowers have thorns. It’s the assassin from Class 1-B, Ibara Shiozaki from the Hero Course!”
Ibara Shiozaki strolls across the field towards the battlefield with a calm disposition.
“She is up against the living bomb himself, a snarling beast with the power of Explosion, Katsuki Bakugou!”
The ash blonde climbs the stairs to enter the battlefield as Ibara joins him from the opposite end. He adorns his usual scowl on his face, but this time there seems to be more of a fire behind it, like he’s itching to get going.
“Keep those eyes peeled! I wanna see a super-flashy battle this time!”
“Excuse me!”
Present Mic shushes himself so he can properly hear Ibara.
“Please pardon the interruption.” Ibara waves up at the commentators. “I’m not sure why you called me an assassin. I’ve come to the festival in search of victory not to take my opponent’s life. That wouldn’t be in line with the values of a hero at all, sir.”
“Right. I’m sorry.”
“Gentlemen, I didn’t enter U.A. for wicked or selfish reasons,” She holds her hands out as the heavens themselves shines down on her. “but to deliver salvation to others. It is my humble quest to spread true good across this world.”
“Listen, I said I was sorry! That was my bad, okay?”
Ibara smiles up at the apologetic announcer. “I thank you for your understanding.” She bows in appreciation.
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Ochaco gulps. “I have a bad feeling about this.”
The wielder of the Omnitrix nods. “Yeah, me too.”
Ojiro overhears their concern. “Why’s that?”
Ochaco turns to address the tailed blonde. “Well, from what I can tell Ibara is way more…composed and gentler than Bakugou is.”
“How is that a bad thing?”
“It isn’t, but…”
Izuku takes over the explanation from there. “Bakugou is far from gentle by every definition of the word.”
“So, what?!”
Izuku, Ochaco, and Ojiro turn to see a grinning Monoma eavesdropping on their conversation. “I’d say Ibara’s temperament is far more suited to heroism than Bakugou’s!”
Nearly everyone, especially Class 1-A, agrees. “True.”
Izuku, however, is the only one who has a bit more to say on that matter. “No it’s not.”
“Excuse me?!” barks Monoma, offended on Ibara’s behalf.
“Bakugou may be a jerk… No correct that, he’s the biggest asshole to ever be a jerk. But there’s one thing I know for certain about him.”
Ochaco eyes Izuku warily. “And that is…?”
“There’s nobody else that is more driven to become a hero than he is.”
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Present Mic booms from above. “Let the final match of Round One begin!”
Ibara claps her hands together as her vines burst into the ground behind her. Like a stream of water, her vines race through the ground before erupting around Bakugou and ensnaring him in a cocoon of thorns and vegetation.
“Ibara was so fast, she’s captured Bakugou right out the gate! Is it over already?!”
Izuku can’t help but think that it is over…for Ibara anyway.
Bakugou grin like a predator that’s about to kill its prey. And with that Bakugou releases what can only be described as a miniature A-Bomb from within the cocoon.
The vines don’t stand a chance against the massive fiery shockwave that erupts out into the world. The heat, smoke, and ash swallow up the entire battlefield, demolishing it with the powerful shockwave that’s set forth.
The resonating boom of the explosion shakes the stadium, so much so that many of the pro heroes standing guard outside actually thought a real-life bomb must have been dropped into the stadium.
Cementoss was at the ready but thankfully the explosion wasn’t big enough to envelop or endanger any of the audience, but the display of the inferno before them silences them as the heat and wind generated wipes at their faces.
When the explosion settles down a manically grinning Bakugou is located within a smocking circle of ash as his palms smoke from the heat.
As for Ibara she was launched out of the battlefield and is now lying on the burnt grass. Her vines are charred and even flaming as it’s sprawled out across the field. And it’s clear to everyone that she will not be getting up any time soon.
Midnight, who was flung off her podium for standing a little too close, tries to save face. “Ib-Ibara h-has been knocked out. B-Bakugou will move on!”
Bakugou exhales before pocketing his hands and turning right around without acknowledging his opponent.
It takes a few moments for the audience to eventually register how overly powerful some of these kids really are and begin to applaud although with less enthusiasm then before as if afraid the anger prone blonde will fire off another Explosion.
Class 1-B are in a mixed state of shock and worry: shock because of Bakugou’s inferno and worry for their classmate. So, none of them are able to peep a word.
Class 1-A are just as taken back, they didn’t expect Bakugou to pull off such a move so quickly.
Izuku frowns at the sight of his ex-friend. ‘Bakugou…you’re taking this, seriously aren’t you? You’re aiming for the top, too aren’t you?’
Almost as if he heard him, Bakugou stops dead in his tracks and glares up at Izuku.
The greenette flinches, those furious red eyes pierce into him as if to say he’ll be next. Izuku gulps and nods, acknowledging Bakugou’s challenge.
Satisfied that he got the message, Bakugou stomps off for the exit as medial bots escort Ibara off the field.
Izuku stares down at the Omnitrix examining its black body, white trim, and green dial. ‘But you’re not the only one aiming for the top. The competition is only going to get harder from here on in. I will come out on top. Count on it.’
Notes:
And so ends Ch.24 Fight! Fight! Fight! and begins Ch.25, now those matches should be just as exciting if not more. Those matches will include the following:
Izuku Midoriya vs. Fumikage Tokoyami
Shoto Todoroki vs. Tenya Iida
Ochaco Uraraka vs. Itsuka Kendo
Kyoka Jiro vs. Katsuki Bakugou*Just for clarification, Iida’s fight against Hatsume went exactly the same as it did in the anime.
*Also, many of you wondered if Monoma would be a second Henzu/Nue because of his Copycat Quirk. I wanted to nip that in the butt, because that will not be occurring. Sorry but I think one chimera monster with alien powers is enough.
*Also, Kaminari will be fine after his battle against Jiro. None of the damage he took is anything Recovery Girl can’t fix so don’t worry. He won’t be going deaf any time soon.
*Also I know I didn’t really get to show any aliens or alien related stuff in this chapter. Don't worry I will be making up for that next time, promise.
Chapter 25: Competition
Summary:
It's Izuku vs. Tokoyami, Iida vs. Todoroki, Ochaco vs. Kendo, and Jiro vs. Bakugou. And these fights will determine who moves on to the semi-finals.
Notes:
Hi everyone, happy Memorial Day for those in the U.S. Be sure to make smart decisions today and make sure to social distance. It's improtant to take care of yourselves and those around you.
Anyway, sorry for being so late I was hoping to have this out way earlier but you see my house flooded. So, I've spent all week with my family cleaning up afterwards so I had to put my writing on hold for a few days. Thankfully we didn't get the worst of it but it was still a lot to clean up. Anyway here's Ch.25.
*Important Notes*
1. I am not trying to fulfill a power fantasy so each upgrade, new alien, and abilities must be earned. I’m not going to just hand the characters unlimited and awesome powers just because it’s cool. I feel like an earned power is way more impactful then just the characters getting it just because I said they could.
2. I have a set of specific rules that have to be met for Izuku to gain new alien(s) so I will not be dropping in random aliens at random times like they did in the Ben Ten shows. That said I have it all planned out on how, when, and where to introduce each Ben Ten alien.
3. I am keeping descriptions of Izuku’s alien vague so you can each envision the version of the alien that you prefer.
4. There will be NO elements or aliens from the rebooted Ben Ten series. I tried to watch it, but it wasn’t for me so don’t expect anything from there to ever make an appearance.
5. I will not be including OC aliens. At least not until after most if not all the main Ben Ten aliens are in Izuku’s Omnitrix. But that is a long ways off.
6. I do not own either My Hero Academia or Ben Ten.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
“Haha, Round One’s been amazing!” cheers a pink-colored bipedal Rabbit.
“It sure has gugg.” Agrees a strange being in a swamp-green suit with a head that looks like an Anemone.
An alien by the name of Bug-Lite nods. “Same, but I wish some of those fights lasted just a tad longer.”
These aliens and more are all gathered together within Mr. Baumann’s store. So they can all watch the U.A.’s Sports Festival with friends, neighbors, and their community.
As of now U.A. is taking a short break, playing commercials and ads while the students prepare themselves for their next fights.
Bug-Lite smiles. “That bird guy was extremely efficient, I bet he makes it far.”
“No doubt.” agrees a red-Hooded alien with green skin and golden body plating.
A purple Sloth alien with a skull-like head and black stripes grins. “I found that Hatsume girl really entertaining.”
“So, did I.” agrees the Rabbit.
“I don't get what the big deal was, though.” Comments the Hooded alien. “Human technology is so primitive.”
“Ironic considering how much they love their toys.”
Argit, the resident conman, scoffs. “Hey if it’s enough to make a quick buck then it’s okay in my book.” Mainly because Earth technology is so easy to steal and resell.
“I thought that Kendo girl really held her own gugg.” continues the Anemone.
It’s then the proud owner of this store decides to cut in. “She practices all sorts of fighting styles and she was up against someone who probably learned how to fight from watching TV.” Mr. Baumann scowls annoyed by that prediction.
“Yeah probably but that rock guy really had some spirit gugg.”
The Sloth cups his chin. “Speaking of spirit, what about that Uraraka girl. She really had the other guy have it.”
The Hooded alien nods. “And she was able to escape his Brainwashing… Not too many aliens have that power.”
Argit shakes his head with disapproval. “I don’t like it. A kid like him has way too much power. I mean imagine what happens when he's older or goes pro?” A hero like him could be bad for business, he’ll scare off all his customers!
Rabbit actually agrees with the rat. “If you want to talk about power then Endeavor’s kid has that in spades.”
“Not just him.” Adds Bug-Lite. “What about that Bakugou guy? You know, the one with Explosions.”
Most of the aliens can’t help but agree, those two boys really are powerful. It’s almost scary to think about how strong and potentially deadly both of them can be.
The Rabbit shivers. “Something off about those two…could you imagine if someone like them found out about aliens?”
“Or Endeavor.” Adds the Hooded alien. “Something tells me they wouldn’t take too kindly to our kind.”
“Do you really think so gugg?” asks Anemone.
Mr. Baumann sighs and takes a seat before addressing his customers. “This may seem hypocritical coming from me. But not many other humans are that…open minded. Heck, some kids these days are so self-absorbed thanks to their Quirks that they think the whole world revolves around them.” Like that Bakugou brat, every now and then he’d catch the boy when he was younger picking on poor Izuku. “But anything that changes their own world view, is usually met with hostility and rejection.” Hence why Bakugou would lash out at Izuku, because the boy went against Bakugou’s own petty ideals. “And no one wants someone like the Number Two Hero, someone capable of great destruction, on their tail just for being…different.”
The whole store goes silent as an underlining of fear and tension washes across the facility. It’s sort-of unspoken that everyone here is constantly in immense danger if any one of them is found out to be an alien. As human history has shown, humans often fear what they don’t understand. And despite their fascination with inhuman abilities, movies, and Sci-Fi they know for a fact that the moment they are discovered many of those same “fans” will be the first to panic. And of course there is little doubt that many of the pro heroes will feel the same way, that the aliens should be removed.
“And that’s why heroes can be such a pain!” Shouts a frustrated Argit.
“Why do you say that gugg?” questions Anemone.
“Principal Nezu or rather Majister Nezu projects the Sports Festival into the cosmos every year, just to do that very thing!” snaps the rat.
The Hooded alien has to admit that Argit has a point there. “Yes, he does that so the universe can understand what they’d be up against if anyone would turn their sights on Earth.”
Mr. Baumann gives a curt nod. “And it works! Thanks to this event, Earth is seen as an unpredictable and dangerous target that is better left alone. But for those, such as yourselves, it allows them to seek out opportunities to live out rather quiet lives amongst the humans and heroes.”
“True…”
That is the truth, even though there is a huge threat hanging over their heads it is still better than what’s out there in the universe. Many of them came here for various reasons either they were escaping war, famine, invasion, or just more personal problems. Or in Argit’s case he’s been chased off so many planets that this is his last safe haven. But they all have one goal in mind: opportunity. Opportunity to live relatively peaceful lives without worry of having their homes and families ripped apart.
“But it’d be nice not to hide our true nature all the time.” comments Bug-Lite.
Mr. Baumann shrugs. “Well, I never said it was a perfect system.”
Argit leans back in his seat. “But then again things may change and soon.”
The store owner raises an eyebrow. “What makes you say that?”
“Midoriya!” Argit says this like it’s the most obvious answer. “He’s a kid that can become any of our species while on intergalactic broadcasts, you don’t think that will raise some flags?!”
“What are you getting at?”
“All I’m saying is that thanks to the kid's actions, Earth might just have to start adjusting to its new reality.” And his survival instincts have never failed this rat. If it becomes worse, he’ll jump ship, but if things turn for the better then this rat will be feasting on profits.
Before any of the other aliens could state their own opinions on the matter, the screen lights back up as Present Mic’s voice blasts through the speakers.
“Welcome back, all you ravenous Sports Fans!”
The aliens peer up at the screen that’s displaying the images of the combatants for the first match of Round Two.
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“I know for a fact none of you are satisfied yet with the U.A. Sports Festival!” Shouts the human cockatoo. “But that’s okay because we still have much to show ya! Yeah!! So, let’s get it going, shall we?!”
Cheers ring out from the entire audience.
“Alright, there's no time to delay! Let’s begin Round 2 of the Tournament!!”
The cheering and screaming of the crowd get even louder, shaking the stadium.
And their cheers only get Present Mic that much more hyped. “He’s been on a real hot streak this entire tournament! Making it a giant rollercoaster ride for all the ups, downs, and surprises he’s given us. And now he’s ready to show us more! Everyone welcome back, Izuku Midoriya!!”
If the crowd wasn’t in an uproar before then they most certainly are now as they scream and cheer the green-haired boy onto the field.
Izuku shyly tucks his head in trying not to let the audience see his blushing face. “I’m never going to get used to this…”
“But hang on, we have someone who may just be able to give Midoriya a run for his money! He’s the jet-black master of the darkness with a powerful fiend at his full command. It’s Fumikage Tokoyami!!”
More cheers ring out as the crow of Class 1-A enters the stage.
Fumikage Tokoyami steps atop the battlefield, crossing his arms defiantly. “You have journeyed far, but I’m afraid it will end here.”
Izuku smirks, in an attempt to hide his nervousness. “Good line, did you rehearse it back in the waiting room?”
Tokoyami snickers, finding Midoriya’s taunt rather amusing.
“Alright, alright, alright! I think those two are more than ready to get started. So without a further ado, begin!”
And like that the first match of Round Two has officially begun.
“Dark Shadow!”
“On it, boss!” Dark Shadow flies out of his master’s chest.
Izuki grips the Omnitrix just as Dark Shadow pounces upon him, its claw reaching for the Omnitrix.
Izuku, not one to fall for that twice, swings his body around using it to block Dark Shadow’s reach.
“You gotta be more original than that!” He slams down on the Omnitrix before Dark Shadow tries to pull off any more tricks.
Dark Shadow reels back as the bright green light flashes giving the transformed Izuku plenty of elbow room.
“And XLR8 is one of my originals!” XLR8 grins, his claws flexing, and his tail coil around his feet.
The crowd cheers excited to see this new and really cool looking transformation.
“Woah! Midoriya’s become XLR8! A fast-paced speedster with raptor-like qualities! This guy probably would have been better suited for the Obstacle Race though.”
“Trust me I would have used him if I could.” grumbles the alien speedster. “But this thing has a mind of its own.” He gestures to the Omnitrix faceplate.
Tokoyami nods as Dark Shadow coils around him like a serpent. “Hm, I understand that.” He pets Dark Shadow’s head before turning his attention back on the lizard. “Now show me your strength.”
XLR8 flashes a smile before zipping off. The blue blur immediately makes a beeline for Tokoyami. He stops and smiles up at the birdboy before thrusting his claw at him.
However, before the jab can strike Dark Shadow’s coiled body intercepts the strike. Before XLR8 knows it, the shadow fiend is already throwing a slash at him.
The speedster dodges but not before Dark Shadow throws attack after attack with his long reach and sharp claws forcing the Kineceleran to doge and retreat.
“Stop moving!” Dark Shadow roars as he throws his claw down at XLR8.
XLR8 makes a speedy sidestep as the large claw embeds into the dirt. With a clear opening, XLR8 zooms away towards Dark Shadow’s master in the hopes to end this quickly. As he races, he thrusts another jab, but Dark Shadow still has his elongated body coiled around Tokoyami. The dark barricade shifts and spirals around Tokoyami, intercepting XLR8’s attack. Not one to give up the Kineceleran throws a barrage of speedy jabs but each one is deflected or intercepted before they can even reach the crow-headed teen. But while he was distracted with his attacks, Dark Shadow’s main body flies back and slashes at XLR8. The attack lands throwing the Kineceleran away.
Present Mic laughs through the speakers. “Hahaha! I bet he’d finish this quickly, but Tokoyami has other plans! Sorry, XLR8 but you’ll have to do better than that if you want to break through Dark Shadow’s impenetrable defense!”
The morphed Izuku shakes his head as he pushes himself off the ground. “Okay, not my best moment.”
“It’s about to get worse!” Dark Shadow slashes down at him.
The Kineceleran zips forward before zooming to the side again as another slash is thrown his way. This goes back and forth for some time before XLR8 decides to try and take out Dark Shadow. He throws a fury of jabs at the shadowy fiend who flies above his head trying to get close, moving from side to side as they engage each other.
Before he knows it, Dark Shadow has his arms stretched and coiled around him, surrounding him in a spiraling veil of darkness. “Nowhere to run now.”
His coiled arms begin to close in ready to wrap up the speedy foe in a cocoon of shadows.
XLR8 is rightfully worried, he was built for speed not strength. So if Dark Shadow is able to get his mitts on him, then it’ll be all over. He desperately swipes, kicks, and slams against the encroaching spiral but it does little to phase the shadow familiar.
“It’s over!” Declares Tokoyami from a very safe distance.
XLR8 glares up at his foes. “You know there’s always been this one trick I’ve been wanting to give a whirl at.”
XLR8 stands straight up, his tail out and sticks his arms out to the sides. He twists his feet and begins to spin faster and faster in place. Just as the coil begins to tighten Dark Shadow finds himself repelled back as XLR8 spins in place like a top and with his claws outstretched to act as a spinning saw blade.
Like a high-speed top, XLR8 spins and ricochets off of Dark Shadow’s arms striking them so hard and fast that he breaks free of its imprisonment.
The rapidly spinning XLR8 isn’t done, like a tiny tornado he takes his unique attack straight towards Tokoyami. “Special Move! Beyblade Burst!!”
The tiny blue twister clashes against the coiled body of Dark Shadow which is the only thing stopping XLR8 from hitting Tokoyami. XLR8 keeps at it though delivering fast hits back to back in the same location much like a Beyblade.
But it seems Dark Shadow is much more durable than he looks because XLR8 is completely unable to break through. And all too soon the shadowy figure is back and this time he swipes at XLR8 spinning feet. It works, tripping up the speedster who wasn’t expecting it, causing him to launch himself away from Tokoyami thanks to the momentum of his spinning.
The dizzy alien raptor shakes and holds his head as he wobbles in place. “Uh, oh man. That was not as fun as it looked.”
Seriously everything was just a spinning blur to him like that, and that move’s thrown off his own momentum. Dammit, those cartoons always make it look so easy. Maybe he just needs practice, at least he knows he can do it so that’s a plus.
“You’re so annoying!”
XLR8 zips away before Dark Shadow can reach him, but the shadow familiar of Tokoyami chases after him, lashing out its stretchable claws and arms to take swipes at him.
“It looks like XLR8's new special move just couldn’t cut it!” shouts Present Mic. “Too bad for him, but at least we’re getting a real show out of this!”
The blue blur continues to zig and zag across the battlefield every now and then he takes a swipe at Tokoyami, but Dark Shadow is too impenetrable. Plus the very same Quirk attacks back at XLR8 forcing him away from its master.
‘I knew Tokoyami would be difficult, but I didn’t think he would be this prepared.’ The sprinting XLR8 ducks just before Dark Shadow swipes at his head. ‘Tokoyami’s Dark Shadow is a really powerful Quirk. It gives such a crazy offensive and defensive fighting style. If I get close, then Dark Shadow’s body will simply block me out until it can attack me directly and then it forces me back and away from Tokoyami.’ He jumps avoiding a swipe at his feet before continuing to run around the battlefield. ‘His plan is probably to keep me away and wait out for the Omnitrix to time out.’ And Izuku will be easy pickings for Tokoyami who actually has a Quirk unlike him.
What Izuku needs is a strategy or a weakness to exploit but nothing comes to mind. He can’t attack from the sides, that’s already proven to be ineffective. He could try and attack from above but one hit from Dark Shadow would send him flying out of the battlefield and it’ll all be over.
XLR8 pivots and avoids getting his head smashed in by Dark Shadow before speeding off again. The morphed Izuku examines his opponent from behind their barricade. He examines his foe from head to toe looking for any openings in his defense, his eyes eventually trail down to Tokoyami’s feet.
From behind his visor, XLR8 smiles as a new plan begins to form within his head.
“So far for this match XLR8 has had to switch from offensive tactics to evasion whereas Tokoyami’s Quirk has allowed him to maintain a constant defense while remaining on the offensive. I think Midoriya may have just met his match folks! If he doesn’t come up with something soon, he’ll be out of the running!” Pun intended via Present Mic.
“Keep at it, Dark Shadow!” commands Tokoyami, if he can keep Midoriya at bay and let him run out his clock then they might as well claim victory then and there.
Dark Shadow chases after XLR8 who slides across the field avoiding the fiend before kicking back up and coming to a screeching halt, his feet skidding across the ground kicking up dirt. As he crouches down ready to run, his shiny claws accidentally reflect a bit of sunlight towards Dark Shadow.
The reflected light shines on the fiend’s arm making it wince before swooping a bit to the side to avoid it.
The transformed Izuku eyes Dark Shadow curiously, that reflected light was nowhere near the thing’s eyes and yet it had such a strange reaction.
He doesn’t have much more time to consider it as Dark Shadow lunges towards him.
Acting fast XLR8 leaps up and delivers a fury of jabbing kicks right into the monster’s head before swinging his body and slamming his reptilian tail against Dark Shadow, knocking it away giving XLR8 plenty of breathing room.
XLR8 runs as fast as he can around and around the battlefield until he’s nothing but a blue blur zipping about in a circle around his opponent and his familiar.
Dark Shadow lunges, throwing his claw in XLR8’s path, it strikes XLR8 but he’s moving so quickly that the attack is easily repelled.
Dark Shadow backs off shaking off its somewhat aching hand.
With its attack down, XLR8 tightens the circle and begins to encroach on Tokoyami and his partner.
Dark Shadow backs off and coils a bit more around his master who’s covering his eyes from the dust that’s getting kicked up by the sudden whirlwind that XLR8’s generating.
The circle tightens and the wind becomes so great that Tokoyami is actually struggling and pushing against the wind, but he’s constantly losing his footing. Soon the whipping wind becomes so great that a mini tornado is generated with Tokoyami caught in the storm’s eye.
“Whaa?! This is crazy!! XLR8’s so fast he actually made a tornado!!”
Well sort of, the tornado is nothing enormous; it's only about 15 to 20 feet tall and it’s blue in color thanks to the rotating Kineceleran. The twister is moving so fast that those in the audience can feel the wind whip at their faces. Even Midnight braces herself in place so as to not get sucked in.
And just like that the twister is too much for Tokoyami as his feet leave the ground and he’s lifted into the air.
Despite being a bird himself he is definitely not used to the sensation of flying. “Midoriya!! What sorcery is this?!”
Somehow the sprinting Kineceleran is able to hear him. “Not sorcery! It’s a special move I call: Blue Twister!!”
Tokoyami’s body gets caught up by the whirlwind and soon he’s nothing but a weightless piece of debris getting whipped around within the gale.
Tokoyami and Dark Shadow are lifted higher and higher up the mini blue tornado and soon XLR8 redirects his twister carrying along his opponent right for the battlefield’s edge. When the small tornado reaches the edge, XLR8 breaks away from his rotation and allows the spinning momentum to throw Tokoyami right out of the arena.
Present Mic cries out from the commentator’s booth. “Tokoyami’s been thrown right out of the arena! Is it over?!”
Although he’s facing certain defeat, Tokoyami is surprisingly composed. “Dark Shadow!!”
“I’ve got you!”
The shadow fiend reaches out and digs its claws into the battlefield. With a proper grip and leverage, Dark Shadow uses his elongated body to swing his joint-master back into the stadium. Tokoyami expertly lands onto the battlefield, he stands back up dusting himself of dirt and dust.
The raven-head crosses his arms before smirking at his stunned classmate. “How easy did you think this was going to be?”
The crowd is in a complete uproar over the upset, they had thought it to be over. That the main leader of the Tournament was already moving on, perhaps he’s about to face his end.
Present Mic is cheering just as wildly as the crowd. “Way to go, Tokoyami!! Way to keep this fight interesting! But be careful I’m sure XLR8 still has some tricks up his sleeves!”
XLR8 crouches down like a raptor that’s ready to pounce in a moment’s notice. He really thought he had it made with that last move. ‘And knowing Tokoyami, it definitely won’t work a second time. I need a new plan…a new means of attack…’
He raises his claw to cup his chin but as he raises it, he accidently reflects some light back at Dark Shadow who winces again when the reflected light shines onto its shadowy body.
The morphed Izuku picks up on that strange reaction. ‘Wait…’ He thinks back to how Dark Shadow reacted before: when the Omnitrix flashed green or when he shined light at it before on accident. ‘I need to test it.’
He adjusts his claw and another reflection of light shines on Dark Shadow and this time the light strikes its head.
“Gah!” Dark Shadow reels back as if it got stabbed in the eye.
Tokoyami’s eyes bulge wide with worry for a moment. “Dark Shadow?”
XLR8 internally gasps. ‘No way.’
He shines light at it again and Dark Shadow yelps like he got burned.
‘Seriously?!’ XLR8 grins. ‘His weakness is light?! Huh, I probably could have guessed that sooner.’
Tokoyami doesn’t like that grin on his opponent’s face. “End him!”
“Raaah!!” The dark familiar races towards the blue raptor.
XLR8 zips away zigzagging across the field as Dark Shadow lashes out at him with a barrage of attacks. None of them land as XLR8 makes sharp pivots and changes directions.
‘Alright, I know his weakness but now I need a way to exploit it.’ XLR8 pivots and continues to speed away before Dark Shadow can grab him.
As he runs XLR8 glances down at his shiny metallic-like claws as a lightbulb goes off in his head. He ducks as Dark Shadow takes another swing at him.
“You cannot keep this up for much longer.” taunts Tokoyami from behind his coiled barricade. “Surrender, there is no hope for victory.”
The sprinting XLR8 comes to a halt and smirks. “I have a better idea.” He adjusts both his claws, shining light onto Dark Shadow who reels back a bit as it gives a sharp yelp.
The reaction makes the alien smile before he zips off again making zig zagging motions all across the battlefield moving far too quickly for Dark Shadow to catch him. As the Kineceleran zips around he tries to find the best angles to reflect light from and redirect it at his opponent.
Each time light is reflected at Dark Shadow it winces and reels back as if it’s getting stabbed from multiple directions. All the while the shadow begins to shrink in size by a few centimeters.
Tokoyami actually expresses an emotion, worry. “Dark Shadow, are you alright?!”
“Gah! It’s the light!”
“Curses.” Tokoyami scowls. ‘It appears Midoriya discovered our weakness, we need to act, or we will certainly meet our demise.’
Tokoyami throws his hand forward. “Go, attack with all your might!”
Dark Shadow soars into action. “I’ll give it my best shot!” It doesn’t make it far as more light is shone its way making it halt as it loses a bit more power. “Dammit!”
Now that he’s figured out the right angles, XLR8 begins to run around in a large blurry circle around Tokoyami and Dark Shadow as light glimmers off his claws.
“What is this?!” shouts Tokoyami as Dark Shadow retreats and coils around him, ready to protect its master. “You’ve already tried this trick once before! It won’t work a second time.”
The circling XLR8 is able to respond despite moving at such a high speed. “I know that! That’s why I’m putting my own spin on things.”
The frustrated Dark Shadow roars out. “What the hell are you talking about, dammit?!”
The glimmering lights increase in intensity and flickering, becoming even more consistent.
XLR8 chuckles. “Here, I’ll enlighten you on the situation.”
XLR8 kicks off even faster and now that he’s got the right angles down packed there is little anyone can do to stop him. The blue blurry circle solidifies due to XLR8 moving so fast that he actually catches up to his after images giving the circle a more solid look and color, but as such the glimmering flickering reflected-sunlight have become so consistent that a beam of light trails alongside the inner circle, essentially making a ring of light.
“Special move! Halo Run!!”
The reflected light shines like spotlights onto Dark Shadow and Tokoyami from all directions. Tokoyami is blinded by the reflected light and attempts to shield his eyes. Dark Shadow wheezes as it begins to shrink in size like a blade of grass losing all of its nutrients and water.
Tokoyami can only watch in horror as his barricade shrinks in size and Dark Shadow begins to slowly retreat back into his body, uncoiling the shadow shield.
“Oh, no! What’s happening to Dark Shadow?! It’s like he’s wilting away.”
XLR8 keeps Halo Run up, the light constantly on his opponent.
“Dark Shadow…” Tokoyami gazes down as Dark Shadow’s tiny head sticks out from his midsection.
It looks up at its master and whimpers like it’s lost the will to fight.
With his own Quirk out of commission there is no point in waiting for the inevitable. “I…surrender.”
Midnight throws her hand into the air. “It’s over! Midoriya will move on to the semi-finals!”
The entire stadium cheers in response.
Upon hearing the end of the fight, XLR8 finally begins to slow down, ending his Halo Run. He zips in front of his defeated opponent as Dark Shadow finally begins to return to its normal size.
Tokoyami sighs, accepting his loss. “How’d you know? Did my teammates say something?”
XLR8 tilts his head. “Teammates?” Oh, he means Bakugou and the others, figures they probably would have known. “Na it was the way Dark Shadow reacted when light reflected on it. It gave me a ‘bright’ idea.” He chuckles at his lighthearted joke.
Tokoyami shows no reaction to the joke: either he didn’t get it, or he doesn’t care for it. “Well, it appears you have earned this victory.” He offers up his hand in congratulations.
Of course the morphed Izuku takes it. “Thanks, you really did give me a run for my money.”
The audience applaud both of their efforts, appreciating the display of sportsmanship.
“Nice show you guys!” claps Present Mic. “Wow, I wasn’t sure how’d that go for a while.”
XLR8 releases Tokoyami’s hand just as the Omnitrix times out.
The bright red flash makes Dark Shadow yelp out in surprise. “Ah, the light! It burns!”
Tokoyami glares back at Izuku as if he was trying to show off his victory.
Izuku smiles sheepishly. “Hehe, sorry…”
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“Five minutes now?” Tokoyami gazes down at Izuku’s Omnitrix which has just flashed from red to green.
“Yeah, I think my recharge time sped up.” Izuku holds up the Omnitrix as they both continue to make their way back to the viewing box. ‘So, it wasn’t the lifeguard mode that kicked in earlier. I guess the Omnitrix went through some sort of upgrade or something.’
Although this is great news it’s somewhat somber: like it’s a reminder of how very little he actually knows about this strange alien device.
“Hey well done you two.” greets Mezo Shoji as they both return to the viewing box.
“T-thanks!!” shouts a slightly embarrassed Izuku, who is still not used to all the praise and cheers he’s been receiving all day.
Denki Kaminari winces in his seat grabbing at his ears “Ah! Keep down please…”
His ears are encased in specially made earmuffs that’ll allow him to rest his ears. Although the ears are healed up, they are just a bit sensitive right now.
“Ah! Sorry!”
Kaminari winces again, grabbing at his aching eardrums.
“Ops…” whispers Izuku after making such a blunder. “Is he okay?”
“He’s fine.” replies Kyoka Jiro without a hint of remorse.
“Yeah but-”
“He’s fine.” she repeats. “He’s just letting his lesson sink in.” She turns to eye the electrical boy. “Right?”
A flash of trepidation crosses Kaminari’s face as he rapidly nods his head. He solemnly swears to not pull anything of the sort again.
Meanwhile, Tokoyami takes a seat as he does Tsuyu Asui addresses him. “You did really well out there. I actually thought you would beat him.”
Tokoyami sighs. “As did I but this just goes to show you how quickly battles can shift sides.”
Hanta Sero leans forward, welcoming himself into the conversation. “So, light’s your weakness huh?” In retrospect that should have been obvious.
“I know right?” questions Mina Ashido before she turns to Izuku. “But how’d you do that light thing?”
Yuga Aoyama is very interested to hear the answer too. “Wé wé, I had no idea you could sparkle as much as moi!”
Izuku sits down and is more than happy to explain. “I was reflecting sunlight off XLR8’s claws and I guess I was moving so fast and reflecting so much light that it became super bright.”
In the background one Momo Yaoyorozu remains silent, quietly simmering in feelings of dejection and shame. ‘Light, huh… And such a creative use of your skills.’ If she had known…she could have done so much more. She could have generated a freaking spotlight, flares, flash bangs, anything at all! And yet…she didn’t. ‘I couldn’t even act. I wasn’t fast enough like Midoriya nor was I able to analyze my opponent like he did… I was completely incompetent.’ How can she be a hero if she hesitates? How can she fight if she has to stop and plan out each move? How?
At the same time, Izuku wraps up his explanation leaving some of his classmates in amazement.
Jiro blinks up at Izuku. “Wow, I never heard of anyone weaponizing the sunlight you reflect off your phone.” She grabs at her head as if frustrated about the enigma that is Izuku Midoriya. “Man, not only do you have an amazing Quirk, but your mind is like dangerously scary. You might just win this all.”
“I hope so.” smiles the greenette.
“Now hang on a second, loser!” shouts an outraged Katsuki Bakugou. “I’m going to win this whole thing!! So, watch me!!”
Many of his classmates are quick to refute the mad bomber whereas Izuku simply laughs him off.
He peers around the viewing box noticing how a few of his classmates are missing. “Hey, where’s Uraraka?”
“Hm?” Shoji didn’t quite catch that.
Ibara Shiozaki of Class 1-B did, however. “She’s in the waiting room, she’ll be fighting Kendo after this next match.”
Her hair has completely grown back after being burned away by Bakugou’s Explosion. And Izuku is glad to see that it didn’t affect her negatively, her temperament really is the opposite of Bakugou’s.
Anyway speaking of the next match.
“The second match of Round Two!” yells Present Mic.
“Huh, perfect timing I guess.”
“Both come from hero families, making this a battle of elites!”
Down on the battlefield both of the fighters are already in position.
“We have another speedster on our hands, but with a bit more of a kick it’s Tenya Iida!”
Tenya’s fist clenches from his sides, he’s up against a tough opponent and it doesn’t help that he feels a bit out done here because of Midoriya’s showboating as a speedster himself. But he is the younger brother of the Turbo Hero: Ingenium! He will make his brother proud and move on to the semi-finals.
“He’s up against a powerful opponent who has a pension for his cryokinetic side, Shoto Todoroki!”
Todoroki remains silent, he’s calmed down considerably since his last bout, but it seems like he’s still off his game.
But Iida has other plans. ‘I can’t negate his attacks. Plus if he uses his flames, even though he said he wouldn't, he’d be even more dangerous if I went against that.’ He’s determined to win despite the odds. ‘Focus.’
“Start!!”
Todoroki reacts first firing off a trail of ice that bursts out piercing icicles.
Iida easily evades the attack, sprinting to the left. He may not be able to reach the same speeds as XLR8 but he’s still a lot faster than any normal human. ‘He’s not wasting any time.’
Iida swerves towards Todoroki making a beeline toward him.
The dual-haired teen plants his right hand to the side and launches another trail of ice that races forward to intercept Iida’s path.
Iida plants his feet, skidding across against the ground, he pivots his body around and fires up his engines which thrust him back the way he came avoiding the ice.
“Iida’s been surrounded!”
Iida stops finding himself trapped between two barricades of ice. The only way to freedom is through the creator of the ice himself.
The dual-haired teen doesn’t let up as he fires off another trail of ice straight for the Engine Quirked fighter.
“Todoroki’s going in for the win already!”
Iida isn’t ready to let it end yet, he squats down revving up his Engines and just as the ice is about to reach him, he kicks himself into the air, leaping up and over the ice.
The standing long jump worked masterfully as Todoroki glared up at Iida who’s leaping in the air just above his head.
While in midair, Iida swings his leg forward. “Recipro…Burst!!” His Engines fire out blue flames as they roar into Todoroki’s ears and with great power his kick rockets forward.
Todoroki drops down just in the nick of time, the kick swooping past his head by a hair, if it had landed, he definitely would have been in some real trouble.
‘I have ten seconds before my engines stall!’ Iida lands and then flips himself backwards into the air with his Engines still roaring with blue flames. ‘Which means I have to win this right now!’
This kick connects, smashing down on Todoroki like a hammer slamming him into the battlefield.
“Look at that speed!”
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Class 1-A gasp in surprise along with the rest of the stadium: someone was actually able to land a hit on Todoroki of all people. That’s no small feat especially in this event.
Sero gasps. “That was a heavy hit.”
Kaminari is just as astonished. “I didn’t know he could kick like that.”
Izuku is in agreement. “Not even XLR8 has that type of strength.”
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While still on the ground, Todoroki covers the ground in front of him with a sheet of ice in an attempt to halt Iida’s movements.
Unfortunately for him, Iida predicted the attack and had already jumped back into the air, evading it. As he lands the speedster grips the back of Todoroki’s shirt and immediately sprints away dragging the stunned boy behind him like a doll stuck to the side of a speeding sports car.
‘Eight seconds left.’ He rockets towards the edge of the battlefield. ‘I’ve got this.’ He’s almost there just a few more seconds. ‘I’ll throw him out of bounds. Before he can-’
Something's wrong, very wrong. His legs…they won’t move; his Engines stalled…early.
Iida hesitantly peers back at his leg, he was so close and a part of him hopes he doesn’t see what he thinks happened to him. “My muffler’s blocked!” The mufflers of his Engines are encased in a thick layer of ice. “When did you-?”
Todoroki grips Iida’s arm and ice immediately begins to crawl its way up his flesh. “When you kicked me.” He replies as the ice continues to flow upward on Iida's body. “I’ve only been showing off ranged attacks today. You forgot I could do precision moves, too, didn't you?”
Well it doesn’t matter what his answer is, because it’s over. Iida is completely encased in a tomb of ice with only his head sticking out. Even as the speedster struggles within his imprisonment trying to break free, his will won’t allow him to give up yet.
The scarred teen holds the side of his head as he stands back up. “I was trying to dodge your Recipro, but it was too fast to avoid, even for me.”
Midnight is happy to call an end to this match. “Iida has been immobilized. Todoroki advances!”
The stadium cheer as Present Mic announces the win. “Todoroki moves on to the semi-finals where he’ll be up against our previous winner, Izuku Midoriya!”
Todoroki gazes up at the viewing box where Izuku sits watching the battlefield with a bit of trepidation in his eyes. ‘You’re next Midoriya, and I’ll show that bastard just how strong my ice really is.’
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“Poor Iida…” frowns Izuku as he watches his friend struggle within the ice.
He thinks back to Tenya’s own dream, to be like his brother, Ingenium, a hero that’s efficient and reliant. He can bet that Iida was hoping to make his brother proud. And if Izuku’s heard right about Ingenium then there’s no doubt that he is proud of his younger brother despite the loss.
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Iida continues to struggle in place but eventually even he knows it’s futile. “I’m sorry, brother.”
Hopefully, Iida was still able to make his dear brother proud despite the loss, assuming he’s even watching right now.
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Meanwhile, Ochaco Uraraka watches from the TV within the waiting room.
A shiver runs down her spine as she watches Iida slump in defeat within his tomb of ice. “Todoroki’s…so strong and…he has so much more control over his Quirk than I do.”
She gazes down at her hands, clenching them into fists. “But…I’ve been working hard too. And if I want to win then I can’t afford to hesitate, and I need to playthings smart. I’ll use all of my skills, smarts, and power to my full advantage.”
She’ll show that she’s here, here for them, and here to stay. No matter what the Sports Festival throws at her,
“Alright.” She shoots out of her seat. “It’s my turn.”
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“Aright, folks! Now that the ice has been cleared let's move onto our next line up of competitors!” As Present Mic announces the match, the jumbotrons flash two images of the female fighters.
“We’re pinning two teammates against each other for this match. They’re both fierce woman warriors with fiery spirits! It’s Ochaco Uraraka from Class 1-A!”
Ochaco grips her knuckles and wrists loosening them up for the upcoming fight. ‘I’m going to have to rely on Zero-Gravity here. One For All is too unstable right now and if I screw it up, I’ll be at a major disadvantage especially if I miss.’ And if she loses an arm or hand to the pain then Kendo will have an easier time defeating her.
“Versus! Class 1-B’s Itsuka Kendo!”
Itsuka Kendo smiles at Ochaco from across the starting positions. “No hard feelings when you lose, alright?”
Ochaco scowls. “ I was about to say the same thing.”
Kendo frowns, not expecting such a serious expression, but after a moment to consider it she smiles. ‘She’s serious. Alright, no messing around then.’ She readies her stance. “Give me everything you got.”
If Ochaco is going to give this her all then she’s for sure going to do that same.
“Begin!!”
Both of the girls kick off, charging straight for each other ready to deliver the first strikes of the match.
Kendo lashes out first, throwing her fist forward.
While still in motion Ochaco falls to her knees, sliding past Kendo’s fist just as it enlarges, it just barely breezes past her face.
Ochaco ends up behind Kendo, where she leaps forward with her hand extended to float the orange-haired girl into the air.
Unfortunately for Ochaco, Kendo predicted such a move and twists her body around with her other hand extended out. Her hand expands and slams against the side of Ochaco’s head.
“Gah!” The brunette grunts as she’s tossed to the side, she lands face down on the ground with a hard thud.
Before the gravity girl can make a move, Kendo is already over her. She slams down her enlarged hands on top of Ochaco’s back, pinning her in place. and pins Ochaco in place.
“Ow, that’s smart!” shouts Present Mic. “I bet Uraraka’s feeling that. She started off well, but it appears Kendo’s training has given her the upper hand! Is it the end for Uraraka?”
The martial artist grins down at her foe. “I thought I told you to give me everything you got?”
Ochaco groans and glares at Kendo. “We’re just…starting!”
Unlike with Kirishima who was pinned down on his back by this exact move, Ochaco is on her belly and so she is actually able to place her hands in stable locations giving her a much-needed boost. Although Kendo tries to keep her down, Ochaco is able to push her large hand up just enough to launch herself forward and away from Kendo’s grasp.
“She’s free!”
Ochaco doesn’t waste any time, she turns right around and pounces at the member of Class 1-B. “Rahhh!!” Her fist connects with the side of Kendo’s face.
Kendo spins back in a daze but she quickly stabilizes herself, even so she’s in such a daze after that strike to the head that Ochaco has another opportunity to attack.
“I’ll beat you!” Ochaco, in heat of the moment, throws another punch.
Kendo smirks as she expertly blocks the incoming swing with her arm. “Is that so?”
Before Ochaco can so much as gasp in surprise, the wind is knocked out of her as Kendo drives her fist into Ochaco’s gut. As it connects her hand expands and thrusts Ochaco back with greater force.
Despite the pain and her aching abdomen, Ochaco runs straight back into the fight with no hesitation. She is not going to let a bit of bruising keep her down and prevent her from achieving victory. She’ll beat Kendo and her next opponent with the same ferocity all so she can achieve her dream.
Kendo remains still and allows Ochaco to get close before she throws a sideways chop her way. Ochaco once again slides across the ground to avoid it, however, this time she kicks her leg out and sweeps the martial artist's legs right from under her.
With her opponent down, Ochaco pounces atop of her, landing on Kendo’s abdomen Ochaco delivers a barrage of punches to Kendo’s head and upper body. “I will win!”
Kendo grunts and groans from the strikes even as she is able to use her free arms to block the hard punches. ‘She’s really unrelenting…good then I can really earn this win.’
She’s also noted that Ochaco is essentially running off pure adrenaline right about now, especially after all these hard hits they’ve been exchanging. The gravity girl isn’t thinking straight otherwise she’d have used her Zero-Gravity Quirk by now. She’s just running off instinct and the will to fight on.
“Holy cow! After taking a beating, Uraraka is now the one giving it! What a slugfest!”
Ochaco continues to throw punch after punch, eventually she rears her fist a little too far back and that gives Kendo plenty of time to react. Ochaco throws her knuckles forward but the expert fighter of the match grabs her wrist, stopping the strike from landing. Kendo then pulls Ochaco’s fist and uses her leg to kick Ochaco off and over her.
The brunette lands on the ground with a thud, groaning as both her and Kendo get back up on their feet. Both stagger in place with scuff marks as they both turn to face each other, raising their fist as they square off once again.
Ochaco has her fists out in front of her, after a few calming breaths she looks down at her hands before releasing her fists opening them up and remembering her Zero-Gravity Quirk. ‘Guess I was way too into the fight.’ She flexes her fingers. ‘I need to get in close if I want to float her up and push her out off the field.’
She runs forward, her hands at her sides and ready to connect with Kendo when she makes her own move. Ochaco keeps her eyes on Kendo’s hands, the expandable hands that can boost her physical attacks. Ochaco watches as the hands ready to defend their owner as their opponent is upon them.
The brunette lashes out her open hand, keeping her focus on Kendo’s hands in case they make a move, but before her hand can so much as touch a hair of Kendo’s head, her own feet are swept from under her as Kendo delivers a sweeping kick.
As Ochaco falls, Kendo swings her body around, building momentum that she uses to deliver a karate kick right into Ochaco’s side, knocking her away.
As Ochaco tumbles across the ground she realizes her mistake: she was too focused on Kendo’s Quirk and had forgotten that this girl has trained her entire body to fight, not just her hands.
“It appears Kendo has the advantage once again!” Present Mic turns to his co-host. “Been awhile since you’ve said anything. Thoughts?”
Aizawa reluctantly takes the mic. “Kendo has spent years honing her craft whereas Uraraka is basing her techniques off past experiences. Both are reliable sources of fighting but a good combination of both is what’s needed to succeed.”
Ochaco pushes herself up, glaring at Kendo as she presses her hands together. ‘If I can’t get in close then I’ll attack from afar!’ She’s going to try and pull off a Zero-Gravity Field, which should float Kendo up and make it easier for the gravity wielder to send her out of bounds.
Kendo picks up on the change and recalls what her team leader did during the Cavalry Battle. So with the wisdom that Ochaco has to concentrate to use Zero-Gravity Field, Kendo goes on the offensive.
Just as Zero-Gravity and One For All are building up, a strike to Ochaco’s head breaks her focus and the technique dissipates. Ochaco tries to focus and unleash her Quirk but Kendo is not making it easy. Kendo continues with the assault throwing chops, jabs, and kicks that keep Ochaco unfocused and unbalanced. Every strike that lands with precise aim and honed strength ensuring each hit delivers affliction to Ochaco.
“It’s not looking good for Class 1-A’s resident golden girl. How will she get through this?!”
Ochaco stumbles backwards, barely keeping herself upright as Kendo uppercuts her in the gut, grabs her head and pushes her back some more. With all of this trauma and motion she can’t focus on One For All or get a hand on Kendo to use Zero-Gravity. And her opponent is not going easy on her, if this keeps up, she’ll either be so exhausted and pained that she can’t move or get thrown out of the battlefield herself.
She needs to break through Kendo’s onslaught, but how? The only way is to use All Might’s Quirk, but she can’t thanks to Kendo, she needs to focus! Or maybe not…she shouldn’t focus; she needs to just let One For All flow on its own. She keeps forgetting that, but it’s easier said than done. Well now’s as good a time as any to give it a go, and even if it cripples her at the very least, she’ll give herself a fighting chance.
Ochaco breathes in and out even as another kick connects with her side, if anything the kick pushes her will forward and One For All begins to flow through Ochaco’s arm radiating a pink heavenly light.
Kendo swings her hand back and over to deliver a hard chop but Ochaco’s charged up arm intercepts it and brings the attack to an immediate halt.
Ochaco’s eyes glow with determination and One For All as her leg that’s also been supercharged glows brightly. “Yahh!” Ochaco throws her foot forward, kicking Kendo away in a blast of wind and debris.
The martial artist rolls across the battlefield, moving so fast that she’ll be kicked right off the field. But not one to allow this to end so soon, Kendo expands her hands and claws her fingers into the ground. Her fingers scrape against the cement before she comes to a halt just a few feet away from the edge.
Kendo pushes herself back up, groaning as her hands shrink back to normal. “That hurt.”
Ochaco breathes heavily as One For All dissipates. Her arm and leg aren’t broken or swollen, but they are strained, almost numb. She’s almost unable to move them, at least at first but they are definitely strained and will definitely slow her down.
Present Mic is grinning wildly from the commentator’s booth. “Both fighters are battered, bruised, and tired but neither of their wills have given in yet. They’ll continue until the other’s spirit breaks first!”
Kendo, who is the only one that’s actually able to move right now, charges straight for the weakened gravity user.
Ochaco scowls preparing herself for the attack. ‘Not yet.’
“Rahh!!” Kendo releases a battle cry as she continues her charge.
‘Not yet.’
“Prepare to lose!!”
‘Now!’ Ochaco slams her hands together and releases a burst of her Zero-Gravity Field that explodes out and envelops the entire battlefield.
Kendo, with precise timing, leaps forward and tackles Ochaco, flinging them both into the air where they float and spin in the air. Because of her own will Ochaco is able to keep the Zero-Gravity Field going. Although it has considerably shrunk and is smaller than the battlefield itself.
“And once again there’s Uraraka’s signature Zero-Gravity Field!” proclaims the booming pro hero. “But that’s just a medium to show us an all-out midair wrestling match!”
“Oh, it’s so exciting!” screams Midnight.
The two competitors grapple and wrestle in the air, pushing and gripping at each other trying to get the other to give up first.
“I’m not going to lose this!” Ochaco holds her focus as she delivers a punch to Kendo’s face.
While they continue to spin in the air, Kendo snarls and throws her own. “Neither will I!” Bam! Her punch lands but Ochaco keeps her grip on Kendo’s preventing herself from flying away.
This goes back and forth with each one delivering attack after attack while defending with sheer unyielding determination. This continues until Ochaco finally takes note of how dangerously close they are to the edge of the battlefield.
With the best possible timing, Ochaco releases the Zero-Gravity Field, making it burst apart and throwing the two of them back towards the Earth.
Both Kendo and Ochaco collapse onto the ground, landing beside each other; breathing heavily as they both lose their breaths. Before their lungs can even refill or before they can even get themselves off the ground, the two are back to throwing jabs, kicks, and punches at each other.
But Kendo clearly has the upper hand as she is able to land more chops and kicks against Ochaco by twisting her body around to deliver swift hits. Ochaco does her best to defend herself, grabbing Kendo’s limbs and redirecting them before they can land.
Kendo, the fastest of the two at the moment, gets back up first. “Rahh!!” Her hand enlarges as she begins to throw it downward, intending to smash Ochaco into the ground.
All Might’s successor instinctively rolls out of the way just as the fist smashes into the ground. Acting quickly, Ochaco slaps her hand against Kendo’s large hand.
Kendo gasps as she feels her body become weightless and begin to float upward.
Ochaco jumps up, intending to throw her opponent out of the arena.
“Oh, no you don't!” Kendo spins her body backwards and delivers a powerful roundhouse kick and lands onto Ochaco’s head.
Kendo is pushed upward as Ochaco is knocked onto the ground with a throbbing headache.
Despite the pain and her pounding mind, Ochaco reels up as One For All charges within her hand.
“Rahh!! She jumps up and throws her fist forward, her attack can in no way reach her opponent, but as the punch is thrust forward a powerful gale of wind is generated and collides with Kendo.
Kendo is sent spiraling out of control until she’s flown right out of the arena from the opposite end, a sudden cement wall via Cementoss stops Kendo from flying away any further. Although the wall did not provide her a soft stop.
The chief umpire, Midnight, cracks her whip into the air. “It’s over! Ochaco will move on to the semi-finals!”
As the crowd roars in delight, Ochaco finally allows herself a moment to rest, falling back onto her butt as she tries to calm her racing heart. “That was intense, uh.” Hopefully her next match won’t be as intense, at least she hopes so.
Ochaco winces as she grips her hand. “Ow!”
Her hand’s swollen with pain, looks like she used too much power with that last attack. Speaking of which, she had no idea she could do that. Sure she generates a whirlwind when she broke free of Shinso’s Brainwashing, but this was different. She didn’t even consider using that gale to attack before. ‘I wonder what else I can do.’
The stadium continues to applaud as the fighters stagger back to the middle of the field.
Midnight is happy to congratulate the two. “Well done on a fabulous and enticing match, girls! I wish you both luck in the future and I hope you both carry the same intensity in your future endeavors!”
The crowd cheers as the two battered girls stand before each other.
Ochaco would offer a hand to shake, but her’s feel like it’s on fire so she’ll pass on that. “You…were really something…out there.”
Kendo nods, she’s covered in scuff marks and scratches, but she’s standing a bit taller than Ochaco who actually walked away with more injuries. “I can say that same for you, although I wish the outcome was different.”
Ochaco frowns. “It almost was, you’re a really skilled fighter. I kinda…wish I had some training like you…”
Kendo is silent for a moment before a thought crosses her mind. “Would you like me to teach you some moves?”
Ochaco’s eyes go wide as her head pops up. “Huh?!”
“What I mean is, you’re good but you don’t have a definite way of fighting. I think it’d benefit you if you learned some real fighting techniques.” The martial artist grabs at the back of her head. “Plus, you’d make for a really good sparring partner.”
Ochaco’s face lights up, this is probably the best news she could have gotten right now. “That’d be great! I promise to take it seriously and learn all that I can!”
Kendo chuckles at Ochaco’s sudden enthusiasm. “Great, but keep in mind I’ll be training hard too for next time.”
Ochaco beams. “Of course.”
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“So, tired.” Whines the gravity manipulator of Class 1-A as she makes her way back to the viewing box after being stuck in the Nurses’ Room for so long.
She shakes her head, ridding herself of the exhaustion. “No, I can’t get lazy now! I still have another fight ahead of me. I can’t afford to let myself become drained.” Huh, maybe she should grab an energy drink and a quick snack before the semi-finals begin.
She can see the entrance of the viewing box, and soon she’ll be back with her friends and classmates.
“Bakugou’s vicious attacks are unstoppable!!”
Ochaco enters and takes note of how nobody has noticed her reentry, their eyes are too focused on the fight taking place back on the battlefield.
Things are not looking good for Jiro, she’s completely defenseless against Bakugou’s Explosions.
Bakugou throws explosive punch after explosive punch, forcing Jiro back in an attempt to evade the blasts, but Bakugou is faster and many of his attacks land.
Before they know it, Bakugou cups his hands together and thrusts them forward. “Die!!” He releases a combined explosive beam that fires into Jiro and blasts her right out of the arena with a trail of heat, ash, and debris.
And with one move the final match of Round Two is already over and Midnight’s announcement isn’t actually needed but a welcomed confirmation. “Jiro is out and Bakugou will continue to the semi-finals!”
Even though he won with ease, that fact actually pisses off the ash-blonde. ‘Dammit!! I want a really fucking challenge!’ Literally everyone else but him has had an epic and well-earned fight, but him!
He glares up at the viewing box. ‘You better bring your A-game, Roundface. Because I’ll kill you and then win this whole stupid competition!’
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As Bakugou stomps off the battlefield before he can give his respects to his opponent, Izuku watches his ex-friend from within the waiting room.
He decided to get here early even though there’s going to be a thirty-minute break before the start of the semi-finals. He just needs a minute to gather his thoughts. After all he’s going up against Todoroki, who’s had it out for him since the start of the Sports Festival. Also, there’s the boy’s past to consider, it doesn't sit right in Izuku's stomach that Todoroki’s had to go through so much. And now…now he’s about to go into the fight knowing what it means for the dual-Quirked teenager.
No doubt it will not be an easy match, Todoroki’s going to throw everything he can at him just to prove to him and his old man that he can be a hero without his flames. But…is that really possible? Can one be a hero if they don’t use their full power?
To Izuku only one answer comes to mind: No, they can’t. A hero’s job is to save and protect others, but if a hero willingly handicaps themselves for such a petite reason…then why bother becoming a hero? If he wanted to spit his father’s wishes, why even join U.A.? Wouldn’t the ultimate slap to the face for Endeavor be his own son turn his back on heroism and seek out a normal life?
Then again, there’s got to be more to it. Clearly Todoroki wants to be a hero, a great one at that, but he’ll never accomplish that, not while he holds himself back. Because as of right now Izuku is not Todoroki’s worst enemy, but himself and his spitefulness.
And Izuku will show him, will help him, to realize what it means to be a hero. Just you wait and see.
How It Should Have Ended
“Alright, alright, alright! I think those two are more than ready to get started. So without a further ado, begin!” shouts Present Mic.
And like that the first match of Round Two has officially begun.
Tokoyami shouts into the air. “Dark Shadow!”
“On it, boss!” Dark Shadow flies out of his master’s chest.
Izuki grips the Omnitrix just as Dark Shadow pounces upon him, its claw reaching for the Omnitrix.
Izuku, not one to fall for that twice, swings his body around using it to block Dark Shadow’s reach.
“You gotta be more original than that!” He slams down on the Omnitrix before Dark Shadow tries to pull off any more tricks.
Dark Shadow reels back as the bright green light flashes giving the transformed Izuku plenty of elbow room.
“And XLR8 is-wait bzz!” Buzzshock peers down at his miniscule stature. “Aw, man. I wanted speed not a tiny night light!”
“Ha ha ha! Midoriya’s become Buzzshock! A tiny battery with the ability to zap his opponents like a taser gun.”
Buzzshock grabs his head. “Come on Omnitrix bzz. Tokoyami’s Dark Shadow can defend against my electricity bzz. How is Buzzshock supposed to do anything bzz?”
Tokoyami’s eyes giveaway a hint of trepidation. “Dark Shadow!”
“I’ve got him!” Dark Shadow lunges at the morphed Izuku.
“Ah!!” In a panic the little Nosedeenian lashes out, firing off a beam of bright electricity.
The beam isn’t that powerful, but it sparks against Dark Shadow’s black exterior.
The fiend reels back in pain. “Yahhh!!” His stature becomes noticeably smaller.
“What tha bzz?” Peering at his stubby hands, Buzzshock fires off another ray of electricity.
Dark Shadow attempts to evade it but the bright light makes it wince.
Buzzshock blinks before putting two and two together. “No way bzz. Is your weakness actually…light bzz?”
Tokoyami can’t bother to look the morphed Izuku in the eyes.
The tiny menace grins before soaring up towards Dark Shadow as he builds up the electricity inside of him. And when it’s just enough, the Nosedeenian discharges the electricity across the field.
The electrical wave shocks both Dark Shadow and its master, and thanks to the light generated Dark Shadow shrinks to about the same size as Buzzshock.
“Hehe, it’s nice not being the only little guy bzz.”
Tokoyami peers down at his weakened familiar before peering back up at his opponent. He is unfamiliar with this form and judging from what he’s seen, it does not have a limit like that of Kaminari. In other words, he’s basically fighting Midoriya without a Quirk. And so with all this to consider there’s only one real choice.
“I surrender.”
Notes:
And so that was Ch.25 Competition, did you like it? Was it worth the wait? I sure hope it was. Well I’m hoping to be on time with Ch.26 which is the long awaited Izuku vs. Todoroki match up. I already have it all planned out on how I want it to go so just please be patient and we will get right into it.
*So many of you assumed that I would be using Buzzshock or Feedback to fight against Tokoyami. I decided against that because Izuku is actually unaware of Tokoyami’s weakness in this version. The only reason he knew about it in canon was because Tokoyami himself told him about it. So in this universe Izuku had a different strategy in mind to take on Tokoyami, and that was to be faster than him which failed.
*The HISHE/Omaki served to also explain that the fight between Buzzshock and Dark Shadow would have been considerably boring in comparison to what we got.
*Also I chose XLR8 because he has not been able to take part in a real battle yet and so I thought it was long overdue. And hence why I inserted him into this fight.
*In case you missed it, Izuku’s Omnitrix has had a little upgrade. It can now recharge in five minutes rather than ten minutes. That said it is still the same original design as that of the original Omnitrix.
*Ochaco vs. Bakugou will be a separate chapter (Ch.27) for itself.
*Finally, these next two fight will have some higher stakes and are the ones I am most looking forward to.
Chapter 26: Unleash Your Power
Summary:
It's finally, finally, here!! It's Izuku Midoriya vs. Shoto Todoroki!!!
Notes:
Alright the long-awaited Ch.26 is here and I hope it lives up to all of your expectations. So, buckle up and get ready, this is going to be a wild ride.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Izuku Midoriya inhales and then exhales trying to calm his racing heart. But in truth it does little to calm his nerves. And why would it? He’s about to face off against his greatest foe yet, and if he makes a single mistake here then it’ll all be over for him.
There’s a knock at the door, drawing his attention.
As he looks up from his seat, Ochaco Uraraka pokes her head in. “Hi, Deku.”
“Uraraka! What are you doing here?”
She steps inside, shutting the door behind her. “Oh, you know I just wanted to wish you luck is all.”
“Thanks, I appreciate it.”
Ochaco takes a seat opposite of Izuku, she stares down at the table unsure of how to actually continue the conversation. “So, how are you feeling?”
“Hm, honestly…I’m kind of worried.”
“About Todoroki?”
Her straight forward question catches him off guard, but in truth he should have suspected it. After all she had to hear the same sad story as he did.
“Y-yeah. I keep replaying what he said to us in my head and honestly, I’m not sure what I should make of it.”
“I know what you mean.” Ochaco presses her fingers together, twiddling them between her hands. “I’m still not sure if I understand how I feel about it yet either. I mean to hear about the cruelty of a top hero is not an easy thing to hear.”
To hear that leaves a bad taste in Izuku’s mouth, mainly because that’s the hard truth of the matter. That even someone that is seen as a protector, savior, and hero can still be cruel and corrupt. And to think that this man, that monster, is supposed to be the Number Two Hero, it really makes one think how that can even be when they act more like a villain than the common street thug. At least thieves and criminals sometimes commit their crimes to help support their own families; whereas, Endeavor is using his own family for his own personal ego.
Izuku slowly nods his, sympathizing with Ochaco. “This is how I see it. This just goes to show you how evil can form from anywhere. That even a supposed hero isn’t above corruption.”
Ochaco’s eyes sadden. “I suppose that’s true, but it doesn’t mean I have to like it.”
“Agreed…”
“I…I just wish Todoroki didn’t have to go through all that he did.”
Izuku nods his head slowly as he recalls what their classmates had to go through. All because his monster of a father’s own actions. To think his own mother can be driven to the point of insanity that she’d harm her own child. He can’t even imagine what that must be like, the sense of betrayed love and trust. If it was his own mother…he’s not sure whether or not the experience would have broken him. In truth he has to admire Todoroki’s perseverance, it’s amazing he isn’t more unstable than what he is. Not like his cold and indifferent disposition is exactly the healthiest thing mind you but still.
Ochaco sighs. “I wish we could help him.”
“Who says we can’t?”
Her head snaps up at the green-haired teen. “What?”
“Well to be a hero, means you sometimes have to help others even if they don’t want it.” He locks eyes with Ochaco. “Todoroki may not realize it, but he’s drowning in his own misery. He thinks holding himself back is the answer but in truth…it’s only hurting him.” Because how can someone save others when they only use half their strength? How can one defeat a powerful villain if they’re half-assing it? The answer: they can’t.
“But then…how do we help him?”
That is a good question, too bad Izuku doesn’t have an answer.
“I…don’t know.”
The two sit in silence for a moment as they mull over possible answers. But nothing they think of seems…right. All of them seem to be more of wishful thinking than possible solutions. But perhaps…there is one way they can break through Todoroki’s frozen spirit.
Eventually Ochaco is the one to offer up. “We show him.”
Izuku’s head snaps up at attention. “I’m sorry?”
“Maybe if we show him why he’s wrong, he’ll stop holding himself back.”
Izuku’s eyes light up as Ochaco’s words dawn on him. If they can show Todoroki that half his strength isn’t enough to win here, then…then they might be able to show him that it won’t be enough for when they go pro! They can save him and help him become something he was meant to be rather than what his apparent father desires of him.
Before Izuku can voice anything, Present Mic’s voice echoes through the stadium. “Let’s get right into it!”
With no time to spare, Izuku pushes himself away from the table. “I best be off.”
“Oh, I’m sorry!” yelps Ochaco. “I took up all your prep time.”
Izuku offers up a soft smile. “No worries, actually I’m glad you stopped by. It really helped.”
He walks over towards the door, he grips the doorknob and turns it, pulling it open.
But before he steps through Ochaco calls out to him. “Good luck, Deku. I’ll be watching and cheering you on.”
He turns and grins back at her. “Same goes to you, Space Cadet.”
And with that he leaves, leaving Ochaco behind with nothing but her thoughts. ‘Good luck, Deku.’
At the same time, Izuku continues to make his way towards the stadium a tall imposing figure steps out, intercepting the boy’s path with a scowl on their face and flames dancing around their muscular body.
Izuku’s eyes pop wide in shock at the sight of the imposing pro hero before him. “Endeavor?!”
The Number Two Hero’s cold gaze pierces down at the trembling boy. “Ah, I was looking for you… Midoriya.” The hero spits out the name like it’s an insult to his tongue.
Izuku picks up on the disdain but from what he’s heard of this man, he only assumes it’s just part of his normal demeanor.
Izuku quivers in place and tries his best to act normal despite what’s heard of this crook. “Oh, yeah…hi.”
Izuku stumbles back as the hero steps forward as if to assert his dominance over the boy. Izuku can feel the blistering heat radiating off the Flaming Hero, but unlike the flames of a humble campfire that give comfort with its warmth it’s more like a raging inferno burning with ambition and rage.
“So, uh, what are you doing here?”
The scowling Endeavor’s cold blue gaze takes a moment to examine the green-haired boy, examining his features from top to bottom as if looking at something he hadn’t seen in a long time and was trying to familiarize himself with it.
Izuku can only squirm under the intimidating gaze of the Flaming Hero who remains silent for a few intense moments.
Finally the so-called pro hero speaks. “I watched your fights against that frog girl and that shadow bird. Your power is pretty impressive, like nothing I’ve ever seen before.” He gives the teen a scrutinous look. “To be able to transform like you do and give yourself such incredible abilities.” His cold gaze somehow burns with scrutinizing fury. “It almost seems impossible; I wonder what kind of measures it took for someone like you to be born.”
Izuku freezes in place as he averts his gaze away from the pro hero. ‘Does he think…I’m like his son? That I’m from a Quirk Marriage…like he did?’ Possibly but either way he has no reason to reveal anything to this jerkwad. “Oh. Well I never gave it that much thought. You know? It’s just a mutation I guess.”
Endeavor’s eyes flash with irritation like he doesn’t believe the boy for a second. But then again what proof does he have of anything else?
Not really wanting to interact with this…fraud of a hero any longer Izuku quickly and fearfully walks past him. “Sorry but I should get going.” As he walks away, he can’t stop the feeling of uneasiness caused by the hero’s hot flames and cold look. ‘Is it possible Endeavor knows about the Omnitrix? And by extension aliens?’ He peers back at the man who hasn’t made a move to stop him. ‘No, he probably would have mentioned it.’ He brings his eyes forward. ‘He’s definitely one person that can’t find out about anything alien related.’
Before he can get too far away, the Number Two Hero finally speaks up. “It’s my Shoto’s duty to surpass All Might as the Number One Hero.”
Those words make Izuku stop dead in his tracks. Not just because Endeavor just basically admitted to his scandal but because there’s also some kind of unnatural sense of tension and dread that’s just washed over Izuku as Endeavor’s flaming glaze burns a hole into the back of his head.
“And his match with you will be a good testing ground for how much training he has left. So hit him hard.” That’s more of an order than a suggestion. “Don’t disgrace yourself or him by holding back.”
In that moment, Izuku’s mind flashes back to Todoroki’s declaration before the start of the Tournament: ‘“I refuse to rely on my old man’s fire Quirk. You see. I’m going to show him that I reject his power and take first place without using it.”’
He spoke with such disdain and anger from within his cold and pained heart, enough that Izuku can’t fathom how much turmoil his classmate is really going through.
Endeavor continues unaware of Izuku’s inner dialogue. “That’s all I wanted to say, I apologize for bothering you.” With that the pro hero begins to stomp away, probably to go and watch the next match in a secluded corner.
Izuku can tell that this last bit of bullshit was just to keep his own facade as a supposed pro hero. Afterall who wouldn’t like to receive words of motivation from a top hero? Huh, that’s twice now a top hero hasn’t lived up to Izuku’s expectations… Then all the more reason for him to reach the top and really show this world what a hero looks like.
“Endeavor.”
The Number Two Hero stops, the authority in Izuku’s voice catches his attention.
“He may be your son, but he isn’t you.”
“Excuse me?”
“Sorry, I guess I wasn’t that clear.” Izuku turns so he can look straight into this monster’s corrupted soul. “What I mean is that Todoroki isn’t a selfish pile of shit that’s out to satisfy his own personal ego.”
The hero’s eyes burn with a newfound hatred.
“You’re a sick vile man with no real sense of justice. You only destroy all that you touch and for what? Fame? Money? Glory? Honestly it’s sickening to think someone like you can even pass as a hero.” Izuku scowls, his emerald eyes staring daggers at the Hellfire Quirked man. “You are no hero.”
Although he doesn't outwardly show it, Izuku can tell that Endeavor is burning to give him a new one. But he knows that it wouldn’t look good to attack or burn a student of U.A. especially one that’s on everyone’s radar now.
Izuku is well aware of the predicament and how he, a Quirkless teenager, has the upper hand over the professionally topped ranked hero. But he doesn’t push it, he’s said his piece so with nothing left to say he leaves.
Endeavor is left alone in the passageway as the boy, that defiant boy, marches away from him like he’s no threat whatsoever. It burns the hero from the inside out that he can’t put this brat in his place, but then again, his creation will do that for him soon enough. Still though…
With no more business to be had here, Endeavor leaves to go witness his weapon’s greatest victory yet. But even so his mind remains on that boy who has that familiar twinkle of defiance in his eyes. ‘He’s just like him…’ In anger, the hero’s flames dance and whip around him threatening to melt away at the walls.
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Meanwhile, Yagi Toshinori leans back in his seat amongst his fellow teachers. With Todoroki’s match coming up he thinks back to the conversation he had with Endeavor. Specifically he thinks to what that man had to say: ‘“I will mold that child into a hero that will surpasses you one day.”’
‘Endeavor…what is it you’re after? And what did you do to that boy?’
Despite not being vocal about it, Toshinori always felt that something was off about young Todoroki. He always seemed so distant towards everyone, emotionless, and cold. Could it be something occurred in his past to make him this way? Was it Endeavor? Possible, but Endeavor is a hero, a top hero, so perhaps something else is going on. Well, whatever the case he can’t even look into it right now if he wanted. What matters is the upcoming battle.
“You excited?”
Toshinori turns to Thirteen. “You could say that?”
“Me too.” smiles the space hero. “This one ought to be exciting. I really want to see how far these two have come.” Specifically, Midoriya, that boy’s done such an amazing job this entire Sports Festival.
“As do I.” replies the Symbol of Peace as he turns his attention to the battlefield. “They both share some similarities. They both have such an intense vibe about them.” But he can only wonder why that is.
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“So the match hasn’t started yet?”
Tenya Iida and Fumikage Tokoyami turn to find that Ochaco has returned to the viewing box rather than await her match in the prep room.
“Uraraka.” greets the Engine Quirked lad. “Shouldn’t you be preparing for your own match?!”
Ochaco takes a seat between the two before replying. “I’ll go later. I need to see this fight personally.”
“Ah, of course! If you win your match, you’ll be up against either one of them, wouldn’t you?”
“Yeah, sure that’s why.” She has no reason to tell Iida about why she wants to see this firsthand: that she’s here to hopefully witness Todoroki breaking free of his shackles.
She tries to redirect the conversation. “Have you called your brother yet? I bet he’s proud.”
Iida frowns, averting his gaze away from her. “I tried calling him, but he didn’t answer.”
“Oh, I’m sorry!”
He offers up a sympathetic smile. “No worries, it just means he’s busy is all. I’m sure whatever he’s doing is very important. I don’t want to distract him.”
“Oh, okay.”
Iida’s disappointed frown returns. “Still though, it is frustrating to lose. Even when against such impressive foes.”
Tokoyami cuts in, his eyes locked on the battlefield. “It’s no time to wallow. Use this next fight as a source of encouragement.”
Ochaco nods, she’s going to do exactly that. “Will do.”
Beside her, Iida is as stiff as a statue like he’s been overshadowed by Tokoyami’s own words of wisdom. “You’re so wise.”
The ceremonial torches ignite to the roar of the crowd who have been anticipating this matchup since the beginning of the tournament. They are like feral animals, foaming at the mouth. They’ve long awaited this clash of titans, imagine what could possibly be in store for them! How will it turn out? Who will win? What transformation will Midoriya take on? They’re dying to find out, the savages.
“I can feel the anticipation in the stadium!” booms Present Mic’s voice over the sound system. “And that’s because the semi-final’s first match is gonna be epic!!”
Down on the field below the two fighters approach the battlefield from opposite ends of the stadium like gladiators that are about to put their lives on the line.
“First up, it’s the guy who's won each and every challenge by literally freezing his opponents in place. With such power at his command will he be able to overcome his greatest foe yet? Who knows, but for now let’s all welcome the Hero Course’s Shoto Todoroki!”
Shoto Todoroki steps onto the battlefield, unfazed by the cheering crowd that’s praising his name, or rather his father’s name.
“He’s going to face off against probably the most versatile of all the Hero Course students. This guy’s been running the top of the chart for almost the entire competition! But will Todoroki kick him off his tower and back down to Earth? Let’s find out! Welcome Class 1-A’s Izuku Midoriya!”
The wielder of the Omnitrix climbs atop the steps and enters the battlefield with a glare of determination that could rival Endeavor’s.
The two opposing forces face off as the large torches of flames dance around them from each corner of the battlefield.
Todoroki speaks first, gauging Izuku’s nerves. “So here we are.”
Izuku’s leer hardens. “And only one of us can win.”
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Somewhere far away from U.A. is a place that is very much the opposite of what U.A. stands for. It’s dark, cold, lonely, and void of hope. But none of that seems to bother the leader of the League of Villains as he sits closely in front of his computer screen, watching as Izuku and Todoroki take the stage.
A cold calculating voice whispers out to the villain. “Pay close attention to them, Tomura Shigaraki. These two could prove to be formidable obstacles to you one day. Even the other semi-finalists can prove to be just as…problematic, especially the girl.”
Shigaraki scoffs. “Ha, I’m not worried about a couple kids.” The irritating scratching he’s doing to his neck says otherwise. “And I’m especially not worried about some teenage girl.”
In the background, crouched down on the floor of Shigaraki’s room is the monstrosity once known as Henzu Uuichi.
One of Nue’s extra arms claws at the wall carving scars into it; he growls at the screen as the camera zooms in on his once good friend.
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“My baby!”
Inko Midoriya sobs as she blows her nose for the millionth time. “I’m so proud! Be careful thou sweety!”
The entire apartment is flooded with discarded tissue and puddles of water caused by the large amounts of tears gushing from her eyes.
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The customers of Mr. Baumann’s store have all gathered around the holographic screens. The fights involving the Space Cadets are always a treat for them. So, none of them want to miss a second of the action.
“Kick his ass, Midoriya!”
“Chalk another one up for the aliens gugg!”
“I got nine pieces of Taydenite that Midoriya eats the dirt.”
“I’ll take that bet, Argit.”
Mr. Baumann is also glued to the screen setting aside his managerial duties just to watch. “Come on, boy. Make us proud.”
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Outside the stadium Mt. Lady and Kamui Woods are glued to the giant screen, even though they should be on patrol they are just enthralled with these matches as anyone else.
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ML-E hops about the family couch, waving her arms about with pure excitement. “Woah Woo!! GO, Deku! GO! Use XLR8 again and kick his ass!”
“LANGUAGE!!!” roars her mother.
She can only wonder where ML-E could have picked up such language. The only other person ML-E interacts with on a weekly basis is her babysitter, but she’s a hero. Why would she cuse?
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“Kick his ass, Deku!” Ochaco screams out from within the viewing Box.
“LANGUAGE!!!” roars the Class President.
Where could she have picked up such foul language? Oh, right. She’s Bakugou’s classmate.
She really can’t help it though, there’s so much riding on this next match. And yeah, it’s important that Deku try and help Todoroki, but this is still a competition and she’d actually like to take Deku on in the finals; assuming she wins her own match first. Either way she’s been anticipating this match up for a while now and she’d rather it get started.
Mezo Shoji cups his chin. “I wonder which transformation Midoriya’s going to use.”
Ochaco turns to face the multi-limbed individual. “My guess is Diamondhead since he’s immune to the cold and all.”
Denki Kaminari shakes his head while his ears are still covered by the bandaged earmuffs. “Na, I think he’ll use that Feedback guy or even Buzzshock.” Then again Kaminari is a bit biased with that statement.
Mashirao Ojiro raises an eyebrow. “But won’t flying give him a major advantage? So, maybe Terraspin.”
“No way!” shouts Eijiro Kirishima. “It’s going to be Four Arms! This way it’s a super manly fight”
“Doesn’t he have a magnet guy too?” asks Kyoka Jiro. “Maybe it can hold its own against Todoroki.”
Momo Yaoyorozu ponders. “Maybe, but if we’ve learned anything about our classmate is that he’s highly unpredictable.”
“Fair point.”
Tetsutetsu Tetsutetsu tugs at his hair. “Ahh! This is so not fair! Why couldn’t I fight these guys? It would have been so epic!”
Juzo Honenuki smirks up at his classmate. “Huh, sounds like someone’s changed his tone about 1-A.”
“Shut up!” snaps Tetsutetsu. “All I mean is I want a chance to fight them, too. With guys as powerful as them, it’ll be all the more epic when they’re defeated!”
The beastly Jurota Shishida pushes up on his glasses. “Victory and defeat, these go hand in hand. What will determine that in this fight is how ferociously each of them will fight for victory.”
Itsuka Kendo considers his words. “Ferociously huh? I’m not sure I want to see these two go all out considering what Todoroki did during his first match.”
Mina Ashido overhears Kendo, she shivers in place as her mind flashes back to how she was nearly buried in a glacier.
From beside Kendo, Yui Kodai silently hums as she nods her head in agreement.
Meanwhile, Iida turns to Tokoyami for his thoughts. “Tokoyami. How do you think this match will go?”
The raven-headed teen doesn’t take long to have an answer. “Honestly, I think it can go in either one of their favors. It all depends on what Midoriya chooses to transform into.”
Ochaco turns her attention to him. “What do you mean?”
“If Midoriya chooses poorly he’ll put himself at a disadvantage. For example, if he decides to go with his muscular form-”
“Four Arms.” Ochaco interjects quickly.
“Yes…he may not be able to resist Todoroki’s ice for very long even with his strength. But if he were to choose one of his electrical forms, he might just stand a chance to deal Todoroki some heavy damage.”
Iida cups his chin as he considers other possibilities. “I see.”
Meanwhile, Katsuki Bakugou also chose to remain in the viewing box. He wants to see this battle in full too.
But right now he couldn’t help but listen in on their conversation. ‘Stupid losers, they just don’t get it.’ He glares down at the field. ‘What really matters is power, and the one with the most power and skill will win.’ he scoffs, a mad smirk forms on his face. ‘And I’m the strongest there is.’
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Back within the stadium, a leering Endeavor watched on from what would be the shadows if it wasn’t for his burning body.
Present Mic continues with his introduction. “Both of the heroes-in-training have been frontrunners in the Sports Festival! But which of these rivals will advance to the next round? Prepare for-”
Before he can continue the younger Todoroki interrupts, throwing his hand up and instantly catching the commentator’s attention. “Before we begin, I have something to say.”
The stadium falls silent allowing Todoroki a moment to speak freely.
“For this match, we will be ignoring the out of bounds rule.”
A stunned gasp washes through the entire stadium and world for that matter.
“Not allowed!” shouts Midnight before any more discussion could be had.
Too bad Todoroki refuses to listen. “Apologies, but I would rather it be allowed.” He glares at the stunned Izuku who definitely wasn’t expecting this outcome. “The two of us need to settle something, we need to prove which one of us is the strongest. But having someone win by simply throwing the other out of bounds will defeat that purpose. So I’d like us to be free in our movements until either one of us is unable to even continue battling.”
‘What are you planning, Todoroki?’ Izuku frowns. “Fine, have it your way.”
The audience gasps surprised to hear that Midoriya is also fine with this.
“I said no!” shouts an increasingly annoyed Midnight.
“Hang on, Midnight.” calls Shouta Aizawa. “I see no reason why we shouldn’t permit it.”
“But Eraserhead-”
“The students wish to demonstrate their skills without any restrictions or limitations. It would be impractical of us to deny them this opportunity. Allow it.”
With a heavy sigh Midnight nods in understanding. “Very well.” She cracks her whip at the boys. “However, none of you are to endanger the audience! Is that understood!”
They both reply without any reservation. “Yes.”
Midnight grabs her head, not liking this one bit.
Meanwhile, Cementoss is also having his own doubts. “I’ll be sure to step in when things go too far.” And he’ll defend the audience if the need should arise.
“Well, it appears we’re in for quite the show here folks! There’s officially no more out of bounds! Meaning the only way to win is to immobilize your opponent or make them give up!” Present Mic continues. “Alright, without any more delays or monkey wrenches thrown in let’s get the semi-finals underway!”
Todoroki bends his knees and adjusts his footing taking preference to lean his right side towards his target.
At the same time, Izuku grips the Omnitrix; the face plate shoots up as he grips it. ‘He’s definitely going to strike first and end me before I even get the chance. That said Diamondhead is perfect to take on his ice.’ After all, Uraraka told him all about how Tetrax was completely immune to Todoroki’s ice and was able to break free without trying.
“Begin!!”
Todoroki fires off a blast of ice as Izuku disappears in a flash of green light. The ice bursts forward much like it did when Todoroki went up against Mina, but at a more controlled level. Either way the freezing blast of ice charged through the surface of the stadium kicking up rubble as a thick mist of cold air enshrouds Izuku.
“Ah, another big burst of ice!” shouts Present Mic. “There’s no way Midoriya was able to dodge in time. Is it already over?”
No, far from it in fact.
The mist clears away revealing what had become of one Izuku Midoriya.
His classmates all lean forward in their seats trying to figure out which transformation he took up, only for astonishment to adorn their faces when they see what had become of him.
The morphed Izuku had braced himself for an impact that never came, he slowly pokes open his eyes only to find himself free of Todoroki’s ice. He turns around and follows the trail of ice to the glacier of icicles behind him. Somehow Todoroki’s attack had completely bypassed him.
“Huh, I guess Diamo-huh?!” Izuku had finally realized his form, and it’s not Diamondhead.
With the mist clear he can have a good look at himself.
He looks like a tall blue phantom with slender arms and legs. His cloak is scaly and bug-like with black lines running the out edges of the folds, and there’s a certain chill to this alien, like his whole body is cold to the touch.
“Who in the world is this guy?”
“Who the hell’s this guy?!” shouts an astonished Present Mic. “I don't have anything on him! Is this some secret weapon Midoriya’s been keeping to himself or something new all together?!”
Shouta Aizawa leans forward in his chair, examining Izuku’s newest form. “Midoriya’s Quirk, One Man Army, truly is an enigma.”
Present Mic continues. “Whatever the case, this new form needs a name! How about…Phantom?”
“Basic.” replies Aizawa.
Meanwhile, the morphed Izuku is having his own dilemma. This is actually terrible, normally a new alien was a welcomed sight but not now! Izuku has no idea what this guy can do, and a competition is the worst time to try out a new alien. What if this guy’s weak to Todoroki’s ice? Then again, this phantom was able to evade Todoroki’s initial attack so maybe he’s got something to offer.
“I shouldn’t be surprised.”
The phantom peers back at his opponent, who’s right side generates a light cold mist and frost forms around his planted foot.
Todoroki scowls. “I should have guessed you had another transformation in reserve. You just can’t resist surprising your foes.”
The phantom takes a step back. “Believe it or not I had no idea I even had this guy.” He peers down at his four-fingered hand. ‘Or what he does.’
“No matter.” Todoroki stomps his right foot forward and ice rushes out with icicles bursting from the surface.
“Ah!” The phantom dives to the side as the ice rushes past.
“And just like that Todoroki’s back on the offensive, letting Blue Hood know his place.”
Aizawa is beginning to question his friend's sanity. “Blue Hood?”
“I’ll keep trying.”
And so will Todoroki who fires off another ice trail.
Izuku dives to avoid it sliding across the ground before coming to a stop. He pushes himself off the ground and gasps when he sees how close he is to the boundary. ‘Wait, there is no boundary.’
He can hear the shards of Todoroki’s ice racing towards him. Without a second to lose the tall slender alien dives off the battlefield and to the grass below, and all before the ice bursts out with piercing icicles.
The dual-haired teen chases after his opponent, he jumps down after him.
“And just liked they promised these two are already making use of the no boundary rule! Let’s try to keep the damage to minimum you two!”
Izuku takes off for the edge of the stadium trying to put some distance between himself and Todoroki, but the moment Todoroki’s hand smacks against the ground the blades of grass freeze in place as a wave of ice crashes towards the phantom.
Just as Izuku reaches the wall of the stadium, he peers back just in time to see the attack coming, and his reflexes kick in making him jump up with surprising height and grip the top of the wall. The ice wave crashes into the wall leaving him unscathed.
The phantom pulls himself up a bit and finds himself face to face with a crowd of startled and somewhat creeped out pro heroes and civilians.
“Uh…enjoying the show?”
A few of them nod in response, finding this situation rather awkward.
“Good, me too.” The phantom leans back and gazes down at the field. “Then again things could be going better.”
Todoroki gazes back up at the strange creature from down below.
“Phew, Todoroki almost had him there.” sighs Present Mic. “But it looks like Azure Cloak was just a little faster.”
Aizawa sighs. “Try again.”
“Fine.”
The phantom leers back at his opponent. ‘He’s not trying to capture me, not really. He’s trying to wait me out, let the Omnitrix time out.’
His judgement is confirmed by how Todoroki’s just stands there, menacingly. He’s waiting for Izuku to make the first move, after all the more time he wastes the better chance of victory he will have. Because in truth when Izuku times out and becomes human again, become Quirkless again.
‘He’s way more than just his Quirk. His judgement, mobility, and reasoning…all of his abilities…are incredible.’
But what can he do? Izuku's never used this alien before, doesn’t know its species, hell he doesn’t even know how he got it. Maybe the Omnitrix will just unlock new ones at random or something. And right now if he doesn’t figure this alien out, and soon, it’ll be over before he can even put up a real fight.
Todoroki leers up at the annoyance, like he’s a bug that’s about to be squashed. “You’re good Midoriya, but…you’re lucky too.” He exhales a mist of cold air. “But your luck’s just run out.”
Izuku can’t help but agree, he lets out a breath of frustration that comes out as a cool mist.
‘Wait.’ He breathes again, and finally realizes that he’s been puffing out a light mist from his mouth nearly the entire match.
He turns and peers back down at Todoroki taking note of the cold mist falling from the right side of the body.
The alien smiles as it dawns on him what this alien can do.
In that moment, Todoroki generates a giant icicle lance right for the phantom.
Izuku swings his body up allowing the lance to pierce right into the wall, almost threatening to break through and strike the audience.
With the solidified water, the alien jumps atop the ice and immediately uses it to speed his way down; it’s a straight beeline for Todoroki.
Todoroki is rightfully taken back by Izuku’s sudden rush.
Almost instantly the phantom is a mere ten meters away, he takes a deep breath and with his own victory at stake, Izuku exhales and releases a freezing whirlwind straight from his mouth.
The heterochromia teen’s eyes widen. “What?!” He only has a second to form a small ice wall to shield him from the oncoming freezing winds.
Todoroki can feel the bone-chilling wind whip past him until Izuku runs out of breath.
The entire stadium is in awe, more ice has formed around Todoroki’s shield, but all the icicles are pointing back towards him. It quickly dawns on them what this creature’s power can do, and it hits them that both opponents can manipulate ice.
The morphed Izuku stands atop the icicle lance and grins, glad his hunch was correct. “Cool.” A mist of cold air floats from his mouth as he speaks.
As Todoroki examines Izuku’s chilling work, the crowd finally erupts into cheers of exhilaration. They are more than happy that Midoriya has more surprises for them.
Present Mic is just as thrilled as they are. “Woah! I bet Todoroki felt one big chill after that surprising move!” It then hits him. “Huh, Big Chill that should be his new codename! What do you think, Midoriya?”
The alien peers up at the commentator’s box. “I think you could have come up with something better!”
It appears the crowd however have already fallen for the name.
“Go Big Chill!”
“Hey Big Chill knock em cold!”
“You can do it, Big Chill!”
The newly dubbed Big Chill sighs in reluctance, looks like he’s stuck with this new name. ‘But come on. Seriously, Big Chill? What's wrong with Sub-Zero or Frostbite?’ Guess it’s not to be.
“Woah!!” Big Chill jumps to the side, landing on the cold frozen grass as Todoroki fires off another ice lance at him.
Todoroki scowls as his lance misses its target. “It's not over, Midoriya.”
“I know that Todoroki.” Big Chill tilts his head in a taunting manner. “I just needed a breather is all.” He inhales and exhales, bursting out another freezing wind.
Todoroki predictably conjures up another ice wall, but Big Chill was hoping for that. As soon as the wall goes up, Todoroki’s losses all sight of him, so he takes off back towards the battlefield. Hopefully Todoroki will pursue him and wear himself out giving the Omnitrix wielder a better chance.
It works, Todoroki chases after him, firing off more trails of ice after the scaly-blue alien.
Big Chill evades the ice to the best of his abilities, sure the ice probably won’t hurt him, but it’ll still immobilize him so it’s best not to come into contact with it. Besides Todoroki’s not immune to Big Chill’s own ice attacks. As he evades, he fires off his own arctic winds but each one is blocked or evaded leaving behind icy trails of frozen grass and rubble.
This continues for some time with neither gaining the upper hand and Izuku is becoming increasingly worried. The longer it takes to end this the sooner it'll be until he’s powerless.
But that’s not the only issue, Big Chill is essentially a one-trick-pony; all he can do is breath cold air and sure given sometime Izuku could definitely figure out ways to apply it but right now in the heat of battle, is the worst time for test drives. And judging from this alien’s physique, close-quarters combat isn’t its style.
As for Todoroki…he may be using only half his power but he’s still able to apply it in many different ways.
‘Dammit Omnitrix, why couldn’t you give me an alien that was a little more versatile?!’
Big Chill leaps back avoiding another ice trail when his back slams against the wall of the center battlefield. He steps to the right, but Todoroki intercepts his path with another ice trail.
“And just like with Iida, Big Chill’s been trapped!”
He sure has, Big Chill is stuck between a really big rock and a really cold place.
Todoroki steps in front of his foe. “You’re mine.” He slams his hand down on the ground and a sheet of ice freezes itself right under Big Chill’s unharmed feet.
Big Chill eyes the ice before peering back at the dual-haired teen. “Um, is that it?”
“…No.”
Without warning, Big Chill finds himself flung into the air as a pillar of ice explodes out from underneath his feet.
The pillar pushes him probably over forty feet into the air before stopping and tossing him straight up where he spins out of control.
“Wah?! And Big Chill’s sent flying! If he doesn't act fast, he’s going to be in for a hard landing!”
Gravity soon catches up to him and begins to pull him back. Big Chill can only watch as the hard surface of the battlefield quickly approaches.
Izuku braces himself for impact using his arms to shield his face. “Oh, this is going to hurt!” Hopefully Big Chill is more durable than he appears.
However the impact and inevitable pain never comes, instead he’s come to a complete halt and immediately his body feels a bit breezier like it’s been exposed to the cool air. Poking his eyes open, Izuku is very surprised to see the ground only inches from his face. “What the hell?!” he reels back only to realize that his feet aren't even touching the ground.
And there’s a very good reason why his cloak turned out to be tucked away wings! Wings?! ‘I have wings?! Big Chill has wings?! For real?!’ He grins. ‘Omnitrix, thank you.’
He peers around the stadium taking note of Todoroki’s stunned expression. “Bet you wish we kept the boundary in place, huh.”
Todoroki scowls as Big Chill decides to take his new wings for a test run.
He soars up enjoying the feeling of flight, of being free. It’s so much more different then when he’s Terraspin; with that alien it’s more like he’s just going on a ride but this, this is like he’s a bird that’s free to roam the sky to his heart’s content. And so he does.
Big Chill soars towards the audience, gliding above them, observing their amazed faces as a light cold mist follows in his wake. He flies by his teachers and gives them a hearty salute; in the brief moment he sees Thirteen give him an amused yet snarky look. He soars around until he reaches the Hero Course viewing box where he gives a snarky smile towards them when he sees his classmate’s stunned and amazed expressions. As he flies away, he can almost hear Ochaco calling him a showoff.
After that he flies right up to the window of the commentator’s box where Present Mic and Mr. Aizawa are stationed.
He leans up against the glass, smiling at them. “This is so cool. I can really get used to this.”
Present Mic laughs not even using his microphone. “Hahaha! I bet you could kid! Sheesh, are you ever going to stop surprising us?!”
“Probably not.”
Aizawa’s eyes flash with irritation. “Shouldn’t you get back to the match?” There’s an underlying tone in his voice, like he’s upset that Izuku’s blowing off the match just so he can pursue his own pleasure.
Even though Big Chill can manipulate the cold, Izuku can swear he’s breaking into a nervous sweat from the fiery glare his teacher’s giving him. “I-I w-was just g-getting a feel for it.” Something tells him that there’s no way Eraserhead bought that.
So, not wanting to encore his teacher’s wrath, the winged alien soars back down to the field where Todoroki’s done nothing but have to wait for him to return.
Big Chill stops in midair, crossing arms in an attempt to pass off as cool and confident. “Surprised? So, am I.”
Todoroki’s eyes burn with intense anger, but then it calms being washed away by a realization. “You really are something.”
“You know it.” He shakes his wings to demonstrate his point.
“But do you really have time for this?”
“Excuse me?”
The heterochromia boy smirks. “After all, the clock is ticking.”
A cold feeling of dread washes over Big Chill, somehow with the exhilaration of flying he forgot all about his time limit. A time limit he’s forgotten to keep track of.
“Well time to make up for lost time.” Big Chill fires off a burst of chilling air but Todoroki of course blocks it.
As soon as the freezing winds end, Todoroki leaps out and fires off an icicle lance right for the flying bug. With a simple flap of his scaly wings, Big Chill evades the giant piercing lance.
Big Chill flies about evading each incoming frozen lance and pillar while he tries to find openings to freeze the dual-haired boy.
With the constant exchange of freezing attacks almost the entire field has become a frozen wasteland filled with icicles and arching pillars which become midair obstacles for Big Chill to avoid. There’s so much ice that mist falls from the pillars and even a bit of snow has begun to form.
“Hold still!” shouts Todoroki as he fires off another icicle lance.
Big Chill spins in the air to avoid it. “Don’t you mean freeze?” He breathes out more cold air but Todoroki slides right to evade it.
The dual-Quirked teen scowls. “You know…I’m beginning to see why Asui hates your sense of humor.”
Big Chill halts in the air and glares back at Todoroki. “Hey, that’s just uncalled for!”
“Got you.”
Two pillars of ice erupt from the ground and come charging in on Big Chill from opposite ends.
‘He’s trying a pincer attack!’ Big Chill flies up but before he can the tops of the pillars burst with icicles that stretch up above him. “What?!”
“Oh, no!!” screams Present Mic. “Big Chill’s been trapped!
The long icicles collide and scrape against each other until they freeze in place and not just above the alien but all around him. He’s stuck like a little blue bird that’s been trapped in a frozen cage.
Todoroki glares up at the towering cage, as Big Chill flutters about trying and failing to escape. “You did well to survive this long, Midoriya.” He plants his hand against the ground. “But you’re finished.” The ice around him spirals and unleashes itself upward, as a massive glacier begins to form.
Big Chill grips the bars of the ice cage and pulls but they don’t budge. He flies back and tackles the ice, but it doesn’t leave so much as a crack. Damn, Big Chill really isn’t one for strength and it’s going to cost him! No, it can’t all be over, it just can’t! But it is.
The freezing ice explodes from the ground like a volcano of ice erupting up towards the sky where it collides into the frozen cage. The glacier pierces into the sky completely encasing Big Chill inside of it.
“It’s over! Big Chill’s been completely immobilized! Frozen in place like a bug thrown into the freezer. There’s no way he’s getting out of that!”
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The entire audience are in a state of astonishment, they didn’t think the top runner of the Sports Festival would go out like this. And they are especially impressed with Todoroki’s skill level.
“That kid’s actually better than the average pro.”
“Guess that’s what you can expect from the son of the Number Two Hero.”
“But that Midoriya kid was amazing, too. Too bad.”
“Yeah, looks like he met his match.”
Class 1-A and Class 1-B are also in a state of shock.
“Deku…” Ochaco gazes up at the massive glacier like it’s a symbol of their failure, failure to save Todoroki.
Kirishima’s jaw dropped at the sight of the glacier. “Todoroki is so strong! It’s crazy.”
“No, duh.” agrees Rikido Sato. “Damn, is there no limit to his power?”
Tsuyu Asui frowns as she examines the ice. “I really thought Midoriya was going to pull through.” But it appears she was mistaken.
Tokoyami frowns. “This is just the cruel fate of battle, where there is victory there is also defeat.”
And right now Midoriya must come to terms with that.
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
Back on the battlefield Todoroki stands up, his muscles relaxing as he breathes out a calming breath. ‘Thank you, Midoriya. You served your purpose, and now I know. Now I know I can become a hero without that bastard’s Quirk.’
With the battle over, Todoroki turns and is about to walk away. He has the final to prepare for anyway, so he should try to regain his strength.
“Don’t walk away.”
Todoroki spins around and stares up to where he thinks the chilling voice came from. There’s something shimmering in the air above him, there’s a faint outline of a being watching him with its cold gaze.
Big Chill disperses the phases and reveals himself, his wings extending out from his sides. “Even I got to admit it. Big Chill is kind of a cheat.”
“How did you-”
“Get out?” Finishes the Omnitrix wielder as he vanishes again. “As it turns out…Big Chill is more like a ghost than bug.”
The entire stadium is in an uproar especially with Present Mic hyping them up. “He survived that?! How is that even possible?! Just what the hell is this kid capable of?! Whatever the case, Big Chill is still in this. So you know what that means, right? The battle is back on!!”
The audience roars even louder in response.
Despite the lack of pigmentation, Todoroki can still somewhat see a faint outline of his opponent. So he strikes albeit with not as strongly when compared to his previous attack. A thin icicle lance races up but it simply passes through the phantom without any resistance.
The phantom remains unphased by the attack and simply grins. “What did I just say?”
Todoroki gasps, the truth of Big Chill’s power finally dawns on him.
Big Chill can phase through solid matter, it must be activated by the fight or flight instinct. Which explains how Todoroki’s initial attack failed to connect, because Izuku unintentionally phased through the attack. Too bad he didn’t realize it sooner, but either way he’s definitely going to make use of it now.
Big Chill dives down straight for the dual-haired teen who conjures up an ice wall, but the phantasm passes right through the ice with no complications.
“You’re mine!” While still phased out Big Chill exhales but unlike before no chilling wind is generated. “What gives?”
With a clear opening, Todoroki leaps backwards, generating an ice trail that pushes him back onto the battlefield putting distance between the two of them.
The semi-invisible Big Chill huffs and puffs but no wind comes out until he solidifies and a small puff of cool air gusts out. ‘Ah, I get it. Big Chill can only use his freeze breath when solid.’
He glares at his retreating opponent. “What’s the matter Todoroki? Scared of the cold?”
“Your taunts are nothing but a nuisance.” Retorts the cold-blooded youth. “Besides it’ll be you who’s fearing it in a second.”
“How do you figure?”
*Beep!*
Big Chill gazes down at the beeping Omnitrix. “Oh-” Bang with a flash of green. “Crap…” finishes the human Izuku.
“Oh, boy. It looks like Midoriya’s bitten off all the time he could. His Quirk's timed out, too bad.”
“No!!” Izuku grips the Omnitrix desperately wiggling it in place but it’s no use, he can’t transform.
Izuku growls. “It’s not over! I’m not done!!”
“Yes, you are.”
Izuku leers up at his Quirked opponent who doesn’t bother to make a move against him. He’s breathing heavily but that because of how much he’s had to move around other than that he looks like someone that knows they’ve already won the game. But there is one thing Izuku picks up on, Todoroki’s shivering even if it's just a little, but that’s not all there’s also a thin layer of frost forming on Todoroki almost like scabs of ice.
‘He’s shaking. Is he reaching some kind of limit?’ Izuku glares down at the red Omnitrix. ‘I need to keep fighting.’ Maybe there’s a way.
“You did well Midoriya, but you’re done.” continues the cold-shouldered teen. “I’m sorry about this, but thanks for drawing it out.” The boy’s heterochromia eyes drift towards the stands where a certain individual is watching. “Look at him. He’s furious I’m not using his power.”
It doesn’t take many brain cells for Izuku to know who Todoroki’s referencing. And why he’s not using his flames. And in truth, it’s rather infuriating to hear; it’s infuriating to hear that Todoroki plans to take first place by half-assing it!
“Without your powers you’re as good as Quirkless for the next ten minutes.” He breathes out releasing a small breath of cool air. “And there’s no way you can withstand me for that long.”
Something within Izuku snaps, maybe it’s his will to fight or something else. But whatever it is, it’s roaring inside of him denying him the feeling of giving up.
“Why don’t we end this?”
And with that and a swing of his right arm a bursting ice trail fires off, racing across the battlefield and straight towards the defenseless and Quirkless Izuku Midoriya,
“Whoa! Todoroki continues his overwhelming attacks! Could this be his finishing move?”
Izuku won’t allow it. “I am not done yet!!”
Todoroki gasps, he wasn’t expecting to hear such resolve in his opponent especially in such a hopeless situation.
Even though Izuku has spent the last ten minutes evading attacks, he still has stamina to spare, after all even in alien form his muscles still gain some training and he has over a year's worth of it! No way is he going to let it all go to waste just because he can’t use the Omnitrix.
Izuku leaps and rolls off the ground allowing the ice to simply breeze right past him, the bitter cold nips at his skin but other than that he is unharmed.
“Hahaha!! Looks like it’s not going to be that easy. Just because he’s without his powers doesn’t mean Midoriya’s helpless. The kid’s too stubborn to go down without a proper fight!”
‘Dammit, Midoriya!!’ Todoroki strikes again, but Izuku evades once again with little to no issue,
In fact the ice trails seem…slower than before.
Todoroki scowls as he attacks again only for Izuku to use the edge of the battlefield as a means of escape. He swings his hand and a rather small wave of ice rushes the edge.
Acting quickly, Izuku runs to the side as fast as he can, he uses his momentum to grab the upper ledge of the battlefield and hoist himself back up just as the ice wave crashes down the edge that he had previously occupied.
Todoroki is understandably getting tired of this cat and mouse game. “Why keep going? You can’t possibly win!”
And that’s where he’s wrong, oh so wrong. “You’re shivering, Todoroki.”
Todoroki gasps, he had forgotten an important detail. Izuku is not only the most versatile in their class, but also the most observant and analytical.
“It’s easy to forget that Quirks are physical abilities. And that means there’s a limit to how much of the cold your body can take, right?” The greenette’s emerald glare leers at Todoroki’s offending left side. “I get it. Usually you’d make up for the drop-in temperature by using the heat from your left side. But you refuse to do that now.”
All so he can spite someone else, someone who doesn’t even matter. And that really pisses the Omnitrix wielder off!
“Listen. We’re all giving it our all to try and win. To make our dreams into a reality. To become Number One!”
There’s of course himself and his dream, but also the rest of their classmates: Uraraka, Bakugou, Iida, Tokoyami, and everyone else. But not only them but those that aren’t even in their class have been giving this competition all they got! And for Todoroki to not do that, and if he wins with that mindset…it’s a slap to the face for everyone else. For all of those…you actually deserve to become heroes!!
“You think you can win with half your strength?!” roars the green-mained warrior. “Look at me, Todoroki.” Izuku gestures to himself, his rather unscathed and unfrozen self. “You haven’t managed to put a single scratch on me yet!”
Todoroki growls, the truth of the matter is that Midoriya is absolutely correct. Not once has any of his attacks landed properly and when they did…Midoriya literally walked away from them without so much as feeling a drop in temperature. So in truth, his ice wasn’t strong enough.
Izuku glares at his offending opponent, like a lion that’s about to tear into his rival. “So, come at me with all you got!!”
Unbeknownst to him, some members of the audience can actually make out what he’s saying.
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‘Young Midoriya…’ Toshinori gazes down at the two competitors, who have been giving this match their all. But his eyes are specifically on the green-haired boy, the very one he denied so long ago. ‘What’s driving you…?’
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
Endeavor scowl hardens as he watches his masterpiece get upstaged by that defiant punk. The very one that dared to call him out. And now here he is humiliating him and his ambitions like they’re just the petty desires of someone undeserving.
“That boy…”
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
“Midoriya…” Todoroki is becoming incredibly frustrated with this boy. He’s evaded every one of his attacks and has now resorted to…insulting him?! “What are you trying to do here? You want my fire?!” he spits out his shout with disdain. “What did my monster of a dad bribe you or something?!” That thought, that lie, was enough to make Todoroki snap.
“Now I’m mad!!” The son of Endeavor charges straight for Izuku, his plan is to get as close as he can to utterly destroy his opponent. The very opponent who dares to even suggest that he break his own personal vow.
Despite his opponent charging at him Izuku’s mind swiftly analysis how slowly Todoroki’s actually moving. In fact as he runs his right arm doesn’t even swing with his body, like it’s unable to.
‘His movements are….’
‘…slower.’ Unbeknownst to Izuku, but Bakugou has the exact same thought. ‘Is it because he’s got so much frost on his body?’
Perhaps Todoroki’s Quirk is like a magic meter in a video game. Basically there’s a limit to how much he can use before it needs to recharge. And if that is the case, then he must be running on empty. And judging by how much ice there is covering the entirety of the inner stadium there’s no doubt that this might be the case.
Todoroki continues to charge towards Izuku, who's bracing himself for this close-quarters fight. ‘In close quarters, there’s no way he’ll be able to dodge me.’ He kicks himself off the ground as just as his foot leaves it, Midoriya makes his move.
Izuku was ready and he charges in with no hesitation.
Todoroki gasps. ‘The instant I lifted my right foot… He’s coming!’
He’s already there, Izuku ran in low so he can get into the best position to strike.
Even as he rushes in, Izuku continues to glare up at the much stronger teen. “Just because I can’t use my powers, doesn’t mean I’m powerless.” And with his own ambitions and heroic spirit driving him forward, Izuku throws the meanest punch of his existence right into Todoroki’s gut. His fist slams so hard that it practically embedded itself into his flesh.
“A solid punch!” yelps Present Mic.
Todoroki instantly has the wind knocked out of him, but Izuku isn’t done yet. The boy follows up the punch by charging forward, and body checks Todoroki.
The ice-Quirked teen is flung backwards, and he takes a mean tumble, landing headfirst onto the frozen cement.
“That’s the kind of action I like to see!”
Izuku grins down at Todoroki, taking solace in the fact that a Quirkless nobody just took down a Quirked prodigy.
Todoroki coughs as he gets back up on his feet, his head pounding after that nasty fall. He doesn’t have time to catch his breath though because Izuku is already hounding him again.
Another strike to his chest shoves him back.
Acting quickly, he stomps his right foot down a group of icicles spring forth but Izuku leaps to the side before they can impale him.
“Come on, Todoroki! At least I have a reason for not using my powers!!” He strikes him again.
Seriously, it’s actually insulting how Todoroki’s treating his Quirk, like it’s a curse. He has no idea how many people in the world would kill for a Quirk like his, or for a Quirk in general, like Izuku. He was…is Quirkless and he will always be Quirkless. And yet his own classmate is purposefully refusing to use his Quirk, a Quirk granted to him by chance. It’s infuriating that he’d waste such a gift!!
Todoroki fires off another trail of ice at Izuku.
The greenette jumps to the side allowing the ice to run on by. ‘The ice attacks aren’t moving as fast now.’
Todoroki rushes in, if he gets close, he can finish him but as he steps his right foot down, Izuku leaps up and throws a sucker punch that connects with the side of Todoroki’s mug.
Izuku growls as he lands onto the frozen cement. “I’ll defeat you! With or without my powers!!”
Todoroki stumbles back as a bit of blood drips from the side of his mouth.
He spits to the side before wiping the side of his mouth. “What’s with you?! Why’re you going this far?!” With his rage fueling him he fires off another blast of ice that comes rushing for Izuku.
“Why?” The boy leaps to the side but this attack was faster, and it brushes his arm causing frost to form.
Izuku’s feet skid off the ground kicking up tiny flakes of ice. “I wanna be…a hero…that can save the day with a smile!! I wanna be the Number One Hero!!” Izuku rushes past the frozen icicles that threaten to pierce him if he were to stumble. “That’s what I wanna be!!” As he sprints with all his might he reels back his fist. “That’s why I’m giving it everything!!” He lunges at Todoroki. “To be a hero!!” He throws his fist forward and it slams into Todoroki’s chest knocking him backwards.
Izuku was moving so fast and hard that he actually slips up and falls to his knees, but he’s unphased as he simply gets right back up. “That’s why I’ll give it my all just like you should be!!”
Todoroki glares back up at his rival as they square off once again.
“There’s no way I can know what you’ve gone through, or why you’re even here.” Izuku takes a step forward, and Todoroki almost instinctively takes a step back. “Your life has been so much different than mine, but right now. Stop screwing around!”
Todoroki can only stare at this defiant heroic person before him, everything he’s done up till now just doesn't make any sense. Why is he continuing to fight? What is his purpose?
“If you wanna reject your father, fine! I get that.” Izuku glares daggers at the dual-haired boy. “But you don’t have the right to be Number One if you aren’t going to use your full power!” And with that he charges in for another strike.
Doesn’t have the, right? That can’t be true otherwise what was the point of it all? What was the point of all those brutal training sessions? What was all the blood, sweat, and tears for then? As a child his father put him through hell with his training so much so that his body would give out on him. But what was worse was when his mother tried to help him, save him, by throwing herself between him and his father. But it always ended the same, with her being beaten before his eyes.
Frost creeps up Todoroki’s body like a dark shadowy force of fury. “SHUT UP!!!”
How dare he!! How dare he claim such things!! Midoriya has no idea what he’s been through! How much he’s suffered at the hands of that devil.
“I’ll win!!” roars the green warrior. “And make my dream a reality!!” He reels his fist back as he builds momentum. “And I’ll surpass you!!” This punch is somehow stronger than the others, so much so that when it connects Todoroki is flung backward as if a speeding truck had crashed into him.
As Todoroki falls, his memory plays clips from his past. He remembers how his father denied him a childhood, denied him the simple pleasure of playing or even interacting with his older siblings. The reason, he was far too busy with his so-called training, which was a hell in of itself.
But most importantly his mind replays that night, the very night where everything changed for the worst. His mother just couldn’t bear it anymore, she was losing hold of herself and her sanity. And he…he mistakenly tried to reach out to her, to comfort her and in that brief moment he saw all that he had to. He witnessed the fear and despair in her eyes and out of that fear she grabbed the steaming tea pot to defend herself. And she poured the scalding liquid onto him, onto the left side of his face, the side that mostly resembled that monster’s.
The older Todoroki collapses back onto the ground, his mind still playing out those events. ‘I remember.’
He remembers that was the same day he truly discovered how much he despised his father. If it weren’t for him neither him nor his mother would have gone through such pain, such trauma. And she wouldn’t be in a mental institution, which is nothing but a cover to remove her away from his life. All because Endeavor wants to hide the fact how his own home is not fit for a hero.
‘I will reject you.’ Todoroki struggles to pick himself off the ground. “I refuse to use my left side.”
Izuku can’t stand how stupid this guy is, how can he not see it?! Izuku can see it and he doesn’t have a fucking Quirk!! And so with desperation in his voice Izuku roars out. “IT’S YOURS!!! YOUR QUIRK, NOT HIS!!!”
Todoroki lets out a sharp gasp, as a flood of memories rush to the forefront of his mind.
##########(Flashback)#########
“YES, THAT’S RIGHT. CHILDREN OFTEN DO INHERIT QUIRKS FROM THEIR PARENTS OR DEVELOP SIMILAR POWER SETS. BUT THE MOST IMPORTANT THING TO REMEMBER IS THAT A QUIRK IS WHAT YOU MAKE OF IT, REGARDLESS OF YOUR HISTORY. YOU DECIDE HOW YOU’LL USE IT.”
That speech was something that really stuck out to Shoto when he was younger, when he was a child who often enjoyed the company of his mother. Together they’d often just sit together watching TV or just little games. But one day a clip of All Might, the Number One Hero, was being broadcasted and it just so happened to be about the value of Quirks and heroism.
But All Might’s words just spoke to him, so much more than Endeavor’s own forceful sessions. It made sense no matter the Quirk or one’s own past, they can become a hero as long as they strive to become one. A real hero.
“THAT’S WHAT I MEAN WHEN I SAY, “I AM HERE.” ONLY YOU CAN DECIDE TO BECOME A HERO, NO ONE ELSE.” The Symbol of Peace smiles at the camera, giving the audience a big thumbs up. “TAKE THIS TO HEART, KIDS! YOU’VE GOT IT!”
“Honey.”
The young Shoto looks up at his mother without fear and complete loving trust.
She in turns smiles down at him with such a kind smile. “You do still wanna be a hero, don’t you?”
Of course he does, it’s his dream…to be just like All Might. A true hero, one that inspires and saves others.
“Just remember, stay true to yourself.”
########(End Flashback)#######
‘I didn’t realize how much I’d forgotten.’ Specifically he had forgotten these important words that his mother had given him: ‘“You are not a prisoner of your lineage. It’s okay to use your power to become who you want to be.”’
Steam begins to smoke from his body, as his heart races with a new emotion, an emotion he hadn’t felt in so long…hope.
Izuku lungs his left hand ready to strike. “Answer me, Todoroki!!”
And he gets his answer as flames, flames that had not seen the sun for a decade, burst forth from Shoto’s left side.
The flames burst out so strongly that Izuku is pushed back by the intensity of the heat itself. “Ahh!!” Damn it’s searing hot, anything that gets too close to those flames will surely turn to ash. Hell he’s lucky he still has his eyebrows from such an intense heat.
As for those in the stands they are simply amazed by the display of raw power before their eyes. Especially Ochaco whose mind replays Shoto’s vow from before. “He’s using his fire!”
And despite the utter terror of the inferno, she’s smiling. Smiling because somehow…Deku broke through Shoto’s cold heart.
Shoto’s flames dance upward as if celebrating their freedom and letting the world know that they are here and here to win.
Toshinori is just as amazed at the sight before him, but his eyes are trained on the boy that nearly ran headfirst into the inferno. ‘You made him use his father’s power. Midoriya. Don’t tell me you were trying to save Young Todoroki this whole time!’
Izuku doesn’t dare look away from the flames, they are absolutely amazing, it’s a blaze that signifies Shoto’s rebirth. Like those of a Phoenix that’s finally ready to retake its life.
“You’re helping your opponent.”
Izuku gasps as steam rises from Shoto’s right side, his frosted body thaws free in mere seconds.
“You fool.” continues the dual-Quirked hero. “Even though you wanna win this battle. Now which one of us is screwing around?”
Izuku begins to grin at the sight before his emerald eyes. Before him stands the new Shoto, the one that will use both of his gifts to their fullest and become the hero he was meant to be. With the ice on his right that bursts out a cold mist and his left that dances with flames.
“I want it, too. I’ll be a hero!”
The two are grinning madly as they are now free to truly show the world what it means to be a hero.
They aren’t the only ones thrilled to see Shoto use his flames, however.
“Yes, Shoto!!” Endeavor is so thrilled that his flames burst wildly from his body.
He quickly marches down the steps towards the field, ignoring the surprised looks of the audience around him.
“Have you finally accepted your purpose?!” He’s grinning like a mad man that’s just been given a free ticket out of hell. “That’s it. Very good! This is the dawn of a new era for us! With my blood in your veins you’ll surpass me!” he makes it to the edge of the field. “You will live up to the reason I created you!!”
Even though he’s roaring from the top of his lungs, his own son, his so-called masterpiece doesn’t even acknowledge his existence. Because for right now, in this moment, Shoto is free of his shackles and is now soaring to new heights. Heights where he can no longer even hear his father’s cries.
Present Mic finally shakes out of his stumper. “Endeavor suddenly shouts words of…encouragement?” He’s not really sure. “What a doting father.” He doesn’t sound at all convinced.
Shoto’s flames continue to illuminate and burn, melting away the ice around them, drying up the battlefield as the water evaporates.
Even amongst the steam and heat Izuku continues to smile, smile at the beautiful sight of a hero being born. “Incredible.”
“Why are you smiling?” Shoto frowns at Izuku, this boy is so vexing to him. “Without your powers…in this hopeless situation… You must be crazy.”
Izuku continues to grin, there might be some truth to Shoto’s statement.
“Don’t blame me for what happens next.”
Somehow the greenette’s grin widens. “That’s fine just one thing.”
“What’s that?”
“Don’t blame me either!!” He throws the Omnitrix up just as it comes to life, flashing its signature green.
Guess he held out long enough. “IT’S HERO TIME!!!” Izuku slams down on the Omnitrix and as the light swallows him up he can feel his own fiery passion burst forth from within his body. It’s almost as if his very will has burned through his skin and has been sent ablaze before the world to see.
Somehow the heat within the stadium grows to incredible degrees, cement begins to actually melt, the ice vanishes like it’s been disintegrated, and anything metal turns bright red as they burn under the increased inferno.
And no, it's not because of Shoto’s flames, but because of the creature before him. And the sight makes him smile with amazement, he really should just accept that he’ll never make sense of what Midoriya is.
As of now Midoriya’s current form is tall and looks like a being that was raised on a volcano with a magma like body that’s covered in dark-red rocks, his entire skull is ablaze, radiating fire. This creature’s entire physique is radiating with fire.
“Amazing, simply amazing!!” shouts Present Mic. “Giving us one new transformation wasn’t enough, he had to give us two of them!! And what’s with the fire and ice themes, is he trying to match Todoroki blow for blow or something?! Whatever the case this new guy is really blasting out the heat. Oh, that’s it Heatblast! Yes, got the name on the first try this time!”
“Give me everything you got!!” The newly dubbed Heatblast roars as his own flames increase with intensity bursting from his hands and head.
He’s not so much controlling his own flames but allowing his thrill and adrenaline to fuel them like feeding a raging wildfire.
In response, Todoroki stomps his right foot down and ice explodes up as his flames dance even wilder. “Let’s finish this, Midoriya!!”
Heatblast twists his body, he’s about to unleash all that he’s got. “You got it, Todoroki!!”
At the same time, Cementoss hurriedly slams his hands against the ground. “That’s it, Midnight!” A wave of cement rushes forward to interrupt what will definitely be a powerful pair of fiery attacks. “One of them could be killed!”
The umpire is in agreement. “They’ll destroy each other!” Midnight rips at her thin costume, exposing the skin of her arm and her sleepy gas begins to smoke out.
Neither competitor so much as flinch at the oncoming Quirks, they are far too focused on each other.
Shoto launches a massive wave of icicles right for the flaming alien, they come crashing towards him like a tidal wave.
Without thinking Heatblast practically blasts off the ground like a fiery missile the surface of which melts away as his body glides right over it. ‘Gotta try and get close and give it everything!!’
Shoto’s entire left side flashes as his flames reach infallible degrees, incinerating the battlefield around him and his previous attack.
Heatblast continues to rocket forward. ‘Come at me with your full power, Todoroki!!’
Shoto’s left hand rises as if the flames themselves are controlling his movements, his entire palm is light with flames as the heat from both of them begins to clash. “I see now, Midoriya.”
Heatblast throws both his hands forward as his fiery spirit blazes within his hands.
“Thank you.”
And with nothing else to say they both unleash their power, just as five giant walls of cement intercept them.
The explosions of fire obliterate the blockade as if they were never there. The entire battlefield explodes as a raging firestorm detonates from within the stadium shaking it to its very core!! Large pieces of debris are flung into the air, carried by the intense heat and flaming winds. All of the ice on the field is vaporized as they are consumed by the flames, the frozen grass underneath turns to ash, and the cement walls lining the stadium melt away. Both Midnight and Cementoss get caught by the shockwave and are flung backwards by the sheer power of the blasts.
The powerful gale of heat rages across the stadium causing many of those in the Hero Course to brace themselves from what feels like the sun itself has fallen to Earth.
“Holy crap balls!!” Mineta flails about in the air, the gale threatening to sweep him away. Lucky for him, Shoji managed to grab hold of his leg.
“This is crazy!!” shouts a terrified Kaminari as the bandages around his ears fly away.
“These guys are monsters!” cries Hanta Sero as he bunkers down in his seat.
Yaoyorozu tries to shield herself from the thrashing heat. “What’s happening down there?!”
Ochaco is the only one, other than Bakugou, who refuses to even flinch at all the flames. “Incredible.”
Even the heroes have to endure the firestorm, all but a few of them manage to watch on: All Might, Thirteen, Aizawa, and Endeavor. Their wills prevent them from looking away even from the blinding flames. They all want to witness the results of this clash of titans.
Finally the firestorm has reached its peak and begins to disperse. The wind finally calms, and the flames wither away as there’s nothing to fuel them. The melted cement and metal glows red like magma and the field is black with ash, but a giant plume of smoke now blinds them from seeing what had occurred between the two fighters.
Down on the field, a bit of ash is pushed away as a dome of cement rises from the ground. The little dome crumbles away revealing a slightly burned Cementoss and Midnight.
Cementoss coughs as he inhales the smoke. “Having a great power doesn’t mean you’ll be a good hero.” He stands back up trying to spot the students. “But these two are amazing.” And terrifying.
Up at the commenter’s booth Present Mic was somehow thrown backwards. “What happened just now?” He looks to his co-host who remained unfazed by the firestorm. “What the heck is up with your students?”
Aizawa responds so calmly that it's kind of scary how unsacred he is. “As the opposing fire blasts collided the kinetic energy increased and thus was released at such a high speed that an explosion was formed.”
Present Mic zips back up. “Wait, that’s what caused such an explosion?! How hot did that fire get? Jeez. I can’t see a thing past all this smoke!”
Down on the field, a burnt and sore Midnight picks herself up off the ground with a little help from Cementoss.
“Is the match still going on, or what, huh?!” Present Mic’s shouting isn’t helping her pounding headache.
Finally the smoke begins to clear away as a fresh cool wind comes to carry it away.
The entire audience, the students, and heroes lean forward trying to be the first to see what had become of these heroic gladiators.
And what they see leaves them in silence, Shoto’s body has crashed against the opposite wall of the stadium. His body remains up but, as the smoke clears away, he a bit more is revealed. The entire left side of his shirt has been burned away to ash and his left arm looks broken like it impacted itself against a train. His body is equally pulled down by gravity and he collapses in a heap of exhaustion.
“There.” cries Midnight. “Todoroki is…unconscious!” She throws her whip towards the opposite end of the field. “Midoriya wins!”
The entire stadium erupts into earthshaking cheers as the smoke clears to reveal the fiery Heatblast. He also crashed into the melted cement wall but unlike his opponent his alien DNA gave him a bit more durability than that of a human’s. With a groan the morphed Izuku gazes straight ahead at his defeated foe, his mind still processing the clash of their powers.
“Midoriya will advance to the finals!!”
That’s it…he won.
Notes:
And Ch.27 will pick it up right from there next time along with the Ochaco vs. Bakugou fight. So, how was the Deku vs. Shoto fight? Was it everything you wanted or not? I hope it’s the former.
Important notice, I’m about to become very busy again so updates may take longer than usual. So, I will be updating either once a week or once every two weeks depending on how much progress I can get in. I will continue to write but I may not be able to make the same amount of progress that I am getting right now. I will do my best to get the chapters out on time, promise.*I always planned to introduce two aliens for this fight long before I even began writing this story, and one of them was always going to be Heatblast. However, instead of Big Chill I was going to go with Articguana, but due to popular demand by reviewers I decided to swap Articguana out for Big Chill. So, sorry to those that would have preferred Articguana he will eventually make it into the story himself at a later time.
*Also, the no boundary rule will carry over into Ochaco’s fight with Bakugou, that should be just as exciting as this one was, if not more so.
Chapter 27: Unleash Your Power Part II
Summary:
Ochaco vs. Uraraka, which of these two will come out on top?
Notes:
Hey everyone, I’m finally back with Ch.27. Woah it took long enough, huh? Anyway you all waited long enough so let’s get to it. Shall we?
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Finally the smoke begins to clear away as a fresh cool wind comes in to carry it away.
The entire audience, the students, and heroes lean forward trying to be the first to see what had become of these heroic gladiators.
And what they see leaves them in silence, Shoto’s body has crashed against the opposite wall of the stadium. His body remains up, but as the smoke clears away a bit more is revealed. The entire left side of his shirt has been burned away to ash and his left arm looks broken like it impacted itself against a train. His body is equally pulled down by gravity and he collapses in a heap of exhaustion.
“There.” cries Midnight. “Todoroki is…unconscious!” She throws her whip towards the opposite end of the field. “Midoriya wins!”
The entire stadium erupts into earthshaking cheers as the smoke clears to reveal the fiery Heatblast. He also crashed into the melted cement wall but unlike his opponent his alien DNA gave him a bit more durability than that of a human’s. With a groan the morphed Izuku gazes straight ahead at his defeated foe, his mind still processing the clash of their powers.
“Midoriya will advance to the finals!!”
That’s it…he won.
The audience get even more riled up, screaming from the top of their lungs as they celebrate such an amazing battle.
While the crowd screams into his ears, the flaming Izuku finally settles down. He scans the rest of the field; he’s both amazed and terrified by how much destruction the two of them caused. “It’s…mind boggling.” Despite the flames a cold shiver runs down his spine. “I don’t even want to think what would happen if he had more control.”
His mind replays the sight, the sight of Shoto being reborn. ‘It was…so incredible.’
A few wisps of flames dance across his eyes.
“Huh?”
Heatblast finally takes a moment to examine himself by raising up his hands that are still flaming up with energy.
…
“AHHH!!!” The flames spurt up as Heatblast begins to panic. “I’m on fire!!” He takes off running across the burnt field.
During the heat of the moment, Izuku didn’t actually know what had happened to him. He figured he was one of his other aliens and now all that he sees of himself is that somehow his entire body is on fire!!
“Ahh!! Fire!! I’m on fire!!”
Someone please save him!! At this rate he’ll be burned to a crisp!! Shoto’s flames must have been stronger than he thought, they were so hot they turned his body into a walking inferno.
“Someone put me out!! Someone-EEK!!!”
A spray of fire-retardant foam splashes in his face, dousing the flames and leaving a bare red-rocked skull.
“Ah!! It burns!!” Heatblast grabs at his face as tiny spurts of flames try to reignite amongst the foam. “Why does it burn?!”
“Oh, suck it up!” snaps a rather irritated Midnight with a fire extinguisher in her hands.
She’s really had it with these kids, they’ve changed the rules, caused tons of destruction, and worst of all they nearly gave her a new tan.
Cementoss curiously eyes the fire extinguisher. “Why do you have that anyway?”
“Oh, I had it in case Todoroki decided to use his flames today…” Midnight briefly examines the melted walls, burned grass, and demolished battlefield. “Obviously, it wouldn’t have been enough.”
“Ahh!!” Heatblast continues to scream while in a panic, his head has reignited but that just means he’s still burning alive.
“Oh, be quiet!!” snaps Midnight. “Take the pain like a man!” She cracks her whip snapping Izuku out of his panic. “Besides you’re not actually burning alive or anything!”
“Huh?” Finally he stops screaming and examines his body again, taking note that even though he can feel the heat it doesn’t actually hurt.
But he has to make sure, his head snaps up to the jumbotron where he has the privilege of taking in his newest alien’s appearance.
“Is that me…?” With his flaming body on screen, the morphed Izuku waves his arm making sure it’s really him. Now that he’s calm enough to realize the truth, he takes a moment to admire this new alien’s features. “Now this is hot.”
Too bad for him, Midnight’s really had it and that pun was enough to send her off the edge as she takes aim with the fire extinguisher.
“AHHHH!!!”
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
Shoto Todoroki begins to stir, his entire body feels overheated, unable to even sweat, after that heated match with his classmate. His head is pounding as he tries to make out where he is. From what he can feel he’s on a stretcher being hauled away by a couple of medical bots most likely on their way to the Nurse’s Office.
“What happened…?”
His mind flashes back to his recent match with Midoriya. And based on how he’s the one being hauled away on a stretcher quickly deduces how the fight ended.
Shoto sighs. “I lost, huh?”
The scarred teen leans his head up so he can take a proper look at his left hand, namely the left side of his Quirk. He really used it back there, and it felt so right, something he didn’t expect. And despite his loss, he isn’t all that torn up about it. Midoriya won, no need to get hung up about it. But what leaves an uncomfortable pit in his stomach is the feeling of unease and the lack of confidence in himself that he made the right decision. Was it worth using his flames? Can he really become what he wants to be rather than what his father desires him to be?
“What’s the matter?”
The medical robots come to a halt as a large imposing figure intercepts their path.
Recognizing the voice, Shoto grunts as he sits up and finds his bastard of a father standing before him.
The Number Two hero smiles down at his spawn. Which is a rather odd sight, Shoto half expected him to be exploding with rage after his loss, but then again Endeavor did get what he wanted in the end.
The Flaming Hero snickers. “Not gonna tell me to get lost?” All while he smiles, he eyes his son’s left side, which is now exposed thanks to his uniform being burned away by his own flames; the flames he gave him. “You need to learn to control your left side. It’s dangerous to release so much energy like that.”
The worst excuse for a father opens his arms as if to embrace Shoto’s acceptance of him and his power. “But despite your loss, I’m glad you’re finally seeing reason. Now that you’ve abandoned your childish rebellion, we can get back to what’s important.” His grin becomes sickeningly menacing as a dark and unheroic like vision plays in his mind. “And you can begin by crushing that Midoriya brat.”
Yes, that boy played his part well unlike others, he must understand the value of power. He should almost thank the Midoriya spawn for assisting his creation to see the truth. Because thanks to his efforts, Endeavor’s own ambitions will finally come to foriscian.
Endeavor raises his hand out to his injured and dazed creation. “After you graduate, you’ll work by my side. I’ll lead you down the path of the mighty, Shoto.”
Shoto can’t even bare to look at this monster, no the truth is that this man is not even worth his time. It took a classmate…a real hero to help him see the error of his way of thinking. But even so he can’t or alter how he feels about this bastard.
“I haven’t abandoned anything.”
“Huh?” That statement delivered calmly and precisely, takes the pro hero completely by surprise.
Shoto raises his left hand, gazing down upon it with a new light. “You’re a fool to think my feelings could be so easily reversed.”
He thinks back to his final attack with Midoriya how their opposing fires clashed and danced about the stadium.
“Instead…out there…for that one moment.” His left-hand clenches as if holding onto this new memory, the memory of Midoriya’s words: that it’s his Quirk. “I forgot all about you.”
Endeavor, surprisingly, let’s out a gasp of shock. He was so sure this was it, the start of his uprising.
With a tap of his hand the medical robots wheel themselves around the stunned pro hero. As they pass Shoto continues to spill his feelings. “Whether that’s good or bad, whether it’s the right thing to do. I don’t know. Maybe I don’t need you.”
Endeavor, the man in All Might’s shadow, can only watch in stunned silence as Shoto is carried away, away from him and his goals.
When he can no longer see his son, the son that’s rejected him, anger and frustration surge back into his being; fueling his flames and his rage.
“Midoriya.” He spits the accused name out like it’s an insult. “Just what kind of drivel did you put in my Shoto’s head?”
It had to be that boy; he should have known better to demand someone like him to push Shoto’s progress on. It was a mistake, a mistake he intends to fix.
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
“Man, why’d she go and spray me like that?” groans Heatblast as the last of the foam is finally burned away.
How did someone like Midnight become a teacher anyway? Like she’s the R rated hero…how is that school appropriate?
Heatblast shakes his head as he reenters the viewing box. “Sheesh, she’s got to learn to chill out.”
“So do you, man.” states Hanta Sero upon Heatblast’s arrival.
“Oh, hey Sero.” Heatblast happily waves his brightly burning hand, his classmates flinch at the slight movement. “What?”
Denki Kaminari scoots back in his seat to try and get away from the heat radiating off the creature. “Dude, you’re a walking bonfire! So watch what you're doing.”
“Sorry, but I’m not used to this guy yet.” The morphed Izuku gazes down at his molten-rock body.
This alien certainly is a unique one, he can only imagine what kind of environment could have produced such a species. Probably a planet that’s void of any water. Hell he’s lucky he didn’t set off the sprinkler system as he made his way over here.
Mina Ashido examines the flaming Izuku. “Well can you at least transform back?”
“No can do, got to let the transformation burn out on its own.”
Tsuyu Asui noticeably let’s out an exasperated sigh, but she doesn’t say anything.
“Speaking of transformations.” interrupts Tenya Iida. “Please, explain how you could have gotten two new forms in such a short span? Or were you purposefully withholding them for such an occasion?”
“Trust me, I have no idea where I got either of them.” replies Heatblast.
In truth, Izuku really has no idea how he got them or why. Maybe the Omnitrix was holding out on him and finally decided to give him a treat. Or it could be something else entirely. But then again, it is a piece of Level 20 technology; if he spent a hundred years studying and reverse engineering the device, he’ll never truly be able to understand it.
Heatblast continues. “Also if I was holding out on them, why wouldn’t I have used them during the U.S.J.?”
…
They all have to admit that Izuku’s got a point. Both Big Chill and Heatblast would have been really helpful during the attack at the U.S.J. Big Chill could have frozen the villains, especially those in the flood zone, and with his phasing he can avoid attacks from that Nomu. As for Heatblast…well they just saw the guy melt away the stadium; there’s no need to imagine what he could have done.
With some cautious maneuvering, Heatblast is able to get to his seat without burning anyone although everyone is giving him a rather wide berth. As he sits down, he takes notice that his fellow space cadet is actually still there within the viewing box even though her opponent seems to have left already. She appears to be mulling something over in her mind, and whatever it is, it must be important because she seems to be the only one that hasn’t noticed him yet.
“Shouldn't you be getting ready?”
“Hm?” Ochaco Uraraka snaps out of her thoughts. “Oh, Deku. I would but as you can see.” She gestures towards the center of the stadium.
After his…battle, the entire stadium has essentially become a rapid paced construction zone. Mainly involving Cementoss reshaping the melted cement while the other staff members of U.A. see to the damaged equipment and clean up debris. It’s so bad Power Loader had to grab some of his Support Course students to help with repairs. Even some of the Business Course are assisting mainly by selling burn-kits to the audience. In all, it’s going to be sometime before they begin the next match.
Heatblast slumps in his seat, feeling rather guilty for causing so much trouble. “Ah, right…”
A few moments of silence pass between the two as Ochaco resumes her thoughts.
Heatblast watches on silently wondering about what she could ever be thinking about. His curiosity is itching for him to ask what is on her mind but not wanting to cross a line he withholds his questioning nature.
“You were…really amazing out there.”
His head snaps up, he almost didn’t hear her, her voice was so soft almost as a whisper.
The morphed Izuku tries to offer up the friendliest smile he can muster even while his entire head is aflame. “Thanks. Although it wasn’t easy. Todoroki’s so skilled and determined, I actually thought I was going to lose there a few times. Heck if Big Chill, still a dumb name, wasn’t so versatile I definitely would be a popsicle right now. Then again if the Omnitrix gave me Diamondhead like I wanted I’m sure I would have had an easier time since I actually know how to use that alien. But I guess I can’t really complain both Big Chill and Heatblast are fine additions…”
While Izuku mutters away to himself, Ochaco takes a moment for herself to reflect on Izuku’s match against Todoroki. Both of them were so incredibly amazing with their powers under their full control despite all of their devastating strength. Unlike her and One For All, which she just can’t seem to get down. Granted she is getting close, but it feels like she’s missing something, something important and not so obvious that it’s stopping her own progression. She needs to figure out what it is and how it can help her control One For All to the point that she can compete with Deku and Todoroki.
Ochaco releases a heavy sigh figuring that the answer isn’t going to just drop into her lap anytime soon.
But then again, Deku always seems to have such good control over his powers. Just take a look at his two newest forms, he figured them both out in twenty minutes while it’s taken her months to get this far with All Might’s power.
“Hey, Deku can I ask you something?”
Heatblast blinks, assuming he has eyelids, and smiles. “You just did.”
Ochaco’s cheeks puff out in annoyance. “Come on, be serious.”
Heatblast actually appears a bit ashamed. “Sorry, but please, feel free to ask your question.”
It takes her a few more moments to speak, giving them a chance to sit there and bath in the comforting warm radiating from Heatblast’s flames.
“Deku.”
Heatblast sits there quietly allowing her the chance to speak.
“How do you do it?”
“Sorry?”
Ochaco inhales, trying to keep herself calm. “How does it feel…when you’re like this? When you’re…in one of your transformations?”
She can tell that Deku’s at a complete loss here.
“How can you be so good with controlling your powers, even those that you haven’t had for very long? What do you feel when you use them? Does it come naturally or is it something else? How can I get stronger?!” There’s desperation in her voice which only amplifies the look of fear in her eyes, fear that he may not have the answer that she needs to hear.
Heatblast sits back and ponders, letting her questions sink in and process before he replies. “I wouldn’t say it comes naturally.” He leans forward, raising his flaming palm up towards his face. “More like…I’m trusting that my body knows what to do.”
“You’re…body?” Ochaco scans the blazing creature.
“Um, I mean, I trust that each transformation knows what to do when the time comes. Each transformation is unique and adapted to their individual skill sets and abilities. Of course I need to be the one to trigger said abilities, but when it comes to output it’s more like the instincts of the transformation kicks in.”
Ochaco leans forward, almost excited to hear that there is an answer. “How though? How does it kick in?!”
“Because I let it.” Heatblast turns to face her. “I can’t just think my powers will work; I have to believe that they will work. I have to let my will flow through my entire being, let my powers flow through my body.”
“I’m still lost here.”
“Hm… Oh, think of it like a river.”
“Like a river?” The brunette’s head tilts to the side.
Heatblast nods. “If you try to force the river in the direction you want it to go, you’ll only do more harm than good. And often or not you’ll find it impossible to even redirect it.”
“So what’s the best option?”
“This will sound cliché but go with the flow. If one gives up trying to control the river and simply let it flow freely, they will find the water working much better in their favor and they can harvest the gifts the river provides. Basically why force the water to do what you want, when the water already knows what to do and where to go?”
Ochaco blinks, reeling back from Deku’s words of wisdom as she leans back in her seat. She doesn’t fully understand his metaphor, but she gets the gist. At least she thinks so, but it’s still all so confusing.
“Okay, but how-…” Her words fade away after she turns to face Deku and instead finds a rather strange sight.
While she was out of it, several members of Class 1-A gathered around Heatblast, roasting marshmallows from his flaming body. Yaoyorozu kindly provides thin roasting sticks from her Creation Quirk while Sato hands out marshmallows to everybody who wants one. As for Heatblast, he doesn’t seem that bothered by it except when Kaminari’s marshmallow melts off and lands on his shoulder, but a quick wisp of fire burns it away.
“What are you guys doing?!” cries out the female space cadet.
“What?” Rikido Sato raises up a bag of marshmallows. “I had these on hand. I figure we shouldn’t let them go to waste.”
He had originally brought them to give his Quirk, Sugar Rush, a quick burst between events.
At the same time, Momo Yaoyorozu creates a few more roasting sticks from her arm before handing them over to a few members of Class 1-B.
While the Hero Course students use Heatblast as a campfire, the alien turns to Sato with his hand raised. “Hand me one will ya?”
Sato drops a marshmallow into his heated palm.
Heatblast proceeds to toss the tasty treat right into his mouth, chewing it for a moment before swallowing it down. “Hm! Wo, I just found another benefit for Heatblast.” Sato gives him another. “I’ll never need a stove ever again.”
Ochaco chuckles awkwardly as Heatblast chews away at his treat. ‘I’m still confused though, but I guess that’s to be expected. I’m not as bright as Deku is…pun intended.’ She chuckles at her own joke, although it comes off as more of a choke.
Knowing she’s not going to get any more out of him, she gets up to leave walking past her distracted classmates as they enjoy a mobile bonfire.
The transformed Izuku watches on quietly through the horde of students. He probably could have clarified more with his answer. But it was the best he had with such little time he got. He can tell that she’s worried, worried that she’s not capable enough. If only there was some other way, he could help her.
He thinks about it for a moment. ‘Maybe there is.’
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Ochaco nervously wrings her hands over the table. She’s been sitting around the prep room for a little while now as the repairs finish up around the stadium. Even so it feels like she’s been sitting here forever, her nervousness making it all ten times worse, and all for good reason.
Bakugou is going to be her most difficult battle yet. But there’s no avoiding it; it was either him, Deku, or Todoroki and none of them would be an easy match. Then again can she even be considered a real challenge to them? Can she really compete on their level?
No…she can’t.
One For All is too unreliable and it injures her. And in this fight, she’s sure Bakugou’s not going to give her an opening to use All Might’s power. If she uses it too soon, she’ll put herself at a major disadvantage especially considering that Bakugou would probably fend off the attack. So in all she’ll only guarantee her own defeat.
Her hands clench tightly together as they shake with fear. ‘Come on, Ochaco!’ She thinks to herself. ‘Stay calm, just…smile. Yeah, that should help calm my nerves. Can’t win a battle if I’ve already given in…’
The door to the waiting room creeks open as a human Izuku pokes his head in. “Hey, Urara- Whao! What’s with that face?! Ugh!”
“My face?” With all her thoughts geared towards hyping herself up she was unaware of the creepily determined expression that formed across her features giving her a dark predatory look of someone who is about commit a murder. “Oh, it’s nothing. I guess I’m not great at hiding how nervous I am.”
“I…understand.” Izuku tries to laugh it off but it only makes things more awkward as he steps into the room. “You’re up against Bakugou, he’s probably going to be your toughest fight.”
“Yeah…and we’ve already seen he won’t hold back even against a girl.” She shivers, thinking about how Ibara’s and Jiro’s fights went for them.
“Yeah, you’re right.”
Ochaco whimpers, even though she knows that is true she was kinda hoping Deku would lie to her, to at least make her feel better.
Izuku continues unknowingly making the situation worse. “Besides, he’s fighting for the top spot; there's no way he’d dare to hold back. Not against anyone.”
Ochaco slumps forward in her seat. Everything Deku’s said is correct, Bakugou is going to go full throttle at her. And she needs to come up with a way to survive his onslaught. But the question is how? How can she possibly defeat him? Bakugou’s control over his Quirk is so much greater than hers. And it’s versatile, he can maneuver around so much more than she can. In all his speed, power, and skills are on a different level than hers. She needs a plan if she hopes to win.
Even though he doesn’t have mindreading capabilities, Izuku can easily sympathize with what Ochaco’s feeling. The feeling of being inadequate or like you’re not good enough to compete with everyone else. That the situation seems rather hopeless.
And so he gives in. “I know you said you didn’t want my help today, but I can’t help it.” Izuku reaches behind his back and pulls out a black journal. “You’ve helped me so much. It’s my turn to help you.” He turns the journal around for her to see. “Maybe I can repay you a little with this.”
The journal is rather small in size but with a thick cover, but what’s odd about it is that there is a coded lock on the side much like a diary. The only other odd thing about it is the title Izuku decided to give it: Tower of Babel.
“Um, Deku. What is that?” She points to the strangely titled journal.
“Oh!” Izuku becomes incredibly shy, rubbing his messy hair as he tries to explain himself. “Oh, this notebook’s different from my other ones. It lists out weaknesses and strategies I’ve made to help beat all sorts of Quirks, abilities, and even some pro heroes I got to see in action over the years.”
It’s what actually helped him take down Bakugou back during the Battle Trial, he just happened to memorize Bakugou’s page after years and years of observations and analysis. Usually he keeps this thing locked away and hidden, but he decided to bring it out for today just in case. Plus there’s all sorts of things he can add to it after today: Tokoyami’s weakness to light, Iida’s Recipro Burst time limit, and so much more. He can’t wait to get home and write it all down!
Ochaco eyes the little journal, surprised to hear what exactly the little item is storing. “Hey, wait! Does that mean you have strategies to take down our classmates?”
Izuku nods his head with vigor. “You bet!”
“Then…you have a strategy to beat me too…right?”
…
The stunned Izuku turns away, tucking the notebook away and out of sight. “You know what. Maybe I’ll just keep this to myself.”
His brow releases a barrage of nervous sweat, he rather not share with everyone how thoroughly he’s taken account of their own shortcomings and limitations. The last thing he wants is for everyone to think of him as some creep.
Ochaco chuckles softly but her laughter falls away to a more somber silence. “Thank you so much for doing that. But, no. Sorry.”
Izuku isn’t offended, in fact he expected this to an extent. “Yeah, I kinda figured you’d say that. But I still had to try.”
Ochaco smiles softly, appreciating Deku’s attempt either way. “That’s just like you, you always want to help.” Even with a smile, one can tell she is anything but happy. Her tone remains somber and soft. “You’re wonderful, Deku. I keep seeing that over and over again.”
She can’t help but compare herself to him: he’s accomplished so much and not just in this Sports Festival but ever since they met, he’s done nothing but go beyond what’s been needed of him. How can she ever compare to him? In comparison Deku is more worthy of One For All then she is…
Maybe…maybe that would be for the best.
Yeah, maybe…in this match…if she loses this match…she’ll pass on One For to him. He’s so much more of a hero than she is: he’s smart, kind, and an inspiration. Deku deserves it, not her.
“Uraraka?”
Ochaco snaps out of her musing, gazing up at Deku’s concerned face.
He knows something’s up, that something’s bothering her, but he has no idea what it could be. Is she that worried about this fight?
If so, then it’s his responsibility as her friend to help her. She’s always been there to spur him on, and now it’s time to return the favor. But how? How can he get across that he believes in her?
Wait, he knows how.
Izuku offers up the best smile that he can with a thumbs up to help demonstrate his support. “Guess I’ll see you in the finals.”
Ochaco stares at him, like he’s some sort of abnormality.
Izuku is unsure whether that helped or not. With nothing else in mind on what he can do to help, he grips the doorknob and opens the door. He hesitates but steps out to give her the space she needs.
“I’ll see you there.”
He stops in his tracks, he can feel Ochaco smiling from behind him. And that’s all he needs to know as he makes his way back to watch the oncoming spectacle.
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The jumbotrons positioned around the repaired stadium light up with images of the next fighters gathering the crowd’s attention.
Admittedly although cheers do ring out in excitement, many of which are rather lackluster mainly because of how nervous they really are for this next match. Namely because after witnessing the other two finalists duke it out, they are scared to think what could result if a gravity wielder goes up against an explosion master.
And Class 1-A are definitely just as wary as the rest of the crowd.
Tsuyu croaks. “Kero. I have a feeling this match might also be a disturbing matchup.”
Jiro hugs herself while shivering, trying to hold back the memories of her own battle. “I know. I almost don’t wanna watch it.”
Ojiro pulls on his collar with worry. “Yeah, it’s gravity versus the power of explosions.”
Shoji scans the field as if it won’t remain in its current repaired state for long. “Just imagine what kind of destruction that will bring.”
Sato shivers in his seat. “I rather not.”
Izuku shares the same feelings, but unlike the others he keeps his thoughts to himself instead he watches on as Ochaco marches forth through the charred field. Because the U.A. staff wanted to repair the stadium quickly, so the ash was never swept off the field. So here Ochaco is marching through the burned field as ash blows with the wind around her, yet her determined and steadfast expression shines through the dark giving her the look of a warrior about to face off against her greatest opponent.
‘Do your best. You got this, Uraraka. Show the world who you are.’
Down below the newest holder of One For All steps atop the remade battlefield as Present Mic begins to hype up the start of the match.
“Alright, this is it. With the repairs complete it’s time for the second match of the semi-finals!”
The crowd booms with life as Present Mic continues.
“From the west, we have the combatant with a pension for Explosions. He’s a first-rate competitor with a first-rate Quirk, it's Katsuki Bakugou!”
The stadium cheers as Bakugou just glares ahead at him, towards his next victim with a nasty scowl on his face.
“Versus! The one I’m personally rooting for, the girl who can defy gravity and the expectations of others, it’s Ochaco Uraraka!”
The cheers scream out throughout the stadium Ochaco inhales and then exhales as to release all her nervousness; it doesn’t work.
“Don’t hold back.”
Her breath hitches as she looks up to meet Bakugou’s nasty scowl and glare.
The ash-blonde’s red eyes shine with fury. “All those other fights were nothing but a waste of time, so don’t waste mine, Roundface.”
The brunette glares right back at the scowling blonde. “A waste of time? Is that what you call their hard work and efforts?”
Bakugou clicks his tongue. “Yeah, that’s exactly what I call it.”
Ochaco growls, her fist clenching on itself. “You jerk.”
“Hey!”
Her entire body tenses as Bakugou’s gaze pierces through her.
Bakugou scoffs at her reaction. “We’ll be ignoring the boundaries too. Got it?!”
“Huh?!”
Midnight is just as shocked as Ochaco is. “No way!!” She cracks her whip. “You will follow the rules that are in place you littl-”
“I accept.” interrupts Ochaco.
Midnight gasps like she’s been stabbed in the back. “What?!”
Ochaco turns to the chief umpire. “Ms. Midnight, even if you call either one of us out of bounds, you can be sure that neither of us are going to listen.”
“Excuse me?!”
Ochaco turns so she size up her opponent. “Besides we both have something to prove.”
Midnight blinks a few times, she’s at a complete loss for words here. With a heavy sigh she has no choice but to accept. “Alright, who am I to hold back such energetic youths.” She cracks her whip, whipping herself back to her usual self. “If both parties consent then I see no reason to interfere with a passionate battle between hotblooded youths!!”
The crowd cheer ready to see another battle for the ages.
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“Midoriya.”
“Huh?” Izuku’s head snaps to Iida.
The Class President throws his hands up, chopping them in the air. “I’m curious, do you think there’s any way Uraraka can win this?” He pushes up on his gleaming glasses, as if to emphasize his sentences. “I don’t mean to put down her skills, but I do believe Bakugou’s own skills and control outmatch hers. And I was wondering if there is some way, she can gain an advantage over him.”
Izuku can feel the Tower of Babel journal within his pocket. “Well, I have just one idea but it’s nothing that fancy.” His mind replays his own fight against Bakugou back during the Battle Training with All Might. “Bakugou’s strong, when it comes to close combat, he almost never has any openings. And the more he moves, the more he sweats, which just makes his Quirk more powerful.” That’s especially true now after all Bakugou’s demonstrated from the previous rounds of the tournament. “He’s gotten really good at using his Explosions to move around in the air, but there is one major flaw she can exploit.”
“What’s that?”
“His balance.” Izuku states with all seriousness. “Contrary to how it may seem, Bakugou's balance isn’t exactly first rate. Any hindrance to his flight paths or movement will throw him off, but only for a brief moment of time. And in that time, he’ll quickly readjust himself and simply use his Explosions to right himself. It’s not actually a feat of regular acrobatics but just his Explosions providing him a counterbalance.”
Bakugou can only slow his own descent as long as he keeps up his Explosions. But the more he does that the less sweat he’ll have to work with if he tries to go for one big strike.
“What Uraraka needs to do is get in close so she can use her Quirk to make him float.” At least that’s the first part of the plan. “Once that occurs, whenever Bakugou tries to use his Explosions he’ll throw himself way off course giving Uraraka an opportune moment to unleash her full power onto him.”
Iida’s hands shoot up, chopping the air. “But why wouldn’t she use her Zero-Gravity Field?”
“It’s too obvious. The moment she tries to summon it, Bakugou will strike. And it may just be over for her then.”
“Ah, I see.”
“That’s why, it’s obvious what Uraraka needs to do to get the upper hand.”
“Let the last match of the semi-finals begin!”
With no hesitation or a hint of fear, Ochaco charges right in, her body low, and with her hands at the ready.
“Strike first!” finishes Izuku, his own adrenaline pumping now that it’s finally begun.
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Ochaco sprints forward, glaring up at the mad bomber with fierce courage. “Giving up isn’t an option for me!”
Bakugou’s clenching hand begins to rise slowly like he’s readying a deadly weapon. “And now you die.”
As Ochaco charges she recalls what she saw Bakugou do during the Battle Trial against Deku. He started the fight with a big right hook, and from what she saw Deku saw the attack coming from a mile away. Meaning that Bakugou’s done that same move for a while and if her hunch is correct then he’ll start off with that same move here.
Bakugou’s right hand slowly stretches backward.
Ochaco’s keen eyes spot the obvious tell. ‘There!’
She keeps her eyes trained on his hand as it begins to swing forward.
‘Here it comes!’ She readies her own attack. ‘If I can dodge this move-’
She is interrupted by the resounding Explosion that completely engulfs her, throwing her backwards while a plume of smoke is released onto the field and bits of rubble break off the surface of the battlefield.
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Iida and Izuku gasp with fear. “Uraraka!”
Jiro is holding the sides of her own face, her hands ready to cover her eyes at a moment’s notice.
Mina is just as terrified as her. “He blasted her!
Tsuyu’s face is calm but her fidgeting hands suggest otherwise. “Ugh, looks like Bakugou’s not planning on showering her any mercy.”
Jiro grimaces. “Yeah, already figured that one out.” She did lose to the guy after all.
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The smoke moves away revealing what had occurred to Ochaco after she was blasted away.
“Stupid.” Ochaco’s relatively fine despite taking the direct hit. “Saw it coming and I still couldn’t get out of the way.” If only she could properly call upon One For All, then she’d have the power and speed she’d need to take down the ash-blonde.
Smoke continues to bellow as Bakugou realigns himself for another attack. His crimson gaze scans the thick smoke, waiting for his opponent to show herself.
From the corner of his eye he notices something move within the black fog.
“There's no way you can beat me!!” he roars as he thrusts his hand into the smoke as he spots the signature U.A. uniform from within.
His palm releases another Explosion, bursting out a plume of smoke and heat.
As the smoke washes away, Bakugou is surprised to find his hand pressed down on an ownerless U.A. gym shirt.
He gasps in surprise as Ochaco leaps out from the smoke directly behind him.
“Whoa!” cries Present Mic. “She flew her jacket over as a decoy! What incredibly quick thinking!”
‘This is my chance. I can make him float!’ Ochaco lunges for Bakugou while he’s distracted with his back turned.
But it’s not that simple.
Bakugou swings his arm back with a snarl accompanied by a powerful blast that smashes and throws up debris, smoke, and heat right into her body.
Ochaco yelps as she's flung backwards, she crashes on the ground but rolls with the momentum until she catches herself by planting her feet.
Once she has a stable footing she glares up at her powerful opponent. And even though he is her opponent she’s extremely impressed by his speed and power, and so are their classmates.
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Sero jumps out of his seat. “Look at that reaction time!”
“Seriously, the dude’s insane.” yelps Kaminari. “You can’t get the drop on him. And since Uraraka can’t use her Quirk unless she touches him, his lightning-fast reflexes put her at a huge disadvantage.”
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The smoke continues to swirl around the battlefield. Ochaco straightens her stance as she leers at Bakugou’s smoky silhouette from within the haze.
The ash-blonde swipes his hand into the air, as if pulling aside the smoke like it’s a curtain.
Ochaco charges right in, keeping her body low but ready to strike.
“Too slow!!” Bakugou roars as his hand swings down, it glides over the surface firing explosions that tear through the ground before firing up and right into her with a responding boom!
Their classmates watch on with nasty grimaces as a thick layer of smoke accompanies the blast; at this point the smoke has taken up a permanent residence on the battlefield making it difficult to tell what becomes of Ochaco after each attack.
From within the smoke, the gravity wilder springs out from behind. “I’ve got you!!” She shoots out her hand.
Bakugou swings around and lets loose yet another powerful Explosion. This one is bigger and louder; taking up almost half the entire battlefield with ash, rubble, and heat along with an earthshaking shockwave.
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Tsuyu gasp. “Is she okay?!”
Jiro has finally given in and is covering her face in fear and trauma. “I can’t watch this.”
Meanwhile, Mineta leans forward in his seat as if contemplating an important problem. “Like I always suspected. Bakugou’s a total sadist.”
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Yagi Toshinori is almost tempted to bite at his nails. He had no idea things would escalate to this, it’s obvious she can’t keep this up for very long and if she does then there’s no way it can lead to anything good.
‘Young Uraraka, you’re really giving this your all. Aren’t you? Good, that’s what it means to be a hero, to never give up in the face of such devastating odds. I know you can do this, but…you don’t have to push yourself so far. You’ve done more than enough.’ He observes as she gets blasted again. ‘But if you feel you need to do this, then you have to go beyond.’
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After taking another blast, Ochaco quickly returns to her feet and lunges at him. “This isn’t over yet!!”
Boom!! Another giant burst of heat and pressure. Thankfully for Ochaco, he missed.
She swerves and continues running forward, her front half low like a lioness stalking its prey at full speed.
But if she is a lioness then Bakugou is a lion that is out to defend his pride and honor. With a swing of his claw a roaring blast bats her away.
This continues on with Ochaco springing right back to her feet and charging in again only for the same results to occur. She is getting completely thrashed around by taking Explosion after Explosion, each one throws her around a doll stuck in a powerful gale. And each powerful blast breaks away into the surface of the battlefield, making the surface even harder to trek as it becomes more and more unstable. Despite all this she keeps at her desperate assault, all she needs is that one hit to land and she can win this!
Present Mic has come to the same conclusion. “Looks like she’s not resting between attacks despite being exploded. The poor girl.”
Even as he speaks, explosions continue to echo from the battlefield. Ochaco is unrelenting as she charges in again and again, but only to be met with an explosive demise.
There’s no telling how much longer she can take this kind of punishment. Any longer and who knows how much damage may be done to her!
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And many of the onlookers, especially the pro heroes, can’t even bear to keep watching for that much longer.
“Her feint earlier didn’t work, so now she's getting desperate.”
Many of those in earshot are in agreement. It’s obvious to many of them that the poor girl has no real plan for success. And the results are dismal and gruesome.
Down below in the viewing box, Neito Monoma is actually able to pick up their chatter, and it makes him chuckle.
“Hm.” He smirks up at the so-called pro heroes. “You idiots. Look closer.”
Both Class 1-A and Class 1-B eye him with confusion, but their attention is drawn back to the explosions that are consuming the battlefield with Monoma’s advice in mind.
As they examine the field more and more pro heroes are becoming a bit rowdier, airing their disapproval down at the officials.
“Hey, shouldn’t one of the teachers step in?!”
“Yeah, this is too rough.”
Cementoss doesn’t even acknowledge them. He’s far too focused on the match to even care.
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The brunt and exhausted Ochaco pants as Bakugou’s dark figure looms from within the smoke; his red eyes flare like that of a demon as it remains shrouded in darkness.
The brunette grunts as she shoves herself off the ground and lunges, but like always it ends the same: with a massive Explosion to the face that flings her back with burns and smoke.
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“This is shameful!” shouts a random hero who’s trying way too hard to act “heroic.”
The pro hero shoots up from his seat to deliver what he thinks would be the words of a hero. “Listen, kid, you really wanna be a hero? Then stop acting like a bully!”
His words fall on death ears, as Bakugou remains focused on the battle at hand. He refuses to veer away from the smoke for when Uraraka inevitably reappears.
The random pro hero continues with his tirade. “If you’re so good, just finish this already!”
The only response he receives is an Explosion that rings out from below.
“Stop toying with the girl and end this match!!”
Other pro heroes are getting riled up too. “Yeah, you heard the guy!”
Others join in their fellow hero’s stance, standing from their seats and booing the mad bomber. This stirs up the rest of the stadium and all too soon the rest of the audience joins in.
“The crowd is now booing Bakugou!” From within the commentator’s box Present Mic nods his head. “And honestly. I kinda agree with what they’re sayin-Pht!!”
Aizawa’s heavily bandaged elbow slams into his face, knocking him aside.
“Hey, whoa!! What the crap?!”
Shouta Aizawa ignores him as he growls into the microphone. “Where is the man who started this uproar? Are you a pro?”
That one question stings so much that the entire stadium silences itself in just a split second.
“Because if you’re being serious, you can go home and hang up your cape.” Aizawa leers down at all of the pro heroes that dared to pass judgement on his students. “I’d suggest looking into another career.”
Izuku stares up at the commentator's box with much confusion. “You know what he’s talking about?” He’s asking anyone in general, because he honestly has no clue.
At the same time, Bakugou is still ignoring the rest of the stadium, keeping his focus on the match.
Aizawa decides to indulge the morons since they obviously don’t know how to use their eyes or their brains. “Bakugou’s fierceness is an acknowledgement of his opponent’s strength. He knows she deserves to have made it this far. So, he’s making sure he does whatever it takes to keep her at bay and come out on top.”
Bakugou exhales in surprises as Ochaco stands before him: she’s exhausted, beaten, and burned, but still standing. ‘We’re not finished. She’s still standing.’
The panting Ochaco glares at him with furious determination. She wipes away the sweat from her permanently rosy cheeks, but somehow not even those can alleviate the fierce look on her face.
‘She’s not dead yet.’
“I think…it’s about time.” pants All Might’s successor
Bakugou readies himself for her to charge in again.
But this time, she doesn’t make a move. “Thank you, Bakugou…” She stands tall with determination and confidence as she brings her hands and fingers together. “…for keeping your eyes focused on me!”
Bakugou’s is caught off guard by the sudden declaration. “What?”
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Izuku is just as lost as his former friend is. “What?”
“Haha!”
Izuku turns in his seat to see Monoma smirking from his seat. “I don’t blame Bakugou for not noticing. But it’s embarrassing for a pro to boo and not realize what’s going on from the stands.”
Izuku is still lost here. “What are you…?”
Monoma snickers. “She kept low to the ground as she moved, which meant Bakugou’s blasts tore up the floor of the ring; creating weapons for her. And then she kept him focused on her by attacking relentlessly without rest.” The Copy Quirk user leans back and gazes up at the sky. “Rendering him oblivious.”
Both classes follow the blonde’s gaze and they are completely astonished with what they find.
A multitude of boulders, rocks, and rubble are floating high up in the air right above the battlefield. And in that instant, it’s clear what is about to happen next.
“YAHHHHH!!!” Ochaco presses her fingers together, releasing her Zero-Gravity Quirk all at once.
The boulders instantly shoot downward as gravity fires them down like giant bullets. They soon rain down from the sky as if they actually fell from space itself.
“A meteor shower!!” shouts Present Mic.
Aizawa sighs. “Now you notice.”
Izuku shoots up from his seat. “Hey, she had a plan all along!”
From the teacher’s box, Toshinori is just as thrilled. ‘I knew you could do it!’
The rubble flies downward like the impossible meteor shower that it is!
Even though he has an entire meteor shower descending down upon him, Bakugou is staying relatively calm. The ash-blonde keeps his gaze on the incoming attack, he takes a firm stance.
With his attention upward, Ochaco charges in with little care about the incoming meteor shower. ‘With this much debris, whether he’s evading or counterattack, there will definitely be an opening!’
At this point the hail of boulders are nearly atop of them.
‘In that moment, I’ll finally get close to him!’
Bakugou grips his left wrist and aims his hand upward like he’s about to pull off a miracle from thin air.
Ochaco’s right arm lights up as One For All courses through her being as she bounds forward. ‘This is it! My shot! I’ll win and be just like Deku!’
She throws her fist forward, powering it not only with One For All but her desires as well. With this strike she will claim the win and move on to the finals!
Bakugou however shares the same feelings.
Sparks of heat dance upward on his arm before popping away into his raised palm. The moment the sparks reach his hand a massive Explosion thunders into existence blasting straight up into the air and colliding with Ochaco’s meteor shower!
The Explosion completely decimates the large chunks of rubble as a powerful shockwave crashes through the arena. The blast whips up such a devastating gale that Ochaco stands no chance against it as she’s flung right back, losing all focus of One For All as she’s thrown aside by the burning Explosion, she rolls and tumbles off the harsh ground.
The whirlwind and heat sweeps across the entire stadium to the chorus of screams, and yelps of fear and surprise from the audience members.
As the shockwave dies down, tiny pieces of debris, smoke, and ash rain from the sky; the only evidence of the meteor shower ever exciting are now charred and turned to dust.
Ochaco finds herself collapsed on the ground and in a heap of pain. She’s burned, exhausted, and aching all over, her arm feels strained too from One For All thankfully it’s not injured.
The spent girl whimpers as she shakily pushes herself up, wincing in pain as she peers into the smoky void ahead of her, where Bakugou should lie.
“I figured you’d have some sorta stupid plan to beat me.” The smoke washes away revealing the mad bomber; his left arm is still raised in the air with a trail of smoke blooming out from his palm. “You are friends with that damn nerd, after all.”
Ochaco gasps with devastating fear. “It took him…one shot…”
He was that powerful? She spent the entire match preparing that attack, she had it all planned out…and he countered it with just one shot!
Present Mic gasps. “Bakugou bangs out a huge demonstration of power! He blasted apart Uraraka’s finishing move and remains untouched!”
Quietly, Bakugou exhales a pained pant. “That was close…”
His left wrist, his left wrist is jammed like it was shoved back into his arm’s socket making it stiff and painful, it almost looks swollen.
He grips the stiff limb and pulls, resetting it. It still hurts like a son of a bitch but at least he can move it albeit with some pain.
Meanwhile, Ochaco is still reeling in the aftermath of that demonstration of power. ‘I put everything I could into that…’ Her head falls as she struggles to accept the reality of the situation. ‘But I wasn’t good enough.’
Not for her parents, not for All Might, or her friends… Is this it? Is this all she’s really capable of? If that’s the case…then maybe…she shouldn’t be the one wielding One For All…
‘No.’ Ochaco's entire body shakes with agony as she struggles to pick herself back up. ‘This can’t be it!!’ After some agonizing moments she is able to get back on her feet. ‘I can still stand, though.’ So, maybe she can still fight!
Bakugou, after setting his arm, notices the fire in his opponent’s eyes. “All right, then.” A psychotic grin forms on his face, not of malice but of exhilaration.
He’s genuinely excited, this entire Tournament has been a major let down for him. Each match ended far too quickly for his liking, none of them got his blood pumping!! But worst of all is that Deku’s been showing him up the entire Sports Festival especially during this Tournament. Every match that damned nerd has had has been…badass, they were real challenges…and that pisses him off. But now, now he’s got a real fight on his hands.
“Time for us to get serious.” The mad bomber is finally the one to make a move, he charges straight ahead, his hands poised to strike. “Uraraka!!”
Ochaco can barely turn to face him, all she can do is try and struggle to even breathe right now. But she refuses to look away, because that would mean she’s accepted defeat.
But then again, what can she really do now? Her original plan was a double-edged sword and it failed while being successful in draining her own strength. If she hopes to win now, then she just can’t rely on her Zero-Gravity alone. If she truly wants to call herself All Might’s successor then she needs to wield One For All properly. But how…?
As Bakugou charges, as if in slow motion, her mind flashback to Deku’s words from before about how he summons his own powers: “‘Go with the flow. If one gives up trying to control the river and simply let it flow freely, they will find the water working much better in their favor and they can harvest the gifts the river provides. Basically why force the water to do what you want, when the water already knows what to do and where to go?”’
Ochaco’s breath hitches. ‘Like a river…’ She gaps as something in her mind clicks. ‘I get it now…I’ve been forcing One For All out rather than just letting it!’
In other words, she’s been blocking One For All’s flow like one would dam a river. She’s been forcing the water to build up behind a dam that’s far too weak and as a result the pent-up power breaks its own way out whenever she tries to let out only a small portion of it. What she needs to do is to remove the dam and let the river flow naturally. She needs to let One For All flow through her entire body freely!
Ochaco inhales and exhales slowly despite the raging foe that will be upon her in mere seconds.
“Die, Uraraka!” A grinning Bakugou lunges forward, throwing his palm up to deliver a powerful strike. “It’s over for you-” His grin falls away as an intense wave rushes through the air, something is off, very off.
He plants his feet against the ground bringing himself to a complete halt. ‘What the?’ He gazes down at his feet. ‘My legs! They stopped on their own!’
It was like his own survival instincts kicked in, making him stop in his tracks before he runs headfirst into danger. But the only dangerous thing here is-
Bakugou gazes up ahead and finds the source of the intense wave.
Ochaco’s glowing, her entire body is glowing with a heavenly pink aura that radiates power and confidence. Her stance and demeanor are completely different from before: her stance is taller, she looks more confident, brimming with energy as if her strength has returned to her in the form of the glow surrounding her entire being.
Ochaco exhales, her muscles are tense, but she can feel One For All coursing through her giving her a much-needed boost of power. “It’s not over, Bakugou.”
“Huh?”
All Might’s successor stands tall as she glares up at the stunned Bakugou with a newfound courage and strength. “We’re just getting started. This was all just a warmup.”
A menacing grin forms on Bakugou’s face as he leers at his glowing opponent. “Alright then.”
“Wah!!” cries Present Mic. “Just look at that face! Forget that, check out Uraraka! She’s standing back up after taking such a beating! And what’s with that pink glow?! Is she going super saiyan on us?!”
The grinning Bakugou swings his arm back. “Try this on for size!!”
Ochaco braces herself as she brings her fingers together.
“DIE!!!” Bakugou unleashes a devastating explosion that produces one powerful whirlwind that whips through the stadium as the heat and smoke envelopes his opponent.
“Is he crazy?! We said no lethal blows! Did you already forget?! Is she okay, somebody check?!”
Bakugou’s smile drops. “Seriously? After all that she couldn’t take it. Dammit!” That pisses him off, he hates people that are all talk and show with no real strength to back it up! “Dammit, Uraraka!” He glares at the smoke trying to spot Ochaco’s limp body. “What happened?! I thought you were a fighter!”
The smoke washes away, his eyes widen with shock when he doesn’t spot Ochaco anywhere. She completely vanished from sight, she’s not on the battlefield or the field below, hell even Midnight and Cementoss look to be at a complete loss unaware of where she could have gone.
“Where is-”
“You thought right, Bakugou.”
The ash-blonde freezes up in alertness and ever so slowly his red eyes shift up towards the sky. Hovering above the battlefield is a glowing being of power.
The pink aura Ochaco grins down at Bakugou as One For All courses through her. “I am a fighter.”
The crowd and Present Mic share the same question. “How she’d get up there and so quickly?!”
Aizawa leans forward in his seat. “She made herself weightless just before Bakugou’s Explosion. She then used the power of said Explosion to propel herself into the air.”
“Oh, is that all?”
Bakugou scowls up at Uraraka, offended that she would dare to look down on him. “Uraraka!!” He thrusts his hands back and bursts of burning blasts rocket him into the air, with an enraged roar. “Don’t you dare look down on me!!”
“Wahhh!! Bakugou’s flying after her! He’s so relentless!”
“Uraraka!!” Bakugou roars as he soars up into the air.
Even though she’s taken to the air, he can practically taste victory. Uraraka may be able to float but that’s it, her mobility in the air is nothing like what he’s capable of with his Explosion Quirk. If she wants to avoid his attack then all she can do is end her stupid Quirk and fall, but he’ll be ready; he’ll make sure to take full advantage of her stupid predictability.
“I’ll kill you!!” He swings his hand up in an uppercut, his palm already begging to glow bursts of Explosions.
The glowing Ochaco doesn’t flinch at his threat nor his oncoming attack. All Might’s successor let’s out a deafening battle cry as she kicks her leg downward, with One For All charging her kick a powerful gust of wind whips down. The wind acts like a springboard and launches Ochaco higher into the air and away from the ash-blonde’s Explosion.
Bakugou gasps. “What the hell?!”
“She flew!” shouts a just as surprised Present Mic. “She actually flew! She didn’t just float there; she used her own power to kick herself into the air! Now that’s one hell of a kickass move!”
As Ochaco is pushed higher into the air, she whips her hand behind her, and the power of the swing generates another gust of wind that propels her downward. “Bakugou!!”
The ash-blonde’s eyes shimmer with shock as Ochaco dive-bombs him.
The Zero-Gravity wielder swings her opposite hand forward like she’s throwing a frisbee and a gust of wind slams into Bakugou propelling him back down to Earth where he crashes onto the battlefield with a resounding bang!!
“Grr, damnit…” The ash-blonde groans as he shoves himself off the cracked surface of the battlefield.
Despite his aching pains they only serve to fuel his inner rage and thus in a blink of an eye he’s already backed up in the air with an ear-piercing boom courtesy of the powerful Explosion he used to launch himself.
In less than a second, he’s already up to the same height as the floating brunette and with a swing of his hand she is blasted away in a bang of heat and smoke.
“Yahh!” Her entire body spiral uncontrollably as she’s flung to the side but a nicely timed air kick slowly her spinning and she is able to regain her balance even though she continues to slowly drift towards the stands.
“Get back here!!” Bakugou redirects himself and fires himself forward like a fiery bird of prey that’s about to snatch up a little sparrow.
She is more than happy to oblige; with a backwards air kick she flies like a bullet through the air. And like a bullet she rams her shoulder right into Bakugou’s midsection.
“GAHHH!!!” Spit flies out of Bakugou's mouth as she hits him and hits him hard with such force that the wind is knocked right out of him.
“What a hit!!”
As Bakugou begins to fall back down to Earth, the glowing girl throws a few air kicks to readjust herself and then launches herself right back at him for another air tackle. “You’re done, Bakugou!!”
He has to be, no way he can bounce back after that hit. Plus she’s the one with the advantage in the sky now, gravity literally has no effect on her anymore!
As he falls, a gruesome sneer forms on his face.
Ochaco has no time to redirect herself as she’s engulfed by a sudden Explosion. The blast throws her up into the air with a trail of smoke following along from her partially burned uniform, hair, and skin.
With some breathing room, Bakugou redirects his hands downward. He rapidly fires off a succession of Explosions that allow him to hover in place. “Hehaha!!” Bakugou bellows out a menacingly laugh. “That actually hurt like a bitch, but…” He sneers up at his worthy opponent. “You’re a dumb fuck if you think that’s all it will take to take me down.”
Despite the inflating ego declaration, Ochaco matches the blonde’s own sneer with her own. “I know.”
There’ no point of talking anymore, Bakugou blasts himself into the air like a cannonball.
Ochaco air kicks herself out of the way, but another Explosion fires Bakugou right back at her. She once again evades with a quick spin, but he’s relentless keeping up his charges with a few swipes of his exploding hands to take her out. She in turn evades each one, but each blast is dangerously close. Every Explosion rings in her ears, each blast hits her with a shockwave, and the intense heat threatens to burn her flesh. And it does nothing to deter her from attempting to charge in herself and take a few shots at Bakugou, who evades just as expertly as she had earlier.
With the exchange of midair attacks, the match has quickly developed into a full-on midair dogfight with the two combatants chasing each other through the air with no care of where they are or how close they are to the audience themselves. They race and fly through the air so quickly that the only way people can tell who’s who is by the streaks they leave behind. Bakugou’s streak is nothing but a trail of smoke and the rapid occasion of bright burning flashes. Whereas Ochaco is moving around like a pink blur propelled across the air by powerful whirlwinds that whip and thrash against the audience and pro heroes.
Despite the wind and smoke flung into their faces the entire stadium is mesmerized by the dogfight. The two hero students are moving so fast and gracefully while still clashing that it’s almost like they're watching a midair dance, a dance between mighty warriors of the sky.
The attacks and fast-moving blurs somehow pick up speed and their movements more and more frantic as each of them become more desperate to take out the other.
“These two are incredible!!” shouts Present Mic from the commentator’s booth. “They’re moving so fast; I can’t even tell what’s happening!! They’re moving so fast and recklessly it’s hard to make out, it’s honestly amazing neither of them have crashed into anything. I mean seriously could you imag-AHHH!!!”
A loud crash of glass being smashed in accompanies Present Mic’s high-pitched shriek.
“Ow… Oh, sorry Mr. Mic, Mr. Aizawa!”
“Uraraka?!” asks a stunned Present Mic. “What the hell?!”
“Sorry, can’t talk. Have a fight to win!”
A pink blur blasts itself out from within the smashed commentator’s booth leaving Present Mic and Aizawa to deal with the broken glass and whipping wind by themselves.
“What the heck just happened?”
Aizawa lets out an exasperated sigh. “She crashed.”
After that delay the midair brawl is back at full swing but that was not the last crash. A few times one of the two of them would take a nasty hit from the other that sent them crashing into the stands! Bakugou crashed into the stands, thankfully the pro heroes occupying said seats reacted fast enough to get out of the way.
“Fuck you, Uraraka!!” The enraged Bakugou rockets into the air.
He flies so fast that he catches up to her in an instant, he slams his hand down up and over her and an explosion slams her downward. The glowing girl is thrusted down on an angle with such amazing speed that if she doesn’t do something soon, she’s going to take some massive damage.
“Ahhh!!!” She shrieks as she tries to right herself.
Right when she’s about to crash into the stands, something soft and squishy cushions her landing. “Huh?”
She feels down and finds that the soft mass is…squirming for some reason. Peering down to find out who broke her fall or rather whom. A group of Dittos are piled up under her, each one squirming to break free from the dogpile while also groaning in pain from the impact.
“Deku?!”
Looking around she finds her own classmates staring at her like she’s insane. “Uh, sorry!” She blasts off into the air again before anyone could notice the embarrassed blush on her face.
The Dittos untangle themselves and groan about their various aches and pains.
“Ow, that really hurt.”
“Oh, my back.”
“Whose idea was it to use Ditto to break her fall?”
Three of the Dittos all point to the same clone. “His.”
“What?!”
One of the Dittos doesn’t bother to indulge his clones’ complaining, he’s too busy watching the amazing fight before him. ‘You can do it, Uraraka.’
Ochaco and Bakugou continue to clash and throw punches as they both compete for dominance.
‘He’s strong. So, strong.’ Thinks Ochaco as she air kicks herself away from the ash-blonde, who is quick to pursue after her. ‘I need to put some distance between us.’
Right now her stamina is really starting to drain again, she already went through hell with her first plan now she’s starting to run on fumes here. If she can’t figure out another plan, and quickly since Bakugou’s already hot on her tail. Another problem is that her legs and hands are becoming increasingly more difficult to move, even with 10% or so of One For All coursing through her body she still has a limit. Her muscles are becoming increasingly tense and stiff, if she doesn’t break off her connection with One For All soon, she may not be able to move anymore.
She scans the stadium looking for something to assist her and give her a quick break from One For All. She looks up and spots the open roof of the stadium, with very little options she makes a break for it.
As she races up to the roof, she cuts off One For All and her Zero-Gravity Quirk. She rolls across the hard stadium roof before taking off at a full sprint, this way she can take a quick break from her Quirks while also keeping a distance between her and her opponent.
That last part doesn’t work.
The ash-blonde doesn’t just catch up to her in no time, but completely overtakes her. The mad bomber intercepts her path and forcing her to a stop.
Bakugou smirks at the sight of the thoroughly exhausted Uraraka. “What’s the matter, getting tired?”
Ochaco readies her stance for a fight even as she gasps for air. “Don’t…get your hopes up.”
He snickers, finding her defiance genuinely amusing.
He lunges forward and a large blast swallows her up as heat and smoke rise above the stadium roof.
“What the hell was that?!” cries Present Mic as the blast booms from the roof. “What the hell are those two doing?! I can’t see a thing from here! Whatever’s going on, I sure hope Uraraka’s holding her own.”
Ochaco was totally overwhelmed by that attack; she groans as she slowly pushes her head off the roof of the stadium.
“Die!!”
That’s her only warning, quickly she rolls her entire body over just as Bakugou’s exploding hand slams down onto the spot she was just occupying. With the momentum of her roll aiding her, she jumps back onto her feet.
But like a vicious predator Bakugou is already after her. He swipes at her head, but she ducks her head forward and side steps in the other direction in another attempt to get away from him. She doesn't get far as he lets out a wider blast that knocks her off her feet.
She falls onto the roof with a loud thud, she takes a second to try to catch her breath. She groans as her entire body strains and aches with every movement she makes especially as she struggles to get back on her shaky legs.
Bakugou simply stands there, amused by her determination and no giving up attitude. He’s got to hand it to her, she’s putting up a much better fight then he could have hoped for.
“HA! I gotta say this has been fun.” Bakugou’s nasty grin widens. “But it was always obvious how this match was going to turn out.” His palm pops with a small echoing explosion. “With me winning the whole damn thing!!”
With a single swing of his arm a massive Explosion flares up and crashes into the poor girl, launching right off the ledge of the roof.
“Oh, no!!” shouts the commentator. “Uraraka’s been flung right off the roof! Damn, Bakugou really is tenacious, isn’t he?!”
Ochaco’s eyes sting as the piercing wind whips at her face as she falls from such a great height. Her head is pounding, and her ears are ringing after taking that last Explosion, making it difficult to take in the screams and gasps of the audience and her classmates.
‘You’re so strong…Bakugou.’ Through the whipping wind and pain she somehow is able to leer up at the mad bomber even as she continues to descend. ‘You’re unrelenting. You never give up…’ Her fists tighten, her fingers dig into her palms that blood is drawn. ‘But I’m the same way!’
Imagining the river flowing freely, One For All surrounds her body in the all too familiar heavenly aura. With a clasp of her fingers together, Zero-Gravity takes hold and with a few well aimed air kicks Ochaco manages to redirect herself and land onto the field below without any issues.
Bakugou glares down at her from his towering position and despite the distance between them he can make out her determined stare glaring right back at him.
“What the hell was that, Bakugou?!” Ochaco roars up into the sky ensuring that he can hear her. “I thought you were stronger than that!!” The aura around her pulses as if taunting her own power against Bakugou’s. “Show me what you got!!”
The mad bomber easily takes the hook, if the psychotic killer look on his face is anything to go by. “Ha ha, I’m so going to kill you.”
With the intent to kill signaled by an Explosion that breaks away part of the roof, Bakugou rockets down like a missile.
With the power of All Might’s Quirk coursing through her, Ochaco flies into the air as a massive boom accompanies her as she nearly breaks the sound barrier.
While descending at a high speed, Bakugou spins his body and fires off consecutive Explosions to build his speed creating a spiraling trail of smoke behind him.
The twister of a missile dives down as Ochaco soars ever higher into the air, she kicks her feet from under her generating continuous gales of whirlwinds to propel up faster and faster. All too soon both combatants are nothing but blurs on a direct course towards each other: a smoking twister and a pink comet.
Ochaco speeds upward as her entire body lights up with One For All. She’s moving so fast it feels like her own skin will tear apart from the sheer force. Even so, summoning all of her strength she thrusts her own fist forward to meet Bakugou’s. “MERCURY SMASH!!!” Her entire fist glows blindingly bright as One For All focuses itself within it.
With his momentum reaching its pinnacle, Bakugou’s glowing palm extends out as he roars his bloodthirsty battle cry. “HOWITZER IMPACT!!!”
Present Mic booms into his mic. “And I thought the last two fighters were insane, but this is a whole other level!! These two are forces of nature in their own right!! And they're both on a direct collision course that’ll no doubt be epic!!”
Just before they collide, a jolt of pain of something snapping pierces through the mad bomber. It was his wrist, the same wrist that was nearly injured during Ochaco’s first plan of attack. It snapped under the pressure.
With his attack interrupted and while moving at such a high speed, nothing stands in the way of what transpires next.
Ochaco’s fist collides with Bakugou’s face, tanking him like a bullet train. The clash echoes through the stadium as she follows through with her strike. The force of the smash launches Bakugou right back from where he came from. He’s smashed away and flies backwards right into the jumbotron, crashing into it so hard that the giant screen shakes and threatens to fall from its perch, the screen cracks away and blinks as it tries to hold the picture.
Speaking of, Present Mic appears on screen, he scans the field before looking down towards the bottom corner of the jumbotron where Bakugou’s been smashed into the screen itself. His entire body’s embedded into the smashed into screen, his body limp, his left arm clearly broken, and his mouth agape with no hint of consciousness.
From the field below, Midnight cracks her trusty whip. “Bakugou’s has been knocked out, Uraraka is the winner!”
As the entire stadium explodes with applause and cheers, Ochaco can only float in place above them all. She floats about limply with no attempt to right herself, instead she just let’s One For All wash away and enjoy the cheers that she earned: cheers she had to fight for. She’s burned, pummeled, exhausted, bloodied, and broken. Her right handshakes as it begins to swell, the last attack summoning a bit too much of One For All for her to handle. But none of that can take away from this moment, this moment right here.
She scans the audience admiring their smiling and cheering faces. She sees her classmates cheering her on, she sees Deku’s Dittos doing some form of a cheer routine in celebration, but she also sees him. She sees All Might, her mentor in all his glory, giving her a standing ovation for her efforts, her well-earned efforts.
A tear accompanied by a pained, yet grateful smile adorns the girl’s soft face. “I did, All Might. I proved…that I am a worthy…successor.”
As the crowd continues to cheer and applause, Present Mic screams out in a fit of joy. “That’s it! I knew she could do it! The last match of the semi-finals is over! Uraraka’s moving on to the finals where she’ll compete with Izuku Midoriya for the crowning title!! Who will win?! Who will lose?! There’s only one way to find out listeners! And that’s to stay tuned as we prepare for the final match of this glorious Sports Festival!”
Notes:
Hey everyone. Did you enjoy Ch.27? I really tried my best with this one, but I sort of lost motivation here and there, so it was kind of a struggle. That said I’m not going to stop writing, but the next chapter is probably not going to be out for a while (two weeks at most), but who knows maybe the next chapter will be easier to write. Probability not, though.
*So yeah, I know the first half of the Ochaco’s fight with Bakugou was the same as the anime/manga but that’s because I really enjoyed how Ochaco originally planned to take out Bakugou. So, I just had to include it. To make up for it I’d say the midair dogfight more than made up for it.
*The “Tower of Babel” is a reference to DC Comics where Batman develops a secret set of plans and files that hold the weaknesses of his fellow Justice League members, along with strategies to defeat each and every one of them. These plans are also used in the animated movie “Justice League: Doom” so you can also check it out there.
*Ochaco’s “Mercury Smash” is when she’s moving at a high velocity with One For All powering her up.
Chapter 28: Omnitrix Documentary #1
Summary:
One-One decides to give video making a try.
Notes:
Hey everyone, I know it’s been a while and I am sorry about that. I don’t have writer’s block or anything if anything I think I got burnt out by all the writing. I mean I was pumping out chapters on a weekly basis and I think it’s all caught up to me, so I need a bit of a break. I hope to be back with another chapter eventually but for now I think I just need a longer break than I thought. But not all is lost, I have something a bit different but fun for you all to read today as a nice little place holder until I can get the next chapter out. Plus I can go ahead and answer the Guest reviewers and readers. So, enjoy.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
[This takes place after the Sports Festival, and a few days into the Internship Arc.]
The screen of a camcorder beeps and comes to life to find a piece of loose-leaf paper positioned in front of its lens. The loose-leaf paper is wrinkled with only two words scribbled onto it: Omnitrix Documentary #1.
^Omnitrix Documentary #1!^ cheers Glad-One as he tosses aside the paper to reveal the optimistic side of his being. ^Howdy-ho readers-oops, I mean viewers and welcome to Japan’s Plumber Base!^
Glad-One gestures to the open monitoring facility of the Plumber Base with all of its screens, monitors, and stations.
Glad-One turns back to the camera and performs a semi-bow with his short stout body. ^Me llamo One-^
^-One…^ Sad-One pops into view of the camera lens before spinning the camera back at his other half.
With the camera back, Glad-One continues with his introduction.
^The Omnitrix is a strange and powerful device.^ he leans close to the camera like he’s sharing a secret. ^We’re still unsure what it’s really capable of. There’s only a few things we can say are absolutely true about it. For one it gives it wearer the ability to transform into any alien they wish!! Amazing!^
^It’s unnatural…^
^We also learned that the Omnitrix is capable of gaining new alien DNA, but the specifics on how that works is still up for debate.^ Glad-One turns to the camera. ^Do you have any guesses?^
Sad-One doesn’t wait to respond with his usual suspicious and dreary tone. ^I bet some omnipotent force is manipulating our very existences for their own entertainment, and is choosing what aliens to put into the Omnitrix…^
Glad-One gasps in delightful surprise. ^Do you really think so?^
^Yes…^
^Ha! You’re funny!^
^No I’m-…^
^Well as I was saying.^
^You didn’t let me finish…^
^There’s so much about the Omnitrix that we don’t know! However…^ Glad-One scurries closer to the camera. ^We can tell you all about the aliens that are inside of it.^ Glad-One backs away from the camera allowing the viewer a better look.
^To get you acquainted with the many aliens you are sure to encounter; I’m conducting a documentary video series about Deku’s aliens. Isn’t that exciting?!^ He asks joyfully.
Sad-One pops into view. ^Excitement is just an excuse for adrenaline junkies to validate their own existences…^
^True!^ Glad-One agrees before shifting back to the topic at hand. ^Each alien within the Omnitrix is as unique as their appearances and abilities.^
^By appearance we mean they’re ugly and by abilities we mean they’re overpowered…^
^And there’s possibly even more to come, so to help you, the reader, drat I meant viewer, to better understand each of Deku’s transformations we will go into depth about each of them! Hooray!!^
^Yay…^ Sad-One suspiciously doesn’t sound as enthusiastic as his other half.
^There are all sorts of aliens out there and each one is fascinating. For example you could see a creepy looking alien that shoots lasers from his eyes! Or a horribly dangerous alien that can spit acid slime!^
Sad-One interrupts to deliver his own P.S.A. ^Statistically speaking an alien is more likely to try to eat you rather than probe you…^
^Speaking of delicacies, let’s start with this alien first.^ Glad-One pulls out another piece of loose-leaf paper with a horribly drawn blue phantom.
It’s clear One-One drew this together in two minutes with the expert level of a five-year-old armed with a box of crayons but it’s clear to anyone that it’s supposed to be a drawing of a Necrofriggian.
Glad-One folds the drawing slightly so it can stand on its own while he takes center stage. ^This cool looking alien is a Necrofriggian or better known as…Big Chill.^
^That’s such a dumb name…^
^This alien is the personification of Jack Frost. With the ability to move through solid objects like a spooky ghost, woooooo. Fly with the cold breeze. And manipulate the cold around him to create freezing breath blasts.^ Glad-One cups the bottom of his head. ^Actually he could generate ice from any part of his body, guess we’ll have to make sure Deku finds out about that later.^ Glad-One turns to Sad-One who is still holding the camera. ^Do you have any fun facts about Necrofriggians?^
^They like to kill their enemies slowly, sometimes dragging them into space and allowing the dark vacuum of the never-ending void to suck their life away…^ Sad-One gets uncomfortably close to the camera, glaring into the lens. ^And their souls…^
^All true.^ It’s disturbing how undisturbed Glad-One is about that fact. ^And Big Chill will definitely be someone Deku can rely on, although…it’s unclear how he got him, hmmm… Oh, well. No point in thinking about it, so let’s move on!^ Glad-One unceremoniously kicks away the poor drawing.
^I think this is worth discuss-…^
^Here’s the next alien!!^ Glad-One tosses up another piece of paper.
^Or not…^
Glad-One holds up his next drawing; it’s another poorly colored abomination that’s supposed to pass for a Megawatt. ^This is Buzzshock.^ He leans the drawing in closer. ^Say hello!^
Sad-One deadpans. ^Go away…^
^Megawatts are an interesting bunch: they eat electricity with the same gusto as how trick-or-treaters devour their candy at the end of the night.^
^They are such gluttonous pigs…^
^It’s honestly quite impressive, but what’s even more impressive is how they use electricity they absorb.^ Glad-One points at his horrible drawing. ^These little guys can multiply to insane numbers and each one has a pension for mischief and mayhem! Yay! And each one is also capable of releasing bolts of electricity.^ Glad-One turns to the camera. ^So be careful when you run into one, you'll be in for a shock when you see how much trouble they can cause, Teehee.^ Glad-One giggles to himself, finding his inside joke rather humorous.
^Yeah, just ask Thirteen…^
Glad-One’s attention snaps back to his counterpart. ^Oh, that’s right…^ Glad-One peers away from the camera as he reminisces about that day. ^Thirteen had a very bad experience with Megawatts.^
^Really…?^
^Yes, it was back when they were a recruit. Don’t you remember?^
^Wait…waaaiiitttt…Oh! Oh, yeah…I remember now…^ Sad-One shivers. ^That was a very traumatizing experience…^
^It sure was.^ Glad-One stares off into the distance allowing an eerie silence to fall upon them all.
Through all the silence Glad-One can still hear the screams and cries of those inflicted that day, oh that horrible and traumatizing day…
^Let’s move on, shall we?!^ Glad-One’s so excited that he kicks away the Megawatt drawing.
Sad-One deadpans as his other half digs around for the next drawing. ^You sure bounced back quick…^
Glad-One hugs the next paper close to his body. ^This next alien hasn’t had too much screen time recently, so we’ll make up for it now.^ He throws up the paper. ^Tada!!^
The drawing is as bad as the others, with the poor drawing being yellow and black in color, with its head detached from its body, and weird curved horns on its shoulders.
^Meet Lodestar!^
^We’ve met…^
^Lodestar is a Biosovortian; beings known for manipulating the magnetic field around them. They are so in tune with magnetic fields that their entire bodies are made of magnetic particles that can regenerate and reform when injuries occur.^
^They essentially have no reason to fear death…which means they have no real appreciation for life…^
^I’m sure that’s not true, I mean look at me! I love life! And I’m a robot, I can live forever if I wanted to.^
^Sure, but all of your friends will slowly die away leaving you to a sad existence that’s nothing but an endless cycle of losing loved ones that you can never hope to meet ever again…^
Glad-One blinks in response to Sad-One’s usual pessimistic view on life. ^Right…^ He turns to the camera. ^Well I have one more alien for you all today, and it’s a special one.^
Glad-One reaches off screen and grabs one last piece of loose-leaf paper. ^Deku got himself a new alien the other day, and I’m so excited to share it with you!^
He drags the paper closer to the camera, trying to build up the suspense.
^It’s a really cool one! Well, actually it’s a weird one, but still cool! Do you want to see?! Are you sure? Ask nicely, please.^
^Get on with it already…!^
^Wee! Okay, okay.^ Glad-One readies to lift up the paper. ^You ready because here’s Deku newest alien-^
*INTRUDER ALERT!!! INTRUDER ALERT!!!*
Glad-One drops the paper as the alarm rings through the entire Plumber Base; flashing red lights spin around the room as each monitor flash with warning signs that someone unwanted has broken into Japan’s Plumber Base.
*INTRUDER ALERT!!! INTRUDER ALERT!!!*
^Hm?^ Glad-One cups the bottom of his head. ^That’s an oddly specific alarm that I don’t remember.^ He turns and tries to smile at the camera. ^But it’s probably definitely nothing to worry about.^
Sad-One spins the camera around and leans in with his skeptical gaze. ^That’s what they want you to think…!^
And with that the camera’s feed cuts away, leaving One-One alone to figure out why the alarm is going off.
Notes:
I know it wasn’t a real chapter, but I hope it was enough for now. And I promise to continue writing. I just need a break for a little bit so I can regain the motivation I need to write. So, please hang on for a little longer. Thank you for understanding and I hope you’ll kindly await the next chapter to arrive.
*Just to be clear this semi-chapter takes place during the Internship Arc and we will get to see what’s broken into Japan’s Plumber Base.
*Yes, Izuku will be gaining a new Ben Ten alien during the Internship Arc. But you’ll just have to wait and see which one it is.
*This semi-chapter is based off Infinity Train’s “The Train Documentary” shorts from Cartoon Network. And I will be using this format as place holders for when I am late with new chapters.
Chapter 29: Final Countdown
Summary:
It's finally time: Izuku vs. Ochaco. Who will win? Who will lose? Only one way to find out.
Notes:
Yes, yes I know. I’m back! Isn’t it great?! I’m sorry about the wait, it was a lot longer than I thought it would be. But I’m back and ready to begin again. And we’ll start with the end of the Sports Festival! Finally things will be decided and we’ll be able to move on.
Now there were some interruptions as I was trying to write this chapter so I apologize if somethings seem choppy or out of touch here and there; I tried my best. Alright, I think I’ve let you all wait long enough so here it is! The news chapter for Heroes Never Die; It’s Hero Time!
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
“You stupid girl!! I’ oughta smack some sense into you!!” Recovery Girl swings her cane around like it’s a sword.
The fully recovered Ochaco Uraraka covers her head as she reels back in terror. “Wah! I’m sorry!”
The Nurse’s Office fills with the sounds of Ochaco’s screams. Thankfully both Bakugou and Todoorki were released not too long ago, sparing them from the high pitched scream that surely would have burst their eardrums.
“Hmf!” Recovery Girl’s head fumes with rage as she plops down into her chair. “I swear, is it a requirement that those with One For All be so stupid and reckless?!” She shakes her head with disapproval. “At this point I should just reserve a hospital bed just for you, a plake and all.”
A bright smile pops onto Ochoco’s face. “Aw, really? That’d be so nice.”
“It’s not supposed to be nice!!” Snaps Recovery Girl finding the girl’s warming smile not at all charming.
“He…” Ochaco laughs sheepishly before slumping with dejection. “Sorry…”
Recovery Girl scowls. “Don’t bother apologizing. It’s not like you mean it…” The aged heroine swivels in her chair. “But I suppose that you may have had a hand in influencing her.”
Yagi Toshinori rightfully backs away towards the door, wary for his life. “Gah, ah, w-wel-ll…um… I’m just happy she’s giving this her all.”
“And that’s the issue!!”
The skeletal All Might winces with fright. “But it’s true! And besides how can I not be proud?”
Ochaco snaps to attention. “Huh?”
Toshinroi steps away from the door and turns his attention towards his successor. “During your match with Bakugou…you figured out how to use One For All properly. Didn’t you?”
It takes a second for Ochaco to fully understand what he’s referring to. “Yeah, I did!”
Thanks to Deku’s advice she was able to harness One For All without hurting herself…at least for the most part. But now she can at least use a small percentage of it.
“Really now?” Recovery Girl raises an eyebrow. “I find that hard to believe after witnessing your previous condition.”
The gravity girl did arrive to her with broken bones, burns, and many many bruises.
“But it’s true!” Retorts Uraraka, slightly offended that Recovery Girl would doubt her capabilities. “It was…a total rush of energy, coursing through me like a free flowing river.”
Toshinori has the look of someone reminiscing about fond memories. “I know what you mean.” The former holder of One For All cups his chin. “But it’s far from perfect, I’d say you accessed somewhere between 5-10% of One For All. Still though…” The Symbol of Peace’s sapphire eyes shine down at his young apprentice. “watching you out there was a sight to behold.”
Ochaco blushes slightly thanks due to the praise, unsure about what to say. After all it’s not everyday one is complimented by the Number One Hero themselves.
“It was like watching a shooting star, or rather a…” In a puff of smoke, All Might stands proud before his successor as he jams his index finger right into the air and declares. “YOU WERE A BRIGHT RISING STAR!”
“Pfst!!” Ochaco literally spit takes, turning her face away as she tries and fails to hold back her laughter. ‘He’s so silly!’
All Might lowers his arm, his ever present smile never fading from his face. “BUT IN ALL SERIOUSNESS, I DO WANT TO EXPRESS HOW PROUD I AM OF YOU.”
Ochaco gathers herself as she peers back up at her mentor.
“YOU’VE WORKED HARD…MORE THAN ANYONE HAS UP TO THIS POINT. AND YOU’VE MORE THAN SHOWED THE WORLD WHAT YOU’RE CAPABLE OF.” The Number One Hero raises and clenches his mighty fist like he’s holding onto a dream that he won’t dare to let it slip out from his fingers. “BUT…I MUST ASK OF YOU, AND PARDON ME IF THIS SEEMS SELFISH, BUT…I WANT YOU TO GO BEYOND IN YOUR LAST MATCH, EVEN IF IT’S AGAINST A DEAR FRIEND. I ASK THAT YOU GIVE IT EVERYTHING YOU GOT AND THEN SOME.” He looks her straight in the eye already knowing her reply. “CAN YOU DO THAT?”
Ochaco doesn’t even consider no as an option, but there’s no need for her to speak either. Her gleaming determined eyes says it all for her. Sure Deku may be her friend and he’s probably…definitely the strongest opponent she’ll face today. But there is no way in hell she’s going to do anything but give it her all. She won’t hold back, she’ll push through this challenge and charge on. Yet despite the possible hardship she’s most certainly about to face off against she can’t help but be excited. Today she can see if One For All can take on the Omnitrix.
All Might’s glorious smile somehow widens just from witnessing Ochaco’s response. He truly is proud to call her his successor.
As the two muscle heads smile and glow in their excitement, Recovery Girl is less than happy. “I might as well get these beds ready.”
She turns in her seat where there are two empty beds, which was not what the elderly medical professional was expecting. Shoto Todoroki took off a little before Ochaco arrived at the infirmary but Katsuki Bakugou should still be here. Sure she healed him up to be as good as new but he should be resting… So where is he?
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“Dammit…” Katsuki Bakugou growls as he limps his way through a dark secluded corridor, away from prying eyes.
He couldn’t stand hanging around the Nurse’s Office any longer, it’s already humiliating enough that he lost. He doesn't need some old hag to help him recover either.
‘How…? How, damnit?!’ Bakugou slams his fist against the wall, the hit echoes across the empty dark hall. “How could I fucking lose?”
This was not how things were supposed to go. He was supposed to beat Uraraka. He was supposed to win. He was supposed to beat Deku!
“Fuck!!” He slams his fist against the wall again, and a sqlesh sound accompanies it as his knuckles begin to bleed.
Bakugou glares down at his bleeding fist, offended that his own body is suggesting that he’s weak.
“How…? How could I lose?” His voice chokes away in the end, and even tears threaten to break free but he holds out, snarling and grinding his teeth as he recounts his humiliating fight.
He had gone all out, he had gotten serious and yet…she beat him. Uraraka put him down, down into the dirt as if to say he was beneath her.
That thought makes Bakugou even angrier, a burning rage begins to fill him from within. He just can’t seem to grasp the situation; all his life he has known of his own superiority, of his own skills outclassing everyone else… But ever since he’s arrived at U.A. it’s been nothing but disappointment and some long overdue reality checks.
He’s not the strongest. He’s not the best. And how the hell can he become the greatest hero that ever lived if he’s not either of those?!
Uraraka overpowered him and she’s not the only one that can compete with him on a greater level.
There’s Todoroki, too, with his hybrid Quirk he could easily compete with him on the same level, but yet Todoroki never graced him with his flames during class exercises and such. Why? Because of some great shame? His father? Pathetic. If he couldn’t take things seriously then he shouldn’t even be here! But…he did use his flames. But not against him. But against Deku. Todoroki saw him, freaking Deku, as a worthy opponent!
‘Deku…Deku…DEKU!!!’ Bakugou’s anger boils over so much he actually lets out a blood curdling roar of raging fury, if his arms weren’t bandaged up he’d probably be letting loose a barrage of Explosions. ‘Everything. Everything that’s gone wrong can be traced back to him! He faked being Quirkless, and then he fucking tries to pitch me some sad impossible tale!! How stupid does he think I am?!’
But that’s not what hurts, not really. What hurts is far more severe.
Bakugou replays their Battle Training: it was him versus the little shit. It was supposed to be his time to finally put that fukcing nerd in his place, but instead he ended up being the one humiliated by Deku. He got freaking decked and demolished by him!
But that was nothing, just a small hiccup, he would take Deku on in the Sports Festival and show him and the entire world just how insignificant that green-haired freak show is!
And now…! Now he’ll never have that chance.
Bakugou leans against the wall, his breathing tired and labored as tears prick at his eyes. ‘Deku beat me… Todoroki, someone who can compete with me, doesn’t see me as a rival. And Uraraka is…far stronger than I am…’ He slides down and plops onto the ground, nothing but the silence of the empty hallway to comfort him. ‘And if I can’t beat any of them then…can I really become the Number One Hero…?’
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Inhale and then exhale. Izuku Midoriya has been continuing this process for a while now as he awaits his next or rather final match. It’s nearly been half an hour already but for good reason: 1) It gives the school time to fix and clean the stadium, and 2) it’ll give Uraraka a moment to rest up before their confrontation. But for now he’ll steal his nerves and enjoy the silence of the waiting room knowing full well that pretty soon his eardrums will be ringing due to the screams of the cheering audience.
“Well, you sure look excited.”
Izuku’s head snaps up at attention, he was so out of it that he didn’t even notice the other person walking in. “Thirteen!”
The Space Hero, Thirteen smiles and waves in greeting as they enter the room, shutting the door behind them. “Yo. How are you holding up?”
“I’m doing fine, but why are you here?”
“Oh, I thought I’d just see how you were doing…” A dark and somber aura washes over Thirteen as they turn away and slowly sulks back towards the door in shame. “But if you don’t want me here then I can leave…”
Izuku nearly panics. “N-no, w-wait! You can stay!”
Thirteen immediately brightens up like a child who was given a tasty treat. “Great!”
‘That was a quick turn around.’
“Congrats on making it to the finals. I can only imagine how excited you are, and I can’t wait to see how you surprise everyone next.”
“Thanks.”
“Yeah, you’ve really been putting on a real show for everyone.”
“I guess I have.”
“You bet! It’ll make for some great footage when we send out the official broadcast.”
For a split second, Izuku’s heart had stopped beating.“Broad…cast?”
“Huh? Don’t you remember?” Thirteen raises an eyebrow. “Magister Nezu’s recording the entire Sports Festival.”
…
Izuku’s mind is screaming in agony as it implodes in on itself. Somehow between all the excitement and thrill of competition, he had completely and totally forgotten about that little tiny detail… This little competition of theirs was going to be broadcasted across the stars, literally. Films of his battles, wins, and fights are going to be seen by an infinite amount of beings that aren’t even human!
Thirteen continues unaware of Izuku inner episode. “We’ll sort through the best of the footage later, but when it’s ready we’ll send it out to permitted planets, stations, and professionals.” Thirteen blinks down at the boy and finally takes note of how pale he’s become. “Are you okay?”
Izuku grabs at his stomach he can almost feel his lunch trying to make a reappearance. “I…don’t feel so good.”
“What?! Are you okay? Do you need to go see Recovery Girl?”
Izuku wobbles from his seat. “No…I’m fine.” With a shake of his head Izuku snaps out of his discomfort, the color returning to his freckles cheeks. “But hey there’s something I need to bring up to you.”
“Oh, what is it?”
The greenette raises his left wrist, displaying the ever mysterious alien device that’s permanently bonded to it. “Big Chill and Heatblast.”
“…Who?”
Izuku nearly falls out of his seat, he was hoping Thirteen would understand him right away. “Um, that blue moth and the walking bonfire aliens.”
“Oh!” Thirteen understands now. “You mean the Necrofriggian and the Pyronite.”
“Is that what they’re species are called?” Asks Izuku as he pulls out his alien portfolio from who knows where and begins jotting down their names. “I guess the question now is how did I unlock them.”
“Yeah…” Thirteen eyes the Omnitrix as if it’ll somehow explain everything. “How did that happen anyway?”
Izuku lets out an exasperated sigh. “I honestly have no idea. Really I was hoping you'd have an idea.”
Thirteen shakes their head. “Sorry, kid. I know just as much as you do if not less especially about that device of yours.”
Izuku slumps down into his seat. God this is going to bother him, just when he felt like he was starting to understand the Omnitrix it throws him a curveball…two curveballs…a frozen curveball and a fiery curveball. “But why?”
Knowing they’re not going to get anywhere with this Thirteen tries to change the subject of interest. “Uraraka’s one tough cookie. Are you going to be ready?”
That seems to do the trick as Izuku lights up with the look of someone who’s about to ride the fastest rollercoaster in an amusement park. “Ready as I’ll ever be.”
He didn’t just spend the last half hour twiddling his thumbs and doing breathing exercises. He’s been considering the best possible plan to take on Uraraka. Her power is immense and he wants to be sure that he can handle whatever she throws at him.
With a smile on his face, Izuku shoves himself out of his seat and marches for the door, startling Thirteen. “Where are you going?”
“I'm heading out.” Izuku grips the door handle and turns to flash his mentor a toothy grin. “I can’t stand sitting around any longer.”
Thirteen understands. “Good luck then.”
“Thanks.” And with that the wielder of the Omnitrix takes his leave.
He marches through the interior of the stadium with purpose, although he doesn’t really have any specific location in mind. He just needs to get moving and get some of this excess energy out before he bursts. Normally with something like this, he’d be a stuttering mess of nerves but he’s honest to God excited for his match with Uraraka. This will actually be their first real fight, a true moment for them both to really see how far they’ve come since they each began their heroic journeys together. And to be fair he wasn't too sure that they would be facing off in the finals, Bakugou really pushed her to her limits back there.
“Huh?” Izuku comes to a stop as he’s about to pass a small intersection within the hallway. Looking down the narrow hallway, Izuku spots one of his own classmates walking by in the hallway opposite of him. “Oh, Iida!”
Tenya Iida snaps out of his daze, his eyes have been trailing down at his phone which is clenched tightly in his hand. “Midoriya…”
Izuku quickly runs up to his much taller classmate and friend. “Hey what’s up? What are you doing down here?”
“Oh, I um…” Iida chokes on his own words, his glasses gleaming over, hiding his eyes from view as he tucks his phone away and out of sight before Midoirya could take notice. “Apologies…but I must get going. I am needed elsewhere.”
Izuku frowns, taking note of the lack of purpose in Iida’s voice, his voice sounds reserved which is totally unlike him. “Hey is…everything alright?”
Iida stands straighter like he was just scolded. “Yes, everything is quite fine, no need to worry.” He speaks loudly like he’s trying way too hard to act normal. “I’m sorry but an important matter has come up and I must be off.”
“Did something happen?”
“It’s nothing to worry about, I’ll be back before you know it.” With that Iida turns and marches away his arms swinging up and down like a robot. “I wish you well in your final match, Midoriya! Be sure to give it your all!”
Izuku watches Iida’s retreating form. He can’t put his finger on it but something was off about that encounter. Something’s definitely weighing on Iida’s mind, but what? ‘I can’t get distracted, I’ll look into it later.’ For real he’s about to partake in what could be his hardest fight yet, he can’t afford to get sidetracked, not now. ‘Get ready Uraraka, because I’m not holding back.’
And so he marches off figuring he might as well prepare for the final match of the U.A. Sports Festival. And just in time too as Preset Mic’s voice rings out through the entire stadium.
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“Hey folks!” Present Mic’s booming voice cheers out from the television. “Who’s ready for the blazing final match of this year’s Sports Festival!?!”
The little Kineceleran girl, ML-E, waves her claws up and down as she hops across her family’s couch. “Woah!! I’m ready!! Kick his butt, Ochan!!”
“Get off the couch!!” scolds her mother.
After this she’s definitely going to have to replace the once plush cushions.
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“I’m willing to bet my favorite sunglasses that this final battle will be the most heart pounding and jaw dropping spectacle yet!! That’s a U.A. guarantee!”
The alien customers of Mr. Baumann's store gaze up at the holographic screen as Present Mic continues to hype up the finale.
“Jaw dropping, huh?”
“That would be fun if I had a jaw gugg.”
“Who do you think’s going to go home the champion?”
“I got 200 on the broccoli head!” Shouts Argit.
“300 on the gravity girl!”
“Hey let me get in on this!”
Mr. Baumann has completely abandoned his task of replenishing food cans in favor of watching the screen as images display of Izuku and Ochaco. ‘Good luck, boy.’
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“If the last few matches were anything to go by, then this will certainly be a bloody and brutal fight for the ages!!”
Streams of tears gush out from Inko Midoriya’s eyes, threatening to flood their little apartment. “Ahhhh!! Izuku!! Please don’t get hurt, sweetie!!” She sniffs as she takes another tissue to try and dry her face. “My heart can’t keep taking it…”
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“But before we begin the rest of the staff and I have to prepare a little something special so stay tuned because we’ll be beginning immediately after!”
Shoto Todoroki blinks out the bright sun as he exits the dark hallway and reenters the stands where his fellow classmates are seated.
“Welcome back Todoroki.” greets Momo Yaoyorozu who is the first to notice him.
The rest of the hero course students immediately turn, drawing the spotlight onto him.
“…Hi.” Shoto hesitantly makes his way to the first open seat available, which is in the last row.
Hanta Sero leans over the back of his seat and grins up at the scarred teen. “Wow, I didn’t think you’d be up already, considering what you went through.”
Shoto doesn’t really react, instead his eyes glaze over as his mind replays his fight with Midorya. “Yeah, me too.”
“Your fight was so epic!” cheers Rikido Stao. “It was amazing! It was fire versus fire, ice versus ice, I’ve never seen anything like it!”
Kyoka Jiro scratches her cheek as she ponders about that fight. “No kidding, but how’d Midoriya get new powers like that?”
Denki Kaminari shrugs. “Maybe he was holding out on us.”
“I doubt it, kero.” cuts in Tsuyu Asui.
“Hey, now!” calls Mina Ashido. “Midoriya wasn't the only one hodling out on us. So, did Uraraka! I mean didn’t you see her zipping through the air?!”
“How could we not?!” responds Eijirou Kirishima. “It was so cool!!” Kirshima’s smile turns into a frown as a thought occurs to him. “Poor Bakugou, though. The crowd really wasn’t on his side.”
Toru Hagakure smiles sheepishly. “Are you really that surprised? His personality…needs a major overhaul.”
Mezo Shoji leans over to speak with the crow headed boy. “I got to say it. Midoriya and Uraraka really are incredible. It’s amazing to see their Quirks at work.”
“Yes.” agrees Fumikage Tokoyami. “It seems there is much our classmates are capable of. One can only presume to understand them.”
Shoto can’t help but completely agree with Tokoyami’s statement. Just when he thought he understood those two, they throw him for a loop.
He grips his left arm, he can feel the heat radiating off of it. But unlike before it doesn’t cause him any rage or despair. Instead he feels hesitant but accepting, like now he can move forward.
“Hey, so.” Itsuka Kendo interrupts Class 1-A’s banter. “Which of them do you think’s going to win this?”
Before they can answer a haughty laugh echoes from nearby. “Ha haha ha!”
Everyone’s eyes dart up at Neito Monoma, who’s grinning widely as a dark hue surrounds his features. “Win? Oh, it doesn’t matter. Because come by this time next year, my class will surely defeat yours!! Hahahaha!!”
Only Kaminari has the lack of brains to ask why. “How do you figure?”
“Simple.” Monoma smirks. “We now have hours of videos of your class using your Quirks. Allowing us the chance to study them and find your weaknesses.” Monoma’s grin widens and he looks ready to break into a maniacal laugh. “And then the world will know who it is that truly- GAHH!!”
A quick jab to the ribs quickly silences that annoying blonde.
Kendo sighs as she sits back down, a wheezing Monoma lying at her feet in pain. “Please ignore him. I’m pretty sure he was dropped as a baby.”
Classes 1-A and 1-B have the same thought. ‘Harsh.’
Before they can continue, present Mic’s loud voice stretches across the stadium. “Okay folks, we’re almost done with the repairs.”
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Present Mic frowns and turns to his mummified co-host. “You know this is really getting annoying.”
“You annoyed?” Shota Aizawa asks sarcastically. “I’m shocked.”
“Oh, be quiet!” snaps Present Mic. “I mean can’t we just, I don’t know, go back to the original set of rules. I’m getting tired of having to do repairs.”
“It is bothersome, but it’s far too late. At this point we may be dealing with a riot on our hands if we set limits to this next match.”
“So, we’re just in for some more property damage?”
A calm cherry voice interrupts the two teachers. “I think I can provide a solution.”
The two co-hosts turn and are surprised to find Principal Nezu of all people at the door of the commentor’s booth.
“Principal?!” shouts Present Mic.
Aizawa remains calm even with his friend screaming in his ear. “What brings you here? Shouldn’t you be attending the third-years’ fights?”
Principal Nezu pushes up an extra chair to join the two at the booth. “I was, but they’ve already finished. So, I decided to come by and witness how our first-years are holding up. But imagine my surprise when I arrived and found my stadium in shambles.”
The two pro heroes grimace and shiver under the Principal's gaze, despite his friendly smile, there’s an air of danger radiating off the furry creature.
Principal Nezu ignores their fear and continues. “Not to worry though, I brought something that should keep even our rowdy students at bay.” He lifts his paw and holds within it a little switch.
Aizawa eyes the little device. “Was is that sir?”
Principal Nezu snickers. “You’ll see.” He turns to Present Mic. “You may begin the match, Present Mic.”
Present Mic eyes the principal warily. “Right.”
The commentaar turns and yells into the microphone. “Here we go!” He shouts as excitement courses through his veins. “It’s been a long road to get to this point, honestly, it feels like a month has gone by, but we finally made it! It’s finally time for this Sports Festival to meet its end!”
The entire stadium shakes as cheers of joy and excitement erupt from the audience, they’re like caged animals all pent up after starving for a month. But now that wait is over, the readers audience can now be satiated.
“At last we’ve arrived!! The best of the best among U.A.’s first-years will be decided!”
Ochaco takes in a calming breath before stepping out onto the field for one last bout.
“She’s the underdog that many of us had written off, but boy did she prove us wrong?! She hasn’t only competed on the same level as the others but she’s completely blown the competition out of the water! Give it up for the girl that can defy the laws of physics and our expectations…OCHACO URARAKA!!!”
The entire stadium claps and cheers the girl’s name as she climbs atop the repaired battlefield.
“But if she wants to win this Sports Festival, then she’s got to defeat the master of the unconventional! The boy that can wield any power! He’s the one to beat…IZUKU MIDORIYA!!!”
The entire stadium’s cheers and roars boom even louder so much so that their screeches threaten his own hearing.
Izuku smiles a confident yet slightly shy smile as he steps atop the battlefield.
As Izuku steps forward onto the battlefield, Midnight cracks her whip at attention. “Okay you two! I want a nice clean match!” She smirks and raises her finger towards her lips. “But feel free to get down and dirty if you so desire.” She gives her finger a flick with her tongue making the teens blush and look away.
Present Mic turns to his boss. “Principal Nezu your surprise, sir?”
“Ah, here it is.” Without hesitation the strange chimera presses down on his switch and immediately everyone’s attention turns towards the battlefield.
A low humming noise resonates from below the battlefield like many generators turning on all at once. And then the most amazing and impossible thing happens.
Izuku steps back, as the ground beneath him feels like it’s humming. “What is that?”
Ochaco is just as confused. “Is this a Quirk?!”
No, it’s not.
Their questions are answered as a ring of beaming light shines from underground. The ring surrounds the entire battlefield and well into the grassy field.
Midnight leaps away and Cementos creates a platform for them as the light, impossibly, begins to rise into the air keeping out and away from the glowing light.
The light dims as a wave of energy rises and rises from the ring until they meet high above the battlefield creating a dome of see through light. With the only things inside being Izuku and Ochaco.
“What. The. HECK?!” screams a shocked Present Mic, along with the entire audience.
Principal Nezu laughs at their shock.“Hahahaha!”
Aizawa, the ever calm one, scans the strange phenomenon with wariness. “Principal…?”
Principal Nezu gestures for the microphone which Aizawa gracelly provides. “What you are all witnessing is a state of the art Forcefield.”
It sounds like the whole stadium is in shock. “A FORCEFIELD!?!”
“Yes, a forcefield!” responds the mouse/dog/bear creature. “It was a gift from some special friends of mine. I had them recently installed into the school’s security system and I thought this would be a grand place to introduce them to you. Hahahaha!”
Present Mic and Aizawa shy away from the laughing school principal. ‘Just what kind of friends does he have?’
Principal Nezu pauses his laughter and peers down at the two students. “This forcefield can even withstand a strike from All Might so please be sure to go all out you two. I love witnessing the power of my students first hand! Hahahaha!”
Present Mic’s grin returns. “Well you heard him, folks. Let’s get this party started!!”
The crowd cheers in agreement.
“NOW, START!!!”
The two combatants don’t make a move instead they both just smile at each other like two friends ready to play a game, a game they both intend to win.
Ochaco grins excitedly. “You know I’m honestly really excited for this.”
Izuku’s own grin widens. “I feel the exact same way.”
“Is that right?” The smiling Ochaco readies her stance, grabbing her bicep as she flexes her fist forward. “Well then you should know I’m not going to hold back just because we’re friends.”
“I’d be insulted if you did.” Izuku smiles as he raises up the Omnitrix. “Do you mind?”
Ochaco is more than happy to cooperate. “Not at all. But make sure to pick a good one, I want our first real fight to be a good one.”
Izuku grips the Omnitrix, the dial firing up, and he calmly begins to dial for the right alien. “Oh, yeah. I guess I never realized: this’ll be the first time we’ve ever fought one on one.” He smiles as he finds the right alien for the job. “Which means I have to make this a fight to remember.”
With a light press of his index finger Izuku disappears within a veil of blinding green light.
“Woah!!” shouts Present Mic. “He’s transforming!! But what will he become? Heatblast? Feedback? Four Arms?!”
The transformed Izuku smiles as the transformation completes and the light dims away. “I think this guy will do the job, after all…” He steps forward standing tall like a behemoth that’s ready to tear through a horde of enemies. “he was able to stand up to that Nomu guy.”
“We’re in for a show here folks!!” cheers Present Mic. “Midoriya’s last alien is Diamondhead, the very same one rumored to have been able to go toe to toe with the leader of the League of Villains!!”
Diamondhead’s entire body shines as the sun reflects off his crystal features, his entire body flexes making his edges look sharp and whetted, and finally a confident grin adorns the alien’s face. “Are you ready?”
Ochaco smiles as One For All illuminates around her entire being. “Yeah.”
Diamondhead chuckles. “Good.”
The Petrosapien slams his hand down on the battlefield and a crystal lance bursts out of the ground, aiming right for All Might’s successor.
With a sharp yelp, Ochaco uses One For All to kick herself away, moving to the side and avoiding the crystal lance.
“You jerk. You could have warned me.” Despite the complaint an amused smile is adorned on her face. “But I guess all is fair.”
Ochaco redirects herself and with a powerful kick forward she sprints at full speed right toward the Petrosapien. “You’re going to lose this Deku!!”
She strikes him, and strikes him hard with her glowing fist; slamming right into Diamondhead’s chest driving the alien backwards.
Diamondhead remains standing, bracing his entire body as his feet skid backwards across the ground before coming to a stop a fair distance away. He clutches at his chest where the strike landed. “Ow…”
Present Mic screams into the microphone. “He felt that! Just how powerful was that punch?!”
Ochaco grins widely at the sight, even though her own fist is throbbing after slamming it against diamonds. She’s ecstatic to see that her attack actually hurt him, even if it didn’t damage him physically.
A sharp piercing pain slices across her cheek.
With a gasp, Ochaco reaches up and touches her face before peering down at her bloody fingers; somehow a small cut had formed on her cheek.
“Better be careful.”
Ochaco gazes back up at her smirking opponent.
“I’ve been told that I can be a real pain sometimes.” Dimaondhead grins as he straightens up and raises his arm, the crystals all formed together to become a large diamond blade; a blade he tried to counter with when she struck him.
“What in the world?!” shouts Present Mic. “Diamondhead was able to sneak in a strike of his own. Pray it doesn’t scar her cute face!”
Diamondhead raises his other arm and watches as it too becomes a large blade. “Pretty cool, right? I discovered this new ability a little while ago when I was training.” He adjusts them so the sun can sheen across the surface of the blades. ‘These things would have been real handy back at the U.S.J. Oh, well I guess.’
He turns his attention back on his illuminated opponent. “I believe it’s my turn, now.”
With surprising speed, Diamondhead charges forward keeping his upper body low with the blades hung down, the tips digging and shredding across the ground leaving scaring gouges in his wake.
“Rahh!!” Diamondhead gives a mighty roar as his blade slashes upward.
Ochaco leans to the side, the blade whizzing past her face. The alien throws his other blade at her but she braces herself and uses her glowing arms to block the incoming side swipe. With a clear opening she thrusts her fist forward, the force smacks into Diamondhead’s chest and once again the alien is forced backwards, groaning as the wind is knocked out of him.
Diamondhead grips his aching stomach. “You…really know how to throw a punch.” As the pain subsides a toothy grin grows on his face. “But let’s see a punch get you out of this!”
With a swipe of his arm, a barrage of shards fly out from his arm. The shards zip through the air as they race towards their intended target.
Ochaco gasps before sprinting to the side to evade the ranged attack. She doesn’t have time to rest as Diamondhead fires off another rain of shards at her. She jumps back just before the shards pierce themselves into the ground where she once stood. She dives in the other direction and as she does she can feel the shards fly over her head.
With his shards unable to hit their mark, Diamondhead plants his hand onto the ground and then swings it forward; a trail of crystals crash forward racing across the ground with a righteous fury.
Ochaco jumps to the right before she’s encased in the trail of crystals.
Just as she lands she leaps backwards to avoid another trail of crystals.
“Oh, no!!” cries Present Mic. “Looks like Midoriya’s taking a page from Todoroki, because he has Uraraka trapped!”
He did, Diamondhead has Ochaco between two crystal trails, limiting her movement like Shoto had done to him in their own fight.
“I’ve got you now!” Diamondhead stomps his foot and almost instantly crystals burst from underneath and begin to propel him forward at a high speed.
“What the hell!?! What is he a Diamond Surfer?!” Present Mic turns to his co-host. “Shit, will I get sued for that comment.”
Aizawa deadpans. “Get over yourself.”
‘I’ve got this.’ Diamondhead continues to charge forward atop the small surf of diamonds. ‘She can try to hold her ground, but that’s far too reckless. Her best bet would be to take to the air like she did with Bakugou. And when she does I can create pillars to hinder her movement.’ She’ll have to fly around his diamond pillars while the dome forcefield also limits her range of movement.
The plan makes him smile. “Prepare to face your end, Uraraka!” As he surfs forward, he extends his arms out, and they immediately morph into large jagged blades. “Here we go, this is my…DIAMOND RUSH!!!”
This is it! His special move that’ll finish her off.
With no hint of fear or reservation, the glowing Ochaco doesn’t brace herself or jump into the air, instead she charges forward, right towards the oncoming attack.
“What?!”
Ochaco glares with a burning passion as she kicks a gale of wind behind her, rocketing her forward even faster. “MERCURY SMASH!!!” She roars as she throws her glowing fist forward.
The two opposing forces of nature clash, the pressure generated form the attack is strong enough to break away shards from the still crystals.
Diamondhead finds himself flung backwards before he crashes onto the ground, his sharp hard body gauging into the surface of the battlefield before he eventually comes to a halt.
Present Mic gasps. “He looks like he was run over by a speeding train?! Sheesh, she may look sweet and delicate but she sure does pack a lot of power doesn’t she.”
“It’s more than that.” cuts in the mummified Aizawa.
“Huh?”
Aizawa continues. “It’s not just her power, but her will. And with such an intense drive moving her forward, Midoriya will have to match his own drive against hers.”
Nezu nods in agreement from his seat. “Yes, and with these two striving for the very best they’ll also push their fellow classmates and friends to strive for greatness as well.” The odd little chimera chuckles to himself. ‘I’m excited to see just what these fine students will grow into.’
Diamondhead groans as he grabs at his head. That attack hurt but he’s pretty much okay, but if she had more distance and time he’s sure she could have put more power and speed behind that attack; if that occured he’s positive he wouldn’t be getting up so easily.
The Petrosapien prys himself off the ground. “Wasn’t expecting that, too bad all it did was delay the inevitable.”
A wicked smile, like that of a trickster, forms on Ochaco’s features. “I don’t think so.”
“Huh?” That’s when he notices it, the feeling of weightlessness around his body.
The usually heavy alien begins to float up into the air with no way to control his movements or balance. ‘That last attack, her Mercury Smash, was just a feint. She really used it to give herself an opening.’ She used the speed of Mercury Smash to plant her opposite hand onto him, to make him weightless under her Zero-Gravity Quirk.
Ochaco inhales as she uses Zero-Gravity on herself all before she rockets herself into the air. She tackles Diamondhead, they race through the air as she fires off air kicks behind her and then she slams him right against the forcefield.
The electrical field of the forcefield discharges around them as the alien’s spikes dig into the barricade.
“Damn!” Diamondhead swings his elbow down, it connects, and she releases her hold on him.
Ochaco groans as her back takes the hard hit, but it does little to deter her. Instead she zips away but not to retreat but to give herself enough room to move as freely as she wants to.
Just as she’s far enough away she comes right back like a racing bullet. She moves so fast that when she collides with Dimaondhead’s body she continues on her path as the Petrosapien is left to deal with the force of her attack. She redirects herself and slams into him again, throwing his body across the dome. Again and again she keeps at it, flying around the dome like a ricocheting bullet, she never loses speed or strength as she continues to assault her virtually defenseless opponent. All the alien can do is brace himself but she is powered by All Might’s very own Quirk so of course each blow delivers a ton of force behind it.
“So, fast!!” shouts Present Mic. “I can’t keep track of her!”
“I can.” deadpans Class 1-A’s homeroom teacher.
“Great…”
Nezu snickers at his underlings' synergy.
“You’re going down, Deku!!” Ochaco roars as she cups her hands together, releasing Zero-Gravity, while she also swings them over her head.
Her fists clash onto Dimaondhead’s hide, throwing him downward where he crashes right into the ground.
The cement cracks and breaks apart under the pressure.
Diamondhead groans, shaking himself off of dust as he sits up. “You know…maybe I should have gone with Big Chill…”
“Yahh!!”
Looking up, the morphed Izuku spots Ochaco diving down towards him, her fists glowing, a clear sign that she’s about to deliver one hell of an attack.
Diamondhead slams both his hands against the ground and two wide crystals burst out, crossing each other to become a sort-of jagged barricade until they form into a thick crystal dome. Ochaco’s fists connect with the shield but the diamond-like material is far too thick for her to break through. But that doesn’t stop her as she continues to pound away at the dome.
“And like a turtle hiding in its shell, Diamondhead’s hoping to give himself some time to breath while Uraraka tries to break her way through! But what will break first? Dimaondhead’s shield or Uraraka’s fists?”
Understanding his predicament, the alien thrusts his hands forward and the outer part of the dome erupts skyward, taking Ochaco along with them. In less than a second the racing pillar of crystals slam Ochaco right against the forcefield, shoving her against its electrical energy.
“Ahhhh!!! Ochaco screeches as the piercing electrical energy shocks her to her very core and the pressure of the diamond pillar squeezes her like a bug.
“Oh, no! How’s she supposed to get out of this one?!”
‘I’m not…going…out like this!’ Even as the pressure increases and the electricity continues to surge through her, Ochaco wills herself free, by ripping herself out and away; the pillar of crystals slams into the forcefield since she’s no longer in between the two.
She doesn’t give herself a chance to rest as she immediately air kicks herself downward, down towards her adversary.
The steadfast Diamondhead counters by firing off large diamond lances up into the air to meet her.
She swerves and dodges each one, but Dimaondhead retaliates by firing off hails of shards at her. With such a wide ranged attack there’s nowhere for her to dodge. So she doesn’t, instead she throws one mean punch that launches out a powerful whirlwind, a wind so strong that it deflects the shards away making the perfect opening for her to fly through.
Ochaco throws the first punch, but Diamondhead manages to strike first. His fist digs into her stomach making the girl gag as the wind is knocked right out of her. As she’s pushed upward Diamondhead swings his other fist into her, smashing her down into the ground.
“Gah!!” She hits the ground hard and with such an intense force that her head goes spinning.
The morphed Izuku takes advantage of his opponent being down and grabs her leg. “Rahh!!” He swings her around and slams her against his own crystal pillar. He slams her so hard against the pillar that tiny shards crack away from its surface.
“Gah!!”
He releases her and she slides down the pillar until she collapses onto the ground.
“Is this it?!” begs Present Mic. “Has he done it?! Has Uraraka’s iron will spirit been broken?!”
Nezu smirks. “I think we’ll be pleasantly surprised.”
“You put up a good fight.” Diamondhead peers down at his opponent who withers in pain as she struggles to regain her breath. “But only one of us can win this.”
Ochaco inhales sharply before managing a small pained smile up at her friend. “Yeah…I know.”
“Then there shouldn’t be any hard feelings between us, right?”
“No…of course not.”
A smile graces Diamondhead’s face. “I’m glad.” He raises his arm up as the crystals begin to morph and shift. “Because this is going to hurt.”
He raises his arm which the crystals have compacted together to form a sort of makeshift jagged hammer. “DIAMOND HAMMER!!!” He swings his mighty weapon down with the intention of ending the Sports Festival.
Too bad she dodges with a quick roll to the side.
The massive hammer crashes into the broken cement, shattering the ground and forming a small crater as the power collides into the weakened surface.
“He missed!!” cheers Present Mic with a huge grin on his face. “She’s still in this!!”
With agonizing pain coursing through her body, Ochaco lashes her hand out and grabs Diamondhead’s exposed leg, her fingers glow as Zero-Gravity takes hold of the alien.
Ochaco grips his leg as she springs up to her feet. “Yahh!!”
She proceeds to slam him against the ground. She then swings him up and slams him down on her opposite side before repeating the cycle of slamming him against the ground again and again with the force of One For All behind every throw. Diamondhead finds his limp body crashing into the ground again and again like a useless ragdoll. Each hit breaks away at the cement ground forming holes that shape his own body.
Present Mic gaps at the sight of the hulking figure being thrown around by someone half his size. “I think I’ve seen this somewhere before!!”
“I’m going to beat you!!” Ochaco screams as she spins around, pulling him along, until she slams his back right into his own crystal pillar.
“Ah!” Diamondhead growls as he attempts to jump forward. “What the?!”
He tries to move forward but he barely budges from his spot. Turning his head Diamondhead is stunned to find his own back spikes have impaled themselves into the pillar. “You’ve got to be kidding me!”
“Afraid not.” Ochaco’s body glows with One For All as she throws her body forward. “Smash!!” Her fist crashes into him, the power behind the strike smashes the Petrosapien into the jagged crystals that break apart and smash together; jeopardizing the entire stability of the massive pillar causing it to come crashing down onto the both of them.
Ochaco barely has enough time to leap backwards and away from the demolishing structure just as Diamondhead is buried alive by the very same debris.
“Did that do it?!”
Aizawa sighs. “Do you really think that finished him off?”
Present Mic takes a moment to answer. “No…”
“Ow, oh…” Ochaco groans as she stumbles to her feet while gripping her hand; she can feel it straining under all the stress she just put it through. “Did that do it?” She sure hopes so, her aching hand is a good price to pay if it means she finished Deku off.
The rustling of broken shards echo behind her; from within the rubble a perfectly fine Diamondhead emerges like an indestructible zombie rising from the grave.
“Ahh!!” Ochaco thrusts her glowing fist forward once again but the Petrosapien catches her fist mid-strike.
“Grr.” She struggles to pull her arm free but it’s no use she might as well be trying to pry her hand out between a pair of boulders.
Dimaondhead’s grip tightens threatening to crush the small limb.
Ochaco gulps as the crystal behemoth towers over her with an overpowering glare gleaming down at her. “This is going to hurt. Isn’t it?”
“Yes. Yes it will. Raahh!!” He throws his own punch and it connects with Ochaco’s side.
“Gah!!” The pain is extrustianing so much so that her legs give out from under her with only Dimaondhead’s grip keeping her up.
He lifts her up and delivers a frontal kick to her abdomen, propelling her backwards as he finally releases her from his grip.
Through all the pain, Ochaco somehow manages to keep herself on her wobbling feet, by the time she regains her balance all she can do is lift her arms up to guard her head as Diamondhead starts delivering a barrage of jabs and punches to her frame.
She barely holds on as each punch lands with equal force, it’s a struggle alone to keep her own arms up as the strikes just keep on coming.
Aizawa watches with much intrigue from the commentators booth. “It appears it’s finally catching up to her.”
Present Mic raises an eyebrow. “Excuse me?”
Nezu nods in agreement. “Yes, I think so.”
Present Mic leans in towards the other two. “Care to fill in the rest of us?”
Aizawa replies first. “Uraraka had to be treated by Recovery Girl after every match so far. She’s probably been fighting off the feeling of exhaustion since the very start of this match.”
“What are you saying?”
Nezu answers. “Ms. Uraraka’s stamina is far more depleted than that of Mr. Midoriya’s.”
Grabbing Ochaco by her shoulders, Diamondhead throws his head back and then…bam! He delivers one hell of a headbutt.
“Ahh!!” Ochaco collapses, a bit of her forehead is bleeding from the impact.
“Looks like you two were right. Will she be able to get back up from this or is she done…? Is this the end for Ochaco Uraraka?”
She heard that.
Ochaco slams her fist against the ground, grinding her teeth together in frustration. “I’m not going out like this!” Her entire body glows brighter with One For All’s power and she leaps right back up towards her all powerful opponent. “I’m going to win this whole thing!”
Dimaondhead glares up at her, unafraid of her declaration. “No, you won’t.”
A massive wave of crystals explodes from the earth as Diamondhead slams his fist against the ground. The wave of diamonds slam into the poor girl, throwing her backwards as the crystals continue to crash into her.
“This match is mine, Uraraka!”
“Not…yet!!” Thanks to One For All’s power coursing through her, Ochaco miraculously pushes herself away from the rushing wave of crystals.
But she has no time to relax as another explosion of diamonds seemingly explode out from the ground right beneath her feet.
Not wanting to be impaled, Ochaco leaps forward as a massive pillar of diamonds bursts straight into the air. The rushing pillar rises into the air until it’s piercing tip impales itself into the forcefield, electricity discharges around the pillar as it makes contact.
“You can’t win this!” shouts Diamondhead as he slams his hand against the ground again.
Another giant lance of crystals erupts and nearly strikes All Might’s successor, but she manages to dodge, barely. She flips through the air as another giant lance rockets up at her, this one too.
This continues with Ochaco just barely managing to dodge each and every massive pillar of diamonds that impale themselves into the now wavering forcefield. Electrical discharges are continuously firing off from the tips of the pillars and the forcefield wavers and shakes as if struggling to stay up.
She kicks her feet off the pillars allowing her to bounce around between them hoping for Diamondhead to lose track of her within the maze of crystals.
As she hops from pillar to pillar, Diamondhead keeps up with his barrage of lances that pierce themselves into the forcield making the energy dome look like a giant pincushion.
‘This is bad…’ Ochaco takes refuge behind a pair of tall pillars, out of sight from her opponent. ‘I need to get in close and end this.’
She leaps up and then with a burst of speed she kicks herself to where she thinks Diamondhead is.
As she zips through the air, bouncing from pillar to pillar she tries to locate the alien but it appears that while he was attacking her he was also repositioning himself to throw her off even more.
‘Where are you, Deku?’ She continues to scan from above at the shattered cement and through the giant lances of crystals.
This dome is like a labyrinth of towering diamonds guarded by an inhuman monster.
Just as she zips past a pair of pillars everything seems to go in slow motion allowing her to witness everything that’s about to happen.
Diamondhead had set up an ambush for her, he was purposefully leading her in a specific direction. He bided his time and when the time was right he propelled himself into the air by generating a massive pillar right underneath his feet, shooting him up into the air.
Due to their fast speeds, Ochaco has no time to react or defend herself as Diamondhead slams his diamond head right into her.
“GAAHHHH!!!” Ochaco is flung backwards, she crashes into a column of diamonds before she slides down the massive construct, her back scraping against the sharp and jagged shards before gravity wins out and she collapses onto the hard ground with a loud thump.
“Uraraka is down!!” screeches the overly astonished Present Mic.
The crowd gasps with fright, that was a hard hit. They’d be surprised if she doesn’t have a few broken bones from it.
“Will this decide it?!”
Midnight, the chief umpire, tries to peer through the electrical shield, but all she can see is Ochaco laying on the ground, unmoving. But it’s too soon to make any calls, she can’t tell if the poor girl really is unconscious or not.
Just when she thinks she should call it, the gravity girl budges.
Diamondhead stomps his way over as the battered girl struggles to flip herself around onto her back. Her breathing is labored and heavy and her soft features are bruised and scratched.
The Petrosapien gazes down at her with sympathy yet conviction knowing full well that one of them has to lose. “Stay down, Uraraka. You’ve fought hard and you did an amazing job. So, stay down.”
Ochaco coughs, trying to speak but the pain and exhaustion are too much. Unable to speak or stand she simply shakes her head in defiance.
The transformed Izuku sighs, he should have expected such a response from her; she’s not one to just throw in the towel.
With reservation, Diamondhead’s arm begins to shift and reshape itself into a hammer. “Are you sure?”
She glares up at him with a spark of defiance.
“Very well.” The large figure raises his arm up and over his head, readying to deliver a Diamond Hammer attack.
But before he can bring himself to finish it, he’d like to say something. “You were great by the way, I just wanted you to know that.”
Ochaco chokes out a response. “Th…thk…thanks…” After getting her thanks out she chuckles lightly to herself. “You were…pretty great too. ”
“Thanks.”
She smiles. “You’re welcome, and just remember.”
He tilts his head. “Remember what?”
Her smile becomes cocky. “There’s no hard feelings when you lose.”
“What?”
Before he can comprehend her words, Ochaco’s entire body explodes out with energy as a blinding pik light envelops all around them!
Diamondhead is pushed back by the sheer force of the sudden burst of energy. Looking around he quickly picks up on the pink hue surrounding everything around him. ‘This is-!!’
Present Mic’s voice cuts in. “It’s Uraraka’s Zero-Gravity Field!!”
It’s true. With the last of her strength Ochaco released both One For All alongside her Zero-Gravity, generating her signature Zero-Gravity Field.
The orbit of zero gravity has expanded across the field and has enveloped the entire battlefield and the giant crystals piercing through the fading forcefield, shrouding everything in a pink hue.
Ochaco grins as her weightless body begins to rise off from the ground. Honestly, she’s excited this even worked to begin with.
Diamondhead floats up into the air as his body becomes weightless under the mysterious orbit. “How are you still able to move?”
The gravity defying girl grins up at him. “All day, I’ve had to try and conserve my strength, I also had to hold back my power.” Her grin widens. “But not anymore.”
“What?”
“It’s the last match Deku, I don’t have to worry about breaking my body if it means I can…” She glares up at him with a wicked grin. “Beat you.”
A chill runs down Diamondhead’s spine, without making contact with the ground he won’t be able to properly defend himself.
Ochaco squats down in preparation. “Thanks for playing, but it’s over.” And like a bullet she fires herself upward, leaving a streak of pink aura trailing behind her.
Not one to just hand over a win, Diamondhead rains down a shower of shards as he continues to rise higher and higher into the air.
All Might’s successor doesn’t so much as flinch as she simply swerves her body to evade the sharp shards, even as a few of them graze her arms and legs.
Her entire body glows brighter and brighter as the morphed Izuku desperately tries to fend her off. But it’s all in vain, in an instant Ochaco has already caught up to him.
She reels back her fist. “Are you ready Deku?”
He responds by crossing his arms, attempting to shield himself from the inevitable attack.
With the power of eight holders flowing through her, Ochaco’s entire fist somehow glows even brighter, as she allows all of One For All to flow into her hand, becoming blindingly bright like a star piercing through the darkest of nights. “Finishing move…MARS SMASH!!!”
Screaming at the top of her lungs, Ochaco brings her fist and delivers an All Might worthy punch. The moment her fist makes contact with her opponent, pure strength erupts from her fist and an explosion of power and wind blasts through the entire battlefield. Pillars of crystals break under the sheer pressure, the cement battlefield is blown away, and the electrical force field wavers and shakes as it struggles to withhold the surge.
“RAAAAHHHH!!!” Diamondhead screams as the raw power slams into him and sends him flying up at such a high speed.
He moves so fast and thanks to his diamond-like body he smashes right through the forcefield, causing it to dissipate into nothingness and with nothing holding it back, crystal shards, rubble, and a power whirlwind whip through the stadium forcing the entire stadium to brace themselves against the sheer force of power.
Soon the wind dies down and a giant dust cloud shrouds the entire battlefield. The audience scan the field for any sign of the fighters, as they scan the entire stadium falls into a deafening silence as they wait for the outcome.
Conveniently the jumbotrons flash to life and reveal what had occurred to one Izuku Midoriya. The entire audience gasp at the sight of Diamondhead laying atop of a smashed food stall from right outside the stadium. He’s surrounded by astonished and terrified onlookers and pro heroes who were a bit more than startled after hearing a massive eruption and witnessing a giant mass of diamonds crash land right in front of them. Kamui Woods looks ready to fight temporarily mistaking Diamondhead for an attacking villain, Mt. Lady is pale as a ghost having been caught completely off guard by the sudden crash, and Death Arms stares on finding the entire situation rather odd and surprising.
Diamondhead groans and groups his head while the food stall owner cries over the fate of his business, never imagining it would become a crash sight. “My cabbages!!”
Back within the stadium everyone, the heroes, students, and teacher turn their widen eyes towards the demolished battlefield. None of them dare to look away each waiting with baited breath as the dust begins to settle.
There amongst the debris is a sign!
A battered bleeding Ochaco Uraraka stands proud amongst the rubble, her sleeve had torn away with the immense power surging through her muscles exposing her right arm that’s purple in color and clearly broken. But despite the pain she’s still standing with her left arm raised as if to say: I am here.
Amongst the stunned silence Midnight, who was protected by the blast thanks to a barricade via Cementoss. “Midoriya has been thrown out of the arena! Therefore-” She cracks her whip and announces. “Ochaco Uraraka is this year’s champion!!” Good thing too, if they continue there’s no doubt they may bring the whole place down with them.
All at once the entire stadium bursts into cheers!!
“SHE WON!!!” cheers the one and only Present Mic.
[AN: I have a reason for Ochaco winning, please read Author’s Note below for more details.]
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Present Mic’s voice blasts through the television set. “That’s it! After all that Ochaco Uraraka has taken the crown all for herself! Isn’t that amazing?!”
ML-E excitedly hops atop her family’s couch before zipping around the room so quickly she generates a small twister. “She did it! Take that losers!!”
“Stop!! My rug!!” screechers ML-E’s poor mother.
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“She’s put all she had on the line! And her blood, sweat, and tears were definitely worth it! Congrats!!”
The crowd of aliens cheer and clap, at least those who bet on Uraraka are.
Those who put their faith on Midoriya are a bit sour, but still in good spirits especially after witnessing such an intense and thrilling final match.
“They did so well gugg.”
“These kids are like crazy strong.”
“Kinda terrifying.”
“Eh…can you imagine how strong they’ll be when they go pro?”
Argit shivers. “I don’t even want to think about it.”
Meanwhile, Mr. Baumann smiles up at the screen as he watches a groaning Diamondhead shakily sit up from within the rubble. ‘Nice try, Izuku. But you sure got this old man’s blood pumping.’
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“Midoriya gave her one hell of a fight, heck I thought he had it a few times. But getting kicked right out of the stadium is a sure way to go out! Better luck next time kid!”
Tears gush out from Inko’s eyes as she wails from the top of her lungs. “Wahhh!! Izuku!! You were so amazing out there sweetie!! I’m so proud of you!!”
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“These two future heroes did amazing!!”
Tomura Shigaraki scratches at his neck so hard that he actually draws blood, he scowls at the laptop screen finding Present Mic’s comment infuriating.
And he’s not the only one, towering behind him, Nue looks ready to murder the screen especially as the screen flashes between Deku and his opponent.
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“Now these two are the embodiment of going PLUS ULTRA!!!”
Bakugou’s fingers dig into his shoulders in frustration as he continues to sulk in his seclusion. @@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
Groaning as he sits back up Diamondhead disappears behind a flash of red light.
“What the heck?!” shouts Kamui Woods as he reels back from the unexpected flash.
A battered Izuku moans and groans as he grabs at his aching head, ruffling his matted and dirty hair. “Not so loud please…everything…hurts.”
Mt. Lady collapses, her face stunned with shock. “How are you even alive right now?!”
“Huh?” Izuku blinks. “Oh! What can I say?” He smiles up at the bewildered pro heroes. “I’m way more durable than I look.”
Ironically, gravity wins out and he collapses right onto his back.
“Hey!” shouts Death Arms worriedly. “Are you alright?”
Iuku doesn’t response, he just lies there with a stupid grin on his face. ‘Aw, man…I was so close…’ He peers up at the expansive blue sky. ‘Well done Uraraka, well done.’
He takes a moment to enjoy the peace of it all, even as cheers continue to roar out from the stadium, letting all of his competitive spirit to wash away now that the U.A. Sports Festival is over. But at least he was right, he was technically the one to beat. And Ochaco sure did beat him.
“This was so amazing!!” Present Mic’s voice somehow overpowers the loud cheers and screams. “Stay tuned folks, because we’ll be bringing you the U.A. Sports Festival Awards Ceremony! After, of course, we get our young competitors some much needed medical attention!”
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Puffs of color smoke and daytime fireworks pop and crack above the stadium, signalling that it’s finally time for the Awards Ceremony.
Down on the field of the stadium, all of the first-year classes have gathered around to await the medals to be awarded. The teachers didn’t bother with repairs, instead they focused on clean up while Izuku and Ochaco got patched up. The field is clear of grass having been burned away or tossed aside through the semi-finals and finals. All there is is a flat cement platform for the students to gather upon.
Midnight stands atop a podium, her voice echoing across the stadium as the crowd continues to cheer and applaud. “The first-year students have completed all of the events for the U.A. Sports Festival. Now it’s time to relax and enjoy the Awards Ceremony.”
The crowd cheer and applaud as triumphant music plays and fireworks fire off from above, even the jumbotrons flash images of a trophy and the word VICTORY across their screens.
From behind Midnight bright smoke jets into the air along with streams of confetti as a platform begins to rise from below.
Standing on the lowest column is Shoto Todoroki looking as calm as ever. But there’s an air of somberness around him, clearly he rather not even be up there but he’s far too polite to decline.
On the opposite side is of course Izuku Midoriya, who looks like he’s being held at gunpoint. With a shaky dopey smile, sweating bullets, and nervously shaking from being in the spotlight for far too long.
And finally, on the tallest column is the champion of the Sports Festival, Ochaco Uraraka. Her rosey cheeks are even more red even with the bandages covering parts of her face. Her right arm’s in a sling and cast and her legs are wrapped in bandages like that of a mummy’s. She looks like she’s going to pass out at any moment, the exhaustion of the day finally catching up to her. But despite all that, she bears one of the brightest grins one has ever seen.
Their classmates grin up at them in awe.
Kirishima, bless his soul, cheers. “Way to go guys! You rock!”
Yuga Aoyama winks up at them. “You were magnifique!”
Sero smiles nervously. “Ha, these guys are monsters.”
Kaminari nods with a worried smile. “No kidding. Kinda glad I didn’t have to fight 'em.”
“Dammit!!” shouts Tetsutetsu from within his own class. “All the top runners were from Class 1-A! That’s bullshit!”
“Easy Tetsutetsu.” chides Kendo. “We’ll just make sure to do better next time.”
Yaoyorozu overhears and adds. “Yes, and the same can be said for the rest of us.”
From General Studies the purple-haired Shinso smirks. ‘Nice job, gravity girl. Next time I’ll try and be more of a challenge.’
Hoards of photographers and reporters, who gained permission to be there, stand nearby behind barriers. Their camera flashes with every shot they take of the winners.
Midnight turns to them for one more announcement. “Katsuki Bakugou actually shares the third-place award with Todoroki. But, unfortunately, he declined to join us in celebration. The poor boy, he must be devastated.”
Izuku frowns, as he gazes over towards where Bakugou should be standing. ‘Kacchan…?’
Before Izuku can think about it, Midnight snags his attention back. “Now, let’s break out the hardware! Of course, there’s only one person worthy of distributing the awards.”
“HAHAHA HA HA!!” A mighty hearty laugh echoes from atop the stadium.
The reactions are instantaneous as everyone in the stands rise with smiles on their faces and excitement in their hearts.
The Symbol of Peace leaps off the stadium roof and lands down onto the field before the winner. “CITIZENS! I AM HERE WITH THE MEDALS!!!/All Might, the Number One Hero!!” Unfortunately, Midnight wasn’t done introducing him yet, and so their lines ended up mashing together making it unclear what the other had to say.
The umpire claps her hands together in an apology and grimaces as All Might’s smile falters for a moment. “Ruined that, didn’t I…?”
“TCH.”
Midnight tries to save face by moving on. “So, now that you’re here, All Might, why don’t you start the presentation?” She presents the medals, signaling for them to start.
The crowd cheers once again as All Might takes a medal and approaches the third place winner. He makes sure to stand tall in front of these future heroes as he holds up each medal. “YOUNG TODOROKI. CONGRATULATIONS.”
Shoto silently bows forward allowing All Might the privilege of placing the medal around his neck.
“YOU SHOWED GREAT SKILL OUT THERE TODAY. AND I’M GLAD TO SEE YOU OPENING UP TO BOTH SIDES OF YOUR QUIRK. WELL DONE.”
Shoto’s gaze falls, not in dejection, but in thought. He then looks up towards the other two competitors, the ones who earned their right to be up there. “They opened my eyes. Especially Midoriya during our match.” If he wants to be a hero, a real hero, then he can’t use such petty excuses to hold himself back. Otherwise he can’t really call himself a hero can he? “I want to be the kind of hero you are, but my path isn’t as clear as I thought it was. I have a lot to think about.” His gaze finally meets the pro hero’s. “And I still need to settle things with someone, very soon.”
All Might nods in understanding. “I’VE NEVER SEEN THIS SORT OF LOOK ON YOUR FACE BEFORE.” He gently embraces the young man in congratulations. “I WON’T ASK FOR DETAILS, BUT TRUST YOURSELF. I’M SURE YOU’LL WORK THINGS OUT.”
“Right.”
With nothing else to say All Might releases the young man and steps across the podium until he stands before another young man, a young man he himself didn’t expect to see here a year ago. And now…now he must confront that mistake.
“YOUNG MIDORIYA.” He speaks calmly as he grips the second place medal. “CONGRATULATIONS.”
For a moment Izuku looks excited like it’s a big honor to receive a medal from All Might but it quickly washes away and he remains bitterly silent as the Number One Hero awards him his medal.
Once it’s around his neck, Izuku stands straight up and gives a curt nod, hoping for All Might to move on.
But he doesn’t.
“YOUNG MIDORIYA.”
Izuku hesitantly gazes up at the pro hero, barely meeting his piercing blue eyes.
All Might leans in and like with Shoto he gently embraces the young man. “I’D…LIKE TO APOLOGIZE…TO YOU FOR WHAT…I SAID ALL THOSE MONTHS AGO.”
Izuku gasps softly in surprise, he didn’t actually think All Might remembered that day. He figured he was just a lost memory especially after all this time. “Oh, um…it’s water under the bridge…All Might.” He doesn't sound too convinced.
“NO, IT’S NOT.” All Might grabs the boy by the shoulders and makes sure to look him right in the eye with the respect he deserves. “YOUNG MIDORIYA, I FAILED YOU THAT DAY. I FAILED TO SEE THE POTENTIAL IN YOU AND FOR THAT I DARE SAY I FAILED AS A HERO AND AS THE SYMBOL OF PEACE.”
“All Might…”
“I TOLD MYSELF THAT I ONLY SAID THOSE THINGS TO KEEP YOU SAFE.” His smile falters neary frowning. “BUT EVEN IF THAT WAS MY INTENTION, I SHOULD HAVE BEEN FAR MORE SYMPATHETIC AND TRIED TO ENCOURAGE YOU.” He holds his hand towards his heart as if to make a pledge. “NOW AS YOUR TEACHER I HAVE EVEN MORE OF AN OBLIGATION TO SEE TO IT THAT I CAN GIVE YOU MY FULL SUPPORT. AND I HOPE YOU’LL GIVE ME THAT CHANCE.”
“All Might…” Izuku’s voice falls away and his eyes fall back toward shis red shoes, his green hair casting a shadow over his eyes. “I…never hated you for what you said…not once.”
All Might, is actually a bit relieved to hear that, but he can hear the sadness in the boy’s voice.
“Truth is you were far from the worst person to tell me that I couldn’t become a hero. If anything you were just…the one that hurt the most,”
“YOUNG MIDORIYA-”
“But I can’t lie about my feelings.” Izuku shakes his head, clutching his fist as if disappointed in himself for feeling the way he does. “I’m sorry, even though I know you weren’t trying to hurt me, I can’t stop my heart from aching everytime I think about what you said. So, I’m not sure if I can actually forgive you yet.”
“I’M-”
“But then again…I’m not really the same person that I was back then.” Izuku’s emerald eyes peer up into the pair of sapphires above him. “Am I All Might?”
‘NO, HE ISN’T. HE’S NOT THE SAME.’ This boy walks with a purpose now, he’s driven and it most certainly shows. “NO, YOU’RE NOT.”
Izuku smiles, genuinely smiles. “You said I need to set realistic expectations for myself, well All Might.” The greenette gazes down at the shiny alien device on his wrist. “That’s what I’m doing.” With a sudden burst of energy he aims his left fit up into the sky and points upward.“I’m aiming for the stars!! Because now I know…” He gives a beaming grin, a grin that could even rival All Might’s one day. “that I can be a hero.”
The Number One HEros own grin widens with joy. “YES, YOU WILL BECOME A HERO. AND ONE OF THE BEST, I’M SURE.”
Izuku nods, grateful for finally hearing those words. “Thanks.” A few small tears leak from the corners of his eyes.
All Might steps aside as he does his mind recalls all of his previous concerns surrounding the boy. ‘YOUNG MIDORIYA, YOU HAVE A HEROIC SPIRIT BUT I FEAR HOW YOU CAME ACROSS YOUR POWER IN THE FIRST PLACE. AND I TRULY HOPE THAT IF THE TIME COMES, YOU’LL RELY ON ME FOR HELP.’
The pro hero and teacher stands tall in front of the first place winner. “AND NOW FOR OUR CHAMPION.”
Ochaco beams up with the biggest smiles he’s ever seen her adorn, her eyes twinkling with child-like excitement and possibly One For All, too. The rush of excitement she feels is preventing her from speaking, if she tries she’ll only choke on her own words. She looks ready to burst from pure joy and is trying her best to be composed especially in front of so many cameras and people.
All Might grips the golden medal in his hands and grins down at her. “WORDS CANNOT EXPRESS THE PRIDE AND JOY OF SEEING YOU STAND BEFORE THE WORLD TODAY. IT GIVES ME GREAT HOPE FOR THE FUTURE, KNOWING YOU WILL CARRY ON THE WORK OF THOSE BEFORE YOU.”
To those nearby it sounds like All Might is talking about how new heroes will join the fight against crime, but for Ochaco she understands; she understands that All Might is proud of her and sees her as a worthy successor to carry on the torch that is One For All.
“YOUNG URARAKA, PLEASE TAKE THIS.” He holds up the medal. “AND LET IT BE A REMINDER OF NOT ONLY WHAT YOU ACCOMPLISHED TODAY, BUT AS A SIGN. A SIGN OF THE CHALLENGES THAT YOU’LL NO DOUBT BREAK THROUGH IN THE FUTURE.”
Ochaco gleaming eyes and a beaming smile that’s threatening to break into a grin, Ochaco happily leans forward allowing her mentor to bestow her the first place medal.
As All Might lets go of the medal, the audience cheer and applaud in respect of these fine hero course students.
All Might turns his attention towards the rest of the student body as he gestures pridefully towards the cream of the crop. “HERE THEY ARE! THE WINNERS OF THIS YEAR’S SPORTS FESTIVAL! BUT LISTEN CLOSELY.”
The students, especially those in the hero course, stand at attention, knowing that whatever All Might has to say will be important.
“ANY OF YOU FIRST YEARS COULD HAVE ENDED UP STANDING ON THESE PODIUMS.”
Izuku, even though he came in second place, makes sure to hold onto every word All Might says.
“THINK ABOUT WHAT YOU’VE DONE TODAY. YOU’VE CHALLENGED EACH OTHER, LEARNED, AND CLIMBED EVEN CLOSER TOWARD YOUR GOALS OF BEING PROS.” Yes, he feels confident in saying that. “I THINK THE NEXT GENERATION OF HEROES IS PROVING TO BE OUR MOST PROMISING ONE YET!” He throws his hand into the air, his index finger pointing straight up to the heavens. “SO I HAVE ONE MORE THING TO SAY!!”
He becomes more excited as he tries to get the crowd involved. “I WANT TO HEAR EVERYONE YELL IS WITH ME! YOU KNOW WHAT IT IS!”
All together the entire audience shouts out in unison. “PLUS ULTRA!!/THANKS, EVERYONE, FOR YOUR HARD WORK!”
A harsh pause washes over the stadium, and then the entire crowd boos and groans at All Might for dropping the ball.
Even the students lash out at him in perfect synchronization. “WHAT?! That was the perfect time to say “Plus Ultra,” All Might!!”
“WELL, YEAH, I GUESS, BUT EVERYONE DID SUCH A GOOD JOB…!”
Izuku sheepishly chuckles from the podium. “Oh, wow, All Might…was that really on purpose?”
Shoto glances over at him. “Maybe he was trying to be funny.”
While the crowd complains about All Might’s lack of timing, Ochaco just continues to bathe in her joy. The happiness around her is so bright one could swear her entire body was glowing from under a star’s light.
Present Mic’s voice booms over the loudspeakers one last time. “And there you have it folks! Our winners of our first-year Sports Festival are Katsuki Bakugou, Shoto Todoroki, Izuku Midoriya, and of course our champion, Ochaco Uraraka!”
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“These future heroes are a true force to be reckoned with, I’d be surprised if there’s anything that can really stand up to them!”
A hulking mass glares at the holographic screen displayed within his healing pod. The commander glares intensely at the three winners, especially the boy in second place.
The commander growls as he observes his command ship’s deck. Most of the haul has been repaired but it means nothing if he cannot make a move. His own repairing body may be near completion but it will still take some time, plus he needs time to regain his strength as well. But for now he intends to listen and watch. Fortunately for the commander, he had the foresight to hack into this planet’s global interspace, which wasn’t too difficult at all. If anything it was a surprise for the commander that these apes even had developed such technology.
And now they’re very invention will allow him the access he needs to study this planet, and even keeps tabs on the Omnitrix and its unworthy wielder.
The commander’s glare hardens. “To use such a powerful device for entertainment…these earthlings…truly are a backwards and primitive lot.”
But then again, he did just witness the power these primitive beings possess. It’s almost terrifying to think that there could be someone down there that can even match his own strength… The thought nearly makes him chuckle. But still he better remain on the side of caution, if humans become aware of his existence there’s no telling how they may react. Not to mention the Plumbers; he’s already breaking laws for being in the same galaxy as Earth. If they discover him here then it may just mean war, a war that will undoubtedly slow down his ambitions.
‘I must remain ever so patient, the time for me to take action will come.’ He eyes the frozen image and zooms in on Izuku Midoriya. ‘But the Omnitrix does not belong in the hands of a human larvae!’
He turns to the nearest drone. “You!”
The droid quickly stands at attention before his master. “Yes, master?”
“Contact the Guild, immediately!”
“Yes, master.” The droid marches off for the nearest terminal, obeying his master’s command without question.
The commander turns back to the image of his prey. ‘Soon, Izuku Midoriya you will be nothing but a squashed bug underneath my foot.’ The commander chuckles minacelly to himself as a news bulletin pops up on his display.
The display reads “Ingenium Attacked: Hero Killer Still At Large.”
The commander becomes silent as the news grabs his attention. Looks like he has something else to study.
Notes:
And that was Ch.28! I know it was a long wait and I sure hope it was worth it for you all. If not then I do apologize. Hopefully I can make it up to you by being on time for the next chapter which I hope to be done with within the next two weeks. Hopefully. Please comment and let me know what you liked, didn’t like, and felt about this chapter. I’d love to hear from you.
*So why did I have Ochaco Uraraka win instead of Izuku Midoriya? Well the truth is that I was trying to think long term. I want it to be clear that even though Izuku has the Omnitrix, which is arguably more powerful than One For All, I want to firmly establish that Izuku can still lose even when using it. Why? Because if Izuku can lose at the Sports Festival then that means he can also lose against villains…powerful villains…powerful killer villains. In other words, I’m trying to create a bit more tension for future fights and chapters. Plus if Izuku won all the time then he’d get a really fat head and inflated ego like another Omnitrix wielder we know and love.
*BTW quick shout out to one of my editors for that “My cabbages!!” line! It was genius and I wish I had thought of it sooner.
Chapter 30: The Meaning Behind a Name
Summary:
Class 1-A prepare themselves for their Internships by coming up with their very own codenames.
Notes:
Hey everyone, so a quick announcement about this chapter. For full disclosure this chapter isn’t much it’s just a transition chapter to get us to the start of the Internship Arc so there’s not really much here except for some small scenes here and there.
*I want to thank “Drag0n5on” for writing up and sending me an Opening Theme for this story. Which you can read down below and I will add it in to some of the earlier chapters involving the Sports Festival. Thanks again Drag0n5on, you rock and so does your Opening Theme!
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
**********(Opening Theme)**********
*Lyric
*Scene
Oh, woah, ohh Oh, woah, ohh Oh, woah, ohh ohh
Izuku slowly walks up a stage as he fades between his alien forms. Below him students look up in anticipation as the crowd cheers.
Instrumental
Izuku makes it to the top of the stage and looks down at his fellow students who look back up at him challengingly.
Itsuka bokura no ue o suresure ni toorisugiteitta ano hikouki o
Izuku flys through the sky on his hoverboard with a smile before running into turbulence and slipping off it
Fushigi na kurai ni oboeteru imi mo nai no ni naze ka
The teenager ends up crashing through a familiar building. A moment later he runs out as Mr. Baumann chases after him with a broom. Inside the store Nezu and Thirteen laugh as they watch the events unfold.
Fugainakute naita hi no yoru ni tada tsuyokunaritai to negatteta
Izuku walks towards class as he's joined by Ochaco and all his friends. They pass by other students such as Hitoshi, Mei, and the 1-B students and a few megawatts as they continue walking.
Sono tame ni hitsuyou na yuuki o sagashimotometeita
Izuku slows down to see Todoroki standing in front of him with a serious expression. Behind him Endeavor glares.
Zankoku na unmei ga sadamatteru to s***
Ochaco meditates as she allows One For All to flow around her as Toshinori looks on. Suddenly Toshinori turns around to look at Izuku in his middle school uniform on the roof.
Sore ga itsu no hi ka boku no mae ni arawareru to s***
Behind Izuku the shadows of his tormentors including Katsuki appear before fading, leaving just Henzu who gives a mock salute.
Tada isshun
Izuku and Henzu are seen laughing together at something.
kono isshun
The two are now standing back to back, Izuku looks sad while Henzu looks angry.
iki ga dekiru nara
Izuku turns to reach out to Henzu who walks away and slowly turns into his mutated form.
Dou demo ii to Omoeta
Izuku a single tear comes down his face before opening his eyes revealing back on the stage as the other students look up at him.
sono kokoro o Instrumental
Slowly a smile appears on his face as the other students give him challenging looks. He returns the challenge by holding his hand out in a 'come and get me' motion
Mou ichido tooku e ike tooku e ike to boku no naka de dare ka ga utau
Izuku runs across the field ducking and dodging other students as they let loose their quirks, such as Mei gliding by in support gear, Shiozaki creating multiple vines, Kendo shattering the ground with her hands and Shinso walking through it all with a cool expression.
Dou shiyou mo nai hodo netsuretsu ni
Ochaco grins as she roars out, all around her gravity begins to distort. Behind her the shadows of the previous wielders appear.
Itsudatte
me o harashita kimi ga nido to kanashimanai you ni waraeru
Heatblast destroys an oncoming glacier, XLR8 races against a certain speedster, Four Arms fights off Dark Shadow, Diamondhead dodges multiple falling rocks only to be consumed in a powerful explosion.
Sonna hiiroo ni naru tame no uta
Izuku runs out of the fire with a determined expression as he runs at all his waiting opponents.
Saraba kakagero Peace Sign
All across the universe multiple aliens look on their screens at the sports festival
Korogatteiku sutoorii o
Izuku grins as he holds the Omnitrix up.
Instrumental
The scene fades out to reveal Izuku in his Hero costume along with the 1-A students as they all head out into battle.
[Illustrated by Drag0n5on]
**********(End Theme)**********
After the Sports Festival was over, the entire student body was allowed a few days off to relax and recover. Amongst the competitors there were celebrations and even tears, but most just took advantage of having no school or homework for the next few days. But the rest and relaxation are over, now the students must once again return to class.
Which is what Izuku Midoriya is trying to do. He’s having a bit of a slow morning, somehow in the span of two days he really got used to sleeping in and now he’s paying for it, his body feeling like it should still be lying in bed. It also doesn’t help that the train seems even more crowded than usual that morning. He can’t even sit down to rest, he’s wedge in between several strangers who are either heading off for work or school themselves. The only thing keeping him awake right now is scrolling through his phone for any new updates on heroes; there’s not a lot just more articles talking about the Sports Festival.
Izuku yawns, his eyes becoming dangerously close to not opening again as drowsiness keeps his hold over him.
“Hey you. Excuse me.” A hushed voice calls out from within the crowded train car. “You’re Midoriya from Class 1-A!”
Izuku’s eyes pop with a jolt as he turns to find a friendly looking businessman smiling at him.
“Great job in the Sports Festival.” The man winks and gives the young man a big thumbs up. “I rooted for you!”
Izuku snaps awake and so does everyone else. Literally every person within the train car turns their attention to the startled greenette, calling out to him all at once with excitement and awe.
“Woah! You came in second, didn’t you?!”
“That’s so impressive!”
“Your Quirk is literally god-level stuff!”
“Can I have your number?”
“I can tell you really wanna be a pro one day!”
The goofy grin on Izuku’s face is nothing but a mask to hide the panic he’s feeling right now, god he’ll never get used to the spotlight. Maybe Mr. Aizawa was onto something with being an underground hero?
With well-wishes the entire train car cheers. “Keep trying for it, hero!!”
Izuku’s brain can only process a small response. “I will. T-thanks!”
Thankfully he doesn’t have to wait too much longer for his stop, freeing him from his captive audience and making a mad dash for it before he breaks down under all of the attention. Luckily it doesn’t seem like anyone followed him, probably due to the heavy downpour that they’re experiencing. The storm’s been raging since early that morning and it doesn’t seem like it’s going to let up anytime soon. So grabbing his umbrella Izuku heads off for school, which should be less than a ten-minute walk away.
Even if it’s a relatively short walk it still takes Izuku some time to get even close to the school, taking his time as his drowsiness lingers. “I feel like I’m barely awake.”
“Hey Deku!”
“Huh?” Izuku spins around and just in time to see his good friend. “Oh, Uraraka!”
Yup, it’s Ochaco Uraraka looking as lively and bubbly as ever, her pink colored umbrella keeping her dry from the rain.
Izuku smiles as she runs to meet him. “Tell me how’s the Sports Festival Champion doing this fine morning?”
Ochaco’s entire sprinting body freezes up like someone used a pause button on her. And then that same person presses the play button, Ochaco breaks down with her face blushing to a bright pink making her face look like a tomato. She drops her umbrella as she desperately tries to cover her face but it’s for not. Her face is burning so much that when the rain lands on her head, steam radiates off of it as the water evaporates.
Izuku is more than shocked by her reaction. “What?! Are you okay?!”
Ochaco exhales, calming herself down and picking back up her umbrella. “Y-yeah, s-sorry.” She grips her hair, wringing it out to drain out the water. “It’s just my parents showered me with so much attention over the last few days. I even got to go back home to Endori…” Her red face returns accompanied by a goofy-shy grin. “And my neighbors and even my old classmates came by to congratulate me, huh!” It was nice at first, but it got really embarrassing as everyone started chanting her name and asked her to demonstrate her Quirk. “And it was the same for my ride here!!” She actually had to push and shove her way out of the train before the excited crowd trapped her there and make her miss the school.
Izuku sweat drops. “I…can understand.”
“Good morning, Uraraka, Midoriya!”
“Ah! Whoa, Iida?!” Both Izuku and Ochaco spot Tenya Iida sprinting towards them. “You really went all out with the rain gear.”
He sure did, Iida’s all bundled up in a large raincoat, good thing too because an umbrella wouldn’t be doing a thing since he thinks he needs to be in a full sprint towards the school. “Why on Earth are you two walking so slowly?” He dashes right past them. “You’ll both be late!”
Izuku chases after him. “Late? But…”
Ochaco who nearly slips when she runs through a puddle, catches up to them. “There’s still five minutes until the first bell.”
Iida continues to sprint his arms swinging back and forth. “U.A. students should always arrive ten minutes early, don’t you think?” He goes even faster leaving them far behind.
“Uh…” The duo slows down as they pass U.A.’s main gate, watching their Class President zip away into the building.
They share a questioning look between each other, something seems off. But not wanting to be standing in the rain, they quickly make their way inside.
Once inside they quickly find Iida removing his raincoat and folding it up to store in his locker. Ochaco immediately tries to dry herself off with some paper towels as Izuku shakes off his umbrella.
Izuku watches Iida store away his coat and figures now maybe the best time to talk to him. “So, Iida. Um-”
“If it’s about my brother, don’t be concerned.” Iida flashes the two of them a firm smile as if to show that he truly is fine. “I’m sorry if I made you worry. Everything’ll be fine.”
Ochaco frowns, her brows furrowing with concern. “A-are you…sure?”
They don’t notice it but for a split second there was some hesitation in Iida’s voice. “Yes.” He does not sound convincing. “Also congrats on making it so high in the rankings.” He turns to face them directly. “I’m sure it was a sight to behold.”
And just like that he’s off once again, moving at a fast pace as he strides for their classroom leaving behind a very confused Izuku and Ochaco.
Izuku and Ochaco are left to watch him off once again, both unsure about what to do. They both share looks of concern but they also don’t want to be a bother after what happened…
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“It’s so weird that people recognize us from TV.” A grinning Mina Ashido is happily telling her classmates all about her days off, especially how many times she got stopped by people who saw her and her classmates during the Sports Festival. “Everyone wanted to talk to me on my way here.”
“Yeah, me too!” adds in Eijirou Kirishima with a bright shark-toothed grin.
“People on the street were staring at me!” chimes in Tooru Hagakure. “It was kind of embarrassing.”
From his desk Mashirao Ojiro sheepishly smiles up at her. “Sure, but isn’t that pretty normal for you?”
Denki Kaminari smiles widely as he chats with Mineta, Jiro, and Yaoyorozu. “All it took was one Sports Festival and suddenly we’re like celebrities.”
Minoru Mineta can’t help but agree. “This school really is amazing.”
Izuku and Ochaco walk in just to hear them all chatting away, the closing of the door instantly catches everyone’s attention.
“Well, well, well. Look at you too.” Mina grin as the two of them approach their desks. “Walking in here all high and mighty.”
“What us?” Ochaco coyly faux innocence.
Hagakure quickly joins the conversation. “Well, why not? You two came in the top three.”
“Top three?” Questions a snarky Denki Kaminari. “Uraraka freaking won the whole damn thing!”
Ochaco smiles, finding all the praise to be somewhat embarrassing.
Momo Yaoyorozu approaches the two of them along with Kyoka Jiro. “Congratulations, you two. Your victories were well earned.”
Jiro nods in agreement. “Yeah, you guys were totally amazing out there.”
Ochaco beams up at the two of them. “Thanks.”
Izuku tries his best to respond, but it’s clear that he is not used to being in such a positive light. “Uh, uh, y-yeah.”
“Don’t be shy, Midoriya!” Kaminari slings his arm around the shy boy's shoulders. “Liven up! Show off a bit! Brag!” He then leans in and whispers. “I bet you got all sorts of ladies after ya now huh?”
Izuku’s brain literally short circuits. “Uh, uh, uh, uh…”
Tsuyu Asui takes note of his exhausted expression. “I think his brain is fried.”
“Ha ha ha!” The group laughs together as Izuku tries and fails to compose himself.
Izuku sheepishly holds his head, like a turtle tucking its head into its shell.
As the others continue to talk about the Sports Festival, Izuku’s eyes wander the classroom. He spots Shoto Todoroki in his seat, the two lock eyes and Shoto respectfully gives a curt nod in greeting, which Izuku is kind enough to mirror.
His eyes wander a bit further and they land on one Katsuki Bakugou. But not the normal Katsuki Bakugou that he’s come to know over the years, instead this Bakugou is…sulking? He’s slouched over in his seat, ignoring all the commotion round him with a far off look in his eyes.
‘Bak…Kacchan?’
Without warning the classroom door swings open accompanied by a drawl greeting from their homeroom teacher. “Morning.”
All of Class 1-A instantly rush to their seats. “Good morning, Mr. Aizawa!”
The students finally get a good look at their teacher as he strides across the front of the classroom. His bandages are all gone, his arms are free of their casts, and he seems to be walking around just fine.
But…Izuku can’t help but feel a bit somber about the new scar underneath Shota Aizawa’s right eye. It must have been a result of his…fight with the Nomu back at the U.S.J. Izuku shivers in his seat as his memory plays the gruesome scene of the Nomu crushing Eraserhead’s arms and head.
“Kero? Mr. Aizawa, you don’t have bandages anymore.” Leave it to Tsuyu to be so direct. “That’s good news.”
Aizawa scratches at his left cheek, the cheek opposite of his new battle scar. “The old lady went a little overboard in her treatment.”
Ochaco’s not sure if that’s funny or disturbing. ‘Did he…want to stay as a mummy?’
“Anyway.” Aizawa closes his eyes as if preparing to make a major announcement. “We have a big class today on Hero Informatics.”
As soon as the words leave his mouth a rush of dread fills the students. ‘Oh, no.’
‘Informatics?!’ Kaminari is paralyzed in his seat. ‘Please don’t tell me it’s a pop quiz!’
Kirishima’s lost his usual toothy grin. ‘Crap, I bet it’s about hero laws. I’m so bad at stuff like that.’
Aizawa almost wants to sneer at the sight of his petrified students, but it’s too early in the morning for drama so he might as well alleviate their worries. “You need codenames. Time to pick you hero identities.”
Almost the entire class burst into a fit of cheers. “This is gonna be totally awesome!!”
Aizawa’s eyes flash dangerously red as his hair flares up like black flames from the pits of hell itself.
“Shh…” The class settles down in a second acting like nothing was even said or done.
Aizawa honestly should have seen that reaction coming. Even so these brats need to learn some professionalism, so he won’t bother hiding the irritation in his voice. “This is related to the pro hero draft picks that I mentioned the last time we were in class together.”
Oh, yeah. That was so long ago some of them have actually forgotten.
“Normally, students don’t have to worry about the draft yet. Not until their second or third year actually, but your class is different.” For reasons that Aizawa rather not bring back up. “In fact, by extending offers to first years like you, pros are essentially investing in your potential. Any offers can be rescinded if their interest in you dies down before graduation, though.”
Mineta’s fist bounces off his desk. “Stupid, selfish adults.”
Hagakure leans forward in her seat. “So, what you’re saying is, we’ll still have to prove ourselves after we’ve gotten recruited.”
“Correct.” responds the tired pro hero.
Basically any of these offers can be terminated at any time. They’ve had internships where the students were only present for a few hours. Heck, Aizawa has even heard of cases where a student’s whole hero career ended before it even began because an agency wouldn’t take them for long. So, it’s important that they all take this with extreme importance and seriousness. If anything they need to work twice as hard just to keep their internships.
“Now.” Aizawa turns and holds a remote towards the blackboard. “Here are the totals for those of you who got offers.”
On the blackboard a projection of those who've gained offers and how many they received already pop onto the screen.
- Midoriya: 3556
- Todoroki: 2739
- Uraraka : 2244
- Bakugou: 1209
- Tokoyami: 301
- Iida: 272
- Asui: 108
- Yaoyorozu: 77
- Kirishima: 68
- Mina: 20
- Jiro: 14
- Kaminari: 11
Aizawa steps aside so his class could see the results. “In past years, it's been more spread out. But there’s a pretty big gap this time.”
Kaminari gasps as he falls back in his seat after he scans the list. “Gah! That’s not fair…” He’s only got 11! That’s nothing compared to some of the others.
Yuga Aoyama is fuming mad, if one can tell from his usual smug smile. “What about the real star? Moi?”
Jiro eyes the list with mild curiosity. “Midoriya got the most, ahead of Todoroki and Uraraka?”
Kirishima frowns. “Huh? Yeah it’s completely different from how they placed in the festival.”
Tsuyu cups her chin. “Well it's not really a surprise though.”
“Well, duh.” Jiro turns in his seat. “I mean imagine getting a sidekick that can take on any kind of villain. Of course they’d all want a piece of him.”
“It’s sort-of unfair.” groans Kaminari, he throws his head back towards Izuku. “Your Quirk is so overpowered and flashy.”
Ojiro full heartedly agrees. “I know right.”
Izuku smiles with mild embarrassment as he grips the Omnitrix. ‘You’d be surprised…’
As the class continues to talk about the results, Bakugou silently clenches his fists as he tries and fails to hold back his ever-growing anger and frustration. ‘They all…got more than me…’
Yaoyorozu sighs at the sight of her offers, it’s so low…
She smiles softly as she turns to her neighbor. “That’s amazing. You must be proud.”
Shoto, who’s been silent all morning, remains as indifferent as ever. “These offers are probably because of my father.” And that leaves a bit of a bad taste in his mouth.
Meanwhile, there are tears of joy in Ochaco’s eyes as she grabs Iida’s shoulders and shakes him back and forth. She did it! She got so many offers it’s amazing! “People want us!” She giggles as Iida tries to hold his composure despite the harsh thrashing.
Aizawa continues with his explanation. “Despite these results, you’ll all be interning with pros. Got it? Even those of you who didn’t get any offers.”
Sero raises an eyebrow. “So, we’re all interning?”
“Yes.” Aizawa replies. “You already got to experience combat with real villains during the attack on the U.S.J. facility” Fun times… “But it’ll still be helpful to see pros at work. Up close and personal, in the field. Firsthand.”
Rikido Sato grins, throwing his fist up. “And for that, we need hero names!”
A smiling Ochaco swings her arm up too. “Things are suddenly getting a lot more fun!”
The pro hero is almost tempted to call them out for interrupting but that’ll only slow things down. “These hero names will likely be temporary, but take them seriously or-”
The door swings open, slamming out of the way. “You’ll have hell to pay later!”
Everyone, mostly the boys gasp with pleasant surprise when they see who it is that’s entered their classroom.
The new arrival struts to the front of the class; she has both her hands over her head, and she walks with a swing of her hips flaunting everything in her skintight suit. “What you pick today could be your codename for life. You better be careful, or you’ll be stuck with something utterly indecent.”
“It’s Midnight!!”
Aizawa sighs, tired of the conversation already as his coworker, Midnight, joins him at the podium. “Yeah. She’s got a good point. Midnight is going to have final approval over your names.” Aizawa bends down grabbing his yellow sleeping bag. “It’s not my forte.”
##########(Flashback)#########
A much younger Hizashi Yamada, or Present Mic, turns to his classmate. “Hm? So you haven’t decided on a codename yet?”
A much younger, but still as dreary, Shota Aizawa can’t even bother to look at his friend. “It doesn’t matter what I choose. I don’t wanna be in the spotlight anyway.”
“Bro. I got it!” Yamada grins and shoots out of his seat as inspiration strikes. “How about-”
A third voice cuts in. “-How about Eraserhead?”
Yamada’s grin falls, having his thunder stolen, while Aizawa’s red eyes drift over to his right to the other self-declared friend in his life.
Their friend is a tall boy of average stature with light blue, wavy hair that’s swept back to flow upwards above his head. He bears an excited tooth-bearing grin and his blue eyes gleam with anticipation as he awaits Aizawa’s response.
“So, how about it?” There’s definitely an air of cheeriness and positivity radiating off of him, but thankfully for Aizawa he is immune to such a disease.
Aizawa considers the name before turning back to his desk showing no interest whatsoever “Sure, whatever.”
“It’s perfect!” shouts Yamada.
Aizawa clasps his ears. “Stop shouting…”
Their friend grins at his friends, appreciating their company. “Ha ha ha!”
########(End Flashback)#######
And back in the present, the much older and somehow more sympathetic Aizawa continues on with his explanation. “The name you give yourself is important. It helps reinforce your image and shows what kind of hero you wanna be in the future. A codename tells people exactly what you represent. Take “All Might” for example.”
Both Izuku and Ochaco go rigid in their seats as they consider Aizawa’s words. ‘All Might…’
Before they can even think, a crack of Midnight’s whip snaps everyone awake and at attention. “Hold it, I know your youthfulness is urging you all to come up with delectable names. But I have something else in mind that will sedate your youthful urges!”
Aizawa eyes his coworker suspiciously, mainly because whatever she’s got planned is going to cut into his nap time.
Midnight smiles at the class as she grabs a box from seemingly nowhere. The box is white with green stripes with a single hole on top.
Midnight smirks at the sight of the students’ bewildered expressions. “Each of you will write down a suggested codename for each of your classmates and place them in the box. We’ll call each other by whatever codename I draw out.” The only drawback is that they’ll have to do about twenty different drawings.
Okay, Aizawa really wasn’t expecting this. “Where’d you get this childish idea?”
Midnight’s eyes light up like stars. “From a Shonen Jump of all places!”
Aizawa lets out a deep sigh. “Of course…”
The frog girl of Class 1-A raises her hand. “Um? Ms. Midnight?”
Midnight smiles down at the girl. “Yes.”
“Um, why are we doing this?”
“Good question. This exercise will help demonstrate the importance of choosing a proper name and the ramifications of creating a name with poor taste.” She smirks as she hands each of the students twenty slips of paper. “Also we’ll be conducting an exercise to help this lesson sink in.”
Kaminari grips his patch of papers. “This could be fun!”
Mina looks far too happy about this. “Yeah!”
Sero grins as he starts writing suggestions down. “I’m writing down the first thing that pops in my head.”
Sitting nearby, Jiro chuckles to herself as she writes down her own fake codenames. Her eyes drifting over to Kaminari.
“Also, I should mention this.” Everyone stares back up at Midnight whose smirk becomes dark and conniving. “For the rest of the day real names are forbidden!”
That was the last thing Class 1-A expected to hear. “WHAT!?!”
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
“Jimmy John’s Delivery. Come in, Jimmy John’s Delivery.” Ojiro peeks out from the bush he decided would make for a good ambush. “Can we confirm that the target’s on the move?”
Jimmy John's Delivery’s (Iida) voice echoes out through his intercom. “Sorry, Monkey Man, that’d be a negative. Eraserhead is still hiding out there somewhere in the trees.”
After receiving their temporary codenames, Class 1-A was taken out for a quick exercise in teamwork and communication. Their mission is to communicate between each other to capture their own homeroom teacher, Eraserhead.
The point of the exercise? To work on their team building skills and communications skills. Especially before they each head off for different agencies that rely on such tactics.
Jimmy John’s Delivery (Iida) peers out from behind the tree he’s been hiding behind, his armor is far too obvious in this environment. “Doc Oc, Beats are either of you reading anything?”
A fair distance away Doc Oc (Shoji) scans the forest with various noses, ears, and eyes. “No, sorry Jimmy John’s Delivery.”
“Wait, I got something!” shouts Beats (Jiro), her Earphone Jack embedded into the ground. “Pikachu, he's heading your way!”
A fair distance away, amongst the trees and shrubs, Pikachu (Kaminari) gripes as Beats (Jiro) calls him out by that stupid nickname. “All right…” He grips his fist and grins wickedly. “Let’s do this!”
Before he can even process it, something whizzes past him and Aoyama making them both gasp with shock as they turn around and find their target running away.
Eraserhead sprints away, perfectly at home amongst the uneven terrain. “Congratulations. You let your target slip away from the scene. Shape up, Pikachu!”
Pikachu (Kaminari) growls in frustration.
Aoyama steps forward aiming his belly outward, his cape billowing behind him. “Not to worry, monsieur. He can’t escape my shining grace.”
“Wait, Croissant!”
Too late, Croissant (Aoyama) fires off a massive beam of energy but Eraserhead was ready. He simply shifts to the side and turns away using the trees as cover while the Naval Laser pierces the earth and vegetation.
Pikachu (Kaminari) snarls. “We’re not letting you get away!” Pikachu (Kaminari) shouts into his intercom. “SpoderMan! Chowder! Easy Bake Oven! He’s headed your way!”
Eraserhead glides through the trees, moving like a graceful fox, expertly evading the hunters. With his speed he quickly hops down into a little makeshift trail.
The moment he steps out of the brush, three of his own students, deck out in their hero costumes, leap out from different directions.
Easy Bake Oven (Yaoyorozu) leaps out first. “Apologies, Mr. Aizawa, but we have a goal!” She throws forward a smoke bomb that fires off right into the pro hero’s face, blocking his vision.
“SpoderMan! Chowder!”
“Yeah! Take this!” SpoderMan (Sero) grins as he fires out dual strands of tape into the smoke.
Chowder (Sato) grabs the tape and rips it away from SpoderMan (Sero) and gives it a good tug ensuring that Eraserhead was pinned. “Now guys!”
Easy Bake Oven (Yaoyorozu) summons a metal bow-staff and rushes into the smoke as SpoderMan (Sero) charges in from the opposite end.
*Clank*
“Gahh!!”
“Oh, my. I’m so sorry! Please forgive me!”
Chowder (Sato) gasps as the tape in his hands falls to the ground, losing all tension.
The smoke clears away to reveal a bowing Easy Bake Oven (Yaoyorozu) and a very hurt SpoderMan (Sero) who’s very glad his helmet protected him from most of the blow.
“What? What happened?” asks a very confused Chowder (Sato).
“You were all overconfident.”
“Huh?!”
The three students look up to the trees and spot their teacher squatting down in a branch above their heads.
Eraserhead’s red eyes gleam through his yellow goggles. “Easy Bake Oven, your little smoke bomb was a double-edge sword. It may have cut off my vision, but it also cut off your own. Providing me with the perfect cover to escape.”
Easy Bake Oven’s (Yaoyorozu) frown strains as her confidence wavers.
“Better luck next time.” And with that Eraserhead disappears in a blink of an eye, like a ninja.
“Wait, where’d he go?” Chowder (Sato) scans the trees for any sign of their target.
“He couldn’t have gotten far!” SpoderMan (Sero) fires off a strand of tape and launches himself forward so he can go search for Eraserhead.
Chowder (Sato) takes off soon after and Easy Bake Oven (Yaoyorozu) is left alone to stew in her failure.
Eraserhead leaps from tree branch to tree branch, so swiftly and smoothly one would think he was flying.
‘That was honestly a nice attempt, but try as you may, all your efforts will mean nothing if you have nothing to show for it. Learn from these mistakes class or you can’t call yourself a hero worth their salt.’
As he continues to traverse the canopy, a surprise still manages to leap out from above. “I’ve got you!” Tsuyu throws her arms and legs out alongside her long tongue, completely blocking Eraserhead’s path.
“Tch.” Eraserhead allows himself to fall, avoiding Tsuyu’s reach, rolling across the dirt ground before leaping back up to his feet.
“Rahh!!” Kirishima lunges at Eraserhead as he slides onto his feet.
The pro hero’s eyes flash red and his hair floats upward as Kirishima charges.
Kirishima’s Hardening fades away, but he’s moving too quickly and with his fighting spirit he slams his fist against Eraserhead’s chest. “I hit him!”
“I let you.” Eraserhead’s capture weapon wraps around Kirishima’s wrist binding his arms together.
Tsuyu leaps out from behind. ‘He’s distracted!’
Rookie mistake, because Eraserhead swings around, pulling Kirishima along with him and using him as a swinging mace, slams him into Tsuyu, knocking both of them into the dirt.
Eraserhead stands tall as his students reel back in pain, his scarf recoiling around his neck. “Ms. Kermit. Tetsutetsu. That was a fine ambush, but overconfidence can sometimes hinder one's efforts.” As if he has a sixth sense, he ducks down just as Mina pounces out from the bushes directly behind him.
Mina’s grin drops as she hits the dirt with the grace of an ox.
“Same can be said for you, Pink Lemonade.” And like before he takes off into the woods, moving so fast that neither of his students could dare to keep up.
And so for the next few moments he continues to race through the trees, looking around he doesn’t find many signs of his students hanging around. That could only mean two things: they are so incapable that they aren’t covering the entire area, or…they’ve finally got something figured out.
As Eraserhead zips away he actually fails to sense that he was being watched.
The master of stealth, Hagakure, whispers into her intercom. “This is Hide N’ Seek, the target is approaching the west.
It’s Izuku’s voice that responds. “Copy that, Hide N’ Seek. Try your best to follow him.”
Hide N’ Seek (Hagakure) sweat drops as Eraserhead quickly disappears out of sight. “That’s…easier said than done.”
At the same time, Eraserhead really covers some ground even using his scarf to swing from tree to tree. ‘It’s quiet.’
Within the trees a few sparks pop and then…
*BOOM!!!*
An entire tree canopy is blown to smithereens as Bakugou literally blasts himself out and at Eraserhead. “Die!!”
*BOOM!!!*
A mushroom cloud rises in the air as a result of Bakugou’s ferocious attack.
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
Pikachu (Kaminari) gaps at the sight of the explosion, thank god they’re far enough away from the blast. “What was that?!”
Beats (Jiro) frowns. “I think that was Mad Pomeranian.”
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
Mad Pomeranian (Bakugou) growls as he remains hunched over like a feral animal that’s going to tear its prey apart. “Fucking losers, giving me this fucking name.”
He scans the newly demolished section of these fucking annoying woods; thanks to his blast he created a large enough crater to give himself some room to play with.
“Sheesh, what with you kids and property damage?”
Mad Pomeranian (Bakugou) snarls as the smoke clears to reveal his unscratched target.
Eraserhead grips his scarf calmly assessing the damage. “You and the others were just as prone to property damage during the Sports Festival, perhaps we need to have a special lesson to prevent it in the future.”
“Shut it! I don’t need to be lectured!” Mad Pomeranian (Bakugou) barks just before he rockets himself forward with a well-executed blast. “I’ll take you down myself!!”
He figures that if he can move fast enough, he should be able to take down the target before he can cancel his Explosion Quirk.
Mad Pomeranian (Bakugou) swings his arm forward as sparks dance in his palm. But like a dying flame the sparks flick away. “My Quirk!” Forget his Quirk what about him, the carbon-metal scarf wraps around his body, binding him in place.
“Don’t act surprised.” Eraserhead’s hair sways with the wind as he glares through his yellow goggles. “You’re well aware of my Quirk by now.”
“Shut up!” Mad Pomeranian (Bakugou) struggles against the tightening binds, his rage and frustration forcing him to resist. “I’m…not weak…I’ll show…everyone what I am!”
Eraserhead wasn’t expecting such a reaction, he makes a mental note of it for later. “Mad Pomeranian…why is it you want to become a hero?”
“Huh?” Mad Pomeranian (Bakugou) blinks. “To become Number One, obviously.”
Eraserhead considers the response before smirking. “Interesting. I’m afraid you still have a long way to go.”
“Shut the fuck up! You don’t know a thing, loser!”
“And that’s your problem.”
“Huh?” Mad Pomeranian’s (Bakugou) usual scowl drops.
“The way you see those around you, as nuisances, won’t serve you well when you go pro.”
“What the hell do you mean?”
“Look around, where’s your teammates?”
“What? Those losers?! They’re useless, they’ll just get in my way!”
“A shame, have you ever considered that working with your classmates could make you a better hero?”
Mad Pomeranian (Bakugou) actually looks confused. “What…How does that make any sense?” All Might never worked on a team, he took down every single villain by himself, like a true hero.
Eraserhead sighs, exasperatedly. “You truly do have a long way to go.”
He doesn’t even give the boy a chance to speak before he pulls him in, Eraserhead leaps up and over the bound blonde before kicking him down into the dirt, the scarf unraveling around him as he skids away. The pro hero dives into the brush, moving low and quickly as to escape what he’s going to assume is a fiery outrage.
“Get back here!!” Mad Pomeranian (Bakugou) roars as he shoves himself off the ground, he aims his hands back and with two resounding booms he rockets himself after his prey. With his rage and determination fueling him, he quickly catches up to his target. “Don’t look down on me!”
He swings his hand down but Eraserhead dives to the side and just in time as a burning inferno decimates the brush around them.
“I never look down. All I do is push you down.”
“What does that mean?!” Mad Pomeranian (Bakugou) shouts as he throws his palm forward but there’s no Explosion.
“Because I want to see each of you spring back up.” With his lecture said and done, Eraserhead throws down a smoke pellet and vanishes before the ash-blonde’s eyes.
“Fuck! Where are you!” Mad Pomeranian (Bakugou) frantically scans the trees like a deranged killer, his frustration seeping through with each passing second knowing his target is getting further and further away. ‘Push me down…My attitude? Working with them? What the fuck is he talking about?’ With an agonizing roar he fires off an Explosion, releasing his anger. “Dammit!!” It seems to have worked as he finally settles down. ‘Why…why can’t I win? I’m supposed to be the best…’
Meanwhile, Eraserhead glides through the brush and trees, his keen eyes picking up everything around him even as he moves with such incredible agility. ‘Bakugou…you’re strong, smart, and talented. Your grades and performance during the Sports Festival more than prove this. But you’ve been cuddled for far too long. All the worship and praise over the years have sewed their way into your head.’
He recalls all the times Bakugou’s ignored or degraded his teammates: Battle Training and Sports Festival. ‘You believe, to your very core, that there can only be one person standing at the top, that you are the very best, the strongest, Number One… However, in a place like U.A., those mentalities rarely succeed for very long. Because for the first time in your life you have to face the reality…that there are those who are stronger than you.’
His feet skid across the ground as he swerves and changes directions, hoping to throw anyone off so that maybe following him. ‘When heroes come across a powerful villain or a terrible disaster, it is often impossible to deal with it alone. A hero has to be willing and able to work with those around them, to coordinate, communicate, and cooperate. You never know, often or not you can learn a lot from those around you.’
Eraserhead grabs a raised tree branch, and somersaults into the air and lands atop the tree canopy, he grips the trunk and takes advantage of his new vantage point to catch his breath and observe the area. ‘You need to figure these things out or-.’
“Caw!”
Eraserhead jolts before turning ever so slightly to the right there he sees…a crow. No not Tokoyami, just a regular old crow.
The pro hero doesn’t like the look in that thing’s eyes like it’s plotting something diabolical.
Without warning the crow begins to caw as loudly as it can, its wings flapping as if it’s trying to make even more noise. “Caw!! Caw!! Caw!!”
Before the pro hero could even understand the situation an entire flock of birds swoop in and slam into him from behind, throwing him off balance, and forcing him to the ground where he lands on his feet.
If he thought what they did was odd, then what the birds do next is on an entirely different level. The large flock of diverse bird species begin to circle around him making a swirling tornado of feathers and wings that circle around him like a pack of sharks.
Eraserhead prepares himself for battle. “This has Animal Crossing written all over it.”
Sure enough off to the side, hiding behind a tree is the ever so shy Animal Crossing (Koda), quietly directing the flock to keep Eraserhead in place.
Eraserhead eyes the swirling feathers with trepidation, his years of experience telling him that an impending attack is imminent.
“Rahh!!/Dark Shadow!” The birds fly away as a black mass breaks through the tornado of wings.
“Shit.”
Dark Shadow glides forward and slams its body into the pro hero, shoving the hero backwards. Eraserhead manages to stay on his feet but the blow definitely took a toll on him. “Well done, Ryuk.”
Ryuk (Tokoyami) stands tall, his black cloak billowing in the wind as Dark Shadow coils around him like a serpent. “Thank you, sir. But I’m afraid I have to bring you in now.”
Eraserhead snickers. “Do you really think it’s going to be that simple?”
Ryuk (Tokoyami) stands at the ready. “No.”
“Caw!” The massive flock of birds swoop in right between the two edgelords before circling around the pro hero once again, obscuring his view of the raven-headed student.
Eraserhead takes a defensive stance, gripping his capture weapon. “Darn these rats with wings.”
“Ahhh!” Dark Shadow bursts through the blockade of birds and takes a swipe at the surprised Eraserhead.
The hero’s eyes flash red and Dark Shadow retreats from view as the birds quickly close the gap, blocking the hero’s sight from landing on his student.
Eraserhead scans the winged mass warringly. ‘Clever.’
With Animal Crossing (Koda) providing the perfect cover, Ryuk (Tokoyami) can attack him continuously without fear of having his Quirk completely canceled out. Because by the time the hero can land his eyes on his opponent, Dark Shadow can land a hit first before it can be erased.
“Peek-a-boo!” Dark Shadow bursts in from behind, lunging at Eraserhead with its claws outstretched.
Eraserhead performs some expert level acrobatics as he spins up and backwards into the air, allowing the black mass to glide right underneath him. He brings his feet down onto Dark Shadow’s main body and then bursts into a ninja like run, using the shadowy being as a running platform. Eraserhead cuts his way right through the circling tornado of birds, scattering those that were unfortunate to be in his way.
Ryuk’s (Tokoyami) usually calm demeanor drops. “After him Dark Shadow!”
“Rig-Ahh!!” Dark Shadow fades out of existence under Eraserhead’s red gaze.
Ryuk (Tokoyami) growls. “Animal Crossing don’t let him escape!”
The massive flock fly up and then dive bomb for Eraserhead who, at the sight of them, takes off for the trees, hoping to scatter the flock within the branches and brush.
And it works, the birds dwindle as they enter the woods, being blocked by thick branches, bushes, and rocks. With all the cover Eraserhead manages to flee the scene heading south and away from both Ryuk (Tokoyami) and Animal Crossing (Koda).
As the birds dissipate, Animal Crossing (Koda) joins Ryuk (Tokoyami) and the reformed Dark Shadow as they gaze southward.
Ryuk (Tokoyami) smirks and turns to Animal Crossing (Koda). “We may have failed, but I think we can still call this a success.”
Meanwhile, Eraserhead travels further south, never slowing down. ‘That…was easy. Too easy.’ He doesn’t like it; it seems like those two gave up on chasing him far too quickly. ‘Something’s definitely not right.’
He inhales as he sprints but as he exhales his own breath becomes visible; the sight of which makes his breath hitch.
Almost like magic, the entire forest around him becomes frozen in ice, turning everything into a frozen wasteland from the trees, brush, and ground. But the ice doesn’t just encase everything in frost but continues to crawl and expand across the trees and branches, rising up as giant icicles, trapping Eraserhead in a circular cage of ice and frozen vegetation.
“I’m assuming this is your doing.” Eraserhead glares towards a frozen tree that lies just before the heightened icicle wall.
Shoto strolls out from behind his hiding place. “Mr. Aizawa.”
“Zuko.” Eraserhead stands ready for a fight. “I figured I’d run into you sooner or later.”
Zuko (Shoto) strolls forward a few steps. “We figured that we couldn’t chase you, so instead we opted to have you come to us.”
“We?” The realization hits Eraserhead, his eyes flaring red and his hair flows up. “Ryuk and Animal Crossing…they led me here.”
Zuko (Shoto) can feel his Quirk fading away, even so he’s not that all disturbed by the sensation. “Yeah, just like he planned.”
Eraserhead, keeping his Erasure Quirk activated, raises an eyebrow. “He planned?”
“Like we were told earlier, this exercise is about teamwork and communication.” Zuko (Shoto) peers up at the sky. “And that’s what we’re doing.”
From behind his goggles, Eraserhead risks peering up at the sky, and what he sees makes him doubt his chances of escaping.
Especially as two new competitors come diving down from the sky. “We are here!!”
Four Arms smashes through the frozen canopy, his muscular legs easily catching his weight as he crashes onto the frozen ground. Following along is Ochaco, floating down to the ground at a much more graceful pace.
Eraserhead remains calm despite the circumstances. “Broccoli Boy. Mochi.”
“Hey Mr. Aizawa. Oops! I-I mean Eraserhead.” Mochi (Ochaco) blushes in embarrassment, she meant to call him by his hero name from the start.
“Don’t worry about it.” Four Arms slams his four fists together. “Besides he called me the wrong name, it’s Four Arms not Broccoli Boy.”
“Get over yourself, Broccoli Boy.” chides Zuko (Shoto). “At least your codename makes sense, because I don’t get mine.”
Four Arms spins around and points an accusing finger at Zuko (Shoto). “It’s from Avatar the Last Airbender and you are going to watch it when this is all over!”
Mochi (Ochaco) frowns with contemplation. ‘I think All Might mentioned that series before.’
Eraserhead eyes his students with mild annoyance, they should know better than to get distracted before a villain. “So, I’m up against the top three finishers of the Sports Festival. That hardly seems fair…” He smirks. “for you three that is.”
Oh, that’s smart.
Four Arms makes the first move by lunging forward. “Sorry Mr. Aizawa but we have to pass!”
“If you want to pass,” Eraserhead charges straight towards the stampeding behemoth. “then you’re going to have to earn it!”
“Rahh!” Four Arms throws his two right fists forward to greet the hero.
Eraserhead easily sweeps his way past the Tetraman, positioning himself behind the large brute. With his back turned the hero aims his red gaze at the alien’s back hoping to cancel the kid’s Quirk.
“Oh, no you don’t!” Mochi (Ochaco) pounces at the hero, forcing him to turn away from Broccoli Boy (Izuku) before his Erasure Quirk could take effect.
“Thanks, Mochi.” Four Arms sighs and smiles at Mochi (Ochaco). ‘Seriously!! I don’t know how I’d bullshit my way out if Mr. Aizawa used his Quirk on me…’
Mochi (Ochaco) lunges forward at Eraserhead, her open palm extended out to grab him.
Eraserhead’s red eyes lock onto Mochi (Ochaco) just as her hand lands on his stomach. “Nice try.”
Mochi (Ochaco) gives her teacher a wicked grin just before she grips his shirt and pulls with all her might. “Raaa!!” With her finely trained muscles she manages to toss Eraserhead into the air. “Zuko!”
“I have him.” Zuko (Shoto) quickly follows up by slamming his foot to the ground and a burst of ice sprouts from the ground, aiming right for the launched Eraserhead.
‘Clever.’ Eraserhead flings his capture scarf into the trees and the moment it snags onto a branch he pulls himself away before the icicle could snare him. ‘But not quick enough.’ He swings to the tree and hops down before racing off for cover.
*Smash!*
*Smash!*
*Smash!*
“Eraserhead!” Four Arms comes crashing through the frozen trees and brush, his iron knuckles smashing through everything in his way like a bulldozer.
The target in question takes off as Four Arms chases after him. The hero swerves in and out between the icicled trees and bushes, but it’s all for not as Four Arms easily crashes through the ice forest.
Four Arms reaches for his target. “I’m not going to give up!”
Eraserhead jumps and throws his feet forward into a tree, he then kicks himself backwards, throwing himself up and over Four Arms. “I know.” His capture scarf unravels and descends down on the still moving behemoth. “And that’s part of being a hero.”
As Eraserhead lands onto the ground the scarf tightens and wraps itself around Four Arms’ head, and before the Tetraman could change directions due to the ice, Eraserhead pulls throwing the giant’s balance off making him slip backwards.
Four Arms crashes onto the ground, unable to see thanks to the scarf, and disoriented from the sudden slam.
“I’ve got your back, Broccoli Boy!” A pink hued Ochaco zips onto the scene, her glowing fist at the ready.
Eraserhead releases his hold on Four Arms and then spins out of the way of the girl allowing her to fly on by. He barely has a moment to catch his breath as he leaps to the side to avoid an ice trail courtesy of Zuko (Shoto).
Eraserhead faces the scared teen while his own back is turned towards the downed Tetraman.
Seeing an opportunity, Zuko (Shoto) fires out another ice trail of freezing icicles.
Expecting such a reaction, Eraserhead dodges to the side avoiding the ice trail. But the ice is moving too quickly for Four Arms who is very surprised to find himself encased in a cocoon of ice.
Zuko’s (Shoto) gasps. “Shit!”
“And this is why we’re conducting this exercise.”
Zuko (Shoto) glares at his teacher.
“You all need to learn about battlefield awareness and to coordinate with other heroes.”
Without warning a pair of slim yet muscular arms wrap around his torso and arms.
Mochi’s (Ochaco) dauntless smile grows as her Zero-Gravity takes hold of him. “Don’t underestimate us, sir!”
With a mighty roar, she swings and throws Eraserhead towards the massive ice wall encasing them.
Eraserhead’s back slams into the wall, not enough to crack it but enough to certainly make him feel it. “Is that all I thought-...” His voice trails away as he feels his body struggling to move away from the wall. “What?”
Peering through his goggles he spots a few purple balls stuck between his arms and the wall. Feeling around he can tell that there are even more attached to his back and legs, heck there are even a few purple balls sticking onto the wall.
It becomes very clear to the pro hero what this really is. “Well done you.” He smiles, accepting his defeat gracefully. “You did understand the lesson far better than I thought.”
Mochi (Ochaco) smiles with pride as Zuko (Shoto) actually uses his left side to heat up the shivering Four Arms.
Mochi (Ochaco) smiles up at the frozen canopy just above Eraserhead. “Good job by the way, No Ship.”
No Ship (Mineta) groans, his entire body shivering in the cold, even his feet are stuck to the frozen branch thanks to the ice. “Wh-whatever…c-can we l-leave now?”
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
Midnight smiles down joyfully at the class. “So, what did you all think?”
Class 1-A slump in their seats, unable to look up from their desks. “Actually it was kind of embarrassing.”
And for good reason, the entire class not only had to go through the entire exercise with those fake codenames, but due to Midnight’s conditions they had to keep the fake codenames throughout the rest of their classes. Hell, even their other teachers forbade using their real names and only referred to each of them as their individual fake names. And not too long after the rest of the student body (especially one Neito Monoma) caught on to the scheme and pretty soon it became clear that their fake codenames may just be sticking around longer than any of them would have liked.
So, here they are humiliated with the lesson about choosing a good codename drilled into their heads.
And what do their teachers have to say about it? Nothing. Heck Mr. Aizawa is already huddled up in his sleeping bag half-asleep.
Midnight on the other hand is more than happy with the results of this little social experiment. “I hope this all showed you how much a codename can affect how others see you.” She starts handing out stacks of whiteboards for the students to write on. “So, consider what your codename means and what people can take away from it. Are you a friendly neighborhood hero, just wanting to serve the community? Are you a caped crusader out for justice? Or are you a symbol? Be sure to consider what it is you are and what you want to be when deciding your own hero name.”
‘My hero name…’ Izuku stares down at his whiteboard, the platform he is to use to present his future. ‘I need something that embodies the kind of hero I wanna be one day.’
As he ponders about what fits him best, his classmates also ask themselves the same questions. They all remain seated in silence and frustrated sighs as they each try to come up with something unique.
Midnight struts across the front of the room. “Now, students, who among you is ready to share?”
Kirishima’s heart stops. ‘We’re presenting these?!’
As does Sero’s. ‘Oh, great! Who’s got the balls to go first?’
Aoyama apparently as he strides up the class without any hint of hesitation. “Hold your breath. The Shining Hero.” He raises his board with a whoosh. “My name is “I Cannot Stop Twinkling!” Mon amis. You can’t deny my sparkle.”
The students gap. ‘Come on!!’
Midnight snatches the board from his hands and writes away at a few edits. “It’d be better this way. Take out the “I” and shorten the “Cannot” to “Can’t.” She flips the board and presents the new name: “Can’t Stop Twinkling.”
Aoyama’s smile never falters as he gazes upon the suggestion. “It’s stunning, mademoiselle.”
The students’ jaws drop. “She likes it?”
Sato takes it a step further. “Also, you’re not really French, are you? That’s just an act.”
“Okie dokie, lemme go next!” Ashido bounces her way up to the podium. “My codename: The Ridley Hero, Alien Queen!”
Now it’s Midnight’s turn to gasp with freight and disgust. “Hold on. Like that horrible monster with acidic blood? I don’t think so.”
Ashido sulks back to her seat in defeat. “Dang it.”
The rest of her classmates frown as she walks back to her seat in shame. ‘That one wasn’t okay?’ It seems like a new wave of dread rises in everyone’s hearts. ‘Since the first two were so weird, I feel like I have to come up with something really clever now.’
“Kero!” Tsuyu raises her hand. “I think I’ve got one. Okay if I go next?”
Midnight points at her with a friendly smile. “Come on up.”
Tsuyu strolls up to the front and addresses her classmates. “I’ve had this name in mind since grade school.” She flips her board over, revealing her hero name. “Rainy Season Hero, Froppy.”
“That’s delightful!” awes Midnight. “It makes you sound approachable. What a great example of a name everyone will love!”
“Froppy! Froppy! Froppy! Froppy!” Well her classmates certainly do, especially as a sense of relief eases their dread. ‘Thanks, Froppy. Finally, a normal one.’
“I’ve got mine, too.” Kirishima firmly slams his whiteboard down onto the podium. “The Sturdy Hero, my name is Red Riot!”
“Red Riot?” Midnight inquiries. “Interesting. You’re paying homage to the Chivalrous Hero, Crimson Riot, yes?”
Kirishima grins happy someone understood the reference. “That’s right. He may be kind of old school, but someday, I wanna be just like he was. Crimson is my idol.”
“Hm. If you’re bearing the name of someone you admire you have that much more to live up to.”
“I accept the challenge.”
Izuku awes at his classmate’s admiration. ‘Wow, that’s so cool.’ His smile drops into a somber frown. ‘Before I met All Might I had a couple of names picked out…’ Well more like fantasized about such as Mighty All Man, Mighty Boy, Small Might, Captain All Might, Super All Might… Oh, god he’s such a freaking fanboy that it’s almost embarrassing. ‘I loved coming up with all those names. They never failed to put a smile on my face back in those days. Now though…’ He stares at the blank whiteboard. ‘Now I know I can’t be like All Might, I’m going to be my own hero. I don’t know what my future has in store, but…’ He eyes the ever present Omnitrix. ‘I’m willing to find out.’
As it turns out those around him are having similar issues.
Kaminari grabs at his head in frustration. “Man. I still haven’t been able to think of anything that’s cool enough.”
Jiro’s Earphone Jack taps his shoulder. “Hey, I’ve got one.” Jiro smiles, a marker wrapped in her Earphone Jack. “How does “Jamming-Yay” Sound to you?”
Kaminari beams. “Ha! Oh, it’s like “Hemmingway,” who wrote ‘A Farewell to Arms’, right? Real clever. I like it.”
“No.” Jiro has to cover her mouth to stop herself from bursting into laughter. “It's because even though you’re powerful, you always” She nearly chokes as she fails to hold back her laughter. “jam your brain.” She takes off for the front with her white board as Kaminari snaps at her.
“Oh, come one, Jiro! Quit messing with me!”
The purple-haired girl smiles as she stands at the podium and presents her name. “The Hearing Hero, I’m Earphone Jack.”
Midnight nods. “Now that’s a good one!”
After that things really start rolling.
Shoji’s up next. “The Tentacle Hero, Tentacole.”
Midnight claps. “Oh, I like what you’re doing with that. A nice portmanteau.”
Then there’s Sero. “The Taping Hero, Cellophane!”
“That’s on the nose. Good work!” Midnight’s praise makes Sero blush.
Ojiro flexes his tail to empathize his name. “Martial Arts Hero, Tailman.”
Midnight’s not surprised. “No surprise with that one, I guess!”
Sato grumbles at Ojiro as he takes the podium. “Copycat. I’m the Sweets Hero, Sugarman!”
Midnight gushes. “Perfect!”
Mina returns and loudly declares her new suggestion. “PINKY!!!”
“Make those looks work for you, girl!” cheers Midnight.
Kaminari stands next, finally he thinks he’s got something cool. “Stun Gun Hero, I am Chargebolt. Electric dontcha think?”
And Midnight loves it. “Makes me all tingly!”
Hagakure slides onto the front of the room. “The Stealth Hero, Invisible Girl!”
Midnight can’t argue with that one. “That really suits you!” Midnight’s really getting heated up now as she addresses the remaining students. “Now come one, who’s gonna step up next?!”
Apparently Yaoyorozu wants to go next, she gently raises her whiteboard. “I hope that I can live up to this name. The Everything Hero, I’m Creati.”
Midnight gushes with joy. “Creative!”
Tokoyami follows up with his codename. “Jet-Black Hero, Tsukuyomi.”
Midnight swoons. “Ah, God of the night!”
Mineta, who can’t even see over the podium, has to hold up his whiteboard up over his own head. “I’m the Fresh-Picked Hero, Grape Juice!”
Midnight nods. “Very kitschy!”
Koda shyly approaches the podium, too shy to speak out loud but he wrote the following: Petting Hero, Anima.
Despite the lack of a declaration, Midnight is still just as enthusiastic. “Yep. All about it!”
The very overconfident Bakugou quickly dampers the mood. “King Explosion Murder.”
Midnight’s cheery demeanor falls. “I’m gonna say that one’s a little too violent.”
He instantly snaps at her. “Huh, whaddaya mean?!”
Kirishima calls out from his seat. “Why don’t you be Explosion Boy?”
“You shut up, Shitty Hair!” Bakugou snatches the nearest marker, which happens to be from Shoji’s desk, and begins to write out a new name. “Okay. How. About. This?!” He slams his whiteboard down and declares with a sense of finality. “Lord Explosion Murder!!”
Midnight deadpans. “That’s basically the same thing.”
“Tch…”
Midnight sighs. “Why don’t you sit down and think on it for a bit.” She turns to the class as Bakugou trudges away. “Are there any other volunteers?”
Shoto steps out from his seat. “I’ll go.”
Everyone watches on in anticipation as Shoto calmly strolls up to the podium. They’re all wondering the same thing: just what kind of name will the son of Endeavor pick? It’s got to be something that screams power and heroism.
Shoto calmly turns and presents his codename. “Shoto.”
Each and every student’s mouth drops. ‘That’s it?!’
Midnight frowns. “Just your name? Is that it?”
Shoto remains as indifferent as ever. “Uh-huh.”
Izuku has to fight the urge to interrupt. He actually has few suggestions for Shoto, but he doesn’t want to overstep; it’s his decision after all. ‘But…he could have picked anything! How about…Freezer Burn? Cold Flare? Or Thermo?’
Across the room, Ochaco clutches her white board. ‘Okay. My turn.’ She gets up from her seat and the class settles down as they watch her approach the podium. ‘It’s okay Ochaco, you should be proud of this codename. I know the kind of hero I want to be, and this name will represent that.’
As she stands before her peers, she gently reveals her codename that will carry her into the future. “This is the name I thought of: Uravity!”
Midnight smiles, clapping her hands together, finding the name delightful. “I just love that!”
“Whew.” She is more than relieved that it got Midnight’s seal of approval.
As Ochaco practically skips her way back to her seat, her classmates chat about the rate they're going.
“Man, everyone’s names are just so cool!” cheers Kirishima.
“And we only got a few more to go.” adds Sero, before turning to a very focused Izuku. “I can’t wait for your name though.”
“What?!” Izuku breaks his concentration of still trying to think of a name.
“Yeah.” Mineta leans forward in his seat. “You give your transformations such kickass names, you must have something for yourself at this point.”
Jiro turns in her seat. “For sure I bet it’s something like One Man Army, you know a name after his Quirk.”
“Na.” Kaminari shakes his head. “I bet it’ll be Green Machine.”
“What about Yokai?” suggests Tokoyami.
Everyone turns to him for further explanation.
“He turns into such strange beings; one would say that they are almost inhuman in nature.” Tokoyami eyes Izuku, who can’t tell if the bird boy is accusing him or just trying to be ominous. “Wouldn’t you say, Midoriya?”
Izuku gulps. “I…I…uh, don’t have a name yet.” And he turns away as his classmates all shout out more suggestions.
Thankfully Izuku is spared any more questioning and suggestions as Iida goes ahead and walks up to the podium.
The class quiets down as Iida stands there, he seems a bit subdued than normal but considering the news no one is really all that surprised.
Unknown to them all, Iida’s mind begins to wander, specifically he recalls his visit to the hospital. His visit to see his wounded brother and hero…
##########(Flashback)#########
Tensai Iida, also known as the hero Ingenium, is bound to his hospital bed. Bandages and casts line his body, a heart monitor sits nearby constantly beeping, the only comforting noise that’s desperately trying to say that he is alive. But looking at him, he’s been cut down and now the future for the pro hero Ingenium is endangered.
Tensai stares up at the ceiling, his gaze hazy but he can still make out his little brother sitting nearby.
Tenya Iida’s body shakes with grief and stewing frustration, it must be hard for anyone to see their own personal hero in such a weak state.
Tensai chokes on his words, but this must be said. “I wasn’t sure if I wanted to say anything yesterday. But I…can’t feel my legs. They’re useless.”
Iida gasps. “What? No way!”
“Yeah. I think the hero Ingenium…is finished.”
Iida…refuses to accept that reality. It can’t be true. It. Just. Can’t! His brother’s supposed to be a hero. A great hero. His hero. How? Why? Why did this happen? How could anybody do this to such an inspiring and chivalrous soul? A monster. A villain could…
“At least for me.”
“No!” Tenya shoots out from his seat in protest. “You still have so many people to help and inspire, brother.” He shakes his head in denial. “This can’t be true.”
“I’m sorry. I’m afraid it is.”
Iida looks like he’s on the verge of tears. No he already is crying.
“That’s why…I want you to take the name.” Tensai eyes him, he knows this is hard to hear but he wants Iida to do this; for both of them. “Will you do that? For me, Tenya.”
########(End Flashback)#######
Iida grips the whiteboard as his brother’s words run through his mind. ‘No. I’m still…’
He reveals his whiteboard, but he too decided to take a page from Shoto’s book, because his codename is just “Tenya.”
Midnight frowns with concern. “You’re using your real name, too?” She’s genuinely surprised and she really wants to ask why but…she can tell that something is off about him, there’s just an air of sadness around this boy.
But Iida is not going to reveal anything soon, instead he solemnly returns to his seat.
Not wanting to pry, Midnight decides to move on for now. “Well, Midoriya, are you ready?”
“Oh!” Izuku jolts up in his seat. “Y-yes!”
Before he can even leave his seat a certain angry pomeranian slams their hand down onto his desk. “No way, nerd!” Bakugou barks, a small Explosion firing off the paralyzed Izuku’s desk.
“R-right!”
“Tch.” The scowling ash-blonde marches up to the front.
Midnight, despite the aggression, offers a friendly smile as Bakugou approaches the podium. “Finally thought of something did we?”
“Yeah, yeah.” Bakugou turns to address the rest of the class. “Here’s my codename you bunch of whiny bitches.” He flips up his whiteboard. “Call me…Ground Zero. And don’t fucking forget it.”
Midnight approves. “Aw, now that’s a great name.”
Bakugou snaps at the teacher with full aggression. “Of course it is! Dammit!”
The students sweatdrop. ‘Is he…happy or not?’
Midnight laughs off Bakugou’s fury and turns to the very last student. “Alright, Midoriya, are you ready?”
Every last student turns to Izuku with anticipation, making the greenette even more nervous than he already is.
With a deep calming breath Izuku gets up and approaches the podium, avoiding the tracking eyes of his classmates.
He stands behind the podium, gripping the whiteboard. ‘This is it. It has to be.’ And like ripping a Band-Aid, he flips the board over, revealing his codename.
Class 1-A gasps in surprise, of all the things he could come up with he went with…that?
Even Bakugou is stunned, his mind going blank as he takes in the unbelievable outcome.
The stunned silence is eventually broken up by Mineta. “Really, Midoriya?”
Mina pouts disappointed with his lack of creativity. “I thought you’d have something else in mind.”
Kaminari grimaces as he reads Izuku’s suggested codename. “You sure about that?”
As does Kirishima. “Yeah, man, remember, that could be your name forever.”
Izuku chuckles softly, he understands their confusion, and why not? But…it just feels right to me. “Right. I used to hate it. But then, something changed. I guess…” His eyes subtly shift over towards Ochaco. “Someone taught me that it could have a different meaning. And that had a huge impact on how I felt. So, now I really like it.”
Actually his feelings towards this name changed back during the Battle Training: also the first time he truly stood up to Bakugou: ‘“You can call me Deku, but I’m not helpless anymore! From now on, Deku is the name of a hero!”’
Izuku smiles up at the class and states with full confidence. “Deku. That has to be my codename.”
Bakugou is totally in shock right now. His brain is definitely fried, it’s like the world has just flipped upside down.
Ochaco, however, is smiling proud of the fact that Deku can truly move on from his torment. And plus she can take pride in saying that she gave him his hero name, too.
Heck, even Shoto is taken for a loop. He really can’t seem to get a grasp on Izuku’s logic. But maybe he doesn’t have to. ‘You are an odd one, Midoriya.’ Shoto shakes his head and smirks to himself. ‘Or should I say, Deku?’
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
“Huh.” Cementoss eyes his computer screen as another email comes in. “Offers for the first years are still coming in. Looky here.”
Yagi Toshinori, who just happened to walk in just now, blinks at the screen. “Who’s that one for?”
“It’s for Uraraka.”
Toshinori silently smiles with pride. ‘Another offer! Oh, Young Uraraka you’re making this old man proud. You have so many offers it’s unbelievable!’ Toshinori leans in wanting to take a look. “Here may I have a look?”
“Of course.” Cementoss moves aside allowing the Symbol of Peace to have a look for himself.
“So, who’s after her?” Toshinori leans in and reads the name of the agency, and as his eyes land on the hero’s name…his heart stops. “WHAT!?! Are you kidding me?!”
As if to add to the horror his phone starts blaring from his pocket!
Toshinori scrambles to grab his phone, nearly dropping it as it juggles between his fingers, before holding it up in his shaking sweaty palms. As his eyes land on the caller’s ID his face turns ghostly pale and he stops breathing.
Cementoss blinks up at Toshinori, and he can swear that he can see his soul leaving his body. “Are you feeling alright?”
Toshinori doesn’t even address Cementoss directly. “Yeah…I just need to take this…”
Toshinori wobbles his way out of the room, his shaking finger fearfully moving towards the Accept Call button, moving so slowly that maybe just maybe the caller will give up.
But that is a pipedream.
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
Meanwhile, Aizawa finally crawls out from his sleeping bag. Although it’s still wrapped around his legs even as he addresses his class of misfits. “Now that everyone’s decided on their hero names, we can go back to talking about your upcoming internships.”
Aizawa eyes his students as Midnight stretches behind him, she has had a long day after all, judging others isn’t easy.
“They’ll last for one week. As for who you’ll be working with. Those of you who were on the board will choose from among your offers, everyone else will have a different list.” Aizawa holds up the forms they’ll be needing to fill out. “You have a lot to think about. There are around forty agencies across the country who’ve agreed to take on interns from your class. Each agency has a different specialty that its heroes focus on. Keep that in mind.”
Midnight chimes in with her own advice. “Imagine that you were Thirteen. You’d want to choose a place that focuses on rescuing people, not fighting villains. Understand?”
The entire class responds. “Yes!”
But Izuku and Ochaco silently chuckle to themselves, like kids that share the same juicy secret. ‘If only they knew the truth.’
Aizawa continues. “Think carefully before you decide.”
The class is quick to reply. “Yes, sir!”
And with that they have reached the end of the school day just as they are handed their forms and the bell rings.
Kirishima grins at his own list of offers. “I want to fight crime and bad guys in a big city.”
Tsuyu eyes her own list. “I just hope I can intern someplace where there’s a lot of flooding. Or maybe a lake.”
Aizawa turns to his class just before he leaves for the exit. “Turn in your choices before the weekend.” And just like that he stomps off alongside Midnight who was kind enough to wave them bye.
“We’ve only got two days?!” shouts Sero.
“Yeah, so you should start now.” Aizawa lazily addresses the class for one last announcement. “You’re dismissed.” His announcement is quickly met with a closed door.
Back inside the class, Shoto stares at his extensive list, his eyes instantly locking onto a particular name on it: Endeavor Hero Agency.
Nearby, Mina is laying atop her desk in defeat, her list of agencies flung onto her desk. “So, guys, have you decided what pro agency you wanna go for?”
Mineta is quick to reply with a perverted grin. “Mt. Lady’s my top choice.”
Tsuyu walks by and frowns at the little pervert. “Mineta. Are you thinking something perverted?”
“Possibly…!”
Other students discuss their own choices of internships such as Tokoyami who eyes his list with much interest. “Interesting, very interesting, it seems fate has dealt me a good hand.”
Ochaco, of course, is scanning through her own list and she definitely has to agree with Tokoyami’s statement. “Interesting, very interesting, it seems fate has dealt me a good hand.” she even tries to say it as dark and edgy as he did.
Tokoyami eyes her with surprise, he’s not sure but he could have sworn someone just copied him.
Ochaco highlights the offers that stand out to her the most: Ryukyu, Kamui Woods, Crust, Edgeshot, and so much more. This…is going to be difficult to decide. “Hey, Deku, who’s on your list?” She gasps when she realizes the kind of state, he’s in.
Izuku is busy muttering away to himself, ranting on and on about how to go about deciding on an agency. “So by looking up their specialties and splitting them into groups, I can start narrowing it down. There’s those who excel in combat, but those who focus on rescue too, then there’s places all about PR, and then there’s of course the ones that excel in a wide array of those areas…”
Several of the students smile at the odd sight, finding it amusing. ‘There he goes again.’ Thankfully, Izuku’s muttering isn’t as disturbing as it used to be, probably because they’ve just grown accustomed to it.
“Huh?!” Izuku snaps out of his rant. “Oh. Sorry, what’d you guys say?”
Tsuyu smiles, finding his obliviousness amusing. “You’re really thinking hard about this, aren’t you?”
“It’ll all work out.” cheers Ochaco.
As they all continue to make up their minds about the internships, Iida too comes to his top pick and he quickly scribbles it down onto his form.
In the meantime, Izuku continues to ponder over his list some more as the rest of his classmates begin to head home for the day. By the time he thinks he’s narrowed it down to a single choice, the classroom has nearly emptied out. So, with it getting so late he figures that he might as well turn his form in and head on home too.
So he grabs his oversized yellow backpack and makes his way to the exit.
“Hey, Deku! Wanna walk together?” calls Ochaco, running up to him with her own backpack strapped up.
“Mm-hm.” Izuku nods and smiles in agreement. “I just need to turn this into Mr. Aizawa.” He holds up his filled-out form.
“Cool.” Ochaco turns towards Iida’s seat. “Iida, come with u-...” Oh, he’s not there. “Huh…”
Izuku follows her gaze. “I bet he already decided where he wants to do his internship.”
Ochaco nods in agreement as she grips the door as Izuku continues with his theory. “My guess is he’s off turning his forms in right now.”
Ochaco flings the door open and no sooner than she does a wild All Might appears from seemingly nowhere.
“HAHAHA! I AM HERE IN THE BIZARRE POSITION!”
“WHA?!” Izuku jumps away in surprise.
Ochaco, however, doesn’t even react like she’s become used to this sort of thing. “Um, but why? And why are you in such a hurry?”
The surprisingly out of breath and sweating All Might waves her to come with him. “HI, COME WITH ME FOR A SEC.”
“Uh, sure okay.” The bubble girl turns to her friend. “I guess I’ll see you tomorrow.”
“Kay, take care alright.”
“Sure will!” Ochaco waves him off as she follows All Might down the hall.
Izuku watches on as they turn the corner, his mind contemplating the two of them. But he can’t pry, he won’t pry. If his mother has taught him anything, then it’s manners. Besides if Uraraka really wants to tell him then she will and until then he shouldn’t pry into her business. ‘Right?’
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“I’LL GET STRAIGHT TO THE POINT.” All Might has his back towards his apprentice, his entire demeanor feeling grim and dire, after leading her into an empty hallway. “YOU’VE RECEIVED AN OFFER FROM A HERO WHO’D LIKE TO TAKE YOU ON.”
“Really? Another one?” Ochaco chuckles with delight, pride swelling up inside her; she truly did do an amazing job at the Sports Festival.
“YES. THE HERO’S NAME IS GRAN TORINO.” The sweating All Might is straining to keep his smile up, like speaking the hero’s own name is going to summon him. “HE TAUGHT AT THIS SCHOOL BACK IN MY DAY, BUT ONLY FOR ONE YEAR. IN FACT, THE MAN WAS MY HOMEROOM TEACHER.”
Ochaco gasps in surprise. ‘No way.’
“HE KNOWS ABOUT ONE FOR ALL, AS WELL.”
Her smile widens, shining like the rising sun.
“ACTUALLY HE…HE EVEN CONTACTED ME ABOUT YOU. HE’S BASICALLY ORDERED ME TO SEND YOU HIS WAY FOR SOME… “PROPER” TRAINING.” All Might’s mind slowly begins to spiral out of control as he fights the urge to go sulk and cower in a corner alone.
“This guy sounds totally awesome!!” Ochaco gasps. “Wait. So, he knows how your Quirk works, too? But how?”
“GRAN TORINO WAS THE SWORN FRIEND OF MY PREDECESSOR. HE RETIRED A LONG TIME AGO, SO I FORGET TO COUNT HIM AMONG THE PEOPLE WHO KNOW.” If All Might was trembling before, then he’s shaking like a dead tree in a tornado now. “THIS IS BECAUSE I WROTE ABOUT YOU IN THE LETTER, I SENT HIM? OR DID HE WATCH THE FESTIVAL AND THINK THAT MY TEACHING WAS INADEQUATE? IF HE WENT SO FAR AS TO USE HIS OLD HERO NAME WHEN MAKING THE OFFER…” His entire body is shaking with deathly fear, he can no longer hide the trepidation in his voice making it clear just how terrified he is. “IT’S SCARY. TOO SCARY.” He starts slapping his own leg, as his knees continue to wobble from underneath him. “DAMMIT, LEGS, STOP SHAKING!”
Ochaco is astounded by the sight. ‘All Might’s actually trembling in fear?!’
The trembling All Might does his best to continue on. “ANYWAY, IT IS MY DUTY TO TRAIN YOU. BUT, SINCE YOU GOT AN OFFER, AND HE’S NOT GOING TO TAKE NO FOR AN ANSWER, YOU SHOULD WORK WITH HIM THIS WEEK IF THAT’S WHAT YOUR HEART SAYS.” All Might actually sounds sick and he’s not even in his skeletal form! Hell even handing Ochaco a note is a struggle thanks to all the shaking. “ANYWAY, H-H-HERE’S THE-THE-THE-THE ADDRESS.”
‘Just how terrifying is this guy?! And he was All Might’s homeroom teacher? Does that mean he’s worse than even Mr. Aizawa?!’
Guess she’ll just have to find out.
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Aizawa is seated at his desk going through several forms that were already turned in by students who have already come to a decision. He just received Midoriya’s and he had a bit of an unexpected but yet reasonable choice of internship. Todoroki’s was no surprise as was Bakugou’s. And judging from what he’s seen so far, he can gladly say that his students are taking these matters seriously.
Aizawa’s coworker and fellow hero, Snipe, takes notice of the forms in his hands. “Internships, huh?”
Aizawa nods, scanning through each and every one of them. “Yeah. A few students already chose theirs.”
“It’s an important time for them. Make sure they do it right. Plenty a’ third years around here still regret their picks.” Snipe is about to walk off but instead he stops. For some reason there’s a lone offer form on Eraserhead’s desk. “Is that an offer?”
Aizawa follows Snipe’s finger towards the lone form. His eyes jolt before he calmly grabs the form and adds it to the pile and out of sight.
“Yeah, whatever.” Snipe walks off knowing he won’t get a response out of his colleague when he’s like this.
Aizawa watches him off before continuing through the other forms. He goes through a few before he spots something that makes him double take. ‘Iida only listed one place. That’s strange.’ He frowns, that's not like the disciplined and well-prepared class president. ‘He must have gotten better offers than this one.’ Finally he reads the single agency name listed. ‘A hero agency in Hosu. Don’t tell me…’
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Outside the gates of U.A., Izuku enjoys the fact that the rainstorm long subsided, but with a lack of company to accompany him he opts to check his phone for the latest hero news. He pulls out his phone and checks his favorite apps but they’re all talking about the same thing or rather the same person: Ingenium.
After the Sports Festival the news was plagued with the same story: Ingenium attacked by the Hero Killer. As it turned out he’d been attacked by some maniac in Hosu City, Tokyo while out on patrol. And the fight…ended with some dire results. Apparently, his injuries are so bad that many are predicting an early retirement. Izuku can only imagine the pain especially for Iida who’s had to watch his hero fall. He knows from experience how hard of a reality that is. Maybe…maybe he should have said something sooner.
But there’s also the fact of who maimed the pro hero, Ingenium. The person responsible had already killed 17 heroes and he attacked 23 other heroes, injuring them so badly that they were beyond recovery. They say he’s a Hero Killer. His villain name? Stain.
A shiver runs down Izuku's spine, he can only hope that the villain is caught soon before his body count grows any further.
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“Master…the Guild has sent the one you’ve requested.”
The commander slowly spins around in his healing pod before addressing his underline. “Send him in, now!”
The drone bows in respect. “As you wish, master.”
The drone steps aside and the massive bay doors part away revealing a tall slim figure who marches into the command center without a bit of hesitation.
The tentacle massed commander glares down at the new arrival. “I’ve been expecting you.”
The figure peers up at the commander, awaiting further orders.
The commander continues. “This is the Omnitrix.” A holographic image of the Omnitrix pops into view. “It is wielded by a boy, a boy of the name of Izuku Midoriya.” A picture of Izuku in the Sports Festival companies the hologram. “Your mission will be to track him down, acquire the Omnitrix, and bring it to me.”
The figure stands taller as if at attention.
The commander glares into this hunter’s eyes. “Are there any questions?”
The figure takes a moment to think about it before addressing the commander. “Ydeap ienbg i ma hucm owh?”
Notes:
And that is the end of this transitional chapter, like O said there’s not much to it. But that’s because it’s a setup into what is going to happen next. That said ,the Internship Arc will be stretched out to max of five or so chapters. Yes, the Internship Arc will be that long. So not only will we get Stain, but a new alien for Izuku, and the introduction of some fan favorite MHA and Ben Ten characters! Stay tuned, because I think you are all going to really enjoy what I have instore. You can guess but I won’t tell you anything :P
*By the way when Vilgax mentions “the Guild,” from this chapter and last chapter; it is a small reference to Star Wars (Specifically the Mandalorian). It is not a reference to something in Ben Ten lore.
*The fake codename scene and exercise were inspired by the anime known as Assassination Classroom. Which I highly recommend that you check out when you get the chance.
*Here is a full list of the fake codenames that Class 1-A gave each other. These names were designed by my “editors” and I have to say I really enjoyed coming up with these codenames with them.
1. Jimmy Johns Delivery (Iida)
2. Monkey Man (Ojiro)
3. Doc Oc (Shoji)
4. Beats (Jiro)
5. Pikachu (Kaminari)
6. Croissant (Aoyama)
7. SpoderMan (Sero)
8. Chowder (Sato)
9. Easy Bake Oven (Yaoyorozu)
10. Ms. Kermit (Tsuyu)
11. Tetsutetsu (Kirishima)
12. Pink Lemonade (Mina)
13. Mad Pomeranian (Bakugou)
14. Hide N’ Seek (Hagakure)
15. Animal Crossing (Koda)
16. Ryuk (Tokoyami)
17. Zuko (Shoto)
18. Broccoli Boy (Izuku)
19. Mochi (Ochaco)
20. No Ship (Mineta)
Chapter 31: The Novice and The Master
Summary:
Class 1-A begin their internships with pro heroes all across the country. How will they fair?
Notes:
Happy Labor Day! I hope it’s a good one for you all. Be sure to Social Distance, have a mask on, and to make good decisions. But you should still try to enjoy yourselves as much as you can. It’s good to take care of yourself and that includes having time to relax and enjoy yourself. And hopefully this chapter can help you with that. Enjoy the read and once again thank you for being such great readers.
*Also the Opening Theme by Drag0n5on has been added to Chapters 21 - 29. Thanks again Drag0n5on, I greatly appreciate your time and effort.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
“Everyone has their costumes, right?”
This is probably not the best time for this, but Shota Aizawa figures he might as well address this here at the station than never. Then again, his students might be distracted by the other commuters who are busy smiling and pointing at them, saying they saw them in the Sports Festival.
Oh, well, that’s on him. “Remember, you don’t have permission to wear them out in public yet, and don’t lose them or anything.”
“Gotcha!” cheers Mina Ashido.
Aizawa cannot deal with this level of cheeriness this early in the morning. “Speak properly. It’s ‘Yes, sir,’ Ashido.”
Mina slumps down and pouts in embarrassment. “Yes, sir…”
“Make sure you mind your manners with the other heroes during your internships.” He shows them off with the wave of his hand. “Now get to it.”
The students all shout out in unison. “Yes, sir!”
With all the buzz and excitement, Class 1-A quickly disperse across the station in the hopes of making it onto the right trains and heading off for their very special and very important internships. They all march off with excited smiles and high spirits.
Well except for one, Tenya Iida, he’s been rather silent all morning, which is very odd for the usually boisterous and direct Class President.
“Iida, wait!”
Iida stops allowing Izuku Midoriya and Ochaco Uraraka to catch up to him. They couldn’t help but notice his subbed nature all morning and it’s going to bug them if they walk away without saying anything. They need to, after everything that happened…
“Hey, if you ever wanna talk or anything, just let us know.”
Ochaco nods with worry in her eyes. “Mm-hm! Mm-hm!”
Iida’s quiet, he doesn’t respond, he just stands there with his back turned and his face turned away.
Izuku gulps, he’s really worried, this whole situation isn’t good. “We’re friends, right?”
Another second of silence and then finally a reaction, Iida quiet and slowly turns to face them and despite his smile, it’s clearly nothing but a mask. “Yes.”
It’s so…off and sad neither Izuku nor Ochaco could form a response before Iida turns away again and walks off. Leaving behind the desolate pair to wonder if there’s more they could do. And if so, what?
Guess it’ll have to wait until after their Internships are over, just hopefully they won’t come to regret it.
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For now though Izuku has a different problem, uncomfortable teenage awkwardness.
The greenette nervously turns in his seat and eyes the just as awkward Ochaco sitting just a few seats away.
There’s only a few other commuters in the train car with them, but they seem far too distracted by their phones and their own conversations to even notice the two U.A. students.
Actually in this case, Izuku kinda wishes someone would draw attention to them, to at least break the awkward silence between them.
After they boarded their train especially after that odd exchange between them and Iida, they just couldn’t figure out how to bounce back from it. So here they are sitting in silence and waiting for their respective stops.
Izuku bucks up the nerve to try and break the awkwardness. “S-s-so…?”
Ochaco, who was actually unaware of the awkwardness, turns to him, waiting for him to continue.
“W-who did you pick?”
Ochaco’s head tilts to the side. “Pick?”
“Y-you know.”
Her eyes widen. “Oh! You mean for my internship!”
“Y-yeah!”
“I picked Gran Torino!”
Izuku snaps out of his awkwardness, his mind snapping to attention when he hears the unfamiliar name. “Gran Torino?”
“Yeah!” Ochaco’s smile falls when she notices the distressed look on his face. “What’s the matter?”
What’s the matter? It’s the worst-case scenario. “I never heard of him…”
…
Ochaco blinks. “Oh.”
…
“TELL ME ALL ABOUT THEM!!!” Izuku explodes, sliding across the seats until he’s towering over the startled girl with a maniac grin and his Hero Journal out and ready.
“WHA?!” Her brain fries for a few seconds as Izuku rambles on.
“I can’t believe there’s a hero out there that I don’t even know about! Are they new? Are they a foreigner, maybe? What’s their Quirk? How old are they? What-”
“Woah! Woah! Easy, Deku!” Ochaco puts a hand on his head and slowly pushes him away, giving herself some breathing room. “I hardly know anything about him. Only that All Might recommended him to me.”
And just like that Izuku’s thrilled demeanor falls away as his hair casts a dark shadow over his eyes. “All Might…recommended him…to you?”
The change does not go unnoticed. “Y-yes…” There’s no reaction and that scares her. “He…he said that Gran Torino was even his homeroom teacher…at U.A…”
He still refuses to meet her gaze or even respond, just sitting there in a deathly silence.
Ochaco gulps, this is getting really concerning for some reason. Is he alright? Did…did she say something wrong?
Her worry only grows as Izuku continues to sit there without saying a word or moving a single muscle… “That’s great!”
Ochaco’s mind goes blank in response to Izuku’s sudden cheery deposition. “Huh?”
Izuku’s eyes gleam with jubilation. “Oh wow! You’re going to do an internship under All Might’s own teacher! Wow! That’s great Uraraka!” He genuinely means it, just because he’s on poor standing with their hero doesn’t mean he can ignore the guy’s achievements and hard work. Plus this is a good opportunity for his friend, he shouldn’t squander it. “You’re going to learn so much! This guy sounds totally amazing!” He gasps as an idea pops into his head. “Do you think I can meet him, too?!”
“I don’t see why not. Maybe we can come and visit you.” Ochaco’s smile slowly reforms, relieved that Deku is back to normal. ‘Although All Might seemed pretty freaked out about him so…’
“Really?!”
“Yeah!” Ochaco nods her head furiously but then she pauses as something else crosses her mind. “Wait, who are you interning with?”
Izuku blinks realizing that he in fact had not said anything about it. “Oh, did I not tell you? I’m interning with-”
The train’s intercom echoes across the train car. “Arriving at Rugosa City, please be ready to disembark.”
Ochaco springs out of her seat, she slings her backpack over her shoulder and grabs her suitcase. “Well this is my stop.” She takes off for doors just as the train begins to come to a stop. “I’ll see you later Deku. Have fun at your internship.”
“Yeah, you too.” Izuku offers up an encouraging smile as the train comes to a halt.
The train doors open up and with a friendly wave the gravity girl heads on out.
Izuku watches her walk away as the doors slide back closed and the train slowly begins to move on to his own Internship.
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Yes, their own internships are an exciting time to learn from a hero without the classroom setting, a time for the students to get their feet wet, their hands dirty, and to learn what it means to be a hero.
But before that can occur, they must first find their respective agency.
‘Gran Torino?’ Ochaco eyes the map she was given; it’s supposed to lead her to the agency but it’s a bit too small to read. ‘Weird, not even Deku knows about you. And he knows everything about every single hero. Just who are you?’ A shiver of fear runs down her spine. ‘Also why is All Might so s-scared of you?!’ Just what kind of monster is he?!
‘But…if he taught All Might then…he might be able to help me control One For All better.’ And like that the fear washes away for the thrill and excitement of making some real progress. ‘If that’s the case, then whatever happens will all be worth it! Yes.’ She throws her hand in the air and does her best impression of All Might’s laugh. “Ha Ha Ha! Look out, Gran Torino! Your new protege is on her way!”
…
Well there goes the sense of adventure as she finds herself in front of what’s supposed to be a hero agency. It’s just some rinky dink apartment building!
“This…is not what I was expecting.”
The building looks like it’s one year away till the city declares it as condemned. It’s literally in shambles with rusted window frames and cracked glass, Ochaco can even see the inner layer of brick from within the crumbling building, the building’s even been tagged with spray paint!
She checks her map real quick. ‘It’s the correct address, but…’
She looks up at the only bright thing about this place; the big and colorful “welcome” sign over the dual doors, but even that’s crooked and she’s pretty sure that it can’t light up anymore.
But it's the right address so it must be the place.
So, summoning her courage she stomps forward and knocks on the door. As she knocks the door pushes inward, apparently it was unlocked and not shut properly.
So, she hesitantly pushes it open, sticking her head in not wanting to be jumped. “H-hello? I-I’m O-Ochaco U-Uraraka… from U.A. I’m supposed…to…meet…” Her voice trails off as her eyes land on the gruesome scene before her.
There lying on the floor with blood and a broken platter is…a corpse! A real corpse! Some old man with a yellow cape is lying facedown on the floor in his own blood and Oh God are those his entrails?!
Ochaco holds her mouth in a silent gasp and tears prick her eyes, ‘Oh, my gosh! He can’t be!’ No she can’t just assume she needs to make sure.
So she hesitantly steps ever closer towards the corpse, her eyes scanning the area before some killer jumps out, but the place seems deserted. So she steps a tiny bit closer until she’s only an inch away from the pool of blood.
“Is he…” She gulps and whispers with some real dread. “dead…” Freaked out by the idea of touching a corpse she leans back and stretches her foot out.
With her shoe she lightly nudges the corpse, hoping or not hoping for some sort of reaction. There isn’t one so not wanting to assume the worse she nudges it again.
A yellow gloves hand grabs her leg and the grinning corpse lifts its head off. “I’m alive.”
“WAAAAHHHHH!!!”
Ochaco clutches at her feint heart, having almost suffered a heart attack.
While she tries to come to her senses the presumed dead old man rises acting like nothing traumatizing had just occurred as he laughs innocently and dusts off his costume.
“Whoopsie.” The old man’s dopey-smile never fades as he looks down at the red liquid and sausage links. “I was carrying a nice big plate of sausages covered in ketchup when I accidentally tripped and fell down. Clumsy me.”
It’s a miracle he didn’t actually die from such a fall.
This old man is extremely short with heavy wrinkles, grey hair and trimmed beard, and a scrawny built. Even so his body is shaking as if his legs are struggling to keep him up even with the help of his wooden cane. His hero costume consists of a full-body monochrome suit along with a yellow cape, his belt has the letter "G" on it, and he wears very thick yellow gloves and boots, and a dark domino mask.
The frail and possibly senile old man peers up at Ochaco with a dopey yet friendly grin. “Now who did you say you were, young lady?”
Ochaco blinks in confusion but she tries to salvage the situation. “Um, I-I’m O-Ochaco Uraraka. I’m from U.A.’s Class 1-A.”
Gran Torino cups his ear, like he didn’t hear her despite the fact that they’re only a few feet apart. “You’re who now?”
“I’m Ochaco Uraraka!”
Gran Torino pauses, his dopey-grin unmoving, before he speaks again. “So, what’s your name? It’s rude to keep your elders waiting.”
‘Oh, great.’ Ochaco internally grumbles to herself. ‘I knew he was…up there in age, since he was All Might’s teacher and All Might’s…wait. How old is All Might anyway?’ She shakes her head. ‘No! Stay focused. Anyway this is going to be a problem.’
Without warning the old man collapses onto his tush.
Ochaco gasps out of concern. “Are you alright?!”
“I could really use some food.”
“Some…food?” She tilts her head, is that really all he needs?
“Hm?” The old man looks up at her as if noticing her for the first time, and his dopey-grin widens as if he’s seeing an old friend. “Nana?”
Ochaco scowls, but she tries her best to remain polite. “No, I’m Uraraka.”
The old man just continues to grin up at her without any reaction making it very difficult to tell whether or not anything she said registered in his fading mind,
‘Oh, come on!!’ She grabs her head in frustration and crouches down trying not to scream. ‘This was a mistake! I had so many offers! There was Ryukyu, she would have been amazing! Or Edgeshot! Or Crust! Or literally anybody else! I’m supposed to be interning, not play as a nurse for some senile old man! Oh, All Might, why? Why did you say I had to come here?!’
While in the midst of her rant, her ears pick up on the sound of something clicking open.
Peering up and through her arms Ochaco’s more than surprised to see the old man is now crouched down in front of her open suitcase and is examining her hero costume. “Hey! That’s mine!”
The old man doesn’t even bother to look at her instead he continues to browse the suitcase for any flaws in her costume. “Why don’t you fire off a One For All smash at me?”
“Huh?”
He’s different somehow: his voice is calmer and more assertive; he’s not shaking anymore, and he doesn’t even have his cane anymore! He looks totally natural squatting down without any issues.
“I wanna know how far you’ve come in terms of handling its power.”
Ochaco is still too stunned to really form a proper reply. ‘What’s…what’s going on? Is this guy…?’
The old man reaches into the case and pulls out an unfamiliar pink disc-shaped device with several protrusions impeded into it. “This is a pretty good costume.” He puts down the disc before Ochaco can actually have a good look at it. “Now, where’s that attack?”
“Um…”
The elderly man frowns up at her like he’s examining her and then, his dopey-grin returns and so does his frail innocently oblivious voice. “Hey, what are you doing here?”
Okay any more of this back and forth and Ochaco’s brain is going to fry. ‘What the heck’s with him?! Is he short a few screws or something?!’ Ochaco takes a breath before answering, maybe she should just go along with it. “I’m here to learn, sir.”
No response just that stupid oblivious-grin is the only response she gets.
So, she continues. “I…I need to learn…I need to become stronger. I need to get better.” Her hand clenches in frustration as she thinks about all the times One For All’s backfired on her. “I need to learn how to properly control One For All. Because…they’re counting on me.”
The old man tilts his head, at least that’s a sign that he’s listening.
“Everyone: All Might, my parents, my friends, and those that will need me someday are counting on me. All Might’s…All Might is hurt and…he…might not have that much time left as a hero. So, I need to get better, for everyone’s sake.”
The old man turns and peers back down at her costume again.
Ochaco bows. “I’m sorry, sir! But…I can’t waste any more time.” It sucks but…she can’t be wasting her time here. She needs tutelage, she needs to get better, she needs help. But…she can’t get that here, that much is obvious. “Please, excuse me.” She turns as if about to walk away or to at least call U.A. to see if she could switch.
“As I thought.” That assertiveness is back, stopping her in her tracks instantly.
She turns around as the confusing old man straightens up. He takes a deep almost calming breath and then he does the most unexpected thing imaginable.
Like a bullet fling in the wind, he shoots up into the air bouncing off his ceiling, then the wall, then the floor, and literally all over. Ochaco is taken for a real loop here as this seemingly frail old man bounces off the walls like an out of control ping-pong ball. She can’t help but to compare his movements to that of Bakugou’s. With that speed, trajectory, and the wind being generated in his wake as he continues to blast himself here and there with his Jet Quirk.
Suddenly he slams into the wall, just above the exit that Ochaco was ready to walk through. He smirks down at her finding her astounded expression oh so amusing.
The old man smiles wickedly down at her, like a drill sergeant that’s gotten hold of some new recruits to break down. “It’s time for you to show me what you can do, ya newbie. He, he, hehe.” Oh, he is going to enjoy this. “I watched the U.A. Sports Festival on television. The way you used your power was unthinkable. Reckless. Destructive!”
It stings but he’s right, he’s absolutely right.
“He’s not training you well. He may be the Symbol of Peace and the Number One Hero, but All Might’s a total novice when it comes to teaching. I can only imagine what a blunder he is in the classroom.”
Ochaco’s mouth hangs loose as her eyes are still trying to register what they saw was real. ‘This…really is All Might’s teacher.’
The old man, no, Gran Torino glares down at her with a wicked smile. “If you ask me, you shouldn’t have won the tournament not against…Midoriya anyway. That boy has a much better handle on his powers. All you did was overpowered him, and that doesn’t take much skill at all now does it?” He glares down at her with the intensity of a veteran that’s seen his fair share of catastrophes. “I can’t stand to watch you use your Quirk the way you did, so I suppose I’ll have to teach you. Properly.” He grins. “Now, hurry and get your costume on.”
The young woman, despite the harsh jab towards her and her mentor, is excited yet scared at the same time. Somehow Gran Torino is both terrifying and inspiring, and she is more than willing to take him on.
And so with a determined yet terrified grin she gives her response. “You got it…old man.”
“He, he, hehe!”
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Ochaco finds herself in the guest room pulling up her sleeve and finishing her hero costume. As she bends down to close her suitcase, she finds the strange disc from before and a small manual besides it.
‘Instructions?’ She picks up the device and the instructions trying to figure out what they’re for. And then it hits her, this must be the support item that Mei Hatsume promised her. ‘I’ll read it later.’ She tosses aside the device and the instructions, now is not the time to read up on it right now she’s got more pressing matters.
She puts on her helmet before returning to the main lounge area where Gran Torino is still waiting for her. “All right. Let’s get started.”
Gran Torino stands before her and gives her a direct order. “Show me a smash.”
“Um, Are you sure?” She peers at the room and there’s a lot of breakable things here.
There are huge shelves surrounding a couch and TV, a table with two chairs, and a full kitchen set on the opposite wall full of appliances like the microwave, fridge, and oven.
“This place is…” She spots the very breakable looking dishes sitting near the sink. “small.”
She could really end up destroying this old man’s home! Also there’s another concern. “And are you sure you could…handle it?”
“Hahaha!!” Gran Torino bursts into laughter, like an adult laughing at the naivety of a small child. “Good grief, kid. What do you take me for some feeble old man?”
She averts her gaze not wanting to answer that question.
Sensing why she won’t respond; Gran Torino activates his Jet Quirk and boom he’s bouncing off the walls as blasts of wind propel him in every direction. “Well you’re dead wrong!”
Bam! He lands a solid kick to her back and then kicks off with a blast of wind, carrying him away.
“Ah!” Ochaco nearly falls over from the sudden strike. “That hurt!”
He continues to zip around, striking her, laughing all the whole while. “Ha, ha, ha, ha!” He eventually slams down on his own microwave, smashing it to pieces, coming to a stop. “What? You didn’t realize my true strength earlier?”
Without giving her a chance to react he goes right back to propelling himself into the air and ricocheting off any surface he comes into contact with, moving around with expert level acrobatics.
Ochaco gaps as Gran Torino speeds around the room, throwing her off just with his agility alone.
“I can’t believe you’re the ninth holder of this great power.” The ricocheting Gran Torino smirks, finding this novice amusing. “All Might’s hardly taught you anything. Guess all that fame doesn’t translate into being a good mentor.”
While zipping around he slams into her back before jumping away again but not before delivering a swift spin kick that knocks away her helmet.
Ochaco winces as her helmet flies off. ‘He’s fast! Too fast!’
Another hit to her side throws her off balance and bam a strike to her back brings her to her knees and the strikes just keep coming.
‘Come on, Ochaco.’ While bracing herself near the floor, her eyes try to trace Gran Torino’s trail. ‘He’s not letting up, so I can’t run or hide, all I can do is take the hits.’ Why does that sound like she’s giving up? ‘No, I won’t do that!’ But what can she do? He’s too fast and there’s no chance to read his movements with him zipping around like that. ‘There’s no openings so I have to make one.’
She shoves herself off the ground, clenching her fists, and readies her next move. It was time to use her Zero-Gravity Field. Sure it may be overkill but this old man literally asked for it. ‘It may be too much, but it’s got to work.’ Thinking about letting the power flow through her, her entire body begins to glow as One For All courses through her entire body, boosting her Zero-Gravity Quirk, and her body begins to shine brightly with a pink aura.
Gran Torino easily notices the change even while buzzing around at a high speed, and he recognizes it from the Sports Festival. So, with a superior smirk he zips behind her and fires himself off the wall, shooting for her turned back.
‘There you are!’ The scowling Ochaco spins around and throws her hand out, hopefully to fend him off with Zero-Gravity.
Gran Torino easily does a midair sidestep, evading her hand. “Sorry, but you’re actually slower than I am.” As he races forward, he reaches for her head. “You didn’t think I wouldn’t notice what you were trying to do?” He slams her headfirst onto the ground, using his foot to pin her opposite arm, keeping her in place.
The strike was so disruptive that the pink hue around her died away as she lost her concentration.
Gran Torino grins down at her, more than happy to put her in her place. “I saw that little trick of yours, your Zero-Gravity Field, in the Sports Festival. It’s a powerful technique but it’s sloppy, reckless, and takes far too long to utilize. That’s why I bested you.” And brought this one-sided fight to an end.
Ochaco frowns. “Darn, I thought I’d get you for sure.”
“Listen to me.” Gran Torino jabs at her forehead. “The way you used One For All in the Obstacle Course, Cavalry Battle, and the Tournament showed that you're adjusting to the Quirk. You understand its fundamentals. But…you’re allowing that power to flow far too freely. Perhaps your admiration for All Might is clouding your judgement.”
“I…don’t understand.”
Gran Torino finally releases her from his hold. “It’s true that you need to get stronger, and quickly. Time waits for no man or woman. Real villains don’t care if you’ve reached your full potential yet.” He turns away, and his cape whips into her. “And you think One For All is more special than it really is.” With nothing left to say, he marches off for the door.
Ochaco sits up in a hurry. “Then…what do I do?!”
Gran Torino stops just as he opens the doors. “Think about that on your own time.” He smiles back at her. “Meanwhile, I’ll go buy us some grub.” With his cane in hand, he walks off for the nearby convenience store. “Clean this place up while I’m gone.”
And so Ochaco finds herself alone with her thoughts and Gran Torino’s lesson in mind. ‘My admiration for All Might is clouding my judgement? I let One For All flow too freely? What…what does he mean?’
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Meanwhile, in Hosu City a pro hero is out on patrol alongside his sidekicks.
This pro hero is nothing out of the ordinary with messy brown hair and black eyes. His hero costume is nothing fancy either consisting of a blue and white, skin-tight, long-sleeved shirt that tuck into his orange gloves. He wears dark pants, white boots, and sports a signature helmet that features a fish-like fin and blue visor.
And this pro hero’s name is Manual.
“On a normal day, I’d just be waiting for client calls to come in. Not really exciting.” Manual offers up a friendly, which is not out of place with his open and kind personality.
Which is something Iida has come to admire in the short amount of time he’s spent with him so far. Actually Manual here was one of Tensei’s old classmates back at U.A., his brother often spoke respectfully of him, so he wasn’t exactly surprised by the warm welcome he got.
Manual is currently leading Iida through town, overlooking the people’s daily routines and functions. “But things’ve been fairly hectic here lately.”
Iida, in his full body armor, scans the busy street, examining each and every person they pass by. “So you’re using street patrols to suppress crime.”
“Yeah, exactly. Man, kinda can’t believe Ingenium’s little brother is interning at my agency.” Manual waves to some friendly students across the street who were kind enough to call out to him. “I’m sure you had offers from pros with much bigger followings than mine.”
Iida doesn’t respond instead he follows along and allows his mind to recollect on why he actually chose to be here. ‘The Hero Killer.’ The terrible villain that maimed his own hero and brother. ‘So elusive he’s managed to avoid capture for his deplorable crimes. I know that I might not find him. But still…’ He thinks about his brother’s weak and frail form from his hospital visit, especially how frail and hopeless he seemed just lying there with his heart monitor being the only sign of life. ‘I have to try to track the villain down. Because I can’t forgive him for what he’s done.’
His fists clench as he glares ahead keeping a vigilant watch for his target. Vowing to end the Hero Killer’s reign of terror, to remove this Stain from all of society.
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Back in Rugosa City within Gran Torino’s agency/apartment building, Ochaco can be found sitting on the surprisingly comfortable couch with her mind trying to decipher Gran Torino’s lesson.
‘My admiration for All Might is clouding my judgement is it? I understand its fundamentals but letting One For All flow too freely. I think One For All is more special than it really is.’ And she really doesn’t get it, damn this is so much harder than it should be! All this thinking is really starting to hurt her head, too, but it’s necessary if she wants an answer.
Maybe the answer lies in her memories, after all she has an example of One For All to refer to, All Might. He uses One For All so naturally, never struggling to summon it or use it. He can manipulate the level of power he gives as naturally as one would flex their arm.
Heck even Deku and his aliens are more in sync than she is with One For All, he uses them without any real issues when it comes to harnessing their powers. Almost like he’s been using them all his life!
And just like that, her mind clicks. ‘Oh. My. God. That’s it!’
She’s so ecstatic that she hurls herself out off the couch. “Quirks are just extensions of our bodies!” How could she forget that?! “I’ve been treating One For All like a limb that’s been sewed onto my body rather than something more natural. It’s a part of me.” She’s even been referring to One For All as All Might’s Quirk; when in reality it is now her own Quirk. “It makes sense!” Her euphoria dies away as she realizes that there’s still a piece of the puzzle she needs to solve. “But…that still doesn’t add up to me letting All Might’s Quirk…my Quirk from flowing too freely. Hmmmm.”
Unbeknownst to her, Gran Torino listens in just outside the doors, which they never closed, with a proud smile on his face. ‘Well, at least she’s figured a part of it out. But from what I’ve seen during the Sports Festival I doubt she’ll give up trying to figure it out, she’s got a lot of spirit. She’ll overcome this I’m sure.’ He watches as she continues to scratch her head in frustration, trying to figure it all out. ‘You found a good one, huh, Toshinori? Or should I say, All Might?’
And with any luck he can teach the Ninth Holder a thing or two about being a pro hero.
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“Whoa!!/Whoa!!”
Eijirou Kirishima, decked out in his full costume, is astounded to discover that he is not participating in this internship alone. “Tetsutetsu?”
Tetsutetsu Tetsutetsu, decked in his own similarly designed but grey costume, gasps. “Kirishima?”
They both jab fingers at each other. “What are you doing here?”
The pro hero, Fourth Kind, remains seated at his desk as he addresses the two rock heads. “We were able to put in two offers this year.”
Fourth Kind is a large, wide-set man with four big arms. He has buzzed, grayish-brown hair and small but wide eyes with no eyebrows, although the skin where they’d be is notably heavy and defined. His teeth are prominently straight, and he also has a stitched scar running diagonally over his left eye.
His hero costume consists of a plain black suit, altered to include four sleeves, with a cyan-colored tie and thick gold rings on each of his twenty fingers. His jaw also appears to be made of metal, or at least have a metal casing, as with his neck.
Fourth Kind claps a pair of his hands together. “Let’s begin right away.”
Both Kirishima and Tetsutetsu bow in respect. “I look forward to working with you.”
“I was impressed by the guts both of you showed at the Sports Festival. I like you two. However, being a hero isn’t easy and you can’t rely on brute force alone. So this week, you’ll learn from my experience.”
Tetsutetsu rises and grins in admiration. “That’s the chivalrous hero.”
Kirishima’s own grin could match his. “He’s so manly!”
Fourth Kind pounds his fist onto his desk with an angry snarl. “Wait for me to finish speaking!”
“Yes, sir!” Both bow. “Apologies!”
“Seems I’ll have to teach you proper manners, too.” growls the pro hero.
They both remain in sync. “Thank you very much, sir!”
Fourth Kind calms down before moving on. “First, let’s talk about why we’re even here. Pros receive wages from the government so we’re civil servants. But there’s more to it than that. With the Quirks we offer, our responsibilities are different from regular workers.”
The two U.A. students remain at attention, listening intently to his words, because he's going to have a lot to say.
“Now regarding our actual duties.”
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“Control crime, that’s the basic job of a hero.” The pro hero lazily leans back against the railing, just one more inch and he’ll be falling right off the thirteen-story building, yet he doesn't seem all that concerned. “When a crime occurs, the police will contact heroes based on their districts.” The pro hero yawns out of boredom, his wings stretching as he does so. “But me…I rather be out here on patrol, dealing with the crime as it occurs or even before it can begin. There’s of course rescuing people too which I accel at.”
Fumikage Tokoyami listens intently, his display of seriousness not counteracting this hero’s air of indolence. “That seems very productive of you.”
The pro hero smiles as he jumps back and sits atop the railing looking over the busy street below. “Ha, yeah, I guess it is. Of course there’s also the boring side of things too like filing reports, which, fun fact, a special agency looks them over and decides how much a hero gets paid…” With no warning the hero’s deposition changes, there’s an air of unease and danger around him. Tokoyami raises an eyebrow at his new teacher. “Sir?”
The pro hero’s friendly smile returns. “Haha, sorry, never mind me.” He leans to the side, holding his chin in thought. “Now, Tsukuyomi, I was wondering if you’d answer some questions of mine.” His smile turns into a conniving and devious smirk. “If that’s alright with you?”
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“Additionally, heroes are allowed to have side jobs.” Adds the very beautiful woman as she finishes applying the last of her makeup.
Her whole demeanor screams diva, so much so she’d probably get along with Midnight. She is an attractive and curvaceous woman with long blonde hair that is styled in curly locks and golden eyes with vertically slit pupils. Her most distinguishing feature are the three snakes (a rattlesnake, a yellow King cobra snake, and a Japanese rat snake) that are seen protruding from her hair.
As for her hero costume, she wears a maroon dress with scale-like details, matching shoes, and a choker, and golden snake-like bracelets on her wrists and ankles.
She turns to address her two interns that have joined her in her dressing room. “There were a lot of arguments about this when the world of pros was first being established, but heroes ended up being so popular that the public demanded it.” Which is a very good thing for the Snake Hero, Uwambi.
The two interns, Itsuka Kendo and Momo Yaoyorozu, are a bit lost here but they’re too respectful to interrupt.
“For example: I’m about to film a commercial. Stick around, okay?” Uwambi turns back to her mirror to check up on her makeup.
“Um, well.” Kendo isn’t sure how to go about this respectfully, but she’ll try. “I was kinda hoping I’d see something a little more action-y.”
She is adorning her own hero costume which is a turquoise knee-length qipao, over which she has a black double-breasted corset. She also sports black short pants under the qipao. For accessories, she wears a loose brown utility belt around her hip, a satchel attached at the back, a thin black domino mask around her eyes and white-heeled navy-blue boots.
“No!” snaps the costumed Yaoyorozu.
Kendo jumps startled by Yaoyorozu’s sudden shout.
“This sort of attention is something you can’t avoid if you’re a pro!” Yaoyorozu clenches her fist and holds her hand over her heart. “Besides, she was kind enough to offer her wisdom to an unworthy, student.” She’s really serious and fired up despite the lack of action and thrill. “So I’ll take every lesson she has to give!”
Kendo averts her gaze and murmurs to herself. “She’s really into this.” She snaps out of her murmuring to address Uwambi. “Okay. But isn’t there anything else we can do while you film this commercial, or whatever?”
Uwambi gets up from her seat. “So, do you know why I chose to recruit you two? Any thoughts?”
Kendo takes a minute to think about it “Well, I guess…”
Yaoyorozu excitedly butts in. “It must be because you saw such heroic potential in us!”
“Of course I did. But there’s another reason.”
The two girls aren’t sure what the other reason could be.
Uwambi gives a seducing and leering expression. “You’re both very cute young ladies.”
It’s no surprise to say that both girls are a bit more than dumbfounded. “Huh…?”
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“Heroes must practice and train constantly.” states Death Arms as he continues to jog through Tatooin Station with Kyoka Jiro struggling to keep on his tail. “You can’t take a break, even when you’re on patrol.”
“Right! Kay!” She’s really breaking into a sweat here, who knew jogging would be so difficult? ‘Aw, man. This is so much harder than class.’ Her mind flashes to Mr. Aizawa and his…teaching methods. ‘Nevermind, this is better…’
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Mt. Lady lazes about on her couch, reading a magazine, and eating chips. “You know what’s a useful skill? Knowing how to pass the time while you’re waiting to be called out to rescue someone. Got that?”
“Uh, sure.” Minoru Mineta busies himself with vacuuming her agency’s floor, and he’s not too happy about it. ‘This is not the kind of role play I was hoping for.’
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Somewhere near the ocean shore, Tsuyu Asui completes a set of pushups alongside the other sailor themed sidekicks.
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It’s good to know that most of Class 1-A are having some real predictive internships, but Ochaco is definitely not one of them.
Mainly in part of her mentor, who is busy sleeping!
“I’m snoring! I’m snoring!” Yup, Gran Torino is totally passed out in his bedroom. “I’m snoring! I’m snoring!”
Ochaco’s bloodshot eyes stare up at the ceiling of the guest room. ‘He can’t be serious…’ Why are the walls so thin?! And why is his snoring so freaking loud?!
And to add to the growing frustration she still hasn't figured out what Gran Torino was saying. ‘My first day has come and gone yet…I don’t feel like I accomplished anything. We didn’t even go out on patrol or anything.’ And it’s frustrating that she hasn’t made any real progress.
“I need some air.” She tosses her sheets aside, slips on her shoes and grabs her pink hoodie before making her way outside.
The moment she steps out she takes a nice deep breath of the cool night air. Already she can feel the reassuring effect and the peace and quiet of the empty street is rather calming. So with no real destination in mind Ochaco begins her little night stroll.
‘Gran Torino. Not even Deku’s heard of him. And he was a teacher at U.A. but only for one year. He’s such a mystery.’
She pulls up her hood, throwing it over her head before pulling it closed, swaddling her head in the nice soft hood. She continues down the block with only the streetlamps lighting her way and the soft sound of crickets chirping in the gardens surrounding the buildings.
‘I need to change how I think about One For All.’ It’s a part of her, her power; it’s not some sort of borrowed power, it’s her’s. ‘I have to treat it like a natural Quirk, like how I treat my Zero-Gravity. Instead I’ve been treating One For All like a finishing move or a special ability that I can only summon when I need it.’ She continues her stroll as she passes by the nice couple chatting away in the opposite direction. ‘But then there’s also the fact that I use One For All too recklessly and freely, but what does he mean?’
With a heavy sigh Ochaco is slowly starting to accept the fact that she may not figure anything out, maybe it would be best to turn around and try to get some sleep. Well maybe just one more block and then she’ll head back.
And so she continues on her stroll passing by an electronics store that has its windows stocked up with TVs all playing an old movie from the twenty first century. Ochaco takes a moment to watch her mind somewhat recognizing the film; it’s a comedy but she can’t remember the name for the life of her. She thinks the main character’s name is J.J. Bunny or something.
Anyway she watches the scene play out for a few minutes and it’s a weird movie. Why is that boy running alongside…Hitler?! Holy Shit, that kid just snagged himself a grenade?! And he’s running with it and why is Hitler following him?
She watches as the blond little boy throws the grenade into the air, it slowly spins across the woodland until… it harmlessly bounces right off a tree and lands at the boy’s feet.
Ochaco silently gasps. “Shit…”
The grenade explodes with a loud boom, burning the ground and knocking the boy away and unconscious.
Only for the drill sergeant who’s been watching this all unfold to say something silly and uncaring.
Ochaco grimaces as the scene ends. ‘Sheesh, and Bakugou’s got several of those things strapped to his body.’ She shivers when she realizes that Bakugou is essentially a living grenade. ‘Those things are just so violent but so tiny! Just little items that hold in so much destructive power that explodes out hitting everything…in…reach…’ Realization, realization ever so slowly dawns on her and with it does a huge grin slowly begins to form. ‘Just like my Zero-Gravity Field!’
She’s the grenade in the situation and her Zero-Gravity Field is the explosion! That’s what Gran Torino meant when he said she uses One For All too freely and recklessly. Sure her Zero-Gravity Field worked out well for her in the Sports Festival but in another situation, it would have definitely done more harm than good. For example, if there’s a mass panic of people running away from a scene and she uses her Zero-Gravity Field then there’s a good chance everyone would get swallowed up and there would be even more panic as people try to navigate through Zero-Gravity with cars, rubble, and villains floating alongside with them! Plus she could do some real damage, all it would take is for her Zero-Gravity to weaken a building’s foundation and it’ll come crumbling down when its weight returns to normal.
That’s what she needs to focus on, she needs to control the Zero-Gravity Field and find a way to use it that won’t put others in danger. She needs to restrain it.
Ochaco hastily scans the surrounding area; she thinks she spots a good place to practice. A construction site right across the street.
Rushing across the street she levitates herself up and over the fence before descending down into the construction site where just the foundation of the building is just being built. So there’s plenty of equipment and building materials lying about, providing a decent cover for her. Also it appears the nearby buildings aren’t residential so hopefully no one will notice her.
‘I need to control the radius of my Zero-Gravity Field!’ She strides further into the work site until she comes to a good clear opening, it’s nothing as big as the stadium but it’ll have to do. ‘But how…? Maybe if I focus on only using a small percentage, no I’ll only let a small percentage of excess power flow through me.’ She clenches her fists and scans the area making sure she’s alone, she is. ‘Let’s give it a shot!’
Remembering to let the power flow naturally, One For All summons forth without much resistance. And so with a deep breath Ochaco’s body begins to glow and the aura begins to expand as a Zero-Gravity Field begins to form around her.
‘Don’t let it explode out! Keep the field in a small concentrated area.’ She continues to chant this in her mind as the Zero-Gravity Field ever so slowly continues to grow around her, but it only holds for a few seconds as it explodes out swallowing up the entire construction site and into the nearby buildings.
She cuts off the Zero-Gravity Field and is met with the sound of falling materials, dirt, metal, and glass. ‘That was too much! I need to dial it back.’
And so with grit and determination she begins the process all over again, and again, and again never succeeding in holding back the radius of the over encompassing power. And every failure is just more and more strain on her body, but that doesn’t matter. She will figure this out even if it takes her all night to do it!
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“Good morning.” yawns Gran Torino as he enters the main sitting area, adorning his oblivious shit-eating grin. “What’s wrong? You look beat.”
The dirty and baggy eyed Ochaco struggles to keep her eyes open, but even so she greets her elder with a kind and polite smile. “I…got a little ahead in my training…” Truth be told she only left when a bag of floating cement landed on her head and knocked her out for a few minutes, but Gran Torino doesn’t need to know that. “I was thinking about what you said yesterday and was trying to put it into practice.”
“And?”
“And…” Her cheeks puff out as she pouts from sheer disappointment. “I didn’t make much progress.”
“Ha, ha, ha. Obviously, you still have a long way to go.” Gran Torino presses his thumb against the side of his nose. “But to be fair, it is your first time trying, so it’s to be expected. That is just how training works. Of course, I suppose All Might can’t wrap his mind around that. He was pretty much able to use One For All right off the bat, so I taught him in a very different manner.” As he finishes his explanation, he waddles off for the kitchen area.
Ochaco steps aside letting him through. “Different manner? Like what?”
Gran Torino stops to think back to his younger days. “Hm? Huh… It was all combat training for him.”
And Gran Torino never held back during those sessions; there were plenty of times he made that poor boy cough up vomit during sparring matches, hell, he even brought him to tears a few times. But it was all necessary of course.
Ochaco shivers as if she could picture everything Gran Torino’s thinking about. ‘So, that’s why All Might’s so scared of you! You’re merciless!’
The old man continues not noticing Ochaco’s shock of fear. “The training was difficult, but I couldn’t hold back on him. He was entrusted to me by a sworn friend who had just passed away.”
The girl’s voice softens as she takes in the elder’s words. “All Might’s predecessor, right? What were they like?”
“Huh?” Gran Torino is genuinely surprised but before he could clarify, his doorbell rings grabbing both of their attention.
The delivery guy shouts from the other end of the doors. “Package for you!”
“Oh, allow me.” Ochaco happily goes to the door, greeting the delivery guy.
As she turns away, she misses the retired hero’s remorseful frown. ‘So you haven't told her about the seventh holder yet, eh, Toshinori?’ Maybe he should say something…no, it may not be his place. ‘It’d be best if Toshinori was the one to tell her.’
By the time Gran Torino enters the kitchen area, Ochaco has already floated the large package into the room.
She opens the floating box up and finds, “A microwave?”
Gran Torino’s dopey-smile appears as he grabs the floating device from midair. “Yeah, for some reason, mine broke yesterday.’
Ochaco deadpans. ‘Yeah, you broke it…’
“Heh. So, I bought a new one.” Gran Torino gives the microwave a light shove allowing it to float its way to the counter.
‘I just can’t read him sometimes!’ Ochaco grumbles to herself.
After setting the microwave down, the old man grins back at the student. “So whaddaya think, how ‘bout we eat some of that frozen food I bought? It’ll be good!”
If she can remember properly, all he bought yesterday was a bunch of frozen desserts, taiyaki… “Okay!” The grin and light drool on her face are not out of place as her eyes shine with glee.
“Haha! I knew you had a sweet tooth!” Gran Torino swings around and marches off for the fridge. “Finally someone else likes the finer things in life.”
Soon he comes back with a package of taiyaki and Ochaco offers to heat them up for them as she grabs a plate from the counter.
As she throws in a few taiyaki into the microwave, Gran Torino playfully waits at the table swinging his legs and padding his hands up and down like a child who’s going to have their favorite sugary cereal for breakfast.
Ochaco watches as the taiyaki spins inside the microwave and with the hum of the machine cooing to her she lets her mind drift back to her question: how to manipulate her Zero-Gravity Field?
The ding of the microwave interrupts her thoughts, she reaches in and grabs the steaming plate of taiyaki and sets them down in front of a very excited Gran Torino.
“Oh, yeah, look at these delicious babies.” There’s drool leaking out from the side of his mouth as he leans in to examine the tasty treats. “Come and get ‘em while they’re steamin’.”
Thankfully he waits for Ochaco to grab them two clean plates and to set them down onto the table along with a set of forks. But even being a few seconds away from a tasty breakfast Ochaco’s face no longer has a hint of joy rather she’s subdued and quiet.
“Why the long face, girly?” Gran Torino smiles up as he grabs and picks up one of the steaming taiyaki. “Just focus on these pippin’ hot pastries for now.”
And so, opening his mouth wide Gran Torino takes a mighty big bite out of the taiyaki. However, instead of being met with a savory and sweet taste of the pastry the moment his teeth puncture the outer dough, SPLAT, the piping-hot bean paste bursts out splashing into his face.
“IT BURNS!!!”
“Wah!!” Ochaco screams, as Gran Torino flails in his seat as the steaming bean paste continues to burn his exposed flesh. “I-I’ll save you!”
In a hurry to save him, Ochaco snatches up the faucet spray hose from the nearby sink. She yanks the hose out from the sink and aims it right at the screaming old man and with no hesitation she squeezes the handle with all her might. And the amount of water that bursts out should have been impossible for a hose of that size! It’s like a geyser just exploded within her hands as water rushes out and slams into Gran Torino’s face with so much force that it actually knocks him right off his seat and onto the floor!
“Oh, no!” Ochaco releases the hose, but it gets worse. The hose doesn’t shut off instead it continues to spray water, propelling and whipping across the kitchen, spraying water in every direction.
Almost in slow motion Ochaco spots the handle, it’s crushed! During her panic she must have crushed the handle when she first grabbed the hose!
“Wah, I’m so sorry!!”
The soaked Gran Torino, with no more burning bean paste of his face, barks as he ducks under the table. “Don’t just stand there! Cut the water off from the source!”
“Oh, o-okay!” Ochaco reels around towards the sink but being in such a freaked-out state she grabs the end of the hose and pulls. Her plan was to pinch it shut but the moment she gives that thing a pull it snaps right out of the sink.
“…Oops.”
And even more water geysers out from the sink this time, showering Ochaco, the amount of water is already threatening to flood the whole kitchen as she desperately and futilely tries to clog the exposed pipe with her hands.
“YOU IDIOT!!!”
“Please forgive me!!”
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Ochaco lets out an exhausted sigh, finally it’s all over. Well sort of all they did was clog up the exposed pipe and then shut the water off for good, plus the floor (and everything else) still needs to get mopped up and dried. But either way the worst is over.
“What’re you an idiot?!”
Okay, so maybe the worst has still yet to come.
Gran Torino is fuming mad, so much so that the water is evaporating off his skin.
“Look at what you did?! What were you thinking?!”
Ochaco slumps down as the berating continues. “I was just trying to help!”
“Help?! You nearly drowned me!!”
Ochaco clasps her hands together as she bows her head in defeat. “I’m sorry, I was just…trying to help…” That excuse is clearly not going to get her anywhere, but it’s all she can really say for herself.
Gran Torino sighs, knowing full well that yelling isn't going to get them anywhere. “Always in such a hurry.”
With his cane in hand, Gran Torino stomps off towards his busted sink. “Looky here!” He holds up the sink hose and sways around the crushed handle. “In your haste to ‘help’ you crushed this hose and made everything worse.”
Ochaco tucks her head in like a turtle trying to hide away in its shell.
“That’s your issue girl, you go overboard!” He jabs his finger at the sink. “All you really needed to do was fill a cup with water not blast me with a hose!” He shakes his head in disapproval. “You don’t need an entire river to put out a little flame, that’s just overkill!” He jabs an accusing finger at her. “Do you get me?! You do more harm than good that way!”
Ochaco feels absolutely horrible, with her stomach in knots, and her head hung low. “I’m…really sorry, sir. I’ll…I’ll do better next time…” Her voice trails away as she thinks about what Gran Torino just said and then an out of place grin forms along with an excited gasp. “I’ve got it!”
Gran Torino frowns as he eyes Ochaco like she’s grown a second head. “Um, yeah I sure hope so. I just explained it.”
“Gran Torino!” The thrilled Ochaco points to the sink. “The sink is me!”
Okay, Gran Torino, admittedly, may have hit her too hard on the head yesterday. “No, it’s not. Are you okay?”
“Yes, I am!” She’s so pumped that she doesn’t even react to his accusation. Nothing can ruin this moment, right now. “But I get it!
It’s like everything just clicked into place, and it was all thanks to Gran Torino even if it was indirectly explained. “When I use my Zero-Gravity Field, I’m really just releasing too much of my power all at once throughout my body. But I shouldn’t be doing that. One For All works best when I allow it to flow through my entire body, but the Zero-Gravity Field is way too intense for that. That’s why it gets so big and out of control!” Like with the water, she just allowed all of the water to rush out at once instead in a steady controlled stream. “I mean All Might could use 100% of One For All, but that doesn't mean he uses 100% of it all the time. Otherwise he could cause some major damage! He’d be doing more harm than good!”
She grins down at the very confused old man. “What I need to do is allow only a portion of One For All to flow through me freely while concentrating on containing how much of One For All I put into my Zero-Gravity Field at the same time!”
Without waiting she stands firm and clenches her fists. ‘Allow the percentage I can control to spread across my entire body freely.’ Her entire body emits her pink aura as she gazes down at her hands, the source of her Zero-Gravity Quirk.
A Zero-Gravity Field pops out from within but unlike before it is significantly smaller but still encompasses most of the building.
Ochaco can feel the strain on her body as she struggles to keep the power contained and from overflowing outward. It’s even harder as everything around her begins to float into the air. ‘It’s too much!’
Gran Torino remains calm as he slightly begins to float off the ground, having been swallowed up by the Zero-Gravity Field. His attention remains on the girl as she tries to remain rooted in the center of this phenomenon. “Your Zero-Gravity’s source is from your hands!” He calls out to her, gaining her attention. “Focus all that excess energy to your hands while keeping One For All flowing through you.”
Ochaco gasps. ‘Yes, Just let a small amount flow through my hands naturally, like water flowing through a faucet!’
Utilizing all her knowledge and willpower, the Zero-Gravity Field actually shrinks down significantly, to the point that it only surrounds her making her float within the air with a sphere of swirling pink-hued energy.
Gran Torino smirks as his feet land back on the ground. ‘At a girl.’ But she could still do better. “Is that it? Where’s that fighting spirit I saw during the Sports Festival? Is this really all you’re capable of?”
Ochaco smirks from within the large sphere, she knows a challenge when she hears one. And so with another breath, she focuses making sure to let One For All flow naturally while allowing only the smallest amount of excess power to be released into her hands. And just like that the swirling mass of what was a Zero-Gravity Field diminishes; becoming dual spheres of pink energy that swirl around each of her fists.
Ochaco, feeling the strain on her arms, releases her clenched fists as she does, she can feel the strain diminishing just a bit, it seems keeping her hands open will allow her power to move easier within the two pink spheres.
Gran Torino is blown away by the results. Sure he knew she could do it but even this was more than what he was expecting, and it is a sight to behold. “Tell me, kid, think you can hold onto those…spheres?”
Ochaco struggles to peer up at him. “I’m not sure.”
He grins and tosses his cane aside. “Wanna give it a try?”
Ochaco snickers. “Yeah, bring it on, old man.”
Gran Torino sneers as he pulls out a silver pocket watch. “We’ll begin with three minutes.” And with a press of his thumb he starts the clock.
“Three minutes? For what?” She’s still trying to keep her Quirks from going overboard; it’s much harder than it appears
Gran Torino takes a moment to stretch his legs. “That’s the amount of time you have to try to hit me with a smash.”
And so without waiting for her to fully understand the situation, he takes off into the air with his Jet Quirk and suddenly Ochaco finds herself in the exact same situation as the day before. With the surprisingly agile old man zipping from one end of the lounge area to another kicking off the walls and ricocheting around like a bullet.
Ochaco, while still holding the two spheres, tries to follow Gran Torino’s moments. She turns around and BAM a kick to the face breaks her concentration and the little spheres fade away as does the pink hue surrounding her body. ‘He’s so fast.’
Even while moving at high speed, Gran Torino is able to keep his snarkiness up. “Pathetic! If you can’t even hold your own against an old man.” He whizzes right behind her head so close that with just one turn she’d headbutt him. “how will you protect those who’re in need?”
Ochaco hastily spins around but the moment her back is turned, Gran Torino zips around and slams a kick into the back of her head.
He’s moving far too fast especially in such a small space, but he’s moving about so quick and naturally it’s almost unfair! He’s bouncing off the shelves, literally! In a mere second he’s already kicked off from three separate surfaces: from the wall, to the ceiling lamp, and even to the TV.
All the while Ochaco can barely keep up as he delivers more strikes whenever her back is turned.
“Someone praised by the Symbol of Peace himself should be able to complete this challenge easily.” He strikes her from every direction, making sure to keep her off balance. “No sweat!”
The moment she regains her balance the pink-cheeked brunette clenches her fists in concentration. ‘One For A-’ Bam another hit, he’s really not giving her the opportunity here.
Gran Torino flies in from three separate directions all in succession of each other: striking her back, her side, and then a sweeping kick to her legs are all that are needed to bring her down.
Ochaco groans as she slams onto the ground and glares up at the ricocheting hero. “Playing dirty, old man?”
“He, he.”
“Fine then.” As quickly as she can she resorts to have One For All activating just in her hand and when a swift swing of her glowing hand into the air, she generates a strong enough of whirlwind that whips through the entire room; throwing papers, books, and anything not nailed down into the air, including Gran Torino. ‘Now’s my chance!’ Within a heartbeat Ochaco is up on her feet and allowing One For All to build up within her.
Gran Torino’s smile widens as he’s flung back. “Trying to buy yourself some time by throwing me off balance, huh? Good idea.”
It really was, since it gave her plenty of time for One For All to flow through her again. And with her new lesson still fresh in her mind she soon forms the pink spheres around her hands again.
With her Quirks at the ready, Ochaco leaps up to meet the hero head on in midair. ‘Here I come!’
She throws her hand forward, the pink aura sphere encircling it as she tries to land a hit on Gran Torino.
But the old man, unsurprisingly, shifts to the side allowing her hand and the sphere to not even graze his aura.
“Almost.” With a sneer, Gran Torino zigzags off the walls, until he’s right behind her, and with his Jet Quirk he blasts himself straight at her. ‘Predictable, try something new kid!’
She does, after watching Gran Torino’s movements during these last two fights she knows where he’s going to aim for: her back. So, in the nick of time Ochaco leaps up just as Gran Torino was supposed to strike her, instead he finds himself peering up at a very determined hero student as she spins around in midair.
“Gran Torino!” Ochaco throws her hand forward and something…unexpected occurs. As she thrusts her hand forward the ball of energy swirling around her hand suddenly fires out from her hand, as if she threw it forward!
Both Ochaco and Gran Torino are taken by surprise as the sphere fires downward; the experienced hero quickly swerves out of the way allowing the ball to fly past. The ball rockets downward and the moment it connected with the ground *BOOM* it feels like Ochaco threw a Smash attack right into the floor as the ball explodes out, releasing all the pent-up power within it. The blast isn’t too devastating, but it leaves a decently sized crater in the floor, firing off debris into the air that floats there as Zero-Gravity takes hold of them.
The burst was strong enough to blast both Gran Torino and Ochaco away from each other. Gran Torino simply somersaults his way onto his feet without much issue, whereas Ochaco slams into the wall and collapses onto the ground.
Gran Torino pulls out his silver pocket watch and stops the clock. “Your time’s up.”
Ochaco groans as she props herself back up, and notices all the floating debris in the air. So she presses her hands together, releasing her Zero-Gravity and the debris comes falling back down to Earth making a lot of clatter and even more of a mess.
Ochaco groans as she gets up and off the floor. “Ow, that was way more difficult than I thought it would be.” She grips her strained fingers, massaging them and hoping to get some feeling back into them.
“Nice work.”
Ochaco stops rubbing her fingers as Gran Torino nods in approval.
“You managed to attack me while I had my guard down. And it appears you’ve gotten yourself a new form of attack, too.”
Ochaco gasps recalling the strange way she threw the ball of energy. “Yeah! I have no idea what that was!”
Gran Torino cups his chin in thought. “Hm. If you ask me, which you are. I think that sphere was a concentration of your Zero-Gravity with One For All. But rather than as a Zero-Gravity Field your concentration and focus allowed you to compact it into a single point, your hands, allowing those spheres to form, and as an added bonus can be used as some pretty handy projectiles.”
Ochaco needs a moment to take all that information in. Staring at her hands she can only wonder whether or not she was always capable of such an ability or was it all just a fluke. After all she had no idea, she could even use One For All in this way!
“Can you try it again?”
Ochaco smiles up, ready to go again. “Yes.” With a deep breath she summons forth One For All without much trouble, but now for the tricky part, summon up those sphere’s again. A moment passes in silence as she tries to allow the excess power to flow through her hands and then, blam, a miniature Zero-Gravity Field forms around her just like before. “Why isn’t it working?”
“I wouldn’t get hung up on it.” Gran Torino signals her to shut her power off. “You’ve already grown since yesterday, and this was just our first go at using One For All this way. It’s going to take some time before you fully master this technique.”
He turns away as Ochaco releases the Zero-Gravity Field. With his back turned Gran Torino wipes away a smudge of blood leaking out the light scratch on his cheek. When she had thrown that strange sphere a piece of flying rubble grazed him leaving behind a tiny scar.
‘It’s been a long time since I’ve had to seriously dodge an attack.’ He smiles back watching as the oblivious Ochaco is too busy throwing her hands forward as if the spheres would magically shoot out from them. ‘This kid might turn out to be a real monster.’
He claps his hands. “All right, no time to rest. Let’s keep training”
Ochaco breaks away from her hand thrusts. “What’s next, sir?” Despite the strain, hunger, and lack of sleep she is ready to keep on going!
Gran Torino’s smile drops as his intense gaze pierces the girl’s very soul. “Something very important.”
Ochaco gulps unsure what he could possibly mean, does he have something diabolical in mind?
Gran Torino’s dopey-grin cuts away any and all tension. “We haven’t had any breakfast this morning.”
“Huh? Oh…yeah, my bad.” Ochaco looks over the room noticing the damage, she’ll probably have to clean all this up later too.
Gran Torino smiles up at her. “So, why don’t you go and heat up those pastries again.” He turns to the table but stops, frozen in place as he finds his kitchen table flipped on its side and the taiyaki on the floor: cold, wet, and…stepped on.
“THEY’RE ALL RUINED!!!”
“Wah!! I’m so sorry! I-I’ll go get some more!” Ochaco makes a mad dash for the doors, throwing them wide open and booking it before Gran Torino decides to take his frustration out on her.
But despite the lack of a meal and a possible punishment for when she returns, Ochaco can’t help but smile proud that she finally made some real progress.
‘I’ve got so much more work to do, but…now I know it is possible.’ As she jogs to the nearby convenience store, she stares down at her hands. ‘It’s so exciting if I can master these spheres then can I know I can live up to All Might’s legacy.’
She picks up the pace wanting to get back to training, she gazes ahead into the bright sunny day as she wonders what the future will have in store for her and this possibly new technique.
‘Huh. I wonder how Deku’s doing.’
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Back on day one of the Internships, after Ochaco had exited the train, it didn’t take long for Izuku to reach his destination.
The wielder of the Omnitrix looks out ahead of him with fire in his heart, excitement in his eyes, and the wind to his back. All pushing him to step forward to start his Internship.
‘I can’t wait to get started.’
Notes:
I know, I know, I'm terrible! How could I leave you all hanging like that?! Answer: because I wanna, and I’m a bit of a troll :P
But not to worry you will all find out who Izuku is interning with next time on “Heroes Never Die; It’s Hero Time,” promise. But don’t bother asking who it is because I will not tell you. Why? Because I want to leave it as a surprise. Will it be worth it? …Maybe, but either way I’m staying with my decision. You can make guesses, but I will not confirm or deny anything.
That said the next chapter will be an original take so it will probably take me a bit longer to write up. I’m aiming to have it out in a week or two but as you know life happens and plans don’t always follow through. So, I want to thank you all for your patience and I hope to hear from you next chapter, thanks.
*So I should explain that in this Arc specifically I will be switching between protagonists. This chapter was obviously focused on Ochaco and the next one will definitely be focused just on Izuku with a little Class 1-A thrown in here and there. And the next chapter will remain on Izuku, but the one after that will go back to Ochaco. So, yeah, a bit of jumping around but I think it’ll all be worth it. I got some fun stuff planned that I’m sure you will all enjoy. And don’t worry everything will come together in the end, and even have some lasting effects.
*“Rugosa City” is a reference to “Star Wars: the Clone Wars” specifically from Season 1 Episode 1 “Ambush.” Rugosa is the moon where Yoda and his Clone Troopers fought off an entire army of Separatist Droids. Kudos to anyone who did get the reference the first time through.
And if you don’t know what I’m talking about…go watch “Star Wars: the Clone Wars” it’s great. You’ll love it.
*So for those that didn’t catch it but the “J.J. Bunny” scene was straight out of “JoJo Rabbit,” the movie by Taika Waititi. It’s a really good movie full of heart, comedy, and social commentary. I highly recommend it. Also, Kudos again to those that understood the reference.
One of my “editors” recommended the scene to me and I think it was a good choice.
Chapter 32: Into the Deep End
Summary:
Izuku's internship begins!
Notes:
Hey everyone, it’s time! You will all finally find out who Izuku is interning with! (See I do keep my promises).
THAT SAID. For full disclosure I didn’t pick Izuku’s internship off practical reasons. I picked his internship based on how fun and entertaining it would be for me to write Izuku with a certain pro hero who in my opinion does not get enough attention in fanfictions.
*Again the choice was not meant to be practical, instead the choice was out of a sense of fun for me to do. And I think it’ll be worth it considering that this ended up being 70 pages long!
*Heads up I will be introducing serval new characters and at times I will suggest that you google search said characters. This chapter is sort-of a cross over and I will explain more at the end.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
The wielder of the Omnitrix looks out ahead of him with fire in his heart, excitement in his eyes, and the wind to his back. All pushing him to step forward to start his Internship.
‘I can’t wait to get started.’
With a skip in his step, Izuku Midoriya marches forward across the oceanside boardwalk. The concrete boardwalk runs alongside the ocean water with a barricade of dolos intercepting the incoming waves. A few seagulls glide about following him along as if he’s going to feed them other than that the boardwalk is empty as it stretches forward to his destination.
Nothing could go wrong; it’s a beautiful sunny day, the ocean’s nice and calm, and there’s no one in sight to disturb his peace. If anything it’s all a sign: a sign that this internship is going to be great!
After all it is off to a great start.
“I’LL MURDER YA!!!”
Goodbye, peaceful day and hello…death.
Like an undersea monster a Great-White Shark bursts out of the sea, flying up and over the dolos before its…feet smash into the ground right in Izuku’s path; startling the boy so bad he falls backwards dropping his suitcase.
Izuku cowers as the humanoid Great-White villain turns and glares down at its next meal, and in short, the shark is very disturbing to look at.
Imagine a muscular man wearing a shark for a body-suit with the head of a shark as a helmet sitting over his head, which is located as part of the shark’s mouth. Seriously, the most disturbing part of the villain’s features is that his eyes are a pair of black slits within the shark’s protruding red gums and rows of sharp serrated teeth right underneath. The villain has long finned arms with sharp-serrated claws at the end, his shark-like body is a dark navy-blue with a pale white underside, and he’s wearing black shorts with a shark teeth-patterned belt.
[AN: Google Search: Oumagadoki Zoo “Fuka”]
All in all this guy just screams “killing machine.”
Izuku pales at the sight of all those sharp teeth, just one bite from those things would tear right through his arm.
The Shark sneers down at the quivering boy. “Ya look pretty tasty. I’d bet you’d make a fine snack.” He swings his lanky arm back. “RAHH!!” He swings down but Izuku’s fight or flight takes over forcing him to scramble away just before the serrated claws could cut his head off.
Izuku quickly scrambles to his feet and throws his backpack to the side, gripping the Omnitrix.
“Oh, no ya don’t, shrimp!” The Shark charges forward and slams his head right into the boy making him shout out in pain.
The Shark, with Izuku pinned in place against his head, charges and throws them both up and over the dolos.
The groaning greenette pushes himself away from the Shark’s head and kicks away just before they both plunge into the cold Pacific Ocean.
Izuku can only watch as bubbles and water rushes over his head, and the sensation of water in his lunges forces him to choke, losing the little air he had.
In a hurry not to drown Izuku slams down onto the Omnitrix and the blinding green light forces him out of sight.
“Ah…” Ripjaws sighs with relief, thank goodness for gills.
“Haha, look at that. I could go for some fish sticks.”
Spinning around Ripjaws spots the giant-shark man swimming in place giving him a several-rowed tooth grin.
Feeling more confident and not so out of place in the water Ripjaws growls back. “Who you callin fish-stick…fish-stick?” Okay, that wasn’t his best comeback, he can admit that.
The Shark’s grin somehow widens more as if his own mouth will tear through his own skin. “I like ya, ya’ll be fun to tear apart.”
Ripjaws glares right back, positioning his tail fin as to make a quick getaway. “No need at this rate your looks will kill me first.”
And just like that the Shark’s sneering comes to a swift end. “RAHH!!!” The pissed off shark-man torpedoes through the water making a beeline for the aquatic alien, his mouth open and ready to take a chunk of flesh off his prey.
With just as much agility, Ripjaws torpedoes upward, swerving around the charging shark allowing him to swim right by.
The Shark quickly circles around and charges again.
Not one for a frontal assault at the moment, Ripjaws quickly dives down and takes off with the dolos to his right and the open ocean to his left with a narrow sandbar below him littered with some trash and seaweed.
The Shark sneers. “I love a good chase.” And with that he kicks it into high gear, then out of nowhere he gains a sudden burst of speed, and pretty soon he is on Ripjaws’ tail.
Ripjaws gasps before desperately trying to speed up. ‘I’m going to need a bigger alien!’
He spots a drowned semi-trailer on the ocean floor. Scrambling for cover he dives inside and out the other end, slamming the doors shut before taking off.
Shark crashes right through the heavy metal doors, bashing them to the side with his thick hided head. “Ha, ha, ha!” It did little to slow the behemoth down.
Ripjaws dives down allowing the Shark to zoom past his head, nearly taking it with him as he swipes at him. Ripjaws rushes away, following the sloping shallows into more open sea just as the Shark circles back around.
With some time to spare Ripjaws takes cover within a rock quarry, within the rocks are crevices and holes just big enough for the Piscciss Volann to slide right into, thankfully the cavern inside is wide enough for him to move around in.
‘Okay, Izuku. Pull it together.’ Leaning against the course rock, Ripjaws pants until he brings his breathing under control. ‘Did I lose him?’
Gliding over to the nearest hole Ripjaws warily pokes his head out to have a quick scan of the area and possibly find out what happened to his attacker.
“RAHHHHH!!!” An animalistic roar echoes as the villain’s massive maw snaps in front of the unguarded Ripjaws, nearly biting his head clean off.
Ripjaws scrambles backwards, his heart racing, and his hand at his throat as if to make sure his head was still attached even as the Shark’s head thrashes trying to break his way into the den.
The thrashing Shark sneers at the cowering Ripjaws. “Come on shrimp. Let me have a taste. Ha ha.”
Ripjaws snarls but with his heart racing and having been shaken to his core he is no fighting shape right now.
Knowing he’s got his prey cornered, the Shark pulls his head out from the hole leaving Ripjaws alone within his cramped, empty, and dark space.
While trying to get his bearings, Ripjaws adjusts himself so he can peer out of a nearby crack in the rocks and he spots his enemy circling the rock quarry like the Great-White Shark that he is.
The Shark is smiling, enjoying his hunt immensely as he circles around and around just waiting for his prey to crack. “Take your time, shrimp. I’ve got all the time in the world.”
‘And I don’t…’ Ripjaws gulps before sinking further down making sure he’s hidden away and unable to be reached. ‘Alright what do I know: there’s a psychotic Shark Quirked cannibal that wants to bite my head off, for some reason, there’s no people around so no one knows I’m here, I don’t have any of my gear and they're too far away to rely on, and…I’ve probably only got six or so minutes left before I time out and then…’ Ripjaws holds himself as the image of his human form being torn apart by a shark plays in his mind. ‘What I need is a plan.’
With literally no time to waste, Ripjaws carefully gazes into the ocean blue figuring he might as well take in his surroundings. Maybe part of this rock quarry could get him close to shore, it can’t. Every time he sees the circling villain, he flinches thinking he may get a chunk of his flesh chewed off.
And so he keeps looking until he spots it, a chain leading from the ocean floor to a large buoy at the surface. Okay so there’s that but he needs something else, something a bit more useful. And so he scans the horizon using any crevice, crack, or hole to peer through.
‘There!’ There in the distance not too far away from the buoy is a sunken fishing boat!
It’s small, torn up, and has clearly been there for a while but it may just have what he needs.
Swimming over the nearest crack Ripjaws watches closely as the Shark ever so slowly swims just out of sight. ‘It’s now or never!’
He darts out of the rock quarry, exposing himself, with only his speed and brains at his disposal.
“There ya are!” The Shark immediately chases after him, but he’s got to swim up and around the rock quarry. “Let’s draw some blood! Rahh!!” With a mighty roar he torpedoes through the water right after his speeding prey.
Ripjaws can’t afford to look back or to even taunt back, he has to stay focused on his task, his eyes scanning the fishing boat over and over for any sign of what he needs: but all he can see are a few yellow barrels, an empty harpoon gun, some weak looking rope, and that the fishing boat was apparently named the “Orca.”
But with his speed and his ever-analytical eyes, Ripjaws spots the very thing he needs to win, and the sight brings a jagged-toothed smile to his face. Even though he’s got a lunatic shark encroaching on him at a very fast rate.
With his mouth wide and ready Ripjaws chomps down and tears right through the chain holding the anchor down.
The Shark opens up his jaws nice and wide, readying to deliver a killing blow, but without losing momentum Ripjaws snags the broken anchor and swings it around with him as he adjusts himself and propels up towards the surface!
“What?!” The Shark quickly tries to adjust his trajectory, spinning around and spotting his prey high tailing up towards the surface. “I’m not done playing with ya yet!” And with his fins at his side he rockets up after him.
Ripjaws actually smirks at the sight of the Shark’s chasing. ‘Like a fish chasing a lure.’ The smirk stays put even as the Shark creeps closer and closer so much so that Ripjaws’ tailfin can flick the monster’s nose.
With mighty bursts of speed both fish men jump out of the sea with the Shark's maw wide open to swallow the alien whole. “You’re chum!!”
“Not yet I’m not!” With as much courage as he can summon Ripjaws spins around and launches the anchor right towards the beast’s jaws.
The anchor hooks around the rows of serrated teeth and the sudden heavy weight pulls the Shark down giving Ripjaws plenty of room. He throws the end of the chain which wraps around the villain’s arms and torso, before Ripjaws manages to catch it in midair just as they hit the water. Taking advantage of the situation and the chain in hand Ripjaws swims back, tightening the chain around his foe, binding him in place.
“You little shit!” The Shark begins to thrash about and Ripjaws can feel the chains loosening under his grip. “I’ll murder ya!!”
Ripjaws snickers. “Good luck with that!” With the chain in his claws Ripjaws torpedoes upward, pulling the Shark along with him as they both breach the water’s surface.
Ripjaws grips the nearby buoy and uses it to swing his bound foe around in the air. The chain wraps around the large buoy reeling the shark man in with it. Ripjaws releases the chain and dives back into the water as the Shark’s heavy hide slams into it, his entire body chained up and locked in place thanks to his wrapped and twisted binds.
The Shark gasps finding himself immobilized. “No, no way.”
Ripjaws lifts his head out of the water. “Man I reeled in a whopper!”
“A whopper, huh?” For some reason the villain decides to give a maniacal grin at the assumed victor. “Haven’t you ever heard of the one that got away?”
“What?”
Ripjaws soon has his answer as the Shark’s building muscles thrash in place, his teeth grinding together, and his claws clenched tightly at his sides. “Sorry, shrimp. But I’m no one’s prey!!” With a screeching roar, the Shark breaks right out of his binds, the chains tear apart as the buoy breaks apart under the intense force of pressure, pipes, screws, and chains shower down as the giant beast bares his fangs and claws before leaping up and over towards his target.
He can already smell the blood in the water. “RAHHH!!!”
Ripjaws has no chance of escape, his guard was down, he’s exhausted, and the Shark’s moving far too fast. All he can do is stare as a pair of massive jaws greet him, the villain’s serrated claws at his sides, and a massive being crashing right for him.
“I’LL DEVOUR YA!!!”
“That’s enough.”
*SKREEEE!!!*
Pulses of screeching sound waves crash right into the two fish men throwing them of course from each other as their entire bodies scream in pain under the high frequency attack.
The breached Ripjaws screams, grabbing his head as the pulses continue. “Ah! What is that?!”
The Shark man is in a similar state. “It’s him!”
Soon the piercing soundwaves vanish, and a deep and authoritative voice greets their ears. “Fuka, you went too far, as usual.”
The Shark, or rather Fuka, grimaces and actually looks scared as he gazes up at their interloper. “But-”
“Enough. You know I can’t stand excuses.”
Fuka cowers, sinking his head further into the water.
“Now then.”
The ringing in Ripjaws finally gives away and after a good shake of his head he peers up at the newcomer, and by extension his savior. “G-Gang Orca?!”
Yup the national ranked tenth hero, Gang Orca, is here! Standing tall with his arms crossed atop his very expensive looking speed boat, his black sleek cape billowing behind him making him look even larger and more intimidating, especially to those below him.
Gang Orca is a tall, well-built man whose body has the features of a killer whale thanks to his mutant-type Quirk, Orcinus. His hero costume consists of a white suit with a high collar. The collar reaches all the way to his chin and it is decorated with diamond shapes that are made to look like teeth. This goes with a pink tie made to look like a tongue is coming out. His whole persona just screams gangster boss, and one that’s more than willing to do his own dirty work.
Gang Orca’s piercing red eyes tear into Ripjaws as if he’s figuring out how best to filet this fish.
Ripjaws’ maw tightens as the pro hero’s attention falls upon him, his instincts screaming for him not to move like he’s standing in the presence of a dangerous predator.
“Izuku Midoriya.” Gang Orca reaches out his black clawed hand. “Welcome, to my agency. I hope you’re ready.”
It takes the morphed boy a moment to form a response. “…For what?”
He’s not sure but he’s pretty sure that the pro hero smirked at him. “To be thrown into the deep end.”
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“That was a test?!” shouts an astonished Izuku.
Gang Orca glares down at the boy. “Did I stutter?”
“N-no…”
“I can’t hear you!!” roars the pro hero.
“No, sir!”
“There we go.”
After pulling Ripjaws and Fuka out of the sea, they all rode back to shore, grabbed the boy’s belongings, and then followed the boardwalk down to a little dock just outside Gang Orca’s agency.
“I like to test all those that come to work under me.” Gang Orca continues as Izuku hops off the speed boat. “Gives me an idea how they react in unforeseen situations and under intense pressure.”
Izuku nervously points to the Shark. “And him…?”
Gang Orca gestures towards the Shark man. “This is one of my sidekicks, Fuka. I apologize for his…outburst in the end.” His menacing red gaze makes the shark man tremble. “Clearly someone needs to be disciplined.”
Fuka turns away, his jaws shut tight, and if he could sweat then he definitely would be.
Gang Orca turns his attention back on the U.A. student. “But you were never in any real danger though.” After all he’d step in if need be, and he did.
But part of Izuku isn’t so sure. ‘Is that…true?’ His green eyes shift over towards the large shark man.
Fuka notices the kid’s prying eyes, and he doesn’t take too fondly of it. “Ya got a problem, shrimp?”
“N-no!”
Fuka snickers but immediately shuts his trap when Gang Orca’s eyes narrow at him.
The pro hero adjusts his tie and readdresses the boy. “Well whatever the case you show some real promise, but that’s to be expected. I wouldn’t have sent an offer if I didn’t think you could handle yourself.”
“T-thank you, sir!” Izuku bows. “I look forward to working with you!”
“Good, that’s just what I like to hear.” Gang Orca turns his head towards his sidekick. “Maybe you can learn something from him, Fuka.”
Fuka frowns. “Tch.”
“Well Midoriya, welcome to my agency.” Gang Orca raises his claw, gesturing to the very large building complex behind him. “Also known as the Ushimitsudoki Aquarium.”
Izuku’s eyes widen as he finally takes in the massive building before them.
He’s only ever heard of the Ushimitsudoki Aquarium never did he’d think he’d get a chance to be here considering how far from home it is, and how expensive it can be. And now it’s clear why that is. The Ushimitsudoki Aquarium is like a castle with a grand staircase leading up to its entrance lined with marble pillars, towers range from each corner of the property and a massive glass dome sits atop looking over this ocean kingdom. From what Izuku’s read the Ushimitsudoki Aquarium is one if not the best aquarium in the world, it houses more species of aquatic life than any other aquarium in the world, and plus it’s also utilized as Gang Orca’s own agency. Apparently, he took over years ago when the last curator was forced to leave his position. Izuku isn’t too sure on the details, but whatever the case this is the place he’ll be interning for the week.
Gang Orca and Fuka lead the boy up the stairs and inside their world class facility. And somehow it seems even bigger from the inside with massive tanks surrounding him from every side, corner, and even ceiling, it’s like this place was designed to make you feel like you were underwater. Every tank is filled with hundreds or thousands of fish species. They all range from the colorful and graceful, to the ugly and alien, from the cute to the scary, and from every environment on Earth; any aquatic animal you can think of is here.
“It’s quite the collection isn’t it?” Gang Orca sounds proud as he observes the boy’s reaction.
“I’ll say.” Izuku continues to awe at all the exhibits trying to take in as much as he can from each one. “But where are all the visitors?”
“We don’t open for another hour. Didn’t want the general public to be in a panic when a shark villain attacks a student.” The pro jabs a clawed finger at his own sidekick who doesn’t appreciate the insinuation.
Izuku nods in understanding. “Fair point.”
And so the three continue through the aquarium with Izuku trailing behind as he continues to observe the displays, his eyes hoping from one thing to another as he strolls past a narrow stretch of the aquarium lined with a large wall of glass between him and the saltwater.
As he strolls past, he fails to see a pair of black eyes trailing his movements. “Keke ke.”
Izuku freezes in place, his senses telling him that a disturbing presence is nearby. So with a lot of trepidation, he shakily turns in place and finds a rather disturbing sight.
A human face with a deranged toothy grin is pressed against the opposite side of the glass. “Keke ke. You seem fishy.” Her grin turns dark and threatening. “I don’t like fishy people.”
“Wah!!” Izuku leaps away from the glass mainly because that smile is seriously giving him the creeps.
As he leaps away, he gets a better look at this newcomer.
They’re…a mermaid? She seems to be in her early twenties, with a slim figure, black eyes, wide grin, and pink hair that floats about in the water like a sea anemone. The upper half of her body is human but her lower half of a fish with a long slender tailfin like that of a tuna. Speaking of, she’s wearing a tuna skull-like helmet with a spine running behind her, and the bony fins hang off the bottom of the helmet like long earrings. She’s also wearing a black halter top with matching arm bands around her forearms that have a row of sharp fish-spines poking out from them. Finally, a wide silver belt is wrapped around her waist covering the area where her human-half meets her fish-half.
[AN: Google Search: Oumagadoki Zoo “Tekka Maki”]
The mermaid’s grin widens her sharp teeth on full display like she’s found a little guppy to tear into. “We don’t like fishy people creeping around.”
Izuku shakes his head in denial. “I’m not fishy!”
“Yes, you are.” Her mad grin never fades, and she presses her face against the glass even more, it creaks and bends as if she’ll break through it if given the chance. “No one’s supposed to be here. And that makes you fishy.”
“Enough.” Gang Orca retraces his steps, even with his hands in his pockets he still holds an air of danger around him. “I see you met another of my sidekicks. This is Tekka Maki, she handles much of this facility’s security.”
“Oh, is that so.” Izuku shyly smiles at the mermaid. “It’s nice to meet you, then…”
Her dark grin remains unchanging as her black eyes stare right at him, making him very uncomfortable that she isn’t reacting or responding.
Gang Orca places his massive hand on the boy’s shoulder. “Tekka Maki, this is Izuku Midoriya. He's the one interning with us for the week.”
She continues to stare at him, her hair floating about in the water like a sea anemone, and her toothy grin unflinching. “Oh! I forgot, keke ke!” With a shove her face pops off the glass screen.
“Forgot?” There’s an underlying threat in Gang Orca’s voice as the mermaid somersaults in the tank. “I’ve been giving each of you reminders for days.”
“Keke ke! I can’t remember important things like that.”
Gang Orca’s claws tighten around the very concerned Izuku’s shoulder, but his predatory glare doesn’t seem to have any effect on the bubbly yet creepy Tekka Maki.
Izuku sweat drops. ‘And she said I was fishy…’
Without warning Tekka Maki gasps her eyes lighting up just before she slams back into the glass, pressing her face against it and once again making Izuku jump. “Wait, so who won?!”
“Um…?”
“Your test! Did you kick Fuka’s tailfin? I’m assuming you did.”
Fuka doesn't appreciate her assumption. “Whaddaya say, merbitch?!”
She turns away from Izuku, her dark grin returning as she glares at the approaching shark man. “I bet it was super humiliating, to be beaten by such a fishy brat.”
“He didn’t beat me!” Fuka slams his claws against the glass, thankfully it doesn't break, but it makes enough of a piercing screeching that it makes Tekka Maki flinch back. “I actually won our fight!!”
Gang Orca unceremoniously drops the truth. “He had you bound and tied up.”
Fuka gasps at the betrayal.
“Keha, haha, keke!!”
“Stop laughing!!” Fuka slams his head against the glass. “I’ll rip ya to shred is ya don’t shut it!”
“Make me!” Tekka Maki pulls her eye lid down and sticks her tongue out before taking off further into the tank and out of sight.
“I will!!” roars Fuka before running off too.
Both Izuku and Gang Orca watch on in silence as they both take off for who knows where.
The greenette nervously smiles up at the pro hero. “They seem like a…fun bunch.”
Gang Orca looks down at him and then back up, silently considering his description. “Sure.”
Izuku’s pretty sure he only said that to be polite.
“Follow me.” Gang Orca turns and begins marching away.
With one last look towards the tanks, Izuku quickly jogs after him. They march in silence even as they enter and wait for the elevator that takes them several stories down. Izuku can only nervously look up at the hero but the hero doesn’t acknowledge him clearly wanting to get to their destination first before they speak.
Fortunately for Izuku it's not a long elevator ride as the doors slide open revealing a large circular room.
The room is dark, cold, and smells of sea water like a dark trench only illuminated by dim lights. The large circular room is encircled by a narrow moat, above the moat are grates with streams of water flowing through them. At the center of the room is a large wooden table. Atop the table there are stacks of papers, a few cups, and for some reason a pair of anchors with chains sit atop of it. Maybe they’re there for decoration, or maybe for…negotiations.
But it appears they are not alone there’s someone already seated at the table going through forms and reports.
Gang Orca marches into the meeting room, and his sidekick immediately takes notice of his presence. “Leave us.”
“Aye, sir.”
The sidekick rises, grabbing his forms before heading out.
This sidekick, like the others, has very similar characteristics of an aquatic animal, specifically as a Japanese spider crab.
Overall he has a normal human’s body shape but his head is the carapace of a crab with a pair of long-armored legs protruding out his shoulder blades, at the ends of the legs are thin sharp claws, whereas his own hands look more like a crab’s body with thin legs in place of his fingers. He’s a thin man, with a steely ever-present glare. His uniform would get a certified pass by Iida because of how clean, pressed, and professional it is. His top reminds Izuku of a bellhop’s uniform that’s white in color, and navy-blue colored lined with golden fabric, and gold-colored epaulette on his shoulders. His uniform’s cuffs are the same aesthetic of dark blue with gold-colored lining whereas his boots are a solid baby-blue.
[AN: Google Search: Oumagadoki Zoo “Dholak”]
Izuku isn’t a hundred percent sure but he’s pretty sure the crab man was eyeing him as he passed them by. But his eyes were nothing but dark seemingly empty slits. If anything he may have been trying to intimidate the young lad. And it worked.
Gang Orca takes a seat at the head of the table in the biggest and most expensive black-leather chair there is, overlooking the entire meeting room and making Izuku feel like he’s in the presence of a real mob boss. “Tell me.”
Izuku straightens as he stands across the table not wanting to upset the hero in any way.
“What is it you want to get out of this internship?”
“Sir?”
Gang Orca hates repeating himself. “Don’t make me ask twice.”
Izuku frowns in thought. ‘What I want to get out of this…?’ Well in a way it's the reason he chose to come here in the first place. “I… have all these transformations but each one is different with their own weaknesses, abilities, and even biology.” He eyes the Omnitrix knowing full well that there’s even more mysteries yet to come. And with each new surprise, or alien, he needs to be able to utilize each and every one of them without fail, especially if he gets one, he is unfamiliar with. “I want to be sure I can utilize each and every one of them to the fullest. But I’m not sure how to go about that.” Sure he can practice his fighting skills, but he needs more than that. There’s got to be something he’s missing. “I did my research before picking my internship. You and your many sidekicks have such unique Quirks, and with such vast knowledge of so many…foreign creatures I thought this would be the best place to help me.” Plus with a disposition for fighting and training underwater, Izuku can get some practice by maneuvering in a place that can simulate a lack of gravity. After all astronauts train in water before they actually go up to space, so why shouldn’t he do the same?
Gang Orca leans forward, considering the boy’s reasoning. “I see, I appreciate your honesty, and might I add it’s good to see you’ve got a good head on your shoulders, most people these days have a hard time admitting their faults. Often or not they fail to see how their best advantage could also be their weakest point. That said, I think there’s more we can offer you here.”
Izuku raises an eyebrow, he can only wonder what Gang Orca’s referring to.
“Your test revealed a lot to me.” Gang Orca places a clawed finger against the side of his head as he leans to the side. “You’re quick, strong, and most importantly smart all good qualities to have in a hero.”
Izuku puffs out his chest, his pride swelling up to hear such compliments from a pro hero.
“However, at the level you are now there’s a good chance a villain can still gain the upper hand over you.”
His heart drops as his mind recalls what had occurred less than an hour ago. He can still smell Fuka’s breath as the shark man lunged at him with his jaws wide, in those few seconds he was able to count the rows of serrated teeth, each one wanting to pierce his flesh.
Gang Orca continues. “I believe you can be quicker, stronger and smarter.”
That immediately makes Izuku’s spirit rise.
“To be a hero you cannot just rely on your strength or Quirk alone. One must use all of their tools at their disposal.” Gang Orca leans forward eyeing the boy with such intensity one would think he was trying to kill the boy with a mere look. “Like a beast of the sea one must use all their senses, skills, knowledge, and abilities to the fullest if they wish to survive. The accumulation of all these things will determine whether your someone’s prey or the predator.”
Izuku repeats the words just under his breath. “Predator…or prey.”
“While you are here there will be no hand holding, no coddling, and certainly no heart to heart bullcrap.” Gang Orca points a black claw at the greenette. “You will take every order without question, you will be punctual, and we expect you to do everything at a hundred percent.” Now here comes the gut punch. “Anything less, and I will terminate your internship.”
The instant he said it, Izuku knows he’s telling the truth. He means it one hundred percent, guaranteed.
“You may have come in second in the Sports Festival, but that means squat here. If you saw yourself as the big fish back at school, then forget it, that time is over. That was a pond compared to what awaits you. You’ve been thrown into an ocean full of predators and you better be ready to fight your way to the top of the food chain.” Gang Orca rises out of his seat, towering over the boy making him feel like a minnow in the presence of a killer whale. “As of this moment, you are nothing but a shrimp. A lowly spec that’s only purpose is to be chewed up and crapped out by the strong.” Essentially, he is at the bottom of the pecking order. “If you don’t like it then show me what you really are.”
Izuku, defiantly, glares right back trying to match the hero’s intensity. “I will!”
“Good, because you start now.”
“Yes, sir!”
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‘This is not what I had in mind.’ Izuku grumbles to himself as he plops the wet mop onto the ground and begins scrubbing.
“Ya call that mopin’?! I sure hope ya don’ wipe yar ass like that!”
Izuku slouches over, trying his best to remain respectful and polite. ‘What a day: first I get attacked by a shark, threatened by a mermaid, and now…I’m being bossed around by a walrus!’
Yes, after Gang Orca’s declaration he tossed Izuku aside, literally, to work under one of his sidekicks, Kaizou. The boy didn’t even have the chance to change into his costume instead remaining in his school uniform and only allowed to remove the blazer so as to not ruin it.
Kaizou is in charge of the aquarium’s entertainment branch and so after acquiring a new hand he got Izuku to work by mopping up one of their many stages for shows and educational features.
He’s a giant of a man and yeah, he’s essentially a bipedal walrus with brown leathery skin. Huge white tusks, and giant bushy mustache of whiskers. All he’s wearing is a giant pair of back pressed-pants, giant shoes, and a mask with goggle-like eye holes above his nose.
[AN: Google Search: Oumagadoki Zoo “Kaizou”]
“Circles! Ya gotta mop in a circle!” Kaizou swings his flipper-like arm around; it would be funny if he wasn’t being reprimanded.
“Don’t worry, I’ll get it.”
“Ya better! We don’t need no shrimp ruining the show!”
Izuku sighs in defeat. “Got it, sir.”
And he gets right back to moping as Kaizou glares down at him inspecting his work.
Unbeknownst to them standing just behind the entrance to the stage area, Gang Orca’s crustacean-like sidekick watches on observing Izuku’s miserable form.
And the sight is oh so amusing to him. “Gishigishi.”
The oblivious and unsatisfied Izuku lets out an exasperated sigh as he continues to mop away. ‘I wonder how everyone else is doing…’
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Far away, near the center of Tokyo there’s a prestigious building that’s white in color with large glass walls. And within its walls a top ranked hero evaluates their newest member.
“To be perfectly frank, I don’t like you very much.”
“Huh?” Katsuki Bakugou scowls, the last thing he came here for was to be ridiculed.
The pro hero turns to face the young man and Bakugou is able to get a good look at him.
He is a tall, slim man with an unnaturally long and flexible neck. He has rather long blonde hair which he wears combed drastically to the left, covering his left eye. His hero costume consists of a pair of jeans, a denim waistcoat with two large breast pockets, and a denim dress shirt with a very high collar which covers his face up to just below his nose. He wears two belts, one around his collar and one around his waist, and short dark brown boots with thick gray shafts and soles.
“I know full well why you chose my agency.” The top ranked hero, Best Jeanist, eyes Bakugou, examining his reaction. “Because I’m one of the top five most popular heroes.” Specifically, he’s ranked as Number 4 under All Might, Endeavor, and Hawks respectively.
The fully costumed Bakugou scowls. “Hey, look, you’re the one who made an offer for me.”
“Yes.” Best Jeanist is exasperated as he slicks his front bang to the side. “Recently, all my recruits have been perfect little angels,” he flicks a finger at Bakugou. “so you certainly stood out. I watched the way you fought at the Sports Festival.” And he took a particular interest in how much destructive power this child holds with his Explosion Quirk alone. And the display was rather distasteful. “You have a good handle on your powerful Quirk, and a decent grasp of its application as well. You’re an outstanding talent. I’d say you’re already good enough to take on as a sidekick.” But the praise stops there. “However, you do have a fatal flaw. You believe you’re the best, and you display that belief without regard for how it reflects on you or your image. You have a ferocious nature.”
Bakugou’s teeth grind together in anger, anger because the prick is right. Everything he said was right no matter how much he wants to deny it all. But what’s really grinding his gears is that this know-it-all prick had him pegged before they could even meet.
“Don’t tell me you brought me here just to give me a lecture!” He stomps forward ready to get in the jackasses’ face. “Ah-” Before he can even take another step, he finds his arms tied up and bound together, even his legs are pinned against each other. Within a few moments he knows he’s been immobilized. By what? String of all things.
“I have to correct people like you. It’s part of my duty to society.”
Bakugou glares at the strings, unable to comprehend how something so thin and flimsy is keeping him from moving.
“Heroes and villains are cut from the same cloth.”
The mad blonde glares up at the source of the threads, Best Jeanist.
“So your job here is to watch me.” The sleeves of the hero’s costume have been thinned away as the string tightens around the boy. “I’ll show you what makes someone a hero.” That’s a promise.
The very confused and very pissed up Bakugou growls, his arms struggling to break free. “What in the hell are you doing?”
“Isn’t it obvious? I’m educating you on becoming an exemplary pro.” replies Best Jeanist ever so smoothly like it’s obvious. “That includes being aware of the way you speak, your appearance, controlling your emotions, your morals.” Basically he wants to correct everything about the U.A. student.
And said U.A. student does not like that, not one bit.
“There are countless things you need to learn, but in the brief period of one week, I will stitch these things into the fabrics of your being.”
Bakugou’s red gaze boars into the hero’s head; he knows this hero means every word and he’s not going to give this prick the privilege of changing who he is, not after all that bullcrap.
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“This sucks.” groans an exhausted Izuku.
His knees are sore after only a few minutes of scrubbing the bathroom floor. Apparently Kaizou thought it’d be necessary for him to use a brush and get on his hands and knees to scrub the floor rather than using a mop. Something about making sure Izuku won’t miss a speck of dirt on the floor. Thankfully he’s scrubbing the employee bathroom meant for the sidekicks rather than the public restroom, but it’s still far from glamorous.
Either way it’s been hours since his arrival and Izuku’s done nothing but clean and be worked to the bone by Gang Orca’s sidekicks all across the Ushimitsudoki Aquarium. He’s been tossed around by one sidekick to another, from Fuka to Kaizou and even to Tekka Maki; each one putting him through one ordeal after another.
In truth he thought he’d be doing more hero-related work with Gang Orca and be treated as a student, rather he's being treated like any old intern; the only thing missing is that they haven’t sent him off to make a coffee run. Actually a coffee run would be so much better than what he's been through so far.
##########(Flashback)#########
First, Fuka hauled him down to the loading dock at the rear of the property. There he had him hauling heavy cargo off into different parts of the aquarium.
“Come on ya’re moving so slow!!” shouts the very frustrating-to-work-with Fuka. “A fucking slug can move faster than ya!! Pick up the pace!!”
Four Arms is desperately trying to keep his cool but it’s becoming increasingly difficult; he’s got one giant crate up in the front being carried by one pair of arms while also carrying two little crates in his two other arms.
Four Arms pouts mumbling to himself as he stomps forward, trying not to collapse under all the weight. “You could help, you know.”
“WHADDYA SAY!?!”
“Nothing!”
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“Give it some more juice!!” shouts Kaizou.
“I’m trying.” grumbles a frustrated Feedback, his tendrils latched into a pair of spotlights.
He’s trying to keep them running while some of the technicians run to go and repair a generator. So for now Feedback’s got to stand here and keep the lights going while a show performs down below.
Apparently, these spotlights need a lot more electricity than he first thought and as such he can’t move or even peer down at the show below. He thinks there’s some sort of performance with a seal but they’re a little too far up for him to have a proper look.
“Give it some more juice!!”
Feedback reels back as more electricity surges through his tendrils.
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“A little twist here. A little twist there.” Grey Matter wiggles his little grey hand inside the broken spinning filter, bits of sand break free from within floating into the filthy water.
Grey Matter fans away the sand as it floats up to his face, he doesn’t need that stuff getting into his gills. This filter system is already filthy enough as it is. But why is Grey Matter inside a filtration system?
From where? From inside the actual filter itself. Apparently, it got jammed up from the inside and it just so happened that Grey Matter happens to be the perfect size to squeeze inside and fix it for them, he can also breath underwater so that’s a plus.
“There we go!” He pulls his hand away just as the filter begins to spin again, the last of the debris breaking away. ‘Hang on…’ Grey Matter eyes the increasingly spinning filter, he can feel the water ever so slightly flowing towards the speeding contraption. ‘Ironically…I didn’t think this through.’
And before he knows it, he gets swept away in the sudden current of water. He fights against it with all he’s got but it’s no use.
“Wahh!!” Grey Matter gets pulled right into the filter, spinning around along with the filter before being shot up the pipe leading into the tank.
Grey Matter gets spat out into the exhibit, fresh clean water filling his gills and a sigh of relief graces his lips now that he’s out of danger. “Phew.”
It’s such a relief that’s over, that thing was so filthy it’s good to be out. “Huh?”
Wait, where is he anyway. He’s inside one of the freshwater tanks but which one was it?
Spinning around Grey Matter turns deathly pale when he realizes which tank, he’s in; the piranha exhibit.
“Ahhh!! Help!!”
Tekka Maki sits atop the open top of the tank, her creepy grin widening as she watches Grey Matter desperately trying to evade the swarm of flesh-eating fish. “Keke ke.”
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Heatblast would be sweating if he was physically able to. He’s deep in concentration holding his hand firmly with a single finger out as he carefully welds two pipes together.
‘This…is harder than it looks.’ He’s really trying to keep this compressed flame from going too out of control; he's sure that if he caused a fire then Gang Orca would deal with him himself, and he doesn’t need that.
And so he keeps at it, trying to focus on the task at hand.
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Fuka, Kaizou, and Tekka Maki are all seated and going over piles of paperwork.
A rush of wind and the doors flinging open alerting them to XLR8 who zips right into the underground meeting room.
The speedster pulls out a little notepad and begins reading off the orders. “Roasted Turkey and Avocado BLT on asiago cheese bread?”
“Keke ke. That’s mine!” shouts a grinning Tekka Maki, swinging back in her seat with her hand outstretched behind her.
In a blink of an eye XLR8 drops a bag right into her open palm before zooming back to the entrance and reading off the next order. “New England Clam Chowder Soup?”
Fuka doesn’t even look up, he just holds his hand out offhandedly. “Here.”
XLR8 is nothing but a blur as he drops a bag of food into his giant clawed hand.
“Ancient Grain, Arugula, and chicken salad?”
Kaizou lifts his head and waves his flipper. “Mine, obviously!”
XLR8 speeds over and unceremoniously drops the bag right onto the table.
“Phew.” XLR8 wipes his forehead after such a long run.
They sent him to pick their orders from a restaurant that was over fifty miles away. But he’s back with about two minutes to spare on his time limit too no less.
Fuka browses his bag but stops and peers up at the U.A student. “Where’s my soda, my Diet Dr Kelp?”
XLR8 pales as a horrible sensation seeps in
“I forgot it!!”
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A squad of Dittos, each decked out in miniature scuba gear, are busying themselves by scrubbing away at the massive glass screen from within the tank itself. That task doesn’t seem too complicated, if it weren’t for the inhabitants of said tank.
While most of the Dittos are busy cleaning away, they only have to deal with the occasional curious fish swimming by. However, one Ditto decided to take a ride on a graceful Manta Ray through the large open tank.
At least he’s having fun, because another trio of Dittos are definitely not having a lick of fun. Instead three of them seem to have gotten into a wrestling match with a very angry and territorial Giant Octopus, and they’re not winning.
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Big Chill’s chest inflates as he takes a deep inhale and then he exhales, releasing a gentle yet large wind of cool freezing air.
Much of the tundra-like exhibit drastically cools down, snow even forming across the ground and parts of the pool water freezes. A chorus of penguin calls cheer in response, the cute flightless birds were extremely uncomfortable thanks to the cooling system breaking earlier that day.
Big Chill takes a moment to appreciate his handy work, as he does one of the smaller penguins waddles up and cuddles against his cool leg thanking him for his efforts.
“Well,” Big Chill leans down and gives the little bird a gentle pat on the head. “At least someone appreciates me.”
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Izuku grins, wiping the sweat from his forehead as he examines the newly mopped aquarium hallway.
It’s a mess, sure it’s mopped up but there’s puddles of water everywhere, he used too much water and apparently too much soap!
“What do I do?” He grumbles pushing back his disheveled hair.
His eyes light up as an obvious solution pops into his mind; followed by his hand on the Omnitrix and him disappearing in a flash of green.
“Terraspin.”
The Geochelone Aerio hops up, his limbs forming into fans. With his spinning limbs Terraspin glides through the hallway, generating a strong enough wind to wipe away the excess water.
Terraspin comes to a stop as he reaches the end of the once wet hall, his stump like feet plopping onto the ground before his feet slip right from under him, it appears he missed a spot.
The turtle-like alien ends up falling onto his back, wobbling in place as he tithers side to side. “Dang it.”
Terraspin throws his arms forward trying to sway himself to his feet; after a few attempts he knows he won’t be getting up any time soon.
Terraspin sighs, accepting his fate, as a curious sea turtle swims by the nearby glass wall.
Terraspin peers over as the sea turtle eyes him curiously. The morphed Izuku plops his fin against the glass, parallel to the sea turtle’s beak. “You understand my pain, don’t you?”
########(End Flashback)#######
“Finally finished!” Izuku cheers as he practically skips out of the employee bathroom, dropping the brush and bucket into the cleaning supply cart.
“Y-y you must b-b be the new g-g guy.” states a gurgly voice.
“Yes, indeed!” responds a gallant yet disciplined voice. “Be sure to behave yourself, Sir Devilfish.”
“I w-w will, Ikkaku.”
Izuku spins around to see two figures approaching from down the hall both of them are wearing the same white uniforms to that crab guy from earlier. And like all the other sidekicks they too resemble an aquatic-animal counterpart.
The first guy, Izuku assuming is Devilfish, is an octopus of all things. Well nearly his whole body is human except for his head which happens to be the body of a common octopus that’s grey in color and only has about two tentacles available. He’s a slender man who walks with a permanent slouch like he’s constantly sneaking around corners and spying on others, his fingers are long and slim, curling together like he’s cooking up some kind of scheme.
[AN: Google Search: Oumagadoki Zoo “Devilfish”]
The second sidekick, Ikkaku, walks with a purpose, the human-bodied man stands with his head held high; his head so happens to be that of a narwhal’s head with a broken tusk. Or so it appears, the rest of his long tusk is strapped to his back like a spear being carried by a respectable warrior. He’s wearing the same white, blue, and gold uniform as Devilfish and the crab, but with orange gloves around his hands.
[AN: Google Search: Oumagadoki Zoo “Ikkaku”]
The narwhal headed man raises his gloved hand in greeting. “Hello, there young man.” He makes a big show of bowing. “My name is Ikkaku!”
“Oh, uh, hi!” responds Izuku not expecting such a pleasant greeting. “I’m Izuku Midoriya.”
Ikkaku springs up. “It’s a pleasure to meet you! Please seek me out if you need any assistance!”
“T-thanks…” Izuku shyly accepts the offer. ‘This guy…sort-of reminds me of Iida.’ He’s got that same disciplined and strict mannerisms.
Ikkaku gestures to his fellow sidekick. “And this fine fellow is Sir Devilfish.”
Devilfish’s tentacle-like fingers wring together as he gurgles out a hello. “H-h hey, j-j just call m-m me Devilfish.”
“Um, hey…” Izuku gives a curt nod, he’s really having a hard time making out any emotion on the octopus’ face but like with Tekka Maki there’s an air of creepiness around him.
“Tell us, young man!” Ikkaku jabs his hand towards Izuku. “Why are you covered in suds?”
“What?” Izuku grabs his messy hair and a bit of suds drip down between his fingers and arm; when did he get soap in his hair? Well anyway. “Oh, I, uh, was cleaning.” He gestures towards the employee restroom.
Ikkaku nods his narwhal-head in understanding. “Oh my, but do tell, why do you look so exhausted?”
“W-well, all the others have been working me ragged since I got here. Haha…” Izuku laughs nervously, praying that these two won’t do the same.
“Ah, I see.” Ikkaku turns to Devilfish, both share an understanding look like they can relate to the boy’s predicament.
“N-n not surprising.” adds Devilfish.
Izuku blinks, what does he mean by not surprising? “What was that?”
“Never you mind that.” Ikkaku smiles radiates that of an adult addressing a small child. “Tell you what, I think you’ve more than earned a break by now. Why not take a rest and explore a bit of our world-class aquarium?”
Devilfish steps behind his partner, eyeing Izuku like he’s someone to be suspicious of. “O-o or you c-c can hang out in the b-b backstage areas.”
Izuku steps back from the pair, for some reason he just feels like that Devilfish guy is going to pull something shady. “Uh, is that okay?”
Ikkaku is quick to respond. “Of course it is!”
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
“Thank goodness.” breathes Izuku as he plops himself onto the ground, his legs dangling off the edge of the concrete dock.
After getting permission to take a break via Ikkaku, Izuku set off for a quiet and peaceful place to rest. The loading dock area appeared to be empty and with the calming breeze of the ocean he figured it was the perfect place to hide out for a bit.
Sure he thought about exploring more of the aquarium, but a lot of guests have arrived filling the place up to near capacity. And after being so high in the ranking for the Sports Festival there’s no doubt that if he went inside, he’d be swarmed by fans.
So here he is, hiding out in the solidarity of the loading dock.
Izuku takes a moment to examine the place, it’s big with only the portion nearest the aquarium having a roof over it; the rest is out in the sunlight, outstretched into the ocean shore.
The loading dock consists of four separate loading ports all leading into the ocean, strewn across the area are large metal crates, plastic barrels, chains and ropes, tools, and machinery. There’s only one boat present in the entire place and it’s Gang Orca’s super expensive speedboat.
A juvenile grin graces Izuku’s lips. “This is great.” He sounds perfectly at peace glad to finally be having a break. ‘But what is this place’s deal?’
He hasn’t even seen Gang Orca around all day, sure he’s high up on the rankings so he gets called away on all sorts of business all across the country, but Izuku was really hoping he could at least tag along. But he’s been pawned off to the other sidekicks who are getting a real kick out of putting him through some humiliating tasks. If this keeps up…he won’t have any real progress; all his classmates will outpace him at this rate.
But what can he do? There’s got to be something.
“Hmph. Lazing about on the job, typical of a welp such as yourself.”
Izuku doesn’t recognize that voice, but the scrutinization sure does sting.
A uniformed figure stomps out from the shadows, their hands in their pockets as they tower over the boy. “And the boss had such high hopes for you.”
Izuku spins around to address the new arrival. “It’s you.”
It’s that lanky crab guy he saw when he first arrived. “The names, Dholak.” Dholak spits. “Don’t forget it you little shit.”
‘What is this guy’s deal?’ Izuku smiles trying to remain polite. “I…I won’t.”
“Hmph.” Dholak leans his head back, glaring at Izuku through the dark empty slits he calls eyes.
‘Maybe I should just leave.’ Izuku, unhappily, gets up from his spot and begins to walk away from the hostile crab.
A thin armored leg, pierces into his path cracking the cement just before the U.A. student’s feet.
Said student is scared stiff, his eyes locked onto the spear-like appendage that was only a few inches off from stabbing his own legs.
Even so he chokes back a frightened yelp. “Hey, um, d-do you mind moving your…” His eyes lock onto the thin sharp claw at the end of the long-thin appendage. “leg?”
“Yeah, I do mind.”
“Oh…” Something’s wrong, very wrong, yet it’s somewhat familiar.
For Izuku this feels like… old times. It feels as if Bakugou himself is glaring down at him, wanting to hurt him and beat him into the ground. Izuku’s being targeted and Dholak is not going to just let him walk away.
Not one to go straight to fisticups Izuku remains calm knowing that he has to at least try to defuse the situation. “Well in that case-”
Dholak doesn’t even give him the chance to calm the situation. “I bet you think you’re top shit after the Sports Festival, playing with your kiddie friends and thinking you’re number one.”
‘That’s…not at all how I think.’ Izuku internally grumbles to himself, he then puts on the best I’m-no-threat smile he can muster. “Well actually I didn’t come in number one, I was in second.”
An irk mark appears on Dholak’s forehead. “Are you calling me stupid?” His voice is dangerously low.
Clearly Izuku’s comment had the worst effect possible and he’s well aware of it, he needs to fix this, now! “I meant no offense! I’m sure you're very intelligent.” Izuku begins bowing back and forth, apologizing for whatever it was that offended the crabby sidekick. “I’m sorry for overstepping! I didn’t mean to offend!”
Dholak’s extended leg retracts, folding up above his head as to be ready to strike again. “First you call me stupid. And now you’re pitying me!”
“No!” Izuku is getting more and more desperate, this guy really is just looking for a fight. “I swear, I’m not!” Seriously he’s begging for mercy. “I’m only here to learn! And to work hard while doing it!”
“Work…hard.”
Uh, oh.
If Dholak’s anger was a quiet flame before then it’s a raging inferno now, even if he keeps his voice at a moderately hushed tone. “You worked hard? Gishigishi, don’t make me laugh.” His piercing gaze stares right into the boy’s very soul. “You haven’t been working hard at all.”
Okay, now that stung. “Excuse me?”
“I’ve been observing you.”
Izuku’s blood goes cold. “What?” Just how much of a creep is this guy?!
Dholak raises his crab-bodied hand and stretches a thin finger at the boy. “The others may have been working you around the clock, but you have yet to really work for your place here.”
Izuku frowns, not sure what this guy could mean.
“If you're not willing to work for the right to be here.” His dual pincers begin to windup. “Then you’re not worth our time.” His eyes widen as a brilliant idea pops into his mind. “You know what kid. I think I’ll just get rid of you.”
‘Get rid…of me?!’ Izuku instinctively reaches for the Omnitrix, finding comfort that he can defend himself if he has to. ‘He can’t do that…can he?’
Dholak strikes, launching his extended lance-like limb right toward Izuku’s head.
“Woah!” Izuku falls back as the lance attack zooms over his face. ‘That was close…!’ And terrifying, those legs of his have a far greater reach than he first thought.
“Don’t you get it?”
Izuku props himself off the ground as Dholak retracts his extended pincer.
“You’re not walking away from this.” Dholak adjusts his collar as his pincers click together. “Not unless you beat me.”
Izuku pushes himself onto his feet. He doesn't fully understand the situation, and maybe it’s too late for reasoning, but he just has to be sure if this is the right course of action. “Is this a test?”
Dholak throws his pincers forward, his long legs clashing together in front of him like a pair of swords. “No.”
Okay, then. At least Izuku knows that this is the only way out.
Dholak glare intensifies. “By the end of this fight. I’ll have you crying for mercy.”
Izuku grips the Omnitrix, activating the dial face, he’ll show this guy that he is here to work hard, no matter what he says.
And so with no other options available, Izuku slams down on the alien device. “Lodestar!” The Biosovortian howls as he readies himself for a fight. “Okay crab cakes, if you want a fight.” He raises his own pincer towards his challenger. “Then you got one.”
“Gahh!!” Dholak strikes, launching his spear-like leg forward.
Lodestar spins away evading the attack.
Dholak throws his other claw forward but Lodestar quickly magnifies a tin sheet to intercept the attack. Unfortunately, the thin metal sheet does nothing to stop the oncoming attack, breaking through the metal sheet like paper before slamming right into Lodestar’s chest.
Lodestar is thrown back, groaning in pain, as he’s thrown against the aquarium wall.
Dholak retracts his extended claw as he charges forward, his claws poised to strike. “Prepare for a world of pain!”
Acting fast, Lodestar magnifies a nearby chain and flings it forward just as Dholak springs a spearing claw forward. The flying chain wraps around Dholak’s outstretched crab-leg, Lodestar then magnifies the end of the chain, tightening it around the appendage. With a firm grip on his foe Lodestar, using his magnetic beam, swings the chain around and flings Dholak into a wooden crate smashing it to pieces.
Lodestar releases his hold on the chain. “Had enough?”
“You bastard.” Dholak rises out from the broken boards like a zombie out for revenge. “You’re going to regret that.”
Dholak throws his claws to the side and swings them forward into nearby stacks of crates, barrels, and other supplies throwing them all forward at the U.A. student.
Lodestar thrusts his arms forward releasing a magnetic pulse, but it does very little only affecting the screws of the crates, and a few other smaller metal objects but the rest of the projectiles just keep on flying toward him.
“Seriously?” Lodestar easily bats away the projectiles, the only real threat are the empty plastic barrels but those are just nuisances if anything else.
As Lodestar swats away the last barrel something thin and red in color fires straight for his head, the alien instinctually flinches and just in time too as Dholak’s extends claw grazes his cheek and impales itself into the cement wall.
Lodestar gasps, sweating profusely from how close that strike is, his head is only a hair away from the sharp appendage; it was that close. ‘He…he used the debris as a cover to launch another attack.’
“You’re not taking this seriously.”
The very wary Lodestar’s eyes trail down the extended claw towards its source who’s readying his opposite claw and giving him one of the darkest glares he’s ever been on the receiving end of.
“I told you, you’re not walking away from this.” Dholak continues not moving his lance-like limb from its place. “Not unless you fight back. Understand?”
He does.
Lodestar’s lips straighten as he pries himself away from his spot, marching away from the extended lance as it reacts again. “Fine then.”
Lodestar swings his arms and releases a massive magnetic field that swallows up everything that enters its radius: pipes, chains, screws and nails, crab cages, and anything else that’s made of metal. “Think I’m taking this seriously now, crab cakes?!”
Dholak, admittedly, looks a bit nervous as all those magnetic items swirl around Lodestar’s form.
Swinging his arms up and over his head, Lodestar throws the swarm of metal at the sidekick. The metal projectiles shower down on the crab, but Dholak is far more agile than Lodestar had predicted.
Dholak weaves his lanky body between the projectiles, using his elongated longs to swat and parry anything that gets too close.
As more projectiles come flying, Dholak uses his elongated legs to springboard himself up into the air, high above the projectiles.
Lodestar gasps as his foe twirls up in the air, curling his lance-like claws around his body. “Crab Screwdriver!!” Dholak begins to spin like a giant drill as he races down towards Lodestar.
With that much speed built up, Lodestar has barely any time to dodge. Throwing his own body to the side as the drilling attack impales the ground, breaking the cement on impact and causing enough of an impact to throw Lodestar down.
Lodestar wastes no time to spring himself back onto his feet as Dholak prepares his next attack. “Rahhh!!” Lodestar roars at the top of his longs as he aims a magnetic pulse right at a pair of anchors sitting nearby.
The chained anchors rise and fly forward crashing to Dholak, forcing him back and he uses his legs and claws to block the strikes. The anchors fly up and begin to dive bomb the crab man, who parries each one away but Lodestar, not one to give up, doesn’t relent. He swings his arms back and forth, side to side, manipulating his magnetic beams to repeatedly launch the anchors back at his target.
Dholak continues to parry, and swerving out of the way of the anchors, so Lodestar decides to change things up.
An anchor dives in from above and Dholak steps out of the way as the heavy metaled object smashes onto the ground, rooting it in place.
Dholak eyes the anchor just before the second anchor smashes into the ground behind him. ‘What’s this brat up to?’
He soon has his answer as the chains attached to the anchors rise and dance around him.
“What?!”
The chains spin and wrap themselves around Dholak, pinning his pincers, and body in place.
Lodestar smirks at his handy work. “Sorry, but you can’t get rid of me so easily.”
Dholak growls. “Evidently not.” He struggles against this bond trying to wiggle around to gain some sort of leverage. “But you're still not off the hook.” One of his claws manage to get around one of the chain links.
His sharp powerful claw presses down on the chain, the chain link cracks and then snaps away under the crushing pressure. “You welp! I’ll tear your arms from your body and serve them to Fuka!” With one chain loose it’s only a simple matter for Dholak to break free from his bonds entirely.
“Is that so?” Lodestar remains defiant as a massive metal trailer floats above his head.
While Dholak was breaking himself free, Lodestar got to work at acquiring his latest weapon.
“Take this!” Lodestar throws his arms forward and the massive trailer goes flying right for the crab man.
Dholak does something rather unexpected. He doesn’t flee, or even try to dodge, instead he runs…straight towards the flying trailer.
Dholak leaps forward, clapping his crab-legs together and thrusting them forward like a massive lance. And like a lance the piercing pincers stab themselves right through the massive projectile. Dholak spins his body around as his pincers pierce through the trailer making a hole big enough for his lanky body to slip right through with no issue. His pincers break through the other side, before swinging apart and making a huge gash in the side of the trailer allowing Dholak to leap out like a beast breaking from its cage.
Lodestar gasps, his jaw dropping as Dholak lunges at him and the trailer crashes into the ocean.
“Special Move: Pincer Assault!!” Dholak’s crab-legs thrust forward in rapid succession, striking the alien multiple times within a single second.
Even though he’s only using two crab-legs, for Lodestar it feels like he’s being impaled by a hundred spears all at once. Each one striking him with such force he can’t even react to defend himself, throwing him into a daze.
Dholak swings one of his lance-like appendages back and then swings it forward. The limb crashes into Lodestar throwing the young alien towards the opposite end of the loading dock.
Lodestar’s head bounces off the ground, aching and groaning with a sharp pain as he struggles to get up. “That…really hurt.”
His whole body is wobbling as pieces of his magnetic body form back together. Even though his body can repair itself doesn’t mean he can’t feel pain, and it sure does hurt, a lot.
“Giving up?”
Lodestar grips his side, as he glares up at the calm and practically unscathed Dholak. “No way…”
“Very well.” Dholak twirls around his lance-like pincers rising and preparing themselves to deliver another Pincer Assault.
Lodestar turns and aims his magnetic pull towards the largest mass of metal nearby: Gang Orca’s very own speedboat. The speedboat rises out of the water like something out of a fairy tale, floating up into the air and over Lodestar’s own head, water dripping from its frame and splashing down around him, casting a foreboding shadow over the alien.
The two foes glare and size each other up, waiting for the other to make the first move, the tension building all the while, each of them on their toes for the inevitable clash between warriors.
Dholak loses patience and goes in for the kill, moving with incredible speed as he races forward. “Pincer Assault!”
Lodestar howls as he launches the speed boat forward and it comes flying down towards Dholak who throws his own pincers forward to meet the attack.
“Narwhal’s Horn Dance!!”
Seemingly from thin air, or more accurately from the ocean, Ikkaku leaps in the way of both attack and moves with such astounding speed as he grips his tusk of a spear, swinging it and thrusting it around at the oncoming attacks.
Somehow Ikkaku is able to move his spear around with such grace and speed that he not only intercepts and blocks Dholak’s Pincer Assault but with a few well aimed slashes he slices up the speedboat allowing it to crumble and break apart and shower around him. Ikkaku doesn’t so much as blink to the falling debris, he just stands firmly in place blocking each strike with a stern look on his face.
“That’s quite enough you two.” Ikkaku aims his tusk-spear at Dholak.
Lodestar, glad to see a friendly face, stands down but he keeps his gaze on Dholak in case he tries to pull anything fishy.
Dholak however is more concerned with the interruption. “What’s the big idea?! You’re interrupting my match!” Dholak’s pincers click together threateningly. “Why are you even here?”
“I t-t told h-h him.”
Lodestar looks around but he doesn’t see the source of that gurgly voice. Dholak and Ikkaku however both look up towards the top of the wall. Lodestar follows their gaze and sure enough, Devilfish, is clinging to the wall like a spider using his suction cups to remain in place.
‘Was he there the whole time?’
Dholak assumes the same thing as Lodestar, but he turns his glare back on the narwhal headed sidekick. “Move out of my way, you bastard.”
Ikkaku smiles definitely. “Oh my, I’m afraid I cannot do that.”
“And why not?” Dholak points an accusing finger at his fellow hero. “You know the rules, I’m not overstepping my place here.”
Ikkaku nods. “Although that may be correct, you must understand that this young man is unaware of how our agency works and thus I find that he is at a great disadvantage.”
Dholak clicks his tongue. “So, what? Life ain’t fair, so why should I? If he doesn’t know how the world works, then I can’t be blamed for his naiveness.”
Ikkaku humphs. “You bring up some fair points, however, I see it differently.” His gaze hardens and with a swish of his tusk-spear he directs it at his coworker. “Besides I think you’ve made your point already. Don’t you?”
Dholak hates this, he really does, his eyes shift from Lodestar back to Ikkaku, considering how to go about his next move. He could fight them both but…even he knows when to draw the line.
“Fine, have it your way.” His legs fold together and rest at his sides.
Ikkaku smiles with approval. “I thank you good, sir.”
Dholak throws his head defiantly to the side. “You and I both know that I’m not good.”
Lodestar finally relaxes, letting out a huge sigh of relief. “Thank you, Mr. Ikkaku.”
Ikkaku smiles at the lad. “It was my pleasure, Sir Midoriya.” He sheaths his tusk-spear onto his back.
Lodestar eyes Dholak as if he’s going to try and attack him again. “Um, Mr. Ikkaku can you tell me what…that was all about?” What rules were they talking about?
Ikkaku instantly understands the question. “I’d be more than glad to answer your questions. However, let's get you patched up first. Shall we?”
“Um, sure.”
Ikkaku happily leads Lodestar towards the exit as Devilfish slides down from his perch.
Dholak’s piercing gaze never leaves Lodestar as Ikkaku leads him away and into the aquarium.
Devilfish caustically approaches his fellow sidekick. “W-W was that r-r really necessary?”
“Yes. It was.”
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
“There we are!” Ikkaku backs away from the hospital bed. “Feeling better, are we?”
Izuku examines all the bandages and wrapping on his body, thankfully Lodestar’s regeneration ability is top notch, but it wasn’t enough to cover all the scratches, bruises, and punctures.
“Yeah, much better.” Izuku smiles up appreciating
Currently both Izuku and Ikkaku are in the aquarium’s infirmary. It’s a narrow room with a lot of dividing currents between each bed. Strewn across the walls are cabinets full of medical supplies.
“Keke ke, Dholak really gave you a good thrashing. Keke ke.”
“Wah?!” Izuku screams nearly falling off the hospital bed in surprise.
“Ah, Lady Maki.” Ikkaku smiles up at Tekka Maki who had sneaked into the infirmary when they weren’t looking. “What brings you here?”
Tekka Maki grins creepily from atop the nearest hospital bed. “Oh, nothing I just heard that this fishy creep got his ass kicked.”
Izuku sulks into his seat. “I won’t say I got my butt kicked…”
Tekka Maki smirks letting Izuku know that she doesn’t see it his way.
So knowing he won’t get anywhere, Izuku finally addresses the reason he’s even in the infirmary. “So, why did he want to attack me like that?”
Both Ikkaku and Tekka Maki peer at the boy curiously.
“I mean, Dholak really seemed to have it out for me. Why is that?”
Ikkaku shakes his head. “There’s no telling what goes through that man’s mind. But I do know one thing about him.”
“And that is?”
“He’s far too impatient.”
“Impatient?” Izuku blinks, tiling his head to the side. “What does that have to do with anything?”
“Well you see.” Ikkaku grips his chin, deep in thought about how to best explain this. “Dholak has some high aspirations. He wishes to climb the ranking here as quickly as he can, and he’ll challenge anyone who threatens his goal.”
“But why target me?! I’m just an intern.”
“Even so you are an intern from U.A., an elite school for the brightest future heroes.”
“True…” Even Izuku can’t deny the elitism there is when one attends U.A.’s Hero Course. “So, Dholak sees me as a potential threat to his…ranking especially if I decided to stick around after I graduate.”
“Precisely!”
“Huh? But what does fighting me have to do with this ranking thing you’re talking about.”
“Ah, well you see it has to do with-”
“It’s because of the system!!” Tekka Maki unceremoniously cuts in, interrupting Ikkaku’s explanation.
Ikkaku peers around her shoulder looking very dejected. “You interrupted me…”
Izuku leans away unsure about the creepy mermaid. “System?”
“Yeah!” Tekka Maki grins wildly more than happy to explain. “You see there’s a sort of ranking system here and it’s crazy.”
“Crazy? Crazy how?”
“It’s just crazy!” She shouts this out like it’s the most obvious thing ever. “Here!” She holds up a scroll of paper with drawings of various sea animals on it, like that of a food chain.
Izuku eyes the partially opened scroll curiously. ‘She just so happened to have that on her?’ “Think of this place as a food chain, alright.” Tekka Maki points to the top image first, which just so happens to be a picture of a killer whale. “On the top there’s the orca.” The greatest predator of the sea. “Then there’s a walrus, a crab, a narwhal, great-white shark, a beautiful tuna!” Her eyes gleam as she gestures to herself. “and a…fishy octopus.”
Izuku quickly realizes that the images are a parallel to Gang Orca and the standing of his sidekicks.
“Then there’s regular fish.”
Izuku lights up. “Oh, that’s me.”
“Nope.” Tekka Maki extends the scroll showing even more links in this food chain. “There’s plankton, there’s single cellomites.”
“And then there’s me…?”
“I’m getting there.”
Uh, oh.
“There’s coral, there’s rocks.” Her wicked grin graces her lips. “There’s human feces, and then there’s you.”
And there he is, at the very bottom there’s a poorly drawn version of Izuku. The only way to tell that it’s him is that the drawing has freckles and is colored completely in green. Honestly, if she said a five-year-old drew it then he’d believe her.
‘That’s…messed up.’ The frowning and very insulted Izuku turns to Ikkaku for a real explanation. “That’s not right is it?”
Ikkaku shrugs his shoulder and gives Izuku a rather sheepish smile. “In a way it is.”
That was not the answer Izuku was looking for if his stunned face is anything to go by.
Ikkaku continues. “For you see this food chain represents the sort of hierarchy of our facility.”
“Hierarchy?”
“Yes, the higher you are up this food chain the more respect, responsibility, and authority you wield.”
Okay, this is starting to make some sense.
“Really?”
“Yeah!” Tekka Maki butts right in getting right up into the teen’s face. “But there’s only one way to go up the rankings.”
And just like that everything clicks into place for Izuku. “And that’s…to fight?”
“Yup! Keke ke!”
Izuku turns back to Ikkaku. “But why?”
“Simple, think back to the food chain.” Ikkaku raises up Tekka Maki’s chart. “Sir Orca strives for strength, cunning, and ability out of each of his underlings. So, in order to foster our skills he’s developed this system that drives us to challenge ourselves and each other. And we can challenge anyone, anywhere, at any time.”
‘Oh, okay.’ Basically it’s like a never-ending tournament. You can lose as much as you can win as long as you beat someone of higher rank, and the higher the rank the more benefits you gain.
“And because of my potential Dholak thought it best to assert his place now rather than later.”
“Exactly!”
“Woah!” Tekka Maki awes. “You’re like really smart for someone so fishy.”
Something else crosses Izuku’s mind, something rather important about his whole internship. “Wait, so is this why Gang Orca isn’t personally overseeing me?”
Both sidekicks respond simultaneously. “Exactly!/Yup!”
Ikkaku explains further. “Why should the top predator of the sea have to interact with the lowest of the low of the food chain? When the orca is more than capable of taking on any of the strongest beasts the sea has to offer.”
Make sense, orcas hunt literally anything: seals, sharks, dolphins, and other whales! They don’t bother with…with “shrimp.” No wonder Gang Orca called him shrimp; it was his way of telling Izuku where he stands.
So, in a way Dholak was actually somewhat right about Izuku, too. He said that the greenette wasn’t working hard for his place here and that’s true. He hasn’t done anything to prove that he can compete with the others, literally. All he’s done since arriving was do what the others ordered him to do.
Seeing the disgruntled expression on the boy’s face, Ikkaku figures now is a time to intervene. “It’s already getting pretty late. Why not get some rest for the remainder of the day.”
“Huh?!” Oh, no they’re pitying him! “I don’t need to rest!”
“Yes you do.” chastises Ikkaku. “You’ve been attacked twice today and worked to the bone. So, the best thing to do now is rest up and be ready to work even harder tomorrow.”
“Um, okay I guess…” Izuku slumps down in his seat, he would rather be useful or learn something from all this but what can he really say? “Are you sure it’s okay.”
“Yes!”
“Besides,” Tekka Maki chirps in. “we got to attend a sucky meeting right now anyway so no one will bother you.” Her wicked grin returns as a dark thought crosses her mind. “Of course there’s always the option of doing the night shift.”
A shiver runs down Izuku’s spine just thinking about working in a dark, empty aquarium with prone to violence sidekicks walking around does not sound like a fun idea.
“I think I’ll just…go to bed.”
“Excellent!” Ikkaku gives a big thumbs up. “Hang in there Sir Midoriya, tomorrow will be a better day.”
“I sure hope so…”
“Keke ke.”
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Izuku sighs as he plops down on his temporary bed, but the thin mattress provides little comfort after such a grueling day of hard work.
The rest of the guest room is no better, it’s small, cramped, and cold with only enough room for a bed and for Izuku to have his stuff sit nearby.
Izuku slumps down on the thin sheets and mattress, feeling rather unsatisfied about how his first day as an intern went. He doesn’t feel like he’s made any real progress; afterall, all he’s done was be bossed around by the rest of the sidekicks. He needs to get stronger, improve his powers, and so much more but he can’t do that if he’s cleaning and helping with maintenance! Heck, he hasn’t even received any guidance from Gang Orca himself, the one he’s supposed to be interning with.
Ikkaku’s words pop back into his mind: “Why should the top predator of the sea have to interact with the lowest of the low of the food chain? When the orca is more than capable of taking on any of the strongest beasts the sea has to offer.”
Izuku plops his head down on the pillow. ‘It…sort of make sense. I’m just a shrimp and by definition I’m not worth Gang Orca’s time.’ That sort-of makes sense. ‘But what can I do to change that, hm?’
As Izuku ponders about what to do he recalls his conversation of Ikkaku about this place’s strange ranking system: “Sir Orca strives for strength, cunning, and ability out of each of his underlings. So, in order to foster our skills he’s developed this system that drives us to challenge ourselves and each other. And we can challenge anyone, anywhere, at any time.”
Izuku stares up at the ceiling considering those words. “Challenge anyone, anywhere, and any time…” Suffice to say that is an interesting system they got here and by winning in those challenges one can gain respect, responsibility, and authority.
“Respect…” Izuku mulls over that word like it has some greater meaning.
‘Wait!’ And like that a lightbulb goes off in his head as he jumps right off the bed in a fit of excitement. ‘If I have such a low ranking then all I need to do is raise it up!’
His smile falls away as another problem occurs. ‘But…that means I got to fight professional heroes, even if they are sidekicks, they have far more experience than me so I’m at a major disadvantage. So challenging them one at a time would take too long, even if I can defeat them by the time, I do my internship might be over.’
Now this is a predicament plus if he did defeat any of the sidekicks, they can always challenge him too and push him down further in the rankings.
What Izuku needs is a way to climb the ranking quickly, to gain Gang Orca’s respect and tutelage…
‘Wait…I can challenge anyone, at anytime, anywhere. I don’t have to go in a specific order, do I?’ A sly grin slowly forms on Izuku’s face as a brilliant, and arguably stupid, idea forms in his head.
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Gang Orca is seated at the head of the table looking down at his sidekicks as they go over mountains of paperwork: both for hero work and the aquarium. Kaizou is going over his own notes while Ikkaku pays close attention while taking the minutes of the meeting, Fuka looks absolutely bored out of his mind as does Tekka Maki who looks like she would rather be anywhere but here. As for Devilfish, well it’s hard to tell with his expressionless face.
Dholak is standing at the opposite end of the large carved table reading off several requests for their agency’s assistance across the country.
Dholak scans the list of cities that have requested their presence. “There’s been a few requests namely two: Geonosis City and Ho-”
“I am here!” Izuku bursts through the doors like a cowboy looking for a duel.
Everyone, but Gang Orca, reacts snapping their attention up at the boy.
Dholak quickly spins around, his pincers clicking together in annoyance. “What the hell are you doing here?!”
Izuku inhales, calming his nerves knowing he has to be brave right now. “I heard there was a meeting tonight.”
Dholak’s glare hardens. “And who told you about that?” His voice is dangerously low as his pincers prepare themselves to strike.
Meanwhile, Tekka Maki shifts her gaze away, whistling softly and acting like she didn’t hear a thing just now.
Izuku marches forward, trying his best not to shake under Dholak’s steely gaze. “That’s not important. What is important is that I have business here, too.”
“What kind of business?”
Izuku peers past Dholak to the real hero of this agency, Gang Orca.
The pro hero remains rooted in his massive leather chair, leaning to the side with his hand propped up acting like Izuku isn’t even in the room. But whether the case Izuku knows for a fact that he’s listening.
And so Izuku takes a deep breath before explaining himself. “This place runs like a food chain, right?”
Fuka scoffs. “You bet it does.”
Izuku nods. “So if I understand it, I’m at the bottom of it, right?”
Tekka Maki snickers. “Keke ke. That’s right.”
Izuku’s green gaze locks onto Dholak’s. “And the only way to climb up the food chain is the fight for it, correct?”
Dholak scowls, not liking this child’s tune. “Correct.” His pincers slowly extend out towards the boy until a pincer is clicking near each of his ears. “So, what? You want a rematch?”
Izuku keeps his gaze forward, not reacting to the sharp pincers hangout near his face. “No.” Izuku leans his head to the side so he can take a look at his real target. “I’m challenging him.” And he points right to his intended opponent.
It must have been a really bold, and stupid move, because each of the sidekicks gasp in horror even Dholak looks a bit horrified, taken back by the sudden astonishment.
Izuku stands tall, not regretting his decision. “What do you say?” He glares right up at the head of the table. “Do you accept my challenge, Gang Orca.”
Gang Orca remains unmoving, uncaring, like a statue unaware of what’s around him. Perhaps it’s his way of saying that the little shrimp isn’t worth his time.
“Are you a dumbass?!” Dholak screams in outrage. “No! You are a dumbass! Who in the hell do you think you are?! You don’t stand a fucking chance against the boss!”
Before Izuku can defend his answer Ikkaku shoots up from his seat. “Sir Midoriya, although your bravery is commendable, I must highly recommend that you stand down.”
“With all due respect, sir.” Izuku’s gaze never leaves Gang Orca. “I will not.”
Dholak growls. “Why you little shit.”
Tekka Maki snickers. “Keke ke. I’m liking this kid more and more.”
Devilfish isn’t so sure. “H-H he’s got a d-d death w-w wish.”
Fuka grins. “Good, shows he’s got a backbone.”
Dholak still isn’t getting it. “But why? Why challenge him?!”
Izuku never peels his jaded eyes away from his target. “I need to get stronger, as quickly as I can. And if that means I have to take on the most dangerous predator in the sea then I will.” Besides if he goes pro then this may be an everyday occurrence. “Heroes have to fight dangerous villains all the time, some even stronger than they are, if I can’t accept that possibility now than I shouldn’t even be here.” His fists clench at his sides, driving him to fight on. “So what do you say Gang Orca? Do you accept my challenge?” He aims his fist towards the pro hero. “I will fight you, to be on top of this food chain!”
Dholak had far enough of this bullshit. “YOU SHUT YOUR TRAP YOU LITTLE-”
“I accept.”
An immediate hush rushes through the underground meeting room, like if someone just paused a movie without any warning. Every single one of them slowly and hesitantly gaze up towards the head of the table. Where Gang Orca has actually straightened out in his seat, his head held high as too look down on them all with his piercing red gaze.
Dholak looks from the boy to the pro. “B-but s-sir he’s just-”
“A child? Yes. But a child who is willing to put it all on the line.” Even though Gang Orca is speaking rather calmly, there’s just this air of danger emanating off of him. “Midoriya, I accept your challenge.”
Izuku nods.
“However, this is not the place for it.”
Izuku blinks, he was kind of planning to fight here and now.
“There is a far better stage for us to duel.” Gang Orca rises from his seat. “Just remember this boy.” His red eyes shine with bloodlust even through the dark damp chamber. “You’ve brought this upon yourself.”
“I’m well aware of that, sir.” Izuku’s instincts are screaming for him to run away and live, but he bites back holding his ground. “But I’ve been told that I can be rather reckless.”
Izuku isn’t sure but he could have sworn that he saw Gang Orca smile, if just for a split second.
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A few minutes later Izuku finds himself standing in the middle of a massive auditorium under the starry night sky glimmering through the massive glass dome high up over their heads. Izuku examines the rest of the auditorium, they are surrounded by massive bleachers in this dome shaped auditorium. But Izuku himself is standing on a floating platform in the middle of this massive place, the rest of his surrounding being a massively deep pool of sea water. There are a few more floating platforms scattered in the water, but they are way too far away for Izuku just to jump to.
Apparently, this auditorium is where the aquarium put on their more exciting and bigger performances. But it being so late the only audience members are Gang Orca’s sidekicks, who aren’t going to miss out on this show. After all it’s rather exciting to see a killer whale out on a hunt.
Speaking of, Gang Orca stands across from Izuku on another floating platform not too far away from his own.
Izuku nervously smiles at his foe. “Is…is this the part where you ask me if I want to back out?”
“No.” Gang Orca’s red gaze shines with deadly intent. “There will be no backing out from this.” He raises up his clawed hand, adjusting the cuff of his sleeve. “I fully intend on devouring you.”
‘He…doesn’t mean that, literally does he?’ Izuku shakes his head trying to ward off the nervousness and fear seeping in, he can’t back down if he fails, he won’t get anything out of this internship.
“Go on then.”
“Eh?” Izuku blinks.
Gang Orca gestures at Izuku’s watch. “Go on, I will allow you the chance to transform before we begin. In fact, as to give you a fighting chance I’ll allow you to strike me three times before I am allowed to retaliate.”
Izuku frowns as he grips the Omnitrix. “Do you really think that’s necessary?”
“Yes.” Gang Orca tenses up, his muscular build bulging as he takes a firm stance. “You are nothing but a shrimp after all. It’s not like you’ll actually hurt me.” He flexes his claws as his black cape billows behind him. “Go on then, I’m waiting.”
Izuku frowns, he knows when he’s being insulted and it sure does sting, but he’ll show them what he’s got. And with that he disappears from sight as his entire body is enveloped by green energy.
“Water Hazard!”
Izuku examines his alien form. “Been a while since I used this one.”
Gang Orca cups his chin. “Ha, a shrimp like transformation for a shrimp. Talk about fitting.”
Water Hazard’s eyes narrow as he aims his hands backwards and leans his upper body forward. “This shrimp packs more of a punch than you realize.”
Streams of water burst out of Water hazard’s palm, blasting straight into the water behind him. The pressurized jets of water roar before exploding with power propelling Water Hazard forward into the air. Water Hazard begins to spin generating a whirlpool like jetstream behind him making him spin faster and faster like a flying torpedo.
“DEEP-SIX TORPEDO!!!”
As the name suggests, Water Hazard spins through the air like a torpedo fired right out of a battleship, a spiraling mass of water propels him forward, crashing and thrashing the water below as he aims for his target.
Said target remains rooted to his spot, not even flinching as the raging torpedo races towards him, and inevitably crashes into with such force that one would think a real torpedo may have gone off inside the aquarium. Water showers down as waves crash and rip through the massive pool.
“You call that a special move?”
Gang Orca is totally fine, unscathed, and rooted to his spot. Even his business attire and cape are without a single tear.
As for Water Hazard, he is currently down on his knees, that attack having done quite a bit of recoil damage to himself. “How did you…?”
Gang Orca glares down at the boy. “I said I wouldn’t retaliate, I never said I wouldn’t defend myself.”
Water Hazard’s eyes narrow as he retraces the attack in his mind. ‘That’s it!’ He gazes up at Gang Orca with awe and fear as he realizes how it is, he survived that attack.
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Watching from the bleachers, Fuka turns to his fellow sidekicks. “What the hell is he talking about?”
“Orcinus.” responds Dholak.
Fuka didn’t quite catch that. “What?”
“The bosses Quirk, dumbass.” spits Dholak. “Just before impact he released hypersonic waves to intercept the strike.”
Tekka Maki frowns. “I don’t get it.”
Dholak sighs, exhaustedly. “Basically he made a sonic shield to block the attack.”
Both Fuka and Tekka Maki awe. “Oh!”
“Idiots…”
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Water Hazard has come to the same realization and now he’s at more of a disadvantage. Unfortunately, that special move of his really is a double-edge sword.
“What’s the matter?” Gang Orca towers over the shrimp. “Realizing how useless your efforts are?”
Alright, time to kick this up a notch.
“Rahh!!” Water Hazard dunks one hand into the water as he aims the other right at Gang Orca. “Try this on for size.” Water rushes into Water Hazard’s dunked hand, vacuuming up into his body.
“FIRE FLOW!!!”It’s like a volcano of water just erupted from Water Hazard’s raised palm as tons of pressurized water explodes forth.
Water Hazard’s new special move strikes Gang Orca head on. The pro generates another sonic shield but even that’s not enough to cancel out the tsunami of water rocketing towards him.
The hydroblast slams into Gang Orca and even with a sonic shield. The blast crashes into him at a continuous rate slowly pushing him back towards the edge of the floating platform.
Gang Orca has his arms raised, blocking the water but the pressure is too much and it breaks through his defense allowing the water to crash and burst out when it collides with his frame.
Seeing his opening Water Hazard cuts off the water and charges right for Gang Orca as water rains down all around them.
“Ahhh!!” He throws his fist forward and it slams into Gang Orca just as the rain ends and a harsh silence follows as Water Hazard holds his pose.
His fist shakily pushes against the side of the unfazed Gang Orca’s face, unmoving and not affecting him whatsoever.
“What the hell was that?” Gang Orca snarls even as Water Hazard’s fist grinds against the side of his face.
Water Hazard’s eyes widened in fear he had honestly thought he would have packed more a punch. But it looks like all he did piss off his opponent, specifically he pissed off a killer whale.
“That was three attempts.” The calm yet subtle bloodlust in Gang Orca’s voice is palpable. “Talk about pathetic I thought you would have more in you. Guess U.A.’s not educating you properly.” The killing intent radiates off the pro hero as he ever so slowly reveals his fangs, glaring into Water Hazard’s very soul. “I’ll teach you what a real attack looks like.”
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Tekka Maki grins creepily. “Keke ke. He’s in for it now.”
Devilfish crowns as he slouches in his seat. “P-p poor k-k kid.”
“He’s chum.” adds Fuka.
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The rage-filled Gang Orca grabs Water Hazard by the head and before the boy can react, Gang Orca slams the alien into the platform, cracking it and making a decently sized dent. “Regretting your decision yet?”
Water Hazard grabs at Gang Orca’s hand, struggling to break free from the deathgrip, and chokes out an answer. “I’m…considering it-Gah!”
The death grip on his head tightens as he’s lifted up only to be smashed right back into the ground, cracking it even further, and then again, and again, and again. Water Hazard’s shell echoes every time he’s slammed into the platform, groaning in pain as Gang Orca’s grip never weakness around him. Gang Orca lifts him up one more time and roars as he throws him down again, the impact smashes through the floating platform causing it to implode and break away plunging both fighters into the water.
Gang Orca’s grip loosens as they’re plunged into the cold saltwater. Taking advantage of the situation, Water Hazard aims his palms right for Gang Orca and at such a close range he unleashes dual water streams. The blasts push Gang Orca away giving Water Hazard some much needed breathing room.
Or so he would think, because peering up Water Hazard is surprised to find Gang Orca missing. He’s gone?
As he scans the massive pool for his foe, said foe slams into him from behind plunging him deeper down into the depth.
Water Hazard is spun downward, struggling to regain his balance. But just as he gains it back a black massive blur strikes him again, and again, and again from different directions, throwing him around the water like a ragdoll.
Somehow between each strike Water Hazard manages to get a good look at his attacker, Gang Orca. Despite his large build, business like suit, cape, and lack of fins the pro hero is swimming about the massive pool like he’s flying through the air moving with deathly grace as he torpedoes through the water.
Water Hazard takes aim, but Gang Orca gains a sudden burst of speed as he charges forward and slams his body into Water Hazard, slashing him as he goes by.
The assault continues as such with Water Hazard getting thrown around while trying his best to at least weaken and defend himself from each blow.
‘I can’t endure this forever.’
Bam another hit!
‘Grrr, I need to halt his moments.’
Bam another hit!
‘But what can I do?’ Water Hazard’s gaze follows Gang Orca as he circles around and charges in again, slamming into his body once again.
But even as he’s thrown to the side, his mind holds on to the image of Gang Orca circling around. ‘Maybe…’
As the pro hero circles away to make another run, Water Hazard quickly gets to work. He thrusts his hands out but instead of generating jets of water, water begins to swirl towards his palms.
Gang Orca begins to turn, about to strike again.
Whether it’s fear or bravery, Water Hazard isn’t sure but whatever it is, it gives him the boost he needs, and the swirling water suddenly explodes with energy.
Gang Orca’s torpedoes forward, his mouth shooting open, displaying his fangs, but he never gets a chance to aquante his fangs with Water Hazard’s flesh as a massive whirlpool booms into existence.
“TSUNAMI VORTEX!!!”
Gang Orca is completely swallowed up by the raging whirlpool generated by the U.A. student’s own sheer will and strength. And it shows as he gets whipped and assaulted him from all sides, trapping him in place.
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“He got him!” cheers Tekka Maki. “He really got him!”
“Way to go lad!” cheers Ikkaku.
Dholak isn’t so sure. “You may want to hold your applause.”
The other sidekicks settle down, knowing full well that this fight is close to finished.
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Water Hazard would be grinning if he had lips as he concentrates on keeping the whirlpool going. ‘I’ve got this.’
*SKREEEE!!!*
A piercing screech emanates from the center of the vortex, clashing into Water Hazard.
“Ahhh!!” Water Hazard screams as the piercing frequency waves break through his armor and attack his nerves from within and bring an end to his whirlpool. ‘That was…’
“My echolocation.” As the waves and currents wash away Gang Orca floats in the water, his cape making him look even bigger and more intimidating as it waves behind him. “I can generate sound waves to attack my enemy’s nervous systems, paralyzing them in the process.” His claws shimmer in under the moonlight. “And allow me to devour them at my leisure.”
And it might as well be true as Water Hazard struggles to even move a finger, his entire body feeling rigid and stiff like he’s been petrified.
With his prey immobilized Gang orca rockets forward, snapping his jaws wide open, and while at full speed he chomps down onto the alien’s side dragging along into the depths.
Gang Orca thrashes his head, speeding through the water, disorienting his victim.
Water Hazard screams and cries as he’s thrashed about, trying desperately to break free of the massive jaws. But there is little hope of escape, the jaws are shut tight and if he didn’t have such an elite exoskeleton, then the killer whale definitely would have ripped out several chunks of flesh by now.
The thrashing continues and Izuku is glad he skipped out on dinner because he’d definitely would have spit it back up by now. But even with his body begging for mercy and his stomach churning, Izuku’s own mind remains sharp as ever, remaining calm as he examines everything about his situation: his paralysis, his opponent, and how they are speeding about in this massive pool.
‘Come…on…’He tries with all his might to move anything: his fingers, his feet, anything at all. ‘Dammit, there’s got to be something I can do!’
Gang Orca makes a sharp turn away from the tank wall, in his thrashing he almost didn’t see it. And Water Hazard did not fail to notice the folly.
He tries to will his body to move, still nothing, but he can feel something else. His body may be immobilized but that doesn’t mean his powers are completely unusable.
And so with literally no other options, Water Hazard actually manages to unleash a pair of water jetstreams. And they have the exact result Water Hazard was looking for.
The jetstreams make his arms flail about like an unhandled waterhose, firing and whipping at all directions, and as a plus throwing Gang Orca off course.
Gang Orca’s jaws loosen, not enough to escape, but a bit as he struggles to regain his balance only for a water blast to aim in a different direction and throw him off course once again.
This goes on for some time, to the point that the sidekicks are debating whether to jump in after witnessing all the water blasts gushing out from the surface above.
As his arms whip about, Water Hazard notices that his arms are regaining some sense of movement again, he can control them. ‘Guess all the motion jolted them back to normal.’
So acting on instinct alone, Water Hazard aims his hands down and fires off blasts of water that take him and the off-balanced hero rocketing towards the surface.
“Rahhhh!!” Water Hazard screams in defiance as both he and his opponent breach the surface, flying up into the air as he continues the water blasts.
The sidekicks gasps and rise from their seats as they watch these two beasts fly higher into the air, well past their heads.
Gang Orca’s eyes widen with genuine surprise as Water Hazard glares down at him. Water Hazard cuts off the propulsion, bringing his hands together and over his head before slamming them down on the hero’s own head. The strike hits hard, hard enough that it breaks the killer whale’s hold.
Water Hazard pushes himself away as they slowly begin to fall back downward.
“I’m going to finish this!!” He throws his hands back, spinning in place, as torrential water streams spiral out behind him propelling him up towards his opponent. “DEEP-SIX TORPEDO!!!”
Gang Orca hastily produces a sonic wave in hopes of shielding himself from the special move. His piercing screech certainly has an effect, but it can’t do anything about the momentum his opponent’s already built up, nor can he brace himself while in midair.
He truly is a fish out of water.
And so the Deep-Six Torpedo explodes out as the spiraling Water Hazard smashes into his falling form. Water explodes out, raining down on the entire auditorium, pool, and sidekicks who are all in awestruck of the display of power before them.
Two heavy objects crash down onto the same floating platform, kicking up the water around them in massive waves before settling down.
The sidekicks all stand, watching, with bated breaths unclear about the outcome but wanting to know how it turned out.
Water Hazard is breathing way too heavily, kneeling on the cracked platform, completely drained and in incredible pain. ‘That’s it…I did it…I actually did it!’ He didn’t think he actually could, but he actually did. He came out on top!
“I gotta admit, that was a nice show, shrimp.”
Water Hazard’s blood goes ice cold as the waves finally settle down. He has the horror of witnessing Gang Orca standing before him. His suit is tattered and scratched sure, even his cape has a tear in it, but even so the pro hero himself looks fine and unaffected. If anything he looks even deadlier than before.
‘No…’ No way, his attacks, his hard work was all for nothing.
And to add salt to the wound, Water Hazard disappears behind a veil of red light and a weak and dejected Izuku Midoriya takes his place.
Knowing his opponent doesn’t have any fight in him left, Gang Orca stomps forward dragging out Izuku’s inevitable demise until he’s towering over the boy like a leviathan that’s risen from the depths of the Earth.
Izuku shakily gazes up at the monster, accepting his fate.
Said devil of the deep lowers his gaze down at the inferior being, his head held high as to look down on him. “For putting up such a valiant effort, I shall spare you. But only if you concede to defeat.”
The huffing Izuku lowers his gaze as for a brief moment Gang Orca actually thinks he’s going to accept. But he couldn’t be further from the truth. As Izuku shakily pushes himself off the ground and onto his wobbling feet.
It takes him a few seconds to get his balance, but even so he tries his best to stand tall in front of this monster, glaring up at him with a spark of fire in his jaded eyes.
Gang Orca understands. “Very well then.” And so he slowly raises his sharp talons into the air to deliver the finishing blow.
Izuku winces shutting his eyes tight as he awaits for the inevitable maiming.
However rather than a blood gouging, a massive pat on the head is what greets Izuku instead. “Eh?” Izuku blinks up as Gang Orca continues to pat his fluffy hair.
“Well done, Midoriya.” praises Gang Orca. “You exceed all expectations.”
Izuku’s brain is momentarily fried with only one word able to register out from him. “Eh?!”
Gang Orca removes his hand. “Don’t you get it yet?”
Izuku manages to shake his head.
“I wanted you to show me your worth and your spirit.” responds Gang Orca. “And it clearly worked.”
Again. “EH!?!” Izuku screams out in confusion. “What do you mean?!”
“I mean I wanted to see just how far you’d go for the sake of progress.”
Izuku calms down, finding that answer to be reasonable. “But, but what about all the errands and chores?!”
Gang Orca actually does have an answer. “All on purpose per your needs.”
“My needs?”
“Yes, remember what you said when you first arrived?”
Specifically, how Izuku wanted to learn how to utilize each and every one of his transformations to their fullest. And this instantly recalls in Izuku’s mind.
Seeing his knowing expression Gang Orca continues. “I had my sidekicks oversee those tasks in order to give you the chance to train your various powers.” But to be sure Gang Orca continues. “Unloading the crates increased your four-armed form’s stamina, powering the lights increased your capacity to store even more electricity, avoiding the piranhas gave you a better sense of evasion, welding helped you learn how to focus your flames, running errands improved your multitasking and attention to detail, as did cleaning the tank as well as helped with your team coordination.”
Izuku thinks on it and after mulling it over he has to admit that Gang Orca was right.
“I even had Dholak oversee your progress and wait for the best opportunity to illuminate you on our system here.”
“Wait…” Izuku snaps, shouting at the top of his lunges. “You mean you ordered him to pick a fight with me?!”
“Yup, I sure did.” The pro hero sounds a little too proud about that fact.
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Ikkaku eyes his coworker. “Pray tell, is that true Sir Dholak.”
Dholak nods. “It is. But I’d be lying if I didn’t say it wasn’t personal.”
The other sidekicks frown at him, except Tekka Maki who’s too busy laughing at Izuku’s dumbfounded expression.
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“We needed to give you a push, to make you fight for the right to be here.” Gang Orca places his hand on Izuku’s shoulder looking at him right in the eye, not with malice but with respect. “And you certainly more than showed us that.”
Izuku can’t believe it. He, he really impressed them, didn't he? And looking back on it, he can agree that all those chores were not in fact a waste of time but a means to an end. A means to get stronger.
“T-Thank you sir!”
“Please, don’t call me sir.” Gang Orca waves his hand. “You’re working under me now kid, so call be boss.”
Izuku blinks. “Working under you?”
“Yeah, starting tomorrow you and I will be doing some real hero work.”
Izuku’s entire face lights up like a kid waking up on Christmas. “Are you for real?!”
“Yes, I am real. Hahaha!!”
The sidekicks all groan at the obvious dad joke, but Izuku is still too excited to even react to it.
mine now so call me what’s appropriate.
Gang Orca smiles down at the boy. “So, tell me. Are you ready to see what it really means to be a hero?”
Izuku smiles up with a fire in his heart. “You bet, boss.”
“Good.”
…
Izuku suddenly becomes shy as he remembers something else. “Oh, yeah, I sort-of…broke your…speedboat.”
“Oh, that happens more often than you think. Who knew allowing your sidekicks to fight anywhere at any time could cause so much property damage?”
Izuku…isn’t sure how to respond to that.
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Meanwhile in the dead of the night, a tall slim figure stalks his way through the dense woodland. Silently gliding from tree to tree like a ghost in the wind.
Eventually the figure jumps down to the ground, without so much as a twig snapping under their feet. No one is in sight, only the moon plays witness as the figure steps out from the shadows.
The hunter is tall and slim, wearing high-tech purple armor across his entire body. He has purple pads covering his central joints, a belt, and four central lines on his helmet to provide outlines for his face.
The hunter roaches down, stalking forward deeper into the woods until he comes across a shabby looking outhouse.
The bounty hunter is definitely smirking from behind his helmet as he eyes the outhouse, the entrance to Japan’s Plumber base, with high interest. “Tysa ndetu eadr srreeda.”
Notes:
And there you have it, Izuku’s internship has officially begun. Now I’m sure a lot of you have questions, probably the same ones so I we’re going to do something different. Below I will ask myself the questions you all probably have for me and then I’ll answer said questions. Okay, here we go:
1. Why did you have Izuku intern under Gang Orca?
Answer: Simple, I really like Gang Orca. He’s got a cool design, a cool gimmick, and orcas are my favorite animal. So, yeah, I knew from the moment I began to plan out this story as a whole that I wanted Izuku to intern with Gang Orca. Plus having him as the internship won’t interfere with later arcs (i.e. Overhaul Arc).
In truth if I had to choose an internship for Izuku that made practical sense I probably would have gone with Hawks, but pairing Izuku with Gang Orca seemed more fun for me to write, which it was.
2. Who were those sidekicks? Are they OCs?
Answer: Those sidekicks are not, in fact, OCs. They are from the manga series “Oumagadoki Zoo” a series created by the author of MHA himself, Kouhei Horikoshi.
I really liked that series and wanted to reference it somehow. Especially because Gang Orca was actually a villain from that series along with the rest of the “sidekicks.” And I was reading his manga before I began writing, so when I made the overall outline for this fanfic, this manga was still in my mind and so I wanted to include it. So basically this chapter was sort-of a crossover between two of Horikoshi’s own works.
Fun Fact: Uwambi is also from this series, and a lot of other characters from Oumagadoki Zoo were beta versions of MHA characters we all know and love today: Hawks, Bakugou, Tamaki, Shigaraki, Overhaul, and others.
Check it out if you can, but warning the series never finished due to low sales, but it did lead to use having MHA so “when one door closes another one opens.”
3. Why wasn’t a new alien introduce?
Answer: I did think about introducing a new alien in this chapter: Brainstorm, AmpFibian, Jetray, etc. (They will be included later) But I thought against it because it would have been shoehorned in and I have a set of important rules for how, when, and where to introduce aliens and doing it then could have broken said rules.
Besides I already promised you guys one new alien already and they will be introduced next time. So get excited!
Also I wanted to use this chapter to give Izuku’s aliens some more needed attention and screen time, especially those that didn’t get a chance to show off during the Sports Festival: Ripjaws, Lodestar, and Water Hazard.
4. What does Water Hazard’s special move “Fire Flow” mean?
Answer: “Fire Flow” is a bit of jargon used in firefighting meaning “the amount of water being pumped onto a fire.” So it made sense and it sounded cool.
5. What’s going to happen next?
Answer: Next time Izuku goes out on patrol with Gang Orca where the hero will show Izuku how to be a hero. And after that, in the following chapter, we’ll jump back to Ochaco one last time before the big event. (2 more chapters and then he’ll have Stain).
Anyway I hope that these clarified a lot for you and if not please feel free to leave a review and ask away for any more clarifications. I really hope you enjoyed this chapter and if not I’m sure the next one will be more your style. Thanks for reading.
*Warning next chapter may take more than a week to be written.
Chapter 33: Pest Control
Summary:
Gang Orca takes Izuku out to Geonosis City where they've been requested to take care of their local pest problem.
Notes:
Sorry for such a late update, this chapter ended up being way longer than it ever needed to be and I was really tired these last two weeks but hey here it is and I hope it’s okay. I tried my best and I can for sure say at least one scene is really good so enjoy.
Also as promised a new alien will be introduced here today.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
A slick jet-black Rolls-Royce Phantom speeds down the highway, moving swiftly with its engine humming a deep tone as it drives past traffic. The windows are tinted black making it impossible to even peek at the outlines of those inside. There’s also an air of intimidation surrounding the ominous vehicle like a black phantom walking about in the day. Those driving around are smart to clear out of its way, allowing the vehicle through not daring to get in its way, it’s all they can do other than wonder what kind of dangerous and deadly force the phantom car could be carrying.
‘This is going to be so GREAT!!!’ Izuku Midoriya internally cheers as he peers out the window of the Rolls-Royce Phantom.
They’ve been driving for a few hours now and the whole while Izuku’s been antsy waiting for them to finally get out and do some real hero work. But so far, the only real interesting thing to occur was trying to figure out how Gang Orca is able to sit in a car so small without any issues.
The only other interesting part was enduring Dholak’s impatient and reckless driving, unsurprisingly the crabby sidekick is very prone to road rage.
Izuku leans back away from the window, he turns to the neighboring seat to see Gang Orca filing through a few police reports.
Figuring it wasn’t a good idea to disturb the pro hero, Izuku takes a moment to adjust his newly repaired hero costume. It’s the first time he’s gotten to wear it since the U.S.J. and apparently the support department took it upon themselves to make a few adjustments.
His costume isn’t quite the same shade of green as before, it’s darker which gives it a more combat-ready appearance. The knee pads have been extended to his legs and reach up to his thighs, and his new gloves are tinted beige and are decorated with blue stripes. His respirator is now metal, diamond-shaped, and has eight holes. There is one thing missing from it all though, the All Might inspired hood is missing but Izuku is rather thankful they took it out, it never really felt right to him…
But what about the accessories?
Izuku leans down and pops open his silver suitcase where two items lay inside. The first item is something Izuku’s been dying to try out in the field, Tetrax’s or rather his own hoverboard.
Izuku pulls out the shrunken hoverboard, it being nothing but a thin rectangular disk with just a push of a button it’ll expand open.
Izuku tucks it into a special made hook on the side of his belt, figuring that if he’s going out on patrol then he might just need it.
After tucking it away Izuku spots the second item. He bends down to grab it but before his hand could even enter the suitcase the speeding car lurches, smacking his head against the driver’s seat as the car comes to a screeching halt. The whiplash makes Izuku hit the back of his head on his headrest and the suitcase shuts closed as it’s thrown around.
Dholak turns to address the passengers. “We’ve arrived.”
Gang Orca turns to the boy. “You ready, shrimp?”
Izuku nods. “Yes…boss.” He’s still got to get used to saying that.
With nothing else to say Gang Orca grabs an unopened water bottle from the cupholder, the brand is called Raquaius and it just so happens to have Gang Orca himself as the poster boy for said brand.
With the water bottle in hand Gang Orca steps out from his car and a wave of heat floods the car instantly making Izuku wish he grabbed his own water bottle before they left.
Dholak steps out followed by Izuku who has to shield his eyes from the blazing sun.
Gang Orca dumps a bit of water on his skin, it evaporates almost instantly under the intense heat as he addresses the young student. “Welcome, shrimp, to Geonosis City.”
Geonosis City is an industrial city with buildings all ranging from all sorts of sizes, each looking old and withered from being under the intense heat of the sun 24/7. Mixed in between the office builds and apartment complexes there are acres and acres of factories all pumping out byproducts of burning through resources.
Izuku is already burning up, sweating up a storm under all this dry heat. “Why’s it so hot?”
Dholak clicks his tongue in annoyance. “Ever heard of Urban Heat Island?”
Izuku shakes his head. “Um, no.”
“An Urban Heat Island occurs because of all the urban structures absorbing the heat of the sun. Combined with the fact you have all these factories releasing all sorts of Green House Gasses into the air that prevent the heat from leaving the system. Essentially the city is overheating itself.” Dholak tries to fan himself with his crab-bodied hand. “And that’s why it’s so freaking hot here.”
Izuku shrugs. “Huh, I guess I learned something today.”
“That’s not all you’ll learn.” adds Gang Orca. “You need experience, real experience, and that is why we are here.” And with a swish of his cape Gang Orca waves his hand towards the Geonosis City police station.
The police station looks as withered and dry as all the other buildings within the city. Izuku can only hope that there’s air conditioning inside.
And much to Izuku’s relief the police station does in fact have AC, and it feels absolutely amazing as they enter through the dual glass doors.
“Aw you’ve all made it!” A lean man with a head of a ginger tabby cat greets the three as they enter.
Gang Orca nods in greeting. “Hello, Officer Sansa.”
Officer Sansa smiles in greeting. “Welcome to Geonosis City, Gang Orca, I hope the heat isn’t too much for you.”
“Don’t you worry about me, there are more pressing matters at hand.”
“Right.” Officer Sansa finally takes note of the young U.A. student. “Oh, you must be an intern from U.A.” He offers his hand in greeting. “I’m Officer Sansa.”
“Oh!” Izuku grips the man’s hand. “I-I’m Izuku Midoriya.”
Unnoticed by any of the others but for a moment there Gang Orca looks rather disappointed with Izuku’s reply.
Officer Sansa’s eyes widen. “Oh, I know you! You were in the Sports Festival!” He grins sheepishly. “Wow, you’re so plain looking. Your transformations are so much more memorable.”
Izuku smiles sheepishly. “Um, thank you…?”
Dholak snickers into his hand, making Izuku slump down in embarrassment.
Officer Sansa smiles, he probably shouldn’t have been so blunt but no harm nor foul. “Alright if you would please follow me so I can begin the briefing.”
And with that Officer Sansa directs them to a secluded waiting room where pictures, diagrams, and news clips are pinned to a board.
There’s a single table sitting in front of the board. So, Gang Orca takes a seat and Dholak is quick to take the seat next to him forcing Izuku to sit across from them.
Officer Sansa however takes a stand before the board with a report in hand. “Alright the situation is this: there’s an unknown villain, we need you and your agency to identify, locate, and capture the villain before he can do anymore harm.”
Izuku blinks, that can’t be all there is to it. “Is…that really it?”
“Quiet, shrimp.” clicks Dholak. “That was just the premise.” Dholak gestures for the officer to continue.
Officer Sansa nods before continuing. “Right, this villain has been terrorizing the city for the past week. They’ve caused mass panics, attacked citizens, and serious property damage. Also, we have no info on them: no records, no motive, no ID on them or their Quirk, hell we don’t even have a facial composite.”
Gang Orca eyes the board of evidence. “Really? Why is that?”
“That’s a fair question, sir.” Officer Sansa takes a breath before explaining. “We think it has to do with the villain’s Quirk. They can attack from far away in a discrete location without physically being at the scene itself.”
Dholak nods. “I get it. Can’t have a picture of a criminal if the criminal isn’t even there.”
Officer Sansa nods. “Exactly.”
Izuku frowns wondering just how this villain could attack people without being there. He wants to ask more but…it’s not really his place to do that. He’s just an intern, after all.
Officer Sansa continues. “The villain’s been attacking almost on a daily basis. We need you three to locate the villain, stop their attacks, and bring them in before they can do anymore harm.”
Izuku, in a moment of arrogance, speaks out. “Wait, what about the local pro heroes? Why haven’t any of them captured the villain yet?”
A harsh silence falls over the room as all three adults eye the boy, wondering how to address his naivety.
“Did…did I say something wrong?”
It’s Officer Sansa who replies. “Um, no, it’s just you have to understand that-”
“This city has a severe lack of heroes.” Gang Orca cuts in, dry and to the point.
Izuku is more than a little surprised. “What?! But why?” The whole country of Japan is overflowing with heroes, how could there still be cities that don’t have at least one or maybe ten agencies in it?!
As if sensing the kid’s questions, Dholak throws in his own two cents. “It’s all the show kid.”
“What…?”
“The show, the glory, the news casts, the FAME!!!” Dholak screams out in frustration after Izuku wasn’t getting it with his first few examples. “It’s all about fame! A hero’s success depends on their fame and popularity. So, a rundown city with only factories to sustain it is not exactly a hopping place for a pro hero to thrive in.”
Izuku’s eyes slowly widen as it all dawns on him. “So…because of the lack of screen time and villain attacks…heroes don’t come here.”
Dholak nods, tapping a finger against this head. “Now you’re getting it kid.”
Even though that’s the reality, it doesn't mean Izuku has to like it. He just figured that every city had an abundance of heroes, but then again, he’s only lived in Musutafu all his life and there’s tons of agencies there. Guess he was just ignorant to places such as this. But now that he is aware…he’s not sure how he feels about it. It just feels…wrong knowing that places such as these are ignored and forgotten because of the hero system…
“But we’re here now.” Gang Orca’s deep authoritative voice cuts into Izuku’s contemplation. “And we’re going to bring an end to this villain’s crimes.”
Izuku nods. There’ll be more time to think about the flaws of the hero system later, right now this needs his attention.
Officer Sansa has the floor once again. “Me and my fellow officers have done our best to quell the damage and attacks, but our…normal weapons don’t have much of an effect on this villain. All we can do is crowd control in order to minimize the chaos.”
Gang Orca eyes the board, eyeing the news clippings. “And by what means is this scumbag attacking the city with?”
Officer Sansa, with full seriousness, looks the hero dead in the eye before responding. “Bugs.”
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“This place is a dump.” And that’s saying something when you’re a rat-like alien.
Argit continues his way through the very condemned building with its creaking floorboards, rotting walls, trash, and foul smells coming from who knows where. But then again Argit’s been in far worse places than this, plus he’s got himself a job to do and as long as he’s getting paid then he’ll go anywhere. Although, he keeps seeing something scurry out of the corner of his eyes making him jump every now and again.
Argit makes it to the end of the dimly light hall, the only light source being the harsh sunlight slipping between the boarded windows. “Yo, delivery for one creepy bastard!”
There’s no reply, not a sound echoes from behind the rotting door.
“Come on, man.” Argit slams his fist against the door. “Open up or I’ll sell this off to the next creep!” He holds up a small metal canister.
The canister is no bigger than a tin can with a small glass window showcasing the green liquid inside.
Argit continues to pound on the door even as the rotting wood breaks away. “Fine!” He swirls away from the door. “I don’t need your stinking money anyway.”
As he begins to stomp away the door finally creeks open.
Argit blinks before smirk grows on his face. “Well, I can always use a little more cash.”
The rat slowly enters the dark damp room that’s somehow even trashier and smellier than the rest of the building. Seriously, the place smells like rotting onion. He warily steps inside and there, sitting just out of the duty light of the boarded window is his customer.
Argit holds up the canister. “You got my money?”
The slouched over figure reaches into his pockets, making Argit’s quills stand up, but they don’t pull out a weapon but instead it’s a roll of cash. And like a man tossing away a cigarette he tosses at Argit’s feet.
Argit’s face lights up as he practically pounces at the roll of money, tossing the canister over to this client.
The client snatches the canister out of the air before it can slam against the wall behind them. They grip the canister tightly, examining the strange liquid inside, admiring its potential.
Argit quickly shuffles through the cash, making sure it’s the agreed amount. “My, my, my I didn’t think you’d be able to pay up.”
The client finally speaks up, his voice sounds dry and wispy. “We have no use for money.”
Argit frowns at the odd grammar but doesn’t call it out. “Yeah, well I do.” He pockets the money. “Is there…anything else I can do for ya?”
“There is…nothing you can do for us.”
“Us?”
Instead of a reply, chirps and the sound of thousands of raindrops beat against the walls like an army is marching about from within.
The client stands up, the canister held out in front of him like it’s a great treasure. “We would suggest that you scram.” The chirping and the patterning of what sounds like rain increases as a harsh buzzing begins to echo throughout the entire building making Argit’s quills stand on end. “Things are about to get…lively.”
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*REEEEEEE!!!*
By now every single citizen of Geonosis City are well acquainted with these particular sirens and they certainly don’t need to be told twice about what it means.
Because every citizen begins to go into full out panic mode as they all rush for cover. Cars race down the streets as people swarm into nearby buildings, all seeking shelter as a dark looming shadow begins to wash over the city.
Police sirens blare alongside the screaming citizens as police cars and firetrucks line the streets.
But all of the screaming, crashing, and panics are all washed out by the same ominous and increasingly louder hum.
*Bzzzzzzzzzz!!!*
A massive black humming cloud swerves and hovers over the city almost as if it’s alive! And it might as well be just by how it circles around buildings causing the inhabitants to all dive for cover.
Officer Sansa is down below on the streets armed with nothing but a riot gear and shield.
“Quickly, get everyone indoors and out of the way!”
“Yes, sir!” His fellow officers rush to reply as they all rush to get the citizens to shelter.
As Officer Sansa continues to direct the others something…tiny plops down on his hand. Like a curious cat he peers down to find a little locust using his hand as a perch.
With fear in his eyes he fearfully whips his hand flinging the insect away.
*BZZZZZZZZZ!!!*
As if that simple gesture was the trigger, the cloud of flying insects descend to the city streets.
People are even more in a panic as they desperately swat and fend off the swarming insects from wasps, locusts, crickets, and anything else that’s creepy and crawly. The police deploy fire out smoke bombs, flares, and riot shields to fend off the bugs while still directing people to safety.
Even with their efforts panic and chaos ensues: cars crash, screams and sirens ring out, and they’re all drowned out by the millions of beating wings of the swarm.
Atop a nearby rooftop of a three-story building the members of the aquarium agency are doing nothing but observing the chaos from their perch.
And it’s killing Izuku that they’re not doing a thing to help. “Shouldn’t we do something?!”
“No.” Why does Gang Orca have to sound so cold? “We must wait.”
“But boss, the people-”
“The police will handle them.” Even as Gang Orca speaks, he doesn’t remove his eyes away from the chaos down the block. “Our job isn't damage control but to stop this villain.”
“Then shouldn’t we be down there?!”
“No, we’re right where we need to be.”
“Huh?”
“Dammit, shrimp.” Dholak let’s out an exasperated sigh. “You see that... swarm?”
Izuku nods. “Um, yeah.”
“That swarm had to come from somewhere, so we’re going to let it run its course and then follow it back to the source.”
Izuku blinks. “So, we’re going to follow them back to their hive.”
“And straight to the queen…or king.” Dholak adds with a shrug.
“But…why can’t we help in the meantime?”
Gang Orca is the one to explain. “We have no idea if or how this villain is coordinating this attack. They could very well be monitoring the entire scene, and if we go in there, we’ll be alerting them of our presence.”
Dholak chimes in. “Basically we’re trying to keep an element of surprise.”
Izuku frowns as the screaming, sirens, and buzzing tear through the air.
As if sensing his discomfort Gang Orca tries to address the boy’s conflict. “We aren’t ignoring their pleas, instead we are trying to provide a long-term solution.” His red eyes shine right at Izuku’s jaded pupils. “Today we are exterminators, we don’t treat bee stings, instead we kill the entire swarm.”
Izuku gets the idea for sure and it makes perfect sense, but…it still feels so wrong to watch people in need and being told not to help. But they’re right, he has to keep his cool for now. Guess sometimes being a hero means picking your battles and if this does go as planned, they can save this city in one fell swoop.
*Bzzzzzzzzzz!!!*
The massive cloud of insects begins to dissipate as the bugs rise up and off the streets. Most of the insects fly off on their own but a significant portion remain as a buzzing stream of insects. The smaller swarm glides between the tall buildings, flying over the wake of their chaos of injured citizens, damaged property, and overwhelmed policemen and women.
Gang Orca’s red eyes lock onto the streaming swarm. “And so the hunt begins.”
Gang Orca nonchalantly drops down off the side of the building landing right onto his own Rolls-Royce Phantom’s roof with a loud clang. Dholak uses his extended legs to repel his way down like a giant spider before climbing into the driver’s seat.
Izuku slides down the fire escape and quickly makes his way for the passenger door but Gang Orca stops him with a single look.
“Find your own way there.”
Izuku blinks unsure if he heard him correctly. “What?”
“This may be real hero work, but you are still an intern, thus you are under my training. As part of your training, it is up to you to procure a means of travel.” Gang Orca leans down and taps the roof of the car as Dholak revs up the engine. “Try to keep up, shrimp.” The car lurches forward as Gang Orca remains perched atop of it.
Izuku can watch son as the jet-black vehicle races away and out of sight after the streaming swarm. “Own means, huh?”
It takes him a few moments to ponder before his head snaps down to the side of his utility belt.
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Gang Orca remains cemented to the roof of the speeding car, his black cape billowing behind him. His body remains unmoving even as the car drifts around bends and turns, keeping pace with the swirling mass of insects flying just above the buildings.
He keeps his eyes trailed on the swarm, unflinching, ensuring that he will not waste this opportunity.
But something…odd approaches just out of the corner of his eye. Briefly peering over Gang Orca finds a rather surprising sight indeed.
Izuku is flying!
Specifically the boy is riding atop a hoverboard, flying through the air as if he’s snowboarding down a snowy mountain.
Izuku’s hair whips in the wind as he quickly catches up to the speeding car, grinning like a kid on a rollercoaster. As he passes by, he gives the hero a friendly smirk.
Gang Orca smirks right back as Izuku speeds away, tossing the driver a cocky look.
Izuku spins and wheels around in the air, swooping just above the hood of the speeding car.
Dholak tsks in annoyance. “Show off.” He slams his foot down on the gas just to keep up with the brat.
And so they race off, following along the trailing swarm, staying below the building tops to avoid disturbing the insects.
After traveling towards the opposite side of the city, the swarm dissipates as the insects descend down onto a block of apartment complexes.
Izuku and the others soon arrive, Izuku hovering in place as Dholak and Gang Orca exit the vehicle.
There are three large apartment complexes sitting in a large U, each standing at eight floors high with three sections that hold five apartments each. The entire block is outlined by barbed-wire fencing while each building is boarded up and crumbling away, littered with trash and graffiti.
The hoverboard lowered down to be at shoulder level with Gang Orca. “This is…homey.”
Dholak’s shoulder slump. “It’s too early for puns.” The crab man turns to the pro hero. “What are you thinking, boss?”
Gang Orca scans the large abandoned buildings for any sign of life, but even with a possible swarm inside there isn’t a hint of movement. “Stand back you two.”
Dholak doesn’t need to be told twice, giving Izuku a warning glare to move back too. Izuku nods and he hovers back a bit giving Gang Orca a clear radius.
Gang Orca widens his stance, lowering his head, and then with a deep breath a piercing hum pulses out from his head. The soundwaves resonate across the entire block, traveling through the many apartments.
Izuku peers over at Dholak. “What’s he doing?”
“He’s an orca.” Dholak says it like it's so obvious.
“I know that.”
“Yeah, and orcas use echolocation.”
“Oh, I get it!” Izuku’s shine with delight. “He’s using his Quirk like a sonar, trying to locate the villain!”
“Exactly.”
The pulsing waves fade away and Gang Orca straightens his stance. “It’s no good.”
Izuku hops down from his hoverboard, deactivating it and stowing it away. “What’s no good? Did you find the villain?”
“No.” Gang Orca turns to address the others. “There’s some sort of…interference.”
Dholak raises his eyebrow. “Interference?”
“I’m not sure, but…something is intercepting my echolocation.”
“Hm, that’s not good.”
Izuku eyes the buildings nervously. “So, what do we do?”
Gang Orca’s red eyes land on the boy. “We split up.”
Izuku’s eyes light up with excitement, basically he’s going to have a chance to handle the situation on his own, to handle official hero work on his own!
“Hang on.” Gang Orca interrupts his moment. “There’s something important we need to address.”
“What is it?”
Gang Orca marches towards the boy, towering over him with his head held high and his red gaze peering down at him, making him feel even smaller than he is. “What’s your knowledge on Quirk laws?”
That’s an odd question, but Izuku goes ahead and answers anyway. “Quirk laws are in place to regulate people and how they use their Quirks whether that be hero work, jobs, and service.”
Gang Orca nods in approval. “Well said. So you understand when I say this: by law you are not allowed to use your Quirk in public.”
Izuku’s mind goes blank for a second. “Eh?”
Gang Orca’s eyes narrow. “You do not have permission to use your Quirk without my say so.”
“What?!”
Dholak snickers as Gang Orca explains further. “Allow me to clarify. You may use your Quirk to help locate the villain, but you do not have my permission to attack the villain.” His deathly glare pierces into Izuku’s very soul. “Do not throw away your chances of becoming a pro by getting overexcited. Do I make myself clear?”
Izuku freezes in place, his instincts telling him that the underlying threat is real. “Y-Yes, boss!!”
“Good.” Gang Orca spins around his cape whipping as he does. “Alright each of us will take a building, if you locate the villain then notify the rest of us so we can apprehend them together.” He peers back at his underlings. “You two got that?”
Both Izuku and Dholak reply in unison. “We got it boss!”
“Good, then let’s go.” And with a swish of his cape Gang Orca marches forward, straight for the middle building.
Dholak gives Izuku a mocking smirk before he takes off for the building to the right of the U.
And so Izuku turns towards the third and final building, scanning the eight floors and many apartments for any signs of life.
“So, this villain has a thing for bugs huh?” Izuku activates the Omnitrix location of the right alien before transforming. “Then they’ll appreciate Big Chill!”
The Necrofriggian stands tall as his wings unfurl from his body, and with a mighty flap of his wings he glides off for the large condemned apartment complex, silently phasing through the boarded-up windows like a ghost.
Big Chill can only think of one way to describe this place, as a dump. He’s never seen a place as filthy as this, heck, even Dagoba Beach could be considered clean compared to this place. It’s so dark and clustered, with trash and broken buildings parts crumbling away. And what the heck is that smell, is that festering garbage or a rotting corpse? No, if anything it smells like a bag of rotting onions. Know what it doesn’t matter because Big Chill would rather not find out.
And so using his flying and phasing capabilities Big Chill proceeds to scour the entire building combing through each and every apartment for the villain. After combing through the bottom three floors Big Chill would actually settle for finding a single bug. Seriously, he saw the swarm enter the place but there isn’t a single bug to be seen. Where are they? How could so many bugs just up and disappear? Maybe the villain can transform into bugs? It’s not the most farfetched thing he’s seen.
And so the search goes on, Big Chill phases from one dank and smelly apartment to another, gliding up all the way to the eighth floor but he’s still got nothing to show for it.
‘Maybe they’re in a different building.’ At this point that might as well be the case.
*Kreeee.*
Big Chill stops in midair, slowly peering back around to find a lone rotting door at the end of the hall. His wings curl back around his body as he silently touches down on the filthy floor. He remains silently rooted in place, waiting for any other signs of movement but after a few moments there is none.
So Big Chill turns to walk away, before peering at the door one more time. ‘Well, I better check.’ Last thing he needs is to give the boss a reason to chew him out.
Big Chill moves slowly like a phantom stalking its next victim, moving gingerly and silently, the windows fogging over as he passes on by. After a few more silent strides he reaches the door, reaching for the handle first before remembering that he can phase. So, with a silent breath Big Chill becomes intangible, his form outlined by a blue aura as he warily pokes his head through the door. He shields his eyes as he phases through and when he opens them, he finds…another empty apartment.
Big Chill phases the rest of his body through the door and then solidifying himself, examining the contents of the apartment.
The apartment is one large room with boarded up windows that cast a dark shadow, it’s littered with trash, some broken kitchen appliances, and a mossy mattress at the far end of the room.
“Ew.” Big Chill’s nose would be scrunching up if he had one. “What is that smell?” It smells like…foul onions or something.
He walks in further examining the large one room apartment even though the place is littered with trash some of the wrapping and bags look new and the mattress has clearly been in use, and there in the dust and grime covered floor there’s a few human-sized footprints with long thin-toes like that of a rodent’s.
“Well it looks like no one’s here now.” With a shrug Big Chill nonchalantly spins around and makes his way for the exit. “Guess I’ll just join up with the others.”
SMASH!!! A giant mass of buzzing insects crash right through the thin crumbling wall like a tidal wave. Everything practically moves in slow motion for Big Chill as the swarm descends upon him.
“Ahhh!!”
The swarm crashes into the mothman, knocking him down as the swarm disperses again. A great deal of insects cling to nearby surfaces crawling around, chirping in defiance at the intruder. The insects come in a large variety from crickets, wasps, flies, and even roaches.
“We don’t like unwanted visitors.” That voice, it sounds scratchy and sickly like someone’s running a fever and refusing to drink any water.
Big Chill groans as he sits up. ‘We?’ He peers up at the gaping hole in the wall.
A scowling man stalks out from the hole and he is in urgent need of a doctor and a psychiatrist. The man’s skin is a sickly-bluish grey, he’s got a long greasy goatee and unkempt black hair, his fingernails are overgrown and black with grime, and his teeth are so crooked that they might as well be fangs. He’s wearing a black hoodie under a thick leather jacket, and a pair of torn grey pants. But gross of all there are several cockroaches crawling along his body, and he is not disturbed by them at all even as they crawl across his face.
‘I think I found the queen…or rather the king.’
The bug man growls. “You don’t belong here, hero.”
“Hero?” Big Chill’s disgust fades away. “You…really think I’m a hero?”
The man wasn’t expecting such a chipper response. “Um, yes.”
And like that Big Chill’s entire demeanor lights up. “Oh. My. Gosh. I was just called a hero!” Okay sure it was from a crazy hobo in a condemned dump, but it still counts.
The man snarls in annoyance. “You’re bugging us.”
Big Chill smirks as he lifts himself off the ground. “Bugging? Nice. I appreciate someone with a sense of humor such as yourself.”
“You mock us?”
Big Chill shakes his head. “No, no. Far from it.” His wings flutter in place as they remain wrapped around his form. “But I’m afraid I need to ask you to come with me.” Hopefully this guy will see reason and not bother putting up a fight.
The man clearly doesn’t want to comply. “You humans, you want us gone!”
“Okay buddy what’s with the use of “us” and “we,” you're the only other person here.”
“No, we are many.”
Big Chill raises an eyebrow but then something scuttles across his foot. Peering down Big Chill is disgusted to see a horde of creepy crawls all scuttling across the ground around them there are ants, centipedes, beetles, spiders, and worst of all roaches.
“And we hate humans.”
Big Chill gulps. ‘Okay, that confirms it.’ He slowly reaches for his phone. ‘I better contact the boss.’
*Bzzzz!*
Without warning a small swarm of wasps break away from within the broken fridge. They swoop in and with their piercing stingers, they force Big Chill to drop his phone before they snag it and fly it away.
“My phone!” Big Chill reaches for it, but it seems all the walls burst to life as thousands of flying insects burst out from within the crumbling foundation to swarm around Big Chill like an indoor tornado.
Big Chill backs away from the circling wasps, flies, and roaches.
“You humans destroy everything.”
Is he suggesting that he isn’t human? Maybe but…Big Chill can’t be sure.
“You kill us without reason.”
Big Chill’s eyes narrow, he doesn’t like how this guy’s talking.
“We will not stand for it anymore!”
And the circling insects instantly charges in, swarming the moth man from all sides giving him no chance of escape.
“Hahaha!” The bug man laughs as the insects continue to swarm and maim the intruder with any luck there won’t even be a single spec left of the hero.
A sudden chill fills the room and many of the swarming insects begin to freeze in place, literally as their tiny bodies become frozen in ice, clattering to the ground like tiny fragile shards.
The man steps back in shock as a phased out Big Chill steps out from the spiraling swarm, insects that are unfortunate to be in his path freeze like the others, while the alien himself remains unharmed. “Oops, was that your big moment?”
The villain scowls. “How?”
“Oh, I guess I should introduce myself.” The Necrofriggian gestures to himself. “This is Big Chill; I can will my body to become intangible and generate freezing cold temperatures.” A legion of wasps with stingers at the ready zip right through Big Chill’s frame, freezing in place and breaking apart as they fall to the floor. “Pretty cool, huh?”
The villain snarls, his hands shaking with anger as he watches his brethren die off by the swarms.
Big Chill needs to keep this guy talking to give himself a chance to get reinforcements or to at least find his phone. “Now this is the part where you introduce yourself.”
The villain scowls but for some reason goes ahead and introduces himself. “Clancy.”
“See, that wasn’t so hard.” Big Chill smiles, but under that mask he continues to survey the room for any sign of his phone, with it nowhere in sight there’s only one other option. “Now that’s out of the way, I'm afraid I need to take my leave. Important hero work to do.” Like get Gang Orca over here as soon as possible. “So, I’ll just buzz off.”
Clancy scowls. “You’re not walking out of here.”
“Um, yeah, I am.”
“No, you’re not.”
The swarm of insects reform around Big Chill, circling him from all sides.
“Uh, this again. Don’t you learn anything.”
Clancy actually smirks. “Yes, we do.”
A few insects fly right past Big Chill’s face giving him a good look at them. “Cicadas?”
*BZZZZZZZZZ!!!!*
The millions of cicadas all cry out their ear-piercing calls, beating their wings and chirping at such high decibels that Big Chill actually screams out in shock and agony, grabbing his head in a fit of pain.
*BZZZZZZZZZ!!!!*
It feels like he’s in the middle of rock concert, with hundreds of speakers, and thousands of screaming people in the form of millions of insects. It’s so bad it actually breaks his concentration and Big Chill becomes solid keeling over as he holds his pounding head.
And just like that the other insects leap into action, pouncing on the alien’s prone form, pushing him down with their massive collective to hold him in place with their tiny crawling legs, chewing mandibles, and probing stingers, all the while the cicadas continue their assault of frequencies.
As Big Chill reels in pain his mind is continuing to analyze the situation. ‘These things…must have…interfered!’ Specifically if all these cicadas and other bugs were hiding in the walls then they must have been interfering with Gang Orca’ echolocation earlier!
Now is not the time to analyze however, as Clancy stands over the hero’s prone form, a crooked tooth smile on his face as he sneers down at the helpless intern. “Now it’s you who will be stepped on.”
Big Chill winces under all the strain of the ear-piercing soundwaves, but even so he still managed to hear Clancy. “Stepped on… Ha! I get it.”
Clancy clearly doesn’t appreciate Big Chill’s cockiness. “We think it’s time to try this out.” Clancy holds up a canister that’s no bigger than a tin can with a small glass side displaying an eerie green liquid inside.
Big Chill doesn’t like the look of it, not at all. “What…is…that?”
Clancy smirks as he kneels down as he uncorks the canister. “It’s a special toxin meant to deal with the likes of you.”
‘Me?’ Big Chill’s eyes widen in silent horror. ‘Does…does he mean aliens? No, maybe, oh, man I don’t know.’
Clancy holds the canister right above Big Chill’s head. “Goodbye, hero. It hasn’t been a pleasure. Ha ha ha!”
And with a tilt of his hand the green liquid pours out right onto Big Chill’s head, the alien coughs and winces as the liquid gets into his eyes and mouth.
“Ha ha ha!” Clancy laughs like there’s no tomorrow, like he knows victory is at hand.
The insects back away from the wheezing alien and even the cicadas end their ear-splitting concert as Big Chill desperately tries to rub out the stinging substance.
“Ha ha ha!” A wicked grin is plastered on Clancy’s face as he glares down at the pained hero. “How's it feel?! You humans are so quick to turn your pesticides and chemicals on us now we’ll return the favor! Ha ha ha!” Clancy’s crooked grin widens as the insects begin to swarm around the room as if driven by his own madness. “This is it! This toxin will bring us salvation!”
“Sheesh, talk about over dramatic.”
Clancy’s grin falls and the insects go silent as he finally notices the calm and not dead Big Chill standing before him. “How…?”
Big Chill’s eyes narrow. “You’re going to need to be more specific.”
“How are you still alive?”
“Um, why wouldn’t I be?”
Clancy’s harden and furious scowl returns. “That damn rat!!” He slams the canister down, smashing it apart and the last of the liquid spills out onto the floorboards. “He lied to us! This toxin should have exterminated you and any other humans!”
‘Oh, I get it now.’ Big Chill is actually kind of relieved to hear that this guy actually believes Big Chill’s a human with an extreme mutation type Quirk. He probably should have realized that sooner.
But right now there are more important matters at hand. “Why would you want something that can kill a human being?”
Clancy frowns in frustration. “Don’t you understand yet? You humans kill us, torture us, and destroy everything important to us.” The swarm buzz to life behind Clancy’s standing form. “We can no longer take it. We will have what’s rightfully ours, no matter the cost.” The insects begin to slowly enshroud their king. “And so we will exterminate all humans. Starting with YOU!!!”
The swarm launches forward, charging straight for the alien.
Big Chill uses his intangibility to allow the first wave to pass right through. However the entire hive retaliates with the cicadas returning in full force with their deafening screeches, forcing Big Chill to break his concentration. A smaller swarm dives down at the hero but Big Chill quickly jumps away, using a wing to bat the swarm away.
‘This isn’t good.’ Big Chill ducks down to avoid a hundred stings to the head. ‘I need to alert the others!’ He fades out, allowing a group of wasps and cicadas to phase through his chest. ‘But he’s sure not making it easy.’
Clancy snarls as more of his hive fail to land a strike on their foe. “Get him, dammit!”
Big Chill leaps up and over a swarm, using the busted fridge as a springboard. “Don’t get antsy with them.” Big Chill gestures to the circling swarm. “You gotta bee more positive.”
Clancy snarls. “You’re infuriating.”
Big Chill smirks. “I know.”
“Rahhh!!” Clancy roars out in fury as the entire swarm charges headfirst as a massive wave.
This is what Big Chill was waiting for. “Freeze!”
With a huge exhale Big Chill releases a freezing wind that collides right into the charging swarm. Instantly each and every insect becomes frozen in a casing of ice, each one collapsing down to the ground like frozen rain drops. Big Chill doesn’t end his attack there though. He keeps at it until the entire room becomes a meat locker, a thin layer of ice encases everything, tiny piles of snow form in the corners and insects unfortunate to be in the facinity die and freeze under the sudden drop in temperature.
Big Chill finally ends his attack, catching his breath as he examines the now frozen and less smelly room. The floor is now littered with frozen insects, the mattress is stiff as a board, and the fridge is a giant ice cube and Clancy is nowhere to be seen. He might have escaped through the gaping hole in the wall while Big Chill was distracted. But Big Chill does find something, his phone. There in the corner and surrounded by frozen wasps is his cell phone!
Big Chill strolls over and snatches up his phone glad to see that it still has enough battery left in it for a phone call.
Before he can open the phone the Omnitrix finally gives out, ten minutes have been reached, and Izuku takes Big Chill’s place among the frozen trash and bugs.
“Brrrr, so c-c-cold.” Izuku grips his arms shivering in place as he shoots Gang Orca and Dholak a quick text that the villain’s in the building somewhere.
Izuku tucks his phone away. ‘Alright, I may not have my powers, but I should try to find him.’ Izuku turns towards the gaping hole in the wall. ‘He could be anywhere by now, so I better hur-’
Like a charging zombie, Clancy smashes through the thin frozen wall perpendicular to the gaping hole.
“We’ll. Kill. You.” Clancy slams into the boy, throwing him down to the ground.
Izuku kicks him away, spinning his body up and off the ground with his fists up.
Clancy however hesitates, a look of surprise adorning his face. “You're just a kid?!”
Izuku raises his fists. “Um, yeah I am.”
“Rahhh! No!! We won’t let a mere larva ruin our plans!”
‘We?’ Izuku’s nose scrunches up as a strange odor begins to fill the freezing apartment.
*Bzzzzzzz!*
Izuku’s eyes fill with dread as a newly formed swarm of insects creep their way into the frozen room from outside, they squeeze through the cracks, biting through parts of the walls, using any hole or crevasse to enter.
The insects gather around Clancy, veiling around his form like a disturbing and living cloak. “We’ll devour you bone and all!!” It’s like the insects propel him forward, as Clancy charges forward with newfound agility.
He slams into Izuku, knocking the boy down. Clancy grabs for Izuku’s neck, but Izuku grabs the man’s wrists pushing them away. But there’s very little he can do but flail and wince as the insects veiled around Clancy begin to swallow him up as one big mass.
While still trying to keep the villain at bay, Izuku shuts his eyes tightly as he continues to flail under the swarming insects. He can feel all their tiny legs crawling on his suit and skin, they nip and bite at his explodes flesh, their wings and chirps buzz in his ears, and he can feel them getting tangled up in his own hair!
With Izuku desperately trying to not crumble under the swarm, Clancy manages to get a hand around the boy’s neck, squeezing it tight between his fingers while using his other hand to pin Izuku’s left arm down.
Izuku can feel the air being squeezed out of him, making him choke and gasp, but he quickly shuts his mouth as insects probe and prod at his agape mouth. All the while, Clancy howls with a deranged laughter knowing soon he will be rid of this annoying pest.
Whether out of fear or instinct, Izuku desperately reaches for the Omnitrix. Knowing full well that five minutes have not passed, he can still pray that the little alien device will pull off some sort of miracle.
Clancy’s deranged laughter continues to ring out from within the swarming mass of insects, swallowing them both up whole as Izuku’s vision begins to fade.
Suddenly, the frozen door of the apartment is blasted open as both Gang Orca and Dholak charge in.
A dim flash of green light draws their eyes down on the swarming pile of bugs.
Gang Orca immediately takes action, firing out an ear-piercing soundwave that breaks the swarm apart like a high-powered fan blowing away rice.
The swarm is peeled away just enough for Clancy’s body to become visible among the panicking insects.
With a clear view, Dholak springs into action, throwing his two lance-like legs forward like spears that strike Clancy’s sides, knocking away and dispersing the swarm even further.
The groaning Clancy snarls up at the heroes as Dholak’s legs retract. While holding his side, Clancy runs off leaping and crashing through the boarded-up window, the swarm follows him out, swooping down and swallowing him up like a cloud before carrying their king off to safety.
“We gotta go after him!” Dholak is about to charge forward to leap after the villain but there’s something else in the apartment with them.
The last of the swarm disappears and flies off after their leader, but that’s not the odd part. The odd part is what the insects were swarming.
Dholak backs off, not liking the look of this thing, his nose scrunching up. “Yuck! What’s the awful smell?!”
“Careful, Dholak.” Gang Orca stands at the ready. “It appears there’s still one more bug to squash.”
Dholak and Gang Orca ready themselves as a giant insect rises off the frozen ground and trash. A putrid stench is just radiating off the foul disgusting creature. It’s four pedunculated-eyes wiggle around, its long thin wings lightly shake in the breaching sunlight, a massive spade-shaped stinger is poised at the end of its body, and its four insectoid-legs impale the floorboards as its hands massage its own throat.
The large insect groans, relieved to be breathing again. “Huh, that was horrible.” It’s four pedunculated-eyes swivel and spot the two heroes. “Hey thanks for the save. I really ow- AH!!”
Dholak’s lance-like pincers fire out nearly impaling the giant smelly bug. “Die, insect!!”
“Wahhh!!!” The bug falls to its side shaking and cowering under the lances. “What are you doing?! This isn’t the time for another test battle!”
Dholak snarls, leering down at the prone mutant. “Where’s your partner going?”
“Partner?”
The lance-like pincers rise above the bug’s head, threateningly. “I said where’s your-”
Gang Orca calmly interjects. “Dholak, enough.”
“But boss-”
“He’s with us.”
“Huh?”
Dholak peers at the insect and his eyes widen as he spots the symbol of the Omnitrix displayed on the creature’s form.
Said creature shakily stands back up, looking rather annoyed with Dholak. “Of course I’m with you what makes you think otherwise?”
Both Gang Orca and Dholak share a questioning look before they gesture down at his body.
The transformed Izuku peers down wondering what they could be pointing at. He looks down but all he sees are a pair of thin insect-like legs, but nothing’s really out of place… “Waaaaaa!!” It finally hits the transformed Izuku, he raises his hands only to find that he has three fingers, and for some reason he can see four of everything, oh god he’s got four eyes now! And wings?! Okay, that’s actually pretty cool. “Who the heck is this?!” And how did he not notice the voice change?! His voice sounds so wheezy and high pitched, like a bug’s.
Gang Orca folds his arms together annoyed with the kid’s antics. “Midoriya, what is this? Why weren’t we made aware of this form?”
The morphed Izuku shakes his head as he continues to pat himself down as to familiarize himself with this new transformation. “I didn’t know I had this form; it must be new. What the heck is this guy anyway?”
Dholak sniffs and the crabman’s face miracuaslly turns green. “Guh, geeze kid learn to bathe every now and then, you smell like a dumpster fire.”
“What?!” The bug gives his underarm a quick sniff, and immediately gags. “Bleh! Oh god! I stink!”
Dholak backs away pinching his nose. “Seriously. Are you like a stinkbug or something?”
The bug shakes his head. “No! Well, I guess I am a…Stinkfly.” Stinkfly grins his wings fluttering behind him as if the form agrees with the new codename.
Dholak gags backing away and pressing his body against the wall. “Oh, god, bleh, it’s like a sewage tank exploded in a junkyard.”
“It’s not that bad!!”
“Nevermind that.” Gang Orca marches over towards the busted window and looks out and is disappointed to see that thanks to their folly they allowed the villain to escape. “We need to regroup with Officer Sansa and compare notes.”
Both Dholak and Stinkfly stand at attention. “Right!”
Much to Stinkfly’s surprise, Gang Orca steps right off the window’s ledge. The pro hero couldn’t be calmer, however, jabbing his sharp claws into the side of the building allowing him to slide right down leaving a trialing gouge as he descends down.
Dholak leaps out, using his extended legs to spring outward.
Stinkfly watches as they both make it safely down, Gang Orca lands down on the cracked cement and Dholak lands nearby breaking his own decent with his extended crab-legs.
Stinkfly eyes the building for a way to scale down but then a pair of his eyes turn backwards and eye his new-insect wings. Stinkfly smiles, he might just enjoy this new form more than he thought he would. And so he leaps out but immediately free falls for a few seconds until his wings gain enough speed to lift his frame.
“Woah, okay, easy Izuku you got this.” And so Stinkfly makes his descent down, occasionally jolting off to the side or falling briefly, his flight path shaky as he struggles to get used to the new appendages.
Meanwhile, Gang Orca and Dholak exit the condemned area arriving back at the main street where a crowd of bystanders have gathered. They saw the swarm of insects fleeing the scene and they wanted to see if the heroes managed to solve their pest problem.
The police soon arrive, with Officer Sansa wasting no time to jump out of his car and approach the heroes. “Where’s the villain?”
Gang Orca adjusts his tie as he addresses the officer. “He escaped.”
“He what?! How could he?”
“He was slipperier than we had anticipated.”
Before Officer Sansa could ask anymore, Stinkfly finally arrives making a not so grand entrance. His wings beat fast as he tries to slow his descent but he’s coming in too fast.
Stinkfly’s legs trip over the ground forcing him to fall over and skid across the sidewalk. “Phttffff!”
Dholak snickers into his hand. “Wow, that sure stunk.”
Stinkfly glares up at the crab as he picks himself off the ground. “Ha ha…”
As he rises up the crowd gasp in fear at the sight of him. “It’s a giant BUG!!”
“Wahhhh!!!”
“It’s the villain!!”
“Monster!”
“It smells awful!”
“Wait.” Stinkfly scans around and notices how they’re all staring and pointing at him. “I’m not the villain.”
“Eeek, get away from me!” A high school girl screams, grimacing away from the creature.
“But I’m a hero.” Stinkfly tries to approach her, his hands up as if to say he’s not dangerous, but the girl freaks out and runs away.
“Run!”
Officer Sansa quickly takes control of the situation before a panic ensues. “Everyone please calm down; this is not the bug villain!” Officer Sansa turns and eyes the bug warily. “You’re not, right?”
Stinkfly hastily shakes his head. “No, sir! It’s me Midoriya.” He points at the Omnitrix hoping it's enough to prove his identity.
Dholak goes ahead and chimes in with a snicker. “Yeah, he had a bit of a face lift.”
Stinkfly growls up at Dholak’s jab, but the moment he looks remotely mean the citizens gasp and step back in fear.
Officer Sansa addresses the crowd. “Everyone please relax, these heroes are here to help I can assure you of that.”
They don’t look convinced instead they peer at Stinkfly with fear, disgust, and trepidation although none of them air their concerns. Instead they begin to disperse, quickly, not wanting to hang around to find out if the bug is friendly or not.
Stinkfly somberly backs away, his shoulders slumping with his eyes dropping down and a sad frown on his face.
Gang Orca eyes the somber alien, no hint of sympathy lies in the hero’s eyes, but he has the look of one who’s experienced much in their time. “It’s a cruel reality, isn’t it?”
Stinkfly keeps his eyes down not bothering to peer up at the hero. “What is?”
“Being judged for one’s appearance.”
Stinkfly’s eyes rise up, drawing their attention on Gang Orca. “People will often see what they want to see due to their limited perspectives. But only through our actions can they truly come to understand who we are.”
Stinkfly remains silent as the pro hero’s words linger in his mind. ‘But how can I show them who I am if they don’t give me a chance?’
Gang Orca gestures towards the car. “Come on, let’s head back to the station.” And stomps off for the Rolls-Royce Phantom.
Stinkfly follows but one of Dholak’s lance-like pincers blocks his path.
“No way!” Dholak jumps into the driver seat, holding his nose and holding his breath. “You can fly back, no way I’m letting your stink ruin leather. It’ll linger there for years.”
Stinkfly doesn't bother arguing he’s already depressed enough as it is.
Figuring it’s safe now, Dholak drives off with Gang Orca in the back.
Stinkfly’s wings flap in rapid succession and after a few moments he generates enough force to lift himself off the ground. He flies up into the air, but it’s still a bit shaky so much so he bumps into a light post, and his flight path goes a bit too off course but even, so he manages to keep his eyes trained on Gang Orca’s black car.
And so Stinkfly follows them back to the police station, but at the same time he uses 2 of his pedunculated-eyes to fully examine this newest alien transformation. ‘Just what is this guy?’ His eyes scan the wings on his back, his thin-sharp legs, and the large stinger at his rear-end. ‘And what can he do? Hmmmm, I better contact Thirteen maybe they’ll have some answers.’ And so Stinkfly goes ahead and grabs his phone and takes a selfie of all things.
But in typical Izuku Midoriya fashion he looks terrified in the photo, Stinkfly’s smile looks nervous and scared, his eyes wiggled around too much and made them look like waving noodles, and he got a really bad angle.
Even so it should be enough for Thirteen or One-One to identify, and so Stinkfly goes ahead and sends the message to Plumber base.
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
A tall slim figure adorning a high-tech purple armor squeezes their way through the tightly compacted vent. It’s taken some time for the bounty hunter to find an alternate way into Japan’s Plumber Base, and almost as much time to navigate the twisting turning vents. Prowling about like some sort of imposter out to kill.
The bounty hunter army crawls their way through as he thinks back to why they’re here in the first place.
##########(Flashback)#########
The bounty hunter peers up at the hospitalized commander. “Oyu oklo kiel tsih.”
“I’m well aware of my…pathetic state, SixSix.” The commander leers down at the lowly bounty hunter from within his recovery pod. “But trust me I’m still not one to be trifled with.”
SixSix shrugs nonchalantly. “Veerhtaw, oll’yu eb eehtr lnuit het touahr yssa os.”
“Hm.” The commander's eyes narrow, deciding to continue with his address. “Here are the details of your mission.”
“Xtiionrm?”
“Yes. However, the Plumbers are jamming my ship’s radars, making it impossible to track the Omnitrix’s whereabouts.”
That has become highly evident after witnessing the juvenile earthling participate in the so-called Sports Festival. Clearly the Plumbers have come up with some means of jamming his ship’s radars making it difficult to pinpoint the Omnitrix’s signal.
“You must sneak into Plumber Base and insert this device into their system.”
A humanoid drone approaches SixSix and hands over a small high tech flashdrive-like device.
“That device is preprogrammed to hack into their systems, it’ll detect the jamming signal and hack into its own system.”
SixSix pockets the device away. “N’wto het srpbmlue ceitno?”
The commander responds. “No, the Plumbers will not detect the virus; it won’t alter their systems or programs instead it will add its own program allowing my systems to detect the Omnitrix’s frequency once again.” Basically this virus will piggyback off the Plumber’s own jamming system to give the commander backdoor access to his own radar again without altering anything to the systems that would stand out to the Plumbers.
“You should take this as well.”
Another drone walks forward and inserts a similar high-tech flashdrive into SixSix’s advanced suit. The flashdrive glows orange for a moment before turning completely black signaling that a download has been completed.
The commander explains as the drone removes the device. “I’ve added a program into your suit’s systems linking it with my ships.”
SixSix gives the commander a questioning look, silently asking why.
“After you’ve successfully infiltrated Plumber base and comprise their systems not only will I be able to track down the Omnitrix, but so will you.”
One can only assume that SixSix is smiling from underneath his helmet. “Ssndou eikl unf.”
########(End Flashback)#######
SixSix kicks open the vent and slides out stretching out into the octagon shaped hallway of the Plumber base. He appears to be on the higher level of the base, which means he’s closer to the main operations and monitoring room. And so with light but quick steps SixSix sticks close to the wall as he heads off.
He passes by a few doors within the long-wide hallway, but he slows down considerably as he approaches an automatic door with its door left ajar.
SixSix carefully peers inside and he’s in for an odd surprise.
A round white robot is inside, having split apart to form as two separate droids. One droid is holding up a poor-drawing of a blue moth-like alien while the other half of the droid works a camcorder. It kinda looks like they’re making some sort of cheap documentary.
^This cool looking alien is a Necrofriggian or better known as…Big Chill.^
^That’s such a dumb name…^
With the droids distracted SixSix hugs the opposite end of the hall and quietly walks on by without the robots ever noticing his presence.
SixSix continues his way up and eventually he arrives at a much bigger portal as he gets closer, he notices a glass within the metal doors. So he peaks in and sees the one and only Thirteen sitting there at a large wooden family table within a large room.
The table rests on a large octagonal shaped beige rug and with the soft illuminating lights it gives off a nice homey atmosphere. To their immediate right, there is a circular area that appears to be a cozy lounge area with chairs and couches, and a kitchen to boot.
Encasing the entire room, there appear to be small windows that go around the perimeter of the walls, but all there is to see is pure darkness.
A wire with a flat end extends out from his helmet and lays itself against the metal doors listening in on the Plumber.
Thirteen leans forward clicking away on their laptop. “Hm, almost done.”
They’ve been editing through all the Sports Festival clips ever since the students took off for their internships. With any luck Thirteen might be able to finish up by tonight.
The wire reels back into SixSix’s helmet and the bounty hunter leans a little closer towards the door. The Plumber’s distracted it’d be oh so easy to sneak up on the pro hero while they’re busy with their task.
But he’ll risk exposing himself and alerting others of his own presence. But this large room will lead him to the main operations room, he needs to get past the Plumber otherwise he can kiss this mission and possibly his life goodbye.
Scanning the hallway SixSix spots another vent and so with a quick jab and pull of his claws he pries the vent open and slips inside, with any luck this will get him to where he needs to go.
Meanwhile, Thirteen continues to click and edit away at the photoage dragging a clip of XLR8 fighting off Tokoyami’s Dark Shadow onto the film.
*Bing!*
“Hm?” Thirteen’s eyes shift over towards their phone. “Oh, it’s Midoriya. I wonder if his internship’s going alright.” With a simple swipe Izuku’s message and photo pop onto the screen. “Oh, my! A Lepidopterran that’s definitely an odd one.”
Thirteen goes ahead and types up a response hoping to explain what they can for now figuring they could give the U.A. student a proper call later on.
Back with the bounty hunter, SixSix slowly and quietly pries open the last vent, poking his head out into the Surveillance and Monitoring System room.
It’s a large white room that’s laid out much like a cockpit of a spaceship. There are about four workstations each with their own monitors. The entire front of the curving wall is a pitch-black screen that stretches across the entire length of the space. At the base of the monitor is an oval-shaped console with a circular port at the top of it, the port looks to be big enough to fit a soccer ball inside.
SixSix slides his way over to the main console, he types away and a port opens up within the machine itself.
SixSix pulls out the alien flashdrive and holds it above the port. “Aghitrl olpt cvdeei hree ew og.”
And so he plugs the flashdrive in and it immediately gets to work glowing a bright orange and the monitors all glitch out for a brief second as the virus scans the systems and programs for the possible jamming signal. It must have found it because the orange glow fades away and the little device turns black in color.
As the flashdrive goes dark SixSix scans the room not finding anything of significance happening, guess that means it worked.
SixSix goes ahead and pockets the device not wanting to leave evidence of his presence. He makes his way back towards the vent and slips inside making sure to close it back up behind him before heading back the way he came.
After a few minutes of crawling around SixSix arrives back at the entrance of the large living area where Thirteen is working. Slipping out of the vent SixSix closes it back up, again not wanting to leave a trace of his presence. Even if the virus is undetectable, he is not, and he best be sure to remain unseen while he’s in enemy territory. But then again there’s only a few beings here if he's caught, he might as well retire as a bounty hunter.
The metal portal opens up revealing the oblivious Thirteen on the other side.
Neither the bounty hunter nor pro hero move as they both stare at each other in midstep. They just stare at each other unsure about what’s actually going on, neither expecting to see the other at this moment.
Thirteen blinks staring off at the sus looking SixSix who blinks right back…
And like that everything explodes in a burst of urgency.
“Ied sro pdte!” SixSix throws his fists forward and out from the top of his wrists a pair of lasers fire out.
Thirteen’s body immediately reacts on its own, diving to the side and taking cover to the side of the open portal. ‘What the hell is SixSix doing here?!’ They’ve heard of this bounty hunter before he’s got quite the nasty reputation.
Thirteen peeks out but quickly jumps back as another round of laserbolts fire out from the bounty hunter’s wrist blasters. ‘Shit, this isn’t good.’
Looking up Thirteen spots the alarm switch up on the side of the wall and without a second thought they slam their hand down on the switch.
*INTRUDER ALERT!!! INTRUDER ALERT!!!*
The entire base’s lights turn red as the alarms blare throughout the facility.
SixSix glares at red lights, he then reaches down towards the side of his lower abdomen where a special pod opens up and drops a grenade right into his claws.
And with a mechanical snicker he tosses the grenade forward.
Thirteen’s eyes widen in horror as the grenade bounces across the threshold. Not waiting to see it explode Thirteen activates Blackhole and the grenade gets sucked up before it can even detonate.
So, with the grenade neutralized and the rain of lasers done with Thirteen springs into action, leaping through the portal but instead of facing SixSix the bounty hunter is fleeing the scene!
“Get back here!” Thirteen runs after the bounty hunter through the hallway.
^What’s going on!^
^We’re under attack obviously…^
A fully attached One-One hops out from his temporary recording room and just in time to see SixSix leap up and over his head before taking off in a full sprint towards the cargo bay.
^Oh my, a new friend!^ cheers Glad-One.
^Uh, I hate meeting new people…^ whines Sad-One.
Thirteen runs on by. “Not a friend! They’re a foe!” And whoosh Thirteen sprints off.
Glad-One gasps. ^Oh, my we have to do something!^
^Do we have to…?^
It doesn’t matter because One-One hops after the pursuing hero.
SixSix soon sprints across the cat-walk hanging above the large cargo bay as he approaches the middle he skids to a stop, turns and fires his wrist blasters at his pursuer.
Thirteen, who hasn’t even made it onto the catwalk yet, takes cover behind the small wall of a railing.
As laser bolts continue to batter at Thirteen’s barricade One-One juvenilely rolls up. ^Oh, my this is quite the predicament.^
^We should all just give up now…^
Thirteen shakes their head in denial. “We’re not giving up!”
^Then what’s your plan oh great one… ?^
Thirteen frowns. “I…don’t know.”
The glad side of One-One lights up. ^Oh, I have an idea!^
Thirteen doesn’t even get a chance to ask what when One-One suddenly jumps out from their hiding spot and rolls across the catwalk like a bowling ball as lasers fly over his small frame.
SixSix doesn’t notice the speeding little guy until it’s too late.
One-One’s spinning body bounces up and hits SixSix right in the face. SixSix stumps back and his helmet’s vision fades in and out, that hit has messed up some of his helmet’s inner wiring.
One-One lands back on the catwalk and cheers. ^Ha ha! I am here!^
^Uh, duh…^ grumbles Sad-One.
Thirteen, after a moment of disbelief at the results, jumps out and charges, running across the catwalks. They’re running with all they got, hoping to get to SixSix before he can recover.
But it’s too late. SixSix regains his vision just in time to see the Plumber charging right for him. He’s been made aware of this Plumber’s so-called power and knows that at this close of a range he might as well be space dust.
But he’s one of the galaxy’s most feared bounty hunters, he’s evaded Plumbers for years, hell he’s even collected the bounty of a few Plumbers over the years he can handle this one. And he knows exactly how.
Several wires burst out from the pods on SixSix’s back like thin-metal tentacles all with cylindrical blasters at the end of them. The wired-tentacles all aim down at the catwalk itself and begin to glow red.
Thirteen’s eyes widen and they skid to a stop predicting the intruder’s intentions.
SixSix glances back at the Plumber and smirks, his left shoulder-pod opens up and a small grey arm pops out and that wave goodbye to the pro hero. “Ese ay ctne lafl.”
And so a shower of laser bolts rip right through the catwalk sending all three of them into a free fall. Thirteen quickly grabs the railing, swinging with their half of the catwalk.
One-One unfortunately continues to fall down the cargo bay where he crash lands onto a pile of crates. But he should be fine, he was designed to be near indestructible.
As for SixSix, well, as he was falling his jetpack roared to life and flung him upwards. His wired-tentacles aim up and fire into the ceiling of Plumber Base. The rain of lasers are enough to break through the ceiling and the bounty hunter disappears into the gaping hole.
Thirteen can only watch, dangling from the fallen catwalk, as dirt falls from the gaping hole and for a moment a brief beam of sunlight breaks through until the hole SixSix blasted into fortition collapses in on itself ceiling the temporary tunnel.
Thirteen glares up at the now sealed hole. “That…couldn’t have been good.”
And so they take a moment to hang in their defeat, before swinging around and using the railing as a ladder to climb up and dangling the catwalk. As Thirteen climbs their way up, their phone in their pocket lights up.
The screen reads that the call is coming from Ochaco Uraraka and she apparently has sent a photo to the U.A. teacher. The photo is of an ancient looking amulet with strange carvings.
But whatever it is it can wait because right now Thirteen needs to find out why SixSix was there to begin with. And hopefully they were able to stop them before it was too late.
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
Meanwhile, back at the Geonosis City Police Headquarters, Officer Sansa finishes up taking the last few reports from the heroes and police officers.
After collecting everyone’s statements, reports, and combing through the apartment complexes for evidence the heroes and police pooled their collective knowledge together to gather up the following information.
Thanks to Izuku they now got the villain’s name, a composite sketch, and an idea about his Quirk. Unfortunately, the Quirk Registry doesn’t have anything on a possible foreigner named Clancy; it’s possible it was just an alias. As for his Quirk they can definitely deduce that Clancy is manipulating insects and bugs to his will, the specifics on how are unclear as of now.
Izuku of course also brought up the odd canister of toxins that Clancy had. And the police got right to work, scanning the room for possible toxins but unfortunately the combination of grime, dust, and Big Chill’s melting ice all but prevented the detectives from properly identifying any type of toxins. And it seems Clancy took the canister with him when he fled. Meaning they have no evidence or means of tracking down any possible leads on where the villains were able to procure such a poison.
But most importantly they also know that this villain definitely has it out for “humans” even though he is a human himself. So they quickly chalk him up to being rather…unstable which makes him even more of a threat.
Officer Sansa drops his notes down on the table having finally finished explaining everything. down his note “Alright, that’s everything.”
Officer Sansa briefly scans his notes before peering up at Gang Orca, Dholak, and a thankfully not-smelly Izuku although everyone is still giving him a wide berth just in case.
Izuku melts back into his seat still somewhat crestfallen about how that crowd reacted to his presence.
Dholak goes ahead and asks what they’re all thinking. “Now what?”
Officer Sansa sighs exhaustively. “That…I don’t know.” He turns to the only pro hero present. “Thoughts?”
“Hm.” Gang Orca cups his hands together, leaning forward in his seat that’s far too small for his frame. “We may have gained some knowledge about this…Clancy but we’ve lost our own element of surprise.”
Izuku eyes the hero waiting for an explanation. “What do you mean?”
“The villain is now aware of heroes within the city, and we’re pretty recognizable so it’d be easy to research my Quirk and Dholak’s.” Gang Orca then gestures towards the greenette. “Not to mention you were in the Sports Festival so he may try to exploit our own weaknesses by studying up.”
Izuku gulps, worried because Gang Orca really does have a point. There just might be a chance this Clancy guy can now prepare himself to take them on, even right now Izuku could come up with several different ways Clancy could defeat them.
“But we still have an advantage.” adds Gang Orca as if to relieve Izuku’s worries. “Our presence may just be enough to cause this villain to slip up.”
“Huh?”
Officer Sansa interjects. “Allow me to explain, a hero’s very presence can deter many wannabe crooks and villains. Take All Might for example.”
Izuku’s eyes widen as the explanation dawns on him, keeping his attention on the officer.
“Ever since All Might’s been on the scene the crime rates all across Japan have plummets to new record lows. All because of his immense power and overwhelming presence.”
Gang Orca chips in. “As such the presence of pro heroes within an area is often enough to make any villain go into hiding or even give up on their plans.”
Izuku lights up, if this is true then the villain may just give it all up! “That’s good right?”
Gang orca shakes his head. “Normally it would be, but I don’t think this villain operates the same way. Considering he’s been assaulting the city in broad daylight.”
Izuku melts down in his seat feeling very crestfallen.
“But that’s where we can gain the advantage.” Gang Orca straightens up in his seat as to express the seriousness of what he has to say. “This villain is going to escalate his efforts as quickly as he can before we become aware of his intentions.”
It just now dawns on Officer Sansa. “What?! Are you saying he’s going to attack the city again?! And soon?!”
“Possibly, but what I’m also saying is this.” Gang Orca cups his chin in thought. “If this villain has become paranoid due to us being here then they're going to try to rush their own plan. And when one is too fearful and moving with haste, they are more prone to making mistakes.”
Izuku gaps in understanding. “Oh, so you think that he’ll be in such a panic that he’ll trip himself up!”
“Exactly.”
“But we still have an issue.” comments Dholak. “We have no idea where this villain is. And I’m sure he’s not going to fall for the same trick as last time.” Basically Clancy isn’t just going to let the heroes follow a swarm of bugs back to their hideout.
Gang Orca rises from his seat. “Then we’ll implement the oldest tactic of being a hero.” He marches for the door as Dholak pushes himself away from the table too.
Izuku however is a bit lost. “And that is?”
“Gear up, shrimp.” Gang Orca’s red eyes shine back at the boy. “We’re going on patrol.”
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
And so they do, the members of Gang Orca’s agency go ahead and drake separate sections of the city to patrol. Gang Orca in the North, Dholak the South, and Izuku in the East. Plus the police are out in force scouring the entire city while making sure the citizens remain indoors just in case Clancy gets ahead of himself and attacks, they also lock down the city just in case he tries to make a run for it.
They all search with do vigilance a harsh silent tension has fallen over the city like everyone’s bracing themselves for the inevitable explosion of chaos.
Hopefully someone will report something about the villain’s whereabouts, with a whole city searching there can't be too many places for him to hide. Then again, he did avoid detection for nearly a week before the heroes arrived.
Speaking of heroes or rather hero course students, Izuku is out on his Hoverboard flying through the city buildings keeping his eyes peeled to the ground and the sky for any signs of Clancy. Nothing can be overlooked from a discarded hoodie to a single fly harmlessly buzzing by.
Izuku wipes the sweat off his brow. He could do without this heat though; this Urban Heat Effect is real and it sure does suck.
As the greenette tries to bear with the heat he allows his mind to wonder back to his encounter with the villain. Specifically that weird canister he had and that ooze inside it. Why did Clancy think it would kill him? All because he thought Izuku was human? Buy why? And heck, where’d he even get a hold of stuff like that?!
Maybe if Izuku thinks back and resteps everything he saw and heard. There was that strange smell, there was trash, there were bugs, there was….
‘Ahh!! This is so infuriating!’ Izuku grips his head in frustration. ‘Come on universe just toss me a bone!’
*Clank!*
Izuku brings the hoverboard to a stop and peers down into the narrow alley below to see what could have caused such a loud noise. And apparently it was a rat, like a giant rat, a rat that walks…on two legs?
Izuku watches as the bipedal rat snacthes something right out of the trash can and pockets it for later. The rat is wearing an orange jacket and it’s got a mane of black quills on the back of his head.
“Why do I feel like I’ve seen them before…” Izuku cups his chin as he tries to think back… And then it hits him!
##########(Flashback to Ch.8)#########
“This is one of the biggest rats in all of Musutafu, both in the literal and metaphorical sense of the word.” Izuku is unsure what they mean. “He’s a con artist.” Thirteen explains.
Argit interrupts, feeling somewhat offended. “I prefer the term entrepreneur.”
Thirteen gives the rodent a nasty glare.
Argit appropriately takes a few steps back, airing on the side of caution. “Hey come on, now. I mean a rat’s gotta make a living, you know?”
The Plumber’s glare intensifies tenfold.
Ochaco decides to risk her well-being by speaking up. “I don’t mean to step on your toes, Thirteen, but shouldn't you arrest him.”
Argit gulps but he keeps his composure despite the situation. “He…” He pauses. “she…um, they wouldn’t dare, not without good cause, plus I am following Intergalactic law, because my…” He pauses to think. “business dealings in no way compromise the wellbeing of my fellow space travelers.”
Thirteen’s glare somehow becomes even more terrifying.
Argit sighs in defeat. “I’m also a part time snitch and informant for the Red Spot.” He gestures towards Thirteen.
########(End Flashback)#######
‘But why is he here?’ Izuku eyes the rat-alien warily for a moment before something else pops into his mind.
When Clancy poured that toxin on Big Chill, he said something: Clancy’s harden and furious scowl returns. “That damn rat!!” He slams the canister down, smashing it apart and the last of the liquid spills out onto the floorboards. “He lied to us!”
Izuku’s eyes pop wide open. ‘No it can’t be…but…you never know.’ And so he slowly begins to descend towards the oblivious alien hustler. “I know you, don’t I?”
Argit kicks over a can as he scrambles away in fright. “Wah?!” He grips his chest, his heart pounding from being startled, but he calms down and a look of annoyance grows on his face as he eyes Izuku. “Oh, it’s you.”
The intern folds his arms as he stands atop his hoverboard. “So, we have met.”
“Yeah, at Mr. Baumann's place.”
“That’s right!” Izuku nods before giving Argit a suspicious look. “And if I remember correctly, Thirteen didn’t have such kind words about you.”
“And I take offense to that!” snaps Argit.
“S-sorry.” Izuku fiddles with his fingers nervously. “But I was kinda hoping you could help me.”
“Help…you?” Argit shakes his head waving his hand in denial. “Nah, uh, no way pal. I don’t help Red Spots.” He turns to walk away, his back to Izuku. “Or heroes for that matter.” And so he walks away all definitely like that’s the final word.
“Wait! What do you know about the bug villain?”
Argit pauses, his eyes going wide before they smoothly become more placid. “Who?”
“You know the villain that’s been attacking this city!”
Argit thinks on it and then a light smirk appears on his face and his snout twitches as if it can actually sniff out a quick buck. “I…may have heard a few rumors.” If he plays this right, he just might swindle this snot-nosed brat right out of his allowance. “What is it you want to know, exactly?”
“The villain, they had this…canister of poison or something.”
With his back still to Izuku, Argit’s ears shoot up in surprise and he practically has to pull them down in order to look as calm and innocent as possible. “Eh, uh, yeah sorry, hehe. But I don’t think I know enough to help.” And with a smile that’s far from genuine Argit quickly tries to walk away.
Izuku frowns, he knows a lie when he hears one after all he was friends with Henzu. Not to mention he, regrettably, lied to his own mother just to keep her from worrying about him.
“Hang on!” Izuku’s hoverboard races forward, intercepting the rat’s path.
Argit scrambles back as Izuku nearly runs him over. “Hey, what’re you doing?!”
Izuku, harnessing his inner Gang Orca, stands tall, his breathing low, and his piercing gaze fixed on the lowlife if this is going to work then he needs to be as intimidating as possible.
And it, miraculously works, if Argit’s cowering hunched over form is anything to go by.
“You do know something don’t you?”
“What?!” Argit tries to play it coy. “Me?! Why I would never work with a fella like him, alright?”
“Who said they were a him?”
“Excuse me?”
“I never said the villain’s gender, but you did.”
Argit’s blood goes cold. “Wait, wait, wait, come on now I was just being general about it. You know?”
Izuku’s gaze hardens. “Come on, you know more than you’re letting on.”
It seems that Izuku’s intimidation has worn off, because Argit has gone from scared to annoyed. “Alright, maybe I do but what’s it to ya?”
“What matters is this city and the people who live in it?!”
Argit scoffs. “So?”
Izuku is adequately starting to get frustrated with this guy, he sort-of reminds him of Henzu in a way. He’s got that shifty con artist feel to him.
“So, you’re going to tell me all that you know!” Izuku holds his narrowed glare, leaning forward and standing as tall as he can as he holds his steely gaze.
But Argit is having none of it looking rather calm and unafraid.
Izuku holds his glare for another moment, and another, and another, and another…but Argit never breaks.
But then… Argit’s quills spring up on his head and Izuku jumps away, startled by the sudden action only to realize that he was the one to break under the pressure.
Argit deadpans. “You’ve never done this before, huh?”
Izuku goes red from embarrassment, for his first attempt at an interrogation it did not go over too well did it? “Look, this guy…he’s up to something. Something that may…hurt hundreds of people, of humans!”
“So? Why should I care about humans I mean…” Argit gestures to himself, after all he’s not exactly human.
“Come on, please you have to help!” Izuku is practically begging at this point as he jumps down from his hoverboard and stows it away. “This guy can control legions of bugs and with that strange toxin there’s no doubt he’s going to cause some major harm! He can’t be allowed to do this, it’s not right! We need to stop him before it’s too late otherwise…we’re all done for.” His breath is heavy after delivering such a tirade.
He looks at Argit expectantly like he’s going to give in to his please. And Argit, for his part, actually looks like he’s considering Izuku’s words! Maybe, just maybe he appealed to his better nature.
Izuku offers up his hand in friendship. “So, what do you say? Will you help me?”
Argit looks between the hand to its owner. “Nope.”
…
“What?”
“I said, no.”
Izuku’s mind is still processing.
Argit backs away in annoyance. “Look, kid you seem nice, so I’ll level with ya. There’s no benefit for me to help you. Plus you can’t actually do anything to me.”
“Huh?”
“Yeah, if you turn me in to that overgrown fish of a hero I may just…let somethings slip.” His eyebrows bounce up and down as if to suggest something…nefarious. “You never know a rat like me just might let a few…sensitive things slip out.” A sly smirk crawls its way onto the rat’s face as his threat reaches Izuku’s ear.
The space cadet is in absolute shock and awe just from Argit’s not-so subtle threat. “You wouldn’t dare…”
Argit’s smirk grows, glad the boy is getting the picture. “I would.” As long as it’s to his benefit Argit could care less about who he hurts, he’d even sell his own mother if it meant a few more bucks in his wallet.
“But the Plumbers-”
“Don’t have any reason to arrest me.” Argit waves this concern off like it’s nothing, and in a way it’s true he may be breaking Japan laws but not intergalactic laws, meaning if the Plumbers out him then they’ll out themselves. “Sorry kid but I’ve been at this way longer than you have. After all, why do you think I’m still walking about without a single Plumber in sight?”
Izuku can’t believe this! How!? How can this rat just be so cold?!
“So why don’t you just…head on out on your little hall monitor duty?” Argit shews Izuku away with a cocky grin. “I’m sure you’ll catch this guy all on your own…or not.” And with that Argit strolls right past Izuku without a care in the world.
Izuku’s hair cast a dark shadow over his eyes as the air around him becomes rather ominous. “So, you’re not going to cooperate?”
Argit stops. “That’s the idea.”
Fine, Izuku’s done with this anyway. And so he lifts up his wrist and goes ahead and dials up an alien.
Argit, having seen the kid in action, panics. “What are you doing?!”
Izuku stops turning the Omnitrix faceplate and raises his hand right above it. “This.” He just lets his hand drop right onto the dial and a blinding light floods the alley.
What happens after the light fades away could be considered both hilarious and/or disgusting to those who have the chance to witness this.
“Hey, put me down you big palooka!”
Four Arms stomps forward and pulls the gangling Argit up higher by his tail. “Alright, since you asked so nicely.”
“Hey!” Argit shouts as Four Arms drops him right into an open dumpster that’s nearly filled to the brim with trash bags and garbage. “Wait-”
Four Arms slams the dumpster shut, his fingers curl around the lid and with his mighty grip he crushes the lid shut, locking the alien inside.
Argit desperately bangs on the lid, he may be a rat but even his nose can’t take the stench of… Oh, god is that garbage bag filled with diapers?! “Hey, let me out of here you bastard!”
Four Arms keeps his hand locked on the lid. “Not until you tell me what I want.”
“Go rot in a gutter!”
“Alright, just remember I tried being nice.” Four Arms bends down, below the dumpster.
“Woah, woah!” Argit freaks out as the dumpster is lifted into the air. “What are you doing?”
When Four Arms has a good grip on the bottom of the dumpster does, he responds. “Just so you know I am sorry about this.”
“Sorry about-Wahhh!!”
Like a kid testing a present before Christmas, Four Arms rapidly shakes the dumpster throwing Argit around inside.
“Stop! Stop it!” screams Argit as his quills and claws tear into the garbage bags. “Gwahh!! Uh, gross!
“Not until you spill it!” Four Arms tosses the dumpster up into the air.
“Ayiii!” Argit screams all the while even as Four Arms catches it on its way down. “Bleh, keep this up and I’ll end up spilling my lunch…”
“Just tell me!”
Argit kicks the side of the dumpster. “I can’t, if I rat out my clients then that’s bad for business!”
Four Arms deadpans as he shakes the dumpster again.
“A-a-alright, I-I’ll t-talk I’ll talk!!”
Four Arms grins before he drops the dumpster with a loud clang. He slips his fingers into the lid and tears the dumpster open to reveal a garbage covered Argit, who’s stench could rival that of Stinkfly’s.
Argit scrambles out of the dumpster, plopping down onto the ground, as he pants heavily catching his breath.
Four Arms kneels down. “So, is there something you’d like to tell me?”
Argit nods as he sits up. “I gave Clancy the canister.” he admits with much disdain.
“Where’d you get it from.”
“The chemical factory.”
“What?”
“Uh!” Argit rolls his eyes as he pushes himself onto his feet, dusting his jacket of any garbage. “That “toxin” was nothing, but a canister of chemicals slapped together. I got them from that chemical factory on the west side of town.”
Four Arms raises an eyebrow. “Got it? You mean bought it right?”
“Uh…sure let’s go with that.”
Four Arms glares.
“Hey as far as you know that’s the truth.”
Four Arms goes ahead and moves on. “What’s Clancy planning?”
“Beats me. Eiii!” Argit flinches, covering his head as Four Arm raises his fist at him. “I’m being honest!”
Four Arms lowers his fist.
“Look, man, if it means I’m getting paid then I don’t ask questions.”
Four Arms frowns but he doesn’t question it, Argit seems like the type to take the cash and run. “What can you tell me about the toxin?”
“Not much… “ As Argit thinks his eyes go wide with worry as he stares up at the transformed human before averting his gaze. “Well…” His voice falls away and he goes suspiciously quiet.
Four Arms eggs him on. “Well what?”
Target nervously pulls on his collar. “I do remember one thing about the toxin.” He gulps before giving Four Arms a sheepish smile. “It’s apparently very deadly to…humans.”
And just like that, Four Arms remembers the last thing Clancy said about the toxin: “This toxin should have exterminated you and any other humans!” Not only that he also said the following: “And so we will exterminate all humans.”
With the pieces in place Four Arms sprints away so quickly he could possible keep up with XLR8, but that could just be an exaggeration.
Argit blinks a couple times before realizing the interrogation was over. “Hey where are you going?!”
“To get help!” shouts the panicked Four Arms as he grips his phone and dials away for Gang Orca.
Argit watches on as Four Arms leaps up into the air as he heads for the west side of the city. “Man, Uuichi was right. That guy is a pain.” Argit makes a mental note for himself not to get any more involved with that kid, he’s just a magnet for trouble.
Back with Four Arms, the red muscled alien continues to hop from building top to building top as he waits for Gang Orca to pick up.
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
Gang Orca steps out of the Rolls-Royce Phantom. “This better be the place.”
“It’s gotta be.” responds Izuku from atop his hoverboard.
After he arrived, he had to wait for Gang Orca, Dholak, and Officer Sansa to arrive and in that time, he actually clocked out and transformed back into human. And so here they are standing at the gate of a giant chemical plant. The whole place seems to be locked up tight and empty, which makes sense since the rest of the police have the entire city on lockdown. Speaking of police, they couldn’t afford to send any back up instead they’re all remaining within the city to patrol the streets and keep people indoors.
Dholak raises a suspicious eyebrow at the boy. “How’d you come by this anyway?”
A bit of nervous sweat forms on Izuku’s brow as he looks away. “Um, a little rat told me.”
“A rat?”
“Yes…”
“Never mind that.” Gang Marches forward, gripping the locked gate, with his sharp claws he rips right through the padded lock before swinging the gate open. “If the villain’s heading here then we best be prepared to take him on at all costs.” Gang Orca turns and peers over at the only officer present. “Officer Sansa?”
“Of course.” Somehow the two of them had a silent conversation, before Officer Sansa turns to address the intern. “Midoriya.”
Izuku fidgets in place. “Yes?!”
Gang Orca turns to him too. “I hereby give you permission to use your Quirk against the villain.”
“What?” Izuku looks between Gang Orca and Officer Sansa. “But what about the law?” They talked about it earlier!
Officer Sansa waves it off. “The law states that those without proper licensing are forbidden to use their Quirks in public, however, there are exceptions to that rule or rather there are loopholes.”
Izuku blinks not sure how he feels to hear that some laws have loopholes.
Officer Sansa continues. “Your status as a hero course student of U.A. grants you some leeway to this rule. However there is a condition you must have permission from your school or guardian to use your Quirk in a public setting.”
Gang Orca gestures to himself. “Since you are currently under my tutelage, I can grant you that permission.”
Izuku tilts his head. “So, does that mean?”
The killer whale nods. “Yes, if the need shall arise you will be allowed to use your Quirk without any restrictions.”
Izuku straightens up: a part of him wants to be excited that he has permission to fully use his Quirk but the other wants to make sure he doesn’t overdo it.
“Keep in mind, you are still a student as such fighting the villain should be your last resort not your first. Is that understood?”
“Yes.”
“Good.” Gang Orca turns towards the factory. “In truth, this is no time to be giving lessons or rousing speech. Thousands of people’s lives are on the line all because of one villain. We will not stand for it. We. Will. Devour. That. VILLAIN!!!” Like a feral beast on the loose, Gang Orca charges forward for the entrance and it doesn’t take long for the others to follow suit.
Gang Orca basically smashes his way right through the large tin-like garage doors leaving a gaping hole in his wake that’s wide enough for the other three to step through.
The factory is huge with a wide-open space filled with all sorts of machinery, pipes, and hanging lights with even a few catwalks above for the scientists to observe all the going ons from above. But this is only the first area of the chemical plant surely there’s more to it than this.
But none of that matters because right there sneaking his way through the room is the villain!
Clancy just stares at surprise at the intruders, clearly, he wasn’t expecting them so soon after he himself just got here.
“Rahhhh!!!!” Gang Orca releases a high frequency sonic pulse right at the villain.
“Damn, humans!!” Clancy braces himself as seemingly out of nowhere a swarm of cicadas intercept the sonic screech.
Their combined chirps and buzzing are just enough to dampen the impact of the soundwaves, their own proving to be a good interrupter.
“You damn, bug!” Gang Orca scowls, now truly understanding how the villain used the cicadas to avoid his detection.
“Clancy!” Officer Sansa aims his pistol right at said villain. “You are under arrest for terrorism, illegal Quirk use, and destruction of property!”
“He…he…hehe. Hahaha. Hahahaha!” Clancy howls into a fit of laughter as the cicadas buzz around him, protecting him.
A shiver runs down Izuku’s spine. “Why is he laughing?!” Seriously, that’s just so wrong. Why would a villain be laughing at their own defeat?!
Dholak is just as creeped out. “Something tells me we're about to find out.”
Clancy catches his breath and grins at the heroes. “Surrender? We don’t know the meaning of the word.”
“Then please.” Gang Orca readies his claws. “Allow us to teach you.”
Clancy’s grin falls away to a nasty scowl as the cicada swirl around his frame.
Gang Orca leans forward, Officer Sansa steadies his gun, Dholak raises his pincers, and even Izuku grips his Omnitrix as they all square off waiting for someone to make the first move.
“Enough of this!! Yaa!” Dholak launches his lance-like legs forward.
Clancy ducks down just in time for the extended legs to attack to impale themselves into the wall behind him.
Izuku’s nose twitches for a moment. ‘It’s that smell.’ It’s that rotting onion smell again.
Before he can say anything, a massive wave of flying insects crash through the upper windows, flowing the entire space quickly as they infest the whole facility.
Gang Orca blasts away regenerating sonic wave after sonic wave to ward off the encroaching swarm but he might as well be fighting fog because the swarm easily and rapidly replace their numbers.
Dholak isn’t doing any better spinning around and using his extended limbs as sort-of fans to swat away the swarm.
Sansa seems to be a little more effective with his smoke grenades and flashbangs warding off the insects.
As for Izuku, well he’s flying up above on his hoverboard, evading strikes from the flooding swarm, swatting bugs that get too close, and avoiding obstacles like the hanging lights, catwalk, and pipes. Even as he soars above avoiding the swarm, he still manages to survey the situation: he can see Dholak swatting and swinging away at the bugs, he can hear Officer Sansa’s flashbangs, and gaps in the swarm burst forth thanks to Gang Orca’s soundwaves.
But more importantly Izuku spots Clancy running towards a large open passage at the end of the vast room. “Clancy’s heading for the lab!!”
Dholak breaks free of the swarm just enough to spot Clancy too. “Well go after him, dumbass!”
“Right!”
They burst forward after the villain, and soon both officer Sansa and Gang orca break out of the swarm too but they’re far behind them.
Clancy makes it through but as he goes red light flares up at the top of the entrance and a large metal wall slowly descends downward.
Izuku and Dholak speed up, Izuku leaning forward on his hoverboard makes it through and with a quick launch from his extended legs Dholak makes it though as the descending wall makes it half-way.
But by the time Gang Orca and Officer Sansa arrive…it’s too late as the passage has been completely closed off to them.
Gang Orca slams his fist against the barricade, but it doesn’t so much as leave a dent.
Officer Sansa is starting to panic as the massive waving swarm approaches them. “What do we do?!” He fires his gun at the swarm but like one would expect it didn't do a damn thing.
One portion of the swarm race forward right for the officer but Gang orca steps in the way, releasing a sonic shield that propels the insects away.
“Stay close to me.” He releases another sonic shield before more insects could get to them.
“What about the others?”
“Don’t worry about them.” SKREEE! Another sonic shield. “For now we should just focus on ourselves.”
Officer Sansa grips his last two flash grenades. “Right.”
Meanwhile, from inside the passageway Izuku's pounding his fist against the iron barricade. “Boss!”
Dholak peels Izuku away from the wall. “Let’s go kid!”
“But the boss and Officer Sansa!”
“Are On their own. Come on!”
Izuku is hesitant, looking back at the iron wall. “But-”
“If we stop the villain then we save them. Besides, the boss is more than capable of taking care of a few pests.” If anything they should be more concerned about themselves.
Izuku bits his lip. “You’re right.”
“Duh.”
And so they both take off, racing down the long passageway. After nearly a minute of running they can see light pouring in from the exit.
“He’s got to be there!” yells out the greenette, slowing down to make sure he arrives with his fellow sidekick.
That was his mistake as another iron gate begins to descend down, threatening to block the exit.
“It’s closing!”
“Hurry it up!!” Dholak’s kicks into high gear but even if he somehow reaches a new top speed neither of them will make it.
Dholak wraps his extended limb around Izuku’s waist.
“What are you doing?!”
“Get going, shrimp!” Dholak pulls Izuku back away from his hoverboard, he spins around, and with a mighty swing his extended-leg he slingshots Izuku forward and through the doorway.
Izuku slides across the ground before coming to a stop, his eyes wide in surprise as Dholak stops running, seeing no point since he won’t make it.
“Go squash that bug, kid.”
And like that the passageway shuts closed leaving Izuku to deal with the villain by himself once again.
Izuku gets up and has a look around. He appears to be in a plastic outlined room probably meant for those that work here to put on hazmat suits and get decontaminated.
Figuring his own suit is good enough, Izuku brushes past the plastic door to find himself in another large space.
The place is cold and dark with rows and rows of giant vats probably storing all sorts of chemicals and toxins, with a catwalk that stretches over them all. Heavy machinery and equipment in the walls and a maze of pipes run in every which way from the ground, walls, and ceiling.
“You again?!” Clancy’s voice echoes through the chemical lab as he hides away in the shadows. “How’d you find me?”
“The smell.” Izuku spots the stairs leading up to the catwalk. “Pretty hard to miss.” Seriously, that rotten onion smell is distinct.
“You should take this more seriously, hero.”
Izuku steps onto the catwalk, moving warily since Clancy can decide to attack at any given moment. “And you need to calm down. Can we talk about this?”
“NO!!!”
Izuku scans everything trying to look for any sign about the villain’s whereabouts. “Why not? I mean what are you even trying to accomplish here? All you’re doing is sewing chaos!” Maybe if he can get this guy to talk, he can maybe talk him out of this or at least buy some time for Gang Orca and the others to catch up.
“Hahahaha! Is that all you think? No, I was giving the foul humans of this city a warning. Which is more than they deserve” There’s venom dripping from Clancy’s voice like he has some sort of personal vendetta against everyone.
“A warning?” Izuku is getting frantic looking and looking for the villain. “What exactly are you planning?!”
“Tell us human? What do you feel when you step on a bug?”
That’s an odd question.
“Does it make you feel superior? Strong? Invincible? Tell me.”
Izuku gives in and shouts out. “What are you getting at?!”
“Humans are selfish, greedy, and vile! They only care for themselves without any care for the harm they cause to others. They step all over each other, hoping to get what?! Money? Recognition?! Power?! They poison everything! Destroying lives, people, and everything they touch!!”
Izuku fearfully backs away as chirps, buzzing, and the beating of tiny wings echo from every direction.
“But we understand.” The hidden bugs chirp and beat their wings in response to their master. “We know what’s like to be stepped on by humans, to be pushed out and tormented by humans, so much so that they resort to eliminating us from the world!!”
The hidden swarm buzzing explode and echo all around Izuku who’s frantically searching and searching becoming delirious and panicky as it finally sets in how far this guy just might be willing to go.
And then the buzzing stops, Izuku stops all because of the villain. Clancy is standing just down the catwalk, out in the open without a hint of fear for his safety, standing beside a control panel.
“So, we’ll eliminate them from this world first.” Clancy places a hand on the control panel.
Izuku eyes him warily. “What…what are you…?”
Clancy smirks. “This factory manufactures all sorts of chemicals and compounds, but these vats are specifically considered highly toxic for humans.”
Izuku peers down at the open vats below and there are just pools and pools of the same green toxin Clancy poured on Big Chill earlier.
“Now imagine it. A high concentrate of toxins fumigating this entire city!! Exterminating every filthy human in it!!”
“You can’t do this?!” Izuku does his best to keep his voice from sounding too scared and squeaky. “Besides your…your plan won’t even work! I mean it didn’t work on me!” Maybe if Izuku can, he can get Clancy to trip up to make him second guess his choices right now.
“That was a surprise but there are other ways to deal with those like you.”
The hidden swarm of bugs echo out from the shadows and a few hornets zip by past Izuku’s hair as if to give him their personal points.
“Our plan is flawless.” Clancy grins as he grips a lever on the control panel and gives it a pull.
*Vrrrrr.*
Foldable tins lower down into each of the chemical vats and begin vacuuming up all of the toxins.
Izuku follows the piping until his eyes land on a giant cylindrical machine at the end of the lab.
Clancy goes ahead and explains. “That there is a grade A gasifier, basically it converts any liquid chemical into a gas.”
“Gas…” It feels like the world has stopped as Izuku finally gets Clancy’s plan of action
He’s going to fumigate the entire city and with the Urban Heat Effect trapping any and all fumes the toxic gas will only spread and remain in the city! For how long doesn’t matter because it’ll be long enough to kill everyone!
“You…can’t…you’ll be…killing everyone…”
Clancy smirks as he picks up an old looking gas mask from his hoodie; the gas mask has big insect-like eye holes and the mouthpiece looks like oddly-shaped mandibles of a bug. “That’s the idea.” He tucks the mask over his head giving him a more bug-like look.
Okay, it’s time for the last resort. “Well I have an idea, too.” Izuku dials up the Omnitrix and disappears in green light. “I’m going to stop you!” Stinkfly’s wing beat behind him in a threatening manner and his stinger raised up at the ready.
Clancy glares through the large bug-like lens. “We won’t allow that.”
And like a plague on Egypt the massive swarm of insects flood out from their hiding places, swirling around Clancy like a massive swirling veil before charging right for the alien.
Stinkfly takes off into the air and just in time for the swarm to crash and bounce off the very spot he was occupying, chasing after him as he rises up into the air.
The swarm chase Stinkfly through the facility, they flood past pipes like a stream washing around a log, they swerve around the vats, the circle and swirl the catwalk as Stinkfly tries all he can to lose them but they continuously stay right on his tail even getting so close at times that his tail actually gets bite and stung a few times.
‘Come on, what did Thirteen say about this guy again?’ Stinkfly thinks back to the explanation he got from Thirteen earlier, after he first encountered Clancy.
Stinkfly is apparently a Lepidopterran, they produce a foul odor thanks to a bodily produced oil, they aren’t exactly the strongest, and grossly enough they spit out goop from their eyestalks! But Stinkfly does have a pretty big stinger, a very durable and sharp stinger.
And so Stinkfly flies up, close to the ceiling of the roof and just as he had hopped the swarm follows right behind like a massive smoke cloud. With his targets in range, Stinkfly spins and with expert timing his stinger slashes right through a large pipe, a water pipe, the sprinkler system pipe.
As planned water gushes out like a waterfall, dowsing the incoming insects who were unfortunately moving too quickly to evade the deluge. Thus giving Stinkfly a much-needed lead to circle back towards Clancy.
Circling back around Stinkfly quickly dive bombs the villain. “In coming!”
He zooms right over Clancy who dives down to avoid being taken out.
He growls back up at the creature as it circles around for another go. “Buzz off!”
Stinkfly grin, flashing his misshapen teeth. “Hehehe! Good one!”
He dive bombs again but Clancy jumps away just in the nick of time. Stinkfly circles around again but this time he stops midair, takes a breath in and releases a barrage of slime right out of his eyes.
The slime rains down in a line like bullets but Clancy grips the side of the catwalk and jumps off right onto the side of a vat before sliding down before taking cover behind a forklift. “You’re an insect just like us!” He sticks his head out but quickly recoils as a slime bullet nearly strikes him. “You should be on our side.”
Clancy swings his arm out as if throwing something, but he has nothing to throw, so what was the point? Stinkfly wasn't even anywhere near him.
*Sniff*
‘What’s that smell?’
Despite Stinkfly’s own well stink there’s another odor in the air too. It’s not that rotting onion smell either, it's something else…like a bowl of rose petals mixed with honey, it’s sweet and distinct.
Stinkfly circles around the forklift and Clancy, for some reason, is surprised to see him and barely has enough time to avoid another shower of slime.
Clancy takes cover behind one of the large vats. “Why hasn’t it affected you?!”
Stinkfly lands on the ceiling, crawling along it like a spider. “What are you talking about?”
“Never you mind.” Clancy scowls as he swings his hands forward and that sweet savory smell increases.
“It’s your Quirk!” All four of Stinkfly’s eyes widen in realization as the smell waffles up to him. ‘His Quirk! He’s using pheromones that explains the smell!’
That’s it! Before, back at the apartment, when he was smelling the rotten onions it wasn’t onions it was Clancy producing a pheromone that must manipulate the behaviors of insects! And since Stinkfly is so much like an insect the pheromone was much more pleasing to the smell whereas a human or any other species would find it as foul and rancid. Thank god Stinkfly is probably too intelligent (and an alien) for Clancy’s “Releaser Pheromones” Quirk not to work on him.
Before he can divulge further the soaked swarm is dry and ready for more action the massive cloud rises up and rushes for their enemy.
Stinkfly quickly goes right back to lopping around and swerving from one end of the factory to another as the insects give chase.
‘Alright, I got an idea about how his Quirk works.’ Stinkfly quickly changes directions just before colliding into a vat, thankfully some of the swarm are not as agile and crash into it before recollecting itself to continue the pursuit.
“Hehehe, Wah!!” Stinkfly gets slammed from above, apparently a small portion of the swarm diverged off and got him while he was busy laughing.
“You guys really are pests!” Stinkfly barfs up a glob of slime, dosing the insects on him and washing them away, thankfully his natural bodily oil prevents himself from being gooped by his own slime.
“No!” Clancy roars out in anguish as Stinkfly lands right in his path. “You think you’ve won? Not yet.”
Clancy uses his Releaser Pheromones Quirk, evident by an increase in that sweet odor. What’s left of the swarm soon arrives but not just them but a whole armory of cockroaches scurry out from their hiding places. But they don’t attack, no what they do is by far so much worse. All the wasps, roaches, cicadas, and just everything else encroach on Clancy himself. Shrouding him in a mass of bugs. The shroud of disgusting bugs lift Clancy up and become a sort of full body cloak covering him completely from his head all the way to his feet, even lifting him up to make an even taller form.
Stinkfly grips his mouth to prevent him from puking as he backs away. “Okay, even I think that’s nasty…”
“We’ll destroy you!!” Clancy’s voice screams out from within the cloak of living insects as the giant mass lashes out at him, swinging its representation of an arm at the alien as to swat him like a lowly bug.
Stinkfly’s limber legs and nimble wings allow him to leap back just in the nick of time. As he flies up Stinkfly releases bullets of slime at the collected swarm and it works, the whole right arm gets gooped and droops away as the helpless insects all get stuck and or drown. But soon more roaches and insects arrive from elsewhere and quickly replace the lost limb of the bug cloak.
The regenerated cloak of insects takes a swing at the pesky hero who shifts to the side to avoid the strike before diving straight for the center of the mass where the insects are probably keeping their king. With his stinger thrusted forward Stinkfly crashes right into the center of the swarm, slamming with a hard crash as bugs go flying all around him either in pieces as he hopefully rams into the villain. But it was all for not, as the mass washes down and cascades over Stinkfly pulling him down and pinning him onto the hard ground.
Clancy’s head pulse free of the crawling, buzzing cloak as his unwilling underlings pin the alien down. “It’s over for you, fly.”
The Lepidopterran scowls up at the bug villain. “Not a fly, Stinkfly!”
With a quick inhale of breath, Stinkfly’s cheeks puff out and his eyes tighten giving him the look of someone trying to use the bathroom.
Clancy raises an eyebrow, but he soon has his answer as a cloud of green fumes just radiates off of the bug creature. “What is this?!”
Stinkfly grins up at him. “This is pest control.”
A string of slime shoots out of his eye smacking into Clancy’s gas mask. Now a thick rope of slime stretches from the mask to Stinkfly’s eye and so with a pull of his eyestalk the gas mask rips away, and Clancy is left exposed.
“GAHHHH!!!” Clancy gags as he falls backwards, waving his hands desperately at his face to get rid of the awful green gas. “That’s terrible!! It’s like a skunk dropped one in a sewage plant that’s on fire!!” There are tears in his eyes as he gags and tries in vain to plug his nose.
As Clancy tries to find relief, his once massive swarm begins to disperse. The insects begin to go their separate ways, washing away and becoming nothing but specs as they all go back to whence, they came, exiting through the broken windows, cracks, and shadows.
As the last few roaches scurry away does Clancy realize his folly. “No come back *cough*! We-I need you!!” He grabs at his mouth he can taste the terrifyingly disgusting stretch! “What did you do?!”
Stinkfly grins down at the keeled over hobo. “I fought stink with stink. Hehehe!” ” Specifically Izuku used Stinkfly’s own natural body odor to overpower and counteract Clancy’s Releaser Pheromones Quirk.
“Why you-”
*SPLURT!*
A big glop of slime glues Clancy in place.
Stinkfly sighs, glad the fight’s all done and over with. “Finally.”
“Ha ha, you think you've won?” Despite being captured Clancy is uncharastically ecstatic. “My plan can still succeed even without my Quirk.”
Stinkfly lets out an exasperated sigh before strolling over towards the gasifier which is still humming as it continues to evaporate the toxic liquids.
Clancy’s smile falls as Stinkfly casually walks over to the gasifier. “What are you doing?”
A calm Stinkfly looks Clancy right in the eyes with the most uninterested look as he lifts a single finger and then presses the power button. The gasifier stops humming and shuts down, becoming still and silent.
“Noooo!!” Clancy howls out in anguish as all his plans fade away much like the humming of the gasifier.
Before Stinkfly could say anything remotely corny the metal barricade finally opens back and those in comes rushing in are Gang Orca, Officer Sansa, and Dholak.
Gang Orca seems fine, perhaps his thick skin and suit protected him from the stings and bites, and surprisingly Officer Sansa looks to be fine too although he’s got Gang Orca’s cape draped around him. The pro hero must have cloaked him with it to protect him.
And Dholak…he just looks antsy for a fight after being stuck in there for the whole duration of the battle.
“You guys sure took your time getting here.” Stinkfly gives them a smirk. “I already took care of our infestation problem.”
As the adults walk closer, they quickly back away, gaging, and covering their noses.
Dholak even turns a shade of sickly green! “Dude, that smell again?! Just why?!”
“Hey, this stink isn’t terrible! It just saved everyone!”
“Bleh, but what’s going to save my nostrils.”
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
It’s over, it’s all over. The villain's been defeated and so is the city-wide lockdown.
Under the setting sun, police swarm the factory and work the police line as what Izuku assumes is the whole city has shown up to get a look at their tormentor and saviors. Thankfully Officer Sansa seems more than capable in organizing everyone to keep everything orderly and controlled.
Izuku stands to the side, not sure if he should be helping in some way.
“Good work today, you really showed your stuff.”
“Thanks, boss.” Izuku shyly smiles up at Gang Orca and Dholak, still not used to such praise. “I’m just glad everything worked out.”
“Midoriya.”
Izuku blinks up at the pro hero.
Gang orca stands tall under the setting sun, the light causing their own shadows to stretch out at their sides, “You just saved an entire city, take some pride in that.”
Dholak chimes in with a wave of his hand. “Seriously, kid. No one’ll blame you for bragging a little…well okay I may but whatever”
Izuku chuckles softly, happy to see that he’s sort-of on Dholak’s good side.
“Midoriya.” Gang Orca places a hand on the young man’s shoulder. “You demonstrated the kind of hero you strive to become. But you got to accept who you are as a hero.”
Izuku’s eyebrows narrow. “What? I don’t understand.” What does he mean accept who he is as a hero? What does that even mean?
And so Gang Orca answers his question with another question. “Tell me. Who are you?”
“Huh?!”
“Answer the question.”
“Oh, I’m… Izuku Midoriya?” Okay this is weird, even for Izuku, and why does he sound like he’s questioning his own identity now?
Gang Orca’s mouth opens wide as he roars out. “Wrong!”
“What do you mean wrong?!”
Before Izuku could get a real answer out of Gang Orca a bunch of flashing lights and random questions are thrown their way.
“Gang Orca! Gang Orca!”
It seems a horde of reports have flocked to the scene, they’re all probably starved for some watchable news.
“Was it you that stopped the villain?!”
“How’d you do it?!”
“Is it true the villain was going to fumigate the city?”
“Will this affect the factory’s stocks in any way?”
Gang Orca does answer, he doesn’t speak, he doesn’t so much as blink as he marches straight towards the police line. His sheer will and presence silences the reporters who cower under his gaze.
“No, I was not the one that stopped this villain.”
One brave, or stupid, reporter speaks out. “T-then w-who did?”
“Who indeed.” Gang Orca peers back at Izuku.
Izuku suddenly becomes very shy as not only the reports are eyeing him but so is the rest of the crowd, all of them having overheard the reporters and the pro hero. The reports look expectedly for Izuku to approach and sedate their questions. But Izuku remains rooted to his spot, nervous and too scared to move forward.
Eventually Dholak gets tired of waiting and gives Izuku and good shove forward his foot to his rear end.
Izuku scowls up at him but Dholak just responds with his own look that’s a mix between annoyance and…encouragement?
So, knowing he can’t escape this Izuku begrudgery and shyly walks forward towards the awaiting masses.
As Izuku approaches, Gang Orca steps aside to allow him past, but he was more like a gate preventing the dogs of war from tearing him apart because the reporters immediately begin to fire question, after question, after question at the poor lad.
“Is it true you defeated the villain?!”
“Wait, you’re that kid from the Sports Festival, aren’t you?!”
“Which transformation did you use?!”
“What’s it like interning with Gang Orca?!”
“What-”
“ENOUGH!!!” Gang Orca’s immediately silences them all. “One Question at a time!”
He jabs a finger at one report. “You.”
The unlucky reporter nervously points at himself to which Gang orca nods in confirmation.
“Start it off easy.” That is an order, not a suggestion.
Gang Orca probably doesn’t want a kid to be overwhelmed especially by media outlets of all things. They can be a real hurdle for heroes to get through, if anything it gives Gang Orca an appreciation for underground heroes who actively avoid the press like Eraserhead.
The reporter steps forward and asks the simplest question he can muster. “Who are you?” Wow okay he went way too simple there. Come on who doesn’t know who this kid is by now? He was second in the U.A. Sports Festival! But whatever, guess Gang Orca’s presence is enough to shatter anyone’s will.
With a shaky breath, Izuku leans into the microphone. “I’m Iz-OW!” the boy scowls up at Gang Orca, who for some reason smacked him on the back of the head “What?!”
The pro doesn’t bother with a response instead he looks forward ignoring the boy.
‘What was that about?’ Izuku takes a moment to think, Gang Orca must have had a reason for hitting him but why?
Gang Orca’s previous statements flood into his mind. “But you got to accept who you are as a hero.” Wait, didn’t Gang Orca also frown when Izuku first introduced himself to Officer Sansa…yeah, he did, but why?
‘Wait…I know why.’ And so standing tall and with confidence Izuku finally answers the not-so simple question. “I’m Deku.”
And just like that the reports light up like ducks that were just fed a crumble of bred.
“Was it really you that took down the bug villain?!”
“Y-yes!” Deku’s still not used to this, even if he did expect it.
“What’s it like working for Gang Orca?!”
“Intense.”
“Which transformation did you use?”
“Stinkfly.”
“Can you show us?”
Deku’s mind fills with worry and it definitely shows but the reports could care less about that. Deku worriedly eyes the surrounding crowd, his mind replying to their reactions from last time they saw his transformation. He looks to Gang Orca and Dholak for help but neither of them are going to intervene: one’s ignoring the situation and the other’s helping out the police.
As Deku watches the two of them he does realize something else about them. Neither of them really care about how people react to their appearances. They let their actions speak for them. It’s like Gang Orca said earlier: “People will often see what they want to see due to their limited perspectives. But only through our actions can they truly come to understand who we are.”
And so with a bit of hesitation, Deku dials up the right alien and then transforms right in front of everyone’s eyes.
“Gahh!!” The reports back off as a horrible smell fills the air.
But the smell isn’t the only thing any of them have to worry about.
A woman screams from within the crowd. “Eeeek! It’s a giant bug!!”
“The villain’s loose?!”
“Everybody run!”
Stinkfly’s immediately regrets his decision as a start of possible mayhem is about to occur. Thankfully a voice of reason reins it in before it’s too late.
“EVERYBODY PLEASE!!!”
The crowd quotes down as they all turn to Officer Sansa who broke away from his duties and is now standing before them all.
“This young man just saved all of our lives today!” He marches unbothered by the stench and giant bug. “In fact this…form’s stench saved all of Geonosis City! This hero put his own life on the line for us and me for one can’t thank him enough.” Officer Sansa stands before the wide-eyed hero course student. “To the hero, Deku.” He stands at attention and salutes. “You have my thanks.”
It takes a moment for it all to sink in as Stinkfly can only stare up at the officer in disbelief, he didn’t really come here expecting to be thanked for…for real hero work, but it’s so much more than he could have expected. And it doesn't end there as slowly but surely the crowd comes around and begins to applaud and cheer away for their city’s savior.
“Deku! Deku! Deku!”
Stinkfly smiles wide as the crowd whistles and cheers his name. “T-thanks…”
Watching from afar, Dholak deadpans. “Moron, they’re supposed to be thanking you.”
As the crowd continue to chant and clap for Stinkfly, Gang Orca approaches his sidekick. “Go get the car.”
Dholak raises an eyebrow. “Aren’t we going to stay to fill out our statements and reports?”
“We can do that back at the agency. Besides we’re needed elsewhere.”
Dholak’s eyes widen as he remembers that they did in fact been requested help in another city, “Oh, right.” And so without another word Dholak strolls off to go get the car, they better hurry it’s going to get dark soon so they may not have that much time to relax.
With that out of the way Gang Orca turns his attention back on his intern. “Enjoying your time in the limelight?”
Stinkfly chuckles sheepishly. “I…don’t think I’ll ever get used to it.”
“You never know. You just might, Deku.”
The transformed Deku lights up at the sound of his codename. Almost nothing could possibly ruin this moment for him.
“Release me, humans!”
Okay, maybe one thing could.
Stinkfly and Gang Orca look over to see several police officers forcing the cuffed and somewhat slimed Clancy into the police vehicle.
“You cannot contain us! We will have our vengeance against humanity! We cannot be exterminated! We will always find a way to survive! Just you wait we’ll-”
A shot of slime plugs up Clancy’s mouth muffling him shut.
“Quiet! Your words really sting.” Stinkfly grins as he looks to Gang Orca “Get it? Stings, because he’s a bug villain and I’m…oh, never mind.”
Gang Orca frowns. “Yeah…” Maybe he should beat the puns out of the boy. Would that fix it?
The two watch as the police finally get him in and then drive off for the station. The crowd boo and cuss at Clancy as he’s driven away possibly to never be seen again.
As they watch Stinkfly’s smile fades away and his eyes drop in contemplation.
None of which goes unnoticed by Gang Orca. “Something on your mind?”
Stinkfly nods. “The things he said…it seemed like he was not just angry but…sad. Like he felt like what he was doing was right.”
“What makes you think that?”
“Because…I get it…being stepped on.” He’s been stepped on by Bakugou practically his whole life and it never got better, if anything it got worse, his old classmates were no better, and hell stepping on others was practically Henzu’s whole philosophy! “For a long time…people overlooked and “stepped” on me. All to boost their own selfish egos. So when he said all those things I actually…sympathized with him.”
Gang Orca nods, understanding more than he’s letting on. “You understand his reasoning.”
“Yeah.”
“Tragically, that's just how…humans are. We can be selfish, cruel, and unkind.”
That doesn’t make the transformed child feel any better.
“But we can also be kind, caring, and selfless.”
Okay, maybe he is onto something.
“Tragically, those hurt by others, by society, often lash out at those who’ve wrong them. They are driven to desperation by the very thing that torments them, and they sometimes have no one to turn to for help or guidance.”
“But…I could have reasoned with him!”
“Maybe you could have, but there’s something else to consider.”
“What’s that?”
“Sometimes there is no reasoning with them.”
“Huh?”
“Don’t get me wrong, it’s very professional of you to take a more peaceful route first before resorting to violence. Not even many pros would do that.”
Stinkfly frowns knowing he could probably name a few that are like that off the top of his head.
“But there are times, especially like today, where you need to step in before things get out of hand.” Gang Orca shakes his head like he’s disappointed with reality. “The tragedy is that sometimes there is no reasoning with people, if they believe what they’re doing is right, often or not opposing sides will clash… Sometimes there's just no point in changing their minds.”
It all makes sense, it really does, but it’s also a warning. There will always be does with opposing opinions and sometimes you just have to live with that fact that you can someone else won’t see eye to eye. But then…there are those that may take things too far for their own ideals. Just like what could have happened today.
And the scary part to Izuku is that there are more out there that will do whatever it takes to make their own personal ideals a reality.
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The sun has nearly vanished across the horizon, the inevitable darkness of the night slowly creeps over the bustling city as its residents take shelter for the night. But as the darkness seeps in through every back alley and dark road an air of unease is ever present. It’s deadly quiet and there’s this feeling of being watched from the shadows.
A lone figure is perched just above surveying their hunting grounds like a predator that’ll soon be on the prowl in the dead of the night. As they eye the darkening streets, a piece of the night swirls together to form a dark black void just behind the figure’s roost.
The predator spins around, his rust and dented blades at the ready as a voice echoes out from within the swirling void.
“I mean you no harm. I simply request your presence.”
The predator leans forward, ready to pounce at any given moment.
“My Master is in need of someone of your…caliber.”
Notes:
Finally! This chapter is over, and we can move on. Seriously this was meant to be a reality short chapter, but it somehow got over 80 pages of content! I even cut stuff out! Honestly, it was a bit too much for me, these last two weeks have been exhausting for me in general, but I’m hoping (praying) that the next chapter is a bit easier on me. Because
Speaking of the next chapter we will be jumping back to Ochaco Uraraka and Gran Torino because while Izuku was out on patrol with Gang Orca those two were up to their own little (hoping it’s little) adventure. So yeah, I’ve got one more original chapter before we finally get to Stain!
*See! I did keep my promise to introduce a new alien, STINKFLY!!! I love this alien and I hope he proves to be a good addition to Izuku’s roster. I think he will be.
*I have no plans to use Clancy again, I mean if I do I could. I did have more ideas for him like backstory, actually I was originally going to have him be an eco-terrorist OR he was a guy that got screwed over by a corrupt company and was forced into homelessness. But the chapter was already soooooo long by the time I could delve into any of that so I had to just cut it out completely.
*And hey did you all catch the One-One Omnitrix Documentary tie in? I told you all it took place during the internship arc!
*Also how was the SixSix scene?! I really enjoyed writing that part and I’ve been told it’s probably the best part of this chapter but please let me know your thoughts.
Chapter 34: Magical Girl Uravity
Summary:
Ochaco and Gran Torino go on their own patrol which ends up being a rather magical experince for them both.
Notes:
Alright, Alright, Alright. This will be the last original chapter before we move on to the real MHA stuff. So I really hope you guys enjoy this one.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
“Woah!! This is so exciting!” A fully costumed Ochaco Uraraka steps out of the taxicab with a fire in her heart and excitement in her voice.
Gran Torino waves the paid taxi off. “Haha! Relax will ya? Save that energy for the crooks.” He shifts his gaze to their new hunting grounds: Dathomir City.
Dathomir City if described in a single word it would be…spooky. The architecture of the buildings are a little more gothic and Victorian in design with gargoyles, dark colors, rusty light posts, old statues, cracked roads and sidewalks, and weedy yards. Giant withered trees litter almost every corner and roadside casting darker shadows on those below the wilting and broken limbs. There’s an ever-present eerie fog casted across the city, huge dark clouds hang overhead casting a shadow over the buildings, and it seems a lot of light posts are installed with red lightbulbs that dim in the fog.
Even though the city has the appeal of old-styled buildings and architecture, the city isn’t exactly rolling in money. In fact it’s seen a drop in its local economy and as such crime is a bit more prominent here. Which according to Gran Torino, makes it perfect for crime fighting.
“Alright girly!” Gran Torino grins up at his intern. “You ready for your first patrol?”
Ochaco throws her fist up into the air. “You bet!”
As she bounces in place, Gran Torino notices something new attached to the small of the girl’s back. “Hey, what’s that there?”
Ochaco blinks before realizing what he’s talking about. “Oh, this?”
She reaches behind her and unhooks the disc-shaped device from the back of her costume.
The disc kinda looks like a toy U.F.O., it’s about 9 inches in diameter, and it sort-of looks like plastic but that’s just the effect of the pink color shine. There are three ejection holes aimed in separate directions of each other with narrow passages that spiral towards the center of the disc. But just what is this little device? And what’s it for?
“It’s a new support item I…sort-of asked the Support Department to make for me a while back.”
Actually Mei Hatsume basically took it upon herself to design it, make it, and do everything else before pawning it off to Ochaco but hey it’s hers. “It’s called the Gyro-Disc!”
Gran Torino’s a bit lost here. “Gyro? Like the sandwich?”
“No!” Shaking her head, Ochaco’s cheeks turn red in embarrassment. “It’s supposed to help me fly.”
She is not at all ready for Gran Torino’s reaction. “WHAT!?!”
“Wah?!” Ochaco flinches back in fright as Gran Torino just goes off.
“You can already fly! Why in the world do you need that then?!”
It’s true he saw her flying around during her match against Bakugou and Midoriya, so why would she need some cheap piece of plastic to do so?
Ochaco sheepishly scratches the back of her head and holds the Gyro-Disc a little closer. “Well, I can’t exactly rely on One For All to propel me around. This Gyro-Disc will help me move in the air without hurting or straining myself.”
Basically she means this. Like in the Sports Festival, Ochaco can use her own Zero-Gravity to levitate herself in the air. But using One For All to move around is way too strenuous and exhausting to do. Not to mention if she loses focus, she could cause some real damage not just to herself but to those around her and property. And that’s where the Gyro-Disc comes in.
The Gyro-Disc activates when the wearer’s center of gravity changes. When it senses changes in movement and balance it activates its internal thrusts that produce a stream of air from the necessary exhausts. The device actually doesn’t need that much power since Ochaco has to be weightless to use it, it doesn’t have to use up as much force to propel her. In a way it’s a one-of a kind jetpack specifically made for Ochaco.
Gran Torino doesn’t seem all that impressed. “Sounds cheap to me.”
“It may be cheap.” Ochaco smirks and throws finger guns at the old man, trying to act sarcastic. “But it works.”
“Whatever just be sure to keep up alright.”
“Don’t you worry about me, old man.” Ochaco rehooks the U.F.O.-like device as she confidently states the following. “I doubt I’d need any help.”
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“Help!! I need help!!” Ochaco’s arms are uselessly flailing at her sides as her entire body is spiraling out of control in the air above.
The Gyro-Disc thrusters propel her in every direction with her struggling to gain control.
All the while a purse snatcher is quickly gaining ground down on the street below.
“Gran Torino help me!!”
But Gran Torino does nothing but stand there watching below with his dopey-grin and acting all senile. “My doesn’t that look fun.”
The flailing Ochaco snaps. “I know you’re faking it!”
But whatever with a heavy sigh Ochaco manages to clap her fingers together and she can feel the pull of gravity dragging her back down to Earth.
She hits a few dead branches on the way down before landing atop a bush. Before quickly springing to her feet and acting like nothing was wrong despite the leaves and twigs stuck in her hair. “Nailed it!”
Gran Torino, with his dopey-grin, claps non-sarcastically as if Ochaco really did pull off the landing.
The purse-snatcher’s still making his escape running down the mostly empty dark street the only reason Ochaco can even see him through the thick fog are the red illuminated lamp posts lining the road.
He’s too far away and her “landing” did a bit of a number on her, but even so she’s determined to see this through. ‘I got this!’
Ochaco holds her hand forward, palm open, and she grips her wrist to steady her open hand. She takes a firm stance, breathes in and then out, and focuses on what she needs to do. She allows One For All to flow naturally through her entire being but only allowing the smallest amount of excess power to be expelled from her palm. Not a lot though, she doesn’t want to destroy a building, but enough to take the criminal down. And just like yesterday, a pink sphere swirls around her open palm.
And so with brimming confidence Ochaco unleashes her newly acquired attack. “You’re not getting away!”
The pink sphere of energy basically blasts itself right out of her palm, before racing right for the back of the purse-snatcher.
“Haha!” Ochaco couldn’t be more thrilled. This is going to work! She’s going to catch her first perp as a (sort-of) official hero!
Even the purse-snatcher can sense the inevitable as the orb flies closer and closer.
But then a miracle (for the purse-snatcher) occurs. The pink orb, for some reason, floats up and away from him. Like a perpendicular curveball that goes upward instead of to the side. Flying up and up completely missing the thief altogether.
Ochaco can feel nothing but shock and despair, she totally should have had it! Why in the hell did that happen?! Was her aim off or something? Was it the wind? Maybe the thief was too far out of range? Maybe?
“Why didn’t that work?!”
The thief could care less why it didn’t work; he’s just thrilled that it did. “Hehe, stupid bi-GAH!”
“Watch your tongue!” Gran Torino scolds the thief from under his boot. “There’s a young lady present.” He decided to intervene after that spectacular failure of an attack.
Gran Torino smirks down at the thief but frowns when he notices that the freaking wimp passed out! He got knocked out by one kick to the head! Just one kick! How boring.
Gran Torino steps off the weakling. “They just don’t make crooks like they used to. Back in my day it took more than a kick to the head to bash their heads in.”
Ochaco is a bit horrified after hearing that comment. ‘He’s not being serious, is he?!’
“But one could say the same about…YOU!!!” Gran Torino nearly pokes Ochaco’s eye out with his accusing finger!
“ME!?!” Ochaco pulls away grabbing at her stinging eyes.
“Yes, you! What the hell do you call that back there?!” Specifically that weak sauce of an attack and not to mention that horrible display of flying.
Ochaco knows this but for some reason she just tries to play dumb, hoping that will somehow save her form the inevitable scolding heading her way. “W-what do you mean…?”
“You know exactly what I mean?!”
Ochaco cowers, wincing in fear as if expecting a slap on the head
“That had to be some of the worst flying I’ve ever seen!!”
Ochaco shakes her head in denial. “I-I don’t know! It’s not my fault! I’m not used to this thing yet.” She points to the Gyro-Disc on her back.
It’s way too sensitive, it keeps activating whenever Ochaco leans in any direction! It’s way too complicated to figure out!
“No excuses!!” Gran Torino takes a breath calming himself down before pinching the bridge of his nose. “Look I’ve got nothing against support gear, heck there are plenty of heroes whose whole thing is to use support items. However!” He snaps his accused finger at the hero student. “Understand this girly! A hero is not as good as their gear but rather how well they use it! Understand me?!”
And Ochaco, for some reason, answers with the most calm and deadpanned tone. “I guess.”
Gran Torino, in disbelief, face faults onto the ground. “You GUESS!?!”
“Whah! Sorry, I mean I get it! I get it! But…still…it’s just all sort of frustrating you know. I may have won the Sports Festival but…I that doesn’t mean I’m even close to the top. I still have so much more to learn, and it sometimes feels like even when I make progress there’s just another wall waiting for me.”
Gran Torino doesn’t respond; he can understand the girl’s frustration. It’s hard to feel confident when just after accomplishing so much you only end up encountering another obstacle that is even bigger and more challenging than what you’ve previously faced.
*Ping!*
Gran Torino’s attention is drawn to his phone which has an alert notification on it.
Ochaco, the ever curious, speaks up. “What’s up?”
Gran Torino flashes her the phone’s screen. “Oh, this it’s the Hero Alert System.”
“Hero Alert System?”
“Guess they haven’t covered it in class yet.” Gran Torino holds up the phone showing off an app displaying an overview of all of Japan. “The Hero Alert System is a special program that only pro heroes have access to. It grants heroes information on regional crime rates, active crime scenes, and disasters, S.O.S.s, and villain sightings. Heck you can even alter the setting to only alert you about small time action.” And it’s not just an app, the app is just a part of the system.
“Impressive.” Ochaco is truly surprised, she’s never heard of such a thing, although that may explain why certain heroes are able to report to certain crimes so quickly. “I didn’t think you’d have something like that.”
Gran Torino doesn’t take any offense. “I may be old but even I enjoy having a smartphone. But anyway lookie here.”
Ochaco leans in reading the screen. “Suspicious looking people have been spotted near the Dathomir Museum.” She raises an eyebrow at her supervisor. “Are you sure this is something?”
Gran Torino just smiles as he stuffs his phone away. “Well we won’t know until we get there. And besides you can get some more practice in with your new fancy toy there.”
Ochaco considers it because she's not too keen on being humiliated and thrown across the sky again, but that seems like a weak excuse. Plus maybe she can save some dignity if she can actually do something and stop a villain.
“Alright, let’s do it!” She’ll stop these creeps, master her Gyro-Disc, and her new move! “Besides what’s the worst that could happen?”
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A tour guide is currently leading a group of ten through the Dathomir Museum. The museum isn’t anything too grand but it’s enough to warrant tour guides apparently. Although it’s far from a welcoming atmosphere being just as dark and spooky as the rest of the city. All across the large room are ancient relics, statues, and displays showcasing ancient civilizations from all across the planet.
The elderly tour guide positions herself next to a small glass display before turning to her tour group. “And behind this impenetrable glass is the ever mysterious and recently discovered Charms of Bezel.”
The tour group leans in examining the strange ancient looking talismans. There are five circular talismans each one decorated with very exotic and unique engravings. The talismans sit across an ancient looking neckpiece, leading the group to assume they were meant to be some sort of jewelry.
“It is said that these charms grant unimaginable power to those who wield them. But that’s all we know about these artifacts. Our archaeologists have not been able to properly pinpoint where it was created or by whom. It’s proven difficult to tell what these artifacts are even made out of and we are having trouble carbon dating them.” The tour guide gets a faraway look as she begins to ask the big questions. “There’s so much we don’t know. Who made them and why? Is there a mystical power surrounding them? Are they a treasure of a long-lost civilization too advanced for us to understand?” She sighs in contempt, pushing up her glasses as she refocuses on the group. “But we can say for certain that they do not grant any…um, mystical powers of any sort.”
The lights dim and a strange ominous wind swirls through the museum as a haunting voice accompanies the cold wind. “I beg to differ.”
Every guard and visitor turns towards the ajar entrance that’s been burst open with a gale of wind. Under the flickering lights of the entrance stands a cloaked figure.
The cloaked figure steps forward and the people gasp as they see his face. The grey-skinned man is adoring a tribal like garb that’s red and black in color, with black pants, and black bandages wrapped around his legs. But the most disturbing part is the man’s face: he has a skull tattooed to his own face as if his presence wasn’t disturbing enough.
The guards spring into action jumping between this stranger and the tour group.
The cloaked figure holds forward his oddity of a staff. The staff is wooden with the adornment of a raven skull with a gold ring running through it.
The stranger slams the end of his staff down onto the earthen floor, as the slam echoes through the building red cracks break through the surface until lava spews forth and floods the nearby area.
The guards wail and scream, jumping back towards the tour group as to try and get away from the molten lava.
With them all in position, the stranger swings his staff forward and a powerful cold wind rushes over the lava, hardening it, and then slamming into the guards and the tour group knocking them away from the display case.
With nothing hindering his path, the stranger steps forward walking across the cooled and hardened lava without fear until his skull-tattooed face smiles up from his reflection from the glass display.
The stranger taps his finger against the glass, and it crumbles away into dust allowing him to reach into the display without any hindrance. “Finally, the ancient lost Charms of Bezel are rightfully mine!” He holds the Charms up in the air before draping the talismans around his neck.
The moment the talismans rest around his shoulders the engraved runes give off a soft glow like they’ve finally awakened after centuries of slumber.
The thief grins like a madman as he throws his hands out. Flames burst from his left hand and lighting cracks from his right, the dual elements burn and flash across the museum. The people scream and take cover as flames and lighting crack just above their heads.
The intruder begins to rise off the ground, levitating up as the flames and lighting thrash about, a whirlwind swirls around the museum picking up anything and everything that isn’t bolted down.
All the while the mad thief savors his newfound power. “Hahahaha!”
Despite the turbulent winds, cracking lighting, and burning flames a calm and somewhat sarcastic voice manages to pierce through all the chaos. “Well you sure look like you’re having fun.”
The thief’s smile fades away and is replaced by a scowl as he looks up towards the nearby balcony, there standing by the railing with a hand on her hip is a girl.
The girl seems to be in her late teens with long silver hair tied in a low ponytail, amethyst eyes, and her lips are purple from her favorite lipstick. She’s wearing a magenta coat with purple trims with dark purple latex pants and matching purple boots. Strapped to the side of her waist is a monstrous-looking purple bag with the zipper acting as a mouth and loose buttons as eyes.
The floating cloaked madman frowns at the sight of her. “Charmcaster. Did you take care of the security system?”
The young woman, Charmcaster, brushes her hair aside. “Of course I did, Uncle Hex. But we should probably get going before some hero shows up.”
“Watch your tongue girl!” The mad man or rather Hex snaps at the girl who for a brief moment winces in fear. “With the Charms of Bezel in my possession no hero could possibly take me on. Not even All Might!”
“Really?” Asks a very overconfident voice.
Both Hex and his niece turn towards the door to find two new party crashers,
“But are you a match for, Uravity?!” Ochaco cockily smirks up at the villains as she tries her best to look as cool and imposing as she can even with dirt and leaves stuck to her in various places because of her crash landing just a few moments ago.
Gran Torino stands nearby and is totally ready to throw down. “Something tells me he is.”
Ochaco or rather Uravity is a bit hurt by Gran Torino’s lack of support. “You’re supposed to be on my side…”
“What is this?!” Hex snaps at the heroes as he floats overhead. “How dare you approach me mortals!”
“Allow me, Uncle Hex.” Charmcaster is about to jump over the railing when her dear uncle cuts in.
“No! This is the perfect time to test my new abilities.” Hex floats forward, glaring down at the heroes with the intention of ending their lives.
Gran Torino recognizes that look and he’s more than happy to answer it. “You’re one for the dramatics aren’t ya?”
Hex scowls. “You’ll find that my abilities are far from a show, old man.”
“Old man? You’re the one that looks like a skeleton.”
Hex must have a short fuse because he swings his staff forward and from the mouth of the ornament flames burst forth.
Both Uravity and Gran Torino jump out of the way of the burning inferno. But Gran Torino not only jumps out of the way, but he speeds his way right towards the villain socking him right in the face.
Hex shakes it off as Gran Torino zips away again before he tries to blast him with a bolt of lightning that thankfully misses.
With Hex distracted, Uravity quickly gets to the terrified tour group.
“Everybody out!” She directs them along with the guards to the exit and thankfully they all make it out quickly without anyone getting harmed.
Uravity spins around to go help Gran Torino but instead she finds Charmcaster standing before her path.
Charmcaster smirks, her piercing eyes scanning the girl’s hero costume and figure. “Aren’t you a bit young to be playing hero, Little Girl?”
Uravity scowls in annoyance. “You’re not that much older than me!”
“Perhaps, but” Charmcaster flips back her silver hair and poses with a hand on her hip. “I’m for sure way more mature.”
Uravity takes that comment rather harshly, her cheeks puff out making her pout seem more adorable than intimidating as she lets out angry cute girl noises.
Charmcaster grins, more than satisfied with the effect. She opens up her purse and pulls out a handful of small capsules filled with water and then she tosses them at the upset Uravity. A pink pixiedust fumes out of her hand, enveloping the capsules, and then out from the pixiedust-cloud three large icicles race forward.
Uravity snaps out of her aggravation and hastily jumps away just before the icicles impale the spot she was occupying. “I-I s-see your point.” Suddenly Uravity’s face goes pale as reality sets in after hearing the pun that just escaped her lips. “I’ve been hanging out with Deku for too long…”
While Uravity questions her sanity, Charmcaster pulls out a silver ring and throws it like a frisbee towards the hero course student. The ring too disappears behind a cloud of pixiedust and then a giant ring about the size of a car spins like a buzzsaw out from the cloud.
Uravity swerves to the side but as she moves out of the way she grabs the ring from the inside, she spins, and tosses the giant ring right back at its owner.
Charmcaster throws her hands down and a shroud of pixiedust floods to the ground and then a massive chunk of the Earth bursts out of the ground, intercepting the giant ring and effectively stopping the attack.
Charmcaster remains behind the Earth shield as she searches her bag for more supplies. “Alright I’ll admit you’re good. But I should have figured since you won the Sports Festival.”
Uravity suddenly becomes very shy, holding her cheeks in embarrassment and awe. “You saw me?” She just won’t ever get used to being recognized and praised there’s just this sense of pride and flood of shyness every time someone brings it up.
Charmcaster smirks finding this girl’s reactions amusing. “Yeah, I did. And I know your Quirk hurts you.” She steps out from behind her shield with a pair of strange stone carvings in her hand. “And that means I know how to beat you, Little Girl.”
And with that she drops the two carvings right onto the ground, but not a thing happens.
Uravity eyes the rocks on ground before raising an eyebrow at her opponent. “Um is that it?”
Charmcaster smirks as she thrust her hands down and out from the tips of her fingers the pink and purple pixiedust rushes out and envelops the carvings like a fog machine.
As the fog of pixiedust clears away Uravity is more than surprised to find a pair of Stone Creatures growling and snarling at her.
These Stone Creatures look like a mix of dogs and golems with magenta runes glowing from the engraving across their bodies. They’re made completely out of stone but they’re alive! Moving and breathing and snarling like an animal!
Charmcaster pats one of the Stone Creatures’ heads. “Surprised?”
Yeah, Uravity is surprised. “Just what the heck is your Quirk?!”
Charmcaster lips curl up into a cocky smirk. “Who said I was using a Quirk?” She doesn’t give Uravity a chance to process her statement, because with a snap of her finger the pair of Stone Creatures attack.
Uravity leaps back as the Stone Creature slung at her with their sharp claws and massive jaws. These things may just stand below her waist but even she knows not to underestimate an opponent based on their size.
One of the Stone Creatures pounces but Uravity ducks down allowing the creature to jump over head. As it does so she grazes her fingers against its underbelly allowing Zero-Gravity to take hold.
And it does, the Stone Creature flails and tries to grab for support as its body floats up into the air acting like a small dog when someone holds it just above water.
Uravity smiles up watching the struggling creature before she hastily jumps away as the second Stone Creatures tries to take a chunk out of her leg.
The Stone Creature repositions itself, growling and snarling at Uravity who slowly backs away.
The girl’s eyes trace upward and then back down to the Stone Creature. A sly smile graces her lips as she brings her hands together. The Stone Creature is about to lung at her but then its own companion smashes into it from above. The floating Stone Creature was high enough for it to build up enough speed to smash and break both itself and its partner apart.
The smirking Uravity turns to the stunned Charmcaster who clearly wasn’t expecting her to escape her pets so easily. “Is that all you got?”
The villainess scowls before brandishing a ribbon and lashing it out at her as a cloud of pixiedust bursts out from her fingers.
While the girls fight it out, the old men are flying above throwing attack after attack at each other. As of now Hex has been blasting flamethrowers and lightning bolts at Gran Torino who’s been zipping and bouncing around the entire room like a ricocheting bullet.
“Avoiding me is futile!” Hex casts another blast of flames but they too miss. “Death is inevitable for the likes of you!”
Gran Torino latches himself to the side of the upper balcony’s railing. “I may be up in years, but I still plan on living far longer than you.” Using his Jet Quirk, he kicks off the railing and races right for Hex, aiming to strike him hard and fast.
Hex gasps before casting a spark of lightning out from his hand but something else occurs. With his opposite hand he swings his staff and the cracking lightning let’s out a humongous BOOM!!! A roaring thunder explodes out from all around Hex knocking away Gran Torino before he could land a hit!
That push back hurt, but Gran Torino repositions himself and catches himself by grabbing onto a statue. “I gotta admit that’s quite the Quirk you got there.”
Hex for some reason laughs as if Gran Torino said a joke that was just so hilarious. “Hahaha! This is not the results of a measly Quirk!” With a wave of his hand items, relics, and anything not bolted to the ground floats up levitating all around Hex’s own floating form. “This. Is. Magic!” Hex throws his hand forward and all of the floating debris rains down on the elderly hero.
Gran Torino though is more than capable in dodging each projectile, zipping between them with his Quirk. “Magic? Then how about a disappearing trick?”
Evidently, Hex doesn’t appreciate a good sense of humor. “I’ll make sure you disappear. For good.” He aims his open palm down at the hero and flames begin to flicker from his palm.
“Nothing but show.” Before Hex could even blink, he finds Gran Torino’s boot right up against his face. “But I guess for a magician that’s a good thing.”
Blam! The kick smacks Hex’s head back making the villain groan and wince in pain as he grips his possibly broken nose.
After the pain fades away a bit, the infuriated Hex roars out in an explosion of fury. “I. Am. A. Sorcerer!” Flames burst out from all around him and with a swing of his hands the flames rush forward like a wave.
The heat is so intense that even Uravity can feel it but she’s in a heated situation of her own right now. She is currently taking cover behind one of the bigger displays as Charmcaster casts magenta fireball after magenta fireball at her.
“Come on!” Charmcaster reaches into her bag and throws another capsule that, after passing through a veil of pixiedust, reappears as a flaming ball that bursts out like a firework when they slam into the display. “You’ve faced worse than this! So come on!” She throws more fireballs.
‘This is crazy!’ Uravity needs to stop this chick and help out Gran Torino out of the two of them that skull-faced creep seems to be the most dangerous so he should be their priority.
Crawling across the ground, Uravity makes her way around the large display.
When Uravity gets to the opposite side, she peeks out from the side of the display and she’s happy to see Charmcaster is so into casting fireballs that she didn't notice her target slipping away.
‘Okay make this count, Ochaco.’ Uravity takes a breath steadying herself as she aims her hand forward.
It seems to be getting easier for her to allow One For All to flow through her and after a moment the pink sphere forms over her open palm.
And then with a steady breath and a thrust of her hand, pew! The sphere goes flying right towards her intended target.
However, from the corner of her eye Charmcaster spots the pink energy coming her way and with a last-minute swerve she manages to dodge the speeding sphere.
Uravity gaps but the sphere continues its path and curves upward right towards Hex. The sphere slams into his back and bursts into a small explosion that swallows up the sorcerer. Smoke and energy flash before their eyes as Hex is blasted up into the air.
“Ahh!” Hex screams as his body slams into the ceiling before the Zero-Gravity fades away and he collapses onto the ground with a loud crash.
As he lands onto the ground one of the talismans breaks away from the neckpiece and rolls away coming to a stop by the stunned Uravity's foot.
Charmcaster gasps at the sight of her uncle. “Uncle!” And she takes off to see if he’s alright.
Uravity stands up ready to follow but as she takes a step she steps right onto the talisman. She looks down noticing the odd item and how ancient it looks. She picks it up examining the strange carvings finding it just oh so fascinating, there’s just something about it that makes it feel so familiar to her. She shakes her head; she needs to focus and so she pockets the talisman into a compartment in her belt figuring she'll return it to the museum later.
As she pockets it, she fails to notice that Charmcaster was watching her pocket the item, before she turns to her downed family member. “Uncle, are you alright?” She reaches to check his pulse.
Hex swats her hand away like one would a pesky fly. “I’m perfectly fine.” He sits up and as he does so he reaches for the Charms of Bezel around his neck, he gasps, and his eyes widen when he realizes that there’s one missing!
“You won’t be for long.”
Hex snarls up at Gran Torino who’s standing just a few feet away from the thieving family.
Uravity soon stands by his side with her fists at the ready.
Gran Torino’s smile comes off as wicked and devilish. “Now don’t go pulling a Hundi now I’d hate to mess up your pretty face.” He cracks knuckles. “And I’m not talking to the girl.”
Hex is shaking with anger, snarling and grinding his teeth, but before he can make a move the sound of police sirens reaches his ears.
And so with very little options left Hex decides now is not the time to fight. “Your time will come.” A light suddenly surrounds Hex and his niece, blinding the heroes.
When their vision returns, they find the museum empty of any thieves.
Gran Torino scowls. “Damn, I guess they did know a few vanishing acts.”
Gran Torino may just be joking but Ochaco can’t help but feel like there’s just might be some truth there. Were those two…really using magic? How else could you explain those Quirks of theirs? Heck were they even using Quirks?
She just can’t make any sense of it! Ochaco grabs at her head, she can feel a headache setting in and the loud police sirens aren’t helping matters.
As she furiously tries to figure out just what those villains’ Quirks are, she fails to remember the ancient talisman hidden away in the compartment of her belt.
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
Just outside Dathomir City, hidden away in the woods, stands a little abandoned church which thanks to the years of abandonment and abuse looks more like a place for the arcane to gather. But today it hosts some very…mystical practitioners.
“Rahhh!!!” A levitated Hex uses telekinesis to throw a table right against the creaking wall, breaking the table into millions of splinters.
Strewn across the collapsing church lies debris, burn marks, and other smashed objects. Clearly Hex has been throwing a bit of a tantrum since they had to retreat from the museum and Charmcaster has already found it a bit exhausting to watch. “Will you just calm down?”
Hex snaps his attention to her, his eyes screaming with fury making her flinch under his glare.
Hex eventually breaks his glare and floats overhead, calming himself down.
Knowing she’s in the clear, Charmcaster let’s go of the breath she was holding.
Hex soon hovers just in front of a large stained-glass window, that somehow has remained intake after all these years allowing a ray of reds, yellows, and greens to illuminate the empty church. “Excuse my…outburst. After all thanks to your folly we’ve lost hold of one of the Charms!” Hex breathes in reigning his temper. “We’ll have to return to the museum. They undoubtedly would have recovered it by now.”
Charmcaster smirks, glad she has something over her uncle. “Or maybe they haven’t.”
Hex eyes her with a hint of danger but intrigue.
“I saw that girl, the one that won the Sports Festival pocket the thing.”
Hex smirks, this may be interesting. “Did you now?”
“Yeah, I saw her pick it up.” Charmcaster’s feeling a bit more secure now. “If you’d like I can go get it. It shouldn’t be a problem for me.”
Hex turns back to the stained glass. “I beg to differ.”
“Hey, I’m more than capable! My powers are more than enough for her! Heck I’m more than enough to take you on!”
And that was a mistake and she doesn’t need her uncle's furious gaze to explain that.
Charmcaster cowers away, knowing she overstepped. “Wait, I-I didn’t mean-”
“Are you challenging me, girl?” Hex’s voice is dangerously low, and it somehow causes even more fear to run down the girl’s spine. “Are you questioning my power?”
“N-no…uncle. I didn’t mean any harm. I just thought…that I-”
Hex roars out in anger. “That is your mistake!!”
Charmcaster flinches, holding her body tight as her uncle begins to scold her.
“You are nothing but a child not yet ready to think for yourself!”
“Yes, uncle… I know…”
Hex glares at her as if trying to find any lies in her words before finally relenting. “Good.” He turns away again. “We will retrieve the Charm. And you will be sure to play your part, correctly. Is that understood?”
With her head hung low Charmcaster almost whispers her response. “Yes.”
“Very well then.” Hex floats back up to the stained window. “Pray tell what was the girl’s name again.”
“I think it was…Ochaco, Ochaco Uraraka.” Charmcaster thinks back to the girl’s entrance. “But I guess her hero name is Uravity or something.”
“Hm, that is tragic.”
“What is?”
Hex grins down at his niece as lightning cracks from his pal, the lightning discharges across the church until it inevitably cracks through the beautiful window. “She possesses a hero name, a name she won’t have the pleasure of using for very long.”
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Gran Torino wobbles his way from the police officers having just finished up his report. He spots his young student leaning against a nearby tree waiting for him no doubt. “So! What’d you think of your first patrol?”
Ochaco frowns in embarrassment. “Humiliating…”
“Haha! That’s great!”
“No it’s not!” Geez! Why can’t he ever be on her side?
“Why of course it is!” Gran Torino brushes his thumb against his nose. “Feeling defeated like you do just demonstrates how seriously you’re actually taking it.”
It takes Ochaco a few seconds to truly get what he’s saying. “I guess that’s good but it’s still bad the villains got away.”
“Yeah, that was totally your fault.” Wow, he could have shown a bit of sympathy there.
Ochaco deadpans. “You could share some of the blame.”
“Yeah, I guess I could. Haha!”
Is it bad that Ochaco feels a bit more humiliated? “But…there is something I don’t understand.”
Gran Torino mercifully stops laughing. “Oh, what’s that?”
“Those thieves they’re…Quirks were just so…unexplainable! And they kept talking about magic and stuff…” To anybody else they would just chalk it up to some kind of Quirk but Ochaco isn’t normal, she knows that aliens exist so what’s to say magic exists too?! “Do you think that maybe they…really were using magic?”
Gran Torino doesn’t respond instead that dopey-smile of his remains plastered to his face for a few moments. Soon it drags on for too long to the point that Ochaco wonders if she broke him somehow, but then he finally reacts. “Hahahaha! And they call me senile! Hahaha!”
“I’m being serious!!”
Fine he’ll give her the benefit of the doubt. “Well, I have to admit they’re Quirks were definitely on the unique side. And I definitely couldn’t give you an accurate read on what they do, even the police seem like they’re going to have a rough time identifying them.” Gran Torino peers away into the fog illuminated by the red lights of the streetlamps. “Then again the world is a far bigger place than we think, you never know just how people will surprise you.”
“Is that…a yes?”
“Ha, nope!”
Okay, she should have seen that coming.
“Who’d be dumb enough to believe in magic?! Heck, next thing you’ll say is that you believe aliens exist! Haha!”
‘They do…’ Before Ochaco could say anything, she’d regret her stomach let’s put the most obnoxious grumble it could give. ‘My poor stomach all we ate were those pastries and they definitely weren’t enough.’ A jolt of shock and despair courses through her. ‘And I don’t have enough cash on me! Oh, man and Gran Torino probably won’t offer to get me lunch. Even if I asked…’ She almost wants to cry, it’s just her luck she’d be humiliated and starved at the same time.
Unbeknownst to either of them the talisman in her belt glows dimly and almost instantly Gran Torino lights up as if an idea popped into his head. “Alright, kid. How about I show you one of the best parts of going out on patrol?”
Ochaco is a bit hesitant to respond. “Okay.”
“Great, follow me!”
After a short walk the two arrive at the local park that’s definitely seen better days. The grass lawns are littered with garbage and weeds, the trees are dark and wilted, and that darn fog is making the place even creepier than it has to be. And that cemetery nearby isn't helping matters.
But to be fair Ochaco was in for a bit of a nice surprise when they arrived. “I wasn’t expecting this.” She grips the philly cheese steak sandwich, examining its peculiar content.
“Hm hm! Tasty!” Gran Torino doesn’t even wait for her, he may have bought the sandwiches, but he’s just chowing down on his.
Ochaco gives the sandwich a sniff. “This is the best part?”
“Of course, street vendors serve the best stuff!” The old man throws a thumbs up towards said street vendor who happily waves back in appreciation.
And so Gran Torino goes right back into devouring his tasty meal.
Ochaco sniffs it again and figures it shouldn’t be that bad and so she slowly and hesitantly takes a small nibble.
The moment the cheese and meat touch her tongue her eyes light up like a Christmas tree. “This is amazing!” And like that she starts going down on the delicious sandwich like a dog tearing apart a pack of hotdogs.
Gran Torino kicks back into the bench, his legs swinging up and down. “I know right? And it’s all within a reasonable price range!”
Ochaco licks her lips clean of foodstuffs, and with stars in her eyes she holds up the sandwich. “I’ve seen the future, and it’s street vendors.”
And so they continue with their lunch enjoying the savory flavor. But as they eat, Ochaco can’t help but let her mind wander back to those villains. After talking to the police and hearing the reports of the tour group, they learned that the skull-tattooed freak is called Hex and apparently his niece, the one with the silver hair, is called Charmcaster.
And admittedly Ochaco has to admit that those are some pretty fitting names. Especially if…they’re names are literal. Were they actually casting spells and curses and that junk or were they just…lying and using some really weird Quirks?
Again she shouldn’t just write it off after all she almost wants to consider Deku’s Omnitrix as magical because how could a little device just turn someone into a different alien species?!
As she continues to think on the possibility of magic existing a cold eerie wind manages to pull her out of her own thoughts.
Ochaco peers up and she nearly chokes on her own breath as her eyes widen in surprise. “Um, G-Gran Torino.”
Gran Torino is licking his lips trying to get any more flavor off his mouth after finishing his lunch. “What is it?” He hasn’t noticed anything odd yet.
“W-We h-have company.”
Gran Torino finally notices the nervousness in the girl’s voice, and so he sits up and quickly realizes their guests.
Floating up in the air just above the tree canopy is Hex with four charms around his neck and his staff in hand.
Gran Torino jumps off the bench with a thrilled smirk on his face. “It appears we’ve got ourselves an encore.”
Hex ignores Gran Torino and instead his gaze is drawn upon Uravity’s. “You have something I want.”
Uravity tucks her helmet on, her eyes never leaving from Hex’s form. ‘What’s he talking about?’
Gran Torino however has some more taunting to do. “What’s that? You want a knuckle sandwich?” He slams his fist together while a giant toothy grin adorns his face.
Hex is really getting tired of this elder’s games. “Insolent old man.” Hex raises his staff and the charms around his neck glow. “I will send you to your grave!” Lightning bursts forth from Hex’s hand searing into the Earth like a laser as it traces its way towards the heroes.
“Look out, kid!” Grabbing Uravity’s wrist, Gran Torino pulls them both out of the crackling bolt’s path. Gran Torino throws Uravity to the side before zipping up and around to take on Hex himself but he throws Uravity a bit too hard and she ends up sliding across the dirt.
As Uravity winces and pulls her face up a purple high heeled boot strides just in front of her.
Looking up she finds Charmcaster smirking down at them. “Hey, Little Girl, are you ready for Round Two?”
Uravity springs up to her feet, raising her fists like a boxer. “Are you?”
Charmcaster grins as she whips out a long silky ribbon. Pixiedust veils around the ribbon as she whips it forward and out of the cloud a thin purple-colored chain lashes out at Uravity.
Uravity quickly jumps back but Charmcaster quickly goes after her, whipping the chain at her repeatedly forcing her to defend and jump back continuously. Uravity can see Gran Torino zipping around a very frustrated Hex who’s blasting flames at the old man, but none are hitting their mark, thankfully.
Charmcaster reaches into her bag for something, she pulls her hand out as pixiedust leaks out from between her fingers, and when she uncurls her hand a magenta fireball ignites in her palm. She throws the fireball forward and it rams into Uravity slamming her against a large withering oak tree.
With her opponent cornered, Charmcaster reels back the chain, preparing to strike Uravity with what will undoubtedly be one hard slash.
Uravity flinches away, raising her hands to protect her body as much as she can from her downed position, unbeknownst to her the talisman in her belt glows softly in its compartment.
Before Charmcaster could whip her chain forward a crow of all things flies down from the tree above, swooping down at her and swiping its talons at the girl’s face.
“Eahhh!” Charmcaster is so startled by the crow that when she lashes the chain forward it swings too far up and wraps itself around a withered hanging branch.
The crow caws and pecks at Charmcaster who’s trying to swat the thing away while still holding onto the chain. “Get away you pest!” She throws the hand holding the chain forward to punch the crow.
But she pulled too hard because the branch snaps off the tree. The thick dead branch slams into the back of Charmcaster’s head, knocking her down.
Uravity just stands there blinking into total confusion as the Charmcaster just lies there groaning and the crow mercifully flies off into the woods. ‘Huh, that was lucky I guess…’
Charmcaster groans, rubbing the back of her head, she glares up at the brunette, but her eyes widen when she spots a red and black cloaked figure hovering above them both.
Hex snarls down at Uravity. “Give me the Charm!”
Uravity leaps back in surprise, she didn’t expect to see him at all. “What are you talking about?!”
“Don’t play coy with me.” Hex aims the head of his staff at her.
Uravity fearfully raises her hands while wondering where the heck Gran Torino is. Wasn’t he handling this guy?!
“Hey, I thought I was your partner.”
Oh, there he is.
“You are infuriating!” Hex swings his staff around and a maelstrom of a whirlwind rages towards Gran Torino.
Gran Torino uses Jet to zoom away between the trees, but Hex is far from finished. He thrusts his hand forward and flames burst to life, roaring as they race towards the elderly hero. Gran Torino uses the trees as cover ricocheting off of them as Hex continues to fire flames and lighting at him.
Hex becomes more and more infuriated with each missed attack and so with a spin of his staff he slams the end of it into the ground. Almost instantly the ground shakes and rumbles as if he set off a miniature earthquake.
Gran Torino is thrown off as his feet hit the ground, Charmcaster struggles to crawl away as she too is thrown off balance, and Uravity miraculously lands on a bed of dead leaves completely cushioning her fall.
Hex strikes the end of his staff against the nearest tree. And like magic the tree’s long withered roots sprout out from the ground like tentacles. The roots lash out and wrap themselves around the pro hero, before he could regain his balance.
With his opponent immobilized, Hex levitates forward with an overconfident grin, like he knows blood is about to be spilled.
‘I’ve got to help!’ Uravity gets up and runs forward, Hex is already far away as it is if she wastes another second there’s no way any of this will end well. ‘I have to use the Gyro-Disc! It’s the only way to get to him in time!’
She kicks herself off the ground while using Zero-Gravity on herself. The Gyro-Disc instantly kicks in and a part of Uravity just knows that she’s about to be thrown all across the park, but hopefully she’ll get lucky and at least be able to distract the psychotic villain.
But wouldn’t you know it, whether by sheer dumb luck or skill she can’t be sure but she’s racing forward. Gliding over the Earth like a bullet without any signs of struggle, heck if one saw her now, they’d think she’s been flying this way all her life.
Not going to overthink it right now, Uravity reels her fist back as it begins to glow with One For All’s power.
Hex is just above Gran Torino now and he’s so distracted with his victory that he doesn’t see the face of his defeat speeding towards him. Another stroke of luck!
He does notice eventually…when Uravity’s fist collides with his face!
“Rah!!!” Hex is thrown across the park, crashing through thorn bushes and branches until he slams into a light post, bending it in place of his impact.
That impact definitely broke something and he’s pretty sure a few of his own teeth were knocked loose. So, with a shaky, possibly busted, hand he grips one of the talismans. A soft glow envelops all around him and as the light covers his body Hex can feel himself healing. And after a few short seconds he is as good as new.
But not for long.
Quickly he casts a shield of light to encircle himself just before Gran Torino slams down on top of it.
“Ha, looks like there’s still some life in ya.” Gran Torino smiles down from atop the forcefield. “And here I was thinking you were starting to run out of tricks.”
Hex snarls; he's in such a burning rage that he can’t even form words other than curses, and not the magical kind.
Charmcaster gasps at the sight of her uncle’s assault. “Uncle!”
“I got him. I actually got him!” Uravity’s leaning her elbow on a nearby tree catching her breath after that rush of adrenaline and just reveling in her success.
Uravity turns her head and takes notice of the stunned Charmcaster, who also takes notice of the intern. And she is not happy to see her at all.
Charmcaster throws out about four stone carvings that after a pixiedust bath soon become dog-sized golems.
Charmcaster stands among her snarling Stone Creatures and points a single finger forward. “Rip her to shreds!”
Uravity stands at the ready very willing to fight them off but as luck would have it one of the charging Stone Creatures somehow slips on a small puddle of all things! And as a result it collides with its packmates so hard that they all crumble away, breaking apart until they’re nothing but little clumps rolling forward and stopping near Uravity’s feet.
“No!!” Charmcaster grabs and pulls at her hair in frustration, infuriated beyond belief!
Uravity however is in much higher spirits. “Ha, seems like your pets aren’t up to snuff.”
“Be quiet! Grrr, it’s because of that charm.”
Uravity raises an eyebrow. “What the heck are you even talking about?”
Charmcaster bites her lip pulling at her hair so hard that it’s a miracle it doesn’t rip away before she lets it go and shakes her head in frustration. “I can’t tell if you’re that dumb or just playing…” She raises her hand like a feline displaying her claws as a small trail of pixiedust snakes upward. “No matter, my…magic will take care of you.”
‘There it is again…’ Uravity caught that, Charmcaster called it magic not a Quirk! Is she really using magic?! “Now I’m not sure if your dumb or just playing.”
Charmcaster gives a knowing smirk as she shakes her head. “Neither.” She throws hands up and then swings them down and a cloud of pixiedust floods onto the ground.
As the magenta fog clears away earth-crusted spikes burst out of the ground one-by-one in rapid succession and racing right towards the brunette.
Acting fast, Uravity leaps to the side just as a spike sprouts out front the ground, thankfully missing her. Wanting to put some distance between herself and her opponent Uravity takes off running, she makes it out of the trees and to the nearby road. There doesn’t seem to be any cars of people, but the thick fog could just be obscuring everything.
Either way the coast is clear so Uravity runs across the road so maybe she can lose Charmcaster and then circle around for an ambush.
It doesn’t matter because a magenta colored chain wraps around her leg and pulls her foot right from under her, causing her to fall onto the harsh cracked road.
Rolling up on her back Uravity glares up at her capturer who pulls back on the chain trying to drag the girl closer. “You can’t run, Little Girl!” She strides forward continuing to pull on the chain like she’s harpooned a massive catch.
Speaking of harpoon, Charmcaster pulls out a handful of metal filings from her purse, she raises her hand up and from within a cloud of pixiedust a sharp metal harpoon springs from out of nowhere.
Uravity shivers at the sight of the sharp harpoon knowing full well what Charmcaster’s intending to do.
Speaking of. “Looks like it’s over for you, Little Girl.” She raises up the harpoon in order to finish her off.
But luck is just not on her side.
*HONK!!!*
BLAM!!! A freaking delivery truck rams right into the poor unexpecting Charmcaster running her over like a deer in headlights!
Uravity can only watch in horror as in slow motion as Charmcaster’s broken body is flung across the road as the speeding truck zooms by and disappears into the thick fog.
Uravity, however, was not the only one to witness the tragedy.
“NO!!!” Hex roars out in anguishing rage as the forcefield around him explodes outward blasting a surprised Gran Torino away long enough for Hex to fly over so quickly that one would think he teleported.
He scowls down at his niece’s broken body lying on the cold road, she’s bleeding, and her limbs are not pointing in the right directions, and oh god is that bone?!
Hex kneels over her and places a hand to her head as he grips the talismans around his neck. A soft glow flows down from the charm, through his body, and then into the dying or possibly dead girl.
Ochaco is in such a daze from shock and horror she can only watch in stunned silence as the soft light glows around Charmcaster’s still form. And somehow even through her dazed state Ochaco watches on in shock as Charmcaster’s body magically begins to heal itself. The cuts close up not even leaving a scar, the blood seeps away, and her limbs readjust themselves.
After a few moments Hex releases his spell and after a brief second Charmcaster’s eyes blink awake.
“Are you alright, Charmcaster?” He actually sounds concerned but also annoyed.
Charmcaster coughs, sitting up and not even groaning, acting like she wasn’t just run over a second ago. “I’m…fine.”
Uravity continues to watch on, her mouth hanging open, she’s in so much shock she doesn’t even notice Gran Torino’s arrival. ‘How’d he do that?! Did he just…resurrect her or something?! That’s impossible! Just what are their Quirks?!’
Hex stands up and with a wave of his hand Charmcaster’s body floats off the ground as if being carried by an invisible stretcher.
When he’s sure she isn’t going anywhere Hex turns to the ones that dare to impose him. “This is far from over, heroes. I will have what is rightfully mine!”
A plume of smoke floods the street forcing Gran Torino and Uravity to shield their eyes. When the smoke clears both Hex and his niece are long gone.
Ochaco takes a moment to shake off her sense of shock and horror accepting the fact that she thankfully did not just witness someone dying due to a hit-and-run.
And with that out of the way she can really ask the big questions. “Just…what are they?”
Gran Torino shakes his head in complete defeat. “To be honest, I’m begging to consider that magic theory of yours.” He cups his chin before looking up at his intern. “Hm, but more importantly they think you have something they want.”
Ochaco is quick to defend herself. “But I got nothing!”
“Are you sure?”
Ochaco blinks up trying to think of anything those creeps could be talking about… It slowly dawns on her that she does have something that they might just be looking for after all. And as a result her face slowly begins to become a nervous tomato.
Gran Torino lets out an exasperated sigh at the sight of her red face. “You do have something, don’t you?”
Ochaco gulps before reaching for the compartment in her belt. “Y-Yeah, I-I picked it u-up at the m-museum.” Her face looks like it’s going to explode in embarrassment as she holds up the very talisman Hex’s been looking for. “I-I…forgot I had it.”
Gran Torino can only smack his own face in response, shaking his head in denial about the girl’s forgetfulness. “A stupid piece of jewelry. That’s what their after, seriously?”
Ochaco eyes the charm, rubbing her finger over the smooth round design and ancient yet mystic or alien looking runes. “What’d he call it again? A…Charm?”
“Yeah, I think so. The museum said something called the Charms of Bezel were taken by the Hex creep.” Gran Torino continues to rub his chin in thought. “But why are they so determined to get it?”
Ochaco nervously gulps, she starting to feel stupid asking this but she just…has to be sure. “You don’t think it’s…actually magical, do you?”
A part of Gran Torino wants to laugh, and another part of him wants to smack the girl upside the head, but…right now even he can’t rule out that possibility not after witnessing…a resurrection. “Doubt it, but…at least now we have some sort of an advantage.”
Ochaco is a bit lost here now. “What?”
And just like that Gran Torino is back to being his confident self, giving her a condescending smirk. “Don’t you worry about it. Just relax for a bit. I gotta talk to the police for a second.”
He waves her off as he waits for the police to arrive. If the sound of their approaching sirens are anything to go by?
And so Ochaco is left alone with nothing but her own thoughts and worries to give her company. Well there is the Charm, too. ‘What is this thing anyway?’
She rolls the Charm round in her hand observing its soft glow of the mythical runes engraved into the stone. No stone’s not the right word it’s far too smooth and it almost feels like some sort of metal but if it’s an artifact then why hasn’t there been any more damage done to it? Like erosion, cracks, rusts, or anything? Heck even the runes aren’t engraved or at least that’s what it feels like. Even though it’s a perfect circle Ochaco just can’t reasonably accept that a human was able to make something of this nature.
And like that a realization dawns on the girl.
Ochaco scrambles for her phone, snapping a phone of the Charm and sending the pic over to someone who just might be able to make sense of all this.
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Thirteen is a bit preoccupied at the moment, they’re too busy manually scanning through the Plumber Base’s computer systems for any signs of tampering or attacks. So far there’s been no sign of anything wrong but after SixSix was able to sneak in so far into the base it’s only necessary that they check the systems.
Thirteen’s sweating with stress as they scan through every bit of data. ‘Damn, this is why we need more Plumbers.’
Sure One-One’s great with monitoring, repairs, maintenance, programming, and well everything but there’s no way to tell if SixSix even tampered with his systems too. That’s another thing, they don’t even have someone to go track down the bounty hunter. Hopefully he doesn’t cause any trouble out there otherwise Thirteen’s going to be hearing it from Nezu later on.
Sitting atop a desk nearby is One-One who’s been waiting patiently for Thirteen to finish the inspection and sitting beside him happens to be Thirteen’s phone, its screen lights up as an alert signals a text message.
And One-One just so happens to notice it. ^You have a message!^
Thirteen doesn’t even turn away from the screen as they continue to type away. “I’ll read it later! Kinda in the middle of something here…”
One-One decides to take the initiative as he holds up the phone.
Glad-One eyes his other half. ^Should we answer it?^
Sad-One is of course ready with an appropriate response. ^It’s be pretty rude not to…so we shouldn’t.^
^Oh, I’m going to answer it!^ Glad-One goes ahead and calls up Ochaco.
After a moment Ochaco picks up. “Hello. Thirteen?”
^Nope! This is One-^
^-One…^
“One-One?” Why is he answering?
“^Yup! And you’re our dear friend, Uraraka! How are you?^
^If your calling for a bail out, sorry but if you’re in jail you’re probably there for a reason…^
“What? Uh, no! Where’s Thirteen?”
One-One peers over at Thirteen who’s very hard at work. ^Thirteen’s a bit preoccupied at the moment, but maybe I can be of service.^
^Or you can hang up and ghost us.^
“I guess that’s fine.”
^Wait, so you are going to ghost us?^
“What? No, I’m talking about the first thing.”
^Oh…how disappointing.^
^So what can we help you with?^
“I…found this weird item from a museum and I was wondering if it could be…” She leans into her phone and whispers. “alien.”
^Well let’s have a look, shall we?^
“I've already sent a photo.”
One-One briefly scrolls through the messages and finds the photo. He quickly scans it and then runs it through a quick database search and after a few seconds he’s got his results. ^Oh, my…^ Glad-One directs his attention to his other half. ^Were you aware of this?^
Sad-One shakes the collective head. ^If you don’t know, how could I know?^
Ochaco can hear them over the phone. “What? What is it? Is it bad?!”
^It’s not bad per say it’s just…^
^Dangerous and possibly…deadly.”
“WHA!?!”
^Well if we want to be more accurate it’s actually a highly advance and rather ancient piece of...alien technology.^
“So, it is alien!” Well now things are beginning to make sense but…then again that just brings up even more questions. “So…how’d it end up in a museum of all places?”
^Well, an archaeologist will go out and dig up artifacts to bring back to the museum and-^
“…Okay, that question’s on me. What I mean is how did this alien tech end up on Earth and in the possession of a museum?”
^Well this device is just one part of exploration tools.^
Okay that was not what she was expecting to hear. “Exploration…tools…?”
^Yes. You see what you have there is level twenty technology that was used to aid an ancient civilization of aliens to explore the cosmos!^
^Or they were seeking out conquests.^
“That’s crazy!”
^Not really, aliens have been visiting Earth since its entire existence! Fun fact many of your planet’s god-like figures and fairytales are just accounts of visitors from the stars!^
“Woah!!!” Okay now that’s pretty cool! Wait no now is not the time to delve into how alien contact shaped human cultures and societies. “Wait, but what about these…charms?”
^In any case this device or…charm rather proved to be rather handy for ancient explorers.^
“How so?” How could fire and lighting be used for exploration?
^Well this device telepathically connects only with the one who wears it. And it consists of five separate parts with each one serving a different purpose.^ One-One takes a deep breath before continuing with his lecture. ^You have the system for pyrokinesis which the explorers used to make big campfires! So they could make smores and roast hotdogs!^
^Or burn people at the stake…^
“Wait, so it was just meant to be used to generate heat?” Ochaco thinks about all the flamethrowers Hex was casting and she can’t help but think it was a bit of overkill.
^Yup! And the system or charm for electrokinesis was just meant to help recharge the alien’s other technology and ships incase of a lack of energy resources.^
Okay that makes sense actually. It’s good to have a source of fuel when going somewhere that may not have discovered electricity yet.
^Even the charm for telekinesis was used for anything more than to lift and transport materials.^
“Huh, but what about…bring people back from the dead?”
^Oh! That would be the charm of resurrection or rather healing. It was created so the explorers could go anywhere without fear of losing their own life!^
^That’s so unnatural.^
“Wait…THERE’S TECHNOLOGY THAT CAN DO THAT!?!” Now that’s magic!
^My! There’s a lot of technology that can heal you up to perfect health.^
^Yeah, but even then a lot of its experimental and can result in some…not so fine results.^ Seriously, there have been reports of aliens making full recovery in mere minutes but they perish either because of horrible mutations, cells implosion, digestive failure, brain tremors, loss of sanity, and so much more.
^Plus not all planets have access to such technology in fact in some cases it’s been banned.^
“Why’s that?”
^Population control or something…^ And the side effects listed above but Ochaco doesn’t need to know that right now.
“That’s insane!”
^It sure is!^
Ochaco takes a moment to process everything. ‘No wonder Hex and Charmcaster think this thing is magic, the thought of this being alien tech hasn’t even crossed their minds. Talk about dramatic irony.’ That makes her feel so much better because then if this thing isn’t actually magic then those two must not be using magic at all! They must be using some kind of emitter-type Quirks! But why lie about it? Heck why are they so desperate for this charm in particular? “And this charm? What can it do?”
^That one, my that one’s the best of them all.^ responds One-One. ^That there is a charm of probability or in other words LUCK!!!^
“Luck?! As in good luck?!”
^Of course!^
“How? How can it cause luckiness? Resurrection is one thing but manipulating luck?!”
^It shouldn’t be that surprising. There are aliens that can control time and even reality, so it’s not that surprising an alien species can figure out a way to manipulate luck.^
“I guess…” Ochaco’s head is beginning to hurt.
^Anyway the system or charm literally reverses Murphy’s Law, meaning it grants the wielder supernaturally good luck, literally causing anything and everything to go their way!^
^But only if there was a possibility of it going their way in the first place. Meaning if you walk into a busy road there’s a good chance, you’ll still be runned over.^
Woah! Okay that explains…a lot actually. Gran Torino getting her lunch, the crow attacking Charmcaster, the Gyro-Disc working correctly, and that…truck. But that also begs the question if she’s only been getting by all this time through luck? Did she really fight off the villains or was it just luck? Did she use the Gyro-Disc correctly or was it luck? Did she use One For All correctly or was that luck? Did she deserve One For All or was she just lucky…?
Ochaco takes a calming breath. Now is not the time to put everything into question, now is the time to get answers. “Is there any reason someone would…want these things?”
^Well exploring for one thing.^
^Or destruction.^
“What was that?”
^Well one reason these things aren’t around anymore is that they’re banned.^
^Yes, the explorers often lost these items and the natives of the planet just couldn’t understand how it worked and so it often led to some…^
^Mass destruction and chaos.^
Ochaco’s entire body goes cold. “I have to get those charms!!”
^You should such an ancient and high-level piece of technology should not be in the possession of a human. If you can get them just hold on to them for now.^
“Can’t you guys come and get them?”
^Not at the moment.^ One-One looks towards the hallway where the destroyed catwalks precedes. ^We have our hands quite full here at the moment.^
“Oh, okay well I guess I’ll be sure to take good care of them I guess.” She can just hold onto them until she gets back to U.A.
^Is there anything else we can help you with?^
“Not really, I guess-”
An old man’s voice echoes out through the phone and into One-One’s ear. “Hey girly! Come on I got a plan to catch these freak shows!”
Ochaco is quick to nod before turning back to the phone. “Oh, I gotta go! Anyway thanks One-One you’re the best!”
^You’re quite welcome.^
And she hangs up allowing One-One to drop the cell phone back onto the desktop.
“Phew, what a relief!” Thirteen sighs, falling back into their chair.
One-One looks over at Thirteen. ^How’s it looking boss?^
“I think we’re in the clear.” Nothing stands out as corrupted, broken, missing, added, or out of place. ‘Perhaps I stopped him before he could actually pull anything off.’ That’s actually such a relief, for a while there Thirteen was considering a total cleanse of the systems but that just be more hours of work and even longer hours to reprogram everything. But either way SixSix may have gotten away but Thirteen can rest easy knowing that the bounty hunter might just have failed to reach his objective. “Oh my that is good! I mean could you imagine the repercussions if that menace managed to tamper with our systems?”
^I don’t know but I bet it would lead up to some sort of climax.^
Thirteen’s mind still can’t find peace with the fact that a top tier bounty hunter, SixSix, is running around in Japan somewhere. Why is he here? And what is he after? Perhaps they should send out an alert to all the resident aliens to be on the lookout? Yeah, that might be a good idea.
But what about the kids, Midoriya and Uraraka?
After taking a minute to sit on the idea Thirteen decides not to tell either of them. Why worry them now, they’re at their internships and those should be their main focus for now. Besides it’s not actually their responsibility yet to do Plumber work, they can’t even officially do hero work. And there’s no real worry they’ll even cross the bounty hunter, they’re spread across Japan and that’s too big of a place for one bounty hunter to cover. Also with their jamming signal there’s no chance in hell he’ll find Izuku.
And so the only thing left to do now is report to Nezu about their unwanted visitor, but Nezu’s off doing important U.A. stuff or something so it may be a while. And after that maybe Thirteen could go out and track down the bounty hunter, if they can or at the very least be on standby for an alien resident to report him in.
So for now Thirteen decides to get up and get back to their laptop so they can finally send out the edited Sports Festival.
Thirteen sits down and begins to prepare the video file, reading to send it out to every ally planet, Plumber Base, and selected individuals for viewing. Hopefully with the inclusion of two recruit Plumbers, and the fact that they performed amazingly, they're little Japan branch might just get some much-needed upgrades especially in staffing. Seriously it’d be so great to have this place just full of Plumbers from all across the galaxies. Heck, this might help to inspire some future Plumber recruits down the line. Who knows?
Before Thirteen sends it out one last thought crosses their mind. “Hm? I wonder how he’ll react to it?” Guess there’s only one way to find out, and so with a press of a single button Thirteen finally sends out the recording of U.A.’s Sports Festival.
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“I’m not happy.” Ochaco has no appreciation for a nice planned out ambush.
Gran Torino pokes his head out from behind a nearby tombstone. “It doesn’t matter if you’re happy. What matters is if this works.”
Ochaco shakes her head while she just stands out in the open in the middle of an abandoned cemetery. “And what makes you think they’ll just fall for this?”
“Villains nowadays are too simple minded, they’ll come.”
Ochaco sighs, she can’t believe Gran Torino roped her into being bait to reel in Hex and Charmcaster. And why a cemetery of all places? The fog, weeds, and crumbling gravestones are nothing but creepy and scary. The nearby forest is thick with withered trees whose branches twist and turn looking like thin skeletal arms and veins all twisted together in a mess of horror. And sure they have some backup from the local police, but they’re all hidden away, and she’s just left exposed and creeped out.
Ochaco grips her arms shielding them from the chilling wind. “I still don’t think this is going to work.”
Gran Torino whispers out from behind his hiding place. “Don’t worry it’s working.”
“How do you know that?”
A bolt of thunder flashes through the thick fog, drawing Ochaco’s attention to the floating cloaked figure hovering just above a massive tombstone with a broken cross.
Ochaco cowers under Hex’s foreboding glare as the thunder subsides and a chilling silence falls over the entire cemetery. “Nevermind…”
Hex grips his staff tightly as he scowls down at the young hero. “Hand over the charm!”
Uravity readies herself for a fight, trying her best to seem composed and confident. “You didn’t ask nicely.”
Hex raises his staff to ready an attack.
“Hang on now.” Slam! Gran Torino’s foot slams against Hex’s side before he zooms by.
Gran Torino skids across the ground, his fingers claw against the dirt bringing himself to a full stop in front of a squad of policemen all at the ready.
“You’re surrounded, give up now or we’ll have to use force.” Gran Torino grins up at the villain. “And for full disclosure I much prefer if you chose the latter option.”
In response, Hex actually smiles like he’s amused by their display of rebellion. “Foolish old man, did you really think I wouldn’t recognize a trap when I saw one.”
Uravity actually backs away at the smiling villain as Gran Torino’s grin falls away and becomes a scowl.
“Grahhh!!” A Stone Creature slams its head against Gran Torino and causing Uravity to leap away in surprise.
Gran pushes himself away from the creature, using Jet to zip away, bounce off a gravestone and slam himself into the Stone Creature, smashing it to pieces.
“Grahhh!! Grahhh!! Grahhh!!”
An army of Stone Creatures are running about the cemetery pouncing, snarling, and clawing at the unexpecting policemen who have long forgotten about Hex and are now focused on defending themselves.
Uravity slams her One For All powered fist right to the head of a Stone Creature before she slams her opposite fist into another one that tried to leaps up at her from the side.
Hex watches on with a smile as he stretches his hands out and a spiraling column of flames rage forth.
The unknowing Uravity jumps away from an attacking Stone Creature but as luck would have, she falls right back into an empty grave. The large pit was obscured by overhanging weeds and the thick fog, completely obscuring it from sight and creating the perfect pitfall trap.
It makes a great fire shelter though since the flames don’t get anywhere near her.
Hex continues the inferno blasting to where he saw the girl last but a kick to his arm from a flying Gran Torino brings an end to the flames.
Gran Torino latches onto one of the more impressive tombstones. “You really are a glutton for punishment aren’t ya?”
“Spare me your taunts old man.” Hex swings his staff to launch another attack.
Meanwhile, Uravity is busy pulling herself out of the pitfall. It may have been good luck that she fell into it but bad luck when it came to keeping clean.
As she finally gets her upper body up onto the grass Uravity finds a smirking Charmcaster standing just a few feet in front of her.
“That’s a good place for you.” Charmcaster cracks her whip, a whip that just so happens to be on fire with magenta colored flames.
The scowling Uravity leaps up, her hand forward trying to use Zero-Gravity on the older girl.
Charmcaster lashes out with her flaming whip, but the young heroine just keeps on running, ducking and swerving right past the flaming whip.
With her opponent so close, Charmcaster releases a plume of pixiedust producing a magenta colored smokescreen for herself.
Uravity runs right through the smokescreen but she didn’t slam into anything solid. Spinning around she watches on in surprise as the smoke clears away with no Charmcaster inside. Hastily scanning the cemetery Uravity spots said villainess booking it for the treeline!
And of course, Uravity gives chase. Running after Charmcaster just as she disappears within the dark foggy woods.
Uravity jumps in sprinting through the woods, scanning each and every direction for any sign of Charmcaster. But every twig, withered branch, and rustle of leaves throws her off distracting her and freaking her out more and more, keeping her on edge the whole entire time.
But then from afar a dull magenta light peeks out between the trees. Recognizing that hue Uravity takes off running until she finds herself at a little clearing. Looking out into the small clearing is Charmcaster who’s holding a little magenta fireball in her hand.
Uravity steps out into the clearing, her fists raised for a fight.
Charmcaster however doesn’t seem like she’s looking for a fight. She’s quiet and her posture reads of submission, she looks calm but there’s this air of fear around her.
Making Uravity very wary of her as well. “You could have gotten away if you didn’t use a light.”
Surprisingly, Charmcaster doesn’t bite back at the taunt; instead she just shamefully looks away, gripping her arm for comfort as she lets the little flame die out. “I'm…not trying to get away.”
Alright, Uravity was not expecting that. “What are you playing at?”
“Nothing I just…want to talk.”
Uravity doesn’t reply, she just holds her ground, her fists raised in case she tries to pull anything, but after a minute Ochaco decides to let her guard down. She should at least hear the girl out before jumping straight into a battle.
Charmcaster slowly reaches for her bag and instantly Ochaco’s fits begin to glow pink.
Charmcaster pulls her hands away from the purse, showing she isn’t a threat, before she quietly reaches for the purse again. But she doesn't open it; instead she unclips the purse and let’s it fall right onto the grass.
She props the purse onto her foot before kicking it aside.
Ochaco finally puts her fists down but she’s going to keep her distance for now, just in case.
Charmcaster hugs herself, looking away nervously as she tries to work up the courage of what she has to say. “I…never meant to hurt anybody. My uncle made me do it…”
Okay that’s just sus as heck. “Why should I believe you?”
“You’ve…seen what he’s like, right? He’s cruel, unforgiving, and prone to violence not to mention power hungry.” She sighs in annoyance. “And he really can’t take no for an answer.”
“Really? Then if he’s so cruel why did he save you?” Specifically heal her.
“He didn’t do that out of the bottom of his heart or anything.” A scowl forms on her face like she knows for a fact that’s the truth and it infuriates her. “He’s just using me. He sees me as a tool that he can use to get what he wants.”
“And what does he want?”
“In a word…power.”
“Really?” She can’t be serious, can she?
“I am, my uncle believes that those with power are the ones that have the right to force their will over others and society. To change things as he sees fit.”
Ochaco still doesn’t like where this is going. “And by change you mean destroy?”
“Y…yeah… My uncle’s not exactly right in the head if you know what I mean.”
“I still don’t see why I should trust you though.”
“I’m just a victim in all this! And I want to set things right.” Charmcaster gets all nervous again tucking her hands away. “And I thought that if I could get to you, I might just have a chance to be rid of him.”
Ochaco can hear the truth in her voice, she really just wants to stop Hex. But what if she’s lying? What if this is all just a ploy? How can she trust this criminal…? If Ochaco can't be sure about trusting her, maybe she can at least try to get some info, at least this way she can walk away with something useful and possibly game changing.
“Before I trust you, I need to ask you some more questions.”
Charmcaster doesn’t seem that surprised. “Please…feel free.”
“Okay…” Ochaco takes a deep breath, knowing full well that what she’s about to ask could be either a catastrophe or really embarrassing for her. “Are you really using magic?!”
Charmcaster blinks out of all the questions Ochaco could ask, she went with the one she was not prepared for. “Well in a way, yeah.”
Ochaco’s jaw drops in shock. “You can’t be serious?!”
“Well I mean not technically.”
“Huh?”
Charmcaster shakes her head. “Okay look admittedly I just like that idea of magic and I figured telling people that I use magic will just throw them off from figuring out my real Quirk.”
‘I’m an idiot!’ Ochaco really should have realized that from the start, of course magic doesn’t exist! What is she an idiot?! “Wait! So what is your Quirk anyway?”
Charmcaster is a bit more hesitant, but who wouldn’t be? A Quirk is like everyone’s own secret weapon and exposing it could mean trouble for anyone who isn’t a hero. “I…guess I can tell you. My Quirk is called Alchemy.”
“Alchemy?”
“Yeah.” Charmcaster tries to think of a way to best explain it. “It’s kinda like your classmate’s Quirk. What was her name? Um, she’s the one with the big ponytail and the…” She briefly scans Ochaco’s figure, her eyes topping at her chest area. “more mature physic.”
Ochaco’s face turns red as she tries to cover herself out of pure shyness. “Y-you mean…Yaoyorozu?”
“Yeah, her! Alchemy works kinda the same way. It allows me to create almost anything as long as I have the right materials.” The silver-haired girl picks up a little pebble off the ground. “Here look.”
Charmcaster holds the pebble put in her open palm for Ochaco to see, she then points her finger at the pebble and a little cloud of magenta and sparkling pixiedust gushes out, veiling over the pebble. As the pebble washes away it is revealed to have been replaced or changed into a little crystal.
Charmcaster holds up the crystal. “It’s a bit more complicated but as long as I have the right chemical components, I can create any item made of the exact same material and even expand the chemical composition to make the things I create bigger. And like your friend I need to understand the composition of what I’m working with in order to turn it into something else.”
Ochaco’s mind flashbacks to all the times Charmcaster pulled stuff out of her bag during their last two battles. “Wait so the stuff you were grabbing from your bag-”
“Were ingredients.” finishes Charmcaster. “Those icicles earlier were made from capsules of water, and my flaming whip was from a ribbon laced with flammable chemicals for added measure. Heck my chain from earlier was also a ribbon laced with metal filings.”
“And those…Stone Creatures?”
“Oh, yeah, so I can make all sorts of animated objects too as long as there’s something organic mixed in. Those Stone Creatures are nothing, but clay dolls mixed with some dog fur.” \
Ochaco blinks, that explains the creatures’ dog-like behaviors and snarls. “Wow, that’s both gross and cool.” She chuckles imagining what having one as a pet would be like.
Charmcaster chuckles too. “Yeah, I know, right?”
Ochaco walks up to her as the tension fades away but just as it does, she gets serious again making sure to keep her guard up. “Okay and what about your…uncles?”
“Uncle Hex’s Quirk is called Calamity; it allows him to manipulate the elements of nature to his will, but he seems to be only capable of making natural disasters.” She waves her hand nonchalantly like this isn’t that important to consider. “You know high winds, lava, tornados, thunder, that kind of stuff.”
“That sounds really nasty.”
Charmcaster’s smirk returns. “It is but he has a weakness too.”
“What is it?” Ochaco steps closer out of intrigue.
Charmcaster feels a bit more secure and steps forward as well. “His staff. He needs it to control his Quirk otherwise his own disasters will turn on him too.”
“I see, that is interesting.” Ochaco flashes Charmcaster a smile in appreciation, and the older girl is happy to return the gesture.
Ochaco frown. “Okay I have one last question for you.”
“Shoot.”
Okay here comes another question that could end terribly for her. “The Charms of the Bezel do you really think they’re magic?”
Charmcaster frowns not because she’s surprised but out of confusion. “Aren’t they?”
“I don’t know! That’s why I'm asking?!” Internally Ochaco’s actually sighs with relief. ‘Oh, good she doesn’t even suspect that they’re alien.’
Charmcaster continues, trying to explain her reasoning. “Remember when you asked about my Quirk and I said it’s sort-of magic.”
“Yeah?”
“Well aren’t all Quirks just…magic?”
“Huh?” Okay now that’s a new one.
“I mean, come on, you can manipulate gravity! And with a single punch you can take out a freaking train!”
“Well I don’t know about that…” She hasn’t tried that for one.
“But whatever the case can you scientifically explain how you can do that?! It just doesn’t add up!”
“What are you saying?”
“I’m saying this. Is it possible that our Quirks originated from magic?”
“W…what?”
“Think about it. Where did Quirks come from? How do they work? Why do we have them? How can they do what they do?! It’s just got to be magic.” Charmcaster holds a hand to her heart. “That’s what I chose to believe anyway.”
“But what does that have to do with the charms?”
Charmcaster continues. “Because the charms are like Quirks. My uncle read about them in some ancient texts; mysterious sorcerers who were granted powers and abilities beyond human comprehension helped to forge our earliest of societies like Egypt and stuff.”
Ochaco is actually making sense of things now. ‘Okay the sorcerers would be the aliens One-One was talking about.’
“I believe those charms are magical and that they just might be the key to figuring out how and where Quirks came from! Perhaps sorcerers granted everyone with magic of their own. Maybe it was destiny. Whatever the case I need to know, I have to find out where they came from. So I can understand what they are and why we have them. In a way I just think that magic is my way of saying that there’s an aspect of science that we have yet to understand or discover.” A soft smile graces Charmcaster’s lips. “And if I can finally understand what they are…I might just be able to change this world.”
Ochaco is just lost for words right now! So when Charmcaster’s saying magic she just refers to technology or science greater than level three! Beyond Earth’s or human’s understanding and to the understanding of what aliens have already achieved. “That's a lot but I think I see your point.”
“Thank you.” Charmcaster gets all shy and nervous again hugging herself for support. “Look I know I caused you a lot of trouble today but in order for me to finally pursue my dream the right way we need to stop my uncle.”
Ochaco doesn’t need any more convincing. “Alright, I choose to believe you.”
Charmcaster’s honestly surprised, delightfully so, as tears threaten to spill out. “Thank you!” She’s so grateful she leaps out and embraces Ochaco in a grateful hug.
Ochaco was definitely not expecting it, but she returns it nonetheless, glad she could provide hope to someone who’s in desperate need of it. Her heart is swelling with a sense of warmth like she can reach out to this person and save them.
Charmcaster’s hold tightens. “You really are a hero, aren’t ya?”
Ochaco blushes, her face becoming red hot in embarrassment, but she doesn’t exactly hate the compliment though.
After another moment Charmcaster finally pulls away and Ochaco is able to fan away her red face.
After her normal complexion returns, she tries to fill in her new role as this girl’s savior. “Alright, let’s get moving. Let’s get you somewhere safe and then we can figure out how to stop your uncle.”
“Thanks so much!”
Ochaco really is so proud that she can touch someone else’s heart and be able to be their hero. It’s such a great feeling to help others, it truly is.
Unfortunately all good things must come to an end and there’s no one better to ruin them than him. “Making new friends, Charmcaster?”
A flash of lightning announces Hex’s presence, as he hovers above the small greasy clearing. “You ungrateful child! How dare you betray me, your own blood!”
Charmcaster cowers away in fear she grabs her purse and holds it so tightly that her knuckles turn white.
Uravity quickly places herself between Charmcaster and her terrible uncle. “Don’t come any closer!”
Hex scowls in annoyance. “I do so despise children.”
With a flex of his fingers a telekinetic hold grips Uravity’s entire body, and with a wave of his hand she is flung aside like week-old leftovers.
Hex floats down and with a light tap of his staff onto the ground as his Calamity Quirk creates a fissure! It cracks and rumbles through the Earth before swallowing up the downed Uravity.
After witnessing her hero being eaten up by the earth itself, Charmcaster tries to make a getaway running back for the woods.
Unfortunately, Hex easily steps between her and her freedom. “It appears you require more discipline, child.”
“U-uncle H-hex please I-Ahhh!”
Hex levitates her up into the air, keeping a tight grip around her with his telekinesis.
“Put the girl down!”
Hex turns to see Gran Torino zooming in, jumping off from tree to tree with his Jet Quirk.
Hex generates a ray of light and fires it at the fast approaching hero. Gran Torino leaps down and races forward avoiding the ray completely. But before he could land a hit, Hex swings his staff around and a rushing whirlwind repels Gran Torino away.
Meanwhile, Uravity climbs out of the pitfall. “What’s with all the pitfalls today?” She sees the immobilized Charmcaster floating in the air with a terror-stricken face. “Let her go!” With One For All powering her legs Ochaco rockets forward, reeling back her fist to deliver one powerful strike.
Hex smirks just before a bolt of lightning strikes the very ground before him, blasting Uravity away and blinding both her and her mentor.
And when they look up again, they discover that Hex has disappeared once again and this time he took his niece with him, by force.
“No!!” Ochaco wails in anguish. How could she let this happen?! She was supposed to protect and save Charmcaster, not let her get taken!
Gran Torino quickly gets to her side, his face written in worry.
“He took her! He took her!” Ochaco is just ranting, she’s just so ashamed and frustrated with herself. She failed to be a hero. There’s no arguing that.
“Woah, woah, slow down and explain.”
“Charmcaster! She’s just a victim, she's being forced to commit crimes! And Hex just took her against her will!”
“Is that so?” Gran Torino, for some reason, doesn’t seem to be all that convinced.
“Yes! We have to save her! Her uncle’s crazy, she said so herself!”
Gran Torino raises an eyebrow. “She…said so?”
“Yes!” Why isn’t he taking this seriously?!
“You two talked then?”
“Yes!!” Ochaco’s starting to get frustrated here, they are wasting time! The longer they wait the worse Charmcaster will be in.
Gran Torino continues with his questioning. “Kid, where’s that relic?”
“That’s not important right now!”
“Humor me.”
“Fine!” Ochaco reaches for the compartment in her utility belt. “If this will get you moving then…I…don’t…see…the…issue…” her voice trails away as shock and horror slowly creep upon her.
Because as her hand traces the compartment, she is horrified to discover that she no longer has the talisman! Charmcaster took it when they hugged! She lied to her! She tricked her! Just to get what she wanted!
“S-she…s-she…she-”
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
“Played her like fiddle…or something like that.” Charmcaster is feeling real smug right now as she raises the Charm of probability to her uncle. “Ha, her face was just so precious she really thought she was saving me. Ha! That’s adorable.”
Hex glares down from their perch, leering down at Dathomir City below from atop the gothic church tower. “Yes, you played your part well.”
Charmcaster waves it off with a flick of her hair. “Of course I did, it was my idea.”
Hex’s stone-cold glare rages with a burning fury that instantly forces Charmcaster to shut her mouth and cower away. “Self-preservation often requires one not to stroke their ego.”
“Yes, uncle. Apologies.”
Hex turns away glaring down at the crumbling poisoned city. “Finally, I have acquired all of the Charms of Bezel!” He smiles as he places the last talisman back into position upon his garb. “Hahaha!” The charms light up the foggy sky like a beacon, as power surges through them and into their master.
Charmcaster watches on with both fear and awe as thunder clouds roll in from seemingly out of nowhere, a cold freezing wind bellows across the city, and the fog becomes thick and heavy despite the strong bone-chilling winds.
Hex waves his staff up into the air as the charms illuminate around his neck. “Hahaha! Yes! This is true POWER!!!”
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
Ochaco and Gran Torino duck down by the roadside as the high winds threaten to knock them off their feet and other natural disasters begin to form all across the city.
Hail the size of golf balls rain down from the sky in different parts of the city, lightning bolts strike and beat down on the buildings, and the earth shakes and rattles with tremors causing all sorts of damage and chaos.
“Come on, kid!” Gran Torino zips up into the air, he’s heading for a good vantage point to try and locate the villain responsible.
Ochaco cries out through all the wind and chaos. “Wait! I can’t!”
Gran Torino zips his way back to her. “Why the hell not?!”
Her usual confidence is gone, now that she's without that charm she can’t help but feel like everything she’s done today has been nothing but luck. Was it her own skills getting her around or was it all luck? And without it can she even do what’s needed? “Without that charm…I…I can’t use the Gyro-Disc correctly…”
Gran Torino frowns with concern.
“It only worked because of that charm. So without it, how am I supposed to keep up? Not to mention I still can’t use that new move correctly either. Heck, she tricked me so easily. How can I even stop them both?”
Gran Torino remains silent allowing the girl the chance to vent and air her concerns and doubts.
‘It’s impossible. Hex has the charm now, he’s untouchable now. And just look at what he’s doing to the city! How can I possibly compete with that when I can’t even use a little piece of support gear? And there’s that energy sphere attack that I still can’t fully pull off, especially with the charm itself. So what can I do? If I use One For All way too much now and fail, there’s no Recovery Girl nearby to fix me up! I just don’t know-’
BONK!
“Ow!!!” Ochaco whines as she holds her aching head.
Gran Torino is fuming mad even after karate chopping the girl’s head.
Tears leak out from the sides of Ochaco’s eyes as she rubs her aching skull. “What was that for?!”
In all seriousness Gran Torino replies. “I was knocking some sense into ya.”
‘Is he trying to be funny?’
“Listen here and listen good!” He jabs a finger right towards the cowering girl. “Who are you?!”
“What?! I’m Ochaco, Ochaco Uraraka!”
“No! I said, who are you?”
“Ocha-OW!!!”
Gran Torino just kicked her shin for some reason, that jerk! “I said who are you!”
“I’m…U…Uravity?”
Gran Torino seems to like that answer. “And who is Uravity?”
“She’s…” Who is Uravity? She’s a daughter. A friend. A student. A Plumber in training. All Might’s successor. No, there’s more to it than that, Uravity is something that this world needs. “A hero.”
Gran Torino’s face contorts to accommodate a wide toothy grin. “That’s right. And a hero doesn’t rely on fancy toys or gadgets. No, a hero relies on their own wit and skills to use what they got to get the job done.” He offers up a hand as if asking her to join him on a great adventure. “Now are you going to keep throwing around excuses or are you going to act?”
Uravity stands up unwavering against the winds, hail, and cold. “I’m going to act. I’m going to stop Hex and get back at Charmcaster for lying to me!”
“Then show me! Show me who you are!”
“I WILL!!!” Uravity activates her Zero-Gravity on herself.
The Gyro-Disc activates humming ferociously before Uravity kicks herself off the ground with a One For All charged jump, rocketing herself into the air.
The grinning Gran Torino soon follows bouncing off one building to another.
Uravity begins to lose speed and her flight’s a bit shaky as she hits turbulence. She struggles to avoid the low hanging branches and tall light posts but the moment she makes it over the canopy she finally seems to get it down.
And it’s absolutely amazing! The high winds propel her from behind making her flight smooth and speedy, and with her newfound control she can only find the experience both exhilarating and liberating. She just feels so free like she can roam the entire planet like it’s her domain without any restriction.
“Welcome to a higher plane of existence, kid.”
Uravity looks over and sees Gran Torino jumping up to greet her. “How’s the view?”
“Amazing.” Uravity chuckles as Gran Torino falls back down but with a quick burst of his Jet Quirk, he quickly rejoins her in the plane above.
Uravity scans the horizon and there not too far off, atop of a large church tower, there’s a familiar glow like that of the Charms!
A smirk plays her lips. “Really amazing.” Uravity points over towards the tower.
Gran Torino looks over and spots the church tower. “How bout a race?”
“If you think you can keep up, old man.” Uravity leans to the side and the Gyro-Disc does its job flying her away and towards the church.
“Haha! Dang kid’s got some spirit!” And so with a quick readjustment Gran Torino zips after her.
From atop of the large church tower Charmcaster spots the pink and yellow dots heading their way. “Tch, those two are so annoying!”
Hex takes notice of them too. “Fear not for they are racing towards their own demise!”
Hex swings his staff forward and the thunderclouds above the church swirl together becoming a funnel that eventual spirals down and lands upon the ground.
Uravity gasps in terror. “A tornado?!”
Sure enough, a tornado rages towards them, blocking their path.
Despite the imminent danger Gran Torino smirks. “Scared, are we?”
“No.” Uravity gives the old man a nervous grin. “It’s just a light breeze.”
“Haha!”
Uravity and Gran Torino race forward swerving and evading flying debris of trees, branches, trash cans, and rubble.
Gran Torino uses the flying debris as platforms, ricocheting off of them to climb higher and higher into the air and moving even faster than Uravity even against the raging winds. At this rate they’ll be past the tornado without any issues or delays.
“Impossible!” Hex thrusts his hand forward and from the sky a lightning bolt fires down.
Gran Torino jumps up and Uravity grabs his wrists, locking their arms, and she carries them away from the bolt just in the nick of time. “Gran Torino!”
“Huh?”
“The staff, get his staff!”
“What are you-?”
Before he could finish Uravity swings him around and throws him right towards the psycho with all her might.
With a boost from Jet Gran Torino flies through the air like a bullet and like a bullet he’s heading straight for one target.
Hex hands flex open and flame begins to swirl in his hand. But from the corner of his eye he spots Uravity swinging around and tossing a dumpster right at him.
Quickly he blasts the dumpster away giving Gran Torino the opening he needed to kick the staff out of Hex’s hand and off the tower.
“NO!!!” Hex roars out as he reaches for his fallen support item.
Gran Torino also falls away back to the ground without anything to intercept his path. “Go for it, Uravity!!”
Uravity throws her hands forward and focuses allowing One For All’s excess power to form around her palms. “One For All: Ryou Spheres!”
With a mighty throw she launches the Ryou Spheres right at Hex who can do nothing but watch on in horror as the sphere explodes in his face. A massive explosion of pink energy blasts into Hex, destroying part of the tall tower, kicking up debris and smoke.
But it’s done. The Calamities all fade away into nothing as Hex collapses onto the broken tower’s floor.
Gran Torino looks up from the street below as the sky begins to clear up and the tornado phases out.
Uravity, meanwhile, is floating up in the air, exhausted and spent after that finishing attack. All the while a dopey-smug grin plays on her lips. “Like I said earlier, you’re no match for Uravity.”
Back on the tower, a tattered and beaten Hex groans as he struggles to prop himself off the ground. Without his staff he can’t bother to use his Calamity otherwise his own disasters will backfire and harm him as well. All he has are his Charms of Bezel but first he needs a bit of assistance in removing that pest of a child.
A step of a boot echoes behind him, turning around he spots a silent Charmcaster staring down at him.
“Charmcaster I require your assistance.”
Her eyebrow furrow, glaring at him in silent thought.
Hex doesn’t like that look at all. “What’s the matter with you? I am giving you an order. Obey me!”
Her glare hardens, reeking in danger.
Hex nearly falls back over as he fails to prop himself back up. “You no good, undeserving, child. Answer me!!”
A thin ribbon slowly drapes down from her hand followed by a light puff of pixiedust. And like that a flaming whip forms in her hand.
Hex nervously cowers away shaking in fear. “Charmcaster…? …Caroline?”
And that was the last straw. “Yahh!!”
“Rahhh!!” Hex cries out in pain as a bloody gash cuts through his chest and the Charms of Bezel are ripped away from his possession.
He groans as he collapses onto the ground, clawing his hand out at his niece as a weak attempt to strangle her, before he passes out from the blood loss and pain.
Charmcaster’s eyes are glossed over as she glares down at his still unconscious form. “Sorry, uncle. But I’m taking over from here on out.” She grabs the charms and places them around herself like a bandolier before turning her attention to the city.
She steps off the crumbling tower, but she doesn’t fall instead she remains standing in midair as if there’s an invisible platform supporting her. She lifts her hands up at her sides and huge fumes of pixiedust pour out like a fog. With the combined power of the charms, lightning discharges and rages from her palms, the lightning mixes with her Alchemy Quirk turning the lightning a magenta color.
Rays of lightning strike down at the city, electrocuting buildings, roads, trees, and cars. But instead of frying the targets they all transform. Gothic and crumble buildings become warped and brightly colored like bad modern art pieces. Cars become mechanical monsters that resemble Charmcaster’s own Stone Creatures. Light posts become twisted and discolored. And even the trees become alive looking, with vibrant colors and spirals. All the while the citizens of the city panic and do their best to avoid the magenta lightning bolts.
“I will rewrite this entire city!!” The lightning rages on even more as the Charms of Bezel power and fuel Charmcaster’s Alchemy.
The descending Uravity blinks in confusion of terror everything’s happening so fast. One second she was bathing in the glow of her win and then the next she sees is Charmcaster forcing her will upon the city!
She quickly flies back up, hovering across from the sorceress. “Charmcaster!”
Charmcaster turns ever so slightly smirking at the young heroine. “Aw, cute. You here to stop me?” Her voice is dripping with venomous sarcasm.
Uravity frowns. “What are you doing? Why’d you take the charm? What happened to being an innocent victim?!”
“Yeah… He.” Charmcaster fails to hold back a snicker.” I still can’t believe you fell for all that. But if it makes you feel better, it wasn’t all a lie.”
“What?”
“I did mean it when I said I needed you to take down my dear uncle.” She peers over at her uncle's still form. “He was in the way and after I saw what you could do, I knew you could bring him down.”
Uravity is in total shock here, just how could a family betray each other so easily? She can’t even process what a family like that must be like. “But what about pursuing your dreams?”
“That’s what I’m doing. I’m still going to discover the source of all Quirks. But why not start changing the world now?” ” Charmcaster aims her glowing palm at the heroine. “And maybe I can start with you.”
Uravity doesn’t react, she has to try at least one more time to reach her. Maybe she can still save her. “Are you sure…? Is this really how you want it to play out?”
Magenta flames poof to life within the silver-haired sorceress’ hands.
Uravity regrettably has to accept the reality of the situation. “Have it your way. Just remember I gave you a chance to back out.”
“Noted but not needed.”
Uravity aims her hands forward. “Ryou Sphere!” She throws a pair of small pink-energy spheres at her opponent.
A field of lightning surrounds Charmcaster acting as a barricade between her and the Ryou Spheres that burst against the electrical field.
Charmcaster grabs some ingredients and whirls her hands together combining the magenta flames with her Alchemy Quirk forcing the flames to burst forth like a geyser. The flames roar and hiss spiraling and crashing into themselves as they take shape. Soon a serpentine dragon made entirely of magenta flames roars to life.
The flaming dragon screeches as it snakes towards Uravity.
Uravity deactivates Zero-Gravity allowing herself to freefall and allow the dragon to fly right past her, even so she can almost feel her eyebrows singing away under the intense heat of the dragon’s fiery body.
The animated flames circle around the broken tower, bearing its fire lashing fangs.
After reactivating Zero-Gravity, Uravity’s palm lights up with a Ryou Sphere. “Rahh!!” The pink ball of energy rockets forward and blasts against the flame dragon’s maw causing a massive explosion that blasts Uravity away.
She goes spinning out of control, but she quickly regains her balance. But she has no time to rest as Charmcaster bats her against the side of the tower with a levitated tree.
“Ow…” Uravity tries to push the tree away but Charmcaster has her pinned between the thick branches and the crumbling tower.
Charmcaster hovers down, standing before her opponent with a cocky smirk. “You know I wouldn’t have this power without you.”
Uravity gives her a response in the form of a nasty scowl.
“So I’ll tell you what. Surrender now and I’ll let you live. You could be my servant and if you behave, I’d bet you’d make a great bodyguard.”
“No thanks, I don’t like taking orders from witches.”
Charmcaster clearly didn’t like that. “I’m. A. Sorceress!!”
“No, you’re just a little girl playing a fantasy.”
“Shut up!!” Lightning and flames spark in her hands before she swings her hands forward.
“I’ve got ya!” From out of nowhere Gran Torino zooms in and snatches Uravity out of the way.
“Gran Torino!”
Gran Torino kicks off the side of the church and down to the street. “Sheesh, kid I leave you alone for a second and you somehow make things worse.”
“I’m handling it!”
He lets her go and she rolls across the ground before hoping to her feet as Gran Torino lands down on a nearby car, denting the hood.
Charmcaster is furious as she glares down at the defiant heroes. She may be powerful but those two are becoming too much. No they’ve been too much from the start. But that’s all about to change.
The silver-haired sorceress holds her hands out at her sides and she closes her eyes.
Some unseeable force begins to lift objects off the ground, no a telekinetic force is ripping things out of the ground. Streams of dirt and concrete flow upward, light poles bend and snap away from their posts, glass cracks and breaks away from windows flowing up into the air like a river, several trees are pried out of the ground, their roots tearing apart against the strong pull.
They all swirl and circle around Charmcaster who releases a massive cloud of sparkling pixiedust, swallowing up herself and the swirling mass of debris.
As the cloud clears away a massive creature smashes down onto street screeching and raising its limbs and fangs up in a display of terror. “Skrrrreeeee!!”
A giant Stone Spider-like creature bares its fangs at the heroes. The giant spider’s body is mostly made of stone and clay with magenta-hued runes. Its legs are long and thin made up of bending and twisting light posts, its abdomen is veined and twisted with the branches and roots of trees, and its fangs shine-made of sharp shattered glass, as its purple beady eyes light up. And fused to its upper half is Charmcaster, her lower half melded into the creature’s stone body.
“Skrrrreeeee!!”
Gran Torino looks over at Uravity. “You still got this handled?”
She gulps. “No…”
Charmcaster bares a maniacal grin as she swings her hand forward, in response the Stone Spider swings its thin leg out like a giant lance.
Both of the heroes leap back in time for the leg to impale the concrete. Gran Torino zips up the leg, bouncing off of it and slamming his boot against the side of the creature’s head.
“Skrrrreeeee!!” The Stone Spider hisses and lashes out but Gran Torino manages to use Jet to jump away.
While Gran Torino draws Charmcaster’s attention from the front, Uravity is sprinting around the back, her hand glowing with a Ryou Sphere.
Charmcaster, however, spots her from her vantage point. She thrusts her hand back and a barrage of lightning bolts snake through the air towards the heroine.
Acting on impulse Uravity fires her Ryou Sphere which breaks apart the lightning bolts in a blast of electricity.
As smoke rises from the blast, a magenta fireball flies through the smoke cloud and slams into Uravity, knocking her backwards.
“Hahaha!” Charmcaster fires more fireballs as she turns around. “Come on! I wanna see that fighting spirit of yours!” She throws another fireball at Uravity who’s forced to take cover behind a fallen semi-truck. “Where’s that reckless abandon from the Sports Festival!” She tosses another and another. “Am I not worth the effort?”
Uravity tucks herself back away from the flaring heat of the fireballs. “Believe me I’m considering it.”
The ground rumbles as the Stone Spider stomps forward, and on instinct Uravity leaps away just as a pair of long spider legs slam down on the semi-truck smashing it and denting it on impact. If she didn’t move her skull definitely would have been smashed in.
Even though she missed, Charmcaster laughs at Uravity’s helplessness. “Haha! What’s the matter Little Girl can’t play with the big kids?”
Gran Torino jumps and kicks off the side of the church. “I have you now!”
Charmcaster fires a barrage of light rays that move like arrows as they fly at the hero.
Gran Torino manages to swerve and twist his body avoiding the light rays but with a quick swing from the Stone Spider bats him away.
Uravity watches on from the side of the church, scowling in frustration. ‘She’s not giving us any openings.’
She needs an opening; she needs to lower Charmcaster’s guard. Maybe if she can throw Charmcaster off somehow, she might be able to turn this all around. “Hey, Charmcaster!”
Charmcaster spins around at the call of her name.
Uravity stands out in the open making sure Charmcaster’s attention is all on her. ‘I got to make her mad.’ Maybe then Charmcaster will lower her guard.
“I got something to show you!”
Charmcaster raises an eyebrow in confusion.
“Does this make me a magical girl, too!?!” Uravity spins around on one leg, before skipping to a stop, and winking cutely as she throws up a V sign. “Magical Girl Uravity is here!” She forms a heart with her hands. “And she’s here to save the day!”
Charmcaster…is at a loss for words. “W…what?”
Uravity smirks, she spins around all cutesy like but as she spins back around she fires off a well-timed Ryou Sphere.
It appears her distraction worked because the Ryou Sphere blows up right into Charmcaster’s face.
As the blast goes off Zero-Gravity takes hold of the Stone Spider lifting it up into the air.
Charmcaster’s face scrunches up in a nasty scowl as she swings her hands forward producing flames and pixiedust. “Rahhh!!”
It looks like Uravity’s ploy worked because Charmcaster’s steaming mad and when one is prone to anger they are more likely to make mistakes.
Another serpentine dragon of flames bursts to life roaring and screeching in anger and anguish as it swirls in the air towards its prey.
Uravity doesn’t run away or even flinch she does run though, right towards the flaming beast. She uses Zero-Gravity on herself and kicks off the ground with a One For All boosted jump before allowing the Gyro-Disc to propel her forward.
With this speed and power she takes a page out of Bakugou’s book and she twists her body before spinning around like a twister. Her fists glow with One For All giving her spin a pink illuminated ring around it as she spins faster and faster.
The flaming dragon opens its massive maw ready to swallow up its victim.
Uravity’s twisting body rockets forward, generating a whirlwind around her. “Saturn Smash!”
Her Saturn Smash drills right through the dragon blowing it apart with sheer force.
Charmcaster gasps in horror. “No way!!”
Uravity’s Saturn Smash rockets right for her.
Charmcaster lashes out and the Stone Spider thrusts its legs forward, but they’re repealed and smashed away by Uravity’s high velocity spin.
Charmcaster screams as Uravity’s Saturn Smash crashes right into the Stone Spider and her, blasting the creature apart in a thundering boom. Rubble flies everywhere, glass clatters to the ground, and metal clangs against the pavement. And Charmcaster is sent flying into the air, she crashes down onto the church’s weedy lawn before her back slams against the side of the church. And judging from that hit she isn’t going to be getting anywhere quickly
Uravity collapses to her knees in exhaustion, her knuckles are red from deflecting the Stone Spider’s legs and her head’s still spinning even though her Saturn Smash is over.
With a shaky breath she spots all of the Charms of Bezel lying on the ground not too far away.
Uravity shakily wobbles her way to them, when she reaches them, she grips them between her hands before looking up to Charmcaster and back to the Charms, coming to a final decision.
Charmcaster forces her eyes open and just in time to witness the fate of her precious treasures.
Uravity places her fingers against the Charms making them weightless.
‘It’s like Thirteen said humans aren’t ready for this technology.’
She then reels her hand back like a pitcher, and her hand glows with the strength of One For All.
Charmcaster’s eyes widen with absolute horror and devastation as she realizes what Uravity’s about to do.
With all the strength she can muster Uravity throws the Charms of Bezel up towards the never-ending sky. The Charms rocket through the air, flying higher, and higher, and higher until they become nothing but a spec. Soon after they disappear completely flying up into the endless void that is space.
It’s finally over.
Charmcaster has to bite her tongue from screaming out. “Curse you…Uravity.”
She can hear the police sirens in the distance and knowing full well how cruel the police system can be, the defeated sorceress unleashes a veil of pixiedust, before sneaking away in the smoke screen. And just in time as Gran Torino zooms through the smokescreen only to find nothing at all.
Meanwhile, Ochaco is grinning up at the clear sky, hued orange from the setting sun, happy she could return the charms back to the galaxy. Sure she was supposed to try and get them back to One-One but in all honesty, this was for the best. She doesn’t need the charms and keeping them around will only temp others to come after them. This was for the best.
Gran Torino approaches her from the side, and he only has one question. “Why’d you do that?”
Ochaco doesn’t even look his way, keeping her eyes trailed on the spot she last saw the talismans. “I thought it was for the best.”
Gran Torino sighs, not appreciating Ochaco’s cryptic response. “You know what? If anything that just puts this all to rest. I’ll put my faith in you on this one.”
“Thanks.”
Gran Torino flashes the girl a smile. “You did good by the way.”
“Did I?” Ochaco’s mood falls away again. “I was played…”
“Yeah, but now you're that much wiser for it. Learn from your mistakes kid, failure is often a great teacher even better than me.”
That makes Ochaco chuckle a bit, but he’s right. She learned so much today and accomplished so much after her failures. So she can definitely say she walked away today stronger, smarter, and more experienced.
The sigh of an unconscious Hex being hauled away on a stretcher draws their attention.
Ochaco frowns worriedly at the sight of the nasty gash across the villain’s chest. “Do you think we’ll ever find her again?”
Gran Torino shrugs his shoulder. “Who knows? Nothing’s for certain. But if she is out there hopefully, she’s rethinking her life choices.”
“Yeah, I hope so.”
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A purple high heeled boot slams against a trash can. “Curse you…Uravity.” Charmcaster tosses a fireball against the wall leaving a massive scorch mark against the crumbling bricks. “I had it all! The power! The city! Everything!”
“Guess it didn’t work out like you planned.”
Charmcaster scowls at the unwanted interruption.
The interruption comes in the form of a man of moderate height and build with parted grey hair, and a gaunt purple suit, and a light cigarette between his teeth. “Oh my, where’s that fashionable uncle of yours? Is he not joining us?”
Charmcaster humphs in annoyance. “No, he’s not.” She throws a suspicious glare over at the man. “But what are you doing here, Giran?”
Giran chuckles. “Why do you sound so suspicious? I was the one who told you about your little trinket.”
Charmcaster snaps. “But I don’t have it do I?!”
The smirking Giran throws his hands up in defense. “Hey that’s on you sweetie, I did my part.”
The scowling Charmcaster whips her head away in frustration.
“So, what’s the plan?”
The sorceress rolls her eyes. “Getting out of the city obviously.”
“And then what?”
“Does it matter?”
Giran takes a huff of his smoke, finishing it off before reaching for another one from his pocket. “What about that gravity girl? She really kicked your ass huh?”
Alright, Charmcaster’s had enough. “Okay, what’s with all the questions?! You’re after something aren’t you?”
“Haha! Can’t hide anything from you, but yeah I’m sort of working for another client of mine.” He lights the new cigarette. “They’re looking for some new members and I think you’d be a great fit.”
“And why is that?”
“Because if I’m right you can get back at the gravity girl tenfold.” He inhales the smoke.
Charmcaster looks down towards the ground where a little bug is scurrying across the pavement. She steps forward and with no effort crushes the innocent thing under her boot. “Alright, Giran. I’ll hear you out.”
Smoke leaks out between Giran’s teeth as his wide grin signifies his elation.
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“Now I get it. You must be the ones who attacked U.A.” The bloodthirst predator scans the little bar and its patrons. And from what he sees he’s not that all impressed or intimidated.
Tomura Shigaraki is casually propped up by the bar while the bartender, Kurogiri, stands nearby, there’s also the monstrous Nue hunched over in the corner listening in, and in the back a little screen is lit up but only things displayed are the words SOUND ONLY.
The predator is not impressed. “And you wanna recruit me to build up your little group again.”
The predator is an intimidating, muscular man who walks with a distinct hunch, and has a flat, somewhat-triangular face without a nose. He has rather long, black hair, which he wears in a messy fashion; it would drape over his face if not for his headband and mask, and small red eyes with tiny irises.
He sports a dark combat suit, plated with metal armor across his body to holster his weapons, and a tattered blood-red scarf. The torso is sleeveless, so he instead wraps his arms in yellow bandages, all the way from just below his shoulders to his wrists. He also wears long black wristbands and a watch on his left arm, and his knees are protected with metal pads, the costume completed by black boots with steel armor.
“Yeah.” replies Shigaraki, his voice dry and bored like this meeting is nothing but a formality. “It’ll be great, you’ve got so much experience.”
Well that’s why Shigaraki wants him, but why should he join Shigaraki? “And what’s your mission?”
“For now? I really just wanna kill All Might.” The leader of the league snickers at the thought. “I like to destroy anything that pisses me off.”
Shigaraki flashes a pair of photos taken during U.A.’s Sports Festival. One is a photo of a girl with brown hair and pink cheeks running through the finish line with a little grey frog on her shoulder. And the other is of a green-haired boy with a freckled face standing atop a podium wearing a silver medal.
“Like these little brats here.” Shigaraki’s red eye glares through the hand adorned on his face. “Game over.”
Nue lets out a deep growl, baring his sharp jagged fangs in agreement.
The predator glares back, this was a waste of his time. “I was a fool to think you could offer me anything. It turns out, you’re the type of person I hate most in this world.”
“Hm?” Shigaraki wasn’t expecting such a cold response.
Even Kurogiri and Nue look a bit put off.
“The goals of your league are those of a child.” The predator reaches for his blades located below his arms, gripping the hilts tightly. “What meaning is there to killing if you don’t have real convictions?”
Kurogiri watches on, he can sense the malice and danger emitting from this man. ‘The Hero Killer Stain. Tomura Shigaraki cares only about wanton violence, so we brought this man in to guide him.’
The Hero Killer Stain unsheathes his blades, drawing them forward.
‘Perhaps we made a mistake.’ Kurogiri addresses the screen. “Sensei. Should I step in?”
A deep cryptic voice softly responds. “Let it happen. It’s possible this is the only way he’ll learn anything.”
Shigaraki’s fingers twitch in anger.
“He needs to think about the ways he must grow.”
Stain stands at the ready with serrated blades up and ready to spill blood.
“How he can mature. Only then will he reach his potential.”
Nue is up on his feet, hunched over and snarling like a beast waiting for any excuse to tear through anything made of flesh.
All the while the two photos are left forgotten on the floor where they’ll no doubt be trampled and bloodied before the end of the night.
Notes:
And that was Ch.33, what’d you all think? Was it good? Was it bad? Was it magical? Was it confusing? And hey this is the first real chapter where Izuku didn’t make a single appearance, huh weird, right? I also feel like I introduced a lot here: Gyro-Disc, Ryou Spheres, Saturn Smash, Hex and Charmcaster, and Stain! Wow!! But it’ll all be worth it in the long run for sure. And now we get to see how all of this gets to play out next time so stay tuned.
*The Gyro-Disc, if you can’t recall, Ochaco asked Mei Hatsume about back in “Ch.19 Prepare Yourselves.” Ochaco asked her for support gear that can help her fly without exerting herself and the Gyro-Disc is what we got. And yeah, it’s been a while since then, but the Sports Festival took place between then and now and that Arc was way longer than I thought it would be. But I think it was well worth it.
*So just to be clear there is NO MAGIC in this universe. Sure Clockwork and Alien X can do crazy things but I’m not calling it magic. Magic, I feel is a deep rabbit hole that I can’t afford to delve into for this story otherwise it will only derail the story so it will not be included. This also means that Anodites or Mana users aren’t a thing either. Sorry but Ochaco is the parallel to Gwen with One For All and Zero-Gravity mixing to act as mana. But you never know I may make a work around to get Anodites in here somehow or someday.
*Speaking of magic, how were Hex and Charmcaster? It took me a while to come up with Quirks that I could disguise as magical but still make them seem like real Quirks. And I think I did well with them. Just to be clear Hex’s Quirk is called Calamity and it allows him to generate natural disasters.
*Charmcaster’s Quirk is called Alchemy which allows her to create anything she wants as long as she has the right chemical compositions, and when mixed with living materials she can create animated objects too.
*Also only a few people pointed it out, but these original cities are named and based off two planets from the Star Wars universe. Geonosis City is the planet “Geonosis” from Attack of the Clones where the planet is inhabited by bug-aliens and where the “Separatists” keep their droid factories. And in this chapter, I used “Dathomir,” a planet in “Star Wars the Clone Wars” series where witches known as the “Night Sisters” live. And it’s the planet “Darth Maul” originated from. Which Hex shares a similar color pallet with. Kudos to those that got the references right away.
Chapter 35: Nightfall
Summary:
Our heroes arrive at Hosu but as night approaches so does death and tragedy.
Notes:
Yo!!! That’s right! I was able to update within a week since last time!! Amazing, right?! I didn’t think I’d actually get this one out so soon, but here we are. Anyway I hope you're ready because here we go!
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
The sky has started to turn yellow, the sun is just beginning to set, its dimming glow illuminating down on U.A.. The school’s campus is void of students and not just of the hero course but from support to general studies are all gone for the day, classes having ended long ago. Even the teachers have taken their leave for the day.
Well except for one that is and his unexpected guest.
Said guest takes a seat across from the teacher within the confines of the Teacher’s Lounge. “I’m sorry to show up unexpectedly. Hope you don’t mind.”
Yagi Toshinori, as the proper host that he is, places a cup of hot tea down on the coffee table before his guest. “Please, it’s always a pleasure to see you, Tsukauchi.”
The detective, Naomasa Tsukauchi, smiles and nods in appreciation. Even through the warm smile, Toshinori can tell this man’s been working many long hours.
Toshinori takes a seat on the couch across from Tsukauchi. “So, how’s the investigation?”
Tsukauchi raises an eyebrow. “Which one?”
Toshinori glares, unamused.
Tsukauchi sighs, knowing which one the hero’s talking about. “Well, there were a number of villains who attacked the USJ. But we’re puzzled by one. The one they called ‘Nomu’.”
Toshinori thinks back to that black and muscular monster that was hauled away by the police in restraints. If Toshinori remembers correctly that monster really was something with his brain exposed, a beak, and was a weird hybrid of a monster and a crab.
“Ah, that strong-looking crab guy.”
Tsukauchi confirms it with a nod. “We went ahead and ran some tests on Nomu’s DNA.”
“And what exactly did you find?”
Tsukauchi’s eyes soften, trailing down as his voice takes a more serious tone. “First: we’re not asking you to help us with the case. Technically, this is a leak.” His eyes lock onto Toshinori’s. “I just felt I owed it to you to let you know. It could lead us to the one in charge.”
Toshinori gasps in surprise. Is this it? Can they finally reach an answer?
Tsukauchi goes on to explain in full. “After several attempts at interrogation, we realized that Nomu can’t speak. He shows no reaction to anything. It’s as though he literally can’t think for himself. No matter what’s going on around him.” Tsukauchi pushes a mugshot of a fat lipped man with blonde hair across the coffee table. “As for his identity: we discover that he used to be a low-level thug with a record of assault and extortion.”
Toshinori cups his chin in thought. Sure this is good; they got an identity on Nomu, but a low-level thug is far from a mastermind. “Why do you think this’ll lead us to the mastermind behind the League?”
“Here’s where it gets interesting. Our reports show that he’s been altered drastically. When we analyzed his genetic makeup, we discovered four different people’s DNA.” Tsukauchi’s eyes drift away for a moment. “And some strands of mutated animal DNA, and I’m willing to bet you can guess what it was.”
Yeah, a crab. “Someone combined quite a bit of DNA to make this guy. So is he even human anymore?”
“The transformation is a result of drugs and other unknown methods. The animal DNA we actually have an explanation for: Dr. Animo.”
Toshinori’s face scrunches up as he tries to recall the name. “That sounds familiar.”
“It should nearly a year ago, you arrested him. He led an army of mutated animals to attack a mall.”
“Ohhhh!” That’s right Toshinori remembers that quake now, he was quite the character. ‘Actually, wasn’t that also the first time I met Young Uraraka…and I guess my second time meeting Young Midoriya…?’
Now that they’re on the same page, the detective continues. “Dr. Animo’s Quirk allows him to genetically modify and mutate animals, which also explains the other…creatures we found during the USJ.” Specifically the giant monster koi fish, rabid mutant hamsters, and the grossly-fiendish snakes.
“So do you think this Dr. Animo is the mastermind.”
The detective shakes his head. “No, far from it. The drugs combined human DNA, and other methods don’t fit with Dr. Animo’s MO or knowhow. If anything…there’s someone else working those ends.”
‘Another doctor perhaps?’ So, Nomu is just a product of some mad science. And if it wasn’t Dr. Animo then there might just be someone else with the knowhow. “And what exactly has this…other doctor done to this man?”
They both peer down at the photo of what used to be a normally average man, before Tsukauchi replies. “To oversimplify a bit, he’s been modified so that his body is able to hold multiple Quirks at once. His brain’s apparent lack of processing power probably comes from the burden that causes. But we’re more concerned about his DNA.”
Toshinori eyes him, silently asking him to continue.
“He shouldn’t have more than one power. Even if new DNA’s introduced, that shouldn’t give a person multiple powers. Not unless it’s completely integrated into someone’s body.” He speaks clearly and with meaning, making sure the hero fully understands what he’s trying to explain. “Not all Quirks work like One For All. But maybe…”
Toshinori’s eyes slowly widen, his pupils shake, as a horrible truth, he rather deny, is told.
“…there’s someone out there with the power to pass different Quirks on to other people.”
Toshinori gasps in horror, jumping out from his seat. “It can’t be!”
But it can. “Given the evidence, I think it’s a reasonable conclusion. S’why I came. I had to let you know immediately.”
The weakened Number One Hero needs a minute, walking over towards the large windows gazing down upon the city as the setting sun’s light signals that soon night will take its hold over Japan.
‘It can’t… It can’t…’ That man can’t be alive… He saw to it himself! But…if he is still alive then what is he up to? And if Nomu was created then…are there more of him…them?
Toshinori internally gasps. ‘No… Did he…? Is Young Midoriya…a Nomu?’ Did he get his cruel hands on the boy, on young Midoriya?! That would explain One Man Army. It’s like Tsukauchi said: Nomu was “designed” to hold more than…one power.
“No. It’s not POSSIBLE.” Toshinori’s entire body shakes with anger, his fists clenching together, as he slowly takes on his more powerful form.
But like at the U.S.J. All Might isn’t smiling. “Don’t tell me he’s back again.”
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The sun has fallen even further upon the horizon and shadows have begun to stretch across the city as the bustle and hustle die down for the day.
But there is one section of the city where the shadows have completely consumed the city, where rats hide, crimes are committed and where…blood is spilled.
“So you want me to be part of your crumbling little league. But you won’t accomplish anything if you don’t have conviction and desire.” The disgust is Stain’s voice is palpable, as he addresses the villain. “Without those, you’ll always be an aimless weakling. Achieving nothing.” Stain remains crouched forward, his beaten serrated blades held tight in his grip. “That’s how you got here.”
Stain has Tomura Shigaraki pinned down, laying on his back, as one of Stain’s blades digs into his shoulder, and a second blade stationed beside his neck ready to slice through it at any moment.
Shigaraki’s breathing heavily from the pain but even with a blade impaling him he’s surprisingly calm even sounding a bit bored by it. “Hey, now. You’re being a little rough, aren’t you?” Shigaraki directs his attention up to the bar. “Kurogiri, take this guy back.”
Kurogiri is struggling to move, for some reason his body’s refusing to move an inch from its spot, but the only indication of anything wrong is the bleeding gash on his arm. “I’m sorry. I can’t move. It must be the Hero Killer’s Quirk at work.”
Alright that’s a bust, Shigaraki peers over to the other end of the bar. “And what’s your excuse, Nue?”
Nue didn’t even lash out at the murderer when he attacked Shigaraki. He just stood there watching as Stain took Shigaraki down in one second flat.
Nue gives his supposed leader a jagged-toothed grin. “Ha! What me?!” Nue leans back against the brick wall, folding his two pairs of arms together in defiance. “You heard the TV, you gotta figure this one out all on your own. Besides I love watching people get their asses handed to them.”
Shigaraki lets out an annoyed wheeze before he turns his attention back on the one currently stabbing him.
Stain holds his grip over the villain, his blades digging further into the villain’s flesh. “The Word ‘hero’ has lost all meaning in this society. The world is overrun by fakes and criminals like you who chase petty dreams.” His eyes flare red with finality. “They must all be purged.”
Nue’s smile fades away, even he has to admit that the Hero Killer has a somewhat interesting point.
Stain slowly aims the teeth of his blade towards the disturbing severed hand Shigaraki’s been using as a mask.
Without hesitation Shigaraki grabs the knife by its blade, the teeth cutting into his palm, but even with death looming over him he dares to defy it, speaking with a burning rage. “What do you think you’re doing? If you touch this hand…” The blade cracks under the death grip of his fingers. “…I’ll kill you.”
Stain is…perplexed by the sudden resolve.
Shigaraki’s grip tightens, breaking the blade more as it begins to decay away. “You sure talk a lot, ‘Hero Killer.’” The blade has now turned into a brown color as rust takes hold over it. “Conviction? Maybe I don’t have anything as loaded as that.” With one last grip the blade crumbles away like sand. “If I had to choose a desire, though…” Shigaraki’s eyes briefly peer over to the slashed poster of the Symbol of Peace hanging from the wall. “Yeah, it’d be killing All Might.”
A deranged grin appears across Shigaraki’s face as he proclaims his plans for this world. “If this world wants to worship trash like him, I’ll destroy their beloved Symbol of Peace, and then crush them while they’re in shock!”
Stain is both disgusted and amazed by the absolute resolve, bloodlust, and desire the villain is displaying before him.
Shigaraki lashes his open palm out, willing to kill the Hero Killer himself.
But Stain leaps away his blade drawn back to retaliate.
Shigaraki rises off the floor, his shoulder aching with pain. “Damn, that injury really did some damage there.” Blood drips down his arm from the open gash on his shoulder, but right now the burning itch of irritation is a far greater nuisance as he scratches away at his own flesh. “You should learn not to play with knives. We don’t have a healer in our party, you know.”
Stain lowers his blade ever so slightly. “I see your nature.”
Shigaraki…surprised. He just tried to kill the guy, yet he wants to have a conversation.
“It seems our goals fundamentally oppose each other.” Despite that Stain is grinning. “However, this wasn’t in vain. We agree that we need to destroy the present.”
Shigaraki wobbles backwards whether it’s from pain or confusion is unclear. “I’m over this. Leave drop dead. I’m the kind of person you hate most, right?”
Stain sheathes his knife, displaying his lack of interest for combat. “I was testing your motives. People always show their true colors when on the verge of death.” He eyes Shigaraki warily, with the intrigue of a scientist observing the odd behaviors of an animal. “It’s abnormal, but there is desire, a warped sprout of conviction, inside of you. How will it bloom in the end, I wonder?” The Hero Killer raises his arms out as if in awe of that potential before him. “Maybe I’ll let you grow. If you don’t turn out well, I’ll take care of you later.”
Alright, Shigaraki’s way past annoyed by this point. “You think you could get rid of me?”
Meanwhile, Kurogiri is finally able to move, his body relaxing as whatever spell held him has finally broken away. “I’m free.”
Shigaraki, without taking his eyes off the predator, addresses his subordinate. “Kurogiri. Someone as crazy as this would be nothing but a problem for the League of Villains.”
Kurogiri respectfully disagrees. “Please reconsider. This man will be a great asset if he joins us.”
Nue, who’s been quietly watching from the side, snickers. “Yeah, at the very least it’ll be entertaining.” His horrid maw turns into a fanged smirk. “And badass.”
Kurogiri sends him an annoyed glare before continuing. “I’d say this was a success.”
Stain, however, disagrees. “My business here is done. Now, you will return me to Hosu.” His abnormally long tongue dances slides across his lips, his eyes dilated glowing red with bloodlust. “There are still several false heroes I must attend to there.”
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At the same time, within Hosu City itself a duo of heroes have returned to their agency for a quick break before heading back out again.
The pro hero, Manual, pulls off his helmet, sighing in relief of letting his hazel hair free from its confines. He smiles over at Tenya Iida, his intern, as he too takes his own helmet off. “Well, the nice thing about the whole city on alert is that no villains will dare come out.” Manual walks off deciding to go grab a quick bite to eat, leaving the young man alone with his thoughts.
“Oh, yeah, sure.” Iida takes off his glasses, setting down onto the desk.
He leans over the desk trying to remain as calm and discrete as he possibly can as his insides simmer with an ever-growing rage. ‘Hero Killer Stain. It was obvious once I looked at your crimes.’ Iida thinks back to all the newspaper articles and news reels he could find before the internship. ‘In the seven places that you’ve appeared so far, you’ve always attacked at least four pro heroes. Maybe there’s a reason for that, or maybe I’m just reading into things, but it looks like a pattern. And Tensei is the only pro hero you’ve attacked in Hosu.’
Iida can still hear how weak and pained his dear brother’s voice sounded the day he was attacked…: “I’m Sorry. I failed you…”
Iida’s fists clench but he remains still but his eyes…they burn with vengeance. ‘That means…it’s very likely that you’ll appear in this city again.’ He can practically sense it, the Hero Killer will make a move and soon, he must be in the city. ‘Good. I’ll dispose of you with my own hands.’
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“Ah! What a drive.” Dholak’s lance-like limbs stretched out, stretching out longer than the Rolls-Royce Phantom he had just parked.
Gang Orca steps out from the back of the Rolls-Royce Phantom. “Don’t tell me you’re tired.”
“Naw! No way boss.” Dholak folds his arms together trying to seem cool and collected, before throwing an accusing eye at the other passenger. “I just couldn’t stand being in the car with this one any longer.”
Izuku Midoriya frowns, taking offense to the jab, but he just continues to play around with something on his right wrist.
After taking down the bug villain, Clancy, Gang Orca had them all pack back right into the car before they took off. According to the pro hero, they’ve been requested by the local authorities to aid in a villain search of some kind.
But what Gang Orca failed to mention was where.
And so Izuku turns his attention to their newest destination. “This is…Hosu?”
Gang Orca nods. “Very observant.” He turns away, his attention being drawn elsewhere. “Not surprising.”
Izuku frowns, he didn’t realize he was coming to Hosu. And if he remembers correctly, this is where Iida’s taking his internship. ‘I wonder how he’s doing… Maybe I should try to message, Iida. Just to make sure he’s holding up alright.’
He can wonder all he likes, but what’s really on Izuku’s mind right now is why they’re here? And so he turns to the pro hero. “But…why?”
Gang Orca doesn't reply, not right away as if hesitant, but he might as well tell him not like hiding the truth would do much good. “We’ve been requested to help the local heroes and police hunt down…” He pauses, his red steely gaze piercing through to the boy’s very soul. “the Hero Killer.”
Izuku chokes up, fear coursing through him at the mere mention of that monster.
Dholak snickers at the sight of the greenette’s flushed face. “What’s the matter kid? Don’t tell me you’re scared.”
“I’m not!!”Izuku shys away a bit. “It’s just that…the Hero Killer is…well…”
“A villain.” states Gang Orca. “No different than the ones you’ve already faced. Besides, if all goes as planned, you will not be required to confront the murderer, even he may prove too much.”
Izuku is a bit offended by the suggestion that he can’t defend himself. “I can help! I’m more than capable.”
Gang Orca’s eyes narrow, finding the boy’s defiance insulting.
Said boy, however, isn’t willing to stand down puffing his chest out and glaring right back at the menacing pro hero.
The two glare at each other each trying to force the other to back down first, but neither show any sign of giving up.
“RAHHHHHH!!!” Without warning Gang Orca’s lunges forward, his terrifying maw snapping open as he lets loose a blood curdling roar.
“Wahhh!!” Izuku flips out as death flashes before him, falling backwards in a panic knowing that with one simple movement the killer whale could end his life here and now.
But instead the maw snaps shut just an inch away from his nose, silencing the cowering boy.
Gang Orca calmly pulls away, his display of intimidation now over.
It takes a moment for Izuku to finally come to his senses that the danger has passed. “W-what…what was that…?”
“That was killing intent. That fear squeezing on your heart like death’s very hand has a grip on your soul…” A creeping danger lurks within the orca’s eyes. “that’s what we’re up against.”
Okay, Izuku might have to admit that…he may just be okay with sitting this one out.
Gang Orca adjusts his tie before addressing the young man. “Now I do believe you are capable, but I rather not put you in any unnecessary danger.” He places his massive hand onto the boy’s shoulder. “This may sound cliché and a bit biased, but you’re young there’s no need for you to go through such a force yourself.”
Izuku blinks up at the hero. “I…I still think I can help.”
Gang Orca pulls his hand away. “You misunderstand. You may help with the search.”
Izuku’s eyes widen in pleasant surprise.
Gang Orca is quick to cut into the moment. “But.”
His smile falls.
“You, under any circumstances, are not allowed to fight the Hero Killer. Understood?”
Izuku is hesitant to answer, but he agrees, nonetheless. “Yes.”
The pro hero nods back in approval.
Alright now that that is settled, there’s still more Izuku needs to know. “So, um, how are we doing this? Are we going to split up or something?”
Gang Orca waves it off. “That will all be explained in due time, for now we wait.”
Izuku raises an eyebrow. “Wait? Wait for what?”
Dholak shakes his head. “Not a what but a whom.”
“Huh?” What is he talking about?
“Midoriya?”
The wearer of the Omnitrix slowly turns his head around and finds the source of the calm and very familiar voice. “Todoroki?!”
Yup, Izuku’s own classmate, Shoto Todoroki, is standing there adoring his newly designed hero costume.
His updated hero costume consists of a dark blue jacket with elbow-length sleeves, its collar high and joined in the center by a gray neckpiece, baggy pants of the same color, a metal-plated combat vest and white boots, their soles and a thin line running down the center of each of them a darker pale gray. He also sports a brown utility belt around his waist, with little metal capsules hanging off the front.
Izuku…kind of misses that half-ice aesthetic he had a while back. It was way cooler but at least this one is easier on the eyes with some solid colors.
Speaking of colorful people, Izuku’s eyes drift over to Shoto’s and his eyes nearly pop out from their sockets as they land on the hero he decided to internship under. “ENDEAVOR!?!”
Sure enough a scowling Endeavor is stomping forward from across the street as a band of his sidekicks march behind him giving him the facade of a flaming emperor escorted by a legion of fiery soldiers.
“Oh.” Endeavor’s steely cold glare narrows down on the insignificant boy with disgust. “it’s you.”
“Uh!” Izuku cowers back a bit.
Shoto approaches his classmate as his father approaches Gang Orca. “Don’t mind him.” He sends a cold glare towards the back of his old man. “He’s always like this.”
Izuku chuckles nervously. “Oh…is that right…?”
Endeavor tchs, irritated by the child’s presence, before addressing the other pro hero. “This is the company you keep? Decided to add seaweed to your aquarium, have you?”
Gang Orca’s eyes narrow while Izuku feels a bit self-conscious and wounded as he grips his green-messy hair. “Sea…weed…?”
Endeavor folds his arms, speaking with authority, taking command of the meeting as he addresses Gang Orca. “Alright, you know why we're here. Your echolocation should make it easy to track down the Hero Killer.”
Gang Orca doesn't bother to challenge Endeavor, there is no point to it, it’s just an egotistical sociopath trying to prove his worth. “In theory but this villain has proven elusive before.”
Endeavor tsks in annoyance, he was hoping to have this done and over with quickly. But he came prepared to search, hence why he brought his sidekicks along.
Endeavors’ sidekicks line up and Dholak takes note of one in particular, throwing them a sarcastic look. “Looks like your group’s as friendly as ever, Burnin.”
The sidekick, Burnin, grins. “Ha! Like you guys can talk!”
Burnin is a young woman who has big, dark eyes and pointy teeth. Her most distinguishable feature is her long, flaming hair with two bangs on each side and a wider bang going from the center of her forehead to the right.
She wears a light-grey jacket. Her collar, belt and wrist guards are black with a smaller red line. She wears a belt with a temperature gauge on the front and a fire extinguisher on the back, black knee-high socks, and short black boots. Her mask is black and is connected to a red headband.
“Ha! But I gotta admit, the boss hasn’t been in the best of moods.” Burnin casts her eyes over at Izuku who’s conversing with his classmate. “He’s all sore because his kid lost to freckles over there.”
Izuku overhears the comment, blushing with embarrassment and shyness. Wow, it didn’t really process until now but…he did beat the son of the Number Two hero, didn’t he? Wait, does that mean Endeavor has it out for him?! Is that why he can’t stand Izuku’s presence. And what about Shoto?! Is…is everything okay at home for him? He needs to get him talking, just to be sure.
“So…?”
Shoto’s eyes glance over at Izuku waiting for him to continue.
“What…brings you…here?” Okay, dumb question but it’s all he’s got.
Shoto takes a moment before answering, looking over towards the Number Two Hero. “My old man…wants to show me what real power looks like.”
“What do you mean…?” A jolt of internal fear and dread courses through Izuku as a nasty and horrible thought crosses his mind. “H-hey, T-todoroki?”
Shoto looks at him curiously, wondering why he’s shaking.
“Um, things are okay, right?”
Shoto’s…a bit lost here, so his classmate elaborates. “He’s not like…mad because of…you know?”
It eventually dawns on the scared teen what Izuku’s referring to: the results of their battle during the Sports Festival. “He’s always mad, so not much has changed.” Shoto thinks on the subject trying to think if anything did seem off. “Actually I think he's just more annoyed than angry.”
“What? Why?”
“Couldn’t say.” It could be because Shoto’s refused to continue their training sessions. It could be because he lost the Sports Festival. Or maybe it has nothing to do with him and all about his “ranking.”
But as Shoto thinks about it, Endeavor has really been acting really upset as of late. In truth he seemed…happy (that sounds wrong) when Shoto voluntarily decided to intern under him.
Weird, his attitude took a dive the moment they arrived in Hosu.
‘No he’s seemed even angrier since he saw Midoriya.’ Shoto peers over at the possible target of his father’s aggression. ‘But why?’
Shoto eyes Izuku curiously trying to figure this particular puzzle out. “Staaarrreee.”
As he tries to think of what his father could possibly have against Midoriya, Shota’s eyes are eventually drawn toward Izuku’s wrist. Specifically, Izuku’s right wrist where a new device lies.
“Hey, Midoriya.”
Izuku blinks up at Shoto. “Yeah?”
“What is that?” Shoto points to the device on his right arm.
Izuku follows his finger down to the item in question.
The new support item appears to be some sort of high tech looking vambrace. It’s bulky with black plating and silver trims. A small disc designed with the Omnitrix’s logo sits on top. Overall it looks like a second Omnitrix, it's just as bulky but instead of just covering Midoriya’s wrist it nearly encases his entire forearm.
“Oh, this?” Izuku smiles excitedly at the vambrace. “It’s a little something from the Support Department, courtesy of Mei Hatsume!” He had it the whole time, but they left the car in such a haste earlier that he forgot to put it on when they faced Clancy. But hey now’s not too late to try it out.
That didn’t answer Shoto’s question. “Okay, but what is it?”
“Oh, well I needed something to defend myself when I can’t transform so she made me a -”
“SHOTO!!!”
Both of the students’ heads snapped forward at the hero’s roar.
Endeavor is scowling, specifically at Izuku, like a rabid dog defending its turf. “Get away from him. The likes of him will only drag you down.”
Shoto’s eyes narrow as Izuku shys away worried for his own wellbeing.
Endeavor turns away and waves his agency forward. “Come now, we’re heading out.”
Izuku looks to Gang Orca for more of an explanation. “What’s the plan?”
Gang Orca goes ahead and explains. “We’re splitting up like back at Geonosis City, but by agency.”
Oh, Izuku gets it. They split up by agency with Endeavor’s taking one half while they take the other.
Gang Orca continues. “We’ll contact the other group if any of us encounter anything.”
Endeavor tsks in irritation. “Never mind that. We don’t need the help from weak willed fools.” He stomps off, his sidekicks and Burnin following along. “Let’s go, Shoto.”
Shoto turns back to his classmates. “See ya, Midoriya.” And with a slight wave of his hand he walks off, in no hurry to catch up to the fiery sore loser.
It takes a minute for Izuku to finally respond but by then Shoto’s already gone. “Uh, yeah. See ya.”
Gang Orca adjusts his cape as he too prepares to move forward. “Come now, we’re off too.”
Dholak leers at Izuku. “Don’t slow us down alright?”
Izuku shakes his head. “I won’t…”
And so Gang Orca’s agency heads out leaving their car behind as the shadows resulting from the setting sun descend down on the city, consuming everything in darkness. Providing the perfect cover for monsters to make their move, because lurking within the darkness is death and despair.
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On the other side of the city, Manual and Iida are out on their last patrol for the day. They’ve been at this for hours on hours every day so far but considering what’s occurred it’s no surprise.
Even so Manual still feels like he should apologize for not providing a more educational and experiential environment. “Sorry this is so monotonous.”
From behind his helmet, Iida continues to scan the streets for any signs of trouble or more specifically villainy. “No. It’s better this way.”
Manual is just a bit put off by such an answer, usually interns like him are more eager to fight crime and be more active, but then again…this is no normal intern, now is he? “Hey.”
Iida turns his attention to Manual.
Manual’s usually friendly smile is gone, instead replaced by a more somber and serious expression. “This is kinda hard to ask, but you’re after the Hero Killer, aren’t you?”
Iida actually let’s out a small gasp. Did he really figure it out that quickly?! “How did you…?”
Manual sheepishly grins as he rubs the back of his head. “I couldn’t think of any other reason why you’d come to my agency.” He gets all flustered with embarrassment. “Uh! I mean, don’t get me wrong, I’m really glad you did…” His grin falls away again becoming serious and somber. “But…you shouldn’t be pursuing personal grudges.”
Iida actually has the wind knocked out of him as the harsh reality slowly dawns on him.
“We heroes don’t have the authority to arrest people or punish them. The only reason we’re allowed to use our Quirks is because of the regulations put on them. That’s why, no matter how noble the reason may be, a hero must not use their Quirk for themselves.”
Iida peers down but it’s difficult to say if it’s from shame or…frustration.
And so Manual continues. “If a pro used their power for their own selfish desires, it would be a very serious crime.”
Iida remains eerily silent as the pain and harshness of the truth really sets in, but again the helmet is making it difficult to really gauge his reaction.
And so the flustered Manual tries to back track. “I’m not saying that the Hero Killer isn’t incredibly guilty or anything!” He waves off the denial, his friendly smile returning. “You just seem like the earnest type, you know? I’d hate for you to focus on one goal and ignore everything else.”
Without warning, Iida goes ahead and bows. “Thank you. I appreciate it.” Even though he’s thanking someone, the sincerity of it just doesn’t reach his voice.
Even so the pro hero doesn’t want to push the young man any more than he already has. “Oh, it’s fine, as long as you get what I’m sayin’. So, we good?” Thinking all was said and done, Manual spins around and continues with the patrol.
With his back turned, Iida is finally free to show his real feelings.
His fist clench, his nails threatening to cut into his palms just from how tight they are. ‘No.’ He follows behind Manual as vengeance swirls in his mind. ‘What am I supposed to do…with this burning hatred…? If I can't act?’
That monster…has to be put down, and nothing not even the law will get in his way. Justice will be served. Ingenium, Tensei, will be avenged. That is a promise, Hero Killer.
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The setting sun is just barely in sight anymore, with darkness having taken over most of the land with the flag of the moon shining above to signal night’s arrival.
The Hero Killer has waited enough for this moment, he’s waited hours for the sun to set and the right prey to come along. So here he is perched upon a water tower overlooking the city of Hosu like a vigilant gargoyle that comes to life at night.
A piece of the night swirls around behind him, becoming a doorway for a lanky young man wearing a severed hand can step through.
Shigaraki steps out from Kurogiri portal. It seems like his shoulder’s been patched up, but a splotch of blood is still visible even through the bandages.
Even so Shigaraki briefly scans their surroundings. “Huh. Hosu City looks nicer than I expected.” As he babbles, Nue trudges out from the Portal and just in time as it swirls together leaving behind one Kurogiri.
Shigaraki ignores the two of them however in favor of the infamous villain before him. “So, what are you gonna do?”
“I will reform it.” Stains tongue hangs out from the side, like a snake tasting the air for rats. “In order to do so, blood must spill.”
Kurogiri nods in understanding. “You have a clear goal. Your dedication is admirable.”
Stain stands up, his scarf and bandana flowing with the wind behind him. “Ah… Finally, someone who understands.”
Shigaraki grips his wounded shoulder. “I get the feeling you enjoy picking on me.”
Nue snickers at his leader, not bothering to hide it.
Stain continues to peer out into the city, but his attention is on the villains. “‘Hero’ is a title for those who’ve accomplished great deeds!” His voice is laced with bitter disgust and anger. “This city is full of false champions. All they care about is money and fame. Until this world realizes its mistakes,” He grips one of his sheathed knives. “I will continue my work.” And he jumps forward, dropping down onto the roof before leaping away his blade drawn as he pounces towards his next target.
And all the while the League of Villains watch on.
But while two of them are intrigued by the man, Shigaraki just isn’t buying any of it. “He talks all high and mighty and stuff, but he’s wasting his time focusing on a small stage. He’s so noble I could just throw up.”
Nue scowls. “Yeah, we all know people like that.”
Kurogiri is quick to interject. “You shouldn’t spurn his methods. The reality is, in all the cities where Stain has appeared, the crime rates have fallen.”
Shigaraki scratches at his neck in irritation in response to Kurogiri’s words of praise towards the mad man.
“Perhaps because heroes are more conscientious, or perhaps out of fear.”
Shigaraki’s scratching increases, threatening to break skin.
“Regardless, he does bring change.”
Shigaraki’s heard enough. “Oh, isn’t that just wonderful!” He snaps, smiling mockingly from behind the severed hand. “Heroes are working harder thanks to all those murders. I guess you could say our ‘Hero Killer’ is also a ‘Hero Breeder.’” He’s done with the act, slouching forward in boredom. “This is getting boring…”
He crosses his arms as he leers down at the city. “It won’t work. We just can’t agree on a basic level. And he annoys me.”
Nue’s grin turns mischievous. “Oh, but you still keep me around anyway.”
Shigaraki ignores him in favor of one possibly amusing idea. “Kurogiri, bring out the Nomus.”
Kurogiri summons forth a portal without question.
Shigaraki turns to the city as if the Hero Killer is still within earshot. “You think you can get away with stabbing me?”
Something…massive moves from with the void. No it’s several different masses all squirming and pushing against each other to be the first ones through,
“When I get tired of you, I’ll kill you. Whenever I feel like it. Just like that, Stain.”
Three Frankenstein-like creatures crawl out from the black void, their muscles bulging, their teeth bared, and claws ready. Each one is unique from wings, to scales, to even having four-eyes but they have one thing in common…they’re all certainly monsters. Beastly in nature and willing to destroy anything with one command from their master.
Shigaraki chuckles maniacally at the sight of the grotesque monsters. “But let’s make it more interesting. How about I crush your honor and your pride first? What do you say, big bad Hero Killer?”
And just like that the sun is gone and the night has officially taken over.
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Ochaco Uraraka lets out a mighty big yawn, it’s so late in the day heck it’s already pitch-black outside and they‘re not even heading back home yet. So she’s got to get as much rest as she can on this speeding bullet train as they can before they arrive.
The costumed Ochaco leans back in her seat beside the window, turning to Gran Torino. “Why are we heading to Shibuya now?” She yawns again before continuing. “It’s going to be like super late.” She gives the old man a suspicious look. “I thought you old people went to bed early.”
Gran Torino isn't offended, actually he laughs along with the jab. “Hah! Good one. But this late at night there's bound to be more skirmishes then, so it’ll be much more fun!”
Ochaco can’t help but feel a bit sick especially after what happened earlier that day. “Isn’t taking down one villain enough for today?”
“Nope! Haha!” Gran Torino gives her a mocking smirk. “Better get used to it kid, a hero’s job is never done.” Unfortunately.
And so Ochaco leans back as the train heads for Shibuya. Out of boredom Ochaco checks her phone pulling up a map to see how far it’ll be until they get there.
“Huh?” Interesting, they’re going to pass up Hosu soon. ‘That’s where Iida is isn’t it…?’ She thinks back to the start of the internship when all of Class 1-A were first heading their separate ways.
Iida just seems so…off and sad like he was…hurting. ‘I hope he’s okay.’
One of the other passengers cries out from the back. “Hey, did you see that?!”
Both Gran Torino and Ochaco immediately turn to have a look and so do the rest of the passengers, at least those that don’t have their headphones in anyway.
The passenger continues, his face pressed against the window. “A building exploded!”
Another passenger, a woman, gasps. “Where?!”
Ochaco stands up at her seat trying to get a glimpse of whatever’s going on.
Gran Torino is just as confused. “What’s the ruckus?”
Ochaco responds. “It sounds like some kind of explosion…maybe a gas line or something.”
Just then the train’s speakers turn on and an automated message echoes throughout the bullet train. “Attention passengers, please hold onto your seats.”
The train lurches to a stop, hard, throwing Ochaco, Gran Torino, and all the other passengers right out of their seats.
But they have no time to even process that the train has stopped as the side of the train is blown open as a man, no a pro hero is smashed through the side of the train car!
The passengers scream out in horror mainly due to the bleeding man that was thrown into the train, but Ochaco and Gran Torino are more focused on the one that threw him.
The unknown pro hero scowls as he struggles to push himself off the ground. “What the hell-” A massive pale hand grabs his face and slams him down, silencing him.
Ochaco’s eyes widen like she’s witnessing a nightmare come to life, as the pale-skinned attacker pries back the train’s smashed in wall revealing itself to them all. “Nomu?!”
It can't be! There’s only one Nomu and he’s locked up! So who’s this guy?! A brother or cousin or something?!
This Nomu has a lot of similarities to the other Nomu like the deadish eyes and protruding exposed brain. But…it’s a pale-white color, and noticeably skinnier to the point that Ochaco can see the monster’s ribs, and those four beady eyes only add to the bizarreness. Speaking of bizarre, this Nomu has some…similar features as that of a squirrel of all things. With a pair of jagged buck teeth that look like they could slice through an arm, to needle-like claws, hairless rat ears, and a hairless tail lined with a set of thin quills.
The Squirlanoid Nomu lurches forward like a zombie wobbling towards its next meal which it has pinned under its lanky muscular arm.
Without a second to lose both Gran Torino and Uravity leap into action.
Gran Torino zooms forward and plants his foot against the monster’s face. Forcing it to break its grip on the pro hero.
Uravity slaps her hand against the Squirlanoid Nomu’s side, making it weightless, just as Gran Torino zips back in grabbing the Squirlanoid Nomu by its head and flying it right out of the train.
Uravity gasps. “Gran Torino!”
“Protect the passengers!” And off he goes flying the monster down and smashing it into the buildings down below.
Uravity gazes down in horror. “Are you…” Her voice trails away as something even more devastating attracts her eyes.
The city’s on fire!!
The glow of an inferno rages in the distance and clouds of smoke billow out into the night sky, and even from this distance she can hear the screams of innocent and panicked citizens.
“What’s…what’s happening…?”
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“What’s happening?!” shouts a horrified Izuku amongst the screams and flames.
Him, Gang Orca, and Dholak have just arrived onto the scene as panicking citizens flee the scene as buildings burn all around them.
Something large and bulky let’s out an animalistic groan as it marches through the flaming streets unbothered by the heat.
The monster is a black hybrid of a muscular man and a snapping turtle wearing a pair of beaten trousers and shin guards. With leathery scales, bulging muscles, a bulky and serrated outer shell, and massive claws that could crush the hood of a car. The monster’s head extends forward protruding a massive turtle-like beak that could snap through iron bars, it has tiny beady red eye, and a section of its skull has been surgically removed exposing its entire brain
Deku’s heart stops as dread fills his heart. “Is that…?”
“RAAAWWW!!!” The black-scaled Nomu lets loose a thundering bellow.
“A NOMU!?!”
No, it’s not one Nomu but two Nomus!!
A winged Nomu swoops over his packmate swiping at fleeing citizens before screeching back into the air.
This winged Nomu is pale-white with large leathery bat-like wings. But that must be its Quirk because the rest of its body resembles a lizard! The Nomu has wide reptilian head atop an extended neck with round reptilian-eyes, a thin wide mouth full of needle like teeth, and of course his brain is also exposed. His body is speckled with scales along with human skin, its claws are long and thin, and his arms stretch out before him with lean muscles, and a thin reptilian tail hangs from behind.
“RYEEEEE!!!” The flying-lizard Nomu releases an ear-piercing screech before swooping upwards, a chorus of screams ring out in its wake.
Izuku is at a complete loss for words. ‘There’s no way?! I beat Nomu myself! How could there be more?! Just…what the heck are they?!’
“Deku!!”
Izuku spins towards Gang Orca just as the hero marches forward. “Focus.” He readies his claws that shimmer against the light of the dancing flames. “We’re heroes, we have a duty.”
Dholak stands at the ready as well, his lance-like legs at the ready. “Yeah, kid.”
Izuku shakes his head. “You don’t understand…those are NOMUS!!!”
And like that their eyes widen in shock. Gang Orca had heard about the villain, perks of being in the top rankings, but he didn’t think there would be another one.
Dholak repeats the name. “Nomus…like that monster that attacked your school?” He heard about the thing from Gang Orca.
“Yeah… But…I don’t understand how there could be more.”
“RAAAWWW!!!” The biggest of the Nomus charges forward.
Gang Orca springs into action using himself to block its path.
WHAM!!! The two behemoths collide their claws digging into each other as they each struggle to push the other away.
Gang Orca’s arms shake as he struggles to keep the monster back. “Forget the details for now.” His jaws rip open. “We have villains to devour!!” He throws the monster’s claws aside and then sinks his teeth into the Nomu’s arm.
“RAAAWWW!!!” Sparks of electricity dance off the Nomu’s shell and then BOOM a thunderous wave of electricity forces Gang Orca away.
Gang Orca manages to stay on his feet despite being knocked away by the blast. But then he falls to his knee as sparks of electricity dance off of him. That last strike was so powerful that it actually stunned him!!
“What…was that?” Dholak cries out, he’s in shock that some monster was able to bring the hero down. “Some sort of shock wave?!”
Izuku gulps. “More like a shellshock.”
“RAAAWWW!!!” Shellshock roars out challenging his foes.
“Shut it big mouth!!” Dholak leaps forward his lance-like limbs at the ready.
Gang Orca tries to call out to him. “No, wait!”
But it’s too late Dholak’s already on the attack. “Crab Arrow Rain!!” His legs strike hard and fast like hundreds of arrows belting down on the villain’s tough hide.
Each strike is precise and piercing but Shellshock’s armor is too great. Shellshock throws his shell into the away allowing it to take the brunt of the attacks, snarling and bearing its beak at the crabman.
Shellshock’s neck stretches out, his massive maw lunging out and within a blink of an eye he has both of Dholak’s legs within his jaws.
“Dammit!!” Dholak tries to pull away but Shellshock’s grip is too strong like a bear trap.
“Raaawww!!” Shellshock snaps his jaws and he crushes through Dholak’s legs, shell and all.
“Wahh!!” Dholak cries out in pain as he’s pulled free.
Deku screams. “Are you okay?!”
Dholak winces in pain as his much shorter limbs retract back to him. “Ow, yeah I’m fine.”
“But your legs!!”
“They’ll grow back.” Dholak winces, rubbing the ends of his torn limbs. “Eventually.”
Shellshock turns towards his foes, taking a deep breath before letting out a thundering roar. “RAAAWWW!!!” His long-gross tongue lashes out whipping about as he roars, spitting out saliva, blood, and a foul rotting smell.
Shellshock hunches down and then whoosh he jumps high into the air, no doubt thanks to a dose of super strength. He throws his fists back as he falls back down to Earth like a meteor that’s about to strike. “RAAAWWW!!!”
*SKREEEEE!!!*
A sonic pulse slams into the turtle-like Nomu throwing it off course, forcing it to crash land onto a semi-truck that bursts into flames upon impact.
Dholak and Izuku spin around to find that Gang Orca is once again back on his feet. “Boss!!”
Gang Orca’s piercing red eyes flare with anger. “Get up you two, or I’ll devour you both myself.”
“Yes, sir!” Both Deku and Dholak leap back up readying themselves for a fight.
“Raaww…” From within the burning destruction Shellshock stomps out from the inferno. His flash is charred, smoking, and burned, with pieces of shrapnel protruding from its hide. “Raaww.”
His beady eyes land on the heroes. “Raaww.”
Dholak doesn’t like the look it’s giving them. “What’s it doing?”
They don’t have to wait long to find out as the Nomu’s flesh begins to heal itself, regenerating itself back to its previous state.
Gang Orca’s eyes narrow. “So the report was true, it can regenerate.”
Dholak scowls. “Shit.”
Izuku gulps nervously. “Not good.”
As Shellshock heals up Deku decides to finally contribute to the cause, searching for a good alien.
“RYEEEEE!!!”
Oh, no they forgot about the winged Nomu.
The flying lizard like Nomu, or Draco, slams into Deku knocking him to the ground as it flies back up.
Draco circles around its round-dilated eyes homing in on Deku. “D…ku…” The monster swoops down, forcing Deku to dive to the side as it swings its thin claws at him, missing him by a hair.
“RAAAWWW!!!” Shellshock charges forward his stomps causing the earth to shake under their feet. “RAAAWWW!!!”
BLAM!!! Shellshock and Gang Orca collide again, it’s a clash between titans both vying to prove which is stronger. Dholak leaps in as well, he may be without his most valuable weapons, but he can still fight, delivering a barrage of swift kicks towards the monster’s legs, trying to break its foundation.
While vying for dominance, Gang Orca calls to Deku. “Take care of that flying one, we’ll take the big one.” He shoves himself away, leaping away just as Shellshock releasing another booming shockwave. “Use all that you can to defeat it!” He’s giving Deku permission to fight these villains!
Deku ducks behind a car just in the nick of time, Draco is flying so fast that he actually slams into the car. ‘This one really has it out for me!’ Izuku ducks down as Draco recovers from the impact. ‘Does it know I defeated his friend?!’
No time, he needs to take action!
Not taking time to pick the right one, Deku hastily slams down onto the Omnitrix.
“Ryeee!!” Draco screeches, the blinding light taking away his vision.
As his vision returns the pale-skinned Nomu scans for its prey but it finds itself blind once again as something green and gooey is blasted into its face.
“Hehehe!” Stinkfly stands tall atop the nearby car. “That should keep you quiet. Hehehe!”
Draco rips away the slime like a Band-Aid, its eyes narrow towards the large bug, and its tongue whips about in annoyance.
Stinkfly sweatdrops. “Oh, wow would you look at the time! Sorry but I gotta fly!” Stinkfly takes off into the air, his wings beating a hundred times in a second.
“RYEEEEE!!!” Draco jumps up after him its long tongue lashing out and nearly ripping through his wings.
“Hey watch it!” Stinkfly ducks down as another tongue whip whooshes over his head. “I can’t regenerate too you know!” Or can he…this probably isn’t the best time to find out. And why is this Nomu so dead set on him?!
Stinkfly zooms and zips around the buildings, cars, and everything else but Draco remains hot on his tail the entire time slashing and lashing out at him at every given opportunity. Stinkfly tries to goop him up but the Nomu simply swings its massive thin hands in the way, interpreting the slime balls.
‘This guy sure is persistent!’ Stinkfly continues to evade attack after attack all the while zooming across the city.
As he flies above a pair of his eyes can’t help but bear witness to the flaming city as citizens continue to flee the area. From above he can see Gang Orca and Dholak holding their own against Shellshock who’s firing off another electrical shockwave causing even more damage and destruction with each blast!
All in all the city of Hosu is a disaster zone, these Nomus are like forces of nature that cannot be stopped or controlled! But as heroes they need to stop them, they need to protect the citizens.
As the transformed Deku continues to zip about trying to rid himself of his winged-menace he can’t help but pray that his friend isn’t stuck within all the chaos too.
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Far from the chaos, SixSix is flying through the air, courtesy of his jetpack, fortunately for him the night sky means he can move freely without worrying so much about being spotted by one of Earth’s protectors.
A light ping rings out, SixSix raises his arm to have a look at the display. A holographic map of Japan zooms in on a single reading, a signal from the Omnitrix being activated.
SixSix would be smiling if he could as he changes trajectories and flies off for his target’s location.
“Teg aydre eerrsad. Htis si ggnoi ot eb tsgemonih.”
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“What did you say? Villains appeared?!” Manual listens in on his comset as both him and Iida look up at the glow of the flames illuminating not too far away. “Don’t worry. I can head there right now.” He turns to Iida posthaste. “Stay with me. We’re running!” And he’s off not even slowing down to make sure Iida’s actually following along with him.
Iida runs along behind him, but his mind isn’t on the flames but on another threat all together. ‘Couldn’t be… This is different. That murderer wouldn’t be so flashy.’
They run against the flow of the panicking civilians. As they sprint forward, Iida notices the darkness of the abandoned and silent buildings after each one’s been emptied out by fleeing inhabitants. They continue forward through the now empty streets as only a few stranglers run past them.
But as they pass one last alleyway, Iida stops dead in his tracks. Unfortunately, however, Manual doesn’t notice instead he keeps on running trying to make it to the flames as quickly as he can.
Iida however has his gaze locked onto the empty alley, like he’s trying to solve one last piece of a complicated puzzle and then it hits him.
Without hesitation or another glance towards the flames or Manual, Iida takes off running. Right into the dark narrow alley: his engines roaring to life as he sprints through Hosu, running as far from the flames as he can.
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“That idiot’s making a move. And he’s so noisy.” Stain eyes the glow of the distance flames with disdain from his hunting grounds, a dark empty alleyway.
It would seem that Shigaraki’s destruction is nothing more than a child throwing a tantrum all in the name of gaining attention. How terribly pathetic.
“I’ll have to dispose of him later.” Stain then turns his attention back to his current task. “At the moment, I have important work to finish here.”
Specifically, he needs to rid this hero of their wasteful life.
Stain presses the hero’s head against the wall, muzzling him and depriving him of air.
“My body…I-I can’t move.” The hero, Native, isn’t tied up or that badly hurt, there’s just a lone cut along his shoulder but other than that there’s no sign of what could be causing his body to be paralyzed like it is.
“You bastard.” Despite the fear of death looming over him, Native tries to curse the killer’s very existence. “I-I’ll kill you!”
An empty threat, but Stain’s threats are not. “If you call yourself a hero,” He raises up his battered and bloodied blade. “you should choose your last words with care.”
Before he can deal the killing blow, his instincts flare up.
With a gasp and a spin, he swings his blade around, and it clashes with something else. Something hard, metallic, and quick. Stain can only assume it was a motorcycle, but no it is not.
A white knight-like helmet is flung into the air and a pair of glasses are flung to the side as Stain bats his attacker away, knocking them to the ground.
Stain’s eyes widen with surprise when they land on the young man’s face. He certainly wasn’t expecting a child to attack him. And why does this child seem so…familiar? “A child wearing a suit. Who are you?”
Iida’s teeth grind together as he glares up at the murderer.
Even with the disdain written on the boy’s face, Stain can’t even bother to see him as a real threat. “Run, run away from here. This is not a place for children.”
The scowling Iida props himself up from the ground. “You’re carrying blades all over your body and you’re wearing a blood-red scarf. You must be the Hero Killer Stain! It’s you, right?”
A burning inferno of hate rages behind Iida's usually calm and collected eyes as all that hate, and anger threatens to spill out. “I’ve been looking for you, but I didn’t think I’d find you so soon.”
Stain’s doesn’t like that look, that sort-of look doesn’t belong in a child’s eye.
Iida’s glare hardens. “I am-”
*Shiiing!*
“Your eyes are searing with vengeance.” The end of Stain’s blade stops just between Iida’s eyes, cutting his declaration off, just one move and the knife’ll be through his skull. “Be careful what you say next. If need be, even someone your age could be my target.” That will be Stain’s first and last warning.
Iida’s fist clench and his voice chokes with anger. “Are you saying that…I’m not even a threat to you?” He’s seething with anger despite the bloodied blade hanging just inches from his skull. “You listen to me, criminal.”
Iida begins to rise up off the ground, determined to see this through. “I am the brother of an incredible hero who you attacked.”
The memories of how he always looked up to Tensai fuel his rage.
“He’s the best older brother that anyone could hope for.”
He remembers how Tensai always inspired him, by leading by example…but those days are over ripped away by a monster of a man, staining those memories forever.
“I have come to stop you because he can’t anymore.”
He recalls what his brother asked of him that day: ‘“I want you to take the name. For me, Tenya.”’
“You’re going to remember my name for as long as you live.” Iida stands tall, his glare burning with hatred as he declares himself to the villain. “I am Ingenium, and I will defeat you. That, I promise!”
“Then, so be it.” It appears the predator has found his next prey. “Die.”
Notes:
Dun-Dun-Duuuun! Cliffhanger! Yeah, I know. I was originally planning to have this and the full Stain fight in the same chapter, but I decided it would be best to split the chapter in half. Namely so I could update within a shorter interval so if things go well, I can have Part 2 out by next week. Anyway I hope this chapter was still enjoyable. A lot of it (all of it) was mainly set up for next Ch.35 and hopefully it’ll all be worth it. So, get ready this is going to be wild!!
*Just to be clear, Dr. Animo is not the creator of the Nomus. He just “mutates” them afterwards to give them a boost. The real Doctor is still part of this universe.
*Izuku’s new high-tech Vambrace is something I’ve been wanting to introduce for a long while now. I had the idea since before Ch.19 where Izuku sought out a new support item via Mei Hatsume. And we’ll finally see it in action soon. It’s nothing too flashy or spectacular but I like it. You can feel free to guess what it is or you can wait and see for yourself, up to you.
*All the Nomus in this chapter have the same Quirks as their manga/anime counterparts but just a few things added in. Squirlanoid has the same ones but now has Squirrel like features and abilities.
Shellshock has the Thundering Shockwave added onto his Immense Strength, and Super Regeneration. Combined with the powerful jaws of a snapping turtle and the nearly indestructible outer shell.
And finally Draco, smallest of the trio, is basically a thin pale-skinned wyvern of a creature. His Quirk being the wings but the abilities of a lizard: claws, long tongue, agility, senses, etc.
Chapter 36: Killing Intent
Summary:
The Hero Killer...Stain.
Notes:
Well here it is part two of the Stain Arc. I actually had this chapter done on Sunday but way late into the day and there wasn’t enough time for my editors to do their part without rushing them. So I held off until now to give them time. It was necessary, they do a great job at making sure things are ship shape, especially in longer arcs and chapters. Anyway here it is, and I hope it’s worthy of a Stain Arc.
*Below is an Opening Theme generated by “Drag0n5on” please check it out, it’s very well written.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Lyrics
Scene
(Play “Sora ni Utaeba” by amazarashi)
Kyojitsu wo kirisaite souten wo aoide tobitatta tokoshie
Izuku crashes into the ground hard before getting up and running forward only for the process to repeat over and over again.
Sora ni utaeba
Izuku is breathing heavy as he struggles to get up.
koukai mo iyaou naku
Suddenly a hand lands on his shoulder catching him by surprise.
H itsuzen hitsuzen narubeku s*** naru mirai da sore yue, agake
He looks up to see Ochako smiling at him. Slowly he returns the smile and gets up. The two charge forward together and deliver twin punches forward destroying the screen.
(Instrumental)
The title appears across the screen as multiple planets surround it.
Shinkirou namida no kawa wo kogidashite ikuseisou
Izuku is helping out around Gang Orca's agency while getting into shenanigans with the other residents. Gang Orca gives them an order which they all roar out too.
Sayonara yukazaru wo enai nani wo ushinatta tote
Ochaco patrols the streets with Torino passing by Charmcaster causing the two girls to stop and turn to look at each other.
Wasurenai
Shoto looks down at his left hand as images of his mother appear behind him.
kuyashisa mo
He fades revealing Izuku as he recalls memories with Henzu and the day on the roof with All Might before ending on his conversation with Tenya.
kutsujoku mo
Tenya looks down as he grips his fists.
Mune ni kazatte
His eyes look upward revealing his hatred as his hero costume comes on.
Kyojitsu wo kirisaite
Tenya charges forward and send a kick that Stain blocks.
souten wo aoide
Shoto jumps into the air and sends an eruption of flames towards the Hero Killer
tobitatta tokoshie
Above them Ochaco dukes it out with Charmcaster who smiles at her sinisterly.
Sora ni utaeba
On another roof Izuku battles Sixsix before leaping backwards to dodge a blast from the bounty hunter.
koukai mo iyaou naku
He looks up and glares at a gallery of villains.
Hitsuzen
Tomura and Henzu look at him and snarl.
hitsuzen
Vilgax simply narrows his eyes.
tachikiru ni wa mabushi sugita
The Omnitrix glows as Izuku selects a transformation.
mirai e,
He smiles as he slams his hand onto the watch.
Agake
The watch activates and everything is engulfed in a flash of green
Instrumental 1
It shows Class 1-A and 1-B preparing for battle ending with Katsuki blasting the screen.
Instrumental 2
Izuku walks forward as he brings the Omnitrix up and grips his fist.
There’s a flash of green that fades to reveal Izuku standing along with his class with the shadows of his transformations on the wall behind them.
[Illustrated by Drag0n5on]
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“Everyone, please! Remain calm! Return to your seats! The villain is no longer here!” The train conductor is doing his best to keep the passengers calm while also tending to the downed pro hero. “More heroes will arrive, soon, I’m sure!”
“Keep them calm.”
The conductor snaps his head towards a young woman decked out in a pink hero costume, she’s standing but the gaping smashed in the wall of the train car.
“I’m heading out there!” Ochaco Uraraka lost track of Gran Torino and the Squirlanoid Nomu, she needs to help out.
And so with her body weightless and the Gyro-Disc firing up, she jets away into the air
Train conductor calls after her. “Hey, are you nuts?! It’s way too dangerous out there!”
But he might as well be talking to a wall because his words land on death ears.
‘That thing…was another version of Nomu. Those dead eyes and exposed brain are more than enough. But…why is it here?’ With a possible disaster on the horizon, Ochaco speeds up whipping through the air and over the buildings. ‘I need to help, in anyway that I can! Gran Torino. Please be alright!’
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
The squirrel-like Nomu, Squirlanoid, smashes his way through an apartment complex groaning and howling animalistic wails.
“A villain! Run!”
The residents flee the scene as fast as they can, unfortunately, not all of them are as agile on their feet as the rest.
A young woman trips onto the street, her boyfriend tries to help her up as fast as he can while Squirrelanoid wobbles towards them. “Where are all the pros?!”
“Eaaaaaah!!” Squirlanoid howls, swinging his claw up into the air.
The couple screams out, bracing each other and bracing for the inevitability of death.
Gran Torino swoops in, his kick deflecting the slash away, before he Jets away. “Sheesh, I haven’t fought so earnestly in years. These last few days really have been something.” He lands back on the street behind the dazed creature. “Picked a fine time to patrol.”
He shouts, attracting the monster’s attention away from the young couple. “That’s right! Bring it on, ugly!”
“Eaaaaaah.” Squirrelanoid wobbles around, his jagged-bucktooth chattering as he swings his thin claws forward.
Gran Torino Jets upward, avoiding the sharp claws as they impale the ground. ‘He’s fast. But not faster than me.’
Squirrelanoid scurries forward, his spined-tail whipping behind him as he crawls his way towards the petrified couple.
The couple cry out. “No, stay away! Ah!”
Gran Torino rockets forward. ‘He’s attacking at random.’ He scowls, he needs to give them a chance to escape. “Stop it, you stupid beast!”
“Eaaaaaah?” Before Squirrelanoid could make it anywhere near the couple an inferno of raging flames engulfs his entire body. “EAAAAAAAH!!!!”
Gran Torino gasps, rotating his body so his feet are facing forward and with a quick blast from Jet he’s able to propel himself away from the raging flames.
“EAAAAAAAH!!!” Squirrelanoid howls into the night sky as the inferno rages and consumes his entire being, putting him through a true hell on Earth. “EAAAAAAAH!!!”
The master of the flames scoffs. “I was looking for the elusive Hero Killer, but this thing will have to do.”
Gran Torino scowls up at the new arrival.
The fire wilder marches forward. “Thanks, old timer. I’m afraid I don’t know you, but I can handle this from here on out.”
Gran Torino frowns. “It’s you.”
The couple gasp in surprise.
“Whoa, look.”
“Why’s he in Hosu?”
The Number Two Hero, Endeavor smirks as his flames consume the villain. “Hmph. Isn’t it obvious? I came because I’m a hero.”
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
That’s all well and good but that doesn’t really help out much of the city. Its total chaos, cars litter the streets abandoned or crashed as people stampede through the streets like a raging river. All so they can get away from the flames.
And Stinkfly flies over it all, his heart going out to all those poor people, as he flies back towards the destruction. ‘I lost that winged Nomu for now. So, I need to get back to the others and help out!’ His four pairs of eyes land on the flames in the distance. ‘I don’t get it. Why did those things look like Nomu?’ They’ve got the black-skin, exposed, brain, inhuman mutations, and monstrous power. ‘If they got insane power like the one, I fought at the U.S.J., this could be really bad. And it won’t just be the pro heroes in trouble, but the entire city!’ His mind flashes with images of his Engine Quirked friend. ‘That includes Iida. He’s interning here!’
Stinkfly shuts his eyes, desperately trying to fly as fast as he can. ‘What do I do-’ BLAM!!!
“WOAH!!!” Stinkfly cries out as he spins out of control.
He crashed into something! While flying! That’s insane!
He spins around rubbing his aching head. “I’m flying here-Uraraka?”
A wincing and floating Ochaco peers up and gasps in surprise. “Eeeeek!! A giant bug!!”
Stinkfly waves his hands about frantically trying to calm her down. “Stop shouting!! It’s me, it’s your friendly neighborhood Deku!”
“Deku?” Ochaco pauses and her eyes land on the symbol of the Omnitrix. “Oh, my gosh it is you! It didn't recognize you.” Her face turns green, scrunching up in disgust. “Or that smell.” She turns away pinching her nose.
“Yeah, Stinkfly really lives up to his name.” Stinkfly has to take a double take. “Wait, you’re flying?”
Ochaco grins and spins around showing off the Gyro-Disc. “Yeah, new gear.”
Stinkfly nods approvingly. “Nice, very nice.”
“I know right? And it’s nice to see that your internship’s been doing well, considering the new guy.” She gestures to the new bug-like form.
Stinkfly smiles back. “Ha, thanks.”
… Wait!! They don’t got time for this!!
Stinkfly suddenly begins panicking, yelling out in a hurry. “We need to go!! There’s-”
“Nomus on the loose!!” finishes Ochaco.
“Yeah… How’d you know?”
“One attacked our train.” Ochaco flies forward. “Come on they might need our help.”
“On it!!”
As the two hero course students fly towards the flames, Ochaco takes the time to ask. “So, how could there be more than one Nomu?”
“I…don’t know.”
Ochaco nervously offers up another question. “You don’t think they’re…you know…?”
Stinkfly shakes his head; those Nomu’s aren’t aliens. “I don’t think so, Thirteen and Principal Nezu would have noticed.”
“But…what are they?”
“I wish I knew. But all we need to worry about is stopping them.” Stinkfly’s eyes peer into Ochaco’s. “Are you with me…Uravity?”
Uravity gives her friend a nervous smile accompanied by a big thumbs up. “You bet, Deku.”
And off they go right towards the center of the disaster.
They both arrive, hovering over the horrifying scene that lies before them.
A city bus is thrown across onto its side, bursting into flames upon impact and several pro heroes go down, thrown back by the explosion.
“RAAAWWW!!!” Shellshock, the snapping turtle-like Nomu, swings his arm, backhanding a pair of pro heroes, swatting them away like flies.
Draco, the winged-lizard Nomu, looks like it swung back around to the battle after losing track of Stinkfly.
“RYEEEEE!!!” The flying monster has a pro hero gripped in his talons; his mouth hangs open and his long thin tongue hangs out, wrapped around a flailing hero’s neck dangling him in the air.
Dholak, looking even more battered and still missing his lance-like limbs, leaps up and slams his elbow into the creature forcing it to break it’s hold over the pro heroes.
Dholak grabs one of the falling pros and Burnin, who must have been nearby, leaps up and grabs the other one, saving them from the horrid beast.
Ochaco is overcome with horror as the Nomus tear through the city street. ‘These things are…monsters.’ They’re causing so much damage: buildings and homes are on fire, rubble litters the street, several cars are on fire, and even with the large number of pros present none of them seem to be capable of standing up to these things.
But there may be at least one hero that can.
“RAAAWWW!!!” Shellshock roars out, challenging anyone that would dare oppose him.
Gang Orca, dares too, leaping down from atop a nearby building. His razor-sharp claw digs down into the beat’s skull, gauging its face and smashing it down onto the burning asphalt.
“RAAAWWW!!!” Shellshock screeches in pain, his head nearly buried into the ground, as his shell sparks with the telltale sign of an electrical shockwave.
BOOM!!!
The thunderous shockwave sends Gang Orca and other nearby heroes flying. Shellshock slowly rises up, blood dripping from the side of its skull as the fresh scars fade away that's to his regeneration.
The nearby flames rage even wilder thanks to the whirlwind, becoming so huge that they threaten to swallow up nearby buildings.
A hero with a minotaur like ecstatic, horns and muscles, breaks open a fire hydrant causing a geyser of water to burst out. “Manual! Stop the fire!”
Standing nearby, Manual rushes over. “Yeah. Got it!”
Stinkfly and Ochaco land just in time to see Manual running towards the flames and gushing fire hydrant.
Stinkfly is able to recognize him almost immediately. “That’s Manual, the Normal Hero.”
Ochaco blinks.
“Iida’s at his agency!”
Ochaco gasps and they’re both about to run after the guy but then they overhear his worried voice.
“Why’d you run off by yourself?” Manual is scanning around while running towards the flames, searching for someone. “Where the hell are you, Tenya? Dammit!” He makes it! He points his fingers and the gushing water bends to his will, activating as if it's alive the water redirects itself in midair and begins dousing the flames.
Stinkfly and Ochaco freeze. “Wait, he went off on his own?!”
“What?! Seriously?!” Ochaco’s really worried now. “Oh, that doesn’t sound like him though.”
Stinkfly grinds his teeth, he doesn't like this not one bit. “Something must be wrong.”
“You’re in the way, kids!”
Stinkfly and Ochaco back away as Burnin scolds them, she must not have recognized Deku in his current form, she has her back turned towards them, her eyes focused on the battle ahead. “Get out of here!”
Before they could respond, Shockwave slams his fists down on the minotaur hero, the hero does his best to block the strike, but he might as well be holding back a semi-truck.
Gang Orca rushes in and pulls the minotaur away; with nothing holding them back, Shockwave’s scaly fists crash into the ground.
Up above, Draco flaps his wings generating a whirlwind that’s strong enough to hold off Dholak and the other pros.
Burnin scowls in anger. “We can hold these things back on our own. Evacuate with everyone else.” She runs forward, joining the fight.
She unleashes a burst of flames forcing Draco away from the others.
Stinkfly watches on in horror, not willing to rush in yet, not like it would do any good right now. ‘I can’t believe Iida would run off with such a huge disaster right in front of him.’ The only reason he’d ignore if there was something far worse. But what?
‘Hosu City… Guys who look like Nomu…’ Stinkfly lets out a loud gasp when a terrible thought pops into his mind.
Ochaco spins around when her ears picked up his terror. “What?! What is it?!”
“Iida…Hosu…” Stinkfly shakily turns to her, scared not for himself but for Iida. “Where the Hero Killer attacked…”
Ochaco’s eyes widen as dread floods in.
Without a word they both take off into the air both shouting. “Let’s split up!”
They need to cover as much ground as they can, because if they don’t reach Iida on time…it may be too late.
As they take off in different directions, the battle continues to rage.
Burnin jumps back as Draco takes a swipe at her before backing off again. “Dammit. What are these things?”
Shellshock slams his fist down, but Gang Orca takes the blow, holding off the beast. “They’re…” His piercing red gaze locks onto the Nomu’s beady eyes. “Monsters.”
“RYEEEEE!!!”
Draco swoops up high into the air, he needs a moment to regain himself before attacking again. But before he makes a move, a bit of movement catches his large-reptilian eye. His eyes train on the movement, whatever it is it’s moving away from the battle.
Draco’s eyes narrow as if zooming in, and that when it sees it, it’s Stinkfly. Draco’s eyes narrow, his tongue slides out of his mouth, and his claws twitch as he locks onto the flying bug. “D…ku…”
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Tomura Shigaraki smiles down from atop the water tower, far away from the battle and flames, but close enough to keep an eye on the action. “The Nomu make such great playthings.”
Kurogiri turns to his ward. “Are you not going to participate in the battle?”
Shigaraki grips his bandaged and bloodied shoulder. “Don’t be stupid. I’m still injured.”
Nue smirks marching past Shigaraki. “Sounds like more fun for me then.”
“Hang on you.” Shigaraki glares up at the freak. “This is just a side-quest, a minigame, I’m not risking one of my best units for it.” Shigaraki looks back towards the chaos and destruction. “That’s why I brought those pets with us.”
##########(Flashback)#########
Just before they joined the Hero Killer in Hosu, Shigaraki was left alone within the bar to patch himself up.
With no one else around he turns to the little TV set on the counter. “Sensei, how many Nomu are completed?”
A cold conniving voice responds. “I’ve finished adjusting the behavior of six of them.” responds Sensei. “Though, they are not as strong as the one from the U.S.J. attack.”
“Give them to me.”
“Why?”
“Because I don’t like that arrogant Hero Killer you brought in. And it’s my right to destroy anything that I don’t like, right?” There’s a deranged crazed look in his eye. “Sensei?”
“Very well. However, you may only have three. Try to use this as a learning experience.”
########(End Flashback)#######
“Haha haha!” Shigaraki grins down at the city like it’s a sandbox where he can reign supreme, destroy anything that he wishes to, all without any harm to himself. “Once this night is over, the world will have forgotten you ever existed, Hero Killer.”
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Stain keeps his katana drawn over the child. “A child wearing a suit. Who are you?”
Tenya Iida’s teeth grind together as he glares up at the murderer.
Even with the disdain written on the boy’s face, Stain can’t even bother to see him as a real threat. “Run, run away from here. This is not a place for children.”
The scowling Iida props himself up from the ground. “You’re carrying blades all over your body and you’re wearing a blood-red scarf. You must be the Hero Killer Stain! It’s you, right?”
A burning inferno of hate rages behind Iida's usually calm and collected eyes as all that hate, and anger threatens to spill out. “I’ve been looking for you, but I didn’t think I’d find you so soon.”
Stain’s doesn’t like that look, that sort-of look doesn’t belong in a child’s eye.
Iida’s glare hardens. “I am-”
*Shiiing!*
“Your eyes are searing with vengeance.” The end of Stain’s blade stops just between Iida’s eyes, cutting his declaration off, just one move and the knife’ll be through his skull. “Be careful what you say next. If need be, even someone your age could be my target.” That will be Stain’s first and last warning.
Iida’s fist clench and his voice chokes with anger. “Are you saying that…I’m not even a threat to you?” He’s seething with anger despite the bloodied blade hanging just inches from his skull. “You listen to me, criminal.”
Iida begins to rise up off the ground, determined to see this through. “I am the brother of an incredible hero who you attacked.”
The memories of how he always looked up to Tensai fuel his rage.
“He’s the best older brother that anyone could hope for.”
He remembers how Tensai always inspired him, by leading by example…but those days are over ripped away by a monster of a man, staining those memories forever.
“I have come to stop you because he can’t anymore.”
He recalls what his brother asked of him that day: ‘“I want you to take the name. For me, Tenya.”’
“You’re going to remember my name for as long as you live.” Iida stands tall, his glare burning with hatred as he declares himself to the villain. “I am Ingenium, and I will defeat you. That, I promise!”
“Then, so be it.” It appears the predator has found his next prey. “Die.”
Iida’s Engines roar, red-hot steam bursting out of their exhausts, as his leg rockets forward. “FOR TENSEI!!!” He puts everything, everything behind this one strike!
And it’s a miss…
Stain demonstrates some masterful acrobatics, leaping up and over the boy with little effort. “Ingenium. So you’re brothers. I let him live so he could spread the good word.” The spikes at the tip of his shoes shine in the darkness. “Word of me.” The murderer kicks his foot forward, the spikes cutting into Iida’s shoulder.
Iida groans in pain, just before Stain slams his opposite foot down on his head, slamming him into the ground, pinning him down by his face.
The predator leers down at the foolish boy under his boot. “You’re a weakling. Just like he was.”
With a spin of his blade, Stain slams it down, right through the boy’s left arm.
“Rahhh!!” Iida howls in pain as his blood splurts out from his wound.
“You aren’t heroes. You have no right to be called that. Both of you are nothing but fakes.”
“Shut up, villain.” Iida growls up at the villain, trying his best to fight through the searing pain; not the pain of the sword through his arm but the pain of his loss, his hero’s loss. “You damaged his spine and paralyzed him from the waist down. He’s never gonna be able to work as a pro hero again.”
Iida can recall all those clips on the news about how his brother was always able to lead his sidekicks efficiently even through the worst of it. He saved so many lives. And he was always so caring and sympathetic.
“My brother was incredible. A caring person who saved many lives.” An inspiration for him. “Someone people looked up to.” His burning hatred seeps through boiling up inside of him. “You had no right to take that all away from him!”
##########(Flashback)#########
Iida can remember one particular day in his youth.
The whole family had gathered around for dinner and it was one of the few times Tensai was able to join them.
If he can recall correctly their father seemed so proud and happy for their eldest son. “Tensei. I’m so proud of you. You’ve become independent at a very young age, with many sidekicks following you. That’s no easy feat in these times.”
Tensei Iida offers up an honored but humbled smile. “Nah, they’re not followers. It’s the opposite, Dad. They support me ‘cause I’m not great on my own. They’re just looking out for me. I honestly couldn’t do anything without them. I need their support.” His friendly smile widens. “Of course, I’m working hard so I can return the favor.”
Young Iida peers up at his brother wandering what he could mean by that.
“I’m not super talented or anything, but if I’m going to call myself a hero, then I have to live up to that title and help people.”
########(End Flashback)#######
But now…now Tensei can’t live up to that oath, he can’t ever be a hero, never again.
“He is my hero.” Even through the hatred and anger, tears of heartbreak leak out from Iida’s eyes. The pain, the pain of his and his brother’s vows having been shattered, taken away from them. “My older brother inspired my dream that one day I could be a pro, too!”
His arm, even with a blade running through it, shakes as he wills himself to make a fist even through the pain and pooling blood. “I won’t forgive you. I’ll kill you!!”
Stain doesn’t flinch, instead he decides that now is the time to tear into this child’s delusions. “Shouldn’t you be worried about saving that guy?” He gestures towards the wounded and paralyzed pro hero, Native, who’s been forgotten by the side of the building.
Iida gasps, freezing in place.
“So busy with your grudge you forgot about him. You plan on using your Quirk only for yourself. You’re completely blinded by a selfish desire for revenge.” Stain smiles as he holds his sword tighter knowing this will really get to the delusional fool. “You’re about as far away from being a hero as I can imagine.”
With a tug he removes his katana out from Iida’s shoulder spilling more blood across the pavement.
Stain inhales the fresh scent of blood as the bloodied blade rises up towards his smiling jaws. “And that’s why you’ll die tonight.” His long tongue slips out and caresses the side of the bloodied blade.
And just like a curse is casted over Iida, his entire body becoming strained and paralyzed, like some sort of petrification! ‘My body…won’t move!’
Stain raises his sword, aiming the blade just above the boy’s skull. He will kill. He will spill blood. All in the name of a better tomorrow. “Goodbye, child. May your death bring about a better world.”
Iida trembles before the Hero Killer, a surge of emotions spiraling and clashing within him from, anger, to sorrow, to fear. “No, please… Not like this…”
##########(Flashback)#########
He can see it; Tensei’s inspiring smile. “Knowing you look up to me makes me better. I have to be sure I make you proud, Tenya. Hahaha!”
########(End Flashback)#######
Iida roars out through the tears, and through the fear, letting his anger take over as he curses the Hero Killer’s very existence. “Say whatever you want to about me!! You’re still just a criminal who hurt my brother!!”
Before Stain could deliver the blow, he gasps! Something’s coming.
SLAM!!!
“STINGER SLAP!!!” Stinkfly’s massive stinger crashes into the Hero Killer’s skull as he spins his body around to deliver a non-lethal blow!
The Stinger Slap knocks the villain away, allowing Stinkfly to touch down and take a protective stance over Iida’s paralyzed body.
Iida, blinks through the tears, up at his savior. “Who’s there?”
A pair of Stinkfly’s eyes swing down at Iida. “Iida…” The bug-creature smiles in relief. “I’m so glad you’re alright.”
Iida gasps, his eyes landing on the very recognizable Omnitrix. “Midoriya? Is that you?”
The transformed Deku nods. “Yeah, Iida, it’s me.” He takes note of the pain in his friend’s voice, and it breaks his heart to see Iida like this. In pain, broken, and hurt. “Don’t you worry, Iida. I’m gonna save you.”
Although he does have to admit that he wasn’t completely sure that Iida was even going to encounter the Hero Killer. But he’s glad he overthought things otherwise…it might have been too late.
Stain remains standing, his sword ready, eyeing the interloper with much disdain and annoyance.
Stinkfly eyes the Hero Killer from his many blades to his blood-red scarf. “So, you’re the Hero Killer. You’re even more menacing than I imagined.” He smirks cockily. “And I’ve seen ugly I mean, hey.” Stinkfly gestures to his whole…situation.
Stain scowls, truly he doesn’t understand a good sense of humor.
Iida struggles to move. “You found him, too? But how?”
Stinkfly doesn’t take his eyes off the villain. “I saw it on TV. They had some stats about the Hero Killer. Most of his victims were found where there weren’t many people. So in order to find you, I need to search far away from the panic. In the back alleys of Hosu City.” Thankfully two pairs of eyes are really good at finding lost things. Especially when they wear shiny white armor.
Stain’s deadly gaze makes Stinkfly tremble. “Let’s go. Back toward the street. We both have a better chance to use our powers in the open.” And possibly gain the attention of some nearby pros.
Iida grunts. “Ugh. I can’t move my body.”
Stinkfly blinks. “Huh?”
“It must be his Quirk.” Iida glares towards the Hero Killer. “Since he cut me, I’ve been paralyzed.”
“That’s the kind of Quirk people on TV said the Hero Killer might have.” Stinkfly turns his attention back to the surprisingly patient murderer. “So cutting somehow activated his power, huh?”
‘Wait, is that…?’ Stinkfly gasps as his eyes land on Native. ‘There’s someone else! If it had just been Iida, I could’ve picked him up and flew him away myself.’ Dammit, if only Stinkfly was just a bit bulkier he might just have been able to do it.
“Midoriya, please! Don’t get involved.”
Stinkfly peers back down at the shaking Iida, as he tries to will himself to move, tears still leaking from his eyes.
“This doesn’t have anything to do with you!”
Stinkfly chokes up, those eyes they’re so full of hate and pain. “Iida…what are you saying…?”
Stain’s blade slashes across the ground, the sparks and loud clang draws the boys’ attention. “You showed up to save your friend’s life.”
Stinkfly scowls, planting himself in place, he has no intentions of abandoning someone in need.
“You’ve even made a big entrance. But I have a duty to kill him and this so-called pro. When your friend chose to fight me,” Death lurks within each one of the Hero Killer’s words. “it guaranteed that the weaker of us would be culled. So what will you do?”
The morphed Deku can feel it: the drive, the conviction,…the death. ‘He’s…different from all the villains I’ve faced before.’ He notices the fire behind the killer’s gaze. ‘Those are the eyes of a fanatic.’
*Ping.* A pair of Stinkfly’s eyes wiggle around his head and peer down his back. There they see that Stinkfly has his phone out and a Pin of their location. And with one push of a button he sends the S.O.S. out.
Stinkfly is sweating, nervous and scared, just one wrong move and they’ll all be dead. ‘Maybe I should have given this plan a bit more thought.’ Like bringing a pro along too, or not splitting up from Uraraka. ‘I’ll just have to protect these two who can’t move and stall for time…all by myself. Maybe I can even force the Hero Killer to run.’
Stinkfly raises his claws, his wings stand on end, and his stinger rises up “A new challenger has appeared!” His gaze narrows in on the Hero Killer. “Are you ready?”
Stain glares right back.
Stinkfly calms himself with a deep breath, no use panicking, he can do this. He’s fought guys way more powerful: Nomu, Nue, Shigaraki, Gang Orca, heck even his own classmates. There’s no way he can lose this, even as Stinkfly. ‘Yeah, I’ve got this.’
*Bwep!*
“Huh?” Stinkfly immediately looks to the blinking Omnitrix.
And with a few more beeps, Stinkfly disappears and is replaced by a plain faced, green-haired boy.
‘Oh…god…’ Between fighting off the Nomus, searching for Iida, and all the talking…Izuku forgot about… “My time limit!!”
Stain is actually surprised, taken back by the sudden blinding light and now that giant bug is gone. But that boy… ‘It’s him. He’s one of the children from Shigaraki’s pictures.’
“Wahhhh!!!” Meanwhile, Izuku is having a bit of a meltdown. ‘Why?! Why now?! This is literally the worst time to time out!! Why does this thing have a time limit anyway? What kind of sadist thought that was a good idea?!’
“Listen to me!”
Deku pauses, peering back down at Iida who called for him. “Stand down. Run away. I told you, this has nothing to do with you.” His eyes narrow, the anger and frustration within him taking over unfiltering his thoughts. “Besides… without your powers…and that time limit…you’re basically Quirkless!!”
That strikes a chord, a chord that hasn’t been touched since…Jr. High. Izuku had…almost forgotten what it felt like. Who knew that even all this time…it would still hurt.
But…this is different. He knows he can be a hero and he doesn’t need someone’s permission to be one. “If you really believe that, then why are you trying to become a hero in the first place?!”
Iida is taken back, he never thought he’d witness the day that Midoriya would actually snap…at anybody.
Izuku’s fists clench, facing away from Iida. ‘There are plenty of things I’d like to say, but they’ll have to wait.’ He knows Iida didn’t mean for that to cut so deep, but it did. Why? Because in a way he’s right, more than he knows. “But you’re right about one thing Iida.”
Iida frowns confused and concerned.
“Without my powers, I am just some Quirkless nobody, but…” He glares definitely at the villain and declares! “that’s not going to stop me from saving you!!”
Stain overhears it all, and he’s absolutely astonished by the resolve, the courage, the selflessness, and…the honesty. He doesn’t know much about this boy, scratch that he knows nothing, but from what he can gather this boy has some sort of time limit like him. One that prevents his Quirk from working properly it seems. And yet here he stands, willing to take him on, the Hero Killer, without his Quirk. A true hero in the making.
No wonder he’s on Shigaraki’s radar.
On the ground Iida stares up at Midoriya in awe. ‘How…? Why…? Why won’t you save yourself, Midoriya? If you stay, he’ll kill you. You have to run!’
Izuku, no Deku, turns his jade eyes back at Iida.
It’s then Iida can see the terror behind his eyes, the fear that they may not walk away from this, but even so he has the will to stand defiantly in the face of death. Daring to challenge it, daring to challenge the inevitable, the impossible.
“It’s like I said Iida. I’m going to save you!!” Izuku grips his right arm, making sure his new vambrace is nice and secured.
A disturbing smile graces Stain’s lips. “Heh!”
Deku charges, fists at the ready!
Iida shouts after him! “Midoriya, No!!”
Stain’s deranged grin widens. “Good.” He swings his katana up towards the charging young hero.
As if in slow motion, Deku can see the blade slashing through the air to cut him down. ‘I have to get past his sword.’
Stain sees through him. ‘Trying to get in close so I can’t strike him. Smart move.’
Iida cries out in anguish, regretting so much!! “No!! If you get cut, you’ll-”
*Clash!*
Stain’s attack was…stopped. By a…by a… “A shield…?”
That’s right. Ejected out from Deku’s silver vambrace is a buckler! A small shield about 18 inches in diameter. The shield is split into sections meant to fold back up into the vambrace with a simple flick of the wrist. The buckler is silver lined with a black and white trim. And as the centerpiece lies a replica of the Omnitrix’s hourglass faceplate.
And right now this little metallic buckler shield has stopped Stain’s sword dead in its tracks.
Deku swings his arm out, knocking away the sharp blade. “This is my…Omni-Shield!!!” With Stain’s main weapon temporarily out of the way, Deku throws his left fist forward and it slams into Stain’s face right where his nose should be.
Iida…is at a complete loss for words. ‘What? He’s actually…fighting without his Quirk.’
Deku grins, glad he asked for this piece of gear. He’s been wanting something to use, to protect himself, while the Omnitrix recharges. Plus after what Tokoyami and Tsuyu pulled during the Sports Festival he needed something to protect the Omnitrix too.
Stain recovers quickly and slashes at Deku. But once again Deku blocks it thanks to his newest support item.
Stain pulls out a knife, thrusting it forward, but Deku falls back, dodging the attack. Deku slides forward and as he spins around, he uses his free hand to pull out a roll of capture tape from his utility belt. And with some expert timing he wraps it around the villain’s leg, and with one good tug he’s able to trip him up. Causing him to fall.
Iida gasps. ‘That move! It’s like Mr. Aizawa’s capture weapon.’ At least in the way Deku used it, that is.
Deku gets back up, releasing the tape. ‘Yes! I really can fight!’ He grins, proud of himself and his efforts. “I guess even someone who’s Quirkless can be a hero.”
Woah! Is it wrong that he wishes All Might could see this?
The downed Stain smirks, pulling the knife closer to his smiling maw. His tongue flicks the blade, lapping up the tiniest amount of blood on it.
Deku collapses, his body becoming paralyzed under some sort of curse. ‘My body!’ He quickly scans himself for a cut. And there is one, right on his shoulder is the tiniest cut imaginable. ‘He must have cut me, and I didn’t even notice. One graze is all it took?!’
Stain rises to his feet with both his sword and dagger in hand.
And that’s when Deku sees it, the tiniest amount of blood dripping off the knife. ‘No. It’s…the blood! He…he ingested it!’
“You’re not strong enough.” Stain strides forward, turning his back on the paralyzed young man. “It’s not that you predicted my movements. You just blocked my field of vision and maneuvered so that you’d be able to get in a clean shot. But I saw through your plan.”
He stops and offers up one of the creepiest and most heinous smiles Deku’s ever seen. “You are something aren't you? Taking me on without a Quirk. Now only a true resolve of a hero could do that.” He turns away and continues forward, his katana’s blade dragging across the ground sharpening it. “There are countless false heroes around here who are all talk, but I think you’re worthy of staying alive.”
Stain stands just above Iida, leering down at him watching as the hope vanishes within him, his only hope had fallen before his very eyes.
“You’re different from these two. They only use their Quirks for themselves. And even without yours you still chose to resist me.” He glances back at Deku, making sure he's listening. “Hear my words boy, this is the fate of all those that falsely proclaim themselves as heroes.” He aims his sword right above Iida’s head.
Deku’s entire body desperately shakes and struggles to move, to run forward, to help. “Wait, don’t. Stop it!”
The blade lowers, hovering just above Iida’s trembling eye.
The Hero Killer slowly raises his blade, he needs this moment to make an impact, to engrave itself into the boy’s memory, to ensure that he truly becomes a worthy hero, a true hero.
Deku cries out in despair. “Get away!!”
Like an answer to his prayers, Stain leaps away in a panic as a glowing pink ball of energy nearly slams into him. The ball bursts upon impact with the ground, forcing the Hero Killer back and away from Iida.
All three: Stain, Iida, and Deku gasp in surprise.
“Someone else to get in my way.” Stain grunts in surprise, leaping away once more as a pillar of flames nearly burns him alive. “Today’s been full of distractions.” Being forced away even further, Stain leers up at the duo floating just above his prey.
Up in the air, descending down onto the scene, is Uravity floating down like a guardian angel. To her left she’s got a floating Shoto Todoroki in her grasp. Good thing she’s got him by the right side because nearly his whole left side is ignited with flames.
Uravity releases her Zero-Gravity, dropping them both down into the alley way.
“Midoriya.” Shoto holds up his phone, revealing his S.O.S. message which was just a pin. “You need to give more details in times like this.”
Uravity frowns, her cheeks puffing out in a pout. “Hey, I told you what it was.”
Shoto averts his gaze like it’s nothing to get worked up about. “Either way he shouldn’t send such cryptic messages. Then again, he’s not the type to do that, now is he?”
Iida gasps upon recognition of his classmates. “Todoroki and Uraraka, too?
Deku grins even while paralyzed and stuck to the ground. “I’m glad you two came.”
Iida looks to Deku. “You knew they were here?”
The greenette tries to nod. “I did, Todoroki and I met up when we first arrived in Hosu and I ran into Uraraka not too long ago either.” He tries to offer Iida a kind reassuring smile. “We split up to search for you.”
Iida gasps…he didn’t expect all of them to do that. Not for him.
Meanwhile, Stain eyes the pink-cheeked girl with interest. ‘Her too. She was also on Shigaraki’s hit list.’ He won’t have the time to find out why, because right now he must avoid capture.
Leaping up and away onto a fire escape just before Todoroki could freeze him in place with a sheet of ice.
The ice rises on an angle lifting Deku and Native off the ground.
Shoto, alongside Uravity, runs forward to meet the Hero Killer.
“Everything’s okay. The pro heroes will be here any minute!” Shoto unleashes another stream of flames up towards Stain.
The flames miss thanks to the villain’s agile movements, but the flames are so intense that it melts the upper ice away creating a downward ramp that allows the paralyzed Deku and Native to slide down and land just behind Shoto and Uravity.
Stain lands back on the ground and Uravity takes her shot. “Ryou Spheres!!”
The boys’ jaws drop as a pair of energized spheres blast out from Uravity’s palms, racing towards the Hero Killer like a pair of cannon balls.
Stain counters with a pair of throwing knives, the two projectiles clash into each other and the Rou Spheres explode with power, whipping up a powerful whirlwind.
Deku’s in awe. “Woah! Uraraka what was that?!”
Uravity grins as she takes a defensive position between the killer and her friend. “Just a little something I picked up.”
Stain scowls. ‘The time will be up for one of them soon.’
Shoto stands beside Uravity going her in protecting the others. “You’re just what they said you were.” He aims his flaming left side forward. “But you won’t be taking any more lives, Hero Killer.”
Stain’s scowl hardens in anger.
Uravity nervously smiles up at her combat partner. “This…kinda reminds me of the U.S.J.”
Shoto gives her a questioning look.
“But this time, you’re using your flames.” Her smile widens as she glares determinant at their opponent. “So, let’s show this villain what we can do.”
Shoto pauses before going along with her optimism. “Of course we will. We will protect them!”
Stain readies his weapons.
“Todoroki! Uraraka!” shouts Deku. “You can’t let that guy get your blood! I-I think he controls his enemy’s movements by swallowing it. That’s how he got us!”
Uravity gags. “Bleh! He ingests blood to…paralyze you? Ewwww.”
Shoto eyes Deku curiously. “So how’d he get you? Why haven’t you transformed?”
“Huh?!” Deku frowns his face turning slightly red. “Oh, well, I sort of ran out of time…”
Ah, that makes sense. Shoto turns and addresses his only aid. “All we got to do is keep our distance.”
Uravity nods before her instincts kick in. “Get down!!” She tackles Shoto, throwing them both down, just as a throwing knife gazes at the scared teen’s cheek, leaving a tiny thin scratch. If she hadn’t acted when she did…
Stain pounces like a predator attacking a herd of sheep. “You have good friends, Ingenium. Or you did!!” He swings his arm forward as if to deliver a killing strike.
Shoto acts fast, pushing Uravity aside and slamming his hand down onto the ground. A small glacier bursts upward intercepting the strike like a shield.
But…all Shoto stopped was the killer’s fist. ‘Where’s his sword?!’
A glint above catches his eye.
Shoto gasps, Stain’s katana spins overhead falling from above. ‘He threw it at the same time he threw the knife!’
With his guard down, Stain leaps forward and grabs Shoto by his collar, pulling him in with his long tongue stretched out ready to lap up any blood from the tiny scar on his cheek.
Flames burst out from the teen’s body, forcing the Hero Killer away before he has his own face burned off.
“Out of the way!!” yells Uravity, as she throws a weightless dumpster forward like a baseball.
Shoto swings his body to the side just as the dumpster flies past him.
Stain jumps up, bouncing off the top of the flying dumpster, and pouncing towards them with his blade at the ready.
Shoto unleashes an ice wall but one cut is all it takes for Stain to break through. “He’s strong!”
Stain charges forward but a veil of flames holds him off. As he braces himself from the intense heat, Uravity flies up and over them all before diving back down. “Yahhh!!”
Stain tosses up several throwing knives forcing Uravity to swerve away before she can be impaled. But due to her change in trajectory, Stain has an opening, he jumps up and slams his spiked boot into Uravity’s side.
“Wah!!” Blood splorts out from her side as she falls back down.
Stain leaps at the chance to paralyze another, his tongue lashing out, but a piercing icicle intercepts his path nearly slicing off his tongue.
Uravity lands on the ground with a thud and a groan, she holds her side trying to stop the bleeding. ‘He got me.’
Shoto stands before Uravity giving her a chance to recover. “Are you alright?!”
“Yeah!” She gets right back up, her fists raised, ignoring the aching pain and blood staining her costume.
“Just stop it.” Iida chokes, unable to move, his frustration and anger choking him as he watches his friends fight his battle. “Why are you doing this? His fight is with me!” He needs to be the one to defeat the Hero Killer. “I inherited my brother's name. I’m the one that should stop him. The Hero Killer is mine!”
Uravity is taken back, appalled by this side of Iida. It’s horrible.
Stain tries to get in close but Shoto greets him with a wall of flames. “You’re Ingenium now? Strange.”
Shoto’s flames dissipate and he generates a wall of ice, the Hero Killer evades and parkours his way around the icicles, but he’s forced back, nonetheless. “The Ingenium I knew before never had that look on his face.”
Iida gasps.
“You’ve got a dark side. Guess my family isn’t the only one.”
Deku is desperately trying to move, trying in vain to break free of this curse. “Careful, you guys! Uh. Huh?” His fingers, for a moment there…he was able to move them!
While Shoto holds back the Hero Killer with more flames, Uravity brushes her hand across the broken chunks of ice. The ice chunks float off the ground while Uravity positions herself just behind them. “I’ve got this!!” She throws her One For All powered fist forward, generating a whirlwind strong enough to launch the ice chunks forward like a vertical meteor shower!
Stain proves far more acrobatic and agile, he leaps up using the flying ice chunks as platforms, slicing away at those that threaten to get in his way. “Nice try, but not good enough.”
He lands just before Uravity, swinging his katana up at her.
Uravity practically rockets herself away, One For All instinctually boosting her legs, giving her the speed she needed to escape.
With his partner out of the way, Shoto unleashes a massive icicle wave that crashes its way towards the villain.
Stain jumps right towards the crashing wave of ice, and with just a few slices of his sword, he dices his way through the overwhelming attack. “You blocked your own field of vision against an opponent who’s faster than you. Rookie mistake.”
Shoto glares up at the murderer, his left side flaming up. “Come get me then!”
A pair of throwing knives embed themselves into his left arm, cutting off his concentration.
Stain leaps down towards the boy, his katana raises over his head. “You’re good, kid.” At the last second his gaze turns towards the paralyzed Native. “Unlike him.”
Shoto cries pout as Stain speeds right past him. “Watch out!!”
Stain swings his sword down but at the very last moment the Oni-Shield intercepts his attack, protecting Native.
Shoto blinks “Midoriya?!”
Deku’s back on his feet, his right arm raises above his head, holding back the deadly weapon.
Stain’s eyes widen in surprise. ‘He must be type O!’
Before he could retaliate, Uravity swoops in, grabbing him by the collar and smashing him into the side of the building dragging him along it and away from her friends.
Deku catches his breath as Shoto gives him a onceover. “How are you…?”
Deku shakily gets to his feet. “I’m not sure why, but I’m able to move now!”
“So he has a time limit.”
“No.” Interrupts Native, attracting the boys’ attention. “That boy shoulda been the last one to be freed if that was the case. I still can’t move a muscle.”
At the same time, Stain manages to sneak in an elbow strike, breaking Uravity’s grip and her balance, knocking her to the ground. He lands on his feet as the girl takes a harsh tumble.
“Uraraka, dodge!”
Without a second to waste, Uravity zooms away with the aid of her Gyro-Disc as an icicle trail blocks Stain from getting to her.
She swings around and lands beside Shoto and Deku.
She gaps catching her breath. “So he swallows a person’s blood to freeze them, talk about nasty.”
Deku nods, flexing his fingers. “Yeah, but I was the one freed first.”
Stain remains silent and still listening in, with interest. These children are really something and he wants to know why.
Deku continues. “I’ve got three different theories on why. 1. His Quirk could be less effective the more people he uses it on. 2. The amount ingested could play into how long it works. 3. There’s a difference based on the person’s blood type.”
Native speaks up from off the ground. “If it’s the last one, my blood type is B.”
Iida adds his in too. “I’m type…A.”
That confirms it for Deku. “And…I’m type O!”
An impressed smile stretches across Stain’s face. “So you figured it out. Bravo. Very impressive.”
It appears his Bloodcurdle Quirk has been identified by one promising young hero. That’s quite the feat, not one of the pro heroes he’s faced were able to figure it out. Yet this boy was able to figure it all out in just a few minutes.
Deku scowls. “It doesn’t really help us to know how his Quirk works, though.”
Shoto grimaces. “I thought we could hurry and carry those two out of here, but it’s no good.”
Uravity trembles a bit, still trying to calm her racing heart. “Yeah, he’s way too fast.”
Shoto’s left side ignites. “Our best option is to hold until the pros arrive.”
Deku positions his right arm forward, holding the Omni-Shield out in front of him. “That’s easier said than done.” Either way, there is still a chance they can all still walk away from this, alive.
Deku stands tall, his shield up in front. “We hold our ground! We force him back! We cover each other! And we’ll win!”
Shoto and Uravity smile, both nodding in agreement. There’s no way they’re going to roll over and give up. They know the villain’s Quirk, they got him outnumbered, and they got him out gunned. They can’t lose, not here, not now. They can win this!
Shoto’s flames glow brighter as he eyes their opponent. “We’re with you Midoriya.”
Uravity floats above them, a pair of Ryou Spheres glowing around her hands. “You can count on us!”
“Right!” Deku grins feeling confident with the knowledge that his classmates, his friends, got his back.
Stain gives them a nasty scowl, his eyes glowing blood red as his tongue lashes out giving him a monstrous aura.
With newfound confidence, Deku cries out his battle cry. “It’s Hero Time!”
*CRASH!!!*
Something fast and big crashes into the ground behind the trinity of young heroes. The impact shakes the ground right underneath their feet, a dust cloud blasts out of the ground, along with pieces of rubble.
The trinity spin around in shock, even Stain has been taken by surprise by his guard dropping from the sudden impact.
“RYEEEEE!!!” A pair of giant wings swing open blowing away the dust and rubble as an ear-piercing shriek fills screeching in their ears.
Draco snarls, his tongue lashing out, as his claws flex and shine under the moonlight. His eyes lock onto the plain-faced boy with his recognizable green-hair and freckles. “D…ku.”
At the moment, all of Deku's confidence and hope for survival washes away as rows of needle-like teeth descends upon him.
“RYEEEEE!!!”
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
Meanwhile, closer to the raging flames, Gran Torino rockets forward towards the Squirrelanoid Nomu as it scurries towards the helpless couple. “Stop it, you stupid beast!”
Before Squirrelanoid could make it anywhere near the couple an inferno of raging flames engulfs his entire body. “EAAAAAAAH!!!!”
Gran Torino gasps, rotating his body so his feet are facing forward and with a quick blast from Jet he’s able to propel himself away from the raging flames.
“EAAAAAAAH!!!” Squirrelanoid howls into the night sky as the inferno rages and consumes his entire being, putting him through a true hell on Earth. “EAAAAAAAH!!!”
The master of the flames scoffs. “I was looking for the elusive Hero Killer, but this thing will have to do.”
Gran Torino scowls up at the new arrival.
The fire wilder marches forward. “Thanks, old timer. I’m afraid I don’t know you, but I can handle this from here on out.”
Gran Torino frowns. “It’s you.”
The couple gasp in surprise.
“Whoa, look.”
“Why’s he in Hosu?”
The Number Two Hero, Endeavor smirks as his flames consume the villain. “Hmph. Isn’t it obvious? I came because I’m a hero.”
The flames die out and Squirrelanoid doesn’t look to be in a playful mood. His body searing in pain as smoke emits off of it. “Eaaaaaah.”
Endeavor huffs. “That was only a low-temperature warning shot. But, still, it always KO’s my opponent.”
Gran Torino frowns, if this thing can stand up to the power of the Number Two Hero then they’re really in a pickle for sure.
“Something's not right.” The way Squirrelanoid’s twitching and moving just feels off to the veterinarian hero. “This guy is-”
“Eaaaaaah!” Flames burst out from Squirrelanoid’s back like a raging wildfire!
Gran Torino jets away before he’s burned alive, while Endeavor holds his ground and simply manipulates his own heat to repel the flames away.
He scowls as the familiar flames rage before him. “Your Quirk’s absorption and release, but you still took damage from my flame, didn’t you?”
The flames cut away revealing the twitching and building Squirrelanoid.
Endeavor scoffs. “Not a very impressive power.”
“What’s he doing?” Gran Torino doesn’t like the look of how the creature’s twitching and his muscles are contracting on themselves. “Watch it, Todoroki!”
Squirrelanoid is squatting down, his head held high, looking like he’s about to regurgitate something.
“I think this guy’s got multiple Quirks!”
Suddenly Squirrelanoid’s muscles expand matching the Endeavor’s own bulk, even its tail looks like a spiky bicep now. And with a swing of his arms and tail, he springs himself up into the air.
Endeavor frowns, intriguing. “I see. So that’s how it is.”
Gran Torino frowns and quickly scans the area. ‘Those two bystanders got away, right?’ They did. ‘Good.’
Endeavor raises his hand up, aiming it towards the descending monster, flames dancing out from his palm.
From up above, Squirrelanoid opens his maw and disgustingly his tongue lashes out to form a mashup fleshly net to sprout forth.
Gran Torino races into the sky, breaking through the fleshy net and quickly getting behind the beast. He quickly ricochets himself in midair and Jets himself right back towards the monster. Slamming his boots down on its back and smashing it into the pavement.
“Eaaaaaah!!” Squirrelanoid groans in pain, his back definitely broken after that strike!
Gran Torino scowls down at the villain as it passes out. “Didn’t mean to damage the road. I might be more outta practice than I thought.”
Endeavor, with his ever-present scowl, is impressed. “Huh. Nice work. You’re not bad, old man.”
They can’t revel in their victory as a rumbling thunder is heard in the distance.
The two heroes look to the distance, they can see the glow of flames and smoke rising over the buildings just down a few more city blocks.
Endeavor’s eyes narrow. “That must be where the rest of the heroes are gathered. It’s been some time now; they should've taken care of things by now.”
Gran Torino isn’t so sure, not if there’s more creatures like the one he’s standing on. “We need to tie this guy up. The cops will take care of him from there. Then we can help out.”
Endeavor growls.
##########(Flashback)#########
“Shoto! There’s trouble ahead.” Endeavor and the few sidekicks that he kept with him take off running towards the sirens and screams. “I’ll show you what it means to be a hero.”
As they run, Shoto's phone buzzes, receiving a message.
As they keep moving, Shoto takes a look and stops when he sees who’s it from. ‘Midoriya…. All he sent was his location?’
“Dammit!!” Endeavor turns around, pissed off by his son’s lack of action. “You should be watching me-Hey! Wait!”
Shoto takes off running, completely ignoring the so-called pro hero.
“Where the hell are you going?!”
Shoto actually responds back as he continues to run back the way they came. “An alleyway at 4-2-10 Ekou Street. If you finish what you’re doing or see extra pros, send them there.”
Endeavor frowns totally lost on what to do. Confused by what would draw his creation’s attention away so suddenly.
“I’m leaving you here to take care of this trouble. I’m sure you can handle it yourself.”
“Huh?” And so Endeavor watches as his own son turns his back on him and takes off.
“My friend might be in danger.”
“Shoto…”
########(End Flashback)#######
Endeavor scowls down at the four-eyed monster. “Leave him to my sidekicks. They’ll make sure the cops take him.”
“Hm?” Gran Torino peers up at the Top Ranked Hero.
“There’s an address that I need you to investigate for me.”
The Number Two Hero then redirects his attention to the chaos ahead. “I am Endeavor. I can take care of the rest of this myself.”
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
Deku chokes, gasping for air as his life is choked out of him, grappling at his assailant. ‘Just…what kind of monster…are you?’
Draco’s tongue dangles out from its mouth, his reptilian eyes narrowed in on its prey.
Deku gags as Draco’s grip tightens around his neck, lifting him off the ground and pinning him against the side of the building.
Deku desperately grips the winged-lizard’s arms, trying to break himself free, but the lanky limbs are surprisingly strong, not budging an inch.
Deku shocks, unable to breath, scowling up at the monster. His gaze moves away from the Nomu and to his comrades…and what he sees isn’t any better.
Uravity is down, lying face down on the ground. Her helmet’s been smashed to bits by the creature as it grabbed her head and threw her face first into the ground. She moans, a bit of blood leaking from her forehead.
Shoto is walking with a limp, courtesy of a needle-toothed bite to his leg. He so desperately wants to help Deku but he’s far too busy keeping the Hero Killer away with a wall of flames.
Iida and Native watch on, uselessly and helplessly, still paralyzed due to Stain’s Bloodcurdle.
‘Come on…! I gotta…get free!’ Out of desperation, Deku thrusts his Omni-Shield into the creature’s arm. ‘Let go of me!’
“D…ku.”
Deku freezes, finally taking a moment to examine the horrid creature.
Despite having him literally in its claws…it’s not attacking, nor does it display any signs of desiring to. Instead it’s…examining him like he’s something familiar.
‘What…what is it doing?’ Deku dares not to speak aloud, afraid he may just accidentally instigate the feral creature.
Meanwhile, Uravity struggles to lift herself off the ground and she nearly screams out at the sight of her friend being strangled to death. ‘Deku!!’
From the corner of his eye Deku spots Uravity getting back onto her feet, she leans back and her fists glow pink with energy.
He ever so subtly shakes his head, If she attacks now, she’ll only be putting them all, especially him, at risk.
Uravity takes notice and hesitates before she powers down. Deku can tell that his actions are a cause of confusion and worry for her, but…this is necessary. He only needs another minute or so before the Omnitrix’s fully recharged. And then they can finally make their counterattack.
If he survives until then that is.
Draco leans in closer his reptilian gaze burrowing into the pair of jade eyes. “D…ku.”
Deku internally gasps. ‘Is it…is it trying to say…Deku…?’
That’s…not right. How could it know his hero name? Is it because of the news and the Sports Festival? Maybe it heard it from the League of Villains?
But then again from the impressions Deku’s gotten from these things, they’re just some mindless beasts unable to think for themselves. So…how?
Deku chokes, staring up at the creature in absolute bewilderment. “Just…what are you…?”
Draco lips part, hesitantly opening and closing as it tries to use the little brain power it has to speak. “De-”
*PEW-BANG!!!*
Everything, for all of the inhabitants of the battle, occurs in slow motion. A single laserbolt drills right through the Nomu’s exposed brain, frying it to a crisp as bits of blood and brain matter gush out. Its grip becomes lifeless dropping Deku, Uravity watches on in horror, Iida and Native are silent, Shoto is stunned as his flames die out in an instant, and even Stain takes a pause caught off guard by yet another distraction.
Draco’s body collapses onto the ground, unmoving and lifeless. That shot came quick, killing the poor creature instantly. Blood pours out from the gaping hole in its exposed skull, its mouth hangs open with his long tongue sprawled out, and his large reptilian eyes remain open, unmoving and dead.
Deku gaps out in horror at the grizzly sight.
Slowly they all gaze upward towards the source of the lethal shot.
Hovering above like a predatory raptor is a man adoring a high-tech purple suit of armor.
Uravity steps back, disturbed the newcomer's presence, something about them doesn’t seem right. “Who…who is that?”
Deku shakily gets to his feet. “I…I don’t know.”
Shoto eyes remain locked on the intruder, the Hero Killer temporarily forgotten.
As for Stain, well he frowns up at the newest interruption. ‘What’s going on? Is this another fake hero?’
The armored killer slowly descends his purple armor shining under the moonlight.
“Rryos m’i tael, eerht asw a stpo fo faifctr.” SixSix scans the humans, his helmet’s sensors locking onto the boy’s left wrist, just as the Omnitrix turns green. “Oudfn uyo.”
Deku stumbles back, the moment SixSix’s gaze locks onto him.
Uravity gulps. “Deku…why are they staring at you?”
Deku shakes his head, unable to form a response. This person, this hunter, killed that Nomu with one shot! Just who is he?! They’re not a hero, he would know!
Shoto shakes off the fear, enough to speak up. “Midoriya, now might be a good time for a transformation.”
Deku peers down at the Omnitrix and a part of him jumps for joy at the sight of the glowing green hourglass. “Yeah, I think you might be right.”
Deku moves to activate the Omnitrix but as if an effect of his movement SixSix pounces. In a blink of an eye SixSix touches down right in front of the boy, causing him to stumble back.
“Ont dyaot, taans!” SixSix’s claw swipes away the Omni-Shield and Deku’s right arm, and throws the boy off balance, leaving the Omnitrix defenseless.
With a quick swipe of his hand, SixSix clamps a metallic brace around the Omnitrix, sealing it off completely.
“What?!” Deku pulls at the thick brace but it’s locked itself shut making it impossible for him to even see the Omnitrix.
Uravity and Shoto leap into action both rushing towards their friend.
Acting fast, SixSix grabs Deku by his arm, his jetpack roars to life, and off into the air they go, faster than either of the students could have hoped too.
“Deku/Midoriya!!” Uravity, Shoto, and Iida cry out as they witness their friend being abducted.
“Let go of me!” Deku swings his fist up at his abductor, but SixSix doesn’t even wince as his punches bounce off the high-tech armor.
‘Who is this guy?!’ There’s so many questions running through the boy’s mind. Why is this hunter after him? What did he do to the Omnitrix? What is he?! Is he with the League of Villains?
SixSix grabs Deku’s other arm, trying to force the boy still. “Eiutq iirmusqng! Ro li’l uct ruoy mra fof.”
Deku snarls back. “What do you want?!”
“Hte Xiirtmno.”
As the two grapple in midair, a swooshing sound grabs SixSix’s attention. Both grapplers look forward, to find that the Hero Killer will not be ignored!
Stain swings his katana right for the intruder’s head.
SixSix is forced to release the boy and block the blade with his own energy blade. The purple hued blade projects out from his wrist, intercepting and blocking the katana, Sparks fly as the blades clash, their strikes so powerful that both are repelled back.
SixSix leers down at the Hero Killer. “Thaw het kufs’c royu bploemr, ddeu?!”
“These constant interruptions.” A deadly rage stirs from within the Hero Killer. “Are nothing but distractions.”
Deku winces in pain, his backside aching from being dropped from so high. But he dares not to move not with the Hero Killer standing so close and another killer hovering just above him.
Stain growls up at SixSix. “I have a duty. A duty to correct this corrupt society. I will remove the cancer that are false heroes.” The bloodlust is thick, Stain thirsts for blood, yearns for death, and he will have it. “I will cut down all those that seek to stop my MISSION!!!” He will bring death to them all whether they're a hero, child, or villain!!
Unsure about what the red-scarfed monkey is saying, SixSix redirects his attention back to his intended target, lying just before the screaming monkey’s feet.
With a boost from his jetpack, SixSix dives down, lunging for the wilder of the Omnitrix.
Deku gasps at the bounty hunter’s incredible speed.
SixSix reaches down to grab him. But he never so much as lays a finger on Deku thanks to the Hero Killer.
Stain’s katana slices through the air cutting off SixSix’s path, forcing the hunter away.
SixSix leaps back, his feet skidding across the ground.
Deku peers up at the Hero Killer in confusion. Why’d he save him?!
Stain leers down at the boy as his katana remains raised in the air. “You’re worthy of living. Your death will only counteract my goals.” Stain redirects his eyes towards the other villain. “I will not allow that.”
That doesn’t give Deku any sense of comfort, and before he could maybe question the Hero Killer, Stain leaps up and over him.
Stains wings his blade down at SixSix. “You’re going to die here!”
SixSix quickly jumps back before his head could be sliced in half. “Uyo ntdoulh’s alyp thwi iesnkv!”
SixSix thrusts his hand forward, pointing at Stain, and animated cables eject from his back. The cables lash out and grab Stain’s katana.
Stain tugs at the cables. ‘What is this?’ He grabs his knife and with just one swipe he literally cuts himself free. “Your tricks are tasteless.” Stain readies his blades. “Nothing but nuisances.”
SixSix glares from behind his helmet, he’s really not liking this guy’s talk nor the fact that he’s getting in his way.
SixSix stands to the side, lifting his right fist up, and with a bob of his arm his energy blade bursts out from his wrist.
The bounty hunter takes a fighting stance, his blade at the ready, and his free claw hanging forward. “Tse’l aedcn, aeuuitlfb.”
Stain accepts the challenge. “Die!!”
Their swords clash, sparks of energy crackling between their scowling deadly gazes. The two leap back for clashing blades again and again, both moving swiftly with deadly grace and precision. Neither taking the defensive, both desiring the glory of killing the other.
SixSix leaps back and lets out a haunting undistinguishable laugh. “Owh oolc si stih, rradees? AHM nda Nbe Nte lliinasv rea ffiifhtn ti tuo”
“Your words are incomprehensible.” Stain charges in, his katana drawn back. “So, I won’t grant you the right of having any last words.”
“Ndt’o uyp erda wgnis ttha inhtg ta em!” SixSix thrusts his hand out.
*Clang!!*
Stain’s blade is stopped, stuck between SixSix’s talons.
Thanks to his high-tech armor and honed reflexes, SixSix managed to catch the swinging blade with one hand, his claw thick enough to be unfazed by the blade. “I dtol uyo byoeomh. U nat’c chotu isth!”
Stain scowls finding this nuisance’s attempts at speech a good enough reason to kill him. Stain swings his body, the spin proving enough force to break his katana free from SixSix’s grasp. As his body swings around Stain grips a throwing knife and with deadly, he jams the knife into SixSix’s side, piercing through the weakest part of his armor.
SixSix unleashes an inhuman screech as the knife impales his side. “Uyo kcfingu htis! Ttah llaeyr ursth!”
As Stain pulls back the knife, fittingly, purple blood leaks out from the bounty hunter’s wound.
Observing, split up from his friend, Deku remains rooted to the ground watching in both awe and terror as these assassins trade blows. But…the blood…why’s it purple? And then…the realization hits him. That guy’s a…he’s an alien!!
Stain inhales the scent of the oddly colored blood; he eyes hesitantly but in this world of mutation and transformation Quirks there’s always a chance it would affect the color of one’s blood. “I have to admit it, you were a worthy adversary.” He brings the dripping knife closer to his lips. “But your journey ends here.” A with a lick of his tongue Stain activates his Bloodcurdle.
Everyone pauses watching on, waiting for the bounty hunter to inevitably fall over, his body paralyzed and unable to move.
But it never occurs.
“Blgah!” Stain spits out the horrid tasting blood. “What is this?!” He coughs it up, grimacing from the taste.
He glares up at the bounty hunter and is even more shocked as SixSix charges at him, unparalyzed and not on the ground.
Stain leaps away as SixSix tries to tear his claws into him.
The unparalyzed SixSix growls up at Stain. But then he peers back down and notices Deku all alone, without his precious Omnitrix to aid him.
Forgetting the Hero Killer for a second, SixSix rockets forward his claws out and ready to tear into the boy.
But Stain isn’t one to be ignored, he swoops in, slamming his boot into Deku’s side while also swinging his blade down at the bounty hunter.
The blade slams into SixSix’s armored shoulder, knocking him to the side.
Pissed, SixSix leaps back to his feet, and let’s loose a barrage of lasers thanks to his wrist blasters.
Meanwhile, Uravity and Shoto watch on both in disbelief. Somehow that guy was…immune to the Hero Killer’s Quirk!!
“How…?” That one question lingers off Shoto’s tongue, but no answer is ever given.
“Todoroki!”
Shoto turns his attention to Uravity.
Uravity’s scared witless, the explosion making her flinch, but even so she tries her best to remain as calm as possible. “We gotta get Deku out of there!!”
Shoto reels back around towards the combatants. Looking past them, on the opposite side of them, he spots Deku desperately trying to pry the metal brace open. “Without his Quirk, he’s defenseless.”
Using Zero-Gravity on herself, Uravity springs into the air with the aid of her Gyro-Disc. “Make me an opening!”
Not needing to be told twice, Shoto unleashed a crashing ice trail, aiming it right at the combating assassins.
With his back turned SixSix fails to see the attack coming, but his opponent is more than ready to act leaping up and grabbing the fire escape.
SixSix aims his wrist blasters up at Stain but the ice trail crashes into him, slamming him against the wall, freezing him in place, only his shoulders and head are left untouched by the freezing ice. “Wo! Ttas’h ldco.”
With her only opening, Uravity dives in like a falcon and swoops Deku up in her arms. “I’ve got you!!”
Deku smiles, grateful for his savior’s rescue. But the moment is short lived.
“Look out!!” Deku throws his Omni-Shield up and just in time as Stain bears down on them with his sword.
He may have blocked the slash, but the force of the hit was strong enough to knock the young heroes onto the ground, skidding across the alleyway.
Stain touches down above Uravity, his sword hanging above her, just one stab will do her in.
Uravity looks away just as a burning inferno of flames shields her from him.
Stain quickly retreats as Shoto trails his flames after him.
While the intense heat rages, SixSix is busy with his escape. Strangely, a pair of minute arms sprout out from out of his shoulder pads, and each one tosses little flashing grenades down onto the ice. The grenades stick in place, blinking lights blink faster and faster until, Boom! He’s free.
SixSix pushes himself off the wall quickly taking in the situation.
With the Hero Killer busy trying not to be burned alive, SixSix scans the area for his primary target.
And he finds it. With speed that could compete with Iida, SixSix lunges his claws raised to embed themselves into the boy’s flesh if need be. “Reu’oy ym ckiett ot a yydpaa!!”
Acting out of pure adrenaline, Deku swings his Omni-Shield up just in time to uppercut SixSix’s claws away.
SixSix spins his body around and reaches out again, this time he manages to grab Deku by his arm and pull him.
But Uravity is at it again, saving Deku by delivering a quick One For All powered punch right into the bounty hunter.
SixSix’s grip breaks and he slams into the wall. “Ghlarit, v’ei dha ouhgne.”
Pissed beyond belief SixSix jets up into the air, aiming his wrist blasters down. He begins to spin and spin, and he unleashes a rain of laser bolts down at every single combatant.
Stain is forced to dodge and leap his way through the shower of lasers, using his blades to deflect what he can away.
Shoto quickly summons a dome of ice just as Uravity and Deku join taking cover with him.
As the lasers rain down Shoto directs his attention towards the greenette of the group. “Midoriya, it would be great if we had one of your transformations right now.” A laser bolt burns through his dome, but he quickly patches it up with more ice. “Any will do even that, um, little frog guy.”
“Okay, first off his name is Grey Matter.” Deku corrects a matter of factually.
Shoto gives him a deadpan stare, not at all interested in being correct right now.
Deku offers up a sheepish smile, sweatdropping. “Sorry… But no, this thing won’t come off!” Deku shakes his left wrist, displaying the metal brace around the Omnitrix.
Uravity examines the brace. “Can we break it open?”
“Here.” Shoto leans down and grips the brace coating it in ice. “Uraraka see if that will do.”
Uravity’s fist glows bright pink before she slams her fist down on the brace. “Ow!!” She grips her hand, wincing in pain, messaging her aching knuckles. “It’s too tough!”
It sure is, the ice may have broken off, but the brace hasn’t. It doesn’t so much have a scratch.
Deku gulps. “I…don’t think we can rely on One Man Army guys…”
“Dam.” Shoto grinds his teeth as a few more lasers break through. “Does anyone have any idea who that is?!”
Neither Uravity nor Deku need long to understand who he’s referring to: the bounty hunter.
Uravity shakes her head. “I…I don’t know. Maybe…maybe he’s with the League of Villains!”
Shoto exhales. “Alright, so what do we know for certain about this guy?”
Deku hesitantly speaks up. “Well…he seems to be adorning some sort of armor.”
Uravity nods. “He’s got lasers! Oh, and claws. And a jetpack!”
Deku nods in agreement. “Yeah, and for some reason the Hero Killer’s Quirk doesn’t work on him.” Deku’s eyes lock with Uravity’s. “Almost like the guy’s not…from here.”
Uravity’s eyes widen, picking up Deku’s message. That guys an alien?!
Shoto frowns, eyeing Midoriya wondering why the villain would be after him specifically.
His eyes widen as he peers down at his classmate’s wrist. ‘His support gear…just like the U.S.J.’ His gaze narrows. A part of him wants to know, wants to know why…but now’s not the time. Answers can come later right now…right now they need a plan.
Hang on, Uravity peers up and listens. “Wait, do you guys hear that?”
Shoto and Deku perk up, listening in.
“I don’t hear anything.” whispers Deku.
“Exactly…”
An intense feeling of dread fills the teens when they finally realize that the lasers have stopped.
They stay stock still as a deathening silence haunts the alleyway.
But like the calm before the storm, chaos ensues.
Stain breaks through Shoto’s ice barricade, slashing his way through the ice; his tongue out, his eyes beaming with bloodlust, and his katana craving the feel of bleeding flesh. “There’s no place you can hide!”
Deku shoves his way forward, his shield taking the full force of Stain’s attack.
Meanwhile, SixSix flies up and over the crumbling barricade, his wrist blasters aiming down at the young humans.
Acting quickly, Uravity jumps up and with a boost from One For All she tackles SixSix and slams him right into the fire escape. The railing bends back, breaking apart as he’s thrown against it.
SixSix groans. “Mmiatd, ttha swa ggino ot eb os oolc.” SixSix peers down only to be greeted by the sight of rising flames. “Nda tths’a hto!”
The alien flies off, just before Shoto’s flames melt away the fire escape!
As the five combatants duke it out, Iida watches on from afar. He watched as Midoriya regain his mobility, as Draco rampaged, as the hunter descended down on them. Oh, how did things become such a mess…?! He knows why, after all he’s the reason for it. If only he wasn’t so…so stupid…if he hadn’t given in to his anger maybe just maybe…his friends wouldn’t be in danger. None of them should have had to fight these villains, to fight against death.
Iida’s body shakes in frustration, still unable to move a muscle. He’s never felt so helpless, so useless as much as he does now.
‘Look at them… They’re giving it their all, fighting to save me…’ His fists would be clenching if they could. “The Hero Killer’s supposed to be mine… None of you should even be involved in this…”
But how does he expect to do that? He can’t even stand let alone fight…it’s pointless. All he can do is watch in silent misery as Midoriya is kicked away by Stain.
With the space he needs to run free, Stain leaps up and lunges towards Iida. He hasn’t forgotten about him; he’s just been waiting for the window to strike.
Stain jumps back just before Shoto’s flames could reach him. ‘Iida… I’ve been worried about you ever since your brother was attacked.’ Shoto noticed that terrible sad and angry look Iida had on his face back when they all departed for their internship. ‘I recognize the face of someone who’s drowning in resentment. And I know just how narrow your field of vision can get when you long for justice.’
Shoto recalls how he too had to face his own resentment. Shortly after the Sports Festival he gathered his courage and went to go visit his mother in the mental hospital. He never mentioned it to anyone, not even his siblings, it took a lot for him to do it. He was terrified in fact, that she would become upset and disturbed just by seeing him. Which is why he stayed away for so long. But he did go, and they spoke for hours. That day he told her about his life with his father, U.A., his classmates, and who he’s become.
‘She cried and apologized. She forgave me. Faster than I ever imagined.’ And for the first time in years Shoto was graced to see her smile once again. ‘She told me to move forward. That nothing was holding me back, and that doing so would be her salvation.’
Shoto launches a barrage of ice pillars at the villains.
‘If I hadn’t spoken to her, I would have never been able to choose my old man’s agency for my internship. I couldn’t bare being near him. I haven’t forgiven him. I doubt I ever truly will.’
Deku jumps away before SixSix could grab him, Uravity slams down between them and throws a solid punch into the bounty hunter.
Shoto tries to hit the hunter with a stream of ice. ‘But I chose him, so I could learn what it takes to be a Top Hero with my own eyes and ears. I had to know.’
His old man’s a scumbag. But a scumbag with the judgement and instincts of a Number Two Hero. And he can acknowledge that.
The ice missed so Shoto launches a jet of flames at SixSix. ‘It’s so simple. But I still needed someone to show me.’
Specifically it took Midoriya to show him: “‘It’s yours! Your Quirk, not his!’”
‘Just a few words. Two short sentences.’ And a good beating. To show Shoto the errors of his way.
And now he wants to pass that lesson on, he will help Iida realize his mistakes, before it’s too late. Like it was almost too late for him.
Iida sobs, lying helpless on the ground watching the battle rage on in front of his eyes. As he watches these heroes risk their lives for others.
For some reason Stain’s harsh words from earlier stab through his heart once again. “‘Shouldn’t you be worried about saving that guy?’”
And then he recalls Midoriya’s courage. “‘Without my powers, I am just some Quirkless nobody, but…that’s not going to stop me from saving you!!’”
And of course Shoto’s conviction. “‘We will protect them!’”
Their reasons for taking action are so noble and true, but what about him?
“‘I’ll kill you!!’” Those were Iida’s words; those were his actions. The Hero Killer had every right to call him out the way he did. Some hero he’s turning out to be…
“You have to run…”
Shoto wheels around to be greeted by the sad sight of a sobbing Iida. It's clear that all this fighting has really shaken him up, filling him with horrid misery and torment.
Iida chokes back his sobs. “I can’t…watch this…”
Shoto scowls, as he unleashed more flames into the battlefield. “You wanna make your brother proud?!”
Tears spill out as Iida gasps in surprise.
Meanwhile, Stain thrusts his sword forward aiming for Uravity’s heart.
Shoto launches an ice trail. “Then stand up and be Ingenium!!”
Stain is grinning like he’s enjoying the challenge, he pulls away, and leaps up and over the predictable ice trail. He cuts and breaks his way through the ice like a rampaging beast, letting loose a blood curdling howl as he descends upon the dual-haired teen.
Shoto doesn’t dare take his eyes off the raging monster. “Become the hero he wanted you to be!!” Flames erupt out from his left side.
Iida tries but fails to blink away the tears as he remembers his very words he dared to proclaim before this whole mess ever occurred. “‘I am Ingenium, and I will defeat you. That, I promise!’”
Shoto unleashes a raging inferno, but Stain basically dances his way through the flames with deadly precision and grace. His movements are so quick and agile that he remains unaffected by the intense heat.
‘Stain The Hero Killer. I took my brother’s name so that I could teach this villain a lesson. But I was so consumed with revenge, that I forgot about what really mattered. I was too focused on myself to help anyone else.’ Iida sniffs.
And now his friends and classmates are going to pay for selfish desires and actions.
##########(Flashback)#########
“You wanna be a hero too, Tenya?”
It was a regular old day for a young Tenya Iida, visiting his brother’s agency after school had let out for the day.
Young Tenya nods, moving his arm up and down in a chopping motion. “Yes! Like you! A cool one!”
Tensei smiles having just finished removing his armor. “With robot arms?”
Young Tenya blinks up at his brother. “There’s something I wanted to ask you, big brother. What drives you? Why did you choose to become a pro hero in the first place?”
“Hm.” Tensei ponders as he carries his heroic costume over to a nearby electronic locker. “Well, our grandfather and parents were all heroes. So everyone kind of expected I would be one, too. Staying in the family business and all that.” Tensei turns, gesturing for Iida to hand him his helmet, which he quickly does. “Plus, it made sense to me.”
Tensei smiles down at his helmet, admiring the many lives he’s saved while wearing it. “I think the coolest people in the world are those who do things for others. I wanted to be the kind of guy who helps people in trouble.”
Young Tenya is a bit confused. “Then why not work as a police officer or something?”
Tensei deadpans in annoyance. “Aren’t you listening to me? Think of what I’m saying.”
Tensei chuckles, patting his little brother’s head. “You take things at face value a little too much.” He offers up a proud smile. “But you’re a hard worker, and definitely smarter and more athletic than me back when I was a kid.”
Looks away as something crosses his mind. “Wait a second. That’s my secret.” His grin widens, a grin that will inspire Tenya far into the future. “Knowing you look up to me makes me better. I have to be sure I make you proud, Tenya. Hahaha!”
########(End Flashback)#######
“‘Both of you are nothing but fakes.’”
Tenya hisses, sobbing as his hand slowly begins to mover ever so slightly. ‘You spoke the truth, Hero Killer. These three are different from me.’
Stain leaps from ice pillar to ice pillar before they’re melted away by Shoto’s intense fire.
‘I’m immature.’ His shaking worsens, desperately trying to move. ‘I can’t hold a candle to them.’ His hand shakily clamps shut, forcing a fist. ‘But still…’
Stain access across the ice trails almost as if he can fly. He shifts his body to the right evading a stream of flames, racing faster towards the source of the dual elements. “Ice and fire.”
Shoto scowls. ‘Just try and dodge this, villain!’ He fires off yet another stream of ice.
Stain doesn’t evade or leap away, instead he charges head on, running alongside the edge of the ice trail. “Hasn’t anyone ever told you, you rely on your Quirk too much? Makes you a careless fighter.”
Deku and Uravity watch on from afar, strike in fear, but SixSix blocks their path preventing them from getting anywhere near their classmate.
Shoto unleashes a veil of flames, hoping to stop the Hero Killer, but he might as well have done nothing because Stain cuts his way through the burning inferno like a demon from the pits of hell itself. His katana swings forward ready to slice through the boy’s flesh, the blade just less than a second away from chopping off his entire arm.
So much occurs all at once, appearing in slow motion allowing them all to witness the events.
Shoto gasps as the blade inches closer to his shoulder. ‘He’s a monster.’
Both of the space cadets yell out. “Todoroki!!”
‘If I don’t stand up right now,’ Iida’s Engines’ exhausts glow, humming to life, as he slowly begins to rise. ‘I’ll never be able to be as good as them,’ His sheer will and determination are driving him forward, as his engines hum and he looks towards the inevitable catastrophe. ‘I’ll never live up to my brother's name!!’
‘Damn it.’ Even while in motion and focused on another target, Stain can see that the boy is back on his feet. ‘My Quirk timed out.’
“RECIPRO BURST!!!” Ingenium rockets forward with newfound power, moving so fast that even XLR8 would be impressed.
He swings his foot down right onto Stain’s weapon, breaking it apart with a single kick, saving his classmate.
His feet barely touch the ground before he jumps right back up and delivers a devastating roundhouse kick right smack into the Hero Killer’s head.
Stain throws his arms in the way, but it does little to nothing to stop the force of the bow, shoving him away.
Stain hisses as he comes to a stop just before the side of the building. ‘He’s fast!’
Deku and Uravity gasp in surprise, astonished beyond belief.
Even SixSix was impressed with the level of speed and power. “Eeslf keil moes rraacchte eeemndvlopt tjus ccurorde.”
Deku and Uravity slip past the bounty hunter, rejoining their comrades.
Deku smiles in relief. “Iida!”
As does Uravity. “You’re okay!”
Ingenium keels over, breathing heavily as he tries to catch his breath.
Shoto blinks, grateful he’s still in one piece, but more focused on Ingenium. “You’re free, too? Guess his Quirk isn’t as great as I thought it was.”
“Todoroki… Midoriya… Uraraka…” Ingenium chokes back a frustrated sob. “This has nothing to do with you. I apologize.”
Deku frowns. “Come on. Not this again.”
Tenya shakes his head. “I’m okay. And I won’t let you three shed any more blood for me!” He glares towards Stain.
Blood drips from Stain’s hand, the force of the kick causing more damage than they had thought. “It’s no use trying to pretend you’re a hero now.” He drops his broken sword and grips a pair of sheathed daggers. “A person’s true nature doesn’t change in just a few minutes. You’ll never be anything but a fraud who prioritizes his own desires.” Stain is filled with unholy fury and disgust at the mere sight of the diluted child. “You’re the sickness that’s infected society and ruined the name “hero.” Someone must teach you a lesson.”
Uravity cowers back a bit, wondering what exactly the Hero Killers trying to get at.
Shoto scowls. “You’re a fundamentalistic lunatic. Iida, don’t listen to this murderer’s nonsense.”
“No.” Ingenium casts his eyes down in shame. “He’s completely correct. I have no right to call myself a hero…at all.” Blood drips down from the wound on his shoulder, sliding down past his shiny white armor and all the way to his tightening fist. “Even so… There’s no way I can back down. If I give up now, then the name “Ingenium” will die!”
Ingenium takes a racing stance, and not to be out done, his allies stand beside him ready to fight on with him.
Deku throws the class president a smile. “It’s good to have back to your senses, Iida.”
“Midoriya…”
“Now come one let’s show them what we can do.”
Ingenium grins. “Right.”
Uravity begins to hover in place. “I’m ready.”
A bit of flames dance off Shoto’s left side. “Like we have much of a choice.”
SixSix stands ready for a fight, his wrist blasters humming with power.
Stain too prepares, unsheathing a pair of serrated daggers.
Deku glares ahead, his eyes jumping from one opponent to the other. “We need to keep these two focused on us.”
The other three throw him a worried look.
Deku Ingenium) “They’re targeting us, we can use that to keep them off balanced. Give the others openings to attack”
Uravity chirps up. “So, a sort of divide and conquer.”
“In a way. Todoroki, Uraraka you two will strike when their guards are down while Iida and I keep their attention.”
Shoto frowns. “You want us to take a pretty big risk.” He sighs. “But it’s as good a plan as any.”
Stain growls, he may admire the boy’s heroic spite, but when it comes to interfering with his goals none shall be shown mercy. “Pathetic.”
“Aghtril, m’i irdet fo het hsti.” SixSix unleashes a barrage of lasers. “Ied ied ied!!”
Shoto quickly jumps to the front of the group. He slams his foot forward and a massive ice wall shields them from the laserbolts.
Uravity stands back, her fist glowing with the power of One For All, and then she takes that fist and slams it into the ice wall. The ice wall bursts forth, breaking apart, causing all the ice chunks to fly forward like a surprise avalanche!!
SixSix hastily fires a rain of lasers back at the ice chunks but it’s for not as few manage to strike him, throwing him back. “Tno bda.” SixSix spins his body around, his feet digging into the ground. “Tbu wno ts’i ym urtn!”
SixSix tosses out a few flash grenades, the explosive roll across the ground, stopping at the children’s feet.
Deku screams out as a grenade bounces off his red shoe. “Everybody move!!”
A few of them scream as they each dive away in separate directions, splitting them up as the bombs go off in spectacular fashion. The blast catches Deku and Ingenium off balance, knocking them down.
With his speedy target down, Stain moves in, making a beeline right for Ingenium.
Deku throws himself in the way, his Omni-Shield out and ready.
But Stain is done with the games, he leaps up and over Deku taking him by surprise, but his knives are aimed right for his true prey. “No!!”
Stain’s knives glint under the moonlight, he’s more than ready to drench them in blood.
But that’ll have to wait, as Ingenium jumps up to meet him. His Engines roar giving him the boost he needs to deliver a spinning kick right into the villain’s side, throwing him aside.
Deku cheers “Nice hit!”
They don’t have much time to celebrate as SixSix flies up above the alley way, running down a shower of lasers at them, Deku in particular.
While Deku shields himself with his gear, Ingenium calls out to Shoto. “Todoroki get me up there!”
Not missing a beat, Shoto slams his hand against the side of the building, ice shoots upward, protruding out of the wall as it climbs up making an icicle ramp.
Ingenium doesn’t bother to wait for it to be completed, his Engines firing him up the ramp.
As he reaches the end of the ramp, he leaps as far as he can. “Don’t you dare hurt my friends!!” Ingenium wraps his arms around SixSix tackling him.
“Tle og fo em!”
Ingenium’s got SixSix’s arms pinned, and his jetpack struggles to carry them thanks to Ingenium’s jostling.
Down back on Earth, Stain leers up at Ingenium as he struggles to hold onto the flying bounty hunter. ‘There’s too many of them, I need to take some of them out.’
He scans the battlefield, his eyes landing on a stain of blood, dripping from the girl’s side. And there on her head is another cut of fresh blood.
His eyes gleam with bloodlust and he charges moving like a creature of the night.
Uravity gasps as Stain looms over her, his tongue lashing out ready to lap up any blood he can.
“Uraraka!” Deku throws himself in the way.
Stain’s Quirk doesn’t have that strong of an effect on him and Stain’s made it clear that he won’t kill him, so he can afford to be on the defensive to give his friends the chance to use their Quirks since he’s unable to. Hence why he’s so determined to make himself a human shield.
“Don’t be a fool.” Stain grabs the Omni-Shield, throwing the boy’s arm down and jamming a knife onto his shoulder.
“Gahh!!”
“Deku!!”
Deku collapses, holding his bleeding shoulder as Stain looms over him, the knife hanging in his hand, dripping with his blood. “Just because I won’t kill you doesn't mean your immune to my attacks, child.”
Deku grips his bleeding shoulder. “Yeah, I think I got your point.”
Stain sneers, annoyed by his antics, he takes the blade up to his mouth and is about to lap up the blood when Uravity jumps in and slaps the knife away. “No you don’t!!”
Stain hisses. “Stupid girl.”
He throws his fist forward, it connects and Uravity stumbles back the side of her face aching in pain.
“And what is it you’re after?”
“Huh?” Uravity blinks through the pain wondering why the villain’s trying to talk now of all times.
Stain scowls as he raises his blade. “Everyone who seeks to become a so-called hero has a reason. Is it power? Respect? Fame?” Stain’s eyes narrow. “Or is it for money?”
Uravity chokes.
Stain growls, he notices her reaction, and a burning age threatens to spill out. “Only flames claim to be heroes, when in fact only desire to enrich themselves. Pathetic!” He swings his blade forward. “Those types of heroes are by far the worst.”
Uravity backs away, trembling. ‘No…I…yeah I want money, but…it’s for my parents not me!’
Deku stands back up, gripping Uravity’s arm. “Don’t let him get to you.”
Uravity looks to Deku and she’s grateful for his intervention, but she can’t stop how she’s feeling.
Deku’s grip tightens “You are a hero alright?!”
“Huh?”
“A hero is someone who risks their life for others! And you being here right now is proof of that!”
‘He’s right…’ Uravity smiles. “Thanks, Deku.”
Stain wields his dagger and runs in swiftly.
Shoving Uravity aside, Deku bats away the knife with his shield, but Stain grabs him by his head and slams the boy’s face into his knee.
“Gah!!” Deku pulls away, his nose bleeding and possibly broken.
“Get away from him!” Uravity pounces her hand stretched out but Stain moves away before she could get a grip on him.
Deku wipes away the blood before it could be used against him. ‘No good.’
Stain jumps away but then runs right back at Uravity who is able to hold him off with a whirlwind thanks to One For All.
There’s a crazed fantical look in his eyes, burning with a righteous fury, making Deku fearful about their chances of survival. ‘His fighting style has completely changed!’ He’s becoming more frantic and reckless.
As Stain regains his balance after being blown away, he’s forced to brace himself as a massive icicle slams into him.
Deku wheels around towards the source of the ice. “Todoroki! Where’s Iida?!”
Shoto peers up and Deku follows his train of sight only for his jaw to drop. Ingenium’s still up in the air, wrestling with SixSix!!
Not waiting to see what happened Deku brings out, what he probably should have used from the start, his hoverboard!
He throws the hoverboard out and it immediately expands, hovering in place as Deku jumps on and takes off into the sky!
Uravity awes at the cool piece of gear, and Shoto eyes the familiar item intriguingly, he’s seen that same one before somewhere.
Up above Ingenium loses his grip on SixSix, but he doesn’t fall far as Deku swoops in from underneath catching his classmate atop the hoverboard.
Ingenium gasps in surprise, as he looks down to see both him and Deku flying over the alleyway on a strange device. “Midoriya?! Where’d you get such a thing?!”
Deku actually chuckles. “Would you believe that it was a gift?”
“Yhe uyo!”
Deku and Ingenium turn their attention to SixSix. “Veig em hte Xiitrmno ro li’l nru oyu hhrutog.” His energy blade projects pops from his armor, giving the children the hint about his intentions.
Both Deku and Ingenium glare back at the villain, refusing to back down.
SixSix gets the message and charges forward, his plasma blade out in front of him like a lance.
Deku and Ingenium share a look, nodding in a silent understanding, as they too race forward atop the hoverboard.
It’s a game of chicken as the two opposing sides fly right towards each other. SixSix resides himself for the inevitable clash determined to come out on top with his prize, the Omnitrix. Just a few more moments and he’s run the boys through, claiming it for himself and his employer!
But things are never that simple.
Deku swerves the hoverboard up and over SixSix, circling around him as he whizzes past.
SixSix spins around, swinging his arm and the blade upward, but Ingenium dives down and delivers a devastating kick into SixSix’s arm.
Sparks and pieces of his armor snap apart, the energy sword fades away as a result. The kick had done some major damage to his wrist blaster and energy sword, making it unusable. “Ttah swa eeexpnsiv!”
SixSix quickly aims his only working wrist blaster at the falling Ingenium, but then something fast slams into the back of his head.
SixSix spins out of control his head dazed and aching as a crack forms across his helmet.
“Iida!” Deku zooms past SixSix, having just driven his hoverboard into him, he dives down and manages to grab Ingenium’s arm. “I’ve gotta ya.”
Ingenium sighs in relief as he hangs from the air. “Thank you, Midoriya.”
Deku circles his hoverboard down and drops Ingenium back down on Earth, releasing his arm, before the greenette zips back into the air.
With his back turned, the Hero Killer makes his move racing towards Ingenium while he’s not looking!
Shoto blocks his way and blasts a wave of flames at the Hero Killer while Uravity lands by his side ready to aid him in any way that she can.
“Idiots!!” Native, still paralyzed, yells out. “The hero killer is only after me and that kid in the white armor. Stop fighting back, just get out of here!”
“I don’t think he’d let me run even if I wanted to.” Shoto keeps his eyes locked on the villain even through the raging flames, the killer evades them by perching himself atop a nearby flagpole protruding out from the side of the building. “Something clearly changed in him. He seems rattled.”
Stain leaps off his perch and away from the flames, landing back into the alleyway.
Shoto fires off another ice trail at the agile Hero Killer. But once again the Hero Killer is proving to be an elusive adversary, slicing his way through the icicles with inhuman precision and speed.
‘His Quirk alone isn’t especially powerful. The issue of blood type makes it unpredictable and it doesn’t last long. Plus, he has to get in close if he wants to use it.’
The Hero Killer’s bloodthirsty eyes lock onto the four of them as he parkours across the ice trails and walls, slicing his way towards them.
‘It must be difficult for him to take on multiple opponents at once.’ Just as the Hero Killer makes it to the end of the icicles Shoto greets him with more flames, but he leaps away running along the wall to take them on from the side.
‘He’s desperate, trying to kill Iida and this other hero before the pros show up.’ Shoto scowls up as the killer descends down towards them, his daggers glinting with death. ‘Such tenacity.’
Uravity rushes in. “Ryou Spheres!!” She throws a pair of energy spheres right at the Hero Killer.
Stain grunts in response as the spheres blast into him head on, throwing him back.
“Gah!” Stain grunts in pain as his back is slammed against the building, and he prepares himself for the fall, but it never occurs, instead he remains floating in midair. ‘Zero-Gravity?’
Ingenium and Shoto awe at the sight, they may have seen these Ryou Spheres earlier but now they can really take in Uravity’s newest move set.
Shoto blinks. “I guess your internship’s been productive.”
“You have no idea.” But right now she needs to be productive in a different way, by stopping Stain.
And so like a pitcher, Uravity winds up and pitches another Ryou Sphere up at her target.
But even while under the effects of Zero-Gravity Stain maneuvers his body and kicks himself off the side of the building, throwing his daggers forward and with one slash he actually cuts the Ryou Sphere it half! The two halves veer off, blasting into the building instead.
Stain aims his daggers down, preparing to run the girl through.
The three hero course students prepare to defend themselves.
“Oh, no you don’t!!” Deku beats them all to the punch, as he slams into the Hero Killer with his hoverboard, stopping him from getting anywhere near his friends.
Uravity lets out the breath she’s been holding. “Thanks, Deku.”
Deku smiles but a laserbolt pierces the ground between them.
Deku frowns. “Don’t thank me yet.”
The two peers up to spot that SixSix has bounced back from being rammed into.
Deku looks to the other two. “Uraraka and I will take care of him, you two focus on the Hero Killer.”
Shoto nods before redirecting his attention. “Make sure neither of you do something reckless.”
The two take off with Uravity shouting. “No promises!”
Deku and Uravity rise into the air to greet their alien foe.
SixSix growls, he is well aware of these two’s partnerships with the Plumbers. “Llyainf eertsmand pu? Oemc ot ndha veor hte Xiirtmno?”
Deku lowers his fists trying to appear as non-threatening as he can while still being on guard. “I know why you’re here.”
“Od oyu?”
“You want the Omnitrix.”
SixSix nods.
‘So he can understand me.’ Too bad Deku can’t understand him. But if they can communicate maybe he can get the bounty hunter to rethink all this and leave. “Listen you can’t win, you’re outnumbered. And the heroes, the protectors of this world, will be here soon.”
“Wtha hte eegnrsav rea cinmg?”
Deku frowns; he really has no idea what this guy is saying. Even so he’s determined to at least try the peaceful route. “I know who sent you, you don’t have to do this.”
“Ehay, i iankd od.” SixSix flexes his claws, crouching like he’s about to pounce.
Uravity frowns. “I don’t think he wants to talk.”
“Yeah.” Deku sighs, but hey at least he gave it a shot.
His eyes cast down to his left wrist, where the Omnitrix is still locked up tight in a metallic brace. ‘Heatblast, Feedback, or literally any alien would be great right now…’
But there’s no helping it, the only way this thing is coming off is if Deku chops his own arm off. And he’s not willing to go that far.
“No, other choice.” Deku leans forward on top the hoverboard. “You ready, Uraraka?”
She nods.
“Lainf ourdn, tsar!!” SixSix rockets forward, his claws out to tear apart the space cadets.
Meanwhile, back down in the alleyway, the two other hero course students are clashing with the Hero Killer. Ingenium races in to deliver quick strikes at the Hero Killer who paries Ingenium’s armored kicks. But before he can counter Shoto forces him back with an ice or flame barrage.
They keep at this with Ingenium delivering quick kicks and punches before speeding away only for Shoto to take over.
‘They’re trying to keep me off balance.’ Stain leaps away as flames race by. ‘Not giving me any openings to strike.’ He blocks a harsh kick aimed at his head. ‘Smart, but not good enough.’ His tongue lashes out as he thrusts his knife forward.
Back up in the air, SixSix fires a stream of lasers forcing Uravity and Deku to split away from each other.
“Odlh tllis!” SixSix keeps firing the lasers at Deku firing and firing until finally he lands a hit!
“Ahhh!!” Deku cries out, collapsing atop the hoverboard, as a laserbolt pierces through his shoulder; the wound scabbing over under the intense heat.
SixSix pounces, his jetpack roaring, as he races forward, however, Uravity dives down from above slamming into the villains’ back.
“Ahhh!!!” Uravity screams out in anger as she slams SixSix back onto the ground! “I’m not going to let you hurt anyone else!”
Stain wheels around, and through the flames he spots the girl standing over the intruder. His eyes narrow before he springs forward, deciding to take her out in order to give himself a better shot at finishing off the others.
“Hero Killer!!” Deku races down, gripping his shoulder. “Stay away from her!!” He’s almost there, he can stop him!
Stain can read his movements like a book, he digs his boots into the ground, skidding to a screeching halt. But as Deku races past, having just missed his target, Stain swings his serrated dagger out. Grinning as the blade digs into the boy’s flesh.
“AAHHH!!!” And Deku goes down!! Crashing hard onto the ground as his feet give out from under him.
“Midoriya/Deku!!” cry out his classmates.
SixSix saw the whole thing play out, not missing a beat, he springs off the ground, shoving Uravity aside as he rockets forward. His claw swings down and sinks into the boy’s arm before he slams him into the wall.
Deku fights off the urge to scream out in pain as SixSix’s claws dig into him.
SixSix grabs the metal brace, pulling Deku’s arm and straining it. “Fi i ehva ot, li’l utjs pri ti ffo oruy ddae bdyo!”
Deku chokes, trying his best to free himself from the bounty hunter's killer grip. “Y-you…c-can’t have it…”
“All those that interfere…” Stain lunges towards SixSix, thrusting his blades down. “will perish!!”
SixSix wheels around, and grabs the blades stopping them in their tracks. “Nto’d uyo evha ainghtyn tteebr ot od?!”
The two assassins struggle to break through the other, but even while fighting off another opponent SixSix keeps his grip on the poor boy, pinning him in place.
As Deku tries to break himself free a bright flicker of orange light shines in his eye. Peering over his eyes widen and he thrusts the Omni-Shield over his face, covering himself.
A burning inferno swallows up SixSix making him break his hold over the boy and the blades as he releases an inhuman squeal of agony! “HREHRE!!! HREHRE!!!”
The flames consume his entire being burning and melting away bits of his armor, the crack on his helmet grows and grows!
Shoto keeps it up. “We have to finish this!!”
Uravity immediately takes action, she races right towards the flaming bounty hunter, her body glowing with the power of One For All. She flies right into the flames, her tailwind causing such a gust that it extinguishes them all, as she tackles the screeching SixSix by his waist and carries him upward.
With the interruption out of the way, Stain turns his attention back to his true targets. He sprints forward, blades out at his sides.
Shoto quickly casts a veil of flames holding him off for now.
“Midoriya!” Ingenium rushes to Deku’s side. “Are you alright?! Ehhh!” Ingenium gasps at the sight, Deku’s just dripping in his own blood.
Both his shoulders are wounded, his arm is scarred, and his thigh is bleeding! But even so Deku wills himself to get to his feet.
“That’s enough! This is too much.”
“No, not until we’re all safe.” Deku locks eyes with Ingenium. “We’re heroes, it’s what we do.”
“Ehhh.” Ingenium gasps in surprise, but he quickly saves face and nods in understanding. They can rest when this nightmare’s all over.
Not too far away, Stain leaps off the side of the building and over the flames intending to kill off the ice and fire nuisance.
A wounded and kneeling Deku, intercepts his path, while atop the hoverboard, shielding Shoto.
“You never learn!!” Stain thrusts his weapons forward, knowing full well the boy will try to defend himself!
Deku spins the hoverboard forward, using it to bat the knives away. But Stain was prepared; he grabs another dagger and slashes it around. But then again he wasn’t prepared for this, before he can cut into the boy, Ingenium races in and slams his foot right into the killer’s face.
Stain is thrown across the alley way, his body bouncing off the ground like a ragdoll before he smashes into the wall.
Up above, Uravity is wrestling with the alien in midair both throwing kicks and punches at each other before trying to grapple and throw down the other.
“Ryou Sphere!!” Uravity pitches her strongest Ryou Sphere yet, it fires out like a cannon ball, racing faster and faster until… BAM!!! It blasts itself right into SixSix’s head.
“HREHRE!!!” A part of SixSix’s helmet breaks away and a metallic grey eye with three red pupils poke out.
Meanwhile, the feral looking Stain is back on his feet, he looks disheveled and exhausted, but even so he’s still burning with a sense of righteous fury and he will not rest until blood paints this battlefield red. “RAAAHHHHH!!!”
This is it, if any of these young heroes want to live to see tomorrow. Now is the time to end it.
Pillars of ice fire off the ground thanks to Shoto, but Stain is done with it all! Cutting and smashing through the pillars like they’re not even there!
Up in the sky above, SixSix growls and hisses before he charges right for Uravity who’s entire body glows with an intense mysterious power.
And then, All Might’s successor moves like a beam of light, racing through the air at such an incredible speed, only appearing as a pink streak in the sky to those watching below.
All three of the boys grin in anticipation. ‘Go Uraraka!’
SixSix has no time to react, all he sees through the crack in his helmet is the meteor strike of raw power surging towards him.
“MERCURY SMASH!!!”
Her fist SMASHES into SixSix’s head, his helmet shattering to pieces, and his purple blood spewing out of his horrid jaws as he’s thrown across the city block and out of sight.
At the same time, Stain breaks his way through the last of the ice pillars, standing high above them all, he jumps descending down towards his targets like a bird of prey.
“RECIPRO EXTEND!!!” Ingenium rockets forward, his Engines blazing with blue flames!
“Quirkless Dash!!” Deku flies forward as well, pushing his hoverboard to its limit, even through all the pain and agony he stands up atop the platform, his Omni-Shield out and ready.
Ingenium basically flies across the battlefield moving like he’s never had before. ‘If I just…’
Deku races in from the side moving just as fast as Ingenium. ‘If I just…’
Stain sees it all, as he descends down, they rise up to meet him, he’s only got one blade in hand and there’s not enough time to defend himself!
Both Shoto and Uravity smile at the sight. “Go, guys.”
Ingenium swings his leg up! ‘...use my leg…’
Deku prepares his Omni-Shield. ‘...use my arm…’
Stain is in awe, the resolve burning within these future heroes is a true sight to behold.
Ingenium’s leg slams into the Hero Killer’s side, while Deku’s Omni-Shield smashes into the side of his skull. ‘...that’s all I need to beat this guy!!’
Stain’s head is thrown to the side spewing blood from his mouth, and his grip over his blade breaks.
“Gah!!” Deku’s arm screams in pain, blood dripping out from the gashes courtesy of SixSix, losing his balance and sliding off the hoverboard.
As the three combatants begin to fall, Shoto spots them from below. ‘They managed to land two attacks.’ Flames burst off his body. ‘My turn!’
Almost as if he can sense the danger, Stain’s eye pops open and he manages to snatch his dagger right out of midair. And with crazy speed he swings it around and takes a slash at his target trying to cut off his head!
Ingenium throws his head back, and not a moment too soon, as the blade cuts away part of his hair. “I will defeat you, Stain!! Because you are a criminal!!”
“Don’t let him get away!!” Shoto screams out as he launches out a pillar of flames.
While still falling from such a height, Ingenium’s Engine gives him one last burst of power, he swings his leg up and smashes it into Stain’s ribs, propelling him upward. “And I am a hero!!”
Stain groans in pain something is most certainly broken! But that’s a cake walk compared to the burning flames that finally are able to consume his entire being!
The flames give away, and Stain gasps for air, his entire body covered in burns and is even smoking as he continues to fall.
Uravity, having finished off SixSix for now, swoops in and using her Zero-Gravity she grabs the boys and drops them all off just behind Shoto.
The two collapse immediately as she takes Shoto’s side.
“Stand up!” orders Shoto. “Keep fighting!”
Uravity stands down. “Wait…”
The others have a look. Lying there on the ground like a corpse, is the Hero Killer; unmoving, his face lying down on the street, his body covered in burns.
Izuku leans back, still a bit on edge. “He’s gotta be knocked out after all that… Right?”
Shoto sighs, finally calming down. “Then, let’s restrain him and get him to the street.” He turns to the only other person standing. “Maybe we can find some rope.”
Ochaco nods. “Yeah.”
Izuku chimes in. “And…we should probably take all his weapons, too.”
“Good idea.”
Shoto brings up a good point. “What about that other guy?” He means SixSix.
Ochaco sighs. “I flung him like across the city block…I’m sure he’s not getting up anytime soon.”
Izuku adds the following. “We’ll be sure to let the heroes know when they get here.”
Meanwhile, Tenya can’t take his eyes off the Hero Killer’s still form. He can’t believe it, they won, they beat him…it’s finally over.
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
Meanwhile, Shellshock is still going strong and has even taken out a few pro heroes. Thankfully their comrades were able to pull them to safety before Shellshock had a chance to finish the job.
Flames surge across the road, as Shellshock sinks his claws into a flaming car, he swings his body around and launches the flaming projectile at a pair of pro heroes. “Raaawww!!”
The duo leap behind Shellshock and immediately begin to throw shurikens at him. “He’s too damn strong!” And they aren’t too bright, as the shurikens harmlessly bounce off the Nomu’s strong shell. “Crap!”
The minotaur-like hero charges in. “Everyone attack at once!”
“Right!” Yell out several other heroes and sidekicks.
Gang Orca sets down an injured hero before noticing the others’ foolishness. “No, wait!!”
Shellshock releases a thundering electrical field that blasts his attacks away like one would swat at flies.
Gang Orca scowls as do Burnin and Manual.
Manual frowns as he continues to dose the ever-growing flames. “This isn’t looking too good for us!”
Burnin grins trying to give an air of confidence. “Ha! Naw this just means it’s more fun.”
“RAAAWWW!!!” Shellshock spins and spins before tossing a flaming car right for them.
Manual and Burnin gasps, but Gang Orca leaps to the front and generates an ear-piercing sonic blast that tears through the flaming car.
The car shatters, breaking apart before it could reach them. However, a few pieces of large shrapnel fly right back thanks to the sonic blast and embed themselves right into the beat’s flesh.
“RAAAWWW!!!”
“Alright, you got him!!” cheers Burnin.
“No. I didn’t.”
Manual’s worried now. “What?!”
Shellshock tears the metal right from out of his body and his wounds immediately heal themselves.
“Seriously?!” cries Manual.
Gang Orca glares at the beast as it continues to roar and fend off the other pros. “Its regeneration is the key issue, if we can’t figure out a way to get past it this battle will only continue to rage on.”
Manual fearfully looks over to where the flames haven’t reached, a corner where they’ve been positioning their wounded comrades. Amongst them is Dholak. His lance-like legs were ripped away, his uniform is charred and burned, and he’s been knocked out cold; courtesy of that Draco-like villain.
Speaking of, the thing vanished from the battlefield a while ago and there’s been no sign of it since.
Manual gulps. ‘I really hope someone else took care of it, if not…’ Oh, god, he doesn’t want to even think about the destruction it’s havocking if it’s still loose.
“Ugh…” Gang Orca shakily falls to his knee much to the others’ surprise.
Burnin gasps. “Are you, alright?”
“No.” Replies Gang Orca, peering at all the surrounding flames. “This heat…it’s far too much for the likes of me.”
“Here, I got ya.” Manual aims his fingers at the gushing fire hydrant and the water snakes it way over towards the killer whale, drenching him.
“Thank you.”
“Don’t mention it.” Manual’s always happy to help in any way that he can. “But what do we do about him?”
Gang Orca looks towards the rampaging beast before responding. “Manual, can you keep the water trained on me.”
“Huh? I sure can!”
“Good, then do it.”
Burnin eyes Gang Orca quizzically. “What are you going to do?”
“Whatever I can.”
Before they know it, Gang Orca charges in right through the flames and rubble, his claws honing in on the monster.
“Hey wait!” shouts Manual. “Dammit!!” He gives up on trying to call him back and instead gets back to dousing the brave hero with water to keep him hydrated.
“Prepare to face your end!!” Gang Orca roars out as he slams his claw into the monster’s skull.
“Raaawww!!” Shellshock’s head is thrown to the side, due to the heavy impact.
Gang Orca grabs the Nomu’s head and slams it against his own. *SKREEEEE!!!*
He unleashes a sonic pulse at point blank range.
“RAAAWWW!!” Shellshock is propelled back, his entire body becoming stunned, his earring and his eyes are dazed thanks to the attack.
Gang Orca smirks, but it's short-lived as Shellshock begins to move again, it would seem as if he can repair his nervous system allowing him to move.
“Haha ha! My turn!”
Gang Orca spins around to see that Burnin had followed him into battle, she leaps forward and produces a burst of flames that crash into the monster’s chest.
“RAAAWWW!!” The flames grow around the beast, consuming it and veiling it from view.
“Haha!” laughs Burnin. “Guess I was too hot to handle. Hehe!”
Gang Orca eyes the flames warily, he closes his eyes and lets out a soft hum. His echolocation picks up on something…something…alive!!
From afar even Manual sees it. “Watch out!!”
“RAAAWWW!!!” Shellshock bursts out from the flames, totally unfazed, as he charges right towards the sidekick.
“No!!” Gang Orca steps in the way using his body to shield her. “I’ll DEVOUR YOU!!!” His jaws open wide ready to tear into the monster, to rip him to shred if he must!
Just then, a flaming fist slams into the beat’s arm, slamming the massive creature aside.
All the pros, even Gang Orca, stare in awe of their newest comrade.
Manual gasps. “Endeavor!”
Yes, the Number Two Hero has finally arrived on the scene and he doesn't look all too thrilled to be there.
Gang Orca frowns, disappointed that his kill was taken right from under him. “Finally decided to show up?”
Endeavor glares at the killer whale, not willing to provide an answer right now. Instead he focuses his attention on the horrid black-scaled beast.
“Raaawww.” Shellshock’s arm is completely busted, the outer skin having been burned away revealing the grotesque muscles underneath. “Raaww!!” In just a few seconds Shellshock’s entire arm straightens itself, the skin regenerating almost instantly, before charging forward.
Endeavor’s scowl deepens. “So, you can regenerate. Well, then…” He charges in clashing with the beast head on.
“Raaww!! Shellshock’s massive beak lunges for Endeavor’s head.
The Number Two Hero grabs the monster by its neck, holding it off. “Let’s see you come back from this.”
From out of his hands, a blazing inferno erupts out and swallows up Shellshock’s entire skull. “RAAAWWW!!!”
Burn, and burn, the flames burn as the Nomu screeches in agony. The heat becomes so intense that they turn blue in color!!
Shellshock isn’t even resisting at this point, the searing hellish pain way to great. His roar dies down as his own vocal cords turn to ash.
Endeavor releases the beast, it’s head completely gone replaced with a smoke pillar of ash, as it collapses to its knees and falls back its heavy body shaking the ground confirming that it won’t harm another being ever again.
Endeavor smiles down at the charred Nomu. “Incinerated cells can’t regenerate.”
And with that, the battle is finally over.
Endeavor turns to Gang Orca and the other pros, and smirks. “What? Never seen a pro hero at work before?”
Gang Orca scowls, biting his tongue and is just happy it’s done with. And the other heroes look to be feeling the same way.
In fact, Burnin appears to be the only one in a good mood. “Haha! Way to go boss!”
“Alright.” Endeavor turns to address them all, gesturing to the flames. “Any hero whose Quirk isn't suited for this, go help on Ekou Street in District Four.”
Gang Orca perks up. “Another Nomu?”
“Nomu?” Endeavor heard that name before…yes, the U.A. attack. “I don’t know. Just do it.”
Gang Orca nods. “On it.”
“Wait!” Manual rushes forward in a panic. “What about the other one?! And that bug guy?!”
Endeavor raises an eyebrow. “What are you talking about?”
“There was another villain, one with wings, and a guy that looked like a big bug was fighting it! They disappeared a while ago and neither have come back.”
“Midoriya.”
Endeavor and the others look to Gang Orca. “That was my intern, but I haven’ had any contact from him since he went after the lizard-winged Nomu.”
Endeavor frowns. “Alright, here’s the plan.” Endeavor points at Gang Orca. “You and I are heading out, if there’s another one of those things running loose than we need to exterminate it ad quickly.” He turns to the others. “The rest of you get moving put out these flames and head out to Ekou Street!”
“Yes, sir!!”
The sidekicks and heroes get to work, Manual leading a group to extinguish the fires while Burnin leads the rest away.
All the while Gang Orca and Endeavor take off for the nearest rooftop, where he can use his echolocation to try and pinpoint a monster flying about in the city.
‘Midoriya…what have you gotten yourself into?’
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Izuku grimaces at the sight of all the weapons, knives, and daggers they found just on the Hero Killer’s person. They even went back and got a hold of his broken katana, adding it to the little collection they laid out on the side of the road.
Izuku sits back on the hoverboard allowing it to do all the work while Shoto makes sure the Hero Killer himself is tied up tight. Thankfully Ochaco was able to find a few pieces of rope in a nearby dumpster. “‘Who would throw this out?! What a waste!’” She had said.
Izuku peers down at his legs, as Native patches him up. “Are you sure you can move now?”
Native nods. “Yeah. I think I’m good as new now.”
“You sure?”
Native nods, offering a soft smile. “Hey, now. I should be more concerned about you. You’re the one that got the most hurt back there.” He finishes up with the bandages. “At least let me do this for you.”
Izuku smiles, grateful for the act of kindness those wounds were really hurting him. After the flood of adrenaline left his system, he realizes just how much pain and exhaustion he’s in. He can’t so much as move his legs or his arms, just grateful they were able to recover his hoverboard for him to act as a floating chair. His left arm feels especially heavy thanks to the weight of the still locked up brace.
“Thank you very much.”
Native leads Izuku out of the alleyway. “I should be thanking you.”
Shoto finishes up with his knot. “There that should be good.”
“Todoroki.” Tenya gestures for the rope. “I can drag him from here.”
“Are you forgetting your arms are messed up?”
“Easy now.” Ochaco cuts in, placing a hand on Stain, making him float ever so slightly off the ground. “Come on guys, let’s all just be happy it’s over.”
Shoto nods. “Right.”
And so they follow Native and Izuku out of the alleyway, not wanting to stick around what was their battlefield.
As they head out Izuku’s eyes trail over to the forgotten corpse that was Draco. He turns away not wanting to see any more death than he already has today.
“I have to apologize.”
Izuku, looking for a distraction, looks to Native to continue.
Native frowns, feeling regretful and ashamed. “I’m supposed to be a pro, but I was useless back there.”
“No.” responds Izuku, his voice exhausted after all the shouting and yelling during the battle. “I don’t think any one person could take the Hero Killer on. Now with that weird Quirk of his.”
Ochaco cups her hands together fearfully. “Don’t forget we also had to deal with that other villain, too.”
Izuku nods. “Yeah, he was something…” Next chance he gets he needs to contact Thirteen and let them know about the alien bounty hunter. Hopefully, wherever he is, he stays down. He should, considering he took Uraraka’s Mercury Smash to the head.
Izuku eyes the floating form of the Hero Killer as Shoto pulls him along. “But the Hero Killer was…something else.”
Shoto frowns, not failing to notice how Midoriya’s trying to veer the conversation away from that high-teched hunter. ‘Midoriya…’ But anyway he can get some answers out of him later. “The four of us barely won against him, and even then, it was because of his own mistakes. He was getting riled up and desperate lashing out at anyone he could.” Shoot looks over to Tenya who's been unceremoniously quiet and somber. “Then he wasn’t able to block Iida’s last Reciproburst or Midoriya’s assault.”
And with that the group makes it the main road, finally free and safe.
Native looks to the children, taking the lead. “Right, let’s get him to the police as fast as we can.”
“Ehhh?!” An unfamiliar gasp grabs all of their attention. “What are you doing here, girl?!”
Ochaco gasps her eyes widening in pleasant surprise. “Gran Torino!”
Gran Torino stands just on the opposite side of the street and he doesn’t look all too happy to see her here of all places.
Ochaco frantically waves her arms about. “I was only-Gah!!”
In a split second, Gran Torino Jetted his way across the street and ended up slamming the bottom of his boot against her face. “I thought I told you to stay on the bullet train!!”
Izuku’s, Tenya’s, and Native’s jaws drop in shock as they witness Ochaco get kicked in the face by some elderly man.
Shoto remains independent, his face calm and collected, showing no reaction or emotion. “Who’s this?”
“Ow…” Ochaco rubs her nose as Gran Torino lands down on the ground. “This senile old man’s Gran Torino, the hero I’m interning with.”
Izuku’s eyes pop open. ‘Gran Torino…?’ He’s never heard that name before. ‘And he was All Might’s teacher?!’ He would have never guessed just by looking at him.
Ochaco finally stops rubbing her aching nose. “How’d you even know where to look?”
The fuming Gran Torino manages to keep his cool long enough to respond. “I was told to come here by someone else.” He frowns. “I have no idea what’s going on, but I’m glad you’re not dead, at least.”
Ochaco chuckles. “Yeah, me too. And…” She bows. “I’m sorry. But I felt like I had to help.”
“Tch.” the old man huffs as the girl bows in shame. ‘Jeez, this side of her reminds me of…Nana.’
“Around the corner!”
The group turns at the sound of oncoming people.
Izuku perks up. “Who’s that?”
Shoto recognizes the leader. “That’s Burnin.”
Burnin jogs over a group of four other heroes trailing behind her. “Hey little Todoroki! Your dad told us to come here so here we are!”
Ochaco looks to Shoto for clarification, “Wait, is she…?”
Shoto is quick to reply. “She’s one of my dad’s sidekicks.”
The heroes stop before the group, one of them with a skinny head speaks up. “We were told to come and help here, but…”
One of the heroes seems a bit confused here. “Children…?”
Another one chirps up. “Those injured look bad. I’ll call an ambulance right away.”
The fourth hero gasps as his eyes land on something very important. “Hey, look!”
Burnin follows his line of sight. “Woah! Is that…that Hero Killer?!”
“What?” Gran Torino gasps, finally peering around the dual-haired teen to spot the villain himself.
The hero calling the ambulance calls out. “I’ll get the police on the line.”
And so the heroes tend to the kids’ injuries, as they wait for the police and ambulance to arrive. In the meantime, Ochaco releases her Quirk and the heroes take over the duty of watching over the villain.
After ensuring Izuku’s all patched up, the hero offers him a hand. “Can you walk?”
Izuku shakes his head. “I don’t think so. I’ll just hang on to this for a little while.” He pats the hoverboard to reinforce his point.
The hero turns to Shoto. “And you?”
“Only minor injuries.”
Meanwhile, Burnin finishes up bandaging Ochaco, patching up her side and forehead. Other than that she’s fine.
All the while Tenya was watching, watching his friend’s wounds get patched up, wounds that he’s responsible for. If he wasn’t so selfish none of them would have been in danger of losing their lives.
“Hey, you’re bleeding badly.” One of the heroes calls Tenya out as he marches towards his classmates. “The ambulance will be here soon, but until then…”
“You guys…” Tenya stands before the three young heroes, and the moment they turn to look at him, he bows, tears threatening to leak out. “You were all hurt because of me. I’m truly sorry.” He chokes back a sob, his body trembling in regret and sorrow. “I was just…so angry. I couldn’t…see anything else.”
“I’m sorry, too, Iida.” Izuku’s eyes soften in regret. “You were going through so much by yourself. But I didn’t do anything about it… Even though I’m your friend.”
Tenya whimpers, tears streaming down his face. Even after all this Izuku still considers him a friend.
“Hey, pull yourself together.” Shoto the ever tactful speak ups. “You’re the class rep.”
Ochaco smiles. “He’s right, Iida. No need for tears, okay?”
Tenya sniffs, rising back up. “Right.”
And so it’s all done with. After speaking with the pro they found out that their battle with the Hero Killer and SixSix probably lasted for about fifteen to twenty minutes. But for the four of them…it felt like they were in that alley forever.
Something in the sky catches Gran Torino’s eye, something just jumped off the ledge of that building just down the road.
Wait, is that a-?! “Get down!!”
Everyone jumps in surprise, but no one takes action not sure why the old man’s yelling out when all the danger has passed.
“HREHRE!!!”
Burnin looks up at the sound of the inhuman howl. “What is that?!”
Before any of them can process what’s happening, metallic razor-sharp claws latch onto Izuku.
“HREHRE!!!” It’s SixSix and he’s just as monstrous as the Nomus!
His true face is just horrifyingly ugly, with pale-yellow skin, robotic eyes, and protruding jaws lined with jagged fangs. But somehow in some way he managed to survive Ochaco’s Mercury Smash! And now he’s here to finish the job he was hired to do.
“Midoriya!!/Deku!!” The kids yell out as SixSix rockets away.
“Hey! Let go!!” Izuku tries to resist but the exhaustion and pain is too great, he might as well be hanging limply in the bounty hunter’s grasp.
“Him again?!” shouts Shoto recognizing the broken, charred armor.
“He’s getting away!!” Before Ochaco could take off Gran Torino snatches her arm, stopping her. “What are you-?!”
“Hold on, we don’t what that thing’s capable of.” Gran Torino scowls up at the bounty hunter. ‘Shoot. What that thing even doing exposing itself like that?!’
And so if the heroes refuse to make a move, then it might as well be him. *Shiiing*
*Clang!*
A knife digs into SixSix’s jetpack, sparks flyout as SixSix loses height. “Hrehre!!”
Freed from his bonds, the Hero Killer Stain rushes forward moving with inhuman agility. His eyes glowing red with righteous fury and bloodlust.
“The word “hero” has lost all meaning in this society!!”
As SixSix falls with his prey, Stain leaps high into the air, pouncing onto the bounty hunter’s back.
“The world is overrun by fakes and criminals like you who chase petty dreams!!” He brings his knife down, stabbing it into SixSix’s jetpack and through to his back.
“HREHRE!!!” SixSix’s grip breaks away and he drops the boy, reeling in pain, and trying to keep his jetpack from going out of control.
Stain leaps down and grabs Izuku by his collar, hoisting him down to the street. Meanwhile, SixSix is spiraling uncontrollably in the air, the sparking jetpack throwing him around in every which way direction before rocketing him away and out of sight. As he disappears a loud thundering roar of an explosion meets their ears. Other than that there is no clue of what befell the bounty hunter.
Stain‘s feet skid across the ground, as a limp Izuku braces himself across the ground before they come to a full stop. “You must all be purged…”
Izuku shakily peers up, gasping for air, in sheer terror of the Hero Killer. He can feel it, the bloodlust, the rage, the…the…the-
Stain sighs, drool and blood dripping from his mouth as a deranged grin is plastered to his face. “Everything that I do…” He reels around still holding onto the terrified boy. “Is to create a stronger society!”
No one dares to make a move, no one dares to speak a sound, in the presence of the Hero Killer.
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“Hey, hey, hey, what the hell?!” Shigaraki glares through his binoculars, watching the Hero Killer drag the struggling boy behind him from atop the water tower. “What the hell’s going on? Where are my Nomus? And what was that thing? It wasn’t one of ours!”
“This is not fair!!” The binoculars crack and Decay away in his palm. “Why’d he have to go steal the spotlight? And why are those brats here?!”
Kurogiri remains silent, not wanting to anger Shigaraki any further.
Nue watches on as well, silently, smirking at the sight of his ex-friend be scared shitless.
Shigaraki throws his head back in anger. “I’m so mad, I don’t even know what to say! This is a mess!”
Nue smirks. “Isn’t that what you wanted?”
“Grrr.” Shigaraki has to hold himself back from turning the abomination into dust. “Shee. Why do things never go the way I want them to?”
And so they watch on, Shigaraki’s nails dig into his neck. Scratching away in irritation. Wishing so badly to kill the Hero Killer, the brats, and all those damn heroes!
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The heroes remain stunned, they’re all in a state of shock and horror as Stain marches closer and closer, dragging the boy along as a trail of blood from his opened wounds trails behind the poor defenseless lad.
“Did he just save that kid?”
“He took him hostage, idiot.”
“He…he killed that guy with no hesitation.”
“Did he though? There’s a chance he might still be alive.”
“Doubt it.”
Burnin readies her Quirk. “Everyone be on your guard; we’ve got a fight on our hands!”
“Why are you all standing around like fools?”
The heroes look over to find Endeavor marching towards them all, Gang Orca following him from behind. After sending out a city-wide sonar they didn’t pick up anything, but that explosion sure caught their attention.
Endeavor marches closer. “Is there a villain, did it come this way?” Endeavor stops noticing something quite intriguing. “Hold on. Don’t tell me that man is-”
Izuku continues to struggle but it’s useless, as the Hero Killer holds him down.
Stain’s bloodthirsty gaze finally lands on the Number Two Hero, his red eyes narrowing with hatred and disgust as his mask falls away. “Endeavor.”
Endeavor’s fist ignites as a huge excited grin forms on his face. “Hero Killer!!”
Gran Torino can sense it as can Gang Orca! “Wait, Todoroki/Endeavor!!”
“Huh?” Endeavor doesn’t appreciate the interruption, is it because of the boy? Ha! If anything he’s just a bonus target.
Stain finally realizes the boy, slowly redirecting all his energy and hate to the Top Ranked Hero.
Izuku scowls up at the villain but his fury quickly washes away and is replaced by a petrifying fear. Stain’s face…is like that of a skull, with no nose and red glowing eyes, but what has the boy so scared is the killing intent pouring off of him.
“You false hero!”
Like a man possessed by the angel of vengeance, Stain his eyes glowing just as brightly as the moon, knowing glowing red due to the smoke and haze in the sky. “I’ll make this right.”
The killing intent is so potent that not just those familiar to it can sense, but they all can. Shoto, Ochaco, Tenya, Gran Torino, Gang Orca, the heroes, and even Endeavor can feel it. It’s like the grim reaper himself has descended down to Earth and he has a deadly grip on their hearts. Just one move from them is all it would take for their lives to come to a tragic and bloody end.
“These streets…must run with the blood of hypocrites!” Stain roars out making even Gran Torino stumble back in fear. “Hero!! I will reclaim that word!” He takes one last stomp forward, blood dripping down his maw, his eyes glowing blood red under the red moonlight, and the killing intent holds the helpless cowards in place. “Come on!! Just try and stop me, you fakes!!”
Endeavor gasps, his flames dying out under the Hero Killer’s maddening gaze.
Stain’s too far gone, to mad with bloodlust, his eyes shake with exploding fury. “There is only one man I’ll let kill me. He is a true hero. ALL MIGHT IS WORTHY!!!”
The killing intent explodes forth, swallowing them all up whole, like an inescapable flood. They brace and shield their eyes, some even collapse in fear, not wanting to witness their own demise. Not wishing to die by this demon’s hand. the hand of this demon.
*Cling*
The sound of his knife falling to the ground is all it takes for the killing intent to wash away/ Just like that the flood is over, and everyone is able to breathe again. As the Hero Killer Stain remains stock still, unmoving, but still standing a huge derange grin still plastered to his face, like he was frozen in place.
Endeavor is the first one to snap out from under the curse. “I think…he’s out cold.”
And so Ochaco collapses, as do Tenya and Shoto, even the usually fiery Burnin loses the feeling in her legs. As a grip of death finally releases their hearts.
Gran Torino lets out a heavy sigh, a breath he didn’t even know he was holding.
Izuku…well he might as well still be under the effect of that killing intent. His mind is still reeling in the fear and death that befell them all. The Hero Killer Stain…is truly nothing like they’ve ever faced. And it’s short of a miracle that they are even alive to witness his convictions.
Stain hadn’t so much as ingested any of their blood, he didn’t paralyze them with his Quirk, but his resolve. And so in that moment of death, they dare not have moved, none of them were able to bring themselves to stand against him. Only the Hero Killer had any fight left.
Notes:
Well…that was Ch.35 Killing Intent. What’d you guys think? Was it what you were expecting? I tried my best with this one I really did. And hey this ended up being a 90-page long chapter! Woah! And I was able to finish it in a week! But that being said I think I need to take a short break or at least take my time to write up the next chapter. I’m not burnt out; I just need to take a small break from posting. Heck I’ll probably be back within two weeks or so. Anyway I hope you enjoyed Ch.35 and I hope to have you guys back for Ch.36.
*So, Deku fighting Stain without his powers was always intentional, I knew I wanted it to be that way since the very start of me writing this story. I wanted to show what Deku is capable of without the Omnitrix, and I thought this was the best time to do it. And giving him the Omni-Shield in my opinion was fitting.
*Speaking of, Omni-Shield is what I decided to give Deku. I thought it fit him the best, and I didn’t want to give him anything too crazy.
Before you ask, yes, I did consider giving him the proto-tool but I’m saving that for later. Also before you all start throwing suggestions at me, thanks but they are not needed. I know what I want to this with this. Also, this Omni-Shield will be treated like Deku’s costume in manga/anime, it will receive upgrades as the story goes on. As of now you can consider this Omni-Shield as Version 1. In any case what did you think of it?
*Another thing I wanted to do from the very start of the story was to have SixSix, Stain, and the young heroes face off all at the same time. I didn’t exactly know how I was going to go about it, but I did it and I think it turned out really good.
*Also fun fact about SixSix, all of his text and dialogue is an anagram. Every word he speaks has been scrambled to hide what he’s actually saying. Kudos to those that figured it out. I thought it would be a fun little joke especially when you see what it is, he says.
Chapter 37: Stained
Summary:
The aftermath of the Hosu Incident.
Notes:
Here it is Ch.36 I hope you like it. It’s a lot like Ch.18 Exposition Ex Machina in the sense that it stays close to the anime and has a lot of info dumps and explanations. I tried my best to make it interesting, so I hope it proves to be enjoyable.
*And hey no glitch this time! Isn’t that great?!
*Below is an Opening Theme generated by “Drag0n5on” please check it out, it’s very well written.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
“Okay, can you hear me in the studio?” A field reporter grips her headset as she peers down at the flaming city below the helicopter, her cameraman sits by her side, his camera trained on the destruction. “I’m reporting to you live from the skies over Hosu City. It’s unclear what’s happening below but take a look!”
The camera zooms in on the plumes of smoke and the glow of the flames.
“Large clouds of smoke and fire are rising from different locations in the area. Is this due to a series of accidents? Or have villains taken the streets? Currently we have no info on the situation here,” She turns to look at the camera as to directly address the audience. “but our station will continue reporting as this breaking story unfolds.”
“And cut!” The cameraman cuts the feed, lowering his camera as they both resume observing the flames and smoke.
Without taking her eyes off the chaos, the reporter delivers very direct orders. “Don’t you dare stop filming.”
The cameraman hastily gets his camera back up and rolling, aiming down at the flaming Hosu City.
And then she sees something. “Wait… What in the world? Look.”
The cameraman doesn’t see it. “Uh? At what?”
“Right there.” The reporter points her finger. “Check out the building with the water tower on top. Zoom in!”
It takes him a minute, but he finally spots the water tower and zooms in on three figures standing atop of it. “There’s people--three of them!”
That’s odd. “Bystanders? How did they get up there?” And what are they doing there of all places?
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Tomura Shigaraki peers through his binoculars scanning the city for the Nomus.
Even from here he can see Draco’s dead corpse lying in a pool of its own blood.
The sight makes him scratch at his neck in irritation.
He keeps scanning, watching as police and a few heroes put Squirrelanoid in restraints before hauling it away.
His scratching increases.
And finally there’s the Shellshock Nomu who’s smoking corpse is being collected by the no-good heroes, they’re even retraining the body in case the regeneration somehow kicks back in.
His nails threaten to break through his own skin, especially as he homes in on one last sight. Or at least he tries to. Even from atop the water tower Shigaraki isn’t able to see what had become of that freaky jetpacked mutant. That guy or whatever it was tried to haul off with that brat before getting his ass done in by the Hero Killer. Just what was that guy? And why did he kill his Nomu?!
Out of frustration the binoculars Decay and break away in his grip.
Shigaraki doesn’t even turn to address Kurogiri or Nue. “We’re leaving.”
Kurogiri’s mass begins to expand. “Are you satisfied with the results, Tomura Shigaraki?”
“Depends on tomorrow’s headline, moron.”
And just like that the three members of the League of Villains vanish within a black void. With nothing to show for their efforts other than meaningless destruction and chaos.
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- Lyrics
- Scene
(Play “Sora ni Utaeba” by amazarashi)
- Kyojitsu wo kirisaite souten wo aoide tobitatta tokoshie
- Izuku crashes into the ground hard before getting up and running forward only for the process to repeat over and over again.
- Sora ni utaeba
- Izuku is breathing heavily as he struggles to get up.
- koukai mo iyaou naku
- Suddenly a hand lands on his shoulder catching him by surprise.
- D. Hitsuzen hitsuzen narubeku s*** naru mirai da sore yue, agake
- He looks up to see Ochaco smiling at him. Slowly he returns the smile and gets up. The two charge forward together and deliver twin punches forward destroying the screen.
- (Instrumental)
- The title appears across the screen as multiple planets surround it.
- Shinkirou namida no kawa wo kogidashite ikuseisou
- Izuku is helping out around Gang Orca's agency while getting into shenanigans with the other residents. Gang Orca gives them an order which they all roar out too.
- Sayonara yukazaru wo enai nani wo ushinatta tote
- Ochaco patrols the streets with Torino passing by Charmcaster causing the two girls to stop and turn to look at each other.
- Wasurenai
- Shoto looks down at his left hand as images of his mother appear behind him.
- kuyashisa mo
- He fades revealing Izuku as he recalls memories with Henzu and the day on the roof with All Might before ending on his conversation with Tenya.
- kutsujoku mo
- Tenya looks down as he grips his fists.
- Mune ni kazatte
- His eyes look upward revealing his hatred as his hero costume comes on.
- Kyojitsu wo kirisaite
- Tenya charges forward and sends a kick that Stain blocks.
- souten wo aoide
- Shoto jumps into the air and sends an eruption of flames towards the Hero Killer
- tobitatta tokoshie
- Above them Ochaco dukes it out with Charmcaster who smiles at her sinisterly.
- Sora ni utaeba
- On another roof Izuku battles Sixsix before leaping backwards to dodge a blast from the bounty hunter.
- koukai mo iyaou naku
- He looks up and glares at a gallery of villains.
- Hitsuzen
- Tomura and Henzu look at him and snarl.
- hitsuzen
- Vilgax simply narrows his eyes.
- tachikiru ni wa mabushi sugita
- The Omnitrix glows as Izuku selects a transformation.
- mirai e,
- He smiles as he slams his hand onto the watch.
- Agake
- The watch activates, and everything is engulfed in a flash of green
- Instrumental 1
- It shows Class 1-A and 1-B preparing for battle ending with Katsuki blasting the screen.
- Instrumental 2
- Izuku walks forward as he brings the Omnitrix up and grips his fist.
- There’s a flash of green that fades to reveal Izuku standing along with his class with the shadows of his transformations on the wall behind them.
[Illustrated by Drag0n5on]
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
Ch.36 Stained
*Knock. Knock*
The door to the hospital room slides open and Ochaco Uraraka sticks her head in cautiously. “Morning. Is it safe to come in?”
The three inhabitants of the hospital room peer up from their beds and welcome her in.
Izuku Midoriya sits up on his bed. “Yeah, you can enter.”
Ochaco pulls back the door, just like the rest of them she’s adorning the hospital gown as well, but unlike them she was able to get her own room. But after a restless night worrying about Stain, the Nomus, and her friends she couldn’t hang out in that quiet space by herself any longer.
Tenya Iida gives a curt nod in greeting. “Uraraka.”
She graciously returns it. “Iida.”
Shoto Todoroki sits off the side of his bed. “Did you sleep, Uraraka?”
Ochaco shakes her head, frowning as she grips her arm. “No, not really.”
“I figured. Me neither.”
Izuku sighs. “Yeah, same…”
This morning is so warm and sunny allowing for a calmer and more peaceful atmosphere, the total opposite of the night before. And even though the hospital beds are rather comfortable, a goodnight’s rest had eluded them all. How anyone expected them to actually get some rest is just idiotic.
Thankfully the only reassuring fact about the events from last night was that by some miracle there were no fatalities of citizens or heroes. Of course there were still a number of those, especially heroes, who were injured but fortunately no injuries were life threatening. Even Dholak, who had been taken down by Shellshock at one point, is going to make a full recovery. Heck his elongated limbs are already starting to grow back after being ripped off. So that’s reassuring.
But it’s hard to celebrate a victory after coming face to face with the…with the Hero Killer.
Izuku leans back in his bed trying his best not to let his wounds bother him too much. “Thinking about that fight now, we did something pretty amazing.”
Shoto nods, solemnly. “Yeah, I agree.”
Ochaco frowns sorrowfully, remaining silent but agreeing with them fully. What they did was amazing but not because of their flashy moves or teamwork, but the fact that they actually managed to survive such an encounter.
Izuku continues. “After everything that happened back there, it kinda feels like a miracle we’re even alive.” Especially when you consider the fact that Izuku was forced to fight without the Omnitrix.
Peering down at his left wrist, Izuku is sad to report that the doctors were unable to remove the brace. It is still firmly attached to his arm and preventing any access to the Omnitrix. They had tried various power tools and such but gave up in favor of letting Izuku rest for the night before trying again later today.
But even so it’s a bit frustrating and sad to know that a lot of their wounds and pain could have been prevented if he didn’t let that bounty hunter get an upper hand on them. “Without One Man Army, I was an easy target.” Evident by the bandages around his leg, and shoulders. “They…any of them could’ve killed me if they really wanted to.”
Shoto looks down at his own bandaged arm and leg. “Yeah.”
Ochaco silently worries, gently rubbing the bandages around her head and waist.
Shoto averts his eyes towards Tenya. “I’m impressed by you though, Iida.”
Tenya remains silent, sitting atop his hospital bed with both his arms in casts, Stain’s blade had done quite the number on his shoulder that’s for sure.
“The Hero Killer was actually trying to murder you, but you stood tall.”
“That’s not true.” Tenya can’t even look them in the eyes, instead his vision falls downward in shame and regret. “I was…a fool…I…” His voice fades away unable to speak anymore of, his guilt and shame choking him up.
Feeling the air of sadness, the others stew in the silence not wanting to upset their friend any more than he already is.
“Then again you weren’t the only one being targeted, weren’t you?” Shoto isn’t speaking to Iida, but rather to Izuku.
And just like that all the attention has shifted towards the nervous greenette.
“Wha?! What me?!” Izuku points at himself, even though he knows full well he’s the one Shoto’s referring to.
“Yeah.” Shoto’s eyes narrow in suspicion.
Izuku gulps worriedly. He understands exactly what Shoto’s getting at, but…can he afford to say anything? Can he tell him or even Iida for that matter about…everything?
“That guy the one in the high-tech armor…he was after your support gear, wasn’t he?”
Izuku’s breath hitches and so does Ochaco’s as the realization of what Shoto’s getting at finally crosses her mind. As for Tenya he just looks more concerned with the fact that Midoriya was also a target.
“It was just like back then.” Specially Shoto’s referring to the U.S.J. and how Tetrax demanded to know the whereabouts of the so-called Omnitrix. “That guy was after your watch too. You even kept his hoverboard. What’s with that?”
Okay Izuku’s really in a bind here. The hoverboard, okay easy it was a gift or something, but…the rest of it. God will Shoto even buy anything he says. Heck would he even believe the truth?! Oh, man…
“Tell me Midoriya.” Shoto looks Izuku straight in the eye and says. “Why are all these villains targeting you?”
Izuku…doesn’t know what he can say for himself. Every option just…doesn’t seem like the right one. On one hand he can tell Todoroki about it all, there’s no other way to explain why villains would be after the Omnitrix unless he explains what it is and that means…alien. But the other option is to…well, lie and honestly Izuku feels even guilty referring to his powers as a “Quirk,” and now if he tries to lie, he essentially has to pull something right out of his ass and hope it’s believable. Somehow knowing himself, he’d mess that up, wouldn’t he?
Then maybe…maybe he should tell him. How much harm could it do? Heck it might be nice to have someone else around that knows, someone else that can help both Ochaco and himself deal with it all.
“Todoroki-”
The door sliding open cuts Izuku off. “Oh, so the injured youngins are awake.”
Izuku jolts up in surprise, his mouth clamping shut.
Ochaco spins around and nearly screams out in shock, her heart racing in anticipation of Deku’s response to Shoto. “Gran Torino!”
All four of the U.A. students turn their attention to the doorway where Gran Torino and Manual have entered.
Iida quickly takes notice of the other hero. “And Manual too.”
Shoto leans back, letting his interrogation go for now, now that there is an audience.
Izuku is grateful for it, letting out a sigh of relief. Honestly, he’d be much happier putting this conversation off for as long as he can. Plus he doesn’t want to disobey Nezu or Thirteen, last thing he needs is to be scolded for going behind their backs.
‘Oh, sweet salvation!’ Thank goodness the heroes arrived, though, to save him from it all.
“YOU MORON!!!”
“Ahhhh!!” Okay, maybe the hero’s arriving wasn’t his sweet salvation after all.
“I SHOULD DEVOUR YOU MYSELF!!!”
Gang Orca rushes into the room and before anyone could process it, he’s up and over Gran Torino and Manual, and then as he reaches the boy instead of greeting him with concern or compassion, he goes about it a different way. Without a hint of concern, Gang Orca slams his foot right onto the bed, smashing it in half and launching the poor injured boy right up into the air. He doesn't get far as Gang Orca’s massive claw catches Izuku by his face!!
Izuku’s friends yelp out in shock. “MIDORIYA/DEKU!?!”
But they’re all drowned out by the mighty predator of a pro hero. “WHAT DO YOU HAVE TO SAY FOR YOURSELF!?!” Gang Orca roars out so loudly it undoubtedly had woken up the entire hospital.
Izuku cries out as his body hangs limply in the air. “I’m sorry!!”
“THAT’S NOT GOING TO CUT IT!!!”
Gang Orca shakes him around like a rag doll, a rag doll that just so happens to scream, a lot.
“Ahhhh!!”
In a way this is just Gang Orca’s way of expressing his concern while making sure Izuku learns his lesson.
Ochaco isn’t sure whether to step in or not, would it look bad if she tried to stop a top ranked hero?
“Idiot.”
She jolts, a shiver running down her spine as Gran Torino glares up at her.
The fuming Gran Torino scowls. “I could yell at you for hours right now.”
“S-sorry.”
Before anyone else receives any more “punishment”, a calm and rather cherry voice manages to calm them all down. “Now now, these young students have been through a lot and I think they’ve all earned a nice long rest.”
Everyone’s attention turns back to the door, where a little white chimera of a mouse, dog, and bear is smiling up at all of them.
“Principal Nezu?!”
It sure is, Principal Nezu waves his little paw up in a friendly hello. “Haha! Yes, it is me! How delightful, isn’t it?!”
While Principal Nezu enters the room, Gang Orca mercifully releases Izuku from his death grip, thankfully dropping him on a not-smashed up hospital bed.
Izuku takes in a nice breath of fresh air, bathing in the relief that his face isn’t being squeezed in. “Wh-what are you doing here?!” He pauses realizing how rude that sounded, especially towards an adult authority figure. “If you don’t mind me asking.”
Nezu adjusts his little tie as he climbs up onto a nearby hospital bed. “Well, I am your principal, and you are my students, as such I am required to be here as well.” He stands atop the bed and gives the student a cheeky look. “Especially when my students find themselves in quite the pickle.”
Said students have enough sense to look ashamed, being called out like that.
“I just had to make sure everything was alright and to make sure no consequences befall to you all.”
Wait, Ochaco caught that. “Consequences?” What is he talking about? And why does she feel so nervous all of a sudden?
“Yeah.” Gran Torino turns away and looks towards the entrance. “Your visitor can explain more”
“Visitor?”
And sure enough there is someone else there at the door, in fact he was there when Nezu first arrived, but he waited patiently allowing the principal a moment to make his own presence known.
Gran Torino goes ahead and introduces the unfamiliar face, the unfamiliar dog-like face. “This is Hosu’s chief of police. Kenji Tsuragamae.”
Tsuragamae is a very tall, sturdily built man with the head of a beagle. The area around his eyes and his ears is a dark brown, the two sides separated by a tan line which runs down his forehead, widening at his muzzle, which is flecked with pale brown. He has a large, black nose and dark eyes, and, although the rest of his body is of normal human shape, his skin appears to be the same tan color as most of his face.
He wears a suit, consisting of a dress shirt, and waistcoat, over which he wears an unbuttoned black blazer and matching dress pants underneath. He has a belt with a large buckle and a black and white tie that resembles a dalmatian’s coat.
Izuku lets out a small gasp in surprise. ‘Tsuragamae? The-The Chief?!’ Of all the visitors it’s the Chief of Police?!
Ochaco, Tenya, and Shoto all stand up to greet him, giving the man his respect. Izuku tries to follow suit, even with his injuries.
Tsuragamae is quick to stop him. “No, please, stay seated, woof.”
Izuku is more than a bit thrown off by the Chief’s tic. ‘Woof?!’ Is it just like Tsuyu’s ribbits?
Tsuragamae takes a moment to examine the young heroes. “So, you’re the U.A. students who brought down the Hero Killer, huh?”
“We are.” replies Shoto. ‘The police chief came all this way. And the principal, too. Why?’ Something’s up and he’s got a feeling that it’s not anything good.
Tsuragamae dives right into it, he is a busy man after all so he can’t always have the luxury of making pleasantries. “Stain has some serious injuries. Severe burns and several broken bones. Right now he’s in under strict guard, woof.”
The students silently sit in an ever-growing sense of worry, just where is the Chief of Police going with this?
“Here’s a lesson you should have already learned. When Quirks became the norm, the police force sought to maintain the status quo. They decided we wouldn’t use Quirks as weapons.”
Tsuragamae looks to the three pro heroes currently present. “That’s when heroes came in. They could do what we couldn’t, if they were licensed, of course, woof.” And as it stands none of these children have those, they’re not even close to owning one yet. “It would be impossible for the police to condone the use of deadly Quirks. After all, we’re here to stop such harm from being done. The only reason pros can use their powers now is because of the strict code of ethics that the early heroes chose to abide by.”
And with all due respect, the students weren’t exactly restraining themselves with their Quirks during their battle. They all saw the aftermath, the destruction, blood, and damage they had done not only to the Hero Killer but to the battlefield that was an alleyway.
Tsuragamae continues. “That’s why it’s against the law for uncertified people to use their Quirks to cause injury. Whether you were up against the Hero Killer or not, none of you had the authority to harm the villain.” His frow narrows. “Either of them.”
Izuku squirms in his seat, not liking the fact that the Chief of Police is aware that another villain, a bounty hunter, was part of the battle.
“That means the four of you, and your supervisors: Endeavor, Manual, Gang Orca, and Gran Torino should receive hash punishments for this gross abuse of your powers.”
This all seems to rub Shoto the wrong way, making him upset and resulting in him speaking up. “Now wait a minute.”
Everyone turns their attention to the upset scared-faced teen.
“If Iida had not stepped in, Native would’ve been murdered. And if not for Midoriya, both of them would be dead.” And now the authorities want to punish them for saving lives?! Shoto’s not having this, not at all. “No one else even realized that the Hero Killer was in Hosu. Are you saying we should’ve just stood by and watched people die?”
Ochaco gets up from her bed, blocking the path between Shoto and the Chief. “Calm down, Todoroki.”
And just like that Shoto snaps at her instead. “And what about you?!”
Ochaco wobbles back not expecting such an outburst.
“Don’t tell me you’re okay with this!”
Tsuragamae is surprisingly calm while a boy with the capability to freeze or burn any of them alive snaps out at them. “So it’s okay to break the law as long as it goes your way?”
Shoto scowls upset by Tsuragamae’s jab. “But sir, isn’t it a hero’s job to save people?” Let’s see the hound turn this logic back on him.
Tsuragamae closes his eyes in exasperation. “This is why you’re not a full-fledged pro yet. It’s obvious U.A. and Endeavor haven’t been teaching you near enough.”
Okay now Shoto’s taking this personally, not for Endeavor’s sake but for U.A.’s.
“What a shame.”
“You damned mutt.” Shoto marches ready to confront the jerk head on.
Tenya quickly calls him out. “Todoroki. Listen, he’s right.”
Izuku and Ochaco both look like they want to jump in and stop him before he does something stupid but with their injuries and worry, they remain silent and stunned.
Thankfully, Gran Torino steps up, blocking the boy’s path with his hand up.
“Stop there, kid.” It works, Shoto actually takes a moment to stop. “You’ll wanna hear him out till the end.”
With the go ahead, Tsuragamae continues on. “What I’ve said is the official stance of the police department.” And with that his tone changes, as he humbly scratches the end of his sniffer. “But any punishment would only be necessary if this went public.”
The students are…confused, to say the least.
“If it did, you’d probably be applauded by citizens everywhere. But there’s no way you could escape from being reprimanded.”
Basically in the eye of the public, they are wonderful heroes in the making, but they could potentially have their future careers cut short thanks to the strong arm of the law and justice system. And…it would take a miracle to get out of it unscathed.
Tsuragamae however is ready with a way to avoid all the drama. “On the other hand, we could say Endeavor saved the day. Stain’s burns would support this story completely, and we could pretend you weren’t involved, woof. Thankfully, there were very few witnesses. This could be the last you heard of any punishments.” However, there is a bit of a catch sadly. “It would mean no one would know about you, though. You’d receive no acclaim at all. The choice is yours.”
Tsuragamae offers them a kind smile. “Personally, I know where I stand.” He gives them a big thumbs up of encouragement. “I don’t wanna damage any promising young careers. Not for a mistake like this.”
Manual sheepishly smiles in the background, his eyes welling up with tears. “Either way, we’ll need to take responsibility for being negligent as supervisors.”
A pang of guilt pierces Tenya’s heart, especially after Manual went out of his way to try and steer him from making a mistake, only for him to go against the pro’s back and do it anyway.
And so gathering his courage he gets up and marches forward until he stands in front of the man he wronged, and bows. “I’m sorry. I should’ve listened.”
Manual lightly chops the boy’s head but does so more as a friendly gesture than one of anger. “Yeah! You caused us a lot of trouble. Remember that, and don’t do it again.”
“Sir.”
“But…” Manual smiles softly in relief. “I’m glad to see you’re alright.”
Tenya wasn’t expecting such kindness, but he accepts it, smiling back.
Ochaco bows as well, she’s just as guilty of running headfirst into danger as Iida is. “I’m sorry too.”
Izuku bows his head too. “And…I apologize as well.”
Shoto, not wanting to seem ungrateful, bows as well, more as an apology than out of respect. “Me, too. We’ll leave it to you.”
And there’s their answer, it’s really a no brainer. Besides they can live without the credit, and just be happy that they can walk away without causing any more trouble for anyone.
Tsuragamae understands. “I know it’s not fair. You won’t enjoy any of the fame and praise you probably would’ve received otherwise. But at least…” He bows, out of respect for these fine young heroes. “allow me, as the chief of police, to thank you.”
Shoto admittedly feels a bit abashed right about now, here he was calling the Chief out on not standing with them, only for him to look like the real fool. “You know. You could've started with that.”
Ochaco chuckles. “Oh, come now. Just admit it.” She playful smirks at the dual-haired boy. “You overreacted.”
Shoto turns his head away not meeting her gaze, but Ochaco’s pretty sure she can see his ears glow red.
Izuku chuckles at the two as do Tenya, but more or less they’re just happy they can put all this behind them now. Without any worry of it ever coming back to bite them.
So that’s it no one outside this room will ever know what they did, and that’s fine. They’ll always know and that’s all they’ll ever really need. The praise and recognition are definitely something they can live without.
Principal Nezu looks like he has something to add. “There is, however, a potential caveat.”
“What?” And just like that the students are thrown for a loop. What else could there be to discuss? They thought it was pretty clear.
Tsuragamae rubs his forehead as if this is going to cause a headache. “Technically speaking only three of you broke the law, the other did not.”
Ochaco blinks. “Wait…”
As does Shoto. “One of us?”
Tenya is at a loss too. “…Didn’t?”
Izuku’s head tilts to the side. “But who…?”
… After a brief moment of silence the realization crashes down on the students like a wave. “You mean Midoriya/Deku/Me?!”
Tsuragamae nods. “Correct, woof.”
Izuku is shocked, shocked because it doesn’t make any sense, Didn’t he break the law too?! “But how?! Why?!”
“Weren’t you listening?” Gang Orca frowns, disappointed with the boy’s incompetence. “The law states that an unlicensed individual can’t use their Quirk against others. And you…” He draws off as if waiting for Izuku to finish the thought.
Which he does. “Oh, I never used my Quirk!!”
“You’re just now realizing this?” deadpans Gang Orca.
Gran Torino snickers, leaning towards Ochaco. “This one’s not too bright, now is he?”
She chuckles sheepishly in response.
Shoto, however, keeps the ball rolling. “What does that mean? Why is Midoriya exempt from this rule?”
Everyone looks to Tsuragamae for a further in-depth explanation, which he graciously provides. “It’s as Gang Orca said, Izuku Midoriya did not breach any codes of conduct, he didn’t misuse his Quirk, nor did he use lethal force against the villains.” Tsuragamae sighs. “Not to mention he technically had permission to confront the villain.”
The students gasp. “He/I did?”
The other three quickly snap at Izuku after hearing his obliviousness. “How could you not know?!”
“Eh?!” yelps Izuku.
Gang Orca goes ahead and clarifies. “It was during the start of the attack. As some of you may be aware, but a hero can grant permission to individuals to use their Quirks based on situational circumstances.”
Gran Torino looks up at Ochaco, addressing her. “Which is what I technically have you do back at Dathomir City.”
Oh, that would explain why the police never said anything about it back then, because Gran Torino must have told them that she had the go ahead. “So, it’s like I had a permission slip and you signed it.”
“Exactly!”
Gang Orca nods, agreeing with the metaphor. “I ordered Midoriya to pursue a villain. But from a more legal standpoint, I technically gave him permission to not only use his Quirk but to confront a villain. In other words…”
Shoto’s eyes widen. “Midoriya didn’t break the law but was following it.”
“See the cool one gets it.”
Ignoring that comment from his mentor, Izuku pipes up. “But…why?” Everyone turns to him, waiting for him to finish. “Why does that matter?”
Principal Nezu mentally prepares himself for the childrens’ reactions. “Because…it could mean you can receive the credit for…defeating the Hero Killer Stain.”
…
“WHAAAT!?!”
Tsuragamae has to cover his sensitive dog ears in response to the sudden screams of surprise. “Yes, sort-of speak there is a third option available to us.”
Everyone, especially the students listen intently to the man’s words.
“We of course can’t allow the news that you three participated in the confrontation, that part still stands, woof. However, that does not apply to Mr. Midoriya and as such …” He looks the young man right in the eyes as he states. “he can receive credit for fighting off the Hero Killer.”
Another jolt of surprise and shock course through the kids, some out of delight and others not so much.
Tenya is first to let his feelings show. “That’s wonderful! Well done, Midoriya!” Seriously no joke Tenya’s happy for the greenette this could be so great for his career and he’s more than proved his worth.
Ochaco is in full agreement. If anyone deserves it, it’s Deku.” Sure it would be nice if they got some of the credit too, but who cares?! Deku did get the most injured and did the most out of all of them, he’s more than earned it, it’s rightfully his to take.
Shoto feels similarly even though he doesn’t really express it. “I agree.”
Principal Nezu smiles softly at how quickly his star students are so willing to give their dear friend his dues. “My my so quick to support your friend, friendships truly do grow when they’re put to the test.” His eyes meet Gran Torino’s. “Don’t they?”
Gran Torino smiles back, knowing full well how true that statement is.
Gang Orca slams his hand onto Izuku’s back. “Well congrats, kid.” Is that a hint of pride in his voice? It sure is. “Look at you at the start you were nothing but a shrimp, and now you’re a big bad fish of the deep.”
Ochaco claps her hands together in celebration. “Congrats, Deku!” Her cheering ends abruptly when she notices that the one, they’re praising isn’t joining in on the celebration.
And everyone else has seemed to notice it as well, quieting down, hoping for Izuku to explain why he seems so quiet and solemn.
Izuku takes a shaky breath before finally addressing the room. “This is a really big honor and I thank you for the opportunity.” he chokes up, his eyes averting away as if thinking over his answer one last time. “I’m sorry, but…I rather not receive any credit.”
And with that all thoughts of celebration and pride wash away and are replaced with concerns and questions.
Tenya chokes. “Midoriya…why?”
“It…just won’t sit right with me.” Izuku looks to Tenya, then to Ochaco, and finally to Shoto. “We all defeated the Hero Killer…I can’t in good conscience take all the credit that you guys also deserve.” He shakes his head to show how much he can’t accept that fate. “I can’t, it wouldn’t be right.”
Shoto scowls, disappointed with Izuku’s choice. “Don’t be stupid.”
“Todoroki!” admonishes Ochaco, he could use a little more tack, but he continues anyway.
“We don’t care about the credit, but don’t throw this opportunity away.”
“He’s right.” nods Tenya. “Think about your career, here. This would be great for you, especially after we all leave U.A.”
Shoto is quick to add in with full seriousness. “Don’t waste it.”
Izuku looks from one to the other, and from their eyes he can tell just how serious they are about this. “Todoroki, Iida…”
“Yeah.” Ochaco nods, remaining firm on this as well. “For once Deku, it’s okay to be a little selfish.”
“You guys…” He’s really lucky, isn’t he? Just a year ago he could count the number of friends he had on one hand…and now. It’s so nice. But…he can’t do it; he can’t deprive them of their victory too. “I’m sorry but…I can’t.” He addresses Tsuragamae, knowing that he has the power to truly decide this. “That’s my final answer.”
The other three slump in their seats, disappointed by Midoriya’s choice but they can respect it…maybe.
Tsuragamae, however, accepts the answer. “Very well.”
Izuku nods appreciating the respect. “Thank you.” He bows symbolizing how truly grateful he is.
While his back is turned his so-called friends quickly share a few whispers between each other making sure Izuku doesn’t notice their shenanigans.
“Well, I must certainly have to say.” Tsuragamae looks to Principal Nezu. “Your school’s done well in raising this one.”
Nezu smiles proudly. “Yes, we have.”
Tsuragamae bows his head at Izuku as well as his friends. “I can respect your decision, woof, and might I add what an honor it’s been to meet the next generation of heroes. I’m sure you’ll make us all very proud.”
Izuku smiles back. “Thank you, sir.”
Off to the side, Gang Orca huffs. “Damn, the kid’s so damn noble.” Despite what he says he’s still proud, maybe even more so now.
Tsuragamae turns towards the door, before gesturing for Manual to follow. “Now come along Manual you can help me get a head start on the reports.”
“Of course.” Manual goes ahead and follows him out, but before he does, he throws one last wave to the U.A. students. “Take care, heroes.”
Tenya smiles. “Yes, we will.”
Manual’s grin widens as him and Tsuragamae make their way to the exit.
However, before they can actually make their leave Shoto nearly jumps out of his seat as something important resurfaces in his mind. “Hang on, a minute!”
Everyone stops, waiting with bated breath for the young man to air his concern.
“What about that other villain, the one that was targeting Midoriya?”
And like that the air has shifted, becoming deadly serious and foreboding.
“That villain in the high-tech gear was…after Midoriya. How come?” Shoto’s eyes narrow with suspicion. “And why have you all refused to even bring it up.” Throughout the whole discussion they only ever really referred to the Hero Killer, but not that darn assassin.
Both Izuku and Ochaco intensely tense up as worry courses through them, making them pale and frozen in place. It’s one thing if he gets answers but it’s another if it’s pro heroes and the Chief of Police!!
The two look to Majister Nezu for help but the little chimera just smiles on, oblivious to their plight.
Their worry only worsens as Tsuragamae turns back around to address the young man’s questions. “Ah, yes. In truth, we thought it best not to concern you with the details.” He frowns, his eyes narrowing with seriousness. “We didn’t want to cause a scare after all.”
Both of the space cadet’s eyes widen. A scare? Oh, no. Did…did he find out? Oh, god, what do they do? How’d the police even find out?
Shoto blinks. “A scare, sir?”
Tsuragamae continues “According to our databases, you all encountered an international assassin who goes by the alias SixSix.”
It’s safe to say that both space cadets are at a loss, blinking like they’ve just seen the Chief grow a second head. An international assassin and he was on their database?
Izuku’s eyes drift down towards the little mouse/bear/dog man. ‘No, he did something.’
Shoto frowns, confused. “Why would that scare us?”
And so Tsuragamae goes ahead and explains. “We believe that SixSix was targeting Mr. Midoriya…because he was hired too, by the League of Villains.”
Izuku and Ochaco gasp while sharing a concerned look; does the League know about aliens? And how did they even get in contact with one?
“Yes, I know, it’s quiet the shock isn’t it, woof?” asks Tsuragamae. “But that’s only our theory, as far as we know, SixSix is apparently known for taking on hired work, namely assassinations, from other villains. And considering he attacked while suspected members of the League were present in Hosu, well it’s safe to say that’s why he attacked.”
Izuku and Ochaco blink. ‘Oh, so…’ Their eyes trail over to Nezu. ‘that’s how he was able to hide his true nature.’
Gran Torino goes ahead and throws in his concerns. “And from what we know about the U.S.J. attack and the Sports Festival, they got it out for you kid.” He elbows the side of Izuku’s leg, making the boy jolt a bit with worry, like he has a guilty conscience.
Shoto is quiet, allowing all this information to swirl around in his mind before sinking in. “Makes sense, actually.”
The space cadets silently scream out in shock. ‘He’s buying this?!’
Well why wouldn’t he? As far as Shoto knows they couldn’t understand SixSix because he was a foreigner. He probably has a lot of connections which is how he had the tech that he did. And if it was the League who hired him, then it makes sense they would target Midoriya, it was thanks to him and his Diamondhead form that they were able to defeat them back at the U.S.J. and that Shigaraki seems like someone who would carry such a grudge.
Shoto nods, coming to terms with the reasoning, before turning to the boy in question. “It was thanks to you that we were able to hold them off back at the U.S.J. And you ranked high in the Sports Festival as such, they probably see you as a threat.”
Izuku cowers away a bit out of nervousness. “You…think…?”
Tsuragamae nods in agreement. “Sound reasoning, and that’s what we believe to be true as well.”
Principal Nezu offers up a comforting smile to the space cadets, to anyone else it seems like he’s trying to be gentle with them but to them they know it’s a cocky smile, a smile that read: I’ve got this covered you noobs. “Which is why we didn’t want to bring up the bounty hunter. We didn’t want to cause any more stress for you students as it is.” He frowns with concern. “You’re all so young, there’s no need for any of you to be targets. That’s why we will also be withholding the knowledge that any of you were targeted.” In other words the media should not know about that little detail.
Tsuragamae cuts back in. “U.A.’s already in a bit of heat after the attack, adding on the fact that an assassin was hired to kill their own students could amplify the League’s credibility and statues.”
It makes sense though, the League’s already done enough damage as it is. Adding more fuel to the fire that is the panic and fear that’s surging through Japan won’t help matters.
Principal Nezu smiles over at Shoto. “I hope this has answered your questions, Mr. Todoroki.”
The dual-haired teen frowns, he nods accepting the explanation, but not before throwing one last subtle look of suspicion in Midoriya’s way.
“But I don’t think there’s any more need to worry.” Principal Nezu grins up at the students. “The assassin failed, the Nomus are in custody, and you defeated the Hero Killer. I doubt they’d try anything again any time soon, not after the great heroics you all demonstrated.”
Half of the students present visibly relax but as for the other two…they have the feeling that things wouldn’t be that simple. When considering, well, everything.
With no other questions it seems, Tsuragamae has no other reason for sticking around. “If there aren’t any more questions, I’m afraid I must take my leave.”
Nezu waves him off. “Farewell, Mr. Tsuragamae.”
The Chief politely returns the gesture. “Farewell, Principal Nezu.”
With one last nod of approval to the students and other heroes, Tsuragamae leaves. Manual follows him out, waving goodbye.
Principal Nezu turns to address the greenette. “Now as for you.”
Izuku nervously backs away in his seat, a bit nervous by Nezu’s facade of a kind smile.
“How would you like to have One Man Army back?”
Without even thinking, Izuku shouts with joy. “Very much so!”
“Haha! Well come with me, I got a little something that should fix our little issue.” Principal Nezu taps the pesky metal brace, the one he intends to remove to free the Omnitrix.
Gang Orca goes ahead and grabs a nearby wheelchair and sets it down for the boy, as he grabs it the other students quickly crowd together and speak with hushed tones. “Don’t overdo it, kid. Can’t have you be taken down by a slippery floor.”
Izuku chuckles as he lowers himself down onto the wheelchair, after getting himself situated Izuku looks up expectantly at the killer whale.
Gang Orca raises an eyebrow at him. “What? You expect me to do it?” He’s almost offended that Izuku would even consider he’d stoop so low as to be an escort. “Don’t get so high and mighty just because you received some praise.” With a huff Gang Orca marches off.
Izuku chuckles figuring its Gang Orca’s way of caring. “Where are you off to then?”
“I won’t be far; I’m going to check on Dholak.” Gang Orca smirks. “Got to make sure he didn’t kick the bucket.” And with that he leaves as well.
“Haha…” Izuku really hopes that was a joke.
Meanwhile, the other students break away from their little huddle, giving Gran Torino the opening to grab Ochaco’s attention. “Alright, now time for you to go too.”
Ochaco blinks down at the elderly pro hero. “Me?”
“Yes, you.” Gran Torino gestures for her to follow him. “Come on the doctors want to have another look at your head.”
That’s odd, the doctors said there was no need to worry, she did get a concussion. So why do they want to check on her? “Why? Are they worried about something?”
“How should I know?” Gran Torino shakes his head as he wobbles his way to the door, before he leaves, he throws a cocky smirk back at her. “They probably want to make sure there’s no brain damage. Although it might be too late.”
Ochaco pouts as she leaps up to her feet. “Ha ha very funny.”
“Hahaha!”
And so she follows him out, throwing one last look to her fellow classmates who nod back before she shuts the door behind her.
She follows behind Gran Torino down the hallway until they arrive back at her own hospital room. He moves aside to allow her to enter first, she does, stepping forward and gripping the handle before sliding it open.
Her eyes widen like plates as she finds who’s standing beyond the threshold. “Um, what are you guys doing in my room?!”
Izuku’s entire face turns bright red, steam even rises from his forehead when he realizes that he’s in her room!
Principal Nezu stands beside him, looking rather amused and proud of himself. “So we can talk of course.”
“Talk?” Ochaco realizes that Nezu must want to discuss the true nature of SixSix, but… Her eyes worriedly shift down towards Gran Torino, the non-Plumber of the group. “Do you mean privately or-”
Gran Torino doesn’t even let her finish that thought. “Stop trying to be subtle, kid. You’re not good at it.”
The brunette cowers back, feeling dejected and even more nervous.
“Besides this concerns me too.”
“Huh?” What…?
Ochaco looks to Izuku to see if she heard the hero right, and if she’s going by his shocked face that she totally did hear him correctly.
Not bothering to address it, Principal Nezu goes ahead and turns the spotlight onto Izuku. “Now then.” He places a soft paw atop the metal high-tech brace.
Izuku frowns, it's a fool’s errand to try and open the brace, “Good luck, the doctors tried everything.” They tried smashing the brace, slicing it open with a buzzsaw, they even tried to melt it at one point, and they all failed.
Principal Nezu snickers, not at all surprised by the doctors’ results. “Oh, did they now? But I have something they don’t.”
Izuku awes, becoming intrigued: could Nezu have brought along some sort of cool high-tech piece of alien technology?! Oh, he can only assume it's something amazing and complex.
Nezu traces his paws across the surface of the brace, as if feeling for something. When his paw makes it just before the start of Izuku’s hand, Nezu has one lone finger press into the side of the brace for a few seconds.
Everyone remains silent, not trying to interrupt the odd scene, Izuku and Ochaco shrug at each other not sure what he’s doing.
*Beep.*
From the brace, a circle illuminates and swirls around Nezu’s paw, mechanical sounds can be heard from within the brace and then.
*Clang!*
The brace pops open, releasing Izuku’s wrist and falling to the ground. From off the floor the brace shifts and folds in on itself until powering down completely.
The confidently smiling Nezu bends down and props up the folded piece of alien tech for them all to see.
There's only one thing the students can say. “Eh…?!”
“Hahaha!” Nezu bursts into a mad laughing fit, greatly amused by their dumbfounded expressions!
Ochaco’s mouth hangs agape in complete disbelief and denial. “How?!”
Nezu calms down enough to explain. “It’s like I said, my dear. I have something you humans don’t, my intelligence! Hahahaha!!”
Ochaco and Izuku face fault in response, feeling a hard jab to their pride as intelligent humans.
As Nezu laughs his ass off, Gran Torino hobbles forward, his old eyes trained on the shiny coat of the Omnitrix, with much intrigue. “So, that’s the Omnitrix. Hm, it doesn’t appear like much, but that’s usually the case when it comes to level 20 tech.”
The space cadets take a double-take. ‘What did he say?!’
“Imagine it, that little device can transform its host into any alien.” Gran Torino smiles in awe of such a device. “Now that’s fascinating.”
Almost instantly the space cadets’ breath hitch, they both freeze in place, paling in worry.
Izuku chokes, giving a nervous smile to seem like everything’s normal. “Alien…?”
Ochaco joins in on the play-dumb act. “What are you talking about…?”
“Oh, give it a rest!” Gran Torino has officially lost his patience with these two, snapping at them. “I know all about you…” He smirks teasingly at them both. “space cadets.”
Finally, the realization of what Gran Torino knows sinks in.
“Hahaha!” Both the old man and Nezu bursts into laughter in spite of the kids’ stunned expressions.
Ochaco is ready to burst out in surprise. “You knew?! You know about aliens?!”
Gran Torino scowls. “No, I’m just into crazy conspiracies. Of course I know!!”
“Then why didn’t you say anything?!”
“It wasn’t important.”
“Huh?!”
“You came to intern with me to better hone your skills, not to do so-called Plumber work.” He frowns with disapproval. “That’s such a terrible name.”
Ochaco nods, sadly agreeing with him. “I know right…”
“Wait, so…you’re a Plumber too?” Everyone turns to look at Izuku who’s finally been able to process it all.
Izuku slowly turns to address the little chimera. “I thought you said there was only really you and Thirteen?”
Gran Torino quickly jumps in. “Nezu wasn’t lying, kid. By all means, I’m not one of you.” It’s true he never officially became a Plumber. “I’m just your average pro hero, who just so happened to find out about aliens a little late into his career and has been lending a hand here and there.” he ponders the best way to say this. “I’m more like a substitute-Plumber, stepping in whenever Nezu or Thirteen needs a hand.”
“But…why?” asks Ochaco. “Why didn’t you say anything?!”
“Because…I wanted to see your reaction when you did find out.” replies Gran Torino. “And it's great, haha!”
While Ochaco tries to understand what’s so funny, Izuku is a bit more concerned with another potential…issue. “Wait, um so…”
Everyone quiets down, the worry in the boy’s voice is obvious, and so they are more than willing to grant him a moment to speak.
“So you know all about aliens and the Plumbers and us, right?”
Gran Torino nods. “That is what I said, try to keep up.”
“Right… But…you’re also All Might’s mentor, correct?”
Gran Torino briefly eyes Ochaco, figuring that she must have been the one to tell the boy about that little fact. “Yes, I am.”
Izuku cups his hands together, wriggling around in his seat uncomfortably. If Gran Torino was All Might’s mentor, then… “So um like…does that mean…All Might knows too?”
Gran Torino doesn’t even hesitate to respond, speaking with full confidence. “No. I’m not sure how much Nezu has said but we never divulged that information to All Might.”
The man’s too absorbed in his work, adding on other worldly people into the mix and he’ll work himself to the grave trying to be their Symbol of Peace too.
“Actually I might have, but All Might was away training in America, and when he returned, he was far more…concerned with other important matters.” Gran Torino closes his eyes trying to hold back those harsher times. “And as such we chose not to tell him until the time was right, but by the time things settled down well he became the Number One Hero and he took on the great burden of being the world’s Symbol of Peace.”
The knowledge of aliens would only drag him down, he would willingly force it upon himself to bear the aliens’ burdens, after his injury he can barely keep up the facade for Japan let alone an entire universe. It’d be too much, and although they can be sure All Might would have accepted and done well…they couldn’t in good conscience knowingly subject him to those burdens.
Izuku looks very satisfied, sort-of glad he doesn’t have to worry about All Might finding out how he really got a “Quirk.”
While Izuku takes it in, Ochaco throws Nezu a condescending look of suspicion. “So, is there anyone else we should be made aware of? Like anyone that knows about aliens and the Plumbers.”
Nezu smiles up at her. “Of course.”
“Are you going to tell us?”
“Eventually?”
“You just like being the smartest person in the room, don’t you?”
“Hahaha, am I that easy to read? Haha!” She should have figured that she wouldn’t get a straight answer out of him.
“Okay, but can you at least answer me this?”
Nezu stops laughing, becoming serious and intent. “I already know, allow me to guess that it has something to do with Mr. Tsuragamae’s report on the bounty hunter.”
“Yeah! What was that?! I thought the guy, um, SixSix was an alien or something?!”
Gran Torino scowls. “He is.”
Instantly Izuku and Ochaco listen with eager ears.
Nezu explains. “What Tsuragamae said about SixSix was nothing but a fabrication of ours. Thanks to One-One we were able to tamper with the police’s database and come up with that little alibi.”
They were able to create fake files and data that highly suggested that SixSix was an international assassin with a mutation type Quirk. Those fake files are so detailed that they list off a birthday of June 6th, he’s a Gemini, he’s from Brazil and speaks Pirahã hence why the kids couldn’t understand him, and they even fabricated a fake news article about SixSix breaking into I-Island and stealing his high-tech weapons.
Ochaco’s jaw drops in amazement. “Oh, wow, you guys sure worked fast then to get things covered up huh?”
“Not quite, actually.” states Nezu somberly. “Just a few days ago, SixSix actually managed to sneak into Plumber Base.”
The space cadets let out a surprised gasp. “No way?!”
Ochaco immediately recalls how she tried to call up Thirteen, back when she got the Charms of Bezel, during that call One-One mentioned Thirteen was preoccupied… Was it because of SixSix?
Nezu continues. “I’m afraid so, Thirteen managed to stop him before he could tamper with anything.” Nezu ponders for a moment before looking up at Izuku. “It’s possible he was searching for the Omnitrix, thinking it could be there with you.”
Izuku frowns with worry. “So how did he find me? I thought we were jamming any signals that can track the Omnitrix’s frequency.”
“We are and from what we can tell our system hasn’t been compromised. If anything SixSix used more old-fashioned means of tracking, you down.” Social media, camera security, news outlets, are all still viable means of tracking individuals. Plus the boy did save a city from a villain so he was on the news recently enough for SixSix to see it.
“However, this still greatly concerns me.” The air of cheeriness and confident wisdom surrounding Nezu vanishes, taken over by a sense of foreboding. “It would seem Vilgax is well aware that the Omnitrix is still here on Earth. And as such he’s sending more agents to try and retrieve it.”
None of Nezu’s explanation takes long to sink in, especially for Izuku. So SixSix was really after the Omnitrix, the one of a kind device stuck to his arm. “So, it was because of my…it’s partly my fault for putting my friends in danger.”
“Stop that.” scolds Gran Torino. “That’s not going to help us one bit, I can promise you that.”
“But-!”
“No!” snaps the veteran pro hero. “This is in no way your fault: you didn’t ask for the device to attach to you nor did you know a bounty hunter would be after your sorry ass.” Gran Torino looks the boy in the eye and states. “You are an unfortunate victim, that in no way means it's your fault, but the fault of others that seek power and selfish goals.”
That was well said, so much so Izuku is at a loss for words because of how right they are. He shouldn’t have to blame himself, he’s alive and so are his friends so there’s no need to despair not now.
Gran Torino smiles, nodding in approval at the sight of Izuku’s understanding expression. “I have spoken.” And like that the discussion is done with.
Ochaco peers over at Nezu and asks a very important but simple question. “What do we do?”
“For now, we remain calm and levelheaded.” replies the Majister/Principal. “Getting all worked up and in a panic won’t do us any good. However, we should be far more vigilant against future encounters. But that’s a job for us to figure out.” Nezu states reassuringly gesturing to himself and the other pro hero. “And as it stands, I’m expecting some news that should help us with such a feat.”
Izuku tilts his head. ‘Help? What kind of help?’ He can’t help but wonder.
“I’m sure you have many more questions, but I need to make sure the police don’t come across anything they shouldn’t.” Nezu gestures for Izuku to follow him. “Mr. Midoriya, I think it best you come along as well, you should get some much-needed rest.”
“Right.” Izuku wheels forward as he does; he gives Ochaco one last wave. “I’ll talk to you later, I guess.”
“Yeah.” replies the brunette.
And so Nezu leads Izuku out of the room and back to his own to rejoin with Tenya and Shoto, leaving Ochaco behind with her current mentor.
With everything she just learned about these secrets there’s still one last secret on her mind; One For All. “Hey, Gran Torino?”
Gran Torino turns to her. “Yes?”
“Can I ask you something…about One For All?”
He wasn’t expecting such a question, but he’s willing to hear her out.
“Well I guess it’s more about who knows about One For All.”
Gran Torino frowns, uncertain where this conversation is going.
“As far as I know the list is you, Recovery Girl, Principal Nezu, All Might, and me.” Ochaco averts her eyes, feeling shy and slightly self-conscious. “But I was wondering if I could add someone else to that list?”
Gran Torino doesn’t even have to guess who it is. “You mean Midoriya, correct?”
Ochaco nods. “Yeah, well, he’s really smart, he’s given me so much advice, and he’s even introduced me to a bigger world…or universe I guess.” Deku’s been an amazing friend; he saved her life multiple times now, helped her figure out the best way to harness her power, and has trusted her with his secret. And here they are hiding one last secret from him. “And it sort of feels wrong to hold this secret from him.”
Gran Torino frowns, not daring to interrupt her, she’s clearly going somewhere with this. “So, I was kind of wondering if I could tell him… about it…?”
Gran Torino doesn’t answer, not right away at least, pondering her request. “What’s your mentor have to say about this?”
“He’s…hesitant…”
“Hesitant?”
“Yeah, he really didn’t want me to say anything to Deku, he seemed really concerned when I almost let it slip out once.”
Gran Torino frowns, he can’t help but wonder why that is… Perhaps he should give Toshinori a long overdue call.
Remaining quiet, the old pro hobbles his way over to the open window, peering out into the bright blue sky. “Well to be honest I don’t think you really need my permission. Ultimately, it’s up to you. One For All’s yours now it’s up to you on how you choose to use it. Or who you want to share it with.”
Ochaco smiles a bit, feeling a bit more confident.
“Just remember this.” adds Gran Torino. “One For All is kept a secret for a reason, the more people know the more likely it’s integrity will be at risk.” There’s an air of sadness and regret around him even as the warm sun shines down on them and birds chirp just outside the window. “Those who bear the knowledge of this long-kept secret become targets themselves. Not just by those that would seek out this power but by those who are threatened by it.” He peers back at the poor naive young woman. “Sometimes a little secrecy is necessary to keep those we care about safe, even if it hurts us in the end…”
Ochaco understands it's like Deku and his Omnitrix; the more people know, the greater the risk of those who’d desire that power will come to seek it out. But she can trust Deku, she knows she can.
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
A few hours have gone by, but Izuku can move around without a wheelchair. But after being checked up on for the hundredth time, Izuku finally managed to get a few minutes alone, taking a stroll through the large hospital for a change of scenery from his shared room.
And that’s how Izuku’s found himself in the main lobby where patients and visitors can gather at the various tables, desks, and couches while enjoying the large windows looking into the nearby woods and gardens.
Izuku specifically enjoys the view of all the flowers, fluttering insects, and songbirds. It really helps him to be at ease just by watching nature at work.
On a nearby couch, their backs to Izuku, are a pair of high school students; one in particular is plastered to his phone with much interest. “Whoa, they arrested the Hero Killer! Awesome.”
His friend gasps in delight. “Seriously?”
“Yeah!”
Izuku smiles, delighted about the news. It appears the police finally released a statement about the Hero Killer and how he was arrested. And it doesn’t matter if it is Endeavor receiving all the credit, as long as that villain is behind bars then he’s happy.
“Who took him down?”
“That’s the thing, it was a kid!”
And like that all of those warm fuzzy feelings disappear as Izuku freezes in place.
“No way!”
“Yeah, he’s a high schooler too.”
“What?!”
Izuku refuses to turn around, but his vision is blank as all of his senses are focused on his ears and what those boys are saying. ‘They…they can’t be talking about me!’ He knows for a fact he told the Chief of Police not to credit him that capture.
The students continue to awe. “Yeah, he was the one from the Sports Festival. You know the one that can turn into those crazy looking monsters.”
“Really? It was him?”
He props up his cellphone. “Yeah, it says it all right here: U.A.’s Rising Star takes down Hero Killer.”
Izuku is in full on panic mode, he wheels around and spots his face on the screen!! ‘IT IS ME!!!’ But how and why?! That wasn’t what they discussed!
While Izuku has an episode, many other patients and visitors have crowded around the two boys, they’re all very interested in the news.
“Amazing! I can’t believe a kid stopped him.”
“Well he does go to U.A. and he fought against those League guys so it’s really no surprise.”
“He’s so cool!”
“Deku, huh?”
Izuku slowly steps away, his face trained on the wall while his back is turned towards the others, trying his best to seem like part of the background. He doesn’t want to deal with anyone until he knows exactly what’s going on, so for now he just needs to sneak his way back to his room.
When he thinks he’s far enough away, Izuku turns around to try and make a run for it, but there’s a little hiccup in his plan. Specifically, there’s a small human blocking his path.
A small boy with dark marks around his brown eyes and messy, blond hair. Is smiling up at him with awe, his sharp shark-like teeth grinning up at him just-like Izuku would grin up at pro heroes.
Izuku backs away a bit, if he doesn’t play his cards right this kid could end up giving him away. “Um, hello, there…”
He played the wrong card, because the boy immediately bursts out in excitement. “Woah, you’re the guy that stopped the Hero Killer!! You’re Deku!!”
Izuku pales, the little shit gave him away!! With much trepidation, Izuku shakily turns back around to have a look at the lobby.
The entire lobby has fallen under a harsh silence with all the inhabitants focused in on him. And so they stand still as Izuku stares at the large crowd while they stare right back, neither sure of how to react.
And then like moths to a flame, a mob of fans and admirers swarm the poor body in an instant, surrounding him and swarming around him each wanting to give him praise and hear how he defeated the Hero Killer.
“Oh, my gosh it’s really you!!”
“Woah!! It is!!”
“How’d you beat the Hero Killer?!”
“You’re so cool!!”
“Hey, wait!! Give me a minute!” Izuku struggles against the jostling mob but there’s too many of them, there’s just no hope of escape, they won’t let him. And it doesn’t help that they’re all screaming in his ears.
“I wish we could have seen it!!”
“Which form did you use? Was it that flaming guy?”
“Can I have your autograph?!”
“I bet All Might’s teaching is paying off, huh?!”
“You’re amazing!!”
“Are you single?!”
Izuku tries to shake them off, but it’s no good. And so with little to no options he grips this last hope. ‘Come on Omnitrix, help me out! Big Chill would really be handy right about now!’
And with a slam of his hand, a flash of green light swallows him up while blinding the massive mob, forcing them to flinch and back away. They soon recover their vision; they are surprised and disappointed to find that their hero has vanished even while surrounded by all of them.
“What was that?!”
“Where’d he go?”
“I think he activated his Quirk.”
“Then where is he?”
“Maybe he’s invisible.”
‘Or maybe he’s under you.’ Grey Matter scowls as he scurries across the floor, weaving in and out between the people’s feet, trying his best not to be spotted or stepped on. ‘Man, the first time I use this thing in days, and it gives me the wrong guy.’
Maybe it's mad at him because it missed out on the action the other day? Ha! Yeah, right this thing can’t even think.
Thankfully Grey Matter’s luck holds out and allows him to make it to the nearby elevator. He had to climb up the wall to activate the button, but he did it and after being nearly run over by a wheelchair Grey Matter makes it to his hospital room. Thankfully the door is already slid open, and as he gets closer, he finds that Ochaco is there chatting with Shoto and Tenya. They’ve all been healed up for the most part, but Iida’s arms are still bandaged up as is Ochaco’s waist.
“Guys!!”
The three U.A. students spin around, they search for the source of that little voice before they finally land down on the tiny Galvan. “Deku/Midoriya?”
The tiny alien glares up at them in annoyance, he’s expecting a certain response.
Ochaco knows what it is and rolling her eyes she says it. “I mean Grey Matter.” Curse Deku and his need for his aliens to be called their names.
Grey Matter grins, nodding in approval before leaping up onto the nearest bed. “You guys are never going to believe this!”
The three blink at him, they have no idea what he’s talking about, so they wait for him to explain.
“Mr. Tsuragamae, he went against his word!” shouts Grey Matter. “The phone, the news, everyone knows about the Hero Killer! And they think I stopped him!!”
Judging by their expressions, they now understand what he’s talking about. But unlike him they aren’t reacting, they haven’t yelled out nor do they seem remotely upset or even surprised.
“Why aren’t you guys freaking out?! Huh!!” It hits him hard, they betrayed him! “You did this. You guys went behind my back.”
It’s not a question, it’s an accusation, and these three are guilty and they’re not even trying to hide it. Ochaco laughs sheepishly while Tenya turns away as to not to make eye contact, and Shoto well he just looks as indifferent as always, like an adult witnessing a whiny child’s tantrum.
Ochaco tries to explain herself. “Well, we thought you deserved it.”
“But I said-!”
“We’re well aware of what you said.” Interrupts Tenya, pushing up his glasses, trying his best to seem knowledgeable and cool. “And we recognize your reasoning, but we elected to ignore it.”
“Traitors!!” snaps the morphed Izuku. He turns and leers up at Shoto and his guilty, indifferent, face. “And what’s your excuse.”
Shoto doesn’t even hesitate to respond. “Consider it a thank you.”
“THANK YOU!?!”
“You’re welcome.”
Grey Matter shakes his head in disapproval, glaring at each of them like he’s someone to be feared.
“I am sorry Midoriya, I really am but,” Tenya’s eyes cast down, an air of shame surrounds him as a sad frown adorns his face. “I merely wished to show you my appreciation, for everything.”
Grey Matter’s scowl softens, he knows Iida means well, but still.
“Afterall you were a real hero, unlike me.”
Grey Matter frowns with worry.
The air of shame and regret veils over the speedster as he recalls the night before. “When I came across the Hero Killer, I stopped thinking rationally. The first thing I should’ve done was call Manual. But I got lost in my own anger.”
##########(Flashback)#########
“So busy with your grudge you forgot about him. You plan on using your Quirk only for yourself. You’re completely blinded by a selfish desire for revenge.” Stain smiles as he holds his sword tighter knowing this will really get to the delusional fool. “You’re about as far away from being a hero as I can imagine.”
########(End Flashback)#######
“I hate him so much, but I can’t deny he spoke the truth. That’s why I need to become better, not my skills, but I need to work to become a better hero. To embody what a hero truly is. Only then can I forgive myself for what I did.”
Grey Matter frowns in sadness, remembering how he had a chance to talk to Iida on several occasions about how he was doing after his brother was attacked; but he never made any headway. ‘Maybe…if I’d been a better friend back then…’ He shakes his head. ‘No. Stop it. He’s already accepted what happened. It would be selfish to make this about me like that.’ Iida’s trying to make things right and if he feels like this is a step forward in the right direction then so be it.
Grey Matter springs up onto Tenya’s arm, grabbing his attention. “Iida, I feel the same way.”
Tenya’s eyes widen.
‘I know what it’s like to feel like you brought nothing but trouble.’ Grey Matter looks up at Tenya, refusing to let him look away. “Let’s become better heroes. Together.”
Tenya nods, agreeing to the promise.
Grey Matter nods back in approval.
From the side Ochaco and Shoto look from the pair to each other.
Ochaco offers up the dual-hair teen a confident smile. “I guess that goes for us too.”
Shoto smiles back. “I guess it does.”
Tenya offers an apologetic smile down at the little creature, “We are sorry we went behind your back, please believe it wasn’t an easy decision.”
Grey Matter sighs, waving it off. “It’s fine. I can’t honestly stay mad at you guys. What’s done is done.”
So he might just have to accept it. This is not what he wanted but it’s here and there’s no way he could turn back time to fix it. Sure Izuku would have been much happier if they all got the credit.
But the reality is this: as far as the public knows, he defeated the Hero Killer Stain. And that’s just how it’s going to have to be.
Hopefully the unwanted attention won’t come back to bite him later. He can only hope.
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
“Now, our continuing coverage.” Two news anchors appear on the giant screen hanging over the city block, and immediately grab the attention of parents who peer up at the large screen with interest. “Three villains were captured in the Hosu riots. Their identities and motives are yet unknown.” Pictures of all four Nomus appear: you have the U.S.J. Nomu along with Squirrelanoid, Draco, and Shellshock. “Based on their distinctive appearance, however, and the presence of three people our reporters filmed nearby, many are speculating they’re connected to the League of Villains that attacked U.A. High last month.” Two more photos appear one is hazy, but you can make out three figures standing atop a water tower and the other photo is of the arrests made at the U.S.J.
The woman news anchor takes over. “The Hero Killer Stain claimed many lives. In fact, he has more victims than any other criminal since All Might burst into the scene.”
“With his arrest, everyone in the country can rest a little easier tonight.”
A certain young man eyes the screen silently in the background before he moves on, splitting himself from the crowd.
“There was reportedly another villain on the scene but there’s been no confirmation of this as of yet.”
As of this moment the same story is being broadcasted all across Japan.
From the looming mountains.
“The seriously wounded Hero Killer is currently receiving treatment at a villain hospital under heavy police guard.” The news echoes out through a little radio. “Officials are awaiting the recovery of several of his victims before further investigating the villain’s motives.”
To the silent suburbs.
“We’re back talking about the man who has surely left his mark on Japan, if not the world.” Speaks the podcast. “The Hero Killer Stain. Why did he do it? What did he hope to gain? Don’t be shy, we’re taking calls and wanna hear your thoughts.”
And to the dark corners of the cities.
“I’m coming to you live from Ekou Street in Hosu City.” announces a reporter off the TV in the corner of the bar. “Last night, just after 8pm, the Hero Killer Stain was arrested by the young Hero Student, Deku, on this very blo-” The TV goes dark, powering down.
Kurogiri puts down the remote, Shigaraki’s already mad as it is, he doesn’t need the TV to add more fuel to the fire.
Tomura Shigaraki eyes the newspaper in his hands with disdain. “He’s all they’re talking about.” He crumples up the newspaper in anger. “What about my Nomus?!” He tosses the trash aside; it rolls off the ground before stopping at a towering Nue’s feet.
Shigaraki hisses in anger as he recalls his own proclamation.
##########(Flashback)#########
“Haha haha!” Shigaraki grins down at the city like it’s a sandbox where he can reign supreme, destroy anything that he wishes to, all without any harm to himself. “Once this night is over, the world will have forgotten you ever existed, Hero Killer.”
########(End Flashback)#######
“Not only have they not forgotten, but we didn’t even make the front page.” Damn, you, Hero Killer!!
Nue remains quiet peering at Shigaraki before turning his attention down at the crumbled ball that was the newspaper. The paper slowly unravels revealing a photo the U.A.’s Rising Star on the front page.
Nue snarls, his jagged teeth barred as a tendril slides down and pierces the paper, the conductor at the end sparks igniting the paper, and Nue watches as the boy's face burns to ash.
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
Of course because of the news, many other heroes have taken it upon themselves to take action.
“It’s possible some villains were inspired by what happened in Hosu.” And that seems like a good enough reason for Best Jeanist to go out on patrol. “That means they could be feeling bolder. This may just be a patrol but keep your guard up.”
“Yeah, yeah.” Katsuki Bakugou trails behind him as they patrol the city streets.
Bakugou has not been having a good time in Best Jeanist’s agency. Just the other day the pro hero spent an hour combing Bakugou’s spiky hair patting it down until it was “smooth and sleek.” He did such a good job that Bakugou’s now stuck with his hair combed down, and the more he thinks about it the more stupid and annoyed he feels.
Best Jeanist eyes the boy, he needs to teach him something important before their time runs out. “Here’s a question for you. Patrols are mainly meant to deter villains from committing any crimes. But they also have a secondary purpose. What is it?”
Without hesitation Bakugou replies with a maniacal grin. “If we see some bad guys, we can beat ‘em up on the spot.”
“Incorrect.” Honestly Best Jeanist should have seen that coming.
A group of high school girls spot the top ranked hero. “Hey, it’s Best Jeanist!”
“Thank you so much for keeping us safe!”
Best Jeanist waves back at them, causing the girls to gush and squeal in delight.
Best Jeanist continues. “The answer is: to remind people who we are. Our presence gives the public a peace of mind.”
Bakugou growls in annoyance.
“This helps weave a tapestry of trust between the protectors and the protected.”
Bakugou scowls. “I think you just like getting recognized.”
“Hey!” A little kid with his two other friends points up at Bakugou. “I’ve seen that blonde guy on TV before!”
Bakugou frowns. ‘Great he saw the Sports Festival too.’
“Yeah, an ooze villain caught him, and he almost cried like a baby!” The boy’s friends snicker at the teen’s expense.
“What did you SAY!?!” Bakugou wheel around, his hair exploding out back into its usual spiky self!
His yell and explosive nature immediately terrifies the children, as they quiver, and tears threaten to spill out.
Bakugou grimaces, not expecting them to start sniveling.
A disappointed Best Jeanist watches on. “Have you forgotten everything I’ve taught you? Talk with them like a pro.”
“Yeah, fine.” Bakugou marches over to the kids. “Listen up!” He leans over them, and the kids backway in fear. “I wasn’t helpless. I was just coming up with ways to fight him. Sometimes a hero has to pretend he’s been caught. You really think I would lose to a villain?” His scowl intensifies. “You’ll eat those words when I’m the new Number One Hero!! YOU DUMB KIDS’LL NEVER LAUGH AT ME AGAIN IF YOU KNOW WHAT’S GOOD FOR YOU.”
“Wahhhh!!” The boys scream out in terror as tears and snot stream down their faces.
‘He has too much pride.’ chides Best Jeanist. ‘It would be one thing if he channeled all that passion toward becoming a hero, but at this rate, he could turn out quite poorly.’ He watches as Bakugou stands there dumbfounded as the children continue to wail.
“So, then, what do I do with him?”
Eventually Best Jeanist was able to calm the little boys down enough and send them on their way. And afterward he was ready to bind Bakugou up in strands of string, but instead he led the boy away. Ending the patrol now would only upset him further, what he needs is guidance.
Bakugou sulks as he follows behind the pro hero. “Damn, snot nosed brats.”
Best Jeanist stops, turning around to face the young man in the face. “Tell me.”
Bakugou stops, uncertain and wary of the pro hero.
“What’s the cause of your unraveling?”
The ash-blonde scowls. “What the hell are you talking about?”
“Ever since the news of the Hero Killer’s Arrest you’ve been far more irritated and explosive than usual. Care to explain?”
Bakugou huffs definitely. “No.”
This entire time he’s been observing the boy’s reaction to certain things: he knows he’s prideful, especially in relation to his Quirk and skills, probably due to his upbringing. He even did some personal investigating and found out that both him and Midoriya went to the same Jr. High. And so with some background information and a look into Bakugou’s current state, Best Jeanist can confidently say he knows the real issues that are eating away at the boy.
“Fine, then I will. The cause of your unraveling is that your classmates have begun to rise above you.”
Bakugou’s eyes widen, his head snapping at Best Jeanist in surprise.
He really did figure this boy out. “I always make sure I’m updated on all major crimes and resolutions by other heroes.” he flashes his phone displaying the most popular news outlet. “U.A.’s Rising Star takes down Hero Killer.” He continues rolling through the site. “He also saved an entire city from complete annihilation at the hands of a bug villain too. Then there’s also this.” He holds his phone up again. “Hero Student, Uravity, defeats Wicked Witch. And if I’m correct, she’s also the one that won the Sports Festival” His eyes narrow at the boy. “the one that beat you.”
Bakugou scowls, turning his head away in rejection.
“You can feel it, your pride is tearing at the seams trying to understand how they’ve already surpassed you.”
That's it, the mad bomber finally snaps. “Those losers won’t surpass me again!!”
“As I thought, you feel insignificant, inferior to them.”
“Ha!! There’s no way Deku’s better than me!”
Best Jeanist’s eyes narrow, examining the boy and taking in his every word and reaction carefully. “Humor me, but what do you think it means to be a hero?”
“What? It’s being the strongest, the one that always wins, duh.”
“Really? Then by that definition, you aren’t a hero.”
Bakugou snarls, not appreciating the jab at all.
“No, a hero is someone who uses their talents and skills for the sake of protecting others. Which is something your…friends have stitched into their very beings already.”
Bakugou’s teeth grind together, but he manages to bite his tongue.
“During the Sports Festival you displayed magnificent control over your Quirk, you’re in peak condition, and you have a brilliantly strategic mind even able to use your classmate’s Quirks combined with your own.”
Bakugou throws the hero a confused look. “So? A hero has to be able to win all on their own.”
“Do they?”
“Huh?”
Best Jeanist displays his phone again. “This Deku didn’t defeat the bug villain all on his own, his mentor and the police all participated in the search and gave the boy the chance he needed to save the day. Uravity worked together with her mentor to defeat a pair of villains that attacked Dathomir City. And I doubt that she was completely alone in the Sports Festival, if anything she used those around her to help drive herself forward.” She listened to her friends’ advice, encouraged them and they in turn encouraged her, and as a result she came out on top.
Bakugou doesn’t like it, this guy is questioning everything he believes in. But if he’s so right then how can he explain this. “What about the Hero Killer? Deku beat him all on his own.” It hurts to say Deku did something so amazing, but if his beliefs are true then by logic Deku couldn’t have been alone in that fight!
“I’m…not so sure.”
“What?” Not sure about what, exactly?!
“If you read the article then you would know that some of your other classmates were caught in the crossfire. But what the article doesn’t mention is how your classmates supported and encouraged Deku through his battle. To keep him alive and aware, to help drive him to victory.”
Bakugou scowls, this guy really does have an answer for everything.
“My point is this, your friends’ understanding of what makes a hero is different from yours.”
“What does that have to do with anything?!”
“It has to do with everything.” responds the top ranked hero. “They seek to protect and aid others, you seek your own goals. They are willing to work together, you are not. And they are willing to seek out and listen to those around them, and you…” He trails off wanting Bakugou to finish the thought.
“Could care less…”
“Exactly.” That’s the core difference. “But there are things between you three that are similar.”
The blonde straightens up, surprised and intrigued.
“You all have the same drive to become the best, that is both an admirable and a worthy goal.” He watches for the boy’s reaction. “You have talents and skills but in order to become better than you are now you must be willing to work with and for others. Do you understand?”
Yeah, believe it or not he does understand. He doesn’t like it though. But…he’s supposed to be the best, he should be the one receiving all the praise and glory, but he’s not. If he wants to get better than…then he really needs to understand how he should better himself.
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
“Uh! Midoriya wrote me back!” Eijirou Kirishima stares at his phone while in the Fourth Kind agency’s locker room. “That location he sent was in the middle of the action in Hosu. That’s why he messaged us; he was calling for backup. Man am I glad I reported it.” He grins amusedly. “But then again not like he needed it!” He saw the news, and woah what Midoriya did sure was manly!
“Hey!” chides Tetsutetsu Tetsutetsu noticing the cellphone. “Put that down before Fourth Kind sees you. We’re gonna be late.”
“One sec. I wanna reply.”
*BONK!!!*
Fourth Kind snarls down at the two rockheads as his fists lodge themselves into their heads. “What did I say about punctuality?!”
The two cry out. “Right. Sorry, sir!”
“Come on. Time to patrol.”
“Yes, sir!”
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
Uwambi is seated as she watches the newest commercial reel advertising new hair-care products. She was of course the main star, but she pulled some strings and allowed her two interns to participate in the commercial as well. Although if one was paying attention, they could tell that both Yaoyorozu and Kendo look hella awkward while being on camera, clearly neither of them expected to be on TV.
As the commercial ends Uwambi immediately begins praising it. “They sure put that together fast. This is just the first cut, so it’ll be another month before it airs. It needs lots of CGI.”
Her two interns stand to the side, feeling awkward and a bit at a loss here.
Itsuka Kendo tries to lighten the mood. “So weird. We’ll be on TV.”
Momo Yaoyorozu looks sick, almost like she’s ashamed by the commercial. “We’re heroes. This is just what it takes to be a pro.”
Then again, it looks like her classmates are making far better progress in that regard compared to her. The news has exploded with both Uraraka’s and Midoriya’s adventures: saving cities and arresting the Hero Killer. And, where was she? Shooting a hair commercial of all things.
And that’s not the only source of her frustration.
Yaoyorozu reaches into her belt and pulls out a tiny shard, given to her upon request from Midoriya. ‘I still haven't made headway in this either…’
And she’s been trying to make out this crystal’s composition but it’s proving far more complicated than expected. She has an entire notebook dedicated to making out the crystal’s molecules and structure.
But maybe just maybe this can give her the boost she needs to get better.
While Yaoyorozu ponders about her progress, Uwambi gets up from her seat. “So, how ‘bout we go patrol.”
Both girls gasp in surprise, looking to each other as if to ask if they heard her correctly, before they both light up and chase after her. “Yes!”
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
Shota Aizawa is outside at U.A.’s courtyard, nearest the running track. His attention is currently focused on his phone, specifically the news of his students’ “escapades.”
As he reads through the reports, he can hear the sound of running footsteps. Looking up briefly he adjusts the binder in his arm. The binder reads “All-American Dream Plan: The Patriot Version.”
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
Just inside the U.A. building a phone call is trying to get through to a certain hero.
*A PHONE CALL IS HERE!*
*A PHONE CALL IS HERE!*
Inside the teachers’ office area, Yagi Toshinori reaches for his phone.
*A PHONE CALL-!*
He answers it. “Yes, hello?”
Sitting just across from him: Present Mic, Midnight, and Cementoss all stare at him in bewilderment. ‘That can’t seriously be his ringtone.’
Toshinori springs out of his seat, fear in his eyes and a bit of blood spits out the corner of his mouth when he hears who’s on the other side. “Wha-?! Hi, sir!” He’s panicking, shaking in his boots as Gran Torino scolds him.
“You coulda warned me about Ochaco Uraraka.” chides Gran Torino from the hospital payphone. “I know it probably couldn’t be helped, but thanks to her, I’m getting a pay cut and my teaching license is being suspended for six months.”
Toshinori can tell he’s mad, grateful he’s several cities away.
“Her tendency to jump into situations without thinking is just like yours, Toshinori.” And hers, too…
Toshinori is sweating buckets, becoming more nervous as Gran Torino speaks. His coworkers watch on in concern and confusion, wondering who it could make even the Symbol of Peace this terrified.
“I humbly apologize, sir.” Toshinori covers his mouth to keep the call as private as possible. “It’s because of my insufficient teaching.” He looks like he’s going to hurl. “I can’t believe my protege caused you so much trouble.” He wobbly hurries for the door. “Oh, man this is bad.”
The others watch him take his leave, wondering if they should ask if he’s alright or not.
“Well, I don’t care about my teaching license anymore.” states Gran Torino. “You’re the only reason I got it. And that was so I could keep my promise to your predecessor, Shimura.”
Toshinori strolls through the empty school hallway, whispering into his phone. “And I truly appreciate all you did for me. It’s only because of your wisdom and guidance that I’m the Number One Hero today.”
“If that’s true, then why don’t you ever visit me?”
Got him. “Well, it’s just that my new life as a teacher keeps me so busy.” Shit, even Toshinori knows the old man won’t ever buy that excuse.
“I actually called to talk about the Hero Killer.” And with that the conversation becomes deadly serious. “I saw him only briefly in person but in that short amount of time, he shook me to my very core.” That killing intent was…overwhelming like a demon rising up to the living plane. “There is such hatred inside of that man.”
Toshinori makes it to the empty teacher’s lounge. “I can’t believe he was able to frighten someone like you, Gran Torino.” He shuts the door after making sure no one sees him entering. “He must have already been tied up, so what scared you?”
“It probably stemmed from his fanatic ideology.” Gran Torino thinks back to the Hero Killer’s convictions and proclamations. “There was something very intimidating about his obsession.”
Toshinori takes a seat on the couch listening intently to his old mentor.
“I’m not trying to praise him or anything, but he’s got the same determination as you when it comes to your “Symbol of Peace” thing. There’s similarities.”
“What do you mean?”
“To put it simply, you’ve both got charisma.” And that’s the problem. “As the investigation continues, his ideology and opinions will be all over the media. Everyone will wanna know his motives. The age we live in, for better or for worse, is one of suppression. There will be people across the globe who are influenced by these new ideas.” And that’s truly terrifying because it means anyone literally anyone could be inspired to take action, to try and become the next Stain.
“If that’s true, and he inspired copycat villains, they’ll probably strike out on their own. Heroes will be able to stop ‘em, just like they did last time.” That’s at least what Toshinori thinks after all a child was able to stop the real Hero Killer, so surely more can be handled.
Gran Torino isn’t so optimistic. “That’s where the League of Villains comes in.”
Toshinori gasps; caught off guard, it never even occurred to him.
The veteran hero isn’t surprised, Toshinori was never the quickest to pick up on these kinds of things. “The Hosu incident suggests that Stain and the League are connected somehow.”
Toshinori thinks back to Shigaraki, Kurogiri, the first Nomu, and of course that Nue fellow he fought.
“That means….the League will go from being thought of as a bunch of juvenile delinquents that attacked U.A. to being recognized as a group with an ideology.” They have a goal and reason to believe in, and rally behind. “In other words, these new converts will seek them out. Even if each individual is insignificant, if that evil gathers under one banner, it’ll swell to unstoppable proportions. If the villain in charge knew this would happen from the beginning, then he is a brilliant strategist.”
Toshinori’s worry and anguish grows and grows as Gran Torino continues to speak and explain the horrible outcome this could all amount to.
“He’s steadily getting rid of any obstacles one by one, trying to create conditions that will favor his own purpose.”
Toshinori’s frustration and worry begins to spill over, he hates to admit but if Gran Torino thinks so then it just might be true. “When I heard from Tsukauchi that Nomu had multiple Quirks, I had a bad feeling.” He clenches his fist, gripping his pants to try to keep himself calm. “What if he’s back?” What if he’s been back?
“You’re concerned it could be the man who killed Shimura, my sworn friend, your master, and the previous holder of One For All. The man who opened that hole in your stomach.” Gran Torino’s right he’s absolutely right, and unfortunately, that isn’t a good thing. “You’re afraid the villain named All For One is on the rise again.”
He hit the nail on the head.
“For him to’ve survived such injuries, though… I don’t wanna imagine it’s possible.”
Gran Torino breathes, he doesn't want to admit it either, but if that man is alive then there’s something that must be addressed and soon. “Toshinori. That child looks to you for guidance, she trusts you full heartedly. You should find the time to tell her everything concerning you and One For All. Be honest. She deserves to know the truth.”
Toshinori understands he does, but…what if it scares her? One of his hopes for his successor was that they’d never have to deal with that terrible terrible evil, All For One.
“You need to trust her with everything, Toshinori. And trust that she will make the right decisions.”
“Sir?”
“She told me about her friend, Izuku Midoriya, and how you claimed he wasn’t trustworthy.”
What?! She told him about that?! “I never said-!”
“I know you Toshinori, you just told me yourself that you had your suspicions.” Mainly that he suspected All For One alive, and it wasn’t hard for Gran Torino to figure out what All Might’s first assumptions were about the boy’s powers. “Why won’t you trust her to make her own decisions?”
“I do trust her, but that boy…”
“If you’re thinking he’s in All For One’s pocket then you can forget it.”
Toshinori is surprised, Gran Torino seems so adamant about this.
“I saw the boy after his clash with Stain, he was really giving it his all to save his friends, never backing down. Honestly, he's just like you and Uraraka, running in without a care for your own safety.”
“But sir his One Man Army is…”
“A unique Quirk, just like One For All.” Gran Torino turns around and peers through the large windows, looking up at the sky to the invisible stars. “The world is a vast place, there are all sorts of abilities and people out there, and Midoriya’s one of them.” Then again, this world and many others are full of bad people too. “But if you’re really that worried then be sure to keep an eye on him, I bet he could really use some guidance from the Number One Hero. After all you never know, if All For One is alive then that boy just might be the best ally for you and your successor.”
Toshinori isn’t so sure, but if Gran Torino said so then maybe…
“Take some advice from an old man, at some point you got trust that the youngins will step up when the time comes.”
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
It’s been another two days since the Hosu incident, and things seemed to have calmed down for the most part.
A little too much for some, however.
“Y’know, lately, it’s been hard finding people to do business with.” Whines a heavyset broker. “My buddies all complain about not being able to sell stuff. It’s a real pain.” He takes a sip of his alcoholic drink, trying to drink away his worries.
He’s been hanging out here in this bar for most of the day already, mainly because this bar actually serves drinks and doesn’t have a giant monster lying about.
Giran smirks at his fellow broker from across the table as he caresses his personal pistol. “That’s ‘cause it’s a serious crime to develop or sell support items and costumes if you don’t have a license.”
“Here.” A glass is plopped down right in front of Giran.
“Thank you, sweetheart.” Giran smirks up at Charmcaster as she takes a seat beside him.
She looks annoyed with him, but she currently has nowhere else to go so she’s stuck with him for now.
As she takes her seat she goes ahead and interjects herself into the conversation. “Anyway, I’ve actually heard rumors that legit support companies have actually been selling gear on the black market to those with the right amount of cash.”
“And those rumors are too true, my dear.”
The broker groans. “Ugh! Man, I miss the days before All Might. And I was still small-time back then. Remember when villains were wild and impulsive? Everyone thought they could take over the world. It was a real good time.”
Charmcaster smirks. “Sounds like my kinda place.”
Broker slams down his drink. “You bet it was! But when All Might showed up, everything changed and got so damn boring.”
“That’s how it is, can’t have any fun when the pillar of so-called justice is around. Now can you?”
“He, yeah, you get it.”
Giran sticks a cigarette in his mouth before aiming the end of his pistol at the butt, with a flick of the tiger a little flame ignites from the barrel’s end, lighting the smoke.
The broker is dismayed, unhopeful about his career. “Maybe it’s time for me to finally call it quits.”
Giran cuts in. “Don’t be rash. Listen, just between us, I know of a way to make some real cash.” He reaches into his pocket, looking for something.
The broker waits while Charmcaster throws Giran a questioning look.
“Keep this on the down low, I’m only telling you because I know your guys have quality goods to sell.” He pulls his phone out and aims the screen at the broker, displaying a video of some sort. “Have you seen this yet?”
The broker hasn’t. “Huh? What’s that?”
“A phone, moron.” taunts Charmcaster.
“I know that! I meant the video!”
Giran snickers. “It’s a video of the Hero Killer. He’s hot right now.” Without waiting for permission he goes ahead, and hits play.
The video begins to roll, displaying Stain in his fullest: his red scarf, sharp blades, and freaky tongue. All as drips of blood turn the screen red just as the narrator takes over.
“The Hero Killer Stain. Real Name, Chizome Akaguro.” States the narrator as photos of Stain’s arrest play on the scene. “As a child, he was greatly inspired by All Might’s debut. He enrolled in a private hero high school but was dismayed by what he viewed as the educational system’s skewed understanding of what it meant to be a hero.”
“Throughout his teenage years, Chizome advocated for a return to the early days of heroes, but quickly realized that words had no power. For the next ten years, he trained in killing techniques in order to fulfill his self-appointed duty. During this time his parents passed away, in what police eventually ruled as a tragic accident.”
Images dance off the screen: of Stain on the hunt, perched on rooftops, and him even attacking some poor defenseless heroes.
“His focus was on a return to the old days. He believed heroes should not seek compensation. That one should epitomize the idea of self-sacrifice. He believed that present-day pros were frauds. Through his violent purges, he hoped society would eventually side with him.”
As the video plays, the broker and even Charmcaster are spellbound, almost like they’re starstruck by the video, unable to even look away.
Soon the video changes, cutting into the feed from a security camera that was overlooking Stain and his confrontation with a group of pro heroes.
[Like a man possessed by the angel of vengeance, Stain glares as his eyes glow brightly. It’s like the grim reaper himself has descended down to Earth and he has a deadly grip on anyone’s heart. Just one move from them is all it would take for their lives to come to a tragic and bloody end.
“These streets…must run with the blood of hypocrites!” Stain roars out. “Hero!! I will reclaim that word!” He takes one last stomp forward, blood dripping down his maw, his eyes glowing blood red under the red moonlight, and the killing intent holds the helpless cowards in place. “Come on!! Just try and stop me, you fakes!!”
Stain’s too far gone, to mad with bloodlust, his eyes shake with exploding fury. “There is only one man I’ll let kill me. He is a true hero. ALL MIGHT IS WORTHY!!!”]
And the video is done.
Like breaking from a spell both the broker and Charmcaster gasp and reel away, they were so hooked on the video they didn’t even know they were holding their breaths.
Giran smirks satisfied by their reactions. “This keeps getting uploaded and immediately taken down online. But they can’t stop it. It’s not hard to see. This guy is really stirring something in people. From villains with countless convictions, to felons on the run, all the major players, including me, are watching.”
The broker smirks intrigued and excited. This just might be it.
“It’s infectious. Do you feel it?” Giran sure can that’s for sure.
At this very moment all across Japan villains are beginning to stir in the darkness.
“I don’t think the heroes realize what’s awakening. The evil that was once quiet and scattered now has a rallying cry that’s calling out to it. Individual criminals are seeking out the organization that the Hero Killer Stain was connected to.” Giran’s smirk widens. “They’re all headed to the League of Villains.”
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In truth Stain’s convictions have reached further than what Giran’s even able to fathom. As the commander of the spacecruiser has also just observed the same video, downloaded off Japan’s internet.
He’s been awake since his bounty hunter reported the Omnitrix’s location but there’s been no word as of yet from SixSix. And soon it became very apparent that it was a failed mission. Oh, how he wishes to tear into the wielder of the Omnitrix himself, but alas he must bid his time.
But that doesn’t mean he spent all that time withering in anger, no the hours were for naught, as Japan news media fill in the passing time. Each one speaks of the Hero Killer and his ideals and motives, but also his connections.
The doors to the command center slide open as, not a drone, but an alien underling approaches his master,
This alien has a skeletal appearance. His body is white with his head fin being white and outlined with three black stripes, his lips and eyes sockets are black while his pupils are a crimson-red. He wears a sleeveless black robe and brace-like armor.
The skeletal alien bows at his master’s healing pod. “Master I have finally arrived with your requested…enhancements.”
The commander leers down at the whelp. “Psyphon your timing could not have been more ideal.”
Psyphon peers up at the commander. “Master?”
“I have a mission for you.”
Psyphon immediately jumps to conclusions “You wish for me to retrieve the Omnitrix, sir?”
“No, you are far too weak for that.”
Psyphon grimaces but remains silent, bowing in respect.
The commander peers back at all the other news media. “Perhaps it’s time to stop outsourcing. If my allies can’t retrieve the Omnitrix then we shall seek out those that can.”
“Sir?”
The commander leers down at his underling making him quiver in fear. “If this Hero Killer is as they say he is, then perhaps we require more like him.” He eyes the news media again. “We require those that can stand up to Earth’s champions, we need Hero Killers.” His eyes land on one final image. “We need the League of Villains.”
Displayed in front of him are images of hideously grotesque monsters known as Nomus along with compost sketches of the League’s leaders: Nue, Kurogiri, and Tomura Shigaraki.
“Seek them out Psyphon. Don’t fail me.”
Psyphon cowers before his master. “Of course, master, I will not fail you.”
The commander eyes the displays again until his eyes land back on the Hero Killer video. This broadcast was extremely insightful, perhaps Earth’s civilization is not as stable as he had first thoughts. And now, now the Plumbers and their allies will suffer greatly for this planet's incompetence.
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While the Hero Killer video is all the rage around Earth, there is still another broadcast flying through the endless void of space, taking galaxies by storm. Sweeping through the stars like the big bang.
^Wah brz ehhh.^
“I’m hurrying, alright. No need for harsh language.”
A lone figure makes his way up to the cockpit of his vessel where a midsized droid awaits him.
“What is it?”
^Brr rrap bzz.^
“Oh, a message from Earth?”
The droid aims his holographic project up and a holographic screen pops into existence. Immediately the message plays and it’s a video of all things. As the video rolls it contains the edited reel of the U.A. Sports Festival. But there seems to be heavy screen time for a boy with messy green hair and freckles.
“Oh my.” The figure smiles as he watches the boy transform from one being into another. “Now that’s a sight for sore eyes.”
Notes:
And that was Ch.36 Stained, I hope this was enjoyable even though it was a lot of talking and no action for you guys. I still tried to make it enjoyable and plus I did set up quite a lot of future elements for upcoming arcs and chapters.
*Also I will have an important Author’s Note/Announcement for everyone in the next chapter.
*I am aiming to have Ch.37 up on Thanksgiving, which will be the one-year anniversary of me posting this story!!
Chapter 38: The Return
Notes:
*Happy Thanksgiving everyone, I hope you’re all staying safe out there and I really hope you can still have a safe and nice Thanksgiving. I know for many of us this is not what we expected so I hope this chapter can help.
*I also want to THANK YOU all, because of your overwhelming support this story is officially A YEAR OLD!!! Wow isn’t that incredible?! I never actually thought we’d get this far. Heck one of my editors had to point it out to me because I somehow didn’t even realize it.
I was kind of hoping we’d be further along the story by now but hey 37 chapters ain’t half bad.
*In celebration of this story’s one-year anniversary, Drag0n5on has put together another fantastical opening for us all that greatly reflects the story and what it’s gone through. So please enjoy it.
*IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT*
So along with the anniversary I also have a very important Announcement for everyone concerning the future of this story. I will actually be posting the Announcement as a separate post tomorrow so be on the lookout for it. In the Announcement I hope to address a great deal of things, both exciting and informative news, so be sure to check it out.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Lyrics
Scene
[OPENING THEME: inspired by original Ben Ten theme song]
A. It started when an alien device did what it did
a. Izuku looks down at the Omnitrix for the first time in curiosity and reaches out to it. The watch immediately latches onto his left wrist causing the teen to freak out.
B . It stuck itself upon his wrist with secrets that it hid
b. It goes through a few options before stopping on an alien. Curious Izuku presses down on the watch and is consumed in a flash of green.
C . Now he's got superpowers he's no ordinary kid
c. Slowly his body begins transforming turning him into Feedback.
D . He's De Ku
d. Feedback leaps at the slime villain to save Bakugou.
E . So if you see him you might be in for a big surprise
e. Izuku runs out of Baumann’s store having destroyed something again. Before changing to him covering his face as Ochaco and ML-E try to 'out cute' each other.
F . He'll turn into an alien before your very eyes
f. Izuku calls Henzu 'Henchan' causing the teen to yell at him before switching to Terraspin shouting as he retreats into his shell as All Might attacks him.
G . He's slimy, creepy, fast and strong
g. It shows Gang Orca holding his nose as he looks at Stinkfly, Thirteen yelling about how Buzzshocks are evil, The Ditto's arguing over Monopoly, Lode Star throws a ball as Aizawa watches.
H . He's every shape and size
h. Ripjaws begins flopping around the floor as Inko cries a river in the apartment.
I. He's De Ku
J . Armed with powers
j . Diamondhead and Ochaco jump forward and punch the screen
K . he's on the case
k . Rip Jaws, Tsuyu, and Koda's head appear above water as Mineta struggles to keep afloat.
L . Fighting off evil
l . XLR8 races against Tenya passing by Shoto who watches them.
M . from earth or space
m . Mina, Toru, Aoyama cheer as they ride a wave of Dittos
N . He'll never stop
n . Four Arms arm wrestles with Kirishima, Shoji, Tokoyami, and Sero
O . till he makes them pay
o . Jiro and Ojiro laugh as Denki short circuits in a competition against Buzzshock
P . 'Cause he's the baddest
p . Heatblasts creates twin flames that Momo and Sato use to make smores.
Q . kid to ever save day
q . Grey Matter runs for his life as a smiling Bakugou tries to blow him up.
R . De Ku
r . Izuku lands with his shield out and smiles.
S . (Instrumental)
s . It shows moments of Izuku's adventures so far. Izuku blocking a strike from Stain with his shield, colliding with Nue as Four Arms, countering Bakugou’s explosion with Water Hazard, Flying through Todoroki's ice as Big Chill launching diamonds at a charging Ochaco. The last scene is of him smiling as he slams his hand on the Omnitrix to transform.
T. (Ending Instrumental)
t . Izuku holds the Omnitrix up as he stands next to the title.
[Illustrated by Drag0n5on]
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It’s a calm, quiet morning, there’s birds out, the sun is shining, and the temperature is just perfect. The morning commute may have started but there appears to be no bustle or hustle as if everyone’s agreed that this morning should be perfect. There’s nothing to disturb the peace, no villain, no reckless drivers, nothing, absolutely nothing could ruin this perfect morning.
“GET OUT!!!”
A dumbfounded Ochaco Uraraka is booted right out of the agency building, tossed out to the curb like some kind of chump. “Ow!” She lands hard on her butt with her bag and costume case landing beside her. “What’s the big idea?!”
Gran Torino huffs, looking mightily annoyed. “Now go on, get!! I’ve had enough of you.”
“Wha?!”
“You’ve caused me nothing but trouble since you’ve arrived, so go! I’ve had enough.”
Ochaco pouts, grumbling. “Well hanging with you hasn’t exactly been a picnic either…”
Gran Torino scowls, and Ochaco matches his with her own. They glare at each other trying to force the other to back down. But their facades breakaway and they both break into fits of chuckling and laughter.
The chuckling Ochaco gets up, brushing herself off before turning to the pro hero. “But seriously. Thank you for everything, you did so much for me.”
Gran Torino smirks, puffing out his chest. “Yeah, I did, didn't I? I guess I’m just that great.”
Ochaco sweatdrops.
“But really your progress is your own.”
Ochaco lights up.
“You’ve learned to channel your Quirks properly, rather than relying on one big burst of power.” Suddenly Gran Torino snaps. “However, you must always remain calm and alert!” He jabs his staff towards her making her flinch. “Your power can be devastating if you become too distracted and unfocused the recoil could be serious! If you’re not careful you could even lose an arm.”
Ochaco stares down at her arm, wondering just what it would be like to deal with such a whiplash. Imagine it, her arm busted and broken after every attempt of using One For All, that just sounds terrifyingly painful.
“I’m sure you know this, but if you’re going to aim to become the greatest hero like All Might, then you’ve still got a heck of a lot to learn, girly, so keep at it.”
Said girl straightens up. “Yes, sir!”
Gran Torino nods approvingly before turning back towards his home. “See ya ‘round.”
“Wait!”
He turns around.
“Wait, I have a question!” Ochaco fidgets with her briefcase, unsure how to properly go about this without seeming inconsiderate, before bluntly asking her question. “You’re a really skilled pro, and you’ve trained the Number One Hero in the world yourself. So how come you’re not famous?”
The old man sweatdrops. “You’re a blunt one aren’t ya?” Despite the wording of her question, Gran Torino isn’t at all offended. “Oh, that’s an easy one. I was just never that interested in working as a pro hero.”
“Eh…?”
“There was a point in my past when I needed to be able to use my Quirk freely, without limits. That’s the only reason I got my license.” He turns back to her. “It might be better to hear this from Toshi-...All Might, I mean.” He corrects. “He can explain everything better than me.”
“Um, okay.”
“That’s it, kid. Keep workin’ hard.”
“Yes, sir!” She bows. “Thank you very much again.” She stands back up. “I’ll be going now. So, until we meet again.” She waves as she turns away to make her way to the station.
As she walks a devious idea pops into her mind, a well-timed idea. So with a mischievous smirk she yells back. “But don’t kick the bucket before then, old man!” She takes off running not sticking around so see the old man’s reaction.
“I’m gonna kick your ass!!”
Gran Torino fumes as the girl takes off, he could so easily catch her but why bother? He knows it was all in good fun.
And so he watches her off, as she sprints away. ‘So she’s the future, huh? She may not look or act like either of them, but she’s still just like them in so many ways.’ Gran Torino looks to the sky thinking about the previous holders of One For All. ‘Let’s you and me watch over her Toshinori. Until the day you pass on into history. Until the day that the hero “Uravity” is celebrated around the world as the new Symbol of Peace.’
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“Rahahaha!!” Fuka, the humanoid shark, leaps forward his jaws wide open to swallow up his prey in one gulp.
Feedback gasps and leaps away, resulting in Fuka’s jaws tearing into the ground. Fuka raises his head, a chunk of concrete lodged in his jaws.
Feedback snickers. “Looks like you bit off more than you can chew.”
This is not how he expected to start off his morning, the sun is warm, the breeze is calm, the boardwalk is empty, and the ocean is calm making it an overall peaceful setting.
Fuka roars. “I’m gone, chew your arms off!!”
So much for peaceful.
Feedback gets down, readying his conductor fingers for a counterattack when suddenly a horn-like lance nearly impales him. He swings his body aside as Ikkaku takes several jabs at him.
“Haha! En garde, Sir Midoriya!” Ikkaku stands firm, one hand behind his back as he thrusts his lance forward.
Feedback weaves and dodges the furious attacks as best as he can, his one eye tracing Ikkaku’s movements. After a moment he picks up on the pattern and so when Ikkaku goes in for another strike, Feedback’s tendril wraps around the lance, stretching down to the narwhal man’s arm. Pulling it tight, Feedback swings his body around, throwing Ikkaku aside.
He has no time to relax though as Tekka Maki bursts out from the sea like the mermaid she is and moving with the speed of a tuna she speeds right into Feedback’s side, her fins slicing into him, not enough to cut him but just enough to hurt. She’s so speedy that she ricochets herself off the ground and the side of the aquarium, slicing through the air and right into Feedback again, giggling all the way. “Kekeke! Fishy people like you don’t get to walk away. Kekeke.”
She speeds around, aiming right for the tall slender creature. Feedback sees it coming and at the last moment he jumps up and over Tekka Maki. With his body twirling in the air, he whips his tendrils down and they crack against the mermaid’s back, slamming her to the ground while also bringing an end to her attack.
Feedback grins. “You need to be whipped into shape.”
“Naw, ya have to.”
Feedback pales as he spins around to find the massive walrus-man, Kaizou, towering over him; his large blubbery body slowly descends down, his intention of crushing their target becoming clear.
But with his quick reflexes Feedback leaps away, and good thing too. Because Kaizou’s large heavy body shakes the ground as he delivers his attack.
“Y-you’re g-good.” Devil Fish takes his shot, his tentacles lashing forward. “B-but n-not that g-good.”
Feedback doesn’t hesitate, he meets Devil Fish’s tentacles with his own, the only difference being that his tendrils have a bit of a cheat to them. As the tentacles collide Feedback unleashes well a feedback, causing electricity to course through sidekicks.
“Wahhh!!” Devil Fish collapses, his body fried like calamari, as Feedback releases him.
Feedback grins. “No, I am just that good.”
“Don’t get cocky, shrimp.” Dholak swings his lance-like limb forward.
Feedback leaps away just as the lance impales the ground, smashing it to bits. “Watch it! You can poke someone’s eye out with that.”
Dholak smirks.” Yeah, yours.” He unleashes a barrage of lance-attacks. “Pincer Assault!”
Feedback glares back, unflinching. “Tendril Assault!!” He counters by mimicking Dholak’s own attack, his tendrils whipping about in furious fashion, meeting Dholak’s attack blow for blow!
Dholak snarls. “You damn, copycat!”
Feedback smirks. “Come now, don’t be so crabby.”
Dholak glares as he ends his assault.
Feedback’s grin widens as he examines his downed foes. “Hehe, looks like I win.” A terrifying chill runs down Feedback’s spine making him freeze up.
“Looks like I need to teach you humility.”
The pale Feedback tearfully and shakily turns around to face his doom.
Gang Orca’s piercing red gaze makes his blood freeze, there is no fight or flight like his instincts know there’s no point in resisting this top predator.
Gang Orca’s claws flex as he towers over the morphed boy, his cape billowing behind him making his form seem even large and more intimidating. “Now, tell me, which of us is on top of the food chain?”
Feedback’s knees quake under him. “Y-you a-are, b-b-boss.”
Gang Orca’s claw SLAMS down on Feedback’s head, throwing him to the ground!!
“Guhh, ow…” Feedback groans in anguish as Gang Orca towers over him.
The killer whale smirks as he glares down at the shrimp. “And don’t you forget it.”
With a flash of red light, Izuku Midoriya shakily wobbles to his feet, his head throbbing in pain. “Y-you g-got it, boss.” Izuku chuckles as he rubs his head, Gang Orca’s agency really does have a weird way of saying goodbye. “And thank you, for everything.”
Gang Orca nods as his sidekicks gather around them, pleased with the boy’s performance. Apparently, Gang Orca likes to test his interns on their way out, to see how far they’ve progressed. And it seems Izuku really has come far during his time with them.
“Haha, look at ya.” Fuka grins his jagged teeth gleaming in the sunlight. “Acting all dignified and shit, guess taking down the Hero Killer really boosted your ego, huh?”
Izuku becomes shy and embarrassed. “N-no! Not at all!”
“Pray tell, why not?!” inquires Ikkaku. “Don’t be so modest Sir Midoriya, your battle was victorious, do not sweep it to the wayside!”
Izuku looks away, his face red in embarrassment.
Tekka Maki snickers. “Kekeke, looks like the Rising Star is a little shy. Kekeke.”
Kaizou agrees. “Outrageously so! That there press conference was a real bad ya know.”
“Don’t remind me…” Izuku shivers at the memory, he was so scared and nervous during the police conference. Oh why did he have to speak?! At least the officers provided him with lines but still it was so nerve wracking!
Gang Orca takes notice of the boy’s discomfort. “Hey, shrimp.”
“Yes, boss?”
“I know you feel a bit put off by all this attention, but” He places his massive hand on the teen’s shoulder. "don't allow yourself to wallow in self-doubt. You don’t need to meet anyone’s expectations but your own. You understand?”
Izuku does, very much so. “Yes!”
“Good.”
Izuku turns to the rest of them, smiling in appreciation.
Ikkaku steps forward. “It was a true pleasure having you around, Sir Deku.”
Devil Fish waves shyly from the back. “T-take c-care.”
Kaizou shakes his flipper at the boy. “Don’ make our agency look bad ya hear?”
Izuku chuckles. “Wouldn’t dream of it.”
Fuka’s grin widens. “Next time we meet.” He slams his fists together. “I’m so going to tear you to shreds.”
“Looking forward to it.”
“Kekeke, it was fun having you!” cheers Tekka Maki. “Now don’t get into any more fishy business.”
“I’ll try.”
And now it’s Dholak’s turn, the fully healed crab-man steps forward, glaring at the boy who definitely glares right back, challenging him.
Izuku half expects the guy to take a jab at him, but instead he offers his hand. “It was a pleasure working with you, shrimp.”
Izuku looks to Dholak and back to his hand, before taking it. “Yeah, same.”
Finally, there’s one more to say goodbye to.
“Thank you for everything.” Izuku bows his head in the presence of Gang Orca. “You’ve shown me what it really takes to be a pro.”
Gang Orca huffs. “No need to thank me kid. You’ve already got what it takes to go pro, no doubt about it.”
Izuku’s smile widens as he straightens back up. “Well, I better be off.”
Gang Orca nods in agreement.
Izuku turns right around, gripping his bag and suitcase before marching off. Before he gets too far, he throws one last look towards the large aquarium and Gang Orca’s agency who all wave him off with good tidings.
He waves back, for one final goodbye.
And so as one chapter ends another begins, starting with the return to U.A. High.
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As one would expect it was finally time for the Hero Course students to return to U.A. Many of which were excited to get back to their friends and brag about their escapades and lessons they learned from their individual internships.
Unfortunately, not all of them can say they had a productive time.
“Hahaha!!” Both Hanta Sero and Eijiro Kirishima are dying of laughter, tears leaking from their eyes. “Holy crap! What the heck, Bakugou?!”
Katsuki Bakugou had just entered the class with the most unexpected hairdo imaginable, his hair is combed down all neat and tidy like some sort of pretty boy. “Stop laughing!” growls Bakugou, shaking with anger. “My hair’s gotten used to this and I can’t get it back the right way.” As it turns out Best Jeanist’s quite the stylist if he could tame even Bakugou’s wild spiky hair.
And the two morons can’t help to find the new hairdo hilarious.
“Did you not hear me? I’ll kill you both.”
Sero laughs. “I’d like to see ya try, pretty boy!”
“What’d you call me?!” Bakugou’s hair explodes out as he bursts into anger.
Both Kirishima and Sero burst into more fits of laughter. “Hey, there it goes!! Hahaha!!”
They’re not the only ones enjoying themselves, many other classmates are reminiscing about their internships.
Mina Ashido leans over Jiro’s desk, while Tsuyu sits nearby. “Awesome! You got to face actual villains? I’m super jealous!”
Kyoka Jiro twiddles her earphone jack around her finger, while looking up at Mina nonchalantly. “Well, I didn’t fight. All I did was help people evacuate and provide logistical support.”
“But it still sounds like so much fun.”
Asui Tsuyu ponders about her own experience. “I spent basically the whole-time training and cleaning the ship deck. Though, there was this one day we caught a bunch of drug smugglers.”
The two other girls become deadly serious. “Okay, now that’s cool.”
Tsuyu turns in her seat and points to another of their friends. “Yes, but I think hers was the coolest, kero. Right, Ochaco?”
Ochaco immediately goes pale, shooting out of her seat in a panic, yelping. “I didn’t fight!! You can’t prove a thing!!” Wait, woops, for some reason she thought Tsuyu was referring to her fight with Stain for a moment. But no one should know that she actually participated. She needs to fix this and quickly. “Oh, um, sorry, w-what were you saying?”
Tsuyu gives her a questioning look, but she shrugs figuring the girl may just be tired is all. “I was talking about how you fought that witch girl.”
Ochaco awes like she now understands.
Mina lights up. “Oh, yeah, I heard about that. Way to go girl! You kicked that chick’s ass!”
“Huh? Oh, yeah, I guess I did, didn’t I?”
Jiro smiles. “So, cool. I heard she became a spider monster or something.”
Ochaco nods excitedly. “Yeah, she did and-”
Off to the side Denki Kaminari and Minoru Mineta listen in, the former very impressed with Ochaco’s tales. “Man, just a few days into the internship and she was already kicking butt. Who knew she could be so hardcore?”
“Hardcore?” Mineta gives his friend a knowing smirk. “Don’t be fooled, Kaminari.” Suddenly Mineta’s entire demeanor goes dark, stricken by a sudden rush of bone chilling fear so much so he has a far-off look as he chews away at his fingernail. “All women are demons at heart. They just hide their true personalities behind pretty faces.”
“What the heck did Mt. Lady do to you?” Kaminari grabs his arm to snap him out of it. “Everyone at my internship loved me, it was actually kinda great.” The blonde smiles. “Now, if you wanna talk about who’s really hardcore, it was him.”
And just like that everyone’s attention turns to the resident enigma, Izuku, who was chatting away with Tenya Iida and Shoto Todoroki.
Sero, even while being manhandled by Bakugou, lights up. “Oh, yeah! The Hero Killer!”
Kirishima, also being manhandled, chimes in too. “Glad you guys made it back alive. Seriously.”
Momo Yaoyorozu approaches Izuku and the others. “I was worried about you, too.”
Rikido Sato looks to Tenya, Shoto and Ochaco. “Good thing Midoriya arrived when he did huh?”
Tooru Hagakure gushes. “So, cool! But I guess we should have expected it from U.A.’s “Rising Star.”
Mashirao Ojiro awes. “I still can’t get over the fact that you beat him even without your Quirk.”
Izuku tries to laugh it off, but it’s clear to anyone listening that he’s not exactly comfortable with the attention. Mainly because he still feels a bit of shame and regret that he can’t be sharing the credit with his friends, the ones that also took down Stain.
Shoto picks up on his friend’s discomfort, quickly cutting in to rectify it. “Yeah, that’s right.”
Everyone turns to him, especially a shaken Izuku.
Shoto meets Izuku’s eyes, and with full confidence he states. “He saved us.”
And not just from the Hero Killer, but for some of them, he saved them from their darkest of places. Shoto has always meant to thank Midoriya for what he did for him, for opening his eyes. Sure he may not actually want the credit but at least this way Shoto can feel like he’s giving something back.
Tsuyu turns back to the male greenette. “I’m curious. Midoriya, if you didn’t use One Man Army then how did you fight the Hero Killer exactly?”
Izuku begins to sweat nervously. “Oh, um…” Darn, what should he say? What sounds believable? “Oh! Because of my Omni-Shield!”
“You’re what, kero?”
“Oh, it’s my new support item, it’s a compatible shield.”
Sato’s jaw drops. “Woah, can we see?”
“Well it’s put away for now, but I’ll be sure to show you guys later.”
Hagakure shakes her head, impressed. “I still can’t believe it, pros couldn’t take the Hero Killer down, but Midoriya could.”
Ojiro nods. “It is something isn’t it?”
“That’s not all.” adds Mezo Shoji. “Didn’t you hear, he also saved an entire city from a terrorist.”
“What?!”
Mina overhears. “Damn I’m so jealous! Why does all the cool stuff happen to Midoriya?!”
Fumikage Tokoyami cups his chin in thought. “The Rising Star is surely living up to his title.”
Both Kaminari and Mineta groan. “Yeah, Rising Star my foot.”
Kaminari looks at his phone scrolling through social media with disdain. “He’s already got a fan club.”
Mineta scrolls through his too. “I bet there’s a lot of pretty girls part of it, too.”
They both shout out in irritation. “Dang it, Midoriya!”
Jiro laughs at their reactions. “Ha ha, guess you guys are green with envy.”
“You bet we are!!” They both shout.
The rest of the class join Jiro, laughing at the two’s expense, while Izuku tries to find some way out.
While most of the class is in good spirits there is at least one on the opposite spectrum. Bakugou watches on annoyed and angered by it all. Deku’s received so much praise. And he’s not sure what’s worse that he’s getting praised or that freaking Deku’s not accepting it at all.
Something else crosses Ojiro’s mind. “Did you guys hear the news about the Hero Killer?”
Everyone looks at him confused.
“Everyone’s been saying that he was somehow connected to the League of Villains. Can you imagine how frightening it would’ve been if that creep had been there when they attacked the U.S.J.?”
Many of their classmates quiver at the thought. The U.S.J. was already bad enough with the horde of villains and mutant monsters, throwing the Hero Killer into the mix would have been…catastrophic.
Kaminari, however, waves it off. “He’s scary, yeah. But did you see him in that weird video? It’s all over the internet.”
Ojiro frowns. “I didn’t even know there was a video of him.”
“Yeah.” Kaminari tries to recall what he can of said video. “Stain’s a pretty evil villain, but, like, super tenacious. He’s almost kinda cool dontcha guys think?”
“Kaminari!” yells Ochaco.
Kaminari looks at her all confused until his eyes drift over to Iida and only then does, he realizes how insensitive he was being, “Uh - Oh! Dude…” He covers his own mouth wishing he could take back what he just said.
Tenya shakes his head, somberly. “No, it’s okay. You’re fine.” He goes quiet, gripping shoulder, he can feel the scar lying underneath his shirt, a permanent reminder of his regrettable actions. “It is true that he’s quite a tenacious villain. I understand why people might think he was cool.”
Shoto, Izuku, and Ochaco listen on, unsure whether Iida was going to fall back into despair for a moment.
But they have no reason to worry as Tenya continues. “But instead of helping the world, his beliefs led him to cold-blooded murder. No matter his motives, killing cannot be condoned.” Tenya’s fist clenches. “To keep anyone else from suffering like me, well,” With sudden Class Rep energy, he chops his hand forward like a robot. “I promise I will strive to be the perfect hero!”
Ochaco, slides in, smiling cheerfully behind him. “Yeah!”
Izuku joins her. “Let’s do it!”
With support on his side, Tenya proclaims himself to the class. “It’s time for class to begin! Everyone, please take your seats!” He then begins to rant on and on about proper class procedures and such.
Tokoyami sweatdrops. “He’s back.”
Jiro glares at Kaminari while Tenya continues to rant. “This is your fault for talking about weird stuff.”
Kaminari pouts. “Sorry, I’m gonna keep my mouth shut.”
Tenya continues with his triad. ”-Class 1-A will ensure there is peace!”
Izuku watches Tenya rant on and on, not with a grimace of annoyance, but with a satisfied smile. Honestly, it’s great having their Class Rep back to normal. Things just didn’t seem right without him. ‘Way to go, Iida.’
Ochaco and Shoto are relieved as well, especially after everything that’s occurred.
“Hey, Uraraka.”
Ochaco blinks at the dual-haired teen. “Yeah?”
“Was that always there?” Shoto points towards the opposite end of the room.
Ochaco follows his finger to her desk of all things, no wait, it’s what’s behind her desk. There’s another desk right behind her own for some weird reason, “Why of course…wait, no, it wasn’t.” That’s strange why would there be a new desk there?
Meanwhile, Tenya is continuing with his rant. “Furthermore, I expect each and every one of you to-!”
Without warning the door slides open, and without missing a beat everyone scrambles for their seats, just before a sleep deprived individual strolls into the classroom.
“Morning, Class.” greets Shota Aizawa.
“Morning, Mr. Aizawa!” they respond.
“I hope each of you learned something valuable from your internships.” Aizawa examines each of them as if he could see their personal status changed. “Otherwise they were complete wastes of time.” His eyes land on the freckled face greenette. “But clearly some benefited more than others.”
Izuku quivers, becoming shy under the teacher’s gaze.
“Well done capturing the Hero Killer, Midoriya.”
Izuku gulps. “Um, thank you, sir.”
Aizawa nods in approval. “Glad to see the fame hasn’t gone to your head.”
Izuku laughs nervously in response. ‘I don’t think I’d ever let that happen.’ Hopefully.
As Aizawa makes it to the front podium, Ochaco nearly springs out of her seat with her arm raised. “Mr. Aizawa!”
“What is it, Uraraka?”
“Um, I was wondering, but why is this here?” She points to the desk behind her.
The rest of the class, predictably, spin around their seats and they too become baffled by the new additional desk.
“Ah, that.” Aizawa briefly checks the time. “He should be here by now.”
Ochaco blinks. ‘He…?’
“Whatever.” Aizawa addresses the class. “Class 1-A will be receiving a new student and they are-”
The door slides open once again and this time a different sleep deprived individual enters the room.
Almost immediately both Ochaco’s and Izuku’s eyes widen as they both spring out of their seats in surprise. “Shinso?!”
Yes, General Studies Hitoshi Shinso has just entered looking as reserved as ever.
Shinso grumbles at the sight of Izuku and Ochaco, rubbing his neck as he greets them. “Hey.”
The entire class is stunned, confused out of their minds. “WHAT’S GOING ON!?!”
Shinso stands by Class 1-A’s homeroom teacher as the class itself settles down.
Aizawa goes ahead and explains. “After his performance during the Sports Festival it was decided that Hitoshi Shinso would transfer up to Class 1-A.” More specifically after he, Shota Aizawa, saw what he was capable of during the competition. And so he personally fought for Shinso’s right to join Class 1-A. “But only after receiving special lessons.”
The class simultaneously tilt their heads to the side. “Special lessons…?”
“Shinso was far behind most of you, but I oversaw his training to ensure he was on par with you all.” And Aizawa is rather glad to say that Shinso performed quite well. He knew the boy was dedicated and it was a major help that he had already been training on his own far before the Sports Festival, the U.A. gym logs can prove as much. And as such Aizawa was able to fast forward his progress immensely since they could skip over most of the basics.
Shinso’s demeanor drops, and somehow, he looks even more sleep deprived. “It was hell…” His eyes drift over to Aizawa. “He was…” He shivers at the thought.
The students can all sympathize, personal training from Aizawa just sounds…exhausting. If that’s even the right word one would like to use.
Shinso quivers. “T-that All-American Dream Plan…was hell…”
Both Izuku and Ochaco snap in attention. “All-American…Dream Plan?!”
Aizawa confirms it with a nod. “Yeah, as it turns out All Might is very good at throwing a training regimen together.”
##########(Flashback)#########
Aizawa stares down at the ridiculously titled binder in his hands. The binder is thick, almost like a dictionary, filled with charts, graphs, and a fully detailed schedule: everything’s there from exercises, when to eat, and even bathroom breaks.
But even with all that Aizawa still has to ask. “What’s this?”
All Might beams at his coworker. “WHY IT’S THE TRAINING REGIMENT YOU ASK FOR.”
Aizawa eyes the title with disgust. “The All-American Dream Plan: the Patriot version?”
“YES. IT’S ACTUALLY THE THIRD ONE IN THE SERIES.”
“Excuse me?”
All Might gets all bashful, rubbing the back of his head. “EH. OH, I UH, ACTUALLY HAD TO WRITE OF A FEW OF THESE BEFORE.” Specifically for Thirteen and then again for his successor. “BUT THIS ONE IS MY BEST ONE YET. EFFICIENT WORKOUTS, PERFECT DISTRIBUTION OF BREAKS, AND THE PERFECT DIET PLAN COURTESY OF LUNCH-RUSH!” All Might is brimming with pride, glowing like he’s accomplished a great feat. “DARE I SAY IT BUT THIS MAY BE MY BEST WORK YET. ANYONE WHO TRAINS UNDER THESE CONDITIONS WILL SURELY BE HERO WORTHY IN NO TIME!”
########(End Flashback)#######
“And there you have it.” states Aizawa. “As of today, Hitoshi Shinso, will be Class 1-A’s twenty-first student.” He turns to number twenty-one. “Go ahead and greet everyone.”
Shinso is hesitant, observing his new classmates warily. “I know I’ve already encountered many of you at the Sports Festival, but you won’t catch me thinking that we’re all buddies now that we’ve exchanged blows.” He eyes his old teammates: Izuku, Jiro, and Tsuyu. “I’m not some good-natured person trying to tout a superficial sense of sportsmanship. The fact of the matter is, I’ve gotten a late start and I’ve already been left in the dust by hundreds of steps by you all.” That’s right, he can’t afford to relax, he may have made it into the Hero Course like he said but that doesn’t mean he should get complacent. “I’m sorry, but I’m desperate.”
Izuku understands, more than he can say, but he gets it. It’s like Shinso said way back when, everyone in the Hero Course was “blessed” with a Quirk, a heroic Quirk. He probably still feels a bit insecure and put off by everyone now that he is here. Hopefully Shinso can show them all that he does in fact belong here.
And it seems Shinso believes the same thing. “I will become a great hero so that I can use my Quirk to help others.” His eyes narrow. “All of you are distractions that I must overcome. I have no intention of making friends.”
Some of the students shiver under his intense gaze
Jiro eyes him warily. “That’s quite the glare.”
Tokoyami frowns. “Things are getting tense.”
Sero chuckles and looks to Shoto. “It’s like I’m looking at another Todoroki.”
Shoto blinks. “You think?”
“Yep.”
Bakugou smirks. “Finally, someone gets it.”
Shinso’s eyes cast over them all before they land towards the window side of the classroom. He’s taken back as his eyes land on a certain greenette.
Izuku, unlike the others, is beaming, looking absolutely thrilled to have Shinso here; like a child who’s going to have a sleepover with his best friend. But who can blame him, he’s just so proud and happy for Shinso, he’s finally going to live out his own dream of becoming a hero. Something he can relate to.
Shinso looks away, trying to pretend he didn’t see that.
Aizawa is also trying to ignore Izuku's blinding smile. “Take your seat.”
“Right.”
Shinso makes his way towards the back of the class, as he does, he inevitably has to pass the very person who beat him in the Tournament.
Ochaco smiles up at the reversed boy as he passes by. “And just like that, Class 1-A’s become a whole lot more interesting.”
Shinso ignores her, taking his seat.
Ochaco spins around and flashes him a smile. “Welcome to the Hero Course.”
Shinso is hesitant but then a small smile forms on his face. “Yeah, good to finally be here.”
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“I AM HERE!” Proclaims the one and only All Might while addressing Class 1-A. “HOPE YOU’RE READY TO RETURN TO OUR LESSONS. TODAY IT’S HERO BASIC TRAINING. FEELS LIKE I HAVEN’T SEEN YOU IN A WHILE, WELCOME BACK.”
The fully costumed Class 1-A smile up at their teacher, they had just gathered just outside a training facility.
“AND I’D LIKE TO WELCOME THE NEWEST MEMBER OF YOUR FINE GROUP.” All Might holds a big hand out towards the newest member. “YOUNG SHINSO, WELCOME!”
Shinso gives a curt nod in greeting while gripping the cloth around his neck.
Shinso’s hero costume isn’t exactly ready, for now he’s wearing the standard U.A. PE uniform. However that doesn’t mean he came unprepared. In addition to the uniform, he’s wearing a detachable mask-like device over his mouth. But what’s really catching the students’ eyes is the binding cloth he’s wearing, the same one owned by their very own homeroom teacher.
“I HEARD FINE THINGS ABOUT YOU YOUNG MAN. ERASERHEAD SAID YOU PERFORMED THE ALL-AMERICAN DREAM PLAN SWIMMINGLY.”
Shinso shivers, as horrid memories resurface in his mind.
Izuku and Ochaco’s heart go out for the boy. ‘I feel your pain…’ They each had their own versions of the All-American Dream Plan too after all, so they understand.
“NOW THEN, LET’S GET TO IT SHALL WE?” All Might’s signature grin widens. “LISTEN CAREFULLY FOR WHAT’S IN STORE. WE’RE GOING TO BE CONDUCTING A LITTLE RACE. TAKE EVERYTHING YOU’VE LEARNED FROM YOUR INTERNSHIPS AND APPLY IT TO THIS RESCUE TRAINING.”
Tenya’s hand shoots up, he too is wearing the U.A. uniform; his actual costume is still going under repairs. “If it’s rescue training, then shouldn’t we be at the U.S.J. instead?”
“AH, THAT FACILITY SPECIALIZES IN DISASTERS. AS I SAID, EARLIER, THIS IS A RACE. SO PREPARE! YOU’RE ABOUT TO STEP INTO FIELD GAMMA!”
Field Gamma consists of an industrial site compiled by many factories that form a labyrinth. The labyrinth contains tons of heavy machinery including cranes and pipelines.
“INSIDE IS AN AREA FULL OF FACTORIES THAT FORM AN INTRICATE LABYRINTH, SO GOOD LUCK FINDING YOUR WAY AROUND.” continues the Symbol of Peace. “YOU’LL BE COMPETING IN GROUPS OF SEVEN. EACH PERSON STARTS FROM A DIFFERENT LOCATION ON THE OUTSKIRTS OF THE MODEL CITY. I’LL SEND A DISTRESS SIGNAL, AND YOU DO WHAT YOU MUST TO GET TO ME. WHOEVER GRABS ME FIRST WINS!” However there is a twist. “IN THIS EXERCISE IT’S PERFECTLY ACCEPTABLE TO TRY AND HINDER YOUR OPPONENTS’ MOVEMENTS.” The students might as well get some combat training in too, while they’re at it. “BUT TRY TO KEEP THE PROPERTY AND BODILY DAMAGE TO A BARE MINIMUM, PLEASE.” He points his large finger towards a certain mad bomber.
Bakugou scowls, looking away in spite. “Why’re you pointing at me?”
Everyone snickers at his expense.
“ALL RIGHT. FIRST GROUP, GET TO YOUR PLACES!”
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
Izuku takes his position within the maze at the same time Ojiro and Tenya arrive at their individual starting points.
The rest of Class 1-A can see them through the giant monitor. The entire field is riddled with cameras allowing the students to be monitored one hundred percent of the time.
Kaminari eyes Iida with concern. “Iida hasn’t completely recovered yet, right? He should sit this out.”
The screen changes to display Mina and Sero from their individual starting points.
Kirishima awes at the entire group of competitors. “Man everyone in this group has really good mobility.”
The screen changes again to Ochaco and Shinso, the latter adjusting his mask over his mouth.
Yaoyorozu is seated nearby besides Jiro. “Huh, I’d say Shinso is at the heavy disadvantage against those six.”
Jiro agrees. “That’s what I think. He can’t exactly use his Quirk to move around like at all, so it must not be one of his strong suits.”
“What about Ochaco?” questions Hagakure. “She’s fast but…”
Yaoyorozu frowns. “Yes, her power is too much. She pushes her body too far, possibly injuring herself.”
Shoto stands closer to the back of the pack, listening in. And he can’t help but feel like his classmates will be in for quite the surprise.
A grinning Kirishima elbows Kaminari. “Who’s your pick? I’m bettin’ on Sero.”
Kaminari smirks. “Oh, yeah? I got odds on Ojiro.”
Mineta chimes in. “I choose Ashido. ‘Cause she’s got a super athletic body.”
Bakugou growls from the back. “I know Deku will be last.”
“Yeah, right.” chides Kirishima; “Like he’d ever place in dead last.”
Tsuyu isn’t too sure. “You never know. It may just be me, but I don’t think Midoriya’s powers always work out the way he wants them too.” There have been a few times during exercises that he’s tried and failed to call up the right one. There was one Hero Training Day where he tried to wrestle Kirishima as Grey Matter…it went as well as you would think.
Kaminari waves her off. “Yeah, but all he’s got to do is use that speedy lizard of his to win.”
Jiro is quick to retort, taking Tsuyu’s point. “But if he messes up and becomes that cloning guy or something then there’s no way he can win.”
Hagakure cups her chin. “Even if he’s still recovering, I think Iida’s got this one.”
Kirishima grins over towards the back of the group. “What about you Todoroki?”
Shoto ponders the question for a moment. “Tenya may be injured but I’m sure he’s more than ready to give this his all.” Fair point, if this morning has shown anything, Iida is more than ready to get things back to how they should “Uraraka’s determined and a fast learner so I have no doubt she'll be a competitor. And as for Midoriya, well…he’s very resourceful.”
“Well said, dude.”
‘However.’ Shoto eyes the screen as Shinso prepares himself for the race. ‘We have yet to see what he can do.’
The screen changes to a zoomed into shot of All Might’s beaming grin. “IS EVERYONE READY? BEGIN!”
With a click of a button a horn blares across the Field Gamma, and the contestants take off!
Sero’s tape wraps around a pipe and uses it to swing himself up and around the pipes and factories.
Elsewhere in the maze, Mina secrets acid from her feet and uses it to slide across the large pipes like a skater.
Ojiro’s off too, using his tail as a spring.
And of course Tenya’s making use of his Engine Quirk.
And the rest of Class 1-A can watch it all unfold thanks to the giant monitor.
Kirishima grins. “Look at ‘im go!” He cheers as Sero takes the lead. “In a maze like this, it makes sense to be above everything else.”
Shoji agrees. “So that means Sero’s at an advantage because he can take to the sky.”
Tokoyami nods in agreement while Koji Koda looks on worriedly as the race really starts to get going.
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
Sero leaps and over the pipes like a friendly neighborhood slinger. “It’s like this course was built with me in mind.”
*Sniff.*
His nose catches a whiff of something. “Guh?! What is that smell?!”
A smelly figure buzzes past the green-faced human.
“Sorry, Sero!” calls Stinkfly as he takes the lead. “But I’ve got a race to win!!”
Sero gasps. “What, no way?!”
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
The rest of Class 1-A are just as surprised as Sero. “Whoa, Midoriya?!”
Kaminari gawks. “Since when could he fly or even become a giant fly?!”
Jiro raises an eyebrow. “I wonder when he got that one.”
Mineta groans in agony. “Sheesh, it’s not enough he beat the Hero Killer and saved a city, but now he has even more powers.” Mineta is so jealous he could cry. “Is there no end to his luck?”
Shoto’s eyes narrow, curiously. He did have to wonder, how does Midoriya’s quirk work exactly?
Meanwhile, Bakugou is probably the most shocked out of them all. His face riddles in horrid shock as he watches Deku, freaking Deku, fly through the air. ‘While I spent my time getting groomed at that useless internship he... Look at him!’ His teeth grind together, and his fist clenches. ‘Dammit!’ He’s being left behind.
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
Stinkfly continues to fly his way over all of the obstacles, making this a challenge for him.
While using her acid to create foot holes to climb, Mina spots the bug-creature fly overhead and she instantly recognizes that weird green hourglass symbol. “Midoriya?! Are you kidding me?!”
Ojiro wraps his tail around a pipe, coming to a stop. “Seriously?” He gets a whiff and goes green. “Yuk, what is that smell?”
Stinkfly chuckles as he flies past them. “Hehehe. That’s the smell of victory!!”
“Oh, I don’t think so!” shouts a very bubbly yet determined individual.
Stinkfly’s eyestalks wheel around his head, widen in surprise just before he ducks down; right before a pink energy sphere whizzes past him.
Taking another look confirms his suspicions, Ochaco is flying through the air right behind him!!
The others can see it too,
Mina yells out in surprise. “HER TOO!?!”
“BUT SHE DOESN’T EVEN HAVE WINGS!!” adds an equally shocked Ojiro.
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
Watching from afar, All Might’s smile threatens to break in astonishment. He’d never imagine he’d witness his own successor flying through the air like a super being!
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
“What in the world?!” cry Class 1-A.
“She’s flying!” shouts Sato. “She’s actually flying! But how?!”
Tsuyu has a theory. “She must have made herself weightless and used that new support item of hers. I saw her put it on in the locker room. I think she called it the Gyro-Disc or something.”
Kirishima grins sheepishly. “Man…”
Kaminari frowns, cupping his chin. “I need gear like that.”
They watch as Stinkfly evades Ryou Sphere after Ryou Sphere, courtesy of the pursuing Ochaco.
Jiro frowns. “How’s she doing that? Did her Quirk evolve or something?”
Hagakure awes. “Wow! Those spheres are so pretty.”
On screen, one of the spheres collides with a line of pipes, exploding on impact.
“And powerful…”
Shoto finally speaks up and explains what he knows. “According to her, it’s a new technique she developed based off her Zero-Gravity Field.” He knows this because they had a lot of time to chat while stuck in the hospital. “Apparently she can now concentrate and focus part of her power to her hands and release in what she calls Ryou Spheres.”
The class is in awe, astounded by the news, before they turn their attention back to the massive screen.
Yaoyorozu can’t take her eyes off the screen, as their classmates compete against one another. “Both of them are so amazing.” Her hand clenches. “Clearly their internships were well worth it.”
Jiro nods. “Yeah, but it’s still too early to call it.”
Bakugou’s eyes widened in horrid shock. ‘Her too!’ Bad enough when it was Deku but her as well?! ‘Dammit!!’
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
“Hey, buzz off will ya?!” growls Stinkfly as he dodges more Ryou Spheres.
“No way!” shouts Ochaco. “I wanna win this, too!”
Stinkfly scowls but one of his eyes catches something down below, the target, All Might. “Hehe, sorry to disappoint.” He dive bombs down towards the pro hero/teacher. “But victory is-”
Before Stinkfly could get one of his grubby hands on All Might, the Number One Hero leaps up and out of the way with a hearty laugh. “HAHAHAHA!”
“Wahh!!” Stinkfly screams, he was moving too fast, and with nothing to stop him he ends up crash landing onto the platform!
“Deku?!” Uraraka comes to halt, hovering in the air above the squashed bug. “Are you alright?”
Stinkfly pries his face off the ground. “Yeah, I'm okay.”
“HAHAHA!!”
Stinkfly glares up at All Might. “Hey why’d you move?!”
“WHY WOULDN’T I?’ taunts All Might. “I NEVER SAID I WAS GOING TO JUST STAND STILL DID I?”
Both the space cadets cry out in defiance. “WHAT!?!”
Stinkfly is in denial. “But I thought this was rescue training.”
“IT IS, BUT ALSO…CAPTURE TRAINING!” Heroes must be able to locate a missing person, but they must also be able to track down a fleeing enemy. “I TOLD YOU ALL AT THE BEGINNING THAT THE FIRST ONE TO GRAB ME WOULD BE THE WINNER.” He waves a finger at them. “REMEMBER KIDS THIS IS U.A. WE TEACHERS STRIVE TO CHALLENGE YOU MENTALLY AND PHYSICALLY.” His grin turns dark and foreboding. “YOU DIDN’T REALLY THINK THINGS WOULD BE THIS SIMPLE DID YOU?”
Stinkfly and Ochaco scowl, determined to win.
All Might’s grin widens, smugly. “COME NOW. CATCH ME IF YOU CAN.”
Without waiting he leaps up and away taking off in a run.
“After him!!” Stinkfly and Ochaco fly off after him, he may be moving fast but he’s definitely not moving at full speed, probably to give the students an actual fighting chance.
“Dibs!” shouts Ochaco as she races forward.
“Hey!”
Before he gets too far away, Ochaco fires off a pair of Ryou Spheres towards her mentor.
All Might however twirls his body up into the air, allowing the spheres to fly past. “HAHA! I’M LOVING THIS NEW TRICK.” The moment his feet hit the ground he pivots, changing directions. “BUT TRY SOMETHING ELSE.”
Ochaco scowls, shaking her fists in a tantrum.
“My turn!!” Stinkfly races past her, with his insect wings giving their all he’s soon flying right above the fleeing target. “Special Move: NICKELODEON!!!”
With all four of his eyestalks, Stinkfly unleashes a wave of sticky green slime that comes crashing down on the unexpecting hero.
The wave sloshes and drenches All Might, who tries to keep running forward, but he quickly finds himself glued in place. “OH, MY.”
Stinkfly dive bombs. “Hehe guess you found yourself in a pretty sticky situation. Huh, All Might?”
“YOU THINK SO?” With his wide grin remaining steadfast, All Might begins to spin and spin, faster and faster like a top, bits of slime break away, splashing off of him. And then he comes to a stop, and with one last flex of his bulging muscles, the slime is ripped away, freeing him. “OH, MY I THINK THAT SLIME DID WONDERS FOR MY COMPLECTION. HAHAHA!” He takes off in a full sprint just as Stinkfly slams into the ground.
Ochaco swoops down and nearly rams into Stinkfly’s head, as if to taunt him. Stinkfly scowls before continuing with the pursuit.
The two cadets compete for first place, it’s a seesaw of one gaining the lead only for the other to take it back. Soon they’re both just a few feet away from claiming victory, just one touch to All Might’s back and one of them will be the winner. They're so close, nothing could possibly get in the way now.
*TWIP!!!*
A string of tape zips across their path and BLAM Stinkfly and Ochaco are clotheslined by the surprisingly strong adhesive.
“Ahh!” Ochaco screams, her Gyro-Disc spinning her around in the air until she crashes down somewhere out of sight.
As for Stinkfly, well, he ended up slamming hard into the ground. “Ow…”
“Yeah!” With tape lashed out of his elbow, Sero swings by with a smug grin.
“Sero!” Stinkfly shakes his fist at his classmate.
On cue a string of tape fires down and tangles itself around Stinkfly’s wings. “My wings!!”
Sero’s grin widens as he swings away. “Haha! That’s payback for the Sports Festival, Midoriya!”
As Stinkfly tries to free himself, Mina slides on by. “Thanks for leading that way guys!”
Ojiro bounces by on his tail, too. “Yeah, easy to follow you when you smell like a dumpster.”
“I don’t smell that bad!!” shouts Stinkfly. “I’m just strong odored.”
He’s wasting time as Tenya also races by, his Engines roaring. “Hurry it up, Midoriya!!”
Ochaco gets up and takes off, which goes unnoticed by the Lepidopterran.
“Wait for me!” cries the morphed Izuku as he struggles to free himself from his sticky binds.
Much to his surprise, Ochaco’s very distinct voice calls out to him from the side. “Need some help?”
Stinkfly nods. “Uraraka? Yeah, that would be- …” He goes quiet, his eyes glazing over, as if some sort of trance has come over him.
A new arrival approaches, a superior smirk forming on their face.
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
“I still got a chance to win this!” shouts a confident Sero as he fires out a string of tape, aimed right for All Might.
But of course the Symbol of Peace will not be caught so easily, as he speeds up, away from the tape.
With his chance missed, Mina takes her shot and pounces. “Ah ha!!”
While in a full-on sprint All Might falls to his knees, sliding across the ground while Mina soars right over him.
She crashes into a pile of pipes. “Dang it!”
Near the end of the pack Ojiro and Tenya race side by side.
The tailed-boy smiles impressed by All Might’s skill. “He’s too quick.”
Tenya has no reason to disagree. “As to be expected of the Number One pro.”
Flying overhead of them both, Ochaco frowns in contemplation. ‘The Number One Hero.’ The impossible goal she’s now chasing. It’s almost fitting, that’s now her goal and right now she’s literally chasing after the one that holds that very title. But she knows she can do this, she has to.
Before she can speed up, a foul odor breezes past her nose, making her gag.
And it seems she’s not the only one that’s noticed the stench.
“Guh?!” cries Sero. “Midoriya’s back already?”
Ochaco spins around and sure enough there’s Deku, flying quickly and all too soon he speeds right past her like a blur. “Get back here, Deku!”
There’s no reply, no retort, not even a lackluster pun in response. Ochaco’s eyes narrow at Stinkfly’s speeding form, and that’s when she notices something interesting. ‘Wait, is that.’
Stinkfly races past the rest of his classmates, taking the lead. All Might briefly takes a look, and not only does he see the giant bug but a thin cloth whipping towards him.
All Might side steps allowing the cloth to brush past, giving him a chance to examine it. ‘WHY THAT’S-’ He peers back to his pursuer one more time. ‘YOUNG SHINO’S!!’
Hitoshi Shinso is seated atop Stinkfly’s back, like a dark crusader atop a flying beast; a flying beast with a dazed and unfocused look in its eyes.
While still running, Mina whines with envy. “That’s so not fair!!”
Sero scowls at Shinso. “I’m not going to let you steal this win!” He fires a lash of tape not at All Might, but towards the Brainwasher.
Without batting an eye Shinso counters by whipping his Binding Cloth at the tape, knocking it away. “Midoriya, slime him!”
At his master’s whim, Stinkfly’s eyes swing around and fire a barrage of slime at Sero. Sero tries to dodge the slime balls, but one gets lucky, striking his arm, flinging him back and sticking him to a nearby wall. “Guh, gross!”
Shinso smirks, as he speeds away on his insect-like Yoshi.
Ochaco races overhead. ‘If I can hit Deku then I can break Shinso’s Brainwashing!’ She dives down, her fist ready to snap Deku out of his trance.
Before she can get closer Shinso throws his capture weapon out, it wraps around her arm, and with a mighty pull he swings her away, slamming her against a massive pipeline.
The tranced Stinkfly comes to a stop, hovering in place as Shinso glares down at Ochaco. “Like I said before, I’m desperate to catch up.” He grips his Binding Cloth. “So I’ll do what I must to win this.”
Ochaco grimaces in pain, before throwing up a challenging smirk. “So, will I.”
Shinso nods, and with a quick command Stinkfly races off, leaving her behind.
While they chatted away, both Ojiro and Tenya managed to gain the lead, both right on All Might’s tail.
Soon they can hear the buzz of Stinkfly’s wings growing closer and closer.
Ojiro leaps forward. “Dang, they’re catching up!”
“We better end this quickly.” responds Tenya before speeding up.
“Hey guys wait for me!” Mina’s voice calls out from behind them. “Don’t leave me behind! Just what kind of Class Rep. would leave someone behind?”
That instantly gets to Tenya, he shall never dishonor his position, and as such he wheels around, his hand chopping in the air. “Never fear I shall-...” He stops dead in his tracks, his eyes glazing over as Shinso’s Brainwashing takes hold.
Ojiro gasps as he continues to leap forward. “Iida?!”
Mina’s voice goes dark and slowly transfers. “Go ahead Class Rep.” Mina’s voice soon becomes static in nature before turning into a more reserved tone of voice. “Stop that monkey.”
A Brainwashed Tenya speeds after Ojiro, catching up to him in no time, he throws his body into the tailed teen, tackling him. They both go tumbling, slamming down onto the ground.
“Ow! What the heck, man?!” whines the downed Ojiro.
Tenya springs up, his trance broken. “What just happened?!”
Ochaco races past them her eyes narrowing with suspicion. ‘He disguised his voice?! How?!’ She takes note of the high-tech mask around Shino’s maw. ‘That item…it must be some kind of voice changer!!’
Shinso is very grateful for it and to the U.A. Support Course, namely Mei Hatsume, was so eager to make it for him.
As the wind whips in his hair, and his stead buzzes through the air, Shinso takes a moment and grips his Capture Scarf, his eyes trained on his goal. ‘I’ve worked through hell to be here; I gave it all that I got. I’ll show them all that I’m meant to be here, without a doubt.’ He readies the Binding Cloth as Stinkfly gets him closer and closer to All Might.
As they approach Shinso casts his eyes downward, towards the morphed Midoriya. ‘This is just like back then, you helped me out then too.’ But unlike last time this is no team event.
And so with his own will to succeed driving him, Shinso leans back and shouts out his final order. “Midoriya! Throw me!!”
Without skipping a beat, Stinkfly wheels his body forward and uses his tail as a catapult to throw Shinso forward. Shinso leaps forward, the Binding Cloth in hand, and his eyes trained on All Might as he soars through the air.
All Might turns around just in time to witness the cloth being whipped towards him.
Soon the others catch up, but they all come to a screeching halt at the sight before them.
All Might stands stock stile, his hands on his hips and his wide grin ever present, while the Capture Scarf is wrapped around his head and a much smaller Shinso dangles off the side. In all it looks rather ridiculous, but even so the results are clear.
“AND IT’S OVER!!”
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A brief moment later, All Might goes ahead and leads everyone to a platform, overlooking Field Gamma. In his hands he presents a ceremonial banner that reads “Thanks for saving/capturing me.”
All Might’s smile widens with pride as he presents it. “THANKS, HERO! AND CONGRATULATIONS!”
Shinso actually goes ahead and dons the ridiculous banner, and one could almost see bright celebratory lights emitting around him, but it’s quite hard to gauge his reaction; his mask covering the hidden smile underneath.
Ochaco can see it, however, not even remotely upset that she failed the training.
At least she can walk away in good spirits, because the others sure aren’t.
Ojiro is exhausted after hauling ass the whole time.
Mina is stomping her foot, throwing a fit over the loss. “Huh, Darn it!”
And Sero’s hunched over, out of breath and frustrated. “I really thought I had this one.”
Meanwhile, Tenya is seeing to a downtrodden Izuku. “Midoriya. Uh, you’re okay, right?”
Izuku has fallen to his knees, his head hanging low in shame of the loss. “I…came in last…” His teary eyes peer up towards the winner. “You left me behind…Shinso…”
After throwing Shinso, the others passed him up as he stopped racing all together, without Shinso’s command he had no initiative to compete, and thus he came in dead last as a result.
Shinso throws the greenette a smirk. “Not my fault you fell for a logical ruse.”
Izuku whimpers in defeat as they all line up to be addressed by the pro hero.
Ochaco smiles at Shinso. ‘He really was trained by Aizawa wasn’t he?’ She observes everyone else, taking note at just how hard they all competed. ‘I almost won too, though. But almost isn’t good enough. I may have better control over my Quirks, but I still need to get better. It’s like Gran Torino said I still have a lot to learn.’
All Might grins down at them. “YOUNG SHINSO MAY HAVE COME IN FIRST, BUT COMPARED TO THE START OF THE YEAR, YOU ALL SHOWED ME SOME INCREDIBLE IMPROVEMENTS. KEEP WORKING AND PREPARING FOR WHATEVER ELSE U.A. WILL THROW AT YOU.”
The students stand at attention and respond. “Sir!”
“GROUP ONE, LEAVE THE FIELD. YOU’RE UP, GROUP TWO!”
And with their new marching orders, the students make their way off the field.
Ochaco follows at the back of the pack, but before she gets too far All Might intercepts her path, trying his best to look subtle. “YOU SURPRISED ME. THAT WAS INCREDIBLE.” He turns away, before anyone can get suspicious, but he does throw her a big thumbs up. “FIND ME AFTER CLASS. WE NEED TO TALK.”
Ochaco blinks up at him. “Um… Yes, sir.”
“THE TIME HAS COME FOR ME TO TELL YOU THE WHOLE TRUTH. ABOUT ME. AND ONE FOR ALL.”
Ochaco’s breath hitches, straightening up when she realizes just how important this might actually be.
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Soon the training all comes to an end, and the students get ready for the rest of the school day within their respective locker rooms.
Sato throws on a shirt as the others all change into their uniforms as well. “Ah, that was some tough training today, huh?”
Yuga Aoyama wipes away the sweat from his brow. “It’s the first class in a while that had me glistening.”
Kirishima removes one of his costume’s arm guards. “Man, I really gotta work on my mobility.”
“You could also compensate by improving other skills.” suggests Tokoyami as he puts on his tie.
Kaminari smiles sheepishly. “Still wish I could use my Quirk for speed.” He looks towards the others. “I’m jealous of guys like you and Sero.”
Sero raises an eyebrow. “Jealous of me? Well I’m jealous of him.” He casts a stink eye over at Midoriya.
Izuku stops removing his Omni-Shield, blinking at Sero. “What me?”
“Yes, you.” Sero’s glare intensifies. “Just what was with that giant bug, thing?” He pinches his nose as if he can still smell it. “And why did you smell like a dumpster fire?”
Izuku lights up, despite the insult. “I call that transformation, Stinkfly. Cool, huh?” He sure thinks so.
“Cool is not the word I would use.”
“What?! But why not? Sure the smell is pretty bad but Stinkfly can fly, he’s got a stinger that can tear through metal, oh and he spits out a sticky slime!” Izuku grips his Omnitrix and begins dialing away. “Here I’ll show you.”
Instantly Ojiro, Sero, and Tenya jump in and grab Izuku’s arms, restraining him. “NO!!!”
Tenya looks him right in the eye as they keep his arms far apart. “I’m sorry Midoriya, but…” His completion turns green. “I can’t bare to stomach that stench.” A single tear leaks out of his eye. “Don’t let the others suffer a similar fate.”
“You guys are so mean!!”
“Hey now, lay off the guy.” defends Kirishima. “Besides he didn’t even win. Just remember a non-speedster actually won the first race after all.”
Kaminari grins. “Oh, yeah.”
And they all look over towards said winner, Shinso.
Sato throws the Brainwasher a thumbs up. “What you did was mind blowing.”
Tokoyami approaches the new addition as well. “Indeed, you were able to compete with the likes of Midoriya and Uraraka, most impressive.” Especially when you consider that they both ranked in the top three of the Sports Festival.
Shinso is…taken back, to put it lightly. This is odd for him, usually others would avoid or ridicule him for his Quirk but…these Class 1-A guys-no, his new classmates seem genuinely open to him already. It almost seems too good to be true.
Kirishima approaches, throwing Shinso a wide shark-toothed grin, “I know you’re not one for friends, but let’s try and get along all the same!” He offers his hand in greeting. “It’s a pleasure to have ya around!”
“Uh, thanks for having me…” Shinso hesitantly takes Kirishima's hand, shaking it.
Kaminari leans in, smirking up at Shinso as he inspects him. “You’ve got the face of a popular guy. I bet you’re popular with the ladies, yea? Trust me I can tell.”
“Uh, thanks…”
Others soon join in, wanting to get to know their new classmate even more.
Ojiro’s tail wags behind him. “Seriously, you’re good with that capture scarf, too.”
Sero nods. “Did Aizawa have one lying around or did you ask for it?”
Kirishima grins. “You’re Quirk is so cool! You can like stop a robbery with one word.”
Tokoyami nods. “A dangerous yet formidable Quirk to be sure.”
Aoyama twinkles. “You’re not very flashy, but you’re certainly glamorous in your own right.”
Shinso backs away, unsure of all the attention, but…a small smile slowly creeps on his face. As if he’s starting to accept the fact that these people, his classmates aren’t going to cast him off just because of his Quirk.
Izuku watches on from the side, a smile on his face. He’s honestly glad for Shinso, not just for making it into the Hero Course but for the opportunity to meet others that won’t reject him. “Hey, Shinso.”
Shinso turns his attention to Izuku.
“How’d you disguise your voice like you did?”
The others quiet down, clearly, they all want to know too. Even Shoto and Bakugou stop what they’re doing to listen in.
Shinso goes ahead and provides an answer, figuring they’ll just bother him until they get it anyway. “My voice changer.” He picks up his mask.
“Artificial Vocal Cords: “Persona Code” a mask with the ability to change the sound of one’s voice.” He opens up the mask, showing them all the inside. “When my voice goes into the mic and amplifier it loses its effectiveness.” Something about it becoming an electrical signal or something like that. “I can use it to change how my voice sounds and resonates in a number of different ways, then directly emit the sound from the mask.”
Izuku cups his chin as his eyes sparkle in amazement. “So it really is a voice changer?!”
Kaminari is just as excited. “That’s so cool!” A brilliant idea pops into his head. “Wait, so you can mimic anyone’s voice with that?”
Shinso hesitantly nods his head. “Yeah.”
Kaminari grins as he leans in and whispers something into Shinso’s ear. After asking his question, Kaminari backs off and awaits Shinso’s answer.
“Um, sure?” Shinso seems unsure as he puts on his Persona Cords.
He plays around with the dials, adjusting it, until he gets it to where he wants it. He coughs, clearing his throat before addressing the others. And then he shoots up, and All Might’s voice rings out. “I AM HERE!!”
The entire locker room is stone quiet, surprised and put off by the sudden impression.
But Kaminari, Kirishima, and Sero can't hold back, they burst into fits of laughter. “Hahahahaha!!”
Shinso continues, adjusting the Persona Cords again until his voice sounds like Ochaco’s “Do your best!”
More of them begin to break down into fits of laughter.
Shinso poses for this one. “Look at how I sparkle!!”
Shinso grips his bicep. “So, manly!!”
He leans his head to the side, and glares at them. “Die! Die! Die!”
Now that does it, nearly the entire locker room breaks into laughter. All but Bakugou who’s more than irked with Shinso’s antics.
Tenya rushes in, trying to reign them in before a teacher is called in. “Everyone please, collect yourselves immediately!”
“Class 1-A!!” Iida’s voice yells out from Shinso’s Persona Cords, as he chops his own hands in the air to mimic the Class Rep. “SHUT UP!!! And sit your asses down immediately!!”
The entire locker room loses its shit. “HAHAHAHAHA!!”
Tenya is stunned, he never imagined he’d hear his own voice cuss out such vile words.
Even Izuku can’t hold back a snicker.
“Hey, Midoriya!” Izuku looks over towards Mineta who’s waving him over towards the wall, where a lone poster is hanging. “You won’t believe what I just found. The jackpot!” Mineta points to the poster where a corner is hanging off, behind the corner there is a little hole drilled into the wall. “Someone Shawshanked a hole in this wall!” Streams of hot air puff out of Mineta’s nose as an excited blush grows on his face, and he sweats in excitement. “A previous generation has given us a gift.”
The others overhear and many of them are shocked, as they all realize just what Mineta is suggesting.
“You know what’s next door, right?” Mineta says what they’re all thinking. “This looks into the girls’ locker room!”
“Don’t even think about it!” scolds Tenya. “Peeping on them like that would be criminal.”
Mineta grips the poster, with lust in his eyes. “Then you’ll have to throw me in solitary confinement, ‘cuz you can’t stop me!” he rips away the poster like a Band-Aid. He quickly leans in like a desperate deviant that lacks any and all shame. “I wanna see Yaoyorozu’s curves. Ashido’s slender waist.” He’s getting closer, so close that he can see the light on the other side. “Hagakure’s floating underwear. Uraraka’s super-fine body. Asui’s boobies!!”
Before Mineta can actually see a thing, Shinso, as calmly as he can, asks him something. “And Jiro?”
Mineta waves it off. “Who cares I-...” He goes dead silent, his eyes glazing over; it appears Shinso’s Brainwashing truly is heroic since it stopped Mineta from seeing a thing.
Shinso approaches Mineta, leaning into his ear. “Mineta grab your things and go to class.”
The hypnotized Mineta nods his head slowly before he wobbles his way to his locker like a zombie.
All the boys share the same thought. ‘Way to go Shinso…’
Izuku watches on in relief as Mineta grabs his stuff before leaving. “We should probably let the girls know about that hole, huh?”
Shinso peers at Izuku before responding. “Probably…”
By the end of the school day, word had traveled around the entire school about Shinso’s heroic deed. Earning him the respect of not just Class 1-A’s girls but the rest of the school’s as well. And so Class 1-A’s final member has effectively been recognized as a true hero in the making.
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*DING DONG! DING DONG! DING DONG! DING DONG!*
“What a day.” Izuku pulls up on his backpack as he approaches Ochaco’s desk. “You heading home too?”
Ochaco shakes her head as she packs away the last of her textbooks. “No, not yet. I got to talk to one of our teachers first.”
“Oh, is that so.”
“Yeah.” Ochaco pauses and briefly considers bringing Deku along. Gran Torino did say it was ultimately her decision if she wants to tell anyone. But maybe she should hold off on it for now, at least until after she hears what All Might has to say first.
Izuku waves as he makes his way to the exit. “Well I’ll see you tomorrow then.”
“Yeah, have a good night.”
“I will.” Izuku’s grin widens. “Mom says there’s a surprise for us tonight.”
“Oh, really what is it?”
“Don’t know yet. But she seemed awfully excited about it.”
“Well I hope it’s something nice.”
“Yeah, me too.” With one final wave he takes his leave. “Good night.”
“Night.”
Ochaco takes her time at her desk, waving goodbye to her other friends and classmates as they all depart for their homes. And so with most of the school empty she takes her leave and heads over to the teacher’s lounge.
The hallways are empty for the most part, only the glow of the setting sun accompanies her to her destination.
When she arrives, she gives the large door a knock. “It’s me, All Might.”
She slides the door open, ready to greet her mentor with a smile, but it becomes very clear to her that this isn’t exactly a social call. The air in the room is, for lack of a better word, intense and somber.
Toshinori is silent, his eyes cast downward, the setting sun casting from the window casts a dark shadow over his eyes giving him an even more intense aura. “Come have a seat.” He sounds subdued, unlike his usual boisterous self.
Ochaco hesitates before sliding the door closed. ‘He seems…off.’ She quietly takes her seat across from Toshinori.
“You went through a lot recently.” starts the weakened Number One Hero. “I’m sorry I wasn’t around to help you out.”
Ochaco waves it off. “Oh, no. Don’t apologize,” She grabs her bicep and offers up a sheepish grin. “I’m pretty capable you know.”
Toshinori doesn’t even chuckle, remaining subsided and somber. “Yeah, I know.”
Ochaco’s grin falls away, she nervously twiddles her fingers before deciding that they should probably get the conversation rolling. “So, um, One For All…?” He did bring it up earlier.
Toshinori nods. “Tell me, did the Hero Killer ever swallow your blood during the attack?”
“Um, no.” Ochaco sighs. “Thankfully.” Stain’s Quirk could have been a nightmare to deal with if he did manage to get her blood. So she made sure to avoid that possibility at all costs. “Is that what you wanted to talk about?”
“Do you remember how I gave my power to you?” He holds his hand up as if holding a piece of nonexistent hair. “What I said that day?”
“... Um…” Ochaco hesitates before nervously looking Toshinori dead in the eye and states with full seriousness. “Eat this?”
“No! Not that part.” But that’s sort-of on him, he kinda set that up for her, didn’t he? “I said the key was in my DNA. That’s why you had to swallow the hair.”
The realization slowly dawns on Ochaco forcing her to freak out. “Woah, woah, woah!! Are you saying the Hero Killer could have stolen One For All then?!” Holy shit!! Good thing she avoided his Bloodcurdle’s effects.
“No, he couldn't.” states Toshinori in full confidence. “I just thought you might be worried about that, but… I see it didn’t cross your mind.” Anyway he should continue on with his explanation. “One For All can only be given to another person if you, the bearer, intend to pass it along. It’s not just something that can just be taken by force. Although it can be transferred by force.”
“Kinda of like when a schoolgirl forces her Valentine’s Day chocolates onto her crush.”
“What kind of example is that?!” snaps Ochaco.
Toshinori ignores her outburst and moves on. “The quirk you now have is unique, and you should know its origin.” He looks her in the eye, ensuring her full attention. “One For All was derived from another odd Quirk, a power that’s very old.”
The rosy-cheeked girl is a bit lost here. “It was different? How?”
“The name of that Quirk is “All For One.” It allowed its user to take Quirks from others. Then the user could keep the Quirks for himself or give them to someone else.”
Ochaco gasps. “What? There was someone that could…steal powers?”
“This was back when Quirks were just starting to show up. Before society had figured out how to deal with the newly powered among them.” Those were harsher times. “When Quirks first appeared, suddenly, it was impossible to say what it meant to be a “normal” person.”
“Laws and human rights were hotly debated.” And fought over. “Civilization's progress stalled. Society decayed.”
His successor understands, because of this collapse technology was never truly able to progress; which is why flip phones, and such are still around. Heck, the one time she talked about this to Deku he stated that there are some theorists who hypothesized that if society never stalled then they would already be traveling into space like their alien friends.
Toshinori continues. “During that chaotic period of change, there was one person who managed to rally many people together. He went by the name of his power, All For One.” Just saying that name brings a horrid taste to his mouth. “He stole Quirks from others. And then, with his overwhelming abilities, he spread his influence across the country. He manipulated people to serve his purposes and committed evil acts with little resistance. In the blink of an eye, he became the leader of villains and ruled over Japan.”
“But…those are just rumors, aren’t they?” Local myths and legends about that time period, none of it can be true; it’s never even been brought up in school before. “It’s not even in our textbooks.”
“Because it’s the kind of shameful history people would rather ignore.” answers the skeletal hero. “Anyway, when a person gains true power, they enjoy showing it off to others.”
“But…what about One For All?”
Toshinori’s sapphire eyes stare into the girl’s very soul, shaking her to her core. “I said that All For One could give Quirks to others, remember? He made people trust him or submit to his will by altering their abilities. But apparently, there were many poor souls who couldn’t bear the burden of the Quirks they were given.” He means that literally. “They became like mindless living dolls, incapable of speaking.” He breathes heavily before revealing a horrid truth. “Just like the Nomus are.”
Ochaco gasps, stunned.
“Meanwhile, some Quirks actually evolved as they were passed on. Some even combined with other power sets.” Now this where she really needs to pay attention. “This evil man had a Quirkless younger brother. He was small and sickly, but he had a strong sense of justice. They couldn’t have been more different.” Like day and night, like an angel and a demon, they were far from similar. “It pained the brother to see All For One’s deeds, so he kept resisting him. And then, All For One transferred a Quirk to his sibling, one that would allow him to stockpile power. We don’t know if it was a gift, he was giving his brother, or if he just wanted to force him to submit.”
It’s starting to click together for Ochaco.
“Even though everyone thought he was Quirkless turns out, the brother did have a Quirk. Though even he hadn’t realized this to be the case. He had a useless power that only allowed him to pass on Quirks.” Toshinori throws hands out in dramatic fashion. “And so, the stockpiling ability merged with the younger brother’s power, and that is how One For All came to be.”
Ochaco’s at a complete loss for words, losing her breath in the process.
Toshinori puts arms down, as his tale comes to an end. “I’ve always found it ironic, but justice so often spawns from evil.”
“Woah! Woah! Woah! Wait a minute now!” interrupts the very flustered and shocked Ochaco. “I get how One For All came to be, but…this evil guy has to be like long dead by now, right?” So why is he being brought up?
“One who steals Quirks has no limits. Anything’s possible.” Just take Young Midoriya’s One Man Army for example. “There are Quirks that halt aging. He probably has something like that.” Toshinori frowns, somberly. “The Symbol of Evil seemed pretty much immortal. With the state of the world at the time and the huge difference in their combat abilities, the younger brother decided to entrust this new Quirk to future generations. Even though he couldn’t defeat All For One, he hoped One For All would continue to grow in power, until it was strong enough to stop his older brother. Eventually, it was my turn, and I managed to defeat All For One!” Toshinori can still remember it, the man’s skull cracking between his fingers and the piercing pain as his stomach was impaled. “At least, that's what I thought. But he survived and is now back in action as the brain behind the League of Villains.”
This is a lot to process for the young woman, her head swirling with the details, trying to make sense of them.
Toshinori takes a moment to get up from his seat, walking over to the windows allowing the setting sun to bathe him in its light. “So, now you know. The entire purpose of One For All is to defeat All For One. As its holder, you may one day have to fight against this great evil yourself. Because I failed.”
Ochaco frowns with worry. ‘That’s…a lot to take in for sure.’ And it seems almost like an impossible task, one that has just been thrusted upon her without warning, but even so, she sure can rise to the occasion. ‘but…’
“I know you didn’t expect this, but-”
“You can count on me!”
Toshinori’s eyes widen in surprise.
Ochaco is up and her feet, a glint of determination flickers in her eyes. “You trusted me with your power for a reason. I wanna save everyone that I can and bring smiles everywhere. If this is what it takes then I'm willing, All Might! As long as you’re with me then I know we can do it!”
Toshinori is stunned to say the least not because of her enthusiasm and determination, but due to her naivety. ‘Come on. Tell her. She needs to know.’ Oh, God, he can’t, he can’t bring himself to do it.
He turns away, cupping his mouth as if his own body wants to stop him from speaking, tears threaten to leak out as his whole-body shakes. ‘That’s not how it’ll happen. Our futures are… she won’t understand.’ He stops shivering, pulling hand away, but even so he can't bear to look at her right now, not as how he is right now. “Thank you. Young Uraraka, I trust you full heartedly.” After taking a moment to calm himself, he turns and looks her in the eye. As he does so, he recalls his conversation with his own mentor on how he should trust his student’s choices. “One For All is yours now and with it the responsibility to use it wisely.” He tries his best to offer up the most confident and kindest smile that he can. “You’re a kind and dedicated young woman and I know whatever you may decide. I’m sure I’ll be proud.”
Ochaco’s face lights up with pride, standing straighter as her eyes glisten in delight. She gives her mentor a curt nod, silently vowing to meet his standards.
With nothing else to say between them, Toshinori sends her on her way. She bows at him in respect before turning right around and strolling away down the hallway.
Toshinori watches her off, his smile fading and becoming regretfully somber. ‘I’m sorry, Young Uraraka. But… by the time you face him, I won’t be by your side anymore.’
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“Izuku will you help me set up the table?!”
“Sure, Mom!”
Izuku jumps out of his room, wearing a plain shirt and shorts, hurrying to the kitchen where Inko Midoriya is preparing dinner over the stove. And judging by the assortment of smells and pots on the stove she’s making quite the delicious feast.
He inhales the delicious fragrance. “Smells wonderful.”
Inko chuckles. “Thank you.”
Izuku goes ahead and grabs two plates from out of the counter.
“No, actually sweetie can you grab a third plate. We’re expecting company today.”
Izuku is surprised but thinks nothing of it as he goes ahead and grabs a third plate. “Really? Who is it?”
Inko’s face lights up in excitement. “Oh, you’ll find out soon enough.”
Izuku throws her a suspicious look before shrugging it off. He figures Mitsuki Bakugou might be stopping by or something, his Mom and her have been friends for like ever. And it has been awhile since she’s been by so Inko’s excitement is justified.
Izuku goes ahead and sets up the rest of the dinner table. “So, how was your day?”
“Oh, it was fine.” Inko’s face turns from cheery to serious as she deadpans. “Expect I was constantly wondering if my son was throwing himself into danger again.”
Izuku chuckles nervously as he sweatdrops. Yeah, so, after returning home he was of course greeted by a bone crushing hug, followed by an hour-long rant of a very concerned and loving mother. Inko was so terrified when she found out her baby boy fought the big bad Hero Killer; she was both proud but mostly worried for him. Checking him over for injuries even though he had spent time in a hospital.
But when everything's said and done, Izuku just can’t bring himself to taunt back. She’s his mother, his wonderful caring and supportive mother. The parent that’s always been there for him through thick and thin, so there’s no way he’d ever hurt her intentionally.
Inko lets out an exhausted sigh. “Oh, I need to stop stressing so much. It’s not good for my health.”
“Mom.”
Inko looks to her smiling son as he flashes her the most comforting smile that he can.
“Thanks for caring about me so much, but I can handle myself, okay?”
Inko smiles, a light tear leaking from her eye. “I know son.” She sniffs and with that composes herself as she gets right back to cooking like nothing’s happened. “Besides with that weird Quirk of yours I should have more faith in you.”
Izuku laughs nervously. “Yeah…my Quirk.” Okay, lying to her is never going to get easier, is it?
*Knock! Knock! Knock!*
Inko instantly lights up. “Oh, my goodness.” She wipes her hands on her apron, as she grins over at her son. “Izuku, would you be a dear and get the door?”
Izuku doesn’t even think twice about it “Sure, no problem.”
As Izuku makes his way to the door, he is oblivious to his mother sneaking around the corner behind him with her phone out and a cheery smile plastered to her face.
*Knock! Knock! Knock!*
“I’m coming!” calls Izuku just before he throws the door open. “Hi Mrs. Bak-...” Izuku’s voice trails away, he was honestly expecting Mitsuki not this strange and unfamiliar man at their doorstep.
Izuku’s brain takes a pause as he briefly takes in the newcomer.
The man is tall and slender with a lean face, his chin covered in stubble, and his cheeks are lined with freckles, while a mop of messy dark hair lays atop his head. He’s wearing a marron button down shirt with rolled up sleeves, with dark pants, and worn leather shoes.
The man seems just as taken back as Izuku is, examining the boy in the exact same way. The man let’s out an impressed sigh as a proud smirk forms on his face.
Izuku continues to blink up at the stranger, totally confused and embarrassed. “O-Oh, I-I’m sorry I was expecting someone else.”
The man just continues to stand there, smiling at him, oblivious to Izuku’s discomfort.
Izuku whimpers with nervousness. "Um, sir…?”
The man chuckles lightly. “Wow, just wow.” His voice is…familiar, almost comforting like when something that was lost for so many years had just been found.
Izuku’s nose scrunches up at the smell of burning wood, emanating from the man’s breath. “I’m sorry?”
The man continues to take in all of Izuku, like he’s something he ever wants to forget. “You’re…so big.”
Okay this is becoming really uncomfortable. “Sir, I’m sorry, but…” How can he say this without seeming rude? “Who are you?”
The man seems taken back by the question, almost as if he was hurt by it. His expression drops becoming sad yet accepting like he should have expected this. The man peers back up at the confused boy, offering up a kind smile. “Izuku…”
There it is again, that familiar and somehow comforting and long missed voice. But why?
The man gestures to himself, his smile tired and happy all at once. “It’s me.”
Izuku continues to stare up at him in confusion, until his eyes eventually take note of the man’s. Izuku’s eyes trail up towards the man’s face and he gasps in surprise as his eyes meet the man’s. Staring back at him are his own eyes, a pair of emerald eyes are staring right back at him!
Wait, green eyes, messy hair, freckles, and that familiar voice… Oh, god.
Hisashi Midoriya’s grin widens when he notices the realization stricken on Izuku’s face. “That’s right. I’m finally home…son.”
Izuku’s brain is fried, unable to process a thing as his wide eyes remain frozen on his father. But really how should he respond? Hm, well in a situation like this there’s only one right course of action for him.
“WHAT THE F-!?!”
Notes:
And that was Ch.37 The Return, I really hope it was worthy for this story’s One Year Anniversary. Do you think it was? What are your thoughts about this chapter?
*IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT*
Reminder that there will be a very important Announcement for everyone concerning the future of this story. I will actually be posting the Announcement as a separate post tomorrow so be on the lookout for it. In the Announcement, I hope to address a great deal of things such as future aliens, potential story arcs, Izuku and All Might, and so much more. So be sure to check it out.
*That’s right, Hitoshi Shinso has officially joined Class 1-A. I’ve actually been dropping hints about him joining since his introduction and I’m a bit surprised no one picked up on it.
*Also, goodbye Gang Orca you will be missed. Seriously I never thought everyone would have such a great reaction to him and I’m so glad you all did. But unfortunately it is time to say goodbye to make room for more characters. But I got the feeling that Gang Orca and his sidekicks will make future appearances.
*But hello Hisashi Midoriya! There you guys have it Izuku’s father has officially entered the cast. And you can definitely say his build up has been anticipated for literally a year from today! I was actually going to hint at his arrival way sooner (during the start of the internship arc), but then that would just make you guys antsy, so I held back on hinting to his return. Anyway I’m glad he’s here, because I can guarantee his presence will make things a bit more interesting.
Chapter 39: Special Announcements
Chapter Text
Below you will find several announcements: the Important Announcement, Special Announcements, and more.
Important Announcement:
Alright everyone this is the announcement I need to make. I am not going to post for an extended period of time. Calm down, I am not abandoning this story, not after coming so far. In fact this break in posting chapters will benefit this story overall.
For you see when I was first developing this story, I spent months creating a very detailed and organized outline which has allowed me to update (for the most part) only 1-2 weeks apart. Because everything was already planned out, however the further I got in my outline the less detailed it became. Which is a real problem now because the story is really gearing up to some major events and as such if I go in and try to wing it, it will only end up becoming a horribly confusing mess.
Another issue is that this story is not exactly how I thought it would be or I need time to consider certain elements a bit more. For example, I really need to think about how Ochaco will tell Deku about OFA, Izuku and All Might’s relationship or lack thereof, Bakugou’s character development, Yaoyorozu and the crystal, Vilgax and the League of Villains, and so much more. So I am going to take this time to rework my outline from this point onto the current manga arc (at time of this post: the War Arc).
So until I have a fully detailed outline, I will not be posting any chapters until then. When will that be? I’m not sure. I was hoping to at least give you guys another chapter on Christmas, but I will actually be off the grid during the Holidays so I can’t guarantee that I will even have access to the internet. However, my editors and I have already come up with small Omakis and short stories to keep you all satisfied (and remind you that this story isn’t abandoned) until my next real chapter post.
In all I hope to be back either by the end of December or the end of January. Again it all depends on how my progress goes. I know this is probably disappointing for most of you to hear, but I promise that this is to the story’s benefit. And hey you got 37 chapters (not including the Omnitrix Documentary) to keep you company until my glorious return!
So until next time stay safe out there and Happy Holidays.
Special Announcements:
So I want to use this section to address a few things with you guys. Some will make your day and others…not so much.
I am constantly being asked about which aliens Izuku will get as well as the inclusion of Ultimate Aliens, OC aliens, and more. Well I finally have a real answer for you all. I have decided that I will only be sticking to the main Ben Ten aliens. What does that mean? Well, I will only be including ALL ALIENS Ben turns into from the original series, Alien Force, Ultimate Alien, and Omniverse. However “technically cannon” aliens like Snakepit, Shark Tanque, and the such will NOT be included as well as OC aliens will NOT be included. Why? Because there are already over 80 main series aliens to use and adding all of those others will only make writing that much more stressful. I want to give each alien as much screen time as I can, so I don’t want to include OC aliens. Another thing, NOTHING from the rebooted Ben Ten series will be included: no aliens, no characters, no events, no nothing. I tried to watch the series, but it wasn’t for me and thus I will not be including anything from it. Finally, the topic of Ultimate Aliens, sorry but they are getting the axe as well. So, there will be NO Ultimate Aliens appearing in this story. To be clear I am NOT trying to fulfill a Power Fantasy, so I was always against the Ultimate Aliens from appearing from the very start. Are they cool, heck yeah, but I don’t want them. I like the power struggle, for characters to work for their victories, and Ultimate Aliens are an easy way for Izuku to win all the time without fail. So they will not be included. Sorry, I know this is probably more sad news for you all, but I feel like it’s for the best. Now, keep in mind this could all possibly change down the line. If by chance I manage to introduce all the main series aliens then Ultimate Aliens and OC aliens will be considered, but until then they are not going to happen. Just so you are aware from my current outline by the time we get to the current manga arc (War Arc) Izuku will have about 47 or so aliens so it will take some time before I even consider any others.
Now, let’s have some good news, shall we? For starters I have officially gotten myself an Illustrator for this story! YAY!!! This artist is just starting out, but I have complete faith in them; they get to practice and improve their art style and I get free illustrations for this story. They will begin illustrations soon and when they are ready, I will let you all know who this mystery illustrator is. Honestly, I’m really excited and they’ve already got ideas of what they want to draw. Plus I’ve already provided a list of what I would like to see anyway. So there’s something to look forward to in the future.
Also, I get a lot of questions about this and I really need a moment to address everyone about this. I WILL be including the My Hero Academia Movies: Two Heroes and Heroes Rising. I already have big plans for them both (since I began this story) and I am excited to show you what they are. BUT! I will not write them until we get to them in the cannon timeline. So Two Heroes won’t occur until the summer begins in the MHA universe, and Heroes Rising will not occur until Season 5 (yet to be released as of this post) of the anime. Also (I know someone will point it out) a third MHA movie has been teased and if it is true, I will incorporate it as well. How? I’m not sure yet, but we’ll see.
Here’s something else that I get a lot of questions about and that I really need to address as well. I WILL be including Professor Paradox; however, it will not be in the way that you would expect. Because of how complicated, confusing, and possibly story derailing time travel and dimensional travel can be I will not be including the good professor or any elements of time travel into the story. HOWEVER, I plan on creating a spin-off story where Izuku (the Izuku from my story) goes on time traveling and dimension hopping adventures with Professor Paradox and others that fit into that category. Why am I doing this? Well, I am going to treat this spin-off just like the cannon MHA treats its movies. In the sense the events did happen, but they do not affect the overall/main story in any way. So, a spin-off is the best solution, plus it won’t allow my main story to get derailed and veer away from where I actually want it to go. Please, keep in mind that my main story will always have the priority over this spin-off story. Furthermore, I will not start this spin-off until after the Provisional License Exam (at least that is my plan for now).
Now before you guys start throwing questions and suggestions my way please be sure to read the next section below addressing that very thing.
Taking Suggestions:
Alright, so with an extended break to work on my outline that means this is the best time for you guys (readers) to send me any suggestions you may have for this fanfic. That’s right. I am officially asking you guys for your ideas and suggestions. This is probably going to be the only time I will even consider most of the suggestions, since I have to rework my outline anyway. That means I will be more willing to change things up and add things in, so please share. HOWEVER! I do have some rules you should all consider before submitting a suggestion:
- Not every single suggestion will be used. I already have so many ideas and plans for the story as it is so things that may conflict against certain subjects may not make it.
- The suggestion has to be as Specific and Detailed as you can make it. If you write something like “I want Izuku to get Clockwork.” then that suggestion will be ignored. I am essentially asking you guys for help so the more detailed your suggestion is the better. For example, “Izuku should get Clockwork from Professor Paradox or Maltruant during the start of the Spin-Off series. This way Izuku can travel across time and space without Professor Paradox’s help.” This is what I am looking for, the more detailed the better. This way, even if I don’t use your suggestion, you might help spark another idea for me. In all it will help create a better story for you all.
- If you have suggestions for the Spin-Off series then please share them BUT I should be honest with you all, I already have a boat load of ideas for this spin-off and keep in mind that the main story will always be the priority so not everything you suggest is guaranteed to occur, if at all.
- Please POST your suggestion to me as PM with the subject line “Suggestions and More,” this will help me organize everyone’s suggestions better. Otherwise I’m afraid a lot of them will get lost in the process. If you don't have an account, then please leave a suggestion as a review under this “Announcement” (so under Ch.39) this way I can just look up this chapter later for the suggestions.
And that’s it that’s all I got to say. I know it was a lot and I hope you all understand where I’m coming from. I also hope this clarifies a lot for you all. Again I am truly sorry to those that I have disappointed, believe me none of these decisions were easy. I really do love the Ultimate Aliens, but they just conflict with how I want to handle this story. As do the other topics that were discussed.
I hope you all will stick around for my eventual return in a month or two. I promise that this break from posting will be worth it. During this break you can feel free to leave a review or reach out to me at any time. Go ahead and ask how my progress is going, this will probably help ensure I am actually working on it. So until we meet again, stay safe and Happy Holidays to you all.
Story Stats as of One-Year Anniversary (11/26/2020):
Hits: 13,617
Kudos: 216
Comments: 374
Bookmarks: 76
Words: 510,001
Chapter 40: Omaki: Flight Test
Notes:
Hey everyone! How you all holding up? Did ya miss me? Admit, you missed me.
Here’s a quick Omaki for you all! This is one I (and my “editors”) wanted to do for a while now. I hope you like it, be warned I threw together in a day so it may not be all that. But either way it’s fun and a nice reminder to you all that I have no intention of abandoning this story any time soon.
*For reference this Omaki takes place after the U.S.J. Attack and before the U.A. Sports Festival.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
[Camera P.O.V.]
The camera screen flickers on, focusing in on the hanger of the Plumber Base. The camera lens peers around taking in the stakes of large crates and alien devices strewn about the hanger, up above lies a catwalk leading to the higher levels of the Plumber Basse.
^Are you sure about this?^ The camera peers over to Glad-One who is perched atop a nearby crate.
He’s holding the nozzle of a large fire extinguisher that sits just beside his body.
“No, but I need the practice.” Izuku Midoriya holds up his deactivated hoverboard, shaking his head, he has yet to notice the camera trailing on him. He’s currently wearing his one of a kind hoodie, its black and green hues matching his Omnitrix. “I rather not have to learn to use this thing while on the job.”
^And why not? You’re very good at learning on your feet.^
“Thanks, but I figured this is for the best.”
^Yeah, wouldn’t want to hurt, humiliate, or maim yourself in front of a villain.^ chimes in Sad-One, the camera shakes as he speaks.
Izuku throws Sad-One an insulted glare before his eyes widen at the sight of the camera he’s holding. “What’s…with the camera?”
Glad-One goes ahead and explains. ^Oh, it’s for the documentary series!^
Izuku raises an eyebrow. “Documentary what?”
^It’s when we make fun videos for our lovely audience!^
Izuku shouts out in worry. “Audience?!”
^Well, if we had an audience that is.^
Izuku visibility relaxes. “Oh, so no one’s going to see this?”
^Most definitely not. Not like they’d like to.^
Izuku frowns dejectedly before shaking head. “Alright, I guess it’s not an issue.” He begins to back away from the camera while gripping his hoverboard. “Let’s do this, right.” Izuku looks over toward Glad-One. “You’re on fire safety, right?”
Glad-One nods his little body. ^Of course! And you can say I’m fired up for this test!^
Izuku chuckles. “Ha, good one.”
The camera screen shakes. ^No it wasn’t.^ comments Sad-One.
Izuku goes ahead and moves on. “Well if everyone's ready, then I should get set too.”
Izuku tosses the hoverboard down and it immediately activates, enlarging itself and becoming a hovering platform. It hums as it remains motionless in the air awaiting it’s rider.
“Alright, step 1: get on the board.” With a nervous breath Izuku jumps onto the alien device. “Woah. Woah!!” His arms flail about as the hoverboard wobbles underneath his feet, threatening to launch out from under him.
^Steady Mr. Deku. Steady.^
“I’m trying!”
^Clearly not trying enough.^
“Not helping!”
^I’m not trying to help.^
After a moment of wobbling and shaking Izuku gradually gains control, becoming steady. “Phew, that’s it. I think I’m getting it.”
^Yay! I knew you could do it!^
^At least one of us did.^
“Alright, that was step 1 but now for the real thing.” Izuku takes a nervous breath. “Flying.”
Before he can even attempt it, Glad-One begins to cheer and ooh! ^Ooh, ooh! Can you say it?^
“Say what?”
^You know, say Flight Test Number 1. For the camera, for our documentary.^
“Um, okay I guess.” Izuku goes ahead and goes along with it, looking directly at the camera while still trying to maintain his balance. “Um, this is Hoverboard Flight Test Number 1.”
^Thank you!^
^You’re too easily excited.^
The two counter-parts that make up One-One soon settle down as Izuku prepares himself for flight.
With his arms still outstretched, maintaining his balance, Izuku peers over at Glad-One. “You ready with the fire extinguisher?”
^Yes!!^ Glad-One shakes around the nozzle of the fire extinguisher to emphasize his point.
“Camera?”
^Yeah…^
Izuku nods, taking another slow breath as he gently eases himself.
“Gonna start off nice and easy. No need to rush it.”
The entire hanger is silent, only the hum of the hoverboard makes any noise as they all wait with bated breath for Izuku to start.
When he finally feels good and ready Izuku looks to Glad-One and gives him a nod, confirming he’s ready.
Glad-One nods back, his fire extinguisher at the ready.
And so Izuku begins, leaning ever so slightly forward to get the hoverboard to move. “Moving on 3…2…1.”
He leans and immediately the hoverboard rockets backwards and smashes Izuku in a pile of crates!!
“Gahh!!”
With no hesitation, Glad-One fires off the fire extinguisher dowsing the cadet in foam.
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Flight Test Number 2
A foam covered Izuku stands before the camera. “Okay, Flight Test Number 1 was a bust but I’m sure Flight Test Number 2 will be way better.”
He backs away from Sad-One and the camera, towards the already in place hoverboard.
Izuku goes ahead and jumps onto the device, it wobbles underneath him, threatening to throw him off, but he manages to regain his balance.
When he feels ready, Izuku signals that he’s about to begin with a nod. He leans and… The hoverboard fires forward right from under him, throwing him off!!
“Wah!!” Izuku slams onto the ground, groaning in pain.
Glad-One peers down at the young cadet. ^Oh, boy. That looks like it hurt.^
Sad-One nods in agreement. ^I bet he broke something.^
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Flight Test Number 5
“Wah! Woah! Woah! Wahh!!” Izuku is desperately trying to keep his balance as the hoverboard shakes and wobbles under his feet.
And then the hoverboard zips up and over, flipping Izuku backwards and throwing him onto the ground.
Izuku groans and hisses, knowing full well that a bruise will be there for sure.
Glad-One gasps in worry. ^Are…are you okay?^
Izuku responds with a pained groan.
^He’s fine.^ replies Sad-One.
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Flight Test Number 9
“Woooooaaaaahhhhh!!” The dizzy and nauseous greenette is being spun around like a top as the hoverboard spins and spins continuously under him!
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Flight Test Number 14
A banged up and bruised Izuku is just standing there, staring down at the hovering hoverboard, blinking at it like it’ll just come to life and give him the answers.
Glad-One gives Izuku a questioning and somewhat concerned look. ^Aren’t you going to get on?^
Izuku nervously looks away. “Um…maybe later.” He quickly retreats, deciding now was a good time for a break.
As he marches off Glad-One looks to camera unsure of what to do next.
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Flight Test Number 20
“Ahhhhhh!!” Izuku is gripping onto the hoverboard for dear life as it rockets uncontrollably about the large hanger. “Get me off this thing!!”
Glad-One chases Izuku from below, the fire extinguisher bouncing along behind him as he drags it along. ^That looks like fun! I want a turn!^
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Flight Test Number 37
Izuku takes a breath and steps away from the camera, gripping the inactivated hoverboard. He is armored up wearing a helmet, knee and elbow pads, and even chest pads. But most importantly there is an air of determination emanating from him, even though he’s all decked out in padding he just has a feeling about this go.
“Flight Test Number 37.” Izuku tosses down the hoverboard that immediately expands and activates. “As you can see, I am properly geared up for this one. And for lack of a better option, One-One is still on fire safety.”
Izuku quickly addresses said robot. “By the way, please don’t dowse me again, I’m pretty sure that stuff doesn’t wash out.”
^Oops, sorry.^ Glad-One aims the fire extinguisher away from Izuku. ^I guess I’ve got a bit of an itchy trigger finger.^ He stares down at his stubbly little appendages. ^Which is weird because I don’t have fingers.^
Izuku shakes his head in amusement before turning his attention to the matter at hand. “Alright, nice and easy.” He cautiously mounts his hoverboard, which wobbles but he quickly manages it. “I’m just going to start with a slow start.” He braces himself, bending his knees, and taking a few breaths. “3, 2, 1.”
With a gentle lean forward Izuku begins to move, slowly inching his way forward. He leans more to the side, turning his trajectory and soon he’s moving in a slow circle. As he moves around, he notices Glad-One aiming the fire extinguisher after him. “Please don’t aim that thing at me-Wah!” He temporarily loses his balance before regaining it. “It makes me feel like I’m going to catch on fire, spontaneously.”
Glad-One quickly aims the fire extinguisher away. ^Oh, my we wouldn’t want that, now would we?^
^I don’t know I think that’d be something worth seeing...^ adds in Sad-One. ^But I guess it wouldn’t exactly be a blaze of glory, now would it?^
Izuku ignores the two and focuses back in on the camera. “Alright, now I am going to try to move a little bit faster.”
And so with fire in his heart, the will of determination pushing him forward, Izuku slowly moves forward. He then slowly rises higher and higher into the air and as he gains confidence, he begins to move just a tad faster.
Sad-One has to prop the camera up while keeping the lens trained on Izuku as he gradually flies about the hanger.
Soon with enough confidence Izuku is flying faster and faster around the hanger. He nearly slams into the catwalk and piles of crates a few times but thankfully he never goes tumbling off the alien device. Eventually he’s moving through the air performing skateboard like tricks.
“Wooo!!”
Glad-One claps! ^Well done, Mr. Deku!^
Sad-One mopes. ^I bet he crashes.^
“Hahaha!” Izuku swoops down and over the bots, whipping wind at them as he races past.
He swerves and circles around before gliding down to his start point, coming to a full stop before looking to the camera.
“Yeah, I can fly.”
Notes:
Well I hope you enjoyed it. I have at least 2 - 4 more Omakis for you all before I begin writing again.
*Quick status update: I am still working on the outline. I get through at least one chapter outline per day but some days are less productive than others. Either way I got much planned out already. I just need to organize it better. I want to plan up to the War Arc but I’ll see how far I actually get.
*If you have suggestions then please leave it under the “Special Announcements” chapter or PM me with the Subject Line “Suggestions and More.”
Chapter 41: Omake: The Tape
Summary:
Ochaco and Mina throw together a little video
Notes:
Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays everyone! To be honest I was kinda lazy with this Omake/sub-chapter, I mainly used it as an excuse to wish you all HAPPY HOLIDAYS and a HAPPY NEW YEAR!
*Watch the video first!! (https://youtu.be/-F4zQAUUFPw) Please watch “What if "The Amazing World Of Gumball" was an anime (Comparison)” video on YouTube. This Omake is taken straight from it, mainly because I thought it would be fun but also, I was just kinda lazy when writing this. But I still hope it’s at least enjoyable, nonetheless.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
[Camera P.O.V.]
The camera glitches on, opening to the view of Ochaco Uraraka’s apartment. But the main focus isn’t on the bubbly brunette but on the one and only Mina Ashido.
Mina Ashido an Ochaco have gotten together to make a special tape about themselves and their friends.
Mina sits back in her seat, addressing the camera with as much poise and confidence as she can muster, but it comes off as way too showboaty. “Hi, my name is azzaz-um…” Mina sighs in annoyance as she gets tongue tied. “Gauh.”
Great, she messed it up. Hopefully she can get it right next time.
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The camera resets and flickers back onto Mina, she sits up a bit perkier this time about her chances. “Hi, my name is Wina Washido-UGH!!!” She groans out in anger as she messes up her line again!
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The camera turns bac on and Mina gives it another shot. “Hi, my name’s Mina Ashido. And this flim…” Uh, oh.. “And this fil…flim…AHH…!!” Mina losses it! “Curse Word!!”
How could she have messed it up again?!
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The camera flickers back on once again.
“Yes! Yes! Finally! Nailed it!!” Mina is cheering from the top her lunges as she finally delivered the line correctly!
The camera jostles in place before being set down and Ochaco rushes over screaming and cheering out as she gives Mina a great big hug for her success! “Woah, yeah!! Hahaha!!”
They both share a joyful laugh, tears of joy leaking from their eyes. Finally, after so many attempts they finally got the footage they needed.
Or did they?
Ochaco’s smile drops as she takes notice of the camera. “Wait, is the light supposed to be on when it’s recording or…?”
Mina’s face of shock and dread answers it all before they both sigh in defeat.
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[Camera P.O.V.]
The camera fires up once again, but the air is different, more exciting than before, as we open to a wide shot of U.A.!
Accompanied by Ochaco’s very excited narration. “This is my school U.A. High! And this the story of our lives!”
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The camera zooms in on an oblivious Izuku as he goes through his Hero notebook.
He jolts in his seat as Ochaco screams out in excitement.
“Staring, the Deku Squad as “The Deku Squad!”
Tenya Iida and Shoto Todoroki pop into view and Ochaco slides her forehead in from the side so she can be in the shot too.
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The scene changes to the halls of U.A. where Denki Kaminari tries to play it off as suave as Kyoka Jiro walks on by. He gives her a sly smirk and raises his hand up for a high-five that she doesn’t even bother to acknowledge as she continues on her way.
Kaminari, not one to be left hanging, gives himself a high-five before playing it off like it was planned in front of the camera.
“Denki Kaminari as “Kaminari!”” announces Ochaco.
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The scene changes, the camera zooming in on a snoozing Shota Aizawa who’s huddled up in his yellow sleeping bag.
“Shota Aizawa as “Eraserhead!”
Aizawa’s eyes shoot open, glowing red.
“Gah!!” Ochaco leaps away as his deadly gaze pierces her very soul.
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The camera shakes and bobs as Ochaco rushes down the hall to catch up to Class 1-A’s resident mad bomber.
“Katsuki Bakugou as-“
Bakugou snarls as he snaps his head towards Ochaco, his hand clenched and popping with small sparks. “Get the camera any closer and I’ll blow it and you to bits.”
Ochaco remains deadly silent as she backs away quickly.
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Ochaco is now standing before the camera and behind her stands the rest of Class 1-A!
Mina holds the camera steadily as Ochaco cheers! “Introducing all my other friends in, “My Hero Acada-“ Her excitement drops as she sighs in defeat. “Forget it, who’s gonna watch that?”
She slumps away and the camera is left hanging on the very confused and disappointed reactions of Class 1-A.
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[Camera P.O.V.]
As the camera turns on, a piece of cardboard raises before the camera lens with the words “Commercial Break” written out in colorful markers as both Mina and Ochaco sing out a little jingle. “Doo doo doo doo, commercial break!”
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Ochaco sets a very upset and annoyed ML-E onto the bed as both her and Mina sing another jingle. “It’s Baby ML-E, the living baby doll!”
ML-E is not at all happy to be here right now, her face is frozen with an intensely angry and annoyed frown, she honestly looks like she’s going to burst out in anger at any moment. Even so that doesn’t stop Ochaco from tickling her chin as if she’s the most precious thing in the world.
Ochaco smiles at the camera from besides ML-E, holding a cookie in her hand “She likes to eat her cookies!”
ML-E remains stone cold with her stern pissed off face unflinching, even as Ochaco presses the cookie to her mouth. The little alien girl doesn’t so much as budge, and Ochaco is pressing the cookie so hard it actually crumbles away.
Despite the lack of a reaction the two babysitters sing their little jingle. “It’s Baby ML-E, the living baby doll!”
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The scene changes to a kitchen where Mina displays a baby bottle while the pissed off ML-E is stuck in a child highchair. “She likes to drink milk!” Mina goes ahead and feeds the “baby.”
And surprisingly ML-E angerly begins sucking away at the bottle of milk.
Mina awes and smiles at the camera. “She’s really drinking it!”
Before she knows it ML-E spits the milk out right back at the pink girl’s face!
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The next scene takes place out in the yard where Mina is holding up the still angry ML-E while the smiling Ochaco holds her face a little too close to the little girl. “It’s Baby ML-E, the living baby--!”
“-AUGH!!” Ochaco screams out in pain as ML-E karate chops her in the face.
Apparently, ML-E has finally snapped, and as a result she begins to wildly karate chop her little hand at Ochaco’s face!
Ochaco holds her nose as Mina frantically pulls the little girl away, her arm still chopping away furiously and continuously.
Mina sighs in defeat. “Oh forget it. Let’s try something else.”
Ochaco smiles at the sight of the continuous karate chops. “No, no, no! This gave me an idea.”
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The scene changes once again, opening to the sight of a pile pf trash bags.
Ochaco’s voice rings out from behind the pile. “Baa nana nana!!” The bags are blasted away as Ochaco charges through with the pissed off and chopping ML-E in her hands. “It’s the X-terminator!”
Ochaco holds up the madly chopping alien while talking like one of those epic commercial voiceovers! “With realistic Kung Fu karate-chop action!”
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Ochaco holds her face as she peers down at the camera. “She can break anything with her tiny haaand!”
ML-E’s flailing hand comes into view, Mina’s own hand wrapped around ML-E’s wrist, and she is clearing struggling to keep the little appendage still.
“Nothing can resist her!”
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“Cars!”
Ochaco aims ML-E at a familiar American 1967 muscle car, and the Kineceleran’s fierce chopping cuts the side mirror clean off!
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“Trees!”
The grinning Ochaco uses ML-E like a saw as her little hand slashes through the tree!
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“Bricks!”
Mina tosses up a brick that gets smashed to bits by the fierce flailing!!
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“Houses!”
Ochaco uses the pissed off ML-E to literally break through a side of a house!
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“Her own face!”
ML-E’s little arm overshoots it and her hand slams into her own face! But at least it did actually come to a stop.
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Ochaco and Mina hold up the furious little girl amongst all their destruction! “It’s the X-terminator!!”
A CG explosion envelops the screen as the cardboard sign reappears with the words “Commercial Break” written on it and both Mina’s and Ochaco’s voices sing out. “Doo doo doo doo, commercial break!”
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Ochaco smiles as the camera is shut off and she places the still furious and annoyed ML-E down.
Mina eyes the little Kineceleran girl curiously. “Wait, I just realized, but why does Emily look like one of Midoriya’s transformations?”
Ochaco’s smile freezes and for a split second she pales: she totally forgot about that little detail, oops. “Oh, uh, uh, uh! Ah! She’s Deku’s aunt’s, cousin’s, niece twice removed!” She grins, silently praying Mina buys that terrible excuse.
Mina lights up. “Oh, okay. Makes sense!”
‘It does?!’
Notes:
This Omake is based off the following video: (https://youtu.be/-F4zQAUUFPw) Please watch “What if "The Amazing World Of Gumball" was an anime (Comparison)” video on YouTube. This Omake is taken straight from it, mainly because I thought it would be fun but also, I was just kinda lazy when writing this. But I still hope it was at least enjoyable, nonetheless. Anyway have a Merry Christmas everybody and a Happy New Year!
*I also wanted to apologize for my lack of response to everyone’s suggestions that I’ve been receiving. And I wanted to thank you all for taking the time to write them out and let me know what you would like to see.
Many of you have good ideas but in truth not many stood out to me for one reason or another. Whether maybe the idea was just a Wishlist, or the idea conflicted with something I had planned already, or whatever. Either way your input is still important to me and I am very happy you at least offered up your ideas.
That said some ideas/suggestions were…how should I put this…scarily accurate to what I had already planned. Seriously some of you guys are definitely mind readers or can see into the future…or it was a coincidence BUT I like to think it wasn’t because being a mind reader or oracle sounds way cooler. But yeah some you guys gave suggestions that (almost word for word) were things I had literally just written out in my outline! I won’t say who you are, you will just have to wait and see to find out.
*Please if you have suggestions then you guys can still feel free to let me know, but I should give you guys a quick Status Update about where I am in my outline. So as of writing this Omake I have moved passed the Kamino Ward Arc and thus it would be nice to get suggestions for afterward: seriously, I need some sort-of filler chapter ideas.
*Speaking of Omakes I think I’m going to do at least one more, I got an idea that I think would be really fun to do. But then after that I hope to be back writing the main story chapters again. I will announce more next time.
Chapter 42: Omake: Interviews
Summary:
The Omnitrix are interviewed and asked about their opinions on the story so far and its future.
Notes:
Hey everyone, I’ve been kinda off the grid for a while so I haven’t been able to post anything until now. Anyway this is the last Omake/sub-chapter before we get back to the real story. I will have more news about it at the end of this Omaki.
*IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT!!! At the end of the Omaki.
*Real quick this Omaki is a bit different and is not at all canon to the story. I just thought it’d be fun if I temporarily gave each Omnitrix alien its own personality. You’ll understand what I mean when you read it.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
[Camera P.O.V.]
The camera lens flickers to life opening upon a calm grassy hillside but the main focus of the camera lands on…Terraspin of all things.
Terraspin is looking away from the camera, he’s far too focused on getting a little microphone pinned to his shell. Unfortunately, his giant flippers are really making it a struggle for him.
“Please, give me a moment.” He briefly addresses the camera before the microphone slips out from his grasp.
Terraspin gasps before sulking in defeat of the seemingly impossible task.
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The camera cuts away, viewing upon a scene at Mr. Baumann’s store of all places.
A trio of Dittos seem to be arguing amongst themselves, fighting for the microphone as it would seem.
“I want it!”
“NO! It’s mine!”
“You gotta share!”
“OW! Did you just bite me?!”
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The scene changes once again, now the camera finds itself amongst the stands of U.A.’s Sports Stadium.
Sitting just across from the camera is Heatblast, who has made himself comfortable amongst the stands. In his hands he holds the melted remains of the tiny microphone, looking between and the camera, unsure of what to do about it.
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XLR8 zips in front of the camera while out on U.A.’s courtyard.
He eyes the tiny microphone curiously. “Wait, what is this for again?”
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Lodestar watches as the tiny microphone levitates between his claws, while the Plumber Base acts as his backdrop. “Come again?”
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Ripjaws leans up on U.A.’s pool’s edge. “I’m not sure if I’m comfortable doing an interview.”
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The camera cuts to Stinkfly who sits atop a tree within the forest near U.A. “Yeah, this sounds kinda annoying.”
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Buzzshock is literally bouncing off the walls of his glass container, the very same one that’s meant to hold his species. “Hahaha! Sounds like fun bzz!”
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With his arms crossed, Water Hazard leans back on the side of the fake building located within Ground Beta. “I have to disagree. There’s got to be a more productive use of our time.”
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Now this is a fun sight. Grey Matter is sitting at what appears to be a highly expensive looking desk, which is so small the whole thing is actually sitting atop regular sized school desk!!
Grey Matter spins around in his seat, leaning back while pondering the subject at hand. “Hm, actually I think this can provide our readers with some good insight.”
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From atop an apartment building, Big Chill stares down at the camera below. “It’s certainly a unique spin on things.”
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Within U.A.’s own gym, Four Arms continues with his workout, lifting four pairs of dumbbells all at once. “As long as it doesn’t interrupt with my workout, I have no problem with it.”
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Within the confides of the U.S.J. Diamondhead nods his head in agreement. “I think this will be most beneficial, indeed.”
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“Well I guess it’s settled then.” Feedback leaps down from the little gazebo onto the sandy shore of Dagoba Beach.
He rises, crossing his arms, and grinning down at the camera. “Alright, let’s get this interview on the way. Shall we?”
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Which Class 1-A member do you relate to the best with?
Camera opens up the forest again, the focus on a pondering Stinkfly. “Um, I think I relate the most to…Ashido? Yeah, Mina Ashido. Probably due to our affinity to acids and slime.”
Stinkfly’s arms cross as he ponders more about his answer. “There’s just something about her I just can’t shake off though…”
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The camera cuts over the Ground Beta and Water Hazard. “Hm, I might have to say that I relate the most with Tsuyu Asui. Not because of powers or anything, but she’s always calm and collected, which is something I admire especially during a fight.”
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XLR8 is quick with his answer. “Tenya Iida, but that’s mainly due to a brothership between speedsters.”
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Buzzshock ricochets around his glass container. “Denki Kaminari!!”
No questioning why there.
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Four Arms continues with his work out as he lifts his dumbbells. “Oh, gotta be Eijiro Kirishima.” Four Arms grins at the camera. “He’s the manliest one out of all of Class 1-A. No doubt about it.”
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Terraspin shyly rubs his flipper together. “I say I’m probably most like Kouji Koda, not because of looks or powers or anything, but…” Terraspin looks away becoming incredibly shy. “Due to our similar natures.”
Terraspin turns away acting even more shy, tucking his head into his shell as to hide it.
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Ripjaws casually flips his tail out of the water as he considers his answer. “I gotta say, Mezo Shoji. We both got the whole freaky looks going for us, and as a result people underestimate us both.” He glares at the camera, his jagged teeth bared for all the naysayers. “Which is so wrong! We’re way cooler than people give us credit for!”
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Lodestar clicks his claws together. “Hanta Sero.” He gives a sheepish smile. “But honestly that’s just because we have similar color schemes.” He is of course referring to Sero’s black and yellow hero costume.
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Big Chill glares down at the camera as the wind breezes past him from atop the apartment rooftop. “I think I relate the most to Fumikage Tokoyami.” Big Chill raises his arm in front of his face as if to appear dramatically cool and mysterious. “He understands what lies in the darkness of the world.” In other words, they’re both goths.
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Within the U.S.J. Diamondhead has come up with a response.
“Honestly, I think I relate the most to Shoto Todoroki. We both use our powers similarly (ice and crystals).” Diamondhead frowns becoming serious. “However we also understand that the world can be a cruel place and that we must do what we can to endure it while also moving forward.”
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“Haha!” Heatblast nearly leaps out from his seat, instead opting to lean his arms on his knees. “For sure, Katsuki Bakugou! That guy’s got one fiery spark to him and so much fire power too.” Heatblast furrows as he considers his answer. “But if you ask me, he’s a bit of a hothead, though…”
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Feedback leans up against the gazebo while soft waves batter against the sandy shore. “I think I relate to Izuku Midoriya the best. Maybe it’s the green aesthetic or maybe in canon he’s got an efficiency to electricity. Or maybe because we’re both so unique.”
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The trio of Dittos have each taken a seat at the counter in Mr. Baumann’s store.
“Hmm, I’m not really sure.”
“Well what about Minoru Mineta?”
“What? No way?!”
“You can’t be serious?”
“I’m not… I only said because we have a similar…stature to him.”
The three Dittos slouch in sorrow. “We understand the troubles of being short.”
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Grey Matter glares at the camera, his eye twitching in annoyance after hearing his coworker’s complaints, feeling like they have no right to complain about their size.
He shakes his head, shaking off the feelings of annoyance, composing himself. “I must say that I most relate to the one known as Momo Yaoyorozu. Due to the nature of her Quirk she is far more intelligent and resourceful then her peers.” Grey Matter gives the camera a cocky grin. “For a human that is.”
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Favorite fight, challenge, or event so far?
Terraspin smiles shyly at the camera. “This is extremely biased, but I’d have to say the Mutant Attack on the Mall during the Mutant Mayhem chapters (Ch.4 – Ch.5).” Terraspin shyly cups his fins together. “Not only was it my first appearance, but it introduced a Ben Ten favorite, Dr. Animo. Not to mention it was the start of whom would receive One For All. At least in this story.”
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Water Hazard takes a stroll through Ground Beta as the camera slides along beside him. “You’re not the only biased one. My favorite fight so far took place in Ch.12 Boiling Point. Where with my help, Midoriya was able to settle an old score with his long-time tormentor.”
If Water Hazard could smile, then he defiantly would be. “It was extremely satisfying.”
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“You wanna talk about satisfying?” Diamondhead smirks. “Then let’s talk about chapters 15, 16, and 17 It’s Hero Time.”
Diamondhead goes ahead and begins listing off reasons why the U.S.J. arc was so good. “Many parts of the story were payed off and better yet set up for future arcs: We got a mutated Nue, Todoroki’s flames, The League of Villains, Nomu, and of course a brand-new alien.” He is of course referring to himself.
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“Hahahaha bzz!!” Buzzshock is laughing up a storm from within the large container! “I really liked Ch.20 Last Laugh bzz! Because it starred meeee as the big hero bzz!”
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XLR8 zooms around the camera before coming to a sudden halt with a big grin on his face. “The best arc has got to be the U.A. Sports Festival!!” XLR8 leaps into the air in excitement. “It was epic!!”
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“I concur.” Agrees Grey Matter from his desk atop a larger desk. “I must say that I for one found Ch.21 Roaring Start quite enjoyable. Considering how yours truly bested the other competitors during the Obstacle Course Race.”
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The Dittos all nod their heads in agreement. “Yeah, I gotta say that the Sports Festival was a lot of fun.”
“Are you kidding? We so got gipped on it! We were barely in it!”
“Yeah what a waste.”
“I know right? We would have been perfect for the Cavalry Battle.”
“Yeah, but somehow we got beat out by a bipedal turtle.”
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Four Arms slams his fist together. “If want to talk about a beating. Then how about the Bakugou vs. Uraraka fight. Now that was something!”
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“No way, man.” Heatblast flares up a bit in defiance. “The best fight was clearly when Midoriya had to take on Todoroki!”
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Big Chill glares through the camera. “You’re only saying that because you won that fight!” Big Chill huffs in annoyance. “That said I think the result of the Midoriya vs. Uraraka fight was unnecessary. If Midoriya had picked me for that match, he definitely would have won.”
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Ripjaws deadpans. “Honestly I think the Sports Festival went on for far too long.” He brightens up. “But The internship arc was great! I really loved having Gang Orca involved!”
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Lodestar has to disagree. “I actually think Charmcaster will have more of an impact. Especially later down the line.”
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Stinkfly excitedly fiddles in place. “I kinda enjoyed SixSix breaking into Plumber Base actually, it was really cool to see Thirteen go after him.”
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Feedback’s grin widens. “I think the fight against Stain has been the coolest thing yet! It had everything! Like monsters, stakes, development, the looming fear of death. And of course SixSix!” Feedback frowns for a moment in thought. “But then again it felt a bit clustered especially compared to the canon version of that fight, but I still think it was good.”
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What are your thoughts about your newest wielder, Izuku Midoriya?
Grey Matter sits up with his leg over his knee and his hands cupped together. “Well he’s certainly smarter than the average human.”
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“No doy he’s smart!” agrees a Ditto clone.
“Yeah!” chuckles another clone. “Cause he’s a nerd.”
“Hey, hey, hey, a hero nerd to be exact.” Another corrects.
“Hahaha!”
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“He always seems to attract trouble.” As to prove his point Lodestar uses his magnet to pull in an alien blaster.
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Buzzshock frowns looking somewhat irritated and disappointed. “He’s not funny, at least not on purpose.”
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XLR8 shakes his head in shame. “He’s way too hasty and reckless!”
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Diamondhead has to agree. “He has no sense of self-preservation. Honestly he’s lucky we’re so durable otherwise I’d hate to imagine the kinds of injuries and harm he’s find himself with.”
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“Honestly,” Water Hazard eyes the camera quizzically. “In canon he’s a bit of a crybaby. Seriously, he produces so much tears that he can give me a run for my money.”
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Ripjaws frowns with concern. “He had a real rough start, that’s for sure. Being Quirkless and all, he was unfairly judged.” His frown deepens with sorrow. “And as a result…he treated as less than human.”
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Terraspin looks towards the sun as a breeze flows up the hillside. “But despite all that, he still managed to be such a kind and caring person.”
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Stinkfly couldn’t agree more. “He’s got to be one the most selfless people I know.”
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Four Arms stands tall as he admires his current wilder. “And against all the odds he’s stood back up, now that’s manly.”
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Big Chill looks up to the sky. “But there’s still more for him to learn.”
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Heatblast smiles. “Of course there is, no one ever really stops growing. No matter how far he’s come so far.”
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“And all of this, makes him a hero.” Feedback’s smile is soft yet proud at the same time. “He’s our wielder, Izuku Midoriya. He’s Deku.”
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What are you looking forward to next?
Terraspin cups his chin. “I am very curious to see how Hisashi Midoriya’s return will affect the story especially for Deku.”
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The squad of Dittos smile at the camera. “I’d like to see more interactions between us and other My Hero Academia characters.”
A clone raises an eyebrow. “Us as in?”
“You know, Omnitrix aliens.”
“Oh, like more of us interacting with Class 1-A?”
“Or Class 1-B.”
“What about other pro heroes?”
“Why not all of them?”
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Four Arms grins as he puts down his weights. “I’d like to see what’s in store for the Final Exams. I mean, superpowered teens against superpowered adult, sounds like a blast.”
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Seated in the U.A. stadium. Heatblast cups his chin in thought. “Actually I’m wonder how the dynamic between All Might and Midoriya will play out.”
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“What about the bad guys?” asks Big Chill. “Just imagine how things will play out now with the League of Villains.”
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Buzzshock is actually still as he considers something that’s actually of weight. “But that’s the thing. There are so many secrets between characters now. So how will they all play out? Like there’s All Might’s concerns, One For All, of course Hisashi got to be hiding something, and who knows what else?”
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Lodestar views a screen within the monitoring room of Plumber Base. “ Actually I personally enjoy the chapters that are more original and, dare I say it, on the filler side of things. I just think they’re a lot of fun. You know?”
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XLR8 scratches the side of his chin. “Well I wanna see more of the Plumbers and the Alien Community on Earth. Seriously both need to be expanded upon!” He demands satisfaction!
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Grey Matter gives the camera a tooth grin. “I’m thrilled to see how I-Island plays out. I know for a fact our author has something special in store for us all.”
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“You say I-Island.” taunts Water Hazard. “But what you mean is the Summer Training Camp Arc. Now that’s going to be one wild storm-NO! If anything it’ll be the calm before the real storm!”
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“And that storm,” Diamondhead shakes with trepidation. “will undoubtably be Kamino Ward.” He looks straight into the camera. “And what may come after.”
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“Woah, why all the grim?” asks Ripjaws. “Look on the bright side, because one thing that comes after is that Class 1-A will move into the dorms. Imagine it, all of Class 1-A stuck with a kid that can become any aliens…now doesn’t tha sound like fun?”
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Stinkfly grins. “Yeah it does! And so does the Provisional Licensing Exam!”
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“What am I looking forward to the most?” Feedback asks the camera with a stupid grin.
He huffs a soft chuckle as if the question is too easy. “Well I’m excited to see all the new…teammates that will be joining our ranks soon.” Feedback’s grin grows wider. “And trust me there are a lot more on the way. And that’s a promise.”
Notes:
Hey everyone, so how was the Omaki? It’s going to be the last one we get for a while, so I hope it was good. It’s definitely different that’s for sure. I hope it wasn’t too confusing and it provided some good insight about the story so far and what’s to come next.
*In case you couldn‘t pick up on it I basically gave the run down of how far I think we’ll get during this next year. So I think we’ll get as far as the Provisional Licensing Exam arc. And if we’re really lucky then maybe we’ll get the Overhaul Arc, but I can’t make any promises at this time. I will be sprinkling in some original arcs of my own that not only will progress the story but also give me the change to introduce new Omnitrix aliens into the mix, too!! So get ready it’s going to be great!
*IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT!* So after two months of being on hiatus I am happy to proclaim that I am officially back! Or at least I’m going to be. So after working on my outline and preparing the first new chapter I feel ready to start posting again. However I want to at least write up one more chapter before the end of the month, so I will officially post the next real chapter either February 2nd or the 4th depending on my progress. So please just wait a little bit longer. Anyway look forward to it.
*Also once I start posting for real again, I will no longer be accepting suggestions, not until we reach the end of my current outline. Which if things go as planned won’t be for another year from now or so. So if you have any suggestions now is the time, otherwise I cannot guarantee anything at all. Thank you.
Chapter 43: A Not-So-Happy Reunion
Summary:
Izuku deals with his father's return.
Notes:
HERE WE GO!!! I’m back and ready to begin again!! Here is the long-anticipated Ch.38! I really hope you guys like it, but I have to admit that I kinda struggled with writing this one, especially near the beginning. So please forgive me if the writing isn’t on par. I really tried.
*Important News!* In the “Special Announcements” I mentioned that I now have an illustrator. And they’re alias is “Voidv25” I like what they do, and I trust them completely. As of now they only have one piece of art related to this story, but more is on the way and I will announce when those posts occur. Please check Voidv25’s content, they just started but I know for a fact that they’re going places.
Also if you wanna leave comments about the art you can do that in this story too, I will pass on the message to Voidv25. Thanks.
DeviantArt Link: https://www.deviantart.com/voidv25
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
‘I. Can’t. Take. This!!’ Izuku Midoriya is internally panicking, breaking into a cold sweat, even so it feels like his own heart has stopped beating for far too long as if death itself is taunting him.
And right now he really wishes Death would just finish him off.
“I missed you.~”
“I missed you too my sweet spark~”
Gah, Izuku feels like he’s going to hurl as he watches his parents be all lovey dovie from across the dinner table, rubbing their noses together and holding hands like lovestruck puppies.
Inko Midoriya gushes, her smile is as bright as it can be now that she has the love of her life back in her life. “Hisashi I can’t tell you how happy I am to have you home!”
Hisashi Midoriya’s emerald eyes gleam with joy. “Trust me Inko, I feel the same way.” He bows, his messy dark hair falling over his eyes in shame. “I’m so sorry it took so long to happen, but as you know my job has been…taxing as of late. The mission took far longer than it should.”
Inko offers up a sympathetic smile. “I understand, you did what you had to do. It’s always been like that.” Her smile widens in joy. “I was so excited when I received your last letter a few days ago. But it doesn’t feel real until this moment.”
Hisashi lights up. “And believe me things are going to change.”
Inko gasps. “Do you mean?”
“Yes.” Hisashi grips his love’s hands and looks her right in the eye and makes a solemn vow. “Inko, I’m not going anywhere.”
Tears well up in Inko’s eyes, she even sniffles a little, out of pure joy. “Really?”
“Really, really. I’m here to stay.”
Inko gasps and practically throws herself at her husband, enveloping him in a deep embrace that he happily returns, all before they exchange one big smooch.
“Blehh…” Izuku really isn’t used to this and he definitely doesn’t want to be. It’s just so…weird and wrong at the same time.
And how did it even get here? This was supposed to be a normal dinner but then HE showed up unannounced and from out of nowhere! Okay that’s not true, apparently Mom knew he was coming and she wanted to surprise him…boy was Izuku surprised.
As Hisashi and Inko settle down, Izuku’s father finally draws his attention to him, a sad yet proud smile curves up on his lips as he eyes Izuku longingly. “I…really can’t get over it.”
Izuku gulps nervously. “Get…over what?”
Hisashi smiles, speaking softly like a man who’s finally found the thing he once lost. “How much you’ve grown. You’re really becoming something aren’t you?”
Izuku isn’t totally sure why but…something inside him…nervous almost like he’s…scared “What…what are you saying?”
Hisashi, however, seems oblivious to Izuku’s discomfort, smiling none-the-wiser. “I’m saying that, it’s really great to see just the kind of person you're becoming.”
Izuku remains quiet, his blood going cold as a sense of dread begins to swell up within him.
The turmoil of emotions must have shown on his face because Hisashi frowns concernedly for a moment, puzzled by Izuku’s reaction.
Inko however missed the look on her son’s face and is more concerned with Izuku’s lack of response to his father. “Izuku, do you have anything you’d like to say to your father?”
Izuku averts his eyes sitting in miserable silence. He doesn’t know exactly why but…but he just can’t bring himself to be happy to have Hisashi home. But whatever it is…it’s definitely making his stomach twist and turn making him feel like he has bile stuck in his stomach and it can’t escape, letting the horrid emotions boil inside.
“There’s so much I need to catch up on.” Hisashi smiles softly figuring he might as well try to reach out himself. “So tell me, what have you been up to lately?”
Izuku’s lips seal themselves, almost subconsciously as the pit of dread in his stomach continues to grow.
Inko frowns, disapprovingly, but Hisashi either hasn’t noticed or isn’t bothered by Izuku’s reaction and instead continues to reach out with a friendly smile. “Oh, there’s got to be something. What about friends? I’m sure you got plenty of those! So how about it, like to tell me about some of them?”
Izuku shrinks further into his seat, averting his gaze down and away from Hisashi.
Inko frowns, disappointed with her son’s behavior. “Izuku.” She scolds sternly.
Izuku shrinks back even further avoiding his mother’s disapproving gaze.
Inko frowns ready to scold him, but Hisashi quickly holds her back. “It’s fine.” He’s being remarkably patient but even Inko can tell that Hisashi’s a bit put off by Izuku’s behavior too. “I know. How’s U.A. treating you? I bet it’s changed a lot.”
Izuku briefly looks up from the floor and knowing his mom’s already not happy he decides he might as well try to respond. “Yeah, I guess.” That’s all he can bring himself to say.
Hisashi cracks a smile, glad he’s getting somewhere at least. “Well, who are your teachers? I know All Might’s, he’s your favorite hero, right? What’s he like?”
Izuku goes stock still, like a hand is clenched around his heart.
“I bet he’s amazing! He’s All Might after all!”
‘Yeah, he is…’ Izuku can’t help to think, sadly.
“I bet you’re happy to have him as your teacher. He even gave your medal at the Awards Ceremony.”
The hand squeezing Izuku’s heart squeezes even harder, stopping the flow of blood for a brief moment as dread boils up from the depths of Izuku’s stomach. “What…?” Does that mean he…?
Hisashi is oblivious to Izuku's turmoil, going on with an excited smile. “Yeah, I saw you on TV during the Sports Festival, you were so great!”
Izuku gulps, his mind still trying to process it all. “You saw…?”
“Of course I did! And it was incredible! I’m so proud”
Really, now he’s proud? Was…was he not proud before?
“And your…Quirk. It’s so cool! And you’re so talented with it, it’s astounding!”
And like that, Izuku can feel everything around him shatter like someone took a bat and took a big swing at his frail heart. “Is that why…you came back?”
“Huh?” Hisashi frowns leaning forward. “I’m sorry what was that?”
Izuku’s hair casts over his eyes, shrouding them away from his parents. His breathing is quiet, deadly silent, and he speaks with a heavy yet soft tone. “Why did you come back?”
“Um, because of work. I got reassigned back here in Japan.”
“Really? Then…” Izuku’s fists clench from under the table, he doesn’t understand it, but he feels…frustrated? No that’s not it, but whatever it is, it’s eating at him from within. “What was it?”
Hisashi frowns even more confused.
Izuku, still looking away, finally asks the big question. “What kept you away for so long?”
A stunned silence washes over the table, both parents and even Izuku seem taken back and surprised by the sudden question. No, it wasn’t a question. It’s a demand.
Hisashi’s face washes with worry and sadness, but he doesn’t speak allowing Izuku the time he needs to process.
With a shaky breath Izuku continues. “Why now? Why now of all times?”
Hisashi understands the question right away. “Izuku. I wanted to be here sooner, I really did, but my work…” He doesn’t know how to explain it, his eyes momentarily shifting to his wife, who hadn’t noticed his gaze.
That sounds like an excuse, and for some reason that gets to Izuku. “That’s another thing…” He sounds…angry, his teeth clenched as his fists clench even harder. “What exactly were you doing that whole time?”
“Excuse me?”
Izuku gazes up at his father, who flinches back at all the boiling fury behind his emerald eyes. “Where were you? What were you doing? You already know what I was up to, so what about you?”
Hisashi is taken back, but he frowns apologetically. “…As part of the… Self-Defense Force, I…I’m not allowed to discuss that.”
“Meaning you don’t trust us.” Izuku spits out accusingly. “So…so why should I trust you!”
Inko snaps. “Izuku! That’s no way to talk to your father.” She raised him better than that!
“Father?!” Izuku snaps too, his bottled-up frustration spilling out. “I barely know him!!”
The harsh truth sweeps across the little household, all the cheeriness and warmth washing away as Izuku finally snaps.
“If he was my dad then he would have been here! He would have been helping you, helping me, but he wasn’t! Instead he’s off doing who-knows-what? And whatever it is he’s not even willing to share!” Izuku is hurting, it feels like his insides are on fire!! Tears streaming down in face, as if expelling the sadness and frustration he’s feeling. “How do we even know you were faithful?”
Inko gasps. “Izuku!”
“Quirkless!!” roars Izuku.
That silences them all once again.
Izuku tries to take a breath, but it feels like he’s choking down air. “When the doctor said I was Quirkless…where were you?”
Hisashi blinks, rattled by it all. “Izuku…I…”
“You were gone.” Izuku doesn’t bother, he doesn’t want to hear another stupid excuse. “And finally after I got myself a Quirk…you come back. So, why?” Izuku glares right at the matching set of eyes before him. “Why now? Why did you come back?”
Hisashi’s mouth gaps open and close like a fish gasping for its breath. Not a single word is able to escape his lips and so he goes silent, unable to look his own child in the eye.
That’s not going to do! The growing anger erupts forward and Izuku finally roars out in outrage, springing out of his seat. “Is it…is it because your pathetic son finally has a QUIRK?!”
“No!” Hisashi shouts back defiantly, hastily shooting out in his seat too! “Izuku I never left because of you! I swear!”
“YOU ABANDONED US!!!” Izuku roars out that there’s no doubt their neighbors heard him. “You not only left me, but you left Mom to raise me all on her own! How could you do that?!”
Hisashi’s hurt, more than hurt actually. “Izuku, I promise you I…I didn’t have a choice.”
Izuku scoffs, growling under his breath. “We all have a choice…”
And with that Izuku’s had more than enough excuses, storming off for his room without a bit of dinner.
“Izuku!” Inko calls after him but Hisashi holds her back. “What are you…?”
Hisashi shakes his head sorrowfully. As he sits back down he knows that if they do anything else it’ll only make things worse.
Inko frowns worriedly. “Hisashi…”
“No…I deserved that.”
“Honey…”
“I…should have expected this…” A sad smile graces Hisashi’s lips, like he knows it’s the sad truth. “I’ve been gone for too long… And so in a sense he’s right…unintentionally, I did abandon you both.”
“Hisashi…”
“I think we all just…need some time to adjust.” Hisashi tries to offer his wife the most comforting smile that he can right now. “I promise we can get through this.”
Inko hesitantly agrees, she has to believe that it will get better. Izuku will come around, he has to. “Yeah, as a family.”
Hisashi, already feeling a bit better, takes his wife’s hands into his own and gazes up at her with all the love in the world. “Of course.”
Meanwhile, Izuku slams the door to his room with a bang before slamming his back against it. His breathing is fast and shaky like his lungs are on fire, and his head’s pounding like someone’s jackhammering away at it.
‘Why? Why now?’ He slides down the door and collapses onto the ground, holding his head as he tries to make sense of all these strange emotions swirling in the pits of his stomach.
As he sits there his gaze wanders over to his open closet and there sitting in the back, hidden away and casted in the shadows is his dark secret. A little shoe box filled with his father’s letters, letters he never bothered to even open.
Izuku whips his head away, not wanting to see anything related to that man right now. “Where have you been…?”
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
*DING! DONG!*
The bell rings, signaling the end of homeroom.
“All right. That’s it for homeroom.” Shota Aizawa files away the stack of worksheets at the podium. “There’s only one week left before your final exams begin. I’m sure you’re all studying constantly, right?” That’s a rhetorical question of course. “Don’t forget to keep training. The written exam is only one element. There’s also the practical portion to worry about.” Aizawa heads for the door opening it up before taking one last look at his class. “Good luck.”
And so he leaves and the moment he shuts the door the class is springing out of their seats in an uproar.
Especially Denki Kaminari and Mina Ashido, Kaminari [20th] cries out in despair while Mina [19th] laughs it off like it’s a hilarious joke. “I’ve barely even taken notes this semester!!”
Kaminari grabs his head. “And with the Sports Festival and internship, I didn’t have time to read the textbook.”
Fumikage Tokoyami [14th] seems calm but he bears the exact same cross. “It’s true that we haven’t had very much free time lately.” Like that would explain his grades.
Rikido Sato [12th] leans over to talk to Koji Koda [11th]. “We barely learned anything when we took our midterms so they didn’t seem all that hard, but I’m kinda worried about these.”
Koji nods in agreement.
Sato continues. “We’ve been through a lot, and they probably won’t pull any punches when it comes to testing us.”
Nearby, Minoru Mineta overhears and gives his classmates a very overconfident and cocky smirk from his desk. “As someone ranked in the top ten, I’m not that concerned.” Yeah who would have guessed that he’d get 9th place out of the whole class?!
Kaminari and Mina still can’t believe it. “WHAT!?! You were ninth in the midterms?!”
Even Mina can’t find this funny. “Aw, man, and here I thought you were one of us!”
Kaminari cries out in anguish. “Don’t you know weirdo little creeps like you are only likable if they’re kind of stupid?! Who’s going to love you now?!”
Mineta, still acting cocky smirks up at the morons. “Everyone. Trust me.”
“Mina, Kaminari!”
The two morons peer over and see Ochaco Uraraka [13th] smiling at them, although calling it a smile is a stretch.
Ochaco looks like death is upon her, but despite that she puts on a mask of optimism that isn’t fooling a soul. “W-we c-can’t give up h-hope, we can still pass.” She says in a shaky voice, although she has clearly given up all hopes of passing.
Mina’s antennas twitch. “Don’t feed us false hope!!”
“No, Uraraka is right!” Tenya Iida [2nd] stands tall at the front of the class. “As class rep, I have high hopes that we’ll make U.A. proud!”
Shoto Todoroki [5th] stares blankly at them all. “It’s pretty hard to fail if you just pay attention in class, isn’t it?”
Ochaco winces in pain, his cold calm stare just makes the comment hurt that much more.
Kaminari despairs clenching at his heart. “Why you gotta cut me down like that?!”
But here’s a saving grace, their savior appears in the form of Momo Yaoyorozu [1st]. “Hey, don’t worry about it, you two, I can catch you up to speed on the important topics, if you want.”
Kaminari and Mina are so grateful; they literally sing her praises. “You’re the best, Yao-momo!!”
Yaoyorozu wants to be glad, but she slouches in her seat in despair. “I’m afraid I won’t be any help when it comes to the practical, though.”
Kyoka Jiro [7th] shyly approaches her. “I’ve been studying, but…could you help me out, too?” She holds up her notebook. “I’m having some trouble understanding quadratic functions.”
Yaoyorozu is surprised, she didn’t think Jiro would need her help too. “Really?”
Hanta Sero [17th] leaps in, clapping his hands together, begging for her help too. “Tutor me, please! Classical Japanese is killin’ me!”
“Is there room for one more?” Mashirao Ojiro [8th] strolls up with an embarrassed smile. “I’m afraid I’m falling behind a little.”
All three look to Yaoyorozu and beg. “Pretty please!”
Yaoyorozu gasps in delight, her eyes sparkling with joy. “Wonderful!” She springs out of seat, fully determined to help them! “Yes, let’s do it!”
All three cheer in unison. “All right!!”
Yaoyorozu takes the lead, already having a plan. “Okay, then. We can hold a study session at my residence over the weekend.”
Mina gasps in surprise. “Seriously?! I can’t wait to see your fancy digs!”
Yaoyorozu is so happy she’s radiating with joy and delight. She’s so happy that everyone can feel all the positive energy bouncing off of her in waves. “Oh! I must call Mother and have her prepare the great hall for us to set up; it’ll be the perfect spot.”
The group of five goes pale, taken back by her comment.
Kaminari and Jiro stand stock still in surprise. ‘Great hall?’
Yaoyorozu‘s so overjoyed, she doesn’t notice the stunned look. “What kind of tea does everyone like? I’ll have her make sure we’re stocked.”
Ojiro and Sero internally gasp. ‘That’s overkill!’
Yaoyorozu continues to gush with happiness, totally oblivious to them as joy and delight bounce off her. “In my family, we always drink Harrods or Wedgewood, so if you have any other preference, let me know!” She spins around as if to declare her intentions to the world. “When we’re finished, you’ll all be model students! I’ll make it my personal duty to push you forward.”
The group of future model students all just smile on not wanting to spoil her mood.
Kaminari puts on the best forced smile that he can. ‘Is she humble bragging? Or does she not even realize what she’s saying?’
Jiro’s smile is equally as forced. ‘She’s so excited and bouncy that I don’t even care.’
Kaminari goes ahead and speaks up. “About that tea, I’m not so sure about the harry one.”
Yaoyorozu frowns. “No, it’s from Harrods.”
Eijirou Kirishima [15th] grins after listening in to them, but he goes ahead and turns back towards Bakugou. “Sounds like I should be studying with her.”
Katsuki Bakugou [3rd] takes offense to that!! “You think I don’t know enough?! Maybe I should beat the lessons into your skull!”
Despite the threat, Kirishima laughs it off. “I’m counting on it.”
Nearby, Mezo Shoji [10th] strolls by Yuga Aoyama’s desk, the latter acting all suave and showy as ever. “Hah. Everyone’s panicking right now, but it won’t do them any good to cram this late in the game.”
Shoji frowns. “Shouldn’t you be more concerned? You didn’t do very well in the midterms.”
Aoyama’s facade breaks if only for a few seconds. “Are you talking about moi? I did just fine, thank you.” If you call 18th place fine that is?
Ochaco takes it all in and seeing everyone getting themselves geared up to work hard is affecting her too. It’s like she’s getting secondhand encouragement by watching them all! And you bet she’s going to work her ass off too for the exams!
“Are you ready, De…ku?” She hadn’t noticed until now but…Deku’s just been sitting in silence at his desk all morning.
Weird, usually he’d give his thoughts on things by now, especially school stuff. Huh, maybe he didn’t get enough sleep, he does look tired and his eyes look a little puffy and red too.
‘Maybe I should check on him?’ As she’s about to, the bell rings and Present Mic bursts through the door. ‘Oops! Later then.’
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
“Oohh! Guys, I’m freaking out!” Ochaco drops her head down onto the lunch table in defeat. “I bet the practical exam’s going to be insane!”
Seated beside her are Tsuyu Asui and Toru Hagakure while sitting across from them are Tenya, Shoto, Izuku, and even Hitoshi Shinso who they practically dragged to their table.
Tenya prepares himself to dig into his meal. “Hard to believe they’d give us anything too crazy.”
Tsuyu [6th] thinks about it for a moment. “Well the written Exam shouldn’t be a problem. It’ll be all stuff from class after all.”
Shinso is a bit more skeptical. “Yeah, but do you really think the practical is going to be just as simple?”
Hagakure [16th] has to agree. “It’s a comprehensive test of everything we learned this year.”
Tsuyu nods. “Yup, and that’s about all we could get Mr. Aizawa to tell us.”
Ochaco frowns, picking her head off the table. “Huh, so then it’ll cover combat training and rescue training. Oh, and basic training.”
Shinso shrinks down into his seat, feeling very uneasy all of a sudden. “But some of us are… admittedly behind then the rest of you.”
Ochaco frowns worriedly. “Don’t be like that, Shinso.”
Hagakure leans over the table. “Yeah I’m sure you’ll be fine.”
“Of course he will!” proclaims Tenya a bit too loudly! “He is a member of the Hero Course now! There’s no doubt you’ll be able to pass.”
Shinso looks away trying and failing to hide his smile.
Todoroki continues to slurp up his soba. “Just be sure you all remember to study for the written exam. *SLURP!*” As he slurps away his judgmental gaze falls towards Ochaco.
Ochaco flinches under his gaze. A part of her is certainly offended, but what’s worse is that…he’s right.
Noticing her discomfort, Tsuyu and Hagakure can’t help but laugh at her expense.
As Ochaco reels back from the insult, she notices that once again Izuku’s off to the side with a faraway look in his eye. He still hasn’t said a word, actually he hasn’t said a word all day not even during class!
“Hey Deku.”
He doesn’t answer, heck he doesn’t even seem to hear her.
The others all look at Izuku wondering why he didn’t reply, but all they get is him staring silently at his food.
Hagakure whispers into Tsuyu’s ear. “Is…he okay?”
“He’s been like that all day.” Tsuyu replies in a hushed voice.
Ochaco gasps. “You noticed too, huh?”
They all look back towards the greenette, unsure what could have him in such a state. But they could only guess what he could be thinking about.
‘Why?’ That’s the number one question that’s been running through Izuku’s mind since late last night.
Why is Hisashi back? Why now? And what is Izuku feeling? He doesn’t get any of it. Everything just feels so wrong and weird, like something’s boiling inside of him every time he thinks about it.
“Um, Deku?”
He still can’t hear it, lost in his own worries and turmoil.
Tenya, unable to sit by any longer, grabs Izuku’s shoulder. “Midoriya?”
And like that, Izuku snapped out of his trance! “Huh?” He blinks and a part of him wonders when he even arrived at the cafeteria. “Y-yes…?”
Everyone at the table internally gasps. ‘Did he not hear a thing?’
Tenya frowns worriedly. “We were wondering what you think about the exams coming up.”
Izuku slouches over, he ponders for a moment before speaking. “Oh, um I thin-Ah!!” Izuku yelps out in pain, grabbing the back of his head after rudely being elbowed.
“Oh, sorry.” Says a very annoying and overly confident voice.
Wincing, Izuku spins around and finds Neito Monoma was the one who elbowed him. The guy looks just as cocky as ever, holding a tray of expensive food with even a wine glass!
Monoma snickers. “Your head’s so big that it’s hard to miss.”
The entire table internally screeches. ‘What the hell dude?!’
Izuku winces, turning away. Feeling even more discomfort and the boiling in his stomach increases, he can almost feel his patience being wielded away at this point.
Tenya frowns disapprovingly up at Monoma. “If I’m not mistaken, you’re from Class 1-B correct? Monoma, wasn’t it?” With that Tenya shoots out of his seat, his arms karate chopping the air. “Please be sure to condone yourself! That was extremely rude and uncalled-“
“I heard you guys stumbled across the Hero Killer.” Monoma taunts looking at the rest of the table.
Tenya gasps. ‘He ignored me!!’
While Tenya gasps the rest that actually were part of the Stain incident glare up at Monoma. They can already tell this is going somewhere that they don’t want it to go.
Monoma smirks down at them, sticking his chin up to be sure he’s literally looking down on them. “Just like in the Sports Festival, Class 1-A isn’t happy unless they’re the center of attention.” His shifty eyes drift over to Izuku who’s been shrinking away in his seat from the start. “Especially you, the supposed Rising Star.” He spits it out like it’s an insult.
Izuku frowns, feeling his patience getting cut away even more.
“But you do realize you’re not in the spotlight because you’re a good hero, right? It’s just that you keep getting into so much trouble.”
Ochaco’s glare hardens and even Tsuyu and Hagakure are starting to lose their cools too, glaring up at Monoma for daring to target their friend and classmate.
Monoma looks very satisfied with himself, happy that he's getting a rise out of them. And so he decides to hit it home with this one! “Here’s food for thought: Someday the rest of us might get caught up in your mess, and then we’ll all become unwitting victims as well.”
Izuku worriedly bites his lip, because…he’s right. One day that might just happen, the Omnitrix has painted a giant target on his back…or rather on his wrist! Who knows what trouble will come knocking next? And…that scares him.
Monoma’s smirk widens, he’s practically gleeful he got to Izuku. And now with his ego stroked he doesn’t realize that he should cut his losses before he goes way too far. “What kind of horrible villains will you bring down upon us? What demons---”
*CHOP!*
And he’s down!!
“That’s not funny, Monoma.” Itsuka Kendo scolds the annoying blonde as she catches him by the back of his shirt, as well as catching his tray of food. “You heard what happened to Iida! Chill out.”
Tenya gasps in surprise. “Kendo.”
“I apologize for him.” Kendo offers up an apologetic smile to the table. “I’m pretty sure there’s a hole where his heart should be.”
Their eyes all cast down to Monoma’s limp body, hanging under Kendo’s strong grip.
Ochaco’s just a little bit terrified. ‘He’s…out cold!’
Izuku eyes Monoma’s limp form and…shamefully he can’t help but feel just a bit better.
Kendo hesitantly and shyly smiles down at Ochaco. “Hey Uraraka.”
“Y-Yes?!”
“I was wondering.” Kendo looks away rather shyly. “If you wanted to meet after class and train?”
“Train?”
“Yeah.” Kendo smiles excitedly. “Remember at the Sports Festival we talked about sparing and about me teaching you some moves.”
Ochaco lights up, they talked about after the Cavalry battle! “Oh, yeah!”
“Well we can start after school. I think it’d be really beneficial for the both of us.”
“Oh, yeah, sure. I’d love to!”
“Great!” Kendo looks absently delighted. She needs to get better too and there’s no better way than to take on the person who came in first place!
Wait, there was something else she wanted to say to them. “Mm. So I was listening…” Kendo scans the cafeteria making sure no teachers are within ear shot. “I know you’re all worried about what’s going to be on the big final practical. I heard it’s gonna be combat against robots, like the entrance exam.”
The entire table sits up at attention.
“What?” gasps Ochaco.
Hagakure tilts her head. “Really?”
Even Izuku looks surprised.
Shoto frowns up at her curiously. “How do you know that?”
Kendo rubs the back of her head out of embarrassment. “One of my friends who’s a few grades up filled me in. I know. Cheating. But oh, well.”
“That’ll be so great!!” cheers Ochaco.
Hagakure nods, raising her hands into the air. “Yeah it will!”
“Robots would make the test incredibly easy!” adds Tenya but then he notices that not everyone feels the same.
Shinso actually looks scared, sweating bullets and his face going pale as if an invisible Aizawa is strangling the boy with an invisible capture scarf around his neck.
Ochaco cries out in fright. “Shinso?!”
Tsuyu cups her chin. “Oh, right…your Quirk won’t work on robots will it?”
Shinso shakily responds. “No…it won’t.” He sounds frustrated, and for good reason, robots were part of the reason he couldn’t even get into the Hero Course!
“Don’t worry Shinso!” Ochaco throws her fist into the air! “I’m rooting for ya!!”
Shoto puts down his empty bowl of soba and speaks with a rather bored tone. “With all your special training, not even you’ll struggle against them.”
The coloring returns to Shinso’s face in full force, like for real his entire face’s red now!
The table and Kendo laugh at his embarrassing blush but as they laugh Izuku quietly chimes in. “No…”
The table quiets down and looks to him to explain himself.
“I don’t think that’s…right. Robots just sound way too…easy.” That just doesn’t sound like U.A. not at all. Especially not something Principal Nezu would go for.
“What kind of idiot are you, Kendo?” Oh, it seems Monoma has woken up. “You just gave away our whole strategic advantage.”
The table and Kendo glare down at Monoma who’s really desperate to cut them down now. “This was our chance to finally pull ahead of that class full of idiots. EH!!”
And with another chop, he’s out cold once again!
“They’re not the idiots!” Kendo scolds as she literally drags him away.
The table watches them go and Ochaco can’t help but think. ‘I’m getting a big sister vibe from her.’
As they watch the big sister figure go, Ochaco changes her focus back to Deku but she finds him staring down at his food again in silence.
‘What’s going on with you?’
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
Eventually the end of the school day comes around and those that were able to get answers from Kendo were finally able to get the rest of the class into the know.
“All right!!” Both Kaminari and Mina cheer out, grateful for the news!
They’re both extremely happy and they even seem to be way calmer than before.
Especially Kaminari who’s grinning like an idiot. “This’ll be super easy if it’s just robots!”
Mina cheers! “Such awesome news!”
Shoji frowns, he just doesn’t get it at all. “Why do you sound so happy? You both have a hard time controlling your Quirks.”
Despite that, Kaminari is still overjoyed. “Yeah! But I can let loose with robots!”
Mina is just as optimistic! “And melting them’ll be a cinch for me!”
Sero grins and chimes in. “Now you just need Yaoyorozu to help you study and you’ll be all set for finals.”
The two morons cheer out in unison. “We’ll definitely be able to go to the training camp now!”
Ochaco stares at her fist. ‘I need to get stronger. I need to be ready.’
“It shouldn’t matter if it’s robots or actual people.”
Everyone’s attention is drawn to the front of the room where Bakugou is glaring up a storm. “Why are you morons so excited?”
Instantly Kaminari and Mina get upset.
Kaminari even points an accusing finger at the mad bomber! “Hey, who are you calling a moron?!”
“Shut up!!” barks the ash-blonde!
Both Kaminari’s and Mina’s faces pale in fear as they go quiet.
“You need to learn how to control your Quirk! Ya got it?!” The scowling Bakugou scans the rest of the class until his eyes land on his next target. “Hey! Deku!”
Izuku snaps out of his trance, once again being lost in his worries, but as he looks up and meets Bakugou’s furious gaze, he can’t help but allow for the stewing sense of irritation to boil within him.
“It’s bullshit.” He growls his red eyes flaring in anger. “You shouldn’t be as good as you are, and there’s no way a loser like you could ever out stage me!!” But he has. “You were never meant to. Do you really think you can surpass me? If you do.” His glare hardens. “Then it’s seriously pissing me off.”
“Uh-oh.” Ochaco silently gasps as she approaches Mina and Kaminari. “He must mean how Deku took down the Hero Killer.”
Mina nods. “Oh, yeah, totally.”
Bakugou twirls around and glares right at the brunette. “This goes for you too, Uraraka!”
Ochaco yelps in fright at being called out!
“I won’t hand over another win like in the festival.”
Ochaco frowns, glaring back just as defiantly.
As for Izuku well, his hair casts a dark shadow over his eyes as he gazes downward. How dare he, how dare he mock and deny everything he’s accomplished up till now. He’s had to work just as hard as everyone else. It’s not fair! It’s not right!
“We’ll be getting individual scores in the upcoming finals. New rankings.” Bakugou growls, aiming his finger at Izuku, and declaring for all to hear. “So we’ll all know exactly where we’re standing! I’ll show you all how much better I am.”
With his intentions out in the open, his declaration has put the entire class on edge. The entire room feels tense and heavy especially as the students look between Izuku and his tormentor. They’re not sure why but in that moment many of them could have sworn that they heard something snap!
“Bakugou.” Izuku’s voice is soft, yet far away, almost like he’s in a trance, lost in his own world. A world of swirling confusing emotions. In that moment Izuku could feel all the frustration, anger, irritation, and loss that’s accumulated since his father came home, since Monoma berated him, and now when his long-time (too long) tormentor dares to spit dirt on his hard work!!
With a shaky breath, his fists clenching so tight they turn white, the maddening Izuku peers through his green locks, his emerald gaze piercing into Bakugou’s and with a dangerously soft voice he speaks. “At least I’m not a whinny bitch…”
The entire room is thrown into a stunned state of shock. Everyone’s breath hitches, even their hearts stop in place, as they all take in the words that have left Midoriya’s mouth, THE Midoriya’s mouth. Words that they never thought he’d even be capable of pronouncing…he stated with such defiance and anger. It’s almost…terrifying. Hell even Bakugou looks like he’s just taken a punch to the face!!
With nothing else to say, Izuku grabs his bag and marches off, not daring to meet anyone’s eyes, not at all proud of his little moment. And after marching past the stunned Bakugou, he’s gone.
As the door gently shuts behind him, Bakugou finally snaps out of his shock. His face turning red and furious with anger. And with a huff he turns and stomps off, throwing the door open before stomping away to leave too!! Upset that Deku somehow once again got the better of him again!
As the door shuts behind him, the rest of the class is finally able to breathe again. Some even sigh in relief. They never thought they’d ever see Midoriya angry, not ever! And honestly a pissed off Midoriya fighting a pissed off Bakugou doesn’t sound that fun for anyone.
Meanwhile, just outside the doorway, Mr. Aizawa is leaned up against the wall with a clipboard in his hands as he watches Bakugou’s retreating form. ‘Bakugou… You’re getting worse than I thought.’ He frowns, sighing as he shakes his head in disappointment. ‘You even managed to get to Midoriya…’
Just what will he have to do with the two of you? What will it take for the two of them to move on?
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The weekend finally rolls around, and for Izuku it could not have come sooner. Things at school have been…awkward to say the least, especially after his little…outburst in front of everyone. Thankfully the class seemed to have all decided to give him his space, which honestly, he’s really grateful about.
*Yawn!* “Oh, morning Izuku.”
Izuku’s mood instantly drops as he rounds the corner to the bathroom and finds Hisashi standing there in his maroon bathrobe in the middle of the hallway. Stuck in his mouth is a toothbrush and he’s holding what Izuku assumes is coffee.
Hisashi removes the toothbrush. “Morning, champ. How’d you sleep?”
Izuku instantly turns away heading for his room, leaving Hisashi to gape and flail about in a panic. It’s been like this for the last few days, with Izuku doing all that he can to not interact with that man. But Hisashi is clearly determined and has tried to reach out on several occasions, but all it’s led to are awkward encounters and forced smiles. And today is no different.
And so not wanting to be stuck at home with the one person he can’t stand to be around right now, Izuku grabs his favorite black and green hoodie, slings it on, and heads for the door.
Hearing the door unlock, Inko is thrown into a panic as she scrambles into the hallway. “Izuku what about breakfast?!”
Izuku doesn’t even bother to look at her. “I’m not hungry.” And with a shut of the door, he’s gone and out of sight.
“Oh, dear.” Tears have already started to well up in Inko’s eyes as she begins to worry. “Where is he going? Is he alright, maybe I should-?”
“He’s okay.” Hisashi states as calmly and reassuringly as he can. “Like we discussed he just needs time.”
Inko sighs in defeat. “Yeah, you’re right. But I still can’t help but worry.”
“And that’s fine, it’s okay to worry.” Hisashi slowly turns away and heads for the bedroom. “Alright I’m going to go get ready.”
“Oh are you off too?”
“Yeah, after eating I gotta head out. Now that I’m back in town.” Hisashi throws his wife a giant grin. “There’s a few friends I need to go see.”
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
*Hiccup! Belch!* “Excuse me…” Izuku slouches over the store counter, sinking into his seat after downing another glass. “Why…?”
God he feels awful, he thought coming here would help distract him but his stomach feels even more queasy than before. Damn it! He just can’t seem to get a handle on his emotions! It’s all so confusing, right now!
“Another…”
Mr. Baumann goes ahead and refills Izuku’s glass.
The moment it’s filled Izuku chugs it down like a shot, all before collapsing his head back onto the counter. “Gah!
Mr. Baumann deadpans. “Stop with the theatrics. It’s only soda.”
“Another!”
Mr. Bauman’s glare hardens as he recollects how much Izuku’s already had. “I think you’ve had enough.”
“Mr. Baumann, please…”
“Just be happy I haven’t kicked you out yet.”
Out of fear, Izuku straightens up in his seat. “No, please just let me stay a little while.” He’s begging!
He doesn’t have to beg for long because Mr. Baumann has already given in. “Fine. But the moment you cause trouble, you’re out! You understand me?”
“Yes!”
Mr. Baumann accepts the answer with a nod of approval. And so he heads off for the back of the store counter, probably to go get some more soda.
As alien customers browse the aisles for groceries, Izuku finds himself alone at the counter and so he decides to lay his head down for a little bit. In truth one reason he came here was that he knew that there was no way Hisashi would ever appear in a place like this! He just really needs some space away from the guy, for some reason every time he’s near him his stomach gets all twisty and gross inside. Like something’s boiling in his stomach, but what he doesn’t know.
“You look…miserable.” Says a new arrival.
Izuku instantly spins around in a panicked haste to see just who called him out! “Uraraka?”
Sure enough Ochaco’s standing just behind him with a worried smile and her phone in her hand.
“What are you doing here?”
“I uh…” She smiles sheepishly as she holds up her phone. “Got a text from a ‘concerned citizen’.”
Izuku’s rightfully confused, what kind of citizen would call Uraraka about him?
Unbeknownst to him, Ochaco’s gaze slowly drifts over to the side. And she spots Mr. Baumann peeking out from the corner.
“So.” She takes a seat beside her friend. “Wanna tell me what’s been eating you?”
Izuku panics! “Nothing’s been eating me!”
Ochaco isn’t convinced, and her whole face says so too.
Izuku cowers away under her judgmental gaze. “W-what?”
“Deku, something’s clearly bothering you. We can all see it.”
“We?”
“Our friends. We’re all really worried about you. You’ve been acting really weird, lately. And we don’t like it.”
Izuku doesn’t know what to say. Instead he stares down at his empty glass contemplating what to say.
He looks back at Ochaco who gives him a comforting look. “You can tell me.”
Izuku stares back down at his glass and finally after another moment of contemplating he decides maybe it’d be best to share exactly what’s troubling him. “He…he came back.”
Ochaco blinks in confusion. “Who? Who came back?”
“Hisashi came back.” Izuku takes a deep breath before exhaling. “My…father came home.”
“Ohhhh. Is that it?” Ochaco’s totally confused. ‘I feel like I’m missing something here.’
Izuku shivers in his seat, the unsettling and boiling feeling in his gut just won’t quiet will it?
“Do you…wanna talk about it?”
Izuku shakes his head. “Not really…”
And so they both sit in silence, Ochaco allowing Izuku the time he needs to come around. And after a little while he finally speaks up especially after the boiling in his stomach settles down a bit. “I…I hate it.”
“Hate what?”
“This feeling. This feeling of…of…I don’t know!” Izuku shouts exasperatedly! “I just feel so lost and I guess angry? Maybe? I don’t know. It’s just all so weird having him home for the first-time in years.”
“Years?’ Ochaco is almost nervous to ask. “How many years?”
Izuku shakes before answering. “He’s been gone…ever since I was diagnosed as Quirkless.”
“That long?!’ Holy cow that’s a long time! No wonder they’re having issues!
“He left us.” Izuku continues needing to get all of this off his chest while he has the chance. “And all he has to say for it is his job took him away. And sure he says he wanted to come home, but he didn’t! So he just shows up and what expects us, expects me to be happy for him? He should have been there from the start. He should never have left!” It’s so absurd and crazy! “And what’s worse is that I don’t want to be upset, I want to be happy, but I can’t.” Especially with all the twisting and boiling in the depths of his heart and stomach. “I feel so…so wrong and I don’t know why.”
“Deku…” Ochaco can’t help but worry, she can almost hear the underlying anger in Izuku’s voice. But mostly she can hear just how much pain he’s really in. Whatever the relationship is between these two, they need to work it out otherwise it might just get worse. “I get you’re feeling…off, and that’s okay. You just need time.” Also, oh boy how can she say this? “And maybe you’re just jumping to conclusions.”
Izuku raises an eyebrow.
So, Ochaco continues. “I mean maybe he really did want to come home, but his job kept him super busy or was like really strict.”
Ochaco can relate to both aspects. Due to her financial troubles, Ochaco can recall days when her father or mother had to stay at work for long periods of time due to the workload or demands of their client. She recalls even having to spend time at her grandparents’ or being watched by her neighbors for periods of times; whenever, her parents took on a difficult or long distance job.
Ochaco frowns as this all comes to her mind. “You don’t know. And you won’t know not until you at least talk to him.”
“I did talk to him!”
“But did you ‘talk’ to him?” questions Ochaco.
Admittedly… No he didn’t. He didn’t give Hisashi a real chance to explain himself, did he? “No…I didn’t.”
“Then maybe you should.”
Izuku ponders her words for a moment or two allowing silence to wash over them with only the sound of customers going about their business filling the void.
And after another moment of silence, Izuku breaks it with a heavy sigh. “Yeah, I probably should.” He reaches at his heart. “But will it stop how I’m feeling?”
“I don’t know.” Ochaco replies honestly. “All I know is that you need to fix this before it gets any worse.”
“Gets worse?”
“Yeah, Deku…seeing you snap at Bakugou was…let’s just say out of character for you. And no one is comfortable about it.”
Izuku smiles sheepishly out of embarrassment. It’s nice to hear that others care about him, but also embarrassing they had to see him snap like that.
“But then again I’m glad to see you standing up to him.” Ochaco waves a disappointed finger at him. “Even so you can’t let your anger build up too much.”
“Angry?! I wasn’t angry?” Izuku shakes his head, denying everything.
“Well whatever the case.” Ochaco places a hand on his shoulder and tells him straight up. “You need an outlet.”
*Crash!!!*
“Eeeekkk!”
“Somebody help!”
Ochaco and Izuku wheel around at the sounds of crashing and aliens screaming just as an alien crashes out of the store aisle and makes a run for it.
The alien looks like a large pink caterpillar that’s wearing a large life-support power suit. The suit is silver with purple and black accents, but the most prominent feature is the large glass dome over the alien’s head, it almost looks like a bubble in fact. A Bubble Helmet if you will.
Bubble Helmet takes off down the aisle, right towards the hero students, with a large grin on his face and a purse gripped tightly in his hand. Behind him an alien woman is screaming bloody murder for her purse’s return!
Izuku actually smirks, looks like he found a good outlet after all.
Bubble Helmet grins, laughing back at the cursing victim. “Haha so long losers-Ooof!” Bubble Helmet slams into something big, bouncing back and falling to the ground with a thud. He grips his helmet and shakes his head before snarling up at the interloper. “Hey watch where you’re going will ya?!”
Four Arms grins down at the robber, standing tall and as menacing as possible. “You picked a really bad day to rob someone.” Especially because he’s not in the best of moods right now.
Bubble Helmet shoves himself off the ground and despite the obvious size difference he still acts defiant. “Oh, yeah and who’s gonna stop me? You and what?” He peers around Four Arms and spots Ochaco at the counter. “A little girl? Haha! Yeah, I’m so scared.”
“Naw, you should be scared of my other friends.” Four Arms lifts up his fists one after the other starting with his upper right fist. “Meet Claw,” He lifts his left fist, “The Hammer,” he raises his lower left fist “Slamson,” and with a cheeky smile he introduces his lower right fist. “And Lil Poundcake.”
Bubble Helmet raises an eyebrow, not at all intimidated. “Oh, yeah well I gotta friend too.” And with a draw of his free hand, he aims a freaking laser gun at the red hulk! “Eat laser, dumbass!!”
“Get down!!” Four Arms springs into action, spinning around and grabbing Ochaco all before leaping behind the counter for cover just as Bubble Helmet releases a hail of lasers at them both!
“Hahahaha!”
Four Arms and Ochaco duck down under the counter as bits and pieces of it shatter and are blasted away by the intense laser fire.
Holder her head down in cover, Ochaco snaps up at Four Arms. “Why didn’t you just grab him?!” Seriously that’s all he had to do but instead he talked his ear off!
Four Arms ducks down avoiding a laser to the head. “Then I’d miss out on all the witty-banter!”
“Eh?!”
“Izuku!!”
Four Arms and Ochaco peer over to see that Mr. Baumann is cowering nearby. “You promised not to cause trouble!!” He shouts accusingly!!
“It’s not my fault! I swear!” Cries the hulking red mass!
Ochaco mumbles under her breath. “It kinda is…”
“Fine then.” Despite the incoming laser fire, Four Arms leaps up and grips the counter and with a few pulls he rips the counter right out of the ground!
“NO!!! My store!!”
“Take. This!” With a mighty swing Four Arms chucks the counter right at Bubble Helmet.
“Whoa!!” Bubble Helmet fires at the counter but it’s not enough and so he ducks allowing the counter to fly over his helmet! “You’re crazy!”
No, he’s a genius. Because that counter was just cover fire allowing Four Arms the opening he needed to charge in close.
“I got you!” Four Arms throws his hands forward but Bubble Helmet is far limber than he looks and so he leaps away, out of Four Arms’ reach.
From behind the counter Mr. Baumann cries out! “Don’t you dare break anything else!!”
“Don’t worry, I won’t!” Four Arms charges in, his fist reeled back.
Bubble Helmet has no chance to defend as Four Arm’s fist comes flying in and slams against his helmet!!
And with one hit Bubble Helmet goes down, and the helmet breaks away leaving a gaping hole in it.
Four Arms holds his pose, feeling very confident and proud of himself for how he handled things, but the situation is short-lived as Bubble Helmet cries out in anguish!!!
“Gah!1 I can’t breathe. I can’t breathe!!” He’s suffocating!!
A green gas is pouring out of the gaping hole, whatever it is it’s the gas Bubble Helmet needs to breath! He’s dying!!
“Oh, my gosh!!” Four Arms’ in a total panic, hovering over the gaping and choking Bubble Helmet. “I’m so SORRY!!!” Oh, god, what should he do? What should he do?! Does he perform CPR? Does CPR even work on aliens? Oh, no he’s going to kill him!!Ahhhhh!!
“WHAT DID YOU DO!?!”” Ochaco comes charging in, just as panicked and freaked out as he is!!
Tears are streaming Four Arm’s four eyes. “I didn’t mean to!! I swear!!”
As Ochaco and Four Arms continue to panic, Bubble Helmet grins glad to have the perfect distraction. He grabs a dial on his suit and with a flip the broken helmet bounces away and a new helmet takes its place. And with another push of a button, blue flames rocket out form his back and launch him away!! “Hahaha way to screw up, suckers!!”
“HE TRICKED US!?!” The Hero Students shout!! “After him!!” And off they go racing after the flying criminal!
“No wait!!” Mr. Baumann cries, chasing after them!
He should have kept his distance because Four Arms with Ochaco piggybacking on his shoulder race past a stack of cans. They may have been moving way too fast because the stack comes crashing down on the poor store owner!
The cans come crashing down completely burying him. “I knew I should have kicked him out.”
Meanwhile, Bubble Helmet is rocketing between the aisles leaving the hero students far behind. They’re so far behind that there’s no way they can catch up. Not unless they have superspeed. “Hahaha! I’m home free!” He can see the exit! Just a few more seconds and he’ll escape these losers! “Hahaha!! Nothing can stop me now!!”
He’s close!! He’s so close! He can practically taste it! Oh, the doors are opening on their own, this couldn’t get any better! Wait, there’s someone there, who is that?
“Ahhh!!!” Bubble Helmet screams out as flames erupt in his face, blasting him back and knocking him to the ground. “Owww!” Bubble Helmet glares up at the interloper. “Huh? What the he-Eeee!!” Bubble Helmet shuts his mouth as a red boot slams down on his helmet pinning him in place.
The newcomer smirks down at Bubble Helmet, an air of confidence radiating off of him like an old pro. “I’d say freeze.” A huff of fire spews out the man’s mask. “But that’s going against my image.”
Bubble Helmet gulps as he takes in the one who stopped him. It appears to be a human that stopped him. The man is tall and slender with a mop of messy dark hair. But his outfit, it’s a Plumber suit and not just any suit but a red suit, an Alpha Squad suit!! This guy’s an elite that much for sure! The only addition to the uniform is the red respirator covering the lower half of his face. The respirator is red and kinda looks like a slimmer version of a gas mask with an air slot for flames to escape from.
The sight of the red suit, that respirator, the fact that this guy is human, Bubble Helmet begins to panic as recognition kicks in! “Wah!! You’re back!!” Somehow this alien is sweating bullets! “You’re Cinder!!”
Immediately other aliens poke their heads out from the various aisles!
“No way!!”
“Cinder’s back gugg?!”
“What?!”
“I can’t believe it!”
In a blink of an eye, Cinder finds himself surrounded by aliens all of whom are welcoming him back and showing their appreciation. Even so he still has a job, cuffing Bubble Helmet and sitting him to the side to prevent an escape.
As the crowd grows more rambunctious, Four Arms and Ochaco finally arrive to find Bubble Helmet has already been arrested.
Four Arms tries to peer over the crowd to see what all the commotion is about. “What’s going on?”
They overhear the crowd.
“We love you Cinder!”
“It’s been way too long since you’ve been back.”
“When’d you get back, Cinder?”
Ochaco leans over Four Arms’ shoulder. “Who’s this Cinder person?”
They still can’t see a thing.
A huffing and puffing Mr. Baumann finally catches up to them. “Wait…you mean…you don’t know?” He asks between breaths.
Four Arms raises an eyebrow. “Don’t know what?”
For a few seconds the crowd clears away allowing Four Arms and Ochaco just enough time to spot the human man standing within the crowd!
They recognize the suit, Thirteen showed them what a Plumber suit’s supposed to look like, but why is it red? Wait a minute, Four Arms knows that guy. He seems familiar.
Cinder smiles and waves at the crowd, but as he scans the crowd his emerald eyes land on Four Arms.
Four Arms does a spit take, as he instantly realizes just who that person really is!!
Ochaco gasps. “Wait, Cinder’s human?!” She doesn’t get an answer instead Four Arms begins shaking underneath her. “De-Deku?!” She gasps at how pale he looks, how does someone go from such a bright red to a deep pale?!
Cinder turns away from Four Arms to address the crowd. “Yes, folks. Haha, I’m so glad to be back on Earth. It’s really been a while hasn’t it.”
“We missed ya, Cinder.”
“Yeah, Earth hasn’t been the same without ya.”
Bubble Helmet groans from the side with his hands bound in cuffs. “I could do without ya though.”
“Speaking of.” Cinder flashes his Plumber Badge at the criminal alien. “Congrats you’re my first arrest since I’ve been home.”
Tears stream down Bubble Helmet’s eyes. “I’m not sure if the tears are because I was caught, or because it’s such an honor.”
Cinder peers up and notices Mr. Baumann, he lights up and pushes his way through the crowd who politely get out of his way. “Ah, Mr. Baumann so nice to see you.”
Mr. Baumann offers up a kind, respectful smile. “Likewise, I had no idea you returned. You should have stopped by sooner.”
Cinder chuckles, sheepishly rubbing the back of his head. “Yeah, I know. But I needed to see the family first.” Cinder turns away and peers up at the very pale and very still Four Arms. “Speaking of, you probably have a lot of questions.”
Four Arms is too stunned to even move, remaining stock still with his jaw hanging open.
Ochaco confusedly looks between Four Arms and this strange Plumber man. “Wait…do you two know each other?”
“Oh, my mistake. We haven’t met have we.” Cinder goes ahead and removes his respirator revealing his lean face covered in stubble. “I’m Izuku’s father, Hisashi Midoriya!”
“AN OLDER VERSION OF DEKU!!!” He even has freckles!! Amazingly, it’s like looking into a mirror that shows the future! Although his hair is a different color.
Hisashi can’t help but laugh at Ochaco’s face. “Haha! Do we really look that alike?!”
Mr. Baumann growls in annoyance. “You both certainly cause the same amount of trouble.”
Hisashi chuckles, sheepishly. “No denying that.” Hisashi turns back to Ochaco. “But you must be Ochaco Uraraka, am I correct?”
“Y-yes, sir!!” Is this what it feels like to talk to a superior?! He is a Plumber so he definitely outranks her!
“No need for that sir stuff. Makes me feel old.” Hisashi waves it off before bowing in respect. “Anyway I wanted to thank you for being friends with my dear son. He’s always struggled making friends.”
“Oh, uh, no it’s my pleasure.” Ochaco hops down from Four Arms’ shoulder and offers back her own bow.
With that out of the way, Hisashi turns his attention to the big mass that is his son. “I bet you’re surprised, aren’t you Izuku? Or should I call you Deku? Or maybe Four Arms?”
Four Arms finally snaps out of his shock! “I…I have so many questions!!”
“I bet. Feel free to let them rip.”
Almost immediately, Four Arms cups his chin and begins muttering away at full speed. “How? Why? I don’t get it?! You’re-you’re a Plumber? I’m so confused but yet it all makes sense now. Why didn’t you say anything, earlier? Does Principal Nezu know? And if so, why didn’t he say anything? Huh does Mom know? Wait, do you know about the Omnitrix? Hang on, I thought you worked for the Self-Defense Force. But you were with the Plumbers the whole time?! If so then what in the world were you doing?!”
Ochaco frowns. “Deku there’s no way he got all that.”
“Yes, I am a Plumber.” Hisashi replies calmly and without a hint of hesitation.
Ochaco gasps! “You understood him?!”
Hisashi continues. “And I couldn’t tell you due to the policies in place. Gotta keep aliens a secret and all that. And of course Nezu knows, but I made him promise not to pull you into this work. Guess that’s been thrown out the window at this considering all this.” He gestures to Izuku’s current form. “And no your mother isn’t aware of all this, which I think you’ll agree is for the best. Her little heart may not be able to take it. And yes I know all about you and that Omnitrix.”
Ochaco internally gasps! ‘He really is Deku’s Dad!’ He not only understood everything Deku said but he answered just as freakily!
“As, for why I was gone.” Hisashi’s smile turns sad, like this part he does regret and is ashamed of. “Well that part wasn’t a lie. The Magistrate of the Plumbers forced me to be repositioned. Taking on missions all across the cosmos especially with everything that’s going on.”
“Things going on?” Ochaco blinks, tilting her head to the side. “Like what?”
“The usual.” Hisashi says matter-of-factly. “Wannaba conquers, alien armadas, planetary destruction, that kind of stuff.”
Ochaco is just a bit concerned. ‘Why is he saying it so casually?!’
Hisashi thinks about it for a moment. “Oh there was even this one time I blew up a moon-sized super weapon and saved an entire planet! With nothing but my ship and my wits.” Yeah that was something, he even got a cool medal out of it!
Ochaco frowns. ‘Why does that sound so familiar?!’
“But why now?” Four Arms asks quietly, still trying to process it all. “If it was the Plumbers that took you away then why did they suddenly change their minds?”
Hisashi smiles up softly at his son. “Because of you.”
“Me?”
Sort of. “Well because of you, Nezu, and Vilgax that is.” Hisashi states a matter-of-factly.
Four Arms is a little lost here. “What?”
Hisashi goes ahead and explains. “The broadcast of the U.A. Sports Festival has made the head honchos aware of Earth’s situation, especially with the Omnitrix in the mix. And of course they finally became aware of Vilgax’s interest in the device. So they mercifully sent me back to ensure your safety, as well as Earth’s.”
‘So, that’s why…’ The morphed Izuku gets it now. But…it doesn’t make him feel any better, like at all.
“Hang on, but why you specifically?” interrupts Ochaco. “I mean no offense but why’d they think you were the one to help.”
“No offense taken.” Replies Hisashi with an embarrassed smile. “Actually you can say that Vilgax and I have a bit of a history.”
Four Arms gasps! “You do?!”
Ochaco gasps in awe as her imagination runs wild! “I bet it’s something tragic. You both trained as Plumbers but Vilgax got greedy and cut corners. And you were forced to choose what’s right versus your friend. You chose to follow what’s right and turned on him and now he’s out for revenge!!”
“Hahaha! That’s such a fun story! But no.” Hisashi states with such a dopey grin. “We just hate each other, simple as that!”
Ochaco face faults, the pain of being wrong sure does hurt.
Four Arms frowns, he still doesn’t feel right about all this. But at least he got some answers.
“Izuku.” Hisashi reaches up, reaching out to his son and grabbing him by the shoulder. “I’m sorry I couldn’t tell you. Not right away a least, but I hope this clears things up between us.”
Izuku can accept the truth, but…he can’t exactly forgive Hisashi yet. He may have had a reason but he still lied to them and he still left them! That can’t be overlooked, even if he didn’t mean to. Even so…he can’t bring himself to say any of this outloud. “I…understand.”
The answer is acceptable, because Hisashi’s grin widens.
“But…that can’t change how I feel.” Four Arms is seriously ashamed that he can’t change how he feels. “I’m sorry, but…”
“It’s fine, I…can’t blame you.” Hisashi’s hurt but he’s happy to say the least, at least it’s a start, and that’s all he can ask for. “I should have been honest with you from the start.”
Four Arms nods in understanding.
Off to the side, Ochaco flinches a bit at Hisashi’s comment. ‘Be honest from the start.’ Oh, boy. Maybe she should follow that advice.
Notes:
And that was Ch.38. How was it? I hope it was good, I tried my best, but I feel like some elements of this chapter were a little weak. Let me know what could be improved on and such, please. Also to be clear I basically have Ch.39 all ready to go but I’m not going to post it until late next week, I wanna try to start Ch.40 because that one’s going to be a long one and I rather not have you guys wait two weeks for a new chapter. Again Ch.39 will probably be posted Thursday or Friday of next week.
*Important News!* In case you missed my announcement above, I now have an illustrator. And they’re alias is “Voidv25” I like what they do, and I trust them completely. As of now they only have one piece of art related to this story, but more is on the way and I will announce when those posts occur. Please check Voidv25’s content, they just started but I know for a fact that they’re going places.
Also if you wanna leave comments about the art you can do that in this story too, I will pass on the message to Voidv25. Thanks.
DeviantArt Link: https://www.deviantart.com/voidv25
*It’s official Hisashi Midoriya is now part of this story! I’m sure many of you have questions but please hold off until next time. Next chapter I will explore more of Hisashi Midoriya: where has he been, his Quirk, experiences, and more! So stay tuned.
*Also should I mention this…maybe? No. But should I tell you guys? No. Why should I tease you guys like that? … But then again this could be fun. Okay, I’m going to say it. A NEW Omnitrix Alien is on the way!! Oh, shoot I said it! But which one is it? Guess we’ll have to wait and find out in another chapter or two.
¯\_( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)_/¯
Chapter 44: Wild Encounters
Summary:
Izuku, Ochaco, and Hisashi head out to learn a little bit more about each other. But something fierce is stalking the mountain side and they must overcome their turmoil to stop it.
Notes:
So before we begin, I should mention that the window for “suggestions” is officially closed. For the most part I have everything figured out (mostly) and if I require more suggestions, I will announce it: most likely this will be months from now.
*Also just a reminder that my Illustrator “Voidv25” now has a piece of art up on DeviantArt.
*Speaking of Art a kind fan, Bacara Best Clone Commander, drew up their own piece of art labeled under “Ben 10 X MHA: Uraraka Go! By Gero223” go check it out too.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
‘I…I still can’t believe it…’ Izuku Midoriya peers down at his feet as the elevator begins to slowly descend down into the depths of Plumber Base.
His eyes drift over to his left where Ochaco Uraraka is standing there with a brimming smile on her face. She’s staring up in awe struck by the Plumber before them, of Hisashi Midoriya, his father.
“I still can’t believe it…” mumbles Izuku, but then again it hasn’t even been an hour since he found out.
Hisashi smiles, as he lowers his respirator. “Believe it, I’m a Plumber.”
Cuffed and being escorted by Hisashi is Bubble Helmet who looks a lot like a regretful puppy that was caught peeing in the corner. “Just my luck, filthy Red Spot.”
Hisashi flashes the criminal a smile but it’s only a facade, disguising his malice underneath. “Behave yourself, alright?”
Bubble Helmet flinches, scooting away out of fright. “Y-yes, s-sir.”
Ochaco’s eyes sparkle with awe. “So um, Mr. Midoriya?”
Hisashi turns his attention away from the captive. “Yes.”
“Those aliens…they all called you something else, didn’t they? Um, was it Cinder?” She’s of course referring to how the aliens at Mr. Baumann’s store reacted to his entrance.
“Yeah it was.”
“Why was that? Is it because of your Quirk?”
“Yeah, kinda, but really it’s because that’s my hero name.”
“Hero name?!” Ochaco spins and gasps at Izuku, her mind completely blown! “You never said your dad was a hero!”
Izuku winces in guilt. He’s known but…he never saw him that way.
Hisashi tries to think of the best way he can explain this. “Well, I have a hero license, but I consider myself more of a Plumber than a pro hero.” Besides that’s how it’s been for the last decade anyway. “But for Plumbers on Earth it’s standard procedure to gain a hero license to help disguise our activities. Hence a hero name is just part of the gig.” Easy to cover up villain attacks and missions if it’s all disguised as hero work. “And Cinder is my codename.”
Somehow her eyes sparkle even more. “So, cool.”
Hisashi chuckles. “Thanks. Of course though the aliens here on Earth have taken up to referring to us as our hero names.”
Bubble Helmet, who’s been quiet so far, chirps in. “It’s because those names are easier to remember.”
Hisashi glares. “Quiet you.”
Ochaco gasps as she remembers something from before. “Oh, you mentioned your Quirk is related to your name. Is it because you can breathe fire!”
Hisashi let’s out a hearty laugh! “Hahaha, yup, Fire Breather, is my Quirk.”
“Woah, so you can like produce your own flames?!”
“Not exactly.”
“Huh?”
Hisashi gestures to his throat and mouth. “My Quirk doesn’t allow me to produce flames but instead it allows me to manipulate fire through my mouth. Specifically through special breathing techniques, as well as the amount of oxygen I have stored up, I can alter the intensity of the flames as well as direct them to a certain extent.”
“Huh?” She’s a bit lost here.
Alright he needs another way to explain this. “Okay, um, have you seen this really old cartoon show about a monk boy that can manipulate the four elements?”
“Oh, I sure have! Avatar, right?”
Hisashi throws her a pair of thumbs up! “Correct!”
“Yay!” Ochaco lets out a cheer, funny enough Toshinori actually lent her the DVDs a while back. And she has to agree, it was worth the watch.
“Think of me as a fire bender but I can only bend fire through my mouth.”
“Oh!” She gets it now: control flames through his breathing.
Izuku has been fidgeting to the side, even though he feels so off about his father and the situation, he can’t resist Quirk talk. “So then…where do the flames come from?”
Hisashi smiles, glad his son wants to know more. “My respirator.” He gestures to the red mouthpiece around his neck. “This respirator comes equipped with an igniter that produces the flames. And these filters ensure that a great deal of oxygen can enter. Finally this mouthpiece allows for the flames to exit.” He grips the device. “It also protects my source of power from other countermeasures.” Like preventing water, or slime from cutting off his oxygen supplies and mouth.
Okay even Izuku has to give props when they’re due. “That’s…really smart.” He says rather softly and half-heartedly, although he really does mean it.
Hisashi smiles, grateful that Izuku is at least talking to him.
Finally after what feels like a dragged-out elevator ride, they arrive at their destination.
Hisashi shoves Bubble Helmet forward just as the doors open wide.
“Welcome home!!” Without warning both Principal Nezu and Thirteen spring into view, wearing party hats and blasting confetti cannons that fire out streams, confetti, and glitter!
Hisashi laughs as confetti and glitter get tangled in his hair. “Haha thanks!”
“Pft! Oft!” Ochaco spits and blows her tongue, spitting out bits of confetti and glitter. “Guh, it flew into my mouth!”
Izuku annoyingly tries his best to wipe away the confetti stuck in his hair. Curse his messy hair!
Thirteen lights up at Hisashi. “Welcome back, senpai. I’ve held down the fort to the best of my abilities while you’ve been away.”
And he’s grateful for that. “And I’m sure you’ve done a fine job.”
“Thirteen certainly has.” confirms Nezu. “And I have to agree. It’s a pleasure to finally have you back.”
“Nezu, it’s great to be back.” Hisashi takes a moment to scan the base like a college student finally returning home for the first time in years. “This place hasn’t changed one bit.” His smile fades though, becoming a frown. “Although…this place is lacking.”
“Lacking?” Ochaco blinks. “Lacking in what?”
“Plumbers.” answers Hisashi like it’s the most obvious thing, before he turns his attention on his boss. “Where is everybody? They can't all be out on assignments.”
Nezu’s smile falls. “I’m afraid many of the higher ups saw fit to interfere with our assignments and staffing, many of which have been reassigned to other planets that were deemed more necessary than Earth.”
“The Higher ups huh…” Hisashi scowls out of annoyance…and regret. “That’s such a shame.”
Thirteen nods, sadly accepting the reality of the situation. “Unfortunately there hasn't been much we can do. Most of the aliens here don’t cause any trouble so the Magistrata doesn't see any need in giving us more Plumbers.”
“Can’t say I’m surprised.” Hisashi says with annoyance. “A shame, this place just seems so empty now, what a waste. What’s worse it feels like after they pulled me away, they forced the others away, too.”
Wait, something just occurred to Izuku. Not only is Hisashi a Plumber but Thirteen and Principal Nezu knew about it! “So, you all knew then…? ”
Thirteen blinks. “Hm?”
“You all knew that…he was a Plumber.” Izuku frowns advertising his eyes downward. “Yet none of you ever said anything.”
Ochaco frowns worriedly. “Deku…”
“Why?” Izuku looks up, his eyes locking onto Thirteen. “Why didn’t you bother saying anything?”
Thirteen’s gaze falls, and even though Izuku can’t see their face he can tell they’re ashamed. “Sorry Midoriya…I just felt like…it wasn’t my place to tell you.” And that’s fair, it really wasn’t their place to tell Izuku that they know something about his family that he doesn’t.
Izuku gets it, but what’s his response? “And you…Principal Nezu?”
Nezu too looks ashamed, and a bit regretful, even so he makes sure to look the young man right in the eye. “Mr. Midoriya, if it were up to me, I would never have let your father go.”
Izuku frowns, unsure.
Hisashi nods. “He means it. He really did advocate for me to stay but the Magistrates forced our hand.”
“The Magistrates?” Now that he thinks about it, this is not the first time that term has been thrown around.
Judging by the boy’s confused face, Thirteen goes ahead and tries to clarify. “Magistrate is the rank given to the highest-ranking Plumbers. Think of them as our bosses.”
Ochaco frowns. ‘Nezu has a boss?’ That’s hard to imagine.
Izuku frowns. So the Magistrates are the head honchos and they were the ones that forced his father to leave… ‘So he was forced to leave…’ It’s nice to have a reason why but…that doesn’t mean it hurts any less.
Principal Nezu claps his paws together, gathering their attention. “I’m sure we all have a lot of questions, but I think it would be best if we move this to our conference room.” He looks to Hisashi. “We have a lot to catch you up on.”
“Sure, let’s go gang.” Hisashi goes ahead and shoves Bubble Helmet forward. “And let’s get this one processed. Shall we?”
“Of course.”
Nezu leads Hisashi and Bubble Helmet away as Ochaco and Thirteen follow along. Izuku however, is hesitant, he hangs back a moment, unsure, and he briefly looks to the elevator as if he’s thinking about leaving…
After a moment of hesitation he follows, but the twists and vile in his stomach have not lessened one bit.
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“There you should be all filled in now.” Nezu clasps his paws together before leaning back in his seat.
Finally after an hour of sitting at the conference table, Nezu’s finally been able to catch Hisashi up on all of the most relevant and recent events: from the U.S.J. attack, to Vilgax, and even Stain.
^Yes, your noggin should be brimming with joy!^ cheers Glad-One, the happy side of One-One, from atop the large table.
^Or mindnumbliy dead inside.^ adds the ever-pessimistic Sad-One.
Hisashi let’s out a hearty laugh at One-One’s comments. “Haha! You’re certainly a Fun-One!”
^Hahaha!^
^Kill me.^
Meanwhile, at hearing that pun, Ochaco silently gasps from her seat. ‘He really is Deku’s dad!’ He likes puns too! Although she’s not exactly sure if that’s a good thing or not.
“Haha.” laughs Nezu. “Yes now that you're aware of the state of things hopefully your transition back into the Japan branch will play out smoothly and efficiently.”
“I hope so to.” agrees Hisashi. “Although I have to admit, it’s a bit disheartening to see just how small the population’s gotten since I left.”
“Well I’m afraid many of our resident aliens moved on after your departure, they felt rather unprotected without you.”
Thirteen frowns, sadly. “Especially after we lost so much of our staff.”
Hisashi leans back in his seat, reminiscing about those they lost. “Such a shame. I miss those guys.” Even so a smile graces his lips as he turns to their newest cadets. “But hopefully things can change with the two of you around.”
Ochaco’s smile widens, she then begins to pester Hisashi more questions about his time as a Plumber. Thirteen joins in as well adding in their own answers from time to time.
Meanwhile, Izuku shrinks back into his seat with a grimace on his face, averting his gaze away from Hisashi and the others.
Unbeknownst to him, the head Plumber happened to take notice, frowning in the process.
^Bring! Bring!^ One-One’s entire body shakes as a ring vibrates through him like a phone.
Ochaco eyes the little bot worriedly. “What’s with him?”
Thirteen answers. “That happens when we get an emergency alert.” Thirteen waves One-One over.
The little bot rolls its way to them, he aims his eye up and then a holographic screen pops into Thirteen’s view.
Ochaco tries to read the screen but she can’t quite make anything out. “What is it?”
“There’s trouble in Endori.”
“Endori?!” That’s her hometown!! “What happened?!”
“Not sure an alien cargo ship is reporting a stowaway that managed to escape and is now running around the mountainside.”
Hisashi cups his chin in thought. “Endori? I don’t recall a very big alien presence there. Why would a cargoship stop there?”
Thirteen scrolls through the report. “According to the report they made an emergency landing in the mountainside to make repairs, that’s when they discovered their stowaway.”
Nezu frowns. “Who is this stowaway?”
“Um, unclear. They didn’t say.”
“Well,” With a shove, Hisashi pushes himself up onto his feet. “Mind if I take this one. I’d like to get back into the swing of things. If you don’t mind?”
Nezu smiles up at his top Plumber. “I expected as much, please feel free.”
“Alright!”
As Hisashi rechecks his gear Nezu looks over and spots that Izuku is still silently shrunk back in his chair.
And after a moment of thought, a smile, a terrible scheming smile, forms. “And why not take our young cadets with you?”
Ochaco gasps. “Really?!”
“Huh?” Izuku blinks in confusion, unclear of what was just said.
Hisashi’s smile widens. “Sure I’d love to.”
Ochaco jumps out from her seat. “Great! I grew up in Endori so I can really be of help!”
“Fantastic.”
Izuku couldn’t feel more different. Honestly, for once he rather not go…no he’d still go. He can’t just ignore this, even with Hisashi around…
“Wait!” Ochaco screams out in shock as she realizes something very important! “How are we going to get there? Endori is like four hours away by train!” That’s why she had to get an apartment near U.A. there’s no way she could take that kind of commute day-in and day-out. “Plus…the stowaway could be long gone by the time we get there.”
A cocky smirk forms on Hisashi’s face. “Who said we were taking the train?”
“Huh?”
Even Izuku blinks in confusion.
Hisashi smiles humorously at their bewildered faces. “How are you two with motion sickness?”
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“Whaaaaaa?!” Ochaco’s and Izuku’s jaws drop, drop right to the floor at the sight before them.
Hisashi grins, loving their amazed expressions. “Hahaha! I take it neither of you have gotten a chance to ride one of these huh?”
They shake their heads in unison, their eyes glued to the beauty before them.
“Well let me introduce,” Hisashi spins around throwing his arms up towards his most prized possession! “say hello to the Razor Crest!!” Hisashi’s very own SPACESHIP!!!
The Razor Crest is large, it’s bigger than the Midoriya’s own apartment!! The cockpit sits atop the front, lined with a pair of front-aimed guns. The large metal wings sit over the middle of the ship with large bully engines on the ends. The ship has a side ramp that is currently lowered and it’s clear that the back end of the ship is also a ramp that leads into its main haul.
Drool slips out the side of Ochaco’s open maw. “So, cool.”
Even Izuku looks like he’s in stunned amazement, he’s speechless.
Hisashi grins. “Beautiful, isn’t she?” That’s a rhetorical question, he already knows the answer.
Nezu strolls up beside the amazed teens. “The Razor Crest. A fine reliable ship capable of long-distance travel across the void and reaching record breaking speeds.”
“It’s a relic.” deadpans Thirteen before they turn to Hisashi. “And…didn’t you leave here with a Plumber Ship? ” They give their senpai a suspicious look.
Hisashi thinks on it for a moment. “Oh! That thing got blown up.” He waves it off like it’s no big deal.
“What?!” shouts a stunned Thirteen!!
How could he?! Those ships are expensive, and he got it blown up?!
“How’d you even get this thing?” They shout pointing their finger at the offending ship!!
“I won it in a game of Savak believe it or not.” The Plumber grins, amusedly. “It was an Idiot's Array.”
Thirteen facepalms, finding Hisashi’s story exasperating.
But none of that matters to the teens who are just blown away by it all!
Hisashi makes a show as his feet dance him over to the lowered ramp leading into the side of the ship. “Well what are you waiting for?” he gestures towards the inner haul. “Get in there!”
Without skipping a beat, Ochaco rushes into the ship, her excitement getting the better of her.
Izuku, however, stays back, as he returns to his somber tone from before, hesitating.
Hisashi notices the frown on his son’s face. “Why do you look so confused? How do you think I got back to Earth? The bus?”
Izuku embarrassingly turns red, that was not at all what he was thinking!
“Haha. Relax!” Hisashi slaps his shoulder. “I was just kidding.”
Hisashi may be smiling, but Izuku averts his gaze, his frown unmoving.
“Eeeekkk!!” Ochaco’s scream echoes out from within the haul of the Razor Crest, shattering the peace.
The Midoriyas shout out in worry. “Uraraka!!”
In response, a screaming Ochaco scrambles out of the ship as various alien-tech, tools, and ship parts come flying out at her from behind. “Eeeek!! The trash can attacked me!!”
Izuku blinks. “Trash can?”
^Bwop! Bwop!^
A robotic trash can wheels out from within the ship, bopping and beeping with a tone of a grumpy cat. The droid has an orange top with a pair of circular eyes and an antenna dish atop its head. Its lower half is a dirty gray, its hub is littered with all sorts of various gadgets and slots. A pair of mechanical legs that allow it to wheel forward as a pair of wrench-like mechanical limbs flail about, tossing trash at the ship’s intruder. ^Bwop!! Wap-wa! Wap-waa!^
“Easy Chopper!” Hisashi grabs the droid, shoving it back by its head. “She’s a cadet, relax.”
The pair of wrench-like mechanical limbs wave and flail in defiance. ^Blop baw!^
“Hey, watch your language.” Hisashi scolds like he’s talking to a child.
The little droid swats his owner’s hand away, before he leans over to have a look at the cadets. And instantly Chopper’s eyes land on Izuku and even though he doesn’t have a face it’s very clear by his voice and flailing arms that the droid is flipping out. ^Waa! Waa! Waa!^
“No, he’s not a clone. That’s my son, Izuku.”
Izuku jolts up at the mention of his name. “What? Is that thing?”
Chopper takes offense to that! ^Bawp! Bawp!^ The droid swiftly wheels around his owner, charging at Izuku, his head spinning just before he delivers a few swift smacks to the teen’s leg.
“Ow!”
^Waa! Wap!^
“Hey!” Hisashi grabs the droid, pulling it back away from Izuku. “Sorry about him. He can be a bit…emotional.”
Is that what he calls it?
“Izuku, Uraraka.” Hisashi pulls the droid back, who eventually settles down, and smiles. “This is C1-10P, or as I like to call him, Chopper. He’s my astromech.” As if to emphasize his point he leans on top of Chopper, using his arm to stabilize himself with the droid’s orange head.
The teens blink. “Astromech?”
This is when Thirteen butts in with their own explanation. “He’s like One-One. A droid partner that helps and aids their Plumber with maintenance, monitoring, and everything in between.” From behind their helmet, they smile. “And they can make good companions.”
Chopper whacks Hisashi’s hand away, his mechanical limbs shaking at him what one could assume are rude gestures. Although Hisashi just laughs it all off.
Thirteen sweatdrops. “Most of the time.”
With a laugh, Hisashi gives the droid a light shove, pushing him aside. “Alright kids. Who’s ready for their first spaceship ride?”
Despite the very grumpy droid onboard, neither Ochaco nor Izuku would dare to pass up this chance. And so they excitedly, and hesitantly, come aboard.
The interior is large, large enough to fit a couple of small cars or three. The walls are lined with pipes, storage units, and lined with various alien devices and tech. A ladder is positioned nearby leading up to what they can assume is the cockpit.
Izuku climbs up and sure enough he’s in the cockpit. The cockpit isn’t too big, with a single pilot's chair and two passenger chairs behind it. Surrounding the pilot’s seat are a number of consoles that are littered with all sorts of blinking lights, buttons, screens, and of course the steering.
Izuku takes the passenger seat to the right of the pilot just as Ochaco climbs up and takes the left seat. Behind her Chopper flies into the cockpit, literally, a rocket is propelling him up from his underside.
Chopper lands on the metallic floor with a clang, but it doesn’t seem to bother him as he wheels over to one of the side consoles.
Izuku and Ochaco watch as Chopper pulls out a metallic port that inserts itself into the dataport of the side console.
The little droid turns and shifts the dataport as Hisashi climbs up and takes his seat at the helm.
After a check on the ship’s systems, Hisashi turns in his seat and smiles at the cadets. “You ready?”
They both nod, nervously, in unison.
And so with a flip of a few switches and a pull at the yoke the Razor Crest begins to take flight, slowly rising up into the air.
Izuku and Ochaco lean forward peering out the sides of the cockpit, they watch as the ship slowly rises inside the hanger and as the ship’s landing gears fold back into the ship itself.
“Opening bay doors.” With a flip of a switch the ceiling above the hangar pries itself open. Above the grassy hillside opens up to the dense forest, shielding the hanger’s entrance from view.
The sun shines down on the passengers as they rise higher and higher.
But just before they can fully exit the hanger, Izuku begins to panic! “Wait!!”
Hisashi nearly jumps from his seat, turning to look at Izuku to see what’s wrong.
“We can’t!” Izuku shouts. “We can’t fly out of here! People will see!” This thing doesn’t exactly look like a plane, people will know! They’re going to see an alien spaceship! How are they supposed to explain that?!
“Oh, don’t you worry about that.” Hisashi states with such ease. “Chopper engage the cloaking device.”
^Bwap. Waa.^ Chopper rotates his data rod, rotating the dataport which gives him certain control over the ship’s mechanics.
Izuku and Ochaco watch on in amazement as a glitching-static field sparks off the ship’s exterior. Just as the ship exits the hanger it’s metallic and grey haul becomes holographic in nature as it camouflages itself in midair, becoming almost invisible to the eye.
Ochaco gaps as the ship becomes virtually invisible. “No way!”
Izuku looks to Hisashi. “Cloaking Device?”
Hisashi nods. “Ships that enter Earth are required to have cloaking devices installed.” He points to several monitors and dials to his right. “It produces a hyper holographic field around the entire ship, camouflaging into the surrounding environment. The holograms can even extend quite a distance from the ship allowing us to look like clouds, trees, and even a building.” Which makes it quite handy, especially when aliens cause more of a ruckus than they should.
“Amazing.” Ochaco’s eyes widen as she realizes something else! “Oh, so that’s why we don’t see alien ships just flying around!”
“Exactly. They're just…out of sight.”
And so the cloaked ship rises over the tree-line, the canopy sways and moves due to the thrust of the humming engines, and coming into view in front of them is U.A.
“Let’s start off nice and easy.” He doesn’t want to freak them out, it’s better to ease them into the ride.
Too bad he didn’t give Chopper the memo.
^Waaa!!^ With a single rotation of his data rod, Chopper takes control.
And BLAM!!! The spaceship literally rockets away, breaking the sound barrier in less than a second!!
The teens are flung back into their seats, their fingers digging into their seats as the rush throws them back. They’re moving so fast it feels like their skins are going to peel off!!
Hisashi isn’t faring any better as he shouts out at the top of his lungs. “Chopper!!”
^Wawawa!^
The Razor Crest soars up and over U.A. flying so close they’d be scraping the roof if they were a foot lower, just before they speed onward to their destination!
And so the ship soars and races through the air, gliding over Musutafu and the neighboring cities. At some point Chopper pulls the ship up and into the clouds, breaking the fluffy clouds like a breaching whale.
“AAAAAAAHHHHH!!!” The teens scream out like they’re riding the world’s most terrifying roller coaster, all the while Hisashi’s trying and failing to regain control over his ship!
He takes the ship through the clouds like they’re swimming through them, diving in and out, at one point a passenger plane comes into view and Chopper circles around it as if to taunt the oblivious pilots.
This goes on for who knows how long, but it’s been far too long for the cadets!! Seriously, how can aliens do this all the time?!
Without warning Chopper shuts off the engines sending the ship plummeting down to Earth.
“AAAAAAAHHHHH!!!”
The teens are nearly floating off their seats as they freefall, falling faster and faster with each passing second! And in no time at all the ground is quickly coming into view!
“Chopper!!
^Wawawa!^
Hisashi has had enough, finally with some more tinkering with the consoles he regains control over the Razor Crest. Acting fast he begins the engines back, although the rushing wind blocks out their roars, and with a pull of the yoke he levels out the spacecraft. But that’s done very little to their velocity as they continue to plummet!! In a matter of moments they’ll be pancakes!!
And so with one finally pull of a lever the Engines roar and aim down, bringing the ship to a sudden halt!!
Hisashi let’s out a sigh of relief as the ship hovers in place. “Nailed it.” He may be acting like that was normal, but that’s far from the truth for Izuku.
The boy is shaking, his knuckles white and frozen to the seat, even his hair is frozen in place as it was pushed back by the sheer force of their take off.
“Woo!” Ochaco springs out of her seat, her hair too is unmoving after being forced back. “Let’s do that again!”
The greenette shakily and fearfully shakes his head.
^Wawawa!^ laughs Chopper, who can’t help but find Izuku’s terrified expression hilarious.
“Haha!” Hisashi sympathetically pats Izuku’s shaking shoulder. “Don’t worry you’ll learn to love it.” He turns and looks out through the glass. “And there’s our cargo ship.”
Ochaco rushes to the window, while Izuku slowly and shakily follows after peeling himself off the seat.
He looks out too but all he sees is a large mountainside, filled with trees, and large boulders. Guess in all that supposed flying, they arrived to Endori.
“This is Lothaal Mountain.” comments Ochaco as her eyes take in the all too familiar mountain with its forested slopes, mountain trails, and the vast valley below it. “But I don’t see a ship.” Yeah, there’s no sign of a spaceship anywhere.
Hisashi turns his attention to a nearby console, with a press of a few switches and buttons a holographic light emits outward from the front of the Razor Crest that showers the entire area before them. A holographic field expands all around them hiding the ship from view but as a result a large cargo spaceship has been revealed. The ship is large, sitting within a large clearing as several tan-skinned squid-faced aliens mill about.
The Plumber rises from his seat before climbing down the ladder. “Come on, let’s go. You too, Chop.”
^Wap. Bwa.^ Chopper begrudgingly follows as Hisashi slides down the ladder.
Ochaco follows suit whereas Izuku takes a minute before coming along too. Now that all the excitement of the ride has passed, those twisted feelings come back, boiling within him.
The moment they exit the Razor Crest, Hisashi or rather the pro hero/Plummer, Cinder, gets right to work. Greeting the cargo ship’s captain who is apparently an alien species called Quarren.
Cinder readies his pad, making sure to collect and write down every detail the Quarren can remember. “Alright what can you tell us about the stowaway?”
The captain strokes the tentacles off his face, like a human would stroke their beard. “Not much I can say. While we were entering the troposphere, one of my engineers was going over the ship manifest when he heard some noise from the back.” The captain points to a fellow Quarren who is seated on a nearby log, looking disheveled and frightened. “He’s pretty shaken up after the whole thing.”
Cinder frowns, concernedly. “Was he attacked?”
“In a way.” The captain rubs the back of his head. “That beast jumped out at him, roaring and snapping, before ripping its way through our engine room out of the freaking haul. That thing damaged my ship!”
Cinder follows the captain’s gaze, and sure enough near the ship’s engines is a gaping hole. And judging from the scratches and the way it’s bent something definitely tore its way through it. “A beast you say?”
“Yeah, it wasn’t a being. It was some sort of animal. Couldn’t tell you what though, afraid that my cargo bay doesn’t have much lighting.”
“No, it’s fine.” Honestly, Cinder’s had far less to work with. “The beast couldn’t have gone far, especially in an unfamiliar place. Whatever it is, we’ll find it.”
“Uh, that’ll be a relief.”
“I recommend you stay with your ship, make your repairs, and then be on your way.” Cinder turns to his astrodroid. “My astromech can even give you a hand if you like.”
“That’d be appreciated.”
“Great.” Cinder smiles. “Get to work, Chop.”
Chopper clearly doesn’t want to participate. ^Bwa. Bwap!^
“Yes, you have to. Get to it.”
^Bwaa…^ Chopper does his version of dragging his feet as he follows the captain.
Ochaco looks to Cinder for guidance. “So what are we doing?”
“Isn’t it obvious?” Cinder equips his respirator. “We’re going hunting.”
Ochaco gasps! That’s so morbid!!
“No, no, I mean we’re tracking.” he corrects. “We’re not really going to hunt anything.”
The girl sighs. “Oh, that’s a relief. So how are we going to find it? What exactly is it?”
“Don’t know, but I’m sure we’ll find out eventually.”
Ochaco internally deadpans. “You’re acting way too calm.”
Cinder smiles, pointing his thumb back at himself. “Relax just stick with me and everything will be alright.”
At that, Izuku frowns. He still doesn’t feel totally a hundred percent comfortable with Hisashi yet. There’s just something…wrong. If only he could get some space even for a little bit.
An idea pops into his head, and so, pocketing his hands into his black and green hoodie, Izuku quietly and somberly begins to walk away.
But his fellow cadet, of course, spots him. “Deku, where are you going?”
Izuku stops, but he doesn’t turn to face them…to face him. “It’s best if we split up.” He says quietly and somberly. “You know so we can cover more ground…”
“I…guess.” But she’s not so sure about it still.
Izuku doesn’t wait for any more questions, instead he strolls away, disappearing down a nearby trail.
Cinder frowns as he watches Izuku leave, a part of him feels guilty for not attempting to stop him, but…he can’t really blame the boy. Sometimes it feels like he’s trying to be too casual with Izuku, especially after being away for so long… Maybe it’s best if he allows Izuku to have his space…for now. Besides he can handle himself. Right?
Cinder turns tapping Ochaco’s shoulder, drawing her attention away from Izuku. She snaps to attention in response. But he just gestures for her to follow and so they both take a stroll down a different path.
They stroll down the mountain path for some time, not a word is exchanged between them.
‘This is so awkward.’ thinks Ochaco as she scans the woods for signs of aliens, beasts, monsters, or whatever there is! But it’s so hard to focus when your friend just walks off without much of an explanation. “So, what exactly are we looking for?”
“Everything.” Cinder states a matter of faculty his eyes never leaving the tree line.
“That doesn’t help!”
“Sorry, what I mean is anything.” Cinder explains. “Anything that could lead us to the alien beast.”
“Like footprints?”
“Exactly, or anything for that matter: scales, fur, slime, heck even scat will do too.”
“Cool.” She’ll do her best to keep a lookout for that stuff…but her mind still can’t help but worry for Deku. He was acting really weird again…
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Izuku continues down the game trail, his eyes cast downward as he brushes past the tall ferns and overhanging branches. A cool breeze flows down the mountain, making it seem like his hair is waving in water. Birds sing their songs as the sun shines down, illuminating the path ahead.
But despite the beauty of the nature around him, Izuku doesn’t use a second to appreciate any of it. His heavy heart and swirling mind just won’t let him, and he knows the source, Hisashi.
For some reason, his return has just made him feel so…so…god he doesn't know but it feels wrong. Like a slow pain is boiling inside him. He knows it wasn’t Hisashi’s fault, but…it still hurts that he left them. That he left him.
But he knows why! He understands but…why won’t he just let it go?
Even if he doesn’t fully understand it, he can understand one thing he’s feeling. And honestly, he thinks it’s frustration. Frustration that Hisashi is acting so casual and knowing about all this alien stuff that Izuku, himself, is still trying to figure out. Today he thought that aliens and his own knowledge of aliens would give him an escape from Hisashi’s return. But now…now it seems like everything related to aliens is a reminder of Hisashi and that he left for so goddamn long. Even the Omnitrix, the device that’s literally fused to him, is now a reminder that Hisashi was part of this world the whole time and Izuku was oblivious to it all.
And so with a heavy heart, Izuku pockets his arm into his hoodie, hiding the Omnitrix from view. And so he continues down the game trail, oblivious to the slight rustling of the shrubs down the path behind him.
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Ochaco frowns, that awkward silence has fallen upon them again as she follows Cinder down the forest trail. They haven’t found a thing as of yet, and because they’ve been keeping their eyes peeled, they haven’t spoken for a little while now. Hm, maybe she should try to start up a conversation?
“So…” Ochaco strolls forward making sure to be in the hero’s peripheral vision “you were gone a pretty long time huh?”
Cinder stops, jolting up like he’s been accused of a crime, but then again that respirator is making it difficult to judge his reaction. He peers back at Ochaco before turning away and continuing down the path.
Ochaco internally panics, scolding herself! ‘Way to go! Starting off with what he did wrong!’ Not to mention her attempt at a conversation totally failed as they continue down the path without a word.
But that ends when Cinder or rather Hisashi, comes to stop, pulling down his respirator.
Ochaco stops as well, unsure of why he’s not moving.
Without looking back at her, Hisashi frowns. “He’s mad at me…isn’t he?”
Ochaco grimaces. “I’m…sorry?”
“Izuku, he’s not at all happy with me being back.”
If Ochaco has to be honest, then no Izuku is not all that thrilled. It’s been clear since yesterday, he’s been acting so weird and off at school and now…now she knows why. “No, I don’t think he is.”
That may not have been what Hisashi wanted to hear, but he knows it’s the truth. “I knew it.”
Okay, maybe she shouldn’t have been so honest. “Hey, but it’s not your fault. You were forced to go!”
“That’s only an excuse.” Hisashi regrettably smiles from behind his mask. “I should have done more to be there for him.” Instead he sent letters, with the hope that those would be enough. “And now I’m paying for it. I haven’t earned his respect or his love. It’s…clear I lost that a long time ago.”
Ochaco frowns, finding the whole situation rather unfortunate. He didn’t want to leave but…that doesn’t really matter anymore. The damage really has been done. “I’m…sorry…”
“What for? It’s not your fault. It’s mine. I didn’t trust my family with the truth, and now…my truth is to atone for it.”
That hits home for Ochaco, because she may be in the same boat as Mr. Midoriya. She’s kept…keeping a truth from Deku too. One For All is just a world-changing secret as aliens are. And she’s been purposefully hiding it from him, although that’s what All Might said she should do. But if she told him…will he be mad at her too?
And so with much hesitation she answers. “Deku’s…not an angry person.”
Hisashi frowns.
Ochaco continues. “He…will understand…I’m sure. He just needs some…space.” For some reason it sounds like she’s saying that more for herself than for him.
“Yeah…you’re right.”
She sure hopes so.
They allow a moment of silence to pass as they both consider and worry about their individual predicaments, all before Hisashi decides that’d it be best if they continued forward.
However, he doesn’t even take a step as his eyes catch something on the ground. “Uraraka.”
Ochaco stiffens as the Plumber takes a knee, as he leans down to observe something within the ground. “What? Did you find something?”
He nods. “Answer me this? You’re from, here right?”
“Yeah I grew up in Endori just down the mountain.” But what does that have to do with anything right now?
“So you’re familiar with the area?”
Ochaco internally grumbles as her mind flashes back to all the times All Might had her trekking up and down this same mountain. “Too familiar.”
“So, you know the wildlife, too right?”
“Um, yeah I guess so”
Hisashi gets up, turning to her, and looking her straight in the eye with a serious glint. “Are there any large dogs or bears in the area.”
The cadet takes a moment to think about it. “Um, I think there used to be wolves, but they died off a long time ago. Why?”
“Not good.” The Plumber becomes visibly stressed as he quickly reaches for his phone and begins to dial away.
Okay now Ochaco’s worried. “What’s the matter?!”
His phone begins to make the call. “I figured out what’s out here.” Cinder gestures to the ground, specifically to what he found.
Ochaco peers down and gasps at what she finds: a very large four-clawed footprint.
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Izuku snaps out of his somber daze, slowly and hesitantly answering his phone. His mood drops upon seeing that the call is from Hisashi, a part of him wants to ignore it, but the more rational part of his brain tells him that it could be important.
So, he answers. “Hello?”
Cinder’s voice worriedly shouts out from the phone. “Izuku, where are you?! Are you alright?”
Izuku frowns, wishing he did ignore it. “I’m fine, I’m just down the trail.”
“Turn around and get back to the Razor Crest!”
Really, now? “Huh? Why?”
As Izuku waits for Cinder’s response, the rustling of leaves catches his ear. But it's probably just a passing deer so he doesn’t bother looking.
“The stowaway I know what it is it’s a-”
“RAAAAAWR!!!”
Izuku screams as an ear shattering roar pierces the air, and without warning he finds himself shoves to the ground as something very large and very furry lunges at him, knocking him down.
As Izuku tumbles down to the ground, he drops his phone, but even so he can still make out Cinder’s voice shouting. “Vulpimancer!!”
The Vulpimancer raises it head and lets out a bloodcurdling roar! “RAAAAAWR!!!”
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Cinder flinches away from his phone as the roar pierces his eardrum.
“Deku!!” screams Ochaco upon hearing the roar.
Without missing a beat, Cinder takes off in a run. “We gotta go!!”
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Izuku scrambles to his feet, raising his fists like he’s going into a fist fight. But that may as well be useless as the large predatory beast stalks across the trail before him.
The Vulpimancer is a large alien that’s more beast than humanoid. His large curving claws dig into the earth as it stalks, its large fangs are barred, as it growls a bit of drool seeps down its maw. It’s fur is orange and lined with reddish stripes running down its back leading to a long slender tail. But his most noticeable feature is his face! The beast doesn’t have any eyes! Instead all it has are three pairs of gills running down the sides of its neck.
‘A Vulpimancer? Is it a dog? Or a bear?’ Izuku eyes the beast taking it all in from its bristling quill-like fur to its eyeless face. And why doesn’t it have eyes!!’
The Vulpimancer snaps and growls. “Ra-rah!!”
Izuku fearfully steps back, as the beastly alien growls. “Nice doggy, good doggy.” Damn, this is dumb! What is it going to do? Just roll over and ask for a belly rub?! Yeah, right!
The Vulpimancer growls, and Izuku has the feeling it didn’t appreciate his comments. “Raarr!!” With a push of its powerful legs the beast lunges forward, its jaws open and ready to tear into the boy’s flesh. “RAAAAAWR!!!”
“Whoaaa!!” Screaming in fright, Izuku reflectively grabs for the Omnitrix and good thing too because as he disappeared behind a veil of green light the Vulpimancer leaps through the veil only to fly right through it without slamming into its target.
Somehow his prey evaded his strike. “Rrrh?”
“Woah you almost took my head off pal.”
“Too bad, it would have been an improvement.”
“What did you say?!”
“Quiet you two! Behave yourselves.”
“Rrrh?” The Vulpimancer’s face is scrunched up, like it’s confused, his prey’s scent just changed somewhat, and not only that the changed odor has split into three identical scents.
The trio of Dittos eventually stop their bickering, turning their attention to the furry predator. “So you’re the stowaway, huh?”
Ditto (2) frowns curiously. “How did they not notice someone like you on board?”
Ditto (3) nods as he pinches the area where his nose would be. “Yeah, especially with that smell.”
Ditto should really learn to stop talking because the Vulpimancer leaps forward, its claws bared and shining under the hot sun. “Raahh!!”
“Waahh!!” The three Dittos scream as they dive out of the way!
“Why’d you have to insult him!!”
“Me?! What about him?!”
“Don’t drag me into this!!”
The Vulpimancer hums a low threatening growl gaining the three’s attention, as it crouches its hair standing on end as its tail sways behind it.
The Dittos stand, raising their heads high in defiance. “So you wanna play?”
Ditto (2) gestures for the beast to come closer. “I’ll play with you.”
Ditto (3) laughs. “Haha!”
“Raahh!!” The Vulpimancer launches forward, its intention clear.
The three Dittos act quickly, gripping each other's hands as a line of Ditto clones morph out from the right flank. And then the original Dittos reform with the news clones creating a chain reaction as the clones disappear, leaving a lone Ditto who is a fair distance away from the attacking beast. This of course all takes place within a few short moments.
The Vulpimancer slides across the dirt, growling and snarling in annoyance. Before charging forward, its claws tearing the grass as it kicks forward.
Ditto acts fast creating another chain of Dittos that he uses to pull himself away just as the beast’s claws and fangs can rip him apart.
“Too slow.”
The Vulpimancer charges again.
Ditto continues with the chain dodge. “Nope.”
The beast swipes its massive paw but only to miss thanks to the Ditto dodge chain.
“Oh, I felt the breeze on that one.”
“Grrr!” The Vulpimancer growls in frustration, finding this toying around insulting.
Ditto frowns, he may be acting coy but that’s nothing but a facade. A way for him to keep himself calm. He wouldn’t dare underestimate this creature: he’s agile, and clearly powerful judging by the hole it left in the cargoship.
But what really has Ditto on edge is he doesn’t know anything about this thing. Mainly, it doesn’t have eyes so how is it able to sense where he is?
Ditto eyes the beast's paws. ‘Maybe it can sense the vibrations through the ground.’
Without a second thought a chain of Dittos appear, standing atop each other, the clone at the very top grabs a thick branch. When he’s secured the other clones morph into each other allowing the remaining Ditto to climb atop the branch.
‘I should be fine up here; he can’t see me after all.’ Ditto peers down to see if his hypothesis is true.
Answer: it’s not.
Not giving a moment of rest, the beast’s fangs snap through the large branch like it was a toothpick!!
“Waaa!!” Ditto goes tumbling down, tucking his head and rolling as he crashes through the shrubs and ferns.
“Rwaar!!” The Vulpimancer gives chase to his prey.
Quickly Ditto shoves himself to his feet and takes off into a run using his smaller stature to weave between the shrubs and rocks. He can feel the beast breathing down his neck as he gains ground, he gets so close that he can feel drops of its spit landing on him as it snarls and barks.
“Waaaa!!” Tears are gushing from Ditto’s eyes; he doesn’t want to be eaten!!
But wait, there might be a chance to escape. A large wall of thorn bushes lie just ahead, if this creature can’t properly see then he might just crash into the thorns and give Ditto the chance he needs to turn this fight around!
“RAAAAAWR!!!”
“AHHH!!!” Ditto dives, rolling his body across the ground allowing him to slide right underneath the thorn bushes without getting scraped up and tangled!
“Alright!” That animal can’t get him now!
*SLAM!!!*
“Grrrrr!!” The Vulpimancer growls as leaves fall around him, after he used the nearby trees to leap up and over the wall of thorns.
‘HOW!?!!’ Ditto internally screams. ‘How’d it know?!’
“Grrrrr.” The gills around the Vulpimancer’s neck expand and contract as it lets out low angry growls.
Ditto’s eyes widen. ‘Those aren’t gills! Those are its nostrils!!’
Holy Shit! He feels like he just cracked a mind-blowing mystery! No wonder he’s been able to track the Splixson. The Vulpimancer’s nose must be so sensitive and in tune that it acts like a sonar allowing him to sense his prey. In other words, it may not have any eyes, but this beast can actually see even more than a being with eyes can!!
Amazing!! He’s gotta make sure he writes this down in his notebook later.
“RAAAAAWR!!!”
But that’ll have to wait, because right now he’s gotta fight for his life!!
Ditto dives out of the way as the Vulpimancer pounces.
Acting fast Ditto unleashes links of clones from his left and right, the clones multiply until they form a circle around the raging beast.
“Rgh?” The Vulpimancer is wary, he knows his prey is up to some other trick. Or perhaps his prey has given up and is providing his hunter with a feast of prey.
The circle of Dittos ready themselves, clenching their fists, and grinding their teeth as they glare down at their target.
Suddenly clones begin to morph out from the Dittos, using each other as steps until columns of clones rise high above the ground. The risen Dittos all glare down at the very wary Vulpimancer.
The Dittos begin to call out. “Improvised-”
“-Special-”
“-Attack!”
“DOGPILE!!!” They all shout in unison as they all tumble downward, right at the shocked Vulpimancer!!
BLAM!!! They literally dogpile the beast under a mountain of Dittos, each clone flails and thrashes with the aim of subduing their attacker. They punch, scratch, and a few even bite at the beast hoping to do something.
But like a bear breaking through its pen, with a great rush of strength the Vulpimancer breeches the dogpile.
“Rwaa!!” The Vulpimancer claws at the ground but the pile Dittos hang on pulling him back and preventing his escape.
“Where ya think you’re going?!”
“Get back here!”
“Don't run off with your tail between your legs.”
But Ditto has never been known for his combat prowess or strength.
And so after a minute of tug-of-war, the Vulpimancer starts to swipe and claw at the offending prey items. One of its claws snags a Ditto, cutting him just enough to warrant a reaction.
“OW!!!” Not one but all of the Dittos shout out in pain, each one letting go to tend what feels like a cut arm!
And in their moment of weakness, the Vulpimancer pries himself free and leaps away into the woods. He knows that a prey that fights back isn’t worth the effort.
The mountain of Dittos collapses as the beast takes off; the Dittos merge back together becoming three separate beings.
Ditto (1) glares at his clones. “Way to go guys.”
Ditto (2) points to Ditto (3). “Hey, don’t lump me with him!”
Ditto (3) glares. “You jerks.”
Ditto (1) takes off into a run. “Come on, he’s getting away!”
The Dittos take off, doing their best to run down the alien.
Thankfully it doesn’t take them long to track him down, the beast may be big but he’s not exactly stealthy. Crashing and mowing through the vegetation like a thrashing bull.
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Cinder stops his eyes peeling, as he scans the trail ahead of them. Something’s caught his ear.
Ochaco stops right behind him, she’s about to ask why they stopped but she hesitates as something catches her ear too. “What is that?” It kinda sounds like someone’s shaking a bag of chips around.
“RAAAAAWR!!!” The Vulpimancer leaps out from the woods, rustling leaves scattering all around him, just as he charges the duo.
Cinder reacts quickly, throwing himself and Ochaco out of the way! “Look out!”
“Raawr!!” The Vulpimancer, however, isn’t after them as he leaps up and over their heads before continuing down the trail.
“What was that?!” cries Ochaco. “What was that a mutated dog or something?!”
Cinder leaps to his feet. “No, that’s the stowaway!”
Another rustling of leaves, forces Cinder to turn around. A bit of flames hover before the mouth of the respirator, but the flame is unneeded as three Dittos rush out from the shrubbery.
Ditto (1) spots Cinder and Ochaco. “What are you guys doing?!” He asks while him and his clones run by.
Ditto (2) breathes. “If it escapes-”
“-and makes it into town-” adds Ditto (3).
Ditto (1) finishes. “-the whole place will be in an uproar!!”
And with that the three Dittos sprint off after the monster.
“Izuku, wait!” Cinder calls after them but the clones continue running; it is unclear if they didn’t hear him or…they ignored him.
Cinder gestures for them to follow. “Let’s go!”
“Right!” Ochaco runs after him, hopefully they can catch up before things get worse.
Thankfully, it doesn’t take them very long to catch up to the Dittos.
“Izuku!” Cinder calls out. “If you can flank then I can-”
“No need!” The Dittos rush forward. “I can handle it!”
“No, wait-!” Cinder doesn’t get a word as the Ditto speeds forward.
The Dittos morph into one being, and while running Ditto generates a clone ladder of himself, the last clone grips a tree branch and the moment his hands grab the limb the rest of the Dittos merge back into him.
The Ditto unleashes a chain of Dittos forward only for them to all merge back into the forward moving Ditto, and so on and so forth. The chain of Dittos swing and spring forward, multiplying and reemerging with each other to gain ground.
“Grrrr.” The Vulpimancer clearly isn’t too happy that Ditto can keep up with him and so he changes his strategy.
With a sudden skid across the earth, the beast makes a hard right into the shrubbery.
Ditto generates a clown chain from his right, the last clone gripping a tree, and together they all swing around the tree before merging back together and continuing the chase.
The beast continues to make hard turns just before Ditto can reach him, but he’s not giving up no matter how many times this beast tries to juke him out.
A chain of Dittos latch onto a tree branch, before merging back together. ‘I can do this!’ Ditto launches himself downward, diving for the beats.
A chain of Dittos launch forward, quickly catching up to the creature. He’s so close he can practically feel the monster’s fur on the tips of his fingers. ‘I have him!!’
Without realizing it, the Vulpimancer and the leaping Ditto crash through the shrubby finding themselves back on the trail!! And more importantly right in front of a sprinting Cinder!!
That darn beast circled back around!!
Ditto’s and Cinder’s eyes widen in shock just before they crash into each other!! They both go tumbling down as the Vulpimancer gallops away into the thick woods.
“Oh, my gosh!” Ochaco gasps. “Are you two okay?”
Ditto growls in frustration, gripping his head, as he turns to Cinder. “What was that?!” In a flash of red light, Izuku props himself to his feet. “I had him!!”
“No you didn’t.” Hisashi gets up, brushing himself off as he pulls down his respirator. “He out played you.”
“Then why’d you bother following us?!”
“Because I was worried.”
“Worried?!” There it is again the sense of frustration…the…the anger and disgust boiling inside of him. “I’ve been fine, without you so far. Why worry now…”
Ouch, if Hisashi was shot with an arrow at that moment, it wouldn’t have surprised anyone. Because his face just portrays the pain he’s feeling. “Izuku…”
“Just stop alright…” Izuku turns away not daring to look Hisashi in the eyes. “I can take care of myself…”
Hisashi stumbles back a moment, like he’s been shoved back by an invisible force.
Ochaco frowns, worried and concerned with the two of them. She so desperately wants to address it but… “H-Hey, so the Vulpimancer’s getting away.”
Izuku chokes, his hair casted over his eyes. “I’ll get him.”
“No!” Hisashi straightens up, taking on the more authoritative and serious posture. “We need a plan, that thing is too agile, especially in this environment. Even your Kineceleran form will have a hard time.”
Izuku takes great offense to that. “XLR8’s more than enough.” He grips the Omnitrix, pinching the faceplate, but the red-glow of the hourglass symbol taunts him, unable to activate.
Frustrated and annoyed, Izuku marches off in the direction the Vulpimancer escaped.
“Izuku! Where are you going?!”
“After that thing!”
“You can’t, you’re defenseless.”
Izuku halts, insulted and furious. “No I’m not!” He isn’t useless!! “I can do this!”
Ochaco watches on, looking between the two, unsure and scared of what to do.
Hisashi sighs, exasperated. “Listen to me alright. I know what I’m talking about.”
Ochaco frowns and looks to Deku.
Izuku snaps back. “And so do I!”
That’s it! She can’t take this anymore! “Enough!!”
Hisashi and Izuku snap out of their argument, looking to Ochaco with surprise.
Ochaco breathes, regaining her composure. “You both know what you’re doing! But that doesn’t matter if the alien gets away, does it?!”
The two Midoriya's go quiet as they frown, ashamed of their behavior.
“Deku.”
Izuku looks up, her eyes locking with his.
“We all know you’re capable but your head’s not in it right now.”
Izuku shrinks back, knowing that’s true.
“This whole time we’ve been learning about aliens on the fly.” She speaks gently, yet firmly; Deku needs to hear this. “But Mr. Midoriya actually knows these aliens: how they act, how they think, and what they can do. We have to listen to him. Okay?”
It hurts, and his insides still feel all twisted, but…she’s right. “I…understand.”
“Good.”
A soft grateful smile graces Hisashi’s lips, glad Ochaco was able to mediate them, and get their attention back on track.
Ochaco turns to the pro hero/Plumber. “Mr. Midoriya. All we need now is for you to make a plan.”
“Hm.” Hisashi cups his chin, following her orders and ponders. “Uraraka, you said you know this mountain, right?”
She nods. “Of course!”
A cocky smirk stretches across the older Midoriya’s face. “Perfect.”
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He hasn’t sensed hide or tail of his pursuers for some time now, perhaps they have given up the hunt. Either way the chase wore him down and now is the time to replenish his strength. As such he allows for his senses to guide him.
The Vulpimancer strides out from the thick woods, his tongue hanging out as he pants as his nostrils are greeted by the scent of fresh spring water.
A waterhole sits before him at the bottom of a steep cliff, a small spring waterfall pours down from the cliff, feeding the watering hole. Reeds and aquatic plants fill the edge of the watering hole giving it much more color.
The alien beast raises his head, his nostrils flaring, taking in the greater area. Not a scent of danger, especially those strange monkeys, pierce his senses. So with no danger in “scent” the animalistic alien feels safe to dip his head down into the water, guzzling the fresh mountain water.
The rustling of leaves can be heard just a few meters away, and immediately the Vulpimancer snaps his head up, aiming his face towards the source of the rustling. He inhales and exhales, taking in his surroundings again but once again nothing comes into range: not a squirrel, not a deer, nothing.
So with nothing alarming present, the alien turns back to his drink.
Wait, smoke? Heat? FIRE!?!
“Rrrahh!!” The Vulpimancer snaps around his gills flaring. “Grahh!!” Smoke rushes his gills as the heat of the flames scorch the ends of his fur.
A ring of flames have circled around the beast and the watering hole, snaring him between the inferno and the steep cliff. In other words…he’s TRAPPED!!!
“RAAAAAWR!!!”
Cinder watches from behind the flames, as a little flame licks the mouth of his respirator. “We got you.” Cinder eyes his suit, what was once red is now brown with dried mud, perfect for suppressing his odor. “Haha. Talk about getting my hands dirty.”
Cinder let’s out an exhale of air, and a flamethrower whirls through the air from his maw, the flames feed into the ring of fire, expanding the flames and consequently the smoke.
The wind carries the smoke, right towards the snarling Vulpimancer.
Cinder smirks under his mask. “And a little smoke sure does help too.” Now it’s up to the cadets to do their parts.
As for the flames, they slowly encroach towards the waterhole, forcing the Vulpimancer to make a move. He wheels around and sprints for the cliff, his sharp claws and dexterity allow him to easily scale the cliff. And in just a few short pulls he’ll escape the flames.
“Ryou Sphere!!”
A pink sphere slams into the rocks above the Vulpimancer, the rocks break apart and with it the Vulpimancer loses its grip!
“Raaah!!” Like a cat, the Vulpimancer lands on his feet, before baring his teeth up towards the top of the cliff face. “Grrrrr.”
A mud-covered Ochaco glares down at the beats from atop the cliff. “You got nowhere to run!”
The Vulpimancer lets out a few barks in defiance. “Rah! Rah!” The heat of the flames lick at his fur, making the beast jump back. “Raagh!”
The flames are slowly burning closer and closer, the smoke getting heavier and heavier as the circle tightens.
With nowhere else to go, the Vulpimancer backs away into the watering hole. He backs away until the water reaches past his knees. Hopefully he can wait out the flames and heat within the fresh mountain water.
*Sniff.*
Wait, there’s a scent. A…living scent!
The Vulpimancer wheels around only to be met with a whip to the head! “Grahh!” He howls in pain, stumbling back a bit.
A soaked Feedback chuckles as his tendril retracts and he spits the hollow reed out from his lips. “You’re one bad dog, aren’t ya?”
“Grrr.” The Vulpimancer growls before he begins to charge forward.
*Crack!*
Feedback’s tendril cracks like a whip, forcing the beast back. “Back you horrid beast, back!” The ends of his tendrils spark with electricity. “Time to put you down.”
“RAAAAAWR!!!” The Vulpimancer charges, mud and water splashing all around him as his claws crash through the spring.
“Good! Night!!” Feedback launches his tendrils not to the beast but right into the water!! “And sweet dreams!!”
A blast of electricity surges through the entire spring and as such shocking the beast in the process.
“GRAAAAAWW!!!” The Vulpimancer howls in pain as electricity courses through his entire body, his fur smokes and stands on end as he withers in pain. And then it all goes black.
The electricity cuts away just as the Vulpimancer crashes down into the water, his tongue hanging out and his breathing labored as he loses consciousness.
Feedback grins as he wipes away the water on his brow. “Got ya.”
But for safe measure Cinder cuts through the flames and quickly throws a net over the sleeping beast. “Just in case.”
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“Wow, this is convenient.” Hisashi smiles, pulling down his respirator, as he stares up at the floating beast.
The three Plumbers have just arrived back at the Razor Crest. Thankfully Ochaco’s Zero-Gravity made transporting the Vulpimancer easy, she made him weightless and with the use of the net, Hisashi pulled him back like a balloon on a string.
The gravity manipulator smiles. “Thanks.”
“No, thank you for the help.”
Hisashi places the Vulpimancer down allowing Ochaco to release her Quirk. Peering up they only have a few more meters to the ship, but the ramp isn’t down yet. But that’ll only take a moment, after Hisashi calls Chopper over to open it up.
“And thank you for your help too, Izuku.”
Izuku catches up, and he briefly peers up at Hisashi before turning away again. “You’re…welcome.”
Admiralty he still feels a bit off about his father, but he has to admit that he sure knew what he was doing. And it was a good thing he listened to him; in fact he might actually found some respect for the Plumber. But…does he have it in him for more for Hisashi…?
Ochaco watches on as the Midoriyas interact, she notices that Izuku is once again averting his gaze much like he did before he snapped at Hisashi before. ‘Deku…’
She had no idea he could get so hung up on something like this. But then again, she’s not sure if she could forgive her own father if he took off without a proper explanation for years on end.
But if Deku’s acting so off after his own father was forced to keep a secret from him then…how will he act if she told him about her own? Will he be upset? Angry? Would he forgive her? She…just doesn’t know. And that’s what’s bothering her.
“Grr.” If she was paying attention, she would have seen the Vulpimancer stir within the net. “RAAAAAWR!!!” The Vulpimancer rips through the net, he breaks through so easily it might as well be paper!
The moment he’s free he charges, making a wild beeline right for the Midoriyas!!
“Mr. Midoriya! Deku!”
Both of the men barely have a moment to react before the Vulpimancer’s jaws clamp down on Izuku's left arm.
“Ahhh!!” Izuku screams as the Vulpimancer drags him away!
“Deku!!”
“Izuku!!”
The Vulpimancer comes to a screeching halt, turning his back to the end of the Razor Crest. This way his back is defended allowing him to keep his fangs and claws aimed at his foes.
Izuku tries to slug the beast with a few punches, but none really have any effect. “Stop! Let go!” Izuku struggles to pull his arm free and what’s worse is that the beast is chowing down on the Omnitrix, meaning he can’t even use it!
“Izuku!” Cinder steps forward but a snarl from the Vulpimancer keeps him at bay.
Cinder scowls. ‘Damnit, he took Izuku as a hostage.’ What a clever boy.
Ochaco scowls, she gets the message too. “What, what do we do?”
Cinder’s eyes furrow, he’s got nothing. ‘Dang it!’ Why are hostage situations always so difficult? If he makes the wrong move, Izuku’s going to lose his arm, and he really doesn’t want to have to explain to his wife why their son’s an amputee now.
And so it becomes a stalemate as the two sides square off waiting for one to make the first move. Izuku remains still not wanting to lose his arm even as the beast’s drool slides down his arm. And boy those things smell like wet-dog of all things too.
“Grrr.” The Vulpimancer moves a paw forward, Cinder and Ochaco back off in response.
The Vulpimancer grins, knowing he can escape as long as he has his new chew toy. He takes another step forward away from the end of the Razor Crest.
And then BLAM!!! The back ramp comes crashing down onto the large animal, pinning him down while knocking him out!
“Ahh!!” Izuku is launched forward as the Vulpimancer loses its grip and practically spits his arm out.
Hisashi and Ochaco rush forward. “Are you okay?!”
“Yeah…” Izuku wipes away the saliva covering the glowing Omnitrix in disgust. “I just need to take a shower.” He gives his arm a sniff before wincing in disgust. “Or maybe three.”
Izuku turns to the pinned Vulpimancer, who’s being squeezed down by the large ramp. “But what caused that?”
^Ba. Ba. Baw!^ C1-10P, better known as Chopper, wheels his way down the ramp, spinning around with his limbs in the air like he’s flexing nonexistent muscles. ^Wawa. Wawa!”
Hisashi smiles. “Thanks Chop. You really saved our bacon.”
^Wa. Wa!^
Hisashi kneels down to inspect the unconscious alien. “Now help get this fella put away. Will ya?”
^Baw!^
“No! We can’t just leave him here!”
Ochaco chuckles awkwardly watching as Hisashi scolds the droid. Judging by their reactions this must be normal for the two of them. But now that Mr. Midoriya is personally overseeing the beast’s capture; it gives her and Deku a moment to themselves.
Izuku finally gets up after wiping away what he can of the Vulpimancer’s drool. All in all he’s just happy to still have his arm in one piece, oh and the Omnitrix, another huge plus.
Ochaco watches Izuku before her eyes trail down to the Omnitrix. ‘He’s trusted me so much.’ Deku trusted her with his Omnitrix, his problems, his…secrets!
And yet she’s refusing to treat him with the same respect. Why? Why won’t she just tell him the truth about her powers? Is it because All Might told her not to? No…that’s not why. Is it because the truth can make him a target? Well, that’s not really fair because he’s kinda already been a target thanks to the Omnitrix, so not much would change would it? No, it wouldn’t. So then why? She knows why, the answer being she’s scared. Scared of how he will react. If he’ll even trust her anymore.
She shakes her head, shaking away those thoughts. No! If she holds back now, then it’ll only be worse later on! The longer she holds onto this secret the more damage it’ll do when he eventually finds out! She needs to tell him; she needs to tell him now!
Ochaco gasps. ‘Now? Really?’ Should she? Is now really the best time?
She eyes Izuku as he toys with the glowing Omnitrix, his face focused on the device like he’s studying a new feature.
Yes, she has to tell. She needs to get this off her chest before she has to pay for it later.
“Hey, Deku…”
Izuku turns his attention away from the alien device. “Yeah?” He blinks oblivious to her intentions.
“Can we talk for a moment?”
“Um, sure?” Izuku frowns. ‘She’s acting weird, why is that?’
Ochaco breathes, calming her nerves. “Cool, then follow me… Please.”
“Sure, Uraraka.”
And so he trails behind her as she leads him towards the tree line.
Without turning to face him, Ochaco slowly stops moving forward. “Deku?”
Izuku stops, nervous of her deposition. “Yes.”
She chokes back a breath, her nerves getting the best of her. “You trust me, right?”
“Of course.”
There wasn’t a moment of hesitation in his voice, and that gives Ochaco the confirmation she needs. And as such she moves forward ready to tell Deku exactly what he should have known from the start.
Izuku, unaware of what awaits him, follows.
Notes:
And that wraps up Ch.39 Wild Encounters. I know a lot of you were probably expecting the Final Exams stuff, but I wanted to really address Hisashi Midoriya (Cinder) some more. Speaking of which the next chapter will not be the exams quiet yet, instead I wanna introduce a few more things. Some of which you guys can probably guess. Anyway I really hope you guys liked this chapter, I know it was definitely a lot of fun for me.
*I’m still working on the next chapter and I hope to have ready for next week but honestly the chapter’s turning out longer than planned so it may take 2 weeks. Darn because I wanted to update week after week.
*So for those that never bothered to watch Disney’s “The Mandalorian,” first off go and watch it immedialty it’s a spectacular show! Anyway if you’re wondering what Hisashi’s ship is based off of, it’s the “Razor Crest” ship from Star War’s show “The Mandalorian.”
*Speaking of Star Wars, the new droid Chopper or C1-10P is also a character from Star Wars. He is from the Star War’s “Rebels” show. Now admittedly I love the Star Wars the “Clone Wars” series more (it’s far superior) but one thing I did like from Rebels were some of the characters. And obviously one of them was Chopper the grumpy yet entertaining mech droid who’ll go out of his way to be a little A-hole.
*Also for those of you panicking or exasperated by the ending of this chapter. Relax, the truth of the matter will be shown next chapter, promise.
Chapter 45: Survival of the Fittest
Summary:
Class 1-A participate in some survival training.
Notes:
Heads up this chapter might not live up to what you’ve all been waiting for. Due to some last-minute changes and poor planning on my part this chapter got a little lost and is a bit, how do I say, redundant or more like filler. So just a heads up if this chapter feels unsatisfactory especially after Ch.39. I will explain more at the end in my Author’s Note.
That said I hope this chapter is still enjoyable.
In short this was not my best work.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
“Oh…man.” Denki Kaminari slumps in his seat, looking absolutely drained and exhausted. “My brain’s still fried.”
Kyoka Jiro snickers from her desk. “Tell us something new, why don’t ya?”
“Hey! Why are you always messing with me Jiro?!”
“Because you’re a dunce.” She flicks his forehead as if that’ll prove her point.
“OW!” Kaminari grabs at his forehead. “That really hurt!”
Kirishima chuckles as he passes by. “Trust me you’re getting off easy.”
Kaminari lights up at the sound of a friendly voice. “Oh, hey Kiri-Woah what happened to you?!”
Eijiro Kirishima’s head looks like it was beaten over again and again with a bat or something?! He’s all bruised and battered with scoff marks and scratches.
“What happened?! It looks like someone used your head like a punching bag!”
Kirishima laughs it off like it’s no big deal. “Haha. What this? It’s nothing. Bakugou was just helping me study.”
“Study what?! The physics of breaking a skull?!”
In truth, no one in Class 1-A is bothered by the fact as each of them are just mentally drained. Each and every one of them have spent the weekend studying and preparing for the upcoming exams. And that’s no surprise, considering the exams are literally just around the corner.
Hanta Sero leans over his desk as he has a conversation with Sato and Ojiro. “Seriously dude, her house is a castle! I wouldn’t be surprised if the bricks were made of gold it was so fancy.”
Rikido Sato can’t believe his ears. “Woah, seriously?”
“Yeah…Yaoyorozu’s place was too much.” Mashirao Ojiro sweatdrops. “Got to admit, some of us felt a bit out of place.” It was way too much! And with all of them in casual clothes they really felt out of place.
Speaking of the she-devil, Momo Yaoyorozu strolls by catching her name being mentioned. “Oh my, what are you three discussing?” She asks innocently enough.
The three boys go stiff, like a group of startled mice getting spotted by a feline.
Ojiro tries his best to act normal. “Nothing much!”
Sero nods, while a fearful grin is plastered to his face. “Y-yeah, we were just talking about how much your study sessions are helping us.”
Yaoyorozu gushes, delighted by the news, so much so that she starts sparkling. “Really?!”
“Y-yeah.” Although he doesn't sound too convinced himself.
Without warning, Mina Ashido literally jumps into the conversation. “You bet, Yaomomo! You were great!”
“That’s…so great!” Yaoyorozu is just so honored she could be of help. “I’m so glad I can be of help.” And with that she gains another burst of determination! “Then we’ll reconvene at my home again, tonight!”
“EH!?!” The boys gasp, but Mina happily stands off to the side, excited for the help.
“Yes, we still have a lot of work to do until you’re all top students!!”
Ochaco Uraraka smiles on, as the boys secretly dread that they have to return to that castle. “Everyone seems to be working hard.” Unlike her, she’s been putting the study part on hold!! She’s doomed!! Doomed!!
Mina’s antennas twitch, just before she turns and approaches Ochaco’s desk. “Everything okay, here?”
Ochaco snaps up, surprised to see Mina there. “Oh, I’m fine. Just dreading the Exams is all.”
“Oh, come now it’ll be easy!” She’s being really peppy about this. “All we gotta do is destroy some robots! Easy peasy!”
“I guess.” But something tells her it won’t be that easy.
Mina’s antennae twitch again as she frowns, she then turns and looks towards the opposite end of the classroom. “Hey, what’s with him?”
“With who?”
“With Midoriya?” Mina points towards the greenette.
Ochaco takes a look and yeah she has to admit it but something’s definitely eating at Deku. He’s seated at his desk, drowning out the world around him in what she assumes is his thoughts. His gaze is far off even if they’re aimed down at his desk. And there’s this air around him, a quiet somber air.
Ochaco internally winces, as a pang of guilt pierces her. “Oh, um, I-I’m n-not sure.”
Mina doesn’t buy that for a second. “Really?” She leans in close, giving Ochaco a very skeptical look. “You know something. Don’t you?”
Ochaco instantly panics, waving her arms in denial. “Wha?! Me?! No way! I don’t know a thing!”
A malicious smirk stretches across Mina’s lips. “Oh, I don’t think so.” She leans in close, giving off a manipulative aura. “Spill it, you got something juicy don’t ya?”
“What?! No, Mina!”
“Oh come you can tell me!” It’s got to be really juicy!
“Mina, no!”
Mina isn’t one to give up so easily, especially when it involves gossip.
Ochaco does her best to fend her off, but nothing she does proves to be effective. But even as she fends off the gossip happy Mina, her eyes drift back over towards Deku.
And a part of her can’t help but feel at fault. Maybe…maybe she should have handled the situation differently. Or maybe she should have told him everything so soon…?
“Come on tell me!!”
“Mina! I said no!”
As Ochaco defends herself, someone else takes notice of Izuku's somber demeanor.
Katsuki Bakugou tsks as he stands off to the side, finding Deku’s silence irritating and insufferable. Not to mention he’s still bitter about how Deku treated him the other day. He’s pissed at himself for allowing Deku to just walk away without putting him in his place! He’ll show him, he’ll show just how much better he is!
And he’ll definitely have the chance to do so.
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Shota Aizawa stands before his class while Ground Omega stands behind him.
Ground Omega is an extensive wooded area where there are some rocky hills in the distance. The entire area is surrounded by a great wall and has a single entrance with the letter omega above it.
Aizawa yawns, already exhausted even though the day’s just begun. “Alright, is everyone here?”
“Yes, sir!” responds the entirety of Class 1-A.
Each and every student is cladded in their costumes, standing before their teacher as the bus that brought them here is parked off to the side.
“Good.” Aizawa goes ahead and gets started. “Today’s Exercise will be observed by me and one more person.”
One more? But who?
As the sun shines down on them a booming laugh howlers down at them from the sky! “I AM-” Slam!! A suited All Might crashes down beside Aizawa, who remains deadpan even as the ground erupts outward and a dust cloud erupts out. “HERE! LIKE A SPECIAL GUEST!”
“WAS THAT REALLY NECESSARY!?!” shouted the ticked off students, they’re all covered by dirt and leaves thanks to All Might’s overly done entrance!
All Might sweat drops. “S-SORRY, MY BAD.”
Aizawa sighs already done with this. “Idiot.”
Izuku, who had remained off to the side, averts his gaze away from the Number One Hero. And to anyone who noticed he seems even more off than before.
All Might, in fact, did notice, his signature grin faltering for a brief moment before he focuses back on the task at hand. “S-SO, ABOUT OUR LITTLE EXERCISE.” He raises his arms in dramatic fashion. “WE’RE GOING TO HAVE YOU ALL GO THROUGH SOME SURVIVAL TRAINING!”
Kirishima looks to Kaminari for clarification. “Survival Training?”
Kaminari is just as confused. “Like some Battle Royal thing?”
“LET ME EXPLAIN!” With a press of a button a holographic screen appears beside All Might, displaying the exercise. “WITH THREE STUDENTS PER TEAM AND SEVEN TEAMS OVERALL YOU WILL START AT THE PREDETERMINED POSITIONS THAT WE HAVE CHOSEN. THERE IS BUT ONE OBJECTIVE. TO SURVIVE!”
Simple enough.
“TO RUN OR TO FIGHT, ANYTHING GOES! VICTORY WILL GO TO THE LAST SURVIVING TEAM!”
Aizawa finally decides to contribute. “If you run into another team and manage to bind your opponents with this Capture Tape you can make them combat ineffective.” He holds up a roll of white capture tape, it’s small but still strong enough to hold even a lion in place. “This should be a familiar item by now.”
“NOW! LET US ANNOUNCE THE TEAMS!” With a press of a button, All Might displays the assigned teams.
Th teams are as followed:
Team A: Katsuki Bakugou, Ochaco Uraraka, and Eijiro Kirishima
Team B: Shoto Todoroki, Momo Yaoyorozu, and Tooru Hagakure
Team C: Tenya Iida, Fumikage Tokoyami, and Rikido Sato
Team D: Minoru Mineta, Kyoka Jiro, and Yuga Aoyama
Team E: Izuku Midoriya, Koji Koda, and Mina Ashido
Team F: Tsuyu Asui, Mezo Shoji, and Hanta Sero
Team G: Hitoshi Shinso, Mashirao Ojiro, and Denki Kaminari
After the teams are announced Aizawa goes ahead with the final statements. “All teams move to your start areas. The exercise will begin without warning in five minutes.”
“MAKE SURE YOU SURVIVE!”
“Okay!” responds Class 1-A.
The class immediately split into their groups, the moment many of them join up, they immediately begin to strategize coming up with various battle plans.
Although not everyone has their head in the game.
“Midoriya! Midoriya, come on!”
Izuku snaps out of his daze to find his teammates Mina Ashido and Kouji Koda waving him over.
“Let’s go slowpoke! We gotta hurry!”
“R-right!” Izuku quickly stumbles his way to them, but the way he’s moving is just lacking that excitement and usual energy he has during Hero Training.
Clearly something is amiss, and Ochaco is well aware of it. ‘Deku…’ A pang of guilt boils within her. ‘Maybe I shouldn’t have said anything…’
But he understands, he said so himself, but…is that really all to it? No, it’s not, there’s more isn’t there? And if there is? Then did she really make the right call?
Without warning the massive gates open wide and with all the hype, the students of Class 1-A take-off, flooding into the arena.
Ochaco snaps to attention, running alongside her teammates as they head for their assigned position. There’s no time to dwell on it right now, she needs to focus on the task at hand. Especially because she's got one giant problem: Bakugou.
Her eyes drift over towards the ash-blonde, and a part of her can’t help but worry. After all, Bakugou isn’t exactly the most agreeable person to work with. ‘Oh, I really hope nothing bad happens!’
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As the students disperse across the arena Aizawa and All Might also make their way to a tall observation post that overlooks the entire forested area.
Aizawa eyes his watch noting how much time has already passed since the students entered the arena. “Five minutes have passed.”
“YEAH, AND NO TEAMS HAVE STARTED MOVING YET.” comments All Might. “AIZAWA. ARE YOU OKAY WITH SUCH A BORING EXERCISE LIKE THIS? I MEAN IF NO ONE MAKES A MOVE WE COULD POTENTIALLY BE OUT HERE FOR HOURS WITH NO PROGRESS.”
“It’s the time of year where energy and tensions run high in all Hero classes” Thanks to the upcoming exams, even if they’re a week away. “Especially at this time avoiding fights, and reminding them of patience and self-control is important.”
“WELL YOU’VE GOT A POINT…” All Might gazes down at the forest, cupping his hands around his eyes like he’s holding a pair of invisible binoculars.
A pair of explosions ring out in the distance, smoke billowing from below the tree canopy as they occur.
All Might grins, happily. “BUT NOT EVERYONE’S LIKE THAT!”
Aizawa glares at his coworker dryly, not at all enjoying how much he’s liking the activity’s progression.
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Unsurprisingly, Bakugou is on the loose, like a beast released from the pits of hell itself and is now on the hunt for poor souls. “I don’t care, I’ll crush them all!”
With a pair of thrusting explosions he races forward, sprinting at top speed right for a nearby cliff face.
At the same time from atop the cliff face, Jiro’s Earphone Jack is inserted into the bedrock, listening out for any disturbances. She can hear Bakugou’s explosions heading right for her and her team.
Without removing her gaze from where she thinks the enemy is, she whispers to her teammates: Minoru Mineta and Yuga Aoyama. “Bakugou’s voice, only one person’s footsteps.”
Mineta whispers back harshly. “He’s coming alone…!”
Aoyama chuckles. “Too confident.”
They all share a look and nod, all before Mineta and Aoyama take off, following the plan they set before.
Back down in the forest, Bakugou continues his mad sprint with a maniacal grin on his face. But his grin falters when something shiny catches his eyes from atop the cliff face.
And just before he can make out what it is, a sparkling laser beam fires down at him!!
With expert movement Bakugou blasts himself up and over the beam, but he can’t relax as a shower of purple balls come flying down at him from the opposite direction!
‘A concentrated attack.’ Bakugou uses his blasts to ricochet himself around the Sticky Balls, while still racing towards the cliff face. ‘They know that I’m alone.’ A mad cocky grin stretches across his face as he rockets up and over the cliff. ‘That means-!’ As he approaches the cliff’s top he unleashes a booming explosion into the earth!! ‘Earphone-Girl!!’
“REEEEE!!!” Jiro screeches in pain, grabbing her poor sensitive ears as tears gush out from her eyes!
“Get stuffed!!” From his position, Mineta showers down more of his Sticky Balls.
From his position, Aoyama comes into Bakugou’s view from further up the cliff. “I’ve got him!”
The ash-blonde smirks as the two attacks come flying over at him! “Rah!!” He gives his arm a mighty swing, unleashing an explosive veil.
The fiery veil launches away the Sticky Balls right towards the sparkling foe!!
Aoyama yelps as he gets splattered by the Sticky Balls, gluing his limbs together. The balls smack him so hard he gets knocked back and ends up tumbling down the side before crash landing by a dazed and crying Jiro.
Mineta rushes to his teammates, absolutely dismayed to find them out of commission. “Bakugou…”
“You called?”
Mineta jolts with pure absolute terror. He shakily and fearfully turns around, and he so wishes he hadn’t because the sight of the mad bomber’s menacing grin is almost enough to make him wet himself.
Bakugou’s devilish grin widens just before finishes the job.
And in literally no time at all, the entirety of Team D is tied up in a ball of capture tape: Aoyama covered in Sticky Balls, Jiro still crying and holding her ears, and of course a destroyed Mineta.
Mineta chokes out a pained groan. “That was mean…”
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From within the thick brush, Izuku peers up at the sky, a worried expression on his face. “The explosions stopped…”
Mina is just as worried. “What’s happening out there?”
Koda shakes his and shrugs his hands as if to say he doesn’t have a clue.
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The rampage isn’t over yet, as Bakugou now has his sights on Team C: Tenya, Tokoyami, and Sato!!
Fumikage Tokoyami strikes first, not wanting to give Bakugou a chance! “Go. Dark Shadow!”
Dark Shadow lashes forward, right for the rampaging bomber! “You’re mine!”
Bakugou reels back his hand, and then. “You’re-” He blasts Dark Shadow! “-nothing to me!!”
“YEAAA!!” Dark Shadow screams in pain, as the light from the explosion holds it back!
Tokoyami tsks in annoyance, he’s completely useless in this situation.
Tenya Iida sprints forward. “Leave him to me!”
Bakugou leaps and aims a blast to his right, the well powered blast propels him sideways, and into the woods and out of sight.
Tenya makes the sharp turn, after Bakugou! “Get back here!”
But that was his mistake as a web of capture tape is set before his path!!
Tenya panics, digging his feet into the dirt, but it’s no use he’s moving far too fast! “Curse you, Bakugou!!”
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Ochaco and Kirishima come running in, they heard all the explosions and after following their echoes they finally found their teammate.
Ochaco sighs, catching her breath after all that running. “We finally caught up.”
Kirishima, grinning like an idiot, raises his fists. “Where’s the enemy?!”
Bakugou frowns before pointing them out. “I’m already done.”
Hanging from a tree is Team C who are all tangled up in capture tape like a horribly made pinata.
Ochaco frowns “You defeated six people on your own?”
Kirishima is in awe. “You’re too good as an ally!”
Bakugou however couldn’t care about any of that, there’s only one thing on his mind. “Where’s Deku?”
Ochaco and Kirishima blink. “Eh?”
“Deku, where is he?” He snarls, his hands raised and poised like he’s going to set off more explosions in a moment’s notice. “He has this coming!”
Alright, Ochaco can’t stand for this, they don’t need him going off and picking fights! “Cool it, Bakugou!”
He just scowls at her.
“You can’t just go rushing in and picking fights! We need to work together or-”
“Shut up!” Bakugou snarls, turning his nose away in annoyance. “What the hell is this we stuff? I can handle these losers all by myself! So, don’t start nagging at me!”
Ochaco scowls, just as annoyed. “Hey, I’m only trying to help!”
“And who fucking said I needed your help?!”
“I DID!!!” She screams, why is he being so stubborn about this?! “You’ve been able to handle everyone so far but there’s no way you can win like this! We need to work together!”
“Like hell!!” He turns his scowl onto her. “You’ll only drag me down.”
Ochaco glares so hard she could match Bakugou’s own glare. In fact Bakugou returns the gesture glaring back at her with a nasty scowl. They each hold their piercing gaze neither one willing to be the first to back down to the other, like feral dogs holding their ground and refusing to run.
But there’s one dog who’s way too friendly for his own good.
“Woah! Cool it guys.” Kirishima literally cuts himself between them. “We’re supposed to be a team.”
“You’re on her side?!” snaps Bakugou!
Kirishima shakes his head. “What?! No! I’m not on anyone’s side.”
Bakugou’s deadly glare says otherwise. He tries to shove his way past Kirishima, but the red-head holds him back.
Ochaco can’t believe this! Is he really this fixed on showing off?! Doesn’t he realize? “If you fight by yourself…you’ll never win.”
That must have cut deep, as Bakugou nearly freezes in place before he gazes at her with mild shock.
“You don’t stand a chance.” she continues, shaking her head. “Not against Todoroki and his team: his ice and flames can match your Explosions, you’ll never see Hagakure coming, and Yaoyorozu can make a number of weapons to nullify your Quirk.”
Bakugou grinds his teeth, becoming infuriated with her.
“And then there’s the others!” She needs to make this as clear as she can to him! “Shinso can literally top you with one word! Tsuyu and her team can easily trap you. And Deku…” She locks eyes with the raging boy, making sure he is listening to every word she says, “can become anything he needs to, to defeat you.”
Bakugou is steaming mad, honestly if Kirishima wasn’t holding onto him he’d probably have slugged Ochaco by now.
“He’s already done it once, what’s to say he can’t do it again?”
Bakugou shoves himself away from Kirishima. “I’m not weak.” He snarls. “I’ll crush him, once and for all.”
Ochaco glares back, exasperated! “Ugh! How then?! How are you planning to beat him?!”
His palms generate small blasts. “I’m going to blast him to a hundred pieces!!”
She knew it; he doesn’t have a plan!! “And what happens when that doesn’t work?!”
“SHUT UP!!!” Bakugou roars out in fiery rage!! “I’M GOING TO SHOW THAT NERD ONCE AND FOR ALL THAT I’M BETTER THAN HIM!!!”
Ochaco jolts, not of fear but of a cold realization, knowing Bakugou’s actually giving her an honest answer.
She thinks back to what they’ve all gone through this school year, especially Bakugou. He hasn’t really won a lot of matches or exercises since entering U.A. has he? Not their first Battle Training, not the Sports Festival, and not against Deku. It must be eating away at his pride, in other words he’s feeling inferior…weak.
He wants to prove he’s gotten better, that he’s made progress… That’s something she can relate to, she wants to get better too. She wants to…needs to get stronger. But alone isn’t the way to do it.
“Alright.”
Now it’s Bakugou’s turn to be put off by the sudden change in her deposition.
“You wanna win, I get that but.” She locks eyes with him, letting him know how dead serious she is. “If you really plan on winning, then you need to use us.”
“Huh?”
Bakugou’s not the only one confused, even Kirishima is taken back not sure what Ochaco meant by that.
“Use us, Bakugou.” she continues, speaking the absolute truth. “You’re a lot smarter than you let on, your grades prove that. And you handle your Quirk so expertly it’s actually kinda amazing! And when you put those together, you get a terrifying combination!”
Bakugou is taken back and rightfully so, where is all this coming from? She’s actually complimenting him?! People haven’t done that in like forever!
“So instead of your fists use your head and make a plan.” She’s absolutely serious! “Take the lead and show us how to win! Show us how to beat Deku!”
Bakugou blinks, did he hear her right?
“Deku uses his brain when he fights. He knows all of our Quirks and our fighting styles. All he has to do is pick the right transformation and he’ll win.”
Bakugou hates to admit it, but she’s right. She’s absolutely right. Stupid Deku can become a number of transformations to beat his ass: the walking Fire Hydrant, the diamond headed guy, and even that Speedy Lizard will be a problem for him.
“But if you wanna win this, then we have to outsmart him. We have to challenge him.” She wants this too, she wants to show everyone how much she’s improved since the Sports Festival. “We have to surpass him.”
Now that gets Bakugou thinking.
“If you want to win, Bakugou.” Ochaco leans in close, getting herself pumped. “Then you’re going to need our help.”
Bakugou ponders, his mind trying to process if this is even worth his time. But as he wonders, he can’t help but remember that annoying Best Jeanist guy saying something similar.
##########(Flashback)#########
While they were out on supposed patrol, Best Jeanist eyes his young ward after his terrible display of composure. And so the hero grilled the young man about his classmates Uraraka and Midoriya, and why it appears they have progressed further than him. Why is that? Well according to Best Jeanist:
“My point is this, your friends’ understanding of what makes a hero is different from yours.”
“What does that have to do with anything?!” snaps an annoyed Bakugou.
“It has to do with everything.” responds the top ranked hero. “They seek to protect and aid others, you seek your own goals. They are willing to work together, you are not. And they are willing to seek out and listen to those around them, and you…” He trails off wanting Bakugou to finish the thought.
“Could care less…”
“Exactly.” That’s the core difference. “But there are things between you three that are similar.”
The blonde straightens up, surprised and intrigued.
“You all have the same drive to become the best, that is both an admirable and a worthy goal.” He watches for the boy’s reaction. “You have talents and skills but in order to become better than you are now you must be willing to work with and for others. Do you understand?”
Yeah, believe it or not he does understand. He doesn’t like it though. But…he’s supposed to be the best, he should be the one receiving all the praise and glory, but he’s not. If he wants to get better than…then he really needs to understand how he should better himself.
########(End Flashback)#######
With a heavy sigh, Bakugou reluctantly agrees “Fine… I’ll lead your sorry asses to victory.”
Now it’s Ochaco’s turn to be put off! She didn’t think she would get through to him!! Honestly, she was kinda shooting from the hip there.
Kirishima, however, could care less about the details and is just thrilled they’ll work together! “Yeah! We got this! Haha!” He wraps arm around Bakugou. “We’re counting on you, team leader!”
“Let go of me, Kirishima!!”
“Bakugou.”
Bakugou stops struggling against the grinning Kirishima for a moment and turns his attention to the brunette.
Ochaco genuinely smiles up at him, her eyes burning with determination. “We won’t let you down.”
“Yeah, whatever.” Bakugou looks away almost…like when someone can’t look at the shining sun anymore. “I already know you can handle yourself…Uraraka.”
Ochaco smiles.
And that for some reason gets on Bakugou’s nerves! “Why are you so smiley?! Quiet that weird face! Ugh, it’s so weird!”
“Haha, sorry!”
As Team A finally comes together, Team C are at a loss, watching on from the sidelines having been totally forgotten about as they hang from the tree.
Tenya is at a loss, having heard the whole exchange. “What just…happened?”
Tokoyami frowns, trying to act cool and ominous even though he’s tangled up in tape. “We witnessed the alliance between an angel of the stars and a demon of the abyss.”
Sato blinks in confusion. “Um, what?”
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All Might looks to Aizawa from atop the observation tower. “SHOULD WE GET THEM DOWN?”
“No.” Aizawa responds almost too quickly. “Let them take the time to think about how they could improve.”
“SO, YOU WANT THEM TO STEW IN HUMILIATING DEFEAT.”
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The pair of yellow antennae twitch. “Huh, I don’t hear any more explosions?” The kneeling Mina frowns, looking up towards the sky, waiting for any sounds that indicate a fight. “Do you think Bakugou was captured?”
She looks to her team for answers, but she doesn’t exactly get the responses she was hoping for.
Koda is shaking his head while shrugging, like he’s silently saying that he has no clue.
And as for Midoriya…well he’s still out of it, in a daze and a far off look in his eye.
And that’s not what she needs right now! He can’t be off, lost in thought! “Hey, Midoriya!”
“Hm?” The greenette snaps out of his daze. “Oh, um, what’s up Ashido?”
“Were you not listening?!”
He looks away, disappointed in himself for not listening. “Sorry, I just got other things on my mind…”
“Focus!” Mina springs to her feet, standing over him with her hands on her hips. “We’re in the middle of an exercise, so stop getting distracted!”
“Yeah…”
Her antennae twitch as she frowns concerningly, she can tell that he’s feeling troubled. By what, she doesn’t know, whatever it is it’s really bothering him. A part of her wants to drill him for answers, a gossip’s gotta gossip, but this isn't the time for that. Not at all. Right now she needs to reign him in and get him focused.
“Come on, Midoriya. If we’re going to survive, we need your head in the game.” She pats his head encouragingly, noting how fluffy his hair really is. “And we need that big brain of yours to do it!”
Izuku listens, trying to not blush at having his head patted, but as Mina rubs his hair, he can’t help but agree with her. He needs to get his head in the game! “You’re right.” He gets to his feet, ready to help out. All of those negative emotions will just be put on hold for now, although that’s easier said than done. “Right! So then um…um…” And like that his focus withers away again.
Mina internally deadpans. ‘Annnd… He’s got nothing.’
Or does he? “Wait, Koda?”
Izuku and Mina turn to the third member of their party, Kouji Koda, who is suddenly very nervous about the attention now drawn towards him.
“Your Quirk, Anivoice, allows you to control animals, right?” Izuku pulls out his Quirk Analysis journal out, searching for the page he drew up about his classmate.
Mina mentally gasps in confusion! ‘Did he have that thing this whole time?!’
“So tell me.” Izuku’s nerdy side is on full display as he scurries close to Koda. “Can you understand them, too?”
Koda blinks before shying away.
Mina’s lost though. “What are you talking about?”
Izuku goes ahead and explains his thought process. “Koda can command all sorts of animals: birds, rodents, bugs, and the like. He does this by talking to them so it stands to reason that he can understand them back.” With sparkling eyes Izuku turns back to the animal manipulator. “Right?”
Koda shyly and fearfully nods his head while waving his arms about like he’s playing charades; confirming that he can in fact communicate to animals and that he can even have conversations with them, too!
Mina gaps in awe. “Woah, really?! That’s cool!”
“Then here’s the plan.” Izuku genuinely smiles as he scribbles away in his notebook. “The objective is to survive but that doesn’t mean we actually have to fight anyone. We just need to be the last teams standing.” He peers up towards the thick woods. “We’re pretty well concealed here so no one should find us any time soon.” He turns his gaze to his teammates. “But to be sure Koda can have the forest creatures be lookouts for us. They can spot our classmates before we do and warn us before it’s too late.”
Mina nods, planting her fist into her open palm. “I get it. Like an early warning system.”
“Exactly! Birds can even survey the area for us!” Izuku smiles excitedly at Koda, who looks away all embarrassed.
Mina frowns. “That’s good and all. But that’s so lame!” Seriously, she was so pumped when she was assigned to his team because she thought they’d get to see some action! What’s the point of having all those powers and not show them off?! “Come on Midoriya, turn into some freaky monster and go on a rampage! It’ll be so cool!”
“Just what do you think of me?!” Izuku then coughs regaining his composure. “Either way that’s not really viable.” He lifts his left arm, displaying the Omnitrix. “Sure I could go out and hunt people down, but with my time limit in place I can just as easily be cornered myself.”
“Oh, right. I forgot.” The pink girl pouts. “That’s so lame.”
“Ugh…” The greenette sweat drops not sure what he can tell her that’ll make her happy.
“I guess we have no choice but to wait it out.”
“Yeah.” Izuku turns his greenback to Koda. “We’re counting on you. Just do your best, I know you can do it.”
Koda shyly smiles, as if unsure about it but he finds the encouragement so reassuring. Plus he doesn’t really want to let them down so… With as much courage as he can muster, he nods, determined to see this through.
Izuku grins, happy Koda is willing to work with him.
Mina watches from the side, a slight bored expression on her face. ‘I guess I can wait it out, that’s fine but… Why couldn’t I have been in a fun group?!’
She watches as Koda squats down so he can whisper to some squirrels and sparrows while Izuku scribbles away in his journal.
‘Talk about boring.’
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
Bakugou sprints through the thick woods, following his instincts as he searches for more victims. However, neither one of his teammates are anywhere in sight. Just the way he likes it.
Something catches his attention, forcing Bakugou to dig his heels into the ground and come to an immediate halt, all the while keeping his eyes peeled on the dark woods. His eyes scan the area as a harsh silence washes over, not a sound breaks his focus not the leaves, not a bird, and not the wind.
Bakugou turns and snarls. “Get yourself out here, Icy-Hot Bastard.”
After a moment with nothing but the wind to answer him, Shoto Todoroki calmly stolls into view.
“That was some bullshit ambush.” Growls the ash-blonde as sparks dance out from his palms. “Now you’re going to die!”
“Calm yourself.” Shoto raises his hands, gesturing that he isn’t actually here to fight. “I just wanna talk.”
Bakugou’s glare hardens. “Talk?”
“Yeah, is that so strange?” Shoto frowns. “Although I guess negotiating is a foreign concept for you.”
A tick mark forms on Bakugou’s forehead, he’s really getting tired of being put down. “Guess I’m off my game today.”
“Yeah, guess so.” Shoto strolls into the open but making sure to keep his distance just in case.
Bakugou leans back, his palms clutched at the ready. “You have something to say?”
“Yes.” Shoto looks Bakugou right in the eye and with full seriousness he says. “How’d you like to team up?”
“Huh?!” What’s up with everyone wanting to work together today?! This is some new trend?!
“I’d like your team to team up with mine, so we can take out Midoriya.”
“What?!” Him too?! Why is Deku everyone’s main target?!
“Midoriya’s the greatest threat, even to you. But if our teams join forces, not even he can win.”
“Tch. You know I’m really getting tired of people begging for my help. Besides I can kick Deku’s ass myself!” A pair of blasts echo from his palms as he grins madly at the dual-elemental wielder. “But I’ll be happy to kick your ass first.”
“I’m not even surprised.” The dual-haired teen shakes his head in disappointment. “Guess we’ll have due with what we got.”
“Huh?!”
Without warning a pair of large capsules coming flying out at Bakugou from both sides!
*POP!!!*
The capsules explode and blast out a pink foam-like substance!!
Acting with crazy reflexes, Bakugou blasts himself backwards, avoiding the foam completely.
“Dang it!” Tooru Hagakure frowns from within the bushes as she raises up more capsules.
“He’s so fast!” comments Momo Yaoyorozu from the opposite bushes, she holds her hand out and generates another capsule.
Bakugou growls in annoyance, looks like he really did walk into an ambush after all. His eyes widen before he blasts himself to the side, avoiding a piercing icicle ice trail, courtesy of Shoto!
Bakugou glares over at Shoto, who’s right side is covered in a bit of frost.
Shoto glares back. “Now this is an ambush.”
“Damn, Icy-Hot.” Bakugou’s eyes dart to the side, his instincts taking over as he swings his arm around and unleashes a large Explosion!
“Eeeeee!!” Hagakure screams as she’s blasted back, she was hoping to sneak up on Bakugou without her “costume” but it looks like he spotted the capture tape in her hand.
“Too slow!” Bakugou grins but his grin falls as Yaoyorozu tosses more capsules at him! Quickly he jumps and blasts himself up just as the capsules explode and release clouds of foam!
Bits of foam land on Bakugou’s arm as he propels himself away.
His feet skid across the ground upon landing. ‘What is this stuff?!’ He grazes the foam with two fingers, examining it further. He scowls as he realizes what it is. ‘It’s fire retardant.’
He blasts up and away avoiding another ice trail from Shoto. But now their plan is clear: they’re trying to repress his Quirk and give the Icy-Hot Bastard the opening he needs to capture him!
‘You smartass elitists!!’ Bakugou internal snarls as he ricochets and blasts himself around in the air avoiding piercing icicles and exploding foam-capsules.
Yaoyorozu generates and throws out more capsules. “We won’t lose!”
“You're outnumbered!” screams Hagakure!
Shoto launches another ice trail! “You can’t win this alone, Bakugou!”
Much to Shoto’s surprise, Bakugou smirks. “I know.”
Shoto blinks in rightful confusion. “What?”
As Bakugou descends, Yaoyorozu tosses more capsules straight into the air. There’s no way he can avoid each and every one of them for long, no doubt one’s going to him!
Or not, as pink spheres fly in from seemingly out of nowhere and slam into the capsules, blasting them away from Bakugou!
The entirety of Team B gasps in astonishment!
Hagakure yelps. “What th-Ahh!!” She stumbles back hastily avoiding a chop from Kirishima’s hardened arm!
Kirishima scowls as Hagakure slips away. “Dang, I missed!” To be fair all he really had to work with for aiming was the roll of capture tape in her hand.
Yaoyorozu’s eyes widen. “Kirishima?!”
A light whoosh greets her ears before the sound of boots touching the ground echoes behind her.
Yaoyorozu frowns as she turns to face her own foe. “Uraraka.”
Ochaco smiles back defiantly, proud that she was able to catch Yaoyorozu off guard. She’s also a bit impressed that Bakugou’s plan worked: having her and Kirishima stay back while he took the front did draw out their classmates. Good thing too, because Bakugou would have been captured otherwise, although not even he would admit that.
Shoto scowls, realizing they’ve been played.
“So, you’re actually cooperating with your team. Gotta say I’m surprised.”
Bakugou lands back on the ground, with a superior grin plastered to his face. “Yeah, I’m just surprising everyone today.”
Shoto’s glare narrows. “You’re not only one with a surprise up their sleeve.”
Bakugou scowls, what does that mean?
Meanwhile, Kirishima is still after Hagakure, but without a proper target all he can do is swing his arms around and hope he lands a strike. “It’s sure is hard to hit a target I can’t see.”
Hagakure nervously chuckles as she evades another swing. “Maybe you should call it quits?”
“Ha!” Kirishima’s arms harden in defiance. “Not a chance.”
Before he can strike again, a familiar voice calls out from somewhere in the woods! “Yo Kiri!”
Kirishima pauses, looking up in confusion. “Huh, wha?” That sounds like Ashido.
Sure enough, Ashido’s voice calls out. “Yo, Kiri?! Where are you?! I can help!”
Kirishima grins, he’s more than happy to accept the help of a friend. “We’re over here!” And just like that his grin fades away as his eyes gloss over.
At the same time, Ochaco is squaring off against Yaoyorozu, who’s made herself a shield and a bow staff.
Ochaco eyes the iron shield. ‘I can take that out!’ Her fist begins to glow, allowing One For All to power her attack as she swings her fist forward! “Smash!!”
Before her fist can land, a hardened Kirishima appears and intercepts her attack!! The smash slams into him, launching him backwards, Yaoyorozu ducks, as Kirishima flies overhead until he crashes into a tree, smashing it in half!!
Ochaco screams out in horror! “Kirishima!!” She quickly dashes past Yaoyorozu in favor of checking on her teammate. “Are you okay?!”
“Ow!” Kirishima groans, even when hardened, taking a smash from her is no picnic. “Wait?” He sits up, looking around like a lost dog. How’d he get here? And why is he hurting? “What happened?!”
Ochaco yelps! “You tell me!!”
While they sort themselves out, Hagakure and Yaoyorozu quickly get into position to strike.
“Hurry!” Ochaco turns to face them, raising her fists. “We can’t let them take us.”
Kirishima gets up, standing by her side. “Right.”
“Kiri!” Ashido’s voice calls out once again. “I can help! Where are you?!”
Ochaco hears it too, but something’s not right.
Kirishima excitedly grins “Ashi-hmpf?!”
Ochaco slams his mouth shut, shaking her head. “That’s not Mina.”
The red-head blinks, clueless. “Hmp?”
“Aw man!” whine Ashido’s voice! “I really thought-” Ashido’s voice fades away, altering and becoming a bit more repressed and masculine. “-I had you there for a second.”
Ochaco glares past Hagakure and Yaoyorozu and whispers. “Shinso.”
On que, Hitoshi Shinso steps into view from within the nearby brush and boulders.
Meanwhile, Bakugou is still evading Shoto’s attacks, but with his battlefield awareness even he spots Shinso joining the fray. “Mind Fuck?” What’s he doing here?
Shinso smirks, lowering his Artificial Vocal Cords, as he stands between the combat ready Yaoyorozu and Hagakure. “How’s it going?”
Ochaco and Kirishima frown in frustration, not at all willing to give Shinso the edge he needs to control them. Which is easier said than done, because they really want to know why he’s here.
Yaoyorozu can tell that they have questions and so she takes it upon herself to explain. “Shinso saw the benefits of joining us.”
Shinso chuckles, scratching the side of his head. “Guilty, can’t say no to a pretty face.”
Well that explains it: Shoto must have reached out to Shinso like he tried to do with Bakugou.
“And of course.” Shinso’s smirk grows. “I’m not alone either.”
Meanwhile, Bakugou lands back on the ground, having just avoided another ice trail, when the hair of his head stands on end!
Bakugou gasps before rocketing up!! And just in time as an electrical discharge nearly electrocutes him! He kicks himself off a tree before landing back on the ground with a nasty annoyed scowl.
“What’s up Bakugou?!” Kaminari strolls out, giving the mad bomber a cocky salute. “Bet you didn’t see this coming!”
Bakugou’s snarl turns dark. “Brain-Dead Bastard.”
A whoosh greets his ears from behind, and he practically throws himself forward, dodging a swipe from Ojiro’s tail! “Damn, you bastards are really annoying.”
Ojiro lands before spinning around and raising his hands at the ready, as Kaminari smirks and takes his side, all the while Shoto takes the rear guard amongst his newest allies.
And the sight makes Bakugou smirk.
Kaminari smiles nervously in response. “Why are you smiling? It’s really creepy!”
Bakugou’s grin grows bigger, like a psychotic criminal clown’s. “Because you losers might actually put up a fight now.”
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
All Might isn’t so sure about this anymore. “IS THAT EVEN ALLOWED?”
Aizawa nods, not at all surprised or concerned. “Of course, teaming up is a viable strategy.”
“GUESS ANYTHING REALLY DOES GO.”
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
Back in the arena, Team A is struggling to fight off so many foes. Yaoyorozu had started generating and firing out capsules that releases capture tape! And Hagakure without her gloves and shoes makes it difficult for them to get a read on her. And of course they can’t even communicate unless they wanna get Brainwashed by Shinso!
Unable to get a proper opening to fight back, Ochaco comes to an executive decision, they need to get the heck out of here!!
“Oh, no you won’t!” Shinso lashes out with his Binding Cloth.
Too bad Shinso’s not up to Aizawa’s level because Ochaco is able to slip right past the Binding Cloth and rush over to Kirishima, grabbing and giving his arm a tug.
Kirishima gasps in surprise not expecting to be grabbed! “What-hmpf?!”
She has to shut his mouth closed again before he falls under Shinso’s control. She quickly gestures with her head that they need to get moving.
He nods in understanding.
So the gravity-manipulator does her thing and makes him and herself weightless before using her Gyro-Disc to jetpack them away towards their leader.
Bakugou blasts Kaminari away but then he has to blast himself to the side in order to not have his head smashed in by Ojiro’s muscular tail!
Ochaco swoops in, tackling Ojiro and knocking him away. She bounces slightly back in the air, and wheels around still gripping onto a floating Kirishima she turns to the surprised ash-blonde bomber. “We have to go!”
“What?!” She can’t be serious!! “No way in hell!!” Bakugou’s palms spark. “I ain’t running away from these losers!”
Ochaco initially snaps back! “Bakugou!” But she catches herself, knowing she can’t force him to do anything. And so with as much poise she looks him right in the eye. “We’ll make them pay, but on our terms.”
Bakugou’s aggressive expression falters, and he actually considers his options, eyeing the fighting-losers as they regroup. “Fine!” He swings his arms up and over his head. “But just to be clear-” he swings his arms down, unleashing a massive Explosion that demolishes the ground while creating a giant plume of smoke and dust! “this doesn’t count as running away!!”
The enemy teams brace themselves as a whirlwind and bits of rubble and smoke whip at their faces.
The plume of smoke and rubble eventually clears away and when it does both teams are not-so surprised to see that Bakugou’s team have seemingly vanished.
Although if they looked up they’d see a flying Ochaco pulling Kirishima along as a weightless Bakugou latches onto her boot.
Bakugou scowls down at the two teams, making a silent vow to make them pay later.
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
Team E is still hidden away in their little clearing, seated around waiting in silence with nothing but the wind and the brush of leaves to keep them company. There haven’t been too many Explosions for a little while now and in all honesty that only makes their nerves grow. There’s no way Bakugou was captured already, if anything he’s gearing up to do something big and, for lack of a better term, explosive.
So it doesn’t help matters when some of Koda’s birds come crashing through the treetops, chirping loudly and panicky!
Mina gasps, jumping to her feet. “What’s going on?!”
Izuku gets up, looking to Koda. “Did they spot something?”
The sparrows and pigeon land on Koda’s outstretched arm and begin chirping away hastily. After a moment Koda frantically nods his head in confirmation.
Unfortunately the warning comes too little too late as a band of large tape flies out at them from the nearby bushes!
“Get down!!” Izuku throws himself at Koda, shoving him down while his birds fly away in a panic!
Mina leaps to the side as the tape whizzes by! “Who’s attacking us?!”
From the side an elastic pink tongue whips out at her! Mina leaps back before she could be licked, but as a result she’s further away from her team!
“Nice moves, Mina.” Tsuyu Asui’s head pops out front of the shrubbery.
“Tsu?!” Mina scowls, backing up away from the frog girl. “Should’ve known.”
Tsuyu steps out, squatting down at the ready. “Probably.” She hops forward, her arms and tongue out to grab the pink girl.
Mina’s feet spill out slippery acid, allowing her to skate away quickly before Tsuyu could strike. Tsuyu lands on the spot she was previously occupying, so Mina throws her arm out and sprays out a splash of acid! However, Tsuyu's agility is much more impressive allowing her to hop away without any issue.
But it looks like Mina’s on her own as her teammates have their own problems: named Mezo Shoji and Hanta Sero.
Sero chuckles as he rips away the tape from his elbow. “Should’ve known that wouldn’t get you.”
“Yeah, so you should know what’s going to happen next.” Izuku reaches for the Omnitrix but a whip of sticky Tape wraps around his right hand and wrist, pulling it away! “Ahhh!!”
Sero chuckles as he pulls Izuku in. “Wow, you must really be off your game, huh?”
Dammit, Izuku should have been more prepared. He totally let down his guard. Guess his head still isn’t in it.
Izuku struggles, tugging his arm back but Sero’s got more of a foothold to work with!
“No getting out of this one.” Sero’s grin widens. “You’re up.”
“Right!” Shoji charges from the side, his arms outstretched and ready to wrap Izuku up.
Izuku gasps, he’s really been distracted if he forgot Shoji was here!! And without a free hand he can’t transform, and now he’s going to be captured!!
But there’s something else Izuku’s somehow lost track of, his own teammates. A small flock of pigeons and sparrows rush Shoji, pecking and swooping at his head.
“Quit it out!” Shoji comes to a halt, folding his arms around his head while trying to swat away the pesky birds.
While still pulling against Sero’s Tape, Izuku looks over and sees Koda commanding the birds.
The sight brings a smile to Izuku’s but the pull on his arm quickly puts him in check.
“Give it up, Midoriya!” Sero taunts. “Just accept that you finally lost one.”
Izuku scowls in frustration, he has no idea what to do. His entire hand and arm is wrapped up in tape, and Sero’s pulling is keeping him off balance. His eyes drift down to his wrapped-up arm, and then they widen with hope. He could almost smack himself for forgetting, he does have a way out of this.
With a flick of his right wrist, the newly acquired Omni-Shield activates, the 18-inch diameter shield rips right through the tape, setting Izuku free!
“Huh?!” Sero’s completely baffled by the sight of the shield. “A shield?!”
Izuku smirks, he's so glad he got this thing. And as a bonus no one in class except Iida, Uraraka, and Todoroki have seen this thing so no one would have known.
Izuku positions himself with the shield in front, making sure the Omnitrix is covered as he brings his hands together.
Watching from the side, Shoji swats away the birds and rushes in in a panic! “No!!” They can’t let him transform!
“Say hello to Heatblast!” Izuku slams down on the Omnitrix and the flood of green light instantly blinds everyone in the area!
Izuku himself can feel the transformation taking over but it’s different. Rather than the fiery burning sensation of becoming Heatblast it feels rawer and more inhuman. It feels like his eyes are being sealed in, his limbs bending in odd angles, his hair standing on end, and even his teeth feel like they're being pried out!
But it all occurs in an instant, as a result the green flash fades away all too quickly.
“RAAAAAWR!!!”
Everyone comes to a halt, covering their ears as an earth rumbling roar is bellowed out from the terrifying creature before them all!
Everyone is completely baffled and scared of the beast before them all! Whatever it is it looks like a large mutant dog with orange quill-like fur. But the strangest and freakiest thing is that this thing doesn’t have a defined face: no eyes, ears, or nose!! But one thing it does have is fangs, large, defined, flesh tearing fangs.
“Rawr?” The crazy-looking beast appears to be examining itself although it seems confused and startled, like it’s just realized it couldn’t see until now! “Raah?!” The beast hastily flails around, swing its head frantically around like it’s desperate to see something and it has yet to figure out why!
Sero screams out in terror upon seeing the Omnitrix dial on the beast, “What, another transformation?!”
Shoji backs away nervously from the large beast. “What is it even supposed to be a bear or a giant dog?”
The dog-thing swings its head down towards Shoji upon hearing his voice.
Shoji freaks out upon seeing the creature’s face. “Ah, it doesn’t have any eyes!”
Tsuyu deadpans. “You should be the last one to freak out about that. Kero.”
“Rhr?” The creature stops flailing and panicking upon hearing his classmates call him a dog.
His gills flair up and his senses rush with loads of information, he can smell everything: the trees, the dirt, the birds, even the acid sprayed on the ground. Admittedly it’s all really cool, it’s like he has 360-degree vision without the vision! But more importantly he can smell himself: the beastly, hairy scent, mixed with an earthy aroma.
“Rhr…” But it’s clear to Izuku now he didn’t suddenly become blind, he’s become a Vulpimancer!
Huh, he should have figured he could become this thing after that Vulpimancer from the other day used his Omnitrix as a chew toy.
Well it may not be the alien he wanted, he sure isn’t going to complain.
Shoji isn’t sure but he could have sworn he saw the beast smirk there for a second. “Gah!!” Shoji goes flying back as he gets backhanded by the large beast, landing on his back with a groan.
Sero gasps! “Shoji!!”
The multi-limbed teen sits up. “Ow, I’m fine.” He glares up at the beast. “Just thrown off is all.”
“Yeah, literally.”
“Grrr.” The Vulpimancer stalks closer, his fangs bared as a low growl emanates from his throat.
Shoji scrambles back. “Woah, woah! Stay back!”
Not one to stand by, Sero shoots out a string of tape.
The Vulpimancer’s gills flare, and with amazing agility he leaps straight up evading the tape.
“How?!” Sero can’t believe his eyes! How did that thing even see his attack coming?!
“Grh. Grh.” The Vulpimancer chuckles as descends, the moment his hind legs hit the ground he springs himself forward right towards Sero! “RAAAAAWR!!!”
“EEEAAAHHH!!!” In a terrified panic Sero fires out dual strings of tape; what he’s hoping to do with that is unclear other than to try and defend himself.
“Rarh!” With a chomp of his large maw, the beast clamps down on the strands of tape.
“Eh?” Sero blinks, dumbfounded.
With the tape tightly gripped in his jaws, the Vulpimancer smiles and takes off in a run!
“Ahhhh!!! Someone stop this thing!!”
Both teams watch on in stunned confusion, it’s like a scene of a boy trying to walk his giant dog only for the dog to be walking him, dragging him along like a toy on a leash!
“Ragh!” The beast comes to a halt and with the momentum he’s built, Sero rolls forward getting tangled up in his own tape!!
“Sero!!” Shoji finally snaps out of his confusion to realize that the beast’s movements were intentional!
Sticking to the side of a tree, Tsuyu pokes her mouth with a finger in thought. “Guess that really is Midoriya.” To be honest that thing is so beastly they couldn't be sure.
Mina cheers out in celebration! “Way to go Midoriya!”
The morphed Izuku gives a big paw up and a fanged grin in response. “Rarr!” He takes off in a sprint charging right for Shoji!
Shoji braces himself, throwing his arms forward, ready to take the beast’s charge head on! But the Vulpimancer instead leaps up and over him!
The Vulpimancer lands and thrusts his head back, giving the tape a hard tug!
Shoji gasps as Sero’s tangled body comes flying at him! And blam!! They’re tangled together in a ball of tape!
“Yeah!!” cheers Mina while Koda grins excitedly from the sidelines.
Tsuyu frowns. “Dang it, I really thought we could take him.” She glares up at the beast with a determined spark in her eye. “But if I learned one thing in this class is that we can’t just rollover.”
The Vulpimancer turns his head to her, tilting to the side like a curious hound.
Tsuyu squats down on the ground at the ready. “Right Midoriya?”
The beast grins before spitting out the tape at last and without his “dog-walkers” the beast charges! “RAAAAAWR!!!”
“Kero!” Tsuyu leaps up and over the charging beast, whipping her tongue out and lashing it downward, right for his gills!
The elastic tongue smacks into the gills with a loud crack! “Raaagh!!” The morphed Izuku goes down, gripping his stinging gills.
Tsuyu squats down when she lands. “Guess I was right; those gills are sensitive.”
“Grrr.” The transformed Izuku should have figured she’d figure him out, she was always the observant type. “RAAAAAWR!!!” He charges again!
Just like before Tsuyu leaps up and over him, her tongue lashing down once again!
But the morphed Izuku is more than ready, he swings his body around and grabs the elastic tongue in his meaty paws.
“Kero?!”
“RAAAAAWR!!!” With the momentum of his spin, the beast swings Tsuyu down by her tongue.
But she doesn’t end up being smashed into the dirt, instead she catches herself with all four limbs like the frog she is. “That won’t be enough.”
“Rgh. Rgh.” The beast chuckles smugly.
Tsuyu’s eyebrows furrow in suspicion, when suddenly someone grabs her from behind, throwing her down as capture tape is wrapped around her hands!
“Ha! Got ya!” cheers Mina as she shoves herself off Tsuyu. “Good job, Midoriya!”
“Yargh!” The morphed Izuku barks in approval, letting go of Tsuyu’s tongue, while sticking his own tongue out as he pants.
After a moment the three members of Team F are tied up around a tree, eliminating them from the exercise.
“Yeah, we did it!” Mina cheers, jumping into the air in celebration!
Koda smiles and nods while the beastly creature pants and grins like a good boy.
Without warning Mina grab’s the dog-like creature's head and begins patting it! “And it’s all thanks to you right, boy?”
“Rgh?”
She begins petting away at his head. “And who’s a good boy? You are that’s who!”
For some reason this feels really nice, so much so he sticks his tongue out on the side and thumps his foot against the ground.
The tied up classmates all sweat drop at the sight, Sero however is the only one willing to speak up. “Get a hold of yourself man.”
“Rgh!” The Vulpimancer snaps out of it, scrambling to his feet, trying to regain his composure.
Mina pouts, surprisingly the beast's fur was really soft despite how it looks. “Hey, don’t be like that, leave Wildmutt alone.”
“Rgh?” The Vulpimancer looks to her in confusion, or what passes as a confused expression for a faceless beast.
Everyone seems to be just as confused, looking to Mina for an explanation.
“What?” She places her hands on her hips as she pouts, insulted that they didn’t get it. “Wildmutt, that’s his name.”
Shoji raises an eyebrow. “How do you know?”
“Easy, I made it up!” And she’s certainly proud of it. “I mean, Midoriya always gives his transformations names so I thought hey I can make one up too! Hence, Wildmutt!”
“Rggh?!” The newly dubbed Wildmutt can’t believe his ears! Wait, where are his ears? “Rawr. Rawr!” She can’t just come up with a name, that’s his job!
Tsuyu ponders the name. “Wildmutt, huh? It’s not bad, kero.”
“Rhhhg?!” Wildmutt is stunned, turning away whimpering like a sad pooch. It’s not fair…whenever he comes up with a name, she instantly dislikes it. But she likes the name Wildmutt? Not fair…
He goes and sulks in the corner, like a regretful k-9 that’s been scolded, all the while whimpering
Sero watches the dog creature sulk. “Um, what’s wrong with him?”
Tsuyu shrugs. “Who knows?”
Mina calls out! “Snap out it Mido-Oh, um Wildmutt!” She waves her arms about to get his attention back! “We need to figure out how we’re going to win!”
“Rawr!” Wildmutt snaps out of his stupor immediately, rushing over excitedly. “Rawr. Rawr. Rawr. Rawr! Rawr!”
“Woah slow down!” Mina gestures for him to settle down. “I don’t understand what you’re saying!”
“Rgh” Wildmutt tilts his head to the side.
Tsuyu’s eyebrows furrow with suspicion. “Um, Midoriya?”
Wildmutt turns to her.
“Can you…talk in that form?”
… “RAGH!?!?” He gasps out in pure shock!!
“You're just now realizing this?!” Mina shouts out in frustration.
Tsuyu deadpans. “Called it.”
“Really?” Sero can’t help but question. “What’s the use of a transformation that can’t talk?”
“Not only that.” Shoji adds in. “How is it you can even see?”
“Rawr, ragh!” Wildmutt gestures to his gills but none of his classmates are really able to tell what he’s trying to say exactly.
“Great!” Mina grabs at her head, scowling in annoyance! “How are we supposed to win if you can’t even talk?!”
“Raagh. Raagh.”
“Nope. I didn’t understand a thing!”
Wildmutt whimpers, this is not working out at all.
“Looks like it’s all up to me!” declares Mina a little too enthusiastically. “I’ll think of such an amazing plan it’ll put anything you can think of to shame!!” She points at Wildmutt who tilts his head to the side.
The tied-up Team F stare at her like she’s grown a second head. “We doubt that.”
“Gah! Hey prisoners aren’t allowed to speak!!” She throws her head back, gripping her hair in frustration! “Grah! This is hopeless!! I can’t think under all this pressure!!”
Team F sigh. ‘Knew it.’
Wildmutt whines, wishing he could be of more help.
Meanwhile, Koda watches on from the side to shy to even contribute. But he seems bothered, almost antsy like he wants to come forward but his nerves get the better of him every time.
“Ahh! This is hopeless!!” Mina whines!
“Raawr. Ragh.”
She sighs, giving up on it all. “Midoriya…please…I don’t understand a word you’re saying.”
A shy, quiet voice chokes up. “H-he s-said it’s n-ot…hopeless.”
Mina, Wildmutt, and even Team F all freeze up before they all slowly turn to see a shaking Koda off to the side.
Mina blinks. “Eh?”
Koda looks like he wants to shy away, but this is important, so he holds his ground although shakily. “Um, h-he, said i-it’s not hopeless.”
…
Each student cries out in shock!! “YOU CAN TALK!?!” Yeah because that’s what’s important/
“RAGH!?!” Wildmutt rushes forward, grabbing a terrified Koda by the shoulders, shaking him as he begs for answers. “Raawr! Ragh! Ragh?”
“Y-yes!” Koda nods trying not to puke. “I can u-understand you!” Actually that makes sense Wildmutt is more beast than humanoid and Koda can understand beasts so why not Wildmutt too?
“Wait!” Mina gasps! “You can understand everything he’s saying?!”
“Y-yes.”
“Then why didn’t you say anything sooner?!”
Koda turns away, his nerves starting to take over him.
Wildmutt steps forward, placing his paw on Mina’s shoulder. She looks to him and he gives her a look to back off. She gets it and steps away allowing Wildmutt to step forward.
“Rawr. Rawr.”
Koda slowly stops shaking, peeping his eyes open just a bit.
“Rawr. Rawr. Ragh.”
Koda looks away shyly, considering Wildmutt’s words. “I’ll…try.”
Wildmutt nods, giving Koda the friendliest grin he can despite the large fangs.
Mina however couldn't be more lost as she watches these two communicate with each other. She never thought she’d be the odd one out in a conversation. Guess there’s a first time for everything.
But she won’t be excluded for long as Wildmutt turns to Mina and begins barking. “Rawr. Rawr. Ragh.” After he finishes, he looks to Koda.
Koda shys away but a head bob from Wildmutt encourages him on. “Oh! U-um, M-Midoriya has a p-plan.”
Mina’s a bit weirded out that Koda has to be a translator but it’ll have to do. “Well what is it?”
“Rawr. Rawr. Ragh. Rawr. Rawr. Ragh.”
“H-He says that Wildmutt can’t see but h-he can smell. Um, he says the gills are his nostrils.”
Mina eyes the gills, her face becoming disgusted. “Those are his nose?”
Sero and his teammates are just as grossed out. “Imagine the boogers.”
Tsuyu sticks her tongue out. “Gugh, and I hit them with my tongue.”
Wildmutt shys away embarrassed, before turning back to his own team. “Rawr. Rawr. Ragh. Rawr. Rawr. Ragh.”
“B-because of his s-sense of smell he can practically sense wh-here everyone in the training field is. A-and he can tell who everyone is.”
“Ragh.”
“W-well he c-can at least make a guess.”
“Rawr. Ragh. Rawr. Rawr. Rawr. Ragh.”
“From what he can it looks like two teams have teamed up, considering there isn’t a hint of struggling between them.”
Mina gasps! “What, that’s not fair! People have teamed up!”
Team F look to each other. “Maybe we should have done that, too?”
Shoji nods. “Yeah.”
Mina however turns pale at the thought of two teams coming after them. “Not good, they’ll definitely be coming for us then!”
Wildmutt gives Mina an encouraging nudge with his head. “Rawr. Ragh.”
Koda translates. “T-they will but…we can still take them.”
“Take them?” Mina isn’t so sure. “Take them how?”
“Rawr. Ragh.”
“N-no one…” Koda gives a shy grin, knowing the implication this could have. “No one knows about Wildmutt yet.”
Mina’s eyes widen and a grin forms on her face as she realizes that they’ll have a major element of surprise on everyone! “Then let’s go get them!”
Wildmutt reels his head back, letting loose a triumphant roar! “RAAAAAWR!!!”
*BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! *
And in a flash of red light Izuku is back to normal, blinking like an idiot. “Um, but maybe after I recharge.”
Mina and Koda face fault to the ground, exasperated!
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
Further away amongst the trees and rock, Team A has regrouped away from the allied teams.
Although not everyone on this team is exactly happy that they retreated from Shoto and Shinso’s teams. “Why the hell did we run?!”
Ochaco sighs, rubbing her head before a headache can form. “We were out matched! They got us with our guard down!”
“And even after I took the lead to smoke them out!” Bakugou huffs in annoyance, plopping down on a nearby boulder. “This is why I hate working with others.”
Sitting on the ground nearby, Kirishima grins up at the ash-blonde. “Don’t be like that man. We still got this.”
“Tch.”
“Kirishima’s right.” confirms Ochaco. “We can turn this around.”
Bakugou raises an eyebrow. “Oh, yeah, how?”
Ochaco goes ahead and explains. “You’ve taken out two teams so far, not including us that leaves four teams left. And no doubt by now another team must have been eliminated.”
“So?”
“So, there’s only three teams left to take down and two of them have teamed up.”
Bakugou’s eyes widen. “So besides us, only Deku’s team is left.”
Ochaco grins, finger gunning at Bakugou. “Exactly! Meaning that Shoto and the others will be targeting Deku now that they lost us.”
Kirishima, who’s been having a hard time keeping up, finally speaks up. “So, what? How does that work for us?”
Bakugou’s grin turns maniacal. “If Icy-Hot and Mind Fuck go after Deku, they’re going to fight it out.”
Ochaco nods. “And when they do, they won’t see us coming.”
Kirishima grins as he realizes the benefit. “Cool so we can fight them all at once!”
Ochaco aims finger guns at Kirishima. “Exactly! But first we need to get somewhere safe and provide us a good look out.”
Bakugou’s eyes drift away, looking out towards the distance. “I know where we can go.”
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
Kaminari practically drags himself through the thick brush, brushing off the leaves that stuck to his jacket. “This sucks! Ahh! Why do we have to do all the grunt work?!”
Simple, because they need to find the other teams! After losing track of Bakugou and his group the alliance of Shoto’s and Shinso’s teams split up to locate others. The two groups are actually traveling parallel to each other but still a fair distance away as they all traverse through the arena. Then again, it’s been over ten minutes since they encountered Bakugou’s group so trudging through the thick woods hasn’t exactly proven fruitful.
Kaminari groans as his jacket gets snagged by some low hanging branches! “This sucks! If only we didn’t miss our chance the first time!”
Ojiro smiles, accepting the reality of the situation with a smile. “Yeah, too bad, it really would have helped if we were able to take out Bakugou.”
Hagakure nods, her gloves waving in the air.” And Uraraka, they’re both so strong.”
“No kidding.” Kaminari plops down in defeat, throwing his head back in exhaustion. “How are we even supposed to find them anyway?”
Ojiro provides an answer. “Easy, Bakugou will come to us. There’s no way retreating is sitting well with him.”
Kaminari’s face turns deathly pale, filling with a sense of deep dread. “And…we want that?” He’s not so sure he wants to face off against a pissed off Bakugou, not like they’re any other version of him on any other day.
Ojiro chuckles, sympathizing with Kaminari’s plight, but then the sound of rustling leaves meet his ear. “Hm?!” He turns, his eyes narrowed, staying peeled for any signs of an attack.
Hagakure, noticing Ojiro’s tail standing on end, whispers. “What’s the matter?”
Ojiro gestures to the west of their positions, towards the tall thick bushes underneath the dark shady trees. “I think I heard something. Over there.”
Kaminari visibly gets scared, biting the tips of his fingernails in an attempt to keep himself calm.
“I’ll go check.” Hagakure, pushing through the ferns and shrubs. .“I’ll report back when I find whomever it is.”
The only sign that she’s left is that several ferns and shrubs are shoved aside as she passes through them. After a few seconds Ojiro and Kaminari have already lost all traces of her leaving them alone, scanning the woods for her or anything that isn’t her.
And so they wait, and wait, and wait for her to report back but…there’s nothing. Not a sound but the occasional breeze.
“EEEEKKKK!!!”
“Hagakure?!” Kaminari and Ojiro rush in without a second thought, hurriedly sprinting towards the source of the cry!
“Where is she?!” cries Kaminari!
“I don’t know!” Ojiro shouts back, before coming to a screeching halt! “Wait!”
Kaminari nearly rams into him from behind before peering over his shoulder. “What is it?”
Ojiro gestures down to the ground.
Kaminari follows his gaze and gasps when his eyes land on the single glove left abandoned on the ground, Hagakure’s glove. “That’s Hagakure’s!”
Ojiro flexes his tail as if ready to strike an unseen enemy. “Yeah, but where is she?”
The sound of rustling leaves instantly makes them jump at attention; their eyes peeled as the rustling continues from the same spot.
Kaminari gulps nervously. “Hagakure, is that you?”
Ojiro’s eyes narrow. “No, it’s not.”
“Wha?!”
Whatever was making the leaves rustle takes off at full speed crashing through the woods and away from the two teens.
“There!” Launching himself forward with his tail, Ojiro gives chase after the unknown intruder.
“Wait!” And Kaminari chases after him!
“Hurry!!” With another jump via his tail, Ojiro leaves Kaminari behind to pursue the target before it gets away!
Unfortunately he moves far too quickly for Kaminari as the electrical blonde loses sight of his teammate. “Ojiro, wait! Ojiro!”
There’s no reply, in fact there’s nothing, no rustling of leaves, no sounds of a fight, and not a peep from Ojiro.
Kaminari slows down eventually coming to a stop, cautiously scanning the woods. “Ojiro?”
There’s still no answer, not a sound, it’s almost as if he’s just upped and disappeared…
“Where are you?!”
Instead of a proper reply, he is answered by the sound of rustling in the distance.
“O-Ojiro?” Kaminari shakily turns towards the rustling bushes. “H-Hagakure?”
Finally he receives a response in the form of a low aggressive growl. “Grrrr.”
Kaminari gasps, flinching away in fright! “What?! Is there a bear in here?!”
“Grrr.”
The rustling is quiet like something big is stalking its way right towards him, moving in slowly and cautiously.
Kaminari is freaking out! “Stay away from me!!” With a swing of his hands down he unleashed a massive discharge of electricity!
The electricity cracks and singes the dirt and plants, illuminating the dark forest! “Stay back! Who…w-whatever you are!!”
“RAAAAAWR!!!”
“AAAAHHHH!!!”
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
“Kaminari?! Ojiro?!” Shinso comes crashing through the brush, looking in all directions.
Yaoyorozu rushes in after him. “Hagakure, are you here?!”
Shoto, much more calmly, shows up soon after. “Where are they?”
They heard screaming and Kaminari discharging his electricity and came running but it appears they’ve come too late.
Shinso checks behind a nearby boulder, shrouded by tall ferns and low hanging branches. “I found them!”
Yaoyorozu and Shoto rush over gasping at the sight of their fellow members.
Tucked behind the boulder are their lost teammates: Hagakure and Ojiro are gagged while bound by capture tape, and Kaminari is also wrapped up in the tape but he looks petrified like he witnessed a terrifying sight.
Yaoyorozu gets down and undoes the gags, she would untie them, but this is an exercise and thus they are eliminated.
Hagakure sighs as the gag of tape is removed. “Thanks Yaomomo.”
Shoto steps in. “What happened to you?”
Ojiro trembles as he recalls their encounter. “A monster.”
“What?”
Yaoyorozu is just as stunned. “A monster?”
“Yeah.” Ojiro takes a shaky breath before continuing. “It was like some sort of mutant beast.”
“Yeah!” cuts in Hagakure! “It was super scary! It was so fast and strong I thought it was going to eat me!”
Shinso’s eyes drift over to Kaminari who is too petrified to even acknowledge them. “Sounds pretty nasty.”
Shoto’s eyes narrow with skepticism. “I’m not so sure.”
Yaoyorozu eyes him warily. “Todoroki?”
Shoto continues. “A beast targeted you three and then took the time to tie you up and gag you?”
Ojiro and Hagakure’s eyes widen as they realize what Shoto’s getting at.
Shinso came to the same conclusion as well, scowling in annoyance. “Dammit, Midoriya. Why can’t you make things easy for the rest of us?”
Unbeknownst to them all, a certain fury beast was able to hear that even from a distance. “ARRRROOOOO!!!”
Shoto, Yaoyorozu, and Shinso nearly jump in response to the ear-piercing howl, as their eliminated teammates cower in response.
The three don’t exchange a word instead they wait and listen for any signs of their foe.
There’s a slight rustling but there’s not a breeze to accompany it instead a low growl. “Grrr.”
Instantly the three spin around towards the direction of the growl but they can’t see a thing, the thick forest inhibiting their line of sight.
“Grrr.”
They spin back around the growl coming from the opposite direction this time!
More rustling like something’s circling around them, but it’s coming from all directions. The reasoning: either there are multiple enemies or there’s just one really fast enemy. Neither option is exactly ideal though.
But one thing is clear, they are no longer the ones on the hunt but the ones being hunted. It’s funny that often or not humans see themselves as top of the food chain but all it takes is for one beast to show them the harsh reality. And they definitely feel it: the deathening silence, the ominous growls and rustling, and an unseen enemy. This is how prey feels.
But these prey are not without their own natural defenses.
Shinso backs up facing away from his teammates, gripping his Binding Cloth, raising it up at the ready.
Yaoyorozu generates a shield with a matching staff, her left shoulder bumping into Shinso’s.
Shoto stands with his back to the others as well, forming a triangle, as a cold mist floats off his right side.
More rustling and more growling, this time though they can tell that they’re predator is far closer. Even though they cannot see him.
Shinso hates this, he could always try to coax a response out of Midoriya, but he knows very well that he’s too smart for that.
Yaoyorozu’s in no better shape, even though she’s armed herself her mind is swirling with questions: like what did he transform into, what can she make to stop him, and so on. But without a proper answer she can do nothing.
Bits of frost and ice form across Shoto’s leg as his eyes remain peeled towards the treeline. He readies himself, exhaling a visible breath, and smiles. “Do your worst, Midoriya.”
And hidden away within the thick of the branches, the transformed Izuku smirks in response.
With their backs to each other the remaining alliance prepare themselves, they can sense the change in the air: soon they will face their hunter. The question is now where will he come?
The answer… FROM ABOVE!!!!
“RAAAAAWR!!!” Wildmutt comes slamming down between all three of them, roaring at the top of his lungs as he tosses the three of them aside! “RAAAAAWR!!!”
Shoto is the only one able to stay on his feet even as he’s tossed aside. Shinso, although did take a tumble, rolls himself onto his feet, ending in a ninja-like squat position. While Yaoyorozu simply groans in pain from beside him. They all take a moment to take in this beastly form, questions running in their head that have to be put aside until later.
Wildmutt gives the three a fanged smirk as his gills contract and expand. “Ragh. Ragh!” He charges right for Shoto! “RAAAAAWR!!!”
“Not a chance!!” Shoto launches a bristling ice trail!
“Rgh!!” With amazing acrobatics, Wildmutt leaps to the side and with a kick of his feet, lunges right back towards the dual-haired teen, who ironically smells of peppermint. “RAAAAAWR!!!”
“Gah!” Shoto slams his foot down and an ice wall bursts out, intercepting Wildmutt’s powerful claws that dig and smash into the frozen wall.
“RAAAAAWR!!!”
Yaoyorozu shoves herself to her feet, gripping her weapons. “We have to help him!”
Shinso nods, he couldn’t agree more, adjusting his Artificial Vocal Cords until Uraraka’s voice is emulated. “Deku! Look out!” cries out Shinso with Uraraka’s voice!
With his paw still slammed against the glacier, Wildmutt turns towards Uraraka’s voice, his gills flare up taking in the scent of teenage angst mixed with a cat cafe.
And with a slobbery smirk Wildmutt waves his finger.
Shinso sighs, it was worth a try.
“Let’s go!” Yaoyorozu grips her staff and steps forward to charge!
Upon hearing Yaoyorozu, Wildmutt throws his head back at let’s out a loud howl!! “ARRRROOOOO!!!”
Almost immediately after a flock of pigeons, sparrows, and small birds flood her line of sight, swarming the two teens.
Shoto generates another ice wall before Wildmutt could slam his claws into him! But even while defending himself he maintains an eye on the rest of the battlefield, watching as a swarm of birds creates a wall between him and them. “Yaoyorozu! Shinso!”
“RAAAAAWR!!!”
Quickly he throws his hand down and an ice trail races towards Wildmutt who jumps aside grabbing onto a tree to avoid the ice.
From within the circling flock, Yaoyorozu and Shinso find themselves back to back, wary of the birds.
Shinso grips his Binding Cloth. “What is this?”
Yaoyorozu scowls. “It must be Koda’s doing.”
It sure is, Koda is in fact hidden away atop a tree. His perch is far enough away to keep him safe but close enough to see everything that’s occurring. But then again as long as he’s in earshot of Midoriya, he can follow his orders without anyone knowing what they’re up to.
The birds stop circling and begin assaulting the two teens: pecking and scratching at them, aiming for the heads specifically.
Yaoyorozu uses her shield to cover her head. “Stop that!”
Shinso braces himself with his arms. “Damn, rats with wings!”
Yaoyorozu scowls. “Enough!!” She throws her hand forward, generating an airhorn!
*bwAAAAAAAHHHP!!!*
The birds screech and scatter as the obnoxiously loud siren blares in their ears!!
Yaoyorozu smiles, she was able to pull something off!
But the moment is short lived, as from amongst the scattering birds, leaping out from the nearby tallgrass, a wild Mina Ashido appears and challenges her to battle!
“Haha!” Mina laughs as she slams her hand against the airhorn, burning it away with a splash of acid!
Yaoyorozu gasps, stunned. “Mina?!”
“The one and only!” Mina throws herself forward, her hand outstretched!
Yaoyorozu raises her shield, but that was the pink-girl’s plan as the shield begins to melt away. “No!”
“Yes!”
Mina throws her fist forward.
Yaoyorozu flinches, stumbling back, but she has no need to worry as a Binding Cloth grabs Mina’s arm and pulls her away!
Shinso pulls Mina away from Yaoyorozu with a tight grip on his Binding Cloth. “Hands off.”
“Haha. A cool guy, huh?” Mina smirks. “I’m willing to play.”
She grips the Binding Cloth, grinning as it melts away in her hand thanks to her Acid.
“You better watch that mouth of yours.” Shinso pulls back the scarf. “Or you might regret it.”
Yaoyorozu frowns, disappointed in how she handled that. But! She can’t give in now! She gets up a part of her hand glowing as she activates her Quirk: Creation!
But it’s not to be as the flock of birds return but this time they all conjugate around her, pecking, chirping, and swiping at her breaking her concentration!
“No! Stop! Get away!”
Shoto runs in from the side, hurrying to help his teammate! “Yaoyorozu! Hold on!” He aims his right hand forward ready to deliver an ice wall for her!
But he’s interrupted, i.e. Wildmutt slams into his side, throwing him across the ground.
Shoto’s not one to give up though, even as he skids across the dirt he slams his hand down on the ground and an ice trail comes crashing towards the wild beast!
It’s too fast this time for the alien hound and he gets clipped, as a piercing icicle grazes his side! “Raarow!!” Wildmutt whimpers grabbing his aching side, his nostrils picking up the fate scent of copper.
“Come now.” Shoto gets to his feet. “You didn’t really think it’d be that easy did you?”
Admittedly, he was kinda hoping it would be. “RAAAAAWR!!!”
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
Kirishima blinks, using his hand as a shade as he looks out to the horizon. “I think they’re going at it.” He steps back away from the edge of the cliff face. “Now what?”
Ochaco grins as she springs to her feet. “We take them all down!” Her grin falls soon after. “Yeah, but…how?” Admittedly not even she has an answer to that.
Bakugou, however. “I know how. We take them all out in one fell swoop!” He turns his devilish grin over towards his teammates. “And best of all, you two might actually be useful.” His eyes lock onto Uraraka’s. “Especially for you, Uraraka, but it depends on how good you really are with your Quirk.”
Ochaco isn’t sure if she should be glad, he’s including them or terrified.
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
“RAAAAAWR!!!” Ignoring the pain at his side, Wildmutt charges with the tenacity of a stampeding bull!
‘Got ya.’ Instead of a barrage of ice, a wave of flames erupt forth as if summoned from hell itself!
“Ragah!!” Wildmutt screeches as he tries to turn away, but he was moving far too quickly and the flames are too intense!
He is barely able to avoid the worst of it as his fur is singed and his nostrils flare due to the intensity of the heat.
“Rggg. Rgh.” A whimpering Wildmutt falls to his side, bits of his fur smoking as he gingery gets back on his feet.
Shoto sees his shot and slams his right foot down onto the ground and an ice trail immediately launches forward!!
“Ragah!!” Wildmutt kicks himself forward, scrambling to avoid capture.
Shoto’s not done firing piercing icicle after icicle at the beast!
“Ragh! Ragh!” Wildmutt sprints, leaps, and slides avoiding each and every icicle thanks to his abilities, but they’re all nothing but close calls; the icicles are so cold that the ends of his fur frost over.
Wildmutt comes to a slow stop, panting heavily with his tongue hanging out.
Shoto glares at the eyeless mutt his right side frosted over.
Wildmutt, as if sensing Shoto’s glare, turns his head and bares his fangs at the dual-elemental teen. “Grrr.”
Shoto’s left side flares up, the flames licking and dancing off his arm.
Wildmutt ducks his head low, releasing a low intimidating growl. “Grrr-Rgh?” Wildmutt clamps his maw, sticks up his head, and turns away from Shoto like something's caught his “eye.”
It’s such a sudden change in demeanor, Shoto’s thrown off, his flames fading away.
Wildmutt’s gills contract, inhaling and exhaling the scents of the arena. Off in the distance moving quickly there are three different scents approaching: one smells of caramel, the other of mochi, and the last smells like…hair-dye?
Shoto gives in and follows Wildmutt’s “gaze.” “Huh?!” He gasps when he sees them!
Up high in the sky is Team A! Bakugou is rocketing through the air as a weightless Ochaco and Kirishima each have a hand on one of his shoulders!!
“It’s Bakugou and Uraraka!!”
After Shinso dodges a kick from Mina, Mina turns to look up as well. “And Kirishima!”
Shinso raises an eyebrow. “What are they doing?!”
Bakugou grins a wicked grin, looking down at his classmates who are nothing but ants to him from this height. “Alright, Uraraka! Do you think you can pull this off?!”
“Heck, yeah!!” Ochaco let’s go and with her Gyro-Disc she’s able to dive down towards their classmates.
Shoto glares up at her. “What is she up to?”
“Ragh?” Wildmutt shrugs in response, even though Shoto can’t understand him.
Ochaco flying in like a bullet, diving down headfirst from the sky!! ‘Alright let’s see if I can do what you said, Bakugou!!’ With a smile on her face, Ochaco reels back her hands, cupped in her hands are several grenades, provided by the mad bomber himself! ‘These are filled with your sweat so hopefully they pack quite the bang!’
One For All illuminates it in a pink aura around her arms, before the aura concentrates around her cupped hands. The energy swirls until she forms dual Ryou Spheres, but with her hands cupped so close the spheres combine and enlarge becoming one giant sphere, about the size of Ochaco herself!!
“Here we go!!” She let’s go of the grenades that stay contained within the sphere!!
And so she swings her hands down, launching the massive Ryou Sphere down at them all!, screaming at the top of her lungs!! “RYOU BOMB!!”
The Ryou Bomb rockets down, racing towards the earth like... well a bomb!! The bomb explodes upon impact and with the nitroglycerin fueled grenades the explosion is even more powerful!!
Dust and rubble go flying, the ground beneath them shakes and crumbles, even some trees are knocked over!!
And the unfortunate souls caught in the blast are no better off!!
“AAAHHH!!!” Everyone screams out as the blast sends them all flying!! And they keep flying as the effect of the Ryou Bomb’s Zero-Gravity takes hold of everything within the blast radius, including the victims!!
The explosion created quite the crater leaving everyone exposed!! Shinso can’t even use his Binding Cloth to tie himself down against a tree because they’re either too far away or have been knocked down and torn apart! Even Koda’s been knocked out of his tree and is now beginning to float up into the air!
But some of the combatants were able to escape the worst of the blast.
“Bakugou.” Shoto scowls up at Bakugou from behind his thick ice wall.
“Grrr.” Wildmutt growls, his fur standing on end as his claws dig deeper into the earth.
Bakugou grins spotting the two of them. “Your turn Kirishima!!”
“This is crazy!!” Kirishima’s entire body hardens. “But that’s why it’s so awesome!!”
Bakugou’s grin widens as he grabs Kirishima by his arm and swings him downward. “DIE!!!”
“You mean to them right?” Kirishima asks just before Bakugou EXPLODES him downward like he’s a cannonball!!
“In coming!!” Kirishima comes flying down, like a red-haired missile, cutting through the air, keeping his hardened body up and ready!!
Aimed right towards the stunned Shoto and Wildmutt, Kirishima roars out in pure terror and exhilaration!! “RED METEOR!!!”
BLAAAM!!! He crashes into the ground before them both!!!
“RAAAGAGH!!!/AAAAHHHH!!!” Both team leaders are sent flying back at the sheer power of impact!!
If Kirishima had actually struck them, they’d be down for the count for sure!!
With them both down and defenseless, Bakugou makes his move!! “Here we go!!”
*BOOOM!!!* He rockets himself down, moving through the air like a fighter jet that’s aimed right for the floating teens!!
With an evil grin Bakugou whips out the capture tape letting it unravel and fly out behind him as he grips it in his hands. “Die!!”
Ricocheting himself he allows the tape to do its thing and wrap up and tangle itself around the floating idiots one after the other! Yaoyorozu, Shinso, Koda, Mina, and next up Icy-Hot and Deku!!
Bakugou releases the capture tape letting his captured classmates go as he rockets towards Shoto and Wildmutt. “You losers are mine!!”
Shoto shoves himself up, lashing his left arm out along with a torrent of flames!!
“Not on my watch!!” Ochaco screams, throwing a One For All powered punch through the air, generating a powerful whirlwind that washes away the flames!!
With the flames extinguished, Ochaco smiles at her handy work. “Sorry, Todoroki.”
He seriously doubts that especially as Bakugou throws out more capture tape at him. The tape tangles around him and with one pull from Bakugou, Todoroki is eliminated from the match.
Ochaco floats down beside Bakugou as Kirishima stumbles out from the small crater he created; covered in scratches, dirt, and bruises.
Ochaco frowns. “Are you okay?”
“Y-yeah, fine.” Kirishima grins, holding his arm and trying to tact like it’s all okay. “Never felt better.” A bit of blood drips down from his forehead.
“You’re bleeding!!
Bakugou’s palms pop and smoke. “Now what do we do with you?”
“Rgh?” Wildmutt backs away, his head turning from one enemy to another. “Grrr.” He lowers, fur bristled, fangs bared, and claws clenched.
“Haha!” Bakugou slams his fist into his palm that explodes upon contact. “I can’t wait to put you down like the dog you are.”
“Grrr.”
“Hang on Bakugou.” Ochaco steps down, blocking him from moving forward with her arm. “There’s no need.”
“What?! Why?!”
“Oh, just a feeling.” Ochaco smiles at Wildmutt. “Right, Deku?”
“Rgh?” What is she getting at?”
*Beep! Beep! Beep!* Oh…now he gets it. *BEEP!*
And in a flash of red light Izuku is left vulnerable, crouched on the ground just like Wildmutt was.
Bakugou’s grin widens. “Oh, I’m going to enjoy this.”
Izuku gulps, there’s only one course of action that’ll allow him to see tomorrow. “I surrender!!”
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
Aizawa sighs, exasperated, as he stands before his class just outside Ground Omega’s gates. “Alright, the winners of this exercise are Team A: Bakugou, Kirishima, and Uraraka.”
The three stand beside Aizawa looking mighty proud of themselves, especially Bakugou.
“CONGRATULATIONS!” shouts All Might. “YOU THREE DEMONSTRATED EXCELLENT TEAMWORK AND SURVIVAL SKILLS.”
Aizawa sighs, he’s not sure he can agree with that last part. This was supposed to be a nice easy exercise, but these brats turned it into a mini-war! Talk about bothersome.
“Alright.” Aizawa scratches his sideburn, tired of all this already. “Those of you who are injured go see Recovery Girl the rest of you report back to class.”
The class stands at attention! “Yes, sir!”
The class begin to disperse with Iida leading most towards the bus, but a few stragglers take their time to follow.
Izuku frowns, gripping his side that was grazed by one of Todoroki’s icicles. Thankfully the bit of blood that spilled out has already dried up. But he’s not exactly picture perfect either, bits of his hair are singed and he’s covered in dirt and scraps thanks to that last fight.
“Hey cheer up Midoriya!” Mina jumps in, flinging her arm around his shoulders. “It’s over now, no need to dwell on it.”
Koda approaches too, although shyly. “W-w…w-we did o-our best.”
“Yeah, I know.” Izuku tries to give them a reassuring smile. “I guess I’m just still a bit off my game is all.”
“Well shape up mister!” Mina gives him a good shake. “Because we need your head on straight if we’re going to win next time!”
“Yeah, I’ll try.” He’s not sure why but there’s something about Mina that just generates an air of positivity.
“Midoriya!!” From out of nowhere Kaminari flings himself at the greenette, grabbing his head around his arm as if to strangle him! “You gave me a heart attack you jerk! I thought I was going to die!!”
“Gah!” I’m s-sorry Kaminari!” Izuku chokes out, struggling to free himself. “I was just trying to win.”
The rest of Kaminari’s team approaches: Shoto, Yaoyorozu, Ojiro, Hagakure, and Shinso.
Ojiro frowns. “Dude, we seriously thought someone let loose a mutant bear or something. It was terrifying.”
“Yeah!” Hagakure screams. “How’d you even find us?!”
“Oh, that.” Izuku pulls away from Kaminari’s grip. “I smelled you.”
Everyone becomes visibly disrupted. “You…smelled us?”
Izuku realizes how gross that sounds! “I mean Wildmutt! I mean Wildmutt was able to pick up on everyone’s scents! That’s how I was able to find you.”
Yaoyorozu frowns. “I understand. Hagakure is invisible to the eye but that’s no good against something that doesn't have eyes.”
“Exactly.”
Shinso frowns. “Okay but why were you acting like such an animal?”
Izuku blinks.
“Why were you growling and barking at us? Was that just to get into the act or something?”
Izuku goes red from embarrassment. “No-no! It’s just Wildmutt can’t actually talk.”
…
Shoto blinks. “That…makes a lot of sense actually.”
Passing the group nearby is Tsuyu who overhears that part of the conversation. “If you ask me it’s your best transformation yet.”
“Really?!” Izuku’s amazed to hear that from her!
“Yes.” She looks him right in the eye and says. “It's the only one that can’t make puns.”
Oooh! Izuku felt that one, so much so he nearly tumbles to the ground.
Shoto, ignoring Izuku’s pain, continues with the questioning. “How’d you even get a transformation like that and when?”
Izuku struggles to his feet. “I, uh, um, went on a hunting trip over the weekend. And I got into a little scrape with a feral dog is all.”
Shoto frowns. “Who won?”
Izuku freezes before slumping down in defeat. “Would you believe me when I said a trash can won.”
“A what?”
Meanwhile still in front of the gates, Kirishima gives his teammates a wide toothy grin. “We really did it!”
“Yeah we did! We were great!” Ochaco cheers, before turning to their team leader. “Especially you Bakugou!”
Bakugou gives her a confused look.
“I knew you could do it! All you needed was to use some teamwork and BOOM we won!”
Bakugou has to admit but she’s right, he actually won an exercise. He effectively beat Deku, although not in the way he wanted but there will definitely be more chances to truly show his worth! But for now he can settle for this he supposes, besides the exams will be the best time to truly show everyone what he’s made of. Especially because they’ll be ranked on individual levels.
“No da.” Bakugou scoffs with a superior grin. “I’m going to be the Number One Hero, so of course I was great!” He turns his head away, smirking all the while. “I’m just surprised you two were even able to keep up.”
“Hey.”
Bakugou raises an eyebrow as he turns to Ochaco who gives him a dry-blank stare.
“Don’t ruin this.” she says dryly. “You’re ego’s already bloated enough.”
“Then why’d you bother saying anything?!”
“Because I was trying to be nice! But if you’re going to put me down for it then forget it!”
Bakugou scowls, glaring down at her, but she counters his glare with one of her own.
Kirishima lets out a boisterous laugh! “Haha! You guys are way too much fun!”
They both shout without looking away from each other! “Shut it, Kirishima!!”
“HAHAHA! KIRISHIMA IS RIGHT, YOU TWO ARE FUN.”
Bakugou and Ochaco break their glares to awe at their hero. “All Might!”
“YO.” All Might grins down at them all. “JUST WANTED TO SAY THAT YOU ALL REALLY IMPRESSED ME TODAY. YOU GOT A LOT OF SPIRIT!”
Ochaco grins! “Thanks, All Might!”
Kirishima grins up at the hero in response.
While Bakugou smirks, feeling mighty proud of himself.
“AND I WAS TRULY IMPRESSED BY YOU YOUNG BAKUGOU.”
Bakugou blinks. “Huh?”
“I’M GLAD TO SEE THAT YOU’RE MORE WILLING TO WORK WITH OTHERS, A TRUE MARK OF A HERO IN THE MAKING.”
Bakugou’s smirk widens, he already knows this but it’s nice to be acknowledged.
“Careful All Might.” interrupts Ochaco. “Don’t compliment him too much, he’s already cocky enough as it is.”
“What are you saying, Uraraka?!”
“You know exactly what I’m saying, Bakugou.”
“HAHAHA!’
Izuku silently watches from afar, a slight frown on his face, as All Might laughs and chats away with Uraraka…and Bakugou.
And the feelings he’s been able to subdue so far begin to boil up once again, twisting his stomach into knots. ‘All Might…’
##########(Flashback)#########
As Hisashi dragged away the unconscious Vulpimancer into the Razor Crest, Ochaco led Izuku off to the side. She led him to a downed tree that they used to sit on while looking out to the beautiful view provided by Lothaal Mountain.
They sat in silence which felt like a few awkward moments for Izuku but to Ochaco it felt like hours as she slowly built up the nerve to tell him, to finally tell him.
“Uraraka?” Izuku gives her a concerned look, watching her fidget and frown. “Is everything alright?”
“Y-yes, I’m j-just nervous is all”
“Nervous?” What does she have to be nervous about? “Uraraka, I’m not going to judge you. If there’s something you want to say then you should say it.” After all it’s clearly bothering her.
“Okay.” Honestly, that's just what she needs to hear from him, helping her push up the courage she needs.
She turns and looks him right in the eye.
Izuku straightens up, noting how incredibly serious she is about this. Whatever she has to say, it must be important.
“Deku, do you…remember what I said? When you first saw my Zero-Gravity Field during our first Hero Class.”
He does. “Yes, you said…you said you got a new power from…someone.”
Is this what this is about? He has to admit he’s been wondering about it but he didn’t stick his nose into it because she told him that it’s supposed to be a top secret. So, is he finally going to figure out what it is and who gave it to her.
She looks away, becoming nervous again. “My power: the one that gives me so much power, that allows me to generate my Ryou Spheres and Zero-Gravity Fields…is called One For All.”
“One…For…All?”
“Yes, it’s a power passed down through the generations, becoming stronger and stronger with each holder until it passed down to me.” She locks eyes with him. “Passed down to me from All Might.”
Izuku’s eyes widen, and he doesn’t notice it at the time but his heart drops, and he chokes. “All Might?”
And so she tells him everything and that does mean everything: how All Might came to her and offered to train her, even how he gave it to her, the percentage she can control, and of course about how the Quirk came to be. How it was a combination of two Quirks forced upon the original user by the villain known as All For One.
And she doesn’t leave out how even All Might thinks that man, that monster, is still alive and working within the shadows.
Izuku leans back trying to process it all. Unsure what to say to all this. One one hand it’s amazing that his best friend’s All Might successor and she’s inherited a great responsibility, it’s an incredible tale. And one he should have been able to guess considering the evidence.
But on the other hand this terrifyingly conniving All For One person, he sounds a lot like Vilgax. A monster hidden away in the shadows, pulling the strings and sending his puppets out to retrieve what he thinks he has claim to.
“S-so, D-Deku?”
Izuku turns to Ochaco who looks relatively worried. “W-what…do you think?”
“What do I…think?”
She nods, hoping he’s not upset with her for keeping this quiet for so long.
Well it’s a lot to take in, that’s for sure. And he has so many questions, questions he wants answers to. But for some reason his stomach continues to churn and burn when his mind draws to All Might. But that’s more personal and not something he wants to tell his dear, friend. Instead he’ll tell her what he thinks of all this.
“ I guess…I’m grateful.”
Her eyes widen.
“I’m glad you trusted me enough to tell me. But, and because I’m curious, why didn’t you say something sooner?” A part of him is worried to what her reasoning could be.
“Oh, well, I wanted to. But All Might said it’s best if I kept One For All’s secret to myself.”
A part of Izuku is hurt to hear that it was All Might’s suggestion, but he can understand why. It’s the same reason he can’t tell people that the Omnitrix isn’t a support item but the actual source of his transformations. If people knew about the Omnitrix or One For All for that matter, everyone would come after them to get their powers. Villains, the government, and maybe people they know will do anything they can to take the power for themselves. And that is a terrifying thought.
But that doesn’t mean it doesn’t hurt any less, that it was All Might that told Uraraka not to tell him. Not to trust him. All Might same one who…
Izuku shakes head, trying to repress the memory. “Who…? Does anyone else know about this? About One For All?”
Ochaco shies away. “Oh, well, nobody much, just Mr. Tsukauchi, that detective from the U.S.J. Incident, Recovery Girl, and…Principal Nezu and Gran Torino.” She says the last part rather quickly.
“Principal Nezu and Gran Torino?”
“Y-yes.”
Izuku frowns, staring at his hands. “Honestly, that’s not much of a surprise. Principal Nezu always seems like he knows more than he’s letting on. And Gran Torino was All Might’s teacher. I guess that’s why you trained with him. It's because he was able to teach you more about One For All. Am I right?”
Ochaco nods. “Yeah, admittedly when it comes to teaching, All Might’s not exactly the best.”
Honestly, Izuku's not that surprised to hear that considering.
Hang on. “Wait, so if both Principal Nezu and Gran Torino know about One For All and the Omnitrix does that mean…?” Izuku gulps nervously, his stomach twisting at the thought. “Does All Might know?”
Ochaco tilts her head to the side. “Know what?”
“Does he know? About…everything?” Aliens, the Plumbers, and the Omnitrix?
Ochaco quickly realizes what he means. “No, he doesn’t.”
“How come? Why haven’t Principal Nezu and Gran Torino said anything to him?” If you ask Izuku, despite his feelings towards All Might, he would be a huge asset to the Plumbers.
Ochaco frowns worriedly. “Well they have a good reason. They’re afraid that All Might will strain himself far too much.”
“What do you mean?”
“Well, according to them, they believe that All Might would put too much responsibility on himself. Not only would he carry the title of the Symbol of Peace but he’d be actively trying to be the same for the alien community. But there’s no feasible way he can be a symbol to both especially with his…limits.”
Oh, right. How could he forget? All Might’s time as the Symbol of peace is limited. Wait, do the villains know that too? If All For One is in charge of the League of Villains, then that might explain why they chose to attack him in the first place.
“That…makes sense.” And honestly, it’s kind of a relief to hear, he rather not be that involved with All Might if he can help it.
But then again, his best friend is All Might’s successor’s so that hope is probably down the drain at this point.
Overall there’s still one thing hanging in Izuku’s mind. “It’s all so amazing and terrifying to hear. And I’m glad you told me Uraraka.”
“Really?” She frowns worriedly. “You’re not upset with me?”
“No way!” Izuku gives her a reassuring smile, ignoring the pits in his stomach for now. “I trust you completely and besides you were just doing what you were told. Besides I had a feeling you’d tell me everything when you were ready.”
Ochaco sighs. “That’s…such a relief to hear.”
“And that’s not all.”
“Huh?”
Izuku leans back, looking up to the sky. “Now that I know, I can help you out.”
“What?”
“Now that I understand your new Quirk I can actually begin analyzing it.”
“Eh?”
Izuku speaks softly, picking his words carefully. “I bet if we work together on it we can better your control over it.” He gives her an encouraging grin. “And then when we’re ready, we’ll take down All For One.”
“We?”
He chuckles softly. “Well, duh. Since I’m in on the secret now I can help you face All For One when the time comes.” Izuku grips the Omnitrix. “Besides he can’t steal my Quirk cause there’s nothing there too steal.”
Ochaco can’t believe it, well she can, but she’s just so happy. Deku’s not remotely upset with her, she was just worrying over nothing, wasn’t she? But it’s still just such a relief that he knows now, that he’s accepted it. “Th-thank you, D-Deku.” Bits of tears stream down her face. “Y-you’re the b-best.”
Izuku smiles. He can only imagine how this secret’s been eating away at her. But now she doesn’t have to bear this burden alone.
And he wouldn’t want her or anyone to face it alone, All For One sound like one nasty piece of work. Heck the guy tried to manipulate and corrupt his own brother! Talk about heartless.
But then again that one selfish act created the necessary tool, the power, to combat him. Talk about irony.
But what is ironic, is that Izuku a lifelong fan of All Might, just found out what the man’s Quirk really is and he’s not even thrilled about it. The churning and burning of his stomach are too great to ignore anymore especially whenever his mind even thinks of All Might. Especially, trying to find a sense of reasoning in the man’s actions. He had to choose a successor. He had to find someone worthy of One For All. Don’t get him wrong Ochaco’s definitely worthy, but the question becomes… ‘Am I…not worthy?’
Not worthy in the sense of receiving One For All but…is he even worthy as a hero to All Might. In All Might’s eyes, is Izuku even worth the effort? In All Might’s eyes, can Izuku become a great hero? Or is it because he has power now that he is “worthy?” Was that what was missing? A Quirk? So then…is he even worthy now? Is he a hero in All Might’s eyes?
########(End Flashback)#######
Izuku’s stomach twists and churns, as he watches All Might grin away. In the past that grin always filled Izuku with such hope and excitement but now…he can’t even bring himself to look directly at it.
Notes:
Alright so to be honest guys this is not exactly the original chapter I wanted to write and by extension I’m not that happy with it. If it felt satisfying, there's a reason for that. You could chalk it up to me not being at all a professional writer and I’m just trying my best. Or rather it’s because the more plot related, and character development stuff was pulled from this chapter. In truth I actually got a good suggestion from you guys in some of the previous reviews and I realized that another chapter with that suggestion is a far better idea: it’ll allow for more character interactions and development, especially relating to Ochaco’s reveal of OFA to Deku. As well as be a better transition into the Final Exams. So if you were expecting more of the consequences and reactions of the reveal of OFA to Deku then it will occur next time because it’s a better fit. Actually I probably shouldn’t have written this chapter at all, but by the time I realized it I was already halfway through this one so I had to keep it. So again if this chapter felt off or unsatisfying compared to where the last one left off, this is why. But I hope I can make it up to you all next time.
*The silver lining is that we got Wildmutt so there’s a positive, right? I have been wanting to introduce Wildmutt for a while. He's one of my favorites and I just think he’s such a fun and cool alien.
*Like I said above I’m throwing in one more chapter before we actually get to the Final Exams. So I need time to actually plan out the chapter and write it up from scratch so it may take a while before we see it. Hopefully I can get it out by next week but we’ll see what happens.
Chapter 46: Parent’s Day
Summary:
It's as the title suggests.
Notes:
I just wanted to say thank you all for the feedback and the needed criticism about the previous chapter. It pointed out a lot of flaws to me that I think need to be addressed:
This is on me for not making this clear, but this story is not just Izuku’s story. This story has 2 Main-Protagonists not just one. This is why I spend so much time on Ochaco too. After all she does have One For All, so I feel like it’s necessary. That said Izuku and the aliens will still be the heart of the story, but I focus on Ochaco as to not lose the My Hero Academia elements and story lines.
That said I do agree that I have had her win too many times! That was due to some poor foresight on my part. I was so focused on Izuku’s progress and struggles that I forgot about her struggles. If I had realized sooner, I would have definitely had Izuku win the Sports Festival and not her. There I said it, Izuku should have won! That’s on me. I’ll try my best to balance it all out more.I will work harder to remedy this in the future.
So to be honest, and this is going to sound like a poor excuse, I was not in the right mindset as I was finishing up Ch.40. By the time I was writing up the last action scene (about the time Bakugou’s team entered the fray) I was already upset and disappointed by the chapter due to the last-minute changes and it became more fillerish than I intended it to. So when I was writing the fight scene and Izuku timed out and surrendered, I only did that so I can just be done with the chapter, post it, and move on. Because I was frustrated and didn’t want to deal with it anymore. But that is no longer the case which is what I need to speak to you all about.
*Results of the poll to edit Ch.40 have come in. And majority rules that no I should not edit Ch.40 and just move on, so that is what I am going to do. Or rather that is what I did. I hope Ch.41 can win you guys back, I for one feel really good about this chapter. Does it fix what you guys have been pointing out? No, not even close that will all come later on. Instead this chapter will focus on pushing the narrative forward especially for the Midoriyas.
*Originally, I was not going to be doing another original chapter here but after this was suggested I realized it’ll work amazingly well for what I want to do. That said we will get to the Final Exams next chapter for sure.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Izuku Midoriya is busy lacing up his favorite red shoes, as he does so a set of light steps approach and Izuku’s heart drops ever so slightly.
Hisashi Midoriya smiles down at the greenette. “You all set to go?”
“Yeah…” Izuku peers up and is surprised to see Hisashi all cleaned up and dressed in business-like attire.
It’s nothing fancy, just simple black dress pants with a white button up shirt. Almost like he’s going into an office.
“Alright.” Hisashi claps his hands together, stepping around Izuku and grabbing the door open. “Let’s go then.”
Izuku blinks unsure about this, but he’s not exactly in the mood to talk so he leaves.
Inko Midoriya calls out behind them, just as Hisashi closes the door after them. “Bye, you two!”
Izuku zones out for most of his commute or at least he tries to but every now and again his eyes drift over to Hisashi who’s striding beside him at a matching pace. He gives it a shrug figuring he’s off for the local stores at Tatooine Station. But that is not the case as Hisashi boards the train alongside his son, taking the seat beside him as he heads off for school.
Izuku eyes him warily, unsure why he’s seemingly following him.
Hisashi must not be able to take the awkward silence anymore as he finally tries to start up a conversation. “I heard you have a new transformation?”
Izuku nods, hesitantly. “Yeah…Wildmutt.”
“Oh, cool name. A Vulpimancer?”
“Yeah…” Izuku averts his gaze, wondering why Hisashi’s here. ‘Why is he here? Oh, right. He’s probably heading to Plumber Base.’ Yeah, that makes sense.
The rest of the train ride goes about the same with Hisashi asking a brief question to start a conversation, but Izuku only replies with one word at a time. Making it a failing endeavor. Eventually he gets the message and goes quiet but by then they arrive at their station.
And so they hike up the road right to U.A. High all the while Izuku feels the ever-growing discomfort as his father strides alongside him with a goofy smile on his face. Seriously, Hisashi, the adult, looks like a kid who’s on his way to the local animatronic arcade restaurant.
Izuku speeds up, hoping to at least give himself some space from his father.
But unsurprisingly Hisashi just speeds up too, keeping the pace without batting an eye.
Izuku keeps at it though, speed walking faster and faster but Hisashi keeps up with every step. He considers making a run for it for a second but decides that wouldn’t work out for him.
Thankfully, he finally makes it to U.A.’s front gate. “Alright, I’m here.” He turns with a smile on his face, hoping to see Hisashi make his way around the hillside and to Plumber Base. “I’ll see you later I guess.”
Hisashi does not move though, instead he frowns, confused by Izuku’s statement. “Later? What are you talking about?”
Izuku’s stomach fills with dread. “Um, aren’t you going to Plumber Base?” Please say yes. Please say yes. Please say yes!
Hisashi’s face scrunches up, becoming extremely baffled. “Plumber Base? No. Wait! Did you think…” It dawns on him, all before slapping himself in the face. “Oh! My bad I thought you knew.”
“Knew what?” What was he supposed to know?!
“Izuku, today is Parent’s Day.”
They both stare at each other for a brief moment as Izuku’s mind processes the information.
…
“NANI!?!”
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
“Ugh…” Izuku lets out a pained groan, flopping his head onto his desk.
“Seriously?! Haha!” Mina Ashido laughs so hard she has to hold her gut! “You forgot! Haha!”
Izuku doesn’t even lift his head up, grumbling into his desk. “Please, stop laughing…”
“Midoriya!” Tenya Iida chides in, his hands chopping the air in front of him! “You’re always so organized and informative, how could you forget?!”
“I don’t know, this is the first I’m hearing about it!!”
“Um, Deku…” Ochaco Uraraka shies away, smiling sheepishly while trying to find the best way to say this. “Mr. Aizawa mentioned it a few times over this last week, but then again you were kinda…zoned out at the time.”
Yeah, being hung up on your long-lost father’s return can do that to a person.
Izuku lifts his head up, enough so that he’s resting on his chin. “Okay, but then how come no one’s mentioned it outside of class?” Seriously, if this was a thing people would have been talking about!
“Hello!” chides Mina. “It’s because we’re all so focused on the exams that it becomes the only thing we can talk about!”
“Oh, right.”
Tsuyu Asui nods in agreement. “Yeah, not much to talk about when all you can think about is passing your tests.”
Izuku grumbles to himself, wishing he knew from the start. As he lays his head down on his desk, he briefly scans the classroom for who’s here and who isn’t.
Not everyone’s here yet besides the obvious ones.
Tsuyu’s dad, Gamma Asui, is standing near the back of the class with the other parents. And he appears to be talking to a brunette man and judging by the other parents Izuku can assume that he’s Uraraka’s father.
Kyoka Jiro is here too, sitting at her desk while trying to ignore her goofball of a father. Who appears to be all smiles as he tries to get his daughter to talk to him.
Then there’s Koji Koda and Yuga Aoyama with their mothers, respectively.
And then there’s his parent. Hisashi is in the back as well and he appears to be chatting away with someone who looks a lot like Tenya, Tensei Iida.
Izuku watches on curiously and a bit worriedly, feeling rather sympathetic as his eyes drift down to the wheelchair the ex-hero is now bound to. But he appears to be alright, he’s smiling away like nothing’s wrong and he appears to be genuinely happy that his little brother invited him here.
Speaking of Ingenium's little brother. “By the way Midoriya.”
Izuku turns his attention to the youngest Iida.
Iida gets straight to the point, not missing a beat. “How come you never mentioned your father was a hero before?”
Izuku pales.
Tsuyu’s and Mina’s eyes widen, their attention effectively grabbed. Even Jiro a few seats down overhears turning her attention to him as well.
Mina gasps. “What?! You’re dad’s a pro hero?!”
“Wow.” Tsuyu looks towards Hisashi, it’s easy to pick him out since he looks so much like Midoriya. “Guess you’re following in his footsteps huh?”
Jiro looks from Izuku to Hisashi and back. “Huh. I never would have guessed.” He must not be all that famous or something, weird because Midoriya seems all set for a successful career so you would think his father, a pro hero, would have one too.
Izuku raises his head off the desk, but his eyes never leave it. “Yeah, he is.” He speaks calmly and slowly like reading a script. “He’s the Fire Breathing hero, Cinder.”
Mina lets the name sink in. “Fire Breathing?”
As does Tsuyu. “Cinder?”
Tenya frowns, disappointed in himself for not knowing his own friend’s heroic lineage. “Afraid I never heard of him.”
Jiro nods. “Yeah, same.”
Izuku smiles, sheepishly. “No surprise really. He’s been off on a special assignment for the Self-Defense Force for a long time now.”
“Self-Defense Force?” Jiro questions. “Guess he was on some special mission then.”
“Really?!” Mina lights up wanting to hear all the exciting details. “What kind of mission?”
Izuku backs away, nervously. “W-who knows?” As he says this, his own eyes drift over towards Hisashi as if he has the same question too.
Hisashi notices Izuku’s glance and waves back with a friendly kind smile.
Izuku doesn’t return it.
Mina frowns, her antennae twitching, noticing the brief interaction.
“Hi there!” Hisashi walks over, flashing the teens a friendly smile. “It’s nice to meet you all, I’m Izuku’s father, Hisashi Midoriya. And it’s a pleasure to be meeting you all.”
They all give him the respect as expected of them when they greet an adult. “Hello, sir.”
“Mr. Midoriya!” Tenya rushes forward, standing at attention before the grown man like the class rep that he is, his hands chopping away rapidly! “It’s a mighty fine pleasure to be meeting you! You must be very proud of your son! He’s demonstrated excellent leadership skills and fortitude for hero work! I’m sure it’s no doubt due to your guidance and inspiration that turned him into a fine future hero!”
“Haha!” Hisashi is not at all weirded out by the chopping hands, instead finding Tenya’s report very satisfying to hear. “My, that's really nice of you to say. But I'm afraid I can’t accept the credit.” He flashes a toothy grin at Izuku. “But I will say that I sure am proud of my boy.”
A pang is felt, and Izuku darts his gaze away from his father.
Tensei rolls up, rolling himself forward in his wheelchair. “Tenya, leave the man alone.” He grins up at the older Midoriya. “Sorry about him he can be a little too direct sometimes.”
Hisashi waves it off. “It’s no problem at all.”
Mina lights up finally realizing who this person is! “Hey, you’re Iida’s brother, right? Ingenium?”
“Yes, I am. Or I was.” With a sad smile Tensei gazes down at his legs, his tragically unstable legs.
The students go quiet, a rush of pity and guilt flooding over them.
Mina especially. “I’m sorry.”
“What for?” Tensei flashes her a kind cheery smile. “You had no part in this.”
Izuku sits nearby remembering how much pride and joy Iida had when he spoke of his brother, the pro hero, Ingenium. “Um, sir?”
Tensei looks over, wondering what the boy could need.
“C-can…can you sign this!” Izuku flashes the man his Hero Analysis Notebook! “It’d be such a huge honor!”
Tensei’s admittedly surprised as is everyone else, but either way he’s more than happy to accept. “I’d be happy to, but on one condition.”
“Um, sure.” What could he want?
The ex-hero sticks his hand out to Izuku. “I wanted to thank you for what you did for Tenya.”
Izuku’s gaze locks onto the outstretched hand, his eyes widening.
“I heard about what you did. You know, the Hero Killer. You stopped him, right?”
“Yeah…I did.” Technically.
“But you also saved my brother.” Tensei smiles softly in appreciation and admiration for the young man, “And for that I can’t thank you enough.”
Izuku smiles softly, accepting Tensei’s hand. “N-no need! I’ll…I’ll always be there for my friends.”
Tensei nods. “Good man. Now how about that autograph?”
Izuku, all too enthusiastically, thrusts the notebook forward! “Oh, right! Here please!”
“Haha ha!”
Ochaco watches on with a smile, while a tall figure approaches them from behind her. “Ah, so that's your friend, Izuku Midoriya, right?”
Ochaco smiles up at her dear old dad. “Yeah that’s him.”
She turns her gaze back to Deku only to see him excitedly, too excitedly, bow his head in thanks as he receives his autograph.
“He…” How can she say this? “Really loves heroes.” Love is a strong word, rather it’s an obsession.
Izuku’s eyes sparkle as he admires the autograph of the pro-hero Ingenium.
Mr. Uraraka chuckles at the sight. “Ha! I can see that.”
Izuku manages to snap his attention away from his notebook upon hearing the unfamiliar voice. “Oh, who are you?”
“Hi, there.” Mr. Uraraka’s steps forward, grinning all the while. “I’m Ochaco’s dear old dad.” He sticks his hand out in greeting.
“Oh!” Izuku’s eyes widen, guess he was right after all. “It’s really nice to meet you, sir.” He shakes the man’s firm grip.
“Same.” He plants his hand onto his daughter’s head. “This one’s told me so much about you.”
“She did?!”
“Of course, plus she’s told me all about the rest of her friends.” Mr. Uraraka turns to the rest of the students. “Now let me see if I can get this right.”
He points, starting with Iida. “You’re Tenya Iida, Mina Ashido, Tsuyu Asui, and Kyoka…Jiro!”
The students give him two thumbs up. “Correct!”
“Yes!”
Ochaco chokes back her laughs at seeing her dad’s and friends’ reactions!
Izuku chuckles at the sight as well.
“I don’t know about this one.” A deep voice practically corals into his ear making him freak out!
“Ahhh!!”
Gamma Asui is hunched over, glaring at the boy at a very close distance, with a skeptical gaze. “I know you. You’re the one that beat up my Tadpole.”
“Tadpole?”
“Yeah.” To Izuku, Gama’s eyes red with anger as the frog-man roars out in righteous fury. “You nearly beat her to a pulp in the Sports Festival!! Didn't ya?!”
“Ahhh!” Holy shit, he did! “N-no, sir! I n-never meant to hurt her!”
“But you did!!”
Izuku’s freaking out! Oh, what should he do?! What could he possibly say to save his skin?!
An exasperated Tsuyu slides in. “He’s also the one that saved me and your other tadpoles from being run over.”
Gamma’s eyes widen, blinking a few times as recalls how his daughter came home and told him about how they all nearly got run over by a truck a year ago. But a speedy blue raptor saved them. She, of course, later clarified that it was Izuku Midoriya that saved them.
“Is that so!” His scowl vanishes and is replaced by a juvenile grin! “My mistake! Haha!”
Izuku can’t handle the sudden change!! ‘That was a complete 180!!’
As Gamma begins to apologize and thank Izuku for being such a swell guy, Tsuyu turns her attention to her pink-skinned friend. “Hey, Mina?”
Mina nods. “What’s up?”
“Who came with you today?”
“Oh, just my mom.”
“Really then, where is she?” There’s no one around that looks like her; you would think it's obvious but there’s no one around with pink skin or yellow horns.
“What are you talking about?” Mina points to the side of the classroom. “She’s right there.”
Tsuyu leans to the side to follow Mina’s finger and it lands on a woman that looks nothing like Mina! Although that’s not a fair assumption to say because neither Tsuyu nor the others can’t actually make out any defining features.
Mina’s mother is maybe a foot taller than her daughter but that’s probably the only thing they can tell about her other than her long black-hair. Her head’s topped with a large beanie, with two protrusions poking up from within, a clear indication of horns of some sort. Her face is completely covered with a thick pink scarf, and for some reason she’s wearing sunglasses in doors! The rest of her is no better, she’s completely decked out in a thick woolen sweater to her waist bound skirt that stretches down to just above her ankles. But that doesn’t matter because she’s wearing thick winter boots!
Jiro’s shocked to see the woman’s get up! “W-why is she all dressed up for a winter bash?!”
Tsuyu nods, wondering the same thing.
“Oh, don’t mind her.” Mina waves it off like it’s no big deal. “She’s just a little self-conscious about her looks is all.”
Ochaco sweet drops. ‘What does that mean?’ She kinda wants to know, but she also doesn’t want to pry.
The classroom door slides open and one Shoto Todoroki strolls inside looking as indifferent as ever.
Ochaco lights up at the sight of him. “Ah, morning Todoroki! Oh.” Ochaco gasps as her eyes land on the woman following Shoto into the room.
The woman is young and of average height with turquoise eyes. She has white hair, flecked with a few noticeable traces of a crimson-like color, which is mostly shoulder-length aside from the ear-length side bangs she sports and the short clump she leaves hanging down her forehead. She wears a white dress shirt with a plain grayish peach-colored cardigan, the sleeves rolled up to just below her elbows, along with navy blue jeans. She also sports brown dress shoes and a pair of red-framed rectangular glasses.
As the woman follows Shoto inside, Hisashi goes deathly silent, his eyes never leaving the sight of the two.
While Shoto approaches, he nods his head in greeting. “Morning, Uraraka.”
Ochaco ignores him, looking around him to get a better view of the woman. She doesn’t say anything, waiting for Shoto to go ahead and introduce her.
Shoto, however, remains still and indifferent, completely missing the social que.
The woman on the other hand, laughs sheepishly, before stepping forward. “Well, Shoto. Aren’t you going to introduce me to your friend?”
Shoto’s eyes widen, like he finally realized that that was what he was supposed to be doing. “Yeah.” He turns to the woman and gestures to Uraraka. “Fuyumi, this is Uraraka. Uraraka, this is my elder sister, Fuyumi.”
Shoto’s sister, Fuyumi, smiles. “It’s very nice to meet you Uraraka.”
“Same!”
“Wait!” Mina interjects herself into the conversation. “You’re Todoroki’s sister?! Wow and here I thought he was an only child. You know because of the whole loner stick he’s got going.”
Shoto stares at her. “Loner?” Is that how he’s viewed?
Fuyumi laughs, embarrassed on her little brother’s behalf. “What can I say? Shoto’s always been…a little standoffish.”
Before Fuyumi could say anymore, a certain green-haired individual catches her eye. “Oh, I know you!” She grins and approaches Izuku, who becomes very shy at the sight of her. “You're Izuku Midoriya!”
“Yes.”
“Ha, I knew it!” Fuyumi grins brightly, a drastic difference compared to her brother. “I saw your fight with Shoto during the Sports Festival.”
Izuku pales. “You did?” Oh, no. Is she upset, too?!
“Yup, and you were amazing!”
Oh, now that’s…different.
“But most of all.” Even more unexpectedly, Fuyumi bows her head before him. “I wanted to say thank you.”
“Really?” For what? What did he do?
“Yes, ever since then…Shoto’s been different. In a good way.” Her smile is soft yet full of joy, joy that Izuku had no clue he had a hand in granting her. “And I have no doubt it’s because of you. So, thank you.”
“N-no, need to bow! Honestly it was nothing!”
Shoto actually cracks a smile, agreeing with his sister completely. Midoriya really did open his eyes, although he had to beat the lesson into him.
Throughout the interaction, Hisashi’s been biding his time but now seems like a good time to approach the two Todoroki children. He strides forward, hesitant but with a purpose, like he’s dreading this but knows that he needs to do this. “Fuyumi.”
Fuyumi’s smile fades away, her eyes glossing over. She slowly looks up, her eyes locking onto Hisashi. She blinks like a part of her wondering if he’s an illusion. “Uncle…Hisashi?”
Izuku jolts. “What?”
Shoto’s eyes furrow. “Uncle?”
Fuyumi continues to stare at Hisashi, totally lost for words at the sight of him.
Hisashi can understand why though, so he gives her a soft somber smile in return as he takes her in. “Look at you. You’ve gotten so big.”
“Uncle…” it is him, it is Uncle Hisashi. “It’s really been a long time. Hasn’t it?”
“Yes, too long I’m afraid.” He sounds sad and almost pained to say it.
“How…how long have you been back?”
“Not long. Nearly two weeks now.”
“I see.”
“How’s your mother holding up?”
“She’s fine. Getting better.”
“That’s…good to hear.” He sounds almost regretful.
Izuku watches this all go down, totally lost while his head floods with questions.
Fuyumi looks to Izuku and back to Hisashi. “So, Izuku Midoriya is your son?” She chuckles lightly, more to herself than outloud. “I didn’t realize, guess I always knew you as Uncle Hisashi so your last name never came up.”
“Makes sense, you were real little at the time. Speaking of little.” He smiles at Shoto. “It’s nice to see you too, Shoto.” He chuckles lightly, examining the boy from head to toe, his eyes drifting on the unfamiliar scar. “Look at you. You’ve gotten so big, too. But that makes sense, kids do grow up.”
“Um, I’m sorry but…” Shoto looks to his sister before back at Hisashi. “How do you know me exactly?”
“Right, you would’ve been far too young to remember.” Hisashi rubs the back of his head unsure how to best put this. “I know you because well, your…father and I were…friends back in the day. We were even classmates together here at U.A. Heck I’ve known him since we were in middle school.”
Shoto’s gaze becomes ice cold at the mention of his father. “You two are…friends? Seriously?” He must be joking, there’s no way Endeavor ever had friends.
Hisashi, however, is dead serious. “No.” He gazes up and away as if remembering a different time. “We used to be, but we had a…falling out.”
Fuyumi’s gaze drops, a deeply sad frown on her face.
Shoto shakes his head. “I just can’t imagine him having any sort of friend.”
Hisashi’s saddened by news, but he’s not surprised. “It was a…different time, we were…different people back then.” He chokes back a sob. “Enji especially.”
Izuku remains stock still and silent, his ears and eyes open to all this new information. He really wants to ask but the two seem so…sad. And he’s kinda afraid of what'll happen if he pries too much. Especially if it’s a sensitive topic.
The others have already backed off, giving the group its space. Especially after they picked up on the not so comfortable vibes.
Admittedly the mood in the classroom takes a small dive after that but it’s not long before more students and their parents arrive, and the tension is broken.
Sero arrives bickering with his own older sister. Then there’s Tokoyami who walks in with his father in toe, funny his dad doesn’t have a bird head, guess he gets it from his mom’s side. Shinso arrives introducing his mother. And so on and so forth for the rest of Class 1-A.
As more of his classmates and their folks pour in, Izuku is left alone at his desk with Hisashi standing nearby.
Izuku peers over at Hisashi, who’s busy staring out the window with a far-off look.
He needs to know if it’s true. Were Hisashi and Endeavor really friends? If so… what does that say about Hisashi? “Do you really know Endeavor?”
Hisashi takes a moment before turning to Izuku. He eyes Izuku while contemplating on whether he should say so or not.
In the end he turns his gaze back through the window before softly speaking out. “I don’t know Endeavor. The person I knew was Enji Todoroki.”
Izuku shouldn’t but he has to. “What…what happened…?”
Hisashi doesn’t acknowledge the question, he doesn’t even turn to face Izuku. But for once Izuku can let him have his secret. He can tell that it’s a painful memory for him, and for Fuyumi for that matter. Maybe it’s best he doesn’t bring it up to him again.
Both Mina and her mother jolt up, their horns twitching for a moment.
“Go away you Old Hag!!”
“Shut it you damn Brat! I’m here, like it or not!!”
The entire classroom goes quiet, everyone’s eyes turn towards the door after hearing the shouting match from the other side.
At the sound of the yelling both Midoriyas perk up. ‘I know that voice!’
The door is almost swung out its frame as a pair of ash-blonde duo burst in yelling while exchanging equally scary death glares.
And just from the shouting and glares everyone can tell that the Bakugous have officially arrived.
Katsuki Bakugou swings himself around to yell at his own mother!! “You damn hag!! Just go home will ya!! I didn’t even ask you to come here!”
“Be quiet!” His Mother slaps him over the head! “Stop your whining Katsuki!!”
Bakugou’s mother has ash-blonde hair and red eyes, just like her son. And she somehow maintains a youthful appearance, despite being in her late thirties.
Ochaco is shocked!! “Is that…Bakugou’s mom?!”
Tsuyu nods. “I see the resemblance.”
Mina is covering her ears. “Yeah, hear it too.”
Bakugou storms over to his desk, his mother following along behind him with an identical scowl. Everyone moves out of their way not wanting to set the Explosive family off.
However, upon arriving at his desk Bakugou glares down at Deku before his eyes drift over to the individual nearby and he has to take a double-take. His mother gives her son a confused look before she follows his gaze, her eyes widening before becoming stock cold when they land on Hisashi.
Hisashi on his part has become stock still like a deer that’s been spotted by a wolf.
No words are exchanged for a brief moment, before Hisashi inevitably breaks the silence giving the Bakugous the best smile he can, albeit forced. “Aw, Mitsuki it’s so nice to see-”
“Can it, Midoriya.” Mitsuki Bakugou is direct and cuts right to it, silencing him with a single look.
There’s an air of cold and silent hatred emanating around her, a drastic change from the fiery and loud fury she had earlier.
Even her son is thrown off, he’s quiet even as he peers down at the greenette. “Hey, Deku.”
“Y-yes?”
Bakugou speaks quietly almost like he’s cautious to even ask. “Is this…who I think it is?”
“Um, y-yes…”
“Hm.” Bakugou frowns, before he turns his piercing glare up at Hisashi. He lifts his chin up as if to look down at the much taller man. “Huh, and here I thought you died or something.”
Hisashi nearly stumbles, trying to save face by keeping up his sheepish smile. “Aw, Katsuki. What made you think that?”
Mitsuki doesn't miss a beat, speaking sharply and coldly without a hint of mercy. “Maybe because you up and disappeared for nearly ten years, you deadbeat.”
It feels like the temperature in the room takes a massive dive as the room becomes still and silent. Everyone’s eyes and ears on the two families. No one dares say a word, mainly because no one knows what to do with the information.
Those that do react are those that have already known. Ochaco for one watches on worriedly, her eyes drifting from Mitsuki to Hisashi. Fuyumi grips her hands together, a sad frown dawning on her face as she turns her gaze downward. And Shoto, well he can’t take his eyes off Hisashi, his eyes furrowing with skepticism and contempt.
Hisashi is obviously taken back by her bluntness and disregard for such private matters. Even so he tries to save face with a forced smile. “Come now, no need for that. I was away because of work, you know that.”
Her glare hardens. “Huh, tell me has that excuse been working out for you?”
“Mitsuki…”
Her glare hardens one last time making Hisashi flinch, once she feels she’s done enough for now that air of cold and silent fury washes away. She sighs and dawns a much friendlier smile before redirecting her attention to Izuku “Izuku, how are you holding up?”
“Oh, I’m fine Auntie.” He’s still getting over what just occurred, and how honest she was about the situation. “Just fine.”
She smiles concernedly, kneeling down to look him in the eye. “Well you let me know if you need anything.” She then scowls up at his father. “Especially if you want me to teach this no-good lay about a lesson.”
From the side, Bakugou glares at Hisashi as well, and just as coldly as his mother’s.
Hisashi chuckles nervously, while silently starting to wish that Inko had come instead. But then again it was her idea to have him come today rather than her.
Ochaco, Iida, Tsuyu, and Mina all share concerned looks as if asking each other: what did they just witness? And did they hear her right? He’s been gone for…nearly a decade?
Once again, the room takes a while to get back to normal, only breaking now and again when another student and parent arrive. Eventually the classroom is filled to capacity with parents and students exchanging greetings and formalities, introducing themselves to each other and what they do. Although there is a significant lack of interactions between Hisashi and the other parents, probably due to Mitsuki’s claims.
Speaking of which Mitsuki is getting along just fine with the other parents, although she basically forces her way into each conversation.
Ochaco stares up at the woman curiously, trying to figure out how she could go from calm and kind to explosive on a dime.
Mitsuki notices her staring. “Can I help you sweetie?”
“Oh, no! I’m sorry.” Ochaco smiles sheepishly, rubbing the back of her head. “I’m just taken back by how much your son looks like you.”
“My aren’t you a sweet thing.” Mitsuki’s eyes furrow as she examines Ochaco’s face, and then something clicks in her head and she smiles juvenile. “Oh, wait, you’re Uraraka.”
“Yeah! That’s me.”
“Ha I knew it! You were the one that beat the living crap out of my weakass son!”
Said weakass son heard that. “Shut it you Old Hag!! And she didn’t beat the living shit out of me!!”
Ochaco flinches at Bakugou’s shouting but Mitsuki continues on ignoring him. “Haha, it was so great! Seeing him eat his humble pie on live TV, priceless. I just wished I recorded it.”
“SHUT UP!!!”
Mitsuki smiles, ignoring her son’s tantrum.
Ochaco tries to ignore him too, albeit struggling to do so. “I wouldn’t call Bakugou weak per say. He really gave me a run for my money. Honestly it was just pure dumb luck that I won, I’m sure if things were different, I would be the weak one in this scenario.”
“No, no, no.” Mitsuki waves it off. “Don’t put yourself down for his sake.” She leans in and whispers. “He’s not worth it.”
Bakugou is now steaming mad, shaking with anger from his seat, and trying not to let loose on the Old Hag.
Eijiro Kirishima gives his friend a toothy grin. “You two look like you get along well.”
“Shut up, Kirishima!!”
The door bursts open as a blond teen rushes in. “Ah, I finally made it!” A winded Kaminari dashes inside, out of breath and with no parent in sight. “Phew.” He plops down at his desk, throwing his head back as he catches his breath.
His neighbor, Jiro leans over. “What’s the matter with you?”
“Hm?” He’s still winded, his clothes disheveled, as he sits up. “Oh, nothing. I just…ran a marathon to get here.”
“How come? And why didn’t either of your parents come?”
Kaminari winces before putting up the best fake smile he can muster. “Oh, they wanted to, but they got held up.”
“Huh? Held up by what?”
“Car trouble. Yeah.” He leans back much more relaxed than before and his smile seems genuine. “Too bad really. My mom really wanted to come but shit happens. You know?”
“Yeah…” Something’s off here but she can’t pinpoint what it is.
Before she can question him more, the bell rings and immediately the students take their seats as the parent’s organize themselves to the back, and all before Shota Aizawa enters the room.
“Morning, Mr. Aizawa!”
“Morning, class.” He nods respectfully to the back of the class. “Parents.”
Everyone remains silent as Aizawa takes the front podium. “Now. I’m required to give a little speech for you all and your parents.” He sounds tired of this already, guess Nezu’s making him do this.
The students sit up and the parents stand tall, ready to receive a nice speech full of sentiment and praises for the students.
“Parents, welcome to U.A.’s Class 1-A. I am the homeroom teacher, Shota Aizawa also known as the pro hero Eraserhead.” Aizawa speaks dryly and almost sarcastically with a bored tone. “Now this class is comprised of many different students: some are big, and some are small. Some are behaved while others are…problems. But, they all desire to become heroes and so they are here now.” He’s really putting no effort into this speech. “And I believe after they’re time here they will become pro heroes. Now whether they become successful is irrelevant to me, and totally dependent on themselves.” His eyes drift over to those he would deem as troublesome. “I also think that Parent’s Day is a waste of time and is an unnecessary distraction from their studies. Anyway please don’t misinterpret the fact that I am talking right now is genuine interest in Parent’s Day. So do not attempt to discuss it with me further. End of speech.” And with that he relaxes happy it’s over, even though he put less than the bare minimum into that speech.
Everyone in the room has to hold themselves back from screaming out!! ‘WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT!?!’
Aizawa is either oblivious or ignoring their internal cries, because he moves on. “Now, I have a few things to say. First off just because it is Parent’s Day does not mean any of you should slack off on your studies. Especially since the Final Exams are only a day away.” His eyes flash red towards the class. “Understand?”
The students don’t miss a beat. “Yes, sir!”
“Good.”
“Now our plan for today is-”
Rudely enough, the door is flung open, smashing into the wall with a loud thud! “Woah! I made it, fashionably late, as planned!”
Everyone’s immediately drawn to the newcomer, at the same time Kaminari pales grimacing as he tucks his head down in fear.
If one were to be asked to describe this person, it would be cool. A woman strides in like she owns the place, her blonde hair is cut just below her ears with a black streak near her forehead. The rest of her blonde hair is set in an extremely long and slender ponytail that stretches down all the way to her ankles with a black line in the middle of the braid. She’s slim and admittedly rather good looking for someone of her age, standing at about 5’8 with slanted, somewhat triangular yellow eyes. She’s clad in a bright-red coat over a black crop-top, pants, and thigh-high high-heeled boots.
Hanta Sero leans over towards his neighbors, his eyes never leaving the new arrival. “Who is that?”
Rikido Sato pipes up. “Don’t know.”
Mina gowns, cupping her chin. “She kinda looks like…”
And just like that, the entire class is hit with the realization. “KAMINARI!?!”
Mrs. Kaminari grins, throwing the kids a peace sign. “What up, Class 1-A!” She then turns her smile towards Eraserhead. “Morning Eraserhead, long time no see.”
“Yeah, long time no see, Thundershock.”
Mashirao Ojiro raises an eyebrow. “Thundershock?”
Tooru Hagakure leans over. “Isn’t she a pro, too?”
Kirishima leans forward in his seat! “Hey Kaminari, what’s the deal??”
Kaminari groans, plopping his head down on his desk while grabbing at his hair. “That’s my mom.” He sounds miserable for some reason. “And she’s the Voltage heroine, Thundershock. And her Quirk is Electro Whip.”
Sero gasps out loud! “What?! You mean you’re part of a pro hero family too?! Just how many is that now?!”
Tenya gets right up to address the question, his hands chopping away frantically. “Why it only makes four of us. And-”
“I wasn’t really looking for an answer Iida.”
“Gah!!”
Kaminari sulks into his desk. “This sucks. I even sabotaged her car so she couldn’t get here.”
Jiro raises an eyebrow. “What did you do exactly?”
“I drained her car’s battery.”
Jiro should slap him. “Um, dude she’s the Voltage heroine.”
… Kaminari gasps out in horrid shock!!
“Moron, you’re just now releasing this?” Jiro turns her attention to Mrs. Kaminari who struts towards the back to join the other parents, moving elegantly and with purpose. “Are you sure you’re related. She just personifies coolness and you…” She examines his disheveled and cowardly state. “aren’t.”
He’s almost ready to cry. “Can’t you just be nice to me?! At least for today?”
Mina leans over. “So, like why don't you want her here? She seems cool.”
“You don’t know her!” He slumps back. “She can be…a real pain.”
Shoto and Izuku tense up listening in as worry begins to set in. What could that mean?
Kirishima frowns. “What do you mean?”
Kaminari grimaces. “You’ll see…”
As if on que, Mrs. Kaminari finally noticed her son and her face immediately lights up! “Ah! Denki!” She calls out, waving at him like he’s miles away! Her waving so enthusiastically the other parents and guardians back away as to not get slapped by the flailing hand. “Mama’s here, just like she promised! And she’s ready to cheer you on! Love you!”
“Mom! You’re embarrassing me!!”
Jiro chuckles, it’s all making sense now. “I like her already.”
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After finishing up his morning announcements, Aizawa sent the kids off for the locker room while he led the parents out to the courtyard.
Once the students arrive in their gym uniforms, they see that an obstacle course of sorts has been set up on the circling track field with rope ladders, climbing walls, tires, cones, and more. The objective is to complete the entire course as many times as possible in the allotted time.
And so with no time to lose, the students rush right in as the parents cheer them on.
They all do rather well, but others clearly have more of an advantage than others. Tenya’s Engines really give him a boost on the jumps and distance runs. Tsuyu easily makes it over the rope ladders and climbs walls. And of course Bakugou makes simple work of the course, propelling himself up and over most of them with his fiery Explosion.
And then there’s Izuku who’s…probably got this made.
A phased Big Chill glides overhead, phasing through each obstacle like they’re not even there.
Mineta just makes it past the tire, huffing and puffing before Big Chill swoops overhead. “Not fair.” Although at least that form gives off a nice cold breeze.
A flying Big Chill smiles and shrugs.
From the sidelines, Mrs. Kaminari cheers out! “Denki! You can do it! Mama’s cheering for you!!”
A jogging Kaminari grimaces, his face turning red. “Just stop…”
Shinso comes jogging up beside him. “So, how come you never mentioned your mom was a hero?”
Kaminari doesn't answer right away, not because he doesn’t trust Shinso, but because he’s thinking about what to say. “Well, I didn’t really see the point in bringing it up. I don’t really want all that pressure you know?” The expectations, the undeserved attention, and all that.
Shinso frowns before looking over to see Midoriya transform back, landing beside Shoto just as Tenya races by. And the big thing they all have in common is that they’re going all out on this.
“I…see your point.”
Kaminari’s mother shouts out again! “You go sweetie!!”
Kaminari sulks. “I just wish she’d stop that.”
Jiro passes by a smirk on her face. “Haha!”
“It’s not funny!”
“It is too!” She shouts back.
“Kyoka!”
Jiro nearly trips! “Huh?!” She looks over to see her own parent.
Her dad’s got a goofball grin on his face, waving frantically at her. “Look at you go! Daddy’s so proud!”
Jiro screams out in embarrassment! “Dad?! What are you doing?!”
Kaminari chuckles, happy to see he’s not the only one with an embarrassing parent.
But those two of course are not the only ones being cheered on.
“Go, Tenya! Come on show us that Iida speed!” Tensei calls out just as Tenya races by.
“Go, Shoto! I know you could smoke everyone here!” Fuyumi holds up her camcorder, making sure to get a good shot of Shoto to show to their mother later.
Upon hearing her gloat, Tensei becomes dead serious. Locking eyes with her in a challenging manner. “Seriously? You think that kid can out speed Tenya, the next Ingenium?”
Fuyumi picks up the challenging tone in his voice and matches it with her own. “Of course, he’ll put that Iida speed to shame.”
“Ha!” Tensei glares up with a confident sneer. “You must be joking.”
She throws her own sneer right back. “I’m not.”
“You’re right, you’re delusional.”
On the track, Shoto and Tenya look over to see their siblings glaring each other down for some reason.
Shoto asks first. “What’s up with them?”
Tenya shrugs. “Perhaps they’ve found something in common?”
“Maybe.”
Izuku is a bit behind Shoto and Tenya at this point, but he keeps a good steady pace.
“Move it, Deku!” Bakugou blasts by him, the force of the explosion nearly knocking Izuku down!
Izuku scowls and speeds up, trying in vain to catch up to him!
Hisashi watches on and beside him Mitsuki does too. They’re both silent watching their sons go at it with all they got. Neither one of them have exchanged a word since the morning. And Hisashi would rather it stay that way, but things rarely go the way he wants.
Without looking at him, Mitsuki crosses her arms and speaks coldly and bluntly. “Are you back, for good this time?”
Hisashi eyes her, hesitant to speak. “Yes.”
She scoffs. “I find that hard to believe.”
The older Midoriya frowns. “You know, I never wanted to leave in the first place.”
“But you did.” She says a matter-of-factually. “And now…you’re back.”
“Would you just get to the point, Mitsuki?” he knows her, she dances around it to draw it out of him in a roundabout way. It'd be better if she just got to the meat of it.
And she does. “What the hell was so important that you had to up and abandon your family?”
Hisashi should have guessed it, even so it doesn’t stop the guilt from choking him up. “The Self-Defense Force requested my services. I had to go, to protect everyone…especially my family.” At least half of that statement was true.
Mitsuki sighs, exasperated by his answer. “Ugh! I wanna call out that you’re bullshititng me. But I’ve always known you took your hero work way too seriously.”
Hisashi genuinely smiles. “I’ll take that as a compliment.”
“Don’t.” She turns her cold gaze on him, she will not allow him to take this lightly. “It’s because of your hero work that Izuku’s had to grow up without his family together. Without his father.”
Hisashi’s hurt to hear it, but it’s the truth, the sad ugly truth. “I…I know.”
“Do you?” She sounds skeptical. “Do you know what he’s been through? What he’s had to overcome? No, you don’t. Why? Because you weren’t there, Midoriya. You’ve caused more problems for your family just by being away from them! Inko, your wife, my best friend, had to raise him all on her own! Don’t get me wrong she did an amazing job, but she had to do it alone. When Izuku was sick he had to be left alone at home without her and without you. When he was little, Izuku would see all of his classmates’ parents on sports day cheering their kids on. But all he had was Inko and no father. When the other kids would brag about what they did with their fathers, Izuku had nothing… Nothing to share…”
The guilt and shame fill his heart, why? Because she speaks the truth, part of the truth he never knew about. That he hadn’t considered.
She turns away in disgust. “And what’s worse were the rumors: the things they said about you and how that reflected on her.”
Hisashi jolts up. “Rumors? What…what kind of rumors?” He hopes it’s nothing bad, but that wouldn’t be the case if Mitsuki had to bring it up.
“What do you think, shithead? You were gone for ten years leaving your wife to raise a, at the time, Quirkless five-year-old child by herself.” Her piercing gaze stares right into his soul with a silent fiery fury. “What kind of rumors do you think they were?”
He doesn’t want to think about it. “I had…no idea.”
“Why is that?”
He chokes, and hesitantly he answers. “Because I wasn’t around.”
She nods, still upset but glad he’s understanding the situation. “Now you’re getting it.”
“Why are you…bringing this up? Why now?”
“Because I need to know.” She looks him right in the eye and asks. “I need to know; how exactly do you plan on fixing it?”
Hisashi’s taken back, and rightfully so. He was expecting more chewing out, but not this. “I…I don’t know.” He’s sad to admit it. “I know I couldn’t…can’t make it up to him. I missed so much, and I can’t just rewind the clock and see it all for myself. I tried and failed to walk back in and act like it’s all okay, but…I know it’s not working.” He recalls how many times Izuku’s purposefully put distance between them: at home if Hisashi was in the living room Izuku would turn around and go right back to his room. At the dinner table he’d barely speak to him. “I know that…I upset him. Just being around me is…upsetting for him. But if I give him space, he’ll think I want nothing to do with him. But when I’m near…he wants me gone.” And it hurts, it hurts so much to be so close but still so far from one’s child. “I’m lost and…I can’t fix it.” he takes a shaky breath. “ Not right away at least.”
Mitsuki remains silent, listening intently.
Hisashi takes a shaky breath, his soft sad gazing falling towards his son. “I guess, all I can do is be there. Be there for him here and now. And do all that I can to support him, like I should have been.”
“Be there.” She looks back towards the track, her eyes drawn to her own spawn. “Sometimes that’s all a parent really needs to do. Be there for their child. Be there for them, whether they're scared, sad, or happy.” Maybe there’s hope for him yet. “I’m sure Izuku will come around. Someday.”
“I hope so.”
“He will.” She gives him a genuine hopeful smile. “He doesn't have it in his heart to truly hate someone. Not forever anyways.”
A smile graces Hisashi’s lips, grateful for the sympathy and hope.
But what people often forget about each other, is that everyone has their breaking points. That no matter how much patience or restraint someone has, it is inevitable.
At the same time, Izuku is already beginning to run out his gaze falling as his mind and heart begin to churn and boil with the foreign feelings of frustration and sorrow.
He doesn’t even notice Shoto jogging up beside him. “Midoriya.”
Izuku takes a moment to reply, answering softly. “Todoroki.”
They continue on, keeping pace with each other, not saying a word as their classmates race through the obstacles around them.
Izuku’s eyes drift over towards his father, and then to Fuyumi, all before bringing his attention back to Shoto. “So, I see your…dad didn’t come today.”
“Of course not.”
“Oh, it’s below him to come, right?”
“It’s not that, actually I think he’d be thrilled to come.” Shoto glares down at the ground. “He’d get to see his creation in action.”
“So, why isn’t he here?”
“Simple. I didn’t tell him.”
“Huh?” Izuku wasn’t expecting such a straightforward reply!
Shoto continues. “I originally asked my mother to come, but she can’t because she’s stuck in the hospital.”
“Oh.” Right, she’s in a mental ward.
“She’s getting better.” Shoto reassures. “But anyway she insisted I bring my sister along instead. Said it would make her happy.” They pass by the parents and he points to the camera in his sister’s hands. “Plus, Fuyumi promised to record it for her.”
“Oh, that’s nice.” Izuku smiles. “I bet she’ll be really happy to see it.”
“Yeah.”
They fall back into silence as they climb up the rock wall and jump down the other side. They go around the track and obstacles once again before they pass the parents again. But this time it’s Shoto’s attention that’s drawn towards the older Midoriya. “Did you know?”
Izuku blinks, unsure if that was meant for him.
“Did you know that they knew each other?”
Izuku gets it: he’s asking if he knew that his father was friends with Endeavor.
“No. I had no idea. I just found out today.”
“I figured. Sure took me by surprise. I never would have guessed that bastard was even capable of making friends.”
“Yeah, it’s a surprise.”
Shoto eyes Izuku, gaging his reaction. “Was he really gone? For nearly a decade?”
Izuku frowns as sorrow washes over his face. “Yeah…”
“This is going to sound bad but…I’m kinda jealous.”
Izuku actually chuckles, although lightly. “Yeah, I guess you would be if it was your father.” But Izuku’s not sure he can agree with the sentiment.
“You… You want to talk about it?”
Izuku’s head practically spins around to look at Shoto, not expecting him to ask him that! But if he has to be honest. “Not really.”
Shoto frowns as Izuku looks away again. They climb the rope ladder and continue with the run before Izuku finally pipes up. “It’s just that… He came back, right after the Sports Festival. After the whole…Rising Hero stuff. ”
Shoto listens intently, his focus completely on his friend.
Izuku hesitates, perhaps if he is going to say something maybe it should be to Todoroki. He might just understand, in a way. “Did…did you know that I…was Quirkless?”
Shoto’s eyes widen his heart stopping for a moment. “What?” It’s kinda hard to hear that the guy with the best Quirk was once considered Quirkless.
Izuku backtracks, almost seamlessly and without worry. “What I mean is, for a long time I thought I was Quirkless.”
Shoto visibly relaxes. “No, I didn’t know.”
“Yeah, my Quirk manifested really late. Later than normal actually.” Yeah, ten years actually. “But he…left us, my mom and me, soon after a doctor determined I wouldn’t manifest one.”
Shoto pales as one of the worst-case situations pops into his mind. “Midoriya, did he…?” There’s so much he can ask about what he did? And each of them is something Shoto doesn’t even want to bring up if it’s too much of a sore spot.
Izuku however alleviates his worries. “He says that’s not what happened. And…I know that. I know why he left, and I understand why.” He was off saving the galaxy, or galaxies. “But… it still hurts, like I can’t bring myself to truly believe that.” Or that he missed out on having him around.
Shoto wants to comfort his friend, he can tell this is painful for him, but what can he do? What can he say? He’s not exactly sure what the right thing to do is. “Midoriya…”
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
Watching from above, within the halls of U.A., Toshinori Yagi gazes down at the track field below. He happened to be passing by when he spotted Class 1-A running an obstacle course and so he decided to hang around a bit and watch them go. After a minute he noticed the parents there too and he begins playing a little game with himself trying to figure out who is who: Kaminari’s and Bakugou’s mothers are easy to pick out. As is Tsuyu’s father, and of course Young Uraraka’s father. Others are a bit more difficult, but he can make guesses. But then one parent sticks out to him: their face and features are all too striking to ignore.
“Hisashi…Midoriya?” What’s this? He had no idea he had returned. ‘I thought Tsukauchi said he was apparently away on an assignment for the Self-Defense Force. Guess it ended.’ That doesn’t sit right with him. ‘Or did something else come up?’
A cheery and squeaky voice pipes up. “Everything alright, All Might?”
Toshinori turns to see a little white chimera smiling up at him. “Aw, Principal Nezu.”
Principal Nezu smiles on in greeting, strolling up to the large windows, and peering down towards the track field. “Aw, Parent’s Day. The children always seem so much livelier and more relaxed when their family’s around. Wouldn’t you agree?”
“Absolutely, sir.”
“It’s a special time for the parents especially.”
“Why’s that?”
“Come now, you must understand why. It’s the same for us teachers.” Principal Nezu smiles down watching as each student does their best to overcome the obstacles. “In moments like these a parent can watch on as their child grows up before their eyes. Filling their hearts with a sense of pride and accomplishment, that they raised such an amazing person. Especially after giving so much for them: their time, their effort, and their love.”
Toshinori can only listen as he gazes back down at the parents wondering if that’s truly what they’re feeling. His gaze lingers on the older Midoriya. ‘Giving so much for them, huh.’ So, how far would a parent go for their child to succeed? What lines would they cross?
“It’s the same for us, as teachers that is.”
Toshinori’s eyes widen, before he gazes down at the mouse/dog/bear thing. “Sir?”
Principal Nezu smiles on his, eyes never leaving the sight before him. “It fills my heart with joy too. To witness the moment our students truly become heroes.” He smiles up at the Number One Hero. “You should know what that is like. Don’t you?”
Toshinori looks back through the window but this time his eyes land on his young successor. “Yes, I do.”
“I knew you would.” Principal Nezu turns away, a clear indication that he needs to move on. “Both parents and teachers strive to give the young the best chance they have for success.”
And with that he takes his leave, leaving Toshinori to stew in his thoughts, his gaze rooted on one parent especially. ‘Hisashi Midoriya…what lengths would you go to, for your son? What deals would you make?’
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
Aizawa eventually released his class, giving them the chance to freshen up and change before their lunch period. And the lunchroom is far more crowded and noisier than any other day, with an extra guardian for each and every student.
And of course that means more people taking up space at the lunch tables.
Mr. Uraraka grins over the table. “So, Mr. Midoriya, you are a hero. Is that right?”
Hisashi swallows his food as he wipes his lips with his napkin before speaking. “Why, yes, it is.”
“My, that’s very cool. But I’m afraid I’m not familiar with your work. Please, what kind of hero work do you specialize in?”
“Well when I started, I was a little more public, but after my current assignments. I’d say I’m more of an underground hero now.” Which in honesty, it’s probably for the best.
Ochaco, with her cheeks stuffed with food, interjects. “Oh, so like Mr. Aizawa.”
“Exactly.” Hisashi nods. “I rather stay out of the spotlight.”
Izuku barely listens in as he downs his own meal, his eyes drifting over the table.
Off to the side he finds that Fuyumi and Tensei are still going at it.
“I’m telling you, Shoto was the cutest thing you could have seen when he was a baby. When he fell asleep his snot bubble would steam, almost like wisps.”
Tensei’s sure that he can top that. “Oh, yeah but Tenya was outright adorable in his little pajamas!”
Tenya gasps, shooting out of his seat and looking mightily embarrassed “Tensei, please! Watch what you discuss around others!”
Shoto however doesn't seem too bothered even as he slurps up his noodles.
Izuku’s eyes continue to drift across the table, to Mina and Tsuyu.
Tsuyu leans over to ask Mina’s mom a question. “Excuse me miss, but aren’t you going to eat?”
She’s right to ask because Mrs. Ashido doesn't have a thing in front of her, not a bowl or a tray of food in sight. Instead she just sits by her daughter, silently, while wearing such odd garbs.
“Hm?” Mrs. Ashido turns but because of the scarf, hair, and sunglasses it’s difficult to read her true reaction. “Oh, no need to worry about me dear. I’ve gotten my full already.”
Tsuyu gives her a questioning look, before looking to Mina for answers.
Mina on her part shrugs as if to say that just how she is sometimes.
Izuku goes back to his food, as everyone chats away around him. He doesn't mind not being part of a conversation right now, he kinda had a lot to process today so a nice moment to himself is welcomed.
“Midoriya, do you have a moment?”
Well so much for that. Izuku turns in his seat to find his pony-tailed classmate standing before him, a notebook in hand and a shy expression on her face. “Yaoyorozu, is there something I can help you with?”
“There is in fact.” Momo Yaoyorozu approaches, standing at the end of the table. “I need to talk to you; about that crystal you gave me.”
Hisashi’s ears tingle, and he immediately turns his attention to the two teenagers. ‘Is my boy giving a girl diamonds already?’ He’s not sure if he should be proud or concerned!
Yaoyorozu reaches into her pocket and she pulls out a small shard, the one Diamondhead gave her way back when. Honestly, Izuku almost forgot that he gave it to her. If he can recall she wanted to study it for some reason, probability to utilize her Quirk with it.
Hisashi’s eyes narrow as they lock onto the shard.
“Have a look at this.” Yaoyorozu opens up her notebook and that’s when Izuku realizes the notebook is filled with complex equations, notes, and formulas.
“Wow, that’s a lot of notes. Wait, are those-?
“Chemical formulas, yes.” Yaoyorozu turns the pages showing Izuku how much she’s gotten so far. Answer: it’s a lot. “I’ve been studying this shard ever since you gave it to me. At first I thought it was some kind of diamond but now I think it’s something else entirely.”
“Wait, you mean it’s not a diamond.” He was always under the impression that it was. Otherwise Diamondhead’s name might not be as fitting as he first thought.
“Exactly, it's something else. Something that isn’t found on any periodic table!” She’s getting all excited about the prospect but also equally as frustrated. “But…It’s complicated as you can see. I can’t seem to figure it out.”
Izuku can see why and why she’s been looking into this so much. Her Quirk, Creation, allows her to make virtually anything but she needs to understand the molecular structure of said item. And if the crystal isn’t a diamond but something else, then of course she’d be struggling with it.
But there’s something else he kinda wants to know. “Why is this so important to you?”
She doesn’t waste any time answering. “I knew something was different about the shards your Diamondhead form creates. And I was curious whether or not I can make them too. But again I can’t make heads or tails of it. There’s something I’m missing, and I was hoping you could have a look.” She pushes the notes forward.
“I-I can try.” He smiles nervously as he takes and notes and examines them carefully. After a moment of pouring over them he only has one thing to say. ‘I don’t get this at all!!’ It’s too complicated even for him!!
Hisashi leans in like he’s been part of the conversation the whole entire time. “I see your problem.”
Izuku and Yaoyorozu give Hisashi odd looks as the man reads the notebook over Izuku’s shoulder.
Hisashi, on his part, doesn’t notice or if he does, he doesn't care. “The problem is your mixing up the organic compounds with the inorganic ones.”
Yaoyorozu blinks. “Excuse me?”
“Sorry, what I mean is you’re mixing up Diamondhead’s genetic code with the actual crystal.”
“What?”
Izuku’s lost too.
“Look.” Hisashi holds up the notebook and points to the formulas on the page. “Diamondhead’s crystals are a part of him, meaning they store bits of his or rather Izuku’s DNA. And admittedly we don’t fully understand Izuku’s transformations so it’s likely his DNA is infused with the crystals themselves, which would explain how he’s able to manipulate and control them at will.”
Izuku nods. “That makes sense.” It’s like the crystals have a personal signature of himself, as if to tell the world that they are part of him and are his alone.
“And that’s what’s tripping you up.” Hisashi circles his finger around the formulas. “If you take out the DNA composition from this chemical formula it becomes far more simplified. In other words, you’ve been rereading DNA strands this whole time, and mixing them up with the inorganic molecular structure.”
Yaoyorozu takes her notebook back, scanning it over with Hisashi’s tippet in mind. “Oh my, you’re right!”
Hisashi can’t help but smile. “Of course I am. So, if you ignore those parts you should end up with a less complicated crystal.”
Izuku frowns. “But won’t that mean the crystals she makes would be weaker than Diamondhead’s?”
His father nods. “They probably would be, but I’m sure they’d still hold up without a scratch even if your forms like Four Arms and Heatblast had a go at them.”
“This is amazing!” Yaoyorozu gushes over her notes, her eyes sparkling at the huge leap in progress. “That solves! I mean it’s still fairly complicated, but I can work with this.” Yaoyorozu closes up her notebook and bows in respect. “Thank you, Mr. Midoriya. I greatly appreciate the help.”
“Hey, no problem. I’m just happy to help.”
“Thank you.” And with that she leaves to rejoin with her mother.
With everyone eating away or chatting, Izuku leans in and whispers. “How’d you know so much about that chemical stuff.”
Hisashi leans in and whispers. “I don’t.”
“What?!”
He chuckles. “Yeah, I was kinda winging that back there. I’m just familiar with Petrosapians and how their crystals work. So, I figured out her problem through the process of elimination.”
“Oh.” Now he can’t help but wonder what will come of this.
Before he can begin brainstorming ideas of possibilities Hisashi’s pocket begins to ring!
*Bring! Bring!*
“Excuse me.” He reaches inside and pulls out his phone. “It’s your mom so I’m going to take this alright.”
“Uh, sure.”
And with that Hisashi gets up, drawing the attention from the rest of the table.
Mr. Uraraka frowns. “You’re leaving?”
“Yeah, I have to take this.” He shakes the phone. “Besides I might wander around for a bit. Kinda wanna see how much this place has changed since my days here.” He begins to walk away. “I’ll see you back at class.” And with that he answers the phone, sticking it to his ear. “Hi, honey. Yes everything’s great. Yeah, I ran into Mitsuki… no, she’s not exactly happy to see me.”
With Hisashi gone the topic of conversation changes, with everyone’s attention now on the youngest Midoriya.
Tensei speaks up, sitting up in his wheelchair from the opposite end of the table. “Excuse me, Midoriya.”
“Yes?”
“I’m sorry if this seems sudden but I’m curious. How does your Quirk work exactly?”
“Pardon?”
“I mean, you can become all sorts of weird creatures with different powers. Just how is it a Quirk like that was able to come about?”
Izuku gulps, he can feel his hands becoming sweaty, his eyes drift over to Ochaco who’s eyes rattle with nervousness as well. “Oh, w-well, I-I don’t know.” he chuckles as if trying to act like it’s all normal. “I g-guess it was j-just luck of the draw. Y-yeah, m-my dad’s dad was a bit of a shapeshifter.” That’s a lie: Granpapi’s Quirk allowed him to shoot out streams of air like Hisashi’s streams of fire. “A-and s-so I got a mutation of his Quirk!”
“Oh, makes sense.”
Izuku internally sighs, glad he was able to come with something on the fly.
“Still though.” This time it’s the youngest Iida, Tenya, who cups his chin in thought. “You’re One Man Army truly is amazing. I can only imagine what you’ll be like when you can fully control it.”
“Fully control it?”
“Well, you have a time limit, right?”
“Yeah.”
Tsuyu understands where Tenya’s going. “If I remember correctly you can only transform for ten minutes, right?”
“Yup.” And it is a pain.
“And then you have to recharge for another ten minutes.”
Where is she going with this, exactly?
She continues. “But during the Sports Festival, didn’t your recharge time change from ten to five minutes?”
“Yes, it did. So?” What does that have to do with anything?
Tenya finishes the thought. “So, it stands to reason that your Quirk is still developing!”
Mina throws her head back. “Of course it is, I mean he’s popping out new transformations like they’re going out of style!”
Shoto stares down at his noodles in contemplation. “A power that grants you any power.” Just what are the odds of that occurring? “Now that’s truly a one in a million Quirk.”
Izuku frowns worriedly, his gaze drawn to the source of his supposed Quirk, the Omnitrix.
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
Toshinori strolls up to U.A.’s roof, often after finishing up his lunch he likes to take a walk around the building. But he can’t really do that without drawing attention, so the rooftop is often a favorite of his to visit when he needs some fresh air and sunlight. He opens the roof’s door and comes to a sudden halt when he spots Hisashi Midoriya standing at the opposite end with a phone to his ear.
Hisashi leans back, looking up at the sky as he speaks. “It’s fine, I promise.”
Toshinori stands back wondering who he could be talking to.
“Don’t worry, I just need to run over and check on a few things.” Gotta make sure Chopper hasn’t blown up the base. “Yeah okay, bye.”
He tucks his phone away before looking down, predicting the nostalgic view that the rooftop provides.
Toshinori steps back to leave the man alone, but then he stops as a thought crosses his mind. And so his suit expands and stretches as he myself begins to grow bigger!
“I AM HERE!” All Might bursts through the door, all smiles and all cheer.
Hisashi on his part doesn’t overreact, or even react, he just smiles and waves. “Oh, All Might! It’s a pleasure to meet you, sir!”
“HAHA! YES, WHY HELLO THERE.” All Might strolls forward trying to come off as approachable as he can. “I’M SORRY BUT MIGHT I ASK IF YOU’RE YOUNG MIDORIYA’S FATHER, PERCHANCE?”
“You may, and you’re right. I’m Hisashi Midoriya, and the pleasure’s all mine.”
“HA! I KNEW IT. YOUR BOY LOOKS JUST LIKE YOU, MINUS THE HAIR.”
Hisashi’s smile brightens. “Thank you. But I like to think he inherited his heart from his mother.”
“HA! WELL I DON’T KNOW IF I CAN SAY FOR CERTAIN, BUT WHAT I CAN SAY IS THAT YOU BOTH RAISED A FINE YOUNG MAN. I SEE A PROMISING FUTURE AS A PRO HERO FOR HIM.”
“Thank you, All Might. That means a lot to hear, especially from the Number One Hero himself.” A sad smile graces his lips. “But I’m afraid I can’t take all the credit, if any of it…”
All Might frowns, concerned. “PARDON ME IF THIS COMES OFF A NOSEY, BUT MAY I INQUIRE WHY THAT IS?” Could it relate to…him?
“It’s no bother.” Hisashi shakes his head and gives the teacher a reassuring smile. “I’m a small-time hero actually, Cinder, I was away with the Self-Defense Force for a long time and I’ve finally been able to come home.”
“MY YOU’RE A HERO, TOO. SORRY THAT I DIDN’T RECOGNIZE YOU.” No, he totally did recognize him. “BUT WOW, THE SELF-DEFENSE FORCE. MY THAT MUST HAVE BEEN QUITE THE MISSION AND IMAGINE THE STORIES YOU COULD TELL.”
The eldest Midoriya chuckles. “Oh, it was. And there are surely a lot of stories I can tell. But I can’t say a word of it, gotta be top secret and all that.”
“YES, I UNDERSTAND THAT ALL TOO WELL.” More than he cares to tell. “PRAY TELL, HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN HOME?”
“Not long, nearly two weeks now.”
‘TWO WEEKS?’ Well that explains why Tsukauchi hasn’t reported in that Hisashi returned, because this is recent.
So, why? Why did he return now? Something’s not right here and he needs to know what it is.
“WELL SINCE YOU’VE MISSED OUT. HOW ABOUT I TELL YOU ALL ABOUT YOUNG MIDORIYA’S PROGRESS HERE AT U.A.?”
“I’d like that very much.”
“GREAT! WELL HE’S CLEARLY DRIVEN AND HE’S GOT A GOOD HEAD ON HIS SHOULDERS. OFTEN HE COMES UP WITH SOME OF THE MOST CREATIVE BATTLE PLANS AND STRATEGIES I’VE EVER SEEN.”
“Really?” He’s thrilled to hear this. “I always knew he was clever.”
“YES. HE MAKES FRIENDS EASILY, SHOWS THE PROPER RESPECT TO HIS TEACHERS, AND HE’S ALWAYS WILLING TO LEARN MORE DESPITE HIS STRUGGLES.” All Might’s grin somehow widens. “BUT THEN AGAIN HE ALWAYS SEEMS TO SURPRISE EVERYONE JUST WHEN YOU LEAST EXPECT IT!”
“Oh, I know. I know.”
“COMBINE ALL THAT WITH HIS QUIRK AND HE’LL TRULY BE A FORCE TO BE RECKONED WITH.”
“Oh, I have no doubt about that!” Izuku’s on the path to some great things.
“YES.” Okay, if he’s going to start digging now is the time. “HIS QUIRK, ONE MAN ARMY TRULY IS SPECIAL. ONE WOULD ALMOST SAY IT’S IMPOSSIBLE.” All Might has to get this right; he’s got to play his cards just right. He’s not seeking a confession, but something. Anything to alleviate his worst fears. “HE MUST HAVE BEEN TRULY BLESSED TO RECEIVE SUCH A POWER.”
Hisashi smiles on, obviously. “He truly is. That Quirk of his is truly a miracle. But…” His smile fades away, as his gaze falls downward. “I can’t help but wonder if it’ll end up being a curse.”
All Might was not expecting such a dreary response. “PARDON?”
“Sorry, just rambling but…” Hisashi grabs at his hair, pulling it back as if to help him think. “His Quirk, One Man Army, it’s a part of him, permanently. And as a parent I’m happy he has it, because he can live out his lifelong dream of becoming a pro hero, fighting crime, and saving lives.” Especially the latter. “But what happens when he’s targeted because of his Quirk, because of his power?”
All Might frowns, his concerns growing exponentially. “MR. MIDORIYA, WHAT ARE YOU SAYING?”
“You know what I mean, right, All Might? During the U.S.J. Incident those League of Villains crooks came for you. Why? Because you’re the strongest there is, the Symbol of Peace.” A pillar. “So, what about Izuku? What’ll happen when the world sees what he can do? Will they love him as they, do you? Or…will they fear and reject him.” And will Izuku resent them for it? “As a parent I can’t help but wonder and pray that the world will accept my child.”
All Might frowns, his grin falling. He thinks of his own successor, Young Uraraka. He has no doubt she’ll be accepted as a hero, but he can’t deny it. She’ll be a target, possibly an even bigger one than he is now. All eyes will be on her and villains would like nothing more than to remove any obstacles in their way of power, greed, and lust.
“I UNDERSTAND YOUR CONCERN. AND IT’S NOT UNFOUNDED. BUT I DON’T THINK YOU NEED TO BE CONCERNED.”
Hisashi eyes All Might expectantly.
“YES I WILL ADMIT THAT YOUNG MIDORIYA WILL BE JUDGED FOR HIS GIFT. UNFORTUNATELY, THAT’S HOW OUR SOCIETY WORKS, TOO OFTEN PEOPLE ARE JUDGED BY THE POWER THEY WIELD AND NOT BY THE PERSON THEY ARE.” His grin returns, giving a reassuring air. “IT’S LIKE A WISEMAN ONCE SAID: A QUIRK IS WHAT YOU MAKE OF IT, REGARDLESS OF YOUR HISTORY. YOU DECIDE HOW YOU USE IT. AFTER ALL ONLY YOU CAN DECIDE TO BECOME A HERO. NO ONE ELSE!” “
Hisashi snickers, finding the whole thing amusing. “Funny, I remember you saying something similar a long time ago.”
Oh, boy! He’s got him there. “ANYWAY. I’M SURE ONCE THEY SEE YOUNG MIDORIYA, OR RATHER DEKU’S ACTIONS, THEY’LL ACCEPT HIM AND HIS GIFTS!” All Might grins but even, so he cuts right into it. “NO MATTER HOW IT MAY HAVE ENDED UP IN HIS POSSESSION.”
Hisashi smiles on. “Yes, you’re right.”
*DING~! DONG~! DING~! DONG~!*
“Oh, I better get going. Don’t want to miss out.”
“YES, I WON’T HOLD YOU UP.”
Hisashi strolls forward, walking right past the Number One hero as he makes his way to the door. “And All Might.” Hisashi stops and turns around. “Thank you, for taking the time to speak to me. And for levitating me of my worries.”
“NO SWEAT. TAKE CARE.”
“Yes, and same to you.” And so they part ways and All Might is left alone atop of U.A. ‘ONE MAN ARMY, A CURSE?’ Just what is One Man Army? And how did it come to be?
At the same time, Hisashi arches down the stairs with a subdued smile on his face. ‘You’re suspicious of something All Might. That much is obvious. But you won’t like what you find.’
Then again not like he’ll find out, if All Might wants answers then it’ll be on Hisashi’s terms. And until then, the Number One Hero will be left in the dark.
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
The afternoon classes continue with literature with Cementoss then on to math class with Ectoplasm.
Ectoplasm turns away from the board to look at the class. “Now who can solve this quadratic equation?” He points to said equation.
The entire class shys away in their seats with only Yaoyorozu and Tenya to offer their answers.
But before Ectoplasm can even call on them, Mrs. Kaminari interjects from the back. “Oh! My son, Denki, can!”
Kaminari pales, spinning around in his seat! “Mom!!” How could she?! This is a blatant betrayal!! Betrayal!!
Ectoplasm chuckles, finding it all amusing. “Well, Kaminari, let’s not disappoint her.”
Kaminari shakes as he gets up and approaches the board, his classmates either snickering into their hands or praying on his behalf.
The classes of course continue on and eventually they make it to Midnight’s class.
Midnight strides around the room, flipping through her lecture notes and she is discussing the theories around the origin of Quirks. “There are many theories that have been developed over the generations to explain the origin of Quirks. Would anyone care to explain what some of those might be?”
Shoto frowns trying to remember things he heard. “I think I saw this on a documentary or something that some lab with a, I think it’s called, a Particle Accelerator blow up or something?”
Sero frowns. “No, that’s not it. I heard it’s all because of an illegal American bio-weapon project.”
Fumikage Tokoyami tilts his head to the side. “And what was this secret project called?”
Sero has to think about it for a moment. “I think it was called the Weapon X Project.”
“That’s ridiculous!” Mineta sits back, feeling rather confident and smug. “When it was really because a hidden civilization created a super weapon called the Terrigen Bomb!”
Sero shouts! “And you called us ridiculous?!”
Midnight sweat drops. “You’re all ridiculous. And…wrong.”
Mrs. Kaminari thinks about it too. “I thought people were exposed to a weird Ooze or something.”
Jiro’s father nods. “I think I heard that, too.”
“Yeah, I also heard it originated in New York of all places.”
Midnight internally screams! ‘Them too!!’
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And with that, Parent's Day has come to an end, with the final bell of the day releasing the students and parents from the classrooms and to the streets.
Tensei wheels out of the classroom in a huff. “How many times do I have to say it?! Iida’s going to become one of the best heroes out there!”
A steaming Fuyumi marches out behind him. “And I’ve been telling you that Shoto’s going to be even better than him!”
“Please, settle down!” Tenya rushes after the two. “This behavior is extremely inappropriate. Say something Todoroki!”
Shoto remains indifferent and silent as he follows along at a leisurely pace.
Tooru Hagakure is all cheery as she walks out of the room. “You know today was actually kinda fun.”
Jiro nods. “I’ll say. I feel like so much stress has been lifted off my back.”
Sato follows up behind them. “Maybe that’s why they have Parent’s Day right before the Exams.” To relieve some stress and not have the students get burned out before they can even start.
Bakugou slings his bag over his shoulder as his mom, Mitsuki, approaches. As she gets closer, she flashes a kind smile at Izuku. “Izuku, take care, alright? And please tell your mother I said hello and that we need to set up a time for you all to come over.”
“I-I will.”
“Good, man. Now as for you.” Her smile drops and she becomes deadly serious. “Don’t you go forgetting what we discussed. You got that?”
Hisashi nods.
Mitsuki nods. “Take care!” She waves them off as she takes her leave.
Bakugou, however, takes a second to follow his piercing red gaze lingering on the Midoriyas before he too inevitably follows.
Mr. Uraraka approaches Izuku's desk. “It was very nice to have met you Midroiyas.”
Izuku stops writing away at his notes to look up.
Hisashi is quick to intervene. “Please, the pleasure was all ours. You take care now.”
The two shake hands.
Ochaco stands by her father, and she gives her friend a wave. “See ya, Deku.”
He nods. “See ya.”
Ochaco smiles at him before turning her smile up to her dad as they both make their way to the exit. “So Dad, you coming over or what?!”
He smiles at his daughter. “Of, course. And what do you say about some Chinese Food tonight?”
“Are you sure?”
“Of course. Haha!”
The two exit the class and shut the door but they don’t get far as a tall muscular figure barges his way into their path.
“HELLO THERE!” All Might’s grin shines in the light of the setting sun, holding a hand up in greeting at the Urarakas.
“All Might?!” Mr. Uraraka gushes in admiration, stepping forward and taking the hero’s hand. “It’s such an honor sir.”
“PLEASE, THE HONOR’S ALL MINE. AFTER ALL I FINALLY GET A CHANCE TO MEET THE MAN THAT RAISED SUCH A FINE YOUNG WOMAN.”
“Oh, thank you sir!” Mr. Uraraka bows.
“YES. YOU SHOULD BE PROUD YOUR LITTLE GIRL IS SHAPING UP TO BE ONE OF THE FINEST HEROES I’VE EVER MET, GUARANTEED!”
“Thank you, sir! Thank you! And believe me I couldn’t be prouder!”
“AS YOU SHOULD! HAHA!”
Watching from the side with a smile, a thought crosses Ochaco’s mind. “Hey, Dad?”
“What is it, sweetie?”
“I’ll meet you at the front gate, okay. I just remembered I needed to ask All Might a few questions about our upcoming exams.”
Mr. Uraraka understands. “Oh, alright. I’ll wait for you outside then. And take all the time you need.” He smiles up at All Might. “I love her but she’s not exactly bringing home the best grades, you know? Haha!”
“Dad!!” Ochaco whines.
“HAHA! DON’T YOU WORRY, WE’LL SHAPE HER INTO A FINE STUDENT YET!”
Mr. Uraraka nods in approval before heading to the exit.
When he is out of earshot does All Might turn his attention to his young successor. “SO, WHAT IS IT YOU NEED TO ASK ME ABOUT?”
Ochaco frowns as she leads All Might away to a quieter and less trafficked spot. “I don’t need to ask you anything. But I do need to tell you something.”
“WHAT IS IT?” And why does he have a feeling he’s not going to like it?
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
Meanwhile, back within the classroom, Izuku’s heart sinks, a part of him feeling just a tad bit envious and saddened as he watched Ochaco smile up at her dad. The way he can’t for his.
Hisashi, on his part, takes notice, feeling that sense of regret flowing back into him. He hesitantly reaches his hand out. “Izu-...”
Izuku intercepts before he can even have the chance to speak up. “-Are you heading over to Plumber Base?” He speaks rather coldly, and he doesn't have the decency to look his father in the eye.
Hisashi’s winces back, pulling his hand away. “Yeah. I was going to stop by real quick to check in on things.” He smiles, becoming hopeful about an idea. “Do you wanna come with?”
Izuku pauses and without moving he replies. “No thanks. I think I’ll just head home on my own.”
The message is clear: give him space. “I…I understand.”
Hisashi frowns, saddened to hear his reply, but he gets it. And so he makes his way to the exit albeit slowly and hesitantly. When he arrives at the door he turns around and debates whether to say something else. But a part of him fears that if he forces Izuku to come along or he pushes himself too much onto him, then it’ll only end up being worse. And so with a heavy heart he leaves.
Hisashi’s gaze falls to his feet as he slowly and regretfully heads for Plumber Base. And if he were paying attention, he would have noticed the skinny blond man watching from the other end of the corridor.
Hisashi reflects on the day and everything that transpired as he walks. He thinks about what Mitsuki said, his discussion with All Might, but what he really thinks about are the things he missed. Specifically those parts of Izuku’s life he missed, the parts he robbed from him. He has to make things right, or at least make them better than what they are. He just needs to accept that it will take time and effort from both ends. Izuku has to want him to be part of his life, and until then he just has to make sure that at least he’s around for when that time comes.
By the time he comes to this conclusion he’s already near the U.A. gate and at this point most of the campus is already empty although some shouting can be heard up ahead.
“Why didn’t you tell me?!” shouts a deep and angry voice.
“Because I didn’t want to. How’d you even find out?”
“Find out?! The school sent me a fax!!”
“Yet you didn’t notice it until now.”
“Shoto!!”
Hisashi freezes, a cold dread washing over him. It’s been so long that…that he didn’t recognize that voice up until this second! He should almost turn back but…he can’t. And so with as much courage as he can muster Hisashi steps through the gate and he is not surprised to find the Todoroki children facing off against their fiery father, the Number Two Hero, Endeavor.
Endeavor stands before his limo, clearly pissed off about not attending Parent’s Day. “This was the perfect opportunity to see you in action. And to make sure U.A.’s been training you properly. Of course I wanted to be here!”
Shoto turns his head away in a cool defiance. “That’s too bad.”
Endeavor scowls in frustration, he really thought they were getting somewhere after Shoto openly used his flames and attended his internship with him. But he’s as defiant as ever, maybe even more so! “Don’t get coy with me boy. I am your father and you will show me the respect I deserve.”
And that snaps Hisashi out of his trepidation. “You, deserve respect? Please.”
Now it’s Endeavor who freezes, his eyes becoming wide in surprise. Slowly he begins to turn, his jaw nearly dropping open at the sight of his one-time friend.
Hisashi sticks his chin up, giving off an air of cool confidence in the face of such a giant. “We both know you have no right to his respect.”
Shoto and Fuyumi gasps, their eyes wide in surprise to see Mr. Midoriya here.
Fuyumi on her part cups her hands together, worriedly. “Uncle Hisashi…”
Endeavor is still in a state of disbelief he never thought he’d run into him here of all places. But then again that Midoriya spawn is in Shoto’s class as well. Guess there was a chance they’d cross paths again.
Endeavor’s cold yet fiery scowl returns as he straightens up as if squaring off against the much shorter foe. “Midoriya.” He growls.
“Todoroki.”
Endeavor marches forward challengingly, his flames burning and flickering under the setting sun. “I had no idea you were back.” He sneers mockingly. “What happened? Couldn’t take it with the Self-Defense Force?”
“Something like that.” Hisashi smirks right back. “What about you…Number Two?”
Endeavor winces, his scowl becoming twice as terrifying.
“What have you been up to, lately?” Hisashi’s own glare turns ice cold, an air of danger of fury emanating from within. “I hope it’s nothing regretful.”
“Mind yourself, Midoriya.”
“Just trying to start a conversation.” Hisashi spits the next part out with disgust. “With an old friend.”
Endeavor’s flames flicker in response.
“I know it’s been a while, but I have to ask how’s the family?” Hisashi continues, almost like he’s goading the pro hero. “I hear Rei’s not in the best of shape as of late.” His eyes drift over toward the kids, towards Shoto, and specifically that scar on his face. The one that wasn’t there the last time he saw the child all those years ago. “Can I ask why that is?”
Endeavor's clearly heard enough; his flames burn as if whispering in his ears to turn this bastard into ash. But he knows from experience that that is easier said than done, so he holds back. “I see you’re just as nosey as ever.” He's always been that way: getting his nose in other people’s business and getting involved. It was annoying then and it’s annoying now. “Guess you’ll never change.”
With nothing more to be said Endeavor turns his back on him. “Get out of my sight.” He marches forward, confident that this encounter is over.
Hisashi calls out after him! “Turning your back on me again?!”
Endeavor freezes in place.
Hisashi scowls in disappointment and contempt. “Guess you haven’t changed either.” His glare hardens. “Endeavor.”
Endeavor doesn’t move and he doesn’t say a word, but after a tense moment he slowly turns his head.
And that’s when Hisashi sees it, the burning hatred and fury hidden just within Endeavor’s eyes.
Endeavor growls out. “Watch yourself, Cinder. My flames burn stronger than yours do.”
Not one to put up with this for any longer, Endeavor storms into the limo, slamming the door behind him.
Fuyumi hesitates to follow but not before bowing her head to Hisashi. “It was nice to see you again…Uncle.”
Hisashi nods back. “It was really nice to see you too, Fuyumi.”
So, without another word she gets into the car as well.
Shoto lingers back, his eyes locked on Hisashi with hints of shock and intrigue. Especially after what’s just transpired.
Hisashi notices the youngest Todoroki staring, and he offers up a sympathetic smile. “If you need anything, just let me know. Alright?”
Shoto blinks, unsure how to respond. But he appreciates the sentiment nonetheless, and he lets it be known with a nod.
And so he follows his sister into the limo and soon the vehicle takes off down the road. Leaving Hisashi alone on the empty street. He doesn’t move instead he watches until the limo, the kids, and his one-time friend disappear out of sight. And out of his reach. “Enji…”
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Back within the classroom, Izuku finally finishes up his notes after making sure they’re picture perfect for studying later that night. Looking around he finds that there isn’t a soul left in the room, other than his own. And so he grabs his bag and begins packing his stuff away to head on home. If he’s lucky he might be able to have a meal without his father hanging around. That’d be nice, it’d be just like how things used to be. When the world still made sense.
Just as he finishes packing, the classroom door slides open. “YOUNG MIDORIYA.”
Izuku’s heart drops. “All Might…” He turns to see All Might standing before him at the door. “Do you need something?”
“SORT OF.” All Might steps inside, shutting the door behind him. “I WANTED TO HAVE A QUICK CHAT WITH YOU. IF THAT’S OKAY?”
“Y-yeah, I don’t see why not.” In truth he rather not, but this could be important so he might as well hear him out.
“SO…” All Might hesitates as if unsure on how to start this conversation. “YOU KNOW WHAT, I’LL JUST COME OUT AND SAY IT.”
“Say what?” Izuku doesn't like this, something’s off that much is for sure.
“URARAKA SPOKE TO ME, JUST MOMENTS AGO.” Before he sent her off, back to her father.
“Oh, she did…”
“YES. AND SHE… SHE TOLD ME THAT YOU KNOW ABOUT IT NOW.”
Izuku averts his gaze, unable to meet All Might’s eyes. “K-know about what, sir?”
“YOU NOW KNOW ABOUT…ONE FOR ALL.”
Izuku nods, unable to speak.
All Might’s grin falters, becoming a shadow of a frown. “SHE ALSO SAID THAT SHE TOLD YOU EVERYTHING ABOUT MY POWER: THE LEGACY IT HOLDS AND ITS…PURPOSE.”
He nods again, and again he can’t meet the hero’s gaze. “She did. She explained it all to me. How you two met and how you trained her. And…and about…All For One.”
All Might’s grin falls at the mention of that monster. “YES, ALL FOR ONE.”
“He sounds…terrifying.”
“HE IS.” There’s no way to sugar coat it.
Izuku is quiet, too quiet, his mind swirling with the same questions he asked himself when he learned of all this. Is he worthy? Is he worthy to be a hero in All Might’s eyes? A part of him wants to ask, to get an answer, but… Fear, fear and sorrow hold him back from doing so. What if…what if it’s just like back then. Back on that rooftop.
“WELL I WANTED TO COME BY AND MAKE SURE YOU WOULDN'T SAY ANYTHING ABOUT IT TO ANYONE ELSE.”
“I…I won’t. You know my word is good for it.” Afterall he’s already holding onto the secret that All Might’s on a time limit as well so what’s one more?
“THAT I DO.” Stepping closer. “BUT THERE’S…SOMETHING ELSE I WANTED TO SPEAK TO YOU ABOUT.”
Izuku’s stomach drops as a cold dread begins to boil up.
“IT’S ABOUT…” All Might hesitates, his heart telling him not to, but his mind says he should, just to be certain. “IT’S ABOUT YOUR QUIRK, ONE MAN ARMY.”
“Oh, okay.” Izuku peers up at All Might trying to gauge him. ‘Did…Uraraka tell him about the Omnitrix? No, she wouldn’t have. Not after what Gran Torino and Principal Nezu said.’ So then, what’s he got to say about One Man Army?
“YOUNG MIDORIYA.” All Might stands before the boy, looking down at him with an air of seriousness and urgency. “TELL ME.”
Izuku gulps, something’s wrong. Something’s wrong indeed.
“YOUR QUIRK?” All Might pauses, telling himself that there’s no going back after this. “WAS IT FORCED ON YOU? BY ALL FOR ONE?”
To Izuku it feels like his whole world has stopped spinning, his mind going blank and his heart stops pumping. He can’t speak, he’s not even sure if he’s breathing, either way he doesn’t respond.
All Might averts his gaze, knowing he might have overstepped. “YOUNG MIDORIYA. PLEASE I WON’T JUDGE. I NEED TO KNOW IF HE HAS HIS HANDS ON YOU.” he places his own giant hands onto the boy’s shoulders in an attempt to reassure him. “I NEED TO KNOW, SO I CAN SAVE YOU FROM HIM!”
‘Save me?’
“I CAN STOP HIM. AND YOU WON’T HAVE TO BE HIS PAWN.”
‘Is that how…?’
“MIDORIYA, YOU STILL HAVE A CHANCE TO SET THINGS RIGHT.”
‘Set things, right? There’s still so much wrong here…’
“MIDORIYA YOU HAVE TO TELL ME. DID ALL FOR ONE FORCE ONE MAN ARMY ONTO YOU? AND…” Here goes. “DID YOUR FATHER HAVE ANYTHING TO DO WITH IT?”
There are no words, not a breath is taken, as Izuku stares into space with a lost gaze.
“MIDORIYA…PLEASE.” he has to stop All For One before he can harm anyone else, especially his students. “TELL ME, NOW.”
“I…” Izuku gulps, taking a shaky breath even though he can’t feel his own heart pounding in his chest.
It hurts, this is just like…back then, on the rooftop. But somehow this hurts even worse. Why? Because…because it feels like a betrayal.
Because now he knows…what All Might thinks of him. As a victim, a pawn… and not worthy of being a hero.
“N-no…” He responds softly almost in a whisper. “M-my Quirk…wasn’t given to me by…by All For One.” He takes another shaky breath. “It just…showed up really…late.”
All Might smiles, relieved to hear that. “OH GOOD. GUESS I WAS WORRIED OVER NOTHING.”
The air of seriousness and urgency washes away from All Might, he’s just so happy to hear that. His heart knew it couldn’t be true, but it’s nice to hear it.
“Yeah…” Nothing... ‘Am I nothing to you…?’
“I’M SORRY ABOUT MY ACCUSATIONS, BUT I HAD TO BE SURE. YOU KNOW?”
“Y-yeah…” Are you truly sorry, All Might?
“BUT I’M GLAD. NOW WE CAN STOP WASTING TIME AND FOCUS OUR EFFORTS IN FINDING HIM ANOTHER WAY.”
A waste of time. ‘Am I a waste of time?’
“AGAIN SORRY FOR WHAT I SAID, BUT IT’S BEST TO HAVE IT CONFIRMED FROM THE SOURCE ITSELF. I HOPE YOU CAN FORGIVE ME.”
“Y-yeah…I forgive you, All Might.” No, he doesn’t.
“OH, THAT’S SUCH A RELIEF.” All Might claps his hands together, in finality. “I’LL LET YOU GO THEN, I’M SURE YOU’D LIKE TO GO HOME AND STUDY BEFORE THE BIG TESTS TOMORROW.”
“Yeah…”
“TAKE CARE YOUNG MIDORIYA. I WISH YOU WELL ON THE FINALS. AND I HOPE WE CAN MOVE FORWARD AFTER THIS.”
Izuku nods, his hair draping over and casting dark shadows over his eye. “Tha-...Thank you, All Might.”
“MY PLEASURE!” With a wave of his hand All Might turns and makes his way for the door. “THE FUTURE'S LOOKING BRIGHT, YOUNG MIDORIYA!”
Is it…?
And as the door shut Izuku can’t stop the terrible feeling of just how alone he is in that moment.
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He makes his way home without ever registering where he is. Letting his body move on autopilot as he keeps his gaze downward, and the shadows over his eyes loom thanks to his hair. But if one were to see his eyes, they’d see that the sparkle his emerald eyes had are gone, replaced by a pitiful look of despair.
He arrives home, again not even realizing when he even got off the train, but he arrives. Upon opening the door he can’t even be relieved to find that Hisashi’s shoes aren’t there. He leaves his own shoes at the door before heading straight for his room. He passes up the chicken where his mother, Inko, is busy at the stove, preparing dinner.
She hasn’t noticed him yet, and right now, he’d like to keep it that way.
Izuku walks on by without a word, straight for his room, so that he might be able to call this day over and done with. To have a sense of safety and comfort.
But he doesn’t find it here, that grin, that now haunting grin that now fills his heart with twisting pains and terrible emotions. The grin is everywhere as if taunting and remembering how he’s viewed. As a victim. As nothing. A waste of time! And…and not worthy.
Izuku’s fist clenches so hard that blood drips down from his palm. His entire body shakes and shakes as the boiling in his stomach burns away at him from the inside.
That damn grin, that damn smile he just can’t bear to look at it anymore.
Notes:
And that was Ch.41!! How was it? Did this chapter feel more satisfying to you guys? I hope so. I for one, felt really good as I was writing it up probably because this chapter was, so character driven.
*So to be clear it was Parent’s Day that was suggested to me to do. At first, I waved it off but after a few more of you wonderful readers suggested it, I started to think about it and the result was this chapter. So, to those that gave this suggestion. I thank you.
*As for the Final Exams they will begin next time in Chapter 42. And I hope to pay off a lot of things that have been set up to this point. That being said, I won’t get to Izuku until near the end of the Final Exams, I’m going to give attention to a different batch of students first. Actually if we wanna talk about pay offs, then just you guys wait for when we finish the Final Exams and move on! Oh, I’m excited to show you all what I got planned!
*Did you guys catch all the Easter Eggs in this chapter? There were a few of them. For example, Aizawa’s speech was suggested to me by one of my “editors” and it is inspired by Parks and Rec’s Ron Swanson’s art speech. Then there were the statements made by the students when Midnight asked about Quirk theories: you had the Particle Accelerator from CW’s The Flash, the Weapon X Program from the X-Men, the Terrigen Bomb from Marvel’s Inhuman comics, and I hope I don’t have to explain the “Ooze” reference.
Speaking of Easter Eggs, Mrs. Kaminari was a last-minute addition to the chapter in response to that newish fan theory. You know where that electrical heroine from Heroes Rising shows up in the beginning, and how much she looks like Kaminari. I thought it’d be a funny little wink to those that may have caught it.
Actually the outfit she’s wearing was inspired from Blood Blockade’s K.K. character. Who is also a very proud mama.
Chapter 47: Practical Exams
Summary:
Begin the Practical Exams!!!
Notes:
Sorry for being late with this one. I wanted to have this posted yesterday but neither one of my “editors'' could pull through for me. A first time for everything, I guess. But it’s here now so enjoy.
*MINOR SPOILER WARNING* There is a very minor spoiler regarding the manga in this chapter. It’s nothing groundbreaking or important but I think it’s fair to warn you.
*Speaking of Spoilers…some of you guys spoiled Ch.304 of the manga for :(
Not cool guys it really took the wind out of me, all the impact the chapter should have had was totally lost. Don’t get me wrong I’d love to discuss what happens in the manga but in the future please be careful not to spoil it for me and other readers, who may only be watching the anime. At the very least, ask me if I read the manga yet or wait until at least a day after a new chapter is released. I’m usually pretty good about reading the manga but often or not I can’t get to it until late in the day.
Thank you for understanding. I’m not upset, I'm just a little disappointed is all. But let’s move on to Ch.42 and the start of the Practical Exams!!
*Also “Drag0n5on” was kind enough to create another stellar opening for us! Thank you “Drag0n5on”!
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Inko Midoriya is busy, making sure her morning tea is just right before she heads out for the day. She’s got to get to work too, you know.
As she stands there attending to the tea pot, her ears pick up the sound of her son’s door opening and closing followed by the quiet shuffling of feet across the floor.
“Izuku, honey, good luck on your last final!” She calls out with a cheerful energy.
There’s no response, but that’s not a surprise when it’s so early in the morning. Plus he’s under a lot of pressure right now, after three days of exams he’s got one more to get through.
“Look forward to having katsudon for dinner, tonight. Think of it as a reward for getting through your first semester at U.A.!”
Still no response but she can hear him grabbing his shoes.
“Your father should be home by then, too.”
Nothing, still nothing.
At this point Inko can’t help but be concerned. “Izuku, did you get all that?”
No answer, instead she hears the front door swinging open. “Izuku!” She rushes around to the hallway but it’s too late, the door has already shut, and he’s gone.
“Izuku…” Inko frowns, worried wondering what could possibly be bothering her little boy.
That’s when she notices her son’s door is slightly ajar.
She usually likes to give Izuku his space but when a concerned mother is worried, she just has to check. Just in case there are any clues to what might be troubling him.
And so she gives the door a little push.
“Uh?!” She gasps aloud, cupping her mouth in shock.
Something is wrong, very very wrong.
Everything, everything is gone. As in everything! Everything Izuku’s ever owned, everything that included All Might is gone! From the posters, to the figurines, the merchandise, and even the bedding! Nothing is left to suggest that any of it was ever here, only the outlines left by dust and faded paint are proof of what used to be here. The walls are bare and colorless, the desk and shelves are free of clutter, and the bed is lacking a comforter.
A terrible feeling has set into her little heart, clothing and pulling at her from within.
Something is clearly wrong.
“Izuku…?”
She can only wonder what’s in store for him, and she prays nothing bad comes of it.
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(Opening Theme: DR STONE OP 2 - https://youtu.be/SohCAjC-Npk )
(Instrumentals)
Sora no iro wa dō s***
Izuku walks forward with a determined expression before passing by Ochaco
aoku mieru no darō ka
Ochaco continues walking forward before everything fades as she walks down a dark corridor
Kiiroi koe agete umareta
The corridor reveals the silhouettes of the past OFA users before Ochaco closes her eyes to meditate.
kioku no shizukesa Ao to kiiro ga
Izuku slowly opens his eyes before zooming out to show him sitting on a fence along with Bakugou and Henzu all of them with serious expressions before Henzu and Bakugou fade away.
mazariatte dekita midori ni wa hana o
Izuku blinks as he stands next to Ochaco in front of the U.A. gates.
Hana ni wa mizu o Boku ni wa yume o
The two look at each other in surprise before smiling and begin running.
Zero ni tashite ima o kakete Nagareru akai chi moyō
The Omnitrix aliens leap into action showing off their powers ending with several silhouettes coming into view before disappearing behind a flash of green light!
Sen o hīte kara o watte Saita hana no moyō
Shinso leads the charge for Class 1-A with Todoroki as he unleashes a torrent of flames
Tsunagu teishiki fude o motte
The flames dissipate to reveal Hisashi smiling at the camera while Endeavor and All Might stand behind him facing in opposite directions
Torimodoshite iku inochi
The U.A. staff follow after as they jump into the fray.
Me ni mienai rūru e ima ikō,
Gang Orca, Gran Torino, Manual, and other pros go about their daily patrol.
Ikōru o sagashi ni iku
Nezu sits at his desk as silhouettes of the plumber magistrate appear behind him.
Douka ga junsui na hajimari wo Shodou ni kawaru hajimari wo
Izuku rides on his hoverboard while Ochaco flies next to him as they charge in at the villains.
Seimeiryoku wo
Henzu stands next to Shigaraki with the shadows of the League of Villains behind them.
sangenshoku de hirogete
Up in space Vilgax narrows his eyes as bubbles form in his pod.
Hakushi no jidai kako mo sute kizukiage kizukasare
It shows Izuku and Ochaco's misadventures as space cadets. Ditto and Ochaco Posing as Men in Black, Ochaco cheering as Grey Matter tries to hotwire a spaceship only for Thirteen to catch them, Ochaco and ML-E chanting as Heatblast bakes Mochi for them. Ochaco holding Four Arms Bridal style as they run from an angry Mr. Bauman.
Kuroku natte
Izuku grins as he cocks his fist as the Omnitrix begins to glow.
imada kishite
Ochaco does the same as pink energy surrounds her.
tsumiage tsugi wa doko e
The two roar out as they punch forward.
Aa bokura no ashita ni iro ga attara
Izuku and Ochaco walk forward as they look into the night sky with smiles.
Me ni mieru iro ni sā
They turn to look at each other before holding out their fists.
Egaite iku
The two reach out and bump fist under the night sky.
(Opening Theme was Illustrated by Drag0n5on)
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Ch.42 Practical Exams
“Now then.” Shota Aizawa looks on with a bored indifference, while a good number of his colleagues stand beside him. “Let’s begin the last test.”
Standing by his side are his fellow pro heroes: Present Mic, Midnight, Thirteen, Snipe, Cementoss, Ectoplasm, and Power Loader.
And standing across from them are his students, the stubborn and persevering Class 1-A. He examines them all, taking note of their fully detected out hero costumes, to how they carry themselves. Clearly, they’ve all been gearing up for this very moment.
After they all gathered in class, he swiftly sent them to the locker rooms and then he drove them over to one of U.A.’s many facilities. The one they’re standing before is mostly used to monitor trainings and security.
“Remember, it’s possible to fail this final.” He warns. “If you wanna go to camp, then don’t make any stupid mistakes.”
“Uh.” Kyoka Jiro pipes up, something’s on her mind. “Why are all the teachers here?”
That’s a reasonable question to ask, at least to Aizawa. “I expect many of you have gathered information and believe you have some idea of what you’ll be facing with today.”
Without missing a beat, Denki Kaminari cries out in excitement! “We’re fightin’ those big ol’ metal robots!!”
Mina Ashido is just, if not more, thrilled! “Fireworks! S’mores! Here we come, camp!”
Of course they’re happy a simple zap or acid splash will eat right through robots. Talk about a lucky break!
Or it would be.
“Actually,” the Binding Cloth around Aizawa’s neck unnaturally moves around like something inside is trying to crawl its way out. “This year’s tests…” Principal Nezu pops out of the scarf like a smiling weasel! “will be completely different, for various reasons! Hahaha!” He seems all too happy to deliver that news especially when he sees how pale and stone cold both Kaminari and Mina are after hearing the devastating news.
The entire class gasp in surprise, most of them had actually thought that they would be fighting off robots. It sure would have been nice if they got a heads up, sheesh.
Momo Yaoyorozu is devastated by the news, her confidence has been on the down low lately especially after the Sports Festival, and she was…kinda hoping for an easy win here today. “You’re changing things?”
Nezu smiles on as he climbs down Aizawa’s side, using the scarf as a repelling rope, while Thirteen spots him on the way down. “The tests now have a new focus.” He hopes down safely his smile never faltering. “There will be Hero work, of course. But also teamwork and combat between actual people.”
His face turns especially dark even if the smiling expression itself doesn’t change. “So what does that mean for you? You students will be working together in teams and your opponents will be one of our esteemed U.A. teachers!” He throws his little paws into the air, gesturing to show off his wonderful staff of underlings. “Isn’t that fabulous?!”
The entire class gasp, they’re eyes wide in shock. There’s no way they can pass this!! Not against pro heroes!!
Ochaco Uraraka frowns worriedly, gripping the sides of her visor. “We’re…fighting the teachers?”
Hitoshi Shinso folds his arms, scowling. “I bet this was Mr. Aizawa’s idea.”
Speaking of, Aizawa goes ahead and explains further. “Additionally, your partners and your opponents have already been chosen. They were determined at my discretion based on various factors, including fighting style, grades, and…interpersonal relationships.” Especially the latter.
“Sir!!” Tenya Iida’s arm shoots up into the air. “But there are 21 students present?! How could we possibly even out the pairs?!”
“Who said we were doing pairs?”
“Wha?! But I assumed-”
“That’s your problem, you assumed.” Aizawa rubs his head. “Like I said these teams were based off my judgements due to various factors. Now most of teams are made up of two, yes, however, at least three teams will have three members.”
Aizawa eyes the class, his eyes drifting to his first set of victims. “For example, first up are Yaoyorozu, Todoroki…and Shinso.” Aizawa flashes them his signature totoro grin, raising his Binding Cloth in a taunting fashion.
The students tense up, their minds immediately drawing to conclusions.
Yaoyorozu and Shinso visibly gulp and shake with worry. Yaoyorozu can feel her confidence plummeting, Mr. Aizawa…Eraserhead is the worst teacher she could possibly be paired up against!
And Shinso well his mind flashes back to all those drills and exercises he was forced into by this same teacher and his stupid American-Dream Plan. Oh, god he kicked his ass so many times as part of that training, he doesn’t need his new classmates seeing that!!
But Aizawa quickly reverts back to his dry indifferent self. “Against Thirteen.”
“Huh?!” Really?! They’re up against Thirteen?! Not Eraserhead?!
The three all turn their gaze towards their true opponent.
Thirteen smiles and waves. “I’m sure you’ll all do your best today!”
“Yeah… “ They all nod in unison, perhaps this won’t be so bad afterall.
Aizawa continues on. “Another group of three are Aoyama, Ashido, and Kaminari.”
The three lowest grading students in the class gasp. “US!?!/Moi?!”
“Yes, and you’ll have the honor of facing our esteemed Principal.”
Said Principle cheers. “Haha! Let’s do our very best, shall we?”
The three can only hope the Principal is willing to show them mercy. But it’s rather doubtful.
Aizawa continues on. “Finally our last group of three we have…” His eyes drift to each student. “Midoriya paired up with Uraraka.”
The two jolt in place, Ochaco’s smile brightens as she turns to face Deku. “Oh, we got this! Hands down!”
“Y-yeah.” Izuku tries to give her a smile but…
“Hang on there’s still one more.” Aizawa glares at them both before announcing their third member. “Bakugou’s with you too.”
“Uh?!” The trio gasp, each one flinching away from each the other!
Katsuki Bakugou can’t believe it! First, they're not destroying robots but teachers, actually he prefers this better! But then teams and a team with fucking Deku! Hell no!!
Izuku isn’t liking this any better he can feel his insides burning up yet filling with a sense frustration at the same time. Why, why did it have to be Bakugou? Wasn’t Uraraka enough?
As for Ochaco well she doesn’t mind being on either of the teams, but the issue is well that these two are on a team! What was Mr. Aizawa thinking?! Is it because these two don’t get along? And if so, why is she here?!
That said, Aizawa isn’t done delivering the punches. “And their opponent is…” Okay he said the que.
From above a heavy and muscular figure slams into the ground before the trio with a mighty thud! “I AM HERE TO FIGHT!” All Might stands tall before the students, his grin shining under the bright sun.
The trio are shaking, their souls filling with excitement, fear, and…anger. “We’re up against All Might?!”
All Might’s grin widens at their reactions. “YOU’RE GOING TO HAVE TO WORK TOGETHER, KIDS, IF YOU WANT TO WIN.”
Bakugou turns his scowl to his new team. He knows a challenge when he hears one, but do his teammates? Uraraka, well she’s willing to stare him down, so she’s fine. But Deku…Deku’s too much of an All Might nerd! He’d probably want to run and hide than fight even with those hack powers of his.
Ochaco eyes him right back as she tries to push back the nervousness swelling up inside of her. But another part of her is excited, sure Deku and Bakugou don’t get along but if she can pull them together then this could really be exciting. They…they might win…maybe?
As for Izuku, his gaze falls, his hair casting a shadow over his eyes as his mouth hides behind his respirator.
All Might chuckles, he’s actually somewhat looking forward to this. A chance to take on some of the top students of Class 1-A must certainly prove to be an exciting match. Although he does have some reservations about this.
##########(Flashback)#########
Just a few days ago Principal Nezu gathered every teacher into the conference room to discuss these very matches.
It was late into the night, but the little mouse decided it was best to discuss this now rather than later. “With the connection between the Hero Killer Stain and the League of Villains, it’s possible criminals everywhere will become much bolder.” Sad to say, but the way things are going that might just be the case.
The other pro heroes see it the same way.
Snipe nods. “It’d be best if we could start preparin’ for that before it happens. As a school, we should be takin’ every precaution. If fights against villains are gonna continue to intensify in the future, then havin’ the kids train against robots ain’t practical.” But they are at times. “Originally, we used ‘em to avoid complaints about people gettin’ injured in the Entrance Exams, but they’re just not challengin’ enough.” Especially when you can consider that some of the kids can break through the bots like paper.
Aizawa huffs in his seat, this is what he’s been saying for a while now, get rid of the robots! “We can ignore the complaints. Let people say whatever they want.”
Midnight isn’t so quick to agree, however. “This sounds like it could be problematic.”
Cementoss chimes in. “I understand why you want to change the exam, but having students fight us?” It’s absurd! “Even if they are in teams of two or three, is that a good idea?”
Thirteen nods. “Yeah. I think it’s a bit unfair.”
Present Mic explains why. “If we went too easily, we won’t be able to give them actual grades, yo.”
Snipe wonders about that. “Of course, we could take that into consideration and give the students an advantage.”
Aizawa would rather not have them handicap themselves, but ultimately, it's not his decision. “Principal, what are you thinking?”
Principal Nezu smiles on, nodding. “I believe I agree. We need to change the Practical Exam to reflect the current times. How do we ensure the students aren’t put in life-threating situations? The answer is simple. We must push them. We make sure that they’re as strong as possible.”
No one can repute that; it is what they do here at U.A. after all. Push the students beyond their limits, Plus Ultra.
Midnight confirms this. “That makes sense.”
As does Thirteen. “I agree.”
“Right, then let’s talk about the teams.” Aizawa lifts up his stack of papers. “First, Todoroki. He’s doing quite well, generally speaking, but relies too much on brute force.” As seen in the Sports Festival especially when he went all out with his Quirks. “And Yaoyorozu is an all-rounder but lacks the ability to make spur-of-the-moment decisions and apply them.” This was especially demonstrated in her match against Tokoyami. “And finally there’s Shinso. He’s new and still has a lot to learn, but he actually works well in team settings. But he still has the habit of relying on his Quirk, Brainwashing, to subdue his opponents before striking, this makes it easy for others to keep their guard up against him.” Like during the last training session, Uraraka and others were quickly able to pick up on Shinso’s attempts to Brainwash them. “Not to mention he relies too much on lowering his opponent’s guard or to slip up before he tries to use it.”
Thirteen nods. “So, you’ll erase their Quirks and take advantage of their weaknesses.”
“No.”
What?! Aizawa’s not going to face them? Why not?
Aizawa turn his gaze to his junior. “Instead I want you to face them.”
“Me?!” Thirteen is being thrown for a loop here! “Why me? I don’t think that-”
“You’ll be fine. Your Quick is just as effective at nullifying Todoroki’s and Yaoyorozu’s Quirks.” Blackhole can eradicate anything Yaoyorozu manages to create and neither Todoroki’s flames nor ice could possibly overpower a freaking Blackhole. “Besides we all know you can actually hold yourself in a fight. So I know you’ll be a good challenge for them.”
Present Mic chuckles. “It’ll shake things up that’s for sure!”
“Yeah…” Aizawa continues. “As for Shinso, well it’s simple enough for you to avoid his Quirk. And so he’ll have to rely on trickery or close quarters combat. Either way you’ll have the clear advantage there.”
Thirteen isn’t so sure about this, things could get real messy if they’re not careful. But on the other hand this could also benefit the students: help them to learn not to underestimate their opponents. Especially someone like Thirteen. “Alright, I’ll go along with it. But I have one condition.”
“Condition?” Aizawa blinks.
“Yes, there’s a…special support item I’d like to use if I’m facing these three.”
Aizawa shrugs. “I don’t see why not. As long as they learn something.”
“Oh, trust me they will. Besides my…support item will be a perfect match for Shinso.”
Aizawa nods, if it’ll help the students grow then he’s all for it.
Thirteen gives Nezu a big thumbs up, and Nezu chuckles as if understanding already what this special support item is.
Meanwhile, Aizawa eyes the next three pages of students. “Next we have Midoriya, Bakugou, and Uraraka.” Aizawa turns to towards Yagi Toshinori. “I’m leaving them to you, All Might.”
Toshinori jolts up in his seat a bit.
Aizawa explains why. “In this case, I didn’t pair the three of them up based on ability or class work. I went with relationships.”
Toshinori feels very nervous all of a sudden.
“From what I know, Midoriya and Bakugou have known each other basically their entire lives. However that does not mean they actually see eye to eye, in many ways they’re total opposites of each other. As such they don’t push or challenge the other to become better, no, there’s too much hostility between them and it skews their judgements.” If one wants proof then look no further to the other day when Midoriya snapped at the ash-blonde, or their first Battle Training where the two clashed and were at each other’s throats.
“If these exams are to simulate real life battles, it’ll be a disaster if they begin fighting each other rather than the villain.”
Thirteen cups their chin, or at least they would be if not for the helmet. “Huh, so by pinning them both against All Might, you’re hoping they come together to take on a greater foe. Or at least compromise.”
Aizawa nods. “Exactly.”
Midnight frowns. “Okay, that explains why they’re on a team. But what about Uraraka? What’s her purpose?”
“Right.” Aizawa grabs his third sheet. “Originally I was going to have her face off against Thirteen, figured your Blackhole could nullify those Ryou Spheres of hers.” However. “But I thought better of it. As I said there’s too much animosity between those two boys and it honestly wouldn’t surprise me if they actually trade blows with each other. And that’s where Uraraka comes in.” He checks his notes to make sure he gets this right. “Midoriya and Uraraka share a strong friendship so there’s no issues there, but recently I get the idea that Bakugou has some respect for Uraraka as well.” At least enough to refer to her as her real name and not some nasty nickname. “She has already shown to do this, but I hope she can be a sort of mediator for the two of them. To at least keep their focus on the objective.” Also. “Besides they’re going up against the Number One Hero, so a third member should at least give them some hope that they actually can pass.”
Toshinori cups his chin. ‘Makes sense.’ He can recall their first class together, Bakugou and Midoriya were definitely signaling each other out. And going up against Uraraka might be fun, it’d be cool to go head to head with his own successor.
“One more thing.”
Toshinori snaps to attention.
Aizawa’s eyes narrow at the skeletal man. “I know you’ve got a soft spot for Uraraka. Please ensure that they learn something.” It’s necessary if they all want to progress.
########(End Flashback)#######
All Might’s grin falters, as he gazes back at his coworker whoa assigned him such a group. ‘YOU’RE PAYING CLOSE ATTENTION, HUH, AIZAWA?’
Nezu’s grin widens. “And now, let’s announce the teams and the teachers they’ll be fighting in order!”
1st Match: Cementoss vs. Rikido Sato and Eijiro Kirishima!!
2nd Match: Ectoplasm vs. Tsuyu Asui and Fumikage Tokoyami!!
3rd Match: Power Loader vs. Tenya Iida and Mashirao Ojiro!!
4th Match: Eraserhead vs. Momo Yaoyorozu, Shoto Todoroki, and Hitoshi Shinso!!
5th Match: Principal Nezu vs. Mina Ashido, Denki Kaminari, and Yuga Aoyama!!
6th Match: Present Mic vs. Koji Koda and Kyoka Jiro!!
7th Match: Snipe vs. Tooru Hagakure and Mezo Shoji!!
8th Match: Midnight vs. Hanta Sero and Minoru Mineta!!
9th Match: All Might vs. Izuku Midoriya, Katsuki Bakugou, and Ochaco Uraraka!!
With matches announced, Nezu stands tall, for his size, and declares the rules. “To complete the exam, you’ll have 30 minutes. In order to win, your objective is to put these handcuffs on your teacher.” He holds up said handcuffs. “Or you can win if one of you manages to escape from the combat stage.”
Kaminari has to think about it. “So we’ve either got to capture the teacher or run away. It’s basically like the combat training.”
Mina’s still a bit concerned. “Yeah, but is it really okay to just jet?”
Nezu gives them a big paw’s up. “Yup!”
Present Mic grins. “It’s gonna be much different than that combat training ya’ll all gone through already.” He poses, smugly. “After all, you’re up against people way better than you!”
Oh, is Kyoka Jiro ready to tear him a new one. “Better? Really?”
Koji Koda can sense where this is going, and he certainly doesn’t like it.
Jiro, however, cuts deep though. “Wait, aren’t you just the announcer?”
“HEY!!! Watch your mouth, girl--have some RESPECT!!!”
Thirteen snickers under their helmet before turning to the students. “This time, your exam will be very similar to a real battle. As strange as it is, please think of us as villains.”
Snipe continues the explanation. “For this exam is to show you what to do when you come across an enemy. If you think you can win against them, then fight. However…”
Aizawa takes over. “…in instances where you’re outmatched, it would be smarter to run away and find help.”
Bakugou scowls up at the teachers. “So we fight to win.”
Ochaco gulps. “Or we run to win.”
Izuku remains silent, his fists clenched, head down, and mouth hidden.
All Might bares his grin down at the trio. “THAT’S RIGHT! IT’S A TEST OF YOUR DECISION-MAKING SKILLS. BUT WITH THESE RULES, YOU’RE PROBABLY THINKING YOUR ONLY REAL CHOICE IS TO FLEE. THAT’S WHY THE SUPPORT COURSE MADE THESE SUPER-CLEVER ACCESSORIES FOR US!”
They can almost hear the ta-da sound effect as All Might holds up a large weighted brace! And it doesn’t help that Present Mic has to announce it! “Behold!! Ultra-compressed weights!”
“THESE BABIES WILL ADD ABOUT HALF OUR BODY WEIGHT TO OUR PHYSIQUES.” All Might begins strapping the weights on to himself as the other teachers put on the weights as well. “IT’S NOT MUCH, BUT THEY WILL EAT UP OUR STAMINA AND MAKE IT HARDER FOR US TO MOVE AROUND.” His arm is forced down as he puts on the weights. “OH, SHOOT… THESE ARE HEAVIER THAN I THOUGHT.” One more thing. “WE HAD A CONTEST TO COME UP WITH THESE DESIGNS, AND YOUNG HATSUME ENDED UP WINNING IT.”
Ochaco gasps, she could only imagine what else she probably thought up! “Wow, good for her!”
Bakugou turns his glare up toward his newest opponent. “You think we need a handicap to win against you?”
Ochaco frowns worriedly but Bakugou is more than ready to throw down his gauntlet, and he’s willing to make that very clear.
“Well think again.” he growls.
“HAHAHA!” All Might’s really looking forward to this now. “THIS’LL BE FUN.”
Izuku’s nails dig into his palm, he can’t bear to look up, not at that grin.
Aizawa finally speaks up. “Let’s begin. The teams will take the Practical Exam in the order you were called. We have a stage prepared for you.” He turns to the first to vict-...examinees. “Sato, Kirishima. You’re up.”
Both boys respond in unison. “Yes, sir!”
“Those waiting their turn to fight can either watch the exams or try to strategize together as a team. It’s your choice. That’s all.” Aizawa turns leaves following the other heroes towards their designated stages.
Tenya turns to his partner. “Ojiro. I’d like to discuss how we might be able to coordinate the use of our Quirks.”
Ojiro smiles. “Great.”
“Tokoyami?” Tsuyu Asui approaches her partner. “Let’s go come up with a plan.”
The crow-head boy heads for the building. “Agreed.”
Following behind them, Minoru Mineta has his fist in the air as he declares to the world his true intentions! “We’ve got to figure out a way to destroy Ms. Midnight’s costume!”
Sero shakes his head, although he is smiling from underneath his helmet. “You are such a little scumbag.”
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Soon everyone has dispersed, with most of the students hanging around the building to strategize amongst their teams.
But there are a few who are the exceptions such as Izuku who soon found himself in the large monitoring room alongside Recovery Girl who has her own special chair to watch each and every display the monitor projects.
The elderly woman smiles on, accepting what’ll await her. “Well, looks like I have my work cut out for me today.”
The door soon opens. “Oh, Deku?” Ochaco steps inside, smiling at her dear friend. “You’re watching, too?”
He doesn’t bother to turn towards her, instead he responds with a small head nod.
Ochaco then notices a third member here. “Mr. Aizawa?”
Aizawa turns around, remaining rooted to his spot beside Recovery Girl. “Hey.”
“Why are you here?”
“Since I’m not facing anyone, I’m here to be an impartial grader along with the teacher you’re facing and Recovery Girl.” He gestures to the little old lady. “It’s the easiest way to ensure you all get fair grades.”
Also, so he doesn’t have to sit through hours of film later to see for himself how each student did. This way is a lot more efficient. Besides if things go wrong for whatever reason he can quickly respond.
Ochaco nods. “Okay, makes sense.”
“And what about you two.” Aizawa eyes the two teens. “Did you come here to watch your classmates?”
Ochaco grins. “Yeah, I kinda wanted to see how everyone will do.” She then turns her gaze to Deku. “That’s why you’re here, right, Deku?”
He nods again, making sure his face is hidden by his respirator and hair.
Ochaco’s smile falters for a moment, she can't help but notice how quiet he is, and a bit of concern begins to creep in. But she quickly chalks it up to nervousness, after all they’re going up against All Might so Deku’s just trying to keep himself as calm as possible before then. Besides she’s sure he’ll pull through when the time comes, he always does after all.
“Well let’s get some inspiration from everyone else’s battles!” She cheers.
He nods once again, and Ochaco happily takes it assuming that his nervousness is getting to him.
Aizawa isn’t so certain and neither is Recovery Girl they both couldn’t help but notice how quiet Midoriya’s been all morning either. But before either of them could air their concerns the monitor lights up announcing the first match: Rikido Sato and Eijiro Kirishima vs. Cementoss.
The four watch as Sato and Kirishima rush into the faux-city with total confidence. And there out in the open is their opponent, Cementoss. The two-charge headfirst right towards him like a pair of stampeding bulls! Cementoss greets them though with a wall of cement, slowing their frontal assault.
And at first glance it seems like the two muscle heads are doing great but as they slow down and begin to lose ground does it become clear just how brutal these exams truly are. Because before they know it, the two lose their strength and all their ground as they're swept up by cement! And soon the siren blares and the monitor announces across the facility that Kirishima and Sato have failed the exam!
Both were knocked out, left on the ground as Cementoss looks on, unscathed and without losing any stamina. In truth, Cementoss was the worst opponent these two could have been pinned against, they never stood a chance.
Recovery Girl hops down from her chair. “It’s only the first match and I’m already needed.”
Ochaco cups her mouth in shock “No way… It was that one-sided?”
“Of course it was.” Responds Aizawa, his eyes never leaving the screen. “We designed these exams with each of your greatest weaknesses in mind. For example, those two rely way too much on brute force rather than strategy. So as predicted they charged headfirst without a second thought. But they failed to even consider that unlike them Cementoss’s Quirk doesn’t have an extended limit and his stamina is far superior to theirs.” In other words. “Just because we have a handicap doesn’t mean we’re weak. In fact we’re only wearing these things to give you all a sense of hope, that you have chance.” Aizawa turn to look them both right in the eyes. “If either of you want to success here today, and you better be ready to put all you got into it. Use every skill, every lesson, every advantage, and anything at your disposal to pass. To Go Beyond, Plus Ultra.” Or else.
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The next matches go on to prove his points further. With Tsuyu and Tokoyami taking on Ectoplasm. Ectoplasm’s clones proved a challenge especially when the two were captured but Tsuyu’s resourcefulness and Tokoyami’s range easily pulled through.
As for the third match, well it may not have been as exciting as the last match was still full of surprises. Tenya really demonstrated how much he’s improved, launching Ojiro forward and through the gate, finishing the exam in record time. Although Tenya did get hit by Power Loader’s Quirk and thus needed to be dug out of the ground.
And then it was time for the 4th match to begin within the suburban-based arena.
“It’s our turn now.” Shoto Todoroki turns around to eye his teammates. “Let’s go.”
Hitoshi Shinso is already dawning his Artificial-Vocal Cords but even, so he looks rather confident.
And as for Momo Yaoyorozu well she seems distracted, looking down with a thoughtful yet conflicted gaze.
“Yaoyorozu.”
The ponytailed girl gasps snapping out of her funk, she had completely missed everything Shoto just said.
Shoto frowns. “What’s wrong, are you nervous?”
“Oh. No.” She doesn’t sound all that convincing.
And Shoto knows it. “It’s okay. Although you really shouldn’t be.”
Shinso chuckles lightly behind his mask. “Yeah, seriously, I’d be more concerned for our opponent.”
Yaoyorozu frowns concerningly.
“He’s right.” confirms Shoto. “Thirteen’s forte isn’t combat, it’s rescue. We clearly have the advantage even against Blackhole.”
Thirteen will be far too slow to keep up with them, considering how bulky they’re suit is. And Blackhole may be destructive but as a rescue hero Thirteen won’t have much experience using it in combat. Actually thinking about it now, Aizawa must have been off his game if he assigned Thirteen to be their opponent. Oh, well, guess they’re in for an easy win today.
Shoto turns his gaze towards the distance where he suspects the exit to lie. “Not to worry, I have a plan in mind for us.”
*BZZZZZZZZZ!!!* The buzzer rings throughout the arena followed by a programmed voice! “Team Todoroki, Yaoyorozu, and Shinso! Practical Exam! Ready, go!”
The three immediately take off in a light run, trying to make up as much ground as they can while also being discreet. They quickly utilize the cramped alley ways as they travel single file with Shoto in front, Shinso in the middle, and Yaoyorozu at the rear.
Even so Todoroki doesn't waste any time with his plan. “Our success will depend on which one of us finds the other first.” Shoto turns to Shinso. “Once we spot Thirteen, you and I will draw them in.” With his flames and ice there’s no doubt he can hold Thirteen off, and Shinso’s Brainwashing will certainly keep Thirteen on guard too. And if that works then their entire attention will be on their biggest threats, them.
Shoto then turns to the female member of the group. “Then you can run to the escape gate and win this thing for us. Just stay close until then.”
Yaoyorozu frowns, almost hurt by his plan, although it is a valid one and she can’t deny its practicality. Still though she can’t help but feel like she could do more here.
Shinso speaks up. “And what if we capture Thirteen first?”
Shoto leads them through a narrow alleyway “Then so much the better. This way we have two chances of winning.”
They arrive at the end of the alleyway, finding themselves at a suburban street surrounded by walls, talk hedges, and houses.
Shoto checks both ways before they even attempt to move forward. “If we can split Thirteen’s attention away from just one of us then the other can attack. I can use my ice to hold them in place or you can bind them up with that cloth of yours.”
After making sure the coast is clear they keep moving. “C’mon.”
And soon the two boys race down the street, while keeping their eyes peeled for any signs of their opponent.
Yaoyorozu hesitates but follows soon after, although she’s not moving with as much purpose as the other two. “I’d expect nothing less from you, Todoroki.”
“What do you mean?”
“You were able to come up with a plan to use against Thirteen so quickly. You knew exactly what was best as soon as we started.” She sounds almost pained to say that but judging from her voice it has more to do with herself than Shoto.
They press on, turning a bend and continuing down the street, running just below a collection of power lines.
Shoto races forward. “This is nothing.”
Yaoyorozu comes to a slow stop, her gaze down and a sad frown on her face. “No. You’re wrong.”
Shoto and Shinso stop to turn around, they want to press forward but clearly something is on her mind and they have too much respect to deny her the right to speak.
“As students who got into U.A. through recommendations, we started from the same place. But in terms of the practical skills that a hero needs, I haven’t really managed to do anything that stands out.” She thinks back to the U.A. Sports Festival for examples. “During the Cavalry Battle, I just followed your orders.” Then came the tournament. “And then when it was my turn to fight, I failed before I could do anything.” She then turns to Shinso. “You weren’t even part of the Hero Course yet, but even you were able to hold your own against Uraraka for a short time. “I never even struck back, not once.” She had hesitated for far too long and it cost her the match.
Shoto listens intently, he had no clue she was feeling this way. He should say something, yeah, he has to. “Yaoyorozu-”
^You shouldn’t be so hard on yourself!^
^Actually you should just call it quits.^
The three students freeze in place at the sound of the unfamiliar voices.
Shinso grips his Binding Cloth. “Was that Thirteen?!”
Shoto’s eyes scan the area. “No, it wasn’t.”
Yaoyorozu quivers. “Did…someone break in?” Are they villains?
^Haha. No~^
The teens all spin around towards the hedges, but they don’t see a thing.
^You sure look like fun.^
^If fun had to do with teenage angst.^
They spin around again towards the house but there’s still nothing.
Yaoyorozu steps back nervously. “What’s going on here?”
Ice begins to form around Shoto’s right arm. “Get ready.” He turns to address Shinso. “Shinso.”
The purple-haired teen understands, he adjusts the Artificial-Vocal Cords and Shoto’s voice rings out. “Who are you?”
^Why I’m just a dear friend of your teacher!^
^Well more like binary servants, but tomayto tomahto.^
The three remain silent hopefully whoever’s here is now under Shinso’s control.
Shinso smirks from underneath his mask. “Alright, reveal yourself.”
^Okay~!^
Shinso’s eyes widen! That’s not right, when someone’s under his influence they shouldn’t be able to speak! So then…what are they…?
The others realize this too, as Shoto crutches down, his arm encased in ice as Yaoyorozu nervously backs away from the direction of the voices.
^Wow, they seem really defensive.^
^Well this is a test, that’ll determine their futures.^ No pressure.
Shoto scowls. “Shinso, what happened?”
“I…I don’t know. T-that should have worked.”
Finally a rustling from within the hedges could be heard.
The teen spins around once again, the house to their backs, as they spot movement within the bushes.
Shoto’s losing his patience. “Show yourselves!”
^Okay~!^
^Have some patience, sheesh.^
From beneath the hedges a little white sphere…crawls out from the leaves.
The students are stunned as the little robotic sphere shakes off the leaves before turning so it’s vertically aligned white eyes could peer up at them.
^Salutations, friend! It’s so nice to meet you!^
^Aw, gross. Why couldn’t we stay home?^
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Ochaco’s jaw drops and Izuku nearly goes pale, their eyes locked onto the massive screen. It can't be, but it is! They know that thing anywhere!
Aizawa notices the looks of disbelief on the two’s faces. “Oh, yeah, Thirteen said they had a “special support item” for this occasion. And yeah, it’s a bit of an odd one. But apparently it’s good at surveillance and stuff.” Although its design seems a little to ridiculous, but whatever.
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The little bot waves up at the three teens. ^Hello my name is One-^
^-One.^
The three teens blink, their brains still trying to process that a little…robot of some kind is what scared them so bad. Honestly, it’s kinda funny to think about. Well guess that explains why Shinso’s Quirk didn’t work.
Yaoyorozu sighs, visibly relaxing. “How…cute?”
The others drop their guard as well.
Shinso looks at his teammates. “What is this thing?”
Shoto can’t take his eyes off the little bot. “I think it’s a robot.”
Glad-One is quick to respond. ^That’s because I am!^
And of course Sad-One is there to follow it up. ^Yes, I’m nothing but a hunk of gears and wires, with no other purpose than to serve my ungrateful master.^
Yaoyorozu kneels down. “Um, One-One?” Is that really its name?
One-One peers up at her. ^Why, what is it I can help you with miss?^
“Um, what are you doing here?”
^I’m helping~!^
Shoto frowns. “Helping? Helping who exactly?”
^My master.^
Shinso frowns, getting tired of this. “And who is your master?”
Without missing a beat One-One responds with the driest of replies. ^Thirteen.^
They all go pale, as their blood drains from their faces.
Shinso chokes. “Wh-...what?”
One-One is oblivious to their distress. ^Thirteen!^
^And I already pinned our location.^
Yaoyorozu gulps. “Location?”
^Yup, we called Thirteen over to play~!^
In other words, they’ve been made!
The teens spring back in a panic! They have to get out of here and quick!! But it’s already too late.
The house behind them suddenly disappears, removed from existence as a vacuum-like force erases it.
Thirteen stands on the other side of the now empty lot, their eyes narrow and their finger pointed forward as Blackhole subsides. “I warned you, didn’t I? I told you to think of us as villains for a reason.”
Feeling like he’s been caught with his pants down, Shoto slams his right foot forward and a vast icicle spear launches forward from the ground, its tip aimed right for Thirteen’s head!
“Na, na, na I don’t think so!” Thirteen’s Blackhole meets the massive spear head on, absorbing and breaking it apart like it was made of crumbs! “You’re going to have to do better than that, kids!”
Shinso smirks as he activates his Quirk. “What do you think we can’t take you?”
Thirteen’s gaze narrows but they don’t respond.
Shinso scowls, looks like Thirteen’s not going to fall for it. “Yeah well-Agh!!”
A spinning One-One bounces off Shinso’s head before touching back down onto the ground, using his little legs to skip his way over to Thirteen.
Thirteen smiles down at their little droid. “Nice job, One-One. You found em.”
^Thank you!^
^Your praise means nothing to me.^
Shinso grips his head.
Yaoyorozu gasps at the sight of the bruise. “Are you alright?”
“No.” Shinso snaps. “I’m pissed. What the hell?! You’re using a robot? I thought Mr. Aizawa said you guys weren’t?”
Thirteen looks to One-One and nods, giving him the go ahead to explain the story they fabricated. ^I am not a combat robot. Rather I specialize in maintenance and surveillance. Technically I am classified as a support item that provides assistance to disaster situations.^ This is not a total lie, there have been times Thirteen brought One-One out to help survey a disaster zone for more threats and survivors. ^As such I do not breach the rules set forth by Maji-uh, I mean Principal Nezu!^
Shinso scowl at the little droid. “So, you’re not a combat bot, huh?”
Shoto steps forward. “Let’s do this, Shinso.” He readies himself for a fight. “We can still win this. There’s no way Thirteen can take us on, even with that little toy.”
Thirteen smirks from underneath their helmet. They’re really going to enjoy this, that is for damn sure.
“Yaoyorozu! Go!” Shoto launches out a wall of ice hoping to hold Thirteen off.
But as the ice crashes forward, Thirteen’s Blackhole sucks up incoming avalanche eradicating it from existence allowing the cold wind to wash by without any harm!
In a panic, Yaoyorozu takes off as per the plan! Running in the opposite direction hoping she’ll eventually find the escape gate.
“Is that what your plan is?” Thirteen was kinda hoping for something a little more creative here. “Then this will be easy.”
Thirteen rushes forward moving with incredible agility even with such a bulky costume.
Shinso lashes out with his Binding Cloth, throwing straight towards the hero.
Thirteen however perform some stellar acrobatics, kicking themselves up and over the Binding Cloth like a gymnast!
Shinso cries out! “No way!”
On the fall, Thirteen slams their palm on Shinso’s head and blam he’s knocked headfirst into the ground. “Compared to Aizawa, you’re easy to read.”
“Get away from him!” Shoto fires off an ice trail forcing Thirteen to leap away, using the nearby light pole to kick themselves up into the air and just in the nick of time! “Get up, Shinso!”
“R-right.” Shinso groans as he gets back up to his feet.
“One-One!”
One-One rushes over towards its owner! ^I am here!^
One-One jumps into the air. As he does so, Thirteen spins around and kicks the droid forward like a soccer ball!
One-One’s entire body spins as he’s launched back right at the teen boys!
“Look out!” Shoto shoves Shinso to the side allowing One-One’s spinning body to whiz on by!
But he couldn’t predict that One-One would ricochet off the wall behind them and come flying right back slamming into Shoto’s shoulder, ricocheting off, and slamming into Shinso’s side before spinning away!
^Haha!^ One-one skids to a halt looking mighty impressed with himself! ^Face my might!^
^And die…^
The two teens groan and scowl at the little droid, Shoto’s right begins to freeze over as he prepares to lock the droid up in a glacier, but he’ll never get the chance.
“Don’t get distracted!” Thirteen comes flying in from above, having used One-One as a distraction to get in close!
Thirteen kicks their leg down but the teens both lung to the side, avoiding it. However, Shoto’s still in Thirteen's reach as the pro hero grabs him by the scruff of his shirt and swings him around, slamming him into Shinso!
The two groan as Thirteen stands over them. “You boys really underestimate me, didn’t you?”
Yes, they sure did.
Shinso scowl, springing up with such agility! “That was our mistake!” He throws his first forward and it connects with the side of Thirteen’s helmet, throwing their head to the side!
With a clear opening Shoto slams his hand down onto the ground unleashing a massive pillar of ice right into Thirteen’s gut! The pillar rises and rises, the power of the impact sending Thirteen flying backwards until they are slammed against another house, pinning them in place.
Shinso smirks as he rubs his hand.
And Shoto grins as he jumps up to his feet. “Got ya.”
“Oh. Did you?”” Thirteen smirks. “Blackhole!”
The ice pillar vanishes, disintegrating as Thirteen's Blackhole sucks it all away, and the pro hero lands on their feet, dusting themselves off without a single injury.
Shoto frowns. “How? How were you-”
“Able to withstand that attack?” Thirteen pats their suit. “Why do you think I wear such a big suit? This thing is padded up like nobody’s business, it practically acted like a cushion for me.”
Shinso scowls, activating his Quirk. “Is that really fair?”
No good, as Thirteen shrugs and gives them a cheeky smirk.
“Tsk.”
One-One runs up to his owner. ^Are you sure you’re alright?^
“Sure, I’m sure.” Thirteen peers down at their little friend. “Get ready.”
^Aye, aye!^
The duo charge forward moving incredibly swiftly towards the boys!
Shoto fires off an ice trail, but Thirteen jumps up and over it with One-One tucked in their arms.
Shinso was ready though as he whips his Binding Cloth forward to greet them!
“One-One Fast Ball!!” Thirteen swings their body around before launching One-One forward with a high-speed spin!
One-One’s spinning body breaks through the Binding Cloth and with his speed he goes flying right over the boys!
Thirteen lands just to the side of the ice trail before calling out! “Go after, Yaoyorozu! Track her down!”
One-One’s body doesn’t stop spinning as he skids across the ground, before revving forward like a remote-control bowling ball! ^You can count on me!^
Shoto cries out! “No!”
If that thing catches up to Yaoyorozu then Thirteen will know exactly where she is and go after her! They’ll all lose their chances of passing!
Shoto and Shinso turn to chase after the bot but Thirteen swiftly intercepts their path. “Too slow! Hahaha.”
The two scowl, they had no idea Thirteen would prove to be such a challenge.
But they are and Thirteen is loving it. “We’re not done yet, kids.” Thirteen stands at the ready their hands poised to strike like some sort of karate master. “This exam’s only just begone.”
The teens scowl, readying themselves to continue with the match. Hopefully they can still hold Thirteen off long enough for Yaoyorozu to escape even if she is being pursued.
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Speaking of which, Yaoyorozu is still running at a full sprint towards the opposite end of the arena. But her sprint comes off more of a terrified disaster movie victim trying to escape from an impending horror. But this place is like a maze with all sorts of twists and turns, the buildings look so similar that it only makes her head spin more and more, tricking her into thinking she’s running in circles! And it doesn’t help that her mind has been plaguing her since the start, her lack of confidence finally rearing its ugly head and panic soon begins to settle in.
‘How much farther until I’m at the gate? Is there a short route I should take? Are Todoroki and Shinso okay? Is this right? Should I take the time and make something to help me go faster? Can I make it? Will I be able to pass this way? Wait. Where am I running to?’ The panic and the fear all settle into place, cloud her judgement even more. ‘Can I do this? Or am I going to fail us?’
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Back in the Monitoring Room the teens and the pro heroes watch as Shoto and Shinso face off against Thirteen.
Ochaco and Izuku can’t help but be impressed by Thirteen’s movements and skill. Clearly years of being an active Plumber has its benefits.
But Aizawa’s attention is drawn to the screen showing Yaoyorozu fleeing the scene.
‘She obviously lost her confidence after the Sports Festival.’ He frowns disapproving of the kids’ performances so far. ‘She allowed him to make all the decisions. Comparing herself to Todoroki, she decided that he was the superior student. And the sentimentality doesn’t stop there, Shinso worked his way into the Hero Course, arguably harder than she did, and she recognizes that. Not to mention, performance wise, he had a better showing during the Sports Festival. Overall she feels inferior to her own teammates.’
But the others have issues too. ‘For better or for worse, Todoroki never seems to hesitate much. And Shinso’s fighting style is very stiff and straight forward. And she’s lost her ability to trust in her own instincts and reactions.’ He watches as Yaoyorozu makes a wrong turn. ‘Emotionally, she’s still a child of 15. I’d like to help her regain her confidence. But that’s a task that is far easier said than done.’
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As Yaoyorozu passes by more hedges, One-One comes bursting out, rolling around like a crazed bowling ball!
^I found you, Ms. Yaoyorozu!^
Yaoyorozu gasps. “One-One?”
But how?! Did Thirteen defeat her teammates and then sent the bot after her to find her?!
One-One’s spinning body races forward and in a matter of seconds it’s on her heels! ^You can’t escape!^
^Yeah, you can’t escape your impending doom.^
In a panic Yaoyorozu jukes into another street hoping that would somehow shake the robot off her trail. It doesn’t and this continues as Yaoyorozu desperately tries to get away before One-One could give away her position to Thirteen!
“Get away from me!” She generates a metal staff and then she spins around delivering a powerful strike into One-One’s side!
^Weeeee!!^ One-One screams out, in joy oddly enough, as he bounces off the ground.
He slams into an electrical poll, finally his spinning stops as he gets to his feet, shaking off the strike.
^Woah, you got a nice swing there.^
^Yeah, but you should have used a sword. Could have ended my horrible existence if you did.^
^No she couldn’t. We’re virtually indestructible.^
^I can dream, can’t I?^
One-One may be all cheer, but Yaoyorozu is anything but. Her mind is so clouded and spinning with doubt she can’t think straight, she put all she had into that. What was the point of all those fencing lessons if that’s all she could do?! And so with her confidence shaken to her sore, she drops the staff and takes off in a desperate attempt to escape.
^Ms. Yaoyorozu wait for me!^ One-One hops after her oblivious to her inner turmoil.
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
Meanwhile, Shoto and Shinso are still having a hard time holding their own against the surprisingly efficient fighter that is Thirteen.
Shoto unleashes a barrage of ice trails but Thirteen isn’t so much bothered by the cold, effectively leaping out of the way and using the environment to evade the crashing icicles. And of course Blackhole sure proves handy in eliminating the incoming ice.
As Thirteen touches down, Shinso flies in and delivers a hard kick into Thirteen’s gut. But the attack proves ineffective, he can feel the suit absorb the impact of his strike.
Thirteen reaches for him but Shinso ducks and leaps away before he can be grabbed, As he retreats backwards, he throws his Binding Cloth forward and it wraps itself around Thirteen’s outstretched arm.
“Got ya, now.” Shinso tries to pull Thirteen towards him but he’s severely underestimated the hero’s strength.
Thirteen grips the Binding Cloth, and they are not letting it go. “You’re style’s too much like Aizawa’s. Get creative!”
Shinso hesitates, taking Thirteen’s words in.
But in that moment of weakness, Thirteen grip tightens as their eyes narrow in defiance before they yell out in a deep gruff voice. “Get over here!!”
Thirteen pulls the scarf, pulling in Shinso like a fish on a line! Thirteen throws their other hand forward, catching Shinso by the head and BLAM smashing him to the ground in a show of brute force.
“Stay down.” Thirteen releases the boy, his body going limp as he falls in and out of consciousness.
“Shinso!!” Shoto cries out in outrage as he launches forward a piercing icicle!
Thirteen throws their head back, avoiding the spike just in time to avoid being skewered.
The icicle rests just above the unconscious Shinso, shielding him from Thirteen and from the hell Shoto’s about to unearth.
Thirteen eyes the dual-haired teen as they grip their neck. “Sheesh, you got one scary Quirk, don’t ya?”
“You ain’t see what I can really do, Thirteen.” Shoto thrusts his left arm forward and a torrent of raging flames race forward!
“Ahhh!” The flames completely consume Thirteen like a wood to an inferno!
Shoto cuts off the power to his Quirk, allowing the flames to die out as smoke rises from around Thirteen’s position. That attack was a direct hit, there’s no way they weren’t affected.
The sound of hands clapping echo from within the smoke. “Oh, man, now that was scary.”
Thirteen steps through the smoke, their suit is covered in ash and burns but otherwise it remains largely intake, and they appear unharmed.
“Phew. Thank goodness my suit can withstand such extreme temperatures. The perks of wearing Plumber Tech at all times.
“What?”
“Sorry, Todoroki.” Thirteen rubs the back of their helmet. “You know on one hand I feel like I’m kinda cheating, you know because I’m wearing a fireproof suit and all. But on the other hand if I wasn’t wearing it…I would have been burnt to a crisp!! Like what the heck I could have been roasted!!”
Shoto scowls, before unleashing a barrage of flames.
Thirteen, however, remains calm as they activate Blackhole, which predictably sucks in the flames.
Shoto cuts off the flames and Thirteen cuts off Blackhole, and thus they stand opposite of each other. They are two warriors with such destructive powers, sizing each other up before they clash, knowing that one mistake will cost them the fight.
The two circle each other cautiously waiting for the other to make the first move.
Shoto frowns his glare hardening. “I have to admit it, but I really underestimated you.”
Thirteen chuckles. “I know. Just goes to show you not to judge someone by their appearance, huh?”
Shoto nods. “Yeah, won’t make that mistake again.”
“I hope not. Or Aizawa will have to beat it into you later.” That’s not a joke, Aizawa would find a way to do it for sure. “Although you’re not exactly the prodigy we all thought you were.”
Shoto’s glare falls apart. “What?”
“Yeah, I mean your plan it’s so…flawed.”
“I know, it’s because I didn’t know your skills.”
“No, not just that.” Thirteen’s gaze narrows. “Your plan places too much burden on yourself and on Shinso. I mean I get it; you were trying to be considerate to the young lady, but that was the wrong call.” Thirteen frowns. “Instead you should have heard her out, listened to her instead.”
Shoto frowns concerningly, is that right? Is Thirteen, right?
Thirteen sighs. “Too bad you didn’t realize this sooner. Because when I’m done with you, I’m going after her next.”
Shoto pauses, his breathing hitching for a moment.
“I’m sorry, but I can’t hold back. I’m going to stop you all from passing.” Thirteen pokes at their earpiece. “Once One-One has her position pinned, it’ll be over. And you all will have failed.” Thirteen then eyes the timer from within the helmet. “But then again you still have quite a bit of time remaining so there’s still time to turn this around.” Their gaze drifts over to the downed Shinso. “Maybe.”
Shoto scowls, he hates to admit but Thirteen is right. They can’t win with his plan, no, they never stood a chance with his plan. What he needed to do was listen to Yaoyorozu. But…he never gave her the chance to speak.
But is it really too late to make up for it, to fix this, and turn this battle around? Is it too late?
No, it’s not.
Shoto's heart burns with determination as he stops circling and stands his ground before the pro hero.
Thirteen comes to a halt, eyeing him as their fingers flex, ready to activate Blackhole in a moment’s notice.
Shoto throws his left arm hand down and flames burst forth like a pillar! In response Thirteen's arm springs up but before they can activate their Quirk, bellows of smoke flood the street as Shoto’s flames burn away at the asphalt and hedges nearby.
Does he think the smoke will blind them or choke them out? Too bad this helmet is equipped to counteract both. Besides Thirteen still has Blackhole, and so all the smoke is inhaled by Blackhole clearing the view of the damaged street.
But much to Thirteen's surprise, Shoto is nowhere in sight and Shinso appears to have vanished too.
Thirteen lowers their arm, it’s very clear Shoto used the smokescreen to grab his partner and flee. A smart move actually, this might just be what they need to reset and rethink their strategy.
Hm, although Thirteen said that they weren’t going to hold back, maybe it’d be best if they head towards the gate. This way they can give the teens a chance to regroup and work things out.
But they better get on it, and fast, otherwise time will be up.
“You better hurry kids, you’re on the clock.”
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
Yaoyorozu tucks her legs into the shadows, holding her breath, and cupping her hand over her mouth to prevent herself from making any noise as much as possible.
^Where is she?^
^Maybe she died.^
^Ms. Yaoyorozu? Dead? No, I don’t think so.^
^It could happen.^
*Bring!* ^Oh, we’re getting a message from Thirteen.^
^What do they want now?^
^They want us to meet back up.^
Yaoyorozu hesitantly peeks out from between the fake trashcans and she nearly sighs out loud as she watches One-One scurry away in the opposite direction. Looks like she finally lost him, what a relief.
Thank goodness finally she can collect her thoughts, the worries and panic have been swirling in her head, they still do but at least now she can at least try to collect herself.
But it’s a losing fight as her worries come back in full force. ‘What do I do now? Do I find the gate? Do I look for Todoroki and Shinso? What happened to them? Were they captured? Should I make something to help me look? What should I do?!’
“Yaoyorozu!”
Yaoyorozu’s eyes snap up and there just down the street is Todoroki and he has Shinso’s arm slung over his shoulder as he drags him along.
“Todoroki!” In a panic Yaoyorozu rushes to their side! “What happened?!”
Shinso stares, groaning in pain. “We got our asses handed to us.”
Yaoyorozu gasps at all the scrapes and bruises Shinso’s collected. “Are you alright?!”
Shoto nods. “He woke up a little bit ago, Thirteen did a real good number on him though.”
Yaoyorozu eyes begin to water. “I’m so so-”
“We should hide.” Shinso interrupts, wheezing as he catches his breath. “Before Thirteen or that metal volleyball comes looking for us.”
Todoroki eyes a nearby faux house. “This way.”
Yaoyorozu flings Shinso’s other arm around her shoulder, and together both her and Shoto carry Shinso into the fake house.
Thankfully the door was unlocked although there isn’t anything within the house: no furniture, no pictures, not even manikins to replicate people. Even so this is still a good enough spot to reevaluate and regroup.
They set Shinso down using the wall closest to the door as a back rest.
Shoto drops him arm gently. “How you feeling?”
Shinso groans holding his head. “My head’s pounding, but I think I’ll be alright in a few minutes.” He just needs his second wind is all.
“Good.”
As they each begin to sit down and settle in Shoto’s eyes drift over to Yaoyorozu who has fallen silent and sorrowful once again. In that moment Thirteen’s words play through his mind, “‘Instead you should have heard her out, listened to her instead.’”
Shoto frowns. ‘Now that I think about it, she looked like she had something to say.’
Meanwhile, Yaoyorozu’s own turmoil swirls within her mind once again, laughing her. ‘What do I do? We’re running out of time; half-the time has probably already gone by. What do we do? Go after Thirteen? Head for the gate? What’s the right call?!’
“Yaoyorozu.”
She snaps out of the trance, her attention now on the dual-haired teen.
Shoto looks her right in the eye and asks with full confidence. “You’ve got a plan, don’t you?”
She gasps. No, of course she doesn’t!
Shoto frowns, shaking his head regretfully. “I’m sorry. I should've asked before, and not told either of you what to do. But you have an idea, right?”
Yaoyorozu looks away unable to meet his own gaze. “Your plan didn’t work, so there’s no way mine will be any good. We’re all gonna fail.”
The three go quite unsure how to respond to Yaoyorozu’s clear inner dilemma that is now pouring out for them all to see. And so they sit in silence unsure of what to do or say for a few brief moments.
Finally, Shinso tucks his mouth behind his scarf and whispers. “No, we won’t.”
The other two slowly peer at him, neither one showing a clear reaction. Instead they give the moment to speak his mind.
“I know I just got here, and I had a lot of assumptions about all of you.” He recalls his so-called declaration of war he gave to Class 1-A. But he specifically remembers his opinion of the class: that they were egotistical jerks that happened to be born lucky. “I thought you all were just no good jackasses that were blessed with such amazing powers. I thought, hey, these bastards don’t know a damn thing about hard work or failure.”
Yaoyorozu frowns. “Shinso…”
“But I know that I was completely off base. I was wrong.” He looks to his teammates. “We’ve all worked way too hard to get here, and I’m not about to let any of us throw in the towel.”
“Shinso…”
Shoto nods. “He’s right. We can still pass; we can beat Thirteen.”
Yaoyorozu shakes her head in desperation. “How? Nothing we come up with will work.”
“You're Half right.” Shoto gets up and peers down at Shinso. “Nothing we come up with will,” He then turns toward her. “But what you come up with will work.”
Yaoyorozu has to disagree, there’s no way whatever she thinks up will ever work.
“Yaoyorozu!”
That grabs her attention as Shoto looks her right in the eye.
“I’m sayin that you’re the one who’s better at this kinda stuff, not me. Do you remember? When we were voting for class rep, you had two votes.”
Yaoyorozu eyes Shoto warily. What is he…?
“One of those votes was mine.”
Her eyes widen in surprise!
“I voted for you, because I thought you would be best at leading our class.”
Is that true? It…it must be. She did have two votes and that second vote was…Todoroki?
Oh, god, she…she can’t believe her ears. The student she thought was superior to her, views her as more capable. And if Todoroki has this much confidence in her, then…maybe she can…
Tears prick at her eyes, but Yaoyorozu stays strong, willing them back. ‘I’m pathetic, but maybe…’ No, not maybe, She can if Todoroki is willing to give her a chance than she has to be willing too. “We can’t afford to throw all our hard work away. Not like this.”
Shoto nods in agreement, and Shinso snickers behind his scarf.
Yaoyorozu can still feel her doubts weighing her down, but she can push through it, if not for her sake than for theirs. “First, what do we know about our opponent.” That was their first mistake last time, a lack of knowledge and severe underestimation of skills.
Shinso goes first. “Thirteen’s fast, too fast, surprisingly. This arena is perfect for them, they can use the walls, roofs, and poles to jump around like an acrobat.”
“Then there’s Blackhole.” adds Shoto “With that none of our ranged attacks will even land.” Not his fire or ice or anything she makes will even get close enough to Thirteen thanks to that Quirk.
Shinso however has a point to make. “I don’t think Thirteen will use Blackhole if we’re too close. That much I did pickup when we were fighting.” Otherwise he’s be missing an arm, or worse.
“But there’s a problem with that too.” Shoto frowns his eyebrows furrowing in frustration. “Thirteen’s suit, it can absorb almost any physical attack from a kick or punch to even my ice attacks.” Like that ice pillar attack or when Shinso delivered a few strikes. “To top it all off, that suit can apparently resist extreme temperatures.” Meaning even if Shoto gets an opening neither his flames nor his ice would do much, at least the ice could hold them in place but with their speed there has been no such luck.
Yaoyorozu frowns taking in all this new information. “And of course Thirteen’s not alone. One-One’s fast too, and although it’s not dangerous in and of itself, it can alert Thirteen of our location.”
“Not dangerous?” Shinso scoffs. “Thirteen used that thing like a freaking dodgeball to attack us! Trust me it’s definitely something to look out for.”
Yaoyorozu frowns, cupping her chin. “You’re right. I even got a hit on it, but it didn’t do a thing. Whatever it's made out of, it’s strong.”
Shoto leans back. “So, if we want to win. We have to slow Thirteen down, remove the bot, somehow get around that dang suit, and make this a close quarters fight.”
Shinso snickers. “Easy enough.”
Shoto frowns, not appreciating his sarcasm.
Yaoyorozu however cares to disagree. “It is.”
Shinso, surprisingly, whips around in surprise. “Really?”
Shoto smiles. “You have an idea?”
“Yes, I do.” Yaoyorozu frowns. “At least in part: I think I know how we can slow Thirteen down and remove One-One. I even think I know how we can make this a close quarters fight.”
Shoto frowns. “Okay, but what about the suit?”
Shinso lights up as an exciting thought crosses his mind! “How about a sword?!”
Shoto raises an eyebrow. “Really?”
Shinso shrugs, giving him a sheepish grin. “What? She can make anything and last I checked a sword was made for slicing. Also, it’d be really badass.” That is a valid point.
Yaoyorozu chuckles. “Maybe, but we have another issue.” She frowns becoming serious. “I have no idea what Thirteen’s suit is made out of. If I make a sword or a spear or anything out of the wrong material it might not even tear through.” Not to mention most metals are heavy especially when wielding a sword. They need something light enough for them to move in quickly while also strong enough to tear through the suit.
‘Wait.’ Inspiration strikes as Yaoyorozu scrambles for her belt.
She finds what she’s looking for and soon she pulls out a little notebook, the same one she showed to the Midoriyas the other day.
##########(Flashback)#########
Yaoyorozu was scribbling into said notebook the same night of the Parent’s Day. Her desk is full of ripped pages with only the lamp of her desk providing any light to her overly luxurious room. The sun had settled a long time ago but after her talk with Mr. Midoriya, she couldn't hold off on this any longer.
And so she had spent hours filling through her notes, taking out anything related to Diamondhead’s genetic code and organic matter that she had accidentally mixed in with the tissue’s chemical formula.
She has to admit it but after editing out much of the unnecessary components she was able to narrow down the actual chemical makeup of the crystal significantly! Although what she has left can still take up a large position of any notebook.
And now she spent the next hours of the night going over the notes over and over again, polishing them up as well as studying every detail, trying to commit each thing to memory as much as she could.
“Ah, this isn’t right.” Looks like she missed more of Diamondhead’s chemical makeup.
She starts erasing it out before her pencil slowly comes to a stop as something dawns on her.
“Curious. Midoriya’s DNA is entwined with the crystals, that in itself is a very interesting phenomenon.” That gets the gears turning as she stares up into space.
And then a small yet almost exciting idea begins to form in her head.
“What if…I entwine my own chemical makeup?” Yeah, what if she could mix her own essence into the crystal just like Diamondhead does? Or at least a portion of it. “I wonder what kind of effects that would have?”
It’s not like she knows what she’ll do with the crystal as of this moment, but the possibilities are too tempting to ignore.
Yaoyorozu swivels her chair around and slides down the long desk to a microscope and various other chemical-related machines and tools. She grabs a microscope slide and a little needle, giving her finger a little prick and allowing a drop of blood to land on the slide.
She eyes her blood nervously yet excitedly. ‘I don’t need to break it all down, just enough to work with. For now at least.’
And so from then on, after each day of testing and studying Yaoyorozu always returns to her work, editing away at her notes.
And by the night just before the Practical Exam she had all she needed.
########(End Flashback)#######
Yaoyorozu eyes her notes with an excited grin. With this she might be able to pull this off and lead her teammates to victory.
The two boys’ heads tilt to the side. “Yaoyorozu?”
She throws her hands forward and several little devices popout. “These will do for now, but I’m going to need time.”
Shoto grabs one of the little devices, examining it curiously. “You have a plan?”
“Yes!” She grins. “I’ve got a plan.”
Shinso grins. “Well, let’s hear it.”
“Gladly. But we have to be quick.” She grips the notebook tightly. “If we’re to succeed I’m going to need some time.”
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
Thirteen stands atop a rooftop, it’s been awhile since Shoto and Shinso made their escape but there’s been no sign of any of them. They have to come this way; the gate is just a few blocks behind them so if they want to pass, they’ll have to come here.
“One-One? Are you seeing anything?”
Standing atop a tall electrical pole is One-One who is scanning the horizon for any movement. ^Not a thing!^
^I wonder if a fall from this height could kill me.^
Thirteen doesn't like this. Did those kids give up? No, but if they don’t make a move soon their time will be up, and it’ll all be over for them. They’ll fail.
^Hey what’s that?^
^Probably just a bird.^
Thirteen takes a look themselves, curious as to what kind of bird it is. Their eyes widen as a grenade-like device flies through the air right towards their little buddy!
“One-One!”
^What…?!^
As the grenade-like device flies through the air it begins to glow and glow until an electromagnetic pulse bursts out and swallows up One-One!
Thirteen cries out as the little droid tumbles down the electrical poll! “One-One!! Are you okay?!”
One-One stumbles to his feet before wobbling around. ^I-I-I’mm f-ffine,fff-fr-friend…^ One-One’s eyes glitch in and out until he flips to his side as if he passed out.
“One-One!!” Thirteen’s eyes are wide in shock as One-One’s body twitches and sparks. “Was that…an EMP?” It had to be, and if that’s the case…then that means- “Woah!!”
A massive icicle crashes into the roof, sending Thirteen barreling out of the way, catching themselves on a tree branch before flinging themselves down to the ground.
Shinso’s voice snickers from behind. “Didn’t see that coming did ya?”
Thirteen bites their lip as they spin around to find Shinso lashing out his Binding Cloth at them!
Thirteen glares as they use their arm to shield themselves, allowing the scarf to wrap around their arm. ‘Shinso, you already tried this.’
Thirteen grips the binding cloth but before they can pull, their footing is pulled out right from under them! ‘What?!’ As they fall Thirteen notices that the other end of the Binding Cloth is wrapped around their leg. ‘Well played.’ That first attack was a feint.
“Got ya now!” Shinso pounces, throwing his leg up to deliver a downward kick!
“Not yet!” Thirteen kicks their feet, spinning their body, breaking free of the Binding Cloth before throwing themselves to the side.
Shinso’s foot slams into the ground, completely missing its target.
Thirteen smiles. “Nice try, that was a step in the right direction though.”
Shinso scowls throwing his Binding Cloth forward.
Thirteen leans back allowing the cloth to fly on by just past their head. “Missed me!”
“Wasn’t aiming for you.” Shinso pulls back hard on the scarf.
And a trash can slams into Thirteen from behind! “Gah!!”
Thirteen stumbles forward, losing their balance. Seeing an opening Shinso charges forward, before dropping and sliding across the ground delivering a slide tackle that knocks Thirteen onto their face!
Shinso spins around, throwing himself into a squatting position. “Todoroki!!”
“Right!” Down the road Shoto pops out and slams his foot down!
An ice trail crashes forward as a result, racing forward like a wildfire that’s aimed right at the downed hero!
‘Shit!’ Thirteen shoves themselves off the ground, swinging their hand up above their head, readying themselves for impact!
But the ice trail misses nearly scrapping the pro hero as the ice wall crashes past their left side!
‘What?!’
Suddenly a second ice trail crashes past their right side, too!
Thirteen steps back from the second ice trail only for their back to press against the first ice wall. Peering up large icicles have them barricaded in, like a rat trapped under frozen bars.
Thirteen gasps, there’s nowhere to run except forward; where a dual-haired teen stands ready like a guard dog of ice and fire. They’re trapped!
Shinso smirks just before one last ice trail crashes forward, straight for the trapped Thirteen!
“Blackhole!” Thirteen thrusts their hand forward, allowing their Quirk to disintegrate the incoming attack!
Thirteen stands their ground as the ice trail continues to crash forward, thank goodness for Blackhole otherwise it'll all be over already! But Thirteen’s nervous, these kids are up to something they can feel it. But what?
Eventually the ice trail comes to halt, and Thirteen cancels out Blackhole. Looking around they frown not only are they pinned from both sides but now a massive ice wall blocks the way forward. Creating a large triangular prison around Thirteen with icicles trapping them in from above.
“No use in staying here.” Thirteen thrusts their hands to each side, ready to activate Blackhole! “Now to escape-Gah?!”
Everything moves in slow motion for the hero, as something crashes in from above, landing just behind them!
“Ah!” Pure instinct forces Thirteen to dive forward!
*SWISH!*
Something sharp slices right through the arm of Thirteen’s suit! Exposing their left hand!
“NO!” What was that?! Nothing can just tear through their suit; it was specially made! Not only that but… “Without my suit I-”
“Can’t properly control your Quirk.”
Thirteen bites their lip, spinning round to face their newest foe.
Momo Yaoyorozu stands before them, looking rather exhausted but determined all at once. “I knew it. Your suit not only protects you, but it helps you direct your Quirk.” Yaoyorozu turns to face her foe. “Am I right?”
Thirteen’s glare hardens. “Y-yes.” Thirteen gazes down at their exposed hand, it’s rather slim especially compared to the bulky suit, especially with the thin sleeve wrapped snug around their slender arm and hand. ‘It’s true, Blackhole is one of the deadliest Quirks around. Without my suit I’ll turn almost anything around me into dust!’ Not that they’d use Blackhole with a student standing do close though,
“I knew it.” Yaoyorozu stands tall. “That means I can beat you, Thirteen!” Yaoyorozu thrusts her newest weapon forward in a display of strength. “Rahh!” She charges, throwing the weapon back!
“Ahh!” Thirteen throws themselves to the side and just in time as the shining blade just barely scratches their helmet. ‘Wait, is that…?’
Yaoyorozu rushes past, she stops her breathing labored as exhaustion begins to creep in.
Thirteen growls. “Where did you get that?!”
“Ha.” Yaoyorozu grins back at the pro hero. “You like it? I made it myself with a little help from Midoriya!” Yaoyorozu spins around, holding her weapon at the ready, the sun glimmers and shines off the pristine blade adding to its mystic and ferocity. “Say hello to my Zircon Blade!”
The Zircon Blade is as it sounds a blade, specifically a jian-like sword with a 31-inch-long blade. The blade itself appears to be made out of the same crystals as Diamondhead, cut so thinly that one might think they’d cut themselves just by looking at it. Its hilt is long and colored an onyx-black with a round guard surrounding the original shard gifted by Diamondhead, lined by an elegantly designed cross guard.
Thirteen raises an eyebrow. “A sword…really?” That seems so cliché.
Yaoyorozu shrugs sheepishly. “It was Shinso’s idea. Also, he came up with the name.”
As he had put it: “‘Trademark Hitoshi Shinso.’”
“Ah, makes sense.”
“Thirteen.” Yaoyorozu spins the blade in her hand, demonstrating that those fencing lessons weren’t a waste of time, as she thrusts her hand forward. “Prepare yourself.”
Thirteen glares back at her. “Bring it.”
“Rah!” Yaoyorozu charges swinging the Zircon Blade forward.
Thirteen swings their body to the side, with such limited space it’s all they can do as the blade nearly scrapes past the belly of their suit.
Yaoyorozu smirks as the blade suddenly shifts! The blade expands several inches as an axe-like structure ejects out from the side, gashing through Thirteen's suit like paper!
“What?!” Thirteen leaps back but the axe’s edge hooks to the suit ripping it away and exposing their rather slim yet athletic body that’s lined in a black almost high-tech zero-suit! “No!”
“Heyah!” Yaoyorozu spins, swinging the Zircon Blade around.
As she spins the crystals shift and come together at the top forming a diamond mace that smashes into Thirteen’s helmet!!
“Gah!!” Thirteen cries out, as art of their helmet scatters and breaks away.
Thirteen collapse, shaking their head, the intact part of their helmet facing Yaoyorozu as they go down. “How did you-”
“Do that?” Yaoyorozu takes a heavy breath as she shows off her blade. “I got the idea from Mr. Midoriya. He told me that Midoriya’s Diamondhead’s form has its DNA intertwined with the crystal. So, I thought I could do the same.”
She holds the blade up and Thirteen watches as the blade shifts becoming wider with jagged edges. The crystals shift again, the blade elongating and curving until it forms a katana.
Yaoyorozu smiles at the blade, admiring its versatility and power. It took her a while to make and due to the complexity of its molecular structure it really took a toll on her body. She could feel her fat reserves depleting drastically as she made it. By the time it was complete she didn’t have the strength to make more, but the results were worth it. A side effect of adding her DNA means the crystals react to her Quirk. Although the crystal lacks lipids it can shift and change shape to her will, almost like it’s an added extension of her Creation Quirk.
Thirteen shakes their head in disbelief before breaking out into a fit of laughter. “Haha. Haha! Haha! Hahahahaha!”
Yaoyorozu backs away, nervously, why are they laughing?
A grinning Thirteen turns their head to face Yaoyorozu.
Yaoyorozu nearly gasps as her eyes lock with Thirteen’s exposed eye. That last strike had exposed part of…her face.
“Sheesh, you kids just keep on surprising me.” Thirteen gets up and tears off…her helmet.
She shakes her head, her short locks, cut in a pixie-cut, ruffle in the air. Her features are soft, and her eyes are a lot smaller especially when compared to the eye silhouettes her helmet produces. “Midoriya, Uraraka, you…you all are just like mystery boxes.” She tears away her compromised hero costume. “Always showing off something new.”
Yaoyorozu can’t take her eyes off her, she never actually realized what gender Thirteen even was! She’s short but slim with an athletic build. She’s adorning a black-colored zero-suit! With black shorts around her waist, and her signature yellow shoes around her feet. Thirteen takes her last remaining glove and shoves it over her right hand. And of course her ankles and wrists are weighed down by multiple Ultra-compressed weights.
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“Wait…”Ochaco and Izuku stare off into space, their eyes unmoving from Thirteen’s form.
Ochaco’s brain is fried, as it finally dawns on her. “Now that I think about it…we never actually knew if Thirteen was a girl or boy.”
Izuku nods, it somehow never crossed his mind. He then starts and a light blush forms on his cheeks as he realizes that a woman was watching him work out for months and he didn’t even know it!!
Oh, god, he so wishes he could curl up in a hole and die from embarrassment!
Aizawa raises an eyebrow at them, wondering what could possibly be the problem.
Recovery Girl, however, snickers at their expressions finding it all rather amusing.
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“So many surprises, but I got my surprises too.” Thirteen places a hand on her hip, smirking at Yaoyorozu’s surprised expression. “Just watch and learn.”
Thirteen rushes Yaoyorozu moving far more swiftly without that bulky suit weighing her down.
Yaoyorozu barely fends her off, raising the sword that expands becoming a make-shift shield that intercept a high jump kick from Thirteen!
Thirteen leaps down and pounces forward delivering a sucker punch to Yaoyorozu’s mid-section!
“Ooff!” Yaoyorozu reels back, sweat forming on her brow as her breathing becomes even more labored.
She snarls as the blade shifts, bends, and grows becoming a full on long-sword that she swings around with full force! The blade breaks apart, a thin cord linking each part of the blade together as it lashes out like some sort of metal whip!
Thirteen leaps and cartwheels herself up and over the whipping blade!
The serpentine blade slams into the ice trail, getting stuck in the process.
Yaoyorozu tugs hard, releasing the blade as Thirteen rushes her. As the blade returns, Thirteen delivers swift jabs to Yaoyorozu’s side, before she slams her hand down on the girl’s wrist, breaking her grip and forcing her to drop her weapon. Thirteen spins and delivers a roundhouse kick right into Yaoyorozu’s head!
“Gah!!” And Yaoyorozu goes down hard, her head pounding with pain!
She struggles to pick herself up, but it’s too much for her as exhaustion begins to finally take its hold over her.
Thirteen looms over the inexperienced fighter with poise and confidence. “Did you really think you could take me one on one?”
Yaoyorozu shakes her head between heavy breaths. “No…I…didn’t.” Despite the sweat, burning lungs, and aching body Yaoyorozu smirks up at Thirteen. “And…that was…the plan.”
Thirteen’s eyes widen. “What…?”
“Yaoyorozu!!”
Flames erupt from the opposite end of the ice wall, Yaoyorozu grabs her head, pressing it against the ground as the flames rage over her head! The raging inferno rushes forward right for an unprepared Thirteen!
“YEAAAA!!!” Thirteen cries out as the force of the flames launch her backwards!
Thank goodness her zero-suit can take flames just as well as her hero costume, but the pressure of the attack is far too great!!
“Shinso!!” The flames disperse, almost as if they're being shoved aside as Shinso bursts through them like a demon!
Shinso lashes out with his Binding Cloth, it wraps Thirteen’s midsection binding her arms against her side! “Get over here!!”
Payback's a bitch as Shinso pulls back hard and Thirteen is thrusted forward!
“Todoroki!!”
Thirteen is helpless, the kids too close for her to use Blackhole, as she’s thrusted right towards the dual-haired teen. Just as she’s about to slam into him, Shoto unleashes a burst of frozen ice right from the ground. The ice engulfs her entire lower half, freezing her in place.
A smiling Yaoyorozu uses her Zircon Blade as a support to get herself off the ground. “We win.”
Thirteen chuckles as the countdown blares in the background, they did pass and in the nick of time too. “Now that was impressive.”
In the background One-One stumbles and wobbles about, trying to regain his balance. ^M-Mmost iiimpresive!^ And down he goes again, his legs twitching as his inner circuits try to recover after the EMP.
Yaoyorozu smiles on, tears pricking her eyes. “I…we did it…” Her eyes widen, her pupils fading out and all before she passes out into a slump on the ground.
Her teammates and Thirteen cry out in worry! “Yaoyorozu?!”
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“I should smack you all!” Recovery Girl is steaming mad, shaking her cane in the air as she tends to Yaoyorozu’s head, bandaging it up.
“Especially you, dearie.” She huffs down at Yaoyorozu. “You pushed yourself too far.” She eyes the Kiran Blade sitting nearby. “Whatever that material is, it put too much strain on your body. Your nutrition levels and fat reserves are far too low and with you exerting yourself out there.” She shakes her head not even wanting to think about the consequences to the girl’s overall health. “You’re lucky the damage wasn’t any worse, do something like this again and the damage might be life threatening.”
Her teammates sit nearby, Shoto starts in his seat. “Life threatening?”
“Yes.” Recovery Girl nods. “Ms. Yaoyorozu’s Quirk relies on her own fat reserves and nutrient levels in order to produce any items. But those crystals and whatnot take up far too much, more so than she can actually provide even with its rather small size.”
Must be a consequence of such a complex and complicated molecular structure not to mention adding in the components of one’s own DNA. It’s nothing short of genius actually, especially when you consider she was able to throw it together, albeit in ten minutes or so.
Someone else chuckles from the nearby bed. “Yeah, but it sure was cool.”
Recovery Girl scowls at her co-worker. “Oh, hush you.”
A patched up Thirteen sits up in her bed, grinning like a goofball. “Sorry but come on. That sword is hella cool.”
“See!” Shinso springs out of his seat! “I called it!”
Thirteen burst out laughing! “Haha!”
Yaoyorozu struggles to laugh, but soon she ends up coughing and wheezing, her strength and energy levels are still nowhere where they need to be.
Shoto frowns as he stands beside her bed.
Yaoyorozu turns to look up at him, curious as to what he needs. “Todoroki?”
He peers down at her, his gaze soft and proud all at once. “It went exactly according to your plan. Nice job.”
Yaoyorozu frowns, turning her head away. “Honestly, it shouldn’t have worked out.” She chokes back a sob. “I was totally outmatched, I should have had all of us take her on at once, rather than be a lone distraction. Not to mention she still ended up being far faster without her suit than with it. Also…” Her gaze falls. “If she were a real villain, she would have used her Quirk, Blackhole, regardless if we are students. In all we shouldn’t have won.”
Thirteen shakes her head, a soft smile grazing her lips. “Don’t think that for a second. Sure I was the one that said to think of us as villains. And yeah, we’ll try to act the part, but I’m still your teacher.” So of course she’s not going to try and outright kill them!! That’d be a lawsuit waiting to happen! Also she cares too much to even attempt such a thing.
Thirteen leans over the side, giving the young woman a bright supportive grin. “And as your teacher I want to see my students succeed. And Yaoyorozu you did that today. You went beyond and really showed everyone that you have what it takes to be a real hero.”
Tears prick at Yaoyorozu’s eyes, she tries to blink them away but it’s no good.
“And promise me, promise me you won’t ever doubt yourself again.”
“I…I…” Momo looks Thirteen right in the eyes, her soul burning with newly regained confidence. “I promise.” She’ll become a confident hero that’ll make her proud!
And Thirteen has no doubt about that either. “At a girl.”
Recovery Girl smiles on as do the boys they have a lot to be proud of today. They each improved and grew and took another step forward towards their futures. And the crystal sword sitting beside Momo's bed is a clear indication of that.
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Aizawa eyes the monitor as the end of the match replays before his eyes once again.
He sighs almost like he’s exhausted even though he was only a spectator. ‘Well done you three. You all may have had a shaky start but you all persevered.’
That said he will have to deduct points for how much time they wasted, seriously they nearly ran out the clock at the end. Guess that’s just proof that they still need to improve, but there'll be plenty of time for that during the summer.
Ochaco’s grin stretches from ear to ear, as he hops in place. “Way to go guys!! Did you see that, Deku?! She used that Diamondhead crystal to make a sword! A freaking sword! So cool!”
Izuku nods his eyes glued to the screen.
“I’m fired up now!” Ochaco thrusts her fist into the air. “Look out All Might cause we’re coming for ya!! Haha!
Izuku’s fists clench at his side, his emerald eyes locking onto the screen. A silent inferno begins to swirl within him as the next match begins. The pounding of his heart drums in his ears as the next matches go by and with each one is another minute closer to his own. To his own match against the Number One Hero, the Symbol of Peace. Against…
“All Might…”
Notes:
There you have it that was the start of the Final Exam Arc! Although the end of it will occur in the next chapter. Yeah so if you couldn’t tell, I didn’t really want to sit down and write out each and every match. It would have been too much and would really slow things down. So I kept most of the matches the exact same, minus the ones I listed out. I told myself that these Final Exams shouldn’t take longer than 2 chapters hence why several teams have 3 people rather than 2. Plus that doesn’t seem like a hard and fast rule, I mean some of you guys thought Izuku should take the test alone, so.
Anyway next time we’ll be having Izuku, Ochaco, and Bakugou vs. All Might! And oh boy I am dying to show you guys what’ll happen!
That said I may take longer for this chapter. I want to make sure I get it right, so I need to take my time with it, so I probably won’t have it ready any time next week.
*Fun fact my original idea for this chapter (Ch.42) was to have Eraserhead fight Shoto, Momo, and Shinso rather than Thirteen. But there was a problem, the problem being it would have been the exact same events as the anime: just add in Shinso in the background and throw in a crystal sword and that’d be it. So after talking it out, I swapped Aizawa for Thirteen, which I thought was fun because I was able to be a lot more creative. But I hope it wasn’t a deal breaker for some of you guys. I at least hope it was fun.
*Also I thought it was a good way to finally address Thirteen’s gender and why I was referring to them as they for so long. The reason I was referring to Thirteen as “they” rather than him or her was because when I started writing her gender had yet to be revealed. There wasn't even a clue as to what she really looked like, but there’s confirmation now. So I went with it and from now on I will be using “she/her” for Thirteen. That said we still don’t know what she completely looks like, but whatever.
*Finally, what did you guys think of Momo Yaoyorozu’s Zircon Blade? Is it cool? Too much? Too little? Underwhelming? Please let me know. To be honest when I had Diamondhead give Momo that crystal, at the time, I had no idea what I was actually going to do with it. But somehow, I came to the idea of a shape shifting sword? Huh? I think it’s cool but what do you guys think?
And if it isn’t enough, well I think other ideas could potentially play out later on throughout the story as part of her character development. But the Zircon Blade will have to do for now.
Chapter 48: The Final Straw
Summary:
It's Izuku, Ochaco, and Bakugou vs. All Might.
How will they fare? Hell, how will Izuku fare? Only one way to find out! So, give this chapter a read!
Notes:
Disclaimer I do not own the rights to Ben 10 or MHA.
*BTW after talking with one of my “editors” I decided to keep referring Thirteen as “they” rather than “she/her.” Is Thirteen a woman? Yes. But I will continue to refer to their pronouns as “they/them.” And I plan on editing that for Ch.42 next chance I get (probably later today, 3/26/2021).
*Also there was so confusion last time regarding the Zircon Sword. This is on me, I should have explained it better at the end of the chapter in the AN. Anyway, I was trying to say that if Momo tries to make more crystals than she’ll be putting her own health/life in danger. BUT she can wield the sword with her Quirk to have it change shape without risking her own health. So she can still and will be using that sword in the future but don’t expect more weapons or boosts for a while. Those will come as she develops her Quirk and the story progresses.
*Also thanks again to “Drag0n5on” who was kind enough to create another stelar opening for us! Thank you “Drag0n5on”!
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
“I couldn't be more thrilled!” Tenya Iida pushes up his glasses that glow under the light of the giant monitor. “Everyone is performing so well!”
So many have managed to pass their exams shortly after he joined the others in the Monitor Room: Koji Koda, Kyoka Jiro, Tooru Hagakure, and Mezo Shoji.
Tsuyu Asui frowns. “Well, mostly. Kero.”
Ochaco Uraraka holds a hand over her heart. “A moment of silence for our fallen comrades…”
She is of course referring to those that have been served the humiliating taste of defeat and embarrassment. It first began with Kirishima and Sato, the first two to fall, and then the body count just grew from there.
They’ve lost so many: Mina Ashido, Denki Kaminari, and Yuga Aoyama are all…gone now. Well, okay not gone per say but they definitely won’t be joining their classmates at camp. And what’s worse is that they can’t even say they tried their hardest. Why? BECAUSE THEY NEVER EVEN SAW THEIR OPPONENT!?! Yeah, for half an hour they were running around like mice in a maze from ironically the actual mouse, known as Principal Nezu.
And oh boy, did Ochaco’s blood run cold at the sight. She had no idea Nezu could be so…merciless. Although Recover Girl’s explanation of him being a lab rat does answer why he’s the way that he is. She also mentioned he had a roommate apparently when he was a lab rat, Ochaco wasn’t exactly paying attention though all she was able to catch was that Nezu was very different back then up until he lost his best friend…a rat named Pinky or something like that. She’s not exactly sure she was too busy crying for her friends’ fates.
“What is he doing?” Shota Aizawa grimaces at the screen as Minoru Mineta, tears of blood dripping down his face, flees from Midnight and his sleeping partner, Hanta Sero.
Ochaco cries out in horror!! “IS THAT BLOOD!?!”
Tenya gasps. “Ah, a strategic retreat! Well played Mineta!”
Tsuyu sighs, exasperated. “I…wouldn’t give him that much credit.”
The electronic door leading into the Monitor Room slides open.
“What happened to him? He looks like someone that's had their hopes and dreams turned to dust.”
Ochaco lights up as she spins around. “Shinso!”
“Yo.” Hitoshi Shinso waves her a peace sign as he trudges into the room.
Following him are two others: Shoto Todoroki and a slender woman nearly the same height as the teens.
Tenya lights up. “Todoroki! Shinso! I heard you both performed quiet admirably during your exam! Well done!”
“Thanks man.” Shinso grins rubbing the back of his head. “But we can’t take all the credit.”
Shoto nods. “True.”
Tenya nods. “Ah, yes, Yaoyorozu! I was told she was incredible!”
Ochaco frowns worriedly. “How is she?”
Shoto responds. “She’s fine. Just resting. Apparently generating that sword of hers took a lot out of her.”
From the corner standing alone and silent as ever, Izuku Midoriya's ears perk up with interest. And why wouldn’t he be interested. Yaoyorozu managed to create something unbelievable all from Diamondhead’s crystal. Honestly a part of him, a silent part of him, wants to question her and examine the sword but now is not the time for that.
The woman smiles. “I have to admit it but that Zircon Blade sure was cool.”
And impressively not many things can just tear through a Plumber engineered space suit: padded to absorb attacks, but light to allow her to move around quickly, it’s a genius thing.
Tenya straightens up. “Oh, pardon me. But may I ask who you are?” He raises his hand in greeting.
Tsuyu is just as confused by them. “Sorry but I don’t think we’ve met either.”
Thirteen’s jaw drops to the floor, their eyes wide and turned white as they scream out!! “WHAT!?! SERIOUSLY!?!”
Ochaco mentally motes their reaction. ‘That was quite the reaction.’
Aizawa sighs, annoyed. “You’ve all met.”
Tsuyu and Tenya blink. “Huh?”
From her seat, Recovery Girl snickers. “That there is Thirteen. Minus their costume.”
…
Tenya’s and Tsuyu’s jaws drop to the floor, their eyes wide and turned white as they both scream out!! “WHAT!?! SERIOUSLY!?!”
Ochaco mentally gasps! ‘They had the same reaction!’
Thirteen chuckles sheepishly. “My bad, now that I think about it I guess none of you have ever seen me outside my suit before, huh?” Did it really never occur until now?
Tenya bows! “Please, forgive my ignorance!”
Tsuyu takes a moment to admire Thirteen’s…physique. ‘They look good though.’
From the side Ochaco chuckles nervously, embarrassed that she had the same reaction as them. “He…he. ”
Thirteen turns to her and sighs. “You too huh?”
Ochaco offers up an embarrassed grin. “Yeah, sorry… I had no idea what you looked like…” She gestures to their everything, “that.”
“Hm…” Thirteen gives the girl a suspicious look. “What did you think I looked like?”
Ochaco freezes as her entire face turns a light shade of red. She spins away so the hero can’t see her face. “I don’t want to say…”
Okay that only makes Thirteen want to know even more.
Shinso snickers into his hand. “Aw, too shy to say.”
Ochaco huffs defiantly! “No…yes…”
Thirteen chuckles, finding this all rather amusing. “Uraraka. I’m not going to judge.”
Ohacko fidgets in place, before giving in under everyone’s curious stares. “I had this dumb theory in my head that you…”
“Yeah…?” Thirteen eggs her on.
After another moment of fidgeting in place Oachako breaks, spinning around and yelling out, like she’s ripping off a bandaid!! “I thought your entire body was some ethereal mass or something!!”
…
It takes everyone a moment to register her…theory.
Shinso’s the first to crack, bursting into a fit of laughter! “Hahahaha! Seriously?!”
Ochaco cries out in embarrassment! “Don’t laugh!”
Thirteen tries to hold their smile but it’s certainly a challenge. “Well that’s a…very creative theory.” Wrong but creative.
Ochaco snaps, crying out! “I can tell when you're judging me!!”
Everyone laughs, enjoying the moment of embarrassment and fun. Well mostly everyone. Izuku remains ever silent, standing off to the side like a stranger who isn’t part of the clique, his eyes lost and averted as he folds into himself.
Recovery Girl takes notice, actually she’s been growing more and more concerned for him as the exams go by. He’s barely spoken…actually she hasn’t even heard him speak up once today. She’d like to address it but now is not the time. He’ll be up soon and perhaps the silence is just his nerves getting the better of him. But this also seems off, she’s been in this business for a long time and after all that time one picks up on these things. Something’s bothering him, but what? “Mid-”
“Looks like we’ve reached the end.”
Recovery Girl goes quiet as she turns to see Aizawa.
His gaze locked on the monitor screen where Mineta actually managed to outsmart Midnight! And now he’s carrying his partner through the escape gate with an overly smug grin on his face.
Aizawa’s dark eyes drift over towards the student. “Midoriya. Uraraka.”
The two teens slowly turn towards their homeroom teacher.
“Get yourselves to your designated arena, your exam is about to start.”
They both nod: one with determination as the other one hesitates.
Tenya stands tall as he addresses his comrades! “I wish you the very best!”
Tsuyu chimes in. “Good luck guys.”
Shinso frowns, feeling somewhat nervous for them. “Yeah, seriously you’re going to need it.”
Ochaco frowns, worriedly. Why shouldn’t she be worried? They’re only going up against All Might. The Number One Hero. The Symbol of Peace. That’s all.
…
And que the internal panicking! ‘Why am I all sweaty all of a sudden?!’
A gentle hand rests on Ochaco’s shoulder.
Ochaco peers up to find Thirteen’s soft face smiling down at her. “Relax. Panicking never helped anyone, got that?”
Ochaco nods, biting back her fears.
Thirteen smiles. “I have no doubt that you two will pass.” They smile over at Izuku. “You’re both more than capable.”
That seems to be enough, as Ochaco swallows back her nerves and gives a shaky smile.
“R-right!” The nerves are still there but a part of her starts to grow in excitement. If anything she should look at this differently. This will be the best opportunity to show her mentors, teachers, and All Might what she can really do! She’ll make them all proud. No, they’ll make them all proud! “Let’s go Deku, we got an exam to pass!”
She may be all cheery but Izuku averts his gaze downward, giving her a small nod in return.
Shoto, meanwhile, has his eyes locked onto the monitor where he’s sure to witness a true match of wills. “Facing off against All Might. I’m not sure how you exactly plan on winning.” Afterall. “He is the Number One Hero for a reason.”
Izuku chokes, his body trembles for a moment, all the while a boiling sensation of mixed emotions begins to slowly but surely rise within him.
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(Opening Theme: DR STONE OP 2 - https://youtu.be/SohCAjC-Npk )
(Instrumentals)
Sora no iro wa dō s***
Izuku walks forward with a determined expression before passing by Ochako
aoku mieru no darō ka
Ochaco continues walking forward before everything fades as she walks down a dark corridor
Kiiroi koe agete umareta
The corridor reveals the silhouettes of the past OFA users before Ochaco closes her eyes to meditate.
kioku no shizukesa Ao to kiiro ga
Izuku slowly opens his eyes before zooming out to show him sitting on a fence along with Bakugo and Henzu all of them with serious expressions before Henzu and Bakugo fade away.
mazariatte dekita midori ni wa hana o
Izuku blinks as he stands next to Ochaco in front of the U.A. gates.
Hana ni wa mizu o Boku ni wa yume o
The two look at each other in surprise before smiling and begin running.
Zero ni tashite ima o kakete Nagareru akai chi moyō
The Omnitrix aliens leap into action showing off their powers ending with several silhouettes coming into view before disappearing behind a flash of green light!
Sen o hīte kara o watte Saita hana no moyō
Shinso leads the charge for Class 1-A with Todoroki as he unleashes a torrent of flames
Tsunagu teishiki fude o motte
The flames dissipate to reveal Hisashi smiling at the camera while Endeavor and All Might stand behind him facing in opposite directions
Torimodoshite iku inochi
The U.A. staff follow after as they jump into the fray.
Me ni mienai rūru e ima ikō,
Gang Orca, Gran Torino, Manual, and other pros go about their daily patrol.
Ikōru o sagashi ni iku
Nezu sits at his desk as silhouettes of the plumber magistrate appear behind him.
Douka ga junsui na hajimari wo Shodou ni kawaru hajimari wo
Izuku rides on his hoverboard while Ochaco flies next to him as they charge in at the villains.
Seimeiryoku wo
Henzu stands next to Shigaraki with the shadows of the League of Villains behind them.
sangenshoku de hirogete
Up in space Vilgax narrows his eyes as bubbles form in his pod.
Hakushi no jidai kako mo sute kizukiage kizukasare
It shows Izuku and Ochaco's misadventures as space cadets. Ditto and Ochaco Posing as Men in Black, Ochaco cheering as Grey Matter tries to hotwire a space ship only for Thirteen to catch them, Ochaco and ML-E chanting as Heatblast bakes Mochi for them. Ochaco holding Four Arms Bridal style as they run from an angry Mr. Bauman.
Kuroku natte
Izuku grins as he cocks his fist as the Omnitrix begins to glow.
imada kishite
Ochaco does the same as pink energy surrounds her.
tsumiage tsugi wa doko e
The two roar out as they punch forward.
Aa bokura no ashita ni iro ga attara
Izuku and Ochaco walk forward as they look into the night sky with smiles.
Me ni mieru iro ni sā
They turn to look at each other before holding out their fists.
Egaite iku
The two reach out and bump fist under the night sky.
(Opening Theme was Illustrated by Drag0n5on)
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Ch.43 The Final Straw
Izuku’s lips tighten as his body trembles ever so slightly as the massive gates shut closed behind him, and the Practical Exam officially begins.
Izuku takes a moment to take in the all too familiar arena that is modeled to be a giant model of a city field with tall office buildings, that are all lined up at the slides of the main road that stretches to the otherside of the arena,
With his hair draped over his eyes, Izuku peers to his teammates: Ochaco seems to be in a mixture of nervousness and excitement, and Katsuki Bakugou looks like he’s about to murder a man in cold blood.
As if he senses his eyes on him, Bakugou peers back at Izuku, his red eye narrowing at the sight of him.
Izuku averts his gaze, not wanting to instigate anything…
Bakugou tsks, turning his head away, and without warning he marches forward.
Having missed all that, Ochaco gasps, realizing he’s leaving them and hurries after him.
Izuku hesitates before shadowing the two of them.
As they march through the center of the arena, down the main road, Ochaco gives a huff as a glint of determination gleams in her eyes. “Alright.” She turns to the greenette. “First things first, we need a plan.”
Izuku’s gaze doesn’t move away from his shoes, grabbing his arm and tucking himself inward his insides twisting and plummeting with dread and sorrow.
“Um, Deku…?” She frowns. “Are you feeling up to this?”
“Tsk.”
Ochaco raises an eyebrow at the tsking Bakugou.
The ash-blonde doesn’t even have the decency to look at them as he continues forward. “Ignore him.”
Ochaco huffs before deciding to ignore the blonde’s advice. “Hey, Deku, are you okay. We really need you on this.”
Before Deku can reply Bakugou cuts in all defiantly and angrily. “We don’t need him. He’ll only get in the way.”
Ochaco’s starting to lose her patience here. “Oh yeah?”
Bakugou glares back at her. “Yeah. Fucking Deku’s too chicken shit to wanna fight All Might. He’s the guy’s biggest nerdy fan.” He turns his gaze forward, down the main road where said opponent lies in waiting. “Knowing Deku, he wants to run and hide rather than fight his childhood hero.”
Izuku folds in on himself, grimacing seemingly from pain.
Bakugou glares back, already fed up with him. “I’m right, aren’t I?”
Still averting his gaze and not a single word being peeped out, the greenette turns away in shame.
“Tsk. Fucking knew it.” Bakugou snarls.
He’s known Deku for literally his whole life, he knows how he thinks. So the moment Mr. Aizawa said they were fighting All Might, he pretty much accepted the fact that it’ll really be him and Uraraka fighting. Deku worships the ground that All Might steps on: hell his bedroom is just a shrine dedicated to the man.
And honestly it really sucks. Bakugou hates to admit it but Deku’s Quirk would have been absolutely perfect for this exam, for fighting All Might. But his glorification and worship are only going to anchor him down. Fuck, he’s going to be useless!
“You better not slow us down shitty nerd!”
Ochaco glares right at the back of Bakugou’s head, rushing forward to match his stride. “What is with you?!”
“Huh?!”
“Are you mental?” Scratch that, he is. “We need Deku if we’re going to have any chance of passing! With One Man Army and his brain we’ll actually have a chance against All Might!”
Bakugou’s eyes narrow, his eyes piercing into her very soul. “Deku will only slow us down and get in the way. One Man Army is powerful, even I’ll admit that, but Deku’s fucking nerdy self and asskissing hero worship will just get in the way.” He won’t fight All Might. He won’t fight his hero. His idol. “He’ll be fucking useless.”
Izuku winces as something within him slowly begins to crack.
Ochaco snaps back! “Then what’s your plan?! If you ask me, Deku’s got the right idea then!”
Bakugou bares his teeth in annoyance. “I’m not running away from this fight. It’ll look better if we blast that smile off his face.” His eyes narrow. “I’m gonna toy with him until the time is almost up, and then knock him unconscious for real.”
Ochaco’s eyebrows furrow in annoyance, offended on Deku’s behalf. “You can’t be serious. We don’t stand a chance not unless we all pull together here. I thought you already got over this, you can’t take him alone! None of us can!”
Bakugou stops forcing the others to follow suit before he raises an eyebrow at the brunette. “Please, don’t tell me you’re fucking scared too?”
Ochaco pouts in annoyance.
Bakugou stares right back at her. “Come on be honest you wanna beat him too, don’t you?” His eyes narrow. “You wanna surpass him.”
Ochaco frowns, surpassing All Might is one thing but…she can’t deny the fact that a part of her wants to win. To win against All Might. But fighting him head on isn’t exactly the best way to go about it.
“Fine…” She sighs, giving in, it’s clear Bakugou isn’t going to see reason so she needs to compromise. “We’ll do it your way. But!! The moment we’re in over our heads you have to promise that we’ll go about this differently.”
“I ain’t running away!!”
“I never said that!” Ochaco shakes her head. “All I’m saying is that we’ll need to regroup and rethink our plan. Is that okay?”
Yeah, that’s okay. “Whatever.” Bakugou turns his head away. “As long as I get the first crack at All Might I don’t care!”
Ochaco sighs, looks like she was able to get him to compromise. It may not be what she wanted but they at least now have a chance, hopefully.
Izuku watches on, his insides twisting with every mention of the hero’s name. These two can’t be serious? They are though, he knows that. Neither of them would willingly pass up the chance to take on the Number One Hero.
But can he do the same…? Can he stand up in front of the man who…? “No…”
Ochaco frowns and even Bakugou seems to be caught off guard. They both seem confused and unsure if they heard Deku correctly since he spoke so softly and sorrowfully.
“We won’t win if we fight…” Without meeting either of their eyes, Izuku whimpers, bringing his shoulder in closer like he’s tucking into an invisible shell. “We’re up against All Might. There’s no feasible way we can fight him.” It’ll be no use, it’s All Might! “Combat is out of the question. It’d be impossible to beat him in a fight.” Izuku folds even more into himself, trembling. “It’s…a bad idea…”
Ochaco frowns. “Deku…”
Bakugou scowls in annoyance and with every word spoken he becomes angrier and angrier.
Izuku grabs his arms, shaking. “We can’t. We can’t win-GHA!!”
In a blink of an eye a furious Bakugou backhands the trembling greenette, knocking him to the ground!
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
Watching from the Monitor Room Recovery Girl frowns at the sight of the trio.
Aizawa frowns, shaking his head in disappointment. “Bakugou and Midoriya just seem incapable of compromising. And that’s going to cost them dearly.”
Shoto frowns. “Is that why you paired them together?”
“Yes. Those two need to learn here and now that petty arguments have to put aside especially when fighting villains. If they can’t do that then they’ll never be heroes.”
“Mr. Aizawa!” Tenya is horrid to hear such words from a teacher in reference to his own students. “Isn’t that a little presumptuous to say?!”
“No it’s not. Kero. ” Tsuyu frowns. “If they aren’t able to work together in a controlled setting, then they won’t be able to in the field. Especially if someone else’s life is on the line.”
“Ah! I…I see.”
Aizawa approves as well. “Good to see some of you can see the logic in this.”
Shinso frowns. “Okay so then, why’s Uraraka there?”
Aizawa answers. “To mediate.”
Recovery Girl goes ahead and explains further. “She’s already shown to be willing to work with Bakugou and miraculously he’s somewhat okay with listening to her. Hopefully she can keep their focus on the matter at hand.”
On the screen they can see Uraraka berating the pissed off Bakugou as Midoriya remains on the ground, holding his cheek as he looks away from the cameras.
Recovery Girl frowns. “But it looks like she’ll have her work cut out for her as a peacekeeper.”
Shinso folds his arms watching as Bakugou snaps back. “I kinda wanna know what they’re saying though.”
Currently only Recovery Girl and Aizawa have access to the audio as they are the only ones with mics in their ears allowing them to listen in. And right now they know that’s everything going on: they know Midoriya’s too scared to fight, Bakugou seems driven to prove himself, and Uraraka is doing the best she can to keep things together.
Combine all that together, and it really is a recipe for disaster.
And Recovery Girl knows it. “Oh dear. She’s trying her best but there’s absolutely no teamwork between those boys. Don’t they realize the trial ahead of them?”
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
“HERE WE GO.” All Might stands tall like at the opposite end of the main road with the escape gate standing just behind him.
His grin is wide, his muscles are bulging, and even with the heavy weights strapped to him, he’s ready to go.
Even from this distance he can make out the trio of colorful students.
And so he begins to wind up, slowly reeling back his fist. “I AM HERE TO TEST THEM.”
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
Izuku is shaking, his head is pounding as his insides boil up but he’s actively restraining himself, bottling up all these twisting emotions!
Ochaco gasps in horror! “Bakugou!!”
He ignores her, instead he looms over Deku who’s holding the side of his reddened face.
Izuku quivers, his insides coiling together, as his watery gaze peers up at the annoyed ash-blonde.
“Shut up, Deku.” Bakugou’s voice is quiet, with an underlying threatening tone. “I’m going to show everyone how much better I am. How much stronger I am.” His glare hardens. “And I’m not about to let you hold me back.” He frowns, his hair casting a shadow over his eyes. “If you want to run away and hide then be my guest. Go sit on the sidelines. But.” His eyes gleam with a raging fire. “Don’t you dare say we can’t win.” If Uraraka and him have to be the ones to fight then so be it, but Deku shouldn’t rob them of this opportunity! “Be useless for all I care!
And just like that, the cracking within Izuku increases. Like a glass window begging to break apart but has yet to shatter.
Ochaco snaps at the ash-blonde! “Bakugou!! How could you say that?!”
“Huh?” Bakugou gives her one nasty scowl. “Me? Ask him that.” Why? “He’s got all sorts of crazy ass powers at his fingertips and yet he wants to run and hide. He doesn’t want to step up. And one thing I can’t stand are weaklings trying to get in my way to becoming Number One.” He glares down at Deku with disapproval. “It’s simple, get on board or get out of the way.”
A harsh silence befalls them at Bakugou’s words. Why? Because there is some underlying truth here.
Essentially, Midoriya is saying that they have no chance of winning. That is what he’s telling them. In other words, what he’s saying is that he doubts any of their abilities, Quirks, and skills. That none of their hard work or effort is even worth a thing, especially not against All Might.
And for Bakugou, that’s just guaranteed to piss him off. After all he has something to prove, a goal to be Number One. It does cross his mind that perhaps Deku’s acting off since his old man has returned, but that’s no excuse. He needs to focus and get with the program, but if he’s not then he better not bring the rest of them down with him!
Before anyone can speak, something catches their ears making them freeze in place. The sound of crashing, shattering glass and rushing wind grows louder and louder!!
And then a massive gailing whirlwind rampages through the main street, right towards them!! The gale crashes and smashes through the city demolishing sides of the buildings as if they were made of cardboard, the glass windows shatter upon impact, light posts bend and snap at their bases, cars are flung into the air, and even the street is uprooted and destroyed as the wind pressure leaves behind a massive narrow crater in its wake!!
The wind blast slams into the teens tossing them backwards as glass and rubble fly all around them!! “GAAAAHHHH!!!”
It’s nothing but total havoc and destruction as they’re flung backwards, all three being thrown onto their backs as the wind rages around them!!
Soon the whirlwind passes leaving behind a trail of destruction that stretches from one end of the arena to the other.
A battered and bruised Bakugou is the first one to his feet amongst the rubble. Peering around many of the buildings on the main road are still standing but that’s not saying much as the sides closest to the road have been ripped away exposing the fake offices and rooms inside.
Ochaco struggles to her feet, she lost her visor in the whirlwind leaving her face exposed.
And Izuku remains on the ground, trembling with fear.
“WHO REALLY CARES IF I DESTROY THIS CITY?” From within the dust cloud and destruction, All Might appears like a surprise-boss of an RPG, one that strikes when your HP is low, and you’ve run out of medicine.
Ochaco freezes. ‘When did he get…’
Bakugou is grinning, but it’s clear he’s just as terrified. ‘What? How is he…’
They both have the same thought. ‘…so intimidating?’
From the ground, Izuku’s eyes widen, shaking as his heart plummets.
All Might takes one step forward and the pure pressure of his step is enough to generate another whirlwind!! Thankfully this gust is nowhere near the same power level as the last one but it’s still enough to force the students to brace themselves.
“IF YOU THINK OF THIS AS AN EXAM AND NOT A REAL FIGHT, YOU’LL BE SORRY.” He grins at them, his sapphire eyes shining with excitement. “I’M A VILLAIN NOW, HEROES. REMEMBER THAT. YOU’D BETTER COME AT ME WITH EVERYTHING YOU’VE GOT. I WON’T PULL MY PUNCHES!”
Izuku pales, frozen in place, unable to look away from the titan before him.
And said titan charges forward with the intent to deliver the beat down of the century!
Bakugou doesn't hesitate to counter. “How about a Stun Grenade!” He throws his palm forward and unleashes a blinding explosion that acts much like a flashbang!
It works as All Might stops, blinded by the piercing light!
“You want everything I’ve got, All Might?!” Bakugou pounces forward, refusing to show fear and hesitation! “Like that wasn’t my plan! I never-” All Might’s massively muscular hand catches Bakugou by his freaking face, muffling his mouth!! “-hold back, dammit!”
Bakugou shoots out his hands and unleashes a barrage of rapid-fire blasts right into All Might’s own face!! The blasts are small; but enough to burn and chip away at the target’s stamina.
“OW, OW, OW!” But this is no ordinary target, as a grinning All Might just takes the hits while still holding onto Bakugou’s face. 'NORMALLY, IF YOU GRAB SOMEONE’S FACE, THEY REFLEXIVELY TRY TO PULL YOUR HAND OFF OF IT.’ Even through the blasts he can see Bakugou’s red gaze piercing into his soul. ‘GUESS THIS KID REALLY IS CONCERNED ONLY WITH DEFEATING ME, NO MATTER THE COST.’
With unflinching composure, All Might spins around, bringing Bakugou along with him before throwing him headfirst into the dirt!!
He mercifully let’s go of Bakugou’s face, who immediately gasps for air after having the wind knocked out of him and his head spins in pain.
“YOUR RAPID-FIRE BLASTS WERE WEAK, HARDLY MORE THAN A STING.” He turns to eye Ochaco who’s been too stunned to move. “NOW.” In a blink of an eye he’s gone only to reappear right behind his young student. “DON’T THINK I’VE FORGOTTEN ABOUT YOU ALREADY, YOUNG URARAKA.” His eyes gleam with resolve, letting them all know that he truly has no intentions of holding back.
Ochaco freezes and even though Izuku is to the side an overwhelming amount of fear and danger floods them both. For some reason they’re suddenly reminded of the Hero Killer, and how intense he was. And that instantly kicks in their fight and flight instincts!
In Ochaco’s case, she fights! “Smash!!” With a lack of concentration, she throws her glowing fist forward!
All Might smiles on as he steps to the side avoiding the weak ass smash. “HAHA! YOU CALL THAT A SMASH?”
As Ochaco moves with her fist All Might’s fist slams into her gut launching her backwards and right into the side of the destroyed building!
“Gahh!!” Ochaco retches in pain as the wind is knocked out of her and her body slams into a pile of bricks!
“COME NOW IS THAT IT? I DIDN’T EVEN PUT MY BACK INTO IT.” Having dealt damage to two of them already, All Might turns his attention to the last member of this party.
Still on the ground, trembling, Izuku gasps his survival instincts kicking in forcing him to take flight! Literally. From his side, Izuku tosses out his hoverboard, it expands, and the moment his feet touch the device he takes off into the air!! His eyes never leaving All Might, in case he comes chasing after him.
“UH-UH. DO YOU THINK THAT’S GOING TO WORK?” The poor boy is so distracted he’s lost all sense of battlefield awareness. So much so that All Might doesn't have to do anything right now.
“Ah- Move it!”
Izuku turns his head and his eyes widen in surprise as Bakugou comes flying at him!!
“Bakugou!!”
And blam! They slam into each other in a midair collision, having accidentally got in each other's way! They tumble to the ground hard, so much so Izuku is launched off the hoverboard and the device flies off crashing into a pile of rubble.
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
Recovery Girl frowns watching as the boys struggle. “One wants to defeat All Might. The other thinks only of running.” They’re objectives are total opposites of each other. And she knows from experience that teammates with different objectives will not survive for very long.
Shoto frowns at the screen. “What are they doing?”
Tenya frowns, confused. “Why isn’t Midoriya fighting back?”
Tsuyu frowns, concerned. “They really have no coordination.”
Shinso raises an eyebrow looking to his classmates for an answer. “So, um, when did Midoriya get a freaking hoverboard?”
Tenya’s hands chop into the air. “Why he’s had that for some time.”
Shoto nods. “Yeah, he told us he got it from a friend apparently.” Him and Iida asked about it during their stay in the hospital after the Hero Killer incident.
“Huh, neat.”
Meanwhile, Aizawa is in total disbelief here, he knew these three wouldn’t have it easy, but he expected a way better performance than this. Uraraka is speedy, powerful and adaptable, Bakugou has stellar control over his Quirk and his combat abilities are nothing to shrug off, and Midoriya’s brain and power are simply remarkable. Yet this is by far the worst showing that any of them have had. Especially for the latter two.
‘Bakugou, Midoriya, I knew their situation was a complicated one, but this is something else.’ They can’t even be on the same page with each other, instead they get in each other's way. ‘Disappointing. Instead of pushing each other forward, they drag each other down.’
Aizawa hides his frown behind his scarf as he contemplates. ‘But…something else is at play here.’ With the earpiece in his ear, he listened as Midoriya opposed his teammates wanting to fight, and he could hear him trembling and holding himself back. On the surface that’s understandable, they are up against the Number One Hero, a bit unfair but Aizawa thought it necessary to force these two to work together.
But the way Midoriya froze up when All Might appeared…was different.
This kid’s faced a legion of villains, performed admirably in the Sports Festival, fought and beat the Hero Killer, a villain who was known for taking down pro heroes! And yet…he isn’t facing this challenge at all… He hasn’t even touched that watch of his. At first, he thought it was because he was waiting, since he has a time limit and all, but that’s not it anymore.
Something’s just not right here. And something’s telling him that it might not be because of Bakugou… So then what is it?
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
Bakugou springs to his feet and immediately marches forward like a samurai ready to face the beast.
Izuku on the other hand, couldn’t be in a more opposite state. “We…we can’t beat him…”
“Shut up.” Bakugou snaps as he stomps past the prone greenette. “I will win this. Because that’s what it means to be a hero, Deku!”
He is going to win!! And Deku isn’t going to mess that up! It’s how things are supposed to be, true heroes are those that win no matter the odds. It doesn’t matter what the villain’s Quirk is, or how strong they are. A hero will always beat them and come out the victor! That’s what makes a true hero in his eyes.
And Izuku knows this too. At least he knows that’s how Bakugou sees things…
##########(Flashback)#########
“Hey! Did you see what he just did?!” A younger Kacchan grins joyfully at the TV screens behind the glass store window. “Man, it doesn’t get any cooler than All Might!”
As kids Kacchan and Izuku used to hang around in the local electronic shop: they had toys, collectables, and of course TVs that were always tuned into the hero outlets.
And of course they were all glued to the screens whenever a clip of All Might popped up.
Izuku remembers it well, it was a clip of All Might facing off against 4 different villains all at once!
It was awesome, and young Kacchan definitely thought so! “He’ll beat those villains, even though they’re fighting him four to one! He’s the best! Y’see that?” Young Kacchan throws his own shadow punches and kicks as he watches All Might take down the villains! “I bet he’ll dodge and then punch! They’ll think they’ve won, then-” He throws a jab, a punch and a kick as he yells out! “-Ha! Oh! Ah!”
Honestly watching Kacchan get all fanboy like he does, always seemed to bring a smile to a Young Izuku’s face. Why? Because they loved the same thing, they admired All Might with all their hearts, and both dreamed of the day that they could join his ranks.
“Look! He totally stomped ‘em!” A huge innocent and gleeful grin plays on the ash-blonde’s soft face: not yet tampered by a permanent scowl. “That’s why he’s the greatest. No matter how much trouble he’s in, he’s always the winner.”
########(End Flashback)#######
In Bakugou’s eyes, that’s what makes a true hero…
So, by his definition… Izuku isn’t a hero… He’s useless…
The small crack within Izuku, grows again like sharp roots tearing through the soil that is his sanity.
“I HAVE A SPECIAL GIFT FOR THE ONE WHO WANTS TO RUN!”
Izuku gasps a bit of tears pricking at the corners of his eyes as he snaps his head up in shock!
From up above All Might is coming in for a crash landing with a broken railing in hand!!
“Deku!!” A pink blur grabs him and pulls him away just as the legs of the railing impale the ground!!
“I MISSED. UH?” Turning All Might is met with an Explosion to the face. “YOW! THAT STINGS!”
As Bakugou delivers Explosion after Explosion, Izuku pants, bent over on the ground as a panting Ochaco stands over him.
As he tries to calm his racing heart, Izuku pants up a thank you. “Th-...thanks.”
With a quick inhale, Ochaco dryly exclaims. “Thank me by getting your head in the game.”
Woah where’d that come from?!
Izuku blinks, not expecting that at all.
Ochaco gives him a soft and concerned yet almost disappointing look. “Deku, what’s going on with you?”
His lips press tightly together, not daring to speak because he’s too afraid of what he might say.
Ochaco frowns, worried, at first, she thought it was nervousness but now she knows it’s something else. She would like to get to the bottom of this, but during a test is literally the worst time to do that! They are literally on the clock here and fighting All Might, they can’t afford to get distracted!! Or else.
“Deku, we need you.” She speaks softly yet pointily. “I don’t know what’s going on but you gotta get your head in the game.”
His gaze falls away from her.
In the background more Explosions ring out followed by All Might’s laughter, pulling Ochaco’s attention away.
She takes a step ready to run in as Bakugou leaps away before All Might can grab him, but she hesitates to check up on Deku one last time. “This will sound harsh, but…Bakugou’s right.” Oh, god does that leave a bad taste in her mouth.
Izuku’s head snaps up at her.
“I wanna win this too. I want to show everyone that I can be a hero too.” She looks back at him, her expression is brimming with determination, but her eyes cry out for him, asking him, begging him to pull himself together. “And I know you want the same.”
*BOOM!!!*
As a massive Explosion roars in the background, Ochaco rushes in leaving the frozen and quivering Deku behind.
She doesn’t want to leave him there; he’s clearly going through something. And dammit does she wish she took notice before! But…right now she needs all her focus on this battle! And the sooner it’s over the sooner she can help him!
“All Might!!” Ochaco screams at the top of her lungs as she rushes forward at full speed!
All Might turns, momentarily distracted by her call.
With her drive to win pushing her, she focuses, her hands glowing pink before she swings her hands forward unleashes a shower of pink orbs! “Ryou Spheres!!”
The balls of anti-gravity and power race through the air like a rain of baseballs that were pitched out in rapid succession of each other.
“HAHA!” Despite the onslaught, the grinning hero sidesteps each and every sphere with incredible agility, moving like a blur in between each projectile! “IT’S LIKE PLAYING A GAME OF DODGEBALL.”
Not one to give up, Ochaco continues firing off sphere after sphere but each and every one whizzes past the pro hero only to implode upon contact with nearby rubble.
In a blink of an eye her target vanishes from view and then… WHAM!!! Ochaco’s body checked from the side, making her retch in pain as she’s flung to the side. Her feet skid across the ground before giving out from under her, falling and skidding across the ground like a stone over water!
All Might grins, more than happy to take a moment to gloat. “YOU REALLY NEED TO WORK ON YOUR AIM THERE.”
He’s met with a raspy growl from behind. “You bastard.”
BOOOM!!!
An Explosion goes off right in All Might face!! Blinding him and scorching him within a blazing heat!! “OW!”
Bakugou grins, feeling pretty good for having dealt some damage.
As All Might stands there all menacingly, his grin widens. “WAS THAT A LOVE TAP?”
Bakugou’s grin turns nasty as he thrusts his hands forward! “DIE!!!”
His declaration is followed by one massive explosion of fire and smoke!
‘WHAT WAS THAT?’ Covering his mouth from smoke, All Might hesitates as smoke rises all around him. ‘THAT WASN’T DIRECTED AT ME.’ He eyes the smoking ground. ‘HE WAS AIMING FOR THE STREET?’
There’s a gap from within the veil of smoke, through it he can see his successor! She’s battered and bruised, her costume directed and tattered, but it’s clear to him that she’s far from giving up!
Ochaco presses her fingers together and shouts with all her might!! “RELEASE!!”
‘RELEASE?’ Wait, that’s how she dispels her Quirk right? And then realization hits him! “GHA?!”
A whizzing sound greets his ears as he snaps his head up! The smoke rising above is ripped away as a massive piece of rubble comes crashing down!! Followed by another, and another, and another!!
“IT’S A METEOR SHOWER?!” Just like in the Sports Festival!! Massive pieces of rubble come crashing down around All Might!!
‘BUT WHEN DID SHE?’ Another wave of realization hits him!!
Her Ryou Spheres from before weren’t meant to hit him!! But were meant to float up the rubble that he, himself, created when he demolished the road!
But this knowledge comes far too late as the meteor shower crashes down upon him in spectacular fashion!!
An almost nervous smirk forms on the girl’s face. ‘Got ya.”
No, she didn't.
A massive gust tears through the dust cloud and meteor shower, the crashing rubble is flung aside from the sheer power of the whirlwind that whips at the teenagers’ faces.
“RUDE.” After flexing and swinging his fist up and around into the air, a perfectly fine All Might dusts off his costume, taking a second to inspect it for any signs of damage. “YOU DIRTIED MY SUIT. DAMN, AND I JUST HAD IT DRY CLEANED.”
Did that move seriously do nothing?! Actually now that she thinks about that movie is 0:2 so not exactly a move to put all her chips on.
“Rahh!!” With frustration Ochaco rushes in! If she’s going to go down, then she’s going to go out swinging!
From the sidelines, Bakugou grins watching as Ochaco’s body glows under a pink aura. “Crazy bitch.” He blasts himself forward, launching himself right at the powerhouse that is their opponent!
As the two fight on with all their might, despite the impossible odds, Izuku watches on, unable to look away as Explosions and Smashes are thrown across the city street.
He shakes and trembles, his head pounding, and his breath becomes ragged and hasty as his aching heart beats away, filling with more and more the more agony every time he even glances at All Might's grin. His heart pangs with pain with each smash and strike he lands on his teammates who are giving this fight their all! But nothing is working! The worst they’re doing is dirtying his costume!
But what is he doing? Cowering in the corner. Contributing nothing like…like he’s…useless.
Ochaco rushes in, her fist glowing brightly with power! She leaps into the air and jets forward throwing her fist right at the hero! “SMASH!!!” Her fist connects, smashing into the side of All Might’s face!!
“GHH!” All Might’s skull is thrown back but despite that he manages to keep his cool and remain standing!
With the first still connected with his face, All Might grins at his successor. “HEHE. YOU KNOW MAYBE IF YOU PUT MORE INTO THAT, I WOULD HAVE FELT SOMETHING.”
The brunette pales as she tumbles down.
All Might looms over her, massaging and resetting the side of his face. Despite what he said that actually did hurt: gotta look cool in front of the kids after all. “YOU GOTTA PUT MORE UMPH INTO IT.” He raises his fist up over his head. “LIKE THIS.”
Ochaco scrambles to her feet as All Might swings his fist down!!
“Bastard!!” From out of nowhere, Bakugou swoops in and grabs the girl, pulling her away just in time!
A trembling Izuku watches on. Those two are losing, badly, but yet they haven’t even considered giving up. And yet he’s…
“YOUNG MIDORIYA.”
Izuku freezes in place, he can feel it, the intense pressure and danger looming over his tiny pathetic form.
All Might’s towering form looms over him. “ARE YOU FINALLY GOING TO FIGHT?”
Izuku quivers, his entire body trembles as he slowly reaches for the Omnitrix… But then he hesitates. What would be the point? Would it change anything? If he did fight…would All Might see him as a hero, then? If he won?
“Outta the way, Deku!!”
Ochaco grabs Deku and Bakugou blasts All Might!!
“OW!!”
As Ochaco pulls Deku aside.
Bakugou leaps down from above, his arm aimed forward while his other hand grabs the pin to his Grenade Gauntlets! With just one pull of his finger he’ll unleash one hell of an Explosion!!
But All Might knows this as well, because he doesn't hesitate to smash the Gauntlet to bits with one strike of his fist!! “SORRY. DID I RUIN YOUR FINISHING MOVE?”
“Ah?!” Bakugou can’t even react as All Might delivers a solid strike to his gut, making the boy retch up a bit of his breakfast and then he is pulled back down and thrown face first into the dirt!!!
Izuku chokes. “Baku-”
“All Might!!” Ochaco rushes All Might!
She makes herself weightless allowing the Gyro-Disc to launch her forward! She moves like a pink blur as she throws her fist forward! “Mercury Smash!!”
Her fist connects and with the combination of power, speed, and momentum All Might is sent flying backwards, crashing into the side of another building!!
“Bakugou…?!” Izuku rushes to the ash-blonde’s side. “Are you-”
“Shut the fuck up.” Bakugou glares up at Deku with a furious rage. He winces in pain, a bit of blood leaking from his forehead and nose, possibly broken from the impact.
Izuku steps back from both fright and pain.
Bakugou struggles to his feet, he's battered, bruised, and bleeding but despite that he still manages to get up. “I don’t need a worthless scumbag like you holding me back.”
Izuku frowns. What can he say? To defend himself? Nothing. He’s only getting in the way. He’s done nothing to help. He’s…he’s..
And as if he could read his mind, Bakugou turns away and spits out. “You’re so fucking useless, Deku.”
Izuku gasps, his blood going cold as a dark sensation of sorrow and anger begins to rise within him.
Bakugou charges in as All Might pulls himself out of the rubble! He unleashes an onslaught of Explosions at the hero, who takes each one like an immovable mountain.
Soon an exhausted yet determined Uraraka flies in and joins the close quarters fight: throwing punches and slaps, trying to strike All Might or at least make him weightless. But he seems to dodge or block every strike she throws at him! And then he counters, throwing her so hard that’s flung across the road!!
And thus it comes down to Bakugou. He continues with the barrage of attacks, screaming and roaring as he unleashes Explosions after Explosions.
“YOU REALLY ARE A TENACIOUS ONE.” The pro hero either takes the hits or dodges at the last second, continuingly grinning all the while. “MOST IMPRESSIVE, YOUNG BAKUGOU.” He takes the Explosion before throwing his fist forward but Bakugou’s acrobatics is impressive too allowing him to dodge with a few well-timed blasts. “WITH YOUR QUIRK AND SKILL.” All Might’s grin widens as Bakugou stands before him. He can see in his eyes just how determined and driven he is, and for All Might that’s something to admire. “YOU’LL DEFINITELY BE A WORTHY HERO.”
And with that the last of Izuku’s will snaps. And for a brief moment he feels nothing, not his heart, he can’t even sense all the emotions all the turmoil he’s had bottle up begin to spill up to the surface.
But in that moment his mind can’t bear any of it any longer, and his thoughts swirl with conflict!! Bakugou!! Fucking Bakugou is worthy in All Might’s eyes!!
But…but that can’t be right. Yes, Bakugou’s powerful, he’s skilled, and driven…but… How? How could he be worthier than him?!
After all the abuse. The torment. The pain! He’s caused him!! And for what?! Because…because he was Quirkless…!! Because he is Quirkless…?
It’s all the same. Nothing’s changed from back then! He still needs others to bail him out!! Whether it be Henzu from back then or Uraraka now! He always needs others to help him win!
Because…because he's useless. A Useless, Quirkless, kid that got lucky… That isn’t worthy of being a hero.
And thus, the frustration he’s been holding back finally spills out! “HOW COULD YOU, ALL MIGHT!?!”
In an instant the entire world falls silent, the combatants freezing in place, thrown off by Izuku’s sudden outcry.
Even from the monitor room the air has changed. Even though Recovery Girl and Aizawa were the only ones to hear the anger in his voice. The students and Thirteen can tell that something’s very wrong.
Izuku is a complete mess, grasping at his hair as tears prick at his eyes making his vision blurry and putting him in an even more frustrating and messed up state! “How?! Why?! Why aren’t I good enough?!”
All Might’s blood turns cold, filling with a sense of dread.
“How could you praise someone like him?!” He tosses up his shaking finger at Bakugou. “He’s awful, he’s cruel, and petty! And yet.” From between his locks, Izuku’s darkened eyes glare up at the pro hero. “HE CAN BE A HERO!?!”
It hits All Might like a speeding truck. He remembers…remembers the day, nearly a year ago…the day he…he denied Midoriya of his dream. And like that everything clicks into his mind.
From the sidelines, Ochaco watches on. When Deku cried out she instantly knew something was wrong. But…where is this coming from? What’s going on? “Deku…?”
Even Bakugou seems perplexed, and annoyed. On one hand he’s pissed that Deku’s interrupting the exam but on the other hand…just what the hell is this all about?
All Might’s grin fades away, a sorrowful and concerned frown taking its place. “YOUNG MIDORIYA…”
In truth All Might’s always feared this. He honestly thought he was actually able to avoid it, back when he confronted Midoriya about All For One and such… Oh, how he was naive. It was so bluntly obvious from the beginning, since the start of the year. Young Midoriya didn’t just forget about their encounter, how could he? Not after what he said. But throughout the year he did all he could from bringing it up, hoping that Young Midoriya brushed it all aside. God damn was he stupid? He calls himself a hero, someone that can face off against the most dangerous of villains, and yet…he has too much pride to even confront and apologize properly to his own student.
Pathetic.
Unfortunately, they are in the middle of a test. And although he’d like to make up for it, he can’t. At least not right now, this exam is far too important to just ignore. “YOU’RE NOT IN THE RIGHT STATE OF MIND. YOU NEED TO CALM DOWN AND FOCUS ON THE EXAM OR YOU’LL-”
“FUCK THE EXAM!!!”
And like that his mouth is shut tight.
Ochaco lets out an audible gasp, even Bakugou nearly stumbles in surprise. Even from the monitor room, Recovery Girl gasps out loud making the teens and Thirteen even more worried.
Tears are streaming down Izuku’s face, he grapes and claws at his eyes trying to make them stop but it’s like the floodgates have been busted open!! “It’s just like back then! You don’t care about me! I’m not important enough for that, because I’m WORTHLESS!!!”
“YOUNG MIDORIYA, NO. PLEASE YOU MUST UNDERSTAND-”
“Understand what?!” Izuku screams out, his voice seething with rage!! “Understand that I’m just a powerless nobody? That I’m useless? That I’m not worthy of being a hero?!” It pains him to say this, to say all of this, because he knows..he knows it’s true!!
Alright, All Might really needs to rein things in here and quickly. Young Midoriya has clearly forgotten all about the exam, that much is certain, he’s drowning in his own emotions. He needs to pull him out before it’s too late! “MIDORIYA PLEASE THIS ISN’T THE TIME-”
“THE TIME!?!” A very poor choice of words, as Izuku sits and shakes in anger. “You never had time for me?! Because I was Quirkless! Because you thought I was a fucking villain!!”
Ochaco gasps, paling as a certain name drifts into her thoughts: All For One.
Bakugou on the other hand is dead quiet, total surprise written all across his face.
“NOT TRUE!” All Might is internally begging for him to calm down! This is too much all at once and Midoriya’s only getting worse! “DID I HAVE MY SUSPICIOUS. I’M AFRAID I DID. BUT THOSE WERE ONLY PRECAUTIONS. I KNOW YOU’RE WORTHY OF BEING A HERO.”
“LIAR!!!” Izuku heads shakes violently to the sides, whooping around madly! “You’re only saying that to save face!! You thought I was a villain!! And I can only guess that you thought that from the start!!” He inhales and cries out!! “YOU NEVER SAW ME AS A POTENTIAL HERO!!!”
“THAT’S NOT TRUE!!”
Really? So then… “Why…?” The green locks cover Izuku’s eyes, shadowing over them as he goes deathly silent. “is it because I have a Quirk now?”
All Might’s heart stops. His mouth opens and closes as he hesitates to answer. But what can he say? Would any answer he gives really help in this situation? If he chooses poorly it’ll only make things worse.
But it’s already too late, his hesitation was enough of an answer for the troubled young man.
With a swipe at his eyes, the tears finally calming down, but his entire body shakes even more violently, his breathing becoming hasty like he’s hyperventilating, as his agonizing anger desperately claws at him from within. “On that roof…”
Izuku hesitates, but in that moment All Might’s heart plummets as dread begins to creep in from the shadows.
“I asked if a Quirkless loser could become a hero…” Izuku can’t meet his gaze, almost like he’s afraid. He’s relived this moment in his mind for months, nearly every time he even glanced at the hero. Before he always tried to suppress, to forget about it, but…not anymore. “Do you remember… what you told me?”
All Might breaks into a cold sweat; he couldn’t forget that moment even if he wanted to.
“Do you remember, All Might…?”
A harsh and tense pressure befalls the arena, like the whole world has gone silent, waiting in anticipation for All Might's answer.
Ochaco and Bakugou wait on, confused, intrigued, and concerned.
From the monitor room, Recovery Girl is shaking. She knows too. All Might told her himself of what he did. And here it is coming back to haunt him.
Meanwhile, Aizawa listens intently, sweat forming on his brow as his mind races with one question. ‘All Might…what the hell did you do?’
Back within the silent arena, Izuku chokes back a painful sob. Grinding his teeth as his fingernails dig into his palms. “What did you tell me?”
All Might’s blood runs cold, his eyes going in and out of focus. He can’t turn away; he can’t turn away from the boy’s gaze. His eyes are filled with desperation and despair, and he fears what he will set off if he answers.
Izuku chokes. “Say it.”
Silence, All Might shakes his will breaking under the boy’s twisted gaze.
Izuku scowls and screams! “Say it!”
Nothing but silence.
“SAY IT!!!”
All Might warily peers up and his eyes lock with the boy’s tearful broken gaze. And just like that the last of his restraint gives away as guilt takes it hold over him completely. “I SAID… NO.” The instant he said it, he knew, he knew just from the lack of life in the boy’s eyes that he’s in the most pain he’s ever been in. “I DON’T THINK YOU CAN BECOME A HERO WITHOUT A QUIRK.”
Ochaco lets out an audible gasp.
Izuku shakes, his eyes brimming with steaming rage!! “You. Fucking. HYPOCRITE!!!” He roars at the top of his lungs, so loud that one might think the world was shaking!!!
Without even realizing it, in a moment of sheer fury and rage, Izuku slams his hand down onto the Omnitrix!!
The instant he disappears behind the flash of green light, a wave of burning heat floods the city street!!
The dirt and cement under his feet melt and smoke, nearby metal glows red due to the intensity of the heat, and nearby debris spontaneously ignites just from mere exposure!
“CAN I BE A HERO NOW ALL MIGHT!?!” Izuku's distorted voice roars out as the veil of light disperses! “I HAVE A QUIRK NOW! SO, CAN I BECOME A HERO!?!” From within a raging heatwave, Heatblast roars out, his flames expanding and wiping all around his head and exposed limbs!! “AM I WORTHY!?!”
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Shinso screams at the screen. “What the hell’s going on over there?!”
Tsuyu quivers as flames dance on the screen. “Something’s not right. Not right at all.”
“What is he doing?” Tenya remains frozen in place as the camera feed breaks in and out.
“Midoriya…” Shoto can’t look away as the raging hellfire that is Heatblast roars! ‘It’s just like…’ Just like him. When he lashed out during the Sports Festival.
Midoriya’s anger is getting the better of him, and he’s lashing out! But…why?
Thirteen rushes over and grabs Aizawa by the arm, spinning him around! “Tell me what's going on?! What’s wrong with Midoriya?”
Aizawa is shaken as well, he never expected this sort-of outcome especially from Midoriya. But with everything he was able to overhear, he quickly puts two and two together and comes to a reasonable conclusion, although nothing can be certain. “I think…Midoriya’s been bottling up his emotions.”
Thirteen pales. “What…?”
Without looking away from the screen, Recovery Girl interjects. “He’s angry and rightfully so if you ask me.” He was denied his dream by his own hero after all. “But what isn’t right is that he tried to suppress his emotions, kept them hidden.” He bottled them up, hoping they would just disappear. “But no one can suppress their emotions forever, they just build up over time, more and more until…”
Aizawa eyes the screen. “They erupt.”
A horrified Thirteen turns back to the screen, watching on helplessly as flames and heat dance around the furious Heatblast.
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The raging heat is just flooding off Heatblast, melting away and scorching away anything that’s just a few inches away from his body!
Even All Might has to brace himself, as each wave of heat hits him. And he can feel it, each wave just carries the boy’s anger and frustrations. Like it’s a manifestation of his own turmoil and emotions.
He needs to calm him down: forget the Exam at this rate he’s going to cause some serious damage! “YOUNG MIDORIYA. YOU NEED TO CALM YOURSELF BEFORE YOU HURT SOMEBODY!”
The sudden jump in heat is a clear indication that his attempt to calm the situation has failed spectacularly.
“You all just can’t stop hurting me.” Heatblast rages, shaking his head in disbelief. It's like he didn’t even hear All Might’s call, perhaps the raging fire in his ears have clouded his senses. “Bakugou. Henzu. You.” He speaks coldly like saying such names leaves a bad taste in his mouth. “I can't stand… how you all just…-” The flames whip around his head, his palms rise at his sides as wisps of flames dance off his fingers. “-LOOK DOWN ON ME!!!”
Without any warning, flames burst forth like a raging inferno, right towards the stunned All Might!!
Moving almost reflexively, All Might throws himself out of the way at the very last second! The raging flamethrower rushes past, the heat is so intense that the ground glows red and melts away from the intensity. The flame fly into one of the crumbled buildings, setting it ablaze upon impact!!
“You all despise me!” More flames are fired into the air, striking another building! “You all think I’m worthless!” More flames lash out and strike nearby lampposts and melt them away into puddles! “All because I…didn’t have a QUIRK!!!” Heatblast explodes, flames firing off from all sides that strike at nearby buildings!!
All Might braces himself as flames dance around him. Heatblast isn’t actually aiming for him, it’s more like he’s lashing out at random. Like he needs to take all his rage out on anything and everything around him!
Clearly Midoriya’s anger is impairing his own judgement, making him uncontrollable, and thus his own emotions are greatly affecting his transformation!
Smoke bellows into the sky and an orange glow spreads throughout the faux city as the flames spread. Soon emergency sirens fill the air as the fire rages on!
Meanwhile, both Ochaco and Bakugou are forced to take cover behind a pile of rubble as flames and waves of heat burn at their skin and costumes.
“Deku!!” Ochaco cries out but there’s no response.
Heatblast doesn’t even so much as react, like he didn’t even hear her!
“Deku!”
Still nothing, only flames and smoke.
Her blood runs cold, as worry and paranoia takes its hold. “What’s…what’s the matter with him?”
“He’s in a Blind Rage.”
Ochaco freezes, turning to a terrifyingly calm Bakugou. The ash-blonde remains stock still, his gaze never turning away from the raging Pyronite.
Her lip quivers, wincing as wisps of flames nearly singe her head. “What…?”
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“A Blind Rage.” continues Recovery Girl as she explains what Midoriya’s going through. “Due to all his frustrations and anger being released all at once, he’s entered a state of impaired judgement.”
The students remain deathly silent. On the monitor, more and more screens are cut off as flames consume them and cut off the feed.
Recovery Girl frowns. “He’s lashing out, unknowingly, at this point his own rage is at the helm, controlling his thoughts and actions.”
Aizawa grimaces, this was far from the results he was expecting today, and what’s worse is that Midoriya’s progress may regress if something isn't done soon!
He yanks off his earpiece and shouts into it! “All Might! You need to calm the situation! Hurry!”
There’s no response, only static greets his ears.
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All Might yanks off his earpiece, the plastic device has melted away, burning the inside of his ear. He then tosses the device aside as a blast of flames nearly strikes him!
“ALL MIGHT!!!” Heatblast stampedes forward, like a thrashing bull caught up in its own madness.
All Might stands his ground, remaining as calm as he can even as the intense heat eats away at his flesh, throwing his hands up to show that he’s not a threat. “YOUNG MIDORIYA, PLEASE-AHH!!!”
Heatblast’s flaming fist slams into All Might’s abdomen, specially the lower left side.
“GAAHH!!” All Might seethes in a burning, agonizing pain! He can feel the intense flames burning through his body!! Like a fiery lance has run him through from one end to the other!!
All Might retches and a splatter of boiling blood is spat out as his lower abdomen screeches in pain. And for a brief moment, his mind flashes back to the day he fought All For One. The day he was given that very wound that now impairs him.
He can see the monster’s smiling devilish grin through the flashes in his mind! And it all comes flooding back: the pain, the agony, and suffering he caused! And it terrifies him.
“RAAHH!!” Without thinking, fear takes control, and All Might’s fist races forward and one hell of a SMASH slams into Heatblast!!
The enraged alien is thrusted back, almost like a freaking train crashed right into him!! He’s launched so far back that he goes crashing into the second floor of an already burning building!!
The pure terror that gripped at his heart resides and then and only then does All Might realize what he’s just done. “Y-YOUNG M-MIDORIYA-GRH!” He nearly topples over from the burning pain at his side, gripping it as steam begins to roll off his body. “WHAT HAVE I DONE?”
He just…reacted! He knows it wasn’t on purpose, Young Midoriya wasn’t actually aiming for his wound. But when Heatblast struck him, specifically at his wound, his fears came rushing forward! He acted out of instinct! It didn’t mean anything!
“No, you never mean to.”
All Might freezes, peering up towards the building. The second floor explodes as flames burst forth, smashing through the windows and wall!
“You never meant to hurt me.” Heatblast’s flaming body rockets out from the burning building, its foundation giving away and collapsing behind him!! “BUT YOU DID!!!”
Like a fiery meteor Heatblast crashes into All Might!!
The pro hero remains steady, using his arms to defend himself! He refuses to give in as the flames and heat eat away at his flesh. The ground smokes and melts around him, the flames scream at his ears, and buildings begin to crash around them as the flames compromise their foundations.
Heatblast leaps back and charges forward again!! Throwing flaming punch after flaming punch at All Might without any rhyme or reason! There’s no coordination, as if he’s throwing a tantrum. A fiery, destructive one that is.
All Might blocks and dodges, baring the living inferno’s strikes. There’s plenty of openings to counter and strike back, but…he’s hesitant. And rightfully so after what he pulled, even if it was more of an instinctual reflex.
He can strike back…he won’t strike back. He’s hurt this boy enough as it is.
“RAHHHHH!!!!” A wave of intense heat and air pressure, slams into All Might thrusting him backwards!!
He holds his ground, even as his feet skid across the scorched earth.
“We have to stop this!” Ochaco rushes forward but she’s thrusted back as a wave of heat slams into her! Her eyebrows and tips of her hair singe away from the intensity!
“You idiot!” Bakugou grabs her shoulder and pulls her back behind the rubble, shielding her. “Dammit, there’s no way we can get close to him!” Not unless they wanna become piles of ash.
But she is right, even he has to agree that shit’s hit the fan! Fuck that, Deku set the fricking fan on fire along with the house, it’s so bad!
Fine, if Deku wants to throw a fucking tantrum like a fucking child, then he’ll treat him like a fucking child! “Deku!!”
Ochaco gasps, not expecting Bakugou to scream into her ear! “What are you-”
“You stupid bastard!!” He inhales and roars. “DEKU!!!
Turned away from them, Heatblast freezes in place even as flames rage all around him.
“I don’t know what the fuck is going on!! But I don’t FUCKING care!!” Deku ruined the exam, ruined his shot at All Might! But what’s worse is that he’s handling his issues by having a mental breakdown?! Oh, hell no! “So, get a fucking grip, Deku!!”
Heatblast’s head snaps in his direction, his flaming eyes rage and flare with a deranged fury behind them. And without so much as a sign of hesitation, Heatblast thrusts his hand back and a geyser of flames charges the students!!
Bakugou gasps as Ochaco screams out! “Deku!!”
“NO!!” All Might swoops in, scoping up the frozen kids, and barely zipping them away before they’re all burned to a crisp!
“RAHHH!!”
The geyser of flames trail after All Might who leaps, dashes, and spins to avoid the flames while also trying to keep the teens safe!
“RAHHHHH!!!!” Massive waves of heat and flames explode forth from the Pyronite’s body, burning away at the faux city!
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The massive screen goes black, all camera feed having been lost with the last outburst from the transformed Midoriya!!
The students are frozen, watching in horror as the image of Heatblast’s rampage plays in their minds. They witness it all: Midoriya losing control, him burning the city to the ground, and even All Might striking him with a SMASH!! This Exam…is an utter horror show.
“We’ve lost all signals!” Recovery Girl screams as she types away at the monitor trying to bring in any feed that she can, but it's a lost cause. “We’re not even receiving audio anymore!”
“What is happening?!” Thirteen cries as they slam their hand down onto the monitor! “How are the students?! How’s All Might?! How’s Midoriya?!”
Aizawa spins around and takes off for the exit!! “Get the other teachers! We need to stop Midoriya!!” Clearly All Might won’t be able to handle this, if anything his mere presence is only making matters worse! Dammit!!
“Wait!!” A panic Thirteen spins around. “Where are you going?!”
He stops, peering back at his fellow pro hero. “I’m going to put a stop to this.” And with that Eraserhead takes off at full speed!
“No, wait!!” Thirteen pales and in a panicked haste they chase after him desperately trying to catch up before it’s too late!
As they take off, Recovery Girl screams into the intercoms, her voice blares out through the other arenas and facilities! “All U.A. Staff report in! This is an emergency!” She grimaces before continuing to explain. “Midoriya is out of control…!”
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All Might peers out from behind the building, it’s far enough away from Heatblast but close enough for All Might to see the tormented teen. Thankfully this building is mostly intact with a few sparse fires here and there, but other than that it’s a fine hiding spot for the students.
Steam continues to roll off his body but it’s hard to tell if that’s because he’s at his limit or if it’s his flesh burning away. Most likely the latter, and that’s not good. He thought he had a few more hours in this form but that attack to his wound…it must have done some real damage.
Shit. This isn’t good. Not only is he running out of time but Young Midoriya’s condition is only escalating.
With his back turned, All Might coughs and a bit of blood splatters out.
He grimaces, wiping away the blood before anyone takes note, and all before addressing the burned and exhausted students. “STAY HERE AND STAY OUT OF SIGHT. I’LL BE RIGHT BACK.”
“All Might…!”
He hesitates, peering back to see his young predecessor’s tearful, worried gaze.
“What…what…happened?” It’s such a simple question, but a complicated one. One field with worry, fear, and sorrow.
He turns his gaze to the faux city, the city that is now being consumed by an ever-growing wildfire. So far, the fires have remained in the main street, but they are spreading, as Midoriya’s fury rages on more and more; turning the sky black with smoke as embers and ash rain down around them.
“I MADE A TERRIBLE MISTAKE…” A mistake that will surely haunt him for the rest of his days. It will fill him with a great sense of regret, shame, and sadness. Sadness, because there may be nothing, he can ever do to make amends for it. And he wants to, he desperately wants to. He shouldn’t have pushed the boy away; he shouldn’t have denied him his hopes. He should have stood by and supported him, should have gone to him directly rather than avoid it all.
No more, he can’t run away now. He can’t, he won’t turn his back on Izuku Midoriya again. “I’LL HANDLE YOUNG MIDORIYA. YOU TWO GET TO SAFETY.”
“Wait, but-” She can’t even finish.
In a blink of an eye, All Might is gone, leaping into the air!
Ochaco frowns fearfully. “Deku…? All Might…?”
A silent Bakugou watches on, his gaze following the steaming All Might.
From up in the air, it doesn't take long for All Might to spot the walking furnace. “YOUNG MIDORIYA!!”
A furious Heatblast swings around and flames instantly rush forward towards All Might, erupting from his head and body!
All Might throws his fist forward, generating a whirlwind that meets the flames half-way!! Parting them and extinguishing them in one fell swoop!! “PLEASE, LET’S TALK THIS OUT. I’M WILLING TO LISTEN!”
There is no reply, only another wave of flames!!
As he lands, he swings and generates another powerful gust of wind to dispel the incoming flames! ‘HE CAN’T EVEN TALK HE’S SO ANGRY. THIS BLIND RAGE HAS IT’S HOLD ON HIM TIGHT.’ Hell he probably can’t even hear me with the flames and anger ringing in his ears. ‘I NEED TO STOP HIM BEFORE THINGS ESCALATE ANY FURTHER. BEFORE HE SERIOUSLY HURTS HIMSELF!’ Or someone else for that matter.
All might counters the fire balls with his own whirlwinds. And when in doubt, he throws large pieces of rubble into the flame’s path. When neither are an option, he dodges but the sheer heat still eats away at his stamina.
“RAHHHHH!!!!” Heatblast cries out in a despair! Like his entire being is being burned from the inside out, eating away at his sanity and peace of mind as if it were kindling!
‘YOUNG MIDORIYA.’ Flames are erupting forth, but All Might repels them with a single punch! ‘I’M SO SORRY. I HURT YOU. AND YOU’VE BEEN HOLDING ONTO THIS PAIN FOR SO LONG.’ More flames are thrown but All Might side steps away. ‘AND I NEVER EVEN CONSIDERED IT.’ He leaps and avoids a wave of fire! ‘NOT ONCE DID I THINK OF YOUR OWN FEELINGS. I THOUGHT I WAS JUSTIFIED IN MY ACTIONS, BUT NOW I SEE.’ A massive wave of flames crashes forward, All Might swings his hands down, parting the flames like the Red Sea! ‘THAT I WAS A FOOL!’
“RAHHHHH!!!!”
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This is a nightmare, a fiery hellish nightmare.
Ochaco can only watch on as a spectator as flames erupt down the burned and demolished street.
She just doesn't understand? All Might…and Deku…just what happened between them? What…what did All Might do? A part of her thinks she knows, but she doesn’t want to go there. The disbelief of it just can't be true.
Little does she know, but Bakugou is having a similar dilemma. Exactly watching in disbelief wondering just what the hell this is all about. But unlike Uraraka, he understands immediately. He understands that All Might, Deku’s childhood hero, betrayed him and his life’s dream.
A part of him almost wants to gloat and feel like he was right all along about Deku’s dream. But…seeing the results, the outcome of such a decision… His mind can’t help but wonder…
“Uraraka! Bakugou!”
Ochaco stiffens.
Bakugou looks over and raises an eyebrow as a slender woman sprints towards them. “Who’s that?”
Ochaco doesn’t even hear him and instead cries out to the pro hero! “Thirteen?!”
Bakugou’s jaw drops! “What?!” That babe is Thirteen, the one who wears a mattress and a fishbowl for a hero costume?!
Ochaco ignores him. “What are you-”
“We need to get you two out of here!” Thirteen comes to a screeching halt, grabbing Uraraka by her wrist! “It isn’t safe here!”
“No way!” Bakugou barks defiantly, his irritation on full display. “I ain’t leaving until I pass.”
“Forget the exam!!” screams Thirteen! “We got other problems here!”
“No!!” Ochaco yanks her arm free of Thirteen’s grip. “What about Deku?! We can’t just leave him like this!”
Thirteen offers up a sympathetic frown. “Don't worry. We’ll handle it from here.”
The two students blink before they turn their gaze back towards the center of the chaos.
Hyperventilating, Heatblast’s body shakes and jolts like he’s running low on breath, as his anger burns and burns within him.
A heavy footstep draws his attention. “RAAAH-”
Even when melted, cement rises and swallows up the Pyronite in a massive dome!! Silencing him and cutting off the source of heat instantly!
“Midoriya.” Cementoss frowns disapprovingly as he has his hands pressed to the ground. “This outburst is shameful. You need to compose yourself.”
His eyes widen as the cement glows red from within and then explode forth as flames erupt outward like a volcano!! “RAAAH!!”
Cementoss generates a wall of cement, shielding himself from the worst of it.
From up above on a nearby building, Present Mic takes a deep breath before activating his Quirk! “CALM DOWN!!!” His Voice blasts through the air and the high frequency waves slam into the fiery being below!
Heatblast screeches in pain, grabbing his pounding head, and in response he fires up a jet of flames right at the pro hero!
Present Mic gasps in shock as the flames race up to meet him, but then Ectoplasm races in and pulls him out of the way!
With Heatblast’s attention away from him, Snipe leans out from his hiding spot behind the kid. He grabs his gun and loads it with specialized tranquilizers; hopefully these will be enough to bring the boy back to his senses.
“This is going to sting a little.” Aimed right for Heatblast’s back, Snipe takes his shot!
The tranquilizer races forward with a BANG!! But it sizzles out, burning away and crumbling into ash before it can even touch the Pyronite.
“The heat’s melting my bullets!” Snipe frowns, tucking away his gun. Clearly, he’s of no use here. “Can you do anything?” He looks towards his fellow co-worker.
Midnight frowns. “No, my Somnambulist will just burn away and evaporate before he can even inhale it.”
And dammit does this make it so much more difficult. Who would have guessed that just one of Midoriya’s transformations would render them useless?!
But there’s still hope, there’s still one person who might be able to end this and bring Midoriya back! “Where’s Eraserhead?!”
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“Where in the hell is Mr. Aizawa?!” Bakugou screams. “Those guys are mucking things up!”
“I’m here.” From seemingly out of nowhere, Aizawa stands just behind the teen.
“Mr. Aizawa!” Ochaco jumps back in surprise. “What are you doing here?!”
“We lost camera feed, had to make sure you two were still in one piece first.” With that said he turns his attention to Thirteen. “Thirteen get them out of here.” He pulls out his goggles, strapping them over his eyes. “I’ll get Midoriya.”
Both Ochaco and Thirteen pale, crying out simultaneously! “No, wait-”
It’s too late, like a ninja Eraserhead is gone, sprinting forward with crazy agility!
Without even thinking, Thirteen chases after him, desperate to catch him before it’s too late. Before he tries and fails to use his Quirk! Before he fails to cancel Midoriya’s Quirk, the Quirk that doesn’t exist!!
“Thirteen!” Ochaco watches on dumbfounded and confused, unsure of what to do.
Meanwhile, Eraserhead charges forward, unflinching and steadfast against the flames, heat, and smoke.
Heatblast is distracted as his fellow pro heroes keep him surrounded, confusing him.
Eraserhead speeds up. He needs to stop this! He saw the way All Might’s body was beginning to steam, he’s got to be at his limit! And without his power he’ll be completely defenseless against Midoriya!!
Eraserhead screeches to a halt, waiting for his moment.
A clone of Ectoplasm is incarcerated away, creating the best opening for Eraserhead to strike!
And he takes it!
“Get down!!” Thirteen throws themselves at Eraserhead, tackling him to the ground just before a torrent of flames singe his head off!! “Are you okay?!”
Aizawa groans, he hit his head hard onto the burnt pavement. Thirteen may have saved his face from being permanently mutilated but they could’ve done it a little more gently.
Thirteen frowns, worriedly. Did they stop him in time? Did he try to use Erasure already? It’s hard to say, hopefully they stopped it.
Aizawa shakes his head, ripping off his goggles, his eyes shaking with…confusion.
“Are you both alright?” ponders a cheery yet soft voice.
The two teachers turn to see the source of the voice. “Principal?”
Principal Nezu has officially arrived on the scene, he remains calm and poised yet there’s an air of sadness around him. “I’ve been informed of the situation. And I know what we must do.”
Aizawa raises an eyebrow. “Principal?”
“We’re only causing more trouble. We must have faith that All Might can bring Mr. Midoriya back to his senses. Or at least wait out his Quirk’s time limit.” Nezu leans into this earpiece, messaging the other pros to stand down for now.
Nezu takes a moment to inspect the damage and fires. After such he offers up his usual calculated smile. “Besides not like we expected these arenas to remain in one piece forever. And from my understanding, Mr. Midoriya’s been holding back his emotions, correct?”
Aizawa is hesitant to reply. “Yeah…”
“Well then, it might be best if we let him ride this out.” He nods agreeing with his own idea. “Let him get it all out of his system.” Let him burn himself out.
Aizawa’s eyebrows furrow, the Principal can’t be serious?! “Principal I don’t think-”
“Trust me on this.” Nezu offers up his underlying sympathetic and understanding smile. “It’ll be for the best I’m sure.”
Aizawa frowns, clearly, he’s not a fan of this plan but he’ll follow the Principal’s lead. He has too much respect for him to do otherwise.
Thirteen however understands and knows the plan is bullshit. Nezu’s gaslighting the situation, trying to prevent any chance of Aizawa from using his Erasure Quirk on Midoriya. After all Erasure won’t work on an alien!
And thus they can only wait with bated breath for Midoriya to time out…before All Might does.
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
Recovery Girl keeps typing away on the monitor, trying to recover the camera feed anyway that she can. And she does, as Heatblast is thrusted into another street, the cameras there are able to zoom in on his crazed, rampaging state.
Tenya, Tsuyu, Shoto, and Shinso all watch on in silence, unable to draw their eyes away from the carnage on screen.
The silence is broken as the doors are shoved open and their fellow classmates pour inside!
Sero leads the charge. “Yo! What’s happening?! All the teachers just took off for some reason?!”
Mineta screams as flames dance on screen! “What’s up with the screen?”
Jiro frowns. “Is that…Midoriya? What’s happening?!”
Ojiro frowns. “And why are the teachers there, too?”
Kaminari’s jaw drops. “Holy shit…the freaking city’s on fire!”
Hagakure shakes her head! “No way!”
Kirishima shoves his way to the front, grabbing Iida by his shoulder and shaking him! “Guys tell us! What’s going on?!”
Without looking away from the screen, Tenya speaks. “We don’t know.”
“Huh?!”
Tsuyu quivers in place. “Midoriya lost control.”
Shinso continues. “One second they were fighting All Might and the next, Midoriya loses his shit!”
The class falls silent, unsure about what any of that means. Did something happen? Midoriya lost his cool? None of this sounds remotely right.
Shoto watches as Heatblast roars on screen. “He’s in a Blind Rage.” And he’s hurting that much is for certain.
Near the back of the room, Mina Ashido shakes, her antennas twitching, holding herself as if the temperature in the room dropped to below negative. She can almost sense it radiation off the screen: the screaming emotions of anger, hopelessness, and sadness are all so painful to bear. It’s deathening, she has no doubt that anyone experiencing all these emotions would be driven to instantly.
Recovery Girl scowls at the screen.
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
And insanity reigns as All Might does his best to contain the situation. Although things are certainly not in his favor. Flames and smoke fly everywhere causing havoc for the other pro heroes who are forced to keep their distance, using the roofs of the still standing buildings to get around.
They each want to leap into the fray and stop this, but with Nezu’s orders in effect they stand by allowing All Might to handle this alone.
Unfortunately as the rampage continues, Ochaco and Bakugou follow along as well using the back alleys for cover since the flames haven’t reached those places yet. They too feel compelled to get involved, but…what can they do against a living inferno? Deku’s just too far gone, lost to his emotions, what could they possibly do to snap him back to his senses?
Flames surge forth, but All Might throws himself to the side, avoiding them. “YOUNG MIDORIYA, LISTEN!!”
The only response is more flames.
“I WAS WRONG. AND I’M SORRY! WHAT I DID TO YOU WAS WRONG AND THERE’S NOTHING I CAN DO TO MAKE UP FOR IT!” That’s the truth, the time to correct things has long passed. Why? Because he allowed it to. “BUT THIS ISN’T RIGHT, EITHER. I KNOW I HURT YOU BUT YOU NEED TO SETTLE DOWN.” Before things get even worse!
As fire rages, it doesn't appear that the transformed Midoriya even heard a word he said, but then… “Shut up.”
It’s quiet and faint, but even with the wind and heat whipping at his ears, All Might can what it. He can hear the pain.
“Shut up. Shut up! Shut up! Shut up!! Shut up!! SHUT UP!!!” Like a volcano blowing its top, flames erupt forth from all sides!
The heat and ash whip and rage around All Might, forcing him to brace himself due to the sheer pressure! ‘I TRULY HAVE FAILED YOU, MIDORIYA.’ He did, he certainly did. ‘I WRONGED YOU, THAT MUCH IS CERTAIN.’ In so many ways, he wronged the boy. ‘I THOUGHT YOU A VILLAIN. A VICTIM. BUT NOT ONCE…NOT ONCE DID I TELL YOU WITH FULL CONFIDENCE THAT YOU COULD BE A HERO.’ He thinks back, to that day, to that moment on the rooftop… ‘THAT WAS THE ONE THING YOU ASKED OF ME. AND NOW I SEE…’ He remembers the hopelessness, the desperation in that boy’s eyes. ‘THAT DAY…YOU WERE SEARCHING FOR A CHANCE, FOR HOPE.’ For a hero. ‘AND YET…THE HYPOCRITE THAT I AM…I PUSHED YOU AWAY, TAKING YOUR DREAM FROM YOU.’ Turned his back on him, denied him hope when he truly needed it the most. ‘I FAILED YOU…AS A HERO.’
As the flame disperse, All Might slowly comes to a complete stop, standing in place and braces himself, tensing up like he’s preparing himself for an incoming attack.
Heatblast hesitates, unsure but soon the heat of the moment takes its hold once again as his entire body glows and heats up!
From down the opposite end of the street, Ochaco wails in anguish. “We need to do something!!”
Bakugou scowls, never taking his eyes off the match. “Like what?” He spits out.
“I don't know! This is all so crazy and confusing! I want answers but right now Deku needs our help!” Ochaco grabs at her singed hair. Not only that but All Might’s reaching his limit, if the steam rolling off his body is any indication of that! If he debuffs before Heatblast reaches his time limit, then…oh god she doesn’t even want to think about what could happen! “We need to calm him down! Or at least draw his attention away!”
Bakugou’s eyes narrow at the last part, almost intriguing like he’s actually considering getting involved.
‘PERHAPS THIS IS MY PUNISHMENT.’ As Heatblast prepares a final strike, All Might remains stoic, standing in place in full view. ‘I’LL TAKE IT ALL. I’LL ALLOW HIM TO RELEASE ALL HIS PAIN AND ANGER OUT ON ME IN ONE GO.’ Perhaps that’ll bring Midoriya back to his senses, one final burst of anger and pain should calm him down. But…he needs to feel like he’s hurt him, like he’s been repaid for the pain and wrong doings that has been done onto him, due to All Might’s actions. ‘I’LL TAKE RESPONSIBILITY FOR EVERYTHING. I UNDERSTAND YOUR ANGER, YOUR FRUSTRATION WITH ME. AND THAT’S FINE, I DON’T DESERVE YOUR RESPECT. I LOST THAT A LONG TIME AGO.’ And so. “I’M WILLING TO TAKE IT, ALL YOUR ANGER AND PAIN!!”
Heatblast lurches forward ready to deliver all that he has until-
“DEKU!!!”
Heatblast hesitates.
“Could you be more pathetic?!”
Heatblast’s eyes slowly begin to wonder before locking with a pair of furious red eyes.
Standing out in the open is a scowling Bakugou. He’s not honestly sure what he's doing. Maybe he’s trying to redirect Heatblast away from All Might, but most likely he wants to give Deku a piece of his mind.
And so he barks away at the angry alien! “Quit blaming All Might for your fucking problems!”
It’s so stupid and pathetic! He got his feelings hurt, so what?! He used to hurt Deku’s feelings all the time but that rarely set him off back then! So why the fuck is he throwing a tantrum now?! Because it’s fucking All Might?! Alright he gets it, Deku idolizes…idolized All Might. But was All Might really in the wrong to tell someone, who was originally Quirkless, to not become a hero?! A job known for using one’s Quirk, something they’re born with, to use against others with Quirks. Something he lacked for a time? Yeah, no wonder All Might said he couldn’t be one. Because Deku didn’t have one yet!!
“YOU MORON!!!”
Heatblast’s eyes narrow as he turns away from the pro hero.
All Might gasps. “NO, YOUNG BAKUGOU!!”
“Deku!” Ochaco rushes out, joining Bakugou’s side, wincing at the searing pain of the heat. “You have to stop this!!” She can’t stand watching her best friend and mentor hurting each other!! Enough is enough!
Flames rise from around the frustrated and highly agitated Heatblast.
Ochaco cries out! “Deku, please!! You have to stop!”
Bakugou snaps, roaring out in anguish!! “DEKU!!!”
“RAAAHHH!!!” Heatblast snaps in response to the old wound, he swings his arms forward and unleashes the biggest wave of flames yet!!
The teens gasp too stunned to move as the flames crash towards them like a river from hell!!
“NO!!!” Without even thinking, All Might races in somehow out speeding the flames but just barely!
He doesn't have enough time to pull the kids away to safety, the flames will be on them within milliseconds!! And so with literally no time to lose and without a hint of self-preservation, All Might grabs the kids, holding them tight as he uses his own body to shield them from the flood of flames!!
The raging flames swallow up All Might and his two wards completely as they continue to crash around him like waves!!
And with the flames Heatblast releases everything he’s been holding back! The pain, the sorrow, the confusion, the anger, everything!! Everything that he’s been repressing, everything that’s been clawing away at him from the inside!!
There’s no signs of struggle from within the flames, no counters to strike back, nothing. Instead All Might bares it, absorbing the incoming flames as he tucks the kids closer to him, protecting them from his own punishment. He refuses to do anything less; he will bear it all for them!!
And after a few agonizing moments, it’s over. The flames subside leaving nothing but a billowing trail of smoke.
Heatblast huffs, completely winded, his vision completely hindered by clouds of smoke. “Ugh…” He groans, blinking and wincing in searing physical pain, his head pounding and his ears ringing.
He nearly collapses forward, exhaustion washing over him as his Blind Rage finally subsides.
And with the return of his senses, Heatblast blinks and finally he’s able to take in his own surroundings. His eyes widening with horror as he takes in the burning buildings, molten lamps and road, and smoke-filled sky. “What did I…?”
He lets the question hang there as he notices movement from within the smoke.
There amongst the ash and smoke, stands a scorched All Might. He’s standing tall, but unmoving, his entire form scorched and burned. At his feet lie an unconscious Ochaco and Bakugou, both having passed out from the severe lack of oxygen while amongst the flames. Thankfully they appear to be alright, but…
“Wait, did I…? ” Heatblast’s eyes widen in horrid shock, as the realization of everything comes flooding back to him.
“YOUNG MIDORIYA…” All Might’s body shakes in pain, his back still turned to the boy.
Heatblast’s shakes and quivers, as his eyes lock onto the newly formed scar that’s now burned into All Might’s exposed right shoulder.
The scar steams and burns, he can already see it scaring over having been castrated by his own flames.
Even as his scars burn and seethe with pain, All Might painfully stumbles around to face the boy, pain is written across his face but even, so he stands tall refusing to turn away from the hurt child.
Steam and smoke gushes off his body, as he looks the boy right in the eye with a regretful and sorrowful gaze.
He can almost smile, relieved to see that the boy is finally back to his senses. “YOUNG MIDORIYA, I TRULY AM…sorry.”
And with that All Might deflates, and Yagi Toshinori struggles to stay on his feet as exhaustion tries to pull him down as his lungs and scars wither in agonizing pain. “I…I’m…I’m so sorry.” A tear, a single regretful tear, slides down his face shining amongst the dwindling fires.
Without even realizing it, tears, actual tears begin to stream down Heatblast’s face like molten metal leaking down a furnace. His head is swirling with guilt and shame! ‘What did I do?! What have I done?! I…I didn't mean to!!’ He was just so…frustrated and hurt about everything that he…that he lost control. Oh, god, what has he done…?!
Heatblast cries out in anguish, collapsing to his knees. “AHHHH!!!” He thrust his hands up, firing off one last torrent of flames, and with it he fires away the last of his anger.
From afar the teachers watch on, as do the students from the safety of the monitor room, each of them having fallen into a sullen shocked silence.
They all watch on as soft embers rain from above, due to the final geyser of flames, and as a veil of red light washed Heatblast away leaving behind a sobbing Izuku.
Izuku sobs and sobs, unable, no unwilling to whip away the shamefully regretful tears. He…he can’t believe what he’s just done. He…he never meant to go off the rails like he had, he was just…just…so lost and confused and angry. It was too much for him, it truly was.
Toshinori lowers his head in shame. “Young Midoriya… I truly did fail you. As a hero and as a teacher, I failed you. And for that…I truly am sorry.”
Izuku only sobs harder and harder, unable to catch his breath as he keels over from guilt and emotional exhaustion.
A pink mist rolls in around him, and without even realizing it Izuku breathes it in and then he simply falls to his side, unconscious and unmoving as tears continue to stream down his face.
Midnight rushes over as does Thirteen both seeing to Izuku’s wellbeing and state.
Present Mic, Ectoplasm, and Cementoss rush right past Toshinori, beelining straight for the other two students.
As the others see to the three fallen students, Aizawa marches right up to Toshinori, his eyes flaring in fury. “All Might, what happened? What happened between you and Midoriya?” It’s clear there’s more he wants to know, so much he needs to understand
Toshinori doesn't answer, not right away at least his gaze drifts over to see the boy in question be carried away in a hurry.
Embers continue to rain down softly as the smoke and flames finally begin to die down. For a moment Toshinori exams the arena, taking in the destruction it had to bear due to his arrogance.
In the distance he can hear the siren blare, announcing the end of the long forgotten Practical Exam. A programmed voice announces aloud that the students have failed to pass the exam, but…in that moment Toshinori couldn’t help but disagree. It was not the students, nor was it Midoriya that failed, instead it was him.
“I failed…I failed to be the hero, the teacher he deserved…”
Notes:
Alright guys that was Ch.43 The Final Straw!!! Let me know your thoughts and reactions. I really want to hear it.
*Anyway next time we’ll see the aftermath and I hope to incorporate the trip to the mall too, but we’ll see what happens.
And then after that we’ve got the Summer Training Camp- (Someone calls me from the distance) Wait, what…? We’re not doing that yet… Oh, that’s right I forget for a second. (I turn back to the readers) Yeah so after the aftermath I will be moving into my own original arc for the first part of the summer!! It’s something I’ve had planned for over a year now and I know you guys (especially those who feel cheated from their ben 10 stuff) will greatly enjoy!! There’s just a few chapters to go through to help set it all up and to address some things first but then we’ll get to it. And the best part, MORE ALIENS ARE ON THE WAY!!! And I don’t mean 2 or 3 na I mean a whole bunch!!! WOAH!!! No hints on what they are, that’s for you guys to wait and see, Haha!! And of course it’ll all culminate into Two Heroes (I-Island)!! And then the Summer Training Camp.
During this original arc I hope to accomplish several things other than introduce more aliens: do more Ben 10 stuff/elements, introduce more MHA and Ben 10 characters, more backstories for some characters, character development, and set things up for the future of the story. So it's going to be a lot while also being a ton of fun. So get ready.
*Oh, one more thing!! My Illustrator, Voidv25, is hoping to have a new piece of art work up by Sunday or Monday. We both hope it’ll arrive on time but definitely early next week. So check it out on deviantart.
Chapter 49: Regrets
Notes:
Yo what’s up everyone, Happy Easter!! Yeah, I know it’s in a few days still but whatever, Happy Easter! And would you look at that I was able to post after one week! Yeah, this chapter was a bit on the shorter side, but I think it’ll work out.
Disclaimer I do not own the rights to Ben 10 or MHA.
*Thanks again to "Drag0n5on" who was kind enough to create another stellar opening for us! Thank you "Drag0n5on"!
**Also my awesome illustrator, "Voidv25," has uploaded his second commissioned artwork for this story! WOAH! I've been waiting a while for it but life happens so I can't blame them. Anyway it's great so go check it out. The art piece is titled "SixSix vs Stain" by Voidv25 on Deviantart. I love it so much, and I know Voidv25 is only going to get better over time, I know it. Anyway go check it out too!**
*And thank you to “Bacara Best Clone Commander” for their own art piece. It’s called “Ben 10 X MHA: Everyone has their uses.” by “Gero223” on deviantart. Thanks again!
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Toshinori Yagi frowns as the setting sun beams down through the window onto his infirmary bed. His entire body aches and burns after having just been, well, burned by the flames, the flames he himself ignited just a few short hours ago. What a mess it all is. His heart is still filled with a cold sense of regret and shame, his lungs are still burning from the smoke, and his head is still pounding as a low ringing hums in his ears.
A sense of vertigo has fallen upon him, but whether it’s from the pain or the guilt washing over him, is unclear.
Sitting silently under the glow of the setting sun is Principal Nezu. He has no outward expression of how he’s really feeling, just sitting in place with a patient and unreadable frown on his face.
But the one next to him couldn’t be more different. Shota Aizawa is glaring daggers at Toshinori, feeling no sympathy for someone in a hospital bed. Yet he restrains himself, keeping calm and waiting ever so patiently.
If it weren’t for the fact that Thirteen is overseeing the injured kids, and the rest of his coworkers are seeing to the other students, he wouldn’t be here right now. But…he wants to be here. He needs to hear it with his own ears.
At her desk, Recovery Girl frowns, leaning back in her seat with an air of regret and bad news. “I’m afraid to say, but the boy did quite the number on you.”
Recovery Girl bandaged him up and did what she could, but the real concern was the damage done to his stomach. And so X-rays and tests were run almost immediately after she tended to the students. And the results…are not looking too good.
Toshinori coughs, a bit of blood spitting out. He wheezes in pain before wiping it away. “What does that mean?”
“It means…” Recovery Girl frowns, dreading what this could mean for the future. “It means you won’t be able to hold your muscular form for as long as you have been.”
Toshinori’s eyes widen in horror. “What?”
“The damage done to your side was…too great.” Recovery Girl adjusts her computer, showing him his X-rays and test results. “It’s not confirmed, but my estimate is that you may be able to hold up your transformation for an hour or so.”
“An…hour…” Did…did Young Midoriya's attack do that much damage? He went from 3 hours of hero work to…just 1 hour?
Toshinori grips his mouth, as an uneasy nauseousness settles within him.
Principal Nezu bows his head in defeat, it is truly tragic. The Symbol of Peace…now limited to 1 hour of holding up their own mantle.
Principal Nezu leans back, tilting his head back in his seat. “Thank goodness the camera feed was lost.” And even if it wasn’t lost near the end, the amount of fire, smoke, and ash wouldn’t have allowed any of the students watching to have a clear view of what happened anyway. “None of the students were able to see you in this state.”
Leave it to Principal Nezu to see the silver lining, but this in no way helps matters.
Even so Toshinori nods, agreeing with the little chimera. “That’s good….” In truth, he can’t even feel relieved to hear that, the guilt and shame hanging over him won’t allow itself to be ignored.
Aizawa’s eyes narrow. “That’s not the issue here, though, is it?”
His voice is cold and dangerous, a clear sign that he’s royally pissed off.
Toshinori shrinks away, averting his gaze, unable to look the man in the eye.
“All Might.” Principal Nezu speaks up calmly and patiently. “What caused this? Mr. Midoriya didn’t just snap for no reason.”
Toshinori’s breath hitches, averting his gaze as he hesitates to answer. “I made a mistake, I…told him that he couldn’t be a hero.”
Aizawa knows this but wants Toshinori to tell them up front what exactly that meant. “Why?”
Toshinori bows his head in defeat. “I…I told him that you need a Quirk to be a hero.”
Recovery Girl is in the same state of mind, growing in disapproval.
Nezu remains still, showing no outward reactions as he takes this new information in.
Exasperated Aizawa sighs, pinching his nose in irritation. Of course, this was the case, he knew it had to be. He read the kid’s file; he was a late bloomer. But…look at the results. “All Might you royally screwed up. I mean really!” Aizawa finally snaps, shaking his head trying to come to terms at the ludicracy of it all! “A boy like him was obviously looking for some sense of hope, or a chance!” But he didn’t get that, instead he was met with denial and despair. “Yet you couldn’t get off your high horse to even notice.”
Toshinori can’t even rebut, what can he even say? After all, it's hard to argue with the truth.
Aizawa plops down back into his seat, gripping his forehead in a desperate attempt to calm his growing headache. “When did this happen?”
Toshinori answers, barely over a whisper. “...Ten months…before the Entrance Exam.”
Aizawa pulls his head back, running a hand down his locks, pulling at them out of sheer frustration. “So, you mean to tell me, thanks to your actions, that Midoriya’s been harbingering these negative feelings for nearly an entire year before even starting at U.A.?”
The anger in his voice grows more and more, but somehow, he is able to hold himself back, giving off a calm yet furious demeanor. “Shit, I’m amazed he didn’t lose his cool sooner.” The kid’s spent a whole semester with All Might around; an entire semester of being reminded that you aren’t good enough would make anyone lose themselves to their own rage and insecurities. “But that also means, you had nearly a whole year to fix things.”
Yes, he did.
“You had all this time to address what you said, but you didn’t? Instead what? You just ignored what happened and pretended that he’d forget?”
He hit the fucking nail right on the head with that one.
Aizawa finally relents, but not before throwing one last jab. “And you call yourself a teacher?” What a joke.
Toshinori doesn’t dare to speak, he doesn’t dare to talk back, not when everything that was said is the painful truth. And the pain of his own guilt, his own faults, are far more painful than the injuries he sustained.
All this time, all this time he could have talked to Midoriya, he could have apologized for what he did. Talk it out. But no, instead he pushed it aside only to let it fester, telling himself it’ll go away.
Toshinori grips the bed sheets tightly, like they’re a lifeline for keeping himself from breaking down. ‘Now look at me, burned by the very child I harmed myself…’
Principal Nezu exhales, coming to terms with the dilemma at hand. “I’m very disappointed in your actions, All Might. As the Symbol for Peace you like to think you can inspire everyone you meet, you’ve always strive to save and protect everyone and anyone that you could.” Admirable, but…often it is a delusion. “In truth, I can see the logic in your actions, even if I don’t agree with them fully, at least in your response.”
The others can only stare at the little chimera, confused and unsure where he is going.
“Mr. Midoriya may have just been a late bloomer but at the time he was diagnosed as Quirkless.” Technically that's still true. And in a way All Might…was right. He wouldn’t have become a hero without a Quirk, or at least without more. “I’m sorry to say, but after reviewing his records, there was no feasible way Mr. Midoriya would ever become a professional hero with or without a Quirk.” He had no training of any kind whether that be self-defense or martial arts, not even engineering skills or the athleticism to give him a different edge against villains. Sure he has the smarts, but he never applied them. “It would have been foolish for him to even try to apply for the hero course.”
The others are a bit taken back, but to be reasonable, they have to agree. Even Aizawa understands where the Principal is coming from: Midoriya was only wishing to become a hero, but he had yet to show progress towards making that happen. Not until his Quirk finally manifested itself.
Principal Nezu continues on, having more to say. “I’m not saying it’d be impossible. A Quirkless Hero is not out of the realm of possibility. In fact I would have a personal interest if such a student were to arrive here.” There’s a lot of truth in that statement. “Hence why I allow the Quirkless to apply to U.A.” They can indeed take the Entrance Exam; they can even be eligible to move between classes if they perform well during the Sports Festival. “It doesn’t matter if someone had a “weak” Quirk, a “powerful” Quirk, or no Quirk. Its one's own skills, resolve, and actions that truly make one a hero.”
Toshinori watches on, hanging onto every word. The Principal's words are the truth as well, and yes at the time he didn’t see a chance that the boy could feasible become a hero. He thought that…if he did encourage him, he’d only thrust himself into situations he wasn’t prepared for. And as a hero…how could he willingly allow a child to go against impossible odds without fearing injury…or death.
At the time, he thought he was protecting him.
Principal Nezu strolls over towards the window, turning away to bask in the glow of the setting sun. “I understand why you said what you did. At the time you thought you were doing the right thing, saving him.” He bows as the sun sinks further into the horizon. “Unfortunately this is one of those times where that sense of protection and service was wrong. A rare case, but it happened.”
It is truly tragic. Neither one meant to hurt the other, both sides made mistakes. All Might’s duty to being a hero at all costs, clouded his judgement. And Mr. Midoriya’s unfortunate circumstances led him to desperation and to him bottling up his emotions, to not show others his pain. And as a result both sides were hurt.
“Mr. Midoriya is a victim of circumstances, unfortunate with the hand the world has dealt him. And like all people he is at the whim of his own emotions and insecurities.” Principal Nezu frowns, thinking just about how often the personal feelings of one individual could have such an outcome. “Today’s events could have been prevented, but they happened. There’s no use in speculating how it could have been stopped at this point.”
The little mouse/dog/bear takes a breath before addressing his fellow heroes. “Now the question becomes, what do we do about it?”
Aizawa leans forward. “Sir?”
“Mr. Midoriya may have been…justified in his anger, but I’m afraid it did take place during an exam. Not to mention he caused quite a lot of damage and harm to you and his fellow teammates. And we cannot just ignore or write this off so lightly.” It may feel insensitive to bring this up now, but Nezu was never one to hold things off until later.
Toshinori has no answer. By all logic, Midoriya failed the exam. But…the test…the exam…he never had a chance to even pass. Not when Midoriya was up against him, against All Might. And of course he had to talk to the boy the day before…and imply that he was a victim…a puppet for All for One. So of course…of course the boy was hurting. Hurting before the exam had even begun. Midoriya was never going to be in the right state of mind… Not with him around.
‘I hurt him. I betrayed him. I…looked down on him…’ And now…due to circumstances he has to grade him honestly and without bias.
Hard to do when you were the one to set him off. And after the boy burned down part of a city.
He has to make it up to the boy somehow… “Principal, sir.”
All attention is now on Toshinori as he finally meets everyone’s gaze.
“I…I will take full responsibility and punishment for what’s occurred here today in Young Midoriya’s place.” He will take the full blunt for the damages and harm done this very day!
Aizawa blinks. “All Might?”
“I was the one he was mad at, after all I was the one that wronged him.” In more ways than one. “And it was because of me that the exam was incinerated.” The flames might as well have come from him, each flame produced by the anger he fueled. “The exam may have been to observe the students’ skills and adaptability, but Young Midoriya’s judgement was clearly impaired before the exam had even started. All because of my presence and actions.”
How could he possibly have passed? Even if he managed to keep his cool?
Toshinori’s side may be burning, but the newly added scar that was burned into the right shoulder blade is what he reaches for. Gently resting his hand over the thick bandages, the tissue has already scarred over becoming a permanent reminder of his actions. “I failed him, I wasn’t the hero he deserved and…I failed to be the teacher he needed.” On several occasions. “This whole time…I thought I was doing a pretty good job at teaching: I thought I was inspiring the youth of this school to become the best that they can be. But now I see…that was a delusion.”
In truth he’s been skirting by, showing up with a big grin and thinking he’s actually teaching the kids something. But really what has he truly taught them? How to fight or capture villains? Most of them figured that out themselves. To improve their Quirks? No, not once did he guide them or alleviate their skills. Hell, he couldn’t actually properly teach his own successor how to use One For All correctly, it took his own teacher, someone who never even had the Quirk, to teach her.
And what has he done? All Might has pretended that he was a teacher. All because he could smile and protect them.
Funny, he failed to do that too.
“This entire time, Young Midoriya’s…never looked at me the way he did when we first met.” The day they met, the day he saved him from the Sludge villain, Midoriya looked so happy and thrilled, his eyes were sparkling with admiration. “He was brimming with joy and excitement when we met, a true hero nerd.” He chuckles remembering the notebook filled with notes of heroes. “But when I saw him again, that spark of admiration he had…was gone.” Nothing but a distant memory. “Especially towards me…And I guess I know why now.”
No mystery there anymore on why that is.
“It was my fault the city was damaged. It’s my fault Young Uraraka and Young Bakugou were hurt. “It’s my fault that I was hurt. And it’s my fault…for hurting young Midoriya.” Because of his arrogance.
Toshinori sits up, his body screaming in pain as he adjusts, but he doesn’t care. This pain can’t compare to the pain he’s caused. “So I ask of you, to put all responsibility on me for what occurred today. Not the students, not him.”
The whole room is silent, everyone remains still as they process Toshinori’s request.
And after a moment Principal Nezu nods in approval. Unwilling to deny All Might of his request.
Aizawa sighs, defeated. “I don’t think we can even give them a proper grade anyway. Now that things are cleared up, it’s obvious to me that this was inevitable.” Guess he really shouldn’t have paired the kids up against All Might to begin with. “They were doomed to fail from the start.”
Principal Nezu nods. “Therefore, the test was not a true evaluation of their skills.” Which was the whole entire reason for said exam.
“Eraserhead.”
Aizawa sits up at Principal Nezu’s call.
“Please be sure to discuss this further with the other staff members, I want to make sure they all feel the same way before we come to a final decision.”
Aizawa gets up, he heard what he needed to. “Of course, sir.” As he takes his leave, he pauses at the door, taking a moment to eye Toshinori one last time.
It looks like he has something else to say but after a moment of waiting he leaves without another word.
With him gone, Nezu frowns fearing what he is about to ask next. “All Might…there is one last thing I’d like to ask you.”
Toshinori frowns worriedly. “What…what is it sir?”
“During the exam, on the audio recording, Mr. Midoriya said something. It was quick and fleeting, but one can hear it over the raging flames and crumbling buildings.”
Toshinori’s heart slows to a crawl as dread creeps up inside.
Nezu goes in for the question. “Why did Mr. Midoriya think that you saw him as…a villain?”
Toshinori lets out an audible gasp of horror. He bows his head, averting his gaze. “When I learned that he…had a Quirk.” Oh god is it a struggle to even say it anymore, to even think it is…shameful. “I thought…it had to be given to him.”
Recovery Girl’s frown grows. “Oh, All Might…”
“I…see.” Principal Nezu lowers his head, understanding everything and what may have also led to Midoriya’s…outrage. “Is…Mr. Midoriya aware of All For One?”
Toshinori nods his head. “Young Uraraka…explained it all to him.”
“Hm.” Principal Nezu nods showing no negative reactions to hearing that she told him the full truth. “This certainly clears up a lot more.”
First the boy was denied and then he was accused. It’s no wonder everything was such a mess.
“I can see why you may have had your suspicions, especially after Tsukauchi’s report about the Nomus.”
Toshinori nods, the Nomus were the final straw for him to come to that assumption. “But…I know that’s wrong. The way he reacted, especially during the exam, it’s clear to me he’s innocent. Far from the reaches of All For One.”
Nezu nods, agreeing full heartedly. And once again he can see the logic in this conclusion, wrong as it may be, it is for the best that All Might thinks Midoriya’s powers are of a human origin.
But now there’s only one last item to address. “We all make mistakes, All Might. But what really counts is what we do after them.”
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
(Opening Theme: DR STONE OP 2 - https://youtu.be/SohCAjC-Npk)
(Instrumentals)
Sora no iro wa dō s***
Izuku walks forward with a determined expression before passing by Ochaco
aoku mieru no darō ka
Ochaco continues walking forward before everything fades as she walks down a dark corridor
Kiiroi koe agete umareta
The corridor reveals the silhouettes of the past OFA users before Ochaco closes her eyes to meditate.
kioku no shizukesa Ao to kiiro ga
Izuku slowly opens his eyes before zooming out to show him sitting on a fence along with Bakugou and Henzu all of them with serious expressions before Henzu and Bakugou fade away.
mazariatte dekita midori ni wa hana o
Izuku blinks as he stands next to Ochaco in front of the U.A. gates.
Hana ni wa mizu o Boku ni wa yume o
The two look at each other in surprise before smiling and begin running.
Zero ni tashite ima o kakete Nagareru akai chi moyō
The Omnitrix aliens leap into action showing off their powers ending with several silhouettes coming into view before disappearing behind a flash of green light!
Sen o hīte kara o watte Saita hana no moyō
Shinso leads the charge for Class 1-A with Todoroki as he unleashes a torrent of flames
Tsunagu teishiki fude o motte
The flames dissipate to reveal Hisashi smiling at the camera while Endeavor and All Might stand behind him facing in opposite directions
Torimodoshite iku inochi
The U.A. staff follow after as they jump into the fray.
Me ni mienai rūru e ima ikō,
Gang Orca, Gran Torino, Manual, and other pros go about their daily patrol.
Ikōru o sagashi ni iku
Nezu sits at his desk as silhouettes of the plumber magistrate appear behind him.
Douka ga junsui na hajimari wo Shodou ni kawaru hajimari wo
Izuku rides on his hoverboard while Ochaco flies next to him as they charge in at the villains.
Seimeiryoku wo
Henzu stands next to Shigaraki with the shadows of the League of Villains behind them.
sangenshoku de hirogete
Up in space Vilgax narrows his eyes as bubbles form in his pod.
Hakushi no jidai kako mo sute kizukiage kizukasare
It shows Izuku and Ochaco's misadventures as space cadets. Ditto and Ochaco Posing as Men in Black, Ochaco cheering as Grey Matter tries to hotwire a spaceship only for Thirteen to catch them, Ochaco and ML-E chanting as Heatblast bakes Mochi for them. Ochaco holding Four Arms Bridal style as they run from an angry Mr. Bauman.
Kuroku natte
Izuku grins as he cocks his fist as the Omnitrix begins to glow.
imada kishite
Ochaco does the same as pink energy surrounds her.
tsumiage tsugi wa doko e
The two roar out as they punch forward.
Aa bokura no ashita ni iro ga attara
Izuku and Ochaco walk forward as they look into the night sky with smiles.
Me ni mieru iro ni sā
They turn to look at each other before holding out their fists.
Egaite iku
The two reach out and bump fist under the night sky.
(Opening Theme was Illustrated by Drag0n5on)
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
Ch.44 Regrets
“E-Everyone…” Mina Ashido sobs, tears pricking at her eyes as she despairs over her own failure. “I’m looking forward to hearing all your stories of how fun camp was.”
She sobs as her fellow failures all despair along with her. Denki Kaminari, Rikido Sato, and Eijirou Kirishima all look so defeated and lost, like a group of lost souls left to wander in an endless void of sorrow.
Mashirao Ojiro tries to lighten their moods. “You know, they might still let you guys go.”
Tooru Hagakure nods, finding some logic there. “Never know, Mr. Aizawa might pull a twist.”
“Stop it guys.” Hanta Sero steps in with a sad frown. “By saying that out loud, you’re just jinxing them.”
After all they all failed their exams, and now they have to pay the price. None of them will be attending the training camp with their fellow classmates: no camping, no fun, no smores, and no memories. Only the purgatory known as summer school awaits them now.
Sero frowns, losing hope in the situation. “Heck, I’m not sure I’ll get to go, either. Our team only passed thanks to Mineta.”
Minoru Mineta’s ears perk up at the sound of his name, and a sense of pride and overconfidence brims within him.
“I got knocked out, and since we don’t know how they’re scoring stuff, I might have flunked.”
Ojiro frowns. “That’s a good point.”
Hagakure quivers in place. “But who really concerns me are…them…”
Without even needed to be told exactly who she means, an awkward pungent silence befalls the classroom and all conversations slowly die away. As everyone’s attention warily and concerningly turns towards the troubled trio of Ochaco Uraraka, Katsuki Bakugou, and…Izuku Midoriya.
Most of them witnessed the mayhem Heatblast ensued during the exam, sure they couldn’t hear anything that was said and heck they didn’t even have that good of a picture there was so much smoke, flames, and ash that the image was blocked, or the camera feed was literally burned away. But they saw enough to know that Midoriya F-ing lost his shit out there.
All they know for sure is this: he lost control for some reason and went on a rampage. That is it. The teachers have refused to speak about it and none of the students want to be the one to ask Midoriya directly what happened. Honestly, it’d be just like kicking an injured dog when it’s already punishing itself. Because that’s almost what is happening!
Midoriya looks like a complete mess, his eyes are droopy with bags underneath them, a clear sign he didn’t sleep last night, probably from guilt. His hair is messier than usual, his clothes are loose like he didn’t really bother with them, and there’s a tight bandage around his head probably from a concussion. And the way he’s been carrying himself, it’s been different all morning, like he’s ashamed to even look at them. Tucking away in his shell of guilt and shame.
And honestly asking about what happened, would probably make him feel even worse than he already is. And no one really wants to be the one to make him relive something he’s clearly torn up about.
But that doesn’t mean that they aren’t curious, and they are teenagers, so they do tend to gossip, as they whisper amongst themselves about the event.
“No way they passed.”
“Shit, that means nearly half the class failed huh.”
“What was Midoriya thinking anyway?”
“No idea.”
“He destroyed an entire city. That’s both somehow really freaking cool and terrifying all at once.”
“It was terrifying!”
“Maybe it was the stress? They were up against the Number One Hero, maybe he panicked.”
“Maybe…”
“It’s always the quiet, gentle ones that snap the loudest.”
“Often the gentlest and calmest of us hide away their darkest of selves.”
“That’s a bit presumptuous don’t you think?
“Poor guy.”
“I wonder what set him off…”
Izuku sulks further into his seat, adjusting the tight bandages around his head. Apparently at some point during the…exam All Might struck him pretty hard. But honestly, he can’t really remember all too much. Everything is just such a blur for him for the most part: everything was red and hazy, there was smoke, there were a lot of flames, and…there was All Might.
But just because he doesn't remember, he knows what he did. He attacked his friend, his teammates, his teachers, and…All Might.
And despite his classmates trying their best to not upset him, it only makes him feel even worse. He…he lost control out there. Why? Because…because he was angry?
He tucks even more into himself.
Ochaco frowns worriedly in Deku’s direction as she adjusts the bandages around her wrists. Actually her entire body is pretty much wrapped up like a mummy, one just can’t tell thanks to her clothes, but she really did take on a number of burns during the…exam. The tips of her hair are still singed off and her skin is a little on the crispy side. But one more trip to the infirmary later should heal her all up for good.
Speaking of, as she thinks about the infirmary her mind wanders back to what happened after the exam.
##########(Flashback)#########
Ochaco sits in silence within the infirmary designated for the female students. She had woken up not too long ago, finding herself all bandaged up and in a hospital gown, but the sun had already begun to set in the distance, not long will night rule over the sky, and bring an end to a sad and tragic day.
Recovery Girl finishes up with the last of the bandages. “Now we’re going to leave this be for now. Come back tomorrow and I’ll heal you up as good as new, alright?”
Too somber to even answer, Ochaco gives a curt nod, her eyes glazed over and looking far off.
Recovery Girl frowns worriedly, after hearing about what led to Midoriya’s outburst she can't help but wonder what’s going through the girl’s mind.
Standing nearby, looking just as worried is Momo Yaoyorozu. She had finally gained enough strength to sit up in her bed after being unconscious for hours. She was awake when Uraraka was carted in, and she was immediately begging for answers only to be told that Midoriya had lost control.
“Uraraka?” Momo pipes up, cautiously. “What happened? Did you not pass?” Something tells her that they didn’t but…she’s worried
Without even turning to look at her, Ochaco grumbles. “The exam…is the last thing on my mind right now…”
The response only makes them worry even more.
And so they remain silent, unable to ask for more, allowing Ochaco to sit there and think. Ever since she woke up, she could do nothing but wonder, wonder how things turned out like this. And worry for her dear friend.
As she worries away, she recalls parts of Deku’s outbursts: “It’s just like back then! You don’t care about me! I’m not important enough for that, because I’m WORTHLESS!!!”
Why did Deku snap like that? Was this her fault? Could she have helped prevent it? What happened between him and All Might? There are just so many questions! And she needs answers now!!
Momo gasps! “What are you doing?!”
“Sit back down, this instant!” snaps Recovery Girl! “You’re not fit to move around yet!” She’d hit Ochaco in any other circumstances but all she can do is flail and whine!
Ochaco had dragged herself off her bed, her body screaming in burning searing pain, her legs wobbling from underneath, as she uses the bed to steady herself.
“I have to…” She nearly stumbles over as she tries to reach for Momo’s bed for support! “see him.”
“Not in this state you’re not!” Recovery Girl is quick to intercept her path. “Get back into bed, before you hurt yourself!”
Wincing in pain, Ochaco shakes her head refusing to do so. “He was…hurting. And I…didn’t even notice.” She just assumed he was stressed, but now…she knows she was wrong in that assumption. Tears prick at her eyes, feeling guilty that she could have done something far sooner. “I have to make it up to him.”
Recovery Girl remains unmoving her arms out to prevent anyone from passing.
Ochaco only glares right back refusing to back down,
And after a moment of them having a stare off, Recovery Girl relents seeing that if she lets the girl go now, she can go back to recovering sooner.
Ochaco grins, as tears prick at her eyes.
Before she can take another step, Recovery Girl interjects. “But…let me give you something first.”
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
Across the hall, within the infirmary designated for the male students. Izuku is lost, not lost in physical sense, but lost to his guilt and shock.
A bandage is wrapped tightly around his head, a blow to the head was the culprit apparently. But he can’t even bring himself to care about his injuries, instead remaining in a state of shock after everything that occurred.
The infirmary feels empty with the exit to his right but a large dividing curtain up on his left, making the room feel even smaller.
When he awoke, he took a quick peek and spotted an unconscious Bakugou on the other side of the curtain. A pang of guilt rode up inside him as his eyes landed on the burns and scrapes littered across his bandaged body.
‘What…what have I done?’ His mind flashes to a burned and skeletal All Might, standing within the smoke column. He recalls the flames burning down the city. And the way he lashed out at anything that moved, even his teammates! ‘What have I done?!’ Izuku grapples at his head, fighting back the urge to scream out in agony!
The door to the infirmary slides open, drawing his attention.
Izuku freezes in place as Ochaco rides on a slow moving, self-moving-wheelchair.
Izuku’s heart drops as she slowly rolls in, taking in all her bandages, burns, and scrapes across her body. Damage he had done to her. And so he looks away, unable to look her in the eye out of fear of what he might see.
Ochaco frowns, dejected and hurt. But she can understand why upon inspecting herself and all her injuries. And so they sit in a tense pungent silence, neither ready to speak just yet nor willing to look the other in the eye out of guilt and regret.
But after a few silently tense minutes, Ochaco works up the courage to speak. “Deku…” “Deku…I’m so sorry.”
Izuku’s eyes widen, not expecting an apology from her. After all he’s the one that owes her the apology.
“I… I didn’t even realize you were hurting until it was too late.” Far too late. “I just…assumed you were nervous was all, but…that’s no excuse.” Ochaco bows, quivering in her wheelchair. “I…I’m so sorry. I’m sorry I didn’t help you sooner!”
Tears prick at Izuku’s eyes, his fists clenching the bed sheets. He looks away before rebutting. “You…you shouldn’t be apologizing…”
Ochaco blinks away her tears, wondering what he could mean.
“I…I don’t even know how you can even look at me…!” Izuku trembles in his bed, as guilt and shame whirl within his heart. “After what I did…”
“Deku…” her mind flashes with images of fire and smoke and ash, to Heatblast’s eyes…those agonizing and confused eyes. Eyes that were furious with the world but unaware of the chaos around them.
But what caused it? What happened…between Deku and All Might?
“Deku…” She hesitates, finding it hard to believe she would ever ask such a question, but… “Deku…what happened between you two?”
Izuku doesn’t have to wonder who she means. But he keeps his gaze away, refusing to answer. But he considers it, should he tell her?
Ochaco remains silent waiting patiently giving him the time he needs to answer.
And after what feels like an hour, Izuku finally speaks up his voice sounding broken and far. “Because of my Quirklessness…everyone at school…looked down on me.”
Ochaco sits up, surprised but listening intently, even if that’s not how she expected a response to start.
Izuku continues on, spilling his suffering out for her to bear witness. “No one, not a soul, believed I could become a hero…” It hurts, it really does to say this, but that’s because of how true it really is. “And one day…I met him, my hero…my idol…All Might.” And looking back it was one of the happiest moments in his life, but it didn’t last very long. “He had saved me from dying and at the time it was probably one of the happiest moments in my life, after all it’s not every day you meet the Symbol of Peace… But then…I decided to…ask him a question, Just one question.” Izuku is shaking, trembling as his mind flashes back to that scene, the scene that’s haunted him every time he even sees the hero. “I…I asked him…if someone like me…could be a hero?”
Ochaco suddenly recalls how Deku snapped at All Might: ‘“I asked if a Quirkless loser could become a hero…” Izuku can’t meet his gaze, almost like he’s afraid. He’s relived this moment in his mind for months, nearly every time he even glanced at the hero. Before he always tried to suppresses, to forget about it, but…not anymore. “Do you remember… what you told me?”
All Might warily peers up and his eyes lock with the boy’s tearful broken gaze. And just like that the last of his restraint gives away as guilt takes it hold over him completely. “I SAID… NO.”’
Izuku trembles, shaking as she spills it all out. “A-and…h-he said-...”
With a pained expression Ochaco finishes for him. “No…”
And with that, Izuku’s walls break away as he sobs, and tears begin to flow.
Ochaco sinks into her chair, coming to terms with it all. Like puzzle pieces finally falling into place, Deku’s pain finally makes sense. And as if to sink in it she thinks to Deku’s accusation from before: ‘“YOU NEVER SAW ME AS A POTENTIAL HERO!!!”’
That is what he was dealing with: looking down upon by the one he admired the most.
“Deku…I’m…I’m so sorry.” She reaches out for him, hesitating, but then she rests her hand on top of his letting him know that he isn’t alone.
It’s not much but it’s enough as he caves in and begins to weep and sob, tearing up uncontrollably as he washes away the last of his torment.
Ochaco now understands, she now understands it all and what’s worse she now aware of how much suffering he’s been carrying around all by himself. All this time…he’s been cracking, ever so slowly whenever All Might was involved, only to finally crack when he was forced to confront the very person…who denied him his dream.
With it all out in the open, Izuku continues to sob as he lets it all out. “And-and what’s worse…” he sniffs and chokes, unable to even finish his thoughts. “He…He thought I was a…”
Ochaco pales, her blood going cold, dreading that something else may have been the cause.
“Deku, what did…?”
Then she remembers, it was quick, but it won’t leave her mind: ‘“You never had time for me?! Because I was Quirkless! Because you thought I was a fucking villain!!”’
Her breath hitches, and her heart stops. “What did he do?”
“H-He…he t-thought that I-I…” With tears running down his eyes and his heart bleeding, Izuku struggles to finish. “T-That I got m-my powers from…”
It feels like the entire world has been pulled back and turned upside down, as reality crashes in on the girl. “All For One…”
And with that Izuku finally cries out in anguish, his screams and cries filling the infirmary.
His cries are enough to stir the seemingly unconscious body nearby.
########(End Flashback)#######
Ochaco frowns, worriedly. ‘Deku…’
It’s just not right, it’s not right at all. How could All Might…ever think that?! It’s crazy?! No way, someone with half a brain cell could tell that Deku would never be associated with villains! And now…now look at him. He’s tearing apart at the seams, if nothing’s done soon, he’s going to break down again. And…and she can’t bear to see him go through that again. But what can she do? What can she do to cheer him up? To bring the old Deku back?
As she sulks into her seat, her eyes wander, and she makes eye contact with a few of her fellow classmates: the ones that were in the monitor room during their exam. And for a moment they all have a moment of realization as they rise from their seats or pull away from their individual conversations.
As Izuku continues to sink into his chair, Bakugou adjusts himself ever so slightly to examine him from his seat. Like Uraraka he too is covered in bandages due to burns. But it’s really no bother for him, or at least he doesn't show it as he eyes Izuku with a hint of caution and…interest. ‘All For One…?’
From the corner of his eye a group cautiously approaches Deku’s desk.
Izuku doesn't look up as they approach, he already knows who they are and…he just can’t bring himself to look them in the eye.
Leading the way is Ochaco. And following her are the ones that witnessed Midoriya’s initial outburst: Shoto Todoroki, Tenya Iida, Hitoshi Shinso, and Tsuyu Asui. They all bear expressions of worry and concern. None of them show any sign of fear; they saw enough to know that something set him off back there. What? They have no idea but whatever it was, it had to be too much for him.
“Deku…” Ochaco calls to him gently hoping he’ll open up to them.
“Hey, man.” Shinso gently pats him on the shoulder. “How are you holding up?”
Izuku hesitates but he speaks barely in a whisper. “I’m…fine.”
They all frown, knowing that isn’t true, but they don’t really want to force a response out of him either.
Tenya’s lips tighten, he wants to say something. The way Heatblast lashed out and attacked…it was just like him. Just like how he reacted to the Hero Killer. So he understands that something, whatever it may be, had to be painful for him, enough so that he’d bottle up his anger and hate until it finally culminated in disaster.
As a friend, and as one that’s gone through something so similar, he feels even more guilty that he didn’t pick up on the signs that something was wrong sooner. “Midoriya…if anything is the matter then please don’t hesitate to speak to me or any of us about it. We’d be more than willing to lend an ear.” It’s not much but maybe it is…
Izuku eyes Tenya with a bit of sad gratitude. “Thanks…Iida. But I don’t really feel like talking, if that’s okay?”
Tenya frowns. “I…I won’t force you.”
Izuku sulks back into his seat, letting sorrow and shame pull him down.
Watching on as he pushes them away, Shoto finally speaks up. “Midoriya…”
Izuku warily peers up at him through his messy bangs.
Shoto looks him right in the eye and says. “We’re not afraid of you.”
The greenette’s emerald eyes widen for a brief moment.
“You lost control. So, what? It happened to the best of us.” Shoto looks away almost…embarrassed. “Heck even I lost my cool, before.” Specifically, during the Sports Festival.
Izuku blinks in response, his eyes watering up a bit as he quivers in his seat.
“Kero. You’re only human, with human emotions.” chime sin Tsuyu. “We can't fault you for that can we?”
Ochaco offers a gentle smile as she steps forward. “No worries here Deku. We’re all on your side so there’s no need to be upset anymore, alright?”
Tears prick at his eyes, threatening to spill over in a moment's notice. “Y-you guys…” He desperately fights back the tears as his friends stand by him.
The rest of the class watch on, feeling rather relieved and almost stupid with themselves on how they were acting.
Izuku fights off the tears just enough to catch his breath. He takes a shaky breath before slowly offering up a grateful smile to his friends. “Thanks guys…I…needed to hear that.”
They all smile happy they could help him in some way.
From the other side of the room, Mina frowns as her antennae twitch. ‘He’s lying.’ Well not completely, but she can almost tell that he’s still hurting. He still feels guilty about what he did, but he doesn’t want to show it.
Before anything else, Shota Aizawa flings open the door without warning! “Once the bell rings you should be in your seats.”
In an instant the entire class is silent and, in their seats, acting like they were there waiting for him this whole time.
“Morning.” Aizawa strolls to the podium, eyeing the class as he goes. “Unfortunately, there are a few of you who…did not pass your final exams.”
Kirishima, Mina, Sato, and Kaminari all flinch, winching in pain as they’re thrusted back into their own despair.
Whereas, Izuku, Ochaco, and Bakugou all tense up realizing that this most likely applies to them as well.
“So, when it comes to the training camp in the woods…” A bursting Todoro smile appears on Aizawa’s face! “Everyone is going!!”
The group of four failures all rejoice!! “IT’S A LAST-MINUTE TWIST!!!” They are so happy they actually spring out of their seats and begin cheering and celebrating!!
As for the other three: well this is good news they don’t really feel like celebrating for what feels like a consolation prize. Especially after what…happened.
Kirishima is grinning like an idiot. “We really get to go to the camp?!”
Mina’s so happy she’s tearing up! “Seriously?”
“Yeah.” Aizawa replies with far less enthusiasm. “The good news is that no one bombed the written exams. Five failed the practical badly. Two teams, of course, and then Sero failed as well.”
“Aw! Crap, I knew it.” Sero facepalms himself in frustration. “Mineta made it to the gate, but I didn’t do near enough to pass.”
Aizawa continues. “Allow me to explain. For the practical battles, the teachers made sure to leave a way for the students to win. Otherwise, you never would have stood a chance. We were interested in observing how you each worked together and approached the task at hand.”
Ojiro pipes up. “But didn’t you promise that the teachers wouldn’t be holding back?”
“That was just to get you on edge.” And it worked…a little too well in a certain case. “Besides, the training camp will focus on building your strength. Those who failed need those lessons the most. We were never going to separate you.” His massive Totoro smile returns. “That was just a logical deception we used.”
The five failures all cry out in anguish!! “A LOGICAL DECEPTION!?!”
Shinso grabs at his mouth trying in vain not to laugh at their expense. He freaking knew it! Dammit, he should have put money on this!!
“Hang on, I wasn’t lying about everything.” Aizawa cuts in so coldly that the five failures freeze and pale in place. “Failure is failure. We’ve prepared extra lessons for the five of you.”
Suddenly they all wished that they wouldn’t go to camp.
“Frankly, they’ll be far tougher than what you'd face at summer school.”
Momo Yaoyorozu frowns observing the class, and like her many of them are a bit confused. They all noticed it too but there are some details missing here.
And so she raises her hand. “Mr. Aizawa pardon me if this sounds…rude or callous. But is that all?”
Aizawa raises an eyebrow. “Excuse me?”
“You said five people failed to pass, but…” She hesitantly gestures to…the other three that failed to pass the exam.
A silence befalls the class, especially as Ochaco, Bakugou, and Izuku all tense up in their seats. In truth they noticed it too, but Mr. Aizawa never mentioned them. And for Izuku that only catapulted his fears even higher, was he not mentioned because…he won’t be going at all? Is that his punishment for acting so…so recklessly? It would make sense, he has to face some sort of punishment for his actions, right?
Before Izuku could keep drowning in his own doubts, Mr. Aizawa cuts in and responds. “Simple, their exam was declared invalid due to many unforeseen and…unfortunate circumstances leading into the exam.”
And like that Izuku is snapped out of inner rambling, totally confused and surprised. As are his fellow teammates, unsure of what any of what he said means.
Ochaco speaks up hesitantly. “Invalid…?”
Bakugou frowns, almost offended by the news.
Izuku sinks in his seat, but too curious to look away.
Aizawa’s gaze falls towards the problem child of his class with sympathy and regret. Especially as he recalls the discussion that took place shortly after the fiery exam.
“As I said before, we wanted to see how each and every one of you reacted and handled the various opponents and factors that were set before you. And if you recall before the exams, I told you all that I personally divided you all up into various teams based on various factors. The same goes with the teachers you had to fight. This was all to push you all further into your development.” Like in Yaoyorozu’s case she developed a new weapon for herself, or Koda broke through his shell a little bit more, or even how Mineta proved he can be a strategic thinker. “However…” His eyes lock with a pair of emerald eyes. “Unfortunately, many of my fellow teachers and I were not made aware of some preexisting turmoil between two of the combatants. Leading to Midoriya’s rather reasonable outburst.”
The class blink in confusion. ‘Reasonable…?!’
Aizawa continues on. “In all, the exam that was meant to push this group further, did the opposite. Pass or fail it was to point out their weaknesses, strength, and abilities. But due to our…my lack of judgement it did the opposite. People were hurt,” Burned, scared, and concussed. “property damaged,” An entire city block when up in flames. “respect was lost, and confidence was shattered.” He recalls the discussion he had with All Might and the others. “The exam did more harm than good, because of our mistakes. And so we as teachers unanimously agreed that the exam was invalid.”
The three are a bit unsure, is it really okay for the exam to just not count?
Aizawa must have read their faces because he answers. “That being said, we plan on having you three take a sort of makeup test in place of the final exam.”
The three sit up, tensing up at the thought of having to fight another one of their teachers.
“It won’t be like the exam you just took, and you’ll be taking it during the camp. Pass it and you won’t have to take remedial lessons with the failures.”
Said failures cry out, offended! “Hey!!”
Mina cries out. “So mean!”
Kaminari’s pissed too. “Yeah, don't we get a pass?!”
Aizawa doesn’t hesitate to throw a piercing red glare in their direction, silencing them with that one look. “Understand this, we teachers are just to blame for what occurred the other day. More so than Midoriya.”
Izuku is stunned, this can’t be real. There’s no way Mr. Aizawa is serious. He was the one that lost control, he’s the one that set the place on fire! Should he be punished for that?!
“We are taking full responsibility for what happened.” Aizawa eyes the class, letting them know that he’s fully serious about this. “Midoriya’s outburst was preventable but due to our negligence it came about. So don’t go thinking for a moment that he’ll lash out and burn anyone that gets near. The kid’s got too much of a conscience to do that.” he shrugs it off, trying to act like everything is all good. “It was a one-time occurrence, because we’ll be sure it doesn't happen again.”
The class sort-of just accept the answer, still a bit unsure about it. It just seems odd as the exam could just be…excused. But who are they to complain? This just means that everyone gets to go to camp and really, they’re just happy no one is going to have to miss out.
Aizawa however has one more point to make. “Now I’m sure this doesn't have to be said, but I’ll say it. The matter is personal so don’t go drudging up for stupid gossip, just forget it and move on.” he throws the class a cold red glare. “Do I make myself clear?”
“Yes, sir!”
“Good.”
Izuku is at a loss here, a mixture of confusion and gratitude all at once. He’s never had a teacher publicly defend him before, it’s…weird but kinda nice. But on the other hand, he can’t help but feel like it’s too much. Seriously, he was the one that messed up, not them so why is he getting off so lightly? That…that just doesn’t sit right with him…
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And sitting in the silence of the empty teacher’s lounge also doesn't sit right with Izuku either.
Shortly after homeroom, Mr. Aizawa asked Izuku to meet him here so they could…talk. And so far, he sat down across from Aizawa, sitting in silence as his teacher just sits there quietly observing him; what's worse is that Izuku can’t tell if he’s watching him with intrigue, concern, or indifference. Gosh, why is his homeroom teacher so hard to read?
Izuku fidgets in his seat, becoming even more uncomfortable. The only conclusion that he comes to is that he’s here to be chewed out and punished, the only mercy being that Mr. Aizawa didn’t want to do it in front of everyone. Yeah, that has to be it, it’s the only thing that makes sense.
So, he might as well apologize, that’s probably what he’s waiting for.
And so with a shaky breath Izuku speaks just above a whisper. “Mr. Aizawa…I…I’m really-”
“Don’t bother finishing that.”
Instantly, Izuku’s mouth clamps shut.
Aizawa leans forward, his long bangs shrouding over his eyes. “Midoriya, do you know why I called you here?”
He does. He doesn’t want to say it but after causing so much damage… Expulsion or at least a suspension seem like the most obvious outcomes.
And so with a shakily breath, his body trembling, Izuku ducks his head down out of fear. “I-I…I’m sorry, sir. I…can only assume that you’re-”
A gentle hand rests upon his messy locks, seemingly calming him in an instant.
When he calms down enough, Aizawa pulls his hand away. “Relax, you’re not in trouble.”
Izuku sits back, wiping his eyes, blinking at his teacher curiously.
Aizawa rubs his neck while he tries to figure out how to start this. “I wanted to speak to you personally about your…performance during the practical exam.”
Suddenly Izuku’s worries rush back, but he doesn’t outwardly show it.
With a calm, reassuring voice Aizawa asks. “How are you feeling?”
Izuku outwardly shows his surprise once again, not expecting that kind of question. “I-I’m…fine.”
“No, no you’re not.” Aizawa corrects matter-of-factually. “Tell me how you really feel.”
Izuku gulps, his nervousness never really subsiding making him hesitant to answer. “I…I feel…” He pauses, hesitant to reveal his answer before finally. “guilty.”
Aizawa doesn’t react, not making it a big deal, instead he asks as casually and simply as possible. “Why?”
Surprisingly, that’s actually easy for Izuku to answer. “I…I lost control. I…attacked my friend. I attacked the teachers. I attacked All Might. And I think I even attacked you.” Even though it was all a red blur he can still recall the details: there was just so much screaming and fire it was all so dizzying and crazy! And he…he lost control! “I’m horrible!” Izuku cries out as painful tears finally spill out. “I got so angry that I attacked everyone!! I hurt Uraraka! I hurt All Might! What if I killed someone?! And all because I was angry I-OW!!”
A quick slap to his head is enough to cut him off.
Izuku grabs his aching, concussed head, looking up at his teacher with a tearful questioning stare. “What…what was that for?”
Aizawa sits back and rather casually asks. “Are you upset?”
Izuku blinks. “What?”
Aizawa repeats. “Are you angry? Do you want to hurt me?”
“No!” Izuku shakes his, waving his arms to deny it all. “Of course not!”
“Good, then you’re not horrible.”
Izuku’s breath hitches.
“You’re not an angry person, you just got angry. There’s a difference. Besides everyone has their limit, you just happened to reach yours during the exam.”
Izuku frowns as he ponders Mr. Aizawa’s words.
Aizawa sighs. “Do you know why I paired you with Bakugou of all people?”
“Is it…is it because we don’t get along.”
Aizawa nods, glad to see the kid’s still able to observe and analyze. “On, point as always. Yes.” Rubbing his neck, Aizawa looks rather sheepish albeit with the same indifference as always. “Admittedly I was trying to force you two to come together, to cooperate and push each other, but like I said the opposite happened.” He bows his head, like he’s disappointed, not in Izuku but with someone else. “To be frank, I’ve been informed of your…past run in with All Might and what occurred.”
Izuku’s heart stops beating for a split second.
But Aizawa is quick to clarify the details. “He didn’t give me all the details, but he told me enough to get the gist.” Enough to know that All Might told a kid, a boy looking for hope and a chance, only to have his dreams crushed by the very hero he admired. Damn, All Might talk about soul crushing, that’s supposed to be his thing. “Honestly, if I had known sooner, I wouldn’t have placed the two of you in the same arena.”
That was a mistake in and of itself, looking back on it. He thought maybe if Bakugou and Midoriya were faced against such huge odds they would have no choice but to work together. But well without the knowledge of the history between All Might and Midoriya specifically that plan clearly tanked before it even began.
Looking back on things perhaps he would have gotten the results he was looking for if it was him versus the students or maybe he should have gone up against Yaoyorozu, Todoroki, and Shino rather than Thirteen.
But there’s no point in speculating, the exams are over and now they have to deal with the results.
“I understand why you snapped, I do, more than you realize, but…” He looks the boy in the eye, speaking as gently and calmly as he can. “We also need to take steps to prevent that in the future.”
A bit of dread starts to creep in on Izuku but a soft reassuring look from Aizawa eases it away.
“If you have any issues especially with others in your class, the school, or even teachers you need to let someone you trust know. Even if it seems trivial, you cannot hold that all in and hope it goes away.”
That’s never the answer, you see something wrong one needs to speak up about it. Especially if you have issues with certain individuals: issues have to at least be addressed before steps can be taken. But nothing can get done if no one knows about it.
“That’s why we’re here.” With a reassuring gaze, Aizawa places a hand on Izuku’s shoulder. “I want to help you. You should have told me that you at least had issues with All Might.”
Izuku can’t help but feel a bit embarrassed, not because he teared up in front of a teacher, but because the answer was just so simple. Maybe if he at least talked to Mr. Aizawa about it he could have fought someone else.
No, if he talked to All Might, someone about…everything maybe then they could have avoided all this.
“That said.”
Izuku snaps away from his self-loathing.
“Keep in mind as teachers we too have to look out for things like this. And honestly, I’m rather disappointed in myself for not noticing your change in behavior sooner. No, I did notice, but I chalked it up to the stress of the test and nothing else.”
Izuku is silent, hanging on to every word and trying to understand what they mean.
“As teachers we have a duty to push our students, to help them grow. And often or not that means challenging our students harder and harder, to push them beyond their limits.” Aizawa frowns. “But there’s an underlying rule, to never push our students to the point that their mental states collapse.”
Izuku’s mind begins to put it all together as Aizawa continues to speak.
“Not only do we have the responsibility to push you further…but we also have a responsibility to your wellbeing, both physical and especially your mental and emotional states.”
Aizawa rises from his seat, never once moving his eyes away from Izuku’s. “And in that regard, I failed you, just as much as All Might did.” And so he bows his head, in a show of regret and apology. “We forced you into a situation where you were never going to succeed without even realizing it. We hurt you, even if it was indirectly. We forced you to bottle up your anger. And for that I’m sorry.”
“Mr. Aizawa…” Finally, it all hits home, Izuku’s heart swells and begins to bleed out with a mixture of gratitude and regret. “This is too much, I don't deserve this… It was still my fault; I was the one that lost control…”
Aizawa frowns knowing what the boy is thinking. “You feel like you should be punished then.”
“Y-yes!” Izuku cries out, finally admitting that that is what he thinks!
Aizawa sighs, he honestly shouldn’t be surprised. This kid has one strong moral compass so of course he’d feel this way. “Fine.” Giving in to the boy’s feelings, Aizawa takes a moment to grab and fill out a little pink-piece of paper. “Here.”
Izuku almost rips the paper out of his hand, like one would rip off a Band-Aid. He peeks his eyes open but they soon his eyes land on the line: Detention after school today. And nothing else. No, clean all the bathrooms or oil-change the faux villain robots, no go repair the arena you burned down, no nothing. Just a detention, for one day?
Aizawa doesn’t have to try hard to sense the confusion the kid’s feeling. “You’ve already been through enough punishment as it is, this detention is just a formality.”
“Mr. Aizawa…” Tears well up and spill out, landing on the pink-slip like rain drops.
This is too much. First his friends and now his teachers, nobody…nobody’s scared or even angry with him. Is this really what he deserves after everything he did? Maybe…maybe it is. Maybe for once in his life…everyone’s on his side.
And so the tears keep coming as Izuku sobs and chokes.
Aizawa hangs back giving the boy the time and space to let it all out of his system.
Meanwhile, listening in as Izuku sobs, is a fully costumed Thirteen. With the door slightly cracked open, Thirteen had followed Midoriya here and listened in the entire time. Originally it was because they were a bit…skeptical about Aizawa’s intentions. Especially after what he said the other day… Oh, boy.
But this…this was definitely the best outcome. ‘Senpai, you really are just a big softy aren’t ya?’ A smiling Thirteen peeks in only to pale out of fear.
As Izuku sobs and wipes at his eyes, Aizawa is looking straight at them through the crack in the door, unblinking and unsurprised.
In a panic, Thirteen hastily zips their head back, praying that they weren’t spotted.
With the eyedropper out of sight and with Izuku finally calming down, Aizawa has one last thing to mention. “One more thing.”
Izuku wipes away the last of the tears, peering up at his teacher curiously.
Aizawa hands Izuku another slip of paper, this time a pamphlet.
Izuku takes it, scanning the pages while trying to piece together what it’s for. “What’s this?”
“When you return at the end of the summer, you’ll be taking some counseling sessions here.”
Izuku blinks. “What?”
“To make sure this doesn't happen again, we feel it's for the best.” Aizawa points to the schedule that’s laid out on the pamphlet. “They won’t start until the school year begins again so take the summer to cool off and reset your mind. You need it.”
“I…understand.” Counseling huh, it may not be the worst thing ever.
“I should mention that we haven’t told your parents about this yet.”
“What?”
“After everything, we felt it best if we discussed with you first on the matter. Keep in mind we will be informing them about these counseling sessions, but we want to make sure it’s okay for us to tell them the very…personal reasons why you lashed out.”
Izuku frowns thinking about it for a moment or two. “If you can…can you not tell them about…why. I just…I just feel like that’s something I should tell them…myself.” He needs to communicate the problem himself.
Aizawa can’t complain with that, if anything that might be better than a teacher calling in and saying their son had a mental meltdown. “Very well.”
Aizawa leans forward in his seat. “Just remember, Problem Child, you have others you can turn to.” His eyes drift over towards the doorway and once again Thirteen is peaking in. “And I’m sure they’ll be there when you need them: whether they’re your friends, teachers, or family.”
Is it weird that Izuku wants to cry again? Because he already is.
Thirteen smiles on contently as Izuku washes away his troubles before taking their leave. They’ll talk to him later when he’s calmed down. Besides someone has to supervise his detention anyway.
And so Aizawa and Izuku remain, Aizawa remains quiet allowing Izuku all the time he needs to calm down and compose himself. And with nothing else to say Aizawa wishes him the best and sends him on his way.
Izuku hesitates at the door, looking back and giving his homeroom teacher a small smile.
In response, Aizawa gives a curt nod in acknowledgement.
And with that Izuku takes his leave.
But Aizawa, doesn’t. He remains in his seat, like he’s waiting for something…or someone.
After a few minutes of sitting in complete silence the door to the lounge slides open.
Aizawa eyes the doorway, sitting up as his eyes furrow. “Good you came. Sit down, I’d like to have a chat with you.”
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And so the day continues on, most of the classes are just a formality for the teachers to discuss summer homework and what to expect when they return after the vacation.
And so the hallways are relatively empty as Toshinori Yagi makes his way towards the teachers lounge after another check up with Recovery Girl.
He’d like to say the visit went well, but…he’d be lying. Heck his side is still hurting from where she jabbed him with that cane of hers.
And it certainly doesn't help that his whole body still feels like it’s on fire. He’s covered in bandages underneath his suit, and his right shoulder is searing in pain thanks to the newly acquired burn scar.
A scar that will be a constant reminder of what he had done…
Passing by a hallway, Toshinori loses himself in his own thoughts and regrets before movement catches his attention out of the corner of his eye.
Peering up he spots his very own successor, exiting the restroom after having just washed her hands.
Ochaco looks up and visibly pauses in place when she notices her mentor.
Toshinori shyly smiles and waves in greeting.
Ochaco, however, doesn’t return it; she instead just awkwardly and hurriedly walks away in the opposite direction. Not giving him so much as a wave or acknowledgement.
Toshinori slowly puts his hand down, a regretful frown on his face. He knew she’d react like that, she even told him so herself…
##########(Flashback)#########
Toshinori basks in the last few moments of the sunset, the other staff leaving to other matters, allowing him time to stew in his own failures.
Without warning the doors to his infirmary are swung open, slamming into the wall!
Toshinori whips his head around! “Young Uraraka?!”
Ochaco’s entire boys is searing with pain, her knees wobbling from under her as she leans against the door frame, breathing heavily after running over here, no wheelchair in sight. She stumbles into the room, nearly collapsing and losing her footing, using anything to keep her up.
Toshinori gasps worriedly “You should be in bed! Where’s Recovery Girl we need to-”
“Is it true?”
His breath hitches.
“Is that why you didn’t trust him? Why you wouldn’t let me tell him?”
“Uraraka…”
Ochaco finally meets the man’s gaze, painful tears pricking at the corners of her eyes. She’s desperately trying to hold them back but it’s a losing struggle. “Did you really think…” She has to force herself to ask, hoping, praying it isn’t true. “that Deku was a villain?”
Toshinori pales, she knows. “N-no! I…I was just worried. I had to be sure.”
Ochaco turns her head away. “So, that’s a yes then…”
“Uraraka…” He so desperately wants to correct it; he never said the boy was a villain! But looking back to his chat with Young Midoriya, of course the boy would take it that way especially after being told about the kind of monster All For One is. So… “Yes…it is.”
Ochaco shakes nearly collapsing over from shock. “How? How could you?” She shakes her head, confusion and disbelief twisting her thoughts. “I don’t know what’s worse… That you thought he was a villain, or that…he couldn’t be a hero.”
Toshinori averts his gaze, not wanting to answer.
“It’s not r-right…” Tears for her friend, stream down her cheeks. “Why? Why would you even say that? Why?”
With his gaze averted, Toshinori gives her his response. “At the time…I thought I was doing him a favor.” Protecting him from harm. “Obviously, I couldn’t have been more wrong.”
Ochaco shakes, wiping at her eyes in an attempt to stop the tears.
Toshinori continues. “I see that now, I do.” He bows his head as the sun nearly vanishes from view. “I hurt Young Midoriya, I took his trust and faith in me and…tossed it aside, like it was nothing to me.” Like it was worthless. “I never…meant to hurt him. But…I did…”
Ochaco sniffs, holding back the tears enough to speak. “I-I should be more upset with you, I-I should yell at you, but…” She pulls down her arm showing All Might the sorrowful frown on her face.
Ochaco thinks back to the flames, the flames fueled by anger and pain, and how destructive and chaotic it all was. Those flames were of rage, abandoning reasoning and judgement, all to lash out and harm. And it was terrifying.
Terrifying because it caused more harm than good.
“I…don’t think anger’s the answer…” And more anger won’t help in matters: it won’t even make her feel better. It won’t make things right. And it most certainly won’t solve anything. “No, I don’t think anger is ever the answer.” Anger is destructive and explosive, unpredictable and harmful. It cannot be her response, not to this, not when Deku’s anger was a result of all this. “So I won’t get upset.”
Toshinori begins to fill with a sense of hope. “Young Uraraka...”
“But” She firmly cuts in. “I am…disappointed.”
Toshinori can feel it, an arrow impaling itself through his heart as he acknowledges that he’s lost her respect.
Ochaco is sad to admit it, but it’s hard to even look at All Might the same way, knowing what he did and what he thought of Deku. A person, she thinks is more of a hero than herself.
As Toshinori comes to terms with everything, Ochaco reaches into the pocket of her hospital gown and she pulls out a piece of paper.
Toshinori doesn't notice, still in shock, as shakily Ochaco steps forward/
“He told me to give you this.” She unfolds the paper and holds it out for All Might to take. “Said he…wanted to return this.”
With a shaky hand Toshinori takes the paper and lets out an audible gasp, his eyes widening with regret and shock.
In his hands he holds the very autograph he gave to Young Midoriya all those months ago. The paper had been torn out of the notebook with haste, crumbled up and tossed aside, before picked up and flattened out again. All to give Toshinori a message.
And that message is clear.
Unable to look him in the eye, Ochaco explains. “Deku…he looked up to you. You were his hero, his favorite hero. You inspired him to become a hero in the first place. But now…” There’s no need to say it, he already knows.
Toshinori so desperately wants to cry, and without knowing it, bits of tears drip down his face. ‘I’m so sorry…Young Midoriya. I’m so sorry…!’
With a shaky breath, Ochaco looks All Might right in the eye and says. “I-I…I just need to know one thing… How will you make things right?” After all what really matters is how All Might will make things right for Deku. That’s what matters not what she thinks or what she wants, but what Deku and All Might need.
With tears in his eyes, Toshinori doesn’t have to even think about his response. “Anyway that I can…” As he answers, tears drip onto the rejected autograph like raindrops at the start of a gloomy and dreadful storm.
########(End Flashback)#######
Toshinori watches as his young successor rounds the corner and disappears from sight. His heart fills with a great sense of guilt and shame. ‘I…I need to fix things… I can’t just run away from this. Not anymore.’
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And finally after everything, U.A. is officially out for the summer! Students are already filling out excitement for fun in the sun, to make new memories, and not stress about exams and tests.
“This is gonna be great.” Ojiro’s grins as he checks out the Training Camp Guide, they were all handed before the end of class. “I’m so glad we’re all going together.”
Tenya is skimming through his own guide alongside Kaminari and Shinso. “Looks like we’ll be at the training camp a full week.”
Shinso frowns. “I’m gonna need a bigger suitcase if that’s the case.”
Kaminari nods. “Yeah, I don’t even have a bathing suit. Guess I need to buy some stuff.”
Uninvited to the conversation, Mineta pops in from below. “Like night vision goggles!”
Without missing a beat, Shinso bops him on the head like he’s a whack-a-mole.
“This is so exciting, I can’t wait!” Hagakure cheers. “It’s going to be so awesome!”
Kyoka Jiro grins. “Hell ya. I can’t wait.” Too bad the camp’s closer to the end of summer, but hey that gives them all about a month to play with.
The rest of the class share the same sentiment, as they too go through the guide trying to figure out just what’s in store for them all. And of course they can’t help but be pumping each other up for the trip!
“I know you’re excited!” Mina leans over the desk, overlooking her friend. “Am I right?”
Ochaco smiles up at Mina sheepishly. “Well, of course I am.”
As she smiles on, her eyes catch the sight of Deku, who still has a gloomy cloud hanging over his head. In truth he looks a lot better than before like a weight was taken off his shoulders, but he’s still being dragged down by something.
Mina follows her gaze and frowns, showing that she’s picked up on it too. “How is he?”
“Quiet.” Ochaco frowns. “He just needs time, I think. He still feels guilty I think.” But she can’t help but feel guilty too. After finding out what caused all this, she can’t help but feel like she should be doing more.
Mina frowns, not at all enjoying the fact that some of the nicest kids in class are feeling so down especially when there’s so much to be excited for. But then a lightbulb goes off.
“I know!!” Mina cheers a little too loudly, gaining everyone else’s attention. “Since it’s the weekend and in celebration of our exams being finished, I've got the greatest idea for us all!!”
The class all cock their heads to the side, wondering what the heck she’s going on about.
“This weekend.” Mina spins around and announces! “Class 1-A is going out for a group shopping spree!!”
Immediately nearly the whole class lights up.
Kaminari smiles, excitedly. “Hey, yeah! We’ve never hung out as a class before.”
Tsuyu nods. “Could be fun.”
Kirishima shines a toothy grin over towards the mad bomber. “Bakugou. See you there, right?”
Bakugou’s already trudging his way out of the room. “I can’t think of anything more annoying.” Is that a yes? Probably not.
In the back, Momo smiles at her neighbor. “Will you be joining us, Todoroki?”
Shoto will not. “Sorry, but no. I visit my mom on days off.”
Without warning, Shinso throws his arm around the dual-haired teen. “Come now, I’m sure she’d love it if you hung out with your friends. Right? What else could make a mother happy than seeing their kid with their friends?”
“She might but-”
Shinso discreetly elbows Shoto’s side.
Shoto winces, glaring at the brainwasher, but Shinso gives a curt gesture with his head in Midoriya’s direction.
Shoto frowns, observing the sad greenette before coming to a decision. “I’m sure I can visit her afterwards.”
Shinso and Momo grin, happy he’ll be tagging along.
Mina’s smile widens. “Sounds like everyone's going.” Minus Bakugou but whatever. “Sounds like fun, right?” She grins down at the brunette.
Ochaco lights up, more than happy to participate. “Yeah, it does.” Getting up from her seat she rushes over to Deku’s side. “Deku?”
Izuku peers up, not really displaying any interest.
“Are…are you coming, too?”
The class falls silent, watching on worriedly.
Izuku blinks. “I…um” His eyes cast downward, feeling rather reluctant. “I’m not sure…if I should.”
Mina frowns, disappointed by his answer.
But before she can step in, someone else unexpected cuts in.
“Y-you s-should come.”
The class blink and snap their heads in Koji Koda’s direction! Surprised and unsure if that was even him who spoke up!
But it was enough for Izuku to blink up at him, almost just as surprised.
Koda gulps. “Y-yeah, y-you should come. I-it’ll be fun.”
Izuku can only stare, uncertain.
“He’s right,.” Mezo Shoji steps forward. Drawing the attention away from Koda. “Everyone should be there.”
Tsuyu nods. “Especially you, kero.”
Jiro chuckles. “Not really a class trip without our Rising Star.”
“No, kidding.” Sero grins. “All the fun stuff happens when Midoriya’s around, so naturally he needs to be there, too.”
Izuku fidgets in his seat, feeling uneasy yet…so touched all at once. “But…what if I…?”
“Hey, don’t sweat it man.” A grinning Kirishima slaps him on the back. “We’ve got you, alright. You were having a bad day is all, but it’s over now.” It’s no big deal, everyone’s got to vent every now and then.
“You guys…” God dammit does he want to cry again, but…honestly, he’s kinda getting tired of the water works. But how could he not cry? He…he really thought his class would be scared or even hate him after what he did. But that hasn’t been the case. They all…they all just want him to be happy again. To be his normal self again.
And if that’s the case, he might as well give into their wishes. “I…guess I can make it.” Not like they’re really giving him a choice, but honestly, he couldn’t be more grateful to them.
And so the class all shouts out, thrilled to have him!! “Alright!!”
Mina claps her hands together! “Alright, everyone! Our trip will take place this weekend. I’ll text you all later with the details.”
Ochaco smiles on as everyone rushes to Deku’s side, telling him that it’ll be great to hang out as a class.
Things are really on the up and up, and hopefully they’ll have a much happier Deku back.
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
Unfortunately, the good times have to be put on hold as the students all have to get home before dinner. But for Izuku well he’s got detention to serve, albeit even if it’s only a formality. But you know even in detention he can’t whip the grin off his face. He’s just so relieved and happy his classmates actually care about him. Things here at U.A. sure are different to how things used to be, and he’s happy it is.
“Oh, good, you look like you’re feeling a lot better.”
Izuku nearly jumps out of his seat, spinning around to see the all too familiar hero enters the classroom. “Thirteen?!”
Thirteen pulls off their helmet, their womanly face smiling down at Izuku. “What up?” She throws him a peace sign.
Izuku watches as they approach, examining them like it’s the first time they’ve ever met.
He must be pretty obvious because Thirteen suddenly feels really self-conscious all of a sudden. “What? Do I have something on my face?”
“No! It’s just…I never realized what you looked like.”
“Haha! Oh, yeah, it kinda slipped my mind huh?” That’s kinda embarrassing actually. “Honestly, I wear the helmet so often I kinda forget I’m even wearing it!” Thirteen tries to laugh it off but it definitely comes off as forced.
‘How do you forget something like that?’ Says the kid who wears an Omnitrix and has basically accepted it as part of his wrist at this point. “Anyway what brings you here?”
Thirteen casually takes a seat atop a nearby desk. “Well someone’s got to supervise your detention.”
Izuku shiver, feeling rather sheepish. “Oh, you heard about that.”
“Yeah, you could say that…” Thirteen can’t even look him in the eye, feeling mortified that they were…caught during said discussion. “Huh?”
“Anyway!” They clap their hands, trying to move the conversation along. “that’s more of an excuse.”
“An excuse?”
“Yeah.” Thirteen settles down, their features becoming soft as they speak gently and caringly. “I wanted to check on you myself.”
“Oh.” Makes sense, it’s what everyone else has been doing all day. “Well I’m doing a lot better, thanks.”
“Oh, I know that.” Thirteen’s eyes drift away, worried about how to bring this next part up. “But I wanted to make sure…about something else.”
Izuku looks at them questioningly.
“Midoriya…are you afraid?”
“Afraid of what?”
Thirteen takes a shaky breath. “Of losing control again?”
Instantly Izuku’s heart stops beating as a cold dread washes in.
“Are you afraid of your…transformations? Specifically, Heatblast?”
Yes, he is.
Thirteen sighs, they can see the fear written all over his face. “I kinda had a feeling.”
How could he not be afraid? The Pyronite burned down an entire city block, that’s not something Izuku can just ignore!! And honestly, it’s kinda been on his mind all day, every time he looked at a teacher, specifically one that tried to stop his rampage, he suddenly felt so self-conscious and worried that he’d just spontaneously turn into the fiery alien without warning!
Izuku nods, curling into his seat. “I…am worried about it. But…I just kinda…told myself I wouldn’t be using…Heatblast for a while.” Or again for that matter.
Thirteen screams out in denial! “No! Don’t do that!”
Izuku is so startled he nearly falls out of his own seat!
Thirteen shakes their head, their hair swishing in the air. “Sorry, but fearing your transformations isn’t going to help in the long run. Restricting yourself, especially from a powerful alien like Heatblast, isn’t the right way to go.”
“But…” The fire, the destruction. “What if I lose control again? I burned down a city, what if it isn’t fake next time?!”
With all seriousness and understanding, Thirteen explains. “That’s why you can't be afraid of Heatblast. You need to accept that there’s a problem and learn to fix it.” Thirteen then gestures to their gloved hand. “Take my Blackhole for example. It’s probably one of the most destructive Quirks here at U.A. wouldn’t you say?”
Izuku would have to say yes. Blackhole can literally turn everything and anything into dust. “Y-yes.”
“Exactly, But do you see me cowering to my Quirk?”
“N-...no.”
“No, is right.” Thirteen nods, glad he’s participating in the discussion. “I get it, I do. Fearing the destructive capability of your power, but you can’t just ignore it or pretend it isn’t an issue.” Thirteen then has a better idea on how to explain this. “Think of it this way, it might be a good thing you lost control during the exam, at least in the long run.”
Izuku’s mind nearly spins out of control in response to the nonchalant way of dismissing his outburst! “What do you mean by that?! How could it be a good thing?!”
“Easy.” Thirteen waves him to settle down. “What I mean is, now you know just how powerful some of your transformations can be. And now you can work to restrict and limit your power outputs.”
Izuku’s just a tad lost here.
“You now know what Heatblast can do, so now you know where to set the limit. Having caution and respect for your power is different than fearing and abusing it.” Respect for one’s abilities ensures that one knows just how dangerous their power is while also using it responsibly. “Take this as a learning opportunity, don’t fear your power, but respect it. And know where to draw the line.”
“I get it.” Since he now knows just how destructive Heatblast can be, he can find ways to use that power in more responsible ways. Plus now he can for sure say when enough is enough and the situation is too much, Not only that he now knows to be a little more cautious about which alien he becomes based on his state of mind. “I do. Basically, now I know where to draw the line. And how my emotions can affect my aliens.”
“There you go.” Thirteen nods, glad he got it. “And don’t worry, none of the teachers are exactly afraid of you either. If anything they were more surprised if anything.” Also they weren’t exactly trying to hurt him, just settle him down enough to stop him. “It’s not like you’re the only student with a terrifying or disturbing Quirk around, there have been plenty of others trust me.”
“Like who?”
Thirteen shrugs, a teasing smile playing on the woman’s lips. “Don’t worry about it. I’m sure you'll meet some of them later.”
“Hm?” Izuku pouts, not appreciating the answer.
Before he can pester Thirteen for more information, there’s a soft knock on the door.
“I’ll get it.” Thirteen hops off the desk and goes to open the door.
Thirteen flings the door open with gusto and a smile on their face. “Hello…” The smile fades away and they become silent as their eyes land on the new arrival.
All Might shrinks back, feeling very nervous and sheepish, averting his gaze away from his younger co-worker. “H-HI, THIRTEEN.”
Thirteen slowly nods back. “All Might.”
In his seat, Izuku tenses up, he quickly looks away acting like he hasn’t even seen All Might at the door.
All Might frowns at the sight; he takes a deep breath before addressing Thirteen. “I WAS WONDERING…IF I COULD HAVE A MOMENT WITH YOUNG MIDORIYA?”
Thirteen is…skeptical to give a response, frowning up at Toshinori with a disapproving gaze, doubtful if this will go over well. “That’s…not up to me. Only if Midoriya wants to.”
Izuku hesitates before slowly nodding that it’s okay.
Thirteen frowns but steps aside allowing All Might to enter.
Thirteen then steps out to give them their privacy but not before stating. “I’ll be right out here if you need me alright? So, don’t bother to hesitate to call.”
Without looking Izuku nods, acknowledging that he can call for a friend when he needs to.
And so as the door slowly closes, All Might and Izuku find themselves alone in the Class 1-A’s classroom.
With the coast clear of students, All Might deflates in a puff of steam, coughing up a bit of blood in his sideburns.
Izuku watches on worriedly, feeling extremely guilty as blood drips out the corner of the hero’s mouth.
Toshinori is quick to try and wave away his worries. “Don’t…Don’t worry I’m fine.”
Izuku fidgets in his seat. “A-are…are you sure?”
“Yeah…”
“Really… Even after…even after I hit your weak spot?”
Toshinori frowns. “Young Midoriya…” Guess…guess he feels guilty too.
Izuku eyes the hero’s side, and even though he can't see the scar he knows it’s there. And he knows what it means. “How…how much time do you have left?” He…doesn’t want to know, but at the same time…he needs to. He needs to know the extent of his actions. “How long can you hold your form?”
Toshinori is hesitant to answer, and for good reason, but keeping the truth from Midoriya is part of the reason they’re here. And so he tells him the truth. “An hour or so…”
Izuku immediately startles a rush of guilt circulating through his system.
Toshinori quickly tries to rescue the situation. “Honestly it was bound to happen sooner or later, I’m not exactly as young as I used to be you know.” he chuckles trying to force some humor, but it comes out flat. “Besides it’s not like I didn’t have it coming.” In truth this was a long time coming.
Izuku frowns peering up at the hero as he approaches. “All Might…”
Toshinori takes the neighboring seat, seated so he’s facing the boy. “Young Midoriya…I think this talk is long overdue…”
Izuku suddenly feels very nervous and shy, looking away but having nowhere to go. In truth he has to agree, this was a long time coming and now…they need to address everything.
“No better way to start than with me I suppose.” With a heavy sigh Toshinori begins. “Young Midoriya…I was wrong.”
Izuku tenses up, not saying a word as he takes in everything All Might has to say.
“I was wrong about you and I hurt you because of it. I was arrogant and oblivious to you and your pain. And for that I’m sorry.”
No response, not even a breath.
“I…I understand if you can’t forgive me. I do, but I need you to know.” he bows his head low in apology. “That I regret everything.” And he does mean everything. “I regret turning you away, and for what I said to you that day.” That he couldn’t be a hero. “I regret thinking you were associated with a villain.” That was completely inaccurate and presumptuous of him. “And…I regret ever making you feel like you were worthless.” The biggest offense he’s committed towards the boy.
Izuku quivers in place unsure of what to make of all this.
And so Toshinori continues. “Ever since you arrived at U.A. I’ve had the honor, the undeserving honor, of watching you grow and become something more.” Something beyond a simple hero student. “You've struggled. You’ve lost. You’ve gone through so much. But every time you come out stronger, smarter, and sharper.” He progresses further and further, moving forward with each mistake. “For every step backwards you’ve taken a leap forward.”
Tears prick at Izuku’s eyes, biting his lip to try and stop them from flowing.
“Please don’t let what happened hinder your progress. You’ve already come so far…”And he still has so much further to do. “And I hate to see your potential go to waste.” He doesn’t want Izuku to lose himself to all the negatives. “Everything that happened, was my fault entirely. It was me that fueled your anger and forced you to break apart. I caused you so much suffering.”
Izuku shakes as the tears leak down his face, but he remains silent hanging off every word, listening intently.
“I was wrong, and I was a fool for not seeing who you really are sooner.” Toshinori rises but then he kneels down onto the ground and bows his head forward in a Dogeza. “And I’m sorry it took so long for me to acknowledge my sins.”
It’s a lot to take in for the greenette, this day has just been…very emotionally. And even now it feels like more and more weights have been lifted off his shoulders as others, others that care, are willing to help carry those weights away. It’s…so new and unfamiliar, yet so welcoming all at once.
But even so a bit of guilt still resides within the boy. “All Might… I’m sorry, too…” Izuku wipes away the tears, gripping himself in an attempt to keep himself together. “I…I wanted to forget what happened, but I couldn’t…I can’t. Every time I saw you, I was reminded of your answer…”
Toshinori wishing that wasn't the case.
“And…I’m still hurt that you thought I was a villain.”
The pro hero can’t even refute it anymore, because even if he didn’t outright say it, it is what he implied.
Izuku continues. “I know I’m being a bit irrational, but…I can’t help how I feel.” And he feels guilty, sad, and hurt. “And I felt…betrayed and hurt by you.” He shakes his head in frustration. “I wish I wasn’t angry, I really do, but…”
Toshinori understands, it’s hard not to be angry especially with these circumstances.
“I'm glad though…”Izuku adds offering up a small sad smile. “I’m glad you came to apologize.” He bows his head. “Because I’m sorry too.”
Toshinori frowns, worried that the boy may be putting too much blame on himself.
“Even if you say otherwise, I still...attacked you. And I…” Izuku’s eyes drift and linger at Toshinori’s abdomen.
Toshinori can feel his eyes piercing through the suit and at the nasty scar. And he subconsciously reaches out and rests a hand over the wound.
Izuku looks away. “I guess…we both screwed up.”
Toshinori’s sullen face grows. “Young Midoriya…” This boy truly is something. Even when he, the teacher, the hero, is apologizing to him for everything this boy still manages to hold out on his sense of right and wrong. His conscience is not willing to let him to just forget about his actions.
But there’s really no point in arguing with the boy, something tells All Might that even if he did the boy would still feel responsible for what happened. And honestly, Toshinori has to respect that.
Toshinori nods in understanding. “Young Midoriya.”
Izuku sits up, waiting for All Might to continue.
“If there’s anything I can do to set things right, please let me know.” He bows his head, “I want to make things right with you.” He needs to.
Izuku looks away, contemplating the offer. It takes the boy a moment of silence not taking the offer lightly.
But eventually he does respond with a soft and grateful tone. “I’m glad you apologized, All Might, I really am.”
A small hopeful grin forms on Toshinori’s face, but it is short lived.
“But…” Izuku meets the hero’s gaze, as tears leak down from his eyes one last time. “I don’t know if I’m ready to forgive you yet.”
Toshinori’s heart drops just like that upon hearing those words.
Izuku sniffs. “I’m sorry but…your words, they still…haunt me. And a part of me still thinks that I’m… worthless.” He knows it isn’t true, but…a deep recess of him is still holding onto it. As a constant reminder that it could be true.
Toshinori practically jumps out of his seat in protest! “You’re not worthless! Please, young Midoriya, you are far from worthless! Trust me!”
“That’s just it, All Might…” Izuku frowns, turning his head away. “I don’t trust you.”
Toshinori gasps.
“I’m sorry but…I think…I think I need time before I’m ready to forgive you…” When that may be, Izuku isn’t sure but it’s not now or…would it be soon.
And Toshinori understands this, a part of him knew he wouldn’t be forgiven, not outright at least. But he still needed to speak and apologize to this young man and he’s sure that doing so has taken away the heavy chains that’ve been holding them both back up until now. And so Toshinori can be satisfied, knowing that they might just be able to move forward.
“I understand.” And he accepts it. “Young Midoriya.” And so he bows his head in shame one last time. “I truly am sorry.”
“I know…”
Notes:
And that’s a wrap! I know it was a shorter one compared to most chapters but hey I got it out in a week so that’s a fair trade, I think. Anyway I want to point something out! This chapter is sort of a Part 1 of the aftermath that occurred in Ch.43. Meaning next chapter will continue to show more reactions and address other set ups, actually my original arc will continue to address a lot of it: like did Aizawa try to use Erasure on Heatblast, Bakugou’s past with Izuku, Midoriya’s parents finding out what happened, does Izuku still feel guilty, etc. So if something wasn’t properly addressed in this chapter it will be in the future. So I guess patience is key here. It’s set up like this so I can properly do some character development and interactions as well as confrontations and consequences by giving them individual focus rather than cram it all into one single chapter. So this is really just the start of the aftermath, and a taste as to what’s to come.
*And trust me more is to come next time after all the students now have a planned trip to the mall. ( ✧≖ ͜ʖ≖)
*Also I want to point out that I never had the intention of “bashing” characters (i.e. All Might or Bakugou). One of my goals for this story was to keep the characters as accurately as possible without being too OOC, not unless it was earned and developed. But I am not going to ignore them, both will have character development in future chapters.
*That said I’m also kinda done with dragging Izuku down and making things all doom and gloom for him. I want to start bringing him back up, sort-of speak, bring him back to spitting out puns but coming out a bit stronger and more in-tune to his emotions now. This is also why I wasn’t really trying to bash or torment the characters all too much during the chapter. I don’t want it to be all sad and tears and anger all the time but only when necessary.
**My awesome illustrator, "Voidv25," has uploaded his second commissioned artwork for this story! WOAH! I've been waiting a while for it but life happens so I can't blame them. Anyway it's great so go check it out. The art piece is titled "SixSix vs Stain" by Voidv25 on Deviantart. I love it so much, and I know Voidv25 is only going to get better over time, I know it. Anyway go check it out too!**
Chapter 50: Encounters
Summary:
Class 1-A visit the mall for a nice outing out.
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
Yo, what up everybody? Are you ready? This is the last chapter before we get into more original chapters. Well actually I have 2 more chapters after this and then we get into my true original arc but this will be the last we see of anime content for a little while. So enjoy.
Disclaimer I do not own the rights to Ben 10 or MHA.
*I want to thank “Bacara best Clone Commander” for their own artwork inspired by this story. It’s called “Ben 10 X MHA: The Meaning of Power.” By “Gero223” on Deviantart. So go check it out!!
*I also want to take the time to thank “Weeldx” for their own art piece that was inspired by the emotional outburst of Ch:43 The Final Straw. The artwork is titles “Anguish through fire” by “Weeld1” so head on over and check it out on Deviantart!!
*Thanks again to "Drag0n5on" who was kind enough to create a stellar opening for us! Thank you "Drag0n5on"!
It’s hot and humid, a sure sign that summer is here. But still how can it be so hot even as the sun is setting down upon the quiet city. Even as darkness takes its hold the heat lingers on, turning the atmosphere hostile and tense.
And the constant scraping against the brick wall, lining the bar, only adds to the bitterness.
Seated within the shadows is Henzu Uuichi or rather Nue, Nue’s Diamondhead-like arm is in the shape of a large blade as he digs into the wall, testing its sharpness and durability. He pries the limb out only to watch silently as his arm returns to a more humanoid shape, his long XLR8-tail sweeps the floor around his Four Arms-like legs.
The only thing distracting Tomura Shigaraki from snapping at his fellow villain are the pictures in his hand: one of a brunette girl receiving a gold medal, while the second photo was ripped right out of a newspaper and it’s of a greenette boy with the title of U.A.’s Rising Star. He’s been studying the photos almost religiously, and here he is again seated at the bar with photos in hand.
From the other side of the bar, Kurogiri can’t help but notice while also becoming slightly concerned…and disturbed. “Are you curious, Tomura Shigaraki? About these children, Ochaco Uraraka and Izuku Midoriya?”
Shigaraki doesn't respond, he doesn't so much as react too fixated on the subjects of the photos.
Nue silent glares from his corner, his multitude of eyes landing on the newspaper clipping with disdain.
The door to the bar pries open signaled by the doorbell jingling.
“Shigaraki.” The grinning broker, Giran, peeks his head in with a light smoke in his hand. “Your “League of Villains” has been the talk of the town for the last few weeks. Word on the streets is you’re about to start something big.”
Shigaraki crumbles the photos into his hand, disintegrating them into ash. “And?” He asks annoyed, as he lets the ashes fall. “Who did you bring?”
“Heh.” Giran smirks, stepping back as he pushes the door open allowing several individuals to step inside.
Kurogiri, Nue and Shigaraki wait in silence as the new arrivals enter, not bothering to give them any sort of greeting in this hot humid air.
“So it’s really you, huh?” asks a very unsympathetic guy. “I’ve seen you in pictures.” Then he smirks, “But I gotta say, you’re way grosser in person.”
Says the guy with patches of gnarled, wrinkled, purple skin that covers much of his lower face, neck, and eyes.
He appears to be a young man with a somewhat-lanky build and black hair with his hand stuffed into his dark blue pants that go well with his jacket and its high-standing ripped collar.
A young woman enters behind him. “Seriously? This is your hideout?” The silver-haired woman gives the place a very skeptical look as she rests a hand on her hip. “Gotta admit I didn’t expect such…” Her magenta eyes drift over and land on the gnarly looking Nue. “Class?”
Nue growls back, picking up on the jab.
“Wow, it’s the weird hand guy!” Another girl, a teen, is practically giggling with excitement as she stands beside the silver-haired woman. “You’re friends with my hero, Stain, right? Cool!” She’s blushing like crazy, overjoyed by sheer excitement! “Let me join the league! I wanna be in your group!”
The teen is a relatively petite, fair-skinned girl who is clearly very prone to blushing and one would say she has a rather pretty face. Her eyes are a bright yellow and her pupils have thin slits, like those of a cat, and her wide mouth is also rather feline, as both her upper and lower canines are more pointed and longer than the rest of her teeth. Her hair is a pale, dirty ash-blonde and is styled into two messy buns, with numerous wild strands sticking out at all angles from their centers.
Definitely these three are an odd group to behold, and Shigaraki isn’t amused, not one bit.
“Kurogiri, get rid of these three.” Shigaraki waves them off, not giving a damn. “I can already tell they’re exactly the kind of trash I hate.” He eyes each of them listing off just how low he sees them. “A brat, a drama queen, and a guy with no manners.”
Kurogiri is quick to jump in. “Now, now, Shigaraki. They came all this way, the least we can do is hear them out. Give them a chance.”
From the side, Nue chimes in although rather disgruntledly. “Besides, Giran’s no slouch.” Nue slowly rises off the ground, the floorboards creaking under his weight.
At his full height his head nearly touches the ceiling, towering over them all as he examines each of them with a nasty scowl. “So they gotta be useful.”
The gnarly looking guy remains indifferent, unflinching at the sight of the frankensteined being.
The drama queen raises an eyebrow wondering what mistake occurred to make that monster.
As for the brat. “Oh, wow, you’re freaky!” She says a little too happily.
Giran chuckles, finding her antics amusing. “Either way, like ‘em or not, you still owe me a finder’s fee. In cash.”
If he were anyone else, Shigaraki would kill him for saying such a thing.
And Giran knows this, hence why he can smile on and enjoy his smoke without a worry. “I suppose I could introduce them before I go.” He gestures to the so-called brat. “This one looks like an adorable high school girl, right?”
She does after all, her outfit consists of a plain seifuku with a Kansai collar, both the skirt and the shirt dark blue with a double white trim, which is paired with a red scarf that she ties loosely below. Over this, she wears an oversized beige cardigan with a rather long hem and cuffs. She sports knee-length black socks and dark brown dress shoes with thick heels, the same as the outdoor uniform shoes students traditionally wear in Japanese schools.
Giran continues. “She’s actually the suspect in a series of deaths where the victims all bled out. So far, her name and face have been kept out of the media.”
The brat smiles on, displaying her feline like grin. “Toga, Here. Himiko Toga!” Toga is just so giddy, fidgeting in place like a new recruit asking to join the pep squad. “Life is too hard. I just wanna make it easier to love in this dumb world. I wanna be Mr. Stainy! I wanna kill Mr. Stainy!” Her blush darkens, and her heart races with each mention of that name. Just the idea of that man’s blood painting a filthy street is enough to make her swoon! “C’mon, handy-man, please let me join your League of Villains!”
Okay, even Shigaraki’s perturbed. “You gotta be kidding me. Is she crazy?”
Nue frowns, giving Shigaraki a questioning look. “Dude, really? This coming from you…?” Like seriously, he’s the last person to judge like come on.
Giran chuckles, not finding it surprising in the slightest. “Well, she can hold a conversation. For the most part, at least. C’mon she could be useful.”
The silver-haired young woman eyes Toga curiously. “You use your real name?”
“Hm?” Toga grins up at her, not seeing the issue here.
“Not exactly clever, are you?”
Toga’s grin only widens as her blushing increases. “Hehe!”
The silver-haired girl raises an eyebrow. “What’s so funny?”
“I can already tell we’ll be great friends!”
“I can already tell that we aren’t.” She responds dryly, giving the expression that she’s already done with this crap.
And so Giran takes that as his que to introduce her next. “Now this lovely specimen goes by the moniker of Charmcaster.”
Toga blushes! “That’s such a pretty name!”
Charmcaster closes her eyes, tilting it forward, exasperated. “Just stop.”
Giran continues. “Now she may not look it but she’s a hardcore villain, she even made the news relatively recently. Made quite the mess over at Dathomir City. All in all, this girl has a gift for the wicked arts.”
Yeah, Shigaraki did hear about that. It was hidden away in the papers and media, but he found it especially when he heard it involved that annoying U.A. bitch. “I thought another villain was involved?”
“My uncle.” clarifies Charmcaster. “But he’s…no longer in the picture.”
“Ominous, not exactly a trustworthy quality.”
“Trust is irrelevant,” Charmcaster brushes her hair aside, flicking it away, her eyes becoming dangerous and calculating. “all I want is to have what I desire.”
Shigaraki frowns, glaring at her through the severed hand gripped to his face.
And finally, Giran moves on to the last member. “And this guy- Hasn’t committed any flashy crimes, but he’s taken Stain’s ideology to heart.”
The guy peers away, clearly disinterested and unimpressed. “I don’t like this. Is your group really dedicated to the Hero Killer’s mission?” he peers over at Toga with an unimpressed look. “I can’t imagine you are if you’re gonna let this little psycho join you.”
Toga’s only response is the giggle back, unaffected by the clear insult.
The guy then turns his gaze over towards the monstrosity. “Or a freakshow like him.”
Nue is immediately irritated, grinding his jagged teeth together as all four of his fist clench. “What did you say?”
The guy remains stock still, and steadfast as Nue stomps forward, the entire bar shaking with each step as he approaches.
Toga and Charmcaster each step away, concerned for their safety, just before Nue stops just in front of the man.
He leans forward until his gnarly snarl is right in front of the guy’s uninterested and unflinching gaze. “What the hell are you doing calling me a freak?” His gaze hardens, locking in with the guy’s turquoise eyes. “Patchwork?”
Patchwork backs his head away, his nose shrinking back in disgust. “Back off will ya. Your breath was bad enough when you weren’t this close.”
Nue’s eyes flare up! “Why I oughta-!”
“Grow up, the both of you.” cuts in Shigaraki, who is clearly growing more annoyed with each second. “Congrats we’re all freaks! But at least these three:” He points to Nue, Toga, and Charmcaster. “know how to introduce themselves to people. Don’t just stare. What’s your name?”
Patchwork responds but only to get these creeps off his back. “Right now I’m goin’ by Dabi.”
“No, I want to know your real name.”
Dabi turns his head away in defiance. “I’ll tell you when you need to know it.”
Nue bares his fangs, growing even more aggravated by Dabi’s infuriating attitude.
Dabi peers back up at him, just as aggravated but not displaying it so openly. “You got a problem, freakshow?”
“Yeah I have a problem, Patchwork.” He lifts his Lodestar-like claw into the air. “But not for long.” His claw flexes, flexing its crushing strength.
Dabi glares right back at Nue. “I could care less about your problems.”
“Grrr.”
Dabi continues. “What I care about is this,” He leans to the side, his eyes trailing over towards Shigaraki. “my new purpose is to carry out the Hero Killer’s will.”
And like that, Shigaraki just…snaps. “Jeez. Why is everyone so hung up on Stain?” he crawls off his seat, his hands itching and twitching at his sides. “He’s all I ever hear about.” With every word out of his mouth he becomes more and more seething.
And Kurogiri quickly picks up on it. “No, don’t do it.” But his pleases go unheard.
“Every damn day.” A seething Shigaraki takes a standby the snarling Nue’s side. “It’s really pissing me off!” He snaps!
In that moment all three of the newcomers' instincts kick in. Screaming at them to survive!!
Shigaraki lashes his hand out! “You’re all done!”
Without missing a beat: Dabi throws his hand forward, embers radiating around it! A blushing Toga springs out a knife seemingly from thin air and slashes forward! And Charmcaster throws a cloud of magenta pixie-dust forward! As Nue roars, thrusting his Diamondhead-arm forward as a massive blade!
But each and every attack misses its intended target, passing harmlessly through sets of small dark portals.
Dabi’s and Shigaraki’s hands are portaled above their heads, harmlessly placed into the air, Toga’s knife stabs into the top of the bar, the cloud of pixie-dust melts away a chair near the corner, and the crystal-blade is wedged into the side of the wall.
And all the while, Giran enjoys his smoke not giving two cents about the possible murders.
“Please calm yourself, the both of you.” Kurogiri’s glowing yellow eyes lock onto his ward. “Especially you, Tomura Shigaraki. If your desire is to be realized, then we must increase our numbers. Now that we’re in the spotlight, our chance is at hand.” His ethereal head snakes forward, coiling around the young man’s shoulder giving him the perfect position to whisper into his ear. “I advise you to be more accepting. You must use them, and the ideology Stain has left behind.”
Even though he’s at a whisper, Nue is able to overhear. He hesitates but after considering Kurogiri won’t let him fight anyway, he stands down.
And soon the others follow his lead, Shigaraki being the last to do so.
Vexed by the whole exchange, Shigaraki brushes past them, marching for the door. “I’m outta here.”
Giran frowns. “Where are you off to?”
“Shut up!” And so Shigaraki storms off, slamming the door on his way out.
With him gone, the air immediately calms down as Kurogiri’s head snakes back into place.
Giran rubs the back of his head, unsure of what to make of Shigaraki’s outburst. “I try to make it a point not to complain about a client, but he’s too young. And far too immature.”
A still smiling Toga chimes in way too excitedly. “Really thought he was gonna kill us for a sec!”
Charmcaster frowns, annoyed. “That’s because he was.”
Dabi turns away. “That guy makes me wanna vomit.”
Nue growls slowly, before stepping back towards his corner to wallow in the shadows.
Kurogiri turns to address the three potential recruits. “Shall we get back to you about recruitment at another time? I believe our leader knows what he has to do.” He turns his attention towards the exit. “That’s why he left as he did. He understands his circumstances. All Might, then the Hero Killer, …U.A.” Specifically those students that have caused him the most trouble in all of those events. “He’s been humbled very recently. I’m sure he will bring you an answer. One that will satisfy you all, as well as his own desires.”
And he couldn’t be more right, as Shigaraki throws up his hood and pulls off the severed hand around his face. ‘Stain.’
He marches forward, no real destination in mind except to allow fate and his instincts to guide his way. He needs answers, answers no villain can give him. He needs…someone to provide him with answers. To show him what makes Stain so…inspiring.
And immediately two people’s faces come to mind.
And so with a destination in mind, Shigaraki takes his leave as the sun finally disappears beyond the horizon.
But if he happened to peer up and if light had still been a factor, Shigaraki might have noticed the two small invisible objects floating in the air.
The objects phase into view, decloaking as they peer around the alleyway. They are in fact small drones: they are about the size of footballs and each look like high-tech eyeballs encased in a red high-tech shell that’s outlined by sharp razor-like antennae.
The eye-drones look at each other, silently communicating, before one camouflages itself into the night sky and flies off for Shigaraki. And the other turns towards the door that leads into the League of Villain’s hideout.
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(Opening Theme: DR STONE OP 2 - https://youtu.be/SohCAjC-Npk)
(Instrumentals)
Sora no iro wa dō s***
Izuku walks forward with a determined expression before passing by Ochaco
aoku mieru no darō ka
Ochaco continues walking forward before everything fades as she walks down a dark corridor
Kiiroi koe agete umareta
The corridor reveals the silhouettes of the past OFA users before Ochaco closes her eyes to meditate.
kioku no shizukesa Ao to kiiro ga
Izuku slowly opens his eyes before zooming out to show him sitting on a fence along with Bakugou and Henzu all of them with serious expressions before Henzu and Bakugou fade away.
mazariatte dekita midori ni wa hana o
Izuku blinks as he stands next to Ochaco in front of the U.A. gates.
Hana ni wa mizu o Boku ni wa yume o
The two look at each other in surprise before smiling and begin running.
Zero ni tashite ima o kakete Nagareru akai chi moyō
The Omnitrix aliens leap into action showing off their powers ending with several silhouettes coming into view before disappearing behind a flash of green light!
Sen o hīte kara o watte Saita hana no moyō
Shinso leads the charge for Class 1-A with Todoroki as he unleashes a torrent of flames
Tsunagu teishiki fude o motte
The flames dissipate to reveal Hisashi smiling at the camera while Endeavor and All Might stand behind him facing in opposite directions
Torimodoshite iku inochi
The U.A. staff follow after as they jump into the fray.
Me ni mienai rūru e ima ikō,
Gang Orca, Gran Torino, Manual, and other pros go about their daily patrol.
Ikōru o sagashi ni iku
Nezu sits at his desk as silhouettes of the plumber magistrate appear behind him.
Douka ga junsui na hajimari wo Shodou ni kawaru hajimari wo
Izuku rides on his hoverboard while Ochaco flies next to him as they charge in at the villains.
Seimeiryoku wo
Henzu stands next to Shigaraki with the shadows of the League of Villains behind them.
sangenshoku de hirogete
Up in space Vilgax narrows his eyes as bubbles form in his pod.
Hakushi no jidai kako mo sute kizukiage kizukasare
It shows Izuku and Ochaco's misadventures as space cadets. Ditto and Ochaco Posing as Men in Black, Ochaco cheering as Grey Matter tries to hotwire a spaceship only for Thirteen to catch them, Ochaco and ML-E chanting as Heatblast bakes Mochi for them. Ochaco holding Four Arms Bridal style as they run from an angry Mr. Bauman.
Kuroku natte
Izuku grins as he cocks his fist as the Omnitrix begins to glow.
imada kishite
Ochaco does the same as pink energy surrounds her.
tsumiage tsugi wa doko e
The two roar out as they punch forward.
Aa bokura no ashita ni iro ga attara
Izuku and Ochaco walk forward as they look into the night sky with smiles.
Me ni mieru iro ni sā
They turn to look at each other before holding out their fists.
Egaite iku
The two reach out and bump fist under the night sky.
(Opening Theme was Illustrated by Drag0n5on)
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Ch.45 Encounters
Shota Aizawa sits back, eyeing the forms and papers scattered across his desk. Basking in the silence of U.A.’s teachers’ office space. Everyone else is out preparing for the next semester or catching up on hero work, leaving him to his own duties.
“You look like someone hard at work.”
Aizawa peers up towards the doorway and gives a polite nod in greeting. “Principal.”
Principal Nezu strolls inside with a cheery smile. “Mr. Aizawa.” As he walks closer, he notices the papers and forms piled on his subordinate’s desk. “I see you’re working on the preparations.”
Aizawa nods. “Gotta make sure nothing can go wrong. As well as make sure the students can receive the proper training they need.” Also. “We don’t need the villains trying anything. I rather this trip goes as smoothly as possible.”
“Ah, yes. I’d say our students have had to deal with enough as it is.”
Two encounters with the League of Villains, that is far too much already. But they’ve been taking the right precautions; no villain, no media, not even a parent will know where the students will be hidden away for a week.
“Agreed.” Aizawa throws his head back, dragging a hand through his hair. “But honestly, even if I prep ahead of time, I know Midoriya’s going to get himself into trouble one way or another.”
Principal Nezu chuckles. “You don’t say.”
“He’s smart but reckless, he acts too quickly sometimes. And he’s lucky he hasn’t gotten seriously hurt because of it.” Like during the U.S.J. attack or his miraculous win against the Hero Killer. “And of course, he’s lucky to have walked away with a minor head injury after going up against All Might…” Real lucky.
Principal Nezu nods, a sad smile on his face. “Yes, he does seem to have a talent for attracting trouble.” In more ways than Nezu cares to admit to the pro hero.
Aizawa frowns, wondering about his student. “He’s…an odd one.”
Principal Nezu frowns, concerned. “Mr. Aizawa? Why are you so hung up on Mr. Midoriya?” he gives the pro a questioning look. “Did something happen?”
“That’s just it, sir.” Aizawa peers up at the ceiling, lost in his own questions. “I’m not sure if something did.”
“Pardon?”
“During Midoriya’s outburst I tried to cancel his Quirk.”
Principal Nezu doesn’t show any outward reactions. Instead he listens and waits with a silent frown.
“I used Erasure but I’m not sure if it worked or not.”
Principal Nezu tilts his head curiously. “Why is that?”
“Not sure, it could have been the flames or the smoke, not to mention Thirteen did knock me down.” Albeit to save him from being scorched, but it did interfere and break his concentration. “Honestly maybe it was a combination of all those things, but…” He folds his arms together, like he’s trying to solve a difficult equation. “it doesn’t sit right with me. I wanna say that I used Erasure on him, but I can’t be certain.”
Principal Nezu frowns, considering the inquiry before giving his response. “Perhaps you did.”
Aizawa sits up, listening, knowing the older pro is about to go into a lecture.
“You don’t need me to tell you that Erasure can only temporarily cancel a Quirk, it does not truly erase the Quirk Gene or its effects. Such as mutations.” For example, “If you were to use your Quirk on let’s say Mr. Ojiro, you would stop his ability to control his own tail, however the tail itself would not simply disappear. It is still part of his physical being.”
“I know this, but what’s your point, sir?”
“Mr. Midoriya’s Quirk, One Man Army, is a Transformation type Quirk but it is obviously a unique one at that.” Well, starting with the fact that it’s not a Quirk, but he can’t tell Aizawa that. “His Quirk allows him to transform and alter his own DNA. And that is all.”
“Sir?”
“Think of it this way, One Man Army is truly only activated when Mr. Midoriya transforms into his alter egos and back, indicated by those brilliant flashes of his!” The green and red flashes the Omnitrix produces when he transforms to and from human. “And thus when his transformation is complete his physical characteristics have changed but his Quirk has remained the same, it is just unused until he reaches his limit.”
Aizawa is sort of getting it now. “So in other words, my Erasure wouldn’t have transformed him back to his normal self.”
“Precisely.”
“That…makes sense.” He seems to accept that answer but there’s still a bit of speculation in his gaze.
Principal Nezu smiles on, hoping he’s giving Aizawa a satisfying answer. “That just goes to show you that there’s still much we don’t know about Quirks. Each one is unique and functions ever so differently than the rest. A true miracle they are.” Subconsciously he lightly rests a paw on his scar, the scar running down his face, a reminder that at times Quirks could be considered a curse more so than a miracle.
Aizawa’s gaze turns soft, looking away from Principal Nezu’s scar.
With a shake of his head Principal Nezu gives a cheery smile. “Well, I hope I was of help.” He goes and grabs some forms off a nearby desk before turning around back towards the exit. “Now I better get a move on, I too have important work!”
“Of course, sir.”
“Goodbye.” Principal Nezu takes his leave.
He strolls quietly through the empty halls of U.A, his footsteps echoing softly through the hall, a reminder of just how asleep the school is when its occupants are gone.
But right now, Principal Nezu’s mind hangs on the conversation with Mr. Aizawa. “Oh, dear… Mr. Midoriya you sure do attract a lot of trouble.”
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“We’re here!!” Class 1-A cheers out with pure joy taking in the wondrous sight before them, the Kiyashi Ward Shopping Mall!!
Well most of Class 1-A are cheering, unfortunately not everyone could make it with such last-minute plans. But here are the ones that were able to make it for today’s outing: Mina Ashido, Toru Hagakure, Momo Yaoyorozu, Kyoka Jiro, Minoru Mineta, Denki Kaminari, Eijiro Kirishima, Fumikage Tokoyami, Mezo Shoji, Tenya Iida, Ochaco Uraraka, Izuku Midoriya, Koji Koda, Hitoshi Shinso, and Shoto Todoroki. Tallying up a total of thirteen students, still a majority of the class.
Mina is brimming with joy! “Oh, man, do I love this place!”
The Kiyashi Ward Shopping Mall’s huge, with a big open ceiling allowing for a light breeze and gentle sun to enter the mall. The crowds are huge and bustling, with no frown in sight, as everyone enjoys their weekend off. And of course the mall looks as good as new leaving no trace of any signs of destruction or villain attacks.
Mina scans her little map of the mall. “It’s got a ton of different stores to shop at, and they’re all super cool and hip. The Kiyashi Ward Shopping Mall!”
Kaminari, Hagakure, and Kirishima all join in on a cheer! “Yay!!”
Shoji frowns curiously. “Hey, wasn’t this place attacked by a group of villains or something way back?” Something about mutant animals or something like that?
Shoto nods. “I think so, but I heard All Might handled it.”
Off to the side, both Ochaco and Izuku try not to draw attention to themselves. ‘Actually that was us.’
And to be perfectly honest they were all on board with this plan…until they heard where they were going. The accursed Kiyashi Ward Shopping Mall. Sure it’s where they met but…it’s also where they both nearly got themselves chewed up by mutant hamsters, frogs, cockatiels, and a three-headed dog. Yeah, they’re not exactly on the same level of excitement as their classmates. But yet, here they are.
Izuku shivers in place, he can still feel the hot breath of the mutant dog’s breath on his neck. “They…really fixed this place up good as new.”
Ochaco nods, sweating nervously, trying and failing to suppress the memory. “Yeah…hard to believe anything even happened.”
They both share a look before they both shrug.
Izuku smiles while telling himself it’s all okay. “It’s fine, what could go wrong?”
Ochaco nods her head rapidly, mimicking his fake smile. “Yeah, there’s nothing to worry about.”
From the side, Shinso frowns as he examines his map. “Ah, what? They closed down the pet shop.” He really wanted to see the kittens.
Koga frowns in disappointment beside him. “ I wonder why?”
Both Izuku and Ochaco freeze in place, shrinking into themselves. ‘That’s probably for the best.’
Tokoyami notices their perturbed expression. “Are you two alright? You have the hint of trauma in your eyes.”
Ochaco snaps, panicking! “No, trauma!”
Izuku spins around too in a panic! “Yeah, who said anything about monsters?!”
Tokoyami sweat drops, concerned about their sanity. “You two are terrible liars.”
As those two try to reign themselves in, the others are having their own little chats.
Jiro smiles up at Momo. “I heard you have a new weapon now?”
Shinso overhears. “She sure does, and it’s totally badass.”
“What is it?”
Momo blushes, becoming flustered. “Guys please, it’s just a sword. It’s really not much, and I had such a difficult time creating it.” So much so it could have severely mutilated her health.
Izuku frowns before stepping forward. “So, what if it was difficult? That should mean it’s even more impressive that you pulled it off.”
Momo blinks, unsure yet intrigued by Midoriya’s words.
Izuku does his best to give her a reassuring smile. “I saw what you did, it was really cool, Yaoyorozu! And I can’t wait to see what you do with the Zircon Blade.”
Momo blinks back the tears, offering up a grateful smile. “Thank you, Midoriya, I really hope I can improve my skills.”
Shoto steps forward offering up words of encouragement. “I’m sure you will.”
Momo becomes all bubbly and giddy so happy to be receiving so much praise, her confidence growing back more and more. Soon Jiro and Shinso draw her into a conversation about what she can do with the Zircon Blaze, and even Ochaco joins in with her own ideas. Something about making the sword turn into a shape of a fist or something.
And so Shoto and Izuku are left aside to their own devices.
Shoto frowns, turning to address the greenette. “Midoriya.”
Izuku gives him a small nod in return. “Hey Todoroki.”
Shoto averts his gaze, hesitating, before asking. “How are you, by the way?”
Izuku quickly picks up on the reason he’s asking. “I’m…doing a lot better now. Thanks.”
“Oh, that’s good. So…” He hesitates unsure how to say this without coming off as rude. “I guess you weren’t in too much trouble then.”
Izuku blinks. “Huh?”
“Well I mean you did burn down U.A. property.” An entire city block actually. “I guess I assumed the school would have told your parents or something.”
And for a moment, Izuku’s entire world freezes, his blood running cold, and his skin turning pale but just for a split moment.
He gives Shoto a faux grin, trying to come off as normal. “O-Oh, y-yeah, about that you see…the school said that the news should come from me.” And…he doesn’t really have any intention of bringing it up anytime soon. Why not wait until a more…appropriate time to bring it up?
Shoto gives him a very suspicious look. “Have you told them?”
Izuku opens his mouth to speak, but not a word comes out, hesitating as his conscious screams in his ear. “It’s…a work in progress.” He admits in defeat,
Shoto frowns, part of him wondering if this has to do with Midoriya’s father and how he would take to the news. From what he saw, Mr. Midoriya isn’t anything like his own old-man but…looks can be deceiving.
Before anymore can be said, from within the bustling crowd someone yells out, drawing everyone’s attention! “Whoa! Aren’t those U.A. students?!”
And immediately a few others join in!
“1-A!”
“I saw ‘em on TV!”
“The Sports Festival was so good!”
And pretty soon the nearby crowd stops to admire the young heroes-in-training waving and smiling at them excitedly.
Ochaco steps back feeling very self-aware right now. “I can’t believe they still remember that.”
It feels so long ago now, especially after everything else that’s happened: their Internships, the Hero Killer, Mr. Midoriya’s return, Parent’s Day, the exams, and the…outburst. Seriously it feels like months since then, but it’s only been less than that, crazy.
Thankfully with such a bustling mall, those that noticed them soon move on or lose track of the students who figure now is the best time to get going before they draw in more of a crowd.
Jiro is the first to mention her plans. “I wanna track down a new duffle bag to bring to summer training.”
Momo beams. “Oh, yeah? Maybe the two of us should browse together.”
Mineta, in the meantime, is already scanning the upper floors of the mall. “Let’s see, where can I get a lockingpick kit and a small drill?”
Without warning, Shinso uses Mineta’s head to lean on. “Yeah, no way I’m letting you wander around unsupervised.” That’s the last thing they need.
“No fair!! Have you no faith?!”
Shinso responds with an extremely deadpan expression. “No.”
Kaminari has to think about what he’s getting. “Guess I should probably buy some outdoorsy shoes for this thing.”
Hagakure nods in agreement. “Oh, that’s smart, me, too!”
“Mind if I join?” Shoto steps forward raising his hand in greeting. “I don’t exactly…know where I’m going.” Actually this is probably his first time ever being inside a mall, so this place might as well be a maze to him.
“No sweat man!” Kaminari slams his fist to his chest like he’s making a solemn vow! “Before the end of the day you’ll have the best kicks around!”
Shoto frowns, confused. “No, I want shoes. Why would I want to be kicked?”
Before Kaminari can explain that it was slang, Tenya bursts in from literally out of nowhere! “Hold it!! The guide said your shoes should already be broken in, though! But wait-” Almost on a dime, Tenya chills down, cupping his chin in deep contemplation. “-perhaps it’s a mistake not to factor utility into the equation.”
And so with everyone making plans, Kirishima takes it upon himself to reign them all in! “So, then why don’t we split up and look around? We can meet here again when we’re done.”
Mina yells out her agreement! “Great idea!”
“Perfect. Let’s say we’re all back around three?”
Everyone responds at once, not seeing an issue. “Sounds good!”
Everyone was just so excited to be there that they all immediately took off for their destinations without a second thought leaving a stunned Izuku and Ochaco behind amongst the bustling crowds.
Izuku can only stand there dumbfounded at how fast everyone disappeared, the crowd flossing in around them hiding their classmates from view. “Looks like it’s just you and me left.”
Ochaco nods just as stunned. “Yeah.”
“So, what are you gonna shop for today?” asks Izuku. “I…kinda want to find some new stuff for my room.”
Ochaco frowns. “Your room? Why shop for that now?” Did he move out or something?
“Oh, well.” Rubbing the back of his head, the air around Izuku becomes rather solemn. “I…did some redecorating recently, is all. So my room is kinda…feeling…” His eyes gloss over with a sad and distant look. “empty.”
Ochaco can’t help but think this has something to do with the outburst. “Deku… Is this about…you know…?”
“Yeah…” Izuku speaks softly and sorrowfully.
Ochaco remains silent not wanting to pressure him into speaking out. It appears to have been the right call as Izuku eventually gives into his own regret. “I was just such a huge fan.” More like a fanatic. “Like otaku level fan, my entire room was nothing, but All Might this and All Might that.” Thinking back on it he might have been a bit obsessed. “But now…after everything…I couldn't’ look at them anymore.” It was too much for him.
Ochaco frowns, concerningly, but she remains quiet both out of concern and gratefulness, grateful that Izuku is finally opening up and letting her know how he’s really feeling instead of bottling his emotions up.
Izuku takes a shaky breath, continuing with his confession. “I admired him for so long, so it hurt when he said I couldn’t be a hero. But it’s not really fair either.”
Ochaco’s eyebrows furrow in worry and confusion.
“All Might only said that to me once, but…there were others who told me that my entire life: my teachers, my classmates…my friends.”
Ochaco’s mind instantly think of Katsuki Bakugou and…Henzu Uuichi. And judging by their reaction she can only assume how everyone else was treating poor Deku.
Izuku chokes. “All Might was just…the last straw, I guess. The one that hurt the most…” Because…because he was his hero, the only person he ever looked up to.
“Deku…”
“I guess because he’s the Symbol of Peace, the Number One Hero, I wanted to be…just like him…” Izuku shrinks into himself, his shoulders slumping in defeat. “But a Quirkless kid like me could never be one. And that’s why it hurt so much; you know? Because…it was the truth.” And that hurts to admit but not a tear is shed. He’s accepted it already, there’s no need for tears, besides… His eyes drift down towards his left wrist, towards the Omnitrix. “Without this...I never would have made it.” He would have never received any training, never would have gained powers, and…and…he never would have made friends, real friends. “I was only wishing to be a hero, but…I never did anything to chase that dream.” He never sought out training for himself or even tried to apply his hero notes to strategic crime fighting. He didn’t do a thing but worship and study heroes for years on end, and nothing else. “So, really in way, All Might was right about me.” A sad yet defeated smile plays his lips. “I couldn’t have become a hero.”
“That’s not true!” Ochaco nearly screams out in denial, snapping Izuku’s attention! “Deku you’re the most heroic person I know! You’ve helped me and everyone else so many times.” Literally from the moment they met, he’s done nothing but help and care for others. “You said it yourself, you wanna be the kind of hero that saves everyone with a smile.” A reassuring and happy smile. “But you can’t do that like you are now. So, don’t think for a second that you’re not a hero!”
Izuku is totally baffled, blinking rapidly as he tries to make sense of what she’s telling him. “Uraraka…”
She’s…she’s right. How can he save people with a smile if he’s too busy feeling guilty and sorry for himself? The answer: he can’t.
Izuku cracks a small smile, wiping his eyes, making sure a tear won’t be shed today. “Thanks, Uraraka. I guess I still feel a bit guilty is all.”
Ochaco smiles, happy she could help, but her smile soon fades away. “Well…I feel guilty too.”
Izuku is stunned. “What?”
“After what you told me about you and All Might…” Ochaco averts her gaze, rubbing her hands together shamefully. “I haven’t been able to look at him the same way…” It’s hard to even talk to him because all she can think about is what he…what he thought of Deku. “I mean he’s great and I know he cares. He supports me and he trained me, but…it doesn't sit right with me. What he said and did to you.” About being a villain, about not becoming a hero…About crushing his dreams. “I…I mean…he really hurt you.”
Izuku frowns, not knowing what to say.
“I mean it doesn’t make sense; how could he think you were in league with All For One?” She shakes her head trying to deny any of it! “I still can’t believe it. It’s wrong, so wrong, and I…I don't know what to think of him anymore…” She caves into her own shame and disappointment, her voice drifting away quietly.
Izuku’s heart clenches with remorse. Is it because of him and what he told her that she’s feeling this way? Yeah, it is. And in a way that isn’t right. “Uraraka…do you hate him?”
Ochaco immediately snaps to. “What? No! No, I don't hate him.”
Izuku sighs. “Good, because…I don’t either.”
Ochaco’s breath hitches, stupefied.
Izuku continues. “I may not be on the best terms with him, and I haven’t really forgiven him yet, but I can acknowledge that we both messed up.” Izuku took things too far and All Might didn’t do enough; both of them share the blame. “We both made mistakes and…I can’t hate him for that. Not anymore anyway.” He’s already seen what his bottled-up anger can do and…it scares him.
Ochaco understands, completely. “Anger…doesn't solve anything.”
“Yeah. So please Uraraka, don’t ignore All Might. He didn’t wrong you and you shouldn’t look down on him.” Izuku bows his head, accepting it for what it is. “I may not see him the same way anymore, but he’s your mentor. He can teach you so much and…you shouldn’t squander that. Even I can say that he earned his Number One Hero status.”
But really, it’s not right for All Might’s own successor to ghost him. Not when they both need each other to grow and become better: as both student and teacher.
“Don’t push him away, I know for a fact he’s already hurting enough as it is.” Izuku could tell the moment All Might came to him to apologize, his guilt was eating away at him from the inside, and it most definitely still is. “He made a mistake, and although I can’t forgive him, he still needs others around him. He still needs people on his side.” Izuku’s jade eyes lock on to her. “Don’t abandon your own mentor.”
“Deku…” Ochaco frowns contemplating his words before accepting them for what they are. “I guess I have been a bit harsh but…I really just want him to do right by you.”
The greenette solemnly nods. “I think…he wants that too.”
And really both of them should give him the chance to do so.
*BRING! BRING!* Somehow within the noisy bustling of the mall, they are able to hear Izuku’s phone ring within his pocket.
Quickly he scoops it up and checks the caller ID. “Oh, it’s Principal Nezu.”
Ochaco frowns looking over his shoulder to see Nezu’s caller ID. “What does he want?”
“Don’t know.” Izuku answers the call, sticking the phone to his ear. “Hello, Principal Nezu? …” Izuku’s face scrunches up in concentration as he sticks a finger into his opposite ear, trying to block out the noise of the crowd. “What?! … I… I can’t hear you! … Hang on a second!” Covering the mic, Izuku turns to Ochaco. “Sorry, I can’t hear him over the crowd. So…can you wait here for a minute while I take this?” Gotta find a quieter spot.
The brunette waves it off. “No biggie, go ahead.”
“Thanks.” And so with his phone to his ear Izuku tries and fails to connect with the little chimera. “Yeah, I’m here! … Hang on! I still can’t hear you! …” And soon he’s swallowed up by the crowd, disappearing completely from sight as he makes his way to the escalator.
Ochaco bounces in place as it finally sinks in how alone she really feels even when surrounded by people. “Funny, we came here as a class, but here I am…by myself.”
Sad. But it’s whatever, a phone call shouldn’t take long. And if it’s Principal Nezu then it must be important, not just some social call, right? Yeah, so it’s justified. Wait, maybe she should have come along anyway. It might relate to her too. Oh, dang it! Can she still catch up to Deku? Shoot, will she even be able to find him in the massive place? Probably not.
Dang it. Well, maybe she should find a place to sit nearby while she waits? Or maybe run and get a snack real quick? Or-
“Oh, it’s someone from U.A., nice.” A scratchy almost familiar voice echoes from within the bustling crowd.
Ochaco immediately feels very self-conscious all of a sudden, her face blushing, not at all used to being recognized yet. But where did that voice come from?
Without warning an arm wraps itself around her shoulder. “I want an autograph.”
“Uh-!” And immediately Ochaco is feeling super uncomfortable here! It’s not okay to just touch people without permission! That’s a BIG no, no!
A hooded guy with locks of grayish-blue hair sticks out from within his black hoodie, smiles and acts like everything's casual. “You were the one who won right? Beat the shit out of the living bomb and then out-of-bounded that, what was it, U.A.’s Rising Star?”
“Uh…yeah.” Ochaco’s internally freaking out, there are so many red flags here!
But she also doesn't really want to make a scene and it’s not like this guy has really done anything bad, as of yet. But it’s still not okay to touch people! Get your arm off of her!
“Aren’t you one of the students who ran into the Hero Killer in the Hosu incident, too?” The hooded guy snickers. “You sure get around.” He says rather suggestively, conveying he knows more than he’s letting on.
And that’s another red-flag! Why did he say it like that?! “You sure…know a lot.”
“What can I say--I’m just a big fan of yours. I can’t believe I’m running into you again.”
For a brief moment, Ochaco’s heart stops.
“It makes me think that it might not be a coincidence.”
Her instincts, her instincts are screaming, blaring at full volume, but her body is frozen in place: unable to fight or flight as the guy’s hand slowly rises up towards her neck.
“No, no. This feels like it’s destiny.”
Ochaco is shaking as four of the guy’s fingers grip her neck, the ring finger hovering above her skin, threatenly.
“Oh, right. From your point of view, we haven’t met since the attack on U.A.”
Her heart is beating at a hundred miles per hour, beating so fast she can hear it thumping as her body trembles and breaks into a cold sweat, her fear and dread growing with every beat. But with all the fear, she summons enough courage to force herself to look up towards the danger and what she sees shakes her to her very core.
Without a severed hand gripping his face, Tomura Shigaraki’s chapped lips form into a smug grin as he admires his catch. “Why don’t we spend some time catching up? Ochaco Uraraka.”
With her heart racing, Ochaco’s eyes widened in fear, as if the Grim Reaper himself has his hand around her neck. “Tomura…Shigaraki…!”
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A few minutes before their encounter, Tomura Shigaraki’s arrival at the Kiyashi Ward Shopping Mall was overlooked and obscured by the bustling crowd.
But even with the noise and annoying smiles surrounding him as he strolls through the facility, his mind blocks it all out, focusing on one question. The question posed to him by the Hero Killer, Stain: “What meaning is there to killing if you don’t have real convictions?”
‘Just wait, Hero Killer.’ Shigaraki scowls underneath his hood, eyeing the obvious and naive sheeple around him. ‘These people think they’re safe, like nothing can harm them. I don’t know if they’re naive or just ignorant.’
He spots children admiring the newest line of pro hero actions figures, like their idols of worship.
‘People are getting killed somewhere at this very moment, but these idiots keep smiling. Like they don’t have a care in the world.’
He continues on silently wishing a death upon each smiling face that he sees across the massive mall until something catches his ear.
“Hero Killer gear!”
“Are they really selling this?”
Shigaraki stops, spotting a few random teenagers admiring a booth filled with Hero Killer merch: like replicas of his mask, katanas, and even a stupid T-shirt.
“You’ll get into so much trouble if you buy that.”
One of the teens grabs a mask, holding it over his eyes. “Sure, but how does it look?”
“Haha. Oh, cool.” His friend snags a photo.
Shigaraki frowns, pondering. ‘But, on the other hand, you’ve got sympathizers who couldn’t care less about your ideals.’ Like the infuriating recruits of Toga, Charmcaster, and Dabi. ‘And yet they still follow you. What’s up with that?’
It doesn’t make sense. ‘Aren’t we doing the same thing? You and me? In the end, you destroy things you hate, just like I do.’ It doesn’t make sense!! ‘So what gives? What’s the difference?’
And like fate was at play, he spots them, the two people that can give him the answers:
Ochaco Uraraka and Izuku Midoriya.
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And thus that brings them to this moment, with Shigaraki’s hand clenching Ochaco’s neck. He would have preferred both nuisances, but this will do as long as he gets his answers.
“Act natural. Don’t make a scene.” he whispers into her ear but there’s really no need, the bustling noise emanating from the crowds surrounding them is drowning out anything he says. “I’m just an old friend who ran into you at the mall.”
Ochaco remains stock still, shaking as her breathing hitches, her expression nothing but sheer terror.
“Calm down and wipe that look off your face. I think we should have a conversation, is all.” Shigaraki offers up one creepy smile. “A friendly chat. Oh, and of course, if you try to run or fight me in any way…”
She can feel his last finger hovering just above her skin, sending cold shivers down her body.
“Well, it’ll be fast. Soon as all five of my fingers touch your neck, your throat’ll be the first thing that disintegrates. In a matter of seconds, you’ll be nothing more than dust and powdered bone.” He chuckles lightly to himself. “If I remember right, part of your Quirk works the same way I think.” What a coincidence.
Despite the looming threat, Ochaco somehow manages to keep her cool even though she’s scared to death. “I-If you do that…especially here in public, a hero will come and stop you.” She eyes him disdainfully. “You can’t escape.”
His smile only widens. “I don’t doubt that.” He points out towards the massive, congested mall. “But just look at these sheep. Any one of them could use their Quirks and start a massacre whenever they wanted. And yet they’re all here, smiling. They think laws and rules will protect them because they assume everyone has their same morals. They’re convinced nothing bad could ever happen to them.” Like oblivious insects unaware of how one boot could squash them all. “Heck this same mall was attacked less than a year ago, it was under sieged by mutant monsters.”
Ochaco remembers, she was there after all.
“And yet not a trace of the attack was left, why? Because they all assume a villain won’t appear here again.” He smirks victoriously. “And yet here I am.”
Ochaco’s internal rage begins to boil up, how dare he say such things? How could safety and smiles be a bad thing? Her fists clench at her sides but what he says next makes her blood run cold, below freezing cold.
“After you I could kill 20…30… Maybe even more before a pro showed up and managed to stop me.”
Ochaco’s eyes widen, in absolute horror at what he’s suggesting. “You…”
Shigaraki scowls down at her, eyeing her challengingly. As if to tempt him to follow through.
Ochaco can’t help but bite back out of spite. “You have such a way with girls, huh?” She says defiantly, disgusted with him, her voice laced with a toxic sarcasm.
Shigaraki smirks.
She glares up at him, despite her trembling heart, with as much defiance and repulsion as she can muster while trying not to lose her cool. “Y-You wanna talk…let’s talk.”
Shigaraki chuckles as he pulls her in closer. “This is nice. A real moment. Let’s go grab a seat and get comfortable, why don’t we?”
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“Hello! Principal Nezu? Can you hear me?” Izuku presses the phone to his ear, using his free hand to cover his opposite ear.
[“Yes, I can.”] Principal Nezu responds from the opposite end of the call.
“Oh, good. I can hear you too. Sorry about that. I needed to find a quiet space to talk.” Says Izuku as he leans over the edge of the railing, peering down the three-story height towards the civilian filled first floor.
It took him a bit to find said quiet place, having to go up the escalators to the third floor to get away from the majority of the noisy crowd.
[“It’s fine, I understand.”]
“Anyway what do I owe this pleasure?”
[“I’m afraid this is no pleasure of mine.”]
Izuku can almost hear Principal Nezu frowning from the other end.
[“Sorry to say but I felt it necessary to inform you immediately.”]
“Inform me? About what?”
[“I had an interesting chat this morning, with your homeroom teacher, Mr. Aizawa.”]
Izuku raises an eyebrow. What could this have to do with anything? Maybe it’s about the remedial exam? Or the counseling? Though wouldn’t Principal Nezu already know about all that?
[“He had some…interesting concerns to say, about One Man Army.”]
Izuku freezes. “Does…does he know?”
[“I can assure you that he is unaware of the situation. I provided a well-executed fabrication that should satisfy his suspicions.”]
The greenette let out a sigh of relief.
[“However, you shouldn’t let your guard down now. You must remain vigilant and careful, use precaution not just around Mr. Aizawa but others as well, others that cannot know of your…situation.”]
“I…understand, sir.”
[“Good.”]
And thus begins a lecture courtesy of Principal Nezu about how Mr. Aizawa’s concerns came to be and what measures Mr. Midoriya must follow to ensure it is not an issue in the near future.
And all Izuku can do is listen and wait, he hopes his friend will forgive him for making her wait because this is clearly going to take a hot minute.
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“When it comes down to it, I hate basically everything.” Shigaraki can’t state that enough, it’s basically his whole thing and Ochaco knows this already. But she not really willing to say it as she sits beside her possible murder.
“But the Hero Killer pisses me off the most right now.”
Okay, now that’s kinda of a surprise. “I-I… I t-thought…he was one of you.” Ochaco manages to cough out.
The leader of the League of Villains is quick to clarify. “Not technically, but that’s what the media made it look like. And that’s what my problem is. It’s like suddenly, everyone is obsessed with that stupid Hero Killer.”
His mind replays the entirety of that stupid viral video, the one documenting Stain’s vision.
“The attack on U.A., the Nomus I released on Hosu - he upstaged all of it. No one’s even giving me a second thought. Why is that? Despite what he claims to believe, all he really did was try to get rid of whatever things he didn’t like.” He cracks a smile, enjoying just how much power he has over the girl’s life as he goes in for the killing question. “What do you think the difference is between us? Uraraka?”
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“Man, he sure can talk.” Izuku sighs, his shoulders slumping as he grips his bag and strolls through the upper levels of the mall back towards the escalators.
He just got off the phone with Principal Nezu who wanted to warn him all about how Mr. Aizawa tried and failed to use Erasure on Heatblast. Just another thing to add to his ever-growing list of worries and problems.
And of course it’s concerning, Izuku always knew there was a chance that Mr. Aizawa would try to cancel his “Quirk” but honestly, he was hoping it wouldn’t actually happen. But it sounded like Principal Nezu got the situation under control, but still Izuku better make sure he doesn't slip up and expose the truth of One Man Army, or rather the Omnitrix.
Izuku let out an exhausted sigh. “I just hope there’s no more bad news today.” Like seriously, it’ll be really nice to go through one day without hearing that something terrible has occurred.
But more than that he’d like to actually enjoy his shopping trip. He hasn't even been here for half-an-hour and already it feels like he’s missing out.
“Well I better head back then.” As he walks off, he strolls near the railing of the third floor.
He marches down the corridor until he arrives above where he thinks he left Uraraka. Ad so he leans over the side of the railing, scanning the crowd below for any sign of her.
‘Hang on? Where is she?’ His eyes peeled, spotting the familiar landmarks and stores, so that has to be the place. ‘But where is she?’
There’s no sign of her, but then again, he is pretty high up so maybe he just can’t make her out in this crowd.
‘I'll just head down, I guess.’ Hopefully he’ll spot her when he’s actually down there.
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“The difference between you…and the Hero Killer?” Ochaco takes a moment to come up with an answer. But she’s having a hard time especially with the hand of death gripping her very soul. “I…I’m not sure.”
Shigaraki frowns.
“But…I know what’s the same.”
He perks up, listening intently.
Ochaco takes a shaky breath, her brow covered in a cold sweat as she tries to fight off her anxiety. “You’re both villains. And I don’t agree with either of you. You both kill and hurt others to get what you want. You’re both terrifying, but…in different ways.”
##########(Flashback)#########
At the end of the Hosu Incident, Deku was thrown to the ground, injured and bloodied having just been ripped away from SixSix’s talons.
From the ground, Deku shakily peers up, gasping for air, in sheer terror of the Hero Killer. He can feel it, the bloodlust, the rage, the…the…the-
Stain sighs, drool and blood dripping from his mouth as a deranged grin is plastered to his face. “Everything that I do…” He reels around still holding onto the terrified boy. “Is to create a stronger society!”
########(End Flashback)#######
“That night, he even saved my friend from another villain.” But why did he do that? He didn’t have to? But he did. But why? The answer: because Deku’s a true hero. The kind Stain wants. The kind Stain desires society to have.
But he kills to achieve that goal…
“He’s a maniac, but he doesn’t destroy things just for the hell of it. Just because it annoys him.” Ochaco’s nails dig into her thighs, trying her best not to fight back. “Like you.”
##########(Flashback)#########
All Might had just defeated Nue during the U.S.J. attack, and then the rest of the U.A. staff arrived and easily took out the League's remaining forces. Leaving Tomura Shigaraki without a proper means of fighting the Number One Hero!
Kurogiri had just generated a warp gate but before stepping through the warp gate Shigaraki takes one last look back at the heroes. “This may be Game Over but the next time we meet you’re dead, All Might.” His gaze drifts to the hero course students. “As for those kids…” His glare hardens underneath the severed-hand. “I’ll be sure to make each of their demise a slow and painful one.”
########(End Flashback)#######
He wants to kill them…out of spite. Just to hurt All Might. Nothing more, nothing less. It’s without a real sensible purpose.
“The Hero Killer, Stain…he’s just like All Might.” Even Ochaco can see it.
She recalls just how intimidating a presence All Might can have especially against villains, just like the effect he had on them during the start of the Practical Exam.
And then there’s almost like…a sort of charisma to them both. Maybe because they…they both strive to serve a higher purpose in their own ways.
“He’s committed to his goals…” Ochaco admits, almost like she’s impressed. “…to his convictions.” She’s just been rambling on, her body shaking and blood cold as her heart races, but even so she goes through with her answer. “Which is something you lack. That’s the difference.”
With courage surging through her she definitely glares up at Shigaraki for the first time since she began to answer. And the sight breaks her.
Shigaraki’s terrifying eyes glare down at her, analyzing and contemplating, but all so sinister.
And for a moment, she thinks that he’s thinking of killing her off here and now.
But instead he sighs out of relief. “Ah… That’s like a weight off my chest.” A small grin forms across his face. “I see it now… All the dots connected. Why he makes me so angry, why you and that shapeshifter irritate me so much--Everything makes sense.”
Ochaco can’t help but tremble under his terrifying psychotic smile.
But Shigaraki’s all too wrapped up in his own epiphany. “It’s him. The problem is All Might.”
Ochaco gasps, horrified.
“Yeah, yeah. That’s it. That’s the most rational explanation.” Shigaraki laughs, reveling in his found truth. “I didn’t see it, even though it was right in front of me the whole time. What was I worried about so much? It’s simple.” His smile is just as big if not bigger than the bustling oblivious people around them. “He’s why these morons are able to smile thoughtlessly!” His grip tightens around the poor girl’s neck, making her gag and choke.
“They feel so safe because that garbage pro is smiling thoughtlessly, too, as if there’s no one in the whole world he can’t save.” He smirks, leering down at the hero student. “Like he can’t make a mistake.” He says all too directly.
Ochaco is straining not just for air but for her life, terrified not just at the thought that Shigaraki might end her!
“Oh, I’m glad we had this chat. I feel better. I can't thank you enough, Uraraka.”
She can’t breathe, she can’t breathe! Oh, god she’s going to die! Her hands move on their own, reaching for his grip!
“I don’t need to change my ways after all.” He smiles on even as he feels her fingers begin to grip his hand, but he quickly gives her a pull telling her to stand down. “Whoops don’t struggle, now. Unless you want to die.” he grins at the thought. “You want all these people here to crumble as well?”
Ochaco’s on the verge of full on panic now! She doesn't want anyone to die! Not today, not ever! But what can she do? What can she do?!
In the meantime, Shigaraki couldn’t be in a more different state of mind. ‘You know, it’s really ironic, Hero Killer. I’m your opposite, but you let me live.’ He laughs finding the cruel irony in it all. ‘And now your ideals and convictions will become a steppingstone for me.’ Oh how delicious it is, how cruel it is to take one other’s purpose and use it for his own. “Haha…-Ha…!” Shigaraki’s laugh fades away, his eyes drifting on the sight of his own breath.
The mist from his breath floats and disappears into the air, as a harsh cold washes over him despite the hot summer sun beaming down on them.
Without reacting, Shigaraki can sense it, a new presence looming over them like a ghost.
A deadly chilling voice drips with venom. “What. Are. You. Doing?”
Shigaraki remains still, his grin never faltering as he peers up at the looming blue creature above him.
Ochaco’s peers up as well, her eyes praying for help.
Big Chill’s glare narrows, he knew something didn’t seem right. “Let go of her.” He demands while wondering why this guy seems so familiar? Like they’ve met before but why?
Shigaraki’s grin only widens out of amusement, as he eyes the green hourglass symbol lodged int the creature’s chest . “Ah, it’s you. The cheating shapeshifter.”
Big Chill’s cloak flexes as if reading to burst open and go on the attack.
“U.A.’s Rising Star.” Shigaraki chuckles, as he turns his head to snicker up at the transformed Midoriya. “Even after the attack on U.A. You’re still a nuisance.”
Big Chill’s eyes widen, faltering as his heart drops. “Shigaraki.”
Ochaco chokes, gagging for air and in response Big Chill prepares to lung forward, his wings beginning to open but then-
“Calm down…Midoriya.” Shigaraki warns. “I got what I came here for already.”
Big Chill isn’t having it. “Then release her.”
“I will but…”Shigaraki’s grin turns wicked. “if you try following me, I’ll get angry.” He raises his hand and gestures towards the bustling mall. “We understand each other?”
Big Chill scowls. “I can-”
“Stop me?” Shigaraki asks, tauntingly. “I’m sure you can. But not before I kill her.” His grip tightens around the poor girl's neck, making her freeze in place. “Or anyone else for that matter?”
Big Chill’s fist clenches together, a bit of frost misting out from his grip. He’s done enough harm acting on impulse as it’s been if he plays his cards wrong Uraraka and others will die. All because of him. Sure Big Chill can phase and remain relatively unaffected by Shigaraki’s Decay Quirk but…he can’t say everyone else would be fine. And so he relents, standing down.
Shigaraki smiles. “Good boy.” He turns his smile to his captive. “You got him well trained, huh?” He laughs at his own joke before he finally releases her as he pushes himself forward.
Ochaco immediately begins coughing up a storm, gripping her neck, as she desperately tries to catch her breath.
Big Chill is immediately at her side, making sure she’s okay.
Shigaraki begins to step forward, ready to take his leave when.
“Shigaraki…”
He stops, turning ever so slightly to see Uraraka glaring up at him with disgust.
“Why?” She questions.
Shigaraki frowns, uncertain.
Ochaco thinks to Deku’s own outburst his own anger, he lashed out because he was hurt because he felt abandoned and worthless. There was a reason for his anger, for his destruction, so what’s his? What’s Tomura Shigaraki’s?
“Why? Why do you hate heroes so much? Why do you hate…this world?” This world of heroes?
Shigaraki pauses, pondering the question. His hand flexes towards his pocket as a wave of haunting memories flood his mind as he peers back at her, his eyes piercing into Uraraka’s very soul.
Ochaco gasps at the sight, for a brief second she saw a flash in his eyes; a flash of pain and fear.
“Because this society is a lie.”
Ochaco’s lips tighten, her mind plagued by his meaning.
Big Chill too takes a moment to pause.
Shigaraki turns away. “But here’s a little word of advice, friends. Be careful. The next time we meet,” His gaze drifts from Uraraka up to the transformed Midoriya. “I'll likely have to kill you.”
And with that threat proxying a goodbye, Shigaraki disappears from within the bustling crowd like a stone lost to a churning stream.
Big Chill has half-a-mind to follow after Shigaraki, but he knows that the second the villain senses his presence…he’ll…he’ll… And for a moment Big Chill can see nothing but a vision, a vision of ashes bellowing within the crumbling mall as innocents scream and wail in pain, as Shigaraki takes his vengeance out on them.
And so Big Chill inevitably and regretfully stays put, allowing the villain to simply walk away.
In the meantime, said villain has found his way out of the mall and into the back alleys of the city. Smiling triumphantly to himself knowing full well that the hero-wannabe won’t be following after him. Not with other people’s lives on the line. And if he does well, the deaths of all these families will be on Midoriya's hands just as much as his.
But that’s not the only reason Shigaraki has to smile. After all he feels like a new man, having found the answer he’s been seeking.
The answer to Stain’s question: “What meaning is there to killing if you don’t have real convictions?”
Shigaraki’s grin widens as he makes his way through the back ends of the city alone and without a person in sight. ‘I had convictions and ideals from the beginning, Hero Killer. I just didn’t know. Nothing has changed. The only real difference is now I know what I'm working toward. To create a world without All Might, and to prove how fragile society’s sense of safety really is.’ A world without heroes. ‘That’s what drives me. From this day forward, I will call it my conviction.’ Reaching into his pocket, he pulls out a severed hand.
As he eyes the all too familiar limb, Shigaraki thinks back to Stain’s last primal roar of defiance, his bloodlust and Killing Intent radiating off of him like waves: “There is only one man I’ll let kill me. He is a true hero. ALL MIGHT IS WORTHY!!!”
Shigaraki dons the severed hand over his victorious wicked grin. ‘Everything is All Might’s fault.’
And so he continues on back to his lair, unaware of the watching eye. From within the air above him, a spec of air shifts and distorts and the lightest of hums can be heard as an invisible drone follows after him.
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Shortly after Shigaraki’s departure and Big Chill made sure Uraraka was unharmed, they both reported the incident to the authorities. And almost instantly pro heroes were on the scene along with the police, and they set to work evacuating the entire mall.
At the same time, other police officers and heroes conducted a massive sweep of the area, heck of the entire ward, but there was no sign of Shigaraki. The only proof he was ever at the mall were the few glimpses of him on the security cameras but those aren’t even that reliable due to how congested the mall had been.
The rest of their friends from Class 1-A all rushed to their side, asking if they were okay and apologizing for leaving and allowing Shigaraki the chance to antagonize Uraraka.
But they were forced to leave the two alone as they were seen to a police cruiser that was bound for the police station so they could take their statements.
As Uraraka and Midoriya sat in the police cruiser, they silently watched the mall disappear from view. They both then shared a look almost like they’re silently agreeing not to return to a place that’s so obviously cursed. After all they are 2-for-2 on visiting the mall and encountering villains.
At the station, the two teens had to wait until a familiar face arrived to speak to them. Detective Naomasa Tsukauchi, since he’s the one leading the investigation on the League of Villains. And as an added bonus both teens are familiar enough with him to feel like they can trust him with taking their statements and hearing their concerns.
And so after hours of giving their accounts of what happened, Izuku was released first only able to contribute a facial-description and the brief encounter he had with the villain.
As for Ochaco she was held in the conference room for far longer, in fact she’s still there currently discussing the “conversation” she had with the leader of the League of Villains.
Detective Tsukauchi leans back in his seat, frowning as he scans over his notes. “Huh. From what I’m hearing, it sounds like they’re not a monolithic organization. And it sounds like his desire to defeat All Might hasn’t changed a bit.”
Ochaco remains silent in her seat, agreeing with the Detective’s logic.
“Anyway,” Tsukauchi offers up a grateful smile. “thanks for the report, Uraraka. This helps.”
Ochaco isn’t so confident with that statement. “It does?”
“Of course!”
“Oh, okay…” The brunette shrinks back into her seat, feeling useless and insignificant. “I guess I don’t feel like I helped.” For one, she was unable to stop Shigaraki and she allowed him to threaten not just her life but others, too…
Tsukauchi leans forward, resting an arm on the desk. “Don’t worry. You and Midoriya did a great job holding it together when so many lives were on the line. Most people would’ve panicked and lost their cool in that situation.” He gives her a reassuring smile, letting her know he means every word. “No one got hurt today because you both were able to remain calm.”
Ochaco nods, figuring he’s right but it still bothers her that she couldn’t do more.
Unbeknownst to her, Izuku feels the exact same way.
Izuku leans back on the bench, as officers file in and out of the station behind him. He’s been permitted to leave but he decided to hang back and wait, not wanting to leave his friend behind especially after what just happened. But he opted to wait outside wanting some fresh air as the cool breeze of the night washes over him.
Honestly, he’s just relieved they made it through the ordeal without a scratch thank god. But really things could have so easily gone for the worse; to the point nobody would have been able to walk away. It would have been so easy for Shigaraki to go ahead and kill a few innocent people before he even had the time to react. And then those deaths would be on him just as much as Shigaraki.
No, there’s no use being hung over about it. The police and the heroes are already on the case, so really everything’s taken care of already. And he’s already given the police everything he knows about the incident and so there isn’t much as he can do anyway.
But what really bothers him is what Shigaraki asked of Uraraka.
Izuku sat-in while Uraraka explained her entire encounter with Shigaraki and his big question: the difference between him and the Hero Killer.
It didn’t sit well with Izuku at all when he heard about Shigaraki’s reaction. A villain with a purpose has to be worse than one that simply destroys without any meaning. Before Shigaraki wanted to watch the world burn but now he has the convictions to do so. And that thought alone is enough for a cold shiver to run down Izuku’s spine.
The personnel exit of the police station opens up and out walks Detective Tsukauchi leading a very quiet and solemn looking Ochaco.
Upon seeing her friend she stops in place, bowing her head, not meeting his gaze. “Thanks for waiting, Deku.”
Izuku immediately got up and approached. “How are you holding up?”
“I’m…” Her voice drifts away , a clear sign she’s rather shaken by the experience.
Izuku frowns worriedly, wondering just how shaken she is by having her life threatened like it was.
“Young Uraraka! Tsukauchi!”
The three spin around to spot Toshinori Yagi rushing towards them. Getting closer the skeletal version of All Might slowly comes to a stop upon noticing Izuku nearby. “Y-young Midoriya…” He gives a small nod in greeting.
Izuku slowly returns the gesture before turning his gaze away. “All Might…”
Ochaco shrinks back, avoiding the hero’s gaze. “Oh, h-hey…All Might…”
The two teens don’t say any more than that and a harsh solemn silence takes hold, turning the moment awkward.
Toshinori’s frown saddens upon witnessing their reactions.
Tsukauchi curiously watches the odd and awkward interaction. He gives Toshinori a questioning look and Toshinori responds with a look that says: we’ll talk after.
Toshinori turns his attention back on the children and he offers up a small sincere smile, happy to see them despite their feelings towards his arrival. “It’s such a relief. I’m so glad you’re okay.” he turns to Izuku and gives him an honestly concerned look. “Both of you.”
Izuku nods, appreciating the gesture even if he still has his hang-ups.
Ochaco folds her arms together, holding herself as to keep herself safe. “What…what are you doing here?”
Toshinori responds. “Tsukauchi needed to speak to me anyway, and this does kinda involve me anyway.” And so naturally he was informed about the encounter with Shigaraki and so he booked it here as soon as he could. “I’m sorry I couldn't be there to protect you both and the others.”
Izuku gives a slow shake of his head. “It’s fine… You weren’t there so it’s not like you could have done much.”
Ochaco curls in on herself even more the moment he says it. But it’s hard to think that not even All Might would have been able to save her. And that is not a comforting thought to have at all as her gaze drops and her shoulders drop.
Izuku quickly picks up on her demeanor as does Tsukauchi, both showing concern. Wondering how to best address her clear distress.
However, Toshinori takes it upon himself to address her with a soft, kind approach.
She keeps her eyes downward, refusing to even meet his gaze, her mind plagued with doubts and misgivings with the hero: the hero that failed to save Izuku and that couldn’t save her.
Toshinori steps closer, gently, his gaze soft and reassuring. “Young Uraraka.”
Her gaze relents and she hesitantly peers up and meets Toshinori’s soft gentle sapphire gaze.
Toshinori reaches out to her and speaks with such reassurance and certainty. “I am here.” It’s all okay now, she’s safe.
Ochaco’s heart swells as she finally snaps and she break down, tears flowing as she collapses. “I-I was s-so scared! I-I thought he-he was g-going t-to-!”
Toshinori holds her in a comforting embrace. “You’re okay. You’re okay, he didn’t hurt you.”
“I-it’s n-not just t-that.” Ochaco sniffs, desperately trying to wipe away the tears. “I-I couldn’t do anything! I was…I was powerless! H-he threatened to-to k-kill everyone! And I-I wouldn’t been able to save them!! W-what if I wasn’t able to save…any of them…?” It’s too painful and nightmarish to think about all those deaths, all the pain, and she wouldn’t have been able to stop it! She would only be able to watch as she too slowly turned to dust along with those she would have failed!
Toshinori’s heart aches, relating to her torment. “I know exactly how you feel, and often too.”
Ochaco chokes back a sob, blinking up in confusion.
Toshinori leans back, his eye to the starry night sky, the same sky everyone in this grand old world looks to during the good…and the bad times. “Someone could be injured and calling out for my help anywhere in the world right now, and I would never know about it.” He’d never even know their name. Their face. Or who they are. And the sad truth is he’d be unable to save them, to answer their prayers. That’s the hard-sad truth of the matter. “I know it’s frustrating, but we’re only human.”
Izuku frowns fully understanding the veteran hero. Heroes, even All Might, are only human. They make mistakes, they have limits. And even though it seems like one, such as All Might, can do so much there are still things that are impossible for them to do. Heroes are people, not gods, they and especially All Might can only do their best to save those they can.
“There are always gonna be people beyond our reach that we can’t protect.” He gives her a reassuring pat on the head. “But that’s all the more reason to stand tall and smile.”
Ochaco blinks up at him, her tears subsiding.
“So that the “Symbol of Justice” is always there. Even when I can’t be, a flicker in people’s hearts, whether they be a hero or a villain.”
Ochaco understands, All Might cannot always be there for others. But the symbol, what he represents, can be. All Might is limited but a symbol can be the impossible, a symbol can reach past limits and be more. No doubt that must be a huge burden on him, one that he carries everywhere he goes and weighs on his every action.
But again All Might is human, not some almighty force, he is prone to making mistakes, making the wrong calls. Like…like with Deku…All Might was wrong and…he knows that. He accepted that and…he’s going to make amends. She knows it.
“I-I’m…sorry for yelling…” She whimpers. “I was just so scared…”
Toshinori nods, sympathizing with her worries. “It’s alright.”
Tsukauchi smiles, glad she was able to calm down. “The kid’s worried about what Shigaraki said. But that was likely the villain’s resentment talking. All Might here has never failed to save someone after arriving at an emergency.”
Izuku frowns at the notion, but even he has to agree. There’s never been a case where All Might failed to save someone. But what about the undocumented cases?
For a brief moment Izuku looks up at Toshinori who is staring right back at him with an apologetic gaze. And for that moment Izuku can instantly tell that the hero still feels guilty about everything. He really is sorry and honestly…Izuku wants there to be a day he can look up at All Might again and smile, to be his hero again. But…for now he’ll settle for the fact that he is just grateful he came to make sure they were safe.
Toshinori helps Ochaco to her feet. “Hang in there, I’m sure you did your best.”
Tsukauchi nods. “She did, because she was able to remain calm despite the circumstances not a single person was harmed today.”
Ochaco gives a small solemn smile in return, she still feels like she could have done more but for now she’ll just be grateful no one was harmed.
Some movement catches Tsukauchi’s eye, he turns and realizes it’s time to wrap things up. “Think we got everything we need so you two are good to go. We’re all done here.”
A pair of familiar voices cry out in worry! “Izuku?!/Ochaco?!”
The teens spin around to find Officer Sansa, that cat-faced officer, leading their parents Mr. Uraraka, Inko Midoriya, and Hisashi Midoriya around the building to meet them.
Mr. Uraraka rushes forward latching onto his daughter.
Ochaco gasps upon his tight embrace. “Daddy?”
“My little girl!” Mr. Uraraka cries. “Are you okay?! Did the villain pull anything?! Are you-”
“I’m okay, promise.” Her smile is soft as she turns towards Tsukauchi and Toshinori. “I’m doing a lot better now actually.”
“Izuku! My baby!” Inko nearly throws herself at her son, fretting over him like the doting mother she is with tears in her eyes and a tissue in hand. “When we heard what happened we came straight away!”
As Izuku tries to calm his frightened mother, Hisashi examines him for injuries before taking a moment to address Detective Tsukauchi. “Has the villain been detained yet?” He asks going into full pro hero mode.
Tsukauchi frowns, hesitating to respond upon seeing the man’s face. “Unfortunately, no luck as of yet but we are under constant vigilance.”
“A shame, perhaps I can help.” Hisashi then hands his hero license to the Detective. “I’m the pro hero, Cinder, and if you need any assistance in this case, I’d be more than happy to help.”
Tsukauchi eyes the license like he’s trying to memorize every detail of it. “I thank you for the offer, I’ll be sure to contact you personally if we ever require your services.” Tsukauchi says with a smile as he hands the pro hero his license back.
Grabbing the little piece of plastic, Hisashi nods and then turns his attention back to his kid. “For now, I’m happy you’re safe.” He says before smiling, trying to convey a sense of comfort. “I was so worried.”
Izuku’s heart turns cold, turning his head away with a quiet frown. “Yeah…sure…” There’s a hint of skepticism in his tone, suggesting an underlying issue.
And everyone picks up on it, each of them sharing a concerned and questioning look.
Hisashi smiles sheepishly trying to alleviate. “I was, believe me.”
Izuku doesn’t respond nor does even look his father’s way. How can he believe him? Worried about him now? Sure he was away for a good reason, but…but it’s not like he ever expressed his worry before? Why now? Because it's hero related? Izuku doesn’t want to believe that but then again Hisashi did go straight to talking to the police officer first before speaking to him.
“Izuku are you-”
“We should go home.” Izuku cuts in, not even turning to face his old man, his voice quiet and tired. “It’s been a long day and…I’d like to go home.”
Inko is quick to respond, pulling her son along towards the car, fretting over him. “Of course, sweetie, let’s go. You need to rest.”
As she leads him away, Hisashi stands back with a sad frown. It’s starting to become rather tiring, every time he reaches out Izuku pushes back, keeping him at arm's length. He’s trying, he is, he’s giving him his space, but…when is it going to get better? He wonders.
And so he turns back to the detective. “Thank you for looking after him.”
Tsukauchi nods. “It was my pleasure.”
With one last nod, Hisashi leaves for his…family.
Mr. Uraraka turns to his kin. “We should get you home too. Your mother’s worried sick.”
Ochaco nods. “Right.”
Tsukauchi turns to Officer Sansa. “Sansa. Make sure they get home safe.”
Officer Sansa gives his superior a salute! “Sir.”
Tsukauchi and Toshinori see the families off to their respective vehicles: the Midoriyas take Inko’s personal car while the Urarakas are escorted by police cruiser.
The two watch the cars disappear down the road and out of sight leaving them behind to the silence of the night.
Tsukauchi watches on as he addresses his dear friend. “This time, at least, it appears to have been a coincidental meeting. But there’s still a pretty big possibility that one of them, both of them, or any other student will be targeted in the future. Of course, we’ll continue to be on high alert here, but the school should be ready to take drastic measures. The stronger the light shines, the greater the darkness.”
Toshinori turns to face his friend wondering where he’s going with this.
“I think that, for the good of the students, you should consider leaving U.A., All Might.”
Toshinori frowns. “But I’ve barely gotten started.” He shakes his head, shamefully. “No, I can’t even say I did teach the students a thing yet.”
“All Might…” Tsukauchi frowns concerningly. “The way those kids were acting, they weren’t exactly happy to see you.” Not at first at least.
“That’s because I failed them as a hero and as a teacher, especially Young Midoriya.”
Tsukauchi understands, guess the cat’s out of the bag. But does that mean…? “Wait, so is he-”
“He is in no way shape or form associated with All For One, that much I am certain.” Toshinori reassures. “In fact he’s now well aware of All For One and One For All.”
“Really?”
“Yes, it was my successor's decision, and I trust her.”
“I see but why did they both seem so…off?”
“I’m afraid the issue goes…beyond my poor assumptions.”
Tsukauchi understands, he knows all about Toshinori’s response to Midoriya’s inquiry. And honestly, he’s amazed it took this long for it to finally be addressed. “So, guess he hasn’t forgiven you then.”
“You’re guess is correct.” Toshinori admits in defeat. “I hurt him, and he’s been living with that pain since that day.” His fists clench. “I have to make things right, I have to. So, I’m not leaving U.A. because the best way I can make amends is to help guide not just him but all of the students into the proper heroes of tomorrow.” Besides he can do more for them all by being present than he could being away. Besides even if he does leave there’s no guarantee the villains won’t target the students again just to provoke him. Better to stick by their side and guide them properly this time. “And along with that I will do all that I can to protect them, from the League, and from All For One.”
Tsukauchi sulks, peering up at the night sky. “All For One again. This time we have to capture him.”
His friend agrees one hundred percent.
“And what about Hisashi Midoriya?”
Toshinori blinks.
“That was him, correct? Midoriya’s father.”
“Yes, it is.”
“Huh, I haven’t realized he came back to Japan.” He must have slipped in under the radar somehow. But he put out a report for any news of Mr. Midoriya’s return to make its way back to him. So how come it hadn’t until now? Surely if he entered the country with legal means it would have been documented and he would have been alerted.
Toshinori shrugs. “Yeah, me neither. I didn't find out until a week or so ago.”
Tsukauchi cups his chin in thought. “Strange, he comes back now.” After a decade of essentiality disappearing with no paper trail, records, or sightings in that time. Very strange.
“Tsukauchi?”
“I’m sorry if this is touchy, but what’s the verdict on him?”
Toshinori goes quiet unwilling and very very hesitant to answer due to his already poor assumptions prior.
The Detective understands completely. “I get it, you don’t want to assume especially after whatever happened, but still…” This has to be addressed. “His files and records are full of holes, not to mention they’re filled with reports of suspicious and possible-criminal activity.” Such as abiding and assisting reported villains, or the supposed tampering of evidence and crime scenes. “He might not be associated with All For One, but if there’s something there…then I don’t think it’d be wise to ignore.” If not for them, then for Izuku’s sake. If his father is a criminal or a villain, then it’d be best if they make sure: before his father’s potentially criminal ways catch up to his family.
Toshinori isn’t so sure, the vibes he gets from Mr. Midoriya is one of a fellow professional hero: always ready to take action, poised, and analytical about the situation. He clearly knows how to handle himself, and even if he seems shifty, Toshinori can just tell the man means well enough.
But if Tsukauchi’s instincts are telling him something’s not right, then he trusts him. “You’re the Detective, if you think something’s fishy then I’m behind you, but…” They need to be smart about this, no more assumptions and no more jumping to conclusions. “I rather we talk to others first, I’d like more opinions on this.” Opinions of those they can trust and could help them see a different angle.
Tsukauchi nods, smugly. “Ah, so like I said we should have done at the beginning.” Back when Toshinori first proposed this investigation.
“Yes, and I dare say, I wish I listened to you sooner.”
“Not to worry. For now we’ll put that on hold, first comes first, the League of Villains.”
“Of course” Toshinori turns his gaze back towards the sky, where the unknown lies, looming overhead. “The League of Villains.”
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
Tomura Shigaraki finally makes it back to the lair, he feels rejuvenated and more determined than ever before; striding into the bar with purpose and a terrifying grin on his face as he prepares to address the newest members of the League.
But upon his arrival, he freezes in place, the door left ajar to his side as red flags and alarms dance through his mind, warning him that something is oh so very wrong.
Nue has his arms raised, jaw wide and teeth bared, and eyes flared but he remains stock still, frozen in place, like someone hit pause on him as a translucent electrical-field dances around him, holding his body in place.
Kurogiri too seems stunned, having been thrown against the wall as a scorch mark is left on the wall beside him, clearly it was a warning shot.
Toga giggles, clapping her hands all giddy at the sight of Nue’s frozen body.
Charmcaster and Dabi seem on edge, both pressed against the counter with their hands out, ready to defend themselves. With Giran calmly and curiously watching on from the corner with a smoke in his hand.
But what really has Shigaraki’s attention is the unfamiliar intruder in the center of it all.
They stand there unfazed and unflinching in their dark armor-like robe, their build lanky and skeletal. The skeletal looking man with bone-white skin and a fin protruding from his head stands with his back turned towards Shigaraki. His current attention is on the frozen Nue as he plays with a control pad located on the skeletal man’s high tech arm-brace.
At the man’s side a little red drone that resembles an eye with serrations hovers nearby like a loyal pet.
Shigaraki scowls, his hands flexing, threatening to kill the scumbag. “Who are you? Another recruit?”
The intruder pauses. “Tomura…Shigaraki. Hehehe.” The intruder chuckles, slowly turning around to face the leader of the League of Villains. “It is a pleasure.” His red eyes shine with mirth, as his black lips curl into a sinister smile.
Shigaraki immediately senses that something is not right with this guy, not at all. This guy…he…he doesn’t seem…he doesn't seem. Human? For some reason. Why though? He’s just a freak with a Mutation, so then why? Why is he on edge?
“What do you want?” Shigaraki spits out, demanding an answer!
“I want-” The skeletal intruder leans forward, his grin widening, his yellow teeth on full display in a disgusting smile. “-what my Master desires.”
For a moment, it feels like all the air has been sucked out from the room as Shigaraki eyes the skeletal ambassador with much skepticism and unease. Who is this guy? And who in the hell is his… “Master?”
*I want to thank “Bacara best Clone Commander” for their own artwork inspired by this story. It’s called “Ben 10 X MHA: The Meaning of Power.” By “Gero223” on Deviantart. So go check it out!!
*I also want to take the time to thank “Weeldx” for their own art piece that was inspired by the emotional outburst of Ch:43 The Final Straw. The artwork is titles “Anguish through fire” by “Weeld1” so head on over and check it out on Deviantart!!
Notes:
Hey guys that was Ch.45 and if you were hoping for more reactions towards the aftermath of Ch.43 then please be patient. Like I mentioned last time, much of my original arc will continue to address a lot of the aftermath and set ups. So if something wasn’t properly addressed in this chapter it will be in the future. So I guess patience is key here. It’s set up like this so I can properly do some character development and interactions as well as confrontations and consequences by giving them individual focus rather than cram it all into one single chapter.
*Speaking of, this is the last chapter we’ll be seeing on the anime for a little while. BUT that does not mean my original arc has officially begun. I want to get through 2 original chapters that will help set up the original arc. But that does not mean these next 2 chapters should be looked down upon, in fact I can guarantee that every last (or at least most of you) will love what’s to come during those chapter. No hints though, you’ll all have to wait and see
*Description of Nue from Ch.17 It’s Hero Time Part III: “The base form is that of a Tetramand but with many key differences. Nue's upper right arm is that of Diamondhead's while his upper left arm is that of Lodestar's. His lower pair of arms are that of Water Hazard's. Large gaping holes like that of Terraspin's are embedded into Nue's chest and abdomen, and the Geochelone Aerio shell somehow morphed into part of his back acting like a thin layer of skin. Ditto's fins poke out from his shoulder and two slim black tendrils have grown out from his shoulder blades. Several circular protrusions glow green down his back, thanks to Buzzshock's DNA. And finally a Kineceleran tail swishes behind him. But what really brings the monstrosity together is Nue's mutated face. His jaws are that of Ripjaws and his left eyes have split like that of Four Arms while only a single large eye like that of Grey Matter is on his right, and finally Ripjaws' lore is dangling from Nue's forehead poking out of his long black locks.”
Yeah, I know I kinda been sleeping on this character but not to worry I plan to start remedying that with my original arc.
*Also for those butt hurt about Ochaco having a bit of attention during this chapter. Relax, she's essentially the stand in for Izuku (canon) and this is a dual-protagonist story so calm down. Besides the original arc will only have Ochaco around for maybe 1 or 2 chapters out of 11 or 13 chapters.
Chapter 51: Alien Emotion
Summary:
Izuku deals with the last of his guilt and remorse as does Hisashi but not until they see how another family can come together after years of secrets.
Notes:
I’ve been told that I should probably announce this; this story has a TV Tropes page so feel free to check it out. It contains all sorts of fun facts and insight into this story. And since this story is so long if you need reminders or wanna see more details about this story then go check it out, it's really cool. And I wanna say thank you to all those that have taken the time to set it up and work on it, it truly is an honor.
https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Fanfic/HeroesNeverDieItsHeroTime
Disclaimer I do not own the rights to Ben 10 or MHA.
*I want to thank “Bacara Best Clone Commander” for their own artworks inspired by this story. There are two pieces and they are called “Ben 10 X MHA: Out of Time.” and “Ben 10 X MHA: Just in Time.” By “Gero223” on DeviantArt. So go check them out!!
https://www.deviantart.com/gero223/art/Ben-10-X-MHA-Out-of-time-876737231
https://www.deviantart.com/gero223/art/Ben-10-X-MHA-Just-in-time-876773235
*I want to thank "Omnitrix Wielder" for going out of their way to write their own intro theme for this fanfic based on the Omniverse opening.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
The intruder pauses. “Tomura…Shigaraki. Hehehe.” The intruder chuckles, slowly turning around to face the leader of the League of Villains. “It is a pleasure.” His red eyes shine with mirth, as his black lips curl into a sinister smile.
Tomura Shigaraki immediately senses that something is not right with this guy, not at all. This guy…he…he doesn’t seem…he doesn't seem. Human? For some reason. Why though? He’s just a freak with a Mutation, so then why? Why is he on edge?
“What do you want?” Shigaraki spits out, demanding an answer!
“I want-” The skeletal intruder leans forward, his grin widening, his yellow teeth on full display in a disgusting smile. “-what my Master desires.”
For a moment, it feels like all the air has been sucked out from the room as Shigaraki eyes the skeletal ambassador with much skepticism and unease. Who is this guy? And who in the hell is his… “Master?”
What the hell is this guy’s deal? “What the hell are you spitting on about? Who the hell are you?” Shigaraki eyes the seemingly frozen Nue who’s surrounded by some sort of electrical field that’s holding him in place. “And what did you do?”
The intruder bows. “Excuse my interruption. I never meant to offend, but your…pawns didn’t take kindly to my arrival.”
“Well if you don’t mind, Skelator, but can you…unfreeze the freak?”
“Very well.” Skeletor goes ahead and with a press of a button on his arm brace, the electrical field around Nue dissipates.
“RAH!!!” Nue unfreezes, stumbling forward, and catching his breath. “What the hell was that?!” He snarls up at the intruder, baring his jagged fangs as he emits a low growl. “What did you do to me? What the hell was that Quirk?!”
The intruder, skeletor, scoffs. “Quirk? Hehehe.”
Shigaraki scowls. “You have a lot to answer for, skeletor. For starters, who the hell are you?”
“Pardon me, I’m afraid I failed to introduce myself.” Skeletor bows. “My name is Psyphon.”
“Psyphon?”
From behind the bar, Kurogiri finally picks himself off the ground, brushing off his dust vest to recompose himself. “And what brings you here, Psyphon?”
Psyphon answers, without turning away from Shigaraki. “I am here for the League. I am here to recruit you for my Master’s ambitions.”
“Recruit? Us?” Shigaraki’s fingers flex at his sides. “You’re pissing me off. What? You think the League are some thugs for hire?”
Psyphon scowls, annoyed. “Save your breath, I care not for your whims.” He leans forward, sneers as his red eyes narrow in on Shigaraki like he’s under a microscope. “But I do care for your master’s whims.”
Shigaraki’s taken back. “What?”
“You…are a servant.” Psyphon explains. “A pawn. Like me.” He grimaces, acknowledging his truth. “I can spot a fellow slave.”
“I. Am. No. Slave!” Shigaraki snaps!
“You may not see yourself that way, but you are a slave to your master’s will, to their whims.” Psyphon sneers. “To their goals.”
“You SON OF A BITCH!!!” Shigaraki lunges forward, his hand ready to strike!
But Psyphon is unsurprised and prepared as with a simple press of a button a red electrical forcefield encases his entire being.
Shigaraki’s hand harmlessly slams onto the forcefield before being batted away by the shock. “What?!”
Dabi frowns, eyeing the glowing shield. “A…forcefield?”
Himiko Toga gushes. “So, cool!”
Charmcaster frowns, eyeing the forcefield with worry and curiosity. “That’s not a Quirk.”
Giran whistles at the sight, his grin wide and thrilled at the potential money maker. “That’s some high-level tech you got there. Mind sharing where you got a piece of beauty like that?”
Psyphon lets out a boisterous laugh! “Hahaha! Please, this technology is out of your reach.”
Seeing his attacks nullified, Shigaraki backs off.
“Tomura Shigaraki…I wish to speak to your master on behalf of my Master.”
Shigaraki tsks. “Tough luck, he’s not here right now.”
“No, he’s not.” Psyphon acknowledges. “But like any master, they always have a close eye on their underlings.” From the safety of the forcefield, Psyphon goes ahead and scans the entirety of the bar from the drinks, to the chairs and walls, until finally his eyes land on the TV monitor seated at the corner of the bar table. “I know they are listening.”
Everyone pauses, remaining silent waiting for Psyphon to continue. But Psyphon paused to wait, to wait and see if an answer would come.
It does not.
“I see.” The forcefield around Psyphon powers down as he turns to face Shigaraki. “Perhaps I need to be more…assertive.” His fist begins to glow red and a light hum of a high-tech laser powering up can be heard.
Nue’s eyes widen before he leaps into action! “RAAGH!!!”
He swings a diamond blade down at Psyphon! But Psyphon’s lanky build allows him to swiftly sidestep away before blasting a red laser into the freak’s face, laughing him into the wall!!
“Nue!!” Kurogiri cries out as a portal begins to form just above Psyphon.
However, the little scout drone that’s been hovering over its master aims up and greets the portal with an electrical discharge dissipating the smoky portal!
As this all goes down, Shigaraki takes his shot, seeing an opening to charge in and strike!
But he doesn't make it far as his entire body freezes in place, unable to move an inch as a transparent electrical field dances around him. Immobilizing him completely.
‘I…I can’t move!’ The damn skeletor looking freak got him with some sort of freeze-frame Quirk or ray or something!
“Shigaraki!!” Kurogiri cries out, ready to leap over the bar to save him but he’s too late.
Psyphon practically glides over to Shigaraki’s side and slams his glowing red fist towards the man’s head, threatening to blow it off with one shot! “Stand down, pawn. Or this one meets his end.”
Nue scoffs. “Like I care about that guy?!” He prepares to attack again!
Kurogiri snaps! “Nue! Stand down!”
"RAHHHHH!!!" Nue pounces, roaring at the top of his lungs as he prepares to bash the intruder’s head in!
Even with a beating headed his way, Psyphon remains unflinching and patient.
“I’LL KILL YOU-”
“That’s quite enough, Nue.”
The chilling tone, the cold shiver of looming death, and the calm yet dangerous voice brings the entire bar and its patrons to a standstill.
No one makes a move: not Nue, not Kurogiri, and not the new recruits. And none of them have even been blasted by Psyphon’s freeze-frame ray.
Speaking of, Psyphon turns and glares back at the TV monitor that’s now turned on and displaying nothing but static.
After a moment Shigaraki’s master’s voice echoes through. “Please, Psyphon forgive my associates. They are head strong and high spirited, I’m afraid.” There’s a pause likely because the speaker is briefly examining the state of his underlings. “They are especially prone to lashing out at those they find to their disliking.”
Psyphon scowls at the screen, before he stands down. His laser shuts off and he deactivates the freeze frame, releasing Shigaraki. “You must be their master.”
Shigaraki coughs, and glares at Psyphon with murderous intent but the sound of his Sensei’s voice holds him back.
“Master? I much prefer regarding myself as their Sensei than master.”
Psyphon waves his claims away. “What you think of yourself is of no consequence to me.”
“Fair enough. But for full disclosure I don't normally partake in such transactions such as this. But your unique arsenal has certainly caught my…attention.”
Psyphon scowls becoming more impatient with each passing second.
“But you are not here to discuss trinkets and gadgets. No, you came for something else entirely. You wish to recruit my League of Villains?”
“My Master would like to recruit the League’s services, yes.”
Shigaraki snaps. “Why you-”
“And who is your Master?”
Psyphon’s glare turns cold with an underlying hint of fear behind his crimson gaze. “A conqueror.”
One could almost hear All For One crack a smile from the other end. “As am I. Sounds like your Master is a man cut from the same cloth.”
“No.” Psyphon’s voice is quiet and fearful, like one who’s lost all hope. “He is no man. He is a being beyond your comprehension and power.”
There is a harsh pause over the interior of the bar, the patrons all sharing looks of skepticism and suspicion. Unsure what to make of the messenger’s declaration.
But All For One couldn’t be more amused, chuckling lightly to himself in the background. “In any case, what would my League gain from working with you and your Master?”
“That is something my Master wishes to discuss with you.” Psyphon bows in respect. “My Master can be very generous to those that cooperate with his vision. He can offer many things: knowledge, weapons, and” A cruel smirk forms across Psyphon’s dark lips. “power. ‘
He doesn’t say anymore. “In that case, I’d certainly like to speak with this…being.”
“Very well.” Psyphon straightens up. “My Master will allow you to set a date, time, and location to congregate.”
“I’d be happy to oblige. I look forward to finding out what exactly your Master has to offer me.”
A cold calculating smirk forms across Psyphon’s lips. Pleased with his progress and the naivety of these humans.
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
(Instrumental)
Lightning bolts frame the Omnitrix symbol, which in a flash, transitions to a split screen of Izuku on the right and Uraraka on the left. The two zoom out, as Uraraka activates One for All, and Izuku activates and slams the Omnitrix.
De-ku!
He's a kid and he wants to have fun, but when you need a super hero, he gets the job done!
Feedback and Kaminari stand back-to-back, smirking. Transition to Heatblast flying next to a considerably pissed off Bakugou. Transition to Four Arms and Shoji jumping away from an explosion. Transition to Buzzshock creating a large jolt of electricity.
De-ku!
With a device that he wears on his arm; he can change his shape and save the world from harm!
Transition to Izuku holding up the Omnitrix, as frames with his aliens cover him up; Ripjaws, Diamondhead, Wildmutt and Grey Matter. Cut to Ditto and Todoroki standing on the Omnitrix faceplate. Ditto and his clones are doing a conga line around the Omnitrix symbol, as Todoroki stands in the middle, watching them unamused.
When trouble's taking place he gets right in its face!
De-ku!
(Instrumental)
Transition to Uraraka running towards the screen, charged with One for All, as she too was covered with frames containing the past holders of One for All, including All Might and Nana.
When lives are on the line
It's Hero Time!
De-ku!
Final frames show Uraraka facing left, as the past holders of One for All stand next to her, all-in battle-ready poses. Changes to Izuku facing right, as his aliens stand next to him, also in battle poses. Final shot shows the title: “Heroes never Die; It’s Hero Time.”
(Illustrated by Omnitrix Wielder)
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
The alien-tech elevator slowly begins to descend into Plumber Base. The two riders, wearing summer attire, stand around waiting for the elevator to reach its destination.
Izuku Midoriya adjusts the collar of his black and green hoodie, the same one gifted to him by Uraraka. “So…?”
Ochaco Uraraka leans back and looks over at him.
“How are you after…?” Izuku lets the question hang in the air, allowing her to finish the thought.
And she does. “I’m alright, still a bit shaken but I’m doing a lot better.”
It’s been a few days since the encounter with Shigaraki but after a few days of police protection and monitoring it was deemed safe for her to go about her days without worry. At least for now.
“I’m kinda surprised your folks even allowed you to leave the house.”
“Yeah well Mr. Tsukauchi gave them a call reassuring them there’d be nothing to worry about.” It was a very long call to be honest. “Plus, I told them this was important hero-school stuff.”
“Well that’s not entirely wrong.” Izuku chuckles. “I mean we are by U.A.” Technically, albeit within the hill besides the school.
“True.” Ochaco blinks curiously. “Where’s your dad by the way? He must have gotten the alert too?”
Well she says an alert, but it was odd: it was just a message from Thirteen to get to Plumber Base ASAP to provide some help with something.
Izuku frowns, a hint of exasperation in his eyes. “He…left early this morning.”
“Ah.” Ochaco’s gaze fills with concern, eyeing Izuku worriedly after noticing how quiet and somber he became at the mention of his dad. “So… How are things with you?”
“Okay.”
“I meant. How has getting along with your dad been going?”
Izuku averts his gaze, becoming quiet for a moment before replying. “It’s…okay.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yeah…”
She’s not so sure. “Deku, just…don’t get upset with him, okay?”
Immediately Izuku becomes flustered and panicked. “I’m not upset!?”
Ochaco gives him a deadpan, skeptical look.
“I mean…I don’t think I am.”
Before Ochaco can dig more into the issue, a ding of the elevator draws their attention; they’ve finally arrived.
They both stand up straight waiting for the high-tech door to slide open. Their minds run with questions; wondering what the alert could possibly be about. Perhaps they want to show them some more alien stuff? Or maybe they need more people for a search and rescue? Or maybe they just need someone to do some chores around the base? Whatever it is they’re both sure they’ll be able to handle them. It’ll be no problem. No sweat. No trouble at all.
The door slides open and-
“WE DEMAND ANSWERS!!!”
“HOW ARE WE SUPPOSED TO LIVE OUR LIVES!?!
“GRBGRBGRB!?!”
“WHY HAVEN’T YOU DONE SOMETHING!?!”
“SKREEEE!?!”
“HOW ARE YOU GOING TO PROTECT US!?!”
The two teens are nearly thrown back by the sheer pressure of the uproar they are met with!! They immediately clamp their hands over their ears but even that’s not enough to stop the flood of piercing thundering noise!!
The main lobby of the Plumber Base is overrun by a horde of rowdy upset aliens that all seem to be congregating towards the center of the lobby, protesting about something.
Ochaco squeezes her ears. “What’s happening?! Why are all these aliens here?!”
“Don’t know! Come on!” Izuku immediately throws himself at the horde, with Ochaco tailing right behind him.
They push and shove their way through the loud and rowdy crowd! Trying their best not to get themselves shoved to the ground and trampled.
Izuku has to basically pull away flailing limbs, claws, tails, and tentacles away from his face. “Excuse me!”
“WATCH IT!!”
“Sorry!”
“MY TAIL!!”
“My bad!”
“SKREEEE!!!”
“Pardon me!” After a few more drives towards the front of the crowd, Izuku is eventually able to spot Thirteen, One-One, and Principal Nezu at the center of the alien mass. And joining them is of course his father, Hisashi Midoriya, and his droid, Chopper. They all seem to be trying their best to calm everyone down, but the upset only seems to be escalating.
Cinder, decked out in his full red-Plumber attire, is mounted atop a nearby desk! “People please, settle down, please! There’s no need to panic!”
“Panic?!” Cries a small pink-bunny looking alien. “This is the perfect time to panic!”
Thirteen, also in their full uniform, helmet and all, steps forward to meet the crowd. “Please, remain calm.”
“Calm?!” Shouts a Boove. “How are we supposed to be the calm with the one knowns as Vilgax looms over our heads, yes he does?!”
The entire horde of aliens cry out in agreement! “YEAH!!!”
Izuku and Ochaco immediately go cold upon hearing the conqueror's name.
Glad-One backs away from the crowd, not wanting to be kicked around. ^Oh, my, everyone sure is rowdy.^
Sad-One, obviously, has to chime in. ^Yeah, if this keeps up they’ll tears us limb from limb.^
^Bwap!^ Chopper shakes his head, his metal limbs flailing around out of panic, not wanting to be torn apart and turned into scrape!
The crowd continues to cry out in protest! “We know he’s here!!”
“Yeah! And what, you guys thought you could cover it up?!”
“Not only that, you didn’t warn us about the bounty hunter either!!”
“Yeah, what if SixSix came for us?!”
Principal Nezu frowns worriedly, becoming more and more concerned with the growing animosity. “My apologies. It was my decision not to inform you all, in the hopes of not disturbing your peaceful lives.”
“Too late for that!!” Shouts a Quarren who bursts to the front of the crowd! “How are we supposed to go about our business when a slimy, no good, octopus-faced creep threatening us?!”
“No kidding!” A blue-skinned Octalian squeezes himself out from the crowd besides the Quarren. “How are we supposed to hide from a guy like that? He’ll find us no matter what!” As if to prove his point, the Octalian inhales and holds his breath before his entire body morphs and squeezes in onto itself until he becomes a turtle! He lands on the ground with a clank before tucking into his shell.
A thin yellow tentacle slithers out and picks up the transformed Octalian and a rather tall alien reassembling a yellow octopus slides forward. He has a large, bulbous head with a large smile with beady eyes. He’s wearing a black academic dress, a small black squarish academic cap with a yellow tassel, and a large black tie with a yellow crescent-shaped moon on it.
The yellow octopus comforts the transformed turtle, his grin never moving or faltering like he’s unable to actually move his jaw. “He’s too slippery to even be caught! And way too smart to be defeated! He’s too dangerous!!”
Standing not so far away from within the crowd, Izuku frowns while wondering. “How’d they even find out?”
Ochaco shrugs just as worried. “No, idea. But why now?”
“Not only that!!” Shouts an Edosian!! “How can we keep lying in secret with the boy exposing us?!”
The teens’ hearts drop to their stomachs as the rest of the aliens are thrown into an uproar!
“It’s crazy! How can we remain a secret if the kid’s transforming into us?!”
“What’s worse is that the entire country, no, the entire planet, saw him!!”
“What if the humans and the heroes figure it out?!”
Cinder immediately takes offense, quickly interjecting with these claims! “People, please, there is no threat of exposure. Everything is under our control.”
It doesn’t work as he’s met with nothing but more outcries from the very upset and rather scared aliens!! And for good reason, after all a conquer of worlds is hovering just above their heads.
But right now the aliens within Plumber Base are what has the teens worried right now.
“Hey it’s the kid!”
And just like that, the entire horde have turned their attention onto one person, the holder of the Omnitrix.
“WHAT DO YOU HAVE TO SAY FOR YOURSELF!?!”
“THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT!!!”
“YOU’RE GOING TO RUIN US!!!”
“Hey, get away from him!” Ochaco tries to step forward to defend her friend but she’s shoved aside by the unruly horde!
And that leaves Izuku to deal with the shouting and outcries all alone, lost in a mass of confusion, anger, and fear!
Cinder’s eyes flash with fear before he scowls and loses his composure at the sight. “Enough!! He’s just a kid! Stand down!”
But his pleas go unheard and unanswered as the panic grows and grows. The aliens becoming louder and more unruly with each passing second!
Ochaco finds herself shoved back all the way to the elevator, stuck between the large metal door and the backs of aliens. They’re so loud she can’t even hear her own shouts!
But one thing catches her ears other than the shouting, and it’s the ding of the elevator, announcing its arrival into the base.
Ochaco pries herself away from the door just as it quietly slides open and upon it becoming ajar a soothing aura washes over her, calming the girl down with a sense of relief and calmness.
And it’s not just her soon the shouting and shoving calms down too as each and every alien falls under some sort of spell. Each of them becoming calm and passive as a soothing hush befalls them all, it honestly feels like a veil of positive emotions have washed over them making them subdued and relaxed.
“Oh my, this is no way to conduct yourselves~.”
The entire horde turn towards the elevator and upon seeing the new arrival they all part away like the Red Sea allowing the being a straight path towards the Plumbers and a now freed Izuku.
The new arrival is, in a word, beautiful. She is elegant, yet strange, graceful yet inhuman even though she has a clear humanoid body. Her features are soft, her skin pale as fresh snow, her attire alien yet sleek like a veil made of unearthly silks practically floats off her body. Her blush-pink hair is lush and runs down her sides and past her shoulder blades, as two smooth yellow antenna protrude out her head, and cure ever so slightly back, almost waving in the air like they’re underwater water.
Thirteen’s eyes widen at the sight of her.
The alien woman doesn’t show any expression other than utter serenity. “Your worries, your fears, they are not unfounded~.” She practically glides forward undeterred by the now calmed aliens. “But they are ill advised~. These Plumbers have given us their time and efforts towards our peace of mind and well-being~. It is unjust and unwise for us to accost them for fulfilling their duties~.” She looks towards the Plumbers. “I agree that we should have been made aware, but I understand why you chose to keep silent about this~.” Her soft yellow eyes land on Nezu. “You feel it necessary to keep those out of the loop for their own wellbeing and mental stability~. A noble gesture but sometimes…” She frowns and for a second there’s an air of guilt surrounding her. “a foolish one~...”
Ochaco makes her way to Izuku's side, but neither of them acknowledges each other as all their attention is now on the woman and the air around her.
The woman’s antennas wave slowly through the air as she turns to address the massive horde. “For all our sakes, I suggest we trust in the Plumbers who’ve willingly placed their lives to serve and protect us~.”
There are nods and chimes of agreement from within the crowd. And they all settle down enough to signal that the outcries are indeed over.
With the horde calm and appeased, Principal Nezu finally lets out a relieved sigh. “You have my most grateful thanks.”
The woman smiles. “It was no trouble; I am most pleased to have helped~.”
Cinder hops down off the desk, eyeing the woman with some familiarity.
And in the meantime Izuku and Ochaco watch on, unsure of who this woman is and what she did to calm such a turbulent crowd.
Principal Nezu smiles on. “Can I assume you did not come here to demand answers?”
The woman nods. “You presume correctly, I’ve traveled here today to speak~.”
“Speak to whom?”
“I’d like to request that I speak with Thirteen~.”
Thirteen immediately steps forward with a sense of knowing. “I’d be more than happy to, but…” They eye the still present crowd.
Principal Nezu waves it off. “Not to worry, the rest of us can handle things from here. Go on, you may use our conference room.”
“Great.”
“Thank you~.”
And so Thirteen leads their guest away from the lobby leaving the rest of them to deal with the now quiescent horde of aliens.
Even so the teens just stand there, watching on as Thirteen and the woman disappear behind the shutting doors leading into the main base.
Off to the side, Glad-One chimes in. ^She’s very pretty.^
Sad-One responds, deadpan and suspicious. ^I don't trust her.^
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
“Phew!” Ochaco slumps back into her seat, having been posted behind one of the lobby desks.
Izuku wonders over feeling just as tired. “Yeah, finally…”
After an hour they were able to reassure all of the aliens on an individual basis to address their questions and safety. And thankfully after the spell that mysterious woman casted over them most of them remained open and reassured by their claims before leaving.
Ochaco frowns thinking about the crowd’s reaction before the woman’s arrival. “They all seemed really upset.”
Izuku frowns too, shivering at the thought of being at their mercy again. “Yeah, but…why now?”
Overhearing, Principal Nezu strolls over and provides an answer. “Rumors.”
The kids blink. “Rumors?”
“Yes, most of the community were skeptical and had their suspicions about Vilgax’s appearance. But the recent rumors have them on edge.”
Izuku frowns. “What rumors though?”
“After speaking with them, the alien residents. There are claims, rumors, of a servant of Vilgax appearing in Japan. But there’s no clear evidence of their visitation.” Still though it is rather concerning. “Even so Vilgax’s ever growing presence in this solar system is continuously a bother for the residents.”
Hisashi removes his respirator, stepping forward to add in his thoughts. “It doesn't help matters that Vilgax has shown a great interest towards you, because of the Omnitrix, and thus they can’t help but aim their frustrations at you as well.”
Izuku tucks into himself feeling somewhat guilty and a bit of a target at this point. But then again guess he was always a target…
Ochaco airs her concerns. “Isn’t there anything we can do? I mean a lot of the residents were asking why we don’t recruit more experienced Plumbers to help out.”
Principal Nezu frowns. “I’ve requested aid, but sadly to say my requests have been met with silence.”
“What? Why?!”
“Politics. Favoritism. And the such.” Principal Nezu responds. “And the threat of galactic war.”
Hisashi explains before the kids can even ask for clarification. “If the Plumbers as a whole act too rashly they risk being drawn into a full-blown war with Vilgax and his empire. And no one's exactly willing to risk trillions and trillions of lives…for a backwater planet…” Hisashi frowns, his expression becoming sad and offended as he quotes the higherup’s words.
Now Izuku feels even more self-conscious and depressed. Not only does it hurt to hear your own planets referred to as “backwater” but the fact that they can’t even take action without putting trillions of lives in danger hurts even more.
Hisashi immedialty takes notice of Izuku’s discomfort. “But I wouldn’t stress over it, the threat of war also applies to Vilgax as well. And he knows how capable the Plumbers can be, hence why he hasn’t tried anything too drastic.” So far. “Besides he can’t even track the Omnitrix anymore so he can’t find you.”
Good think Principal Nezu and One-One installed that signal jammer, preventing Vilgax from even tracking Izuku anymore. Plus with their friend, Tetrax, out leading Vilgax’s forces on a wild goose chase they really don’t have too much to worry about for a while. At least until they can figure something out.
Even knowing all this himself, it fails to cheer Izuku up in any way. “Yeah…”
Frowning with concern, Hisashi slowly reaches out in order to give his son some form of comfort.
But almost reflexively, Izuku backs away before allowing his father to even grace his arm.
The move was so sudden and without thought that a resounding sting is left behind as Hisashi's hand remains alone and unmoving in the air.
Principal Nezu frowns at the reaction as does Ochaco as Hisashi’s frowns, feeling the sharp sting of rejection.
Before anything can be addressed, the main doors to the base open up.
“Hey everyone, I-!” Thirteen comes to halt, pausing in their step upon seeing the stunned and concerned faces of the others. “Um, did I walk in on something?”
Hisashi slowly lowers his hand before somberly responding. “No, it’s fine. Do you need something?”
“Yeah, I need them.” Thirteen points right at the two kids.
Ochaco slowly turns away from Izuku. “Us? What for?”
Thirteen gestures for them to follow and so they do, leaving the others to their own devices. After a moment of composing himself Izuku finally speaks up. “Thirteen, what’s this about?”
Without looking back Thirteen leads them up towards the top floor. “You know our guest, right?”
Ochaco nods. “The one that calmed everyone down?”
“Yes, they need you two.”
“Us? But why?”
“We both think it’s best if you two handle this rather than me.”
Izuku frowns. “What does that mean?”
Thirteen doesn’t reply as they enter the conference room with its carpet and huge table with the nearby doors leading into the armory and control room.
But seated at the table is the very guest they came to see.
The woman rises from her seat, bowing in respect at Ochaco and Izuku. “Hello, dears~.”
The two teens bow back in respect. “Hello.”
Thirteen steps forward, legend the kids forward. “Midoriya. Uraraka. I’d like to meet my good friend, Eirene.”
“The pleasure is all mine~.” Eirene gives a soft smile, her yellow eyes glimmering. “I’ve heard so much about you both, it feels like I already know you~.”
The kids can only assume Thirteen's spoken of them before, plus there was the Sports Festival and the news so they’re not exactly unknown people.
Izuku steps forward. “Thirteen said you need our help, is that right?”
“Yes~. I believe you two would serve my purposes the best~.”
Izuku and Ochaco share a look, wondering what purpose they would be serving?
Thirteen gestures towards the table. “Why don’t you two sit down? And we can explain.”
And so they all take a seat sitting across from each other: Thirteen and Eirene on one end with Izuku and Ochaco on the other.
Before they can explain, Izuku's itch for answers takes over and he jumps the gun a bit. “So, um, I’m just curious, but how did you do that?”
Eirene frowns. “Pardon~?”
“Back there? You were able to calm everyone down just by walking into the room, how?”
Eirene smiles, understanding the question. “Aw~. I suppose you’ve never seen anything like me have you~?” She gets up allowing the students to take her all in. “I am what’s known as an Emotlyst~.”
“An…Emotlyst?”
“Yes~.” The Emotlyst nods, her antennae waving over her head. “My species has the unique ability of emotional production, influence and stability over ourselves and others~.”
Confused, the teens turn to Thirteen for an explanation.
Not missing a beat, Thirteen clarifies. “She’s an empath.”
Both teens oh in understanding. “Ooohhh.”
It then clicks for Ochaco. “Oh! Emotlyst! I get it, it’s like…emote!”
Eirene chuckles. “Why, yes it is~. Coincidentally, you may refer to my power as Emote~.” It’s much easier to refer to an Emotlyst’s power.
“Cool!”
Izuku’s curiosity continues to get the better of him. “How does it work exactly?”
“My antennae~.” Eirene gestures to the slowly waving yellow horns over her head. “Evolutionarily they allow my species to communicate with each other through the emotion waves our brains can emit~.” Allowing them to communicate how they are feeling at any given moment, if they choose to do so. “However these frequencies are powerful and can affect those around us~.”
Izuku gasps. “Like what happened earlier?!”
“Yes~. I simply emitted my own emotions of calm and ease to sooth them~.”
Ochaco’s in awe. “Amazing.”
“Thank you~.”
Izuku frowns, leaning forward in his seat. “But…why would someone like you need our help?”
“I’m afraid my situation is…rather sensitive~.” Eirene admits with a frown.
“How so?”
This is when Thirteen cuts. “Alright, so…” They pause trying to figure out the best way to explain this. “as you know aliens have been living among us for a while now.”
The teens nod, wondering where they’re going with this?
“Well that means sometimes humans find out about aliens.”
Ochaco nods. “Okay.” Not a surprise, after all Mr. Baumann’s a human and he knows about aliens so yeah it makes sense others would find out too.
“And well sometimes those encounters can go really well.” Thirteen fidgets in their seat trying to keep this as mature as possible. “So well the humans and aliens become friends…” Their eyes drift over towards Eirene. “And maybe even more…”
“And sometimes~.” Eirene smiles softly caressing her heart. “They create something very special~.”
After a moment, it all clicks together and the teens freeze in place, turning pale.
Thirteen continues. “And here lies the problem.”
Eirene bows. “I need your help…to help me reveal everything…to my child~.”
The teens gasp! “What?!”
An exasperated Thirteen gives in and goes ahead with the full explanation. “Okay, here's the deal. Her kid’s half-Emotlyst and half-human. But they don't know it; they don’t even know aliens exist.”
Izuku’s eyebrows furrow in confusion. “So…what? They think they’re a normal human?”
Eirene nods. “Yes~.”
Well it sort-of makes sense, the kid probably thinks they have some-sort of Mutant type Quirk or something to explain their appearance. The little kid’s probably getting to an age where they have a lot of questions or at least at an age where they can keep a secret.
But there’s something the two teens need to know.
Izuku goes ahead and asks. “But why us?”
Thirteen replies. “Simple, kids are more likely to listen to other people their own age. And you guys, especially Midoriya, can provide evidence to back up everything you’re going to say.” Add some sense of validation and truth to the matter. “Eirene needs you to help convince her kid that aliens are real, that they’re mother’s an alien, and by extension they’re also an alien.”
Ochaco gasps, shrinking away from this huge responsibility. “This sounds like a lot of pressure! You know potentially blowing up someone's reality!”
“You’re not going alone; I’ll be there too.” Reassures Thirteen. “But it’d be best to have you two to help keep things calm.”
“Calm?” Izuku tilts his head to the side. “Can’t she do that, with Emote?” He gestures towards the Emotlyst.
“Afraid not~.” Eirene replies, gesturing towards her antennae. “Emote only affects others of another species~. But to our own kind, even partly, all it does is act as a form of communication, nothing more~.” They cannot influence the emotions of other Emotlysts.
Izuku nods. “Ah, I see.”
“That’s why I require assistance, especially from you both~.” Eirene explains. “As I’ve said, and from what you have seen, Emote can be quite powerful, but any misuse can have rather dire consequences~.”
The teens need an explanation and Thirteen is quick to provide one. “Just think, that angry mob, loud and angry, but then boosted by Emote because an Emotlyst was having a bad day.”
The kids go pale and a shiver runs down their spines, as a shock of dread courses through them as they imagine that crowd tearing the base apart in a rampage.
Thirteen nods, knowing that they fully understand the situation now. “They’d be rioting and rampaging across the base, and maybe up top too.” And neither’s a situation the Plumbers would like to deal with, not one bit.
“My child’s own Emote has been developing rather slowly~.” Eirene admits. “But I can feel Emote growing more and more with the passage of time~. And…I’m afraid of the consequences if it were to go unchecked~.”
Izuku frowns. “But wait, can’t you explain Emote as a Quirk?”
“No.” answers Thirteen. “Her kid’s already developed a Quirk. One that’s not even related to Emote.”
“Really? Then what about Emote? How can it develop if there’s already a Quirk?”
“Emote’s not a Quirk, it’s a staple of the species as a whole like how all humans are genetically built to have hands or a heart. It’s the same for them. Think of it like a car, Emote is like the engine of the Emotlyst species car but a Quirk is the turbo that gets added in to give the car itself a boost. ”
“Oh.” Makes sense both can occur with each other, but the Quirk is unnecessary compared to the evolutionary design that is Emote.
And so at this point telling the kid that they developed a second Quirk, one unrelated to their actual Quirk, probably wouldn’t go over all too well, especially when they get older and want to seek out medical attention for issues that might not even be human related.
And what’s worse, if this gets ignored and the kid’s never told the truth about Emote, and the one day they get upset or even depressed, the effect that might have on everyone else. It might just be a catastrophe in the making.
Thirteen looks to the students for their answer. “So, can we count on you both to be there?”
After a moment, Izuku answers. “I don’t see why not.”
Ochaco has to agree. “Yeah. I mean I’m kinda nervous, but I think it’ll be okay.”
Eirene smiles, grateful for their commitment. “Aw~. Thank you~.”
Ochaco grins. “We’re happy we can help.”
Izuku turns to Thirteen. “So when do we go?”
Thirteen replies. “Later today, actually.”
“We’ll reconvene at my place of residence~.” Eirene adds in.
Makes sense, the kid’s own home will be the most comfortable place for them to be in when they potentially shatter their whole reality.
Thirteen cuts in. “In the meantime, we’ll stay here and prepare.”
Ochaco gives a big thumbs up! “You got it!”
Eirene smiles on, overjoyed with the news, and oh so grateful for the teens’ involvement.
As Thirteen explains more about their plan, Izuku’s mind begins to wonder. ‘Wait, why did she keep this a secret to begin with?’ He eyes Eirene curiously, wondering why a parent would keep such a big secret from their child….
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
Hisashi is slowly strolling through one of the many halls of the Plumber Base, he’s just been released to go out on patrol, but he needs to head over to the armory to make sure he’s all geared up before he heads out.
As he wonders, he can’t help but replay the scene in his mind, how instinctually Izuku moved away from him back there. And the more he thinks about it the more it hurts; it hurts because it really does feel like he’s over stepping. But what else can he do?
What’s worse is that he’s picked up that something else has been weighing on Izuku's mind. And he’d really like to ask him what’s been bothering him, but again…Izuku would probably walk away and not bother with him.
Just like at the beginning… Nothing’s changed…
As Hisashi makes his way to the upper level he spots Eirene gracefully and slowly ahead of him, making her own way back towards the main lobby.
“Eirene.” Hisashi smiles in greeting. “It’s good to see you again. Sorry we couldn’t speak before.” He admits with a sheepish grin.
Eirene waves it off. “It’s quite alright, you had your hands full at the time~.” She says with a bit of concern.
Hisashi wilts trying to keep up his friendly smile. “So, are you on your way out?”
“Not yet~.” Eirene admits with a worried frown. “I was just…concerned~.”
“Concerned? About what?” Hisashi laughs. “Everything’s good here.”
Eirene gives him a very disapproving look. “Please, Cinder, I know that you know that I don’t need to tell you how Emote also allows me to sense the emotional states of others~.”
Hisashi’s smile fades away as Eirene steps closer with a sad frown on her face. “Ever since I arrived, I could sense it~.” Her antennae slowly waves in the air to emphasize her point. “The remorse and sorrow looming around you and your child~.”
Hisashi’s shoulders slump in defeat, sighing and admitting the truth. “I’ve been gone a long time. But I have a duty. And I was forced away.”
“I’m well aware~. But you have another duty, to your child~.”
A responsibility to be there for your child.
“So now the question is: which duty do you prioritize~?”
“That’s easy, my family.” Hisashi replies, hastily.
“Is it~?” Eirene isn’t so sure. “You don’t feel that way~.”
“What? Yes I do!”
“Your emotions and heart betray each other~. Your sense of responsibility and selflessness is inspiring and reassuring~. However, your sense of duty towards protecting and serving others has caused a rift within your own home~.”
Hisashi’s heart plummets into his stomach.
“You’ve been away from you child for so long~.” Eirene’s voice is sorrowful yet empathetic. “You feel out of place, like he doesn’t require your guidance, that he’ doesn’t need you~.”
That’s true.
“You feel like…you have to earn his love~.”
Yes.
“You’re afraid that there’s a barrier between you both that you can’t break~.”
Yes… it’s all true. Izuku’s lived his entire life without him, he doesn’t need him. And he knows it, that’s why…that’s why he’s hesitant to force Izuku to open up. Because he doesn’t actually think he deserves to be part of…his son’s world.
“Although your fears are not without reason, they are holding you back~.”
Hisashi’s breath hitches.
“Izuku needs his father~. He needs you to love and support him~. He needs to know that you were always there and always will be~.” Eirene looks Hisashi right in the eye, from one parent to another. “Break through the barrier and reach him~.”
Her message hits home, taking Hisashi’s breath away. She makes it sound so easy but…how? How is he supposed to break through? How can he reach him? Without him turning away…?
With her message delivered, Eirene bows her head in respect. “Take care~. Cinder~.”
And she takes her leave, heading off to prepare, leaving Hisashi alone to contemplate over his own truths.
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
A few hours later, Izuku, Ochaco, and Thirteen are strolling through a suburban town, making their way for Eirene’s home and her kid.
“This is kinda exciting.” Ochaco fidgets as they stroll down the sidewalk. “But I’m also kinda nervous, I mean I never met a half-human and half-alien before.”
“I know.” agrees Izuku.
“It happens a lot more often than you might think.” Comments Thirteen who’s dawning a normal business attire, their hero costume nowhere in sight. Something about not wanting to draw the attention of hero-fans and the media. “A lot of aliens end up marrying and having kids with humans.”
Ochaco lights up. “I bet they become great heroes if they have a Quirk and their alien powers.”
Thirteen frowns. “Well, in truth some end up joining the Plumbers most of the time and the others would rather keep to themselves and live a relatively normal life.”
Thirteen continues. “Besides even though it happens from time to time, it’s not like every eighth person you meet is part alien. It happens but it’s still a bit of a rarity but not unheard of.”
As they continue on their way Izuku’s mind begins to wonder and question the sense of it all. He understands that the kid’s unaware of their lineage, but he has to wonder why that is? Why would Eirene keep such a huge secret from her own child?
Then again, guess that’s something him and the kid have in common; parents with a sense of need to keep them in the dark.
In the meantime, Ochaco peers over at Thirteen. “Are you sure we’re the right ones to do this?”
Thirteen nods. “Of course, tasks like this will always come up for us.”
Izuku raises an eyebrow. “So…what can you tell us about her kid? We don’t even know if they’re a boy or a girl.”
“Oh, Eirene has a daughter the same age as the both of you.”
“Really?”
“Yeah, and it’ll be good for her to have some familiar faces there.”
The teens pause. ‘Familiar faces?’ Oh, right, the Sports Festival and all the media coverage; the kid’s probably a fan or at least familiar with them by now.
Thirteen comes to a stop, turning towards their destination. “Alright, we’re here.”
The teens stop and have a look themselves and what they see before them is…honestly…kinda a letdown. It’s just a normal plain suburban house: two stories with a clipped yard, a flower garden, and even a little doghouse in the corner.
Izuku stares at the house, scanning for any signs of a hologram. “This is where an alien lives?”
Thirteen scoffs. “Duh! What did you think they lived in their spaceships in the middle of suburbia?”
Izuku blushes feeling rather embarrassed for jumping to the wrong conclusions.
The trio walk up the driveway only to be greeted by a tiny creature that springs out from the doghouse!
“Yap! Yap!”
“Aw! What a cutie!” Ochaco gushes at the tiny doggie.
A small Pomeranian with white, fluffy fur and a brown muzzle, ears, and paws yaps and scampers playfully around their feet. His little tail waving happily, thrilled to be having new potential friends visit.
“Yeah, that’s Osushi.” clarifies Thirteen, smiling in awe of the adorable creature just as much as Ochaco. “He’s really friendly.” To prove their point Thirteen bends down and picks up the little fuzzball who squirms and waves his paws around like he’s trying to give them a hug.
Ochaco gushes, gently touching the little furball’s waving paws. “And cuddly! Aw~.”
“Yap!” Osushi launches himself forward and to the ground.
He yaps all the way to the front door where he plops his little rump down, wags his tail, and sticks his tongue out, panting, waiting for the new friends to ring the doorbell and meet the rest of the family.
Thirteen chuckles, understanding the message. “Here why don’t you two go ahead and introduce yourselves first.”
The teens nod and step forward, Osushi jumps the gun and paws at the door but he’s too tiny for there to be any noise. And so with a quick inhale Izuku goes ahead and knocks on the door, the knock echoes within the house and almost immediately they can hear the muffled sounds of shuffling and calls. They can hear a young woman’s voice whining about something, and the two teens immediately assume it’s Eirene’s daughter. There's more sounds of calls and shouts going back and forth from within the house.
Izuku and Ochaco worriedly turn back to Thirteen who gives them nothing but a smile and a thumbs up. And so the teens turn back towards the door as the commotion inside finally begins to die down.
They hear a body slump onto a wooden floor with a thump, like someone slide off their couch, followed by the sounds of bare feet lazily strolling up to the door.
Izuku and Ochaco straighten up becoming very self-conscious and nervous. This is it, they’re about to meet a real half-alien half-human. Huh, gotta wonder what they look like if they’re a mix.
The daughter’s voice calls out from behind the door as it begins to swing open. “Hi! Sorry, you must be my…Mom’s…guest…”
Izuku and Ochaco’s eyes widen as they can only stare like fish out of water.
In response, Mina Ashido stares right back with surprise, not expecting to see this duo at all today.
…
All three of the hero students cry out in shock!! “WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE!?!”
Their screeches so loud that Osushi whimpers and tries to press his tiny paws over his ears to muffle the shouting!
In the meantime, Thirteen snickers into their hand before peering over to the mailbox where a little sign hangs and the sign reads “Ashido Residence.”
Mina gasps, peering around her classmates. “Wait is that Thirteen, too?! What are you guys doing at my house?”
Izuku and Ochaco gape their mouths opening and closing like fish gasping for breath. “We, uh, uh!”
Not finding their reaction at all amusing right now, Mina shakes her head. “Look I’d love to hang out, but my parents said that some really important guests were coming over, so this isn’t really a good time.”
Nothing she said actually processes in their minds, Izuku and Ochaco are into too much of a stunned silence to really process anything. Except for one thing: Mina’s the ALIEN!!! Their classmates, their friend, is a half-human half-alien!! And they never had a clue!!
“Hahaha!” Thirteen finally breaks down laughing, overly enjoying their reactions and expression!
Eirene calls out from within the house. “Mina, are our guests here~?”
Izuku and Ochaco perk up at the sound of the familiar sing-songy voice as Eirene steps closer to the door.
But once again they’re thrown for a loop as someone else greets them! Instead of Eirene they see her with long black-hair. Her head’s topped with a large beanie, with two protrusions poking up from within, a clear indication of horns of some sort. Her face is completely covered with a thick pink scarf, and for some reason she’s wearing sunglasses in doors! The rest of her is no better, she’s completely decked out in a thick woolen sweater to her waist bound skirt that stretches down to just above her ankles. But that doesn’t matter because she’s wearing thick winter boots!
Izuku and Ochaco cry out! “WHO ARE YOU!?!”
“Guys, seriously?” Mina pouts, annoyed and feeling rather offended. “You met her, that’s my Mom. Remember? She was there at Parent’s Day.”
“Wait, but…” How?! How could Ms. Eirene go from such elegance and beauty to looking like a winter clothes magazine threw up all over her?!
Eirene gasps from behind her scarf. “Oh, my~. My apologies, this is the getup I like to wear when I go out~.” As to show her point she pulls back on the black-haired wig revealing her real hair underneath. “I just came back from the store you see, and I didn’t want to draw attention to myself~.”
The teens frown. “Attention?”
“Yeah.” replies Mina a matter-of-factually. “My mom’s shy about her looks.”
Somehow the teens doubt that’s really the case.
“And she really shouldn’t be.” From behind Eirene a man steps forward, who the teens assume is the human and Mina’s dad. “Hi, you must be Mina’s friends from school.”
Izuku jolts upon realizing who the man is. “Oh, you must be Ashido’s human-I-I mean Ashido’s dad!!” Smooth Izuku, real smooth there buddy.
Mr. Ashido is tall and appears to be in his mid-forties. Like his daughter his entire body is pink, although not his hair, mainly because he’s bald. Instead a small prehensile antenna-like appendage protrudes just above his forehead and curls back over his head. His eyes are dark just like Mina’s with red pupils. His attire is that of an average office worker, minus the suit that’s been left in the closet.
Mr. Ashido lets out a bellowing laugh! “Haha! Yes, I’m her dear old dad. The name’s Buuyu Ashido. And it’s a pleasure.” Mr. Ashido sticks his hand out in greeting.
Izuku takes it. “A pleasure to meet you too.”
Huh, so now they know where Mina gets her…looks from. And her Quirk.
Mr. Ashido grins in Thirteen’s direction. “Thirteen good to see you.”
Thirteen smiles back. “It’s good to see you too. And not to seem rude but I think our young friends could use some clarifications.”
“Yes~.” agrees Eirene. “Mina darling~.”
Mina stands up after pulling Osushi into her arms. “Yeah, Mom?”
“Would you please see our guests inside~?”
“Wait.” Mina turns, her jaw dropping. “You guys are our guests?!”
Ochaco smiles sheepishly in response. “Surprise…?”
“Yarp!” yaps Osushi as if to say yet!
Izuku chuckles, rubbing his head shyly. “Yeah, honestly, it’s a shock for us too.”
Now Mina’s really confused. “Well, whatever I guess.” A wide grin forms on her face, delighted with the fact that the surprise guests are in fact her own friends. “Then come on in! We got cookies and tea all set to go!”
“Yarp! Yarp!” Mina let’s Osushi go who instantly scurries away, leading the way to the living room.
And so they all congregate in the Ashido’s living room as Eirene heads upstairs to…prepare herself before they begin.
“So…what brings you guys here?” Mina questions as she plops down on the couch beside her dad. “No offense but this is kinda an odd group here.”
Izuku grins shyly from his seat, peering over at Ochaco and Thirteen who are sharing the same couch. “Well, we have a good reason.”
Ochaco nods, forcing a smile as she shrinks back into the couch. “Yeah, and it actually has to do with you.”
“With me?” Mina eyes them suspiciously, mainly because of their odd answers and forced smiles. “Okay, guys, what’s going on here? You’re all acting very strange.”
In response the teens begin sweating bullets becoming more and more nervous with every passing second.
Mina frowns, becoming flustered and annoyed! “My parents said this meeting was important, and I’ve been dying to know why!” She looks ready to jump and shake them until they give her answers! “So come on guys! Spill! What’s going on?!”
They shrink away in response.
Mr. Ashido thankfully steps in, placing a hand on his daughter’s shoulder. “Don’t worry, Mina, it’ll all make sense soon.” His gaze is soft and reassuring, but there’s also a tinge of worry and concern.
Eirene’s soft voice calls from the hallway. “Yes, now, we reveal everything to you~.”
They all turn and watch as Eirene, without her disguise, elegantly enters the room.
Mina gasps shocked her mother would reveal how she really looks in front of others! “Mom! Your outfit! But what about your anxiety?!”
“It’s quite alright~.” Eirene reassures. “I am among friends and family~. I can be myself here~.”
Mina sits back, blinking in confusion.
Everyone remains silent and patient as Eirene takes a seat beside her dear daughter.
As they both sit side by side Izuku and Ochaco take a moment to compare the two. Mina may have inherited her messy hair, pink skin, and dark eyes from her dad. But everything else is almost a copy and paste of her mother except for the smaller and more stable antenna, the dark eyes, and pink skin. But either way they’re clearly mother and daughter.
Without a word, Eirene gently caresses Mina’s hand in a loving embrace.
Mina stares at their hands and back to her Mom, her face riddled with confusion. Wondering why her Mom’s acting so out of character.
Eirene’s gentle smile is full of the loving tender care of a true mother as they admire their lovely child. “Mina~.”
Mina straightens up, having enough sense to understand that this is serious. That her Mom must have something to get off her chest.
“I love you dearly, with all my heart~. You’re truly a blessing~. You’ve brought me so much joy and happiness over the years~. And I will always treasure those memories~.”
“Mom?” Why is she saying all this? What brought this on?
“And I hope I mean the same to you~.”
“Wha?! Of course I do! You’re my Mom! I’ll always love you!”
A shining tear leaks down Eirene’s smiling face. “Thank you~.”
Mina frowns, her antenna twitching, sensing an underlying hint of trepidation from her mom. But not just her but from…everyone in that room.
Mr. Ashido pipes up. “Mina. Do you know how your mother and I met?”
Mina nods. “Yeah, you guys met in college. Mom was studying abroad, and you guys met because of a group project and hit it off.
“And where is your mother from?”
“Greece.” Mina’s eyebrows scrunch up. “What with these weird questions?”
“Mina, darling~.”
Mina turns back towards her mother.
Eirene’s frowns. “What your father is trying to get at is~...” She takes a deep breath, hesitating for just a moment, before she begins to pull back the veil. “That none of that is true~.”
Mina’s eyes widen for a brief second in surprise.
“Mina~. I am not from Greece and I didn’t meet your father in college~.” She shakes her head, her antennae slowly waving above her head. “I never even attended school~. At least not here~.”
Mina’s becoming increasingly worried. “What does that mean? And why make it all up? What’s going on here?” Why is she saying all this? What’s this all about? Why lie? Why tell her now?!
“Mina~.” Eirene begins with a soft regretful sigh. “I’ve been keeping a secret from you~. Not just a shameful or small secret, but one that will… change your entire worldview~. Especially of me…and yourself~.”
“My…self?” Mina slowly eyes her mom and the silent group, immediately taking notice of their serious and nervous expressions. “Okay, what is this?! What’s this all about?! Why are they here?! And why are you guys bringing this up now?! Why even keep it a secret?!”
“Mina~.” Eirene pleads. “Try to understand that…we thought it’d be for the best~. To ensure you lived a normal, human life on Earth~.”
“Why are you saying it like that?!” No one talks like that, not even her Mom!! “Okay so you didn’t meet in college and you’re not from Greece so what? What’s your place of freaking birth have anything to do with anything!”
“It has to do with everything~.” Eirene quiets down unsure of how to proceed. “Mina~....” She drones off again, hesitating, almost like she’s considering calling this whole thing off. Too afraid to reveal the truth, the full truth, to her halfling kin. “I-”
After dragging it out for so long and dancing around the issue, Ochaco finally succumbs to the pressure of it all!! And. She. SNAPS. “YOU’RE MOM’S AN ALIENS!!!”
The entire living room is thrown into silence as everyone stares at Ochaco for delivering one hell of a bombshell. Even Osushi looks perplexed, staring at her in disbelief for jumping the gun like she did.
It actually takes Ochaco a minute to fully process what she just did. “I’m sorry!!” She slaps a hand over her mouth, but it’s too late. “You guys were dancing around the issue and the tension was really getting to me!! I couldn’t help it!”
The group frowns as they all have the same thought. ‘At least the truths out now.’
But how will Mina react?
To find out, they all slowly, and fearfully, turn their attention towards her.
Mina seems perplexed but not shocked, instead she just stares at Ochaco with a look of disbelief and disapproval. “No. Ochaco just no. I mean I joke about that stuff all the time but come on.” She scoffs, but it’s not at all amused. “That’s not even funny. I mean aliens don’t exist, they only happen in movies and stuff.” Mina let’s out a soft chuckle, perhaps this was all an elaborate joke or something. “I mean right?” She looks to the others for confirmation.
But she doesn’t find any, as everyone averts their gaze as they refuse to respond.
Mina blinks, becoming somewhat panicked. “Guys?”
“Mina~.” Eirene interrupts, her soothing voice reassuring her confused daughter. “She speaks the truth~.”
“What?” Mina gasps.
Thirteen leans forward, cupping their hands together in a serious business-like manner. “Ashido. Your mother is an alien, a full-blown alien, just like the ones from the movies. She came to Earth after escaping some…unfortunate circumstances. I helped her lay low and set her up with everything she could need.” Thirteen’s eyes drift over towards Mr. Ashido. “But along the way she made another friend here on Earth. He was human but they got along so well. “Obviously. “And then…they had you.”
Mina still isn’t buying this, like at all. “You…you can stop kidding now.”
“Mina.” Ochaco calls. “This isn’t a joke.”
Izuku sits up, his expression serious and honest. “Aliens are real and they’re here, in Japan.”
Ochaco nods. “Actually Deku and I, we help Thirteen with them. Make sure they’re safe and protected.” Or at least they will one day.
“That’s why we came.” Izuku confirms. “We wanted you to know.”
Thirteen continues. “We wanted you to know the truth.”
Thirteen unpockets a small mechanical device; it’s clunky and heavy looking even though it fits all a baseball in their hand. With a press of a button the portable cloaking tech activates, buzzing and humming before light rays seemingly explode out!! And in a flash the entire living room looks like it’s been thrown into the cosmos with stars, galaxies, and planets floating around them; a top-tier hologram for sure.
“Level 15 tech.” Thirteen explains. “A state-of-the-art cloaking device. Good luck finding something like this in Japan.”
Izuku and Ochaco can’t help but admire the sea of stars surrounding them. Eirene and her husband smile in silent awe. And even the dog, Osushi, is enthralled with the sea of stars and planets hopping around and scampering off trying to bite the holographic lights floating in the air.
As for Mina, her eyes are wide, her jaw is dropped, with a clear expression of amazement and awe as she carefully tries to flick a little floating star away from her face.
“Mina~.”
The pink halfling turns towards her alien mother.
“As a result of my love of your father~. We had you~. You are half-human and half-Emotlyst~. And it’s about time that you knew~.”
And with that it truly hits home for Mina, her antennae twitching as she nearly stumbles back in her seat. They’re telling her the truth, the whole truth. She’s not sure how exactly but she just…knows, knows that it’s all true. She’s…she’s…half-alien.
And so they go ahead and tell her the rest. Eirene explains that Mina is a half-Emotlyst and what that means especially for her…their power of Emote. Thirteen, Izuku, and Ochaco go ahead and tell her about the Plumbers at least about what they do and why. Then of course they all join in to tell her about the technology, the knowledge, the…the…the everything! Albeit the short versions for now as to not completely overwhelm the poor girl.
Eirene and Mr. Ashido went into full detail about how they truly met. Apparently Ms. Eirene was being chased by alien goons, but Mr. Ashido saved her without knowing what they were. And as they say, the rest is history.
Mina slumps back into her seat, looking exhausted like she’s been tossed around from one reality to another. “This…is a lot to take in…”
Izuku chuckles ever so lightly. “Yeah, been there.”
Mina blinks, her expression serious and confused. “I mean…Plumbers? Like really? Were all the good names taken?”
Izuku’s stunned! “That’s the part you’re hung up about?!”
“Yap! Yap!” Osushi paws at Izuku’s leg although it’s hard to tell if the fuzzball’s comforting him or mocking him.
Mina ignores him to address her Mom. “This is so crazy but…it also makes sense.”
The times she had to explain simple things to her own mom: like sushi bars, or that movies are fiction, etc. But all those times she just figured her Mom was sheltered or just so “old fashioned” that she wasn’t in the know. And this Quirk-she means power, Emote, it also kinda makes sense; she always seemed so open to other people's feelings, but she just thought she was always good at reading people.
“So…” Mina looks to her classmates. “Did you two know…this whole time?”
Ochaco shakes her head. “No.”
“Technically we didn’t find out until we got here.” Adds in Izuku.
“Yeah, I mean we knew we were speaking with Ms. Eirene’s daughter but…” Ochaco glares over at their supervisor. “We were miss informed.”
Thirteen shrugs. “Well technically you guys never ask who they were.” A coy smile plays across their lips. “But in truth I just like messing with you kids from time to time.” Although they probably won’t appreciate it from this point on.
Mina frowns, curious. “Are you two…half-aliens too?”
Izuku shakes his head, waving it off. “Nope, we’re full-fledged humans!”
Ochaco snickers. “Well he is, sometimes.”
Mina tilts her head to the side, confused yet intrigued. “Sometimes?” And then it hits her like a freaking train! “WAIT!!! You mean-!!”
“I’ll explain later!!” Izuku quickly jumps in, sweating nervously, now isn’t exactly the best time to explain; one Earth shattering secret is enough for today anyway. Maybe he can properly explain his own situation tomorrow.
“But what about our class?” Mina questions with worry. “Are there others, too?”
Thirteen is quick to answer. “No, the only ones here are the only ones that know anything about this. In fact you’re the only half-human, half-alien in U.A. Please understand that the knowledge of aliens existing…can’t be revealed to the general public. For everyone’s safety.”
Mina nods, confirming that she understands.
Ochaco’s eyebrows scrunch up. “But why didn’t you tell us about this earlier?” She asks Thirteen.
Izuku has to agree. “She’s right. Wouldn’t it have been better if we at least knew sooner.”
Thirteen frowns. “This is a sensitive secret guys, and a personal one at that. It wouldn’t have been right for me to go around telling everyone about this. Heck, most of the alien community don’t know about this either.”
“But there are others?” Izuku reaffirms.
“Just those in the Plumbers.” Thirteen clarifies. “And Mr. Baumann.”
“Oh, makes sense.”
“I’m sorry.” says Ochaco looking to Eirene. “But it just occurred to me. Was there another reason why you decided to bring this up now?”
Eirene nods. “As a matter of fact, there was another reason~.” She eyes the two teens. “It was because of you two~. When I heard two other children were part of the hero/Plumber program it made me reassess my own situation with Mina~. And after some time I thought it best to involve her, and with two others that know about her situation~.” I could only hope that she’d be in good hands~.”
Ochaco smiles, nodding in confirmation.
Mina frowns. “There’s still something I don’t understand.” She turns to address her alien Mom. “Starting with: why? Why did you keep this all a secret from me?”
Eirene breathes, she was expecting this question to arise. “I wished to keep you and others safe~.”
“Safe?”
“Our power, Emote, can be…potentially dangerous~.” Catastrophically so. “We can influence others through our own emotions. As a result if we allow our emotions to become unbalanced through anger, sorrow, or fear~. We can have some dire effects on others~.”
Chaos, blind rages, suicides, and so much worse can result when an Emotlysts allows their Emote to influence others while in states of distress, sorrow, and anger.
“Civilizations and entire armies have turned on each other~ .Torn each other apart and fell to despair all because an Emotlyst used Emote to influence them~. Intentionally or not~... What’s worse is that those you influence such as villains would have their own emotions amplified and that may turn their attention and wrath onto you~.”
In other words, Eirene feared that if Emote reacted to Mina’s fear and it affected an attacking villain, said villain will lash out succumbing to their own amplified fear. And with Quirks abound there’s no telling how one will react to such situations, especially a villain who has no quarrels with using their own Quirk to harm others.
“I had hoped you’d have taken after you father and not developed Emote~.” Eirene frowns, ashamed of her own wishes. “But I was mistaken~. Over this last year, especially, I can sense Emote growing and developing~. And so I thought it wise to finally bring you into the loop~.”
Mina frowns, finding a flaw with her Mom’s plan. “If the intention was to keep me safe, why’d you allow me to even attend U.A.?”
“I was not without my trepidations of course~.” Eirene confirms.
Mr. Ashido continues for his wife. “When you were accepted we asked Thirteen to personally make sure you’d be looked after and safe.”
Mina gasps remembering Thirteen’s own words during the U.S.J. Incident: “It wasn’t…your fault.” Thirteen wheezes, helmet cracked, suit corroded, and a bit blood leaking out. “I was just…doing my duty…”
That’s what Thirteen said when they dove in the way of those mutant serpent’s attacks. Was there more to it? Is that why Thirteen was so desperate to save her?
Mina spins around staring at Thirteen with a new sense of admiration and appreciation. “You made a promise.”
The pro hero nods, offering up a kind smile. “I did.”
“But still…”
Eirene takes a brief moment to organize her thoughts and how to best reassure her daughter of her questions. “My intention was never to stop you~.” She admits. “My only desire for you was to live your life free and happy~. And if becoming a hero, protecting, and helping others is what makes your life worth living~.” A soft gracious smile forms across the elegant woman’s lips. “Then I have no need to get in the way of that~.”
Mina remains silent, her heart swelling at her dear Mom’s words.
“Mina~. I am truly sorry I kept this all from you~. But I hope you can understand why I did it~.” She did it to protect her from the fear that this knowledge can bring with it.
“I…do understand.” Mina confirms. She nods her head as she thinks about it more and more before looking into her mother’s yellow eyes with nothing but love and respect. “You’re my Mom, and you’re always going to be my Mom.” She chuckles softly. “You worry about me, because you care.” And caring is the number one job of a Mom, of a parent. “You wanted to keep this a secret because you were scared for me. You did it out of love not because you didn’t trust me. Sure I…I’m a bit overwhelmed and I wish you had…told me a lot sooner but…” She smiles, a smile filled with love and admiration, for her family. “I’m grateful you told me now. And…thank you.”
Eirene looks like she'd be moved to tears if she was able to produce any. “You’re not upset~?”
“No!” Mina nearly laughs out loud at how absurd the idea is! “You only did what you thought was best for me. It’d be unfair to be upset with you. When you did what your heart told you to do.”
“Mina~.” Eirene nearly jumps forward, throwing her arms around her beloved daughters’ shoulder, holding her tight.
Mina’s smile grows as she returns the embrace, resting her head into her Mom’s shoulder as her elegantly alien hair curls around her with the sweet scent of flower petals in the spring.
Mr. Ashido wipes a few stray tears from his eyes, absolutely happy with the results, and oh so grateful Mina didn’t lose any of her love and joy from this before he joins in on the hug. Even Osushi jumps up wanting in on the love, squeezing himself between Mina and Eirene’s bodies.
Thirteen and Ochaco smile on as well, allowing the family to enjoy their little moment of peace.
As for Izuku…he can only watch on with a subtle frown. The moment is touching and oh so sweet but…a pang of guilt wrings his heart from within. And he’s not completely sure of why.
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The weird out of place feeling of guilt follows Izuku the rest of the way home. After clearing things up with the Ashidos they all went on their way to give the family their own time to adjust. But not before Izuku and Ochaco promised to show Mina around and explain more about the whole alien thing. But that won’t be for another day or two.
Anyway Izuku arrives, throwing off his shoes as he shuts the door behind him. As he turns to put on his slippers he stops as his eyes lock onto his father’s shoes sitting by the door. Slipping into his slippers he pockets his hands into his hoodie and heads for his room.
As he makes his way he passes by the living room where Hisashi is, he was watching the news, before he heard Izuku come in.
“Hey…Champ.” Hisashi waves, hesitantly, hoping for a positive response. “How’d it go with the Ashidos?”
Izuku averts his gaze, the pang of guilt growing ever so steadily within him. “So, you knew then?”
“What? Of course I did.” Hisashi blinks. “Wait, you didn’t? My bad.” He just kinda assumed he knew already.
Not wanting to talk, Izuku makes for his room.
Hisashi frowns thinking about his previous conversation with Eirene: “Break through the barrier and reach him~.”
Hisashi quickly gets up from the couch. “So, hey, Izuku.”
Izuku stops but he does turn to look.
“So, hey, I…I um couldn’t help but notice you’ve been feeling kinda down lately.” He rubs the back of his neck, feeling really unsure. “And well, I just wanted to offer an ear, you know. If…if you wanna talk about it.”
He waits for a response but Izuku makes him wait for a moment, a brief yet agonizing moment.
Izuku considers walking away but after seeing the Ashido’s own family situation he…he hesitates.
And there is one thing bothering him, or at least that’s been bugging him for a while. The Exam or at least his outburst. Maybe…maybe this is a good time to bring it up. Maybe? “I…I got into a fight.”
Hisashi straightens up his expression becoming serious and quizzical. “A fight? With whom.”
“I…I hurt one of my…teachers.”
Hisashi’s heart stops.
“I…I was so mad and frustrated that…that I ended up lashing out during my Exam. And I even hurt a couple of my classmates in the process.” Izuku admits with shame.
Hisashi shakes his head in disapproval, going full professional mode as he takes a more serious expression. “Izuku, you can’t just attack your teachers and classmates. And during an Exam?! Come now!”
Izuku grits his teeth, becoming mighty annoyed. “It was part of the Exam, okay. And yeah I went overboard but I’m already feeling terrible about it.”
“Feeling bad is one thing. But what did the school say?” And why didn’t Nezu or Thirteen say anything about this?!
“Mr. Aizawa said I could tell you guys myself, and I am!” Izuku declares, offended. “I already served detention and yeah I have to go in for some kind of counseling later. But the school isn’t upset, at least not with me.”
“And why not?” There’s a hint of suspicion in Hisashi’s voice.
“Because…” Izuku becomes hesitant, but he’s already said so much it’ll seem worse if he doesn’t say anything. “Because I was angry!” Izuku shouts.
“Then why were you angry?!”
“Because you both turned your back on me!!”
And like that it feels like someone dropped a bomb atop the Midoriya household.
Hisashi’s own heart goes ice cold, as the piercing truth leaves a brutal sting. “Wh…what…?”
From the kitchen Inko rushes into the living room, all panicked when she heard the shouting. But she comes to halt when she sees Izuku’s frustrated face.
Izuku glares up at his father, not noticing her. “I was so angry because…because you both looked down on me!” Izuku’s shaking but he’s holding himself back, he needs to say this, he needs to put this out in the open. “You left me. He left me. All alone and all because I didn’t have a Quirk!” Izuku snaps. “Okay yes I get it, both of you had your reasons! Good ones even! But…but it still hurt! And then when…when you came back I was just…I am so confused! And angry!”
Hisashi steps back, as if he was shoved away. Inko cups her mouth becoming increasingly scared and worried.
“I wanna be happy that you’re back! But I’m not…” Izuku shakes his head. “I’m upset about it! It was like you were invading my life: my home, my school, everything!” Hisashi’s involved with all of it, even with the Plumber stuff! There’s just no…no escaping him! “And it’ll all just boiled over during the fight!! So, I lashed out, and…and people got hurt… I was angry and that’s on me but…” He looks Hisashi right in the eye. “I was angry because of you.”
Hisashi looks like a wounded dog, Izuku’s words doing more damage to him than even a SMASH from All Might.
His gaze is filled with a longing mixed with horrible fear and regret. “Izuku…please…just give me a chance…”
Izuku spits. “Why should I?” Before anymore could be said Izuku spins around and rushes for his room where he locks himself in.
“Izuku!” Inko chases after him, tears in her eyes.
Hisashi, left all alone in his own home, stumbles back, collapsing onto a chair in utter defeat. He looks like he wants to cry but with a sniff he nods his head as if…as if he’s accepting it. A part of him was afraid that…Izuku wouldn’t ever see him as his dad. And that fear ended up being correct, and it hurts to accept that as the truth. But it is.
Perhaps there’s nothing he can do to truly turn things around. Not anymore anyway…
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Izuku slams the door! Before he pressed his back against it and lets out one long breath. He feels somewhat light now, like he’s relieved to have finally gotten all his feelings out in the open and off his shoulders. But on the other hand he still can’t help but be angry. Hisashi was gone for a decade, A DECADE!!! And he comes back and acts like, hey, it’ll all be like old times! But Izuku can’t even remember the “old times.” And hey when he does get back he wants to act like a veteran dad who’s been through it all, heck, he was even trying to scold Izuku like a parent should when their kid’s messed up. But guess what?! Hisashi’s the last person to lecture him about responsibility! What about the responsibility to them, his family, huh?! No, the job was more important!
Izuku can almost bet that a part, even a small part of Hisashi left them just to get away. To get away from the truth, that his son didn’t have a Quirk!
Give him a chance, he said. Huh?
Izuku shakes his head, taking a breath, calming himself down, before he scans his room, his very empty room.
The walls bare, the room colorless, and the shades drawn allowing for dark shadows to loom. Annoyed and already in a depressed state of mind, Izuku walks over and pulls the blinds open.
“Ahh!” He backs away, wincing as the bright sun shines in and blinds him.
Izuku hisses and rubs at his eyes as he steps away from the window, blinking away the blindness.
When he finally regains his vision, he happens to be turned towards his closet. The door was left open and the piles of clothes and merch that used to be in there are now gone making the closet look emptier than it really is. And as such, the sun has nothing to stop it from shining down on a little shoebox that’s tucked away in the back of the closet.
Izuku frowns, his heart gripped with a surge of guilt as he eyes the box. That box, it was meant to remain hidden, hidden away, and forgotten about, it should have never seen the light of day. But with everything stripped away, there’s nothing to hide it anymore, nothing to distract Izuku from it and its contents.
In his mind, Izuku replays Hisashi’s previous wish: “Izuku…please…just give me a chance…”
Izuku frowns, the guilt leading him by the hand towards the little box. He gets down to his knees, he hesitantly reaches for the box before slowly pulling it out. He stops a few times, considering to push it back and forget about it, but the guilt forces him to remain steady. And so he pulls out the box and with a shaky, nervous, inhale he opens it.
Inside the box is a treasure trove of letters, all of them addressed to him, all of them unopened and, and all of them from the same person: Hisashi Midoriya.
These letters were a constant growing up, arriving once a month throughout the entire year ever since Hisashi was forced away. But not one, not once, did Izuku ever bother to read them.
But why? Because…because he was scared or angry or betrayed…. Afraid to see what he’ll read: that Hisashi really does hate him. Or maybe he’s just so petty and angry so he didn’t read them out of spike. Or maybe…maybe he wanted to pretend there was nothing wrong, that his father never left, that he simply didn’t exist….
“Izuku…please…just give me a chance…”
He never gave him a chance…?
Izuku slowly reaches in and fearfully pulls out one letter, it was the last real letter he ever got from Hisashi.
Izuku takes the letter back towards his bed and sits down, he carefully opens the envelope like something’s going to pop out and attack him, but nothing like that occurs. Instead he finds three pages worth of letters inside. And so with a heavy heart Izuku goes ahead and reads, for the first time ever, a letter from his father.
It reads:
Hey Izuku,
How’re you holding up buddy? How’s school going? You know high school’s going to be coming up real soon, are there any schools that have caught your interest? You know I used to attend U.A. back in the day. I bet you’d be a great shoe-in for the Support Course, your grades are top notch.
Izuku frowns, he almost wants to roll his eyes. Figures that Hisashi would try to act like nothing’s wrong, even in his letters.
Things for me have been pretty tough as of late. My boss has really been on my case, working me like a dog, but in all fairness the job itself has kinda taken some bad turns here and there. I’d like to tell you more, but you know how the Self-Defense Force is. Everything’s “classified” and all that.
Izuku does roll his eyes, by Self-Defense Force, Hisashi is actually saying the Plumbers. But either way he continues on reading.
I can sort-of mention this, at least partly. And it’s really cool. I stopped a potential war between two nations. The two sides were some really…colorful characters (specifically red and blue). And admittedly they were fighting for a really stupid reason. But I fixed it… Although now they hate me so…not a total win. But hey no war!
Oh, while traveling on a ship we were attacked by pirates! I know right? Cool? Yeah, not really. There were so many of them we had to fight off. And the captain, oh the captain, I mentioned him before I think. Hondo, now he’s somehow both such a fun guy and a scumbag all at once. Seriously he is so self-centered, avaricious, and cruel but with an air of friendliness and comradery! I honestly don’t know if he’s a friend or an enemy… He’s aided me so many times but also backstabbed just as much! He also got away. God dammit, if I see him again it’ll be too soon! Wait, sorry, I had to rant.
What else? Oh, and I took that new recruit I’ve been traveling with and dropped him off at the academy. You know, the recruit I scouted and mentioned in my last letter. He’s a good kid, a bit too straight forward but he’s honest. I think you’d get along real well with him. Perhaps I can introduce you two someday.
Anyway I really hope you’re hanging in there alright without me. I know I’ve been away for…a while but I’m hoping to be home soon. Maybe even within a year, but…we’ll see.
Izuku sighs, he’s not sure why, but he almost felt like this would hold the answers. That this letter would reveal some hidden truth about his father, about how he really feels. But it’s just Hisashi bragging about his own adventures while acting like nothing’s wrong or that being away is no big deal. He almost wants to toss the letter aside and give it a rest but…his heart compels him to finish reading.
And I really hope, I pray, I can return to you and your mother soon. I want to hold you both in my arms and hear about everything I’ve missed. I want to be back, I want to be home, I want to see your smiling faces.
But…I’m also afraid for when that day will come.
Izuku’s heart skips a beat, his eyes widening as the lock onto those words. ‘Afraid…?’
Yes, Izuku. I’m scared. I’m scared of how…you’ll see me. How you will react when I finally come back. Will you be happy? Overjoyed? Thrilled?
No you’d probably be…upset. Scared. And…angry with me. And I’m afraid of that… I’m afraid you don’t want me to come back.
I mean you don’t even read my letters. Not once have you ever written back and so I can only assume you don’t even want to speak to me. Sad to say, but I wouldn’t be that surprised if each and every one of my letters just…just ends up in the trash as soon as they arrive. So then why do I keep writing to you…well I guess…a part of me really hopes you…you do read them. That you still want me in your life…
But. I’ve been gone for so long and left when we were given the news, I wouldn’t blame you for…for hating me. The truth of the matter is…I did leave. Was it because of work, yes, but…I still chose to leave you and your mother behind. And I hope you will one day understand why I did it. I did it to project you, our family, our neighbors, and our friends from some truly terrible evils in the world. But I had to sacrifice my time with you in order to do my part in keeping you safe. And believe me there have been times so many times where I wanted to abandon it all and come back to you. When I was held up by enemies, stranded in the middle of nowhere, when everything seemed at their worst…the only thing that kept me going was the thought of seeing my family again. And it got me through every single time. Knowing that what I am doing is for them is what drove me to step forward time and time again.
So if you’re angry with me, if you don’t want to talk to me, even if you hate me. That is fine. I understand. Even if I didn’t mean to. I hurt you, I walked away and left you feeling alone and abandoned. You probably feel like I left because you’re Quirkless. Please, Izuku, please, that isn’t the truth. Not at all, I could care less whether you have a Quirk or not! I just want you to be my Izuku, my son! Please believe me that not a moment went by where I held nothing but love for you. Every time your mother wrote to me she’d tell me all about what “Izuku did today” and it’d be the highlight of every letter.
Knowing that you are safe and happy is all that I needed. I don’t need anything else. I won’t push you to accept me, to love me even. All I need is for you to live your life to the fullest, with or without me. If that’s the case… I hope…I wish we will be able to come together, to patch things together one day. And I wish that one day we can really be a family again. It might not be right away but…I hope you will give me a chance, Izuku. And I hope that I can have the chance…to see the kind of person you will…did become.
Take care of yourself and go live your life with smiles and cheer, Champ.
I will love you always.
You’re Old Man,
Hisashi Midoriya
Tears, a few stray tears land beside the signature and right beside a patch of old dried up tears that have wrinkled the paper.
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“Hisashi…” Inko hovers over her husband who’s slumped over in his chair in utter despair.
“It’s okay…this…this isn’t a surprise.” Hisashi admits with a pained cough. “I knew, I knew it would go like this. I guess I was just too hopeful.” He nods his head shakily, still processing it all in. “But if my presence is enough to set him off then…maybe I should at least stay in another apartment.”
Inko frowns, that’s the last thing she wants. They’ve just gotten back together; this is the first time in years the whole family’s been under one roof. But…is it really going to end before they can even truly begin?
Hisashi rests a hand on her shoulder trying to comfort her. “I’m sorry but…this isn’t good for Izuku’s emotional health.” The anger, the pain, the regret it’s only going to eat him from the inside out. “It’s for the best, I think. He…he can’t stand me anyway…”
A choked sob meets their ears. “I’m…I’m sorry.”
Hisashi and Inko spin around to find their son at the foot of the living room, his eyes red and puffy with streaks of dried up tears under his eyes as he clutches a three-page letter in his hand.
Inko frowns worriedly. “Izuku…?”
“I’m sorry.” He repeats as a bit of tears form out of the corners of his eyes, “I…I never really gave you a chance.”
Hisashi gets up from his seat a tiny spark of hope begins to flicker inside of him.
“For so long I assumed…the worst. I thought you left because of me and that hurt.” Izuku takes a shaky, choked breath before he continues. “And so…it was easy for me to blame you, to say that you left on your own, for yourself.” He shakily holds up the letter, the letter he finally sat down and read. “But…I was wrong so wrong.”
Hisashi tightens his lips holding back his own tears as he eyes the letter in Izuku’s hand with hope.
Izuku sobs, wiping away at his eyes in a desperate attempt to hold off his grief. “I was unfair to you.” He admits with a regretful sob. “You weren’t part of my life for ten years… But it never occurred to me that I wasn’t part of your life for ten years, too.”
So, what was Hisashi feeling during that time? If Izuku was hurt and felt abandoned then how…how much guilt and loneliness was Hisashi dealing with at the same time?
“I’ve always had Mom on my side, but you…you were truly alone. Forced away with the hope that you might see us one day.” And the hope that his own family might be happy to see him. “And here I am acting like I’m the only victim. Acting like your feelings don’t matter!” Izuku snaps allow the tears to stream down as he desperately claws at his eyes as if he could hold them back. “I’ve been so unfair! And it’s not right! I-I should have given you a chance! I’m-I’m sorry!”
Hisashi trembles, his own guilt and regret spilling over as he tries to keep himself composed. “Izuku…I’m sorry too.”
Through the tears Izuku is able to hold back enough to look up towards his father.
“I…could have handled my return a lot better.” Hisashi admits with a little nod. “And looking back on it, I see now how my presence was able to upset you like it did.” Like seriously there were so many signs. “And what’s worse is that I still haven’t really acted like a proper dad.” Not really anyway, he may tell people he’s Izuku’s dad, but not once has he really shown or put that into practice. “I may try to reach out to you, but I also give in too soon. Afraid that I’m already stepping over bounds I shouldn’t be, because…because I am out of place here.” And it still feels like he’s a stranger in his own home, that’s because he is. “So don’t go blaming yourself for how you felt, alright? I’m still the one to blame, not you.”
As he says this he recalls some recent events specifically when he and Inko went to the police station to pick up Izuku after the mall encounter. Rather than letting Izuku know that he is happy and relieved that he was fine, Hisashi instead went right into hero mode and demanded answers and the status of the investigation. He unknowingly prioritized his work over his son.
“I’m a flawed human. After finally coming back home I’m still prioritizing my work over you guys. Even if I don’t mean too.” A sad but ultimate truth. “I can make the excuse that I’m still adjusting but…I need to put more of an effort to be here, with you.” With Izuku and Inko, his family. “And I promise, I will do right by you. I’ve failed you for far too long and I need, I need to set it all right. I need to do better by you both.” He looks Izuku right in the eye, blinking away the tears that’re smearing his vision. “I promise I’ll always be there from now on. No matter what I will prioritize my family from here on out.” Hisashi shrinks back a bit, his shoulders slumping as his gaze falls in melancholy. “That is…if you want me to be a part of it…?”
With tears Izuku shakily nods his head and shouts! “Yes! Yes, please, stay!” Without warning, like his own sorrow pulling him on a string, Izuku launches himself forward and grabs Hisashi by his waist and squeezes him so tightly, like he’s afraid that if he let’s go he’ll disappear again. “Dad, please…stay.”
Tears leak down Hisashi’s face, because for the first time, the first time in over a decade…Izuku called him…Dad. “Izuku…thank you.”
Hisashi returns the embrace, holding Izuku tight with as much love and joy as he can express. They both let the tears go, allowing their regrets and sorrow to wash away as they finally reunite.
Inko is in tears as well, a joyful smile painted across her lips as she takes in the beautiful sight before her. Finally, finally after so long they can truly begin to be a family once again.
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As one reunion ends with joy another begins with trepidation and foreboding.
Psyphon enters the ship’s command bridge, where his master lies in wait inside his recovery pod.
The master’s body is nearly complete, every day he grows stronger and stronger, and with it more menacing then he ever was before.
“Psyphon.” His master calls. “What news have you brought?”
“My master.” Psyphon bows. “I’ve located the human organization known as the League of Villains as you’ve requested.”
“Have they given in to my demands?”
“No, my lord.”
Bubbles erupt around his master’s maw, as his deadly glare drills daggers into Psyphon’s skull.
Psyphon flinches, backing away like a mouse before a dangerous predator. “I-I’m afraid, the humans are far too…stubborn and willful to submit. Their leader, Sensei, has quite the…influence over his subjects. Much like you do.”
“Is that so?” The commander questions with a hint of intrigue.
“Yes!” Psyphon nods his head, smiling. “But as I said, humans are stubborn, him especially. I tried my best to negotiate but he demanded to speak only to you.”
The commander’s glare narrows.
Psyphon flinches in response, grimacing.
“Very well.” Says the commander. “Contact this…Sensei and tell him that I will agree to meet with him.” The commander ponders and begins to chuckle to himself in a haunting manner. “Allow him to set the conditions for our meeting: he may choose the time and location of our meeting.”
Psyphon frowns, confused. “My lord. Is it wise to allow the humans such an opportunity? They could so easily betray you if they are allowed to set the terms.”
“It matters not what the humans do. They cannot match my power.” Without warning the glass of the healing pod breaks, it begins to crack until gallons of liquid crash through, flooding the floor of the command center. From inside the obliterated healing pod, a towering mass marches forward for the first time since their immobilization, moving forward with purpose, drive, and an air of death airing around their aura.
His metallic armor slick with liquid, metal-cylinders piercing into his flesh spark and flex with his contorting hulking-muscles. The enhancements playing their part to explode his strength and might.
“Like all beings in this universe,”
Psyphon stares up at awe at the titan before him.
“They will all fall to the conquer that is…” The tentacled commander looms over his servant, grinning from underneath his breathing apparatus like a lion overriding a helpless fawn. “Vilgax.”
Notes:
That’s right, Vilgax is officially healed up and bader than ever. Although much like Thanos, he’s going to sit on his chair and let his underlings deal with his problems. For now at least.
I really hope you guys liked this chapter. I've been planning it for a long time now since literally Ch.1 of the story: from Mina’s alien origin, to the box of letters, and the Midoriya family coming together again. I really hope it paid off well.
*Yes guys Mina was in fact a half-alien the whole time. Hence why her antennae twitched around from time to time during high emotional moments. That was a hint. Now are Emotlysts a reference to anything? No. I made this species of alien up a while back, although the idea was inspired by Mantis from Guardians of the Galaxy. SO if you’re confused on how Mina’s Emote power works it will work just like Mantis’. And I will be exploring Emote more next time anyway.
I will admit that after people guessed she was half-Kraaho… I was kinda kicking myself for not thinking of that first. But at that point I had already fell in love with this idea and already hinted to it that it was kinda too late to go back on it. So sorry to those that felt led on but in all fairness that was not my intention at all. Either way I hope it worked out.
*Just to be clear we have one more chapter to get through. The next chapter will delve into showing Mina more about the Plumbers and aliens of Japan. It should be fun. AND the chapter will officially reveal what my original arc is going to truly be about. So please hang in there and all will be revealed.
Seriously I think you guys, and I mean a lot of you guys, will absolutely love what I have in store for you next time. Like I think some of you will be so overjoyed for…whom I got in store for you ◕‿↼
*There were so many Easter Eggs and Cameos in this chapter. And to be honest most of them were last minute add-ins. I wanna say there are about 11 or so Easter eggs/cameos in this chapter alone. Some are Ben Ten related while others are references to other animes, franchises, and series. So good luck to anyone that can figure them all out.
*I’ve been told that I should probably announce this; this story has a TV Tropes page so feel free to check it out. It contains all sorts of fun facts and insight into this story. And I wanna say thank you to all those that have taken the time to set it up and work on it, it truly is an honor.
https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Fanfic/HeroesNeverDieItsHeroTime
Chapter 52: Side Quests
Notes:
So I wanna apologize for this chapter being late. I wanted to post it on Friday, May 7th, 2021. But I didn’t finish until Friday and I needed to give my “editors” time to read and review it so I couldn't post until today, Monday May 10, 2021. But I think it was worth it, sure the chapter was longer than usual since I just kept adding more and more to it. Seriously, I thought it was going to be rather short, but it ended up being one of my longer stand-alone chapters. Not that I’m complaining because I sure love this chapter and I think you all will too.
This story has a TV Tropes page so feel free to check it out.
https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Fanfic/HeroesNeverDieItsHeroTime
Disclaimer I do not own the rights to Ben 10 or MHA.
*I want to thank “Bacara Best Clone Commander” for their own artworks inspired by this story called “Ben 10 X MHA: Vilgax the Conqueror.” Delete the spaces within the URL to be able to get to the site.
https://www.deviantart.com/gero223/art/Ben-10-X-MHA-Vilgax-The-Conqueror-877613923
*Alright so I kinda want to take a moment to explain the Easter Eggs and cameos from the previous chapter. These will be in order of their appearances. 1. There was a Boov from the Dreamworks’ movie “Home.” 2. Of course you had the Quarren from Star Wars. 3. Then you had an Octalian from the show Milo Murphy’s Law. 4. I’ve been wanting him to appear for a while, but Koro-Sensei from Assassination Classroom was there too. 5. An Edosian from Star Trek. 6. So this one was a lot more obscure than I thought. 6. So the little dog, Osushi, is the little Pomeranian from the anime movie, Burn the Witch. 7. Ashido’s Dad was based off Majin Buu, hence his name Buuyu Ashido. 8. There was a reference to the Ben Ten: Alien Force episode called Simple. 9. I named dropped Hondo Ohnaka from Star Wars the Clone Wars. 10. And finally a certain Plumber cadet was hinted to as well.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
It’s early in the morning, the hot sun already making its presence known through the cracked window.
Hisashi Midoriya leans back in his chair with a quizzical look on his face.
However, his wife, Inko Midoriya looks ecstatic in the seat beside him! “I think it’s a great idea!” Inko continues to gush on! “It’ll be so great for both of you to make some new memories.”
However, Hisashi’s still skeptical. “I know but are you sure?”
“Yes. Besides it’s just sitting there collecting dust…and rust. So you might as well. Also,” Inko rests a gentle hand on Hisashi's worried shoulder. “this will be good for the both of you.”
A small smile graces Hisashi’s lips like he’s ecstatic with the news but wants to keep himself composed as he gives her a small nod. “Thank you.”
“*Yawn!*” A bed-headed Izuku Midoriya strolls past looking disheveled with his pajamas hanging loosely off his body as his bare feet drag across the floor. “Morning, Mom.” As he stretches he notices Hisashi too and so he gives him a small smile in greeting. “Dad.”
Hisashi immediately lights up, his eyes brimming with joy. “Morning.” He greets. “Any plans this summer?”
Izuku shakes his head as he heads to the fridge for a morning glass of milk. “Not really, maybe just do some training I guess.” He then shrugs playfully with a relaxed smile on his face. “But for now I’m going to sit back and relax.” Speaking of relaxed, that's just how Izuku feels, ever since yesterday it feels like a weight has been lifted off his shoulders and so much tension and grief has just washed away with the tears.
Izuku smiles on as he pours himself a glass. “So, are you working today?”
Hisashi shakes his head. “No, actually I’m going to take a quick trip today.” He shares a knowing look with Inko. “I gotta go get something.”
“Okay, cool.”
*Ding Dong!!*
Inko starts in her seat. “Oh, the door. Izuku could you be a dear?”
“Don’t worry, I got it.” Putting down his glass, Izuku pats his head to fix his bedhead, but there’s no noticeable difference.
He trudges to the door as the doorbell continues to ring over and over as he lazily adjusts his pajama shirt.
And with one last yawn, Izuku pulls the door open. “Morning, can I help…you…”
Ochaco Uraraka and Mina Ashido blink both startled yet entertained by Izuku’s attire or lack thereof.
Izuku’s stunned face turns beat red. “I’M INDECENT!!” He screams even though he’s only wearing pajamas!
“Izuku?!” Inko’s eyes widen as she leaps out of her seat and spots the two girls at the door. ‘My son has friends! And they’re girls?!’
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
Mina leans back in her seat as the car continues its drive, she blinks up at the front passenger seat with utter confusion and disbelief. “So let me get this straight. You found an alien watch on a beach and you thought it was a good idea to put it on?” Like seriously, that wasn’t too smart. “And now it’s stuck there?”
From the front passenger seat, Izuku grins sheepishly as he tucks his head into his black and green hoodie. “More like it came to life and grabbed me.”
“Okay, sure. But it can magically turn you into any alien you want?”
“Well it’s not magic.” Izuku corrects. “But yeah, that’s what it does.” He raises his left arm so she can have a good look at the Omnitrix.
Mina eyes the watch skeptically, a device she thought was a simple support item and a fashion choice is now the most mysterious thing she has ever seen. “So like everything you transform into is an…alien?”
“Yup.”
“Right.” There’s still some speculation. She can believe aliens exist but a watch that can transform you into them, talk about suspension of disbelief. “So…Wildmutt?”
“Yeah, he’s a Vulpimancer.”
“Okay, Heatblast?”
“Yes.”
“The diamond guy, um, Diamondhead?!”
“He’s an alien.”
“The giant bug?
“Stinkfly, and yes.”
“What about-”
“Ashido.” Izuku relents, spinning around in his seat. “Everything I transform into is an alien.”
From the seat beside her, Ochaco rests a hand on her shoulder. “And he does mean everything.”
Mina sits back as it finally all sinks in. “Woah…”
Hisashi chuckles from the driver seat as he brings the car to a stop at a red light. “Yeah, I remember the day I found out aliens were real. Totally blows your mind, huh?”
“Yeah…” Mina nods.
Ochaco smiles up at Deku’s dad. “Thanks again for the ride Mr. Midoriya. I really hope it’s not a bother.”
Hisashi waves it off with a smile. “It’s no trouble really. Besides, I needed to take a drive myself anyway.” He’s got places to be.
“So…” Mina looks over at Hisashi. “You’re a…Plumbing Man too.”
“Hehe, yeah, I’m a Plumber.”
“But I thought you were a hero?”
“I am, but that’s more of a…side gig and a cover.”
“Cool.” Mina sits back and the car ride goes along rather quietly for a short minute.
Mina bites her lip, she looks hesitant, but after a moment she asks something that could possibly bring the air down severely. “So…is it also why you were…gone?”
A harsh silence befalls the car, everyone’s eyes wide and startled.
Mina shrinks away. “Sorry, but I was just…curious.”
“No, it’s okay.” Hisashi slicks back his hair, trying to wash an air of calmness around him. “I figured it’d be hard to ignore, but yeah I was forced away thanks to my duties as a Plumber.”
Mina frowns, feeling sorry for the Midoriyas, having to be away for so long. But that also explains those tensions she was sensing back during Parent’s Day though.
Upon seeing her regretful expression, Izuku chimes in to reassure her. “But…we’re working past it.” He smiles over to the driver seat.
A small smile graces Hisashi’s lip in response.
From the back-seat Mina and Ochaco crack into big smiles, glad to see that the two have come good terms.
A grinning Mina claps her hands together, snap sign everyone out of the moment. “So, got any cool space hero stories?”
Hisashi instantly lights up! “Oh ho ho! I’ve got too many to count.”
And so for the remainder of the car ride the teens were elated with tales of epic spaceship battles against the Incursion Empire, run-ins with space pirates, from planets inhabited by literal monsters to an actual living-sentient planet. The kids were hooked for the rest of the car ride and admittedly they were a bit disappointed when they arrived at their destination.
“I’d love to share more, but we’re here.” Hisashi announces as the car comes to a slow stop just at the foot of the forested hill that leads to the backend of U.A.
As they all exit the car, Mina pauses as she looks up the hillside. “Wait, I thought you guys said we were going to check out your headquarters, this is just a forest. And aren’t we by U.A. too?”
Ochaco snickers into her hand. “You’ll see.” And she leads Mina away towards the little foot trail nearby.
Izuku shuts the door but soon turns back around and shyly waves back at the car. “Bye…Dad. Good luck with your errand.” Whatever it may be.
“Bye, Izuku.” Hisashi’s smile is full of heartfelt warmth as he waves back at his boy. “And thanks.” And so he begins to pull away, but before he can really gain any speed he mutters under his breath. “I just hope the old thing still runs.”
But before Izuku could question what he meant; he’s gone.
And so Izuku spins around and runs off for his friends.
He catches up soon after and they continue their trek up the hillside, through the thick woods, and the chirping birds without another person in sight.
After a few minutes of hiking, Mina becomes very antsy as they approach their alien base. “Seriously guys where’s this base?”
“Come on Mina!” Ochaco teases. “It wouldn’t be a secret if it was obvious.”
Mina pouts, her cheeks puffing out in amused annoyance.
And so they continue on with a pouty Mina close behind all the way until they arrive at the shitty looking outhouse.
“Guys this is getting old.” Mina whines upon seeing the stupid outhouse, this has to be a joke! “I wanna see cool alien stuff not a stupid outhouse!”
Izuku chuckles, he can’t help but smirk. “Consider this lesson one.” He swings open the door and steps inside. “Not everything is as it seems.”
Mina turns to Ochaco who gives her a shiteating grin in response as she too enters the outhouse. Rolling her eyes Mina follows them both into the outhouse.
When the door shuts closed Izuku goes ahead and gives the lever a pull and the elevator jolts out of place before making its alien descent.
Mina’s jaw drops as green light illuminates their descent and the floor turns more metallic and high-tech as they descend the pipeline.
Ochaco and Izuku smile as they catch Mina’s reaction; now they understand why Thirteen likes to hold out on details. It’s fun to mess with the newbies.
As the elevator reaches its full descent, Ochaco stands before the doors with an excited smile. “Mina Ashido.”
Izuku steps beside her. “Welcome.”
The doors open and the two cadets declare out! “To Japan’s Plumber Base!!”
“Woah!!” Mina’s eyes are like saucers as the massive high-tech lobby of the Plumber Base greets her.
Ochaco manages to weave her away towards the large hexagonal doors. “You haven’t seen the best parts yet.”
And thus ques an internal montage of events!
“This is the hanger!!” Announces Ochaco from within said hanger!
“Woah, it’s huge!!” Mina awes. “And is that a spaceship?!” She excitedly points over towards the Razor Crest like a little kid seeing an elephant at the zoo!
Izuku grins. “Yup! It’s my Dad’s!”
Next up is the Plumber Base’s holding cells.
Ochaco steps past the door and waves her arm to make a big show of the place. “This is the base’s prison!”
Mina frowns. “Huh, there’s…not a lot of felons here.”
Most if not all the cells are empty.
Ochaco smiles sheepishly “Yeah…not a lot of alien crime actually occurs here.”
Mina frowns disappointed she kinda wanted to see what a convict aliens looked like. “Darn, that’s boring.”
Izuku sweatdrops. “Um, isn’t less crime a good thing?”
He is ignored because next up is the base’s main power source.
And of course Ochaco takes the lead to introduce it. “This is the base’s own special generator!!”
Mina eyes the large cylindrical high-tech machine sitting inside the large room. “Why is it special?”
“I don’t know!” Ochaco admits with a stupid grin.
She then leads them to the next stop.
Ochaco stops at the closed metal doors. “And this is the armory.”
Mina waits for the doors to open but they never budge. “And…why aren’t we inside?”
Izuku just smiles on, at this point he’s just going along with the ride. “We’re…not allowed in there.”
And finally they make it to the next tour site.
“This is the Command Center!” Ochaco announces! “It’s where the magic happens!”
“Wow!”
Off to the corner, a certain white-metal ball happens to be in the room.
“And this is One-One.” Ochaco picks up the little guy in her hands..
Izuku shyly adds in a little tibet. “He basically runs the whole place by himself.”
“Wow.” Mina presses a finger to One-One, not entirely sure what he is. “And he’s a cutie.”
One-One blinks up at her and if he could blush he certainly would be. ^A cutie? Really?^
Mina giggles. “And funny too.”
Glad-One is so just ecstatic and oh so joyful to hear this. ^Did you hear that? She said I’m a delight!^
Sad-One’s eye glares in disapproval. ^I don’t like her. She bothers me.^
And finally.
“And finally the conference room!” Ochaco announces as she drops into one of the many seats at the table. “And there you go! That’s everything.”
“This is unbelievable!” Mina takes the seat beside her. “And it’s so close to school! So, you guys could sneak over here whenever you want?!”
Izuku plops down across from them, exhausted from having them pull him around from room to room at record speed. “Basically.”
“This is so cool!” Mina cheers all giddy and excited.
Ochaco and Izuku share a look, a sense of relief, gratefulness, and excitement. Why? Because for the first time since they met, they have someone else, another friend and classmate they could share this amazing experience with.
Mina’s smile fades away as something dawns on her. “But um shouldn’t there be more space…cops here?” There wasn’t a soul in the entire base, no aliens or people at all.
“Plumbers.” Ochaco corrects. “And honestly there’s not really anyone here.”
Izuku nods with a frown. “Yeah, except for my Dad and Thirteen. Oh, and Principal Nezu.”
Mina’s eyes widen. “Wait, Principal Nezu’s a Plumber?!”
Izuku realizes he accidentally held out on that. “Oh, yeah, he’s actually in charge here.”
Woah. Mina’s both amazed and a bit perturbed, but otherwise she has but one question. “If he’s in charge…where is he?”
Neither of the teens can answer, having been beaten to the punch by a feminine voice. “Busy I’m afraid.” A white suited figure steps into the room as an orange trashcan follows them in. “The downfalls of being the head of the Plumbers and a high school. He’s got a lot of important meetings to attend to.”
Izuku and Ochaco immediately light up. “Hi, Thirteen!”
Thirteen waves back as best they can with stacks of papers in their arms, Chopper wheeling behind them with no papers in hand. “Kids, good to see you. And I see you’ve brought Ashido along with you.”
Ochaco nods excitedly. “Just thought we’d show her around.”
Chopper wheels forward, eyeing Mina as he does so. ^Brr-rrap. Bzz,^
Thirteen scowls from underneath their helmet. “Hey, no need to be rude. You’re supposed to make a good first impression.”
Mina stares down at the little guy curiously. “Is that a robot too?”
^Bwap! Wap!^ Chopper’s head spins around aggressively as he wheels forward and back like he’s offended.
Thirteen translates. “Um, he prefers automated intellectual.”
“Oh…”
Izuku chuckles. “Or you can say he’s just a droid.”
^Bwwoo.^ Chopper’s eye glares up at Izuku before he wheels away, choosing to ignore the annoying teens.
“OW!” Izuku cries out as Chopper drives right onto his foot!
The robot doesn’t so much as give him a second glance as he wheels away.
Izuku looks over at his friends. “What’s his deal?”
Ochaco only shrugs in response, not having a clue.
“Well, you all enjoy yourselves.” Says Thirteen. “I gotta get going here real soon.”
Izuku sits up. “Where are you heading off to?”
“Oh, I have a lot of missions and check-ins to run today.” Thirteen puts down the stack of papers before pulling out and showing a high-tech tablet. “With what happened yesterday, I’m really behind on my rounds and I got a lot of requests to make.”
Mina frowns. “Rounds?”
Thirteen answers. “You know, check in on certain aliens and alien-based places. You know, make sure everything’s A-Okay.”
Izuku nods. “Oh, I see.”
Mina then gets an idea and she springs out of her seat like a light bulb has gone off in her head. “Hey, I know!”
They all turn to her.
“Why don’t we do some of your rounds for you?”
Izuku and Ochaco gap. “Huh?”
Thirteen frowns. “You guys?”
“Yeah!” Mina declares. “Think about it. It’ll make your job easier and these two can show me around some more. I can learn more about the aliens and stuff!”
Izuku frowns, unsure if this is even allowed. “Is that really a good idea?”
“It is.” Thirteen responds, cupping their chin as they consider the proposal. “Okay, you guys can go.”
Mina lights up. “Really?!”
Even Ochaco and Izuku look ecstatic and thrilled with the prospect.
“Yeah.” Thirteen goes ahead and hands Izuku the high-tech tablet. “Here. It’s not much and most of them are basic check-ins and inspections so it should be nice and easy. Nothing too major.”
Mina cheers as she basically snags the device out of Izuku’s hands. “This is great!”
Ochaco is brimming as she looks over Mina’s shoulder at the tablet. “We’ll do a great job.”
Thirteen, however, is quick to interrupt their celebrations. “But just in case.” They point back at the orange robotic trash can. “Take Chopper with you.”
Chopper wheels around looking baffled and shocked! ^B-Bwap?!^
“What?!” Izuku’s eyes widen. “Why?!”
Thirteen explains. “Chopper may not look like much but trust me, he’s been around for a while. He can be a big help.”
The teens look over at C1-10P who ejects out his limbs and flails them about like he’s trying to flick them off.
Thirteen deadpans and adds. “When he wants to be.”
Izuku glares at the bot, not feeling too ecstatic to have the temperamental and easily offended droid around for the day.
Mina, however, couldn’t be more thrilled. “This is going to be great! Just the three of us out on the town. It’ll be like we’re heroes out on patrol.”
Ochaco grins, just as excited. “When you look at it like that, it kinda sounds like fun.”
“And it will be!”
Izuku smiles, even with Chopper around, this could still turn out alright. “Well, it’s better than I had planned for the day. So I’m in.”
“Great.” Thirteen claps their hands together, thankful for having some of the workload off their own shoulders. “And don’t be afraid to call me if anything goes wrong. You got it?”
The teens all respond out at once! “Got it!”
A grinning Ochaco springs out of her seat, before turning to Mina. “Get ready Mina. Today’s going to be one heck of a day to remember.”
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
And what a memorable day it was, albeit it’s far from over as now the teens find themselves at their last stop for the day: Mr. Baumann’s grocery store.
And honestly it’s a welcomed sight especially for Izuku who was basically thrusted into a situation he did not want to be in. But he got outvoted and somehow ended up helping an alien couple, whose car got stranded on the road, give birth to a…squid. In all honesty, the little squidling was kinda cute…until it threw up right at his face.
And then Ochaco took the lead to help a short, wrinkly looking extraterrestrial with glowing fingers get back to his ship so he could go home. It was a glorious sight and fun since she had to use a bike and keep the alien inside the basket to get him across town and to the local woods where his ship was.
And then and only then were they able to make another stop at a seemingly normal looking suburban home where three individuals lived. Two of them looked like normal teens that had a place with their father, but as it turns out the two teens were aliens that look a lot like humans and the dad was actually a bio-cybernetic robot disguised as a human.
Mina went ahead and made sure they were adjusting to Earth life alright, but she overstepped when she begged them to show her their powers. Apparently they could join together to form a super robot, or so the girl of the alien group had explained. But Izuku and Ochaco stepped in and pulled her away before they caused any more of a scene.
And thus it all brings them back here to Mr. Baumann’s grocery store.
Mina stares up at the massive warehouse with a hint of suspicion. “So is this some alien hive?”
“What? No!” says Izuku, shaking his head.
Mina scowls, eyeing the doors as if a giant monster is going to burst out. “Is it a place for lowlife alien criminals to hang out?”
“No!” shouts Ochaco. “Mina, relax, it’s just a store believe it or not.”
“Not to worry.” Izuku approaches the door with Chopper at his heels. “No alien lowlives even hang out here.”
The doors are shoved open and a little furry mass collides into Izuku!
The bipedal rat is shoved back, holding his head after hitting Izuku’s knee. “Hey, watch it!” He hisses.
Izuku deadpans, already done with the guy’s shit. “Never mind, just kidding.”
Argit blinks and peers up, scowling at the greenette. “Oh, it’s you.”
Izuku, not forgetting their last encounter, gives a curt nod in response. “Argit.”
Argit backs off tucking away what looks like a can behind his back and into his jacket. “What do you want now? Can't you see I’m busy?”
^Woop! Bwop!^ Chopper wheels forward, his arms poking at Argit like he’s guilty.
Annoyed Argit bats the metal limbs away. “Yes, I’m busy. Sheesh, for a trash can you sure are nosy.”
Izuku raises an eyebrow. “You…understand it?”
^Wap!^
“OW!” Izuku grabs his leg, having just been smacked by the droid.
Argit snickers. “Him.” He corrects in Chopper’s place. “And yeah, I know a little binary droid to get me through conversations at least.”
Ochaco eyes Deku, then Argit, and back again observing how they both glare at each other with hints of familiarity. “When did you two start talking?”
Without looking away Izuku answers. “When I was interning with Gang Orca actually.”
Mina gasps! “Wait, is Gang Orca a Plumber, too?!”
Izuku spins around. “No! He’s just a pro hero is all.”
Argit scowls, finally noticing the pink hybrid. “Oh, great, just what we needed another one. And who’s this? Hang on, aren’t you their classmate?”
Mina, wanting to put her best foot forward, skips forward and declares! “Sure am, I’m Mina Ashido!”
“I…don’t really care.” Argit admits a matter-of-factually. “Now if you excuse me I got business across town.” He sidesteps around Izuku, weaseling his way around and towards the road.
But Chopper zips across his path, blocking it. ^Bww! Wap-wp!?^
Argit gasps looking insulted! “Watch it tin can! You’ll find yourself in a scrap yard for using words like that.”
Izuku’s glare hardens, stepping in besides his dad’s droid.
Argit eyes the greenette before sighing, he is so done with this shit. “I’m out of here. See ya!” And with a leap Argit takes off, scurrying away like the rat he is.
Mina watches as Argit disappears around the corner. She turns back to the cadets with a sheepish and nervous smile. “He seems…nice.”
Izuku sighs, exasperated. “Lesson eleven: he’s not.”
Ochaco chuckles sheepishly before waving towards the door. “Come on, there are much nicer aliens than him.”
And thus, like the tour guide she is, Ochaco welcomes Ashido to the alien hub.
Mina’s jaw drops. “It is a store?!”
Izuku chuckles lightly. “Why would we lie about that?”
And so they go ahead and wander the store watching Mina’s eyes dart from one thing to another: from the strange and slimy looking foods, the weird gadgets and tech, to the strange and sometimes ugly-looking aliens going about the store.
Mina gags as she peers into the freezer section only for a live green tentacle to slam onto the window from the other side. “Ew, tentacles! Who would eat that?”
Down the aisle a little pink-bunny alien in a white undershirt pops open the freezer, grabs a live tentacle that’s been impaled with a stick, and walks away while chowing down on the tentacle.
For a moment, Mina’s pink complexion turns green at the sight.
Izuku can sympathize. “Lesson twelve.” He spots an alien barf up what looks like a giant burger from his nose and hands it to another alien who begins to…drink it with a straw. “Bleh. Always have a barf bag on hand.”
Suddenly a mop-head is thrusted into Izuku’s face, startling him!
“And have a mop too.” Mr. Baumann adds with a cold glare. “To clean the mess Izuku’s undoubtedly going to make.”
Izuku smiles sheepishly, inching away from the mop like it was a sword. “H-hi, M-Mr. Baumann.”
“Grr.”
Upon seeing Izuku’s terrified and nervous expression, Chopper can’t help but to laugh at his expense. ^HweHweHwe!^
“Huh?” Mina steps forward, curiously examining Mr. Baumann from head to toe. “What kind of alien are you?” She pokes at the man’s belly. “This is some disguise, it’s so life-like.”
“It’s not a disguise!” Mr. Baumann snaps! “And I’m not an alien.” He eyes Mina curiously but upon seeing her horns does he calm down and understand. “Hm, looks like Mrs. Ashido finally told you.”
Mina’s eyes widen. “You know my mom?”
Mr. Baumann’s smile turns warm and soft as he nods in confirmation. “Of course I do.”
Ochaco steps forward, introducing him. “This is Mr. Baumann. He owns the biggest alien store in all of Japan. He basically knows every alien in the nation.”
“That’s an exaggeration.” Yet a smirk does grace his lips. “But it might as well be true.” Mr. Baumann turns his attention back towards the newest cadet. “And it’s nice to finally have you here Ashido. I’ve heard a lot about you from your mother.”
Mina smiles, her eyes brimming with joy. “Thank you.”
Ochaco cuts in from the side. “So you knew that secret too?” She gives the old man a critical, suspicious look. “Any more secrets you’re holding out on?”
Mr. Baumann frowns, pointing his chin up in annoyance. “Uraraka, please, we deal with aliens; secrecy is all we deal with.”
Fair enough.
He then turns his attention back towards the greenette. “Now what brings you here? And how soon can I get rid of you?”
Izuku grimaces.
At his side Chopper seems to be answering Mr. Baumann’s questions. ^We-wopp, bo-wp.^
Izuku looks to the older gentleman for help. “What’d he say?”
Mr. Baumann pauses blinking, like he can’t believe such foul language came out of a droid’s mouth, he then looks to Izuku and gives him the…abridged version of Chopper’s response. “He said you’re all on patrol for Thirteen.”
Izuku will take that answer! “Well, we are. And w-we’ll leave right after.”
“Good.”
From the side, Mina’s antennae twitch and she’s suddenly filled with a sense of overwhelming dread and worry. So much so she shivers, even with the summer heat leaking into the store.
She quickly scans the nearby aisles until she spots what she thinks is the source of the distress.
A couple of humanoid aliens stand side by side; they’re bodies look like they are made of marshmallows, and just as white with light blue eyes that match their blue robes. And it also looks like they don’t have feet, instead they hover just inches above the ground.
They also appear to be searching for something.
Mina gestures to them. “What are they?”
Mr. Baumann stops lecturing Izuku to have a look. “Oh, right, those two are new to the area. They’re Lewodans.”
Izuku’s curiosity is piqued. “Lewodans?”
Mina frowns, worriedly. “I…I think something’s wrong.”
“You think?” Ochaco eyes her antennae curiously. “Is it Emote?”
“I’m…not sure.” Mina responds sheepishly. “I’m still not exactly used to it yet.”
“It’s fine, besides we’re space heroes-”
“-Cadets!” Mr. Baumann corrects!
Ochaco sweat drops. ”I-I mean…cadets.”
Izuku steps forward, chuckling shyly. “In any case, it’s okay if we go ahead and check on them.”
And so they do that very thing with Mr. Baumann in toe.
Ochaco gently approaches first. “Excuse me.”
The Lewodan couple nervously turn to face her.
“Is there something we can help you with?”
The Lewodan woman cups her hands together. “You’re all with the Plumbers correct?”
Izuku nods offering up a comforting smile. “We are.”
The Lewodan couple share relieved smiles, like their prayers have been answered.
The Lewodan man steps forward, pleading. “Then please you must help us.”
Izuku nods. “Of course, we’d be happy to.”
The woman steps forward, worry and grief in her eyes as she pleads. “Our child, our little one’s gone missing.”
Mina frowns becoming full of seriousness. “A kidnapping.”
The Lewodans let out a horrified gasp as everyone else stares at Mina, in total shock at what she said, even Chopper looks like he’s in disbelief at the lack of tact.
It takes Mina a second to process what she’s implied. “Wait, sorry! I was just being dramatic!”
The Lewodans however look unsure and rather fearful, looking to each other and silently asking if that might be the horrible truth.
Izuku steps forward trying to restore the…investigation. “Can you tell us what happened?”
The Lewodan mother takes a moment to compose herself before responding with a nervous voice. “Y-Yes.”
Her husband continues to explain. “We haven’t been on Earth long and we finally came here, to be amongst others.” He gestures to the obvious alien customers that are milling about the store aisles. “But with such a crowd I’m afraid we lost sight of our little one.”
Ochaco jolts up, seeing a silver lining. “So they could still be in the store.” She declares hopefully.
Mina grins. “A lost child in a grocery store, sounds so easy we should consider it a side quest.”
Izuku sweat drops. “I guess.”
Ochaco approaches the worried parents. “Not to worry, we’ll find the little guy before you know it!”
The Lewodans smile, grateful for their service. “Oh, thank you.”
Ochaco then turns to her fellow cadets. “But how do we start?”
Izuku smiles as he grips the Omnitrix. “Easy, let's all start with a search.”
And thus with a slam of his hand and a flash of blinding green light, Izuku’s gone; replaced by Splixsons that have already started to multiply. “We’ll all help out too!” Cheer the squad of Dittos, even as more and more of them duplicate generating about twenty clones in total.
Ochaco and Mina cheer alongside the little army! “Yeah!”
The Dittos scatter across the store alongside Ochaco and Mina, even Chopper gets in on the action, his little satellite spinning around to scan the store.
“No, No, no!” Mr. Baumann stomps over to the nearest Ditto. “I don’t need more than one Izuku’s running around! One’s enough of a walking disaster as it is!”
Ditto tries his best to keep a friendly smile in the face of the man’s wrath. “Chin up, Mr. Baumann. I promise, I won’t make a mess of things.”
*CRASH!!!*
Ditto and Mr. Baumann spin around to see that a few Dittos clones had accidentally run headfirst into a pyramid of cans, knocking them over and across the floor.
Mr. Baumann rightfully glares down at Ditto.
Ditto sheepishly laughs, shrugging as if he could play innocent. “Hehe, starting now, now I won’t cause a mess.” And he sprints away before Mr. Baumann could swat him with his mop!
And so the search begins with all hands-on deck, including the Lewodan parents. They search and search from the freezer section to the cleaning supplies.
So far there’s been no luck, but there have been some…misunderstandings.
“Ah! I found you!” Without even thinking Mina snatches up the little baby alien into her hands.
Ochaco rushes over to see as Mina turns the baby around in her hands.
“Aw~, cutie~.” They both gush.
“Patu?” The baby alien blinks up at them with curiosity and fascination.
The little baby is, in a word, tiny. He looks like a hairless gremlin with green wrinkly skin, long ears, and big adorable dark eyes that are filled with wonder and curiosity. His little three-fingered hands are so tiny with sharp nails. And even with the raggedy brown robes he’s wearing, he’s just the cutest thing they’ve ever seen.
“Aw~.”
Suddenly a blaster-pistol is shoved into the girls’ faces.
The girls startled, peering up to see a man in full metallic armor and helmet. They can’t see his face, but they can sense his cold deadly glare from underneath the pitch-black visor of his helmet. “Put the Child down.”
Mina and Ochaco begin to sweat! “Sorry! This is not the baby we’re looking for!”
And so the search goes on, but after a period of searching and nothing turning up, the search party reconvenes at the little store bar in the center of the warehouse.
Mina frowns looking at the others. “Anything?”
Ochaco shakes her head. “Nothing. You?” She asks Deku.
Izuku, after reaching his time limit, came back with a dejected look. “I couldn’t find him at all. It’s like he…disappeared.”
Mina nods, frustrated. “Same. There was no sign of him.”
^Wz-bop.^ adds Chopper.
Not missing a beat, Mr. Baumann translates for him. “He said that he saw nothing when he tapped into the store’s security feed.”
Izuku frowns, worried.
“This is bad.”
The Lewodans cower, the mother seeking comfort in her husband’s arms. “My darling son. Where could he have gone?”
Mina frowns, hesitating, but she speaks her mind albeit a bit more carefully. “Maybe…maybe this really is a kidnapping.”
Ochaco gasps. “Mina!”
“No, I mean it this time.” Although she hates to admit it. “I mean it’s possible, right?”
Izuku nods, seeing the logic in it. “Yeah, I guess so.”
“No please.” The Lewodans cry, their hearts tearing up inside. “It couldn’t have been. Please.”
Mina looks to her friends for guidance. “What do we do now?”
Ochaco shakes her head. “Not sure.”
Izuku ponders for a moment before an idea strikes. “Excuse me.” He approaches the Lewodan parents. “Do either of you have anything your son would have held or touched recently? Anything will do.”
Ochaco tilts her head to the side. “Deku?”
Izuku smiles back at her, giving her a gesture to wait for a second.
“We do have this.” The mother pulls out a little blue blanket, holding it up for Izuku to see. “It’s his favorite blanket.”
Izuku’s smile widens. “That’s perfect.”
Ochaco’s lost here, not sure where he’s going with this. “Deku, what are you up to?”
Izuku grins. “I’m just going to try something a bit different.” He rubs the back of his head sheepishly. “And honestly I probably should have done this from the start.”
Ochaco and Mina share questioning looks, even Chopper looks unsure.
With a smile on his face, Izuku dials up the Omnitrix and disappears within the transformation sequence! “RAWWWR!!!”
The pink teen lights up, her eyes sparkling with recognition! “Hey, it’s Wildmutt!”
Wildmutt raises his head high in a proud solute in greeting. “Rawr, rwr.”
Ochaco gasps as all the pieces finally come together “Oh, I see.” She gently grabs the blanket and holds it up in front of the Vulpimancer’s face.
Wildmutt leans in close, his gills flaring as he inhales and memorizes the baby Lewodan’s scent. After a moment of familiarizing himself with the scent, Wildmutt lowers his head and begins to circle around like he's trying to figure out which way the trail will lead. “Rawr!” His head shoos up, his body straightening, like he’s using his whole body to point. “Rawr!” And he shoots forward, like he’s chasing something!
Ochaco runs after him! “After him, he’s got something!”
Mina sprints after them with Chopper right behind her.
As Wildmutt sprints across the store he nearly knocks over several customers as well as nearly tumbles into a fruit stand, but he leaps up and over it.
But it was a close call, and it was too close for Mr. Baumann. “Izuku! You better not cause any more damage!” But there’s no point in yelling since Wildmutt’s already out the door.
After sighing in defeat, the owner of the store turns back towards the Lewodans. “Miss, why don’t you and your husband come with me? We’ll get you something warm to drink while we allow these…fine young cadets to do their jobs.”
The Lewodans nod, appreciating the sentiment.
And so Mr. Baumann leads them away, showing them great empathy, but before he goes he can’t help but worry. ‘Hurry back kids. And be careful.’
Ochaco, Mina, and Chopper rush outside to find Wildmutt looking worried and hasty as he paces across the warehouse’s open lot.
Mina’s concern grows. “Outside? Was it a kidnapping?”
Ochaco’s still trying to keep it light. “Maybe, but kids do like to wander off on their own too.” She would know after all; she does babysit a little Kineceleran girl.
Wildmutt approaches, his head hung low, as he leans his side towards the teens, nodding his head towards his back.
Mina thinks she understands. “I…think he wants us to get on.”
“Yeah, I think you’re right.” Ochaco agrees.
And so they climb aboard, although it’s not exactly comfortable.
^Brr-wap. Wa.^ Chopper wheels forward, his metal hands flailing like he’s asking where he is supposed to sit.
Ochaco rubs her head, wondering the same thing. “Oh, yeah, what about him?”
In response, Wildmutt leans his head back and howls! “RAROOOOO!!!” He then opens his maw wide and grabs Chopper between his teeth.
^Woa-woa!?^ Chopper screams from within the beast’s jaws!
But his cries go unanswered as Wildmutt springs forward, charging at full speed! But he quickly comes to a screeching halt, his body nearly, just inches away, from colliding with Mr. Baumann’s American muscle car.
Wildmutt gingerly walks around the very expensive and precious vehicle.
“RAROOOOO!!!” He howls again, acting like nothing interrupts his first charge, and he takes off, following the sweet scent trail and into the city.
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
Thankfully the scent trail happened to follow through the back streets and alleys of the city, away from prying eyes and people. So traversing the concrete jungle wasn’t too much of an issue other than the smell of car exhausts and garbage. Thanks to Wildmutt’s agility, they sped their way through the dark alleys until they eventually made it across town and then the outskirts of the city.
Wildmutt strides forward before slowing to a stop allowing his passengers to hop off. As they do, Wildmutt finally lets down the whiny Chopper.
^Bw. Bw-bzz.^ Chopper whines, shaking his body, trying to rid himself of the smelly dog slobber.
“Ghrghrghr.” Wildmutt laughs, a low growly laugh.
Mina frowns at their final destination. “A junkyard?”
Wildmutt vanishes in a veil of red light.
Izuku steps forward, stretching his back after carrying so much weight. “It’s a scrapyard.” He corrects.
And boy is correct, this scrapyard seems to stretch on and on towering with mountains of scrap metal and machines. All sorts of appliances are scattered about from washing machines to refrigerators. Junked cars lie about inhabiting the scrapyard as if they’ve always been there. Long forgotten boats and yachts sit silent far from the sea. And there even appears to be a few jets and planes grounded into the scrape, so they are no longer able to reach the sky.
The teens enter through the unattended wired gate, peering around for any signs of the kid or even a person.
Ochaco frowns as she inspects a smashed microwave. “Alright, Deku, so which way?”
Izuku shrugs. “I don’t know.”
“What do you mean you don’t know?”
“Hey, it’s not my fault I timed out!” Izuku defends. “But I know the scent led me here.”
Chopper taps Izuku’s leg.
The greenette peers down “What is it Chopper?”
^Wa-wa!^
Izuku raises an eyebrow.
^Wa…^ Chopper sighs in defeat.
Mina frowns, peering around the junkyard. “Speaking of, there doesn’t seem to be anybody here.”
“Yeah.” Izuku frowns, his stare turning serious and alert. “But I’m not sure if that’s a good thing.”
^Wa-wa!^
Izuku looks down at Chopper again who seems to be trying to say something with his raised arms and spinning satellite. “S-sorry, but I don’t understand.”
Chopper once again sighs, annoyed.
Mina continues. “The kidnappers have to be around here somewhere.”
Izuku sighs in defeat, “I’m afraid you’re right.”
Ochaco frowns. “What makes you say that?”
“Let’s face it, we’re miles away and a little kid would have no reason to come here.” Izuku then adds. “Also I wasn’t just following the baby’s scent, there was a second scent too.”
The girls frown, guess their worst fears were true. And they really do wish they had been wrong on this one, but when all the facts say otherwise, it’s hard to argue.
^Wa-wa!!^
Izuku snaps. “What Chopper?”
^Bwo-bwop!^
“Seriously, Chopper, can you like write out what you’re saying?”
If Chopper’s eyes could glare daggers, he would be as he instead wheels forward, deeper into the scrap yard with his satellite spinning around his head and a low hum could be heard.
Curiously, and a bit concerned, the teens follow wary of whatever the astromech may be up to.
And so they follow behind the dedicated bot across the scrapyard past rusted cars, falling dishwashers, and even an inactive tank. To the teens it doesn't look like Chopper’s really searching, he’s just cruising along with his spinning antenna with a light hum. Chopper bobs in and out between scrap piles before changing directions and again and again it goes weaving in between the mountains of junk and metal.
Until he finally comes to a stop in front of a school bus that’s been embedded into the side of a massive scrap pile.
^Wo-wo! Wo-wo!^ Chopper spins in place, waving and cheering, as if he’s congratulating himself for a job well done.
However, the teens are even more confused.
Mina frowns as she scans the junked school bus. “There's nothing here.”
Chopper shakes his head in disbelief before he spins around and hops up and into the bus.
The teens share concerned looks before they follow Chopper up and into the rusted bus. Once inside they all gasp to find that the back half of the bus is entirely missing and leads into what appears to be a mine shaft with flickering lights leading downward, further into the tunnel.
Ochaco awes. “Oh. It’s a secret tunnel!”
Izuku smiles at the little bot. “Nice job, Chopper!” Guess he was scanning for an entrance.
^Bw-whp!^ Chopper waves off their praises; he didn’t want it in the first place.
Mina hops off the back end of the bus and into the foot of the tunnel. “Is this the kidnapper’s lair.”
“Could be.” answers Izuku as he steps off the end of the bus. “But there’s only one way to find out.”
And so they enter the large underground tunnel with nothing but the flickering lights up above to guide their way. They move quickly yet silently not wanting to disturb the possible kidnapper. Or anything else that could be lurking in here.
The tunnel is dark with rock and dirt lining the walls, but metal fillings and metal scrapes protrude out suggesting the scrap yard had been here far longer than the actual tunnel.
Eventually the sound of heavy machinery and weird chattering catches their ears, the teens speed up until the tunnel finally spits them out and what they find is rather curious.
The tunnel has led them to a large underground dome that’s been carved out of the earth with mining shafts leading in all directions. The teens find themselves looking over the dome from the higher levels with the path sloping down towards their left, trailing down to the bottom of the dome. Across the dome, heavy machines are at work from factory equipment to forklifts and even trucks. But what really stands out are the troves of alien tech and supplies lying around the facility.
But what’s truly odd are the workers. They most certainly are not human although they do have humanoid shapes. There seems to be an entire army of the creatures, all of them wearing the same thing: red and black suits, with grey goggles that have straight yellow lenses. And each of them appears to be wielding pickaxes as they work and patrol the underground mining system.
Mina ducks underneath a nearby crate as she peers over and down at the working Pickaxe Aliens. “What is this place?”
Ochaco joins her, trying to stay out of sight. “It looks like…some sort of underground smuggling ring?”
Izuku hides too, hoping to join them behind the plastic barrels. “An alien smuggling ring.” He corrects. “This is bad.” There was only one other scent, not hundreds! If it was one guy then maybe they could pull this off, but maybe they’re over their heads here.
Ochaco scans the area, trying to spot any signs of the Lewodan offspring. “Where’s the kid?”
Mina shakes her head. “Don’t know.”
Izuku scans the area too. “Maybe the boss has him?”
Ochaco frowns, sure that sounds good but there’s just one problem. “Okay, but who’s the boss?”
^Bw. Wp.^ Chopper taps Izuku on the shoulder and points down.
Izuku follows his line of sight and for once he understands the little robot. He said, that’s him.
Loud thunderous stomps echo across the mining shafts drawing not just the teens’ attention but the attention of the Pickaxe aliens.
Everyone stops working, turning towards the source of the earthshaking footsteps.
Ochaco’s hands turn sweaty as dirt crumbles from the ceiling above, Mina cowers back her antenna picking up on the waves of fear and adrenaline radiating from the workers, and Izuku can’t help but grip the Omnitrix protectively.
And thus from the depths of the far mining shaft, a hulking orange mass marches into view. The creature is, in a word, massive, with bulging muscles that could barely be contained in his metallic dark red armor that’s layered with giant massive spikes across his shoulder pads and knuckles. The creature’s skin is orange, his head ovular with large protruding jaws with his teeth merging from his bottom lip. Two brown horns extend downward from the sides of his protruding jaw giving him a monstrous appeal. His yellow eyes glare down at his minions, stomping forward with a powerful stride.
Ochaco shivers at the sight of the hulking creature. “What is that?”
Not missing a beat, Chopper generates a small hologram, projecting the very creature with various information.
Izuku eyes the hologram. “His name is…Vulkanus.”
“Vulkanus.” Ochaco repeats letting the name sink in.
Izuku reads off the datafile. “Apparently he’s a known galactic criminal with a history of violence, smuggling, and other crimes.”
‘Violent? Smuggling?’ Ochaco thinks, a cold glare forms on her face. She could only imagine what else that monster is capable of, like kidnapping. “Let’s get closer.”
The others don’t need to be told twice, sneaking closer down the sloping path using nearby boulders, machine, and crates to get closer and closer until they are in earshot of Vulkanus addressing his goons.
“Well done boys!” Vulkanus holds up a little blue canister, on first glance it looks a lot like a can, between his meaty fingers. “Payday’s coming early this week!” He shakes the canister back and forth with a taunting grin. “All thanks to this sweet treat brat!”
“ChrChrChrChr!!” The Pickaxe Aliens cheer in response, their language seemingly made of clicks and gibberish chatter they make with their teeth. They raise their pickaxes, swinging them in the air in celebration!
Mina glares, taking an instant dislike towards the orange hulk. “It really was a kidnapping.”
Ochaco glares daggers at the villain. “I think…he’s got the baby inside that canister.”
They watch Vulkanus pocket the canister to the side of his belt, he gives it a pat as if he has no worry about it going missing.
Izuku eyes the canister. “I think you’re right.”
The teens quiet down as Vulkanus barks out orders! “Get the ship ready! We gotta get this brat over to Pantophage and collect that sweet reward!”
“ChrChrChrChr!!” More chirps and clicking ring out from his minions as they all cheer or head towards the red and spiky spaceship off to the side.
Ochaco’s glare hardens as she grinds her teeth together. “Sick.” She spits.
It’s so sickening to even think about, how could anyone be so cruel as to rip a child away from their own family? She can’t stand for it! “We gotta stop him.” She growls out.
Izuku starts. “Shouldn’t we report this in?”
“We don’t have time. Look!”
He follows her gaze and his heart stops as he sees Vulkanus stomp his way towards the spaceship.
“If we wait he’ll be gone and so will the kid!” exclaims Ochaco.
Mina frowns, worried, after all they are outnumbered and also…she’s not exactly used to this kind of situation either. “But he’s an alien.”
“And he’s a villain.” Ochaco scowls. “He’s no different than a human villain, besides look at them.” She gestures to the Pickaxe Aliens and smiles with overconfidence. “We can take them.”
Izuku, however, is hesitant after all he can become small aliens too and he knows not to estimate an opponent by their size alone. “Uraraka I get it, this is messed up, but we need a plan first.”
As he says this, they spot Vulkanus grab the canister and shake it, grinning knowing the child inside must be terrified.
And that in of itself, is the straw that breaks the camel’s back. “I have a plan.” Ochaco springs to her feet and declares. “We’re going to save him!”
Izuku shakes his head. “But that’s not a plan, that’s a-”
In a blur Ochaco is gone, having leaped over the crates to attack!
“-wish list…” Izuku sighs in defeat.
Mina pats his shoulder sympathetically. “Well you know what they say: when you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em.” She grins trying to find the silver lining. “So let’s get in there!”
Izuku nods, albeit reluctantly accepting it for what it is. “Alright.”
And so they both leap up and over the crate ignoring Chopper as he whizzes and whistles for them to stay put.
Meanwhile, Vulkanus stomps toward the ship, his back turned and his guard completely down.
“Hey, Vulkanus?!”
Vulkanus scowls, spinning around, annoyed. “What?! GHA!!!”
Ochaco’s fist slams into Vulkanus’ face, shoving him back a ways, his feet scrape the ground, but he comes to a halt a short distance away.
He holds the side of his face, growling out in outrage! “What the hell?!”
Ochaco raises her hands preparing for a fight.
Vulkanus frowns, raises an eyebrow. “A little girl?” But then his eyes widen. “Hey, I know you!”
Ochaco scowls, she launches forward while his guard is still down. She leaps forward with her hand outstretched in front of her.
Before she can touch Vulkanus, the muscular behemoth catches her by the arm, stopping her. “Yeah I do know you. You’re the red spot cadet that won that overexaggerated Tournament!” Vulkanus smirks as the Pickaxe Aliens begin to surround him and the human girl. “Must be my lucky day, I get a sweet paycheck and I get to take out a bitch of a red-spot.”
Ochaco scowls up at Vulkanus, deep contempt in her eyes.
Before long, a pair of voices cry out in defiance! “Get away from her!!”
Vulkanus starts, peering up only to flinch as a green light totally blinds him.
Seeing her opening Ochaco slams her elbow into his hand, breaking his grip for a split second allowing her to leap away.
As the light fades away Vulkanus finds the red-spot girl, a Biosovortian, and a pink alien girl tossing aside his minions!
Lodestar uses his magnetic pull to literally rip out pipes from within the ground, tossing them around and batting away the charging Pickaxe aliens.
Several minions charge forward, their pickaxes raised only for Mina to toss out a splash of acid that melts away their weapons in an instant. The aliens peer down at their dissolving weapons before dropping them and scurrying away! As Ochaco rejoins them she presses her hands against the first Pickaxe Aliens she could reach causing them to begin to float up and into the air, the aliens flailing helplessly as they do.
Vulkanus growls, standing tall and silently banding his underlings together. “Kill them!!” He roars!
“ChrChrChrChr!!” The rest of his little army charge forward, unflinching before the much taller and more skilled opponents.
Mina gets into a fighting stance. “Here they come!”
Lodestar gets ready too, glaring at Uraraka. “I really hope you know what you’re doing.”
Ochaco smirks. “Trust me, we got this! Besides.” She looks at the transformed Deku right in the eye and says with full confidence and sincerity. “Those Lewodans are counting on us.”
Lodestar understands, they’re heroes, and their job is to save others. No matter what.
“ChrChrChrChr!!” The Pickaxe Aliens charge forward, their pickaxes beginning to glow blue with alien tech.
In response, the cadets spring into action!
Lodestar using their very pickaxes to batter them and shove them away. And thanks to all scrapyard, the very ground is practically made of metal shavings allowing him to nearly bend the very earth. With a slam of his claws onto the earth, he generates a magnetic wave of metal filings that trip up a horde of charging Pickaxe Aliens.
As for Mina she nearly gets clipped a few times by the attacking minions only for her to shove them away and for her to push them back with sprays of her Acid.
“Release!!” From Ochaco’s end, several large metal containers come crashing down forcing the aliens to scatter and flee for fear of being crushed!
Ochaco smiles as dust clouds rise around her.
“Grr!!” From within the dust cloud Vulkanus charges from her flank, his massive meaty fist poised and ready! “You’re dead!!”
Ochaco gasps, her instincts kicking in along with One For All, allowing her to propel herself away as Vulkanus’ massive fist slams into the very spot of where she just stood! “Nice try!”
“Grrr.”
“Hey!” shouts Mina, drawing Vulkanus’ attention as she slides in, using her Acid to swiftly skate across the ground. “Let's see how tough you really are!” Mina throws her hand forward, tossing a dose of corrosive Acid at the meathead.
“Gah!” Vulkanus blocks the acid with his arms. When the acid attack ends, he examines his arms only to find that the acid has eaten through his armor, exposing his muscular orange flesh underneath. “Damn you! This armor’s warranty just expired!!” With his rage overflowing Vulkanus raises his foot, ready to slam it down onto the girl’s head. “Just like you!!”
As he brings his foot down, a magnetic pulse grips the metal of his boot and pulls it away, tripping him up and forcing him to collapse onto his back.
Lodestar bats away a few of the minions as his magnetic pulse ends. “Ashido, get away from him!”
She doesn't need to be told twice as she quickly backs away just as Vulkanus props himself back up.
As he sits up he spots a glowing pink girl floating overhead.
From up in the air, Ochaco glares down at the alien criminal, pink spheres forming around her hands. “Alien or human, it doesn't matter.” She swings her hands back. “We’ll save anyone that needs our help!” She swings her hands down releasing a pair of Ryou Spheres!!
Vulkanus reacts fast, reaching behind his back to pull out a large red hand-blaster with a cylindrical barrel and square grip.
With one pull of the trigger a powerful stream of flames jets out, colliding with the Ryou Spheres and causing a massive explosion of pink energy and flames!
The blast generates a ton of smoke, forcing Ochaco to shield her eyes.
From below Vulkanus smirks as he aims the Heat-Ray up towards her position.
However a stray alien pickaxe slams into the Heat-Ray causing Vulkanus’ aim to be redirected, the heat ray firing into the side of the mineshaft.
Vulkanus growls, glaring over at a smirking Lodestar who gives the alien villain a cocky salute. Pissed, Vulkanus turns around and aims the Heat Ray right for the Biosovortian and fires!
Lodestar dodges the first shot but after repeated firings he’s forced to use some nearby forklifts as shields, levitating them as barricades.
With Vulkanus distracted, Mina slides in from the side. Her antenna twitch as she charges in, her thoughts rushing back to the day before.
Her mother and her had a talk all about Emote with Mina even trying to test it out. From what they can tell she can manipulate others’ emotions, but only when she makes direct contact with their skin it seems. And for now she can only seem to make them feel how she feels. So if she’s happy she can make them feel happy, sad then they feel sad, and so on.
And so with this in mind Mina gets to it! ‘I can do this!’ She just needs to channel her own emotions!
And so she thrusts her hand forward and it slams onto Vulkanus’ exposed arm.
“AHHH!!!” Vulkanus bellows in fright, a sudden wave of fear and panic washing over him from seemingly nowhere.
He shakes and stumbles back but when he catches sight of Mina, his anger returns in full force. He snaps out of his fear, albeit shakily, growling and hissing as his yellow gaze pierces right through the girl. “You must be an Emotlyst.” He growls, shaking off the last bits of fear. “Talk about rare.” He snickers. “So rare, you’d go for a really pretty penny.”
Mina pales as the villain looms over her, it didn’t work.
Vulkanus’ eyes gleam with greed and wrath as he reaches to grab her!
“Mina!” Ochaco swoops in, grabbing Mina, bridal style, and hauling her out of the way.
As she does so, Lodestar rushes in, his claw slamming into Vulkanus’ side! “Hands off, creep!”
As Lodestar handles the alien boss, Ochaco skids to a stop as she puts Mina down. The moment her flight ends however they’re both swarmed by the Pickaxe Aliens!
The girls quickly stand back to back as Ochaco fires Ryou Spheres while also using Zero-Gravity on those that get too close. As for Mina she’s primarily aiming for their weapons, but she splashes the ground before them forcing them to back off. But when one Pickaxe Alien gets a little too close, Mina reacts by spinning back like she’s dancing only to deliver a swift circle kick into the alien’s side, swatting him away!
“Nice moves, Mina!” Ochaco cheers! She swings her body around, One For All surging through her fist and as she swings around and throws her fist forward she generates a powerful gust of wind that slams into the charging aliens, causing them to fly back like bowling pins!
Mina grins. “You’re not bad yourself!”
“ChrChrChrChr!!”
The girls get ready as more Pickaxe Aliens come running their way. The girls stand side by side and they throw their fists forward just as the minions are upon them.
Meanwhile, Lodestar’s dealing with his own problems. He’s been forced to pull in a number of metal sheets to defend himself from the onslaught of heat rays.
“Burn, red spot! Burn!” shouts Vulkanus as he fires ray after ray at the transformed cadet.
Lodestar growls, ducking his head away from the intense heat. It’s too much even with the metal sheet defending him, he can feel the burning heat incinerating his body. If he was human, he couldn’t even sweat because it would be evaporating instantly. “Talk about out of the frying pan.”
To the side he spots a massive drilling machine, smirking Lodestar thinks just how perfect it would be for stopping this creep. And so he aims his claw out and generates a magnetic pulse out towards it. The pulse connects and Lodestar grunts as he struggles to lift the machine and toss it forward. The machine groans and creaks as it slowly lifts into the air but before it can even move forward a stray heat ray slams into the machine and blows it up in a glorious display of pyrotechnics!
Lodestar tsks. “Dang it.” He examines his heated claws. “What’s going on?” He should have been able to move that thing easy, so why…?
“Having performance issues?” Vulkanus taunts as he continues to fire away.
From between the now melting metal sheets, Lodestar glares at him. “What are you-”
“What kind of Biosovortian are you?” Vulkanus laughs. “Don’t you know magnets lose their pull when heated?” He stops firing so he can finish his line. “And you’re one giant magnet.” And so with one last blast of heat, Lodestar's magnetic field gives out.
“Gaaahhh!!” Lodestar screams out as the burning heat breaks through his shield and slams into him, launching him back in a pile of crates that instantly ignite.
Ochaco and Mina gasp out in shock! “Deku/Midoriya!”
‘Midoriya?’ Vulkanus puts down the gun and grins, feeling mighty proud of himself.
But the moment is cut short as he ducks just barely avoiding a Ryou Sphere. He growls as he glares over towards Ochaco and Mina, a squad of his unconscious minions lying at their feet.
He growls. “You want this?” He unlatches and holds up the canister, containing the baby, tauntingly, laughing all the while. “No way you’re getting your hands on this. Hahaha-AH!?!”
The canister is pulled right from his fingers, flying over all the way into Lodestar’s outstretched claw.
The burned and slightly scorched Lodestar’s magnetic pull may not be as powerful as it was but it’s still strong enough to at least pull in a tin can.
As the canister lands between his claws, Lodestar can’t help but taunt back with a smirk. “You were saying?”
“RAAHHH!!!” Vulkanus let’s put an earth-shaking roar, his muscles bulging and quaking with rage, his grip tightening around the Heat Ray. “That’s it!!” He points over towards a squad of Pickaxe Aliens. “Prepare the super canon!”
The Pickaxe Aliens nod and immediately get to it, five of them hopping over to a large machine that’s covered by a tarp. With a pull of the tarp a large high-tech cannon is revealed, the cannon is stationary with a little station big enough for the Pickaxe Aliens to man and a large cylindrical barrel that looks big enough to fire out bowling balls.
One minion takes the helm, manning the control console, and immediately the barrel begins to light up and spark as it begins to charge up.
Mina’s eyes widen as the charging sequence quickly comes to an end. “Look out for the Inator!!”
Her warning is heard just in time as an electric charge is blasted out at high speeds, but thanks to her warning, Ochaco is able to dive out of the way as an electrical blast goes off behind her!!!
The super cannon continues to fire down on the cadets forcing them to take cover or to be thrown across the battlefield due to the powerful blasts.
All the while Vulkanus bellows out a haunting laugh! “Hahaha! Blast them away! Blast them all the way to the moon!”
Another electric blast blows up right at Lodestar’s position, just barely missing him, but it was close enough for the blast to send him soaring backwards and crashing into a forklift. “Ow…”
Vulkanus smirks aiming his Heat Ray at the downed black and yellow alien.
“Don’t you dare hurt my friend!”
Vulkanus scowls as Ochaco charges in.
She keeps her head low, moving with incredible agility as her fist begins to glow with power. She’ll give this all she’s got and end it; she’ll stop him and save the Lewodans!
But even through her adrenaline filled fury she can make out just how calm and cocky the smirk of Vulkanus’ face is. And just as she begins to process how cognizant he is, her fist slams not into him but onto a forcefield!
Before she even knows it she’s completely encapsulated inside a yellow ball, projected into the air and immobilized as the projector lies just below her. Not one to quit so easily, Ochaco slams her powered up punch against the forcefield, but an electric surge greets her forcing her to cry out in pain!
Lodestar gasps. “Uraraka!” She’s been captured!
He peers over to check on the other cadet and gasps when he finds that Mina too has been captured in the same type of forcefield.
Mina struggles and pushes against the forcefield, even secreting Acid against it but it’s all for naught.
“Ashido!” Lodestar is just about to charge in and save them, but he hesitates, finding a swarm of Pickaxe Aliens all blocking his way towards them. “No…”
Vulkanus snickers. “Give it up kid. You’re outnumbered.”
The cannon charges behind him.
“And outgunned.”
Lodestar scowls frustrated that this guy’s got them by the proverbial balls. But what can he do? How can he pull off a win from this?
“Deku! Run!”
Lodestar’s breath hitches.
Ochaco slams her hand against the forcefield. “Take the kid and run! You have to save him!”
Lodestar shakes his head. “What about you guys?! I can’t just abandon you!”
Mina, albeit scared, keeps her cool seeing the logic in Ochaco’s reasoning. “You’re not abandoning us! Just go! Save the kid and get help!”
“But-ah!” Lodestar backs away as the minions march closer, their pickaxes poised and ready, their confidence boosted now there's only one opponent against them, their boss, and a super cannon.
Lodestar looks to his friend one more time and they give him the most reassuring smiles and nods that they could muster. They know, without a doubt, Deku will return to save them, but if he’s captured too… Then it really is all over for them.
Lodestar understands this too, but he’s still frustrated with himself for going along with it. With a reluctant nod he spins around and leaps away, using the little magnetic pull he has to launch himself up and away towards the tunnel they entered from with the canister in hand.
The cannon fires off behind him, but the charge completely misses him.
As he touches down Chopper wheels around form his hiding place. Acting fast Lodestar immediately grabs the droid in his open claw, tucks him under his arm and begins running, using his magnetic pulse to propel him forward with each leap.
The Pickaxe Aliens all rush after him, but Vulkanus knows there's no point. The red spot will be long gone by the time they even make it outside.
Ochaco and Mina let out a collective sigh, taking relief in knowing that Deku got away. However their relief is soon replaced with freezing dread as Vulkanus begins to irriely chuckle to himself. “So, he’s a Midoriya, huh?” His grin grows. “I can’t wait to take another crack at him.”
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Izuku leans against the side of the building, using the empty side street as cover as he catches his breath. His hair’s a little singed and he looks a bit red thanks to the intense heat he was exposed to, but other than that he appears alright.
Chopper remains by his side, the blue canister in his metal limbs, waiting patiently for Izuku to compose himself.
“Dammit.” Izuku slams the side of his fist against the building. “Dammit!” He left them, he just left them! How could he do that? Was that the right call? Will they be okay? Oh, god!
“What do we do now?!” Izuku begs the little astro mech. “I-I don’t know! I don't know how I’m supposed to save them!”
^Wa-wzz. Br-rap.^ responds Chopper.
Izuku just stares at the droid before sighing and shaking his head. “Why’d I even bother to ask you. Not like I can understand you.”
^Waa.^ Chopper openly glares up at the greenette, irritated.
Shaking his head Izuku eyes down at the canister in Chopper's grip. His friends may need him, but so does this kid.
Leaning down he snatches up the little device and holds it up, examining it. “Is the Lewodan really in here?”
^Wa-wap!^
Guess there’s only one real way to find out. And so he grips the sides of the canister and after a few twists and presses the canister unhinges.
And out from the tiny container a white puffball springs out and a high-pitched cooing. “Wreo wreo!”
Izuku blinks as a floating vanilla swirl smiles up at him, continuing to purr and coo, its little blue eyes brimming with relief and joy.
“Wreo wreo!” The baby Lewodan circles around Izuku’s head as if he’s trying to thank his rescuer.
Izuku smiles, understanding the message. “You’re welcome, little guy.”
He holds his hands out and the baby Lewodan comes to a stop just above them allowing Izuku to hold him.
“You’re like a…marshmallow.”
His body’s all gooey and soft and there’s even a sweet sugary smell in the air, emanating from the little guy.
Izuku smiles relieved to see that the little guy is unharmed and uninjured. “So you’re the one we were sent to rescue?”
“Wreo!” The baby floats forward rubbing his little head against Izuku’s left arm.
Izuku tries to push it up with his left arm, the cuddling tickling him and making him smile. “Haha. Cute.”
The baby hops away, playful smiling while letting out a high-pitched coo. “Wreo wreo!”
Izuku is more than happy to see the kid’s not overly traumatized from the experience, grateful he’s still able to smile and play like the child he is. But the sense of relief washes away once again and is replaced with a looming sense of guilt and dread.
Vulkanus, a known smuggler and galactic criminal, now has his friends! He’s got them locked up and hidden away in his heavily guarded lair! How’s he supposed to save them when Vulkanus has his own army, a super weapon, and two hostages?! “Oh, this is bad.”
Perhaps…perhaps it’s time to bite the bullet and call in for some…professional help.
“Please, pick up.” Izuku begs as he grabs his phone and dials away. “Please, please, please.” Hopefully Thirteen isn’t too busy.
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“Yeah!”
“Woah!!”
“Kick his ass!”
“Let’s see some blood! Hahaha!
The alien bar is packed, all the patrons circled around a duo of brawling aliens. The alien crowd cheer as the well-equipped Yautja takes on the screeching Xenomorph, both lusting for the other’s blood. They bash and claw at each other, smashing into tables, the wall, and even a few other patrons as they lash at each other's throats.
“Knock. It. Off!”
They are not the only ones engaged in battle, a human wearing an oversized astronaut outfit is mixed in there as well.
Thirteen grabs a chair, swinging it around, and slams it into the Yautja’s head! “Stand down, both of you!”
The Xenomorph hisses as it slashes at Thirteen, its sharp claws tearing at their suit, ripping the front portions to bits. The Xenomorph then lunges forward using its massive head to headbutt Thirteen and knocks them forwards onto the bar counter!
As Thirteen hits the counter, their ringing phone slides out from within the suit and onto the countertop.
The Xenomorph pounces onto Thirteen from behind, weighing them down as it hisses, and its secondary jaw protrudes out towards the helmet.
Thirteen struggles to push themselves off the counter as the partly bleeding alien’s green blood seeps onto the suit and begins to melt it away.
As they struggle Thirteen accidentally accepts the call and Midoriya’s voice can be heard. “Hey, Thirteen I was wondering if you could-”
The Yautja gets up and pounces onto the two fighters, the combined weight and force is too much and Thirteen’s helmet slams down onto the phone! The helmet cracks away as Thirteen gains a surge of strength and launches both themselves and the aliens back away from the counter and the smashed phone.
“Bring it you has been movie rejects!!”
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It’s no good, the phone went dead for some reason. Izuku did pick up on the sounds of glass breaking and it kinda sounded like cheers and alien screams in the background. He shivers wondering if Thirteen’s been caught up in their own kind of mess.
Izuku peers over at Chopper and the Lewodan child. “Well, maybe Principal Nezu’s done with his meetings.”
And after holding the phone to his ear for five minutes, he quickly concludes that Nezu is still stuck in his meetings. Curse the responsibilities of the administrative powers!
Izuku takes a deep breath and then exhales. “Alright, I know it’s his day off. But I’m sure he’ll help.”
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“Ah, yes, we still have it. It’s right here.” The uniformed woman smiles as she checks the company’s records.
Hisashi grins from across the front desk. “Oh, that’s good. I know it’s been a while, so I wasn’t sure.”
The woman bows. “Please allow me a moment to retrieve it.”
“Of course.”
As the woman leaves towards the back Hisashi briefly checks his phone. He frowns when it fails to turn on. “Oops.” He’s not used to cellphones anymore, he forgot just how pathetic battery life is back on Earth. “I’m not exactly used to charging this thing.” He laughs.
Oh well, it’s his day off anyway. What kind of emergency would there be any way?
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“Dad!” Izuku whines when the call goes straight to voicemail.
He scrolls through his phone. “There’s one last person I can try.”
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
Meanwhile, the command center of the Plumber Base is a glow with flashing lights. Loud music is blasting through every speaker and party decorations litter the floor as One-One has his own personal dance party.
The screen lights up with incoming transmission but due to the music, bright lights, and flying streamers it all goes unnoticed by the little bot. Who’s caught up in his own little world.
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And so Izuku slumps down to his knees in utter defeat, allowing despair to wash over him and drag him down, his phone left abandoned on the ground beside him.
“Ahhh!” Izuku cries out, frustrated and lost, pocketing his phone as he gets onto his feet. “This is just my luck!”
Like come one, what are the chances everyone he could call is away?! But who else is there?
Maybe Gran Torino…but he’s miles away, it would take him over several hours to get here. Hm, then maybe an actual pro hero? No, bad idea, it’ll be too much trouble to keep aliens a secret especially if he chooses the wrong person.
Izuku bows his head at the sheer hopelessness of it all; he truly is on his own.
“Wreo wreo!” The Lewodan baby chirps and whistles, circling around Izuku before gently nudging and cuddling his left arm in an attempt to cheer him up.
And it works, somewhat. “Thanks little guy.” Izuku pats the baby alien’s head. “I just wished I knew what to do next.”
How is he even supposed to deal with someone like Vulkanus. On first glance the guy seems like your typical meathead, all brawn no brain. But his use of alien weapons certainly weakens that assumption. Not only that but he’s, once again, outnumbered. And he’s not exactly sure which of his transformations could survive a blast from that super cannon: maybe Diamondhead but he’s only assuming that.
And making poor assumptions could potentially get him and his friends killed.
“What I need is information.”
He needs to know how Vulkanus thinks, how he fights, everything! But…who would possibly know anything about that? All of Japan’s Plumbers are unavailable and Gran Torino’s only a part timer so he probably doesn’t even know anything about the guy. So who?
“Ah!!” Izuku screams! “Who would have info on Japan’s alien underworld?!” And then, a light bulb goes off in his head. “He’s perfect!” With a quick dial up Izuku transforms into his Kineceleran form.
^Wa! Wa!^
“Not now Chopper.” XLR8 grabs Chopper and the baby Lewodan. “We got an errand to run.” And in a blue blur he’s gone, moving as a blue streak across the city as he tries to locate the one person who holds everything he’s searching for.
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“Seriously, is that all you’re going to cough up?”
“GrargGrarg.”
“No I can’t give you a discount!” Argit snaps as he shows off the assortment of alien devices tucked away in his orange jacket. “This is high quality merchandise here. State of the art and only available for a minimal amount of time. Give me a good offer now or regret it later.” He’s clearly rehearsed his pitch over and over for this, a telltale sign of a pro con artist.
The fish faced alien with blue skin and purple tentacles ponders for a moment before finally coming to a decision. “GrargGrarg.”
Argit lights up! “Deal!” He reaches to hand over the device when a sudden gust of wind makes him flinch.
XLR8 grins, good thing he remembered Argit mentioning he’d be across town today. “Ha! I finally found you!”
Argit gasps! “Ah, the little red spot!”
“GrargGrarg!” The tentacled alien slithers away, crying out as he goes! “GrargGrarg! GrargGrarg!”
Argit calls out for him! “No, wait! Come back!” He scowls, snarling up at the transformed cadet. “Look at what you did?! You scared off my customer!!”
XLR8 glares down at the rat as he puts both Chopper and the baby Lewodan down.
“Wreo wreo!” The baby Lewodan chirps and squeaks but unlike before his tone is angry.
The baby clots above Argit’s head, glaring down at the rat man with contempt. Chirping and scowling down at him. “Wreo wreo!”
Argit swats at it, trying to keep the annoying thing at bay. “Hey, get away from me you melted goo ball!”
“He doesn’t seem to like you.” XLR8 notes as he continues to eye the child’s reaction. And then a cold realization slowly begins to seep in. “But I’m sure Vulkanus feels differently.”
And just like that he has Argit’s full and utter attention his quills and tail stand on end as a result! “Vulkanus?!” He gasps clamping his claws around his muzzle. But even he realizes that he just gave himself away. “Look I don’t want no trouble.”
“I know.” XLR8 growls trying to command the situation by keeping himself calm and poised. “That’s why you’re going to tell me everything you know about him.” He leans in close and growls. “I need to know everything. His strengths, weaknesses, how he fights, how he thinks. Everything.”
Unfortunately for him, Argit’s more annoyed than intimidated. “What makes you think I know anything?”
XLR8 gestures towards the very angry Lewodan kid who’s still growling and circling around the rat alien.
Argit pales. “Hey now let’s not go around accusing people.” With a quick breath, he brushes back his quirks, calming himself down. “Look, Vulkanus is not someone you wanna mess with. And ratting him out, well I’m as good as dead if I do that.” Argit sheepishly smiles.
“Argit, help me and I’ll make sure he gets what’s coming to him.”
Argit rolls his eyes. “Yeah, like I haven’t heard that one before?”
He can’t count how many times he’s heard that or a variation of that line from red spots and wannabe heroes.
Plus why would he give up a business partner like that? Vulkanus is good business and money, he’d be crazy to just toss all that aside.
XLR8 begins to panic, noticing Argit’s lack of interest in helping. “Please, you don’t understand. He’s got my friends.”
“Friends?” Argit’s eyes widen as a wicked smile begins to form across his face. “Oh, no way. Did he? Ha! He did! He captured those teen bimbos? Haha!” He’s full blown laughing now, clutching his gut as he mocks the girls’ misfortune. “Ha! Oh man, tough luck buddy.” Wiping a tear from his eye the laughing Argit places a hand on XLR8’s shoulder. “No way you’re getting them back now.” Not against Vulkanus at least. “Word of advice, you’re better off starting a new harem all together. Haha!”
XLR8’s eyes narrow and if Argit was paying attention he would know that he definitely crossed a line.
But when he finally notices XLR8’s demeanor, he frowns like he doesn’t understand why the red spot would be so upset. “What’s with that glare? You trying to imitate Eraserhead or something?”
XLR8 only continues to stare with a blank expression, his gaze narrowing ever so slightly as he remains deathly silent.
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“WAHHHH!!!” Argit screams from the top of his lungs! “Are you insane?! Who do you think you are, Eraserhead?!” He glares up at XLR8 as the ground lies 30 stories above his head.
XLR8 grips Argit’s tail tightly as he dangles him off the side of the building, grateful that it’s the weekend and no one's at work. He speaks calmly and patiently, like he knows that he’s in full control of the situation. “It’s been a long day and my friends are endanger. Just tell me what I need, okay?”
Argit sighs, calming himself down when he reminds himself that he’s dealing with a soft-hearted kid. “Look buddy. I know Eraserhead.” As a crook in Japan, it’s actually normal for him to get wrapped up in human related crimes and schemes too. And thus he has run-ins with actual Earth-bound heroes. “I once ratted out a counterfeiter to Eraserhead.”
He admits it was the same situation, he was dangled from the side of the building. But unlike Eraserhead, this kid lacks that intimidating factor.
Instead XLR8 remains silent, staring at Argit with an indifferent and calm expression.
Argit scoffs, almost amused by the kid’s sad attempt at being a threat. “And believe me, you are no Eraser-AHAHAH!
He let go! He actually let him go!!
Argit screams in absolute terror as he plummets down towards the ground. Flailing and spinning around in the air helplessly as he quickly approaches his demise.
From the side of the building XLR8 speeds down, keeping pace with the plummeting rat. “You were saying?”
“Alright! Alright! Alright!”
That’s all he needed to hear. XLR8 outpaces the falling Argit and makes it to the ground first. Once there he spins around and around in a small circle as fast as he can until he generates a small tornado that rises and rises into the air.
The wind catches Argit and it slows his descent guaranteeing his survival. When he’s low enough to the ground, XLR8 stops running, cutting off the wind, and Argit harmlessly falls to the ground with a loud thump!
Argit doesn’t even get a second to calm his racing heart as XLR8 grabs him by the collar and hoists him up, scowling.
Argit immediately coughs up his end of the deal. “Vulkanus, big guy. Touch skin and even tougher to take down!”
From around the corner Chopper and the baby Lewodan arrive, they arrive just in time to see XLR8 scowling at the rat alien.
“I know. Tell me something useful.”
Argit takes a deep breath and nods, adrenaline still coursing through his system after such a fall. “You saw his armor right? With all the spikes.”
“Yeah, so?”
“Yeah well there’s a reason for that. Pieces of that armor are from his glory days.”
XLR8 glares, frowning. “Glory days?”
“Yeah, back in the day Vulkanus was some champion for some gladiatorial type shit. Apparently he crushed anybody and everybody he ever faced.” Argit shrugs, not entirely convinced himself. “At least until the ringleader got blown up by some red spot.”
“Okay, cool but that doesn’t help me?”
“It does.” Argit corrects.
And XLR8 raises an eyebrow, rightfully confused.
Argit bows his head, wishing the kid would catch on faster. “Look there’s only two ways you can handle Vulkanus. One, you can fight him but obviously that’s already failed.”
XLR8 glares in response.
“Or two…you fight him.”
“What?”
“Hear me out.” Argit defends. “Vulkanus still holds pride over his gladiatorial wins and although he’s after that sweet sweet dough nowadays, he still loves a good one-on-one.” Argit smirks, confidently. “Especially when those fights have stakes.”
XLR8 listens intently. “Go on.”
“If you want to stop him, you have to challenge him to a one on one fight. And a deal: free your friends for whatever it is you can offer!”
XLR8’s can’t totally see how simple it could be. “Is that it?”
“Would I lie?”
XLR8 gives a cold furious glare.
Argit gulps, becoming very nervous for his safety. His eyes drifting towards the top of the building he was just dropped from before peering back at XLR8 pleadingly.
After an intense moment of silence and stares, XLR8 finally drops Argit. “Thanks.” he turns towards Chopper. “I think I can work with that.” He grins.
Meanwhile, Argit gets to his feet, shaking himself off while filing his collar. “There’s one more thing you should know.”
“What?”
“Vulkanus is a Detrovite.”
XLR8 frowns, waiting for Argit to explain what that actually means.
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“I can’t believe I was able to mess things up so badly.” Ochaco moans as she huddles against the forcefield. Guilt riddles within her, twisting her insides after she had just jumped in there without a plan. Maybe she’s been getting too cocky as of late. Serves her right honestly.
“Sorry Mina, some first day huh?”
“It’s not all bad.” Mina answers from the neighboring force field bubble. “I mean it’s definitely exciting. Albeit…in the worst way possible.”
After being captured, Vulkanus had their suspended forcefield bubbles moved out of the way and to be guarded by a duo of Pickaxe Aliens. Meanwhile, Vulkanus got the rest of them back to work while also delegating a squad to patrol the entrance for any more signs of intruders.
So Ochaco and Mina were forced to sit and wait as captives, watching as the Pickaxe Aliens work on all sorts of alien tech and crating it for transport. No doubt all of it is illegal but it's not like Ochaco’s knowledgeable enough to identify any of it.
When the aliens seemed distracted, Ochaco tried to use the small percentage of One For All she can use to smash her way out of the forcefield but once again she was met with an incredibly electrical shock while the forcefield remained intact. Even Mina gave it another go with her acid. But all their attempts failed. In fact the aliens were so confident they couldn’t escape that they straight up ignored them when they openly started to throw attack after attack at the forcefield bubble, but nothing worked.
After exhausting themselves, Mina tries to at least lighten the mood. “At least it can’t get any worse.” Oh, the poor naive girl, she is clearly showing just how much of a newb she is.
A hulking mass approaches. “Oh, yes it can.”
Mina scowls up at the behemoth. “What do you want, tusk breath?”
“Watch your language girly.” Vulkanus growls, looming over the two. “Behave or I’ll have to teach you some manners myself.” With a grin he gestures to the super cannon positioned parallel to them from across the underground dome.
The cannon, albeit shut off, is aimed right towards them. And a single Pickaxe Alien is standing near it, ready to turn it on and fire in a moment’s notice.
Ochaco begins to sweat nervously. “What are you going to do with us? We’re not worth anything to you!”
Vulkanus’ grin widens. “On the contrary you both can fetch me some sweet coin too.”
The girls’ breath hitches.
Ochaco shakes her head. “How? We’re more trouble than we’re worth.”
“Maybe but that won’t really be my problem after I sell ya off.”
Mina gasps! “Sell us off?!”
Ochaco’s fists clench. “Why… ? Why would you do that? Who would even pay for…a human and a half-human half-alien?”
“More than you’d think actually.” Vulkanus admits rather casually. “I have contacts with the spice mines of Kessel and they’re always in need of some more…workers. I’m sure there’s a mad doctor or two who would love to experiment on some Quirked humans.” He laughs. “Then of course I’ve heard that humans are considered rare delicacies in certain parts of the galaxy.”
The girls pale. He can’t be serious? But they know for a fact that he is.
In utter humiliation, Ochaco facepalms herself. “Ahhh! I can’t believe this. I’m so stupid!”
Vulkanus, surprisingly, frowns and interjects. “Hey, hey, don’t talk about yourself that way.” He sounds almost concerned. “You’re probably a very bright young lady who’s just having a bad day.”
“Ow. Thanks.” Ochaco is actually able to form a small smile in appreciation. “That's actually a really nice thing to say.” Surprising too.
“Hey, hey! It’s what I’m here for.” And with a grin and a clap of his hands, Vulkanus takes his leave. “Now if you will excuse me I got work to do.” And after that curious and odd interaction he stomps away so he could begin scrolling through his contacts for potential buyers.
With him out of ear shot, Mina presses her face against the bubble. “Don’t worry Ochaco. I’m sure Midoriya’s already on his way back with the rest of the space heroes to come and save us!”
Ochaco smiles, appreciating the sentiment. “Yeah, I think so too.”
Mina grins, feeling bolder and more confident. “Besides even if he comes alone he’s got to have some alien in that magical watch of his that he can poof up and take these aliens out!” She makes several punches and jabbing motions into the air.
“Mina, it’s not magic. But…” Ochaco’s eyes drift over to the large assortment of boxed weapons as well as the army of Pickaxe Aliens that can use them. “I’m not sure he does have an alien he could use. There’s too many of them and who knows what other weapons Vulkanus has lying around.”
He could even have something that could harm Diamondhead or put out Heatblast’s flames. Hell he might even have a freaking nuke lying around!
“Well okay, but Midoriya’s not totally defenseless he could always use his Quirk.” Mina states without a hint of irony.
Ochaco blinks, not sure she heard her right. “What did you say?”
Mina repeats herself. “You know, he could use his real Quirk.”
“Real Quirk?” Ochaco’s not sure why she keeps saying that.
And so Mina explains. “Well you guys said that One Man Army was just a cover. So, he’s just been hiding his real Quirk, right?”
Ochaco’s heart stops as she finally realizes that neither she nor Deku actually told her the full truth about his…situation.
Mina frowns, becoming worried after seeing Ochaco’s shocked eyes. “Oh, or maybe it’s an invisible Quirk. Or is it just a little more subtle like heightened senses?” She frowns, becoming more and more intrigued as she thinks about it. “Now I’m curious. Say Ochaco what is Midoriya’s Quirk?”
“Mina.” Ochaco looks her right in the eye, taking note to analyze the pink girls’ reaction. “Deku…doesn’t have a Quirk.”
Mina blinks, grinning like Ochaco just shared a bad joke. “Yeah, stop kidding. So what is it?”
“Mina…I'm being serious. Deku…Deku is Quirkless.”
“Oh…” It takes a moment for Mina to fully process what’s been said.
And the longer she’s silent the more and more Ochaco’s heart plummets. Does Mina have…prejudices against Quirkless people? She can’t, no! Yeah, Ochaco’s heard about it being a thing but…there’s no way Mina would. Right?
Mina finally speaks although it’s at a whisper. “That’s…”
Ochaco’s fear grows, ready to explode forth depending on her reaction.
“Unbelievably amazing!!”
What?
“He really doesn’t have a Quirk?!” Mina asks with a huge toothy grin.
While in disbelief and in shock of her reaction, Ochaco manages to give a small nod of her head.
“Woah! That’s incredible. So Midoriya’s like…the first person in the hero course that doesn't have a Quirk?”
“Yeah, I guess so.” Technically at least.
“That’s so cool!” Mina awes, her eyes sparkling. “Talk about guts! Taking on aliens, struggling on without a Quirk, and doing it all with style?!” She’s totally blown away! “Talk about the stuff of heroes. I bet even Mr. Aizawa would be impressed.”
Yeah, Ochaco kinda has to agree with her there. “You’re not wrong. Deku’s amazing. No matter how many times he’s knocked down, he always gets back up. Every single time.” And every single time he comes back stronger and smarter. “And I have no doubt he’ll be back to save us.”
Mina grins. “Yeah, he will.”
Ochaco nods. “Let’s just be sure we’re ready to help him out too.”
“Got it.” Mina frowns tilting her head to the side. “But…how will we know when too? We can't exactly move around freely.” She flicks the forcefield bubble as proof.
“Don't worry. If I know Deku, he’s got something crazy in mind already.”
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
She couldn’t have been more correct if she tried.
Izuku stands tall just before the school bus as the mountains of scrap metal lie around him under the summer sun.
With a new sense of confidence and preparedness, Izuku mentally prepares himself for the gauntlet.
He looks over at Chopper. “You remember the plan?”
Chopper’s whole-body shakes. ^Wap-bzz!^
“I’m going to assume that’s a yes.” Izuku then redirects his attention towards the baby Lewodan. “And you, make sure you stick close to Chopper alright?”
“Wreo wreo!” The baby nods before going in for another supportive snuggle.
Smiling in appreciation, Izuku pats it away with his left hand. “Good.”
With their plan ready, Izuku holds up the Omnitrix and begins to dial away. He knows exactly which alien he needs. He needs someone that can hold his own in a fight, who has some great endurance and strength. He needs an alien that commands attention while also presenting himself as a worthy challenger for Vulkanus. He needs Four Arms.
“Four Arms is more than capable of handling his job.” Izuku smiles, it feels good to be throwing out puns again, before he slams his hand down onto the Omnitrix, allowing the transformation sequence to take its hold.
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
Ochaco’s and Mina’s ears perk up; for a brief second they could have sworn they heard the faint sound of Deku transforming. They go silent, peering up towards the upper level of the dome where the main tunnel lies.
A few specs of dirt rumble and fall from the ceiling drawing everyone’s attention as a deathly silence befalls the entire mineshaft. The Pickaxe Aliens halt in their work, peering around, they can feel the hair on the back of their necks stand on end. A feeling of approaching doom overcoming them as they peer around nervously. They all stand with bated breath, listening.
And then there’s the faintest of sounds echoing from the mineshaft.
The teens and the aliens all peer up, even Vulkanus seems drawn to the echoing noise.
Soon the echoes become louder and they can hear the sounds of the Pickaxe Aliens that were sent to guard the entrance; they can hear their cries and the sounds of their bodies being pummeled into the ground!
The echoes of beatings and cries increase until they see a few guards getting themselves tossed right out of the mineshaft, knocked to the ground as unconscious heaps.
The entire underground dome loses their breath as a large hulking silhouette glares down at them all from above, the lights of the mineshaft obscuring and blinding anyone that tries to look directly at the intruder.
Vulkanus growls, whoever this prick is, he’s dead! “Who are you?! What business do you have?!” He demands.
The silhouette growls, pointing an accusing finger at the alien boss. “My business is with you Vulkanus!”
From her prison, Ochaco squints up at the intruder, the light not making it easy to see. “Four Arms…?”
“Oh?” Vulkanus smirks as he’s finally able to make out the faint glow of the Omnitrix on the alien’s body. “Welcome back Izuku Midoriya.” His grin widens. “I knew you’d be back, you Midoriyas always do.”
“You know my old man?!”
“Unfortunately. He’s been a huge thorn at my side for years.”
The transformed Izuku chuckles. “Then you’re really going to hate me.”
“ChrChrChrChr!!” The army of Pickaxe Aliens all raise their pickaxes, and they slowly begin to crawl their way closer towards the path leading up to the transformed alien.
Said alien glares down at them.
The intense gaze makes them all freeze up, their hearts stopping for a split second as fear kicks in. It feels like…it feels like a predator is eyeing them and their nothing but little field mice for it to stalk.
Vulkanus snarls, noticing his minions’ hesitation. But he too is hesitant if this kid is anything like his old man, he must have some sort of trick up his sleeve but what. “Don’t keep me waiting!” He yells. “You’re up to something, so what is it?”
From above they can hear the transformed Izuku pound a fist to his chest just before he declares out! “I challenge you to a duel, Vulkanus! I win, you give my friends back!”
Vulkanus scowls. “And if I win?”
There’s a moment of hesitation before Izuku gives his answer, he needs this to be tempting. “You get the…Lewodan back and…” Another moment of hesitation. “And you can have my Omnitrix!”
Ochaco and Mina gasp aloud, shocked! Just what does Deku think he’s doing?! Is he crazy?! Sure he can’t actually give up the Omnitrix, it’s essentially part of him, but the kid? No! Then what was the point of letting them get away?!
Meanwhile, a smug smirk graces Vulkanus’ lips as his minions all click and chatter excitedly. Looks like the deal was way too tempting.
“You got yourself a deal.” Vulkanus declares. “Just you and me. We keep going until the other surrenders or…” He grins as he delivers a very deadly warning. “They’re unable to continue.”
“ChrChrChrChr!!” The minions excitedly cheer and chatter, growing ever more excited and bloodthirst.
Vulkanus smirks up at the kid who has yet to reply back. “What's the matter? It’s too late to back out.” Vulkanus grins, mockingly. “Don’t tell me U.A.’s Rising Star is scared of me? Or.” His grin grows. “Is he not ready for the asswooping of his life?”
“ChrChrChrChr!!” The minions laugh.
Ochaco isn’t sure but she could have sworn that in that moment she heard the faintest of growls. But not a normal growl, but a growl of a ferocious and very…Pissed. Off. Beast.
As Vulkanus and the Pickaxe Aliens laugh, their moment is ruined as Izuku leaps down from above and crashes down, kicking up one hell of a dust cloud!
Ochaco and Mina’s jaws drop at the sight before them, and even Vulkanus looks surprised so much so he stumbles back a bit as if he’s…afraid.
“Let me tell you something, Vulkanus!!” The beast roars out, his dual black claws shining under the fluorescent lights, his orange and black fur coating his muscular build. “Rath is going to kick your hinny!!”
Vulkanus stumbles back, before standing his ground and trying to gain back his confidence. “An Appoplexian?!” He didn’t use that during the Sports Festival!
Rath growls an animalistic snarl, his teeth bared as he stands tall like the tall bipedal tiger that he is. “Rath is going to wipe the floor with you! Then Rath is going to use your own goons to wipe you off the floor! And then Rath is going to wipe the floor with you all again and use it as a litter box!!”
Vulkanus frowns, raising an eyebrow. “That made no sense.”
...
“You make no sense! RAAAWWR!!” With the roar of a top predator, Rath pounces forward and delivers one hell of a clobbering!
WHAM!!! BAM!!! SLAM!!! Every punch lands with such precious and ferocity, each blow knocking Vulkanus back. He’s nothing but a giant punching bag for Rath to use at his leisure!
“RAAWWR!!” Rath roars as he cups his hands together before swinging them up and into Vulkanus’ jaw!!
The massive alien goes down, knocked onto his back groaning in pain.
“Yeah!” Rath cheers, his adrenaline pumping! “Rath rules! Like holy cow this alien is so cool!” Looks like Rath’s intensity is getting to Izuku, and he likes it. “Like for real, Rath can kick some serious booty!”
“Guh…” Vulkanus groans in pain, lifting his head off the ground.
Rath immediately loses his shit. “Stay down or Rath is going to kick your teeth in! RAAWWWR!!” After he roars, his eyes widen, and he stops as if realizing something: this amount of rage and pride within him is intoxicating. “Huh? Is this how Bakugou feels all the time?” That might explain some things. “Huh, weird.”
If he thinks that weird than Vulkanus breaking into a fit of haunting laughter is just plain freaky! “Haha…hahaha. Hahaha! HAHAHA!”
“What’s so funny?!” Rath demands to know! He must know!
Vulkanus continues to laugh as he rises to his feet. He grips his jaw, massaging it and putting back into place even while chuckling. “I can’t remember the last time someone knocked me on my ass.” His fists flex just before he slams them together, the slam echoing across the mine. “I might actually enjoy this. Heheha.”
Rath snarls. “Let me tell you something, Vulkanus, known smuggler and alien criminal boss! You may be big! But Rath is even bigger!” To prove his point he raises his arms to up at his sides and flexes.
Without a single word Vulkanus quickly marches forward until his towering mass looms above even that of bipedal tiger.
“Except for the part where you’re taller…! And…heavier than me… But that doesn't matter!” Rath yells out in declaration! “Because the bigger they are, the harder-!”
WHAMM!!!
Vulkanus’ fist strikes like a cannonball, smashing into the Appoplexian’s face and launching him back into the dirt!!
“ChrChrChrChr!!” The spectating Pickaxe Aliens all cheer out!
“Gahhh…” Rath groans his head spinning in a daze. With a quick shake of his head he shakes off his aching pain. “Grrrr. Yaahhhh!!”
Rath charges in blindly, aiming to throw Vulkanus back onto the ground. But the alien boss expertly sidesteps and grabs him by the arm and by his neck before spinning him around and slamming the transform Izuku’s face into the dirt!
Rath’s steaming mad now! “Grrr. That’s it! No one makes Rath eat it! No one! Rath is-Gah!”
Vulkanus shoves Rath’s face further into the dirt. “Oh, put a sock in it!”
“ChrChrChrChr!!”
With his goons cheering him on, the grinning Vulkanus gets up while Rath is motionless on the ground he grabs the beast by his ankles, and he begins to spin him around and around.
Rath is lifted into the air as Vulkanus swings him around and around like they’re a spinning top! “Woah! Woah Woah! Hey! Cut. It. Out!” Rath’s face actually turned green and his cheeks inflate as he tries to hold back his lunch. “Oh…! Bleh, Rath’s going to hurl…!”
“Rah!” With one last swing Vulkanus let’s go and throws Rath across the battlefield and into the side of a metal truck container!
“ChrChrChrChr!!”
As Rath pulls himself out of the container, he roars and jumps right back in for more. The two brutes exchanging blows and insults.
Ochaco and Mina can do nothing but watch from their imprisonment as Rath struggles against the much more experienced Vulkanus.
Mina winces as Rath one hell of a gut punch. “Do you think he’s got this?”
“I hope so…” Ochaco frowns, her mind not focused on the fight. “But something doesn’t feel right.” Something is seriously off about this, almost…underhanded.
Mina gives her a questioning look.
“This seems too…straightforward. It’s too easy of a plan.” Deku wouldn’t come back here without a real plan, would he?
“Hey, Ochaco.”
Ochaco peers over at her pink friend.
Mina points over the fight and towards the edge of the cheering aliens. “Look.”
Ochaco follows her finger and her eyes pop open when she spots Chopper sneaking his away from the outskirts of the distracted army. A floating vanilla swirl following behind him in a hurry.
Ochaco gasps aloud! “What’s he doing here?!”
“ChrChr?!” The lone guard, who was watching the fight, spins around after hearing her shout.
But the girls, acting fast, leaned back and made sure they looked as bored as possible. Wanting to look as innocent and clueless as possible.
It seems to work as the guard turns back around to watch something that’s far more interesting and intense.
The moment he looks away Ochaco and Mina lean against the force fields trying to get a better look at the droid’s antics.
From across the way and through the crowd, Chopper stops, and he spots the two girls looking right at him. His metal arm pops out and he waves. The floating ice cream follows the droid's gaze and begins to bounce slightly from side to side in greeting.
Mina blinks. “What is he doing?”
Meanwhile, Ochaco’s face breaks into a smile. “I knew it. Deku really does have a plan.”
He better because if getting his face punched is part of it, it better be a good one.
“Ow!” Rath yelps. “No, headshots!”
He jumps forward and delivers one mean right hook to Vulkanus’ own face.
Vulkanus stumbles back, holding the side of his head. “Hypocrite.”
“Rahh!” Rath leaps up, his elbows aimed down ready to deliver a strike from above.
Vulkanus catches him and tosses him aside!
“Woah!!” Rath crashes down atop a pile of crates, all of them becoming splinters under his weight.
“ChrChrChrChr!!”
“Yeah! Yeah!” Vulkanus takes a moment to soak up the limelight, allowing his minions to sing his praises while his opponent is down.
“Ouch.” Rath groans, picking his head up.
As he shakes his head something orange and small catches his attention out of the corner of his eye.
Looking over Rath spots Chopper sneaking his away behind the distracted aliens using anything he can as cover as the baby follows close behind him.
But what has Rath concerned is that he’s not heading for the girls! Instead Chopper stealthily makes his way right for the super cannon!
Chopper’s hacking device pops out and he immediately inserts it into the weapon hacking and tampering away at its program.
Chopper’s head spins around, keeping a lookout, and that’s when he spots the downed Rath glaring daggers at him.
Rath quietly mouths his rage. “You were supposed to save the girls.”
Chopper dismisses the comment with a wave as he continues to hack the cannon.
Rath growls. This is not good: Chopper was supposed to rescue the girls while he distracted everyone!
What’s he doing over there?! He’s going to ruin everything!! “Let me tell you something Ch-”
Vulkanus’ meaty fingers grab Rath by the head and then he finds himself tossed into the air and thrown across to the other side! “Waaahhh!”
“ChrChrChrChr!!” The Pickaxe Aliens cheer as he drops to the ground.
Pissed Rath leap to his feet. “That is it!!” He charges right for the smug Vulkanus. “Rath is going to tear you a new one!!”
And so Rath delivers the hurt with an onslaught of finishing moves!! Each and every one delivering a massive blow to Vulkanus!
“Cosmic Drop!!”
“Incursion Ambassador!!”
“Sirius Butt Kicking!!”
“Tetramand Elbow Drop!!”
Ochaco’s jaw drops, her eyes brimming with glee as she watches Rath pull off such amazing wrestling moves and attacks!
She watches as Rath leaps up, grabs Vulkanus’ face and slams it down to meet his knee!
“That’s a Codebreaker!”
While Vulkanus is down, Rath climbs onto a forklift and jumps off of it, he raises his arms as he comes down for a body slam!
“A Frog Splash!”
And finally as Vulkanus stumbles to his feet Rath pounces but instead of his claws, he throws his legs forward, wrapping them around Vulkanus’ head before throws his own body over with Vulkanus and tosses his head to the ground.
“And a Hurricanrana!!” Ochaco can’t look away, she’s completely enraptured with the brutal match. “So, cool! Rath’s going all out, delivering finishing moves after finishing moves like he’s in a fighting game!!”
From the nearby force field bubble, Mina’s jaw drops at the sight of Ochaco’s dazzled expression. She’s in complete shock to learn of Ochaco’s secret and very obvious obsession! ‘Ochaco you’re a…closet WWE fan?!’ Huh, who knew?
^Wa. Wa-wa. Wa!^
Mina peers down and sees that Chopper has finally made it over to them. “It’s you!”
Chopper salutes up at her. ^Bzzz-bop!^
Ochaco snaps out of her enrapture, becoming serious and hurried. “Hurry, Chopper. Before they notice.”
Chopper immediately inserts his hacking device into the forcefield projectors.
As he does so, the baby Lewodan floats up and around the bubbles, smiling and waving to the teens inside. “Wero wero.”
Mina gushes. “Aw~. What a cutie~.”
“Wero wero!” The baby Lewodan cheers.
“ChrChrChr!!”
The cadets’ heads snap up to see that the guard has finally decided to check on them. And boy was he surprised to see an astromech and a baby trying to free their prisoners. “ChrChrChr!!”
His calls grab the attention of his fellow aliens and those that heard come running over to stop them.
“Hurry, Chopper!” Ochaco screams!
^Wa! Bo-wap!^ And with one last turn her forcefield bubble goes down.
Without a second to lose, Ochaco springs forward and slams her open palms onto the aliens before shoving them back and watching as they begin to float away. “Release!”
And with a touch of her fingers the floating aliens fall right onto their comrades.
Ochaco stands her ground as Mina’s released too, she then yells out! “Deku, it’s time to go!!”
From the battlefield, Rath turns and smiles, more than pleased to see his plan worked. Although they weren’t supposed to be spotted, but hey, at least they're free.
“You filthy double-crosser!” Vulkanus’ roars, upon seeing the freed captives and the little astro droid! “You liar! You were never going to uphold your end of the deal were you?!”
“Ah, doy!!” Rath responds smugly. “Why would Rath trust a criminal to keep his word?!”
After all Vulkanus is a criminal, a villain! It would have been stupid to think he’d even keep his end of the bargain if, when, he lost!
Vulkanus looks mighty offended. “Not fair!” From behind his back, he pulls out the Heat Ray and fires.
Rath ducks down and dodges it.
Vulkanus huffs. “I mean, yeah, I was going to double-cross ya.” He aims his Heat Ray. “I’m just mad that you did it to me first.”
Rath growls, remaining still as he’s held at gunpoint.
In the meantime, Vulkanus eyes the teens who are fighting off his goons. And amongst the fight he spots it, the baby Lewodan.
Quickly he addresses his nearby goons. “Grab the Lewodan and kill those no-good bitches along with that droid!”
The army of goons nod and run off.
Vulkanus growls down at Rath. “As for you.” The Heat Ray begins to charge. “You’re toast.”
He fires but Rath, acting fast, leaps to the side, rolling away to avoid it. “Let me tell you something, Vulkanus! Rath is going to turn you into toast! Yah!!”
Leaping forward and with a swing of his claw, he swats the gun out and away from Vulkanus’ grip before slugging him with an uppercut!
As they struggle to overcome the other, Ochaco and Mina flank Chopper, who’s personally overseeing the baby's safety, protecting them both from incoming attacks from the Pickaxe Aliens. They move forward as one, trying to fight their way towards the exit.
Ochaco slams her fist into a floating forklift and it rockets forward, smashing it into a wave of incoming goons.
Mina slams her own hand onto an incoming alien’s face. The alien screams and runs away as Mina does her best to channel Emote.
“You’re getting better with that!” Ochaco cheers.
Mina grins. “I’m trying.” She leaps back and side kicks a minion away. “But I’ll do my best!”
“Wero wero!” The baby Lewodan cheers them on as they continue their way forward!
The group follows the edge of the underground mine, this way they only have to defend their one side. As they run, a flying Rath crashes into the wall before them!
Rath groans and growls as he pulls himself out of the rubble.
Seeing that he’s okay, Ochaco snaps demanding to know why he brought the kid here! “Why’ didn’t you leave him somewhere safe?” Why’d he bring him into the hornet’s nest!?
Rath snarls down at her, not approaching her hurried tone. “Hey! Rath was worried he wouldn’t be safe by himself!”
The last thing they needed was for the kid to go missing again, especially since Vulkanus could have gone looking for him! There would be no one to protect him then and Rath needed Chopper’s help!
Mina doses the ground with acid, forcing some goons to back away. “Also, why’d you go with the name Rath?”
Rath shrugs. “It just felt right, that’s why! Wah!”
A heat ray nearly burns his head clean off.
Rath glares at Vulkanus who’s managed to grab the Heat Ray again.
“Get the kid out of here!!” Rath lunges forward, making a beeline for his prey! “RAAWWR!!!
As Ochaco and Mina see to it, with Chopper's help, Rath takes on Vulkanus one more time!
Vulkanus fires shot after shot at the charging Appoplexian. But Rath dodges and rolls out of the way until he’s reached his target.
With a single swipe, his razor sharp claw slices through the Heat Ray. The weapon igniting upon itself as it falls apart in Vulkanus’ grip.
“That was expensive!” Vulkanus throws his fist forward.
Rath slaps the fist away before he throws himself onto Vulkanus, knocking them both to the ground! Rath pins him down, using the alien’s own mass to weigh him down as he basically stands on top of him.
“You're going to tell Rath everything!” Rath screams into his face, spit flying everywhere. “Why would anyone want to harm such a cute defenseless baby?!”
Vulkanus blinks, processing the question, before snickering. “Are you kidding? Do you have any idea how much dough I could get from that little pile of goo?” He smirks. “Let me tell ya, it’s a gold mine.”
Rath snarls. “You make Rath sick.”
“Sick? Haha, you should see my client.” Vulkanus taunts. “After all they ordered the goods, I just delivered ‘em.”
Rath frowns. “The goods? Deliver?”
“Let me simplify it for ya.” Vulkanus growls. “I deliver the brat and the client gets his sweet treat!”
Rath’s breath hitches, and even the escaping teens stop in their tracks, stunned.
“Sweet treat?” Rath’s in total shock. “You mean…” And then it clicks. “You’re just the Uber Eats driver?!”
“That’s one way to look at it.” Vulkanus admits.
Rath snarls, gripping Vulkanus up by the collar so their faces could meet. “You messed up pile of rotten tomatoes! Are you saying you’re clients going to eat the baby?”
Vulkanus’ silence is all he needs to hear.
“You. Are. Sick!” SLAM!!! Rath’s fist collides with the creep’s jaw!
Punch, after punch, after punch, Rath yells out at the wrongness of it all! “That’s. Just. Wrong! No one, and I mean no one shall harm!” WHAM!!! “An innocent kid!” BLAM!!! “While Rath is on the job!!” SLAM!!!
Vulkanus groans his head spinning in pain as Rath’s powerful grip lifts him up by his skull.
As if sensing the end, the Pickaxe Aliens stop attacking and watch as their boss is manhandled by his skull. Even the cadets take a moment to pause and watch with utter horror.
Rath snarls like a furious beast as he lifts Vulkanus up, readying his shining sickle black-claw. “It’s over, Vulkanus!!”
He swings his claw and it slices through Vulkanus’ neckline!
“RAAAWWR!” Rath unleashes an animalistic roar as he rips Vulkanus’ skull right out from his own body!!!
Bodily liquids gush and ooze out as Vulkanus’ headless body tumbles to its knees and collapses to the ground as a still fleshy mess.
Ochaco and Mina watch on, horrified and appalled. He did it, Deku…crossed the line…he…he…
Rath, causally sniffs the decapitated head in his hands, before gagging and tossing it aside like a piece of garbage.
Watching him acting so casually about a murder, Ochaco feels like the world has turned upside down. “Deku!” She cries out in anguish after watching someone she’s trusted for so long to just throw all his morals away! “How could you?! We’re supposed to be heroes?!”
Rath frowns, looking confused and not at all like he murdered someone in cold blood. “What?!” And then he remembers, they don’t know. “Oh, you mean Vulkanus. Naw, I wouldn’t worry about him, he’s fine.”
Mina pales, quivering. “But you…” She can’t even say it.
Rath shakes his head. “What?! No I didn't. Guys he’s a Detrovite!”
The girls blinks, not understanding what that means.
Rath sighs. “It means that he can survive decapitation!”
WHAT!?!
“You…no…good bastard. *Cough*”
Rath glares down at Vulkanus’ scowling head, a lump of gooey flesh attached at his base allowing him to move around like an ugly orange slug.
Vulkanus glares up at Rath. “Do you have an idea how long it’ll take for my body to grow back?!’”
Rath chuckles. “Long enough for it to grow back in prison?”
Meanwhile, the girls feel like their heads are going to explode! He’s alive?! Vulkanus is actually alive?! How?! What?! That doesn’t make sense! But, hey, it’s just a relief to see that Deku hadn’t actually gone too far. Like come on, a Deku that was willing to kill…talk about scary.
“That’s it!” Vulkanus snarls as one of his minions picks him up. “Screw the reward! I wanna see them dead! Blow them all to kingdom come!!”
Immediately a minion starts up the super cannon and it begins to glow and charge up with energy.
The teens gasp, backing away as the cannon turns towards them. The villain and his minions all grin with glee. However, none of them noticed just how smug and calm Chopper seemed to be.
“Chr!!” The minion manning the cannon is flung back as sparks fly out from the console!
Vulkanus gasps! “What?! No?!”
The cannon sparks and jolts in place, its gears and wires grinding and snapping from within as it continues to charge and charge. But unlike before where the charge was low and swift, the humming grows and grows as the cannon begins to twitch and beep louder and louder!
“What’s happening?!” Mina screams.
^Bo-wap! Bzz-op!^ Chopper responds.
Rath turns, growling. “What did he say?!”
Surprisingly, Vulkanus is the one to answer for him. His face pale and his eyes wide. “You stupid bucket of bolts! You tempered with the cannon’s core?!”
Rath frowns. “What does that mean?!”
“It means.” Vulkanus growls before screaming out in horror! “That cannon is going to BLOW!!!”
All three cadets cry out! “WHAT!?!”
Chopper laughs. ^Wawawawa! Wa-bop!^
Vulkanus growls, glaring at the tin can, before he calls out to his goons!” Evacuate the liar! Grab all that you can!!”
“ChrChrChrChr!!”The Pickaxe Aliens jump to it, grabbing all that they can before scrambling for the exits, leaving much of the bigger equipment and crates behind.
“We better go too!” Ochaco shouts as she presses a hand to everyone’s shoulders, and her friends all begin to float into the air.
^Waa!!^ Chopper shoots out a cable that Ochaco immediately catches, a floating Rath then grabs the droid while using his free hand to grab Mina who is holding onto the Lewodan baby. The moment she knows they're secured, Ochaco focuses allowing One For All to course through her legs.
However she takes a little too long as all the Pickaxe Aliens have already escaped the mine.
Rath begins to sweat as he remains suspended in the air. “Let me tell you something, Ochaco Uraraka, my best friend and sister in arms! Rath doesn’t want to get blow up today or ever!!”
“And. You. Won’t!!” With her friends’ lives on the line Ochaco kicks into high gear!
She races forward, pulling her friends along behind her like their balloons as she races through the mineshaft!
She sprints as fast as she can, while not straining herself too much, but half way through the tunnel she heard it. The sounds of the super weapon going quiet before a thunderous explosion rings out throughout the mineshaft! And the sound of the earth crumbling and being blasted apart behind them was heard!
Ochaco gives it all she’s got. She sees the exit and with one final push she zooms right through the junked bus, bursting out of its front window before zipping to the side and behind a pile of scrap metal. Once there she releases her friends and they all duck down behind a junked Sudan!
And just in time as an electric explosion bursts from the mineshaft! The blast echoes throughout the scrapyard as cracks in the earth form and the underground mine-shaft caves in on itself, bringing the mountain of scrap pile down over it.
It appears the explosion was able to contain itself, not leaving the perimeter of the underground mine, bringing down about half of the scrapyard down on top of it.
As the dust settles and the ground stops shaking, the cadets, the droid, and their little friend all step out from their hiding place.
In a flash of red, Rath is gone, replaced by a very drained Izuku who scans the scrapyard for any signs of life.
And then the hum of an engine is heard and gusts of wind forces them all to brace themselves. Peering up they find Vulkanus’ ship hovering above them, and out from the open hanger, is the slug of a crime boss himself.
Vulkanus scowls down at the twerps. “You got lucky this time! But I swear I will get you back for this!” The ship begins to rise into the air. “Mark my words Midoriya!”
Izuku scowls, with his Omnitrix timed out he can’t apprehend the villain, but he can still get the last word in. “The name’s…Deku.” He declares coldly and calmly as he adjusts the collar of his hoodie.
Vulkanus scowls even harder. “Deku.”
The ship's cargo bay closes, it then disappears behind its own cloaking device, before they can hear the engines roar off in the sky. And then all is quiet.
It’s over, they won, they saved the day!
“Woah!!” Mina throws her arms up into the air and falls back, not caring in the slightest about the garbage. She’s just glad to be alive! “That was amazing! You guys do this every day?!”
Ochaco smiles sheepishly. “We try not to.”
“Awesome!” Mina leaps to her feet. “I’ve got to get in on this!”
Izuku blinks. “Does that mean…?”
“Yup!” Mina cheers. “You’ve got yourself a new cadet!”
Izuku and Ochaco smile, more than happy to have her aboard from now on.
^Wa. Wa.^ Chopper groans.
Izuku can only assume that he’s whining.
“Wero Wero!” The Lewodan cheers out his high pitched squeaks.
Izuku smiles as he pats the little guy's head. “Now, let’s get you home. I think your parents have waited long enough.”
“Wero wero!”
Ochaco, however, has other concerns. “So, um, how do we explain this?” She gestures towards the caved-in scrapyard.”
Izuku frowns worriedly no doubt they would get in trouble for this: imagine the property damage and the fact they didn’t receive an okay from anybody. Oh, boy he can already see Thirteen’s disappointed look right now.
Mina chuckles sheepishly. “I won’t say anything if you guys don't.”
And in that moment, Ochaco and Izuku silently agreed that Mina might not be the best influence. Not that they’re going to disagree with her, this time at least.
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“My darling, son.” The Lewodan mother cooes as she and her husband embrace their found child. “I’m so happy you’re safe.”
“Wero wero!” The baby coos and whistles in glee as he snuggles into their warm embrace.
From the parking lot outside Mr. Baumann’s store, the cadets, Chopper, and Mr. Baumann watch on with soft smiles and warm hearts.
“Aw, now isn’t that something.” Mina wipes at her eyes. “I think we can call this a Quest Complete!”
Ochaco smiles on. “Yeah.”
Thirteen’s voice calls out to them. “Good job, kids!”
Izuku lights up, spinning around to face the Plumber. “Hey, Thirte-Woah! What happened to you?!”
Thirteen’s a complete mess, a total opposite of how the woman started their day. Thirteen’s costume hangs limply off their body, having been torn to shreds. And the helmet looks cracked and beaten as Thirteen tucks it under their arm, unable to wear it as it is. Thirteen’s soft face is all scratched up and burned, and it looks like a blackeye is starting to form too.
Thirteen sheepishly smiles, rubbing the back of their head. “Oh, this, I got into a little scuffle is all. Nothing to worry about.”
Izuku sweatdrops. “R-right…”
“So, how’d your day go?” Thirteen looks over and sees the reunited Lewodan family. “It looks like things went well.”
“Yeah…” The cadets all shared pained looks, reminding each other to keep quiet.
Mr. Baumann, however, speaks up singing their praises. “They did a fine job, actually. They just helped find a missing child.”
“Did they now?” Thirteen smiles before turning the cadets. “Where was he?” They ask innocently enough.
The cadets all internally panic as they all shout out at once! “Outside!/Subway!/Playground!”
Thirteen raises an eyebrow, questioning their answers. But to be fair they couldn’t really make out what they said since they shouted over each other.
Before Thirteen can ask for them to explain, the baby Lewodan floats over cooing and squeaking as he bobs around his rescuers with a gleeful smile. “Wero wero!”
Izuku smiles up at the little ice cream swirl. “You’re welcome little guy.”
He reaches up with his left arm to pat his head but the baby instead lowers just at Izuku’s wrist and begins snuggling the Omnitrix while cooing out some sort of request. “Wero? Wero?”
Izuku immediately gets the message, “Oh, you wanna see Rath again?”
“Wero!” The baby nods.
Thirteen frowns, dropping their busted helmet to the ground. “Rath?”
Ochaco lights up, rushing over and grabbing Thirteen’s arm! “Oh, Thirteen you gotta see Deku’s newest alien!”
“New alien?!” Thirteen lights up, just as excitedly as Ochaco! “Let’s see it!”
With a shiteating grin, Izuku dials the alien up! “Rath!!” He roars out as said transformation!!
“Wero wero wero!!” The baby circles around the bipedal tiger, absolutely delighted to see him again!
“Hehe.” Rath smiles, his fangs glimmering under the hot sun. “Cool, right?”
“An Appoplexian.” Thirteen eyes Rath from head to toe while cupping their chin. “Interesting.”
Mina walks over, leaning forward to look up a Thirteen. “What do you know about them?”
“Appoplexians are powerful, argumentative, and extremely aggressive.” Thirteen frowns, concerningly. “They also believe any problem can be solved by hitting it.”
Ochaco and Mina give deadpan stares, processing that information. ‘Huh, that kinda reminds me of someone.’ They can’t help but think of Bakugou in that moment.
“Rath is totally awesome!” Rath declares while flexing and striking an array of poses! “Rath kicked some serious hinny today!”
Thirteen’s eyes widen. “Today?” They eye the kids suspiciously.
In response to the scrutinizing stare the cadets all become very sheepish, even Rath, averting their gazes in the hopes they don’t have to be the one to answer.
Mr. Baumann picks up on it. Glowering as he places his hands on his waist and glares down at the kids. “Kids? Is there something you’d like to tell Thirteen?”
They immediately respond, out of sync and all at once. “No./Not really./Nothing!”
Thirteen glares at them harder, as if that’ll make them crack.
Chopper snickers before calling attention to himself. “Wa-wop.^ From out of his projector an array of photos, videos, and audio dance on a holographic screen before them all.
Thirteen’s eyes widen as they step closer to the holograms, almost transfixed on them and how things went.
The cadets’ jaws drop as they watch videos of themselves getting captured and fighting off Vulkanus and his goons! That backstabbing droid was recording them the whole time?!
“Kids.”
The cadets all freeze up.
They watch as Thirteen slowly turns around, their eyes gleaming with a silent rage. Thirteen speaks low yet coldly, wanting straight answers, no excuses. “When were you going to tell me you got captured by Vulkanus?”
The kids share worried looks, before Mina gives the Plumber a sheepish response. “Um, we weren't.” Maybe Thirteen will take it easy on them.
Thirteen’s steaming mad, their glare intensifying tenfold. Clearly they won’t be getting off so easily.
^Wawawawa!^ Chopper shuts down the holograms, laughing at their expense.
Rath, however, can’t seem to find the situation as funny as the droid can. “Let me tell you something C1-10P, also known as Chopper who happens to be my Dad’s out-of-date astromech! Rath is going to make you pay!! Rahh!!” Rath charges!
^Woooo! Wop-wop!^ Chopper panics, wheeling away as fast as he can with an angry Appoplexian on his tail!
“You can’t run from Rath!!”
^Waaa!!^
Ochaco facepalms as Mina tries to look away. Meanwhile Thirteen only becomes even more disappointed with their behavior.
They watch as Chopper wheels around the parking lot only to get himself cornered between several cars.
“Ha. Ha. Ha.”
Chopper freezes in place, slowly turning around to find a grinning Rath looming over him.
“Rath has you now!!” Rath lunges for the droid.
^Wa! Wa!^ Chopper wheels out of the way!
*CRUNCH!!!*
Rath goes cold. “Oh, no…”
He missed, he missed Chopper, but…he didn’t miss the car…Mr. Baumann’s CAR!!!
“Izuku.”
Rath’s hairs stand on end, a shiver running down his spine as he freezes in place. He knows, he knows he can’t escape Mr. Baumann’s wrath now. “No wait! Rath will buff it out! Look!”
He spins round and raises his fist! “Hiyah!”
*CRUNCH!!!*
Rath starts breaking into a cold sweat now. “Oops.” he made it worse!
The entire hood of the car has been flattened down like an elephant decided to dance on it!
Thirteen facepalms, groaning in agony. “Like I said, Appoplexians think they can solve everything by hitting it.”
Rath covers and whimpers as a steaming Mr. Baumann marches forward with his dangerous mop in hand. “IZUKU!!!”
The boy cries out in agony! “Rath. Is. SORRY!!!”
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“Ah, I’m finally home.” Izuku lets out a heavy sigh as he steps through the door frame.
Everything hurts, and who knew Mr. Baumann had such a mean swing? Ow, his hinny still hurts.
From the hallway Inko appears to be having an enthralling discussion with her husband, who has his back turned towards the door. Inko spots her son at the doorway, she lights up and notifies Hisashi.
Hisashi spins around but before he can say a word the brimming Inko gives him a shove forward!
Nearly tripping forward, Hisashi laughs, clearly he’s in a good mood. “Ah, hey Champ!”
“Hey, Dad. How was your errand?” Izuku greets exhaustedly. ‘And what’s with Mom she seems…giddy?’
“It went better than expected actually.” He shares a smile with his wife before turning back towards their son. “How was your day?”
Izuku’s eyes glaze over as he flashback to the day’s events: the squidling, his friends capture, Argit, Vulkanus, the explosion, and finally the Sirius Butt Kicking curtesy of Mr. Baumann.
Izuku shivers, but he tries to keep an air of cheeriness, not wanting his Plumber of a Dad to find out what happened. “Let’s just say…I really need a vacation. ” He laughs, sheepishly.
Hisashi perks up. “A vacation?”
From behind him, Inko giggles into her hand.
Hisashi breaks into a huge grin. “Funny you mention that.”
Izuku frowns, confused. “Okay.” he places his hands on his hips as he gives his parents accusing looks. “What are you up to?” They’re scheming something up, he can tell.
Hisashi’s smile only widens as he steps toward the door. “Here I’ll show you.” And he leaves.
Izuku sighs. “But I just got home, whatever…” he looks over towards his Mom, hoping she can clarify.
Inko does not. “Don't worry honey. Go! I think you’ll like it.” She gushes.
Izuku’s suspicions only grow but he relents, following his Dad down the building and around back toward the alleyway.
“Dad, please, I had a long day. Can you just tell me what this is about?”
Hisashi stops just before the alleyway, he turns around and gets down so he can be eye level with his boy. “Izuku we’ve been apart for a while.” He smiles back at Inko who gives him an encouraging nod. “And your mother and I think it’s a good idea if you and I tried to spend more time together at least before school starts up again. You know to get to know each other better and…maybe make some new memories.”
Izuku cracks into a soft smile. Is that all this was about? Of course he’ll try to hang out with his Dad. He can spare a few days of the week for him this summer. As long as they don’t have Plumber stuff to do.
Upon seeing his smile, Hisashi gets up and gestures towards the alley. “Also since we had this old thing lying around, I figured we could use it…for the summer.” he adds in the last part rather too quickly.
But Izuku still caught it. “Wait?” For the summer? “What is it?” What could they possibly need for the whole summer?
Hisashi smiles as he disappears into the alley.
Curious Izuku follows and his jaws drop when he finds his answer!
“Izuku, say hello to-” Hisashi throws his hands out, presenting the one and only miracle that is! “-the Rust Bucket!!”
The so-called “Rust Bucket” is an RV!! And the name “Rust Bucket” definitely fits. The thing’s a hunk of junk, it’s actually a miracle if it can still run! Just how old is it?!
The RV is big, with six-wheels and the entire cab is surrounded by windows. There’s a driver side door and a passenger door to access the back of the old RV. It’s a light rusted bash in color with a red stripe and a blue stripe circling round the body. Up on top are two storage units for the AC and heater along with an array of satellites and antennas. And of course the whole thing is coated with rust!
Just looking at this thing Izuku quickly picks up on the actual surprise. And he’s not sure if he should be excited…or terrified.
Hisashi breaks into a brimming smile as he slings an arm over his son’s shoulders! “That’s right, Izuku! This summer, we’re going on our first-ever Father and Son ROAD TRIP!!!”
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Psyphon silently enters the command center where his master is seated upon his throne.
Vilgax glares down at Psyphon as he continues to indulge himself in Earth’s vast internet and records. “Has this Sensei finally given us a location?”
“Yes, my Master.” Psyphon bows. “We just received his transmission. He sent us the coordinates and the meeting shall take place in a few days’ time.”
“Excellent.” Vilgax grins behind his breathing apparatus. “And what of the surveillance drones?”
“We’ve deployed more than a hundred droids to survey the planet, a majority of which are now monitoring the country known as Japan.”
“Excellent.”
Psyphon eyes Vilgax nervously before finally speaking up. “Master if I may, why have you indulged these humans as you have?” he spits, revolted by the idea. “It disgusts me, should we not force them under our boot and-!” he immediately silences himself the moment Vilgax waves a hand for him to do so.
Despite this Vilgax actually holds no ill will, in fact he can understand Psyphon’s frustrations.
“I’m intrigued, Psyphon.” He admits much to Psyphon’s surprise. “This League of Villains fascinates me.”
Ever since he was stuck in the healing pod, Vilgax’s indulged himself in finding out as much about this world as he can. Especially about the humans and society that occupies Japan. It’s fascinating to witness the effects of how this society that’s oversaturated with heroes, the embodiments of justice and freedom, could be so striking and limiting.
“Despite their society’s norms and regulations, they have somehow slipped through the cracks and are now festering within them. Compromising the integrity of their own nation from the inside.”
Psyphon frowns, not understanding a thing. “Master?”
“This Sensei intrigues me especially, there’s something about this one.” Vilgax sits back as holograms of the League of Villains’ escapades dance before him. “The way he commands others, sets things in motions, I can’t help but think of myself, honestly.”
Psyphon is at a complete loss here, becoming worried for his master. What is he saying? He doesn’t understand.
“Psyphon!”
“Y-yes, my Master!”
“Prepare the communication center. I need to begin my preparations.”
“Preparations?”
“Yes.” Vilgax eyes the holographic news media, his eyes landing on photos of Tomura Shigaraki, Kurogiri, and Nue as they watch the destruction of Hosu City from atop a water tower. “I wish to start a League of my own.” he admits as the news media changes to images of the ferocious and monstrous Nomus…
THE PREVIEW:
Izuku: Now it’s time for the Preview! My Dad and I are off for a summer long road trip! I wonder what my Dad has planned for us…
Rath: Let me tell you something, Izuku Midoriya, current wielder of the Omnitrix and protagonist of this story! Rath is going to make sure you have a good time!!
Izuku: Ah?! Why are you yelling?!
Rath: Because Rath is excited for the Road Trip Arc to start!! Hurry up already!!
Izuku: AH!!!! Okay, okay!! Next time my Dad and I try to enjoy our vacation!
Rath: EW. What is that?
Izuku: Huh? What?! I have to eat THIS!?!
Both: Next time: Ch.48 Life on the Road!!
Rath: You better read it or you’re in for a Sirius Butt Kicking!!
Notes:
HAHAHAHA!!! SEE!!! It’s like I’ve been saying if you guys are patient your favorite aliens will appear! Such as Rath! Woah!! To be honest the original plan was for him to appear a little after Kamino Ward but I had to rethink and rework some things so it had to change and I had the brilliant idea of doing it here!! And I think it more than worked out. Right?
And yes, the original arc I’ve been leading up to is what I am referring to as a “Road Trip Arc.” Specifically for Izuku and Hisashi and this arc is honestly going to be about 10 chapters long. And then right after it will be the 2 Heroes movie and then we’ll be back with U.A. for the Training Camp. And yeah I do mean 10 chapters dedicated just to this original arc, and that’s after I had added stuff in and cut stuff out. So it’s all planned out from beginning to end already; I just need to write it up all together.
Now, how this arc will work is that for the most part I wanna do a bunch of fun stuff for Izuku and Hisashi based on certain elements from Ben Ten with MHA thrown into the mix of course. However, each chapter will allow for progression in the story in some manner: from introducing new aliens, introducing new characters from MHA and Ben Ten, as well as expanding on already existing characters, and more! Although the first chapter will mostly focus on just Izuku and Hisashi. So until next time!
*Also did you guys like the preview? A guest suggested it once and I wrote it off because I was dumb. I didn’t realize that I could go about it a different way so I gave it a shot. And I thought it’d be fun for Izuku to talk to an Omnitrix Alien for each one; kinda like how the anime has Izuku talk to another character during the previews. Anyway, did you like it or would you rather I not bother with them? Please let me know so I can either continue with them or not.
*Also just because Eraserhead met and interrogated Argit does not mean he knows about aliens. That was to show that humans and aliens still encounter each other but the alien part remains hidden or unrealized.
*Man two chapters in a row where I crammed a whole lot of Easter Eggs and Cameos in! 1. Incursions were mentioned. 2. And so was Anur Transyl. 3. I mentioned aa sentient planet but it’s up to you which one I mean. I.E. are you a DC or Marvel fan? 4. There was a Men In Black reference. 5. A shout out to E.T. 6 And even a shout out to the Sym-Bionic Titan. 7. Then of course there were appearances from Grogu, A.K.A. Baby Yoda, and Din Djarin, A.K.A. Mando. 8. And obviously you had the stars of the Aliens and Predator franchises fighting it out. 9. There were also a few scenes taken right out of a few franchises, the first one was from Amphibia between Ochaco and Vulkanus. 10. And the other scene was the exchange between XLR8 and Argit which was inspired by a scene in between the Flash and a thug from the Justice League animated series. 11. Oh and the Kessel spice mines from Star Wars were hinted to as well.
*And yeah a League of his own, I got plans for Vilgax which you guys will get to see come into play within the Road Trip Arc.
Chapter 53: Life on the Road
Summary:
Let the Road Trip Arc begin!!!
Notes:
Hey everyone, sorry for being over 3 weeks late. I knew it would take a while but I thought in a week and a half it would be done. But everything that could go wrong, did go wrong these last few weeks and it really affected my writing. And it’s sort-of sad to say but this is one of my shorter chapters so I sort-of feel like the wait wasn’t worth it. Sorry. I’ve just been so exhausted lately because of everything that it was hard to write this one. I even cut out a number of ideas just to try and get it out ASAP. So please don’t bother with “You should have done this” for this chapter because I was just so exhausted that I just couldn’t do as much as I wanted to.
So fair warning, I tried my best but this chapter is more like a pilot, a dull-pilot, for the rest of the Road Trip Arc. I promise that the other chapters will be a whole lot better. And next time I take this long I’ll try to fill it in with an Omake between updates. At least that way you guys can get something and I can buy more time. Anyway I still hope this turns out okay. I tried guys, so please forgive me.
This story has a TV Tropes page so feel free to check it out.
https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Fanfic/HeroesNeverDieItsHeroTime
Disclaimer I do not own the rights to Ben 10 or MHA.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
“Welcome aboard my Master’s ship.” Psyphon greets as the new arrival enters through the docking bay. “My Master is pleased to have you.” Psyphon eyes the arrival, examining the being’s form. “Kraab”
Kraab is as his name implies a robotic crab-like creature. He resembles a fiddler crab with a goldish brown-colored armor, a sideways mouth, four scythe-like legs and a large, powerful pincer for a left hand. From within his massive claw lies a glowing red blaster.
Kraab sighs as he’s greeted by Psyphon. “Oh great, just what I wanted to see after traveling the galaxy: your albino looking mug.”
Psyphon tsks, grumbling to himself in annoyance. “Bounty hunters…”
“If his majesty is so pleased, then where is he?”
Psyphon waves off his demands. “He has more urgent matters to attend to.”
“Like what?” Kraab demands indigeneity.
“Nothing of your concern.” Psyphon spits back.
“So, what’s the job? Some sort of fetching quest, right? Pft, if you weren’t offering up such a huge reward, I wouldn’t be bothering with this. No way.”
Psyphon scowls but continues with his task. “The job is more complicated than that. Your target is the device known as the Omnitrix.”
“Omnitrix?”
“Yes.” Psyphon raises his wrist and with a press of a button a holographic image of the Omnitrix projects itself in midair. “Your job is to retrieve this device from its current wielder.” With a flick of a button the image of the Omnitrix readjusts itself to fit perfectly onto the newly projected image of a green-haired adolescent human. “Izuku Midoriya.”
Kraab clutches his midsection, immediately bursting into a fit of mocking laughter! “Hahaha!! A brat?! Seriously?! Your boss can’t steal a watch from a baby? And here I thought Vilgax was some big bad overlord or something.”
Psyphon clearly doesn’t appreciate the bad mouthing. “You’d be wise to hold your tongue, poser.”
“Yeah, whatever. I’ll get your stupid watch for ya. Don’t you worry.”
“The task is more complicated than that.” Psyphon warns although he wouldn't mind if this cyborg got a good beating while he’s down there. “This planet, although low on Plumbers, is heavily patrolled by their own form of justice and security that will no doubt try to intervene in your work if you draw too much attention.”
“So?”
“So, this mission requires subtly.” Something the crab may not understand. “And it is imperative no one finds out who sent you.”
“Got it be discrete and subtle.” Kraab eyes the hologram of the boy, his claw clamping shut in a threatening manner. “At least as much as I can be.”
“I should also tell you, but this boy has proven himself to be quick witted in battle and mightily elusive if given the chance.” Psyphon scowls at the hologram. “He is a…difficult one.”
Kraab waves off the warning. “Right. But whatever the case you guys are clearly in trouble. But you at least decided to start with the best possible choice.” He is of course referring to himself.
“Yes we did.” Psyphon admits before throwing this next jab in. “But Tetrax betrayed us.”
Kraab tsks, already feeling the sting at his pride. “Not surprising, Tetrax always had too much of a conscience. But I guess you morons learned that the hard way.” Considering they don’t have this Omnitrix. “But don’t worry, your second choice is more than qualified for this job.”
“Yes, well SixSix has failed as well.”
Seriously?! Kraab wasn’t even on their radar for the job until now?! “Look here you bleached looking Mako. I’m nothing like those posers. Got it?”
“I can clearly see that.” Psyphon spits back, calmly and without worry. “I care not for your…distaste for each other. I only care about results.”
“And trust me you’ll have them.” Kraab turns back towards his ship, ready to take his leave. “Just have my reward ready.”
“We shall see.” Psyphon pauses, pondering for a moment, before deciding to throw in more of an incentive. “But if you fare well, then there might just be more to offer.”
Kraab pauses, intrigued. “Like what?”
“We shall see.”
Instantly the salty Kraab turns away in a huff. “Whatever, just tell me how I’m supposed to find this kid?”
“With this.” Psyphon hands over a small pocket-sized radar. “It’ll home in on the Omnitrix’s signature whenever it’s in use.”
Kraab takes the device and the moment it’s in his hand the device lets out a loud bing! *BING!!!*
The two aliens eye the device, it appears to already be working as it just picked up on the Omnitrix being activated within the island nation of Japan.
“Keep your wits about you.” Psyphon warns again. “This child has proven resourceful and he has many allies.”
“The mark’s nothing but a pimple-faced kid? Ha! And not even SixSix could take him?” It’s almost laughable. “Talk about pathetic.” Kraab eyes the hologram, raising his claw around the image’s neck. “This kid’s head’s going to pop like a grape.”
Psyphon frowns, unimpressed and irritated. “We shall see.”
*CLAMP!*
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Feedback focuses his attention down at the rusted innards of the appropriately named Rustbucket, his tendrils pressed against the too-old of a car battery.
Hisashi Midoriya sticks his head out the window of the driver's seat. “Okay, give it a go!”
Feedback nods, scanning the gas station’s parking lot, making sure no one's in danger of being electrocuted.
When it all seems clear he goes ahead and allows a current of electricity to surge through him and into the car battery as Hisashi starts the engine.
After a moment the RV kicks into start, the engine roaring to life.
“There we go!” Hisashi pats the wheel like a dog trainer pats their award-winning hound. “She’s been sitting around for too long. Forgot to check the battery.”
Feedback slams the hood down before strolling over towards shotgun and hoping in. “So, where’d you get this…um, unique set of wheels?” He asks delicately as he sits down on the moldy and smelly leather seat.
“Oh, this old girl?” Hisashi pats dashboard affectionately. “The Rustbucket’s been in the family for generations. It was my Grandpa's who got it from his father, who got it from his father, and who won it from a friend in a game of mahjong.” Apparently great great Grandpappy was a bit of a cheat.
“Interesting.” Feedback eyes Hisashi, cringing as he takes in his Dad’s appearance. “But can you also explain…that.” He gestures towards Hisashi’s attire.
Hisashi looks down towards his shirt which just happens to be a red button-up Hawaiian shirt with floral designs over his white undershirt.
Hisashi frowns. “What? What’s wrong with it?”
‘Everything.’ Feedback thinks. “It’s just a very…interesting sense of fashion.” Outdated is more like it.
“Really?” Hisashi asks confusingly, eyeing the vacation shirt. “I like it. It’s really comfortable. And this is the only time I can wear it anyway.”
“Why’s that?”
Hisashi shrugs. “Your Mom, actually. She doesn’t like me wearing them for some reason. Not sure why.”
‘I think I know why.’ Feedback thinks to himself.
^Wa-bop. Wap!^
Feedback spins around in his seat to spot the one and only C1-10P wheeling up towards them from the back of the RV.
Feedback frowns, not appreciating the little droid’s company. “And I thought this was a father and son trip. So, why is…he here?”
^Wap! Bzz-bop!^ Chopper hoots, offended!
Hisashi frowns towards his transformed son. “What, Chop? I can’t just leave him behind. He’s my pal, my partner. He always has my back. I’ve traveled with him everywhere; it feels wrong to just leave him behind.” After a moment Hisashi decides to throw in the other reason he brought him along. “Plus he’s a good navigator.”
And it’s not like Chopper’s really needed at Plumber Base, One-One pretty much handles everything, especially maintenance anyway. So it’s all good.
^Wap wap! Wap Waa Waa!^ Chopper waves Izuku off with his metal limbs before making a sort-of prideful gesture before continuing to act almost smugly. ^Bwaa Bwaa Wap!^
Hisashi gasps, immediately scowling down at the droid. “Chopper.” He scolds.
Feedback leans over. “What did he say?!”
Hisashi hesitates to answer. “Um, he was insulting you.”
Figures. “Jerk.” Feedback spits. “Making fun of me when I can’t even understand you.”
Chopper shrugs, laughing in the alien’s face.
Hisashi smiles, embarrassed by his own droid’s actions. “Don’t worry. It takes a while but by the end of this trip I’m sure you’ll pick up a little bit of binary.”
“That'd be…nice.” Feedback admits with an air of caution.
After all, he's not entirely sure he wants to know exactly what Chopper’s saying to him at all times. Especially if it’s a harsh insult.
Hisashi continues leaning back in his seat. “But anyway another reason I brought him along was in case we needed another driver.”
Feedback frowns, eying the very short droid and up towards the very high steering wheel. “Um, how’s he supposed to?” He chuckles. “Unless we strap him out in front like a sled dog.”
Chopper glares at the transformed Izuku. But instead of responding he decides to demonstrate. He wheels forward, inserting himself between the driver’s and passenger’s seat, positioned right in front of the lower dashboard just below the radio, AC, and aux cord.
Chopper props himself up and out comes his hacking device, the high-tech rod inserts itself into what Izuku thought was the electrical cigarette lighter for an adapter.
The hacking rod turns and shifts and after a moment the Rustbucket jerks in place before rolling forward through the gas station parking lot.
In a panic, Feedback grips his chair, slinging his seatbelt around himself as tightly as possible!
Hisashi chuckles, letting go of the steering wheel that seemingly moves on its own in coordination with Chopper’s hacking rod. “Don’t worry the old girl’s got cameras all over.” He pats Chopper’s head. “Giving him a 360-degree view at all times.” So nothing to worry about, he can see everything if he can’t look over the dashboard.
Feedback still isn’t convinced. “The…Rustbucket has cameras?”
“Haha. She does, and” Hisashi leans over smirking. “more.”
Feedback frowns, wondering what that could possibly mean. Peering around towards the back of the RV he can’t help but take note of how normal it is. Although it does smell like oil and rust, there might also be a hint of mold too. The fridge is leaking as is the AC above, the table is leaning to one side, the door to the side rattles in place, and the wheels creak and squeak as Chopper gets them out of the parking lot and onto the main street.
And so they drive on and an awkward silence befalls the RV even as Izuku timeout and turns back into his normal form. In his seat Izuku adjusts his favorite black and green hoodie, as he sits back and tries to enjoy the view from the moving window. But the awkwardness grows as neither are sure how to start a proper conversation between each other.
Hisashi can especially feel it, sure things are better, but they still seem to be hitting speed bumps that throw their connection into an air of awkwardness and uncertainty. And he doesn’t like it. To give himself time to think, he waves Chopper to give him control back to the RV, and he drives forward himself. Maybe a quick distraction by driving will give him an idea.
As he picks up speed down the highway, he pats the leathery steering wheel and he gets the conversation starter he’s been looking for.
With a smile Hisashi leans over and says. “The Rustbucket may not be a beauty but she’s part of the family. In fact she’s the first vehicle I ever drove.” He pauses before adding in. “It could be yours too someday.”
An instance of dread fills Izuku, as he eyes the rusted out exterior and the window that has to be manually lowered. “Well…I’d need to learn how to drive first.” He admits in an attempt to change the subject.
It works, but a little too well as Hisashi beams. “I could teach you! We can start right now!”
“Ah!” The two yell out as the RV jerks and creeks, smoke bursting from the exhaust and the steering wheel locks up for a brief moment before Hisashi gains back control.
Despite the scare, Hisashi stays positive. “Woah, steady girl. Haha! She sure has character.”
Izuku nervously tugs on the collar of his black and green hoodie. “You know, maybe we should put that lesson on hold for now...” After he makes sure his health insurance is up-to date.
Hisashi’s smile disappears, turning his attention back on the road, looks like that attempt failed as the awkwardness returns.
It’s eating him from the inside, he really wants this trip to go well. He needs it to. Izuku’s giving him a chance here and he has to make the most of it. Sure things are patched up but…he wants them to come closer together. He wants them…to make their own memories. Together.
Not willing to throw in the towel, Hisashi scans the RV for anything to inspire him to connect with his son. And his eyes practically light up at the sight of the radio and cassette player.
With a stupid grin, Hisashi reaches over to the glovebox and pulls put an old and faded out cassette tape.
“How about some good old-fashioned music?”
Izuku eyes the faded-out cassette, his eyes squinting as he tries to read the faded lettering. He can only make out a few letters: G, O, F, and Y but not much else. “Um, sure.” How bad could it possibly be?
The answer…very, very…embarrassing.
As the music plays Hisashi joins in on the very old and cheesy, and much to Izuku's dread, sing-along.
“Do ya need a break from modern livin'~?
Do ya long to shed your weary load~?
If your nerves are raw~
And your brain is fried~
Just grab a friend and take a ride~
Together upon the Open Road~!”
Izuku cringes, hard, gripping his ears as Hisashi tries to get him to sing along too. ‘Please, no. Not a sing-along…!’
And in that moment does it truly sink in for the boy just how long, painful, and embarrassing this Road Trip is going to be for him.
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As the RV speeds down the highway, passing by a tall water tower, a robotic crustacean peers down watching the RV drive off into the distance. “One Omnitrix coming up.” Kraab taunts as his robotic eyes zoom in on the RV, locking onto the green-haired boy. “And one side of fried broccoli coming up.” He finishes, raising his claw as the inner blaster glows red hot.
And so the hunt is on.
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First stop on Hisashi's list…Naofumi’s Tanuki Park?
This place is a dump, and that’s not an exaggeration. It looks like it was built decades ago and not once did someone so much as put another coat of paint on it after it was built. With a large wooden building in the shape of a Raccoon Dog surrounded by a gross swamp.
The place’s mascot is, obviously, a tanuki. But the costume’s old and creepy, moth eaten and smells like barf. And the guy inside has clearly never understood the concept of personal space.
The main attraction of the place is that they have access to their own groups of Tanukis that tourists can meet. But first all visitors have to get through the cringiest and creepiest of shows, an animatronics show.
And was it a show, a shit show that is. Izuku was forced to sit there on the crooked wooden bench as the creepy and broken group of robot tanukis sing the cheesiest and most earsplitting song he’s ever heard. And it was clear to Izuku that he was probably the oldest kid in the group, the rest being small children forced to come here by their parents too. At least they’re young enough to actually think this is fun.
And it seems like Hisashi had fun too: saying he and his Dad came here before when he was little. Obviously little enough where he actually thought this was fun. The nostalgia must be palpable with him.
After the…show they were all allowed outside where the entire yard was filled with large enclosures that contained a plethora of raccoon dogs for them to see. But even the enclosures don’t look to be in tiptop shape, the large pens are breaking down at the seams, surrounded by large chain-link walls that rusted over, and the wood holding the frames are rotting. But at least the tanukis look okay, with their big cute eyes and fluffy bodies as they laze about their enclosures. The only real thing disturbing the peace is the creepy and smelly mascot, hopping around from one end of the yard to the other.
A handler waves the Midoriyas over as he reaches inside of the larger enclosures that’s housing about ten or so tanukis. He shuts the large chain-link gate behind him with a large rusty padlock before holding up the fuzzy creature for the two to see.
And for once Izuku actually smiles, finding the little guy adorable with his big eyes, fluffy tail, and lazy demeanor.
As Izuku tries to pet the little guy’s tiny hand he is unaware of the set of eyes locked on him.
“Fitting, hunting a rodent among rodents.” Kraab laughs from amongst the trees, a fair distance away.
He’s far enough away to be out of sight, perched just outside the perimeter of the Tanuki Park. The cover of the leaves and fog ridden swamp perfectly keeps him out of view.
“It’s almost laughable, a brat causing all this trouble. Haha!! This’ll be too easy.” Talk about an easy payday, not to mention he can rub this is those Sotoraggians’ stupid faces later.
He aims his claw out, the blaster humming and glowing red as he takes aim, prepping to snipe the boy from a distance: locking onto his head.
Meanwhile, Izuku gets a little too close to the tanuki.
The little raccoon dog blinks up at him and they both just stare into each other's eyes. Before all hell breaks loose.
“Grrrr!! Skreee!!” The tanuki suddenly goes feral, foaming at the mouth, his claws projecting out as he snarls nastily at Izuku.
And before they can even blink the rodent leaps up, Clawing at Izuku's face!!
“Ah! Ah! Get it off! Get it off!!” Izuku screams, flailing around trying to pry the claiming and screeching rat from his face!!
“Izuku!!” Hisashi cries chasing after him.
They two are flailing and running around so much in a panic, they don’t even notice the missed laser shot at them. The laser zooms past without their notice and it ends up blasting the large padlock, containing the rest of the raccoon dogs.
The loud bang spooks them and throws the creatures into a panic, and they rush the gate that’s so weak it falls right over at the snarling and screeching beasts go into a frenzy!!
“Aaaahhhh!!!” The visitors scream and run away in a panic as the feral tanukis foam at the mouth and chase after them!!
From his perch, Kraab tries to aim another shot but the panicking and flailing Midoriyas just won’t hold still! “Shit!” He won’t be able to get a clean shot like this.
There is some rustling of leaves nearby, close to his head.
Kraab’s head spins around only to find a fluffy and big-eyed raccoon dog perched on the branch above him.
“Hey, little guy.” He reaches up towards it. “You know for a rat you’re kinda cute.”
That must have been the wrong thing to say as the raccoon dog suddenly goes feral, foaming at the mouth and letting out a terrifying screech before it pounces down on the bot’s head!!
“Ah! Ah! Get it off! Get it off!!”
Kraab tries to save himself, but he loses his footing, sending him tumbling off the tree as his face gets clawed and chewed on!!
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After getting doses of rabies shots, Izuku and his dad were released from the local hospital. After which they got hungry and decided to stop at the first burger joint they could find.
Unfortunately, the pictures on the menu look way more appetizing than the actual thing. Izuku’s burger is out-right nasty: it was messily slapped together, the cheese looks moldy, the lettuce and tomato look dry, the fries are soggy, and there’s even a few flies hovering over the entire meal. Talk about gross. And a health code violation.
Izuku gags, checking his phone as he shoos away the flies. “Dad, this place has literally zero stars on Yelp. It says do not eat here EVER.”
“Haha!” Hisashi merely laughs off his worries as he gets ready to chow down on his own burger. “What we’re gonna let an app tell us how to eat?”
And so, much to Izuku's worries, they ate their meals before getting back on the road. But it wasn’t long before both Midoriyas, ironically, started to turn a little green.
As the RV speeds forward, just down the road Kraab shoots out from the ground like a spinning drill, having dug his way onto their path. “You two are roadkill!!” He prepares to fire.
However, the green and wheezing Midoriyas don’t even see him as they wretch and groan in pain. His stomach churning, a green Hisashi suddenly jerks the RV off the road and onto the shoulder.
*HOOONNNK!!!* From behind the swerving RV a semi-truck races forward, the driver up way too high to even notice the poor, unexpecting Kraab.
“Aahhh!!!” Kraab screams out as the grill of the truck slams into him, carrying him off like a bug on a windshield!
*HOOONNNK!!!* The truck zooms past the parked Rustbucket.
Both Izuku and Hisashi barf their guts out, leaning over the side of the road railing.
Despite the situation, Hisashi denies all accountability. “This is totally unrelated. Bleh! This is totally unrela-BLEH!!!”
From inside the RV, Chopper can’t help but laugh at their expense.
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Afterwards the Rustbucket finds itself locked in the middle of traffic thanks to an accident up ahead and the road construction that’s blocked off an entire lane. And as a result traffic has been backed up for miles and miles with no end in sight. The Rustbucket’s literally been stuck in place for five minutes stuck between traffic and the lane closed off by a line of cones and construction signs.
And the wait is seriously starting to get to Hisashi as he taps the steering wheel impatiently. “Ugh, stupid traffic…” He grumbles annoyingly. “Never had to deal with this in space…” He eyes the traffic cones, noting how there’s no construction workers or police in sight. And so with the coast clear an idea pops into his head. “You know what this calls for?”
Izuku becomes very nervous at the sight of his Dad’s gleeful smirk. “For what?”
Hisashi lights up, proud to show Izuku one of his signature moves! “For the Midoriya Special, baby!!”
“The Midoriya Speci-AAH!?!”
Without warning the RV jerks to the side and suddenly cones are bouncing off the front windshield as Hisashi has the RV tank right through the line of cones!
“Hahaha!”
Izuku grips the dashboard, his knuckles turning white. “Dad! This is illegal!!”
^Wa! Wa!^ Chopper for once looks scared as he magnetically locks himself in place.
“It’s not illegal if you’re good at it! Hahaha!” Hisashi laughs like a mad man, usually this move is meant for a spaceship to crash through a blockade, but this works too!
Meanwhile, Kraab hides out behind a large construction sign that’s in line with the cones.
“I’ll take them out while they’re trapped.” It’s perfect they won’t be able to escape, no one can escape the terrible reality that is rush hour traffic!
The sound of rubber cones and tires screeching catches his ears. “What is that-GAH!?!”
The racing Rustbucket runs right over him, sending him down and under the wheels!!
He’s hit so hard that he actually throws the RV off balance!!
“Aaaahhhh!!” Hisashi and Izuku scream as Hisashi loses control and they skid right towards the tail-end of a semi-truck!! “Aaaahhhh!!”
And the next thing you know, Hisashi’s gotten himself pulled over and dealing with a very exasperated police officer who’s already done with Hisashi’s bullshit.
Hisashi, on his part, tries to play it cool with the officer. “When you think about it, I was helping the flow of traffic.”
Without missing a beat, the deadpan cop clicks his pen and begins to write out a ticket.
Hisashi becomes very nervous, trying to look over and see what exactly the officer’s writing. “What, what are you writing down?”
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Izuku leans over the side of the fence, looking over the beautiful forested canyon view below him as a mountain range lingers in the horizon.
The sight is breathtaking with the carved stone walls of the canyon, the colorful leaves, the tall mountains, and fresh air.
And Izuku is in awe of it all. “Wow, I gotta admit this is actually pretty amazing.”
Hisashi calls him over. “You know what’s even more amazing?”
Izuku frowns, spinning around towards the nearby animal stables and tourist trap where an old man is offering mule rides for $50 bucks a rider.
Hisashi grins as he slaps a few bucks in his hands. “I signed us up for a seven-hour mule tour!” He hands over the cash to the old man who tiredly hands over the reins of a nearby mule.
Izuku quivers looking towards the steep canyon and back to his dad. “Dad, doesn’t that sound steep and dangerous?” He asks as Kraab peeks out from the nearby bushes, unnoticed.
Hisashi pfts, disregarding any worries. “Izuku! What could go wrong?”
The answer: EVERYTHING.
“Get to the bridge if you wanna live!!” Hisashi cries out as the rainstorm rages on above them.
The wind and rain whipping at their faces as their mules struggle to keep their footing on the slippery and narrow canyon pass. The flooding waters tear through the canyon just meters below them, the waves crashing into the canyon walls as thunder roars in black sky.
Izuku clings to his mule, crying out to his Dad! “What about Prancer?!”
“Prancer belongs to the canyon now!!”
“HE-HAW!!!” On que, a mule, or Prancer, cries out as he’s swept away by the rapids BELOW!!
“GAH! Help me!! I can’t go out like this!” Kraab flails about in the rapids as well!! “I’m a crab god-dammit!”
Not to worry though after realizing Prancer was in danger Izuku pulled out Stinkfly and was able to save the unharmed Prancer. Thank god.
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And that was all just one day, believe it or not!!
But the day has yet to end and so until then, there are some that are still at work. Specifically the squad of Dittos now setting up the campsite for the night.
“Put that there!”
“Here?”
“No, over there!”
“Is this enough firewood?”
“I think so?”
“Ah! I think I touched poison ivy!”
“Are these berries safe to eat?”
Hisashi chuckles, watching the many clones hard at work as he too helps a group of Dittos set up the picnic table. “Thanks for the help, everyone, I think that’ll do.”
The Dittos all turn and smile up at Hisashi. “Okay!!”
Hisashi smiles before hopping into the Rustbucket so he can get their dinner together.
And so the exhausted Dittos all essentially collapse onto each other and just in time to timeout as a drained Izuku plops down on the table bench with a heavy sigh.
And so with the picnic table set up by the Rustbucket and a fire pit made along with a pile of firewood. The nearby small lake reflects the calm trees and surrounding mountains. The tall trees shroud the forest in a soothing darkness as the soft light of the setting sun breaks through the leaves. Giving the place a very calming and welcoming air, allowing Izuku to let his stress of the day wash away in the soft dimming light.
A very cheerful Hisashi drops a large bowl down onto the table. “Chow time!”
Izuku turns, reaching for the bowl, but he stops, blinking a few times, unsure at what he’s seeing.
Why are those grains of rice…moving?
“Okay, I give up. What is that?”
His grin never faltering, Hisashi answers in the most casual and joyful way that he can. “Marinated mealworms.”
That’s right: it’s a bowl filled to the brim with mealworms, living mealworms. Mealworms that are still very much alive and moving about.
“Hard to find them fresh in Japan. But they’re considered a delicacy in some countries.” Hisashi thinks for a moment. “And planets.” He adds in.
Izuku shivers as he watches a few of the mealworms crawl out of the bowl and onto the table. ‘And very…gross in others.’
Hisashi, without any hesitation, reaches for the grubs but stops halfway, his face lighting up. “Wait, I have some smoked sheep’s tongue in the fridge! I should grab it too; you’re going to love it!”
Izuku physically gags. “No! That’s okay! The…mealworms are enough…”
“Nonsense!” Hisashi laughs. “This summer’s going to be a culinary adventure for your taste buds.” Hisashi turns towards the RV. “Just give me a minute to put it all together.”
Izuku grimaces, his face turning a light green as more mealworms begin to make their escape.
^Wa wa wa!^ Chopper laughs from beside the table.
Izuku scowls down at him in response before squirming as one of the mealworms inches closer towards him!
^Wa wa wa!^
While Hisashi is away, Izuku snatches up his backpack before scrambling through it, desperately looking for something that’s actually edible. He knows he packed away a few snacks: let’s see he’s got a bag of chips, a Crunch bar, some stray Jolly Ranchers, a pack of trail mix, and…an envelope?
Izuku blinks, examining the envelope. ‘I didn’t pack this?’ Weird, it feels weighted, and filled with paper.
And so he flips the corner open and he pulls out a little note from his Mom!
The note reads:
I didn’t get a chance to warn you before you left but be careful of what your Father tries to feed you. Your Dad has a…unique taste. I love him but some of his…eating habits are a little out there. Take care and don’t feel too guilty, I tried to talk him out of it, but he insisted. Hang in there sweetie and try to have fun.
Love, Mom
P.S. I left enough cash in the envelope for you to buy your own groceries and snacks for the entire summer. Use them in case of emergencies and try not to let him see, he’ll only use it to buy more of his own…groceries.
A single tear of relief slides down his freckled cheeks as he smiles up towards the heavens, clutching the envelope to his chest. ‘Thank you, Mom.’ Leave it to Inko Midoriya to make sure her baby’s well fed. ‘I might actually be able to survive this trip now.’
“Hey, Champ!”
“Wah!” Izuku yelps, panicking to hide the envelope away! “Y-yes?!”
Hisashi sticks his head out of the RV. “How would you like your tongue? Medium-well or well-done?”
“Bleh.” Gross, so gross. If only there was a way out of this. Wasn’t one bad meal enough for the day? Wait, he can use that!
“You know what Dad. I think my stomach’s still upset.” Izuku tries to sell it by clutching said stomach while trying to look as miserable as possible. “I better not force myself to eat.”
Hisashi’s disappointment is obvious as he hops down from the RV. “Oh, okay.” But after a moment his smile returns as he gives a light shrug. “Well, more mealworms for me.”
Without any hint of fear or disgust, Hisashi grabs a handful of mealworms before he shoves them all right into his mouth like they were popcorn. “Hmhm~! So good~!”
Izuku retches, choking back the bile as his face turns green. “I’m…going for a quick walk.” He says while getting up. “Maybe work up more of an appetite.” Without waiting for an answer, he heads off for the nearby trail.
With his mouth stuffed with mealworms, Hisashi watches Izuku off. A part of him wonders if it was the worms but that can’t be it, these things are delicious! And so he gets right back to eating besides Izuku’s stomach hurts anyway and he’s got more mealworms for next time.
Chopper wheels forward. ^Bwap wap.^
“No, Chop. He’s not bailing. Sheesh.”
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Izuku marches through the woods as fast as he can and the moment he thinks he’s far enough away he looks around and makes sure he can no longer see the Rustbucket. With no RV, Dad, or droid in sight Izuku quickly grips the Omnitrix and dials up!
Within a second XLR8 pops into view and with the envelope in hand he zooms away back towards the highway.
After a few minutes he arrives at what will be his saving grace of the night.
A disembodied voice calls out from the speaker. “Welcome to Big Belly Burger, can I take your order?”
XLR8 silently cries in relief, clutching the envelope tighter as he scans the drive-thru menu. “I will survive.”
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Kraab scans the dark horizon from atop the billboard and instantly his gaze locks in on a blue blur speeding away from a Big Belly Burger.
He pulls out the tracking device and sure enough it got a ping at two locations: one being the burger joint and the other located in the far-off woods where the blur appears to be heading. “Elusive…huh? Not for much longer.”
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“I won’t survive…” Izuku whispers to himself, his eyes bloodshot and straining as he stares up at the RV’s ceiling.
*Zzzz! Srnnk! SRNNK!!!*
‘Why…? WHY!?!’ Izuku silently cries, gripping his sheets as he turns over and glares at his father.
Who is peacefully sleeping away in the other cot without a care in a world. *Zzzz! Srnnk! SRNNK!!!*
Hisashi’s snoring is out of this world, he’s so loud! And every time he breathes out a puff of fire actually poofs out. So not only is he loud but he’s lighting up the entire RV!!
‘How?! Why?!’
*Zzzz! Srnnk! SRNNK!!!*
“Ugh…” There’s no way he’ll get any sleep like this, not a chance.
And so with sleep evading him, Izuku begrudgingly crawls out of bed, grabs his hoodie and slips into his shoes as he tiptoes his way out of the Rustbucket making sure to not bump into the shut off Chopper.
He shivers and sinks into his hoodie as the cold night air washes over him as the door slams shut behind him. The moon is out, and the night is filled with the soft song of crickets, singing frogs, the hoot of an owl, and the soft glow from dancing fireflies.
And so with no real destination in mind Izuku wanders over towards the trail from earlier allowing the fireflies and the light of the moon to light his path.
It’s soft and comforting despite the dark but the song of nature is soothing and a welcomed friend allowing for a peace of mind.
As he walks Izuku reflects on the day as a whole and he has to admit that despite the chaos, embarrassment, and bizarreness…he’s actually having a lot of fun.
Sure the tanuki park was embarrassing and a disaster but now he got to see raccoon dogs and now he’s immune to rabies so that’s a plus. The barf burgers were gross and disgusting but something tells him that he’ll look back on the moment in the future and have a good laugh out of it. Heck, just thinking about Hisashi trying to pass off his so-called “Midoriya Special” to an officer as helping traffic was pretty funny. And the mule ride, although a disaster, could also be considered an adventure.
So all in all today was a very hectic but memorable day. It’s been fun and if the start could even be considered a mess then the rest of the summer could only improve.
And so with some newfound excitement for the rest of their trip, Izuku continues his stroll up the mountainside feeling much more refreshed and excited for the future. “Yeah, this is going to be fun.”
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A red-visor locks onto the Rustbucket from afar, near the summit of the closest mountain. “There you are.” Kraab grins, his eyes zooming in closer towards the silent RV.
He checks the tracker to see if the last Omnitrix signal came from there and sure enough it was.
And so with his target found he raises his claw and aims down at the distant RV, but he hesitates. And for good reason after all he’s been chasing after this kid all freaking day and every single time he’s been thwarted by rabid raccoon dogs, semi-trucks, traffic, and even mother nature. Every time he’s pursued them, things have gone wrong.
“What I need is for them to come to me.”
But how?
“Hm…” Kraab turns his gaze away from the RV to scan over the entirety of the mountain valley, his eyes transferring from infrared to thermal for the most effective views of the valley.
And then he finds something: the little glow of a still going campfire in the distance with many groups of bodies in several tents, RVs, and cabins.
Off in the distance he’s found a campground that’s filled with campers. Innocent, defenseless campers. Campers that need…heroes to save them.
Kraab’s claw clamps open and closed like a clap as he grins and zooms in on the campground. “Yeah, this is going to be fun.”
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Izuku goes cold, freezing in place, his ears picking up on the distant sounds of havoc and panic in the distance.
Spinning around he can see the faint glow of flames reaching over the treeline and the cries and screams of campers echo throughout the valley. Along with what can only be described as some sort of gunfire, or maybe a cannon? Whatever it is, it can’t be good!
Without even thinking Izuku rushes back down the mountain side path but this time he crashes his way through the brush and trees, desperately trying to cut his way towards the chaos.
“Izuku!!”
Izuku comes to a screeching halt and looking over he sees Hisashi sprinting towards him with a high-powered flashlight in hand. Chopper seems to be following along too although at a slower pace.
“Dad! What’s going on?!”
“I don’t know!” Hisashi shouts as he finally reaches his son. “It might be a wildfire! Come on! We gotta make sure!”
“Right!”
And so Izuku takes off after his Dad with Chopper bringing up the rear while whistling and beeping all the way in a mad panic!!
As they crash through the forest the sounds of screams and panic only grow as smoke and burning heat begin to pass through the trees. And soon they crash out of the woods and into the campgrounds.
And immediately they realize that they’ve jumped out of the frying pan and into the fire, literally. The campgrounds are on fire with RVs, tents, cars, and cabins all set ablaze. The campers have all been thrown into a panic as they run away in all directions, gripping their belongings and loved ones as they all desperately try to escape the ever-growing blaze.
The air is filled with nothing but the sound of burning grounds and the screams of the panicking campers:
“Run!!”
“Fire!! Fire!!”
“Someone call a hero!!”
“There’s no service!!”
“Help!! Somebody!!”
Izuku jumps away as a burning branch collapses beside him. “What is this?! A wildfire?!”
“It is.” Hisashi doesn’t sugarcoat it, his pro hero side coming forth.
He’s already scanning the entire situation and it’s not good, the flames are spreading further and further into the forested mountain side and at the rate it’s going things are bound to get worse.
From the smoke a man sprints out and rushes for the gate. “Help! Someone! It’s a villain!”
The Midoriyas gasps, Hisashi rushes forward cutting off the man’s path. “Where?! Where’s the villain!”
The panic and terrified man doesn't bother to stop but he does cry out in a panic while pointing off in the distance!! “Over there!!”
Through the flames, burning debris, and smoke they spot the very evil at work here. A large robotic crab is firing off rounds of lasers into the campgrounds: aiming for anything and everything he can find and setting it ablaze with a single shot.
Izuku gasps! “It’s a villain!”
“Worse.” Hisashi corrects with all seriousness.
Izuku blinks, his heart plummeting. “What?”
“That’s a cyborg.” Hisashi explains. “Nearly his entire body’s been converted into a cybernetically altered and enhanced.” His glare narrows in on the destructive cyborg. “He’s a living weapon.”
Izuku’s in complete disbelief!! “That’s insane! There’s no way that kind of technology exists! Not on Earth anyway!”
“Exactly.”
Just then, for Izuku, the true reality of the situation sinks in. “Is he after…” His eyes dart down towards his left wrist, towards the Omnitrix. “But if he is, why is he attacking a campground?”
Hisashi frowns, his gaze never trailing away from the enemy. “Not sure.” He could be after the Omnitrix in some roundabout way. Or maybe he’s got his wires crossed, literally. Or maybe he’s hunting another alien in the area. But whatever the case maybe they have to intervene. Now! “But what matters is stopping him before any heroes or police arrive.” Hisashi, no, Cinder states going into full pro hero mode; his mind already formulating ways to counter this new foe.
“Right!” Izuku grips the Omnitrix, rotating the faceplate for the right alien. “I’m sure Four Arms could take this guy, or maybe Feedback, heck even Buzzshock.”
“No.” Hisashi grabs Izuku’s wrist, stopping him from transforming. “I’ll take care of the crab. You handle the fire.”
“Huh?” Izuku slowly peers over at the flames…the raging flames…the massive spreading flames. “Me?! But I don’t think even Water Hazard could put these out! I mean Water Hazard absorbs the moisture from the air but... “ He waves at the intense searing heat and dry air. “there is no moisture! There won’t be enough and we’re too far from the lake!”
Hisashi frowns, the kid has a good point so if water’s not an option then there’s only one other solution. “Then, we need to fight fire…with fire.” God is that cliché but in this case it’ll prove to be just as effective.
But his logic goes right over Izuku’s head. “Fire… Wait, Heatblast?!” His mind rushes back to the last time he…used the Pyronite… “No! No! No! No! No! Are you insane?! Heatblast will…! Heatblast will…” Only make things worse…far worse…
What if he loses control again? What if he messes up and only causes the flames to grow?! What if he hurts someone?! What if-
“Izuku!”
His father's call snaps him out of his internal panic.
Without looking away from his foe Cinder delivers an understanding yet determined speech. “I get it…fire can be scary. It burns and destroys. And it can cause a lot of pain.” For the wielder and for those that they…care for. “It eats away at everything.” Until there is nothing, but ash left. “But it can do so much when one can focus and not allow themselves to be consumed by the flames.”
Izuku gasps, his mind spinning in confusion! ‘What does that mean?!’ Also ‘Why is he being so cryptic?!’ Now is not really the time for this!!
More laser fire echoes through the burning camp as more explosions blast out in the distance, followed by the screams of innocent bystanders!!
“We’re running out of time!! Chopper stay with Izuku!” Cinder charges forward, making a beeline right for Kraab, not showing a hint of fear as he practically dashes through the dancing flames. “You got this, Champ!”
Izuku just stands there, slack jawed and lost. Watching Cinder disappear within the flames, the flames he somehow has to combat…
“Hahaha! Woah! This is fun! Like shooting womp-rats in a stable!” In the meantime, Kraab continues to fire away, blowing up any and every target he can find. “Haha! Man do I love some senseless destruction!
Suddenly a stream of flames crosses his path, but the stream snakes and coils around and around the alien, trapping him within a cage of swirling flames. “What the hell?!”
He follows the spiraling flame column towards its source: the maw of a Fire Breathing Cinder.
“Nice trick.” Kraab spits before breaking free of the flames with a slash of his mighty claw. “But it doesn’t really pack much heat.”
Cinder scowls, standing tall and dignified. “Now that I have your attention. As my duty as a Plumber I must ask you to stand down. If you don’t comply I will have to use force to detain you.”
“Ha! I’d like to see you try, Red-Spot.”
“The name’s Cinder.” Cinder spits back, reading himself for a confrontation. “And if you don’t mind, I like to know the name of the ass I’ll be kicking.”
Kraab tsks, an irk mark forming over his forehead. “The name’s Kraab.”
“Kraab.” Cinder blinks, finding the name sort-of cheesy and convenient. Like come one it sounds like a name a cartoon director would come up with for a lame C-list villain. “I heard of you. You gave our boys a lot of trouble over on Saleucami.”
“You heard about that did you?” Kraab smiles, cockily or at least what passes for a smile on an emotionless robotic face. “Then you know what you’re getting yourself into, don’t ya?”
“I do. But I’m not exactly scared. Because when I’m done with you.” A cold smirk dances across Cinder’s lips. “You’ll be nothing but a boiled salted crab.”
And like that, the string holding Kraab’s patience snaps. “That’s it!! Prepare to be barbecued!!”
And with his claw raises he fires a hail of lasers!!
Cinder, without so much as blinking, races forward, dancing and weaving his way through the shower of oncoming lasers without a hint of fear or hesitation.
He inhales and upon exhaling a long-thin whip of fire jets out from his breath as he cries out his Attack! “Fire Lash!!”
The whip coils around Kraab’s leg as Cinder races by and with a pull of his head, the fire whip coils tightly around Kraab’s leg, pulling it right from under him!
“Wah!!” Kraab cries out as he’s pulled down onto the ground.
“Now the follow up!!” With his opponent down, Cinder rushes forward, throwing his leg up high over his own head as he prepares to deliver one hell of an axe-kick!!
Seeing the kick coming, Kraab tucks his head into his robotic armor just in time for the kick to slam into the hot dirt where his head was. “Don’t think you can just kick me aside!” Kraab leaps up, throwing his massive claw forward like a giant hammer!!
Cinder leaps up as the claw smashes into the ground, and he lands right on top of the claw, squatting down over it to where his face is level with Kraab’s.
Kraab blinks in confusion as Cinder gives the alien a devilish grin. “Yes, I can.” And with a flip backwards he delivers a roundabout kick right into Kraab’s face!!
Cinder lands on his feet in a squatting position as Kraab stumbles back a bit. “It’s over!”
With a big exhale of air a jet of fire surges forth!!
Kraab glares at the flames, his body tucking in on itself as his legs clamp together like a drill bit and then his entire body begins to spin and spin. And like a drill his entire mass burrows into the earth as the flames surge right past him!
Cinder scowls. “Dang it.”
Before he can act the earth around him begins to shake and rumble and then the ground begins to crack and surge forth as Kraab drills through the dirt like a missile through water!!
With the ground shaking under his feet, Cinder leaps to the side just before the drilling Kraab crashes into him!! However Kraab turns right back around and goes in for another run!!
Cinder rushes towards a nearby dumpster, leaping onto it. Without looking he can sense Kraab’s already heading right for him, and so he launches himself off the dumpster and to the side, nearly landing in some flames as the tunneling Kraab crashes into the dumpster and sends it flying!!!
Cinder scowls as Kraab turns to make another run. ‘Wish I had my gear.’ He rushed out of the Rustbucket too quickly and he’s got nothing to help him out: no breather, no tech, not even the RV keys. He’s got nothing to work with.
Off to the side Cinder spots an untouched gas grill, not too far away. ‘Well, I guess I can work with that.’ He thinks with a sly grin.
As the tunneling Kraab makes another attempt, Cinder rushes over to the grill and basically rips out the propane tank inside and tosses it between him and the oncoming foe! He waits at the ready as Kraab unknowingly drills closer and closer towards the trap! And when the crustacean is in range, a smirking Cinder let’s out nothing more than a small wisp that fires out like a hot bullet. The wisp easily breaks through the tank just as Kraab is about to collide with it, and then.
*BOOOOM!!!*
“Yaaaargh!!” Kraab screams out as he’s launched right out of the ground, the explosion ringing in his sensors!
“Ughhhh…” Kraab groans, pushing himself back up on his shaky feet but with a shake of his head he’s back to his senses. “Blow me up will ya?” He aims his blaster. “Let’s see how you like it?”
And he fires away, firing beam after beam as he rushes the pro hero!
With his opponent coming in for the charge, Cinder retreats while dodging the incoming lasers, leading Kraab on and away from the flames and other campers. ‘Just have to keep his attention for now. And strike when I see an opening.’
“Hold still, dammit!”
“Shut your clam, why don’t ya?”
“You bastard!!”
Yeah, it’ll be pretty easy for Cinder to hold Kraab’s attention. Maybe too easy.
Meanwhile, Izuku is rushing through the burning campground looking for any stragglers as Chopper follows close behind. ‘Put out the flames?! With Heatblast?! How?!’
How can he possibly do that? What is he supposed to burn the flames away?! That’s just stupid? Or what make burn brakes to stop the flames from spreading? It’s too late for that and with so many small intense fires around that’d take too long!
He thinks back to his father’s words: “But it can do so much when one can focus and not allow themselves to be consumed by the flames.”
‘What does that even mean?!’ Dang it! ‘Why do people act so cryptid when they wanna act smart?! It’s so impractical!!’
It doesn't make sense; the only option is Water Hazard. And even with the lack of moisture there’s got to be some use for him! Besides if Pokémon’s taught him anything is that Water beats fire, every single time.
So with no either options Izuku comes to a halt as he dials up for Water Hazard. “I chose you, Water Hazard!!”
As his entire body is enveloped by a green veil, Izuku can feel an intense heat enveloping his entire being as his body morphs and stretches.
As the veil vanishes Izuku is stunned to see what he’s become. “Heatblast? You too Omnitrix?” What did it agree with Hisashi or something?!
“Seriously? Heatblast is the total opposite of Water Hazard. They’re not even close!”
So now what is he supposed to do?!
^Wa Bw-wap!^ Chopper calls in a panic!
Heatblast spins around. “What is it?”
^Bzzz-bop!^ Chopper gestures down the burning path.
Looking down the path towards a burning cabin, Heatblast gasps, spotting a man and his daughter both pinned down by a fallen log! The loft must have been burnt off the roof of the cabin and fell atop of them as they were escaping!
Without even thinking Heatblast rushes over, running through the flames until he reaches them. “I’ve got you!” He bends down, hugging the large burned log and lifting as hard as he can.
The man wastes no time in pulling him and his daughter out from under their imprisonment. “Thank you so much! You’re our hero-WAH!!! You’re on FIRE!!”
The daughter screams the moment she sees the fiery being, tucking her crying face in tighter to her father’s side! “Daddy!! He’s scary!!”
“Don’t be scared!” Heatblast begs, trying to look as non-intimidating as possible. “I’m only trying to help, really!” He reaches out to help them.
It doesn’t work as the man pulls his daughter back and away from him! “Back off! Please don’t burn us!”
“I won’t!” This is bad, they must think he’s the villain that started this fire.
Just then a loose part of the burning log roof burns away and comes hurtling down towards them!!
Heatblast cries out as he lunges forward! “Look out!!”
The man and daughter scream out in terror as they collapse to their knees!
But no harm is done as Heatblast uses his entire body to catch the flaming log before it could crash down on them.
It takes a moment for the two humans to realize they’ve been saved by who they thought was a villain .”Th-thank you.”
“Don’t…mention it.” Heatblast grumbles as he struggles to lift the log before he finally tosses it aside.
^Wooo wap!^
Looking over Heatblast can see that Chopper’s cleared the path of any flames with the help of his internal fire extinguisher. “Thanks Chopper.”
^Bw. Bop.^
The man stares at the bot curiously. “What is that?”
Heatblast needs a second to answer. “It’s, um, an automatic fire extinguisher.. Like a Rumba!”
^Wa?^
“Oh.”
Heatblast gestures towards the cleared path. “Now keep your heads low and head for the exit. And try not to breathe in the smoke.”
The man nods as he guides his daughter forward. “R-right.” And so with a lot of trepidation they make their way through the cleared path and towards the front gates.
Heatblast watches them off, making sure they’re okay, before he peers down at the droid.
Chopper stares up at him as well.
After a moment Heatblast recalls a certain feature the droid possesses. “Chopper!”
^Wa wa?^
“Can you scan the campgrounds for anyone else that’s trapped here?!”
^Bop-bzz!^ With a nod of his whole body, Chopper’s antenna begins to hum and rotate as he starts a radar scan across the fiery terrain.
^Wa!^ After a brief moment Chopper wheels forward in a hurry, he picked up on more campers!
“Lead the way!” Heatblast shouts as he runs after the droid. ‘I don’t know if I can put out these flames, but I can at least move about without getting myself burned. And so I'll help those that I can!’
At the same time, Cinder is still fighting off against Kraab as the flames continue to rage across the battlefield.
‘Usually I’d pull this off better with my breather, but I’ll have to improvise.’ Cinder cups his hands to his mouth, interlocking his fingers, and leaving small enough gaps between them, he takes a breath and fires out!! “RED HOT BULLETS!!”
In rapid succession, quick small wisps of flames are fired out from between his fingers, zipping through the air like red bullets!.
The fiery bullets collide into Kraab, leaving behind searing red marks as the force of the attacks repel him backwards! “Ragh!!” Kraab lets out a furious screech as the bullets force him back.
“You really like to play with fire don’t ya.” Kraab hisses before peering towards a nearby column of flames. “Fine, then let’s play!”
Without any fear or reaction to the searing heat, Kraab jabs his massive claw into the searing flames!!
Cinder hesitates for a moment, wondering what he could be up to, but decides now’s the best opening he’s going to get. And so he charges in, sliding in from below as he prepares to strike at the unguarded alien!
“Have a taste of this!!” Kraab shouts as he swings his claw out from within the flames!!
“Gah!!” The searing hot claw burns into Cinder’s side, knocking him away! “That hurt!”
“Haha. Ha.” Kraab taunts, raises his claw up at the ready; the massive pincer is glowing red, radiating with intense heat from the flames. “Trust me, that was nothing.”
Cinder scowls, he didn’t want to drag this fight out no more than he already has. But this guy is not making it easy, not at all.
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“Come on this way!” Heatblast stays put as he waves for the other campers to follow him through the cleared path. “Move it people!”
The campers rush forward as Chopper uses his fire extinguisher to clear away the last of their escape path.
“Thank you!”
“Hurry! Hurry!”
“We’re going to make it!”
Heatblast makes sure they all escape the flames before turning back towards the burning campgrounds. ‘That should be everybody.’
Good thing too since nearly the entire campground has been swallowed up by the fire, the glow of the flames hiding away the stars and illuminating the pillars of smoke that rise higher into the night sky.
The flames are already spreading into the forest, the only thing keeping them at bay is the cold and condensation of the night, but it won’t be long until it really takes off, and things become even more destructive.
“Destructive…” Heatblast murmurs to himself as the inferno rages around him. “Fight fire with…fire?”
That can’t be right, Hisashi’s logic doesn’t make any sense here! Okay yeah the saying sounds cool and all but how is he supposed to apply it here? Fire…! Fire only makes things worse. He’s seen it firsthand when he…when he lost control. Those flames and the destruction and harm he caused… It was terrifying. He can’t let that happen again… But it is happening again, another fire has broken out and it’s burning…eating away at everything!! The fire is swallowing everything up and turning it into ash with no sense of morals or reason! Fire only consumes! And it consumes everything!
For some reason, Hisashi words rush to the front of his mind: “But it can do so much when one can focus and not allow themselves to be consumed by the flames.”
“Consume…?” Heatblast ponders. “Consume…” He slowly peers down at his flaming hands. “There’s no way… But what maybe?”
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“I’m going to roast you, Red-Spot!!” Kraab swings his glowing red claw forward!!
Cinder throws his head back, the claw nearly smashing into the side of his skull! As the pincers pass over his head, he can feel the heat burning away at his face and eyebrows all before Kraab lunges forward with his scythe-like legs out!
Cinder tumbles back, rolling away as the sharp-thin limbs pierce the ground, nearly impaling him!
Cinder rolls to a stop but then he shoves himself to the side as a wave of roaring flames nearly tear at his flesh.
‘Not good.’ He thinks as he eyes the campground. Everything’s like a sea of fire, almost nothing is recognizable at this point: RVs are encased in fire, cabins are now ashes, and tents are nothing but piles of melted plastic.
Cinder grips at his throat, breathing heavily, with all these flames and smoke, they’re sucking up all the oxygen in the area making it that much harder for Cinder to use his own flames.
“Give up?” Kraab taunts, marching forward, swinging his claw into the nearby flames. “Guess even a pyro like you can only take so much heat huh?”
Cinder glares up at Kraab, struggling to keep his breathing steady as the hellish inferno rages all around them.
But when it seems like the fire is truly ready to flood through the mountain valley, it finds itself pulled back in by a powerful, almost unnatural force.
And Cinder can feel it. His eyes widen as the flames begin to change direction like they’re being sucked into a vacuum, a vacuum that’s leading back to one-singular point: Heatblast.
Heatblast stands amongst the burning rubble and ash, his face hardened in concentration as he opens his mouth and inhales, focusing all of his might on the inferno.
The heat washes and spirals towards his open maw as he inhales the flames, the fire around his head stretches out absorbing the incoming flames and heat along with his inhaling!
^Wa! Wa-bop!^ Chopper sits nearby, his arms outstretched like he’s trying to tell Heatblast to hold out his hands.
For once, Heatblast understands what the bot’s trying to say. And so allowing his instincts to lead him, he stretches out his hands while focusing all of his might on consuming the flames. More and more of the surrounding heat and fire is pulled into the Pyronite’s very being, absorbing it all and pulling it back, forcing the flames to retreat. Until there’s nothing but cold ash and columns of smoke left.
Heatblast stops absorbing, breathing and exhaling heavily, whipping at his maw as if he actually broke into some sort of sweat. “Piece of…cake…” He breathes, savoring the ironically spicy and smoky taste of the flames.
Kraab glares at Heatblast, his eyes locking onto the Omnitrix symbol lodged onto his chest. “There you are.” He murmurs, looks like the kid’s finally decided to come out and play.
Kraab aims his cooled down claw-blaster at Heatblast and prepares to fire.
But Cinder delivers a swift kick to the claw, redirecting the laser fire that harmlessly blasts the ground!
“Damn you!!” Kraab yells as he swings back around, aiming to crush the pro hero between his massive pincers!
“No!!” Heatblast, shockingly, zooms forward and catches the massive pincers, prying them open.
“What?!” Kraab screams!
Heatblast can't help but think the same, it feels like he chugged gallons upon gallons of energy drinks!! He feels so energized and full of such raw power, it’s intoxicating!!
“I’ll kill you!!” Kraab screams as he lashes out, throwing a punch with his free hand!!
The fist collides with the side of Heatblast’s burning skull, but he doesn’t so much as flinch as the fist presses against his side.
“You done?” Heatblast asks coldly, the flames around his head raging and lashing out.
Kraab gasps, his mind replaying Psyphon’s warning: “I should also tell you, but this boy has proven himself to be quick witted in battle and mightily elusive if given the chance.” Psyphon scowls at the hologram. “He is a…difficult one.”
‘What have I gotten myself into?!’ Kraab questions in a panic as the heat around the Pyronite begins to rise.
With Kraab’s claw in his grip, Heatblast glares straight into the alien’s eyes and shouts out his special move!! “FIRE TWISTER!!!”
Suddenly a column of spiraling flames bursts forth around Kraab, hurling him into the air.
“Izuku!” Cinder calls out! “You need more power than that, he can resist flames!”
“More power?” Sure he can do that, with no campers in sight and with nothing else at risk of burning away, he can go all out! ““FIRE TORNADO!!!”
And like that the thin column explodes forth, swallowing up Heatblast and the elevated Kraab!! The flames crash and swirl and spin around and around as the fire tornado stretches high into the sky!!
“AHHHH!!!” Kraab screams out as his entire body begins to glow red hot!!
It’s too much, not even his fire resistance is enough, he can feel his internal hard drives and wiring frying and melting away, even bits of his armor begin to chip and burn away from the intense heat that has him throwing and spinning around in the air like a paper bag!!
In a desperate attempt to escape, he opens his claw and prepares to fire a barrage of lasers in the hope of striking his foe!
But that was a mistake, the combination of the intense heat and sheer pressure of the tornado, tears the claw right open, shredding it apart like it was made of paper!
“NO!?! It can’t be!!”
And so around and around he goes, and with his armor compromised the rest peels away, burning and crumbling away.
“I’m…! I’m…!” A snap and. “I’m…toast.”
And with one last whoosh of flames, Kraab is swallowed up as his entire being is washed away into the flames.
With their foe defeated the tornado dissipates in a near instance, Heatblast standing his ground, exhausted but full of pride, as Kraab’s burnt and silent head impales the ashen ground a few yards away.
“Huh…” Heatblast groans, holding his head. “I feel dizzy.”
“Nice job, champ!” Hisashi cheers! “I knew you’d figure it out!”
“You know, you could have saved me the headache and told me out right?”
“I could have, but don’t you feel so much prouder in yourself for figuring it out.”
Heatblast sighs, chuckling softly. “Yeah, I guess I do.”
^Bo-bop!^ Chopper calls, dusting himself off of ash, as he gestures towards the gates of the no longer burning campgrounds.
Heatblast frowns, not sure what he’s saying but his ears are greeted by the noise of police sirens, fire truck horns, and even a helicopter.
Hisashi hears it too. “We better go! Come on!”
“But what about the police and the heroes?” Heatblast questions. “Don’t we need to report this?”
“We can’t!” Hisashi replies in a hurry. “This was an alien incident as such, if we can, we should avoid reporting the incident.” He rushes over to Kraab’s head and scoops it up before dashing into the woods and back towards the Rustbucket. “Hurry!”
“Right!!”
And so they take off, the wind washing away their footprints and thus erasing any evidence of them being here as the campgrounds fall completely silent as the last of the smoke dissipates.
A small four-seater car pulls up on the scene, its headlight illuminating the silent campgrounds. Four individuals jump out, ready for a fight and to rescue some poor campers but they are thrown for a loop to find the place silent and void of people.
“Where’s the villain?” The muscular one of the group asks aloud.
“Where’s the fire?” A blonde woman asks.
“Perhaps the fire died out on its own.” Suggests the brunette of the group, she turns to the greenette of the group. “Are you seeing anything?”
The greenette answers. “I see one, but it might be a spooked camper, I think they’ve got some kind of fire Quirk. They’re moving really fast.”
The muscular one of the group frowns. “Are you sure it’s not the villain?”
“It can’t be. The reports said the villain was a crab.”
The brunette calls her group together. “We’ll let the police handle the investigation for now let’s make sure that villain isn’t hanging around!”
The whole group calls out at once! “Right!”
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“Phew! Oh, man, that was insane!” Izuku breathes, leaning back in the passenger seat, his clothes filthy with ash. “That was crazy!”
^Wop!^ Chopper nods in agreement from the back.
Hisashi nods, never taking his eyes off the road. “You said it, Chop!”
Izuku frowns as he turns around and picks up an item off the floor. “So, what do we do with…him?”
Hisashi looks over to find Kraab’s severed head in Izuku’s arms. “We get some answers. Chop!”
Upon being summoned, Chopper wheels forward.
Izuku lowers the quiet head allowing Chopper to work his magic and after a brief moment of tinkering around Kraab’s eyes light up as if he’s blinking awake.
“Ugh, my head. AAH!!” he screams! “Where’s my body?!”
Izuku pales, finding it kinda creepy that he’s holding a severed head in his hands. “It, uh, was burned away.”
“What?!” Kraab tries to turn his head but can’t and so Izuku spins him around. “Who are you?!” Kraab cries out when he sees the kid! “What did you do to me?!”
… It takes a moment for Izuku to process what Kraab asked.
“What do you mean, what did I do to you?! You came after me, didn’t you?!”
“I don’t know!!”
Both Midoriyas are taken back. “What was that?”
Hisashi reaches into his glove box and pulls out his Plumber Badge, flashing it in Kraab’s line of sight. “You better tell me who sent you and why or I swear I’ll put your head in a trash compactor!”
Despite the very real threat, Kraab lets out an exhausted sigh. “Listen, I can only assume you’re my target, but even I can’t be sure. I mean why would I target some kid?” Kraab asks with some actual honesty. “It’s almost laughable.”
“You’d be surprised…” Izuku admits with a frown.
Hisashi’s starting to lose his patience, especially after losing out on some sleep. “You better be giving me real answers!”
“Look here Red-Spot. Haven’t you ever heard of customer confidentiality? I’m a bounty hunter, I take pride in that, which means I don’t just go around telling others about who I work for and why!” That’s a quick way to lose out on business opportunities, while also making some new enemies while you’re at it.
Hisashi still isn’t buying it. “Fine. Chopper!”
^Bo-bzz?^
“Hack into his memory banks, I wanna know what he’s hiding.”
^Wo wop!^ Chopper salutes, reaching over for the head.
“Naw, naw naw!” Kraab tries to shake his head, rejecting Chopper's approach. “That won’t work either. I’m programmed to delete any and all information relating to any and all current jobs upon being captured or destroyed.”
In other words, any info about his employer, his target, and the job have all been purged from his mind. Every. Last. Detail.
Hisashi sighs in defeat. “Great!” This truly sucks. “I’m gonna have to turn around. Looks like we’ll have to cut our trip short. Sorry, Champ…”
Izuku’s breath hitches. “Why?!”
“We gotta get this guy processed and jailed away. And who knows we might be able to salvage some data.”
Kraab glares up at Hisashi. “And what makes you think I’ll come along?”
Hisashi sighs, glaring down at him. “Well you don’t really have much of a choice. Do ya?”
No, no he does not.
Izuku frowns. “Do you think…Vilgax sent him?”
Hisashi shrugs. “I don’t know. He didn’t say anything when we fought. For all we know he was after someone else.” But his gut is telling him otherwise. “Either way…I’m gonna have to call this trip a bust.”
Izuku pales. “Wait, are we…going home already?”
Hisashi sighs in defeat. “Yeah…yeah we are…” It’s not safe to be away, especially if Vilgax was somehow able to track the Omnitrix down.
Izuku shakes his head: this was their chance to make something of their summer, to build new memories. Is it really going to end already?
“No.”
Hisashi frowns. “What?”
“Dad, I wanna keep going.”
“Izuku.”
“Listen! There’s no way Vilgax can find me. We’re jamming his signals, remember? He has no idea where I am or what I’m doing.”
“Izuku…”
“And we can handle ourselves, I mean, look!” Izuku raises up Kraab’s severed head as proof.
“Izuku..”
“And…I really want to hang out with you.”
Hisashi does a double-take, his heart pumping with joy.
Izuku gives him a reassuring grin. “I want us to have fun this summer. I want us to have adventures all around the country! Sure things have gone wrong and things probably won’t be going our way, like at all. But that doesn’t matter! We can eat at every barf burger place there is and still have a good time! We can go see every lame tourist trap there is and walk away with some funny memories. We can have a total disaster of an adventure, but guess what? That makes it a true adventure!” Izuku is beaming, his grin wide and full of excitement. “I don’t want it to end, not yet. Okay?”
Hisashi smiles, giving in to his demands. “Okay.”
“Yes!!”
“But what about him?” Hisashi eyes the robotic head.
Kraab tsks. “What about me?!”
The Midoriyas share a look, they know what to do with him.
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“Hey, wait! Don’t you dare! Hey, hey! I’m talking to you! Don’t you-mphmph!” Kraab’s muffled shouts echo out from within the cabinet.
Izuku chuckles as he makes sure the door is secure before heading back to his seat.
Hisashi chuckles. “I guess we’ve got ourselves a hitchhiker.”
Izuku laughs. “I guess so.”
“Well, he won’t be going anywhere anyway. And Chopper can hack into his mind during the trip anyway.”
^Wo wop!^
And so determined to continue with their father and son Road Trip, the Rustbucket cruises down the highway. Onto their next destination and to their next adventure.
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“Master, one of our surveillance drones just reported back in. Kraab has been defeated.” But really that was no surprise, nor a disappointment for Psyphon.
“RAHHHH!!!” Vilgax slams his fist into a nearby worker drone, smashing it to bits!! “Again the child eludes me. Aren’t there any beings in this galaxy that are actually competent.”
Psyphon cowers away, having no desire to inquire his master’s wrath.
Vilgax sighs, inhaling through his breathing apparatus. “What I need are pawns that have already proven themselves to me.”
“Sir?” Psyphon frowns. “What of the League of Villains?”
“For now, they are inconsequential. I still have much time before I meet with this Sensei.” Vilgax clicks away at the keypad of his command center and a few holographic images pop into view “And during this time I wish to prepare.”
“Yes sir.” Psyphon takes that as his que to leave, bowing as he slowly backs away.
Vilgax eyes the various holograms with great interest.
The images range from various alien planets, to bounties from the Guild, posts by the Retriever, and even a few Japanese news articles such as the one that reads: Akai Kitou Charged with Attempted Kidnapping and Assault.
Vilgax eyes more and more of the projections with great interest. “Now, whom shall I try out next?”
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THE PREVIEW:
Izuku: So the trip could have gotten off on a better start. That’s for sure.
Heatblast: Hey man don’t let it get you down. Things are looking up now. Just relax and enjoy nature’s beauty for a while. You know-hey wait is that? Huh?! What is he doing here?
Izuku: What?! Why is he here?! And just when I thought this trip was going to be nice!!
Heatblast: Hey don’t get a hothead okay? Stay calm, it could be worse.
Izuku: AH!!!! It just got worse!! It got way way worse!
Heatblast: What the? Where did they come from?!
Both: Next time: Ch.49 Fun Guys!!
Heatblast: You two really have your work cut out for ya this time!! Hey, wait, woah!! Izuku what happened to you?! You look…great?
Notes:
Like I said at the beginning. Sorry for being over 3 weeks late and for such a shorter chapter. I hope it was worth it. I knew it would take a while, but I thought in a week and a half it would be done. But everything that could go wrong, did go wrong these last few weeks and it really affected my writing. And its sort-of sad to say but this is one of my shorter chapters so I sort-of feel like the wait wasn’t worth it. Sorry. I’ve just been so exhausted lately because of everything that it was hard to write this one. I even cut out a number of ideas just to try and get it out ASAP. So please don’t bother with “You should have done this” for this chapter because I was just so exhausted that I just couldn’t do as much as I wanted to.
And next time I take this long I’ll try to fill it in with an Omake between updates. At least that way you guys can get something, and I can buy more time.
*This chapter is more like a pilot to show what the general outline for the rest of the Road Trip Arc will be like: Izuku and Hisashi go somewhere new, they run into MHA/Ben Ten characters, and mayhem/misadventures ensue.
*Yes Chopper is with the Midoriyas as well, I wanted to include him. And after discussing it with my “editors,” we thought it might be kinda funny if the served head of Kraab begrudgingly got in on the fun or at least for the ride, literally.
*There weren’t a lot of Easter eggs/cameos in this one. Like I said I was so exhausted and had to cut stuff out. But what I did have was still pretty fun. 1. There were several shout-outs to the Goofy Movie. The first one being the “Open Road” song. 2. The other being Naofumi’s Tanuki Park which was a spin on Lester’s Possum Park from the Goofy Movie. I didn't do opossums because they don’t live in Japan. 3. And those scenes for the road trip montage (barf burgers, traffic, and mule ride) were all ripped out from the movie “The Mitchells vs. The Machines” on Netflix. Go check it out, it’s a blast. My versions of the scenes don’t do it justice. 4. Saleucami is a planet from Star Wars. 5. "Big Belly Burger" is a fictional McDonalds ripoff from DC comics, you also see it a lot in the CW Arrowverse shows too.
*Hisashi will be wearing that Hawaiian shirt for the whole trip as Izuku will be wearing his hoodie the entire time too.
*Fire Twister and Fire Tornado are generally the same move, but Fire Twister is faster and can quickly lift its target while minimizing the area it affects. While Fire Tornado affects more of an area and delivers some devastating damage.
*There is more to the Rustbucket than meets the eye. But like many things in this fanfic it will take some time to show it off.
Chapter 54: Fun Guys
Summary:
Izuku and arrive at a National Park and its brand new campgrounds. But this place has some dark secrets as something lurks in the darkness, ready to snatch anybody up and swallow them whole.
Notes:
*No time to talk! Let’s read! Oh, also there’s a new piece of artwork!!
***New artwork by “Voidv25” on Deviant art called “Henzu(Monster)” it’s great! Finally you guys will have a full on visual and image of what Henzu A.K.A. Nue looks like! Woah!! I worked closely with Voidv25 on this one, even provided my own draft of Henzu as reference. So what you see is how I imagined Henzu to look like.
https://www.deviantart.com/voidv25/art/Henzu-Monster-883288185
This story has a TV Tropes page so feel free to check it out.
https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Fanfic/HeroesNeverDieItsHeroTime
Disclaimer I do not own the rights to Ben 10 or MHA.
*Warning!!!* Some creative liberties were taken in reference for one of the characters in this chapter. I will explain more in the ending Author’s Note.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
“Ha! See! I told you that’d be fun!” Hisashi Midoriya laughs as he strolls over towards the Rustbucket, as a large old cabin that was converted into a tourist trap sits behind him.
In his hand, he’s holding a pair of t-shirts: an orange shirt with a puma and a purple shirt with a panther on it.
They’re the exact same shirt but either way he clearly couldn’t pick which one looked better, so he bought both.
Izuku Midoriya eyes the tourist trap warily gripping the rim of his hoodie while also adjusting his new cap over his head. “I don’t know. That place was clearly a scam.”
Izuku also didn’t like the way that old man was playing off such fake-monster attractions as real. Come on a pre-teen wolf boy? Right. That was just a poor kid wearing a wolf costume and fake fangs and ears. Although the girl in the colorful sweater was nice, albeit she was kinda too much.
“Those weird exhibits also gave me the creeps.” Izuku admits with a shiver. “Not to mention everything in the gift shop was way overpriced.” He swears the so-called “Man of Mystery” was adding zeros to every price tag whenever no one was looking.
“Yet you still got that hat.” Hisashi points out.
Izuku frowns before pulling off the hat and examining it. It’s a blue and white hat with a blue brim and a dark blue pine tree embodied on the front. “Well, it caught my eye.”
Though he actually wanted that strange looking journal with a golden handprint on it but, again, that old man kept jacking up the price so Izuku turned away.
Hisashi enters the Rustbucket first, tossing the shirts aside to shove away later. “Chop! How’s our guest doing this fine morning?”
Chopper spins around. ^Bo-wap.^ He beeps slowly and slowly like he’s frustrated and defeated.
The response causes Hisashi to frown. And upon seeing his face Izuku frowns worriedly in response as well.
Chopper wheels to the side, revealing Kraab’s severed head laying on the floor.
“Don’t you posers listen?” Kraab asks sarcastically. “I told ya already, you won’t get anything out of me!”
Izuku glares, he can’t help but compare this kind of situation to those he has with Argit. “You know, we can always do a little more…aggressive tactics.”
Kraab out right laughs at the notion! “Hahaha! Right, like a baby-faced brat like you is capable of being a hardcore badass.”
Izuku pouts, his baby face becoming more exaggerated as a result. “Hey, I can be…badass.”
“Right, and I can touch my toes.” Kraab chides.
Izuku winces in pain, his pride taking a heavy hit.
^Bzzz wo.^ Chopper adds in a mocking manner.
Kraab lets out a hearty laugh! “Hahahaha! You said it!.”
^Wap wap!^
“Hahaha! Right! The only thing badass about him is his looks! Oh wait, no that’s only when he’s transformed! Haha!”
^Wa Wa Wa Wa!^ Chopper’s whole-body shakes as he laughs aloud with his fellow machine.
“No kidding! His Galvian form is more intimidating than him! Ha!”
^Wa Bz-bop!^
“Hahaha! He is a sad sack of nerves! Hahaha!”
“Don’t become friends at my expense!!” Izuku snaps. “And how did you know I could transform?” He eyes down at Kraab with a very suspicious glare. “You really are after the Omnitrix?”
Kraab blinks, confused. “What? Oh, that thing?” He eyes the watch curiously. “Ha, yeah, I bet I could cash it in big time. But hey, like I’ve said, I don’t know.” Memory erased and all that.
Izuku isn’t buying it, this is all just way too sus. “Then how’d you know about what it could do?”
“Oh, he told me.” Kraab answers all casually as he tries to gesture towards Chopper.
Chopper gives the Midoriyas a shrug of his mechanical limbs. He couldn’t help getting dragged into a conversation with the alien.
Izuku nearly tumbles over at the sheer ridiculousness of it all. “You were supposed to interrogate him, not talk to him!!”
Hisashi let’s out a good-natured laugh as he takes the driver’s seat. “Hahaha! This is going to be a lot more fun than I thought.”
^Wop wop.^
“Hahaha!” Kraab laughs! “A stand of broccoli is way scarier than him!”
Izuku scowls, annoyed and irritated. “Okay. We get it.”
Hisashi sweatdrops. “Yeah, way more fun…maybe?”
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Hisashi sets the Rustbucket to park as he gazes out the windshield with a smile! “We’re here!!”
“Yo, keep it down!” Kraab wines from atop the table. “Not everyone here enjoys the sound of your voice, kay?”
“Harsh!”
At the same time, Izuku hops out of the RV only to immediately deflate as his shoes hit the dirt and leaves littering the forested ground. “We’re…camping again?”
“You bet!” Hisashi cheers, stepping out behind him. “Yesterday was just a one day stop. Here’s where I really wanted to be! Welcome to Camp Opinicon of Felucia National Park!”
Felucia National Park is a vast range of wilderness found within a small mountain range. It’s known for its treacherous terrain, caves, and thick woodlands.
As for Camp Opinicon it’s a relatively newly made campground that’s been equipped with any and all activities one could find when outdoors. Just from the campsite Izuku can make out a climbing wall, a lake, an archery range, a playground, and a massive lodge. And of course the place is swarming with campers. Each and every one of them making full use of what the campground and the National Forest have to offer.
“This is going to be great!” Hisashi cheers! “There’s so much to do here! I don’t know where we should start.”
From within the RV, Kraab cried out in outrage! “Hey! What about us?!” He is of course referring to himself and Chopper.
“You two stay here. And be sure to behave yourselves, alright?”
^Bz-bop!^
“Yeah, what he said! Don’t just lock us away! This is discrimination against all machines!”
Hisashi snaps, yelling out! “You’re a cyborg! And a criminal!”
“So?!”
Izuku sweatdrops watching this all go down with an awkward smile. His breath hitches as the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end. Izuku quickly spins around towards the thick woodlands nearby. For a brief moment there it felt like…he was being watched?
He scans the tree line, but nothing stands out to him. Nothing at all but the dark forest floor.
And so with no signs of anything strange Izuku heads off to set up their campsite.
“Grh grh grh…” A quiet low growl hisses from within the darkness as a pair of green eyes illuminate within the depths. “Cghghghghhrrr…”
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The Midoriyas go about their day trying out everything Camp Opinicon has to offer; starting with archery.
Izuku grips the bow tightly, slowly taking aim at the target that’s been taped to the side of a haystack. Slowly Izuku takes a steady breath and upon exhaling, he releases the arrow.
*Shink!*
And with just one try he nails a bullseye!
Hisashi blinks, stunned and amazed all at once. “Nice shot, Champ.”
“Thanks.” Izuku bushes. “But I think I’m just lucky.”
He grabs the next arrow, aims, exhales, and shoots.
A near perfect bullseye.
Hisashi’s eyes widen in shock! “Then that’s one hell of a lucky shot.”
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“Wah!!” Grey Matter’s hand nearly slips off the cliff face as a fierce wind rushes by.
Gritting his teeth Grey Matter leaps to the next outcrop, gripping the rock tightly as he pulls himself up. He breathes heavily, refusing to gaze down the cliff and to what could only be his impending doom. “I won’t give up here. I will conquer this summit and take my rightful place in history!!”
And so with determination in his heart Grey Matter continues his climb up towards the heavens!
Hisashi, however, is very confused. “Um, Izuku… It’s just a climbing wall. It only has a Class of 5.2.” I.E. super easy.
Like for real, Grey Matter isn’t even that high up; he’s actually at eye level with Hisashi who’s been spotting the little alien from the ground.
Either way, Grey Matter’s too immersed in his own delusion to listen! “I won’t die here! I will prove to the world my glorious victory over nature!”
Hisashi sighs, accepting it. “Well…at least he’s having fun.” Or at least he hopes so.
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“There we go.” Hisashi sits back, tucking away the woodcarving as he admires his handy work.
After signing up Izuku and himself for a wood carving lesson they were finally allowed to make their own carvings. And Hisashi made a moose. “Ah, so, peaceful. So relaxing.”
Who knew woodcarving could give someone such peace of mind?
*RRRRRRRRR!!!*
Hisashi jolts up, startled, at what sounds like the buzz of a chainsaw!!
But it’s no chainsaw, instead XLR8 is spinning round a large log like he’s Taz the Tasmanian Devil. Spinning around and around as wood shavings and sawdust fly through the air.
“Phew! Finish!” XLR8 declares with pride!
In place of the log now stands a very tall wooden bear statue! The bear stands on its hind legs at about the same height as Izuku himself.
XLR8 spins around, presenting his masterpiece! “Ta-da!!”
Hisashi lights up, his eyes dazzling in awe. “Amazing! Such talent!”
“Thanks.” little does he know that this was actually XLR8’s 6th try.
The rejects were stashed away, far away, in the woods; where no one will ever find those terrifying abominations.
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And then they moved on to the high ropes course.
The obstacle course is way up in the trees, the ropes weaving about through various challenges, connecting from one tree to the next, creating an elaborate labyrinth of high ropes challenges.
And of course Izuku couldn’t pass up any of those challenges. But how can he possibly get through them all? Simple! He can’t…but Ditto can.
“Weeee!”
“Ha Ha!”
“Woah!”
“Help! I’m stuck!”
An army of Dittos have completely taken over the course, all running around and screaming as they each try to conquer their individual courses.
You have some showing off just how limber they are by swinging from rope to rope! “Tarzan’s got nothing on me!”
Others show off their courage, or lack of intelligence, by racing each other through the course while so up high in the air.
“I’ll win!”
“No way! You’re going to eat my dust.”
“No! You’ll be eating mine!”
And then you have those fighting over the courses, like who can take the zipline first.
“Me first!”
“No! Me first!”
A third clone hops forward, snatching the zipline that begins to wheel away. “Ha, you snooze, you lose!”
“No fair!!” The other Dittos shout!
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And then Hisashi took Izuku over to the lake to learn how to fish. And after a while of not catching a thing Izuku got impatient and figured that if he used 2 lures he’d get something twice as fast. And so Four Arms had been summoned!
“This is…boring.” Four Arms grumbles, sitting cross legged on a boulder as he holds two separate rods in the water. He’s been eyeing the bobbers for a while now and he’s still hasn’t had a single bite.
“So boring…!” And he’s hungry too. There’s got to be something to eat. “Hey, Dad.” Four Arms looks over towards Hisashi who’s been fishing on a nearby boulder. “Can you pass the-…chips…?” His voice trails off as he finds that Hisashi is a bit preoccupied.
Hisashi blinks back at Four Arms as a wriggling worm sticks out the side of his mouth like it was a piece of spaghetti.
Without saying a word Hisashi slurps it up.
Four Arms gags, grabbing his mouth as he chokes back his vomit, his complexion turning into all sorts of shades of green.
And after a moment, Four Arms ends up feeding the fishies with his own lunch.
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And thus brings an end to their eventful day, with the Midoriya men returning to Rustbucket for some rest. Or at least they try to.
“Itchy! Itchy!” Izuku whines as he desperately scratches at his itching foot.
It wasn’t a bother before but for some reason his foot’s been acting up, getting all itchy and irritated for no reason!
“This sucks… Stupid athlete’s foot.” Izuku whines as he props his foot onto the table so he can better scratch it.
Sitting on the same table, Kraab gags at the sight. “If you’re going to scratch yourself can you at least turn my head away?”
Izuku ignores him, continuing to scratch as both Kraab and Chopper look on.
After scouring the cupboard, Hisashi comes back with a plastic jar in hand. “Here you go.” He hands over the jar. “This’ll treat that athlete’s foot. It kills all sorts of fungi, so it’ll work like a charm.”
“Thanks.” Izuku takes the powder and begins to shake away at his foot and shoes. “So, itchy.”
As the powder does its job, Izuku begins to settle down, slipping his shoes back on.
In the meantime, Hisashi sits down from across the table. “So, how do you like Camp Opinicon so far?”
“It’s fun.” Izuku responds with an honest smile. “There’s so much to do here and there’s so many people.”
“Right.”
“But everything seems so new too? Did they just fix the place up?”
“Actually this camp is brand new. It opened earlier this month actually. It’s so new that they're still working on some more extensive trails. Tomorrow I’m hoping we can go out for a hike. I heard there’s a trail that’ll take us all day to complete.”
“Sure, that sounds like fun.”
“Great!”
*Thump! Thump! Thump!*
“Be right there!” Hisashi yells out, prompting the knocking on the door to stop!
He gets up and walks over to the door but not before turning back towards Izuku. “Make sure he keeps quiet will ya?” He points at Kraab.
Izuku nods, springing up and grabbing Kraab’s head.
“Oh, no you don’t!” Kraab screams! “You can't keep me quiet! I don’t come with a mute button you know! I will never be sil-mhph!”
A thick towel is enough to muffle him just before Izuku stuffs him back inside the cupboard.
Meanwhile Chopper wheels just out of sight, shutting down to make sure that he stays quiet.
With everything set, Hisashi flings open the door.
One of the Park Rangers stands outside, he waves in greeting, smiling up towards Hisashi and Izuku. “Hello there gentlemen. I sure hope I’m not bothering you.”
Hisashi smiles back. “Hello, sir. And you’re not a bother at all. What can we help you with?”
“Well sir.” The ranger pulls out a stack of papers from his back pocket. “I was wondering if you've seen any of these campers while you were out today.”
Izuku strolls over, peering over Hisashi’s shoulder so they can both examine the papers.
The papers are in fact a stack of photos, photos of seemingly random people with nothing in common.
Izuku frowns as he flips over a photo of a kid. “Who are all these people?”
The ranger’s smile turns sour as he composes himself and gives them an honest answer. “They’re missing.”
The Midoriyas gasp! “Missing?!”
Izuku gulps. “All of them…?”
“Afraid so.” The ranger admits with a sad frown. “I’m going about the campgrounds for information or any sightings of them.”
Hisashi frowns, giving over the last of the photos. “Well, I’m sorry to say but we haven’t seen any of them.”
“I kinda figured.” The ranger admits, regretfully.
Hisashi raises an eyebrow. “You figured?”
“Well in truth most of them all went missing rather recently while out hiking.”
“While hiking?”
“It’s nothing rare. In fact we half expect some of them to wander back into camp on their own. But it’s really no surprise. A lot of our hiking trails are quite expansive, some can even take several days to complete, and not to mention we have a lot of uncharted caves in the area. So a few of them may have gone spelunking and gotten themselves lost.”
That can’t be good. “Is there anything we can do?”
“No need. The local rangers and police are already on it.”
Izuku frowns, adding in. “What about the heroes?”
The ranger needs a moment to think. “Um, I think we have a few heroes on the case. But right now they’re all just scouring the woods for any signs of them. We requested some other heroes that specialize in this kind of thing to join us but they’re busy searching for a villain at the moment and having no success.” Apparently the villain attacked a campground and started a huge fire, but they got away. “So they’ll be there for a good while.”
Izuku frowns, defeated. “Oh.”
“That’s a shame.” Hisashi adds before apologizing. “Sorry we couldn’t be much help”
“It’s okay.” The ranger offers them a small bow and a soft smile. “Thank you for your cooperation. And please don’t be afraid to explore our trails. The nature and scenery are definitely worth the trek.”
Hisashi grins back. “Don’t worry. We can take care of ourselves.”
The ranger raises an eyebrow before looking over and seeing Izuku scratching his foot again.
“Athlete’s foot?”
Izuku grimaces as he grabs the powder again. “Yeah.”
“Yeah, everyone gets that around here.” The ranger takes his leave. “Well, good night.”
“Night!”
“Oh!” The ranger stops, spinning around after remembering something. “If you gents are hungry we’ve got a camp wide barbeque going on by the main lodge. Feel free to head on over for some grub, kay?”
Hisashi nods. “Kay!”
And so the ranger moves on to the next campsite and Hisashi seals the door shut.
As the lock clicks into place a sense of dread and worry sets in over the RV.
Izuku frowns, sitting back into his seat by the table. “That was still a lot of missing people, though.” So many.
“I know.” Hisashi frowns, his expression serious yet unreadable. “And he knows that too.”
Izuku frowns, confused. “Then why’d he brush it off?”
“It’s bad for business to openly demonstrate worry. It’ll scare the rest of the other visitors away.” Hisashi can see their logic about not openly worrying, plus on the other hand this kind of thing isn’t all too uncommon in such large open woods. “And besides, it does make sense. New trails are often confusing as they haven’t been well established yet. And Felucia National Park is huge, and this is far from the only campgrounds. So with the number of visitors that come here the statistics for missing peoples is just naturally high.”
”That sounds really unsafe.”
“It is. But it sounds like they’ve already got quite the number of resources on this so I wouldn’t worry.” Hisashi sheepishly chuckles. “Although that sounds hypocritical coming from me.”
“Those people…maybe we can help too.”
“I love that selflessness, I really do.” However, even they can only do so much. “But the police and heroes have got this one well in hand. They know these mountains. We don’t. If anything we might just get ourselves lost out here if we’re not careful.” Seriously, it’s not a good idea to have those unfamiliar with an area, especially the wilderness, to go out and try to find others while not getting lost themselves. More often or not the search party needs its own rescue party to come and get them if they’re not careful. “We’ll leave this one to someone else…this time.”
“Okay…” Izuku doesn’t like it, but in all fairness it’s probably for the best.
Hisashi frowns, he can tell this isn’t what Izuku wanted to hear. What he needs to do is distract the boy, but how? Wait, he’s got it! “Tell you what. I’m hungry! So let’s head over to the cookout the ranger mentioned.”
Upon being offered some real food, not at all related to bugs or grubs, Izuku lights up with drool already leaking from his mouth. “Sure!”
And so they go and oh boy is it one hell of a cookout.
The cookout is taking place in front of the main lodge, out on a large grassy field. Everywhere you look massive grills have been set up along with food stations allowing people to grab what they want when they want. And speaking of people, the place is packed to the brim with campers and visitors as they all chow down on burgers, hotdogs, kabobs, corn, and so much more.
Izuku stands off to the side as he waits for Hisashi to return with their plates of food. As he stands around his ears begin to wonder, and he begins to accidentally eavesdrop on a few conversations here and there.
“I just don’t know. Why would he go hiking while we were at the shooting range?”
‘Hiking?’ Izuku’s ears perk up, turning ever so slightly to eye the two campers talking to each other from nearby.
“I don’t know. That guy’s always had the bad habit of wandering off.”
“Yeah, but he never got lost before. I mean, dude, it’s been two days and they still can’t find him.”
“I know, man. But we just have to wait until they do.”
Izuku frowns, turning away from their conversation. ‘I guess their friend is one of the people that went missing.’ But that is strange, getting lost when you’re supposed to still be in the campsite? How could that happen? Maybe he was drunk? Maybe…?
As Izuku contemplates his ears wander and pick up on another nearby discussion between two worried women.
“Where could he have gone? He’s never left me for so long!” One of them whines with worry.
The other woman couldn’t care less, however, treating it all with indifference and without care. “Face the music, sis. He probably ditched ya for some other chick.”
“No! He wouldn’t have! He’s just lost, that's all!”
“Sure, whatever.”
Izuku’s eyebrows scratch up. ‘Another one?’ But maybe the other woman is right? Maybe the guy went off by himself and ditched them.
A camper whimpers from nearby to his friend. “Those woods are creepy.”
“What are you talking about? The mountains are gorgeous.”
“No, it’s just that, it felt like I was being watched.”
“Get over yourself. You’re just being paranoid.”
Okay, that’s it! Izuku can’t take it anymore! People missing. Sensations of being watched. This is all just way too fishy. This can’t be normal. It all just seems so…off.
Before Izuku can really begin to dwell on it, a call snaps him out of it.
“Hey, Champ!” Hisashi presents the plates of food looks like he got them a hotdog each with a side of beans, chips, and corn. “Sorry for making you wait.”
“No, thank you!” Izuku takes his plate, temporarily forgetting about the missing people.
Hisashi scans the crowd before something bright catches his eye. “Hey so there’s a bonfire going on over there. Wanna eat there?”
“Sure.”
Izuku and Hisashi squeeze their way towards the center of the massive campfire, finding a pair of logs to sit down at while a huge fire hums within the firepit.
The two enjoy their food, finishing it all off with satisfied smiles and full bellies. And so to digest they relax under the warmth of the fire until the sun disappears just out of sight. At the same time one of the rangers, an older gentleman, wobbles forward, taking a seat at the foot of the fire. He taps his cane against his seat, a large log, gathering everyone’s attention.
“Come around everyone. Listen to my tale, your life may very well depend on it.” The flames of the fire rage forth, highlighting the dark shadow’s around the man’s eyes and unkempt white beard. His whole demeanor radiates with a sense of ominous dread. “This is the story of Kinyuu.”
Izuku and Hisashi perk up as do other nearby campers who all begin to crowd around, unable to resist the allure of a good campfire story.
The ranger keeps his eyes locked onto the flames as if wary of them, like they’ll reach out and snatch him up into the inferno. He scans the nearby woodlands for any signs of danger before leaning close and reciting his ominous tale. “Kinyuu was but a small child, wanting nothing more than to play and have fun under the summer sun. But he was a strange lad, very strange and troubled and, often taking his playing too far. One day his…friends had had enough of his antics. They led him out to these very woods. They said “Hey, Kinyuu! We’re going to play hide-n-seek! You hide and we’ll look for you!” Kinyuu, in his never-ending desire for play, was ecstatic. He didn’t think twice about their motives or plans. And so he hid, hid away where his friends couldn’t find him so easily.” The ranger's gaze softens sympathetically as he recalls the rest of the tragic tale. “But his so-called friends had left him, they left, not bothering to search for him. “This’ll be hilarious.” They said.”
The ranger takes a shaky breath, his white beard rustling with the soft cold breeze of the night as the entire crowd remains deathly silent, awaiting his narration. “They never came And so Kinyuu, in his ceaseless naivety and desire, remained hidden waiting for them to find him. And he waited. And waited. And waited. He waited for so long his body eventually began to decay away, it began to be eaten by the forest itself. He continues to wait, his eyes glimmering with innocent playfulness and joy, for the time that his friends will come.”
From under the glow of the fire, Izuku’s gaze falls, sombered by the ranger’s story. Kinyuu…sounds a lot like how he used to be. A naive boy that wanted nothing but to fit in, to smile with his friends… Only for those so-called friends to push him away. To degrade and shame him for being…different, And like Kinyuu…Izuku did nothing but wait and wait, hoping things would change, while he rotted his life away. But things did change. Things got better, but… ‘Just how much of that was luck?’ Izuku has to wonder.
“But Kinyuu’s tale doesn’t end there.”
Izuku snaps out of his thoughts as the ranger continues his tale. “As Kinyuu waited he began to cry out: “This isn’t fun. This isn’t fun.” He continued to cry and cry, never moving as he loyally waited for their return, never moving as his body began to melt away into the earth. Not until he drew his last breath, did he finally come to the harsh realization; this cruel fate that’s now been dealt to him was no game. But torment. And for the first and last time in his young life, little Kinyuu became enraged. Crying out into the moonlight as his body became one with the forest floor.”
A shiver runs down every camper’s spine, even though no wind could be felt.
“Even though his body was gone, it was too late for Kinyuu’s spirit to escape the cursed forest. And now he lurks the shadows, hiding just out of sight, searching for his friends. So that they might finish their game.” The old man shakes his head in regret and in utter sorrow on Kinyuu’s behalf. “But it’s been so long that poor Kinyuu can’t remember his friends’ faces. And so he drags anyone he mistakes for them into the woods. Where he forces them to play game after game until his victims collapse from exhaustion. Once you’ve fallen to your knees, unable to walk, barely able to breathe, that’s when Kinyuu swallows you whole, like the earth had done to him.” The elderly ranger looks at the hushed crowd, it feels like he’s making eye contact with each and every one of them, making sure they are listening to his words. “Heed my warning. Kinyuu’s spirit haunts these woods. He hides, and waits, and searches. And if he deems you a friend…he will drag you down to play his morbid games.”
The chilling tale has the crowd in a trance, their breaths silent as the dark night sky, only the crackle of burning wood breaking the silence.
“That’s total bullshit!!”
Izuku goes cold in an instant, turning a ghostly pale. ‘I…I know that voice!’
Izuku, shakily, fearfully, turns his head just ever so slightly from across the campfire and sure enough his hunch was correct.
“You totally expect us to buy that shit?!” Katsuki Bakugou gripes as he leans back in his seat with a nasty scowl.
“Bakugou, man. Chill.”
Izuku gasps! ‘Kirishima’s here too?!’
Bakugou scoffs. “That story was totally lame. Tell a real scary story, God Dammit!!”
Kirishima stands nearby, trying in vain to calm the ash-blonde. “Dude, relax, it’s just for fun.”
The elderly ranger, however, doesn't appear to be offended; rather he looks worried for Bakugou’s own sake. “Believe what you will. But those who choose to ignore my warning may just become Kinyuu’s next victim.”
“Shut up, old man! Get real!”
“Bakugou…”
Izuku is stone cold, his eyes staring holes into Bakugou and Kirishima. He’s just stunned, he never expected to see these two in the middle of the woods, especially a campfire!
Unfortunately for Izuku he was remaining a bit too still for too long, so long that Hisashi notices and silently follows his gaze. “Hey isn’t that Mitsuki’s kid, Katsuki?”
He had said that a little too loudly because Bakugou instantly starts, sitting up and scanning the crows until he locks onto a head of messy green hair.
The two boys lock eyes, green to red, staring at each other with dumbfound expressions…
“WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE!?!/WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING HERE!?!”
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Izuku plops down in the passenger seat, turning around with a heavy sigh. “I still can’t believe you managed to drag Bakugou out here.”
Kirishima chuckles from his seat at the table. “Ha. I know, right. But believe it or not he actually agreed.”
Bakugou, sits across from Kirishima and his back towards Izuku, scowls with a nasty tsk. “Shut up! If I knew Deku was gonna be here I wouldn’t have come!”
After collecting their thoughts at the campfire Hisashi moved the three classmates back towards their campsite, where they all huddled into the Rustbucket to explain why they’re all here.
Kirishima’s grin widens as he takes in the RV’s interior. “So, can I assume you two are on some sort of father and son road trip? That’s so manly!”
Hisashi smiles, leaning against the fridge. “We sure are. Just us, and no one else.”
Izuku looks away, tightening his mouth as he does so. He probably shouldn’t point out that they have a droid hiding out in the bathroom or a severed head of a cyborg stashed away in the cupboard.
Hisashi smiles on, continuing the conversation. “What have you boys gotten up to so far? Did you try out the high ropes course or the climb wall?”
Kirishima lights up. “Heck yeah, they were great!”
Bakugou scoffs. “Those were nothing. I practically beat them all without breaking a sweat.”
Izuku scowls from the front seat. ‘Of course he has to make everything into a competition.’ he lets out a heavy sigh, already exasperated with Bakugou’s poor attitude.
He was a little too loud as Bakugou turns around, scowling at the sight of Izuku’s exasperated expression. It bothers him, it does, watching him act like everything’s normal. He looks so plain, so weak and harmless, but even Bakugou can’t see that anymore. Not after his tantrum during the Practical Exam.
His red gaze hardens as he eyes Izuku, almost warily.
Meanwhile, Hisashi chats away with Kirishima. “So, you two got any plans for tomorrow?”
Kirishima needs a moment to think about it. “Um, well, I think we said we’d go hiking tomorrow. Take one of their longer trails for the day if we could.”
Hisashi's smile widens. “Hey, you know what? Izuku and I were planning the same exact thing. Do you boys wanna come with us?”
And in that moment, both Izuku and Bakugou jolt up in shock and dread.
Bakugou snaps up! “No way in hell am I going anywhere with Dek-blah!!”
Kirishima's hand clamps his maw shut, as the redhead grins up at Hisashi. “That’d be great! The more the merrier, right?”
Hisashi grins. “Absolutely.”
Neither Izuku nor Bakugou feel the same way. But Izuku isn’t about to tell his dad or Kirishima no at this point.
“Fuck no! I'd rather go by myself, you got it?!”
“Dude don’t be like that. It’ll be fun.”
Izuku sweat drops; something tells him that this will be anything but fun.
After discussing their meet up time, Hisashi sees the boys out. “Get some rest because we gotta be up bright and early!”
“You got it.” Kirishima grins, before strolling away.
Bakugou lingers back, scowling in annoyance as he gazes back up towards the Rustbucket.
Once again both he and Izuku lock eyes. Bakugou seems almost wary of Izuku, but angry at the same time, his hands are stuffed into his pockets but Izuku can tell they’re flexing like he’s getting ready to…defend himself.
But without uttering a word, Bakugou turns away as he too heads back to his tent.
Izuku frowns, watching them off into the silent campgrounds.
With his gaze distracted he fails to notice the various sets of illuminated eyes, watching and waiting from within the pitch-black forest. The eyes follow the boys along before trailing back towards the RV. And soon the presence of dimly illuminated gazes grows and grows, and low clattering chirps begin to fill in and meld with the sounds of the night wind and crickets. “Cghghghghhrrr.”
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‘This sucks.’ Both Izuku and Bakugou internally grumble to themselves as they are forced to hike side-by-side through the mountain trail.
“Isn’t this great?!” Kirishima slings his arms around the two, forcing them closer. “Just us men out in the wilderness! Nothing could be manlier! Am I right?!” He is way too excited for such an early hour.
Especially for Bakugou who lets out a lowly dangerous growl. “Kirishima. Let go of me.”
“Naw! I don’t think I will.” Kirishima says a little too joyfully.
Izuku struggles against Kirishima’s arm, he glares back behind them towards Hisashi. “Why did you have to invite…them?”
Hisashi smiles on, gripping his hiking pack tighter. “ Oh, come on, this’ll be fun. The more the merrier I always say.”
Izuku snaps, breaking free of Kirishima’s grip!! “YOU’VE NEVER SAID THAT!!! NOT ONCE!!!”
Meanwhile, Bakugou breaks himself free from Kirishima’s grab. “This totally bites! Let’s ditch these losers!!”
Izuku, overhearing, scowls in annoyance grumbling under his breath. “That’s funny…coming from you…”
“Tsk?!” Bakugou halts in place, he heard that, his anger flaring. “What. Did. You. Say?!”
Izuku starts before glaring right back at Bakugou. “I didn’t say anything.”
“Bullshit!!” Bakugou roars. “You called me a fucking loser!!”
Izuku scowls. “Your ears must be damaged thanks to your explosion, because that’s not what I said.”
“You’re such a fucking liar!!”
Kirishima tries to intervene before things escalate. “Come on, Bakubro. Can’t we just get along? At least for the day?”
Bakugou humphs, turning his head indignantly.
Izuku scowls, turning his head away too.
Kirishima sighs in defeat, lingering back a bit until he’s at pace with Hisashi. “Ah, man. He’s even more high wired than before. Why can’t they just get along?”
A sad smile graces Hisashi’s lip as he watches the two boys argue and bicker. “Once upon a time, they used to.”
Kirishima’s jaw drops, and rightfully so! “What?! No way?!”
Hisashi chuckles. “Yeah, believe it or not they were inseparable when they were little, since their daycare days in fact. But a lot has changed since those days.” Too much in fact…
Kirishima scratches his head, he almost can’t believe it. “I mean, I knew that they've known each other since before high school. But I had no idea they’ve known each other for that long!” Kirishima frowns, sorrowfully. “I guess they would have gotten along then at some point, but.” He looks forward only to see that Izuku is now fully yelling back at Bakugou, both trading curses and insults as they hike forward. “Nowadays, They seem to be at each other's throats more and more.”
Speaking of which, the two look like they’re actually going to literally jump at the other’s throat real soon if nothing is done.
Sensing the tension and brave enough to step in, Kirishima shoves his way between them, separating them. “You know what? Why don’t we trade walking buddies for a little while? Yeah?”
Bakugou gives the red-head a nasty scowl as Izuku frowns on in irritation but neither of them airs their gripes as Izuku slows down to separate himself from the two.
Kirishima takes the lead guiding Bakugou while Izuku slows down until he eventually meets with Hisashi’s pace and the front pair are a few meters away.
Hisashi remains silent, not saying a peep as they continue with their hike as Kirishima calms Bakugou down just up ahead.
Izuku eyes the back of Bakugou’s head before his eyes drift over towards his Dad. “I know what you’re up to?”
Hisashi starts, before giving an innocent smile. “Oh, and what’s that?”
“You want us to be friends again. Don’t you?” Izuku accuses him a bit critically.
Hisashi doesn’t answer, he smiles on like the question wasn’t at all a surprise.
Izuku, however, doesn’t relent as he continues to gaze up at his scheming father.
“No.”
Izuku starts, totally taken by surprise by Hisashi’s calm and truthful response.
Hisashi looks Izuku in the eye and states. “I want you two to learn to cooperate.”
“Excuse me?”
“It’s a fact in life that everyone has to work with someone they would rather not. No one can get along with everybody.” No matter how much they want to or how much they try. You can’t make everybody happy. Doing so is nothing but a fantasy. “Sometimes we have to put aside our own petite differences in order to reach a common goal.”
Izuku shakes his head. “What does that have to do with hiking?”
“It doesn’t.” Hisashi admits, however. “But it could mean something more when you two actually become pros.”
Izuku starts, his breath hitching, taken back by Hisashi’s honesty.
“As heroes we often have to work with all sorts of characters. And sometimes we can…disagree with those characters. But when it comes to protecting lives…there’s no room for arguments or competition.” Hisashi’s gaze turns serious, like a veteran who’s been his way through too many battles. “We’ve got a job to do and nothing will distract from it.”
Hisashi pauses, allowing his words to sink in, before his expression falls into disappointment. “The way you two have been acting…it makes me sad…and worried. If you two can’t get along or behave yourselves while out on a hike… How can anyone expect you two to behave yourselves during a real life-or-death situation?”
Izuku starts, offended. “It’s not my fault! Bakugou is-”
“It doesn’t matter who’s fault it is. What matters is if you both can move past it. Because a day will come where you’ll have to rely on each other. But if you can’t see past your differences, well…” Well that’s when they or someone else is going to pay the price for their mistakes.
And Izuku…understands; if they’re unable to even work together to save others or to even fight a villain then they could lose their lives. Or worse they could be the reason someone else gets hurt… He gets it, he does.
He’s not the only one as Bakugou stares back at the two, not in irritation or hostility, but with interest and in silent thought. After a moment he looks forward away from the Midoriyas.
Hisashi, with a knowing look in his eyes, smiles ever so slightly as he watches Bakugou.
And so the group of four continue with their hike and this time they are mostly able to enjoy themselves, although both Izuku and Bakugou make an effort to avoid any interactions between them. The path is actually a real challenge with a few places they have to boulder up the slope. They spotted a herd of deer grazing in a field. Later they were able to take in the gorgeous view of a valley. And at one point they got charged by a wild boar that was crossing the path, although it soon turns tail and ran when Bakugou started charging him with fiery Explosions.
After a while the tension has all but washed away with the mountain wind, and everyone’s actually able to have a peaceful mountain hike.
Well mostly as the group come across a pair of college guys. They look worried, confused, and in a rush as they head in the opposite direction, speaking in worried tones.
“Where is he?”
“I don’t know. He said he had to take a leak.”
“Yeah I know. But where’d he go?”
One of the college students spots Izuku and his group. “Oh, hey, hold up guys!”
Kirishima stops first, looking up as he uses one foot to scratch his other foot. “What’s up?”
“Have you guys seen our friend pass by?” The guy pulls out his phone and shows them all a group photo of him, his friend, and the guy they’re looking for. “He looks like this.” he says pointing to their third member in the photo.
Hisashi eyes the photo closely before responding. “No. We haven’t seen anybody all morning.”
The guy scowls, worried. “Shit.”
His friend frowns, looking at his buddy. “Did he get lost?”
“I don’t know. Maybe he went back to camp.”
“Maybe. Let’s go check.” The college guy addresses the group. “Sorry for bothering you.”
And they take off, back towards the campground before they could respond.
Izuku frowns, watching them take off down the path. “Another missing person?”
“Whatever.” Bakugou sighs, heading forward to continue the hike. “They don’t matter.”
“Bakugou, wait!” Kirishima chases after him leaving the Midoriyas behind for now.
Izuku frowns, shaking his head slowly, this just doesn’t feel right. “This is weird right?”
“A little bit.” Hisashi admits feeling just as off about this as Izuku.
“What do we do if…we get lost?”
“Don’t worry. I got us covered. Look.” Hisashi reaches into his pocket and he flashes Izuku his Plumber Badge.
Izuku’s eyes widen. “Your badge?!”
Hisashi nods, smiling. “Yeah, it has a tracker inside that any Plumber can access. Plus a communicator so if we get lost we can send a signal to Chopper to come and find us. Plus he has an internal navi-system, so he’ll be mapping the way back.” It’s sort of a GPS that can leave behind an invisible breadcrumb trail that only Chopper can follow.
“Cool.” At least they have something.
Not wanting to turn back after coming so far, they continue forward, coming upon another sheer slope with large boulders that they have to climb over to continue the trek.
Bakugou arrives at the top first, blasting himself up and over the steep slope with one Explosion. Hisashi arrives at the top next, but he actually climbs up. And not far below him is Izuku who’s taking his sweet time to climb up, not wanting to really rush today.
“Ah, I can’t take it!” Kirishima cries out from the bottom of the slope.
He falls to the ground, kicking his boots off, before furiously scratching away at his irritated feet. Izuku stops his climb, turning back towards his classmate. “Athlete’s foot?” It must be really bad if it’s forcing Kirishima to take a break.
“Yeah, sorry.” Kirishima whines as he scratches away. “You go on ahead. I’ll catch up with you all when this settles down. Kay?”
“Alright, if you’re sure. Take your time. We’re not going anywhere.” Izuku calls back as he continues to boulder his way up.
“Don’t worry! I’ll be fine! Ah! So itchy!”
With his back turned, Kirishima fails to notice the rustling of the nearby ferns and shrubs as a low hum calls out. “Cghghghghhrrr.”
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With a grunt Izuku shoves himself to the top of the steep rocky slope.
Standing nearby, Bakugou scowls when he spots Izuku crawling up the slope. “Hey! Where’s the blockhead?!”
“He’s down there.” Ignoring the shouting, Izuku points down the slope but it’s so steep and there are so many protruding boulders that they can’t actually see Kirishima from this angle. “His athlete’s foot was acting up, so he’ll need a minute. He said he’d catch up when he’s ready.”
As Izuku dusts himself off, he finally notices that his Dad isn’t up here with them. “Hey? Where’s my Dad?”
Bakugou tsks, annoyed like it’s beneath him to even answer. “Who cares? He went on ahead because of some bullshit reason.”
Izuku pouts, he’s starting to become irritated, but he bites back his tongue. “And that reason was?”
“I don’t know! Said he heard shouting or something!”
“So then…why are you still here?”
“Duh! He told me to wait for you morons. So hurry it up!” Bakugou marches forward, his patience finally running out.
Izuku gasps. “What about Kirishima?!”
“You said it yourself, he’ll catch up!”
With a frown and a sigh, Izuku chases after Bakugou, figuring the sooner they move the sooner they’ll find his Dad.
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Speaking of which, Hisashi jumps down from the fallen tree trunk and back onto the path. His eyes are peeled and constantly scanning the forested path ahead: the path narrows out and it’s blocked from both sides by thick brush, ferns, and grasses.
Hisashi peers around. ‘I know that scream came from this direction.’ He peers downward. “Huh?”
Down under the matted grass, something’s caught his eye.
Hisashi reaches down to dig it out but stops, his eyes widening as he takes in the matted grass. The matted grass is all pointing in one direction, flattened out and even ripped as something heavy was dragged through the grass and into the forest.
‘Okay, now I’m worried.’ Hisashi reaches for his cellphone, pulling it out from his pocket. ‘I better give Izuku a call. Maybe he’s seen something.’
As he searches for Izuku’s number, a little fluffy-dot lands softly onto his screen as does another and another and so on.
“Huh?” Hisashi peers up and sure enough a dusting of tiny fluff-balls are raining down from within the woods. “What is this? Snow?” He breathes as he cups his hand and tries to catch some of the dust.
Hisashi inhales, sighing, as he examines the dust. “Hang on this is…this is…” His thoughts waver, his mind becoming foggy, and his eyes begin to droop.
The dust continues to rain down and then with a thump Hisashi passes out onto the trail, his phone falling from his hand.
Silence falls as the tiny off-balls die out. A rustling from within the grass and shrubs disturb the silence as something steps closer. “Cghghghghhrrr.”
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Izuku lets out a long-frustrated sigh as he tries to keep pace with an annoyed Bakugou.
He tried walking side by side with the guy, but he just kept speeding up, like he was trying to get away from him. And so Izuku gave up and is now trailing behind by a few paces.
The air between them has been tense, awkward at best, neither of them able to come up with anything to say to the other. Not like either of them really want to in the first place. It’s such a struggle, they can’t even make eye contact with each other. There’s like a wall between them, a thick brick wall with barbed wires around its mass.
Izuku frowns, recalling Hisashi’s advice: “It’s a fact in life that everyone has to work with someone they would rather not. No one can get along with everybody. Sometimes we have to put aside our own petite differences in order to reach a common goal.”
‘Common ground?’ But what common ground could they possibly have? They both wanna be heroes? Maybe that can be their common ground…? Well if it was that simple wouldn’t they have come to see eye to eye by now? Then what? They just can’t get along, there’s just too much bad history between them… From their childhood, junior high school days, and even into high school. They’ve never been able to get along as well as they used to… Can they really change that? Probably not. So then-
“Would you shut up, already?!”
“AHHH!!!” Izuku clamps his hands over his mouth. ‘Was that all out loud?!’
Judging by Bakugou's very annoyed and irritated expression, the answer is yes, it looks like he was muttering under his breath the whole time.
Izuku gulps. “How…how much did you hear?”
“Huh?! Like that fucking matters?!”
Izuku sighs. ‘Guess he didn’t hear anything.’
Bakugou turns his gaze forward, and down towards the ground where something catches his eye forcing him to a stop. “Hey, Deku.”
Izuku pauses, biting his tongue as Bakugou squats down and combs his hands into the matted grass.
“Look.” Bakugou stands up and pulls out what looks like a hiking backpack that’s been ripped apart and torn like a pair of dogs used it as a chew toy. “Looks like a bear got itself a poor chump.”
Izuku pales as he examines the backpack. After a moment he collects himself to scan the rest of the ground and scattered across the trail are all sorts of items that must have been in the pack from food cans, a canteen, a folded-up tent, and even a torn sleeping bag.
It might have really been a bear attack…
But Izuku isn’t so sure as he scans the trail. “Then where’s the tracks? If it was a bear, where are the claw marks or even its pawprints?”
Bakugou scowls, he hates it whenever Deku’s right. And he is right there are no tracks to be seen: no claw marks, no pawprints, no blood, and not even blades of fur.
But then again maybe he missed something, and so Bakugou scans the ground again for any clues. And sure enough he spots something else.
“Hey, Deku.” Bakugou leans down and snatches up something shiny off the ground. “Does this look familiar?”
Bakugou holds up a cellphone. With a press of a button the home screen illuminates to life. There on the homescreen is a photo of Izuku and his Dad! The photo is actually one they took at Naofumi’s Tanuki Park, right before the rabies incident!
“My Dad’s phone?!” Izuku gasps, snatching the phone out of Bakugou’s grip. “What’s it doing here?! Where’s Dad?!”
“How should I know?!” Bakugou shouts back.
Even so they both know something’s wrong. Why would Dad leave his phone? Did he drop it? No, no way it fell out of his pocket. He must have pulled it out, but why?
As Izuku eyes the scattered items and the torn backpack does it all click.
Turning a ghostly pale, Izuku freezes in place, his heart stopping. This may not have been a bear attack…but…but a villain?!
Bakugou frowns, finding Izuku's petrified face weird and punchable. “What the fuck’s wrong with you?”
“Kirishima…” Izuku whispers.
“Huh?!”
“Kirishima… We left him behind…on his own.”
Bakugou doesn't seem to get it right away, but then he starts as his eyes drift down towards the mauled backpack.
Without missing a beat Izuku spins around and darts back down the path in the direction they came from!
“You moron! Don’t go running off!” Bakugou screams, chasing after him!!
The two race back towards the slope, betting on the chance that they’ll run into Kirishima before then. They don’t.
Izuku cries out as they reach the steep slope. “Kirishima!! Where are you?!” He tries to peer down but once again the large protruding boulders block his view of the bottom.
Bakugou scans the nearby woods for any signs of the idiot. “Where you at Shitty Hair?! I’ll kill you if you don’t get your ass out here!!”
There is no response, not even the rustling of leaves or the cry of an animal responds back.
Izuku can’t take it, leaping down the slope. “He might be down there!”
Izuku leaps from boulder to boulder not caring at all that one misstep will mean a twisted ankle.
His feet land onto the ground with a loud thud! “Kirishima!! Where are you?!”
There’s no answer.
Bakugou leaps down, slowing his fall with an Explosion as he lands beside Izuku.
“Where is he?” Izuku wanders aloud, scanning the ground hoping that he might see some tracks. “Is that?” He bends down and picks a boot off the ground. “Is this Kirishima’s boot?”
Okay if Bakugou wasn’t convinced that something was wrong before then he is now. “Not even he’s dumb enough to walk off without a shoe.” Bakugou scowls, his fingers flexing, as if readying themselves for a fight. ‘First a backpack, then Mr. Midoriya’s phone, and now Shitty Hair’s boot?’ Everything about this is screaming at Bakugou’s instincts: and they’re all telling him to fight. What, though? Not even he’s sure.
*Rustle!*
In an instant Bakugou has eyes peeled and trained towards the source of the noise: the nearby shrubs lying just below the tree line. His hands spark at the ready as he prepares to deliver the first strike at whatever’s stalking them.
It takes Izuku a moment to finally notice Bakugou’s stance, and the instant he does he becomes very nervous as she follows Bakugou’s gaze. There isn’t rustling anymore but judging by Bakugou's killer intensity, Izuku isn’t about to take any chances as he slowly reaches for the Omnitrix. They have to be ready to defend themselves, no matter what the threat might be.
And so they wait and wait for someone or something to come forth from the depths of the silent forest. But nothing shows itself, not a thing as they are only greeted by silence. And then like spontaneous thunder, the loud bang of a shotgun rings out across the valley!
*BAAANNNG!!!*
Flocks of birds scatter into the air, deer take off at full sprints, and Izuku spins around in a panic!! “Was that a gunshot?! It sounded like it came from the camp!”
*BOOM!!!*
Without any warning, Bakugou blasts himself high into the air. Using his Explosions to hover in place he quickly scans the horizon, and there in the distance, in the direction of camp, does Bakugou hear the telltale signs of a struggle. From up in the air he can almost make out the sounds of screaming, shotgun blasts, and the crashing of cars, trees, and pots. “What the hell?!”
“What’s happening?!” Izuku cries out from below!
Bakugou thrusts his arms back! “DIE!!!” With a massive Explosion, Bakugou is rocketing through the air like a missile that’s been aimed right towards the campgrounds!
Izuku scowls, it wouldn’t have been too much for the guy to answer. Oh, well. But either way it looks like he was flying in the direction of camp, so all he needs to do is get there first.
As Izuku grips the Omnitrix, he can’t help but smirk as he thinks up of, what he thinks is, an appropriate line. “I have the need for speed!” And with a slam of the dial Izuku’ body morph and shifts until the sequence is complete.
“What the?! I said I needed speed…not turtle speed.” Terraspin grumbles, totally dejected. “Well it has been a while. Besides, I can work with this.”
With his head tucked into his shell, Terraspin’s flippers fan out and rotate allowing him to hover in place. And with the right angle and adjustments, Terraspin soars up into the sky like a frisbee, spinning through the air and after Bakugou and the campgrounds.
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“Run!!”
“Villains are attacking!!”
A stampede of campers rush through the campgrounds, they’re all in a panic as they flee for their lives!
“Move it people! Out of the way!!” A ranger shoves his way through, aiming his shotgun at the villains.!
*BAAANNNG!!!* *BAAANNNG!!!*
He got two of them! And with his confidence and adrenaline high, the ranger spins around, barking out orders! “Hurry! Everyone to the-AHHH!!!”
Several pairs of thin, spongy arms grab and pull the ranger down as several strange and otherworldly creatures begin to pile over him.
Several campers cry out in horror as the creatures spew out puffs of tiny dust-particles over the struggling ranger who silences upon inhaling the dust.
“Ahhhh!!!”
“What are they?!”
“Cghghghghhrrr.” The squad of Living Mushrooms chirp and scowl as they turn their attention back towards the campers as several of their comrades begin to drag the unconscious ranger away.
The Living Mushrooms are short, with large caps over their stubby and warped bodies. Their eyes glow green as their two sets of mouths click and chatter together. “Cghghghghhrrr.”
“Eeeekkk!!” A woman who tripped screeches as a trio of Living Mushrooms rush her!
The Living Mushrooms pounce! “Cghghghghhrrr!”
“Ahhhh!!”
“Die!!!”
*BOOOOM!!!*
And with a single blast the Living Mushrooms are obliterated, torn apart by the sheer force of Bakugou’s terrifying Explosion!!” “HA!!!”
Bakugou slides to a stop, the Explosion drawing the attention of more Living Mushrooms. “Now this.” Bakugou grins as his palms spark with mini-Explosions. “Is my kinda summer fun!”
The woman, meanwhile, is totally shocked by the kid’s appearance and Quirk! “Who are you?!”
Someone else is running by overhears and calls out! “Hey I know him! He’s from U.A.!”
The woman gasps, a glimmer of hope in her eyes. “You gotta help us! We-”
“Shut up!!” Bakugou snaps, silencing her with one bark. “You all run away if you want. Just stay out of my way!”
“Cghghghghhrrr!!” Another trio of Living Mushrooms attack instigated by the Explosions and shouting! “Cghghghghhrrr!!”
“DIE!!! You damned Goombas!!” Bakugou unleashes a fiery Explosion, charring the poor creatures to ash. “Hm.” Bakugou smirks as he eyes the charred remains of the creatures with a sense of pride and glee. “Pathetic. I’m barely breaking a sweat.”
“Bakugou!!”
Bakugou scowls, peering up in time to spot a spinning turtle descending down towards the ground.
Terraspin tucks his head out as his feet make landfall. “What’s happening?! Why is everyone in a panic?!”
“Isn't it obvious?! It’s these stupid Goombas!!”
“Goombas?!” Terraspin questions, turning his attention towards the rest of the campgrounds.
Camp Opinicon is in total chaos as an army of Living Mushrooms, now dubbed Goombas, attack everyone and everything that they can. They’re snatching anyone that they can, spewing out puffs of white-dust, which is most likely spores, that are putting their victims to sleep. He can’t see much of anything else as campers flee and panic across the site, trying their best to avoid being attacked by the strange creatures.
The whole thing makes Terraspin sick to his stomach, even more so as he begins to come up with possible explanations. ‘What are these things? Are they…aliens? Maybe? What are they after? What do they want?’’
“Quite stalling, dammit!!”
Terraspin snaps out of his thoughts as Bakugou’s hands begin to light up with mini-blasts.
“Get moving or I’ll kill you.” Bakugou growls, stomping forward closer to the chaos.
“Hang on! We should work together!”
Bakugou goes quiet as he eyes Terraspin for a moment, as if he’s considering it. But it becomes clear that he’s already come to a decision. “DIE!!!” And with a mighty blast he rockets forward, towards the incoming enemies!
Terraspin frowns. ‘Was that towards me or the Goombas…?’ He’d like to think it was towards the latter.
Meanwhile, Bakugou’s going all out, letting loose for the first time since school’s been out for the summer. He blasts away any and all Goombas that foolishly cross his path. “Haha! Oh, I needed this!” He swings around, obliterating a squad of poor, defenseless Goombas. “Die!! You buttugly toadstools!!”
“Cghghghghhrrr!!” A trio of Goombas charge in from the side.
Bakugou’s nasty grin grows wide as he eyes his next victims with merciless glee.
But before he can do anything, Terrapin drops down, landing atop the Goombas and smashing them into pancakes. “Take it easy will ya? This isn’t some video game.” Just as he says this he spots a few shiny objects on the ground. “Oh, look coins!!” Terraspin cheers as he bends down to try and grab them.
Bakugou scowls in annoyance.
“Okay.” Terraspin sighs, giving up since he’s unable to grab the coins with his massive flippers. “We…we need to work together here. We need a plan.”
Bakugou’s scowl hardens. “I got one: we destroy them!”
Terraspin scowls back. “That’s not a plan! We need to be smart about this and hold back for now!”
“If you wanna hide in your shell then fine.” Bakugou growls, glaring up at the turtle alien. “But leave me out of this.”
“Cghghghghhrrr!!”
Bakugou and Terraspin turn around to spot several groups of Goombas chasing after some terrified campers.
“We need to-”
*BOOM!!!*
And with that Bakugou blasts himself away and right towards the danger.
“-plan…” Terraspin sighs. “This isn’t cooperation…”
With no other choice, Terraspin tucks in and spins away into the air.
While he hovers above the campground, Terraspin manages to spot several campers crashing into a tent as a horde of Goombas quickly catch up to them.
“Special Move!!” Determined not to see anyone harmed, Terraspin dives down his blades spinning and spinning after as he dives down like a flying saucer! “Turtle Power: Buzzsaw!!”
Like a flying buzzsaw, Terraspin cuts and slashes his way through the Goombas, slicing them with his spinning blades like a mower to grass!! “Guess they couldn’t cut it.”
“Cghghghghhrrr!! Cghghghghhrrr!!”
As Terraspin hovers in place a large number of Goombas all climb atop of each other creating a giant pile of themselves. The pile grows taller and taller as the Goombas climb over each other in order to reach the flying Geochelone Aerio.
“You guys want some more, huh?” Terraspin soars higher and higher, coaxing the Goombas to climb higher and higher but there’s no way they could possibly catch him as Terraspin eventually reaches the clouds. “Okay.”
He’s high enough. And so with a quick spin around Terraspin aims the back of his shell downward towards the climbing Goombas. His blades spin generating a powerful whirlwind to act as a huge thruster that rockets him downward!
“Shell Smash!!” Terraspin shouts out his special move as loud as he can, and like a missile crashing down from the heavens he smashes into the column of Goombas splattering them like they were made of paper mache!!
Terraspin slams into the ground and obliterates the Goombas with a loud crash!! But despite the power of the impact he’s fine thanks to his sturdy shell.
He pops his head out and gets to his feet, scanning the nearby debris and mushroom parts lying around. “That sure did a number on them.”
“Cghghghghhrrr!!”
Okay, maybe not. As more and more Goombas flood into the campgrounds.
‘Where are these things coming from?!’ Terraspin internally screams!
“Help!!” A woman shouts out in fear as a group of Goombas rush her!
Without even thinking, Terraspin flies in scoping the woman up and turning his body, using his shell as a battering ram that deflects the first few Goombas away. “Are you okay?”
“Y-yes. AH! Look out!”
“Cghghghghhrrr!!” More Goombas attack!!
From the side an ash-blonde rushes in, swinging his hand forward and unleashing a blinding attack!
*BOOM!!!*
“Stupid Deku!!” Bakugou screeches! “You’re in the way!!”
*BOOM!!!*
With one big blast he repels the rest of the squad away.
With his flank covered and the woman fleeing to a safe area, Terraspin takes a moment to reassess the situation. ‘Seriously where are they coming from?’
He looks and looks until his eyes land on the forest’s edge, where hordes of Living Mushrooms emerge from the shrubbery and grasses like zombies rising from the graze. “They’re coming from the tree line!!”
“Then I’ll blow them to bits!!” Bakugou shoves Terraspin aside! “So move it coward!!”
‘Coward?’ Terraspin growls angrily.
And so he does nothing but watch at first as Bakugou unleashes a barrage of Explosions upon the incoming hordes. One after the other the Explosions take out several squads of the creatures, but they just keep coming!!
“Come on!!” He roars! “I want a challenge you useless, worthless pieces of decaying crap!!”
“Cghghghghhrrr!!” The Goombas are more than willing to accept the challenges as they now focus all their efforts on a single point, him.
They come and come even as they are met with a fiery and burning demise but nonetheless they charge in. And soon enough Bakugou finds himself surrounded from all sides as the Goombas crawl closer and closer.
“Let’s go!! Bring it!!”
The Goombas however don’t move any closer, they stop.
Bakugou hesitates, not sure what they’re up to, but he soon finds out.
From the tops of their caps, clouds of white spores are unleashed. And like a fog settling over the ground the spores begin to rain down on Bakugou.
But he’s not stupid nor oblivious, he’s seen them pull this trick earlier. And so Bakugou inhales and holds his breath as the spores rain down round him, trying to put him to sleep.
The Goombas creep closer and closer as they await their victim to fall to their sleep powder.
Bakugou snarls, albeit with his mouth shut tight, grinding his teeth as his fingers flex, ready to deliver some killing blows. But before he can make a move the hair on the end of his neck stands on end as a calculated wind washes over his head.
Bakugou stares up to find Terraspin flying overhead, he’s generating a vortex around Bakugou and shielding him from the surrounding enemies!
“High Winds Tornado: EF0!!”
The winds collide and thrash becoming a tornado, albeit one on the weaker side of the spectrum, but the high winds certainly still live up to their name. The winds expand and pick up the lightweight Goombas like a vacuum sucking up dust bunnies. The Goombas chirp and flail about as they’re sucked in. The Tornado then begins to move away, washing over Bakugou who was smart enough to tuck himself to the ground, leaving him unharmed.
The High Winds Tornado: EF0 rips through the campgrounds, sucking up any Goombas that are unfortunate enough to cross its path. The winds rip and roar, washing over the panicking campers with ease and leaving them mostly untouched minus their ruffled hair and clothes.
“Cghghghghhrrr!!” Upon witnessing their fellow comrades disappear within the swirling winds, the rest of the Goombas call out in retreat, rushing back for the cover of the dark woods.
And so with the last of the enemies gone, Terraspin ends his tornado with a big flourish that sends the captured Goombas flying in all directions!
The poor creatures soar and crash into the surrounding woods like eggs falling on concrete.
And so thanks to Terraspin's actions the danger has passed.
Terraspin gently lands on the ground, looking around to make sure everyone’s okay. “Is everyone okay-AH!?!” A small Explosion goes off right in his face making him flinch and stumble backwards! “What was that for?!” Terraspin screams, rubbing the smoke and heat out of his eyes.
“They were mine.” Bakugou growls, acting like he should be the one offended. “I didn’t need your help, Deku.”
Annoyed, Terraspin turns away, not bothering to even humor the ash-blonde. “Believe what you want.”
“Tch!”
Before Bakugou can air his own irritation, a ranger who looks like he got pretty ruffed up hurries over to the hero students. “Thank you! Thank you so much! You guys are heroes!”
Bakugou scoffs. “Duh!”
Terraspin reverts back into Izuku. “Is anybody hurt?”
“Not sure.”
As he says this the head ranger rushes over. “We’ll set up an infirmary right away!” he looks to his fellow ranger. “Get to it.”
“Right!” And he takes off.
Izuku frowns up at the head ranger. “What happened? What were those…things?”
“Don’t know.” the head ranger shakes his head. “They just came out of nowhere and started grabbing people,.”
“What?”
“I saw it myself. Those mushrooms were carrying people off and into the woods.”
“Why would they do that?”
“It was Kinyuu.” Responds an elderly gentleman.
Izuku and Bakugou spin around to spot the white-bearded Oldman from last night's campfire.
“Oh, not this loser again.” Bakugou whines.
“Not now.” Izuku scolds his classmate as the older ranger joins them. “We need to contact the police. Maybe get some heroes out here.”
“We can't, I'm afraid.” The Oldman interjects. “Our phones are down. I’m afraid Kinyuu destroyed the radio tower.”
Izuku frowns, ignoring the tidbit about the supposed ghost of the woods. “Then maybe someone can drive to town.”
“Good luck with that!” A group of remaining campers march over with a young college man leading the way. “I just checked my truck’s engine.” The college guy explains. “And it’s been clogged up by some weird orange fungus.”
Izuku turns to the head ranger. “What about that search party? Are they nearby?”
“No.” he responds. “Last we spoke to them was last night and they’re miles away, it’ll take them hours to get back. And without a radio there’s no way to contact them.”
Bakugou scowls over at the campers. “Then it looks like you’re all walking out of here.”
“I wouldn’t advise that.” Says the old man. ““The nearest town is 30 miles away. You won’t make it there before dark.” The Oldman frowns, worried. “And without shelter I’m afraid anyone who attempts the trip will only fall victim to Kinyuu’s schemes.”
A chill runs down the entire camp’s spines since no one is willing to relive the trauma that’s just unfolded. Even with a ghost or not, leaving would mean possibly leaving themselves defenseless against those Goombas.
With all of this to keep in mind, Izuku tries his best to make heads and tails of the situation. “So we can’t call for help. We can’t walk out of here. And we have no idea what those things are or what they want. And what’s worse is that people were kidnapped.” Izuku’s gaze turns serious as he mulls over their options. “As things stand the situation’s only going to get worse.”
That was definitely the wrong thing to say as the nearby campers and ranger all begin to give in to the fear and panic.
“What if they come back?”
“They have my son! Please someone!”
“I knew we should have stayed in the city!”
“We’re all gonna die out here!!”
“What do we do?!”
“SHUT IT!!!”
The entire camp goes silent, biting their tongues in response to the commanding and overbearing presence.
“Losers…” Bakugou scowls, marching forward, finding all of them pathetic and weak. “You can all stay here and hide if you want. I couldn’t give a crap!” A blast from his palm sparks out! “But I know what I’m gonna do.” He growls. “I’m gonna kill the bastard who did this.”
Izuku starts, this is bad he can tell that Bakugou’s about to do something really reckless…and stupid. “We need to think about this first!”
“There’s no time for thinking! Now’s the time for action, god dammit!!”
Izuku scowls. “How can you be so sure?! Huh?! What’s your game plan?!”
“It’s fucking simple!” Bakugou roars. “Those Goombas were being controlled!!”
Now that makes Izuku pause. “What…?”
Bakugou calms down, annoyed, but he’s willing to explain his thought process at least. “Those toadstools were fucking weak but somehow they were able to strategically target the radios and the cars while stealing people right from under everyone’s noses.” He then gestures to the piles of mushed and scorched Goomba parts lying around. “Look around, these things don’t even have organs!”
Izuku turns pale. “Actually I was trying not to think about that…” It would have been really disturbing if they did have organs.
“They don’t have a fucking brain, dumbass. So how were they able to be so organized?”
Izuku’s eyes widen as he finally understands Bakugou’s point. “Because they have a leader!”
“You finally just realized?” Either way Bakugou’s grin widens as he fantasies about the villain he’s going to snuff out. “But yeah. I’m gonna find the Mushroom head and fucking annihilate him!”
“You mean that metaphorically right?”
Listening in, the old man sighs, shaking his head in disappointment. “You children are so high spirited, but it’s a fool’s errand. Neither of you will stand a chance against Kinyuu.”
Bakugou snaps! “Shut your trap old man!” With a huff he spins around and begins to march away towards the woods.
Izuku shouts! “Where are you going?!”
“Weren’t you listening?! I’m gonna find that villain and turn him into sautéed mushrooms!”
“What about the kidnapped people?!”
“They’re not my problem!”
Izuku scowls, chasing after Bakugou, and cutting him off. “Fine, go after the villain! But not without me you’re not!”
“Huh?! Get out of my way Deku.” His glare hardens, glowing red. “Or die.”
Despite the possibly very real threat, Izuku stands his ground. “Alright fine? But how are you even gonna find this villain?”
As expected Bakugou doesn't have an answer. “Shut up! I just will!”
Izuku sighs. “I knew it. Lucky for you I have a way.”
Bakugou blinks, not sure what that could possibly mean.
Izuku smirks, glad to get one over on Bakugou. “Wait here, I need to get something from the RV.”
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^Wz-wop. Wz-wop.^
“Chopper stop whining. This is for Dad, for Hisashi.”
^Bo-bop.^
“Why do I have the feeling you were badmouthing your own owner?”
Because he was, Chopper definitely was. But they don’t really have a choice but to use Chopper to track down Hisashi and the other campers including Kirishima, and maybe even the villain or alien or…ghost that’s behind all this.
With a bored scowl, Bakugou eyes the droid curiously. “So, why the hell do you guys have a robotic trash can?”
^Wo-bzz! Bzz-bop!^ Chopper beeps, offended!
Izuku ignores the droid’s outcries. “He’s my Dad’s robot. Got him from… I-island actually! And besides he’ll be able to track the GPS my Dad has on himself.”
Seriously, it was a good thing Hisashi decided to take his Plumber Badge with him today. Sure he could use Wildmutt but with how many people were taken and to who knows where, Wildmutt may have just gotten himself confused by all the tangled-up scents. Plus they would have to keep stopping and waiting for the Omnitrix to recharge before they could continue the search.
And so here they are following Chopper through the dark, treacherous woods that stretch far across the mountain valley. They’ve actually been hiking for a good hour now and there still doesn’t appear to be any signs of kidnapped campers, Hisashi or Kirishima, or even the Living Mushrooms.
“This doesn't mean we’re working together; you know!” Bakugou barks up, following along begrudgingly. “I’m just using you so I can beat the crap out of those fungus turds!”
Izuku frowns, already wishing he could have left the ash-blond behind. “Typical…”
And so they hike on, following behind Chopper. They don’t exchange any words between each other as the tension and awkwardness from before finally seeps its way back in. The wall that has been reconstructed was only slightly forgotten thanks to all the excitement. The air is tense and heavy as the two do everything they can not to even look at each other, knowing that it’ll only upset them.
And so deeper and deeper they go, delving into the dark woods until they finally spot something that definitely shouldn’t be there.
Izuku stops as does Chopper. “Are those?”
Up ahead beside the side of the hill are some heavy machinery: an abandoned excavator and a bulldozer. The machines don’t look that old since there's no rust or even signs of degradation. Well except for the masses of orange fungus that’s growing around them like blankets.
Bakugou frowns, stopping as he spots it too. “What are those doing here?”
Izuku frowns as he steps closer towards the machines. He eyes them warily as he approaches especially the oozing orange moss-like fungi covering the machines. The orange moss isn’t just taking over the machines, it’s all over the place, it’s spread across the ground, onto the rocks, and even into the canopy of the trees.
“Is this some sort of fungus?” Izuku questions as he pokes the squishy mass.
“Who knows?” Bakugou responds, his attention on something other than Deku and his moss. “But I know what that is.”
Izuku peers up and his breath hitches as his eyes land on the massive opening in the side of the hillside. It looks like these massive machines must have dug into the side of the hill and uncovered a hidden cave underneath. But what’s really disturbing is the orange moss-like fungi spewing out of the cave like a carpet as large glowing mushrooms line the cave walls and floor like lanterns.
Bakugou grins like he’s found a treasure trove of loot. “Found ya.”
“Hang on!”
Bakugou tsks. “What now?!”
“We can’t rush in there. We have no idea what we’re walking into. We have no idea what’s in there or if all the missing people are there too. We need to be smart about this.”
“Screw that! If we go in there hard and fast we’ll destroy that damn villain before they could even blink!”
Izuku sweatdrops. ‘This is getting us nowhere.’ What he needs to do is…reach Bakugou halfway…maybe. “Okay, but what if the place is a maze? By the time you find the villain it might already be too late for everyone, for my Dad…For Kirishima.” Hopefully this works.
It does. Bakugou actually pauses, hesitating, like he’s considering the fact that others might get hurt. Or at least he won’t actually be able to rush in there and kick ass like he wants to without knowing the way.
Izuku wants to gasp aloud, is Bakugou actually listening to him?! Well now that he thinks about it he has…sort of started to work with others… Well okay he’ll at least listen to Uraraka but even that feels like it’s only when it’s to his own benefit. But hey he can work with this.
Izuku eyes the mouth of the cave warily, he can almost hear the chirping of the Goombas lying in wait inside. “We need to scout it out. But how?”
Bakugou eyes the cave as well and after a moment of thinking, Bakugou grins evilly as he pulls out his phone. He eyes it and then looks over towards Deku and his robot.
Izuku notices Bakugou’s terrifying expression. “W-what’s with that look?”
“I have one hell of an idea.” The mad bomber grins as he stomps over towards Deku. “Don’t fight me on this.”
Izuku suddenly becomes very nervous. “W-why w-would I do that?”
“Because you're not going to like it.”
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“You were right, I really don’t like this.”
“Shut up! You were the one that said we gotta be smart.”
Grey Matter scowls as he slides down the orange mossed rock and adjusts the phone that’s been tied to his back with a shoelace. The phone’s camera sits a little over his head while the screen illuminates behind him. The phone is recording while also displaying the image of Bakugou watching from his phone at the entrance of the cave. Chopper is beside him, his antenna spinning as he boosts the phones’ signals.
Grey Matter stealthily ducks behind a large glowing mushroom, peeking his head out to make sure the cave tunnel was clear of any Goombas or any other threats. “Okay, fine. But why the phone?”
“So we can record your death.” Bakugou responds matter-of-factly.
“WHAT!?!”
“Cghghghghhrrr!!”
Grey Matter cups his mouth shut as he dives behind a stalagmite, using it as cover as a wandering Goomba passes by.
“Keep your trap shut, Deku.” Bakugou half-whispers half-scolds through the phone. “Are you stupid or something?”
Grey Matter sweat drops, not at all approaching the jab at his intelligence.
Once the coast is clear Grey Matter continues his way through the elaborate cave system. The cave tunnels twist and intersect creating a labyrinth. Despite being underground there is plenty of light as mushrooms as big as trees and small shrubs illuminate the cave, their reddish orange hues match the orange moss layering the ground and walls. The orange moss-like fungus is soft and sticky like a glob of webbing that coats anything and everything, growing over any open surfaces of the cave.
Grey Matter squeezes himself between crevices and the large mushrooms to avoid detection from the patrolling Goombas. He climbs up a section of tall mushrooms and hops along their heads to get past another patrol.
All the while Bakugou watches on through the camera, mentally taking note of where Deku’s going, mapping it all out in his head.
Grey Matter squeezes his body to the ceiling, clinging onto the orange moss tightly as a squad of oblivious Goombas pass by from underneath. “There are so many of them.”
“Pft, they’ll need more if they wanna stop me.”
“But… Where are all the people?” Grey Matter frowns, he’s been traveling through the system for a while now and there’s been no signs of anyone other than the Living Mushrooms. “Where’s Dad and Kirishima? Where are the campers?”
“Why don’t you keep going and find out?”
With no other options, Grey Matter continues forward. After a while he eventually leaps down onto a patch of regular-sized glowing mushrooms, bouncing off of them and onto the orange fungi carpeted ground with a thud.
And without warning, the ground shakes and rumbles, shaking the entire cave!
“Wah!” Grey Matter grips the floor, bracing himself. The rumbling subsides giving him a chance to collect himself. “What was that?!”
Bakugou frowns, to him the phone was shaking around for some reason. “What was what?”
“Didn’t you feel that?!”
“No.”
“The ground shook!”
Bakugou frowns, confused. But he doesn’t linger on it as movement from the camera feed catches his eye. “Hey Deku. Look to your right. I see something.”
Grey Matter frowns, peering over towards the stand of tree-heighted mushrooms. But Bakugou’s right, something’s moving around between the tall stalks of the mushrooms.
Curious Grey Matter sneaks closer, as quietly as he can, trying to get a good look. His curiosity leads him on as he presses his back to one of the mushroom stalks, before cautiously peering around to see what it could be.
Grey Matter gasps as does Bakugou through the phone! “Dad!!/Kirishima!!” They both shout a little too loudly!
“AH!!” Kirishima leaps back, his shoulder hitting the orange-mossed cave wall as he raises his hands up in self-defense!
Hisashi blinks, spinning around in surprise before he eventually looks down and spots the Galvian. “Izuku?!”
“I’m so glad you guys are okay!” Grey Matter cheers! “What happened?!”
“Shhh!” Hisashi shushes, peering around the tall mushrooms to make sure they haven’t been spotted. “Make sure to keep the volume down.”
Grey Matter bites his lip, nodding in a silent agreement.
After making sure the coast was clear Hisashi sighs, smiles, and kneels down and offers his hand at Grey Matter’s feet. “I know you’d find us.” He reaches into his pocket and flashes the little alien his Plumber Badge.
Grey Matter nods as he hops onto his Dad’s open hand. “Yeah, good thing you had that on you.”
As Hisashi raises the alien to eye level, his expression becomes cold and serious. “Izuku. What happened?”
From the phone, Bakugou cuts in and answers before Grey Matter can even breath. “Those fucking Goombas attacked the camp and made off with some poor losers.”
Kirishima gasps, spinning around Grey Matter so he can see Bakugou’s face displayed on the cellphone. “Wait, is that Bakugou?!”
“Yeah it’s me you moron!”
“Where are you?”
“I’m outside the stupid cave with the trash can.”
^Wa-bop!^ From the side of the screen they can see Chopper’s little metal hand waving at them.
Meanwhile, Hisashi frowns, cupping his chin. “The camp was attacked? That explains the commotion we heard.” He knew he heard a number of Living Mushrooms scuffling and dragging away something in the distance through the echoes of the cave system. Guess they were dragging away more victims.
Grey Matter scans the two humans, glad to see they’re unharmed minus Kirishima’s missing boot. “What happened to you guys? One second we’re separated and then you’re both gone! Did the Goombas get you?”
Kirishima nods. “Yeah, they got me while I was putting on my shoes.”
Hisashi grimaces. “And they got the drop on me with their spores.”
Grey Matter figured as much but it’s nice to know the specific. “Well at least you two were able to escape. Now we can get out of here.”
Kirishima blinks, tilting his head to the side. “Escape?”
Hisashi frowns, like he’s thrown in the towel already. “We didn’t escape.”
The transformed Izuku is taken back. “What?”
Hisashi explains. “We’re just playing along so we can find the prisoners and the exit. That’s why we haven’t left yet.”
“Playing along?” Now doesn’t that sound ominous? “What were you playing along with?”
On que the cave begins to rumble and shake, throwing everyone off balance as the mushrooms sway with the ground. But what’s ominous is the child-like laughter that’s echoing throughout the cave, increasing in volume as the rumbling grows! “Hehehehehehaha!”
Bakugou watches on stable ground as Kirishima and the Midoriyas are thrown to the ground! “Hey, what the hell’s happening?!”
As Hisashi loses his foot, he grips Grey Matter and barks! “Stay out of sight!” That’s all he says as he tosses Grey Matter away and out of sight behind a path of small shrub-sized mushrooms and stalagmites.
Grey Matter lands atop a patch of bare rock that’s been untouched by the orange moss as the mushrooms hide him from view. Grey Matter stumbles to his feet as the rumbling grows along with the volume of the psychotic giggling.
And then just when it seems like the cave’s ready to cave in on itself from all the shaking a mass of the orange-moss surges out from the ground before the shaken and slightly fearful Hisashi and Kirishima.
The orange mass of moss-like fungi…cheers? “Yay! I found you! I found you!” The unknown creature juvenile cheers, his voice sounding a lot like that of a little kid who's having the time of his life at a day camp.
Grey Matter is stunned as he takes in the creature. It’s so bizarre yet cute at the same time. “Bakugou…what the hell is that?”
Bakugou has no fucking idea.
The orange mass is small, but its body looks like it can stretch and shift along with the orange moss. It does have a face albeit it is nothing but a set of glowing green eyes and a small mouth.
Hisashi forces a fake smile, acting along with the fungus creature’s whim. “Hooray, you found us…”
“Yeah I did!” The orange mass shrinks into the orange moss layering the floor before popping back up beside Hisashi, its body stretching up to meet him at eye level. “I told you I was the bestest at Hide-N-Seek!”
Kirishima forces a grin. “Yeah, you sure are. I guess it’s your turn to hide now.”
“Hm…Nope!” The orange mass laughs, mocking Kirishima as he dashes his hopes! “Now that we finished that game, we can play another one!”
Hisashi’s and Kirishima’s smiles drop.
“We’ll play Simon Says, and I’ll be Simon!” The orange mass begins to circle around his two playmates, his body rising and falling as he circles them. “Or we can play Jumpy. Jump! Jump! Jump! Jump!”
As the childish creature cheers and begs to play his game, the cave rumbles and shakes as the orange-moss covering the entire cave also begins to react to the creature’s demands as tendrils and masses of the orange fungi begin to shake and rise.
Grey Matter jumps back before a stray tendril of orange fungi accidentally strikes him forcing him closer towards the cave wall. Both Grey Matter and Bakugou watch on as Hisashi and Kirishima are thrown around by the living ball of orange fungi.
Bakugou blinks, scowling at the screen. “What the fuck is this bastard’s deal? What is he five?”
“Maybe…maybe he’s just immature.” Grey Matter watches as the creature basically throws Kirishima against the cave wall. “Or unstable…” He corrects.
Meanwhile, the creature has the two playing Simon Says, his body popping in and out from the orange moss carpeting the cave as he barks out any ridiculous command he can come up with. “Simon Says touch your nose, Simon says tickle your toes, Simon Says dance in your bows, boop-bop-beep-bop dippity doze!” The ground shakes and rumbles throughout the entire game, making it very difficult for Hisashi and Kirishima to continue.
“Ah!” Kirishima nearly falls over as the rumbling intensifies! “Hey, um, can you may be calm it down little dude?”
The living mass of fungi jets out of the ground a mere foot away from where Grey Matter’s hiding! “Sorry! I’m just so excited!”
Grey Matter’s breath hitches as he presses himself against the wall, nearly panicking out of fright!
Hisashi, knowing where the Galvin is, acts quickly, coming up with the first thing he can think of to distract the being. “Uh, hey!”
The creature’s green eyes blink over at older Midoriya. “What?”
“Do…do you like heroes?”
The creature goes quiet, the silence causing Grey Matter to sweat nervously due to the possibility that the creature will either notice him or not take too kindly to Hisashi’s question.
As it turns out he doesn’t have to worry about either.
“Yeah, I like heroes! I love playing heroes, too! They’re so cool! And I’m so cool!” The fungi creature cheers and shouts as it swings over towards Hisashi.
The creature spins and circles around Hisashi, who in the brief moments the creature is looking away he signals for Grey Matter to get moving.
Grey Matter gets the message and sneaks off towards the way he came, moving slowly and quietly while avoiding the orange moss-like fungi covering the ground as best as he can.
Hisashi forces a smile, praying this will distract the creature for a while. “Well, did you know I’m a hero?”
“Woah! Really?!” The creature gushes, leaning in a little too close. “Cool!” he cheers before diving down and vanishing within the fungi carpet. It goes quiet before he pops out from a different spot. “What’s your superpower?!” He dives down and pops up behind Hisashi. “Where’s your cape?” He pops in between Hisashi and Kirishima. “Is he your sidekick?” He pops in from the cave ceiling above. “Do you have a super cool hero nickname?!”
Grey Matter sweat drops as he watches the creature fanboy over the pro hero. ‘Is that what I’m like when I meet a new hero?’
Meanwhile, Hisashi keeps the creature distracted. “Yeah, my codename is Cinder.”
Kirishima, not quite sure exactly what’s happening, plays along anyway. “I…I have a nickname too. It’s Red Riot!”
The creature’s jaw drops, awing. “Woah! Woah! Woah! Cool! Cool! Cool!” He spins around cheering, waving his stubby arms in the air. “I want one too!”
Kirishima frowns. “Want what?”
“Duh! A hero name, a doy! I want a name too! A cool one!”
As the creature demands a name, Hisashi peers over and he notices that Grey Matter’s nearly out of sight. He just needs to hold the thing’s attention a little longer. “Okay, how about…” He pauses theorizing over the creature’s abilities and appearance. “How about Mycelium?”
The creature frowns, pressing his stubby mossy hand to his chin, stroking it. “Hmmmmm. Nah! That’s too boring!” The creature’s childish voice booms with rage, becoming annoyed and succumbing to a temper tantrum! “I wanna a cool nickname!! I wanna! I wanna! I wanna!”
The cave rumbles and shakes as the fungus creature throws his tantrum!
“Woah! Okay! Okay!” Hisashi waves his arms around as he tries to keep his balance, thankfully the waving around caught the creature’s attention. “Well, our codenames are based off our Quirks so…” Dammit what would sound cool that’s related to mushrooms?
Kirishima peers over at the small orange fungi-bodied creature with curiosity and trepidation. “You probably want something related to a fungus…” And like that Kirishima grins as a name suggestion pops into his head. “I know! How about this, Fun Gus?”
Hisashi frowns. “Fun…Gus?”
“Yeah.” Kirishima grins, proud of his creativity. “Like Fungus but you split into two: Fun and Gus, Fun Gus!”
Hisashi grimaces. “You can’t be serious?”
But he is and so is the creature, who’s actually considering the name.
“Fungus…? Fungus…? Fungus? Fun…gus?” And then it clicks. “Hey, I get it now! Fun Gus! Fun Gus, yeah!” The thrilled orange creature spins around his body morphing and coiling up into the air like a spiral as he cheers and declares out to the world! “My hero name is Fun Gus!!”
[Look up “Fun Gus” from “Kipo and the Age of Wonder Beasts”]
With a forced smile, Kirishima cheers up at the celebrating Fun Gus. “It’s a great name!”
Hisashi sweat drops. ‘It’s not.’ But he dares not say anything, he doesn't really want to deal with a villain who’s mentally unstable as this one.
Meanwhile, just out of sight and close to the tunnel that will lead him towards the exit, Grey Matter observes from afar with the phone recording from his back.
Bakugou groans out what everyone’s thinking. “That name’s super lame.”
Grey Matter shrugs. “Aw, I kinda like it.”
“You would.”
Ouch.
But with Fun Gus thoroughly distracted Grey Matter finally leaves the vicinity, disappearing from sight completely.
But he can still hear his Dad trying to hold Fun Gus’ attention. “So, Fun Gus. What do you want to play next?”
Fun Gus lights up. “Oh, boy! Let’s play Ring-Around-the-Rosy! I love the swirling, squishy, and dizzy feeling my tummy gets!”
At the same time, Grey Matter hops from one bush-sized mushroom to the next using them as trampolines to get as much distance as he can between him and Fun Gus.
He jumps from mushroom to mushroom, moving at a steady pace.
At least until Bakugou, watching from the phone, yells out! “Deku, look out!”
Grey Matter lands atop a rather large maroon-colored mushroom. “What ?! Where?!” He flails his head about, but he doesn’t see anything!
“Look down dumbass!”
“Huh?!”
“Cghghghghhrrr.”
Weird that sounded like it came from under him… That’s because it did. “Ah oh.”
“Cghghghghhrrr!” The Goomba makes a grab for the Galvin on his head but the little guy leaps away and onto the ground to get away!
“Cghghghghhrrr.” The Goomba angrily glares down at the little alien.
Grey Matter smirks back up at him. “I’m not that easy to catch alone you know.”
The Goomba…appears to be smirking just before the sounds of its clicks and calls echo and resonate all around them! “Cghghghghhrrr!”
Grey Matter pales as other nearby mushrooms come to life and a squad of Goombas all glare down at their tiny target.
Grey Matter quivers. “Yeah, see, that’ll be enough.”
“Cghghghghhrrr!!”
“Ahh!!” Grey Matter leaps up and away as a Goomba lunges for him.
He dives, slides, jumps, and twirls evading each grab at slash that comes his way! All the while panicking and trying to get away from the Living Mushrooms!
“Fight back dammit!” Bakugou screams! “Tear them apart! Can’t you fucking transform into something else? Something useful?!”
“Ah!” The Galvin screams as he nearly gets stepped on! “I can’t! Ah! I’m a thinker not a fighter! Besides, I can’t transform!” He’s got the time limit after all.
“That’s it I’m going in!”
“No! We still don’t know where the prisoners are-Ahh!” He’s surrounded, the Goombas actually managed to corner him against the orange mossed cave wall.
Bakugou scowls. “Well you’re dead.”
“Don’t give up on me so soon!!” Grey Matter cries! “Besides I have an idea!” He proclaims as he reaches for the phone and begins to mess with the screen.
The Goombas creep closer, poised at the ready to snatch him.
As they creep closer, Grey Matter smirks as he presses his hand against the phone’s screen. “Say cheese!” And with a press of his finger the phone’s camera snaps a photo, the flash blinding the squad of Living Mushrooms!
“Cghghghghhrrr!” The Goombas cry out as they lose their vision!
They rub at their eyes, some even blindly lunging forward in the hopes of grabbing the alien even if they can’t see. After a moment their eyesights return only for them to find that the alien has seemingly vanished!
“Cghghghghhrrr!” With their target lost they all scatter, splitting up in different directions in search of their prey.
With the monsters gone, Grey Matter squeezes his way out from the crevice. “See, Bakugou. They’re too dumb to catch me.”
Bakugou scoffs, not bothering to make a comment.
With his confidence returning Grey Matter goes ahead and strolls his way forward figuring he’s all but in the clear with the exit only a few turns ahead.
After a moment of walking Grey Matter slowly comes to a stop, peering around there isn’t any sign of Goombas or Fungus: nothing but none sentient mushrooms lie about as the orange- moss-like fungus carpet the floor and walls. There is nothing to disturb the peace. But then…why does he feel like he’s being watched?
Bakugou frowns. “Why’d you stop?”
“I…I feel like I’m being watched?”
“By what?!”
“I don’t know!!” Grey Matter scowls before taking a breath and calming down.
He takes the time to scan the area again going over the tree-heighted mushrooms, to the cave ceiling, and the intertwining tunnels.
After a while he eventually settles on the orange fungi covered cave wall. It’s strange it feels like he’s being watched but not by something but by the cave himself. He scans the wall until his eyes drift onto a strange circular indentation. Curious he peers closer and closer focusing on the indentation, his instincts trying to tell him something’s up with it.
The indentation smiles, its green eyes illuminating in the dark cave. “Hello! Hehehehehaha!” Fun Gus giggles as tendrils of orange fungi snake out from the walls and surround Grey Matter!
“AH! Fun Gus!!” Grey Matter leaps back but the tendrils are faster!
The snaking masses of fungi snatch Grey Matter out of the air, swallowing him up within themselves. The Galvin struggles trying but failing to free himself.
Fun Gus smiles gleefully as he raises the little amphibian up into the air. “My very own froggy doll!!” He cheers, shaking the poor froggy around!
“I’m. Not. A. Doll!!” Grey Matter screams as he’s thrown around.
Bakugou gasps, shouting from the opposite end of the phone! “Deku! Deku!!”
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
Bakugou watches on both pissed and somewhat worried since he can do nothing but watch as the orange spongy fungi completely consumes Deku and the phone. “DEKU!!!”
The screen goes dark as the phone’s camera is completely swallowed up and after a moment the feed cuts away completely. They lost the signal.
Bakugou scowls at his phone like it’s personally offended him by daring to shut off. And so pocketing his phone, he gets up and begins marching towards the cave entrance. He’s sat on his ass far enough as it is.
Chopper starts, waving after the ash-blonde. ^Wa wa wa.^
Bakugou eyes the cave, proud of the fact he was paying attention to where Deku was going, his fingers flexing “Looks like I’ll have to kick that bastard’s ass myself.”
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
Grey Matter coughs and chokes as he finally emerges from his spongy fungus prison.
“Izuku!/Midoriya!”
Grey Matter looks up and finds himself back where he started with Hisashi and Kirishima and of course…
“Looky! Looky at what I found!” Fun Gus excitedly proclaims as he waves the Galvin around! “Isn’t he weird?!”
Hisashi sweats nervously as he tries to calm the situation. “Um, Fun Gus. Why don’t you put the frog down? We don’t want to hurt him do we?”
With a pout, Fun Gus holds Grey Matter close, shielding him away from Hisashi. “No! I wanna keep him!”
Hisashi’s smile nearly breaks but he keeps his cool, an irk mark begins to form. “Well, if you keep him his family might miss him.”
“So?!”
The irk mark on Hisashi’s forehead grows. “Well wouldn’t that make you feel bad?”
“But I wanna keep him! I’ll take good care of him, promise!” Fun Gus grins and raises the bipedal frog into the air! “Plus he can fly!”
Said froggy frowns confused. ‘No I can’t.’ Oh yes he can, at least when he has some…assistance.. “Ahhhh!!” Grey Matter screams as he’s whipped around in the air while Fun Gus uses him as a toy airplane!
“Hahaha! Look, look, see!” Fun Gus tosses the frog-like alien up, his body snakes into the air and grabs the little alien before holding him close! “I love Mr. Silly Froggy-Thing!”
“Uh…” To Grey Matter it feels like his eyes are still spinning, he's dizzy and dazed but even so he has enough cognate sense to correct the unstable kidnapper. “M-my n-name’s…G-Grey Matter!”
Fun Gun gasps in awe! “You can talk?!”
“Um.” Oops, maybe he should have gone with the frog act. Okay he can bounce back from this; he just needs to play dumb! “No.” Okay, not that dumb. “I mean…um… Kero.”
…
Hisashi slaps his face.
Kirishima chuckles, embarrassed on Midoriya’s behalf. ‘Was he trying to copy Asui?’
Meanwhile, Grey Matter is sweating buckets as Fun Gus holds him close, his green glowing eyes shining in glee and childlike wonder. “Hahaha! You’re so cool, Mr. Silly Froggy-Thing!” The unstable villain rapidly waves Grey Matter around like a ragdoll! “You’re my new favorite toy!” With a toss, Fun Gus’s tendril catches the Galvin by his foot, hanging him upside down. “I’m gonna play with you forever and ever!!”
Grey Matter grimaces as he dangles in the air. “Oh, well I certainly hope not.’
Grey Matter gets his wish as the Omnitrix beeps red before unleashing a veil of red light!
Fun Gus flinches, the light blinding him. “Ah! My eyes! My eyes!” With a shake of his head and a blink of his eyes Fun Gus finds a human Izuku dangling in the air rather than Mr. Silly Froggy-Thing.
Nervously, Izuku smiles. “Um, Hi there.”
Fun Gus blinks his demeanor, turning sad as he peers around the fungi ridden cave. “Where’s Mr. Silly Froggy-Thing?”
“Um, I’m afraid Mr. Silly Froggy-Thing had to leave.”
Fun Gus is in utter disbelief and shock. How could he? “He…left…” His expression begins to turn and twist from sad to sour. “He left me. He. Left. ME!!!” Fun Gus cries out in agonizing anger, his tantrum shaking the very cave and orange fungi around him!! “RAAAHHH! No! No! No! No! I don’t want him to leave!” Blinding by his childish tantrum Fun Gus ignorantly shakes and wipes Izuku around in the air!! “I want Mr. Silly Froggy-Thing back! Give him back! GIVE ME!!!”
Izuku reaches for the tendril around his leg but it’s no use, he’s being whipped around way too much for him to make sense of which way is up or down!! “Ahhhh!! Fun Gus! Please! Calm Down!”
Hisashi scowls, leaning forward and getting ready to intervene. He’s held off so far because he wanted to playthings out, get information: on Fun Gus, on the situation, the prisoners, the cave system.
He watches hoping that by some chance he might still be able to do all that but with Izuku is trouble he can’t afford to wait too long. But then again if he wants to strike the villain he needs a clean shot where Izuku won’t end up on the receiving end of his Fire Breath.
“I. Want. My. Mr. Silly Froggy-Thing back!!” Fun Gus cries out, his face distorting and twisting with rage!! “I wanna play with him!!”
A loud booming voice calls out!! “I’ll play with you!!”
Fun Gus’ tantrum ceases as he immediately spins around, his beaming smile lighting up the room! “Really?!”
From the nearby tunnel, Bakugou rockets in, laughing all the while like a maniac!! “Hell yeah, I’ll play with ya!”
Allowing his momentum to carry him, Bakugou flies himself right at the villain, he thrusts his palms out towards Fun Gus’ naive and obliviously smiling face!
“It’s called, MURDER!!!” Bakugou roars as he produces one hell of an Explosion!!
The Explosion rips and tears through Fun Gus, completely obliterating him into a thousand pieces that splatter the walls, mushrooms, and even onto Hisashi and Kirishima!
Meanwhile, Izuku is flung to the side where he plops to the ground with a squish as he lands atop a mass of mushrooms!
Kirishima wipes away the splattered Fun Gus’ parts off his face. “Woah! You did it Bakugou!!”
With a cocky smirk, Bakugou peers over at his friend. “Hm, of course I did. He was weak.”
For a moment his eyes drift over towards Izuku, almost accusing him of something.
Izuku notices, scowling in response, but with a sigh he lets his irritation go as he picks himself up.
A worried Hisashi rushes over. “Are you okay?”
“Yeah, I’m fine.” Izuku admits. “The only thing that’s hurt is my dignity.”
Hisashi sighs, relieved, before he goes back into pro hero mode and turns to address the rest of the kids. “No way those Living Mushrooms didn’t hear that. Let’s find the others and get out of here.”
Both Kirishima and Izuku shout out! “Right!”
Before they can even take a step, the orange fungi covering the cave shakes and rumbles, masses of orange fungi lashing out as if they were alive. Because they are.
The earth rattles and shakes as Fun Gus’ disembodied voice echoes out from all directions! “No. No. No. No! No! NO!!!” Fun Gus’s head swirls and expands upward, his glowing glaze turning cold and dangerous as he eyes the intruders. “No one is stealing my new toys!!”
The entire group goes cold, upon witnessing Fun Gus’ impeccable recovery!
Izuku shakily tries to calm the situation as fast as he can! “Wait, Fun Gus we can explain-!”
“LIIIAAAR!!!” Fun Gus roars his head expanding and distorting for a moment, and for a moment Izuku could have sworn he saw knife-like teeth from within the villain’s mouth. “You’re a big fat liar Mr. Fake-Froggy Broccoli Baby!! You wanna steal my toys!!”
“No!! I-”
“DIE!!!”
The heat of an Explosion forces Izuku back!! A powerful whirlwind lashes at his face until the heat and the flying pieces of Fun Gus all wash away.
“Bakugou!” Izuku shouts!
With a smirk, Bakugou grins, flicking off the broccoli head as if it’s cool.
However, his moment doesn’t last long as a tendril of orange fungi lashes out and coils itself around Bakugou’s neck, lifting the surprised and struggling teen into the air!
Popping out from the side of the cave wall, Fun Gus cries out!! “You’re mean!!” He throws Bakugou down, slamming him into the ground!! Bakugou lands hard, groaning as his head throbs, and the carpeted moss begins to curl up and over him as if to swallow him whole. “I don’t like you!! I hate you, Sparky Sparky Boom Man!!”
Bakugou snaps out of his daze, blasting himself free and up into the air like a crazed feral animal! “Like I care what an unstable piece of shit thinks of me!!”
Fun Gus morphs back into the orange fungi. And Bakugou’s palm slams into the carpeted cave wall before an Explosion blasts away part of the wall!!
From the other side of the chamber, Fun Gus rises but instead of retaliating he takes a big breath, his body expanding like a balloon, before he wails out in agony and rage!! “RYYYAAAHHH!!!”
Izuku, Kirishima, Hisashi, and Bakugou all cover their ears as Fun Gus’ wail splits open their ears.
And after a moment Fun Gus settles down, he quiets down and their hearing returns. And they don’t like what their ears are greeted by.
“Cghghghghhrrr!”
“Cghghghghhrrr!”
“Cghghghghhrrr!”
In comes a hundred Goombas, the Living Mushrooms flood into the tunnel like water, as they all claw and tear their way towards their master’s enemies. “Cghghghghhrrr!”
Fun Gus’s true nature begins to creep out as he actually smiles down at his victims, his superiority and ego rising as his body slowly snakes and rises above them. “If you won’t play nice. Then I won’t either!!
“Cghghghghhrrr!!” The Goombas attack!!
The hero and heroes in training, however, don’t flinch at the oncoming army. Kirishima’s hardening proves effective as he can easily tear through the Living Mushrooms’ bodies that are far too flimsy and delicate in comparison. Bakugou thrusts his hands in all directions blasting away any Goomba that dares to get too close. And Hisashi easily deflects and burns away any Goombas that get near him or the kids, using his Fire Breath as a whip to keep the creatures at bay.
They each stand their ground, not daring to give their enemies an inch forward.
Well mostly any way…
Izuku flails around trying to keep himself alive as he does his best to avoid capture or being torn apart by the rapid Goombas. With his Omnitrix charging and without his Omni-Shield, he’s virtually defenseless! Sure one-on-one he can put up a fight, but he’s hardly been trained to take on an entire freaking army!!
“Cghghghghhrrr!!” A few Goombas manage to surround him.
“Ahhh!!”
“I’ve got you, man!!” Using his Hardened body, Kirishima literally plows his way through the squad of Goombas, using his Hardened arms like a pair of axes!!
With the last of the current Goombas left lying on the ground in chunks, Kirishima checks on Izuku. “You good?”
Izuku breathes, nodding frantically as he admires Kirishima’s work “Yeah. Yeah, I’m good.”
“Hehehehehehaha!” Fun Gus lets out a haunting giggle as he rises above the battle. “You’ll never win! You’ll stay here and play with me forever!!”
With a blast, Bakugou rockets up and over the Goombas, shooting himself right at the head honcho!! “In your fucking dreams!!”
Before Bakugou can launch his attack several tendrils of moss fling out and grab him by his limbs and neck, catching him and stopping him in place.
“Looks like I have you. Hehehe.” Fun Gus giggles wickedly. “I know, let’s play tug-o-war!”
As Bakugou is about to blast himself free, the tendrils all tighten and snap into place, twisting him around before pulling him in all directions!
Bakugou growls and hisses in pain as his muscles and limbs twist in ways they’re not supposed to.
Izuku and Kirishima gasp! “Bakugou!!”
Bakugou grits his teeth, his eyes glaring daggers at the smug looking Fun Gus who’s leaning in a little too close as he makes silly faces at Bakugou. Bakugou howls out as he powerfully twists his own body and struggles against his binds! “DIE!!!”
Explosion after Explosions rage forth, incinerating Fun Gus’ mossy form like tissue paper to a fire!
The tendrils snap and burn away, freeing Bakugou! “Come back from that you living-sewage pile!”
In response Fun Gus does come back from that, he morphs out from the ground, appearing behind Bakugou like a massive towering wave of fungi.
Fun Gus smirks down at the stunned ash-blonde. “Ha Ha! You can’t kill me! You can’t kill me! Take that Sparky Sparky Boom Man!!” He sticks his tongue out for good measure.
Bakugou scowls, his frustration peeking. “Fuck you!!”
Kirishima however brings up a good question. “How? Bakugou blasted him to bits! How does he keep getting back up?!”
Izuku already begins theorizing the reason. “It must be his…Quirk. Perhaps he’s a Mutation type Quirk that’s melded with the fungus lining the cave. That would explain it, his Quirk might give him regeneration-like powers or at least his consciousness is spread throughout the fungus and he just manipulated what he sees his body to be as a source to focus on. His quote-on-quote body is a focus point whereas his true mind and body are one with the fungus and he’s just manipulating it. Or perhaps he’s able to move and transport his consciousness around through the fungus faster than Bakugou’s Explosions. Or maybe-”
“Can it, Deku!!”
Izuku’s mouth clamps shut as his face turns beat-red. “Ah!!” Oops! He didn’t mean to be muttering away like that.
“Hehehehe!” Fun Gus giggles! “You’re funny, Mr. Fake-Froggy Broccoli Baby!!”
“You damn freaking coward!” Bakugou roars! “Come over here and face me!!”
“Hm. Nope! But my toys will.”
“Cghghghghhrrr!!” With help from Fun Gus, who carried them over like they were riding a wave made of moss, the Goombas have the kids surrounded from all sides. “Cghghghghhrrr!!”
The kids prepare to defend themselves before Hisashi leaps in from above, shouting at the top of his lungs!! “FIRE WALL!!!”
With a single breath Hisashi spews out a jet of flames. The flames bend and dive onto the ground before racing to the side and circling the group. The heat generates a circle of tall flames that barricade the humans from the Living Mushrooms.
“Cghghghghhrrr!” The Goombas back away, fearful and meek as the heat keeps them at bay.
Fun Gus sees this, scowling, before he lets out an agonizing screech! “Ahhh!!! No fair!” As he screams his little head off, his face becomes larger and more twisted with rage as tendrils of moss-like fungi twirl and flail around him! “You’re. All. CHEATING!!!”
Several columns of orange moss splash down onto the roaring flames, extinguishing them in one go!
Hisashi scowls and ducks as a stay tendril whips at his face! After the tendril swoops over his head he spins and fires off a stream of flames, incinerating the threat to ashes. But he can’t relax as more and more tendrils fly his way forcing him to either dive out of the way or to counter with his flames before he is either whipped, grabbed, or even impaled.
The same can be said for Bakugou as he jets himself up into the air as he evades the incoming tendrils as well as the swipes of the Goombas below.
“Ahh!!”
“They got us!! Bakugou! Mr. Midoriya!”
“Help!!”
Bakugou lands beside Hisashi, they then look over only to find that both Kirishima and Izuku have been snatched up by the tendrils and Goombas. Already they’ve been pulled away by the Living Mushrooms and fungus, far from their reach or their help as they are swallowed up by Fun Gus’ orange mass.
The two cry out!! “Izuku!/Kirishima!!”
“Cghghghghhrrr!!”
That was the wrong move because they’ve now given the Goombas plenty of time to produce clouds upon clouds of sleep-inducing spores into the air.
Hisashi meets the sports with flames, of course, but with every inhale of breath he takes he inhales more of the spores that cause him to choke and gag. Even so he powers through to generate jets of flames to produce more Fire Walls, the heat should force the air to rise and hence possibly keep sweep the spores away, albeit temporarily. However with so many Goombas around the creatures dive over the flames to help snuff it out, leaving the rest for Fun Gus to smother away.
Bakugou is having worse luck as he tries to literally Explode the spores away, but with so many and without a proper method of ventilation he can do nothing but delay the inevitable.
The clouds of spores hinder their vision, and they can hear nothing, but Fun Gus’ cold and psychotic giggling mixed in with the clicks and chirps of the Living Mushrooms; neither of which they can see.
From within the clouds, orange tendrils rip through, grabbing the two humans by their faces! The tendrils morph and squish, covering their noses like a massive plug, cutting off their air supply.
The two desperately hold their breaths as the clouds of spores fall over them like snow.
But a few stray tendrils lash out and smack them both right into their guts!
Bakugou and Hisashi gasp, the wind is knocked out of them, and upon inhaling do the spores truly take their effect.
Bakugou and Hisashi struggle to stay on their feet, and they struggle even more as Goombas rush in and grab them both, forcing them down as they become weaker and weaker.
Even so Hisashi manages to get to his feet and set a few of them ablaze before he’s snatched up by another tendril and pulled away into the fog!
Bakugou struggles to get up as the Goombas weigh him down and the orange mossy carpet of fungi begins to swallow up his arms and legs, pinning him in place.
From within the falling spores, Fun Gus’ glowing eyes breach the fog like a ghost inhabiting a dark forest.
Bakugou spits, glaring up at the villain as his eyes become heavy. “You’re gonna…fucking pay for this…”
From within the cloud, Fun Gus stretches in closer. He grabs his lower eyelid and pulls down as he sticks his tongue out at Bakugou.
And that's the last he’s able to make out before the darkness and the heaviness of sleep pull him down.
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
“Baku… Bakugou… Bakugou…! Hey, Bakugou!! … For god’s sake, would you just wake up already?!”
Bakugou snaps awake, his vision blurry and cloudy from his reluctant sleep.
“Oh, good. For a minute I was kinda afraid you were dead.”
Bakugou peers over to his right and he finds Deku of all people suspended beside him. Deku’s arms and legs are covered in Fun Gus’ orange moss, gripping his limbs and pinning him in place in the air.
“Deku?” Bakugou tries to move but something’s stopping any of his limbs from budging.
He looks and finds that he too is suspended in the air, his hands completely enveloped in the gross squishy fungi as are his legs. “What the fuck is going on?”
“We were captured.” Izuku admits defeatedly.
Bakugou scowls, spinning his head around. On his left side he finds himself beside a suspended Kirishima. On Kirishima’s other side is an unconscious Hisashi who must have been inhaling most of the spores thanks to how his Quirk works. Hisashi is dangling upside down, the fungus completely cocooning his body, pinning his arms and legs, and a splotch of fungus is muzzled around his maw, probably in an attempt to gage him and prevent him from igniting his flames at full capacity. If he were to wake up.
“He got us.” A single tear leaks out of the corner of Kirishima’s eye.
Bakugou takes that as a challenge. “Not for long.”
Izuku immediately yells out! “No, wait!”
“What now?!”
Izuku gestures down at their feet. “Look.”
“Huh?!”
What could possibly be a good excuse not to use his Quirk to get out of this?! But whatever. He goes ahead and looks down. And sure enough he finds a good excuse why he shouldn’t use his Quirk.
They are in fact being suspended over a massive pit in the ground. The pit is wide, so wide that if they fell from their current positions they would not be able to just reach out and grab the walls. As for the pit itself, it’s so deep that they can’t even make out the bottom. It’s just that deep.
Izuku sweats as he eyes the massive pithole. “If you use your Explosion Quirk you’ll be sending the rest of us down there.”
Sure Bakugou could escape and maybe he can grab onto one other person but with their binds all intertwined with each other they’ll all plummet. And there’s no guarantee Izuku will even be able to transform since his hands are bound up by the sticky fungi.
“Who knows how far it goes. With this moss I might not be able to activate my Quirk, Kirishima can't fly on his own, and my Dad’s out cold.”
Kirishima grimaces. “In other words…”
Bakugou gets it, and he hates it. “That bastard’s got us by our fucking balls.”
On que, Fun Gus curls down from the moss enveloping Bakugou’s hands. “Yup!”
Bakugou roars out, his head snapping forward as he tries to take a bite out of the being. “You!!”
“Me!!” Fun Gus cheers as he morphs away into the binds.
He then pops back into view, this time at the edge of the pit and this time with a smugger smile “You all thought you were so smart. But I was more smarter and more tougher than you all.”
“When I get out of here I’m gonna smash your face in!!”
“Too bad, meanies like you have to stay in the timeout corner.”
As Bakugou screams his head off, Izuku takes a moment to scan their surroundings. “Where are we?”
Fun Gus is more than happy to answer! “We’re in my toy box!”
“Toy box?!”
“Yup!” Fun Gus declares with a spin.
The three hero students finally take in their surroundings and it certainly isn’t good.
The so-called Toy box is a prison!! They’re in a giant cave chamber that reaches about three stories high. Along the walls line cells that are filled in by the same people that Living Mushrooms kidnapped earlier. They’re all held captive behind veils and bars of orange moss-like fungi. A squad of Goombas patrol the chamber, acting as guards for their master’s prisoners.
Tall mushrooms, the size of trees, line the walls, illuminating the cave chamber that’s pretty barren for all intents and purposes. The floor is completely carpeted by a thick layer of orange fungi with several large mounds protruding off the ground that are just a bit bigger than speed bumps.
Izuku gasps when he spots the hostages! “It’s everyone that was kidnapped!”
Kirishima beams! “We found them!”
Fun Gus lifts his chin up in pride! “Yup, and they’re all mine! They’re all my new toys! And we’re all going to play and play and have tons of fun! And none of you are invited!”
Kirishima grins, relieved. “Well that’s a relief.” A tendril wraps around his waist. “Huh? AH!?!” The red-head is pulled away, ripped out of his binds!
His classmates cry out! “Kirishima!!”
Fun Gus pulls Kirishima in close. “But I like you Mr. Red-Red Boy!” The mad kidnapper states with a wide grin! “You’re nice. You make me feel happy!”
“You know, I’m actually told that a lot…” Kirishima admits, embarrassed and nervous.
“You’ll be my new favorite! And so will my new robot-toy!!”
Izuku starts, blinking. “Robot toy?”
^Wawawawawa!!^
From the only exit within the chamber, a wave of orange fungi pulls in a grey and orange robot.
Izuku gasps! “Chopper?!”
Chopper flails about, his body stuck in the moss. ^Wa-Bop! Bzz-op!^ he must have tried to follow Bakugou inside but got himself captured in the process.
Fun Gus coils around the droid with a delighted smile. “Yay! Now we can play!”
Izuku frowns as Fun Gus tosses Chopper up and down. This…thing, this villain, is insane and so is his…power? What is his power? Well he seems like the chatty type maybe…maybe he can find out. And the more he learns the more he has to work with to make a plan. Maybe. “Why…? How are you doing this?”
Fun Gus morphs away and then pops out from the binds above Izuku’s head. He blinks down at Izuku, confused, as his body stretches down.
Izuku clarifies. “What’s your…superpower?”
Fun Gus starts. “Oh, you wanna know?” Fun Gus suddenly becomes rather bashful, pressing his stubby hands together as he considers telling.
“Y-yes…”
Bakugou glares at Izuku from the side. “Deku.” He warns. What is he up to?
“Not now Bakugou.” Izuku hushes under his breath.
Fun Gus spins around, giggling to himself. “Hehe. Okay, I’ll tell you.” he coils around Izuku’s body until rising back up towards his face. “But if I do, do you promise to play with me?”
Izuku flinches, but he goes along with Fun Gus’ whims, for now at least. “Yeah, I promise.”
“Deku.” Bakugou warns, but Izuku silences him with a look.
And it works as Fun Gus finally reveals what Izuku assumes is the name of his Quirk. “My super doper power is called Mycelium!”
Izuku raises an eyebrow. “Mycelium?” Well that certainly fits.
“Yup!” Fun Gus cheers! “Dr. Bald Bushy-Mustache said that I can control mushrooms!! Isn’t that cool?!”
“Yeah, it is.” Izuku nods, his eyes drifting over towards the squad of Goombas guarding the prisoners. “And what about them?”
Fun Gus turns and spots the Goomba. “Oh, them. They were my first toys!”
“First?”
“I made them. They’re like dolls! Look.” With a wave of his stubby hand the Goombas all freeze in place; Fun Gus waves his hand and the Goombas all begin to jump in place. “They have dumb dumb brains, but they play with me! But they’re boring and I wanted new toys to play with!”
Hence the kidnappings.
Izuku frowns, this is seriously becoming worrisome, not like it was anything but to begin with. “Then why didn’t you just go out and make some…new friends?”
Izuku honestly was expecting a rather insane and psychotic answer; like one would expect from a villain, But instead he’s met with a cold and sullen silence as Fun Gus actually frowns, his gaze. “I…can’t leave. I'm stuck here.”
Izuku’s eyebrows scrunch up, even Bakugou and Kirishima seem worried.
Izuku hesitantly speaks up. “Stuck here?”
Fun Gus nods. “I can only go where the mushrooms are.” He points to the mass of orange moss-like fungi that’s growing over every surface of the cave.
Now, only now does Izuku finally understand. Fun Gus’s Quirk, Mycelium, is a Mutation type Quirk. His entire body is composed of a special and unique orange fungus that resembles moss that carpets the cave’s floors, walls, and ceilings. But the true power of his Quirk is that he can manipulate the orange fungi which is his own body, that also explains how he’s able to regenerate or appear to be unharmed by fire-based attacks. However he can also manipulate other species of fungi and mushrooms, like the Goombas. Speaking of if he made those things he must be able to manipulate the mushrooms on a genetic level and the puppeteering of the Goombas was just a side effect of that, hence why the other mushrooms in the areas haven’t come to life or attacked them.
The tradeoff however is that he can’t go anywhere. It appears he can only move within his own body which can only grow and spread at a set rate. So in reality Fun Gus is a prisoner in his own body and the cave is the only home he can ever have. He is literally bound to this place. And that must have…broken his mind.
The childish way of talking, the desire to play and have toys and friends, the kidnapping. Fun Gus must have been trapped here for who knows how long?! His mind must have broken after being alone for so long…
“I’m sorry…”
For a moment Fun Gus looks empathetic, appreciating the pity. “It’s okay.” And with that his broken mind takes hold once again, as he smiles juvenilely at his prisoners. “That’s why I have them!” He gestures towards the Living Mushrooms. “And they bring me new toys and friends to play with!”
Okay, Izuku sees his opportunity. He was able to strike a chord, perhaps he can reach an impasse with the poor fated mutant. “Yeah, about that. Are you sure you really need this many?” He scans the other hostages.
“Yes! The more toys and friends I have the more fun I’ll have!”
“Oh…”
“Besides, when they break I can just get new ones!” Fun Gus cheers, excited about the prospect of the future toys he’ll get to play with.
Izuku’s blood goes cold. “Break…? New ones…?”
“Yup!” Fun Gus snakes away from the teens, towards the center of the large chamber. “Lookie over there.” He points and circles a few of the mounds hidden under his orange fungi that lie on the ground.
The teens and the droid all eye the mounds skeptically but after a moment of really taking it in, they all pale, their hearts stopping and turning ice cold.
The mounds are not mounds of fungi but of people, individual people!! The victims look weak and skinny, drained and sickly as they lie silently in a pained unconscious state on the cold hard ground. The orange fungi carpeting the ground is slowly growing over them, swallowing them up like they’re being eaten by the earth itself.
Kirishima gags, shivering in place. “That’s just wrong.”
“What are you doing to them?!” Izuku screams!
“Oh, they’re broken.” Fun Gus states, bored and indifferent.
Bakugou blinks, unable to take his eyes off the poor saps. “Broken?”
“Yup, we were playing and playing and playing and they broke! They fell down and didn’t get up.” Fun Gus pouts, annoyed. “The party poopers said they were tired. But I know they’re lying.”
Izuku understands the situation immediately. Fun Gus forced the poor prisoners to play his twisted games until they literally passed out from exhaustion. He probably doesn’t even give them a chance to eat or rest: they play and play and play until their bodies give out, until they’re broken.
Fun Gus gleefully cheers, as his stretchy body flies over the poor victims. “But that’s okay! I have new toys! And I still have fun with my old toys!”
Izuku’s blood runs cold. “What?”
“Yeah! When my mossy-fungus mushroom stuff covers them, it makes me feel really good and happy! Like I have a full tummy! Hehehe!”
The heroes-in-training pale as they eye just how drained, skinny, and exhausted the victims look. And from what it sounds like, Fun Gus’ fungi is actually draining them of their own energy and nutrients. He’s feeding off them! He’s actually eating them!!
That would explain what he’s been eating all this time. And perhaps, maybe, his fungi grow due to the nutrients he receives. So…so how many toys has he gone through to get this big? To cover an entire cave system?!
Izuku doesn’t even want to think about it, especially as he eyes a few mounds of poor victims who have already been completely swallowed up by the orange fungi. And it appears his classmates have also come to the same dark realization.
He feeds so he can grow and spread his…games.
“I’m bored now. Let’s go play!!” Fun Gus pulls Kirishima and Chopper alongside him. “We’ll play Cops and Robbers, and then we’ll race, and then jump rope, and then we’ll wrestle! Oh and maybe Jenga! I have lots and lots of logs we can play with!”
Kirishima calls out for his friends! “Midoriya! Bakugou!!”
Bakugou calls back, unable to free himself! “Hang in there Kirishima!”
^Wa Wa!^
Izuku yells out! “You too, Chopper! We’ll save you!”
^Wa Wa…!^
Fun Gus drags the droid and teen out of the chamber and out of sight. A harsh silence befalls the chamber as the prisoners all despair in their cells while Izuku and Bakugou remain suspended in the air with no signs of escape or fighting back. With the pit dangerously below them and the patrols of Goombas monitoring the fungus prison.
Hisashi remains unconscious and unresponsive even as Izuku calls and shouts for him to wake up. But he doesn’t so much as stir. Those sleep inducing spores must have really done a number on him. He was able to hold off the effects the longest out of all of them, but that also means he was exposed to them longer than everyone else. Hence why he hasn’t woken up yet…
And so with their only real hope of escape lying suspended in the air, bound, gagged, and unconscious there’s nothing they can do but stir in humiliation and trepidation.
“This is such…bull.” Bakugou grumbles while he tries to ball his hands within the sticky binds.
Izuku blinks, he didn’t quite catch that. “What?”
“This is Bullshit!!” Bakugou snaps!! “I got my ass handed to me!! Raahh! I’ll kill that son of a bitch!”
Annoyed by Bakugou’s foul mouth and poor attitude, Izuku totally dismisses him. “Right. Good luck with that.”
Bakugou definitely feels irked. “Just you watch. Just watch and see. I’ll take this villain down no problem, Deku!”
Okay, now Izuku’s starting to get annoyed. “And what?! How’re you gonna do that? What are you gonna blast us free, save yourself, and let me and my Dad fall?!” He snickers, coldly. “Then again that wouldn’t really surprise me…”
Bakugou scowls, annoyed and somewhat hurt. “What do you know? Just you watch, Deku.” His fists clench so hard that one could hear his hands cracking from the tension even from under the fungus binds. “I’ll show you.” Bakugou hisses in frustration.
“What’s with you, today?!” Izuku snaps, shaking his head. “One second you’re against anything I say and the next you’re willing to at least work together. Sure to a point, but still. Why are you so hell bent on this guy?”
All day he’s been going after the villains and monsters all on his own. Wanting to take them all out by himself!
“I can take him out myself, no sweat.” Izuku looks up and eyes the Omnitrix that just so happens to be free of any fungus. “I just need the right transformation.”
Bakugou frowns, he remains calm, but he eyes Deku like he’s a dog that may or may not go on the attack. “What? Like that Human Torch form of yours?” His eyes narrow, analyzing Deku’s oncoming reaction. “So you can incinerate everything, again?”
That strikes a particular nasty chord with the greenette. “What is that supposed to mean?”
Bakugou goes quiet but he doesn’t stop eyeing him with an air of suspicion and accusation.
After a minute Izuku realizes what he’s implying, and he doesn't like it. Not one bit. “Is this about what happened at the…Practical Exam?”
“You bet it is.” Bakugou growls, frustrated. “The Exam was my time to show all of you who’s boss! I was gonna beat All Might into the ground myself! But you got in the way, like always!!”
Izuku’s ready to snap back but he holds back as he tries to stay civil about this. “Look I lost my cool, I was in a bad place.” Izuku slouches, frowning sorrowfully as he regrets his actions. “Besides I didn’t really beat him…All Might was just…not fighting back…”
He…he didn’t want to hurt Izuku anymore than he already had…
Bakugou scoffs. “That’s rich. Coming from the same chicken shit that was too scared to fight All Might in the first place. Then still lost his fucking mind.” He watches for Izuku’s reaction. “All because you got some beef with All Might.”
Izuku goes cold, dread bubbling up from within. “You…you heard that? ”
“I have ears, Deku. And I’m not fucking stupid.”
He heard it all and was able to mostly put the pieces together. Deku and All Might met at some point and Deku begged All Might if he could be a hero too. But the pro hero told the loser the hard truth: a Quirkless nobody can’t become a hero. Or at least a former Quirkless nobody.
But there was of course a few more details Bakugou couldn't exactly fit into place. “What the hell happened between you and All Might?”
Izuku goes quiet, biting his tongue. Not wanting to delve back into these particularly bad memories.
“You weren’t scared.” Bakugou accuses. “You were fucking pissed at him. But I guess it makes sense, after all. He thought your stupid dream was a waste of time, too.”
Izuku’s temper flares for a moment, his past scars and old torments aching and piercing his mind. But he holds back.
“What the hell happened?” Bakugou questions. “Why in the fuck did All Might think you were a villain?” That was especially odd, even for Bakugou. Deku? A Villain? Yeah, that’ll be the day. Maybe in an alternate universe, but Deku becoming a villain here? No way.
So then… “What the hell happened?”
Izuku averts his gaze, his shame beginning to grow. “I overreacted, alright. Besides…it’s none of your business anyway.”
“It is when I almost get my ass incinerated, too!!”
Izuku’s breath hitches at the hurtful yet truthful jab.
“You ruin everything!” Bakugou shouts, his body shaking with rage and frustration.
“How do I ruin everything?”
Bakugou…doesn’t answer right away, instead with a tsk he twists his head away from Izuku.
Izuku frowns, annoyed and irritated, but he doesn't air it.
After a moment, however, Bakugou finally responds, his voice choked yet angry, like he’s trying not to sound defeated. “Ever since we started U.A. you’ve been besting me. Showing me up. Getting better than me!!” Bakugou cries out! “And it’s not just you!”
There’s Todoroki, Yaoyorozu, Uraraka and heck even some of the extras could put up a good fight if they had the guts for it. But ever since coming to U.A. he’s met nothing but the harsh reality that there are those who can be on the same playing field as him. Or even…those who are better than him.
“I’m going to become the Number One Hero!” Bakugou shakes with frustration, choking as he admits his own failures. “But I’ve failed again and again, and every time I have the chance, the chance to show how great I am. You or someone else fucking ruins it.” His body trembles and shakes, not of fear, but of the sheer pressure of his own shortcomings and frustrations with himself: he feels weak, worthless…a failure. “I hate it. I fucking hate it. The Battle Training, The Sports Festival, the Practical Exam. I’ve failed and failed again and again.” Bakugou cries out with all his frustrations and faults on his sleeves! “I can’t stand it! And it pisses me off.!!”
Bakugou’s eyes drip with frustrating anger that has been eating away at him since his first loss. His first loss against Deku. “How could someone like you, Quirkless Deku, become so powerful? So much better than me?!” he chokes. “Your power…it can stand up to All Might. Even hurt him.” Bakugou hangs his head in defeat as he recalls the sheer power of Heatblast’s attacks against the Number One Hero. And how he…he could do nothing but watch like a chump. “While I…I couldn’t do a thing… I couldn’t even get close… I feel so…useless…like I’m the weakling now.”
“It’s frustrating. I hate it so much.” His fist clenched, his teeth grind, as tears sting his eyes. “That’s why I’ll get stronger, I’ll become stronger, better than you all. And I’ll defeat every fucking villain that dares to stand in my way.” He will get stronger; he will get better. “I want to be a hero, too, god dammit!!” That’s his dream, his ambition, always has been, and always will be and he’ll earn it with his own two hands! He will become the Number One Hero! He needs to prove it just to everyone but to himself that he’s strong, too! That he can be a hero! “I need to know if I’m worthy too!!”
‘Worthy…?’ Izuku…understands.
Ever since coming U.A. Bakugou’s world view has been turned on its head. Everything he believed has been challenged and rejected. And as a result he’s been feeling unworthy of his own dream…
Like how he felt for so many years. The years that the world rejected his dream too…
Like him…Bakugou needs to know if his efforts and struggles are even worth it.
“The Exam…there’s still a bad taste in my mind. I screwed up, royally.” Izuku admits, regretfully. “Believe me what happened during the Exam…I didn’t want any of it to happen.” And believe him if he could go back and do it all over again he’d make sure none of it would play out as it had. But that’s not how life works. “But that shame is something I’ll have to deal with. Because you’re right Bakugou. I…I did ruin your chance. because of my own frustrations and anger and regrets…I ruined all of our chances to show our classmates, our teachers, and our friends just what we were capable of.” He failed to show them the kind of heroes they want to be. “I made us look like total failures…”
Bakugou is silent, watching Izuku with intrigue, disbelief, and a sense of a long-forgotten nostalgia for better days…
Izuku continues, softly chuckling to himself. “You know…for a long time. I always saw you as a worthy hero…”
Bakugou starts.
“When we were kids I always saw you as the gifted, brave, and heroic best friend.” And in a way that still holds true to this day. Bakugou’s personality is certainly less than desirable but he does have what it takes to be a great hero. And Izuku isn’t ashamed to admit it. “I looked up to you for so long. And even though we’re not friends anymore, heck I don’t really expect us to ever become friends again, but even so I still think you’re worthy of becoming a hero.”
Bakugou’s stunned, shocked even. This was the last thing he expected from Deku… Sympathy…
“You’re…rough around the edges.” Izuku continues, although that’s sugar coating it. “But you’re smart, skilled, and powerful. You always have been. You say you failed, but what about the Survival Training? You clearly won that. Not to mention you made it really far into the Sports Festival and I’m sure if we fight it may not have gone down like it did during the Battle Training. When you do win, you’ve been winning on skill and smarts alone. Whereas I…I sometimes feel like it was all thanks to dumb luck for me…” He always needs others to help him to save the day…
“I got lucky. A late bloomer to have a Quirk sure, but even then…I sometimes wonder if I even deserve this power… Can I really say that I deserve it after using it so carelessly and dangerously?” Especially after his outburst against All Might? Should a child really be in charge of such power, of such an advanced alien weapon? “Can I call myself a hero when I end up hurting those around me?”
The question hangs in the air like a potent cloud of smoke that silences everything that it swallows up.
Eventually, Bakugou breaks the silence. “Then earn it… idiot.”
Izuku startles, staring at Bakugou like he just implied something insane. “You may not have had your Quirk long, but any idiot can see you’ve already got a good handle on it.” Seriously, for being a late bloomer, he’s got wicked control over his transformations. But it makes sense, he’s seen Deku’s notes about heroes and their lame Quirks, so he knows Deku’s mind is more than capable of breaking down his own powers in an instant. “And if there’s a weakness or you make some stupid mistake then fix it.” Bakugou declares with a growl, his face in a scowl even though what he’s saying is rather…positive. “Work for it. Do whatever you have to beat your weakness and win!”
Bakugou recalls the conversation he had with Best Jeanist: “They seek to protect and aid others, you seek your own goals. They are willing to work together, you are not. And they are willing to seek out and listen to those around them, and you…” He trails off, wanting Bakugou to finish the thought.
“Could care less…” Bakugou finishes.
“Talent will only get you so far…” He has flaws too, he knows that. There are things he doesn’t get as readily as others. But if he wants to get better than he sure as hell will, he'll make sure every lesson is only another step for him to reach the top.
Bakugou scowls. “Talent will only get you so far…”
Now it’s Izuku’s turn to be stunned, shocked into utter disbelief. But after a moment of processing it all he can’t help but to chuckle at the irony. “Says the guy who was a natural born bomb.”
Bakugou actually cracks a smirk. Before he shakes it off and replaces it with his usual nasty frown. “Yeah, whatever. Can’t have you moping around and dragging us down. I don’t exactly wanna have to drag your ass outta here if you die.”
“Ha… Thanks…I guess.”
Bakugou goes quiet as he scans the chamber before looking back at Izuku, and before his eyes drift up towards the strange watch on his classmate’s wrist.
As he stares at it he can’t help but recall Uraraka’s words from during the Survival Training: “If you fight by yourself…you’ll never win.”
He knows he can win by himself; he’s done that for years. But…if he wants to ensure a total victory, a totally one-sided fight, then he needs to work together with the extras, not against them.
“Use us, Bakugou.” Ochaco continues, speaking the absolute truth. “You’re a lot smarter than you let on, your grades prove that. And you handle your Quirk so expertly it’s actually kinda amazing! And when you put those together, you get a terrifying combination! So instead of your fists use your head and make a plan. Take the lead and show us how to win!”
Bakugou eyes the Omnitrix and then he drifts to his own bound hand that’s been swallowed up by the fungus. His bound right hand is only lying a foot away from Deku’s own left arm. He then inhales and lungs for the watch! He struggles and flails in his bindings as he tries and tries to reach for the strange device.
Izuku’s eyes widen. “What are you doing?”
Bakugou continues to struggle, speaking whenever he lunges and struggles forward again and again. “No way in hell, I’m going to be mushroom feed!” His body stretches closer, his hand pulling on the fungi. “I’m getting us the fuck out of here.” His hand struggles and shakes against the binds as he forces it closer and closer. “And then, WE’RE GONNA SHOW THAT BASTARD’S WHO’S BOSS!!!”
“What are you-” Izuku goes quiet as he finally sees just how close Bakugou’s fungus covered hand is to his own.
Bakugou growls, twisting his body as he so desperately tries to break through the tough binds. “My Explosion Quirk won’t work. I hate to admit it but you’re right, it’s too risky.” He might be able to only save one of them, maybe both, but one wrong move could send one of them or all of them to their death. “But if you can transform then you can slip away and get us out of here!”
“Bakugou…” Izuku watches as Bakugou struggles not just for the Omnitrix but for his help. He’s asking for his help. But in his own Bakugou way.
Izuku smirks, they may not always get along, they may not be friends, but they sure as hell can kick some massive butt together. “Squeeze the sides of the face plate, and then press down!” Izuku yells! “Try to get Stinkfly or maybe XLR8!” Although it doesn’t really matter since any transformation would do.
“No way! The Human Torch guy will smoke all these bastards!” With one last push Bakugou’s fungus-covered hand grabs the Omnitrix! “You ready, Deku?!”
Despite how unreal the situation is, the two of them working together, Izuku shouts out, determined to win this too! “Yeah!!”
Bakugou manages to squeeze the face plate, the Omnitrix beeping and glowing upon activation, and with his hand over the dial Bakugou growls out in determination. “It’s fucking Hero time.”
And with a press of his hand Izuku disappears behind the all too familiar transformation sequence!!
Izuku can feel his body morphing in all sorts of ways. It feels like something thin and tight is taking him over from under his own skin. His sense briefly shutting down and his eyes squeezing themselves shut. His body stretches and bulges as limbs stretch, and he can feel several protrusions rip out from his back. His shoulders feel like they’re standing up, the flesh squeezing his head before the new growths rip open, freeing his head!
The transformation barely lasts a second, before Bakugou blinks and stares at the transformed Deku. “What…in the hell is that?”
‘What in the hell, indeed?’ The transformed Izuku stares down at his…NEW TRANSFORMATION!?! He appears to have transformed into a Living Plant! Or rather a Living Venus Flytrap!
This alien is a humanoid plant-like being with one eye in the middle of his face and with flytrap-shaped flaps with teeth framing his head. His entire body is green with five vine-like legs and his arms are long and slim with four super long and very thin fingers. Protruding from his back are rows of some strange black-colored seed pods. And of course the Omnitrix symbol is worn on his front.
Bakugou repeats his question. “What the hell is that?”
“Beats me.” The Living Plant’s single eye blinks down at his transformation. “I’ve never seen him before.” But if he’s a plant then perhaps…
Concentrating and imagining Ibara’s own Quirk several sets of large thorns pop out from his arms and rip through his binds like they were made of paper.
The alien falls but his thin root-like legs stretch out and grab onto the sides of the pit, stopping his fall.
The alien blinks up at Bakugou and his unconscious dad, and almost like a snake his torso stretches up, allowing him to snake up into the air until he’s eye level with Bakugou.
He eyes the binds around Bakugou’s arms and around his Dad’s body. He then peers back at his hand, focusing, and then a set of thorns pierce out from where his knuckles would be. “But I like what he can do.”
With a swipe of his back hand, the thorns tear through the fungus.
Bakugou instantly blasts himself forward, propelling himself away from the bottomless pit while The Living Plant uses his free hand to catch his dad. His fingers expand and stretch to wrap themselves around the unconscious pro hero. With a stretch of his arm, he gently drops Hisashi at Bakugou's feet before slinking himself over to safety and away from the pit.
Bakugou stares at the new transformation. “You’re an actual living piece of Broccoli. Lame. But whatever you did was good for a Walking Sprout.”
The transformed Izuku frowns. “Walking Sprout? No, I think I like,” With a twist of his body, a stretch of his fingers, and a somewhat cocky smirk the new alien poses and declares his new alias! “Wildvine!”
Bakugou sweat drops but ignores the name, not bothering to point out that Deku’s already used the word “Wild” for another transformation.
Instead he turns his attention down to the unconscious adult. “What about your old man?”
Wildvine’s head snakes over his Dad, examining him. “Hey, Dad. Wake up!” he nudges his shoulder, even having his thin fingers tickle his side.
But there is no reaction.
Bakugou stomps forward, shoving Wildvine’s head to the side. “Step back!” He squats down and places hands near Hisashi’s head, both hands parallel to the man’s ears but far enough away to not be touching him.
Wildvine blinks, curious as to what he’s up to.
Without a countdown, Bakugou’s hands unleash bursts of small scaled Explosions that ring into the hero’s ears!
“WAAAHHH!!!” Hisashi howls, grabbing at his ringing ears and slightly burned sideburns. “What happened?! Where are we?! Izuku, is that you?!” Well it looks like Bakugou’s tactic worked.
Wildvine nods, gesturing towards the Omnitrix. “Yeah, it’s me.”
“What’s going on?!” Hisashi shouts, scanning the chamber. “Where’s Fun Gus?”
“The idiot’s keeping him busy.” Bakugou replies. “And so is that robot of yours.”
“Robot? Oh, you mean Chopper!”
Wildvine interjects. “In any case we need to go get Kirishima. He’s with Fun Gus!”
“And so is Chopper!” Hisashi adds, worried about his friend.
Wildvine doesn't exactly feel the same way. “Yeah, sure… I guess.”
“Don’t bother.” Bakugou snaps, coldly.
Wildvine gasps! “Bakugou! He-”
“He’ll be fine.” states Bakugou, speaking truthfully and honestly, not at all cruelly or ironically. Although albeit a bit coldly. “Kirishima’s an idiot, but he knows what to do. He can handle himself.”
“But-”
“Look, Kirishima will distract the big mushroom turd while you guys get these chumps out of here.” He gestures towards the other prisoners.
Hisashi frowns. “What are you going to do?”
A cruel smirk dances on Bakugou’s lips. “I’m gonna beat the crap out of that villain.”
Wildvine gives the ash-blonde a deadpan stare. “At least help us free everyone first.”
“Tsk! Fine!”
“Cghghghghhrrr!!”
The trio spin around, in all their scheming they somehow forgot all about the Goombas patrolling the chamber!
“Cghghghghhrrr!!” The squad of Goombas charge.
Bakugou grins, stepping forward to meet them, his hand swung back at the ready.. “I’ll help by taking care of these losers!!”
*BOOM!!!*
A fiery Explosion obliterates the Goombas, sending rubble flying everywhere!
Wildvine only stares, dumbfounded as a tiny piece of rubble bounces off his venus flytrap-like flap. “I…guess that works too.”
And so they all get to work on freeing the other prisoners. With Wildvine focusing on the prisoners stuck in the cells located higher in the chamber. He uses his stretchy body and arms to grow tall and reach them as well as give them rides back down to the ground. Hisashi in the meantime takes care of the prisoners on the lower level of the chamber, burning away the fungus covering their cells with his Quirk. And all the while Bakugou is definitely enjoying himself as he ricochets around the large chamber, turning all the Goombas he finds into ash and globs.
Hisashi is able to organize the kidnapped victims as they’re freed while Wildvine gathers the poor souls that have already begun to be consumed by Fun Gus’ orange moss.
The poor souls are unresponsive, but he can make out the faintest of pulses. And thankfully a few of the other prisoners were willing to take them off his hands so Wildvine could focus on defending them.
Although, when Wildvine reaches for a few bodies that have already been completely swallowed up by the moss. Hisashi cuts himself, offering to check himself and ordering Wildvine to check on the others; distracting him. The pro hero uses his flames to burn a cut through the mounds. He peers inside each one before turning away with a grim look on his face.
Within a few short minutes they freed all the prisoners: there appears to be fifty of them in total!
Hisashi turns to address the two teens. “This is a big group. We all need to stay close and make sure no one gets grabbed again.”
Wildvine nods. “Right.”
Bakugou sighs. “Whatever.”
Hisashi turns towards the herd, taking command and their lead! “Now let’s go, people!”
The victims all nod and mutter their thanks as Hisashi directs them towards the exit.
“WAAAAHHHH!!!” From the tunnel’s mouth, Something red comes crashing in! Skidding across the ground like a red meteor.
Everyone screams and panics as dust, bits of fungus, and ruble are thrown into the air and the crashing red blur comes to a halt.
Bakugou gasps when he sees what exactly crashed! “Kirishima?!”
Kirishima groans but he looks relatively alright as he deactivated his Quirk. “Hey, Bakugou.” He groans holding his head. “How are you guys holding up?”
Wildvine slinks over. “We should be asking you that.”
Kirishima blinks up at the new transformation. “AHHH!!! Another Mushroom?!” He screams in a panic!
“Seriously, dude?” Wildvine gives the red head a deadpanned glare. “Come on, I'm clearly a plant.”
Kirishima starts. “Oh, whoops. Sorry Midoriya.”
Bakugou frowns. “What happened?”
Kirishima grins sheepishly as he gets to his feet. “Oh, well, um, as it turns out…Fun Gus is a pretty poor loser.”
“YRRRAAAHHHH!!!” An ear-piercing screech resonates across the cave system.
The ground shakes and trembles as the carpeted orange moss quakes and rumbles.
Everyone screams and cower as the rumbling increases!
^Wa wa Waaa!!^ From the cave mouth a panicking Chopper races in, his arms flailing and positioned behind him!!
Hisashi immediately gets the message. “Everyone get down!!”
Everyone drops to the ground just as Fun Gus crashes through the tunnel and into the chamber! Rubble goes flying as tendrils of orange moss flail in the air, lashing and whipping at anything and everything! “No fair!! You cheated! Cheated! Cheated!! CHEATED!!!”
Kirishima winces before glaring up at the psychotic villain. “No way! That’s how you play Jacks! I won fair and square!”
“Yraaaaahhhh!!!”
Bakugou slaps the back of Kirishima’s “Don’t argue with the unstable lunatic, moron!!”
“Right, sorry man.”
“Yraaaaahhhh!!!” Fun Gus cries out, his face expanding and distorting as tendrils fly out in all directions!
He spins and spins, throwing his version of a childish tantrum! He storms around the chamber, tossing boulders and tall mushrooms aside like he was throwing toys in a playroom! All so he can have his temper tantrum!
With Fun Gus losing himself to his rage, Hisashi takes command. “Chopper lead the way; you’ve got this place mapped out right?”
^We-wop!^
Of course he does. He mapped his way as Fun Gus carried him inside, plus he was linked to the phone’s signal as well. He basically has the entire cave system mapped out at this point.
“Alright.” Hisashi turns to address the teens. “You three take everyone and get out I’ll stay and-Wah!!”
Suddenly a barrage of tendrils whip out from the ceiling above!
People scream and panic as the teens and pro hero are targeted. Hisashi burns away a few of the incoming tendrils but another tendril pops out from the ground beside him! Hisashi dives away, closer to the other prisoners, to evade the attack.
As the tendrils come crashing down on them Bakugou blasts himself back, away from the others, as the tendrils slam into the ground.
Kirishima scoops up Chopper and dives out of the way, towards the herd of prisoners, rolling them away from the barrage.
Finally, Wildvine literally weaves his way through the incoming tendrils. Snaking in and around them before leaping out besides Bakugou.
Bakugou and Wildvine spin around to find that the thin tendrils have all slammed into the ground so hard that they left little craters. But what’s worse is that they’ve been cut off from their friends and the others.
Wildvine rushes forward. “Come on!”
Bakugou follows suit but then a web of orange mossy tendrils slam down, intertwining with the previous tendrils, and completely blocking their escape. Fun Gus has created a wall of fungus, preventing Wildvine and Bakugou from the exit and the others.
Hisashi yells out from the other side! “Kids!!” He can still see them through the cracks and holes left in the thick gooey yet sturdy webbing.
Izuku calls back! “We’re okay, Dad!”
To Wildvine’s right, Bakugou unleashes a blinding blast that repels a group of incoming tendrils. “Stay focused, Deku!!”
“Kids!!” Hisashi is just about to burn away the wall when Kirishima busts in.
“Oh, boy. We have our own problems.”
“Cghghghghhrrr!!” Hisashi spins around, towards the exit only to find an army of Goombas rushing in!
“Hang on, Kids.” Hisashi sprints forward to the front of the group, willing to put himself between the victims and these monsters.
Meanwhile from the other side of the blockade, Fun Gus’s tantrum has worsened tenfold. His once somewhat cute appearance has become morphed and twisted, turning ugly and more monstrous. “You liars! You meanies! You cheaters!!” He roars as his body pulses bigger and more menacing. “You’re stealing my TOYS!!!”
Fun Gus lashes out as two tendrils the size of steel beams rocket forward at the two teens!
The two teens dive to the side, as the columns crash into the ground.
Bakugou roars as he blasts himself around the chamber, his feet gliding over the floor. “We’re done playing your games you worthless villain!!”
Fun Gus scowls down at Bakugou. “I know a game we can play.” Even more tendrils morph out from the chamber walls. “How about tag?!” And so the hundreds of tendrils all fire out, aiming right for Wildvine and Bakugou.
Bakugou greets the tendrils with an Explosion, burning them away with a single blow. “Try something else will ya!!”
Fun Gus scowls before letting out a high-pitched scream! “Yraaaaahhhh!!!”
From under him the moss rises and grows before crashing forward like a tidal wave of orange fungi.
Wildvine scowls, he raises his hand and watches as his fingers intertwine and twist with each other. His twisted hand and fingers begin to expand into narrow blades and the texture changes to be a bit woodier. He raises his hand up high into the air, stretching it, before swinging back down towards the incoming wave!
“WOOD-AXE CHOP!!!”
His axe attack slices through the wave like a knife through butter! The wave splits apart and fizzles out as the two sides completely miss the two teens.
Bakugou chuckles, watching Fun Gus’ dumbfounded and irritated expression. “You’re getting good with this guy.”
“Thanks.” says Wildvine, as he begins to retract his outstretched hand. “This guy’s growing on me too.”
His hand continues to be reeled in when it suddenly stopped before it can reach him.
“Cghghghghhrrr!!” A horde of wild Goombas have appeared.
And they’re preventing Wildvine’s arm from escaping by grabbing it with their grubby hands and sharp teeth.
“Hey, let go of me!!”
“Cghghghghhrrr!!” The Goombas begin to tear through Wildvine’s flesh, their teeth piercing through his arm with ease!
“Wah!!” Wildvine screams! “Hey, I’m not a salad!!”
He tugs on his arm but with a nasty retching ripping sound his arm splits apart!!
“AHHHH!!!” Wildvine screams, holding his dismembered arm! “My arm! My arm! Oh, the pain! The agony! I’m-I’m going to wither away to nothing! Quick, someone grab the rest of my arm, maybe Recovery Girl can sew it back on!!”
Wildvine peers over but he turns pale as he witnesses the Goombas feasting on his dismembered hand. “Waaahhh!!”
As Wildvine wails and panics, Bakugou actually doesn’t seem all too concerned.
“Why aren’t you freaking out?!” Wildvine shouts!
Bakugou sighs. “Dude, you’re a plant.”
“SO?!”
“Look at your arm, dumbass.”
“Huh?!” Wildvine peers down and lets out a sharp gasp, his hand’s miraculously grown back already! “My hand!” Wildvine cries. “It’s okay!”
Bakugou sighs. “How did you not notice?”
“Well…I guess I panicked.” Actually when he thinks about it he didn’t actually feel that much pain when it did rip apart, guess he lost himself there for a minute. Oops.
“Hehehehehaha!!”
The teens look over to see that Fun Gus’ twisted face has broken out into a smile, his smile now layered with knife-like teeth and fangs. “You’re funny, Broccoli-Tree!” Tendrils form around him, wriggling in the air. “Let’s keep PLAYING!!!”
The tendrils lash out!
With a wave of his hand and a well-timed Explosion, Bakugou destroys the tendrils with ease.
Feeling rather cocky, Bakugou smirks. “Is that all you got, Turdface?! Come one give us more!!”
“Yraaaaahhhh!!” Fun Gus screeches, throwing another tantrum!
Wildvine chuckles as he takes Bakugou’s side. “Sheesh and I thought you had a temper problem.”
“You’re the one with the problem!!” Bakugou snaps, his face comedically enraged.
“Right…” Wildvine then peers over towards the wall of webbed fungi that’s blockading their escape.
From through the crevices and holes he can spot Hisashi and Kirishima fighting off an army of Goombas all on their own. They definitely have their hands full as they both try to fight off the Goombas, while protecting the other prisoners, and lead them out towards the exit that’s teeming with Living Mushrooms.
Wildvine turns back towards Bakugou. “We need to keep these things’ attention on us.” He gestures towards the Goombas who have just finished their meal.
Bakugou gets ready to fight them off. “And how do you suggest we do that genius?!”
“Cghghghghhrrr!!”
Bakugou easily blasts them away, finishing them off.
Wildvine eyes Fun Gus who’s starting to calm down and turn his attention back onto them. “He’s the Mycelium.”
“I know, that’s his Quirk!”
“No, I mean yes, but…what I mean is that he’s the brainiac here. He’s the boss, the head honcho.”
“So?!”
“Well then, if we attack him won’t the rest of the mushrooms focus their attention on protecting him?”
Bakugou peers over at the blockade and watches how Hisashi and Kirishima are struggling to keep the army of Goombas at bay while protecting the extras.
“So.” Bakugou smirks up at Wildvine. “Your plan is to go straight for the villain.”
Wildvine smirks right back. “Yeah.”
“Now that’s the kind of fucking plan I like.”
“Well, technically, it was your plan.”
“I know.”
“Yraaaaahhhh!!” A horde of tendrils lash out from the enraged villain! “You’re CHEATERS!!!”
Wildvine’s vines lash forward and wrap themselves and bind up the first onset of tendrils, binding them together and giving Bakugou the window he needs to rocket forward!
Bakugou swerves and blasts his way through the oncoming tendrils like a fighter jet evading incoming fire! He spins and dives and shoots up as he quickly descends on his target!!
“DIE!!!” Bakugou roars as he blasts Fun Gus’ head apart in a glorious display of brute power!
Fun Gus quickly reforms on the other side of the chamber but Wildvine was ready!
The Living Plant’s arm slings forward and delivers a solid punch to Fun Gus’ side!!
“Yrah!! No fair! No fair!! No Fair! NO FAIR!!!” Fun Gus screeches as sets of tendrils sprout out at Wildvine’s roots!
The tendrils grab him before he can react and hoist him up, suspending him in the air! “You’re so annoying!! Annoying!! Annoying! Annoying!!”
“Really? I’m the annoying one?” Wildvine questions before he tries to struggle himself free.
As he struggles, one of the pods on his back breaks loose against the tight tendrils and falls off.
The pod falls and falls until it impacts and upon impact the seed pod explodes like a smoke grenade! Unleashes a veil of light smoke but the power of the blast is enough to tear through the tendrils and even leave a tiny blast crater in the ground!
The tendrils give away and Wildvine goes plummeting down. Acting fast, his arm lashes upward, his fingers turn sharp and thin just before they pierce the cave ceiling. Wildvine stretches up, stopping his descent as he peers down at the blast mark below.
Wildvine smiles. “I think I’m loving this alien more and more.” He reaches back and pops off one of the pods, observing it. “Time to sow some seeds.”
Meanwhile, Bakugou blasts his way through the oncoming tendrils! He quickly pounces upon Fun Gus and was ready to deliver another direct hit!
But Fun Gus quickly retreats in his moss and disappears before the Explosion is released. He reappears behind the surprised Bakugou!
Bakugou scowls up. “You bastard.”
Fun Gus grins menacingly before pouncing forward, but then something pops and explodes him from behind!! “Yrraahh!!”
Fun Gus retreats as Wildvine swings in from above!
Wildvine swings, using his arms as vines, while each of his roots holds onto an exploding seed pod.
Fun Gus snakes into view from below, his body racing up in an attempt to grab Wildvine!
Wildvine drops a pod that blasts Fun Gus head off!
Fun Gus reemerges on the other side but Wildvine swings around and tosses out a few more pods that implode on impact! Forcing him back again!
Fun Gus reemerges at ground level, but he’s forced back again as a grinning Bakugou deals a massive blow!! “Haha! Got ya that time!!”
As Fun Gus reels back in searing, burning pain, he lets out another high-pitched screech that echoes across the cave that rubles alongside his raging temper! “YRRAAAHHH!!!”
The screech catches everyone’s attention, specifically it catches the attention of his own minions!
From the other side of the web of moss and fungi, the army of Goombas quickly redirect their attention from Hisashi, Kirishima, and the prisoners towards the barricade. They all lunge at a single point in the barricade as the rest push their way forward to help them, ignoring the prisoners entirely as they all claw, tear, and chew their way through the barrier.
Hisashi sees this and quickly assumes what’s going on.
“Dad! Dad!”
Hisashi peers up, higher across the barrier, where he sees the head of a Florauna calling for him.
“Izuku!”
“Get everyone out while you can! We’ll distract them for as long as we can!!”
Hisashi frowns. “Izuku, this is reckless!”
“I know! But there could be more enemies in the rest of the cave and there’s too many people to guide! Don’t worry about us, focus on saving them and then come back!”
Hisashi doesn’t like this, not one bit, but he can’t really argue with Izuku’s thought process. With Fun Gus and the Living Mushrooms distracted, Hisashi, Kirishima, and Chopper have a better chance of making sure the rest of the victims make it out safely.
“Alright, but if it becomes too much you have to retreat. Got it?!”
“Got it!!” And with that Wildvine swings away, off to help Bakugou who’s been relentlessly pursuing their foe.
At the same moment the Goombas break through the barrier and begin flooding into the rest of the chamber.
Hisashi turns to the prisoners. “Let’s move it people!”
He dashes forward, leading the way.
Kirishima rushes to his side. “Are we really going to leave them behind?!”
“No!” declares Hisashi. “We’re not. We’re coming right back after we save everyone. So the faster we move the faster we can help out.”
“Right!”
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
Wildvine lands beside Bakugou just as the army of Goombas begin to flood into the chamber.
It appears their plan is working!
Wildvine gets ready. “Here they come.”
Bakugou prepares himself too. “God damn they’re annoying.”
And so the two blast and blow away the competition, literally. Bakugou goes on a wild murder fest as he blasts and blasts every Goombas his eyes land on. While Wildvine is basically doing the same thing: using his pods like grenades to blow up the legions of Living Mushroom monsters.
Bakugou jumps, stomping his foot into the heads of the Goombas. “That’s where you belong, losers!” he raises his hand up and aims down, unleashing a blast that shoots up rubble, heat, and smoke into the army!
Meanwhile, Wildvine scowls down at a squad of incoming Goombas who’re all running in a single file line!
Wildvine’s fingers twist together, becoming a spear, he then lashes his arm forward and the makeshift spear pieces through each of the Goombas’ torso!
Instead of ripping his arm out of them, Wildvine lifts them all up into the air with roar! “Yaah!!”
The Goombas all fail in the air as they try in vain to release themselves from their impalement.
“Yaaaahhh!!” Screaming out, Wildvine slams them down, swings them against the cave wall and into their other comrades on the ground before ripping his arm out of them and letting them fall to the ground as heaps of dead mushroom flesh.
Wildvine turns around and grins stupidly at his classmate, impressed with his own ruthlessness.
Bakugou actually cracks a smile. “And people say I’m scary. Ha-Woah!!”
A stray tendril swings at them both!
“Stop. Breaking. My. TOYS!!!” Fun Gus screeches as more tendrils fire out at them both!
Wildvine’s body snakes and bends in odd places to avoid the incoming strikes but it’s too much for Bakugou who gets thrown back and ends up slamming into the cave wall, the tendrils pin him in place as the moss begins to swallow him up!
Bakugou growls and struggles against the growing fungus. “I can’t be taken down so EASILY!!!” And with a roar he slams his palm into the side of the cave wall and fires!
The Explosions shake and demolish the wall in seconds, freeing him from his binds. Bakugou leaps forward and just in time as a small rockslide occurs and a massive boulder pours out from the cave wall and into the chamber.
Bakugou eyes the boulder before peering over to see the last remaining legion of Goombas charging right for the transformed Deku. “Deku!!”
Wildvine spins around, upon being called the wrong name. “Wildvine!”
“I don’t care!” Bakugou then slaps the large round boulder that’s bigger than he is! “Use this!!”
Wildvine’s arm lashes out and his long fingers grab onto the boulder. His fingers and hand grow and twist around the boulder until it’s fully secured.
With the boulder secured and Goombas fast approaches, Wildvine lifts and pulls with all his might, his legs literally rooting themselves into the ground! Eventually he is able to pry the boulder and swing it around as he yells out a new improvised special move!! “Green Machine: WRECKING BALL!!!”
The makeshift wrecking balls swings around and slams through the oncoming Goombas like they were nothing but bowling pins! Wildvine twists his body around and around, keeping the momentum allowing the wrecking ball to wreck absolute havoc on the poor monsters.
“No! No! No! No! No! NO!!!” Fun screeches out, his fangs becoming bigger as well as his head!
With the last few of the Goombas taken out, Wildvine lets go of the boulder, allowing it to fly through the air and right into Fun Gus’ distorted and twisted face!!
The boulder plows into him, squishing him like a bug that went splat!
Wildvine grins. “Bet he felt that one.”
The ground then shakes and rumbles as the boulder is swallowed up by an outburst of orange moss!! Fun Gus reemerges bigger than before, his mouth layered with rows of knife-like teeth, his glowing green eyes actually began to shrink into his body as the orange moss protrudes and expands, and he begins to lose his orange color as mixes of red and maroon seep in.
“I hate you!! You’re mean!! You’re cheaters!! You’re thieves!!” His body continues to expand and expand, as massive tendrils shoot from all sides of his body and his ever-growing mass becomes suspended in the air by the web of tendrils and fungi. “I. Will. DESTROY YOU!!!” His voice is no longer childish but that of a deep and menacing presence. One that is cold and merciless.
And his form definitely fits the new voice as his entire mass is nothing, but a ball of fleshy fungi all suspended in the air by webs of tendrils. Upon the mass is a massive open maw field with layers of knife-like teeth.
Fun Gus…no, not Fun Gus, but the true Mycelium roars out in a declaration of war!! “I shall feast on your flesh and make your nutrients my own! I will reform my army and together we shall lay siege to the surface and consume EVERYTHING!!!” The cave shakes under his booming roar!!
The two teens shake off their fear, no matter how menacing or terrifying the Mycelium appears to be, he is still a villain and lives are still at stake. “We’ll stop you!!” They both cry out in declaration!!
The two jump in action, landing the first strikes!
Bakugou flies through the air, gliding over the Mycelium’s hide like a bullet. As he blasts himself up and over the enemy Bakugou unleashes Explosions down at the living fungi, carving away at his mossy flesh!
“RAHHHH!!!”
Meanwhile, Wildvine swings up, his body snaking through the air as he slashes and claws at the Mycelium’s tough hide. He’s sure to grab as many pods as he can and flings them towards the monster. The pods of course explode upon impact, tearing through the fungi with relative ease.
“RAHHHH!!!” The Mycelium roars in outrage, as more the fungi covering him slowly reforms and repairs the damage.
“I will crush you!! RAAHHH!!!”
The entire cave system shakes and buckles as the orange moss carpeting the cave walls and floor seep and break their way through the earth itself!! The rumbling doesn't cease as the fungi pry out large columns of earth and rock!!
“RAAHHH!!!” The Mycelium roars out as he thrusts the fungi-covered columns of earth forward as if he were controlling the earth itself!!
Bakugou and Wildvine dive to the sides as the first column nearly crushes them both!!
Bakugou flies up but he has to cut off his own Explosions and plummet down to avoid being slammed into from the side by another column!
Wildvine is having the same amount of luck as he snakes across the ground bobbing and weaving his way through the oncoming columns and tendrils!!
Bakugou lands near the cave wall and he immediately takes off in a sprint but he screeches to a halt as a massive column intercepts his path, he turns but another column cuts off that escape too!!
Bakugou’s eyes widen as the towering Mycelium prepares to land the finishing blow with another column!!
Wildvine is nearby, quickly understanding the situation, and in a panic, without so much as thinking, his body rushes forward!! “Kacchan!!”
Bakugou doesn’t even see him coming as he watches his impending doom falling down on top of him!!
But Wildvine makes it first, throwing his body in the way and shoving Bakugou out of the way!!
*CRAAASSSHHH!!!*
The heavy column smashes into Wildvine, burying him into the rock and rubble with an earth-shattering crash!!
Bakugou pales, his breath hitching, and his heart stopping. “DEKU!!!”
There’s no reply, no movement, just the silence of the earth.
The columns then shift and are lifted away by the fungi as the Mycelium prepares to strike again.
As the columns are moved away, from the impact craters a few stray black pods are thrown across the chamber and the pods explode across the Mycelium’s body, making him screech in pain!! “RAAHHH!!!”
Bakugou gasps, blinking down at the craters.
From within a smashed looking Wildvine crawls out, his plant-like body already repairing itself. “Ow…”
Bakugou blinks, almost relieved but mostly pissed because Deku actually had him worried there! “You moron!! Are you trying to get yourself killed?!”
“Sorry…” Wildvine grumbles, holding his head thanks to a major headache. “I…my body just…reacted is all.”
Bakugou scowls, annoyed, but he doesn’t make a comment.
“RAAHHH!!!” The Mycelium roars out, his scream causing the earth to shake and rumble again, but this time it was much worse than before! “You will all die under my strength!!”
The cave is actually beginning to fall apart all around them as huge chunks of earth and boulders fall from the ceiling!! Looks like ripping those columns out from the ground has destabilized the entire hillside!!
“It’s a cave in!!” Wildvine shouts! “We have to shut him down here and now!!”
“What?! No, we gotta get out of here!”
Bakugou unleashes everything he has as he rockets forward!! But instead of aiming for the Mycelium’s body he aims for the tendrils holding him up! Bakugou blasts one webbing before rocketing himself to the next, and the next: ricocheting around like a bouncing bomb!!
“RAAHHH!!!”
Bakugou roars out his new special move!! “Explosion Murder Chain Reaction!!!” Bakugou rockets around like this, destroying every tendril and webbing in the blink of an eye!!
It’s a chain reaction indeed as the last few of the tendrils are unable to hold the Mycelium’s full weight. Not only that, the tendrils Bakugou managed to destroy were also set aflame!! And the flames are already spreading across the villain’s form!
The Mycelium screeches in pain!! “RAAHHH!!! RAAHHH!!! RAAHHH!!!”
And then the last of his tendrils snap and down his giant mass goes, crashing to the ground!!
Bakugou grins victoriously from the air, falling as well, but watching as the Mycelium comes crashing down.
Wildvine’s arm stretches up and catches him in midair before reeling him back in.
The two watch as the massive ball of fungi goes silent and settles across the cave floor in a giant heap. They watch as the nearby towering mushrooms wither and die out as does most of the orange moss covering the cave as well.
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Meanwhile, Hisashi and Kirishima fend off a legion of pursuing Goombas as the last of the prisoners finally make it outside the cave and into the forest!
“Cghghghghhrrr! Cghghghghhrrr! Cghghghghhrrr!”
Hisashi and Kirishima pause as the Goombas suddenly reel back in pain and agony, before they collapse on the ground and wither away.
Upon seeing the Goombas fall the newly freed prisoners cheer and celebrate!!
Hisashi stares at the cave entrance in awe. “They did it.”
Kirishima joins him, a wide grin on his face. “Those two are so cool!”
Chopper jolts in place, his sensors picking up on a disturbance. ^Wa! Wa-wa bop!^
Hisashi pales before the ground beneath them shakes, throwing everyone to the ground!
But the worst thing is that the earthquake caused the mouth of the cave to cave-in, sealing it off!!
“No!!” Hisashi leaps to his feet!! He rushes to the cave-in and immediately begins to dig away, but the boulders are too big and too many!! “They’re still in there!!”
“Look out!!” Kirishima grabs Hisashi and pulls him back before another large boulder could crush him.
The ground continues to shake and rumble as the prisoners all scatter for the woods.
Hisashi, Kirishima, and Chopper all watch on in horror as the hillside begins to cave-in on itself.
“No…”
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“We gotta go!!” Wildvine shouts over the crashes of the falling rocks and debris! “We gotta go now!!”
“Then move it!!” Bakugou shouts back as he takes off for the exit with Wildvine hot on his heels.
They sprint as fast as they can as the cave falls apart around them, but it’s too late as a rockslide overtakes the entire exit, sealing them inside the large chamber with the defeated Mycelium.
“We’re trapped!”
“No shit!! Fuck!!” Bakugou rushes towards the sealed entrance. “I’ll just blast them away!”
“Bakugou look out!!”
Bakugou peers up only to see more of the cave fall down over him!!
Wildvine, acting quickly and on instinct, grabs Bakugou but instead of reeling him in; he wraps his own body around him!! His limbs twist and intertwine around himself as he uses his own body to shield his head and Bakugou!! All as the cave totally and utterly falls and crashes down upon them!!
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From outside Hisashi, Kirishima and Chopper helplessly watch as the entire hill disappears having caved in on itself leaving an open wound in the earth that’s nothing but a field with broken rubble, boulders, and smashed in trees.
The three all go silent as sorrow and regret begin to seep in.
But then the faintest of scraping and the movement of dirt catches their ears.
From within the rubble a large green sprout springs out from the earth. It stretches up and over them like a tree that grew in the matter of seconds!
And like a flower Wildvine unwraps himself, stretching out his aching limbs as Bakugou clings to one of his venus flytrap-like fins.
Wildvine looks around before spotting his Dad.
He grins down at him in apology. “Sorry, about the scare.”
Bakugou laughs! “Speak for yourself, that was fucking awesome!!”
“You kids…” Hisashi sighs, holding his heart in relief. “You’re gonna give me a heart attack someday.”
Kirishima grins, just happy to have them back!
Chopper, however, actually looks a little miffed like he was betting on them not to survive.
“Haha!” Bakugou laughs, grinning at Wildvine! “Told ya we could take the bastard!”
Wildvine grins right back, feeling the same way.
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Hisashi takes a seat in the booth, the Rustbucket sits just outside the window in the parking lot of the restaurant. “Well that camping trip didn’t exactly go as I envisioned it too.”
“Ha!” Bakugou laughs from the seat across from him! “It was a whole lot better than I thought it would be!”
Kirishima grins from beside Hisashi. “Guess you’re happy.”
“You bet I am!”
Izuku chuckles sheepishly from Bakugou’s side. Although if you ask him he’s just happy to be away from Camp Opinicon and Felucia National Park.
After timing out, they gathered up the victims and led them all back to camp. And talk about happy reunions as families, friends, and colleagues were returned. The ranger quickly got to work on providing any and all first aid especially for those in bleaker conditions, having lost their nutrients and all.
The rangers were also able to fix up one of their jeeps and make their way back into town while they were gone. Once there he was able to make contact with the search party of other rangers and pro heroes.
Once police and pro heroes were able to arrive they set to work on collecting statements. And of course Izuku and Bakugou were thanked and praised for their efforts in saving everyone and defeating the villain, Fun Gus. Thankfully Hisashi was able to convince the officer to mark down their actions under self-defense, not wanting them to be sought after by the legal authorities for technically breaking the law. The officer however was more than willing since one of his own friends was taken and returned too.
And so after such a chaotic time Hisashi offered to drive the boys back into town for some well-deserved pizza!
“Although…”Hisashi frowns. “I checked in with the rangers over the phone. Apparently they haven’t found Fun Gus yet.”
The boys pale.
Izuku gulps. “Did he get away?”
“They’re not sure.” Hisashi admits with a frown.
Bakugou waves it off any concerns. “Big deal!” His hand pops with a small Explosion. “If that bastard shows his face again, I’ll be there to beat his ass black and blue all over again.”
Izuku actually doesn’t feel the same way. “Maybe…next time we let the pro heroes handle it.” Because seriously he’d be dead if it weren’t for the fact that the Florauna DNA also gives him regenerative properties.
“Huh?!” Bakugou scowls, yelling in Izuku’s face! “Don’t tell me you’re going chicken shit again, Deku?!”
Irked, Izuku scowls right back. “No! I’m just saying I don’t want to fight him again!!”
“Why not?!”
“Because I don’t want to die, maybe?!”
“What?! Almost dying builds character!!”
“How?!”
Kirishima chuckles watching the two argue and bicker like an old married couple. “Looks like they’re back to hating each other.”
“I’m not so sure.” Hisashi admits with an intrigued look. “They might not like each other but…I do think there is at least some respect between them.”
There’s gotta be. After being pinned to work together for a great good, there has to be some form of new respect for the other that they may not have had before. And if that’s the case hopefully their respect will only continue to grow.
Hisashi smiles at the thought. “At least they learned to work together rather than against.” Perhaps they might be able to push each other forward rather than hold each other back.
“WHAT!?! Pizza with green chilies, onions, and pepperoni’s the best by far, Deku!!”
“And all I’m saying is that a pizza topped with spinach and Italian sausage is a good option!”
Hisashi sweat drops, as the argument between the two teens somehow transitioned into a debate about the best pizza toppings. ‘Well hopefully they can find some more common ground.’
The waitress stops by, their pizza in hand. “Here’s your order fellas.” She drops the pizza in front of them.
Izuku and Bakugou stop bickering, their eyes locking onto the layers of mushrooms covering the top of the pizza.
They both gag! “Ew! Gross!!”
Looks like Hisashi found the common ground faster than he thought.
“What?” Hisashi chuckles as he grabs a slice. “Was ordering this in poor taste?” He doesn't bother to listen to their outcries as he chows down on his favorite kind of pizza topping.
Izuku frowns in his seat, turning back to his Dad. “Going back…do you think they’ll find Fun Gus? Before he can do anything again?”
Hisashi swallows. “I’m sure. With his body bound to that cave he couldn't have possibly gotten that far away. They’ll find him.”
“Oh, good.” Izuku sighs. “That is such a relief to hear.”
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It’s dark out as rangers, police, and pro heroes are all scouring through the woods. Search lights shine down at the caved-in hill as patrols dig through the rubble for any signs of life. They’ve been here for hours and there hasn’t been a trace or sign of Fun Gus. No mushrooms, no orange moss, nothing. It was like he was never here.
But they search and search without any progress.
One ranger, the elderly gentlemen who loves ghost stories, watches on from under a large oak tree. He watches on silently and mournfully as the excavation and search continues.
“Poor, Kinyuu. I hope you can find peace and true friends in the next life…” And so with his cane in hand and his lantern in the other he hobbles away from the large solitary tree.
And so darkness creeps back in as the excavating goes quiet for the night.
From the brush a little squirrel, out past his bedtime, scurries across the forest floor. He jumps and scurries his way towards the oak, coming to a stop at the base so he can check his surroundings.
The squirrel peers around, checking for any predators. But there’s nothing in the trees. Nothing in the brush. And certainly nothing within the crevice between the oak’s large roots.
And so, feeling at ease, the squirrel takes a second to groom himself. He pats his head and rubs his paws together as he dusts himself of dirt and debris, totally and utterly at pea-
“Skrrrreeeee!!” In a flash the squirrel is pulled into the black crevice from underneath the oak tree. Disappearing without a trace.
“Hehehehehaha!” A childish giggle echoes through the night as a pair of glowing greens eyes and a glowing grin form from inside the dark hidden crevice. “Hehehehehaha!”
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THE PREVIEW:
Izuku: That was too much! Oh, geez I need a vacation from my vacation!
Wildvine: It wasn’t all bad, was it? You got me out of it, didn’t you? Plus you made nice with Bakugou.
Izuku: Yeah, I wouldn't really say we made nice. More like we’ll behave ourselves in front of others.
Wildvine: Well if it bothers you, I promise you that the next stop will be nice and relaxing. No villains, no drama, nothing but hours upon hours of quiet time that’ll all pay off in the end.
Izuku: What are you getting at? Why do you say that?
Wildvine: Because we’re going fishing!! I hope we reel in a whopper!
Izuku: Oh, cool. And, huh? Hey wait! I just saw something in the water!!
Both: Next time: Ch.50 Off the Hook!!
Wildvine: I wonder, are fish vegetarians?
Notes:
A month…a whole freaking month. This chapter when I outlined it was meant to be short! Like the outline was only a page long! How did this happen?! Like it was so short I thought it’d be boring. But it just dragged on and on! I really need to start cutting things out for the sake of updating sooner. And sorry I totally forgot my own promise to do an Omake to fill the void and the wait time. Dammit, I suck. Well either way the newest chapter is finally here, and I hope you guys enjoyed it.
***So I’m willing to bet a lot of you are wondering why I chose to make Fun Gus and the Mycelium essentially the same being? My short and easy answer is to say that I wanted to. But I’ll give you guys more of an explanation.
Well for starters I was actually really confused on whether or not the Mycelium was an alien or not. When I was a kid I always thought it was a mutant mushroom kinda like how there were mutant humans like Clancy, Gatorboy, Porcupine, and so on. And when I tried to look it up nothing outright said the Mycelium was an alien, but it said the “Living Mushrooms” were an alien. But that actually confused me more because were the “Living Mushrooms” a different species altogether? Did they land on earth and fall to the Mycelium’s control? I was just so confused about it all.
So I chose to make the Mycelium a human with a Mutation type Quirk. And combining him with Fun Gus was sort of part of the reason for that. I always thought Fun Gus was fun and I really liked “Kipo and the Age of Wonder Beasts'' (P.S. Go check it out, it’s on Netflix. It’s great, you’ll love it too.). And so I figured of combining the two to help give the Mycelium more personality and more of a background. Plus if I ever chose to use him again then I have something to work with, hence why I left his ending open in the end. I have nothing planned as of yet and I have no idea if I ever will, but I rather have the option than throw it out completely.
Also after the next chapter the alien foes are going to start hitting the ground running so I wanted to use the more earthly threats first before we get there.
***New artwork by “Voidv25” on Deviant Art called “Henzu(Monster)” it’s great! Finally you guys will have a full on visual and image of what Henzu A.K.A. Nue looks like! Woah!! I worked closely with Voidv25 on this one, even provided my own draft of Henzu as reference. So what you see is how I imagined Henzu to look like.
https://www.deviantart.com/voidv25/art/Henzu-Monster-883288185
*Some of you (most you) already guessed it but Wildvine has joined the roster! Woah!! I really like his powers, there’s so much fun to be had with them!
*So funny enough in my first original idea for this chapter I wanted Kinoko Kimouri from Class 1-B to show up and play a role, but I cut her out a while back. Sorry but there wouldn't have really been a good pay off for her and I’d never really use her again anyway so I dropped her in favor of trying to do some more character development for Bakugou. Plus I think the fandom agrees that Bakugou is the type to like hiking in the woods so it worked out.
*Camp Opinicon is the same name of the camp Ben, Gwen, and Grandpa Max went to when they were attacked by the Mycelium and the Living Mushrooms.
*Felucia National Park. The name Felucia is in reference to a planet from star wars that’s filled with illuminated aliens, plants, and fungi.
*Oh, also the reason I refer to the Living Mushrooms as Goombas was because saying Living Mushrooms is lame. Goombas’ a lot more fun to say and write so I went with it :)
*Oh, BTW. Fun Gus’ real name is actually Kinyuu. “Kin” means mushroom while “yuu” means fun. So, “Mushroom Fun” or “Fun Mushroom” is his real name.
To be clear, Ben Ten characters (with a few exceptions) will be given Japanese names especially if they originated from Earth. And their names are in the same vein as how Horikoshi names his characters.
For example, Henzu Uuichi. “Hen” means “change.” “Zu” means “matter.” And “Uuichi” is in reference to the word “Juuichi” which means “11”. So Henzu Uuichi translates to “Changing Matter 11” or “11 Changing Matter.”
So if you go back to Ch.47, at the end a certain name was dropped and it can be solved with this scheme in mind.
Chapter 55: Off the Hook
Summary:
Fishing trip!!! Woah!!
Notes:
This chapter was freaking 135 pages!!! Sheesh, when I wrote the outline it looked so small and I barely added things to it but I guess each scene was bigger than I thought. Seriously I need to figure out what to cut out and what not to.
But hey I am NOT a professional writer. I never even took a creative writing course before. I’m just someone that likes MHA and Ben Ten and wanted to share a story with you all. So all of this is a learning process for me and so I can only promise that I will try to deliver.
**New Opening Theme!!!** So if you’ve been wondering why Drag0n5on hasn’t written up a new OP for this arc yet, that would be because of me. I wanted to give my own shot at an OP for this story. But because of how late I’ve been with previous chapters I never got around to finishing it until now, so I hope you guys enjoy it. Also you will find that some characters have been silhouetted out in the OP that is because I wanna hide spoilers for now and they will be revealed as this arc goes on.
There is a link for the song on this story on the AO3 site.
***New artwork by “Voidv25” on Deviant art called “Henzu(Monster)” it’s great! Finally you guys will have a full on visual and image of what Henzu A.K.A. Nue looks like! Woah!! I worked closely with Voidv25 on this one, even provided my own draft of Henzu as reference. So what you see is how I imagined Henzu to look like.
https://www.deviantart.com/voidv25/art/Henzu-Monster-883288185
This story has a TV Tropes page so feel free to check it out.
https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Fanfic/HeroesNeverDieItsHeroTime
Disclaimer I do not own the rights to Ben 10 or MHA.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
The Rustbucket speeds down the countryside road, with no other motorists in sight Hisashi Midoriya gets to cruise right on through the road with no issues. The road is calm, no cars in sight, no chaos, it’s just nice and peaceful. And most importantly quiet.
^Wa! Wawa Bzz-wap!^
Well mostly.
Seated at the RV’s table, Izuku Midoriya sits sideways so he can focus on the little astro mech before him. His gaze is focused, and his ears are alert as the droid begins to speak.
^Wa wa.^ Chopper beeps out and pauses, allowing what he said to sink into Izuku’s mind.
Izuku doesn't react, he just holds his stoic indifferent yet focused and analytical expression; listening.
^Ba-bop.^
^Bo-bzz wap.^
^Wa-wap! Bzz-wooo!^
“Seriously?” From atop the table, Kraab’s head lets out an exasperated sigh. “I can’t read your face, like at all. Are you actually understanding anything he’s saying?”
Izuku’s focused expression washes away as he becomes very self-conscious. “Um, I think I’m getting every third word or so…maybe.”
“Maybe? Alright, what was he talking about then?”
“Um, he said he… Wanted an Oil Change!” Izuku blurts out without thinking!
…
“I FREAKING KNEW IT!!! YOU HAD NO CLUE WHAT HE WAS SAYING!!!”
“Hey! I’m trying! Binary’s hard to learn, okay!”
^Woo Woo!^
From the driver’s seat, Hisashi spins around and shouts! “Hey, turn the volume down back there!!”
The three children do as they’re told.
Hisashi chuckles. “No need to rush kiddo, it’ll take some time to learn. It’s going to take a little patience before you’re golden.”
Izuku frowns, slumping back in his seat.
^Wa wap!^
Izuku embarrassed, looks for some help. “What did he say?”
Kraab doesn't even miss a beat. “He called you a moron.”
“That's it!!” Izuku lunges forward aiming for Chopper!
“Quiet down please!” Hisashi shouts!
Izuku stops and falls back onto the seat.
Hisashi sighs. “Don’t bother getting upset, Chopper likes to antagonize. Besides you’ll figure it out eventually.”
“But I’ve been at this for hours! And I still haven't made any progress!”
“There’s no need to rush things. Just take your time, go at your own pace, and you’ll figure it all out. You can’t always just jump into something and think you know better. The trick for binary is to listen and with some patience; it’ll come to you.”
“Speaking of patience.” Izuku gets up and hops over to the passenger seat. “I’ve also been waiting patiently for our next stop.”
“And?”
“And? I was wondering what we’ll be doing there.”
Hisashi smirks to himself. “With any luck, I’m going to teach you a little bit more about patience.”
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Cannon Busters Opening - Showdown
(Beginning Instrumentals)
An open road, a bright sun illuminating the beautiful summer day, and the rush of wind in one’s ears as the Rustbucket cruises by moving across the road like a sports car before zooming past with grace.
We got places to go, things to do, people to see, and we got to get it done right away.
Izuku adjusts his hoodie, tugging it down over his body. All before gripping the dial of the Omnitrix and giving it a shine with his fingers.
So if you on the crew, guess we a team. Thicker than thieves and we all tryna help find a way
Hisashi buttons up his Hawaiian short, before grabbing his respirator and dawning it over his maw. He then snatches up a few loose tickets and pamphlets before tucking them away.
If you know the destination, we making conversation. Time is ticking, sun is setting, we got no time for waiting
Chopper latches his leg to his body, readjusting it. Before his arms pop out and flex about making sure they’re working properly.
Might be the showdown, Looks like it's 'bout to go down
Bust through with the cannon, at the hoedown
(Instrumentals)
Izuku slams down on the Omnitrix! In a flash of green the screen scrolls down to reveal his aliens: Feedback, XLR8, Grey Matter, Four Arms, Ditto, Ripjaws, Terraspin, Water Hazard, Lodestar, Buzzshock, Diamondhead, Big Chill, Heatblast, Stinkfly, Wildmutt, Rath, and Wildvine.
Transition into title sequence: HEROES NEVER DIE; IT’S HERO TIME
So we won't fall, until gravity is gone
Izuku grins falling through the air alongside Rath, Wildvine, and several other inhuman silhouettes! As the glow of the sunrise illuminates U.A. in the background!
We've been on this road too long, so long
Hisashi and Izuku stand back to back looking away from each other as the scene rotates around them.
The scenes flip in rapid succession with characters standing back to back!
(Instrumentals)
To Thirteen and Ochaco!
To Ochaco and All Might!
To All Might and Gran Torino!
And to Gran Torino and Hisashi!
And I can't stop, we can't stop
I'm so far away from home
We've been on this road too long, too long
A legion of villains have their backs to the camera but as the camera slides through their lineup, each of them turn to acknowledge the audience.
Kraab’s claw flexes and clamps nearly clipping the camera.
Silhouette (A) folds their arms together and smirks as the camera rolls past.
Silhouette (B) raises their weapon at the ready.
Silhouette (C) stands tall and proud, towering over the camera.
Nue bares a sharp tooth grin, his eyes gleaming with malice before the camera zooms away and up into to the forbidding sky, through the void of space, through the walls of the command ship, before halting before an all observing Vilgax.
Playing with fire (Fire!)
Take me higher
From up in the air Cinder releases a cloud of flames down upon Silhouette (A) below! Silhouette (A) cuts through the flames before rocketing up and clashing with the hero in midair!
We're on our way, we're on our way
Undivided (-Vided!)
All Might zooms past, his grin wide, as he slams his fist into Silhouette (C)! Silhouette (C) crashes into the ground, kicking up smoke, but it rises again, unharmed.
And ignited
We're on our way, we're on our way, yeah!
From the smoke cloud, Ochaco leaps back in a spin as Silhouette (B) soars after her. Silhouette (B) swings their weapon at her but she counters it with a Ryou Sphere!
On our way, we're going
Nue grins madly as he stares down Deku who grins back just as determined and manically.
And no mistakes while we're rolling around town
We just came back round
The Rustbucket bursts forth zooming down the highlighted highway, gracefully zooming past Bakugou, Kirishima, and a number of silhouettes!
You don't wanna show out
Close up of a smiling Hisashi.
Cut to a closeup of Chopper.
Finally a close up to a grinning Deku!
Might be a showdown
Deku’s hand slams down on the Omnitrix, the alien green light swallows the screen!
Woo!
Freeze on the image of Deku, Cinder, and Chopper posing before the setting sun, their shadows casted far off over the ground towards the camera.
(Illustrated by CreateGunner1209)
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Ch.50 Off the Hook
Hisashi steps out of the Rustbucket, his face beaming in excitement as he takes one big whiff of the moist air. “You smell that?”
Izuku steps out and sniffs, his face scrunching up in disgust. “Bleh! It smells like rotten eggs. Where are we?”
They've parked the Rustbucket beside the lake not too far from where the fishing docks are. By the large wooden docks lie a number of fishing boats, a few bait shops, a gas station, a restaurant, and a rundown hotel. All situated at the foot of one massive lake!
“We’re at Lake Nal Hutta!!”
Lake Nal Hutta, just saying the name makes the place sound icky and swampy. There also appear to be a few homes in the area, but they’re all scattered around the lake. The water is murky and filled with stirred up mud, and a heavy fog is constantly sitting over the water’s surface. The lake also appears to have a number of outreaches and a river that stretches into the mainland, creating the perfect conditions for swamps and wetlands, which also explains that occasional whiff of rotten eggs in the air.
Hisashi grins as he stares out at the ominous and rather creep lake like it’s an old friend. “This place is the hotspot for fishing, let me tell ya! I used to come here a lot with my grandpa and boy did we catch some big fish!”
No surprise really. This place may seem disgusting and muddy but it’s the perfect conditions for all sorts of aquatic life. Thanks to the swampy terrain and the lake’s vastness there are plenty of places for young fish to live and survive to adulthood where they move into the deeper water. And thus become the perfect targets for hard core fishermen.
“Fishing?” Izuku grimaces, dreading the idea of fishing. He really can’t stand just sitting around and waiting for something to happen. “Um, is there anything else we can do?”
“Nope!” Hisashi responds with a grin!
And like that, Izuku’s hopes are dashed.
The grinning Hisashi turns around, addressing the little droid sitting at the Rustbucket’s doorway.
Chopper looks cautious and wary, hesitating to hop down the last step as he scans the lake and the nearby swamps.
“You coming Chop?”
Chopper shakes his head in a clear no! ^Wa-wop!^
“Got ya, well you have fun then.”
Izuku turns a beat red, embarrassed as anything Chopper said went over his head again. “Um, did he say he can’t swim?”
“No. Although that is true. But no. He just doesn’t want to get swamp muck stuck in his joints.”
“Oh…” Well he tried.
Hisashi slings his arm around Izuku, squeezing him against his shoulder! “Now let’s go!” His face is beaming with delight, his eyes sparkling like Christmas lights as his stupid grin beams! “I’m finally going to live out my dream of going fishing with my boy!!”
Izuku frowns. “Please, can’t we just go swimming instead?”
“Later. After we catch the whopper to beat all whoppers!”
And so Hisashi drags the begrudging Izuku away towards the boat house where they can rent out their own boat for the day.
Chopper watches them off before grabbing the door and shutting it closed with a loud slam!
He rotates himself around only to find a very quiet and nearly empty RV waiting for him.
Kraab stares back at him as an awkward silence sets in with neither knowing exactly what they're supposed to be doing.
“Sooo…what do you want to do now?”
^Bop-wap.^
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Izuku concentrates, his eyes locked onto the bobber that floats across the water's surface. He’s tense, his gaze hardened and focused, as he eyes his target “Ah! I haven’t even gotten a nibble!”
So much for concentrating!
Hisashi chuckles from the back of the rowboat they rented out. “Haha, don’t be like that, it hasn’t been that long.”
“We’ve been out here for hours!!” Izuku whines.
“I know, isn’t it great?”
Izuku pipes down, exasperated. They’ve spent the entire morning out on the lake; they haven’t had any signs of fish: no bites, no nibbles, nothing even breaching the surface. Absolutely nothing. And what’s worse is that it’s so boring!
Izuku reels in his line and tosses the rod back. “There’s gotta be a better way of doing this.”
Hisashi frowns, thinking, before he remembers something. “Well I might know of another way.”
Izuku finally shows some enthusiasm as he spins around! “Really?!”
“Yup.” Hisashi grins. “Hold out your hand.”
“Okay!”
Hisashi grabs Izuku’s palm and places something very small and slimy onto his palm. As Hisashi removes his hand he reveals that he attached a leech onto Izuku’s palm!!
“AH! Ew! Why would you do that?!” Izuku cries, trying to rip off the leech!!
Hisashi grins, chuckling as he remembers that he had a similar reaction the first time too. He ignores Izuku’s whines as he places several onto his hand and allows them to latch onto his skin.
“Here let me show you.” Hisashi leans down and dips his entire arm down into the water, his arm completely disappearing in the murky water. “It’s an old trick my grandpa taught me, called noodling.”
“Noodling?”
Izuku sits in silence as he observes his Dad’s every moment, which are none. Hisashi is solely focused on the task at hand, but unlike Izuku he appears relaxed. He looks like he’s going to nod off any second, but he doesn’t instead he sits there with his eyes closed, breathing steadily, and totally relaxed.
After a little while longer Izuku starts to get antsy again. “Is something supposed to be happening?”
Hisashi smiles, shushing him quietly. “Shhh.”
And so they sit and wait for what feels like hours! Or at least from Izuku but in reality it’s only been 2 minutes!! But either way he sits in silence while fighting off the urge to start tapping his foot.
But then, it happens.
In a split second Hisashi goes from calm and relaxed to serious and alert. And like a jaguar pouncing upon his prey he moves quickly and reflexively as he suddenly springs to his feet and something huge is pulled out of the water!!
And like a triumphant hunter, Hisashi stands tall and proud even though he has a giant catfish latched onto his arm!!
Izuku is totally astounded! His jaw dropped as his eyes widened at the sight of the glorious beast that’s latched onto Hisashi’s arm! The fish is huge! It’s nearly as long as he is tall!!
“A beauty isn’t it?” Hisashi grins as he pries off his prize. “This fellas gonna be some good eating for later, that’s for sure!” Hisashi licks his lips as he kicks open the cooler they brought and plops the catfish into it, although it’s backend sticks out comedically due to its large size.
With a smile and a good sense of accomplishment, Hisashi smiles down at his boy. “Alright, your turn.”
Izuku scowls, determined to get one too. He eyes the leech on his hand with disgust, but he sucks it up and leans over the side of the boat, sticking his entire arm into the water.
After a few pathetic minutes of waiting, Izuku finally loses his patience!
He springs to his feet, calling it quits! “This could take all da-OOF!!”
From the depths of the murky water a slim catfish pounces from the water. It was aiming for the leech on Izuku’s hand, but it ended up slapping him in the face instead!
“Ah! Ow! My face!” Izuku grains holding his face as the catfish flops and flails before propelling itself back into its home.
“Oh boy.” Hisashi chuckles, albeit a bit sympathetically. “Don’t be like that, you should have given it a chance.”
Izuku frowns, sitting up as he rubs his aching cheek. “I’ll tell you what.” With his patience low, he springs to his feet, gripping his Omnitrix. “I’ll give my way a chance first.”
And that way is via a transformation! “Water Hazard!!”
Izuku’s Orishan form appears, he turns and jumps off the boat, plunging into the depths of the murky lake water!
Water Hazard blinks, scanning the depths of the lake. The water is of course murky, but he can actually see a fair distance away and it's certainly a lot deeper than he first thought as he can’t really see the bottom through the settling muck and mud suspended in the water, mixing in with the tallest of the aquatic vegetation and sunken logs and debris.
Water Hazard prepares himself as he begins to suck in the water around him through his palms. The water begins to rush towards him, building in speed. When he’s built up enough momentum he spins and spins creating an underwater whirlpool that sucks in anything nearby!
Hisashi watches from above as a whirlpool forms off the starboard side of the rowboat. And then BOOM a geyser of water spews out from where the whirlpool was from!
Hisashi takes cover as not only water showers down on him but an entire school of fish rains down as well!! The fish batter and flop in the boat or back into the surrounding water, their bodies flopping around and their mouths gasping for air.
Hisashi frowns at the fish flopping around in disappointment.
Water Hazard’s head pops out from the water. “Now this is fishing!” He cheers, a bit proud of himself.
Hisashi frowns. “Yeah, it’s quite the haul.” He says, sounding rather disappointed.
“See Dad. I told you my way was better.”
“If you ask me it’s cheating.” Hisashi frowns. “Earning a catch after demonstrating one’s own patience and skills is a lot more rewarding.”
Water Hazard frowns feeling rather sour after having his way be put down like that. “Yeah, well it got results, right?”
Before Hisashi can put up an argument a sudden and spontaneous wave disturbs the surface of the water: jostling the boat and Water Hazard!!
“Woah!!” Hisashi grips the boat, falling to his knees as he waits for the current to settle down. “Did we hit something?
Water Hazard shakes his head, he peers down at the water around him and sees that even more muck and mud have been disturbed up to the surface. “What was that?”
“Hey, Champ, I think it’s time to get out of the water!”
“Yeah, you might be right.”
Water Hazard turns and begins to swim his way towards the boat not wanting to stick in the water for any longer than he has to.
“WHA?! Huh…?” Water Hazard stops moving, his blood goes cold as paranoia begins to settle in.
Hisashi sees him stop. “What’s the matter?”
Water Hazard scans the water but there’s no signs of anything. “I think something hit me!”
“Something?” Hisashi frowns, this can’t be good. “What?”
“Don’t know!” Water Hazard continues to search, but nothing. “Maybe it was just a catfish.”
Water Hazard stops moving, his eyes widening. “Huh?”
Hisashi calls out! “What is it?!”
“I think-WAH!!!” Water Hazard is pulled into the water, his body disappearing under the murky waves!!
“IZUKU!!!”
From beneath the surface, Water Hazard can hear his father’s distorted shouts but he’s unable to answer as he's pulled further and further into the depths.
He can’t see anything! It’s worse than before there’s too much sentiment and debris in the water for him to make anything out!
But he can feel something has his leg. Something…BIG.
Not wanting to be dragged down into Davy Jones’ Locker, Water Hazard aims his palms down and fires away torrents of boiling water!
“RWEEEEEeeeee!!!”
A low rumbling screech pierces Water Hazard’s ears, making his own brain shake as his ears would be bleeding to the deathening screech!
“RWEEEEEeeeee!!!”
And with that final screech whatever grabbed him finally lets him go.
With his leg free, Water Hazard aims his arms down and fires off jets of water, propelling himself up towards the surface at record speed!
Water Hazard breaches the water, using his streams of water as water jets to aim himself up to the boat where he lands with a loud slam!
Hisashi springs to his feet, gripping the side of the boat tightly. “What happened?!”
Water Hazard is gasping heavily trying to catch his breath. “Something’s down there!!”
And that something shakes up the surface of the water again! Huge waves and turbulence shake the water’s surface causing wild and random surfs that shake and throw around the little rowboat!
“Waahh!!” And with one giant tidal wave the rowboat and its riders are going for a swim!!
Hisashi and Water Hazard are tossed into the water, their catches raining down with them as their boat is flipped around into the air!
And with a crash they’re both plunged into the water as the wave comes crashing down on them!
Hisashi gasps for air as his head breaches the surface! “Izuku! Izuku, where are you?! Are you okay?!”
Water Hazard pops out beside him. “I’m fine!”
From the corner of his eye the transformed Izuku catches movement. He peers over and sees…a fin? And it’s huge! Is there a shark in here or something?! Maybe it’s a bullshark? They travel into fresh water sometimes, right? There is a river so maybe it connects to the ocean somewhere?
“But that thing won’t be.” With his glare hardened, and not wanting for this thing to get away, he dives down after it!
“No, wait!” Hisashi calls out but it’s too late, Izuku’s already under the waves. “I’ve got a bad feeling about this.”
From underwater, Water Hazard locks onto the beast or at least he thinks so. Clouds of disturbed muck and sentiment plum from afar, like in a trail as something big disturbs the lake floor. From within the disturb muck he thinks he can make out the silhouette of the shark, it’s a lot bigger than he expected.
‘Here goes nothing.’ Water Hazard takes aim and fires!
Jets of water burst out and disappear into the clouds of muck and debris, towards the target.
“RWEEEEEeeeee!!!”
He got it! If that screech or roar is anything to go by at least.
‘Alright, have another-WHA?!’ Water Hazard gasps, hesitating, as a massive tentacle breeches the disturbed muck and races towards him!
Water Hazard counters the tentacle with a large blast of boiling water!
“RWEEEEEeeeee!!!” With that last screech the tentacle retreats.
With the attack over for now, Water Hazard analyzes the situation. ‘Is this thing a squid?! How did a squid get in here? Then how is it-AH!!!’
From within the cloud a second tentacle lashes out and slams down on top of Water Hazard!
Water Hazard is thrown down, his body slammed into the lake’s bottom!
The slam is enough to propel a massive cloud of debris and disturbed muck into the water!
‘That’s one big squid.’ Water Hazard groans as the giant tentacle snakes away and disappears into the obscured waters.
“Rweeeeeee…”
A low rumbling growl echoes through the water, seemingly from all directions.
Water Hazard is immediately put on edge, it’s clear to him that he’s being hunted by this shark-squid thing.
“Rweeeeeee…”
Water Hazard waits, staying on his metaphorical toes, as he waits for this thing to appear. “Come on, I’m here!”
Water Hazard fires into the cloud surrounding him but there’s no response if anything he’s made his visuals worse.
“Show yourself!” Water Hazard screams panicking, spinning around and firing into the depths with no results.
“Where are you?! Water hazard screams out into the depths!!
If he had turned around he would have noticed the massive maw hovering just behind him. “Rweeeeeee…”
“GAAHH!!!”
Water Hazard finds himself pinned between massive rows of fangs and teeth as the creature rips him through the murky waters!!
“RWEEEEEeeeee!!!”
Water Hazard flinches back as his ears split apart, bracing himself as the monster thrashes about in the water, pulling him along for the ride like a wild and unstable rollercoaster!
Between the struggling and the harsh ride Water Hazard is able to free one arm! “Yes!”
He slams his palm into the beast’s side and fires!
The water jets out and surges around his hand and across the creature’s maw, the separating streams wash away the nearby muck and sentiment revealing a large pearly blue eye staring back at him.
For a brief moment, Water Hazard hesitates, his water blast subsiding as he locks eyes with the beast.
*Fwooooosh!!*
A thin lance of bright flames breach through the water steaming and burning into the water before singing the side of the beast’s face!
“RWEEEEEeeeee!!!” The creature screeches, opening its maw wide and allowing Water Hazard to jet himself away quickly!
“RWEEEEEeeeee!!!” The cloud of muck and the silhouette of the monster trail away into the depths as it gives its final screech.
And so Water Hazard remains afloat beneath the waves waiting for its return but as the debris and muck settle then he can confirm that the encounter was over.
Water Hazard swims way back to the surface, popping out and immediately scanning for his Dad.
“Izuku! Izuku!” Hisashi calls with his Cinder Respirator on.
“I’m okay!” He breathes. “I’m okay.” Water Hazard swims over and grabs onto his Dad, allowing him to hang on to him since he’s currently the adept swimmer. “Thanks for that by the way.”
“No problem.” Hisashi taps the respirator. “I’m just glad I pocketed this thing today.”
“Yeah…” So that explains the flames, but Water Hazard figured it was Cinder.
Cinder frowns. “What was that thing? What were you fighting?”
“I wish I knew…” That eye that pearly blue eye…just what did it belong to? Water Hazard can only speculate.
An unfamiliar voice calls out to them! “Hey, are you two alright?!”
The two Midoriyas turn around to spot a very expensive looking boat speeding towards them. Heck the boat is more like a small yacht than a speed boat with big bold letters painted on its side: F.O.F.
From the boat’s deck step out about six individuals or so with one more at the helm making it a total of seven crew members.
One of the crew members, possibly the captain, steps forward as their boat pulls up to the Midoriyas. He turns to his men and waves them over. “Quickly, pull them aboard!”
The crew help the Midoriyas on board, they get the two settled down on the deck with bottles of water and towels.
The captain steps forward. “We saw the commotion and your boat flipped over, so we came to check it out.” The captain frowns, concerned. “Do you mind telling us what happened?”
The quiet Water Hazard peers up at the man, examining him.
He’s a tall tanned man with a stern face despite his kind smile. He has short reddish-brown hair and a spiky goatee to match. He’s wearing what must be a uniform: a cyan jumpsuit with lack accents and matching boots.
His crew are wearing the same outfits, all of which are labeled with F.O.F.
Hisashi slumps in his seat. “To be honest we’re not quite sure about that ourselves.” He looks to his son, making sure he’s alright. “Right?”
Water Hazard doesn’t respond, instead he sits quietly lost in his own thoughts as that pearly blue gaze swirls through his mind.
The captain frowns but with a shrug he’s back to a smile. “Well we’ll take you both back to shore.”
“Thank you.” Hisashi smiles in appreciation. “That's offly kind of you.”
“It’s no problem, really.” The captain smiles back. “I’m Jonah Melville by the way.”
“An American?”
“Yes, actually, I’m originally from Florida, U.S.A.”
“Florida? You’re a long way from home aren’t ya?”
“Yes, but I’m used to traveling abroad.”
“What brings you to Japan then?”
“My work.” Jonah admits with a smile. “I’m the founder of Friends Of Fish.” He gestured to the F.O.F. on his suit. “We’re here conducting an environmental study.”
“What kind of environmental study?”
“The collecting of samples, mostly the biological kind.”
“Like fish.”
“Like fish.”
Water Hazard blinks curiously, he asks Jonah for his thoughts. “So then do you know what could have attacked us?”
Jonah frowns, pondering the question. “Based off prior knowledge I think you two encountered a bullshark. They’ve traveled up the river before from the ocean, it’s nothing to worry about. If there’s a bullshark in these water’s we’ll find it and,” He peers over to his crew members and smirks, “document it for our research.”
Water Hazard can’t help but feel a bit hesitant, for some reason. A bullshark? That’s what he thought too but…now…he’s not so sure. He wants to say that Jonah’s wrong! But he doesn't, there's something holding him back, making him hesitate. Almost like he can’t trust the official with what he saw… Then again would he even believe him…?
“A bullshark, huh?” Hisashi frowns, he’s heard of them traveling upstream before, but this wasn’t like anything he’s heard. “Never heard of them causing such waves.”
Jonah simply smiles on as he explains. “It’s rare but it happens.” He scoffs. “Animals. They can be such a nuisance sometimes. You never know what’s going through their heads.”
Hisashi frowns, not really feeling all that comfortable with Jonah’s last statement.
But he doesn’t air it instead he appreciates the ride back to dry land.
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
After making it back to the docks, the Midoriyas bid the F.O.F. for their help. And the captain Jonah had a bit of a surprise when Izuku transformed back into his old self.
Jonah chuckled saying his Quirk was a Transformation type Quirk too before they cast their boat back towards the lake.
So after Hisashi paid for losing the rowboat at the rental place the father and son duo headed over to the local fish and chips place to collect themselves.
The restaurant is more of a bar, but they serve food and that’s good enough for them even if the place looks like it’s seen better days. The walls are lined with mounted fish, pictures, and sailing memorabilia giving it a very docks and marine feel. The entire place is full of fishermen and sailors all gruff and old, but they keep to themselves and the Midoriyas follow suit as they take a table towards the back of the restaurant.
They sit down and order some food and a drink each before they fall back into a silence with only the chatter of the sailors and other fishermen filling the quiet void.
“Izuku…” Hisashi frowns, eyeing the quiet Izuku who’s been gazing down at the table like he’s in a trance. “What was it? Really?” He knows that he saw something down there and whatever it was…it’s haunting him.
“I…I don’t know.” Izuku admits “I…I don’t know. Maybe a…s…squid?” He shrugs, not really buying his own explanation.
Hisashi raises an eyebrow. “A squid?”
“Well I thought it was a shark but…” His mind plays out the way those massive tentacles moved through the water. “Then it attacked me with tentacles.”
Hisashi gasps a little too loudly! “Tentacles?!”
From nearby out from the dark corner of the restaurant, a lone sailor sits up in his seat.
Izuku continues not caring about his volume! “Yeah. Big ones! They were like the size of tree trunks!” What else did it have? Oh! “But it had teeth! Squids don’t have teeth, right? And its eye was huge, it looked right at me!”
Hisashi frowns, cupping his chin and mouth as he tries to consider what kind of creature could fit that description. “Hm. Maybe you saw a Mutation type Quirk.”
“What?”
“You know, perhaps you get into a fight with someone abusing their Mutation Quirk.” It is possible in a day and age where everyone (mostly) has superpowers.
Izuku, however, isn’t so sure. “I…I don't, I did.” It didn’t seem like a Quirk… “That…thing. It was aware but not intelligent. You know what I mean?” It was aware of Izuku’s presence and what it was doing and yeah it was able to probably read him and get a jump on him. But not intelligent enough to communicate in any way… Like how an animal can learn and adapt especially when it’s against another animal but they don’t bother trying to talk the problem out first. Not like they can. “It just…wasn’t…human.” Izuku states with finality.
Suddenly Hisashi becomes very worried, leaning in and whispering. “So like a visitor?” He subtly points upward with his finger.
“Maybe?” But Izuku’s still not sure he can even call it an alien. Nothing about that thing feels right. “Or maybe it was a-”
*Skreeeee!!*
Izuku and Hisashi both grimace and grab at their ears as the sounds of nails dragging against a chalkboard ring from nearby!
The duo round only to find a dark figure cloaked in the shadows sitting in the opposite corner. His hand dragging down on the chalkboard that’s displaying the restaurant’s specials of the day.
The man lets the chalkboard go; his large pink tongue pokes out the corn of his mouth before disappearing again. “You don’t know me. You don’t know what I do. And you don’t know what I am.” The man is old judging by his voice, his voice is coarse and old almost like he has a frog in his throat. “But I can tell you what I know. And I know what you found out there boy.”
Izuku, taken back, starts as the stranger catches his attention.
The old man stands up moving into the light. The old man…is an old frog, literally. He looks like a red toad version of Popeye. Seriously just hand him a can of spinach and it would complete the look!
Izuku, a bit nervous, is too curious to turn away. He needs to know. “What? What did I see?”
Hisashi frowns, skeptical of the elderly frog’s demeanor, but he stays quiet figuring that he might as well hear the old sailor out.
“Firstly,” The frog man smacks his lips, eyes Izuku with a hint of poor judgement and disbelief. “you should consider yourself lucky that you were even able to get away with your life.”
“Why?”
“Why?” The frogman croaks, speaking lowly and ominously like he’s delivering a grim warning. “Why, because, what you saw was a beast more terrifying that anything you see in your nightmares.”
Izuku gulps, his hands becoming clammy and sweaty as the fear begins to set in.
“It drags anything and everything under the waves: boats, ships, submarines, nothing can escape its grasp. And any and all men that become unfortunate enough to encounter the beast are never heard from again. The beast feasts on any sailor’s flesh, only leaving their bones and skulls behind to decorate its lair.”
The old sailor creeps closer cautiously yet in a hurry before gripping Izuku’s shoulder and shaking him! “What you saw has been the bane and dread for many a sailors.” He warns with a dire tone. “It’s the devil of the deep, the phantom of the depths, it’s death itself for those that dare challenge the world’s waters.”
Izuku gulps, shaken to his core. “What? What did I see? What was it…?
“Boy, you’ve encountered the Monster of Lake Nal Hutta.” The sailor leans in close and croaks out in a low fearful whisper. “The Krakken.”
Izuku’s eyes widen, shaking as what he saw of the beast replays in his mind, “The…K-Krakken?”
“The Krakken!!” The sailor shoves Izuku back into his seat with a loud roar! “The bloody beast has ended all that unknowingly crossed its path!” The sailor slams his hands down onto the table, a mad grin on his face as his eyes glow with a crazed bloodlust. “And I’m going to be the one to slay it! I’ll hunt it. Skin it. And mount it for the world to see. I’ll chop it and destroy every last bit of it!” With a slam on his hand, he turns and leans close, his smelly breath breathing into Izuku’s stunned face. “The head. The tail. The whole damn thing. I’ll destroy the beast that I can.”
‘He’s intense!’ Izuku panics. ‘And crazy!’ But he…somehow makes sense. Izuku has no idea what he saw, maybe…maybe it was a Krakken? ‘No, that’s crazy. A real-life cryptid, haha yeah that’ll be insane… But then again…what if it’s not?’
As Izuku loses himself to the possibility a new yet familiar voice cuts in, scolding the old sailor. “Hop Pop, quiet it out. You're freaking him out. Kero.”
Izuku starts. ‘Kero?!’ He jolts up and spots the new arrival. “Asui?!”
Tsuyu Asui gives Izuku a blank stare but by now he can tell that she’s a bit annoyed. “I told you to call me Tsu.” She corrects.
“We’re here too, you know.” From behind Tsuyu a boy that looks awfully similar to her pops out.
A little girl, even smaller than her brother, pops out behind him and her big sis. “Hm, he didn’t notice us.” She pouts.
Izuku blinks, recognizing them as Tsuyu’s younger siblings. But what were their names again?
“Kids!!” Suddenly Hop Pop’s entire demeanor does a 180 from creepy and intense to delightful and kind upon his grandkids’ arrival. “Good morning! Did you sleep well? Do you need anything?”
Tsuyu responds. “No thanks, Hop Pop, we’re fine thanks.”
“Are you sure? I can make you something. How about some fresh hot off the stove pancakes? Oh! Would you like strawberries with it, and maybe some bacon? Oh! I know! How about-” While Hop Pop was distracted Tsuyu led her siblings over to Izuku to introduce themselves properly.
“Hi, I’m Satsuki! I’m six years old!” Tsuyu’s little sister squeaks up excitedly. “You’re in Big Sis’ class!”
“You were so cool in the Sports Festival!” Cheers Tsuyu’s younger brother, he appears to be about ten years old. “Oh, I’m Samidare.”
Izuku is more than happy to make their acquaintance. “And I’m Izuku Midoriya, but I guess you already knew that, huh? Anyway hello and yeah, thanks.”
At the same time Hop Pop freezes in place as despair begins to creep in after he’s been ditched by his own grandchildren.
Satsuki grins as she eyes Izuku’s fluffy hair! “Hey, you’re green too just like us!”
“Yeah, I guess I am. My name even means green.”
“Ooooh!”
“Hey! Hey!” Samidare grabs at Izuku’s arm, tugging it excitedly. “Transform into something! Become something cool!”
“Now, now.” Tsuyu chides in a motherly fashion, grabbing her siblings’ attention. “Don’t you two need to say something to him?”
“Oh right.” Samidare lets go of Izuku’s arm as he takes his spot besides his younger sister.
The two little groggy siblings blow their heads and say. “Thank you for saving us that one time!”
Izuku blinks not sure what they’re talking about until he finally recalls when he saved the Asui kids from a speeding truck as XLR8 about a year ago! “Well you’re very welcome. I’m just glad you’re all okay.”
“They’re ignoring me!!” Hop Pop cries, falling to his knees.
Hisashi pats his shoulder, sympathetically.
“Oh, why are kids so cruel?!” Hop Pop cries. “Do they not love their Hop Pop anymore?!”
Satsuki looks at Tsuyu as she points at their grandpa. “Big sis! Hop Pop’s being dramatic again!”
“I know.” Tsuyu walks over, squatting down and offering a hand to her senile grandpa. “Don’t be upset, we’re going to be spending the whole day with you anyway.”
In an instant Hop Pop’s head snaps up. “Oh, I forgot” And in a blink of an eye he springs to his feet, beaming with joy, no hint to his earlier despair could be seen. “Then let’s make like the frogs we are and jump to it, kids!”
“Yeah!!” Cheer the youngest of the Asui kids!
Tsuyu’s kind smile breaks as she lets out a low groan.
Meanwhile, Izuku lights up. “That was a pun!” He cheers mostly to himself.
Tsuyu turns her attention back towards her classmate. “So, Midoriya. What brings you here? I certainly wasn’t expecting to see anyone from class here. No offense but you don’t seem like the outdoorsy type.”
Well he can’t deny that. “My Dad and I are out on a road trip and he decided to bring me here.”
Tsuyu remains silent as she eyes Hisashi almost warily.
Hisashi sheepishly smiles back and gives a small wave that she doesn’t return. She remains silently examining him, warily and cautiously. She drifts back towards Izuku and back towards Hisashi before going back again. She then nods her head as she finally accepts the situation.
She turns back to Izuku.
Hisashi’s smile falls but he can accept her reaction, last they met she heard about his…absence in his son’s life after all.
Meanwhile, Tsuyu continues her conversation with her classmate. “Funny enough we’re doing the same, in a way. Kero.”
“Huh?”
“If you haven't figured it out yet, he’s my Hop Pop, or grandpa, on my Mom’s side.” Tsuyu points to her grandfather while he’s chatting away with his other two grandkids.
Izuku smiles as he eyes the amphibian family. “I think I see the resemblance.”
“Well, he lives here and so we come by to visit him every summer. My parents think it’s good for us to get away from the city from time to time.”
“Aw, that’s nice visiting family for the summer and at a lake.” Izuku pauses his smile fading as a sense of trepidation sets in. “Although one that’s apparently haunted by a lake monster…”
Tsuyu frowns, a bit concerned and exasperated for her classmate. “Midoriya, please don’t listen to what Hop Pop has to say. The Krakken’s nothing but an urban legend, a myth. It’s fake, it’s just as real as monsters and aliens are.”
Izuku shakes in place, biting his lip and feeling just a wee bit guilty since he can totally prove that aliens do exist.
“The Krakken is real!” Hop Pop spouts, overhearing Tsuyu’s denial. “I’ve seen it!” He rushes over so quickly that Izuku stumbles back out of surprise but Tsuyu remains ever stoic and calm even as the old man begins to spout on about the beast. “It has fangs as big as boulders! Tentacles as thick as tree trunks! And it has pearly blue eyes!”
Izuku gasps. “Pearly blue eyes…?”
Tsuyu frowns. “You’re not buying this are you?” She eyes him critically before sighing. “No, you totally are? Aren’t you?”
Izuku doesn't dare to answer.
“He’s silly!” Satsuki laughs!
Her brother, Samidare, laughs. “Yeah but so is Hop Pop.”
“I’m not silly!” Hop Pop screams before stomping his foot on the ground repeatedly. “Oh, you kids got me hopping mad now!”
Tsuyu groans.
Meanwhile, Izuku breaks into a grin. “Another pun!”
“I’m telling ya, Tsu!” Hop Pop shouts! “The beast is real! Me and my friends seen it way back in our younger years!”
“Hop Pop.” Tsuyu chides. “No, offense. But Oldman Frogger and Mr. Kermit are just as old and delusional as you are.”
“So?!”
“So your memories are not exactly the best.”
Hop Pop wheezes out a painful gasp! “GAH!?!” Oh how the truth hurts!
Tsuyu sighs before trying to change the subject. “So, did you two come here for the fishing?”
Hisashi goes ahead and answers for them. “We did but we’ve lost our boat at sea as it were.”
“Oh?”
“Yeah we actually had a supposed run in with a bullshark out there and it flipped over our boat.” Hisashi explains. “Izuku actually fought the thing off for a bit.”
“A shark?!” Hop Pop croaks, his voice laced with accusations! “Are you sure it wasn't the Krakken?!”
Izuku begins to stutter and stumble back, too nervous to answer and too afraid of his own answer to actually reply.
“Hop Pop, stop it.” Tsuyu interrupts with a blank yet exasperated expression. “You’re being weird again.”
Hop Pop pouts, the sadness of dejection setting in.
Tsuyu turns back to Izuku and Hisashi. “Well if you’ve lost your boat do you want to come with us?”
Izuku blinks, uncertain.
Samidare explains. “Hop Pop’s got a big fighting boat! You guys can come with!”
“Yeah! Yeah!” Satsuki cheers excitedly. “It’s big and has nets and an anchor and sails and-and-and it’s so cool!”
Hisashi smiles, he’s not one to turn down such a kind offer after all. “Well if that’s the case we’d be delighted to.” He smiles over at the old sailor. “If you’re okay having a few extra crew members for the day.”
“Of course I mind!” Hop Pop snaps, clearly upset! “I don’t need no footwalking landlubbers on my ship! No! No! No! I won’t allow it!” He snarls, slamming his fist against the table. “My mission is to hunt the beast. I don’t need no inexperienced scallywags getting in my way!”
There’s a small tug on his coat that draws his attention.
Satsuki pouts up at her grandpa as she tugs on his jacket, her big beady eyes tearing up at him. “Pwease, Hop Pop! Let them come! Pwease!”
Samidare nods. “Yeah, he’s so cool! Let them hang out with us!”
“Aw!” Hop Pop cues, giving in to their innocent please. “I just can't say no to you kids.” He pats their adorable little heads. “My little tadpoles, you just make me so happy. You make me jump for joy!”
Izuku frowns to himself. “Wait didn’t he use that pun already?”
“Alright!” Hop Pop claps his hands together! “You two can come with, but I don’t want any funny business ya hear!”
“Ay sir!” Playing along, Hisashi salutes.
“Especially from you!” Hop Pop shouts pointing an accusing webbed finger at Izuku!
Izuku jumps back, startled. “I don’t want to see you pulling anything out there, boy. I don’t need any teenage mischief out on those waters.”
“Y-yes, sir!” Although he’s not sure what he means by teenage mischief?
“Good.” Hop Pop scowls at his eldest granddaughter, trying to air a sense of authority over her. “Same goes for you missy.”
“Kero?”
And with a huff he marches away.
Izuku frowns, thoroughly confused. “What was that about?”
Tsuyu doesn’t respond nor does she show any outward reactions. Instead she moves on and changes the subject. “Don’t mind him, he’s got a very wild imagination. The cons of old age are that his delusions have gotten worse.” What she says sounds harsh but her voice hints that it’s just her way of showing affection: a jokingly type of teasing if you will.
Hop Pop stomps his foot, his head steaming in anger. “Who you calling delusional, missy?!”
“Also don’t let his poor attitude fool ya, he’s just a big softy. Kero.”
“What?! I ain’t no softy! I’m a cold-blooded amphibian!”
Satsuki giggles. “No, you’re Hop Pop!”
Hop Pop’s anger washes away in an instant as he smiles down at her. “Yes and that too sweetie.”
Tsuyu actually cracks a small amused smile. “See what I mean?”
“Gah?!” Hop Pop gasps, feeling betrayed!
Izuku chuckles thinking to himself that this might be a lot more fun than he first thought.
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
Satsuki grips her life jacket tight as she awes up at Hisashi who’s getting the fishing poles ready. “Are you really a hero?”
Hisashi grins, tying up a lure before moving onto the next rod. “I am, the name’s Cinder!”
Her brother, Samidare raises an eyebrow. “Never heard of you.” He states rather bluntly.
Hisashi waves it off like it’s no big deal. “Yeah, I’m kinda one of those lesser known heroes to be honest. But hey I was never in it for the fame!”
Samidare deadpans. “That kinda sounds like a rehearsed response.”
Hisashi can’t help but respond with a sheepish grin.
“Oy!” Hop Pop snaps from the helm of his fishing boat! “Make sure those kids keep their life vest on! I don’t want any of them going overboard!”
Hisashi waves it off, guiding the kids away from the edge of the boat. “Don’t worry we’re all good here.”
“Who said I cared if you were?”
“Ha…” Ouch.
From the opposite end of the boat, Tsuyu isn’t sure to sigh or laugh at her grandfather’s ways. She scans the lake, admiring the swampy yet calm and beautiful lakefront. She may give her Hop Pop a hard time sometimes but that’s just how they show each other that they care. But coming here every year always puts her at ease, it feels like home. And no not because she’s a frog, but because of the memories.
Too bad some people can’t appreciate the lake’s beauty and are too busy staring into space: like one, Izuku Midoriya.
Tsuyu watches with a concerned frown as Izuku is busy scanning the waters with a hint of trepidation and wariness. He has a line in the water but it’s clear that’s not what he’s watching.
“Midoriya?”
“AH!” Izuku throws himself away from the boat’s edge in a panic, his arms flailing around! All before he realizes who actually called him. “Oh, Asui it’s you.”
Tsuyu frowns, annoyed.
Izuku starts. “Woops! I-I mean Tsu!”
Tsuyu smiles and nods as she joins him. “You catching anything over here?” She asks as she casts her own line out into the water.
“No, not yet.” Izuku frowns, turning back towards the water, a bit of fear and confusion laced in his voice as he eyes the water. “I haven’t seen anything yet.”
Tsuyu frowns. ‘What does he mean by seen?’ What is he looking for? “Well you’re not going to see the fish; the water’s too murky.”
Izuku finally realizes his foully. “Oh, yeah, I knew that!”
Tsuyu frowns, she thinks she knows what’s getting to him. Watching the water, acting scared and nervous, he’s got something in his head that’s for sure. “Did my grandpa’s story get to you that much?”
“What?”
“The Krakken. You know it isn’t real right?”
“Yeah…I know…” Izuku doesn’t sound so convinced after all what else could explain what he saw? “But then…what did I run into?”
Tsuyu shrugs nonchalantly. “This lake is filled with all sorts of debris from sunken ships to trees, it’s murky and muddy, and the fish get pretty big here too. It’s possible you ran into a bullshark but got confused by everything else in the water too.” Basically a classic case of misidentification and mistakes in perception.
Izuku frowns. Maybe she’s right. Maybe he just got his bearings confused. But…
“Hey! What are you two scallywags doing over there?!” Hop Pop roars from his post! “You two shouldn’t be that close!”
Izuku starts, sheepishly smiling back at the old sailor. “Oh, is that a fishing tip?”
Tsuyu couldn't be more grateful that Hop Pop’s delusions went over Midoriya’s head. “Don’t mind him, his mind likes to wander a lot.”
Hop Pop scowls. “Stop calling me delusional!”
“But I didn’t… That time.”
“Aye! I knew it!”
As the two frogs interact, Izuku can’t help but laugh, finding their antics amusing.
Something small tugs on the bottom of his hoodie.
“Hey Mister!” Samidare smiles up at him. “Turn into something cool!”
Satsuki nods her head excitedly in agreement. “Pwease! Pwease! Transform! Transform!”
“Um?” What should he do? Should he transform? Sorry but this was kinda out of nowhere for him. So he’s a bit startled.
Tsuyu frowns. “Hey you two. You’re overwhelming him. Be kind alright.”
“We are!” Samidare argues!
“Yeah!” Agrees Satsuki. “We just wanna see his Quirk!”
“Well it’s rude to just tell people to show you their Quirks.” Tsuyu scolds. “You need to ask nicely.”
“Oh..” The kids hold their heads in shame.
Izuku offers up a kind smile. “It’s okay, I don’t mind showing them.”
The kids instantly light up.
“Midoriya you don’t have to.”
“It’s fine, it doesn’t cost me anything.” Izuku grips the Omnitrix. “So which one do you guys wanna see?”
“A cool one!” Samidare cheers! “That lizard one!”
“No!” Satsuki whines! “I wanna see the cute one! The one that can make more friends!”
Izuku understands. “Oh, you guys mean XLR8 and Ditto! Well I can only choose one though.”
“Then you pick one.” Tsuyu offers up as a suggestion.
“If you insist.” Izuku smiles as he dials up an alien. “I know, I just got a new one.”
Tsuyu tilts her head to the side. “A new one?”
“Yup.” Izuku grins as he gets ready to slam his hand down on the alien watch! “Say hello to Wildvine!” And he disappears in a flash of green!!
Tsuyu and the kids frown. ‘I thought he said he had a new one?’
“Ripjaws?” Ripjaws blinks, staring at his webbed hands. “Uh, I mean of course I mean Ripjaws. Tricked ya didn’t I?” He tries to play it off cool, like he meant to do this.
Tsuyu gives her classmate a critical look. “This was an accident wasn’t it?”
Ripjaws doesn’t even bother to deny it anymore. “Oh, yeah, totally. Did not mean to be this 100%. It was a total goof up.” Maybe he hit the dial wrong? But he could have sworn he picked Wildvine. “Huh?” Ripjaws blinks down beyond Tsuyu’s legs.
The Asui kids cower behind their big sis, they’re quivering in fear, peeking their little heads out from behind her. “S-sc-scary.”
“Gah!! No, wait, I’m not scary, promise!” Ripjaws tries to step closer to comfort them.
“Wahh!!/Ahh!!” The two yell, hiding behind their sister!
Tsuyu frowns, bowing her head. “I’m so sorry about them, Midoriya. That was really rude of them.”
Ripjaws sighs, accepting it. “It’s fine. I know Ripjaws can be a bit unsettling.” It still hurts though. “But really it’s fine I prom-AAHH!!!” Ripjaws leaps back as a sharp and rusty harpoon is shoved at his face!!
Hop Pop growls, gripping his harpoon tightly. All he saw was a green flash and then spotted the monster lurking over his grandkids! No way was he going to stand by and let them become fish food! So he sprang into action without a second thought!
“I told you Tsu!” He grabs Tsuyu, shoving her and her siblings behind him, placing himself between the strange fish creature and them. “I told you the monsters were real!”
Tsuyu gasps! “Wait, no that’s not-!”
“It’s not the Krakken.” Hop Pop admits, but he keeps his harpoon poised and ready. “But I’ll send this beast of the depths back into the abyss!”
Ripjaws begins to panic as Hop Pop prepares to fire! “Wait! Wait! Wait! Ah!!”
Hop Pop is just about to fire when a calm hand slowly pushes the harpoon downward.
“Hang on now.” Hisashi smiles, giving off an air of easiness.
“What are you doing?!” Hop Pop screams! “That thing was going to eat my tadpoles!!”
“Well you were about to shoot my tadpole.”
“Huh?!”
“Hop Pop!” Tsuyu shouts! “That’s what I was trying to tell you! That’s not a monster that’s my friend, Izuku Midoriya, remember?”
“Is it now?” Hop Pop growls, tucking back the harpoon. “Eh, I knew you were a fishy one.”
Tsuyu groans both at the pun and at her grandpa’s continuous leaps in conclusions.
Even Ripjaws seems exasperated. ‘You know I think I'm starting to see why she doesn’t like puns.’ Hop Pop uses them more often than he does.
Tsuyu turns to her quivering little siblings. “Come on, you two need to apologize. It’s not right to judge people based on their looks.” She frowns, disappointed by their reactions. “You should know better.”
The kids rightfully lowers their heads in shame, before bowing their heads in apology.
“It’s fine really.” Ripjaws reassures. “Neither of you have to go that far, besides I should have warned you about some of my forms…” He pauses, heaving for breath. “are a bit” He gasps again. “gnarly to look at.” And again he gasps for more breath.
Tsuyu quickly takes notice of Ripjaws’ lack of breath. “Hey Midoriya, why don’t you jump in?”
“Hm?”
“Well that form needs water to breathe right? Maybe you should jump in until your time is up.”
Ripjaws eyes the water warily, shying away when a few random bubbles ripple to the surface. “Um, uh…” If Ripjaws could sweat he definitely would be as he tries to play off that he’s fine. “I think I can wait a little longer. I can last a lot longer now. So I’m good, I’m good. Besides I’ll scare the fish away if I jump in and we don’t want that now do we? Just give me a water bottle or something. That’s all I really need.” And so Ripjaws mutters on, rambling from one excuse to another.
As he rambles on, Tsuyu easily comes to realize why he’s so hesitant. “You’re not scared. Are you?”
“No!” Ripjaws responds rather too quickly! “What is there to be scared of?”
Without missing a beat, Tsuyu hits the nail on the head. “The Krakken.”
A cold shiver runs down Ripjaws’ spine.
And the frog girl takes notice. “I knew it. You fell for his story didn’t you?”
“Well maybe” Ripjaws gaps for breath. “I did.” He breathes again.
Tsuyu sighs, and here she thought her siblings were the childish ones. “I never thought you'd fall for fairy tales.”
Ripjaws sweatdrops.
“Hehe.” Hop Pop chuckles taking his place back at the helm now that things have settled down. “Your friend’s a smart one. There’s sometimes truth in fairy tales, Tsu.” Every myth and fairy tale has some basis in reality. “But seeing is often believing. That’s why I’ll be sure you lay your eyes on the beast.” Hop smiles but it’s one filled with a sad and worn sympathy for the world. “This way you’ll finally learn that this old shrinking world still has secrets to share.”
Tsuyu ponders for a quiet moment. ‘World still has secrets…?’ She contemplates this thought for a moment but the heavy and labored breathing from Ripjaws pulls her out of her thoughts.
“Would you just get in the water already?” Tsuyu questions, annoyed.
Ripjaws shys away, not answering but still having trouble breathing.
Hop Pop sighs, looks like he gave the boy too much credit too soon. “But you’re also a dumb one, boy.”
“Eh?”
Hop Pop releases the helm and marches over towards the transformed Izuku. “If you need water to breathe…” Without any warning he delivers one hell of a kick, kicking Ripjaws right off the boat with one strike of his powerful froggy leg!! “THEN JUST GO AHEAD AND DIVE ON IN!!!”
“Ah!!” Ripjaws shouts as he’s thrown into the water!
He plunges down before popping his head back out, gasping for breath. But after a moment he begins to calm as he gets his breathing under control again.
Tsuyu leans over the side of the fishing boat. “Better?”
“Yeah…” Ripjaws admits albeit a bit on edge as he wades through the water.
And so they continue on their way with Ripjaws following the boat from the side, not wanting to go too far if things get…crazy again.
“I know a great spot not too much further from here.” Hop Pop calls out from the helm! “And believe me we’ll catch monsters other than the Krakken!”
“I’m ready, captain!” Hisashi states proudly as he readies his fishing pole and net. “What about you, Izuku?!”
“Uh, yeah sure…” Ripjaws hesitates, wondering if there’s a way to get out of it. ‘Maybe I can do some fishing as Ripjaws instead?’ It’d certainly be easier and faster.
Before Ripjaws can really give an answer, the fishing boat comes to a slow stop.
Looking up Ripjaws finds that a floating rope and a line of floating barriers have been set up, blocking access to the rest of the lake to all other boats.
Hop Pop cries out at the indecency of it! “What in the world?!”
Hisashi frowns at the barrier. “It looks official, maybe we should turn back.”
Meanwhile, Ripjaws eyes on the nearby floating barriers spotting a set of letters on its side. “F.O.F.? Oh, I know what this is.”
Tsuyu’s confused. “What is it?”
*HOOONK!!!*
“Ahoy there!” Jonah Melville calls out as his crew bring his expensive looking speedboat closer to Hop Pop’s fishing boat. “Sorry folks but we’re conducting our environmental study past this point. I’m afraid you’ll need to turn your vessel around.”
Tsuyu eyes the crew curiously. “Who are they?”
“That’s some fancy-pandy supposed Friends of Fish chums.” Hop Pop grumbles in response. “They showed up a week ago acting like they own the whole goddamn lake! But no one tells me where I can and can’t go!!”
Hisashi passes by the enraged Hop Pop, waving over to the other boat with a friendly, calculated smile. “Ahoy there! It’s nice to see you again!”
Jonah needs a second to remember him. “Oh I remember you. Back out on the water already I see?”
“Yeah, nothing can keep us away.”
“I can see that.” Jonah states with a forced smile.
Hisashi continues to prob, sensing something’s off about this character, “So tell me. Have you catalogued anything good?” Hisashi eyes the deck of the expensive boat until he spots a crate hooked up on the deck. “You must have found a lot to fill an entire crate?”
Jonah frowns, before waving for his crew to cover the caret with a tarp. “That's nothing I’m afraid.” He smiles. “Just some canned goods.”
“Canned goods?” Hisashi raises an eyebrow. “That’s an odd thing for a biologist to have aboard their boat.”
Jonah clearly doesn’t appreciate the questions, but he continues to smile and shrug it off. “We have our reasons.”
Jonah’s more than done with this conversation as he allows his attention to drift away.
And then he spots it. The strange jagged tooth fish creature wading in the water below.
“What is that thing?!” Jonah grimaces before breaking into a sinister grin and shouting at his crew!! “Quickly we have to grab it!”
His crew scramble as they grab and pull at their nets!
Jonah smirks, eyeing Ripjaws so excitedly that one could almost see dollar signs in his eyes. “That is one ugly fish.”
Ripjaws frowns, lifting his head out of the water. “You’re not a looker yourself either pal.”
“Ah!!” Jonah gasps disgusted yet intrigued. “It can talk!”
“Talk?!” Ripjaws growls, offended. “We live in a world of Mutation Quirks, pal. Have some human decency.” Ironic that an alien has to be the one to say it though.
“Oh, a shame.” Jonah settles down, seemingly disappointed, gesturing for his men to stand down. “Thought you were some rare undiscovered fish species…that hadn’t been documented yet.”
Hisashi’s not so sure that’s why he seems so disappointed. “You seem rather disappointed by that.”
Jonah brings back his smile. “The discovery of new unique species is the dream of any great environmentalist.”
“Psh.” Hop Pop tsks, skeptically. “Environmentalist my foot.”
Jonah smiles over towards Hop Pop. “Is there a problem sailor?”
“Yeah there’s a problem.” Hop Pop snarls, thrusting his harpoon up in the air in protest! “You’re in my way at the biggest game of my life! You won’t stop me from getting what’s mine!
“And what’s that sailor?”
“The Krakken!!”
Tsuyu grumbles and groans, tucking herself away in embarrassment.
Her little sister laughs. “Hop Pop’s silly.”
Samidare chuckles. “Yeah he is! Hop Pop’s crazy.”
Listening, Ripjaws frowns hoping that he’s not crazy too.
Meanwhile, Jonah has broken into a fit of laughter. “Hahaha! Well I do apologize for the inconvenience, but I can assure no such creature exists in these waters or any others.”
Hisashi knows something's up now. After all this guy’s being a hypocrite after all he didn’t question Ripjaws’ existence. He seemed all too excited about grabbing one mysterious creature…
Hisashi turns back to Hop Pop. “I think we should set out captain.”
“What?!” Hop Pop’s stunned! “I ain’t no coward! I don’t croak under pressure you know!”
“He’s right, Hop Pop.” Tsuyu interjects. “There’s got to be more fishing spots in the rest of the lake. We should leave.” After all, if they’re conducting an environmental study then they shouldn’t get in their way. Besides, she can’t help but feel like they’ve caused enough trouble as it is, and enough embarrassment for her.
Hop Pop clearly wants to argue but he quickly gives in to his granddaughter's demands. Turning the helm, begrudgingly.
Jonah watches with a satisfied smile as the fishing vessel begins to turn away. But his smile turns to a frown when he notices that the strange jagged-tooth fishman was still watching him.
Jonah kindly waves over towards the fish mutant, holding his facade.
Ripjaws doesn’t wave back, feeling uncomfortable and weird, before he dives into the water and splashes away after the others!
Jonah watches with a serious frown as Ripjaws takes his leave.
Ripjaws soon catches up to the fishing boat, leaping out of the water repeatedly before coming to a slow to swim besides his friends.
“I don't like this.” Hop Pop grumbles.
“You don’t like anything. Kero.” states Tsuyu.
“True.” Hop Pop admits with a thoughtful grin.
Hisashi takes a moment to walk over to the side of the boat, leaning over the side so he can talk to his son privately. “What do you think?”
Ripjaws takes a moment to think about it before responding. “Something's…off about that Jonah guy.”
“Yeah.” Hisashi agrees before going for what he really wants to discuss. “But did you see the way he looked at you?”
“I did.” Ripjaws responds, seriously and warily.
“He wasn’t surprised.”
“Um, I think he was.”
Hisashi shakes his head. “No, he wasn’t startled by you. His eyes…they light up with excitement..” Hisashi frowns, how can he put this? “He was expecting something like you but not you.”
Okay, he’s lost Ripjaws here. “What does that mean?”
“It means…there might be more truth to the story than we realize.” Hisashi eyes Hop Pop as he states this. “There’s some truth in myths after all.”
“Truth in myths…” Ripjaws repeats in contemplation.
Before he can really think about it a loud crash and the screams of multiple men echo through the air from behind them!!
Ripjaws, Hisashi, and the Asuis all spin around at the sounds of a disturbance. And sure enough they find the source of it: the F.O.F. boat!!
The F.O.F. and its crew are being thrown around the water, being knocked back and forth by a series of crazy and seemingly random waves!!
Tsuyu leaps to the back of the fishing boat in a hurry to see what’s happening! “What’s happening?!”
Hop Pop rushes forward, his harpoon in hand! “It’s her!!”
“Who?!”
“The Krakken!!”
Tsuyu shakes her head. “Hop Pop. There’s no such thing! There’s no such thing as a Krakken!”
Ripjaws’ jaws drop, his breath escaping him for a moment as he spots something…big. “You might want to rethink that.”
Tsuyu would like to disagree but she follows Ripjaws’ line of sight, and she doesn't quite understand what she’s seeing.
They watch the waters tear and crash around the boat, but underneath the waves…a large obscure shadow snakes through the murky water, disturbing the surface in its wake causing another series of waves to crash into the F.O.F. boat, Jonah, and his crew.
Samidare grabs his little sister protectively as Hisashi grips them both just in case the waves come their way. “What is it?!”
“It’s the Krakken!!” Both Hop Pop and Ripjaws cry out simultaneously!
Tsuyu snaps, in total denial! “I’m sure there’s a logical explanation! Maybe it’s a school of upset catfish!”
“No. It’s not.” Ripjaws states with finality.
He then spins around and calls for Hisashi! “I’m going!” But he technically needs permission to do so.
Hisashi understands, granting him the permission of a pro hero. “Go! Help them!” He then looks over towards his son’s classmate. “You too! Those people need help.”
Tsuyu hesitates, stepping away from the boat’s edge. “But…using my Quirk without a license is illegal.”
“Not unless you have permission from a hero. And guess what? I am.” With a wave of his hand Hisashi calls the students to action! “Save them!”
Upon being driven forth by Hisashi's command and confident presence, the hero students kick it into high gear! “Yes, sir!” They both call out as they dive down into the water without a second thought!
The adults and the children watch them go from the boat, as they watch Hop Pop scoffs at Hisashi. “What about you, hero?”
“My Quirk wouldn’t be much help in this case.” Hisashi admits he got lucky earlier when Water Hazard was attacked but Water Hazard can take his flames. Regular humans can’t especially if he were to miss. “But I can still help if you get us close. We need to give the kids our support.”
Giving his granddaughter support, he doesn’t need to be convinced any more than that! “Aye aye!” Hop Pop spins the helm, spinning the boat around!
Meanwhile, Ripjaws and Tsuyu race closer towards the raging waves and the struggling F.O.F. boat.
Ripjaws spots the shadow racing towards the boat from the far side. He eyes it, racing forward trying to beat it, but he gasps when a large fin breaches the water before disappearing again into the murky depths.
“It’s coming!” Ripjaws screeches to a halt!
Tsuyu gasps, slowing down too. “What is?!”
“The Krakken!”
“Midoriya!” Tsuyu scolds, annoyed with his paranoia. “There’s. No. Such. Thing!!”
“RWEEEEEeeeee!!!” An ear-piercing screech, rips through the air, forcing everyone to cover their ears!! “RWEEEEEeeeee!!!” And from the murky depths a large serpentine creature rises above their heads: everyone’s mouths drop as their eyes widen in shock and awe at the creature.
Ripjaws’ hands are shaking as he too takes witness. “Oh, yeah, why don’t you tell that to him!!”
“RWEEEEEeeeee!!!” The Krakken unleashes its blood curdling roar, announcing its presence to the world in full!!
The Krakken is a giant, bipedal creature which has clearly evolved for life under the water. Its hands and feet are webbed, and its tail has a large tadpole-like fin at the end offering it great mobility in the water. It has the striking pearly blue eyes, jagged yellow teeth, and three sets of gills along its long muscular neck. But its most striking part of its appearance are the tree-trunk thick tentacles growing out front the sides of its jaws!! The tentacles are thick yet flexible, swinging and twisting around the air as the beast towers over the F.O.F. boat.
“RWEEEEEeeeee!!!”
Tsuyu is at a loss for words. “The Krakken…is real?”
“I knew I wasn't crazy!” Ripjaws cheers doing a flip into the air!
He’s not the only one celebrating.
“There she is!!” Hop Pop cheers as he turns the boat around!
Hisashi eyes the Krakken with intrigue but also concern. ‘So there was a cryptid here.’ He turns to Hop Pop. “Get us in close, captain!”
“Aye Aye! We’ll bag the beast and hoist it up for everyone to see!”
“Belay that!” Hisashi barks “First we save those people!”
“What?!” Hop Pop cries out in disbelief, already gripping his harpoon. “But she’s right there!!”
“Hop Pop!!” The two Asui kids cry out! “Big Sis needs our help!”
Hop Pop looks torn, as he looks from the Krakken down to his granddaughter in the water below. “Oh, alright.” He puts the harpoon down. “But you won’t escape for long, beast.”
Meanwhile, the Krakken isn’t attacking the boat, at least for the moment.
Instead the thing is slowly circling from below like it’s cautious or at least taking its time, like it’s planning.
But that’s fine, since it gives Ripjaws and Tsuyu the opportunity they need to get to the F.O.F. people!
Ripjaws grabs one of the crewmates out from the water, hoisting him up as he himself leaps up and out of the water and onto the boat. “Is everyone okay?” Ripjaws questions as he sets the crewmate down.
“We’re fine.” responds Jonah as he helps the crewmate onto his feet. “And thanks, but we’ve got things from here.”
The giant monster in the water would beg to differ.
Tsuyu had her tongue wrapped around one of the crew members that was knocked out of the boat, she hopes aboard and pulls up the crew member. “We need to get your boat out of here! And quick.”
Jonah frowns, turning to eye the circling Krakken.
One of his men asks for his directions. “Boss?”
“She’s right.” Jonah admits. “We need to escape.”
“Problem!” One of his crew members rush's out from the helm. “The engine’s dead! It took on too much water and got damaged with all the jostling around!”
Jonah scowls, spitting under his breath. “Damn, monster.”
Ripjaws frowns, finding the man’s grumbling odd and unsettling.
Tsuyu frowns, eyeing the beast that defies all logic. “The two of us can’t get you all to shore in time. Not with that…thing trapping us here.”
She’s right, if they make a move that thing will surely strike, taking them all down.
Ripjaws scans the water until he spots the fishing boat trying to approach from their rear, but they’re still too far away. “And they won’t be able to get any closer either.”
Any closer and they too will be attacked.
Ripjaws scowls. “We need a distraction.”
“Any suggestions?” Tsuyu ponders.
“Yeah.” Ripjaws states with confidence and finality. “Me!”
“Midoriya!!”
But her calls go ignored as Ripjaws plunges into the lake!
“He’s too rash. Kero.” Tsuyu watches him go, full of worry and fear but she remains calm and instead focuses on her job. “Alright, everyone just hold on!”
She hops into the water! Her head pops out and she shoots out her long tongue that wraps itself around the front railing of the boat! She turns and begins to swim as hard as she can while tugging the boat behind her.
It’s a slow process, the boat being too heavy but she’s keeping a steady pace. Even so her mind isn’t focused on her task at hand but for her friend. “Be careful, Midoriya.”
Meanwhile, from beneath the waves Ripjaws comes to a stop, baring his fangs and claws at the ready. “We meet again, Krakken.”
“Rweeee.” The Krakken emits a low growling hum from its throat as it digs its webbed claws into the bottom of the lake, it has clearly gained an interest in the strange fish before it, its pearly blue eyes staring right through the muck and algae to the alien.
“I was right. Those eyes, I’ll never forget them.” They’re so beautiful yet haunting, so mysterious yet inhuman…to the point that he couldn't believe his eyes. “When I was told about you I was hesitant to believe, but I guess what I heard was true.”
“Rweeee.”
“There really is some truth in myths.” And if his memory is correct the Krakken is known for taking down legions of ships, and their men. “So come on!” Ripjaws prepares for battle. “Let’s make this an Alien vs. Monster!”
Whether or not the beast understands, it responds in kind letting out a shattering roar! “RWEEEEEeeeee!!!”
And thus the battle commences with Ripjaws making the first move by charging straight in like a torpedo that’s been locked onto its target!
“RWEEEEEeeeee!” The Krakken responds in kind, its maw hanging open, ready to gobble up the pest in one bite!
They charge, aiming closer and closer, both ready to deliver the first strike and then SNAP the Krakken’s jaw slams down but misses its target as Ripjaws spins past its maw and around it’s body before arriving at its tail!
With its tail in reach Ripjaws bites down onto its tailfin!
“RWEEEEEeeeee!!!” The Krakken screeches in pain, before it starts to thrash about in the water in a mad attempt to shake off the alien!!
But Ripjaws keeps himself locked in place, holding on tightly.
“RWEEEEEeeeee!” The Krakken sends its two tentacles forward!
Ripjaws releases the tail, shoving himself away before the tentacle could even graze him.
“A swing and a miss!” Ripjaws laughs! “Haha-Woah!” He thrusts himself up avoiding a swing from the second tentacle!
“RWEEEEEeeeee!!!”
With its prey higher up the Krakken kicks itself off the lake bottom and races upward, its jaws and massive teeth ready to tear through the pest like he was a light snack. “RWEEEEEeeeee!!!”
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Thanks to Midoriya’s distraction Tsuyu’s made it pretty far by now even as she tugs the boat and its crew behind her.
She can hear the crashing waves and underwater roars from here but it is safe to say the fight is a distance away meaning Midoriya probability led the Krakken a further distance away.
“Good job, Asui!” Hisashi praises as they finally reach her.
Asui lines the F.OF. boat besides the fishing boat giving the crew more than enough room to jump aboard her grandpa’s fishing boat.
Hisashi scans for his son. “Where’s Izuku?”
“He’s distracting the…the Krakken.”
Hop Pop pops in, grinning widely in excitement! “See I told you it was real!”
“Not now, Hop Pop.”
Hop Pop sulks, pouting at being out down.
Hisashi calls out to the F.O.F. members. “Come on, everyone on board! We’ll get you all to safety!”
Before that Jonah barks out a set of orders to his men! “Come on, men. And bring the goods!”
The six of his men all rush to the deck of their boat towards the large crate they have aboard. They each grab a corner and lift, hauling towards the fishing vessel.
“Leave it!” Hisashi shouts! “It’s just canned goods!”
“Mind yourself!” Jonah warns, bitterly, before he spins back around and barks out more orders! “Get it aboard now!!”
Hisashi scowls. ‘Just what is inside that crate that could be so important?’
He could of course demand answers right now, but a little patience may reveal more answers in time than trying to rush for them now. And so he allows it, for now, figuring any more disarray between them will only slow them down further.
Tsuyu leaps onto the fishing boat. “What about Midoriya?!”
“Your friend?” Jonah frowns, looking towards where waves are crashing in the distance. “Let him distract that thing while we get away.”
Hisashi scowls, taking back command. “No.” He turns to Tsuyu. “You’re faster than we are. Help him and get him back here while we make our escape.” He turns back towards Hop Pop. “I doubt that thing will follow us if we get in range of the docks.” Large predators often avoid larger human settlements after all so hopefully the same logic applies here.
“I’m on it!” Tsuyu shouts, ready to plunge back into the depths!
“Tsu, wait!” Hop Pop shouts!
Tsuyu spins around in the water only to gasp, her tongue lashing up and instinctually catching the harpoon that was tossed to her.
Tusyu stares at the weapon, concernedly, before peering up at Hop Pop for an explanation.
“For the monster.” He explains before adding in. “Just in case.”
Tsuyu is hesitant but she takes it, afterall you never know if she might actually need it. And so tucking it away she dives down into the murky water before racing off back towards her friend.
Hisashi waves to the others as Jonah’s men finally bring the crate aboard. “Come on let’s get everyone out of here.”
“What?!” Hop Pop snarls, gripping another harpoon. “But the beast?!”
“Can’t sailor.” Hisashi gestures towards the two small children. “We have precious cargo aboard.”
Hop Pop sighs given in. “Aye Aye.” And so he drops the harpoon and takes back the helm.
As the fishing vessel begins to turn away, abandoning the F.O.F. boat, Jonah watches from the deck as the battle between beasts rages in the distance.
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Ripjaws speeds through the murky waters, leading the Krakken on and away from the boats. But it’s a harrowing task as the Krakken lunges for him again and again, chopping away at him with its massive giant fangs!!
“Too slow!” Ripjaws cheers, diverting himself upward otherwise he'd be missing his tail. “Haha! AH!!”
A tentacle slams into Ripjaws’ side, and thus Ripjaws loses control, spinning through water uncontrollably!
Ripjaws slows his spin, coming to a stop, and shaking his head. He grabs his head but gasps when he finds the large maw of the beats bearing down on him from above!!
“Oh, come on!!” Ripjaws screams out in a panic!!
But then a stretchy pink appendage wraps itself around his waist and pulls him out of the way!! And just in time before he becomes fish chum!
Ripjaws follows the sticky long tongue to its source! “Tsu!!”
“Are you okay?” Tsuyu calls out as she reels him in closer before releasing him.
“I’m fine! What about the others?!”
“They got away.”
Before Ripjaws can ask more, the Krakken begins to circle back around, it takes a more cautious approach as it circles back since there are now two foes it must take on.
Tsuyu readies herself. “But now it’s our turn to escape.”
“Escape?” Ripjaws eyes the beast, watching as it slowly claws along the bottom of the lake, its eyes staring right back at them with a cold calculating gaze. “Actually that’s not a bad idea.”
“Have any ideas how?”
Ripjaws frowns, his eyes drifting over towards Tsuyu. “We need to block its vision and then make a break for it. This thing is powerful but it’s not speedy. If we can get out of the reach of its tentacles we’ll be fine.”
“We’ll have to move fast. Kero.”
“Yeah, real fast.”
“RWEEEEEeeeee!!!” The Krakken’s lost its patience, lunging forward!!
Ripjaws and Tsuyu each dive to the side, avoiding the charging beast and even spinning around its pair of tentacles before they could be grabbed!!
As the beast races by, Tsuyu spots something from the corner of her eyes, she takes a better look and she spots a large shipwreck of a fishing boat lying on the lake bottom not too far away.
“Midoriya!”
Ripjaws swerves past a lashing tentacle! “It’s Ripjaws!”
She ignores him and instead points to the shipwreck. “Look! We can use that!”
“Perfect!” Ripjaws grins.
“Rweee.” The Krakken lets out a low growl as it circles back around for another run.
Well if they’re going to make a move then they better get to it now!! “Let’s go!!”
“Kero!!”
And so they spin around and take off at breakneck pace!!
“RWEEEEEeeeee!!!” And with its prey fleeing the Krakken gives chase!!
The two hero students race through the water, right towards the shipwreck all the while the Krakken gets closer and closer so close its nipping at their heels!
They force their way faster and faster even so the Krakken also gains speed as it digs its claws into the mud, forcing itself forward as its tail trashes from side to side, propelling it forward!!
The shipwreck is soon upon them and with the Krakken so close behind them the two students beeline it right through the busted-out haul of the ship like darts through hoops!!
“RWEEEEEeeeee!!!” With its massive size and momentum working against it the Krakken chase into the shipwreck headfirst!!
The shipwreck explodes upon impact as muck, mud, and algae are dispersed into the water, hiding the beast from view! But in exchange hiding the teens’ presence as well!!
“That’s our que!” Ripjaws shouts!
And so the two-turn tail, taking advantage of their head start, and bursting through the water as fast as they can towards the direction of Hop Popp’s fleeing fishing boat!!
Thank goodness they got their head start as the Krakken’s already freed itself from the debris and disturbed muck.
It scans the murky depths until a sheen of light grabs its attention. Through the muck it spots the sheen from a harpoon, a harpoon being carried by the strange frog.
“RWEEEEEeeeee!!!” With its targets in sight the Krakken takes off after them!!
“It’s gaining on us again!!” Tsuyu cries out, but just in the distance she can make out the underside of her Hop Pop’s boat!!
“We’re almost there!” shouts Ripjaws! “We’re gonna make it!!”
Tsuyu looks back to check and what she sees shakes her to her core! “Behind us!!”
Ripjaws spins around only to have his jaws drop in shock!!
“RWEEEEEeeeee!!!” The enraged Krakken’s already upon them!!
“Split up!!” Ripjaws screams as the massive teeth come bearing down on them!! “It can’t follow us both!!”
And so with a kick the two teens split up in opposite directions as the Krakken crashes past them from between them!!
The Krakken’s maw slams into the muddy ground, it shakes its head having become discombobulated by the crash. It raises its head searching for its prey before the reflexive light of Tsuyu’s harpoon grabs its attention.
“RWEEEEEeeeee!!!” And off it goes, chasing after her!!
Meanwhile, Ripjaws comes to a stop, spinning back around to check on the state of things. And it isn’t good, in the distance he can see Tsuyu racing for the boat but behind her and gaining is the monster!!
“Tsu!” He kicks forward hoping to catch up before she becomes fish food!! “Tsu!!”
He can make it! He knows it! “I’m on my way!!”
*BEEP. BEEP. BEEP!*
And with a poof and a flash of red, Izuku finds himself deep underwater and, most importantly, without any AIR!!!
‘No!!’ Izuku grabs at his neck, panicking, as he desperately kicks for the surface, for air!! “Bah!!” The moment his head breaches the surface, Izuku takes a deep gasp for lifesaving air! He coughs and chokes for breath, spitting out spurts of water and muck.
He calms down as he catches his breath but when he does he finds himself in the middle of the lake without a life vest, boat, or friends in sight.
“This really sucks…”
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Tsuyu’s made it to the boat, leaping out of the water with a loud splash!! “It’s behind me!!”
Just then the Krakken’s massive head breaks the water’s surface behind her!! “RWEEEEEeeeee!!!”
Tsu’s siblings scream in horror! “Big Sis!!”
Suddenly a stream of flames lash out and slam into the creature’s side!!
“RWEEEEEeeeee!!!” The Krakken screeches in pain as its flesh is burned and scinged!
“FIRE WALL!!!” Hisashi breathes, generating a wide jet of flames, creating a fiery fan-shaped barrier between them and the monster!
“RWEEEEEeeeee!!!”
Jonah’s at a loss for words, he’s thrilled if his toothy grin is anything to go off of. “There you are.” As his grin widens his teeth morph becoming sharper and more knife-like.
“RWEEEEEeeeee!!!”
The Krakken backs off from the terrifying wall of flames, its pearly blue eyes glaring through the fire and heat at the sources of its disdain.
But then it catches the site of a large wooden box sitting upon the boat’s deck.
The Krakken goes quiet as it dives back down under the waves.
Jonah rushes to the boat's ledge. “Did you get it?!”
“No!” Hisashi states with dread and trepidation. “It’s just taking cover.”
A loud splash echoes from behind them, they all spin around to find the creature towering over them from behind!
“RWEEEEEeeeee!!!” The beast dives down, aiming for the boat’s deck!
“I got you now!!” Hop Pop springs into action, swinging up his harpoon and giving it one hell of a throw!!
The harpoon harmlessly bounces off the monster’s monstrous fangs like a needle bouncing off a stone. “Rweee.”
Hop Pop begins to sweat very nervously. “Hehe.” Guess he should have aimed a little higher maybe.
“RWEEEEEeeeee!!!”
“Out of my way!!” Jonah rushes forward, shoving Hop Pop aside!
He moves with incredible agility and purpose! He rushes past Hisashi and as he does so Hisashi spots it: Jonah’s hand has transformed into a scalier and clawed version of itself, like that belonging on a reptile’s.
As Jonah rushes past he grabs and breaks off the chain holding the boat’s large anchor! “You stupid beast!! You can’t have it!!” And with an incredible display of strength he swings the anchor around and around with its chain, spinning over his head before releasing it forward!!
The anchor soars through the air and slams into the Krakken’s skull with a loud BANG!!!
“RWEEEEEeeeee!!!” The Krakken cries out, its skull pounding with pain from the powerful and heavy strike of the anchor!!
Hisashi gasps, amazed by his strength, as is Tsuyu who is at a loss for words. He managed to hurt the beast with one blow!!
“Come on!!” With a pull of the chain, Jonah thrusts the anchor back towards himself, catching it in his opposite hand that’s also transformed! “Let’s see those teeth you abomination.”
The Krakken glares down at him, growling lowly and dangerously, it’s hesitant eyeing the deck almost desperately, but with a fire breather, more frog creatures, and the monster onboard it can’t take the risk.
And so it dives back into the murky depths, retreating.
And so the inhabitants of the boat take a breath of relief, calming down.
“Wait, where’s Mr. Midoriya?” shouts Samidare, hastily scanning the boat for any signs of him.
Tsuyu pales. “Didn’t he make it back yet?’ She quickly scans the lake and sure enough she finds him! “Over there!”
They all look, and they too spot him! Izuku’s stuck in the water, he’s too far away, and it’s clear he’s struggling to swim his way towards them!
But that’s not the issue, the real issue makes their blood run cold and their hearts to stop when they spot the silhouette of the Krakken circling its way from below, making its way towards the struggling Izuku.
“He’s making too much noise.” Hisashi breathes, terrified, and they’re too far away to do anything!
“Let's get this ship moving captain!! Immediately!!”
Hop Pop doesn’t need to be told twice! “Aye!”
Jonah however isn’t as ready to contribute. “But that thing is still out there!!”
“So is my son!!” Hisashi barks back!
As the boat turns back around, Tsuyu steps over the side! “I’m going back for him!!” She screams, tossing the harpoon aside and leaping back in!!
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Izuku’s having a real hard time at keeping his pace as he swims, the distance being too much even for him. And so with his breathing labored he has to stop and rest, floating at the top of the water’s surface. As he catches his breath he peers up and spots his friends and the boat, but instead of it retreating it’s turning back around and heading for him.
‘What are they doing?! They need to get out of here!’
“Midoriya!!”
Izuku spots Tsuyu diving up and out of the water again and again as she speeds towards him. “Tsu?!”
She screams as she breaches the surface! “Look out!! It’s in the water!! It’s below you!!”
Izuku pales, peering down only for his heart to fail him as a dark shadow looms just meters below his feet.
In a panic he fails in the water, desperately kicking himself forward in a desperate attempt to escape!!
“Hurry!!” Tsuyu screams, still too far away to grab him! “Hurry!!”
They each swim with all they got, trying to reach the other as the dark shadow follows close behind the boy.
Soon they will be in reach and Tsuyu can use his tongue to grab him! But as Izuku swims forward the Krakken breaches the water, it’s maw wide as giant fangs block Izuku’s path and the upper jaw begins to close in from above!!
Izuku pales, his blood running cold as the massive jaws begin to close down around him.
Tsuyu, reacting on instinct, fires out her tongue, the appendage makes it through the giant fangs just before they close and the Krakken swallows the boy whole in one gulp!!
With its prey in hand, the Krakken dives back down under the water!!
Tsuyu braces herself, with her tongue wrapped around her classmate and wedged into the monster’s jaws, she gets dragged along the water’s surface as the Krakken dives away!
She pulls and pulls, trying to hold out as best as she can as her head is pulled under the waves again and again!
The Krakken circles from underneath changing directions, pulling Tsuyu along behind it, as it begins to race towards the incoming fishing boat.
From said boat, Hop Pop and the others can see Tsuyu being dragged across the water at a breakneck speed.
Hop Pop screams!! “Tsu!!”
Satsuki cries into her hands! “Big Sis!!”
Samidare pales when he notices that his sister’s tongue’s is in lined with the creature’s head. “Oh, man! I think it ate him!!”
Hisashi rushes forward, cupping his hands together to make a funnel and then he fires out a jet of Fire Breath! The Fire Breath shoots out as a thin line of intense flames, much like that of a fiery lance!
The lance flies through the air, aimed right for the incoming beast, before piercing the water!!
The Krakken however swerves to the right, avoiding the searing attack.
Hisashi fires more and more fire lances but the Krakken only continues to charge forward whether the lances struck it or not. It is on a mission, a mission for them and their boat.
As the Krakken charges Tsuyu is desperate to keep holding on, she’s gulping down tons of lake water and she’s getting brutally battered by the waves and the momentum, draining her stamina and her will.
Hop Pop calls out, grabbing his spear as the monster and his granddaughter get ever closer! “Hang on, Tsu!!”
“I’m...trying!!” Tsuyu cries out before she’s dragged under the water!
Before the Krakken truly reached the boat it dove down further into the depths, dragging Tsuyu along as well.
“Tsu!!/Kids!!” Hop Pop and Hisashi rush to the ledge of the boat, but all they get in response are a few trails of bubble floating up to the surface,
And with them both so deep in the murky water both her and the monster disappear from sight completely.
The air becomes tense as an ominous and dreadful silence takes hold. No one from Jonah’s crew or the Asui family dare take a breath as they wait in terrible silence for the monster to inevitably appear.
And it does, or at least its massive tentacle appears from the waters at the opposite end of the boat!
The tentacle twists and thrashes in the air before lashing down, grabbing hold of the F.O.F.’s large wooden crate!
“NO!!!” Jonah hurries to the crate as the tentacle pulls it away!
His hands morph into scaly claws, his teeth become jagged and sharp, and even his spine, his actual spine, begins to protrude and pierce again the back of his shirt!!
“That’s mine!!” Jonah roars, slashing at the tentacle!!
But he’s too slow as the tentacle rips the crate away and pulls it back into the depths!
And with its prize in hand the water settles, and chaos subsides as a dreaded silence befalls them once again.
Hisashi, Hop Pop, and the kids all hold their breath as their hearts pound with a silent fear and worry for their loved ones. Where are they? What happened? Is it coming back? Are…are they dead…?
*SPLOOSH!*
*Cough! Cough! Cough!* Tsuyu coughs and wheezes as her head breaks the surface!
And wrapped in her tongue, floating beside her is a coughing and wheezing Izuku who happens to be covered in saliva and aquatic vegetation that obscure his face and features.
“Tsu!!/Big Sis!” The Asui’s all cry out at once, tears in their eyes, as their hearts fill with relief.
Hisashi hurries over tossing over a ladder. “What happened?!”
“Don’t know!” Tsuyu coughs as she climbs up the ladder, dragging Izuku along behind her. “It just…let go!”
“Let go?” Hisashi scans the water but there’s no sign of the Krakken, guess it finally retreated. “How’s Izuku?!”
“Here!” With her on the boat Tsuyu lifts and drops Izuku onto the deck.
Izuku is dropped down, plopping down with a gross squish: he looks like a giant wad of spit, covered in grime, drool, mud, and algae from being dragged along in the creature’s mouth.
“Ew!!” Satsuki grimaces, turning green and backing away from the gross entity. “Icky!”
Her brother joins her. “Yeah, talk about gross.”
Izuku tries to shake it all off but it’s no good, instead he grimaces and gags as he desperately tries to wipe away the monster drool.
Hisashi, albeit a little grossed out, is just relieved to have him and Tsuyu back. “Glad to see you're both alive.”
“Same.” Tsuyu sighs, plopping down, exhausted. “I was worried we wouldn’t make it for a minute there.”
Izuku nods, unable to answer as he tries to catch his breath.
Samidare steps closer, intrigued yet disgusted, sniffing the air around his sister’s friend. “Gross! You smell really gross.” Like algae and rotten fish!
Izuku tries to shake off more of the drool, it’s beginning to work as he can now move his arms about a little bit more. “Hey, believe me, it smelled worse from the inside.”
Tsuyu starts, her eyes going wide. “Your voice…?” That’s not Midoriya’s voice, it’s weird, it sounds deep and almost smooth.
Izuku tries to wipe away more of the grime. “What about it?”
Even Hisashi’s picking up on it now, growing down at his…son? “Izuku?”
“Yeah?” Izuku finally manages to wipe away a good amount of drool and grime from his face. With a shake of his head he can finally see and what he sees is everyone from the Asui’s, his Dad, and even Jonah and his crew staring at him with baffled stares. “Why’s everyone staring at me?”
“Woah!” Samidare’s eyes light up, beaming at him! “I didn’t know you were like us!”
The greenette frowns. “Like you? Oh, the green thing, right?” The Midoriya means green and frogs are green. It’s what they talked about earlier, right? Why’s the kid bringing it up now though?
“No!” Samidare’s smiles, shaking his head! “You’re like us!”
Okay, now Izuku’s really confused. “How so?”
Tsuyu’s at a loss for words, staring at her classmate in bewilderment. “You look like a…fr…” Her voice trails off as she mutters something under her breath.
Izuku frowns, he didn’t quite catch that. “I look like what, sorry?”
“Izuku.” From the boat's railing. Hisashi gestures towards the water. “Do you mind taking a look?”
“Okay.” Izuku gets to his feet. ‘Did I get taller? Eh, whatever.’ He shrugs and strolls over to the ledge. “But I don’t know what you want to show me.”
And so he peers over the ledge, staring down into the water not sure what he’s supposed to find.
And what he finds reflecting off the water’s surface is a froggy face staring back at him.
It’s a frog man! With three-fingered hands and two-toed feet. He’s tall and athletic with pale green skin and a very defined jawline. The frog man’s wearing some sort of jumpsuit align with a big pair of rather cool looking sunglasses.
“Who is that?” Izuku questions, staring into the reflection. “Is this a relative of yours Tsu?”
She and her actual relatives all shake their heads slowly.
With no answer, Izuku stares back at the reflection, and he ends up staring at it for a good minute before the gears in his head finally snap back into place. “Wait!! That’s ME!!!”
Hisashi grabs at his head!! “You’re just now realizing this?!”
Izuku stares down at his body which is now free of all drool and grime, and sure enough he transformed into a frog alien man!! What?! ‘Guess the Omnitrix’s Fail Safe mode kicked in.’ That would explain why he transformed so soon and why he’s a new alien.
Tsuyu shakes off her surprise, staring at the froggy Izuku curiously. “I never knew you could copy me.”
“That’s because I couldn’t.” The deep voiced Izuku admits as he continues to check himself out. “And what is up with my voice?” He grips his throat before smiling. “I like it. Oh, yeeeeaaahh.” He drags out the word yeah as he tests out his own voice.
Tsuyu rolls her eyes, but she’s glad to see her classmate back to his usual sometimes goofy self.
“What?!” Hop Pop shouts out, confused and stunned! “What is this?! Who are you?! What happened to the boy?!”
“Hop Pop, that is the boy-er, that is Midoriya.” Tsuyu explains. “He just…transformed.”
Jonah, having turned back to normal, frowns. “Transformed, huh?” He eyes the two teens warily before something clicks in his mind. “I know you two. You’re kids from U.A.” He explains with a hint of contempt.
“That’s right.” The froggy Izuku folds his arms together trying to act cool and like he deserves the cool new shades. “You got a problem with that?”
“Not at all.” Jonah gives a forced smile. “I’m just glad to have such promising heroes out there today to save us.”
Hisashi isn’t so sure about that. “I think it’s time we leave.”
Hop Pop nods, taking the helm before the Krakken decides to return.
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After a rather quiet and tense ride, they finally all made it back to the docks relatively safe and sound.
Jonah’s the first off the boat as it docks, followed by his men. “Thanks again, you all really saved us out there.” He smiles, ready to take his leave as soon as possible.
The transformed Izuku leans over the side of the boat. “Hey no problemo.” He smirks, acting all cool as he cups his chin and leans over the side. “It’s just what we do.”
Tsuyu eyes him with a deadpan stare. ‘What’s with the smugness? Maybe it’s the new voice and transformation?’
Jonah waves them off. “Well thanks again, but we still have a lot of work to do. Especially with a Krakken hanging around.”
Hisashi eyes him suspiciously. “You seem excited.”
“Of course, a new species has just been discovered.” Jonah’s smile turns just ever so sinister. “Who wouldn't be excited?”
Hisashi frowns, not really liking that answer.
“You all better stay away!!” yells Hop Pop angrily. “The Krakken’s my kill.”
“Sure sailor.” Jonah shrugs him off with a smirk as he begins to walk away. “I’m just doing my job is all.”
‘His job, huh.’ Hisashi thinks, critically. “That crate must have been offly important.”
Jonah stops dead in his tracks as Hisashi continues to egg him on.
“Important enough that a monster would go straight for it. What was in there that it could possibly want?”
Jonah doesn’t respond nor does he turn back around to face them at least not right away. But after a moment he turns back around and flashes a kind smile. “Our collection.”
“Collection?”
“That crate was where we were storing all of our cataloged fish species. That creature probably thought it was food and grabbed it. It was nothing more than a mistake.”
The froggy Izuku doesn’t like this either, those answers seem forced and what happened to the crate being filled with cans? Something’s not right. “Well maybe you can-”
He clamps his mouth shut when Hisashi gestures for him to hold off.
The alien looks ready to argue with his Dad but one look from Hisashi says it all: have some patience.
Izuku looks ready to snap back but Hisashi’s eyes drift behind him.
The alien takes a look to find that Hisashi's gesturing to the two innocent and defenseless Asui kids.
And thus he understands if they push things too far especially with someone as suspicious as Jonah then things could get real hairy. And the last thing either of them want to do is put kids at risk.
And so with a frown the transformed Izuku backs off.
“If that’s all, we’d like to head out now. If you don’t mind?” Upon not having any more questions thrown his way Jonah takes his que to leave. “Take care my friends.”
The fishing crew watch on in silence as Jonah as his men leave.
Hisashi watches them critically, as if memorizing each of their faces, features, and even uniforms.
Hop Pop spits in disgust watching them leave with a nasty scowl.
And the transformed Izuku looks annoyed, wanting more answers than what they got, but being forced to stand down is only growing his frustrations.
With a sigh he spots Tsuyu and decides to thank her for her help. “Thanks for saving me.”
Tsuyu starts, she was watching the F.O.F. and didn’t expect to hear Midoriya’s unfamiliar voice. “You’re welcome. And I know you’d have done the same. Kero.”
The alien smirks, nodding, silently admitting that yeah he would have. But either way he still appreciates what she did.
Tsuyu eyes his form, blankly, but one can tell if they looked close enough that she’s both baffled yet curious. “So, when did you get this form?”
“Not sure.” The transformed Izuku shrugs. “ Just now.”
“Just now?”
“My…Quirk sometimes acts on its own. Especially in life and death emergencies, like a failsafe.”
“So you instinctually became a new form to protect yourself?”
“Uh, yeah, that’s it!” That sounds like a good explanation as any, not like he has any other explanations.
Tsuyu fidgets like she wants to ask something else but she’s hesitant; she’s curious about something but…it also seems like she’ll even regret asking. But after a moment she decides to come out with it. “So…have you thought of a name yet?”
The transformed Izuku starts. “Excuse me?”
“A name, you name them don’t you?”
“Oh, right!” Between the monster attack and being dragged out from its maw, he forgot. “Hm, what would be good?”
Satsuki hurries over, her brother in toe, her eyes filled with innocent curiosity. “You…name them?”
The transformed Izuku nods. “Yeah, I like to name my transformations.”
The two kids awe and gap excitedly!
The alien smiles. “Want to help me think of one?”
“Yeah!!” They both cheer!
“Okay, so what ideas do you have?”
The kids instantly begin to ponder and think of ideas but it’s clear that this might be a job that’s a little over their heads.
Their big sister, Tsuyu, tries to help them out. “Well let’s think he’s a toad, or rather a frog…or a bullfrog?”
Samidare excitedly lights up! “I have one!”
The transformed Izuku smiles, more than happy to hear him out. “Let’s hear it then.”
“Bullfrag!!”
The alien pauses. “Bullfrag?”
“Yeah!” Satsuki cheers, eyes alight! “I love it!”
“Right!” Samidare nods. “It’s supercool!”
The alien isn’t sold on it though; all they did was change one letter. “Bullfrag, really?” There’s got to be better options.
“Yeah!” They both cheer!
“Okay, but maybe we can-”
Tsuyu immediately cuts in, acting oh so delighted. “That’s a really good name. Kero.” She sticks her tongue all cutesy as she praises her little siblings’ creativity.
The alien gasps, betrayed! “GAH!?!”
“Don’t you think so Midoriya?” Tsuyu smiles up at him with a calculated yet compassionate look. “It’d be incredibly rude to reject their idea, it might hurt their feelings.”
The alien clenches and grimaces, he’s been played for a fool! And so with a heavy sigh, he gives in. “Well looks like I’m now…Bu-Bull-” he takes a deep, reluctant breath, and relents. “Bullfrag.”
“Yay!!” The kids cheer out oh so happy that their suggestion is going to be used!
Tsuyu has a big smile on her face too, happy that they’re happy.
“I see what you did there.” Izuku, or rather Bullfrag, adjusts his sunglasses giving Tsuyu a very judgmental look. “But aren’t you the one annoyed by my puns and my nicknames?” Although he at least now understands why that is (Hop Pop).
“I am.” Tsuyu admits but her smile doesn’t fade. “But after what we went through it’s good to see them so happy.”
Bullfrag watches the kids who are still smiling and cheering, overjoyed by the name. And sure enough it too brings a smile to his face.
He turns back to his classmate. “Fine, I’ll keep the name. For the kids.”
Tsuyu chuckles before throwing a joking jab at him. “Let’s be honest, it’s better than whatever you were going to come up with anyway.” She teases. “Kero.”
“Gah?!”
Something tiny tugs on Bullfrag’s leg. “Excuse me.”
Bullfrag looks and finds Satsuki peering up at him with her big adorable eyes. “What’s up little lady?”
“I have a question.” She says innocently enough.
“Well, shoot.”
“Um.” She becomes shy, looking away and fidgeting in place. “So…um…”
Tsuyu squats down, trying to encourage her. “Go ahead, Satsuki, don’t be shy.”
“Um, if you transformed into a frog does that mean…?” She trails off again, her shyness pulling her back, making her fidget even more.
Bullfrag tries to encourage her too. “Does that mean what?”
“Does that mean if…” Satsuki shyly peers up at the tall frog with innocent wonder and fascination! “If Big Sis kisses you will you turn into a prince?!”
…
“Eh…? Eh? EH!?!” Bullfrag cries out in shock, turning beat red!!
Meanwhile, Tsuyu looks like there’s a corrupted file in her brain, making her freeze in place with a dumbfounded and unresponsive expression.
“No one’s kissing nobody!!” A wild Hop Pop appears, enraged and steaming mad! “No, one especially some amphiboy is going to lock tongues with my Tsuyu!!”
“HOP POP!!!” Tsuyu cries out, mortified!!
Bullfrag’s too embarrassed to even respond!
“So! Will you?”
Bullfrag starts nearly screaming out as Satsuki grips his leg.
“Will you become a prince?!” Satsuki smiles up at him with bright innocent eyes. “Will you?”
“Ah!!” Bullfrag screams!! ‘She’s too pure!!’
Tsuyu sighs, grumbling in embarrassment. “Sorry, Midoriya. The Princess and the Frog is her favorite bedtime story…and movie.” Ironically, it was her own fault for showing her that stuff.
Bullfrag can only hope that the Krakken would decide to attack in that very moment, at least to save him from answering.
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After that brief moment of levity the group convened back outside Hisashi’s RV and thus the events of the day all came back throwing the group into a state of quiet somber thought.
Tsuyu is especially feeling the true weight of the day’s events as she sinks into the picnic bench. “It was real…I had no idea.”
Hop Pop blinks, becoming annoyed as he outcries! “No idea? No idea?! I’ve been telling you your whole life that it was real!!”
“But I never thought you were serious.” says Tsuyu without even trying to sound considerate, but that is in fact what she thought; or at the least he was being delusional.
Hop Pop let’s out a loud pained gasp, feeling the sting of betrayal!
From the opposite side of the picnic table, Samidare frowns up at their grandpa. “No offense, Hop Pop, but we thought you were just being crazy.”
Their little sister nods. “Hm! Hm! Yup, just silly!”
Hop Pop turns away, clenching his fist in frustration. “Darn kids.”
Hisashi frowns and tries to veer the conversation back to what’s actually relevant. “The Krakken isn’t the problem. That Friends Of Fish group is.”
Tsuyu frowns as she recalls the F.O.F. “That guy with the goatee…he seemed really sketchy.”
“And for good reason!” Izuku kicks open the door to the Rustbucket, an open laptop in his hand, as he jumps out of the RV. “I just did some online searching as it turns out that Friends Of Fish organization doesn't even exist!”
Tsuyu starts. “It doesn't exist?”
Hisashi scowls; he should have figured as much.
“And that’s not even the worst of it.” Izuku drops the laptop onto the table, spinning it around for everyone to see. “Check this out.”
The laptop glows with forums, files, and various pictures of Jonah accompanied by some big game animal and judging by the animal’s postures and lifeless eyes they are certainly not alive.
“I searched across some forums and police sites and I found out that Jonah Melville is wanted for multiple cases of illegal big game poaching and smuggling.” Izuku scowls. “He’s a poacher and a successful one at that. So much so he’s earned the nickname Apex.”
Tsuyu scowls. “That’s a bit on the nose.”
“Right.” Izuku frowns, it’s be a cool name if it didn’t belong to someone so scummy.
Satsuki tugs on her sister’s shit. “What does big game mean?”
“It means…” Tsuyu pauses trying to think of a gentler way of putting this but…there isn’t any. “He kills rare animals for money.”
She gasps! “That’s so mean!”
Listening in from the side, Hop Pop has been boiling with anger with every new bit he’s learned and it all explodes! “It’s not right! Why I oughta show that airbreather who’s the apex around here!!
The kids gap, surprised! ‘Oh he does cares about animals!’ Surprising since all he talks about is killing one.
“Now he’s after my Krakken!! I won’t stand for it, I tell ya!!”
They all frown, exasperated. ‘Oh, that’s why he’s upset.’
“No way I’m letting some no good, cheating, knave take a shot at my prize! I won’t stand for it!” And with a spit and a huff Hop Pop spins around and marches off back towards the docks.
Before he can get far, Hisashi calls out to him. “Where are you going, captain?”
“If he wants that beast then he’s gonna have to beat me to it!”
Izuku ponders. “Beat you to it?”
“Aye! I’m gonna finally bring that beast in myself!”
Satsuki gasps, running up and grabbing at her grandpa's shirt trying to hold him back! “No! Hop Pop you can’t! That’s mean!”
Hop Pop gives her a soft smile as he pats her little head. “Sorry sweetie, but Hop Pop’s got a job to do.”
Hisashi is quick to intervene, finding his actions to be very unwise. “I don’t think killing it is the answer.”
Hop Pop growls, glaring at the older Midoriya. “What?”
“That creature’s probably been living peacefully here a long time, maybe even centuries! But think about it, if it was actually aggressive, why haven’t more people found out about it in all that time?”
No one has an answer, at least not outright but after a moment of consideration Tsuyu offers up her hypothesis. “That’s because it’s not naturally aggressive.”
Hisashi smiles, nodding, confirming she’s right.
Izuku frowns, considering the theory. “But it is now. Why?”
“Why does any animal attack humans?” Hisashi offers up. “Because it was provoked. And I think it was Jonah and his men that provoked it.”
Izuku shrugs. “Okay, but what did they do to it?”
“That’s what we have to find out.”
“Find out? How?”
“Well, we look for answers.” Hisashi turns away from the group, looking out towards the foggy swampy waters of Lake Nal Hutta. “And I think we’ll find our answers out there.”
Izuku starts. “If we’re going to find anything I bet it’ll be where Jonah blocked off that section of the lake.”
“Exactly.”
Before the two Midoriyas can begin forming a plan Tsuyu interrupts. “Okay, but I don’t think Jonah’s just gonna let us walk up and check it out.” Something tells her that he isn’t afraid of crossing ethical lines if he has to.
Hisashi understands. “That’s why he won’t find out. We make our move tonight, use the cover of the night and the fog to give us the time to search.”
Izuku lights up, ready to help anyway that he can.
“Hang on now.” Tsuyu interrupts, interrupting the moment. “Should we be telling this all to the police and the heroes?”
Hop Pop spits, grumbling. “No way I’m gonna have the police nor some fancy hero sticking their nose in this!”
Ignoring the old frog, Hisashi explains why they can’t. “I don’t think handing this over to the police will work out so well.”
“Isn’t that a bit irresponsible.”
Hisashi nods, not even denying it. “It is but hear me out.”
Meanwhile, Izuku isn’t sure if he should laugh or be concerned. ‘So he admits it’s irresponsible.’
Hisashi glowers, explaining his thought process. “Even if we notified the police…would you say that they’d believe us?”
“No…” Tsuyu shakes her head, shyly. “No.” She says a bit more firmly.
“Exactly. Afraid telling them that there’s a lake monster being hunted by an international poacher wouldn’t exactly call for their attention. Besides the moment the police show up I wouldn’t be surprised if Jonah clears out long before they can get anything on him.”
“I see.” Tsuyu still isn’t convinced, and she’s hesitant to jump into action, unlike her classmate. “But we’re just students, we're not allowed to fight…villains.”
“You can with a hero’s permission.” Hisashi smirks, almost sympathetically. “Don’t worry. I don’t intend for us to get into a fight. All we’re doing is searching for answers, once we have them and we have a better understanding of the situation then we’ll know exactly what to do and who to call.” Speaking of, he better make sure he still has that number. “So, we won’t fight unless it’s truly a last resort.”
Tsuyu hesitates, and one can tell the gears are turning in her head as she internally debates with herself whether this is right or not. After considering the fact that Mr. Midoriya is a pro hero and he essentially gave his permission already then technically she’s not going to be committing any felons.
And so she hesitantly but yet firmly nods her head. “Okay.”
Hisashi smiles. “What about you captain? Care to help us out or do you still intend on capturing the beast?”
Hop Pop pauses before giving into their wills, but that may be because his eldest granddaughter’s more willing to go with their plan than his. “Well, I might as well get you all out there. Besides we may find the beast’s lair and if that’s the case then there’ll be nowhere it can hide from me.”
They’ll take it! Besides, they need the ride out there.
“Yeah!” Samidare sheers, starting everyone! “This is gonna be so cool!”
Satsukie nods her head frantically and excitedly, bouncing in her seat.
Tsuyu sighs; not wanting to ruin their fun but also wanting to be responsible. “You two aren’t coming.”
Samidare gasps! “Wha?!”
“But why?!” Satsuki whines!
“It’s too dangerous.” She explains.
That isn’t a good enough explanation for them, especially Samidare. “But we want to help!”
Satsuki nods her head, pouting. “Hm! Hm!”
Hop Pop approaches, resting a hand on each of their shoulders. “Sorry, kids. But your sister’s right.”
The two kids pout and sulk, giving into the adults’ will.
Hisashi can sympathize. “You two can stay here if you like.”
“That’s okay.” Tsuyu waves his offer off. “We’ll get them back to my house for now and we’ll meet you at the dock.”
“Sounds like a plan.”
The kids’ pouts grow more irritated and sad. But they keep quiet and instead listen as the adults make a plan.
Izuku shuts the laptop; he’s ready to get going. “So, we’re going right now?!”
“We have to.” answers Hisashi. “The sooner we find those answers the sooner we can stop Jonah.”
Izuku grins, finally they can stop waiting around and do something about all this!
As they work out the finer points of the plan, the adults fail to notice the shared look the children exchange between each other. Their eyes filled with childlike mischief and judgement.
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
Hisashi grips his full face scuba mask as the fishing boat slows to a stop. “We’re here.”
And good thing too, it’s still dark out although in another hour or so it’ll be daybreak. The only reason they can even see is thanks to the light of the moon reflecting off the water’s surface.
“Are you all ready to go?”
“Yup!” The Asuis respond wearing the same clothes as before.
Izuku trudges up, he’s decked out in a full on scuba suit with an air tank and all; courtesy of the rental place in town.
Tsu eyes the green and black swimsuit, finding it odd and out of place. “No transformation this time?”
“Not this time.” Izuku confirms as he dawns the full face scuba mask. “Last thing I need is to run out of time while we’re down there.”
Tsuyu understands; drowning isn’t exactly fun after all.
“This is it, crew.” Hisashi locks his mask in place. “Keep your eyes peeled for anything and try to stay close.”
The other three stand tall and salute! “Right!”
And so with everything set they go ahead and plug head first into the cold murky depths.
Once in the water Tsuyu and Hop Pop pull out the underwater lanterns they brought with them, swimming ahead with the Midoriyas behind them, lighting the way.
And so the fishing boat is left unattended in the dark of night, floating silently and alone as the light of the lanterns disappear under the murky waters.
And so with the coast clear a pair of plastic barrels sitting by the side of the boat’s deck shake and topple over.
“We’re here to help!!” The youngest Asuis cheer out as they pop out of the little barrels.
“Huh?” Samidare blinks, finding no one there to greet them.
“Where’d they go?” Satsuki wonders aloud.
How are they supposed to help if there’s no one to help?
Meanwhile, back below the waves the group of four divers continue with their search, following along the muddy lake bottom for any clues. But they haven’t found anything related to the Krakken or Jonah yet. In fact they haven’t even spotted the Krakken itself yet, not that it’s an issue but still it’d be nice if they had a clue where it was too.
But after a while of scouting out the waters something catches their attention, something big and gangly; the sight of a ship graveyard. With the powerful lights breaking through the water, the four find themselves amongst the wreckage of sunken ships, boats, and vessels scattered about the lake bed.
But what’s odd is that the wreckage seems to be circles around one point in the center where a pile of wreckage and rubble sit like an underwater citadel.
Hisashi eyes the pile, waving the group forward as he does so.
And so they follow, slowly and quietly, they crawl from the bottom and slowly float their way up the citadel until they reach close to the exposed top.
The group hesitates, they feel tense pressure building up because they all know that if they’re going to find any clues; it will be now.
And so for the answers they seek, they look.
The top of the citadel is open and wide, big enough for the Krakken (which isn’t there) if it wanted to curl up in. And lying in the center of this crevice are two perfectly spherical rocks. The rocks are a swap green in color, covered in a bit of algae and muck, they also look to be the size of a large medicine ball and just as heavy.
Izuku blinks, eying the rocks curiously. “What are those?”
Tsuyu’s eyes widen in surprise and almost wonderment! “Eggs.” She breathes.
“Eggs?!”
Hop Pop frowns at the large spherical eggs. “What would the beast be doing with eggs?”
“Isn’t it obvious?” Hisashi questions, scanning the waters for their mother. “Those are its eggs.” As he scans the nest he spots something rather peculiar amongst the rubble making up the structure. “Look! That’s the crate Jonah had!”
Izuku follows his Dad’s finger and sure enough there’s a pile of busted up wood that once made up a large crate: and he can even make out the word cannery on the side too.
“Hey you’re right.” says Izuku, remembering that Jonah’s crate has the same word on it. “So if that’s Jonah’s crate then what was inside?”
“Jonah’s a big game poacher.” Tsuyu repeats for them all. “And he can’t take on a full grown Krakken.” She frowns, both in disgust at Jonah but in sympathy for the poor animal. “But he can steal an unborn one.”
Izuku scowls. “Disgusting.”
What kind of disgusting creep would pick on the young to get ahead?
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
“Come on sis!” Samidare calls his lil' sis over towards the edge of the boat. “We need to keep a lookout.”
“Okay.” Satsuki trots her way over, gripping her life jacket as she nervously eyes the lake, the heavy fog that’s setting in is seriously starting to mess with her as the swamp and trees all begin to disappear behind the mist. “But what if the monster comes back?”
“Then we warn them.” Samidare responds, like it’s the most obvious thing.
And so they each take position on the same side of the boat, Satsuki too nervous to go too far from her brother. But they watch the water for any signs of Jonah or the monsters, but the heavy fog only creeps in closer until they can just barely see the surface of the water itself.
Nothing but the sounds of the small waves, nocturnal creatures, and the moon above giving them company.
And so they fail to notice the silent approach of a very expensive looking speed boat approaching the fishing boat from the opposite side. The boat creeps closer, docking just feet away from the fishing boat.
An unfamiliar voice calls out as a set of heavy steps jump aboard the fishing boat. “What do we have here?”
The kids panic, their breaths hitching, as they spin around to find a group of masked goons glaring down at them from behind.
The goons are wearing some heavy set swimsuits, grey in color, with high tech goggles that definitely help with night vision as well as giving them intimidating looks.
“Aren’t you kids a little young to be out on a fishing boat all by yourselves?”
Samidare gulps, placing himself between them and his terrified little sister. “Yes, yes we are.”
The goons all exchange a look before they turn back to the terrified kids…
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
“So Jonah’s after the eggs.” Izuku leans back, backing away from the nest, becoming very aware of just how deep they are in the Krakken’s territory. “Just one of those gotta be worth a fortune on the black-market.”
“No wonder he wants em.” Tsuyu nods, swimming down the outside of the nest to join Izuku. “But what do we do now?”
Hop Pop joins them at the bottom of the lake next along with Hisashi.
Hisashi frowns as he starts back up towards the top of the nest. “I think it’s time I make a call.”
Tsuyu starts. “The police?”
“Not exactly, but I think I know a group that handles this kinda stuff. They’ll be better equipped to handle the situation.” Although he’ll need to dig out their card first, it’s gotta be in the glove compartment. ‘Hopefully.’ Hisashi prays.
With their attention away from the nest the group fail to notice the silhouette passing them by from far above their heads.
The silhouette is about the size of a human but bigger and through the light of the moon shining down one can see the reflective glimmer of claws passing by before a long tail snakes by as the silhouette swims forward.
The silhouette digs its claws into the nest, crawling forward like a predator, skulking towards the eggs.
As the moon shines down through the water, one can see the sharp tooth grin of the silhouette as it caresses one of the eggs and snatches it up in its claws.
The silhouette shoots straight up towards the surface with its prize, its powerful tail propelling it forward! And just in time because Izuku decided to examine the eggs one more time.
He peeks his head up from the side and gasps when he sees one’s missing. “One of the eggs is missing!”
The others gasp, rushing up after him. “What?!”
Tsuyu frantically scans the large nest for it. “Where’d it go?”
Izuku looks and looks before he finally happens to look up. “Hey, guys, we have company.”
The others stop in their search before looking up as well. From above they can make out their boat’s still silhouette but they can also make out the silhouette of another boat and of someone rushing out of the water and back onto their boat.
Tsuyu scowls. “They’re here?”
Hisashi nods, clenching his fist. “Guess they moved up their time table.”
“They gotta have the egg!” Izuku shouts, kicking up towards the surface.
The others shoot up after him, all in a hurry to get out of there before things go south.
But in their haste they fail to notice the pearly blue eyes shimmering in the moonlight, slowly approaching from in the distance.
Izuku and the others quietly poke their heads out of the water, pressing themselves against the bottom of the fishing boat for cover. They quiet down trying to listen in on anything that’s going on.
From above, they can hear Jonah handing off the egg. “Secure this and make sure it stays secured this time.”
“Yes sir!”
Jonah turns his attention back towards the familiar fishing boat and instantly his mood takes a nose dive. “What is this?! What’s with the brats?”
In that instant Izuku, Tsuyu, Hisashi, and Hop Pop’s blood run ice cold.
One of his men answers back. “We found them aboard the boat, boss.”
Tsuyu swings over towards her grandpa, harshly whispering under her breath. “I thought you took them home.”
“I did.” Hop Pop whispers back.
Hisashi almost wants to chuckle as he shakes his head in disbelief. “They must have snuck aboard.” That’s the only other way to explain it.
Izuku quietly swims closer towards the rope ladder they threw over the boat’s side earlier. “We have to save them.”
Hisashi quickly grabs his arm, stopping him. “Wait.”
“But-”
“Patience.” Hisashi harshly and hastily breathes. “We wait for the right moment and then we’ll save them.”
Izuku shakes his head in disbelief. “But how do we know when’s the right moment?”
“Good question.” Hisashi gives him an almost taunting smirk. “We just have to wait and see.”
Izuku rolls his eyes but he settles back into the water.
They quiet back down, trying to listen in some more.
From above they can almost hear Jonah analyzing the kids. “I know you two? You came here with the hero students? Where are they?”
There’s no answer, not even a squeak from the kids, no doubt they’re trying not to give anything away.
“What about your gramps?”
Still no answering only the sound of terrified whimpers and sniffs.
“Hm. Not giving them up huh?”
One of Jonah’s men speaks up. “What do we do with them, sir?”
Jonah eyes the brats, considering what to do. “Things here are starting to get heated. We got one of the eggs already so no need to stick around.” He pauses before continuing with a harsh uncaring tune as he calls out to the rest of his crew. “Toss the kids overboard! We’re heading out as soon as we get back to the canary! And burn this floating trash heap too, I don’t want any signs that we were here!”
“Yes, sir!” His men respond!
Izuku can’t wait any longer, the kids are in trouble! “Let’s go!” He whispers back in a panic as he grips the Omnitrix.
Hisashi is there once again to stop him, grabbing his arm. “No, not you.”
“What?!”
“I want you to wait back.”
“Not more waiting?!” Izuku sighs exasperated.
“Yes, more waiting.” Hisashi harps, not letting Izuku’s right arm go.. “Stay back and wait for us to create an opening for you and then I want you to grab the kids and Asui and book it out of here.”
Overhearing, Tsuyu is quick to air her concerns. “But we’ll be leaving you two behind.”
“That's fine, I’m a strong swimmer and so is the captain. It’s fine besides we might be able to save the boat too.” Hisashi looks to Hop Pop for some reassurance.
Hop Pop scowls, uncertain. “We can try but I care more about my grandkids escaping than the old girl.” He states while thumping the side of his fist against the boat’s haul.
Hisashi turns back to Izuku, whispering into his ear in a haste. “When you get back, notify Nezu and he’ll notify the proper authorities. Tell him everything that’s happened.”
Izuku frowns, but he knows that he can trust his Dad on this; even if he doesn’t like it. “Okay.”
“Good.” Hisashi turns his attention back to his boy, softening his grip before offering up some words of encouragement and sympathy. “And hey I know waiting’s hard but sometimes a little patience can pay off in a big way.”
Izuku understands he does but it’s hard to sit back when people are in danger. As Izuku settles back into the water he catches some movement out of the corner of his. In the distance, he then spots the unmistakable fin of the Krakken gliding through the water, the fin swerves back towards the boats using the heavy fog as cover.
Izuku gulps, shaking. “Um, the wait might be over.”
Hisashi frowns, his brow furrowing. “Why’s that?”
“RWEEEEEeeeee!!!” From the opposite end of Jonah’s boat the Krakken emerges, its head snaking up high over the boats!” “RWEEEEEeeeee!!!”
Hisashi and the others gasps, lurching away!
All the while Izuku almost shrugs on. “Yeah, it’s…” he pauses before continuing, correcting himself. “she’s here.”
From atop the decks Jonah and his men are thrown into a panic!
Jonah roars out!! “Keep that thing away from us!!”
“Yes, sir!!” His men get right on.
Five out of seven of his men all rush over and arm themselves with some high tech looking staffs. The staffs resemble a thin metallic spear but with a twist of their hands the tips of the spears glow with electricity.
As they all arm themselves one of the seven rush to their speedboat where they have a harpoon canon mounted on top the deck! But it’s unloaded and so the goon scrambles to load it. As for the last member of Jonah’s crew he’s gripping the egg tightly, cowering away from the beast before him!
Jonah chops the air with his hand as he roars out his command!! “Get it!!”
The large tentacles all dive down towards the one with her egg but as they approach the men all charge forward, protecting their comrade and their prize by jabbing the electrical spears into the beast’s limbs!
“RWEEEEEeeeee!!!” The Krakken shrieks and pulls back every time it gets zapped by a powerful shock. But it keeps on coming despite the onslaught of jabs and shocks.
“Waaaahhhh!” The Asui kids cower and shake holding onto each other as their ears ring in pain!!
Jonah spins around until he spots his last man finally loading the harpoon cannon. “Fire already, goddammit!!!”
Not wasting any more time the goon spins the cannon around, taking aim right for the beast’s head.
The Krakken veers over, its eyes locking in on the all too familiar looking weapon.
“FIRE!!!”
The massive harpoon launches forward, piercing the air like an arrow!!
But the Krakken is much too slick as it panics and throws itself backwards, avoiding the projectile, its heavy size crashing into the water before it fully submerges itself.
Hisashi quickly seizes their opportunity. “That’s enough waiting. Now!”
“Kero!!” Without wasting a second, Tsuyu springs into action!!
She leaps over the side, finding two of the distracted goons before her. And in one swift motion she delivers such a strong kick that launches one of the goons into the other, knocking them back!!
The kids instantly light up! “Big Sis!!”
“Hey! I’m here, too!!” Hop Pop croaks as he too jumps aboard!
One of the standing goons growls and with his spear in hand he marches towards the geezer.
“You’re in for an ass whooping now, boy!” Hop Pop’s long thick tongue splurts out and grabs onto the goon’s entire face!!
“Hmph! Hmph!!” The goon screams under the slobbery and sticky tongue, grabbing at it, desperate for air!
One of his comrades rushes the old frog! “Die old man!!”
Hop Pop glares, he gives a powerful thrust of his head backwards, launching his victim forward! The trapped goon slams into his friend from behind, knocking them both down.
Hop Pop retracts his tongue, smirking as he wipes away some drool. “Kids today, they just don’t know how to take a licking.”
Meanwhile, Tsuyu dives to the side avoiding a thrown spear, the moment her hands and feet hit the deck she kicks herself the opposite way, avoiding a second spear! The goons are between her and her sibling and nothing’s going to stop her! And so with the two goons unarmed she leaps forward, spinning her body around!!
“BLAH!!!” One of the goons lets out a pained groan as Tsuyu’s feet slam into his gut!
And at the same time she wraps her tongue around the other goon’s head and as she launches the first goon back she pulls and swings the other around, tossing him aside!
“Big Sis!!” Her siblings cry!!
“I’m here!”
“Grahh!!”
“Woah!” Tsuyu leaps back just before a muscular scaled fist could slam into her!!
Instead the first smashes through the deck of the fishing boat, leaving a small hole shattered with splinters.
“No!/Sis!!” Her siblings cry out!
Tsuyu backs off, readying herself against the one who’s placed himself between her and her siblings.
Jonah pries his scaled fist out of the deck, while he throws up one nasty scowl. “I’m gonna tear you apart little girl!! Grah!!” Jonah charges his hands becoming thick and clay with claws that can easily tear through flesh!
As Tsuyu evades Jonah’s slashes, her siblings are left to cower alone.
“We have to help her!” Satsuki begs!!
Samidare scowls, frustrated. “But how?”
They watch as their sister is forced back!
Tsuyu accidentally slams backwards into one of the goons, who happens to be the one holding the egg, causing him to drop it!
Jonah goes in for a right hook, but Tsuyu, acting fast, grabs the goon by his shoulder and forces him in front!!
Jonah’s fist slams right into his own man’s face, and it definitely broke the guy’s nose too.
The kids continue to watch as Jonah tosses his own man aside before he continues his pursuit after their sister! But their attention is pulled away as the large medicine ball sized egg rolls by, coming to stop against the boat’s railing.
The kids quiet down before sharing a knowing look.
At the same time, Jonah forces Tsuyu into a corner, her back towards the helm and Jonah at her front, blocking the way.
Jonah glowers. “You know I heard that brats from U.A. were pain in the asses.” He spits, flexing his grey scaled hand. “But I always figured that was nothing but hot air.” He stomps forward, his scowl glistening with the glimmer of sharp knife-like teeth.
But he doesn't so much as make it a foot before a stream of flames intercepts his path!
Jonah yelps, jumping back away from the searing flames.
“Careful.” Standing atop the deck is Hisashi with a taunting smirk. “I’d hate to see you get burned.”
“Grrr.” Jonah growls but his scowl turns into a smirk as his men gather themselves and rush Hisashi!
“Yaahh!!” The men howler and shout as they charge the pro hero, their spears in hand and aimed to kill!
Despite the numbers being five to one Hisashi remains remarkably calm.
As a spear is lunged at his head, he simply leans his head back allowing the spear to harmlessly pass on by. He grabs the goon’s arm, twisting it and forcing him to drop the weapon that Hisashi then catches with his free hand. He then delivers a nasty elbow job in the goon’s gut!!
Another one of Jonah’s men takes a swing at him from behind!! Hisashi twits the spear in his hands, spinning it around before gripping it vertically, intercepting the attack. He kicks the end of the spear up, pushing away his opponent’s weapon all before breathes out a puff of fire! The flame isn’t huge but it’s strong enough to force his opponent back!
As the goons keep coming, Hisashi calls out to his son’s classmate! “Go, now!!” He sucker punches one of the goon’s in the face before spinning around and swinging the spear up into another’s head, sparks fly as the electrical tip slams into the goon’s head!! Hisashi does all this before releasing a stream of flames that push back a charging henchman. “Go!!”
Tsuyu nods, rushed forward and through the determined and sturdy goons! “We’ll hold them off!! Just get out of here!”
Without even thinking Tsuyu rushes past! “Aye, sir!”
With one hast skip, she makes it to her huddle sibling! “Are you both okay?”
Huddle together, like they’re gathering around something, her siblings nod and smile up at her letting her know that they’re okay.
Tsuyu sighs, holding them as he lets out a relieved sigh. But as she holds them she can’t help but notice the extra weight. “What ya got there?”
Her siblings share a smile before grinning up at her and presenting their gifts! “The egg!!”
Tsuyu’s eyes widen as she stares at the monstrous egg.
From across the boat, Jonah spots the egg too through all the chaos. “That’s mine!!” He charges head forward toward the Asui kids!
Hisashi makes a move to stop him but he’s caught off as the stubborn goons block his path.
But he need not worry as Tsuyu, not willing to let this villain lay a scale on her siblings, uses her tongue as a whip, lashing it and cracking it at Jonah’s feet forcing him back!
Jonah glares daggers at the Asui brats, clenching his scaly fist as his sharp teeth grind together. “That doesn’t belong to you.” He growls.
Samidare peeks out from behind his big sister, throwing the creep an angry scowl! “It doesn't belong to you either!”
Satsuki sticks her tongue out, from their big sis’ opposite side. “Bleh!”
Jonah’s anger only grows, his fists shaking in anger as his skull begins to produce forward ever so slightly. “Snot nosed brats!! I’m gonna-Gah?!” Jonah’s transformation is cut short as a glob of green goop slathers down on him and sticks him in place!
“It’s just snot your day, huh? Hehehe!” The rapid beating of wings can be heard from above and a foul stench sinks in as a giant bug flies overhead.
Tsuyu breaks into a grin! “Midoriya!”
“Stinkfly!” Stinkfly corrects, as he circles back around over the boat. He couldn’t wait anymore, figuring he waited long enough as it is, and good thing too as now he’s got a full ten minutes to get them out of here.
He lands beside the Asui kids, lowering himself and presenting them with his back. “Time to go!”
“Right!” Tsuyu nods, grabbing her siblings one by one and placing them atop her transformed classmate. “Hop on!”
Samidare holds the egg tightly as Tsuyu throws him up after Satsukie.
Stinkfly’s top eyestalks curl around to his back where he spots the large egg. “Woah! Is that the egg?!”
Samidare nods, as he and Satsuki hold it tightly.
“Give it to me.” Jonah growls, his skull continuing to protrude out, especially his jaw as he too becomes taller and more muscular as patches of grey scales begin to form. “NOW!!!” he tears through the slime, roaring an animalist roar as his muscles bulge and even his entire spine begins to poke through the back of his shirt!
In unplanned succession, Satsuki and Stinkfly both throw Jonah an akanbe. “Bleh!!” And with their bottom eyelid pulled down and their tongues out Stinkfly zooms up away into the air.
“After them!” Jonah roars, his transformation stopping halfway and subsiding. “I want that egg!!”
And so his men shove Hop Pop back as the others scurry away from Hisashi, they pull each other back in a hurry, scrambling back onto their own boat!
Hisashi rushes forward to stop them but Jonah is quick to hold him back by launching a barrel at him!
Hisashi is forced to jump away as the barrel bounces off the deck!!
With Hisashi distracted Jonah leaps aboard his speedboat and just in time as his crew pull up the anchor and have already started the engine. “Hurry it up!! They’re getting away with our retirement fund!”
And so the boat lurches forward, quickly spinning around and speeding after the kids!
With their enemies gone, Hisashi spins back towards the old captain. “Get this boat moving, captain! We gotta catch up to them!”
“Aye!” Hop Pop rushes to the helm. “We’ll catch up in two shakes of a catfish tail!”
Hisashi rushes to the side of the boat, and he can do nothing but watch helplessly as Jonah’s boat speeds up after the kids. The boat’s so fast it’s going to catch up in a matter of moments if they don’t do something!
But then a disturbance, a shadow in the water catches his eye. And he watches as a large fin breaks the water, trailing after the speed boat.
Hisashi gulps, gripping the electrical spear tightly. “Oh boy. That’s not good.”
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Stinkfly happily gives his head a shake as he zooms over the lake surface, his wings beating against air, disturbing the water below! “Woah-wo! We’re home free!”
With the wind whipping at her face and whipping her hair around, Tsuyu starts as her ears pick up on a running motor.
She turns around and gasps. “Not yet we’re not!”
“What are you on about?” Stinkfly sticks his head down, his eye stalks swinging down to see.
And there catching up at a breakneck pace is Jonah!! The man’s snarling, gripping the front of the speeding boat like a crazed animal as he snarls, his eyes glowing with unbridled fury as they lock onto Stinkfly and his passengers.
“You brats!!” He roars before turning to his men! “FIRE!!!”
Upon his command his goons fire using their harpoon cannon!!
“Woah!!” Stinkfly jerks to the side narrowly avoiding the harpoon!!
Tsuyu grips her siblings tight as they each hold onto the egg. “He sure is persistent!”
Stinkfly’s eyes bend around for another look, they widen with surprise. “Hey guys, what's faster? A monster or…a Krakken?!” He screams, pushing himself to move faster!!
The Asui siblings spin around and they soon wish that they hadn't as the all too terrifyingly familiar form of the Krakken itself bursts from the water!!
“RWEEEEEeeeee!!!” The Kraken thrashes against the waves, closing in just behind Jonah’s speed boat!!
Satsuki breaks into a grin! “Yay! We can give the mommy back its baby!”
Samidare shakes his head. “I don’t think he’s gonna let us!”
And he’d be right as Jonah scowls, fury bleeding from his eyes. “Damn, monster!!” His attention drifts from the egg to the Krakken. “Go after the egg!! Shoot them down if you have to! The rest of you fend that thing off!!”
“Yes sir!” His men scramble across the deck, reloading the harpoon cannon and readying their electrical spears.
Tsuyu leans forward, indirectly begging for Stinkfly to fly faster! “We gotta shake them!”
Stinkfly doesn’t have to be told twice and he swerves around and towards their right, beelining it for the swamp!
Jonah’s boat and the Krakken all make the turn too, all of three of them zooming past in a single file as one chases the other!
As Stinkfly zips and swerves past thick marshland trees, his four eyes scanning the lake and swamp for ways of escape!
As he catches an option he tries to call back to Tsuyu his plan but she in turn tries to shout out her own idea, too!! “We can lose them in the cattails!/Go north there’s a ridge there!” The two shout over the wind and the whipping of leaves, simultaneously! “North?!/How do you expect to lose them in cattails?!”
As the teens bicker, the kids peer back and gulp. “Um, Big Sis/Mr. Bug!”
“What?!” They both shout!! “Waaah?!”
As Stinkfly dives to the side, avoiding an incoming harpoon, they crash through a layer of the canopy, with Stinkfly spinning out of control!! Tsuyu grips him tight, pinning her siblings between her body and him, until he’s able to regain control!
“Oh, kids!!” Jonah calls out as his men ready another harpoon. “Make this easy on us all and give us that egg!!”
“RWEEEEEeeeee!!!” The Kraken roars out as if in protest to Jonah’s demands as it crashes and smashes its way through the marsh and trees like a runaway train engine!
Jonah fires another harpoon at the kids but they swerve, spinning in the air, to dodge!!
“RWEEEEEeeeee!!!” The Krakken takes a shot, lunging forward past the boat and having its tentacles lash forward at the giant bug!!
In the panic and chaos, Samidare instantly goes and grabs one of Stinkfly’s eye stalks! “Go left!” He screams, pulling on the eyestalk!!
“Yawp!!” Stinkfly yelps as he shafts to the left!!
“No! No!” Satsuki screams, also in a terrified panic, grabbing the other eyestalk and giving it a hard tug! “Go right!”
“Yawp!!”
Samidare pulls on the eyestalk again as another harpoon whizzes by!! “Go right again!”
“Left!!”
“Right!!”
“Up! Up! UP!!!”
Stinkfly begins to tear up even as he continues to fly, holding back the need to swat the kids’ hands away from his face!!
Tsuyu swats their hands away from his eyes! “Stop it you two!!” She scolds before peering back up and letting out a terrified gasp!
Without even thinking Tsuyu grabs the two eyestalks and pulls up like they were the reins of a horse! “Go up! Go Up!!”
Stinkfly is forced higher in the air, and just in time as a massive tentacle swings by and slams into a tree!!
“Hey! Hey! Hey!” Stinkfly cries, shaking his eyestalks free of her grip! “No backseat flying! Got it?!”
Tsuyu bashfully let’s go, she didn’t mean to do that, before scolding her siblings. “Behave, you two!”
The little siblings instantly turn on each other! “But it’s her/his fault!”
“No, it’s yours!”
“No yours.”
“But I wanted to drive!”
“I wanna drive?!”
Tsuyu sighs, admonishing them both! “Satsuki! Samidare!”
Stinkfly shakes his head, trying to ignore the commotion and arguing, but he soon loses all of his patience!! “Hey knock it off, all of you, or I will turn this bug around!!”
“You bastards!!” Jonah screams with a fiery fury as his boat swerves and slices through the water!! “Shoot them already!!” He roars at his men! “I don’t care if we have to sell monster-sized scrambled eggs, I want them dead!!”
Stinkfly gulps. “Oh, huh, never mind. Bad idea.”
He swerves downward, avoiding the incoming harpoon. “How is he still on our tail?!” He screams!
“RWEEEEEeeeee!!!” The Krakken speeds up, swimming parallel to the speedboat, it moves in to push the boat out of the way but the boat takes cover behind a row of thick trees!
The Krakken turns its attention back towards the bug, its tentacles whipping forward as it lunges towards them with its jaws open wide!
Tsuyu pales as she stares into the monster’s gullet! “Must go faster! Must go faster!!”
“RWEEEEEeeeee!!!”
Before she can reach them the sound of metal piercing flesh echoes through the air before the monster reels back in pain, unleashing a painful shriek!! “RWEEEEEeeeee!!!”
The Krakken turns away, revealing the metal harpoon lodged into its side!!
Jonah’s boat cuts into view. “Shoot her! Shoot her!!” He roars as his boat speeds towards them, firing another harpoon!!
The Krakken’s eyes widen before diving away from the painful projectile!
With the Krakken taking cover for now, and Jonah’s attention temporarily drawn, Stinkfly manages to cover some air!
With so much weight on his back he can’t gain too much height so he changes directions, back towards the open lake.
As he tries to gain more distance Stinkfly calls back to his passengers for an update! “Are they still chasing us?!”
As if in slow motion Stinkfly watches in horror, the Krakken breaches the water that’s directly in their path! Its jaws open wide, ready to intercept him and his friend!
With too much momentum to swerve or slow down, out of the way, Stinkfly and the others can only scream and pray as the gigantic jaws begin to close around them!
And then like a bullet whizzing through a hole, Stinkfly barely manages to pull them right through the jaws just before they chomp together with a slam!! His tail-stinger received a powerful nick of the monster’s fangs, enough so to throw them into a forced spin!!
“Woah! Woah! Ahhhh!!!” They scream as Stinkfly loses all control!! “Mayday! Mayday! We’re going down!! Eject! Eject!!”
Tsuyu immediately receives the message, he can’t regain control with this much weight! And so she grabs her siblings, hooking them tight, as she leaps away from Stinkfly!
Her siblings hold the egg just as tightly as they all plummet towards the cold dark lake!!
And with a loud splash the four kids are all plunged into the cold brisk water!! The force of their fall is so strong that the kids lose their grip on the egg!!
Tsuyu’s head breaks the surface first followed by her little sister and brother, both of which are coughing for air, and finally a gasping and coughing Stinkfly flails his head over the water, struggling to keep himself afloat.
Tsuyu scans for the monster but instead she spots the egg floating by. But before she can even blink Jonah’s boat speeds past with Jonah hanging off the side, scoping on the egg in one fell swoop! “Hahaha! Have it!! Now get us out of here!!”
As the boat circles around to its next destination the Krakken emerges once again from the depths, pursuing the much faster boat! “RWEEEEEeeeee!!!”
With Jonah escaping with the egg, Tsuyu hurries to Stinkfly’s side! “We gotta hurry! Before they get away!”
“I…can’t!” Stinkfly’s wings beat against the water but he doesn't so much as move an inch into the air. “I can’t fly! My wings are too wet!”
And so with no way to catch up, they can no longer pursue Jonah and get the egg to safety.
Which means…they lost.
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As dawn begins to peek out from the horizon Hisashi and Hop Pop are finally able to locate the kids, and they move quickly to get them out of the monster infested waters.
Hop Pop helps Satsuki onto the boat as Tsuyu leaps aboard with her brother in her arms “You kids alright?!”
Izuku, now fully human, pulls himself onto the boat. “Not really, but thanks for asking.”
Hop Pop gives him a cold stare. “Well I wasn’t asking you.”
Izuku gasps, hurt emotionally by the dismissal!
Tsuyu sits herself down on the deck, leaning against the railing, exhausted and drained. “They got away. Jonah…he took the egg and escaped.”
Her sister plops down beside her with a concerned frown. “Did he get away? Wouldn’t the mommy catch him?”
Samidare shakes his head. “Don’t know. She did get hurt so it couldn’t keep up for long, maybe.”
Hisashi frowns, he still holding onto that electrical spear, now shut off, as he cups his chin in thought. “So we have an injured mother Krakken and a poacher with the biggest score of his life.” Now that’s a recipe for disaster: an injured monster desperate to rescue its child is dangerous and a mad man bent on greed is just as dangerous.
Tsuyu looks to him for answers. “What do we do now?”
No one has an answer, at least not immediately.
And so even with their recent failure hanging over their heads Izuku tries to instill some encouragement. “We're going to stop Jonah and save that poor egg.”
“But how? Our last plan went up in smoke. We couldn’t save the egg and now that we have more information it’ll be too late. By the time we report it Jonah’ll be long gone, especially now that he knows we’re out to stop him.”
‘She has a point.’ Hisashi thinks. If he were Jonah and he knew heroes, even hero students, found out about his operations he would book it out of there too. And unfortunately calling for backup is never a speedy process.
Looks like there’s only one thing left to do. “Then we skip a few steps.” Hisashi announces, drawing everyone’s attention. “This time we go straight for Jonah himself. We stop him, we stop his operation, and we save that egg. By. Our. Selves.”
Hop Pop scowls, shaking his head he can admire the man’s spirit but still. “But we don’t even know where he is.”
Izuku frowns, nodding and shrugging in agreement. “That’s a good point.”
Hisashi grins. “I have an idea.” He recalls the label on the side of the crate and what Jonah had told his men earlier about a canary. “Hey, captain.”
Hop Pop stands at attention. “Yes?”
“Was there ever a factory or some sort of canary in this area?”
“Hm.” Hop Pop needs a moment to remember. “There was one up and running decades ago but it got shut down real quick after a contamination spill. Why?”
“Why? Why, because that’s where we’ll find Jonah.”
Izuku sits up as his eyes light up with thought and an underlying sense of a scheme forming in his head.
Tsuyu breathes, her hopes rising, but she’s hesitant to believe. “Okay, we know where he is but…he has us outnumbered, he has weapons, and he technically has a hostage.” After all he was willing to destroy the egg just to kill them, so who’s to say he won’t cross that line too?
“We’re not outnumbered!” Samidare yells out definitely! “We can help too, sis!”
Satsuki rises to her feet, standing beside her brother! “Yeah! I wanna save the baby too!”
Tsuyu offers up a sad smile, placing a hand on each of their shoulders as she looks them in the eye. “Thanks you two, you’re very brave. But it’s way too dangerous for you.”
The two pout, their smiles fading away into sad frowns.
Hop Pop strolls over offering his sympathies. “You sister’s right. We’re outgunned and outnumbered.”
Hisashi grips the spear as he contemplates what to do. “We need a way to sway the odds in our favor.” Like a weapon, or a genius plan, or help from someone that Jonah wouldn’t expect. “We need some sort of wildcard.”
And just like that the final piece of the puzzle snaps into place within Izuku’s brain. “I think I know the perfect thing.”
Everyone stares at him wondering what he could possibly be talking about.
Izuku turns to Hop Pop and the kids. “And I need your help to get it.”
Hop Pop and his grandkids are rightfully confused.
Tsuyu especially. “What are you talking about? They can’t help!”
“Tsu. I won’t lie, my plan is crazy, and dangerous but they’re the only ones that can pull this off while we go after Jonah.”
Tsuyu frowns, uncertain, but she’s seen first and what happens when Midoriya gets like this about one of his plans and so far she has yet to truly see them fail.
Hisashi eyes Izuku curiously, like he’s trying to figure out the plan if he could somehow read his mind. “Izuku, just what do you have in mind?”
Izuku can’t help but smirk. “Have a little patience, Dad. I’m getting to that.”
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The canary is a large factory sitting atop a lone dock with the lake sitting just twenty meters below. Tied below, anchored before the dock, are two speed boats: the first one is dark and armed with harpoon cannons and the second is white with the logo F.O.F. As for the factory it has clearly been abandoned for decades, unkempt and rundown, but still sturdy enough to house the villains that dare to use it as their base of operations.
Jonah snarls, grinding his teeth as he barks and marches from one end of the open part of the dock to the other. “Hurry it up! We leave within the hour! Hurry! I don’t want there to be any signs of us being here!”
“Yes, sir!” His seven goons shout back as they all hurry to pack and carry their supplies to the boats.
“And secure the egg!” Jonah roars, pointing to the large medicine-sized egg that’s been locked away into a cylindrical water tank. “I don’t want it to slip through our fingers again! Hear me! If we lose it I’m gonna tear each of you apart and sell your organs to make up for the losses!”
Even from behind their high-tech masks and scuba suits one can tell that his goons’ faces are riddled with panic and fear. Hurrying to complete their task!
Jonah leers at the egg as one of his men props the tank onto a cart. “I hate the fact we couldn’t get the second one, but this baby is worth a fortune just on its own.” He carries the tank, eyeing the egg like it was made of solid gold. “After we sell this off we’ll be kicking it back seaside in the Bahamas.”
Not unless certain individuals have anything to say about it.
For at the same time Izuku, Hisashi, and Tsuyu have snuck their way underneath the high standing dock where a ladder hangs down into the water below.
Tsuyu peers up, she tries to peek through the floorboards but she can’t make out anything through the cracks but she can definitely hear Jonah barking orders.
“You were right.” She comments to Hisashi as he begins to climb up the ladder behind her. “They were hiding here.”
It’s Izuku’s turn to grab the ladder. “Perfect.” He smiles, climbing up. “Maybe my plan will actually work.”
Tsuyu makes it to the top, thankful the passage is hidden away beside the factory and away from the goons. “Maybe?!” She shouts in a shed panic! “Maybe your plan will work?!”
Izuku gives her a sheepish grin as he make sit up too. “It will! It will work!!”
“It better. Kero.”
Meanwhile Hisashi presses his back against the building, gripping the electrical spear tightly while making sure it doesn’t make a sound. “Come on, both of you, hurry.” He waves them over, signaling for them to hide themselves against the factory.
“It will work!” Izuku whispers back as he places himself in front of Hisashi.
They all quickly scan the area before moving forward, towards the front of the factory. “Trust me alright? I have a feeling that this is all going to work out, trust me.”
They round the corner quickly, quickly coming to a stop as they are immediately spotted by Jonah and his crew who just so happen to be walking out of the factory at that very same moment.
The two groups blink and stare at each other for a moment, unsure of what just happened.
Tsuyu slowly leans closer and huffs. “It’s going to work out, huh?”
“Please.” Izuku begs. “Tsu, not now.”
It takes a moment but Jonah finally snaps out of it and immediately turns hostile. “You again?! Rwa!! Don’t you kids have literally anything better to do?!”
Izuku actually breaks into a smile, albeit a terrified one, but a smile nonetheless. “Now what could be better than stopping a kidnapper and his posse of creeps?”
Jonah scowls, growling as he shoves to the front. “I really have had enough of you, especially of that mouth of yours.” His glare hardens so that one could see just how bloodthirsty he is as eyes glow of the hue of blood red. “That’s why, I’m gonna rip your vocal chords right out of your fucking throat.”
“You know what I think?” Izuku grins, dialing up the Omnitrix. “I think my friend Diamondhead has something to say about that!!” And in a flash he transformers! “Here we…go?!” Izuku frowns, staring down at his newest form; the Incursion. “Woops, looks like I got the new guy.”
Tsuyu raises an eyebrow. “Um, can you explain how you can mess up your own Quirk like you do?”
He cannot actually. And she can tell by the embarrassed look on his face.
Jonah tsks, his fists clenching at his sides. “You really think you're some hotshit don’t ya?”
Bullfrag smirks, folding his arms and leaning back, trying to act suave and cool. “Well, maybe a little.”
Tsuyu rightfully rolls her eyes, but she can’t stop the smile on her face, while Hisashi snickers into his hand.
“Well I hate to break it to you.” Jonah’s body shifts as patches of grey scales begin to form, his nails grow out, and his teeth become sharp and jagged. “But you're not the only one around here with a Transformation Quirk, kid!!”
Jonah’s body begins to crack and convulse, shifting and morphing from within as his muscles bulge and grow, breaking through his shirt. His skull shifts and rearranges itself, the jaw especially protruding out more. His arms stretch as his claws become more defined, his legs becoming muscular as his sharp talons rip through his boots. All the while a layer of thick grey scales envelope his body as a long flat tail sprouts from his lower back. But the most distinct feature is his spine, his spine breaks and shoots out from his back, becoming that of a sail that’s blood red in color! In all he looks like a grey scaled Spinosaurus mixed with a human, his red hair is now a streak of scales running down his back and his sharp goatee has merged into a red marking that lies under his lower jawline.
Bullfrag gasps, stepping back in shock and awe. “What the heck? And I thought my transformations were gruesome.”
Hisashi nods, gripping his spear. “No kidding.”
The humanoid dino Jonah, no, the villain known as Apex grins. “What’s the matter? Did you just realize?” Apex’s sharp tooth grin widens. “That you may have bitten off more than you can chew?”
He truly is a monster, the Apex hunter of poachers.
Hisashi is actually intrigued by the development. “Your Quirk. I must admit it is quite the sight. And frankly I’m rather curious to see what it can do.”
“Hehehe.” Apex chuckles, his muscles bulging under his thick clay hide. “Well I’d be more than happy to show you what my Spino Sapien Quirk can do! RWWR!!!” With a slam of his tail against the dock, Apex launches himself forward, his jaws wide and ready to tear through their tasty flesh! “You’ll now see why they call me the Apex hunter!!”
Everyone leaps into action with Bullfrag leaping back before Apex could sink his teeth into him! With Apex’s attention on the tall frog man, Tsuyu locks onto the egg and tries to jump her way through Apex and his men!
However, Apex senses her intentions, spinning around and intercepting her path with his wide tail that slams into Tsuyu!! And with a spin he throws her back!!
Bullfrag gasps as Tsuyu’s thrown back! “Tsu!!”
“Don’t look away!!”
From behind a pair of strong scaly arms wrap themselves around Bullfrag’s neck.
Apex’s sharp teeth lean in close. “I want you to see this coming!” His jaws open wide ready to savor the taste of his amphibious catch.
“Hey ugly!”
Apex scowls, peering over to find Hisashi standing before them with the spear in hand.
“Have a taste of this!” Hisashi unleashes a thin stream of flames!
“Rwwwrrr!!” Apex wails in pain as the flames sear into his scales, forcing him to release Bullfrag so he could shield himself.
Bullfrag leaps away, falling to his knees as he rubs the base of his neck. “Thanks, that was terrible.”
Hisashi helps him up. “Yeah, he’s got some mighty sharp teeth.”
“Um, I was actually talking about his breath.” It smelled like rotten eggs and dried fish.
Apex can feel a blood vessel pop. “Rwwwrrr!!” He pounces, leaping up as he brings his sharp claws down upon them!!
With a spin of his spear, Hisashi intercepts the claws, using the spear to parry them away.
Apex jumps back, landing in a squatting position, snarling up at the fiery bastard.
Hisashi prepares himself to fight as Bullfrag takes his side, holding the spear at a readied stance.
With Apex’s attention on the Midoriyas, Tsuyu takes her chance to retrieve the egg!!
The other goons have been standing back for now letting their boss handle the heroes. But between them Tsuyu can spot one of them carrying the egg away in a hurry!
So with too many of them in the way Tsuyu lashes out with her tongue! The strictly pink appendage swiftly slithers and snakes through the goons before wrapping around the escaping goon’s leg and giving it a pull, tripping him up!
“Gahh!!” The goon goes down, while losing rip on the cart!!
The cart swerves to the left before slamming to the side of the factory; the tank containing the egg bounces off, collapsing to the ground with a loud clank!
Tsuyu grins as her tongue retracts but her smile is dashed as the other goons are soon upon her with their spears and harpoons in hand!
“Kero!!” She leaps up and over them, landing onto the wall of the factory, and just in time as their spears and harpoons impale the floorboards! “You guys are too slow.”
The goon flares up at her, frustrated that she’s out of their reach.
“Coward!!”
“No good Bitch!”
“Come down here and fight!!”
Tsuyu tilts her head to the side, as if to be cocky, but her blank calm expression dashes the facade. “No, I don’t think I will.”
There’s movement out of the corner of her eye, followed by the sound of a cannon!!
“Kero!!” Tsuyu jumps away just before a large harpoon smashes through the factory’s wall like a rock through paper!!
From the air she spots that one of the goons has made his way to the boats where he’s manning the harpoon cannon!
“Guys! The boats! The harpoon!!” She shouts!
Hisashi is struggling to hold Apex off with his spear as the two struggle to push the other back!
Bullfrag uses his Dad’s shoulder to thrust himself forward, delivering a precise kick into Apex’s face, knocking him back!
With Apex held off Hisashi rushes over to the edge of the dock. “I’m on it!!”
After a deep inhale of oxygen Hisashi unleashes a shower of flames upon the speedboats!!
The goon manning the harpoon cannon squeals and scrambles away, throwing himself overboard before the flames can get him! And good thing too as within an instant the boats are completely consumed by Hisashi’s flames.
Apex’s eyes widen as he watches his boats go up in smoke. “You bastard!! Do you have any idea how much that all costs?!”
“Nope!” Bullfrag leaps in close, swinging his arm back for a right hook! “And frankly I don’t care!!”
His fist slams into Apex’s skull so hard that one could hear from across the lake!
Too bad Apex barely felt it standing there with the fist pressed against his face. His deadly glare piercings through Bullfrag as a venomous grin stretches across his face.
If Bullfrag could sweat, he would be sweating buckets. “You know I imagined that going better in my head.”
“Oh, I’m sure.” Apex grins before swatting the fist away and lunging forward!
“Woah!” Bullfrag leaps away as Apex’s jaws chomp down in the air!
Bullfrag ducks avoiding the swing of Apex’s tail! All before leaping away as Apex spins around and takes a slash at his midsection!!
He jumps and dives away as Apex lunges after him again and again with his claws, teeth, and fists!
“What do I do?! What do I do?!” Bullfrag begs, he’s not used to this alien yet; so what is he supposed to do?!
Meanwhile, Tsuyu hops above the factory, staying out of reach of Apex’s henchmen. “Lick him!!” She shouts!!
Bullfrag gaps! “Lick him?! I hardly know him!!”
“That’s not what I meant!”
Bullfrag’s face turns red with embarrassment. “Oh.” He turns his attention back at Apex, firing out his tongue like a whip!!
Apex isn’t fast enough to dodge as the powerful tongue slams into his head, forcing him back!
Bullfrag smirks, retracting his tongue. “That worked better than I thought.”
And so he tries again, lashing his tongue out like a whip!
Apex snarls, sidestepping and catching the tip of the elastic tongue in his grip! “Can you taste it?” He snarls with a wicked grin, his grip tightening around the appendage. “This is what victory tastes like.”
Bullfrag begins to sweat, pulling back against Apex’s grip with no luck.
Hisashi fends off a pair of goons, before dashing towards his son. “I’m on my way!” But his path is intercepted by a fresh pair of henchmen. “Damn you. Out of the way!” Hisashi swings the spear forward, charging in to meet them!
With Hisashi held up, Bullfrag is on his own. And it certainly isn’t looking good as Apex pulls and tugs on his outstretched tongue, pulling him closer.
Apex snickers. “What’s the matter? Gotta frog in your throat or what? What happened to all those snarky remarks?”
Bullfrag so wishes he could talk back but he’s literally tongue tied right now!
He glares at Apex and then down at his outstretched tongue before an idea pops into his head! And so Bullfrag releases himself from the ground, leaping forward while using the tension of his caught tongue to propel himself forward like a lure on a string!
Apex can only gasp as Bullfrag’s skull comes flying in towards his face!! “Ahh!!” Apex reels back in pain, letting the tongue go, holding his nose!
“Ahh, my head!!” Bullfrag whines, rubbing his skull. “Ow… Note to self, no one wins with a headbutt. Ow…”
“You bastard.” Apex growls, rubbing his nose. “I’m gonna punch your teeth in for that! Rwwrr!!” Apex reels back his fist but a slender stinky tongue wraps itself around his arm, holding it in place! “What?”
From across the peer Tsuyu struggles to pull him back. “Kero… Stay away from him.”
Apex’s face twists into a gruesome snarl. “Why you bitch?” He grabs her tongue and pulls, pulling Tsuyu in! “I really have had enough of you all!!”
Apex roars as he slashes down at her!!
Unable to retract her tongue, Tsuyu scrambles to leap to the side as the sharp claws come flying in! “Ahhh!!” She gets nicked as the claws slice the side of her arm!!
“Tsu, no!!” Bullfrag rushes Apex , springing his feet forward and delivering a flying kick into Apex’s gut!!
“GAH!!!” Apex gasps for breath, letting Tsuyu go and giving Bullfrag the chance he needs to grab her in his arms and kick himself off of Apex’s gut!!
Bullfrag spins in the air, landing on his feet in a squatting position. “You okay?”
Tsuyu nods, gripping her arm as she’s dropped to her feet. “I’m fine. It’s nothing but a scratch.”
“A scratch?!” Apex roars, rushing them with such a burst of speed! “I’m gonna slice you both in two!!”
The frogs leaps away avoiding the pair of flying claws but they soon land just at the edge of the pier. The two stare back into the murky water before turning back towards the rest of the pier where the boats burn, where Hisashi is fending off the goons alone with his spear and Fire Breath, and where Apex looms.
Apex lurks closer, his claws hanging low, his long tail snaking behind him. and his jaws in a mad grin. “Hahaha! Look at you, just two little frogs for me to snack on.” He licks his sharp teeth with his reptilian tongue. “I won’t bother frying you up. I’m just gonna eat you raw.”
Bullfrag gulps, readying his fists like a pro boxer. “Sorry, I’d taste terrible.”
“Funny guy.” Apex taunts with a creepy smile. “Tell me funny man, I want a good laugh, but what exactly was your plan here huh? Was this all some twisted joke? I’m dying to know.”
Bullfrag’s insulted! How dare he? “You know I’m kinda hurt. I actually consider this to be one of my more out there plans so far.”
“Cry me a river.” Apex hisses, his claws shimmer with the reflection of the flames and smoke. “Either way it was thanks to your plan that your friends are going to die!”
“You make it sound like that was part of my plan.”
“Isn’t it?”
Bullfrag’s face cracks into a cocky smirk. “Who said my plan was to win?”
Apex’s grin falters for a second. “Huh?”
Tsuyu actually breaks into an almost cocky smile too. “Like he said this is one of his more out there plans.” She gives her friend a confident yet concerned look. “And I’ve seen some of his earlier works.”
Bullfrag breaks into a smile.
However, Apex doesn’t understand. “Why’s that?”
“Well, because we have a wildcard… Several actually.” Bullfrag adds with a nonchalant shrug. “I just need to show some patience before they got here.”
Apex frowns. “Got here?”
Both Bullfrag and Tsuyu break into mischievous grins as they point out towards the lake behind them.
Apex actually goes ahead and peeks around their shoulders only to gasp as his eyes widen in surprise!
Bullfrag’s smirk grows even more cocky. “Don’t you see Jonah? My plan wasn’t to win, I was just buying time.”
Buying time for Hop Pop and the kids to arrive.
Hop Pop works the helm forcing his fishing boat to give it all it’s got as it speeds through the water!
Standing at the front of the boat’s deck are the two Asui siblings and in their hands they hold the second Krakken egg!!
Samidare shouts over the whipping wind and waves, clutching the egg tightly as he scans the lake! “Hurry Hop Pop! Faster!”
Hop Pop spits, gripping the helm and pushing the motor to its limit! “She’s giving it all she’s got!”
Satsuki leans her little head over the edge, peering down at the disturbed water trailing behind them. “She’s here! The mommy’s here!!”
“RWEEEEEeeeee!!” She sure is, and the ear piercing screech is more than enough to confirm it.
The Krakken lunges out of the water, chasing after the fishing boat, desperate for its young to be returned!
From the pier, Apex starts, gasping in shock. “You maniac! That thing will tear this place apart!”
Bullfrag nods. “That’s kinda the idea.”
The fishing boat speeds towards the pier with the Krakken hot on its tail as they approach the dock the boat makes a hard swerve to the left, trialing the beast along! As they turn the Krakken’s pearly blue eyes lock onto its first egg laying captured on the pier before its sight locks onto the familiar smelling lizardman.
The Krakken’s eyes narrow with a fiery vengeance. “RWEEEEEeeeee!!” And so she changes course, charging right for the pier, Apex, and her egg!
Bullfrag inhales before shouting out! “There she blows!!”
Thanks to Bullfrag’s warning Hisashi sees the beast coming and so he parries an incoming spear with his own before sliding underneath and slipping away!
The goons immediately spin around to give chase but they all freeze in place as a dark shadow quickly comes in from above.
“RWEEEEEeeeee!!!” The Krakken slams itself into or rather through the pier, smashing a section of it into splinters!! “RWEEEEEeeeee!!!”
“Ahhhh!!!” Three of Apex’s men are thrown to the water as the floorboards give out from under their feet!
“Ahhh!! Kill it! Kill it!!” The goons remaining panic, aiming their spears and harpoons at her!
“RWEEEEEeeeee!!!” With a swing of her head her tentacles slam and grab the goons tossing them into the air!
“Ahhhhh!!!”
“No! No! Please-Aahhh!!”
“Wait! Wait! Wait!”
“Don’t eat me!!”
“RWEEEEEeeeee!!!”
Apex can only watch as his men are swiftly and easily defeated, swatted away by the massive beast like pesky flies. “Fucking monster.” He growls, claws digging into his palms to the point he draws blood.
“RWEEEEEeeeee!!!”
Hisashi watches from around the corner of the canary, an impressed smile playing on his lips.
As the monster rampages and thrashes about against the pier the cylindrical tank containing the egg begins to slowly roll away towards the flaming speedboats.
From his position Hisashi quickly spots the egg rolling away towards the inferno, but with the rampaging Krakken in the way he can’t reach it!
“Izuku! Asui! The egg!!”
Tsuyu nods, turning to her classmate. “Mind giving me a leg up?”
Bullfrag squats down, cupping his hands together while leaving his palms exposed. “Let’s do this.”
Tsuyu hops up and Bullfrag grabs her foot before spinning around and throwing her on an upward angle!! At the same time Tsuyu kicks herself off propelling herself further into the air thanks to the combined power of both the throw and her jump!
Tsuyu spins as she soars in the air, high above the rampaging Krakken who is too distracted by the screaming goons to notice. Tsuyu lands on the other side of the beast and she immediately shoots her tongue out! The sticky appendage wraps itself around the cylindrical tank, catching it before it could roll off the edge. “I have it!!”
In the meantime, Bullfrag turns to the water just as the fishing boat passes by 20 meters away. And so with a great demonstration of a standing long jump, Bullfrag leaps and lands atop the boat’s deck!
Samidare and Satsuki awe up at the frogman. “Hey it’s Bullfrag!”
“Hey, it's Samidare and Satsuki.” Bullfrag laughs back before spotting the egg in their hands. “Good work guys.” He praises as the kids hand him the large egg. “You did your sis proud that’s for sure.”
The siblings blush, their eyes sparkling in delight.
Bullfrag turns to address Hop Pop. “Stay back, in case things get hairy.”
Hop Pop gives him a salute. “Aye Aye!” And so he spins the helm, turning the boat away from the pier.
And so Bullfrag rushes to the end of the boat, before jumping off and high into the air, landing back on the pier with the egg in hand as the boat sails away.
“RWEEEEEeeeee!!!” The Krakken lets out a roaring shriek as its tentacles thrash across the pier launching the last of the goons away!
Apex watches not only as the inferno consumes his vessel but as an inferno of absolute rage boils inside of him. He watched as his men were taken out, as his prize was stolen, as this monster rips away everything he’s worked for. Well no more. “Foul monster.”
Hisashi rushes to Tsuyu’s side, leading her away from the Krakken. “Nice catch.”
Tsuyu nods as she pulls the egg free of its containment.
“You guys good?!”
The two look up just in time for Bullfrag to hop down with the second egg.
Hisashi greets him. “Your plan worked out better than expected.”
“Thanks.” Bullfrag lifts up his egg, making sure it remains in one piece. “But now comes the tricky part.”
“RWEEEEEeeeee!!!” The Krakken whips around in a frenzy desperately searching for its young!
Bullfrag looks to Tsuyu and her egg. “You ready?”
“Yeah.” She adjusts the egg in her arms. “Let’s make things right.”
And so they walk forward, eggs in hand, and with the soul intention of returning them to where they belong.
As the Krakken whips its head around it finally spots her eggs and the two froggy people holding them. She snakes down towards them, glaring, letting out a dangerous low growl. “Rweeeee.” Her fangs chatter together as her tentacles slowly snake beside her, ready to snatch the eggs.
Bullfrag and Tsuyu come to a stop as the Krakken leans closer and closer until her jaws are just one lunge short of gobbling them up.
They share a look, take a breath, before gently holding up the eggs for the mother to take.
The Krakken starts, genuinely surprised and hesitant, wary of the frogs’ intentions.
Bullfrag and Tsuyu silently push the eggs up, offering them up to the mother, while staring deep into her pearly blue eyes.
The air is tense but it calms, like a mist clearing away and the beast’s pearly blue gaze becomes gentle and far more calm as if it can understand the frogs’ intentions. Its tentacles slowly and warily reach forward to grab the eggs.
Apex watches from afar his sharp teeth grinding and his fists clenched, his muscles flexing and bulging as he pops a few blood vessels from sheer rage. “I’m gonna skin those brats. I’m gonna slay that monster.” His skull, especially, his lower jaw begins to protrude forward, his sail spine grows and cracks as it expands and his claws begin to become larger in size! “Rwwwrrr!!”
The calm peaceful Krakken is just inches away from retaking its eggs when suddenly a booming animalistic roar, not belonging to the Krakken, shakes the earth! “RWWWRRR!!!”
“RWEEEEEeeeee!!!” The Krakken jerks away, bellowing out a painful shriek, as massive fangs bear down into its hide!!
Everyone from the alien, to the frog family, to the Plumber are all thrown into shock and awe as a dinosaur sinks its teeth into the Krakken’s flesh! It would seem that there was more to Apex’s Spino Sapien Quirk than any of them had first thought!
Apex has transformed from a humanoid lizardman into a massive Krakken sized Spinosaurus-like creature! The dino-like creature is far from an accurate representation of a real Spinosaurus but it has all the trademarks. From the giant blood red sail on its back, the long tail designed for aquatic life, massive hind legs and muscular forearms, and with the signature long snout and jaws filled with rows of razor sharp teeth. Its grey scales are rough like sandpaper as a red streak runs down its back with the pattern of Jonah’s goatee laying under its jawline.
“RWWWRRR!!!” The gigantified Apex unleashes a thundering roar across the lake, throwing its head back in challenge!
The Krakken’s blue eyes widen in shock and surprise. However, she is a mother, a mother out to protect her young and no trespasser on her turf is going to steal her brood!! “RWEEEEEeeeee!!!”
She slams her skull into Apex, pushing him back against the pier before she clamps down on his muscular forearm!
“Rwwwwrrr!!” Apex screeches angrily, swinging his open claw forward for an upward slash!!
The Krakken spots the attack coming, lunging away before snapping its jaws back at the monster.
Apex evades the bite before slashing again but she’s quick backing her head away in the nick of time before pouncing forward!
Apex stops her, grabbing her by the neck but struggling to keep her back as she snaps at his face, trying to tear it off!! Her tentacles lash forward crashing into his skull, forcing him to let go!
“RWEEEEEeeeee!!!” The Krakken stays back, keeping its distance, and has its tentacles lash forward, attaching the dino-monster.
Said dino fends off the tentacles, snapping at them with his massive jaws and fangs.
From atop the pier Bullfrag, Tsuyu, and Hisashi all watch on in horror as the behemoths fight it out!! The teens cradle the eggs tightly, backing away quickly as Apex’s giant body crashes through part of the pier!!
Apex snarls, his tail slams against the pier as he spins around to meet the Krakken! “Rwwwwrrr!!” Turning himself sideways he body checks the lunging Krakken away!
The Krakken’s thrown back, losing its balance, and its defenses down, Apex bites down on its neck!
“RWEEEEEeeeee!!!”
Apex’s teeth sink in further as he pulls and swings the creature around and tosses her aside!
The Krakken skids across the muddy water with a shriek before Apex’s massive talons come bearing down on it, pinning it by the head and into the shallows!!
“RWEEEEEeeeee!!!”
Tsuyu gasps, clutching the egg worriedly. “She’s not gonna win! He’ll kill her!”
“That’s not happening.” Bullfrag passes his egg off to Hisashi. “Here take this.”
Hisashi takes the egg with a frown, eyeing the battle and considering hopping in himself but with his Quirk at such a disadvantage he won’t be much help. “Then you take this.” Hisashi reaches out to hand his son the shut-off electrical spear.
Bullfrag eyes the thin rod hesitantly.
Hisashi shrugs, shoving it forward. “Just in case.”
Bullfrag nods, snatching the spear out of his hands.
Tsuyu steps forward, handing her egg off into Hisashi’s free hand. “I’m coming too.”
Bullfrag frowns down at her, concerned. “You sure?”
Tsuyu looks him right in the eye. “Yes.”
That’s all he needs to hear. “Alright then.” He turns towards the water. “We’ll be back.”
Hisashi cradles the eggs, carefully, watching as the teens step closer to the end of the pier. “What are you going to do?”
“Anything we can.” And with that the two amphibians hop to it; diving headfirst into the water and taking off for the battle.
“RWEEEEEeeeee!!!” At the same time the Krakken is desperate to free itself from Apex’s grasp!
However Apex is not about to let it get away, pressing down hard as its claws dig into the creature’s flesh. Apex hums a haunting laugh mixed with a growl as his large snout breaks into a cocky smirk.
“Kero!”
Apex’s eye widens as the green frog girl from before hops into view just inches from his eyeball!
“This will hurt!” Tsuyu yells out before slamming her feet against the monster’s eye!!
“Rwwwrrr!!” Apex bellows in pain his eye searing in pain. “Rrrwwwrr!!” out of frustration he swats his massive claw at the girl but she uses his own body to leap away in time!
From behind Bullfrag leaps out of the water with the spear in hand. Activating the spear so that the top half glows with electricity, Bullfrag pounces and stabs Apex’s backside with a painful shock!
“Rwwwrrr!!” Apex spins his head around and upon spotting the frogman he snaps his head back, trying to catch Bullfrag in his jaws!
Acting fast Bullfrag fires out his tongue that hooks itself onto Apex’s sail and like a friendly neighborhood frogman he swings away before Apex’s jaws slam shut!
While swinging around Apex, Bullfrag calls out for his partner! “Tsu!” And without waiting he throws the spear high into the air, parallel to Apex’s turned head!
Having swum down into the water, Tsuyu builds momentum before launching herself out of the water and catches the spear mid-flight!!
And so as gravity brings her down she aims herself right for Apex’s shoulder blades and with a single motion the spear pierces through Apex’s thick hide!
“RWWWRRR!!!” Apex thrashes around in pain, he’s far too large for the weapon to do any fatal damage but it still hurts!!
Tsuyu clings to the spear for dear life, being thrown around as Apex flails, thrashes, and spins around desperate to shake her off!
“Ah!!” Tsuyu loses her grip on the embedded spear, and all before it could be activated!
As she falls Bullfrag swings by, his tongue attached to the dinosaur’s sail again, and swoons in to grab Tsuyu before crashing into the water.
As the two escape to the water’s depths, the Krakken rises back to its feet, shaking its head of mud and grime now that Apex is too busy trying to rip the spear from its back to no avail!
Dazed, injured, and bloodied the Krakken decides to retreat for now or to at least back off and compose itself for another strike. And so she dives away under the waves in a retreat!
Apex gives up on the spear just in time to spot the Krakken swimming away. But fueled by rage and a damaged sense of pride Apex gives chase by diving into the water after her! His spine protrudes from the water like a sail, as its whole body snakes through the water like that of an alligator, with its tail swishing from side to side propelling him forward!
From beneath the surface he soon catches up to the injured creature.
The Krakken is able to make out the monster’s shape even through the muck and so she spins around to greet him with a snarl! “RWEEEEEeeeee!!!”
“RWwwrrr!!!” Apex slashes down at her while his maw open up wide!
Tree-trunk sized tentacles fire out to meet him, tangling themselves around the monster’s neck and arms!
“RWEEEEEeeeee!!!”
“RWwwrrr!!!
Thundering roars and ear splitting screeches echo across the lake as the beasts clash! Wrestling and brawling within the depths of the lake!
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
Hop Pop brings the boat alongside the pier. “Where’s Tsu?! Where she’d go?!”
Satsuki scans the pier for any sign of their sister. “Where’s Mr. Bullfrag?”
Hisashi jumps aboard, handing each of the kids an egg. “They’re out there.”
Hop Pop starts, spinning around and gazing out to the distance where a clash of titans is occurring.
Waves crash and roars echo through the air as the two giants clash and entangle in a gruesome clash for power!
Hop Pop’s breath hitches. “Tsu…they’re both…in THAT!?!”
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
Swimming down under the crashing waves, Bullfrag and Tsuyu keep their distance, watching in shock and awe as the beasts clash and tear into each other, both sinking closer and closer to the lake bed.
“Tsu. Where’s the spear?”
Tsuyu quickly looks for it before spitting the sheen of its metal exterior. “There!” She points towards the dino-monster's back where the spear is lodged between his shoulder blades.
Bullfrag peers around, forming a plan. “Alright, I think…I think if we can activate that spear and get it to taz the jerk that’ll knock him out cold.”
“We’ll have to be careful, though.” Tsuyu warns. “Or we’ll get fried too.”
“But it’s a risk we have to be willing to take.”
“If we want to save the poor animal.” Tsuyu swims forward, leading the way! “Then we have to!”
In the meantime, Apex slams his claws down onto the Krakken, presses the injured mother against the muddy lake bottom. He shoves her down, pinning her tentacles with one claw while using his massive foot to pin her tail down! With his prey immobile he goes in for the kill, his jaws opening and aiming to slice through her neck!
From behind the two froggy teens shot through the water like torpedoes! “STICKY TONGUE LASSO!!!” In simultaneous succession their tongues shoot out towards the monster's jaws!
The tongues wrap themselves around his jaws, and with a pull seal his giant mouth tight!
As Apex shakes his head to try and get rid of them, but he’s struggling and he can’t use his claws otherwise the Krakken will escape!
While pinned, the Krakken watches as the two strange frog creatures come to her aid, she watches as they desperately cling to their tongues, trying to keep the intruder’s mouth sealed.
“RWEEEEEeeeee!!!” With new found strength she rips her head free of Apex’s grip and her tentacles race up and grab him by the neck! “RWEEEEEeeeee!!!”
She spins around, pulling Apex along with her, and tossing him straight into a pile of sunken logs!!
“RWwwrrr!!!” An agonizing wail thunderous from within the dust cloud as broken logs, mud, and algae envelope the Spinosaurus!
Bullfrag’s and Tsuyu’s tongues retract, having released Apex as the Krakken began to swing him around. They smile and grin thinking they won when Apex suddenly rushes past!
Apex’s tail swishes through the water, propelling him up towards the surface in record time.
Bullfrag cheers! “Ha! He’s running away!”
Tsuyu frowns as she eyes Apex’s current trajectory. “He’s not running away.” Her eyes land back on the pier in the distance. “He’s going for the eggs! And then he’s gonna run for it!!”
There’s no time to lose! They both kick forward as fast as they can, pushing themselves to the limit but with Apex’s head start and his ease of mobility through the water there’s no way they’ll be able to reach him in time! He’s gonna try to take his eggs back, cut his losses, and run off with the Krakken’s young!
All because they won’t get there in time! They’re too slow!
“RWEEEEEeeeee!!!” The mother Krakken roars from behind as she too pursues the thief but like them she won’t possibly make it in time either!
As they desperately try to close the distance Tsuyu cries out for Bullfrag! “Launch me!!”
“What good will that do?!” Bullfrag shouts as they cut through the water! “How am I supposed to throw you?!”
“No, launch me!!”
After a moment, he understands and so he spins around until his legs are aimed at the retreating Apex rather than away. Tsuyu quickly circles around pressing her feet against his!
And so Bullfrag uses his powerful legs to launch Tsuyu at an upward angle they both cry out in unison!! “LILYPAD SPRINGBOARD!!!”
And so with the combined power of both their powerful legs, Tsuyu fired right out of the water, soaring through the air like an arrow shot from a crossbow!
And with that burst of speed the escaping Apex is quickly within reach of her tongue.
Tsuyu locks onto the spear, embedded just past his sail, while his body curves and snacks through the water’s surface.
Her tongue lashes out, whipping past the massive sail before wrapping itself around the spear! Tsuyu quickly maneuvers her tongue, even as she’s dragged along by Apex’s speed, her tongue desperately feels around before finally resting atop the activation switch.
And so with a victorious grin Tsuyu presses down on the switch before letting the spear go!!
Sparks dance off the spear as the tip glows blue with the surge of electricity and then.
“RWWWRRR!!!” Apex unleashes an intense agonizing howl as sparks of electricity fly off his body from within!!
Electricity surges through his entire being, sparks dancing off his water soaked scales, amplifying the shock!!
“RWWWRRR!!!” Apex thrashes for release, for release from the agonizing pain, and with a twist of his back the spear is pried out against his spine!
The spear deactivates as it falls and Apex catches his breath as his body sparks and smokes.
“RWEEEEEeeeee!!!” The furious Krakken has caught up and while charging in at full speed she delivers one hell of a strike by slamming her thick skull into Apex’s!!
And with a giant splash and a loud clash Apex goes down!! Waves crash around him as his body rises to the surface, unmoving, and out cold.
It appears that the wild Apex has fainted. If the swirling of his eyes are anything to go by.
The Krakken backs off, wary of the floating mass in case he is simply trying to lower her guard.
However, Apex’s body begins to shrink and shrink becoming that dino-human hybrid form and then finally vanishing altogether into his more familiar form as Jonah Melville.
Bullfrag and Tsuyu let out the breaths they didn’t know they were holding.
“Hahaha.” Bullfrag leans back, allowing himself to float in the water. “Hell yeah. We got him.”
Tsuyu breaks into a wide grin before spotting the high tech spear floating by.
In the meantime, Jonah’s unconscious body begins to wash away but the tip of a long harpoon reaches down and hooks itself against his torn pants and belt, before hauling him out of the water.
Hop Pop grips the outstretched harpoon, locking it in place along the railing. “Look I finally caught a monster of a catch!” He laughs, hanging Jonah’s limp off the deck’s side.
Tsuyu sighs as she climbs aboard the fishing boat. “Hop Pop, please don’t ruin the moment.”
“Hahaha.” Bullfrag chuckles as he comes up behind her.
“You guys did it!” Satsuki cheers, adjusting the egg in her arms.
“So, cool!” Her brother awes, holding the second egg.
Bullfrag and Tsuyu break into smiles glad to see that everyone’s made it out relatively unscathed.
“Rweee…”
Everyone pauses as a low growl hums from behind. The crew slowly and calmly turn around to find the mother Krakken towering over the boat.
No one panics, no one even gasps or shouts, and this includes the creature who watches them all with interest and with a mix of trepidation as if unsure if it can fully trust the frogmen and humans.
Staring into her pearly blue eyes, Bullfrag immediately understands her plea. And so he gently gestures for the kids to come forward.
The kids hesitate, cowering away but a soft smile from their older sister gives them courage. “It’s okay. She just wants her babies back.”
And so the two summon all their courage they can muster and step forward, eggs in hand. Tsuyu grabs her sister's shoulders and Bullfrag supports Samidare and they all approach the edge of the boat.
The Krakken slowly lowers her head to greet them, her eyes starting through to their souls and her tentacles snake from behind as if in anticipation.
The Asui sibling takes a breath before they use all the strength they can to lift the eggs into the air for her to take.
The Krakken is hesitant, still unsure of them, however its tentacles slowly slither forward, the tips hesitantly opening up towards the eggs. She waits, eyeing them in case they pull anything, but with a final huff she takes back her young.
The kids break into huge smiles as do Bullfrag and Tsuyu while the Krakken examines her brood for any signs of harm. When she finds none she turns back to the boat and gives what appears to be the smallest of bows. And so with a flick of her tail and with her eggs tight in her embrace she dives sinks away back into the deep, disappearing beneath the muck and algae. Off to raise her young in peace.
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
“I’m telling you! There’s a monster out there! The Krakken! It’s real!” A fuming Jonah begs for anyone, anyone to listen to him!
The officer tightens his grip as he carts Jonah into the police escort with the rest of his goons. “You know buddy, you are aware that you have the right to remain silent, right?”
“I’m not making this up! You have to believe me! It’s out there! Listen, I’ll-I’ll cut you in on the profits when we kill it!”
“Oh, sure.” The officer laughs. “Then we can go hunt Bigfoot in America.” He shuts the door and addresses the driver. “Take him away.”
“I’m not joking! Wait! Wait! Listen to me-...!” And Jonah’s shouts fade into the distance as the police escort him away from the town docks.
As for our heroes, they watch from a distance, regrouped by the Rustbucket to bask in their victory.
Izuku breaks into a smile as she watches the police cruisers pass by. “And there he goes.”
Satsuki frowns, curiously watching the cruisers speed away. “Where are they taking him?”
“Where animals like him belong.” Izuku breaks into a wide grin as he delivers the punch line. “In a cage!”
“HA!!!” Hop Pop laughs, slinging an arm over the boy! “Good one, boy!!”
Seated on a nearby stump Tsuyu rolls her eyes, groaning, but she can’t stop the playful smile from forming on her lips.
“Hey.” Hisashi approaches, holding the high-tech spear in his hands.
“You going to keep that?” Tsuyu asks, eyeing the spear.
“I kinda like it. So I might.” Hisashi admits with a grin. “But I came here to talk about something else.”
Tsuyu sits up, ready to listen.
“I wanted to say thanks for your help. Things could have gone differently if we didn’t have you today.”
Tsuyu breaks into a smile. “You’re welcome. But I didn’t do it alone.”
“You know you’re really good.”
“Pardon?”
“A lot of heroes they’re, what you would call, lone wolves. They team up when they have to but they are hardly in sync with their allies or are so willing to team up in the first place. But you fit right into a team setting so well. You’re calm, you can assess the situation and quickly come to a logical conclusion, and you're able to keep those around you calm and level headed. You can switch from support to the lead effortlessly. That's a great quality for a hero to have.”
Tsuyu’s eyes sparkle, her smile widening and becoming bashful thanks to all the praise. “Thanks.”
Hisashi smiles back at her and they both turn away, watching as Izuku plays and celebrates with her younger siblings.
Tsuyu's smile turns soft as she watches Izuku smile away. “I didn’t want to say it before and there wasn't really a good time but…I’m glad you two made up.”
Hisashi starts, dreading where this conversation may be heading.
“When I found out you…left. I saw, well everyone saw, the way he acted.” Tsuyu frowns, recalling just how sad her classmate seemed to be around his father during Parent’s Day. “We could all tell that you two weren’t getting along.”
However a peaceful smile soon graces her lips once again. “But after what I saw today.” She looks to Hisashi for an answer. “You two really trust each other, huh?” She’s been witnessing it all day. “You trusted his plan and you supported him all throughout, you were there having our backs but also guiding us in the right direction.” From advice, to plans, to allowing Izuku and her to take the lead when the situation called for it, but he was always ready to jump in if need be. “In all I’m glad to see you two getting along after all…” She smiles as she watches her friend and family smile and celebrate. “When there’s no one else who believes in you, your family will still always be there.”
Hisashi's smile turns somber and sad, one filled with regret. But his eyes burn with a need, a need to do better. “I was forced away, but that’s not an excuse. The truth is that I did leave and now that I’m back I’ve promised to guide Izuku as best that I can. I-I know letting him fight giant monsters isn’t exactly parent of the year but giving him the chance to grow as a person and as a hero is the best way that I can make up for all that time. And so I’ll continue to support him no matter what.”
Tsuyu smiles at the promise, knowing full well that he’ll keep his promise.
“What are you two talking about?” Curious about their conversation, Izuku approaches.
Tsuyu, as blunt as ever, tells him straight up. “We were talking about you, actually.”
“Really?!” Izuku suddenly becomes very self-conscious and nervous. “Well, uh, what did you say?!”
Hisashi’s smile becomes a playful smirk. “Oh, she was just saying you looked really cool out there today.” He wiggles his eyebrows in a teasing way. “Your new form really impressed her.”
Tsuyu tucks away her face becoming blank as she freezes in place.
Becoming very flustered and embarrassed, Izuku shouts out! “Really?!”
Hisashi breaks into a fit of laughter at his boy’s expense! “Hahahaha!”
As Izuku tries to compass himself, Satsuki grips his hoodie, grabbing his attention.
“Um, Mr. Midoriya, sir?”
Izuku kneels down so he’s at eye level with her. “What’s up?”
“I was wondering,” She shys away before finding her question. “What’s going to happen to the mommy now?”
Izuku blinks.
Hop Pop steps in to clarify. “She means, what are we gonna do about the beas-...Krakken now? We can’t let it go around unsupervised can we? Especially if it’s gonna have its own tadpoles running amuck in the lake.”
Tsuyu eyes her grandpa; not trusting his motives at all. “Weird. I thought you’d be happier. You would be able to hunt three Krakkens rather than one.”
“Yeah, well.” Hop Pop turns away all embarrassed and grumbling under his breath. “What kind of monster would I be if I tore that family apart?”
Satsuki beams up at him, grabbing his leg in a hug. “Hop Pop.”
The old frog chuckles, squatting down and returning the loving embrace.
Tsuyu turns to Hisashi for guidance. “But he has a point.”
“Yeah.” Izuku agrees. “Is there anyone we can call?”
Hisashi thinks about it before answering. “There is, actually.”
Izuku gasps. “No way?”
“Oh, yeah, there’s a whole team that specializes in studying and containing creatures like her.” He aims his thumb back at the RV. “I actually have their business card stashed away somewhere.” Where exactly? He can’t remember but he knows it's in there.
Hop Pop stands back up, clapping his hands together, grabbing everyone’s attention. “Well, Midoriyas, do you wanna stick around for breakfast? The local diner’s breakfast ain’t too shabby if I say so myself!”
Samidare lights up! “Yeah! Come with us!”
“Yeah! Yeah!” His little sister cheers!
Izuku grins down at them, accepting the offer. “Well how can we say no to that?”
As does Hisashi. “I’d love to eat before we get back out on the road.”
Izuku freezes. “Huh? We’re leaving?”
“Yeah, well, we’re kinda behind schedule. Sorry, kiddo but summer break won’t last forever and there’s still so much we gotta see and do.” They actually should have left already but hey they had important work to do. “So I’m afraid we’ll have to set out afterwards.”
Hop Pop nods, folding his arms together as he slowly nods. “I understand but for now breakfast is my treat.”
The kids cheer out at once! “Yay!!”
“Oh!” Hisashi strolls over towards the Rustbucket. “Before we eat I want to look for that card. I would rather make the call sooner rather than later.”
“I can help.” Izuku offers before addressing his classmate. “We’ll catch up.”
Tsuyu nods, grabbing her siblings by the hand and leading them away. “Right. We’ll see you there.”
And so Hisashi leads Izuku towards the RV. “Thanks, Champ. We’re looking for an orange and yellow card.” He grips the handle and gives it a push. “I really hope it’s in the glove box…”
Hisashi trails away as he finds that he walked into a rather awkward scene.
Graph paper litters the floor as do several sets of multi-sided dice along with booklets featuring mythical monsters and a calculator.
^Wap wap. Wap-bzz bop!^
Kraab glares at Chopper from across the floor. “What?! Seriously?! A gelatinous cube?! Oh, come on, there’s no way! You just tossed that monster in just now, didn’t you?! You just want to see my character die!!”
^Bop bop!^
“Don’t deny it! I know you’re lying!”
Izuku steps in, baffled by the sight. “Have you guys been playing D&D the whole time?!”
Kraab blinks up, finally noticing them. “Oh, look the fun’s over. Darn and here I was hoping you guys drowned in the lake.”
“Don’t be like that.” Hisashi chides stepping over their game. “You guys would have missed us.”
And so ignoring the bots, Izuku and Hisashi begin their search for the card, checking every nook and cranny that they can for it.
“Sooo what happened to you two?”
“Hm?”
“You guys catch anything good?”
Izuku and Hisashi share a look and smirk before turning away. “Naw.”
For some reason Kraab feels like they’re lying.
After searching for a minute Izuku’s curiosity begins to show itself the more and more they search. “Hey, Dad. These specialists, do they have a name?”
“They do actually but I can’t really remember what it is. I know it was something kinda goofy. Hm…what was it?” Hisashi tries to recall but all he can vaguely reverb that it had something to do with a day of the week. “They were called the Mystery…Mondays? The Freaky Fridays? The…The…”
Izuku frowns, finding the suggestions curious, but as Hisashi lists out more he tries to offer up his own answer. “The…Secret Saturdays…?”
…
Hisashi spins away, shrugging like it’s no big deal. “Oh, well, guess we won’t find out until we find that card!”
And so they continue with their search and after a while Izuku begins to worry that they might be a little late.
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
In the meantime Tsuyu sits with her family at the local dinner. They’ve been waiting patiently for a little while now.
The dinner is relatively quiet with just them, a few other patrons, and the waitress making up the restaurant's current population. A small little radio plays a soft slow sea shanty from atop the dinner’s bar giving the place a white noise sort-of background noise.
Tsuyu sighs, waiting for them to appear. ‘I wonder if they found it yet?’ If they do that’ll be great and maybe the Krakken and her babies can live here in peace.
But peace never lasts especially as the peace and quiet of the dinner is ripped away. The radio screeches and static can be heard as the broadcast of sea chanties are shut down and replaced by an emergency bulletin.
A woman’s voice calls out from the radio. [“This is an emergency broadcast!”]
Everyone in the dinner sits up, listening intently to the warning.
[“We have received reports that there’s been a prison break at Kuin Prison.”]
Several gasps escape the patrons, and even Tsuyu finds herself gasping in total surprise. A prison break? How? Nothing like that’s happened in years?!
[“The prisoner has somehow evaded recapture as of now. The authorities warn that this individual should be considered armed and dangerous. Normal civilians should not approach and contact their local police and local heroes immediately.”]
[“Details are unclear on how the prisoner escaped, but authorities expect a third party to be at play. However, that cannot be confirmed nor denied at this point in time. Again I repeat, be on alert for the escaped prisoner. The escape should be considered armed and dangerous.”]
Tsuyu’s heart is pumping. ‘Armed and dangerous?’ Just who was it? What kind of villain is there that could escape a high max prison? ‘Who escaped? And how?’ She can’t help but wonder.
[“The prisoner’s name is Akai Kitou!”]
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THE PREVIEW:
Izuku: Time for the preview, again! I guess. Wow, did you see that?! What a day, huh?
Bullfrag: I’ll say. It felt like a lot if you ask me.
Izuku: I know maybe we should stop off somewhere a little quieter next time.
Bullfrag: Yeah, I bet you’d love some peace and quiet right?
*PHEW! PHEW! CLANG!!*
Bullfrag: What was that? Oh, geeze, I think the Rustbucket lost a wheel!
Izuku: Gah!! Oh, man. The AC’s on the frits again, too! Dang it!
Bullfrag: No offense but this old girl’s a hunk of junk.
Izuku: I know but Dad says, “it’s not how the car looks but what’s underneath it that matters.”
Bullfrag: Yeah, that answer sounds like a lot of bullcrap.
Izuku: That’s because it is.
Izuku: Looks like we gotta get her fixed. Look, there's a mechanic!
*BOOM!!!*
Izuku: Ahhh!! The garage! It blew up!
Both: Next time: Ch.51 Pitstop!!
Bullfrag: My man. You really need to learn to keep your chill…
Notes:
**New Opening Theme!!!** So if you’ve been wondering why Drag0n5on hasn’t written up a new OP for this arc yet, that would be because of me. I wanted to give my own shot at an OP for this story. But because of how late I’ve been with previous chapters I never got around to finishing it until now, so I hope you guys enjoy it. Also you will find that some characters have been silhouetted out in the OP that is because I wanna hide spoilers for now and they will be revealed as this arc goes on.
The song for the OP is from Cannon Busters. Not the best show but I liked the intro song :Showdown.”
***New artwork by “Voidv25” on Deviant art called “Henzu(Monster)” it’s great! Finally you guys will have a full on visual and image of what Henzu A.K.A. Nue looks like! Woah!! I worked closely with Voidv25 on this one, even provided my own draft of Henzu as reference. So what you see is how I imagined Henzu to look like.
This story has a TV Tropes page so feel free to check it out.
*While I was talking to one of my “editors” we were trying to figure out what to do about Jonah’s (Apex) Quirk. And during the same conversation I mentioned that it’d be cool if there was a giant monster fight. And then my brilliant “editor” had the genius idea of taking a One Piece character’s power.
(Look up Page One from One Piece).
And so Jonah’s Quirk became “Spino Sapien!” Now to be clear he is not at all an accurate representation of an actual Spinosaurus but hey that’s why the Quirk's called Spino Sapien, and not Spinosaurus.
*In my original plan (the one I worked on back in November/December) Izuku wasn’t supposed to get a new alien but in more recent months I changed my mind. Hence why Bullfrag is now part of the Omnitrix’s arsenal now.
*Speaking of new aliens. Not every chapter is gonna have a new alien. That being said, because I know a lot of you are gonna ask. Upgrade will not show up in the next chapter. I know:
“Boo! Boo! We want Upgrade! How could you?! Ahhh!!”
Well before you curse me out, why not hear me out? The reason Upgrade won’t be appearing next time is because I have a waaaaaayyy better idea on how he’ll be introduced. And trust me when it happens you will be so happy that I waited to include him. Trust me.
*The Secret Saturdays. Yes they do exist in this universe. No, I don’t actually have a plan for them. I have no ideas as of now and if I do use them it would at least be for a brief chapter or two. But I wanted to keep the possibility open in case I wanna use them later down the line (not during this arc but in a later one maybe).
*Lake Nal Hutta is named after the Star Wars planet “Nal Hutta.” Which is the home world of the Hutts.
*So. I have noticed that I may have gotten really lazy and forgetful with PMs and responding to reviews. So please if I failed to contact you or even thank you for a review within a week please feel free and PM me for a response. Especially if you asked a question or had something you really wanted to share. With so many reviews I sometimes miss a few of them.
Chapter 56: Pitstop
Notes:
I’m back with another chapter! To be honest I really thought I could get this one out in 2 weeks, but I guess I was lying to myself again :( And I even cut things out! But in any case I hope you guys like it, nonetheless.
***Also, I’ll have an Important Announcement at the end of the chapter so check it out because it does pertain to this story.
This story has a TV Tropes page so feel free to check it out.
https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Fanfic/HeroesNeverDieItsHeroTime
Disclaimer I do not own the rights to Ben 10 or MHA.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
*** As of August 11, 2021 A NEW SIDE STORY NOW AVAILABLE WITH THIS STORY!!! Check out "Heroes Never Die; It's Hero Time, Anytime"
Rain crashes down in buckets, drenching the entirety of the city below as the night and the dark storm clouds shroud the entire city in darkness. The visibility through the rain is near impossible as signs of city life and people have all but disappeared with people locked away in their homes or shelters leaving the streets empty and bare. Only police lights and the lights of streetlamps illuminate the city through the heavy rain and shadows with the occasional flash of lightning breaking the ominous silence and darkness.
“Does anyone have eyes on the escapee?!” An officer shouts into his radio as he marches through the empty streets, rain pouring down on him as he approaches the train station. “Does anyone read me?! Does anyone copy?! What’s the status of the situation?!”
But no answers.
The officer makes it to the nearly empty station where only a few commuters are hoping to get on the last bullet train of the night. They’re all lined up single file as other officers make sure they are not the escaped prisoner.
The officer rips off the hood of his poncho, revealing his penguin-like mutation. His head is rather square for that of a penguin with black and white feathers and an orange beak. He stands tall despite his rather short stature like a commander who holds himself to his authoritative position.
“Captain!”
The Penguin Captain turns spotting one of his officers in training running over to him; a trainee who like him has a penguin like mutation but unlike him he is shorter and admittedly much more adorable thanks to his mannerisms and nativity.
Behind the trainee approach two other officers and like them both are penguins too. One is taller and holding a clipboard while the other has a cowlick and has a bit of crazy in his eye.
The Penguin Trainee gasps for air when he catches up, greeting his superior officer with a salute. “Sir. We’ve fully implemented the curfew and we have a number of pro heroes patrolling the streets along with other officers.”
“Good work, Private!”
The Penguin Trainee frowns. “Um, that’s not my name sir.”
“You think I don’t know ?!”
“Oh, um, sorry! I meant no disrespect sir!”
“Good, Private.” The Penguin Captain spins around and aims his flipper-like arm at the tallest of the Penguin Officers. “What’s the analysis of the situation?”
The tall Penguin Officer stands at attention as he examines his notes. “Sir! We have heroes on every street, checkpoints at every exit, and we have patrols and squads searching every building in the area. The odds of the prisoner escaping are 78.99%”
The Penguin Captain gasps, that can’t be right?! “78%?! How could that be?! It should be zero!!”
The Penguin Officer shakes his head taking the captain’s yelling in stride, as he gestures to the downpour just outside. “Sorry, sir but this rain is hindering our visual surveillance. And the heroes that rely on other senses like smell are finding their senses hindered by the storm.”
The Penguin Captain growls, grabbing the officer by his collar and pulling him in and slapping the officer repeatedly with his flipper. “Don’t give me excuses! Give me results!!”
He shoves the tall Penguin Officer away before swinging his attention over to the Penguin with a crazed look in his eye. “I want all weapons at the ready. I want rockets, I want stun guns, I want everything! This No-good slimy vermin is not escaping today! I want them captured the moment they’re found! Use any means necessary!!”
The crazed-looking Penguin officer only grins, shaking his head a bit too delightfully.
“I want this villain found yesterday, people!!”
His three subordinates all give a salute. “Aye Aye, Sir!”
And so the Penguin officers march or rather waddle away back to the downpour to help with the search.
They waddle their way through the empty streets, forced to cover their faces against the raging deluge.
They disappear into the stormy night leaving the street deserted and soulless.
A crash of a trash can is heard and then a lone figure dashes out from a nearby alley way, and they are booking it for the bullet train. Beside the lone figure, hovering in the air, gliding alongside is a strange floating entity emitting a low red light.
The humanoid figure on the floating entity slips around the station, avoiding the officers inside. The officers themselves remain unaware as they guide the last of the passengers into the train before heading out into the street to help search.
Thanks to the cover of the night and heavy rain the figure and the entity easily jump the fence leading onto the tracks before rushing over towards the back of the train just as the train begins to pull away.
Quickly and expertly the figure presses their hand to the side of the train, their hand seems to meld itself onto the train. And so with a firm grip, the figure swings themselves onto the train’s side beside its exit doors. The floating entity glides along the train as it begins to pick up speed, the entity aims a small device at the door before a small thin-lined laser pierces the lock, unlocking it. With their free hand the figure slides open the door. Immediately the entity dashes inside followed by their comrade who slides the door closed.
The figure ducks down, scanning the car, relieved to find it empty of occupants as most are in other cars further up the train. At the same time, the floating entity sees to all the cameras, slicing them apart with its little laser.
And so with the coast clear, the figure is finally allowed to rest as the entity sees to the lights as well, shutting them off completely.
The escapee takes a breath as they take a seat, rubbing a hand through their soaked red hair. “Thanks for getting me out of there.” The escapee’s eyes narrow in on the entirety. “But what is it you want?”
The entity glows red as it approaches, revealing itself to be a familiar drone. A red high-tech drone with insectoid like limbs. “Akai Kitou.”
The escapee’s eyes widen. They know that voice, they’ll never forget it. It’s the same chilling and dangerous voice that spoke to them before, it’s the same voice, the exact same one.
The drone backs away before projecting a life-sized hologram before Kitou.
They nearly jump away as a massive form towers before them, their hologram illuminating the speeding train car.
Whatever Kitou was expecting it certainly wasn't such a monster: a squid faced, hulking, tentacle monster.
“After all this time we finally meet face to face, Akai Kitou.” Vilgax’s holographic form looms over the escapee like that of a general towering over their subordinates. “Or should I call you by your moniker, Rojo?”
Lightning strikes, the flash illuminated Rojo’s sour face. Prison life has agreed with her as she’s now more muscular, anyone can tell even from the loose-fitting prison garb, although her hair is still rather short but combed back, or it would be if not drenched by the storm.
Rojo scowls up Vilgax in disgust. “What the hell are you?! Talk about a face only a mother could love.”
Vilgax's eyes narrow, his gaze drilling into her and trying to silently force her to submit.
After the initial shock has passed, Rojo takes a much calmer approach as she leans back in her seat, propping her leg up beside her. “So, you’re the one that was in my head last time.” She glares up at Vilgax as she remembers that haunting voice screaming in her head. “The one that made me go after that kid and that watch?!”
Vilgax simply answers with a chilling. “Yes.”
“Well, what do you want with me, now? I have a feeling you didn’t bust me out just because you felt sorry.”
Vilgax nods, he can appreciate a lackey with some intelligence. “I’m giving you a chance to redeem yourself.”
Rojo’s face scrunches up in confusion. “Redeem myself?”
“Yes. You are to go after the Omnitrix and retrieve for me.” It’s not a request, it’s a demand, an order from one’s superior.
Too bad Rojo doesn’t see it that way.
“Oh, hell no!” Rojo springs to her seat, walking away, turning her back on the hologram. “Last time I did that I got courted off to the big house.” Was committed for 20 years for attempted murder and kidnapping. “Sorry, Squidface but no way am I getting involved in that again.” She speaks with finality, turning away like he’s not worth her time.
Vilgax’s anger silently boils, but he remains eerily calm despite her response. “You misunderstand. This isn’t some back alley deal.”
And on que several drones crash through the bullet train, smashing the windows before circling around the escapee.
Rojo instantly freaks out, becoming rather panicked as the drones circle her, their weapons drawn and aimed for her head.
“This is a command from your general, your Master.”
Rojo’s fist clench, her teeth grind together, as she snarls at the hologram. “No one’s my master, you calamari fuck! You got that?!”
The sudden start and hum of the charging laser guns silence her.
“I’m afraid you’re the one that doesn't understand.” Despite being a hologram, Vilgax stomps forward, and with every step Rojo finds herself backing away. She knows he’s not there but even so his grasp, his power, it can reach her from wherever he is.
“Bring me my Omnitrix and I will reward you for your efforts. But if you dare to defy my orders.” To finish his sentence the drones’ blasters all glow hot red, ready to fire within seconds. “Well, then those officers are sure to find you. Or at least whatever’s left.”
Rojo eyes the drones, then the smashed-in windows, the door, back to the drones, and finally back to the self-proclaimed master. And with no way out and a promise to take her life, she gives a heavy sigh and accepts. “Alright, Calamari. I guess I’m in. But let’s get one thing straight this time I do things my way. Got that?!”
Vilgax leans back, composing himself. “Very well.” He strokes his tentacles much like someone with a beard would when intrigued. “For full disclosure I’ve become curious of what you humans are capable of.” Their abilities are just so fascinating. So curious.
“Sheesh, god-complex, much?” That human talking stuff is weird, that’s for sure. “But getting to the kid isn’t gonna be easy. Last I heard he and that bitch joined U.A.” The prison played the Sports Festival for them all and she got glimpses of their adventures: U.A.’s Rising Star and all that. “It’s gonna be a nightmare taking him down, that's for sure.”
“Defeating Izuku Midoriya is not the priority.” Vilgax clarifies. “Taking the Omnitrix is.”
Rojo gives him an exasperated look, placing a hand on her hip. “Just say it’s my problem to figure out.” Basically since it’s her own way she’s gotta figure out how to beat him herself. “Can you at least tell me where to find him?”
“My drone will guide you.” Upon his signal a much smaller drone with a large lens floats over. “It will also monitor your progress on my behalf.”
The Scout Droid glides over, hovering above Rojo’s shoulder and awaiting its master’s command.
Rojo eyes the drone, curiously, frowning at the lack of weapons or useful capabilities it has.
“Remember this, Akai Kitou.”
Rojo backs away as Vilgax looms over her. “No one who dares to defy me ever gets to witness the light of day again.”
She’s got the message: don’t betray him or she’s dead. ‘He could just say that.’ She thinks as she composes herself. “Alright, Squidface. I got your message loud and clear. I’ll get your watch and even though you’re threatening me I still expect to be paid in the end.”
“But of course.”
“Good.”
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
Upon his command center, Vilgax signals for his drones to cut the feed and thus the hologram of Rojo disappears.
Vilgax stands before his helm, his back towards the doors, as he gazes down upon the earth in his cloaked ship.
The doors creak and shift apart as light steps enter the command center.
“I have a task for you.” Vilgax greets not bothering to turn and face the new arrival.
He receives an odd and alien gurgle in response. “Atwh? Uyo nawt em ot eb a teesa ofr tlrae?”
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Cannon Busters Opening - Showdown
(Beginning Instrumentals)
An open road, a bright sun illuminating the beautiful summer day, and the rush of wind in one’s ears as the Rustbucket cruises by moving across the road like a sports car before zooming past with grace.
We got places to go, things to do, people to see, and we got to get it done right away.
Izuku adjusts his hoodie, tugging it down over his body. All before gripping the dial of the Omnitrix and giving it a shine with his fingers.
So if you on the crew, guess we a team. Thicker than thieves and we all tryna help find a way
Hisashi buttons up his Hawaiian short, before grabbing his respirator and dawning it over his maw. He then snatches up a few loose tickets and pamphlets before tucking them away.
If you know the destination, we making conversation. Time is ticking, sun is setting, we got no time for waiting
Chopper latches his leg to his body, readjusting it. Before his arms pop out and flex about making sure they’re working properly.
Might be the showdown, Looks like it's 'bout to go down
Bust through with the cannon, at the hoedown
(Instrumentals)
Izuku slams down on the Omnitrix! In a flash of green the screen scrolls down to reveal his aliens: Feedback, XLR8, Grey Matter, Four Arms, Ditto, Ripjaws, Terraspin, Water Hazard, Lodestar, Buzzshock, Diamondhead, Big Chill, Heatblast, Stinkfly, Wildmutt, Rath, and Wildvine.
Transition into title sequence: HEROES NEVER DIE; IT’S HERO TIME
So we won't fall, until gravity is gone
Izuku grins falling through the air alongside Rath, Wildvine, and several other inhuman silhouettes! As the glow of the sunrise illuminates U.A. in the background!
We've been on this road too long, so long
Hisashi and Izuku stand back to back looking away from each other as the scene rotates around them.
The scenes flips in rapid succession with characters standing back to back!
(Instrumentals)
To Thirteen and Ochaco!
To Ochaco and All Might!
To All Might and Gran Torino!
And to Gran Torino and Hisashi!
And I can't stop, we can't stop
I'm so far away from home
We've been on this road too long, too long
A legion of villains have their backs to the camera but as the camera slides through their lineup, each of them turn to acknowledge the audience.
Kraab’s claw flexes and clamps nearly clipping the camera.
Rojo folds their arms together and smirks as the camera rolls past.
Silhouette (B) raises their weapon at the ready.
Silhouette (C) stands tall and proud, towering over the camera.
Nue bares a sharp tooth grin, his eyes gleaming with malice before the camera zooms away and up into to the forbidding sky, through the void of space, through the walls of the command ship, before halting before an all observing Vilgax.
Playing with fire (Fire!)
Take me higher
From up in the air Cinder releases a cloud of flames down upon Rojo below! Rojo cuts through the flames before rocketing up and clashing with the hero in midair!
We're on our way, we're on our way
Undivided (-Vided!)
All Might zooms past, his grin wide, as he slams his fist into Silhouette (C)! Silhouette (C) crashes into the ground, kicking up smoke, but it rises again, unharmed.
And ignited
We're on our way, we're on our way, yeah!
From the smoke cloud, Ochaco leaps back in a spin as Silhouette (B) soars after her. Silhouette (B) swings their weapon at her but she counters it with a Ryou Sphere!
On our way, we're going
Nue grins madly as he stares down Deku who grins back just as determined and manically.
And no mistakes while we're rolling around town
We just came back round
The Rustbucket bursts forth zooming down the highlighted highway, gracefully zooming past Bakugou, Kirishima, and a number of silhouettes!
You don't wanna show out
Close up of a smiling Hisashi.
Cut to a closeup of Chopper.
Finally a close up to a grinning Deku!
Might be a showdown
Deku’s hand slams down on the Omnitrix, the alien green light swallows the screen!
Woo!
Freeze on the image of Deku, Cinder, and Chopper posing before the setting sun, their shadows casted far off over the ground towards the camera.
(Illustrated by CreateGunner1209)
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Ch.51 Pitstop
The Rustbucket shakes, rattles, and screeches as it cruises down the open road with farmland to the south and tall forests to their north, with only a few homes and shops in sight. There’s hardly any other cars, the sun is up, and the hilly scenery is gorgeous. All in all it’s a beautiful day to be out on the open road.
And the constant up and down of the road makes it feel like a roller coaster but that would explain why this road is known as the Roller Coaster Road of Furano, Hokkaido.
Hisashi Midoriya lowers the window or at least he tries to, but it gets jammed half away. “Aw, don't you love being on the open road? It’s just so nice to get off the highway and just wonder. You know?”
Meanwhile, Izuku Midoriya is busy having a hard time with the radio, since there’s no aux cord. And yes this RV is that old. “It’d be better with some music.” Since all he’s getting is either static or the speakers blowing out.
“Oh, that. You just gotta give her some encouragement.” Hisashi leans back and delivers a hard slam of his fist down onto the RV’s dashboard. Instantly the radio springs to life; blasting “Highway to Hell" by AC/DC into their ears.
Hisashi smiles as the radio begins to play. “See?”
Before Izuku can answer, the RV begins to violently rattle and shake, its gears and parts clanking together in a symphony of metal hitting metal.
From the back, his head lying on the table, Kraab calls out. “It’s making that noise again!”
Hisashi waves it off with a sheepish smile. “It’s just the hydraulics they’ll settle down soon enough.”
Izuku isn’t so convinced as the rattling and clanking continues. “Isn’t Chopper supposed to fix this kind of stuff?”
^Wap?! Wap-wap?!^ Chopper starts, picking up on the jab that was aimed at him.
Izuku sighs in response, just as annoyed. “Yes, that was a rhetorical question.”
Hisashi lights up. “Hey, you knew what he said!”
Izuku shakes his head with a shrug. “Not really, I maybe got every third word and had context clues to work with.” It’s still a slow process but slowly and surely Izuku will understand binary. “But for real, yesterday when the bumper fell off all you did was duct tape it!”
“Hey now.” Hisashi chides, reaching over, and holding up said roll of duct tape. “I’ll have you know that duct tape is one of if not THE greatest contributions humans have had across the known galaxies.”
“What about fire?”
Hisashi can’t help but laugh! “Hahaha!”
Not only him but so does Chopper. ^Bhbhbhbh-wa!^
And even Kraab’s head is rolling around on the table in a fit of laughter. “Hahaha! Are you kidding?! News flash by the time you humans discovered fire, other species were already exploring other solar systems!”
Izuku sinks into his seat, feeling kinda down and embarrassed for the human race as a whole. “But anyway shouldn’t Chopper at least weld it back.” He gestures to the front of the RV, to the duct taped bumper.
Hisashi waves it off. “He will, the tape’s just a temporary fix for now until we get to where we’re going.” Essentially they’ll weld it in place later.
Izuku, however, isn’t done questioning Hisashi’s approach to vehicle maintenance. “Okay but what about the toilet? The plumbing still isn’t working right. It still won’t flush right.” And just thinking about the clean up after last time still grosses him out. “And what about the freezer? We can’t even keep ice in there, or it’ll melt.” Seriously, that thing can’t even keep an ice pack cold. “Not to mention the smell.”
“This old girl just has character is all.” Hisashi claims as if that’ll answer everything. Or in other words he hadn’t bothered to deal with it yet. “Besides, we can only work with what we have. Sure Chopper can fix it but that’s not always possible when you don’t have the right parts.”
The rattle intensifies and a strange mechanical wheeze can be heard near the rear of the RV.
Hisashi grips the wheel a little tighter as the Rustbucket jolts forward. “But I will admit it’s been a while since I gave this old girl a tune up. Probably should have done that before we left for this trip, huh?”
Izuku makes sure his seatbelt is tightened. “Yeah you should have.”
“But hey,” Hisashi smiles, trying to look on the bright side of things. “It's a nice clear day, an open road, no traffic. I hardly doubt she’ll break down anytime soon.”
Even Kraab’s skeptical as the rattling continues. “I highly doubt that.”
*VROOM!!!*
The roar of powerful engines rumble across the road from behind the Rustbucket.
A look at the rear-view mirror tells Hisashi that they got three road hogs gaining on them from behind.
Izuku spins around trying to get a good look at the road hogs. “Are they racing?”
Hisashi starts to slow down the RV, redirecting it to the shoulder. “It’s fine. We’ll just let them pass.”
As the road hogs race closer, only one of the roaring cars goes ahead and actually passes up the Rustbucket.
The roaring blue colored monster truck zooms past the RV, its wheels nearly grazing the side view mirror before it purposefully jerks itself right into the RV’s path, slamming down on the brakes!
“Ah!!” Hisashi quickly hits the break while swerving to the left, leaving the right side of the RV exposed.
Izuku grips his seat as the RV’s jerked away from the monster truck. “What is that guy doing?”
With an opening on its right, a speeding tow truck of bash color and rust pulls up on the side.
And finally an orange American muscle car pulls up on the RV’s left side, effectively corralling the Rustbucket between all three vehicles.
Hisashi's eyes the cars, worry growing in his eye as he reads the cars’ movements. Hisashi grips the steering wheel with all his might as he shouts out. “Everybody hold on!!”
On que the muscle cars slams into the RV’s side, followed by the tow truck from the other side, knocking the RV back towards the left.
“Ahhhhh!!” Hisashi and Izuku scream, holding on for dear life as the RV’s rammed from both sides.
^Wawawawa!^Sliding across the back is Chopper who’s screaming out in a panic! ^Wawawawa!^
Kraab’s head bounces across the RV along with him! “What’s happening?! Are we under attack?”
The RV’s thrown and jostled to the side harshly, Izuku’s nearly launched out of his seat as his side slams into the armrest! “These guys are insane!!”
The RV’s tousled in the other direction as the tow truck slams into its side.
Hisashi grits his teeth, as he glares at the reflection of the muscle car in his mirror.
He watches in horror as a large spike pops out from the muscle car’s wheel. The car then slams into the RV before veering off leaving a nasty gash in its side.
“You wanna play rough. Fine.” Hisashi quickly begins flipping switches across the dashboard. “Then let’s play dirty.”
The tow truck goes in for another slam, however, it never connects as electricity discharges from the Rustbucket’s wheels. The electricity discharges across the tow truck, frying it outside and forcing the car off road!
“Woah!” Izuku awes, watching as the tow truck is forced to a stop. “What was that?!”
Hisashi breaks into a grin as he shifts gears. “Haha! See! I told you the old girl has some tricks! Hahaha-Woah!!”
The Rustbucket jerks to the left as Hisashi yelps in surprise as his mirror is shot off by what might have been a bullet!
Hisashi spins around to see the muscle car racing up just before something very small and metallic is fired out in rapid succession!
“Shit!” He throws his head back as the possible bullets pierce and ricochet around the RV’s cab! “They’re armed!”
“No! They’re not!” Izuku shouts as he bends down and picks up one of the metal projectiles. “They’re lug nuts!”
Scattered across the RV, embedded into the siding are lug nuts.
“Huh.” Hisashi almost breaks into an impressed smirk. “Unexpected. But somewhat fitting.”
More high-speed lug nuts are fired out at them, forcing Hisashi to take cover while still trying to race! “No. and I mean no one, shoots at my ride!”
And so with reckless abandon Hisashi slams the Rustbucket into the much smaller car! The cars clash but the RV wins out forcing the smaller vehicles into a ditch!!
“Haha! That’s what you get!”
“Nice!” Izuku cheers, while holding on for dear life.
Kraab’s head rolls forward, bumping into his foot. “Don’t celebrate yet. There’s still one more!”
Of course there's still the monster truck blocking their path.
“Don’t worry.” Hisashi girls as he gets ready to pull a hand lever. “This'll teach them for messing with the Rustbucket.” And he gives the lever a pull.
Izuku can hear gears grinding and the hydraulics working as the front grill shifts and expands becoming armorized before glowing with a sparking forcefield.
Both Izuku’s and Kraab’s jaws drop. “What. Is. That?!”
Hisashi grins. “A fun toy.” Furthering into recklessness, he slams down on the gas, speeding forward!
“You’re gonna hit the truck!!”
“That’s the idea! Hahaha! God I love battering rams!”
“Ahahah!!!”
The Rustbucket chargers forward, headed for a collision course with the monster truck!!
They quickly close the gap on the truck, speeding closer and closer until they finally slam into what feels like a wall!!
The RV’s rear is thrown into the air and the glass of the windshield shatters raining down on the passengers as it feels like the entire Rustbucket just slammed into the side of a mountain!
Izuku and the droids all cry out in shock as they’re thrown into the air before the RV slams back onto the ground, the tires skidding and burning off the pavement! The battering ram shatters upon impact, falling apart and scattering to the ground!
Izuku groans as he’s slammed back down into his seat. “Ow.”
Hisashi aches too, reaching over and grabs Izuku's shoulder, checking him for any injuries. “You okay?”
“Ow. What happened?!”
“I don’t know!” Hisashi peers forward only to see that the monster truck is unscathed, untouched, and moving at the same pace as before, like it never even noticed the RV ramming into it. “I might have underestimated this guy.”
At the same time, Chopper’s been thrown atop the table. As he wobbles back onto his feet he takes a moment to peer out the window where he immediately begins to panic. ^Wa! Wa-bzz!”
Hisashi’s too busy trying to keep the RV stable so he didn’t hear him. “I didn’t catch that!”
Izuku may have gotten every third word but that’s all he needs to know. “We got company!” He points at the rear-view mirror.
There they can see that the two other road hogs are catching up, they’ll be upon them all in seconds if nothing’s done.
Kraab’s head rolls across the floor as the RV swerves from side to side. “Doesn’t this hunk of junk have any weapons?!”
“We don’t need weapons.” Hisashi states with all seriousness as he grips the gear shift. “The only thing we need is the Midoriya Special.”
Izuku frowns, confused. “Midoriya Special.” And then he remembers it was that stupid stunt his Dad pulled when they were stuck in traffic. “No! No way! That can’t be real, I just thought you were being a jerk!”
“Oh, I was.” Hisashi admits with a grin. “But this time for sure, I got this!” And so he shifts the gear down! “Here we go! Hahaha!”
As the cars are about to catch up, the RV speeds forward, swerving from side to side, as Hisashi rapidly shifts gears moving faster and faster. The Monster truck tries to shadow him from the front, trying to block his path but the RV’s moving too much even for it to keep track!
Hisashi grins as he opens the cap of the gear shift, revealing a red button hidden within. “Alright, here we go. This is the…MIDROIYA SPECIAL!!!”
And so with a press of a button the hydraulics scream as the rear bumper folds away and rockets shift out into view. And thus the RV rockets forward like a missile, totally zooming past the monster truck before screeching down the vast stretch of road!
Within seconds the RV’s left the road hogs in the dust, disappearing from view.
With their quarry gone the three road hogs’ vehicles come to a screeching halt.
Izuku leans out the window, watching as their pursuers disappear from view. “I think we lost them!!” He cheers sitting back down. “And when were you going to tell me Rustbucket had booster rockets?!”
“I never had a chance to show you yet, to be honest.” Hisashi grins, petting the dashboard as if the car was alive. “She’s been tricked out with all sorts of toys, thanks to my Grandpa. Yeah, your great Grandpa loved working on his set of wheels. The tech might be a bit dated, I’ll admit, but it still has some kick to it!”
Izuku frowns, a question looming over him. “What did he do for a living again?”
“Oh he was a Plumber.”
Izuku blinks. “Which kind?” Just to be sure.
“Uh, right he was a-Woah!”
The RV’s rockets give out, and so do several tires that burst and pop due to the friction! Hisashi slams on the brakes, slowing the Rustbucket until they finally skid to a slow stop.
And so with the chase over, they can finally take in the entirety of the damage. The battering ram is ruined, the sidings are dented and gouged out, lug nuts are embedded into the RV’s side, the windshield is busted, tires have blown out completely, a mirror is missing, and the booster rockets are smoking.
Hisashi breathes heavily, catching his breath. “Well. I think that went well.”
Izuku’s knuckles are bone white from holding the arm rests so tightly. “No, it really didn’t.”
“Hm.” Hisashi inspects the back of the RV finding it to be a total mess as well with the freezer door hanging limply, glass broken in, and dents in the walls.
^Wo-wa…^ Chopper picks himself up, holding his head as if in pain.
“Ugh…” Kraab moans, his head lodged between a suitcase and the trash. “Where the hell did you get your license?”
“Oh, boy.” Hisashi frowns, examining the rest of the damage. “Think you can fix it, Chop?”
Chopper simply looks around before giving his owner an exasperated look. ^Bop-ba.^
Even Izuku knows full well what he’s saying.
Hisashi nods, finally letting go of the steering wheel. “I think it might be time this old girl got a tune up.”
Izuku can’t take it, he finally snaps. “YOU THINK!?!”
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The Rustbucket limps, moving at a crawl as it finally reaches the center of the country-side town. The town is small and quiet but large enough to warrant an entire stretch of gas stations, restaurants, shops, and other services. The town is old and barren, it has clearly seen better days, and it clearly was once a racing town with old worn out billboards still up on display, showcasing the local racetrack.
And so the RV continues to limp along through the quiet town until it eventually arrives at the opposite end of town, closer to the outskirts, lies the town’s local mechanic and auto shop.
Izuku sighs with relief as the RV pulls up to the shop's small parking lot. “Finally.” He was sure the RV would have broken down before they even made it halfway across town.
But looking at the garage makes him doubt whether or not this is the auto shop they want to be at. The shop is small with big glass windows and a glass door with a little bell hanging up above. Broken and fixed cars are filed into the parking lot, and a large garage connected into the shop sits at the end of the parking lot. It’s a two-door garage with large doors that are rusted and dented, they look so flimsy that a strong gust will tear the door down. Bits of machines and cars litter the ground around it, the windows have long been missing from their places, and even the side door looks like it’ll fall off its hinges.
Hisashi raises an eyebrow but considering this was the closest garage they have no choice but to come here. “Charming.” He sets the RV into park.
Izuku and his Dad hop out of the RV, leaving Chopper and Kraab behind inside. The two Midoriyas strut towards the garage, Hisashi discussing what they need. “We need new hydraulics, new tires, welding material, a new mirror, maybe some-!!”
A small explosion detonates from inside the garage, the large garage door is torn open from within, its lower sides bent upward as fire, smoke, and debris rip through the aluminum.
“Get down!” Hisashi throws himself over Izuku, as a flaming tire whizzes over them.
Izuku shields his face as the fire dies down and the bellows of smoke stream out from the garage. “Are they back?!” He spins around, thinking that those road hogs were back for another go, but the street is empty.
“Quickly!” Hisashi rushes to the garage, prying open the side of the aluminum door so they can squeeze in. “Someone might need our help!”
They slip inside greeted by smoke and the scent of burning oil as they scan the hazy garage for signs of life.
Hisashi frantically looks around. “Is anyone hurt?! Is anyone in here?!”
“Look!” Izuku points towards the back, there by the workbench there’s someone, possibly the mechanic, picking themselves off the floor.
Without waiting for an invitation, Izuku rushes over to the mechanic’s side. “Are you okay?! What happened?!”
The mechanic somehow coughs while simultaneously laughing as they try to fan away to smoke. “Ha…haha. The servo got fried…it was too much power. And the actuator gave out. Hehe.”
Izuku frowns, he tries to get a good look at the mechanic, but their face is smeared with oil and ash, but judging by their voice they sound young. “Are you okay?”
“I’m fine!” The mechanic grins, their…her yellow eyes Zooming up at the greenette. “But my babies definitely need more work!”
Izuku blinks as the clues finally all set in place. “Hatsume?”
Mei Hatsume coughs as she dusts off her pink hair. Her grin widens when she finally actually notices that she has guests. “Oh, a customer!” She springs to her feet, her grin wide and full of egotistical pride. “Hi, yes, I’m Mei Hatsume! Future Greatest Inventor and Engineer at your service! Hahaha!” She shakes Izuku’s hand so hard that he nearly loses his balance; she pulls him in close, too close for his comfort, but she doesn’t care, she only cares about her own agenda and her babies. “What is it you need? A new car? A fixed tractor? Your hair’s green so I assume you're a farmer. Oh, maybe you want a robot that can plow the field for you? Or maybe a specialized gadget to help harvest your crops?! Or how about”
“Uh, uh, uh, I don’t need any of that, actually.” Izuku shys away, feeling both awkward and a bit uncomfortable. He was so close to her that he could smell the oil in her hair. “Um, by the way do you know who I am?”
Hatsume responds with a nonapologetic grin. “Nope! Not a clue!”
“Wah?! It's me! Izuku Midoriya? We go to U.A. We fought in the Sports Festival. You were on Uraraka’s team during the Cavalry Battle.” He's honestly not sure if any of this is ringing a bell for her.
But it appears those do ring a bell as it finally clicks. “Oh! Now I remember you're the freak that turns into freakier freaks!” She is of course totally unapologetic as she states this, her grin brimming.
Izuku gasps, shocked as the dread of school social life creeps in. “Is that how the school sees me?!”
Hisashi chuckles, pitying his son and showing him mercy by stepping in. “Sorry, Hatsume was it? I’m Hisashi Midoriya, Izuku’s father, and I was wondering if you could help us out.”
Hatsume blinks up at the older Midoriya as if now just noticing that he was there. “What’s up?!”
“Does your family run this shop?”
“Sure do!”
“Well then I’d like to speak to them if you don’t mind. Afraid we got ourselves a damaged RV and we can really use some help and supplies.”
“Haha! If it’s just an RV then I can fix that myself. No sweat!”
“I'd rather talk to the actual owner though.”
“Sorry, but they’re not here right now anyway.”
Izuku starts, feeling even more uneasy. “What was that?”
“My folks went off for a business trip, they won’t be back for a few days because of it.”
Izuku’s dread only grows. “So you’re by yourself…unsupervised?” No wonder the place looks like it’s been blown up so many times already.
“Yup! But I’m not alone.” Hatsume spins around just as the last of the smoke dissipates. “I have my precious babies too! Hahaha!”
She is of course referring to the mountains of gadgets, machines, robots, and trinkets piled up and scattered across the large garage. Various tools both handheld and high-tech litter the floor and workbenches and a few cars are suspended in the air by high powered lifts.
Hisashi gasps, not initially understanding her. “Babies?!” He panics, mentally checking that she’s the same age as Izuku. “You’re far too young!!”
Izuku, meanwhile, eyes the gadgets as well as the blast marks straining the walls and floor. “It’ll take a miracle for this place to still be standing by the time they get back.”
Hatsume ignores each of their concerns, spinning around with her shining arrogant yet delightful grin. “So, let’s see this RV of yours!”
Wheeling it inside as the entire Rustbucket creeks, shakes, and grinds against the pavement as it slides inside the garage.
“Oh wow!” Hatsume grins as she takes in the Rustbucket and all its glory. “It’s trashed!!”
Hisashi sheepishly smiles as she steps down from the driver seat. “It wasn’t my fault if you can believe it.”
Izuku shakes his head frantically. “Yeah, there were these crazy-’
“Woooo!” Hatsume’s already inspecting the busted grill and battering ram.
Izuku yells, stunned. “And you’re ignoring me!”
Hatsume eyes the battering ram, her goggles flipping over her eyes as she examines the busted device with an excited grin. “Nice. This is some quality tech, damaged, but still a work of art.” She slides her hand across the RV’s side, eyeing the massive gash, before arriving at the RV’s rear. “Booster rockets?! Haha! Yes! Those should be standard for every vehicle!”
Izuku shakes his head, totally disagreeing with her ideal car designs.
“Wooo!” Hatsume gushes as she opens the hood like a treasure hunter discovering their fated treasure trove. “Amazing!”
Izuku frowns, wondering what could be so impressive about the busted up Rustbucket. “What is it?”
“This RV’s an old model, like super old, but look at its engine!”
Izuku reluctantly strolls over and peers inside to find a rather large and shiny engine inside the Rustbucket, it looks powerful like an engine that could power several semi-trucks. Although Izuku himself doesn't really understand all that he’s looking at.
“This is way more advanced than anything you can get off the normal market.” Hatsume spins around, grinning up at the RV’s owner. “You have to tell me where you got it?!”
Hisashi chuckles, admiring her passion for machinery and eye for excellent works of art, such as his ride. “A friend from out of town got it for me actually.”
Hatsume whistles, impressed by the engine’s design as she begins to fiddle with it. “Woo. Haha!”
Hisashi watches her work with an impressed look. Almost like he’s contemplating something that’s both brilliant and crazy.
Izuku nervously approaches him, whispering into his ear. “Is this a good idea? Just so you know she can go a little overboard.” He warns while eyeing the blast marks worriedly. “Also what about the alien tech inside?”
“It’s fine. The alien tech is old and closer to Earth’s level and besides most of the modifications used are from Earth anyway.”
Well that’s convenient.
As Hatsume inspects the rest of the damage, the vroom of a speeding motorbike can be heard just outside the doors before screeching to a halt.
Followed by the condescending tone of a teenage girl who’s clearly here to show their superiority. “Well, well, well. Looks like another one of your abominations blew up in your face, huh, Grease Monkey?”
Hatsume and the Midoriyas all spin around towards the open garage doors to find a girl a little older than they are, standing before the doors with her custom made moped. And for someone calling Hatsume a grease monkey is ironic since she’s clearly one too. But unlike Hatsume she actually cares about her appearance and hygiene: judging by her well-groomed jet-black hair and red lipstick. Her attire is clearly that of a fellow mechanic with a black full sleeved shirt under a short white jacket that’s tied below her chest, she’s also wearing torn jean shorts, grease stained boots, and green welding glasses over her forehead.
Hatsume's demeanor instantly changes, becoming rather cold yet sadistic like a worthy foe has just appeared at her doorstep. Because it had. “What brings you here? Turbine?”
Turbine’s red lips curl up into cruel smirks. “Just stopping by. Wanted to check in on the School Girl, is all. After all, you moved on to the high and mighty hero school and its posh and overexaggerated Support Course.” she brushes her hair to the side with an air of superiority. “I’m surprised you came back; I would have figured you were above all this.”
“Never.” Hatsume grins. “I’d never abandon this place.”
Izuku smiles, he can appreciate the sentiment of loving one’s home.
“After all, where else can I work on my babies without anyone complaining?! Hahaha!”
Izuku face faults onto the floor; of course, she only cares about this place. She’s in the middle of nowhere and the neighbors are too far to really care about her gadgets and their destructive capabilities.
Turbine scowls, clearly this was not the reaction she wanted. She glares daggers at Hatsume before she spots Hisashi, Izuku, and then…the busted Rustbucket.
For a moment her eyes widen in recognition before her cruel smirk returns. “That RV looks really beat up.” She turns her attention to the Midoriyas. “Don’t tell me you’re gonna trust this Grease Monkey with it are you?”
Hisashi frowns, his gaze becoming defiant as he steps forward. “Well, I think Hatsume here is more than capable for the job.”
“Oh, really? Are you sure? She’ll probably trash it more than it already is.”
Okay even Izuku’s had enough of her: sure Hatsume’s tinkering can be…chaotic but he will not stand by as someone’s hard work and skills are insulted. “I doubt that. In fact I think she’ll fix the Rustbucket as good as new.”
Turbine turns her glare onto Izuku. “Oh, really?”
Izuku returns the glare. “Yeah, I do. After all, I know that everyone that goes to U.A. is willing to Go Beyond.”
“And what makes you so sure of that? After all U.A.’s nothing but propaganda and a home for elitists.”
Izuku’s scowls, taking that personally. “Because I’m from U.A. too.”
Turbine scoffs. “You? What? Are you in General Studies?”
“No. The Hero Course.”
Turbine’s eyes widened before turning cold and angry. “Pft. No wonder you don’t make any sense. You’re just as insane as she is.” She struts over towards Hisashi, flashing him her business card. “My family has our own garage. Feel free to bring the…what’d you call it? Right. Feel free to bring the Rustbucket over to us instead. If you want it to actually be fixed.”
And with a brush and a swish of her hair into Hatsume’s and Izuku’s faces she struts away. Swinging her leg over her moped’s seat, throwing on her helmet and goggles, before revving it up and turning back towards the U.A. crew. “I suggest hiding behind a blast shield! Or don’t! See if I care about you U.A. A-holes!”
And with that she zooms away, her hair whipping behind her, and a nasty skid mark trailing behind her as she circles around the parking lot before speeding away.
Izuku scowls, shaking his head as they watch her leave. “What’s her deal? Who hurt her?”
Hatsume sighs. “U.A. did.”
“Huh? How?”
“She got herself expelled from the Support Course.”
Izuku starts, surprised that someone who hates on U.A. so much was in fact a student there at one point. “Why was she expelled?”
Hatsume sighs, an air of unfamiliar seriousness looms around her as she answers. “She apparently tried to sell her own gadgets and even other students’ gadgets into the black market. And even to some villains. But those are only rumors I heard in passing.”
Izuku’s startled, his eyes widening in shock. “What? She tried to sell support items to the black market?!”
“No.” Hatsume shakes her head. “She tried to sell weapons.”
Izuku gulps, wishing that maybe he should have transformed into Diamondhead before talking back to someone that may have been armed.
“But I’m not like her!” Hatsume declares with a grin. “Haha! She may resort to cheating and underhanded tactics to get by! But not me! I’ll achieve success through my own hard work! I’ll work hard and create the best support items to ever exist!”
Hisashi smiles, admiring her drive. “Well, Greatest Inventor and Engineer, what do you say we get to work and fix up the Rustbucket.”
Hatsume flashes him a toothy grin. “By the time I’m done with it you’d have never known it was ruined!”
Izuku smiles, getting in on her confidence. “And if you don’t mind we can help out too!”
“Hahaha!”
“That…wasn’t a joke…”
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
Turbine throws the door open, marching into the dank machine filled garage with steam rising from her head. “Rahh!!” She’s so angry that she kicks an innocent toolbox that was just lying on the ground, minding its own business.
Tools fly everywhere banging and bouncing off the floors and off the side of a car that’s under repair.
One of the mechanics jumps in his seat as his head is nearly clipped by a wrench. He has light brown hair with a balding scalp and a crooked smile with gnarled teeth. He has tattoos all over his body which is in full view since he doesn’t wear a shirt and instead wears blue overalls with large black gloves and large black boots.
The mechanic frowns, scratching himself as Turbine stomps into the garage “What’s got yar panties all twisted up and such?”
“Can your ugly mug!!” Turbine growls as she stomps by. “I don’t need another bastard mouthing off to me!”
Another mechanic, one that’s much larger, lies on the floor, chewing on a toothpick as he works on the underside of a muscle car. “Now, sis. Don’t let Road Rage get to you.” He reaches out for a nearby wrench before fixing up a loose bolt. “He didn’t even use his Quirk.”
“Pft.” With a huff, Turbine plops down into a rolling chair that slides and slams into the workbench where she goes ahead and plops her arm down with a humph.
The garage is quiet as Road Rage and Turbine’s brother work on their respective repairs, only the sounds of a welding torch and a wrench fill the large dank garage.
After a moment the mechanic drops his wrench, before reaching over for a welding torch. “So, wanna tell me what’s got you so worked up?”
Turbine scowls, she kicks her legs up onto the workbench not at all caring that she kicked over some spray cans. “Grease Monkey’s back in town.”
“Is that all?” The mechanic dismisses it, not at all concerned.
Turbine scowls, annoyed that he’s not immediately joining in on her anger. “And. That RV we tried to jack, the one armed with all those weapons, it was there too.”
The garage goes silent as all welding and wrenching ceases.
The mechanic leans his head out from under the car. “Was it?” His voice is no longer dismissive but intrigued, allured by the prospect of getting some sweet revenge.
And Turbine knows this as she leans back in her chair with a satisfied smirk. “And get this, it’s owned by some other schmucks from U.A.”
“Hm. Now that is interesting.” And so the large mechanic lifts himself off the ground, before slamming the hood of the car he was working on shut while coming into full view.
He’s a large set man with light brown messy hair sticking out from his green and white trucker’s hat. His horseshoe mustache is just as messy and combined with his goatee give him a real rugged and unkempt look. His white shit’s stained with oil that not even his slick black vest could cover. His army pants are baggy and clearly worn after too much use.
The mechanic swishes the toothpick between his teeth as he turns to face his crew. “Well then, maybe I should pay them a visit. After all no one out rides the Road Crew. Especially not some U.A. dogs.”
Devilish grins all appear on the Road Crew’s faces like schoolyard bullies plotting to mess with their favorite victim.
“Ugh.” A new voice groans. “You always did think small, didn't ya, Highway?”
The presence, the intense presence, hushes the Road Crew who spin around to find a red-haired figuring looming at their door.
Highway chokes, coughing out his toothpick. “Kitou?!”
The young woman scowls in response. “It’s Rojo now.”
Highway nods, scowling in response, as he brings a new toothpick to his lips. “Then I’ll have you know that the name’s Baron, Baron Highway now.”
Rojo rolls her eyes as she steps into the dank garage. “Sure it is, old man.” She spits before her annoyed scowl turns friendly as she spots Turbine sitting up near the back. “Nice to see ya kid.”
Turbine lights up, springing to her feet so fast that she kicks the chair over. “Akai! Oops, I mean Rojo.” Her voice now toned down and serious.
“Same, kid. But this isn’t a social call.”
Baron Highway scowls, he assumed as much. “Of course it ain’t.” The toothpick twirls in his mouth before he sits back on the car. “You know I do watch the news. Kudos for escaping, that couldn’t have been easy.” Although he sort of hoped she’d be caught.
“Yeah well I had some help.” Rojo’s eyes drift up over her left shoulder: where an invisible Scout drone is hovering, watching her every move.
“So, what is it you need?” Highway eyes her prison attire and lack of gear or weapons. “And what happened to the rifle we built for ya?” Or rather she strong armed them to make for her.
“A U.A. brat destroyed it.” Rojo turns to Turbine and adds. “The same one that mouthed off at you earlier.”
Turbine’s eyes widen in surprise.
Rojo turns back towards the Road Crew’s boss. “In fact he’s why I’m here. I gotta job to do and he’s it.”
“Good for you I guess.” Highway snickers, not missing an opportunity to screw with her. “A working lady and right out of prison, you are a busy one. But what’s that got to do with us?”
“You owe me.” Rojo responds in full seriousness. “And I’m cashing it in.”
Highway clenches his fist, his scowl hardening.
Rojo can tell he wants to say no, that he wants to kick her out and be done with her, but he won’t, he can’t. Not after what happened.
Besides he’s always been a simplistic kind of guy, he enjoys the small things in life, like beating the life out of others, especially those that humiliate him and his crew. “Hm. Fine. We’re in. We’ll help your ass out, but I expect a cut, got it?!”
Rojo rolls her eyes, she’d figured as much. “Yeah, don’t worry, You know I’m good for it; you’ll get your cut when the job’s done.”
“Well alrighty then!” Highway shoves himself off the car. “First thing’s first. Let’s get you out of those dregs. Sis, get her some new wears! And Road Rage check the arsenal, get this bitch something special, something that suits her.”
“On it, bro!/Right, boss.”
Turbine and Road Rage take off: Turbine disappears out the back door while Road Rage heads over to the workbench. There on the wall is a large wrench but rather than pulling on it he gives it a turn like he’s unlocking a safe. The wall shifts open, and the wall splits in two to reveal a wall of stashed away weaponry and gadgets.
Highway stands by Rojo’s side as they both admire the selection of weapons. “So what can you tell me about this punk?”
“Tell me.” Rojo smirks. “Did you watch the Sports Festival?”
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
“There!” Hatsume leans away from the newly installed wheel, her grin stretching from ear to ear as she wipes away the sweat and oil on her brow only to smear it all over her face. “How’s it looking in there?”
“It’s a complete mess! The hydraulics are all blown! Ahh! Ew, gross.” An oil covered Grey Matter squeezes out from behind the row of wheels. “This is just my luck.” He whines while trying to wipe away the greasy oil.
The two have been at it for a while now with Hatsume working on the new set of wheels and tires while Grey Matter went ahead to inspect the interior and underside of the RV.
But either way they keep on working on the RV while Hisashi sees to the nasty gash on the other side of the Rustbucket.
After a few more minutes Grey Matter’s natural curiosity begins to rear itself. “So, who’s Turbine?”
“What?” Hatsume blinks, she was distracted while tightening the last of the lug nuts onto the wheel.
“Um, that girl, the one that came by and hated on U.A. How do you know her?”
“Ha, it doesn’t matter!” Hatsume waves it off with an oblivious grin before returning to her task.
“Um, but I’d still like to know.”
Hatsume goes quiet, her smile still present but a bit more subdued as she checks the wheel’s stability. And after another moment of silence she eventually coughs up an answer. “Isn’t it obvious? We’re rivals or at least we used to be.”
Grey Matter raises an eyebrow. “Used to be?”
“Yeah, we were always competing trying to do better than the other.” Like the time they each made go karts to race during the local fair, or the time they each competed to make the best science fair project, or the time they both thought they could make the best ice cream maker. They always competed to outshine the other and it was always neck and neck, or at least it used to be. “But she lost.”
“How?”
“She made weapons, she cheated, and she got booted out of the Support Course. So by default I won!” Hatsume cheers, but there’s just a slight hint of regret laced in there; almost like that wasn’t how she wanted to win.
“Right… By the way, that…nickname of hers. What’s with that? Why Turbine of all things?”
“It’s a nickname. It was one of the first things she built, a turbine. Plus I think it has something to do with her Quirk.”
“Her Quirk?” Now she has Grey Matter’s attention.
“Yeah, Velocity I think.” Hatsume taps the wrench to her chin as she tries to recall what it does. “If I remember it right she’s able to accelerate objects that are in motion in an instant. Like she can take a pebble and toss it, but it’ll speed through the air so fast that you’d think it was shot out of a gun!”
Although Hatsume may think a Quirk like that sounds cool, Grey Matter and Hisashi certainly don’t.
Hisashi actually drops the hammer he was holding, his head popping out from behind the side of the RV, his eyes filled with suspicion and worry. The Galvian has the same feelings, they both share a look, both of them thinking about the same thing: the lug nuts that shot at them like bullets.
Grey Matter gulps, recalling just how many of those lug nuts pierced the Rustbucket’s cab and windshield. “Sounds…kinda dangerous.”
“It is! Heck she even attacked Mr. Baggy-eyed teach with it.”
“Baggy-eyed teach?” It only takes Grey Matter mere seconds to figure out who she’s referring to. “Oh, you mean Mr. Aizawa!”
“Yeah! I heard he was investigating into the missing support items!”
Grey Matter nods his head, putting the pieces together himself. “Which led him to her, and she attacked him back.”
“Yup! I heard he expelled her then and there!”
‘Yeah that sounds like something he would do.’ Grey Matter thinks as he reverts back into his human form.
Izuku goes quiet, not really feeling all that comfortable with grilling Hatsume for more answers. Not like she’d answer since she’s all distracted by the next wheel that needs fixing.
While she works Hisashi goes ahead and inspects the rest of the garage, or rather the gadgets and support items littering the place. “You made all this?” He asks, clearly impressed.
“Of course, they’re my babies!”
“Impressive. Most impressive.” His eyes sparkle with a scheming glint as he contemplates an intriguing idea.
As Hatsume finishes up with the last wheel the clang of a metal pot falling inside the RV catches her attention. Her curiosity only grows when she thinks she hears the rhythm of beeps and the unmistakable echo of electric motors humming. Curiously she gets up, grabs the ledge of the RV’s window, and pulls herself up to peer inside; her eyes widen, Zooming in on the source of the noise.
And so with a shiteating grin and without even bothering to ask for permission she goes right ahead and jumps into the RV much to the Midoriyas’ surprise and dread.
Izuku gulps as he approaches the RV’s side door. “Um, Hatsume?”
Izuku looks to his Dad for an answer, but he’s just as confused as he is.
There is only silence but then everything turns into an uproar as Chopper practically jumps out of the Rustbucket in a panic, screaming his little head off. ^Baw! Wa Wa Wa!^
“Faster! Faster! She’s gaining!” Kraab screams while tucked away in Chopper’s mechanical arms.
Hatsume leaps out of the RV with a crazed look in her eye and a maniacal smile. “Haha! There’s no reason to run away! I’m just gonna see how well you operate is all!” She says while gripping her wrench and hammer like they’re a pair of dissection tools.
^Wooop!^
“Faster C1-10P!” Kraab screams as Hatsume pursues them through the garage! “She’s gonna catch us!!”
Too late, as she’s already looming over them.
Chopper jumps as he circles around a busted car. ^Bop-bzz wa!^
Kraab would be turning pale if he had flesh for a face. “What do you mean it’s every droid for themselves?”
And so without any remorse Chopper tosses Kraab backwards into the air, sacrificing him for his own greater good.
“Traitor!”
He doesn’t even make it a foot into the air before Hatsume catches him in her greedy fingers. “Hahaha! I got you!”
Kraab’s breath hitches, he can almost sense the air of unease and looming danger, almost like death himself as his paws on him.
With Hatsume thoroughly distracted, Chopper quickly seeks shelter behind his master, cowering behind his legs.
While Hisashi tries to calm his droid he fails to realize that Izuku's close to freaking out too. After all Hatsume’s got her hands-on alien tech, not just that but one that could actually expose them all!
“Hahaha! Look at you!” She tosses and turns Kraab around quickly and with haste as she inspects every nook, scratch, and bolt of his metal head. “You’re so advanced and well-constructed!” She grips her handy tools. “If you don’t mind I’m gonna have a quick peek inside of ya! Haha!
Krab glares up at the pink-haired menace. “I am not to be messed with! I have warrants for my capture in nine systems! And another ten systems want me dead!”
Everyone goes silent: Hatsume astonished by Kraab’s dialogue while the Midoriyas all go stalk pale.
“I’ve destroyed, captured, and maimed plenty of targets in my time and you will be next on my kill count. I will destroy you, your filthy garage, and your precious babies.”
His threat is real, what he’s saying is a full-blown promise.
“Amazing!!”
Too bad Hatsume didn’t get any of that at all.
“Such incredible programming!” Hatsume awes as she spins Kraab around. “Its programming is so advanced that it actually believes it's alive!!”
Izuku sighs, glad she jumped to her own reasonable conclusion.
Kraab however couldn’t be more insulted. “I am alive! Haven’t you ever heard of a cyborg?! I’m a cybernetic bounty hunter, not some toy for you to mess with!”
“Hahaha!” Hatsume peers over at Izuku, assuming the bodiless bot is his. “Odd choice for a backstory but I see you’re a creative type too Midoodle!”
Izuku frowns, flinching as she gets his name wrong. “Um, it’s actually Midoriya.”
“Amazing!” She ignores his correction so she can continue to examine the bot. “Such advanced wiring and cybernetics, those are hard to come by! Impressive.” Her eyes Zoom in on the cowering Chopper. “And so are you!” She grins menacingly, her grubby hands clenching towards the terrified droid.
^Bop bop bop.^ Chopper shakes his head while he tries to swat Hatsume’s grubby hands away.
Hatsume grins up at the droid’s owner. “Please, you have to tell me where he was manufactured.”
Izuku’s breath hitches; he can’t recall if Hisashi ever discussed with him a backstory for Chopper!
Hisashi, however, is as calm as can be. “I-Island actually.”
Hatsume gasps. “Really?!”
“Yeah, an old acquaintance made him for me.”
Hatsume seems to buy it much to Izuku's relief. ‘Nice job Dad, she bought the lie.’
“Do you mind if I have a look?” Hatsume’s maniacal grin grows wider as she tries to approach the trembling droid. “I wanna see how it operates. I wanna see what makes it tick!”
^Bz-bop!^ Chopper shakes his head in a panic, begging Hisashi not to let her near him.
Hisashi stands between Hatsume and her target, offering up an apologetic grin in return. “Sorry, but Chopper’s a maintenance bot so he’s very sensitive when others try to fix him up.” That’s not a lie, the one-time Hisashi tried to give him a new antenna Chopper insisted that he do it himself.
“You know. I'd rather you fixed the Rustbucket first if you don’t mind.”
“No way!” Hatsume brushes off his request without a care that he is technically her customer. “Innovation comes first!”
Kraab trembles in her hand as he eyes the blast marks staining the garage walls and floor. “You’re insane! If you operate on us we’re gonna blow up like the rest of your toys!”
“Haha! Blowing up only means there’s room for improvement. So,” She turns her haunting grin onto the alien cyborg. “Let’s get to work shall we?!”
Kraab looks like he’d be crying streams of tears if he could produce them. He’s so terrified of this girl poking around with his head and brain that he’s legit terrified.
And that look, that look of fear and helplessness, it speaks to Izuku and before he can really process it, he’s already snatched Kraab out from Hatsume’s grasp. “No!”
Everyone’s hushed into a stunned silence: Hatsume still has a wide grin on her face as she stares into her hand like her brain hasn’t processed that Krab isn’t there anymore.
Everyone soon turns their gaze on Izuku who’s clutching the cyborg’s head close to his chest.
Upon realizing what he did and all the attention on him too, Izuku becomes very self-conscious, becoming shy and nervous. “Um, sorry but um…” Shoot, okay he needs to say something, but not just anything. He needs to say something that Hatsume will believe.
But before Izuku can even think about it he's already blurting out the first lie he can think of. “He’s my personal project!”
Everyone blinks, not totally sure what he’s getting at. “Eh?”
“Yeah, I built him myself!” Izuku nods his head, almost like trying to coax himself to buy into his own coverup. “I designed him. I programmed him. And yeah he’s still a work in progress, but you know he’s mine.” Izuku holds Kraab a bit closer, shielding him .“He’s my project…my…my bot. And so I’d rather work on him myself, if you don’t mind?” Izuku nods his head before trying to give a confident but shaky smile. “You know how it is right? Can’t have someone else do all the work for me.”
Everyone from Chopper to Hatsume to Hisashi just stare at him blankly like he was speaking an entirely different language. Even Kraab seems at a loss for words, sitting silently in Izuku’s arm.
As they stare Izuku can do nothing but pray, pray that she bought into it.
“I understand!” Hatsume grins, not at all questioning it.
“You do?!” Honestly Izuku was sure she’d see through his facade.
“Sure do!” Hatsume nods at the bot. “This is your precious baby! And only you should have the right to improve upon it!”
Izuku sweatdrops. “Um, I’m not so sure I’d call him my baby.”
“Haha! I had no idea you were an inventive type too Midoray!”
“It’s Midoriya…” Izuku shakes his head both out of exasperation but also in relief and slight disbelief that she actually bought the bullcrap he was selling.
Hisashi chuckles, shaking his head in disbelief, amused by the teens’ antics. “Hey, Hatsume!”
“What’s up?”
Hisashi knocks his fist against the RV’s side. “She’s not gonna fix herself you know. Shall we?”
“Right!” Hatsume raises her tools. “Let’s get back to it! I’ll have this old girl up and running like she was fresh off the conveyor belt!”
And so she hops right back to it, her attention easily distracted by the prospect of improving or fixing up any machine that she can get.
Izuku let out a huge sigh of relief, glad he didn’t embarrass himself as much as he did.
As Izuku breathes as he sets Kraab down on a nearby work bench. Kraab, however, just stares up at him, blinking, almost like he’s really seeing Izuku for the first time. “You…don’t make sense to me.”
“Hm? Did you say something?”
“No…”
Izuku shrugs, figuring it wasn’t important before turning back and watching as Hatsume watches in awe as Chopper welds the gash in the RV’s side back together.
His stomach gives a low growl and reminds him that he had too light of a breakfast today, actually he skipped breakfast because all his Dad had to offer were chocolate covered ants.
“You know what.” He claps his hands together grabbing everyone’s attention. “Do you guys want anything to eat? I think I saw a few restaurants down the road, I can go get us something.”
“Nope!” Hatsume shakes her head with a smile. “No thanks! I’ll eat after I fix your RV!”
Hisashi frowns, noting how the teen’s already neglected taking a shower and after watching how…dedicated she can be, he can only imagine how many meals she’s already skipped.
“You know what, food sounds good actually.”
Izuku nods. “Cool.”
And so after writing down their orders, Izuku turns to leave. “I’ll be back!”
Before he goes he spots Kraab on the workbench. “You wanna come along?”
Kraab frowns, hesitating, but he can sense someone watching him. He turns ever so slightly and starts when he spots Hatsume leering at him. He metaphorically starts sweating. “Yes! Please! Take me with you!”
Izuku goes ahead and scopes him up, tucking him under his arm with his hand lodged into his hoodie’s pouch.
“Aw…” Hatsume sighs in defeat as they leave.
Hisashi chuckles as he works on the battering ram, and already he has oil smeared onto his Hawaiian shirt.
Izuku takes a breath of fresh air, revealing the scent of forest country air rather than the mixed odor of gas, oil, and rust. What greets him is the open stretch of road with the main strip of town lying just a mile away meaning he’s in for a bit of a walk before he can even pick a restaurant to eat from.
And so with the Omnitrix still recharging, and in need of a nice calm walk Izuku sees no problem in hiking it over to town. The road has no sidewalk so instead he walks on the left side he can spot oncoming traffic, which is nonexistent at the moment but hey better to be safe than sorry.
Kraab blinks up at Izuku, watching him, studying him like he’s some foreign object. “Why’d you do that?”
Izuku starts, looking down quizzically that the cyborg head tucked under his arm. “Pardon?”
“Why’d you do that?”
Izuku frowns, pulling Kraab up into his hands. “Do what?”
“You know…”
Izuku frowns, finishing the question for the cyborg. “Why’d I step in and help?”
“Yeah. You didn’t have to.” Kraab’s eyes narrow in on Izuku, analyzing him for suspicious behavior. “Or is this all a ploy?”
Izuku’s face scrunches up in confusion, having no idea what Kraab’s getting at. “And what kind of ploy would that be?”
“I don’t know! But I’m onto you.” Kraab hisses, his eyes peeled and narrowed. “I know there was an ulterior motive, I don’t know what it is, but there is one.”
Izuku’s expression falls, it’s almost heartbreaking to hear Kraab can’t fathom someone else helping him. “Well I guess I did have one.”
“I knew it! What? You want information? Gain my trust and then backstab me? Do you want me to pay you? Do you want money? Sorry not happening! So what is it you want?”
“I guess…I guess I just wanted to help.”
Kraab just stares at Izuku for a moment, waiting for him to admit that he’s kidding, but it never comes. “Yeah, that’s a load of Bantha droppings.”
Izuku winces in response, he can feel his heart being stabbed.
“Seriously, kid, you don’t expect me to buy that do you?”
“But-but it’s true! I…I just wanted to help…” Is that so hard to believe?
“Please, that’s not how the universe works. Nobody just helps someone because they feel like it.” Kraab scoffs, trying to shake his head at just how absurd this kid is. “Come on, be honest with me, look me in the eye and tell me; why bother helping others? What’s the point?”
Izuku stops to think. ‘Was it the point?’ He has to wonder. Why help others? Why risk your own life for the sake of others? What’s the benefit?
A small smile graces Izuku’s lips, finding the answer to be obvious. “Because…it’s cool.”
“Huh?”
“Or rather…I think it’s cool.” Izuku peers up at the clear blue sky, a cool breeze washes down the hillside, brushing his hair. “Ever since I was a kid I’ve always wanted to be a hero. I always loved the idea of saving people, protecting them, and helping them.” Seeing people smile, free of fear and worry, it’s a wonderful sight, because it means they’re safe, it means they know there’s someone who’s there to help them when they need it. “I’ve always wanted to save people with a smile.” Like All Might… “So I guess in a way what I want is kinda selfish. I mean I want people to save people, use my own strength and powers to save them, to help them. Does that make sense?”
Kraab gives him a blank stare. “No.”
Izuku sweat drops; honestly not sure how to go from there.
Kraab just shakes his head, the entire concept having flown over his head. “Yeah, that’s sweet and all, like so sweet it would give me cavities if I had any teeth, but I still don’t see how helping others could possibly benefit you.”
As they continue down the stretch of road, Izuku spots something in the distance. “It’s not about benefiting myself. It's about what I can do for others.” In that same moment the Omnitrix beeps turning green having fully recharged.
“I still don’t get it. And what are you looking at?” Izuku spins Kraab's head around so he can see.
Just a little further down a jeep has broken down on the side of the road, and there standing at the hood with their back towards them is a red-haired woman. She appears to be trying to fix her engine but is clearly struggling to do so.
Kraab sighs. “Oh, you're not gonna help are you?”
“I am.” Izuku responds firmly. “Besides with Grey Matter or even Feedback or Buzzshock I could probably help them out.” Izuku actually breaks into a smile. “You watch, I’ll show you what helping others can do.”
Kraab rolls eyes. “Not like I have a choice but to watch.”
And so Izuku jogs over towards the busted down jeep. “Excuse me! Do you need any help, miss?”
The red-haired woman doesn't seem all too surprised to hear him, she keeps her back to him as she continues to fiddle with the engine. “Yes, please, any help would be great.”
Izuku’s feeling rather proud of himself as he smirks down at the cyborg in his hand.
Said cyborg sighs. “Yeah, yeah, whatever.”
Izuku turns his attention back towards the jeep and its driver. “What seems to be the problem?”
“I think my engine’s broken.” The red-haired woman waves him over. “Do you think you could take a look?”
“Sure.” Izuku strolls over, the woman sliding over to make room as he sticks his head in to have a look. “Hm, I think I see the problem.”
“You do?” The woman almost sounds sarcastic as she questions him.
“Yeah.” Izuku, not picking up on the cold sarcasm, smiles up at the woman. “I think your batteries…shot…”
Izuku’s smile fades away as he locks eyes with the smirking Rojo.
His blood turns ice cold as Rojo’s smirk turns gleefully wicked. “Long time no see, Kid.”
Kraab, having been watching and picking up on their social cues, sighs as he comments in on the results of Izuku’s actions. “And in that moment, Midoriya knew; he gone fucked up.”
Rojo smirks as she pulls her hand out from under the hood, her Quirk, Attachment, having fused the top of her hand with a large blaster that resembles a high-tech speaker.
As she swings her arm at Izuku, the Greenette leaps back and, without even thinking, slams his hand down on the Omnitrix.
Rojo fires and a high-pressure sonic blast. *VREEEEE!!!* The sonic blast sounds like a siren screeching through the air as high-speed air pressure slams into the flash of green light!
A hulking red mass takes the hit, his muscular arms taking the brunt of the blast, while his athletic legs dig into the ground as he’s forced back across the roadside.
“Cool toy.” Four Arms rips his hands away, deflecting the sonic blast away. “Too bad it’s no match for Four Arms!”
Despite Four Arms durability, Rojo can’t help but smirk like she’s glad one hit wasn’t enough to take him out. “I see you can still take a hit, Kid. Maybe they should call you U.A.’s Punching Bag rather than Rising Star?”
“Rojo!” Four Arms shouts, his fists clenching, well except for his hand that’s gripping Kraab.
“Aw, you remembered me.” Rojo smirks, her voice layered with sarcasm. “I’m so touched.”
“How could I forget?” After all, she kidnapped his friend, Uraraka, and threatened her life. “What are you doing here? I thought you were in jail.”
“I was.” Rojo taunts. “Got out on good behavior.”
“You know for some reason I don’t believe you.”
“Ha! Pity.”
From within Four Arm’s strong grip, Kraab can’t help but feel left out. “I’m sorry, who is this?”
“Right.” Four Arms holds Kraab’s head up so he can see properly. “Kraab meet Rojo, Rojo, Kraab.”
Rojo starts, her eyes widened as she lays eyes on the high-tech cyborg head. “Another drone? What did Squidface send you down here?”
“Squidface?” Four Arms starts before putting two and two together. “I get it now.” She’s working for Vilgax again, which means: “You’re after the Omnitrix again.”
“Yeah, well when a piece of jewelry catches a girl's fancy, she just gotta have it.” She aims the sonic blaster at the Tetramand. “No matter the price.”
Four Arms’ arms flex, ready to throw down in a moment's notice. “Sorry, but the watch’s not for sale.”
“That’s fine. I’m willing to haggle.”
*VREEEEE!!!* And she fires upon the hulking brute.
Four Arms is ready, diving away in the nick of time.
*VREEEEE!!!*
She fires again only for Four Arms to brace himself; he holds himself low to the ground, his shoulder out in front with his arms braced. And so he shields himself, allowing the sonic blast to wash over him.
“Well, you certainly have an itchy trigger finger.” Four Arms straightens up with a scowl on his face. “I’d be more cautious if I were you.” He slams his top pair of fists together. “I ain’t the same kid from last time, I’ve grown.”
“Really?” Rojo chuckles. “You’re saying your man now?” She teases spitefully, her eyes drifting downwards.
Four Arms’ face turns even redder. “Not what I meant!” With a shake of his head he returns to his normal completion. “Just give up. You’re no match for me all by yourself. You should have learned that by now.”
Despite the warning Rojo’s cocky smirk doesn't go anywhere. “You’re right. That’s why I decided to call in some friends.”
Before Four Arms can even process it a massive blue monster truck crashes through the brush, its engine roaring in his ears as it crashes towards the Tetramand!
Four Arm’s instincts scream for him to dodge, and so he dives away the truck just barely missing him.
As the monster truck charges past, from down the road an orange muscle car speeds right for Four Arms.
Four Arms spins backwards, dodging the car like a matador leading a charging bull. He gasps as a rusty tow truck takes a shot at him, forcing him to dive forward towards the center of the road to dodge it.
Four Arms leaps to his feet, his fists up at the ready, watching diligently as the various vehicles circle around him like a pack of sharks.
The vehicles come to a stop, corralling the Tetramand between them.
And watching from Four Arms’ lower left hand, Kraab gasps when he spots the familiar looking cars. “Hey, it's those Road Hogs from before!”
“Road Hogs?” Baron Highway kicks open his door, stepping out and leaning over the hood, his sunglasses gleaming under the hot sun, and his toothpick twirls between his teeth. “You tell that there roomba to watch itself. This here’s my crew. This is Baron Highway’s Road Crew!”
Kraab’s anger rises upon a being called a roomba.
“Huh, the Road Crew?” Four Arms frowns up at Highway. “No offense but Road Hogs’ a much cooler name.”
A choked cackle echoes from behind him. “Heheheha!” With a busted smile Road Rage hops out from his tow truck. “Funny guy, ain’t ya?”
Four Arms smirks right back. “I like to think so.”
Turbine lowers the window of her muscle car. “I heard you’re in Tall-Dark-and Gloom-sum’s class?” She scoffs. “I’m surprised he hasn’t expelled you yet; after all.” Her smirk is cold, but it's a facade to try to hide her own shame. “He doesn’t know talent when he sees it.” After all he said she was a waste-of-potential.
Four Arms glares at Turbine, not at all surprised to see her here. “Mr. Aizawa knows talent.” Otherwise he would have been expelled by now. “And he knows trouble when he sees it.” Izuku would know after all.
Turbine scowls so hard her admittedly pretty face turns ugly with anger.
“You watch your mouth boy!” Highway barks, jumping down from his truck and landing with a loud thud. “Or you’re gonna be-”
“-What? Roadkill?” Four Arms finishes for him with a taunting smirk on his face.
Highways growls, his fists clenching; that was supposed to be his line!
Four Arms folds his arms as he calls out this posse’s employer. “You have some interesting friends Rojo. Not the brightest bunch but hey nobody’s perfect.”
Highway goes ahead and responds for her. “You know, I don’t appreciate your mouth, Boy.” From behind his back Highway unveils a sick high-tech Rocket Hammer.
[Imagine the “Vindertech Rocket Hammer” from Fortnite]
Four Arms backs away, having a bad feeling about the Rocket Hammer. As he stands at the ready the rest of the Road Crew dawn their own support items. Road Rage wheels out a gun like device that's clearly supposed to fire out metallic grappling hooks. And as for Turbine she has an odd device installed around her left arm. The device is slim and metallic, meant to bend with her arm, with specialized tracks leading from the tips of her fingers to cylindrical magazines hooked behind her shoulder, each one’s filled with either lug nuts or bolts.
Rojo smirks as she too prepares her weapon, the sonic blaster.
Four Arms grits his teeth, turning his glare onto the red-haired thief.
Rojo’s smirk only grows wider in response. “Last chance kid, hand it over or…” The sonic blaster Attached to her arm sparks to life. “Well you know.”
“Hahaha.” The Road Crew all laugh out in response, their confidence high.
Kraab peers up at the transformed Izuku. “Do you have a plan?”
“Yeah.” Four Arms takes a low stance as his four arms flex and clench ready to throw down. “Four of them in fact.”
“That doesn’t make me feel any better.”
And so with his Rocket Hammer in hand Highway roars out. “Get em!!”
Everyone explodes into action, Turbine slams down on the gas, her muscle car’s tires screeching against the street as the car races forward.
“Heheheha!” The cackling Road Rage fires his grappling gun, the hook shouts out and wraps itself around Four Arms’ upper right arm.
Four Arms pulls back his hand in response.
Road Rage nearly loses his balance as Four Arms moves his arm. “Easy there big fella’r.” He presses his thumb down on the side of the handle and a surge of electricity courses through the cabling.
“Grah!!” Four Arms cries out as electricity surges through the cable and into him.
Fighting through the shocking pain he grips the hook and tears it away, tossing it aside.
*VREEEEE!!!* Rojo fires away, the sonic wave ripping through the air before colliding with the red hulk.
Four Arms braces himself against the sonic blast, enduring the sheering shaking pressure.
From behind Rojo, Turbine drives past with a cold smirk. “Let’s see you tough this out big boy.” She aims her arm out of the window, and with a flick of her arm the device activates and a row of lug nuts travel down the track before reaching her hand, where with a flick of her finger the slow-moving lug nut suddenly shoots out like a bullet!
One by one lug nuts roll before her finger, the moment they touch her skin they fire out and soon she’s showering Four Arms in a hail of high-speed projectiles!
The lug nuts pierce the sonic blast before smacking into Four Arms’ side. “Gahh!!” Four Arms cries out not even his tough skin is enough to totally null the pain.
He can do nothing but endure as the sonic wave and the hail of lug nuts continue to hound away at him.
But soon the pressure washes away and the lug nuts cease, but that’s only so Rojo and Turbine could provide the opening they needed.
“Rahh!!” Baron Highway attacks from behind, jumping forward with his Rocket Hammer in hand; the end of the hammer lights up, gaining speed as it's blasted forward and down towards the alien.
Four Arms barely has time to react as he throws himself to the side, putting distance between him and Highway as the hammer comes crashing down, slamming into the road, cracking it apart upon impact.
Four Arms springs to his feet only to find himself slammed against the hood of a speeding muscle car!
“Ha!” Turbine laughs, slamming her foot against the gas. “Like a bug on my windshield!” Shifting gears she forces her ride to race faster, making it harder for Four Arms to hold on! “I’ll hurt you so bad you’ll have to expel yourself from U.A.!”
Four Arms scowls at her through the windshield, he shoves himself back, digging his feet into the road! His feet tear at the road, the muscle car shakes against his strength, and Turbine shifts gears again to try and win out, aiming to run him right over!
“Raghh!!” Four Arms roars out and in a show of strength he digs in and lifts, lifts the speeding muscle car right over his head.
“Eeeekk!!” Turbine screams as she’s dangled in the air, above Four Arms’ head.
Four Arms hugs the car’s hood with all his might, squeezing it so tight that it begins to dent. He peers up through the windshield, right at the shocked Turbine. “It’s no wonder someone like you got expelled.”
Turbine scowls and aims her device right at the windshield and with her Quirk, Velocity, she fires away, the lug nuts piercing through the glass like paper!
Four Arms gasps, yelping in pain as the lug nuts bounce off his hide, and without thinking he raises his lower left hand up to cover his face.
“Ow! Ow ow! Ow ow! OW!!!” From within his hand, Kraab cries out as the lug nuts bounce off his head. “I’m not a shield you dumb ass! Ow!” Kraab blinks away the pain as more lug nuts shower down on them. Upon opening his eyes again he lets out an audible gasp. “Behind you!!”
Four Arms has just enough time to look and see Baron Highway charging right at him!
Highway’s moving fast, his body low as he charges!
Four Arms braces himself, expecting to fend him off just fine, but instead it’s like a semi-truck slammed into him! He’s hit by such a tremendous unstoppable force that he’s tossed right into the air!
Turbine’s muscle car slams down on its wheels, but the recoil whiplashes her causing to hit her head on the ceiling, knocking her out.
“Woah!!” Four Arms cries out as he’s flung into the air, unable to stabilize himself.
Highway slams his feet down, forcing himself to a stop. “That’s the set!”
Rojo aims her blaster as Four Arms descends. “And here's the spike!” She fires and the sonic blast slams into the airborne Four Arms!
The sheer power and pressure are enough to throw him backwards right into the broken-down Jeep!
“Ugh! Ugh…” Four Arms moans, his head spinning, as his back slams into the jeep, crushing it upon impact.
Kraab begins to panic as a member of the Road Crew approaches. “Hey, hey, hey! Get off your ass, Muscle Man! Now's not the time to be lying on the job!”
“The roomba’s right.” Highway stands before them, a cruel grin on his face as he shoulders his hammer. “You still gotta take your beating like a good little boy.”
Four Arms’ fist clench, his head pounding with memories; memories of poor Izuku taking way too many beatings, taking all those punches, unable to defend himself. “I ain’t no one’s punching bag!” He roars, leaping forward, grabbing the jeep’s hood so hard that it breaks. “RAAGHH!!” Four Arms roars as he swings the jeep around full intending on slamming it into Highway!
Before impact, Highway smirks. The jeep smashes into him, breaking apart in a glorious fashion, parts, wheels, and metal fly everywhere almost as if Four Arms smashed the jeep into a concrete wall!
Highway remains motionless, unmoved, and unscratched in the same exact spot as the broken smashed up jeep lies around him.
Four Arms stumbles back in shock.
Kraab blinks in shock and awe as well, his yellow eyes taking in every detail.
Four Arms breaths, shaking his head in denial. “What? How?”
“My Quirk.” Highway explains with a condescending smirk. “And with it I’m more than a match for you.” He marches forward, moving at a steady pace with a cool confidence.
Four Arms gets ready to throw down as Highway marches closer, shoving his hands forward to force him back. But instead it is him that’s forced back, he pushes and pushes against Highway’s shoulders, but the man continues to march forward unmoving, unflinching, he’s not even slowing down; almost as if Four Arms isn’t even there.
Four Arms can’t believe his eyes “No way?! But-but how?! What?!”
Four Arms throws himself to the side.
Highway continues to march forward before he slowly comes to a stop all on his own.
Four Arms shakes his head, gasping for air. “Just what is his Quirk?!”
“Momentum.” Kraab replies from within the Tetramand’s grip.
“What?”
“I can see it.”
“See what?”
“His speed, it remained constant the entire time; like once he built up enough momentum nothing could stop him.” Kraab was able to tell because of his high-speed cyber-processors and analyzing robotic eyes.
“Momentum?” Four Arms recalls the day’s events: from how the RV acted when it slammed into Highway’s monster truck, how he was thrown into the air, and to the Jeep being smashed into Highway and him being unharmed. “I get it.” It all comes together as he backs away from Highway. “Your Quirk allows you to hold a constant rate of momentum, essentially you're an unstoppable force and an immovable object.” And one that can even stand up to Four Arms’ strength as they’ve already seen.
“Hm, you're a lot smarter than I thought, Boy.” Highway flicks his toothpick, tossing it aside. “You hit the nail on the head, my Quirk’s called Momentum and it’s nothing like you’ve seen before.”
In fact how his Quirk, Momentum, works is fairly simple. He can maintain any speed from 0 to one hundred and when his Quirk is activated he becomes virtually indestructible and unmovable. So he can charge through walls like they were paper or even remain stock still and be able to take on a semi-truck unharmed. And as a bonus, thanks to his own mechanical skills, he can even extend his Quirk onto his support items, like the Rocket Hammer, and even his monster truck.
Rojo struts across the road. “Do you see now why I brought them along? With their Quirks and tech I’ll be able to do what the Hero Killer couldn’t.” With a chilling smirk she aims her sonic blaster at her cornered foe.
Four Arms huffs as he rises to his feet. “Why do all this? What’s there to gain?”
Rojo’s eyes flash with hesitation, before she averts her gaze.
Highway, however, scoffs at the ridiculous question. “What’s there to gain? How about respect and power?!”
“What?”
“We have the best Quirks in this here town. We make the best tech. We’re the strongest here!” Highway’s grin stretches from ear to ear as he grips his Rocket Hammer. “It’s like you said I’m an unstoppable force and there ain't nobody who’s gonna tell us otherwise.”
Four Arms understands; they’re power hungry. He’s seen this before, individuals gifted with amazing Quirks and allowing that power to go to their heads. Heck this Road Crew have such twisted morals they make Bakugou’s own inflated ego seem manageable.
Four Arms shakes his head, disappointed to hear their cliché motives. “Pft. Sorry I asked.”
And he’ll be sorry for getting himself distracted as Road Rage’s grappling hook wraps itself around his arm once again.
“Gotta ya!!” From within his tow truck, Road Rage howls as he locks the grappling gun to the truck’s side.
Highway breaks into a mad grin. “Take him for a ride, Road Rage!”
“Hahehehe!!” Road Rage cackles, slamming his foot down on the gas pedal!
“Rahhh!!” Four Arms is thrown off his feet, before having himself towed along behind the speeding tow truck! “Rahhh!!” Four Arms is pulled along on his back, his tough hide skidding across the asphalt as the truck gains speed.
“Hahehehe!!”
The tow truck races towards the direction of the Hatsume garage. The truck swerves from right to left, pulling Four Arms along and swinging him from side to side.
“Ow!” Sparks fly off Kraab’s head as he skids off the pavement. “Hey, watch the paint job!!”
Four Arms grits his teeth. “Raagh!!” He shoves himself off the ground, his hands burning as they skid against the road, before shoving himself to his feet.
He grips the cable and with all his might, slams his feet down against the pavement. His muscular legs dig and tear into the road, leaving trailing craters behind him.
“Gah!!” Road Rage whips forward in his seat as his two truck is forced to a stop.
Four Arms pulls back on the cable and Road Rage slams down on the gas, the tires spin wildly burning and smoking against the road.
But it’s no use as the tow truck is pulled backward.
“Raagh!!” Roaring out and with a final massive tug, he swings the tow truck into the air and tosses it right back at the Road Crew!
Highway braces himself. “Get behind me!”
Rojo dives behind him while Road Rage tucks-and-rolls out of the flying tow truck!
The flying tow truck crashes right into Highway, splitting apart into pieces upon impact.
Highway scowls brushing himself off as the destroyed tow truck’s parts scatter around him and Rojo.
Four Arms grins but his smile is tossed aside as high-speed lug nuts ricochet off his side.
Having woken back up, Turbine races past in her muscle car, firing away at the Tetramand as she speeds past. When she’s far enough she makes a wild U-turn, her tires skidding across the road, before she races back towards the U.A. student. As she approaches she begins to use Velocity to fire out high speed iron bolts!
Four Arms acts quickly by piercing the concrete with his bare hands and ripping out chunks of the road!
Turbine fires away but Four Arms blocks the incoming projectiles with the chunks of road. The high-speed bolts pierce and embed themselves into the chunks at rapid fire.
As Turbine zooms past, Four Arms retaliates by tossing the chunks of road right at her!
But she’s fast, too fast, swerving and speeding away, avoiding the flying debris.
Four Arms scowls, having missed and now finds himself without any ammo as Turbine swerves around for another pass.
“You missed?!” Kraab shouts. “How could you miss she was like two feet in front of you!!”
Four Arms just stares down at him, like he’s a final piece to an impossible puzzle.
“What?” Kraab begins to panic as Four Arms holds the cyborg’s head up like a frisbee. “No. No no no no no! NOOO!!!”
Kraab wails as his head spins through the air, Four Arms having shot him forward towards the speeding muscle car!
Kraab’s head skids off the pavement before ricocheting up and right into the car’s front wheel! His spinning head slashes the tire making it implodes and the car comes slamming down on the pavement, and thanks to combination of her speed and reckless driving the car flips over, landing on its roof, before skidding to a stop.
Turbine moans as she’s dangled upside down, her head spinning, but she is relatively unharmed since she actually wore her seatbelt.
Rojo and especially Highway seethes in anger as they watch their allies fall one after the other.
“I’m gonna smash your face in!!” Highway charges, his Rocket Hammer propelling him forward, speeding up his Momentum!
The hammer rockets down but Four Arms side steps allowing the hammer to smash into the road instead.
With Highway’s defense down and right in front of him, Four Arms goes in for a dual fist punch. But his fists crack against Highway’s motionless form and Momentum’s power.
“Ah!” Four Arms reels back, holding his aching hands.
“Hahaha! Dumb ass! I’m immovable!”
Four Arms scowls before grabbing Highway by his shoulders and waist. “Wanna bet?!”
Before Highway can even respond he finds himself lifted right into the air. “What? But my Quirk it-”
“Keeps you at the same speed.” Four Arms explains as he lifts Highway up. “But not direction!!” And with that he tosses Highway away!
“Rhaaa!!” Highway screams as he’s thrown across the air.
“Woah. He’s right!” Kraab blinks while left on the hot road to watch. And he can confirm that Four Arms’ theory was correct: it appears that Highway’s Momentum Quirk is only able to maintain his speed and indestructibility but only when he continues in the same direction! Otherwise it’s useless!
Four Arms sprints by scooping Kraab off the ground. “Sorry about that. Are you okay?”
Kraab glares up at Four Arms, rolling his eyes. “Whatever. Just make sure to file out the scratches later.” His gaze then falls somewhere behind the red hulkling.
Four Arms follows his gaze, turning around to find Rojo standing across the road from him like this is some old western.
“It’s over Rojo. Neither your friends nor their tech can’t help you now.”
Rojo scowls angrily. “Don’t count us out yet. We still have one more trick.”
“Like what?”
Without any warning Road Rage appears from out of nowhere and leaps onto Four Arms’ back. And before he knows it the cackling Road Crew member shouts right into his ear, cursing up a storm of profanities! “You motherfucking red piece of shit! I had that fucking truck my goddamn fucking whole life! I’m gonna fucking murder that shit-eating asshole you call a dad and that baby-making bitch!”
Upon being cursed at, one's first reaction would be to react back, whether that’s curse back or flick the other person off. But this is different, instead Four Arms goes quiet, becoming stock still.
Kraab especially finds this reaction odd. “Why’d you stop? Don’t tell me he hurt your feelings?” The fingers clutching him tighten. “Huh? Um, hey, are you okay?”
Four Arms’ breathing becomes labored and heavy, his entire body’s tense almost like succumbing to some unseen stress, and then he whips his head back as he roars into the air. “RAGHH!!!” His eyes glow a searing red as he screams into the air, a sudden rage totally overcoming him! “WHAT!! DID YOU DO!?!” He slams his fists into the road, smashing it apart. “RAGHH!!!”
*VREEEEE!!!*
An invisible sonic blast slams into Four Arms, effectively redirecting his fuming attention.
Rojo nervously smirks as she aims her sonic blaster down between her feet. “Come and get me!” She fires, rocketing herself backwards, towards the Hatsume’s garage that lies further down the road.
“ROJO!!” Like a rampaging beast, Four Arms charges headfirst without any sense or thought.
Kraab watches, helplessly, from within Four Arms’ crushing grip. “Hey wait! What’s the matter with you?! No! Stop!!”
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
Meanwhile, everyone continues to tinker away at the Rustbucket in relative peace and quiet: Hatsume’s busy checking the brakes while Chopper’s just finishes up the repairs on the booster rockets.
Hisashi steps out of the RV with an electrical spear in hand, the same one he grabbed from Apex’s crew the other day. He plays with the high-tech spear, twirling it around with a grin. He holds it up before his eyes land on Hatsume, he then eyes her support items piled in the garage, his grin widening.
Chopper pauses in his work. ^Wa wa.^
Hisashi shakes his head. “No, Chop you didn’t hear a car crash.” After all he would have heard it too if there was one.
The road was totally empty when they drove through town so he highly doubts if anyone could have possibly gotten into a car accident out here.
“Finished!” Hatsume cheers, her grinning face covered in grease. “Or at least somewhat. But now she can at least drive around.” She pats the newly fixed up wheels.
Hisashi grins. “Perfect. Did you hear that Izuku-” He pauses, having forgotten that he isn’t there. “Oh, right he went for a walk. Huh, I wonder when he’ll be back?”
“RAGHH!!!” A red eyed Four Arms returns by smashing his way through the garage door, smashing it apart like it was a sheet of cardboard!
^Waa!^ Chopper screams, wheeling away before he could be stomped on by the red hulkling.
Hisashi gasps. “Izuku!!”
“Ahhh!!” Kraab cries out as Four Arms thrashes about the garage, “He’s gone crazy! That busted tooth freak did something to him!!”
“RAGHH!!!” Four Arms slams his fists down on anything and everything he can reach: he crushes wrenches and pipes, smashes toolboxes, and even stomps his feet down upon some of Hatsume’s support items, smashing them to bits! “STAY AWAY FROM ME!!! Four Arms manages to roar out a warning even while in a furious state.
“No! My babies!!” Hatsume cries, screaming out in agony. “No! Why?! What have I done to deserve this?!”
“SORRY!!!” The rampaging Tetramand redirects his attention towards the crying pinkette, charging right for her! “RAGHH!!!”
“Get down!!” Hisashi runs in, grabs Hatsume, and throws them both out of the stampeding brute’s way.
After making sure the teen was okay, Hisashi leaps to his feet. “Izuku! Champ! What’s wrong?!”
“RAGHH!!!”
Hisashi nods, coming to the conclusion that Izuku is not in control, the red eyes being a dead giveaway. “That didn’t answer my question.”
In response Four Arms throws several punches but Hisashi uses the spear to parry and dodge each one. “Use your words, Champ! Your words! Getting violent doesn’t solve anything!”
Four Arms tries to fight it, he does, his body trembles even as he thrashes about. “RUN!!! STAY BACK, I’M DANGEROUS!!!”
As Hisashi tries and fails to calm his son down, Rojo casually and coolly strolls right into the garage. She watches with a superior smirk as Hatsume and Chopper flee towards the back of the large garage, away from the rampaging monster.
At the same time Highway and Road Rage, limp away with Turbine before piling into Highway’s monster truck and speeding away.
Rojo continues to watch as Hisashi runs and jumps off the side of the wall, avoiding Four Arms’ crushing punches that smash into the wall.
“RAGHH!!!” Four Arms is so furious and out of it that he starts slamming his fists against the wall until he breaks through, charging through like a will bucking bull!
Hisashi chases after him and into the garage’s backlot.
As Rojo watches her gaze eventually lands on the somewhat busted up Rustbucket. Her eyes widen as she eyes the busted battering ram up in front and the still exposed booster rockets in the back. Her curiosity is piqued, her fingers twitching like they can sense quality tech that’s worth taking for themselves.
“GET DOWN!!!” For Four Arms it's a swing and a miss as Hisashi ducks under his fists, sliding right past, and scoping Kraab right out of the Tetramand’s hand.
Hisashi runs for cover, Hatsume and Chopper are cowering behind a repaired SUV where she waves him over. He slides over to them before he could be spotted.
“RAGHH!!!” Four Arms now redirects his attention towards the piles of scrap metal lying towards the back of the backlot.
Hatsume grins both from fear but excitement as Four Arms rampages across the garage. “He’s really lost his marbles, huh?!”
Hisashi nods as he picks up Kraab’s head. “What happened?”
Kraab tries to shake his head. “I don’t know! One second he was fine and the next thing I know he’s losing his shit!”
“RAGHH!!!”
A sudden surge of anger? Resulting in the person going on a rampage? “Okay.” That confirms it, Izuku isn’t in control here, and it’s up to him to calm him down. “Hey!”
Four Arms spins around so fast and so suddenly, with such a nasty scowl that Hisashi instantly regrets making his presence known.
Hisashi takes a breath keeping himself calm and poise, trying his best to seem at ease as he approaches the fuming alien. “Hey big guy.” He speaks softly and assuringly, like one would with an upset child. “The sun’s getting real low.” He gently reaches for Four Arms’ hand, bringing his hand in low like how one would approach an unfamiliar hound.
And it appears to be working as the red eyed Four Arms’ breathing begins to temper and his fists begin to relax.
“Shhh.” Hisashi hushes softly, slowly making his way closer and closer. “That’s it, the sun’s going down.” Just a few more steps and he’s sure, he’s sure he’ll calm Izuku right down. touch
“RAGHH!!!” Or not.
Four Arms pounces but a swift dodge from Hisashi has his fists slamming into the ground rather than Hisashi's skull.
“That’s it!” Hisashi frowns, giving his son a stern talking to. “You better start behaving yourself this instant young man.”
“RAGHH!!!”
“Don’t you use that tone of voice with me!”
“RAGHH-...” Four Arms is about ready to pound Hisashi’s face in, when his red eyes finally fade away, returning to their usual shade of green. “Ow…” Four Arms wobbles back, gripping his pounding head. After a moment he gasps, panicking about everyone else’s own safety. “Are you guys okay?”
Hisashi is baffled as Four Arms crouches over, trying to catch his breath. “Are we okay? Are you okay?! What was that?!”
Four Arms shrugs, shaking his head. “I’m not sure. It was like this sudden random anger just appeared… It must have been that guy’s Quirk.” But either way it was him that caused all that damage and it was him that attacked his friends. “Oh, man, I am so sorry.”
Hisashi squats down, resting hand on his boy’s shoulder. “Izuku, what happened to you?”
“Rojo happened?”
Hisashi has literally no idea what that means. “Who?”
“She’s a villain that Vilg-um,” Four Arms quickly shuts his mouth when he remembers that Hatsume’s nearby. “was hired to steal my watch.”
Hisashi’s eyes widen. “And she did this to you?”
“No, her friends did. The…Road Crew.”
Hatsume gasps. “Did you say Road Crew?”
Kraab calls out after being abandoned by the SUV. “Yeah, those guys ambushed us.”
Hatsume lets out an audible gasps, panicking, she rushes back inside the garage.
After sharing concerned looks Hisashi, Four Arms, and Chopper rush in after her.
“They took her!” Hatsume screams, grabbing at her hair like she’s gonna go crazy.
The others let out audible gasps, quickly realizing what exactly has been taken.
Hisashi falls to his knees, devastated by the sight; the Rustbucket‘s been kidnapped! “They took my ride!!”
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“I am so sorry.” Izuku apologizes for the hundredth time after catching everyone else up to speed with the situation.
Hisashi’s a lot calmer now but his eyes keep darting towards the smashed in garage doors, hoping in vain that the RV would just magically appear. “It’s not your fault. You were just defending yourself. You were alone.”
Seated atop a bucket, Kraab shouts out. “Hey, I was there too!”
“Like I said you had to defend yourself alone.”
“Tch.”
Izuku grabs his pounding head. “Ah, man, just what was that Quirk?”
Hatsume frowns, answering. “It was Road Rage.”
“Pardon?”
“Road Rage.”
“Oh, you mean that guy with the busted teeth?”
“Yes, and no.”
“What?”
“His Quirk, Road Rage’s Quirk is called Road Rage; when he swears or cusses anyone that hears him will become enraged.”
Hisashi nods, cupping his chin in thought. “Road Rage is right. Imagine if someone like him used his Quirk in a crowded stadium or something.”
“He tried once,” Hatsume explains. “got himself thrown in jail for it.”
Izuku’s curiosity shows itself. “How’d he get caught?”
“Actually it was his own Quirk that got him caught. He can make others angry, but he can’t control them or anything, so whomever he angered can still turn on him.”
Chopper, who’s been silently listening, speaks up. ^Ba-bop.^
“You’re right, Chop.” Hisashi frowns, his concern growing as he addresses the pink-haired teen. “You seem to know an awful lot about the Road Crew.”
Hatsume breaks into an apologetic grin. “Haha! That’s because they hate me!”
Izuku gasps. “You seem way too happy about that.”
^Wap Bzz.^
Izuku wants to say Chopper said: For sure.
“Well they hate my family!” Hatsume points towards the window that looks out towards the town in the distance. “Did you see those billboards on your way in? The ones about our local track?”
Izuku nods. “Yeah, how could we not?”
“Well back in the day my Pops was the head mechanic for the racers that came here. He was the best and they all knew it. But Baron Highway was a young upcoming rival! But he couldn’t match my Pops’ skills.”
Hisashi’s getting the picture now. “And so overtime he came to resent your Dad.”
“Yup!” Hatsume turns to the greenette. “That’s why I knew they did something after you mentioned the Road Crew.”
More often or not they’ll come by to cause trouble. Sometimes it’s harmless like with Turbine earlier in the day but other times they can get pretty rough if they wanted to. But usually they’ll end up driving some poor sap off the road.
Honestly even Hatsume has to find it sad, not pathetic, but as tragic especially after what happened… But that was a long time ago and that doesn’t excuse how they’ve been acting now.
Hisashi’s starting to see the picture, sad to hear that some people just can’t deal with their own petty insecurities and anger. However, there’s still something he doesn’t quite understand. “Okay, but why’d they take the Rustbucket then? What are they gonna try to upstage you by fixing it for us?” That seems really unlikely and just plain ridiculous, So, then why? Why take it?
They all sit in thought before Izuku exhales softly, providing an answer. “Rojo.”
“What was that?”
“Rojo’s Quirk is called Attachment; it allows her to fuse tech to her body.” Like how she fused with Vilgax’s robot minion. “When I fought her the first time she had this custom arm gun, I ended up breaking it, and that’s when she said that it was a custom job.” At the time he assumed someone else made it but maybe she was the one who built it instead: meaning she’s an engineer, just like Hatsume. “Which means either she or someone else built it.”
Kraab frowns, not at all connecting the dots. “I fail to see how this connects to the garbage truck you guys call a home.”
Hisashi pouts, offended that a family heirloom would be compared to a waste disposal truck.
The younger Midoriya goes ahead and explains. “The Rustbucket’s filled with ali-uh, I mean advanced tech! Rojo might have found out about it and is now stripping it for parts.”
Hatsume springs to her feet, horror struck, and shouting at the top of her lungs. “She’s taking my repairs to build her own weapons!”
Izuku claps his hands, glad someone got his explanation. “Yeah!”
Hatsume’s faces becomes dark and twisted, like a villain that’s about to vow revenge. “How dare she.”
Izuku gasps, stunned. “Okay, you’re mad!”
“Of course I’m mad.” Hatsume growls lowly, like she’s about to explode and this is just the calm before the storm. “I pour my heart-n-soul into all my babies. I give them each 100% and then some to make the best support gear, machines, and tech that I can.” Hatsume’s fist clench, steam pouring from her head. “For them to come in and steal my hard work. It’s unforgivable!”
Even though she’s steaming mad, Hisashi looks somewhat impressed by her clear dedication and drive for her work.
At the same time, Izuku rises to his feet determined to set things right. “Well then let’s go get her.”
Both humans and both droids stare up at the greenette, waiting for him to explain with bated breaths.
Izuku addresses them all, one by one pulling them into his own ambitions. “They took your ride, they tarnished your hard work, they called you a roomba, and they attacked me. I don’t know about you all, but I want to stop Rojo and the Road Crew myself.”
And guess what? They want a piece of that action too.
Hisashi strolls up, wrapping an arm around his son’s shoulder. “You know I’ll always have your back.”
Kraab would shake his head if he could. “You guys are insane.”
Izuku picks up the cyborg’s head. “You coming along?”
Kraab doesn’t answer immediately but after a moment he recalls his earlier conversation with Izuku about helping others. He still doesn't quite understand what that really entails but perhaps if he stuck around a little longer he’ll see for himself. And so for once his own curiosity wins out, but of course he can’t have the Midoriyas know that. “I might as well. Beats sitting here. Besides I would rather watch you getting your ass beaten again anyway.”
Izuku begs to differ. “Hey, I won that fight, technically.” After all the Road Crew did run away after they distracted Four Arms, heck their busted-up cars are still lying out down the road.
In the meantime, Hisashi goes ahead to direct Hatsume to stay behind. “Hatsume I think it’s best if you stay here.”
“No way!” Hatsume grins, not giving a shit. “I’m coming too old man!”
Hisashi let’s out a pained wheeze. “Old man…?”
Hatsume shakes her head so wildly her pink hair flails from side to side. “I have a personal investment in this rescue mission! So I’m coming along.” For all she’s concerned the Rustbucket is one of her babies now, or at least an adoptive baby, one that she has a personal investment in now. “Besides, I know where to find them.” She adds in with such a straightforward delivery.
Izuku lights up. “You do?”
“Hm, hm!” Hatsume nods her head, a wide smile on her face. “And it’s just on the other side of town.”
“Great! Let’s go!”
^Wo wap.^
“Chop’s right.” Hisashi interrupts. “How do you expect to get there without a car?” They could walk but if their hideout is on the other side of town then the Road Crew will surely get the jump on them first.
Hatsume’s smile grows. “Don’t worry we can take mine.”
Izuku gasps, impressed. “You have a car?”
“Yup! I built her myself!”
Hisashi isn’t so enthusiastic, however. “Do you have a license?”
“Nope!”
“Can you drive?”
“Nope! Hahaha!”
Hisashi sweat drops, shaking his head at how ridiculous this teen can be. “Guess I’m driving.”
“Hahaha! Sorry, but it's my car.” Hatsume grins wide as she spins around so she can go get the car. “So I get to control it.”
Izuku frowns, finding her choice of wording odd.
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Rojo tinkers away in the dark dank garage, the Rustbucket’s parked before her sitting in the middle of a large spacious garage that could probably fit at least four more RVs inside of it.
Rojo is busy gutting the RV for parts, she ignores the pipes, and bolts, but then she’ll come upon something…odd, something…alien.
She tinkers away as she tests each new piece of tech before cobbling it together. at her sonic blaster.
As she tinkers three engines roar past before several sets of tires screech to a halt. After which the echoes of heavy steps stomp towards the garage.
The garage door is slammed wide open! “You better explain yourself!” Baron Highway bellows, storming past the car engines, stacks of tires, and hanging chains.
Rojo doesn’t even bother to turn around to address him. “Not now. I’m busy.”
“No. Now! Wanna tell me why you decided to take this?!” He waves his hand at the offending RV. “This fucking bathtub on wheels?!”
“Because I wanted to.” Rojo responds a-matter-of-factually.
In a fit of rage Highway shoves down a nearby tool cabinet. “That’s not good enough!!” He roars. “I will not stand for the fact that my crew got their asses handed to them by a boy that hasn’t even learned to shave yet! We stuck our necks out for you and as your prize you take this?!”
Rojo doesn't bat an eye, looking him right in the eye and stating. “Yes.”
“It was supposed to be a blitz job. Go in, beat the kid, you take what you want, we leave, you pay us, and we all go on our merry ways.” Simple!
Rojo is dismissive instead focusing on the odd makeshift device she’s cobbling together. “Are you worried he’ll call the cops?”
“Pft. Like I care about the cops. Nah, I want payback!”
“Then you’ll get it.”
Highway frowns. “How you reckon?”
Rojo peers up at the gutted RV, not with disgust or disinterest but with awe. “This so-called bathtub on wheels is a gold mine of tech.” She eyes the innards of the RV, something bright catching her eye, forcing her to take what’s inside. “Very expensive, advanced tech.” She rips out a hexagonal battery-like device covered in strange alien markings that glow a light hue of blue.
Highway gawks at the strange metallic device. “What is that?”
“That’s the thing.” Rojo smiles, the glow of the device reflecting off her greedy eyes. “I don’t know.” She goes ahead and installs the battery-like tech into her newly made gadget. “I found a few more things like this and whatever it is,” Her smile grows as she attaches the newly made device to her arm. “it’s powerful.”
Highway’s sneer turns greedy. “Imagine the coin we can get from something like this.”
“I’ll do you one better.” Rojo smiles, flexing her right arm up so she can examine her new toy: a mechanical battle gauntlet.
[Google: “Crossbones’ Battlefield Suit”]
Rojo whips around and slamming her fist against the hood of a nearby car that’s been stripped for parts.
The knuckle base of the gauntlets spark with energy that discharges out as the fist slams into the hood, smashing it downward with little to no effort.
Rojo’s smile grows as the car breaks apart before her. “Imagine the damage we can do.”
Highway’s grin grows wider, impressed, he always knew she was a topnotch engineer; too bad things didn’t work out for her, but hey her misfortune is his gain.
“You wanted payback? You’ll get it.” Rojo promises. “With tech like this I bet they’re dying to get it back.”
“Which means they’ll be on their way.” And so the grinning Highway marches back towards the exit. “I’ll get my crew. You coming?”
“Buy me sometime.” Rojo grabs her welding torch and sonic blaster. “I have work to do.”
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Hisashi shakes his head slowly, sitting in a sullen almost annoyed silence with only the hum of the car’s engine to listen to, he fiddles with the electrical spear trying to ignore a sullen fact. “I should drive.”
Hatsume grins from the driver’s seat. “My car, I drive.”
“This isn’t a car. It’s a toy.” Hisashi states with finality. “A really big remote-control toy.”
Actually it’s a normal car, just a normal looking Toyota…except for the fact that it’s missing a STEERING WHEEL!!! Hatsume instead has a wireless joy-con in her hands.
“Haha!” Hatsume cackles, pressing down on the A-button to go faster. “Nothing says I need a license to drive a remote-control car!”
“Technically, yes, but that doesn’t mean you should be driving!”
Izuku, seated in the back with Chopper and Kraab, snickers. “This is great.” Like come on, what teen wouldn’t find this cool?
“Haha! Thanks! I borrowed the controller from an old game console we had lying around.”
Actually the joy-cons can still sync to the console, she just gave it the ability to sync to the car.
And so here they all are, cruising down the wide-open road, passing country hillsides and farm fields while on their way to bring down the Road Crew.
Izuku sits back adjusting his hoodie, making sure it’s nice and secure for the impending fight. Chopper sits beside him, peering out the window, scanning for incoming threats with Kraab silent beside him. In the front Hisashi grips the electrical spear tightly before reaching into his Hawaiian shirt for his Respirator. And finally Hatsume just hums away with a cheerful, oblivious smile as she presses down on the A-button to make the car go faster.
Meanwhile, watching from atop a nearby hill a sports car followed by a muscle car roll up, finally Highway’s gigantic monster truck rolls past them both, stopping at the summit of the hill.
Highway scowls down, his sunglasses reflecting the image of a speeding Toyota down below. “Let’s ride.”
And with that he takes off down the road, towards their target, followed by a smirking Turbine in her custom sports car and Road Rage who cackles as he races down in his muscle car.
Back down in the remote-controlled Toyota things are starting to become…annoying.
“Are we there yet?” Kraab asks without a hint of irony or humor.
Izuku sighs, having already answered the cyborg three times already. “No.”
“Are we there yet?”
“No.”
“…Are we there yet?”
Izuku spots movement out the window that makes him panic. “No!!”
“Okay, geez, no need to shout.”
“No. Look!”
Everyone turns, their eyes wide with shock as they spot what they can only assume is the Road Crew crashing through the field towards them from behind.
Hisashi, or rather Cinder, tucks up his Respirator, locking it in place. “Guess we’re about to hit some incoming traffic.”
The Road Crew quickly catch up with Turbine taking the lead.
“Gahh!!” They all shout as Turbine slams into them from behind. “Gahh!!” She hits them again, trying to throw them off the road.
Cinder grips his seatbelt, shouting at Hatsume for some help. “Doesn’t this thing have any weapons or gadgets?!”
“Nope! Hahaha!” Hatsume grins, laughing even as Turbine slams them again. “I didn’t have enough time to add them yet! But I do have-Gahh!” She screams as they’re slammed forward again.
“I got this!” Izuku kicks open his door, he leans out the door, his hair and hoodie whipping in the wind as he dials up an alien.
Kraab gasps, watching him hang out of the car. “What are you going to do?
Izuku doesn't miss a beat with his reply. “Help.”
Kraab starts, unsure about Izuku’s answer as the greenette leaps out, disappearing in a veil of green light. After a moment XLR8 speeds past, closing the door as he zooms by.
XLR8 circles around Hatsume’s car, racing right for Turbine’s sports car! He readies his sharp claws as he zooms forward, aiming to slash her car to pieces. He strikes and strikes, slashing away at its hard metal exterior but it’s far more durable than he ever anticipated. It must have been modified and engineered to withstand all sorts of attacks.
Despite his efforts barely scratching the paint job, Turbine still manages to find a reason to hate him. “You're scratching my ride!”
She slips several switches before slamming her hand down on a large red button. As a result electricity dances off the sports car, frying XLR8 the instant he touches it.
“Gahh!!” XLR8 yelps, zipping away before charging in for another go only to have himself repealed again by the electrical field.
“Haha! I’m untouchable!” Turbine sneers, swerving the electrified car towards XLR8.
The Kineceleran quickly zooms away, moving to the other side of the road. ‘XLR8’s not built for strength.’ The transformed Izuku thinks. ‘Speed sure but that car’s armor and defense are too strong.’ So what can he do? Sure he can race ahead, with ease actually, but for now he’s gotta keep pace and make sure his friends are okay. But how? “Woah!!” XLR8 yelps as a spinning wheel nearly clips his tail.
Highway sneers, his monster truck roaring as he steps on the gas. “When I’m done, you’ll be nothing but a stain on the road!”
XLR8 zips away, avoiding the massive tires, he zips in front of Highway, holding his attention. Turbine and Road Rage soon catch up, both aiming to take down the speeding lizard too. XLR8 zips around them avoiding their speeding vehicles, making sure to keep their attention on him rather than his friends.
From up ahead, Cinder can only watch from the passenger seat as his son zooms around the Road Crew. “He needs our help!”
“I got something!” Hatsume cheers. “Here take this!” She shoves the joy-cons into a surprised Cinder’s hands.
Cinder nearly drops the joy-cons, accidentally throwing them up and failing to catch it after a moment. But he’s able to get a hold of it, before taking control over the car from the passenger seat.
Hatsume jumps to the back, shoving Chopper aside while pressing her knee against Kraab’ head to get to the trunk; pushing the middle seat down before reaching in and feeling for something useful. “I got it!” After a moment she pulls out a strange looking gadget.
Kraab can only sit there as her knee presses down on him. “What is that?”
Hatsume grins as she holds up the gadget. Actually gadget isn’t the right word, it’s more of a disc, a large disc about the width of a frisbee: it’s white in color like, with a few electrical devices and cerbos wired to its center.
Hatsume grins as she grabs the disc and lowers the window. “It’s a very special baby!” Hatsume answers before poking her head out of the window.
She can see that Turbine’s electrical field is still giving XLR8 a fair amount of trouble.
Hatsume takes aim but the car swerves and shifts constantly, making it difficult for her to aim. “Try to keep the car straight!”
Cinder grits his teeth in frustration. “I’m trying! But the joy-cons are drifting!” His thumb rapidly taps the B-Button. “Ahh!!” He screams in fruition, the car still swerving uncontrollably. “How is this still a problem 200 hundred years later?!” Seriously, Nintendo it’s way overdue and it shouldn’t have even been a problem from the start!!
Hatsume waits, waits as the car slows down enough, and she’s got a better shot at Turbine’s car. Turbine is too distracted with trying to run over the much faster azure raptor to notice her. Hatsume waits for the right moment before she tosses the large disc like a frisbee towards the electrified sports car.
The disc glides over the road, towards the oncoming electrical car. It glides underneath before the magnetics take over, attaching the disc to the car’s bottom. The center of the disc lights up, activating; the moment it does the electrical field sparks and begins to discharge before suddenly the electrical field seems to surge not out of the car, but into it, electricity surging towards the disc!
“What’s happening?!” Turbine shrieks as the electricity fries her batteries, the car’s computer, and even her radio!
As the sports car sparks, being fried from the inside out, the electric field dissipates as her car screeches to a halt.
“Rahh!!” Turbine shrieks, slamming her hands against the car’s fried and sparking dashboard.
Hatsume’s grin widens as her rival’s forced to a stop: her car now virtually useless. “Hahaha! I knew that baby would come in handy eventually!”
It’s a little something she was working on a ways back, it was meant to drain batteries like that of car’s being used by villains. But it was far stronger than she thought, and she hasn’t figured out how to redirect or store the electricity it redirects so she shelved it, but maybe it’s something she should give another go at.
Kraab can’t see over the seat. “Did you get 'em?!”
“You bet I did!” Hatsume cheers before shouting out to Turbine! “That’s what a real support item looks like Hahaha-Gahh!!”
They all cry out as they’re struck from the side.
“Hahehehe! Get off our road!!” Road Rage cackles as his muscle car slams into them. “Hahehehe!”
As Road Rage takes his aggression out on his friends, XLR8 is still trying to deal with Baron Highway and his truck.
He’s tried slashing away at it, but its armor’s too tough. He’s even tried to slash the wheels but even those were built to withstand any and all types of traumas like jagged rocks, nails, and even police spike strips.
“Hahaha!” All the while Highway’s bellowing laugh echoes from above.
“Your roadkill!!”
XLR8 zips away zooming around the monster truck to try and attack it from its other side.
Highway smirks, deciding to take a shot at the blue lizard himself by flipping a switch that ejects large metal spikes out from his wheels. “Your ride’s not the only one that’s been tricked out, boy!” With the large spikes deployed Highway makes a hard swerve at the Kineceleran!
XLR8 dodges quite easily. “Woah!! Those are so…cliché. Like really spikes? What is this Mad Max?”
“Grrr.” Highway scowls, swerving to try and take him out again!
He misses when XLR8 zips forward putting some distance between himself and the Road Crew’s boss, letting the man chase him. “This is gonna take longer than I thought.”
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“Hahehe!” The cackling Road Rage’s muscle car charges forward.
Hatsume’s ride swerves out of the way in the nick of time.
“Hold still, dang it!” With a slam of his fist a pair of grapple guns prop out from under the car’s hood. “Or I’ll make ya!”
A pair of harpoons are fired out, cables whipping behind them as they soar, before they pierce through the car’s rear windshield and trunk.
^Waaa!^ Chopper screams, his hands flailing in the air, as he is nearly impaled!
Road Rage snickers, changing gears to reverse and slamming down on the gas. His tires screech and smoke against the road, the cable tighten up and pulls back on Hatsume’s ride.
Hatsume gasps, from the passenger seat, her face palling in shock. “My baby! Why?! It should have been Turbine!”
Cinder and the rest whiplash forward as they’re forced to a sudden slow down. “He’s got us!” He tries to twist and turn the joystick, in an attempt to lose Road Rage.
^Wa Bzz-bop!^ Chopper hops onto the seat, his Plasma Cutter ejecting out from his base. After adjusting himself he gets to work cutting away at the first cable in seconds before reaching out for the last one.
Road Rage gasps, spotting the little droid. “Don’t ya dare!”
^Wo-wop.^ Oh he dares and with a flick the cable’s snapped apart.
The instant the line’s cut Road Rage’s muscle car whips backwards!
^Wo Wo Wo Ba^ Chopper cheers, laughing and admiring his own success. ^Wo Wo Wo-Waa!!^ He screams as he’s thrown forward!
Cinder scowls at the rear-view mirror, which are perfectly locked in on Road Rage’s maniacal sneer. “Road Rage, huh?” He scowls from under his Respirator. “I’ll show you road rage.” He shoves the joy-cons into Hatsume’s hands before snatching up his electrical prod. “Take the wheel!”
“Joy-con!”
“You know what I meant!” Cinder shouts back as he climbs out of the window.
He climbs up to the roof even as the rushing wind whips at his face as he impales the spear into the car’s roof to hold himself in place.
Hatsume shakes her head as the electrical prod pierces her roof. “Seriously?!”
Cinder glares at the fast approaching Road Rage, his Hawaiian shirt whipping in the air at his sides.
“FLAMETHROWER: 2,000 DEGREES FAHRENHEIT!!” Cinder unleashes a stream of hot orange flames directly into the muscle car’s front! The flames swallow up the entire car, hiding it a veil of fire and heat.
After a moment, Cinder cuts the flames only to find the muscle car intact with little to no scorching, its heavy armor glowing with heat.
“Hahehehe!!” Road Rage sneers up at Cinder, he grabs his radio and shouts out an array of foul language. “You frying fuck! You think that’ll stop me!? Your motherfucking shrimp bastard of a kid couldn’t do shit!!!”
Cinder stumbles about, his eyes turning red as he falls under Road Rage’s spell. He grits his teeth grabbing at his head as a sudden illogical anger takes control of him.
Road Rage’s ugly smile widens, his eyes beaming in excitement. “Hahehe! Go on! Burn em! Burn em real good! Hahehehe!”
However Cinder does not target Hatsume or her car, rather his glowing red eyes lock onto Road Rage.
Road Rage’s sneer falls away as he realizes that he may have been playing with fire.
A furious Cinder rips his spear right out of the car’s roof, he tosses it up and catches it again, breathing heavily in a furious rage. And with his adrenaline pumping he can’t resist but to shout an iconic battle cry! “Witness me!!”
And he takes off flinging himself off the car and onto the hood of Road Rage’s muscle car!
His feet land with a clang onto the hood while his spear pierces right through the windshield, before impaling itself into the empty passenger seat!
“Ayyyy!!’ Road Rage panics as the spear breaks through his windshield, he scrambles to activate several switches hoping one of his modifications can repel the maniac away.
Cinder may have pierced the windshield but most of it is still intact, but that’s alright. Cinder grips the impeded spear, lining his maw with it. “CONDUCTION HEAT!!” From out of his respirator a steady stream of orange flames quickly heat up the spear making it glow red hot. It radiates burning intense heat that travels down the spear, past the windshield and into the car seat.
The car seat ignites instantly, bursting into flames as the spear heats up more and more.
“Ayyy!! Ayyy! No! No!” Road Rage freaks out as smoke and flames begin to swallow up his ride from the inside out. “Aayyy!!” With no chance of putting out the flames, Road Rage kicks his door open before diving out, tucking and rolling across the road.
Cinder cuts the flames, ripping the spear out from the flaming car, before launching himself backwards and onto Hatsume’s Toyota. “Haha!” The red eyed Cinder snickers even as his fists clench round the spear. “He calls that fireproof?”
The raging Cinder crawls his way back into the car from the passenger window.
Chopper shakes his head in disbelief as he crawls back in. ^Bzzz-op!^
Kraab, who is just as stunned, translates. “Yeah, I thought he got you? Aren’t you angry?”
A fuming Cinder shakily nods his head, as he tries to calm himself down. “I am.” He responds between clenched teeth. “But I’ve learned to deal with my anger a long time ago.” He kinda had to otherwise he’d never have made it this far. It’s not exactly a good idea for a fire Quirk to be in the hands of someone who can’t control their own temper. “Besides, it’s best to redirect one’s anger. I’ll be a bigger help that way.”
That last line gives Kraab something to ponder over. “Help…?” Can one’s own drive to help others really be that strong? Strong enough to break through one’s own anger?
Cinder shakes his head as the red glow begins to dim. “Let’s hurry.” He points forward, in the distance, where blue blur zipping around a blue monster truck.
Hatsume grins. “You got it!” She pressed down on the A-button and the car lurches forward, speeding up quickly.
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“Hold still will you?!” From inside his monster truck, Highway’s been trying to run the azure raptor over but he’s not even able to graze the azure raptor’s aura.
“Hahaha!” XLR8 laughs, admittedly kinda enjoying himself. “Only if you ask nicely! Hahaha!”
“Grrr.” Highway racing forward trying to catch up to the blue freak.
His tires are so close that they’d grab the lizard's tail and bring him down in an instant. However, XLR8 easily speeds away as if his tail was nothing but a teasing lure.
“Ragggh!!” Highway roars out in frustration.
XLR8 circles back around, approaching from behind. As he passes by he slashes at the truck’s sides but like before it doesn’t so much leave a scratch.
Highway glares down at the sprinting Kineceleran. “Do you really think you can take me on, boy?” With a pull of a lever and a flip of a switch a large mechanical mounted launcher unfolds from the truck’s rear, propping itself atop the truck’s roof. “Let’s see if you can outrun these.” He locks in on the azure raptor and fires away.
XLR8 gasps quickly ducking his head down as a flying manhole cover soars past!
“Hahaha! Get some!” Highway howls firing away.
XLR8 snakes and weaves his way through the onslaught of heavy manhole covers are shot at him. The manhole covers fly in so hard and fast that they embed themselves into the road.
As another manhole cover is shot, XLR8 spins around and manages to grab the manhole cover like a frisbee, and without stopping he swings himself and the cover around, using its own momentum to throw it right back at Highway’s truck’s underside. Highway sees it coming, and adjusts his ride to a more constant speed, his Quirk, Momentum taking effect. The manhole cover doesn’t even dent the truck’s underside; Highway’s Quirk is making it near invulnerable.
“Hahaha!” Highway howls in laughter. “Nice try, boy! But no dice!”
XLR8 furrows, eyeing the monster truck from head to toe. He already knows that the armor’s too thick, same goes for the truck’s suspensions and tires; everything was built to take damage. And it doesn’t help that Highway’s Quirk Momentum makes him and his truck invulnerable when at a constant speed.
As he dodges more incoming manhole covers, XLR8 continues examining the truck for any weaknesses. ‘What I need to do is change his direction somehow.’ But the road’s a straight shot forward and XLR8’s too small to just push it in another direction like Four Arms. ‘I need to do something; I’m running out of time!’ He eyes the truck’s gigantic spinning wheels.
With an idea in his head XLR8 dashes around the speeding monster truck, moving like a circling blur.
“Haha! You can’t beat me, boy! I’m the king of these here roads! And ain’t nobody gonna change that.”
The racing XLR8 smirks. “Sorry, but I don’t believe in bureaucracy!” He gives his hand a twist, pulling off the last part of his plan before pulling away and sprinting forward.
“You think you can run from me, boy?!” Highway shifts gears, pulling forward, but his monster truck begins to rattle and shake. “What the hell! What’s going on?!” His Quirk should still be in effect so what’s causing this?
His question is answered as all four of the monster truck’s wheels break away all at once, since all of their lug nuts have been removed.
XLR8 chuckles, dropping the lug nuts he screwed off the wheels, watching as the monster truck falls atop itself, its under half skidding across the pavement with sparks flying everywhere while also leaving a nasty gash in the road.
A grinning XLR8 slides to a stop as the monster truck topples over, landing on its side before coming to a full stop.
Thinking it’s over, XLR8 zips over to help pull Highway out of the wreckage but instead Highway’s Rocket Hammer smashes its way out from under the roof, smashing it apart for Highway to crawl his way out.
XLR8 backs away quickly. “How are you still standing?”
“I had my seatbelt on.” Highway responds like it is the most obvious thing, which it is. “They say that they save lives for a reason.”
The transformed Izuku has to admit it; he can respect that. But he doesn’t get to air his opinion as Highway takes a go at him with his Rocket Hammer.
But of course he’s far too slow for the alien speedster.
“You know I’m all about doing things fast, but are you that of a hurry for me to kick your butt?”
In response, Highway takes a swing at him with his Rocket Hammer, but it’s a swing and a miss.
Highway growls in frustration, pulling back the hammer for another swing. “You really like to run your mouth don’t chya?”
XLR8 can’t help but smile. “I do actually, I really do.”
Highway takes another swing, but it completely misses the azure raptor.
XLR8 zips behind him. “Actually I was hoping you’d be willing to run yours.”
Highway swings around but misses again as the alien speedster races off again. “Say what now?”
“Exactly.” XLR8 appears on his other side. “I heard about Turbine’s…troubled past. And I gotta ask, how did someone like her get roped in with a crew like you guys.”
“Roped in? She’s family!”
“Makes sense, your Quirks are similar.” Momentum and Velocity, both emitter types related to speed. Yeah he can see it. “Hatsume told me about you; how you were rivals with her dad as head mechanics in the pit lanes. I’m sorry it went wrong but why a life of crime? And why lead your own sister into a life of crime? What was the point?”
“The point?!” Highway reels back the Rocket Hammer. “Because who’s gonna hire the mechanic that killed the town hero?!” He charges forward, the Rocket Hammer thrusting him forward and combined with his Momentum he crashes forward but once again misses due to XLR8’s speed.
“What?”
Highway huffs, clenching his teeth. “I was a head mechanic, a good one too. But I made a mistake, one little mistake, and my boss, my friend, paid his life for it.” He can still hear the ringing in his ears, the fire, the screams, the tears… “After that everyone blamed me for it, no one wanted to hire me. So me and those I could still trust pulled ourselves together and did what we had to make it by!” Using Momentum he charges forward again!
“Make it by?” XLR8 leaps back before he’s smashed to bits by the hammer. “By making weapons?!”
“There’s big money to be had in engineering weapons and support items for villains.” Lots of money if you know the right people. “They pay good money so they can be on par with an average pro. I’m just providing them a service; it’s a business opportunity.”
“And what?” XLR8 scowls. “Having your sister steal from U.A. was a business strategy?”
“It was.” Highway’s scowl turns solemn and regrettable. “Until it wasn’t.”
“Well I hope it was worth it. Because your family lost out on something better.”
Highway growls, not appreciating that last comment. “Ragghh!!” He swings and swings, the Rocket Hammer thrusting itself forward making each one deadly, but none land a hit and Highway’s frustration only grows.
XLR8 is a blue blur as he circles around Highway, clearly he isn’t gonna get through Highway, his skull is too thick. But maybe he can cut through his defenses! “100 CUTS!!!”
XLR8 zips forward and begins to deliver swift slashes at the standing Highway. He delivers slash after slash in rapid succession, but the Road Crew’s boss takes it all like a champ, using Momentum to remain in place and invulnerable.
“Hahahahaha!!” Highway howls in laughter as he’s continuously slashed at. “That won’t work on me, boy.”
XLR8 backs off after delivering the hundredth slash.
“I won’t go down. I owe it to my old friend. Even now I’m still making up for what I did to him and his family!” Highway swings back his Rocket Hammer. “And that watch of yours will help me do that!” The Rocket Hammer propels him forward, and when he gains the right speed Momentum takes over and holds it as he charges forward.
XLR8 dashes away. ‘There’s no getting through to him is there?’ He asks himself. And so with no other options he knows what he has to do.
As Highway brings his hammer down, his defenses are open and so XLR8 rushes in. He leaps up and delivers a fury of high-speed kicks into the man’s gut.
He leaps away but Highway stand back up, unharmed thanks to his Quirk. “Oh, my, I think I felt a tickle.”
XLR8 scowls in response.
Highway scoffs. “Is that really all you got, boy?”
“Don’t call me boy.” XLR8 growls before he spins around Highway like he’s runaway spin cycle.
“Woah! Woah-wha-woah!” Despite his Quirk still being in effect, Highway can feel his feet lifting off the ground as XLR8’s spinning begins to generate a strong enough vacuum. “What are you-WOAH!!!” And with a final high-speed spin Highway is launched into the air due to the thrust caused by XLR8’s mini tornado.
With Highway high in the air, XLR8 takes off and runs up a nearby light post just as Highway begins to fall back towards the ground.
XLR8 rushes up the light post before jumping off, pouncing towards the falling Road Crew boss. With Highway’s direction changing he can’t use Momentum so as such he delivers a powerful Ultimate Move. “VELOCICRUSH!!!”
XLR8s legs are nothing but high-speed blurs that deliver a powerful strike after powerful strike, never ceasing as they both continue to plummet.
And then just inches from the pavement, XLR8 spins his body up and around before his tail slams into Highway’s skull, smashing it into the pavement!
And with that final strike Baron Highway’s lights are punched out.
XLR8 shakes his head as Highway lies unconscious at his feet.
*Beep! Beep!*
XLR8 turns around to find the Hatsume’s damaged car rolling up.
A grinning Hatsume rolls to a stop propping her arm out of the window as she smirks up at him. “You need a lift, stranger?”
XLR8 grins, chuckling in response. “I’ll walk, thanks.”
Hisashi steps out from the passenger seat. “Nice moves, Champ.”
“Thanks.”
A low pained moan comes from Highway’s unconscious form. “Ugh…”
XLR8 leans away, pointing a finger at him. “We might want to tie him up or something.”
Chopper lowers the backseat window, popping his head out. ^Wa bop.^
Hisashi nods. “He’s right. We’ll take care of it.” Hisashi strides over, examining the unconscious Highway. “We lost a lot of time thanks to them, go on ahead and stop Rojo before she makes another move.”
“Is it really such a good idea for me to go alone? I mean it kinda sounds like I’ll be giving Rojo what she wants.” XLR8 taps the Omnitrix’s symbol to help prove his point.
“I don’t know who to send you with.” Hisashi admits wishing he did. “I gotta stay with them and get him” He gestures to the Road Crew’s boss. “And his crew before they run off.” He gestures towards their own crew. “These guys can’t do that.”
XLR8 understands. “Oh, right.” Neither Hatsume nor Chopper are equipped, or even capable of taking on a villain. So it’s either Hisashi goes up against a villain who has access to alien tech or Izuku goes to fight the villain with a multitude of powers and the knowledge of how the villain operates? So yeah he’s the best choice to go. “I guess I’m on my own then.”
Listening in from inside the car, Kraab remains silent, but after a moment he speaks up although hesitantly. “I’ll…I’ll go.”
Both Midoriyas give the cyborg-head odd looks. “You?”
“Yeah…” Kraab hesitates but after a moment he replies back a little more confidently. “Maybe…I can help.”
Hisashi frowns, skeptical.
However, XLR8 is a little more willing to give him the benefit of the doubt. “Okay.” He’s not completely sure why he’s agreeing but maybe because…there’s a chance: to give Kraab a chance.
And so he reaches in and scoops Kraab’s head out from the car.
Hisashi eyes his son worriedly. “Really? Are you sure?”
The azure raptor just shrugs in response. “It’s better than nothing, and I might need all the help that I can get.” He should also mention this too. “Besides, it's not like he can run away.”
Kraab gives the blue lizard a deadpan look. “I hate to admit it but it’s true. Can’t exactly backstab ya when I don’t have any appendages.”
Hisashi shakes his head in disbelief; he can’t believe he’s about to agree with this. “Fine. Take him, although I’m not sure how much he can contribute. But be careful either way.”
XLR8 gives a nod in response before turning to address Hatsume. “What exactly am I looking for?”
“The only thing down there.” Hatsume responds, gestures towards the miles of open road before them. “You’ll know when you see it, trust me.”
Kraab deadpans. “Wow… Real helpful.” If you couldn’t tell, that was sarcasm.
“Ha…ha…” XLR8 laughs sheepishly in response, unsure how to apologize on Kraab’s behalf…so he doesn't. Instead he zips away before his time runs out.
Now that XLR8 doesn’t have to keep pace with any psycho drivers he can go all out, zooming through the open road so fast you would miss him if you so much as blinked. The only signs of him being there being the gale and tossed up debris left in his wake.
And in just a minute he arrives at his destination, hidden away past miles of farmland and hillsides. XLR8 skids to a stop just before transforming back into his human self. Izuku stares up in awe at what he’s found, knowing right away he found what he was looking for.
And what he’s found is a massive abandoned race car track, hidden away in the countryside with acres of empty parking lots, a massive arena that should belong to a sports team, and rows of car maintenance garages lining at the opposite end of the arena.
Even Kraab is in awe of the racetrack. “She was right.” He admits, impressed. “We will know it when we see it.”
If there’s a place a rogue mechanic would hideout at it would be here.
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
“This place is a ghost town.” states Kraab while he’s tucked away under Izuku’s arm.
“No kidding.” Izuku murmurs in response. “Bet it was something though at one time.”
After scouting out the acres of parking lots, Izuku and Kraab made their way into the racetrack itself. Izuku made his way up the stands before climbing them down towards the track. And now both him and the cyborg are wandering through the abandoned and trashed racetrack.
The surrounding stands are empty and void of life, the box seats and announcer’s booth stand empty with broken glass, and tall flagpoles stand bare and uninspiring without their waving colors. As for the racetrack it is littered with trash and rows of long forgotten race cars: the rusted race cars don’t sit in any particular order all off set from each other, by how they’re positioned it’s like someone paused the race in real life and the racecars were forever trapped in that single moment of racing.
Izuku takes Kraab and wanders through the track, quietly passing by the frozen race cars. After a little while he arrives at the end of the immovable race, at the finish line, where he stops in his tracks. Izuku eyes what may have been a crash site as part of the fence protecting the audience has been smashed in and old almost faded scorch marks stain the racetrack and wall. There are even some nasty looking gashes lining the track like a racecar flipped and skidded across the track before it crashed and burned.
Kraab spots the crash site too but doesn’t pay it any mind. “Where do you think she’s hiding?”
Izuku blinks, snapping back to reality, and giving a shrug in return. “Literally, anywhere.”
This place is too big and has too many hiding places.
And so Izuku moves on, leaving behind the crash site, and instead makes his way towards the pit crews. Or at least where they used to be.
As he approaches he notices the piles of broken car parts lining the barriers and rusted broken tools scattered across the pavement. And even though the open garages appear abandoned and forgotten there are in fact signs of someone being here. Dirt has been pushed away leaving behind very obvious tire tracks, very familiar tire tracks that lead right into one of the bigger garages.
Izuku frowns, squatting down so he can hide under the concrete barriers before stealthy crawling his way towards the open garage. The stadium is silent, too silent, making Izuku increasingly nervous as he makes his approach. He makes it to the garage after sneaking his way behind piles of tires and stacks of barrels. He peers inside expecting to find Rojo but instead he finds a more familiar sight: the Rustbucket.
Izuku almost sighs, glad that he found it, but he soon realizes that his worst fear came true. The Rustbucket has been stripped, although most of its frame is still intake, many of its parts having been ripped out or outright taken. The engine’s been removed, and the wheels are gone, and the windows are still smashed in but what really has Izuku worried is that the rocket boosters, the hi-tech battering ram, and a lot of interior workings of the RV are straight up missing.
Kraab blinks at the gutted RV. “Well we found the bathtub on wheels.”
“Yeah.” Izuku frowns, worried, backing away from the open garage. “This is bad, Dad said the tech on the Rustbucket was old but it’s still alien tech.” He gulps. “And now she has it. And who knows what she’ll do with it.”
“Then let’s find her.”
“How?” And then an idea clicks in Izuku’s head. “Hang on. Don’t you have a scanner or something?”
“Oh, oh, yeah! I do, actually!” Kraab sweat drops, embarrassed in himself for forgetting his own systems.
Izuku stares down at Kraab expectantly waiting for him to tell Rojo’s location.
But Kraab just stares back at him just as expectantly. “Well?”
Izuku frowns. “Well what?”
“Well I need to see the area for it to work.”
“Oh, ops, my bad.” Izuku sheepishly lifts Kraab’s head up, turning him towards the racetrack. Izuku then rotates the cyborg head so his eyes can scan the surrounding area.
After a moment Kraab has her location. “I know where she is.”
Izuku grins as he brings Kraab down to eye level. “Where?”
And Kraab responds with the most unassuming and chill answer. “Behind you.”
“Huh?” The hairs on the back of his neck stand on end, and Izuku’s instincts take over forcing him to duck and roll forward just before a mechanical battle gauntlet can do him in!
Izuku gasps for air, his heart racing a thousand beats a second as he spins around and jumps to his feet.
Rojo smirks, not at all upset that he dodged. “Cool toy you got there.” She reels back her arm, showering off her admittedly cool battle gauntlet. “But mine are better.”
Rojo stands before Izuku with her newly acquired suit.
The skintight suit is primarily grey with spiked shoulder pads that are red in color and a metal head guard on her forehead. Red wires are lined across the suit giving it a high tech yet rushed look as the wires connect and web around from her tricked out boots, battle gauntlet, and upgraded sonic blaster that are all attached to her body through the suit thanks to her Attachment Quirk, making them a part of her. All together the suit looks rushed like she didn’t have enough time to truly stylize it and was only really able to sew on her signature skull emblem onto her chest.
Kraab glares at her from under Izuku’s arm. “Who are you calling a toy? I’ll have you know I’m a-hmpf!!” Izuku quickly shuts him up by clamping his hand over the bot’s mouth.
“Rojo.” Izuku nervously greets, backing away from the garage and Rojo. “Or rather Akai Kitou.”
Rojo pauses, her glare hardening in response.
As he cautiously backs away back towards the racetrack, he goes ahead and explains hoping to draw this all out. “Looked you up after your first arrest. Somehow I missed the news about you escaping prison.” Can’t be helped when you’re constantly on the road and don’t always have access to cell service. “I’m sort of impressed yet…terrified.”
“Oh, you have no idea how…” Rojo pauses on how she can explain. “Impressive my escape was.” She peers up towards the sky where she knows a little invisible drone is watching her every move.
The two sides begin to circle each other, squaring off like they’re in some cliché made western movie.
Izuku’s fingers clench, ready to grab the Omnitrix in a moment’s notice. “I already took out the Road Crew, so I can take you on too!”
“The Road Crew.” Rojo scowl hardens but then softens as her eyes, for a moment, show concern. “What about Turbine?”
That throws Izuku off, but he nonetheless gives her an honest answer. “She’s fine… She at least didn’t get hurt.”
Rojo almost looks relieved but she doesn’t show it; instead she draws up her battle gauntlet in response. “This is how this is gonna work. I ain’t gonna kill you, I’m just gonna rough you up enough that you can’t chase me, and then I’ll be taking that watch back to Squidface.”
Izuku frowns. ‘Squidface?’ And then he starts when he realizes who she’s referring to. “Vilgax?” He knew she was after the Omnitrix for him, but it doesn’t really make him feel any better about being right.
Rojo frowns, confused. “Vilgax? Is that his name? God, that’s a terrible name? Sounds like a name you’d give a bad guy on a Saturday morning cartoon.”
Izuku almost sighs aloud but it’s too soon for that. “What about you? What do you know about him?”
“What’s there to say?” Rojo scoffs. “He’s a big scary guy with a god complex and way too much money on his hands. But hey I know he’ll pay me well when I get the bastard what he wants.”
‘Well that confirms it, she doesn’t know that Vilgax is an alien.’ Izuku thinks, not all that relieved about it. ‘Hopefully we can keep it that way.’
“Before I punch your teeth in, wanna tell me why the guy’s after your watch?”
Izuku gives a snippy response. “Yeah, he thinks it’ll look good with his eyes.”
“Tch. Whatever. Not like it really makes a difference anyway, either way I’m taking that watch.” She states with a furious determination the upgraded sonic blaster on her left wrist humming to lie as it begins to charge up power.
Izuku stands still and at the ready his fingers flexing.
Rojo stands just across from him and is just as on edge.
The entire stadium is silent like the entire racetrack is holding its breath as two cowboys prepare to draw their guns at each other.
And just when it seems like the tension couldn’t become any worse: Rojo fires!
*VREEEEE!!!*
The sonic blast is different and far more powerful than it was before: instead waves of red plasma energy radiate forth demolishing and forcing away everything in its path.
Izuku leaps away before he’s shot by the plasma blaster, he slides behind the closest race car while dropping Kraab and slamming down on the Omnitrix. “Give me Feedback!!” And green light flashes from behind the racecar.
Rojo aims her plasma blaster and fires at the junked race car: the plasma blast obliterates the car causing it to implode under the plasma power.
“Yahhhh!!” Kraab’s shrilled shouts cry out from the other side of the demolished relic.
Rojo smirks, gleefully admiring her upgraded weapon. “Haha! Cool right? But you would know. After all, it came from your RV.” She scans the rows of race cars but the kid’s nowhere to be seen. “Where did you come across tech like that anyway?” She creeps closer, ready to blast him that moment she spots him. “Or does U.A. spoil its students that much?”
A small discharge of sparks catches her eye from behind one of the other race cars.
Rojo smirks, striding over, her battle gauntlet and plasma blaster at the ready.
The sparks continue even as she creeps closer, leaning over the side expecting to find something large and monstrous. But instead she is met with a stinging electrical shock to her midsection!
“Yaahh!!” Rojo’s forced back as electricity courses through her body.
“Hahaha bzz!” A little electrical being zips upward, hovering in the air. “Shocked to see me bzz?” greets a static voiced Buzzshock. “Because I am bzz!” it’s been so long that Izuku kinda forgot he had this alien.
“Grr, ragh!!” Furious, Rojo attacks swatting at the Megawatt with her battle gauntlet.
Buzzshock zips away, evading the swipe. “My turn bzz! My turn bzz!” Aiming his stubby arms he fires a bolt of electricity at the red-haired villain.
Rojo dives out of the way, rolling onto her knees, and firing another plasma blast up at the little gremlin.
“Hahaha bzz!!” Buzzshock howls in laughter, evading the plasma blast after plasma blast with ease. “Hahaha bzz!!” He zips away as a blur of electricity, snaking his way past the forgotten race cars.
Rojo immediately chases after him: firing away but missing and imploding more race cars and concrete barriers.
All the while Buzzshock laughs his little head off. “Haha! You can’t catch me bzzz! I’m the Buzzshock man, hahaha bzz!!”
“You little shit!” Rojo in a fit of anger swings her left arm right into the grill of a nearby race car.
Her battle gauntlet smashes into the car’s front, the power propelling it up into the air and thrusting it forward!
“Woah bzz!!” Buzzshock sparks and zips out of the way before he’s crushed by the incoming flying car!
But he can’t relax as Rojo smashes and flings more cars at him!
Buzzshock dodges and zips out of the way of the oncoming cars that smash and crash into the pavement or each other.
“Hahahaha bzz!” When he has his opening, Buzzshock takes off for the sky figuring he can fire down while also staying out of her reach. “What’s the matter bzz? Can’t you fly too bzz?”
Rojo, instead of getting upset, smirks. She taps the heels of her metal boots together which activates the rocket propelled at the base of her boots. And after a moment to charge up Rojo’s thrusted up into the air by her rocket boots.
Watching his foe fly up into the air after him quickly wipes away Buzzshock’s cocky smirk. “Oh, you can fly bzz…” It takes him a moment before he zips away in a panic. “Ayh bzz!!”
*VREEEEE!!!*
Rojo fires as she flies after him.
“Woah!”
*VREEEEE!!!*
“Ah!!”
*VREEEEE!!!*
“Hey! Aah!!”
*VREEEEE!!!*
Buzzshock dives back down towards the track where he glides over the pavement as Rojo fires down at him from above. But after circling the track he arrives back at the maze of race cars. And so he dives in between the cars, snaking and zipping past them until his electrical trail disappears from sight.
Rojo soon follows, crashing down atop a racecar, using her heavy metal boots and battle gauntlet to cushion her own fall while destroying the car below her feet.
She soon hops off, scanning the race way but there’s no sign of any movement, sparks, or life.
“Where are you little guy?” Rojo taunts stalking through the rows of racecars. “Don’t ya wanna play with me some more?”
From behind and under a pair of cars Buzzshock zips past as silently as possible. The Megawatt quietly trots and zips his way between the cars, making sure to stay out of Rojo’s line of sight the entire time.
After some more scurrying around he comes across Kraab’s head that was flung back after that first implosion.
“Kraab bzz!” Buzzshock calls out in a hushed shout.
Kraab blinks up at the unfamiliar alien. “Is that you?”
“Yeah, come on bzz.” Buzzshock grabs Kraab and tries his best to drag him under a nearby car and out of sight; but with Kraab’s head being the same size as him it isn’t exactly easy.
After making sure they weren’t heard, Buzzshock goes ahead and checks on Kraab.
Kraab however is quick to interrupt. “How can I help?”
“I don’t know bzz. What can you even do bzz? You’re a head bzz.”
“I mean…” Kraab pauses, not totally confident in what he can bring to the table, but as he ponders he eyes the rows and rows of cars which seem to remind him of a little trick of his. “I can interface.”
Buzzshock gives him a very questionable look. “What did you say bzz?”
“I can interface with almost anything and reprogram it.” Well as long as it has some kind of computer chip inside of it then he can have a limited amount of control over machines and other technologies.
“Wait, you mean you could hack into anything this whole time bzz?!”
“Well no not really. It’s not like I can just walk up and take over C1-10P, I need legs to do that. And besides hacking into more complex systems can take a while so C1-10P could prevent me from taking control anyway.” Basically he’s still useless without a body and droids like C1-10P are designed for interfacing so it’s like a rookie boxer going against a veteran fighter, Chopper being the veteran fighter in this case.
“Oh, I get it bzz.” But how can they use this to their advantage? “What about a car bzz? Can you interface with that bzz?”
In response, Kraab gives Buzzshock a very cocky look.
From nearby, Rojo continues to stalk through the frozen race like a feral cat searching for mice. “Get out here!!” She roars as she smashes in the hood of a car!
A bit of static catches her ears and Rojo spins around but finds nothing there.
In the meantime, Buzzshock zips by undetected with Kraab in his stubby hands. Buzzshock tosses them into one of the racecars that looks like it might still be able to move: even if it’s covered in rust, the tires are completely flat, and even all the windows have been smashed in a long time ago.
“What now bzz?”
Kraab gestures towards the center of the dashboard, towards the installed computer screen and radio. “Open it up and then place me against it.”
Buzzshock rips out the computer screen, it being so old made it easy, and from inside he’s greeted by an array of computer chips and wires. He grabs Kraab, flipping him so that his exposed underside is pressed against the opening.
“This better work bzz.”
“It will.” Wires crawl out from under Kraab’s: the wires are thin and small, not strong enough to walk but they are strong enough to snake their way into the car’s systems. After a moment he gains access over the racecar. “I’m all set, I just need to interface with it. But first this hunk of junk’s gonna need some juice.”
“I can take care of that bzz.” Buzzshock zips away, weaving his way as an electrical current until he reaches the car’s battery.
Meanwhile, Rojo’s made her way past all the racecars and now she finds herself at the start of the abandoned track, just before the finish line. She soon comes across the crash site with its scorch marks, gashed pavement, and smashed in fence.
She seems put off by the sight, her expression becoming soft and sorrowful, before averting her gaze; refusing to even think about that nightmare again.
But then the sound of a roaring engine catches her attention.
Rojo spins around only to find a screeching, rattling racecar speed towards her!!
“Hahaha bzz!!” Buzzshock’s staticky laughter echoes from the car as Kraab successfully guides the car right towards the red-haired villain.
Rojo has no time to react before the car slams into her, before crashing itself and her against the concrete barriers!
“Gaahh!” Rojo gasps in pain, the wind being knocked out of her.
“Hahaha bzz! Gotcha ya bzz!” Buzzshock surges his way out from inside the car!
Rojo snarls, swinging her battle gauntlet at him.
But Buzzshock is faster and thus is able to reach her first, grabbing her arm and delivering a powerful surge of electricity! “SHORT CIRCUIT!!!”
“Eaaaaaaahhhhh!!!” Rojo scratches in pain, her brain short circuits from the electricity before it all goes dark and she passes out.
Buzzshock lets go of her arm just as her head slumps down onto the hood.
At the sound of Rojo’s head falling unconscious and the lack of curses, plasma blasts, or shouting Kraab calls out from within the car. “Did we get her?”
The Megawatt grins. “You bet we did bzz.”
“Well, glad I could help…”
Buzzshock’s smile widens, glad to hear the news.
“But just so you know I do expect to be awarded for this. I don’t work for free; you know.”
Buzzshock sweat drops. “Um, yeah, sure, I guess bzz. Haha…ha bzz… ”
Unbeknownst to either of them, the invisible scout drone hovers just above, silently watching. The drone quickly assesses the situation as a failure before turning away and gliding up towards the abandoned announcer’s booth. The drone flies up above the announcer's booth where it is greeted by another entity.
“I tgo ti rmof eehr.”
The entity kneels down and picks up what appears to be a specialized alien launcher. The entity takes the launcher and aims down towards the oblivious Nosedeenian but then they adjust aiming just below the tiny alien.
From down below a grinning Buzzshock has just pried Kraab from out of the car. “Hey, so thank again for your help bzz.”
Kraab rolls his eyes trying not to make a big deal out of it. “Don’t mention, kid.”
“Call me…Deku bzz. Alright bzz?”
“Deku?” Kraab frowns. “Why does that name annoy me?”
Buzzshock just smiles and decides that it would be best not to tell Kraab that it was him that destroyed his whole body declaring himself as Deku.
From above the entirety fires and an odd purple grenade is shot out, plummeting towards the oblivious heroes.
The grenade lands atop a nearby race car and immediately explodes in a brilliant show of fire, smoke, and debris!
“Wahhh bzz!!/What in the hell?!” Both Buzzshock and Kraab cry out as the force of the explosion propels them backward!
They both land on the pavement with loud thuds as an eerie purple haze seems to radiate from out of the wreckage. Causing a smokescreen so thick that they can’t see the racetrack or even Rojo.
“What’s happening bzz?!”
Kraab tries to scan for the source but his eyes are going haywire. “Ahh! This haze! It’s messing with my systems!”
The sound of a jetpack can be heard from nearby.
Fearing that Rojo woke up and is now trying to escape with her rocket boots, Buzzshock fires into the haze, firing bolt after bolt but coming up empty every time.
Buzzshock hovers up into the air, sparks dancing off his body as he prepares himself for another round. But the haze soon dissipates, vanishing just as quickly as it arrived.
Buzzshock frowns, finding nothing out of the ordinary. “What was that bzz?”
“Kid-um, Deku!”
Buzzshock spins around in response to Kraab’s call. “What’s up bzz?”
“Haven’t you noticed anything missing?”
Buzzshock frowns before it eventually clicks. He spins around and his heart plummets when he discovers that Rojo’s disappeared. “She escaped bzz…! Again bzz!”
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“I can’t believe it. Look what they did to her!” Tears drip down Hisashi’s face as he embraces his gutted Rustbucket.
After dropping off the Road Crew at the local police station they were then able to use a tow truck and Four Arms to help tow the Rustbucket back to Hatsume’s garage.
The local police are out searching for Rojo, having called in other officers and heroes to help in the search for the prison escapee but so far there doesn’t appear to be any signs of her.
And so they could do nothing else but come back to the garage, where Hisashi’s mourning over the great tragedy done to his RV.
“Hey, it’s okay, we can fix her.” Izuku tries to comfort him but he might as well be telling a baby to stop crying.
Kraab isn’t helping in these matters. “So quiet it with the water works will ya?”
“Um, not now Kraab, he needs a minute.”
“No, he’s right.” Hisashi takes a shaky breath, whipping his nose, bending over as he tries to compose himself by pep talking to himself. “Pull yourself together, Hisashi. It’s fine just a family heirloom’s only been defiled is all.” He shakily nods his head as if trying to force himself to buy into his own lie. “It’s fine. I’m good. I’m good. I’m good.”
Izuku pockets his hands into his hoodie while giving his Dad a concerned look. “You sure?”
“Yeah.” Hisashi still doesn't sound all too convinced though.
“Don’t you worry!” Hatsume unapologetically inserts herself into the conversation. “I'll fix her up as good as new.”
Hisashi lights up, like a child who was told he’d have his favorite stuffed toy fixed up in no time. “Really?”
“Yup!”
“Thank you!”
“Sure thing, it’ll take a few days, but I can do it!” She then winks, sticking her tongue out from the side. “Of course my mechanic skills don’t come cheap so be ready to pay up.”
Hisashi doesn’t even care, he’s just happy to hear that a precious family heirloom will be fixed. “Hey, no problem, and we’ll help you out too! Chop’s a pro at this kinda stuff and I know my way around a duct tape roll pretty well.”
“No, need! I can handle this all on my own!” Even so Hatsume’s eyes light up like stars when they land on Chopper. “But I’d be more than happy to see your robot in action again!”
“Don’t worry you will.”
“Haha!”
^Wa wa…^ Chopper backs away nervously, Hatsume’s laughter is making him a little too nervous.
Izuku sighs before stepping forward and addressing the pink-haired mechanic. “Thanks for your help by the way. You didn’t have to go out of your way for us.”
“But I didn’t do it for you!” She responds with an unapologetic grin. “I did it out of principle! And besides I got to try out a few of my babies today too!”
Izuku beams. “Like the car!”
“Haha! You bet ya! Say do you want something like that for yourself? It’d be really cool!”
Izuku is quick to shake his head, albeit with a kind smile. “No thanks. Why do I need a car for? I mean I have a transformation who can fly and another that can get me across town in less than a minute. But thanks anyway.”
“Well, if you change your mind you just let me know! Oh! And that goes for any other support items you think you’ll need. Come to me first before anyone else got it?!”
Izuku chuckles. “Yeah, I got it. Besides, I might wanna give my Omni-Shield a redesign or at least a new feature.”
“I’ll get right on making the designs!” Hatsume rushes away snatching up piles of blueprint paper up in her arms.
“Hey wait! But it’s still at school!”
“That’s fine! I’ll work on it when we get back to class! Hahaha!”
Izuku sweat drops but he doesn't want to bother ruining her fun.
Hisashi, listening in, has a thoughtful expression. “Hey, Hatsume.”
The pink-haired teen’s eyes Zoom up at Hisashi. “What’s up?!”
“If you want something to work on other than the Rustbucket, how about this?” Hisashi presents the electrical spear. “I’ve kinda grown to like it. But the design and function’s kinda lame. Think you can do something with it?”
“Can I do something?!” Hatsume shouts, ecstatic, snatching the spear right out from his hands. “This thing is a piece of crap!”
Hisashi’s not sure if he should be offended or not, but then again if she’s willing to work on it then he can’t complain.
“Hahaha! Just you wait and see, I’ll turn this shit into something so good you won’t even recognize it! Hahaha!”
“Well, I’m glad you’re excited.”
“Hahaha! I’ll get to work on it right away!” And she dashes off further into the garage in search of materials.
As Hatsume runs off it finally gives the Midoriyas and the bots a moment to catch their breaths. But Hisashi doesn’t want to waste this chance, now that Hatsume’s out for now, he needs to address the true matter of the day’s events. “So, was Rojo working for Vilgax?”
Izuku frowns, uncertain. “I’m…not exactly sure.”
“What do you mean you’re not sure?”
“I mean she didn’t even know who Vilgax was when I said his name. And from what I can tell she thinks Vilgax is a rich greedy maniac from another country. Or that she’s actually working for someone else with a lot of influence and I’m just assuming it’s Vilgax because she was targeting the Omnitrix, again.”
Hisashi frowns, not finding that last idea at all plausible. “Yeah, but if Vilgax used her before-”
Izuku finishes Hisashi’s thought. “-then he probably had her go after me again.” The thought makes Izuku’s spine shiver. “This is bad. I thought we jammed Vilgax’s signal. He shouldn't be able to track me!”
“He can’t. One-One and Nezu both worked on that program together, so it works.” Hisashi can say that for certain.
“So how did she find me?”
It’s actually Kraab who provides an answer. “Social media?”
The Midoriyas all stare at Kraab like he grew a second head.
“What?” Kraab blinks up at them, confused by their odd looks. “Hey, look I’m no expert on this kinda stuff but from what C1-10P has shown me, you’re all over the news…Deku.”
Hisashi spins around, his stern gaze quickly landing on the astrodroid. “Have you been showing him around Facebook?”
Chopper tries to defend himself, not at all denying the accusations. ^Wa wa bop wa.^
“I know you like memes but don’t share them with a galactic bounty hunter!”
“But he does have a point.” Izuku confirms with a nod. “People know me from the Sports Festival and the Hosu Incident. So maybe Vilgax or at least Rojo was tracking me via social media.”
If movies have shown him anything, it can be done. All someone has to do is search for his name or type in #UAsRisingStar and all sorts of photos or shots of him will pop up; along with the location of where he was last seen. Heck it even started for Uraraka and other classmates like Yaoyorozu and even Todoroki.
“See!” Kraab cheers. “He gets it!”
And so does Hisashi. “I’ll contact Nezu and see what he thinks of this. Maybe him and the others can look into it for us. And maybe they can get a lead on Rojo better than we can.”
Izuku nods, but he can’t help but feel a bit nervous and disappointed. “Okay. I’d hate to cut our trip short.”
“Hopefully we won't have to. If anything, if Vilgax is actually tracking us through social media then that means he’ll have a real hard time if we’re constantly moving.” So staying on this trip might actually be the best option. “Besides, he knows better to make his presence too obvious, otherwise we’ll have the necessary evidence we need to persuade the Plumber command to send us help. Which would only harm his own plans.” And Hisashi knows first-hand how well Vilgax handles his plans being thwarted. “And if Vilgax did hire Rojo I wouldn’t doubt if he threatened to end her if she failed the first time.”
Izuku gulps, his face playing with worry. “She’s failed twice already so…”
He can’t even bring himself to finish his question. But he doesn’t have to as Kraab goes ahead and clarifies it for him.
“She might not be our problem anymore.”
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Rojo is dropped without a care, her suit and support items clanging against the cold metal floor. Her eyes blink open, her daze dizzy and groggy as she begins to regain consciousness.
“Ow. That’s smart.” She groans holding her head as she props herself up. “Where am I?”
She tries to look around, but her daze is too foggy, but she can make out a few things; she can see…people at work on what she thinks are computer screens, and there’s a strange giant glue orb in the distance just past the working people. But yet none of this feels right, it feels too cold, too unforgiven, too alien to her.
“Uh!” Rojo gasps, scrambling away as her vision clears and she finds herself at the feet of the one who brought her here.
Standing over her is a strange humanoid who’s dawning a full set of high-tech purple and dark armor. The entity’s like nothing she’s ever seen but she can tell this…thing is armed to the teeth from his sharp black claws, to the blasters mounted to his wrists, and the cold dangerous gaze of his helmet’s red eyes.
Rojo scrambles away on the floor, she’s not sure why but she can feel that this person isn’t right, he isn’t natural. “W-who are you?!”
The armored entity gestures in greeting, his voice gravelly and gurgly. “Mi’ aanmtb.”
Rojo frowns, even more confused by the thing’s unintelligible gibberish.
“Mi’ usjt knddiig. Mi’ seevvnnees, iecn ot eemt ay.”
Rojo shakes her head, shaking off the urge to panic. “Why’d you bring me here? Where are we?”
A cold chilling presence makes itself now, instantly emanating an air of dread and forbidding doom. “You’re in my domain now, Rojo.”
Rojo shakily turns around and she nearly gasps aloud when she finds a towering Vilgax looming over her pathetic human form.
Rojo gulps, remembering the Squidface’s promise from before. But before she faces her doom she scans the room again and what she sees really begins to upset her: strange humanoid-drones are scurrying about at their station, behind Vilgax stands an inhuman red-eyed skeletal freak with a fin on his head, and that giant blue orb she saw before is actually…Earth! It’s Earth, sitting just outside a massive window!
“What in the world?”
“No, not from your world.” Vilgax leans in, his gaze drilling through her skull and to her very soul. “But from mine.”
Psyphon grins creeping, cackling, finding the human’s expression hilariously pathetic. “Hehehehe…”
Rojo’s stunned, her mind unable to fully comprehend what is happening. “W-what kind of p-person a-are you?”
Vilgax backs away allowing her to see him at his proudest. “I’m what you humans call…an alien.”
“A-alien…?” Rojo can almost laugh at how ridiculous that sounds but then…why is she freaking out? Why? Is it…is it because she knows that on some level, she knows he’s telling the truth. Is he really an alien? “Y-yeah, r-right.” She scoffs in denial.
Vilgax expected this and so he looks towards his newest enforcer, and with a nod of his head he signals for him to act.
The enforcer nods in response, he then reaches for his helmet and deactivates it before ripping it off his head.
“Ahh! Ahhh!! Aaahhhh!!” Rojo screams at the top of her lungs, backing away out of pure utter fright at the sight of the creature’s mangled grotesque face with all its sharp jagged teeth, grey sickly skin, and inhuman eyes. “AAAHHH!!!”
Believing that to be sufficient Vilgax gestures for the enforcer to dawn his helmet once again, which the being is more than pleased to do so.
Rojo manages to calm down, but her breathing is labored and fast, her heart beating so hard it’s drumming in her ears. But…she knows she knows it to be true. He is…they are…they’re aliens… “W-what do you w-want with me?” She breathes, breaking into a cold terrified sweat. “Are you gonna kill me?”
Vilgax’s eyes pierces right through her. “No.”
Even with her life not on the line Rojo knows instantly that this…alien must have something far worse in mind for her.
“Understand this Akai Kitou; I don’t appreciate failures; however, I never toss away a useful tool. You may still serve a purpose, one that you may also find…mutual.”
Rojo shakily nods, letting him know that she understands. But she has to know more? Just what is he? What is he after? Where did he come from? But more importantly… “W-who are you?”
“I am Vilgax. And I welcome you to my rule, Rojo.”
Psyphon breaks into a haunting cackle as do the humanoid drones furthering to disturb the poor human.
Eve Vilgax’s newest enforcer find himself cackling into the void. “Kloo uto rreedas, teh ltpo si gckhtiienn.”
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THE PREVIEW:
Izuku: Man I sure do feel sorry for my Dad. The Rustbucket really means a lot to him.
Buzzshock: Don’t worry about it, dude bzz. Hatsume’s gonna fix up the old RV as good as knew just you wait and see bzz!
Izuku: I know… But I can’t help but be worried. We lost the Rustbucket and now Vilgax has Rojo and a new bounty hunter on his side!
Buzzshock: Okay, yeah that’s bad but hey we can take them bzz. No sweat bzz!
Izuku: I don’t know, shouldn't we be more worried?
Buzzshock: Na, I wouldn’t be bzz. It’s summer vacation! We shouldn’t be worrying about this kind of stuff bzz!
Izuku: I guess you’re right… You know I wonder if anyone else’s summer break is as crazy as mine is.
Buzzshock: Meh, who knows bzz? I mean you can always send a text to Uraraka if you’re so curious bzz.
Izuku: Yeah, maybe I will. Wait, oh, look she just sent me a photo…
Buzzshock: Who is that bzz?
Izuku: I don’t know but it can’t be good. I just hope he’s not after the Omnitrix either.
Buzzshock: Hang on bzz. Did you see that bzz?! Vilgax just recruited him too bzz?!
Izuku: WHAT!?! No! Not him, please! This can’t be happening… Can we be worried now?
Buzzshock: *gulp* Yeah, we can be worried now bzz…
Both: Next time: Ch.52 Divide and Unite!!
Buzzshock: Devils making deals with other devils…that can't be good, can it bzz?
Notes:
And that was Ch.51, honestly it wasn’t my best work but I tried. I definitely could have cut a lot more and I did try to. But it’s not all that bad besides I think it sets up quite a lot for the future. So just to be clear I will finally be delving more into the plot for future arcs and events. And yes Rojo joined Vilgax and alongside her is not SixSix but SevenSeven! And I will explain more about him next time and perhaps even delve into the true fate of SixSix. If you recall I did leave SixSix’s fate open ended and I finally have an idea I like to do with him.
And also…yeah I admit it I like the idea of Kraab becoming Izuku’s personal droid. I’m still figuring out the finer details, but it is coming together.
Also the next chapter is for sure gonna take a long while. I will be away from my computer for a little while (a week maybe) so the next chapter will be delayed. By how much? IDK! But who knows? If I can work on it I will but I can’t make any promises. BUT it’s not all bad news as you will soon see.
***Important Announcement: So after making you guys wait so long for me to update again and again. I decided that I’m gonna do something a bit different. In a week I will be posting a separate fanfic story that does connect with this main story. However, it is nothing special. This sister story will just be a collection of Omakes both old and NEW.
I already have several ideas that I want to do for an Omake, and I will use this next week to write them. My plan is that I will post at least one Omake a week whenever I am unable to update this story. Basically this way you guys get something new; I can write up something quick and easy, and this way you know for sure that I am working on the main story.
If you have suggestions please hold off on sharing them for now. I will have a set of rules for Omakes to share when I post this new side story. If you start posting suggestions now then I cannot at all guarantee that it will even be considered. Thank you and I hope you all look forward to the new Omakes.
*So to be frank only one person got that “Akai Kitou” was actually Rojo. Congrats to reader, “Anonymous Idea,” for figuring it out!! You knew Akai meant Red and thus you knew it was Rojo.
So in a previous author note I mentioned that I did give Japanese names to Ben Ten characters, and I based the names off the same method Horikoshi uses to name his characters.
So just to clarify this is what Rojo’s name means. “Akai” means Red, “Ki” means Machine, and “Tou” means Pilfer. So Rojo’s name Akai Kitou translates to Red Machine Pilferer.
I actually thought it was obvious, but I guess not.
*Easter Eggs woah!!! 1. Those penguin cops were the MHA versions of the Penguins of Madagascar, you know Skipper, Kowalski, Rico, and Private. I rewatched that movie as I started the chapter so that’s why I added them. 2. “Roller Coaster Road of Furano, Hokkaido” is actually a real place. 3. The “Midoriya Special” is a riff of the “Mitchell Special” from the movie “The Mitchells vs. the Machine.” 4. XLR8’s “Velocicrush” move is taken from a Kinship Move from the video game “Monster Hunter Stories 2” also you can blame that game for delaying this chapter. And no I’m not sorry for my taste in games :) 5. Rojo’s Battle Gauntlet is a version of the Marvel Villain Crossbones’ Battlefield Gauntlet. You know the one he used against Capt. America and later Shocker used to fight Spider-Man. 6. Baron Highway’s Rocket Hammer is straight out of Fortnite. 7. Also did you cacth the MCU's Hulk Lullaby during the chapter?
*Turbine’s Quirk, Velocity: with a flick of her finger she can accelerate an object’s speed from zero to hundred in a mere instant, but it has to be an item she can actually flick and apply a greater amount of force to.
*Road Rage’s Quirk, Road Rage, is as it sounds. When he curses and swears those that hear it become enraged but only for two minutes or so.
*Baron Highway’s Quirk, Momentum, is an odd one I admit but with a catch. He can maintain a constant speed of his choosing while becoming near invisible to physical forces. Turning himself into an unstoppable force that cannot be stopped even by concrete, trees, or buildings. However, his Quirk becomes null and void the moment he changes direction in any way. So if he’s moving at 25 miles per hour down a stretch of road but then if he turns his Quirk automatically cancels out.
Chapter 57: Divide and Unite
Summary:
The League of Villains finally meet Psyphon's myserteous master.
Meanwhile, Ochaco really needs a hand with this new foe.
Notes:
***I HAVE A NEW SIDE STORY!!! Yes, guys I have started a new side story that is connected to this main story. The new side story is called “Heroes Never Die; It’s Hero Time, Anytime.” Now it is NOT the spin-off story I promised to contain the time travel and alternate reality stuff. This side story is a collection of Omakes and potentially OVAs and the plan is to update that side-story weekly so you guys can confirm that: A. I am alive. B. Have some more fun scenarios with the characters and aliens. And C. I will use the Omakes as a means to inform you guys on the next real chapter’s progress. So please have a look because it’s fun and there’s more of an explanation about the side-story within the first chapter. So if you have questions or suggestions please check out the explanation first.
*Also side note the last Omake in this collection is related to this current chapter. And I do suggest you check it out first because it gives a better hint as to who is supposed to appear during this chapter. But if you don’t read it it’s not necessary either. Admittedly my hint from the last chapter was like really really bad so I felt guilty.
***Also there is ARTWORK by “Voidv25” on Deviant art called “Henzu(Monster)” It’s been out for a while but it’s there for reference and it is the canon version of Henzu’s monstrous form for this series!! So what you see is how I imagine Henzu/Nue to look like. Also there is a reason I am mentioning this… ( ͡~ ͜ʖ ͡° )
https://www.deviantart.com/voidv25/art/Henzu-Monster-883288185
*This story has a TV Tropes page so feel free to check it out.*
https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Fanfic/HeroesNeverDieItsHeroTime
*Disclaimer I do not own the rights to Ben 10 or MHA.*
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
The Earth reflects off Vilgax’s vile red eyes, his mind quiet and patient as he watches the Earth like an untouchable prize.
“Master.” Psyphon greets, approaching his master from behind with his head bowed. “The League of Villains have arrived at the predetermined location.”
“On time as agreed.” Vilgax can appreciate their punctuality; less time wasted means more time dedicated to his cause. “Has the teleporter been repaired?”
“Yes. The last of the damage has been dealt with. Rojo has proven herself rather adept at adapting to such advanced technology.”
“Excellent. Commence the retrieval process and prepare for their arrival.”
“Yes, Master.”
As Psyphon leaves, he spots one of the nearby monitors of the command center; there upon the screen it appears they just scanned an unidentified ship entering Earth’s orbit. Figuring it is not of any concern Psyphon slinks away for the teleporter.
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A man or rather a devil disguised as a man seemingly glides forward with confident, calculated steps, his attire clean and professional, almost entirely normal, but his dark skull-like mask dashes the illusion.
And despite the calm summer day and the deserted mountain forest not a creature dares to make a sound as if they can all sense that a top predator is near. And this man, this devil, definitely holds himself at the top of the food chain. He holds himself to a great degree that is not unfounded, he stands before the world with a power that any man should fear. But at this moment in time this devil is lying in wait, waiting for the arrival of another false god.
Soon these titans shall meet, soon he will know what this supposed Master has in store for him. But soon he will show this Master exactly why his own legion of demons call him Sensei.
“Hahaha! What’s the matter, Handsy? You can’t handle a little walk?”
“Shut it, Freakshow! Not all of us can move at superspeed, you asshole.”
“Behave yourselves, the both of you. We must present ourselves in a professional manner.”
“Hah! Yeah, so shut your mouth Handsy.”
“Shut it or you’ll lose yours.”
All For One doesn't sigh, nor does he outwardly show his disapproval, as he turns to find his subordinates at each other’s throats.
Tomura Shigaraki and Nue have definitely fallen under the spell of the summer heat, making their attitudes even worse as they once again buttheads. And as per usual Kurogiri is doing what he can to quell the situation.
“Calm yourselves.” All For One speaks softly, with no hint of irony or danger. “Our guests shall be arriving soon.”
With a huff Shigaraki turns away from his inhuman counterpart. “Sensei? Why are we here?” he swats at the swarming nates and bugs. “I get it meeting up in the middle of nowhere, no witnesses and all that, but there’s got to be better places we could have done this? Heck at least pick a place with some cell service!”
Considering his apprentice’s words, All For One incinerates a nearby swarm of mosquitos with the flex of his open palm. “I understand this location is far from ideal but it will serve its purpose well. Our…kind friend, Psyphon, has given us the responsibility of setting a meeting time and location and to allow for such an opportunity to slip by would be to our own disadvantage.”
Nue frowns. “So in other words, you’re trying to play this safe.”
All For One nods a finger as if to congratulate Nue for figuring it out. “Ever since our meeting with our peculiar visitor-”
Shigaraki scoffs, rolling his eyes at the mention of Psyphon.
“-I have tried and failed to find out the identity of our visitor and his master.”
His underlings are all stunned by the revelation.
Kurogiri can’t seem to fathom the truth. “Surely you jest, sir. With all your resources surely you must have found something.”
Shigaraki is just as confused and outraged. “Yeah, that Skeletar looking guy wasn’t exactly conspicuous. You must at least know who he is?!”
“You would think so.” All For One certainly thought so after all there aren’t many men that can escape his reach but when one does he must admit that his curiosity is piqued. “But I believe that this Master of Psyphon’s must have resources greater than I or at least a source of erasing their own identities and existences from any system.”
Shigaraki’s fingers clench, his eyes hardening behind the dismembered hand on his face. It is angering to find out they have nothing on a potential enemy that is more than aware of them.
Kurogiri nods in understanding. “I see you are playing this cautiously.”
“Yes.” responds All For One. “Knowledge is power but as of this moment our guest holds more knowledge than I do.” They know more about them and their operations than they know about this mysterious unknown master. And with the weapons they witnessed Psyphon wielding, it's only that much more alarming and intriguing to see what else this Master has in store for them.
“But with this meeting I will change all that.” Today All For One will have his answers and possibly walk away with even more; he’s almost excited. It's been a long time since anyone other than that damned hero was able to challenge him like this.
“As for why we are here; it is best to have home field advantage, is it not?” All For One peers his head up as if he's actually able to take in the almost beautiful remote scenery of the mountain forest. “These mountains are remote and thus we are far from the prying eyes and ears of the police. Thus if we must defend ourselves then we may proceed to take care of them with extreme prejudice.” Eliminate all witnesses and take their resources for themselves, classic. “We will also be relying on you in case this is a trap, Kurogiri.”
Kurogiri bows before his master. “You can always rely on me, master.”
All For One gives his approval with a nod.
“That can’t be all.” Nue spits out, his claw and fangs clenched. “Why else are we here? Sure I’d love to let loose in an all out brawl but we can do that anywhere. So why are we really here?”
Ah, he is an observant one. “We are here because I have an advantage hidden away for us.”
Shigaraki frowns, surprised. “What kind of advantage?”
All For One smiles from underneath his helmet. “One that will truly show this false Master who is truly the one standing above.”
All For One turns away, waiting for this Master to appear. His underlings wait for him to continue but after a moment of silence they come to the conclusion that they will not be getting any more of an explanation from him.
After a few more minutes of waiting Shigaraki’s patience really starts to wear thin. “So, when exactly is this so-called great master supposed to get here?”
Before he can receive a proper response an unknown beam of light crashes down upon the League, showering them in a rain of transparent burning light.
The beam vanishes as quickly and mysteriously as it appeared, leaving behind a transparent, almost reflective-burn in the ground. The mountain forest falls silent once again as all human life vanishes from the remote mountains.
Well, almost all human life…
Heavy steps stomp forward and thick trees part as a giant arrives before the scorch mark. ˇThe giant leans down, sniffing before jolting up in surprise. “MASTER…?”
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Cannon Busters Opening - Showdown
(Beginning Instrumentals)
An open road, a bright sun illuminating the beautiful summer day, and the rush of wind in one’s ears as the Rustbucket cruises by moving across the road like a sports car before zooming past with grace.
We got places to go, things to do, people to see, and we got to get it done right away.
Izuku adjusts his hoodie, tugging it down over his body. All before gripping the dial of the Omnitrix and giving it a shine with his fingers.
So if you on the crew, guess we a team. Thicker than thieves and we all tryna help find a way
Hisashi buttons up his Hawaiian short, before grabbing his respirator and dawning it over his maw. He then snatches up a few loose tickets and pamphlets before tucking them away.
If you know the destination, we making conversation. Time is ticking, sun is setting, we got no time for waiting
Chopper latches his leg to his body, readjusting it. Before his arms pop out and flex about making sure they’re working properly.
Might be the showdown, Looks like it's 'bout to go down
Bust through with the cannon, at the hoedown
(Instrumentals)
Izuku slams down on the Omnitrix! In a flash of green the screen scrolls down to reveal his aliens: Feedback, XLR8, Grey Matter, Four Arms, Ditto, Ripjaws, Terraspin, Water Hazard, Lodestar, Buzzshock, Diamondhead, Big Chill, Heatblast, Stinkfly, Wildmutt, Rath, and Wildvine.
Transition into title sequence: HEROES NEVER DIE; IT’S HERO TIME
So we won't fall, until gravity is gone
Izuku grins falling through the air alongside Rath, Wildvine, and several other inhuman silhouettes! As the glow of the sunrise illuminates U.A. in the background!
We've been on this road too long, so long
Hisashi and Izuku stand back to back looking away from each other as the scene rotates around them.
The scenes flips in rapid succession with characters standing back to back!
(Instrumentals)
To Thirteen and Ochaco!
To Ochaco and All Might!
To All Might and Gran Torino!
And to Gran Torino and Hisashi!
And I can't stop, we can't stop
I'm so far away from home
We've been on this road too long, too long
A legion of villains have their backs to the camera but as the camera slides through their line up, each of them turn to acknowledge the audience.
Kraab’s claw flexes and clamps nearly clipping the camera.
Rojo folds their arms together and smirks as the camera rolls past.
Sunder raises his axe at the ready.
Silhouette (C) stands tall and proud, towering over the camera.
Nue bares a sharp tooth grin, his eyes gleaming with malice before the camera zooms away and up into to the forbidding sky, through the void of space, through the walls of the command ship, before halting before an all observing Vilgax.
Playing with fire (Fire!)
Take me higher
From up in the air Cinder releases a cloud of flames down upon Rojo below! Rojo cuts through the flames before rocketing up and clashing with the hero in midair!
We're on our way, we're on our way
Undivided (-Vided!)
All Might zooms past, his grin wide, as he slams his fist into Silhouette (C)! Silhouette (C) crashes into the ground, kicking up smoke, but it rises again, unharmed.
And ignited
We're on our way, we're on our way, yeah!
From the smoke cloud, Ochaco leaps back in a spin as Sunder soars after her. Sunder his axe at her but she counters it with a Ryou Sphere!
On our way, we're going
Nue grins madly as he stares down Deku who grins back just as determined and manically.
And no mistakes while we're rolling around town
We just came back round
The Rustbucket bursts forth zooming down the highlighted highway, gracefully zooming past Bakugou, Kirishima, Tsuyu, Hatsume, and a number of silhouettes!
You don't wanna show out
Close up of a smiling Hisashi.
Cut to a closeup of Chopper.
Cut to a closeup of Kraab.
Finally a close up to a grinning Deku!
Might be a showdown
Deku’s hand slams down on the Omnitrix, the alien green light swallows the screen!
Woo!
Freeze on the image of Deku, Cinder, Chopper, and Kraab posing before the setting sun, their shadows casted far off over the ground towards the camera.
(Illustrated by CreateGunner1209)
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Ch.52 Divide and Unite
“Ahh!!” Ochaco Uraraka’s head slams down onto the matted floor with a loud thud! “Ow…” She rubs her aching head as she blinks up at her opponent. “Can’t you be a little easier on me? I’m new at this.”
“Sorry.” Itsuka Kendo stands over her while dawning a judogi. “But the best way for you to learn is to gain experience.”
Ochaco, also wearing a set of judogi, groans as she rolls onto her belly. “You mean the best way for me to learn is by kicking my butt.”
“That’s another way of putting it.” Kendo admits with a cheeky smile. “But yeah, think of it as a roundabout way of motivating you.” Kendo takes a readying stance. “But come on you almost had me, let’s try again.”
Try what again exactly? Well ever since the start of summer vacation Ochaco’s been hard at work at perfecting her close combat capabilities. And who better to ask for help than the martial artist of the Hero Course, Itsuka Kendo.
Kendo, being the big sis that she is, was more than willing to accept, especially since they both technically planned this all out before the start of the Final Exams anyway.
And so here they are practicing judo of all things at the Kendo family’s personal dojo.
Why judo though? Well since Ochaco’s Quirk, Zero Gravity, focuses so much on her hands Kendo figured it best for her to learn basic grapples that would fit very well with her Zero Gravity.
And thus that all brings us here to Ochaco and Kendo squaring up for another sparring match.
Their arms are raised as they slowly circle and step closer and closer, ready to take down the other.
And almost by pure instinct they both charge at the same instant, grabbing onto each other, with their skulls pressing against the other. The girls grapple and twist trying to throw the other to the ground.
Kendo clearly demonstrates her expertise in the field as she swiftly gains the upper hand when she manages to twist herself backwards, pulling Ochaco along with her, before delivering a kick that tosses Ochaco over her head and onto the mat.
Ochaco hisses in pain but she quickly springs to her feet and lunges at Kendo.
Kendo spins around only to have her arms caught and twisted around as Ochaco spins herself around Kendo while looping her arms around the red-head’s neck, placing Kendo in a headlock.
Kendo struggles to break free but with her arms confined and head held tightly she can barley move.
Ochaco grins, feeling like victory is her’s. “I gotta ya!”
But like her Kendo isn’t one to give up. “Not yet.” Kendo thrusts her leg back and with one swift moment she pulls Ochaco’s own leg out from under her!
Ochaco immediately goes down losing her hold on Kendo who uses the opening to throw herself atop of Ochaco and pin her down.
“Ow…” Ochaco groans before realizing she’s lost again. “Aw, man…”
Kendo smiles, catching her breath, before letting the brunette go. “Hey you almost had it that time. Remember the basics: get your opponent on the ground by any means.”
“Are you…telling me to cheat?”
“In a way…yeah I am.” Kendo helps Ochaco up before pulling her in and admitting to her. “Technically. I mean I’m not teaching you how to compete in judo tournaments or anything so fair play isn’t really a thing. After all, villains don’t play by the same rules as heroes and so we have to get creative in ways to take them down.” Kendo takes a moment to better explain this. “Judo is about unbalancing your opponent with physical strength but as heroes sometimes we need more than that to win whether that’s our smarts, our wits, or our creativeness.”
“Got it…” Ochaco nods, although she still doesn't quite get it.
A sharp pain in her shoulder makes her wince in pain; Ochaco grabs her shoulder, massaging it and trying to calm her aches. “Ow… Everything hurts.”
Kendo chuckles, bumping Ochaco with her elbow. “Hey, that’s a good thing. It means my lessons are working.”
“No, it means they hurt.” Despite the refute, Ochaco can’t help but smile.
“So you wanna go again? I still have some time.”
“I’d love to but I have other plans for the afternoon.” Ochaco rolls her shoulder, trying to get the blood to flow. “I just hope it won’t be as painful as this.”
“Then let’s get changed and I’ll see you out.”
“Sure! And thanks again for taking the time to give me some lessons, especially in your family's dojo! I really can’t say how much I appreciate it.”
“Hey don’t sweat it, I'm more than happy to help. Now come on, let's get you cleaned up before you head out.”
And so that’s how a part of Ochaco’s summer has been going: training and hanging out with Kendo.
Now it hasn’t been all training and no play, she has done some work too: mainly helping out her folks with construction and babysitting ML-E but she’s done other stuff too. She went with Mina to see Franchouchou live at a local stage, and that was a whole lot of crazy fun. She watched some WWE and that is always crazy fun, Gatorboy and Porcupine are always such a ride to see in the ring. Although the newcomers Purple Puma and Tiger Millionaire have really been moving up the ranks. And heck she has plans later to go on a special beach trip with the rest of the girls from class later this summer! So yeah, she’s been busy too.
And right now she’s off to one of her summer’s best highlights.
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As Ochaco excitedly strolls her way up the forested hillside, taking in the summer heat, chirping birds, and light breeze as she makes her way to Plumber base.
As she strolls up, she gives her social media a quick scroll to check in on the rest of her classmates which has been another favorite activity of hers.
There’s Iida and his brother hanging out at Tokyo Disney, their mouse ear hats were hilarious. Tsuyu and her younger siblings are hanging out on their grandpa’s boat at Lake Nal Hutta. There’s even Tokoyami who’s spending his summer in Tokyo as well of all places with his mom who is apparently a cop. Then there’s poor Todoroki’s been roped in by his dad, Endeavor, to hang out with him under the pretense of a supposed extended summer internship. But at least Kaminari and Jiro look like they had fun at the music festival, although from what she heard they did experience some bad weather. And of course, she’s been checking in on Deku, seeing how his Father and Son Road Trip’s been going: overall it’s been good, well except for when it doesn’t. But hey at least they’re still having a good time, but hopefully they can get that darn RV fixed up first.
And so happy for her friends and classmates, knowing they’re all making the most of their summers, Ochaco enters Plumber Base with a happy smile. However, she is so distracted by her phone she failed to notice the figure hovering above the tree line, the hot sun shining behind them and blinding anyone that would look up at them, their long locks waving in the wind as they clutch their weapon of choice. All the while silently watching as Ochaco disappears into the disguised Plumber Base.
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Thirteen beams. “Glad you’re back!”
“Glad to be back!” Ochaco cheers as she practically skips into the barren Plumber Base’s main entrance that’s filled with rows of empty desks, counters, and monitors. “And I’m ready for another productive day!”
“Glad to hear it. Then let’s make it another great day!”
Another for sure since this isn’t the first time Ochaco and Thirteen have met up this summer. All summer Ochaco’s tried to meet up with Thirteen to help them out with Plumber work at least once a week for what kinda feels-like a twenty-minute adventure.
As Ochaco drops off her bag she pulls herself atop a nearby counter to sit. “I’ve been meaning to ask, outside of this, how's your summer been going?”
“Well since I don’t have to make any lesson plans I’m able to focus more on my hero work.” Thirteen smiles from underneath their helmet. “And I especially get to stay on top of my Plumber duties too.”
“Cool.” Ochaco scans the base, frowning when she finds no one else there. “Is Principal Nezu in another meeting today?”
“Sort-of. He’s actually off planet right now.”
Ochaco starts. “He is?” Now that’s different.
“He’s looking into starting a new project soon. So, he’s borrowing the Razor Crest right now and he took One-One to help him.”
Well, that explains why One-One hasn’t come by to say hello yet. “What kind of project?”
“Not sure he didn’t say.” And probably won’t until it actually gets approved.
Ochaco nods before pointing out another missing member of their group. “Is Mina not joining us this time?”
“She was but her mom made other plans for them. They’re both out of town right now.”
Ochaco starts, surprised. “Really? I had no idea?” Why didn’t Mina say anything? She could have at least sent a text.
“No surprise Eirene really sprung it on her and they took off.” Like just that morning. “From what I know she wanted to take Ashido somewhere remote, without distractions, to work on her Emote powers.”
Well that explains why there wasn’t a text: Mina couldn’t send one if she wanted to if they’re without a signal.
Ochaco claps her hands, leaping off the desk. “So, what are we gonna do today? Are we looking for a missing alien? Maybe looking into an underground alien tech smuggling ring? Oh! Or are we gonna stop an alien bomb from going off?!”
Thirteen shakes their head. “Nothing that exciting, hopefully.” They holdup a small tablet. “We’re just gonna be making some rounds is all.” Check in on alien residents, check out the local haunts, things like that.
“So, a nice easy summer day.” Ochaco beams more than happy to have a more relaxed day. “I can get behind that.”
*BOOM!!!*
*INTRUDER ALERT! INTRUDER ALERT! INTRUDER ALERT!*
Alarms blare as flashing red lights fill the entire base.
“An intruder?!” Ochaco panically scans for any signs of a disturbance. “What kind of intruder?!”
Another crash and explosion rings out from above.
The plumber and cadet lean back, staring up at the ceiling, their eyes widening as a red glowing blade cuts through the roof like a hot knife through butter.
The red blade slashes a nearly perfect triangle in the ceiling, but instead of the slab of metal falling from its place the triangular slab seemingly vanishes from sight as if teleported away. And out from the opening a large figure soars in, atop a high-tech glider like he’s some grey-skinned alien version of the Green Goblin with a long white mane and dawning a red and black get up while also wielding a large glowing red axe.
“Izuku Midoriya?!” The intruder roars, swinging his axe with a cocky smirk. “Come out and face me!” His smirk grows. “I have something to axe you.”
“He’s not here right now!”
The intruder peers down to find a human youngling glaring up at him. The youngling’s fist glows pink and a spherical aura forms around it.
“So, leave a message!”
Ochaco swings her arm and tosses up a Ryou Sphere.
The intruder eyes the ball, confused, his glider sliding to the side avoiding the attack. But the sphere instead crashes into the ceiling behind him, exploding upon impact!
“Gahhh!!” The intruder is flung away by the blast’s sheer power.
Ochaco grins, fist pumping.
Thirteen frowns, raising an eyebrow at her. “Was that a quip?”
The brunette shrugs. “Well, Deku does it all the time so…” She trails off letting Thirteen to fill in the rest: that she wanted to give it a try herself too.
“You insolent whelps!”
The two humans peer up to find the intruder glaring down at them from above.
“If you won’t bring him to me then surely your screams will. Raaagggh!!” The intruder dives down his axe swinging down from above!
“Look out!” Thirteen shouts as both they and Ochaco leap away as the intruder’s glowing axe comes crashing down!
The axe smashes through the nearby counter, slicing it in half. The intruder pries his axe free as one half of the counter vanishes.
With a shake of her head, Ochaco peers up to find the intruder taking another swing at her! She quickly rolls out of the way as the axe slams into the ground!
She spins around, shoving herself to her feet, arms raised for a fight.
“You’re a slippery one, aren’t you?” The intruder growls as he looms over her from atop his glider.
Ochaco falters, stumbling back. “Just who are you?!”
The intruder grins raising his axe in declaration “I am Sunder, the finder of rare and precious objects!”
With his guard down, Thirteen jumps up and grabs him from behind. “And I’m Thirteen the Space Hero, high school teacher and kicker of asses.”
Thirteen pulls back using Sunder’s own weight to toss him right off his glider!
“Ahhh!!” Sunder is tossed back, crashing onto one of the nearby monitors
Thirteen lands on their feet besides Ochaco who gives the pro hero a knowing smirk. “You too?”
Thirteen blushes. “I felt left out…” After all, even the intruder got a quip in before Thirteen did.
Sunder scowls, rising to his feet as his glider flies in from behind, he then jumps up, mounting it before flying up and over the heroes.
“You nuisances! I’ll cut you both down a peg!!” Sunder dives down at them, swinging his axe at their heads!
The two duck as Sunder soars past their heads.
With his back turned Thirteen leaps up, aiming their arm up at him. “Blackhole!!”
Blackhole does what it’s best known for, pulling in Sunder who’s glider struggles against the gravitational pull.
“Damn you Red Spot, what are you a vacuum?!”
With Sunder distracted, Ochaco rushes in from the side where she fires out another pink glowing sphere. “Ryou Sphere!”
Sunder, seeing the attack coming, thrusts his gloved hand forward. His red brace produces a translucent forcefield shield!
The Ryou Sphere harmlessly crashes into the forcefield, imploding upon impact. Through the smoke of the blast Sunder dives down on his glider and takes a swing for the girl’s head. “Heads up!!”
Ochaco throws her head back as the glowing blade of the axe slices just inches from her cheek, slicing off a few strands of her hair.
Ochaco falls onto her back as Sunder soars up and away.
“Uraraka!!” Thirteen slides over, making sure the hero student’s alright.
“Where is he?!” Sunder roars from above. “Where is Izuku Midoriya?! Where is the Omnitrix?!”
Thirteen and Ochaco spring back up to their feet, readying themselves as Ochaco shouts back. “He’s not here!”
“Then bring me the Omnitrix, surely you would lock away such a priceless weapon here!”
Ochaco glares back. “Sorry, but it’s sort-of attached to him.”
“Then where is he?!”
“Don’t know.” Ochaco sarcastically smirks back. “We don’t talk much.”
“Grr.” Sunder growls in anger. “Ironic, considering you have such a mouth on you.”
With his attention on Ochaco, Thirteen sneaks off to the side before aiming their hand up at the intruder. “Blackhole!!”
The cap of their gloved finger flips open as Thirteen’s Quirk begins to pull in loose debris, air, and the intruder.
Sunder’s glider struggles against the gravitational pull, his hair whipping in his face as he braces himself against the pull. “I’ve had enough of you.”
Sunder clutches a cluster of marble shaped grenades. “So I think it’s time I cut ties with you.”
He tosses the bombs allowing them to be carried off by Blackhole but before they even begin to disintegrate they explode, blasting smoke and heat across the Plumber Base.
“Ahh!!” Both Thirteen and Ochaco are blasted away, both launched off their feet before crashing into nearby monitors.
Thirteen groans, picking themselves back up, their vision blurry and shrouded by clouds of smoke. Thirteen thrusts their arm forward at the ready for Sunder to appear. But Thirteen can only watch in horror as Sunder’s glowing red axe slices pierces the smoke, slicing down in the air and right towards their hand.
Ochaco coughs waving at her face, desperately trying to wave away the smoke and dust. “Thi-*Cough!* Thirteen?! *Cough!*”
Ochaco gasps, her heart stops pumping for a moment, as through the dissipating smoke Ochaco spots Thirteen’s dismembered gloved hand lying dead on the ground with no signs of Thirteen in sight. “THIRTEEN!!!”
Ochaco can’t look away, she stares at the hand with wide terrified eyes until the hum of a glider manages to pull her attention away enough to find a smirking Sunder brandishing his proud glowing axe.
“W-what…? What did you do with THIRTEEN!?!” Ochaco screams, tears streaming down.
Sunder smirks coldly. “I showed them the door.”
“Rahh!!” Ochaco screams with tears in her eyes as she furiously tosses out Ryou Sphere after Ryou Sphere at the murderer.
“Hahahaha!” Sunder laughs, as the sphere either doesn't graze his aura or he easily evades them as his glider begins to rise back up towards the entrance he carved out for himself. “Until we meet again youngling! Perhaps you will join your fellow Red Spot in hell! Hahaha!” And with that Sunder escapes without so much as taking a scratch.
With the enemy gone, Ochaco scrambles to what’s left of Thirteen. Tears and snot stream down her face as she shakily reaches for Thirteen’s still hand. “Thirteen…” Ochaco sobs, gently resting her fingers atop the still dead hand.
As Ochaco sobs her tears run down her face and drip onto the gloved hand. Her entire body shakes with sadness and regret, having failed her teacher, having failed to save them.
From under her fingers the fingers of the dismembered hand move and twitch.
“Hm?!” Ochaco is startled by the sudden movement, reeling her hand back.
Her eyes scrunch up as she notices a faded red glow around the hand’s wrist. She hesitantly reaches for the hand again, but the moment her hand grazes the dismembered hand’s aura the hand suddenly springs up and grabs Ochaco by her wrist!
“AAAHHH!!!”
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“Ugh…” Shigaraki groans, grabbing at his spinning head as he props himself off the cold metallic ground.
He blinks away the haze as his vision returns and he finds himself and his allies in less than favorable conditions.
They find themselves contained within a large dome shaped imprisonment. The ceiling stretches high and with such a wide dome an entire football field could fit inside. The entire dome is composed of hexagonal panels all lining the floor and walls as red beams of light trail between the interesting grooves between the panels: providing poor lighting as soft red glows bounce between the hexagonal panels.
“Where in the hell are we?”
Nue, having been up for some time and is now scoring for an exit, scoffs.
“What’s it look like? It’s a prison.” He snarls, his claws, paws, and hands clenching. “We’ve been had! They caught us with our pants down and fucking ambushed us. Raaawwrr!!”
In his haste, Shigaraki scrambles to his feet scanning the large prison until his eyes land on a conscious Kurogiri. “Kurogiri! Get us the hell out of here!”
Kurogiri remains poised despite the unfavorable situation, and even more so as he responds with such a polite yet distasteful answer. “I cannot.”
“Why not?!”
Kurogiri gestures further into the dome. “Because he does not wish me to do so.”
Shigaraki peers around the dark misty servant, to find their master, All For One, standing before the dome silently admiring it’s architect and ingenuity despite his lack of proper vision.
All For One remains poised, collected, and in control as ever despite their situation. The red beams of light illuminating his dark menacing mask as they silently await their fates.
Shigaraki tries but fails to quell his fury and annoyance even before his master. “Sensei, why haven’t we broken out yet?! Between us all we can escape and burn this hellhole to the ground!”
All For One doesn’t react, he doesn’t turn to address his subordinate, he remains still and stoic as if awaiting something before he finally responds. “Calm yourself Shigaraki, you are playing into our host’s hands.”
“WHAT!?!”
Nue frowns, it seems that even he’s confused by All For One’s response. “No offense Boss but I ain’t sitting around to be experimented on.”
Shigaraki scowls, begrudgingly agreeing with the monster. “For once I agree with the freak.”
“Calm yourselves, the both of you!” Kurogiri scolds. “I’m sure our Master has a proper course of action for us to take.”
His underlings wait with baited breath for his supposed course of action, but when it is delivered it is not what they expected.
“We are not endangered here.”
Shigaraki’s at a loss. “Sensei…?”
“This is not a cell nor a trap, rather think of it as a test. A test meant to gauge our reactions. They are testing the waters as it were, to see how we react whether we lash out, act brash, or recklessly.” In other words their quote-on-quote host is trying to shake them, weaken them mentally, before proceeding with their discussion or demands. “Our host is a clever, dangerous one; pulling one's away from their own home field advantage often makes one fearful, angry, and confused.” It’s such a powerful tactic it is why horror movies often rip the protagonist from their familiar environments; to set them on edge and cause them to fear the unknown and uncertainty. “And as a result, they become easier to manipulate.”
A chilling vox echoes across the dark imprisonment. “My intuitions were correct, we are like-minded.”
Everyone, minus All For One, start spinning around and hastily search for the source of the voice but they find nothing. From the side of the dome a number of hexagonal panels seemingly vanish and bright light floods the entire dome, blinding the League of Villains forcing them to flinch away leaving only their master to stare back with unflinching resolve.
Through the newly made portal a figure, a massive hulking figure, emerges from within the light. The figure’s presence and over sheering power shakes the villains to their core as if a titan of Tartarus itself has clawed its way onto the mortal plane.
However, All For One remains poised and confident before this titan, exuding his own power and influence like that of Zeus before his father, Kronos.
The titan approaches, towering over them all, even Nue. Their heavy metallic steps shake and echo across the dome, each step like that of a giant’s. Their red steely gaze pierces their very souls, making them quake and tremble, as this green behemoth steps before them.
The titan stands before All For One, their sizes metaphorically comparable to that of David and Goliath.
The two remain silent, standing before each other as the portal seals itself away with the emergence of the hexagonal plates.
With the light gone the League finally take in their host. He is truly a monster in all sense of the word. With twisted tentacled arms that bulge with rippling muscles and cybernetic enhancements. Tentacles lining their skull, a kraken like appearance, and a hateful red gaze this is truly a monster from the pits of hell itself.
The titan, after a moment of observing the villains, finally speaks. “You must be the one referred to as Sensei?”
All For One, remains calm and unfazed, as he addresses the titan with such courtesy and respect. “You may refer to me as such but if we are here to discuss then I’d prefer my true moniker of, All For One.”
“And you may call me by my designated name,” The tian leans close as if warning All For One of the true terror he has confronted. “Vilgax.”
Nue fails to holdback a chortle.
Vilgax frown from behind his ventilator, his red gaze landing on the chimera with disdain, but also with a hint of intrigue as he takes in Nue’s monstrous, alien form. “Curious, you are certainly unique.”
Nue scowls. “That says something coming from you, Cthulhu?”
Vilgax’s red gaze narrows in warning.
Kurogiri, sensing the titan’s disapproval, attempts to make amends. “I apologize on his behalf, sir.” He bows his head in apology. “Nue isn’t known for putting his best foot forward.”
Much to their surprise Vilgax doesn't seem all that offended. “I am aware. Henzu Uuichi, the human with an ability to absorb matter and energy.” Vilgax pauses before adding in. “Well previously human.”
Nue growls, baring his jagged fangs; offended that he was once again considered less than human. “I’m still human, you tentacle-hentai faced douchebag!”
Kurogiri and Shigaraki’s breaths hitch in response.
However they have nothing to fear as Vilgax takes the insult in stride, instead finding Nue’s outburst somewhat amusing. “I see you have yet to break in this one.”
“He is a work in progress.” All For One admits without a hint of irony.
Vilgax’s attention drifts over towards the boy who dawns severed hands as his attire. “Can I assume that this one is also a work in progress?”
Shigaraki’s fingers flex dangerously at his sides. “Allow me to show you how much progress I’ve made.”
“You have fire,” Vilgax’s muscles flex in warning. “but you lack the will to control such flames.”
The two silently square off despite the distance, both ready and willing to take down the other if the other gave them any reason to do so.
All For One is quick to ease the tensions. “Shall we proceed with our…discussion?”
Vilgax visibility relaxes. “Yes, we shall.”
And so All For One immediately begins with the flatteries, hoping to gain Vilgax’s favor…for now. “Might I say what you did was quite the spectacle. I never heard of a teleportation Quirk that was capable of such magnitude.”
“Quirks…” Vilgax considers the word before explaining. “I can assure you that there was no Quirk you bore witness to.”
All For One’s interest is immediately hooked. “Then pray tell, would you be so kind to elaborate.”
Vilgax denies him this privilege. “Not yet. All in due time I’m afraid.”
All For One nods in understanding, after all patience is a virtue.
But for Shigaraki patience is a burden. “Why’d you bring us here?!”
Vilgax eyes the boy like an adult that’s confused by a child’s tantrum.
“What do you want with the League?! What do you want with us?! And what the hell is this place?!”
All For One smoothly interjects. “Forgive my protegee, he lacks patience.” But that doesn’t mean he’s wrong. “However I’m afraid to say that I too wish to know why you sought us out. Why do you desire to speak with me and my subordinates?”
Vilgax withholds his answer as he contemplates whether or not it is to his benefit, whether these humans are truly worth his time…
“I wish to see if you are worthy.” Vilgax response, coldly yet straight to the point.
The villains are immediately put on edge wondering what this titan could possibly mean.
Vilgax eyes down at the devil known as All For One and declares his one demand. “I want you to prove your worth to me; your power.”
All For One smirks underneath his mask. “My friend if you wish for a fist fight I must say that is rather brazen and might I say unprofessional of you.”
“You misunderstand.”
All For One frowns, falling silent as Vilgax explains.
“We are commanders, generals, leaders! And a leader’s true strength, true power, can only be determined by the legions they command.” With a flex of his wrist and the gesture of his hand several portals open up from above, light shining down like spot lights as three figures jump down into the dome’s floor below.
The figures take a stance beside Vilgax one of them being his servant, Psyphon, followed by a woman in grey battle armor geared with an array of weapons, and finally a being that much resembles the purple-armored interloper of the Hosu Incident.
“I wish to see how you command your legion.” Vilgax towers over his legion like the puppets they are to his master hand as his blazing red eyes pierce into All For One. “Now show me your true power.”
‘Is this guy insane?!’ Shigaraki freaks, faltering in surprise. He can’t fathom the logic here, why bring them all the way up here for a fight? What the hell is this?! “Sensei?”
“This is a chess match Tomura Shigaraki.”
“Sensei…?”
All For One does not cower nor does he tremble before this force instead he stands before it ready to accept the challenge. “It would be terribly rude of us to deny our host’s request. We came all this way, best not to let him down.”
Even from underneath his mask Shigaraki knows, he knows that All For One…has a devilish smile across his mangled face.
“Show them the power we wield.”
Like a dog giving in to his master’s command, Shigaraki reluctantly submits to All For One’s wishes. “Fine.” He slowly raises his hand up like that of a zombie on the prowl for flesh. “But I still don’t like this.”
“What are you saying?” A grinning Nue stomps forward pounding his two pairs of fists together in unison. “I’m more than happy to throw down.” He turns his three eyes onto Vilgax. “But no bitching when we’re done; sorry to tell ya but you’re gonna need some new ass-wipes after I’m done with them.” His grin widens as his crystalized arm turns into a sharp jagged blade.
“Restrain yourselves, the both of you.” Kurogiri slithers forward, his black misty body expanding to that of a cloak. “Or your overconfidence may just be our downfall.”
Psyphon scowls, hissing in annoyance. “Animals, such animals.”
“Naw, they’re villains. True blue villains.” Rojo corrects, before realizing that she has to deal with both aliens and the League of Villains. “Guess this really is my life now, huh?” Sad isn’t it?
“Hte eerrdas rae anogn elvo tshi.” SevenSeven’s hands shift and become a pair of powerful blasters that he swings up at the ready. “Oto adb yeth tna’i anogn ese ti.”
And so the dark dome falls into silence as the two “negotiating” sides square off and prepare for battle. Both sides are ready to stand and fight for their individual master’s desires. The League of Villains versus Vilgax’s adversity.
“Show me.” Vilgax taunts, almost excited at the prospect of a bearing witness to the League’s potential. “Show me exactly what you humans are capable of.”
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“Come on. Pick up. Pick up. Pick up.” A trembling Ochaco panicky taps on the monitor as she waits for the Razor Crest to answer her call, her eyes are red and puffy having just wiped away a stream of fearful tears.
Ever since Sunder came and left she’s been a mess, fearing the worst for Thirteen. And the longer she’s forced to wait the more she continues to freak out especially as her eyes drift over the Thirteen’s severed hand sitting just across the counter.
After another moment the monitor lights up as a holographic screen appears before her.
“Principal Nezu! Thank god you answered!”
However it was not Nezu that answered but One-One instead, who appears to be in the middle of recording himself for some sort of video.
Glad-One gasps excitedly upon seeing Ochaco’s face, he then turns back towards the recording camera and saying. ^Look everyone, it's our dear friend Ms. Uraraka! Say Hi!^ He waves up the teen. ^Hi, Ms. Uraraka!^
Ochaco’s eyes finally land on the robot. “Huh? One-One?!”
^Yes it’s me One-On-^
“Not now! Guys please! Where’s Principal Nezu?!” Ochaco begs, her voice trembling and panicked.
^Ms. Uraraka are you okay? You seem…panicked?^
“That's because I am! There was this guy and he broke into the base and he and he just-look!!” A freaked out Ochaco grabs Thirteen's still pulling hand and handles it before the monitor between two fingers. “Look at what he did to Thirteen!!”
One-One’s eyes widen in shock. ^Oh, my goodness. Now that is a pickle.^
Sad-One unceremoniously chimes in. ^Looks like the situation really got out of…hand.^
^This is no time for jokes I’m afraid.^ Glad-One reprimands before trying to help the poor girl. ^Don’t worry Ms. Uraraka, we’ll get Mr. Nezu on the phone right away!^
“Please hurry!” The severed hand twitches and flails between her fingers. “Eeekkk!!! It moved again!!^
One-One immediately shuts off his camcorder before hoping away and disappearing into the Razor Crest.
After a moment Nezu’s usual cheery and reassuring voice calls out from the other end of the holographic screen. “Hello, there.”
“Principal Nezu!!”
“Ah, Ms. Uraraka. Our little friend here,” Nezu gestures down to One-One who’s sitting by his side. “was just telling me you had a spot of trouble, did you not?”
“I did! Or we did… T-this guy he b-broke in and-and he was after t-the Omnitrix!”
Nezu frowns, concerned. “Was he now?”
“Yes!” Ochaco bows her head in disappointment. “But…he got away…”
“Pray tell, what was his name?”
“He…he said his name was Sunder.”
Nezu’s eyes widen. “Sunder?”
“Do you know him, sir?”
“I certainly know of his reputation.” Nezu explains. “Sunder the Retriever. He’s a mercenary who specializes in the retrieval of rare items, technology, and occasionally he’ll take abductions of personnel as a job.”
Ochaco’s frown sinks further. “Yeah and murder them…”
Nezu’s eyes furrow in concern. “Ms. Uraraka? It’s come to my attention that Thirteen is not with you. May I ask where they are?”
“They’re…here, sir…” Ochaco struggles to blink back the oncoming tears “or at least…what’s left of them.”
Taking a shaky breath Ochaco’s hands tremble as she grabs Thirteen’s severed hand and lifts it up for Nezu to see.
Despite being shown a severed limb Nezu remains remarkably calm. “Oh, dear.”
“Thirteen…” Ochaco’s still processing it but…Thirteen is dead. Her mentor, hero, and teacher is dead…and there was nothing she could do about it. “Thirteen…”
“Is perfectly fine!” Nezu interjects with a joyful tone.
…
“NANI!?!” Ochaco gaps, shock written across her face. “What are you saying?!” Thirteen is dead! The only thing left is literally just a hand!! What else is there to say?! “Principal Nezu! Thirteen’s been vaporized! Sunder, his axe, he-he slashed Thirteen apart! He-he killed Thirteen!!”
“I see why you would think that.” Nezu waves away her concerns. “But fear not, I can assure you that Thirteen is still very much alive.”
“How…?” Ochaco sniffs. “How can you be so sure?”
“Well the hand is still moving, yes?”
Yeah…she was trying to ignore that. It’s actually really creepy how the hand jerks and twitches from time to time as if it’s still alive and it’s not just the nerves acting up.
“Y-yeah!” Ochaco responds, holding the hand away as the fingers twitch and clench.
“And do you see that energy surge?”
Ochaco frowns as she hesitantly turns the hand so she can examine the red glow encompassing the severed wrist area. “You mean that weird glow?”
“Yes, the weird glow; it’s the result of dimensional displacement.”
“Dimensional displacement?” Is that what the red glow is? She just thought that was a side effect of being vaporized.
^It's like shutting your bedroom door on a finger.^ Glad-One chimes in before his counterpart, Sad-One, takes over the explanation. ^But when the door closes your finger doesn't end up in your room but is teleported to your kitchen.^
“Woah!” Ochaco awes, her eyes wide with wonder. “So then where’s Thirteen?”
“I’m afraid I can’t say.” Nezu frowns, bowing his head in concern. “But I can tell you where they’re not;” For some reason Nezu smiles at the screen before stating with full confidence. “Safe.”
Ochaco pales. “What does that mean?!”
^Well…^ One-One tries his best to explain. ^For a device such as Sunder’s weapon to Dimensionally displace someone it needs to have a prior destination installed into the programming.^
Sad-One nods and adds in. ^And the only one that would know would be the wielder himself.^
^So in this case it’s-^
^-Sunder.^
Nezu nods in agreement. “And with such a powerful device at his disposal he can send his victims anywhere across the known galaxies…” Nezu frowns before whispering under his breath. “Or known dimensions.”
Ochaco, not hearing the last part, frowns, cupping Thirteen’s hand tightly like it’s the last connection she has to one of her cherished mentors. The hand’s pulse is still there, meaning there is still a heartbeat, meaning Thirteen is still alive. “Is…is there any way to get Thirteen back?”
“There is in fact, but I’m afraid it’ll have to wait until I return.”
“Why?”
“Because I would need to build us a Retrieval Beacon Generator.” Nezu explains. “One-One and I have the parts back in the base but it will take time to put it all together. I’ll finish here quickly and return as soon as I can.”
Okay, that’s solved but there's still one major issue. “But-but what about Sunder he’s still out there! He might try to go after Deku! I have to warn him!”
Nezu’s reassuring smile returns. “Not to worry, it should be impossible for Sunder to find him.”
^That’s thanks to our wonderful jamming signal!^ Glad-One cheers way too loudly.
Sad-One sighs. ^Meh, it was a rushed job…^
But either way the jamming signal they created to stop Vilgax from pinpointing the Omnitrix’s location will also work for any radar systems Sunder may have access to as well.
And Ochaco couldn’t be more grateful; after all she’d rather not have to make Deku worried over something especially when he’s supposed to be on vacation. “Okay, at least there’s some good news. But still Sunder could be anywhere by now. What if people see him? What is…what if heroes see him?”
Nezu frowns before turning away to type away at his end of the monitor. “Then you best move quickly.”
“Me?!”
“Ms. Uraraka. I am terribly sorry for burdening you with this but with Thirteen displaced and the Midoriyas also out of reach you are the only one we can depend on to stop Sunder and bring him in.”
“But-but I don’t know where he even is…!”
“I have that covered.” And with a press of a button Nezu electronically sends something the girl’s way.
Ochaco’s phone buzzes in her pocket.
Ochaco pulls out her phone and opens it up to find a strange new update on it. “What’s this?” She unlocks the phone to find what’s been installed. “An app?”
Nezu nods. “It is. I just sent it to you.”
“What’s it for?”
“It’ll help you find our intruder.” Nezu explains before diving into more details. “Dimensional displacement takes quite a lot of energy, more so than an entire city can use. And that program is specially designed to use the base’s own radar systems to detect high concentrations of energy levels.”
Ochaco gasps. “Like Sunder’s axe!”
“Yes, like Sunder’s axe.”
“Cool!” She quickly opens the app and the program immediately gets to work and before she knows it a display of Japan appears before the image zooms in on a red moving beacon. “Hey it’s working!”
“Excellent.”
^Where’s he going?! I bet he’s off to a carnival!^
^I somehow doubt that…^
Ochaco frowns as she stares at the blink red dot traveling across her screen. “I…don’t know, but he’s gonna get there quickly at his speed.”
^Either way she’ll need to get there quickly. Maybe she can take the train!^
^Why the train?^
^Well I like trains.^
^You would…^
Ochaco ponders her options for a moment. “I…might have a way to get there quickly.” She begins to text away on her phone. “Let me just ask them…”
Nezu and the droid wait for a reply and after a moment Ochaco’s face lights up as she gets a response. “Alright! I got a ride!” With a spin Ochaco rushes to the exit. “Well I’m off to stop Sunder!”
But Nezu’s call forces her to a screeching halt. “Wait just one moment if you would. You forgot something.”
Ochaco turns and looks to find Nezu pointing down from the holographic screen. Ochaco follows his paw to find Thirteen’s severed hand lying on the monitor below. “Thirteen’s hand?!”
“Yes, it might prove useful.”
Ochaco’s not so sure and not to mention it’s still kinda creepy how it move and stuff. But if Nezu thinks it’s a good idea then it might be worth bringing it… Maybe she can find a plastic bag lying around somewhere; it wouldn’t look good to be carrying a severed arm around town afterall.
And so taking Nezu’s advice Ochaco grabs Thirteen’s hand by, well, the hand. “No need to worry Principal Nezu.” Ochaco turns towards the screen, her eyes brimming with determination. “I’ll stop Sunder no matter what!”
Nezu smiles, grateful for her determination. “Just one more thing. With me being off-world and Thirteen out of commission I’m afraid we can’t provide a good enough alibi to give you permission to use your Quirk out in public.”
Ochaco’s blood runs cold. “What…? Are you saying…?”
“Discretion is key for this mission: no uniforms, no weapons, and no aid from pro heroes.” Nezu bows his head, tucking his paws behind his back. “We must ensure that the public perceives Sunder as a regular villain especially if heroes in the area get involved.”
Oh, right, she might have to deal with that. “Then…what do I do?”
“My suggestion would be to lure Sunder away from the city or at least from public view. And then you can then deal with him at your own discretion.”
And a cover story wouldn't be too hard; after all not every villain is “captured” heck more villains escape conflicts against heroes than one would think but those stories are hardly ever published. No one likes to read about heroes failing, the wins are far better for publishers to sell.
“Right.” Ochaco drips her phone tightly as she tucks Thirteen’s hand under her arm. She then glares down at the phone just as the red dot arrives at Hosu City. “I really have my work cut out for me this time.”
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“Woah, I made it!” Ochaco breathes as she hops down onto the sidewalk, raising her hand in the air in triumph; the plastic bag holding Thirteen’s arm sways in her grip. “Thanks for the ride, Mrs. K-T!”
K-T, ML-E’s mother, smiles sweetly as she turns away. “Oh it was my pleasure, I’ve been needing to come this way to pick up some Meilooruns. Well I’m off!” K-T waves as she begins to walk away. “I’ll see you later then.”
“Yup!” Ochaco waves back. “I’ll see you on Friday to babysit ML-E! And thanks again!”
K-T zips away and out of sight in a blink of an eye leaving Ochaco alone within the alleyway.
‘Okay!’ Ochaco spins around to face her challenge head on. ‘Prepare yourself Sunder. Because I am here in Hosu City!!’
Hosu City’s buildings and skyscrapers tower over the girl as the sun beats down from above and a light breeze trails behind the incoming trains. The city is still undergoing repairs from the Hosu Incident but thanks to the city’s efforts all of the damages have nearly been repaired; to the point that one wouldn’t be able to tell that such horrors had ever occurred here.
So now that she’s here before the vast city there’s only one last obstacle to overcome.
“Where do I start looking?!”
Yeah, unfortunately, Nezu’s app isn’t exactly accurate. It’s much like how weather apps work: it can pinpoint the city you’re in but it cannot tell precisely where one is within said city. But that shouldn’t really have been a surprise since Nezu did just cobbled it together in less than a minute.
“He can literally be anywhere…” And she needs to find a better way to find him, and quickly too. But with this program being so limited she doesn't have many options left. “Oh, I wish there was an app that could actually find him!”
A spark lights up in her memories, making her gasp. “Wait, there is one!” Ochaco scrambles for her phone, the plastic bag bumping into her leg, as she whips out her phone and begins to scroll away at it. ‘I’ll find you yet, Sunder.’
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Meanwhile, from high in the sky, from amongst the clouds Sunder makes his descent by circling above the city before having his glider skim over the tall buildings. His glider hums and breezes over the buildings, not at all hiding his presence as he sweeps over the busy streets and bustling humans. All the while Sunder searches, scanning the startled and bewildered crowds for a mop of green hair upon a youngling’s head.
But after searching and scanning he comes up empty.
Sunder scowls as he zips above a donut shop where he brings his glider to a hover beside a large donut sign, so large that he steps inside the donuts hole and stands there as unconcerned passerbies point his way. “Izuku Midoriya, there’s only so long you can hide from me. I will find you.” Gripping his axe he swings it around and slices through the sides of the large donut sign, destroying it as the upper half vanishes. “And I’m willing to chop this city down piece by piece if I have to.”
“Excuse me, sir!”
Sunder starts, blinking down to find a human wearing an odd attire of a blue and white, skin-tight, long-sleeved shirt that tucks into his orange gloves. Along with dark pants, white boots, and sports a signature helmet that features a fish-like fin and blue visor.
The pro hero, Manual, offers up a kind friendly smile up at the intergalactic mercenary. “Sir, I’m afraid I’m gonna have to ask you to exit the donut!”
Sunder glares down at Manual as more and more passersby stop to see what’s going on.
Sunder scowls, pondering his situation. “If I’m not mistaken this planet admires their warriors. And Izuku Midoriya is one of them or at least a fletching.” And like many warriors and defenders of their worlds they are prone to calling for reinforcements when against impossible odds.
And like that a cruel conniving smirk smears across Sunder’s face.
“Sir, I’m gonna have to ask you to put down the axe as well.”
“Of course, warrior.” Sunder’s wicked smirk widens. “I’m willing to bury the hatchet.”
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Ochaco’s face lights up. “Here we go, the Hero Alert System!”
It’s a special application that Gran Torino showed her during her internship; it’s an online board specifically made for heroes allowing them to post villain alerts, kidnappings, S.O.S.s and more.
And so tucking the plastic bag under her arm, Ochaco uses both hands to scroll through the app. “Now hopefully someone will report seeing a strange goblin riding around on a glider.”
And just like that a new alert is uploaded.
“Hm? Is that…?”
The alert reads: [Axe wielding suspect on the rampage across Hosu City. Heroes and sidekicks are requested to provide support and crowd control.]
“IT IS!!!” Ochaco takes off running, Thirteen’s hand shaking inside the bag, as she grips her phone tightly.
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“Sir, please, you need to calm down!” With an open fire hydrant stationed nearby Manual flexes his fingers, redirecting the flow of water upwards.
Sunder slashes his way through the skyward torrent. “Don’t put a damper on things.” he smirks as his glider dives down towards the pro hero. “The fun is only just beginning!”
As the two clash and fight amongst the city street already large crowds have come to spectate the showdown. The only barrier between them and the fight are the sidekicks working crowd control.
“Go, Manual!”
“You got this!!”
“Kick that guy’s ass!!”
“Stay back please! This area is not safe!”
Back on the street, Manual fires off a pair of streams but Sunder easily swerves and glides through the oncoming assault.
“Not good enough, warrior.” Sunder smirks, diving down with his axe at the ready. “It appears you’re all washed up!”
And with a swing of his mighty axe Sunder aims for the kill.
“Hahaha!! Sorry to interrupt! But do ya mind if I join in on the fun?!”
“Ah!!” Sunder is forced back as a green fireball nearly singes his long locks.
“Oooh, so close.” A woman with flaming green hair gives a wide grin as she struts across the battlefield.
“Burnin?!” Manual gasps in surprise. “What are you doing here?!”
Burnin grins over at Manual. “Haha! The boss man wanted me to stick around for a while, especially after the Hosu Incident. You know, ensure the peace and all that.”
“Well your help is much appreciated.” Manual smiles back before turning his attention back onto their opponent. “This guy is tough and that glider and his weapon…I’m getting bad vibes from all of it.” All of it is just so…unnatural, but why he cannot say.
From above Sunder’s scowl hardens, turning cold and dark as he examines the current situation. ‘More defenders have arrived but not Izuku Midoriya.’ Where could he be? By chance is he not here? Or is he on his way? Perhaps some bloodshed will bring him forth?
“Warriors!” Sunder roars down at the elemental duo. “Prepare yourselves for I will bring about your end.”
Despite the threat on her life, Burnin can’t help but grin. “Sheesh, talk about lame. Hey, why not say something more original?! Could you be any more cliche?!”
Manual sweatdrops. “Please don’t egg on the maniac.”
Sunder smirks, gripping his glider as it zooms down towards the pros. “Raagghh!!”
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‘Oh, god, please no!’ A panicked Ochaco rushes out from the backstreets, nearly colliding into the watching crowd. ‘This can’t be happening?!’
But it is and Ochaco can only watch in horror as Sunder nearly takes Manual’s head off only for him to be forced away by a fireball courtesy of Burnin who just arrived on the scene.
Ochaco’s entire body is trembling, her blood running cold even though her heart is beating a million times faster than normal. ‘This is bad. Everyone…everyone can see him! They’re-they’re all gonna find out t-that-that he’s an alien!!’
“Did you see that?”
Ochaco pauses, looking up and listening in on the crowd.
“Talk about crazy?”
“I know right after the Incident the hero presence around here has been intense. There hasn’t been any villain attacks during the day in a long while.”
“That’s some cool support items. But how did a villain get a hold of them?”
“He probably stole them or something.”
Ochaco visibly relaxes as she lets out a relieved sigh. ‘Thank goodness. It looks like no one suspects anything.’
But that doesn't mean the situation is that much better the longer Sunder fights Manual and Burnin the longer they or someone else might suspect something.
She needs to act fast before anything happens. But what’s she supposed to do? She can’t go out there and confront him herself, not with Public Quirk Use Restrictions. All she has to work with are her own wits and a severed hand. And fighting Sunder out in the open is definitely not an answer.
‘I…I need to lead him away somehow. Lead him somewhere secluded at least and deal with him quickly.’
But how? What would draw his attention and lure him away from the pros?
‘The Omnitrix would but…?” Ochaco frowns, knowing full well that she can’t just lie to Sunder and hope for the best; she’d have to make it convincing.
She needs something that’ll really lure Sunder away, but what?
As Ochaco ponders on what to do, from the corner of her eye a large machine catches her eye. ‘Would that work?’
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Sunder takes a torrent of water to his chin, forcing him back.
A grinning Burnin pounces, a pair of green fireballs in her hands. “You’re toast!!” And she tosses the fireballs.
Sunder quickly bats the fireballs away with his axe before zipping forward before either she or Manual could grab him.
Manual scowls as Sunder circles around in the air. “He’s too slippery. We need to somehow corner him.”
Burnin glares up at Sunder as he comes in for another attack. “Then might I suggest a pincer attack?”
Manual nods. “You may.”
Now that they have a plan, Burnin runs off to the side leaving Manual to divert Sunder’s attention onto him.
And Manual is quick to play his role by firing off stream after stream at their foe. Sunder cuts and swerves past the incoming streams as he charges in closer and closer.
And with his back turned, Burnin goes in for another attack from behind. “Got ya now, ugly!!” And this time she rapid fires fireball after fireball at Sunder’s back.
With two opposing elements racing towards him, Sunder quickly jets his hands out generating a pair of forcefields to meet the incoming attacks.
The water and fire collide into the shields, parting and enveloping around them before colliding into each other even while swallowing up Sunder. The two opposing elements clash and from it bursts out clouds of hot thick steam.
The crowd panic and part away as the steam envelops the entire block, hiding everyone's vision.
And out from the thick steam cloud Sunder rips his way out from above. Now free of the steam he scowls down at the shrouded street, trying to spot his foes amongst the mist.
But with his back turned he fails to see the incoming soda can. “Ah!!” The can bounces off the back of his head with a clang! “Who dares?!”
Scanning the horizon he spots the culprit on a nearby roof.
Ochaco, gripping her plastic bag tightly, glares at Sunder through the hot steam.
“You?” Sunder glares back, a nasty scowl on his face. “Followed me all the way here did you?”
Ochaco doesn’t respond, instead she shifts her body to the side while raising her free hand ever so slightly, drawing Sunder’s attention down to it.
Sunder scowls, his eyes narrowing until they land on a cylindrical item cupped in Ochaco’s hand; it’s dark in color with a shiny metallic coating with green and silver trims.
And instantly his eyes widen. “The Omnitrix?!”
Ochaco grins; he took the bait. “You want it? Then come and get it!” Ochaco spins and dashes away, jumping down from the roof safely thanks to Zero-Gravity.
Sunder flies after her, zooming over the roof and peering down where he spots Ochaco having already made it down to the alleyway below and is already sprinting away at full speed.
He immediately gives chase. “Hand it over youngling!!”
“Over my dead body!” Ochaco slams her hand onto a nearby dumpster, her fingers lighting up against its surface as Zero-Gravity takes hold, and before she shoves into the air.
“That’s the idea.” As predictable, Sunder uses his axe to slice his way through the floating obstacle but instead of creating a clear path for himself he is met with a face full of trash and garbage.
Sunder gags as he slows to a stop so he can wipe his face free of the trash and grime.
When his vision is cleared up he finds that the youngling’s already a fair distance away. “You can’t escape me!” He roars gliding after her.
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Meanwhile, back on the main street the last of the steam finally clears away. Manual, Burnin, and the sidekicks all scan the street and sky but they find signs of Sunder.
Burnin frowns, disappointed. “Ah, don’t tell me he ran away.”
Manual instantly takes charge by directing the other heroes. “Spread out and search the city, report back the moment you find the villain!”
“Yes, sir!” His sidekicks all rush away to search.
Manual frowns, staring up towards the now clear sky. “Just what was with that guy?”
Burnin frowns. “Couldn’t tell ya.” She grins, her hair flickering and whipping behind her head. “But I’ll be sure to ask when we find him.”
“Then let’s hurry. Who knows where he went off to?”
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Ochaco sprints through the alleyways, One For All coursing through her legs giving her a much needed boost of speed. As she dashes through the city she races forward only to find a tall wall at the opposite end of the alley. Without so much as hesitating Ochaco makes herself weightless just before she leaps up and over the wall in a single bound.
“What the-?!” She jumped a little too high and her eyes widen in surprise when she finds herself floating just over a train depot.
Quickly scanning the train depot she finds no signs of life. And with the tall walls and large warehouse she knows for a fact she may have stumbled upon the best secluded spot she could find.
She floats down to land and she takes off in a full sprint for the large train warehouse the moment her feet hit the ground. Her hair and plastic bag all whipping in the air as she books it.
Sunder soon follows, crashing through the wall without a care. “Give me the Omnitrix, now!”
“Only if you ask nicely!!” Ochaco shouts back as she enters the warehouse.
Inside the large warehouse she finds rows and rows of quiet train cars and engines, all stored away so they can undergo repairs.
“Hand it over!!”
Ochaco dives forward just as Sunder’s axe whizzes just over her head. She quickly rolls around so she can face her opponent head on.
Sunder glares down at her from atop his glider. “So defiant. Do you wish to prove yourself as one of this planet’s defenders?”
Ochaco glares right back, pocketing her decoy Omnitrix. “Something like that, yeah.”
Sunder smirks as he grips his axe. “Let’s see if you’re cut out for it then. Raagghh!!”
Sunder charges forth, his axe slashing through the air!
Ochaco barely has time to dive away as his axe comes crashing down on the spot she just occupied. But she doesn’t have time to relax as Sunder swings again, forcing her back.
Ochaco nearly stumbles off her feet before she dives to the side behind a nearby train car.
Slam!! Sunder’s axe slashes into the train’s side. “Hold still, dammit!”
He pries his axe free before zooming after her and taking another swing at her head!
And once again Ochaco barely manages to evade the incoming weapon.
‘He’s quick, too quick!’ Ochaco panics as she makes herself weightless as she leaps back and onto a nearby train car. ‘I can’t catch a break!’
Sunder quickly flies up to meet her.
Ochaco leaps off the train allowing Sunder to just fly on by. ‘I need to slow him down somehow! But how?!’ She scowls as Sunder circles around so he can soar in for another attack.
‘I’ve been training for this.’ Ochaco readies herself for said attack. ‘Time to turn all that training into a success!’
And so she prepares herself, her hands up and fingers ready to grab, standing her ground as Sunder races closer and closer.
Despite her racing heart and the impending doom, she keeps her eyes trained on Sunder’s movements on how his arm flexes as he swings back his axe. She focuses in on the axe waiting and ready for the right moment to strike just like Kendo taught her.
Sunder roars swinging his axe down and then in that moment does Ochaco make her move!
As Sunder’s axe smashes into the ground she pounces grabbing onto his arm with her legs while wrapping her own arms around his neck and other free arm.
Sunder tries to pry free but with the way she grabbed him he is unable to twist his arms around to grab her. “L-let g-go!”
Ochaco’s grip tightens around his neck. “Why do you want the Omnitrix?! Is it so you can hand it over to Vilgax?!”
Sunder pauses, finding the question odd, but he answers. “Vilgax?” A cold smirk stretches across his face. “Perhaps I will but that all depends on how much he’s willing to bargain.”
Ochaco blinks, surprised. “So, he didn’t send you?” She just assumed that he did.
“Sorry to disappoint but no.” Sunder smirks, his red eyes piercing into Ochaco’s. “I came here for my own gain not anyone else’s.” His body trembles against Ochaco’s hold as his free hand struggles to reach for his side. “And when I’ve set my sights on a priceless treasure I’m not one to cut my losses.” Despite struggling against his binds he manages to grab a little something from his side pocket. “As you’ll soon find out.”
“Huh?”
Sunder smirks as he drops a little marble-sized grenade onto the ground.
*BOOM!!!*
The bomb goes off in a brilliant show of heat and smoke, blasting them both off their feet!
“Yaaahh!!” Ochaco screams, losing her grip on Sunder as she’s thrown backwards!
Ochaco lands on her side hard, losing her grip on the plastic bag and Thirteen’s hand which go flying off to the side. Thirteen’s hand flies out of the bag, landing on the ground seemingly lifeless except for the occasional twitch and clench of the fist. But her bad luck doesn't end there as her decoy falls right out of her pocket and goes bouncing off the nearby rail lines.
“No!” Ochaco shouts but before she can even get up Sunder soars in scoping up the device as he zooms past.
Sunder greedy grin widens as he clenches his prize. “Haha! Yes, the Omnitrix is mine! It’s mine-EH?!”
This is no Omnitrix, it’s a Monster Energy drink with a black can, silver trims, and green logo!
“What. Is. This?!” Sunder roars as his hand begins to crush the tin can. “Do you play me for a foul-Bleh!!”
The energy drink explodes out as he crushes the can, splashing onto his face and mouth.
“Bleh!! What is this?!” Sunder shouts, trying to whip away the foul tasting liquid. “It tastes like teen angst and bad choices!!”
Ochaco stumbles onto her feet, dread making her hesitate. Shoot it looks like he found out but hey how else was she supposed to lead him here? She was just lucky a vending machine happened to be nearby.
Sunder glowers, his red eyes blazing with rage. “I’m gonna kill you for your insolence youngling!! Raagghh!!” And he charges moving faster than he had before, his axe’s blade piercing through the air in a blink of an eye!
Ochaco stumbles back, and she gasps, her loss of footing is gonna be the end of her and she can only watch in silent horror as the red blade of Sunder’s weapon of choice comes crashing down from above.
But before her life could be cut short a miracle happens via Thirteen’s severed hand..
Without warning Thirteen’s gloved finger flicks open and instantly the effects of Blackhole are felt.
The pull is so strong that Sunder’s axe is forced to the side, completely missing its intended target.
“What is this?!” Sunder roars as both him and his glider are slowly pulled towards the endless abyss.
With his attention averted Ochaco struggles against the pull but she manages to dive away and spring to her feet.
Meanwhile, Sunder drops more bombs towards the Blackhole, the bombs explode before reaching the severed limb but they do their job and blast the hand away thus bringing Blackhole to a close.
Sunder tsks before redirecting his attention back onto the girl.
Ochaco glares back slowly, raising her fists up for the fight.
However Sunder doesn’t respond in kind, instead he lowers his axe and his guard.
Ochaco starts, she hesitates, wondering what he could be up to. “What’s the matter? Don’t think you can take me on?” She taunts, trying to goad him into a fight.
“I’m more than capable of taking you on, youngling. But you are nothing but a distraction.”
Ochaco’s breath hitches.
“Your true purpose here is to divert me away from Izuku Midoriya’s trail.” Sunder grins wickedly at the startled girl. “But he won’t escape me, no matter where he hides I will be taking the Omnitrix for myself.” And with that he turns and begins to fly up and out of the warehouse, slashing open an exit for himself through its roof.
“Hold it!!” Panicking Ochaco fires a Ryou Sphere after him!
But seeing it coming, Sunder blocks it with a simple forcefield. The blast barely knocks him back as now he’s on his guard and his glider manages to fight against the blast.
“You’re out of your league youngling.” He turns and begins to fly away. “ It’s best if you just cut your losses and go home. Hahaha!” And with that he’s gone, Sunder managed to escape.
And Ochaco feels the loss, collapsing to her knees as Sunder vanishes from sight.
She failed and who knows what the consequences will be?
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“Impressive. Most Impressive.” Vilgax strokes one of his tentacles, impressed by the League’s valiant efforts. “Despite the results you performed far more admirably than I had first presumed.”
And the result of this struggle is a draw.
Nue has Rojo immobilized in his massive arms.
Rojo winces as Nue’s grip around her tightens. “G-get y-your paws off me!”
Nue growls back. “Hold still will ya. Or I’ll tear your arms off.” He grins, his jagged teeth just inches from Rojo’s terrified face. “I ain’t no gentleman ya know.”
SevenSeven has Kurogiri pinned down with a blaster to his head.
Kurogiri lies prone as SevenSeven jabs the blaster into his head. “I’m sorry Master, I failed you.”
From above, SevenSeven glares down at the black smoked villain. “Tnd’o eefl oto dba. Het ouhrta tac’n eenv lanipex who uyo otsl yyaawn.”
And finally both Shigaraki and Psyphon are locked in combat with Shigaraki’s hand on Psyphon’s face, a mere pinky away from disintegrating it, while Psyphon holds a wrist blaster above Shigaraki’s heart.
Psyphon scowls from behind Shigaraki’s hold. “If you don’t remove your filthy hand this instant or I’ll burn a hole through your chest.”
Shigaraki glares right back, not showing a hint of fear. “Try it and watch as your face turns to dust.”
Having watched the fierce brawl, All For One and Vilgax stand at opposite ends of the dome both are unscratched having stayed out of the fight and instead took the opportunity to size up and analyze their opponents.
All For One offers up some praise. “I thank you for the praise and might I say your forces are certainly not to be trifled with.”
“Of course not.” Vilgax confirms feeling like he still needs to demonstrate his own superiority. “Not many can stand against my power.”
All For One responds in kind. “Power indeed.”
With the match done, Vilgax orders for the combatants to disengage. “Stand down, all of you.”
SevenSeven’s the first to stand down, his blasters withdrawing as he steps away allowing Kurogiri to get back up on his feet. Nue growls in annoyance but he too complies releasing a very ticked off Rojo.
But the last group isn't so cooperative.
“Yeah, stand down.” Shigaraki growls, not removing his hand from Psyphon’s face. “Stand down, you dog.”
Psyphon spits back. “Watch your mouth, creature. or I’ll carve it off myself.”
With hostilities growing, All For One is quick to extinguish it. “Shigaraki, show our hosts some respect.”
Psyphon scoffs. “Pft. Respect must be a foreign concept for you.”
Shigaraki growls back. “Why you son of-”
“Shigaraki.”
Shigaraki scowls hard, clearly he would love nothing more than to turn this entire place into ash and dust but with his master tugging on his leash he forces himself to stand down. But that doesn't mean he has to like it though.
Shigaraki removes his hand albeit with some hesitation like he’s considering ending Psyphon here and now but he backs off, but not before throwing one last nasty glare not at Psyphon but the one who dares to perceive himself as powerful as his Sensei, Vilgax.
Vilgax’s yellow eyes pierce right back but he remains unaffected by the silent hatred thrown his way. Such hatred and defiance is nothing new to a warlord such as himself.
“You command your legions well.” Vilgax praises turning his gaze back towards the suited devil. “And I can tell that you certainly have a plethora of resources at your disposal.”
All For One smiles back from behind his dark mask. “Why thank you my friend, it seems you really can tell one’s true character.”
“But I’m afraid your resources and knowledge are…lacking.”
All For One frowns, finding Vilgax’s claim to be incorrect and almost insulting. “I beg your pardon?”
“Knowledge is power and as of this moment I hold far more power than any of you.”
This time not only is Shigaraki insulted on behalf of his master but so is Kurogiri both flaring up in anger at such insults.
Nue too seems angered by Vilgax’s callus remarks. “You looking down on us, bastard?!”
Vilgax slowly shakes his head in response. “You are mistaken, I don’t mean to offend. I am simply stating the truth of the matter. After all.” His soul piercing gaze narrows in on the League. “You humans are always playing catch up.”
That remark makes All For One pause for a brief moment.
Shigaraki, however, finally loses the last of his patience. “You god-complexed prick! I’ll turn you into ash if you don’t take us seriously!”
“Silence, human!” Psyphon barks, in a show to defend his master’s honor. “Know your place!”
Shigaraki is just about to charge forward, his hands and fingers raised and poised to kill.
“Can’t you see what my Master’s trying to accomplish?!”
Shigaraki pauses, thrown off by Psyphon’s declaration.
Psyphon scowls, like admitting this leaves a putrid taste in his mouth. “Despite my judgement he finds you all worth his time. And his alliance.”
Now that makes the entire League pause for a moment, their intrigue is definitely hooked.
With things having settled down Vilgax takes back command of the situation. “Psyphon.”
Psyphon is quick to address him. “Yes, my Master?”
“Please see to our guests. I wish to speak to All For One alone.”
Psyphon respectfully bows, accepting his orders without question.
“Ha!” Nue scoffs with a laugh. “Like we’d allow that?” he can smell a trap from miles away; he’ll separate them from Sensei and boom they’re without a leader…but then again it could play out the other way around.
“Go, all of you. Leave us.”
Shigaraki, Kurogiri, and Nue all start, surprised by All For One’s compliance.
Shigaraki especially seems the most distraught. “S-Sensei?”
“Go Tomura Shigaraki.” All For One orders as composed and professionally as usual. “I do believe Vilgax and I have much to discuss.”
The League are still hesitant even as Psyphon strolls past and the hexagonal panels surrounding the wall open up creating a doorway for them to exit. Rojo and SevenSeven leave without a word and after some much hesitation Kurogiri leads Nue through the portal as well. Shigaraki hangs back, glancing from his Sensei and to Vilgax and back again. And after another moment he comes to realize that he won’t talk his master out of this and so he takes his leave, the portal shutting close behind him leaving the devil and titan in a pit of darkness and a looming red glow.
“Now what would you like to discuss?”
After a moment of silence Vilgax responds with. “Everything.”
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‘I really messed things up didn’t I?’ Ochaco grips her plastic bag tighter, pressing Thirteen’s arm against herself as she tries to comfort herself.
Thankfully she can stew in her failure in silence since the train car is mostly void of people even though it just pulled out of Hosu City’s station.
Ochaco frowns down at Thirteen’s twitching served hand. Almost sensing as if it’s being watched from inside the bag, the hand jerks up and gives Ochaco a big thumbs up.
Ochaco sheepishly smiles down at the hand. “Thanks but I don’t really feel that much better.”
The hand jerks and twitches before lying still once again.
‘Still creepy.’
As the train falls back into silence and thus Ochaco falls back into her state of failure. As the train speeds away from Hosu City she can’t help but think of all the heroes and sidekicks she saw scouring and patrolling the city; all of them on the search for an axe-wielding maniac.
‘But they won’t find him.’ She thinks in a mix of relief and sadness. ‘He’s probably on his way to Deku by now.’ Hopefully both he and his dad will have better luck than her when it comes to fighting off Sunder. ‘I tried and failed, and now I lost my chance.’ She reaches into her pocket and pulls out her phone. ‘I better call Deku and let him know about this guy.’ Before Sunder gets the jump on him.
As Ochaco opens up her phone a new alert pops onto her screen the from the Hero Alert System!!
Ochaco frowns, eyeing the alert, her gut screaming at her to check it. And so with a press of her finger she opens the alert and she audibly gasps when she reads the alert.
According to the alert an axe-wielding maniac riding a high tech glider was spotted causing a ruckus over at Geonosis City just a short while ago. The suspect got into a confrontation with some sidekicks from the Gang Orca agency but he escaped after a short battle with the sidekicks and heroes.
‘No doubt it was Sunder, but what was he doing there?’ Ochaco has to wonder before pondering over the battle’s location. ‘Geonosis City? Why does that place sound so familiar? From a move maybe? No. A cartoon show? No. So then where?’
She tries to remember she really does so much so her head actually starts to hurt as she files through her memories. And then just when she’s about ready to give it up she remembers. “Deku’s internship!!”
That’s right Geonosis City was where Deku spent part of his internship at. He fought some bug villain there and he made the news for it.
“Oh, my gosh!!” Ochaco gasps as she has an epiphany.
First Plumber Base, then Hosu City, and now Geonosis City!! It all makes sense now! That’s explains Sunder’s activity, he’s searching for Deku. But he’s searching for Deku by going to the places he would have been covered by the news!!
‘But why?’
Actually Ochaco can figure out why he’s doing this. It’s because Sunder has no real way of tracking Deku! The signal jammer must be effecting his radar systems too. So without that he’s been relying on local news media to help him search! Why search for him where he’s not when you can search for him where he’s been? That’s Sunder’s logic here! Not only that but his searches have been in a particular order.
‘So following that logic he’ll begin going to-HUH!?!” Ochaco gasps as it finally all comes together. “I know where he’s going to be!!”
From inside the plastic bag, Thirteen’s hand jerks and gives her a big thumbs up.
“Still creepy, but thanks!” Ochaco grins leaping to her feet while also grabbing her phone. “I can still fix this, but I need to talk to Principal Nezu first.” Something tells her she’s gonna need some assistance here.
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Sunder scans the area as his glider carries him down into U.A.’s Sports Festival Stadium. “No spectators? No defenders? No warriors?”
For shame, Sunder was led to believe that this was the training ground for inspiring warriors who train by besting their fellow defenders. And as a side bonus they provide entertainment for their planet’s population.
But this was not what he was expecting: an empty arena void of life and not a soul for miles. Not much if anything has changed since the Sports Festival with only the cement battle arena missing but the grassy field and track still remain.
But that means nothing other than that there is no Izuku Midoriya nor an Omnitrix to be had.
“Raaaggghhh!!!” Sunder roars in frustration. “IZUKU MIDORIYA!!! Are you such a coward you’d hide and allow others to fight your battles?! I expected more but it appears I overestimated this planet’s defenders.”
A familiar cheery voice echoes through the arena’s speaker systems. “Don’t count us out yet, pal!”
Sunder spins around scanning the empty stands until he spots Ochaco Uraraka standing amongst the stands with a smug smirk. “You again?!”
From the stands, Ochaco has a microphone in hand as she defiantly grins up at the axe wielding maniac. “Yeah, it’s me again.” She responds through the microphone.
Sunder frowns in annoyance. “You’re a persistent one… or should I say annoying?” He grips his axe, aiming it towards her. “You've been a thorn in my side for an entire rotation. Clearly you can’t comprehend that I am out of your league youngling.” He swings his axe up onto his shoulder, straightening his back to make himself that much taller and imposing. “Last chance, tell me where I can find the Omnitrix or I will cut you down where you stand.”
“I only have one thing to say to you, Sunder.” Ochaco’s grin falls away becoming a nasty scowl. “Just shut up and fight.”
Sunder frowns before shaking his head. “Hm. No, I don’t think so.” His glider slowly begins to rise into the air, preparing to fly off to its next destination. “Unlike you I have a far greater target than you.”
“That’s too bad.” Ochaco tosses the microphone aside before using Zero-Gravity to leap up and land onto the grassy battle arena below. “Then you’re really not gonna like this.”
On que a translucent electrical forcefield surges around the entire arena before merging into a massive dome entrapping both Ochaco and Sunder inside.
Sunder’s glider comes to a stop beside the translucent energy barrier. “What is this?!”
“Oh, come on I thought you watched the Sports Festival?” Ochaco teases from below. “Or did you skim over it?” She kicks a pebble over to the forcefield only for it to be electrified before ricocheting back towards the arena. “This is a state of the art forcefield courtesy of Princi-eh, Majister Nezu!”
Thank goodness she called him otherwise she’d never be able to program the forcefield to activate when she needed it to. And now she can fight Sunder on her terms and even if she fails he won’t be able to escape this trap.
“You think this can hold me?” Sunder scoffs, tapping the blade of his axe against the barrier; the red dimensional energy sparks and resists against the forcefield before being repealed. “My axe is more than capable of breaking me out of here.” It can tear through space and time of course it could break through a forcefield if given a sufficient amount of time.
Ochaco scowls, looks like she’ll have to stop him before then. “That might be true, but can you fight me off while freeing yourself?”
Sunder frowns silently admitting that he might not. “Do you wish to die here, youngling?”
“Not really.” Ochaco takes a fighting stance. “But I’m willing to die trying.”
Sunder gives her a baffled look. “What?”
Ochaco suddenly becomes sheepish and shy. “Okay that came out wrong, but you know what I mean!!”
“No. I understood you perfectly.” Sunder raises his axe into the air before swinging it down and aiming towards the girl. “Let’s see if you’re cut out to face me.”
“By the way.” Ochaco spites as her body begins to glow. “Can you cut it with the puns?”
She must have touched a nerve, like she insulted his only redeeming quality, before going mad with rage. “Raagghh!!” He charges, swooping down to destroy her.
Ochaco’s pink aura vanishes as she’s forced to dive out of the way.
“Raagghh!!” But Sunder is soon on her tail slashing away at her forcing her to dodge and dive out of the way yet again.
This back and forth continues much like it had in their earlier bought with Ochaco on the defensive as Sunder thrashes about the arena.
“We’ve had this dance before!” Sunder roars, tossing out a barrage of grenades.
One For All courses through the girl, allowing her to speed away as explosion after explosion echoes behind her.
“Did you not even bother with a plan?!” Sunder roars cutting off her path with a wing of his axe, she again rolls away. “No strategy!” He swings again. “No brains!”
Ochaco rolls to the side before finding herself in the middle of the arena with Sunder looming over her from above.
“You have heart, youngling.” His axe glows blood red under the hot sun. “ I’ll gladly cut it out of you.”
Ochaco shoves herself to her feet, wiping her mouth free of debris and spit. “You’re more than welcomed to try.”
And with a clear invitation to strike Sunder charges forth. “Raagghh!!”
Ochaco however doesn’t make a move to dodge instead she holds her ground with her fists raised at the ready.
In a blink of an eye Sunder is upon the poor girl and is about to strike her down in one fell swoop
However, a wall of flames shoots some from seemingly the ground itself; blasting into the warrior and forcing him back.
“Gaahh?!” Sunder shrieks, as his flesh is burned and seared, his glider spinning backwards as a geyser of flames blocks his path. “What is this?!”
“You said I didn’t come here with a plan.” The flames vanish, revealing a smug Ochaco on the other side. “Well you were wrong”
She may have forgotten to mention that thanks to Principal Nezu’s help she was also able to set up the pyrotechnics, used during the Sports Festival, as traps mainly by having them blast flames on a set timer.
Sunder must have realized this as well, scanning the ground but with such small pipes acting as the source of the flames he cannot make out where the traps are. “Clever girl. Raagghh!!”
But flames will not deter him as he swoops in for another attack.
Ochaco, feeling much more confident, expertly side steps, ducks, and dodges each incoming attack with Sunder’s blade just barely grazing her aura. All the while she moves backwards across the grassy arena, leading him on.
“Hold still and die!!” Before he can follow through another geyser of flames burn away at his flesh. “Gahh!!” Sunder reals back, blinded by the searing flames.
With his defenses down Ochaco takes her shot, swinging her fist right into Sunder’s skull.
“Graagh!!” Sunder yelps as her fist smashes into the side of his face.
“Ha!” Ochaco grins, jumping back for when he inevitably takes another swing at her. “You like that?!”
He doesn’t. “I will carve that smug smile off your face, youngling!!”
With his rage unleashed his movements become sloppy and easier to read allowing Ochaco way more opportunities to attack.
Sunder takes a big swing at her head, but Ochaco ducks down, allowing the blade to swish past her head before she leaps up and delivers one hell of an uppercut to Sunder’s chin.
POW!!!
Sunder’s head is thrown back, his glider spinning around before he composes himself and charges forward again.
Wanting to keep her distance Ochaco’s fist glows bright before she fires off Ryou Sphere after Ryou Sphere at her opponent.
Sunder manages to mostly evade the spheres but as they crash into the ground they explode and the blasts nearly knock him off his glider.
With Sunder moving in fast Ochaco moves to meet him, raising her glowing fist back before shouting at the top of her lungs. “Venus Smash!!”
Upon shouting her finishing move, Sunder reacts quickly, thrusting his hands forward to generate his own forcefield.
And Ochaco’s supercharged fist collides into said forcefield, the power of One For All sparks and bounces off the shield throwing her backwards as well as shaving Sunder back a bit as well.
Ochaco is thrown to the ground, rolling across the arena before coming to a stop.
Sunder smirks as he purses after her. “You’re not the only one that likes to play with forcefields!”
From the ground, Ochaco’s eyes widen as she locks onto Sunder’s raised axe. Acting out of reflex, One For All surges through her leg as she kicks her leg up, generating a powerful whirlwind. The gust of wind is strong enough to throw Sunder right off of his glider and toss him right into the dome-shaped forcefield.
“Aaaaggghhh!!” Sunder shrieks as electricity courses through his body before he collapses to his knees.
Ochaco smirks, rising to her feet. “No, but mine’s bigger.”
Sunder hisses, flaring with rage, as he hops back onto his glider before charging forth.
Ochaco fires a barrage of Ryou Spheres but Sunder swerves and glides past them all. Ochaco panics as he zooms closer throwing one after the other but Sunder is ready evading each one and even using his axe to slash his way through the last of Ochaco’s attack.
And with that final push he breaks through the barrage, swinging his fist back before delivering one hell of a gut punch into Ochaco’s midsection.
“Gaahh!!” Ochaco gasps in pain from having the wind knocked out of her as she’s tossed backwards.
“I grow tired of this.” Sunder hisses with his axe in hand. “I may have come here for the Omnitrix but I will treasure your head on my wall for decades to come!!”
Holding her aching gut, Ochaco rolls away where she knows there is a hidden pyrotechnics machine.
But the moment she stops moving Sunder smashes his axe into the ground, precisely slicing through the top of the hidden trap. Sparks and bits of flames spew front the ground confirming his mark.
“No more tricks. No more toying around. And no Izuku Midoriya.” Sunder pries back his axe towering over the panting weakling. “I thought perhaps he’d appear to save his comrade but it appears I was wrong. He’s a far greater coward than I would have thought.”
Ochaco’s fists clench at her sides, taking offense on Deku’s behalf. “Well he’s busy right now, but someone else was kind enough to lend me a hand.”
Sunder frowns, wondering what she could possibly mean; after all there isn’t another soul within the stadium and even if there was they couldn’t interfere thanks to the forcefield.
But his assumptions would be wrong as it feels like a tornado has suddenly appeared it’s high winds pulling Sunder towards it.
Sunder grips onto his glider and axe as he struggles against this sudden powerful pull as bits of grass, dirt, and debris fly past him and into a void.
Sunder peers back through his whipping hair and the flying debris and there tucked within the tall unkempt grass lies the severed hand of the defender known as Thirteen!
Thirteen’s gloved hand is pointed upward with Blackhole pulling Sunder and the surrounding area in.
With Sunder too focused on escaping the gravitational pull, Ochaco takes the time to charge up: One For All courses through her illuminating her entire body.
“VENUS SMASH!!!” Ochaco races forward her entire body aglow as she throws her fist forward.
Sunder gasps, but he’s too late to react. All he can do is throw his axe in the way using the blunt side of it to shield himself.
Ochaco’s glowing fist collides with the axe the force alone propels both her and Sunder out from Blackhole’s pull. But Ochaco does not relent as she drives her fist forward, before her fist smashes through the axe’s hilt shattering the long metal hilt to pieces!
“NO!!!” Sunder screams as his axe crumbles away with only his red-glowing blade remaining intact. “What have you done?!”
Ochaco’s arms wrap around his neck from behind, holding him in a choke hold. “I’m finishing this.”
And with that Ochaco presses her fingers against his arm, making him weightless. With him weighing less than a feather a One For All charged Ochaco throws herself and him back and off his glider.
“Raaaggghhh!!” Ochaco screams as One For All boosts her strength.
She spins and swings Sunder up and over her head before slamming into, not onto, into the ground!!
“Guh…” Sunder groans, his head pounding and his body aching in pain as Ochaco releases her Zero-Gravity over him. He growls through the pain as he tries to prop himself up. “This…won’t stop…me.”
Sunder scowls up to the sky and his eyes widen as he spots Ochaco floating from high above.
“Release!!” And she plummets moving faster and faster in a freefall as her entire body glows with One For All. “FALLING STAR SMASH!!!” Ochaco thrusts her legs down just as her feet crash into Sunder’s body.
And BOOM. Sunder’s smashed into the ground, a massive crater forming around him as he screams out in pain and all before his vision goes dark.
Ochaco stands above him breathing heavily as bits of grass and dirt fall from all around her. She glares down at the maniac ready incase he jumps back up to his feet.
But he doesn't; he remains still, unmoving, and unconscious.
She had finally done it.
Ochaco lets out the breath she didn’t know she was holding, stumbling back before collapsing onto her butt as she leans against the inside of the crater. “I did it. Thank goodness.” She leans her head back finally allowing herself to rest, her eyes trailing up and past the enclosed forcefield and towards the sky above where she can almost make out the moon even during the daytime. “What a day…”
She sighs as the Razor Crest soars overhead, above the forcefield. “But things are finally looking up.” She breathes with a small grin.
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“I don’t like this.” Shigaraki grumbles, leaning against the cold metallic wall.
A frowning Nue stands nearby. “For once I actually agree with you.”
(Author’s Note: ARTWORK by “Voidv25” on Deviant art called “ Henzu(Monster) .” This is the canon version of Henzu/Nue for this story.)
Kurogiri stands before them both making sure to keep them in line. “Calm yourselves, fretting will not help us.”
It certainly won’t and it certainly hasn’t. They’re stuck outside the dome and in Vilgax’s, assumably, main base for what feels like hours. They’ve been hunkering down waiting patiently within a narrow metallic hallway with strange and foregin pipes, lights, and bolt heads running along the metal walls. The entire hallway is empty and silent with only the hum of heavy machinery and gears echoing in the distance.
“What the hell does that bastard want with us?” Shigaraki growls glaring at the sealed doorway lined with hexagonal panels. “Do any of you care to share?” He glares over towards their captors.
Rojo and SevenSeven stand by the sealed doorway, guarding it from the villains. Psyphon was there with them not too long ago but he slinked away something about receiving an activity alert or something.
A frowning Rojo folds her arms as she leans against the wall. “Believe me, I’m still making sense of all this. Best to keep an open mind, alright?”
Shigaraki turns his attention towards SevenSeven and hisses. “And you? What’s your excuse?”
SevenSeven responds back with a shrug. “Llwe i nktih Xgialv nstaw ot eatm pu ihtw uoy yusg. Hyw i not’d nike, tbu eyh ts’i wath het thorua antws.”
The villains all blink stupidly at the purple armored being.
Nue scratches his head in confusion. “What the fuck did he just say?”
Shigaraki’s just as lost here. “What is he speaking? Portuguese?”
Rojo shrugs, not giving a damn. “Yeah, something like that.”
SevenSeven however seems offended. “Puueesgtor?! Nhga no own i nia’t mrfo Sialrb ro eevtarwh, M’i a lulf bowln aeiln eerh! Meco no ppeelo, opne yrou eeys!”
Nue huffs, not understanding a word he said. “Yeah, that’s gonna get annoying real quick.”
As Nue tries to figure out what the hell SevenSeven is saying, Shigaraki leans back against the cold wall falling silent as his mind begins to wonder. Specifically he begins to consider their host, Vilgax. What is he? What does he want? What is he up to?
Shigaraki can’t come up with an answer to any of these questions…and that really upsets him. It’s like this Vilgax guy is toying with them, taunting them about his own knowledge and power. It’s so infuriating, he’s no better than heroes that claim to be above everyone else. Perhaps he should just erase his existence here and now before he becomes a bigger pain in the ass then he already is?
Before he can even consider the possibility of accomplishing this the panels glow before parting away, opening back up the doorway.
Shigaraki shoves himself off the wall. “What’s happening?!”
“The door opened, dumbass.” Rojo responds with a roll of her eyes before entering back into the dark dome. “Come on, don’t want to keep them waiting.”
SevenSeven follows suit and after a moment of hesitation the League follows along as well.
They step inside the dark dome and gasp when they find the sorry state the facility's now in.
Blast and burn marks line the walls and floor, there are small craters smashed into the walls as well, and a layer of rubble and debris carpet the floor.
But despite the mess both the devil and the titan have remained totally unscathed. Neither of them have a scratch on them, not a stain on their suits and armor, nor have either of them broken a sweat. Instead they just stand before each other both looking smug and satisfied with whatever’s transpired during their supposed negotiations.
Nue gaps at the surrounding mess. “What the hell happened in here?!”
“We were simply negotiating.” All For One responds with a sly smile. “But I will admit our discussion was rather…hard pressed.”
“Sensei!” Shigaraki rushes to his master’s side.
As does Kurogiri. “Master, are you alright?”
“No need to fret over me Kurogiri. I’m doing very well in fact, thank you.” All For One’s grin widens from underneath his dark skull-like mask. “Very well indeed.”
That doesn’t give Shigaraki any comfort who is quick to give Vilgax an accusing glare. “You!! What are you up to?!”
Vilgax glares back, annoyed.
But he has no need to step in as All For One personally sees to his own subordinate. “Tomura Shigaraki please, that's no way to speak to our newest benefactor.”
Shigaraki’s visibly stunned. “What?! Benefactor…?!”
Vilgax sneers from underneath his respirator. “Indeed child, your master and I have struck up a most profitable bargain.”
Nue frowns, not sure how he feels about this. “What kind of bargain?”
Instead of disregarding the request Vilgax actually cooperates. “Come and I will show you.” Vilgax marches past the League and back towards the unsealed portal leading into the hallway. “Rojo. SevenSeven follow along as well.”
“Sure thing…boss.” Rojo gives a sarcastic salute before begrudgingly following along.
SevenSeven excitedly rubs his hands together as he follows too. “Ho, tish si nnoag eb dogo.”
Kurogiri turns to his own master for a plan. “Master should we?”
“Yes, Kurogiri. You all have the right to be wary but I do believe it will be to our own benefit as to humor our dear host.”
Nue scowls as he follows along with Kurogiri. “You better be right about this.”
And they both leave the dome, marching behind Rojo and SevenSeven.
“Sensei?”
All For One turns to his apprentice.
“I don’t like this.” Shigaraki admits with a nasty scowl. “Why the hell should we trust this guy? He gives me the creeps.”
“Your trepidation is well founded more so than you know. But believe me when I say,” A conniving smile stretches across All For One’s mutilated face. “that this alliance will open up so much more for us.”
Shigaraki has no idea what that’s supposed to mean but he’ll trust his master. But that doesn’t mean he trusts Vilgax, if he does anything suspicious he’ll end him then and there.
And so they both follow behind, catching up to the rest of the group down the metallic hallway.
The hallway stretches, turns and interests across the entire facility, making the place a giant confusing maze. All the while the League, especially Shigaraki and Nue, can't help but theorize where they are: are they in a fortress? A bunker? They don’t know and the longer they don’t have an answer the more on edge they become.
“Yo! Cthulhu!” Nue shouts from the rear.
Vilgax doesn’t stop marching down the hall as he peers back at the chimera.
“What is this place? Are we in a fortress or something?”
Vilgax turns away before answering. “This is my command ship.”
Shigaraki starts. “A ship?”
Then it must be one hell of a ship, maybe a destroyer, or maybe it’s a submarine. But if it was either, how come it doesn’t feel like they’re rocking along with the waves? The ship is still, so still that Shigaraki could have sworn they were still on land.
And so they continue along until they spot something very alarming at the end of a passing hallway. At the end of the hallway lies a giant hexagonal gate lined by heavy set locks and a single lever at it’s side.
Shigaraki frowns at the gate. “What is that?”
Vilgax nonchalantly responds with. “It’s an airlock.”
Kurogiri starts, finding that very very odd. “Pardon me, but what sort of ship has an airlock?”
The rest of the League, minus All For One, pauses realizing how out of place an airlock would be on a sea vessel.
Vilgax however only adds onto their confusion. “One that’s beyond your human advancements.”
Shigaraki’s patience wears thin, taking a personal offense at that cold insult. How dare this bastard look down on them. And that fucking god complex of his is so god damn annoying!
Shigaraki roars, losing the last of his patience, as he rushes past the group and to the front. “Enough of this!!”
Kurogiri gasps, stepping forward to stop him. “Shigara-”
All For One cuts him off with a raise of his arm.
Kurogiri instantly understands, standing down, leaving Shigaraki on his own.
“It’s time for some answers!!” Shigaraki roars.
Vilgax slowly turns around just before turning the last corner.
“Where are we?! Why did you bring us?!”
Shigaraki defiantly glares up at the titan who remains calm and poised like a giant before a little ant.
“I will provide the answers you desire.” answers calmly Vilgax, arms folded behind his back, before turning the corner.
“When?!” Shigaraki screams, rushing after him.
He turns the corner and finds Vilgax standing there before a massive set of metal doors.
“Now.”
On que the metal doors shift and unlock before parting away revealing the command center of Vilgax’s ship.
The bridge is huge with a large pathway stretching from the doorway to the large windows that are so big they make up an entire wall. The pathway lines the windows as well, allowing for a platform where Vilgax’s throne is situated. Below the pathway lie rows and rows of monitors and consoles which are all being managed by strange red-humanoid drones. Other drones that are more crab-like hover in the air patrolling the area. And supervising all of the chaos is Psyphon who’s barking orders and overseeing the various goings on.
Vilgax allows his guests to enter and each of them are rather intrigued by what they see.
But what really takes their breaths away are when they make it to the large windows on the other side for they see a massive blue orb lying below them within the massive void known as space.
Shigaraki, Nue, and Kurogiri are all stunned, so shocked that they lose their breath.
But All For One remains poised as ever and even though no one can see it he is smiling, grinning in fact, grinning down at the beautiful blue orb that seems so close he could just reach out and grab it through the glass.
Nue’s breath hitches. “What. The. Hell?”
Shigaraki shakes his head in disbelief, his entire body trembling out of shock. “Is that-...?”
“Beautiful isn’t it?” All For One grins. “To us this planet is our Eden.” he then turns back around to face their unworldly host. “But for someone like you I suppose it’s just another spec lost in the sea of stars.”
Vilgax stomps forward, joining them in their view of Earth. “For someone like me, I’m more than capable of finding the brightest of stars hidden away in the galaxies.” And this star’s shining light has certainly caught his attention.
Shigaraki manages to snap out of his daze enough to choke out one question. “W-what k-kind of ship is this?”
“Isn’t it obvious?” Rojo mocks from the side. “Well then again maybe not.” It wasn’t so obvious for her after all hell she’s still trying to wrap her head around all this. “You’re on a freaking spaceship, guy!”
Shigaraki’s eyes widen. “A space-...?”
“-...ship?” Nue breathes just as stunned. “You’re joking.”
Rojo sighs in defeat. “Believe me I wish I was.” Seriously do you have any idea how happy she’d be if this was all a fever dream?!
“You're punking us or something?!” Nue growls, refusing to believe this bullshit. “Nobody in the world has the technology to build a real life spaceship, not on this scale!”
Vilgax sneers. “Not on your world, perhaps.”
Shigaraki’s eyes widen, horrorstruck. “Who...what are you?”
Vilgax smirks, straightening so that his massive form towers over the insect. “I am Vilgax, Conqueror of Worlds, Emperor to Trillions, and Slayer of Champions.”
Worlds?! Trillions?! A spaceship?!
“You’re a…y-you’re a-”
“Yes, that’s right boy.” The titan leans in close, causing Shigaraki to stumble back. “I am what you call an ALIEN.”
Kurogiri can no longer remain stoic and calm, instead he too losses himself to this shock. “Impossible!! You dare insult our intelligence?!”
“Kurogiri.”
The misty villain instantly settles down upon his master’s call. “Master?”
“Our friend speaks the truth.” There is no hint of hesitation or doubt in All For One’s voice.
Shigaraki’s finds his calm demeanor even more disturbing. “Sensei?”
“I found out myself during our discussion.” He explains. “And at first I had my doubts but look at the evidence,” He gestures to the ship, the drones, and even to Vilgax. “it’s all around us: this ship, these pawns, the technology, and even our great host. None of this is of this world.”
“No way…” Nue shakes his head, refusing to believe this. “I don’t believe it!”
“And what about you?!” Shigaraki shouts, spinning round towards Psyphon, Rojo, and SevenSeven. “Are you aliens too?!”
Psyphon scowls back in disgust. “Of course I am. And it so disgusts me that I am even conversing with an ape like yourself.”
Moving on, Shigaraki looks to Rojo.
Rojo is quick to shake her head. “Not me I’m in the same boat as you all, just found out about this like a day or two ago, not really sure it's hard to tell time when there really isn’t a sunset. Ya know?”
And finally there’s SevenSeven.“M’i na ielna, thhogu.”
Shigaraki may not understand him but he doesn’t have to as it really starts to sink in. This guy, SevenSeven, is an alien!! Is that true?! Is it? It can’t be! But if it is then that means…so was that other guy! That other guy in purple armor, the one that messed up their attack at Hosu might have been an alien too?! What about that bastard at the U.S.J. the one that fought Nomu? Or what about heroes, are some of them aliens?! How many?1 How many times have fucking aliens messed up his plan?! But then again are any of them even aliens or are they just humans with mutations?!
“Raaaggghhh!!” Shigaraki screams, grabbing at his head. “I-...I don’t…it doesn’t…!!”
“Make sense?” Psyphon finishes with a scowl. “Perhaps it wouldn’t for such a primitive race.” Psyphon turns away, peering back through the large windows and into the void of space. “Understand this, you humans are not the only beings inhabiting the stars. There are countless worlds, with countless beings all across the cosmos.” Psyphon spins around, raising his arm up in praise of his master. “And standing before you all is the one that shall-”
“Psyphon.” Vilgax silences him with a hush. “Stand down.”
Psyphon, startled, hushes, lowering his arm.
Shigaraki still can’t wrap his head around it, it’s just a large pill to swallow, but…looking at it all; he sees evidence around them. The impossibility of it all should tell him this is a lie but…it’s not. Vilgax is an alien.
And after all this there’s only one last question on his mind. “What the hell do you want with us?”
“I want,” Vilgax leans in closer, his piercing gaze burning into Shigaraki’s skull. “your cooperation.”
The confusion must be palpable because the league instantly falls silent.
Vilgax backs away from Shigaraki. “I believe I need to provide some context.” he turns and signals a pair of drones stationed at nearby monitors.
The drones quickly respond, typing away into their consoles before holographic screens are randomly projected into the air, surrounding Vilgax and the League of Villains. A variety of videos, photos, articles, and messages dance across the screens. There’s videos of aliens loitering and buying goods at Mr. Baumann’s store, Mr. Baumann even appears in some of the videos. On other screens there are photos of other aliens, on first glance one might assume they’re humans with mutations working normal office jobs but they are in fact aliens. There are videos of camouflage ships entering Earth’s orbit. And photographs of aliens encountering heroes, villains, and everyday people all without anyone realizing their true nature.
“Aliens have been coming to this planet for centuries.” Vilgax explains as the screens circle around them. “And as the phenomenon of Quirks spread, so too do these visitations. With so many humans undergoing such drastic evolutionary changes aliens such as myself and others can live amongst you without notice. Japan in fact has a rather small population of aliens living there but like most aliens found here they are nothing but cowardly refugees and pilgrims. Trying to hide and enjoy a delusional peaceful existence.”
Shigaraki’s still skeptical. “But then how come we’ve never heard any of this before? Why doesn’t the whole freaking planet know?! Are the governments covering this up?! Have our minds been wiped?!” He glares up at the squid faced alien, his rage and frustration threatening to spill out. “Tell me.”
“All fair questions. And forgive me if this answer seems too…contrived but the reason the aliens can interact and live amongst you without notice is because of one organization.”
The League all share intrigued yet confused looks of concern. All of them wondering the same thing: What kind of organization?
Vilgax speaks vilely, his voice laced with disgust and hatred. “This organization has its fingers entwined throughout the cosmos so much so that they equal my own conquests.” Often proving to be large thorns at his side so much so they forced him into a ceasefire. “They’ve declared themselves as keepers of peace, peacekeepers if you will. Under the command of their superiors these Red Spots withhold their own self-righteous laws and policies even if that means sacrificing and ignoring another world’s own needs and turmoil.” No matter how much the inhabitants may be begging for their assistance. “Much like the foul heroes of your own planet.”
Shigaraki’s eyes narrow like he’s finally been snapped out of his shocked state. His anger rising but not towards Vilgax but rather this organization.
“So…they’re like the galaxy's version of…space heroes?” He growls lowly.
Vilgax nods. “Precisely.” He observes the screens watching as videos and photos pass with images of this so-called organization at work. “And they are here as well. Operating all across the planet, including Japan.”
Shigaraki’s glare narrows. “And who are these…space heroes?”
“These foul self-proclaimed peacekeepers are known across the known galaxies as,” Vilgax leans close, gathering the League’s full attention before speaking with vile hatred. “The Plumbers.”
…
Nue’s instantly snapped out of the tension. “Are you fucking with us…?”
Vilgax fails to see the humor in this. “You think I am playing boy? Because I can assure you that I’m not.”
Looking into Vilgax’s gaze and hearing the certainty in his voice they know for a fact that he is dead serious.
Vilgax continues, observing the holographic screens. “The Plumbers operate just out of sight: they alter documents, video footage, and manipulate the alien populous in secret keeping them organized and orderly so that they don’t interfere with the goings on of your planet.”
“They sound rather devious,” All For One admits with a sly smirk. “perhaps I should pay them a visit.”
“In truth, perhaps you should.” It would certainly mean one less problem for Vilgax one way or another. ““Now the Japanese Plumber branch is small, far smaller than most Plumber Operations. Actually you can thank your current hero society for that since their presence often deters wannabe alien criminals from acting.” And thus many of the Plumbers have been transferred and relocated to branches that are deemed “worthy” or “important” by the Magistrata. “Even so what they lack in numbers they do not lack in efficiency.”
“How many?” Kurogiri ponders aloud. “How many of these…eh-Plumbers, operate in Japan?”
Psyphon is the one to answer. “From the intelligence we’ve gathered the Japanese branch only operates through three official operatives with the assistance of two, well now three, apprentices. Plus or minus a few droids.”
“Ha…hahaha!” Shigaraki begins to crack up, losing himself to the ridiculousness of it all. “You can’t beat five humans?! Hahahaha! And here I was starting to think you were a threat.”
Vilgax doesn’t fall to Shigaraki’s taunts, remaining collected and cold, but his irritation is burned into his voice. “You laugh but these Plumbers are more effective than most legions of Red Spots.”
Kurogiri’s intrigued. “Whoever’s running their operation must be quite skilled.”
“My friend, who are these…Plumbers? Tell us about Japan’s…space heroes.”
Vilgax turns to his minion. “Psyphon.”
Psyphon bows. “Yes, master.”
He scurries away to a nearby monitor where he proceeds to erase the holographic screens that are encircling the League and his master.
Vilgax proceeds to explain just who these space heroes are. “These are Japan’s resident Plumbers: staring with the hero known as Thirteen.”
And instead of a screen, Psyphon uses the monitor to project a large life sized hologram of Thirteen. The life-sized image floats between Vilgax and the League poised and frozen in time with their hands raised just before they would be activating Blackhole.
Kurogiri’s eyes widen in surprise. “Thirteen?”
Vilgax nods, gesturing towards the hologram. “Most of Earth’s Plumbers operate under the facade of being pro heroes.”
Kurogiri frowns, his mind swirling with this new revelation. “The U.S.J…”
Shigaraki frowns, his ears perking at the mention of the U.S.J. “Kurogiri?”
“During the U.S.J. attack Thirteen performed far more admirably than expected.” They managed to fight not just him off but the mutated serpents as well with amazing acrobatics and combat know-how. “They fought with much more experience than anticipated.”
Vilgax confirms his suspicions. “Thirteen is labeled as a rescue hero but even that is a cover allowing them to operate on the side as an enforcer for the Plumbers.”
Another hologram appears beside Thirteen’s but this one is not at all familiar to the group.
Vilgax glares at this hologram with silent vengeance, his muscles bulging and flexing as if wanting to take a swipe at the hologram's head. “Then there’s this accursed and infuriating Firebreather.”
The League examined this supposed Firebreather. It’s of a middle aged man wearing a strange red armored suit and a strange dragon-mouth like respirator. Flames pour out from the respirator circling the man’s head as he’s frozen in a leaping stance like he just jumped down from above his opponent.
Nue eyes the man’s features, locking onto the strangely familiar green eyes. “Never heard of this guy.”
Vilgax continues to glare at the hologram like it’s personally offended him. “He is the most efficient of the Plumbers, not just on Earth but in the entire organization. He is a veteran with decades of experience and knowledge.” Not to mention. “He’s been a thorn at my side for years.”
“Is he now?” All For One’s intrigued, eyeing this Firebreather curiously. “Sounds like you two have quite the history.”
“We’ve crossed paths on more than one occasion.” Vilgax admits with disdain.
In any case the alien commander moves on with his explanation. “They often patrol and monitor the alien population in person. And even deploying discipline and enforcement when necessary.”
Kurogiri doesn’t like the sound of that. “And who deploys them?”
Vilgax signals for Psyphon to bring about the next hologram. “The creature known as Majister Nezu commands Japan’s Plumber branch.”
The next hologram pops into view: it’s of a mouse/bear/dog creature sitting upon a chair like a king upon his throne.
“Principal Nezu?!” Nue roars in outrage. “The fucking principal of U.A. is a Plumber?!”
“Not just any Plumber,” Vilgax corrects. “he’s their superior officer.”
All For One eyes the image of Nezu with not disdain but admiration. “Clever. Nezu you are far craftier than I had already perceived of you.”
Shigaraki doesn’t see it. “How so?”
“As Principal of U.A. Nezu already has access to great amounts of resources, connections, and documentations.” A cold almost nervous smile dances across All For One’s lips. “It’s almost terrifying to think about the results of his tamperings and workings behind the scenes.” It’s almost enough to send a shiver down his spine. “And as a Principal he’s free to recruit as many pawns as he sees fit.”
“Not quite.” interrupts Psyphon. “Plumbers of Earth take a very secretive approach to recruitment.”
Kurogiri frowns. “Why’s that?”
Psyphon explains. “They fear the general population's reaction to discovering the existence of extraterrestrials: panic, chaos, and fear would run rampant. So any threat to this planet’s peace is met harshly and without mercy.”
Nue frowns considering everything they’ve learned. “So the Plumbers are all about keeping their secrets. But they still have to recruit new members right? And if Nezu’s also in charge of the Plumbers…?” And if that’s the case, what does that mean about his current recruitment?
Shigaraki picks up on Nue’s unspoken question. He peers up at Vilgax, almost too nervous to ask because he knows on some level that he will not like the answer. “Those apprentices you mentioned earlier,” He hesitates before asking. “who are they?”
Vilgax answers with a sneer. “You’ve crossed paths with them both before in fact I think you’re all well acquainted with most of them.”
Three individual life sized holograms join the ensemble all poised in various action poses before the League of Villains.
The entire League is stunned, even All For One appears just ever so surprised albeit one couldn’t tell because of his mask. Not only are they shocked but so is Rojo who instantly locks onto one of the figures.
Nue’s at a loss for words. “N-no, no way.”
“Them…?” Shigaraki can’t look away, his eyes widen and trembling in surprise. “It’s-it’s them?! Why is it THEM!?!”
Vilgax introduces the three recruits. “Mina Ashido.” He gestures to the image of a fully costumed Mina as she’s stuck in time having leapt forward, swinging her hand as she splashes acid towards an unseen opponent.
“Ochaco Uraraka.”
Vilgax gestures towards a hologram of Uravity, the image of her is smiling at the camera just before she presses her fingers together.
And finally Vilgax turns his hateful glare onto the final image. “And Izuku Midoriya.”
The final hologram is not of Izuku in his full hero costume but instead of him in his regular civilian clothes along with his signature black and green hoodie. The image stands before the group with a determined scowl, his left fist raised before him while displaying the strange watch attached to his wrist. fully
“They are the newest pawns under the Plumber’s employee.”
Rojo steps forward, unable to look away from Ochaco’s image. “No fucking way.”
Kurogiri eyes the woman curiously. “Have you encountered them as well?”
Rojo nods pointing over towards the green-haired hologram. “I kinda figured out that he had something to do with all this. But her…Heh.” She breaks into a sinister sneer as she glares up at Ochaco. “Well I got a bone to pick with her too.”
She’s not the only one who has a bone to pick. Shigaraki too is glaring up at the holograms with disdain. To think that annoying girl, that damn Uraraka, was part of this the whole freaking time. She’s always interfering and now he finds out that she’s been part of a secret organization that whole time only adds more fuel to the fire. ‘She’s a cheater. She’s had access to alien technology this whole time. She has alien intelligence on her side. She no doubt has access to their weapons too!’
Is that why she keeps besting him? Is that how she’s able to interfere with all of his plans?!
And of course this sentiment doesn’t just go for her but for that bastard too.
Nue feels similarly as he’s been unable to look away from the image of his ex-best friend and partner in crime, Izuku. “Deku… Deku…! DEKU!!!” Nue roars, his roar alone shaking the entire command center. “YOU BASTARD!!! How long did you know?! Was this another lie?! Another secret?! RAWR!!!”
All For One has no outward reaction; instead he examines the three young heroes with intrigue, like a predator stumbling upon a den of defenseless cubs. “They’re both so young. So eager. Yet so naive.”
Vilgax nods in agreement. “These are Japan’s Plumbers and by far some of the most problematic I have encountered over the years.” Vilgax turns his gaze back onto Izuku. “Especially this one. This one has caused me nothing but strife since my arrival.” He turns to the League and states, “He is also the reason I was forced to seek you out.”
The League pauses, finding it odd that a titan such as Vilgax would have some sort of trouble with a kid.
“As of now my forces are…at a stalemate with the Plumbers. My armada and legions cannot make a move on this planet without inviting the Plumber’s full wrath.” They’ve been neglectful for now but if he takes too drastic of measures that will surely change. “I’ve been able to operate here discreetly with the ship’s cloaking device and signal jamming. But even I’m pushing my luck and with failure after failure to retrieve my prize it’s only a matter of time before the Plumbers catch wind of my operations. That is why I am in need of the League of Villains.”
The League stare back wondering how they could possibly provide assistance to an alien.
“You can operate outside the Plumber’s jurisdiction. Because of their own laws they are restricted to primarily alien based work. They cannot interfere with your own goings on or at least not as effectively as they would against my own forces.”
“I understand, their primary goal is to deal with alien affairs not human ones.”
“Exactly.”
Well that might explain why Vilgax needs them but there’s still something on Nue’s mind. “What the hell do you want Deku for?” Despite his trepidation he does manage to break into a gruesome grin. “What you wanna probe him? Dissect him? Skew him and eat his guts like spaghetti?”
“No.” Vilgax denies before revealing the truth. “What I want is the weapon he stole from me.”
The League is once again stupefied. After all, it was just implied that a kid, a human child, managed to steal an alien weapon from this titan?! How?! And what kind of weapon was it?!
Shigaraki turns and eyes the image of Izuku warily. “Weapon?”
Vilgax eyes the image of Izuku as well, his eyes locking onto the boy’s strange watch. “Izuku Midoriya is currently in possession of the universe’s most powerful weapon, the Omnitrix.”
On que all of the holograms vanish and are replaced by the massive image of the Omnitrix. And much to the League’s astonishment, the Omnitrix is in fact Izuku Midoriya’s mysterious watch!
“It is one of a kind weapon with the power to grant its wearer the appearance, traits, and abilities of all beings in existence.” Vilgax delivers his explanation with such danger and foreboding. “By completely and utterly rearranging and transforming the host’s DNA.”
Kurogiri gasps. “Inconceivable!”
Vilgax rejects his statement. “It’s not. You should be well aware of that after all.” He turns towards All For One. “Your precious Nomu’s are similar in that regard.”
That they are.
The League continues to examine the alien device, their minds blown and baffled that such an insignificant looking watch could hold such a power.
As they’re distracted, All For One addresses Vilgax personally. “This Omnitrix, is it the one we discussed from before?”
Vilgax breathes back. “Yes.”
All For One nods before examining the watch once again with great interest.
Vilgax doesn’t like the look in his eye. “Remember our deal All For One, you will not have my aid in your own endeavors until our promises have been met.”
“Of course. I will withhold on my end.”
“As will I.” He turns away back towards the hologram. “Give me time to prepare and we can finish our business.”
All For One nods in understanding after all he needs time to prepare as well.
After examining the watch for some time another realization crosses Shigaraki’s mind. “Midoriya’s power? The One Man Army Quirk is just…bullshit? A coverup?!”
Vilgax turns back towards the group. “Exactly. Since last year he’s been utilizing the Omnitrix’s great power just so he can play hero.”
The hologram of the Omnitrix divides and as the individual images separate they become holographic versions of the aliens currently stored within the Omnitrix’s arsenal. From Four Arms to Grey Matter, from Rath to XLR8, they are all present, circling and floating about in the air as if frozen in time.
“Each of his powers, his transformations are not because of his own doing. Each one of his transformations are nothing but a different alien species.” Vilgax seethes at the absurdity of it all. “And his arsenal grows and grows with the passage of time.”
“Hang on.” Nue pales, he’s quivering, as a terrible reality finally dawns on him. “I…I-...I-I absorbed it…”
Shigaraki frowns, almost like he’s concerned. “Nue?”
“I…had no idea.” Nue stares down at his mutual, mutated claws and hands in an all new light. “Deku he…he turned me…into a monster.” He bares his grotesque fangs, his tendrils whipping behind him as does his tail before he cries out in anguish. “RAWR!!!” He slams his crystalized hand down, smashing a nearby monitor. “DEKU!!! It was bad enough you turned me into a freak but now…!” He slumps in defeat almost like he’s accepted the truth of the matter.
He peers up at Vilgax almost wishing he would give him a bit of good news but he knows, he knows it’s futile. “I’m not even human am I?”
Vilgax takes a moment before replying. “No, you’re not.”
He knew it…
“Or at least not fully.”
Nue peers up, unsure of how that could be possible.
Vilgax approaches, passing through the holograms until he’s looming over the somehow shorter in compassion chimera. “To be frank I’ve taken quite the interest in you Henzu Uuichi.”
Nue frowns, unsure where Vilgax is going.
“It’s fascinating your Quirk, Osmosis, not only allowed you to drain the energy from the Omnitrix but it’s true power as well. Through the Omnitrix you managed to absorb the DNA of the aliens, granting you access to their abilities, their strengths,” Vilgax briefly scans Nue’s monstrous form. “And qualities.”
“I can’t believe it.” Nue gaps taking it all in. He’s not human he’s…he’s 1/12 of a human… No freaking way, but…there’s no use in denying it… Not any more.
Nue gasps as another realization comes to mind. “Tha-that means… Deku’s still Quirkless…”
The rest of the League hears him, all of them freezing in place, especially Shigaraki. “What…?”
“Deku, he’s fucking Quirkless…” Nue growls, his fists clenching tightly. “He’s Quirkless. QUIRKLESS!!!” He roars. “He was born Quirkless!! If that watch gives him his power then that means he never gained a Quirk!! He’s no late bloomer, he's just Quirkless!!”
Shigaraki’s at a loss, he peers up at the Omnitrix aliens, imaging the boy in their place. His gaze narrows out of spit but he can’t but be vexed by this brat. Quirkless? And yet…he aims to be a hero…?
All For One’s interest has also been piqued by this revelation. But for now he turns his attention to calming down his underling. “Calm yourself, Nue. We’ve been given a great opportunity.”
Nue reels around and growls. “What?”
“Henzu Uuichi.”
Nue turns back towards the one who called him, Vilgax.
Vilgax approaches the young man. “You are no monster, but you are not human either. You are a being that surpasses both. Therefore, I will personally be overseeing your training from here on out.”
What did he say? “Hang on!” Nue scowls, not liking where this is going at all. “What makes you think you can boss me around? And training?! What the hell are you implying?!” His crystal arm becomes a blade as he raises his claws. “I don’t need no training, not from you anyway!”
Shigaraki watches for a moment, considering, before stepping forward. “He’s right Squidface.”
Nue’s stunned that Handy’s taking his side. “Shigaraki…?”
“Nue’s a freak and I’d love to rip that smug grin right off his face.” He throws a spiteful glance at Nue. “But he’s one of ours, he’s not a pawn you can just take from us.” His fingers clench as his sides. “Not without a fight any way.”
Vilgax’s eyes narrow in on Shigaraki, silently challenging him to fight.
However, his Sensei is there to break the tension. “Tomura Shigaraki, I have already agreed to these terms.”
“WHAT!?!” Both Shigaraki, Nue, and even Kurogiri gasp aloud.
“We already discussed this amongst ourselves and we both believe this will be most beneficial to us both. Nue will remain here with Vilgax and be trained in his alien abilities. He will grow stronger and far more capable than even Izuku Midoriya and his aliens.”
“But Nue’s are tank!” Shigaraki defends. “We can’t just give up our tank!”
“Yeah!” shouts Nue. “This ain’t right!”
“You are not being taken from us, Nue.” clarifies All For One. “Instead, think of this as an exchange program.”
Nue frowns. “An exchange program?”
“Yes.”
“Ttas’h ym uqe.” SevenSeven finally speaks up, stepping forward.
Vilgax presents the bounty hunter to the League. “In exchange and in a show of good faith I will be lending you one of my best assassins, SevenSeven.”
“Oy! Tish si nnaog eb ghlit! Tsju eb ruse ot ktea odog aecr fo em, kyao.”
Shigaraki, however, does not see how this is at all a show of good faith. “So we’re getting one alien…by trading off technically eleven different aliens?” Yeah no way is that an equal trade: that’s like trading a shiny Silvally for a regular Naganadel. Yeah it’s cool but it’s hardly equal. “Sorry, not sorry, but that doesn’t sit right with me.”
“This arrangement is temporary.” clarifies Vilgax. “And besides this wasn’t all that we agreed to. Is it All For One?”
“No it is not.” Speaking of which. “And when can I expect our next exchange?”
“In due time, I will contact you with more details later.” Vilgax then affirms that their business has concluded for the day. “For now, we should retire, we’ll conclude our negotiations for the day.” He then signals for the holograms to be shut off before he finishes addressing the League. “Take this time to process all of this. And then we shall meet again and discuss our plans further.”
“Will you have the materials ready by then?”
“Once they arrive then we can proceed.”
“Excellent.”
With business concluded for now, Vilgax turns to his most loyal subordinate. “Psyphon.”
Psyphon bows before his master. “Yes, master?”
“See our guests out, take one of our spacecrafts and deliver them back to their headquarters.”
“But of course. But first.”
Vilgax frowns, wondering what Psyphon has to possibly say.
“Master, have a look.” Psyphon presents his master with a report via a holographic tablet. “I meant to show you before but I feared interrupting your discussion. In any case, one of our scout drones picked this up.”
Psyphon hands over the report.
Vilgax takes a moment to examine the report before handing it back and giving Psyphon added orders. “After dropping them off, be sure to swing by and retrieve the cargo.”
“As you wish.” Psyphon bows before turning to address the villains. “Humans if you’d please follow me.” And he turns and slinks away towards the exit.
Nue takes a step to follow, ready to get the hell out of here but he’s stopped.
“You won’t be joining us, Nue.” All For One reminds him, grabbing him by the shoulder. “Remain here. Learn. And gain experience. And when you return to us then we shall reap the fruits of your labor upon the heroes.” For added measure of motivation and compliance, All For One adds in with a cruel sneer. “And your old friend.”
Nue’s eyes widen, considering the prospect, but either way he tries to play it cool. “Yeah, whatever. This is all still freaking me out.”
All For One nods in approval, releasing the monster’s shoulder before following after Psyphon. Kurogiri soon joins his master’s side as they take their leave.
Shigaraki is the last to leave, hanging back a bit as he passes Nue. “Take care I guess.” He leans close, his eyes narrowing critically. “And don’t trust that…alien for a second.”
Nue frowns before scoffing. “Duh. I wasn't born yesterday.”
With his piece said, Shigaraki leaves, he shrugs, deciding to throw one last jab at the guy. “At least I don’t have to see your freaky face every goddamn day. And if you were to die out here that’s fine, too.”
Nue almost breaks out into a smirk. “Shut the fuck up, Handsy.”
Shigaraki waves back dismissively. “I’ll be seeing you, Nue.”
And so he disappears as the massive metal doors seal themselves behind him.
With the League gone Vilgax turn to address his latest project. “Henzu Uuichi.”
“It’s Nue, got it?”
“Nue, then.” Vilgax sneers cruelly from underneath his respirator. “Are you ready to begin?”
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“Are you ready to begin?” asks Nezu with a cheerful smile.
“I guess…” Ochaco nods her head nervously as she eyes the strange device nervously. “Is this really gonna work?”
After returning Nezu took the time to build a proper dimensional stabilizer device. Apparently this large, almost cannon looking device should in theory be able to utilize the Plumber Base’s own power system to bring Thirteen back with a press of a button. And while Nezu built that One-One went ahead and typed up a cover story for Sunder to make it seem like he's from Earth but to make sure of that they can't actually report to the pro heroes that he's been captured.
And so here they are within the hanger of Plumber Base with Thirteen’s severed hand sitting atop a crate as Nezu aims the cannon-like device towards the red-glowing wrist.
One-One sits nearby watching. ^We guarantee a 90% probability of success!^
Ochaco is almost scared to ask. “And the other 10%?”
^I’d be sure to cover your mouth before they implode.^
Ochaco trembles as both of her hands shooting up to cover her mouth.
Both Ochaco and One-One watch Nezu prepare the device.
One-One gestures for Ochaco to back away. ^You might wanna back up.^
Not taking a chance, Ochaco takes cover behind the Razor Crest, only sticking her head out from the side because she still wants to watch.
Nezu takes aim and then he pulls the trigger and a beam of red energy fires out! The beam washes over the hand before focusing solely on the dimensional energy surrounding the sliced wrist the beam surges and surges.
They all watch on nervously but fully fascinated as red energy swirls around the severed limb like a tornado and then just like that the beam dissipates and the red glow washes away revealing a fully non-severed Thirteen.
Nezu frowns, concerned. “Oh, my.”
Ochaco gasps, jumping out from her hiding spot as she examines the hero. “Thirteen are-...! You…okay…?”
Thirteen…looks like a mess. Like they’ve just been dropped into a jungle and had to survive on their own for weeks on end. Thirteen’s normal hero suit is completely gone, just gone, the only thing left being the gloved hand they left behind on Earth. They’re only wearing their dark zero-suit and athletic shorts that usually accompany their attire. But even then it’s filthy stained with mud and blood-looking purple goo. Not only that Thirteen’s round face is smeared with the purple blood that she used for war paint. A bandana ripped away from a patch of fur is wrapped around their head. And finally they’re holding a metallic junky spear that was clearly cobbled together in a haste.
Nezu smiles, his face not showing any concern, even though he very much would like to know what happened. “Oh, my it seems like you had quite the day.”
Thirteen remains stock still, their mind still trying to process that they are in fact back on Earth. “I’ve seen things…” she says barely above a whisper. “Terrible. Terrible. Things…”
Ochaco’s worries are really beginning to grow. “Um, Thirteen…” She scans the splats of purple goo and blood on the hero. “Are you…hurt?”
Thirteen slowly peers down, her eyes widening at the sight of the blood like it’s the first time they’re actually noticing it. “Oh, that… Don’t worry about it, it’s not my blood.”
Ochaco frowns, worried. “That…that doesn’t make me feel any better.”
Thirteen then peers around the hanger. “So, where’s Sunder?” They grip their junky spear, holding it at the ready. “I’ll take care of him.”
Ochaco gasps. ‘Scary!!’
“Hmh!” Nezu smiles on waving away their worries. “No need to concern yourself, Ms. Uraraka proved more than capable of handling our intruder.”
“Oh, good.” Thirteen finally allows themselves to relax, allowing the spear to flop down in their hands. “Well if you don’t mind I need to go lie down…I had one hell of a day.”
Nezu nods. “Yes, we can discuss your adventure tomorrow.”
“Uh,” Thirteen grips their aching head. “I never want to deal with the Null Void again.”
Ochaco frowns, curious. ‘Null Void?’ What’s that? It sounds kinda cool yet…ominous.
But she doesn’t get to ask about it as an exhausted Thirteen barely manages to walk away. Seriously, they look like they’re about to collapse at any second and Ochaco doesn’t really want to bother them figuring she can ask about it at another time.
“You performed very impressively today Ms. Uraraka.”
Ochaco peers down to find her Principal smiling up at her.
“You expertly deciphered Sunder’s movements and the use of the stadium's defenses was very notable.” He nods in approval before holding a finger to his cheek. “Pray tell how did you do it?”
Ochaco frowns, wondering how best to say this. “To be honest I wasn’t sure I could. It was all kinda just dumb luck.” And in a lot of ways it was… “But there was one thing: all day I could only think one thing: What would Deku do?”
It may not have been at the forefront of her plans but it was always there the entire time. In the back of her mind almost like it’s just been trying to weave into her thoughts, into how she takes action. Deku’s always coming up with brilliant plans and after hanging with him for so long he just rubbed off on her.
Nezu must understand this too as he continues to smile brightly. “It always astounds me just how much people, especially the young, can inspire and influence those around them. You put yourself into your friend’s mindset to come up with a creative out of the box plan. Well done.”
“Hehe, oh it wasn’t much.” Ochaco smiles sheepishly. “But thanks.”
“Continue to work hard Ms. Uraraka. Take inspiration from others and never forget that your actions may inspire them as well.”
Ochaco’s smile brightens but then it disappears when she gasps aloud. “Oh, wait, Principal Nezu! Before I forget what happened to Sunder?!”
Nezu peers back up at her.
“What’d you do with him?”
Nezu shows no concern. “I wouldn’t concern yourself with Sunder any longer. We won’t be seeing him again any time soon since I’ve already sent him on his way.”
Ochaco frowns, uncertain. “On his way?”
“Yes, I’ve sent one of our self-propelled shuttles to hand deliver him to Incarcecon, one of our larger detention centers.”
“Detention Center?”
“A prison!” Nezu laughs. “Yes it is quite the sight, such a colorful place to visit.”
Ochaco’s not so sure. “Yeah…I bet.”
“Come along now Ms. Uraraka. You’ve had quite the day.”
“Yeah, it was a lot, that's for sure.”
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“Yeah…that was a lot…” Shigaraki grumbles underneath the dim fluorescent lights.
He’s still processing the whole day even after Psyphon dropped them off in a real-life U.F.O.!!
All For One had the minion drop them off at one of their warehouses hidden away in the mountains rather than the bar.
Why? Well that’s what they’re currently discussing at the moment.
“Shigaraki, were you listening?”
Shigaraki sighs, dismissing Kurogiri’s concern. “Yeah, yeah, I’ll keep my mouth shut about all this…alien stuff especially in front of the rest of the NPCs.”
That’s right he’s not allowed to tell any of the newest members about anything they learned today. No mention of aliens, or Vilgax, or spaceships, or that Nue’s not even human anymore. They’ll keep this secret until it’s either unnecessary or it’s required.
“Good, then you understand.” Kurogiri affirms before turning back towards their master,
All For One stands before them both and SevenSeven, taking the time to explain the importance of being discreet.
“It’s best we keep this secret close to the chest for now. I fear that if this information is leaked too soon it might just interfere in our own plans as well.” He would hate to have one of the newest recruits spilling this world shattering news too early after all. “We’ll play this as professionally and safe as possible.”
Kurogiri nods. “Understood master.”
SevenSeven confirms that he understood with a nod. “Tgo ti. Li’l usjt eepk ihtk het Ziiaalrnb yeerrmacn kacbsryot hetn.”
Although they don’t understand a word he said they do understand the meaning…maybe.
“Welcome to the League of Villains, SevenSeven, I can’t wait to see what you bring to the table.”
“I nat’c itwa eehtir utb ttah llyaer utsj dpeensd no het rthoua. Ro het derears fi hyet avhe a ogod aeid.”
“Yes, well.” All For One turns to his loyal subordinates to see if they have questions for him.
Kurogiri has none, instead he too turns to Shigaraki. “Tomura Shigaraki?”
Shigaraki sighs. “Yeah I got it. I got it. I won’t spill the beans.”
“Precisely.” All For One places a hand atop Shigaraki’s shoulder. “Not until we can be certain of their loyalty and importance.”
“Right…”
And that concludes their discussion and so Kurogiri sees to SevenSeven, opening a warp gate to take the alien bounty hunter away.
All For One waits back because of his intuition, he turns to address his young ward. “Is there something you’d like to say?”
There is. “Sensei,” Shigaraki chokes, grumbling under his breath. “I don’t like this.”
All For One remains silent, allowing for Shigaraki to continue with his rant.
“This Vilgax guy, can we really trust him? Can we take him by his word?”
All For One doesn’t answer and so Shigaraki continues.
“We have nothing to go off of here. Vilgax could have been telling us nothing but lies. He could be deceiving us, playing us for fools.” And he really doesn’t like that; not at all. “I mean he’s an alien and I can only think of one thing a guy like him is after: total domination.”
It may sound cliche to say, like something from a movie, but he can tell. Vilgax carries himself the same way as Sensei, like he’s above everyone else. That he knows, understands more, and thus they are beyond everyone else…
“I’m well aware.”
Shigaraki’s astounded. “Then why are we working with him?! Why didn't we take our shot and end him, and take his resources for ourselves?!”
All For One turns away peering up at the broken windows in the ceiling, looking past and towards the glittering stars above. “I’ve always seen myself as beyond the normal human understanding. And that my ambitions have always been a worthy one.” He grins up at the stars, the warehouse becoming colder and darker as he loses himself to his desires and greed. “But now I know, now I can say for certain that there’s so much more for us.”
“Sensei?”
“We may have always operated in the dark but we always held the knowledge and thus more power than our enemies. But as of this moment, for the first time in centuries, there is someone a…rival if you will that possesses more knowledge and more power than I.” It’s almost chilling to think about but also…exciting as well like finding a worthy foe who can give you a proper challenge. “It’s not smart to make enemies with such a being, at least not at the start.”
Shigaraki…understands although he doesn’t one hundred percent agree with it. He’d still much rather be done with Vilgax and alien stuff but…it’s here to stay. They are real and he’s gotta accept that they are powerful and a force to be reckoned with.
However, so is his Sensei and so he can only wonder what the results would be when a devil meets a titan. “Sensei, just what kind of deal did you make with that…alien?”
“One that will grant us an even brighter future than we had imagined.” The warehouse seems to darken as All For One’s chilling evil grin stretched across his mangled face. “One that will make the likes of All Might seem insignificant in the grand scale of it all.”
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Meanwhile, Sunder stews in defeat from behind a ray shield.
The small shuttle is silent with him being the only beating heart on board. Not even a droid is on board, the ship’s navigational computer is the only thing controlling this spacecraft.
Sunder scans the small shuttle until he spots a smaller containment unit and behind the ray shield he spots his axe, or at least what remains of it. Nothing but the blade and shattered pieces of the hilt remain, suspended in the air behind the ray shield like atrophy on display.
Sunder scowls, leaning against the wall in defeat, stewing in his failure; he never so much as saw the Omnitrix let alone Izuku Midoriya. Instead he was bested by a female youngling, a human welp!
The thought and constant reminder boils inside of him. “I will have the Omnitrix. But first I will be paying you back for your insolence, youngling.” That’s a promise.
Suddenly the entire shuttle shakes as it’s forced to a stop. The shuttle goes completely dark with only the red glow of the ray shield providing any lumination.
Sunder remains seated, peering around, wondering what’s going on. He listens and confirms that this shuttle has been boarded, by whom he doesn’t know.
And then the side hatch slides open and a slender figure slithers inside.
Sunder can’t properly make them out in the dark he can only watch as the figure slinks over towards the remains of his axe.
The figure deactivates the ray shield before scooping up the blade within.
“Who are you?!” Sunder barks.
The figure finally takes notice of him. “Are you Sunder the Retriever.”
“I am.” Sunder scowls, trying to appear as intimidating as possible even while locked up. “What is it you want?”
“My master would like to enroll you under his employ.”
“Employee him? “And if I refuse?”
“Well then,” The figure holds the blade up, the red glow illuminating his sneer. “We’ll just have to cut our ties.”
Sunder eyes the blade warily and although he seems wary he can’t just overlook a possible profit. “So…what’s my cut?”
Psyphon grins wickedly knowing for a fact that his master will be pleased.
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THE PREVIEW:
Izuku: ACHOO!!!”
Terraspin: Oh my, here have a tissue.
Izuku: Thanks. Huh, much better.
Terraspin: Do you have allergies? You've been sneezing all day?
Izuku: No, I don’t. I don’t what it is. I guess someone’s been talking about me.
Terraspin: Huh, perhaps you’re right.
Izuku: Can I ask you something?
Terraspin: Of course.
Izuku: Do you think any way’s gonna care that I wasn’t in this chapter?
Terraspin: Hm, no I don’t think it that’ll find it that weird.
Izuku: Oh, good that’s a relief.
Terraspin: I’m glad you feel that way because it’s gonna be the same next time.
Izuku: …Wait. What?
Terraspin: Oh yeah you won’t be in the next chapter…maybe…probably…most likely.
Izuku: Wait, how come?
Terraspin: The author said he wanted to write an easier chapter so some of your classmates are gonna be the focus.
Izuku: Really? Who?!
Terraspin: Not sure but they better be careful. I heard there might be some bad weather.
Both: Next time: Ch.53 Purple Rain!!
Izuku: I hope I’ll be back afterwards then.
Notes:
And that was the chapter. And I hope it was okay. I know it wasn’t great, admittedly I found something out as I was writing…Sunder’s kinda boring character, not gonna lie. I totally blanked on what to do with him and honestly the only thing he has going for him is his axe. And I know someone will point out that the axe sending Ben to the Null Void was technically an accident but let’s be real if that didn’t happen that whole episode would have been boring. So I changed it for here, the axe itself has the capability to send objects and people to the Null Void upon being severed. Also the Null Void will be further explored at a later time so don’t worry about that.
But in any case I at least hope the League of Villains and Vilgax were worth it. And to be hornets they’re what I really wanted to write about for this chapter after all they really pushed the plot forward in a lot of ways. And believe me more is to come from them and the consequences of this meeting will be revealed in due time.
*So the next chapter was not originally gonna be part of this story but I am adding it in because it does admittedly fit in very well. But to be honest it will mostly (totally) be filler but it will be fun. Why am I doing it? Because I really need to write an easy, and shorter chapter. These long ones have been draining me and I know for sure I can write this next one faster and easier. Basically I’m writing an easy chapter before I get into another really big chapter. And I do mean a BIG chapter as in it will mostly likely be a 2 parter so get ready.
***I HAVE A NEW SIDE STORY!!! Yes guys I have started a new side story that is connected to this main story. The new side story is called “Heroes Never Die; It’s Hero Time, Anytime.” Now it is NOT the spin-off story I promised to contain the time travel and alternate reality stuff. This side story is a collection of Omakes and potentially OVAs and the plan is to update that side-story weekly so you guys can confirm that: A. I am alive. B. Have some more fun scenarios with the characters and aliens. And C. I will use the Omakes as a means to inform you guys on the next real chapter’s progress. So please have a look because it’s fun and there’s more of an explanation about the side-story within the first chapter. So if you have questions or suggestions please check out the explanation first.
*EASTER EGGS: Franchouchou is the idol group from Zombie Land Saga. Gatorboy and Porcupine are taken right out from the original Ben Ten series. Purple Puma and Tiger Millionaire are of course references to Steven Universe. Tokyo Disney is pretty obvious. Oh and Silvally and Naganadel are Pokémon for those that don’t know.
Chapter 58: Purple Rain
Summary:
Two members of Class 1-A try their best to enjoy a summer rock concert but some bad weather puts a damper on things.
Notes:
Sorry about the wait guys I took a break for a week before I started writing this chapter. And sorry about what I said in the last Omake. I know I said oh it will be up early this week but obviously I miscalculated. My apologies but hey it’s here now! So enjoy, I think it’s a fun one. Also WARNING some creative liberties were taken, you’ll know when you see it.
*This story has a TV Tropes page so feel free to check it out.*
https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Fanfic/HeroesNeverDieItsHeroTime
*Disclaimer I do not own the rights to Ben 10 or MHA.*
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
From inside the somewhat repaired Rustbucket, Izuku Midoriya sits back on the bench, leaning against its side as he rests his arm on the table. He props his phone and begins watching a quick show while he takes a break from the repairs.
Seated quietly beside him from atop the table, Kraab watches on curiously staring at Izuku’s phone and the strange cartoon playing on it. “So, whatcha watchin?”
Izuku shrugs, tucking his free hand into the pocket of his black and green hoodie. “Eh, it's an old cartoon starring a Thai-American girl that gets sent to a magical world run by humanoid amphibians.”
Kraab frowns. ‘Is that like a human being sent to the Incursean empire?’ Not fully understanding it, Kraab continues to watch with Izuku as a human character pops onto the screen. “So, is that the main character? That human girl?”
“No, that’s Marcy, she’s a side character.”
“Oh, okay…” On the phone, a little humanoid frog girl shows up on screen. “What about that frog girl with her?”
“That’s Maddie, she’s also a side character.”
“Huh?” Kraab’s even more confused, they’ve been watching for a few minutes and yet it’s only been side characters so far. “So, then where’s the main character?”
“You know this episode doesn’t actually feature any of the main characters. You know it’s one of those episodes that try to break the formula.”
“Kinda sounds like the writer got lazy… Either way it’s kinda strange.”
Izuku frowns, raising an eyebrow at Kraab. “What is?”
Kraab peers up at him and asks. “Don’t you think it’s weird when the main characters aren’t in an episode?”
Izuku shrugs. “Eh, you don’t miss them.”
“Well…maybe I just find it weird. Meh, whatever, I guess. Might as well sit back and relax.”
Izuku smiles. “Yeah, just relax. It’ll be fun.”
“Yeah, fun…”
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Cannon Busters Opening - Showdown
(Beginning Instrumentals)
An open road, a bright sun illuminating the beautiful summer day, and the rush of wind in one’s ears as the Rustbucket cruises by moving across the road like a sports car before zooming past with grace.
We got places to go, things to do, people to see, and we got to get it done right away.
Izuku adjusts his hoodie, tugging it down over his body. All before gripping the dial of the Omnitrix and giving it a shine with his fingers.
So if you on the crew, guess we a team. Thicker than thieves and we all tryna help find a way
Hisashi buttons up his Hawaiian short, before grabbing his respirator and dawning it over his maw. He then snatches up a few loose tickets and pamphlets before tucking them away.
If you know the destination, we making conversation. Time is ticking, sun is setting, we got no time for waiting
Chopper latches his leg to his body, readjusting it. Before his arms pop out and flex about making sure they’re working properly.
Might be the showdown, Looks like it's 'bout to go down
Bust through with the cannon, at the hoedown
(Instrumentals)
Izuku slams down on the Omnitrix! In a flash of green the screen scrolls down to reveal his aliens: Feedback, XLR8, Grey Matter, Four Arms, Ditto, Ripjaws, Terraspin, Water Hazard, Lodestar, Buzzshock, Diamondhead, Big Chill, Heatblast, Stinkfly, Wildmutt, Rath, Wildvine, and Bullfrag.
Transition into title sequence: HEROES NEVER DIE; IT’S HERO TIME
So, we won't fall, until gravity is gone
Izuku grins falling through the air alongside Rath, Wildvine, and several other inhuman silhouettes! As the glow of the sunrise illuminates U.A. in the background!
We've been on this road too long, so long
Hisashi and Izuku stand back to back looking away from each other as the scene rotates around them.
The scenes flips in rapid succession with characters standing back to back!
(Instrumentals)
To Thirteen and Ochaco!
To Ochaco and All Might!
To All Might and Gran Torino!
And to Gran Torino and Hisashi!
And I can't stop, we can't stop
I'm so far away from home
We've been on this road too long, too long
A legion of villains have their backs to the camera but as the camera slides through their line up, each of them turn to acknowledge the audience.
Kraab’s claw flexes and clamps nearly clipping the camera.
Rojo folds their arms together and smirks as the camera rolls past.
Sunder raises his axe at the ready.
Silhouette (C) stands tall and proud, towering over the camera.
Nue bares a sharp tooth grin, his eyes gleaming with malice before the camera zooms away and up into to the forbidding sky, through the void of space, through the walls of the command ship, before halting before an all observing Vilgax.
Playing with fire (Fire!)
Take me higher
From up in the air Cinder releases a cloud of flames down upon Rojo below! Rojo cuts through the flames before rocketing up and clashing with the hero in midair!
We're on our way, we're on our way
Undivided (-Vided!)
All Might zooms past, his grin wide, as he slams his fist into Silhouette (C)! Silhouette (C) crashes into the ground, kicking up smoke, but it rises again, unharmed.
And ignited
We're on our way, we're on our way, yeah!
From the smoke cloud, Ochaco leaps back in a spin as Sunder soars after her. Sunder his axe at her but she counters it with a Ryou Sphere!
On our way, we're going
Nue grins madly as he stares down Deku who grins back just as determined and manically.
And no mistakes while we're rolling around town
We just came back round
The Rustbucket bursts forth zooming down the highlighted highway, gracefully zooming past Bakugou, Kirishima, Tsuyu, Hatsume, Kaminari, Jiro, and a number of silhouettes!
You don't wanna show out
Close up of a smiling Hisashi.
Cut to a closeup of Chopper.
Cut to a closeup of Kraab.
Finally a close up to a grinning Deku!
Might be a showdown
Deku’s hand slams down on the Omnitrix, the alien green light swallows the screen!
Woo!
Freeze on the image of Deku, Cinder, Chopper, and Kraab posing before the setting sun, their shadows casted far off over the ground towards the camera.
(Illustrated by CreateGunner1209)
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Ch.53 Purple Rain
“Woo-hoo!! I finally made it!!” Decked out in his entire hero costume, Denki Kaminari cheers at the top of his lungs as the bright morning sun shines down over him. “I'm finally at the Summer Sonic Festival!!”
Yes, for here on out it’s nothing but the best for Kaminari: three days with nothing but the summer sun, awesome music, greasy cheap yet delicious food, and Japan’s own Osaka as its backdrop!
But now comes the issue of what to do first! With so many major, indie, and international bands and acts there’s so much to choose from!!
Kaminari frowns, cupping his chin. “What should I see first? Franchuchu? Off the Hook? Oh, I know I’ll go see Love Händel first and then I’ll check out the rest! Yeah!” He cheers, shooting his fist into the air. “I’m off!!” And he takes off dashing away at a record speed.
Or at least he would be.
“Gah!!” Kaminari’s jerked back as the collar of his jacket’s grabbed from behind. “Hey! What was that for?!”
“Not so fast, Denki.” A blonde woman who looks a lot like Kaminari scolds as she grips his collar. “Don’t you go running off.”
“But Mom!”
Kaminari’s mom, also known as the heroine Thundershock, pouts. “No buts! And besides, none of the bands are even here yet.”
“Huh?!”
He finally has a look himself. The music festival is taking place in one of Osaka’s open parks, taking advantage of the large green lawns with scattered trees, benches and fountains. All in all it’s a beautiful park. But you couldn’t tell that now with all the moving trucks and setting up that’s still happening. There are stages arranged across the entire park along with large tents for eating and other entertainment on the side while rows of booths and vendors line the paths from one stage to the next. All the while swarms of staff are running around, working like busy bees all trying to finish up before the event begins. Heck there are even a few bands and groups walking around with their instruments and equipment no doubt off to go get ready too.
“Hey!” Thundershock shouts in his ear!
“Ah!!” Kaminari jumps back, startled. “What?!
His mom frowns, concerned. “You were listening, right?”
Kaminari sheepishly smiles. “Um, yeah, I was, but in case I missed something you should maybe go over it again.”
Instead of getting frustrated his mom actually manages to smile it off, finding it amusing, even though she’s shaking her head in disbelief. “I was asked to help with security for this year’s Summer Sonic Festival.” Hence why she’s donning her full hero costume. “And as requested they wanted us here to secure the place before the festival even starts. We wanna make sure that no one’s gonna be causing trouble today.”
Kaminari frowns. “We?”
“Well, you were the one that said you wanted to come.” Actually, he begged her, full on his knees and making promises he definitely won’t be keeping kind of begging. “I agreed to bring you on the condition that you help me with security.”
Kaminari grips his jacket, frowning like he’s disappointed. “I know but…”
His mom frowns, worried. “But what? What was your plan?” She gaps as if betrayed. “W-were y-you gonna ditch Mama?” She pales, trembling at the thought of her son ditching her. “Were you gonna leave me, Denki? Just so you could enjoy the festival by YOURSELF?!”
Kaminari shamefully looks away.
“Denki?!” She gasps horrified. “What did I do?!” She cries, tears streaming. “I thought I was a good mother. I give you lots of love, but you don’t want anything to do with me! Wahhhh!” She cries, producing tears that could rival the Midoriya’s. “WAHHH!!!”
“Mom! Stop!! You’re making a scene!!” Kaminari begs not just to save his dignity but hers. “And this isn’t about you, okay!”
Thundershock blinks back the tears, clinging to hope. “It’s not?”
“No! Of course not.” He shouts, before becoming somewhat bashful. “I…was just excited is all…and I wasn’t thinking. I’m…I’m just glad to be here…with you.”
“Oh, Denki!” She lights up, her eyes sparkling. “You really mean that?”
“Y-yes.”
“Yay!” His mother beams with joy, leaping away to celebrate the fact that her son doesn’t hate her.
Kaminari sighs, relieved. “Crisis averted…” For now, at least. ‘Well hang out later, Mom. Besides knowing you, you’ll get so wrapped up in your work you probably wouldn’t notice me if I was gone.’ Plus, he can make sure they at least spend a whole day together to make up for it anyway.
From off in the nearby distance a distinct woman’s voices calls out.
“Well, someone’s in a good mood.”
The Kaminaris turn to find Mt. Lady of all people approaching them.
Kaminari gasps. “Mt. Lady?!”
Mt. Lady smiles, waving as she approaches the mother and son. “Hey, Thundershock, how ya been?”
Thundershock smiles back. “Hi, Mt. Lady, it's good to see you.”
“Aw, thanks. How’ve you been? I haven’t seen you since that magazine shoot.”
“I’ve been great. Thanks for asking.”
Not too far away another pair of male voices call out.
“Heh, well, those ladies seem to be in bright spirits.”
“And why not? It’s a beautiful day.”
“They’re here too?” Kaminari gasps when he spots Death Arms and Kamui Woods trailing up behind Mt. Lady.
Mt. Lady sheepishly smiles, shrugging as she explains why. “Yeah, they decided to tag along with me.” They found out she was asked to help with security, and they obligated themselves to come too: something about making sure she actually does her job or something…
Thundershock beams at the two. “Hey, Death Arms, how’s tricks?”
Death Arms breaks out into a wide grin. “Ha. Still kicking.”
Thundershock then turns to Kamui Woods, offering her hand in greeting. “We haven’t met. Hi, I’m the Voltage heroine known as Thundershock.”
The Timber hero graciously shakes her hand. “Nice to meet you, I’m Kamui Woods.”
“Kamui Woods, oh I heard of you. You’ve been really climbing the ranks as of late. Nice work.”
“Thank you.”
As they all greet each other Kaminari ends up sidelining himself, waiting for the pleasantries to be over.
As he waits though, Death Arms takes notice of his get up. “Hm, do I know you?”
Kaminari instantly lights up, flashing a smirk while trying to pass off as cool. “Oh, me! Hm, maybe.” He poses cupping his chin, grinning up at the heroes so they could get a good look.
The three stare, neither one quite sure how they recognize him.
Except for Mt. Lady who lights up all excitedly. “I got it!”
Kaminari’s smirk widens as he awaits the recognition.
“He's one of the members of that really cliche boy band, Boyz Will Be Boyz!”
And boom! Kaminari face faults to the floor as the burning sting of humiliation sets in.
“What? NO!!” He shouts, shooting onto his feet. “It’s me, Denki Kaminari! You know…! From U.A.! The Sports Festival…Class 1-A!”
It takes a moment, but the three heroes all simultaneously go wide eyed with blank faces, while all pounding their fist into their open palm. “Ohhh.”
‘Well at least they recognize me now…’ Kaminari thinks, tragically.
Something crosses Death Arms’ mind. “Hang on. Then what are you doing here; you don’t have a Provisional License do you?”
Kaminari starts, silently screaming as he begins to panic.
“Relax he’s with me.” Thundershock grabs her son and hugs him. “This is our family outing! My little Night Light wanted to help his dear Mom with her hero work! Isn’t he something?!”
“MOM!!! Not cool!!” An embarrassed Kaminari screams before harshly whispering into her ear. “We talked about this! No PDA, please!!”
The three pro heroes can’t help but laugh finding their little family just oh so charming.
Kamui Woods settles down before gesturing to one of the bigger tents that’s set up nearby, atop the tent a sign reads: Staff Only. “Well, we still need to get checked in with the managers, so we’ll be going.”
Thundershock interjects. “We’ll join you; we just arrived and haven’t picked up our security badges yet.”
And so they all walk off for the main tent where they hope to find the main showrunners of this music festival.
They enter and they are astounded by what they find. It's almost like a mobile office space was suddenly set up inside the massive tent. There are sections tarped off labeled as break rooms, lounges and even conference rooms, there are even cubicles for the staff to work at, sections are divided up to store extra equipment, instruments and more. All the while staff run around all wearing the same reflective orange vests.
The heroes and Kaminari all stroll through this tented office space until they find themselves in what appears to be a large conference room like area. There’s a large table in the middle of the room, lined by folding chairs and lining the walls are stacks and stacks of cardboard boxes.
Speaking of which, there appears to be one other person inside the conference room, a woman with a clipboard who’s going through the boxes and making sure they’re all accounted for.
The woman is rather slender for her age and her blacked framed glasses definitely gives her that mature look. Her hair is straight, short, and dark purple in color, with bangs that fall to the right side of her face.
Kaminari frowns, feeling like he’s seen her before. But nothing comes to mind even as he spots the weird long almost cable-like earrings she’s wearing.
Thundershock cheerfully approaches the woman. “Excuse me.” She gestures to herself and the others. “The heroes you asked for have arrived!”
The purple haired woman spins around, before beaming up at them. “Oh, excellent! You’ve finally arrived!”
Kaminari frowns, thinking. ‘Again, I feel like I’ve seen her somewhere before.’
The woman continues shaking Thundershock’s hand. “It’s such a relief to have you all here.”
Kamui Woods frowns, concerned. “Why? Are you expecting some trouble?”
The woman waves off his worries. “No but people tend to behave themselves a little bit more when heroes are around.” Those drunks can…really be a handful sometimes…all the time.
Mt. Lady nods. “Yeah, I get that.”
Kamui Woods frowns, sweat dropping. “Do you?”
“And here are your security passes.” The woman gestures to the table where their security badges are organized.
Death Arms bows his head before grabbing his. “Thank you miss.”
“No, thank you and please contact me immediately in case of any emergencies or incidents.”
Kamui Woods nods in understanding. “Of course.”
Mt. Lady gives a lazy salute. “Yeah, you got it.”
The woman then gestures to a nearby box that has its lid open. “Also, could you wear these vests?”
Mt. Lady eyes the boring looking vests with uninterest. “Do we have to?”
“It would be approached yes, with so many colorful bands and musicians, some…well most like to wear their own costumes. This helps guests differentiate between those who are staff and those who are not.”
All four of the pro heroes nod. “Understood.”
In the meantime, Kaminari grabs his security badge and slips the vest over his head.
While he’s doing that the woman finally takes note of him. “Oh, and you are…?”
“Oh, well, I’m, uh-”
“Ah!” Thundershock beams, sling her arm over his shoulders. “This is my son! He agreed to help out for the next few days.”
“Oh, is he? Why thank you young man.”
“Oh, uh, sure, anything to help.”
The woman frowns like she’s pondering before she gasps in recognition. “Oh, I know you! You're that electrical boy in Class 1-A! Um, Kaminari, correct?”
“Yeah!” Kaminari instantly brightens up, his smug smirk returning. “So, you’ve heard of me?”
The purple-haired woman nods. “I saw you during the Sports Festival! And my daughter’s mentioned you before.”
Kaminari’s ears instantly perk up and his smile widens. “You’re daughter? Is she here? I'd love to meet her.” He’d be oh so thrilled to meet a fan especially if they’re cute.
From behind Kaminari someone let’s out an exasperated sigh. “What exactly are you thinking about, moron?”
Kaminari’s blood instantly runs cold, dread grips him as he shakily turns around. “Gah!!” he screams. “What? Jiro?! What are you doing here?!”
Kyoka Jiro, wearing her full hero costume, scowls in annoyance, gripping the box in her hands tightly. “What am I doing here?! What are you doing here?! And what the hell were you saying to my Mom?!”
Kaminari pauses. “Mom…?” He spins around and instantly locks onto the woman’s earrings only to FINALLY realize that they are not earrings but in fact the same plug-like earlobes as her daughter’s. “She’s your mom?!”
Jiro sighs, deadpanning. “Took you a while, didn't it?”
It stings him to admit it but yes.
Jiro’s mom giggles into her hand. “Yes, I’m Kyoka’s mother. My name’s Mika Jiro, dear.”
Kaminari becomes very sheepish, bowing out of politeness. “Oh, um, nice to meet you ma'am.”
Mika nods, smiling. “It’s so nice to finally meet one of my daughter’s friends from school. Please continue to look after him.”
Jiro blushes. “Mom!! It’s not like that.” She calms down before dismissively adding. “Besides, it's really him that needs to be watched over anyway.”
Kaminari pouts, feeling hurt but he soon breaks into a smug smirk. “So, you talk about me at home, huh?” How very interesting.
Jiro gives him a critical look. “Well, my parents did ask about the idiot I beat during the Sports Festival.” Ouch. “And besides I talk about everyone in class, it’s not just you.”
Kaminari pouts, offended.
As the two hero students catch up Mika gets a call on her phone.
At the same time the three pro heroes decide to head out.
“Alright, we're heading out!” Death Arms proclaims triumphantly before marching away.
Mt. Lady waves to the teens. “Play nice, kiddos.”
Kamui Woods follows her out. “And you better make sure you behave.”
“Wha?! I will! You’ll see!” Mt. Lady whines.
“I guess I will…” Kamui Woods doesn’t sound so convinced, however.
Thundershock strolls over to her son. “Are you ready to go?”
Kaminari instantly cheers up, throwing on his vest post haste. “Yeah!”
“Kyoka.”
Jiro peers up at her mom. “Yeah Mom, what’s up?”
Mika frowns, worried. “Listen I just got a call from Stage 5 they’re missing several staff members and they’re not anywhere close to being ready. Can you head over and help them set up, please?”
Jiro doesn't even hesitate. “Sure mom.” She walks off to drop off the box on a nearby stack.
Having overheard, Kaminari cuts in. “I’m sorry did you say some staff went missing?”
Mika nods. “Afraid so. This happens from time to time but most events like this don’t have permanent staff; they're often or not hired beforehand and sometimes they don’t always pull through.” Like dropping out of the job before the start date; it happens with normal everyday jobs too, it’s really inconvenient and very unprofessional.
Kaminari frowns, he peers back out towards the rest of the tent where staff are scrambling to get ready. He frowns, considering what to do before offering up. “Well, if you need some more hands I can lend mine.”
Jiro’s instantly suspicious. “What are you playing?”
Kaminari waves his hands frantically, trying to dismiss her suspicions. “Hey this isn’t about trying to see some concerts! You guys need help so…I wanted to offer.”
Mika smiles, taking him up on his offer. “That would be great, actually.” She turns not to Kaminari or her daughter, but to Thundershock. “Is that okay with you?”
Thundershock considers it but considering the fact that they’re so short staffed she can’t see a reason to say no. “It’s fine if anything it’s one less stage to patrol if he’s there.” Her son can help out and act as security all at once.
“Fantastic!” Mika beams. “Kyoka, please show your friend around.”
Jiro’s clearly reluctant but she complies. “Fine.” She waves for Kaminari to follow. “Let’s go.”
“You got it!” Kaminari rushes after her.
The two moms smile, watching them go before turning back to see what else has to be done before the festival can begin.
Kaminari walks with a little skip in his step as he keeps pace with Jiro. “Oh this is great! I can help out! See some shows! Take a look at the behind the scenes!”
Jiro sighs. “Just try not to mess anything up.”
“Don’t worry I won’t.” Kaminari’s so pumped! “And the best part!” He gazes up at the clear blue sky. “It’s such a beautiful day! Just look at the weather. Today’s really gonna be something special! I can feel it.”
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And right in this quiet dark apartment a sense of looming tension can be felt throughout the air. The dank rundown apartment sits quietly, bathing in shadows with no light other than the bits of sunshine that manages to slip through the sealed window and it’s large curtains. The only other light source being the little TV sitting from across the room.
On the TV screen a reporter can be seen holding a microphone in front of the camera. “This is Vance Vetteroy coming to you live from the Summer Sonic Festival. It may be early morning, but the stages are set and the guests are already lining up at the gates. Even some local heroes are on the scene to ensure a safe and pleasant evening. With clear skies, no rain, and a light breeze coming in from the northeast, it couldn’t be a better day for a music festival if I ever saw one.”
The floorboards of the apartment creek as a figure crouched on the floor shifts his weight.
A man sits on the floor from across the TV. He is rather tall and clearly has a Mutation Type Quirk which is clear by his electric-purple complexion, claws, and almost inhuman face. His head is rectangular with no nose, a large sneer, he has a pair of horns on his head that shoot up and zigzag like thunderbolts. He wears all leather from his pants and boots, and to his large leather jacket with spikes protruding from its shoulders. But the most blaring part of his jacket are the large yellow letters stitched to the back: S.A.M.
(AN: Imagine a purple version of “Vortex” from the Danny Phantom series)
Vance Vetteroy continues to smile from inside the TV screen. “Today's festival will surely be one to remember.”
“Yes.” The figure or rather SAM sneers as he rises to his feet.
His violet eyes glow bright as a gust of wind begins to swirl about the apartment. “It certainly will. Hahahahahaha!”
He laughs louder and louder over the raging wind that swirls and whips everything around; even the curtains are thrashed about even though the window is still sealed tight.
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“Hey, put that down you’re gonna break it!” Jiro screams from across the stage.
On the other side of the stage Kaminari is struggling to carry over a large speaker. “No, I won’t-Waah!!”
And down it goes.
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“Get down from there, moron!” Jiro shouts from below. You’re gonna fall!!”
Up above the stage, Kaminari is busy checking the lighting atop the catwalk.
He leans over the edge and shouts back. “I’m fine watch-woah!!”
“Ahh!!”
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“Hey, check me out!” Kaminari grins from atop the stage, holding up an electric guitar he found. “I’m a real rock star now!” He swings his arm around strumming the strings as to play the part. “Hehe, yeah!”
Jiro pales from the grassy lawn below. “Put that down! You’re gonna get us both in trouble!”
“Aw, come on. What? You think I’m gonna break it?”
He gives it another strum but the string snaps apart instantly.
“Oops.”
“I knew it!!”
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The warm bright sun shines down over the ground as Kaminari lets out a defeated sigh.
He plops down onto a bench with a half-eaten hotdog in his hand. “Again, Jiro, I’m so sorry.”
Jiro sits beside him, she’s all huffy ignoring him as she finishes her own hotdog.
“Jiro, please say something. I swear it was an accident!”
After a moment she answers back with a cold stare. “I know but that doesn’t make it any better.”
“True…” Kaminari sighs, defeated.
And thus they sit in relative silence watching as staff run about seeing to last minute touches.
Kaminari finishes his hotdog and after suffering such an awkward silence he tries to break the mood. “So, your mom seems pretty cool.”
Jiro raises an eyebrow. “Yeah, she is.”
“How’d she land this job?”
“Hm?” Jiro blinks, uncertain.
Kaminari actually expresses his curiosity. “I mean uh so she’s in charge of setting up shows, huh?”
“She’s a producer.” Jiro explains.
Kaminari blinks, not sure if he heard her correctly. “What was that?”
“She’s a music producer. “
He gasps, astounded. “No way!”
“Yeah.” Jiro smiles thinking back to the stories she’s heard. “She was a pretty well-known musician that worked with various bands and orchestras, even composed her own pieces from time to time. But after retiring she took more of a background management role.” Hence a music producer. “So, setting up festivals like this are part of the course.”
“Woah, that’s cool.” Kaminari gaps, amazed. “Oh, so then you’re helping out and in the meantime, you can check out some shows too!”
“Yeah.” Jiro’s eyes go wide, before narrowing and giving her classmate a suspicious look. “Wait, is that what you’re doing?”
“What? Noooo.” Kaminari responds although he’s unable to look Jiro in the eye as he says it.
Jiro on her part just stares back, silently breaking him down.
And it works as Kaminari easily surrenders. “Yeah…”
“Knew it.”
“Oh, there you two are!”
The two teens look up and find their respective moms approaching.
Jiro raises a hand and smiles. “Hey there.”
Kaminari salutes them. “Sup?”
Mika smiles. “How are you two handling yourselves?”
“We’ve…” Jiro hesitates for a moment before responding. “Had no trouble on our end.”
Kaminari visibility relaxes, oh so grateful.
But his relief is short lived as his mom grabs his head and ruffles his hair. “I hope my little Night Light isn’t causing you any trouble.”
“Pft!” Jiro fails to hold back a chortle. “You know what? As a matter of fact.”
The blood vanishes from the blonde’s face. “Jiro! Please, don’t!” He can’t afford to buy a new speaker; it’ll drain his wallet dry!
“Hey, Mrs. Jiro!”
Oh thank god a hero, three of them in fact. For off in the distance Mt. Lady leads Kamui Woods and Death Arms over to their little group.
Mika turns around to address them. “Yes?”
Kamui Woods steps up preceding the message. “A few more bands have arrived and they’re looking for you.” He gestures down towards the nearest parking lot where two tour busses are waiting.
“Oh good, that should be Jossie and the Pussy cats as well as The Archies. Perfect timing. They’re the last to arrive.” Mika checks her watch just to confirm it. “And just an hour before we start perfect!” She turns towards the teens. “Quickly I need you two to help me move their equipment to Stage 8!”
Kaminari doesn’t hesitate, springing to his feet and saluting. “We’re on it!”
Jiro rolls her eyes but she rises to her feet too.
With Mika leading the way, Thundershock and Jiro follow behind her with Kaminari rushing to catch up.
As Kaminari rushes forward he accidentally bumps into someone, nearly stumbling before catching himself. “Oops! Sorry, man.”
The man he bumped into is wearing a large trench coat, which is odd considering it’s such a beautiful day out. “Don’t sweat it, now you better hurry,” The man smirks coldly as a light breeze rushes past. “the show’s about to start.”
“Um, yeah.” Kaminari frowns, not getting it but he doesn’t have to as he takes off to catch up with the others.
The man watches as Kaminari vanishes from sight, he then eyes the area making sure he’s clear of any staff or wandering heroes. When he knows for a fact that it’s clear SAM sheds the trench out and adjusts his leather jacket. “Show time.” He grins wickedly as his violet eyes begin to illuminate.
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*Vzvzvzvzvz…*
As Jiro helps Kaminari carry over a bass drum to Stage 8 a strange hum catches her ears. She stops peering around for the source of the weird hum. “What is that?”
Kaminari frowns, gripping the drum tightly from the other end. “What’s what?” Before he can get an answer something cold and wet hits the tip of his nose. “Hm?” Kaminari frowns, confused. ‘Was that…rain?’
Rain suddenly begins to shower over the entire city, the rain becoming more and more intense with each passing second until it’s coming down in buckets.
From all around staff, musicians, and vendors whine and air their complaints as they all seek shelter from the rain.
Mt. Lady frowns, trying to shield her eyes from the downpour. “Ah, what?!”
Kamui Woods frowns up at the sudden appearance of the dark storm clouds. “It’s raining?”
Death Arms gives him a nod as he too stares up at the ominous clouds. “Man, it really came out from outta nowhere.”
“Sheesh!” Mt. Lady whines. “I thought we were supposed to have clear skies!”
Far from it as it would seem, the sky is pitch black from the clouds it rains cats and dogs.
Kaminari covers his face as he and Jiro rush over to hide under a nearby booth. “Woah! What is this, a hurricane?!”
“This is crazy!” Jiro shouts, already cold from having her clothes drenched by the rain.
Mika calls out above the pouring rain. “Everyone quickly!!” She points to the main staff tent. “We have to work quickly!”
The drenched staff all cry out. “Yes, ma’am!”
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“Hahaha.” SAM watches gleefully from atop the catwalk of a nearby stage. “Sorry to rain on your parade everyone!!” His grin widens watching as the staff and bands all scurry away from the deluge. “Just kidding! Hahaha!” His malicious smirk grows ever darker. “Now let’s see how everyone’s taking to my little spring shower.”
He takes another look and what he sees…is certainly enough to water down his joy.
The staff are running around sure but they’re not running for cover, no they’re running around to accommodate for his rain!
“What? NO!!” SAM hisses, enraged.
All of the staff members are now wearing ponchos and they’re all running around handing out ponchos and umbrellas to the bands and musicians and even to the guests waiting in line outside the park!
“Complementary ponchos and umbrellas?!”
Not only that but the staff are setting up massive rain flies to create more passageways and shelters to keep people dry as they walk around and enjoy the shows.
“Rain tents?!” SAM screams, watching as the park becomes a weird rain tent city. “NO!!!” He cries, his tears lost in the rain. “This isn’t how it’s supposed to go!!” After venting he takes a breath, composing himself. His eyes turn cold as he glares down at the park. “Fine then, time to bring out the big guns.” From his jacket pocket, SAM pulls out a large red vial attached to a metallic syringe. “Let’s rock and roll, hahaha!!” SAM cackles injecting his neck with the strange vial.
“GAH!?!” He gasps the moment the serum enters his veins. “I-I can feel!”
Lightning flashes across the sky and thunder roars in its wake.
SAM’s eyes glow violet as his veins bulge and tremble. He then slowly rises into the air as his body begins to morph, his lower half beginning to twist and turn until it becomes a small tornado, allowing him to fly.
“Hahahaha!! I’m gonna bring down the house!!”
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
Jiro is busy handing out ponchos and umbrellas to the rest of the staff from underneath a rain tarp. She quickly tries to brush off her soaked poncho but it’s so drenched it hardly makes a difference but in any case she continues on with her task.
*Vzvzvzvzvz…!!*
She jolts up as her ears begin to ring. She frowns and peers around but she doesn't see anyone or anything suspicious. Heck she can barely see anyway the rain is coming down so hard she can barely make out 10 feet in front of her.
“Maybe it’s just an out of tune guitar or something.” She thinks about turning back to her task.
But then a sharp wail echoes through the park. “AHhhhhhh!!!”
The teen starts, nearly jumping out of her skin, she spins around and is horrified to find members of the staff and crew running around in a panic.
“Help!!”
“Ahhhhh!!”
“Get everyone, run!!”
“What?!” Jiro gasps. “What’s happening?!”
“Jiro!!”
(Kaminari rushes over and grabs her arm)
“Kaminari! What are you doing?!”
“Running away!”
“From what?!”
“From-” Kaminari spins around and points upward. “THAT!!!”
Through the crashing downpour a giant mass slithers above the tents and stages. At first Jiro thinks it's a trick of the light and rain as it appears the rain itself is moving, but that's because it is. A massive form composed entirely of water shoots up and over the festival a single violet eye illuminates from the Water Monster’s head as tendrils of water curl and snake over the nearby tents and stages.
Startled, Jiro nearly falls over but Kaminari holds her up.
“Yeah.” Kaminari pulls her up and begins to run with her in hand. “We got a freaking Kaiju up in this shit!!”
The Water Monster roars, declaring war over the festival. “VZRRRRAAA!!!” Its tendrils lash out ripping away at the tents and stage props, tossing them aside.
Through the rain the Water Monster spots a pair of staff members running through the rain and so it takes a big swing at them with one of its tendrils.
“Aaaaaaaahhhh!!” The staff members cry out, falling to the ground, helpless.
“ENFORCEMENT FOREST SHIELD!!” Kamui Woods swings in and blocks the attack by creating a massive tangle of woody vines that mesh and form together to make a thick woody shield around him and the defenseless staff.
The water tendril explodes upon impact doing no harm other than dousing the three in water.
“We have to hold the line!” Kamui Woods barks as he directs the staff members to safety. “We can’t let it get near the civilians!”
Through the heavy rain, Mt. Lady rushes forward with Dead Arms running up right beyond her. “Death Arms! Give me a boost!”
“You got it!” Death Arms grabs Mt. Lady from behind, he swings his body around before throwing right up into the air! “Ragggh!!”
Once in the air Mt. Lady’s body expands as she kicks her foot forward. “CANYON CANNON!!!”
Her gigantic form slams right into the Water Monster’s side causing a massive splash as her body is lodged into the mass of concentrated water.
“You’ve gotta be kidding me!!” Mt. Lady tries to pry herself free, but she has nothing to grip onto as the water tendrils begin to snake around her. “Hey watch it pal!! I’m not into this kinda shit!”
From below Death Arms has launched Thundershock up into the air to help! “Hah!!” Thundershock provides her Electro Whips that lash out and slice through the incoming tendrils like they were paper. She then aims her Electro Whips into the monster’s side, slashing the water and breaking Mt. Lady free as she shrinks back to her normal size.
The two heroines plummet, falling with the rain, but then Kamui Woods swings in and grabs them both. He quickly lands sliding across the muddy grass before coming to a stop beside Death Arms.
Kamui Woods’ woody tendrils unwrap, freeing Thundershock. “Thanks for the save.”
Kamui Woods straightens up, never taking his eyes off the rampaging monster. “Please, don’t mention it.”
The Water Monster continues on ignoring the heroes as it storms through the festival grounds.
Mt. Lady scowls up at the monster before turning to Thundershock. “Can’t you like fry that thing with your Electro Whip?! I mean you cut through its arms pretty good.”
Thundershock frowns sadly. “I’m afraid that’s all I can do. My Electro Whip Quirk is strong but only as I am precise and how good my technique is. My whips are concentrations of electricity like they are part of a circuit and I’m the battery. But the amount of electricity I can produce is relatively low, it’s only enough to allow me to charge up my whips to be strong enough to cut and attack through concentrated strands of electricity.” Basically, she is a battery but she can store nor produce a large enough wattage to attack unlike her son who’s the opposite: all power and no precision nor technique.
Kamui Woods frowns. “So, you can attack it just fine but you don’t have enough power to take that thing out in one shot.”
“Exactly.”
Death Arms scowls watching as the Water Monster continues its rampage. “Then what do we do about that thing?”
Thundershock slams her fists together before ripping them apart unleashing her Electro Whips. “We fight with all we got.”
From above the Water Monster unleashes an earsplitting roar in response to the heroes’ challenge. “VZRRRRAAA!!!”
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
Never in his whole life was Kaminari glad he paid attention during Aizawa’s Hero’s Roles and Services Class.
“Everybody this way! Hurry!” Kaminari stands to the side directing the panicked and frightened staff members away towards the exit.
Jiro’s not too far away, also directing the staff to safety. “Move quickly and get to a safe distance!!”
As the stragglers leave the ground Kaminari looks out towards the parking lot, squinting and covering his face as rain continues to pour down in buckets. “Where are the police and other heroes?! They should have been here by now!”
“I don’t know!” Jiro shouts back, trying but failing to see any police lights or signs of reinforcements. “The rain might be slowing them down!”
Which would be the most logical conclusion since traffic will have been slowed down and since visuals are so low local heroes would definitely have a hard time making it there quickly.
“Then,” Kaminari turns back towards the battle raging behind them. “I really hope they can handle this alone…”
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
“VZRRRRAAA!!!”
“Hey!”
The Water Monster spins around to find a gigantified Mt. Lady charging towards him.
“This is a public event!” She throws her hands forward pulling a large tarp around the monster’s head! “So wear a mask!!!”
From below Thundershock cries out. “Now Death Arms!!”
“Ma’am, yes, ma’am!!” With a spin Death Arms launches Thundershock into the air and with another spin he tosses up Kamui Woods right after her.
Thundershock’s Electro Whips lash out, illuminating brightly as they crack with electricity. “LIVEWIRE SLICE!!!”
The brilliantly light whips charge with electricity before they pierce and slice through the monster’s watery neck!
The rest of the watery body falls away as Kamui Woods follows through with his own special move. “LACQUERED CHAIN PRISON!!!”
A barrage of woody tendrils shoot out and tangle themselves around the ends of the tarp before sealing together and trapping the villain within.
“I have it!!” Kamui Woods screams as Mt. Lady grabs him.
They both cry out in unison. “Combined Attack!!” Mt. Lady swings Kamui Woods downward as he swings the trapped villain around. “REDWOOD SWING!!!”
And with their combined strength they slam the trapped villain up and around before SLAMMING the watery monster into the ground in a brilliant show as the monster’s watery body implodes upon impact!
Even the rain begins to give away as the tarp unfurls as the fight finally settles down.
“Woah!” Kaminari’s eyes are wide with amazement as he rushes to the scene. “Did you see that?! Talk about cool!”
A just as amazed Jiro nods. “Yeah.” She finally notices the rain settle down allowing some sunlight to break through. “It’s lightening up.”
Meanwhile from underneath the tarp there’s some movement occurring.
“The villain!” Kamui Woods screams. “Grab them! They’re still moving!!”
*VZVZVZVZVZ!!*
“Aaaaaahhhh!” Jiro cries out in pain, grabbing at her ears, all as the rain picks back up in intensity.
“Jiro?!” Kaminari panics seeing her withering in pain. “Jiro?!”
“VZRRRRAAA!!!” The Water Monster rises again, reforming from within the tarp.
Everyone gasps as they all continue to rush forward to intercept the beast.
The Water Monster’s glowing violet eye locks onto the nearby teen and lashes out, grabbing the boy with its watery tendril.
Jiro and Thundershock both cry out. “Kaminari!!/Denki!!”
“VZRRRRAAA!!!”
Death Arms freezes, paling as the monster raises the teen. “It grabbed the kid!”
“Not again.” Kamui Woods glowers, his fist clenched in frustration. “We can’t stand by.” They can’t stand by, not like before, not again. “Let’s go Death Arms!”
Death Arms is prepared to join him. “Right!”
As is Mt. Lady. “Count me in!”
They will not stand by as another kid is taken hostage before their eyes.
And so they charge in to do what they can to free the him.
Unfortunately, Thundershock is too stunned to move, watching helplessly as her child is dangled and tossed around the air.
Jiro can only watch in horror as the heroes desperately reach and try to grab Kaminari from the monster’s grasp but the monster’s too fast and slippery for them to grab him. She’s desperate to help too but there isn’t a thing she can do…
She looks around for anything that could help but then her eyes land on the stunned Thundershock and then and only then does Jiro know how they can help. “Mrs. Kaminari!”
Thundershock starts, somewhat snapping out of her fear.
“I know how we can save him!”
Thundershock straightens, filling with hope. “How?”
Jiro looks her in the eye and states. “By having him save himself.”
Meanwhile, the heroes are still trying to free Kaminari while also trying to deliver the beat down on this villain.
Kamui Woods leaps up to attack its head but the monster swings Kaminari in the way using him as a shield.
Kamui Woods swings himself away, not wanting to hurt the kid. “This thing is smart!”
Death Arms growls from below. “It’s using the kid as a shield while also making sure we can’t steal him back.”
Mt. Lady screams in frustration. “Dammit!”
“Wait!!”
They all spin around to find a determined Thundershock stepping forward. “This guy’s mine.”
Mt. Lady frowns worriedly. “But we can’t…we can’t just stand by!”
Kamui Woods feels the same. “We have to at least try!!”
“Yeah!” shouts Death Arms. “We’re not gonna just stand by!”
“You’re not gonna stand by.” Thundershock corrects as she struts past them all. “You’re gonna be ready.”
The three other heroes fall silent, becoming tense and silently waiting for her to make her move.
Thundershock marches forward with such determination that it’s almost like her steps are echoing through the crashing rain.
Even the Water Monster’s attention is forced away, focusing down on the deadly aura emanating from below.
“Last warning” Sparks dance around Thundershock’s entire frame, her Electro Whips crack and flail at her sides as she hatefully glares up at the villain. “Let go of my baby boy.”
The Water Monster simply stares back, holding the boy tighter in its grip.
“Bad choice.” The killing intent surrounding Thundershock intensifies tenfold. “Never get between a mother and her baby!!” She roars, launching her Electro Whips forward “DAZZLING LASSO!!!”
The crackling whips lash out but instead of striking the Water Monster they wrap themselves around the trapped Kaminari.
Kaminari gasps as the whips grab him tightly. “Mom?!”
“Hang on, sweetie!!” Thundershock smiles reassuringly. “Mommy’s here to help!”
Death Arms is stunned, mouth agape. “What are you doing?!”
Thundershock smirks. “Remember what I said about being a battery?”
Electricity surges through the whips and into Kaminari who instinctively absorbs the extra wattage.
Jiro sprints forward. “Kaminari!!”
A sparking Kaminari peers down. “Jiro?!”
Jiro smiles and yells out. “Light him up!!”
Kaminari breaks into a cocky grin. “Oh, I get it.” Sparks of electricity crack and whip around his body. “INDISCRIMINATE SHOCK 3 MILLION VOLTS!!!”
He unleashes all of his stored and newly acquired power into the water.
“VZRRRRAAA!!!” The Water Monster cries out in pain as it surges with electricity.
Death Arms gasps, amazed. “It’s working!!”
“Nice!” Mt. Lady cheers.
Jiro claps watching as the Water Monster withers and flails about. “Way to go!!”
The Water Monster goes silent as it begins to collapse to the side as it falls its body begins to break apart and thus dropping its hostage.
Kaminari plummets to the ground but he’s easily caught by Mt. Lady who turned giant in order to catch him.
Mt. Lady smiles down at her open palm. “Nice job kid- Huh?”
“Hahahahaa…. Yeeee…” A brain fried Kaminari smiles back, giving her two thumbs up.
“I think something's wrong with him!!” In a panic Mt. Lady lowers him to the ground so he can be looked at.
Jiro chuckles from below. “No, he’s always like that.”
“Denki!!” A tearful Thundershock rushes forward and tackles her son in a bear hug. “My baby’s okay!!”
Meanwhile, Death Arms and Kamui Woods rush forward.
“Where's the villain?!” Kamui Woods shouts as he heads towards where the monster fell.
Death Arms turns to his fellow heroes and shouts. “Spread out and find him!”
Jiro shoots up, her earphone jacks at the ready. “I can help!”
Death Arms nods and with that they all take off together in search of the villain leaving Thundershock behind to look after her brain fried son.
All the while the rain finally washes away.
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
And in just a half hour the sun is back, shining brightly over the surprisingly mostly undamaged festival. And Kaminari’s soaking it up as he chugs down a well-earned Gatorade while seated on a park bench.
Jiro comes by to check up on him. “You feeling better?” She hands him a new vest since the last one was burned away by his electricity.
“Yeah, just peachy.” Kaminari smiles, taking the new vest and putting it on. “And the plus side is I won't have to shower for a few days.”
Jiro gags at the joke. “That’s gross, dude.”
The two turn back towards the festival grounds where staff members are cleaning up as police and heroes scour the grounds. Miraculously, no one was harmed nor injured during the entire ordeal, other than Kaminari but he’s already bounced back. Heck Jiro’s Mom, Mika, who was on the other side of the grounds at the time of the attack was able to convince the visiting bands to stick around. Another miracle was that despite the monster’s rampage it didn’t actually cause all that much damage, really only toppling over a few tents here and there and soaking everything else so all in all it all turned out alright.
That all said though, there have been no signs of the villain responsible for this. It’s as if they up and flew away at the end there.
Kaminari sighs watching as a squad of police on the lookout for more clues hike on by. “Crazy, huh?”
“Yeah.” Jiro agrees, watching as a few sidekicks patrol nearby. “What do you think…that villain was after?”
“What do you mean?”
“You know…why did they attack the festival?”
Kaminari frowns, unable to come up with anything reasonable. “I mean, well maybe some people just don’t need a reason to be jerks?”
“Maybe, but…” Jiro falls silent, playing with her earphone jack as her mind ponders over that weird humming from before.
The two teens peer down at the grass below, lost in thought but they are interrupted as a set of dark dress shoes step before them.
“You kids-er heroes, students are remarkable. You and your classmates are always stepping up to the plate it seems.”
The teens peer up to find a kind looking man wearing a suit under a tan trench coat and matching hat.
Naomasa Tsukauchi smiles at the teens as he salutes with his hat. “But you are U.A. students so that’s to be expected.”
Kaminari frowns, tilting his head to the side. “I’m sorry, do we know you?”
Naomasa chuckles. “Ah, right I guess after the day you had you wouldn’t have quite remembered someone like me. I’m Detective Naomasa, I’m the one that spoke to you all after the U.S.J. Incident.”
The violet-haired teen starts in remembrance. “Oh, I remember you! You were the one that told us that Uraraka and Midoriya had to be rushed over to Recovery Girl.”
Kaminari shys away, mumbling to himself. “I…don’t remember him at all…”
Jiro continues. “What can we help you with, sir? The other officers have already taken our statements.”
Naomasa smiles. “I know but I’d like to hear from you both directly.” His smile fades away as he takes a more professional stance. “Tell me did you notice anything odd during the attack?”
Kaminari chuckles sheepishly. “You mean other than the giant water monster?”
“Yes.”
“Not really other than being drenched to the bone.”
Jiro however hesitates, thinking about it before answering. “There…was a hum.”
Naomasa frowns, not having caught all that. “Pardon?”
“A hum, there was a weird hum during…” Jiro second guesses herself, before shaking her head of the thought completely as she loses confidence. “Never mind, it was probably an instrument or a broken speaker. Nevermind.”
Naomasa frowns, wanting to urge her to continue but considering what just occurred he doesn’t want to stress any more than she already is. “Well in any case you both were really brave.” He smiles humorously. “And hopefully you two can stay out of trouble. No offense but I rather not see two members of Class 1-A get into another villain attack for a while. At least until you all are pro heroes.”
Kaminari starts. “Another?”
“Oh, I’ve had to deal with some incidents involving your classmates: Midoriya and Uraraka.”
The two teens sweatdrop. “Yeah, somehow those two get wrapped up in everything.”
Naomasa can’t help but feel the same.
“Detective Tsukauchi, sir!”
Naomasa turns to address the cat-headed officer. “Yes, Sansa.”
Officer Sansa gives his superior a salute. “Sir, Mrs. Jiro would like to speak to you.” He gestures behind him to Mika who followed him over, and behind her are the other heroes: Thundershock, Kamui Woods, Mt. Lady, and Death Arms.
“Of course.” Naomasa turns to address her. “How can I help you ma’am?”
“Detective.” Mika greets before moving right along. “I would like to know of any progress on the investigation?”
“Investigation?” Naomasa frowns, disappointedly. “We barely even started. As of now we have nothing, sad to say.” Naomasa hesitates before bringing up another point. “Would you like to reconsider my proposal from before?”
Mika frowns in disapproval. “Like we discussed before, I'd rather not.”
Jiro frowns, wondering what they’re referring to. “Discussed what?”
Mika explains. “The detective would like us to cancel the Summer Sonic Festival.”
Both teens gasp, shocked. “What?! You can’t cancel!!”
Kaminari’s astonished and betrayed by the news. “Do you have any idea how huge this festival is?!”
Jiro is just as upset and worried. “Everyone’s working so hard to bring it together, we can’t just toss that aside!!”
Kamui Woods however brings up a solid point. “But think of everyone’s safety. The villain is still loose, they might try something again.”
Mt. Lady isn’t so pessimistic, however. “But they might not. I mean we gave them a good thrashing so they might not be up for a fight anymore.”
Naomasa shakes his head. “But we can’t know that for sure, especially since we don’t have a motive.”
“But we can’t cancel!” Mika defends. “It takes a year to make this all come together. The moment last year’s festival ended we got to work on this years and so on. People have come here from all over Japan, booked hotels, we’ve flown in acts from Japan and the rest of the world. Canceling now would surely kill this festival!”
Naomasa frowns, not liking where this conversation is going. He thinks for a moment before turning to address his officer. “Sansa.”
Officer Sansa stands at attention. “Yes, sir?”
“I want officers patrolling every entrance as well as the grounds. Have blockades at the ready as well as emergency vehicles in case this villain decides to come back.”
Mika starts. “Detective?”
“You’ll get your wish, Mrs. Jiro.” Naomasa shakes his head. “I don’t like it but hopefully a greater police presence will help deter any other attacks.”
Mika smiles in relief. “Thank you.”
Naomasa then turns to the heroes. “I hope you don’t mind but I also called in some other local heroes to help with security.”
Thundershock understands and sees no issues. “Fair enough. But they need to check in with me first so we can properly patrol the festival.”
“Of course.”
Kaminari tugs on the detective’s sleeve. “What about us?” He gestures to himself and his classmate. “How can we help?”
His mother frowns worriedly. “I don’t know. You could have gotten hurt back there.”
“Mom!” Kaminari objects. “I came to help so you might as well let me.”
Thundershock isn’t so convinced so she looks to the detective for another opinion. “Detective?”
Naomasa contemplates, tucking his hands into his coat. “Well, we’ve already labeled the use of his Quirk in Public as self-defense.” Which it was in this case. “However, I’m not totally comfortable with having unlicensed students, even hero students involved with a villain attack.” However, having some more hands on deck might be okay and will at least help the public feel safer even if it’s a little bit. “If something does occur and you’re forced to use your Quirk then please don’t hesitate to defend yourself, I will cover all the legal ends. But if the villain does appear again, you must not engage them, understood?”
Understanding the implications, the teens stand at attention and declare with determination. “Yes, sir!”
“Good.”
Mika claps her hands, gathering everyone’s attention. “Alright everybody, we have a lot of work to do! Let’s get some of these rain tarps out of the way! And we gotta clean up right away! We have one hour before we open so let’s move it people! The show’s back on!”
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*CRASH!!!*
SAM crashes through the sealed window before being tossed down onto the hardwood floor of the apartment. “Uh…” He groans his head pounding and body aching from the severe electric shock he had received. “Damn that stupid bimbo.” He growls, holding his head; all he did was grab some rando and then she electrocuted him! “Ugh, my head. She really fried me good with her lightning.” He suddenly pauses as an idea lights up in his head. “Lightning huh? Now there’s something.”
“This is Vance Vetteroy reporting in!”
SAM glares at the TV that he had left turned on.
On the screen the same reporter from before is checking in to the studio. “I’m back at the Summer Sonic Festival where guests are finally being allowed in even though the festival was just attacked by an unknown elemental villain.”
SAM’s glare hardens, his eyes illuminating violet in response.
Vance continues. “The authorities have promised to increase security. Even more heroes are on the scene to help in the efforts. Despite the earlier attack even I’m feeling far more safe than I had before. Yes, sir! Make your way down here. This festival has a lot more in store and not even a little bad weather will stop it.”
“We’ll see about that.” SAM’s eyes glow brighter as wind begins to swirl around him and violet sparks begin to dance around his body as a dark gaseous mass begins to accumulate around him. “I think it’s time for my encore.”
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
Mika was right. In a single hour they cleaned up and opened the festival to the public who were more than happy to get going. It hasn't even been twenty minutes since they opened and already the festival is full of music, cheers, and fun.
Heck even those that don’t seem like they would enjoy a good concert are having a good time. At Stage 13 both Kaminari and Jiro find themselves in a sea of goths and edgelords that are all rocking out to a trio of gothic vampire girls that are playing guitar, keyboard, and the drums respectively on stage.
Tucked away near the side of the stage are two of Class 1-A’s students.
A grinning Kaminari dances to the beat of the rock song. “This is awesome!”
“See I told you!” Jiro smiles beside him, dancing away as well. “And you wanted to go to Stage 6.”
“Hey it’s not my fault that I’m such a Kuromu fan!” Kaminari defends with a smile not at all feeling guilty. “It’s her fault she’s just so damn cute, especially for an idol! Besides, she’s doing a show everyday so I can see her tomorrow.”
“Well enjoy this for now because these girls are only gonna be playing today.”
“Don’t worry I will. Woah!!”
“Hahaha!!”
And so they jam out with the rest of the crowd as the vampire girls continue their show: cheers are thundering, the music is roaring, and the sun shines down on them all.
*Vzvzvzvzvz…*
But even through the noise and cheers and music that strange hum pierces through it all once again much to Jiro’s dismay.
Jiro instantly freezes in place, her heart stopping as she begins to frantically peer around the stage. “There it is again.”
Kaminari frowns seeing her scared face. “What again…?”
Before she can answer the sky goes dark as a massive shadow takes over the entire area.
Jiro frowns peering up to see the dark black clouds in the sky above. “Storm clouds?”
Kaminari pales as he spots the real issue. “That’s not a storm cloud. It’s the villain, again!” And he points upward. “Look!”
Jiro looks around and sure enough he’s right as she spots the glowing violet eye of the storm hovering within the mass of dark clouds.
The villain has taken the form of some sort of Thundercloud Monster with its main blobulous body being comprised of condensed dark clouds while purple lightning dances around its mass and violet eye.
“ZRRRRAAA!!!” The Thundercloud Monster roars as it unleashes a barrage of lightning onto the festival below.
The purple lightning strikes and crashes into tents, the ground, and light poles throwing the guests and staff into a panic as they all scream out and begin stampeding away to safety.
“Hahahahaha!!” From within the storm the glowing violet eye laughs as lightning causes the crowds to scatter and flee. “How do you all like my rips?!” SAM cackles, his body illuminating brightly within the thundercloud. “Hahaha! Hahaha!”
SAM spots the trio of vampire girls that were playing on stage before. He grins madly as he swings his hand forward and fires a lightning bolt right towards them!!
Well at least that was his plan, but the lightning quickly goes off course, completely missing them, and instead strikes some nearby bleachers.
SAM winces as the bleachers are fried. “Oops. My aim really is crap.” He shrugs and continues to cackle. “But it’s like learning an instrument!” More purple lightning dances around him. “Practice makes perfect! Hahaha!” And so he fires away again and again scaring away the crowds.
Meanwhile, Naomasa and the other officers are guiding the people to safety and away from the rampaging Thundercloud Monster. “Everyone this way! Please move in an orderly fashion!”
The ground shakes as a giant Mt. Lady stomps by running towards the Thundercloud Monster.
Mt. Lady, like a pitcher, swings her arm forward and throws Thundershock, Kamui Woods, and Death Arms forward into the air and towards the monster.
“ZRRRRAAA!!!”
The Thundercloud Monster roars out as the heroes begin to attack relentlessly at its gaseous body.
At the same time Jiro sprints through the empty tents and vendors as the storm rages behind her.
“Keep up will ya?!”
“I’m trying!!” shouts Kaminari running up behind her.
They had fallen behind, staying back to make sure everyone got out of the Stage 13 area safely.
And now they were taking cover behind a few trash cans, watching as the pro heroes confront the Thundercloud Monster.
Kaminari pales watching as lightning bolts whizz past the heroes. “Shouldn’t we be helping?!”
Jiro holds him back. “We will after the guests are safe!” She then runs further into the grounds to continue the search for any stragglers. “Now hurry!”
“Right!” Kaminari, wanting to help, chases after her.
However the moment he steps out from their hiding spot he is struck by a bolt of purple lightning. “KYAAAAAAAA!!!” Kaminari screams, his body acting like a natural lightning rod absorbing the electricity but still hurting him, nonetheless.
Jiro shrieks in freight. “KAMINARI!?!”
“Beh-” The lightning bolt washes away leaving a fried but overall unharmed Kaminari behind. “I-I-I’m-m-I’m f-f-f-fine-ne-ne.” He gives a pained smile in response to comfort her as his staff vest crumbles away into ashes and he’s left in his hero costume.
From up above, within the Thundercloud, SAM somehow spots the stunned teen down below. “Is that?” he squints noticing the leather Rockstar life jacket and outfit. “A sitting duck and a Rockstar at that.” He grins at the opportunity. “I mean look at those pants they were perfectly fine without any patterns but adding lightning bolts was too much. And that jacket screams no taste and definitely gives the vibe of someone who wants to make the big time. Too bad for you but you’re nothing but an opening act when compared to me!! Hahaha!!”
Assuming the boy’s a lost Rockstar he summons a cloudy tendril that shoots down and grabs the boy.
“Not…AGAIN!!!” Kaminari screams as he’s pulled into the air.
“Kaminari!!” Jiro without thinking panics and grabs onto Kaminari’s leg just before they’re both carried off into the sky.
The battling heroes are thrown for a loop as the teens are carried up and over to the Thundercloud Monster.
From the ground Death Arms gasps. “The kids!!”
Mt. Lady glowers in frustration. “Not again!”
Kamui Woods prepares to attack again. “We have to get up there.”
“But how?!” screams Naomasa, having brandished his pistol to help. “None of you can fly!”
Kamui Woods turns to Death Arms and Mt. Lady. “Could either of you throw us again?”
Death Arms frowns. “We could but the villain might act out if he sees us coming?”
Naomasa glares up at the monster but then frowns in confusion. “Actually, he seems to have calmed down.”
The heroes peer up and sure enough the Thundercloud’s calmed down or at least it’s remaining still and having stopped its assault. And from what they can tell they can just barely spot the kids being held up near the glowing eye of the storm.
Mt. Lady’s stunned. “Why?”
Death Arms tries to offer up a reason. “Maybe the kids are up to something.”
Thundershock cups her hands together, worriedly. “Denki…”
Naomasa begins to sweat as the situation takes an odd turn. “We need a plan. And we need to come up with one fast.”
Thundershock pales her worry taking over. “But the kids are still up there!”
“That’s why we need to act fast!”
“But the kids could get-”
Naomasa turns to the worried mother and states with full confidence. “Ma’am I know you’re worried about your son but if there’s anything I learned about Class 1-A,” He smiled reassuringly. “Their students know how to handle themselves.”
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
“Waaaaahhhh!!!” Meanwhile, Kaminari’s screaming his head off, tears streaming down his face as he’s pulled up towards the living storm.
All the while Jiro is holding onto dear life, holding onto Kaminari’s legs like her life depends on it, because it does.
Eventually their ascent eventually slows as they’re finally pulled into the Thundercloud.
“Hahaha!”
Jiro frowns, startled, as she looks around to find that they’ve been pulled towards the glowing eye of the storm.
“Hahaha!” A strange unfamiliar voice laughs, causing a shiver run down her spine. “Now let’s see what prize I’ve caught?”
SAM brings the teens closer and upon spotting each other they all pause, unsure and stunned by what they see.
…
“YOU’RE NOT ROCK STARS!!!” SAM screams out outrage and shock! “YOU’RE JUST KIDS!!!”
Said kids are still in a state of shock totally caught off guard by this guy’s reaction.
Kaminari sweats nervously. “Is that…?”
From below Jiro nods. “It must be…”
They both cry out in unison. “THE VILLAIN!!!”
SAM gasps as he finally realizes his terrible blunder. “Oh no my face!” he grabs at his face, trying to hide it. “How did you see it?!”
Jiro deadpans. “Um, dude…you brought us up here…”
“GAH!!! Oh, shit you’re right!”
The teens sweatdrop feeling somewhat embarrassed for the villain.
“Shit!” SAM continues to panic hovering around in the air as he tries and fails to come up with a solution. “They’ve seen my face! What do I do now? I can’t let them go! I just wanted to have a hostage to force the cops away but this is bad. GAH!!! I gotta think this kinda stuff out better!”
Kaminari blinks, awkwardly watching as the villain panics. “I…get the feeling this guy isn't exactly the sharpest tool in the shed.”
Jiro gives him a judgmental stare. “Like you’re one to talk.”
“This is bad!” SAM screams. “They know who I am now!!” He turns to them in a panic expecting them to instantly recognize him and announce his name to the world.
However, neither of them recognize him, making the moment rather…awkward.
Kaminari smiles awkwardly in response. “Well, we know what you…look like.”
SAM shouts, assuming the worst. “And you know who I am!!”
…
“Who are you?”
SAM’s stunned, going into shock. “WHAT!?!” He rushes forward grabbing Kaminari by the shoulders. “It’s me!! Can’t you tell?! Surely you must know!”
Kaminari isn’t sure what he can say anymore.
Jiro looks up to the blonde. “Hey, Kaminari, do you know him?”
Kaminari peers down at her. “Nnnno, I thought maybe you did?”
She shakes her head. “Nope.”
SAM’s entire world is flipped. “What…? Really? Ohh…” He sulks as he falls into a depressive state.
An old memory pops into Kaminari’s head. “Wait, I know!”
“You do?!” SAM beams like an excited puppy dog.
Kaminari excitedly nods. “You were in some cheesy kids’ show back in the day right! What was it…? Ah, Gary Ghost or something!”
“NO!!!” SAM shouts before correcting the teen. “Also, I know what show you’re talking about and that’s not even close to being the correct title!!” He turns away with silent tears in his eyes. “So, you really don’t know who I am, huh.”
Jiro frowns, not sure what to make of this guy but then she spots movement from the heroes below. She examines them before peering back up at the villain and she comes to the conclusion that they need to keep him distracted. And clearly, he loves the sound of his own voice.
“Well…” She hopes this works. “Do you want to tell us?”
SAM instantly lights up. “I’d be happy too!”
The two teens internally deadpan. ‘He sure cheered up fast.’
SAM spins around as he indulges himself in his delusions. “I am the voice of the howling winds, the roar of thunder, the wail of the hurricane.” He spins up, holding his head high and his chest out. “Yes, it is I, the Storm Accumulating Monster!! YEAH!!!”
The two teens pause. “Storm? Accumulating? Monster?” They both think about the possible acronym.
‘S + A + M = …’ They both groan in unison. “SAM…?”
Jiro feels even more embarrassed for the guy. “That’s your name? Really?”
“It’s my stage name.” SAM nods, happily explaining.
“You might wanna…try something else.”
“GAH!!!” SAM gasps, astonished that they couldn’t see the brilliance in the name.
Jiro continues. “ I mean out of all the weather based names you could have picked…you went with an acronym?”
Kaminari frowns, nodding in agreement. “And not even a cool one at that.”
“Hey!!” SAM snaps. “My stage name, Storm Accumulating Monster needs to stand out. And it’s a tradition for stage names and band names to be weird and crazy like Guns N Roses, Led Zeppelin, and Black Sabbath!”
Kaminari still has questions though. “Okay, true but why an acronym? You know there’s way cooler single word names like I don’t know, um, Storm! Yeah, just call yourself Storm?!”
“NO!!!”
The teens freeze thinking they might have pushed the villain a little too far.
SAM however instantly calms down and looks away shyly. “I can’t call myself that because of legal reasons.”
The teens pause. “Huh?”
“The name.”
“What name?”
“Storm!!” SAM explains. “It’s been taken!”
Now that’s a surprise. “Oh, really?”
“Yeah…some American hero back in the day coined it.”
Jiro blinks. “Oh.”
Kaminari however has another suggestion. “What about the Weather Wizard?!”
“Also taken.”
“By a hero?”
“No, actually.” SAM smiles happy to share a little fun fact. “It was a villain.”
Kaminari actually finds that kinda interesting. “Oh, wow, look at that.”
“But do you see my problem now?!” SAM cries. “Names like Whirlwind, Tempest, and even Rainmaker were all taken!!” He pauses and thinks back. “Although I did consider the name Vortex for a little while, but screw it!! I deserve a far more fitting name! A name that my fans can cheer out for the world to remember!!” Lightning begins to spark across the cloudy mass once again as SAM becomes riled up. “I am the Storm Accumulating Monster!!! I am SAM!!!” Wind begins to swirl all around him. “And I’m taking over this music festival! Ha. Haha. Hahahahaha!!” He cackles like a mad man as the Thundercloud begins to thunder and rage over the festival. “HAHAH-”
He falls silent as one of the girl’s earphone jacks imbedded itself into his eye.
It takes a moment for anyone to react as SAM pauses letting the situation sink in and then.
“MY EYE!!!” He wails in pain, grabbing at his eye.
Without realizing it he let’s go of the teens.
“Wahhh!!” Kaminari screams in terror as they begin to plummet. “Why did you attack him when we can’t fly?!”
“Sorry!” Jiro screams back as wind whips at their faces. “It was a reflex!!” He was just so showboaty and obnoxious she couldn’t help it!
“Ahhhh!”
“I got you!” Kamui Woods swings up and grabs them in midair. “So there’s no need to worry anymore!”
Jiro gasps. “Kamui Woods!”
Kaminari’s so happy he’s in tears. “Thank you!”
Jiro gasps. “But the villain-!”
“We’ve got it covered.” Kamui Woods lands and drops them off before they all turn towards the battle raging above.
The Thundercloud Monster is benign assaulted from all sides as heroes that can fly support those that can’t. They all whizz around and distract the villain who fires lightning bolts at them in an attempt to defend itself.
From below Mt. lady tosses up Thundershock.
Thundershock soars through the air like a missile, a deadly glare in her eye as she locks in on the glowing eye of the storm. “This is for taking my BABY BOY!!” She unleashes a barrage of Electro Whips towards the eye. “DANCING LIGHTNING!!!”
The whips crack and whip crazily through the sky rapidly and repeatedly striking at the villain within.
“Gahhhh!!” SAM wails in pain as he’s struck but to everyone else on the outside the Thundercloud unleashes a painful roar. “ZRRRRAAA!!!”
As electricity surges through him and he’s struck repeatedly SAM loses his concentration and he loses control over his Quirk allowing the Thundercloud to dissipate before a final Electro Whip strikes him in the chest and sends him flying away from the festival!
And with that the last of the Thundercloud Monster vanishes from the sky and the fighting ceases.
The teens watch from below, sighing in relief.
“Hey!” Naomasa rushes over to check on them. “Are you two alright!”
“Sir!” The two rush over in a hurry.
Naomasa pauses. “Y-yes?”
The two teens scream out in unison. “We know who the villain is!”
Naomasa pauses because it takes a second to realize what they had said.
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
Death Arms is confused. “Storm?”
As is Mt. Lady. “Accumulating?”
And even Kamui Woods. “Monster?”
Thundershock sweatdrops as she finishes the name. “SAM?”
The four heroes all tilt their heads to the side in confusion. “Never heard of him.”
Kaminari shrugs. “Well, that’s what he called himself.”
Naomasa chuckles sheepishly. “It certainly is a…unique name.”
Jiro frowns, giving the detective a blank stare. “That’s one way to put it.”
But that’s everything they were able to find out other than what he looks like. And they’ve already given all they know to the police and the heroes explaining in full detail what the villain was like.
Even Jiro’s mom, Mika, listened in on the explanation. “SAM? SAM…?” She frowns, deep in thought.
Thundershock overhears her. “You know him?”
“The name…sounds familiar.”
Death Arms snickers. “It should, it’s a real common name in a lot of English-speaking countries.”
Mika’s not so sure. “Maybe but I don’t think that’s why…”
Naomasa however wants to keep it positive. “We have a name, even a fake one and that’s a start. But better yet we have a good enough description of what the villain looks like.” He cups his chin in thought. “Although we still don’t have a motive.”
Kaminari chimes in. “He said he was taking over the music festival.”
“But why?”
That he doesn't have an answer for.
At the same time, Mika is frowning as she considers the hard truth. “We have to cancel.”
The teens gasp. “WHAT!?!”
Naomasa’s eyes furrow. “Ma’am?”
Even the heroes pause, uncertain.
Mika continues. “There’s been two attacks already. What if the villain tries again?” She quivers at the thought. “I’ve thought about it…and I-I think it’s for the best.”
Jiro can’t believe her ears. “But if we cancel then the Summer Sonic Festival might never play again!”
Mika bows her head apologetically. “I know…”
The heroes see her logic but that doesn't exactly mean they like it either.
Kamui Woods sighs in defeat. “We’d essentially be surrendering to the villain.”
Death Arms glowers. “Gotta say, I don’t really like the taste of that.”
Mika bows her head. “I’m sorry but we’ll have to cancel.”
“No!” Jiro shouts, clearly upset by the news. “So many people have been looking forward to this all year!” And especially her. This is a time to have fun, let loose and let your worries wash away as one enjoys the festivities and good times with friends and fellow visitors! “We can’t just quit now when we haven’t even started! Mom please! This is one of the biggest highlights of my summers; the music, the smiles, the atmosphere, all of it! If we give it up now we’ll lose it forever! We can't just tell everyone to go home, not when we can still go on.”
“Kyoka…”
Kaminari considers his friend’s words for a moment, sympathizing with them. “I think Jiro's right.”
The adults all turn towards him.
“I mean well we did our jobs, as security I mean.” He pauses rethinking his points. “I mean it didn’t go as planned but we all still scared that jerk off. And the best part is that no one got seriously hurt!” Actually, the only one seriously hurt was him and he’s already up on his feet. “And besides, why would he come back?!”
The adults frown wondering why that would be the case.
Kaminari continues feeling more reassured by his own logic. “We saw his face! We have a name. And we can assume his Quirk!” He turns to the detective excitedly. “I bet he’s running away as we speak before the police catch him!”
The heroes all turn to Naomasa who takes a moment to explain the current progress being made. “According to Sansa we already have police barricades all across the city and local heroes are all on the lookout. No matter who they are there’s no chance any villain, especially this SAM guy, will be able to take a step outside before being swarmed by police and heroes.”
The teens begin to light up.
Jiro gulps not wanting to assume too soon. “Does that mean…?”
Naomasa turns to Mika. “Mrs. Jiro although I fully understand your concerns, I do think that this villain would have to be incredibly reckless and stupid to try anything else.” He takes a breath and firmly declares. “I would suggest continuing the festival for today and cutting it short if possible and hopefully between now and tomorrow we’ll have this villain in custody.”
Mika breaks into a relieved smile.
Jiro tugs at her mother’s arm. “Mom?”
“Fine,” Mika smiles down at her daughter. “I suppose the show will go on.”
Jiro breaks to an excited grin.
Thundershock claps her hands together, grabbing the heroes’ attention. “We got work to do kids. We better get to it.”
The three pros stand at attention. “Ma’am!”
Kaminari smiles excitedly. “Don’t worry, SAM’s gotta be a real idiot to show his face around here again.”
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
“I’m such an IDIOT!!!” SAM screams out as wind whips around his apartment. “Those brats! How could I be so stupid as to let them see my face?! AH!! Curse my need to grace everyone with my sheer awesomeness!! Agh!!”
He wails slamming his fist into the wall, punching through the weak drywall. “But it’s over! The police and heroes will find me and it’ll be lights out for me.” He presses his back against the busted wall before sliding down, collapsing in defeat. “I’ll have a tough break before getting my big break.” He smacks his fist against the floorboards in frustration. “Those damn brats! This is all they’re fault!
And because of them his glorious beginning is all but snuffed out. Like a little ember just barely igniting before it can become a raging wildfire that’ll consume the entire world.
“No!!” He can’t let that happen. “It’s not too late, I can still make a big splash! I just need to shut those kids up! Yeah.” He grins at the devilish thought. “No, I’ll use them. I’ll use them to finally get my big break! Yeah!” And a twisted and admittedly not too well thought out plan forms in his demented head. “Hahaha! That’s it! I’ve been going about this all wrong. Those kids are my ticket to the big time! And if they aren’t well then it’ll be curtains for them. Hahaha!”
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
Jiro slouches against the side of the tent as guests dance and enjoy the show nearby.
“How you holding up?”
She peers up to find Kaminari offering her a cold soda. “I should be asking you that.”
She takes the can and takes a sip as Kaminari takes a seat beside her.
They watch on as the crowd goes crazy for this up and coming idol group, Franchuchu. Kaminari’s already a fan of the group of cute girls but both he and Jiro have to admit that there’s something off about them. And they could've sworn one of their heads fell off their shoulders when they passed them by backstage. But hey in a world of Quirks, it was probably nothing.
But in any case, after the encounter with SAM the two just needed a break, to calm down, and just take in the now clear sky and cheerful atmosphere.
Kaminari however can’t really stand awkward silences and so he tries to strike up a conversation. “So, this festival means a lot to you, huh?”
“Yeah, a lot of happy memories here.” A soft smile graces Jiro’s lips as she loses herself in her memories. “I spend every summer here. And every year I get to see bands from across the world come together and play for an amazing audience.” The cheers, the smiles, her racing heart it’s always such a…such a wonderful, amazing feeling. “It’s amazing.”
Kaminari grins. “And it will be again now that SAM’s up but gone!” He bounces himself up to his feet in excitement. “Why are we just sitting around? We should be living it up!”
Jiro smiles back and moves to get up as well. “Yeah.”
*Vzvzvzvzvz…*
Jiro pales as her earphone jacks pick up on that weird hum again. “There it is again…”
Kaminari frowns, confused. “What again?”
But before they know it, once again the festival is plunged into darkness as dark storm clouds envelop the sky above.
Purple lighting sparks and dances across the sky as the clouds swirl around forming a large funnel cloud.
From within the funnel cloud a glowing purple figure maliciously grins down at the festival below. “Hello boys. I’M BACK!!!”
The teens gasp. “It’s SAM!!”
At the same time, the police and heroes rush through the stunned crowd to confront the villain.
Naomasa leads the way, taking a microphone in hand. “SAM! This is Detective Tsukauchi. Stand down, this is your first and final warning!” He takes out his firearm. “We are prepared to use force!”
SAM grins back before firing a bolt of lightning down at the heroes: the lightning redirects and strikes a trash cannon. And although it may have missed it certainly triggered the entire festival into a panic.
The people scream and scramble for safety as the officers take aim and fire away!
However, with a wave of his hand tornadoes burst forth from his palms and deflects the bullets away.
The police are stunned and stop firing.
SAM grins as the clouds roar and swirl all around him before a massive tornado springs forth and touches down upon the festival.
People scream and wail as they run away, tents fall over, stages are ripped apart, and heroes are taken out by the strong winds, powerful lightning strikes, and flying debris.
Jiro and Kaminari take cover by the stage watching in horror as the heroes try to actually take on a force of nature. And lose.
“This can't be happening.” Jiro trembles, watching as Mt. Lady’s gigantic form is shoved into a stand of bleachers. “It just can’t!”
Kaminari’s fists clench. “Shit! What does he want this time?”
“Hehe. Funny you should ask.” SAM hovers in the air beside them, his devilish smirk widening as he takes in their horrorstruck faces.
Before they can totally process it a huge gust of wind sends them both flying onto the stage.
“Gaaah!” They grunt in pain as their bodies hit the stage floor, hard.
An angry Kaminari yells out in pain. “What’s the big idea?!”
A grinning SAM hovers onto the stage. “I’ll show you.”
With a wave of his hand another gust of wind sends the teens flying back! Their backs crash into the metal-stands of the stage’s truss. The wind is so strong they are actually pinned to the metal and as they brace themselves the wind turns deathly cold in an instant and before they know it frost and ice collect all around their midsections and arms, pinning them in place.
The teens gasp “We’re stuck!”
Yes, with a well-aimed miniature blizzard SAM has totally immobilized them in ice.
Back with the heroes, Thundershock is trying her best to protect a group of stragglers from incoming debris and lightning. And amongst the group is Mika who ran over immediately to make sure everyone was okay.
She shouts over the raging winds. “Where are the kids?”
Thundershock scans the grounds until she spots the stage. She gasps, drawing Mika’s attention there as well. “Denki!!/Kyoka!!”
The battling heroes like Death Arms, Kamui Woods, and Mt. Lady hear the mothers cry out. They turn and quickly realize the situation.
Kamui Woods leaps into action, rushing forward. “Quickly!”
“Right!” The other two quickly follow after him.
Thundershock too runs after them and even a worried Mika follows. As does Naomasa who leads his fellow officers towards the stage.
SAM grins, seeing the heroes rush him, he takes a breath and roars out as a final thunderstrike silences the entire festival. “ENOUGH!!!”
The storm settles down, the tornado vanishes and the lightning ceases.
Even the people settle down as do the heroes as all attention lands on the weather master.
“Thanks for coming folks!” SAM grins, happy to have their attention. “Now let me explain how this festival’s really gonna go. If anyone dares to run away you’ll get your head smashed in by hail the size of a bowling ball!!” As to demonstrate his point a chunk of ice falls straight out of the sky and smashes into the stage just a few feet away. “And as for you heroes and police,” He points at Kamui Woods, Death Arms, Mt. Lady, Thundershock, Naomasa, and Mika. “try to stop me and I promise that a hurricane will rip through this festival like lawn mower cuts grass.”
The heroes glare back in protest.
SAM, feeling untouchable, smirks back. “Understand?”
They don’t move but after a moment Naomasa reluctantly stands down. The heroes hesitate but seeing how dire the situation is they follow the detective’s lead.
“Hehe! That’s better. Now be a good audience and stay out.”
“You can’t do this!”
SAM frowns, turning around to find the blonde-haired boy trying to force his way to freedom. “Let us go!”
SAM shakes his finger. “Not yet. Not until I get what I deserve.”
Jiro tsks. “Oh you’re gonna get what you deserve alright.”
“Hehe, feisty.”
Jiro in a fit of anger lashes out with her earphone jacks.
However SAM catches them, stopping them dead in their tracks. “Like I’m gonna fall for that again. Please I’m not as stupid as you might think.”
“Still a low bar I bet.”
“Tch!” SAM’s veins nearly pop out of anger. “Hehe whatever. You’re nothing but my very own backup dancers. So behave and be sure to put up a good show.”
Kaminari finally stops struggling, realizing it’s no use. “What is it you want?”
“What I want, huh?” SAM ponders as he messes with the stage’s sound system. “I want the world to know my name and call it out to the heavens.” He marches forward snatching up a fallen microphone. “I want my greatness to be remembered and admired for all ages, throughout all time! Yes!!” With a flick of his hand a gust of wind manages to switch the electricity on powering up the stage’s light. “The world will know!” he brings the microphone to his mouth and shouts out. “Just what a Rockstar I am!! YEAH!!!”
The teens are at a loss for words. “Eh…? EH!?!” Even the captive audience are thrown for a loop. “EEEHHHH!?!”
“That’s right!” SAM clarifies upon seeing their shocked and confused faces. “Congrats! You’re all about to be the first to witness my ascent into fame and fortune! YEAH!!!”
Jiro’s so confused. “Are you serious…? You’re a wannabe Rockstar?!”
“Not a wannabe!” SAM spits back. “I am a Rockstar.”
From within the captive audience, Mika suddenly jolts in place as she remembers something from the depths of her mind. “I remember him now.”
Thundershock overhears her. “What? You know him?”
The other heroes and police hear them, and they all turn to find out.
Mika nods. “He auditioned through my studio several times, but we never accepted his talents.”
Mt. Lady tilts her head to the side and asks curiously. “Why?”
Mika begins to sweat nervously. “Well…”
From the stage SAM prepares for his big debut. “This is my big break. Let’s rock out!!” And with that the speakers thunder with music; the lights spin and flash bringing the stage to life as SAM begins to sign his heart out.
“5 A.m. aNd I HOld mY brEAth LikE thE QuieT is sInkING iNTo thE AIr!
BiTing mY naIlS On thE EmergEncY sTAIrs WhiCh wIll tomorRRoW bE?
ThE dAY Has cOme!!”
The entire festival is forced to cover their ears, some even groaning in pain as their eardrums are assaulted by such a foul unsavory tone.
Mika even has to grab her own earphone jacks to project herself. “That's why I never hired him! He’s really tone death!”
“No kidding?!” Mt. Lady shouts back, wincing in pain from SAM’s shrieking. “It sounds like a dying whale that’s on helium!”
“No!” shout a pained Death Arms. “It sounds like a dying sun!”
Kamui Woods isn’t faring any better. “Are you kidding? Death would be a mercy at this point!” And so, SAM continues his terrible rendition of an awesome song. “EvEn YOur desTinAtiON: DON'T KNOW DON'T KNOW - ARe yOU suRe yOU ARen'T scarEd?
BuT EAch steP yOU tAke wIll CHange yOU: THE DAY HAS COME!!!”
But none have it as bad as the two who can’t even have the mercy of covering their ears.
Jiro’s in some much pain she’s actually given up on escaping and is even shedding a few tears. “This sucks…”
“I know.” groans Kaminari. “He’s way off beat And he’s butchering such a soundtrack!”
Jiro would hit him if she could. “No! I mean yes, but not that.” She settles down, falling back into a somber silence. “Thanks to us the Summer Sonic Festival’s ruined.”
Kaminari frowns, wanting to offer up some comfort but…he’s got nothing. They can do nothing but stand here as hostages, as useless defenseless hostages. “If only there was something we can do.”
As they fall back into despair, Jiro’s eyes drift down towards the ice encapsulating them and as her earphones dangle down and tap against the ice does an idea begins to form. “Maybe there is.” She begins maneuvering her earphone jacks around the ice, probing it for weak points.
“What are you doing?”
“If we can escape, that'll give the pros the chance they need to attack.”
“But how are we gonna get out of this?”
She gives him a deadpan look as her earphone rise to meet his line of sight.
“Ooooh, never mind.”
“But we have to signal them.”
Kaminari peers out and smiles. “I think they already know.”
Jiro follows his gaze until she locks eyes with Kaminari’s mother.
The woman silently observes the probing earphone jacks as well as the teen’s expressions. She then subtly gestures towards SAM.
The kids nod.
She nods back and quickly spreads the word to the other nearby heroes.
The teens wait until she signals them the go ahead.
Jiro and Kaminari share a look and when they are sure of the other’s commitment Jiro goes ahead and enacts the plan. Her earphone jacks imbed themselves into their frozen bonds and she releases an intense soundwave that cracks and shatters the ice until it crumbles away like glass!
They both fall and land with a thud as the shards clatter around them.
SAM breaks out of his song, astonished to see the teens free. “No!” He quickly spins around and from the sky summons a lightning bolt to strike the kids, but they’ve already dived off to the side to avoid him.
He swings his arm back again, but an electrified whip grabs him by the wrist.
“What?!”
With his back turned the heroes have made their move.
Kamui Woods swings forward. “It’s over, villain!!” He lashes out and a woody tendril grabs his other wrist.
SAM is seething, screaming out in outrage. “You can’t hold me for long!”
“I don’t have to!”
SAM frowns but before he can spit back a massive fist smashes him into the stage!
A giant Mt. Lady grins cockily. “That’s what you get, you little bug!”
Meanwhile, Death Arms rushes the stage grabbing the teens and rushing them away.
While at the same time, the last of the guests flee for their lives as the police and Naomasa guide them away.
“He’s down.” Mt. Lady grins, pulling her hand away.
But that was her mistake because the moment she does a powerful tornado surges growth and knocks her back! “Gah!!”
“Ragggh!!” SAM is pissed as he rockets high into the air and away from the heroes.
He hovers in place and watches angrily as the people flee and escape the festival. “No. No! NO!!! Come back! This was my moment! My big break you can’t leave!” His anger surges and surges as he watches his moment crash and burn before his eyes. “No! No! No! No! No! No! NOOOOOO!!!”
*Vzvzvzvzvz…!!*
“Ah! Ah!” Jiro winces in pain again as Death Arms drops both her and Kaminari off to the side.
“You okay?!” (Death Arms)
Kaminari hovers over Jiro, worried. “What’s wrong!”
“It’s SAM!” Jiro shouts. “He’s gonna attack!”
“What?”
Death Arms spins around to check and what he sees makes his face go pale.
The storm gathers together from the rain, the chilling wind, the freezing ice, and thunderous clouds. The storm comes together morphing and compacting on itself until a massive monstrous Blob forms together.
“ZRRRRAAA!!!” The Blob shrieks its watery gelatinous body slugging across the festival.
It’s taller than a skyscraper with long tendrils of water swipe at the heroes, all as a purple eye luminates from its armored head. The armor having been formed together by the wind collecting up debris and mud and freezing over with a layer of ice.
The pros rush in lashing out at the massive monster but they are easily deflected away just by its sheer size. Even Mt. Lady can’t push the thing back as her arms just break through its body and get stuck there.
Death Arms rushes away to help leaving the teens hidden away,
Kaminari gulps, watching as even his mother struggles against the villain. “This is bad.”
“They can’t get to him.” Kaminari affirms, scared shitless. “That…monster’s too big. Heck I don’t think even my electricity could reach him.”
“If only there was a way to break through his armor…”
*Vzvzvzvzvz…*
Jiro winces again from the noise.
Kaminari’s annoyance grows. “Seriously, are you okay? You keep doing that?”
“I keep hearing that hum.”
“What hum?”
“I’ve been hearing this weird hum all day long and…and I hear whenever SAM attacks.”
“A hum?”
“You can’t hear it?”
The blonde gives a shake of her head. “No.”
Jiro’s eyes widen as it all clicks together. “Oh, my god. I know! I know!”
“Know what?!”
“I know what to do!” She gets up before sprinting for the stage.
“Jiro! Hey! The exit’s this way!” When she doesn’t come back, he begrudgingly follows, not that he would have left her anyway. “Jiro!”
He runs as fast as he can and jumps onto the stage and finds that Jiro’s already made her way backstage, scrambling around for equipment that could be useful.
“What are you doing?!”
Jiro finds a small speaker that's about the same size as the ones on her boots. “I have to get up there!”
“Where?”
She points up.
Kaminari turns and sees that she’s pointing right at the monster’s head. “Oh, no! Why the hell would you do that?!”
She finds another small speaker, she then takes the wires and wraps them round her waist, hosting the speakers at her sides. “That humming! I know where it’s coming from. God I’m such an idiot for not noticing before.”
“I need more than that please.”
“That humming is coming from SAM.” She explains as she continues to search for one last piece of equipment. “He must be releasing some kind of high frequency soundwave.”
“Why would he do that?”
“Because of his Quirk! That’s how his Quirk works: it must release the high frequency as a means to manipulate the weather.” She spots what she’s looking for in the corner. “Like when you change the station on a radio so you can listen to different music.”
Kaminari grins as he finally understands. “So that guy’s just a living weather machine.”
“Exactly.” Jiro picks up the forgotten electric guitar, she gives it a strum. “So, if we can match or disrupt his frequency with our own-”
Kaminari’s grin widens. “-we’ll be like Mr. Aizawa and cancel out his Quirk!”
“Bingo!” She takes the guitar and flings it around her shoulder and onto her back. “There, all set.”
Kaminari spots another electric guitar lying nearby. He peers back at the monster, to Jiro, and back at the instrument before he picks it up and swings it onto his back. “So am I.”
Jiro hesitates, pondering if it’s a good idea. “No, you stay here. I’ll handle this.”
Kaminari can’t help but feel betrayed. “Yo! I can’t let you go alone. Not only I’d feel really guilty, but our friends will never let me hear the end of it.” Also he cares but he won’t really admit that. “I’m going.”
“You’re literally shaking in your boots.”
He is, he’s trembling and quivering out of fear,
But even so he plays it off. “Y-yeah, because I-I’m excited.”
Jiro still isn’t so sure.
“Jiro. I know I’m not exactly all that bright, but I can help. I want to help, so let me.”
She hesitates but it doesn't take long for her to give in. “Alright then.” She smiles up at him. “Kaminari, will you help me upstage this freak?”
He grins back. “Thought you’d never ask.”
“ZRRRRAAA!!!”
SAM roars causes Kaminari to have second thoughts. “Oh, boy, now this is definitely not a good idea.”
She ignores him and instead explains the plan. “For this to work we gotta get as close to him as we can.”
“Well, I guess there’s only one thing left to do.” Kaminari smiles nervously. “We climb!”
“Yeah! Let’s go!”
And so not wanting to be stopped by their own doubts they rush towards the chaos. They leap off the stage and onto the monster’s watery hide before they start climbing their way up. They try to move as quickly as they can as rain pours down and the wind whips at their faces. They climb and climb as a battle ensues shouldn't them and heroes are knocked away and swatted out of the sky.
“What are you doing?!”
The teens peer around to see Kamui Woods swinging by. “This is a warzone, get out of here, now!”
“We can stop him!” Jiro shouts.
Kaminari points up towards the head. “Help us reach the top!”
Kamui Woods frowns not sure what they could be up to but that look in their eyes, the sheer determination and confidence…they must know what they’re doing. “Very well.” With a pair of woody vines he grabs them before swinging them all upwards. “Hang on!!”
And so with Kamui Woods’ aid they scale the monster faster than before, climbing higher and higher, closer to the monster’s head. However Kamui Woods is moving too quickly as he can’t redirect himself as the monster’s massive claw takes a swat at them.
“Look out!” Kaminari screams as their impending doom approaches.
“LIVEWIRE SLICE!!!”
Thundershock swings in and using her Electro Whip she cleanly slices through the incoming claw, cutting it apart and allowing the two halves to soar past the group.
Thundershock gasps at finding her son all the way up here. “Denki?!”
“Mom!”
“What are you-”
“Mom, help us! We need to get to SAM!”
“We have a plan!” adds in Jiro.
She too hesitates, worrying, but…who is she to stand in their way? “We’ll get you there. Don't you worry.”
Kaminari beams up at her. “Thanks, Mom! You’re the best!”
Thundershock’s entire being twinkles in glee.
And so they continue their climb up, swinging themselves upwards, closer to the monster’s core and head. All the while the pros expertly dodge and evade incoming attacks as the monster swipes at them or produces tendrils of water to counter them.
However, a stray lightning bolt crashes into the monster’s side, causing water to blast outward and into Kamui Woods.
“Ah!” he loses his grip and they all plummet.
“Waaahh!!”
Thundershock watches helplessly from above, hanging onto the monster’s side with just one Electro Whip. “Kids!!”
“Waaahh!!”
“Here I come!!” Death Arms flies in, yes flies in, grabbing the kids before they all crash into the monster’s hide where he grabs its side with all his might holding them in place.
“Death Arms?!” Jiro gasps. “How?”
“I had a lift!” he grins, pointing downwards.
They look down to see a giant Mt. Lady waving up at them after she’s caught a falling Kamui Woods.
“Death Arms!!”
The trio peer up to see Thundershock way above them.
“Pass them to me!”
Death Arms grins, grabbing the kids by the front end of their shirts. “Off you go! Ragh!!” And he throws them as hard as he can upward, allowing himself to plummet.
“Woooaaahhh!!” The kids scream out as an Electro Whip wraps around their waists.
“Go get him, kids!” Thundershock yellows out as she swings them up and over before tossing them towards the monster’s head.
The kids soar upwards until they manage to grab onto the side of the monster’s armored skull.
Thundershock begins to plummet, even so she smiles on watching the teens go on. “Show em Denki.”
Kaminari waves back as his mom’s caught by Mt. Lady. “Thanks, Mom!”
And so the two hero students finish the last of the climb themselves. And soon they arrive at the top where they find themselves to SAM’s backside. He appears to be in some weird electric dome made of lighting. He seems to be in a trance of sorts, glowing brightly from inside his dome.
With him distracted, the teens get ready. They drop the speakers Jiro brought and connect the guitars to them and she uses the extra cable to connect them to her boots’ speakers as well. Kaminari takes the extension cables and lodges them into his mouth allowing them to charge up so he can keep his hands free to play the guitar himself. At the same time Jiro plugs her Earphone Jacks into the guitars, ready to amplify their power.
When they’re all set she turns to check with Kaminari. “You ready?”
He nods back with determination.
“Show time.” She grips the guitar and shouts! “Let’s bring the house down!”
And so in unison the teens give their guitars a strum and instantly the effects can be seen as a supersonic wave explodes out from the speakers and into SAM.
“Raaaaggghh!!” SAM wails out in agony.
“It’s working! Kaminari herers.
Jiro barks back. “Keep playing!”
And so, they play away, shredding the guitars as their frequency intensifies tenfold.
“ZRRRRAAA!!!” The monster wails, wobbling around and flailing as its body slowly begins to crumble away as SAM’s own frequency is interrupted.
SAM grabs at his ears and tries to focus his Quirk but to no avail his storm is falling apart before his eyes. Even his dome has dissipated leaving him exposed. From between the pain he spots Jiro and notices the large amounts of soundwaves she producing through her speakers.
“Why you little bitch!” he takes aim and fires a rather weak lightning bolt from the sky.
Jiro gasps in horror.
“I won’t let you!!” Kaminari ditches his guitar, throwing himself in the way, taking the hit!
“Hahaha! That’s what you get, brat!”
“Hehe.” Kaminari smirks back, relatively unharmed and just a bit singed. “Nice try, but you’re running out of juice pal.”
SAM gasps and he fires again but with his frequency being jammed no lightning is summoned. As he tries and tries to attack back, the monster begins to collapse
“Raaaagggghhhh!!!” SAM screams out in anguish. “NO!!! NO!!! NOOOOO!!! “Not like this! I won’t go out like this! I have to make a big splash! I-I have to hear the thunderous applause!”
“I don’t know about thunder,” Kaminari grins back as electrical sparks dance off his body. “But what about the lightning?”
SAM begins to pale.
Kaminari smiles back at his partner. “Give him an encore, Jiro!”
Jiro grins back. “You got it!” She begins to shred away at the guitar, playing like her life depended on it.
The two teens unleash their full power as sonic blasts screech through Jiro’s speakers and Kaminari rushes forward and unleashes about 2 million volts. “Combined Special Attack!!” The sonic blast and electric discharge fuse and spiral together before surging into SAM in a brilliant display of power and light. “THUNDERSTRUCK!!!”
“ZRRRRAAA...!!!”
And with that final attack the blobulous monster crumbles away, falling apart and collapsing under its own weight.
The pro heroes watch from the ground as the monster folds in on itself and dissipates.
Thundershock rushes towards the massive heap of water, muk, and ice. “Denki!!”
Mika’s there too, having rushed over when she saw the monster falling apart. “Kyoka!!”
Naomasa and police reach the scene as well. He scans the massive heap until he spots movement towards the center. “There!”
The heroes all turn to look and out from the muck a gleeful Kaminari bursts out in triumph. “YEAH!!! That was so epic!! YEAH!!!”
Jiro appears out from the muck as well although not as loudly as her friend, but she too is in high spirits. “Haha!”
“We did it!”
Their relieved mothers rush in to greet them.
Naomasa smiles, watching the mothers embrace their children. He then scans the muck until he spots him.
SAM lies unconscious in the muck, silent and defeated. “I used to think Uraraka and Midoriya had a pension for trouble, but it looks like the rest of the class is the same.” For some reason that doesn’t comfort him.
Kamui Woods stands off to the side with his fellow heroes. He smiles watching the teens celebrate with their parents. “Those kids.”
Mt. Lady pouts. “Why couldn't either of them have interned with me?”
“Haha!” Death Arms laughs.
Back with the teens, Kaminari is cheering his head off. “We did it, Jiro!” He grabs her by the shoulder and cheers. “We beat him!”
She becomes self-conscious by him touching her, but she smiles on anyway just happy to be alive. “Yeah, we did!”
“Do you know what that means?”
She grins back. “I do.”
And they both cheer out in declaration. “The festival’s back on!!”
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
The band known as Star Waver plays away on stage. They’re a lesser known but upcoming group from out of the country. Where though? Nobody is sure but no one could care less as with the villain officially gone there’s nothing left to hold anyone back from having a good time.
Also within the celebrating crowd is Mika who is busy thanking the heroes. “I just wanted to thank you all again so much for your service.”
Mt. Lady waves her off with a kind smile. “Please think nothing of it.”
Death Arms nods in agreement. “And besides you should really be thanking those kids, like your daughter.”
Kamui Woods nods his head too. “You must be so proud.” He then turns to address Thundershock. “You too.”
Thundershock beams. “Oh, I couldn’t be prouder. My little Night Light’s becoming a hero before my very eyes.” She couldn’t be happier for him!
“Haha!” Naomasa laughs kindheartedly as he approaches the group. “They both put on quite the show.”
Mika starts. “Oh, Detective, is everything alright?”
“Everything’s good, no need to worry. Just came by to let you know that SAM is in our custody and has already been sent off. He won’t be raining on anyone’s parade anymore.”
Kamui Woods deadpans. “Really, detective?”
Naomasa offers up an embarrassed smile. “Sorry, I couldn’t help it.”
Thundershock however becomes quiet and serious, folding her arms together in contemplation. “I have a question for you detective.”
“Yes?”
“SAM’s Quirk…it was far stronger than it had any right to be.” Her eyes narrow. “Do you have any ideas on why?”
The heroes all fall silent. They didn’t think about it before but she’s right. Sam was not just able to control the weather but he did it on a rather large scale. And not only that but he was able to conjure massive monsters based off the weather he manipulated! And all without any obvious signs of negative side effects.
Naomasa’s smile falls away becoming serious. “We did find out why it was.” He reaches into his pocket and pulls out an odd used syringe. “Officer Sansa found this shortly after the battle.”
Mt. Lady frowns at the empty syringe. “What is it?”
“We believe it to be a new type of Trigger that’s been slowly entering the black-market as of late.”
“Trigger?” Thundershock gasps, startled by the news. “You mean the Quirk enhancing drug? I thought it was eradicated years ago?!”
Naomasa frowns. “Well that certainly would have been ideal but sad to say that there’s a new supplier proving criminals with this toxin.”
“Any ideas on who they are?”
“We have nothing as of now. But not to worry there’s already another pro hero leading the investigation along with his agency.”
With that question out of the way, Mika brings up another concern. “Detective, will either of our kids have to face legal action?”
Naomasa offers up a kind reassuring smile. “Technically they fought back in self-defense, not aggression therefore they’ll have nothing to worry about.”
Mika sighs with relief. “Thank you.”
“Actually I’d like to thank them personally.” Naomasa looks around but he can’t see the teens anywhere. “If you don’t mind me asking, where are they?”
Thundershock smiles. “Oh, I’d leave them be for now.” She gestures further into the celebrating crowd. “They’ve earned this.”
They all look over and spot the teens dancing and celebrating away with the rest of the crowd. But the smiles on their faces they’ve already washed away the traumas of the experience and are now basking in the festivities.
“It’s their Summer Break after all.” Thundershock smiles on. “Might as well let them have their fun.”
Naomasa has no response, because she is correct. And so with nothing else to be said he bows his head to them and takes his leave.
Meanwhile, the two teens dance away to the beat of the music.
“Hey, idio-er, Kaminari.”
Kaminari gasps, betrayed. “You were gonna call me an idiot!”
“No! Listen!” Jiro becomes shy and sheepish, averting her gaze. “I…I wanted to thank you. Thank you for helping me today, I don’t know if I could have pulled any of this off without you.”
Kaminari smiles, bumping her shoulder. “Hey, don't sweat it. It’s what students of Class 1-A do right? We help each other out, no matter.”
Jiro can’t help but smile at that. “Yeah, no matter what.”
“Now let’s help ourselves to the best summer of our lives!”
“Yeah!”
And so they shall.
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
At the entrance for the festival Naomasa takes his leave heading for his car. But then a pair of people catches his eye, and he stops dead in his tracks.
“Yahoo!!” Present Mic cheers as he practically drags a reluctant Eraserhead behind him. “We finally made it! Phew! So, what’d we miss?!” He shouts to no one in particular.
Eraserhead sighs, brushing away his arm. “How did I convince you to bring me here?”
“You didn’t! I had to drag you all the way here. Remember? Well, I hope Thundershock won’t be too mad that we’re a few hours late though.”
“I don’t see why she would be.” Eraserhead sighs. “Not like anything that exciting happens at festivals.”
All The while, Naomasa stands there stunned and dumbfounded with his jaw to the floor. “Why couldn't they have gotten here SOONER!?!”
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
THE PREVIEW:
Feedback: Rock N Roll, my dudes!! That chapter was fire!
Izuku: Feedback?! What are you doing here?
Feedback: I just wanted to give my own feedback on the chapter is all.
Izuku: Ha! I see what you did there.
Feedback: But really I can’t wait for the next one.
Izuku: I’m not so sure, I mean this guy looks really tough. But what is he after?
Feedback: A key I think. But either way just don’t let him roll all over you.
Izuku: Ha! I see what you did there. Oh, look!
Feedback: Hey aren’t those your classmates? Maybe they can help.
Izuku: They are! And we could sure use their fire power too.
Feedback: I don’t know. One of them seems kinda shady to me.
Both: Next time: Ch.54 More Than Meets the Eye Part I!!
Izuku: Ew, I stepped in some weird mud. Ah! I think it’s moving!
Notes:
Well I hope this chapter was worth the wait. You know…this only took two weeks to write and was actually relatively easy to write but…it was still so damn long of a chapter!! At this point I’ve accepted it, I can’t write short chapters for the life of me. And that is especially true for the next chapter. So the next chapter is going to be loooong, no ifs, ands, or buts about it. It will be so long that I’ve already planned to divide it up into at least two parts. But I would like to write it as one chapter first before doing so. So the next chapter is for sure gonna take a long while. How long? I don’t know, I will keep you posted through the Omake’s side story I have on my account.
But on the plus side if this works you guys will get 2 chapters only a week apart from each other. And hopefully this will give me a chance to try and get ahead in my writing for the next chapter too but no promises.
*So in case it wasn’t clear SAM, which was originally a weather machine, was replaced with my own version of the ghostly villain known as Vortex from the Danny Phantom cartoon show. Why? Well to be honest I wanted to change up the chapter somehow and using a living being with a Quirk seemed like a good idea. And for some reason I thought of Vortex from Danny Phantom, not sure why I haven’t watched the show in years but whatever I like his design. Also this was a way for me to add a character who has a real motive to do what he’s doing, which seemed more fun. And speaking of motive, I know it was stupid and that was the point. Me and my “editors” were joking around with possible motives and one of them made a comment about how I just want a Scooby-Doo level villain for this chapter. And I said perfect! His motive should be dumb and petty! And thus this version of SAM’s character was created.
*Now this chapter had a ton of Easter Eggs and references. I won’t name them all mainly because as of writing this Author’s Note I am really tired and just want to finish the chapter. And believe me there are a lot from this chapter’s title, to the various bands, and more. So feel free to reach out and try to figure them all out. I'll be happy to tell you what you got right and/or wrong.
*There is one exception. I will tell you that the band “Star Waver” was from Star Wars Visions, specifically episode 2. To be honest that is not my favorite episode, I only mentioned it so I could say what my favorite is. My favorite episode of Star Wars Visions (or at least one of them) was “The Ninth Jedi” which totally deserves an entire series all to itself!
*Oh and the “Summer Sonic Festival” is a real thing BTW.
Chapter 59: More Than Meets the Eye Part I
Summary:
Hisashi ad Izuku go to Tokyo but some new and old faces stir up the already lively city. Throwing the Midoriyas into a mess that might just be over their heads. All the while Hisashi can't help but think back on a time that was similar in nature.
Notes:
It’s official, this is the story's 2-year Anniversary!!! That’s right this story is officially 2 whole years old!! Wow! When I first started drafting up this story, I had no idea it would last this long. But here we are. Unfortunately, I will admit that this chapter is shorter than my previous chapters but more on that at the end. Anyway, I wish you all a Happy Thanksgiving and I hope this chapter can make it a little bit better.
*PLEASE* check out my new side story for this story called “Heroes Never Die; It’s Hero Time, Anytime.” You will find an assortment of one shots that take place in the canon of this main story. Most are really short little stories but there are full chapters there such as “OVA: My Zombie Academia.” Which is a great change from the norm and is again canon to the main story.
*This story has a TV Tropes page so feel free to check it out.*
https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Fanfic/HeroesNeverDieItsHeroTime
*Disclaimer I do not own the rights to Ben 10 or MHA.*
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
And with one final turn of her wrench the lugnut’s fully locked in place.
“There!” Mei Hatsume cheers, leaning back with a wrench in hand as she wipes her arm over her forehead, smearing the sweat and oil away. “So whatcha think?”
Hisashi Midoriya begins to tear up, his snot dripping down onto his Hawaiian shirt as a joyful smile stretches across his face. “She’s beautiful.”
She sure is. Within the confines of the large garage, stands the ever-famous Rustbucket. With its signature paint job, rusted underlayer, and clutter of antenna and appliances atop. Almost like it was never torn apart to begin with.
Hisashi sniffs, wiping his nose. “She’s as good as new.”
The rest of the peanut gallery, however, don’t see it.
Izuku sighs, holding Kraab’s head. “About time, seriously, it feels like we’ve been here for months. And it’s only been a week!”
Kraab eyes the RV skeptically. “That thing has just as much rust as before…actually I think there’s even more now!”
Chopper shakes his head. ^Bwop. Wa.^
Izuku nods, getting Chopper’s every other word. “You said it, Chopper. How is that even possible?”
“Hahahaha!” Hatsume cackles, tossing her giant wrench onto her shoulder. “I used as many of the original parts that I could! This masterpiece is a work of art and right now I’m restoring it, not repainting it!”
Izuku pouts. “Well…you could have actually repainted it. You know, maybe get rid of that bash-barf color?”
“Hey!” Hisashi snaps, offended on his RV’s behalf. “That color’s rare, it’s been off the line for decades!”
Kraab scoffs. “I can see why.”
Meanwhile, a sniveling Hisashi takes time to admire the rust and quote-on-quote beauty of the Rustbucket, running his hand along its gratty side. “I’ve known some super geniuses in my day but they’re nothing like you.”
Hatsume breaks into a wide cocky smile. “Ha! Is that so?”
“Yeah, for one you’re actually competent. And you don’t blow everything up.”
Izuku’s taken back. “I have burn marks that beg to differ!”
Hisashi’s in such a good mood that Izuku’s statement flies right over his head. “This is great, seriously, you have no idea how much this means to me.”
Hatsume’s grin widens as she strolls over towards her work bench and picks up a large cylindrical item. “Well since you like it so much, I can’t wait to see what you think about this.”
“Hm?”
“Tada!!” Hatsume spins around, representing the item. “Here’s your new and improved support item!”
Hisashi and the others take a moment to examine the item. It’s a large rod about the length of her arm. Silver-white in color with various compartments and switches for maintenance and activation. At the base ends of the rod are two holes clearly meant to allow the rod to expand and retract upon command.
Izuku frowns. “Is that the prod?” Specifically, the electrical prod Hisashi got from Jonah’s crew.
“Correction, it was a prod!” Hatsume corrects. “Now it’s one of my finest babies yet! Haha!”
Hisashi takes the rod, gripping it with both his hands, weighing it. “Heavier than expected but well balanced.” he slides his fingers across the rod. “Good grip and I like the color. How’s it work exactly?”
“Here!” From out of thin air, Hatsume waves an entire handbook in Hisashi’s face. “I wrote it all down for you in this here manual!”
Hisashi takes it and scans over it, skimming over the controls, schematics, and applications. “Amazing!” he gasps, astounded by her work. “I knew you were good but not this good! And you did this in a week on top of fixing the entire Rustbucket?!”
Even Izuku’s astounded. “Most impressive.”
“Hahaha!” Hatsume puffs out her chest, standing tall with her chin held high. “Working on two separate projects at once is nothing! Making babies comes as easy to me as breathing! Yes, you are witnessing my incredible genius firsthand! Hahaha!”
Kraab shutters in Izuku’s hands. “Is…is she okay?”
The greenette smiles sheepishly, almost accepting Hatsume’s craziness full heartedly. “I’m…not exactly sure.”
“This is really all incredible, Hatsume.” Hisashi praises, shaking her hands wildly. “Please if there’s any other way I can repay you, just say it.”
Oh, boy.
An almost evil grin creeps across her face, like a devil plotting a foul scheme. “Well,” Her greedy gaze locks onto Kraab and Chopper. “you could always leave me those two to tinker around with!”
Chopper jumps, frightened. ^Bwoop!!^ He zips away fleeing towards the RV and jumping in, seeking shelter from the she-devil.
“Oh, heck no!” Kraab screams, unable to escape himself. “I’m no bargaining chip you know!”
“Oh, what’s the problem?!” Hatsume suddenly leans over Kraab, startling Izuku in the process, as she holds up a welding torch and hammer at the ready. “Just let me have a peek! I promise to be gentle!”
Out of fright, Izuku pulls Kraab away. “You are literally holding a hammer and a welding torch!!”
“Ahhh!!” Kraab screams, his head flailing about but unable to flee. “Don’t let her near me! She’s crazy! Ahh!!”
Izuku feels for the cyborg, tucking him under his arm, shielding him. “W-well, H-Hatsume it’s been real nice seeing you. And thank you so much for everything but I think we need to get going, right Dad?”
“Hm?” Hisashi frowns, too busy examining the RV. “No, I don’t-”
“We’re leaving!!” Kraab yells out in a panic wanting to hurry them along.
“Fine.” Hisashi would like to stay but he can tell when he’s outvoted. “I guess it works out, we’ve already lost a week, so we do need to make up for some lost time.”
And so, with everything set to go, and after paying for the damages, Hisashi says his farewells. “This is goodbye, Hatsume. I look forward to seeing your success.”
“Bye then!” She shakes his hand. “And be sure to let your fellow pro heroes know that it was I, Mei Hatsume, who gifted you a superior support item! Haha!”
“You bet I will!”
Izuku sweat drops as he makes his way into the RV. ‘I don’t think many other heroes would be able to handle her.’
“Well then let’s get back on the road!” Hisashi cheers, hopping into the driver's seat. He takes the keys and revs the RV to life, the engine roaring for the first time in a week. “She purrs just like a kitten.”
Kraab gives Hisashi a questioning look. “Yeah, like a sick elderly cat on its deathbed.”
Ignoring him, Hisashi pulls the RV out from the garage.
Izuku, not wanting to be rude, sticks his head out to the side window and waves. “See ya at school, Hatsume!”
“See ya!” Hatsume shouts, waving them off. “And be sure to come and see me whenever you need to upgrade that costume if yours!”
“Will do!!”
And so, with a final wave the Midoriyas drive off, finally continuing on with their Father and Son Road trip.
Hatsume watches them disappear into the distance with a satisfied smile. “I like them.” She states, but it’s most likely because they’re good business for her. “Maybe I should try my hands at some robots. Ha!” She chuckles, shutting the garage door shut.
And so now that she’s once again alone and unsupervised she is ready to dive right back into her work.
“Alrighty, then! What should I work on first? The Anti-Grab Climbers, maybe?”
*KNOCK. KNOCK. KNOCK.*
Hatsume freezes, turning back towards the shut doors as the heavy knocks continue.
*KNOCK. KNOCK. KNOCK.*
Wary, Hatsume hesitantly raises the doors, unsure of what she’ll find.
What she finds is not a person but a lone car. Specifically, a beaten up yellow 1967 Beetle but oddly enough there’s no sign of any driver in sight, almost like the car drove itself here.
Hatsume stares at the car, looking around for the driver. “Hello?”
Instead of a response from the missing driver, the car seemingly starts all on its own and its radio begins to dance from station to station almost like it’s possessed. “Good…morning, Vietnam…!!”
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After placing Kraab down on the table, Izuku slides into shotgun. “So…where exactly are we off to next?”
Hisashi hands Izuku a folded-up map. “Well, I figured since we’re on a road trip it’d be a waste if we didn’t go here.” He points to one of the cities labeled on the map.
Izuku lights up as he reads the map. “No way?! Are you serious?!” He cheers, excitedly.
Hisashi nods his head, almost timidly. “Y-yeah.”
Izuku grins, leaning back in his seat. “This is gonna be great.”
Hisashi nods, his smile somewhat forced. “I sure hope so kiddo.”
Izuku frowns. “You don’t sound excited?”
“No, I am excited. That city holds…a lot of memories for me.”
“Memories?” Izuku frowns, curious. “What kind of memories?”
“Well…it’s where I spent a lot of my rookie hero days.”
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Cannon Busters Opening - Showdown
(Beginning Instrumentals)
An open road, a bright sun illuminating the beautiful summer day, and the rush of wind in one’s ears as the Rustbucket cruises by moving across the road like a sports car before zooming past with grace.
We got places to go, things to do, people to see, and we got to get it done right away.
Izuku adjusts his hoodie, tugging it down over his body. All before gripping the dial of the Omnitrix and giving it a shine with his fingers.
So, if you on the crew, guess we a team. Thicker than thieves and we all tryna help find a way
Hisashi buttons up his Hawaiian short, before grabbing his respirator and dawning it over his maw. He then snatches up a few loose tickets and pamphlets before tucking them away.
If you know the destination, we making conversation. Time is ticking, sun is setting, we got no time for waiting
Chopper latches his leg to his body, readjusting it. Before his arms pop out and flex about making sure they’re working properly.
Might be the showdown, Looks like it's 'bout to go down
Bust through with the cannon, at the hoedown
(Instrumentals)
Izuku slams down on the Omnitrix! In a flash of green the screen scrolls down to reveal his aliens: Feedback, XLR8, Grey Matter, Four Arms, Ditto, Ripjaws, Terraspin, Water Hazard, Lodestar, Buzzshock, Diamondhead, Big Chill, Heatblast, Stinkfly, Wildmutt, Rath, Wildvine, and Bullfrag.
Transition into title sequence: HEROES NEVER DIE; IT’S HERO TIME
So, we won't fall, until gravity is gone
Izuku grins falling through the air alongside Rath, Wildvine, and several other inhuman silhouettes! As the glow of the sunrise illuminates U.A. in the background!
We've been on this road too long, so long
Hisashi and Izuku stand back-to-back looking away from each other as the scene rotates around them.
The scenes flips in rapid succession with characters standing back-to-back!
(Instrumentals)
To Thirteen and Ochaco!
To Ochaco and All Might!
To All Might and Gran Torino!
And to Gran Torino and Hisashi!
And I can't stop, we can't stop
I'm so far away from home
We've been on this road too long, too long
A legion of villains have their backs to the camera but as the camera slides through their lineup, each of them turn to acknowledge the audience.
Kraab’s claw flexes and clamps nearly clipping the camera.
Rojo folds their arms together and smirks as the camera rolls past.
Sunder raises his axe at the ready.
Silhouette (C) stands tall and proud, towering over the camera.
Nue bares a sharp tooth grin, his eyes gleaming with malice before the camera zooms away and up into to the forbidding sky, through the void of space, through the walls of the command ship, before halting before an all observing Vilgax.
Playing with fire (Fire!)
Take me higher
From up in the air Cinder releases a cloud of flames down upon Rojo below! Rojo cuts through the flames before rocketing up and clashing with the hero in midair!
We're on our way, we're on our way
Undivided (-Vided!)
All Might zooms past, his grin wide, as he slams his fist into Silhouette (C)! Silhouette (C) crashes into the ground, kicking up smoke, but it rises again, unharmed.
And ignited
We're on our way, we're on our way, yeah!
From the smoke cloud, Ochaco leaps back in a spin as Sunder soars after her. Sunder his axe at her but she counters it with a Ryou Sphere!
On our way, we're going
Nue grins madly as he stares down Deku who grins back just as determined and manically.
And no mistakes while we're rolling around town
We just came back round
The Rustbucket bursts forth zooming down the highlighted highway, gracefully zooming past Bakugou, Kirishima, Tsuyu, Hatsume, Kaminari, Jiro, and a number of silhouettes!
You don't wanna show out
Close up of a smiling Hisashi.
Cut to a closeup of Chopper.
Cut to a closeup of Kraab.
Finally, a close up to a grinning Deku!
Might be a showdown
Deku’s hand slams down on the Omnitrix, the alien green light swallows the screen!
Woo!
Freeze on the image of Deku, Cinder, Chopper, and Kraab posing before the setting sun, their shadows casted far off over the ground towards the camera.
(Illustrated by CreateGunner1209)
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Ch.54 More Than Meets the Eye Part I
“I can’t believe I'm here!” Izuku cheers, his eyes wide and sparkling with child-like wonder. “I finally get to explore TOKYO!!!”
Tokyo’s sparkling skyline towers over the sea of cars and pedestrians. A bustling metropolis of people of all walks of life that work together to call this historic city home. The architect just projects a strong foundation for the future even as temples and historic buildings litter the city, a constant reminder of its roots. A city of the future that will always remember its past: Tokyo.
And Izuku is finally here!
“This is great! We should hit Tokyo Tower first! Or maybe Yoyogi Park! Oh, but I gotta see the Studio Ghibli Museum for sure!!”
“Don’t you worry, Champ.” Hisashi laughs from behind, his voice a bit muffled. “We’ll get to them all, even without the Rustbucket.”
With the city’s nightmarish traffic, Hisashi thought it best to leave the RV outside the city and catch an Uber into the city. Plus bringing Chopper, a moody droid with a temper problem, and Kraab, an ex-bounty hunter, just didn’t seem like a good idea in such a crowded city.
Even so Izuku’s just thrilled to be here with or without them. “Thanks for bringing me here, Dad!” Izuku turns but he freezes when he actually gets a good look at his old man. “D-Dad?
Hisashi, for some reason, looks like he’s going on a ski trip in the mountains rather than an excursion through the city. With a big jacket, thick pants, and boots over his regular clothes. And covering his face he has a thick hat, a scarf, and even ski goggles. All and all he’s almost unrecognizable, the only reason Izuku knew it was him was because of his general physique and stature.
“W-what a-are you wearing?”
“Clothes.” Hisashi responds with no sense of irony.
“I can see that!! But why so many?!”
Hisashi frowns, shyly. “I just…don’t want to be recognized.”
Izuku pauses. “Recognized?”
“Well…you know…I spent my early hero days here so I…kinda got a reputation around here.”
Izuku gasps, eyes becoming wide with excitement. “Oh, you’re famous around here then!”
“Y-yeah...” Hisashi responds, hesitantly. “Yeah, I’m incredibly…famous around here and I don’t wanna draw a crowd, you know?” He smiles, swinging his arm around Izuku and pulling him into his side as they begin to walk. “I just want to spend this time with my boy. No one else. And with no incidents.”
Izuku smiles back. “Where should we start first?”
Well, the first stop they make it to is the Hachiko Statue.
“Now there’s a hero.” Izuku awes, bowing his head in respect to the immortalized hound. “Right, Dad?”
But there’s no response.
Izuku frowns, looking for him. “Dad? Dad? DAD!?!” he gasps finding his Dad hiding in the nearby bushes.
Hisashi frowns, wondering why Izuku is yelling. “Why are you shouting?”
“Why are you hiding?!”
After managing to coax Hisashi out of the bushes, their next stop is the famous Shibuya Crossing.
“So iconic.” Weaving his way through the river of pedestrians, Izuku awes up the bright billboards and skyscrapers, his eyes dazzling from their bright lights. “So cool.”
As he gawks up at the skyline Izuku’s too distracted to realize his Dad’s predicament.
“Izuku. Izuku! IZUKU!!” Hisashi screams as he’s dragged away by the sea of people: unable to weave around them so easily in his thick winter gear. “Izuku help me!!”
And finally, the Midoriya make their way up Tokyo Tower and once again Izuku’s blown away by the amazing view of the city.
“Woah.” It’s beautiful with its bright lights, bustling people, and cool breeze brushing his hair. “This is amazing.” He grins, turning towards his Dad.
But his grin soon turns into a very concerned frown. “What are you doing…?”
He’s almost hesitant to ask, watching as Hisashi sneaks behind everything he can, ending behind a cardboard cutout of Noppon, the tower’s personal mascot.
Izuku facepalms himself in embarrassment as other families and tourists step away from the creep as security march their way towards the sneaking Hisashi.
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Izuku lets out a long sigh as he and his father make their way to their next destination, making their way through the sea of people and traffic.
‘What is up with him today…?’ Izuku wonders. ‘I know he said he didn’t want to stand out but everything he does is just drawing more and more attention to himself!’
Even now Hisashi is crawling and sneaking his way behind every light pole and trash can, seemingly trying to blend in and disappear like a large, oversized ninja. All in all it’s not working. The only thing his sneaking around and disguise are good for is having people give him a wide berth as he tries to sneak on by.
‘Should I…say something?’ Izuku thinks unsure how to go about this. ‘I really want to ask why he’s acting the way he is but…what if it’s a touchy subject?’ If it is then he doesn’t really want to poke it especially if it's a sour topic. But this can’t continue on, can it? Like it’s totally ridiculous, he’s overreacting for sure. That has to be- “Oof!”
Not paying attention, a stranger in a short trench coat and fedora hat bumps into Izuku.
Izuku blinks up to find a plain looking stranger in a short trench coat and fedora staring back at him. “Oh, sorry! I should’ve been paying attention to where I was going.”
The stranger does a double take when he sees Izuku but instead of responding he simply nods his head before he ducks away and hurries along without a word.
Izuku frowns, watching the stranger runoff and disappear into the bustling crowd.
Hisashi slinks his way over to his son, having watched the entire interaction. “They’re sure in a hurry.”
“Yeah…” Izuku frowns, tucking his arms together.
He pauses as his hand presses into something cold and squishy. Izuku peers at his arm and finds a splotch of weird purplish goo stuck to his arm. He wipes it away, or at least tries to, but it just sticks and smears against his hoodie.
‘Is this mud?’ Izuku wonders as he’s finally able to shake it off.
Hisashi frowns, not noticing the mud. “You, okay?”
“Yeah.” Izuku responds, disregarding the mud. “I’m okay, it was nothing.” He begins walking forward again. “Let go, we're only another block away.”
“Right behind you!” Hisashi calls, resuming his best interpretation of Poe’s stealth mode from Kung Fu Panda.
As the Midoriyas continue on their way, they don't bother turning back in search of the stranger. But if they, had they may have gotten a glimpse of the stranger coming to a stop not that far away.
After running past the Midoriyas, the stranger soon began to slow down and come to a stop as if realizing something. He turns around and just barely misses the tuft of green hair disappearing into the sea people. The stranger hesitates, contemplating on their next move, before ultimately, he slowly turns back around and makes his way back.
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After another few minutes of walking, Izuku’s finally had enough of Hisashi’s antics. “Are you gonna tell me why you’re really wearing all that?”
Hisashi, after rolling behind a vending machine, freezes, becoming nervous. “I just wanna keep a low profile.”
Izuku scowls, annoyed. “There’s keeping a low profile and then there’s you literally hiding behind every sign and light pole we cross.” Just as they reach a red-light crosswalk, Izuku swings around and stops Hisashi dead in his tracks. “You’re hiding. Why?” Izuku then gasps before leaning in and whispering cautiously. “Do you have enemies here”
“No!” Hisashi frantically denies. “No, nothing like that. It’s just…there was an incident.” he admits with some trepidation.
Izuku gives his old man a very skeptical look. “What kind of incident?”
“It…it doesn’t matter.” Hisashi pulls down his scarf and ski goggles, so he looks Izuku in the eyes properly.
He gives his son a genuine smile, doing his best to let Izuku know that it is really nothing to be concerned about. “All you need to know is that…is that it’s best if no one recognizes me. Okay? It’ll be less of a hassle this way.”
Izuku’s still not so confident in this but he’ll accept that answer for now at least, figuring it’ll be best to try and grill his Dad for more of an explanation later.
Suddenly the crosswalk signals that it’s okay to walk.
Hisashi smiles on, casually shrugging and showing no hint of worry at all anymore. “Don’t worry about it, kay? Nothing’s gonna happen as long as we remain discreet.”
And with that he steps out onto the crosswalk.
The moment his foot hits the pavement a police car races from out of nowhere!! Its siren blaring as it slides to a screeching stop nearly running Hisashi over in the process!
“MIDORIYA!!!”
Hisashi freezes as if he heard the grim reaper herself shouting his name.
But it’s not the hand of death, but an officer of the law. A very angry woman in a brown coat and hat with a white shirt and grey dress pants steps out of the cop car. She has black hair that’s brushed back behind her head: her head being that of a crow with dark-grey feather and a black beak.
Hisashi pales as the crow-head woman marches forward. “Oh, no…” He quickly brushes himself off and puts on the best fake smile that he can. “Ah, Officer Tezuka. Hello.” he bows, hoping to sell the facade. “What are you doing in Tokyo-OW!!”
With one swift motion the officer managed to grab Hisashi by his arms and throw him against the hood of her car!
“Keeping it safe from corrupt scumbags like you.” She snarls, her beak so close it could clip off his ear if she wanted. “You got a lot of nerve showing your criminal loving mug around here.” She twists his arm.
“AH!!!”
“Also, it’s Inspector Tezuka now.”
“Inspector? Oh, uh, congratulations. AHhhh-Ow!!”
She’s livid, almost like she is disgusted at the idea of Hisashi being happy for her. “I don’t need thanks from you, Midoriya. I would have gotten the position sooner if it weren’t for you and your fellow villains.” Out of anger and maybe spite she presses his face down harder on the hood.
Despite his face being smashed in, Hisashi tries his best to talk down the situation. “We both know that I was cleared of those crimes. OW!!!”
Izuku, having been completely stunned and watching on the side till now, gasps. “C-crimes?”
Apparently speaking up was a mistake as Inspector Tezuka turns her steely glare onto him.
Izuku freezes, trembling under her cold angry glare as she ditches Hisashi and addresses him instead.
“You, broccoli head.” She barks. “What is your affiliation with this man?”
The quivering Izuku looks between her and back at his father who’s playing himself of the car’s hood.
Without any hesitation Izuku replies back. “I’ve never met this man before in my life.”
“BETRAYAL!!!” Hisashi cries, clutching at his heart. “Betrayed by my own son…”
For a moment Izuku swears he saw Inspector Tezuka’s eyes flare red. “Son…?” She growls as if the idea of a Midoriya spawn existing is the most disgusting thing she’s ever heard.
Already caught in a lie, Izuku easily gives himself up. “Y-yes…”
Inspector Tezuka grabs a pair of cuffs and begins to pull Izuku towards the car. “I need you to come with me.”
Izuku gasps, his knees shaking and ready to give out from under him.
The side door of the car flings open by itself and a very familiar voice calls out to Izuku. “Midoriya?”
Izuku freezes, the voice of familiarity snapping him out of his shock and fear. Peering around Inspector Tezuka, Izuku finds his classmate stepping out of the cop car.
“Tokoyami?”
Everyone pauses as they all turn to see Fumikage Tokoyami frowning at the Inspector.
Speaking of Inspector Tezuka seems just as surprised as the Midoriyas. “Fumi, do you know this delinquent?!”
Izuku blinks in confusion. “Fumi?”
“Yes, mother.” replies Tokoyami.
Izuku gasps. “Mother?!” Actually, he should have guessed.
Ignoring him, Tokoyami explains his relation to Izuku. “He’s my classmate.”
“Classmate?” Fumikage’s mother turns her steely glare back towards Izuku. She examines his features for a moment before finally recalling where she’s seen him before. “Wait a minute…” She whispers, dangerously. “Weren't you that Speed Racer Lizard that beat up my son during the SPORTS FESTIVAL!?!”
Izuku gulps. “T-the very same…”
She snarls, gripping his wrists tighter.
“Mother!” Tokoyami quickly breaks them apart, stepping between them. “Midoriya’s loyal and just, he isn’t one to cause trouble.” He briefly pauses as if reconsidering his thoughts. “Not intentionally anyway.” He admits with a shrug.
Izuku, however, is a little confused by his statement. “What do you mean?”
The two birds face off in an intense glaring contest, Inspector Tezuka’s eyes darting from her son to the Midoriya spawn. “If you say so.” And so, she reluctantly lets the boy go.
Tokoyami smiles. “Thank you.”
Inspector Tezuka’s glare softens for a moment.
“Hahaha!” A bruised Hisashi laughs, approaching the three. “Seems like you’re off the hook, Champ.”
And like that Inspector Tezuka’s rage returns. “That doesn't mean you are!!”
“Ah!!” Hisashi screams as she grabs him again. “No, no, no, please not the hood-OW!!!”
Izuku shyly presses his fingers together. “Um, Mrs….um, Tokoyami?”
Inspector Tezuka frowns and actually doesn’t snap at him for once. “Please, when on the job refer to me as Inspector Tezuka.”
Izuku nods before looking to his classmate for more of an explanation.
Which he is quick to reply. “After my parents married, she kept her name to help keep her professional career recognized.”
Basically, legally she is in fact a Tokoyami, but she continues to use her original last name for the sake of her career.
Izuku is quick to understand. “Ah, makes sense.”
Inspector Tezuka presses Hisashi harder against the hood. “Now, what should I do with you dirtbag?”
“Inspector, please.” Hisashi chokes. “Not in front of the kids, eh.”
For a moment she hesitates.
“Come on, I just…” Hisashi stops struggling, and breathes. “I just wanted to spend a day with my boy. You’d want that too for yourself, I’m sure.”
Her grip loosens just ever so lightly.
“A day with just the two of us. Out in the city, making nothing but memories. Please…”
She’s hesitating as if weighing her options.
“Mother.” Tokoyami gently approaches. “I don’t know what grudge you hold against this…man. But please for my sake and my friends please let him go.”
And with that it’s just enough to force her to begrudgingly let him go.
Hisashi’s very much relieved, rubbing his aching wrists trying to sooth them. “Thank you.”
“Shut it.” The Inspector hisses. “I don’t want to see your face for the rest of the day. If I do…well then, my hood is gonna have a Midoriya shaped dent in it. You hear me?”
Hisashi fearfully nods his head. “Y-yes, ma’am!”
“Another thing, don’t you think you can walk in here and act like nothing happened. Nobody’s forgotten and they never will. And also -” And so she begins a long nagging lecture much to Hisashi’s dismay.
But Izuku’s just glad that she’s letting them go. “Thanks for the save, Tokoyami.”
Tokoyami appreciates the thanks. “Please, don’t mention it.”
The two awkwardly wait for the Inspector to eventually free Hisashi from her chastising. But after another minute it’s clear that it’s not gonna end soon.
“Sooo, your mom’s a cop. That’s cool.”
Tokoyami smiles. “Yes, I’m very proud of her and her work. And she is too. Hence why I’m here, she wanted to bring me along and shadow her for the day. A ride along if you will.”
“Cool! I bet you’re learning a lot.”
“Indeed I am.” Tokoyami pauses, hesitating before finally asking. “Sorry if this seems intrusive but may I ask why my mother wants to arrest your father?”
Izuku shrugs, he’s just as lost as he is. “I have no idea.” Maybe they dated and it ended on bad terms or something. But the idea that his Dad had a life before him is kinda…disturbing to think about so he really hopes that that’s not the case.
Tokoyami has an idea but he’s a bit too scared to ask, afraid it might be far too sensitive. “Did it…did it have to do with him leaving?”
Not expecting that question or possibility, Izuku freezes. ‘Could that have, been it? Or related somehow? No, there’s no way it doesn’t make sense. Most likely this is something else enterally.’
Someone pats him on the shoulder.
Spinning around Izuku finds that his father’s been freed of Inspector Tezuka’s lecture. “Well Champ I think we should get going.” He then addresses Tokoyami. “Sorry but I really don’t want to give your mom another reason to hurt me.” He nervously points back towards the cop car where Inspector Tezuka’s decided to reside herself in.
Tokoyami nods. “I understand.”
Hisashi appreciates his understanding before hurrying Izuku along.
Izuku gasps, waving goodbye. “Oh, sorry Tokoyami. I’ll see you later then.”
Tokoyami waves back. “Of course, take care of yourselves.”
“We will!!”
Inspector Tezuka vigilantly watches the Midoriyas off, as if waiting for another excuse to stop them but there is none. As the pair disappear into the crowd, she takes her radio and reports in. “Toyomitsu, it’s Inspector Tezuka. Listen, I got something here you’re not gonna believe…”
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“Well today’s been…interesting.” Izuku admits with a sheepish smile before chomping down on his sweet Dango being served up by a little girl named Yomogi and her humanoid-cat assistance after they both performed a cute little song and dance.
Izuku sits back enjoying his sweet treat, gazing out towards the rest of Asakusa.
After leaving Tokyo Tower, the Midoriyas decided to stop by Nakamise Shopping Street for some food and souvenirs.
Sensoji Temple lies at the end of the strip that’s just lined with colorful bright stalls. The stalls have a very Japanese-oriental flare to them with sturdy architecture and beautifully jade-colored kawara layering each roof. Hundreds of smiling tourists and vendors wash into the street, admiring not just the strip but the large glowing Chochin illuminating the way from under the gorgeous Kaminarimon Gate.
But Izuku can’t even bring himself to enjoy any of it as his mind lingers over the fact that his father was almost arrested. And he is doing a bad job of hiding how anxious he is with his fidgeting legs and nervous tapping of his fingers against the table.
Hisashi, having peeled away his winter hat and scarf to eat, decides it best to rip off the band-aid. “You want to know what that was about don’t you?”
“Of course, I do!” Izuku shouts before shutting his own mouth; not meaning to raise his voice in a public space. “Sorry… But…are you a criminal?”
Hisashi calmly shakes his head. “No.”
“I knew it, but then…”
“It’s complicated and honestly a bit of a sore spot.”
Even so, Izuku still wants to know.
His father sighs, reading him like a book. “I guess it’s best if you knew what happened.”
Izuku sits up ready to listen.
Hisashi takes a moment to collect his thoughts before delving into it. “When I was still stationed here on Earth I used to patrol right here in Tokyo as a pro hero. But as you’re well aware that is just a means for me to conduct Plumber work.”
Izuku nods, leaning in closer.
“Well one day I intercepted a pair of…“unique” characters.”
Izuku assumes that means they were aliens.
“And well they were on a mission to stop a killer alien robot from destroying the planet.”
Now that is something. “Like Neon Genesis Evangelion?”
“Actually, it was more like The Day the World Stood Still. It was weird… Anyway, I joined them but there was an incident, and our covert op was discovered by Offi-I mean Inspector Tezuka.”
“Wait!” Izuku gasps. “Does she know about aliens?!”
“No! No, no no! No, the reason she hates me is because we ran, and I was reported in for assisting supposed villains.”
“Woah.”
“Yeah, woah. And so, we were on the run while also trying to find a way to stop the world’s destruction.”
“Sounds intense.”
“It was… Long story short, obviously we managed to save the day but because I couldn’t allow the police to get their hands on the aliens or their tech, I had to make sure everyone escaped the scene unnoticed. And as a result, I was labeled as a felon and collaborator of villains.”
“But you’re not!” Izuku defends.
Hisashi quiets him down with a simple wave. “I know that Izuku. But I took it and what’s done is done. I did my job. I saved lives and that’s all that matters.”
That can’t be all that happened. “But your reputation…y-your good standing. There’s no way you kept it!”
Hisashi chuckles sheepishly at that. “Oh, yeah, that all tanked immediately. All the years of trust and hard work, flushed down the drain in one afternoon.” And despite that he shrugs it off with a smile. “But that’s life; one minute you’re on top and the next you’re falling face first into the mud.”
Izuku isn’t so sure he likes that metaphor; it’s kinda…bleak.
“But hey don’t worry about me, okay.” Hisashi grins, not all bothered by the experience years later. “I learned a long time ago that sometimes it’s best just to roll with it.”
“Words to live by, I presume?”
“In a way. Just know that it doesn’t really matter to me what people call me or how they see. What matters is how I see myself and that I am able to help those that are in need. Got it?”
Izuku…actually smiles at that. Sometimes you just need to roll with the punches, even if you get mislabeled it’s best to just…move forward. “Yeah…I think I get it.”
“Atta boy!” Hisashi cheers. “Now are you gonna finish your Dango or not?”
“Hey! It’s mine.”
“What? Can’t you share?”
“You already had yours. Just go get another one.”
“But the line’s so long!”
As the Midoriyas bicker playfully, the same stranger from before walks their way through the bustling stalls and tourists. Weaving in and put between the chattering people before finally coming into eye view of the Midoriyas who are too distracted to notice.
The stranger takes a calming breath, pulling up their collar closer to their face in an attempt to hide it before making an attempt to get closer.
“Eeeeeek!!”
The sudden scream of a passerby causes not just the stranger nor the Midoriyas to jump but the entirety of Nakamise Shopping Street jumps in surprise, startled by the scream. The surprised crowd parts like the red sea forming a massive circle around a single individual.
Everyone’s taken back by the gnarly looking individual, unsure of what to make of their sudden appearance.
What stands out about this new and sudden Arrival first is their getup. It kinda looks like an anti-hero like costume; a bodysuit that’s completely raven black in color with red trims around his collar and ribcage giving him a scar-littered design. But what’s truly odd is his actual appearance. He’s rather tall for a human with blue-gray skin, long white locks, with sunken skull-like eyes surrounding thin yellow pupils. And finally, a strange red scar that resembles an upside Y is etched onto his forehead.
The entire sea of people are astonished but also bewildered by the man’s strange appearance and presence, unsure of what to make of him. And so, their speculations and hushed whispers echo throughout the street.
“Is…is he a villain?”
“I don’t think so?”
“Where’d he come from?!”
“I don’t know he just…appeared out of thin air!”
“Maybe he’s a hero?”
“Maybe, I heard some heroes like a dark look over flashy capes and stuff.”
“Well, he better be. Dude, I thought Japan’s heroes were supposed to be real showstoppers!”
Despite the whispers and comments flying his way the scarred Arrival simply glowers and ignores them all. But his eyes, his piercing yellow eyes silently scans over the crowd examining, observing…searching.
Izuku leans over the table, whispering in his dad’s ear. “Is…is that an alien?”
Hisashi sighs. “Look I may have been in the business for a while but it’s a big universe. I don’t know every species in existence, kay?”
“Fair enough…but who is he?”
Hisashi starts. “Wait, you don’t recognize him?”
“No!” Izuku’s skin is pale as his nerves begin to shoot up. “And I know every hero in Japan.”
“But then…” Hisashi suddenly becomes very aware of how dangerous this situation may escalate to. “Oh, no.”
The Arrival continues to search the crowd, his eyes peeled for something, something important.
Meanwhile, the stranger ducks down, trying to stay out of sight. They pull their hat down and tuck their collar up, holding their jacket close as they try to squeeze their way through the crowd and out of Nakamise Shopping Street.
However, with everyone packed in so tightly the stranger trips and slips right into the Arrival’s view.
The Arrival’s eyes widen in surprise, their stoic face quickly becoming a nasty scowl as they shoot their hands forward. “Raaaggh!!” And beams of light fire out from his clawed hands!
The beams fire into the crowd, gliding over their heads! The stranger ducks down with a nanosecond to spare before the beams blast apart an innocent vending machine.
“EEEEEKKK!!!”
The crowd is immediately thrown into a panic as people stampede for the exit. They scream and shove running from the maniac as he continues to fire beam after beam at the fleeing stranger!
Izuku braces himself against the stampeding crowd. “Is that guy insane?!”
“Izuku!”
Izuku spins around towards his Dad.
Hisashi glares at the Arrival, his face calm and serious like that of a well-seasoned veteran. “Work crowd control while I deal with the villain, you get everyone out safely.”
Understanding his role, Izuku reigns in his fears and accepts his orders. “Right!”
Hisashi begins to march forward, shedding his winter getup. “I’ll hold him off until backup arrives.” He allows his jacket and winter pants to fall revealing his elite-red Plumber suit underneath.
Izuku’s stunned. “You were wearing that underneath this whole time?!”
“It’s a lot more comfortable than it looks!” Hisashi…no, Cinder admits, shouting over the screaming crowd before running off after the Arrival who’s chasing something further and further into Nakamise Shopping Street.
‘Alright, now which alien is best for crowd control?’ Izuku wonders, listing his options. ‘Ditto maybe. No, I’ll be trampled by all the people. Rath? Forget it, then everyone will be even more in a panic. I know, Wildvine!’ Yeah, Wildvine will be able to barricade the place with his vines and be able to pull people to safety. ‘Wildvine’s perfect!’
Izuku dials up the alien. “I haven’t said this in a while but… IT’S HERO TIME!!!” And with a flash of green Izuku vanishes and the world can say hello to… “Bullfrag…?”
Yeah, looks like the Omnitrix thought Bullfrag was a much better fit for an urban environment than Wildvine…or it was a glitch. Either way, the transformed Izuku is not happy. “Seriously? What’s Bullfrag gonna do?”
“Eeeep!!”
Bullfrag snaps his neck around to see a little girl and her mother being shoved to the ground by the fleeing tourists.
And without a second thought he leaps into action, literally, landing beside them he scoops them up and jumps up and over the nearby stalls and onto the street below.
“Are you two, okay?”
The mother and daughter calm down when they realize that they’re safe.
Replies the mother. “We are.”
The daughter wipes her tears away and smiles up at the Incursean. “Thank you, Mr. Frog-Man.”
“You’re very much welcome, little lady.”
“Eeeeeekk!!” More screams.
Bullfrag gets ready to make a jump. “Back into the fray I go!”
Bullfrag leaps up and over the entire street again, flying over it so he can get a bird's eye view. He spots a couple being shoved into a nearby wall by the stamping crowd. Acting fast Bullfrag’s tongue lashes out and grabs them, reeling them and out of the crowd.
“Ahhhh!!!” The couple screams as they’re pulled high into the air. “We’re gonna die!!”
“You’re not gonna die!” Bullfrag shouts back as they come in for a landing.
He lands first before catching the couple in his long arms. “See you’re fine.”
“BLEH!!” The boyfriend shoves himself away before vomiting all over the sidewalk.
Bullfrag gags. “Well…mostly.”
“Ahhhhh!! HELP!!!”
With more screams of help, Bullfrag hurries back towards the chaos. “Back into the fray I go!”
Meanwhile, the Arrival prowls through the emptying Nakamise Shopping Street continuing his hunt for the stranger. Scanning the last of the fleeing tourists the Arrival posts his target hidden within the mix.
He grins maliciously, aiming his claw towards the innocent people. “There you are.”
He prepares to fire, his claw glowing brightly but then a fire whip lashes around his wrist and pulls it upwards just he fires, resulting in his beam firing up towards the sky giving the stranger the perfect chance to slip away.
The Arrival rips his arm free of the fire whip and quickly searches for his target, but they’ve already disappeared. And they could be anywhere from the vending machine, from the crowd, or even a trash can. But there’s no sign of them, no sign of them at all.
“No!!” He roars before turning his attention onto the one that interfered. “How dare you.”
Cinder scoffs, giving the maniac a cocky smile. “Oh, I dare.”
The Arrival scowls in annoyance, observing Cinder’s uniform and posture. “That confidence. That uniform. That pestilent need to interfere with greatness. You must be a Plumber.”
“Ah, so you are an alien.” Cinder teases, cockily. “And here I thought you were another pretty face.”
“Your tomfoolery irritates me, Plumber.”
“Please call me, Cinder. And what pray tell should I call you Mr…?”
The irritated Arrival pauses but eventually decides to reveal his identity to the Plumber. “Ragnarok.”
“Mr. Ragnarok then.” Cinder claps, smiling on, hoping he can defuse the situation. “Now listen, I get it, Tokyo’s a great vacation spot. But nobody likes a rowdy tourist so can you take it down a notch or two, huh? Do me a favor buddy, please, one spaceman to another?”
“How about you do me the favor,” Ragnarok raises his claw, his fist glowing brightly like the sun. “and don’t interfere with my plans?”
Cinder cups his chin pretending to consider Ragnarok’s suggestion. “Hm. You make an interesting argument. But I’m afraid I can’t do that, pal. You know it’s the whole good guy stops bad guy routine; you know how it is.”
Ragnarok’s scowl hardens. “Yes. I do.”
And with a snap of his wrist, he fires a powerful laser beam right at Cinder!
The Red Plumber ducks nearly avoiding having his head singed off. “Soooo, you’re not gonna do me the favor then?”
Ragnarok answers by firing another laser beam.
Cinder side steps, avoiding it while he puts on his dragon-maw respirator. “I’ll take that as a no. Raaagh!!”
And with a snap of his head, Cinder unleashes a powerful Fire Breath!
Ragnarok throws his arms forward, taking the fire head on, and he swings his arms out, batting the flames away. In response Ragnarok fires another repair of beams which Cinder is quick to counter with his own Fire Breath!
The two intense rays clash midair but Ragnarok’s beams win out, blasting through Cinder’s flames!
Cinder dives out of the way as the beams burn into the road, melting the pavement.
Cinder whistles, impressed despite nearly dying. “That’s some intense heat you’re packing there, friend.”
Ragnarok holds his chin up as he glares down at the human. “Do you understand just how foolish you were to challenge me? My solar energy beams can burn through anything, even your own flames, Plumber.”
Despite the talking down, Cinder somehow manages to shrug it off with a smile. He reaches behind his back, grabbing the only support item he has on hand. “Yeah, no way I’m gonna win a shootout with my firepower.” Cinder brandishes the silver rod he received from Hatsume like a sword. “But this is Japan buddy, the land of the Samurai, not the Cowboy.”.
Annoyed, Ragnarok fires again!
Cinder ducks down, rushing forward, weaving his way through the incoming rays like a serpent weaving through the grass. And like a serpent he quickly gets into striking distance of his prey, Cinder swings the rod forth, his thumb pressing down on the pressure gauge while crying out the weapon’s name. “Amenonuhoko!!”
And BLAM the rod shoots outward, becoming a fully realized spear that crashes into the side of Ragnarok’s skull.
“Gaaahh!” Ragnarok yelps, stumbling back, having been totally taken by surprise.
“You like it?” Cinder smirks, giving the silver spear, Amenonuhoko, a spin around his arms and shoulders. “It’s brand new.”
The spear is thin and silver in color with a shiny sheen. The silver rod from before remains rooted in the center, allowing Cinder a firm grip while leaving the rest of the spear free to deliver piercing attacks.
Ragnarok scowls, even more infuriated. “You’ll pay for striking at me Plumber.”
“Ha! We’ll see about that.”
“Raaagh!!” Ragnarok fires another round of solar energy beams!
Like before, Cinder dodges each one, sliding in close and delivering another strike into Ragnarok’s side.
“Raagh!!” In response, Ragnarok takes a swing at Cinder.
The Plumber leans back as Ragnarok’s claws graze the font of his suit. With a spin of his spear, Cinder swings Amenonuhoko at Ragnarok again from the side! However, Ragnarok throws his arm up, blocking the strike. Not at all deterred, Cinder swings the spear over his head and swings it around from the other end. But Ragnarok dodges by bending back, allowing the spear to fly over. He shoots back up, throwing his fist forward but Cinder spins Amenonuhoko down and presses it against his own arm, allowing him to block and properly brace himself against Ragnarok’s fist. Infuriated, Ragnarok shoves Cinder back so hard he sends the Plumber flying! Cinder stabs his spear into the ground and with the spear in place he swings himself around it and slides to a stop.
Somewhat impressed by his opponent, Ragnarok pauses, allowing Cinder a moment of respite.
Cinder chuckles as he catches his breath. “You’re a lot more limber for someone of your size.”
Ragnarok glowers. “And you’re far more infuriating than I first presumed.”
“Aw, thanks.” Cinder pries his spear out from the ground. “But if you thought I was irritating before, just you wait and see.”
Cinder brings the spear close to his mouth where he unleashes a plume of fire onto it. But instead of the flames just passing right around the spear, the flames instead bend and flood down the spear as if attracted to it. The flames spread from one tip of the spear to the other leaving only the silver hilt untouched allowing Cinder a place to hold it.
Ragnarok’s eyes widen in surprise.
“Thank you, Mei Hatsume!” Cinder laughs as he twirls the flaming spear between his hands. “Now this is really gonna burn ya.”
“We shall see.” Before Cinder could strike, Ragnarok fires again.
Cinder swiftly moves in to strike. “Amenonuhoko: Dual Burn!!” Swinging the spear forward, Cinder delivers strike after strike, the spear spinning and gliding through the air with flames dancing behind each swing almost like Cinder was brandishing a dual-bladed lightsaber!
Ragnarok can only brace himself against the strikes, unable to fight back Cinder’s shocking speed and reflexes.
“Come on!” Cinder laughs. “Aren’t you gonna fight back?”
“Yes.” Ragnarok’s fist glows bright and then there’s an explosion of bright light!
“Gaaahhh!!” Cinder screams, blinded by the light.
And then POW a strike to his midsection knocks him back and down onto his knees.
“Ow…now that hurts.”
Ragnarok approaches the downed opponent, his fists glowing in preparation. “Prepare to be burned to ash, Plumber.”
Unable to see, rubbing at his eyes, Cinder braces himself for the worst.
Ragnarok prepares to finish him.
“Upsy-daisy!”
A blur of green swings in and scoops Cinder up just before Ragnarok could fire.
“What?!” Ragnarok gasps, peering up to glare at the green blur.
Cinder’s eyesight finally returns. “Izuku?!”
Bullfrag’s swinging them up, his tongue stretched out and latched onto a nearby roof as he carries Cinder under his arm.
“Hey, what’s up Pops?” Bullfrag salutes as he swings them both round.
“What are you doing here?!” Cinder asks as they both slide into a landing. “You were supposed to get everybody out!”
Bullfrag pulls his tongue back on before answering. “Okay first, call me Bullfrag. Secondly, I did.” He gestures towards the rest of the street.
Cinder takes a look and sure enough all of Nakamise Shopping Street’s been cleared out of any civilians. “Oh, what do you know? Um, good job.”
Bullfrag gives a thumbs up in response. “So, wanna catch me up on this guy’s deal?”
“Oh, right. Bullfrag meet Ragnarok, he’s another “tourist” who’s decided to cause trouble in our little corner of the galaxy.”
Picking up on this guy’s “tourist” statues, Bullfrag nods in understanding. “Got it.”
Ragnarok, in the meantime, is a bit surprised to see Bullfrag in a place such as this. “An Incursean? A little far from your empire, aren’t you?”
Bullfrag smirks, readying himself to throw down. “Closer than you think.” Hang on a minute. “Empire?!” He looks to his father for an answer.
Cinder however waves it off, instead focusing on the upcoming fight. “I’ll explain later.”
Ragnarok finds the frog’s sudden appearance perplexing. “You’re no Plumber. So, who exactly are you?”
Bullfrag shrugs, smiling cheekily. “I’m just your friendly neighborhood Frog-Man.”
“Well Frog-Man.” Ragnarok’s fists glow bright. “Do you know what happens to an amphibian that’s left out in the sun?”
“No. But I’m sure you’re gonna show me.”
“You presume correctly.” And with that, Ragnarok fires upon the Midoriyas again!
Cinder ducks away into a nearby stall as Bullfrag hops away into the air.
With his opponent open for attack, Ragnarok turns his solar energy beams onto the Incursean.
Bullfrag however slips away by whipping out his tongue and swinging himself away from the danger.
Angered, Ragnarok continues to fire away at the amphibian but has no luck in hitting him.
With him distracted, Cinder rushes in with his Amenonuhoko: Dual Burn poised to strike.
Ragnarok spots him and swiftly dodges.
Cinder slashes again and again but Ragnarok manages to pull away and dodge everyone!
“Coming in for a landing!!” Bullfrag shouts as he swings in and delivers a flying kick right into Ragnarok’s gut!
“Graagh!!” Ragnarok groans as the wind’s knocked right out of him.
Bullfrag spins backwards in the air before landing beside his old man. “I tried to warn you.”
“Enough!!” Combining his beams together Ragnarok fires out a massive beam of energy upon the Midoriyas.
The Midoriyas try to dive out of the way, but they just barely make it as the blast burns through the stalls and street: the resulting blast knocks the two off their feet and crashing into a stall and the many souvenirs inside.
“Ughh…” They groan, dazed and in pain, as key chains, magnets, and burning postcards shower down on them.
Bullfrag grabs at his head, moaning in pain. “Now that’s gonna leave a mark.” He moans before there’s a flash of red and Izuku transforms back into his original form.
Ragnarok marches forth, his arms glowing bright at his side. At first, he was stunned to witness the Incursean’s sudden transformation. But he soon forgoes the questions in favor of finishing the nuisances off once and for all.
“Farewell, Plumbers.” He aims his glowing claw down upon the downed duo. “I will cherish your demise till the end of my days.”
The Midoriyas watch on, horrorstruck, knowing full well they won’t be able to dodge in time. This may very well be the end of the Midoriyas and Ragnarok’s gonna be sure to savor it.
He grins madly as he prepares to fire.
But before he does, a veil of flames erupts forth, interfering and blocking the Midoriyas from view.
“What?!” Ragnarok gasps.
The flames spread and surround him, trapping him inside a raging Hellfire.
“Ha ha ha ha ha.” Someone chuckles, finding Ragnarok’s surprise very much amusing. A large muscular figure veiled in flames emerges from the flames.
The Midoriyas gasp, shocked by the new arrival. “Enji?!/Endeavor?!”
“I know how you feel.” Endeavor’s smirk grows that much haughtier when he spots the fallen duo. “I’ve been waiting for that pathetic waste of space to drop dead for years.”
Cinder’s not sure if he should be happy that he and his son are saved or if he should be thoroughly offended by his ex-friend’s statement.
Ragnarok however finds the new arrival’s presence disturbing. “Another one? This planet is far more maddening than I could have ever imagined.”
Endeavor’s not sure what this guy’s on about, but it doesn’t matter after all he’s a villain. “And it’s about to get worse, pal.”
With a maddening grin Endeavor unleashes a Hellfire upon Ragnarok.
The flames engulf him whole, trapping him inside a raging inferno.
A smirk stretches across Endeavor’s face. “I think you’ll find my flames far superior to the washup’s.”
There’s movement within the flames.
“Huh?”
“Congratulations.” Ragnarok emerged from the inferno, virtually unharmed as fire washes off his form. “You have my full attention now.” In retaliation he fires a barrage of beams.
The Top-Ranking Hero counters the attack with a veil of powerful flames resulting in an ear shattering explosion.
“Tch!” Endeavor snarls as the heat erupts in his face.
Ragnarok halts his attack. “Surrender and I might let you live.”
“Funny I was about to say the same thing.”
Annoyed, Ragnarok fires upon the hero again. Endeavor, however, grins on racing forward, evading the beams, his fist glowing bright with flames. And thus, the two clash, battering against the other, vying to overpower the other as flames and beams of energy fly every which way.
One of the beams strays too far, racing right towards the downed Midoriyas.
The two gasp about to leap away when suddenly the temperature drops tenfold, and a protective ice wall springs forth and blocks the incoming laser!
Izuku and Cinder spin around to see the one responsible for saving them.
“You’re here too, Todoroki?!” Izuku gasps.
Shoto, decked out in his hero costume, hurries to the Midoriyas’ side helping them up. “Yeah, and honestly sad to say I’m not surprised to see you here too.”
Izuku takes his hand and gets to his feet. “You know I think you’re the second person to tell me that today alone already.”
“I’m not surprised.”
Cinder kicks up and catches his Amenonuhoko. “Thanks for the assist. Now I want you both to stay back for now.”
Izuku is quick to protest. “But I can help!”
Cinder shakes his head. “Not when you’re recharging you can’t.”
Izuku grips the red glowing Omnitrix, dejected.
Shoto, however, sees the hero’s point. “He’s right. It’s best if we leave this to them for now.”
Izuku doesn’t like it, but he does not even have an argue against them.
“Oh, boy.” Cinder turns back around, staring into the fray. “This is gonna get messy.” And so, he reignites his Amenonuhoko and rushes back in.
Shoto leads Izuku away. “Let’s leave this to them.”
Izuku gives in. “Okay but we’re staying close just in case.”
“That’s fine.”
Endeavor throws his fist forward, but Ragnarok spins around to dodge before blasting Endeavor into a wall. “Ugh!!”
Ragnarok prepares to fire.
“Hold it!”
WHAM!!!
Ragnarok’s struck in the face by the blazing spear before he’s thrown back by a flying kick!
Cinder snickers, brandishing the Amenonuhoko. “You didn't forget about me, did you?”
“I wish I could.” Ragnarok snarls back.
Cinder looks to Endeavor, smirking. “It’s just like old times! With me swooping in at the last second to save your ass.”
“Don’t bother concerning yourself with me, bastard.” Endeavor scowls back as he pries himself out of the wall. “Besides I was the one saving your pathetic ass out of danger every other week.”
“Sheesh, you still can’t take a joke.”
“Would you just be quiet?”
Ragnarok’s irritation grows. “Why can’t you both be silent!” Not waiting for an answer, he fires upon them both!
The two dodge, rushing forward through the oncoming laser fire. Both of them lashing out at the same time with Endeavor throwing his fist forward as Cinder swings his Amenonuhoko: Dual Burn! The two attacks strike at the same time, smashing into Ragnarok and knocking him back!
“Your reaction time was slow.” Endeavor insults, taking note of how he most definitely struck the opponent before Cinder did. “You’ve gotten rusty. Perhaps your age is finally catching up to you.”
Okay, now Cinder’s offended. “We’re the same age, asshole!”
“Grrr!”
The two heroes put their bickering in pause as a pissed off Ragnarok reemerges.
“You best step aside.” Endeavor suggests as he marches past Cinder. “Wouldn’t want you throwing out your back no old man.”
“Ha. Ha.” Cinder fake laughs. “Look who’s got jokes now.”
And so, the two reengage the enemy, moving swiftly and striking back with such ferocity.
As their respective sons watch on in total amazement.
“Look at them go…” Izuku gawks, tucked away inside a nearby stall, unable to look away.
Shoto nods, just as enthralled. “We should take this opportunity to observe their movements.”
A thought occurs to Izuku. “Is that why you’re here?”
“Huh?”
“I mean is that why you’re in costume and with your…dad? Are you here to learn from him?”
Shoto pauses for a second. “Yes. but to be honest he rather insisted I not waste my summer with “trivial” matters. And so, he’d been dragging me around to watch him work.”
“Oh…I’m sorry.”
Shoto shakes his head. “Don’t be. Besides he hasn’t been that infuriating as of late.” Although he still manages to get under Shoto’s skin. “Either way it would be a waste not to take advantage of his knowledge and experience. He is the Number Two Hero for a reason so I might as well learn from him.”
“Todoroki…”
“I won’t let my spite and anger hold me back, Midoriya.” Shoto promises, vowing to become stronger. “Unlike him, I’ll become a hero that’s actually worth the top spot.”
Izuku’s stunned by the sudden declaration, but he can’t help but find Shoto’s resolve nothing short of remarkable.
Meanwhile, as the heroes clash with the villain, there is a hint of moment from the other side of the street from within one of the nearby storefronts.
Seemingly from thin air the trench coat wearing stranger from before reappears, coming out of hiding. The stranger watches the battle closely and when he’s sure that Ragnarok’s attention is fully taken, he scurries away, trying to slip away towards the exit.
However, their haste proves to be their Achille’s heel as Ragnarok spots them escaping just out of the corner of his eye.
“Halt!!” He roars, firing a massive beam of light at the stranger.
Izuku, confused by Ragnarok’s outburst looks and spots the horrified stranger. “Look out!!’
Thanks to Izuku’s warning, the stranger is able to dodge the beam by seemingly melting and as a result the beam smashes through the nearby wall, blasting it apart and leaving behind a massive gaping hole leading into the back-alleys and streets of Tokyo.
And now present with an exit the stranger seemingly reforms himself, gives Izuku a cheeky salute in thanks, and escapes through the hole.
“No!!” Ragnarok roars watching his quarry slip away.
With his attention diverted, Endeavor and Cinder rush in for a final strike.
Ragnarok’s arms glow brightly as he turns his furious glare onto the heroes. “RAAAAGH!!” he unleashes a massive explosion of light, almost like the sun itself has appeared in the middle of the city. The light is bright, so bright that the heroes are essentially blinded by the distraction allowing Ragnarok the moment he needs to flee the scene. Chasing the stranger out and into the nearby alleyway.
Izuku, having been ducking down during the explosion of light and thus wasn’t blinded, wittiness Ragnarok fleeing the scene. “Hey, wait!” He shouts, running after him.
Shoto, having also been blinded, can only listen as Izuku sprints away. “Midoriya, wait! Come back!”
His vision soon returns and somehow, he’s not surprised to see that his warning went unanswered.
“Dammit, Midoriya.”
At the same time, Ragnarok crashes through the hole and immediately scans the street for his prey. And there they are, just down the road, fleeing into a nearby back alley.
“There is no escape!” And so, he sprints off after the stranger.
Izuku soon sprints out from the hole, spinning around until he spots Ragnarok chasing the stranger into the alley. He takes off after them hoping to save the innocent civilian from the alien’s wrath.
Izuku pursues them through the alleyway, sprinting at full speed, crashing past trash cans, garbage, and fences. Doing all he can to keep Ragnarok in sight. Little by little with every turn and twist of Tokyo’s back alleys, Izuku inches ever so closer and closer but he still has a lot of ground to cover if he wants to catch em.
The stranger peers back and gasps when they realize just how close Ragnarok is. And so, he turns back around to find himself in an intersection of alleyways. And so, he quickly dives into the left alleyway and out of sight. Ragnarok soon turns the corner, but he stops as he finds a bustling road before him. Pedestrians and heroes flood the street, going about their businesses with oblivious smiles.
However, there is no hide or tail of his prey, lost in the sea of varying faces and appearances.
Ragnarok scowls, his fists clenching and digging into his palms, knowing that his prey has escaped.
*CRASH!!!*
That came from the alleyway.
Not a moment later does Izuku slide into view, coming to a stop in the middle of the alleyways. He quickly spots Ragnarok looking out towards the bustling street and hurries after him. “Hang on! Wait!!”
Ragnarok’s surprised, having finally noticed the boy, and scowls in response.
But then another voice calls out from amongst the crowd. “Hey, you!!”
Ragnarok turns only to spot one of Earth’s many heroes rushing towards him.
“You can’t leave!!” Izuku yells as he lunges towards the alien, hoping to grab him and slow him down until his Dad could arrive.
However, as Izuku throws himself forward Ragnarok seemingly vanishes from sight in a blink of an eye.
“Nani?” And if he thought that way weird then he’s really weird out by the sudden mass of yellow that’s appeared right in his path!
With no way to stop Izuku smashes into the yellow mass which swallows him up whole as if he dove headfirst into a massive pillow!! It’s like a blob that swallowed him whole in its warm fleshy mass.
The yellow mass is stunned to find a teen stuck in its belly. “Oh, boy.”
From the alley Endeavor races onto the scene with Cinder and Shoto following close behind; they all screech to a halt as they come upon the very strange scene.
Before them stands a very big, round man that towers even the likes of Cinder. Wearing an orange, zippered hood with black pants and the initials of an inverted F and regular G. Over the man’s round face, he wears a black mask around his large round eyes and forehead leaving his massive grin exposed.
The man greets the heroes. “Oh, hey there!”
Cinder gasps in fright, he spins around making sure not to make eye contact.
“Hi there!” The man greets them, giving them all a friendly wave. “Is this one with you?” He points to Izuku’s feet dangling out from his belly fat.
“He is.” Shoto responds, almost embarrassed on his classmate’s behalf.
“Oh, opps!” The man inhales and with it Izuku falls out with a pop! “Sorry about that kid! I was aiming for the other guy.”
Izuku gasps for air. “It’s…all…good.” As he catches his breath, he finally catches a glimpse of his capturer, and his eyes mighty light up. “Oh, wait, you’re Fatgum!”
“Hahaha!” Fatgum grins glad to see the boy’s alright. “A fan I see! Here, have some candy as an apology!” He tosses out candy from his pocket into Izuku’s hands.
“Oh! Thank you!”
Fatgum offers some candy to Shoto as well. “Here’s some for you too.”
Shoto, the ever stoic, tries to push the candy away. “Thanks, but I really don’t-oh, you’re giving it to me anyway.”
Yup, Fatgum drops the candy into his hand with an oblivious grin. He drops more and more until candy is spilling out of Shoto’s hands.
Fatgum eventually stops, satisfied with his work. He peers up at the adults and quickly spots Cinder. “Do I…know you from somewhere?”
Cinder freezes, becoming very nervous and doing his best to keep his face covered. “Nope! I don’t think so!”
Fatgum frowns. “Strange, you look kinda familiar. Hm?”
Cinder begins to tremble, sweating buckets.
“Enough of this.” Having lost his patience, Endeavor shoves his way forward. “Now, where is the villain? Did you capture him?”
Fatgum’s smile drops. “Sorry, he got away. Should’ve seen it because I sure didn’t, because he up and disappeared!”
That was certainly not what Endeavor expected to hear. “What?”
“Yeah! I rushed over here as soon as the calls started coming in about a black and red villain on the loose. And I found him but he just up and vanished. POOF!!!” He swings his fist in frustration. “Dang it I can’t believe I let him get away. I sure wish my sidekick was here, he would have snatched the villain right up before they even knew what hit em!” But alas he’s off duty, on vacation with his friends for the week.
Endeavor’s scowl hardens as he begins to consider how the villain could have possibly pulled off such a maneuver. Invisibility perhaps? Or maybe-
The roar of police sirens and their flashing red and blue lights flood the street, redirecting civilians away.
“Oh, good, the police.” Endeavor states throwing Cinder and Izuku distasteful looks. “Perhaps they can actually be of more use than the rest of you.”
One of the police cars screeches to halt beside the group, any closer and it would have run them all over.
The car’s door is kicked open and Inspector Tezuka jumps out. “MIDORIYA!!!”
Cinder can feel his very soul leaving his body, as if deep down he knows that he’s already a deadman.
Fatgum starts, his usually cheery demeanor washing away, his smile turning into a nasty cold scowl. “Midoriya?”
Cinder trembles, trying his best to greet Fatgum. “Oh, h-hey…O-officer T-Toyomitsu. S-sorry I didn't recognize you t-thanks to the costume. Hehe, and hey congrats on finally getting your hero license.”
He begins to step back, hoping to slip away only to bump into Endeavor who’s very clearly blocking his escape.
Cinder pales in response. ‘I’m trapped…’
Fatgum stares daggers into Cinder's skull. “I heard you were back. But I thought it was some sort of sick joke. I didn’t think it was serious.”
Disturbed by the news, Shoto turns to Izuku for an explanation. “What’s this about?”
Izuku shrugs. “Um, there was a bit of a mix-up way back when.”
“It was no mix-up.” Endeavor interrupts, surprising the boys. “I can tell you that.”
Izuku’s heart races, his blood turning cold, worried Endeavor might know more than he previously thought. “What?”
“Believe me boy. There’s more to your no-good father than meets the eye. You may not like what you find when you finally see that.”
Shoto scoffs, humorously finding his father’s words highly ironic. “I know the feeling.”
Endeavor’s glare narrows but he doesn’t bite back.
At the same time, Inspector Tezuka marches right up to Cinder’s face. “What did you do now, Midoriya?!”
“Nothing!!” Cinder defends. “I promise, it wasn’t me!”
“Excuse me if I don’t believe you.”
“Inspector, please.” interrupts Endeavor. “I know how tempting it is to give this conman what he deserves but we have other priorities starting with a missing villain.”
Inspector Tezuka pauses. “A villain that managed to disappear without a trace?” She gives Cinder an accusing look. “Why does that sound suspiciously familiar?”
Okay, now Cinder’s starting to lose his patience. “Can we focus, please?!”
Inspector Tezuka backs off, her professionalism taking priority. And so, the heroes and police gather together, comparing and sharing info about the villain. Or in Cinder’s case redacting and altering the more…sensitive info.
“Midoriya. Todoroki.”
Shoto and Izuku turn to find Tokoyami stepping out from his mother’s police cruiser.
Well, Shoto’s clearly surprised. “Tokoyami? What brings you to Tokyo?”
“My mother.” Tokoyami gestures towards the Inspector. “You?”
“My father.”
“Hm.” Tokoyami hums, spotting the Number Two Hero with the rest of the heroes and police.
And so, as they exchange pleasantries, Izuku decides to take a breather, taking a seat by a nearby bus stop.
As he rests Izuku can’t help but notice how brightly the Omnitrix is glowing, having fully recharged. ‘That’s weird.’
Shoto and Tokoyami turn their attention to him.
Tokoyami rests a hand on the greenette’s shoulder. “Sounds like you two had quite the run in.”
“Yeah, it was something…”
Shoto gives Izuku a concerned yet stoic frown. “You shouldn’t run off like that.” He chastises.
Izuku shrinks under his gaze. “Sorry, I was just…trying to save that person.”
There’s no response instead Shoto pauses, confused.
Feeling the confusion, Izuku raises an eyebrow. “Hm?”
“Person?” Shoto repeats questionly. “What person?”
Izuku jolts up, realizing that he might know more than everyone else.
In the meantime, the adults continue comparing notes.
Inspector Tezuka raises an inquisitive eyebrow. “Solar Energy?”
“Yeah, he manipulates it…or generates it.” Cinder’s not really sure. “At least, that’s what he said anyway.”
Fatgum integers with a suggestion. “Perhaps that’s how he was able to vanish!”
Endeavor frowns, unsure. “Maybe? But if we’re gonna find this…Ragnarok then we need to know his motives. What is he after, exactly?”
“Not a what, a who.”
The heroes and Inspector turn to find that it was Izuku who interrupted.
Endeavor scowls. “What now, boy?”
“Ragnarok. He was chasing after someone.”
“Was he?” Fatgum questions. “I didn’t see anybody else other than him and you.”
“I know what I saw.” Izuku insists. “Back at Nakamise Shopping Street there was…someone else. They ran and then Ragnarok chased after them.”
“Someone else?” questions the Inspector. “Who?”
“I…don’t know. I didn’t see their face. Oh! But I think I saw them melt away!”
The Inspector’s even more confused. “Melt away?”
Cinder jolts up, locking in on the explanation.
“Yeah, Ragnarok fired at them but they like melted away, dropped down and then reformed and took off into the alley!”
The adults hesitate, unsure.
Izuku sweats, knowing that this is risky. Ragnarok is definitely an alien, so he is probably chasing another alien. But with a city as large as Tokyo with so many heroes and witnesses, they’re gonna need all the help they can get. For now, they need to stop Ragnarok. The coverup will have to come later.
Endeavor turns to Shoto. “What about you? Did you see anything?”
Shoto reluctantly shakes his head. “No, I didn’t see anybody else.”
The adults hesitate, unfortunately for Izuku one possible witness account does not make for hard evidence. But even so.
“We have no other leads as it stands.” Inspector Tezuka admits. “If there is another individual involved, we need to figure out if they’re a victim or another villain.”
Tokoyami frowns, perplexed by her statement. “Another villain?”
“This could be a gang war of sort.” She explains. “A drug deal gone wrong. Or maybe even the work of a shadowy organization. I don’t know, and that’s the problem. As it stands, we need to find Ragnarok and this unknown possible accomplice.”
“Then what are we just hanging around here for?!” shouts Fatgum who’s ready to go. “We gotta job to do people, so let’s do it!”
Endeavor nods in approval. “I couldn't agree more.”
“As do I.” Cinder steps forward, not willing to allow the heroes nor police to have complete control over this alien case. “You have my full cooperation Inspector.”
The Inspector glowers back. “Your services are not required here, Midoriya.”
Cinder’s stunned. “What…?”
“I said get lost, Midoriya.” She growls, her frustration returning. “You may have been cleared but I’ll never be able to trust you. You’re a liar and a crook, and you’re lucky enough as it is that I’m even tolerating you right now. If you want something to do, then leave.” She turns away, turning her back towards him. “Go be with your boy…” She looks away, unable to look him in the eye. “Before he realizes what you really are…” She tucks her hat down over her face and marches away so she can call in what she's found out.
And so, Cinder is left behind, rooted to the spot and although he doesn’t out worldly show it. It does hurt.
With everything already having been said, Fatgum remains quiet. Moving on to scour the perimeter in case the villain’s still nearby.
Endeavor, cold and spiteful, marches past his old friend without a second glance. “Pathetic.”
Cinder silently takes it, telling himself it’s for the best. And it’s not too bad, he expected this anyway. It’s okay…
Izuku, however, doesn’t like this at all. Feeling insulted and dejected on his dad’s behalf.
Shoto and Tokoyami watch on; stunned, perplexed, and very much worried for their friend.
Shoto reaches for his friend. “Mid-”
“Shoto!”
He pulls back his hand.
Endeavor calls for him again. “Let’s move it! How do you expect to learn anything if you’re not paying attention?!” He turns away, marching onward. “Don’t bother with the likes of him. He’ll only disappoint you…”
Hesitantly, Shoto relents. “I’m sorry.”
He bows at Izuku apologetically before turning and heading after his father knowing that his temperament will worsen if he pushes him any further. Not that he fears Endeavor’s wrath anymore but seeing how he is now…he might turn his anger on the Midoriya's instead. And it’s clear they don’t need any more of the bastard than they already had to deal with. Even so it leaves a very bad taste in his mouth for walking away, leaving his…friend so dejected.
Tokoyami feels similarly, unsure of what to say in order to help his classmate.
But he doesn't need to say a thing as Izuku beats him to it.
“You should go too.” Izuku turns, providing the best smile that he can muster. “They’ll need your help. Ragnarok might control light but Dark Shadow can still help in the search.”
“Midoriya…”
“Don’t worry about us, okay.” Izuku smiles on, or at least tries his best to. “Just stop that villain, that’s all that matters.”
Tokoyami can tell Izuku’s faking it, forcing himself to smile. But it might just upset him more if he were to point it out, And so not wanting to offend Tokoyami accepts. “Have no doubts, Midoriya. We’ll stop him.”
Izuku’s smile widens. “Thank you.”
And so, feeling obligated to help the heroes, Tokoyami gives Izuku a farewell and leaves to join his mother with the rest of the police force.
And so, the Midoriyas are left abandoned, alone between the empty dark alley and the crowded hero filled road.
Cinder quickly recovers, straightening up, and already full of conviction like he’s accepted the consequences for what’s to come already. After all there is at least one maniacal alien on the loose within Tokyo. And it’s his job to stop them, with or without the police’s approval.
“Um, excuse me, sir.”
Cinder turns to find a plain faced officer approaches both him and his son.
The officer nervously rubs his hands together as he addresses them both. “Um, I know the Inspector just told you to, um, leave. But if you, could we really need you to come down to the station so we can fill out a proper report. If that’s okay with you, sir?”
Cinder’s eyes narrow, examining the officer’s plain face, blonde golden hair, freckled cheeks, and strikingly fuchsia eyes.
Cinder visibly relaxes before the officer. “Of course, please, lead the way.”
The officer smiles brightly, appreciating the hero’s cooperation.
Izuku, however, is stunned. “Wait! What about the investigation?! We can’t just walk away. We have to help. Somehow…”
Cinder smiles, proud of Izuku’s dedication and desire to help. “We’ll help out.” He turns back towards the officer almost like he’s addressing him rather than Izuku. “You have my word on that.”
The officer’s fuchsia-colored eyes light up in appreciation before turning around and continue to lead them down the road and away from the crime scene.
Izuku, still unsure about this detour, follows behind, unable to take his eyes off the scene; fighting his urge to turn around and find some way to contribute.
Cinder however carries on, marching forward with determination, pulling down his respirator. ‘You were right, Tezuka.’ Hisashi thinks with an ironic smile. ‘This does all seem suspiciously familiar.’
##########(Flashback)#########
“Stop lazing around you, good for nothings!!” Shouts a rather diminutive villain as his unwilling cronies parade about the warehouse.
The villain is a Caucasian dwarf with pale skin, and a full set of blonde hair combed back into a curly mullet. He wears a red ringleader coat along with a white dress shirt and pants and a pair of round purple sunglasses.
The villain sits at his desk amongst the middle of the crowded warehouse that’s filled to the brim with stolen goods from jewelry, money, appliances, and worst of all, weapons.
All the while his cronies hobble about as if in dazes. No, not as if, but they are in a daze. Their eyes are glossed over and blank and if one peered close enough they’d swear they see the victims’ eyes swirling around. All of them are just normal civilians that have fallen under the villain’s spell.
“You there!” The villain shouts pointing to one of his Hypnotized victims. “Make sure all the weapons are in order.”
He points to another. “And I want you to be our lookout!” And then another. “You get some more grenades ready. If we’re gonna rob the National Bank, then we can’t be too light on the explosives.”
“And you!” He points to yet another, taking a moment to pause to think about his next request. “Go get me a strawberry smoothie-No! Make it two.”
The Hypnotized civilians give his master a nod before hobbling off towards the exit.
“Hehe!” The villain giggles gleefully, leaning back in his chair, adjusting his glasses. “I love being in charge.”
Suddenly the warehouse’s entrance explodes in a brilliant display of fire and smoke!
The villain gasps as a young hero adoring a red uniform appears.
A very young Cinder smirks back cockily. “Do you really have what it takes to take charge, little man?”
His smile and face are young and full of spirit unlike his older years where decades of fighting and struggle have worn him out. His face is clean shaven, and hair smoothed back all the while projecting the confidence and energy of a young man in his prime.
“Cinder.” The villain growls. “Don’t you ever get tired of taking the lead.” The villain lowers his glasses to reveal his round white eyes, his pupils swirling in place as he activates his Quirk, Mesmerize. “Why don’t you let someone else do the thinking for you?”
The smirking Cinder easily covers his eyes. “Sorry, Sublimino but I’m more of a solo act.”
The villain, Sublimino, glowers. “Too bad. Kill Cinder!!” He barks, ordering his slaves to attack.
The poor unwilling victims all drop what they’re doing and turn their attention onto the hero. At first, they are slow to respond before one after the other they charge the lone hero.
Sublimino smiles gleefully as his minions swarm the hero but his smile washes away quickly as his goons are taken out one after the other by the spry and skilled pro hero.
Cinder grabs some nearby rope, snaking his way past a group of victims, wrapping the rope around them he pulls and ties them together before knocking them over. More victims attack but he sidesteps each one before shoving them forward and slamming into stacks of crates.
“Raagghh!!” One of the victim's arms turn into serpents that lass out at the hero.
Cinder ducks and grabs the snakes, before pulling and reeling the victim in and knocking them out.
Sublimino yelps in fright. “You!” He jumps onto the shoulder of one of his Mesmerized victims. “Get me out of here!!”
The victim nods before turning and running away, leaving his comrades to take on the hero alone.
As Cinder defends himself, he spots Sublimino escaping towards the back of the warehouse and shouts. “Now!!”
As Sublimino and his ride make their escape a large round mass pops out from behind a stack of stolen fridges and vending machines. The mass blocks their way, their large smile shining gleefully as Sublimino’s victim runs headfirst into the mass’s stomach.
The victim is swallowed up by the victim's sheer mass as Sublimino is flung up and over them both!
“Ow! Sublimino groans before springing to his feet and running away.
Officer Toyomitsu gasps. “Sublimino’s escaping!!”
Sublimino makes it to the back exit, ripping the door open before leaping out into the cold night air. He’s half-tempted to cheer out and declare his freedom when suddenly he’s kicked right in the face and sent tumbling to the ground, his head hitting the pavement hard.
Upon the possible concussions the victims inside snap out from his spell. All of them confused about where they are and what they are doing.
Sublimino groans, pulling himself off the ground only to find a young Officer Tezuka, adorning a full officer’s uniform, holds him at gunpoint. “Freeze dirtbag.”
Sublimino, not seeing a way out anymore, raises his hands in defeat.
After his arrest it wasn’t ling till police were swarming the warehouse, getting the victims’ statements and treatment for any injuries. While other officers gather up evidence and confiscate the stolen goods.
Officer Tezuka hands Sublimino off to her fellow officers. “Your plan worked like a charm, Cinder!”
A young Cinder approaches Officer Tezuka and Officer Toyomitsu. “Don’t give me the credit it was thanks to you officers that we were able to stop him.” Cinder returns towards the round officer. “Especially you Officer Toyomitsu. You pulled off that maneuver brilliantly.”
The young officer smiles back. “Aw, shucks coming from you that means a lot, sir. Honestly I never considered my Quirk to be all that.”
“Don’t sell yourself short.” Cinder smiles, pausing. “You…ever think about doing hero work?”
“I…have.” The officer admits.
“I think you should consider it.”
Before he’s carted away, Sublimino scowls up at the pro hero. “I thought you were a solo act?”
Cinder smirks down at him. “I am, but that doesn’t mean I can’t play nice with others.”
Sublimino scowls even harder, cursing Hisashi’s name. “You’ll pay for this, Cinder.”
“Yeah, maybe in twenty or something.”
And with that the villain’s carted away.
Cinder pauses, turning to Officers Tezuka and Toyomitsu. “He’s not getting out right?”
Officer Tezuka responds. “Considering he’s gonna be charged with vandalism, kidnapping, coercion, and attempted murder then no. He’s gonna be locked away for a long while.” Probably twenty years or so.
Cinder smiles at that, twenty years is a long time from now. “Bet you’ll be an Inspector by then.”
Officer Tezuka’s smile widens. “Try sooner.”
“Soon, how soon?”
The officer puffs her chest out. “The chief’s already looking to promote me and considering how quickly we dealt with Sublimino I have no doubt I’ll make my way to detective real soon.”
“Congrats, Future Detective Tezuka.” Cinder offers her his hand in congratulations. “I hope we can work together again in the future.”
Officer Tezuka takes it with a smile.
However, Officer Toyomitsu frowns. “You’re not staying?”
“Nope.” Cinder apologizes as he begins to pull away. “Sorry but I’m running late for another meeting.”
Officer Tezuka frowns concerned that it might be important. “Is it hero work related?”
“Sort of, I mean he is a hero, but I wouldn’t call to work. I just wanna see an old friend is all.” Cinder takes off, giving the officers a salute. “Take care!” And with that he runs off, hoping to make it in time.
The officers watch him off as he leaps up onto crates and up onto a nearby building where he takes off, disappearing into the night.
Officer Toyomitsu turns to his partner and smiles. “I like him.”
In the meantime, Cinder enjoys the fresh night air as he leaps from rooftop to rooftop, making his way back towards the center of Tokyo. He’s got a long trek since the warehouse was closer to the outskirts of the city, but his friend is worth it.
However, his Plumber Badge begins to go off in his pocket.
Cinder slides to a stop and answers the call. “Hello? How may I help you today?”
[“You can stop gallivanting around for one thing”.] responds the caller.
Cinder chuckles. “Aw, Magister Patelliday! How you doing you old coot?”
[“Who do you think you’re calling old? I’ll have you know that I’m still in my prime you young whippersnapper.”]
“Well, you sure sound like an old man.” Cinder teases. “But what do you need, Magister?”
[“I gotta a new assignment for ya.”]
“Can it wait?” Cinder frowns, checking the time: it’s already past 9 pm. “Can you get the newbie on it? What's their name…Thirteen, right?”
[“Thirteen’s still a student. And besides you’re the only one in Tokyo right now.”]
“Seriously, but I was gotta meet up with an old friend tonight.”
[“Well make a rain check. This is important.”]
“How important?”
[“Oh, you know the usual. World ending, important.”]
Cinder rolls his eyes. “Isn’t it always?” He pauses and sends a text to his friend. “But fine I’ll make a rain check. Again…” He’s not gonna be happy about this, but he’ll understand. “So, what’s the op?”
[“We just received word from Plumber HQ that a rogue scientist has decided to bring quote-on-quote peace to this here planet.”]
Cinder frowns, confused. “Bring peace?”
[“Yeah, peace as in peace and quiet after all life’s been vaporized!”]
Well, that makes sense. “Ah, so he’s a mad scientist?”
[“Precisely.”]
“No pressure, I guess. Just gotta save the planet all by myself…again.”
[“Hold your horses there, cowboy.”] responds Magister Patelliday. [“You’re not going at this alone. To help defeat this quack and his creation Plumber HQ decided to send us our own little genius to help us. And they are bringing a specialized device tailored made to stopping this madman and his rampage.”]
“So, when will they get here?”
[“Soon.”]
“Real helpful. How soon?”
Without warning a thundering boom echoes through the night sky before an aircraft that can only be called a U.F.O flies uncontrollably far above Cinder’s head.
[“About now.”]
Cinder watches horrified as the ship spins and spins uncontrollably until it comes crashing down into the distance into the nearby mountain side.
“What happened?! Were they attacked?!”
[“Communications are getting through but they’re not responding.”] responds Patelliday. [“Could be a malfunction with their ship.”]
“Maybe. But they just crashed just outside of Tokyo! And it was kinda hard to miss.”
[“Don’t you worry. I’ve already sent out a report about a pilot losing control of his helicopter and that the situation’s being handled.”]
“Thanks, the last thing we need is for this to be discovered.” And so he quickly runs off after it, hoping the pilot is still alive.
It takes a hot minute but after parkouring his way through the city limits Cinder sprints through the thick woods until he comes across the crash site. Following the scarred mountains die he quickly comes upon the downed ship. And by some miracle it appears to be intact, just lopsided and banged up by the crash.
Cinder reports back. “Patelliday, I made it to the site. The ship appears to be intact.”
[“Then hopefully our reinforcements are intact too. But stay on guard sonny, we have no idea what we’re dealing with.”]
“Don’t worry, sir. No matter who they are, I'm sure I can deal with them.”
[“Yeah, I bet you’ll win them over with your charming personality.”]
“Exactly.” Cinder laughs. “Besides, how bad could they be?”
On que, the ship opens up, smoke blowing out as a pair of little forms bicker and crawl out from the rather diminutive ship.
One of the little forms tries to lighten the mood, his voice a bit on the squeaky side, giving an air of being a know-it-all. “Well as the Earthlings say a landing you can walk away from is a good landing.”
A second voice chimes in this one much raspier. “They don’t say that.”
“Yes, they do.”
“No, they don’t.”
“Yes. They. Do.”
“No. They. Don’t.”
“I say they do and that’s final!”
“But I’m telling you that they don’t!”
Cinder frowns, finding the aliens…not exactly what he expected. They’re Galvan’s which is great but…they’re rather odd even for their species.
One of the Galvans is rather thin and taller than most average Galvans. While the other Galvan is on the large side for a Galvan and just a bit shorter than normal. Both of them are sporting Galvan Prime’s equivalent of a Plumber suit: green and silver armor. Although the taller one is also wearing a backwards alien cap and safety goggles.
The two spot Cinder staring down at them, shrinking back in surprise.
“Oh, um,” The taller one waves, smiling up at Cinder. “Hello Earthling.”
The shorter one nods, hiding behind his friend. “We, um, come in peace.”
Cinder raises an eyebrow in response, unsure how to react.
########(End Flashback)#######
Hisashi snaps out of his thoughts, peering back up finding that they’re still making their way through the city. Following the antsy police officer as they turn every which way, and double backing at times before they continue down another direction.
To an untrained eye one would think the officer was lost and trying to find his way, but to Hisashi…it almost seems intentional. “So, what brings you to Tokyo? No offense but you don’t seem like you're exactly from the area.”
The officer’s fuchsia eyes stare back at Hisashi. “You could say I’m temporarily stationed here for the time being.”
Hisashi homes in on the officer’s answer, finding it very odd. “Are the higher ups aware of your situation?”
“A few of them are but most aren’t aware of my…reassigning.”
Hisashi’s suspicions grow. “I see. And if I may, was that intentional.”
“Yeah, it was.”
Hisashi watches the officer’s reaction critically. “Where are you from then, originally?”
“Oh, I'm from the middle of nowhere. You’d probably never even heard of it.”
“Try me.”
The officer hesitates but then, almost cheekily, answers. “Andromeda.”
Hisashi’s eyes light up as if his suspicions were indeed confirmed. “Andromeda. Oh, that’s way out there. But I had a feeling. Your accent.” he explains.
Izuku frowns, confused by their exchange. ‘Andromeda? Where is that?’ He’s never heard of a city like that before. But…it does sound familiar.
The officer gaps, delighted to see that Hisashi is indeed aware. “Oh, so you are familiar with it. Ever been?”
“Loads of times actually. It’s a beautiful place.”
“It is. But I gotta admit, you guys have a pretty good setup over here.” The officer waves a hand towards the towering skyscrapers.
“Thanks.”
Izuku frowns, finding the officer’s much chipper demeanor out of place and sudden. “Hey, um, how much further till we get to the station? We’ve been walking for a while, you know.”
A cheeky grin stretches across the officer’s face, their fuchsia eyes twinkling with mischief. “What’s the matter? You in a hurry or something?”
Izuku averts his gaze, not really wanting to draw attention to himself. “Something like that…”
“Haha! *Snort!*” The officer snorts with laughter. “Like what? You got a hot date?”
Izuku’s face turns bright red with embarrassment. “N-no!”
“Haha! *Snort!* Haha! *Snort!*”
Hisashi raises an eyebrow. “You’re certainly feeling a lot better. You’re way peppier now.”
The officer’s gaze falls, becoming reserved and soft. “To be honest, you have no idea how much of a relief it is that I ran into you.”
“Well, we’re here and we’re ready to help.”
“And I really do appreciate that, especially since…” The officer takes a shaky breath like the weight of the world just fell on their shoulders. “I’m in over my head here.”
Izuku frowns, confused, wondering just what the heck these two are going on about. “Wait, I’m lost.”
The officer shrugs. “Understandable. Tokyo’s a big place-”
“No!” Izuku snaps trying to make sense of it. “I mean, just who are you?! I thought you were supposed to be taking us to the station?” But they’ve been wandering around in circles!
The officer gasps. “Oh, I thought, oops.”
Hisashi smiles sheepishly. “I’m afraid he doesn’t know. He’s relatively new to all this.”
“Aw!” The officer grins, snapping their fingers. “He’s a newbie!”
“N-newbie?” Just what the heck is this cop going on about?! Just what are they talking about?!
Realizing they need a minute to truly talk, Hisashi scans for such a place to do so.
And he quickly finds the perfect place. “Why don’t we stop and grab a bite?” He offers up with a smile, pointing towards a little bar and restaurant nearby.
Izuku frowns, confused. “Dad I think we-”
“I’d love to!” The officer interrupts, cutting Izuku off. “I’ve been needing to try the local cuisine.”
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
“This is so good!” The officer coos, taking another piece of freshly cooked meat off the hotplate.
Izuku frowns, finding this all very odd and awkward. He thought they were going to the station, not a restaurant! And it’s not even for a quick bite, they got themselves a dining room so they could enjoy a hotplate with the officer privately.
Izuku looks to his dad who doesn’t seem at all bothered by the situation. Instead, he picks away at the hot plate picking out the best pieces for himself.
The officer swallows, savoring the taste. “Amazing, I thought American food was good, but Japan’s food is just out of this world!”
“Hahaha!” Hisashi laughs.
Izuku can’t take it anymore. “Can someone please explain what the heck is happening here?”
The officer finishes their plate. “Alright, alright.” They wipe the remaining food off their face. “Let's start over, shall we?” The officer reaches over the table, offering Izuku his hand.
Finding the gesture odd and out of place, Izuku frowns but not wanting to be rude goes ahead and shakes the officer’s hand which is cold and…squishy? “M-my name’s Izuku, Izuku Midoriya…”
The officer smiles cheerfully. “Nice to meet you Izuku.” Oddly and suddenly the officer’s voice turns high-pitched as their eyes turn completely fuchsia in color. “I hope we can be good friends. Eheheh! *Snort!* Eheheh!”
Izuku frowns, finding the officer even stranger as they hysterically giggle and snort.
Izuku tries to pull his hand away, but the officer holds on, their hand seemingly sticking to his hand. Izuku gags as the officer's arm melts away, turning a purple-brown color with a mud-like texture.
Izuku peers back up at the giggling officer who gives him a cheeky wink.
And like that Izuku finally gets it. “You’re an alien!”
“Yup! Eheheh! *Snort!* Eheheh!” The officer melts away, their entire body and uniform turning into the purple sludge as a girl’s high pitched giggle echoes through the small private room.
The pile of sludge slithers upward, reforming into something other unworldly. A massive sludge monster rises before the Midoriyas. With a legless form like that of a slug with massive fluid arms, it’s body completely made of sludge that stretches up its long neck to its slug-like face with a gaping smile; its face protruding with four long thin tendrils of sludge.
“Waah!” Izuku yelps, falling out his seat, taken back by the large monstrous form.
Hisashi cracks a smile. “I knew it.”
“Eheheh! *Snort!* Eheheh!” The sludge giggles. “You’re kind of a spaz aren’t you, newbie?”
Izuku’s mouth opens and closes like a fish gasping for air. “I-I…I was just surprised is all.”
“Eheheh! *Snort!* Eheheh!” With a twirl the sludge monster shrinks down their body compacting on itself becoming very thin.
Soon a much more tolerable being stands before them. This time the alien has become much more humanoid, still with their sludge flesh and fuchsia eyes. But they…or she is thin and actually has legs now with a kind smile and much smaller tendrils by her face as a formation of mud flows off the back of her head resembling hair.
The sludge alien smiles, giving them a proper salute. “Lucy Mann reporting for duty Mr. Cinder, sir! “Eheheh! *Snort!* Eheheh!”
Izuku’s in total shock-and-awe, completely lost for words. “Wh-wh-what? What are you?”
Hisashi answers. “She’s a Sludgepuppy.”
Izuku frowns. “Sludgepuppy?”
The Sludgepuppy, or rather, Lucy chimes in. “Well, that’s what some people like to refer to us as.”
“She’s a Lenopan.” Hisashi continues. “A species from the Andromeda Galaxy that have the ability to shapeshift thanks to their extremely malleable bodies.”
Now that’s cool. “Woah.”
“You bet, woah!” Lucy laughs. “But if this” she gestures to her form. “is still a little too much for you, I can change.”
Without waiting for an answer, she twirls around again, her body shifting and remodeling itself instantly. And thus, what was or is an alien now appears as nothing more than a normal teenage girl. With porcelain skin instead of sludge, gold-blonde hair instead of mud but still with fuchsia-colored eyes. She’s now wearing a black polo-dress with a red collar and a red star on the chest. With white knee-high socks with black and red converse.
“So?” She adjusts her getup, taking a moment to admire her human disguise. “What do you think?”
Izuku shyly averts his gaze, hoping she doesn’t notice his light blush. “You look…good.”
Hisashi snaps his fingers, finally recognizing Lucy. “Now I remember you! We met a long time ago, didn’t we?”
Lucy smiles, sitting back down. “I’m glad you remembered. We met during my cousin’s wedding a long time ago.”
“That’s right. You were so little back then. How are they by the way? And you’re folks?”
“Everyone's doing real well. The in-laws are still a bit salty, but they haven’t caused any trouble since.”
“That’s good.” Actually, that’s a relief especially after that disaster of a wedding: he still feels bad about turning the in-laws into stone but it couldn’t have been helped.
“Hang on.” Izuku spins around, shocked by Hisashi’s reaction. “Did you know she or the officer was a Len-Leno, um, a Sludgepuppy?”
He shakes his head. “Not at first but after she gave me so many hints it was easy to figure out.” But the fuchsia eyes, being from the Andromeda Galaxy, and of course the sludge were all great clues.
However, there is still much Hisashi doesn’t know. “But what I still don’t understand is what you’re doing here on Earth. Because you’re clearly not here on vacation.”
“Believe me I wish I was.” Lucy’s peppy demeanor dies down, somberly staring down at the table like a kicked puppy. “I’m afraid my mission’s gone south and I’m in a real bind because of it.”
Izuku starts. “Mission? Are you a Plumber?”
“That I am, newbie.” She giggles. “You’re looking at Plumber Academy's top student, Lucy Mann!”
The greenette’s jaw drops. “Top student?!”
“Yup, third year. I’ll be graduating later this school year.”
Hisashi nods. “Impressive, I see you’ve already started your work studies that usually doesn't happen until the latter half of the school year.”
“Thanks to my physiology I’m perfect for espionage and infiltration so I got recruited early. Like first year early.”
Hisashi lets out a whistle, thoroughly impressed. “Now that’s quite the feat.”
“Thank you.”
Izuku, not wanting to be a downer, still feels obligated to interrupt. “But…what about your mission?”
“Oh, right” She almost forgot. “My mission…is to stop Ragnarok.”
Hisashi goes quiet, focusing on Lucy’s every word. “We’re listening.”
“Ragnarok’s an ex-Plumber with many ties to the underworld. He went rogue after becoming greedy and power hungry, literally. He repurposed his star cruiser into a devastating weapon, one capable of destroying your sun.”
Izuku’s not sure if heard her right. “Our…sun?”
“Yes.”
“How?”
“By absorbing it.” She speaks definitely not at all mixing her words. “His ship has the ability to drain energy from stars, destroying them in the process. Once he’s drained a star and killed it, he sells the energy off to the highest bidder. With no care of how or what they’ll use it for.”
“That’s awful!” Izuku shouts, fear begins to bubble up inside. “He’ll kill everyone if he does that!”
“I know, that’s why he has to be stopped. If he’s not, then this planet and all its residence will be cast into a never-ending darkness.” And death.
“We can’t let that happen! We have to find him and stop him before it’s too late.” He begins to panic muttering away as all the worst-case scenarios play in his head. “Everything will freeze, even the ocean. We’ll lose power and everyone will be panicking! It’ll literally mean doomsday for us all! This is bad. This is really bad! But how do we find him? How do we even get to his ship? What do we do?! We’re all gonna d-BLEH…!!”
Lucy slaps her hand over his mouth, her hand becoming thick sludge to shut him up. “Cool your jets, will ya?”
He nods, having snapped out of his panic attack.
“You can relax.” Lucy states firmly and honestly, pulling her hand away as it reforms. “Ragnarok won’t be stealing your sun any time soon.”
Hisashi leans forward, listening acutely. “Why?”
“As I mentioned before, I specialize in espionage and infiltration.”
The Midoriyas listen intently to Lucy’s story.
“My mission was to infiltrate and investigate Ragnarok’s ship. Well, I did, and it was going well for me, easy in fact, but not for long. During my investigation I discovered the source of his power and the key to controlling his entire ship. And so, I stole it before he could activate it. Unfortunately, I was discovered immediately after.” Literally seconds after taking it. “I managed to hijack his teleporter and beam myself down to Earth. Actually, landing in Japan was a happy accident to be honest. But either way he came after me, and he’s been chasing me ever since.” Well for a day but still.
“Teleporter?” Izuku frowns, dejected, wondering why the villains always get the cool stuff. “Well, that explains how he disappeared back there.”
He must have the teleporter traced on him at all times in case of trouble. That’s exactly how he was able to disappear so quickly when Izuku chased him and the stranger into the alley.
“Wait, so then Ragnarok was chasing you!” Izuku shouts, putting the pieces together. “You were the guy in the trench coat!”
“Yup!” Lucy smiles. “And I do appreciate you trying to save me, hero.” She winks making him blush from embarrassment.
Hisashi interrupts, bringing up a valid question. “Why didn’t you call Japan HQ for backup.”
Lucy frowns, shaking her head. “I tried but the moment I reached out Ragnarok found me. That’s actually why he ended up in the Shopping District like he did.”
“That’s not good.” Hisashi ponders wondering how he did it. “He must have some sort of communication interception technology. No wonder you’ve had to remain radio silent.”
“Because of that I’ve been stranded here. I can’t call for help.”
Izuku tries to lighten the mood. “Good thing we were here then.”
“Yeah, talk about lucky.”
“What about this key?” Hisashi questions. “You said you stole it, is that right?”
“I sure did.” Lucy reaches towards her core where her body opens up, the sludge parting allowing her to reach inside and pull out a small thin piece of metal. “Here it is.”
She holds up a thin silver rod that honestly is not at all impressive for something that’ll bring about the end of the world. The only significant thing about the…key is the three odd hooks protruding out from the tip.
Izuku frowns, finding the key…kinda lacking that doomsday punch to it. “That’s it?”
“Hey, it may not look like much but trust me if he gets his hands on it, it’ll spell doom for your planet.” Already nervous enough about showing it Lucy’s hand swallows the key and tucks it away back in her body. “Without it he can’t steal your sun or even piolet his ship and with it I have enough evidence to incarcerate him for good. I just need a way to get the key back to Plumber Academy where it can be locked up for good and put a stop to Ragnarok’s crimes once and for all.”
And with that, Hisashi finally understands the full scope of the situation and how dire it truly is. “That sounds like a lot to do alone.”
“It is but that’s the job.”
‘This is pretty serious.’ Izuku thinks. ‘Talk about high stakes.’ He looks at his father. “What do we do?”
“I’ll tell you what we’ll do.” Without any warning Hisashi gets up and leaves the room.
The teens watching him are unsure if they should follow or not.
But after a minute or two Hisashi returns this time with a map in hand. “Stop by the kiosk next door.” He explains.
He sits back down and spreads the map of the city out on the table.
“Hm.” He thinks, examining the map before explaining his plan. “Clearly Ragnarok’s monitoring all communication coming in and out of the city and since we don’t know exactly how he’s doing this it’s too much of a risk for us to try and contact Plumber HQ for backup.” So, no chance of getting help from Nezu, Thirteen, or even Ochaco nor Mina.
“We’re on our own then.” Izuku states, figuring as much already.
“Afraid so, but that’s okay.” Hisashi points out their location on the map. “We’re here and…” He drags his finger across the map, sliding it across to the literal other side of the city. “and here in the Adachi-district is where most of Tokyo’s alien population reside.”
Izuku’s not sure why that’s useful. “So? How’s that help us?”
“It helps because that means that they’ll have resources available for us. Like a ship.”
Izuku lights up, now understanding the importance.
“It’s perfect.” agrees Lucy. “I can hire a ship to get me back to the Academy before Ragnarok even realizes it.”
“That's right.” confirms Hisashi. “Now we’re just gonna have to keep a low profile as we cut our way through the city.”
Izuku pauses. “What about the Rustbucket? Why don’t we take that and just drive there?”
Hisashi gives Izuku a sad embarrassed smile. “I’d love to actually.” he shows Izuku his keys, dangling from the chain the automatic starter blinks red, beeping.
“Are those the keys?”
“Yeah, it’s a homing beacon for the RV so it can find us.”
“Find us? You mean it can drive itself?!”
“Of course, but for some reason it hasn’t arrived yet.”
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The Rustbucket sits in gridlocked traffic. Miles and miles of cars stretching across the highway and streets preventing anyone from moving. All packed together like sardines, unable to move or do anything but uselessly honk their horns at each other.
Chopper sits near the front, eyeing the nonmoving traffic.
“This is bullshit.” Kraab spits, seated upon the dashboard.
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“We can’t wait forever.” Hisashi stands up, folding the map away. “The longer we wait around the more time Ragnarok has to find us.”
Lucy grins, appreciating the help. “Shake a leg newbie. We got a planet to save!”
Izuku is thrilled to help but they have another issue! “Hang on, did you both forget?!”
The two pause.
“There’s a city-wide search for Ragnarok and for Lucy, technically.”
Hisashi glowers. “You’re right.” If they run into anyone like Endeavor, Fatgum, and Inspector Tezuka it might just throw a real bad monkey wrench into their plan. If they get found out the best case would be the exposure of alien life and the worst case is worldwide panic prior of judgement day. So, no pressure.
“We’ll just do our best to keep a low profile. We’ll keep our distance from the heroes and police as best we can. If we have to, I'll do my best to distract them so you can get Lucy away from the scene.”
Izuku doesn’t like it, it would mean that his Dad would have to trash his reputation again, but if the situation turns then it’s the best option they have. “I understand.”
Lucy pats Izuku on the shoulder. “I’m in your hands.” She looks to her superior. “Both of yours.”
“We’ll get you out of here, kid.” Hisashi promises. “You have my word.”
She smiles in appreciation.
And so, after dropping the money due at the counter the trio head to face their next greatest challenge. Striding forward, determined to face it head on as Izuku pulls his hoodie on, Lucy striding along beside him her eyes trained for any signs of trouble.
All the while they follow Hisashi…Cinder out into the open as he dawns his respirator. “Now, who’s ready to paint the town red?”
To be continued…
Notes:
I know, I know, this story’s 2nd anniversary and I left you all on a cliffhanger! But it had to be done. Actually, this chapter was twice as long but this week really kicked my butt, and I couldn’t finish the rest on time. So now this chapter will be a 3 Parter. That said, Part 2 is nearly complete, like only a day or 2 away from being done. BUT I don’t think I will post it next week, rather I will post it 2 weeks from now. Why? Because I wanna finish Part 3 first. This way I can update twice within 2 weeks of each other rather than a month. At least that is the hope, but we’ll see because the next chapter afterwards is sadly gonna be a long one again. I don’t want it to be but I’m really bad at cutting content out soooo yeah. But to make you guys feel better we are approaching the end of this arc: I’d say (not including parts 2 and 3) we have between 4-5 chapters. I might cut one out and post it on the side story “Heroes Never Die; It’s Hero Time, Anytime” at a later date.
*To be honest I thought for sure we’d be further in the story than we are. My original goal was that we’d be at the Overhaul Arc or at least at the Kamino Ward Arc but things have been busy. But progress is progress and I have no intention of quitting on this story yet!
*Also, the reason there is no preview is because this chapter was technically setting up what’s to come. Therefore, it’s a preview in of itself.
*Oh, real quick the Bumblebee cameo at the beginning meant nothing, Hatsume never found out she was dealing with an alien robot. She just assumed he was a normal robot ;)
*PLEASE* check out my new side story for this story called “Heroes Never Die; It’s Hero Time, Anytime.” You will find an assortment of one shots that take place in the canon of this main story. I update this side story weekly along with posts about how the next main chapter’s progress is going and when it will come out. Most of the one shots are really short little stories but there are full chapters there such as “OVA: My Zombie Academia.” Which is a great change from the norm and is again canon to the main story.
Chapter 60: More Than Meets the Eye Part II
Summary:
Hisashi and Izuku have team up with Lucy Mann to defeat Ragnarok. But with the police on their tail as well as the villains, Hisashi can't help but compare it to a time when he was in a situation similar to this.
Notes:
Part 2 is here!! As promised! See!! And you all thought I was lying. Take that naysayers!
*I forgot to mention this last time, I thought I did but I forgot. But Inspector Tezuka is straight out of the Ducktales reboot series.
*PLEASE* check out my new side story for this story called “Heroes Never Die; It’s Hero Time, Anytime.” You will find an assortment of one-shots that take place in the canon of this main story. Most are really short little stories but there are full chapters there such as “OVA: My Zombie Academia.” Which is a great change from the norm and is again canon to the main story.
*This story has a TV Tropes page so feel free to check it out.*
https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Fanfic/HeroesNeverDieItsHeroTime
*Disclaimer I do not own the rights to Ben 10 or MHA.*
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Previously on Heroes Never Die; It’s Hero Time.
“I can’t believe I'm here!” Izuku cheers, his eyes wide and sparkling with child-like wonder. “I finally get to explore TOKYO!!!”
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“MIDORIYA!!!”
Hisashi pales as the crow-head woman marches forward. “Ah, Officer Tezuka. Hello. What are you doing in Tokyo-OW!!”
With one swift motion the officer managed to grab Hisashi by his arms and throw him against the hood of her car!
“Keeping it safe from corrupt scumbags like you.” She snarls.
“Midoriya?”
Izuku freezes, the voice of familiarity snapping him out of his shock and fear. “Tokoyami?”
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“Sooo, your mom’s a cop. That’s cool.”
Tokoyami smiles. “Yes, I’m very proud of her and her work.”
“Cool! I bet you’re learning a lot.”
“Indeed I am.” Tokoyami pauses, hesitating before finally asking. “Sorry if this seems intrusive but may I ask why my mother wants to arrest your father?”
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Hisashi takes a moment to collect his thoughts before delving into it. “When I was still stationed here on Earth I used to patrol right here in Tokyo as a pro hero. But as you’re well aware that is just a means for me to conduct Plumber work. Well one day I intercepted a pair of…“unique” characters. And well they were on a mission to stop a killer alien robot from destroying the planet. I joined them but there was an incident, and our covert op was discovered by Offi-I mean Inspector Tezuka. We ran and I was reported in for assisting supposed villains. Long story short, obviously we managed to save the day but because I couldn’t allow the police to get their hands on the aliens or their tech, I had to make sure everyone escaped the scene unnoticed. And as a result, I was labeled as a felon and conspirer of villains.”
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Ragnarok holds his chin up as he glares down at the human. “Do you understand just how foolish you were to challenge me? My solar energy beams can burn through anything, even your own flames, Plumber.”
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Cinder swings the rod forth, his thumb pressing down on the pressure gauge while crying out the weapon’s name. “Amenonuhoko!!”
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“Farewell, Plumbers.” Ragnarok aims his glowing claw down upon the downed duo. “I will cherish your demise till the end of my days.”
A veil of flames erupts forth, interfering and blocking the Midoriyas from view.
“I know how you feel.” Endeavor smirks. “I’ve been waiting for that pathetic waste of space to drop dead for years.”
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“You’re here too, Todoroki?!” Izuku gasps.
Shoto hurries to the Midoriyas’ side. “Yeah, and honestly sad to say I’m not surprised to see you here too.”
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“Hi there! Is this one with you?” He points to Izuku’s feet dangling out from his belly fat.
“He is.” Shoto responds.
“Oh, oops!” The man inhales and with it Izuku falls out with a pop! “Sorry about that kid! I was aiming for the other guy.”
Izuku gasps for air. “It’s…all…good. Oh, wait, you’re Fatgum!”
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“Lucy Mann reporting for duty Mr. Cinder, sir! “Eheheh! *Snort!* Eheheh!”
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Hisashi explains. “She’s a Sludgepuppy.”
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“Oh, right” She almost forgot. “My mission…is to stop Ragnarok.”
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She speaks definitely not at all mixing her words. “His ship has the ability to drain energy from stars, destroying them in the process. Once he’s drained a star and killed it he sells the energy off to the highest bidder. With no care of how or what they’ll use it for.”
“My mission was to infiltrate and investigate Ragnarok’s ship. During my investigation I discovered the source of his power and the key to controlling his entire ship. And so I stole it before he could activate it. Unfortunately, I was discovered immediately after. I managed to hijack his teleporter and beam myself down to Earth. And he’s been chasing me ever since.”
“I just need a way to get the key back to Plumber Academy where it can be locked up for good and put a stop to Ragnarok’s crimes once and for all.”
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“We’re here and…” Hisashi drags his finger across the map, sliding it across to the literal other side of the city. “and here in the Adachi-district is where most of Tokyo’s alien population reside.”
Izuku’s not sure why that’s useful. “How’s that help us?”
“It helps because that means that they’ll have resources available for us. Like a ship.”
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Lucy pats Izuku on the shoulder. “I’m in your hands.” She looks to her superior. “Both of yours.”
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‘You were right, Tezuka.’ Hisashi thinks with an ironic smile. ‘This does all seem suspiciously familiar.’
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Cinder chuckles. “Aw, Magister Patelliday! How you doing you old coot?”
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[“We just received word from Plumber HQ that a rogue scientist has decided to bring quote-on-quote peace to this here planet.”]
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[“You’re not going at this alone. To help defeat this quack and his creation Plumber HQ decided to send us our own little genius to help us. And they are bringing a specialized device tailored made to stopping this madman and his rampage.”]
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Cinder frowns, finding the aliens…not exactly what he expected. They’re Galvan’s which is great but…they’re rather odd even for their species.
The two Galvans spot Cinder staring down at them, shrinking back in surprise.
“Oh, um,” The taller one waves, smiling up at Cinder. “Hello Earthling.”
The shorter one nods, hiding behind his friend. “We, um, come in peace.”
Cinder raises an eyebrow. ‘Well, these two are certainly…unique.’
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Cannon Busters Opening - Showdown
(Beginning Instrumentals)
An open road, a bright sun illuminating the beautiful summer day, and the rush of wind in one’s ears as the Rustbucket cruises by moving across the road like a sports car before zooming past with grace.
We got places to go, things to do, people to see, and we got to get it done right away.
Izuku adjusts his hoodie, tugging it down over his body. All before gripping the dial of the Omnitrix and giving it a shine with his fingers.
So if you on the crew, guess we a team. Thicker than thieves and we all tryna help find a way
Hisashi buttons up his Hawaiian short, before grabbing his respirator and dawning it over his maw. He then snatches up a few loose tickets and pamphlets before tucking them away.
If you know the destination, we making conversation. Time is ticking, sun is setting, we got no time for waiting
Chopper latches his leg to his body, readjusting it. Before his arms pop out and flex about making sure they’re working properly.
Might be the showdown, Looks like it's 'bout to go down
Bust through with the cannon, at the hoedown
(Instrumentals)
Izuku slams down on the Omnitrix! In a flash of green the screen scrolls down to reveal his aliens: Feedback, XLR8, Grey Matter, Four Arms, Ditto, Ripjaws, Terraspin, Water Hazard, Lodestar, Buzzshock, Diamondhead, Big Chill, Heatblast, Stinkfly, Wildmutt, Rath, Wildvine, and Bullfrag.
Transition into title sequence: HEROES NEVER DIE; IT’S HERO TIME
So we won't fall, until gravity is gone
Izuku grins falling through the air alongside Rath, Wildvine, and several other inhuman silhouettes! As the glow of the sunrise illuminates U.A. in the background!
We've been on this road too long, so long
Hisashi and Izuku stand back to back looking away from each other as the scene rotates around them.
The scenes flips in rapid succession with characters standing back to back!
(Instrumentals)
To Thirteen and Ochaco!
To Ochaco and All Might!
To All Might and Gran Torino!
And to Gran Torino and Hisashi!
And I can't stop, we can't stop
I'm so far away from home
We've been on this road too long, too long
A legion of villains have their backs to the camera but as the camera slides through their line up, each of them turn to acknowledge the audience.
Kraab’s claw flexes and clamps nearly clipping the camera.
Rojo folds their arms together and smirks as the camera rolls past.
Sunder raises his axe at the ready.
Silhouette (C) stands tall and proud, towering over the camera.
Nue bares a sharp tooth grin, his eyes gleaming with malice before the camera zooms away and up into to the forbidding sky, through the void of space, through the walls of the command ship, before halting before an all observing Vilgax.
Playing with fire (Fire!)
Take me higher
From up in the air Cinder releases a cloud of flames down upon Rojo below! Rojo cuts through the flames before rocketing up and clashing with the hero in midair!
We're on our way, we're on our way
Undivided (-Vided!)
All Might zooms past, his grin wide, as he slams his fist into Silhouette (C)! Silhouette (C) crashes into the ground, kicking up smoke, but it rises again, unharmed.
And ignited
We're on our way, we're on our way, yeah!
From the smoke cloud, Ochaco leaps back in a spin as Sunder soars after her. Sunder his axe at her but she counters it with a Ryou Sphere!
On our way, we're going
Nue grins madly as he stares down Deku who grins back just as determined and manically.
And no mistakes while we're rolling around town
We just came back round
The Rustbucket bursts forth zooming down the highlighted highway, gracefully zooming past Bakugou, Kirishima, Tsuyu, Hatsume, Kaminari, Jiro, Tokoyami, Shoto and a number of silhouettes!
You don't wanna show out
Close up of a smiling Hisashi.
Cut to a closeup of Chopper.
Cut to a closeup of Kraab.
Finally a close up to a grinning Deku!
Might be a showdown
Deku’s hand slams down on the Omnitrix, the alien green light swallows the screen!
Woo!
Freeze on the image of Deku, Cinder, Chopper, and Kraab posing before the setting sun, their shadows casted far off over the ground towards the camera.
(Illustrated by CreateGunner1209)
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Ch.55 More Than Meets the Eye Part II
##########(Flashback)#########
Cinder stares down at the little Galvans in disbelief. “Seriously, you two are the reinforcements?”
The pair of Galvans hesitate, giving each other somewhat nervous looks before the fatter of the two answers back.
“W-why of course we are, Earthling.”
“Yeah!” shouts the thinner one. “What were you expecting?”
Cinder shrugs, shaking his head. “I don’t know a Tetramand or maybe an Appoplexian? You know someone with a little more…oomph.”
The bigger of the two Galvans frowns, offended. “That is rather insulting, Earthling. I will have you know that us Galvans are far superior in intellect to any other beings you may find.”
Cinder frowns, raising an eyebrow. “Right, and what exactly can I call these two superior intellectual beings?” He gestures to said beings.
The taller one is more than happy to answer “I’m Blukic and this is my friend Driba.”
Driba nods. “That we are, and we're here to assist in any way we can sir…” He holds, allowing Cinder to introduce himself.
“Midoriya, Hisashi Midoriya.” Cinder introduces. “But while you’re here, call me Cinder.”
Driba frowns, confused. “Cinder?”
Blukic starts. “Oh, right I heard that many of the Plumbers here on Earth take up aliases to hide their identities.”
“That’s dumb.”
“It’s not.” Cinder defends before moving on to address their flying saucer, which may or may not have been shot out of the sky. “Well, what happened? Were you two attacked?”
Blukic and Driba hesitate again, looking at each other in silent worry.
“Oh, oh yeah we sure were!” Driba spits out in a hurry. “We were, um, fired out of the sky!”
Blukic shakily nods his head. “Oh, yes, most definitely!”
The two Galvans give the human wide sheepish grins, hoping he’ll buy it.
He doesn’t. “Then how come there aren't any scorch marks left behind by laser fire?”
The two’s smiles wash away in an instant.
“We were boarded!” shouts Blukic.
Cinder frowns, even more suspicious of them. “Really a ship that was specifically made to carry Galvans was boarded?”
Blukic pauses before answering. “Yes.”
“Oh, you two are gonna be fun.” Cinder rolls his eyes, mumbling under his breath. “So, um, what exactly are your…positions within the Plumbers.”
Driba is quick to answer. “I will have you know that we are-”
However, Blukic obliviously cuts in. “We’re Tech Support.”
“Tech Support?!” Cinder gasp! “I thought HQ was sending me a field agent, not the Geek Squad?!” Cinder pauses, before turning away. “Excuse me for a moment fellas.” Turning away he pulls out his badge and calls Patelliday. “Patelliday?! What is going on here?”
[“I’m just as confused as you are.”] responds the Magister from the other end. [“We were supposed to be sent one agent, not two. Perhaps there was a communications mix-up. But either way their main objective was to deliver the device.”]
“Right.” Cinder sighs, pulling his badge away as he re-addresses the duo. “So, fellas. You were supposed to deliver something to help. Is that right?”
Driba gasps. “Um, oh, yes we were!”
And with that both Blukic and Driba rush back into their flying saucer leaving Cinder outside to wait.
Cinder waits beside the small ship, listening in as the duo shout and clatter around for the device.
“Where is it?”
“It’s over here!”
“No, it’s not, I specifically remember us putting it over here!”
“That’s not right, Driba. I know for a fact we put it in here.”
“Ah I found it! See Blukic I told you it was here.”
“I’ll never doubt you again, Driba.”
Blukic and Driba scurry back out of the ship with the device in hand.
Cinder frowns, eyeing the strange alien device.
Honestly it looks like a pair of high-tech alien tweezers that can fit in the palm of Cinder’s hand. With two sharp pincers linked to a bulbous green engine that encapsulates a strange greenish energy of ooze inside a small tube.
“What is it?” asks Cinder.
“That Earthling is the Galvanian Skeuomorph.” answers Driba. “The very device that will save your planet.”
Cinder frowns, eyeing the device critically. “A goober.”
Driba frowns. “Pardon?”
“You know a goober.” Cinder defends. “That’s what I call these McGuffin type things. I mean there’s always a flashdrive, or a virus, or a key that saves the day. So I call it a goober to make things easy.” He explains as he takes the device from Driba.
“Right…but in any case, please be careful with the Skeuomorph. It has the potential to destroy a radius of 400 meters.”
Cinder spittakes, nearly dropping the Skeuomorph in shock! “It can destroy a city block!?!”
“I said it had the potential to.” Driba corrects.
“Try to listen, Earthling.” chastises Blukic.
Cinder frowns. “Call me Cinder, not Earthling.”
“Right, of course…Mr. Cinder sir.”
“Yeah.” Cinder pockets the device, making sure not to agitate it too much as he does so. “Well fellas thanks for the delivery. But if you don’t mind, I have a job to do.” With a salute he turns away, ready to get going.
However, the duo are quick to shout out.
“Wait!”
“Now just hold on for one minute there, Mr. Cinder sir!”
Cinder pauses, allowing them a moment to speak.
Driba shys away under Cinder’s gaze. “W-we, um, can’t go back until we’ve seen the mission through.”
Cinder’s stare narrows. “Oh, really?”
“Yes, because, um, well, um-”
Blukic cuts in, defending his friend. “Because the Skeuomorph is highly sensitive and we can’t risk it going haywire on you!”
Driba nods, relieved to have an alibi. “Exactly!”
“Uh, huh?” Cinder’s not quite buying it.
Driba continues. “That’s why we insist that we accompany you on this mission.”
“Um, I’m not sure that’s exactly a…smart idea.”
“Well, we think it is.” Driba smirks, gesturing to himself and his partner.
Who chimes in with. “And we’re geniuses.”
Cinder pauses, wondering if these two really do mean it. “Well, I’m not sure if you’re aware or not but aliens aren’t exactly common knowledge on Earth if you know what I mean.”
Blukic clearly doesn’t know. “What does that mean?”
Driba, however, does. “He’s talking about how small minded most Earthlings are. Apparently, they have an instinctual fear of the unknown.”
Blukic shakes his head in pity. “My my, must be a sad existence. Pushing anyone and everyone away just because they’re different. No wonder Earthlings can never come to solutions effectively.”
Okay even Cinder felt the sting of truth behind that. And it frikin hurts. “In any case…I can’t exactly pocket you guys and call you my pet frogs.”
Driba smirks, waving the Plumber off. “No need for that Mr. Cinder sir.”
Blukic breaks into a wide grin as well. “We have our own means of getting around.”
On que the flying saucer ejects out a droid from its side. The droid stands up on its own, moving around on auto-piolet as it turns to face the hero and the aliens.
The droid is nearly as tall as Cinder with a very humanoid form. Its body is thin and metallic with an array of wires coiled and protruding from its limbs. Its head is small and narrow with round yellow eyes.
Blukic grins up at the droid. “Say hello to the PROXY drone!”
[Look up “PROXY droid from Star Wars.”]
Cinder eyes PROXY curiously. “What is it?”
“It’s our disguise.” answers Driba. “It’s capable of generating a hologram around itself, allowing the rider to blend right into the populous.”
Blukic and Driba hurry to the droid, climbing up its thin frame to its chest. The chest rips open revealing a small cockpit inside.
Blukic smiles up at Cinder. “We can pilot this drone from inside.”
Cinder eyes the cockpit, noticing how there’s only one seat. “Why does the cockpit only seat one?”
The two Galvans jolt, startled by the revelation before they turn and give the hero the same excuse. “Budget cuts.”
Cinder doesn’t buy it either but they’re running out of time and honestly, he’s kinda done with this. “Fine, I guess you two can tag along.”
The two share wide grins before they clammer inside, but with a seating of one it isn’t that much of a comfortable squeeze.
“Hey, watch it!”
“No, you watch it!”
“Get your foot out of my face, Driba!”
“Blukic, get your face out of my foot!”
After a minute of them squeezing themselves inside they’re finally able to close the hatch up.
PROXY stands up straight as a hologram washes over its form. And within seconds Cinder finds himself standing before a holographic image of a fellow human. This one thin and gangly with dark hair and sunken in face.
[Think of “B’arzz O’oomm” and his Human Guise from DC’s Young Justice series.]
“I’ll admit it, the hologram’s pretty cool.” Cinder admits, admiring the ingenuity. “Speaking of, can you guys do anything about that?” he points to their downed flying saucer.
PROXY turns and responds back with Driba’s voice. “Oh, yes, of course.”
After a moment the ship’s own holographic technology activates and soon the ship and the damage it wrought vanishes, hidden away under an illusion of untouched forest and earth.
PROXY turns to Cinder, speaking with Driba’s voice. “Well Mr. Cinder sir.” And then it switches to Blukic. “Let’s get this here mission done!”
‘I have a bad feeling about this.’ Cinder thinks, not exactly sure why he feels the way he does. “By the way, where's this mad scientist supposed to appear?”
PROXY responds. “Oh, in a little Earthling village not too far from here.”
“Really? What’s it called?”
Driba tries to recall the name. “Toy-Tokkk-Tokyo. Yeah, Tokyo!”
Cinder pales, stunned. “Nani?!”
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
Meanwhile, atop of one of Tokyo’s many skyscrapers a bright blinding light statics adobe the city. A portal breaks through the night sky, summoning forth an alien being.
The portal vanishes and outcomes forth a humanoid alien of white, grey and black in color. Almost like he was taken right out of a film from the 1950s. Even his appearance was more fictitious like how humans would have perceived aliens back then as grey men with antennas and sharp ears. His costume is outlandish and odd while an emblem of a planet with two rings is displayed across his chest.
The alien smiles down at the shining city and its oblivious inhabitants. “People of Earth! Prepare for peace for I am Benevelon!”
As he speaks another portal forms at the base of the tower, this one much larger than the one that summoned him.
“Come B.L.R.R.T.!” Benevelon chants, smiling gleefully. “Let us bring blessed bliss to this planet!”
Suddenly a giant mass of metal drops down onto the city street, the portal vanishing all at once. The giant opens his gaze which falls upon the terrified Earthlings below.
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
“His name’s Benevelon?” Cinder gawks as he and PROXY dash through the city.
“That is correct.” responds Driba from inside PROXY.
“And he’s here to bring “peace” to us?”
“Yes.”
“Huh, talk about backwards logic.”
“Indeed.”
As they dash through the city in record time Cinder’s badge rings, alerting him of an incoming call.
Cinder holds the badge to his ear. “What’s up Patelliday?”
[“Cinder?!”] Patelliday’s voice shouts from the badge. [“What are you doing?!”]
“Hey, don’t blow up at me, I just picked up the package.”
[“Well, I’ll tell you what’s blowing up. The entirety of downtown Tokyo!”]
Cinder halts to a stop just in front of an electronics store. “What are you on about…?”
His voice trails away as he turns towards the electronic store and it’s wall of TVs. The TVs are alight, broadcasting live coverage of the battle taking place downtown. A battle of heroes and police against a massive robot taken from a 1950s movie!!
Cinder takes off for the scene. “We’re on our way!”
[“You better!”]
########(End Flashback)#######
Hisashi sits back, his eyes staring out into the distance not at all aware of his surroundings and instead soaks in his memories. And what better place to be lost in thought than on a bus that’s filled with friendly people who are all lost in their own little worlds.
In the seat in front of him, Izuku spins around and gives his dad an odd look. “Should you really be wearing that?” He points to Hisashi’s hero costume.
Hisashi looks down as his red Plumber suit. “Why not?”
“Isn’t the point not to stand out?”
Hisashi shrugs, leaning back and enjoying the smooth bus ride. “It’s Tokyo there are heroes and cosplayers everywhere.” He gestures towards the window.
Izuku peers out and sure enough spots a group of Sailor Moon cosplayers hanging out on the sidewalk. There also someone parading around in a Master Chief costume too. As they continue heroes and sidekicks pop into view every now for example at one-point Izuku spots a bald guy in a yellow suit, white cape, and red gloves hanging out with what he thinks might have been a cyborg, but the bus was moving a bit too fast for him to get a good look.
Izuku turns back to his dad, giving him a questioning look. “So, you’re hiding in plain sight, then?”
Hisashi smiles and nods. “Exactly.”
Izuku’s eyes narrow. “…You forgot your disguise back on the shopping street, didn’t you?”
“Yeah, I totally forgot about it.”
“Knew it.” Izuku turns back around and sits back in his seat beside Lucy who’s enthralled by the bright lights and colorful sights Tokyo has to offer even while stuck inside a bus.
Even though traffic is bad they still decided to take the bus to the Adachi-district. It seemed like a good idea at the time, allowing them to hide in plain sight, they stay covered while still on the move, and they don’t have to walk so a win-win.
Although he can do without being crammed into his seat and the loud wailing of the toddler in the seat in front of him. “Waaaaaahh!! Waaaaaahh!!”
His mother is trying her best to calm him, leaning him up against his shoulder the little guy continues to cry and cry.
Lucy fidgets in her seat wanting to help settle the toddler, when she has an idea. Her hands turn back into sludge that melds and slithers about becoming all sorts of bright colors and shapes.
The tearful toddler watches as her sludge turns from green to red to blue to yellow before becoming cartoonish versions of animals like dogs and sheep. She has them prance around like a pair of sock puppets before remolding them into bunnies.
“Ehehehe!!” The toddle giggles, smiling cheerfully as the puppets.
Izuku, although glad to see the child smiling, can’t help but be worried. “Should you really be doing that here?”
“It’s fine.” Lucy smiles, continuing with her little show. “What’s the harm?”
Izuku supposes nothing and sits back, staring out of the opposite window.
Too bad he hadn’t decided to look through the nearest window instead. If he had he might have just barely made out the nearly invisible silhouette of a camouflaged scout drone. The drone’s surveillance zooms in on Lucy’s transforming hands before pulling back and gliding away.
But the occupants are none the wiser, happily enjoying their cheap ride to their destinations. Or they would be if the bus hadn’t suddenly come to a screeching halt, nearly throwing everyone out of their seats.
“Waaaaaahh!! Waaaaaahh!!” The toddler wails, startled by the sudden whiplash.
“Move it, you idiot! Get off the road!” The bus driver shouts, honking his horn.
The other passengers all stand up, trying to get a look and as a result blocking the Midoriyas’ and Lucy’s view.
Izuku tries to peer over but he’s too short to see anything past people’s shoulders. “Why’d we stop?”
“Traffic?” Lucy suggests with a shrug.
Hisashi stands up and tries to sneak a peek. Through the cracks between people’s heads he manages to get a quick glimpse of a scowling Ragnarok marching through traffic making a beeline right for their bus.
Hisashi dawns his respirator, grabbing Izuku by his shoulder, alerting him. “Get ready to run.”
Izuku and Lucy nod, already picking up on the situation.
Cinder slips through the crowd, signaling the bus driver to open the door which he does, allowing Cinder to exit and approach Ragnarok. “Isn’t it weird how you always run into people you know when you’re in the city? I mean what are the chances?”
Ragnarok pauses, surprised to see the Plumber before quickly getting over it. “Extremely likely.”
“Ominous.” Cinder laughs.
“Enough games Plumber.” Ragnarok growls. “I know that thief is with you. Hand her over along with the key and I promise not to bring harm to you and your…spawn.”
“I can’t help but feel like that’s an empty promise, considering what you’re gonna use that key for.”
Ragnarok takes that as a no. “Is that your choice?”
“It is. But now I’m gonna give you a choice.” Cinder’s smile turns sour, his gaze narrowing like a predator that’s entering the hunt. “I can bring you in warm,” He brandishes his Amenonuhoko and ignites the ends. “Or I can bring you in…hot.”
Ragnarok’s scowl darkens in response. “Burn in hell, Red Spot.” His fists glow ready to strike.
Cinder charges forth before he can, swiftly dodging the incoming beam before swinging his spear forward. The two clash, throwing strikes and swings at each other, one after the other, vying for control of the battle.
Lucy and Izuku watch uselessly from inside the bus, waiting for an opening to slip away but they have another problem: no one on the bus is running away! And not just them but pedestrians on the street have stopped to watch on with their phones, finding the fight more as entertainment than a need to seek shelter.
Lucy pulls Izuku's attention. “We should leave, now.”
“How?”
The two scan for an answer.
“There!” Izuku points towards the subway entrance.
Lucy pulls on Izuku’s arm. “Let’s hurry while he’s distracted.”
“Hang on.” The greenette pulls his arm free so he can unlock the Omnitrix. “If we gotta leave Dad behind then we might as well make a “run” for it.” He dials up the appropriate alien for the job. “Lucy, meet XLR8!!”
When the Omnitrix’s energy encompasses his entire being, Izuku expects to feel his limbs stretch and bend. But instead, his entire body feels like it’s inflating, bloating to impossibly large proportions from his fingers to his feet and head. His spine stretches and expands making him feel stiff and heavy before the transformation washes away and suddenly the already cramped bus becomes far more cramped than before.
People yelp and shout as the bus becomes too tightly packed as a heavy weight presses against their backs.
Lucy gasps, when she can finally see again. “I-Izuku?!”
“It…sure…is a tight…fit in here.” Responds the large new alien, squeezed between the seats and other patrons.
Izuku tries to have a look at himself peering into the window to find his reflection staring back at him. This new alien is a hulking, broad-shouldered alien covered in some sort of natural, yellow armor plating on his back, shoulders, and arms. His underbelly is mostly white with trims of black, like that of a panda. His maw is large and filled with sharp teeth, his eyes wide and blinking at his new form.
“What am I?” The new alien ponders aloud.
“I…I think you’re an Arburian Pelarota.” Lucy whispers in his ear.
“That’s…a mouthful.”
“Well, they’re sometimes known as Tortugans.”
“Tortugan.” The Tortugan repeats, allowing the species’ name to roll off his tongue. “Dang it Omnitrix, this is two for two now that you gave me the wrong guy…” He grumbles, whining to himself.
“Why’d you turn into this of all things?”
“I wasn't trying to!”
“Well…come on!” Lucy leaps over the seats and slips past the other riders.
The Tortugan tries his best to squeeze through the bus. “Excuse me. Pardon me.”
“Ow!”
“Watch it!”
“Jerk!”
“I’m so sorry!” The Tortugan apologies as he tries to step out of the bus but his feet are too large and stubby and so he slips, losing his balance. “Woah-woah!!” And he falls, crashing through the door, breaking it, and landing on the road with a loud thunk.
“Oops.” The Tortugan frowns as Lucy tries to help him up.
At the same time, Ragnarok manages to spot Lucy. “The thief!!”
The Tortugan gasps. “Double oops!”
Ragnarok fires off a powerful beam of solar energy at the teens.
Lucy leaps away but the clumsy Tortugan isn’t so limber and so the beam hits him, blasting him into the air!
“Waaah!!” The Tortugan flies through the air before crashing down onto an unsuspecting car.
The car’s hood is smashed in as the road burns as a result of Ragnarok’s powerful beams.
And finally, after witnessing someone other than a hero being attacked the pedestrians finally realize the danger. They immediately panic like headless chickens running away in every direction, hoping to save themselves.
Ragnarok trails his lasers after Lucy.
“Keep your eyes on me!!” shouts Cinder as he swings his flaming staff at Ragnarok’s head.
Ragnarok blocks and proceeds to retaliate.
Lucy rushes to the Tortugan’s side. “You good?”
“Surprisingly…I am.” The transformed Izuku admits, shoving himself off the smashed car. “This new guy can really take a punch.” Must be thanks to that thick shiny armor.
“Yah!”
Hearing his father yell, the Tortugan watches as Cinder takes on Ragnarok.
“I just hope he can pack a punch too.” The Tortugan attempt to step forward.
“No!!” Lucy stops him. “We need to stay on mission.”
The Tortugan pauses, hesitating, weighing his options. “You’re right.”
“Follow me!” Lucy turns and makes a dash for the nearby subway.
“Wait for me!” The Tortugan tries to run after her but it’s slow going, he’s giving it all his might, but it becomes very clear that this alien was not meant to run.
“Hurry!!” Lucy shouts, waiting for him by the entrance.
“Uh, uh…” The Tortugan’s already out of breath just from that short run. He keels over, winded and trying to catch his breath. “Does the Omnitrix have…a sense of humor or something? If I wanted to go slow, I would've gone with Terraspin.”
“Quit goofing off!” Lucy shouts, leaping down the steps and into the subway.
“I’m not!” The Tortugan shouts before trying to follow after her. “Woah!!” Thanks to his tubby feet he slips almost immediately, sliding and bouncing down the steps like a stray beachball.
As Ragnarok fends Cinder off, he spots the teens fleeing into the underground. “I will not allow you to escape me again!!”
Ragnarok unleashed a brilliant explosion of light that blasts Cinder away, tossing him through the window of a nearby convenience store.
Now free, Ragnarok chases after the teens into the subway, rushing past dazed and terrified civilians.
Cinder groans in pain, wobbling out of the store, holding his head. He scans the street and just barely misses Ragnarok disappearing into the subway.
Meanwhile, Lucy bobs and weaves through the crowded subway station as on-goers go about their day oblivious to the battle above ground. She sprints nearly running into various bystanders until coming to a screeching halt just above the train tracks, nearly falling in in the process.
She spins around, looking for Izuku only to see bystanders parting to allow the large and out of breath Tortugan through.
“Why are you running?” She shouts in disbelief.
The Tortugan frowns, coming to a stop beside her and trying to catch his breath. “Shouldn’t I be?”
Suddenly a stray solar beam whizzes over their heads, any closer and they would’ve lost their heads.
Immediately the crowded subway is filled with terrified screams and panicking people.
The two aliens spin around to find Ragnarok marching his way through the panicked sea of pedestrians as if they’re not even there. “Hand it over, thief.”
Lucy looks for a way out. “This way!!” Without waiting she leaps down onto the tracks and takes off running down into the tunnel.
“Are you crazy?!” The Tortugan shouts but she’s already at a full sprint. “I’ll take that as a yes.” And so, he clumsily hops, or rather tumbles, down onto the tracks before running/waddling off after her.
Ragnarok scowls in annoyance before pursuing after them.
As he hops down onto the tracks, Cinder shoves and weaves his way through the panicked flood of people fleeing the scene. As he fights against the wave of people, he scans for Ragnarok only to be too late as he’s already disappeared into the tunnels. As he shoves and snakes his way down a large mechanical machine catches his eye. Peering over Cinder spots a hi-rail parked along the second pair of train tracks.
Back within the tunnels, the two teens duck and run as solar beams fly over their heads.
The transformed Izuku covers his large head as more beams fly their way. “This guy is unrelenting.!”
“You’re telling me!” Lucy shouts from the front.
“Surrender now!!” Ragnarok roars as he concentrates his beams together and unleashes a massive blast of light towards Lucy’s retreating form.
“Look out!” The Tortugan throws himself in the way, taking the hit for Lucy.
The beam slams into his armored back but instead of blasting him to bits the beam is reflected away, dispersing it and leaving nothing more but a temporary scorch on the Tortugan’s hard shell.
“Nice!” Lucy cheers, grabbing the Tortugan’s hand and pulling him along. “How’d you know that Tortugan’s shells were nearly impenetrable?”
“I…didn’t.”
The two teens slide to a halt atop a set of tracks as they enter a massive intersection of train tracks, resulting in a massively wide underground dome, lined with a numerous number of tunnels that stretch to every corner of the city.
“I tire of this chase, Plumbers.”
The teens spin around to find Ragnarok blocking one of said tunnels.
“Give me what is rightfully mine before I burn you all to ash.”
The Tortugan scowls back, stomping forward, putting himself between Ragnarok and Lucy. “You know I might be a newbie but I’m already getting tired of you bad guys and your standard monologuing.”
“Be it as it may. You can’t escape me.” Ragnarok takes in the wide underground system, surveying the battlefield before re-addressing the teens. “This place will be your grave.”
“See that’s where you’re wrong.” The transformed Izuku makes a subtle gesture for Lucy to get behind him, which she does. “You’re just an annoying tourist who doesn’t know the first thing about our culture. If you did you’d know that humans are a…stubborn bunch. And two you’d know that we’re real creative types. And three,” A large smirk stretches across the Tortugan’s lips. “you really should’ve learned about our city planning.”
Ragnarok frowns, fidget the last statement odd. “What?”
The Tortugan grins as a bright light shines behind him, blinding Ragnarok while a loud booming horn and the screech of metal against metal roars through the tunnels.
The Tortugan dives out of the way with Lucy in toe, just in the knick of time.
Ragnarok gasps before leaping out of the way, nearly getting himself run over by this planet’s primitive means of locomotion.
He gets back up, looking but failing to find an opening between the speeding train cars, even so he can still see the teens cowering on the other side.
“Raaaghh!!” He roars, awaiting his moment to attack.
The Tortugan gulps. “He’s not gonna quit.”
“I know.” Lucy scowls in frustration. It’s become very clear that they won’t be able to outrun him like this. They need to slow him down first. “With no one around, what do you say about having another go at him?”
The Tortugan slams his arms together, as if his pads were a pair of drums. “I’m willing to give it a shot.”
Lucy smirks as her sludge washes over her and she dawns her more alien-human hybrid like persona.
The train zooms by, disappearing into the tunnel.
“You were right.” A maddened Ragnarok marches forth. “You humans really are a stubborn lot.”
And so, he fires, intent of ending them.
The Tortugan jumps in the way, blocking the attack with his arm, using his armor to reflect the beam away.
Lucy stretches up, molding and slithering up and around the large alien, quickly slithering close for an attack.
With attention diverted at the Tortugan she gets in close from below reforming and leaping up, slamming her foot into the bottom of his skull!
“Insolent worm!” Ragnarok seethes, swiping at her but his claws harmlessly pass through her malleable form.
“Ya!!” She spins around, delivering a rolling kick into his side.
“Rah!!” Ragnarok roars, firing a beam and forcing her back!
“Yah!!” The Tortugan charges in close and takes a swipe at the mad alien with his large, padded claws.
But he’s far too slow and lacks the power as Ragnarok blocks his arm while jabbing the Tortugan’s stomach with his free hand. His fist glowing brightly before delivering a beam into his underside!
“Gahh!!” The Tortugan gags as he’s blasted backwards, coming to a stop when he crashes into the wall. “Ah, ow!!” Falling, he rubs at his scorched aching belly. “Okay…now that hurts. Like really hurts. Ow.”
Meanwhile, Lucy does her best to avoid the incoming beams, managing to allow them to pass through her but one hit will surely fry her. “What are you doing, newbie?! Fight back!”
“What do you think I’m trying to do?!” The Tortugan struggles to get himself up, nearly falling over again in the process. “I’m not used to this guy!”
“We'll figure it out!” Lucy shouts before leaping away, evading another scorching beam.
With Ragnarok not focused on him, the Tortugan pauses, taking a moment to figure out what exactly this…guy can do. “What does he even do?”
Well one way to find out.
The transformed Izuku takes a deep breath, turns away and exhales as if he could breathe fire. But of course, nothing happens but a whiff of bad alien breath. “So much for breathing fire. Hm?” What else is there? Oh! “Maybe I can fire freeze rays from my eyes.” He squats down and focuses, squinting his eyes as hard as he can.
*Toot!*
The Tortugan blushes, waving at his backside, hoping no one noticed.
“Magnetic blasts?” He raises his claw towards the nearby tracks: he twists and bends his stubby claws as best as he can manage hoping something, anything will happen.
But of course, nothing does.
“Stop goofing around already!!” Lucy seethes as she’s stuck in close quarters combat with Ragnarok.
“I know! I know!” The Tortugan tries his best to rush to help Lucy even if he can’t properly use this guy.
He wobbles over the tracks only to trip over them, taking a tumble and landing on his back atop of them.
The Tortugan blinks, annoyed trying to pull himself up to no avail. After a few attempts he sighs, giving up. “Omnitrix…if you’re listening…next time you give me a new alien please let it be something that’s useful.”
Suddenly the tracks begin to vibrate violently as a bright blinding light washes over him and the roar of an incoming train and its horn screeches in his ears.
“Waahhhh!!” The Tortugan screams as a train steamrolls right for him.
The conductor honks the horn over and over again in a panic, watching useless as the train speeds towards the massive alien.
Lucy spots the downed Tortugan. “Izuku!!” But before she can even attempt to get to him Ragnarok cuts her off with a scorching beam of light, forcing her back.
The train roars, announcing the Tortugan’s demise.
“Waahhh!!” Out of instinct the Tortugan tucks his head in only for his body to naturally curl up into a perfect yellow sphere.
WHAM!!!
The train drives right through the alien but instead of squashing him to hit the rolled up Tortugan and sends him flying. His body spinning through the air, his spherical body bouncing off the walls like a tennis ball. The Tortugan even ricochets off the speeding train, unintentionally being redirected towards Ragnarok.
Ragnarok gasps as the ricocheting’s spinning mass zooms towards him.
WHAM!!!
The spinning Tortugan slams into Ragnarok so hard that he sends him flying back, where he himself crashes into the wall, leaving behind a massive crater in the process.
The Tortugan finally comes to a stop, his curled-up body falling beside Lucy before he unravels allowing the very surprised yet impressed Tortugan to stand up and take in what he’s done.
“Woah! Did you see that?!” He asks with a huge, excited grin on his face.
Lucy breaks into a grin as well. “I sure did! You were like a cannonball!!”
“No, more like a.” The Tortugan puffs out his chest and declares. “CANNONBOLT!!”
“Hm…” Lucy pauses counseling the name. “Don’t…hate it. But we could do better. How about Steamroller? Or Rollout? Oh, what about Roadkill?!”
“Nope!” Cannonbolt readily declares. “Cannonbolt it is. I’m already married to the name. No take backs.”
Lucy can’t help but chuckle, rolling her eyes at how juvenile it is that he even names his transformations as such.
“Ugh…” Ragnarok groans, stumbling his way out from the wall.
Cannonbolt breaks into a wide grin before he hops up and curls up back into a ball. His body spins in place before zooming forward!
In an attempt to counter the incoming attack, Ragnarok unleashes a solar beam in response.
However, the beam like before is easily reflected off Cannonbolt’s spinning armor, refracting it in all directions as he speeds closer and closer.
Ragnarok spins to the right, narrowly avoiding the speeding Cannonbolt who races past and instead crashes into the wall.
After crashing Cannonbolt unfurls, wobbling onto his feet, turning around to try again. But instead, he is met with a punch to the face followed by a sweeping low kick that knocks him off his feet.
“Huh!” He groans as Ragnarok kicks him against the wall.
“Your skill is unrefined, unfocused.” criticizes the mad alien, looming over the downed Cannonbolt.
Cannonbolt scowls in response, curling backup before charging forward in a straight line!
Ragnarok, however, sees the attack coming from a mile away. Sidestepping and allowing the sphere to harmlessly race by once again.
Cannonbolt tries but fails to come to a stop, crashing into the opposite wall instead.
“You lack discipline, boy. You flail about like a child, striking with no purpose or technique.”
Becoming angry and frustrated, Cannonbolt charges once again, his armor tearing into the ground as he propels forward!
This time however Ragnarok doesn’t dodge instead he braces himself and catches the spinning mass with his bare hands. He’s shoved back but he holds his potion, fighting against Cannonbolt with nothing but his sheer will and strength.
“Allow me to show you what years of skill and technique can do.”
With Cannonbolt stuck in place, Ragnarok brings his hand forward, holding out two glowing fingers. Concreting, the tips of his fingers glow brightly before unleashes a concentrated beam right into Cannonbolt’s hide.
The thin yet powerful beam blasts Cannonbolt away, soaring through the air and crashing into the subway’s ceiling before plummeting to the ground.
“Ugh! Ugh…” Cannonbolt groans, having felt that attack.
“Izuku!!” Lucy rushes to his side, relieved to see him alright.
Ragnarok smirks, marching forward.
Lucy scowls back. “Raahh!!” Her body morphs and expands, becoming her more accurate form. “Stay back!” She roars, lunging at him with her massive gooey arms and tendrils.
Ragnarok dodges and blasts the incoming tendrils away.
Lucy backs off, shrinking back to her alien-human form.
Ragnarok smirks. “Please, you can’t possibly hope to defeat me.”
Bright lights shine in his face from the side, blinding him, and making him flinch before WHAM a high speed hi-rail smashes into the villain!
“Got ya!” Cinder shouts as tucks and rolls out of the hi-rail!
The hi-rail speeds off, with Ragnarok glued to its front, it loses traction and slips off the tracks, flipping over and explodes into the wall bursting into flames and hot metal!
Cannonbolt jolts up in shock as the flames illuminate throughout the tunnel system. “Dad?!”
Cinder gets up. “You two alright?”
Lucy nods. “Yeah.” She spots movement from within the flames. “Heads up!”
From inside the inferno, Ragnarok emerges, flames sliding off his body like the wind.
Cinder grips his spear, lighting a flame. “I got this. You two make a run for it.”
Cannonbolt shakes his head worriedly. “But-”
“Go, Izuku!” Cinder shouts, cutting him off.
Cannonbolt’s lips seal tightly, but he refuses to move.
Cinder takes a breath before looking into his son’s eyes. “I’ll be fine, champ. Promise.”
Cannonbolt seems hesitant but after a moment he gives his father a nod. “Alright.” He turns to Lucy. “Let’s roll out!”
He grabs Lucy, curling his body up around her before rolling away in a haste. Spinning in place before ripping towards a random tunnel.
“No! Come back this instant!” Ragnarok seethes, firing after them.
Few of his beams hit the escaping Cannonbolt but they either reflect right off or blasts the alien further away.
Cannonbolt, struggling to make turns or even make out which way he’s going bounces and ricochets off the walls going this way and that before luckily ping-ponging into another tunnel and speeding away in another direction.
“NO!!!” Ragnarok hurries forward in pursuit.
However, Cinder strikes at him with his Amenonuhoko: Dual Burn!!
Ragnarok scowls, back stepping as he blocks the incoming strikes. He counter attacks but Cinder easily evades and parries.
Ragnarok growls in annoyance. “Step aside, Plumber. Or you won’t see the light of day again.” he pauses and smirks. “But then again if I succeed then your entire planet won’t see the light of day again.”
Cinder gives the alien a questionable look, raising an eyebrow. “Um, was that your attempt at persuasion?”
“Grr.” Ragnarok snarls, frustrated and tired of this Earthling’s antics.
He eyes the maze of tunnels and soon realizes that he’s lost track of which tunnel his quarry had escaped through. He’s turned around thanks to Cinder’s assault and thus he now finds himself lost in this vast labyrinth unaware of his location or the whereabouts of his prey.
Cinder smirks. “You just realized it, didn't you?”
Ragnarok’s silent anger is more than enough of a response.
“You’ll never find them again.” Cinder twirls the Amenonuhoko, its burning blades illuminating around him. “I’ll make sure of it.”
“We shall see.” Ragnarok scowls as his fist glow bright. “Tell me where she is.”
Cinder shrugs. “Don’t know. And even if I did I wouldn’t tell you, poser.”
“Then you leave me no choice. Raagghh!!” Ragnarok unleashes a blinding beam throughout the tunnels.
Cinder ducks out of the way, covering his eyes, anticipating incoming fire.
But as the light fades away he remains unharmed and untouched. He pokes his eyes out only to find nothing but a maze of tracks, a burning hi-rail, and labyrinth of tunnels before him. But Ragnarok is nowhere in sight.
Cinder kicks a rock in frustration. ‘That was nothing but a lightshow!’ He was never gonna attack. ‘Idiot!’ Not only did he allow for his quarry to escape but he failed to put this alien fiasco to a stop. “Dammit!!” He screams in frustration.
Just then a rush of footsteps and unfamiliar voices echo through from nearby tunnels.
“Did you hear that?”
“This way!”
“Over here!”
Cinder spins around and spots the movement of search lights illuminating through the tunnels. Assuming it’s the police he backs away before taking off into an empty tunnel.
He takes off at full speed, moving gracefully, his feet barely making sound as he dashes through the labyrinth. ‘Hang in there, kids. I’m on my way!’
##########(Flashback)#########
It doesn’t take too long before both Cinder and PROXY make it onto the scene and despite having a preview via the news, they are not prepared for the chaos they’ve found themselves in.
It’s a warzone of heroes and police firing and battling away with the war machine.
The robot roars and unleashes a white static-like beam from its eye blasting away police cars, barricades, and heroes.
And despite already getting a glimpse at the monster Cinder is astounded by its sheer scale and power.
The robot is over 30 meters tall, its body composed of some sort of indestructible alloy, allowing it to tank anything and everything the heroes and police throw at it. It has long arms and legs that seem ridiculous at first glance, like they were made of tin piping. Its head is oval in shape, with an antenna on top and a single white eye glaring down at the city while a massive "B" is symbolized upon its chest.
“What is that?!”
Driba explains. “That is the Big, Large, Rampaging Robot of Terror.”
Blukic chimes in. “In other words.”
And together the Galvans respond with. “The B.L.R.R.T!”
B.L.R.R.T unleashes a powerful beam down upon the police and heroes. Many of the heroes dive in and shield the police via their Quirks and/or bodies but they can’t hope to withstand the attack as they’re all blasted away like flies taking on a water hose.
“What do we do?!” Scream the two Galvans.
“You stay here!” Cinder shouts. “If anyone finds out about you two, they’ll lock you up and dissect you.”
Blukic nervously laughs. “You’re joking right?”
Cinder glowers in response.
Blukic and Driba gulp, sharing very worried looks.
More blasts echo through the streets as the B.L.R.R.T. continues its assault on the city.
“I gotta get in there!” without waiting Cinder rushes in to help.
The Galvans gasp, shouting after him. “Wait you have to use the Skeuo-” But he’s already gone, and with the Skeuomorph forgotten in his pocket. “Uh, oh.”
Meanwhile, Benevelon watches from above, watching from up high along with the helicopters of the police and news all of which are locked in on the battle below. “Yes, yes! Come Earthlings one and all, for I will grant you true peace in the universe! Hahaha!” He cackles, watching with glee as an Earthling cladded in red sprints towards their share of peace.
Back down on the ground, Officer Tezuka fires off round after round of her pistol at the bot, but nothing seems to faze it.
B.L.R.R.T soon takes notice of her taking cover behind a police cruiser. It locks on, swinging its long metallic arm up over its head before swinging it down!
“Look out!” Cinder dives in from out of nowhere and tackles her out of the way!
The two roll as the massive car crushes the police cruiser.
As they roll to a stop, Officer Tezuka breathes, her life nearly flashing before her eyes. “Thanks, Cinder.”
“Don’t mention it.” Cinder greets as they both take cover between a building’s entrance. “Care to fill me in?”
Tezuka eyes the rampaging robot as she informs Cinder of what they know. “Not much to say other than that thing suddenly appeared and began attacking anything that moves!”
Cinder frowns both with relief and disappointment. Relieved because it’s clear neither the police nor heroes are aware of what the B.L.R.R.T actually is. But disappointed that they couldn’t pinpoint a weakness.
Cinder turns and watches as B.L.R.R.T continues its attack, but Cinder’s too focused on its massive eye.
Officer Tezuka notices the skimming look in Cinder’s eye. “What are you thinking?”
Cinder smirks. “Nothing, just thinking about how badass I’ll look,” before finishes he takes off, springing right towards B.L.R.R.T. “when I take this thing out in one hit!”
Tezuka rolls her eyes, watching him dive headfirst into the fray. “Men.”
Cinder reaches the B.L.R.R.T and just as it turns and locks onto him Cinder exhales and launches a Fire Breath right towards its eye.
The flames burst and engulf the bot’s head and eye, burning at it like kindling.
Cinder smirks. “And that’s how it’s done.”
B.L.R.R.T swats at the flames wiping them away like it was nothing more than a piece of paper in its face. The robot scans the street until it spots the one who dared to challenge it: Cinder.
The pro hero gulps. “My bad…”
B.L.R.R.T’s eye glows before it unleashes a beam!
Panicked, Cinder dives out of the way, the blast nearly launching him away in the process. As he dives away, he slides across the ground hard and as a result the Skeuomorph tumbles out of his pocket and rolls away, coming to a stop in the middle of the fire ridden and damaged road.
Hiding across the street, within an alleyway, Blukic and Driba spot the Skeuomorph rolling to a stop. “The Skeuomorph!”
They pilot the PROXY to bend down and crawl its way towards the Skeuomorph, both of them praying that they aren’t spotted by the Earthlings.
Cinder carries on with the attack as the police back him up, firing away uselessly with their guns.
Cinder unleashes a veil of flames from below, the flames assault the robot's eye forcing it away. As it turns it swipes at the hero, Cinder dives away but the robot swats at his leg and throws him off, launching him to the side.
“Cinder!” Officer Toyomitsu, having seen Cinder tossed aside, rushes towards the flying hero. He expands his belly out and catches the hero in his Fat Absorption.
Cinder groans as Officer Toyomitsu sets him down. “Nice catch.”
“You’re welcome.”
Officer Tezuka rushes to their side. “Everyone okay?”
Cinder nods, holding his head. “I think so.”
Meanwhile, a crawling PROXY manages to snatch up the Skeuomorph off the ground.
“Look, we got the Skeuomorph, Driba!”
“I know!” responds Driba. “We did it!”
The holographic PROXY scans for Cinder but its smile vanishes as it watches the B.L.R.R.T. prepare for another attack.
Both Blukic and Driba call out as the robot swings its arm back. “LOOK OUT!!!”
Cinder and the two officers jolt up in time to spot the robot winding up its arm.
Knowing they can’t escape in time, Officer Toyomitsu grabs Tezuka and Cinder and tucks them in, turning his back towards the bot and shielding them with his body.
The B.L.R.R.T.’s long arm scrapes against the road as it swings in full force towards the trio.
But then a raging inferno stonewalls the robot’s attack, flinging its arm back. The flames expand, becoming a raging Hellfire forcing the B.L.R.R.T. stumbling back from sheer force before crashing into a nearby building.
The officers’ and Cinder’s jaws drop in awe of the brilliant flames.
“How is it you get yourself into these messes?”
Cinder spins around, a sense of relief and dread bubbling up inside of him.
From atop a nearby building, The Flame Hero, Endeavor, playfully smirks down at Cinder.
Endeavor launches himself off the roof, and lands just before the trio. “How come I always gotta be the one to save you?”
Cinder shakes his finger. “Hey, the last time didn’t count. I let you save me that time.”
“Haha!” Endeavor genuinely laughs. “Smartass.”
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
“Oh, what is this?” Benevelon peers down, frowning as flames consume his masterpiece. “Oh, tsk, tsk, tsk. It appears these Earthlings don’t know what’s good for them. Oh, B.L.R.R.T.!” He calls. “Please be a dear and show them otherwise.”
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
The B.L.R.R.T.’s single eye glows brightly before it swings its arms out and pries itself free of the flames and building.
Endeavor glares up at the bot just as the police and other heroes come in and fire away. “Up again already?”
Officer Toyomitsu sweats nervously, watching as the robot easily bats away a couple of air borne heroes. “Just what is the thing made of?!”
“Doesn’t matter.” Endeavor’s flames rise across his body and fists. “It’ll be a hunk of molten metal when I’m through with it.”
Endeavor’s path, putting a hand up to stop him. “Hold it Enj-Endeavor.” He corrects. “We have no idea what this thing is capable of.”
Endeavor looks like he wants to argue but he knows his friend is far better at seeing the bigger picture than he. “Then what do you suggest we do?”
Cinder pauses, considering what to do. He eyes the chaos and comes to realize that he can’t do this alone, there’s too much going on and he can’t focus on one thing or the other. He can’t stop B.L.R.R.T. and stop Benevelon all at the same time. He needs to stop Benevelon in order to stop the B.L.R.R.T. Or at least he needs to find that darn Skeuomorph again somehow.
He considers his options and comes to one.
It’s a risky move but if he can at least get Enji’s help in finding Benevelon then they might just be able to beat the robot. He’ll deal with the cover up later and if need be he can get Enji in on the secret if he has to.
“This thing couldn’t have gotten here on its own,” says Cinder. “There’s gotta be a puppet master who’s watching all this from nearby.”
Endeavor frowns, eyeing the vast skyline. “But where?”
“I…I don’t know.”
Officer Tezuka frowns, considering what to do next. “You two go and search for them.” The two heroes pause and gawk at her..
She presses on, reloading her gun. “In the meantime, we’ll” She gestures to herself, her fellow officers, and the other heroes. “will keep this thing occupied.”
Cinder smiles in appreciation. “Thanks, Officer.” Cinder then turns to begin the search, turning to his longtime friend. “Try to keep up will ya?”
Endeavor scoffs. “Please, you were always the one chasing me.”
And with that the two take off with Endeavor rockets up in the air and Cinder taking off on the ground to begin their search.
In the meantime, the police and heroes turn their attention back on the rampaging robot.
But they are far from the only ones having a difficult time.
“What do we do with it now, Driba?!” Blukic screams from inside the PROXY.
“Isn’t it obvious?” asks Driba. “We gotta get the Skeuomorph to Mr. Cinder.”
“But Driba, Mr. Cinder’s not here.”
Driba pales. “What?”
“Look!”
The PROXY turns, peering through the smoke and flames, watching on as Cinder disappears from sight, running off to who knows where.
“No!” Driba screams. “There’s no way we can safely deliver the Skeuomorph to him now!”
Blukic frowns, considering what to do. “But we can deliver it!”
Driba scowls in annoyance. “Weren’t you listening? I told you that it was impossible.”
“No, it’s not. Driba look!” Blukic points out to the battle where the heroes and police are holding the bot’s attention. “The B.L.R.R.T.’s distracted!”
“So?”
Blukic smiles back eagerly. “So, what if we delivered the Skeuomorph ourselves and put a stop to the B.L.R.R.T. once and for all.”
Driba shakes his head but after a moment to consider he soon changes his tune. “Blukic you’re a genius! If we stop the B.L.R.R.T. then Luhley will have to forgive us for taking her ship!”
Blukic breaks into a wide grin. “Exactly!”
This is their chance for sure. After they had clumsily activated and took Luhley’s ship, they have no doubt that she’s angry with them. Oh, and there’s Plumber Command too, no doubt they'll have much to say to them. But if they were to complete this mission all on their own then they’ll have to be forgiven!
Driba buys the delusion more and more. “Come on Blukic, we have a planet to save!”
“Oh, boy!” Blukic cheers. “We’re gonna be heroes!”
And so they clumsily get the PROXY onto its feet and take off in a shaky run towards the rampaging B.L.R.R.T.
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
Endeavor levitates down onto the ground, burning the street as he lands. “Anything?”
Cinder slides to a stop after sprinting around searching for a good while. “Nada. This city’s too big, they could literally be anywhere.”
There’s too many hiding places and spots this Benevelon guy could be watching from and they’ve only searched half the block so far. But even so they have to keep searching before it’s too late.
Meanwhile, somehow the PROXY managed to weave its way through the smoke and rubble and to the foot of the B.L.R.R.T. There the PROXY squats down and jumps up and onto the back of the B.L.R.R.T., using its magnetic pulse in its hands to cling on.
The B.L.R.R.T. is unaware of the hitchhikers and instead resumes to bat away at the heroes with its massive arms and powerful beam.
The PROXY fiddles with the Skeuomorph as the bot continues to rampage and thrash about.
Driba clings to the control for dear life. “Quick turn it on!”
Blukic blinks back, confused. “How?!”
“What do you mean how?!”
“I mean, I don’t know how to turn it on!”
“What do you mean you don’t know how to turn it on?! You said you knew!”
“No, I didn’t!”
“Yes, you did.”
“No, I didn’t!”
“Yes, you did!”
As the Galvans bicker, the B.L.R.R.T. swings around swatting away incoming heroes and in doing so washes away the pillars of smoke that were shrouding it leaving the bot and the PROXY completely exposed.
The police hold their fire as do the heroes, watching as the PROXY clings to the bot’s back and shoulder.
Endeavor, noticing the cease fire, looks and instantly spots the stranger clinging to the rampaging bot. “There!” He rockets away toward the two robots.
Cinder jolts, spinning around and paling when he spots the disguised PROXY. “Oh, no.” He rushes after Endeavor, praying that it’s not too late.
Meanwhile, the two Galvans continue to argue and bicker, completely unaware that they’ve been exposed.
“I’m telling you that you did and that’s final!” screams Driba.
“And for the last time, I’m telling you that I didn’t!” Blukic shouts back.
“Hold it right there!”
From inside the disguised PROXY bot the two Galvans peer up to find a flaming human hovering high above them.
Driba gasps. “Oh, no!”
“We’ve been spotted!” shouts Blukic’s voice from inside the PROXY.
Endeavor’s eyes widen in surprise, taking note of the stranger’s use of the word “we.” “So this is your monstrosity then?”
The two Galvans pale, shrinking back in fear. “Uhhhh…”
“Raaagg!!” Not waiting for an answer the young flaming hero roars out, his flames dancing around his body like a star. “Take this villain!!”
“Waaaaahhh!!” Blukic and Driba scream in terror, clinging to each other for dear life!
However, upon hearing the screams and seeing the blinding flames, the B.L.R.R.T. reels back and lunges at the hero. Swinging its arm up and dead into him, launching him back like a racket to a tennis ball.
“Waahh!!” Endeavor roars as he’s launched through the air and through the glass of an office building where he crashes through several rows of desks and cubicles.
Cinder slides to a stop and shouts out for his friend. “Enji!!”
After being stunned at the sight of Endeavor being swatted away, Officer Tezuka snarls and redirects her anger towards the supposed mastermind and his creation. “He must be controlling the robot! Stop him!!”
The police open fire upon the B.L.R.R.T. and the PROXY with the two Galvans screaming inside.
Fearing for the Galvans’ lives, Cinder cries out and unleashes a veil of flames. “No!!” The flames intercept the rain of bullets, catching them in a net of raging heat, melting them away as they whiz through.
Officer Tezuka’s taken back. “What are you doing?!” She screams in outrage.
Cinder stares back, out of breath and nervous, unsure of what to say. But then a roar from the B.L.R.R.T. cuts him off and he leaps out of the way. “Look out!!”
The B.L.R.R.T.’s massive arm smashes into the street, nearly flattening the Plumber if it had struck. The B.L.R.R.T. then fires up a beam, aiming towards the Officer.
“Tezuka!!” Cinder screams as he grabs her and shoves her out of the way, allowing the beam to burn pass.
The B.L.R.R.T. roars out swinging and firing away almost at random, thrashing about as the heroes and police attack it from all sides.
“Wwoooaahh!!”” The Galvans yelp as the PROXY loses its hold as is thrown off the B.L.R.R.T.’s back!
After having been saved, Officer Tezuka continues to press the hero for answers. “Cinder, what was that?!” But there is no response. “Cinder?” She scans the street, worried that he might have gotten hurt, but instead she spots Cinder running away! “Cinder!!”
Cinder ignores her, knowing he’ll regret it, as he slides to a stop beside the downed PROXY. “You idiots! What are you doing?!”
The PROXY shifts and bends inhumanly before rising to its feet.
Blukic answers the Plumber. “We’re trying to help.”
The B.L.R.R.T. roars out and fires away at the police. But then Endeavor shoots back onto the scene and delivers a fiery punch into the bot’s skull. Although it doesn’t break it does throw the bot off balance. The B.L.R.R.T. retaliates firing its beam after the flame hero.
Cinder shields the Galvans with his body and shouts. “You two gotta get out of here!”
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
“My, my, this is no good.” Benevelon tsks, shaking his head in sad disappointment. “Such poor naive Earthlings, why do you deny everlasting peace? Hm?”
He scans the battlefield until he spots an Earthling dawning a Plumber uniform beside another strangely moving and jointed Earthling.
“Hm?” Curious Benevelon pulls out a small monocle-like device and holds it over his eye. Through its lens he switches from thermal vision, to a mode allowing him to see through holograms.
And thus, he spots the PROXY bot in full without its disguise. “A PROXY bot?” Even more curious he switches the monocle to X-Ray vision, and thus he can finally see the two Galvans squashed into the droid.
Benevelon somehow snarls and chuckles at the sight. “Ah, of course my old nemesis would try to interfere and of course he couldn’t be bothered to do it himself.” He feigns being offended. “For someone who claims to be the smartest being in the galaxy he can’t seem to comprehend my mission. Oh, why can’t anyone see my own genius? Oh, well.”
Seeing no point in sticking around for now, especially with a Plumber and Galvans on the scene, Benevelon snaps his fingers and his static-white portal reemerges. “Let us go B.L.R.R.T. We shall regroup for now!”
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
The B.L.R.R.T. halts its rampage and roars out, reeling back as a bright blinding light surrounds its being. The portal surrounds it like a dome and energy like lightning discharges around it.
Officer Toyomitsu gasps, having worked on the bomb squad for a time, he panics and cries otu in warning. “It’s gonna blow!!”
The heroes and police run for cover as the portal continues to expand and pulse around the bot. The portal flashes and everyone braces for the explosion. But it never comes. Instead, the B.L.R.R.T. has completely vanished from sight along with a chunk of the road and nearby buildings.
Cinder, having taken cover along with the Galvans behind a dumpster, peeks out. “What happened?”
The PROXY peers out. “It portaled away.”
Cinder scowls, both annoyed but relieved to have the bot gone for now. He turns to the Galvans, grabbing their bot by the arm. “We better portal away ourselves, and fast.”
The PROXY jolts, the Galvans cowering from inside. “Um, Mr. Cinder, sir.”
“What?”
“B-behind you.”
Cinder jolts, his dread rising, turning to face the suspicious and accusing glares of the police and heroes.
Officer Tezuka and Endeavor stand at the front, both eyeing the droid and Plumber with silent accusations and…betrayal.
########(End Flashback)#######
Stream rises like smoke from inside the sewer grate, rising to the clotheslines and fire escapes above. Water pools into puddles across the dark and filthy alleyway, the corners littered with garbage and dumpsters as a feral cat prowls about for a meal.
From underneath the sewer grate a purplish sludge pokes out and an inhuman eyeball peers around, making sure that the coast is clear before shrinking back inside.
The sewer grate rattles and shakes, startling the cat which runs off in fear.
Lucy and Izuku, with a red glowing Omnitrix, crawl out from the sewer grate.
As the two crawl out, Izuku kicks the grate back into place. The two lean against the opposite wall and fall, taking a moment to rest and catch their breaths.
After a moment of breath, Izuku looks to Lucy the senior, the senpai, of the situation for direction. “What now?”
It takes her less than a second to respond. “We keep to the same plan as before.” Her expression is calm and serious. “We finish the mission.”
Izuku chokes, worried. “What about my dad?”
Lucy smiles sympathetically, understanding his worry. “He’ll do the same. He knows what’s at stake.” The world in fact but hey no pressure. “I’m sure he will join up with us when he can.”
“R-right…” Assuming that he’ll escape Ragnarok that is…but then again, his Dad’s an elite Plumber. A veteran. He’s survived all sorts of near-death experiences and maniacal villains before. This Ragnarok guy can’t be that much different.
Realizing that the situation is not as lost to them as he first thought, Izuku pulls himself to his feet, ready to move out. “We better move quickly then.”
“No kidding.” Lucy rises to her feet. “So, which way now?”
Izuku opens his mouth to answer but he pauses realizing that he doesn’t actually know how to get to the Adachi-district. “Um, one sec.”
He rips out his phone and google maps for directions. But as he unlocks his phone Izuku finds a number of alerts from his social media and news accounts. All of which are reporting on the newest and most recent Tokyo villain attack. “Oh, no.”
“What?”
Izuku hisses, worriedly. “Well, as it turns out, Ragnarok might not be the only one trying to track us down.”
Lucy frowns unsure of what he could possibly mean.
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
“I’ve got a bad feeling about this.” Shoto grumbles to himself as he and his father approach the scene: eyeing the crushed cars, stranded bus, and burn marks scorching the road.
Police have already quartered off the entire block and are conducting interviews, pour over surveillance cameras, and forensics are already pouring over the scene.
Endeavor spots Inspector Tezuka within the mess, directing everyone to their roles and positions; having just sent down another search team into the subway. “Has there been any word from the search teams?”
Inspector Tezuka shakes her head. “Not yet. The teams are still on patrol for the villain and the hero that pursued them.”
“Hero?” Endeavor frowns, curious. “What hero?”
“That’s…been unclear as of now.”
Shoto joins Tokoyami who’s been listening silently from the sidelines. “This Ragnarok guy sure does make a mess of things.”
“Indeed.” responds Tokoyami. “But I’m afraid that something else doesn’t bode well for us?”
“Huh, you feel it too then?” But what is it, this sense of foreboding? Almost…like they are both something…or someone is in trouble.
“Hey, you guys!” shouts Fatgum.
Everyone turns in time to see Fatgum rushing towards them with a tablet in hand.
“What is it, Toyomitsu?” asks Inspector Tezuka.
“You’re all gonna wanna see this.” He holds up the tablet for them all to see. “We were able to get some footage off some bystanders that happened to record the attack.” He turns on the tablet. “Look.”
They all watch as a shaky and out of focus video plays on the screen. But it becomes clear what they're seeing, watching Cinder take on Ragnarok once again amongst the populated street.
“Midoriya.” Endeavor growls accusingly. “What is he doing?”
Fatgum responds. “According to witnesses he confronted the villain. And from what it sounds like the two knew each other but that could have been because of the earlier attack.”
“Or not.” Inspector Tezuka spits. “I’ll put out a city-wide APB. We need to find this guy and Midoriya.”
Shoto jolts in place, startled by the news. “Wait, why search for Mr. Midoriya? I mean he fought with the villain, how does that make him a suspect?”
Inspector Tezuka frowns, her eyes flaring with anger and frustration. “Because if he was really against the villain then how come he hasn’t contacted us about it?”
Shoto has no response. The only things coming to mind are that Mr. Midoriya is either dead, kidnapped… or in cahoots with the villain somehow.
Inspector Tezuka continues. “There’s something else going on here. And I’m gonna find out what it is.” She turns to address her officers. “We won’t let either of them slip away. I want them found, yesterday people!”
“Yes, ma’am!” Her officers salute before rushing off to assist where they’re needed.
Fatgum frowns before he remembers one final detail. “Oh, one more thing.”
The Inspector, Endeavor, and their sons pause to listen.
“There were apparently two others involved in the attack.” He slides his fingers over the screen, zooming in on the fuzzy back images of a teenage girl with blonde hair running while a large yellow pill bug chases after her.
The Inspector frowns at the blurry images. “Who are they?”
“Not sure.” Fatgum shrugs. “But witnesses say that the villain targeted them both and chased them into the subway.”
“Locate them as well.” orders Inspector Tezuka. “We’re not taking any chances, if they’re part of this somehow then I want them brought in for questioning!”
Shoto and Tokoyami can’t help but feel a sense of foreboding hanging over their heads like an approaching dark storm. They stare at the image of the pill bug, eyeing it worriedly, examine it carefully before they notice the faint blurry glow of the Omnitrix on the creature’s form.
The two lean back, mildly surprised but thoroughly concerned, both wondering the same thing. ‘Midoriya what exactly did you get yourself into this time?’
To be continued…
Notes:
And that was Part 2. I know it was a lot shorter than normal but hey you guys gotta faster update out of it. So, it’s all good. Speaking of updates, I hope to have Part III ready in 2 weeks. But I can’t confirm that as of yet. I will probably have a better idea next week which you can find out in my new side story called “Heroes Never Die; It’s Hero Time, Anytime.”
*Speaking of which, if you read the most recent “Omake: Omni-anon” from the side story then you know that I implied that a new alien was gonna be in this chapter. And it was Cannonbolt!! Which, I think maybe about 5 people guessed correctly. Everyone kept guessing Humongousaur or Way Big. Guys…if I was hinting at either of them, I would have said “ginormous,” or “giant,” or “HUGE.” Also, in the most recent “Preview” from Ch.53 I actually gave you guys a little hint that Cannonbolt was gonna “roll” his way into the story. But in all fairness that chapter was over a month ago, so you could’ve forgotten.
*I forgot to mention this last time, I thought I did but I forgot. But Inspector Tezuka is straight out of the Ducktales reboot series.
*PLEASE* check out my new side story for this story called “Heroes Never Die; It’s Hero Time, Anytime.” You will find an assortment of one shots that take place in the canon of this main story. I update this side story weekly along with posts about how the next main chapter’s progress is going and when it will come out. Most of the one shots are really short little stories but there are full chapters there such as “OVA: My Zombie Academia.” Which is a great change from the norm and is again canon to the main story.
Chapter 61: More Than Meets the Eye Part III
Summary:
Separated from Cinder, Izuku and Lucy are on their own as not only Ragnarok hunts them down but so too do the police and heroes.
Notes:
I want to wish you a very Merry Christmas, and a Happy New Year~ Happy Holidays to all and to all a good night~ Or day depending on when you read this. But hey, how do you like this for a Christmas Present, a long chapter and one that wraps up a miniature arc? Hope you like it cause there’s no gift receipt to return it.
*PLEASE* check out my new side story for this story called “Heroes Never Die; It’s Hero Time, Anytime.” You will find an assortment of one shots that take place in the canon of this main story. Most are really short little stories but there are full chapters there such as “OVA: My Zombie Academia.” Which is a great change from the norm and is again canon to the main story.
*This story has a TV Tropes page so feel free to check it out.*
https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Fanfic/HeroesNeverDieItsHeroTime
*Disclaimer I do not own the rights to Ben 10 or MHA.*
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
“Gahh…” Nue collapses to his knees, his powerful legs unable to hold him up any longer, his lungs are burning and the sweat clinging to his greasy hair sting at his many eyes.
The cold steel of the imposing dome feels so claustrophobic despite its massive size. The walls, lined with hexagonal panels, feel like they’re shifting and warping around him, surrounding him, squeezing him in as exhaustion and fatigue warp his reality.
“Pathetic.”
Nue peers up to find a titan towering before him.
Vilgax growls down at the monstrosity. “Get up. Now!”
“Just…let me…catch…my breath.” Nue wheezes, it feels like days since he’s been able to rest, and for all he knows it has been days, maybe even weeks. All of the training, the endless exercises and orders, they never stop coming.
“Just be grateful that I allow you to breathe, boy.”
Not one to take an insult lying down, Nue snaps. “I ain't your boy!” He reels up and backhands Vilgax in the face. “And I ain’t your bitch either.”
Vilgax glares back at Nue, contemplating whether to end him for daring to touch him, but instead he snickers as he readjusts his breathing apparatus. “Hehe, impressive, it seems every human I meet has such…fiery spirits.”
Nue frowns, finding the alien’s compliment both odd and out of place. “You see that as a good thing?”
“But of course.” Vilgax sneers. “It makes all that more satisfying when their fires are snuffed out.”
Nue, instinctually, gulps without realizing.
And then like light breaking through a curtain, part of the wall folds away forming a portal into the rest of the ship. And through the blinding light and into the darkness of the dome is Psyphon.
“What is it now, Psyphon?” Vilgax growls, not pleased that he was interrupted. “Has it arrived yet?”
“Not yet master.” Psyphon bows, already fearing Vilgax’s disapproval. “The Charlotte-project is still in route.”
“I thought the doctor had already sent it off.”
“He was supposed to, but he said, and I quote “had to make some minor adjustments” before he could do so. He also said that he wanted to ensure that the project would be safe for use. Although he does use the term loosely.”
“Then why do you interrupt?”
“My apologies master but he would like to speak to you.”
“About what?”
“He-”
A tall figure steps through the portal, cutting Psyphon off. “I can speak for myself, worm.”
The figure steps forward and as the portal closes away and the light dims, Vilgax finds himself in the company of an ex-Plumber.
“Ragnarok.” Vilgax greets. “Back so soon? And without your key? Pray tell, does it still lie just out of your reach?”
Ragnarok scowls at the obvious taunt. “It does. Raagh!” From his hand he throws down one of Vilgax’s scout drones, it lies broken and ruined having been crushed by Ragnarok’s grip. “No thanks to your cheap droids!!”
Vilgax shows no outward reaction to Ragnarok’s outburst, instead he remains poised and unflinching despite the other’s outcry.
“We had a deal.” Ragnarok growls, waving an accusing hand at the titan. “You provide me with a means of searching for the Lenopan spy and repair my ship. And in return I’ll give you a portion of the energy I harvest.”
Vilgax remembers, they agreed to it only days ago. “70% was the agreed terms.”
“Yes.” Ragnarok may have agreed to those terms, but that doesn’t mean he likes it. “However, how do you expect to receive such a prize?” He crushes the broken drone under his foot. “When I am unable to pinpoint her location?!”
“Losing the Lenopan and your key was not of my doing. That blame lies solely with you.”
Out of a fit of anger, Ragnarok’s fist glow brightly with sunrays. “You dare insult me?”
Vilgax’s muscles and fingers clench, anticipating a fight. “You want to challenge me? After I granted you mercy and my assistance. But then again who could you call for help? Certainly not the Plumbers.”
He’s got Ragnarok there, after the key was stolen and his ship was sabotaged the only one, he could contact for assistance was Vilgax. And thus, he is now in the titan’s debt. “It is true, the Lenopan has slipped from my grasp, but that’s only because she received help from the Plumbers of this back-water planet.”
“Plumbers?” Vilgax’s interest is piqued.
As is Nue’s. “Was one of them Deku?!” He demands, his voice rising with hostile intent.
Ragnarok ignores him and continues to explain. “There were of two. One was a youngling cladded in green and black, with the strange ability to shapeshift into various forms, similarly to the Lenopan. Albeit far more…flashy.”
“That’s him!” Nue roars, seething and ready to fight despite his previous exhaustion. “That’s Deku and his watch!” He turns away, marching towards the wall. “If you’re that pathetic then I’ll just go down there and take care of him myself!” He’ll beat Deku and take the Omnitrix for himself.
Vilgax, however, stops him. “Stand down, Nue.”
Nue scowls back at the titan who responds with.
“Your time will come.”
Nue turns away again, but he doesn’t move forward, instead after a moment of considering to ignore Vilgax’s orders, he roars out and smashes his four fists against the ground, shaking the entire dome while cracking the floor underneath.
With the monster’s outburst over with, Ragnarok continues. “And the other Plumber. I believe he was the progenitor of this Deku.”
Nue, however, pauses and for the briefest of moments his anger washes away and is replaced by shock.
“He was far more experienced, but his ability was lacking.”
Vilgax listens intently. “What was it?”
“He breathed of fire.”
If one had a trained eye they could have sworn that Vilgax was smiling at that moment.
Nue’s previous anger vanishes in an instant, as he’s completely taken back by the news. “Deku’s old man…”
Now that he thinks about it, didn’t Deku’s bastard of a dad abandon them like ten years ago or something? When did he get back? And why? Also, he thought Deku’s old man worked for Japan’s Self-Defense Force? ‘Guess that was a lie. Just like everything else. Hang on. He’s a Plumber too?’ Actually, when he thinks back on it, Vilgax did mention that a “Firebreather” worked for the Plumbers. ‘Was he referring to Deku’s old man?’ He peers up at Vilgax. ‘Vilgax mentioned that he had some sort of grudge against the Firebreather, guess that means all Midoriyas are a pain in the asses.’ But still a part of Nue has to wonder…just how well Deku took his Dad’s return.
Meanwhile, Vilgax addresses Ragnarok’s concerns. “Very well I will provide you with a new means of tracking down your quarry.” Vilgax offers up a small device that is attachable to one’s wrist, much like the one he granted the traitor Tetrax and the other bounty hunters. “If it is true what you said, then the Lenopan has allied herself with the wielder of the Omnitrix, then this device will allow you to track them.”
Ragnarok takes the device eyeing it skeptically. “This tracks…the Omnitrix?”
“It does.”
“How does that benefit me?”
“Because, if you find the boy then you’ll find the Lenopan.” Vilgax explains. “And if you happen to claim the Omnitrix during your quest and deliver it to me, then we can reconsider our current arrangement.”
Ragnarok understands, if he happens to get Vilgax the Omnitrix then he will no longer be in his debt. However, Ragnarok has his own plans for himself and his ship, he will seek out his own goals and not stoop to be someone else’s servant. But for now, he will play along as it does benefit him to do so. “I will take my leave then.”
“Yes. You will.”
Wanting to claim what is his as soon as possible, Ragnarok takes his leave, with Psyphon slinking on behind him, seeing him out.
As the portal shuts closed behind them, Nue turns to the titan with questions. “What was that about? And what was that thing he said about the sun?” Hard to ignore something that might be world ending.
Much to Nue’s surprise, Vilgax actually provides him with an answer. “That was Ragnarok, he is a former Plumber.”
“A Plumber?!”
“Ex-Plumber.” Vilgax clarifies. “A fallen angel if you will, one who fell out of their good graces after betraying them.”
“What's he doing here?”
“He wishes…to harness your sun’s power.”
“How?” Nue scoffs. “With solar panels?”
“Not quite. He plans to absorb your sun completely, harvesting it for himself to sell for profit.”
Okay now Nue’s just outright disturbed. “And you just let him walk away?!” He roars, ready to chase after the ex-Plumber. “Na, uh, no way! I may be a jerk, but no way am I cool with that! How could you let him just walk away?! What about your deal with All For One?! What about claiming the Omnitrix?! Have you really forgotten about all that?!”
Vilgax responds, poised and collected, not at all concerned with Nue’s worries. “Of course not.”
Nue’s stunned by his response, he knew this freak was far from an angel, but does he really think that he’d be okay with destroying everything?! “But you said he’s gonna take the sun!”
“He will not. He will fail.”
Nue is stunned, unsure if he heard Vilgax correctly.
“And when he does. He will fall to my will, now that he is in my debt.”
Ahhh, there it is. “I get it, you’re playing him, so he owes you.”
He smirks from underneath his respirator.
“But how can you be so sure he’ll fail?”
“Because…the Firebreather will make sure of it.” Vilgax turns away, peering up and losing himself to his memories. He traces his claws over his arms, remembering past scars and burns that have healed away but somehow the sting still linger albeit in his mind. “Ragnarok will fail and thus return to me with his tail between his legs. Submitting himself and serving me to protect himself from the Plumbers.”
‘Did he just…give his arch enemy kudos?’ Nue ponders. “You seem offlay confident about this.”
“I am confident only because I take the necessary steps to ensure my own victory.” Vilgax explains. “Even if he should retrieve the key. Rojo is currently sabotaging his ship as we speak.”
Nue frowns. “I thought she was fixing it?”
“She is, but the moment Ragnarok activates his ship with his precious key. It will self-destruct upon my command.”
Well that takes care of the part where they lose the sun. “But there’s something I still don’t understand. I mean I’m grateful you’re not gonna kill my home but… why not?” Nue shrugs, confused about Vilgax’s logic. “Why not just kill us all? Why not allow this bastard to take the sun and kill everyone on Earth, Deku included? You could just walk up and take the Omnitrix for yourself.”
“I could, couldn’t I?” Vilgax sneers as if considering the thought, making Nue shiver in place. “However, an Empire isn’t built in a day. If I took the easiest and simplest solutions to everything then I’d never have gained the power that I have now.” With a flex of his claws the hexagons lining the wall light up and seemingly vanish as a display of the Earth forms upon the domed screen, its endless blue oceans and beautiful green shine upon the dark dome. “One does not conquer through force alone. But by using one’s patience and cunning,” Vilgax eyes the Earth greedily, reaching his hand out towards it. “And manipulation then can one truly conquer their foes.” He closes his fist as if imagining himself gripping the planet in his clutches. “The Omnitrix will of course grant me such great power. With it I can lead a potentially unstoppable army with it under my command.” He opens his palm and peers back up at the shimmering planet. “But imagine if I had more…? Imagine an army that could rival even that of the Omnitrix?”
Nue’s…lost here. What the hell does that mean?
“I believe you Earthlings have a saying; never put all your exo-orbs in the same containment unit.”
“It’s…something like that.” Nue shrugs, not bothering to correct him.
“There is never truly one clear path to victory…there always lies more.” The greedy titan eyes the planet again, this time his gaze lingering upon the country of Japan. “One must just be open to see them.”
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Cannon Busters Opening - Showdown
(Beginning Instrumentals)
An open road, a bright sun illuminating the beautiful summer day, and the rush of wind in one’s ears as the Rustbucket cruises by moving across the road like a sports car before zooming past with grace.
We got places to go, things to do, people to see, and we got to get it done right away.
Izuku adjusts his hoodie, tugging it down over his body. All before gripping the dial of the Omnitrix and giving it a shine with his fingers.
So if you on the crew, guess we a team. Thicker than thieves and we all tryna help find a way
Hisashi buttons up his Hawaiian short, before grabbing his respirator and dawning it over his maw. He then snatches up a few loose tickets and pamphlets before tucking them away.
If you know the destination, we making conversation. Time is ticking, sun is setting, we got no time for waiting
Chopper latches his leg to his body, readjusting it. Before his arms pop out and flex about making sure they’re working properly.
Might be the showdown, Looks like it's 'bout to go down
Bust through with the cannon, at the hoedown
(Instrumentals)
Izuku slams down on the Omnitrix! In a flash of green the screen scrolls down to reveal his aliens: Feedback, XLR8, Grey Matter, Four Arms, Ditto, Ripjaws, Terraspin, Water Hazard, Lodestar, Buzzshock, Diamondhead, Big Chill, Heatblast, Stinkfly, and Wildmutt.
Transition into title sequence: HEROES NEVER DIE; IT’S HERO TIME
So we won't fall, until gravity is gone
Izuku grins falling through the air alongside Rath, Wildvine, Bullfrag, Cannonbolt and several other inhuman silhouettes! As the glow of the sunrise illuminates U.A. in the background!
We've been on this road too long, so long
Hisashi and Izuku stand back to back looking away from each other as the scene rotates around them.
The scenes flips in rapid succession with characTeeklters standing back to back!
(Instrumentals)
To Thirteen and Ochaco!
To Ochaco and All Might!
To All Might and Gran Torino!
And to Gran Torino and Hisashi!
And I can't stop, we can't stop
I'm so far away from home
We've been on this road too long, too long
A legion of villains have their backs to the camera but as the camera slides through their line up, each of them turn to acknowledge the audience.
Kraab’s claw flexes and clamps nearly clipping the camera.
Rojo folds their arms together and smirks as the camera rolls past.
Sunder raises his axe at the ready.
Silhouette (C) stands tall and proud, towering over the camera.
Nue bares a sharp tooth grin, his eyes gleaming with malice before the camera zooms away and up into to the forbidding sky, through the void of space, through the walls of the command ship, before halting before an all observing Vilgax.
Playing with fire (Fire!)
Take me higher
From up in the air Cinder releases a cloud of flames down upon Rojo below! Rojo cuts through the flames before rocketing up and clashing with the hero in midair!
We're on our way, we're on our way
Undivided (-Vided!)
All Might zooms past, his grin wide, as he slams his fist into Silhouette (C)! Silhouette (C) crashes into the ground, kicking up smoke, but it rises again, unharmed.
And ignited
We're on our way, we're on our way, yeah!
From the smoke cloud, Ochaco leaps back in a spin as Sunder soars after her. Sunder his axe at her but she counters it with a Ryou Sphere!
On our way, we're going
Nue grins madly as he stares down Deku who grins back just as determined and manically.
And no mistakes while we're rolling around town
We just came back round
The Rustbucket bursts forth zooming down the highlighted highway, gracefully zooming past Bakugou, Kirishima, Tsuyu, Hatsume, Kaminari, Jiro, Tokoyami, Shoto and a number of silhouettes!
You don't wanna show out
Close up of a smiling Hisashi.
Cut to a closeup of Chopper.
Cut to a closeup of Kraab.
Finally a close up to a grinning Deku!
Might be a showdown
Deku’s hand slams down on the Omnitrix, the alien green light swallows the screen!
Woo!
Freeze on the image of Deku, Cinder, Chopper, and Kraab posing before the setting sun, their shadows casted far off over the ground towards the camera.
(Illustrated by CreateGunner1209)
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Ch.56 More Than Meets the Eye Part III
Screens lining the busy street above, glow with the same news broadcast of an anchorman reporting in on the day’s events.
“The villain, recently dubbed as Ragnarok, has struck again. And once again the heroes have failed to apprend the fiend. He is still at large and the police warn that he is armed and dangerous and should not be approached. If spotted, contact the authorities immediately.”
People listen on as they go about their business, watching the broadcast on their phones even, but none of them show a hint of concern. ‘The heroes will stop him eventually.’ They all think.
“The police have also stated that there are at least three suspects wanted for questions. The pro hero, Cinder, thought to be retired after having fell out of the limelight. As well as two unknown people of interest. One is that of a blonde girl and the other of a large Mutant Quirk with a yellow shell. No other details could be provided at this time. If you have any information the police advise that you contact them as soon as possible.”
Despite the dire warning the people once again go about their own business, ignoring the fact that a villain is on the loose. Naively they all just presume it’s fine and go about enjoying their day.
But there are those that are outright oblivious to the world around them, like the pair of little girls that have stopped in the middle of the sidewalk. They’re crouched down beside a row of low bushes and flowers, as they try to coax more purrs from the kitty cat.
“Aw, you're so cute~!” They giggle and squeal in delight, as they gently rub the cat’s fur.
“Meow!” The feline happily meows back.
The feline purrs happily. Her red eyes gleam with delight, as her black pupils dart from one child to the other. She sits still allowing the children to pat down her ginger fur with tiger stripes running across her back and face. The tiger stripes across her face gives her a demonic yet beautiful look.
The oldest of the girls giggles in delight. “I’m gonna call her Teekl!”
Her sister turns back towards her mom “Can we keep her mommy~?”
Their mother gives her daughters an apologetic smile. “Sorry, sweetie. But she probably already has an owner. Just look at her collar”
The girls turn and look and sure enough the red eyed feline has a black collar with a silver pendant around her neck.
“Oh…” They both frown in disappointment.
Seeing an opportunity to finally get going their mother grabs them both by the hands. “Let’s get going then, we’re supposed to be seeing granny today.”
“Okay.” The oldest whines as the youngest waves back at the feline. “Bye, bye, kitty!”
“Meow!” The feline calls after them, as if saying goodbye.
And so the feline sits, awaiting something or someone, delightfully patient as bystanders pass by without even noticing her presence, too focused on their phones, friends, and shops.
“Are you quite finished?”
The feline spins her head around, to find a bipedal frog stepping out from within the bushes, carrying a phone beside him: the screen displaying the same news broadcast as the screens above the street,
“Meow.” The feline greets, her tail sweeping happily across the ground. “Meow!”
Grey Matter gives the cat a flat annoyed stare.
And like that the feline’s facade breaks. “Eheheh! *Snort!* Eheheh!” The feline laughs and snorts, her eyes turning into a shade of bright purple. “Relax, will ya? There’s no harm in saying hello.” Lucy grins, her tail swinging behind her in the air as she gets up.
“Well,” Grey Matter hops onto Lucy’s back, like she was a horse. “Pardon me if I want to keep a low profile. In case you haven’t noticed, we’re wanted criminals!” He enforces his point by showing her the phone’s screen where artist renderings of Lucy’s human form and Cannonbolt are displayed.
Lucy frowns as she turns and squeezes her way between the buildings. “Hm, not really. We’re people of interest.” They enter a back alley, after scanning the area she takes off down the dark damp space. “And besides they’re looking for my human form and your Tortugan form. No one’s looking out for a cat or a silver little toad.”
“That’s Grey little frog to you.” Grey Matter corrects rather snobbishly.
“About that, why did you turn into a Galvan?”
“Grey Matter’s physique and stature are perfect for urban stealth and recon. Therefore, I thought it best to remain as miniscule as possible.”
Okay, sure but… “They’re looking for Cannonbolt, not Izuku specifically. So why aren't you back in your human form walking your dog or something.” To prove her point she shifts and becomes a golden retriever with silky fur and for some reason, one eye as the other’s been damaged, probably her way to give her disguise some character.
“I have a simple explanation as to why.” Grey Matter smirks feeling all high and mighty…until he actually explains why. “It’s because I didn’t think of it until I turned into Grey Matter!”
Lucy chuckles at the irony as she shifts back into her feline disguise. “Basically, it’s too late to change back.”
“For now, but if it makes you feel better, I probably only have another ten to twelve minutes or so and then we can switch to your idea.”
“Yay!”
And so, with a happy cheer, Lucy approaches the bustling street. Peering both ways before slithering out and making her way down the sidewalk. Hugging the nearby walls and buildings so as to not be stepped on by the oblivious passerbies.
“What about your dad?”
“I already texted him.” Grey Matter flashes her his phone, where a message from Hisashi reads: C U @ Adachi-district.
“He’ll catch up, I’m sure.” Grey Matter smiles, knowing they’ll meet up with him soon enough. “Now just to put this away.” He moves to tuck the cell phone away.
‘Where were you keeping that?!’ Lucy has to wonder, peering back so she can observe their path and surroundings.
Speaking of, she just so happens to spot a sushi bar just across the bustling street.
“Sushi!” She cheers, her tail wagging like that of a dog despite being a cat.
“No!” Grey Matter pulls at her collar. “No distractions. “
“Ah,” The feline slumps in disappointment. “You’re no fun.” But she continues on, her tail dragging behind her.
Grey Matter frowns, giving her a quizzical look. “Do you want fish cause you’re a cat or just cause.”
“Well, I am in Japan so I might as well try real sushi. Not like what America has.”
“Fair enough. Wait, you’ve been to America?”
Before she can answer there is a commotion from amongst the crowd of bystanders and cars. Traffic screeches to a halt and people stop dead in their tracks to see what’s going on.
Lucy continues forward, stopping before a coffee shop, her attention drawn towards the racket of boisterous people and honking horns.
“What’s going on over there?” She wonders aloud.
Grey Matter shrugs. “Maybe a hero’s shown up or something. We should just mind our own business and keep going.”
Figuring it’s nothing, Lucy happily strolls forward.
And then a familiar beam of sunlight nearly fries the pair to a crisp, melting the sidewalk in front of them!
“Meorw!!” Lucy shrieks, leaping back, her back lurched up like the startled cat that she is. “I think it just became our business!”
The scene becomes all too familiar as people scream in fear and rush away, revealing that once again Ragnarok has somehow tracked the pair down.
“How’d he find us?!” Grey Matter screams as Lucy backs away towards the coffee shop.
Ragnarok slowly approaches the pair, and as such the patrons inside the coffee shop panic and fear for their lives, each of them scrambling for their phones and dialing for the heroes and the police.
As he makes his approach, Ragnarok glowers down at the feline and frog and with no hesitation, fires upon them again.
“Meeoorw!!” Lucy leaps back just before the beam crashes into the cafe, blasting the front windows and door apart.
The patrons scream as glass shards shower around them, each of them running for the now blasted door or back door, in a hurry to save their own skins.
Grey Matter clings to Lucy’s fur, covering his head with his arm, shielding himself from the glass. “Quick! Hide!”
Without thinking, Lucy leaps through the busted store front and into the cafe, scurrying past the fallen and broken tables and chairs, shattered glass, smoldering walls, and spilled coffee.
Ragnarok shoves past the fleeing patrons, marching right into the cafe. He scowls and scans the little shop peering past the busted laptops, broken mugs, and fallen furniture as he stalks through the shop, peering behind every fallen table and chair, turning over every fallen picture frame and chair cushion.
“You think you can hide from me, Lenopan?” He hisses, carefully watching the shop for any signs of movement. “I can promise you this, you won’t be able to hide from me for very long.” He briefly eyes his wrist, where a little screen demonstrates a sonar-like display with a single pin blinking towards the end of the shop.
Peering up he finds the main counter that’s somehow remained virtually untouched by his attack. All the machines and appliances such as the rows of espresso machines, grinders, blenders, toasters, and refrigerators remain still as if there was never an attack on the shop that could uproot them.
Ragnarok smirks, knowing he has them, and so he approaches allowing them to stew in their inevitable defeat. “I will find you and when I do, you will discover just how much my anger burns.”
He reaches over the counter, past the espresso machines, smoking toasters, and steaming coffee pots.
But before he can reach down and grab his prey, the faintest click of two wires sparking together catches his ears. And like that every machine and appliances simultaneously goes wild, they surge and rattle and shake, firing off at all cylinders. The toasters throw up flames, the refrigerators shake and stumble forward and the espresso machines spew out hot scalding coffee into the villain’s face.
“Gaaaagh!!” Ragnarok shrieks, grabbing at his stinging eyes and face.
“Ehehe!” Lucy bursts out from behind the counter and takes off for the exit as Grey Matter holds onto dear life atop her back.
“Hah.” He snickers, watching Ragnarok writhe in pain. “Looks like not even aliens can handle hot coffee!”
Ragnarok wipes away the last of the coffee and immediately fires after the two.
“Waaaahhh!” They scream out as they’re blasted off their feet.
The cat and frog land hard onto the ground, skidding across the pavement. Lucy’s cat form splatters across the sidewalk before remolding itself into her more human form.
“Ugh…” Grey Matter groans in pain, his head spinning and vision blurred.
Lucy hurries over to him, crawling to him quickly and scoping him up in her hand, scanning him for any signs of injury.
A dark shadow lingers over her drawing her attention. She and Grey Matter peer up to find Ragnarok towering over them, his glowing fist aimed for their heads.
Lucy gulps, struggling to keep her composure under his intense deadly gaze. “Aren’t you gonna allow us our final words?”
“No.” His fist glows brightly, just seconds away from firing.
“FIRE LASH!!!” A whip of fire wraps around Ragnarok’s outstretched arm and yanks it upward just as he fires, blasting his beam up straight into the air!
“What?!” He roars and turns to see who would dare interfere.
And thus, he is met with a fist to the face!
“Gah!!”
“Stay away from them!!” Cinder roars, unleashes a devastating blast of fire into Ragnarok’s chest, blasting him back!
Cinder breathes, relieved that he was passing by just a block over when he heard the commotion.
“Dad?!” Grey Matter gasps.
“Run!!” Cinder shouts, not taking his eyes off his opponent. “Quickly!!”
Not one to question orders, Lucy grips Grey Matter tightly and takes off into a full run towards a gutter.
Her body morphs and shifts into purple sludge that sinks into the gutter, slithering up the pipe and away from sight.
“Wait! Dad!” Grey Matter calls out for his Dad, struggling to free himself from the sludge but Lucy drags him away, trusting the Plumber to be able to handle this alone.
And he does, for the most part. Every time Ragnarok tries to pursue the pair Cinder cuts him off, drawing a line in the sand, using his flames, spear, and combat skills to keep the villain back.
As Cinder handles the villain the police soon arrive from both ends of the street, their cruisers blocking the road to oncoming traffic.
“Quickly form a perimeter!” Inspector Tezuka shouts as she steps out of her car.
“Yes, ma’am!” Her officers shout back as they hurry.
Tokoyami steps out as well, watching silently as fire and sunbeams explode forth from the raging battle.
One of her officers stands at attention. “Ma’am, a hero has already engaged the villain!”
“I know.” Tezuka scowls, glaring over towards Cinder who has his hands full with the villain. “Dammit, Midoriya.” She eyes him distrustfully, expecting him to pull off some sort of trick. “What are you playing at? What happened to keeping out of this?”
“That’s just how he is.”
Tezuka spins around just in time to find Endeavor marching onto the scene with his son trailing behind him. “He’s never been able to keep his nose out of where it doesn't belong.”
Shoto approaches his classmate. “Tokoyami.”
“Todoroki.” The raven teen greets.
Shoto scans the street and nearby buildings for any sign of their classmate, after all if his father’s here then where is he? “Where’s Midoriya?”
Tokoyami shrugs, frowning worriedly. “I haven’t a clue.”
They turn and watch, gasping as Cinder’s blasted by Ragnarok.
“Gah!!” Cinder flies back, crashes onto a police car’s hood before bouncing off and falling to the street.
As he hits the pavement his phone bounces out and slides across the street, stopping at Shoto’s feet.
The teens frown, eyeing the phone as its screen lights up. “Hm?”
Before they can even reach for the phone, a powerful gust of heat blasts them in the face as Endeavor rockets himself forward.
“Raagh!!” Endeavor slams his fist into Ragnarok, sending him flying back and crashing into the side of an empty bus!
Cinder pulls himself off the ground and spins around, surprised to find that the police and heroes have already arrived. ‘They’re here already? Dammit, I thought I’d have more luck this time!’
[FLASHBACK]
The portal flashes and everyone braces for the explosion. But it never comes. Instead, the B.L.R.R.T. has completely vanished from sight along with a chunk of the road and nearby buildings.
Cinder, having taken cover along with the Galvans behind a dumpster, peeks out. “What happened?”
The PROXY peers out. “It portaled away.”
Cinder scowls, both annoyed but relieved to have the bot gone for now. He turns to the Galvans, grabbing their bot by the arm. “We better portal away ourselves, and fast.”
The PROXY jolts, the Galvans cowering from inside. “Um, Mr. Cinder, sir.”
“What?”
“B-behind you.”
Cinder jolts, his dread rising, turning to face the suspicious and accusing glares of the police and heroes.
Officer Tezuka and Endeavor stand at the front, both eyeing the droid and Plumber with silent accusations and…betrayal.
“Cinder, are you…working with the villain…?”
“Um.” Cinder’s mouth shuts in on itself, as he turns from the heroes to the disguised Galvans and back.
He’s never really been caught so blatantly before as a result he stumbles over his words, internally panicking as he fails to come up with something!
However, the two Galvans begin to panic at the sight of the glaring heroes and police; remembering Cinder’s warning about being locked away and dissected. “No, wait! Please!” The Proxy grabs Cinder by his arm, using him as a shield. “We’re friends!”
Cinder’s heart drops while the city becomes so quiet one could hear a pin drop.
“Um.” He panics trying to salvage the situation. “I can explain.”
“No!! Don’t arrest us!” The Galvans continue to panic and cry out, shaking Cinder violently. “We’re too pretty for jail! Nor do we wanna be dissected!”
“Hisashi!” A baffled Endeavor cautiously steps forward, trying to reach his friend. “What’s going on?!”
Upon spotting the flaming human, from inside the droid, Blukic panics and lunges for the controls! “RUN!!!”
The Proxy lunges back and sprints away at full speed away from the heroes.
“He's escaping!!” Officer Tezuka shouts, rushing forward. “Get him!”
“NO!!!” Out of pure instinct, and in response to protect this secret, Cinder throws his arm in Tezuka’s way, stopping her.
Everyone freezes, taking a double take, blinking unsure if they saw that correctly.
The Proxy spins around at the end of the alley way with Driba shouting back at Cinder. “Hurry, Mr. Cinder, we have to escape!”
Cinder breaks into a cold sweat as the Galvans practically dig the grave for him. “Go!!” He screams in panic; he knows he’ll get in trouble for this but it’s better than the alternative.
The Galvans pause. “But-!”
“Get out of here, dammit!”
The Galvans hesitate before spinning around and running away.
Endeavor moves to chase after the disguised droid. “Hold it-”
Cinder steps between him and his target, grabbing Endeavor by his wrist and fling him over with a single throw!
Once again, the heroes and police let out audible gasps of shock.
Endeavor scowls up, baffled by his friend’s actions. “What’s wrong with you?!” He blasts himself up and onto his feet but Cinder acres around and blocks his path again. “What are you doing?”
Cinder averts his gaze, scowling in frustration over how much this mission’s gone south. “What I have to…”
Endeavor’s not sure how to take that answer, but either way he’s still a hero and as of right now, Cinder is preventing him from doing his job.
He moves to step around him but once again Cinder intercepts his path with a defiant look that Endeavor instantly reads as a challenge.
“Do you really wanna face me?” Endeavor growls, his flames lashing out, nearly burning at Cinder’s face.
Cinder glares back in defiance, stepping closer as if he could take on his fellow pro hero. “No…” He drops his guard, knowing that there’s no point in fighting; figuring he at least gave the Galvans a head start.
Officer Tezuka, Officer Toyomitsu, and the others are stunned, the whole situation having become a whirlwind of confusion, shock, and disbelief.
After a moment Tezuka manages to compose herself so that she may carry out her duties. “Cinder…you're under arrest for aiding in the escape of a villain.”
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
Meanwhile, the Proxy contours to sprint through the city’s sewer system.
Thankfully Blukic and Driba managed to compose that it was a decent place to hide, although they did trip over it first before they discovered it.
From inside the droid Blukic turns to Driba and begs the question. “What do we do now?!”
Driba gives him an annoyed look. “How should I know?!”
Blukic frowns. “But you always know what to do!”
Driba shakes his head. “No, I don't.”
“Yes, you do.”
“No, I don’t!”
“Yes, you do!”
“Ahhh! We don’t have time for this!” Driba screams as he finally comes to realize how hopeless it is. “We’re lost and we don’t have Mr. Cinder with us! Not to mention Benevelon and the B.L.R.R.T. were able to escape!”
“But we have the Galvanian Skeuomorph.”
‘Leave it to Blukic to find the positive.’ Driba thinks. “That we do.”
However, that is not always the case. “Then again it’s pretty much useless if we can’t get it to the B.L.R.R.T. in time.”
‘He brings up a good point.’ Driba thinks. “And without Mr. Cinder we won’t be able to find it by ourselves.”
That’s a good point.
Blukic sulks, thinking it’s over, until a rather clever idea pops into his head. “Or could we?” He grins.
“Didn’t you hear what I said? No, we can’t.”
“No, I heard you. But what if we could?”
Driba pauses, condensing the concept. “I’m listening.”
“Benevelon portals must be leaving some sort of trace after every use. If he’s teleporting a far distance, then he must be using quite a lot of energy.”
Driba’s eyes widen as he gets where Blukic is going with this, becoming excited by the prospect. “And if he’s using a lot of energy then he must be leaving a large energy signal.”
“Exactly!”
“So, if we can detect another spike in energy.”
“We’ll be able to find him!”
“And if we find him, we can stop him!”
Blukic’s grin widens. “And if we stop him then Luhley will be so proud of us~”
“Yeah~” Driba grins, losing himself to his daydream. “Let’s get to work, Blukic! We got a world to save!”
“Yeah!”
[End of FLASHBACK]
Ragnarok pries himself free of the bus, stomping forward, glaring daggers at the surrounding heroes and police.
‘This is becoming bothersome.’ He thinks, eyeing the city and the fleeing humans. ‘This place is too heavily populated as such this world’s defenders act far too quickly.’ He scowls in annoyance. ‘They will only continue to interfere. I require far less attention if I wish to reacquire my key.’
Basically, he needs to strike when the Lenopan spy is alone.
Endeavor rockets forward, his fist ablaze and poised to strike.
“Farewell.” Ragnarok vanishes from sight as he’s teleported away in an instant.
Endeavor’s stunned, cutting off his propulsion and sliding to a stop.
The other heroes stop their attack as well, all halting in place and looking around in confusion, wondering where the villain could have gone.
“Where is he?”
“I don’t know!”
“Quickly, we need to search the perimeter!”
Endeavor scowls, glaring at the empty space that Ragnarok had just occupied.
Cinder watches on from the back, feeling out of place and very vulnerable. And so he tries to slip away.
“Hold it right there!”
He freezes and comes face to face with a pissed off Tezuka. “Can I help you?”
“You can.” She flashes him a set of cuffs. “By coming in quietly.”
“Now, Inspector, let’s be rational about this-” Too late she’s already slapped the cuffs around his wrists.
“Quiet! You can spill your guts back at the station.”
“You can’t arrest me. I haven’t done anything wrong!”
“That we know of!” She screams before settling down. “If you have nothing to hide then you have nothing to worry about. And you’ll be let go in no time.”
Hisashi settles down, figuring it best to play along for now. Although he can’t shake the feeling of Deja vu.
Endeavor watches on with a shadow of a smirk on his face. But unfortunately, he will most likely have to join them at the station, especially since they’ll need a new means of finding this villain.
“Shoto! We’re leaving!”
But there is no answer, not even a spiteful one.
Confused, Endeavor scans for his son but he can’t seem to find him anywhere. “Shoto?”
Realizing that one of the boys is gone, Tezuka spins around in search of her son as well. “Fumikage?”
But there is no sign of him either. Almost like the two of them got up and walked off to who knows where.
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
Further into the city, the buildings have seemingly shrunk in size, there’s less of a bustling crowd of passerby and cars and instead just a few people stroll about here and there, going about their day completely unaware of the battle raging just blocks away. But of course they are oblivious to it, this part of the city is quiet and far less busy than the rest with no hint of trouble or drama in sight.
Well except for the large hulking figure that pokes his head out from behind a parked delivery truck.
Four Arms grips the blanket tightly around his neck, making sure it’s properly draped over his upper pair of arms and head. “The coast is clear.”
He turns around to check on Lucy.
“Lookie!” Lucy barks up cheerfully as a small ash-blonde puppy. “I’m a Pomeranian!”
She kept her word, she did turn herself into a dog. Specifically a feisty looking Pomeranian with spiky ash-blonde fur, and piercing red eyes.
Four Arms pauses, reeling back, realizing that if she scowled that she’d look a lot like an old bully of his. “C-can you…change?” He begs nervously.
The Pomeranian tilts his head, confused, but with a shrug she obliges his wishes.
Her body morphs and rises until she takes on the form of a Golden Retriever instead. “This better?” She looks up at Four Arms with only one eye open.
“Definitely.” Four Arms nods, but then pauses, noticing that she gave her disguise only one working eye. “What’s with the fake injury?”
“It helps to sell the character.”
“But you’re a dog…”
Ignoring him, Lucy’s slide slithers out from around her neck and forms into a leash that Four Arms can hold as to help seal the “walking my dog” disguise.
“Let’s go! Uh, I mean, Woof!”
Four Arms shakes his head laughing, figuring it’s best to just let her do what she wants.
And so, they continue with their little “walk” not exchanging a word until the street becomes a little more deserted.
Lucy peers back at Four Arms, her tail dropping as she worriedly asks. “How’d he find us?”
Four Arms peers around making sure no one will hear them. “I don’t know. Do you think he has some kind of tracker on the key?”
“Maybe.” Lucy frowns, her ears dropping, it certainly is a possibility. “Then again he might be using your country’s extensive internet system and cameras to find us.” Like in those spy movies. “But there’s nothing on us that’s obvious other than…” She pauses and peers back at Four Arms. “The Omnitrix.”
Four Arms gives her a cocky smile. “Way, ahead of ya. That’s why I have this sheet.” He gestures to the blanket draped over his head and shoulders. “With this no one's gonna recognize me. Ha!”
Lucy sweatdrops, her tail and ears dropping. She’s about to speak up and let him know that he’s better off in his human form when someone else beats her to the punch.
“Is that supposed to be a disguise?”
Lucy and Four Arms freeze in place, as a chilling pressure is exuded from behind him.
The pale Four Arms shakily turns his frozen body, gasping and jolting with fright when he spots both Shoto and Tokoyami staring up at him with concerned and bewildered looks. Almost like they are more concerned with his sanity than his disguise.
“Uhh, uh, uh.” The stunned Four Arms’ mouth drops open opening and closing like a fish out of water.
Tokoyami eyes his classmate’s disguise quizzically. “Are…are you trying to be inconspicuous?”
Four Arms feels like he’s gonna faint! But he holds out. “I-I-I am.” There’s really no point in denying it now. “H-how’d you recognize me?”
Shoto folds his arms together. “Seriously?” He gestures to the red hulk’s massive build and towering stature.
Four Arms pouts, now coming to the realization that Buzzshock or Big Chill might have been better disguises.
Shoto gives the blanket over Four Arm’s head a shake of his head. “What are you wearing?”
“It’s my disguise.” Four Arms explains.
“But we can see your face.”
“Not when I do this you can’t.” He takes the blanket and covers the lower half of his face with it.
Shoto and Tokoyami can only shake their heads disapprovingly.
They’re reactions almost make him want to cry! “H-how'd you find me?”
“Well, we first looked for a large mess.” Shoto is of course referring to Ragnarok’s latest attack. “Check. And then we looked to see if anyone looked weird.” He eyes Four Arms without saying another word. “Check.”
Four Arms has the distinct feeling that it was a jab at him.
“And finally…we had this.”
Shoto turns to their classmate, who holds up Hisashi’s misplaced phone. The screen lights up and there’s a response from when Izuku was Grey Matter and it reads: “Cool, can't wait to see you. We’ll be at the Adachi-district soon”.
Four Arms gasps, screaming at himself for giving such detailed information! “W-where’d you get this?!” He snatches the phone from Tokoyami, checking to make sure it’s his father’s, and it is based on the photo of him when he was four and dressed in an All Might onesie.
“Your father dropped it during his fight.” Tokoyami explains. “And good thing too cause my mother and the police have him in their custody now.”
“What?” Four Arms blinks, startled by the news. “They…they got my dad?” This is bad. Really bad. What if…what if they find out about him? Them? Everything?! “I have to help him!” He lungs forward ready to sprint over to the police station across town.
“WOOF!!!” Lucy the one-eyed dog barks, intercepting his path.
Shoto is startled, not expecting a dog to be here. “You have a dog?” Where was it before?
“Uh…yes, yes! I-I have a dog.” Four Arms forces a grin, trying to play it off as confident.
Shoto’s not buying it for a second. “What’s their name?”
“Uh…it’s…” Four Arms quickly scans the street for inspiration, and thus he spots a pizza parlor across the street. “They’re name is…Pizza dog?”
Shoto and Tokoyami give him very confused expressions. “Excuse me?”
“Sorry! Um.” Four Arms quickly looks for something else, and that’s when he spots a box of Lucky charms poking out from a nearby dumpster. “Lucky! Their name’s Lucky the Pizza Dog!”
Shoto raises a very skeptical eyebrow. “Pizza Dog? You gave your dog a title?”
“Yyyyes.” Four Arms slowly nods his head as if slowly buying into the lie himself.
Shoto and Tokoyami glare up at him, but they don’t call him out, letting him stew in his own humiliation first.
“So…” Four Arms averts his gaze, trying to move past the very judgmental silence. “What are you guys doing here?”
“A better question is.” Tokoyami peers up at the massive hulk and states. “What mess have you gotten yourself into, Midoriya?”
“Mess?” Four Arms scoffs, playing off like nothing is wrong despite being told his dad was arrested a few seconds ago. “No, mess. Nothing’s wrong. I’m not acting suspicious! You’re acting suspicious! What’s a dog?!”
Oh, god, he just gave himself away again!
Tokoyami almost feels embarrassed for him by this point. “We know the villain is after you as well as someone else, a blonde girl as it were.”
Four Arms silently eyes the dog that’s now placed itself behind his muscular legs.
“Your father’s under investigation.” Tokoyami explains further. “And this Ragnarok keeps appearing wherever you are.”
Shoto nods “Then there’s your text to your dad too. The Adachi-district. What for? What’s there? What kind of business would you two have over there?”
“Uh, guys, look…” Four Arms freezes even though his heart is racing four times faster than it should be!
What should he do?! What should he say?! What can he say?! Should he…should he tell them? No! They’d never believe him anyway… But then what?! They’re clearly suspicious of him. They know that he’s lying. It’s a miracle they’ve put up with it as much as they have until now! They won’t drop this until…until…
Four Arms takes a breath before speaking his mind, bowing his head ever so slightly, so he doesn’t have to look them in the eyes. “Look guys, just, just go… Okay…? Just…just walk away, please.” He bows his head further, pleading with them, begging them to do so.
And the two are very much taken back, not expecting such a sincere yet desperate response.
“Pr-pretend you never saw me. Please, as your friend, I'm begging you.” With his eyes shut tight, Four Arms drops to his knees and bows. “I’m begging you to look the other way.”
The two are stunned, no shocked beyond belief, unsure of how or what to make of this. Even Lucy is stunned, perplexed and unsure of what to make of it all.
Shoto collects himself, hesitating, before giving his reply. “We can’t do that, Midoriya.”
Four Arms gasps. “Why not?!”
“Because…” Shoto looks away, not in disgust but almost…like he’s too embarrassed to say it aloud. He’s acting shy. “Because our friend’s in trouble. We can’t just ignore that.”
Tears water at Four Arms’ four eyes. “Y-you guys…” He sniffs.
“Midoriya.” Tokoyami steps forward, addressing his classmate with respect and conviction. “We want to help you. No matter what it is, we’ll take your side.”
“Guys…” He sniffs, touched by their loyalty. But yet…if he accepts, they’re help, what kind of mess will he be pulling them into? Should he accept them or…push them away.
Lucy sees the conflict behind his expressions, she knows that he’s struggling to come to a decision. And so, she takes it out of his hands.
“Eheheh! *Snort!* Eheheh!” She bursts into a fit of joyful laughter, startling not just Four Arms but his classmates as well. “Looks like the jig is up!” Her dog form melts away into a puddle of sludge, startling Shoto and Tokoyami even further, worried that a poor innocent pooch has just melted away!!
So, imagine their surprise when the puddle slithers up into the air and reforms itself into a blond teen with pink eyes and a black dress with a white star embroidered in the front.
“Hello, boys!” Lucy twirls around in greeting, stretching her arms into the air.
The two are stunned, but not so much as Four Arms is. His jaw hits the floor, taken back by Lucy’s blatant disregard for subtlety and stealth.
Shoto takes a moment before nearly shouting out. “Who are you?”
“The name’s Lucy Mann!” She giggles. “It’s nice to meet ya!”
Tokoyami scratches at his head, wiping away the bit of sweat off his forehead. “You…can transform into a dog?”
The blonde teen smiles. “I can transform into lots of things.”
Shoto pauses, gesturing to Four Arms. “Like him?”
“Yup.”
“Really?”
“Yup.” The smiling Lucy leans against the kneeling Four Arms, slinging an arm over his shoulders. “We’re cousins.” She squeezes her face close to his. “Can’t you see the resemblance?”
Shoto and Tokoyami gasp. “Cousins?!”
“Yup. I’m his Dad’s friend’s niece's niece.”
Tokoyami pauses mentally tracking the family tree in his head. “Wait… but then you two wouldn’t actually be-”
“Lucy…Mann?” Shoto speaks up, unintentionally cutting Tokoyami off. “Are you American?” He has to wonder, considering her name.
“I am.”
“Hm. I see.” Shoto eyes Lucy up and down, examining her, before he slowly turns to Izuku, eying him…skeptically.
Four Arms sweatdrops, wondering what Shoto could be thinking about. ‘I’m curious but…I kinda don’t wanna ask.’
Lucy lets Four Arms go so she can properly address the two. “Anyway, you boys wanted to know what we’re up to. Is that right?”
The two straighten up, their worry ready to be relieved.
Shoto nods, snapping out of his thoughts. “Yes. Just what exactly is happening here.”
Lucy grins, more than happy to tell them. “Well listen up, because it’s quite the tale!”
“Lucy!” Four Arms snaps, before leaning in and whispering. “Is this…really such a good idea?”
She nods, giving him a reassuring pat on the shoulder. “It is.” She turns away to answer them directly.
And both Shoto and Tokoyami wait with bated breath, ready and hoping that they’re worries are justified. Four Arms remains rooted his spot, frozen, almost like his reality is just waiting, waiting to come crashing down around him. He waits, waits for the truth that might just push his friends away.
Lucy takes a deep breath for revealing to them her truth. “I…am also a hero student.”
…
“What, you are?!” The boys, and Four Arms, yell out in surprise!
Four Arms gasps, covering his mouth with all his hands, realizing that he shouted too. Thankfully they didn’t seem to notice.
“Yup.” Lucy nods, giggling at their surprised expressions. “Albeit I am a senior, but still.”
Shoto quickly snaps out of his surprise. “Then what are you doing here?” A valid question.
“Well as you just saw my Quirk, Clayface, allows me to shapeshift and mold my body into nearly anything or anyone.”
Tokoyami pauses, considering the applications. “A Quirk like that sounds rather ominous.”
“No kidding.” Lucy smiles, agreeing with him 100%. “Good thing you’ve got all the shapeshifters on your side!” She gestures to herself and Four Arms.
“Right…” Izuku quickly leans in and whispers. “What are you doing!?”
“Relax.” She whispers back. “I know all about how you Earth Plumbers operate, so I came prepared.”
She coughs, turning back to the other humans so she can continue to explain. “Well because of my Quirk and my status as a well-experienced hero student I was recruited by the FBI for an important mission.”
Shoto’s both surprised and impressed. “The FBI?”
“Yeah, and it’s because of Ragnarok that I’m involved.”
And so, they listen to Lucy’s tale while Four Arms is just relieved, and surprised, but mostly relieved to find that she has such an elaborate alibi. No wonder she’s a spy, if he didn’t know any better, he’d think she was a normal hero student too. But he does know better, which is why he is able to mentally pinpoint all the lies in her cover story.
Lucy manages to explain basically the entire situation minus all the alien stuff. Basically, she tells them that Ragnarok is a terrorist, which is technically true. And that she stole a jump drive filled with data and evidence that will incarcerate him. And so she needs to get it back to the U.S. as soon as possible and as discreetly as possible. And so they are heading to the Adachi-district because she will rendezvous with an extraction team there.
“But what about the Midoriyas?” Shoto ponders aloud. “Why would you involve your relatives in such a matter?”
Lucy is quick to give a solid answer. “My mission was compromised and since Uncle Hisashi worked for the Japanese Self-Defense Force I knew I could trust him with this.”
Tokoyami however sees a flaw in her plan. “If you needed assistance, then why did you not call on other heroes or the police?”
“Ragnarok has too much money and sway on his side.” Lucy lies, never giving them a reason to suspect otherwise. “And we’ve acquired intel that he has moles within the ranks of both the heroes and the police.”
“Are you serious?”
“I am.” Despite the lies she is dead serious. “Can you understand why my mission had to remain covert? If Ragnarok gets tipped off about my location or the location of the flashdrive he’ll come for me and take it back. Along with any chances of stopping him in the future.”
They both look to Four Arms for verification. “Is this true?”
He hesitates but after a moment he gives them an honest nod. “Yes.”
Shoto and Tokoyami share a look of uncertainty, silently asking each other if this is true. Both trying their best to process all this.
And with every second that they spend thinking, the more and more Four Arms fears that they’ll begin to pick away at Lucy’s story.
“Alright.” Shoto breathes. “We believe you.”
Four Arms gasps in disbelief. “Really?”
Tokoyami answers. “Yes.”
Lucy grins, bowing her head in thanks. “Thank you.” After politely bowing she turns, grabbing Four Arms’ arm and pulling him along. “Now that you understand then you can forgive us for leaving. We don’t have a lot of time left.”
Shoto frowns. “We do understand. That’s why we’re coming with you.”
Four Arms tries one last time to deter them. “Guys, you don’t have to do this. Seriously, we got this.”
“Do you?” Shoto jabs back. “No offense but this villain is clearly too much for you.”
Four Arms is quick to defend himself. “No, he isn’t!”
“Then how come you haven’t been able to stop him? “
“Well, um, er-...”
“You two are way over your heads. Clearly you need all the help you can get.” Shoto throws Four Arms another judgmental look. “Especially if you think transforming yourself is a good disguise.”
“Hey!” Four Arms snaps.
Tokoyami steps in between them. “In any case, now that we know what’s at stake. You can’t just expect us to ignore it and walk away.”
Four Arms feels like crying again, touched by their kindness. “Guys…”
Shoto smiles, finding the sniveling Four Arms a little amusing. “We’ve got your back, Midoriya.”
Tokoyami nods. “Just like we did during our struggle against the undead.”
“Hey, that didn’t count!” Four Arms snaps with a laugh.
“Yes. it does.” Shoto smirks. “It would have been over for you if we hadn’t saved you.”
Four Arms grins back, not really wanting to argue and more enjoying their comradery.
[Author’s Note: They are referring to the “OVA: My Zombie Academia” from the side story titles “Heroes Never Die; It’s Hero Time, Anytime.”]
Lucy smiles on, enjoying their comradery as well, and impressed by their resolve and loyalty. “Oh, what the heck?”
Four Arms turns to her. “Lucy?”
“You boys can come along. But! Let’s get one thing straight. What I say goes. You do as I say, without question. Got it?”
The two nod in understanding. “Yes, ma’am.”
She smiles, glad that they won’t cause her trouble. “We don’t have that much farther to go. The Adachi-district should be another few blocks away.” She waves them forward, intending to continue down the road.
“Actually.” Tokoyami interjects, and gestures to the intersection behind them. “It’s a lot faster if we go this way.”
Lucy pauses before considering the fact that he would have been in Tokyo way longer than she has. “Well look at you, making yourself a key member of the team already. Lead the way…um…?”
“Tokoyami.” He greets. “Fumikage Tokoyami.”
“Fumikage.” She greets, startling him since she used his first name, but she doesn't notice as she then turns to the dual haired teen “And you are?”
Shoto pauses, unsure if she’ll use his first name or not. “Shoto Todoroki.”
“Well, it’s nice to have you both aboard Shoto, Fumikage. We’ll all make a great team!” She cheers, fist pumping the air.
Four Arms joins her but the other two don’t exactly join in right away, both raising their arms awkwardly after the fact.
And so, as they gather themselves and follow Tokoyami towards their destination, neither of them are able to perceive that they are being followed.
Hovering high above them soars one of Vilgax’s scout drones, camouflaged to appear like the clear blue sky above. The camera zooms in on the teens, locking in on them, shadowing them from up high as they make their way towards the Adachi-district.
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
“What is your connection to Ragnarok?” Despite her simmering anger, Inspector Tezuka remains calm and poised as she takes a seat opposite of the cold metal table.
Hisashi let’s out an exasperated sigh, leaning back in his seat, turning so he can see his reflection staring back at him from the one-way window.
After taking in the claustrophobic integration room, he folds his arms up and frowns. “How can I have a connection with someone I just met today?”
Tezuka’s eyebrow twitches in annoyance but she holds herself back. “I’ll ask the questions here, Midoriya.” She slides two photos over towards the secret Plumber. “Now. What can you tell me about these two?”
Hisashi leans forward in his seat, discovering that the photos are enlarged yet somewhat blurry images of both Lucy and Cannonbolt. “Not much.” He shrugs, acting like nothing’s amiss. “Never seen them before until today.” Technically true as it is his first time actually getting to know Lucy and this is the first time, he’s ever seen Izuku’s Cannonbolt form.
Tezuka frowns, suspecting something, but she can’t exactly pinpoint what it is quite yet. “What about your boy? Where did he run off to?”
Hisashi gives her a sheepish grin as he throws his hands up in a shrug. “Don’t know.”
She eyes him, both surprised yet skeptical. “What happened to your father and son time?”
“Plans changed. We ran into my niece. And this is her first time in Japan so Izuku’s showing her around.”
“And you’re not with them? Why?”
“Well, I wanted to help you guys stop Ragnarok. After all I am a pro hero and that’s what we do. But if I knew you were gonna arrest me for trying to help, I might have stayed with them.”
“Speaking of.” She leans in, her glare drilling a hole into his skull. “Why did you interfere?”
Hisashi frowns. “Pardon?”
“You engaged the villain after strict orders and warning not to do so. Why?”
“I saw people in trouble, so I stepped in to help.” He answers matter-of-factly.
Tezuka scowls. “And in doing so you purposely ignored an Inspector’s direct orders.”
“Technically you warned me. And secondly, is it such a crime for a hero to protect the innocent?”
He’s got her there.
“I’m just being honest.”
Her glare softens yet becomes cold and pitiful. “We both know that’s the last thing you are.”
He has no response, pressing his lips together in a heavy silence.
“Ugh!” Tezuka sighs, pinching the bridge of her beak. “This is getting us nowhere.”
Before she can really throw in the towel, Fatgum rushes into the room holding a phone. “Inspector, you need to step out for a moment.”
She scowls, refusing to acknowledge that she heard him. Instead wanting to continue the interrogation.
She can hear Fatgum’s disappointment from behind her. “Chief Tsuragamae’s trying to contact you from the Police Force headquarters.”
She could ignore the call but then again it might be important… She comes to her decisions and thus turns around to address the extra security she brought in. “I need to step out. Mind babysitting this one for a minute?”
Endeavor’s flames illuminate the dark corner, a permanent scowl on his face as he keeps his alert yet cold gaze on their suspect. “Honestly, I don't even wanna breathe the same air as him.”
She gets up from her seat. “You think I do?” She heads for the exit as Fatgum holds the door for her. “Just make sure he doesn’t go anywhere.”
“He won’t.” Endeavor scowls, glaring down at Hisashi who’s avoiding any eye contact and is instead taking note of the fact the Chief Tsuragamae is calling the Inspector.
Knowing the crook is in good hands, Tezuka leaves, shutting the door locked behind her, leaving the two fiery pros trapped inside.
A heavy silence washes over the small room, as Endeavor just stares unmoving at Hisashi. While Hisashi tries to stave off boredom while also trying to avoid any eye contact with his…longtime acquaintance.
After several minutes of agonizing silence Hisashi looks up and back down at the table before mustering the courage to speak up. “So…how’ve you been holding up?”
Endeavor scowls back, refusing to answer.
Meanwhile, from the other side of the one-way window, Tezuka snatches the phone right out from Fatgum’s hand.
She presses the phone to her ear as Fatgum makes himself scarce. “Chief Tsuragamae, what can I do for you sir?”
Chief Tsuragamae’s gruff voice barks out from the other end. [“I’m sorry I couldn’t be there in person, Inspector. Afraid I am stuck in Hsu at the moment. Even so, I have been recently notified that you have Hisashi Midoriya in custody. Woof. Is that correct?”]
She does her best to ignore how he woofed near the end. “It is sir.”
[“Hm, I see. Well, I am afraid to say this, but you will need to release him immediately. Woof.”]
Her eyes widen in shock. “What? Why?”
[“I’m afraid your reasons for doing so are insufficient in court of law. Since there is no evidence nor reason to justify his arrest, as he is not even a prime suspect, and so he is to be released immediately. Woof.”]
“But sir we couldn’t possibly let him go!”
[“You must, Inspector. I know about your personal grievances with Mr. Midoriya and as such it would be bad form for you and the police as a whole to be seen abusing our power for our personal vendettas.”]
“This is no vendetta sir! I know he’s hiding something. I know it! And if we let him go we’ll lose him for sure!”
[“I don’t doubt your instincts, Inspector. However, you are far too attached to this and as such there is a bias. And I am afraid that without proper evidence or justification, it is illegal to hold him there any further.”]
“But-”
[“As far as the law is concerned you arrested an innocent man and a hero without proper justification. You’re lucky that I don’t take it any further than this Inspector Tezuka. So, I repeat once again, release Hisashi Midoriya before anything more comes of it. Do I make myself clear?”]
She doesn't answer immediately, instead she turns and glass through the one-way mirror, glaring daggers at Hisashi’s oblivious smile.
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
Hisashi and Endeavor continue to endure the harsh silence, eyeing each other with either distrust or anger.
Hisashi watches his old ex-friend closely, gaging him, observing his reactions. “So, where’s your…protege?”
Endeavor’s expression flashes with anger but he holds back giving the man an annoyed scowl. “He ran off.”
And actually, he’s been calling and texting him since but all he got was a single reply saying: [“Sorry old man, figured you got this.” And when he kept pushing, he only got another vague response back: [“I’m busy.”]
‘Shoto. Where are you?’
Hisashi can practically read Endeavor's thoughts. “Did he?” He smirks. “Surprised it took him this long.”
He doesn’t want to hear this. “You shut your mouth.”
And with that the two fall back into the heavy silence, not bothering to even look at each other anymore.
But after another minute Endeavor furrows his brow as he thinks about Hisashi’s interrogation so far, and how one detail just can’t help but stand out to him. “A niece, huh?”
Hisashi jerks up having been caught off guard and unsure if he heard the question correctly. “What?”
“You have a niece?” Endeavor frowns, gaging Hisashi’s reaction. “Funny, I don’t remember you having any siblings.”
Hisashi is quick to clarify. “Oh, we’re not related. She’s a friend’s kid.”
Endeavor raises a skeptical eyebrow.
“You never met them.”
Endeavor huffs, shaking his head and turning away, losing all interest.
And once again they fall into a sullen silence.
But now Hisashi fidgets in his seat now that he’s engaged Endeavor in a sort-of conversation he…he kinda wants to keep it going, He’s so curious or rather…worried. And…and it really has been a long time since they could have or even tried to have a decent conversation… “H-how…how have…how have you been?”
Endeavor doesn’t answer, instead he stares back at Hisashi like he grew a second head.
“I, um, I actually wanted to speak to you sooner after…well after everything. You know? But then…I got called away and-”
“Don’t.” Endeavor cuts him off with a frustrated yet pained grimace. “Don’t even bother. I buried our friendship a long time ago. Along with…everything else.”
Hisashi's heart drops, as guilt and regret make his insides churn. “Enji…I’m so-”
“I don’t want to hear it.” The Number Two Hero turns away, not even able to look in Hisashi’s direction anymore. “Just hearing your voice is making my ears bleed. There’s nothing you can say that I want to hear…”
Hisashi’s hand reaches up as if to reach for his old friend but…he stops gently dropping his hand onto the table, knowing it’ll be futile. “You know…back in the day. We used to be so much more open to each other.”
Endeavor doesn’t answer nor does he move instead he keeps his back to Hisashi as if to say that he’ll backstab him anyway.
And after a drawn-out silence, Endeavor whispers under his breath. “Were we?”
Hisashi frowns, guilt writhing up further inside of him.
“Were we that honest with each other?” Endeavor asks, not just mockingly but almost truthfully. Like he honestly has to wonder if they ever were friends at one point in time.
“Y-” Hisashi cuts himself off as Endeavor’s truth hits him hard.
No, they weren’t that honest. After all, his job is to be dishonest with everyone, with the whole world, even his best friend, wife, and…his son. No, Hisashi Midoriya is not an honest person. And he knows it.
Endeavor can see the guilt in his ex-friends face but he doesn’t gloat nor boast in his personal victory. Instead, he hammers the message home. “That Inspector was dead on. You aren’t honest.”
[FLASHBACK]
“Be honest!” An infuriated Officer Tezuka explodes, having been stuck in this interrogation room for what feels like hours now. “Why did you allow the villain to escape?!”
“I told you already!” Cinder snaps back, having lost his patience a long time ago. “I don’t know him! I thought he was just a bystander!”
“Then why did he call you, his friend?! Why did you defend him?! And stop us?!”
“I don’t know!”
Tezuka glares back, not at all buying the pathetic attempt at an excuse.
“I don’t know! Honest!”
“You’re being anything but honest.” Tezuka spits, not even able to look at him anymore as she becomes increasingly frustrated with him.
Afterall he not only aided a villain but…but he betrayed their trust. Maybe it was a lapse in judgment, sure but if it was, he wouldn’t be so defensive about it. No something is going on here. She can feel it.
“Work with me here, Midoriya. What’s going on?”
Cinder clamps his mouth shut, unable to look her in the eye.
“Fine!” Tezuka shoves herself off her seat. “Don’t talk to me.” She gets up and leaves, locking him back up in the sterile claustrophobic room, leaving him to stew in his obvious guilt.
Cinder sits back, letting out an exhausted sigh, trying but failing to let his frustrations go. ‘This could have gone better. Like a lot better.’ He groans, dragging his hands over his face. ‘I really made a mess of things now!’
Well more like those idiotic Galvans messed things up, but because of well everything it’s still his mess to clean up. But how is he supposed to do that from inside a cell?! Benevelon and his robot are still out there, somewhere! And those two Galvans have the only weapon that can take the B.L.R.R.T. down!
‘And they’re clearly not the most reliable.’ He groans.
He needs to get out of here and fast. He needs to fix all of this and somehow, someway, clear this mess up without revealing the truth of what either the Galvans or Benevelon are.
‘Why do I get the feeling I might be over my head here?’
Meanwhile, from the other side of the one-way window.
Enji Todoroki and Tezuka watch Cinder wither under his own frustrating circumstances.
“Let me talk to him.” Enji offers up, having depowered with his flames nowhere to be seen.
Tezuka considers the idea. “Fine. See what you can get out of him.”
Enji approaches the opportunity, and moves to head in but not before pausing and adding in. “He might be innocent, you know.”
“He might but…is he?”
He has no answer, instead he enters looking for one.
Upon Enji’s entry, Hisashi instantly let’s his guard down, he’s relieved to see him. “Enji.”
“Hisashi.” Enji greets as he takes the seat across from his old friend.
As they sit, Hisashi considers it for a moment before chiming up. “You…wouldn’t happen to have a smoke on you? Would you?”
“No.” Enji frowns, throwing his friend a skeptical look. “I thought you promised your fiancé that you’d cut back on them?”
“I am cutting back!” Hisashi defends. “I just…like to have one when I’m stressed.”
“I see. But sorry to tell you this but I don’t smoke.”
“Right, I forgot.” Hisashi grins teasingly. “You’re more into that cheeba stuff.”
“Hey, that was a long time ago!” Enji retorts, defensively.
Hisashi smirks back. “You mean high school?”
“Hisashi.” Enji warns dangerously, yet there’s a good-natured grin on his face.
“Hahaha!”
They both settle down with smiles on their faces, just sitting back and enjoying the other’s company.
As they settle down Hisashi…tries to start the conversation. “So, how are the little firecrackers?”
“They’re both doing alright.” Enji admits with a proud smile. “They want their uncle to stop by more often though.”
“You mean their cool uncle, right? Haha! Yeah, I’ll make sure to stop by later this week.”
“I’m sure it’ll make them happy. Especially, Toya.”
“I’m sure. I am his godfather after all.”
A curious thought crosses Enji’s mind. “You ever thought of being a father yourself?”
“Ah, no.” Hisashi shakes his head. “I don’t have the patience for that. Besides too much responsibility.”
“I think you’d make a great dad.”
“Maybe…I kinda doubt it…”
Hisashi quiets down becoming self-conscious.
Enji understands, considering his past.
Enji sighs, with the pleasantries out for his way, he needs to actually do what he came here to do.
“Speaking of kids. You know what would make mine happy? Is not seeing their uncle throw his reputation away for a villain.”
Hisashi jerks up, scowling. “Enji-...”
“Hisashi look, I don’t know what’s going on, clearly. But I know you. I know you got your secrets and…I respect that.” Although it is rather difficult to do so sometimes. “But…right now is not the time for secrets. I need you to be honest with me and yourself. What’s going on? Who was that villain? What was that robot? …What do you know?”
Hisashi pauses, taking a moment to think about what to do. “I will be honest with you…” He takes a shaky breath and breathes. “I can’t tell you.”
Enji’s betrayed expression says it all. “Why?”
He has answer at least not one he can say,
“You’re always like this!” Enji roars, losing his patience, startling Hisashi in the process. “You and your secrets! They always get you into messes that I gotta save your ass from!” Ever since they were in U.A. it’s been like this! “Enough! I’ve always given you the benefit of the doubt, I figured you’d tell me when you're ready or that it was nothing serious. But not anymore! Your secrets hurt people!! They hurt a lot of people today and you let our chance at stopping it slip away! What are you hiding and why?!”
Hisashi shakes his head, shaken by his friend’s honest outbursts. “Enji…you’re just gonna have to trust me.”
“I do trust you.” Endeavor leans back, his eyes filled with betrayal. “But why won’t you trust me?”
[End of FLASHBACK]
Hisashi leans forward, letting his head hang down in shame and regret as old memories flood his mind. ‘Things weren’t always like this.’ He thinks sadly to himself as the Endeavor’s flames glow just out of sight.
But even with his flames the room feels even colder than it had ever been.
He knows it’s too late to go back and fix things. It’s too late to make up for lost time. It’s too late.
So then the only question that remains is…
“Where do we go from here?”
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
“Where are we going exactly?” Shoto questions as both he and Tokoyami follow Izuku and Lucy further into the Adachi-district.
He can’t help but feel uncomfortable, the Adachi-district feels so claustrophobic compared to the rest of the city. With streets that are so narrow, maybe a compact car could pass through one at a time. The surrounding buildings are only two stories tall, but they’re so compacted together and built atop each other, it makes it seem like the city was trying to fit as many homes and buildings in one place while trying to stay under a certain height. Wires and cables stretch across from rooftop to rooftop making a mess of webs that somehow cast shadows down to the street below. Dimly lit signs cover nearly every surface, each one advertising a different small business. Most are turned off as of this point since the sun has totally set over the horizon. And so many of the buildings remain still and in the dark, locked up and void of any life, making the teens feel even more alone than they are.
With his hood up over his head, Izuku smiles back at his friends. “Don’t worry. We’ll be there soon.” he swiftly spins forward and leans into Lucy’s ear and whispers hastily. “Where are we going?!”
The calm and smiling Lucy gives him a nonchalant shrug as she eyes every sign and building. “I’m not sure yet.”
Izuku gasps. “I thought you knew what we were looking for?!”
“I do know, I’m just…” She continues to scan the narrow street until she spots what she’s looking for and smiles. “Looking for a sign.”
Izuku frowns, pausing, before following her gaze. Shoto and Tokoyami frown, wondering why he stopped, before they too look over and find a bright neon sign, hanging above a shabby bar that’s so run down it might fall over.
The neon sign reads The Tavern of High Charity.
Lucy smiles, heading towards the bright neon that washes over the dark narrow road like a flood. “We found it.”
Shoto frowns, eyeing the building skeptically. “We did?”
They hurry towards the large iron door, Lucy leading the way with no hint of hesitation or fear. In fact, she’s excited as this means she’ll complete her mission sooner than expected.
They walk up and she knocks her fist against the cold iron doors, her knock sounding from the other side.
Near the top of the door, there’s an eye slot that slides open and a pair of large yet sunken orange eyes glare back at the teens, the bouncer gives a large beast-like huff as he eyes each of them distrustfully.
Izuku, Shoto, and Tokoyami hang back, uncertain and nervous, they share looks of concern.
However, Lucy steps forward with a smile on her face.
The bouncer huffs. “Password.”
Lucy tucks her hair back and leans in and when she’s sure that neither Shoto nor Tokoyami can see, she has the left side of her face morpho away into her purple sludge allowing the bouncer to quickly see what she is.
The bouncer gives a huff and a nod before several locks unsheathe and the iron door swings back, allowing her entrance.
“Welcome to the Tavern of High Charity.” The bouncer greets in a monotone voice, like he’s had to say this line over and over, every day, for months. “It’s out of this world.”
“I’m sure it is.” Lucy strides into the bar, entrance the narrow passageway that’s somehow both dark yet aglow with dim purple neon.
The boys hesitate, still unsure about the sketchy bar, but after a moment they muster their courage and attempt to follow Lucy inside.
But the bouncer stomps forward, blocking their path.
The boys are taken back by the large and beastly bouncer. For Shoto and Tokoyami they instantly think he has quite the beastily Quirk but for Izuku he immediately identifies the bouncer as anything but a Quirked human.
Despite the alien’s human clothes, a leather jacket and pants, the large bipedal alien stands at about nine feet! He looks like a cross between a hairless gorilla and a rhino, with leathery grey skin, large stocky build, and bulging muscles. His yellow eyes glare down at the boys as he huffs in their faces like a gorilla. In all this bouncer is not a beast but an all-out brute.
The brute gives a huff and bellows lowly. “Password.”
The teens are taken back, leaning over to see if they can spot Lucy for help, but she’s already gone.
They all silently wonder what to do. While Izuku silently worries about an alien standing right before his friends.
He rubs the Omnitrix out of habit, as if it’ll give him a solution. And it does as an idea crosses his mind.
Izuku steps forward, without saying a word to his friends.
The brute straightens up, lifting his chin so he can look down on the boy.
Nervously, Izuku gulps, and flashes the brute the Omnitrix.
The brute remains indifferent and unmoving, giving no hints of his emotions as he eyes the watch.
And just when Izuku thinks that he’s gonna be thrown out, the brute steps aside.
“Welcome to the Tavern of High Charity. It’s out of this world.”
Izuku smiles in relief and hurries inside, hoping to catch up to Lucy.
Smiling, Shoto and Tokoyami attempt to follow but once again the brute blocks their path. His massive build easily prevents them from getting around him.
Shoto pokes his head over the brute’s shoulder. “Um, Midoriya!”
Izuku spins around to find his friends stuck at the entrance. He’s about to help but then stops, thinking that this might be for the best. “Um, wait for us here, kay?” He runs off down the narrow hallway, not wanting to be berated.
“Midoriya!” Shoto shouts after him but he’s already disappeared. “Midoriya!!” And he’s cut off as the cold iron door slams shut on his face.
Feeling incredibly guilty for ditching his friend, Izuku hurries down the hall until he reaches a single wooden door, this one is scratched and worn out but unattended.
And so with it being the only way through Izuku hesitantly grips the door handle before yanking the door open anticipating the worst.
And what he finds as he steps in is nothing except for a raging nightclub and bar scene filled to the brim with aliens!!
Strobe lights flash about the club as purple and blue neon lights line the alien-architecture walls. Everything is smooth with purplish and bluish tints giving it such futuristic yet alien style. With a cold purple tinted floor with black tiling. A large variety of aliens party about, drinking, chatting and dancing away without a care.
In one corner Izuku spots what he thinks to be a group of alien warriors challenging each other to arm wrestles and drinking games.
They’re all about 7 to 8 feet in height with saurian-like appearance. Cladded in futuristic helmets and armor these reptilian aliens have dark grey skin, three fingered hands, and most strictly their jaws appear to be made up of a single upper jaw and then their lower jaws are quadruple-hinged, with four finger-like mandibles.
They seem to see themselves as elites as they push and boss around their small statured grunts that mill about serving them.
Izuku walks further into the bar, taking in the other sights.
He blushes and looks away as Twi'leks and other shapely aliens take the small stages and perform for the crowd. As BD-3000 luxury droids mill about serving food and drinks to the patrons.
A trio of Sonorosians act as both the D.J. and the speakers, with several of the lookalike Sonorosians acting as the sound system.
In another corner there seems to be some sort of illegal animal fighting. Like a miniature version of a gladiatorial ring where drunk patrons cheer and watch as a strange dog-like monitor lizard chases and gobbles down these ugly looking lizard rats.
A few of the drunk patrons catch Izuku's eye like the tall tree man who’s joined by a greenish-grey alien whose body is covered in red tattoos, and a talking raccoon in an orange jumpsuit.
And finally in the last and furthest corner of the club Izuku spots the bar that’s being waited on by an Anacondon who hands from the rafters above so his tail is free to grab and serve drinks. At the bar sits a number of other aliens like another brute, a Tetramand, and even Bubble Helmet is here.
And finally he spots her, he spots Lucy striding her way towards the bar.
He hurries after her, shoving and snaking past partying aliens.
“Thanks for waiting.” He huffs when he catches up to her.
She spins around in surprise before apologizing. “Sorry, I thought you’d know.” After all it is his planet, guess she assumed wrong. “You really are a rookie then. Okay since you’re new to all this, just don’t talk to anyone or do anything to offend. Got it?” She warns, totally serious and worried.
“Got it.”
She nods, happy to hear it before she turns back to the bar and begins to chat away with some of the other patrons hoping that one of them will know a pilot that’ll be willing to give her a lift.
After a minute of asking around she comes back to Izuku with some good news.
“I found a pilot.”
“You did?”
She lets him go as they move away from the bar.
“Where are they?”
Lucy gestures towards a little hole in the wall meant to give patrons somewhere to enjoy their drinks in private. “Over there, and we’re about to go speak with them.” She pauses before reconsidering taking Izuku along. “How are your negotiation skills?”
Izuku takes a moment to think about the random question. “Um, I once convinced Bakugou not to beat me up because I soiled myself.”
Lucy blinks, finding the story both truthful yet so sad. “Let me do the talking, kay?”
And so she leads him towards the open doored room just as two aliens pull away with a stretcher in hand as what Izuku hopes to be an unconscious green Rodian on top of it.
As they pass Izuku catches a little of their conversation.
“Well, someone said he shot first but I could’ve sworn it was the other guy.”
Izuku nearly freezes in place as he breaks into a cold sweat. ‘Just what kind of cold-blooded killer are we dealing with?!’
Lucy and Izuku step into the small room, finding a large round table taking up the majority as a cushioned bench wraps around it. And on the other side sits this killer, sitting in the shadows and out of the light making it hard for Izuku to make out what he looks like. All he can tell is that he’s rather short with thin legs that he had resting atop the table as he holds up a smoking blaster that’s teal in color with orange rims.
Lucy doesn’t show any fear, making herself seem as professional and serious as possible as she gets right to the point. “You a pilot?”
The pilot casually twirls his blaster before responding. “No. I’m THE pilot.” He corrects, with his whistly yet low-pitched voice.
Lucy continues, taking a seat opposite of the pilot as Izuku stands at her side. “I need passage to Plumber Academy.”
“Plumber Academy?” The pilot frowns, wondering if this chick is crazy or something. “Why would you want to go there?”
“I’m paying you for transport.” Lucy drops a pouch of Taydenite onto the table and slides it over. “Not to ask questions.”
“Hm.” The pilot sits up and inspects the pouch, checking to make sure the money is real. After examining each piece of crystal, he gives the teens a suspicious glance. “You Red Spots?”
Lucy hesitates, nervous that she might lose him here. “We are.”
“In that case, it’s gonna cost you extra. Another 4,000 credits should suffice.”
Lucy gasps, slamming her hands against the table. “That's straight up robbery!”
“No, that’s business. What? Just cause you’re cops you thought you would get a discount? No. Where Red Spots go, trouble follows. And I’m not putting my ship at risk for a couple of Red Spot posers.”
Lucy scowls, but she refuses to give in, but…she has nothing else to offer. That was all the money HQ was able to lend her for this mission. “When we arrive, I’ll make sure to pay you in full. Half-now, and half-later.”
“Hm. No thanks.”
“What?! Why?!”
The pilot smirks, leaning back in his seat. “Because you’re clearly desperate. And desperate people always pay more.”
Lucy shakes her head, rolling her eyes, she knows a scam when she sees one. But what really stings is that he’s right. “Look, you get this now.” She points to the pouch. “And you’ll get the rest later. And as a bonus…”
She pauses trying to figure out one more incentive And that’s when she eyes Izuku and his Omnitrix.
And like that she knows what to offer.
“He’ll owe you one!” She proclaims with a cheery yet forced smile, springing to her feet, and wrapping an arm around Izuku.
It takes a second for Izuku to process what she just offered. “W-wa-wait? ME!?!”
The pilot frowns, not quite buying into it yet. “And why would I want a hormonal teenager owing me one?”
Lucy smirks, despite his cool and uninterested disposition she knows that she’s got his interest. “Because he’s not just any hormonal teenager, he’s a hormonal teenager with an Omnitrix.” She grabs Izuku’s arm and holds it up for him to see. “Think about it. U.A.’s Rising Star, the wielder of the Omnitrix, will owe you any favor that you wish.”
Izuku shakes his head. “Lucy, I don-”
She quickly clamps a sludgy hand over his mouth. “What do you say? Do we gotta deal?”
“Hm.” The pilot considers it for a moment and then. “Yes. We do.” He sticks his teal feathered hand out so they can seal the deal.
Lucy takes it and gives it a firm shake. “Good, because you certainly made a profit off of us.”
The pilot smirks back at her. “Profit is my middle name.”
Izuku, sulking about being pawned off, frowns curiously at the pilot. “And what exactly is your name?”
“My name…” The pilot leans forward, his face finally coming into the light. “Is Rad Dudesman.”
Izuku’s eyes pop wide open in surprise. ‘HE’S A DUCK!?!’
Well actually he’s more of a duck-like alien with light-blue feathers and a blue bill. He’s wearing a bronze vest and a belt lined with pockets and holsters as well as a matching helmet that’s attached to a black visor which acts as a pair of sunglasses for Rad.
With their transaction over, Rad hops off the bench. “Follow me, my ship’s in the back.”
And so, he leads the teens away towards the very back of the night club, away from the partying and drinking aliens.
Izuku tugs on Lucy’s sleeve, demanding an answer. “Why did you do that?!”
“Do what?” She frowns before quickly realizing what he means. “Oh, that. I had to. I mean what else could I offer but your services?”
Izuku pouts, huffing at her in annoyance. “Okay, but then how’d you know about the…” He blushes as he admits his supposed title. “Rising Star stuff?”
Eheheh! *Snort!* Eheheh! Who doesn’t know?! Everyone saw the Sports Festival, you know.”
Izuku blushes with embarrassment. ‘Yeah, I do know…’
And so, they continue on until they reach a set of tall iron doors at the back end of the club. They open up as Rad slams a nearby button and they step through finding themselves in a rather spacious hallway. The hallway is cool and nicely light with makeshift rusted metal walls and floors. As the doors close the hallway becomes completely silent almost as if there isn’t booming music coming from just behind those doors. The hallway is wide enough to fit two lanes of cars and lining the walls sit a variety of tiny stands and vendors as well as other entry ways leading to other facilities and services.
Rad leads them through, past the many rooms and vendors and aliens. Neither Rad nor Lucy give them much of a second glance but for Izuku his eyes can’t help but wander. Every room is filled with something new from alien restaurants, shops, gatherings, creatures, and more. Some doors even look like they lead into normal housing areas. Although much of it seems to be cramped together much like the rest of the city district. All the facilities built upon and next to each other so the aliens can fit as much as they can in all the space available to them.
“What kind of place is this?” Izuku wonders aloud.
“It’s a refuge of sorts.” Answers Lucy as they continue their way through the straightforward hallway. “It’s where aliens can come together and be themselves. Think of it as a shopping district but for aliens.”
‘Huh, that makes sense. Guess Mr. Baumann’s store isn’t the only place they can go to then.’
And so, they continue for another minute or so before Rad stops having reached the end of the hallway, which ends with a set of large garage doors. “We’re here.”
And with another press of a switch the garage doors slide up and open.
“Woooaaahh!!” Izuku’s eyes sparkle in amazement as he lays his eyes on the beautiful spaceships before him.
The large hangar, which is clearly several warehouses that are all connected to each other but built to appear separate on the outside, is filled with spaceships.
There’s a huge red spaceship that resembles a giant airplane with a white underbelly and large spiral turbines on its wings.
Next to it sits a Type-52 Troop Carrier which hovers feet above the ground, it’s smooth and round frame shines under the light of the massive hanger.
And across from it sits a very cool and very sleek M-ship with wide serrated wings and a cool blue and orange color scheme.
All the while alien workers go about, working like honeybees to transport goods, crates, and other resources from one ship to the next.
Izuku peers from one ship to the next, each one more amazing than the last. “Which one is yours?” He asks excitedly.
“Can’t you tell? It’s only the most beautiful one here.” Rad leads them to his ship. “And here she is.” He gestures to the ship behind him. “The Lovely Duck.”
Towering above them stands Rad’s ship. A heavily modified spaceship that resembles that of a duck, oddly enough. It’s heavily armored with the bow of the ship being shaped like a duck's face and bill, with a blaster turret mounted under the chin. It has a very large cargo hold for transporting goods in the rear. And it is armed to the teeth with various weapons, including twin energy cannons mounted on both sides of the bow and wings.
Izuku frowns, finding the ship both cool yet curiously odd. “Why’d you call it the duck?” Well, he can see why but still…
Rad shrugs him off as he steps aboard the ship’s lowered dock. “It’s personal.”
Izuku frowns. “Seems weird you’d call it something you don’t want to be asked about.”
Rad rolls his eyes under his visor. “You’re right, it was a call for attention.” And with that he enters the haul and goes about for one last inspection.
“Rude…” Izuku grumbles to himself.
Lucy giggles as she steps past Izuku and onto the ramp leading into the ship.
Izuku watches her as she too admires Rad’s ship. “This has gotta be a relief for you. Am I right? I mean this is it. We made it.”
Without turning back to him, she shakes her. “Not yet.”
Izuku’s smile drops.
She turns back to him, a sympathetic yet honest look in her eyes. “In this kind of work you just know that nothing’s gonna be simple.” She looks down before snickering to herself and jokingly says. “I mean I half expect this ship to blow up or something.”
Izuku smiles along with her.
However, Rad pokes his head out from the haul of the ship. “Did you just insult my ship?”
“No! Of course not.” Lucy is quick to deny, turning away so Rad wouldn’t see her sarcastic expression, exaggeratingly rolling her eyes. “I said your ship’s gonna blow past all the others.”
Nearly bursting into laughter, Izuku bites his tongue.
Rad, however, is none the wiser. “Of course, she will, she is my ship after all.”
Lucy chuckles, nodding her head slowly. “That she is.”
Izuku manages to hold back his laughter as Rad gives a curt nod before disappearing back into his ship.
Lucy sighs, a soft smile on her face. “We may not have been able to arrest Ragnarok ourselves but with this evidence I’ll be able to stop his operation permanently.” She holds up the key, admiring how such a little device could be the root to such an apocalyptic demise.
Izuku eyes the key, before taking a breath and accepting the situation as it is. “I guess that’ll be our problem.”
“Yeah, sorry.”
“No, don’t be.” Izuku smiles, giving her a small shrug like it’s just inevitable. “It’s just…part of the job, right?”
“Right.” Lucy pauses unsure if that should really be the case. She steps back, climbing further up the ramp. “Tell your Dad I said thanks for everything.”
Izuku smiles. “I will.”
She smiles back, giving him a little salute. “Take care, rookie.”
“You too.'' Izuku hesitates and then blushes. “S-senpai.”
Her smile widens as she continues to step back. But after a moment a thought crosses her mind, and she pauses, giving her kohai a hesitant look.
She brushes back her hair and asks cautiously. “Can I give you some words of advice?”
Izuku’s eyebrows furrow in confusion. “Um, I don’t see why not.”
Lucy fidgets in place as she thinks of how to best say this. “Be careful with your friends.”
Izuku blinks back at her. “What?”
“I mean, be careful about the secrets you keep, especially from your friends.” She warns gravely. “Take it from a spy, alright. Eventually, all secrets come out. One way or another.”
That is certainly food for thought. “Should…should I tell them?”
“That’s…honestly up to you. I don’t know what the right answer is. But what I do know is that if they do find out.” She takes a shaky breath and says. “You’ll want it to be on your terms.”
Izuku takes her word of warning to heart. As he understands her message clearly; he can either admit the truth of everything to his friends himself or keep on with his secrets despite the consequences…
Lucy doesn’t like to see him like this; dour and filled with self-doubt. “Chin up, rookie.” She flashes him a grateful smile. “You still did a good job. You got me here so Mission: Complete!”
“Yeah,” Izuku smiles. “Mission: Complete.”
They won.
And with that Lucy steps back, further up the ramp as she prepares to leave. “Don’t worry we’ll meet again. I still gotta try Japan’s sushi after all.”
Izuku has to choke back his laughter. “For sure. It’ll be my treat then.”
“You’re the best!” She cheers, happy and excited for her next visit.
Izuku watches her climb up the large ramp with a thoughtful smile. He can't help but think what’s to come next: she’ll get the key to the Plumbers, and then they’ll come to take Ragnarok away. He’ll meet up with his Dad and hopefully they’ll be able to clear some things up with the police before moving on. He sure hopes so. Because he has the feeling that they’ve worn out their welcome here a long time ago.
But that’s okay. Despite the mistrust, the accusations, and the threat of the world ending above their heads; they did some good work here today. And he can settle with that. They won.
*BOOM!!!*
An explosion rocks the hanger as smoke and flames crash through the roof of the disguised hanger.
Izuku’s head snaps up as do the alien workers, all of them snapping up towards the gaping hole in the ceiling.
Ragnarok peers down at them all with a nasty scowl and glare. “Knock. Knock.”
He jumps and hops down landing atop the big red ship with a loud clank of its metal roof.
The alien workers drop what they're doing and take off, fleeing for their own sakes as Ragnarok makes his way down the ship.
Izuku turns and shouts up at Lucy. “I’ll hold him off!”
Lucy shakily nods her head. “You got this!” And she rushes inside the Lovely Duck passing by Rad as he finishes up some maintenance on a nearby control panel. “We gotta go. Now!”
Rad waves her off. “Alright, alright, sheesh.” He sets the panel back together and with a push of a button, the ramp lifts up, so he can close the haul.
Meanwhile, Izuku marches through the hanger as panicked aliens rush past him and towards the exits.
He grips the Omnitrix looking for the right alien for the job. “I’ll give Diamondhead a chance to shine. After all, prims do reflect light sooo.” He finds Diamondhead. “It’s hero time!”
He slams down on the Omnitrix and transforms within a flash!
“Ah, man.” Stinkfly sulks, his wings and eyes dropping down in disappointment. “This stinks. Literally.”
Ragnarok makes it to the ground level and with a huff he blasts away the surrounding crate, clearing his path. “Where is she?! Where is the Lenopan?!” He roars as he marches forth, blasting nearby machinery in fits of anger. “Where is she?!” He blasts an X-wing. “WHERE?!”
He aims his glowing fist towards the Lovely Duck but before he can fire a glob of goop hits his hand and flings it back against a nearby stack of crates.
“That’s all you got.” Stinkfly taunts from the air, drawing Ragnarok’s attention. “Don’t you get tired of that same trick?” He lands atop a stack of crates, glaring down at Ragnarok, his wings poised and ready to take off in a moment's notice. “Like for real, why not do something different?”
Ragnarok throws the bug a nasty grimace as his sunbeam burns away the slime. “Then allow me to show you.” He reels his fist up over his head before slamming them down onto the ground.
The beams travel through the ground, like rushing water through sand before exploding upward in a geyser of light and heat from under Stinkfly’s position.
The beam blasts up, propelling and smashing through the crates, tossing Stinkfly into the air.
“Wahh!” Stinkfly yelps, his wings beating quickly as he catches his balance and flies past the flying debris.
Ragnarok straightens up, his fists smoking from the heat. “How’s that for different?”
“That was…actually kinda cool.” Stinkfly admits with a sheepish grin as he flies up. “But I wanna see some more!”
Aiming to keep the villain’s focus on him, he dive bombs the villain who readily fires back.
Meanwhile, Lucy peers through the Lovely Duck’s front windows. Leaning over the controls, watching Izuku’s Lepidopterran form take on the terrorist on his own.
“Are we good to go?!” She screams, spinning around to find Rad playing around with the control.
“Not yet.” He answers back with such a calm expression, so much so that she starts to think that he might not even know that they’re under attack.
“What? Why?!”
Suddenly and without warning a little pink holographic screen with little square eyes and smile blinks into existence above the control panel.
^Magiphcoshen.^ The little AI beeps and squeaks, speaking absolute gibberish that she can’t make out in the slightest.
Lucy turns to Rad for a translation. “What did it say?”
“First off, that’s Pyxie. My ship’s AI. Secondly, she said that our cloaking device is offline.” he rips open the controls and begins fiddling around with the wires. “I’ll need to manually turn it back on before we take off.”
“Hurry!” Lucy spins around so she can check on the fight.
She watches as Stinkfly continuously dive bombs Ragnarok, trying to slice at him with his large pincer. “Come on, rookie. You got this.”
She watches as Stinkfly is swatted out of the air by Ragnarok’s punch.
“I hope.” She gulps.
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Stinkfly shoves himself off the ground, taking off into the air before Ragnarok’s beams can melt him away like it does to the ground.
The villain fires after the buzzing insect who flies about this way and that like a pesky housefly, evading each and every swipe and beam of light aimed his way.
“Raaagh!!” Ragnarok roars out furiously. “You pest!!”
With his guard down, Stinkfly zips in from the side and with one fell swoop he scoops up Ragnarok in his arms and legs and carries him off towards the main entrance to the hunger.
“Release me you-HMF!!!”
A glob of slime is plastered to his mouth as Stinkfly zips through the garage doors and into the wide hallway.
“Please put on your seat belt!” He shouts as he goops up Ragnarok’s arms. “We’re gonna experience some high turbulence!”
And so he wheezes through the hallway, swooping past the various little vendors and bustling aliens who duck and dive out of their way.
“Excuse me! Pardon me! Ah! I’m sorry! Move, move!! Ahh!!”
Ragnarok struggles in Stinkfly’s grasp. His fist glow brightly as he burns away the slime. Quickly he is able to free his hands from the slime, his fists glowing brightly before he unleashes an explosive blast.
“Aaaaaahhh!!” Stinkfly screams out as he’s engulfed in a blinding explosion.
He loses his balance midair and is flung forward, crashing through the end of the hallway and into the Tavern of High Charity.
The music screeches to halt as all the patrons, bar tenders, and dancers freeze in place as smoke and heat rise from the back entrance.
Stinkfly coughs and wheezes as he tries to pull himself off the ground.
“Insect!!”
From the entrance Ragnarok appears, his eyes filled with rage as he locks onto the downed Stinkfly. “Raaaghh!!” He roars, unleashes a powerful beam at the fallen youngling.
Stinkfly leaps away just in time as the beam blasts into the dance floor.
And like the entire night club is thrown into chaos. Aliens scream and panic for the exits. Slipping through hidden passageways or sprinting past Ragnarok so they can get to their ships. Some of the aliens stand ready for a fight like the elites with their glowing swords. The only reason they don’t make a move is because as far as they’re concerned, this is not their fight.
With all the aliens speeding past, Ragnarok loses sight of the giant bug. And with no reason to pursue the pest he turns to head back and search for the Lenopan elsewhere.
But as he steps back, he finds his foot glued in place by a patch of familiar green slime.
“Don’t think you can just walk all over this bug. Raagh!!” Stinkfly drops down from the ceiling above, swinging his tail down and landing a direct hit to Ragnarok’s skull. “STINGER SLAP!!!”
Spinning around Stinkfly’s stinger bashes into Ragnarok and tosses him aside and into the DJ’s booth!
The DJ Sonorosian and his clones dive out of the way but his booth and some of his clones are not so lucky as they are smashed in by Ragnarok’s flying body.
“Raaagh!!” Ragnarok leaps up to his feet and fires back at the bug.
The beam hits dead on, blasting Stinkfly back and over the bar, crashing into the shelves upon shelves of drinks and boozes.
Ragnarok charges as boozes and alcohol break and pour down on the fallen Stinkfly.
Gasping, Stinkfly picks up several bottles of beer and tequila in his hands. “Take a shot!” he screams as he tosses and flings bottle after bottle at the charging villain.
The bottles break and shatter against Ragnarok, slowing him down and blinding him as alcohol and glass splash in his face.
Seeing an opening Stinkfly leaps over the counter and glides in for a finishing blow.
However, the beat of his wings gives him away and Ragnarok is able to time his counter perfectly. The villain lashes out and grabs Stinkfly by the neck, tossing him up and over before slamming him into the nearby stage and pole, smashing them to bits.
“Uh, gah!” Stinkfly gasps and chokes as Ragnarok then presses his foot down on his neck.
The villain glares down at the bug underneath his boot. “I despise insects like you.”
Stinkfly glares back and fires slime at the villain’s face.
“Gah!” Ragnarok sheaths, stumbling back as he tries to pry the film off of him.
Stinkfly manages to shove Ragnarok’s foot off of him before he scurries backward and away from the villain.
Meanwhile, Ragnarok is able to clear away the slime, glaring back at the crouched Lepidopterran. “I don’t have time for this!” He turns, deciding that he needs to ignore this bug and go on after his true target.
That is when Stinkfly tries one last time to hold the villain’s attention. “You’re too late!”
Ragnarok stops dead in his tracks.
“She’s already gone! She’s already left the Earth’s orbit.” Or he hopes so.
But it is clear by his expression that Ragnarok was not hoping for such an outcome. For the first time he expresses an emotion other than anger and indifference: fear.
Swallowing his fear, Stinkfly confirms Ragnarok’s own fears. “You lost. We beat you.”
Ragnarok actually stumbles back, fighting off a brief moment of panic.
“No.” His key, his key is not out of his reach in the possession of the Plumbers. “But then that means…” It means that he can no longer pay off his debt to Vilgax. He cannot hold up his end of the deal and thus he is now under the titan’s mercy. “No, I’ve been played.” The titan planned for this, he must have.
Stinkfly frowns, wondering what he could be talking about. But whatever it is, it can't be good.
“No…I can’t go back, not empty handed.”
He’s always seen himself as above most. But that’s because he knows his own place. He knows very well that there are those that are above even him and Vilgax is certainly one of them. He was confident in his mission, in his own success. But now the fear sets in, and he’s cursed by his own knowledge. Knowledge that no matter where he goes or hides Vilgax will find him, send agents upon agents after him, all so he can collect what he is owed.
“I need something to compensate for my losses.”
Stinkfly suddenly has a sinking feeling about all this and thus he begins to back away slowly, trying to remain as discreet as possible.
Ragnarok is then struck by an idea, an opportunity. “I won’t go back to him empty handed.” He snaps his gaze towards the cowering Stinkfly.
The large insect gulps. “W-who’s him?”
Ragnarok breathes in warning. “Vilgax.”
Stinkfly’s wings instantly begin to buzz rapidly, readying for a quick take off.
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Meanwhile, Tokoyami and Shoto literally sit around and do nothing as they wait for their friend’s return.
They sit in the darkness with only streetlamps illuminating the city, leaning back against the nearby buildings across the Tavern of High Charity. They would have tried the door again, but the big brute of a bouncer decided to place himself up in front of the doorway just to make sure that they don’t come any closer. And since they don’t want to cause a scene the two teens were forced to do nothing but wait outside.
And to make matters worse, neither of them know exactly how to converse with the other. And so, they’ve been sitting in silence ever since Izuku left, never exchanging a word.
But with the emptiness of the city district and the cold glare of the brute, Tokoyami turns to Shoto before hesitantly speaking up, trying to start some sort of conversation. “Are you enjoying your summer break?”
Shoto doesn’t answer right away, mainly because he was caught off guard by Tokoyami’s icebreaker. “Could be better.” He admits awkwardly.
Not sure how to properly respond, Tokoyami falls back into the awkward silence from before.
And he’s left with nothing to do but wait and watch the empty silent city.
*BOOM!!!*
An explosion of brilliantly bright light explodes forth from behind the iron door. The door is blasted right off its hinges and into the brute, knocking him down and knocking him unconscious as debris and smoke fly across the narrow street,
Shoto and Tokoyami spring to their feet as a giant bug is flung through the doorway like he was a piece of burnt trash.
Shoto and Tokoyami gasp when they see the bug bounces off a nearby building and onto the ground. “Midoriya?!”
A pained Stinkfly peers up, blinking up at his classmates. He then turns his eye stalks back towards the smoking entrance way of the Tavern of High Charity.
From amongst the smoke, Ragnarok appears, his fists already glowing bright with sunlight.
Stinkfly scurries back and is about to tell his friends to run when suddenly both Shoto and Tokoyami step between him and the villain.
Shoto’s right side freezes over with frost that begins to spread across the ground as Tokoyami takes his side with Dark Shadow coiling around him like a serpent that’s preparing to strike.
Ragnarok scowls at the two. “Step aside, younglings. This doesn’t concern you.”
But neither Shoto nor Tokoyami move aside, instead they hold their ground. They are prepared to fight, to defend their friend. No matter the cost.
“Insects.” Ragnarok spits, his fists glowing ever brighter. “Such defiance will not go unpunished.”
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Meanwhile, on the other side of Tokyo.
‘I can’t believe she’s letting me go.’ Hisashi thinks as Inspector Tezuka sees him out of the police precinct and into the cold night air.
“I can’t believe I’m letting you go.” Tezuka grumbles just loud enough for Hisashi to hear.
‘She was thinking the same thing?!’
“I don’t like it.” She growls as they step out of the building. “Letting a criminal like you lose onto the streets.”
“I’m not a criminal.” Hisashi defends. “But then again it doesn’t really matter what you think of me. I know what I am, even if others don’t see it.”
Tezuka frowns, pausing to consider his words. “Just get out of here already.” She gives him a light shove so that he’ll get going faster before steeping back towards the building. “What others don’t see, huh?” She eyes him warily. “I can only imagine what your boy sees in you.”
Hisashi doesn’t bite back at the obvious baited taunt. But if he’s being honest…he sometimes wonders the same thing.
Before either Hisashi or Tezuka could leave the other, the precinct suddenly becomes very lively as officers rush out, hurrying to their cruisers in a haste.
Hisashi frowns, wondering what could be happening.
Tezuka, just as lost, calls out. “What’s going on?!”
Fatgum bursts through the entrance and shouts back. “Ragnarok’s been spotted in the Adachi-district!”
Hisashi nearly lets out a gasp. ‘Izuku! Lucy!’ He thinks, worried for them both. ‘It has to be them, Ragnarok must have somehow tracked them down to the Tavern of High Charity.’
Before he can act a bright orange flame lights up the sky.
Peering up, Hisashi witnesses Endeavor rocketing himself through the air, in the direction of the Adachi-district.
‘I gotta help them!’ He thinks and is just about to make a break for it when he is stopped by Tezuka shouting.
“You stay out of this!” She barks, grabbing his arm and pulling him back.
“But I-”
“You what?” She glares, giving him an accusing look. “Have to save that villain?”
Hisashi purses his lips. “Of course not.”
Somehow, she doesn’t believe him. “Stay out of this Midoriya, for your own sake.” And with that she brushes past him, hoping into her own cruiser, blasting the siren before racing off and through the city.
And like that Hisashi is left alone, left behind in the nearly empty precinct. The street is now void of life since nearly every officer is now out on the hunt.
After witnessing the last cruiser disappear from sight, Hisashi let’s out a deep exasperated sigh; like he knows that by the end of this Tezuka will be even angrier with him than she is now. “Sorry, Inspector. But I can’t help but meddle.”
But then again, how is he even supposed to get there?
On que headlights flash in his direction, grabbing his attention.
Spinning around, Hisashi breaks into a wide grin as the Rustbucket pulls up in front of him; Chopper waves to him from inside.
“About time!”
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Within the depths of the Adachi-district a stray beam of sunlight soars through the slightest of spaces between the tightly packed buildings, colliding into a water hydrant hidden away in the corner; basting it to bits in an explosion of heat and vapor.
And then from out of the vapor and smoke, Stinkfly bursts forth, his wings beating quickly as he can, especially with the extra weight. As Tokoyami sits on his back and he carries Shoto in his insectoid legs.
He makes a hard left down into the street, zipping past as Ragnarok purses after them, firing beam after beam at the trio.
Stinkfly zips downward avoiding a beam to the head as Tokoyami ducks down on his back.
“Midoriya!” Shoto calls out, his feet just inches from the ground. “Drop me!”
Stinkfly hesitates, but he trusts his friend’s instincts. “Okay!”
He let’s go and Shoto forward rolls, rolling across his back before using the momentum to launch himself to his feet. He slides across the pavement, spinning himself around, dragging his fingers across the street and ice explodes forth like a freezing flood. The ice wall expands, shooting upward and wide, encasing Ragnarok’s path as well as the nearby buildings in a massive spikey glacier.
Shoto exhales, straightening up. “That should buy us a few minutes.”
Blasts of light and heat echo from the other side of the glacier, which shakes and rattles with every blast.
Stinkfly gasps, hovering in place. “Or seconds!”
Tokoyami frowns as she hops off of Stinkfly’s back. “Midoriya.” he peers back up at his distressed allay. “Why is he after you? I thought he was after Ms. Mann and her flashdrive.”
“He was!” Stinkfly shouts, becoming more nervous with every encroaching blast of light. “But when I told him that she left with the flashdrive he kinda redirected his anger at me.” Best not to mention that he’s actually after the Omnitrix for now.
“Such spite.”
“Y-yeah.”
Shoto scowls, not at Izuku, but at his shrinking and rattling ice wall. “Heads up!”
His warning is on point as a final blast of solar energy smashes through the glacier allowing Ragnarok to stomp forward like a demon rising from the seventh circle of Dante’s Inferno.
The villain eyes the boys like they’re nothing but insolent thorns at his side. “Not running away? You are all either very brave or very foolish.”
Tokoyami prepares to defend himself and his comrades. “We’d like to believe it’s the former.” Dark Shadow jets out from his body, coiling about like a serpent and a roaring battle cry. “Yeah!”
Shoto scowls back at the villain and tries his hand at taunting back. “But then again it might be the latter.”
Stinkfly hovers above them at the ready. “Todoroki, after we get through this, we’re gonna need to have a talk about team spirit.”
Shoto’s face scrunches up in honest confusion. “Hm, why?”
Stinkfly almost wants to cry and laugh at his obliviousness.
Ragnarok spits back at the teens. “Fools the lot of you are. Raaagh!!”
He fires a rain of solar beams at the trio who dive out of the way and charge in to take the fight to the villain directly.
“He’s fast.” Shoto yells out to his teammates. “So, we need to slow him down!” He unleashes a speeding ice trail that races through the narrow street towards the sociopath.
Ragnarok slams his fists into the ground and sends his beams crashing through the air and towards the ice trail.
The two elements collide head on and explode forth sending shards of ice, cement, and smoke flying into the air.
Before the smoke can even settle Dark Shadow lunges forth, swiping at the villain with his massive black claws. “You’re mine!”
Ragnarok bats his fists together, light them up with solar energy. But instead of firing beams he meets Dark Shadow’s claws with his glowing fists. Their strikes collide and repel each other.
Dark Shadow reels back, seemingly in pain, before rushing forth, lunging furiously at the villain.
Ragnarok meets his claws again and again, shadows and light clash, struggling to overpower the other and prove itself as the strongest.
Tokoyami scowls in frustration, watching uselessly as his familiar takes on the villain all by itself. “Todoroki!!”
“I got it!” Shoto slams his foot forward and another ice trail races towards the distracted menace.
Ragnarok spots the incoming attack, as well as Dark Shadow swooping in from above. “Clever, but your combined efforts are no match for me! Raagh!!”
He unleashes an explosion of light, tearing through the incoming ice trail. The energy is so intense and blinding that it not only lights up the night like a spotlight, but Dark Shadow is vaporized in an instant, vanishing from the world.
Ragnarok smiles at his success. “Do you now see why defying me will only result in your demise?”
“No, have you?!” Stinkfly cries out from above.
Ragnarok snaps his head up just as Stinkfly dives in and unleashes a rain of slime down upon him. “NICKELODEON!!!”
The slime plasters Ragnarok in place but Stinkfly doesn’t stop there as he continues to rain his sticky goop down on the sociopath until he’s stuck in a massive pile of green slime.
And then and only then does Stinkfly call out for Shoto to finish him off. “Todoroki!!”
Without a second to waste Shoto unleashes another ice trail and this time it hits, freezing and encasing Ragnarok and the slime in a thick glacier of ice. Completely freezing him in place like a piece of gum stuck in a vat of ice.
The trio pause, holding their guards up and at the ready, waiting with bated breath for the villain to make a miraculous escape. A few seconds stretch on for what feels like hours with nothing happening but a cold chilling wind breezing past the dimly lit district.
Stinkfly slowly lowers down, hovering just above the frozen villain. “Did…did we get him?”
The ice rattles and shakers as beams of light break through the ice before BLAM an explosion of light and vapor blasts through the narrow street, demolishing the nearby buildings and knocking the teens away!
Shoto and Tokoyami are knocked back against a light pole and a parked taxi, respectively.
“Waaahh!” Stinkfly screams losing control midair only to crash into a mailbox and land flat on his back.
He groans, his back screaming in searing pain as the Omnitrix dials down and in a flash of red, Izuku is left lying on the ground.
After trying to catch his breath he tries to pick himself up only to be slammed back to the ground by Ragnarok’s foot.
Blinking up, Izuku is horrified to find the villain towering over him like a lion that’s holding down a mouse between its claws.
“I will take pleasure in ending you.” Ragnarok grins maliciously as he aims his glowing fist down at the boy’s head. “I will burn this memory and think fondly of it for decades to come.”
Izuku freezes unable to move or act, desperately grabbing at Ragnarok’s leg but he’s unable to move him even an inch as the heat radiating off the villain’s fist burns at his face, threatening to burn away his hair and eyebrows.
Ragnarok chivalrously boasts before dealing the final blow. “Farewell.”
Izuku can only watch helplessly as the light shines brighter and brighter.
“And goodbye!! Ehehe!!” A mass of purple sludge doses the villain’s face, smothering him before a massive wave of sludge lashes out and slams into his side, knocking him away and through a nearby doorway!
Izuku gaps in shock-and-awe. “Lucy?!”
Currently in her human form, Lucy spins around and poses like she was a star in an anime. “Did you miss me?”
He did. “I thought you left!”
“I almost did.” She admits helping Izuku to his feet. “But it didn’t feel right leaving you and your friends alone to take on this monster by yourself.”
Izuku smiles back, grateful for her kind heart.
“There you are.” Ragnarok’s cold chilling voice sends shivers down their spines as he rises out from the smashed in doorway. “I have you now!!” he roars out charging forward, claws poised to grab and tear her apart to reach what is his.
Lucy shoves Izuku away before leaping back, both narrowly avoiding Ragnarok’s fingers.
She continues to dodge using her elastic and fluid body to weave and snake around his strikes.
“Give me my key this instant!!”
“No can do. Sorry to tell you this but I’m not a fan of the whole world ending mumbo jumbo. Apparently, I have a very severe allergic reaction to death.”
He slashes at her again, but his claws slide right through her fluid body. “If only.” He seaths before unleashes a beam of solar energy at her, forcing her to retreat and take cover.
While she holds his attention, Izuku rushes to his friends’ side as they hoist themselves off the ground. “Can you guys stand?”
“Yeah.” The obviously pained Shoto gives him a nod, using the light pole as leverage to get to his feet. “We’re not going down that easily.”
Tokoyami looks up to examine the battle. “Ms. Mann? I thought she left.”
Izuku nods. “I did too.”
Shoto jerks up with worry. “What about the flashdrive?”
“I…don’t know.” Izuku admits, while also wondering what she could have done with the key.
He prays that she doesn’t lose it to him. Otherwise, everything they’ve done would only mean the true end of their days…
They watch on as Lucy lashes back at the villain, but he puts up quite the struggle battling back with fists, kicks, and beams of light.
Izuku glares at Ragnarok's back. “We gotta help her!”
“We’ll help her.” Shoto grabs his shoulder, making sure he won’t run off ahead of them. “You stay back for now, you’ll only get in the way.”
“Hey, no I-” Izuku shouts in protest but his friends have already left him behind to help in the fight. “…won't.”
He frowns, watching them charge forward, without him. Because…because they can help…unlike him.
Ragnarok lunges at Lucy who snakes back quickly out from his grasp. “You worm!” He hisses in anger.
Suddenly a cold pair of strong claws grab at his legs.
“Down you go!” Dark Shadow then pulse back, pulling the villain down
Ragnarok’s feet slip from under him, and he falls forward, acting himself before he falls flat on his face.
Just before he can shove himself to his feet, Lucy pounces from above and glues him down with a pile of sludge oozing from her arm.
“You’re up, Shoto!”
“Please, call me Todoroki!” Shoto roars out as he launches another ice trail.
As the ice trail crashes forth, Ragnarok responds quickly by blasting the ground and launching himself straight up and high into the air, free of their grasp and attacks. “I won’t fall victim to your tricks twice, younglings!”
He aims his fists down and unleashes a massive beam of light down upon them all. The beam scars the street, blazing through it and leaving behind a burning crater trailing through it.
The teens dive out of the way, using dumpsters, ice, and building corners to take cover from the searing heat.
Ragnarok crashes back down amongst the melted road and burnt buildings with a taunting smirk. “Why not do something different?”
Shoto rushes out from behind the dumpster and sends a wall of flames crashing into the villain. “How’s this for different?!”
The flames wash away and Shoto is horrified to find that Ragnarok is still standing. With nothing more but a bit of heat and steam washing off his body.
“Nothing but embers.” The villain scoffs recalling how much more effective Endeavor’s and even Cinder’s own fire Quirks were. “Your elders had far more control over their flames.”
At the very least the sheer pressure of their attacks were enough to at least launch him back. “Your flames are wild yet untamed, thus ineffective. Just like that of a burning candle.” To add insult to injury Ragnarok dashes forth and back hands Shoto away, knocking him to the side like he was nothing.
Watching uselessly from behind a nearby building, Izuku cries out. “Todoroki!!”
“You jerk!” Lucy leaps up and attacks the sociopath from behind. “Keep your filthy hands off of them!”
Ragnarok dodges her swipe, spinning around to face her directly. “You should be honored that I'd steep so low as to grace filth such as yourself with my attention.” His aim is true, and he manages to hit her with his beam, blasting her away like the pile of mud that she is.
“Ragggh!” Dark Shadow snakes through the air towards the monster. “You’ll pay for that!”
Ragnarok simply slashes his fist, and the blinding light instantly vaporizes the dark familiar. “Haven’t you learned?” He directs his question at Tokoyami. “Light always outshines darkness.”
Tokoyami scowls back in frustration, stuck and unsure of how to proceed without his Quirk at his side.
“If you wish to stand up to me, then you need to become one with your element.”
Tokoyami settles down for a moment, as if taking the villain’s words to heart.
“Now then.” With the pests dealt with, Ragnarok redirects his attention back to the Lenopan.
Realizing she’s next she tries to get the first strike but with Ragnarok now in sync with her movements is able to intercept her and knock her back with a well-timed blast of sunlight.
Lucy collapses to the ground dazed, and her vision blurred by the blinding light.
And with his quarry down, Ragnarok marches forth with a victorious smile. And not wasting a second, he plunges his claws within her fluid body, feeling about for what is his.
“Hands off, creep!” Lucy’s body splits apart and snakes up, wrapping itself around his frame.
Ragnarok grabs at her fluid flesh and rips her away, tossing her aside before surging forth to grab at his key.
However, Shoto gets right back in his way, and tries once again to force the villain back with his flames.
But he cuts right through, shoving his way past Shoto and knocking him to the ground.
Next to try is Dark Shadow who glides just over the ground before swiping up at the villain’s head.
With his glowing fist, Ragnarok smashes Dark Shadow’s head into the ground, vaporizing it once again. But as he pulls his fist back up, Tokoyami appears from his side throwing his own fist forward and into the side of Ragnarok’s head.
“Ah, there it is.” Ragnarok grins, as Tokoyami struggles to press his fist against the man’s face. “Now you face me head on. Too bad your combat skills are lacking.” To demonstrate his point, he slugs Tokoyami right in the gut!
The boy falls to his knees, gasping for breath, before the menace grabs him by the back of the shirt and tosses him aside.
Before he can move forward, Lucy strikes first by lashing out with whips of sludge, trying to force him to keep his distance. He’s quick to block in the incoming attacks and repel them. But not before Shoto returns and launches more ice his way while Dark Shadows tries and tries again to land a hit.
All the while Izuku can only watch on like a useless bystander. Watch on as his classmates, his friends, risk their lives, for what they think is a flashdrive. Even after having all rights to mistrusting him, they still put their faith in him. Yet he can’t even tell them what’s truly at stake here. And what's worse is that he can’t do a thing to aid them, to show them what their faith means to him. Instead, he can only pray that they’ll stop this villain, stop him ever living up to his name, Ragnarok.
“No!” Izuku springs to his feet, determined to help somehow, anyhow! ‘I won’t sit on the sidelines. No matter what happens, whether my secret is blown or not, even if this means I’ll be labeled as a criminal. If my friends are willing to go this far for me then I better be willing to go further for them!’
As if on cue the Omnitrix lets out a reassuring beep as it shifts and turns from red to green.
Determined, Izuku dials up his chosen alien, raises his hand and gets ready to slam down on the dial. “It’s hero time!” He pauses. “For real this TIME!!” And with a slam of the dial, he begins to transform.
Ragnarok drills his glowing fist into Lucy’s frame, tossing her to the ground and blasting her body apart!
“Eaaaahhh!” She screams, her sludge rips and tears until he pulls his fist away and she begins to melt into the ground, exhausted and nearing unconsciousness.
With Shoto and Tokoyami both knocked down they’re too far to help as Ragnarok savors his victory. “I hope you appreciated this world's sun while you could, Plumber.” He reaches into the fluid mass in search of his key. “I promise you that it will not rise come dawn.”
His claw scrapes through her struggling form, his sneer growing as he inches closer towards his prize.
“IN COMING!!!”
WHAM!!! A massive sphere crashes into Ragnarok, running him over like he was roadkill! He’s flung as the sphere spins and spins against his body, threatening to run him down like a high-speed steamroller. Before he can pry himself away, he gets himself slammed into a building by the giant sphere.
Upon impact the sphere ricochets off the wall, leaving the villain embedded inside, before rolling to a stop and uncurling itself.
“Oh, sorry did I ruin your moment?” Cannonbolt grins cheekily.
Ragnarok seethes in anger as he pries himself from the wall. “I am going to melt you alive!”
Cannonbolt gives him a teasing grin. “You’re more than welcome to try.”
“Raaagh!!” And he does, firing off a bright beam of energy.
Cannonbolt curls up and spins rapidly in place before tearing forward, his shell easily reflecting the incoming beam.
Ragnarok is forced to dive out of the way in order not to become roadkill. And as a result Cannonbolt zooms past before he smashes right through a gated storefront, tearing through it and leaving behind a gaping round hole.
Ragnarok scoffs, quickly taking note that the youngling has yet to fully master his Arburian Pelarota form. “Still no control.”
The sound of Cannonbolt’s spinning shell echoes from inside the store before he revs forward and out through the gate and towards Ragnarok!
The villain side steps out of the way allowing Cannonbolt to race on by. However, the pillbug was prepared as he raced out from the store, he perfectly aimed himself towards a building’s corner. He ricochets off and to the side, bouncing off a fire hydrant, then a car, and then the side of another building all while gaining speed, spinning and ricocheting around the villain like a wild bouncy ball.
Ragnarok tries to keep up but he can’t, losing track of the large sphere every which way until WHAM Cannonbolt crashes into him from behind, flattening him against the ground.
Cannonbolt’s body spins forward but then he uncurls and slides to a stop, using his claws to slow himself.
“See!” He grins feeling mightily proud of himself. “I’m getting better.” He probably shouldn’t mention that most of that last move required a lot of dumb luck.
Whether he says it or not, it still manages to piss Ragnarok off as he blasts himself into the air and fires a rain of beams down at the Arburian Pelarota. “Why won’t you PERISH!?!”
As he reigns hell down on the armored alien, Shoto and Tokoyami, having both recovered, rush to Lucy’s side.
Shoto leans over her downed form, which is her human form but with patches of sludge oozing off of her as she struggles to hold said form. “Are you alright?”
“Yeah.” She breathes winded and barely able to even pick herself up. “I’m just…winded.”
Tokoyami steps forward. “Please, allow us to take it from here.”
He summons Dark Shadow who snakes itself around Lucy, using its massive claws to scoop her up.
They rush her away as far from the battle as they can before finding an empty fish stand.
Dark Shadow smashes in the gate and drops Lucy down behind the counter, stashing her away and out of sight.
“Stay here.” Todoroki orders. “Try to stay out of sight and rest. You can rejoin us after.”
“No!” Lucy protests, trying but struggling to get to her feet, “You rookies are way over your heads here!”
“We’ve fought villains before.” Tokoyami defends.
“Not like this!”
“Doesn’t matter.” Shoto turns away, determined to march right back into the battle. “Our friend needs our help and we won’t allow him or you to face this by yourselves.”
Not wanting to hear her protests, he takes off back towards the fight with Tokoyami in tow.
Lucy reaches for them but stops, knowing it’s useless. All she can do now is wish them luck. “Go get ‘em, rookie-” She pauses, considers, and corrects herself with a wide smile. “Go get 'em, heroes.”
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Cannonbolt’s curled up form spins right past Ragnarok who sidesteps him easily, allowing the massive pillbug to crash into yet another building.
Ragnarok scoffs at Cannonbolt’s failed attack. “What happened to gaining control?”
“Hey!” Cannonbolt uncurls, stumbling back and away from the wall. “I never said I mastered them yet!” As he shouts back, he notices Shoto and Tokoyami approaching in the distance.
Ragnarok prepares to fire. “And you never will.”
“Oh, yeah?” Cannonbolt curls up and races forward.
Ragnarok once again dodges and spins around repairing to fire. “Child’s play.”
“Oh, is it?!” A young stoic voice calls out from behind.
Ragnarok spins around expecting to be met with a wall of ice. However, the dualled elemental teen has other plans.
Slamming his foot to the ground and with a wave of his arms he generates spiraling ramps of ice and trail through the narrow street and over the buildings like a frozen hot wheels track.
Cannonbolt is launched up onto the track where his racing form is redirected by Shoto’s ice, directing him around and helping him gain speed before circling around for an attack.
Seeing the attack coming, Ragnarok attempts to flee but finds himself stuck as Dark Shadow wraps around his waist and arms. “Naw, ah. You’re not going anywhere.”
He’s just about to blast himself free when the sped up Cannonbolt is launched right off the track!
Ragnarok manages to break free of Dark Shadow’s grasp with his glowing fists but it’s too late as Cannonbolt’s much faster attack collides.
Ragnarok thrusted to the side as Cannonbolt ends up right back on the ice track for another go.
He shoves himself to his feet, but he nearly stumbles back as Dark Shadow swipes at his head. However just as he’s about to gain his fitting, it’s taken right out from under him by thin sheets of ice. He loses his footing but before he can even hit the ground WHAM Cannonbolt crashes into him again before taking off.
Over and over again this continues with Ragnarok trying and failing to fend off the attacking teens. They are relentless in their attacks, with Dark Shadow holding his attention and Shoto’s ice throwing him off balance making room for Cannonbolt’s devastating strikes. Strike after strike after strike collides but every strike is like that of a hammer to a nail, hammering away at Ragnarok’s already thin patience.
“ENOUGH!!!” During a quick gap in the attacks, Ragnarok slams his fist to the ground and unleashes a devastating explosion of heat and light that rips apart the street like a bomb!
The explosion blasts away the concrete and asphalt, generating such a whirlwind that it shatters the ice track like it was made of sand.
Shoto’s flung high into the air by the attack, but Cannonbolt, who was also flung up, manages to catch him and shield him by curling up. Tokoyami fares better with Dark Shadow coiling itself around him and using its claws to anchor them to the ground. But even still the sheer power of the blast pushes them back, forcing Dark Shadow’s claws to tear at the ground.
They slide to a stop as a curled up Cannonbolt crash lands atop of a flipped over car. He bounces off and uncurls, landing on his feet with Shoto in his arms.
He puts Shoto down as Tokoyami joins them.
They all then turn to see what has become of their enemy.
“I tire. I lament. I RAGE.” Ragnarok marches forth, a dangerous bloodlust radiating off of him as he locks onto the teens. “I will destroy this place.” He will cast this planet into darkness. “I will kill all that live here!” He will take their sun. “Starting with you THREE!!!”
He roars out as his entire body illuminates with solar energy. His body burns and burns, brighter and brighter, as if a sun has risen within the city itself. A sun that burns and chars everything in its path.
As his body glows, Ragnarok leans back, his claws poised over each other, preparing for a cataclysmic Super Move.
Shoto uses his arm to shield his eyes from the bright burning light. “What is he doing?”
Cannonbolt, who is also shielding his eyes, begins to sweat nervously. “If anime has taught me anything; he’s charging up for a big attack!”
“Then how do we stop him?” asks Tokoyami as he seeks shelter behind the large pillbug. “Dark Shadow will be useless against him if he's like this?”
Dark Shadow bows its head in shame. “Sorry…”
Cannonbolt pauses, trying to reevaluate the situation; taking note of what’s transpired and what he’s seen Ragnarok do so far. ‘He generates solar energy and uses it to attack.’ He’s seen him use it plenty of times up till now. ‘And right now, he’s charging up for a big attack.’ He pauses, reconsidering what he said. ‘Hang on, he’s charging… Why? Why would he need to charge up now? Why hasn’t he done that sooner? Is he… is he running out of stamina or.’ Cannonbolt lets out an audible gasp. ‘He’s not running out of stamina. Well, he is but what matters is that he’s running out of Solar Energy!!’
‘It makes sense, Ragnarok’s powers must work similarly to Tokoyami’s. Tokoyami and Dark Shadow need to be in the dark in order to bring out their true power. Whereas Ragnarok functionally requires light, specifically sunlight. And it’s nighttime!’ Cannonbolt mentally cheers. ‘He must be running low, he probably used most of it up in his earlier attacks and is now trying to gain as much light as he can before finishing us off. He’s like a battery and right now, he’s running out of juice! So, if we can withstand this attack, we’ll have him beat for sure!’
Shoto backs away as the light grows increasingly brighter. “Get back! He’s gonna try and finish us off!”
“Not today he’s not.” Cannonbolt protests, stepping forward and shielding them from the light. “And here’s how we’re gonna do it.”
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After moments of charging up, Ragnarok prepares to fire the final blow, once and for all. He knows the risks of such a move if he should fail then his quest is lost. He’s putting all his money on this one shot. “Goodbye, younglings. It hasn’t been a pleasure.”
“We can say the same!” Cannonbolt shouts back from across the narrow street.
Cannonbolt sits atop a layer of thin ice that stretches down the road, curled up as Shoto stands directly behind him with his left side aglow with flames.
“Now, Todoroki!!”
“Go you guys!!” Shoto roars out as he unleashes a torrent of flames upon Cannonbolt.
The flames launch the spinning cannonball forward, rocketing him forward faster and faster with each passing second.
“IT’S FUTILE!!!” And thus Ragnarok unleashes all his might, the light vanishes around him but then reforms into a singular point between his claws. He thrust his claws forward and a massive beam explodes forth moving so fast it breaks the sound barrier, its heat igniting everything it passes.
But Shoto doesn’t give in despite the incoming end, he holds his ground and lets his flames run wild with one last thrust!
And it’s all Cannonbolt needs before he collides with the massive beam head on!
The two forces collide and crash together, the beam seemingly struggling against Cannonbolt’s rotating armor. And then Cannonbolt manages to zoom forward, tearing through the beam thanks to his increased spin and reflective shell.
Ragnarok desperately tries to will more power to his attack, but Cannonbolt only speeds closer and closer with every millisecond And then he finally breaks through.
Cannonbolt manages to withstand and break through the beam, putting himself right in line with Ragnarok.
But he doesn’t crash into him, instead he zooms through the air, he uncurls as if preparing to grab Ragnarok.
“Fool!” Ragnarok roars, witnessing his chance to retaliate. “Your hubris will be your downfall!”
“No!” Cannonbolt smirks as he flies towards the villain. “It’s yours.”
Confused, that’s when Ragnarok spots the Arburian Pelarota’s true intentions and true means of winning.
Tucked inside his shell was Tokoyami and Dark Shadow, who with the lack of light from inside Cannonbolt’s shell and the dark night sky has grown relatively massive, especially since Ragnarok’s beam has been dissipated.
“This is the end of Ragnarok!” Tokoyami roars out as Dark Shadow’s massive form crashes forth. “RAGNARÖK: WOMB!!!”
Dark Shadow sinks its claws into the villain, opening its maw wide as if to consume him before Cannonbolt curls back up grabbing not only Tokoyami but Dark Shadow and Ragnarok as well. Swallowing them all up like a life-sized Pac man.
Cannonbolt’s rolled up form races across the melted street before crashing and embedding itself into the side of a garage.
The night falls silent as Shoto watches on with bated breath as Cannonbolt’s curled up body wobbles and shakes, making him fear that Ragnarok might still break free.
Lucy, having finally recovered enough to walk, hurries to them from down the street.
She meets up with Shoto who’s casually checking on his classmates. “M-Midoriya? Tokoyami?” He calls out, warily, fearing the worst.
Suddenly Cannonbolt uncurls, dropping his passengers before stumbling around, trying to pat his back like he’s got a bad itch. “Hot! Hot! Hot! Hot!”
Lucy gasps, worriedly. “What's the matter?!
“My back is burning!!” Cannonbolt turns to Shoto. “You could have dialed it back a bit you know.”
Shoto’s not exactly sure how he should respond to that.
Lucy sheepishly laughs at his antics. “Well, it looks like he’s okay.”
Shoto frowns, scanning for the real issue. “But what about Ragnarok?”
“He is here.” Tokoyami steps out from behind Cannonbolt.
“Where?”
“In there.” Tokoyami gestures to something behind Cannonbolt.
Seeing that he is in the way, Cannonbolt scoots out of the way so they can see.
Dark Shadow has Ragnarok totally immobilized within its own body. It's wrapped around the villain, its claws stretched around like proper binds with even its maw wide and clamped down on the villain’s shoulder, holding him in place. Even though the upper half of the villain’s face sticks out from the egg-shaped prison, muffling him. Although it would appear that with the last of his solar energy used up, combined with Cannonbolt and Dark Shadow’s thrashing about, he passed out.
The super move clearly worked since Tokoyami thought it up for the sole purpose of restraining its target. Although he will admit that it is still in need of work as Dark Shadow isn’t totally encasing the villain since his head is still sticking out.
Cannonbolt grins as Ragnarok’s still form. “Cool. What do you call this?’
Tokoyami pauses before embarrassingly admits its name. “Ragnarök: Womb.”
Shoto smirks at the name. “Huh, fitting. I like it.”
Tokoyami isn’t so sure anymore. “To be honest, I was planning to use the name Ragnarök for another Super Move.”
“You totally should!” Cannonbolt affirms. “At this point you earned it.”
Tokoyami smiles. “Thank you for the kind words, Midoriya.”
“No, thank you, Tokoyami!” Cannonbolt gives him a big thumbs up before turning to Shoto. “You too, Todoroki. I…” he looks away briefly, becoming adorably shy. “I couldn’t have done this without you.”
“It’s okay, Midoriya.” Shoto smiles back, glad that this mess is all over with, just as he picks up on the sound of blaring police sirens approaching from the near distance. “We know.”
Cannonbolt frowns, unsure if that was a jab at him. “Know what?”
But Shoto refuses to answer, not wanting to spoil the victory.
Lucy snickers at their antics before tuning her attention back to the trapped Ragnarok. “Here’ let’s cuff him before he wakes up.”
She quickly produces a pair of high-tech cuffs and slaps them onto Ragnarok. And for good measure she produces a metallic muffle as well and slaps it on.
As she does this the police make it to the end of the street and begin to rush out. But at the same time, from a nearby alleyway, Hisashi pulls up in the Rustbucket. His headlights quickly gaining Lucy’s and Cannonbolt’s attention.
He flings his door open and steps out, waving for Lucy to hurry over before the police do.
As Cannonbolt distracts his friends, by pointing out the police, Lucy slips away and hurries towards Hisashi who smiles in relief to see them all in one piece.
[FLASHBACK]
Shibuya Square is the home of a thousand flashing billboards and screens, towering over a massively famous crosswalk, shining down on thousands of pedestrians that cross every single day whether they be tourists or locals.
But amongst the bustling cars and hurrying pedestrians a large dome shaped portal emerges within the center of the intersections, stopping all traffic, and causing the nearby screens to go haywire.
The portal statics and discharges before vanishing and a heavy slam hits the ground as a giant machine rises above the crowd.
The street is immediately filled with screams of terror as people bolt and flee as the B.L.R.R.T. unleashes its wrath upon the Earthlings.
“Hear me and rejoice!” Benevelon steps forward from behind his creation. “You are about to gain everlasting peace at the hands of Benevelon! Be thankful that your meaningless lives are now contributing to the greater good!”
The B.L.R.R.T. unleashes a powerful laser beam at one of the nearby buildings, blasting a massive hole straight through it.
“For I come in the name of peace!”
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Sneaking its way through the city, the Proxy jolts to a sudden stop.
“Driba look!” Blukic holds up the makeshift radar that they managed to cobble together.
Driba frowns trying to twist around to see it. “At what?”
“At the radar! It’s working!”
“Oh, then we better hurry.”
“You got it!” Blukic takes the controls and gives them a pull.
The Proxy jerks and spins around before taking off down the road towards Shibuya Square.
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
“I do trust you.” Endeavor leans back, his eyes filled with betrayal. “But why won’t you trust me?”
Hisashi sinks into his seat, he opens his mouth to defend himself when the door is suddenly flung open.
Officer Tezuka rushes in, in a panic. “It’s back!”
The two freeze. “The robot?”
“Yes! It’s currently rampaging in Shibuya square!”
Enji immediately gets up and moves to leave. “I’m on my way.”
“Me too!” Hisashi tries to get up but he’s pulled back down by the handcuffs. “Um, Enji.”
Enji moves to free him but is stopped by Tezuka.
“No! He is still under investigation here. Leave him.”
“But I can help!” Hisashi defends.
“But we can’t trust you.” Tezuka retorts, turning away and leaving him.
Enji hesitates, considering going behind the officer’s back, but he thinks better of it and follows.
Hisashi calls after them. “No no no wait wait wai-and they’re gone.”
He sits back, as silence falls over the small, lonely room. He fiddles with his hands, pulling on the cuffs and eyeing them quizzically.
He peers back up at the security camera and then to the door, pondering over what to do.
He sighs as he comes to a decision. “Tezuka’s so gonna kill me.”
He braces himself as he grabs his thumb and pulls, snapping it out of place. “Ahhh!” He gasps, reeling in pain as he slips his hand free. “Ahhh.” He hisses as he sets his thumb back into place. “Damn, I hate doing that.”
‘But then again it is a neat trick.’ He thinks as he rushes for the door.
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
The B.L.R.R.T. rampages across the city, blasting apart cars, buses, and buildings with single blows from its swings and laser beams.
And Benevelon is simply adorning his creation’s work. “Yes, my brilliant creation. Bring about a new era of peace! Muhaha!”
Suddenly a rush of police and heroes invade the square and begin guaranteeing the area while other heroes pull innocents to safety.
“Oh, my it appears that mankind has sent yet another welcoming party.” Benevelon pulls out his retro silver colored blaster. “I do so hate being rude, so I’ll provide them with a sample peace to come.” And so, he aims his blaster and fires, the beam shoots forward and although small in size, power it does not lack as it blasts a police cruiser into the air!
Officer Toyomitsu takes cover along with Officer Tezuka as Benevelon open fires at them. “Who is that guy?!”
“Don’t know!” Tezuka shouts, covering her head. “But what is he saying?!”
“No idea! I can’t hear him over the-”
The B.L.R.R.T. let’s put an earth-shaking roar.
“-the you know.”
The police open fire on Benevelon. But a static-like force bubble forms around him, deflecting every bullet like bugs to a bug zapper.
“You all seem tense, here have some peace.” He aims his blaster and fires away at the police.
But then Endeavor comes crashing down from the sky and unleashes a massive firewall.
The beams collide with the flames and explode, blasting the flames apart. But even so they did their job, they protected the police.
“Stop this, now!” Endeavor roars, preparing to take on who he assumes is the true mastermind.
“I can’t!” Benevelon grins like a maniac. “My creation will not stop until it brings about everlasting peace to this world!”
Endeavor scowls before rushing in to take out the villain himself.
Meanwhile, a disguised Proxy arrives on the scene, staying just out of sight as the Galvans watch as a fiery human takes on a shielded Benevelon.
“Look there’s the B.L.R.R.T.!” Driba is quick to point out.
Blukic frowns, watching Endeavor fail to break through Benevelon’s forcefield with his flames. “And is that Benevelon?”
“It is. We better hurry Blukic before he notices us.”
“You got it, Driba. But…how are we supposed to get to the B.L.R.R.T. without being seen by this planet’s defenders?”
Oh, boy. Looks like they didn’t think about that.
But not all is lost.
“Maybe I can help.”
The Proxy spins around to find Cinder smiling back at them.
“Cinder!!” The Proxy rushes forward, grabbing onto Cinder in a bone crushing hug. “You came back!” The Galvans cry and weep with tears of joy, so much so the tears leak out from the bottom of the hologram.
“Yeah, I kinda had to.” Cinder manages to free himself from their grip. “Where’s the Skeuomorph?”
“Why, it’s right here.” responds Blukic while having the Proxy hold up the device.
“Good. I’ll take it and put a stop to this.”
He reaches for the device only for the Galvans to pull it away. “No, wait!”
“What now?!” Cinder screams, losing his patience.
“We have to be the ones to do this!” They shout. “It has to be us!”
“Why?”
Driba tries to defend their answer. “Because…well because…”
“This is our mess.” Answers Blukic. “And we need to fix it. As best as we can…”
Driba nods. “We have to make things right, for you and…everyone.”
Cinder actually feels for them. He knows that they’re being honest with him. They really do want to help out, if they can. “I can’t believe I'm about to do this… Fine! Have it your way.”
They both grin like idiots.
“But if we do this you need to follow my instructions to the letter. Got it?”
“Yes!/Absolutely!”
“Good, now here’s what we’re gonna do.”
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
Endeavor pounds away at the forcefield, his flaming fists just inches away from smashing in Benevelon’s smug face.
“So violent. So chaotic.” Benevelon taunts, not at all worried that he may get hurt. “This is why I’ve come here. To show you all true peace.”
“Raaaaaghh!!” Endeavor roars, swinging his flaming fist forward.
And this time it breaks through as it appears Benevelon’s forcefield does have a limit!
Benevelon panics and tries to fire his blaster, but Endeavor catches it and melts it away with a single touch.
Endeavor grabs Benevelon by the scruff of his collar and pulls him in. “You keep using that word. I don’t think it means what you think it means.”
“Oh, but I do.” Despite the circumstances, Benevelon breaks into a smug grin. “It is you and all the denizens of Earth who are about to finally know true peace.”
On que, the B.L.R.R.T. redirects its attention towards the two, it’s large eye aglow as it charges an attack.
“Muhahaha! Prepare to embrace every lasting peace! Muwhahahaha-GAK!!!” He falls over as Endeavor chops him over the neck.
“Shut it!” Endeavor barks before turning his attention towards the real threat.
He braces himself as the B.L.R.R.T. prepares to reign hell down upon him.
Nut then a lash of flames smacks into the robot’s eye, temporarily blinding it.
A surprised Endeavor spins around. “Hisashi?!”
Cinder salutes back as he joins his friend on the battlefield. “Hey, Enj-um, Endeavor. Sorry for being late, traffic was a nightmare.”
“You idiot!” Endeavor smacks him over the head. “What are you doing here?!”
“Ow! I came to help!”
“Moron, you escaped police custody.” Endeavor frowns, concerned for his friend’s reputation and image. “Do you have any idea how bad that’ll make you look?”
“Who cares about that?” He frowns, weighing his situation. “Look, I know…I know I’m not exactly your number one person right now. But I am still your friend and a hero.” he turns to his friend, looking right in the eye as he states with full confidence. “I don’t want people getting hurt, even if I have to take the fall, it doesn’t matter to me if it means that lives are saved.”
Endeavor loses his breath, almost amazed by Cinder’s resolve. “Hisashi…”
The B.L.R.R.T. roars out as it regains its vision and continues with its rampage.
“So, Endeavor.” Cinder smiles up at the pro hero. “What do you think about teaming up?”
Endeavor grins back. “I think it’ll be the only smart thing you've done all day.”
“Eh, probably.”
The B.L.R.R.T. fires down upon them but they both dash to the side and unleash an inferno of attacks upon the robot. Coating the monstrosity in flames as it lashes back at them.
And since they are holding the B.L.R.R.T.’s attention, it gives the Galvans the perfect opportunity to sneak their way back onto the B.L.R.R.T.’s back.
The Proxy sticks to its metal body thanks to the high-powered magnets in its limbs.
Driba smiles as they reach the center of the B.L.R.R.T.’s back. “Okay and now, we attach the Skeuomorph!”
Blukic shakes his head back at Driba. “No, first we activate the Skeuomorph and then we attach it.”
Driba shakes his head, denying Blukic’s memory. “No, you’re wrong. The plan was that we attach it and then eject ourselves from the droid. And then we activate the Skeuomorph.”
“That's wrong, Driba. Mr. Cinder said that we have to activate the Skeuomorph, attach it to the B.L.R.R.T. and then escape.”
“But you’re wrong!” Driba shouts.
“No, I’m not.” Blukic shouts back.
“Yes, you are!”
“No, I’m not!!”
They bicker and argue to the point that they begin slapping at each other, flailing their hands pathetically at each other like children.
As they struggle and flail about they jostle around the tiny cockpit, hitting all sort of buttons and switches.
The Proxy jerks and flails, its fingers clenching down on the Skeuomorph, activating it as it begins to glow green.
They continue to fight until they accidently hit the eject button.
The Proxy’s chest bursts open, and they fall out, sliding down the B.L.R.R.T.’s back until they hit the ground. “Waaahhh!! Oof!!” They both land atop a busted car, relieved to find themselves in one piece.
“Um, Blukic?”
“Yes, Driba.”
“Where’s the Skeuomorph?”
Blukic snaps up and turns his head up at the still magnetized Proxy. And there in its hands sits the glowing Skeuomorph.
They both share a very worried look. “Uh, oh.” They scramble for their feet and run for cover!
At the same time, Cinder and Endeavor unleash more and more flames upon the bot, forcing it back and away from the people and police.
“We almost have it!!” Hisashi roars before releasing more flames. (Flames)
Stuck in the Proxy’s clutches, the Skeuomorph glows brighter and brighter, blindingly so and then it activates.
The Skeuomorph unleashes its power upon the B.L.R.R.T., imploding on itself and the bot.
The explosion rings out and blasts away the flames and the heroes, knocking them back.
They both land on their feet and watch on in awe as the implosion dims down and vanishes leaving nothing behind but a massive crater with no remains of the B.L.R.R.T. to be seen.
Endeavor breathes, catching his breath, not yet coming down from his adrenaline. “What happened?”
Cinder quickly comes up with a lie that actually works. “We must have overheated it and it imploded on itself.”
“You think?”
Before he responds, Cinder spots the two Galvans scurry past between the rubble.
“Yeah, I think so.” He grins.
[End of FLASHBACK]
Hisashi smiles, relieved to see not just the villain bound and gagged, but to see them all safe and sound. “Well done, kids. Well done indeed.”
As he smiles, the air high above him distorts, as an invisible scout drone zooms past. Its gaze quickly locking in on the defeated Ragnarok.
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
Too bad the rest of the adults don’t feel the same way.
“I don’t believe this!!” Endeavor roars out in disbelief. “What made you think taking on the villain by yourselves was in any way a good idea? Just look at the damages alone!”
Fatgum shakes his head worriedly “You three could have been seriously hurt out there! You need to make sure you can stay safe even during a fight. Otherwise, nice job taking down the villain!” he grins, flashing them a thumbs up and tossing them some candy.
Inspector Tezuka shakes her head in disbelief, as if betrayed by her own kin. “My own son. I expected such lawlessness from Midoriya’s boy, but…not my own.” She sniffs, feeling like she failed as a mother.
Hisashi frowns, biting his tongue so as to not bite back at the obvious jab at his expense.
However, Tokoyami couldn’t feel any differently. “Mother, please…”
She pinches the bridge of her beak. “We’ll call this an act of self-defense but even that is stretching it! I mean look at this place!”
The teens shrink back from her scolding as they look back at the burned street, smashed up buildings, and bent light poles.
Tezuka lets out an exhausted sigh. “I don’t have the patience to deal with this right now. We'll continue this later, understood?”
The scolded teens nod in response. “Yes…”
And with that Tezuka turns her attention away from the children. “Now what do we do about this one?”
They all peer up at the cuffed and muzzled Ragnarok who stand there, bound and silently glaring at them as if he could burn them all with a look.
“Take him away.” Tezuka orders with a wave. “There’s a nice cold cell waiting for him in Tartarus.”
Her officers begin to escort him away towards their cruisers.
Izuku jerks up, becoming very worried. ‘If they haul him away, they might figure out what he is! Ahhh!’
But unlike him Hisashi acts on his worries, and hurries over, intercepting the officers that are escorting Ragnarok away. “Sorry but I’ll take him from here, gents.” With a confident smile, he reaches for Ragnarok’s cuffs. “There are some hire ups that need to speak with this one.”
“Oh no you don’t!” Tezuka hurries over and slaps his hand away. “Back off, now!”
“Hey, hey! I’m not doing anything!”
“Oh, yes you are.” She accuses, her hand hovering over her taser. “You were planning on helping this terrorist escape, weren’t you?!”
“What? No! No, I was-”
“Save it! I don’t want to hear your lies anymore!” She turns to her officers. “Arrest him for interfering with an open case!”
“Hey now. H-hey!” Hisashi’s taken back as several officers grab him by the arms and begin to try and pull him away.
Izuku yells out, reaching for his father. “Dad!!”
A calm voice, one that radiates with authority, barks over the sea of officers. “That is quiet enough of that Inspector. We’d hate to give the public the wrong impression of us. Woof.”
Izuku pauses in odd recognition. ‘Woof?!’
Everyone, not just Izuku, spins around to find that the one that called out to them was none other than a man suited in business attire and whose head is that of a dog’s. “Chief Tsuragamae!!”
“Sir!” Tezuka salutes. “What are you doing here?! I thought you were in Hosu?”
Chief Tsuragamae steps forward. “I was but after I was made light of the situation here I thought it best to come here myself. Woof.” Chief Tsuragamae turns to the officers that are trying to haul away Hisashi. “Release him, please, this is no way to treat a pro hero.”
The officers hesitate but eventually let go much to both Hisashi’s and Izuku’s joy.
Tezuka however feels betrayed beyond belief. “B-but sir! You don’t understand he’s-”
“A hero.” Chief Tsuragamae cuts her off before bowing his head slightly with a sympathetic frown. “I owe you an apology Inspector. In light of all this I should have at least made you aware of the situation.”
Endeavor raises an eyebrow. “Situation? What situation?”
“The truth is that this villain.” Tsuragamae gestures to the bound and gagged Ragnarok. “Has been under the FBI’s investigation for quite some time now.”
“What?”
Everyone, minus the teens and Hisashi, are stunned by the news.
Tsuragamae continues to explain. “An agent, that blonde suspect of yours, was sent here to investigate and then they tried to make it off with incriminating evidence against him. Woof. After which their mission was compromised, and it was then the FBI contacted me so that I may get them in touch with someone familiar with their protocols. Woof. And since Mr. Midoriya here has such experience from working with the Self-Defense Force and he happened to be in Tokyo. I thought it best to reach out to him. Woof.”
Endeavor scowls at the dog-headed man. “Then why weren’t we aware of this?”
“The FBI made it very clear that this mission should not be disclosed to any other parties. There was after all no guarantee that none of the heroes or officers would be in the villain’s pocket. And so it was thought it best to keep all that we could out of the loop. Woof.”
Tezuka frowns, recalling their conversation from before. “So then that call…”
Chief Tsuragamae is quick to answer, almost too quickly like trying to cover up a lie. “I was trying to mitigate the situation while remaining discreet.”
“So, then that means…”
“It means that Hisashi Midoriya is innocent and just one of the many heroes that have put their lives on the line for this city.”
Tezuka hates that, giving Hisashi credit for doing good, and she makes it known by throwing a nasty glare his way.
But not to be out done, he throws her a friendly smile and wave.
Fatgum steps before the Chief. “Then why drag the kids into this?”
“I trust Mr. Midoriya’s decisions.” affirms Tsuragamae. “He insisted that his son could be of help and as for the other two.” He gives the teens suspicious looks, making them shrink under his gaze. “They know the rules and the consequences.” he pauses as if considering the full situation. “However, these were shaky circumstances, and it couldn’t have been helped. Mr. Midoriya already gave permission for his son to engage with the villain if necessary. And as for the others, well they had the permission of the FBI agent.” The Chief pauses as if considering another fact. “Once again we’ll give credit to Endeavor.”
“What?! Again?!” Endeavor gasps, outraged and insulted by being handed over yet another free win.
Shoto almost breaks his stoic and indifferent expression by nearly bursting into a fit of laughter.
“However!” Chief Tsuragamae glares down at the boys. “This will be the last time I let you all slip by like this. And I do mean the last time.”
The teens all slump down and bow their heads. “Y-yes sir.”
Fatgum brings up another point. “Speaking of, where is this agent?”
Tsuragamae turns to answer. “They have already left for the U.S. not wanting to waste anymore time before handing over the evidence. Like all of us, they too want to see this villain pay for his crimes.” He then turns back to the officers that are in charge of escorting Ragnarok away. “Speaking of which, if you please, hand over the villain to his custody. He will need to be properly processed by the FBI to ensure that his operations have truly been dealt with.”
The officers look to their direct supervisor for permission.
Tezuka is reluctant but she gives the order, nonetheless. “Hand him over.”
Hisashi happily takes Ragnarok by the cuffs and escorts him away. But not before stopping just in front of the Chief. “Thank you, sir.” He leans in and subtly whispers. “And thanks for doing me the favor.”
“It’s my pleasure. Woof.” Chief Tsuragamae leans in and quickly whispers back. “Plus, you made it easy. Gave me a lot to work with you know. Good think you paid attention during your interrogation earlier.”
Hisashi smiles back before pulling Ragnarok along, who isn’t exactly moving with purpose in his steps.
Tsuragamae turns back to the rest of the heroes and police. “I will take my leave as well. I am a busy man as you all know.”
Tezuka says her goodbyes. “Yes. Take care, sir.”
Tsuragamae nods, turning away and taking his leave as well.
As he marches by, he passes by Izuku, his eyes peering down at him as he goes.
Izuku jerks up, standing straighter so as to not appear disrespectful before the Chief of the Police Force.
However, for the briefest of moments the Chief pauses and…smirks down at the boy, confusing him. But then he gives the boy a wink and his eye opens back up, his entire eye is compelled pink in color as a faint outline of sludge frames said eye,
Izuku instantly breaks into a smile as he finally realizes the truth of what’s just occurred.
The disguised Lucy smirks back before strolling away.
As Izuku sees her off, Shoto and Tokoyami whisper to him so as to not allow the adults to hear. “Hey, Midoriya.”
Izuku whispers back, unsure of why they’re whispering to begin with. “What’s up?”
“Did your cousin really leave?” Shoto asks.
“Um, well…” He peers back at the Chief. “She had some minor stuff to take care of first. And then she’ll leave. But besides I’m sure once the Chief let’s her know that the police know now, she’ll pop back out.”
“Right.” Shoto eyes Izuku skeptically as if curious about something but not willing to say what it is.
Izuku however picks up on it. “W-what?”
“I’m just wondering, how do you get yourself wrapped up in these kinds of messes?”
Izuku's only response is to laugh it off, albeit nervously.
As the teens chat and laugh, both Hisashi and Endeavor peer back at them, curious as to what they could be discussing.
The two lock eyes for a moment before turning away.
Hisashi then shoves Ragnarok forward as he solemnly thinks to himself. ‘We used to be like that…’
[FLASHBACK]
A smug superior grin stretches across Benevelon’s face. “No, matter. I shall return and I swear I will being mankind peace everlasting even if it’s the last thing I do-”
Officer Toyomitsu shuts the cruiser door on the cuffed Benevelon, cutting him off. “Yeah, yeah, save it for the psych ward mister.”
Hisashi listens in from nearby, sighing in relief to himself, glad that everyone just assumed that Benevelon was just your everyday insane person. ‘I’ll have to call Patelliday about that.’ He notes.
“Midoriya!!”
Hisashi freezes. “Hey, Tezuka.”
The raven-headed officer glares up at him, with her hands ready to draw out her taser and cuffs. “Give me one good reason why I shouldn’t arrest you for aiding a villain and escaping police custody?”
He gulps. “Look I’m really sorry about that, this is all just a big misunderstanding.”
“Is it?” She seems skeptical. “I highly doubt that. That’s why I’ll be leading the investigation against you myself.”
“Woah, hang on now. Listen I’m innocent I promise. Believe me. You don’t want to do this, if you’re wrong it might cost you your promotion.”
“Look at this place!” She screams waving to the demolished builds, street, and massive crater. “If this is in any way your fault then it’s a risk, I’m willing to take to make sure it doesn’t happen again!” She points an accusing finger at his face, making him stumble back in fright.
She pulls her finger away. “Something’s not right about you, Midoriya. And I intend on finding out what it is.”
“Oh, come on. What else is there to investigate?”
“Oh, I don’t know. Why don’t we start with that villain you helped escape? Funny how they disappeared like they did isn’t it?”
“Um?” Hisashi pats his pockets, checking to see if he feels two squirming lumps underneath. “Yeah, funny.”
She narrows her eyes at him. “I got my eye on you, Midoriya.” And with that she walks away, wanting to make sure she does her part and help survey the damage.
Hisashi lets out the breath he didn’t know he was holding. “She’s intense…”
Enji approaches, having been listening in the whole time. “I hope you know what you’re in for. An open investigation on a pro hero is no joke if they find anything, anything at all incriminating, it’ll all come to surface.”
‘I sure hope not, for all our sakes.’ Hisashi thinks but not letting it get to him. “But it’s fine. I don’t care about my rep.”
“You should.” Enji warns. “Once you lose someone’s trust it becomes near impossible to get it back.”
Hisashi pauses, hesitating before asking. “And what about you…did I lose yours?”
Enji sighs like he’s already got an answer and has long accepted it. “I’ll always trust you, no matter what and no matter how difficult you make it.” Which is a lot. “But I’m your friend, no matter what. We stick together through thick and thin.”
Hisashi smiles back, grateful to have a friend like Enji.
[End of FLASHBACK]
Lost in his own thoughts, Endeavor watches on as Hisashi leads the villain away. He scowls after him, jerking his head away like he just spotted something that was vile and disgusting.
Not wanting anymore to do with this he starts to take his leave but not before noticing Shoto chatting away with his classmates.
His eyes narrow. “Shoto? Aren’t you coming?”
Shoto turns to him and considers the question before turning away. “And what sit around while you do paperwork? No thanks.”
Well Endeavor certainly is annoyed by that answer, but he doesn’t force anything more. Figuring that Shoto wouldn’t get much out of it anyway, he turns and walks away figuring they’ll meet up later.
Seeing Endeavor walk off, Tezuka approaches the teens. “Fumikage?”
Tokoyami turns to address her. “I’ll be over in a little bit. I want to wish my…friends farewell.”
“Okay.” She sighs, exhausted, figuring that nothing else could happen.
And so she leaves, and already she goes back to barking out orders to her officers, making sure that they all stay on task.
The teens back away, not wanting to be in the police’s way as they work.
“Hey guys!” Lucy pops out from seemingly nowhere, startling them!
“Ms. Mann!” Tokoyami gasps, nearly jumping out of his skin.
Shoto frowns. “Where did you go?”
She smiles sheepishly, rubbing the back of her head furiously. “Sorry I wasn’t notified yet that the Chief spilled the beans about my mission. But now that he did, I figured it was safe for me to come out. Otherwise, I would have stuck around from the start. In any case I wanted to say this in person.” She looks to them, smiling from one to the other in gratitude. “Thank you. From all the lives you’ve saved by putting a stop to this madman. Thank you.”
Shoto shys away, giving her a nonchalant shrug. “It was no big deal.”
Tokoyami agrees. “No, thanks is necessary.”
They may say that but Izuku can’t help feel guilty over it. They should take the thanks and more! They helped save the freaking world and they don’t even know it. Heck Izuku can’t even go on a mutter spree about what they just did cause…well EVERYTHING!!! They stopped a world ending threat while still in school! Who else could say that?! Well actually they can’t because…you know.
‘But then again… Should they know?’ Izuku frowns, his gaze dropping to the ground as he stews in his own guilt.
Lucy notices and knows right away that he’d really like to show his friends the thanks they deserve, but can’t.
And then an idea strikes, and although it may not ever be enough it’ll be something. “Well there must be some way we can thank you.” She throws Izuku a cheeky smirk. “And I think I know just the thing.”
The teen pauses, looking at each other confusingly.
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
“Now this is good.” Lucy swallows and gobbles up another piece of fine sushi. “Hm! Like really really good. Hm!” She coos, her mouth full of the savory meal.
The bar is packed with people all enjoying fantastic freshly served sushi that carts on by atop a little conniver belt around the masters of the craft.
Tokoyami, seated beside her, swallows his piece and reaches up and offers her a little saucer of soy sauce. “May I recommend the soy sauce to go with it?”
Lucy happily takes it and pours just enough onto her sushi. She scoops it up and downs it in one go.
Her eyes light up as her tongue is assaulted by a flood of flavor. “It’s somehow even better!”
Tokoyami chuckles, pouring some soy sauce onto his own plate.
Seated at Tokoyami’s right is Shoto who turns to Izuku and asks. “You sure you don’t want me to pay for this Midoriya?” He leans in and almost maliciously mutters. “I do happen to have my old man's credit card.”
“I’m sure.” Izuku swallows and sheepishly smiles back, wondering how exactly Todoroki managed to get away with it. “But for real this is my treat. It’s my way of saying thanks.”
Shoto frowns. “We told you already you don't need to thank us.”
“I know but…I had to.” He needed to.
Shoto’s not so sure but he doesn’t push it, knowing that Midoriya won’t let it go otherwise. “Okay.”
Lucy reaches up and grabs another plate of sushi, she turns to Tokoyami and asks. “What is this?”
Tokoyami takes a look and answers. “Pufferfish.”
“Really?” Lucy grins before chomping down on the piece.
Izuku, overhearing, smiles over. “Huh, I heard it’s supposed to be good. And maybe poisonous.”
“And expensive.” Shoto is quick to point out.
“Yeah, but” Izuku shrugs, flashing him a confident smile. “How expensive?”
Without saying a word, Shoto hands Izuku the menu to this place.
Izuku takes it and scans for the pufferfish and after a moment it becomes obvious when he finds it. “Oh my god!!” The menu shakes in his hand and his face turns pale just because he glanced at the price.
“You sure you don’t want me to pay?”
“Hehe, I’ll…think about it.”
And so with that they go back to their sushi although Izuku only reserves himself to having a glass of water after that.
But after a moment a thought occurs to Shoto, and he turns in his seat so he can ask Lucy directly. “Can I say something?”
“Of course.” She nods, her mouth full of sushi.
“Apologies if this sounds rude but I couldn’t stop thinking about it. Back during our flight with Ragnarok. I gotta say it; it wasn't exactly wise for you to bring the flash drive into battle. I mean, what if the villain managed to take it from you? Then what?”
“Oh, he wouldn’t have.” Whipping at her face, Lucy waves off his worries like it was never a problem to begin with.
“How can you be so sure?”
She shrugs and explains. “Because I didn’t have it.”
The teens all take a double-take. “What?”
She explains that it was never a surprise. “Yeah. I never had it. I just let Ragnarok think that.” And it worked as a perfect distraction too. “I gave it to my pilot so he can deliver it for me. Oh, that reminds me.” She leans over the table so she can see Izuku as he downs his glass of water.
She points to him and says. “You owe Rad two favors now.”
Izuku chokes on his water, doing a spit take across the sushi bar!
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Hisashi paces back and forth across the empty parking lot that sits just outside Tokyo. The night is dark despite no clouds in the sky and the only source of light is the large billboard advertising Big Belly Burger.
Nothing but the Rustbucket sits in the parking lot, joined by hundreds of weeds that have managed to break their way through the unkempt asphalt.
Ragnarok glares on, muzzled and bound, as the Red Spot paces back and forth while glancing up at the sky.
Chopper sits behind Ragnarok, his taser poised and aimed at his back. ^Wa-wa. Wop-bz.^
Hisashi waves him off. “I know it’s late.” He scans the sky for any signs of movement. “Where is it?”
With the Plumber distracted, Ragnarok attempts to break the cuffs, but he does nothing more but shake them and call Hisashi’s attention.
“You might as well relax, friend.” Hisashi advises not at all worried that he might escape. “You might as well think of this as coming home since, you know, you were a Plumber at one point.”
Ragnarok glares back at him and tries to retort but thanks to the muzzle Hisashi hears nothing but muffled growls.
“I…don’t understand a word you’re saying.”
Ragnarok growls something back, but once again Hisashi can’t make out a word.
But he doesn’t need to as flood lights suddenly blind him from above and what sounds like a roaring helicopter hovers overhead as a gust of wind tears through the parking lot.
“Oh, finally!” Hisashi cheers and turns to Ragnarok. “Looks like your ride is here!”
A spaceship, the size of two city buses, lands before the Rustbucket. It’s large with a white paint job and heavily armored, built not only to withstand threats from the outside, but to also contain the threats trapped within.
The prison shuttle settles down and opens its doors to the Plumber.
Hisashi leads Ragnarok inside, where he finds himself in a large chamber with several empty cells.
He peers around, finding it odd that he hasn’t been greeted by another Plumber or even a droid yet. “Sheesh, the higher ups are really trying to automate everything nowadays.”
Although droids are convenient, he still rather have a living being in charge of something like this. But there isn’t much he can do about it so this is it.
He leads Ragnarok to the nearest cell, but the alien really starts to struggle against his restraints. He flails and struggles as he’s led forward and into the cell.
“Settle down! This will be all over soon.” Hisashi shoves him inside and quickly shuts the cell closed with a ray shield.
Ragnarok’s angry shouts are muffled by the muzzle as he bashes his cuffed arms against the ray shield and again and again, like he’s desperate to escape.
Hisashi backs away, back towards the exit. “Safe travels my friend.”
Ragnarok glares back, roaring in outrage from behind his muzzle.
But Hisashi doesn’t nor cares to hear it and instead shuts the shuttle closed.
He steps back as the engines start back up and the large shuttle begins to rise. He watches it off as wind whips at his face and spotlights shine over him. After a moment the ship vanishes from sight from behind a hologram and takes off into the night sky.
With the job now completely done, Hisashi smiles down at Chopper and says. “Well, I can certainly say that this went a lot better than last time.”
[FLASHBACK]
“Well fellas this is it.” Hisashi stops at the foot of the flying saucer, as he reaches into his pockets and pulls out the two Galvans.
He sets them down upon the ramp leading into the ship’s tiny interior. “I hope next time we meet; things will go a lot better.”
Driba smiles up at the hero. “As do we, Mr. Cinder.”
Blukic nods his head and smiles. “Thank you for everything, Mr. Cinder.”
“Guys…just call me Hisashi.”
The two tilt their heads as they struggle to get his name right. “Hi-she?”
“Hisashi.” he corrects.
They try again. “Hisashi.”
“Yeah, you got it.”
The two smile, happy to have gotten it right.
“Thanks again, Hisashi.” Blukic thanks. “We couldn’t have done it without you.”
‘Yeah, I know.’ He thinks but doesn't say it, and instead smiles on. “And it was my pleasure working with you both.”
“Same here.” Driba smiles. “Well we best be off, don’t want to keep Luhley waiting.”
Blukic perks up. “No, we don't!”
They both rush inside the ship and prepare for take-off.
As they prep Hisashi leans in and squeezes his head inside. “Are you guys sure you can fly this thing?”
“Of course, we’re sure.” responds Driba. “I’ll have you know that we’re superiorly intellectual beings, we are more than capable at flying a ship.”
‘Yeah, I’m not so sure about that.’ But once again he doesn’t spoil the moment by saying it aloud. “Well safe travels fellas. And hey if you’re ever in the system, feel free to call first.”
Driba smiles back, nodding and letting him know that they will.
“Driba!” Blukic shouts from the head console. “What’s this blinking red light ehre for?!”
“How should I know?! Maybe it means we’re ready for takeoff?”
Hisashi grimaces, becoming very concerned with their safety, “Seriously, though, call first.” he insists.
“Well.” The two Galvans turn and give their superior officer a salute. “Until we meet again, Hisashi.”
Hisashi smiles back, returning the salute. “Yeah, until we meet again, tech support.”
And so Hisashi pulls his head free and steps back, watching silently as the flying saucer slowly rises in their air. The ship then vanished from sight under a cloaking device before zooming up and back into space.
“And when we do meet again… Uh! It’ll be too soon.”
[End of FLASHBACK]
Reminiscing in his memories, Hisashi strolls back towards the Rustbucket feeling good and proud of their work here today. Relieved that nothing else has come of it for once.
Chopper follows behind but stops as he…senses something. He turns around, peering back up and jolting up in surprise. ^Wo-wo!^
“What?!” Hisashi spins around, his head snapping up to the sky. “It’s back? Why?”
It sure is, the standard Plumber prison shuttle lowers down and lands in the parking lot, albeit a little shakily as if the pilot was new to it.
Hisashi hurries to the doors, which drop open with a loud slam.
“Um, h-hello Mr. C-Cinder, sir.” A large insect fearfully pokes his green head out from the side of the entrance.
Hisashi instantly recognizes the alien. “Hobble? What are you doing here?”
Hobble shyly steps forward, acting meek and scared even though he dawns a red Plumber suit. “Oh, I-I-I’m here f-for the p-pickup?”
“Pick up?”
“Y-yes, I'm here to pick up Ra-Ragnarok.”
“Ragnarok? But Plumber Base just-...” Hisashi freezes, feeling as if he’s been struck by lightning. “If that shuttle, wasn’t you then…who was it?”
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The hijacked shuttle touches down inside the large red hanger as the Earth sits below the view of the ray shield, shielding the entrance.
The shuttle opens wide, and the cells deactivate causing Ragnarok to stumble out of his cell.
“Welcome back, Ragnarok.”
Ragnarok fearfully jerks up and pales as he finds Vilgax’s malicious grin looming over him. “And welcome to my employment. Hahahaha!”
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THE PREVIEW:
Izuku: Merry Christmas!
Cannonbolt: My guy, it’s summer break right now.
Izuku: Oh, I know but for them it isn’t.
Cannonbolt: Well, it’s summer break for us. And do you know what that means?
Izuku: What?
Cannonbolt: It means the beach! The ocean! Bikinis! Cold drinks with tiny umbrellas! And fun!
Izuku: Um, Cannonbolt, sorry to tell you this but…Dad and I never planned to stop at a beach.
Cannonbolt: What?
Izuku: Yeah, um, we’re not going. But if you want you can go with some of my friends!
Cannonbolt: Wait, your friends are going? Like whom?
Both: Next time: Ch.57 Under the Sea!!
Cannonbolt: Can I go? I can be the beachball if they’d like?
Notes:
And that was Ch.56! Can you believe that my original plan was that chapters 54, 55, and 56 were supposed to be one chapter? Man, that would have been one loooooong chapter, am I right? Speaking of long or rather the opposite. I do apologize about some of the flashbacks not being long enough to explore everything we may have wanted. I need to cut back on stuff especially since my goal was to post by today. So I do apologize for that but I still think what we got was worth it.
And now we’ll move on from this mini-arc. Starting with another stand-alone chapter that stars characters other than Izuku again. Originally, I was gonna go with another chapter idea but I’m switching it with the new Ch.57 “Under the Sea” for now. It should be a lot easier to write and it’ll be fun.
And for the pervs out there thinking this is a set up for risqué stuff…don’t get your hopes up.
*Hey so I’m not sure if I ever responded to all the reviews last time. If I didn’t, please let me know and send me any questions you may have had. Also, if I fail to respond to a review after a week, please feel free to reach out and let me know. Thank you.
*So, this chapter/mini-arc teased and introduced a lot of characters. And I just wanna say that they will all be returning. That is not an exaggeration, I have plans for everyone to come back from Blukic to Driba, to Hobble, to Rad Dudesman, and of course Lucy Mann.
*But what I really had a lot of were Easter Eggs!! There were so many from all over the place. There was Teekl from Young Justice, Lucky the Pizza Dog from Marvel/Hawkeye, and a ton of Halo references from the Tavern’s name, the aliens, and a Phantom. Then there was all the Star Wars stuff like the Twi-lek, the Anacondon, BD-3000 luxury droid, and the X-wing. And then the Marvel references too like the Milano being there along with some of the Guardians of the Galaxy hanging out in the tavern too. And heck I even had Jumba Jookiba’s big red ship in there. And then there were the lines I borrowed from several places. 2 of the lines were taken from the Phineas and Ferb/Star Wars crossover. There was a scene taken out from Thor Ragnarok. I believe I also paraphrased a line from Gravity Falls in the same scene too. And finally Benevelon borrowed a line from Avengers Infinity War. So yeah, a lot of Easter Eggs for you guys to find. And to be honest I had to cut one more Easter Egg out for the sake of time. But I think I’ll throw it in as an Omake in my side story “Heroes Never Die; It’s Hero Time, Anytime.”
Speaking of which…
*PLEASE* check out my new side story for this story called “Heroes Never Die; It’s Hero Time, Anytime.” You will find an assortment of one shots that take place in the canon of this main story. Most are really short little stories but there are full chapters there such as “OVA: My Zombie Academia.” Which is a great change from the norm and is again canon to the main story.
Chapter 62: Under the Sea
Summary:
Momo takes her friends to a one of a kind resort, one that was built underwater. But when the resort is under attack by a swarm of possibly-alien Cyber Squids. Will they be able to escape before the resort sinks to the bottom of the ocean?
Notes:
Here we go, I hope you guys like this chapter. Just for clarification this chapter is my take on a classic Ben Ten episode BUT I took some creative liberties with a character or two. And I really hope you guys like my changes.
*Also, last time there was some confusion that the Police Chief, Kenji Tsuragamae, knows about aliens. THAT IS NOT TRUE. In the final scene where he showed it, it was actually LUCY MANN disguised as Chief Tsuragamae. Hence why when he/she winked at Izuku, their eye turned fuchsia pink to indicate that it was Lucy in disguise.
*There is a side story that is canon to this story, and it is called “Heroes Never Die; It’s Hero Time, Anytime.” You will find an assortment of one shots that take place in the canon of this main story.
*This story has a TV Tropes page so feel free to check it out.*
https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Fanfic/HeroesNeverDieItsHeroTime
*Disclaimer I do not own the rights to Ben 10 or MHA.*
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
A blistering heat radiates down from the hot sun, without a cloud in the sky to shield the roads and buildings from its merciless rays. Heat radiates off the concrete and cement in waves, cars, light poles, and park swings burn at the touch, and drops of water evaporate instantly in the light. And yet despite the heat not a soul is caught open in the light, not the stray dogs or cats, and not even the birds, only the ever-annoying buzz of summer cicadas signal that there is any life to the sweltering town of Endori.
“I’m dying! Why does it have to be so hot?!” Not even a high-powered fan or a frozen popsicle can spare Ochaco Uraraka a moment of relief from the burning sun. “And why can’t we have an air conditioner?”
She knows why but still though a part of her thinks that not even an AC could save her now. She’s got all the windows to her family’s apartment open; she got all the fans going, all the frozen treats she could want, but yet none of it is working.
“I feel like I’m melting. Ugh…! And it’s only 9 AM!” She’s been forced to strip down to nothing but the thinnest of clothes, a thin undershirt and shorts, that are just drenched in sweat as she sits down in front of the open fridge and a fan with a melting popsicle in hand.
“Ugh! Why does the local pool have to be closed today of all days?!” All because an overseas hero dumped a villain with an Electro Quirk into the water in order to ground him and stop his rampage. “Ugh…what do I do?!” She slumps onto the floor, her sweat soaking her thin nearly see-through shirt and sticking her to the hot floor. “I wonder if Todoroki would be willing to hang out today?”
As she starts to consider the possibility her phone starts to vibrate off the kitchen counter. *Bzzzz! Bzzzz!*
Ochaco exhaustively slides herself across the floor, not bothering to get up as she reaches for her phone. After struggling to grab it, she manages to drop it and catch it, and reading who could have texted her during a brutal heatwave.
“Momo? I wonder if she needs something?” She reads the rest of the text. “What?!” Her eyes go wide, taking a double take, blinking as if she’s just seen a heat induced mirage. “A…girl’s trip? To a…” She squints, reading the last line. “RESORT!?!”
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Cannon Busters Opening - Showdown
(Beginning Instrumentals)
An open road, a bright sun illuminating the beautiful summer day, and the rush of wind in one’s ears as the Rustbucket cruises by moving across the road like a sports car before zooming past with grace.
We got places to go, things to do, people to see, and we got to get it done right away.
Izuku adjusts his hoodie, tugging it down over his body. All before gripping the dial of the Omnitrix and giving it a shine with his fingers.
So if you on the crew, guess we a team. Thicker than thieves and we all tryna help find a way
Hisashi buttons up his Hawaiian short, before grabbing his respirator and dawning it over his maw. He then snatches up a few loose tickets and pamphlets before tucking them away.
If you know the destination, we making conversation. Time is ticking, sun is setting, we got no time for waiting
Chopper latches his leg to his body, readjusting it. Before his arms pop out and flex about making sure they’re working properly.
Might be the showdown, Looks like it's 'bout to go down
Bust through with the cannon, at the hoedown
(Instrumentals)
Izuku slams down on the Omnitrix! In a flash of green the screen scrolls down to reveal his aliens: Feedback, XLR8, Grey Matter, Four Arms, Ditto, Ripjaws, Terraspin, Water Hazard, Lodestar, Buzzshock, Diamondhead, Big Chill, Heatblast, Stinkfly, and Wildmutt.
Transition into title sequence: HEROES NEVER DIE; IT’S HERO TIME
So we won't fall, until gravity is gone
Izuku grins falling through the air alongside Rath, Wildvine, Bullfrag, Cannonbolt and several other inhuman silhouettes! As the glow of the sunrise illuminates U.A. in the background!
We've been on this road too long, so long
Hisashi and Izuku stand back-to-back looking away from each other as the scene rotates around them.
The scenes flips in rapid succession with characters standing back-to-back!
(Instrumentals)
To Thirteen and Ochaco!
To Ochaco and All Might!
To All Might and Gran Torino!
And to Gran Torino and Hisashi!
And I can't stop, we can't stop
I'm so far away from home
We've been on this road too long, too long
A legion of villains have their backs to the camera but as the camera slides through their lineup, each of them turn to acknowledge the audience.
Kraab’s claw flexes and clamps nearly clipping the camera.
Rojo folds their arms together and smirks as the camera rolls past.
Sunder raises his axe at the ready.
Silhouette (C) stands tall and proud, towering over the camera.
Nue bares a sharp tooth grin, his eyes gleaming with malice before the camera zooms away and up into to the forbidding sky, through the void of space, through the walls of the command ship, before halting before an all observing Vilgax.
Playing with fire (Fire!)
Take me higher
From up in the air Cinder releases a cloud of flames down upon Rojo below! Rojo cuts through the flames before rocketing up and clashing with the hero in midair!
We're on our way, we're on our way
Undivided (-Vided!)
All Might zooms past, his grin wide, as he slams his fist into Silhouette (C)! Silhouette (C) crashes into the ground, kicking up smoke, but it rises again, unharmed.
And ignited
We're on our way, we're on our way, yeah!
From the smoke cloud, Ochaco leaps back in a spin as Sunder soars after her. Sunder his axe at her but she counters it with a Ryou Sphere!
On our way, we're going
Nue grins madly as he stares down Deku who grins back just as determined and manically.
And no mistakes while we're rolling around town
We just came back round
The Rustbucket bursts forth zooming down the highlighted highway, gracefully zooming past Bakugou, Kirishima, Tsuyu, Hatsume, Kaminari, Jiro, Tokoyami, Shoto, Mina, Hagakure, and Ochaco!
You don't wanna show out
Close up of a smiling Hisashi.
Cut to a closeup of Chopper.
Cut to a closeup of Kraab.
Finally, a close up to a grinning Deku!
Might be a showdown
Deku’s hand slams down on the Omnitrix, the alien green light swallows the screen!
Woo!
Freeze on the image of Deku, Cinder, Chopper, and Kraab posing before the setting sun, their shadows casted far off over the ground towards the camera.
(Illustrated by CreateGunner1209)
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Ch.57 Under the Sea
‘This is unbelievable, and I’ve fought aliens!!’ Ochaco thinks, her eyes wide with amazement and disbelief as she peers out to the vast Pacific Ocean just outside the private jet’s window. ‘Is this how the better-half lives?!’
She’s not sure if it’s even real, but it is, this is real, this private plane is real! It’s silky-smooth leather seats are real, the shelves of champagne are real, and the gourmet food is real!!
Ochaco leans back her seat feeling faint from all the glittering furniture and facades.
“Now this is cool!” Mina Ashido cheers excitedly from the neighboring seat. “Picked up in a millionaire's private jet to check out a brand-new hotel before anybody else! Now we’re talking a summer vacation!”
Tooru Hagakure pops her invisible head over the seat. “I know right! This is so sweet!”
Tsuyu Asui nods her head from her seat beside Hagakure.
“Hehe.” Kyoka Jiro chuckles from the couch seat across the aisle. “Thanks for inviting us, Yaomomo!”
Seated across from them all, Momo Yaoyorozu smiles back, delighted to hear that they’re all already enjoying themselves. “No, thank you all for coming. I promise that we’ll all have a wonderful time.”
Yaoyorozu certainly is, she’s so glad she was able to get all of her friends of Class 1-A to join her on this trip.
Tsuyu turns towards the back of the plane where a well-dressed man is preparing a round of tea at the fully stacked bar. “And thank you Mr. Yaoyorozu for letting us tag along. We really appreciate it. Kero.”
Mr. Yaoyorozu is the definition of a gentlemanly businessman. With a polite yet strict smile that is tired yet full of confidence and control. His black smoothly combed hair has already begun to turn grey, while his eyesight has already begun to wane hence the pair of gold-colored spectacles sitting atop his broad nose and finely combed horseshoe moustache.
He wears a large grey business suit with gold and orange trims and collar, over a black vest, and a fancy red tie.
Mr. Yaoyorozu turns and gives the girls a genuinely kind smile. “Please, there is no need to thank me. It was my pleasure to bring you all along with us on this trip. I’m more than delighted that my dear little princess has such wonderful friends to cherish.”
Momo’s face turns red from embarrassment. “Father, please.”
“Ho ho!” Mr. Yaoyorozu laughs, not feeling guilty for embarrassing his daughter. “My apologies sweetie. I’m just happy for you is all.”
‘He’s sweet.’ Ochaco thinks with a smile.
“So, Mr. Y!” Mina calls out. “So, this hotel we’re going to, is it yours or what?”
Jiro frowns at Mina’s lack of tack. “Way to be polite about it.” She chides sarcastically.
“Thanks!” Mina smiles, oblivious to the sarcasm.
Jiro gives her a deadpan stare in response.
Mr. Yaoyorozu however doesn’t appear to be bothered in the slightest by Mina’s straightforwardness. “No, this hotel is not mine. It belongs to an old friend of mine, Mr. Donovan GrandSmith, and he’s invited me to come and inspect his newest venture to see if it’s worth my investment.”
That gives Tsuyu pause, what kind of standard resort needs to be inspected? “I’m curious, but what kind of resort is it?”
Mr. Yaoyorozu frowns. “I don’t know the exact details, but Donovan has promised me that it is like nothing anyone’s ever seen before.”
Ochaco and Mina share amused looks. ‘Doubt it.’
Jiro turns in her seat, leaning over towards Momo. “But seriously Yaomomo. Thanks again for inviting us.”
Momo sheepishly smiles in response. “Please, don’t think anything of it. Besides, Mr. GrandSmith insisted that I bring as many friends as I wished too for this visit.”
Tsuyu pauses. “Really? How come?”
Momo shrugs. “I assume because he wants to make sure that his resort can properly cater to a variety of guests.”
Tooru nods. “That makes sense.”
Ochaco smiles and nods, gratefully to Mr. GrandSmith for the opening. ‘Now I’ll really get to see how the better-half lives.’
As the private jet continues to glide over the ocean, Mr. Yaoyorozu takes a peek through the nearest window. “Ah, would you look at that?” She smiles pointing out towards the horizon. “It appears that we’ve arrived already.”
The girls instantly rush to the nearby window, peering out; they are astonished to spot a massive platform the size of a six-story building floating in the middle of the Pacific Ocean.
The private jet’s engines turn and shift down allowing the expensive mode of transportation to hover and gently lower itself onto the helipad.
Mr. Yaoyorozu leads the girls out through the plane and onto the platform where they are met by the cooling breeze of the ocean, with squawking seagulls hovering high above, and various boats and yachts lining the nearby docks.
Scanning the platform, the girls quickly find themselves being approached by an elderly gentleman from America that exudes an air of “the better half.” With his maroon turtleneck and tan dress pants and expensive shoes, all of which must be far too warm to wear in the summer sun. And finally, he has his grey hair combed to the sides giving his hair a little horn-like aesthetic.
The elderly man smiles as he approaches the group. “Hiroshi Yaoyorozu, it’s been way too long!” He greets, happy to see his old friend.
“How are you, Donovan?” Mr. Yaoyorozu greets back with a smile, shaking Donovan GrandSmith’s hand.
Donovan chuckles back. “Well with sixteen resorts worldwide I’d say pretty good.” He pulls his hand away and turns to address Mr. Yaoyorozu’s little girl. “Ah, young Ms. Yaoyorozu, my look how you’ve grown.”
Momo politely smiles back like she’s been groomed to do. “Thank you, Mr. GrandSmith, sir.”
Donovan smiles, gesturing to her classmates. “And these must be your friends.”
“They are indeed.” Momo moves aside so she can properly introduce them all. “They are Kyoka Jiro, Mina Ashido, Tsuyu Asui, Tooru Hagakure, and Ochaco Uraraka.”
Ochaco shies away from the billionaire. “H-hello.”
Jiro waves back. “Hi.”
Hagakure bows her head in respect. “Um, thank you for inviting us sir.”
Donovan grins, touched by their politeness. “Oh, no need to thank me. Thank my grandson!”
Momo visibly jolts up, her face turning pale with nerves. “Pardon?”
Mina’s antennas twitch, sensing Momo’s discomfort at the mention of Donovan’s grandson. “Grandson?” She ponders tentatively.
“Yes.” Donovan grins like he’s been excitedly waiting for someone to ask about his grandson. “He was quite insistent that I invite you and your little friends to my resort.”
Momo nervously smiles, hoping that this doesn’t mean what she thinks it means. “By any chance is he here?”
“Heheeh! Indeed, I am my lovely feminine-rose.”
A nasty shiver runs down Momo’s spine as she turns and grimaces at Donovan’s grandson. “Oh…it’s…n-nice to see you again…Billy.”
A smug toothy smirk stretches across Billy’s tan-skinned face. His large narrow eyebrows stretch up on his large forehead with an air of superiority. And his black hair slicked back and combed up to look a lot like a pair of curled devil horns. Despite his odd choice of a hairstyle, he is still rather short for a fellow teenager, barely coming up to Tsuyu’s own height.
And like his grandfather he’s wearing rather inappropriate attire for the summer heat. A maroon styled suit with a black trim and a large gold button with the letter B stylized to look like a dollar sign. He’s got a white long sleeved shirt underneath with large cuffs and collar that’s all put together by a maroon bow tie. Black dress shorts, and a pair of maroon colored Bally shoes.
“Ladies.” Donovan smiles, strolling over towards his grandson. “I’d like you all to meet my grandson, Billiam Billions.”
Billiam Billions leers at the girls. “No need for all that, please, just call me Billy.”
Tsuyu shivers under his gaze but tries to hold firm and remain polite after all he is technically the reason, they’re all able to come out here. “Um, it’s nice to meet you…Billy?”
Billy’s grin widens. “And it’s so wonderful I could meet such lovely ladies such as yourselves.”
He eyes each of them gleefully like a child inspecting a candy store until he reaches a sweet service of toffee. “Especially you.”
Ochaco jolts, shivering under his grin. “M-Me?”
Before she knows it, Billy is caressing her hand, holding it up like she was a princess. “Why of course you, how could I miss the angel that shines with such a lovely pink hue such as yourself?”
“Um…thank you?” She slips her hand away, feeling like she needs to scrub it raw.
“You’re certainly welcomed.” Billy winks, making Ochaco feel like she needs to shower.
Meanwhile, the rest of the girls quickly pick up on this prick’s disposition. ‘He’s like Mineta but rich!!’ Somehow that might make him worse…
Donovan, oblivious to Billy’s intentions, chuckles, wishing to move things along. “Ready to take the plunge?”
They all quickly agree hoping to move away and hopefully get away from Billy as soon as possible.
And so, Donovan leads them all to a nearby elevator. They all came inside with Billy purposefully, mainly by shoving his way between all the girls, where he grins like an idiot as he strokes his own pride and ego.
Thankfully the ride down is short and soon the group find themselves in an underwater platform of some sort with giant windows allowing them to see between the surface of the ocean. Awaiting them in the middle of the platform sits large pontoon-like boats that are round in shape and seated atop a track that leads down into a tunnel that seems to stretch far down into the ocean depths. All in all, it looks like an ominous yet very expensive water slide.
“Step aboard everyone.” Donovan gestures for them all.
The round metal pontoons are large enough to fit the entire group. So, the girls hurry to sit by each other but Billy still manages to weasel his way in on the side and thus leaving Jiro to bear the ride alongside him.
Once they’re all secured the pontoon begins to slide down the track, moving slowly allowing the passengers to take in the ocean’s majesty just outside the window lined tunnel.
They pass schools of tuna and swordfish, sharks and manta rays, and even North Pacific right whales smile at them as they cruise by while on their yearly migration.
While the girls are lost to the ocean’s beauty, and Billy is lost in theirs, Mr. Yaoyorozu turns to Donovan with a look of concern rather than amazement. “Are you indeed sure that this was the safest place to build a resort like this?”
Donovan smiles on like there isn’t a problem at all. “You talking underwater fault lines?”
“I’m more concerned about how your resort is in the center of the Mariana Trench.”
The girls do a double-take not sure if they heard Mr. Yaoyorozu right.
Donovan, however, laughs him off. “You were always the worrywart Hiroshi. Never the risk taker.”
Still though, Mr. Yaoyorozu has his concerns. “Taking risks has its merits, but there are times when it is too much.”
Donovan’s smile wavers for a moment but it soon returns with that air of arrogance as his eyes are drawn to something else in the water, like he’s found the perfect excuse to redirect the conversation. “Lookie here, everyone.”
The group turns toward the windows just as Donovan’s resort comes into view.
The resort is massive, almost like it's a replication of an underwater city that’s stuck in a massive glass dome. It almost looks like something one would find as a dome city on the moon rather than in the ocean. But there it is with massive towers, no doubt hotels, all sorts of massive machines and feats of engineering surrounding the dome, and spotlights wave outside the dome’s edges to illuminate the dark waters.
“I give you the world’s first and only underwater resort, Aquania.”
The group is totally taken away, jaws slacked and eyes wide as they all take in this marvel. And Donovan couldn’t be more thrilled by their reactions. “That’s right, amazing, isn’t it? And that’s just the start.”
As they slide down towards the landing, Ochaco peers out to the ocean, out towards the dark void lining below the Aquania, to the mysterious Mariana Trench.
Donovan’s grin widens as they approach the landing dock. “You won’t believe what’s down here.”
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Shortly after getting off the large pontoon the group find themselves along a large corridor surrounded by large windows that offer more views of the abyss below and even several open portals that allow anyone access to the Pacific waters just by going over the thin railing. There’s even a large WWII submarine hanging above on the ceiling for decoration. Lage pipes line the walls and ceiling as workers and engineers mill about, inspecting the pipes and machinery.
The girls lean against the window to get a better look at the passing sea life and the trench below. While Billy stands beside them, his attention is still on them rather than one of the seven wonders of the Earth.
As the girls gawk in amazement, a diver wearing a high-tech scuba suit swims past, offering them a wave. The scuba suit looks closer to what an astronaut would wear with a large dome helmet but a thick black bodysuit, like something Thirteen would wear, all the while with large fins on his feet and a small turbine propeller on his back that looks a lot like an underwater jetpack. And finally, a long cable is hooked to his back, anchored to one of the underwater service stations he seems to be working on while a line of massive vents and turbines lie thirty feet below, parallel to the undersea tunnel.
Jiro points to the scuba diver and asks. “What is he wearing?”
“That’s a high-pressure suit.” Donovan explains. “It’s vacuum sealed, designed to withstand immense pressure like that one would experience if they dove into the trench. The suit’s helmet even comes with oxygen filters that can pull oxygen right out of the water, like fish gills!”
As the girls marvel, Donovan turns to Mr. Yaoyorozu and explains. “The official grand opening's only a week away. Just a few special VIPs like you are getting a sneak peek.”
Momo turns and smiles at their generous host. “I read about the Aquania in Pacific Monthly Oceania, Mr. GrandSmith. You’re engineering and architecture for such a facility is on the cutting edge of science.”
Donovan smiles, appreciating the compliment. “Thank you for noticing dear. Micro-titanium threads that can withstand up to ten atmospheres are the secret to this place’s success. Nobody gets wet here unless it’s in one of the nine pools.”
‘Ten atmospheres?’ Ochaco thinks with a sly grin, thinking back to how thin the Razor Crest’s frame seems when compared to the Aquania’s thick walls and windows. ‘
But either way Mr. Yaoyorozu seems to find the feat praiseworthy. “Very impressive Donovan.”
Donovan laughs. “Well for two billion dollars it ought to be.”
Ochaco feels faint. ‘This is how the better-half lives?!’
“Heck, I’m willing to bet my bottom dollar that once this place is fully stocked it’ll be even grander than I-Island!”
Jiro smirks sarcastically, finding Donovan’s statement to be a little precocious. “Now that would be something.”
Billy scoffs. “Of course, it will. After all, yours truly oversaw all the architectural foundations and engineering formulations personally.”
Jiro raises an eyebrow in disbelief. “Really?”
Donovan chuckles, placing a proud hand on Billy’s shoulder. “Oh, yes, really.” He shakes Billy’s shoulder affectionately. “That’s my grandson for you. A genius this one is. Brilliant in every sense of the word. Especially with that Quirk of his.”
Ochaco’s curiosity gets the better of her. “Quirk?”
Billy smirks, happy to have the perfect avenue to brag about himself. “While it may not be anything as robust as any of yours, I find it to be very high-caliber.”
Ochaco frowns, not sure what to make of that.
Donovan chuckles, finding Billy’s explanation amusing. “His Quirk is called Know How. And with it he has the knowledge to build anything that pops into that genius brain of his; given he has the right materials to do so.”
Well almost anything. In actuality with Know How he can build any machine or piece of tech that he wants, with the knowledge to do so coming to him almost intuitively. However, what he can actually build and the knowledge to do so only occurs when he has the correct materials and pre-existing tech to do so. So, he cannot build a time machine since the technology itself does not exist yet. But he can build a hover car if given the right technology and parts to do so, but most of these plans do not occur until he has said materials in his hands or line of sight. Much like a “Master Builder” from the Lego Movie.
“That’s right.” Billy smirks. “I don’t mean to brag but thanks to my Know How, I’ve built myself a laser gun, robot servants, and I’m even working on a device that’ll in-theory allow for interdimensional travel.”
Tsuyu nods, albeit skeptically. “That’s…quite impressive Billions.”
“Call me Billy, please. And it's no big deal, seriously.” His smirk widens. “But then again thanks to my inheritance, genius intellect, and charming looks I guess you can call me a hybrid of Bruce Wayne and Tony Stark.”
‘No, I don’t think so.’ The girls all think to themselves.
But Billy goes on, unaware of how uncomfortable they are. “That’s right ladies, I'm just your above average billionaire playboy philanthropist. Heck, I even built my own submarine from scratch!”
Donovan smiles with pride. “Haha, he sure did. The Undersea Mantaray. It’s quite the marvel.” Donovan smiles over at Mr. Yaoyorozu. “What do you think, Hiroshi? Impressive, isn’t he? Gonna be the next head of my company and his father’s too.”
Mr. Yaoyorozu doesn’t get sucked into Donovan’s cheer, instead he holds his level head and critical observation. “Yes, your grandson… certainly has a future ahead of him.”
Billy’s chest swells with pride, his ego flying higher and higher. “That’s right ladies. Quite the future.” He throws them, what he thinks is, a sly wink.
The girls shiver in disgust.
In the meantime, Mr. Yaoyorozu peers down the rest of the large passageway, eyeing each portal that leads into the open ocean curiously.
But he pauses as he spots that in one of the open portals sits a strange boat of sorts that not even, he’s seen before. “Pardon me, Donovan. Perchance is that the famed submarine itself?”
Donovan and the kids all pause, following Mr. Yaoyorozu’s line of sight. And sure, enough they spot what’s caught his eye, a strange one-man submarine. Not for Ochaco she has to take a double take as a sense of familiarity befalls her.
The one-man sub is small in size with a stingray like design. With a smooth metallic frame painted pure white while a massive red glowing spot sits before the cockpit as its engines/turbines sit behind said cockpit.
Ochaco frowns, almost worriedly. ‘It…kinda looks like Thirteen’s ship? But that can’t be right. I mean, why would a Plumber be all the way down here?’
Donovan frowns at the odd sub. “No, that’s not one of mine.”
The group pauses.
Hagakure frowns. “It’s not?”
“No…you see an…agent of Interpol has graced us with his presence.”
Mr. Yaoyorozu is immediately perturbed. “Should we be concerned?”
Donovan smiles shakily. “Oh, heavens no. His investigation has nothing to do with my resort, he’s just using it as a base of operations as it were. Apparently, he’s conducting some sort of investigation in the Mariana Trench.”
Ochaco, still unsure about the sub, pipes up. “Do you know what for?”
Donovan shakes his head. “He wouldn’t say, said it was classified.” He shrugs, finding it all annoying.
Jiro folds her arms. “Interpol, huh?”
Hagakure pokes her side. “Sounds exciting.”
Mina nods. “I wonder what this agent is like! I bet he’s super cool and has all sorts of cool spy gadgets!”
Billy scoffs. “Naw, he’s fishy. Real fishy.”
Ochaco frowns at that.
Mr. Yaoyorozu addresses Donovan directly. “This sounds rather delusive, Donovan. He didn’t give you anything more?”
“Just his name and badge and warrant.” Donovan admits. “I looked through it all myself and nothing seemed out of place.” He smiles trying to reassure his old friend. “And besides he’s investigating the trench, not my resort. And even if he did, he wouldn’t find anything out of sorts.” Donovan pauses and thinks, pondering to himself as he recalls a part of his conversation with the agent.
Mr. Yaoyorozu instantly picks up on his hesitation. “What is it, Donovan?”
“When I met him, I felt like I’ve seen him somewhere before.”
“Did you?”
“In a way I did. When I brought it up to him, he mentioned that I might be thinking of a relative of his.”
Momo perks up, curious. “A relative? Whom are you referring to? Are they famous or of significance?”
Donovan turns to Momo, like he assumed that she already knew. “Actually, he’s a relative of one of your classmates.”
The girls gasp. “Really?!”
Momo quickly tries to think about who it could be. “Who?!”
“Oh, I don’t quite recall.” Donovan pauses, taking a moment to remember. “I think it was-”
Before he can answer there’s a loud screech of metal and gears as every machine falls silent, and everyone in the tunnel is casted into darkness as the lights flicker out.
Just outside, in the open water, the scuba diver watches as the tunnel goes dark and the vents thirty feet below him shut off.
But the blackout doesn’t last for a minute before the lights flicker back to life and the turbine installed into the vents begin to spin again. But they are now spinning backwards and are thus sucking in water rather than propelling it out. The current they create is strong, instantly sweeping up the scuba diver and pulling him down.
He gasps as his entire body is pulled down, the cable anchoring him to the tunnel tangles around his feet, binding him but it at least prevents him from becoming mincemeat.
As the lights flicker back on, Jiro quickly spots the helpless diver. “Look!!”
The group watches in horror as the diver is swung around by the strong current and tangled cable line.
Hagakure gasps. “What happened?!”
“A power surge must have caused the water to recycle itself!” Donovan explains.
“He’ll be alright, won’t he?”
Billy watches as a pair of large fish swim into view. “If the sharks don’t get him first.”
The group freeze and watch in chilling terror as a pair of Great White Sharks cruise down towards the flailing diver. They watch the struggling piece of meat curiously, making wide circles around his gangling frame.
Donovan quickly begins to panic. “I can’t have an employee turn into fish food right before the grand opening.” He rushes towards his engineers and control panels to see what he can do. “The press will ruin me!”
Mr. Yaoyorozu hurries after him, intending to help as well.
The girls press their hands against the glass, watching useless as the sharks circle closer and closer.
“We should help!” Hagakure shouts.
“But how?” asks Mina, just as worried.
Ochaco feels so useless, watching from the sidelines. “What would Deku do?”
Billy frowns, overhearing her. “Deku?”
“He’s our classmate.” Jiro, overhearing them both, explains. “He’s good at thinking on the fly.”
Billy nods, but not at all thrilled that girls’ minds went to someone else rather than him.
Ochaco spins around and tries to see if there’s anything they can use to help; she then spots a row of high-pressure scuba suits hanging beside the nearest portal.
Without saying a word, she rushes over, snatching up one of the suits, and hurries to put it on.
Momo notices the gap between her and Billy, she turns and finds Ochaco missing. She scans for her, fearful that she disappeared, until she spots her trying to put on the large helmet. “Ochaco, what are you doing?!”
The girls all turn and gasp as she locks the helmet over her head.
“I’m gonna save him!” She shouts as she waddles towards the open portal and jumps in.
“Ochaco!!” Her friends scream.
“Kero!!” Tsuyu leaps forward, landing beside the other suits, and quickly throws one on.
“Tsu!!” Mina calls out.
“I’ll help her!” Tsuyu explains as she throws on the helmet and dives in.
The girls spin back around towards the helpless diver, watching on as Ochaco and Tsuyu swim towards him and the sharks.
Momo cups her hands together, praying for their safety. “Be careful”
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Ochaco swims forward, kicking her legs furiously but the suit’s a little too restrictive to move quickly. And so, she presses her thumb against the turbine accelerator located by her hand so the little pack on her back can push her forward, but it still doesn’t seem fast enough.
“Ochaco!” Tsuyu’s voice echoes out from the suit’s interior communication system.
Ochaco spins around and spots Tsuyu racing towards her. “Tsu?! What are you doing here?!”
Tsuyu quickly catches up to her thanks to her aquatic Quirk. “To help you, duh!”
Ochaco smiles back in appreciation.
She looks forward again as they approach the circling sharks and helpless diver. “We need to get rid of those sharks first.”
“On it!” Tsuyu swims ahead towards the unexpecting beasts.
She spins her legs forwards and shoots them out, slamming them into one of the shark’s sides, knocking it down.
Its partner is taken back, startled by the frog girls’ unprovoked attack before baring its rows of serrated teeth and charging at her.
“Tsu!!” Even through the thick suit, Ochaco manages to fire out a Ryou Sphere!
The orb of energy whizzes forward and right into the shark’s jaws where it implodes and blasts the beast back!
The sharks shake off the attacks and regroup, circling the girls as they take defensive positions by the dangling diver.
Ochaco swims forward to meet them, shouting back at Tsuyu. “Help him! I’ll hold them back!!” And she tosses more Ryou Sphere at the sharks, holding them at bay.
Not wasting any time, Tsuyu rushes to the diver and manages to unclip him from the cable. “Are you okay?!”
“Y-yes…” The diver responds, out of breath and scared.
“Good.” Tsuyu throws his arm over her shoulder. “Just hold on tight.” And she takes off, jetting through the water.
With the sharks a good distance away, Ochaco quickly follows suit.
But despite the head start the relentless sharks chase after them and quickly cover the distance between them.
From inside the tunnel, the girls watch on, shouting to their friends about the incoming danger.
Momo tries to see if there’s another way they could help, but she doesn’t spot a thing as Mina and Hagakure bang their fists loudly against the glass.
And like that inspiration strikes Momo. “Jiro! Use your Earphone Jacks to scare them off!”
Jiro spins around, confused. “What? How?!”
Momo tries to explain quickly. “Sound travels faster in water. If you release a sonic wave, it should force the sharks away!”
Jiro frowns not sure if it will work but if Momo thinks it will then it should.
And so, she turns back and has her Earphone Jack piece the wall, the tip aimed right for the sharks that are just meters behind Ochaco.
“SOUNDWAVE SURF!!!”
From the other side of the glass massive sound waves burst out and expand out like a wave of sound. The sound waves race and tear through the water and crash into the sharks just when they were feet away from Ochaco. The sound waves blast them into the depths where they become dazed and fearful, turning away and fleeing from the scene.
“It worked!” Both Mina and Hagakure cheer, hugging each other in celebration. “They did it!”
Billy, astonished by what he just saw, spins around and watches as Tsuyu and Ochaco leap out of the portal and onto the platform along with the rescued diver.
Donovan, Mr. Yaoyorozu, and several engineers rush over. “Are you all okay?”
Ochaco rips off the helmet, taking in a breath of fresh air. “Yeah, we’re good.”
Mr. Yaoyorozu steps forward. “What happened?”
And so they explain everything from taking the suits, to jumping in to help, and fighting off the sharks. The girls returned the high-pressure suits as Donovan spoke to the rescued diver, both coming to a decision to best handle the matter. And eventually the diver leaves off to take the rest of the day off.
Donovan sighs, watching him leave. “Well, I’ll have to double his salary, but he won’t breathe a word.”
Billy smirks, turning to the girls with his arms folded and chin held high. “See that? That’s how it’s done. Buy them off and all is good.”
The girls all roll their eyes.
Donovan pinches the bridge of his nose in frustration, but soon throws his frustrations aside to thank the girls. “Thank you for your quick actions, girls. You saved my employee and my resort.”
Ochaco bashfully smiles back. “We’re just happy we could help, Mr. GrandSmith.”
Tsuyu nods. “And sorry about borrowing your suits.”
Donovan waves it off. “Ah, who cares? You did what you had too.”
Jiro playful elbows Ochaco’s side. “More like, did what “Deku” would do.” She teases.
Ochaco chuckles, embarrassed by Jiro’s teasing.
Billy overhears them once again and has to wonder about this Deku guy.
Donovan claps his hands, trying not to let anyone linger on the near tragedy. “That sure was exciting but how about we get you all to experience what this resort is really all about. How about some exclusive resort fun and entertainment?”
The girls happily agree.
Mr. Yaoyorozu, however, doesn’t get sucked into the excitement. “I think I rather explore the Aquania’s underworking’s and engineering.”
Momo peers up at him curiously. “Father?”
He goes on to explain himself. “Entertainment and customer satisfaction are good. However, if guest safety cannot be guaranteed then I’d like to know now before I find lawyers lining up on my doorstep.”
Donovan understands, although it is clear he is not all that thrilled about it. “Very well.” He turns to address his grandson. “Billy, why don’t you take the girls for a tour while Hiroshi and I talk business.”
Billy smirks, closing his eyes as he plots to himself. ‘Alone time with the ladies? Don’t mind if I do. I’ll show them just how great I am. I’m the smartest and most athletic in my class, I’ll give them such a good time they’ll never want to leave. Thanks gramps, but I’ll take it from here.’
Billy spins around and declares out. “Alright, ladies, who's ready to have the time of their lives with moi?”
However, nobody responds back as the girls of 1-A are already at the tunnel’s exit. Talking amongst themselves excitedly as they wait for the elevator.
“I wanna check out the indoor beach!” cheers Mina
Hagakure beams. “I can’t wait to see what the pools are like!”
Tsuyu ponders for a moment. “I wonder if there’s an aquarium.”
Momo smiles cheerfully. “No matter what, I'm sure we’ll have a good time.”
“You bet!” Ochaco grins. “Here’s to summer vacation!!”
Billy remains rooted in place, his plan already falling apart. “Hey! Wait for me!!” He whines, as he chases after them, gnarly slipping across the wet floor as he does.
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Aquania is more like an underwater coastal city than a resort. With a large man-made beach with pearly white sand and clear ocean water washes against the shore as a tropical breeze washes across the resort. Umbrellas, beach chairs, and beach bars line the sands as towering hotels, casinos, and theaters line the fake shoreline. Speedboats, jet skis, and sail boats sit silently on the nearby dock as a massive waterslide sits towards the opposite end of the beach. Bright solar lights beam down from massive spotlights high above on the ceiling, mimicking the sun. All the while the massive dome towers over it all, with meters of glass acting as the only barrier between the fake sea inside and the endless ocean outside.
“Wa-hooo!!” The girls of Class 1-A leap up in celebration as they step out from the changing rooms and into the light of the fake sun.
Mina’s eyes gleam as she takes in the Aquania resort. “Just look at this place! It’s like a real life Atlantis!” She spins around, taking in the view, while wearing a white triangle bikini that has a frill skirt bottom.
Hagakure, who’s wearing a pale blue bikini, is just as amazed. “Wooo!! Who’s ready for some fun in the sun?! Or whatever’s giving us light down here!”
Jiro bashfully tries to cover up her yellow triangle bikini. “Do I have to wear this? Was there really nothing else?” She knew she should have packed stuff for this trip but Momo insisted that they’ll buy new ones here.
Momo giggles at Jiro’s expression. “It’s alright, promise. You look quite lovely, Jiro.”
Jiro blushes, giving Momo an annoyed glare, especially as she enviously eyes just how good Momo looks in her scarlet-colored bikini.
Tsuyu walks out in her striped green and white one-piece. “This is supposed to be an indoor pool? Talk about underselling it.”
And finally, Ochaco steps onto the sand, her jaw dropping in shock of the resort. “Is this how the better-half lives?!” She nearly collapses then and there but she doesn’t as she doesn’t want to ruin her newly acquired pink skirt bikini with a blue skirt wrapped around her waist.
Momo clasps her hands together as she tries to be a proper host to her friends. “Alright everyone. I do hope you all enjoy yourselves.”
Mina grins up at her excitedly. “Are you kidding? This is gonna be a blast!”
Hagakure smirks as she jumps to the front of the group. “Do you girls know what time it is?!”
They all smile back.
Jiro nods. “We sure do.”
“It’s Beach Time!!!” They all cheer out, mimicking a certain watch wearing classmate.
Meanwhile, Billy, wearing a pair of normal, black-colored trunks, watches them with a sly cocky grin. ‘More like, it’s Billy’s Time.’ He thinks cockily.
After all he has a personal swim coach, personal trainer, masseuse, and dietitian. All to make sure he’s in perfect health and in top form. And now he’ll get to reap the fruits of his labor, and grandfather’s money, and show these girls just how amazing he is.
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Well, it certainly doesn’t go his way as the girls are far more amazed with what this resort has in store for them.
To start things off the girls decided to go snorkeling along the man-made reef inside the indoor sea. And the moment they dive into the reef they are met with a barrage of bright colors, amazing sea life, and beautifully clear waters.
Thankfully Momo created underwater cameras for each of them to use. Allowing them all to explore the reef as they wish. You have Mina poking at the brightly colored coral and sea anemones.
Tsuyu and Ochaco swim by following a school of stingrays gliding over the soft sand and reef.
Momo and Jiro are surrounded by a glimmering school of fish.
And finally, Hagakure is swimming around with a sea turtle, hanging onto its back as it cruises through the water.
And despite all their fun, Billy couldn’t be more annoyed. Watching off to the side, his snorkel poking out of the water, as he glares in annoyance that no one is paying him any attention.
Out of frustration he kicks a nearby slab of rocks and sand, but it doesn’t make him feel any better.
In fact, it gets worse for him as an upset Giant Octopus slithers out from between the coral and rock slab, angered by having its home kicked.
“Waaaaahh!!” Billy screams and tries his best to swim away as the angry octopus grabs at his flailing feet.
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Next up are jet skis! With everyone getting their own and zipping across the water’s surface without a care.
At one point some of the girls like Ochaco, Mina, Hagakure, and Jiro are just racing each other, going around in a giant loop while Momo and Tsuyu just watch while sitting on their own jet skis.
While on his own personal jet ski, Billy smirks as he watches the girls race. Deciding that he needs to outshine them and show off he speeds after them and thanks to his own personal modifications he is able to catch up to them rather quickly. But he races right through them, nearly crashing into Ochaco and Mina as he races by!
And as a result Ochaco loses control and her jet ski swerves and jerks, turning and zooming towards Momo and Tsuyu!
Acting fast Ochaco presses her fingertips against the jet ski, her fingertips glow in a pink hue, and then just before impact the zooming jet ski harmlessly floats upward and due to the thrust of the turbine Ochaco races through the air.
After a moment she gains control and begins zipping around with the jet ski.
The rest of her friends, after the initial scare, gaze up and cheer and are amazed. They watch and cheer as Ochaco laughs and circles around in the air.
Billy whizz past and scowls, upset that someone else upstaged him. But due to him not looking where he’s going, he crashes into a buoy and is thrown into the water. And all without anyone noticing.
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After getting Ochaco down, they decided that the jet skies were a little too much excitement. And so, they decided to hit up the lazy river: a lazy river of sea water with soft sand and tide-pool inhabiting animals occupying the lazy river itself like seaweed, starfish, crabs, hermit crabs, sea cucumbers, shrimps, snails, and small schooling fish.
And so, the girls float on by on shared tubes with Ochaco floating by with Mina, Hagakure and Tsuyu, and Momo and Jiro sharing their own. Floating by and enjoying the calm current and beautiful sea life.
All the while Billy trails behind in his own tube, his head poking through the middle of the tube while the rest of his body slinks in the water below. He leers at them and tries to sneak closer and closer without them knowing. But he slips and his head sinks into the water.
As he splashes and tries to save himself, the girls come across an intersection in the river, and they push themselves to the left.
And Billy floats to the right just as he’s able to pull his head back through the tube. He blinks, scanning for the girls but he can’t seem to find them.
Just as wonders if they ditched him somehow, he turns to find the river narrowing and coming upon the start of a rushing water slide!!
Billy panics and tries to push himself up onto the tube, but the current is too strong and it pulls him onto the water slide, dragging him under the water as he loses his tube!
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After washing out to the man-made sea, Billy eventually washed back onto the beach where the girls were already in the middle of a volleyball match. With Ochaco, Tsuyu, and Jiro vs. Momo, Hagakure, and Mina.
And so seeing the perfect opportunity Billy rushes over and injects himself into the game. After trying and failing to get him to wait on the side, Momo offers to sit out and keep score so Billy could play.
And oh boy did it go to his head; he’s got a chance to show off and the chance to make some new…beach time memories that he’ll always think back on very fondly.
Or so he thought if it weren’t for the fact that he got creamed!
He didn’t get the ball even once and instead would get a face full of sand…for volleyball! Seriously, Ochaco, Tsuyu, and Jiro went too far on their spikes and ended up spiking the ball into Billy’s face on multiple occasions. None of which were intentional but results of their constant hero training. By the end Billy volunteered to sit out and passed out on a nearby bench allowing the girls to enjoy their game all to themselves.
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Finally, after another swim they all decided to get some lunch from the nearby beach bar where they were able to get an assortment of snacks and foods. From burgers and fries, to grilled fish and chips, nachos, lemonade, and little drinks served inside a coconut with a straw and little umbrella.
Billy actually offers to pay for their food, flashing them his gold-plated credit card.
That is until Momo gently reminds him that everything is free for them already since they are VIP guests.
Billy takes a seat alone, tucking his card away, dejected, and angry at his grandfather for being a good host.
“Look at this photo!” Hagakure leans over to show Ochaco a pic she got with the underwater camera.
Ochaco coos at the photo. “Ooh! What a cute sea turtle.”
“I know, right?” Hagakure beams, as she examines the sea turtle's face. “Actually, it kinda reminds me of one of Midoriya’s transformations, um, Terraspin.”
“Huh?” Ochaco takes a look and sure enough this sea turtle has the same facial features as Terraspin. “Yeah, it does kinda look like Deku.”
Billy becomes annoyed at another mention of this Deku guy.
“Save me some food!” Mina calls out, rushing over after another dip into the ocean water.
Her friends spin around and burst into laughter upon seeing the pile of seaweed stuck to Mina’s hair and horns. “Hahahaha!”
“Hahaha!” Ochaco giggles into her hand. “Now she looks like Deku.”
“Hahaha!” Both Hagakure and Momo burst into more laughter.
Mina peers into a nearby mirror and laughs at how much her head does look like Izuku’s. “Ehehehe!”
Billy’s irritation grows.
Meanwhile, Jiro is catching up with Tsuyu about their summer breaks. “So yeah, the guy just wanted his big break.”
Tsuyu frowns, finding that odd. “And he thought attacking a concert was the way to do it?”
Jiro shrugs, just as confused. “Yeah.”
“Wow, talk about dumb.”
“Yeah.” Jiro snickers. “The guy even made Kaminari look smart.”
“Wow.” Tsuyu’s got to admit, that is a surprise. She then pauses and thinks about how to best explain her summer so far. “Well then again Midoriya and I fought a group of poachers.”
Ochaco overhears and pokes over. “You and Deku?”
Tsuyu nods. “Yes, he and his dad stopped by, and we all fought off some illegal poachers. Kero”
Both Jiro and Ochaco marvel at the news. “Cool!”
And once again Billy’s blood pressure rises.
Momo, curious, pokes Tsuyu’s shoulder. “What were they poaching exactly?”
Tsuyu hesitates to answer as she flashes back to the beast’s loud roars and massive fangs. “Um, a very rare fish.”
Billy, finally having lost all his patience, shoots out of his seat and confronts the girls directly. “Are you ladies really having a good time?”
Momo, not at all concerned, smiles and politely answers back. “Yes, very much so.”
“Really?” Billy raises an eyebrow, smirking thinking that he can prove her wrong. “Cause this is all nothing but appetizers.”
Somehow, despite his abrasive personality, the girls all perk up curiously.
He smirks; he’s shown them the bait but now he needs to hook em. “How would you all like to take a submarine dive down into the Mariana Trench?”
Mina is especially intrigued. “Can we do that?”
Billy’s smirk grows. “Of course, we can. My grandfather does own this resort and I have my own submarine, remember? The Undersea Mantaray.”
Tsuyu frowns, poking at her chin. “You know that name is kinda lame, kind of like how Deku’s names his transformations.”
Billy finally loses it. “N-no! The Undersea Mantaray is a great name! And it’s like super cool! And besides, this might be a once in a lifetime opportunity!! I mean when are you gonna get another chance to travel down to the sea floor? It’ll be like traveling in a spaceship!!”
Ochaco kinda doubts that but still it appears the rest of her friends are actually considering it.
It would be a once in a lifetime opportunity, not many people can say they’ve visited or seen the Mariana Trench with their own eyes before.
And Billy knows they’re considering it. “What do you all say?”
After another minute of consideration, Momo turns to give him their answer directly.
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
Meanwhile, Donovan has led Mr. Yaoyorozu into the main maintenance rooms where pipes, vents, and wires all weave and grid across the walls and ceiling. All of it proposed to keep the Aquania up and running. With the amount of pipes and steam and lights spurring every corner, the area definitely has a steampunk sort of aesthetic with only a few windows peering into the ocean breaking that illusion.
Donovan just finishes up checking in with one of his head engineers. He turns to report back to Mr. Yaoyorozu. “A reverse power surge caused the whirlpool effect. But it’s fixed now.”
Mr. Yaoyorozu nods in approval before examining all the piping and wiring. “I can only imagine just how much energy is needed to keep the lights on in a facility such as this. You are certainly too far offshore for the normal means of energy sources. And wave energy certainly won’t provide you enough either, not unless you have endless miles of Wave Attenuators.”
Donovan has a good explanation. “Volcanic vents on the ocean floor. We tap into them like a big steam generator.” He then leads Mr. Yaoyorozu further through the engineering department.
As they head over to the next section, they pass by what appears to be the epicenter of the main power grid. Seated in the middle of all the pipes and wires sits a large triangular machine, surrounded by engineers, with a little window on the machine’s panel that’s aglow with a bright purple light.
Mr. Yaoyorozu is instantly drawn to the bright light. “Pray tell, what purpose does that machine serve?”
Donovan’s smile falls for the briefest of moments before he comes with an on-the-fly explanation. “Nothing, it's just a backup generator.” He turns away and tries to lead Mr. Yaoyorozu away towards a large set of windows that peer up into the ocean. “Now watch this.”
Donovan then gives the go ahead to one of his engineers. Who pulls a switch, causing the purple hue of light to brighten from inside the backup generator. And then spotlights flash to life outside of Aquania, illuminating the open ocean, allowing them to see for miles.
Donovan grins at the money well spent. “I have enough energy to illuminate the outside so bright it’s visible 500 ft above sea level.”
Mr. Yaoyorozu certainly finds it impressive. But he’s not sure if that detail was exactly worth the extra investment.
And Donovan can quickly tell that he’s losing Mr. Yaoyorozu’s interest. So perhaps he can show him where other resources are going to. “Follow me.”
He then leads Mr. Yaoyorozu onto a narrow platform. Once aboard he presses a switch that activates the platform, allowing it to carry them forward and towards a glass overlook that oversees a hangar of some sort.
“I want to show you one of my proudest works of engineering, my grandson’s own genius and work, the Undersea Mantaray!”
Donovan flips on the lights to the hanger that has a large portal leading into the ocean. But there is no submarine in sight, instead chains dangle from the ceiling, swinging around without anything to hold onto.
Mr. Yaoyorozu raises an eyebrow at the empty hanger. “This is what you’re most proud of?”
Donovan scowls, his frustration growing as he quickly induces what or rather who exactly happened. “Billy.”
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
Already miles below the resort, a large submarine slowly sinks down into the depths of the Mariana Trench. The submarine looks like it was inspired by a submarine from Disney’s “Atlantis: The Lost Empire” animated movie. The submarine is lined with an array of spotlights allowing the passengers full view through the black void that even Tokoyami would find way too dark.
But despite the black void, Hagakure’s eyes glow with bewilderment at the sub. “It is like traveling in a spaceship!”
‘It kinda is.’ Ochaco sort-of agrees.
After giving in to curiosity, the girls put on some shirts and shorts over their swimwear before heading out for the sub. Where Billy, after putting on his entire outfit again, proceeded to make a big show of his Undersea Mantaray before allowing them aboard and plunging it into the water. And thus, here they are, sinking further into the depths as bright spotlights illuminate the dark waters around them allowing them to witness the array of strange and mysterious sea life of the Mariana Trench.
Pressed against the wide front glass, Jiro smiles as she admires a school of glowing Comb Jellies. “Okay, now this is cool.”
Hagakure nods but then jumps back as a Frilled Shark slithers into view. “Ah! Freaky!!”
Mina grins, chuckling at Hagakure’s expense. “Yeah, isn't it great?!”
Billy smirks from the driver seat at the front of the window. “See I told you my sub was amazing!”
Momo cringes but smiles, trying to be polite. “Yes, your submarine is very-”
“Ohh!” Ochaco’s eyes light up as she stares out the window. “Look, it's a giant squid!!”
The girls instantly spin around to gaze up at the massive animal as it gracefully cruises by. “Woooah!!”
Billy seethes, sinking into his seat, upset that his attention has been ripped away so easily.
Tsuyu smiles, admiring a gnarly looking Goblin Shark swim by. “Wow they look…almost alien.”
Mina and Ochaco share a look and smile, silently agreeing that yeah, a lot of these fish look like aliens. Actually, some look spot-on alien, especially as the two spot an Angler Fish and a Deep-sea Dragonfish.
“Yeah, they are.” Mina smiles, responding to Tsuyu’s statement. “They kinda look like Midoriya’s fish ali-Ow!” Mina spins around and glares at Ochaco after she so rudely elbowed her ribs!
But Ochaco scowls back and silently shakes her head in a panicked worry.
Mina quickly catches on that Ochaco was trying to cover up her slip of the tongue. “Ph-um, I mean Midoriya’s fish form.” She tries to remember its name. “Um?”
“Ripjaws.” Ochaco answers. “That's what Deku calls that form.”
Billy angrily grips the controls tighter at the mention of this Deku guy. “Well, if you think all this is cool, just wait until we reach the bottom.” And he presents to speed up the sub allowing them to sink down faster.
As they descend the girls continue to observe the trench, its cliff-like walls, alien sea-life and mysterious aura.
But in the distance a flash of cyan light slithers by in the distance catching Hagakure’s eye.
“Hm?” She jumps a bit, startled by the glow.
After hearing her, Jiro checks up on her to see what happened. “What’s the matter?”
“I-I thought I saw something.” Hagakure explains worriedly, looking out for the light again in case she happens to see it again.
Momo tries to come up with an explanation of what she saw. “It was most likely a fish with bioluminescence.”
“Yeah, you’re probably right.” But still, Hagakure can’t exactly shake the feeling that they’re being watched.
After some time, Billy becomes restless as he sits up in his seat and grins smugly. “If you ladies really wanna see something then I suggest you look outside.”
They peer out towards the front, but even with the spotlights they are met with nothing but a black void.
Mina squints, not seeing anything. “What exactly should we be looking for?”
Billy’s smirk widens. “This.” And with a flick of a switch the spotlights let out bursts of light so powerful that they could rival the sun!
And the girls are treated to the view of a vast ship graveyard! Like they didn’t just find their way to Davy Jones’ locker, they’re freaking inside it.
Ships and vessels of all eras litter the sea floor from cargo ships, airplanes, and even pirate ships. Stacked atop of each other are battleships and submarines from WWII. And as they cruise by, some of them are able to make out the word Indianapolis on the side of one of the battleships.
At one point they pass by sunken airplanes and jets and even a wrecked twin-engine Lockheed 10E Electra that probably hasn’t been in the air since the 1930s.
“Wah!” Hagakure shiver, stumbling back. “This is so creepy!”
“Are you kidding?” Mina laughs, taking in the view. “This is so cool!”
Billy’s ego grows, feeling mighty proud that he was finally able to impress the girls.
Jiro eyes the shipwrecks curiously. “How did they all get here?”
Momo, the ever knowledgeable one, provides an answer. “Most likely the ocean currents carried them here over the years.” She then turns towards Billy and asks. “How did you know about this place?”
Billy shrugs, acting like it’s no big deal. “My grandfather and I found it during the first voyage for the Undersea Mantaray. But if you think this all cool. Just wait till you see it.”
Ochaco frowns, wondering what could be cooler than all this. “See what exactly?”
“You’ll see.” Billy smirks as he presses the sub forward.
But as he jets the sub forward, Hagakure once again spots movement of a cyan light in the distance, slithering between the ships and wreckage.
She presses her face against the glass, trying to catch a glimpse. “I swear I see something moving out there.”
Billy rolls his eyes in annoyance. “Oh, it’s just some lame ugly fish. Trust me what I’m about to show you is way better than some potential sushi.”
Hagakure shakes her head, she’s got goosebumps, almost like there are a hundred sets of eyes watching her. “I don’t think it was a normal fish.”
She presses closer to the glass, determined to prove that she’s right.
“Srsrsrsrsrsr!!” A flash of blue pops into view right in front of her face!
“Ahhhh!” Hagakure leaps back as she comes face to face with a mechanical monster! “What is that thing?!”
Everyone turns to look with Billy being the first to scream out in terror. “Waaaahh!!”
“Srsrsrsrsrsr!!” A mechanical squid-like creature lets out a mechanized wiry screech as its six mechanical tentacles jab and swipes at the submarine’s window. Its main body looks like a glass cylinder, with strange wiring and circuitry inside that’s emitting a cyan colored glow while a single purple eye stares back at the girls.
Hagakure screams out. “What is that thing?!”
Mina has no idea, her eyes wide as she takes in everything about this monster. “It’s some sort of…Cyber Squid!!”
*CLANK! CLANK! CLANK!*
“Srsrsrsrsrsr!! Srsrsrsrsrsr!! Srsrsrsrsrsr!!”
Peering out the girls are horrified to find that more of these Cyber Squids have latched themselves onto the submarine’s haul.
The first one, shifts and aims its bottom at the glass, and then slams against the window with its metallic beak hidden underneath its main body.
The others follow suit and soon dents begin to form inside the submarine and what’s worse is that they are beginning to crack the glass! “Srsrsrsrsrsr!! Srsrsrsrsrsr!! Srsrsrsrsrsr!!”
Upon the growing disaster, Momo steps up and demands action. “Billions! We need to escape, now!”
Billy snaps out of his fear just enough to do so. “R-right, on it!”
He takes the controls and pulls, and the submarine begins to rise, propelling forward, trying in vain to get back to the resort.
He cruises through the ship graveyard again but as the sub’s spotlight shine onto the wreckage the girls are met with a terrifying view as a number of cyan lights glow and slither throughout the ships and vessels. They’re blood running cold as more and more Cyber Squids burst out and give chase after the sub.
“Waah! They’re gonna kill us!” Billy screams at the top of his lungs, bawling his eyes out like a ten-year-old. “The aliens are gonna kill us!!”
The girls, while holding on for dear life, gasp. “Aliens?!”
Even through the shaking submarine, Ochaco and Mina share some very concerned and panicked looks.
Momo, upon seeing her friends scared out of their minds, musters up the courage to collect them. “Everyone, stay calm! Panicking won’t save us!” She turns to Billy and barks. “Billions you need to radio the resort!”
“I was gonna do that!” Billy fumbles with the radio before he’s finally able to make the call. “Mayday! Mayday! We need help! Please! Anyone! Someone help me!!”
But there’s no answer because the ship is out of range of the resort.
“Nothing’s getting through!!” Billy panics, hitting every switch he can to make the sub go faster.
But it doesn’t instead the screech of metal being jammed scream through the entire submarine along with a chorus of metallic wiry screeches. “Srsrsrsrsrsr!! Srsrsrsrsrsr!! Srsrsrsrsrsr!!”
Jiro nearly falls over as the submarine jolts and thrusts forward. “What was that?!”
Momo helps her up, holding her so she doesn’t fall again. “They must be attacking the turbines!”
Ochaco, having fallen to the ground, peers up and watches in horror as the Cyber Squid slams its body against the glass and a bit of seawater manages to leak out through the ever-growing cracks in the window.
Tsuyu sees this too. “At this rate they’re gonna break in!”
Mina is on the verge of flipping out. “They’re gonna kill us!”
Ochaco won’t let that happen. “We need to defend ourselves!”
Hagakure stares at her like she’s grown a second head. “How?!”
‘Good question.’ Ochaco scans the interior of the sub, eyeing the escape port and then a rack of high-pressure dive suits. “With those!” She shouts, pointing at the familiar thick suits.
Momo spots the suits as well and quickly forms a plan. “Ochaco, you and Tsu have more experience with those than the rest of us. Can you two fend them off from the outside?”
Ochaco looks to Tsuyu for her answer. “Tsu?”
Tsuyu responds rather curtly. “We don’t exactly have any other options. So, it’s a go for me.”
Ochaco will take that. “Then let’s hurry!” They shove themselves off the ground and hurry to put on the suits.
“You’re all insane!” Billy shouts as he struggles with the controls. “There’s no way you can beat those things! They’ll kill you all and then me!!”
Momo scowls in disappointment. “You let us worry about them. You just focus on getting us back to Aquania.”
Billy clamps his mouth shut and gets his attention back to steering the sub.
Hagakure nervously taps her fingers together. “What about us? What do we do?”
Momo addresses her as calmly as she can as she reaches under her shirt and places her hand below her belly. “We’ll do what we can from in here.” Her belly glows and out pops several welding torches and sealant. “Here! We need to reinforce the inside as much as we can.”
“Right!” Mina, Hagakure, and Jiro gather the supplies and hurry off to patch up the sub.
Meanwhile, Ochaco and Tsuyu were finally able to put on the high-pressure suits and using the sealed entrance they launch themselves out into the open ocean. They pop out of the sub and quickly clip the long elastic cables, hooked to their belts, to the top of the sub.
They both cling onto the sub as hard as they can.
And Ochaco takes a moment to observe the situation and finds that only a handful of Cyber Squids are attached to the haul.
She then spins around and gasps aloud into her earpiece as she comes face to face with an entire school of Cyber Squids chasing after them like a swarm of glowing cyan torpedoes. “We’re gonna need a bigger boat!”
“Srsrsrsrsrsr!! Srsrsrsrsrsr!! Srsrsrsrsrsr!!” A pair of Cyber Squids race ahead of the pack and launch themselves, tentacles stretched out, towards the sub’s turbines.
There the trio join the two others that were already struggling against the turbines.
“Get away from that!” Ochaco’s fist glows and she launches a Ryou Sphere that blasts the Cyber Squids to pieces, freeing the turbines and thus the sub thrusts forward as its able to gain speed.
Ochaco grins. “That did the trick.”
“There’s more incoming!” Tsuyu gasps.
“Srsrsrsrsrsr!! Srsrsrsrsrsr!! Srsrsrsrsrsr!!” Noticing their comrades being blown up, a trio of Cyber Squids detach themselves from the haul of the sub to attack the pair of girls.
“Kero!!” Tsuyu launches herself forward, slamming her legs into one of them and smashing its head in like a soda can.
“Raagh!” While Ochaco leaps up and slams her glowing fist into the second one, smashing it and launching it back into the third.
The three shatter and are propelled away as the sub zooms upward and away from the ship graveyard.
Ochaco and Tsuyu crawl forward along the sub and make their way towards the other Cyber Squids that are still attached to the sub like a group of lampreys. They smash, kick, and launch them away. Tsuyu using her powerful legs to do so while Ochaco can only really rely on her Ryou Spheres and One For All to blast them away.
As Ochaco smashes apart the last Cyber Squid attacking the window, she spots Jiro plastering the window from the inside.
The two wave at each other, appreciating each other's efforts.
“Srsrsrsrsrsr!! Srsrsrsrsrsr!! Srsrsrsrsrsr!!”
They all snap around and are horrified to find that entire pack of Cyber Squids managed to out speed their fellow swarm mates. They latch onto the haul while others direct their attention at the two assailants: Ochaco and Tsuyu.
“Srsrsrsrsrsr!! Srsrsrsrsrsr!! Srsrsrsrsrsr!!” They whip their sharp metallic tentacles at them.
Tsuyu swims over and pulls Ochaco out of the way as one tries to ram into her.
They both swim and dodge the incoming attacks while trying to fend them off with kicks and Ryou Sphere respectively.
But the Cyber Squids keep coming, surrounding them near the sub’s frontside as the others batter away at the sub, trying to crack it open to get to the juicy center.
From inside the sub, Billy is screaming at the top of his lungs. “They’re gonna get ripped apart!!”
“Oh, no!” Hagakure gasps, on the verge of tears as she covers her mouth in horror.
Jiro panics, feeling useless and helpless, her Earphone Jacks subconsciously snaking upwards reaching out towards her friends like they want to help.
And like that Jiro’s eyes pop wide open and she rushes towards the window.
Momo shouts after her. “What are you doing?!”
Jiro doesn’t answer, instead she places herself in line with Ochaco and Tsuyu as they fend off the surrounding Cyber Squids.
Jiro plugs her Earphone Jacks into the side of the wall, across from the two girls and screams. “SOUNDWAVE SURF!!!”
Devastating sound waves burst through the wall and through the water like surges of screeching pressure. The sound waves blast the Cyber Squids back while also causing their metallic cylindrical heads to shatter and break before imploding in on themselves after being compromised by the ocean’s pressure.
Saved, Ochaco and Tsuyu spin around to find Jiro grinning up at them.
They grin back, grateful for the assist.
And now with the opening they need, Momo screams for Billy to step on it. “We need to escape now!”
“I’m trying!!” He screams, still rocked in terror.
The submarine races up and forward as the massive school of Cyber Squids continue their relentless pursuit.
“Srsrsrsrsrsr!! Srsrsrsrsrsr!! Srsrsrsrsrsr!!”
Ochaco and Tsuyu make their way towards the back of the sub, clinging to the top, and preparing themselves to defend their rear from the swarm.
But with the sub’s turbines now being free they’ve been really able to gain some speed and some distance between them.
As the submarine rises and enters a higher up plateau the spotlights on the sub burst out and illuminate the entire area. From everyone falls into a silent terror as they spot the shadows of massive metal spheres floating in the water, with chains, anchoring them to the sea bottom.
Jiro gasps when she sees the spheres. “Naval mines?!”
“Wahhhh!!” Bully panics and jerks the controls, trying to steer the sub away from the mines.
Momo grabs the controls and presses the sub on. “No! We don’t have any other choice! If we change direction now, they’ll surely catch us!”
“But going through there is suicide!” Billy screams, tears and snot dripping down his face.
Momo glares at him, not tolerating his breakdown at all. “Focus, Billions! You’re the only one that can pilot this sub so you must!”
He snivels in fright and shakily retakes the controls. “O-okay!”
And he steers the submarine forward, through the jungle of chains and bombs.
Meanwhile, Ochaco and Tsuyu cling to each other and the haul as they race through the explosive maze.
“Are they crazy?!” Ochaco screams, terrified as they nearly nick one of the bombs.
“They’re just following your lead!” Tsuyu screams back.
“Srsrsrsrsrsr!! Srsrsrsrsrsr!! Srsrsrsrsrsr!!” The massive school of Cyber Squids flood the underwater minefield, moving like a flowing water that parts around boulders in a stream.
But the stream becomes a tidal wave of Cyber Squids and inevitably with them being so crowded together a few of them are unintentionally forced into the mines!
*BOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMMM!!!*
*BOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMMM!!!*
*BOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMMM!!!*
*BOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMMM!!!*
*BOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMMM!!!*
It’s a chain reaction of explosions as one mine after the other explodes and takes a number of squid with it. The entire trench is aglow with blazing explosions that rumble and shake the ocean, shockwaves racing out like tidal waves.
“Aaaaaahhh!” The girls and Billy scream in terror, being flung off their feet as the submarine shakes violently against the shockwaves.
“Aaaaaaahhh!!” Ochaco and Tsuyu nearly lose their grip, their knuckles turning white with how hard they’re holding on for their lives as more and more naval mines are set off!
*BOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMMM!!!*
*BOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMMM!!!*
*BOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMMM!!!*
*BOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMMM!!!*
*BOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMMM!!!*
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
In the distance, a figure swims up and out from between the crevasses of the Mariana Trench.
The slim, aquatic figure watches in bewilderment as in the depths below, explosions ring out like fireworks in the distance and a submarine runs away from a hundred glowing cyan lights.
The figure jolts in shock and with a whip of its fish-like tail they propel themselves down towards the scene like a torpedo.
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
The submarine clears the underwater minefield in the nick of time as the last of the explosions die down.
But from amongst the turned-up debris and muck, what is left of the swarm manages to break free as well and continue their pursuit despite their massive drop in numbers.
“Srsrsrsrsrsr!! Srsrsrsrsrsr!! Srsrsrsrsrsr!!”
Seeing them coming, Ochaco manages to fire Ryou Sphere after Ryou Sphere at them while Tsuyu holds onto her waist, ensuring she doesn’t go flying off.
Meanwhile from inside the submarine, Momo, Hagakure and Mina continue to patch up the inside while Jiro runs to the back of the sub to peer out through a side window, trying to see if she can fire off another Soundwave Surf without hitting her friends.
“Mayday!! Mayday! P-pleaaase! Somebody! Anybody! Please save me!” Billy cries out as he frantically fiddles with the radio, desperately trying to reach anybody that he can. Until, by some miracle, his signal manages to break through!
[“Hello! Hello! Billy? Is that you?!”]
With snot and tears staining his face, Billy breaks into a massive grin. “Grandfather!!”
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
From inside the Aquania’s hanger, Donovan shouts into the radio as engineers loiter about, preparing for the submarine’s return and Mr. Yaoyorozu eyes the open water portals warily. “Billy, you know the Undersea Mantaray is off limits!”
Billy’s panicked cries break through the radio. [“Under attack by the aliens! And we’re sinking!”]
Donovan scowls in frustration, livid that his grandson is potentially trying to ruin Mr. Yaoyorozu’s inspection of the resort. “Billy if this is some sort of-”
“It’s no joke, Donovan.” Mr. Yaoyorozu cuts in, his nervous eyes locked onto portals.
Donovan frowns but has a look for himself and is stunned to see the disturbed and bubbling water inside the portal.
A number of glowing cyan lights appear just below the disturbed surface right before water gushes forth like a geyser and the lights flood the hanger throwing everyone into a terrified panic while metallic wiry screeches ring in their ears.
“Srsrsrsrsrsr!! Srsrsrsrsrsr!! Srsrsrsrsrsr!!”
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
Billy’s radio goes silent with static. “He hung up on me?!”
Momo shakes her head as she holds onto his seat. “They must be experiencing some kind of trouble!”
The sub is then rammed from behind, causing it to lurch forward and shake violently. “Srsrsrsrsrsr!! Srsrsrsrsrsr!! Srsrsrsrsrsr!!”
Jiro grips Momo’s arm and shouts. “We’re the ones in trouble!” She points to the window where several Cyber Squids, that managed to catch up, have attached themselves to the sub.
And they’re not even half of the attack force as from the outside, Ochaco and Tsuyu are desperately trying to hold off their pursuers.
Ochaco and Tsuyu do manage to force a few of them away, but they are just distractions allowing the remaining Cyber Squids to jet past the two and attack the sub directly.
As they latch onto the sub some are blasted away by Jiro’s Soundwave Surf. But after shattering one, two more take its place. And what’s worse is that even more latch onto other parts of the sub, away from her Earphone Jacks.
Meanwhile, Mina, Hagakure, and Momo are scrambling to do what they can to reinforce the walls but at this point water is already seeping in, spraying in small gushing leaks.
“They’re gonna break inside!” Hagakure screams.
But then the sound of metal prying open behind a sealed space before shutting echoes throughout the sub.
The girls slowly spin around towards the sealed hatch that leads outside of the sub.
“Srsrsrsrsrsr!! Srsrsrsrsrsr!! Srsrsrsrsrsr!!” Water gushes in as a Cyber Squid’s tentacle prys open the door.
The water washes away as the Cyber Squid lashes out, thankfully the entrance of the sub having sealed itself shut after it broke in.
“Srsrsrsrsrsr!! Srsrsrsrsrsr!! Srsrsrsrsrsr!!” It swings its tentacles about as it pulls itself out between the door.
“It’s gonna tear us apart!!” Billy screams, slamming down on the controls, trying to make his sub rise faster!
“Ahhh!!” Hagakure screams as it lashes out at her!
“Don’t touch her!!” Mina cries out, design forward and slapping the metallic tentacles with a splash of acid.
“Srsrsrsrsrsr!! Srsrsrsrsrsr!! Srsrsrsrsrsr!!” The Cyber Squid shrieks as its tentacles melts away before it’s bashed in the head by a metallic pole.
Momo smashes her metal bo staff into the down Cyber Squid until the cyan glow fades away. She takes a shaky breath, eyeing the creature warily in case it awakens.
After catching her breath, she composes herself, trying not to panic before addressing Billy. “How much further till we reach the resort?”
Billy’s too frantic to answer, trying to focus on his piloting. “I don’t know! Maybe another mile or something!”
Hagakure nearly falls over, having grabbed Momo’s arm before fearfully asking up. “Do you think we can make it?”
Momo tries her best to give her as much reassurance as she can. “I do.”
Mina gasps as she stares out to their front with horrified eyes. “Are you sure about that?!”
“Srsrsrsrsrsr!! Srsrsrsrsrsr!! Srsrsrsrsrsr!!” More and more Cyber Squids latch onto the window, covering it entirely in sharp tentacles, piercing beaks, and metallic bodies.
They bang and batter their bodies against the glass, cracking it apart with every hit until the entire panel is but a stained-glass window of cracks that are just moments away from shattering and giving out completely.
“We’re…not gonna make it.” With no more tears or snot to cry out, Billy just drops the controls, sinking into his seat as he just gives up.
The cracks grow and grow as more and more water leaks into the sub to the point that the girls are in ankle deep water.
Mina tries and tries to patch up more of the cracks while Jiro tries so desperately to blast more and more away but with so many Cyber Squids hammering away at the sub, it’s all in vain.
And so, even though they can still hear Ochaco and Tsuyu battling away with the squids up on top, they just stop struggling.
Mina and Jiro drop to their knees in defeat as the ice-cold water continues to rise and a chorus of metal bending and glass breaking echoes throughout the submarine.
Hagakure grips Momo's side, who hugs her pack while also placing a hand on Jiro’s shoulder. Jiro leans into the touch as tears begin to leak from her eyes.
Mina just leans back; she can feel the despair and fear emanating from her friends. And she oh so wants to follow them into the depths of it but she refuses to do so. She would rather go out happy than sad, no matter how small it might be. But she can’t muster that up either and so it leaves her feeling almost indifferent, leaving her frightened yet calm as she watches the Cyber Squids hammer away at the window.
She watches on as a single Cyber Squid swims ahead of the sub. It circles around and locks onto the sub before racing forward, jetting through the water like a torpedo, fully intent on ramming itself into the sub and finishing them all off.
Mina almost breaks into a choked chuckle as she watches their impending doom torpedo towards them. “You know…we could really use Midoriya right about now.”
“Srsrsrsrsrsr!! Srsrsrsrsrsr!! Srsrsrsrsrsr!!” The Cyber Squid races closer and closer on its kamikaze run, inches away from ending them.
When suddenly a familiar fish-like figure springs forth from seemingly nowhere! Ramming into the creature and sinking its gnarled fangs into its head, crushing it apart in a single bite!
Billy shoots up in his seat. “What was that?!”
Mina blinks up at the window as the fish-like swims just out of view. “Is that…” She squints, just barely making out the figure’s grey scales, jagged teeth, and mermaid-like lower half. “Ripjaws?!” She gasps, wondering how Midoriya was able to get here in just the knick of time?!
Billy jolts up, recognizing the name. “Ripjaws? Wait, do you mean that Deku guy you keep talking about?!”
They all watch as Ripjaws circles around and begins to hack away at the other Cyber Squids. Ripping and tearing through them like they were candy wrapped in tinfoil.
“It is!” Momo cheers when she spots his razor-sharp claws and swift movements.
She pauses as she continues to watch Ripjaws work. “But he looks different.”
Meanwhile from outside the sub, Ochaco and Tsuyu notice the commotion and brawling taking place near the front of the sub. Horrified that the Cyber Squids are about to break in, they scramble for the front. They hurry and hurry and hurry, fearing the worst. Only to find a massively cracked window and a cloud of smashed and torn apart Cyber Squids falling back into the Mariana Trench.
Wondering what could have happened, Ochaco and Tsuyu nearly cry out in surprise as their savior swims back up and into full view of the girls.
Ochaco gasps when she sees Ripjaws. “Deku?!” But hang on, something looks off about him. ‘Like since when did Ripjaws start wearing a Plumber suit and a pair of glasses?’ Also, he looks…kinda old.
The spectacled Piscciss Volann gives a shake of his head. “Not quite, little lady. But if it’s all the same to you, I am more than happy to lend a hand.” He pauses and then adds. “Or fin, whichever you prefer.”
“Srsrsrsrsrsr!! Srsrsrsrsrsr!! Srsrsrsrsrsr!!”
No time for chit chat as the remaining Cyber Squids are about to catch up to the sub.
The spectacled Not-Ripjaws takes the lead, swimming in front and thus taking command of the situation. “Look alive! These no-good bottom feeders are in a feeding frenzy!”
“Srsrsrsrsrsr!! Srsrsrsrsrsr!! Srsrsrsrsrsr!!”
The Cyber Squids race in only to be met by the spectacled Piscciss Volann’s claws and teeth, Tsuyu’s powerful kicks, and Ochaco’s Ryou Spheres.
From inside the sub, Momo sees their chance. “Step on it, Billions. If we’re gonna survive we have to make it now!”
“Aye aye, sir!!” Billy screams as he retakes the controls, and the sub zooms forward as if it too just got its second wind.
The sub races upward, closer and closer with the resort now in full view. It rises and rises and now with their own alien on their side, Ochaco and Tsuyu are able to keep the remaining Cyber Squids off the sub, not letting even one of them touch the sub with their sharp tentacles.
Ochaco, while clinging to the sub, smashes her fist into one of the Cyber Squids, smashing its head in and shoving it away.
The spectacled Piscciss Volann swims past as he tears through the remaining Cyber Squids. “That's a mean right hook you got there, missy!”
“Thanks!” Ochaco grins before she spots a pair of Cyber Squids coming up on the spectacled Piscciss Volann’s behind. “Behind you!!”
The spectacled Piscciss Volann expertly jets up and over the squids. Spinning downward and slamming his tail into them, slamming them downward, knocking away the last of the Cyber Squids.
With their attackers gone, Tsuyu lands beside Ochaco and nods in approval. “Nice moves. Kero.”
“Thank you.” The spectacled Piscciss Volann grins. “I may not be as spry as I used to be, but I am one of the finest top predators you’re ever gonna see.” He flexes, but not in a showboaty way but in a way to draw humor at his own ironic statement.
Ochaco laughs, enjoying this old timer’s spunk yet good humored nature.
They’re not the only ones in a festive mood as everyone inside the sub break into massive grins, hugging each other, and jumping with joy as the submarine approaches the open portal that lends into the hangar.
“We made it! We made it!” Hagakure cheers with tears streaming down her face.
Now out of danger, Billy returns to his usual pompous self. “And it was all thanks to me and my brilliant engineering.” After all if he didn’t use such refined material to build his sub those aliens would have broken in ages ago.
Momo gives him a sheepish smile. “Let’s just get out of here first and then we can celebrate, shall we?”
Billy then leads the sub up and through the portal where the sub sinks to a stop inside the sealed in hangar.
Sitting atop the sub, Ochaco and Tsuyu tip their helmets off, taking in the fresh air while the spectacled Piscciss Volann’s lower half turns into a set of legs.
The three turn just in time to see Mina’s head pop out from the hatch from atop the sub. “Way to go guys!” She grins and turns around to ace the trio. “You really kicked some ass today!”
The spectacled Piscciss Volann grins. “Why thank you for the compliment. That was offly nice of you to say.” He reaches down, offering her a hand so he can pull her out of the sub.
But Mina just stares up at him, finally realizing that she’s talking to a complete and utter stranger. “WHO IN THE ACTUAL FUCK ARE YOU!?!”
After a brief intermission and calming Mina down everyone was able to slide down the submarine and get themselves onto some solid ground.
“Safe!” Hagakure breaches taking in the semi-fresh air. “We’re finally safe!”
Jiro lands on her knees beside her, collapsing in exhaustion. “We were in so much danger back there…” She breathes, reeling back from the terror and shock.
“Ha!” Mina slides down beside them flashing them a very shaky facade of a grin. “I laugh at the face of danger! Ha! Ha! Ha!” Her laugh is obviously forced, but even so it does crack small smiles on her friends’ faces.
After sliding down onto the floor, Momo composes herself and turns to the spectacled Not-Ripjaws who is helping Billy get down. “We really appreciate your help back there. You saved us!”
The spectacled Piscciss Volann gives her a kind smile, despite his gnarly fangs. “No need to thank me. I’m just glad I made it in time.”
“Same.” Jiro chuckles while still catching her breath. “Also, don’t mean to be rude but who are you?”
The spectacled Piscciss Volann gasps realizing that he hasn’t properly introduced himself yet. “Oh, right, pardon my forgetfulness but the name’s Patelliday.” Patelliday gives them a kind, sharp tooth grin as he bows like he was a gentleman of aristocracy.
Momo bows her head back in respect before piping up. “Mr. Patelliday?”
“Yes?” He grins.
“Um, I’m curious, but why do you resemble one of our classmate’s forms so much?” Momo pauses, taking in all the similar features of Ripjaws. “Strikingly so?”
Patelliday gives her a confused look. “And you would be referring to?”
Ochaco chimes in, trying to assist the very obvious Plumber officer. “Deku!” She explains in a haste. “She’s referring to Izuku Midoriya.”
Patelliday instantly lights up at the mention of Midoriya. “Oh! Hisashi’s boy!” He grins. “Well, that explains it. I’m his uncle on his Dad’s side twice removed!”
That’s a blatant lie. Both Ochaco and Mina pick up on that immediately, but with how he said with such confidence the others don’t seem to catch on.
Jiro raises an eyebrow, taking note of the man’s lack of green hair or more human-like features. “You’re his uncle?”
“I sure am.” Patelliday smirks, trying to sell the con. “It may not seem like it, but we have quite the extensive family, don’t you know?” He chuckles to himself. “You really should see the family barbecues. They are quite the spectacle.”
“So, um, Mr. Patelliday.” Mina sheepishly approaches the Plumber. “Not that I’m not grateful that you saved us but what brings you here? I mean running into you can’t just be some giant coincidence?”
Patelliday is just about to answer when Billy, after catching his breath, cuts in rather rudely. “It’s cause he’s that agent!” Everyone turns to find him pointing an accusing finger at Patelliday. “I didn’t recognize you cause of, well, everything, but you’re that Interpol agent from before!”
Patelliday nods his head. “That I am, young man.”
‘That must be his cover.’ Ochaco thinks. “So that was your ship-er submarine we saw at the entrance?!”
He nods again. “That it was.”
“That was yours?” Momo ponders, cupping her chin in thought as she recalls the strange looking vehicle. “I’ve never seen anything like it before.”
“Well, it’s not exactly standard issue.” Patelliday semi-jokes, throwing Ochaco and Mina a subtle wink.
The two chuckle nervously under their breaths.
Patelliday then turns to address the rest of the group. “But back to the original question. I was conducting an investigation inside the Mariana Trench when I spotted some crazy hooligans plunging themselves straight through an underwater minefield! Imagine my surprise when I get over there and find a group of teenagers being chased by a horde of killer machines!”
“Machines?” Hagakure questions before looking towards Billy. “Say Billions, why did you call them aliens before?”
Patelliday pauses, concerned. “Aliens?”
Billy shys away under their confused gazes. “Well, I mean…no reason.” He’s quick to avert his gaze, whistling to himself, trying to act like nothing’s wrong.
Everyone gives him blank annoyed glares; each of them having a sense that he’s hiding something.
But before they can drill him for a clarification, he jolts up as he just notices something odd. “Hang on, where is he?”
Ochaco frowns, not sure what he’s talking about. “Where is who?”
“Grandfather?” Billy scans the empty hangar bay. “Where is he?”
Everyone takes a pause to scan the hangar, but they don’t see any signs of life other than their own.
Jiro frowns. “Should he be here?”
“Yes!” Billy cries, frantically looking around. “I was able to contact him through the sub’s radio! Until-” He freezes as a cruel reality finally dawns on him.
Momo gulps, finishing his thought. “Until he was cut off.”
She scans the hangar until she spots a control panel that should have a radio attached to it.
She approaches slowly, only to gasp when she finds that the panel’s been slashed at, rendering the radio useless.
And that is when the rest of them finally notice the state that the hangar is truly in. The floor is slick with water and puddles, slash marks line the floors and ceilings, and railings are bent or have been crushed against the floor. Until they all lock onto the massive entrance way leading into the hangar; it’s been busted wide open. The massive dual metal doors having been clawed and smashed away, leading the doorway open to an almost pitch-black passageway that only illuminates as red flashing lights go off overhead.
Mina gulps, backing away from the doorway. “What do you think happened?”
Jiro jerks her hand away from the broken railing. “Whatever happened, just be glad we weren’t here to see it.”
A just as fearful Ochaco backs away nervously. “This can only mean one thing, doesn’t it?”
Patelliday gazes out towards the dark passageway, as he unhooks a rustic grey assault-blaster off his back. “We’re not alone in here.”
“Srsrsrsrsrsr!! Srsrsrsrsrsr!! Srsrsrsrsrsr!!”
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
Water drips from the ceiling onto the cold metallic floor below, while steam spews out from the pipes lining the walls and ceiling. Lights flicker into blackness and are replaced by the dim ominous glow of red emergency lights that spin and rotate casting shadows across the resort.
Patelliday leads the way, blaster in hand, walking carefully and gently as he checks every corner and turn.
The girls follow him, lined single file, copying his movements while keeping their eyes peeled for any signs of danger. All but Jiro who’s following directly behind Patelliday with her Earphone Jacks plugged into the wall, listening out for any signs of approaching danger.
Too bad all she’s been hearing is Billy’s constant whining.
“I still say we should have locked ourselves in the sub and called for my grandfather again!” Billy calls out from the back of the line.
Ochaco gives him an annoyed frown as they continue their trek through the resort. “And what if those Cyber Squids return? What would we do then?”
“I don’t know! Fight back?!”
Ochaco frowns, shrugging. “And then what?”
“We wait until help arrives, doy!”
“And what if help never arrives?”
He deflates. “I don’t know… “
“Quiet now.” Patelliday shushes them from the front. “We wouldn’t want to give ourselves away now would we?”
Everyone rapidly shakes their head in unison.
Patelliday nods in approval before they continue on.
Hagakure tucks her arms in nervously as drops of water land on her shoulder. “Oh, I sure hope everyone else made it out alright.”
“I hope so too.” Momo agrees, patting her shoulder, trying to comfort the terrified Hagakure. “But right now, we need to focus on escaping this place ourselves and finding a way to call for help.”
As they continue forward, Ochaco and Mina rush to Patelliday’s side so they can address him directly.
“So, you're not really Midoriya’s uncle and stuff, right?” Mina asks in a hushed whisper that’s just barely audible.
Patelliday whispers back just as quietly. “No, I’m not. But I have worked with his father. Heck I even worked alongside Majister Nezu for a time.”
Ochaco blinks up at him curiously. “So, you were stationed here on Earth then.”
“Sure was.” Patelliday’s grins, remembering his time here. “That’s why I already had my fake ID and backstory at the ready.” Although he did revise it after witnessing the young whippersnapper in action during the Sports Festival.
Mina frowns. “But wait, we've never seen you around Plumber Base. Were you reassigned?”
“Well, I was stationed here.” Patelliday’s frowns. “But I was reassigned off planet.”
“Then why are you here now?” Ochaco wonders
“Well truth be told I'm here because of a signal.”
“A signal?” Ochaco questions. “What kind of signal?”
“Well, we received a signal that indicated-”
“Everybody stop!” A freaked Jiro, with her Earphone Jacks plugged into the wall, shouts out as quietly as possible.
Everyone freezes, silently holding their breaths for what feels like hours while Jiro remains ever so still, listening in carefully to the sound of metallic tentacles scraping against the cold metal floor.
After what feels like hours to them, Jiro lets out a sight. “The coast is clear now.”
Everyone let’s go of their breath.
Patelliday leans over into Ochaco’s and Mina’s ears. “Let's put a pin in it for now. Shall we?”
“Yeah, sure.” They nod before they continue on.
They continue the trek up through the various maintenance shafts and hallways of the resort. With every level somehow becoming more eerie than the last. Every stretching corridor seems to go on for what feels like miles, each one being so vast and empty of life, thrown into pitch black darkness or looming red light. gashes and slash marks line the walls and ceilings, while water drips or leaks down from said gashes. The remaining lights flicker across the passageways, illuminating items and things left behind by the resort’s staff and engineers: from hand and power tools that were thrown about in a panicked defense or carts of screws, bolts and other materials were tossed aside and abandoned.
The group continues forward, braving the darkness and the unknown. They flinch at every step that makes any noise. Jerk towards the drop of water onto the cold metal floor. And freeze every time steam spews out from a nearby pipe.
Eventually Patelliday leads them into a large corridor, this time with a large set of doors at the end while another passageway sits across the room from their current position. In all it’s a three-way intersection of corridors with one being blocked off from the other two.
The metal doors are padded and sealed in tight while a purple glow shines through the little portal window.
Patelliday signals for them to move closer and into the corridor. They move one at a time with Billy at the rear, cowering against the pipe lined wall. As he approaches, he brushes up against a wrench that was placed atop a nearby pipe.
His suit catches the wrench and pulls it down where it falls, hitting another pipe on the way before bouncing off the floor and up, hitting another pipe again! The sound of the wrench hitting the floor echoes throughout the entire resort!
*CLANG!!! CLANG!!! CLANG...!!! CLANG...!!! CLANG...!!!*
Everyone spins around, throwing Billy shocked and betrayed gazes.
He gives them an apologetic smile and a sheepish grin in return.
But no one utters a word, instead they hold their breaths and listen for any signs of movement coming their way. And after a minute or so they finally breathe, coming to the conclusion that they might have gotten lucky there.
“Wait!” Jiro shouts, dashing their hopes with one fell swoop.
Hagakure trembles, nearly collapsing to her knees. “Did you hear-”
“Shhhh!” Jiro shushes her with a wave, frantically trying to listen in through her Earphone Jack, pressing it harder against the wall.
Her face pales as she finally makes them out. “I can hear them…” She jerks her head up at the others, her eyes filled with fear and face nearly drained of blood. “They know that we’re here!” She screams, abandoning their discreteness all together. “They’re coming! Hundreds of them!!” She points towards the massive doors at the end of the large corridor. “They’re coming!”
Before anyone can panic, Patelliday roars out for them to take cover! “Quickly now! Take cover behind the nearby hallways and boltheads!
They do just that with Patelliday in front while Ochaco stands ready behind another protruding bottlehead on the other side of the corridor, parallel to Patelliday. Tsuyu and Mina position themselves behind them, leaving Momo and Hagakure at the rear beside Jiro who’s still listening in. While Billy cowers inside the opposite hallway, looking like he's about to piss himself scared.
Patelliday readies his blaster towards the sealed doors. “How close are they now?”
“Ten meters maybe!” She cries out, struggling to fight the urge to run away and break down. “No! Nine meters!” She corrects. “Eight!”
The others ready themselves, knowing they’re in for a fight: Patelliday cock his blaster, Ochaco’s fists begin to glow, Tsuyu’s tongue slithers out, acid drips from Mina’s hands, and Momo prepares a pile of grenades for her and Hagakure to toss.
“Seven!”
Everyone sways from toe to toe, cold sweat sticking to their faces, and their hearts beating a thousand times faster than normal.
“Six!” Jiro cries, tears in her eyes as she panics.
Ochaco shakes her head, almost succumbing to her own fears. “That can’t be, that’s inside the room!”
“I’m hearing them right, though!” Jiro screams.
Mina stumbles back. “Then where are they?!”
“Five meters! Four!” Jiro shakes her head in disbelief. “What the hell?!”
A just as freaked out Momo frowns, frantically trying to figure out what's going on. She watches the corridor carefully, from the sealed doors, pipe lined walls, and grated ceiling panels.
She quickly locks onto the ceiling panels, her heart dropping to the floor as she barely speaks just under a whisper. “There…”
The entire group goes still as they all peer up towards the ceiling.
Jiro gasps as she finally realizes. “Oh, my god! Ah shit-”
“Give me a light!” Patelliday barks as he rushes over, climbing up a set of pipes.
Momo generates a flashlight and drops it into his hand.
Patelliday shoves the panel up and slowly peers inside. He brings the flashlight up and switches it on. As the light appears so too does the flood of Cyber Squids slithering their way through the resort’s vents!! “Srsrsrsrsrsr!! Srsrsrsrsrsr!! Srsrsrsrsrsr!!”
“DANK FARIK!!!” Patelliday screams as he jumps back and open fires at the Cyber Squids’ position.
Laser bolts fly through the air and burn right through the panels, blasting away into the killer machines.
Now with their own position compromise, the Cyber Squids break through the ceiling and begin to flood into the massive corridor. “Srsrsrsrsrsr!! Srsrsrsrsrsr!! Srsrsrsrsrsr!!”
“There they go!” Jiro shrieks at the top of her lungs. “Over there! Get em!”
It’s open season for Patelliday as he sends lasers flying all over the place and illuminating the whole place. Each one hitting their marks and taking down a Cyber Squid, shattering them to pieces.
Ochaco nearly matches him, as she sends Ryou Sphere after Ryou Sphere down upon the aliens. Blasting them apart, their broken parts floating in the air only to be blasted back by other Ryou Sphere blasts. Knocking the rubble and shards into other Cyber Squids.
The ones that make it past the energy spheres and laser bolts are met with splashes of acid, long tongue lashes, or waves of sonic blast from Mina, Tsuyu, and Jiro respectively. And the ones they don’t, get themselves blown up or smashed in by Momo and Hagakure who have armed themselves with grenades and metal bo staffs.
All the while Billy screams, tears gushing from his eyes. “It’s Game Over, man! GAME OVER!!!”
Despite the numbers they’re putting down more and more Cyber Squids just pour in ready to tear them all limb from limb. “Srsrsrsrsrsr!! Srsrsrsrsrsr!! Srsrsrsrsrsr!!”
“They just keep coming!!” Hagakure screams as she swings the bo staff into one of their heads.
“Waaaaahh!!” Billy screams out as he finally loses it. He spins around and takes off into the clear dark hallway. “I don’t wanna die!! Waaaaahh!!”
Momo gasps, watching him run away. “Billions! Billions get back here!”
“The kid’s got the right idea!” Patelliday shouts, leaping back as he continues to fire away. “Follow him! I’ll take the rear!”
Momo nods and turns to the others. “Quickly now! We have to retreat, immediately!”
Hagakure and Jiro are the first followed by Mina, Tsuyu, and Ochaco.
Hagakure and Jiro rush into the hallway first where they spot a whimpering Billy shutting the door behind him and locking it.
“Billions!” They call out, hoping he’ll hear them.
He does not apparently as he shuts the door, locking it before taking off down the other passageway with snot and tears dripping down his face.
“Waaaaahh!!”, trying to pull it open. “Open this door, Billions! Open it! Billions!!”
While Patelliday continues to suppress the enemy as he slowly follows them down the hallway, Mina rushes ahead of Tsuyu, Ochaco, and Momo in order to help.
“Here move it!” She yells out as she sprints forward. “I’ll melt it open!”
As she rushes forward, metal tentacles burst out of the floor and wrap themselves around her legs!
“Aaaaahhh!!” Mina screams she’s pulled down to the ground and then dragged into the gaping hole in the floor.
“Aaaaahhh!!”
“MINA!!!” The girls scream.
“Srsrsrsrsrsr!! Srsrsrsrsrsr!! Srsrsrsrsrsr!!” The Cyber Squid shrieks as it tries to drag Mina down.
“Help!! Help me!!” Mina screams, grabbing at the floor and nearby pipes, holding on for dear life as the sharp tentacles pull her down.
“KERO!!!” Tsuyu’s tongue lashes out and wraps itself around Mina’s waist. “Hang on!!”
“What do you think I’m doing?!”
“I’m coming!!” Momo screams, generating a longsword, she rushes over and hacks away at the tentacles, slicing them and allowing Tsuyu to pull Mina free.
“Srsrsrsrsrsr!! Srsrsrsrsrsr!! Srsrsrsrsrsr!!” The Cyber Squid shrieks in fury as it tries to climb out of the hole.
“Oh, no you don’t!” Ochaco screams as she grabs one of its still intact tentacles, her fingers glowing pink as it makes it weightless.
She then pulls it out of the hole and swings it around, slamming it into the wall. Its head cracks and leaks oil as it falls limp to the floor.
“T-thanks.” Mina thanks as she catches her breath and Tsuyu helps her to the door.
Meanwhile, Hagakure is still banging away at the door. “It’s locked!!”
“Move it!” Mina pulls away from Tsuyu and presses her hand against the lock, allowing a little sip of acid to burn right through the lock.
The door shifts out of place as it unlocks.
“Inside, hurry!” Mina shouts, hurrying through with the others close behind.
After making it through, Momo calls out to their rear guard. “Patelliday! Hurry!”
“No need to tell me twice!” Patelliday shouts as he dashes for the door while still firing back at the incoming enemies.
He slips through as Ochaco slams the door shut.
“I’ll seal it!” He shouts, pressing the tip of his blaster to the door and the threshold, using the blaster like a welding torch to seal it shut.
Momo spins around to find themselves in a narrow passageway with a small flight of stairs leading down to a lower hallway. While to her right, their hallway seems to go at a steady incline. “Hold on a minute. What happened to Billions?”
Jiro frowns. “We don’t know! He just ran off!”
Worried for his safety, Ochaco eyes the stairs, leaping over them and into the hallway down below. “I’ll go see if he’s here somewhere!”
“I’ll look too!” Momo sprints after her, not willing to leave her father’s friend’s grandson behind to die. “He couldn’t have gone far!”
Panicked, Mina calls out after them! “Ochaco! Yaomomo! Wait!”
“Stay here!” Patelliday leaps down the stairs. “I’ll get em!” He rushes after them through the narrow hallway. “Now just wait for a darn gosh moment there, ladies! It’s not smart to just go running off on your own-Wah!!”
“Srsrsrsrsrsr!! Srsrsrsrsrsr!! Srsrsrsrsrsr!!” A squad of Cyber Squids rip through the side of the wall, breaking through the pipes and railing with ocean water gushing through behind them.
The others watch on in horror as ocean water and Cyber Squids crash into the lower hallway. The tidal wave spirals and slams into the walls, sweeping up Patelliday first before contouring along and scooping up both Ochaco and Momo into its torrent.
“GUYS!!!” Mina screams at the top of her lungs.
“Look out!” Tsuyu grabs her with her tongue and pulls her back as the rising water begins to flood their way.
Jiro hurries back the other way. “We gotta move!”
She and Hagakure hurry off.
“What about them?!” Mina screams as she too runs away from the flood waters.
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
“Waaaaaahh!!” Ochaco and Momo have the wind knocked out of them as the cold ocean water slams into their backs, throwing them down and sweeping them off their feet in a current of dark freezing water.
Ochaco’s body bangs against the walls and pipes as she’s dragged access the fast-moving current. But through it all she manages to poke her eyes open just enough to get her bearings. And she nearly cries out, losing all her air, when she finds herself and Momo surrounded by Cyber Squids that also got swept up in the flood waters.
“Srsrsrsrsrsr!! Srsrsrsrsrsr!! Srsrsrsrsrsr!!” The Cyber Squids launch themselves at the girls, banging into each other and the walls as they fight against the whipping surf.
“Clear the way you Underwater Nightlights!” Patelliday roars as he swims into view, bashing his way through the Squids with his teeth and claws. His blaster nowhere in sight, having been knocked out his hands and swept away by the rapid waters.
He swims past the machines and scoops up the girls in his arms. “Now ain’t this a fine pickle we’ve found ourselves in?”
Looking ahead through the churning waters he manages to spot another staircase leading upwards. And so, he zooms towards it, following the steps up before leaping up and coming face to face with a sealed door. And with such fine agility he swings his claws down and through the door, slashing it apart and rolling to a stop on a dry floor with both girls in hand.
Ochaco falls to the floor, spitting out the nasty sea water before gasping for air. Momo keels over puking from all the sea water she accidently swallowed.
As they both recuperate, Patelliday checks back on the rapidly flowing water and is glad to see that it’s not rising any higher over the stairs nor do the Cyber Squids appear to be in sight.
He approaches the girls, taking a knee beside them. “Can you move?”
Ochaco coughs, spitting out the last of the sea water. “I think so.”
Momo takes a deep breath after purging all the seawater from her system. “Where are we?”
She looks around and is shocked to find that they got swept back into the actual resort! As in the area where all the hotels, pools, and indoor beach are located.
Peering out, she can see the indoor tropical beach lying maybe half-a-block away from where they are now, between several hotel buildings and a courtyard that’s filled with tropical plants and a tiled floor.
Ochaco scans for any signs of life. “There’s nobody here either. Wait, what happened to everybody else? Where’s Mina, Tsuyu, and everyone?!”
Patelliday waves for her to calm down. “I don’t think they got swept away like we did.” He eyes the Aquania’s massive dome. “They must still be further up than us.”
Momo frowns. “And what about Billions? Did anyone see what happened to him?”
Ochaco pales, her heart stopping. “D-do you think he got swept up in that too?!” She is of course referring to their near drowning experience.
Patelliday frowns, worried that a civilian might actually be in grave danger. “Maybe.”
“We should find him.” Momo states as she rises to her feet, nearly stumbling down, her knees weak and shaky. “We may not be official heroes, but we can’t just abandon him or our friends.”
“I like your spirit.” Patelliday compliments, but his expression quickly becomes rather dour. “But we should focus on getting out ourselves and calling for backup.”
“What? Why?!” Ochaco gasps. “Shouldn’t we all try to escape together?! With everybody?”
Patelliday shakes his head. “If we can get out, we can call for other heroes for a search and rescue. With them we’ll be able to get a better handle on the situation.”
Momo frowns, dropping her head in defeat. “You make valid points, but our friends are all alone! What if-”
“They’ll make it.” Patelliday assures without any hints of lying or saving face. “You whippersnappers have already shown to be a resourceful bunch. I’m sure they do the same as us and try to escape and call for a rescue. So, the best case scenario is that we’ll meet up with them top side.”
Momo still has her doubts. “And what of Billions? Despite his…personality I don’t wish for him to die here. Do you think he’ll try to make his way up? And even if he did, could he make it?”
Patelliday doesn’t have a right answer to give her. “Thinking like that won’t save him nor us. For now, I think it would be wise for us to get a move on.” He gestures towards the ever rising water. “Before any of those nasty Cyber Squids come back.”
Momo and Ochaco both nod in agreement as they watch the water very warily. “I think that’s a wise move./Yeah, let’s go!”
Patelliday turns and looks out towards the fake beach. “This way now, hurry!” And he takes off with quick steps, moving as quietly yet quickly as possible with Ochaco and Momo right on his heels.
‘Hang on guys.’ Ochaco thinks as she races past all the hotels and palm trees. ‘We’re all gonna get out of here. Promise.’
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
“Hurry it up will ya?!” Mina shouts as she sprints up the flight of stairs. “The sooner we get out of here the sooner we can help Ochaco and Yaomomo!”
“We’re trying but this place is a maze!” Hagakure shouts up, chasing after her.
Which is definitely making it harder to escape; meaning it’ll take longer for them to escape and call for help. Meaning their friends will be trapped in here longer, the longer it takes for them to escape.
Tsuyu shouts up as she hops past Hagakure. “Do you even know where you’re going?”
“Yeah! I’m getting the heck out of here!” Mina calls back as she reaches the top of the stairs.
Tsuyu gives her a deadpan glare in response to Mina’s answer.
As Mina reaches the final step, she finds herself atop a long stretching balcony overseeing massive water filtering machines to one side while the rest of the balcony connects with the rest of the floor that holds what looks like massive warehouse-like rooms no doubt meant for storage. The rooms are so large they look like buildings that reach all the way to the ceiling, lined all in a row that stretches on for half a block. Ocean water drips down from the ceiling above. No doubt there is a leak somewhere high above. But with the power and lights still flickering about, it’s hard to make out.
Tsuyu hops up and lands beside Mina, a short minute later and Hagakure and Jiro both make it to the top as well. As they stop to catch their breaths, Jiro goes ahead and plugs her Earphone Jack into the nearest wall.
“We’re wasting time!” Mina impatiently shouts, running off towards where she thinks there’ll be stairs.
“Hold it!” Jiro panics, hearing something in the distance. “They’re here!”
“Our friends?! Where?!” Mina cheers as she rounds a nearby corner.
Only for her to nearly run into a trio of oblivious Cyber Squids that are currently patrolling the area.
“Waaaaaaahh!!” She screams in terror.
The Cyber Squids spin around, seemingly startled by her screaming before immediately lunging out at her in anger. “Srsrsrsrsrsr!! Srsrsrsrsrsr!! Srsrsrsrsrsr!!”
“Waah!” Mina cries, scrambling away as fast as she can. “Nope! Nope! Nope!! Waahh!!”
Hagakure rushes after Mina. “Mina what’s the-AH!!”
Tsuyu gasps as she appears behind Hagakure along with Jiro. “More Cyber Squids?!”
The trio of Cyber Squids lung at the girls, their sharp tentacles poised to strike. “Srsrsrsrsrsr!! Srsrsrsrsrsr!! Srsrsrsrsrsr!!”
“Waaah!” Mina screams falling backwards onto the ground.
Tsuyu, Jiro, and Hagakure quickly leap into action, meeting the squids head on and smashing them to bits with their kicks, sonic jabs, and metal bo staff.
On the ground, Mina breathes a sigh of relief as the trio of Cyber Squids go quiet. “Oh, geeze, t-thanks guys!”
Tsuyu and Hagakure smile in response, letting her know that it was no big deal.
Jiro, with her Earphone Jack to the floor, perks in worry. “There’s more of them coming.”
Hagakure trembles in response. “What now? Do we fight?”
Jiro shakes her head. “No way. From what I can hear there’s too many of them.”
Tsuyu spots a nearby door leading into one of the large storage units. “Quickly, everyone we’ll hide in there!”
Without a second to waste they rush inside the, luckily, unlocked door. They slip inside and shut the door tight and just in time too as a flood of Cyber Squids pass on by from the other side.
The girls hold their breaths, listing in carefully as their metal tentacles scrape against the ground before fading into the distance.
Tsuyu presses her ear against the door. “Are they gone?”
Jiro gives her a nod. “Yeah, I think so.”
With the coast clear, Tsuyu takes in their surroundings. It appears their intuitions were right about these massive rooms being used for storage as massive crates and machines and pipes create a dark maze within the massive room. There are no lights except for one dimly glowing lamp hanging high above the ceiling as ocean water drips down like rain through the cracks in the ceiling. Chains hang from the ceiling, hanging down loosely, swaying and cleaning with the dripping water.
“I guess it was a storage room.” Mina explains aloud.
“Yaah.” Hagakure nods. “But shouldn't we keep going.”
“Hang on now.” Jiro interrupts. “If this is where they store stuff then there might be something useful lying around.”
Tsuyu chimes in. “She’s right. While we’re here we should take a moment and search the place. Just in case we find anything like a satellite phone, radio, or something.”
“Sounds good.” Jiro agrees. “But this place is so big, how are we supposed to find anything?”
Tsuyu frowns at that. “We’ll have to split up.”
The others freeze at that.
“Not for long!” Tsuyu explains hurriedly. “Just for now. If we don’t find anything in the next ten minutes, then we need to move on.”
Mina gives her a thumbs up. “Sounds like a plan.”
And so they split up each heading towards a different corner of the massive storage unit. They twist and turn through the stacks of crates and rows of machines, at some points getting themselves all turned around or at a dead end. Water continues to drip down creating eerie echoes and when the chains occasionally rattle against the floor or ceiling, they jump thinking it’s a Cyber Squid.
*CLANG!!!*
“Eeek!!” Mina jumps, nearly screaming her head off as she hears another chain swing against some machinery. “Oh, why did this have to happen? This was supposed to be a girl’s trip. How did it become some cliche horror movie?!”
*CLANG!!!*
There it is again.
Mina spins around in a fight at the source of the chains. That’s when she spots a massive metal door in the wall, hidden behind stacks of crates. The door looks heavy, but automated, however it’s only open part way almost like it was pried open.
Her antennae twitch above her head as an overwhelming sense of fear overcomes her, stilling her heart.
*CLANG… CLANG… CLANG… *
The chains settle down from behind the door as water continues to slowly leak down from above drenching her and the door.
Despite the fear she presses on towards the massive door, approaching it cautiously and quietly. She pokes her head in finding herself in another massive room; this one filled with piping leading in every direction with a single dim light source hanging from above, barely illuminating the room to the point it might as well be shut off.
*CLANG… CLANG… CLANG… *
“H-hello…?” Mina quietly calls out, both hoping for and not wanting a response back.
But all she can pick up is the sound of swaying chains and dripping ocean water.
She steps further inside, keeping her eyes peeled for anything and everything. “H-hello…?”
She continues in, standing under the only light source which is also where most of the dripping water is rushing in, dousing her like a rainstorm.
The cool ocean water actually feels nice, soothingly so. And so, Mina takes a moment to bask in the dripping water, giving herself a moment of cool off after so much excitement. Hoping it’ll help calm her nerves despite the eerie darkness and the soft sway of the heavy chains.
*CLANG!!!*
That came from behind her, her antennae twitch again, and the surge of fear resurfaces within her.
Mustering her courage she steps away from the only light source, and towards where she thinks the sound came from. “H-hello…? Is anyone there?”
*CLANG!!!*
Mina spins towards the nearby machines, just in time to spot something scurrying between the heavy machines. She hesitantly peers inside trying to catch another glimpse.
A rat squeaks as it leaps out from the shadows and scurries away between Mina's feet, making her scream.
“Wah! Woah! Ah!” She squeals, freaking out at the sight of the nasty rodent before calming herself down. “It’s just a rat. A harmless little rat.”
She takes a breath, trying to compose herself. “Just relax Mina. There’s nothing in here that can hurt you. Nothing at all.”
Within the darkness behind, there’s movement as a large figure begins to crawl out of its hiding place.
“Yeah.” Mina breaths, not noticing the encroaching figure. “It’s fine. Everything is fine.”
Movement catches the corner of her eye, and she freezes in terror, sensing the presence of something reaching out at her, before a cold damp limb is brought down onto her shoulder.
“WAAAAAAAAHHHH!!!”
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
Tsuyu, Jiro, and Hagakure jump at the sound of Mina’s mortifying scream. “MINA!!!”
They drop their search and rush towards her scream, crashing through the chains and crates without a care, more worried about reaching her than anything else.
“Mina! Mina!” Tsuyu cries, nearly hoping into Jiro.
The two take off together, running into Hagakure who’s already made it to the massive metal door.
They crash through the door, ready to defend their friend no matter the danger. “MINA!!!”
“Oh, hey guys!” Mina cheerfully greets, waving to them without a care.
The three face fault, sliding across the ground, stopping at her feet.
Tsuyu stares up at her in disbelief. “Are you okay?”
“Hm?” She blinks down at her in confusion. “Oh! You mean my scream. Ehehe.” She laughs sheepishly. “My bad, I just overreacted after I found them. Or rather they found me.”
Jiro perks up. “Who found you?”
“Why, we did.” Answers a familiar posh man’s voice.
From within the darkness Mr. Yaoyorozu steps into the light, looking no worse for wear.
The girls let out surprised gasps. “Mr. Yaoyorozu?!”
Mr. Yaoyorozu gives them all such a kind smile. “That I am. And might I say that I’m so relieved to see you all safe and sound.”
Jiro nods, giving him a sheepish grin. “Yeah us, too.”
Tsuyu presses a finger to her lips. “Hang on, you said “we?”
“That he did.” And out from the shadows appears the owner of the resort, Donovan GrandSmith. “Glad to see that you’re all okay girls.”
“Um, we are too, Mr. GrandSmith.” Hagakure greets.
As she greets him more people step out front he shadows each of them being either one of Donovan’s engineers or maintenance staff making a total of twelve people, not including the girls.
Jiro blinks in surprise at all the people. “What are you all doing here? We thought you all would’ve escaped.”
Mr. Yaoyorozu frowns in regret. “Well not quite. Afraid we couldn’t make it to the exit thanks to those creatures.”
“Everyone who is here are the only ones that haven’t escaped yet.” Donovan explains.
Mina rubs the back of her head, not sure how to break this next bit of news to him. “Well, that’s not exactly true now, is it?”
Donovan frowns, not sure what she’s referring to. “What does that mean?”
“Wait just a moment.” Mr. Yaoyorozu frantically looks around, like he lost something very precious to him. “Where is she? Where is my daughter?! Where’s Momo?!”
“She’s not here?” Donovan looks around and finally realizes that she’s not the only one missing. “Wait, where’s Billy?!”
Mina lowers her head in shame. “We lost them. They got swept away when the Cyber Squids broke through the wall.”
“No!” Mr. Yaoyorozu gasps, slumping in defeat. “My Momo… My daughter…”
“Don’t worry.” Mina playfully punches his shoulder. “Yaomomo’s one of the smartest people in our class! She can handle herself.”
Tsuyu nods, chiming in. “And Ochaco’s with her. So believe me they won’t let a little water or robots stop them.”
Jiro smiles in agreement. “Not to mention Mr. Patelliday is with them.”
Donovan pauses. “Patelliday? Do you mean that Interpol agent?!”
“Yup. We somehow ended up crossing paths with him and he got swept up with Momo and Ochaco too.”
Donovan has other concerns, other than the agent. “But what about Billy?”
Hagakure breaks the news to him. “We don’t know. He ran off when we were attacked by the Cyber Squids.”
Mr. Yaoyorozu looks to Tsuyu for an explanation. “Cyber Squids?”
“That’s what we're calling those killer robot things.” She explains.
“Ah, I see.”
Now concerned about his grandson, Donovan ponders on what to do next. “Well, if they’re still in the resort then we should be able to find them.”
Mina suddenly becomes very nervous. “How? Are we gonna split up?”
“Heavens no.” Donovan nearly laughs at the thought. “Actually, before you all showed up we were trying to reach the surveillance room. It’s not that far from here and there’s a radio we can use to contact the Coast Guard.”
The girls gasp, not believing their ears. “Really?!”
“Yup.” Donovan grins. “And that’s not all. The resort still has enough power for the cameras to work and if that's the case we should be able to find the kids no problem.”
Jiro breaks into a wide grin. “That'd be great!”
“That it would.”
Mina grins, rallying the group to head out. “What are we waiting for? Let’s get going!”
“Right.” Mr. Yaoyorozu looks determined, silently promising himself that he will get his little girl back. “Let’s do it. After all, if nothing is ventured, then nothing is gained.”
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
Momo treks across the sand of the fake beach while Ochaco and Patelliday tail her from behind.
“Why are we going this way?” Ochaco asks, picking up her pace to keep up with Momo.
“Because I know there’s a way up to the entrance from here.” Momo responds, while scanning the area. “But I can’t remember where exactly. If we can retrace our steps from the beach, we should be able to find our way back.”
“Well, we’re at the beach. So, do you recognize anything?”
Momo frowns, having another look around along the long stretch of sand. “I think so.”
Patelliday scans the beach as well, jolting up as he spots movement in the distance. “Look alive, we have company.”
Momo and Ochaco pause, following Patelliday’s gaze towards the large lifeguard post standing just yards away. As they hold their breaths, they can make out the unmistakable sound of metal clinking and something moving around haphazardly inside.
Ochaco nervously backs away. “You think it’s one of them?”
“Maybe.” Patelliday responds, not taking his eyes off the lifeguard post. “Might just be a scout.”
Momo scowls at the lifeguard post. “If it is, we should take care of it before it gives us away.”
Patelliday and Ochaco give determined nods in response.
And so with them all in agreement, they move forward sneaking towards the lifeguard post as quietly as possible. They’re careful with every step, especially as they walk up the wooden stairs up to the lifeguard pot’s doorway.
As they approach the noise and movement inside only grows louder, no doubt signaling that a Cyber Squid’s moving about inside.
Once in position near the door, the three give one last look of confirmation before they spring up, crashing through the window and door, poised to strike down their foe!!
“Waaahhh!!” Billy screams, falling back into a fetal position, shutting his eyes tight as he cries out in terror. “Please don’t kill me!! I’m too rich to die!! No! No!!”
The three would-be attackers pause, giving the cowering Billy very confused yet flat stares.
“Please, I’ll do anything!” He begs, crying out, expecting his end to be painful and agonizing. “Just let me live! I’ll even pay you! Just name your price!!”
Ochaco sighs, getting irked by his last comment. “How about you calm down for a second and open your eyes?”
He does, poking his eye open. “Uraraka?!” he breaks into a wide grin, tears of joy streaming from his eyes. “You came back for me!!” He cries out in joy, leaping up to give her a hug!
“Pleh!” She instinctively sidesteps, avoiding his attempt to hug her, causing him to fall flat on his face.
“Billions!” Momo scolds, not approving of his previous breakdown. “What happened to you?! Where have you been?!”
He suddenly becomes very bashful and embarrassed. “Well, I was um,” Shit he can’t say that he ran away without thinking, that'd make him look bad! And he can’t have that! “I left so that I might be able to save us all! Yeah, that’s it! I sacrificed myself to call for help!”
Ochaco gives him a very suspicious glare. “Oh, did you, now?”
“Yes, I did.” He smirks, puffing his chest out. “Very heroic of me wasn't it?”
“Well did you call for help?”
He pauses before sheepishly answering. “Nnnno…” He deflates. “No, not yet.”
Momo let’s out an exasperated sigh. As she does so she notices the torn-up radio laying on the floor of the post. “A radio?”
“Yeah!” Billy grins. “Every lifeguard post has a radio for emergencies, so I was trying to fiddle around with this one. So, it might be strong enough to call someone on the outside.”
Ochaco breaks into an excited hopeful grin. “Then that means help will arrive sooner!”
“Exactly!” He smirks, his ego already inflating. “I know I know. You may begin singing my praises.”
The girls grimace in response.
“Not yet we can’t.” Patelliday interrupts. “Not until you finish up that there machine!”
Billy scowls in annoyance. “I know! I was just about to finish, old man!”
“I may be old but I’m spryer than you’ll ever be.”
“Why you-”
“Billions!” Momo scolds, chiding him.
“Whatever!” He turns away, sitting back down so that he can fiddle around with the radio again, “Just sit back and watch ladies. I, Billy Billions, will save the day!”
Ochaco curiously watches him work. And she’s got to admit it, his Quirk seems pretty nifty. Although it lacks any outer flare, his fingers and hands work like a well-tuned conveyor belt, racing away in a blink of an eye as he takes apart and puts the radio back together.
She then pauses, thinking aloud to herself. “Huh, I wonder if Deku in his Grey Matter form could do the same thing?”
A tick mark forms over Billy’s large forehead. “Grh!!”
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
Meanwhile, from inside a large darkly lit surveillance room. Donovan enters and switches the computers on, activating the many screens to illuminate the entire room. He begins to search and scan through each surveillance camera while the other stragglers are led inside by Momo’s and Ochaco’s friends.
Mina approaches Donovan, her eyes locked onto the many screens. “Did you find them yet?”
Donovan shakes his head, not taking his eyes off the camera feed. “No, not yet.”
Mina frowns, worriedly. “Where could they be?!”
Hagakure shivers at a terrible thought. “You don’t think they were swept up into the ocean do you?!”
Nobody dares to answer, none of them even wanting to consider it a possibility.
Jiro looks up to the screens, hoping to see their friends. “Wait! Go back, I think I saw something.”
Donovan quickly rewinds the feed.
Jiro spots them again. “There! Look!”
Donovan brings up the feed, putting it center stage for them all to see. And sure, enough they have a view of Momo, Ochaco, and Patelliday from above. And judging from the feed they are standing around Billy who appears to be working on some sort of contraption.
Mr. Yaoyorozu reaches out towards the screen. “Momo, she’s okay!!”
Tsuyu nods, glad to see them all in one piece. “And so is Ochaco!”
“And Mr. Patelliday’s there too!” Hagakure cheers.
Donovan tries to have a look. “But what about Billy?”
Hagakure points at the screen. “He’s there too. Look!”
“What a relief.” Donovan sighs, before typing away at the settings.
Mina watches him type away. “What are you doing?”
“You’ll see.”
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
“There we go! And done!” Billy grins, pulling away from his newly made machine.
The radio looks like a mismatch of various electronics and devices, with a makeshift antenna spinning around atop a hanger wire.
“Now let’s make the call!” Ochaco reaches towards the device to activate it.
Billy stops her. “No, need. It’s already sent. I set it to let out a constant S.O.S. signal and I can almost guarantee you the Coast Guard has already picked up on it.”
Momo grins in excitement. “That’s great!”
“Way to go Billions!” Ochaco cheers, fist pumping the air.
“Hm. Hm!” Billy smirks, feeling mighty proud of himself right now.
Patelliday grins as well but there is a hint of hesitation to do so.
*RING!!! RING!!! RING!!!*
A phone seated atop a nearby desk rings, calling to their attention.
Ochaco blinks at the phone, not expecting it at all. “Is it the Coast Guard?”
“It’s gotta be!” Billy runs over and snatches up the phone, setting it to speaker phone. “Hello? Is this the Coast Guard?”
[“Nope. It’s someone even better. It’s your Grandpa!”]
Billy gasps at the sound of Donovan’s voice. “Grandfather?!”
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
Donovan grins at the screen, watching his Grandson answer the phone. “Yes, that’s right, Billy. I’m reaching you from the Aquania’s surveillance room.”
From on the screen, they can see Ochaco peering up at the camera. [“Oh, Mr. GrandSmith! Can you find our friends?! We all got separated!”]
Mina hops over, shouting into the mic. “Already found!”
Both Ochaco and Momo let out delighted gasps of surprise. [“Mina?!”]
“We’re here too!” Hagakure shouts.
“Hey!” Jiro calls out.
“Kero!” As does Tsuyu.
[“That’s great!”] Ochaco’s heart swells, relieved to know that they’re all still alive.
And Momo feels very similar. [“That’s such a relief.”]
“Momo! Momo!” Mr. Yaoyorozu rushes to the mic. “Are you alright?! You’re not hurt are you?!”
[“I’m fine, father. Mr. Patelliday’s been a great help.”]
[Don’t you worry, sir.”] Patelliday calls out, not exactly sure who he’s talking to. [“I’ll personally make sure your little girl gets you in one piece. You have my word!”]
“I’ll hold it to you my friend. Thank you.”
[“Hey listen!”] Billy interrupts with a shout. [“You should all be thanking me, cause I was able to reach the coast guard!”]
Mina gasps. “You were?! That’s great!”
Tsuyu, however, doesn’t leap for joy. “Will they though?”
Everyone pauses, wondering what she could mean.
“I mean we're being attacked by killer robots while in an underwater resort. Are they really gonna believe that and hurry over here?”
That’s a fair point. A very sad and depressing point.
“Killer machines.” Mr. Yaoyorozu causes, considering the killer machines and their purpose here today. “That reminds me, Donovan. Why is your resort under attack?”
“Why?” Donovan can’t believe that Mr. Yaoyorozu would ask such a question. “It’s because of those creatures, that’s why!”
“No.” Mr. Yaoyorozu scowls, not accepting that answer for a second. “Those things are here for a reason. I mean, why attack now? Why not during the construction of this place? Why now? There has got to be a reason?”
“I don’t know!” Donovan shouts back, losing his patience. “Maybe it’s corporate sabotage. Maybe somebody sent them!”
Mina’s antennas twitch in response, picking up the man’s sudden fear and guilt. “You’re lying…”
Donovan scowls at her. “Huh?”
“I said, you’re lying!” Mina points an accusing finger at the businessman. “You know why they’re here! I know it!”
[“Hey!”] Billy shouts angrily through the comms system. [“My Grandfather did nothing to those aliens! They attacked us first!”]
Patelliday’s expression becomes serious and stoic in response to Billy’s comment.
Donovan quickly jumps onto Billy’s explanation. “That’s right! Those aliens attacked us! We didn't do anything to them!
That might be true, but Momo thinks otherwise. [“Billions?”]
Billy flashes her a studded smile. [“Yes, my fair maiden?”]
[“Why do you keep referring to those machines as aliens?”] Her eyes narrow at him suspiciously. [“Do you perhaps know something we don’t?”]
Ochaco and Patelliday remain silent, throwing each other concerned looks.
However, instead of outright throwing the idea away, Patelliday instead goes along with Momo’s suspicions. [“Out with it, son. If you know something now’s the time to share it.”]
[“What?! I don’t know anything!”] Billy defends way too quickly.
Momo’s glare narrows in response.
[“Seriously! It’s not like we stole anything from them!”]
Everybody let’s put audible gasps. “STOLE!?!”
“Billy!” Donovan yells out. “What have you done?!”
“No, Donovan.” Mr. Yaoyorozu scowls. “What have you done?”
Donovan doesn’t put up a fight as he tries to figure out how to best weasel his way out of this. But when he can’t think of any way to defend himself, he’s quick to give in. “Okay. The underwater volcano thing didn’t work. The Aquania was doomed! And I was about to become the punchline for a bad joke! And then I found this…other energy source. On this weird craft way down below.”
[“Yeah!”] Billy excitedly nods. [“It’s what I wanted to show you all when we were down in the trench.”]
[“Shh!”] Ochaco shushes him, wanting Donovan to continue.
Which he does. “When Billy and I took the Undersea Mantaray on its first test drive, we came upon it. The energy source.” That strange purple glowing orb of light. “It was like nothing I’ve ever seen before. Even now I can’t explain what it’s made of or how it was made. So, we concluded that maybe, just maybe, it was an alien energy source.”
Shock and disbelief courses through everyone. Aliens? That can’t be right? Can it…?
Ochaco and Mina feel especially worried, their hearts dropping to their stomachs.
Jiro still can’t believe it, but she goes along with the working theory for now. “Now I bet those aliens want it back.”
Hagakure nods in agreement. “That has to be it!”
Mr. Yaoyorozu scowls at Donovan, like a teacher waiting for their student to spill out the truth. “Is there anything else we should know?”
Donovan gives a shake of his head. “No, I already told you the whole truth.”
Patelliday hisses, cutting himself into the conversation. [“Well, you technically did. Too bad it’s all wrong! Well mostly.”]
Everyone does a double take. “What?!”
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
Ochaco peers up at the Plumber, not sure what he could be up to. “Patelliday?”
Patelliday smiles at her. “Mr. GrandSmith isn’t the only one hiding secrets, now is he?” He winks, making sure the camera can’t see him.
Ochaco smiles in response.
Patelliday then turns to the camera. “Listen here everyone! For clarification sake I am Agent Patelliday and I am here on behalf of Interpol conducting an investigation into missing WMDs!”
Ochaco’s not sure what that means. “WMDs?”
Momo takes it upon herself to explain. “It means: Weapons of Mass Destruction.”
It takes everyone a moment to realize what she just said. “Wait, weapons?!”
“Yes!” Patelliday clarifies, glad to see that he has everyone’s attention. “For full disclosure an American scientist who was based on I-Island went ahead and created these Cyber Squids. His intention was to create a self-producing AI army that can overwhelm a population by throwing them into chaos. As we’ve already seen. But in order to keep this AI army going he developed an extremely unstable arc reactor of sorts.”
[“An arc reactor?”] Donovan had no idea he had such a device in his possession.
“Yes!” Patelliday reaffirms.
Billy, however, brings up a good point. “Then how did they end up here in the ocean?!”
“I was getting to that.” Patelliday turns back to the camera and continues. “When the authorities caught onto this plot, I’m afraid the mad scientist rocketed them away into the sky and across the ocean, apparently he wanted to demonstrate their capabilities to the world.”
Jiro frowns, calling out through the comms system. [“But then how come we never heard of them until now?”]
Patelliday continues with his explanation. “The Japanese navy was able to intercept the rocket and blast it out of the sky! Sending it and its cargo into the ocean, out of reach and presumably out of commission. And so, I-Island got to work on covering up the whole mess, not wanting to tarnish their good name.”
Momo frowns, finding the last part to be in bad taste. “I see.”
“But then a few weeks ago I received a familiar energy signal coming from the arc reactor.”
As Patelliday explains, all the pieces finally click in Ochaco’s head. Patelliday is telling them the truth just censored down. The Cyber Squids are aliens, and they probably were made by some alien scientist. But the Plumbers must have shot down their ship and it landed on Earth! So when Mr. GrandSmith brought the energy source closer to the surface the Plumbers must have been able to pick up on the alien device right away! That’s why he’s here! Patelliday’s been looking into this from the start!
“Then that’s why you’re here!” Ochaco grins, proud of herself for getting all the pieces together, “You came to see if the Cyber Squids had somehow survived!”
“That I did.” Patelliday smiles, assuming she is in the know now. “Now that they are here, we have a bigger problem on our hands. Since the Cyber Squids have fallen to their original programming it won’t be long until they set their sights on other populations.”
Momo let’s out a horrified gasp. “Like Japan?!”
“Precisely.”
Mr. Yaoyorozu frowns worriedly as a sense of dread and foreboding overwhelms him. [“Mr. Patelliday, why are you sharing all this with us? What is your reasoning for doing so?”]
Patelliday doesn’t even try to deny it. “Ah, so you caught on, huh? Well, no use beating around the bush but I need everyone’s cooperation if we’re gonna stop these mindless attack drones from spreading!”
“What?!” Billy is astounded by the news. “You want our help?! Can’t you do it yourself? I mean what am I paying for?”
“You’re not paying me.” Patelliday chides. “But yes, I need everyone’s help.”
Mr. Yaoyorozu can already see where this is going. [“No, I won’t allow it! My daughter's already been through enough! We’ll let the Coast Guard handle the rest.”]
“They won’t be able to handle it!” Patelliday responds. “If we’re gonna eliminate this threat then we have to take action right now!”
Donovan offers up a good question. [“Then how do you suggest we do that?”]
Patelliday pauses to think, not having thought that far yet.
Momo, however, has. “We give them what they want.”
Billy looks at her like she just said something insane, because she did. “What?”
“We give them exactly what they’re looking for!” She repeats, this time with confidence. “Jiro said it herself, those Cyber Squids must have attacked because they want their power source back! They must realize that they can’t survive without it!”
Jiro chimes back in. [“But doesn’t that mean we should try to keep the energy source away from them?”]
Momo shakes her head. “No! We do the opposite. The Cyber Squids have yet to expand past the resort, meaning they’re all trapped here.”
[“So?!”] Donovan shouts, not sure where this is going. [“What are you implying?!”]
“I’m implying that we allow these Cyber Squids to reunite with their precious energy source before eliminating them all and the energy source.”
Patelliday is starting to see the bigger picture here. “I see, but how do we do it?”
“Yeah!” Billy scoffs. “What are we just gonna blow up the energy source and the robots with it?”
Momo drops her fist into her open palm, settling on Billy’s idea. “That’s exactly what we’ll do!”
Billy’s bewildered eyes widen to the size of dinner plates. “What?!”
Momo turns back to the others, laying out the entire plan. “Here’s what we’ll do. Jiro, Tsuyu, Mina, and Hagakure will lead my father and the others to safety. You all need to escape the resort as quickly as you can.”
Mina looks to Donovan for clarification. [“Can we do that?”]
[“One moment.”] Donovan types away at the computer, scanning through the various screens and camera feed. “Yes! Our pathways seem to be clear for now!”
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
“Good.” Momo nods, relieved to hear that they’ll have no problems with escaping.
Ochaco pulls on her sleeve. “So, what does that mean for the rest of us?”
“You, me, Patelliday and Billy will make our way to the generator room and set the energy source to self-destruct.”
“No way!” Billy writes it off immediately. “That’s insane! I don’t want to go!”
Patelliday places a hand on the teen’s shoulder. “It’s that or being left behind.”
Billy considers it for a moment before giving into the original plan.
However, he’s not the only one not set on this place. [“No, I forbid it!”] Mr. Yaoyorozu protests. [“You can’t be serious to think that I’d allow you to put yourself in danger like this, Momo?! I won’t stand for it! You need to escape with the rest of us, pronto!”]
“No!” Momo shouts reaffirming her stance on the issue. “We have to be the ones to do it. The rest of you are far closer to the exit than we are, and we can easily make our way to the generator room… This is the only way.”
[“Momo…”] Mr. Yaoyorozu never felt more proud or worried about her bravery before, and he’s not sure what to make of it. But he knows that when his daughter has a specific goal in mind, she’ll work hard to achieve it. After all he didn’t raise a quitter now did, he?
Momo turns to address Billy. “You do know where it is, right, Billions?”
He gives a hesitant nod of his head. “Y-yeah.”
“Good.”
[“Now, wait just a moment!”] Donovan cuts in, ready to object against this plan. [“I can’t allow you to do this either! I mean you’re implying blow up the energy source!”]
“That I am.”
[“But what about my resort?! You’ll take it down along with the Squids!”]
[“Donovan.”] Mr. Yaoyorozu pulls Donovan away from the mic. [“Let’s cut to the end here, your resort was going to sink one way or another. Better it go out like this than with thousands of VIP guests.”]
Knowing he can’t really argue, Donovan easily gives in, grumbling under his breath. [“Very well. But I don’t know if the insurance will cover for this.”]
“Very good.” Momo turns to address the rest of her crew. “Are you all with me as well?”
Ochaco nods, pumping her fists at her sides. “You bet I am!”
Patelliday is just as ready. “I’m not one to object to a good plan.”
Billy, however, is a different story. “Do I have to go?”
All three respond back with a definite answer. “Yes!”
[“And don’t worry about your pops!”] Mina gleefully sings over the comms. [“We’ll get him and everyone else out of here, safe and sound!”]
Momo nods in appreciation at the camera. “Thank you.”
[“And Momo.”] Mr. Yaoyorozu cuts back in with worry dripping out of his voice. [“Please be careful.”]
“No need to worry, father. It’ll be fine.”
Ochaco taps Billy on the shoulder. “So, what’s the fastest route to the generator from here?”
He points out towards the beach, “Um, across the water.”
“G-great. Any suggestions on how we can get across?”
They all pause to think but after a moment or two Patelliday spots the jet skis docked just outside. “I have a few ideas.”
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“Chop! Chop! Chop! Let’s move people! We don’t got all day!” Mina shouts, herding the stragglers through the resort’s upper levels. “Don’t shove but do hurry it up!”
Tsuyu hops over to Jiro who’s carefully listening in to their surroundings. “Anything?”
Jiro shakes her head, trying to listen in. “Nothing. The coast is clear for now.”
Hagakure rushes over after running up ahead. “Just scouted ahead, I think I found the exit and it’s still in one piece!”
Mr. Yaoyorozu smiles in relief. “Such wonderful news.” he turns towards Donovan who is lagging behind. “You coming, Donovan?”
“Of course, I am.” Donovan somberly spits back as he takes in every detail of the pipe-lined walls, boltheads, and massive windows. “I’m just trying to memorize what I can before it’s all blown away…” He pauses, regretfully snickering to himself. “Talk about flushing away good money.”
At the same time, Tsuyu checks in with Mina. “Do you really think they’ll be alright?”
“They gotta be.” Mina affirms. “Ochaco can kick some serious butt and Yaomomo’s the resident genius. They’ll be fine.”
Nearby, Jiro jolts in place as she picks up on some strange noises. “What was that?!”
Hagakure is almost too scared to ask. “What was what?”
Jiro listens in carefully. “I hear…banging and glass cracking.”
“Cracking?” Donovan wonders, going quiet and trying to listen in. “I don’t hear anything.”
“It’s not near us, it's…” Jiro focuses in on the loud inconsistent banging. “It’s coming from outside! The Cyber Squids I think they’re up to something!!”
Mina gasps. “Like what?!”
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“Woooaaah!!” Ochaco lets out a gleeful whoop as she races her jet ski across the indoor lagoon. “Now this is pod racing!!”
Momo speeds past her while on her own jet ski. “Pod? Racing? What is that?”
Ochaco pouts, pitying Momo’s lack of enlightenment. ‘She didn’t get it…’
“Waaah! Wait for me!” Billy cries out trying to catch up to them, but in his haste to do so his jet ski swerves nearly running over Patelliday who’s swimming up beside him.
“Woah now!” Patelliday ducks underneath the water, and pops back into view from the other side. “Watch where you’re driving that thing sonny, or I’ll have to right you up for attempted vehicular manslaughter!”
From above the sound of something heavy banging against a glass frame echoes across the resort.
Billy slows to a stop along with everyone else. “What was that?”
They all peer up and gasps in shock at all the cyan lights surrounding the dome of the resort looking like stars in the night sky while a chorus of glass being pounded, and cracking resonates from every direction.
“What are they doing?!” Ochaco gasps.
But it’s too late to figure out what because portions of the dome finally break away and massive amounts of ocean water flood inside like an underwater tsunami.
“They broke in!!” Ochaco screams in response to the encroaching tidal wave!
“It’s a tidal wave!” Momo cries out in terror.
While Billy’s already a sobbing mess of tears and snot. “We’re gonna drown!!”
WHAM!!! The wave swallows them up in a spinning torrent of cold ocean water, debris, sand, and Cyber Squids.
“Srsrsrsrsrsr!! Srsrsrsrsrsr!! Srsrsrsrsrsr!!” The nearby Cyber Squids launch themselves at the drowning teens, taking advantage of their helplessness.
“Oh, no you don’t!” Patelliday roars, swooping in and tearing them apart. But more Squids are on the way, forcing Patelliday to order the others to escape. “Get going!” And he swims off to stop the incoming forces.
Ochaco and the others desperately try to hold their breaths while also fighting against the rushing waves and torrents.
Momo reaches towards her glowing stomach and after a moment of struggling she Creates a breathing apparatus for each of them. The breathing apparatus being a see-through mask that covers the nose and mouth while oxygen filters protrude out from the sides near the base of the chin.
She practically shoves them into Ochaco’s and Billy’s faces, much to their surprise.
But their surprise soon turns to relief as the ocean water is drained out and replaced with fresh air.
“Gah!” Ochaco gasps while taking a big inhale. “T-thanks, Momo!”
Billy coughs, clearing his throat of sea water. “Y-yeah. Thanks.”
She nods in response, happy to be of service.
Since they no longer have to worry about drowning, the trio swim upward, through the torrents and debris until they manage to break through to the choppy surface.
Peering round they can see Patelliday’s tail splashing against the water in the distance as he fights off another patrol of Cyber Squids.
Ochaco bats the water, grabbing Billy’s attention. “Which way is the generator?!”
“Um.” He peers around, trying to get his bearings. “I think it’s that way!” He points.
Momo spots their jet skis, which popped back up to the surface after they were washed off of them. “Let’s hurry!” She swims towards them with Ochaco and Billy following behind her.
They climb aboard their jet skis, but Billy climbs on to Momo’s since his is flipped over and he struggles to get it over.
As they rev up their skies, Ochaco shouts back for them Plumber. “Patelliday!!”
Patelliday hears her, and so slashes away the last Cyber Squid and takes off before more can show up. “I’m coming, don’t you worry about me!”
He follows along as they all race atop the rising water that’s now completely flooded the indoor beach and has started to rise past the first levels of the hotels and restaurants.
Billy leads them into a passage that sloped downward but due to the rushing water it now an insane waterslide, forcing them to hold on for dear life as they’re thrown this way and that as they descend further and further into the resort.
But through all the flying water and crashing waves, Ochaco quickly realizes that they’re quickly coming to a dead-end.
“We’re gonna crash!” She screams, unable to slow her descent.
“Jump kids!” Patelliday shouts.
Ochaco jumps as does Momo who pulls Billy into the water. Their skies race forward, pulled along with the waves. And they crash headfirst into the wall, crumbling up like tin cans against the sturdy wall.
The teens and Patelliday watch their jet skis crash into the wall from underneath the waves and rising water level.
With their breathing masks still on Momo turns to Billy and asks. “Which way?!”
He looks taking in the scene before him, of being in an underwater passageway. After a moment of familiarizing himself with the underwater scene he leads them down a narrow passageway. “This way!”
They all swim after him, quickly passing him up as they dive through the passageway. It’s dark forcing them to pull themselves along the pipes that are lining the wall to move forward. Occasionally a red light from the emergency system manages to spark to life, illuminating the dark cold water around them.
As they swim forward, Ochaco spots a familiar gash inside the wall while a flight of stairs sits across from it, leading up to another passageway.
She quickly recognizes the scene, it’s where they first got separated from the others. “Hang on, I know where we are!”
She hurries ahead and down into the next passageway.
The others quickly follow and soon they too recognize the scene as they find themselves inside a large corridor with a set of massive iron doors, sealed at the end of the hallway while a dim purple light illuminates from behind the portal window.
“This is it!” Billy gleefully announces. “See I told you I knew where it was.”
Ochaco swims right up to the massive iron doors, searching for a way to open it. “How do we get inside?”
“Allow me.” Patelliday politely offers with a kind smile.
Ochaco moves away, offering him the space.
Patelliday swims over to the side of the door where a control panel lies.
Ochaco’s excitement grows expecting him to pull out some cool alien gadget to get the door open. But much to her surprise and disappointment he just rips his claws right through the panel, slashing it to pieces.
The panel sparks and after a moment the massive doors peel away, opening up for them.
Ochaco can’t believe her eyes, nor how anti-climactic that was.
Patelliday flashes her a smile as he swims through. “Technology can be very delicate, don’t you know?”
“Somehow, I don’t think that it should have applied here.” Ochaco grumbles to herself.
Momo swims past her, offering to go inside with her. “I now see why Midoriya refers to that form as Ripjaws.”
“Yeah, no kidding.” Ochaco smiles. “Deku sure knows how to name em.”
Billy swims up behind them, scowling to himself in annoyance at the mention of Deku.
They find themselves in a large chamber filled to the brim with pipes that line the walls like spider webs going in all directions from a single point high above the water’s surface. All congregating at a purple light that reflects down through the water.
The group quietly swim up and breach the surface of the relatively calm water to find that the chamber extends high above their heads while a balcony crosswalk sits high above their heads while a massive generator sits between the interaction crosswalks in the middle of the chamber.
Momo eyes the glowing machine suspicion. “Is that it?”
“It has to be.” Ochaco responds.
“How do we get up there, though?”
Billy peers around the room and as he looks further up he sees something that nearly makes him piss his pants. “What about them?!” He begs in a hushed whisper of a cry.
The others peer up and nearly plunge back into the water at what they see.
Hibernating Cyber Squids line the ceiling and walls, their tentacles entangled in the pipes holding them in place while their usually bright glowing heads lie dim and still, unmoving and unresponsive.
“Are they…asleep?” Ochaco questions, not sure if it’s a trick of sorts.
“I…think they’re recharging.” Momo theorizes. “Absorbing the energy source’s light like solar panels.”
“I think you’re right.” Patelliday affirms, observing how the bright purple light reflects around the entire chamber. “And if that’s the case they must be conserving their power, meaning that they’ll be unaware of our presence.”
Which means this is their chance, and Ochaco’s ready to take it. “Then let’s get in there and do this quietly.”
“Are you insane?!” Billy shouts at a whisper. “I ain’t going up there!”
“You have too!” Momo defends. “You’re the only one that knows how to reprogram the machine to self-destruct. You have too!”
“No!” he turns his nose away in defiance. “You can’t make me.”
Ochaco scowls in annoyance. “Huh.” With an idea in mind, she swims right up to Billy.
Seeing her approach, he smirks, eyeing her lecherously. “Do you think you can change my mind?”
She smirks back in defiance. “I don’t have to.”
She presses her fingers against his arm and then she gives him a little shove upwards.
“Waah!” Billy nearly screams put in terror as he begins to float upward like a balloon.
“Shhh!” Ochaco shushes him, watching him flail about in the air.
He clamps his mouth shut as he continues his ascent up towards the walkway.
“Release.”
And with that Billy falls and he just barely manages to grab the railing before he plummets back down to the water.
While Billy struggles to hoist himself up, Ochaco turns to the others and politely asks. “Who’s next?”
They all go up at once, landing softly onto the walkway just after Billy finally managed to hoist himself up and is now keeled over trying to catch his breath.
“N-never… Do that…again.” He begs in between breaths.
Momo strolls past him, making her way to the massive purple glowing generator. She finds the control console and with a flip of a switch the panels that are covering the energy source fold away and a flood of purple light invades the room like a star.
“Is that the energy source?” Momo awes in amazement as she lays her eyes on the purple glowing orb seated inside the machine.
“It is.” Patelliday confirms.
“Wow, it’s…amazing. I can almost see why they thought it was alien technology.”
Patelliday and Ochaco share a humorous yet stressed look.
But Patelliday is quick to get things going. “Do your thing sonny.” he gives Billy a pat on the shoulder and a light shove forward.
Billy brushes his hand away. “I’m going. I’m going.”
His clothes drip water onto the walkway as he walks forward in his expensive dress shoes. He steps onto one of the puddles and slips, hitting the floor hard and way too loudly.
Everyone freezes in place as the clang of Billy’ fall echoes through the generator room. Each of them holding their breaths while the Cyber Squids remain still and unresponsive.
However, the Cyber Squids remain as they were, still and silent.
Realizing that they’re not in danger yet, the others throw Billy very accusing glares.
He sheepishly grins in response. “S-sorry.”
He slinks his way, carefully, to the generator and begins typing away at the controls, preparing the self-destruct sequence by rerouting the power back at the energy source itself. Essentially his plan is to overcharge it and allow it to destroy itself along with the Cyber Squids.
With Billy at work, Momo tries to think ahead of what will happen next. “Alright, Ochaco, we better prepare a defense. I’m sure once the Cyber Squids figure out what we’re up to they will undoubtedly try to stop us.”
“You got.” Ochaco raises her fist in determination. “Don’t you worry, Momo. I won't let a single one of these things get near that-”
“Finished!” Billy cheers, puffing his chest out in prideful glee.
The girls take a pause, needing a moment to process what he said. ‘ALREADY!?!’
Patelliday cups his chin in awe at the boy’s handy work. “That was quick.”
Billy’s smirk grows that much cockier. “What can I say, my Know How isn’t like any other.”
Ochaco scans the controls. “Where’s the timer?”
“Right here.” Billy points to the glowing red counter. “Look, see? I already set it to give us one whole hour to get out here.”
“An hour?”
“Yeah. What you thought I’d make it something stupidly short like two minutes? Please I’m not some random script writer who’s just trying to make unnecessary tension. Let’s be real here.”
Momo couldn’t agree more with Billy’s logic. “That’s perfect. We’ll set the self-destruct and escape the way we came in.”
Ochaco and Patelliday nod in agreement to the plan.
As does Billy. “Well since that’s settled, I’ll just go ahead and activate it. Boop!” He presses the last button, activating the self-destruct.
The moment he flips it on, the alarm system blares across the entire resort.
*WARNING!!! WARNING!!! EVACUATE!!! EVACUATE!!! WARNING!!! WARNING!!! EVACUATE!!! EVACUATE!!!*
Everyone’s jaw drops as what feels like a chilling blizzard freezes them in place.
It takes Billy a minute to realize what just occurred. “Oops I forgot to shut off the alarm system.”
“YOU FORGOT!?!”
“Srsrsrsrsrsr. Srsrsrsrsrsr. Srsrsrsrsrsr.”
Their hearts drop as the room begins to be filled up by cyan hues as the Cyber Squids begin to awaken from their slumber.
Billy cries out at the sight of them. “Oh, no!”
Ochaco backs away as they begin to stir. “I think we disturbed their nap time.”
“Srsrsrsrsrsr!! Srsrsrsrsrsr!! Srsrsrsrsrsr!!” The Cyber Squids attack, the nearest ones launch themselves at the teens and Plumber.
Momo, Ochaco, and Patelliday meet them head on, tearing through them quickly and easily.
But they don’t have a moment to bask in their easy win as more and more Cyber Squids launch themselves down at the group.
“Waah!” Billy scrambles away back towards the generator.
“Srsrsrsrsrsr!! Srsrsrsrsrsr!! Srsrsrsrsrsr!!” A single Cyber Squid lands down onto the crosswalk, separating Billy from the others.
“Aaaaaaahhh!” He screams.
“Srsrsrsrsrsr!!” The Cyber Squid swings its sharp tentacles forward.
“Waahh! Aaaaahh!!” Billy cries, ducking down so the tentacles pierce the generator’s controls instead of him.
“Billions!” Ochaco rushes over and smashes the squid away with a glowing fist. “You’re not hurt are you?”
“No.” He responds while pulling himself off the ground. “I’m good. But I can’t say the same for the controls.”
His jaw drops when his eyes land on the counter. “WAH!!! We only got five minutes!!”
Ochaco looks and her heart stops when she sees the seconds counting down from five minutes. “How?! What did you do?!”
“I didn’t do anything!” Billy cries, offended by her accusations. “Blame them!!”
Momo grabs Billy and Ochaco’s hand, pulling towards the railing. “We have to leave!” She pulls them toward the ledge, but she stops inches away as she spots swirling cyan lights in the water below. “We’ve been cut off!!”
“Srsrsrsrsrsr!! Srsrsrsrsrsr!! Srsrsrsrsrsr!!” More Cyber Squids jump down onto the catwalk, cutting them off from the generator with their tentacles poised to strike.
Patelliday backs away from them. “I think it’s time for a new plan.”
“We don't have any more time!” Ochaco screams. “So, then we run!!”
Pulling Momo and Billy along she takes off down the walkway with Patelliday in toe.
“Srsrsrsrsrsr!! Srsrsrsrsrsr!! Srsrsrsrsrsr!!” The Cyber Squids give chase, seeing an opportunity of attack.
Patelliday swings around and slashes his claws through the floor and railing and with a swift kick he knocks part of the walkway down along with a few Cyber Squids.
“Hurry!” He shouts, sprinting after the teens. “That won’t hold them off for long!”
Or at all as they already begin to stretch across and leap over to the other side.
“It’s a dead-end!” Ochaco shouts as she, Momo, and Billy stop at an overlook that peers into the submarine hangar bay.
“And we’re gonna be dead in a minute!” Billy cries, nearly collapsing due to his shaking knees.
Momo quickly scans for a solution, and she finds it as she spots the docked Undersea Mantaray in the hangar below. “There! We can escape in that!”
Billy, the ever downer, brings up a good point. “How do we get down there?!”
Without even thinking, Ochaco fires a Ryou Sphere right at the window, blasting it apart.
“Oh.”
“Let’s move it kids!” Patelliday shouts as the Cyber Squids near.
Ochaco makes herself and the others weightless, allowing them to float down harmlessly while Patelliday just goes ahead and leaps down, rolling to a stop on the ground below.
“Release!” Ochaco and the others drop, landing on their feet.
“Srsrsrsrsrsr!! Srsrsrsrsrsr!! Srsrsrsrsrsr!!” The Cyber Squid are already upon them, towering over them from the overlook above.
“Hurry!” Ochaco yells as she fires a Ryou Sphere right at them, blasting them away
Momo and Billy rush for the submarine, running past Patelliday who opted to stick by Ochaco to help cover their escape.
“Srsrsrsrsrsr!! Srsrsrsrsrsr!! Srsrsrsrsrsr!!” Despite her initial attack a number of Cyber Squids remain undeterred as they lunge down at the heroes.
Ochaco dodges the tentacles as best as she can but the best she can do is take the hits with a block. But during each block she’ll press her fingers against the metal, making the squid weightless and easier for her to grab and swing around at its allies.
Meanwhile, Patelliday iconicly rips through each incoming Cyber Squid with his sharp claws and powerful jaws.
Both doing what they can to buy Momo and Billy enough time to get the sub started.
Momo hurries into the sub. “Can you get it to work?!”
“Maybe?” Billy hurries inside, scrambling towards the controls.
He sits his butt down in a flash and fiddles with the ignition and immediately he is met with the sound of the engine roaring to life and the turbines warming up. “I got it!” He cheers and begins to steer the submarine downward.
Meanwhile, Patelliday and Ochaco can hear the submarine roar to life as it begins to slowly descend into the water.
“That’s our ride.” Patelliday jokes.
Ochaco makes herself weightless just as Patelliday grabs her and launches her up onto the roof of the submarine. “Sorry to dash and run but I know a sinking ship when I see it.” Ochaco quips as she fires a pair of Ryou Spheres down on the charging Cyber Squids, blasting them back and giving Patelliday enough covering fire to escape.
Patelliday hurries to the sub, passing by a control panel as he does so. Without even needing to think about it he slashes the controls before hopping onto the sub where Ochaco’s holding the door for him.
As they slip inside the controls spark and pop, activating the hangar doors to close and seal the open portal shut.
The metal curtain shuts the portal completely trapping the Cyber Squids inside without an escape.
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From inside the sub Patelliday and Ochaco crash into the haul.
“Punch it!”
Billy slams down on the steering wheel, coaxing the sub to descend faster.
However, the further they plunge the more water seeps in through the already preexisting cracks and dents.
“Ah!” Billy screams as water spits at his face. “At this rate we’ll drown before we get blown up!”
“No!” Momo shouts, not willing to let it all end her.
She squats down away from Billy, lifting her shirt up as her stomach begins to glow brightly.
Ochaco watches her work, not sure what she could be up to. “Momo…!”
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“Srsrsrsrsrsr!! Srsrsrsrsrsr!! Srsrsrsrsrsr!!” The Cyber Squids scratch and pull at the sealed door, prying it open, fully intent on hunting their targets down to the ends of the Earth.
Or at least till the end of the countdown
BOOM.
The energy source shines brighter and brighter, purple lightning dancing off of it before it unleashes its full power and explodes like an imploding star.
The blazing explosion rips through the resort working its way from the generator room, through the pipes, hallways, hotels, and even the dome! Everything goes up in flames and heat and power. The resort’s foundation gives away causing the resort to fall and be lost to the Mariana Trench along with its other hidden treasures and tragedies.
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Even from above, watching from top the large floating platform; those that escaped along with the Mina, Tsuyu, Hagakure, Jiro, Mr. Yaoyorozu and Donovan watch the explosion rip through the ocean’s surface.
Water gushes out up to the sky in a brilliant display as if an underwater volcano erupted or hundreds of naval mines went off all at once!
Water and rubble rains down, soaking the girls and the adults as pieces of the resort rise to the surface amongst the crashing surface and heat.
“Already!?” Hagakure gasps, relieved to know they got everyone out in time.
Tsuyu scans the water. “But they’re not here yet!”
Mina pales. “You don’t think they were still in there do you?!”
“That can't be!” Mr. Yaoyorozu cries, rushing to the edge of the water.
But Jiro grabs him just in case he tries to dive in and search for her.
“Momo! My Momo where are you?!”
Donovan nearly falls to his knees as not only his resort but also his grandson go up in smoke. “Billy…”
Mina’s antennas twitch as she gets a sudden urge of excitement. “Wait, they’re here!”
Jiro excitedly looks out towards the water. “Where? I don’t see them.”
On que, a massive, inflated bubble that looks like a blow up raft was folded in on itself pops out of the water, floating above the water like a beach ball.
The ball begins to deflate as it's ripped apart as Ochaco rips her head out, taking a deep breath of fresh air. “Oh, my head. It feels like it’s gonna explode.” Her cheeks puff up as she holds back her lunch, but it’s no good as she throws up off the side of the deflating bubble.
“Sorry about that.” Momo apologizes, rubbing Ochaco’s back. “It was all I could think of to save us.”
“Don’t apologize.” suggests Patelliday. “You’re quick thinking saved us. We or at least you all would have drowned in that submarine if you didn’t act as quickly as you had.”
Momo smiles, becoming bashful under all this praise.
“Oh…” Billy groans, his head pounding from the sudden change in pressure. “I never…wanna do that again.”
“Billy!!/Momo!!” Donovan and Mr. Yaoyorozu call out, waving them over.
Mina let’s out an exhausted yet happy sigh. “They sure know how to make things exciting.”
Tsuyu nods in agreement. “That they do. Kero.”
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Ochaco collapses falling onto her behind as she finally gives into exhaustion. “What a day!” She grumbles, now that the hot sun is once again beating down on her.
The resort staff sit atop the platform, waiting for the coast guard, while rubble and debris continue to float up to the surface.
Hagakure sits on the edge, her feet in the water as she pats the head of the sea turtle that inhabited the indoor lagoon. It apparently escaped unscathed when the dome was smashed open.
“Are you sure you guys are, okay? Jiro asks, leaning against the railing alongside Momo.
“No need to worry.” Momo promises. “We’re just tired, that's all.”
“I’m sure.”
“But what happened down there?!” Mina begs. “What was with that explosion?! Why didn't you guys give yourselves an hour or something?!”
Ochaco’s smile cracks. “Let’s just say we had some technical difficulties.” She throws Billy an accusing glance.
He throws his hands up in defense. “Hey, don’t look at me! No way was that my fault!”
While the teens relax and rest up, Donovan stands out on the edge of the platform watching gloomily as his bubbles and pieces of rubble rise to the surface. “Two billion dollars literally down the drain.”
Mr. Yaoyorozu places a comforting hand on his friend’s shoulder. “I am sorry my friend and although this may be a bad time. But after much consideration I have chosen not to endorse your resort.”
“Indorse, no. But repay, yes.”
Mr. Yaoyorozu takes a pause. “Excuse me?”
Donovan throws Mr. Yaoyorozu a nasty glare. “Be expecting a call from my lawyers Hiroshi. After all, it was your daughter’s plan that resulted in my resort’s destruction.”
Mr. Yaoyorozu is taken back but with a push of his glasses he quickly composes himself and counters. “You may take this to court but let’s get the facts straight first. If you recall it was in fact your Grandson’s idea to activate a self-destruct sequence. And it was you that stole unlicensed technology without reporting it. So be my guest, sue me. But I can guarantee you that you will not win.”
Donovan scowls in frustration, unable to fight back against Mr. Yaoyorozu’s sound logic.
Mina slides over and sits down beside Ochaco, breathing out an exhausted sigh. “That was crazy.”
“No, kidding.” Ochaco laughs. “Too bad nobody will ever believe us though.”
“I don't know, someone might.” Mina smirks, flashing Ochaco a knowing look.
And Ochaco does know, she knows exactly who’ll believe their story. “Yeah, I guess Deku would.”
“Yup! Haha!”
Billy scowls as he overhears that name again! And the day’s stressful events and agonizing experiences all boil up and explode as he hears that name again!!
“Deku.” He growls as he tries to imagine what this womanizing scumbag looks like. “I swear if we ever meet, I promise that I’ll show you and everybody else that you’re nothing compared to me. Do you hear me, Deku?! Because I curse you!! Curse you!!”
Momo gives Billy a strange look. “What is he shouting about?”
Jiro shrugs, not wanting to tell her. “Nothing, it's just crazy talk.”
In the meantime, Mr. Yaoyorozu approaches the supposed Interpol agent as he gazes out towards the open ocean. “Agent Patelliday.”
Patelliday turns to face the man.
Mr. Yaoyorozu bows his head in respect. “I wanted to thank you properly for keeping your word and bringing my daughter back to me safely.”
Patelliday smiles back. “You shouldn’t be thanking me. Your daughter saved not just me but everybody.”
“That she did.” Mr. Yaoyorozu grins.
“You should be proud. At this rate she’ll become one the finest heroes around.”
“As a father I couldn’t be prouder of her.” He peers over at her while she laughs away with her friends. “But I still can’t help but worry.”
“As you should. But having those who worry and support us, only motivates us that much more to come back to them.”
Mr. Yaoyorozu smiles at that, after all he couldn’t agree more. “By the way, I seem to recall that your submarine was inside the resort when it blew up. Will you be needing a ride home? If so, I'd be more than happy to take you on my plane.”
“No, need. My ride will be pulling up any minute now.”
Everyone overhears and pauses, wondering what that could mean when there isn’t a boat or plane to be seen for miles.
Jiro scratches her cheek in confusion. “Your ride?”
Suddenly a strange looking submarine rises out from under the waves. It’s the size of two city buses, with a white paint job and heavily armor layering it.
Ochaco’s eyes widen in shock as she immediately recognizes the submarine to be an alien spaceship acting like it’s a submarine.
The side door slides open and a short man, or rather alien, with insect-like features pokes his head out and steps forward showing everyone his red armor. “Um, Mr. Patelliday, sir. I’m here to pick you up.” The insect man greets nervously under everyone’s curious gaze.
Patelliday grins, throwing the bug a wide grin. “Perfect timing, Hobble!”
He turns to find everyone staring at the strange sub. “It’s the newest model.” He lies, ensuring they keep their minds away from aliens. “Will be trending soon in a few years.”
With that he turns to address the teens one last time. “Now you all take care now, and let my nephew know that I said hello.”
Tsuyu’s smile widens. “We will.”
Jiro nods her head in agreement. “For sure.”
Momo bows her head. “Thank you for everything, Mr. Patelliday.”
“We’ll be seeing ya!” Mina grins.
He finally reaches Ochaco and with a smile he praises her for her actions. “You really impressed me out there, young lady. You’re currently going places, I can tell. And I’m sure your career will blow everything else out of the water.”
Ochaco chuckles at the pun. “Thank you, sir. That means a lot coming from you. I hope we’ll meet again.”
“Oh, don’t worry. I’m sure we will. After all,” he jumps and lands aboard the sub. “It's a small world after all.” He throws Ochaco a subtle wink just before the door closes and seals itself shut.
Patelliday strides into the shuttle as it begins to descend back into the water.
Hobble scurries up beside him. “S-sorry, for being late but I had to wait on her before I could leave.”
Patelliday frowns, not sure who he is referring to. “Who exactly?”
“That’d be me.” Responds a young female’s voice.
From out of the cockpit a seemingly human girl with porcelain skin, gold-blonde hair, and fuchsia eye steps out to greet him. She’s wearing a black polo-dress with a red collar and a red star on the chest. With white knee-high socks with black and red converse.
He assumes she’s a disguised alien as she steps forward to greet him.
“Sorry it’s my fault.” She smiles in apology. “But I had to try some real Japanese sushi before I head back to the Academy. Eheheh! *Snort!* Eheheh!”
“Sushi, huh?” Patelliday considers the idea. “Hm! Maybe I should pick some up next time I'm in the neighborhood.” he can only hope that it’ll be soon.
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Ochaco and the others watch the submarine/spaceship sink into the ocean and disappear from sight.
Once it's gone from view Ochaco sits back and reflects over her day. ‘This was insane! This was supposed to be a fun girls’ trip. Heck we’ve only been here for less than a day and I’m already going home! Awww! Next time I go out for some fun I better not get dragged into some crazy misadventure or whatever!’
*Bring!! Bring!!*
Ochaco jerks in place before relaxing that it’s her phone that's ringing.
“Hm? I wonder who texted me?”
The text reads: [Hey, girl! Are you up to having a misadventure? Let’s meet here in Tokyo tomorrow, I need to speak to you about your poor performance in school. Talk about pathetic. Hahaha!]
Ochaco scowls at her phone, already annoyed with the message’s sender. “Seriously?! Can’t I catch a break?!”
THE PREVIEW:
Izuku: ACHOO!!! A-ACHOO!!!
Ripjaws: You sick or something? You’ve been sneezing all day.
Izuku: No, no, I’m fine. *Sniff* I guess someone's just been talking about me. Haha- ACHOO!!!
Ripjaws: They must have had a lot to say about ya then. Whereas, I have a lot to say about next time!
Izuku: Like what?
Ripjaws: How about the fact we’ll be meeting some old friends!
Izuku: Yeah! Wait, who’s that with them?
Ripjaws: I don’t know. I’ve never seen her before.
Izuku: What about that giant robot that’s with her. You think it’s her droid? Or that they’re friends, maybe?
Ripjaws: Um, Izuku I don’t think they’re friends! Ahh! Look out! That thing is on a rampage!
Izuku: Um, w-why is it look at us like that?
Both: Next time: Ch.58 The Visitors!!
Ripjaws: Looks like these old friends are also old flings.
Notes:
And that was Ch.57 Under the Sea. Or more accurately it was my take on “They Lurk Beneath” Ben Ten episode. Speaking of, the creative liberty I took was replacing Donovan’s original grandson, Eddie GrandSmith, with Billy Billions, since Eddie never came back into the series. And plus, both him and Billy have similar designs and backgrounds so I thought it was fine to swap the two. And just to clarify, Billy is a TEENAGER. He is not a teenager stuck in a ten-year-old’s body. But he still acts like one though. I hope to bring him back again somehow even for a few misadventures with the main cast or something.
And I introduced Patelliday!! Woah!! He is one of my favorite Ben Ten characters and I have been dying to introduce him into the story. And don’t you worry I fully intend on him eventually coming back and staying on Earth full time. PROMISE!!!
*So, truth be told but this chapter wasn’t originally gonna be here. Originally, I was gonna save it for the end of this Road Trip Arc but after talking it over with my “editors” we decided it’d be best to put it here instead. It just fits better and helps with the transition into the next chapter.
*Actually, on that note, as of now we only have four, I repeat, FOUR more chapters left of the Road Trip Arc. And then once they’re done, we’ll be jumping right into the Two Heroes movie!! So, get ready for that cause I got some major plans for that movie/arc when we finally get to it! Woah, I’m excited!! Start. The. Countdown!!
And then of course, once the movie is done, then we’ll finally get back to the Forest Training Camp arc.
*So not many easter eggs in this chapter but I did borrow a few scenes from Alien (1979) and Aliens (1986). Like the vents/shootout scene from Aliens and when Mina was searching in the cargo hold is the scene where we first see the Alien in full in the original movie. I guess there were all the shipwrecks down in the trench too from the S.S. Indianapolis and Emilia Earhart’s plane. Oh, and that the resort’s name, Aquania, is straight out from Generator Rex.
*Oh, one reference that probably wasn’t clear was that I based Mr. Yaoyorozu or “Hiroshi Yaoyorozu” off of “Hiroshi Sato” from “Avatar: The Legend of Korra” season 1. Basically, that’s how I imagine Momo’s father to look, sound, and act like.
Chapter 63: The Visitors
Summary:
Hisashi takes Izuku along to meet an old alley. But as it turns out the old alley unexpectedly has an old friend pay them a visit. Too bad an unwanted visitor crashes the scene.
Notes:
See the wait wasn’t that long, right… Right? Well, anyone this one is as per usual another long one. Sorry I get too ambitious with these chapters. So, heads up this is of course another Ben Ten inspired episode but like the last one I took some creative liberties for one of the characters; you’ll know which one when you see them.
***ATTENTION!!!*** Also it has come to my attention that many readers think the Road Trip Arc is just filler. Well, I would argue that around 90% is not. Why? Cause elements from every chapter whether it’s minor or major will reappear throughout the rest of the story. Some might have small roles later and others will affect the story and/or characters in different ways. Basically, a lot of the Road Trip Arc is setup for later chapters, events, arcs, and plot points. They just haven’t fully played out yet. Key word being YET.
*There is a side story that is canon to this story, and it is called “Heroes Never Die; It’s Hero Time, Anytime.” You will find an assortment of one shots that take place in the canon of this main story.
*This story has a TV Tropes page so feel free to check it out.*
https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Fanfic/HeroesNeverDieItsHeroTime
*Disclaimer I do not own the rights to Ben 10 or MHA.*
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
“Yeeeaaah! Haha Ha!” A speed boat races atop the ocean’s dark surface with only the moon and starry night providing any light off its surface while a tall, muscular thief laughs defiantly into the night. “Haha Haha! So, long Japan’s prison system! And hello to the bikini clad babes of Hawaii!! Haha Haha!”
The thief is wearing a black, full body wetsuit with shoulder pads, accompanied by gray gloves and armor-like boots. He has a pale, noseless, white face with grooves under the eyes, sunken eye sockets, and the lower jaw pushed underneath the upper region, giving his face the appearance of a skull. Adding to this are blue eyes with white pupils, red markings on the cranium, a wide set of lipless teeth, and a gold, armor-like piece surrounding his entire lower head. He also wears a belt with his face's design.
Hanzo Suiden drives the speed boat forward with a maddening grin. “We’re home free now boys! Haha Haha!” In his free hand he raises up a heavy duffle bag that weighs down like it was filled to the brim with rocks.
Suiden’s two partners grin back at him from the front of the point. One being a young man of average height and build, and ash blond hair. While the other has the appearance of a humanoid shark, possessing a fin along with sharp teeth and a long jaw. His eyes are yellow, his skin is light blue, and his hair is dark blue in color.
“Your plan was genius, Suiden!” praises Oxy-Man. “We should’ve done this a long time ago!”
Sharkyonara agrees. “Yeah! Now this is a killing, unlike that last job Giran handed us.”
“That won’t happen again, boys!” Suiden reassures while scanning the horizon. “Starting today we take what we want. No more handouts! No more heroes. No more League of Villains! And no more overpowered teenagers!”
The two break into wide toothy grins.
“Now be on the lookout! I don’t want any stinkin heroes sneaking up on us!”
The two goons respond with an enthusiastic salute. “Aye!”
And they race off into the night, putting as much distance as they can between them and the heroes. They’ve actually been cruising along for a good while now to the point that Japan’s shores can’t even be seen. And the boat’s GPS unit can confirm that they’re far from any dock. All the while they all keep a lookout, looking for signs of ships or heroes that they’ll have to avoid.
While looking out to the horizon, however, Sharkyonara spots something odd floating in the distance. “Hey? What is that?”
“Eh?” The others peer over and do a double-take as they take in the icy sheen of the almost mountain-like object floating in the middle of the ocean.
Oxy-Man stares up at the ice mountain in shock and awe. “Is that a glacier?”
Suiden breaks into a devious grin. “Eh. Perfect.” He redirects the boat and takes off for the glacier where he pulls up beside it, and anchors them to the icy mass.
Suiden states. “This is perfect, we’ll float along with the glacier until we get clear.” They’ll let the current take them, it’ll get them away from Japan and they can save their fuel supply for their boat.
“Good idea!” Oxy-Man hops atop the glacier, nearly slipping on the snowy-icy surface.
“For sure.” Sharkyonara pulls himself atop the glacier as well. “We can hide out here for a while, especially with our Quirks.”
“Exactly!” Suiden agrees. “For now, let’s check out the new digs.”
They go ahead and climb up the rest of the glacier, making their way to the top. The top is mostly flat with a few, seemingly smooth masses of ice poking out from the icy surface.
The three trudge forward, having themselves a look around. Sharkyonara heads towards one of the nearby masses of ice only for the ground to give out from underneath him, shattering away with a crack.
“Waaah!!” He screams out in surprise as he free falls down into the glacier, coming to a fast stop as he hits something hard, causing a loud metal clank to echo out!
He shields his head as the overhanging ice layer shatters away creating a small crater inside the glacier.
Suiden and Oxy-Man rush over to see what happened.
“Quiet idiot!” Suiden chides angrily. “What if Selkie or Gang Orca are out looking for us?! They might have heard that!”
“S-sorry.” Sharkyonara moves to push himself up but stops as his hand presses down on something smooth and cold to the touch. “Hm?” He feels up the metallic surface, sweeping away the shattered ice.
Oxy-Man tries to see what he’s up to. “What are you doing?”
Sharkyonara waves them down. “Check this out!”
Suiden and Oxy-Man share bewildered looks, but they don’t hesitate to slide down the side of the crater to join their partner. They hurry over and find that Sharkyonara has dug out some kind of weird futuristic-looking hatch from inside the glacier.
Oxy-Man pokes at the hatch. “What is that?”
The devious grin on Suiden’s face says that he has an idea of what. “Today might just be our lucky day, boys.”
“Huh?”
“There might be some long-lost treasure in there. Or some secret government weapon.” He moves to open the hatch. “And if there is, someone’s gonna pay a pretty penny for it.”
He raises his hand, manipulating water to spring forth from the ice and ocean to form a watery gauntlet. He slashes his arm down, tearing the gauntlet into the hatch and ripping it open!
Suiden smirks victoriously but he along with the others are taken back as fog and steam pours out from the hatch along with a tall slender figure who is clearly a woman tumbles out with a groan.
The woman collapses to the ice, seemingly weak and exhausted after being so rudely awoken.
Oxy-Man backs away as if the woman was hazardous. “What the hell?!”
Sharkyonara is just as confused. “It’s some dame!”
“Yeah.” Suiden eyes her form, his sneer becoming lecherous as he kneels down to greet her. “What’s a wallflower like you doing here?”
She doesn’t answer and instead peers up at him with a trio of thin rose-pink pupilless eyes.
“Giving me the cold shoulder? Is that really a way to thank your saviors? Why not reward us with a kiss? Haha!”
Her thin narrow eyes glare back, insulted by his callousness.
But Suiden merely smirks back in return. “What’s with that look? Relax, we’re just looking for a bit of fun.” He reaches out to touch her.
In a blink of an eye, she has his hand locked in her grip, as she glares a hole right into the villain’s skull.
Her thin slits for eyes glow within a pink aura.
And before Suiden can even react he finds himself slammed into the ground by invisible force, hitting the ground so hard that it cracks and breaks under the weight.
Oxy-Man and Sharkyonara are taken back by the woman’s unprovoked attack.
“You bitch!” Oxy-Man lunges at her. “Rah-BLEH!!!” He’s taken out, smashed into the wall by a chunk of ice that seemed to move all on its own!
Not sure what’s happening, Sharkyonara cowards away. “Waaah!!” He scrambles up the crater and out onto the glacier where he takes off back towards the boat.
He can see it, he can jump and he’ll be on the boat!
But as he’s about to jump, he finds himself surrounded in an eerie rose-pink aura. It’s like a veil that surrounded his entire being, making him weightless yet paralyzed. Unable to move despite how much he struggles or flails his arms about.
He’s spun around, coming face-to-face with the creature’s intensely dangerous glare. “P-please! I-I was just doing what I was told!”
“Then do as I say.” She scowls, as if finding his mere presence disgusting. “Where can I find the Omnitrix?”
Sharkyonara quivers in fear, his brain unable to work or process what she said.
The woman scowls in anger and launches him away!
“Waaaahh!” He screams into the distance, presumably to land back into the ocean.
“Useless.” She spits in frustration. “Like most humans.”
She scans the horizon and quickly comes upon the villains’ boat. She approaches it, hopping aboard the vessel and having a look around. She quickly discovers the GPS unit, before noticing the stuffed duffle bag seated beside the steering wheel.
Curious, she pulls up the bag and opens it up to find a collection of diamonds stuffed inside; each one gleaming under the moonlight, mirroring the stars.
She quickly concludes that they were stolen, and scowls in disgust. “I hate thieves.” She approaches the side of the boat that’s away from the glacier. “Betraying their own people. Taking what isn’t theirs.” She takes the bag and drops it over the edge, allowing the bag and its contents to plop into the ocean, washing away into the dark depths. “Never earning anything for themselves.”
Meanwhile, a bruised and bloodied Suiden remerges from atop the glacier. He glares down at the woman, summoning a mass of water to engulf his arms in terrifying gauntlets of water.
He lunges at the woman, aiming to strike her down while her back is turned.
She spins around and stops him midair, surrounding him in a pink aura.
Suiden is at a loss for words, his claws are inches from the woman’s head, yet she doesn’t even flinch. She shows no signs of fear, treating him like an annoying bug that’s done nothing but buzz in her ear.
“Thieves.” The woman growls, pulls him closer, keeping him in place like he was a statute. “They should all have their hands removed.” She slides her four-fingered hand across his still watery gauntlets. “Wouldn’t you agree?” She asks, not caring for his answer in the slightest.
As she grabs his wrist, Suiden unleashes a blood curdling wail that echoes out into the night sky. “WAAAAAAaaaahhh!!!”
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Cannon Busters Opening - Showdown
(Beginning Instrumentals)
An open road, a bright sun illuminating the beautiful summer day, and the rush of wind in one’s ears as the Rustbucket cruises by moving across the road like a sports car before zooming past with grace.
We got places to go, things to do, people to see, and we got to get it done right away.
Izuku adjusts his hoodie, tugging it down over his body. All before gripping the dial of the Omnitrix and giving it a shine with his fingers.
So if you on the crew, guess we a team. Thicker than thieves and we all tryna help find a way
Hisashi buttons up his Hawaiian short, before grabbing his respirator and dawning it over his maw. He then snatches up a few loose tickets and pamphlets before tucking them away.
If you know the destination, we making conversation. Time is ticking, sun is setting, we got no time for waiting
Chopper latches his leg to his body, readjusting it. Before his arms pop out and flex about making sure they’re working properly.
Might be the showdown, Looks like it's 'bout to go down
Bust through with the cannon, at the hoedown
(Instrumentals)
Izuku slams down on the Omnitrix! In a flash of green the screen scrolls down to reveal his aliens: Feedback, XLR8, Grey Matter, Four Arms, Ditto, Ripjaws, Terraspin, Water Hazard, Lodestar, Buzzshock, Diamondhead, Big Chill, Heatblast, Stinkfly, and Wildmutt.
Transition into title sequence: HEROES NEVER DIE; IT’S HERO TIME
So, we won't fall, until gravity is gone
Izuku grins falling through the air alongside Rath, Wildvine, Bullfrag, Cannonbolt and several other inhuman silhouettes! As the glow of the sunrise illuminates U.A. in the background!
We've been on this road too long, so long
Hisashi and Izuku stand back-to-back looking away from each other as the scene rotates around them.
The scenes flip in rapid succession with characters standing back-to-back!
(Instrumentals)
To Thirteen and Ochaco!
To Ochaco and All Might!
To All Might and Gran Torino!
And to Gran Torino and Hisashi!
And I can't stop, we can't stop
I'm so far away from home
We've been on this road too long, too long
A legion of villains have their backs to the camera but as the camera slides through their lineup, each of them turn to acknowledge the audience.
Kraab’s claw flexes and clamps nearly clipping the camera.
Rojo folds their arms together and smirks as the camera rolls past.
Sunder raises his axe at the ready.
A Techadon stands tall and proud, towering over the camera.
Nue bares a sharp tooth grin, his eyes gleaming with malice before the camera zooms away and up into to the forbidding sky, through the void of space, through the walls of the command ship, before halting before an all observing Vilgax.
Playing with fire (Fire!)
Take me higher
From up in the air Cinder releases a cloud of flames down upon Rojo below! Rojo cuts through the flames before rocketing up and clashing with the hero in midair!
We're on our way, we're on our way
Undivided (-Vided!)
Gran Torino zooms past, his grin wide, as he slams his feet into the Techadon! The Techadon crashes into the ground, kicking up smoke, but it rises again, unharmed.
And ignited
We're on our way, we're on our way, yeah!
From the smoke cloud, Ochaco leaps back in a spin as Sunder soars after her. Sunder his axe at her but she counters it with a Ryou Sphere!
On our way, we're going
Nue grins madly as he stares down Deku who grins back just as determined and manically.
And no mistakes while we're rolling around town
We just came back round
The Rustbucket bursts forth zooming down the highlighted highway, gracefully zooming past Bakugou, Kirishima, Tsuyu, Hatsume, Kaminari, Jiro, Tokoyami, Shoto, Mina, Hagakure, and Ochaco!
You don't wanna show out
Close up of a smiling Hisashi.
Cut to a closeup of Chopper.
Cut to a closeup of Kraab.
Finally, a close up to a grinning Deku!
Might be a showdown
Deku’s hand slams down on the Omnitrix, the alien green light swallows the screen!
Woo!
Freeze on the image of Deku, Cinder, Chopper, and Kraab posing before the setting sun, their shadows casted far off over the ground towards the camera.
(Illustrated by CreateGunner1209)
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Ch.58 The Visitors
The Tavern of High Charity, an oasis, a rest stop for aliens to hang out and be themselves before moving on with their travels. It is usually a bustling place with swarms of aliens partying it up, drinking, or just purchasing supplies. It’s the kind of place where you’re bound to meet all sorts of characters.
Too bad that’s more of the night scene, as the mornings are as different as apples and oranges. The Tavern is well lit with soft amber lights, it’s quiet, relaxed, and with very few patrons milling about enjoying a quiet Saturday morning. The Tavern is more like a regular family cafe than a bar with how peaceful it is; the perfect setting to enjoy a nice warm breakfast.
Coincidentally, the Midoriyas are doing this themselves, or at least half of them are.
A clearly grumpy Hisashi Midoriya just radiates an air of irritation, his gaze cold and furious, as he chomps down into his eggs like they personally aggravated him before drowning them in scalding coffee.
Sitting across from him is Izuku who nervously watches on as Hisashi takes his annoyance out on the poor eggs and hash browns. Not wanting to provoke him, Izuku just sits there sipping on his blue milk. Apparently, the tavern didn’t have any regular milk so they gave him this, and honestly, it’s not that bad. It kinda tastes like blueberry yogurt with a hint of peach.
“This is so lame!”
Izuku casually peers down at Kraab, who’s bodiless head is propped onto the table.
Kraab makes his displeasure known. “I thought you guys said we were going to a nightclub?! Not this! This is so boring! Where’s the music?! The dancing?! The BOOZES!?!”
Izuku sighs, putting down his glass. “Did you really think they’d have all that stuff when it’s only 10 o’clock in the morning?!”
“Well, not at first.” Kraab admits. “But then I thought: oh, maybe these guys are actually cool! That they were gonna party, no matter what time it is!” He visibility deflates. “But no, you guys are just as stuck up as I thought you were.”
Izuku frowns at that. “You begged us to bring you here, you know.”
“Yeah, but that’s cause I’m bored!” Kraab’s voice drips with sad disappointment, so much so that if he could shed tears then he would be. “After you humiliated me, and turned me into nothing but a head, you bastards locked me up and kept me in the glove compartment! It’s not just humiliating but it’s boring! I’m essentially a hostage who can’t even pick his nose!!”
“YOU DON’T HAVE A NOSE!!! Also, you’re technically under arrest since you are a criminal.”
“Shut up!” Kraab snaps back, with imaginary tears in his eyes. “You know I used to be somebody. I was a killer, an assassin, a bounty hunter. I was feared and respected across the galaxy, traveling the stars for the biggest and baddest bounties out there…”
Izuku could only imagine said bounties Kraab’s targeted and places he’s gone. “Huh, that actually sounds pretty cool.”
“It was!!” Kraab shouts out before deflating again into his depressing slump. “But look at me now. All my personal upgrades and modifications are all gone. Ripped away and turned into molten scrap by some prepubescent boy!”
“Now that was uncalled for!”
Kraab ignores him, however, as he continues to sob about himself. “I’m without purpose! My rep, my career, all down the drain. I mean who would hire a bounty hunter that became a teenage virgin’s hood ornament?!”
Okay if Izuku wasn't offended before, he sure as hell is now. “I’m right here you know!” He yells out with an embarrassed blush.
But Kraab ignores him, continuing to sulk in his own pity party.
Izuku watches him closely, feeling just a little guilty. He may be or was a bounty hunter, a contract killer for hire, but now he really is nothing more than a decorative piece that can talk.
His guilt gets the better of him and so Izuku tries to see if he can at least cheer the android up, even just a little. “Did…did you like bounty hunting?”
Kraab peers up at Izuku, he is hesitant to answer but after a moment of consideration and seeing no harm in it he goes ahead and humors the boy. “Of course, I did! What kind of question is that?! When I was a bounty hunter, I was living life on the edge, doing what I wanted, when I wanted, taking down targets like a badass just because of it!” He pauses, reconsidering his last statement. “Well actually if the price was right, I mean.”
“That…sounds cool.” Izuku plays along, ignoring the fact that Kraab was indeed paid to kill. “So those modifications you mentioned.”
“What about them?”
“Did you really make them yourself?” Izuku is genuinely curious about this, after all it’s not everyday you have a cyborg locked away in a cabinet.
“I sure did!” Kraab confirms with a boast. “I don’t mean to brag but I’m something of an engineer myself. I mean nothing like that pink-haired freakazoid but still.”
Izuku assumes that the pink-haired freakazoid is the one and only Mei Hatsume. “That’s still really impressive though.”
Kraab’s ego instantly inflates. “Of course. It’s what separates me from the rest. Cause of my cybernetic body I was able to adapt faster than anyone else, I could take on any situation with every upgrade. I was evolved, evolved to take on nearly every target!”
Izuku can’t help but point out how untrue that is. “Until me that is.”
Kraab would drop his head if he could. “Yeah…until you that is…”
Realizing he made him feel bad again, Izuku tries to reel the conversation back. “But I still can’t believe you turned your entire body into a machine. Talk about willpower. You must have been really into the idea.”
Kraab…doesn’t outright acknowledge Izuku’s statements. He’s hesitant, turning quiet, taking a pause, losing himself to his thoughts. “Yeah…I guess.”
Izuku frowns at Kraab’s lack of response, finding it both curious yet concerning. “Um, hey, Kraab?”
“Yeah, what now?”
Izuku awkwardly taps his fingers together, trying his best to word his next question. “Why… Why did you become a Bounty Hunter?”
“Why did I?” He stops to think, mulling over it himself while staring out into the distance, lost in the few memories he does have.
Izuku instantly feels guilty, thinking he might have brought up some long forgotten traumatic or even sad memories. He really wants to pull the conversation away but doesn’t want to force it in case he were to upset the bodiless cyborg any further.
And so they sit, Izuku goes back to finish his drink while Kraab stares off into the distance.
By the time Izuku is ready to call it quits on the conversation, it’s actually Kraab that manages to pull him back into it.
“So, um,” Kraab coughs, clearing his throat. “What’s with him? He wake up on the wrong side of the bed or something?”
Izuku peers up back towards his Dad who is still in a grouchy mood while angrily tapping his fork against the empty plate.
Kraab almost finds Hisashi’s irritated expression funny if it weren’t for the fact the Plumber might take his anger out on him if he were to say anything. “He looks like someone threw his favorite Hawaiian shirt into the toilet.”
Izuku can’t help but sheepishly smile at that. “He’s been like that since last night.”
“Really?!” Now that's a surprise for Kraab. “What crawled up his butt?”
“I don’t know.” Izuku admits, trying to recall when it happened. “All I remember is that he got a text during all the commotion yesterday.” But since Izuku had his dad’s phone on him pretty much the whole day, Hisashi didn’t see it until they called it a night. “When I gave him his phone back it was there and ever since he read it, he’s been like this.” He gestures to the irritated Hisashi.
“What was on that text that offended him so badly?”
Izuku gives him a shrug and a shake of his head. “I have no idea. All I got was that he was gonna meet with someone today. Apparently, they wanted to “catch up” or something like that. So, we’re gonna meet them somewhere nearby.”
Kraab reflects over the info, leaving him with only one question. “Wait. Who’s the guy we’re meeting?”
It’s Hisashi that cuts in and responds, answering in a low, almost threatening voice. “A true-blue bastard of a man.” His fiery gaze is able with a righteous fury, his expression grim and vindictive, like a man who’s out to get revenge no matter the cost. “And after today, I’ll finally show him what’s what.”
Izuku and Kraab both let out silent gasps! ‘Are we going to a GRUDGE MATCH!?!’
Did Endeavor challenge him to an all-out fist fight in some random back alley, away from prying eyes?! Is it some old Ex-Partner whose back for revenge after he betrayed the Plumbers?! Or did Principal Nezu text him saying they need to talk about pay cuts?!
Hisashi shoves himself up from his seat, his chair scraping against the floor loudly. “We should get going, we’re meeting up here in the Adachi-district.” There’s a dark look in his eye, similar to a mobster who, after years of searching, finally tracked down the rival gang member that shot his wife and kid. “I don’t want to keep the bastard waiting so we’ll get there early.” A creepy, almost psychotic grin stretches across Hisashi’s lips. “I wanna get a good look at his senile face when I show him up.”
Izuku’s heart stops at the sight of his father’s face, shivering in place as he holds Kraab in his hands.
Both of them watch on as he leads them away with only one raging question in their heads. “Just who is this guy?! And what did he do to you?!”
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Meanwhile, Ochaco is strolling on through another part of the Adachi-district with its narrow winding streets, run-down buildings, and general lack of people whether they be human or otherwise.
“I can’t believe I’m in Tokyo!” Ochaco beams before falling into a state of sulking. “Too bad it’s nowhere near the sights.”
And instead, she finds herself in probably the sketchiest part of town where nobody comes out except for maybe during the middle of the night. And even then, you’d be lucky to come across anybody.
“Whatever. It'll be fine. Besides, I'm almost there.”
She checks her phone’s GPS to make sure, yup she’s almost to the meeting location, the Candy Barrel. Apparently, it’s some shabby bar-like place that specializes in sweets, candy, and the like. It’s also the only reason Ochaco willingly came to this part of town; who can say no to all you can eat sweets?
As she scrolls though her phone an alert pops up; telling her that she got another new message.
Ochaco frowns, her eyes dripping with uncertainty as her finger hovers over the play button. But she swipes the message away, adding it onto the unread pile. All under the name: All Might.
Ignoring the guilt and confusion riding up inside of her she continues on. And soon she finally arrives in front of the creaking old building that looks like it might tip over during the next windstorm. “Looks like I made it.”
“Well look who decided to stop by.” A gruff yet amused voice calls out from a nearby bench. “How’s it going girly?”
Ochaco waves over to him. “Hey, long time no see! How’ve you been holding up?”
“Not too bad, not too bad.”
Ochaco strolls over, taking a seat beside him. “So, you wanted to talk?”
“I did but let's wait a minute. I’m waiting for at least one more to show up.” He scowls in annoyance. “Tch. But they’re freaking late, typical.”
Ochaco sheepishly smiles, a sweatdrop sign at his response. “One more?” She frowns, becoming hesitant and somewhat nervous as a hit of guilt boils up inside.
Taking note of her question, he gives her a very curious frown. “It’s not who you think it is. Besides this one’s really nothing special.” He breaks into a devious malicious grin. “They’re just some no good punk that I had to set straight. Hehe.”
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Hisashi stomps forward, grinding his teeth, his back hunched, and hands stuffed into his pockets. Even with his red Plumber suit on he manages to look like a delinquent who’s out and about, just looking to pick a fight.
It’s so off putting, Izuku makes sure he stays several paces behind.
Izuku has himself a look around and notes that there aren’t any people about. But in all fairness many of the buildings look run down and condemned most likely to be torn down and rebuilt at another time by the city. So, for now they just sit, silent and empty. But either way if there were people about then they certainly are the types to keep to themselves; not wanting to draw attention whether it be from heroes, criminals, or police.
Izuku picks up the pace but again makes sures he stays far enough back from Hisashi; not wanting to give him any reason to be provoked. In doing so Hisashi unintentionally races ahead and around the bend, leaving Izuku’s sight for now.
While Izuku picks up the pace to catch up, a pair of thin rose-pink eyes disdainfully watches him from atop a nearby rooftop before slinking back and out of sight.
Kraab lets out an exaggerated sigh. “This is so humiliating.” He deflates while strapped to Izuku’s back with a spare duffle bag strap that they used to tie around him.
Izuku peers back at him from over his shoulder. “What’s the problem?”
“The problem is that you’re carrying me around like a backpack!!”
“Well how else am I supposed to carry you around? At least this way people think you’re a really shiny fanny pack or something.”
“How is that any less humiliating?!”
“It’s…not.” Izuku admits with a sheepish grin, feeling guilty but yet finding the whole thing kinda humorous.
Kraab sighs again and deflates, figuring he might as well enjoy the fact that he's at least outside.
A large shadow overcast them making Kraab look up.
He lets out a terrified gasp, yelling out in a panic. “Dive forward, now!!”
Upon hearing the urgency in Kraab’s voice, Izuku doesn't even hesitate as he dives forward just as something very heavy chunk of metal slams down onto the street, narrowly hitting him.
“WHAT THE HECK!?!” Izuku cries out in shock as a smashed car lies where he once stood.
“Good thing you dodge!” Kraab breathes, just as panicked.
“Yeah! T-thanks for saving me.”
Kraab would blush if he could. “Well, I didn’t do it to save you. I did it to save myself, cause if you got smashed then so would I.”
Izuku doesn't comment on that but instead draws his attention to the figure hopping down from the nearby rooftop.
The person in question is a woman who is either an alien or a human with a reptilian-like quirk. She has a slim frame with mint green skin with two tentacles protruding out from the base of her skull, and a trio of thin rose-pink eyes. Her hands are composed of four long fingers, a long tentacle-like tail swishes down past her bird like-ankles and feet. While also wearing a tightly form fitting blue jumpsuit.
Izuku scrambles up to his feet, back away in case the reptilian woman means any harm. “A friend of yours?”
Kraab gives a shake of his head. “If she was, I don’t remember her.”
The reptilian woman scowls, her trio of eyes glowing pink as she raises her four-finger hand upward.
At the same time Izuku finds himself surrounded by the same rose-pink aura and a second later his feet leave the ground as he’s hoisted into the air.
“Woah!” He yelps, trying to hold his balance despite not being in control. “'Telekinesis?! This would be kinda cool if she wasn’t attacking me!”
“Focus, kid!” Kraab snaps back, worried about their or at least his own safety.
The reptilian woman tightens her telekinetic grip, holding Izuku in place. “The Omnitrix, where did you get it? Answer me!” She snaps, demanding an answer.
‘So, she is an alien.’ Izuku concludes before snapping back at her. “I got it at the local Best Buy!!” He dials for the right alien. “Too bad for you though, it’s all out of stock.” With a press he transforms. “But luckily for you, there is a surplus of Dittos on sale!”
Ditto sneers with a grin back before producing two clones that launch out from the sides and tackle the reptilian alien down!
“Waah!” She goes down as the two clones produce more and more clones to dog-pile her.
Released from her grip, the prime Ditto, with Kraab still attached to his back, lands back onto the ground.
“Well, that was easy.” He snidely remarks, watching his many clones pin the alien down. “Man, it’s like Vilgax isn’t even trying anymore. Talk about easy.”
Suddenly the dogpile of Dittos are blasted away by a burst of pink telekinetic energy, The reptilian alien stands tall as Dittos rain down across the empty road.
“Uh….” Ditto (1) visibly deflates, because in that moment he knew that he fucked up.
Kraab sighs in disbelief at the kid’s stupidity. “Didn’t anyone tell you not to gloat?”
“Ehhh! I’m sorry!”
The reptilian alien scowls; she then levitates the smashed car and tosses it at the main Ditto.
“Waah!!” Ditto (1) dives out of the way, scurrying away while scoping up any of his fallen clones back into him.
Having initially missed him the reptilian continues to toss the car in Ditto’s (1) direction.
“Grab her!!” A trio of Dittos grab her by the tail and legs.
“We got you now!” Ditto (2) gloats.
Ditto (3) tries to pin her leg down. “Yeah, good luck getting rid of us!”
Ditto (4) holds on tight to her other leg. “Y-yeah, we’re not letting go no matter what!”
The reptilian smirks. “Is that a promise?”
She then begins to levitate herself up into the air, rising higher and higher with the Dittos now clinging for dear life!”
“Woooaaah!!” They scream. “This is too high!”
The reptilian smirks. “Ride’s over, boys!” With a twist and flurry of her tail she flings the Dittos away.
“Waaaaahhh!!” They cry, leaving streams of tears in the sky as they fall to their demise.
“Don’t worry!” Ditto (1) calls out from below. “We’ll catch you!”
As he says this a myriad of Dittos begins to pile up atop of each other, forming a large pyramid until WHAM the trio of falling Dittos crash right into the mass.
The pile breaks down as Dittos collapse atop each other, each one groaning and whining at the pain.
“Oww!
“That hurt. Ugh”
“My leg!”
“I see bright light. Granny, is that you?!”
“We never met our Granny! Whoever that woman is, don’t go to her!!”
“Ugh…my squeedlyspooch! I-I think it’s broken-Ugh!”
“We don’t have squeedlyspooches! Or…do we?”
“Tell my mother…I loved her.”
“Hang in there, you’ll be okay!”
“Medic! We need a medic over here!”
Ditto (1) stares deadpanned at his clone’s various and dramatic exaggerations. Yeah, it hurt but Ditto is so squishy and light it kind felt like when someone chucks a pillow into you really hard. It hurts but also…not really.
Kraab watches the scene unfold with the same deadpan reaction. “Wow…you’re a drama queen.”
Ditto (1) shrinks into himself in embarrassment, unable to come back with a proper retort.
With a rush of wind, the reptilian alien swoops down and lands behind the terrified Ditto (1).
Ditto (1) fearfully turns around, his body shaking under the alien’s piercing glowing gaze.
“The Omnitrix.” She growls in seething fury. “Give it to me or else.”
Ditto shrivels back as his clones abandon him to reimage with him. “S-sorry, but it’s grown attached to me. L-literally.”
That’s not a problem for her. “I’m not opposed to tearing it off.”
Ditto (1) starts, freezing under her threat.
Kraab silently glares back at the woman, feeling more useless than ever.
The reptilian barely makes a move, before her eyes are drawn away as if sensing danger. She leaps back, away from the small alien, just a stream of fire blasts the pavement where she once stood.
“Stand down!” Cinder cuts in, sleeping between his son and the alien. “Or I will use force!”
“You already have!” The reptilian shouts back but pauses as she takes in the red Plumber suit. “Stay out of this Plumber!” She snaps as if he were nothing but a disobedient child. “The situation is beyond you, therefore this is none of your concern!”
Hisashi’s irritation grows. “Listen, I was already in a bad mood. But attacking my boy, well I'm just about ready to snap.” He grinds his teeth in frustration, fire speeds from between his teeth, even smoke pours from his nose, like a dragon that’s discovered a lesser being tampering with its treasure.
“D-dad!” Ditto (1) nearly sheds tears, he’s so happy to see his father run to his aid.
Hisashi or rather, Cinder glares back at the alien, his fists shaking in frustration. “Not to mention, if I’m late that old bastard’s never gonna let me hear the end of it.”
Ditto rightfully facefaults onto the pavement, reeling in the fact that his dad is more concerned about being punctual than an actual villain attack.
The reptilian is clearly irked and quickly losing her patience. “You’re not gonna step aside?”
Cinder holds firm under her wrathful gaze. “Not until you explain yourself.”
“I don’t have time to explain!” She rushes forward. “Just hand it over!!”
Without a thought Cinder unleashes a wave of flames so hot it makes the pavement glow orange.
The reptilian responds in kind, taking the flames in her telekinesis and spinning them around, tossing them right back at Cinder!
Cinder scoops up Ditto and dives out of the way as the flames blast away into the street side!!
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Ochaco’s head snaps up in worry. “What was that?!” At first it started with the sound of a car crash but that was the sound of an explosion.
A gruff voice scoffs, sitting back into the bench like he can’t be bothered. “Probably some hoodlums causing a ruckus.”
Ochaco frowns at that, jolting up as more blasts echo through the streets. Becoming increasingly worried she rushes off towards where she thinks they’re coming from.
He calls out to her. “Where are you running off to?!”
While still running off, she shouts back. “Someone might need our help!”
He watches her disappear around the nearest bend, before breaking into an approving grin. “Running headfirst into danger just to save others.”
And so with a huff he shoves himself off the bench. He grips his cane and wanders after her, taking his sweet ass time doing so. Like there's no need to rush after her in the slightest.
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Smoke disperses away to reveal what became of the combatants.
Ditto is squatted up on the top of an awning, Cinder stands at the ready on the street below, while The reptilian alien floats before them with several items floating around her from a pair of trash cans and a mailbox.
She makes the first move, launching the projectiles at Ditto.
Ditto (1) leaps away, launching a chain of Dittos forward with the last Ditto (2) landing on a nearby awning as the rest of the Dittos morph back into Ditto (2).
“Hold still!!” She launches the last two projectiles forward.
Kraab, who is still wrapped around Ditto’s back, yells out in warning. “Watch out!!”
Upon hearing his warning, Ditto chain jumps again and again, launching himself onto a roof and then up and over to the other side of the street.
Following his movements, she spins around to take aim again.
“Not so fast!” With her back turned Cinder unleashes a wall of flames to cut her off.
The flames catch her by surprise, forcing her back, and lower to the ground, away from the searing heat.
Noticing a nearby fire hydrant, she rips it out of the ground with her telekinesis, and water gushes out like a geyser into the air. She refocuses her mind’s grip to maneuver the water to her will, and like a water bender she launches the water right at Cinder.
He initially dives away to dodge but she circles the water around, slamming it right into his back and knocking him prone.
Ditto screams. “Dad!!”
He makes a move to go towards him but before he can the reptilian bends the water right at him, slamming it right into him, and knocking him off his perch!
“Gah!” Ditto plummets, landing on his back right onto a tin awning before rolling off and falling to the ground.
As he hits the ground, Kraab falls off and slides away. “Gah!! Careful!” He shouts as he slides to a stop in the middle of the street. “Watch the merchandise!”
Ditto shouts back in apology, although his back and head are aching like there’s no tomorrow. “S-sorry…!”
Kraab glares back but then gasps when he sees the alien’s next move. “Look out!! She’s up to something!!”
Literally. As Ditto peers up to find that she’s lifted up all sorts of debris, trash, and other projectiles up in the air, ready to launch them all down like a rainstorm.
And she does, launching the projectiles all at once down upon the boy and bot.
“Waaahh!!” Ditto screams about and immediately panics, multiplying as he does so with each clone makes more clones as they all scramble and run away, taking cover and diving away from the incoming attacks.
A plummeting mailbox makes a beeline right for the defenseless Kraab.
“Aaahh!” Kraab cries out in terror!
“Yoink!!” A Ditto slides in and scoops him up, dashing away before either of them could be crushed.
Ditto slides beyond a parked car, while his clones are busy distracting the reptilian woman.
As they hide, Kraab blinks up at Ditto as if seeing him as some kind of stranger. “You…you saved me?”
Ditto peers down at the confused Kraab and merely smiles as if to say; doy, of course I did.
Kraab’s eyes gleam with admiration, like a starstruck child gazing up at their hero…but it quickly fades away to a very suspicious and irritated chagrin. “How much?”
Ditto blinks back, oblivious and confused. “Huh?”
“How much you want for saving my life?”
Ditto gaps, not able to comprehend what he’s hearing. “What?! Nothing! Geeze! I didn’t save you to get paid!”
That gives Kraab pause. “Then…why?”
“I don’t know!” Ditto shrugs, honestly not that sure how to explain it. “Cause…I guess…I just wanted to.”
Kraab gives him a weird look.
“Look! My body just…moved on its own. Okay? So, don’t think too much into it.”
Kraab falls to silence but he can't exactly quiet his mind, however. Their little moment is rudely cut short as the car they hide behind glows and rises to the air.
“There you are.” The alien growls, preparing to slam the car back down at them.
Cinder yells out at the top of his lungs. “And here I am!”
He rushes in, leaping up and delivering a flying kick into the alien’s side!
She goes down and Cinder takes the opportunity to blast her with his flames.
She leaps to her feet, bracing her arms together as she’s swallowed up by the flames.
Ditto can almost feel the hope rising up within him. “Did that get her?!”
It did not.
“SON OF A BANTHA!!!” The alien roars, parting the flames like a furious reptilian she-devil. “That’s it! I’ve been holding back because you’re a Plumber, but no longer!” She bends the flames around her, forming a spiral of wrathful hellfire. “Give me the Omnitrix. NOW!!!”
And thus, with a wave of her hands the fiery inferno descends upon the Midroiyas and Kraab like hell itself has come for them.
They look on in horror upon their incoming demise, with the radiating heat burning down upon them. They can’t make a move; Ditto can’t move fast enough, and Cinder cannot block such flames. They’ll be burned to a crisp!
“VENUS SMASH!!!”
A shining pink comet collides with the mass of flames, and a massive whirlwind banishes the flames dispersing them to the wind.
The Midoriyas’ jaws drop in amazement as their glowing pink savior descends onto the ground with a not so graceful stumble.
Ochaco smiles back at them, her fist clearly strained from the punch.
Ditto’s eyes pop at the sight of her, she being the last person he expected to show up out of the blue!!
Kraab is just as lost but for a different reason. “WHO THE FUCK ARE YOU!?!”
Ditto blinks up at her. “Uraraka?!”
Kraab blesses him, thinking he sneezed. “Gazoontite!”
Ochaco peers down at Ditto, her eyes wide in surprise to see him too. “Deku?”
They both point a finger at each other. “What are you doing here?!”
Ochaco shakes her head. “Never mind that! What the heck is going on?!” She points over towards the furious reptilian-like alien. “Who is she?! And what did you do that made her so angry?!”
“Hey, don’t look at me!” Ditto defends!
Kraab nods in defiance. “Yeah! We’re innocent! That crazy bitch attacked us first!”
Ochaco’s face falls into a horrific scream as she finally notices the decapitated droid in Ditto’s hands. “WHO THE HECK ARE YOU!?!”
“I ASKED YOU FIRST YOU KNOW!!!” Kraab snaps back.
“Enough!” A pissed off reptilian alien shouts. “No more distractions! You’re all in my way!”
Swinging her hands up she lifts them all up into the air, dangling them high above the ground.
With a simple wave forward, Ditto rockets forward, coming to stop just a foot away from her.
“Let us go, bitch!” Kraab shuts from between Ditto’s grip.
The reptilian scowls, batting him away!
Ditto cries out as he loses Kraab. “No-Gbleh!”
She grabs him by his neck, choking him as she pulls him in. “The Omnitrix doesn't belong to you.” She growls as her free hand reaches for the alien device.
Suddenly a yellow blur zips in, kicking her hands away with expert precision while also scoping up the Ditto and pulling him away all in a blink of an eye.
With her concentration broken Cinder and Ochaco are freed from her telekinesis. With Ochaco using her Zero-Gravity to float the two of them down.
As they float down, the yellow blur zips to the ground where it safely drops Ditto off. “You okay, boy?”
“Y-yeah.” Ditto nods, peering up at his savior. “Hey, wait, I know you!”
Ochaco calls out as she lands not too far away with Cinder. “Gran Torino!”
As the reptilian regains her composure she pauses as if taken back for a moment. “Gran…Torino?”
Meanwhile back on the ground, Cinder scowls at the mention of the name.
All the while, Gran Torino mockingly grins back at the three. “Now, aren’t you happy to see me? Hehe.”
Cinder visibly scowls harder.
Ochaco however is elated to see him here. “You came!”
“Of course, I did!” Gran Torino snaps. “You punks wouldn’t survive a second without me!”
In the meantime, the reptilian alien lands softly onto the street across from the humans.
Sensing her landing, Gran Torino turns to face her down. “Now to deal with-” His breath escapes him as he freezes in place, eyes wide with shock and disbelief. “-you…”
The alien eyes him warily as if in disbelief as well.
They just stare at each other for what feels like hours, the others all standing back unsure of what is going on.
She makes the first move by stepping forward, slowly, cautiously, with almost no intention to strike.
Cinder and Ochaco still jump to conclusions. Readying themselves for what must be some close-quarter’s combat. While Ditto scoops up Kraab off the ground.
Her gaze never leaves Gran Torino with every step becoming more confident and surer, before she stops just meters away.
She reaches her hand out, hesitantly, before drawing it back as if scared to know the mystery behind a metaphorical veil. “S-...Sorahiko?”
Both Ditto and Ochaco look on in confusion. “Sorahiko?” Who the heck is that?
Cinder, meanwhile, remains at the ready, but while still watching the situation closely.
Gran Torino drops his cane; it clatters to the ground, forgotten, as all his attention is on the alien. “It's you.” He breathes, voice shaky in disbelief and yet hopeful, so much so he breaks into a soft smile. “Hello…Xylene.”
The alien, Xylene, smiles back. “Hello, Sorahiko.”
She kneels down to Gran Torino’s height. He smiles back, placing a hand against her arm, and then the two embrace each other like old friends that haven’t spoken in decades.
Everyone’s brains glitch out for a moment, before rebooting and fully processing the new situation.
Kraab, however, can’t help but sigh as if disappointed. “Wait, so is like the fight over?” He whines. “But everyone is still alive! Lame.”
Ditto is just a little irked by his comment.
Cinder stands down, although he does remain on edge as he approaches the two embracing friends.
Xylene pulls away from Gran Torino and scowls up at Cinder as he makes his approach.
But he just stands there, frowning down at her like she’s the annoyance. “Now, are you gonna behave?”
She springs up to full height, making her presence and authority known as she spits in Cinder’s face. “Quiet, Plumber. This is not your concern!”
Before the situation can escalate, Gran Torino cuts in with a sense of patience and understanding. “Xylene. You should listen to him. He may be a punk but he is a Plumber. And he has more authority over this situation than you know.”
Xylene scowls in frustration but ultimately chooses to stand down.
With the danger mostly gone Ochaco butts in with a very important question. “Hang on! Do you two like know each other?! What’s going on?!”
Xylene’s face scrunches up in disgust in response to Ochaco butting in. “Sorahiko, who are these…” Her judgmental gaze scans the teens from head to toe. “Children?”
Said children scowl back in annoyance.
Far off police sirens can be heard, and Cinder momentarily panics as he imagines Inspector Tezuka’s furious gaze. “We can sort things out later!” He cuts in. “We should leave the area immediately.”
Gran Torino couldn’t agree more. “We need a less obvious place to talk this out.”
“I know a place.” Cinder signals for them to follow behind him.
Gran Torino makes a point to take Xylene’s hand, leading her after Cinder while the teens look on in confusion. Their minds racing with questions but for now they’ll bite their tongues and follow behind, not wanting to deal with the police or heroes.
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
Far from the shore, a cloudy sky casts a vast shadow over the seemingly quiet ocean. The warm air mixes with the cold ocean breeze causing a thick layer of fog to blanket the entire horizon.
A single spotlight from a speedboat shines down upon a icy shore before an anchor is tossed down, piercing into the ice.
There’s a plop and a splash, before Sharkyonara crawls to shore upon the drifting glacier. “This is it.” He keeps himself low, his eyes peeled for any movement within the fog.
Oxy-Man walks by, stopping at his side. “We found it.”
“Are you sure this is the same glacier?” Asks a tall, lean man. “I mean it could be a different one?”
The man is wearing a dark green sleeveless bodysuit with a white belt and black boots, while wearing a very familiar skull-shaped mask over his face.
Oxy-Man takes in the familiar crater left behind at the top of the glacier. “Yeah, this is it.”
The tall man, Tesla, takes in the foggy view of the glacier. “So, this is where you guys got your asses handed to you?”
“Hey, shut it!” Sharkyonara snaps back. “You weren’t there! That thing-” He stutters as a shiver runs down his spine. “it…wasn’t human.”
Tesla gives him a very skeptical look. “Right.”
A pair of heavy footsteps shake the ground as a hulking figure approaches the group from behind.
Tesla peers back to find Habit Headgear. A man of an enormous build with unusual muscles that extend from his shoulders and over his head, giving it a hood-like appearance. His face is largely concealed within this hood, only showing round, white eyes and a large mouth.
“Whatever that bitch was.” Habit Headgear slams his fists together and growls in excitement. “I’ll be sure to teach her some manners.”
The last member of their party, Suiden, leaps down from the boat and growls out. “Don’t be getting a big head. Forget teaching her a lesson. When we find her, that she-devil’s gonna get what’s coming to her.” he raises his arms up, and a pair of massive, jagged hooks shine in the fog, embedded where his hands used to be. “One way or another.”
Tesla eyes the hooks warily, wondering to himself just what kind of psycho, other than them, rips a man’s hands off. “Dude, it’s been a week. You really think she’s still hanging around here?”
“No.” Suiden admits, albeit undeterred. “But she must have left a clue a behind; something that would tell us where she went.”
“Yeah, I guess.”
But either way, they all spread out and search the glacier for any and all clues to her whereabouts.
Sharkyonara begins his search by the crater, peering down and finding the open hatch to the she-devil’s cocoon.
Tesla comes up beside him. “Is that where you found her?”
“Yeah.”
Tesla eyes the hatch curiously before sliding down into the crater.
Sharkyonara shouts after him. “Careful!”
Tesla, however, waves him off. “Relax.”
He then proceeds to inspect the strange metallic hatch for any clues. He slides his hand against the side of the hatch until his fingers press against a web of loose wires.
Figuring that this hatch must be electrical in some way he decides to give it some juice. And so he generates electricity through his body, up his arm and into the wiring.
Electricity surges through the wires, down through the frozen ice, following along every wire like an interconnected web through the maze of ice and metal.
As electricity surges through it enters the remains of a spaceship that’s frozen deep within ice, inadvertently starting it up for the briefest of moments. Lights flicker, the engine roars, and turbines glow; all the light at which penetrate through the ice, illuminating the entire glacier like a disco ball.
The villains all halt, jaws agape and eyes wide as the ice glows from under their feet.
However, from inside the ice lies the remains of the ship’s haul, in which the electricity surges into a sealed chamber. The electricity sparks and dances through the chamber illuminating and sparking at the massive machine inside. The machine’s faceplate sparks to life, as if rebooting and turning back on. The massive machine pivots its head, taking in its surroundings before it begins to shake and rumble, prying itself free of its bonds.
Meanwhile, Tesla finally cuts off his connection to the wires and light from under the ice fades away back into darkness.
Sharkyonara shouts down at him. “What the hell did you do?!”
“Dude!” Tesla reels back and shouts. “There’s something inside!”
Oxy-Man frowns. “In the hatch?”
“No, the ice! There’s something inside the ice and it’s huge! Like-like a plane or something!”
Suiden cups his chin curiously. “A plane?”
Tesla frantically shakes his head. “Yeah, I mean I can’t say for sure but it’s gotta be! I mean what else could it be?”
Suddenly, something thunders within the glacier causing it to rumble and shake fiercely.
The villains all brace themselves, holding their balance until the rumbling stops.
Habit Headgear peers around for the source of the rumbling. “What was that?”
The thundering and rumbling begins again, more violent than before. So much so it knocks even Habit Headgear to the floor.
But then like before the rumbling ceases, quieting down as the glacier becomes still once again.
Tesla picks himself up and begins to dust himself ff. “Relax. You’re all paranoid. It was just the ice settling.”
*CRASH!!!*
A massive metallic hand crashes through the ice, just beneath Tesla’s feet. The hand grabs him by the leg and with a single pull it drags him under the ice.
“AAAAAAAAaaaaaaahhh…” His scream of terror pierces the sky before fading away into the frozen tomb.
“Tesla!!” Sharkyonara shouts, his feet unable to move from under him, knowing that it’s useless.
*CRASH!!!* A hulking figure bursts through the ice like a giant rising from its slumber.
Sharkyonara cowers at the sight of it. “It’s a monster!!”
Habit Headgear lunges forth at the metallic monster. “It’s deadmeat is what it is! RAAAGGHH!!”
He brings his hands together and swings them down onto the monster’s head, throwing it down. He then proceeds to go ham on the metallic monster, his fists pounding away at its hide like a hammer.
“MWAHAHA!!!” Habit Headgear howls in glee as he pounds away at the seemingly defenseless monster. “I’m gonna pound you to a pulp! RAAAGGHH!!”
He brings his fist in for one last punch, and his fist collides with metal, however, it’s caught in the monster’s palm.
With Habit Headgear’s fist now in its grasp the metal monster begins to squeeze down on his hand, crushing it.
“MWAAAHHH!!” Habit Headgear cries out in pain as his bones snap within his hand, his muscles tearing and becoming noodles in the monster’s inhuman grip.
The hulking monster rises up and swings up at Habit Headgear’s arm.
“MWAAAHHH!!” He howls, tears in his eyes as he watches his own arm bone snap out through his skin!
And then the hulking monster slams its massive foot down on his face, smashing the villain’s head right into the ice. At which Habit Headgear goes limp under the monster’s weight.
The monster then peers up to find that Sharkyonara has scrambled back towards his remaining allies: the clearly just as terrified Oxy-Man, and the hook-armed Suiden.
Suiden stands his ground and summons veils of water up to him, forming massive gauntlets of water with massive claws that are meters long, each one poised to tear through flesh and metal. “You want to take us on! HUH!?! Bring it!!”
The monster takes up the challenge as it takes a massive step forward.
“I won’t go out without a fight you know!!” Suiden roars. “I ain’t some hack!”
The monster steps closer.
“I’m not going back to jail!! I’ll be a free man!!”
It steps closer.
“I WON’T LET YOU STOP ME!!!” Suiden lunges forth and swings at the monster’s chest, his claws slashing through the piercing its armor like tin.
Oxy-Man and Sharkyonara let out joyous gasps. “You got it!!”
Suiden smirks, feeling mighty proud of himself.
However, the monster remains unfazed as if it didn’t even notice nor care that it was attacked and instead it peers down at the trio.
They immediately freeze.
Oxy-Man pulls at Suiden’s shoulder. “We should leave.”
Suiden however remains in place, scowling up at the monster.
Figuring it’s a lost cause, Oxy-Man takes off, running away at a full sprint back towards the boat.
“W-wait for me!!” Sharkyonara cries out, chasing after him.
“You cowards!!” Suiden roars. “Come back here and fight!!”
The monster instantly reacts to their movement, raising its arms up, aiming its limbs right after them and in a flash of red beams both Oxy-Man and Sharkyonara go down. Silent and still as the smell of burnt flesh begins to pollute the air.
And like that Suiden finds himself before the monster, alone, and without a sliver of hope to survive.
Even so he trunks and faces the monster head on, raging on, refusing to cower before this demon.
And with his massive watery claws and sharp emtala hooks he lunges at the devil. “Raaagh!! I’LL KILL YOU!!! YOU MOTHERFU-GRAHHH!!!”
And a rocket powered fist to the face silences him tenfold, teeth scatter, blood splatters, and his skull cracks as the fist collides and slams him head first into the glacier.
His head is buried into the ice under the devil’s fist, going silent and limp upon impact.
And thus silence befalls the glacier with only the metallic devil standing.
The machine pries its fist free of the ice, its knuckles dripping with fresh blood. And with the threats neutralized it peers around at the glacier and foggy ocean, as if looking for a specific target. When it doesn't find it nor senses it, it then peers up towards the sky.
It’s interior program and systems reach to try and scan for its target but a strange jamming signal hinders its results. And so it reaches out further until it discovers the planet’s global interwebs. It instantly browses through thousands upon thousands of reports, news media, articles, and the like for its target. For any sign, any mention, for any clues.
And with a ping, it has its target’s location.
The machine stands upright, the bottom of its feet aglow with flames and heat as it begins to rocket itself into the air. Rocketing itself away from its icy prison, leaving behind the only ones that knew of its presence here.
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
Once again, the Midoriyas find themselves back at the Tavern of High Charity. They even took back the same table, even though more aliens are milling about the scene than before.
Despite not being in full swing yet, Ochaco’s eyes wander with curiosity from the aliens, strange drinks and food, and odd unfamiliar music. “What is this place?”
Hisashi answers while carrying over a tray of food. “It’s the Tavern of High Charity. Think of it as a gas station, hotel, and bar all wrapped into one for both traveling and resident aliens.”
“I see.”
Happy to see that she understands, Hisashi turns to the rest of the table. “Now is anybody hungry?”
Ochaco smiles. “You bet! I had a light breakfast this morning.”
With a generous smile Hisashi drops the tray down on the table. “Here you go. A nice serving of Oozing-Squid nachos for everybody.”
On The tray sits a massive bowl that’s overflowing with cheese and chips while the blue leathery tentacles are attached to a still living alien squid squirm about.
Ochaco gags. “F-funny enough, I’m suddenly not hungry.”
From across the table, Xylene’s tongue shoots out, scooping up some of the dish before swallowing it whole. “Hm. Delicious.” She hums, gently wiping her mouth with a napkin.
Izuku and Ochaco visibility shake and gag, their faces turning green from the sight.
Gran Torino chuckles at their reactions before smiling up at his long-lost friend. “I still can’t believe you’re here.”
“Neither can I, Sorahiko.” Xylene hums while placing her hand atop of his. “Although it may not have been intentional, I am very happy to have run into you again.”
Ochaco eyes them two warily, like a scientist closely observing her subjects, before it finally clicks. “No way!”
Everyone turns to her, startled by her outburst.
She screams out in shock. “Are you two like a thing?!”
“We were a thing.” Gran Torino corrects. “A long time ago. Actually, Xylene here was the first extraterrestrial I met.”
“So she’s why you know about the Plumbers?”
“Figured that out on your own did ya?” Gran Torino chuckles, sarcastically.
In response, Ochaco pouts in annoyance.
Hisashi, however, scowls, rubbing his head in frustration. “So, she’s the reason you’ve been a pain in my ass all these years.”
Without missing a beat, Gran Torino whacks the older Midoriya over the head with his cane!
“OW!!”
“Quiet boy!” Gran Torino scolds, waving his cane in the air. “Nobody asked you!”
“You jerk!” Hisashi screeches. “You’re always like this! You just have to make everything harder for me, don’t you?!”
“Of course, it wouldn’t be any fun otherwise.”
Damn, Hisashi set himself up for that one.
Izuku’s eyes drift from Hisashi and Gran Torino and back again before finally piping up. “Do you two know each other, too?”
Judging by the annoyed scowl on his father’s face, he’d have to say that that’s a yes. “When I was a student I did my internship under Gran Torino.”
Ochaco is stunned. “Wait, but I thought you only taught one other person, other than me!!”
“Are you kidding?” Gran Torino chortles, immediately, shooting down her theory. “I had my teacher’s license for over forty years. What? You think you’re so special that I’d just let it sit there all that time? Hahaha!”
Ochaco slumps down in her seat, kinda sad to admit it but she did think she was a special case.
Gran Torino does admit this, however. “I mean I will admit that I haven’t had a lot of students mind you. Nezu mostly pawns off those that want to become Plumbers like Thirteen and this punk here.” He half-hazardly waves towards Hisashi like he’s not even worth acknowledging by name. “He sends them my way cause he knows I’ll beat the lesson into em.”
Ochaco can certainly agree remembering her own internship and what she was told about All Might’s time with him as well.
Hisashi remembers too but not as fondly as Ochaco. “Beat the lesson into me?!” He snaps, bursting out in anger. “You didn’t teach me a thing! During my first internship with you, you dumped me off in the middle of the woods and told me good luck!!”
Not even feeling bad, Gran Torino just tsks, airing his disapproval. “Typical, nothing but complaints. You were just a punk that I got saddled with. You needed to learn proper survival skills and thanks to me you did. Ungrateful punk.”
Hisashi slams his hands on the table and shouts. “Ungrateful?! I was wandering those woods for a week!! I had to eat mealworms and learn to make my own shelter!!”
Izuku perks up in his seat. ‘So, that’s why he has such a weird palette!! I guess it started there then.’
Meanwhile Hisashi continues with his rant. “And now you’re Uraraka’s mentor?!” He glares at Gran Torino as if accusing him of foul play. “Just what kind of training are you giving her?”
Gran Torino humphs, folding his arms together and turning away. “Different students have different needs. You were a punk that needed to be put in his place. And Uraraka needed to learn to better control her power, so her training was different. What? Did you wanna be coddled?” He taunts cheekily.
“I don’t want to be coddled! I want respect!”
“You want respect?” Gran Torino smacks him over the head again. “Earn it!”
Hisashi growls in response, shaking his fist like he has to forcibly keep himself from physically fighting back.
Gran Torino gives a disapproving shake of his head. “I still can’t believe it, you know. Someone like you is a father now? HA!! It’s a miracle your boy turned out the way he did.”
“Don’t go there!” Hisashi barks back. “I was a different person back then, alright?!”
“Were you? Cause to me you’re still the same punk who couldn’t keep his mouth shut if he tried.”
The two stare each other down, leaning closer and closer with their furious gazes locked onto each other, so much so threatening sparks fly out, clashing midair between them.
All the while, the teens look on in semi-horror, having no clue where all this amnesty came from. ‘It’s like watching a grandfather and father fight over how to raise the kids!’
As the two bicker, Ochaco’s eyes drift over towards Xylene who is silently glaring at the Plumber from her seat.
Having sort-of forgotten about her, Ochaco tries to redirect the conversation back to what matters. “So, um, Ms. Xylene.”
Xylene frowns, turning to her as everyone else begins to listen in.
“What exactly brought you to Earth after all these years?”
She immediately points across the table towards Izuku’s wrist. “That!”
Izuku immediately pulls his wrist back, clutching the Omnitrix protectively. “I knew it! You are working for Vilgax!”
“Vilgax?!” She shoots out from her seat in a fit of rage. “How dare you imply such a thing! I wouldn’t work for Vilgax even if the entire universe depended on it!”
Hisashi peels himself away from his glaring match, adopting his usual calm and professional demeanor. “Then why are you so interested in it?”
“Why wouldn't I be interested in the Omnitrix?” She asks sarcastically. “I’m the one that sent it to Earth.”
Astonishment sweeps the table as everyone is taken back by her reveal.
Seeing their stunned faces, Xylene goes ahead and explains herself. “I was transporting the Omnitrix when I was attacked by our old friend.”
##########(Flashback)#########
In a galaxy far, far-actually in a galaxy very, very close… so close in fact that it’s the same galaxy, two spaceships are locked in an epic chase.
A large menacing ship with lava red sacs around the temples and a forward gun that makes up the frontal half of the main haul is firing lasers upon a small blue ship with green markings. The tiny spacecraft swiftly dances around the shower of lasers. However, despite its speed the large cruiser is able to keep up and land a few solid hits. That said the tiny ship is not without its own means of attack. The speedy spacecraft simultaneously aims two lasers at the large haul carving into its side resulting in a few explosions.
From inside the spacecraft, Xylene is quickly thrown out of her seat from all the laser fire. But despite all the laser fire she can hear the sound of drones melting through the door behind her!
She spins around just as a few of Vilgax’s hover drones laser-cut their way through and into the bow of the spacecraft.
Xylene’s three eyes glow as she uses her telekinesis to blast the drones back.
With them disposed of, she hurries through her ship, passing by a large chamber that’s been reinforced several times over. She eyes it warily but ignores it, running past for more pressing matters.
As her ship rattles and shakes under heavy fire and as the tail end of her ship goes up in flames, she arrives at the Omnitrix. Having it suspended in the air via a magnetic pull she brings forth a spherical metallic pod and with a press of a button the pod swallows up the Omnitrix, sealing it inside. Before a torpedo-shaped casing encompasses the pod whole as extra protection.
After she completes that she rushes over to secure herself in her own secure hatch.
Meanwhile, the battleship’s main cannon finishes charging and fires a large beam at the blue ship. 80% of the ship is blown away leaving the main haul somewhat intact. Just before the haul is ripped apart by the vacuum of space a silver pod is launched out of the haul. The pod flies through space until reaching the atmosphere of the blue and green planet below. The spherical pod crashes into the ocean, where a strong current begins to push the pod towards where it’s meant to be.
While at the same time what remains of Xylene’s ship takes a nosedive down at the planet as well. Blazing through the atmospheres before crashing and burning into the arctic ice!
Upon impact the ice breaks and falls apart, becoming a glacier as the melted water freezes back over her ship, encasing her inside. As the glacier begins to drift off towards the vast sea.
########(End Flashback)#######
“I realized that I could no longer protect the Omnitrix from Vilgax.” Xylene explains before continuing. “So, I placed it inside a special pod and ejected it to the planet below for safekeeping. And I crashed and my body fell into a hibernative state until about a week ago when I was awoken.”
She then turns to Izuku who grips the Omnitrix nervously.
“After I awoke I made my way to the mainland and due to my previous visit here I was able to use your country’s social media and internet systems to find out that you were somewhere in Tokyo.”
Kraab, who’s been quietly listening all this time, looks up at Hisashi and says. “You should really do something about that?”
Hisashi sighs in defeat. “Yeah, we should.”
Ignoring them, Xylene continues “And from what I’ve seen today it’s a miracle Vilgax hasn't already claimed the Omnitrix for himself.”
Offended, Izuku nervously tries to defend himself. “I-I can take care of myself you know.”
“Please if you had any clue about how the Omnitrix worked you would have transformed into something like a Gourmand! Or anything else that would have at least given me a hard time.”
Izuku blinks back, desperately trying to defend himself. “Well maybe I do some things differently.”
“Perhaps.” She shoots out of her seat as if to lung for the device. “Or perhaps the Omnitrix doesn’t belong in the hands of a child!”
Izuku reels his hand away and Ochaco shoots up as well, ready to defend him.
Seeing tension rise, Gran Torino pulls Xylene back down. “Now, now, Xylene. You should listen to the boy’s side of the story.”
She frowns but adheres to his advice.
With all eyes on him, Izuku does his best to present his case. “Well even if you wanted it back, you can’t.”
“And why not?” She growls dangerously.
“Cause it’s literally bonded to me. Like on a cellular level.”
Xylene is genuinely shocked by this. “A genetic meld?”
“Exactly.” Hisashi reaffirms. “We don’t have the means to remove it even if we wanted to. And so the best way for us to protect it has been to train Izuku how to use it.”
Xylene folds her arms together in protest. “And what of Vilgax’s tracking systems?”
“The Majister has already created a jamming program specifically designed to disguise the Omnitrix’s signal.”
“And his agents?”
Izuku’s the one to respond. “None of them were any issues for us.”
Kraab rolls his eyes, offended by the statement. “Wow. Was I that easy?”
Izuku immediately backtracks. “No! I meant the others! Not you!”
“Save it. I don’t need your pity.”
Ochaco sweatdrops at them. “Either way.” She turns back to the matter at hand. “None of them have been able to stand up to us.”
Izuku raises an eyebrow at her. “Us?”
Ochaco smugly grins back. “You’re not the only that’s had an exciting summer you know.” She still needs to tell him about Sunder after all. “Oh, that reminds me. We met your not-really uncle yesterday!”
“My not-really what?!”
Before Ochaco could go into detail, Hisashi cuts them off. “Never mind that.” He then readdresses Xylene. “The Omnitrix is perfectly safe in our care. And as it has officially fallen under Plumber jurisdiction. Meaning, it is no longer your decision on how it is used or what becomes of it.”
However, Xylene clearly doesn’t appreciate the claim. “I beg to differ.”
Izuku frowns at their exchange, finding it rather odd. “Wait, I just realized.” he turns to Xylene and asks. “You’re not a Plumber?”
She answers, brushing it off like it’s no big deal. “Plumbers have to go through too much red tape for my liking. It slows them down and prevents them from taking action. Unlike me.”
Gran Torino cuts in and adds. “She’s like an underground hero if you want a comparison. She stays out of the limelight in order to complete her missions.”
“I see.”
But if she’s not a plumber then… “How…how did you get the Omnitrix?”
Xylene watches Izuku curiously.
“Do..do you know who-”
“No, I don't know who the creator is.”
Everyone falls silent in either disappointment or defeat.
Izuku especially as he was hoping that she might have an answer for him. “Then how did the Omnitrix end up in your possession?”
“I found it.” She states rather bluntly.
“What?”
She rolls her eyes, annoyed that she has to keep explaining herself. “There were rumors. Rumors that a genetic weapon of mass destruction was being constructed and assembled.” And with Vilgax out and about she couldn’t let such a weapon exist. “The Plumbers, having their hands full could not look into mere rumors, but I did. I spent years, decades, tracking this weapon down but I could never find any major leads. Until one day I finally managed to track it down.”
She has everyone’s attention, each of them listening tentatively. “The Omnitrix was being transported by a Chimera Sui Generi.”
Ochaco’s face scrunches up in confusion. “A what?”
Hisashi has to explain. “It’s Vilgax’s race.”
The teens gasp, figuring that this person must have been one of Vilgax’s agents.
With that cleared up, Xylene continues her story. “Figuring she must have stolen it from its creator, I had her arrested and sent off for transporting illegal genetic weapons.” After which she had the Omnitrix in her possession. “Unfortunately, I could not rest as Vilgax immediately appeared with his battleship and attacked. Knowing that the Earth’s system was nearby I came here and thus here we are.”
Izuku stares at the Omnitrix with a mix of fear and wonder. “So…the Omnitrix is a weapon?”
“Of course, it is!” Xylene’s hand reaches up as if wanting to snatch up said weapon. “Which is why it shouldn't be a plaything for an inexperienced child!” Her critical gaze lingers over the boy. “Who only received the device out of sheer luck.”
Izuku reels back, putting his wrist down in defeat, her comment having cut deep. He slink back into his seat, wishing he could disappear.
Ochaco glares up at Xylene, upset on her friend’s behalf, as is Hisashi.
Gran Torino watches from the side, watching as tension begins to rise far beyond what’s comfortable. “Look clearly, neither side is gonna budge on this topic any time soon. We all need some time to breathe and collect our thoughts.” He peers around, noticing just how crowded the Tavern is starting to get. “What we need is a change of scenery.”
“Agreed.” Hisashi scoops up Kraab and beacons them towards the exit. “We need some fresh air.”
Gran Torino turns to Xylene, placing a comforting hand on hers. “Let’s go. We can use the time to catch up.”
She breaks away from her scowl to smile down at him. “I’d like that.”
Gran Torino smiles, leading her away.
Izuku lingers behind the with his head low and gaze locked onto the Omnitrix. The device he received out of luck…
Ochaco watches him leave, feeling worried and sorry for him. But not before throwing Xylene one more nasty scowl. She sighs, letting it go for now before hurrying off after them.
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
Meanwhile, a massive hunk of metal descends atop Tokyo tower. It’s gaze peering out towards the vast city below.
Slowly it scans the city looking west and then east and back again for any signs of its target. But it is still unable to track its signal.
It remains ever still, gazing out towards the distance as if contemplating what next steps to take.
After a moment it begins to hack its way through the city’s camera systems. Filling through them at breakneck speed for any signs of its target, only stopping on a scene when mistaken. And so there it stands, silent, and in waiting for its prey.
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
Ochaco raises a very skeptical eyebrow. “This is what you’ve been living in?”
Izuku begins to sweat nervously. “Yup.”
The Rustbucket is a real guy’s crib: the fridge’s door is held up by tape, the AC is leaking, stains litter the carpeted floor, and laundry is strewn about. All in all it looks more like a college dorm than a humble abode.
Ochaco turns back to Izuku with a forced cheery smile even though it’s clear as day she’s disgusted with the place. “Well…who am I to judge?”
“You’re judging me right now!!”
^Bp-wap.^ Chopper bumps Izuku’s leg from behind.
Ochaco waves to the little droid in greeting. “Hey, Chopper.”
^Wo-wop!^ He waves back.
Ochaco continues to survey the Rustbucket, stepping over an empty bag of Fritos. “You know when you told me you were going on a road trip in an RV I thought it was a cover that you were actually staying in a disguised spaceship or something.”
“I wish…” Izuku grumbles dejectedly.
“HA!!!” Kraab laughs from atop the table. “As if these posers could be that cool.”
Ochaco eyes the cyborg curiously. “Hey, Deku, I’ve been meaning to ask but what’s with the talking ashtray?”
Kraab snaps “ASHTRAY!?!”
Ignoring him, Izuku replies with. “That’s Kraab.”
“Crab?”
He repeated again. “Kraab. Spelled K-R-A-A-B.”
“Ooohh!” She peers over at the bot. “That’s a boring name for a droid.”
“I’m not a droid!!” Kraab barks, offended. “I’m a cybernetic bounty hunter, thank you very much.”
“Bounty Hunter?!”
“Well not anymore.” Izuku explains with a sheepish grin. “Since I kinda…destroyed his body.”
Kraab would smack him if he could. “Destroyed?! You vaporized it!”
Ochaco gasps, horrified to hear that Izuku nearly killed him. “You what?!”
“Not on purpose!” He defends.
“What? You mean it wasn’t on purpose?” Ochaco picks up Kraab’s head and displays it like it was evidence. “This looks intentional to me!”
“I…well…I guess.”
Kraab sighs, closing his eyes in shame. “Why did I lose to you of all people?”
Ochaco spins him around. “And they just kept you locked up in here?”
“Uh, ha.”
“That’s mean.” She then throws Izuku a disapproving scowl.
He shies away under her gaze.
Ochaco peers down at Kraab and asks. “So, did Vilgax send you?”
“Don’t know.” Kraab admits without a hint of shame or embarrassment. “Since I was captured, my programming blocked my memories so I couldn’t even say. Not that I would tell you, though.”
From nearby the door to the Rustbucket hangs open, allowing them a perfect view of the wood line just outside the abandoned parking lot Hisashi took up as a makeshift camping spot. It’s just barely outside the city but still close enough to be considered Tokyo.
Through the open door the teens can see Gran Torino and Xylene strolling off into the nearby woods.
Curious, Izuku steps outside to find his dad sitting on a nearby lawn chair. “Where are they off to?”
He shrugs. “They haven’t seen each other in decades. They just want some time to catch up.”
Izuku sways back and forth before curiously bringing up. “I didn’t know you interned with Gran Torino.”
“I don’t really like to bring it up.” Hisashi admits, leaning back and taking a sip of his lemonade. “Since I was training to become a Plumber, and I already knew how to hold myself in a fight, he made it his goal to teach me basic survival skills and the like instead.”
Izuku gives his dad an incriminating look. “Just curious but you weren’t planning on doing that to me were you?”
“No! I’m not him!”
Believing him, Izuku moves on. “But I had no idea you guys hated each other so much.”
“What?” Hisashi looks genuinely confused. “We don’t hate each other.”
It takes Izuku a second to process that. “Huh?”
The older Midoriya repeats. “We don't hate each other. Actually, I couldn’t be more grateful to him.”
Izuku can’t believe it! “But-but-but all the yelling! The insults! And everything! I thought for sure you guys were gonna be at each other's throats!”
Ochaco rapidly nods her head in agreement.
Hisashi let’s out a chuckle. “It would seem that way. But that’s just how we tend to act around one another. You know?”
“I guess I do.” Izuku thinks about how there’s the way you act at school versus when you’re with friends or in front of your parents. Neither one of the ways you act is necessarily fake or anything, it's just how you act around certain individuals. So, in this way Hisashi’s and Gran Torino’s “bickering” is their way of showing that they care. Maybe. Well it makes sense when you think back on how Gran Torino technically did compliment how Hisashi’s son came out to be. And Hisashi didn’t actually say anything that harsh, more liked complained and was pointing out things to or about Gran Torino.
But that still leaves a lingering question.
“So then…were you really a…punk back in the day? What was that about?”
Hisashi suspiciously can’t look Izuku in the eye. “I have no idea why he called me that. He must be getting his memories all mixed up, the poor sensile old man that he is.” As to not answer any more questions he begins to sip up his lemonade in a haste.
Izuku and Ochaco give him deadpan stares. ‘Oh, yeah, he’s definitely lying.’
He finishes, tossing the glass aside and getting up to his feet. “Well, you kids have the run of the place.” He rubs his already aching head. “I’m gonna report-in to Nezu and see what he thinks of all this.”
And so he hurries off into the Rustbucket to give Nezu a call.
With him gone Ochaco and Izuku peer out towards the woods where Gran Torino and Xylene headed off to. Still not fully trusting the lizard lady, they feel uncomfortable and uneasy about it all. But knowing that she was an item with Gran Torino of all people, well that’s gotten to their curiosity.
And now free of prying eyes the two teens share a look; both of them coming to the same conclusion on what to do next.
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Winding through the thickets of trees and shrubs, Xylene strolls a little ahead of Gran Torino as she takes in the beautiful scenery. “The youngsters, I never thought you’d turn out to be the domestic type.”
“I ain’t the domestic type.” Gran Torino half-heartedly defends with a small teasing grin. “I might have just gotten attached to them, that's all.”
“Don’t you miss your hero days?”
“Well, we still get our fair share of excitement around here.” He laughs. “And believe me, those brats know how to bring the fun.”
She smiles at that. “You haven’t aged at all since I last saw you.”
From within the nearby trees, one of the trees somehow gags in disgust. “Gleh!” Wildvine gags feeling like he might puke. “If this keeps up, I’m gonna hurl, sap.”
“Shh!” Ochaco shushes him from inside his trunk, which he opens up to have a look at her. “Quiet” She chides. “Don’t ruin this for them.” Even though she doesn’t exactly like that woman she can agree that it’s such a nice scene between them both. “Also, when could you turn into a plant?”
“Wildvine. I’m not a plant. I’m Wildvine.” The transformed Izuku corrects before giving her a smug grin. “And you’re not the only one that’s had an exciting summer.”
Ochaco rolls her eyes in response. “Haha.”
Now it’s Wildvine’s turn to shush her. “Shh. Listen!”
They settle down, listening in on Xylene’s and Gran Torino’s conversation.
“Your fighting spirit hasn’t died down at all has it?” Xylene cups her hands together like a shy teenage girl who’s about to admit to their crush. “Do you remember the day we met?”
“I do.” Gran Torino admits with a smile, peering up to the clear blue sky in fond remembrance. “All For One was making his move, and I had just sent my only student at the time off to America to train for his own safety. Leaving myself behind with what little heroes we had left to deal with the monster ourselves.” It was such hard times back then, honestly back then he wasn’t sure just how much longer he could hold out on hope. He had just lost his beloved friend. Sent his own student away for his own safety. And All For One practically had all of Japan in the palm of his hand. There was very little to be happy about back then. “But I remember going out on patrol one night, when the moon was full, I came across a woman fighting for her life against a band of villains. I swooped in expecting to save her but instead she blasted the villains and me away with one telekinetic blast!”
Xylene giggles into her hand. “Hehe. I did apologize, later, I thought you were just another one of those crooks.”
He smirks back at her. “And I’m still upset you thought someone as handsome as me was a villain.”
Wildvine gags, sticking his tongue out in cold disgust.
Ochaco punches him from below, signaling him to shut it.
The smiling Gran Torino continues with his story. “And then you ran off.”
“And you gave chase.” Xylene’s so happy he remembered. “I had a hard time shaking you.”
“That you did, but not good enough. I mean imagine my surprise when a bunch of freaks in matching white armor ambushed you?”
“Hehe, you beat them to a pulp all to save me.”
“I sure did. Poor Patelliday still whines about it to this day. Haha Ha!” he settles down and continues. “And that’s how we met. It was the day my eyes were opened. I’ll never forget it.”
There was so much confusion and fear on his part, it felt almost…earth shattering. But then it became clear the burden he now bore, and the importance it had. And the more time he spent with Xylene and more he felt like there was hope. Hope that heroes will appear one way or another and that there are still those out there that need heroes to protect them.
“It was the day I remembered that there’s more to fight for than myself.”
Silence befalls the two as the two silently reminisce in their memories.
After a moment, Xylene shyly, almost fearfully asks a question she may not want to know the answer to. “Do you…do you still remember that night?”
Gran Torino throws her a very coy smirk, one that makes even Wildvine gag. “Which one?”
She giggles, slapping his arm playfully. “Not that one.” Her smile fades and she becomes very reserved under his gaze. “No, I mean…do you remember the night that I…left?”
He turns away, looking back up towards the vast sky. “Yes. I remember.”
##########(Flashback)#########
It was a clear starry night with a full moon shining down on them from high above.
Xylene’s ship stands before them, it’s engine roaring to life and churning up the air, causing high gusts of wind to blow about. Plumbers circle the ship and surrounding area, keeping it clear of any curious eyes.
A young Xylene, wearing a grey skin-tight suit, stands before the ramp of her ship, her twin head-tails swaying in the wind. “Rumors are swirling that there’s some new DNA weapon out there.” She asks her next question hesitantly hoping for the best-case answer. “Sure, you won’t change your mind and come with me?”
Before her stands a tall and handsome man of a well-built physique. The man is a pro hero from his black eye mask to his yellow suit and billowing cape.
The Young Gran Torino considers the offer. “Tempting. But until I bring All For One down, I have a job to do here. There are people counting on me to be here, and I have no intention of letting them down.” He has to be here for Toshinori, he promised both him and Nana that he’d be here by his side. And he would rather die trying to keep that promise than abandon it outright.
Xylene bows her head in defeat knowing full well she won’t be able to change his mind.
“Gran Torino!”
Both he and Xylene turn to find a young Patelliday approaching them with a rustic-blaster in hand. “Sorry, cut it short but she needs to take off now.” He eyes the nearby woodlands. “It’s too risky to be out here. The longer we’re out here the sooner we’re all exposed!”
“Right.” Young Gran Torino turns back towards Xylene. “I guess this is goodbye, Xylene.”
She gently rubs the side of his face. “I’ll miss you, Sorahiko.”
“As will I.” He smiles reassuringly. “But we’ll always have Imado.”
Knowing this might be the last time, Xylene leans in and delivers a heartfelt kiss.
Young Gran Torino returns in kind, holding her close as if not wanting to let her go.
But what felt like forever to them was mere seconds as she moves away and hurries into her ship.
Young Gran Torino regrettably watches her leave. Watching on remorsefully as her spacecraft begins to lift off into the air before zooming off and vanishing from sight. And with it’s disappearance so too does his love.
########(End Flashback)#######
Even now it still hurts that he turned her offer down. He had a chance, a chance to stay by her side and he said no. But he made his decision, and he doesn’t regret it for a second. It was the right choice; he knows that full heartedly.
Xylene grabs his hands, cupping them together in hers. “With All For One out of the picture there’s nothing keeping you here any longer.” She shys away before going in with another offer. “I could use your help out there.”
Gran Torino pauses knowing his decision shouldn’t be taken lightly. “Another tempting offer.”
Hidden away within the camouflage Wildvine, Ochaco’s breathe escapes her as a sense of dread begins to well up inside of her.
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Ochaco and Izuku head back towards the Rustbucket in silence, both feeling rather dejected and out of sorts.
Ochaco especially. “She…wants to take him away. I mean Gran Torino clearly likes her and they were a thing, so there’s nothing wrong with that. And I should be happy for him but…I’m not happy.”
“It’s cause he might leave.” Izuku tries to reason. “He might leave and…we might not see him again.”
“I…want him to stick around though. I still need help with One For All. And All Might!” She pauses, reeling back from what she just said, like it was unexpected of her. “A-All Might…All Might still needs him too. We need him.”
Izuku frowns, eyeing the Omnitrix, the device he was merely lucky to receive. “Ultimately, it’s Gran Torino’s decision. And if he decides that he should go then, it’s not really our place to stop him.”
That’s very much true but it doesn’t make her feel any better.
As they stroll up to the Rustbucket Hisashi steps out of the RV after an extensive talk with Nezu. He sees the teens and quickly takes note of their gloomy expressions. “Where did you two run off to?”
Izuku nearly panics, trying to make up a good excuse. “We were bored! W-We thought we’d go for a hike or something. Since you know, there really isn’t much else to do out here.”
Hisashi partly wants to call him out but figures it’d be best not to. Instead, he tries to offer them a thought. “Well, if that’s the case. Why don’t you two head off to the nearby temple?”
The teens break out of their dejection just enough to take interest. “Temple?”
“Yup.” Hisashi nods. “It’s not far, probably just a half an hour's walk from here.”
Izuku awes. “That’s not far at all!”
Ochaco agrees. “We might as well check it out.”
“Perfect.” Hisashi smiles while sending them a pin to the place. “I had plans for Izuku and I to go there ourselves but because of yesterday’s fiasco we had to skip out on it.”
Ochaco frowns. “Fiasco? What kind of fiasco?”
Izuku smiles sheepishly as he recalls yesterday’s events. “I’ll tell you on the way.”
He motions for them to leave but before they can go Kraab shouts out from atop the picnic table. “Hold it!”
The teens stop dead in their tracks.
“You weren’t thinking of leaving me behind were ya?!”
Izuku doesn’t even bother to turn around and look at him, instead opting to stay turned away and not answer. But his silence all but gives his answer away.
“I knew it!! You were gonna ditch me!!” Kraab cries in outrage. “At least bring me along too!”
Now that’s instantly a bad idea in Izuku’s mind, but not really wanting to be the one to say no he looks to his dad for help. “Dad?”
“Hm.” Hisashi takes a moment to think about it. “I don’t see why not.”
Izuku nearly falls over at the fact that his dad totally didn’t get the hint!
Hisashi looks at Kraab and warns. “Just keep your mouth shut while you’re out there.”
Kraab gives a condescending hum of agreement. “Fine. It beats sitting around here all day and staring at your ugly mug.”
Hisashi sighs, letting the insult just roll off his back. “Take him.”
“Haha!” Kraab laughs as Deku slings the strap around him again, hanging Kraab over his shoulder.
And so with a heavy sigh Izuku gets the ball rolling. “Well we’re off I guess.”
He turns to leave with Ochaco in tow.
All the while Hisashi waves them off. “Have fun and take your time. I’ll have dinner ready when you get back. I’m making a casserole.”
“What kind of casserole?” Izuku shouts back.
“Well with Gran Torino around I’m feeling nostalgic, so I was thinking mealworms and macaroni.”
Izuku nearly trips, his face turning green just from the thought alone.
“What?” Hisashi ponders, wondering what could have made Izuku react the way he did. “Oh, do you not like macaroni?”
Not even bothering to explain how that is in no way correct, Izuku instead hurries Ochaco along and away from the impending meal.
Ochaco stares back at him with a mixture of concern yet sternness. “Deku, what exactly have you been easting on this trip?”
“It’s not all bad.” Izuku admits with a far-off look belonging to a man that is dead on the inside. “A few days ago, we had crickets. So, I just closed my eyes and pretended it was popcorn.”
“HOW HAVE YOU BEEN SURVIVING THIS LONG!?!”
As they hurry away, Chopper hops out of the RV and moves to go after them. ^Wo-Wo!^
“Oh, no you don’t!” Hisashi grabs him by his head, holding him in place. “Where do you think you’re going?”
^Wo-bop. Bo-ba!^
“No. You’re staying here with me.”
^Wo-Wo!^
“Why? Cause I need at least one more player to play Dejarik with.”
^Booo-bop.^
“And no cheating this time!”
^Woo-woo!^
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From atop Tokyo tower the massive machine remains ever still like a statue peering out towards the horizon. Pigeons are perched across its broad shoulders, peacefully taking in the warm summer sky.
The machine jerks as if awaking from its slumber, causing the birds to flee into the air.
The monstrous form stands straight, arms folded down as it begins to ascend into the air, rocketing away into the sky with the thrusters located under its feet.
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In a word, the temple is beautiful.
Once you enter through the gate that’s been beautifully overrun with vines and flowers it feels like you’ve entered a whole other world. World that beautifully balances the natural world and the material world with gardens that somehow seem both beautifully managed yet left alone to grow and thrive as they wish as long as they don’t overtake any structures.
Two main lecture halls sit parallel to each other, creating a wide path towards the main hall. The temple’s pagoda stands tall and mighty with flowering vines weaving up its walls.
Other buildings and places of worship are hidden away between the gardens, meshing wonderfully with the surrounding flowers and plants. With such large trees, flowers and shrubs the temple’s yard feels grander than it actually is as its walls are overtaken by plants that one cannot see them upon their first inspection. In the distance a cemetery lies, its tombstones and statues ridden in soft green moss. The pathways lie flat and smooth with stone as statues of various creatures and yokai line the paths. And occasionally a deer or two will pass on through, strolling off from one section of the garden to the next until disappearing into the nearby woods.
Ochaco marvels at the temple’s splendor. “Gorgeous.”
Kraab chimes in, his voice laced with distaste. “Eh, that thing is ugly.”
Ochaco glowers at him.
“What even is that thing?” Kraab asks, referring to the tiny human-faced statue sitting between the fern.
Izuku chuckles sheepishly. “That’s a Jizo.”
“Gazoontite.” Kraab peers around, noticing more and more of these statues hidden away in the gardens. “They’re everywhere! It’s an invasion!”
Several other tourists point towards the kids as they talk to themselves in hushed whispers. “Is that boy a ventriloquist?”
“Maybe. I think he was talking to that toy.”
“Huh, I wonder if it’s some new Japanese toy.”
“Ehehe.” Izuku chuckles nervously, clamping a hand over Kraab’s mouth and hurrying away with Ochaco in tow.
Although the temple is on the outskirts of the city it still has quite the crowd of tourists; mainly Americans who definitely have a romanticized and stereotypical view of Japan.
“Could you keep it down please.” Izuku begs.
Kraab humphs in annoyance. “You can’t tell me what to do.”
The trio make their way through the temple and stop at a small garden of yellow and blue flowers that surround a lone statue of simple design; one of that of a woman with her eyes closed, has massive earlobes, and an illustrious crown of sorts adorned on her head.
“Who is that supposed to be?” Kraab asks, eyeing the statue curiously. “Is it your country's queen?”
Ochaco laughs at that. “No. That’s Kannon the goddess of mercy.”
“A goddess of mercy? Sounds like a load of Bantha droppings.”
Izuku frowns down at the cyborg. “Why do you say that?”
Kraab turns his head away in defiance. “In my experience mercy is nothing but a lie. Show a target mercy and they’ll stab you in the back first chance they get. Beg someone for mercy and they’re more likely to dangle your freedom right in front of you just to torment you. Trust me kids, it’s better to be cruel than to be let down.”
Izuku’s heart swells with concern, his grip tightening around the strap as if to hold onto Kraab tighter. “Are you…speaking from experience?”
Kraab doesn’t answer nor does he look either of them in the eye. But after a moment he does respond albeit rather quietly. “What’s it to ya…?”
Izuku and Ochaco share a concerned look, but they don’t ask for more, coming to the conclusion that it might be a sore topic for the cybernetic.
And so, they move on through the temple, past the other visitors and tourists, and past the halls. Once they make it past the main hall, they find themselves in a large courtyard.
And it is breathtaking as koi ponds both big and small wave in and out between the gardens, structures, and pathways. Sakura trees sit sparsely between the connecting ponds as the spiraling paths all lead up to a massive pool of water in the middle of the scenery.
The pool is shallow, maybe ankle deep, with water so clear that it’s like a liquid mirror, reflecting back all the wondrous colors of the surrounding trees and flowers. The pool itself is as long as three school buses, and in the shape of a dodecagon with every corner being guarded by a small statue representing each of the zodiacs.
The teens are blow away by it all and even Kraab’s eyes brighten from the sensory overload.
He whistles under his breath, impressed. “Gotta hand it to the designer here, they really didn’t hold back.”
Izuku and Ochaco nod in agreement, unable to take their eyes off the vibrant plants, gentle trees, and serene koi ponds.
They wander between the ponds and trees, making sure to stay on the path so as to not disturb a single leaf of this hidden garden. They reach the massive dodecagon pool and walk alongside it, watching their reflections stare back at them off the water.
“Gorgeous.” They breathe as a gentle breeze whistles through the air.
The teens are definitely glad they decided to come here. They can let their minds go quiet and forget all about Xylene, the Omnitrix, and everything. They can just be in the moment, enjoying the peace and quiet.
Or they would be if it wasn’t for the crowd of tourists all gathered at the opposite end of the pool.
“What is this?”
“Maybe it’s a performance.”
“That’d be cool!”
“But where’s his sword? I thought they were supposed to have swords.”
“Excuse me! Are you available for pictures?”
Izuku and the others peer over towards the crowd.
Kraab is the first to ask the question they’re all thinking. “What’s got them excited?”
Izuku gives a shrug. “No idea.”
They continue to watch on until the crowd eventually parts the way, giving the kids a perfect view.
Their jaws drop as a giant of a samurai stands before the crowd.
The samurai is massive with a large muscular build, standing at about fifteen feet in height alone! His helmet being egg-shaped with a black visor encapsulating the entire head, and a silver maedate adorned on its forehead. It’s blue and black armor is lined with metal plating that encompasses his entire frame hiding every part of the wearer's body.
Upon seeing the costume both Izuku and Ochaco are drawn in much like the crowd. “Now that’s cool!”
Kraab, however, eyes the samurai suspiciously. “Weird…” It’s weird, that armored knight-thing kinda…kinda looks familiar to him. But why, he’s not sure.
The samurai seems to be scanning the crowd until it peers out over the water and immediately locks on to the teens.
Upon being noticed, Izuku politely waves at him with his left hand.
The samurai doesn't return the gesture, however but instead seems locked onto Izuku’s waving hand.
“Be careful.” Kraab warns, eyeing the samurai like it's a feral mutt.
“Huh?”
“That thing… I don't know why but… It’s dangerous.” Kraab says with finality.
Izuku frowns. “What makes you say that?”
From across the pool, the samurai raises his hand forward, his palm out and open towards the trio.
“See he’s waving back.” Izuku smiles, waving his hand high in the air. “Hi!”
With his hand extended forth, the samurai’s hand folds in on itself forming into an arm cannon that begins to charge up with a red laser.
At the same time, Izuku’s smile drops to that of horror.
The samurai FIRES.
In a split second, Izuku shoves Kraab into Ochaco’s hands and then vanishes in a flash of green.
The red beam hits its mark with such force and power that Ochaco is flung off her feet.
The beam refracts and powers through its target who manages to break through the beam unscathed!
“Diamondhead!!” Diamondhead smiles down at his hands. “Yes! I finally got him!” And he wasn’t even aiming for Diamondhead specifically, so this just makes it all the better.
Everyone is stunned, jaws open in shock, eyes blinking in disbelief of what they just saw.
Diamondhead glowers at the samurai. “Hey, man! What’s the big idea?!”
“That’s not a man.” Kraab states from between Ochaco’s grip.
Ochaco gasp. “What?!”
“It’s a droid!” Kraab shouts as bits and pieces of his memories flash through his mind, making him wince under the incoming headache. “Er, I-I think it’s after the Omnitrix!”
“A droid?” Diamondhead turns and watches the steam smoking out from the samurai’s arm cannon before it seals it and reforms its hand.
“A Samurai Droid?!” Ochaco considers the name and then screams out. “It’s a Samuroid!!”
The Samuroid steps into the shallow pool and begins to march forth.
Kraab begins to panic as it makes its slow approach. “We should run!”
Diamondhead moves to do so but stops. He frowns, his mind thinking back to Xylene’s comment: ‘“Received the device out of sheer luck.”’
He stops and turns right back around, determined to face the threat head on. “Uraraka.”
Ochaco slides to a stop. “Y-yeah?”
“Make sure to keep everybody clear.” He stares down the marching behemoth. “Things are gonna get messy.”
Ochaco hesitantly nods while gripping onto Kraab.
Kraab rolls his eyes and blatantly comments. “Well, he’s dead.”
Ignoring, Ochaco rushes off to herd the tourists and spectators away.
Diamondhead marches out into the pool only stopping when the Samuroid stops. The two stare ahead at the other, squaring off, awaiting the other to make the first move.
Meanwhile, Ochaco does her best to shepherd the tourists back. “Everybody! For your own safety I must ask you to stay clear of the scene!”
“Why? What’s happening?”
“Is this part of the tour?”
“Oh, is this one of those live reenactments?!”
“Uhhh.” Ochaco’s mind goes blank as she tries to come up with a good cover up. “Y-yeah! But p-please stay back for both your own and our p-performers’ safety.”
She keeps her attention on the crowd while Kraab is slung over her shoulder, his eyes locked on the combatants.
Diamondhead glowers up at the challenging Samuroid. “This is your first and final chance. You can walk away” His arms shift into thick blades. “or you can crawl.”
In response the silent Samuroid leans down, preparing to fight.
The two stand-off, standing on the tips of their toes, waiting for the other to strike first, waiting for the moment to use the other’s opening to strike back.
Even the crowd falls silent as everyone holds their breaths, awaiting the moment for the tension to release.
And wind whistles by, carrying a lone leaf. As the wind washes away the leaf floats, spinning in the air, until it gently falls onto the water’s surface with a gentle drop.
And like that the two combatants charge! Diamondhead swings his bladed-arm forward as the Samuroid thrusts its fist forward.
In a blink of an eye their attacks collide and they each sliding past the other and sliding to a stop across the water.
As they both hold their poses a lone slice suddenly appears across the Samuroid’s chest.
Diamondhead breaks into a confident smirk.
But the smirk is whipped off his face as the Samuroid reels around and slams its fist into his smug face, knocking him to the ground with a single punch!
“Woooooooo!!” The crowd of tourists cheer out in excitement, watching the crystal guy go down.
“Way to show him samurai dude!”
“Kick his ass!”
“Come on! Get your ass up!! Don’t tell me that’s all you got!”
“You can do it, crystal guy!!
Ochaco hurries to usher the people back, as they keep trying to encroach closer and closer to the fight.
As she holds them back, she peers back at Diamondhead’s downed form. ‘Get up, Deku.’
The Samuroid marches forth, towering over the prone Diamondhead, raising its arms up high, and about to deliver the final blow.
It swings down, but sensing the incoming impact Diamondhead shoves himself out of the way leaping to his knees as the machine’s fists smash into the water.
The crowd immediately breaks into cheers.
“My turn! Raagh!” Diamondhead swings his blade arm up and into the machine, slicing away at its thick metal armor.
But he doesn’t stop there, he reluctantly attacks again and again, slicing away at its armor, not giving the monstrosity a second to breathe.
“Raaaaghh!” And with one last swing to the head, the Samuroid is thrown back, stumbling away.
It stumbles to a stop, gripping its head to reset it in place. It then straightens up before its shoulder pads lift up and out comes a barrage of small missiles.
Diamondhead slams his hand down onto the ground and out comes a wall of diamonds, which shield him from the incoming blasts.
As the missiles wash away, Diamondhead charges forth, and leaps up, his fist morphing into a giant hammer! “DIAMOND HAMMER!!!”
Like Thor’s own mighty hammer, he brings the attack down onto the giant’s dome!
The Samuroid goes down, smashing into the pool like a hunk of scrap metal.
“WOOOOOOOO!!!” The crowd rings out in cheers.
Winded, Diamondhead stumbles back and away from the machine. It doesn’t appear to be getting up and so he turns away, thinking he won.
But as he begins to march away, the Samuroid stirs and begins to rise.
Diamondhead glowers back at the rising machine. “You want some more?”
It of course doesn’t respond but instead it does something rather unexpected and odd.
The machine reaches towards its stomach and from an internal hatch a hilt of some sort is produced.
The Samuroid grabs the hilt and rips it out of its own body. It rises to its feet, brandishing a massive katana-like sword.
The crow cheers and claps in response to the cool looking sword.
The katana-like sword is nearly six feet in length with a thick blue-metal hilt. The blade looks divided, like each part was made of different sections that were all somehow melded atop of each other. With the blade itself being as thick as the Buster Sword from Final Fantasy.
But despite that Diamondhead can’t help but chuckle at the thing. “A knife? Ha! That’s not even gonna scratch me.” Diamondhead’s hide is way too thick to be affected. After all he’s basically invulnerable when he’s like this.
And so with that in mind, Diamondhead taunts the Samuroid to attack. “Go ahead, I'll give you a freebie.” He stands there smugly, chest out and arms at his sides, clearly inviting the machine to attack.
It takes the invite and charges forth, katana-like blade in hand, and slashing it down at the still alien.
As the blade swings through the air, it vibrates subtly, resonating with itself right before impact.
And CHOP the blade chops down into Diamondhead’s shoulder.
“Graaahh!!” Diamondhead cries out in pain, in actual searing pain, pulling away and clutching his pierced shoulder.
Having witnessed the attack, Kraab cries out in shock. “KID!!!”
Diamondhead stumbles back, clutching his shoulder. “I’m alright. It’s just a flesh wound.” But it still hurt like hell though. “But what was that?”
He eyes the blade as the Samuroid brandishes it by its side.
“Hang on”
As the Samuroid tilts the blade Diamondhead notices that there is a second blade running along the first with the narrowest gap possible between the two blades. And as the Samuroid brandishes the blade forth and gives it a swing at its side as if to test it, Diamondhead takes note of the soundwave-like vibrations generating off of it.
“It’s like it’s resonating.” And then it clicks. “It’s like a tuning fork!” No, not like, it is a tuning fork, a giant bladed tuning fork. But if a tuning fork was able to chip away at crystal, then that must mean that. “Diamondhead must be weak to certain frequencies!” Suddenly Diamondhead doesn’t feel so invisible. “That thing is some kind of Resonate-Blade.”
The Samuroid throws its head back as if roaring, before charging forth with the Resonate-Blade at the ready.
Diamondhead tries to defend by generating a wall of crystal, but now that the Samuroid has a better handle over the Resonate-Blade it slices right through the top of the crystal wall, before breaking through and swinging at Diamondhead’s head.
Diamondhead dives out of the way and just in the knick of time. “I guess soundwaves really are my kryptonite!”
He leaps back, the blade just barely inches form his body as he dodges.
Ochaco and Kraab watch from the sidelines. Ochaco desperately wants to help but the enraptured crowd keeps pushing forward, wanting to get closer to the action.
Diamondhead leaps back and begins to fire a barrage of shards at the dastardly machine.
The Samuroid, however, counters by launching its own missiles in response: blowing away the incoming shards.
Diamondhead growls, cutting off his attack. “No good. Need a new tactic.”
The Samuroid charges, swinging down at him with its Resonate-Blade.
Diamondhead dives out of the way as the blade impales the bottom of the pool. ‘I’m slow, but it’s even slower.’ He thinks to himself, while making sure to keep his distance for now. ‘If I can out maneuver it, I should have it beat.’
The Samuroid charges in for another attack.
Diamondhead, however, realizes that and quickly generates enough crystals behind his feet to launch him to the side.
The Samuroid misses him by a mile, and proceeds to give chase. However, Diamondhead keeps at it, launching himself this way and that with sudden quick bursts of speed, using the generating crystals as make-shift springboards as it were.
The Samuroid tries to keep up, slashing and hacking away at nothing but air as it misses, becoming more and more unbalanced with every missed swing.
Diamondhead grins, seeing his opening. He slams his feet down and suddenly a wave of crystals race him over the water, allowing him to rapidly circle the behemoth. Around and around, he goes, aiming his arms out and firing down a shower of shards. “CRYSTALLIZED HAILSTORM!!”
Massive shards race in from all sides, surrounding the machine entirely. The Samuroid desperately tries to fend off the shards, managing to slash through a few of them and blast away others with its missiles but it’s not enough. The shards pierce through its armor again and again from all sides, making it look like a pincushion of shining crystals. But they keep coming piercing every ounce of the machine until it’s not even able to lift or swing its blade.
And so with his enemy immobilized, Diamondhead creates a crystal launchpad to toss himself into the air.
“Raaagh!!” And with a mighty roar Diamondhead brings his bladed arm down right through the Samuroid slicing it in half and as his blade pierces the ground below a massive burst of piercing diamonds burst out. The massive wave of crystals basically explodes through the machine, tearing it apart in a second in a brilliant display of shards, water, and shining blue metal.
And thus under the shining evening sun, Diamondhead stands victorious before a gorgeous display. The diamonds shimmering off the now calming pool shine like a rainbow as the water and shattered shards softly drizzle down like dazzling sparkles.
Diamondhead lowers his head down in respect for his fallen enemy, sheathing his bladed arm, acknowledging that the battle has been won. "No fear, no hesitation, no surprise, no doubt."
On que, the Resonate-Blade falls from the sky, landing meters away with the blade impaling the ground, allowing it to stand tall above the water, like presenting itself as a trophy to the victor.
A silence has befallen the crowd as everyone’s breaths were taken away. And then after one big inhale they all burst out into thunderous applause. “WOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAHHHH!!!”
They cheer and clap, praising the show and it's performers.
“That. Was. EPIC!!!”
“NOOO!!! I had the lens cover on!!”
“Aw, man!! My finger was blocking the camera!!”
“Those guys were amazing!!”
“A robot Samurai! Only in Japan my dude!!
“God, I love Japan!”
“This place is like so totally getting 5 stars on yelp.”
Ochaco watches on from the side now allowing the cheering crowd through.
Kraab finally releases the breath he was apparently holding. “The kid did it.”
Ochaco giggles just as relieved to see Deku alright as Kraab is.
Diamondhead peers through the cheering crowd and manages to spot his friends, who wave him over, signaling that they should leave.
He nods and moves to go after them but not before the shimmer blade of the Resonate-Blade catches his eye.
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
Upon the Dejarik board one of Chopper’s holographic monsters takes out one of Hisashi’s own, gaining him the lead.
“Nice move.” Hisashi comments, leaning back in his chair. “But-” He begins to move around his peons. “Victory. Is.”
Chopper slowly reaches for the extension cord that’s leading into the RV.
Hisashi cheers out in victory. “Mine-HEY!!!” He shouts in protest as the board shuts off and all the peons vanish.
^Wha wha wha wha!^ Chopper laughs, waving the cord in the air.
Exasperated, Hisashi sits back in his seat, and gives a slow shake of his head. “You’re such a sore loser.”
^Wo-wo!^
As Chopper laughs, Gran Torino and Xylene return, coming back into view after their nice stroll.
They hike towards Hisashi who waves them over from his seat beside the RV.
Gran Torino shakes his head in shame. “Don’t tell me this is what you did in your spare time?” He then gestures to the Rustbucket. “When you have this junkpile you could’ve been working on?”
“Hey! the Rustbucket’s not junk.” Hisashi defends, shooting up from his seat and giving the old girl a pat. “She’s a classic.”
The bumper unceremoniously falls right off.
Hisashi bits his lip but stays committed to his stance. “And…she’s got character.”
“Uh huh.” Moving on, Gran Torino has himself a look around. “Where are the brats?”
“Oh, I sent them off on their own.”
“You what?!” Both Xylene and Gran Torino cry out in protest.
Hisashi jumps back at their screams. “What’s the harm?!”
They both shout out over each other. “The harm is that you allowed the Omnitrix out on it’s own!/You let two teenagers go off by themselves?!”
Ignoring Xylene, Hisashi chooses to address Gran Torino’s concern only. “What? They’re teens.” he defends figuring they’re old enough to not need a supervisor just to visit a temple.
But Gran Torino sure doesn’t see it that way. “Exactly! You sent two hormonal teens off on their own? Talk about irresponsible!”
Hisashi blinks, offended on said teens’ behalf. “Okay, first off they’re not like that! And secondly, I didn't send them off on their own.”
“Oh, really, who’d you send with them?”
And like that Hisashi realizes that he should have even brought that point up as he shrinks back in freight. “I sent…the ex-bounty hunter with them.”
He was right to be afraid as Gran Torino immediately whacks him over the head with his cane.
“Ow! Sheesh, I get it!”
Gran Torino just glowers in annoyance.
Chopper’s antenna picks up on something and he immediately begins to make a ruckus, gesturing wildly towards the shrubby woodlands. ^Wer-wo Wer-wo!^
Hisashi kneels down beside his bot. “What is it, Chop?”
On que, Izuku and Ochaco burst out of the shrubs. Both of them winded like they just ran a marathon with their clothes and hair disheveled while they have a panicked look in their eyes.
The grown ups, mainly Gran Torino and Hisashi, just stare at them with deadpanned judgment and suspicions. After all, two teens running out of the woods with messed up hair, clothes, and they’re out of breath. Damn, Hisashi can hear Gran Torino’s lecture already.
But the teens don’t pick up on that at all as Izuku rushes forward as something large and narrow is strapped to his back along with Kraab. “Dad! Dad! Dad! Dad! Dad!!” Izuku rushes forward, only stopping when he finally reaches them. “You’re not gonna believe what just happened to us!”
Hisashi drops his head at his own shame. “You’re right I can’t believe it.”
“What?” Izuku’s rightfully lost here but he ignores it and moves on. “Look!”
He rips off the Resonate-Blade off his back and presents it to the adults.
Hisashi’s eyes pop as he takes in the six-foot blade. “Where did you get this?”
Ochaco finally catches up and chokes out. “It was the Samuroid!”
Gran Torino looks at her like she just said something insane. “The what?”
“The Samuroid.” She repeats between breaths. “It was this big, massive samurai looking droid. It was huge! And it attacked us! And it hurt Diamondhead! Diamondhead!! Can you believe it?!”
Izuku rapidly nods his head. “Yeah, and it used this!” He shoves the blade forward again.
This time Hisashi takes it, eyeing it curiously, examining every detail of it for any clues of where it may have come from or what it’s made out of. “I don’t know of any battle droids that use this kind of weapon.”
In the meantime, Xylene silently observes from the background. But her suspicions grow as she eyes the blue-hilted katana.
From behind Izuku’s back, Kraab chimes in very hesitantly with an answer. “It was a Techadon…”
Silence befalls the entire group with tensions so high one could hear a pin drop.
Kraab hesitantly repeats himself. “It was…a Techadon.”
Xylene is immediately put on edge as she demands an answer. “How can you be so sure?!”
Izuku hates to agree with her on this, but she does have a point. “Yeah, I thought you lost your memories.”
Kraab shakes his head and tries to clarify. “I never lost them. It's more like they’re locked away. But when I saw that thing…the Techadon, things just came back to me.”
And judging by how reserved and hesitant he’s being, Izuku can only assume what he remembered might not have been worth remembering.
Ochaco, the ever curious, pipes up. “What’s a Techadon?”
Although he is acting rather off and hesitant, Kraab still obliges her with an answer. “Techadon Robots are weapons created by the Weapon Masters of Techadon and their Inspectors. They’re weapons that are meant to be sold off to the highest bidders. Who often use them as security details and soldiers.”
In the meantime, Hisashi tries to remember what else he’s heard about them. “I’ve heard about them, but I’ve never seen one before. All I know is that they’re extremely dangerous.”
Ochaco peers over at Kraab. “You sure remembered a lot.”
“Not… everything.” He closes his eyes in frustration as he tries to summon forth more memories but can’t. “Honestly, I feel like…I feel like I’m forgetting an important detail. But-...” It’s no use.
While they talk, Xylene rushes up and grabs Izuku by the shoulders and begins to shake him, demanding answers. “Quickly! Did you defeat it?! Did you destroy it?! Tell me! Now!!”
Izuku shoves her away so he can breathe. “Yes! Okay! We destroyed it!”
“Yeah!” Ochaco defends. “Deku blew it to smithereens!”
“Good.” Xylene says that but they can tell that she might not actually believe them.
Gran Torino cups his chin in thought. “But what’s a Techadon doing here? Do you think Vilgax hired it out?”
“He did.” Xylene responds. “And it’s here because I am here.”
The group gasps. “What?”
“When I first retrieved the Omnitrix I tried my best to go into hiding. However, Vilgax’s first attempt at claiming the device was by sending a Techadon to retrieve it. It hunted me down for months, but I managed to capture it and deactivate it aboard my ship.” She had it all locked away in a specialized chamber too for later dismantlement. “It must have been rebooted after I escaped the ice.”
Izuku can accept that but still it took her months to defeat it and yet she wants to take the Omnitrix? Something about that just gives Izuku a bad taste in his mouth. “Well then it’s a good thing we took care of it then. After all, it took us only a few minutes to deal with it.”
That was a clear jab at her skills if it wasn’t clear enough. And she knows it too.
“I am not leaving without the Omnitrix.” She promises without a hint of hesitation.
Izuku turns away in protest. “Then I guess you’re gonna be sticking around for a while.”
The two stare each other down as if to will the other to give in to the other’s demands.
But despite their sour demeanors, Ochaco is actually a little relieved. If Xylene does stick around that means Gran Torino will too…
Xylene pulls away first, turning to Hisashi and telling him bluntly that he needs to raise his spawn properly. “You should teach your child the importance of respecting their elders.”
Gran Torino let’s out an amused scoff. “How could he when he doesn’t?”
Hisashi glowers at him.
Done with them all, Xylene marches away but not before throwing back one last comment. “You better have destroyed it.”
Izuku glares back. “I did.”
“I sure hope so.” And with that she marches away, hoping deep down inside that what the child is saying is indeed correct.
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
Within the thicket of the temple’s many gardens lies the sliced head of the Techadon. It lies in ruin, its head split in two, its visor cracked and smashed in while its armor is strewn about the temple in pieces so small it would take decades to fit them all back into place.
However, despite the total obliteration and destruction the Techadon flickers back to life. The metal within its armor morphs and bends like liquid veins and arteries.
The metallic veins flow out of the sliced head pieces and fuse together, pulling the head back together and sealing it seamlessly, leaving nothing but an unscathed albeit severed head.
From out of the thickets of flowers and ferns, its fully repaired hand crawls forward. From nearby its now intake leg hops through the vegetation, clearing a path for the remaining fragments of its armor.
The fragments and limbs protrude out with metallic veins, meshing and molding them all together. And the Techadon slowly reshapes and becomes whole once again.
Not every part of it returns but with every lump or dent the bot manages to repair itself and fix as its metallic structure bends and seemingly regrows itself. All until it stands tall above the flowerbed with no signs of ever being demolished, present. Almost like it never even occurred.
But it did occur and the Techadon knows it.
In fact from inside, it’s AI begins to recollect the battle, down to the smallest of moments to the biggest of actions. Analyzing every one of the targets moves, its attacks, its techniques. Beginning from the target’s activation to the Techadon’s own defeat. Not a second of memory is overlooked, everything is taken in for every second of worth.
As it analyzes its target, the silver maedate upon its forehead reshapes itself, the ends extending further upward, becoming more prominent much like a samurai’s.
Upon its completion, the Techadon peers around and takes note of what it is still missing: it’s Resonate-Blade.
It turns its head up towards the sky, broadcasting a low discrete signal. And PING. With that it has its weapon’s signal, and it appears to be moving.
With its target locked, the Techadon marches forth, crushing the flowerbed below and shoving through the thicket of trees like their plastic. Its gaze locked on ahead, towards its sword, to its target.
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
Izuku leans back with a heavy sigh watching the sun just beginning to set in the distance, just barely hiding behind Tokyo’s skyscrapers. The treetops sway in the soft wind spraying a few leaves up and beside Izuku as he sits atop the RV’s roof.
The severed head of Kraab sits beside him, having been tossed up earlier by a pranking Chopper. Izuku meant to get him down but after climbing up he decided to hang out there as well, taking some time to reflect.
And the quiet is sure what Izuku needed especially since it gets him away from Xylene who hasn’t stopped glaring at him since they got back from the shrine.
But the silence is anything but peaceful for Kraab who keeps hesitantly peering up at Izuku. “What’s eating you?”
Izuku’s eyes drift down towards the ground where Hisashi and Chopper are examining the Resonate-Blade while the ever-critical Xylene hovers over Hisashi’s shoulder.
With an exasperated breath, Izuku replies with. “Her.”
“Ah.”
Izuku turns away, peering back out towards the sunset. “It’s just that I can’t get over what she said.”
“About what?”
“About this.” He holds up his wrist and the Omnitrix glimmers under the warm setting sun. “How I was just…lucky. That I was never meant to have it.”
Kraab can understand that on some level for sure; after all everybody is lucky one way or another whether it’s bad or good. “Yeah, I mean, what are the odds you’d be the one to find it?”
“Exactly…! But now that I have it I’ve been able to do so many things. I was able to join U.A., I can be a hero, I can save people but…” Izuku was only able to do all those things because the Omnitrix fell onto his lap. “It’s not like I did anything to earn this for myself…I just got lucky.”
Kraab doesn’t say a word, not interrupting the clearly distraught boy.
“This Omnitrix is a blessing…and a curse. Sure, I’ve done some good with it but…look at all the trouble it’s caused.” He thinks back to all the bounty hunters he’s fought like SixSix and Kraab, the psychotic aliens he’s clashed with like Ragnarok, the robots he destroyed like the Techadon, and every one of them came here because of him…because of the Omnitrix. “Maybe…it was bad luck that I got it. Maybe I really shouldn’t have it.”
That is food for thought, but Kraab can’t help but think of it a little differently. “It…it was all up to chance.”
“What?”
Kraab would be giving a shrug if he could. “Chance, luck, fate call it what you want but whatever the case it was luck. You had some fucking bad luck.” he tells him flat-out without a hint of sympathy.
“Y-yeah, I know.”
“Good, then shut up and deal with it.”
“Huh?!”
“I said shut up and accept it.” Kraab repeats with just as much tact as a hammer. “Shit both good and bad, happens to everybody, and people can deal with it differently. You can either whine about it, say you don’t deserve it, and all that woah-is-me bullshit. Or you can accept it and move on with dignity. Even if it wasn’t meant for you the Omnitrix is yours, no questions asked, it’s a done deal.”
“But…”
“Look, life deals out crap none of us want. But in our case, we use what life’s given us to our advantage.” Whether they like it or not. “Life set us up so we might as well use what it gave us to get ahead.”
That certainly does give Izuku something to think about, but his mind can’t help but pick up and hook itself onto something else Kraab said. “Us…?”
“What?”
“You…you said…us?” Izuku clarifies while eyeing the cyborg curiously. “You said “life set us up.””
“Huh…” Kraab drifts away, becoming silent and far off. “I guess I did.” And that’s all he has to say, saying nothing more nor explaining himself any further.
Izuku curiously wants to dig deeper but holds himself back; not wanting to offend or aggravate. But instead he begins to think of what Kraab meant by that. That they were both dealt bad hands.
‘Just what hand did life deal him?’ That is the thought running through Izuku’s head as he examines the cyborg’s shiny plated skull and robotic features. ‘Just what kind of blessing and curse did you receive? How are we alike?’
While Izuku contemplates these questions, he himself is being watched over by Ochaco who’s eyeing him worriedly from the ground below.
She’s been wanting to talk to him especially after everything Xylene said and she is just about to call up to him when she’s interrupted.
“Uraraka.”
Ochaco rotates back around. “Oh, hey, Gran Torino.” She smiles waving down at the little old man. “Crazy day, huh?”
“Yeah, crazy.”
“I bet you’re happy. You got to reunite with a friend.” Life set us up “I’m happy for you.”
“Thank you.” Gran Torino may say that but he is not smiling, rather his expression is serious and disciplined. “But right now I would rather not discuss myself or even Xylene. I wanted to talk to you.”
“Um, sure.” Ochaco looks up at Izuku and Kraab. “But can it wait? I was actually gonna talk to Deku real quick.”
Gran Torino peers behind her and spots the mop of green sitting atop the RV. “The kid’s fine, he just needs some time to himself.” He peers up at Ochaco. “Besides right now someone else needs to hear from you too.”
Ochaco frowns, not sure what he means. “Who?”
Gran Torino just waves her over, gesturing for her to follow.
She does, following him into the woods. They don’t go far though just enough to be out of earshot but still close enough that they’re still in view.
Gran Torino takes a seat upon a downed tree while Ochaco sits across from him, sitting crossed legged on the ground.
Gran Torino leans his cane to the side and begins. “Do you know why I called you here in the first place?”
“Uh, oh, you mean why you invited me over to Tokyo!”
“Yeah. It was so we can talk about what happened during your Final Exam.”
‘Oh, right.’ To be honest Ochaco was kinda dreading that and after everything with their visitors, Xylene and the Techadon, she was kind of hoping Gran Troino had forgotten all about it. But looks like there’s no getting out of it so she might as well explain what happened. “It wasn’t Deku’s fault. Look what happened was that-”
“That All Might’s poor judgment cost him the respect of his students.” Gran Torino finishes as he stares right back at her. “And his pupil.”
“Oh…” Looks like he already knew.
Gran Torino leans back and explains how he came to find out what happened. “All Might reached out to see me a little while ago…and he gave me his side of the story.”
##########(Flashback)#########
Gran Torino sits back in his chair while a hot plate of taiyaki sits on the coffee table. He picks away at them, helping himself to them and his warm tea.
But his guest doesn't seem to partake in the sweet treats, instead opting to just stare into their tea as it grows cold.
Gran Torino can’t help but notice just how sunken in Toshinori Yagi looks. Even looks more depressing and skinner than he ever has in his weakened form. He honestly looks like a skinny tree that’ll fall over with the next breeze.
Knowing the treats and tea are a lost cause, Gran Torino sets his down and gets right to business. “So, what’s tearing at you this time?”
Toshinori stares up at him in surprise, surprised that he knew something was bothering him.
Gran Torino explains how he knew. “You don’t pay me a visit that often so the only reason you’re here now is cause something’s bothering you, right?”
Toshinori lowers his head in defeat. “Yes. As usual, sir, you are correct.”
“So, out with it.”
“I…made a mistake.”
And so Toshinori spills his heart and guilt out. Explaining everything he can in full detail. From his suspicions of the boy, Izuku Midoriya, to his unjustified assumptions, his actions and words during the disaster that was supposed to be a Final Exam, and how now the guilt is eating away at him from the inside.
And at the end, Gran Torino can only sit back and listen while taking in everything Toshinori says.
“Hm.” He hums to himself while deep in thought.
Toshinori grows more anxious in his seat. “Please, say something.”
“Okay. You fucked up.”
“I know that!!” Toshinori shouts not expecting Gran Torino to be so blunt about it. “I know that… I failed that boy, I…betrayed his trust. I failed him both as a hero and as his teacher.” Toshinori rubs his neck before adding on. “It hasn’t just been him though. I also realized that I haven’t exactly been the mentor Young Uraraka’s needed either. I mean I trained her, helped her build up her strength but it was really you that helped her learn to focus her power.” In truth he’s been stumbling through his teaching responsibilities when it comes to both of those kids, especially Uraraka. “I just pawned her off to you.”
And then came his disastrous handling of Midoriya’s justified outburst. And even though he tried to make amends and apologize, both the boy and his pupil told him outright that they are not quite ready to forgive and forget.
Toshinori lets out a sullen sigh, his head hanging low like a starving pooch. “And after what happened…I know I lost her trust as well.”
Gran Torino allows him to finish, sipping his tea before responding to Toshinori’s tale. “What have you done to fix it?”
Toshinori doesn’t answer, instead shrinking into himself.
“Nothing?!” Gran Torino scolds.
Toshinori shakes his head in a panic. “No, not nothing! I’ve…I’ve tried more recently to call her but she hasn’t answered.” He’s been trying every day for the last week in fact. “She’s…she’s been ghosting me.”
“Hm. And what of the boy?”
Once again, he has no answer.
Gran Torino frowns in disappointment. “I see. So, why bring this all up to me?”
“I…I need someone that could tell me what to do.” Toshinori bows his head lower, begging Gran Torino for his help.” I need to know how…I need to know how I can reach my students?”
“Hm. Let’s start with the girl then.”
“Well like I said I’ve been trying to reach her.”
“Have you seen her since the Final Exam?”
“I did.” Toshinori explains. “I comforted her after she had a run in with Tomura Shigaraki.”
Gran Torino nods, recalling the incident. “Ah, yes. I heard about the incident from Tsukauchi. So, then when did you try to reach out again?”
“I…finally worked up the courage a week ago.” He lowers his head acknowledging that his efforts haven’t been fruitful. “I wanted to speak to her. I wanted for us to reconnect, and I got the push after I got an invite.”
“Invite?” Gran Torino frowns. “To where?”
Toshinori gives him a slow shake of his head as if it’s not worth bringing up. “It doesn't matter, really. I mean it would have been great if she could come along but if she doesn’t even want to hear from me then I shouldn't even mention it.”
“But that’s beside the point.” Toshinori continues. “She…she’s lost trust in me. They both have. After all, I just accused her closest friend of being a villain.” He looks ready to lie in his own grave. “Her own teacher didn’t trust her judgment.”
Gran Torino thinks it over. He can understand how often adults overthink and worry over their juniors, but in this case, it may have gone too far. “Teachers should always be looking out for their students. But they shouldn’t try to control them, rather they need to be there when their students fail and succeed. To be there when they make their mistakes and be there to catch them if they fall.” Gran Torino looks his former student in the eye and tells him straight up. “You failed that basic principle.”
In response, Toshinori’s face rides up with honest cold guilt.
And Gran Torino can see it written all over his face, so there’s no need to hammer that point in. “However, I can understand why you thought the way you did. Especially after everything we’ve gone through.” His eyes drift down towards Toshinori’s stomach, where that nasty wound is hidden away underneath his shirt. “But we’re all human. We get emotional and sometimes we let our emotions get the better of us.” Like how All Might let his fear get to him or how Izuku allowed his anger to take him. “As for Uraraka, she doesn’t hate you, that’s for sure. If anything, she’s not sure how to act around you anymore.” She’s confused and uncertain, she’s not sure how to handle this kind of situation. “She’s avoiding you because she’s afraid of how she’ll be disappointed again.”
“I need to make things right with her. With both of them but I can’t just force myself onto them!”
“You're right, you can’t.” Gran Torino takes a moment to think. “In Uraraka’s case she has to come to you. No matter how she feels about it now, you are her mentor. So she’s gonna need you.” Maybe he, Gran Torino, should at least nudge her in the right direction. “Be patient but be persistent too.”
“What do you mean?”
“For now, keep reaching out. At the very least it’ll show her that you still want to be her mentor. And that you still care.”
“But what about Young Midoriya? Should I…should I do the same?” Toshinori seems hesitant, worried that he’ll upset the boy again whether it’s through his presence or a slip of the tongue.
Gran Torino frowns. “Well I can’t say I know him that well if at all but I can say he’s a good kid. A good head on his shoulders and yeah after what I saw he’s definitely gonna make a fine hero someday.” That said there’s still the matter of how to deal with the boy. “But from what you told me; I think there’s only one real option on how to move things forward with him.”
Toshinori sits up, hopeful that his teacher will have the answer he needs to fix all of this. “Please, tell me.”
Gran Torino looks him in the eye and says. “You should stay away from him.”
Well, he certainly wasn’t expecting such a response.
“I don’t mean that in a cruel way.” Gran Torino clarifies. “I mean that in a respectful way. The kid blew his lid and I’m sure he feels guilty and that’s exactly why you should stay back.” How else can he explain this? “The kid’s trust is like a well-built house. And you came in and punched a hole right through it.” Essentially, he broke in and violated the kid’s trust. “And now after mistakes were made, the boy needs to take his time to fix his house. It needs to be filled back up and put back together again. He needs time to repair, to become stronger at least mentally and emotionally.”
“But then shouldn’t I help fix the metaphorical house? Shouldn’t I be there?”
“No. You were the one that broke in and smashed the place. It’s not easy for anyone to invite that same person back inside, is it?”
Toshinori can’t help but agree; it’s like asking the guy that robbed you to come over for another visit. “No, I guess it wouldn’t be.”
“You need to respect the boy’s own space for now. Until he’s ready to allow you to come back inside the house.”
Toshinori gulps, afraid to even air his next concern. “And what if…what if he never forgives me.”
Gran Torino, however, immediately waves the worry off. “The kid will forgive you. If he’s anything like his old man, then his heart won’t allow him to stay angry forever. But ultimately it’ll be up to you to really show him how much being his teacher and hero means to you.”
Toshinori curiously frowns at the mention of Young Midoriya’s father, but he doesn't dwell on it, figuring right now it’s more important to stay focused on the essential topic.
And after taking Gran Torino’s advice he can confidently summarize his points. “So, I need to be patient and gentle with him for now until he’s ready to move on. And when that happens, I have to somehow show through my actions that I care. An ‘actions speak louder than words’ kind of approach.”
Gran Torino nods in approval, glad his old student understands. “You get it. When the time comes you need to show him how you feel. And that you want to go forward with him as well.”
Toshinori feels a little bit better but still he has his concerns. “But…when will that be?”
“…I don’t know.”
########(End Flashback)#######
“There you have it.” Gran Torino claps his hands as he finishes his retelling. “That’s why I reached out to ya.”
Ochaco frowns, letting his story sink in. “Why? So, you can tell me to get over myself?”
“No.” Gran Torino leans forward, keeping his attention on her. “I wanted to hear your side of things.”
Ochaco raises an eyebrow at him, finding this all to be rather odd. “You’re mediating?”
“Yeah, I am. I mean, you must realize that it isn't good that you're pushing your own mentor away.”
Ochaco can’t deny it; she has been ignoring All Might ever since the incident. “I’m…I’m not angry with All Might. I’m just…disappointed and confused is all. On one hand I understand why he was so paranoid the way he was. But on the other hand, he didn’t trust my judgment nor Deku.” And it hurt especially as she could only watch as her best friend lost control and attacked her misjudging mentor. “I- I want to talk to him but I’m afraid that-that I’ll say something I don’t mean. Or that I’ll end up regretting.”
Gran Torino can understand those fears, certainly, however. “The only thing you’ll regret is not meeting him halfway. You can’t avoid him forever; it'll be better for you both to work through this together.”
“But what about Deku?”
“The kid needs time until he’s ready to face All Might again.” How much time even he’s not sure though. “But seeing you move forward will inspire him to move forward as well.” Gran Torino peers up past the setting sun and to the moon that’s just barely visible behind the parting clouds. “That’s all we can do, carry forward along with the weight of all of our decisions.”
Like how sometimes, just sometimes, he wonders what it would’ve been like if he never said NO to Xylene that day. But he did say NO and he’s stuck to that decision ever since.
As Gran Torino reminisces and drifts away, Ochaco hesitantly peers down at her phone, slipping it out of her pocket. On her screen she finds 24 unread messages all from the same address: All Might.
Gran Torino spots the phone. “So, then are you gonna move forward or stay where you are?”
Ochaco grips the phone tightly, trying to will herself to open the messages and to finally respond. She takes a breath and reaches for the screen.
*CRAAASSSHHH!!!*
A thundering crash booms across the woodlands as a massive dust cloud sprouts up into the sky.
Ochaco and Gran Torino immediately jump to their feet watching as the dust cloud rises above the campsite.
Ochaco gasps, forgetting about the messages for now. “That came from the RV!!”
“Hurry!!” Gran Torino shouts, scooping up his cane before hurrying off along with Ochaco.
They make it back to the RV in record time only to be stunned to find the fully repaired Techadon standing before Xylene, Hisashi, and Chopper after retaking its Resonate-Blade. It has its free arm extended forward, formed into a cannon. It appears to be scanning the site before it locks onto the astonished Izuku who sits frozen atop the Rustbucket.
It immediately swings its arm up and over, the cannon now aiming right for the boy.
But before it can fire Xylene rushes forward as her eyes begin to glow.
With a swing of her hand the Techadon rises within a glowing aura. And before he can process the root cause of its levitation Ochaco leaps up and delivers a powerful SMASH!!
Her fist smashes through the bot's stomach and launches it away where it crashes into the ground.
With the bot down, Izuku slides down the RV with Kraab in hand as everyone else rushes over.
Xylene is seething with rage, grabbing Izuku by his shoulder and spinning him around. “Liar!! I thought you said you destroyed it!!”
Izuku throws his hands up in defense. “I did!!”
“I thought you meant you incinerated it!” Xylene barks, clearly annoyed with Izuku for not somehow reading her mind. “I thought you meant you melted it down!”
“Why would you assume that?!”
“Because Techadons,” She grabs Izuku by the head and pulls him around towards the downed bot. “can self-repair!”
On que, the Techadon rises from within the crater with a massive gaping hole in its chest. Upon rising back up, the chest wound molds and folds into itself until it becomes whole once again.
Kraab winces as if he just felt a pain in his head but even so he still manages to get snippy with the lizard lady. “You know you really should have clarified that earlier!”
The Techadon prepares its blade and charges at the group.
Xylene shoves Izuku back and throws her hands out, halting the Techadon’s movements within her Telekinesis.
As the Techadon struggles forward, Ochaco rushes in and slaps her hand against the machine’s arm.
Zero-Gravity takes hold just as Gran Torino zooms in with his Jet Quirk and slams into the bot knocking it back with ease.
As the Techadon is flung back, Ochaco releases it, and it tumbles to the ground bouncing off it like a pebble on water before crashing into an abandoned billboard that’s been left to rot in the abandoned parking lot.
As it rises to its feet, it is met by a veil of flames courtesy of Hisashi.
Meanwhile, Izuku hangs back along with Kraab and Chopper, watching uselessly from the sidelines.
Upon watching his friends going into battle for his sake, Izuku places Kraab onto Chopper's head. “I beat it once I can do it again!”
Chopper rattles and beeps in response. ^Wo-wa Be-wo.^
Izuku shakes his head. “It’s not gonna be my funeral!”
Kraab rolls his eyes. “I’m with Chopper on this one. It’s definitely your funeral kid, but hey I’m just a head so not like I can stop ya.”
Izuku rolls his eyes in response. “Thanks for the vote of confidence, guys.” He begins to sprint forward. “Just sit back and enjoy the show!”
As Izuku runs off Chopper shouts after him. ^Wo-wa wa-bp!^
“Yeah.” Kraab jeers along with Chopper, his voice dripping with sarcasm. “We’re dying with anticipation!”
As Izuku dials up an alien he charges headfirst towards the battle and as he preps to transform he finds his body locked in a pink aura.
“Stay back!” Xylene shouts, cutting him off and tossing him back with a forceful push of her mind.
“Woah!” Izuku flies backward, hitting the ground and sliding across the weedy parking lot until he slides to a stop at Chopper’s feet.
Chopper and Kraab look down at him from above.
“Well, what do you know, that was a show.” Kraab teases while Chopper begins to laugh.
Izuku scowls up at them but chooses to ignore them as he aims his anger at the one that threw him. “What was that for?!”
As the others hold the line against the machine, Xylene glares back at the boy and shouts. “Stay out of this! We can’t risk the Omnitrix falling into Vilgax’s hands.”
“But I can-”
“Shut it! Just be a good child and stay put!” She then rushes off to rejoin the fray.
Kraab hisses in feigned pain. “Oh, ouch, even I felt that sting.”
As the others engage in battle, Izuku curls his hand into a frustrated fist “I can’t just sit here and watch, can I?!”
“HA! Welcome to the club.”
Kraab’s teasing is not what Izuku needs right now. He’s already so frustrated. First All Might now Xylene! They’re both treating him like a child that’s way over his head! Neither of them trust him! But-but he can help! He can!
With a shout Izuku declares out in frustration. “I’m going in!” He then begins to dial up for an alien.
Kraab, still taking this as a joke, sarcastically shouts back. “Go get 'em Tiger!”
“I sure will or rather.” Izuku finds the alien and transforms within less than a second before a loud booming voice roars out. “Rath will!!”
Rath flexes his arms before leaping forward without a hint of hesitation.
As Ochaco dives away, just narrowly avoiding the swing of the Techadon’s blade Rath zooms in and arm drives the machine down onto the ground much to everyone’s astonishment!
Rath stands atop the bot, shouting at its face as he begins to wail his fists into its massive frame. “Lemme tell you something, you giant pile of rusting tin cans! Rath is gonna rip you piece by piece by piece!!” He continuously slams his fist down into the Techadon, tearing through its armor with his piercing claws. “Rath is gonna tear you apart so much that it’ll take you a hundred years to put yourself back together!! And when you do, Rath is gonna tear you apart again just for laughs!!”
As he continues to pound away at the downed bot the disturbingly calm android watches him closely, watching his fists thrust into its frame again and again without a hint of fear.
“RAAAWWWR!!!” Rath roars out like a mighty beast as he drills his fist down towards his prey’s head.
But his claw never connects as the bot catches his fist in its iron grip.
“Let go, you rejected Terminator concept art! Or Rath is gonna-WAH!!”
The Techadon swings him up and over, slamming Rath into the ground before swinging him over and down into the ground again and again before tossing him aside like a sack of potatoes.
“Woah!!” Rath cries out as he slides to a stop. “Ow…” He moans, rubbing his aching head.
As the Techadon repairs itself its shoulders protrude up just as it fires a rain of missiles at the down Appoplexian.
“Move child!!” Xylene shouts sliding in and deflecting the missiles with her Telekinesis. “You’re only in the way!”
Rath let’s out a beastly growl. “Shut your yaphole!! Rath can deal with this honking hunk of stinking metal without you! RAAWWR!!!”
Hisashi calls after him! “No, Izuku!!”
But his call goes unheard as Rath rushes in and takes a nasty swipe at the Techadon’s chest. “Rath is gonna rip your greased up heart and eat it like a kebab!!”
The Techadon doesn’t defend itself; instead, it watches on as Rath’s sharp claw harmlessly slides off its armor.
“Huh?!” Rath’s jaw drops, he didn’t even leave a scratch. “But how?”
The Techadon grips it's blade and raises it high above its head.
Rath let’s out a terrified meow. “Uh, oh…”
The Techadon swings its Resonate-Blade down at the tiger.
“DEKU!!!” Ochaco screams out, zipping through as a pink blur and plucking Rath away in the knick of time.
But without her Gyro-Disc nor having used Zero-Gravity on Rath they both tumble and fall to the ground, bouncing across the weedy parking lot before grinding to a stop.
Not one to show mercy the Techadon moves to go after them, but he’s cut off by a blur of red.
The Techadon raises its blade, defending itself from the blazing spear now blocking its path.
“Amenonuhoko: Dual Burn!!” Hisashi declares as he grips his fiery spear after having Chopper fetch it from inside the RV.
Hisashi spins the spear about, its flame-tipped ends glowing through the air like a pair of glowing orange blades. “You’re not getting past me!”
The Techadon rightfully takes that as a challenge, swinging its Resonate-Blade forward.
Hisashi meets the blade with his burning Amenonuhoko! And the two weapons bounce off each other before they’re both swung forward, clashing against each other again and again as flames and vibrating waves echo off with each clash.
As the two struggle against each other, Gran Torino zips in and takes a swing at the bot’s head with his cane. Although it doesn’t do much it does manage to break its hold over Hisashi allowing the Plumber to get a few burning stabs into its knees.
The Techadon stumbles and nearly falls over as Gran Torino continuously zips in and delivers hard hits to its back and head. It makes to cut the old man in half but its blade is halted by Hisashi’s burning Amenonuhoko.
As the battle of the melee weapons continues Xylene rushes in as well trying to use her Telekinesis to slow the android’s movements.
Meanwhile, Rath shoves himself off the ground and finds himself barking into Ochaco’s face. “Lemme tell you somethin’ Ochaco Uraraka!! Rath didn’t need your stinking help! Rath had it all under control!!”
Ochaco glares back at the ungrateful transformation. “Lemme tell you something, Rath. Ochaco Uraraka doesn’t think you did!”
Rath shrinks back, not able to take his own speech thrown back at him in stride.
As the fight rages, the Techadon spots the Omnitrix bearing Appoplexian, and it focuses its attention onto its intended target.
Determined to complete its mission, the Techadon flexes as if trying to roar out. Upon doing so it unleashes a barrage of missiles down upon Hisashi, Gran Torino, and Xylene.
The three don’t have enough time to defend themselves or to deflect the missiles and are instead forced to dive out of the way. But in the case of Hisashi and Xylene neither escape in time and are blasted off their feet.
With the obstacles removed, the Techadon locks in onto the Omnitrix, marching forth while its soul focus remains on the Omnitrix.
Rath and Ochaco stand their ground as the massive weapon approaches.
Rath swings his fist up and shouts. “You want some more?!”
The Techadon stops, not raising a hand nor its blade, but instead it locks onto the Omnitrix and as it does so the long silver maedate upon its brow glows gold in color.
*BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!*
Upon the maedate beginning to glow, the Omnitrix flashes red and Rath vanishes from sight, replaced by the not as intimidating Izuku.
Izuku freezes in place, his mind blank and unable to process what just happened. “HUUUHHH!?!” He frantically rubs his hands over his body as to make sure this isn’t a dream or a trick of the mind.
Ochaco is just as panicked as he is, her eyes trialing towards the red glowing Omnitrix. “What just happened?!”
“I don’t know!!”
From the sidelines hides Chopper and Kraab. And although Chopper is trying to remain out of sight, Kraab watches on. At first with mild interest but after witnessing the Techadon’s moves and Izuku’s detransformation, this battle has his full attention. His eyes remain locked on the Techadon, only looking away as his head begins to flash and sends shocks of pain throughout his mind. “In-...Inspector…”
While Izuku continues to make sure that he’s not dreaming, the Techadon prepares the final blow with its blade.
“Um…can we talk this out by any chance.”
The silent Techadon’s hamlet gleams almost like the android is trying to taunt him.
But before it can take a swing Ochaco grabs Izuku by the hood of his hoodie and pulls him back just as a missile rams into the Techadon, blasting it back a ways.
“Get away from my boy!” Hisashi roars as he presses down on his car keys.
The RV’s engine roars to life as the Rustbucket races forward all on its own. Charging forward and slamming itself into the Techadon!
The Techadon throws its hands forward and pushes against the Rustbucket but it’s of no avail as it is pushed back.
Ochaco’s jaw drops at the sight of the self-driving weaponized RV. “I thought that thing was just a rustbucket?!”
“It is!” Izuku laughs, but he’s still weirded out by his sudden detransformation.
Hisashi and the others rush over towards the teens.
With Hisashi immediately dotting over his son making sure he’s not hurt. “Izuku! Are you okay?! What happened?! I thought you couldn't transform back on your own?”
“I can’t!” Izuku explains. “Or at least I don’t think so!”
Xylene scowls down at the DNA weapon. “If the Omnitrix is acting up we can't afford the risk. Stay here and out of sight for now.”
“But-”
“I will not repeat myself again.”
Everyone frowns at that, even Gran Torino has to admit that her tone is becoming rather grating, especially the unwarranted aggression towards the poor boy.
While that’s happening the Techadon frees itself of the Rustbucket’s path, shoving itself to the side and allowing the vehicle to race past.
Upon seeing the Techadon free itself Gran Torino hurries off. “We’ll figure out what’s wrong with it later, for now we got other problems to deal with!” And thus, he zips away with Xylene in tow.
Hisashi is just about to hurry after them but not before stating. “If the Omnitrix recharges you can help but for now stay put.”
Izuku wishes to protest but he can understand Hisashi’s logic. “Okay.”
With that being addressed, Hisashi turns to Ochaco and smiles teasingly. “Let’s go, if the old geezer’s gonna kick the bucket then I want to be there to see it.”
“Quiet you!” Gran Torino shouts as he zips around the Techadon before leaping back as the Rustbucket zooms in for another ramming. “We all know I’m gonna out live you! Haha!”
Hisashi laughs, albeit a little annoyed as he and Ochaco rejoin the fight.
As for Izuku he is desperately gripping the Omnitrix trying to will it to work again. “Come on! Why are you acting up now?!”
The Omnitrix recharges, turning green in his hand. “An instant recharge? Cool!” That’s great but whether it was thanks to him or the fact he wasn’t Rath for very long is still in the air. “But then why did it reset?”
He tries to come up with the why but is interrupted as a massive red beam blasts into the woods.
Izuku stumbles with the dial. “Less talking more transforming!” And so he does, disappearing in a flash of green!
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
Ochaco slings a Ryou Sphere at the incoming Techadon but it does little against its near impenetrable armor.
As the Techadon charges at the girl, Hisashi cries out in warning. “Everyone get back!!”
They do just as the Rustbucket races in and slams its battering ram into the android.
The Techadon holds its ground, keeping its body low and center giving itself enough leverage to pry the RV up and onto its side.
Hisashi cries out in anguish. “NO!!! MY RIDE!!!”
The Techadon redirects its attention and fires another barrage of missiles.
Xylene soars forward and deflects incoming explosives.
While she’s shielding them, Gran Torino rushes over to Ochaco who shouts out. “It’s too powerful!”
Gran Torino shakes his head in frustration. “How did you kids beat it last time?!”
“Deku out sped it! It couldn’t keep up!”
Hisashi eyes the android, watching its clunky slow movements at work. “Is that so?”
With a plan now in mind the three spread out and surround the android from all sides. Ochaco fires a barrage of Ryou Spheres as Hisashi unleashes fiery flames from the other side of the bot. Gran Torino zips in and out, slamming his feet against the bot’s legs while Xylene begins to hurl chunks of earth and cement at the slow android.
The Techadon desperate swipes and swats away at their attacks, unable to keep up with their movements or strikes.
Upon seeing it struggle, Ochaco lets out an excited cheer. “It’s working!!”
Or so it would appear, the Techadon stands holding its ground, enduring the attacks and taking note of how their battle plan is strikingly similar to the Petrosapien’s own strategy.
It watches as fire, Ryou Spheres, and rubble fly to from all directions before it takes its Resonate-Blade and swings it around, slashing away each projectile in one strike!
Ochaco's jaw drops in surprise. “How’d it do that?!”
Floating up above, Xylene scowls in frustration. “This is strange.”
Ochaco looks up at her and asks. “How?!”
“When I fought with it…it was never…this adaptive.” It never had a blade nor was it nearly impenetrable, nor was it this strategic and analytical.
The Techadon locks its sights on Xylene and Ochaco and charges with its blade high above its head.
The two prepare to defend themselves as the Techadon swing sits blade down!
But the Resonant-Blade's hilt slides through its fingers remaining in the air.
“No, more toys.” From behind Lodestar glares up at the Techadon as he holds the blade in place. “Let’s do this mano a mano. Or mano a magno.” He smirks as he tosses the Resonate-Blade aside and out of the Techadon’s reach.
The Techadon instantly locks its sights on the Omnitrix wearing Biot-savartian and moves to attack.
Lodestar halts its advance quickly, using his magnetic pull to lift the Techadon high into the air.
As it rises up the android fires a shower of missiles but each one is bounced away by a magnetic field.
Lodestar smirks, wagging a finger/claw at the bot before swinging his arms around and tossing the robot aside. “YAH!!!”
The Techadon flies off, crashing through the trees before slamming into a boulder and bouncing to a stop.
Ochaco sprints up to Lodestar, very much amazed to even be seeing the alien in action. “Woah! You recharged already?!”
“Yeah!” lodestar grins. “Maybe I'm finally getting this Omnitrix thing down!”
The Techadon pries itself out of the rubble and logs, marching forward like a metallic giant.
Xylene prepares to fight it off. “It’s getting back up.”
“I got this.” Lodestar passes her by and locks onto the smashed-in billboard. He aims his claw and takes control of the metal, levitating it up and launching the piercing pipes and poles at the Techadon. “It’s over!”
The Techadon watches closely as Lodestar maneuvers the metal pipes, watching as he uses his magnetic pull to launch them forward.
After a quick analysis, the Techadon thrusts its hand forward which begins to vibrate and shake violently in place. Doing so the Techadon unleashes a shockwave of sorts that creates a barrier of air between itself and the incoming projectiles.
Upon hitting the invisible barrier the metal projectiles either bounce back or are held in place, floating in the air against the controlled shockwave.
Everyone’s jaws drop as they watch this bot use its own version of mage hand.
While still levitating the projectiles, the Techadon peers back at the defiant humans and aliens. It then decides that they deserve to have the projectiles back as with a flick of its wrist the metal pipes race back towards the group!
“MOVE IT!!!” Gran Torino screams, grabbing the kids and pulling them away.
Everyone dives out of the way as the metal shard pierce and bounce off the ground, nearly hitting them all in the process.
With its opponents down the Techadon takes a moment to locate its Resonate-Blade. There, it appears to be embedded in a tree not that far away. But instead of walking over to retrieve it, the android sticks its hand out towards the blade and using its controlled shockwaves of air pressure it is able to pull the blade free of its tomb and launch it back right towards its hand; all without even laying a finger on it.
With its weapon back in hand, the Techadon locks its sights back onto its target, Lodestar. And once again the silver maedate in its forehead glows gold in color.
*BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!*
In a flash of red Lodestar takes his unwilling leave, leaving a horrified Izuku behind. “What? No! Not again!”
With everyone’s guard down the Techadon aims its arm cannon and fires.
Xylene leaps into action, using her telekinesis to rip the weedy parking lot’s concrete apart, lifting it up and bending it towards the sky, creating a wall between them and the laser beams.
Ochaco covers her head as rubble flies overhead. “Deku, what is going on with you?”
“I don’t know!” Izuku screams, just as confused. “One second I’m an alien and the next I’m not!”
Kraab shouts out. “It was the Techadon!”
Everyone spins around to find Chopper wheeling up to them with a panicked Kraab on his head.
Izuku blinks back at the droids. “What?”
“I saw it.” Kraab begins to explain. “The Techadon it’s releasing some sort of interference. A jamming signal of sorts!”
Izuku gasps. “Wait, so, it has like an…Omnitrix Disrupter?!”
Kraab frantically nods his head. “I think so! It can reset the Omnitrix and prevent you from transforming just by looking at you!!”
Before they can process anything more the Techadon smashes its way through the barricade with a massive punch.
Upon breaking its way through it once again lunges for the wielder of the Omnitrix.
^Wwwooo!^ Chopper cries out in terror, throwing his hands up in a panic.
Just as the Techadon is about to snatch him up, Ochaco leaps in and launches it back with a powerful attack! “VENUS SMASH!!!”
The Techadon is blasted back, bouncing off the flipped over RV before crash landing atop of the picnic table, smashing it to bits under its weight.
Seeing an opening, Gran Torino roars out. “Quick while’s down!”
Hisashi takes it upon himself to do the honors, rushing forward and unleashing a massive wave of glowing orange flames. “WILDFIRE FLARE!!!”
Hisashi unleashes all that he has, creating his biggest and most powerful Firebreath yet. Generating flames that spiral and consume the Techadon in a wave of crashing flames.
Everyone stands back, impressed by the sight but are stunned as the Techadon begins to rise out of the flames.
While the others prepare to take on the Techadon once again, Izuku frustratingly fiddles with the Omnitrix trying to get it to work again. “Omnitrix Disrupter or not I’m not just gonna sit here!”
Kraab starts shouting for Izuku to cool his jets. “Hang on, kid! I think that’s-”
He’s cut off by a flash of green and a gust of cold air as a lanky blue moth spreads its wings and takes off into the air. “Big Chill!!”
Kraab sits back on Chopper’s head, dejected and defeated. “-a bad idea…” He can only assume that this is not gonna end well. Oh well he tried to warn him, not his fault if the kid dies…right?
The Techadon manages to push through the last of the flames, coming right up to Hisashi, aiming to cut down the source of the flames.
Gran Torino zips in and pulls Hisashi out of the way as the Resonate-Blade smashes against the ground, leaving behind a nasty gauge in the earth.
Gran Torino props Hisashi on the ground, where he lies and tries to catch his breath.
The Plumber gestures to Gran Torino in thanks. “Thanks for the save.”
Gran Torino turns his nose away. “You should pay better attention to your surroundings! What are you getting slow in your old age?”
Hisashi’s nerves are instantly provoked. “Can’t you just take the thanks?!”
The Techadon marches towards the two, towering over them like a behemoth.
“Stand back!” Big Chill glides in overhead, high above the Techadon. “It’s time we put this running refrigerator on ice!” He takes a massive inhale of air before exhaling with all his might while batting his wings as hard as he can in a downward manner. “NORTH WIND!!!”
A sudden blizzard befalls over the Techadon, pounding it with icy snow and chilling wind that quickly begins to encompass it. Ice forms all around it, clinging to its armor before expanding more and more until the Techadon is completely frozen in place within a solid block of ice.
“He got it!” Ochaco celebrates upon seeing the android’s rampage halted.
Gran Torino throws Big Chill a big thumbs up. “Nice going, kid!”
Big Chill smiles, hovering down to admire his handy work. “See you weren't so tough.” He taunts, placing his hands around the frozen Techadon as if it could still see him. “I mean you're just another robot.”
“KID!!!” Kraab flips out, screaming at the top of his lungs from down below. “Get away from it! Now!!”
Big Chill frowns in confusion. “Why?”
Before Kraab can respond the Techadon begins to glow a hot red orange. Steam then begins to rise off the ice which begins to melt and crack from within before the ice crumbles apart!
Shards of melted ice shower everywhere as a wave of heat radiates out, making Big Chill flinch in response. As the shards fade away, he pulls down his arm just in time to come face to face with an iron-hard punch to the face!!
Big Chill goes down as the now free Techadon begins to cool itself down allowing the red-hot glow of its armor to fade away.
“DEKU!!!” Ochaco cries out, racing in to save him.
But The Techadon stops her, blocking her way and forcing her and the others back with a hail of missiles.
“Ough…” Big Chill groans in pain, rubbing his aching head in an attempt to clear up his foggy mind. “Did anyone get the number of that bus?”
He peers up and screams out in horror as the Techadon hammers it's fist down onto him again!!
Dust and concrete shot up in a little cloud as its fist makes impact. However, Big Chill is perfectly fine floating up through the Techadon’s arm while his body is phased out. “That’s a good way to break your hand.”
The Techadon peers down and pries it fist out of the ground, only to discover its hand has been frozen in ice and smashed in by its own strength.
“See, told ya.” Big Chill snickers.
Xylene, having seen Big Chill taunting the android instead of fighting, snaps in anger. “Freeze it, don't talk to it!”
“It’s called banter!” Big Chill snaps back before bringing his attention back towards the bot. “And I was already gonna do that!”
He dives in, his plan involving his ability to remain intangible, allowing him to pass through the bot while freezing it from the inside out.
The Techadon stands there, watching closely, analyzing how Big Chill’s intangible body shimmers under the dimming light.
The phased out Big Chill dives headfirst, aiming to end it quickly. But as his forehead hits the Techadon’s armor it bounces off, hitting his head hard before falling to the ground.
“OW!!!” Big Chill moans in pain, holding his pounding head. “I’m gonna feel that one for weeks. Wait, I-I felt that?! But how is that-Bleh!”
While still remaining intangible the Techadon grabs Big Chill, picks him up, swings him up and over, and slams him against the ground. Holding its grip tightly around his frame, making sure the bug can’t wiggle itself free.
The phased out Big Chill tries to free himself, beating his wings and trying desperately to pull the iron grip apart with his scrawny arms. “L-let go! H-how are you even able to grab me?!”
Instead of responding, the Techadon gazes down at the Omnitrix before unleashing its Omnitrix Disrupter once again.
*BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!*
And after a flash of red, Izuku finds himself stuck in the giant’s iron grip. Unable to move or unable to defend himself.
With its target pinned, the Techadon takes its Resonate-Blade, raising it up with the tip aimed down, ready to bring it down onto the boy’s skull.
WOOSH!!! It brings the blade down at the boy.
Izuku shuts his eyes and turns his head away, waiting for the inevitable agony before the sweet relief of death to wash over him. But it never comes.
Izuku opens his eyes and is amazed yet terrified to find the tip of the Resonant-Blade just inches from his face.
Xylene focuses with all her might on the blade, holding it in place as the Techadon tries to hammer it down onto its target.
From behind her, Gran Torino zips past, racing forward and slamming himself against the blade knocking it away and out of the Techadon’s grasp.
The Techadon swings its free hand out, intent on using its Controlled Shockwaves to bring its weapon back to its hand. But as it looks away, Ochaco slides in and presses her hand against its back. She then grabs the Techadon and lifts, using all her strength to toss it into the air. “Yaaahh!!”
The Techadon is flung into the air where it begins to float in place, but it still has Izuku in its clutches.
But not for long as Gran Torino zooms up and kicks Izuku free, before scooping him up and speeding them both back towards the ground.
With Izuku and Gran Torino now cleared of the bot, Hisashi tries his Special Attack one last time. “WILDFIRE FLARE!!!”
In response to the crashing wave of flames soaring up towards its the Techadon responds by firing its laser cannon, parting the flames and blasting them back, while unintentionally rocketing itself higher into the air.
Upon witnessing it dispel the flames, Ochaco presses her fingers together and shouts. “Release!!”
The Techadon begins to fall back towards the Earth, hopefully where it will crash. But it shoots its feet down, activating its rockets underneath its feet, allowing it to hover and fly itself safely back onto the ground.
Xylene charges in but is blasted back by a shove of its invisible shockwave.
While the others fend off the bot, Gran Torino drops Izuku off beside Chopper and Kraab. “Watch him.”
Chopper gives him a salute as Gran Torino zips away again.
From atop Chopper’s head, Kraab peers down at the winded Izuku. “You’re not hurt, are you?”
“No. I’m fine.” Izuku gives him a gingerly smile, trying his best to ignore the bumps on his head. “But thanks for asking.”
“Oh, I didn’t ask because I cared.”
“Huh?”
Without warning, Kraab throws himself at Izuku, hitting the boy atop the head.
“OW!!!” Izuku rolls back on the ground, grabbing at his aching forehead. “Why?! It’s a miracle I don’t already have a concussion!! Ow…!”
“You idiot!” Kraab fumes in anger even while his head lies upside down on the ground. “I tried to tell ya but you didn’t listen!!”
Izuku shouts back. “Well how was I supposed to know it could grab me?! Heck how was it even able to do that?! Or that heating up thing? Just how many weapons does this robot have?!”
“That’s what I’m trying to tell you!” Kraab stops, taking a breath while Chopper flips him back over. “Look, the longer this fight drags out the worse it’s gonna get and the more powerful that machine’s gonna become.”
“What do you mean by that?”
“LISTEN!!!” Kraab roars out, having lost all of his patience; no, not patience, he’s acting like they’ve already run out of time on some invisible timer. “We literally don’t have time for this!! You need to take out its power source!! Drain it!!”
“It’s power?” Oh, he understands! It is a robot after all, it must be powered by something! So take away its energy and they’ll win for sure.
With a smile Izuku begins to scroll through the Omnitrix just as it turns green once again. “Then I have the perfect alien for that.”
As Izuku looks for the perfect alien, the Techadon aims its laser cannon out and fires!
The blast of the laser beam catches the zipping Gran Torino off, knocking him off his course and scorching him causing him to crash onto the ground.
Everyone cries out in worry, especially Xylene. “Gran Torino!!/Sorahiko!!”
Izuku gasps as well before hurrying through the Omnitrix’s dial. “Alright, Omnitrix you’ve been giving me what I wanted so far! And I really hope you do it again!” He raises his hand and slams it down onto the device, transforming into the perfect alien.
“Yeah, alright!!” Feedback breaks into a wide grin. “Heck yeah, you’re on a roll today Omnitrix!” He just hopes it’s not a fluke and the Omnitrix is just being nice to him for the day.
But he has other things to worry about as he races off towards the fallen Gran Torino.
The Techadon quickly takes notice and fires a shower of missiles at the speeding Feedback.
Feedback ducks, dodges, and weaves his way through before racing by and scooping up Gran Torino in his long arms. Carrying him away before they’re blasted by the missiles.
The Techadon watches closely as the Conductoid hurries the elderly human off to the set of mediocre droids.
Feedback gently sets the Gran Torino beside Chopper. “Are you okay, sir?”
“Er.” Gran Torino winces in pain. “I’ll live, so that’s good.”
Feedback turns to Chopper and says, “Chopper, keep an eye on him okay.”
^Wo-Wo.^
“Thanks.”
Interesting. The Techadon locks onto the group, aiming a laser cannon at them while it begins to charge up.
Gran Torin spots the red glow of the charging cannon. “Look out, kid!”
Feedback spins around and upon spotting the cannon he quickly realizes that they need to move NOW. “Grab onto me!” He moves his arms and tendrils around the droids and Gran Torino in order to pick them up.
“NO!!!” Kraab defiantly shouts. “Stand your ground!!”
Feedback’s jaw drops. “Are you suicidal?!”
It doesn’t matter because the Techadon fires.
Hisashi, Ochaco, and Xylene all cry out as the laser beam races towards them at breakneck speed. “LOOK OUT!!!/SORAHIKO!!!”
‘IT’S TOO LATE!!!’ Feedback panics, but his fight or flight instincts kick in, forcing him to throw his hands and tendrils out forward towards the incoming beam. “AAAAHHHH!!!” Feedback lets out a terrified roar as the laser beam crashes down on them.
Or so it would see if it wasn’t for the fact that the laser seems unable to move past Feedback’s hands and tendrils.
“AAAAHHHH!!!” Feedback’s heart pumps so fast it’s almost like it’s not pumping at all as he stares down at the red beam of light that’s just inches from incinerating him and the others whole.
His biology takes control over him, working overtime to absorb the beam as it comes until the beam all but vanishes, leaving nothing but a scorch mark lying on the earth.
To say that everyone is shocked would be an understatement.
Even Gran Torino seems baffled yet amazed by the feat. “Wh-where did that beam go?”
Kraab lets out a cocky huff. “He absorbed it.”
“I what?!” Feedback stares down at his hands and sure enough he can feel it, the energy coursing through him like lightning. “I had no idea I could do that.” He breaks into a wide grin, realizing that he's way stranger than he first thought.
He then looks over towards the Techadon. “This is gonna be sweet.”
He aims his hands and tendrils out and fires a massive beam of lightning that tears through the Techadon, even ripping through part of its armor and arm in the process.
“Woah! Ho-ho-ho!!” Feedback laughs amazed by the surge of power. “Now that’s some fire power!”
At the same time, the Techadon begins to repair itself, becoming whole once again in a matter of moments.
Gran Torino scowls as it reforms its arm. “But it’s not enough.”
Kraab watches on, his gaze fully focused on the mechanical monstrosity. “You have to drain it of its energy. Do that and it’ll shut off for good.”
“Right.” Feedback looks towards the others and calls out to them. “Get me an opening!”
Hisashi and Ochaco nod in understanding. “You got it!” And they race off along with Xylene towards the android.
Upon their charge the Techadon swings his mighty Resonate-Blade in response, trying to fend them off.
But Hisashi blocks the swing with his burning spear! “Amenonuhoko: Dual Burn!!”
While it struggles against Hisashi’s spear it is unable to defend itself as Xylene takes a hold of its entire body with her Telekinesis: immobilizing it in place.
As the Techadon struggles against its bonds it gazes up to find Feedback charging towards it. In response its Omnitrix Disrupter begins to glow again.
“Not this time!!” Ochaco zooms in, plowing her fist right through the silver maedate. “VENUS SMASH!!!”
The Techadon’s head is thrown back by the sheer power of her attack, its maedate shattering upon impact while its forehead is smashed into its own metal skull.
With the Techadon now fully immobilized, Feedback leaps forward, embedding his fingers into the bot’s armor while his tendrils and tail weave all around it, binding it in place before piercing through the armor as well.
He begins to absorb all the Techadon has, taking in every ounce of energy and power it has for himself! “BLACKOUT SURGE!!!”
Electricity dances off Feedback as he just takes and takes and takes everything the Techadon has until it has nothing left to give.
As its visor glows dark, and it becomes silent, going limp before collapsing onto the ground like a heap of worthless metal.
Feedback pulls his tendrils away, his breath labored and brow sweaty from the powerful feeding frenzy. “Did we get him?”
Chopper wheels forward with Kraab in hand. “Yeah, you got him.”
And like that everyone lets out a relieved exhale. They are glad that it’s over and proud of themselves for surviving it. This was truly a job well done.
Gran Torino smiles up at Feedback as the group gathers together. “Way to take the fight out of it, kid.”
Feedback grins back in appreciation.
Ochaco worriedly hovers over Gran Torino. “How are you though? That blast nearly did you in!”
Gran Torino lets out a hearty laugh. “Ha!! Are you kidding? I’ll be fine, it was nothing but some light bruising.”
Xylene crosses her arms in protest. “Even so you are very lucky.”
Hisashi nods, adding himself into the conversation. “We all were.” He then turns his gaze towards the alien, giving her an accusing look. “Xylene, why didn’t you warn us about the Techadon’s arsenal?”
“Because I didn’t know about it myself.” She admits being just as confused as Hisashi. “It never showed such strategy or weapons when it pursued me.”
Feedback frowns in thought. “Yeah and then, there was that Omnitrix Disruptor thing. Why didn’t it use it during our first fight?” If the Techadon had used the Omnitrix Disrupter back at the temple there’s no way he would have gotten away so easily. “I mean if it had it definitely would have finished me off then and there.”
Unexpectedly, Kraab is the one to chime in by answering Feedback’s question. “Because it hadn’t fully analyzed you yet.”
The others turn to find Chopper holding up the cyborg’s head.
Hisashi blinks down at the bot and asks. “What are you talking about?”
“That Techadon…it was from the JLU series, specifically the S1:EP29 model.” Kraab explains with a soft, almost wary voice, as if even mentioning the machine’s name and model will awaken it somehow.
But everyone just remains confused, not sure what to make of those numbers: JLU S1:EP29.
Feedback shrugs. “Which means?”
Kraab sighs, annoyed that he has to explain. “It means that this Techadon was designed to learn and adapt, to analyze its target’s powers and abilities and generate strategies and its own weapons to counter its target’s every move.”
Feedback let’s out a sharp gasp. “So, every time I fought back against it-...?!”
“Yeah.” Kraab gives him a slow nervous nod. “It learned and adapted, creating counter measures to combat you specifically.”
“B-but why me?! Why didn’t it come up with any countermeasures for anyone else?!”
Xylene frowns, her eyes widening as it dawns on her. “Because it only has one mission: one target. To retrieve the Omnitrix no matter what.”
Kraab nods, agreeing with her point. “I think so too. It has to be. I mean, it was so one track minded. The only reason it even fought the rest of you was because you were actively interfering with its mission.”
Feedback realizes that, in summary, every weapon and move the Techadon did was in response to his own. The Omnitrix Disrupter was made after analyzing how Izuku transformed, the increased durability was because of Rath’s strength and claws, the Controlled Shockwaves were a response to Lodestar’s magnetic fields, and the Heating up of its body and the increased density to its armor were to prevent Big Chill from harming it. And then there's the Resonate-Blade! That thing was tailored made for! It wasn’t a coincidence that it had such a blade, rather it made it then and there to perfectly fight Diamondhead!!
So if he had kept transforming and using other aliens it would have only gained more experience and come up with new ways to counter him.
Even the concept sends a chill down Gran Torino's spine, of all people. “Talk about a nasty piece of work.”
“No, kidding.” Feedback turns to Kraab and asks. “Is that what you were trying to warn me about earlier?”
“Yeah.” Kraab nods.
Feedback frowns, eyeing the bot curiously. “That’s a lot of details for someone who has his memories locked away.”
Kraab looks like he got caught with his hand in the cookie jar, quickly turning away and acting like nothing’s out of sorts. “Yeah, well, some things have started to come back to me.”
“Like what?”
“It doesn't matter.” Kraab’s voice becomes soft and reserved as he silently sulks in his own memories. “Just some shit life threw at me.”
Feedback frowns at that. His curiosity and concern only grows, desperate to know what exactly happened to the Bounty Hunter to make him the way that he is.
While they all regroup, they fail to notice the Techadon jerking awake, revitalizing itself, summoning forth the power it stored away after analyzing Feedback absorbing its laser beam.
Upon seeing the group’s back turned towards it the Techadon lunges forth, crashing forward like an iron wrecking ball.
Kraab screams out in terror. “LOOK OUT!!!”
The Techadon reaches for Feedback, but the alien is kicked out of the way by a speedy Gran Torino.
But in doing so, he leaves himself open, giving the bot the chance it needs to grab him instead in its iron grip.
Everyone cries out. “Gran Torino!!/Sorahiko”
The youngest, Ochaco and Feedback, leap into action firing off Ryou Spheres and sparks of lightning respectively.
However, with a swipe of its sword the Techadon dispels the attacks. And with its vision clear it locks onto Feedback and activates the Omnitrix Disrupter, causing its maedate to glow bright gold.
Izuku is left defenseless as he falls back onto his rear while Ochaco prepares another round of Ryou Spheres.
“Stop!” Xylene sprints ahead of them, sticking her arm out and cutting them off.
Ochaco screams in her face. “But it has Gran Torino!”
“I know but look.”
They turn to watch as the Techadon holds the struggling Gran Torino close. Holding him close to its body like a meat shield.
Izuku pales. “It’s using him as a hostage.”
Xylene and Hisashi glare daggers at the bot. Xylene’s eyes glow pink with rage while fire leaks from the corners of Hisashi’s maw. They are preparing not just for a fight but to save their dear friend.
However, it appears the Techadon has other plans as it begins to rocket up into the air with Gran Torino still in hand.
They all just watch on, dumbfounded and unsure of what to do.
Ochaco has half a mind to leap after them but with a hostage in play she hangs back. But even so she can’t keep a leveled head. “Um, where’s it going?! And where’s it taking Gran Torino?”
Izuku is just as freaked out. “Why’d it take him?!!”
“Because of you.” Xylene growls, turning her angry gaze onto the boy. “It took him as bait.”
She shakes with anger before letting it all spill out. “This. Is all. YOUR FAULT!!!” She roars, her eyes a glow, and rubble rises to the air. “You stupid child! If you hadn’t been so reckless as to attack the Techadon repeatedly it wouldn’t have grown as powerful as it has!”
Izuku tries to defend himself even as he shrinks back under her fury. “But-but I didn’t know…”
“Exactly! You don’t know! Because you’re nothing more than a child that doesn’t even deserve the Omnitrix.”
Izuku chokes up, unable to defend himself.
Xylene slides her hand down her face in exhaustion. “I’m tired of all these excuses. I think we can all agree that the Omnitrix will be better off in my care.”
Hisashi scowls in protest, stepping between her and his son. “No. We don’t all agree.”
Xylene stands her ground against the plumber. “Then you are a fool. Look around! Look at this destruction! Or how about the fact that that monster just took away Sorahiko?! Look at what your spawn has caused! After what I saw today, I know for a fact that that child is only gonna lead you all to your own destruction!”
Izuku shrinks back, his eyes drawn towards the alien weapon attached to his wrist.
Ochaco, worried about her friend, steps up to defy the obnoxious lizard lady. “For someone who says they do good, you sure do complain a lot.”
Xylene throws a nasty glare Ochaco’s way. “You better watch that tongue of yours.”
“No. You need to watch yours.” Ochaco protests, confronting her without a hint of fear. “I mean you claim that you would do a better job keeping the Omnitrix safe, but you haven’t. Otherwise, we wouldn’t be having this discussion now would we?”
With an annoyed scoff, Xylene waves her away. “I don’t have time for this! Sorahiko needs my help!” She turns back towards Hisashi and Ochaco. “Now the three of us will go and rescue him.”
Ochaco’s teeth grind together. “Did-did you just ignore me?! And what about Deku?!”
“He will not be coming!” Xylene barks, not bothering to hear her out. “He is nothing but a liability.”
Once again, Izuku can feel his insides churn.
“Agh! Enough!” Xylene yells, marching off towards the woods. “We are wasting time!”
However, as she marches forth, intent on saving her friend, she stops when she finally realizes that not a soul is following along behind her. “You’re not coming? Do you not care what happens to your friend?”
Hisashi frowns down at her. “We care, but we have no intention of working with you.”
That gives Xylene pause. “Excuse me?”
Hisashi repeats his statement adding. “We’ll save Gran Torino on our own, without you.”
Xylene scoffs, calling his bluff. “You can’t be serious? With him?!” She throws a hand towards Izuku, acting like he’s a stray dog that should be left outside.
But despite her rationality, Hisashi’s expression remains ever stoic and serious. He has no intention of leaving Izuku behind.
Xylene rubs her aching forehead. “What did Sorahiko ever see in humans? None of you understand what’s at stake! Do you not have any sense of responsibility?!”
Hisashi chuckles at that. “You know, Gran Torino always talked smack about how I'm not responsible.” And for a time that was very much true, actually that’s a story for another time but anyway. “But really he should have been saying that to you.”
Xylene’s totally taken off guard by that. Stumbling for a second as Sorahiko’s own words are thrown back at her.
“If the Omnitrix shouldn’t be in our possession, then the fault of it being here is on you.” Hisashi explains.
“What?”
“Don't act like you don’t understand. Even if Vilgax had a hand in it, it was you that decided to launch the Omnitrix down to Earth.” Hisashi becomes louder and louder, growing more and more sure with every statement. “You were the one that brought it to our planet. It was you that couldn’t defend it from Vilgax. So, if you want to talk about responsibility. Then let's talk about how you can stop complaining about it and step up to help defend it now.”
Xylene eyes the Plumber like he just said something profound before her eyes drift over towards the boy's inquisitively. “Are you saying I should just let him keep the Omnitrix?”
“Yes.”
“You are mad!” She shouts breaking into another outburst. “It doesn’t belong to him! He never earned it! And even though I shot it down here it doesn’t mean it’s his. He just got lucky! He doesn’t deserve it!”
Ochaco has had quite enough, her expression turning sour as she snaps at Xylene. As she steps forward her mind travels back causing her to repeat an old line that her…that her mentor once told her. “There’s a difference between being lucky and deserving. One is a present, the other a reward.”
Everyone falls into silence, entranced by her words.
“And Deku deserves the Omnitrix.” Ochaco states with finality, letting her know that she won’t be able to argue against it. “He’s earned it! Not by chance but because he chose to use it! To use its power to help everyone!”
Xylene is now glaring daggers at Ochaco, looking at her like she just insured her intelligence.
“And I know for a fact Gran Torino thinks the same way.”
Xylene grinds her teeth at that. “You couldn’t possibly know what he's thinking?”
“No?” Ochaco taunts. “Could you? I mean when was the last time you’ve seen him?”
And like that Xylene shuts down, although she remains shaking with fury, she is unable to make a retort.
Ochaco got her, and oh boy does it feel good.
Even Izuku feels a little better: his friend and father stood up for him and Xylene got put in her place. But…he watches Xylene closely, watching as she shakes with anger…and frustration. But then…why is she so frustrated? Why has she been so hostile to them, to him from the start? Why?
As he thinks on this the answer quickly dawns on him. “There is one thing I can’t deny though.”
Everyone pauses, rotating around, giving Izuku their full attention.
Izuku shrinks back under their gazes but holds his ground, doing his best to speak his mind. “It…it was lucky that I happened to be the one that found the Omnitrix.”
Ochaco blinks worriedly at him. “Deku…”
He continues, doing his best to speak with confidence. “But that also means it’s lucky for everyone else that I did.” He peers down at the Omnitrix, the device that literally leapt at the chance to be his. “Ever since this thing latched itself onto my wrist, I’ve had to constantly prove to myself that I can use it, that I can have it. That I can properly wield it and sometimes it feels like I am over my head. That I might have signed up for something I really shouldn’t have. But at the end of the day, all I can do is try my best. I’ll show everyone what I can do and prove to everyone that I can save them!”
Despite his encouraging speech, Xylene still remains shaking, her fists clenched in frustration.
Izuku looks her in the eye, stepping forward, speaking softly and gently letting her know that he understands. “And…I know that’s what you really want too.”
Everyone is taken back, Ochaco and Hisashi spinning around and staring at Xylene astonishment, unable to believe it. But by judging the expression on her face it is safe to say that Izuku hits the nail on the head.
“We keep arguing but really we’re on the same side. You just want to protect everyone the best way that you can. And right now, I bet you actually feel pretty guilty that a kid like me is now stuck with this burden.” he gestures to the curse and blessing that is the Omnitrix. “You don’t have to feel guilty. You did all that you could to protect it.” He grips the watch without any fear or trepidation. “And now, it’s my turn to do the same.”
In a word, Xylene is stunned, astonished even. The child figured her out. Now she’ll be the first to admit that she’s never been good at communicating her emotions; it's just not some things she does too often. But he’s right, she is frustrated. Frustrated that she failed her mission. She failed to protect the Omnitrix. She failed to stop this…innocent child from bearing her burdens. From bearing the Omnitrix and the target it paints on his back.
But she’s amazed by his resolve. He has dealt with every obstacle Vilgax, and others have thrown his way. And yet he is still willing, wanting to do good for others… Huh, he sort of reminds her of Sorahiko in that way.
“You know back when I first met Sorahiko I asked him a question.”
Everyone pauses, confused, unsure what she's suddenly talking about. But nonetheless they allow her to continue.
Xylene continues, losing herself to her memories. “I asked him, why does he bother with being a hero? Why risk your life for those that’ll betray and abandon each other for their own survival? Why risk your life for them?” She peers up at the humans and asks. “Do you know what he said?”
They do not.
She smiles, founding over the memory. “He said, “Who I help doesn’t matter. Just that I can help does.” She shakes her head, but in a fondly manner as she keeps smiling over the memory.
“I never understood his answer, seeing as how alone and miserable he felt back then. But now I understand. He stayed because there are those worth protecting here. Those that’ll grow to be just like him.”
Everyone takes a moment to consider her words. Just like him, huh? Hisashi can’t help but inwardly laughs at the thought. It almost seems nightmarish but also…it has been something he strived to be at one point. A hero that helped others because he was a hero.
Xylene relaxes, bowing her head slightly at Hisashi. “You were right, Plumber. I do need to take responsibility. I caused this mess. It's only right that I now do what I can to assist you.”
Hisashi begins to hope. “Are you going to work with us?”
“Yes.” She states with a great deal of confidence and reassurance.
She turns to Izuku, looking to him for permission. “If you’ll have me?”
Izuku smiles. “You’re a lizard lady able to move things with her mind? Yeah, I think we want you with us.”
Xylene bows her head in respect. “Thank you.”
Hisashi smiles as does Ochaco, both impressed at how well Izuku handled himself and Xylene.
And now that the tension has been swept away, Hisashi draws everyone back to the matter at hand. “Now we just need to rescue Gran Torino and stop that Techadon before it decides to go on a rampage.”
Xylene turns to Izuku. “What are your thoughts, chil-...” She pauses trying to remember his name but comes to realize that she only remembers what the girl was referring to him as. “Um, what are your thoughts, Deku?”
Izuku pauses at the name but continues to think about his answer. “Well, it’s probably trying to lure us into a trap right?”
Kraab, who’s been silently listening in alongside Chopper, rolls his eyes. “Duh, that much is obvious.”
Everyone else turns to him, some having forgotten that he was even there.
“It’s one of the oldest tricks in the book.” Kraab explains, not at all interested in his own speech. “Take something the target cares about and use it to lead the target into a trap. It’s not exactly subtle, you know.”
Izuku kneels down, putting himself at Kraab’s level. “Kraab, if hypothetically this were you, and you kidnapped Gran Torino, how would you go about it?”
“Hm.” Kraab takes a moment to think. “I’d want you to come alone. Where we’ll exchange the hostage for the Omnitrix. But in this case, I’d probably try to kill you, take the Omnitrix, and then maybe kill the hostage.”
“Right. So, what we need is a good plan.” He smiles back at the others. “With people I can trust to watch my back.”
They all smile back in return.
Kraab, however, is hesitant. “Yeah, sure. But that involves coming up with something that’ll actually work.”
“Well, I’m open to suggestions.”
No one has a plan at the ready, each of them going quiet as they try to think of one.
And out of everyone to come up with a suggestion, none of them were expecting it to be Kraab, “I…I could hack into it.”
They all peer back at him in confusion.
Izuku blinks. “What did you say?”
“I said that I could hack into the Techadon.”
“You can?! How?!”
“Long story. But either way, I can’t really do anything due to my physical limitations.” he is of course referring to the fact that he doesn't have a FREAKING BODY!!!
Izuku, however, doesn't seem all that bothered but instead the outline of a plan begins to form in his head. “Let’s say we were able to get around your situation. What would you do when you hacked into the Techadon?”
“I can stall it, slow it down, maybe reprogram it or even set it to self-destruct.”
Xylene eyes the bot suspiciously. “Maybe?”
“Hey, I don’t know!” Kraab defends. “But at the very least I can stall it, buying you chumps time to rip into it.”
Izuku nods, liking the idea so far. “We can work with this.”
Hisashi chuckles at Izuku’s concentrated expression. “Want to include us in your plan, Champ?”
“Sure, but first.” Izuku looks down and addresses the droid for once. “Chopper.”
Chopper jerks up. ^Wo!^
“You wouldn’t happen to have any of your own spare parts lying around, would you?”
^Wo-wo.^
“Could you bring them here? I’m gonna need them. Or rather…” With a smirk Izuku takes the Omnitrix, that’s just recharged, and transforms. “Grey Matter will!”
Grey Matter cheers, hopping up onto Choppers head.
He then grabs Kraab and hops down while Chopper wheels himself away.
Ochaco watches Grey Matter curiously. “Deku what are you-”
Grey Matter unknowingly cuts her off. “Do we have something that belongs to Gran Torino? Anything that would have his scent.”
Xylene scans the area until she spots Gran Torino’s cane left forgotten on the ground. “Here!” She throws her hand up making the cane float and fly towards her hand. She catches it and resents it to the Galvan. “Will this work?”
“That’s perfect.” Grey Matter grins wheel flipping Kraab over, exposing his loose wiring underneath.
Kraab tries in vain to flip himself upright. “H-hey, kid! What are you doing?!”
Grey Matter grins as he begins to fiddle with Kraab’s wiring and circuits. “I’m doing what I can to save our friend.”
Hisashi, Ochaco, and Xylene all break out into smiles. They are so grateful that Deku is so willing to help them save their friend and teacher.
Kraab, however, couldn’t be more annoyed. “Cool, but that’s not what I meant.”
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
The sun has long set by now and the cool night air has brought in a rather thick fog that rolls off the Pacific coast. The fog rolls across Tokyo's port and shipyard, slowly washing through the stacks of giant metal containers, heavy machinery, cranes, and landed boats.
From within the mist, Wildmutt jogs through the maze of containers and machinery, trying his best to follow Gran Torino’s scent, sniffing every which way with his massive gills.
“RRRRrrrr.” He lets out a low growl as he continues on following the scent of tart taiyaki and prune juice.
“Yo, Fiddo.” Kraab calls out while once again strapped to Wildmutt’s back. “You’ve been sniffing around sewage pipes and back alleys since forever. Are we any closer to finding either of them yet or what?”
Conveniently Wildmutt runs out of time and Izuku is able to return, stretching his back as he stands back up. “He’s close. I know it. But I’m not sure where exactly.”
And so he continues on, going in the direction the scent was coming from.
He stays low, trying to remain just underneath the fog line as to stay out of sight but still be able to look around himself.
And as they sneak through Kraab continues to talk away into his ear. “Well, if it were me I’d put the hostage somewhere obvious for you to find. Probably out in the open so you can’t run away or hide.”
Izuku smiles back at the cyborg. “So, good thing I have you watching my back, right?”
“Please, it’s more like I’m watching my front. The only reason I’ll say anything is so I don’t get blown up alongside with you.”
“Fair enough.”
Izuku hides behind every corner, using all the cover that he can as he presses forward. But even as he keeps his eyes peeled for Gran Torino and/or the Techadon his mind once again wonders. And now that he has a moment with Kraab he can’t help but to bring it up.
“Hey, Kraab. Can I ask you something?”
“You just did.”
“I meant something else!” Izuku takes a breath, making sure no one else is around before gently asking. “How come you know so much about these Techadons and their, um, creators?”
“The Weapon Masters.”
“Yeah, them.”
Kraab doesn’t respond nor acknowledge the questions and just as Izuku is about to let the topic go, the cyborg finally gives him an honest answer. “It’s because…they created me too.”
Izuku is stunned, his eyes wide as saucers as he peers back at the remorseful cyborg. “Did your memories…?”
“Come back. Yeah at least the ones related to that time.” Kraab’s gaze turns clouded and cold, becoming sad and far-off. “But I remember it. I remember everything.”
“Were they the ones that…”
“Turned me into a droid? Yeah.”
“How-”
“Don’t ask that.” Kraab warns, and not in a mocking way. He honestly doesn’t want to share as it’ll most definitely not be something Izuku would want to hear about. “Just…just know that it wasn’t exactly a spa vacay.”
A shiver runs down Izuku’s spine as he can only imagine what the process was like
But now that Kraab has begun to talk he can’t seem to stop, probably an effect of just wanting to share his experience with someone. Especially to someone that might be able to relate.
“They wanted to turn me into a living weapon. Sort of an offshoot of the Techadon Warriors. They wanted the perfect blend of flesh and metal. But they got me.”
“I’m…I’m sorry.”
“Yeah, well, too late to change things.”
“So, then, did they send you off on a job or did you like buy your freedom?”
“Neither. I was deemed a failure, and so they tossed me out like trash.”
Izuku gasps, shocked to hear just how uncaring Kraab seems to be about that.
“But they’re loss is my gain because I used their tech to become one of the most feared bounty hunters around!”
“You mean you were, though.”
Kraab’s expression drops as he fades into the rejection.
Realizing his blunder, Izuku tries to backtrack. “Well, it may not seem much to you but I’m glad you're here as you are.”
Kraab, on his part, just stares back at the boy like he's seeing something strange yet fascinating for the first time. “You’re…you’re a real oddball, aren’t you?”
“What?! No, I’m not!” Izuku snaps, embarrassed by Kraab’s correct characterization.
“Haha! Yeah, you are. I bet you also used to get picked on in school too.”
“N-no!”
Kraab gives him a deadpanned look.
Izuku sighs, giving in. “Yes…”
“Ha! I knew it!” Kraab laughs away and Izuku can’t help but join in, glad to see that Kraab has cheered up.
From high above, Gran Torino’s voice calls down towards the two. “Well, you two seem to be enjoying yourselves.”
After wandering out into a large, cleared area of the docks, Izuku peers and finds a chained up Gran Torino dangling up off a tall crane. “Gran Torino! Are you okay?!”
“Oh, yeah I’m fine just hanging around. Of course, I’m not okay!!” Gran Torino snaps. “What you think I put myself here on purpose?!” He calms down and gets to the real concern. “But more importantly what are you even doing here? Are you an idiot? You know that thing is after you, why’d you come?! Hell, how could your old man even let you come here alone?! The punk!”
“Don’t worry I’m not alone.” Izuku smiles, pointing his thumb back at the cyborg slung over his shoulder.
Kraab gives a little nod. “Hey.”
“And we got a plan.”
Gran Torino’s voice drips with sarcasm. “Oh my, I feel safer already.” But it’s all in good fun as he smirks down at the two. “So, what is this plan of yours?”
Izuku smirks back. “Just watch.”
And what does Izuku do? Does he cut Gran Torino down? Does he transform right away to ambush the Techadon? Nope he gets up, stands straight up, completely exposed without any cover and shouts. “Hello! You woo! Hey Techadon!! I’m here!! Come and get me!!”
Gran Torino’s heart drops at the sight. “Hey, I was joking when I said you were an idiot!! Don’t prove me right!!”
Izuku just smirks back, much to Gran Torino’s confusion.
From behind a tower of containers, the Techadon steps through the mist, stomping forward slowly only coming to stop just yards away from Izuku and Kraab.
Izuku stands his ground, trying his best to remain calm and confident. “Techadon, I’ve come to bargain!”
Kraab groans at Izuku. “You’re here to what?”
“Just roll with it, I saw this in a movie once.” Izuku whispers back before spinning round again and declaring. “I’ve come to bargain!”
But the Techadon remains in place, watching the boy closely.
Izuku on his part keeps going, trying to coax the android as much as possible. “I know that somehow you can understand me, or at least that you’re waiting to see what I do. You’re a weapon created by someone who is probably very smart. Just like this.” He raises the Omnitrix, getting a small reaction of recognition from the Techadon. “You want the Omnitrix, and I want my friend back. Is there any chance we can reason about all this?”
In response the Techadon draws its Resonate-Blade off from its back, where it was magnetically attached.
Izuku lets out a heavy sigh. “You know, the whole witty banter thing doesn't work if you’re not gonna talk back.”
The Techadon prepares its blade.
“You’re no fun.”
While Izuku stalls for time, Kraab is on the lookout for any movement. There he saw it, and there’s the signal. He leans up and whispers into his ear. “Alright kid, it’s showtime.”
Izuku’s playful smile fades away as he begins to slowly step back and away from the android.
The Techadon prepares to move.
“Well, if negotiations have failed, then I guess I’ll have to use force!” He quickly slams down on the Omnitrix, triggering the Techadon which sends an invisible shockwave flying at the transforming human.
The transformed Izuku calls out. “Cannon-BLEH!!”
He’s knocked back by the invisible force. “Ow…” The transformed Izuku groans, picking himself off the ground. “Come on, Cannonbolt should have taken that easily.” As he rubs his head he stops in shock at the trio of sharp black claws and the skinny blue arm attached to them. “Wait.” XLR8 peers down at himself and quickly realizes that he’s not the right alien. “What?! Aah! Seriously?! You’ve been working fine all day and the one time, the one time we might actually die, and you decided to mess around with me?!”
Kraab stares at Izuku worriedly, afraid that he might be attached to someone who is legit psycho. “Kid…you’re talking to a watch.”
“Yeah, I know but it makes me feel better if I think it can understand me when I yell at it.” XLR8 explains.
The Techadon opens fire, launching a powerful beam at the Omnitrix wearing alien.
XLR8 speeds away, putting a lot of distance between him and the beam in just seconds.
But the android is relentless, as it continues to fire away again and again but not one shot manages to hit its mark.
“Hahaha! Too slow!” XLR8 jeers, zooming here and there between the crates and machines. “What’s the matter? Can’t you keep up?!”
It changes its tactics, firing a barrage of missiles at the speeding reptile.
XLR8 races towards the missiles, snaking through them with ease without a single one even grazing his scales. He speeds forward, leaping up at the unprepared Techadon; he spins and slams his tail into the bot’s head, smashing its maedate and by extension the Omnitrix Disrupter apart. “HA!! Take that!”
The Techadon swings its blade at the alien, but it quickly zooms away.
Watching the speedster’s movements, the Techadon projects its knee forward and out from its kneecap a metal sphere is fired out in XLR8’s path.
While in slow motion, XLR8 sidesteps the ball, laughing all the while. “Ha! This is like moving in slow motion to me! You’re gonna have to-”
Poof. The sphere explodes into a web of thin cables that fly out in every direction imaginable.
Few of the cables hook themselves onto XLR8’s arm and the moment they do the other cables lash around him, tangling him up and binding his limbs together causing the speedster to fall and slide across the ground unable to move.
“This isn’t good!” XLR8 panics trying to free himself.
From his back, Kraab gulps as a looming shadow towers above them. “Um, kid…”
The Techadon stands over them, sword poised above its head.
XLR8 gulps, shrinking under the machine’s inhuman gaze. “Just say something cool before you finish me off.”
It won’t as it swings its blade down.
But it is cut off as a giant canister falls atop of it, crushing the Techadon underneath.
XLR8 peers up towards Xylene who is flying just above their heads. “Thanks for the save!”
“Think nothing of it.” With a wave her hand she frees XLR8 from his binds.
She frowns at Izuku’s current form. “What happened to becoming an Arburian Pelarota?”
XLR8 clicks in embarrassment. “Ah! The Omnitrix had other ideas!”
From within the smashed container, the Techadon pris itself free.
“It’s getting loose!” XLR8 screams. “Uraraka hurry!”
“I’m hurrying!” From above the battlefield, Ochaco is slowly floating her way up towards the dangling Gran Torino.
When she reaches him, she uses her Zero-Gravity on him and the chains allow them both to float up towards the top of the crane.
As Ochaco leads him up, Gran Torino can't help but remark. “Where have you been?”
“Oh you know, around.”
They reach the top where Ochaco releases, allowing them both to land on top.
Once there Ochaco immediately tries to undo the chains around Gran Torino. “Man, this is really on here tight.”
“Hurry it up, girly!” Gran Torino peers down at the fight below. “Who knows how long they’re gonna last.”
Meanwhile, Xylene and XLR8 are forced to continuously move about avoiding the incoming spheres that explode and fire out cables in every direction.
As they bob and weave past the spheres, the Techadon takes aim once again with its laser cannon.
But then a burning spear forces its arm up causing it to fire the beam straight into the sky instead.
Hisashi grins before spinning about and landing several strikes against the android with his Amenonuhoko: Dual Burn!
As the Techadon reels back Hisashi tosses out several magnet tags that stick to the bot’s chest.
“Now, Chop!!”
^Wa!^ Hidden away behind several crates, Chopper presses down on a trigger and the magnetic tags begin to send electrical charges through the Techadon; stunning it.
XLR8 zooms over. “What are those things?”
“Restrainer bolts.” Hisashi explains. “I always have a few on hand for when Chopper gets rowdy.”
^Rere-ree wo!^
“You know why! You take things too far sometimes!
“Deku!” Xylene calls out from above. “Use these!” She levitates over a web of heavy chains.
XLR8 grins and zooms off, grabbing the chain before racing around the Techadon. He races this way and that, under its legs, between its arms, around its head before giving the chain a hard fast pull, binding the chain tightly around the electrified bot.
“I got it!!” But he stops celebrating to address the cyborg on his back. “You ready?”
Kraab gives him the go ahead. “Just get me in close and I can shut this thing down!”
“You got it!” And he races forward, moving so fast he’s nothing but a blue blur.
The Techadon easily spots him coming and reacts accordingly, by activating the Omnitrix Disruptor.
“Waah!!” Izuku cries out as mid run he reverts back to human, he collapses sliding across the ground until he eventually slides to a stop.
As he hits the ground Kraab is flung off his back, sliding across the ground and coming to a stop at the Techadon’s feet.
The Techadon then begins to heat up, so much so its body glows hot and the chains and restrainer bolts melt off.
Izuku cries out as the Techadon prepares to move forward. “Kraab!!”
At the same time, Ochaco finally manages to free Gran Torino from his chains. “There!”
The two peer down witnesses Izuku revert back to human and lose Kraab.
Ochaco gasps. “Gran Torino!!”
But he’s already gone, zipping down at a record speed.
Just as the Techadon is about to crush the bodiless droid, Gran Torino slips right between the ground and its foot, snatching up Kraab in a blink of an eye. “I got ya!”
Kraab blinks, reeling back from the near-death experience. “T-thanks, old man. Man, you sure can move for someone with your…experience.”
“You know it.” He glares up at the Techadon as it continues its march towards Izuku, not even noticing Kraab nor Gran Torino. “Now what?”
“Get me close to that thing! I need to be able to touch it!”
“How?! Wherever I put ya it’s gonna grab ya!”
A Ryou Sphere collides with the Techadon’s side, drawing its attention.
“Go!” Ochaco shouts, firing another Ryou Sphere. “I’ll cover you! Yah!!”
The Techadon forces the sphere away with a shockwave, it then turns to face the girl head on.
As it turns it leaves its entire backside exposed giving Gran Torino an idea. “Hang on, crab cakes.”
“It’s Kraab! Not crab-CAKES!!!” Kraab’s head whiplashes as Gran Torino zips across the battlefield.
The Techadon spins around, having heard Kraab’s shouting, and fires out a set of metal spheres that explode into a web of cables, along with a shower of missiles.
However, both Xylene and Hisashi leap into action. Xylene propels the cables away with her telekinesis while Hisashi burns away at the missiles causing them to prematurely explode.
And with that Gran Torino has the opening he needs, slipping through the heat and smoke, zooming past the Techadon’s head.
Unable to stop, Gran Torino tosses Kraab at the Techadon’s head. “You’re up!!”
“Hahaha! This is payback, bitch!!” Kraab cries out in malicious joy as he draws out his new arm, which happens to be one of Chopper’s own spare arms.
As Kraab flies through the air, Izuku shouts out from the sidelines. “Say the line!!”
Kraab, being caught up in the moment, shouts out the special move Izuku came up with. “SCREWDRIVER BLITZ!!!”
The thin metal claw pierces through the back of the Techadon’s skull like a dart through tin. And the moment it’s inside Kraab gets to work doing his best to connect himself to the Techadon’s circuits and interior systems.
The Techadon jerks and sparks, wobbling and stumbling around for a moment as it loses its balance. It soon realizes what’s happening and tries to reach for the small droid, but it is unable thanks to its large stocky arms.
As the Techadon thrashes about, trying to rid itself of Kraab, Hisashi shouts out as he avoids its flailing blade. “Shut it down!”
“I’m trying!” Kraab yells back, as he tries and tries to hinder the machine. “The-ER, it’s programming has a lot of security systems and encryptions. It’s gonna take me…a…while! Er-I think I can disable the Omnitrix Disrupter!!” Mainly because he can actually reach the disruptor's systems from his position. But doing so will mean it’ll take him longer to disrupt anything else.
Even so he tries anyway, hopefully buying everyone else the time they need to finish the job.
And Izuku definitely needs all the time he can get as he hides behind a stack of containers where he’s frantically fidgeting around with the recharging Omnitrix. “Please, work. Please, work. Please, work!” He chants, begging the Omnitrix to give him what he wants as it finally recharges
Xylene floats down beside him.
Izuku softens, his gaze dropping and becoming dejected. “Well, I sure messed things up didn’t I? Guess I was just lucky when I fought it before.”
Xylene pauses, considering his words. “No.” She then snatches up his left arm.
Izuku’s heart begins to ace as he panics and tries to pull away. “You can’t take it off!”
“I’m not trying to.” Xylene admits, softening her grip, letting him know that she’s not actually trying to hurt him. “We need a way to destroy the Techadon without there being a sliver of a chance that it’ll survive.” She then begins fiddling with Omnitrix herself.
Izuku watches her curiously unable to make sense of her fidgeting fingers, and instead is more concerned that she might break the Omnitrix instead. “What are you doing?”
“Giving you what you deserve.” She stops fidgeting with the Omnitrix, her hand hovering above the now activated dial. She looks Izuku in the eyes, her gaze soft and honest before she asks. “Do you trust me?”
Even though he’s not sure what exactly her plan is, he does know that she has one. He can trust that.
And so Izuku gives a shaky smirk, trying to play it cool yet coy. “D-do you trust me?”
Xylene pauses, finding his expression odd, but she gives him a confident smile in return. “Yes.”
And with his trust she presses her hand down on the Omnitrix.
And immediately Izuku can tell that something is different about this transformation. His body shrinks on itself, yet it feels like his gut has expanded to impossible proportions. He can feel his skull, especially his jaw, widen and stretch. While the rest of his body seems to shrink in on itself.
As Izuku comes out of his transformation sequence he peers down at himself. Taking note of his round belly, stubby arms and legs, patchy green skin, and wide mouth. He’s rather pudgy for being a rather short alien, and it's kinda slimy, and its teeth also feel crooked against his tongue…no, correct, against his multiple tongues.
The pudgy little alien peers up at Xylene in confusion. “Wh-what is this thing supposed to do?”
Xylene tells with finality. “You’re going to eat it!”
The pudgy alien gives her a weird look; is she serious?
She restates her answer. “Literally eat it! That’s your power.”
‘Well, okay then.’ The pudgy alien thinks while giving his tummy a little rub. “Well, I am kinda hungry.” But that might be because he never ate his Dad’s mealworm casserole; instead, he chucked it into the woods when he wasn’t looking.
Actually, he could really go for some real food. Maybe a pizza or a hamburger, or a nice juicy steak, or what about some Thai food, oh that sounds good but so does fried chicken. Hm!
His stomach growls and rumbles, as his mouth begins to salivate, even his tongues begin to stir and just as he loses himself to his fantasies his trio of tongues fire out unexpectedly. The three tongues act more as tendrils that shoot out and pierce into the side of the container.
The two aliens blink in awkward confusion as the pudgy alien tries to pry his tongues free with his stubby arms but he just ends up strumming the stretched-out tongues like guitar strings.
Xylene gives him a condescending look.
“Uhhh.” The pudgy alien finally frees his tongues, slurping them back up into his mouth. He chuckles nervously, shying away from Xylene as he comes up with an excuse. “Just getting a feel for this new guy, you know?”
BOOM!!! An explosion rings through the docks, threatening to topple the containers over.
Xylene and the little alien rush to the scene as the Techadon tries to fry their friends by unleashing laser beams across the docks.
A laser nearly grazes Ochaco, instead blasting apart a forklift, the force knocking her back and she goes down!
“Uraraka!” The pudgy alien rushes over, hovering over her worriedly.
Ochaco groans as she picks herself up. “I’m okay. Thanks for asking De-Deku?!” She gasps at his new little form. “You have another new guy?!”
The pudgy alien grins. “Well actually I got like three other guys since the start of summer!”
“Really?!” Ochaco awes, her eyes sparkling in amazement. “Can I see them?!”
“Sure, there’s-”
“Not the time!” Xylene cuts in, interrupting their fun.
At the same time, the Techadon finally takes note of the pudgy alien wearing the Omnitrix and it makes a move towards them: its shoulder pads opening up and preparing to fire.
Xylene warns them off the incoming missiles. “Alright. Like before, just stand your ground!”
The Techadon fires, sending all the missiles it has at the trio.
The pudgy alien shakes and quivers as the missiles draw closer. “Um, Xylene?”
“Trust me.” She bends down, placing a hand on his shoulder. “You’re more than capable.”
The pudgy alien shakily smiles back before turning towards the incoming missiles with determination.
As the missiles fly in the pudgy alien recalls what Xylene said about his power and so he opens his mouth wide, wider, wider, too wide! His mouth just expands beyond what should be capable for a body of his size. And yet in one gulp, he chomps down on the missiles, swallowing them whole.
Upon swallowing them he pauses, unsure and silently freaking out before something inside his stomach explodes and his gut expands out as the inside of his stomach begins to glow green.
Ugh! A vomiting sensation begins to rise up from the back of his throat. And not wanting to puke he pries his mouth shut but it's’ clear that no matter what he’s gonna be blowing chunks!
“NO!” Xylene grabs him and aims him towards the incoming Techadon. “Aim there!”
He’s sweating buckets as he tries to hold it in but it becomes too much as he lets out one of the biggest belches of his life! “BLEEEGH!!!”
And with his burp, his stomach hurls out a massive glowing green glob. The glob flies through the air and hits the Techadon and upon impact it explodes in a brilliant display of green energy!
The Techadon stumbles back from the blast, while the pudgy alien gasps in pleasant surprise of the powerful attack.
“Did you see that?” He asks excitedly while patting his belly. “I can hurl exploding barf?! That’s so cool!” he turns, throwing his stubby fist into the air and declaring out to the world. “I got UPCHUCK power!”
“Ewww.” Ochaco gags, sticking her tongue out at how gross that is. “That’s disgusting! Who would find that cool?!”
On que, Gran Torino pops in from above with a shit eating grin on his face as he laughs. “Hahaha! Nice one, boy. Can you belch out another one? Ehehe!”
“You bet! Haha!”
Ochaco slaps herself in the face. ‘Men.’
The Techadon stomps forward, snapping everyone's attention back towards its presence as it prepares to take a swing with its Resonate-Blade.
Upchuck bounces forward, mouth wide and his tongues lash out grabbing onto the blade. He and the Techadon struggle but his slimy tongues win out, reeling the blade into his jaws.
The Techadon stumbles back, stunned by the creature’s outlandish attack. But it’s soon back on the offensive as it draws out its laser cannon.
But Upchuck bounces up and chomps down on its arm, ripping it off before swallowing the cannon whole into his expanding belly.
“BLEEEGH!!” Upchuck burps hurling a barrage of exploding globs at the android, blasting it back.
The Techadon regains its balance and focuses its signal on Upchuck as it tries to use its Omnitrix Disrupter.
But it fails as Kraab continues to hack away at its sensors. “Oh, no you don’t! Not this time!” He continues to struggle against the bot’s programming, unable to make any significant progress.
The Techadon’s arm quickly reforms but it changes tactics, projecting its knee out and firing several cable spheres at the bouncing Upchuck.
The pudgy alien swallows the spheres whole much to the Techadon’s surprise.
Upchuck grins mockingly up at the bot before his tongues lash out and pry off its own leg! He eats it whole before lashing out again and this time taking its opposite arm.
After two big servings of robot Upchuck readies himself as his belly glows brighter.
“Here’s. A. Big One!! BLEEEEGGGHHH!!!”
A massive wad of glow glob is catapulted forward, soaring through the air before crashing and exploding into the stumbling Techadon.
The Techadon is torn to shreds as it is blasted away, it's armor dented and scorched. But it slowly begins to rise as the dents and missing limbs begin to repair themselves and reform.
Hisashi, having watched Upchuck eat away at the bot, rushes over to rejoin the others. “It’s still getting back up!”
Upchucks frowns. “Looks like nibbling away at it, it’s gonna cut it. It’s time I take a bite out of this one!”
Upchucks hurries forward to the struggling Techadon just as it regains its footing.
His three tendril-like tongues lash out and wrap themselves around its armor and limbs.
“UGH!!!” Upchuck pulls his head back, trying to reel the Techadon in but it resists, holding its ground firmly, not daring to move an inch forward.
Gran Torino waves everyone to attack. “Quickly, now’s our chance!”
They all charge in racing past Upchuck and the Techadon, placing themselves right behind the struggling machine.
Xylene goes first, using her Telekinesis on the bot, trying to force it forward.
But after analyzing Upchuck’s might the Techadon produces thick metal claws from its feet that pierce the ground, preventing itself from moving.
Gran Torino continues zipping around and slams himself into the Techadon knees, trying to make it buckle.
Hisashi fires out his flames, trying to at least burn away at its armor. While Chopper wheels around him and chucks extra restrainer bolts at the machine's feet.
But it’s Ochaco that deals the final push as she races in, her fist glowing brightly at her side. “VENUS SMASH!!!” She throws her fist forward and the pressure of the attack, assisted by the others, launches the Techadon right towards Upchuck’s waiting jaws.
The attack was so strong it knocks Kraab free, causing him to bounce off the ground where Chopper wheels in and scoops him up.
Upchucks reels the Techadon in, but it still has fight left in it, as it grabs the edges of Upchucks mouth, holding itself in palace just seconds from being swallowed up.
From above, Xylene flies in, her eyes aglow and filled with righteous fury. “This is for hurting my Sorahiko!!” With a wave of her arms, she blasts the Techadon into the bottomless pit that is Upchuck.
Upchuck swallows and his stomach expands to an impossible size glowing brightly as it charges up with energy.
He panics, realizing he doesn’t know what to do with the charged-up energy until he gets an idea to look up! “BLLLLEEEEEEEEEEGGGGGHHH!!!”
A massive glob beams out from Upchuck’s mouth, shooting high up into the night sky, high above the docks and over the ocean blue.
BOOM!!! The glob explodes, firing out like a giant green firework! Lighting the sky up in a dazzling light show of green.
Everyone is amazed by the sight, each of them are grinning from ear to ear, their eyes sparkling with the reflections of the dancing green lights.
Ochaco breathes, admiring the gorgeous lights. “Beautiful.” A blob of goop lands nearby, splattering her shoe. “Ew!! And gross!”
Upchuck grins up at the sky before his time runs out and he reverts back into Izuku. Izuku begins to moan, holding his aching stomach. “Oh, man, my stomach.” He pokes around in his mouth trying to lodge out something between his teeth. “Yuck, that robot was so stale and bitter! Can I get some mouthwash or something?” He burps and a little shard of metal jumps out of his mouth.
Embarrassed and grossed out, Izuku clamps his hands over his mouth, unable to process what just came out.
The little shard of metal wriggles and worms about, becoming larger in size. But Chopper wheels himself over and aims his little arm down at the shard and zapping it with bolts of electricity until it stops moving.
Xylene leans over and snatches up the metal shard. “And I’ll hold onto this for proper disposal.”
With the Techadon properly destroyed they all continue on, admiring the light show as it slowly comes to an end.
Suddenly, Hisashi jerks in place, he freezes as a terrible thought dawns on him. “Ughhhh, you know this isn’t exactly covert is it?”
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Sirens blare and red and blue lights flash across the docks as police cruisers race onto the scene.
Inspector Tezuka leaps out of the lead cruiser, along with her son, Fumikage Tokoyami, who’s been riding along with her all summer.
Inspector Tezuka’s jaw drops once she surveys the scene. “What the hell happened here?!”
Containers have been blasted apart, machines lie on their sides, and massive craters and blast marks litter the scene.
Tokoyami frowns, eyeing the remains of the battle suspiciously. “Hm, unknown forces clashed here, vying for the fate of our world.”
His mother lets out a drawn-out sigh “That’s it I’m taking away your Tokyo Ghoul manga.”
“No!! I won’t allow it!! DARK SHADOW!!!”
“Ahhh!! No way! She’s scary when she’s angry!!”
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“That was a close one.” Hisashi stops to catch his breath as they all make it to the Tavern of High Charity.
Meanwhile, Xylene orders a ride back to her home planet at the counter located in the Tavern’s docking bay.
At the same time, Ochaco is in awe of all the ships parked inside the disguised warehouse and factories. Her eyes light with excitement as she takes in each one.
“Yes, it was.” Xylene grins, turning away from the counter after ordering a flight. “But you were all impressive. Especially you.”
Izuku grins up at her. “T-thanks. I try.”
“Indeed. You have quite the handle over the Omnitrix and its aliens. However…” She frowns, cupping her chin as she reflects over Izuku’s battling style.
Izuku becomes nervous. “However…?”
“Hm, you might be too reliant on the device.”
“You think so?”
“Maybe.”
Hisashi overhears and ends up pondering over the thought as well.
Ochaco steps up towards Xylene. “So, does that mean Deku can keep the Omnitrix?”
Xylene gives her an understanding smile. “Yes. I no longer see a reason to take it away. Not that I could if I wanted to.” She smiles over at Izuku. “Clearly the Omnitrix is in good hands.”
Izuku smiles at that.
“However, I must warn you that you must remain on your guard. As long as you bear the Omnitrix others will continue to come after you in order to claim it for themselves.”
“Well, no matter what they throw at us,” Izuku smiles over to his friends and family. “I’m sure we can take em.”
They all smile back in return.
Izuku shyly rubs the back of his head. “So, is this goodbye then?”
“It is.” Xylene admits with a sad smile. “I must return home and report in. I am also in need of a new ship and equipment so returning home is paramount. “And once I have what I need I plan on scouring the galaxy for the Omnitrix’s creator.”
Izuku’s eyes widen. “You’re gonna look for the creator?”
“Yes.” Xylene reaffirms. “I’m sorry but I do believe that a weapon like the Omnitrix should not exist. And so, I must ensure that another one won’t ever be produced.”
“Huh… I…understand.” A thought crosses Izuku’s mind. “Oh, um, if you’re looking for the creator then I might know someone who can help.”
Xylene frowns, taken back by Izuku’s proposal. “Who?”
“I have a friend, Tetrax, he saved me a while back. Right now, he’s traveling space too trying to find the creator. He’s also broadcasting a fake Omnitrix signal to lure anybody away. If you’re looking for the creator you might want to find him, I’m sure he’ll help you out.”
“Hm.” Xylene considers the idea. “I’ve never exactly been a team player as it were. But after today I’ll take your advice into consideration.”
“That’s all I ask. Oh, and can you tell him I said hi. He hasn’t exactly been calling in.”
Xylene snickers at that. “Sure.”
Hisashi steps forward offering Xylene a hand. “Thank you for all your help.”
Xylene takes it. “I should be thanking you, Plumber.”
Ochaco nervously rubs one of her bangs as she approaches Xylene in order to say goodbye. “Well, I guess we’ll be seeing ya.”
“Yes. And do take care of yourself.”
“And what about you?” Ochaco nervously peers back at Gran Torino who’s been suspiciously silent the entire time. “Are…are you leaving too?”
A heavy silence befalls the group as everyone awaits Gran Torino’s answer.
Xylene approaches him gently, squatting down so they can be at eye level.
Gran Torino eyes her warily, his gaze sad and sullen.
Xylene gives him a sad yet understanding smile. “You’re not coming, are you?”
Gran Torino lets out a somber exhale. “It’s a big galaxy out there. But right now,” He leans over to the side, smiling over at his students. “Those kids are my whole world.”
They all smile back, even Hisashi who won’t dare ruin this moment.
However, Gran Torino breaks into a taunting smirk. “Also cause they won’t be able to survive without me. I mean you saw them out there, they’re practically lost without me!”
“Boo!!” Ochaco boos in protest as Hisashi begins to sulk.
All the while Izuku sheepishly laughs at their reactions.
Gran Torino chuckles before readdressing Xylene. “I am sorry, Xylene. But I hope you can understand.”
She gently places a hand on his shoulder and smiles. “I do.”
And so, with a hand on his shoulder, she slides it around his neck and slowly pulls him in and they both come together for a kiss.
To which Ochaco immediately turns red with innocent embarrassment as Izuku begins to gag at the sight of a lizard lady kissing an old man. Hisashi just gives a deadpan stare as he slowly covers up the kids’ eyes.
Eventually they part and Xylene slowly pulls away and makes her way to her ship.
Everyone watches on, standing beside Gran Torino, as she climbs up the ramp. She stops halfway to turn back and stare back at them all, specifically at Gran Torino. Hesitant as if wanting to beg him to come with her. But she knows that this is for the best, that he is needed here. Even though it means she’ll miss him and they’ll be apart for who knows how long, at least she can always revisit him in her memories. After all…
“We’ll always have Imado.” And with that she turns back and disappears into the ship which promptly begins to take its leave; its engines roaring to life as the roof of the factory begins to part away for the ship’s take off.
Ochaco smiles down at Gran Torino and says. “Thought we were gonna lose you, old fart.”
“Naw!” Gran Torino laughs. “You can't get rid of me that easily you punk. You’re stuck with me whether you like it or not.”
“I’m glad. I’d…we’d miss you too much.”
“We?”
“Yeah, me and…you know?”
“Yeah, I do.” Gran Torino knows exactly who’ll miss him if he were to up and disappear. “And I bet that he misses you too.”
“Yeah.” Ochaco shyly peers down at her phone where five new messages await. “I guess he probably does.” And it’s not fair to herself or to her mentor if she keeps on ignoring him. Maybe. Maybe reaching out will be for the best, for all of them, even Deku.
Gran Torino smiles, knowing that she’ll take his advice to heart. “By the way.”
She blinks, tilting her head over at him. “Hm?”
“How’d you know that Xylene asked me to leave with her?”
Both Ochaco and Izuku freeze, suddenly feeling like they’ve already been caught.
Ochaco immediately begins to crack under his suspicious gaze. “Um…I don’t know… Woman’s intuition I guess…?”
“Huh.” Gran Torino cups his chin as he considers what to do. “I got to make a mental note for myself. Next time I decide to tutor ya I’m gonna have to teach you about respecting your elders.”
Ochaco gasps, terrified as she’s left to wonder what that means for her.
Even Izuku feels sorry for her. But also, very glad that he took up his internship with someone else.
Hisashi however tries to defuse the situation. “Go easy on her, will ya?”
Gran Torino scoffs, swatting his hand away, “Please, if I babied you, you wouldn’t have survived as long as you have.”
TWACK!!!
“OW!!” Hisashi grabs his aching head, rubbing the spot Gran Torino bashed in with his cane. “Why I oughta-”
And so, the two break into yet another argument match with Ochaco desperately trying to break it apart.
Izuku stands off to the side, chuckling at their antics.
Out of his peripheral vision, he can see Chopper roll up beside him.
“Well, I guess I can say that I had fun today.” Kraab states a matter-of-factly from atop Chopper’s head.
Izuku smiles down at him as Chopper places Kraab down on the ground before wheeling away. “How’s the new arm?”
“It’s great.” Kraab waves said new arm around before reaching behind his head and scratching away at the metal plating. “I’ve had this killer itch for like ever now, And I can finally reach it.” He releases a very satisfying sigh of relief. “Oh, yeah~ I’m in heaven~”
“I’m glad.” Izuku smiles, gently picking Kraab off form the ground and holding him up to eye level. “Hey, Kraab.”
“Hm?”
“I wanted to thank you by the way. You really saved my neck out there today.”
“It was nothing, kid.”
“No, it wasn’t nothing! You had my back. You gave me valuable information even if you didn’t have to. And you fought on my behalf.” Izuku's smile is purely genuine as he sincerely thanks the bot. “That’s something only a friend would do, and I just wanted to say thank you.”
Kraab quickly averts his gaze, suddenly becoming rather shy and embarrassed. “Woah! We’re not friends! Got it! I only helped out cause I wanted to get payback on those Weapon Masters!”
“Okay sure, but either way. It was nice having you on our side.”
Kraab turns his head away as if to hide a blush that can’t even form over his metallic face. “Yeah, well, I guess if you really need my help again. I guess I wouldn’t be opposed to it.”
Izuku smiles, grateful to the little cyborg head.
Chopper the wheels in and rudely bumps Izuku from behind. ^Wo-wa bop!^
“Hahaha! You said it Chop!” Kraab uses his arm to jump out of Izuku’s hands, landing atop of Chopper. “He is a sap! Hahaha!”
They both laugh as they wheel away.
“Ah! You jerks!” Izuku shouts after them but they just laugh and jeer back at him.
Izuku, however, lets it go, accepting that it’s all in good fun.
And so, he turns and watches Xylene’s ship finally begin to take off. As it slowly rises out of the hanger bay and begins to turn invisible.
As he watches it disappear, a sudden realization causes Izuku's heart to stop. “Wait a minute!! I should have asked Xylene how she worked the Omnitrix!! Ah!! Quickly!! Someone stop that ship!! Ahh!! It’s too late?! No!! She’s already gone!!”
“Dammit, boy!! Gran Torino scolds. “Why didn’t you say anything sooner?!”
“I forgot!!”
Ochaco nervously laughs at his forgetfulness. “Well, I just hope we’re not forgetting about anything else.”
“We’re not.” Hisashi affirms. “I’m sure of it.”
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A lone scout drone hovers over the quiet ocean with only the moon’s light guiding this way over the shimmering abyss. The drone comes to a stop above the water before it slowly begins to descend into the deep.
The water is pitch black even as it shines a spotlight through the depths, but nothing comes into sight. And so, it sinks lower and lower where it soon reaches the seaweed and trash littered ocean floor.
The scout drone patrols through the sunken containers, cars, and trash. Weaving its way through forests of kelp and seaweed until it finds the source of the strange yet familiar signal.
It shines its spotlight and there, it’s found it. There lying between the sunken trash and seaweed lies the cracked helmet of the Techadon.
Vilgax’s scout drone glides closer and closer, its claws slowly reaching out and cupping the helmet. And upon being disturbed the helmet’s silver maedate…glows gold.
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THE PREVIEW:
Izuku: Welcome to the team, Upchuck! It’s great to have you!
Upchuck: Oh, gees, thanks. I promise to pull my weight, promise.
Izuku: I know you will. But hey sorry you didn’t get much of a chance to show your stuff, especially on your big debut.
Upchuck: Eh, it’s okay I know that readers will get a nice gratifying serving of me next time. Maybe. Actually, that reminds me where are we off to next time?
Izuku: Um, I’m not sure. Dad said he wanted to add a stop to our trip. Said he had an idea and that we should go.
Upchuck: Well, where are we going?
Izuku: We’re going to Mt. Fuji! So, pack your hiking boots because this is gonna be one hell of a track! … Huh? What was that Dad? Wait… I can’t use the Omnitrix?! Why?! Wait, do I really get to keep this?! You want me to what?!
Both: Next time: Ch.59 Don’t Cave In!!
Upchuck: H-hey, hey, hey!! Don’t point that thing at me!
Notes:
And that was chapter 58. The Visitors. Which is based off the Ben Ten episode from Season 3 “The Visitor.” So yeah, if you didn’t catch that I basically gave the chapter away during the preview. But hey it’s okay if you missed it. Also, this chapter must have had the most Omnitrix appearances in it!! There was Ditto, Diamondhead, Rath, Lodestar, Big Chill, Feedback, Grey Matter, Wildmutt, XLR8, and Upchuck. And it was all done without Master Control. Also, relax, Izuku will gain Master Control at some point, but do keep in mind that i am not trying to fulfil a power fantasy here.
Anyway, I have a lot to talk about for this chapter and the following chapters.
Firstly, 3 chapters. Only 3 chapters left until we reach Two Heroes or as I will be referring to it as “Three Heroes” since…you know. And then after “Three Heroes” I will finally be bringing the story back to Forest Training camp. There might be a transitional chapter in between but that oughta be short if I even do it. Anyway, start looking forward to that!
*So, if you felt that Ochaco and to the extent, Gran Torino were underutilized or didn’t actually need to be here Then I do apologize for that. In truth I wanted to do more with this chapter, but I did have cut out one character to help narrow it down. And that character was…All Might. Yes, All Might was originally planned to show up and be involved with the events of this chapter. But after some thinking and logistical issues I had to unfortunately cut him from the entire chapter. Basically, All Might would have been trying to confront at least Ochaco about their situation. Which basically got replaced with a small flashback and Gran Torino stepping in instead. So yeah, parts of the chapter were supposed to have a very different dynamic, but this is the final result. Plus, it helps set up Ochaco accepting All Might’s invite to go to I-island. So, in a way, it was necessary.
*Oh, also just to be clear the Techadon will return and has officially joined Vilgax’s faction. Just wanted to make that clear in case it wasn’t obvious.
Also, there was a neat easter egg and hint related to the Techadon. Did you catch it?
And no, it is the answer is not “The Samuroid” BUT if you understood that reference that you are partly on the right track to figuring this one out.
*Also, I have officially decided that Kraab will become Izuku’s droid, in a way. And the processes has clearly just started.
*Also, if you felt cheated that we didn’t get a flashback of Hisashi’s younger years or Gran Torino’s younger years with Xylene not to worry. I plan on having an Omake/OVA or two of those exact events over on my side story “Heroes Never Die; It’s Hero Time, Anytime!”
Chapter 64: Don't Cave In
Summary:
Hisashi takes Izuku to an old Plumber Base so that Izuku can get himself a new weapon. But what happens when someone breaks in and turns the base against them?
Notes:
Hey y'all! Who’ve you been? Good? Great! Then let’s just hop right to it!!
***NEW ARTWORK*** was created for this chapter! Will provide more details mid-chapter and at the end Author’s Note!
*There is a side story that is canon to this story, and it is called “Heroes Never Die; It’s Hero Time, Anytime.” You will find an assortment of one shots that take place in the canon of this main story.
*This story has a TV Tropes page so feel free to check it out.*
https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Fanfic/HeroesNeverDieItsHeroTime
*Disclaimer I do not own the rights to Ben 10 or MHA.*
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
“Weehee Woo-oo!!” A high-pitched snort of a cackle rings through the air as an engine roars and tires burn against the pavement.
An armored car crashes through the chain link fence, tossing it aside like cardboard as its wheel bounces across the grassy slope until hitting the pavement of the highway with screeching tires. The armored car zooms down the highway, slipping past the few other cars and semis that are out on the road at such a late hour.
“Weehee Woo-oo!!” A bipedal Warthog with an affinity for purple as proven by his mohawk, shades, and outfit cackles as the armored car smashes its way through ongoing traffic. “Look at us go! Hahaha! Ain’t nobody gonna touch us!”
His partner, a bipedal Rhino, chuckles from the driver’s seat. “Yes. We get the jackpot. Hehehe!” He laughs, his Russian accent thick and heavily accentuated.
“Jackpot?!” The Warthog laughs. “Naw, dog. We hit the freaking motherload!!”
From the front a squad of police cars and heroes race towards them.
“Yo! Step on it!!”
The Rhino slams his foot on the gas. “With pleasure! Hahaha!”
The armored car barrels its way right through the police and heroes without so much a scratch!
“Weehee Woo-oo!!” The Warthog cackles with glee. “Japan’s nothing like New York! This place is like our personal playground, son!”
The Rhino breaks into a wide grin. “You know what else Japan not have? It not have teenage turtles that stop the fun.”
“Oh, I get that! If I see another turtle, it’ll be way too soon.”
All of a sudden, a massive turtle with a large circular shell and wide propeller-like fins slams into the front of the armored car, smashing the windshield apart.
Terraspin glowers back at the criminals. “May I see your license and registration please?”
“Waaaahhh!!” The duo of criminals scream in shock as a giant turtle peers up at them.
The Warthog scrambles back, trying to get as far away from the shelled menace as much as possible. “You have got to be kidding me! Another one?!”
The Rhino lets out a disgruntled animalistic snort. “Not to worry my large snouted friend, this turtle be roadkill! Mwahaha!” With a deep laugh the Rhino’s fist slams into Terraspin’ face, knocking the turtle alien right off the vehicle!
“Woooaah!!” Terraspin’s shell skids off the road before he bounces up and slams into the platted grill of the pursuing Rustbucket.
Terraspin groans, his face stuck to the windshield. He slowly, painfully, opens his eyes to find Hisashi decked in his Plumber uniform, along with Kraab and Chopper, staring back at him.
Hisashi jumps as Terraspin hits the windshield. “Why did you jump in front of them?!”
“I don’t know…!” Terraspin admits, now realizing how dumb it really was. “I thought it would work!”
Kraab watches the armored car gaining some distance. “They’re getting away!!”
“Don’t worry Terraspin is the ultimate pursuer!” Terraspin shoves himself off the windshield and takes off into the air, propelling himself up and away like a helicopter.
Kraab watches him take off with a puzzled look before turning to the others and asking awkwardly. “He does realize that he’s a turtle, right?”
Meanwhile, Terraspin hovers through the air, steadily catching up with the escaping armored car.
The Warthog’s eyes pop open the moment he spots the flying Terraspin in the side mirror. “Oh, no no no no. That ain’t right. They fly now!”
The Rhino has to look for himself, adjusting the mirror to do so. “I will shake the turtle!”
He jerks the wheel forcing the armored car to crash its way through the barrier and onto the opposite side of the road!
Oncoming traffic veers out of the way as the Rhino cackles like a maniac; swerving this way and that, the tires screeching all the while as the exhaust plumes out smoke.
But despite his psychotic driving Terraspin easily keeps up his pursuit from above.
The Warthog shakes his head, watching as Terraspin gets closer and closer. “No, good. Just keep the ride straight!” Being surprisingly limber the Warthog flips himself onto the roof of the car, his high-tech shoes magnetically sealing him to the top of the car.
“Weehee Woo-oo!!” Jerking his hips, a strange sort-of dance and spin moves, the Warthog fires off a barrage of lasers from his hip shooters.
Terraspin bobs and weaves through the air, evading the incoming laser fire.
“Weehee Woo-oo!! Weehee Woo-oo!!” The Warthog spins and dances around firing off a round of lasers with each annoying cackle.
Terraspin yells out as he evades the lasers “Why are you making those noises?!”
“It’s called a battle cry, son!” The Warthog spins, grabbing at his mohawk and using his tech he fires a mohawk shaped laser!! “Weehee Woo-oo!!”
The weirdly shaped laser explodes, nearly blasting Terraspin out of the sky.
“Alright, enough. I’ve had it with this clown!” Terraspin rises up above the car and unleashes a massive whirlwind downward! “UPDRAFT!!!”
The whirlwind crashes into the ground just behind the vehicle, before redirecting and springing back up from underneath the vehicle itself!
“WWWAAAaaahhh!!!” The two thugs scream in terror as their ride is suddenly flung into the air.
The car flips over the side of the highway, crashing down into an empty parking lot below; landing on its back and cracking the pavement underneath.
“Ugh.” The Warthog and Rhino crawl out of the wreckage, groaning and bruised after such a crash.
“Ow,.” The Rhino grips his aching head. “Why is head spinning?”
“Dang it, man!” The Warthog punches the Rhino’s shoulder. “Who taught you how to drive?!”
“Not look at me! Japan’s steering wheels on the wrong side of car!”
After overhearing their little argument, Terraspin lands before the Warthog and Rhino with a confident smirk. “Welcome to Japan fellas. Are you visiting or are you here on business?”
The Warthog huffs in frustration. “Man, and here I thought New York was bad! But you’re just as bad as those other amphibians!”
“Yes!” The Rhino snorts. “Why do turtles always have to be ruining our lives?!”
Terraspin frowns, not exactly sure what these foreigners are talking about. “Um, because you’re criminals?”
“Says you, sucka!!” The Warthog spins and prepares to fire another round of lasers. “Weehee Woo-oo!!”
“RAWWWR” The Rhino let’s out a deep beastly roar, smashing his fists against the ground as he prepares to charge.
But Terraspin is faster on the draw, leaping away and generating a strong enough wind to blow the villains away!
“Wo-woaah!”
“Waaagh!!”
The two are thrown backwards, crashing into each other and tumbling down.
Terraspin settles back down, standing over the two thugs with a victorious smirk. “Look fellas you two are a lot of fun, but why don’t we call it a night? Aye? What do you say?”
*BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!*
In a flash, Izuku is back to being human.
Panicked, he grips the Omnitrix and shouts. “I meant for them to call it a night, not you!”
While Izuku takes his frustration out on the watch, a pair of massive shadows loom over him. And he can feel the anger and cold stares drilling into the back of his skull as they do.
The Rhino’s grin turns dangerously deadly. “Would you look at this, comrade?”
“Yeah.” The Warthog chortles. “The little turtle lost his shell.”
“Yes.” The Rhino pounds his fist into his palm and cracks it. “What a shame? No.”
Izuku freezes in place, turning pale as the blood vanishes from his face as he realizes just how screwed he is.
He quickly tries to backtrack, fumbling with his words as his brain checks out, deciding this is too much of a shock to deal with. “L-l-look f-fellas, um, so this was all just how we-like how we in Japan, say “Welcome to Japan!” Hahaha…Ha… I-I didn’t mean to get rough with you. You understand, right? This was just an exchange of pleasantries. Hehe…”
“Exchanging pleasantries?” The Warthog smirks while raising a skeptical eyebrow.
“HA!” The Rhino snorts, baring his gold-braced fists. “Please, then let us show you how New York does the pleasantries.”
Izuku gulps, his entire body trembling as the two loom towards him with their tusks and horns bared.
“RAAAWWWR!!!” The two villains let out beastly roars and squeals as they lung at the poor defenseless teen.
*HONK!!!*
The Rustbucket wails, smashing into the villains and tossing them to the side as it screeches to a stop.
Izuku stares up in shock at his Dad who looks just as shocked as he does.
Hisashi has to manually lower the side window before asking in a panic. “Please, tell me I ran over the bad guys.”
Izuku peers over to see the villains groaning in pain after having been rammed into. “Yeah. You got em.”
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After taking down the villains, it didn’t take long for the police to arrive with an armored transport to cart the villains away.
But despite being hit by a literal RV they still got some fight in em as they struggle with the police.
“Hey, don’t you touch me!” The Warthog squeals, pulling against his cuffs. “I ain’t going in quietly!”
“Neither am I!” The Rhino snorts as he’s shoved closer and closer towards the open doors of the transport. “Let go or I will squash you like the blueberries!”
“Wooah!” They both go tumbling inside after a hard kick from behind.
They both spin around to find Hisashi standing over them with his hands on the doors. “Take care friends and I hope you enjoy your stay here in Japan.”
The two beasts growl, the Warthog throwing his fists up in protest. “Hey, screw-”
Hisashi shuts the door in his face and immediately the transport pulls away with its villainous cargo.
Hisashi watches the transport leave along with its escort of heroes and police cruisers before turning back towards the RV. Where Izuku is seated at the doorway, waiting for his Dad to finish up.
Hisashi strolls over, hands on his hips while letting out an exhausted sigh, “Well they were certainly colorful.”
“Y-yeah. They were.”
Hisashi looks hesitant, like he wants to say something but is afraid it’ll offend Izuku.
But Izuku easily picks up on it. “What?”
Hisashi shyly looks away, scratching his sideburns nervously. “It's just that…you could have gotten hurt back there.”
Izuku immediately shrinks back and tries to defend himself. “I was fine. Terraspin can take a hit.”
“Yeah, but Izuku can’t.” Hisashi states, speaking firmly, fully concerned about Izuku’s safety. “What if I didn’t get there in time, what then?”
Izuku gives a shrug. “I would have thought of something?”
“Really? When? After they send you to the emergency room?” Hisashi lets out an exasperated sigh, pinching the bridge of his nose in frustration. “I was afraid to admit it, but Xylene was right. You really have become too reliant on the Omnitrix.”
Izuku jerks up at that, not quite following Hisashi’s point here. “Excuse me?”
“You need another way to defend yourself, especially when the Omnitrix times out.”
“Well I got an Omni-Shield, but it’s back at school.”
“I know ,but the thing is that’s only meant to defend you. What you need is something that’ll actually let you fight back.”
“So, what? You're gonna sign me up for martial arts or something?”
“No. It would take too much time for you to learn. Time, we don’t have, especially if Vilgax is gonna send more agents after you. No, you need something else.” For the first time during this whole conversation, Hisashi breaks into a scheming grin. “Thankfully I know just the place to get it.”
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Cannon Busters Opening - Showdown
(Beginning Instrumentals)
An open road, a bright sun illuminating the beautiful summer day, and the rush of wind in one’s ears as the Rustbucket cruises by moving across the road like a sports car before zooming past with grace.
We got places to go, things to do, people to see, and we got to get it done right away.
Izuku adjusts his hoodie, tugging it down over his body. All before gripping the dial of the Omnitrix and giving it a shine with his fingers.
So if you on the crew, guess we a team. Thicker than thieves and we all tryna help find a way
Hisashi buttons up his Hawaiian short, before grabbing his respirator and dawning it over his maw. He then snatches up a few loose tickets and pamphlets before tucking them away.
If you know the destination, we making conversation. Time is ticking, sun is setting, we got no time for waiting
Chopper latches his leg to his body, readjusting it. Before his arms pop out and flex about making sure they’re working properly.
Might be the showdown, Looks like it's 'bout to go down
Bust through with the cannon, at the hoedown
(Instrumentals)
Izuku slams down on the Omnitrix! In a flash of green the screen scrolls down to reveal his aliens: Feedback, XLR8, Grey Matter, Four Arms, Ditto, Ripjaws, Terraspin, Water Hazard, Lodestar, Buzzshock, Diamondhead, Big Chill, Heatblast, Stinkfly, and Wildmutt.
Transition into title sequence: HEROES NEVER DIE; IT’S HERO TIME
So, we won't fall, until gravity is gone
Izuku grins falling through the air alongside Rath, Wildvine, Bullfrag, Cannonbolt and several other inhuman silhouettes! As the glow of the sunrise illuminates U.A. in the background!
We've been on this road too long, so long
Hisashi and Izuku stand back-to-back looking away from each other as the scene rotates around them.
The scenes flip in rapid succession with characters standing back-to-back!
(Instrumentals)
To Thirteen and Ochaco!
To Ochaco and All Might!
To All Might and Gran Torino!
And to Gran Torino and Hisashi!
And I can't stop, we can't stop
I'm so far away from home
We've been on this road too long, too long
A legion of villains have their backs to the camera but as the camera slides through their lineup, each of them turn to acknowledge the audience.
Kraab’s claw flexes and clamps nearly clipping the camera.
Rojo folds their arms together and smirks as the camera rolls past.
Sunder raises his axe at the ready.
A Techadon stands tall and proud, towering over the camera.
Nue bares a sharp tooth grin, his eyes gleaming with malice before the camera zooms away and up into to the forbidding sky, through the void of space, through the walls of the command ship, before halting before an all observing Vilgax.
Playing with fire (Fire!)
Take me higher
From up in the air Cinder releases a cloud of flames down upon Rojo below! Rojo cuts through the flames before rocketing up and clashing with the hero in midair!
We're on our way, we're on our way
Undivided (-Vided!)
Gran Torino zooms past, his grin wide, as he slams his feet into the Techadon! The Techadon crashes into the ground, kicking up smoke, but it rises again, unharmed.
And ignited
We're on our way, we're on our way, yeah!
From the smoke cloud, Ochaco leaps back in a spin as Sunder soars after her. Sunder his axe at her but she counters it with a Ryou Sphere!
On our way, we're going
Nue grins madly as he stares down Deku who grins back just as determined and manically.
And no mistakes while we're rolling around town
We just came back round
The Rustbucket bursts forth zooming down the highlighted highway, gracefully zooming past Bakugou, Kirishima, Tsuyu, Hatsume, Kaminari, Jiro, Tokoyami, Shoto, Mina, Hagakure, and Ochaco!
You don't wanna show out
Close up of a smiling Hisashi.
Cut to a closeup of Chopper.
Cut to a closeup of Kraab.
Finally, a close up to a grinning Deku!
Might be a showdown
Deku’s hand slams down on the Omnitrix, the alien green light swallows the screen!
Woo!
Freeze on the image of Deku, Cinder, Chopper, and Kraab posing before the setting sun, their shadows casted far off over the ground towards the camera.
(Illustrated by CreateGunner1209)
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Ch.59 Don’t Cave In
Hisashi leans back, taking in the warmth of the sun and the cool mountain breeze that come together oh so comfortably. The scene is picture perfect: the sun is out, the birds are chirping, he’s got his favorite Hawaiian shirt on, and of course he’s got the most picturesque view he could ask for.
Hisashi smiles into the distance, gazing up at the magnificence of one of Japan’s most iconic landmarks, Mt. Fuji.
He admires the sight, leaning over the railing of the parking lot as other tourists mill about, taking photos of the mountain or getting themselves ready for a day's hike.
Hisashi stretches, taking in a breath of fresh mountain air. “Beautiful, isn’t it?”
“It sure is.” Izuku stands beside him, hands tucked away into his hoodie.
However, Izuku isn’t as enraptured as his father is, but instead he seems distracted or rather confused by Hisashi’s actions. “Hey, Dad.”
“What’s up, Champ?”
“We were in such a hurry to get here. I mean you even drove through the night cause we were in a hurry. I thought you wanted to help me defend myself. So why are we even here? No offense but this really seems like an unnecessary stop.”
“Firstly, that’s exactly why we’re here. Secondly, it’s a very necessary stop.”
“Here? Why?”
With a playful smile Hisashi waves Izuku back into the Rustbucket.
They both hop into their seats with Izuku already getting antsy. “Where to?”
Hisashi instead points at the seat’s buckle and warns. “Seatbelt.”
Izuku hurries to put it on. “Okay.” It clicks into place. “Now can we go?”
“You bet. And relax, okay? Our destination is a lot closer than you think.”
After starting up the RV, they exit the parking lot and get themselves onto the highway once again. But it’s not so much as a two-minute drive before Hisashi pulls off onto a dirt road hidden away in the overgrowth beside the highway.
As they drive Izuku takes note of the many many No Trespassing Signs, but despite all the warnings being prosecuted Hisashi drives on without a worry.
Eventually they reach a service road, blocked off by a heavy gate and signs reading that only authorized vehicles may enter.
Izuku frowns in confusion and worry as Hisashi nonchalantly jumps out and swings open the gate.
As Hisashi jumps back inside Izuku just stares at him in confusion. “Dad why are we-”
But Hisashi cuts him off, smiling like their trespassing isn’t an issue. “Have you ever been here before?”
Izuku frowns, finding Hisashi’s such chill demeanor unnerving. “Y-yeah? I had a field trip here back in middle school.”
“Is that right? You guys get to the top?”
“Of course not. The mountain’s huge.” Izuku pauses and thinks. “But it was beautiful, and probably one of my better memories from middle school.” Heck even Bakugou let him be for the day, but then again Izuku and Henzu did end up getting lost after Henzu wanted to explore on their own…
Hisashi smiles on. “Mt. Fuji’s a real treasure, isn’t it?”
“Yeah…” Izuku is a little out of it, his mind lingering over his ex-friend.
Not noticing Izuku’s wandering mind, Hisashi chuckles in a knowing manner. “But really it’s more of a treasure chest.”
They continue on the service road, the dirt road eventually becoming uneven and bumpy causing them all to shake and bounce in their seats.
“W-w-w-o-o-o-a-a-a-h-h-h!” Kraab rattles against the floor, using his one arm to try and hold himself in place.
^W-w-w-w-o-o-o-^ Even Chopper is shaking around, having to magnetize himself in place.
“Um, D-dad!” Izuku braces himself against his seat. “I don’t think this road is for tourists!”
He begins to panic as they approach a literal dead-end, as the road just stops and falls away at the edge of a cliff, with only a small rust barrier stopping maybe a bike from falling over.
Hisashi stops the RV just feet away from the barrier. He turns in his chair, reaching over towards the dashboard. “We’re not tourists, we’re tenets.”
He flips a switch near the radio and the RV immediately jolts in place.
Izuku grabs his armrests expecting them to begin driving again but instead of moving forward or backwards they move down. The RV is moving down, no rather they are being lifted down upon a massive platform disguised as a dirt road!!
Not sure what’s going on, Izuku spins around, his eyes opening wide in astonishment. “What in the world?!”
“Hahaha!” Hisashi laughs, greatly enjoying Izuku’s reaction as he reaches over and ruffles the boy’s hair. “This is the real treasure of the mountain. Welcome to the Mt. Fuji Plumber Base.”
And it is massive. It’s almost like an underground fortress consisting of offices and facilities for all kinds of matters all stacked atop of each other. They seem to be lowering into the main hangar/floor where corridors and giant hallways stretch throughout the entire base. Floors upon floors of facilities, storage units, and vehicles all have a large balcony overlooking the main hanger and floor. Allowing the imagery that if this place had people attending to it, it would look more like a bustling underground city if anything else.
And Izuku is at a loss for words as he just stares at the hi-tech yet rustic architecture of the base. As a massive steel plated wall lines the entirety of the massively spacious base. “The Mt. Fuji Plumber Base? I thought our base was by U.A.?”
“Our current base is.” Hisashi explains as the elevator touches down on the hangar floor. “This used to be the original base back in the day. But as you can tell no one’s been home for a while now.”
Hisashi doesn’t pull the Rustbucket away, instead he unbuckles his seat belt and hops out. At the same time Chopper picks up Kraab and makes his way out as well.
Izuku slides out as well, but his eyes stay glued to the base trying to take in every detail of this massive facility. “It’s huge. How big is this place?”
Hisashi has to think about it for a second. “Big enough to fit our current base inside of it. And still have room for three more.”
“THAT HUGE!!”
Hisashi chuckles at his reaction. “And you know what else? That’s not even a quarter of the size of the mountain itself. Speaking of, we got entrances and exits and docking bays littered all over the mountain that lead right here.” He points towards the massive main floor and its open floor design so that one can truly see how many levels the base has.
“If that’s the case, how come nobody’s ever noticed an alien base hidden away before?!”
“Oh, you know, it’s a big mountain and tourists stick to the paths, which we avoid. And people who do wander by are usually either drunk or dehydrated so they just think they’re hallucinating.” Hisashi spins around so Izuku can’t see his face. “Although occasionally someone might have to go missing.”
Izuku breaks into a fit of laughter. “Hahaha! Good one, Dad!”
But Hisashi’s not laughing. Instead, he just stands there with his back turned and his face hidden from view.
Izuku suddenly becomes very concerned. “That…was a joke, right?”
Hisashi refuses to look him in the face, refusing to give him a straight or honest answer. “Anyway, I got a lot to show you.” He hurries away in a cold sweat, not daring to even address the question.
“D-Dad?!” Izuku shouts after him!
He drops his hand in defeat, turning to Chopper and Kraab. “He was kidding right?”
Instead of throwing an insult or even a hint to an answer, Chopper turns away in refusing to even look Izuku in the eye.
“You too?!” Izuku gasps.
Kraab scratches his head, not sure what to tell the kid. “Let it go kid. Something tells me that you shouldn’t know.”
“That doesn't make me feel any better!!”
After realizing that no one's gonna be honest with him about this, Izuku hurries after his Dad with Chopper and Kraab in tow, they catch up to him quickly despite the base’s labyrinth-like layout.
Izuku follows along behind his Dad, the only reason he isn’t keeping pace is cause he’s too busy having a look around to really watch his steps. “If this was always here, how come we’re not using it now?”
Finally, Hisashi gives him a proper answer. “To put it simply, it wasn’t really necessary anymore.” He then processed to list off reasons as to why. “Budget cuts, personnel shortage, lack of a thriving alien population and activity. Combine all that and there wasn’t really a point in using this place. It would have been too taxing and taken up too many resources just to maintain the place for so few people. And after a while Nezu decided to install the new base where it is now for not just convenience sake but because of how much more practical it is.”
Izuku can see the logic for sure. It would, admittedly, be really inconvenient if they had to drive all the way to Mt. Fuji to get any Plumber work done. Even if he used XLR8 to get here, that commute would still be annoying as heck.
And so they continue to make their way through the base and Izuku’s attention soon turns to the massive reinforced steel wall lining the entirety of the base’s west side. The steel plating stretches upward for what feels like miles while massive steel pillars support it from below.
Izuku eyes the giant pillars and steel plating and curiously. “Is that for reinforcing the side mountain?”
“No.” Hisashi sheepishly rubs the back of his head. “That is the mountain.”
“Nani?!” Hang on, is Hisashi implying that the wall is in fact part of the mountain itself?
Izuku waits, watching Hisashi face closely for an answer.
Seeing him watching, Hisashi slowly nods his head.
Izuku’s jaw drops. “That’s ginormous!! That’s practically the entire side of the mountain!”
“Oh, it is.”
“Why’s it like that?” Izuku frowns, eying the giant steel plates. “Seems a little unnecessary.” Just how much did it cost to do such a thing, even?!
“Oh, well…” Hisashi turns away becoming sheepish and shy. “At some point…someone blew up the side of the mountain.”
Izuku screams out in horrific shock. “WHAT!?! WHO!?!”
Hisashi tries to play it cool as he breaks into a nervous cold sweat. “Oh, you know I can’t exactly remember. But an alien was involved for sure. Oh, and there were explosives… A lot of explosives.”
“Just how many?!” Izuku gasps.
“Yeah!” Kraab shouts out but for a different reason entirely. “And what kind were they?”
Nobody answers.
“I’m just asking for a friend, is all.” Kraab clarifies trying to play innocent.
Hisashi sighs, choosing to ignore Kraab’s comment. “Anyway, let's go.”
They continued their way through the base, eventually making their way through the labyrinth of hallways so large that several tanks could drive on through at the same time and still have plenty of room to maneuver around.
As they pass by a number of odd and strange facilities and rooms Izuku can’t help but wonder what kind of alien tech and history could be stashed away in such a place. “Is there really nobody guarding this place?”
“There’s a security system but it’s shut off for now since we’re here. And there is a battalion of worker droids keeping this place maintained.”
“Where are they then?”
“They're shut off too. There are even security droids that usually patrol in shifts every few days or so.”
“Is that to save electricity?”
“Yeah, you get it.” Hisashi nods. “Besides, nobody, alien or otherwise, bothers to come here anymore anyway.” As he finishes his explanation, he turns back around to find that they’ve arrived at their destination. “Ah, here we are.”
Izuku peers around his dad to find a large triangular doorway blocking their path.
Hisashi turns to his droid. “Chopper.”
^Be-op.^ Without putting up a fight, Chopper wheels forward and inserts his hacking rod into the control panel that’s stationed beside the doorway.
The rod twists and turns until clicking into place and the triangular metal door slides open with a whoosh.
They step inside and Izuku finds a large machine taking up nearly the entirety of the room. A balcony circles the machine allowing them to walk around the circular machine.
The machine is stationed down below with high metal arches that resemble an unfinished cage surrounding the entire circumference from above. Several panels and a viewing room look into the area from an adjacent room.
Curiously, Izuku steps forward wanting to get a closer look at the large machine. However, Hisashi holds his arm out, stopping Izuku from getting any closer.
Izuku frowns in response. “What is that thing?”
Hisashi frowns, his expression becoming rather serious as he eyes the machine cautiously as if it were going to activate on its own accord. “That is a Null Void Projector.”
Kraab shakes as he lets out a loud gasp. “A Null Void Projector?!” He begins to panic, throwing his only arm into the air like he’s ready for a fist fight. “I knew it! I knew I shouldn’t have trusted you! Well, I ain’t going without a fight! Put em up!”
Hisashi holds his hands up in surrender. “Take it easy, killer. We’re not here because of you.”
Kraab immediately settles down. “Oh.”
Izuku frowns in confusion. “Hang on, I think I’m missing something here. What’s a Null Void Projector?”
“Izuku, what do you think happens to the alien criminals we arrest?”
That’s an odd question to ask but either way Izuku goes ahead and humors his dad with an answer. “Um, I assume they go to jail.”
“Yup, usually after a trial they get shipped off to prison. Well, the Null Void is one of those prisons.”
Izuku eyes the machine warily, wondering how such a machine could possibly be such a thing. “That machine is a prison?”
“No, that machine is a gateway to the prison.”
“Oh, that makes sense. But then… What kind of prison is it?”
“Izuku,” Hisashi expression turns stern and steady, looking Izuku in the eyes as he tells him with full seriousness. “the prison is another dimension.”
In response, Izuku’s brain shuts off, unable to fully process the information.
Reading Izuku’s expression like a book, Hisashi goes ahead and explains. “The Null Void is a pocket dimension. Think of it as another world we can’t reach. Or better yet. Think of our universe as one house. And you live in this house all your life thinking you know that everything there is to the world is inside. However now imagine that in fact your house is nothing but one small apartment inside a larger building. There are hundreds upon thousands of apartments, each one different yet similar to the rest. And there are doors leading to each room, but we can never get to them unless you have the exact key to enter them.”
Izuku is totally blown away, breaking into a fit of sporadic muttering! “This is crazy! So then are parallel realities a thing? Divergent timelines? How does it work? We might need to reconsider what we know about the laws of physics! But then is time travel a thing? Oh, god but then that would mean paradoxes and-”
“Slow down!” Hisashi lightly karate chops the boy’s head. “I can’t keep up with your muttering!” After Izuku calms down enough, Hisashi continues. “Look, I'm not an expert in any of that. Heck even for most aliens that stuff is nothing but speculation. But what we do know is that the Null Void is real. So, going back to my metaphor. The Null Void is like a closet that’s already in our apartment. But it’s locked up tight and nobody can get in. Except for those that hold the skeleton key.”
Izuku gestures towards the large machine. “The Projector.”
“Bingo. The Null Void is a closet, and it holds a world of skeletons inside. For eons, aliens, Plumbers, and other civilizations have used the Null Void to banish any and all manner of criminals and monsters inside. And I don’t mean petty thieves but mass murders, psychos, man-eating monsters, overloads, crime bosses. You name the crime and even the alien race and most likely there’s someone in there that fits that exact description. And every last one of them, every one of those aliens and monsters, are left in there to rot for all eternity Where they have to fight tooth and nail to survive each and every day.”
Izuku shovers, quickly backing away from the machine. “It…sounds like hell.”
“For all intents and purposes, it is a hell.”
Izuku is almost too scared to ask, his conscience is already gripping at his heart. “We…we really send people there?”
“No. Not anymore. Some civilizations were overeager to use such a device to send over their criminals, often without a trial. And then trials would commence afterward but no one could ever recover the criminal or their body. And it was even worse if the prisoner was found innocent.” From what Hisashi’s been told, those never ended well. “So, the Plumbers outlawed the use of the Null Void years ago. Deemed it as unnecessary and inhumane.”
“Then I guess it is a good thing it’s here and not back at the base.”
“Not exactly.” Before he can go more into detail the Plumber walks off towards the opposite end of the room where Chopper sits, waiting beside a large metallic container embedded into the wall.
Izuku follows along, questioning what Hisashi meant by “not exactly.”
But he stays quiet as Chopper unlocks the metallic storage unit.
It drops open allowing Hisashi to reach inside. “That Projector’s an older model. Like really old.” He explains as he pulls out the only item held within the storage unit. “Unlike this one.”
In his hands Hisashi holds a strangely shaped blaster. It has a large circular head with the body similar to that of a pistol, meaning it was meant to be held and fired with one hand.
Izuku gasps as he puts two and two together. “That's a Null Void Projector?! It’s so small!”
“It’s a portable version.” Hisashi explains his expression still remaining stern and cautious even as he holds the device in his hands. “And if you ask me it’s much more dangerous than that older model.” With that all being said, Hisashi turns to Chopper. “Chop.”
^Wre-wo.^ Chopper wheels up and drops a mechanized suitcase at Hisashi’s feet.
Hisashi kneels down, securing the Null Void Projector inside before locking it up.
Izuku frowns as Hisashi picks up the case. “What are you doing?”
“I’m taking it with me.”
“Why?! Didn’t you just say it was too dangerous! I mean, it can send anyone to another dimension!”
Hisashi clarifies. “That’s why I’m taking it. Izuku, this is part of the reason we’re here.”
Izuku nearly stumbles back, taken back by the sudden revelation. “We’re what?!”
“Listen, when I spoke to Principal Nezu yesterday this came up in conversation.” Referring to when he called Nezu up about Xylene and the Techadon’s appearance in Tokyo. “We both agreed that it would be wiser for us to have access to the Null Void especially with how much more…active Vilgax is becoming.”
“But-”
“Think about the Techadon.”
Izuku immediately freezes at the thought.
“It was a wake up call. Because let’s face it, we were extremely lucky to have survived such an encounter. That thing was powerful, a literal killing machine. If it was only the two of us fighting against it…there’s no way, we would have survived. And who’s to say Vilgax won’t send another one ? Or an entire legion of them? What then?”
Izuku lowers his head, not wanting to even think about the possibility.
“That’s why both Nezu and I think it’s for the best that we have this.” He gingerly taps the case. “With this we’ll be able to turn the tables on anything Vilgax throws at us. Maybe even Vilgax himself.”
Izuku eyes the case carrying the Null Void Projector warily. He then peers over at the larger and older model sitting inside the large room. “A prison, huh? Is it really, okay? Like can’t someone, like Vilgax, escape it?”
“No. The Null Void is a one-way ticket.” Hisashi’s expression falls. “Even for a Plumber.”
Izuku shovers, his attention then drifting back towards the case. “So…am I really gonna have to defend myself with that?”
“No.” Hisashi holds the case out away from him. “To be honest, I’m not even comfortable holding it. So, there’s no way I’m okay with you using it.”
That makes Izuku feel a little better but still he would rather keep his distance.
“No. I have something different in mind for you.” Before going into more detail, Hisashi moves to exit the room.
Izuku follows behind him with Chopper and Kraab wheeling align beside him. They leave in silence, hiding the wall furthest front the older Null Void Projector as they slip out through the large triangular doorway.
And so as Chopper locks the large room back up from the outside, the inside turns dark. The lights shut off, conserving power, casting the older Null Void Projector into a silent darkness.
Minutes seem to go by as silence permeates the pitch-black void of a room.
And then from the below, from the circular head of the massive machine, a red-light sparks across its metallic surface.
And then another.
And another.
And another, until red sparks dance across the surface of the machine and bursting out as a swirling vortex of red opens up generating a devastating whirlwind across the room. And from the swirling vortex a pair of muscular arms reach out and pry themselves against the metal floor.
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Izuku keeps pace with Hisashi as they continue their way through the labyrinth that is the Mt. Fuji Plumber Base. “What exactly do you have in mind for me?”
Hisashi happily explains away. “Martial arts are out of the question. I mean it would be good to teach you some basic self-defense techniques, but we can worry about that another time. You need something you can fall back on in a pinch, something you can carry around on your person at all times.”
With that said they stop at another triangular doorway. This one is just as large, however, it far more imposing with extra steel plating reinforcing its build and giant mechanical locks holding it in place, the door looks more like an entrance way of a fallout shelter if anything else.
“What’s behind there?” Izuku wonders aloud.
Hisashi taps his fingers against the thick platted door. “This is the armory.”
“Armory?!” Izuku gaps his jaw dropping. “But then that means…?!” He lets the question hang in the air, unable to speak.
Hisashi laughs at his expression. “That’s right, Champ. Consider this an early birthday present cause I’m getting you your own weapon!”
Izuku would be excited but then he stops to comment. “Um, shouldn’t this be a make-up present since…you know?”
Hisashi is immediately dejected, lowering his head in shame. “Why’d you have to go there?” He sniffs as tears drip form the corners of his eyes.
“S-sorry!”
With a sniff and a wipe at his face Hisashi snaps back to normal. “Chopper, do you mind?” He gestures towards the control panel off to the side of the door.
^Wa!^ Chopper wheels up, inserting his hacking rod into the panel, as a result the giant mechanical locks shift and wheel out of place before the doorway slowly slides open revealing another set of reinforced sealed doors. But after a moment those two part out of the way and a bright light pours out from the other side.
Everyone from Izuku to Kraab is blinded by the light before it dims away, and they get a full view of the armory.
It. Is. A. Motherload. Of. Weapons!!
The entire room is just flooded with an array of blasters, melee weapons, and everything in between from all corners of the known galaxies. The weapons line every inch of the walls, every shelf space and storage unit is holding a weapon. And each weapon is so uniquely different, each one tailored made for any type of alien body build, strength, and skill set. From the smallest of blasters that are about the size of a paperclip to the largest of rocket launchers that are bigger than Izuku himself! If you can think of the alien weapon it is most surely in here.
And not are they all blown away by the armory, but Kraab is salivating from the mere sight of it all. “Now this is a treasure trove!” Using his one arm he springs himself up, leaping towards the open doorway. “Come to Papa!!”
But then, an iron grip catches him by the head, holding him in place.
With a malicious gleam in his eyes, Hisashi’s smile turns dangerously foreboding. “Where do you think you’re going?”
Kraab suddenly realizes that he might be in some deep shit right now as entire head quivers in fear . “Uh-uh-uh…!”
Hisashi’s grip tightens around the cyborg’s skull. “What exactly are you gonna do when you find a weapon you like?”
Kraab’s face somehow turns pale wight! “N-nothing!”
Hisashi leans in whispering into Kraab’s ear in a low dangerous hiss. “You’re lying.”
“Waaah!”
Izuku sweatdrops, nervously laughing as he watches their antics. “This just seems like way too much, especially for me. Like isn’t a, um, blaster like too much?”
“It’s fine.” Hisashi smiles, snapping out of the threatening facade despite the fact that he’s still crushing Kraab’s head. “Nezu agreed to this and even thinks it’s a good idea as well. Just pick what you like best.”
Izuku hesitantly peers back at the armory before turning back to ask. “Anything?”
Hisashi gives him an encouraging nod. “Anything.”
“Just one?”
“Just one.”
Izuku peers back at the armory. “Okay. What do you think I should pick?”
“Hm.” Hisashi finally sets down Kraab atop of Chopper’s head as he takes a moment to think. “Pick what speaks to you. Take what catches your eye.”
‘Everything’s catching my eye!’ Izuku internally screams but settles down enough to suck it up and make his way inside.
The others hang back allowing him to take his time as he begins to explore the armory.
Peering around it’s all so overwhelmingly terrifying. It feels like one wrong touch and he’s gonna set one of these blasters and explosives off! Seriously, how can you even hold some of these?! Some don’t even have triggers! How does that work?!
But either way he examines each blaster and weapon, trying to find something that speaks to him.
Starting near the wall he eyes the array of classic-looking Phasers, a collection of mechanical pistols called Plasma Cutters, and a worn down looking set of machine guns called Gatling Lasers.
Now admittedly the pistol-like Phasers seem like a good choice. It’s simple enough for a blaster but with his curiosity getting the better of him, Izuku leaves them alone and presses on.
Heading deeper into the armory he passes by a set of display cases showing familiar looking weapons; some of which he saw some aliens holding back at the Tavern of High Charity. Inside the display sits a colorful collection and alien weapons from Needlers, an Energy Sword, a Type-25 Spiker, and a large row dedicated to nothing but blue spherical grenades.
He continues on in coming across a wall that’s just lined with rows of shelves and vaults.
Curious, Izuku pulls open the nearest vault, and sticks his hand in to see what he pulls out. The first device he pulls out looks a lot like a screwdriver but it’s super high-tech and clearly meant to be a weapon; maybe a sonic weapon of some sort.
Tossing the Sonic Screwdriver back inside the vault, Izuku reaches in and pulls out another rod. This metal rod looks like it’s supposed to be a hilt for some kind of sword. But there’s no blade to be seen. Izuku examines the rod finding a hole at the top which he can’t help but put his eye to to have a look inside. And through the vents and little holes inside the hilt he swears he can see a crystal of some sort glowing inside. Figuring this thing must be some kind of laser sword or whatever he shamelessly tosses it back inside the vault and moves on.
And so his search continues, with nothing catching his eye despite the literal walls that are covered in blasters and weapons.
That is until he reaches the back of the armory where it appears the Plumbers that the real toys should be stored.
Lining the walls are a matter of giant and clearly destructive weapons and blasters. There are sets of guns that look like white-metallic robot arms. With a black cylindrical barrel, white covering, and three wiry claws surrounding the barrel. All the while the center of the blaster glows from blue to orange.
Beside them sit even crazier weapons. For example, there’s one blaster so large Izuku would need another peon to help him hold it up. It’s just that massive, but even he has to admit that it looks badass. Too bad the only hint of a name he can get from the blaster are the letters etched into its side: B.F.G.
And somehow if that blaster wasn’t crazy enough there’s a rifle-blaster that has a chainsaw blade attached to its barrel! It’s the perfect combination of a projectile and melee weapon all wrapped up in one. But for Izuku it’s just plain overkill.
And so he continues on his way until for the first time since entering the armory, something has caught his eye.
Near the back wall of the armory lies a display case with a single weapon inside. The weapon looks like a very odd yet intricately constructed blaster. It has a white body, an orange barrel, and indigo joints and hilt. It looks like it’s meant to fold in and out as if it could be constructed into various other forms.
Whatever the case the blaster or tool has a display case all to itself. Floating within the case while a singular spotlight shines down upon it, illuminating it.
Izuku can’t look away as he begins to move towards the display case seemingly on autopilot. He moves closer and closer, unable to look away.
The spotlight seemingly shines brighter giving the alien tool an eye-catching gleam.
While still moving forward, Izuku reaches his hand out towards the display case.
He’s only feet away from it one more step and he’ll have the tool in his hands.
He steps and steps and steps…
Walking right past the display case as if it wasn’t even there. He doesn’t so much as notice the high-tech alien tool inside as he strolls right past his eyes locked onto the wall behind the display case.
Across the wall brand the shining display case lies rows upon rows of blasters each of writing builds and color. But only one catches his eyes.
And so with a bit of trepidation yet excitement Izuku reaches out and takes his chosen weapon for himself.
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While waiting for Izuku to return from the depths of the armory, Hisashi is leaning against the door frame while Chopper and Kraab sit nearby out of boredom.
But then from between the rows of blasters and rocket launchers Izuku appears with a shy yet happy smile on his face.
Hisashi smiles, noticing the item in Izuku’s grip. “So, what did you pick?”
Izuku shys away, nervously presenting his choice. “I…I want to go with this.” He holds the blaster out for him to see.
It's a one-handed blaster with a circular frame that’s soft-green in color. With a black trim, red highlights, a white metallic underlayer, and a sturdy grip providing a good hold for its wielder.
Hisashi gaps in awe of the blaster. “Woah! I didn’t know we had one of these lying around in here.”
Izuku frowns. “What kind of blaster is it?”
“Izuku, what you got there is a S.A.G.E. Gun.”
Izuku’s face scrunches up in confusion. “A…S.A.G.E. Gun?”
“Yeah.”
Kraab’s eyes widen in surprise. “A Super Advanced Green Energy Gun? I thought those were a limited run?”
“They were.” Hisashi explains, taking the blaster and examining it closely. “It was created by Galvians who intended to provide arms and weapons to their allies across the universe. But they only made one batch before deeming war profiteering as immoral and a waste of scientific resources and minds.” Hisashi continues to examine the blaster noting the lack of wear and tear across its frame. “This is a real nice find, Champ. There aren’t too many plasma blasters like this one, let me tell ya.”
Izuku finally takes his eyes off the historic plasma blaster to ask his Dad why. “How come?”
“Well one thing about these blasters were that the Galvians constructed them in a way to allow for personal customizations. Since the intent was to gift these to a variety of alien races they designed them in a way that each alien could customize the blasters to their needs and likes.” Hisashi points to the barrel and says. “For example, we could take some mods and other pieces of tech to make a longer barrel, turning this into a long-range rifle. Or we could add a grenade launcher of sorts. Heck we can even tear it apart, give it some upgrades, and put it all together again to make something completely different.”
Kraab awes in amazement at the blaster. “Basically, the kid can customize it all he wants given he has the right materials.”
“Exactly.” Hisashi smiles while handing the S.A.G.E. Gun back to Izuku. “And from what I can tell this one hasn’t even been fired, yet alone been customized.”
Izuku smiles, holding the blaster gently in his hands. “So, after I figure this out I can alter it to fit my fighting style.”
Hisashi nods. “It can become a very versatile weapon. Huh, kinda like you.”
Izuku smiles at that. “This is so cool. But, um, how does it work exactly?”
A playful smile graces Hisashi’s lips. “Would you like to test it out?”
Given the nervous yet excited grin on Izuku’s face, Hisashi can tell that he would surely love to.
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After making their way through the labyrinth that is the Mt. Fuji Plumber Base, Izuku soon finds himself standing inside a large simulation arena.
The arena is large and has a very clean metal aesthetic. The wall and floors are lined with floor plates that can shift up and down to create a wide variety of layouts within the simulation. For now the plates are aligned in a way to create a sort of citadel at the end of the arena that has a singular tower in the middle with a flag posted atop.
[Author’s Note: For a better idea look up the “Citadel Challenge” From Star Wars the Clone Wars to have a better idea of what this training arena looks like.]
Izuku scans the arena before peering up where a view window sits several stories over his head. “What is this place?!”
From behind the viewing glass, Hisashi finds himself stationed over the control system for the arena. He leans over, turning on the mic system. [“This is a simulation room that we use for training. See that citadel over there?”]
Izuku spins around, back towards the tower. “Yeah!”
[“See that flag?”]
“Yeah!” It’s sitting atop of the tower.
[“Normally we’d have new recruits go through a simulated raid to climb the tower and claim that flag. But we’re not gonna be doing that today. Instead, I’m just gonna be throwing some practice enemies at you so you can get used to the S.A.G.E. gun.”]
“O-okay!” Izuku peers around at the large arena, suddenly becoming nervous at the idea that he’s essentially trapped in here.
Hisashi’s voice echoes through the speaker system again. [“I heard from Thirteen that one of your teachers, Snipe I think, gave you some basic firearms training, is that right?”]
Izuku yells out. “Yeah! He even gave me some private lessons afterwards!”
[Author’s Note: They are referring to the events of the Omake: Bullseye]
“But, um…” Izuku nervously raises up his left arm. “Are you sure I have to wear this?!”
Locked around his wrist, more specifically the Omnitrix, is a high-tech brace much like the one SixSix used against him back at Hosu.
[Yes.] Hisashi reaffirms rather sternly. [“You rely on the Omnitrix too much. And the point of this exercise is for you to get used to a blaster.”]
Strapped around Izuku’s shoulder is Kraab who waves up at Hisashi. “Okay! But what if I just like take it off for him? Sorry, but I don’t feel like getting shot at today, you know!”
[“You can try but Chopper’s the only one with the key code so good luck!”]
Kraab glowers. “Why am I even here? Can’t you do this on your own?”
Izuku grins sheepishly. “Well, I thought having you around would be good. Since you know your way around blasters more than I do. I thought it’d be okay if you coached me through it.”
Kraab gives him a suspicious look. “I don’t know, I feel like you brought me along in case you need a distraction.”
“Ma-...maybe.”
“I knew it!!”
Hisashi’s voice comes back over the intercoms. [“Okay let’s get started, shall we? Do you see the safety switch?”]
Taking the blaster out of its holster beside his belt, Izuku grips the blaster in his right hand as he finds the noob located atop the blaster’s side. “Y-yes!”
[“Okay, turn it!”]
Izuku does.
[“Good. Right now, your blaster should be set to stun! So, when you hit the targets they will shut off and not be destroyed. Gotta save as much budget as we can, ya know? But if you flip that switch the other way you will be setting the blaster to kill, so be careful.”]
Izuku immediately pulls his hand away from the switch while holding the blaster away with his right.
[“Alright this is how it’s gonna go down. Chopper, here-”]
Chopper beeps and boops from behind the viewing window alongside Hisashi. [^Wo-Wo!^]
[-will be controlling the targets. It’s up to you to hit every single one of them before they can surround you.”]
Izuku frowns, not sure what kind of targets could surround him. “Wh-what exactly am I fighting?”
[“Oh, we’re gonna be throwing an entire squadron of training droids at you. Don’t worry, their blasters aren’t lethal. But if you get hit by them it’s gonna sting, like a lot.”]
Izuku fearfully backs away from the center of the arena. “So, um, you’re gonna send them out one at a time right?”
[“Well, to be honest with you Izuku. I’ve always been a big believer of learning on the job.”]
Izuku’s heart stops. “Oh, no…”
Suddenly alarms blare and warning lights spin across the corners of the arena as the floor plates shift and rise, creating barricades and platforms.
A section of the floor plates fold away as a squad of Practice Battle Droids are lifted into the arena.
The droids are tall with thin structures, inset like heads yet humanoid bodies. They’re each painted plumber white with yellow targets on their heads and chests. Each of them holding a standard training blaster as they all stand in rows before their enemy.
The Practice Battle Droids quickly spot their target.
^Look there he is! Open fire!^
^Roger! Roger!^
The droids draw their blaster at the kid as Hisashi’s cheers on from above. [“Good luck, Champ! You’re Dad believes in you!”]
“DAD!!!” Izuku screams in outrage as he dives behind a nearby barricade just as the droids open fire!
The barricade is showered in yellow taser bolts that either bounce or burn against the smooth metal layer as Izuku cowers from the other side.
The Practice Battle Droids continue to fry at his position, although they have yet to move forward and are instead standing in place as they fire.
“This is crazy!” Izuku screams, his hand nearly getting itself singed by a yellow taser bolt.
Kraab laughs, surprisingly enjoying the firefight. “Hahaha! I like your old man’s style. This is great!”
“No, not great! What do I do?!”
“Okay, okay. Relax, kid. It’s just a simulation.” Kraab peers around, spotting another barricade nearby. “Run to that barricade and fire at them as you do!”
“What?!”
“You’re pinned down kid! Trust me, the best option is to keep moving! Now go!!”
“Waaahh!!” Izuku screams as he sprints for the other barricade!
The Battle Droids immediately redirect their blasters and fire away.
“Aaaahh!!” Screaming, Izuku raises his right arm, takes aim, and fires!
*PZZZzzz!!! PZZZzzz!!! PZZZzzz!!!*
He fires several bolts of green plasma, they fly through the air and hit the lead droids, frying them, and shutting them off and causing them to collapse onto the ground.
Izuku’s hyperventilates as he slides behind the barricade, pressing his back and head against the cold metal, trying to hide as much as possible even as the droids fire at his position.
“There ya go! Nice shooting, each of your shots hit one!”
“Y-yeah, but I-I think I was just l-lucky!” Izuku jolts back as the yellow lasers continue to rain down onto the barricade. “Now what?!”
“Now we keep moving.” Kraab explains, looking around and spotting more barricades lining the outer edges of the arena. “Just stay on your toes and keep your head low. You’re small and fast, that’s your advantage so just keep moving and chip away at their ranks.”
Izuku peers over spotting the other barricade. “O-okay.” He gets up and moves to the edge of the barricade.
Peering over he spots the droids firing down at the opposite end of the barricade, and so seeing an opening he pulls the blaster up and takes several shots.
*PZZZzzz!!! PZZZzzz!!! PZZZzzz!!!*
Each stun blasts hits their mark, taking down another line of Practice Battle Droids.
And with more of them down Izuku is ready to move out but just before he’s about to sprint out a stray laser nearly grazes his face. “Nope!” He throws himself back behind the barricade. “There’s too many of them!”
He puts the blaster down and raises his hand over his left wrist. “But there’s not enough for Feedback!”
He slams his hand down onto the metal brace.
… It takes Izuku a minute to realize his mistake. “I FORGOT!!!”
Kraab screams out in outrage. “How could you forget?! He just said you can’t use the Omnitrix!!”
“I know!! It was a reflex, okay?!”
Chopper’s haunting laugh echoes out through the speaker system. [^Wa wa wa wa wa!^ ]
Understanding Chopper’s cruel laugh, Izuku pales.
At the same time, the Practice Battle Droids begin to move forward, marching in unison towards Izuku’s position.
Izuku gulps, tucking himself away behind the barricade.
“You’re in some deep shit now kid.” Kraab warns not expecting Izuku to make it through.
Ironically, Izuku can’t help but agree with him. “If I make it through this…I’m gonna kick Chopper across the room!”
Mustering his courage, Izuku springs up from behind the barricade, slinging his blaster up and holding it just inches away from a Practice Battle Droid’s head.
The Droid is taken back as Izuku glares back and pulls the trigger!
*PZZZzzz!!!*
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Meanwhile, far from the simulation sits the reinforced doorway of the armory.
It sits quietly and undisturbed, fully confident that it can keep any intruder out due to its reinforced steel, sealed locks, and key coded security.
Most other beings would quickly give up and turn away just at the mere sight of the mechanical locks but one being dares to approach.
Heavy stomps march towards the doorway until a large muscular form appears from the hallway and finds said doorway. The figure approaches, their many eyes lighting up at the sight of the armory.
They hurry over, their many hands grabbing at the lock and door and pulling with all their might. But the door doesn’t so much as budge or buckle against the intruder’s strength.
Frustrated, the intruder slams his fists against the door but the reinforced steel and invisible ray shield are too much and they are unable to leave so much as a scratch.
Frustrated, the intruder gives in but not before potting the control panel beside the doorway. They eye the little panel quickly deducing that the armory needs a key code to enter.
And so unable to reach the armory, the intruder turns away, but not before vowing to return.
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Back inside the arena, lasers fly in all directions as the Practice Battle Droids stumble and fumble about the simulation.
^Somebody shoot him!^
^I’m trying!^
^Hold still!^
*PZZZzzz!!!*
^Oh, no, 245! He shot 245. He killed 245-^
*PZZZzzz!!!*
^-Aah!!^
It’s an all-out firefight as Izuku sprints across the arena, diving behind the barricades before jumping up and shooting back at the droids.
There’s only a handful of droids left, the others lying on the floor after being deactivated by his stun blasts.
*PZZZzzz!!! PZZZzzz!!! PZZZzzz!!!*
Izuku ducks back down as the droids lock onto his position.
He launches up to his feet, leaping over the barricade and chagrin right for the droids.
^There he is! Get him!^
The remaining droids immediately take aim and fire.
Izuku whoever doesn’t give in, instead he sprints as fast as he can and then falls, sliding across the floor as the yellow taser bolts fly over his head. As he slides, he takes aim and fires, hitting each droid in the chest.
^Yaah!^
^I’ve been hit!^
^What a world!^
The last of the droids collapses onto the ground with a loud clank.
Feeling mighty proud of himself, Izuku gets up raising the S.A.G.E. Gun level to his head. “I think I’m getting the hang of this.”
“See what I tell ya?” Kraab boasts from behind Izuku’s shoulder. “Like I said, you're faster and more mobile than they are. Keep at it and we’ll be out of here by lunch time.”
“Yeah.” Izuku grins up at the viewing window above. “Come on, Chopper! Don't tell me that’s all you got!”
In response to Izuku’s taunting, the floor opens back up revealing another squad of Practice Super Battle Droids appear along with a squad of dimwitted Practice Battle Droids.
Izuku snickers. “Is that all?”
Nope, it is not. As new droids appear at each corner of the arena. These ones being much bigger with thicker armor and blasters attached to their thick metal arms.
Like the other droids, these ones are also painted white with yellow targets over their weak points. But even with the ridiculous color scheme they still appear imposing thanks to their size and weight.
Izuku stumbles back with the blaster shaking in his right hand.
Kraab, however, throws Izuku a scrutinizing look. “You had to fucking say something didn’t you?”
The Practice Super Battle Droids aim their mounted blasters towards the boy ^Die, Plumber-Dog!^
And they open fire!
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Meanwhile, the muscular intruder has somehow made his way to the Plumber’s main control center. Large monitors surround the ceiling and walls while rows and rows of stations and consoles sit beneath them. This area was clearly meant to be the heart of the Plumber Base with Plumbers stationed at each monitor but for now only one person has any use for them.
The Intruder approaches the main console and begins hacking away, his many fingers moving swiftly across the keyboards until he has access to the base’s main systems. He goes for the armory’s systems first only to realize that it cannot be accessed remotely.
They growl in frustration, slamming their fist into a nearby chair, smashing it to pieces as a result.
But not one to give up, the intruder files through the rest of the system. Easily hacking their way into the power system and security system.
They grin at their success especially as they feel through the surveillance system and polling up the live feed coming from the simulation arena.
The intruder grins maliciously watching as the green-haired human gets himself pinned down by a squad of encroaching Super Droids.
A plan hatches in their mind and they begin to hack away at the base’s systems, all the while cackling to themselves. “This is gonna be fun. Ehehe.”
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“Get down!!”
Upon Kraab’s warning, Izuku throws himself back over the barricade as a rapid fire of lasers zip past his head and shoulders.
As the lasers die away, Izuku leaps up, swinging his right arm up and around and firing the S.A.G.E. Gun, hitting the Practice Super Battle Droid dead-on.
With his back turned, Kraab is able to see the Practice Battle Droid coming up from behind. “Enemy at 5 o’clock at 60 degrees up!”
Izuku immediately spins around and fires exactly to Kraab’s instructions, blasting the droid =right in the head. It’s body going haywire and sparking before toppling over.
Now facing the other way, Kraab’s eyes widen as more droids take aim. “Duck down!”
Izuku tries but he’s too slow and a few bolts of weakened lasers zap his backside. “OW!!! OW!!! AAAHH!!” He yelps in pain, stumbling about and just barely scrambling behind a barricade as the droids continue to fire. “Ah, ow!! Those lasers hurt!” He hisses in pain. “Man, I’d hate to know what a real laser bolt feels like.”
Kraab gives him a roll of his eyes. “I told you to duck down, moron.”
Izuku annoyingly glares back at him.
*PEW!!!*
A yellow taser bolt nearly hits his face, leaving a tiny scorch mark on the barricade.
A Practice Super Battle Droid marches forward his mounted blaster aimed at the boy. ^We have you surrounded. Surrender or die.^
“You don’t mean that literally, do you?!” Izuku throws himself to the side as the droid fires, and the moment his side hits the ground he aims up and blasts the droid in the face.
“I got him!”
“Now get the rest!!” Kraab screams, his hand flailing in the air trying to get Izuku to move faster.
Because the remaining Practice Droids do in fact have him surrounded and they are beginning to close in on them.
Izuku springs to his feet and fires, hitting a few but taking a taser bolt to the gut as he does.
“OW!!!” He stumbles away, hurrying across the arena while still firing back.
As the yellow lasers keep coming, he eventually is able to take cover behind one of the ramps leading up to a raised platform. “What now?!”
Kraab retorts. “Fight back, kid.”
“That’s what I'm doing!”
“Then be smart about it! Get creative! Do something that’ll throw them off!”
Izuku considers the advice. “So, do something unexpected?”
“Yeah!”
Quietly, Izuku slowly takes Kraab and holds him in his hand.
Kraab stares back at him, confused. “What are you doing?”
Izuku bows his head slightly. “I’m sorry.”
“Sorry? For what-Ahhh?!” Kraab finds himself thrown high into the air, tossed right over the platform and over the oblivious droids.
He begins to plummet and lands atop a Practice Battle Droid’s head, knocking its skull out of place!
^AH! What was that?! What happened to the lights! Woah!^ The crooked headed droid collapses, tripping over its own feet.
The other remaining droids confusingly peer over at their fallen comrade, unsure of what happened.
And with their attention drawn away, Izuku takes his chance. Full of determination and drive he stands his ground, whipping the blaster forward and firing at each and every droid.
^AH!^
^Oh, no-Gah!^
^Get-Ah!^
He takes them out, one by one, shooting them first before they can even take aim.
That is until the final two Practice Super Battle Droids are able to draw their blasters right at his chest.
But not wanting nor willing to be zapped, Izuku shoots first.
The green ray of plasma strikes the first droid in the shoulder, throwing it back. And as it’s thrown back it fires but its lasers miss Izuku completely and instead they hit his partner while on the turn.
And thus, the two droids go down with one having taken the other out.
Izuku takes a breath, coming down from the adrenaline rush as he scans the arena for anymore droids.
But not a one pops into view, all of them having been taken down by him.
Feeling rather confident and more assured than ever, Izuku grins, taking the S.A.G.E. Gun and deciding to give it a spin before tucking it away.
And so much like a certain robotic officer he tries to spin it with his fingers only to lose it immediately and it falls to the ground with a clang!
Izuku jolts, freezing up in embarrassment, looking around to make sure no one saw that, before scrambling to pick up the blaster and put it away.
Too bad for Izuku, Kraab did see it and even he’s embarrassed on the kid’s behalf. “Smooth.”
Izuku blushes with embarrassment, strolling over and picking Kraab back up. “S-Sorry about throwing you.”
Kraab glares back at him, not in anger but more in annoyance. “I hate you.”
Izuku’s mood drops some more. “S-sorry.”
Kraab veers away, feeling a little…guilty for making the kid feel bad. “But good job. That was…real creative.”
At first it takes Izuku a minute to realize what the cyborg said but when he does he immediately brightens up.
Kraab peers over at the pair of droids that took themselves out. “And nice trick shot by the way.”
Izuku begins to nervously shake as he admits the honest truth. “I-I was not going for that at all.”
Kraab sweatdrops at that. “So, it was a lucky shot?”
Izuku dejectedly drops his head down. “Yeah, it was a lucky shot.”
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“Look at him go!” Hisashi cheers from behind the looking glass. “He's a real natural!”
^Wo-wap! Wo-wap!^ Chopper grumbles, grumpily folding his arms.
Hisashi frowns at his attitude. “Chill out, bud. It’s just a simulation, you’re not supposed to be trying to stop him.”
^Be-wop. Wap-wap.^
Hisashi breaks into a smile. “You know what, Chop? You’re right. Why don’t we give him a real challenge?”
^Wowo-wo!^ Chopper laughs maniacally, evilly rubbing his hands together with no intention of holding back.
He quickly spins around, inserting his hacking rod into the system and preparing the next wave.
But then the lights to the entire base go dark.
Everyone and everything is thrown into darkness: the hangar, the armory, the arena, and everything in between. Every ounce of power and electricity has all but disappeared from the base.
^Waaaa…!^ Chopper leaps back in surprise before whining about how unfair this is. ^Wo wo!^
“I don’t know what happened!” Hisashi leans over the console, pressing his hand down on the mic so he can call out to Izuku and Kraab. “Izuku! Izuku! Dang it! The mic’s out too.”
^Wa wa.^
“I don’t know why the power’s out.” Hisashi frowns, cupping his chin as he thinks of possible theories. “It’s an old base, maybe we overworked it and caused a power surge.” He pinches the bridge of nose in frustration. “We really don’t need this. Okay. Chop!”
The droid stands in attention. ^Wa!^
“Head over to the generators and get the power back on while I fetch Izuku. We'll then meet back up at the Rustbucket.”
^Wa wo-bop.^ Chopper shakes his head, folding his arms in protest.
“Yes, you have to go by yourself.”
^Bop!^
“Why’s it even a big deal? You got a flashlight.”
^Wo bop.^
“You’re scared? Of what? We’re the only ones here.” Hisashi lets out an exasperated groan. “Can you just get going, already?”
^Wa!^ Chopper spins around, throwing his handout and hitting Hisashi across the knee.
Hisashi shakes at his spite but let’s it go, just glad to see Chopper making his way out.
“And you're coming with me.” He grips the case carrying the Null Void Projector before holding it at his side and making his way out of the viewing room.
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Kraab’s eyes light up, becoming makeshift flashlights illuminating the dark casted arena. “What happened?”
Izuku peers around, half expecting something to jump out. “No clue. Do you think this is all part of the simulation?”
“I don’t think so.”
Izuku looks up towards the viewing window and shouts. “Dad! Hey, Dad!” But there’s no answer. “Dad!!” And yet again, there’s no response. “Okay, something’s wrong. I…I think we should go.”
“Yeah, I think so.”
Izuku strolls over to where he thinks the exit is, finding it but having to manually pull the door open.
Izuku pokes his head out in the pitch-black hallway. “Um, where do we go now?” He pulls Kraab forward, using him like a flashlight.
Kraab peers around before giving an answer. “Go left and then take a right followed by another left.”
Izuku frowns, eyeing the cyborg skeptically. “How do you know that?”
“Because of this.” From his eyes Kraab generates an orange holographic map of the entire base, or rather of the areas they’ve already walked through and seen.
Izuku’s impressed by the details, even if the map is incomplete. “Woah, I didn’t know you could do this.”
“Why would you? This is the first time I’ve shown you.” Kraab explains before going into more detail. “I’ve been mapping the layout of this place since we arrived.” He metaphorically puffs out his chest. “With this I can lead us through this place blindfolded.”
Again, Izuku is impressed but there’s a part of him that’s suspicious. “Kraab, why exactly were you mapping out Plumber Base?”
Kraab suddenly becomes very nervous, feeling like he might have said too much. “Oh, um, um, no reason. I certainly wasn't planning on betraying you and making my escape.”
Izuku doesn’t buy it for a second. “Rrrright.” Not wanting to get hung up on details, Izuku just hurries them along. “Let’s just get back to the RV.” He begins heading in the direction Kraab suggested, keeping the cyborg in front so they can see. “We got a long walk ahead of us.”
Kraab gives him a nod. “We’ll make it.”
“I hope so.”
And so they head on out leaving the door to the arena wide open.
And so with no living souls left inside the arena the simulator goes silent, falling into darkness as the only light source fades away into the distance.
However, stray sporadic sparks dance across the various droids lying about on the arena’s floor. Sparks continue to light up the arena, their gears clanking together as they begin to rise off the ground. Their limbs jerk and glitch as their eyes flicker back to life, going from a soft yellow glow to a chilling blue.
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Within the depths of the dark labyrinth that is the Mt. Fuji Plumber Base, one droid finds itself to be alone with only a single flashlight to lead its way.
^Wo…^ Chopper shakes and trembles, fearfully looking around as he slowly makes his way towards the generator room. ^Wo-wap…^
It feels like he’s constantly being watched, that around each and every corner there’s a set of eyes watching him. But every time he tries to have a look and spot them, they’re gone, reminding him that there may or may not have been anything there at all.
Mustering the little courage, he has he presses forward albeit shakily. ^Bop…^
A sound of fast heavy steps rush past from behind.
^Wa!^ Chopper spins around, having sworn he saw something move.
Another whoosh of wind speeds past him again.
^Wo!^ But once again he fails to catch the culprit.
^Wooo…^ Quivering with fear, Chopper backs away, waving the light around, praying that nothing’s gonna appear from the shadows.
As the terrified Chopper backs away, he bumps into something heavy. Freezing in place as pure terror courses through hiss system. He can feel heavy exhales breathing down over his head as well as the pair of glaring eyes drilling a hole in his head.
^Wooo…^ Chopper fearfully spins around, shakily aiming his light up at the intruder.
But as he shines the light up all he sees are the several pairs of hands reaching out to grab him.
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
Using his phone as a flashlight, Hisashi pokes his head into the pitch-black arena. “Izuku? Champ? Are you in here?”
There’s no response. No Izuku. No Kraab. Heck there’s not even droids lying on the ground. But Hisashi doesn’t focus on that, instead he’s way more concerned with the fact that his kid isn’t here.
“Where’d that kid go off to? Izuku?!” He heads back into the hallway and calls out again. “Izuku!!”
He waits for a response, but there isn’t one.
However, the sound of Chopper’s cry echoes throughout the depths of the base. ^Waaaaaaaaaaa…!!!^
“Chopper?!” Hisashi immediately bolts towards the source of the cry. “Chopper?! Chopper?!”
He calls and calls but there's no answer and Hisashi’s worry only worsens. “CHOPPER!!!”
He slides to a stop, arriving at where he thinks the cry came from. “Where are you, buddy?!”
As he’s about to run off and search again, Hisashi steps right onto something that’s both thin and metal that clanks against the ground.
Peering down he finds Chopper’s antenna lying on the ground after having been ripped right off the droid’s head.
Hisashi’s expression turns cold and serious as he leans down and picks up the antenna. “Something's not right here. Something's not right here at all.”
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
Izuku and Kraab continue strolling through the base, not at all concerned since they’re following Kraab’s holomap.
“Not too much further now.” Kraab explains as they pass through another intersection.
Izuku is so happy to hear that. “That’s good. Hopefully we’ll run into Dad along the way.”
*CLANK. CLANK. CLANK.*
The sound of metal steps marching through the halls echoes through the hall, resonating from the intersection they just walked through.
Izuku immediately stops at the sound of the marching clanks. “What’s that sound? Dad?”
Kraab’s not so sure. “No, can’t be.”
They watch on, their nerves growing wilder as the clanking marches closer and closer. Until from out of the intersection appears a squad of marching battle droids.
Izuku frowns, visibly calming down as the marching droids turn to the corner and start marching towards them. “Are those Practice Droids?”
“No, they're different. Those must be the security droids that Cinder mentioned.”
Izuku aims Kraab up allow the light to shine over the droids and sure enough they are a different model.
These droids look far more advanced than the other Battle Droids, with bigger builds and more imposing figures. The main differences other than the white paint job are the Plumbers’ red spots located on their chests, giving them a commander-like presence.
Rubbing his head in confusion, Izuku eyes them up and down noting the blasters they’re carrying. “I guess they must have turned on because the power went out. Must be standard protocol or something.”
The droids march closer only stopping as they finally notice Izuku through the light.
Realizes that they must be watching him, Izuku waves back flashing them a shy smile. “H-hey, guys. Don’t mind me, just visiting.”
Kraab plays along. “Yeah, we were already on our way out.”
But the security droids remain in place, their gazes not breaking away from the boy for a second.
Izuku grows more nervous by the second. “Um, hello?”
Their heads jolt and twitch, sparks light up across their bodies, as suddenly their eyes begin to glow a vile blue.
“G-guys?”
The security droids’ heads jerk up at Izuku. ^Intruders detected.^
They simultaneously aim their blasters at the two.
^Prepare to be terminated!^
Izuku’s heart stop as Kraab scream out in terror. “Get down!!”
The security droids open fire just as Izuku throws himself to the ground, quickly scrambling himself behind a bulkhead that’s protruding out from the wall, giving him a minimum amount of cover. “What the heck is wrong with them?! Is this part of the training?!”
A red laser bolt scorches the wall just inches from his head.
Kraab quickly comes to the conclusion that it’s not. “Training's over kid! This is the real deal!”
The security droids continue to fire down at his position, red laser bolts zipping through the hallway flooding the hall in a hue of red.
Through the hail of lasers one of the droids rushes forward, hoping to grab the kid.
But as it approaches its comrades are forced to cease fire, and thus giving Izuku the opening he needs to throw his right hand up along with the S.A.G.E. Gun and stun the droid.
“I got em!” he cheers as the security droid jerks and sparks as a result from the blast.
But after a moment the droid recovers, flinging itself back up with its blaster in hand, and in response begins to fire back.
Izuku throws his head back, nearly evading the laser fire. “What happened?! It recovered!!”
“Those are Commando Droids, kid!” Kraab shouts as he’s nearly pelted by lasers. “It’s gonna take more than some little joy buzzers to take them down!”
“But-” Another laser nearly hits his shoulder.
“If you don’t want to die, then fight back!!” Kraab snaps out of desperation as the Commando Droids begin to close in. “Fight back!!”
Izuku takes a deep breath, his emerald eyes lighting up with flashes of red as lasers zip past his head. He watches in horror as the Commando Droids inch ever closer. Realizing that there's no other way, he reaches down and grabs the switch, takes a deep breath and flips the switch back up.
Seeing an opening one of the Commando Droids moves to grab the kid.
But from behind the bolt head, Izuku slings the S.A.G.E. Gun and fires into the droid. The green ray of plasma burns into the droid’s upper torso, melting it away and comply incinerating its upper chest before it collapses onto the ground dead.
The other Commando Droids cease firing having been caught off by their target’s fire power.
With his heart pounding in his ears Izuku stands before the droids, aiming his blaster out at their positions before crying out. “Eat plasma, Clankers!!”
*PZZZzzz!!! PZZZzzz!!! PZZZzzz!!!*
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“Izuku!!” Hisashi dashes through the base following the sounds of the echoing laser fire. “I’m on my way, Champ! I’ll be there soon!”
The moment he arrives at the base’s main floor he makes a sharp right and takes off in a full sprint towards the sounds of laser fire.
*CLANK! CLANK! CLANK!*
Heavy metal steps stomp across the ground just as Hisashi’s about to turn again. He slides to a stop aiming his phone up at the stomping metal figure before him.
Blocking his way is a colossus of a security droid. Standing nearly the same height as the Techadon at 10 feet it has a stout yet heavy body, with long reinforced legs to make up for the height. Its arms are long and thick, one holding onto a giant blast shield while the other arm looks more like a flamethrower combined with a blaster.
“A Carbonite-War Droid?” Hisashi’s is stunned knowing instantly that something is wrong. “I thought we melted all those guys down.” He frowns quickly, assuming how this could be. “Nezu, you just had to keep one didn’t you?”
The massive C-W Droid locks onto the Plumber, its usual redeyes glowing a hue of ominous blue. ^Intruder detected.^ Swinging its mounted blaster arm out it fires, firing a stream of molten silver tar.
Hisashi throws himself to the side, the molten tar nearly singing his Hawaiian shirt, but instead the tar splashes across the floor and instantly solidifying like instant cement.
“Woah!!” Hisashi leaps to his feet and stands his ground as the C-! Droid stomps forward. “Unit SW:FU-2, I order you to stand down!!”
The C-W Droid halts in place, awaiting the Plumber to provide the input code.
“Hisashi Midoriya; designation, Cinder! Shutdown code: SW:CW S3:EP1!!”
^Shutdown code, denied. ^Prepare to be terminated!^ The C-W Droid swings its mounted blaster out and fires another spray of liquid carbonite.
Hisashi dives away, rolling across the ground before propping himself up. “Denied?! How?! Why?!”
It fires again, nearly spraying his hand and solidifying it in place, but he manages to pull away and take cover behind a protruding bulkhead.
Hisashi scowls, already growing frustrated with the situation and trying to figure out how to proceed. The case holding the Null Void Projector brushes against his leg. He peers down, holding the case up and finding the locks. He eyes them contemplating if it’s a good idea to use such a device. But he quickly concludes that the risk isn’t worth it quit yet and so he tucks the case to his side while reaching into his pocket for his dragon-designed respirator.
“Fine.” His gaze hardens as he puts on the respirator over his maw. “I’ve always wanted to know how good the security system was anyway.”
The C-W Droid gets into position and prepares to fire, but Cinder, being much faster, leaps up and over its arm, evading the spray of carbonite with ease.
As the droid rotates around it is met with a wave of flames to the face, shoving it back against the wall.
But swinging its blast shield up it is able to take the flames and push forward before taking a swing at the Plumber.
Not wanting to be flatten by the giant shield, Cinder leaps back and takes off into the dark, leading the corrupted security droid away. ‘Just what is going on here?! This has got to be on purpose. Someone must have tampered with the security system. And if they had then why? And how?’ He rolls out of the way of another spray of molten carbonite before sliding to a stop to face the droid head on. ‘I just hope Izuku’s safe!’
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He is not as red lasers fly and bounce off the walls only interrupted the return fire of green plasma.
*PZZZzzz!!! PZZZzzz!!! PZZZzzz!!!*
Izuku returns fire, taking cover beside an intersection of hallways while the Commando Droids slowly make their approach from down the hall. A few of their comrades lie defeated on the ground, their metal bodies having been fried by the plasma blasts.
*PZZZzzz!!! PZZZzzz!!! PZZZzzz!!!*
“This is bad! I could really use the Omnitrix right about now! Can you get this thing off of me or what?!”
Kraab angrily shakes his claw up at Izuku. “I’m trying!” He smacks his little claw against the high-tech brace. “But this brace was really well made and I have no idea what the code is! Not only that but this brace will only recognize C1-10P!”
Izuku rolls his eyes, shouting out in frustration. “Great! T-thanks, Dad!”
Frustrated, he takes it out on the corrupted droids, slinging the blaster out and firing thrice with only one of his hots able to land on a droid’s arm, blasting the limb apart.
But despite the number he takes down it just feels like more and more droids take their place as more reinforcements arrive.
“There’s too many!” Izuku shouts while firing back, trying to hit the few droids that are trying to move in closer.
While latched to Izuku's arm, Kraab spins around and spots more reinforcements coming down the east hallway. “Enemies at 3 o’clock!!”
Izuku spins around and he’s terrified to see a patrol of Super Battle Droids arriving on the scene. Like the Commando Droids they are painted white with Plumber Red Spots on their chests. But also like their comrades they too appear corrupted with blue glowing eyes.
“Them too?!”
The Super Battle Droids aim their mounted guns forward and open fire at the boy.
Izuku throws himself to the ground as the lasers burn into the wall. Scrambling to his feet he takes off down the west hall as the droids continue to fire at his retreating form.
“They just keep coming!!” Izuku screams as he sprints through the dark hallway. “And what the heck is going on?!”
^Intruder detected!^
From out of the shadows a one Commando Droid ambushes the kid, grabbing him and throwing him to the ground.
Izuku hits the ground hard but despite his aching head they struggle against each other, trying to overpower the other.
^Prepare to be terminated!^
“L-let go of me!!”
The struggle and flail, Izuku even tries to kick it but it’s metal body doesn't feel a thing. It manages to use one hand to grab his hands, using its free hand to grab its blaster and aim at his head.
Using his elbow, Izuku shoves the blaster upward but the much stronger droid pushes down, inching the blaster closer to his face.
Izuku gasps as the blaster is shoved into his face.
However, the droid’s eyes glitch going from blue to red to blue and then yellow, its head jerking about before going silent.
Izuku blinks up at the still droid. “Huh?”
*CLANK. CLANK. CLANK.*
Despite its malfunction the droid did its job as the other Commando Droids and Super Battle Droids soon arrive from down the dark hallway.
Unexpectedly and suddenly, the yellow-eyed Commando Droid spins around, letting the boy go and fires his blaster at his own comrades!
Each shot lands and takes down a droid forcing the patrol to break apart and take cover.
“What the hel-...?” Izuku falls silent as he spots Kraab latched onto the droid’s back, his little claw embedded into the droid’s inner wiring. “K-Kraab?! You hacked the droid?!”
“Duh, of course I did!” Kraab has the droid leap up and open fires at the Super Battle Droids, hitting them each several times before they go down. “You can thank me later but right now we got bigger problems!”
Izuku scrambles to the side, taking cover behind a bulkhead as Kraab positions the hacked droid across from him.
They both aim out and fire back at the corrupted security droids.
*PZZZzzz!!! PZZZzzz!!! PZZZzzz!!!*
They’ve nearly gotten the first wave cleared but then as the remaining Commando and Super Battle Droids hunker down reinforcement arrive just behind their ranks. The Practice Droids from before limp into view, joining their much more advanced comrades. Red lasers mix with yellow taser bolts, each one illuminating through the hallway, bouncing off the bulkheads and walls and nearly burning into their targets.
“There’s too many of them!” Izuku gets up making sure to fire a few more times before disengaging and taking off down the hallway. “We have to move!”
“Right behind ya!” While still firing, Kraab gets up, running along backwards to cover their backs.
Seeing their targets out in the open the droids press on, firing away at their retreating forms.
Kraab fires back, stopping for a moment to get a better shot when his hacked droid gets shot several times across the chest and head. The hacked droid goes down as Kraab is flung off its back.
“K-kraab!” Izuku scrambles back, snatching the cyborg off the ground, and takes off again into the darkness.
“I’m fine! I’m fine!” Kraab latches himself onto Izuku’s shoulder before tucking himself away into the hood of his jacket. “Just keep moving!”
Izuku rounds the first corn he sees, only to slide to a halt as he comes face to face with a dead-end. “We have to go back!” As he turns around a shower of lasers nearly graze his arms. “W-we-we’re trapped!”
Kraab is offended by the idea. “Nah huh! No way am I going out like this! There’s got to be a way out!”
Izuku frantically looks around for one, looking all over from the floor to the ceiling. “What about that?!” He points up towards the upperpart of the wall.
Kraab follows his finger up towards the vent.
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The legion of corrupted droids march around the corner, coming upon and expecting to find their targets cornered. But much to their surprise neither of their targets are there.
^Spread out and find them. And terminate them on sight.^
^Roger. Roger.^
The droids fan out, turning back around and splitting up into smaller patrols assuming that their targets may have gone a different way.
Meanwhile, Izuku holds his breath watching from inside the vent as the droids split up and march away.
Quietly he slides himself through the vent, wiggling himself through as best as he can despite the squeezing walls and lack of maneuverability “C-can you still get us to the Rustbucket from here?”
Kraab pokes his head around Izuku’s hair. “Yeah, but we gotta move slowly. Don’t wanna give these clankers a reason to find us.”
And so Izuku makes his way through the vents, his progress slow going and it doesn’t help how claustrophobic the events are. It feels like one wrong move or turn, and he’ll be stuck, trapped inside the vents forever. But with Kraab's guidance he’s able to stick to the right path.
“What was that all about?” Izuku whispers, asking Kraab his thoughts. “Do you think the security system didn’t recognize me?”
Kraab shakes his head. “I doubt it. This smells like foul play to me.”
Izuku nearly lets out a gasp. “Foul play? You think-”
Kraab whispers back. “Yeah, someone’s behind this mess.”
“W-who? We’re supposed to be the only ones in here.”
“Look, I can't have all the answers. I’m just as lost as you are. But whoever’s behind this they must have also been the ones that shut the power off.”
“Do-do you think they got to my Dad?”
“Despite how much I’d love for that to be true, it’s not. Even I have to admit that your old man wouldn’t go down that easily.”
Izuku nods at that. Feeling a little bit better. “I just hope he’s safe.”
And so, he continuous to crawl his way through the maze, following parallel along a dark ridden hallway.
However, something catches Izuku’s ear, and he stops, freezing in place.
Kraab peers down at him, wondering why he stopped. “What’s the matter?”
Izuku peers around towards the vent leading into the hallway. “Did…did you hear that? Shut off your light.”
Kraab does so, shutting off his flashlights and throwing them into darkness. Or at least that’s what he expected but a dim light shines through from the hallway.
Unsure what the light could be, Izuku wiggles his way to the vent, peeking through the slits half expecting to see another patrol of droids.
He does see movement however but it’s only one person.
Izuku whispers back at Kraab. “Is that my Dad?”
Kraab listens carefully while also trying to get a good look. “No, those footsteps sound way too heavy.”
But then the familiar sound of clanking metal approaches from the other end of the hall.
“Here come the clankers.”
Izuku gasps. “We gotta help them!”
“Hold it kid.” Kraab pulls on his ear, holding the kid back. “Let’s just wait and see.”
Izuku holds his breath worried that whoever's in the hallway is gonna get spotted by the droids.
The patrol stops in place as they come across the mysterious individual.
The droids scan the individual from top to bottom, but their blasters remain at their sides, and not drawn out.
^Authorized personnel identified. Please carry on.^ With that the droids move on ignoring the lone figure.
Izuku’s eyes widen in shock.
Kraab elbows him, feeling mighty cocky right now. “See, what did I tell ya? That’s got to be the master mind.”
Izuku presses his face against the vent, trying to get a good look at this possible master mind.
As he peers out he nearly let’s out a sharp gasp. As the figure passes by Izuku spots a terrified Chopper underneath the figure’s muscular arms!!
“They have Chopper!”
Kraab nearly cries out in shock. “What?!”
“We’re going after them!”
“Are you insane?”
“Yes. Now are you gonna help me?”
Kraab lets out a drawn-out sigh. “Fine, but only because I like that little droid. He’s got a lot of spunk.”
Izuku manages to pop the vent open and wiggle himself free and slide his way to the ground. Once down he presses himself against the wall and moves to follow the figure as the light of their flashlight disappears into the distance.
As he makes his approach the sound of fists bashing against metal rings through the hallway like a drum, growing louder and louder as Izuku sneaks his way closer.
“Hey, Kraab. Where does this hallway lead?”
“It leads…” Kraab brings up the holomap and gasps. “to the armory.”
Izuku hurries along in a panic, arriving at the end of the hall where a massive shadow is banging his fists against the door to the armory, his flashlight sitting beside the door next to a trembling Chopper.
Izuku pokes his head around the corner, trying to get a better look at this supposed mastermind.
The massive hiking figure slams his fists against the door one last time but none of his attempts even leave a dent. And so he pulls away, giving up on trying to force his way in. Turning around so that he can face the terrified Chopper who points his flashlight up at the Tetramand's face.
The Tetramand is not like Four Arms with blue skin and muscles riddled with battle scars. His dark hair is long and messy almost like he was inspired to copy Eraserhead’s hairstyle.
Izuku lets out a sharp gasp. “It’s-it’s a Tetramand!”
Kraab is stunned. “A Tetramand? How’d someone like him get in here? Not to stereotype but they’re not exactly built for espionage.”
Thankfully, the Tetramand didn’t hear them as it instead glares down at the quivering astromech.
Izuku grips the side of the wall, fighting the urge to run in there and grab Chopper. “There's Chopper.”
Kraab leans up whispering into the kid’s ear. “Let’s hang back for now. We’ll make our move when it’s the right time.”
Meanwhile, the Blue Tetramand glowers down at the droid. “Listen up, trashcan.”
Chopper quivers back in fear. ^Wo-wo.^
“If you don’t want me to smash you down into a trash cube then I suggest you do as I say.”
^Wo…^
“Good. Now open this door. Your stupid masters got this armory locked up tight and I can’t get in. Open it and I’ll let you go.”
Chopper’s shaking lightens up as he allows a sliver of hope to seep in.
“But if you betray me by turning on the power or signaling your friends, well then this base is gonna become everyone’s tomb.” The Blue Tetramand chuckles maliciously. “Well then again they might already be dead thanks to my new friends. Hehehe.”
Izuku frowns, assuming that the alien is referring to how he hacked the base’s security droids.
^Wo.^
The Tetramand confidently grins down at the little bot. “I promise, no harm will come to you or your friend.”
It’s a clear and obvious lie but Chopper has no other choice but to cooperate.
It’s either he and his friends die, or he plays along for now and survive until they can overtake this villain. Either way he has no real choice but to open the armory.
And so, he, very hesitantly, wheels himself over towards the control port, inserts his hacking rod, and unlocks the armory.
The giant mechanical locks shift and rotate out of place allowing the reinforced steel doors to slide open.
Light pours out from the armory; an eerie glow illuminates the armory from all corners provided by the vast array of alien weapons themselves.
The Blue Tetramand loses his breath at the sight of the blasters and weapons, like he just found the most beautiful thing in the world. “Now this is a treasure trove!”
Kraab jabs the side of Izuku’s head. “See, he gets it.”
In shock-and-awe of the armory the Blue Tetramand wanders into the armory, unable to look away from the wide variety of weapons.
Chopper stays back, bowing his head down in guilt and shame.
“Psst. Chop! Chopper!”
Chopper jerks up in surprise, peering around wondering if he was just hearing things. Maybe it was his conscience, weird he didn’t think he had one.
“Psst. Chopper! Over here!”
No, he wasn’t imagining things, spinning around and spotting Izuku waving him over. “Hurry before he comes back!”
Chopper almost wants to let out a cheer as he carefully wheels his way over while the Blue is far too distracted with the armory.
Izuku pulls back into the hallway as Chopper makes his way around. “Glad to have you back, Chopper.”
“Yeah.” Kraab waves from inside Izuku’s hood. “Honestly I thought you were a goner.”
^Wo-bop.^ Chopper waves before his tone shifts becoming serious and hurried. ^Wap wap.^
Izuku understands, glad that the lessons are finally paying off. “Yeah, we should go before he comes back.”
And so they hurry off heading down the hallway now that the vents aren’t an option since they got Chopper with them now. They hurry along and make it to the first intersection thanks to Kraab’s holomap and both the bots’ flashlights. They slide as they turn, ready to make a rush for the RV when their lights shine upon a patrol of Practice Battle Droids.
The Practice Battle Droids jump in surprise until one of them completely points them out. ^There they are! I found them!^
^Great. Now, blast them!^
However, Izuku beats them to it. Shooting first and frying one of their heads before he, Kraab, and Chopper break out to the direction they just came from.
^Look, they’re running away!^
^Well then go after them!^
^Roger. Roger.^
And thus, they begin to open fire at their targets’ retreating forms.
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From inside the depths of the armory, the sound of laser fire echo through alerting the Blue Tetramand that his minions have run into one of the Plumbers.
He quickly peers around and scoops up the biggest and coolest blasters he can find before rushing back towards the exit.
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
Lasers and plasma fly across the hallway as Izuku, Chopper, and Kraab take cover against the walls and bulkheads, trapped between the remaining Practice Battle Droids and the entrance to the armory.
From inside the armory the sounds of the Tetramand’s heavy steps rushing through the armory can be heard as his looming shadow stretches through the doorway.
Kraab jumps at the sight of the hulking shadow. “He’s coming back!”
Izuku manages to hit the last droid before shouting over to Chopper. “Chopper! Shut the door!”
^Wap!^ Chopper rushes over, hacking the door shut just as the looming shadow nears the door.
Kraab applauds the kid’s effort. “Good thinking kid! No way he’s getting out of there now!”
Izuku breathes a sigh of relief, stepping away from the wall now that the droids are done for. “Yeah, no way he’s getting out of there. Not from…an…armory…” Izuku suddenly has the sensation that this may not be as ideal of a situation as he thought. “Oh, no.”
On que a fiery blast resonates from the other side of the sealed doorway shaking the entire door and hallway.
Izuku and the two bots go quiet as another blast resonates from inside the armory again, and again, and again. The sealed door begins to buckle and crack under each blast.
Izuku and Chopper back away with every bend and break; it’s only a matter of time before the door is vaporized and they’re all blasted into oblivion.
“Run!!” Izuku screams as he runs away at full speed.
^Wooo!!^ Chopper screams wheeling away after him.
“Faster! Run faster!” Kraab shouts from inside Izuku’s hood.
They trio scream out in terror even as they run away, vanishing into the darkness.
With a resounding boom that shakes the entire base the reinforced door of the armory is blasted right off its frame. Crashing against the opposite wall as a bent broken molten piece of metal.
Stepping forth out from the armory stands the towering figure of the Blue Tetramand. A mad grin stretches across the villain’s face as he holds up a pair of B.F.G.s in his upper arms, he grips a Lancer in his lower right arm, while a pair of Needle Rifles are strapped to his back, and a number of smaller weapons are hooked to his bandoliers and belt along with an entire armory’s worth of Antipersonnel Grenades. “Plumbers….” The Tetramand stomps forward, his grin turning even more deranged and unhinged. “I’M COMING TO GET YOU!!!”
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
Izuku sprints through the dark maze with Kraab and Chopper lighting his way. “How much further to the Rustbucket?!”
Kraab is jostled around in Izuku's hood. “It’s just around the corner!!”
“It better be!!” They round the corner hoping to find the Rustbucket but instead they come face to face with a fiery security droid.
A giant Carbonite-War Droid towers over the trio, its entire frame up in flames and smoke as it looms over them.
“WAAAAaaahhh/WOOOOOooo!!!” They scream out in terror as the flaming bot wobbles closer.
And then the bot’s legs buckle under its own weight, crumbling apart and collapsing to the ground with a heavy crash. Revealing a flame breathing standing jut behind the defeated droid.
“Dad!!”
“Izuku!” Cinder rushes over and embraces his son, while the case is still in his hand. “I’m so glad you're safe.”
Izuku breaks the hug. “I’m glad to see you too, Dad. But we should leave, like right now!”
“Yeah, I know something’s gone wrong with the security system.”
Kraab yells out from inside the hood. “Yeah, we know!”
Cinder frowns. “You do?!”
“Yeah!” Izuku points back towards the way they came. “And it's because of him!!”
On que, the Blue Tetramand appears with an array of blasters in hand. “Peekaboo, I found you.”
Kraab screams. “He’s packing!!”
The Blue Tetramand aims the B.F.G.s and fires launching out blasts of raw energy.
Cinder grabs Izuku and Chopper while exhaling down at his feet. A stream of flames shoot out and like a rocket it propels them out of the way just as the blast of the B.F.G.s tears through the hallways, scorching the ground and walls causing chunks of rubble to break off and fly everywhere!
While the B.F.G.s’ charge he Blue Tetramand takes the Lancer and fires down at their positions.
“Move!!” Cinder shoves Izuku against the wall using the piles of rubble as cover against the rain of bullets.
With Izuku safe, Cinder rushes out, lashing out with his flames as he dives across the hall, taking cover behind the still flaming C-W droid.
The Blue Tetramand sidesteps the flames and fires towards at Cinder’s position
Watching from inside Izuku’s hood, Kraab yells into Izuku’s ear. “Shoot back kid!”
“Okay! Okay!” Gripping his blaster, Izuku flips the switch from kill to nonlethal. “Switching to stun!”
With his blaster prepped, Izuku swing sup and fries three consecutive shots.
*PZZZzzz!!! PZZZzzz!!! PZZZzzz!!!*
The three shots hit their marks, sending a surge of stunning pain coursing through the stunned Tetramand.
Izuku grins but his victory is quickly dashed as the Blue Tetramand powers through the stun blasts.
Despite being shot at the Tetramand grins, chuckling at the boy's efforts. “Hehe, tickles.”
With a mad grin on his face he turns, the B.F.G.s poised and ready to fire.
However, a blinding wall of flames cuts him off, shielding Izuku.
Smoke and flames bellow out causing smoke to fill the already dark hallway.
The Blue Tetramand rushes his way through the flames, prepared to fire but stops as the boy, Plumber, and droids all seem to have disappeared.
He patrols through the smoke-filled hallway as the flames burn behind him causing his shadow to loom across the floor.
Peering through the smoke and shadows he fails to locate where exactly his prey ran off to. “Come out, come out wherever you are! You can’t hide forever. Not from me.”
Through the smoke and flames, Cinder’s voice echoes out. “Well since we have a minute mind introducing yourself, friend?”
The Tetramand spins around expecting the Plumber to be there. But much to his surprise and frustration he’s nowhere in sight. “I ain't your friend, especially not to a Red Spot.” he continues to skulk forth, trying to find them. “But unlike you Red Spots I’m fair so you might as well know the one that’s gonna blast you to oblivion.” To prove his point, he aims a B.F.G. down towards the end of the hall and fires, blasting apart part of the wall and ceiling. “The name’s Kolar.”
Cinder’s voice echoes through the darkness. “Well, Kolar. What brings you to our neck of the woods? This seems like a lot of effort for some fancy toys. Was it really worth the risk especially when backup eventually arrives?”
Kolar eyes the darkness carefully, like a predator trying to locate a mouse in a thicket of shadowy thorns. “These toys were just a coincidence; it’d be such a waste to not use them.”
“Fair, but what’s your plan? Why did you break-in?”
“I didn’t break-in, I escaped.” Kolar explains with a frustrated glower.
Hidden behind a pile of rubble and a veil of smoke, Izuku nearly lets out a sharp gasp. “Escaped?”
Cinder looks down at him, wondering the same thing. But as he tries to understand Kolar’s explanation his eyes eventually drift down towards the case in his hands.
Cinder’s eyes widen in shock before he leans up and throws his voice out again. “Kolar, my friend, did you…did you escape from the Null Void?!”
Kolar spins around just as Cinder ducks down. “You catch on quick. That’s right Plumber I not only survived the Null Void, but I managed to escape it!!”
Izuku let’s out a silent gasp. ‘How?! I thought that was supposed to be impossible!’
Apparently, Cinder thinks so too. “That’s impossible!” He’s never heard of anyone that’s escaped the Null Void. Never.
“Ha, you’d think so!” Kolar snorts. “But I’m smarter than your average Tetramand. And you’d be surprised what kind of gizmos are just lying around the Null Void. And it doesn’t hurt that I got a background in engineering.”
Cinder can’t believe what he’s hearing. “You built your own projector?!”
“Close more like a dimensional radio that hacked into your Projector. With it I crawled my way out and found myself back here on Earth.”
‘Bet it took him decades to complete.’ Cinder thinks with a sense of foreboding looming over him. ‘That would also explain how he was able to hack into the base’s security system and droids so effortlessly.’
Cinder carefully throws his voice again. “Listen, I don't at all agree with the use of the Null Void. If you ask me, you’ve been locked away for too long my friend. Why don’t we settle down and come to an agreement, I’m sure we can work something out and get you home.”
“Home?! What home?!” Kolar guffaws, taking the Plumber’s offer as a joke. “I turned my back on that place decades ago.” He spins around and blasts apart another section of the wall with a B.F.G. “Besides there’s no way I’d ever put my trust in a Plumber.”
“Why is that friend?”
“Because…” Kolar’s grip threatens to break the blasters as he roars out in anguish and fury. “It was a Plumber that put me in the Null Void in the first place!!”
Cinder, Izuku, and Chopper jolt up, shocked by Kolar’s revelation.
Judging by their silence, Kolar manages to reign in his boiling rage. “That's right, Plumbers! No trial. No sentence. Just a one-way ticket to hell is all I got.” His rage begins to bubble over. “I’ll never forget it. That Cheshire grin. That polite yet condescending way of talking. And their maniacally haunting laugh. Oh, that laugh. It was the laugh of a devil, a devil in the form of an impish white chimera.”
The Midoriyas pause, feeling like they’ve heard that description before. ‘Cheshire grin? Polite yet condescending? Maniacally haunting laugh? Impish white chimera?’ There’s only one Plumber that fits that bill. ‘Principal Nezu…!!’
Of course, it was him. Hell, they can almost hear his maniacal laugh right now.
And the thought that Nezu was so vindictive as to use the Null Void sends a shiver down Cinder’s spine. “I’m sorry my fr-...Kolar.”
“Yeah, I am too.”
From behind their cover, Cinder, Izuku, and Chopper can hear the hum of a B.F.G. charging up.
Cinder grabs the two and launches them away just as their hiding spot is blasted into oblivion.
Kolar grins down at their prone forms, B.F.G.s in hand and ready to fire. “Sorry about this, boys. But now that you know what happened I can’t let you go and warn that damned Plumber. I got a score to settle, one I’ve been waiting to settle for decades.”
Cinder glowers up at the Tetramand. “Sorry but you’ll have to wait a while longer!” From out of his maw appears a jet of burning flames.
Kolar leaps back, avoiding the flames, before firing after the Plumbers.
But the Midoriyas split apart, diving away to the sides as the laser zooms past and explodes against the end of the hall.
“Raaghh!” With his heart pounding in his ears Izuku spins around and fires his blaster back at the alien while Cinder unleashes a veil of flames upon him as well.
The stun blasts and flames slam into the Tetramand, temporarily stunning him and holding him in place. But he braces himself against the stun blasts and flames before breaking through them all with a single flex. “Is that all?!” He laughs. “I had to fight tooth and nail against all sorts of monsters everyday for decades inside the Null Void! At this point, pain has become a bore.”
He takes the B.F.G. and fires down at Izuku’s position.
Izuku makes a break for it, running back down the hall. But he’s too slow and the laser crashes into the side of the wall, erupting out and blasting him off his feet.
“Wwwooaahh!!” Izuku is tossed across the ground, sliding across the floor and losing his hold of his blaster.
The blaster slides to a stop not far from him, just in reaching distance.
He scrambles, reaching for the blaster and grabbing it but it refuses to move as if something’s holding it down in the darkness.
Izuku grips whatever the thin rod of metal is holding it down and pulls but it refuses to budge,
From inside his hood, Kraab peers up, aiming his light up at the rod and following it up towards the glowing blue eyes of the corrupted Security Commando Droids.
^Intruders detected. Prepare to be terminated.^
Izuku pales up at the patrol of Security Commando Droids, rolling his eyes at the circumstances. “Oh, just my luck.”
The droids prepare to shoot when Cinder leaps in and kicks the droid away, grabbing its blaster and taking it for himself. At the same time Izuku is able to pull his S.A.G.E. Gun free while Cinder unleashes a wall of flames between them and the droids.
“Get to cover!!” Cinder grabs Izuku and throws him back before he takes the stolen blaster and aims it at the droids as the flames wash away. “Eat heat, Clankers!!” A rapid fire of laser bolts rain down on the Security Commando Droids, tearing them apart before they finally break apart and disperse taking cover behind rubble and bulkheads.
As the droids return fire, Cinder continues to shoot back while working his way back behind a bulkhead. Chopper shakes and trembles behind him, pressed against the wall as much as he can. while Izuku and Kraab take cover right across from them against the opposite wall.
Izuku leans out and fires back at the droids, flipping his blaster back to kill.
Cinder throws Izuku a concerned look as he auto-fires at the patrol. “Hanging in there, kiddo?”
“Yeah!” Izuku calls back through the rain of lasers and plasma. “Well, you know, it could be better.”
Kraab peers back towards Kolar. “Well, it’s about to get a lot worse.”
They all turn to find Kolar looming near the end of the hall with a devilish grin stretched across his face. “Go get 'em, boys.”
He steps aside revealing a patrol of Security Super Battle Droids.
The heavily armored droids march forward, stretching their arms out before firing upon the Plumbers.
Cinder and Izuku fire back but they are quickly forced to pull away and shrink back against the walls as the hallway glows red from the stream of lasers flying through the air.
Izuku falls to his knees, trying to make himself as small as possible from the incoming fire. “You know the Omnitrix would really be handy right about now!!”
Cinder doesn't take his eyes off the encroaching patrols as he addresses his mech. “Chopper get on it, already!”
^Wo.^ Chopper prepares to move across the hall. ^WAAA!!!^ He leaps back after nearly getting blasted by a barrage of lasers.
Izuku growls in frustration as both patrols begin to close in from both sides. “No good! We got too much heat on us! We need to break up their ranks somehow!”
Kraab chimes up from inside the hood, his claw poking at Izuku’s head in order to get his attention. “Kid! Remember what I said about getting creative?”
“Yeah!” Izuku’s eyes pop open in surprise as he recalls what happened during the simulation. “Are you insane?!”
“You’re the last person that can ask me that!” Kraab snaps back before settling down becoming fully serious. “Now are you in or not?”
Izuku sighs as he grabs Kraab and holds him in his hands. “Like I have any other options.”
Cinder tries his best to gun down the incoming droids before pulling back and looking over to find Izuku holding Kraab up like a frisbee. “What are you two doing?!”
“We’re getting creative!” Izuku shouts before flinging Kraab across the hall! “Fly, Kraab, fly!!” “Wooo-ooo!!” Kraab woos out, spinning through the air flying right through the rain of laser and towards the incoming patrol of Security Super Battle Droids.
And with a loud wham his claw pierces the lead droid’s armor. Once embedded Kraab gets to work at hacking into the droid’s controls.
The Security Super Battle Droid jerks and sparks its corrupted blue eyes flashing to yellow as Kraab takes full control.
“^Prepare to be terminated, Clankers!!^” Kraab and his hacked droid cry out as they spin around and gun down the entire patrol of Security Super Battle Droids, cackling all the while. “Mwahahahaha!!”
The Midoriyas and Chopper watch on, impressed yet a little horrified by Kraab’s enthusiasm to kill.
“Woah.” Cinder looks over to Chopper and asks. “Can you do that?”
^Wo wa-bop!^
“Chopper!” Izuku calls out from the other side, kneeling down and resenting the brace covering the Omnitrix. “Now’s our chance!”
With the tables turned, Cinder steps out and provides covering fire allowing Chopper to finally hurry over to Izuku.
From down the hallway, Kolar growls in frustration. He was hoping the droids would finish them off, but it appears he will have to step in. And so, taking the B.F.G.s he prepares to fire.
*PEW!!! PEW!!! PEW!!!*
Kraab’s Super Battle Droid open fires, blasting apart one of Kolar’s B.F.G.s into scrap. “^Oh, man I was really hoping I could save one of those for myself.^” Kraab’s droid shrugs. “^Oh well.^” Cutting his losses he shoots back at the Tetramand.
Kolar is forced back, pressing his back against the wall but the protruding bulkheads provide very little cover for someone of his size. “I need some more elbow room.” Shoving himself off the wall he takes off in a run back through the smoke-filled hall and towards the main floor.
Kraab points him out. “^He’s retreating!^”
Cinder rushes after him. “Don’t let him escape!!” He stops as red lasers nearly hit him from behind. “Izuku!!’
Izuku leans out from behind the bulkhead and fire back at the remaining Security Commando Droids. “Go! I’ll cover our flank!!”
Cinder nods before turning to Kraab and his hacked droid. “Let’s hurry!”
And they hurry away, chasing after the fleeing Tetramand.
Izuku stays behind, covering their backs as he said he would, firing down at the agile Commando Droids that leap across the hall, evading his killing shots.
“Chopper, hurry!!” Holding his left arm out he gives Chopper the chance to unlock the brace.
^Wap!^ Chopper immediately gets to work in less than a few seconds the brace unlocks, opening with a click and a buzz before going dark and collapsing to the ground.
“Thanks, Chop!!” Izuku breaks into a wide grin, handing Chopper the S.A.G.E. Gun before dialing up the newly freed Omnitrix. “It’s Hero Time!!”
The Commando Droids slide to a halt as a blinding flash of green floods the entire hallway.
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
Kolar continues to run, ducking his head down as lasers and flames fly past his head.
Cinder pursues him into the main hangar. “Give it up, Kolar! You can’t hold out forever!”
“Raaggh!! I can endure anything! Even this, Red Spot!!” Kolar spins around, firing at Cinder with his Lancer while using his free hand to throw several grenades that stick to the ground and walls before blowing up!
As Cinder dives away from the explosions, Kraab and his hacked droid step forward “^Then let’s see if you can take this!!^” From out of the droid’s other arm, Kraab fires out a single missile.
The missile flies across the room and crashes into Kolar, exploding into a ball of heat and smoke.
Cinder watches on in amazement, believing that Kraab truly got him.
And Kraab smirks as Kolar disappears behind the explosion. “^I guess not.^”
“Guess again.” Kolar remains unwavering and unphased by the explosion even as heat and smoke radiates off his skin. “My turn, scumbag.”
Aiming his remaining B.F.G. up he takes a shot at the Practice Battle Droid.
Kraab and Cinder turn away to run but it’s too late as a green laser blast slams into the back of the droid and completely obliterates it!!
By some miracle, Kraab survives but he didn’t get off scot free as his head rolls across the floor before spinning to a stop. His eyes blacked over from being unconscious.
The resounding blast also catches Cinder, tossing him against the wall and his head bangs against a bulkhead. As he’s flung through the air, he loses his grip on the case. As a result, the case slides across the floor in the opposite direction, it’s side casing cracking from the blast.
Kolar stomps forward with blasters in hand, aiming to finish the job. “I wanted to begin my retribution with the chimera. Congratulations Plumber, I’ve changed my mind.”
As he stomps closer, he finds the broken case lying at his feet. Intrigued he pulse the case apart to find the Null Void Projector inside.
He grimaces at the device before a cruel realization dawns on him. And thus, he tucks away his blasters to instead take up the only weapon he needs: the Null Void Projector.”
“All you Plumbers, all of you Red Spots deserve nothing but hell!” He roars out, aiming the Null Void Projector to the side. “And I’m gonna be the one to send you there.”
He pulls the trigger and a beam of red shoots out! The beam converges together in midair and with a reasoning pop and boom a swirling vortex of red forms before his very eyes.
The pull of the Null Void causes a vacuum of sorts to occur, as a harsh wind begins to pull anything and everything it can into the vortex.
Despite having been locked away inside the very hell for decades, a deranged grin stretches across Kolar’s face as he declares out. “I’m going to make sure that every last Plumber gets to rot away in the Null Void!! Just like you all did to me!! Mwahahahaha!!”
Kolar grins, turning back around to grab the unconscious Plumber and cyborg and toss them through the portal.
However, just as he’s about to reach down and pick them up someone from behind taps him on the shoulder.
“Excuse me.”
“Hm?” He spins around in confusion only to be met with a red fist to the face!
WHAM!!! He’s flung back into the air, crashing into the wall, his blasters flying out of his hands. As does the Null Void Projector which slides across the ground not too far away.
“Ugh.” Kolar groans, adjusting his aching jaw as he pries himself out of the wall.
“Hey pal, why don’t you fight somebody your own size?” Four Arms cracks his fists before flexing and preparing himself to throw down. “Or at least somebody with the same limb count.”
“Raaaghh!!” Not one to pass up a clear and obvious challenge, Kolar charges the much younger red skinned Tetramand.
Four Arms throws his right fists forward as does Kolar and the four punches collide midair and resounding slam echoes across the base.
Four Arms immediately takes a swing with his left upper fist but Kolar sees the punch coming, using his own hand to grab Four Arms by the wrist.
Growling in frustration, Four Arms throws up his last fist but that too gets itself caught in Kolar’s grip.
Now with the upper hand, Kolar slams his skull into Four Arms’. The kid stumbles back in a daze. As he does Kolar lets him go and delivers a nasty gut punch causing the kid to retch.
Kolar grins down, expecting the brat to give up.
Too bad for him, Four Arms doesn’t know the meaning of the word as he wills himself to get back up, swinging his fists up together in a ball and uppercutting Kolar with a powerful blow!
Kolar stumbles back and Four Arms takes full advantage taking several swings at him.
But despite his aching jaw Kolar once again catches the incoming fists, and with expert judo skills he flips Four Arms over and tosses him aside!
After crashing into the wall, Four Arms quickly gets back on his feet and charges headfirst into his opponent. Both of them duking it out as the swirling vortex that is the Null Void looms over them, resulting in a red glow to take over the entire hangar.
As they fight and brawl, Chopper, who is still holding onto the S.A.G.E. Gun tries to sneak closer to Cinder’s and Kraab’s still forms. As he approaches, he happens to bump into the forgotten Null Void Projector. ^Wa!^
Meanwhile, Kolar breaks through Four Arm’s defense, using his lower arms to rip Four Arms’ arms away, before delivering dual punches to his gut followed by a dual uppercut to the head!
Feeling like a broken ‘Rock Em Sock ‘Em, Four Arms goes down collapsing onto his back in an exhausted heap.
“I thought you were a Tetramand!” Kolar roars, standing before his fallen brethren. “But you’re just a cheap copy!”
Four Arms struggles to get up only to be met with a kick that sends him flying back! Oof! Spinning through the air he lands on his stomach, groaning as he pulls himself back onto his feet.
Kolar slowly stomps towards him, letting the accursed feeling of defeat sink into the boy. “You got guts kid, but you have no idea how to fight like a Tetramand.”
Despite his aching everything, Four Arms still manages to pull out a pained smirk. “Mind sharing some pointers then?”
Kolar smirks back at the kid’s coyness. “Sure. Here's one.”
He charges in and Four Arms prepares to defend himself.
However, instead of a punch the sprinting Kolar digs his hand into the ground and throws up cracked pieces of rubble and grit right from the ground!
The cloud of tiny debris and dust fly into Four Arm’s face, blinding him and causing him to choke.
Suddenly there's a sharp pain in his side as Kolar’s fist slams into his ribs. And just as his vision returns, Kolar’s hand grabs at his face, his fingers digging into his eyes.
“Raaaaahhh!” Four Arm wails, desperately trying to pull Kolar’s hands away but then a swift kick in the gut sends him rolling back onto the ground.
“Ugh…” Having been tossed aside, Four Arms lies with his back to Kolar while the swirling red vortex lies to his right.
Four Arms moans in pain while prying his face off the ground. “That was just plain dirty.”
As Four Arms pulls his head up he spots Chopper wheeling his way through the hue of red, with both the S.A.G.E. Gun and Null Void Projector in hand.
“That’s the lesson kid.” Kolar taunts as he looms closer. “In a fight for survival there’s no such thing as playing dirty.” As he approaches, he crosses before the red vortex. “You better learn that if you’re gonna survive the Null Void.” For a moment he turns his attention away from the boy to instead glower at the accursed portal.
During that momentary distraction, Chopper quickly slides over the blaster per Four Arms’ signal.
Four Arms rucks the blaster behind his back as he rotates himself around on the ground. “I’m a quick lesson. And Kolar.”
Kolar glares down at him with a nasty scowl. “What?”
“I’ll take your lesson to heart. Just don’t hold it against me.” Without hesitating, Four Arms slings up the S.A.G.E. Gun and fires!
A stun bolt is launched out, zooming through the air before crashing into Kolar’s face! Zapping and tearing into his upper right eye in the process.
“Raaaaggghhh!!” Kolar wails in pain grabbing at his sizzling face. “My eye!! MY EYE!!!”
He wails and wails, growling in pain before a large blur of red zooms in towards his face.
Four Arms slugs him across the head knocking him back! But he doesn’t allow Kolar to collapse; instead, he grabs him by the arms and spins, spinning him around and around before shouting out. “STRONG ARM TOSS!!”
With a mighty roar Four Arms spins around and throws Kolar right into the swirling red portal.
Kolar is immediately sucked away, his form swirling about in the vortex, and shrinking from view as he’s pulled away into the void while his cry fades away into the distance. “NOOOOOOoooooo!!!”
Taking that as his que, Chopper fires another beam of red at the portal. Upon impact the portal collides in on itself, folding out of existence with a loud snap.
And like that everything settles down as the red glow of the vortex vanishes away. Everything remains as it is, still and unmoving. And Four Arms finally allows himself to breathe, visibly relaxing now that the threat has passed.
Even Chopper finally lets his guard down. ^Wa…^
Four Arms can’t help but agree. “You said it.” That really did suck.
Not too long after, Hisashi and Kraab begin to stir awake.
Kraab moans while rubbing his aching metal skull. “Oh, my head…it feels like it’s still spinning.”
Hisashi lets out a groan as well, taking off his respirator while he gets up to his feet. Looking around he finally notices that there’s one less Tetramand in attendance. “Where’s Kolar?”
“Ugh.” Four Arms tries to think of a good answer. “He’s gonna be on a trip for a while…a long while.”
Hisashi frowns at that, but he can quickly assume its meaning as Chopper hands him back the Null Void Projector.
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
The disguised elevator slowly rises up, locking in place as it reaches its final destination. Upon the elevator coming to a full stop, the Rustbucket’s engine roars to life and it begins to roll away, driving down the winding dirt path circling about at the base of Mt. Fuji.
The sun shines through the windshield, warming the Midoriyas for the first time in what feels like forever to them. Especially after spending another day in-a-half of fixing up the mountain’s hidden Plumber Base.
Izuku leans out the window, watching as the base’s entrance vanishes from view. “Is it really a good idea to just leave this place unattended?”
Hisashi nods from behind the driver seat. “It is now that we debugged the system, and the Security Droids are all back to normal.”
Funny enough they all recalled what happened and were very apologetic about their actions. And a bit fearful as Izuku stood nearby with his blaster in hand.
Hisashi continues, reassuring that this was the right move. “They’ll fix everything up for us. And we set them to go on more patrols especially around the old Null Void Projector just to make sure something like this won’t happen again.”
‘That’s good.” And with that Izuku is finally able to relax, leaning back in his seat, exhausted. “Man, that was something… And so is this thing.” He holds up his newly acquired S.A.G.E. Gun under the warm light of the sun, admiring its green sheen and slick design.
“It sure is. And so are you!” Hisashi playfully slaps Izuku’s shoulder. “You’re quite the sharpshooter.”
While tucking the blaster under his hoodie, Izuku blushes at the praise. “M-maybe but I don’t know, I think I was just lucky.”
As Izuku says this his eyes wander down towards the space between him and his Dad, where a new shiny case sits on the floor, containing the Null Void Projector.
With guilt in his eyes Izuku frowns up at Hisashi. “I’m sorry by the way.”
“About what, Champ?”
“About Kolar, and…” His eyes drift back towards the case. “You know, what I did to him?”
Hisashi understands, taking a pause as to figure out how to best address his concerns. “I wouldn’t feel too bad about it.”
Izuku just stares back at him in shock.
Hisashi shrugs back at him, not sure what the look of shock is for. “What?”
“Sorry, I just thought you’d be upset.”
“I’m not upset, not with you.” Hisashi clarifies, turning his attention back towards the empty dirt road. “Look I may not agree with the Null Void, but Kolar wasn’t as much a victim as he claimed to be.”
“Why’s that?”
“Chopper.”
Upon being summoned, Chopper wheels forward and presents a hologram of Kolar’s face and profile.
Izuku eyes the holograms curiously. “What is that?”
“It’s an old Bounty Notice.” Answers Kraab from atop Chopper’s Head. “Think of it as a Wanted Poster. Plumbers use these to warn the public about wanted criminals. While Bounty Hunters such as myself use them to find new jobs.”
Upon Kraab’s explanation Izuku tries and fails to read the inscription on the hologram. “What does it say?”
Hisashi reads the alien text aloud. “It says he was wanted for illegal weapon shipping and the assault and murder of Plumbers.” Hisashi then explains what exactly that means. “He was a weapons dealer but after he was found out there was a shoot-out and he took out several Plumbers. After which there was a stalemate between him and the remaining Plumbers. Apparently, he caused so much damage and hurt so many others that Nezu took it upon himself to use the Null Void Projector. Banishing Kolar before he could hurt anyone else.”
‘That explains why Principal Nezu was so willing to use the Null Void. It was to stop an already bad situation from getting worse.’ Izuku thinks before realizing that if someone like Kolar is trapped in the Null Void then what else is in there with him? “I guess the Null Void is full of monsters.”
Hisashi frowns at that, his expression turning cold yet somber. “Yeah, it is.”
And so he tries to let the topic go, driving along the winding dirt path as they slowly make their way down the mountain.
But Izuku can’t let it go so easily, especially not after witnessing someone else enduring such a fate. “Is…is it really a good idea to use the Null Void on…on Vilgax?”
“It is.” Hisashi hesitantly affirms, recalling why they were taking it in the first place. “Look, Izuku. Vilgax…Vilgax isn’t just some monster or your everyday murder. He’s…a tyrant, one that would kill a child to get what he wants. He’s cunning, cruel, and sadistic. And worst of all he’s unrelenting. Trust me, this might be the only way to stop him.” Hisashi states with finality, wanting nothing more to discuss about Vilgax.
Izuku, however, has to bite his tongue, resisting the urge to poke around at Hisashi’s mind for answers. Like how does he know what Vilgax is like? Have they met? But judging off Hisashi’s stern expression he decides against it.
Instead, he tries to reaffirm that the Null Void is a one-time exception. “After we…beat him. We won’t use it ever again, right?”
“Yes.”
‘That’s good.’ Izuku thinks, not sure how’d he feel if they used it more than necessary. But then again what if they needed it again? What then? What if…what if there’s another threat out there, another villain that can’t be taken down so easily. Like…like All For One. Would the Null Void be a good option?
As Izuku ponders over this he airs another thought at his Dad. “Not even…not even against the League of Villains?”
Hisashi goes silent, his expression becoming concerned and disturbed by Izuku’s question.
However, Kraab pipes up trying to get some clarifications. “Who are the League of Villains?”
Izuku gasps at his assumption “That’s right, you weren’t around to hear this.” He slowly turns back to Hisashi and adds. “And you weren’t either.”
Hisashi doesn’t take the comment to heart. “No, but I heard plenty from Nezu and Thirteen.”
“Ahem!” Kraab pipes up again. “Who are the League of Villains?”
Izuku goes ahead and explains. “They’re a group of villains.”
“Duh, I knew that.”
“Okay, well did you know that they broke into my school?”
“Um, no.”
Okay, this isn’t getting them anywhere. “Okay, let me start from the beginning.” Izuku adjusts himself, spinning around in his seat so that he can face the cyborg. “You know that I’m a student at U.A., right? Training to become a hero and all that?”
Kraab rolls his eyes in annoyance. “Yes, I’m well acquainted with your hero complex. Not to mention you mentioned your school a few times here and there.” Mostly in passing conversations but it was enough for Kraab to put all the pieces together.
“Right, well U.A. is also one of the most secure and safest places in Japan. Or it was until the League of Villains broke in and set a trap for All Might.”
“All Might?” Kraab frowns at the name. “He sounds familiar.”
It's actually Hisashi who pipes up with a reason as to why. “You probably heard of him through Nezu’s transmissions to space. He’s one of our Planet’s greatest heroes.”
Kraab’s eyes widen in surprise as the name finally clicks. “Oh, that meat sack with a disturbingly permanent grin on his face! I always thought he was a comic-book character or something.”
Izuku can certainly understand the mistake, all things considered. “Yeah, well he’s real and the League wanted to…” How did Shigaraki put it? “take down the Final Boss once and for all.”
“Well did they succeed?”
“No. Luckily, my classmates and I were able to hold out long enough for help to arrive.” Izuku shivers, recalling the monstrous animals, the horde of villains, and the powerful Nomu. “And I mean really lucky, like if Tetrax hadn’t been there or my friends hadn’t gotten there in time I don’t know what Henzu would have done to me.”
Kraab frowns at the name in confusion. “Henzu?”
“Oh, right. I guess he goes by Nue now.” Izuku corrects, figuring that was the problem.
Hisashi’s expression grows very worried at the mention of the villain’s name. “Nue? Hang on, you mean that guy that absorbed the DNA from the Omnitrix?!”
Izuku’s shocked that he knows about him. “Yeah. You heard about him?”
“Of course, I did, hard to miss the hybrid of all aliens cozying it up with a group of Villains. Nezu told me about his Quirk, Osmosis, and how he got ahold of the Omnitrix. He also told me that this Nue guy was really gunning for you, Champ. Why is that?”
Everyone settles down all listening intently for Izuku’s response.
Izuku shrinks back, becoming very nervous, worried they might not react well to the news.
“It’s cause…Henz-...” He stops to correct himself and then. “Sorry, Nue and I used to be…friends.”
A palpable shock floods the RV.
“You were friends with a bad guy?” Kraab stops to consider that he too is in fact a bad guy benign affected by Izuku’s ways. “Eh, not surprised actually.”
“He wasn’t always a villain.” Izuku defends before backtracking. “I mean he always had his…moments. But we looked out for each other. I mean we didn’t always agree on everything, but he had my back, and I had his. Until…until we had a falling out.”
Hisashi frowns, considering that Nue is now an inhuman freak. “Must have been one hell of a falling out?”
Izuku somberly sinks into his seat. “Yeah, it was.”
But there's still something Hisashi can’t wrap his mind around. “Izuku how could you be friends with someone like him?”
“You weren't around, Dad. You have no idea what it was like for me.” Izuku blinks back the tears as he recalls his old miserable school days. “I was Quirkless, bullied, ignored, and I didn’t have many…any friends. And neither did Henzu. We, admittedly, had a rocky start but after a while we just kinda clicked. Yeah, he would drag me along on his…schemes, but he always stood up for me and he’d listen to what I had to say.” It was a lot more than anyone else would do for him and back then, back then he really was the only one on Izuku’s side. “We were the outcasts and so we figured that we’d ought to stick together.”
Kraab can only wonder what happened. “So, what drove him over the edge?”
“This did.” Izuku flashes the Omnitrix. “Henzu’s Osmosis always had a problem when absorbing energy.”
“Why? Couldn’t take it?”
“His…brain couldn’t. It always brought out the worst in him, it was like a rush of power for him, and it made him…erratic.” Although the word insane would also be appropriate. “Anyway, one day he went too far, and I stood up to him and he felt betrayed. Betrayed by may be one of the only people he ever did trust.” That part still riddles Izuku’s heart with plenty of guilt and shame to last him a lifetime. “We fought and he ran away from me, from school, from his foster home, everything. He all but vanished and I thought…and I thought I’d never see my friend again.”
Hisashi almost doesn't want to say it, scared that he might hurt Izuku, but he presses on too concerned with Izuku’s story. “And then you did.”
Izuku slowly nods his head, his eyes cast down towards the floor in sadness. “Yeah, and you already know what happened with that.”
“Izuku, I’m sorry.”
“I am too.” Izuku admits, sorry, that he lost one of his longest standing friendships. All because of some alien watch…
Uncharacteristically, Chopper actually offers up his sympathies as well, patting Izuku on the shoulder. ^Wa waa.^
Izuku appreciates the gesture. “Thanks, Chop. And you’re right I guess I did get an upgrade in friends, didn’t I?” He’s got his friends from Class 1-A, the Plumbers, and everyone else in between. A far cry from what his friend circle used to be for sure. “But still sometimes I can't help but think what happened was my fault.”
Kraab whacks the kid’s shoulder., snapping him out of his self-pity “You’re too nice for your own good kid. If you ask me, you’re better off without him!”
“He’s right.” Hisashi admits, surprised that he is agreeing with a bounty hunter of all people. “I know I couldn’t be there for you, but I am here now. And I won’t betray you.”
“Thanks, Dad. And I know my friendship with Henz-…Nue is over. I know that already. And I know that there isn’t any way to turn things back the way they were.”
Hisashi reaches out, holding Izuku’s shoulder reassuringly. “That’s just life kiddo Friendships…come and go. The best we can do sometimes is move on.”
“Yeah.” Izuku smiles up, trying to reassure them all that he’s alright. “I’ll try.”
As the others smile back in reassurance, Izuku's eye naturally draws towards the driver side window. As a hulking red and disjointed figure charges in towards the Rustbucket. Everything moves in slow motion as a wide jagged-tooth grin and a set of mismatched eyes stare back at Izuku.
Suddenly, the entire RV is tossed aside with a loud thunderous crash, feeling like they’d just got run over by a semi-truck!! The RV spins out of control, sliding right off the road at full speed before crashing into the mountainside!
Upon impact, the RV is lifted up by the sheer force of the crash and as a result Chopper and Kraab are tossed forward, crashing right through the windshield and into the heavily vegetated mountainside. At the same time both Hisashi’s and Izuku’s heads smack against the dashboard, their vision going dark for the briefest of moments as the RV finally settles to a stop. It’s windshield smashed, its frame broken, and with a new massive dent in its side.
And as this all occurs, the case containing the Null Void Projector flies out as well! Breaking open and tossing the Projector out! The Projector bangs against a boulder before bouncing off the ground, it's frame cracked as the heads of the baster begins to spark red.
Izuku wakes up in a daze, his head pounding, ears ringing, and vision blurry. He thinks he can make out his Dad’s still form across from him but not much else.
Freighted and worried that his dad might be dead, he lets out a sigh as Hisashi begins to stir.
Izuku gingerly pulls his head up, shards of glass fall from his hair while a scrape of blood stains his forehead. He wheezes in pain, grabbing at his aching head. “What…what hit us?”
Suddenly a massive yellow claw crashes through the front of the RV and rips Izuku right off his seat!
“I-Izuku!!” Hisashi yells out, wincing in pain from his aching head.
Meanwhile, Izuku is pulled into the air, pinned inside a massive yellow pincer. He struggles to get free, glaring up at his captor, only for the blood to vanish from his face as he’s greeted by a grotesque grin.
Nue’s grin grows wider upon Izuku’s horrified expression. “What’s up, Deku?”
“N-Nue?!”
“Aw, you remembered my villain name. And here I thought you forgot all about your old buddy.”
Trying to hold back his fear, Izuku does his best to appear brave. “Right now, I wish I could.”
Nue just grins back before slamming Izuku into the ground!
“Aaaggh!!” Izuku wails as rocks and roots dig into his back.
“Hahahaha! I’ve been waiting a long time to do this, Deku! Ever since the U.S.J., I’ve just been dying to see you dead!”
Izuku coughs, wheezing in pain, as he tries to pry Nue’s arm away. “W-what are you even doing here?! H-ow?! How did you even-”
“Find you?!” Nue sadistically grins. “It wasn’t hard thanks to my new boss.”
“B-boss?!” Izuku gasps trying to come up with a quick theory.” Do you mean…All For One?”
Despite his guess, Nue doesn't seem all that bothered. Instead, he seems glad Izuku was so close to getting it right. “Ah, so you know about him. Good that makes things fair.” He presses down on Izuku harder causing the teen to scream. “Because I know all about your Big Bad too.” Despite the crushing pain in his ribs and chest, Izuku freezes in place feeling like all of time has stopped. “What?”
Nue’s grin turns demonic as he prepares the final blow with a crystal blade.
However, a jet of flames crashes into his face, causing him to stumble back allowing Izuku to scurry away.
Nue soon composes himself, snarling in protest only to find some rando in a Hawaiian shirt and dragon-like respirator standing before him and Deku.
Cinder inhales, preparing himself to Firebreath the second Nue gives him a reason to. “Back off, kid. You’re in way over my head.”
Nue however couldn’t care less about Cinder’s threat as instead he’s more concerned with who Cinder even is. “Who the hell are you?!”
In response, Cinder unleashes another jet of flames.
However, Nue counters with a powerful stream of water, washing away the flames before zooming forward with XLR8-like speed. He grabs Cinder, lifting him up a diamond hard grip before using his Lodestar-like claw to rip away his mask!
Upon ripping away the mask, Nue is stunned to find an older version of Deku glaring back at him. “No way!!” His three misshaped eyes rapidly shift from Hisashi to Izuku and back. “Are you serious?! You’re the dad that flaked out on his wife and kid?!”
Out of disgust he tosses Hisashi aside onto the dirt road.
“I always wondered what kind of bastard would leave someone like Momidoriya. Now I know.” Nue snarls, his Feedback-like tendrils whipping behind him, sparks dancing off the ends dangerously. “You should have stayed away, spaceman.”
Hisashi winces prying his face off the road, before pausing under Nue’s words. ‘Spaceman?!’
“Nue!!”
Nue pauses, turning back around to find his old ex-friend glaring back at him with a raging fire in his eyes.
“Stay away from him!” Izuku roars with his hand hovering over the Omnitrix.
Nue scoffs. “Or what?!”
“Or else!” Izuku turns the dial, prepping himself to transform.
Nue breaks into a deranged cackle. “Hahahaha! What? You're gonna go all freak on me? Go ahead, there's nothing you can do that can stop me!” He cackles like a hygiene that’s about to tear into its prey. “I know all your transformations inside…and out.” As he makes his last statement his diamond turns into a jagged blade. “Allow me to demonstrate. Raahhh!!”
Nue zooms forward with the speed of XLR8, thrusting his diamond blade forward at Izuku’s head!
With milliseconds to spare Izuku slams down on the Omnitrix and transforms.
The flash of green washes away just as Nue’s blade makes contact only to stopped dead in its tracks.
“Oh, yeah!” The transformed Izuku glares back having fended off the blade with his armored arm.
Nue stumbles back in shock at the new transformation who goes ahead and introduces himself.
“I don’t think you’ve been introduced to Cannonbolt!” Upon his entry, Cannonbolt curls up, his spherical body spinning in place before racing forward.
“Hhaa!!” Nue puffs his chest out, generating a powerful stream of wind while his tendrils and Lodestar claw whip forward and fire beams of lightning and electricity.
The lightning storm of attacks bounce off Cannonbolt’s invulnerable spinning shell right before he rams right into the hulking Nue!
“Gaaah!!” Nue is tossed aside, flung backwards into the air.
But before he can so much as to touch the ground Cannonbolt ricochets off the side of the Rustbucket and bounces back, slamming into Nue again, flattening him against the ground.
“Give it up, Nue! You can’t stop me!!” Cannonbolt circles around for another charge.
Pulling himself off the ground, Nue lets out a beastly snarl. “Wanna bet?!”
“I do!!” Cannonbolt veers towards the villain, racing forward at a breakneck speed.
Nue grins dangerously, standing his ground before the charging bowling ball. “Raaaagghh!” He roars slamming his diamond fist into the ground.
A crystal ramp shoots up, intercepting Cannonbolt’s path and redirecting the incoming Arburian Pelarota straight into the air.
With Cannonbolt unable to move, Nue combines Four Arms’ strength and Terraspin’s flight to rocket himself high into the air. And in a blink of an eye he’s hovering right above the still spinning Cannonbolt.
“Raaaagghh!” He swings all four of his fists and claws down on the Arburian Pelarota launching him right back down towards the earth.
Cannonbolt’s curled up form crashes into the earth, creating a massive crater around his immobilized shell.
Nue has Izuku where he wants him, roaring out in glee as electricity dances off his body. “Check my own Special Attack, DEKU!!!” Aiming his body, arms, and tendrils down Nue unleashes a cyclone of twisting wind, spiraling streams of water, and a barrage of lightning down upon the immobilized Cannonbolt. “THUNDERSTORM VENDETTA!!!”
The clash of powerful elements strike down Cannonbolt, completely consuming him and blasting with a powerful gale of wind, water, and lightning!!
A massive dust cloud gushes up towards the sky, reaching so high that hikers and other tourists Arburian Pelarota saw it in the distance. The twister-like winds whip through the mountains, carrying the bullet like rain drops with it as lightning sporadically flies out in all directions, hitting everything from the Rustbucket, to trees, and even the Null Void Projector! The Projector sparks, its large barrel glowing red as a result.
As the dust begins to settle, a massive crater lies across the mountainside, scorched and smoking with little fires and burn marks.
Meanwhile, just before Nue’s final attack Hisashi was able to recover respirator only to be knocked off his feet by the thunderous blast. It takes a minute to recover, painting with worry, and scrambling to his feet “Izuku!! Izuku!!” He shouts and shouts hoping his son is still alive somewhere in the mist-like dust.
Chopper and Kraab wheel over to Hisashi, their frames heavily scratched up and dented after being thrown into the brush and mountainside.
Kraab panics, looking around for Izuku. “I don’t see him!”
“Izuku!! Champ!! Where are you?!”
Lying at the center of the smoking crater, Cannonbolt lets out a pained groan, his vision blurry as lights dance in his vision. But through all the haze and settling dust he can make out Nue’s massive form landing before him
“H-how…?” Is all he's able to wheeze out through all the aching pain.
Nue scoffs, smirking down at Deku’s beaten form. “How? You go to a school that pumps out heroes like a sweatshop! I had to make sure I didn’t fall behind.” To demonstrate electricity dances off his tendrils, his diamond arm becomes a blade, and his jagged fangs snap together thirsting for blood. “I’ve been practicing ever since you turned me into an inhuman freak!” And like that Nue snaps, his rage completely taking over, and driving him across the line. “You did this to me, Deku!! You did this!! Now it’s finally payback time!! RAAAGGGHHH!!!” He unleashes an unholy roar, leaping up at Cannonbolt with his claws, blades, and fangs ready to tear into his flesh!!
As the dust finally washes away, Hisashi, Kraab, and Chopper cry out in terror, watching helplessly as Nue prepares the final blow. “NOOOOO!!!”
And like a miracle or rather a curse from the gods, the damaged Null Void Projector misfires, firing a massive red beam right at the combatants!!
The beam cuts between them before imploding in on itself, generating a massive red portal that immediately swallows up the two.
“Raaaaahhhh!!” Nue cries out in shock as he’s sucked right into the crimson vortex.
“The Null Void?!” Cannonbolt cries out, summoning all the strength he can to hook himself to the ground with his large black claws.
But then a pair of tendrils slither their way up his ankles and quickly wrap themselves around his stubby legs.
Cannonbolt claws at the ground as he’s slowly pulled towards the spiraling vortex. Peering back just enough to find Nue’s tendrils leashed around his legs.
“If I’m going down then I’m taking you with me, DEKU!!!” With one final tug Nue rips Cannonbolt right into the void.
“AAAAAAAHH-!!!”
The Null Void shuts closed, cutting Cannonbolt off and throwing the mountainside into a sudden silence.
Hisashi shakes and trembles, peering around shakily, hoping, praying it was all a trick, a mirage, a trick of the light. But reality soon catches up to him, forcing him to his knees in utter defeat.
Kraab is stunned, unable to process what just happened, even Chopper seems shaken, standing completely still out of pure horror. “Are they…are they…” He can’t even bring himself to finish, not daring, not wanting to even hear the question or its obvious answer.
“Y-yes.” Hisashi wraps, tears staining his face as he falls forward in horribly sickening defeat. “Yes. Izuku’s trapped inside…the Null Void.”
To be continued…
Notes:
“Good. Good. Yes. I can feel your anger rising. Let the hate flow through you.”
“I can feel your anger. It gives you focus, makes you stronger.”
“That is the power of the dark side. That is the way of the…CLIFFHANGER!!!”
But for real. Why is Henzu here? How did he find Izuku? Why did he show up now? What is he after? What’s gonna happen next?! All of these questions and more will be answered next time!! With “Ch.60 Null and Void.”
Actually, I do want to apologize in case Henzu’s sudden appearance felt in anyway forced or random. Originally this chapter was gonna have prior scenes of Henzu interacting with others and gearing himself to go after Izuku. But those scenes just didn’t fit well and cut away too much from the events of Mt. Fuji’s Plumber Base. So they were cut out. BUT I plan on diving into those same scenes next time. So that any lingering questions will be answered next time with “Ch.60 Null and Void.”
***NEW ARTWORK*** Thanks to Voidv25 there is artwork of Deku’s new S.A.G.E. Gun on Deviant Art! [Look up: “Deku’s S.A.G.E. Gun” by Voidv25]. I love it, especially its color scheme and how it’ll fit well into Izuku’s aesthetic. Also I should point out that moving forward Izuku will be using the Blaster mostly when he is human. So, him using it as Four Arms will be rare to see. Anyway, thanks again to Voidv25 for your work on the S.A.G.E. Gun and more!! You’re the best!!
https://www.deviantart.com/voidv25/art/Deku-s-S-A-G-E-Gun-908079453*Also, quick reminder that there is artwork of Henzu Uuichi A.K.A. Nue on Voidv25’s file as well.
*There’s no Preview this time since it is a cliffhanger. It even has the “To be continued…” and everything!
*Soooo as you probably know already, I am a big fan of Star Wars, specifically of the Clone Wars TV show. So, when I needed droids for Izuku to fight my mind automatically went there.
Well, except for the Carbonite-War Droid that Hisashi fought. That thing is straight out from “Star Wars: The Force Unleashed II” video game. BTW that game is gonna be on the switch and I am so happy cause my original disc for the Wii is broken. It glitches out on the first level so I’ve been dying to play the game since forever.
Chapter 65: Null and Void
Summary:
Izuku and Nue get themselves trapped in the Null Void where they have to survive both the Null Void's inhabitants and each other.
Notes:
6 weeks… Damn, 6 weeks. I knew it was gonna take me a while, but I didn’t think it’d take this long. Sorry guys but life happens and the last month has been kicking my butt and I’ve been too exhausted to work on the chapter as much as I would have liked to. But thankfully these last few weeks have been a great relief and I was really able to make a lot of progress, and here we finally are. And I surely hope it’s worth the wait and hey it is a long chapter so hopefully this helps make up for lost time.
***ARTWORK*** Just a reminder that the artist, Voidv25, has artwork of Henzu Uuichi A.K.A. Nue on his file on Deviant Art.
Also I FINALLY figured out how to add Images to AO3!!! WOAH!!!
*There is a side story that is canon to this story, and it is called “Heroes Never Die; It’s Hero Time, Anytime.” You will find an assortment of one shots that take place in the canon of this main story.
*This story has a TV Tropes page so feel free to check it out.*
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Explosions ring out, blasting apart the hexagonal panels and pillars apart in brilliant flashes of red. A red beam of light streaks through the air setting off a chain of explosions in its wake!
Rojo throws herself onto the ground and takes cover behind a wall of broken hexagon pillars. “Shit!!” She flinches as another laser beam nearly grazes her. “This thing is gonna kill us!!”
A dark form stomps past her, his tall frame looming through the smoke as his fists begin to blow bright. “Perish foul beast!!” Ragnarok roars, reaching his hand up and firing back an intense beam of light right back at their attacker. “Perish!!”
From high above, Sunder flies atop his glider, zooming through the smoke-filled air with his red glowing chain-axe at the ready. His once damaged weapon has now been welded to a long dexterous chain, creating an even more devastating weapon.
With Ragnarok providing suppressant fire, he throws his head up and calls out into the dark smoke-filled sky. “Sunder!!”
Sunder scowls but complies with the orders. “I know! I know!” Reaching into his bandelier he produces a handful of marbles.
And so as he zooms forth he tosses the marbles down, watching in glee as they explode and blast into their opponent.
As the explosions settle down and even more smoke pours up into the air, Rojo summons enough courage to poke her head out from behind the barricade. “Did we get it?”
From within the smoke another red beam is shot out! The beam nearly strikes Ragnarok who manages to dive away. The laser is then shot upward, forcing Sunder to weave through the air.
“Pull back! Pull back!” Rojo screams, sprinting off and taking cover behind a down pillar.
Presses her back to the pillar she braces herself as the beam nearly grazes her head and instead slices the pillar apart causing it to collapse on top of itself.
Rojo dives out of the way as the pillar crumbles into a pile of rubble.
Through the panic another beam is fired at her downed form.
Rojo screams in terror expecting this to be the end until a hulking red figure zooms into view.
“Raaaggh!!” Nue roars, slamming his fists into the ground, producing a wall of crystals that deflect the beam away.
Nue huffs, emitting a low, dangerous growl as Ragnarok and Sunder re-engage with their target.
Rojo breathes, pulling herself up to her feet. “T-thanks, freak.”
“Shut it!” Nue barks back. “I didn’t even know you were there.”
Rojo gives him a dirty look in response.
Another beam of red sets off another chain of explosions from nearby, throwing them right back into the chaos.
Rojo uses her arm to shield herself from the heat of the blasts. “We need a new plan!”
“I got one.” Nue growls. “I’ll take this thing on by myself!”
Rojo can’t believe what she’s hearing. “It’s stronger than you are, remember?!”
“Shut up!! I’m stronger than all you combined!!”
“No, wait! We need to think about this!!”
“Raaaaahh!!” Too late as he’s already taken off.
Rolling her eyes, Rojo let’s out an exasperated sigh. “Idiot.”
“Raaaaahh!! Hahaha!!” Nue roars while stampeding through the battlefield. “Move it losers!! Hahaha!” He nearly tramples Sunder and Ragnarok who just barely get out of his way. “I’ll take care of this guy myself!!
He lunges at the smoke enshrouded opponent, swinging his diamond blade forward! “No one can stop me!!”
He swings his blade forward expecting to end this and earn his victory!
But his hopes are quickly dashed as a swift silver blade slices right through the crystal.
“Raaaaghh!!!” Nue screams out in pain, clutching his crystal arm as it slowly begins to reform.
And while he’s down, out of the smoke appears the newly reformed Techadon. The monster of a machine is as imposing as it ever was, it even reconstructed its katana-like Resonate-Blade.
Nue gasps, raising his arm over his face in fright as the Techadon prepares to bring its blade down on his head.
“Move out of the way kid!!” Sunder flies in, spinning the chain-axe in his hand before throwing the axe’s head and swinging it towards the Techadon.
Instead of moving out of the way, however, Nue lunges up and bats the axe away with a magnetic pulse! The chain-axe is veered away in the opposite direction, swinging back at Rojo and Ragnarok whom just barely dived out of the way. The ax slices through a pillar causing the upper half to vanish in a flash of red light.
Meanwhile, Nue engages the machine, grabbing at its arms and trying to outpower it.
Rojo screams back at Nue. “What the hell are you doing?!”
“I don’t need you!!” Nue roars back. “I don't need anyone's help!! I can do this on my own!! Just watch me! Raaaggghhh!!”
Summoning Four Arms’ strength along with Lodestar’s magnetic pull, Nue launches the Techadon back, slamming it against the wall.
“Ha! See? No, sweat.” He gloats, thinking he’s won.
The others just stare back and decide to watch how the next events play out.
Suddenly Nue’s hit by a barrage of missiles that explode across his shell and skin.
He flinches against the blasts, angry that the dumb robot was still kicking.
However, before he can even register it a massive metal hand grabs him by the head and throws him into the ground.
“Graahh!!” Nue coughs out as his face is slammed into the cold hard ground.
His back tendrils and tail lash out and strike the Techadon, trying to steal its power.
But the bot easily predicted the move as it catches his tendrils with its free hand.
From under its weight, Nue growls at it as his anger builds. “Damn, robot.”
While still holding onto the sparking tendrils, the Techadon prepares its fist aiming to pound the freak into the dirt. It swings its fist down to do so!
“Enough.”
The Techadon’s fist freezes just centimeters from Nue’s skull. Before the robot releases him, stepping back and standing at attention.
The battlefield lights up as the outlines of the hexagonal panels glow red. The pillars and floating platforms fold away back into the dome’s walls and floors as vents dissipate the smoke and fire. Panels damaged by the training fold away and are replaced by a set of newly polished panels.
With the simulation over, Rojo, Ragnarok, and Sunder stand to the side, all of them looking towards the entrance as their commander makes his appearance.
With his arms tucked behind his back, Vilgax strolls into the dome with his head high allowing him to peer down at his underlings. Speaking of which, Psyphon slinks in behind him, acting like Vilgax’s shadow.
“Hey!” Nue spits, pulling himself off the floor. “Why’d you stop the training?! I had the bucket of bolts right where I wanted him!”
Vilgax tilts his head up even higher. “And where did you want it exactly? Standing over you as it crushed you under its fist?”
Not having a proper retort, Nue growls in response and fist shakes in anger.
Psyphon snickers from behind Vilgax. “This was a pathetic showing, Nue. You are wasting too much time on your inflated ego.”
Ignoring Nue’s death glare, Psyphon slinks forward and bows his head to Vilgax. “Master, please, I must implore you to release this one. I’m sure we can find much better stock on this planet.”
Nue tsks, muttering under his breath. “Bootlicker.”
Psyphon’s head jerks back at him in annoyance. “And might I add that his…demeanor is absolutely atrocious.”
Nue looks like he wants to tear Psyphon a new one, but he bites his tongue, calming himself back down. “My apologies then.” A mischievous smirk creeps its way back onto his face. “I meant to call you a flipping Brown-Noser! Ha!!”
Psyphon instantly throws his arm up, preparing to fire his mounted laser at Nue. “You insolent-!”
“Enough.” Vilgax growls. “This bickering is pointless.”
“This whole teamwork shit is pointless!” Nue roars out, swinging his claw widely and slamming it against the ground in a fit of rage. “With my powers I can crush you all with two arms tied behind my back!!”
Vilgax highly doubts that. “No, you can’t.”
For some reason, Nue is taken back by Vilgax’s lack of a reaction.
The conqueror turns his head away in disgust. “As we’ve already discussed. Your Quirk Osmosis only allowed you to obtain a portion of the Omnitrix’s power. Meaning you only have 1/10 of every alien’s power. And as a result of the improper absorption the alien DNA has overwritten your once human DNA, or more accurately the new DNA has replaced the DNA that provides you your Quirk, Osmosis.”
“I know all this already!” Nue shouts in annoyance. “Your scientist or whatever already figured that out! Which is why I’ve been working on combining my powers.” To prove his point he presents his diamond-arm as a blade while sparks of electricity dance around it.
Vilgax again shows no interest or reaction to the lightning even as it sparks dangerously close to his face. “Yes. However, individual strength can only get you so far. One soldier cannot win a war, it takes an army. You are a soldier, and these are your comrades.” He gestures towards Rojo, Sunder, Ragnarok, and the Techadon. “With all of your combined intellect, skills, and adaptability along with your tenacity and versatility there won’t be force on Earth that can stop us.”
Nue doesn’t see it that way. “Listen Villy. I don’t care about all that teamwork, participation crap. I ain’t no soldier. Not for you and not for the League. I'm only here to get what I want.”
“And what is it you want?”
“What I want?” Nue stares down at his fleshy, mutated form, his anger rising as he stares into what was once his human hands. “I want revenge on the bastard that did this to me. I want to kill him!”
Vilgax turns away in disappointment. “You are incredibly short sighted.”
“What?!”
“Nue, allow others to do the thinking for you. You are a soldier, a weapon, not a tactician.”
“You bastard! Raagh!!” Nue lunges at Vilgax only to get batted away like a mere fly by the squid.
Everyone is stunned, freezing in place, fearfully watching as Nue is swatted away and tossed against the opposite wall like he weighed as much as a tennis ball.
“Enough.”
They all jerk in place out of fear as Vilgax turns to address them.
“I don’t believe any more training will achieve anything today. We will resume at a later time.”
Rojo swallows back her fear just enough to speak. “Y-yeah, sure boss.”
Sunder too. “Whatever you say.”
Ragnarok remains silent, biting his tongue while lowering his gaze.
With matters concluded, Vilgax turns away to leave.
Nue stirs, struggling to pull himself back up onto his feet. “At least tell me.”
Vilgax stops, awaiting Nue to continue.
“When can I pay Deku back?”
Vilgax turns away before quietly answering in an uninterested yet patient manner. “That time will come.”
“When?!” Nue roars, jumping back up onto his feet. “You have the means to track him down!! So why not send me there and I can finish him off once and for all?!”
“He is surrounded by Plumbers and Heroes.” Vilgax explains like it’s the most obvious thing. “Going after him now will expose our operations. Think before you act!” Vilgax shouts, uncharacteristically losing his cool, and causing all those before him to tremble. “You fail to see the bigger picture. Power is good but when combined with intelligence and cooperation it can become a force that can topple entire civilizations.” Just like it did for him all those decades ago. “Try to remember that during your lessons, child.”
Feeling like a kid that’s just been scolded and lectured, Nue’s fist shakes in anger before he slams his fist into the wall, smashing it. He rips his fist out and marches away past Vilgax and the others and through the large open portal leading into the rest of the ship.
The others watch him go without a word, like leaving a child alone after they’ve thrown a tantrum.
However, while watching Nue march away in anger, a conniving smirk stretches across Psyphon’s black lips.
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“Damn them. Damn them all!!” Nue is steaming mad, his head fuming with rage as he marches through the battleship’s dark corridors. “I can take Deku. I know I can.” he stares down at his many claws and appendages. “I can take on anyone now.”
“Let’s prove that shall we?”
Nue huffs in annoyance, spinning around to meet the naysayer. “What do you want, Skellington?”
Psyphon deviously smirks back despite the nickname. “What I want is what you want.”
Nue frowns unclear what that could possibly mean.
Psyphon smirks at Nue’s clear confusion, turning away while gesturing for Nue to follow. “Follow me.”
Folding his hands behind his back, Psyphon slinks away, moving slowly so that Nue may follow.
And after a moment of hesitation, Nue’s intrigue and confusion pushes him to follow, figuring that if it’s a waste of time he could always waste the scrawny alien.
He follows Psyphon all the way to the battleship’s hangar where a squadron of gunships are kept.
Nue frowns, wary of Psyphon’s odd actions. “What’s the catch, Papyrus? If you think you can get one up on me you got another thing coming!”
Psyphon peers back at him but does not outwardly react to Nue’s threat. Instead, he continues on acting like he didn’t even hear him. “According to our scanners the Omnitrix has recently been activated in a place called Mt. Fuji.” Psyphon pats the side of the nearest gunship. “By coincidence this ship’s autopilot has already been programmed to fly straight there.”
Nue perks up at the news.
Psyphon on his part continues on acting as if he’s none the wiser. “I better ensure that the hangar’s operating system is functioning properly, we haven't been able to close the hangar bay as of yet.” And so he slinks away, purposefully leaving Nue to his own devices.
With Psyphon gone, Nue breaks into a wide toothy grin as he turns his devious smile towards the gunship.
And not long after, Psyphon’s smirk grows even more pretentious as Nue’s gunship rises into the air and takes off through the forcefield-protected hanger and into the vacuum of space. The gunship veers out of view as it quickly descends back down to Earth.
“You really aren’t a tactician.” Psyphon laughs, finding Nue’s arrogance and foolishness oh so amusing. “You never even learned what the catch was. The catch is that after you make a fool of yourself my Master will finally see what little use you truly have.”
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Cannon Busters Opening - Showdown
(Beginning Instrumentals)
An open road, a bright sun illuminating the beautiful summer day, and the rush of wind in one’s ears as the Rustbucket cruises by moving across the road like a sports car before zooming past with grace.
We got places to go, things to do, people to see, and we got to get it done right away.
Izuku adjusts his hoodie, tugging it down over his body. All before gripping the dial of the Omnitrix and giving it a shine with his fingers.
So if you on the crew, guess we a team. Thicker than thieves and we all tryna help find a way
Hisashi buttons up his Hawaiian short, before grabbing his respirator and dawning it over his maw. He then snatches up a few loose tickets and pamphlets before tucking them away.
If you know the destination, we making conversation. Time is ticking, sun is setting, we got no time for waiting
Chopper latches his leg to his body, readjusting it. Before his arms pop out and flex about making sure they’re working properly.
Might be the showdown, Looks like it's 'bout to go down
Bust through with the cannon, at the hoedown
(Instrumentals)
Izuku slams down on the Omnitrix! In a flash of green the screen scrolls down to reveal his aliens: Feedback, XLR8, Grey Matter, Four Arms, Ditto, Ripjaws, Terraspin, Water Hazard, Lodestar, Buzzshock, Diamondhead, Big Chill, Heatblast, Stinkfly, and Wildmutt.
Transition into title sequence: HEROES NEVER DIE; IT’S HERO TIME
So, we won't fall, until gravity is gone
Izuku grins falling through the air alongside Rath, Wildvine, Bullfrag, Cannonbolt, Upchuck, and one other inhuman silhouette! As the glow of the sunrise illuminates U.A. in the background!
We've been on this road too long, so long
Hisashi and Izuku stand back-to-back looking away from each other as the scene rotates around them.
The scenes flip in rapid succession with characters standing back-to-back!
(Instrumentals)
To Thirteen and Ochaco!
To Ochaco and All Might!
To All Might and Gran Torino!
And to Gran Torino and Hisashi!
And I can't stop, we can't stop
I'm so far away from home
We've been on this road too long, too long
A legion of villains have their backs to the camera but as the camera slides through their lineup, each of them turn to acknowledge the audience.
Kraab’s claw flexes and clamps nearly clipping the camera.
Rojo folds their arms together and smirks as the camera rolls past.
Sunder raises his axe at the ready.
A Techadon stands tall and proud, towering over the camera.
Nue bares a sharp tooth grin, his eyes gleaming with malice before the camera zooms away and up into to the forbidding sky, through the void of space, through the walls of the command ship, before halting before an all observing Vilgax.
Playing with fire (Fire!)
Take me higher
From up in the air Cinder releases a cloud of flames down upon Rojo below! Rojo cuts through the flames before rocketing up and clashing with the hero in midair!
We're on our way, we're on our way
Undivided (-Vided!)
Gran Torino zooms past, his grin wide, as he slams his feet into the Techadon! The Techadon crashes into the ground, kicking up smoke, but it rises again, unharmed.
And ignited
We're on our way, we're on our way, yeah!
From the smoke cloud, Ochaco leaps back in a spin as Sunder soars after her. Sunder his axe at her but she counters it with a Ryou Sphere!
On our way, we're going
Nue grins madly as he stares down Deku who grins back just as determined and manically.
And no mistakes while we're rolling around town
We just came back round
The Rustbucket bursts forth zooming down the highlighted highway, gracefully zooming past Bakugou, Kirishima, Tsuyu, Hatsume, Kaminari, Jiro, Tokoyami, Shoto, Mina, Hagakure, and Ochaco!
You don't wanna show out
Close up of a smiling Hisashi.
Cut to a closeup of Chopper.
Cut to a closeup of Kraab.
Finally, a close up to a grinning Deku!
Might be a showdown
Deku’s hand slams down on the Omnitrix, the alien green light swallows the screen!
Woo!
Freeze on the image of Deku, Cinder, Chopper, and Kraab posing before the setting sun, their shadows casted far off over the ground towards the camera.
(Illustrated by CreateGunner1209)
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Ch.60 Null and Void
“AAAAAHHHHH!!!”
The portal shuts closed, cutting off Cannonbolt’s view of the gorgeous mountainside and his Dad’s agonizingly worried face.
They spin and spin, their bodies flailing about this way and that as they’re thrusted through a swirling red tunnel before crashing down onto a patch of solid rock.
“Aaggh…” Cannonbolt groans, his head spinning from the trip. “What a trip, ugh… Ah!” He lets out a sharp gasp as he’s met with a blood red sky, floating labyrinths of meteors and rock, and a chorus of alien shrieks and howls far into the distance.
Cannonbolt and Nue both take a moment to gap at their surroundings, finding themselves atop a massive meteor just floating in the middle of all the chaos. With meteor belts swirling about through the air like trains, while rocks erode and form into strange arches, stalagmites, and walls. All while a vast void or red nothingness stretches on for what feels like forever.
Nue backs away from the strange sights and sounds, before becoming enraged and instantly throwing blame at Deku. “Where the hell are we?!”
“Hell.” Cannonbolt responds an octave just barely higher than a whisper. His entire form trembling in horror as the circumstances slowly begin to weigh down on him “A hell called…the Null Void.”
“You…You sent us to another fucking planet?! Raaaggh!!” Nue lashes out with his tendrils, using them like whips.
Cannonbolt is able to deflect the whips with his arm. “You don’t understand! The Null Void is a pocket dimension!”
He rolls away as Nue lunges at him but instead smashes the ground.
“A what dimension?!” Before waiting for an answer Nue fires a barrage of shards and electricity at Cannonbolt’s rolling form.
“A Pocket Dimension!” Cannonbolt panics, trying his best to explain while evading Nue’s attacks. “It’s a c-closet! In a building!” He uncurls and slides to a stop, growing as he tries and fails to remember how exactly Hisashi explained it. “With a key and…and…wait, how’d Dad explain it again?!”
“Forget it! This doesn't change anything!” Nue flexes his claws and tendrils in a dangerous manner. “I’ll kill you, Deku!!”
Cannonbolt glares right back, his own claws jerking at his sides. “To think you’d actually follow me into hell?” He crouches down, preparing to take off in a full speed roll. “Give it your best shot then! I’ll show you that I’m not the same useless Deku from before, Nue!!”
“RAAAaaaggghhh!!”
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“IZUKUUU!!!” Hisashi Midoriya lies defeated on his knees, his eyes darting here and there while his heart beats louder and louder in his ears making it hard to hear his own thoughts.
As his eyes dart around as if desperate to find Izuku standing somewhere nearby and not in the Null Void. But instead his eyes lock onto the busted Null Void Projector. “The Projector!!” In a blink of an eye he dives over and grabs the Projector, quickly inspecting its damaged and cracked frame. “Maybe I can-”
He moves to fix it but some stray red sparks shock his fingers away. Before the Projector’s head falls right off, landing on the dirt with a soft clank.
“No! NO!!” Hisashi screams. “Can you guys fix it?!”
Kraab hesitantly reaches at the projector before pulling his claw away. “Maybe? I don’t know! I’m no Galvian you know!”
Hisashi turns to his own droid. “Chop?!”
Chopper gives him a down trodden shake of his head. ^Wa wa…^
Hisashi’s hopes begin to fade away, clutching the Projector even harder as if just wishing for his son back would work.
Even Kraab looks out of place with a concerned look on his face as he hesitantly brings up a good question. “What do we do now?”
Nobody responds, after all none of them have a good answer.
That is until Hisashi suddenly jumps to his feet and makes a dash for the crashed Rustbucket.
Kraab’s startled by Hisashi’s sudden movement. “Where are you going?!”
Hisashi doesn’t answer as he jumps into the driver seat, praying the RV will start, and it does.
“Everyone inside!” He calls, waving the two bots over.
Chopper carries Kraab over to the RV. “Why? Where are we going?”
“We’re heading back to the base!! But first…” He reaches and pulls out his cellphone. “I have to make a call.”
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‘I gotta get back!!’ Cannonbolt thinks in a panic as he rolls away just in time to avoid another one of Nue’s attacks. “Would you stop and listen for a second?!”
Nue howls with glee. “No way! I’m having too much fun!” As he laughs, he fires powerful streams of water at Cannonbolt.
Cannonbolt rolls up and charges forward, deflecting the water away before slamming into Nue. Uncurling and grabbing him by the arms and pinning him down under his weight. “Listen to me!!” He screams, spit flying into Nue’s face. “We’re trapped and neither of us are getting out of here. We have bigger issues to deal with! Bigger than your little revenge plot!”
Nue shouts back, struggling under Cannonbolt’s weight. “I don’t have to listen to you! And even if I did, you’d probably just be lying anyway.” He manages to reel his feet up and kick Cannonbolt away!
Cannonbolt rolls back before sliding to a stop and screaming out in outrage. “Lying?! Look around you Nue!! Does it look like I’m lying?!”
“I don’t care! I just care about paying you back!”
Cannonbolt face slaps himself, dragging his claws down his face in frustration. “You are always like this! You never listen! Even back then you never listened to a thing I said!” Gritting his teeth, he crouches down fully intent on fighting back. “I can’t believe we were ever friends.”
Nue lunges forward, his fist slamming into Cannonbolt’s armor and flinging him back. “Yeah, me neither.” A cruel calculated smirk stretches across his mutated face. “I should have just been done with you like everyone else.”
Cannonbolt stumbles, wincing as if in pain.
“But I had to take pity on you, didn't I?” Nue scoffs, finding the irony of their situations laughable. “Guess you don’t need a friend like me anymore. Not when you got all your little school buddies now.”
Cannonbolt composes himself, growling back at the villain. “And what about you? You got yourself a little gang now? Won’t they care if you never return?”
“Who cares about them?! Not me! I don’t need them! Or anyone bossing me around!!” He stretches his arms up at his sides, displaying his entire form and all its strangeness. “I’m strong enough on my own! Always was and always will be!”
“You were never strong enough on your own!” Cannonbolt snarls back. “Not now, not ever.”
“Shut up!! I’ll show you! I’ll show all of you!! RAAAGGGHHH!!!”
Nue unleashes a beastly roar out into the void, his roar echoing through the vast red openness for what might be eternity.
But…as his roar fades into the distance it is answered by another beastly shriek from far into the distance. “Skraaaaaeeeee…!”
Cannonbolt freezes, jerking his head up and turning towards the distant roar. “Did you hear that?”
Nue growls in frustration. “Quiet! You can’t distract me!”
“I’m not trying to!” Cannonbolt scolds before looking out towards the distance, listening carefully as the shrieking grows ever louder. “Something's coming.”
“Who cares?!” Nue spits, stomping forward while cracking his fists and claws. “You should be more worried about me!! Ragh-” He prepares to swing when suddenly a chorus of shrieks fill the air.
“Skraaaeee!! Skraaaeee!! Skraaaeee!!” Low pitched beastly shrieks and roars cry out while being accompanied by the rush of many flapping wings while a hundred shadows zoom overhead.
Peering up, the two are stunned to find an entire swarm of monsters circling them from the red sky.
The monsters are clearly natives of the Null Void as they show no semblance of sentience or intelligence. Only driven by pure animalistic instinct. Fitting as they look like gray Wildmutts but they have tentacles for legs instead and massive bat wings to fly around. Either way it’s clear that these Nullvoiders are here for one thing: a meal.
“Skraaaeee!! Skraaaeee!! Skraaaeee!!”
Nue steps back as the swarm of Nullvoiders continues to circle in the air. ‘“What the hell?! What are these things?!”
“Skraaaeee!! Skraaaeee!!” A trio of Nullvoiders stray from the swarm and divebomb Nue, slamming all their weight into him as they grab and snap at his limbs and torso.
Nue roars, throwing his arms and tail about, shaking them off. “And what’s with all the tentacle fetishes?!” First Vilgax and now these things?! “Raaagh!! Let go of me you eyeless bat-things!!”
“Skraaaaaeeeee!!” As their pack mates are tossed aside, more and more of the shrieking Nullvoiders dive in to attack the lone aliens.
Cannonbolt rolls through them, flattening them against his weight or batting them away like bowling pins as he races atop the floating meteor, making his way up a nearby slope in order to gain some higher ground.
As he clears the top he uncurls, and stops, peering around to quickly check on the situation. Down below he can see Nue struggling to put up a fight against the wave of Nullvoiders. He’s doing everything he can to keep them at bay, whether it’s by electrocution, repelling them with rain of shards, or summoning gusts of wind to blow them away. But nothing seems to work as with everyone that he defeats two more fly in to take its place.
‘Poor guy… Maybe…Maybe I should help?’
“Raagghh!!” Nue roars as he knocks away his attackers. “I’ll kill you all!! I’ll tie your corpses together to make a circus tent!! Raagghh!!”
Izuku sweatdrops, watching Nue rampage as if he was a kindergartener throwing a tantrum. ‘You know what…never mind.’
He turns away ready to make his own escape but stops when he finds himself surrounded by a group of Nullvoiders.
“Skraaaeee. Skraaaeee.” They shriek, baring their fangs and tentacles.
“There sure are a lot of you.” Cannonbolt sweats while taking a combative stance. “But Cannonbolt’s armor is impenetrable! So, bring it on you-you Nullvoiders!”
“Skraaaeee!!” They shriek and hollow, accepting the challenge.
Cannonbolt rolls up and bounces up, slamming into them and crushing them under his spinning weight.
“Hehehe!” Cannonbolt grins while sliding to a stop, he’s feeling mighty good right now; these Nullvoiders are perfect for taking his frustration out on. “Is that all you got?!”
“Skraaaeee!!”
“Hehehe. I can do this all day!”
*BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!*
While in a fighting pose, Izuku Midoriya blinks in surprise at his normal scrawny form. After a moment he lets out a sigh and shrugs. “You know…I’m not even surprised.”
“Skraaaeee!! Skraaaeee!! Skraaaeee!!”
“Aaaaahhhh!!” Izuku screams, throwing himself down to the ground, covering his head as the Nullvoiders just barely miss his head.
He rolls himself to his back while grabbing the S.A.G.E. Gun off his side. “Stay back or I will shoot!!”
“Skraaaeee!! Skraaaeee!! Skraaaeee!!” They circle around for another attack only to be met with several plasma bolts. “Skraaaeee!! Skraaaeee!! Skraaaeee!!” They howl in pain, scattering and flying off away from the painful plasma shots.
Izuku smirks while pulling back his smoking blaster. “I did warn you.”
“Skraaaeee!! Skraaaeee!! Skraaaeee!!” Despite the warning and the shots, their instincts to hunt refuse to let them back down as they muster their courage and fly in for another attack.
Izuku fires back, managing to fend off a few of them as he moves for higher ground. He shoots and shoots and shoots, having to duck down as a few manage to make it past and nearly snatch him up. He gets up and runs for it, not looking where he’s going as he fires.
“Woah!!” His foot hits nothing as he steps right into a large hole. Falling in, he slides along the narrow tunnel as the Nullvoiders lash out and try to grab him. But gravity has its hold on him as it slides him down back to the base of the asteroid.
Izuku lands with a humph, tumbling forward and finding himself hidden away in a small crevice that perfectly hides him from the Nullvoiders’ view. “Huh, talk about lucky.”
He leans towards the entrance of the crevice, peering out to see if the coast is clear.
And the first thing he sees is Nue once again surrounded by the swarming Nullvoiders as they whip and bite at his face and limbs.
“Raaaggh!!” He repels them away with bolts of lightning and shards of diamonds.
‘He’s not gonna make it like this.’ Izuku thinks, feeling a little bit worried for his ex-friend. ‘No.’ He shakes his head as he tries to remain logical about this. ‘He got himself into this mess he can get himself out.’ Worry and guilt bubble up inside his stomach making him doubt his own thoughts. ‘But…what if he can’t?’
“Skraaaeee!! Skraaaeee!! Skraaaeee!!”
Izuku scrambles back, pressing his back against the wall, hiding himself as a trio of Nullvoiders woosh by the crevice. Thankfully they pass by without noticing him. But even so it was still too close for comfort.
Peering back out towards the void, Izuku frowns with worry at all the Nullvoiders swarming around in the air as they wait for Nue to tire out or for him to reappear.
‘Not good! We’re surrounded! Darn, I can’t even escape and run off on my own, not when the Omnitrix is still recharging. AH!!’ He pulls his head back just as more Nullvoiders glide on by. ‘And this little cave can’t hide me forever, they’ll find me! And what happens if they find me before the Omnitrix is fully charged?! They’ll eat me alive!’
Things certainly aren’t looking good. He basically has two choices: he can try to slip away, or he can wait it out and hope that the Omnitrix recharges first before they find him.
But again, if he tries to slip away they will most likely spot him right away. And if he does manage to wait out the Omnitrix and run off with XLR8 there’s no guarantee that he’ll actually escape them. After all, what would happen if he timed out later and finds himself being tracked down by them or by something worse?
Izuku shudders in defeat. ‘No matter what I do I’m dead meat! There’s got to be another option! There has to be!’
Peering out, he once again watches as Nue stubbornly stands his ground against the unrelenting swarm, roaring out like a wounded beast trapped inside a cage.
Izuku’s heart goes cold with dread as a third option finally pops into his head. “I know I’m gonna regret.” He slides up the wall and to his feet, gripping the edge of the cave entrance for support. “I just know it…”
Meanwhile, Nue is still struggling against the onslaught of wings, teeth, and tentacles. “Raagh!! Go away already! Come on! I don’t even taste good so stop trying to eat me!!” With a beastly roar he blasts them away with a Buzzshock-like electrical field. “Ehehehe. That’ll teach you!”
However, like before, more and more begin to circle closer, taking their swarmmates’ places in the attack.
Nue steps back, scowling in frustration at their determination and stubbornness. “You’ve got to be kidding me.”
“Skraaaeee!! Skraaaeee!! Skraaaeee!!”
A group of them dive down, gliding down like bombs in an air raid.
Nue prepares himself for the attacks when several bolts of green strike the beasts’ sides causing them to howl in pain as they scatter and fly off back towards the swarm.
“What the hell?!” Nue spins around and much to his shock-and-awe he finds Izuku standing there before a crevice with a freaking green gun in hand!
“What the fuck?! Since when have you been packing heat?!”
Izuku shoots at the Nullvoiders as he runs over to Nue’s side. “Depends, what time is it?”
Nue frowns in confusion but humors him with an answer anyway. “I don’t know, it was about 3 o’clock when I found you.”
“Then it’s been three hours.” Izuku half-jokes half-comments while keeping his eyes on the swarm. “Look out!!” He swings his blaster up at Nue’s head.
Nue flinches, raising his arm to defend himself when Izuku fires, blasting a pair of Nullvoiders that were sneaking up on them from behind.
Izuku pulls down his S.A.G.E. Gun, showing Nue he means no harm to him before asking. “Mind giving us some cover?!”
Nue scowls as he shoots out a hail of shards at the swarm. “What the fuck you think I’m doing?!”
“I meant a wall! A crystal wall!”
“I was just about to! Raaggh!” Slamming his hands down into the ground, crystals forms all around them, forming into a large crystal pyramid.
The Nullvoiders howl and shriek, with their prey gone from sight, they swoop in attacking the pyramid from all sides, trying to break in and get to the nice chewy centers.
Nue is finally able to breath but not before turning away from Deku with his arms crossed in annoyance. “Just so you know I was already gonna do that. Not because you told me to. Got it?”
Izuku rolls his eyes. “Yeah, sure.”
“Now.” Nue lets out a deep beastly growl as he skulks closer, with his head high, making sure that Izuku knows who’s in charge here. “What the fuck is going on here, Deku?”
Izuku raises a scrutinizing eyebrow. “Oh, so now you want to listen?”
“Grrr.” Nue grabs Izuku by the collar and lifts him into the air. “Watch it, dickwad. Don’t act all tough and mighty especially when your stupid watch decided to abandon you.”
Izuku grabs at Nue’s hand in order to prop himself up. “I wouldn’t do that if I were you.”
Nue smirks while pulling the teen closer. “Oh, and why not?”
Izuku scowls back in response. “Because without me. You’re never getting out of here.”
“I’ve gotten myself out of worse.”
“Don’t be an idiot!” Izuku screams, yelling into Nue’s mutated face. “This isn’t juvie! Or jail! Neither of us are going to survive this place unless…unless-” He’s choking on his own words, like saying the words out loud is gonna make him puke.
Nue eggs him on, not sure where he’s getting at. “Unless what?”
“Unless…” Izuku takes a breath and answers in a defeated sigh. “Unless we work together.”
“Hahahahahaha!” Nue immediately bursts into laughter, dropping Izuku while clutching at his gut. “Me?! Work with you?! Hahaha!” He wipes the tears from his eyes before smirking down at the teen. “I always knew you were a hopeless dumbass.”
Izuku scowls back, shoving himself to his feet before jabbing his finger into Nue’s torso. “Fine, then what's your plan?”
Nue’s smirk widens. “First. I’ll kill you. And then I’ll kill all of those bat-things!”
“Okay, good start.” Izuku praises with venomous sarcasm. “And then what?”
“Then I’ll get out of here.”
“How?”
Nue pauses trying and failing to come up with an answer.
Izuku rolls his eyes, figuring as much. “If you listen to me, we can get out of this mess.”
Nue crosses his arm, leaning back and giving Izuku a questionable look. “Me? Listen to you?”
“Yes!” He yells in a way that this is the most obvious answer. “I understand more about your powers than anyone else, other than you! You know I can come up with plans on the fly! And out of the two of us I’m the only one that even knows where we are. Or at least understands it.”
Nue frowns, turning his head away as if to appear indifferent. But in reality, it is clear that he is actually considering his options.
He could either kill Deku here and now. And then make his escape but…how would he even do that?
“Skraaaeee!! Skraaaeee!! Skraaaeee!!” The muffled shrieks and howls snap him out of his thoughts, reminding him that he can’t take forever to come to a decision.
Izuku takes a breath before offering up his hand. “What do you say? Truce?”
Nue glares down at his hand, half tempted to crush it but instead he takes his hand and gives it a tight squeeze and a shake. “Truce. But just to be clear, the moment we’re out of this hell hole I’m sending you right back to hell myself.”
Izuku glares back, trying and failing to match Nue’s grip. “Fair enough.”
They both finally let go, although Izuku is the only one that has to massage his aching hand. “But before that we’re gonna need to get out of here.”
“What are you talking about?” Nue gestures towards the inside of the crystal pyramid. “Those things aren’t getting in here, not in a million years.”
Izuku has to hold himself back from shooting Nue in the foot. “Okay, but can we stay in here for that long.”
Nue doesn’t answer, instead turning away in anger at Izuku’s logic.
Izuku grips his blaster, setting it from stun…to kill. “Alright, first thing first you need to make an opening.”
“F-fine!” Nue angrily stomps over towards the crystal wall.
He bends down, burying his arms into the ground, grabbing the crystals from underneath before using all his strength and Diamondhead’s geo-powers to blast the crystal pyramid into the air!!
The pyramid shoots up like a rocket before blasting apart into a hailstorm of shards.
“Skraaaeee!! Skraaaeee!! Skraaaeee!!” The Nullvoiders shriek and wail as they’re pelted by the incoming shards and chunks of diamond.
Nue backs away, watching as the swarm is thrown into chaos. “Now what?!”
Without saying a word, Izuku hops onto Nue’s back, grabbing his tendrils and shell like a saddle and reigns.
“Hey, get off! What the hell are you doing?!”
Izuku ignores him and points up towards the blood-red sky instead. “Now fly!”
“What?!”
Izuku kicks him with his heel while screaming. “Fly! Fly, now!!”
“Okay! No need to shout! And stop kicking me, I’m not a horse!!”
With Four Arms’ strength, Nue leaps high into the air where he generates Terraspin’s whirlwind from his torso, allowing them to fly up and away from the swarm.
“Skraaaeee!! Skraaaeee!! Skraaaeee!!” The swarm howl and shriek in outrage as they chase after their fleeing prey.
Nue soars through the air, weaving his way past floating meteors and massive chunks of earth, trying to put as much distance as he can between them and the pursuing swarm. “Now what?!”
Izuku yells as he fires his S.A.G.E. Gun back at the pursuing swarm. “Just keep going!”
“This is your plan?! Running away?!”
“What else would we do?!”
“Fight!”
“Skraaaeee!! Skraaaeee!! Skraaaeee!!” A few Nullvoiders manages to surprise them by flying in from the side.
“Raaahh!!” Nue screams in a panic having been caught off guard by them.
But they are soon plummeting away with scorch marks on their heads after Izuku shot them with his blaster.
As Nue settles down, Izuku rolls his eyes and continues to shoot back at the rest of the swarm. “Yeah, good luck with that.”
“Raghh!” Nue shouts in frustration as he dives between strange arches and purple slime-like webbing. “Just great! I knew you were gonna get me killed!”
Izuku blinks back at him, confoundedly. “Me?! How is this my fault?!”
“It just is!”
Izuku growls in frustration, grinding his teeth together while shaking his head at the stupidity of it all. “I can’t believe this! It was always like this! You always dragged me into these kinds of messes!” He shakes his head, trying to make sense of it all. “Why did I stay with you as long as I did? I swear we’ve been here before!”
Nue mockingly smirks back at him. “Oh, we have. And I specifically remember saving your ass. Hm, too bad. If I knew now back then I probably wouldn’t have.”
Izuku scowls back at him. “First of all, I'm pretty sure I saved you. And secondly,” He pauses in order to shoot down a few more Nullvoiders before turning back to Nue and coldly stating. “I feel the exact same way.”
The two glare at each other with intense sparks clashing between them.
Nue breaks the glaring match but not without throwing an insult back at the teen. “Dickwad.”
Izuku scowls back before muttering out one of his own. “Poser.”
“Asswipe!”
“Scuzzball!”
“Teacher’s Pet!”
“Delinquent!”
“Mama’s Boy!!”
“Freak Show!!
“BROCCOLI HEAD!!!”
[FLASHBACK]
“Broccoli Head!! Yo, Broccoli Head!”
While walking along the sidewalk, Izuku shyly pokes his head out from behind his Hero notebook. He oh so badly wants to shrink in on himself and disappear. “H-Henchan. I told you to stop calling me that.”
A non-mutated Henzu Uuichi runs up from behind, throwing his arm over Izuku’s shoulders and bookbag.
The two are wearing the exact same dark uniform albeit Henzu ditched the jacket a while ago and his collared shirt remains unkempt and untucked.
Henzu laughs while ruffling Izuku’s messy green hair. “Hahaha! And I told you to stop calling me that kiddy nickname.”
“R-right, s-sorry!” Izuku embarrassingly blushes, trying to shove Henzu’s arms away. “It just slipped out.”
“Eh, whatever.” Henzu lets him go, leaning back while shoving his hands into his pockets. “So it’s the weekend. What are you gonna do?”
Izuku shyly rubs his left arm, tracing his hand over his bare left wrist. “I…I don’t know. I mean, there were some new videos of All Might that I need to catch up on. I also need to study for the test next week. Oh, and I’m supposed to help clean my neighbor’s place after I, erm, scratched his car.” Well more like dented it with his bike, but hey Kacchan was chasing him he didn’t have time to brake in time! “Oh, but first I was gonna walk around downtown! There’s rumors that All Might was spotted in the area. Can you believe it? All Might! I can’t wait! I really hope I can-”
“Dude.” Henzu tires and fails to hold back the mockery in his voice. “You have got to get a life.”
‘Ouch. He couldn’t have put that any nicer, could he?’
Henzu smirks while thinking up a really fun idea. “Tell you what? Why don’t I take you sightseeing today?”
Izuku frowns while tucking his notebook back into his oversized schoolbag. “Sightseeing?”
“Yeah, of the city.”
“Um, I don’t think I need to. I mean I live here.”
“I know that dumbass.” Henzu mocks in a playful and not at all hurtful manner. “But trust me you ain’t ever seen anything like what I’m about to show ya.”
Izuku suddenly becomes very nervous, turning away and trying to leave quickly. “Henzu, I don’t think-”
Henzu grabs him by his bare left wrist and spins him around. “We’re going!”
Izuku gasps. “We are?!”
“Yup! Right now!” Henzu grins while dragging Izuku along by his bare left arm.
“H-hey, wait! I-I haven’t said yes yet! And I should really text my mom and let her know-”
“Don’t worry! I’ll make sure you get back by your bedtime. Trust me, I’d hate to see Momidoriya worry.”
“Could you stop calling her that?”
“What? Why? It fits her so well though.”
“Can you at least tell me where we’re going?”
“Nope! It’s a surprise.”
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
Izuku glares unsurprisingly at the scenery before him, not impressed at all by Henzu's little stunt. “Well you were right, this is a surprise. A really bad surprise.”
The surprise being that they’ll be doing some sightseeing in the bad part of town. Where heroes and police never go, allowing all sorts of bad guys to take over and have their run of the place.
Henzu laughs while leading Izuku through a boarded-up foxhole in a chain link fence. They slip through finding themselves in a gated parking lot that's filled with piles of junk, tires, and trash. Lining the parking lot are rows of green moving trucks and vans all with the same logo that reads “Trust A Bro” moving company.
Izuku shudders as they slip between the trucks, making their way to the main building that looks more abandoned than being used for a moving company.
Henzu chuckles as he leads Izuku to a locked door, he kneels down and pulls out a lock pick and begins tinkering with the lock. “What are you talking about? This is great! Ever heard of urban exploring?!”
Turning away, Izuku mumbles to himself. “Ever heard of common sense?”
“What was that?”
Izuku jolts up as if he was caught red handed. “I-I said what are we gonna do now?”
“We’re gonna have some fun.” Henzu smirks as he unlocks the door. He gets up and swings it open before stepping back and gesturing for Izuku to step inside. “Age before beauty.”
“But you’re older than me.”
“Just get in here!” Henzu laughs, shoving Izuku inside, before stepping inside himself and shutting the door behind them.
As the door shuts closed, the gate leading into the parking lot slides open and a roar of an engine can be heard. And then through the gate a Dodge Challenger with a faded-maroon coloring rolls in and screeches to a halt just in front of the door.
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
Izuku fearfully sneaks through the buildings, which appears to be a sort of factory warehouse type place. “What’s in here?”
“Shh!” Henzu shushes him as they sneak between the machinery and crates. “Keep it down.” He also gestures for Izuku to keep his head low.
Izuku gulps, nervously in response. “Henzu…?”
Henzu smiles confidently. “Just stay quiet. And trust me.”
He leads Izuku further into the building until they come upon a set of narrow industrial stairs leading up to the second level which has an open floor design allowing anyone who's up there to peer down to the first floor unobstructed.
They slowly crawl their way up the staircase, making sure not to make a sound.
Izuku’s fears grow with every step especially as they reach the top of the steps, leading to the second level that overlooks the first. “Henzu… What are we doing here?”
Henzu smirks as he leads Izuku over towards the edge so they can look down towards a section of the ground floor. “You’ll see.” He waves for Izuku to come over and look.
Izuku slowly approaches, making sure to hide behind a pile of boxes along with Henzu before they both peer down towards the ground floor.
Peering down they find about three thugs in red tracksuits milling about a large table that’s filled to the brim with antiques, jewelry, and cash.
The three thugs look to be celebrating a recent heist as they file through the antiques and jewelry. “Bro. Take a look at all this loot!”
“I know, bro!”
“Haha! Who knew antique stores had such expensive shit inside? Haha!”
There is a kick and a slam as the door swings open and slams against the wall.
And walks in is a young man in his early/mid-twenties but despite his age the other thugs quickly settle down, indicating his authority. The young man has long brunette hair, he’s tall with a very muscular build hidden underneath his unzipped red tracksuit. Underneath he wears a black sleeveless shirt with a large skull on it.
The obvious thug Leader smirks down at his cronies and warns. “Careful with the goods, bro. The Boss won’t be too happy if we broke the merchandise.”
The biggest of the thugs quickly puts down the antique vase he was admiring. “Right-Right, sorry bro.”
“It’s all good, bro.” The Leader smirks, scanning the loot. “Now where is it?”
The scrawniest of the thugs quickly provides what he’s looking for. “Ah, it’s right here!” He hurries over and hands the Leader a small leather box.
The Leader smirks, taking the box and opening it, admiring the treasure inside. “Take a look, bros. With this we’ll be rolling in the dough.”
The third thug, who happens to be bald, grins down at the box. “Hell, yeah, bro.”
Meanwhile, having watched and listened in on everything, Izuku whispers over towards his friend. “Henzu. Who are these guys?”
Henzu grins back, excited to tell him. “Those guys are part of the Tracksuit Mafia.”
“Wha-” Before Izuku can scream Henzu covers his mouth with his hand
He holds his hand there, making sure Izuku won’t give them away. “Yeah, I know. Cool, right?” He let’s Izuku go before pointing back down towards the mafia members. “Just watch.”
Back down below, the Leader’s pocket begins to vibrate, and he reaches into his pocket and pulls out his cellphone. His smile instantly vanishes when he reads the number on the screen. “Bros! It’s the boss.”
The other three mafia members quiet down as their Leader marches off to take the call.
“What’s up, Bro?” He smiles, holding up the little leather box. “Yeah, we got it. Giran and his client are gonna be real happy when they see it.”
His smile vanishes while his Boss talks in his ear.
Figuring this conversation is gonna be a while he turns and hands one of his thugs the box before turning away and heading towards a side room that he made into a makeshift office.
“Don’t you worry, Boss. It’s all in good hands trust me.” He slams the door to his office shut and closes the curtains so he can take this call privately.
The three thugs are left there, dumbfounded and oblivious on what to do next.
The bald thug turns to the other two and asks. “Now what?”
The biggest of them shrugs. “Bro. Want to play Smash?”
The scrawniest thug grins in excitement. “Hell yeah, Bro.” He puts the box back with the rest of the loot before they hurry off to play their game, figuring it’ll be a while until their leader gets off the phone.
Izuku holds his breath as the thugs hurry away. Once they're gone his eyes trail over the loot and lock onto the mysterious leather box. “W-what do you think is in there?”
His bad influence of a friend grins mischievously. “Only one way to find out.”
Izuku suddenly becomes very nervous. “H-Henzu, wh-why are we even here?”
“Okay, I’ll be honest with you. I’m not here out of fun but cause I got a job.”
“You have a job?!”
“Well sort of, look I got a contact or a friend who works with these guys from time to time. But when he heard these guys were gonna pull off a big heist he hired me to take a little cut of their pie if you know what I mean.”
Izuku gasps in horror. “Henzu, that's terrible! You’re essentially a criminal! A thief!”
Henzu shrugs, giving Izuku a coy look. “Is it really a crime if I’m stealing from criminals, though?”
“Y-yes…! Maybe… I don’t know! But we shouldn’t be here!”
“Relax. You worry too much.” Henzu smiles on like there’s not a problem, getting up and moving back towards the stairs.
“W-where are you going?!”
“I told you already.” Henzu smiles as he reaches the stairs.
“But you’ll be a criminal!”
“And you’ll be an accomplice so let’s keep this between us, okay?”
Izuku shrinks back, lowering his head in defeat. “Okay…”
“Ehehe.” Henzu chuckles as he quietly slides his way down the steps. “Don't worry I’ll make it up to ya. Promise.”
Promise or not, it still doesn’t make Izuku feel any better about this.
Henzu sneaks his way down and through the clutter of machines, boxes, and crates until he finally reaches the table holding all the loot and antiques. He grins greedily down at all the jewelry and cash but instead he directs his attention over towards the little leather box.
Figuring that it must be worth more than everything else if the mafia were so focused on it. He takes it, holding it in his clutches like it’s a precious treasure.
“Jackpot.” Greedily, he slowly moves to open the box and see exactly what kind of priceless gem or jewelry is inside.
“Bro.”
Henzu freezes in place, his dumb grin glues to his face due to horrifying shock. He shakily rotates around to find the mafia’s Leader staring back at him with a confused yet pissed off look on his face.
The Leader raises an eyebrow down at the kid, his eyes darting from the box. “What the fuck are you doing?”
“Um, nothing.”
The Leader frowns while folding his arms. “You gotta do better than that, bro.”
Henzu sighs, playing along and acting like he’s already given up. “Yeah, you’re right.” He leans over, propping his hand down on the oak table while activating his Quirk, Osmosis. “Then how about I try THIS!” He swings his wooden fist up right into the Leader’s chin, knocking him back!
The moment the Leader is hit and stumbling back Henzu takes off for the door, crashing his way through the crates and boxes, knocking them over in order to cover his own path!
Izuku gasps, cowering in fear as he’s left behind.
The Leader grips his aching chin and shouts. “Bros! Get him!”
The other thugs, having heard the commotion, scramble to their feet and move to chase after the teen. When suddenly heavy boxes drop down from the sky, knocking them to the ground!
They groan and hiss in pain, while their Leader peers up and spots a scrawny green-haired junior high student backing away from the edge of the second level.
As he’s running to the door, Henzu spins around and calls out to Izuku. “Run for it, Iz-er, I mean, Green! Run!!”
Izuku instantly takes off the moment Henzu darts out yelling. “O-okay!!”
He runs over to the opposite wall and peers down over the ledge to a stack of crates. Summoning his courage, he hops over the railing and onto the pile. He quickly moves to climb down but slips falling backwards towards the ground. “Aaahh!!”
He lands with a heavy oof in Henzu’s waiting arms. “I got ya! Now let’s move it!” he drops Izuku on his feet and takes off with the greenette hit on his heels.
“Hey! Get back here!” The Leader and his thugs shout as they scramble over all the fallen crates and junk. “There’s nowhere you can hide, bro! We’ll find you!”
Henzu and Izuku burst through the door and make a beeline through the parking lot. They race past the vans and trucks and even a faded Dodge Charger that instantly catches Henzu’s eye. He even slows down just enough to admire it some before taking off again after Izuku.
The two make it to the fox hole, tossing aside the boards and slipping through the fence and into the street before taking off in a full sprint away from the mafia hangout.
Meanwhile, the Tracksuit mafia members burst through the door as well, but they don’t see the kids anywhere.
The Leader glares into the distance, upset and frustrated that they got away with the loot. “Bros.” he turns to his cronies and asks. “Who thought it’d be a better idea to play videogames than watching the loot?”
They all peer away acting innocent and oblivious.
The Leader grows in frustration. “Find those kids, bros.” He reaches into his back pocket and produces an old school revolver. “Or the Boss man’s gonna sends us all to our graves.”
[End of FLASHBACK]
“Skraaaaaeeeee…!”
The last of the Nullvoiders fly past and away from the maze of floating asteroids, shrieking off into the ever going distance.
Izuku and Nue lie down or rather up on a floating mass of land, gravity pulling them up and forcing them to stand upside down. Izuku pokes his head up over the rocks watching as the last of the Nullvoiders trail off into the distance. “I think we lost them.”
Nue scoffs, poking his head up too. “You mean I lost them.”
Izuku shakes his head at Nue’s ridiculous claim. “Does that really matter?”
“Yes, because I saved your life!” Nue barks.
Izuku barks back. “It was my idea to escape!”
“I would have thought of it, eventually!”
Izuku lets out muffled groans, biting his tongue in exasperation.
While he’s distracted Nue takes the chance to grab him and pin him against the rock bed.
“W-what are you doing?!”
“Truce over!” Nue explains with a cruel grin. “I just needed you to escape those monsters.”
“Are you really that dense?!” Izuku yells, not caring if the Nullvoiders hear him or not. “Look around you! We’re trapped inside the Null Void! A prison! A hell! Be reasonable! If you kill me you’re killing your only chance of escaping.”
“I’ll escape.”
“No you won’t! Neither your powers or mine can break us out of here! We have to be smart about this! We need to use our combined intellect, skills, and power to break out of here!”
“Grrr.” Nue snarls in frustration, hating the fact that both Deku and Vilgax have the same opinion about fucking cooperation.
“Now are you gonna let me go? Or are you going to kill off your only chance of making it out of here alive?”
Begrudgingly Nue lets him go.
“Ah, so he can think.” Izuku mumbles, whipping off the dirt from his hoodie and pants. “Look, I think I have a plan.”
The irritated Nue is quick to interject. “What percentage?”
“What?”
“What percentage of a plan do you have?”
“I don’t know!” Izuku tries to come up with a quick answer. “12%.”
“12%?! Hahahahaha!!”
Izuku shakes his head in exasperation. “That’s a fake laugh.”
“It’s real!” Nue grins, flashing his gnarled fangs and teeth. “Maybe I should go along with your plan. At least that way I can watch those things eat you alive.”
“Maybe they will, maybe they won’t. Either way we can’t stay here.” Izuku summons his resolve to stand before Nue and offer him an official deal. “So, do you want to get home or not?”
Nue stares at Izuku like he just said something rather stupid. “Are you really gonna trust that I won’t betray you?”
“No, I’m kinda expecting you to. But if you’re smart you won’t.”
“Hm. Fine! Have it your way, Deku. I’ll listen to you but that doesn’t mean I have to like it!”
“That’s fine. I’ll get us out of this one way or another.”
“Whatever.” Nue rolls his eyes. “What’s your plan anyway?”
Izuku smirks, taking a moment to feel like the smart one of the two, especially since it used to be Henzu that came up with the plans.
[FLASHBACK]
The duo lean against a dumpster and wooden fence, both keeled over trying to catch their breaths.
Between every breath, Henzu breaks into a fit of laughter. “That was awesome! That was awesome!”
“N-no, that wasn’t.” Izuku sweats nearly on the brink of tears. “It wasn’t awesome. It wasn’t!” He shivers in fright just thinking about what those gangsters might do to them. “I-I should have just gone home!” Izuku peers over to Henzu who’s still clutching onto the little leather box. “Maybe-maybe if we just return it they’ll let us go?”
“Doubt it.” Henzu frowns, shaking his head. “They won’t let us just walk away. We know too much. And if it were me, I’d want to teach the punks that stole from me a lesson.”
Izuku shudders, collapsing to his knees in dismay. “They’re gonna kill us!” he wails, tears gushing out from his eyes like a water fountain.
There are so many tears that Henzu has to shield his face from the splashes. “Calm down, you got nothing to worry about.”
Izuku cuts off the tears enough to speak. “I don’t?” He asks while sniffing.
“I’m not gonna ditch you alright. We’ve got each other's backs and as long as we do that we’ll be just fine.”
Izuku sniffs. “Are-are you sure?”
“Sure, I’m sure!” Henzu grins while helping Izuku to his feet, patting his shoulders reassuringly. “We got this.”
Izuku smiles, feeling a bit better with Henzu’s reassurance.
Henzu’s grin suddenly turns greedy and excited. “Besides, we're totally gonna split the money 50/50 after we sell this thing off.” He flashes the leather box like it’s an unmarked check.
And based on what those mafia guys were saying that might not be too far from the truth.
He grins, moving to open the box and see what exactly is inside.
However, he hesitates as Izuku brings up a good point. “You won’t be able to sell it if they catch us.”
“Hm, good point.” Henzu agrees while pocketing the box. “We’ll worry about the sale value after we get out of here. If we can make it back to Musutafu they’ll probably back off especially with so many heroes running about the place.”
Feeling much more hopeful despite the dire circumstances, Izuku quickly picks up on what he’s saying. “I get it! It’s like a Safe Zone in a video game! If we make it back home, they’ll have to leave us alone!” he bows his head in dismay as some unfortunate points pop into his mind. “Too bad home is still miles away, it’ll take us a few hours to get back on foot, maybe even longer if the Tracksuits are looking for us.
Henzu smiles in approval, agreeing with all of Izuku’s points. “Now you’re thinking like a criminal.”
Despite Henzu’s version of a compliment, Izuku shrinks in on himself, feeling very guilty and dirty despite not actually stealing anything himself.
“Chin up, dude!” Henzu slaps him on the back, accidentally shoving the lightweight forward in the process. “We may be better off than you think. Come on, I know a place where we can grab a ride. It’ll be fine.”
“O-okay-I guess…”
And so with Henzu once again taking the lead he heads east in order to procure their ride. They slip through the alleyway, trying to keep off the main streets just in case the Tracksuits really are after them.
To which they are, in fact they never lost the teens, but instead hung back sitting inside the Leader’s Dodge Charger that’s parked just down the road between several other cars.
The Leader and his goons watch the teens slip away and disappear into the alleyway.
The leader smirks as they slip away. “They’re heading east.”
The biggest thug leans over from the passenger seat. “Should we tell the Boss?”
The Leader looks at him like he’s insane. “Bro. Do you want to be the one to tell him?”
The thug quickly shakes his head in response.
“That’s right.” The Leader spins around so he can address the other two. “We don’t say anything until we get the loot back. Got it?”
They all nod in response. “You got it, bro.”
“Good.” He turns around, starting the car back up and slowly driving after the teens.
The bald mafia member pipes up from the backseat, “Bro, shouldn’t we grab them now?”
“Naw, bro.” The Leader shakes his head as he races down the road, peering through the gaps in the buildings and sure enough spotting the teens working their way through the back alleyway. “Not until we know exactly how they found out about our hideout. Those little bros are working for someone. I know it. Otherwise, how else did they know about our loot?” He speeds up, planning to cut the teens off. “Bros, let’s go crack some skulls!!”
[End of FLASHBACK]
Izuku walks along the narrow winding trail before coming to a sheer drop leading into the red void. He peers up spotting another giant maze of rock and earth. Already having gotten used to the Null Void’s strange backwards gravity, he jumps and rotates his body around, floating up and landing on the maze.
Nue watches him walk upside down before leaping up and joining him, feeling like everything just flipped and became right-side up again due to his change in perspective. “What was the plan again?” He asks more to annoy Izuku than anything else.
And it works as Izuku’s visibly irritated by the question. “I just told you the plan like five times already!”
“Yeah, I know but I want to make sure I heard you right!” He smirks. “You mutter too much so I couldn't make everything out.”
Izuku sighs in defeat, giving in and explaining the plan once again. “There’s this guy named Kolar in here and he made a machine that was able to hack into the Null Void Projector.”
“Which was that gun looking thing that shot us in here.”
“Right. Anyway, if we find him or better yet his machine, we might be able to do the same. Or at least be able to contact my Dad.”
“There's just one problem with your plan.” Nue gestures towards the vast open nothingness of ethereal red. “How are we supposed to find a tiny machine in all this?! This place is huge?! I mean, it feels like it can go on forever!”
“I…have an idea about that.”
Nue turns to see Izuku taking off his hoodie. “Why are you stripping?” Izuku blushes in embarrassment. “I’m not stripping! J-just take this!” He holds out his hoodie for Nue to take.
Nue takes it, taking note of how surprisingly comfy it feels. ‘It’s so warm but it breathes. It must have been expensive.’
“I fought Kolar recently, like right before you came crashing in and attacking us.” Izuku explains while dialing up the appropriate alien. “So, I was thinking that his scent might still be lingering on me.”
“Lingering on you? So… did you kick his ass, or did he kick yours?”
Izuku quickly turns away so Nue can’t see the truth written on his face. “I-I’d like to think that I kicked his!”
Despite having his back to Nue, Nue can tell that he’s bullshitting him.
“N-never mind, just hold up the hoodie after I transform!”
“And what exactly are you gonna transform into?” Izuku smirks back at Nue. “Cannonbolt’s not the only new guy on the team, you know. So, Nue say hello to Wildmutt!!”
He slams down on the Omnitrix and transforms and much to his delight he actually turns into Wildmutt.
“Raggh!! Raggh!” Wildmutt yaps in delight, sticking his tongue out and panting with glee at being the right alien.
“Ha ha!” Nue laughs! “You really are a little bitch!”
“Raggh!!” Wildmutt barks in protest.
“Here.” Nue holds out the hoodie for Wildmutt to sniff. “I hope this works, for your sake.”
Wildmutt leans in and gives the hoodie a good sniff. And upon the first whiff he quickly regrets not washing this thing all summer. He meant to but he always forgot to take it off whenever they stopped off at a laundromat. Because right now it reeks of all sorts of scents both familiar and strange. He can sense something that smells a lot like caramel, then there’s the distinct odor of swamp water and rotting fish, followed by greasy oil, a lot of smoke with a hint of car exhaust, and some cheap perfume. And then finally after making his way through the web of odors he finds a strange unfamiliar scent that he can’t quite place but it smells of sweat, laser fire, smoke, and testosterone.
“Arwooo!!” Wildmutt howls into the air before taking off in a full bound.
“Don't you dare ditch me!” Nue shouts while sprinting after him. “Hey! Don't ignore me! Say something, dammit!”
“Arwooo!!”
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
Back within the depths of the Mt. Fuji Plumber Base a patrol of Security Battle Droids are hard at work, tidying up the mess that Kolar and his antics left behind.
In particular, the older model of the Null Void Projector is a complete and utter mess. The control panel’s been smashed in, the machine itself is bent and cracked in places while red sparks dance off its frame.
But none of that seems to bother the droids as they continue on with their respective task.
One droid in particular doesn't seem as content with his task as the others as he’s forced to scrub away at the burned stained floors. ^Yup this is about the worst job in the droid security force.^
Much to his dismay a panicked Hisashi bursts into the chamber, sprinting across the newly scrubbed floor, leaving a trail of dirt and smudge behind.
^Oh, no. They’re back.^ The droid groans while Chopper wheels inside while carrying Kraab on his head.
Meanwhile, Hisashi hurries over to the control panel and scrambles to try to get it to work again but a red spark zapping his finger deters him. “Dammit!” he slams his fists into the already busted system.
He spins around calling out to the security droids. “Hey, what happened to the Projector?!”
One of the droids stops sweeping in order to answer. ^Apparently the convict known as Kolar sabotaged the system.^
Another droid quickly chimes in from the background. ^He also smashed it!^
The first droids shrugs. ^I mean it was kind of obvious, right?^
^It was to me.^
Hisashi groans at their lack of usefulness. “Chopper, what do you think? Can you fix it?”
Chopper wheels over and gives Hisashi a very dower shake of his head. ^Wa wa-wop wa.^
Hisashi looks visibly dejected in response to Chopper’s answer. “Yeah, you’re right. Not even you can fix this on your own.”
Kraab too seems dejected, feeling like getting Izuku back might be close to hopeless. “I…I can help too, you know.”
Hisashi appreciates the offer, but they’ll need more than a cyborg “I know but it won’t be enough.”
The doors to the chamber slide open once again and 2 in-a-half voices call out with rather cheerful demeanors minus one, however.
“Oh, my it appears we may have stumbled into a rather depressing scene.”
^That’s not good. We should cheer them up!^
^Or not… Cheering up others sounds exhausting.^
Kraab spins around first and wonders aloud. “Who’s the rat?”
“Hahaha! I am no rat! Or maybe I am! Who knows?! But I can tell you that I am the one and only Principal Nezu!” Principal Nezu laughs gleefully at Kraab’s confused face.
^One-One is here too!^ One-One cheers from beside him before Sad-One quickly takes over with a depressing sigh. ^But I don’t want to be…^
“Magister Nezu?!” A hint of a smile forms on Hisashi’s face as a sliver of hope begins to rise within him. “You’re here already? Wow, that was fast.”
Principal Nezu strolls inside the chamber, somehow commanding respect and authority among the Security Droids despite his chipper smile. “Of course, I rushed over here the moment I found out that one of my dear students was trapped in another dimension. I hope you don’t mind but I did have to borrow your ship to make it here on time.”
Hisashi waves it off. “Listen, I don't care what you have to do or take as long as it gets me my son back then I’m okay with it.”
“Good. Because I will need to rely on you if we’re going to do this.” Principal Nezu then turns back to address the Security Battle Droids. “Everyone we need all hands-on deck, no task is too small or big for us. We need every droid in the facility here and now.”
The droids stand at attention and salute in response. ^Roger, Roger!^ They hurry off either back to their tasks or to go gather up the rest of their brothers.
With a chance of a rescue now in their sights, Hisashi turns towards the Null Void Projector with his head high and full of hope. ‘Hang on Izuku we’re coming to get ya.’
He turns just in time to see a Security Battle Droid hand over a small box to another one of the bots. ^Take this upstairs and be sure not to drop it.^
The carrier droid turns to walk away but immediately trips, tossing the package into the air. ^Wo-woah! Ow!^ He yelps as the box bounces off his head.
The still standing droid shakes his head in disbelief. ^Those 631s are not the brightest lights on the ship.”
Hisashi sweatdrops at their antics, feeling like his chance at getting his son back might slip through their fingers. ‘It…might just take a while though.’
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
“Rawr! Rawr! Raggh!” Wildmutt barks and growls while traversing the Null Void with such agility and speed. “Rawr!” He roars, following the faint yet growing scent trail with his nostrils flaring and tongue hanging out.
“Wait up will ya?!” Nue shouts using XLR8’s speed to catch up. “Where are you even taking us?!”
While still in a full sprint, Wildmutt tries to respond. “Rawr! Rawr! Raggh!” He leaps high into the air landing atop a floating labyrinth of earth before taking off again.
Nue jumps after him with an infuriated scowl. ‘God dammit Deku, fucking talk to me! Do you have any idea how hard it is for me not to be freaking out right now?!’ In fact if he still had the ability to sweat he’d be sweating buckets just from looking at the endless red void. ‘This is insane! And not the good kind. Look around! You were right, this place is a living hell!’ He’s even 50% certain that he saw some DOOM-looking Imps and Cacodemons running around a few miles back. ‘What the hell has my life become?! First aliens and now other dimensions? What’s next, time travel?’ God he sure hopes not.
But he doesn’t dwell on it for long as he continues to sprint along, following behind the hound that is Wildmutt. The transformed Izuku strides through the Null Void with such ease and confidence. Sprinting along and leaping bounds with such drive and determination.
Nue frowns, watching Wildmutt run off ahead. ‘For real how are you so calm right now? How can you even think straight? You were never like this back then… I was the one that always had to bail your scrawny ass out of trouble. More or less anyway…. I guess you really have changed.’ As they run, he glances down at his own transformed body which quickly resummons his frustrations and anger. ‘But so have I, Deku. So have I.’ He sprints across the meteor even faster, aiming to show up the drooling mutt. ‘You may not need me! But I’ve never needed you Deku! I’ll never need anyone again! You hear me?!’
However what Vilgax said before reenters his mind like a terrible bee sting to the brain: ‘“One soldier cannot win a war; it takes an army. You are a soldier, and these are your comrades. With all of your combined intellect, skills, and adaptability along with your tenacity and versatility there won’t be force on Earth that can stop us.”’
And then there’s what Deku said too: ‘“We need to use our combined intellect, skills, and power to break out of here!”’
‘They’re both crazy.’ Nue thinks with a frustrated grimace. ‘They don’t know what they’re talking about. But I’ll show em. I’ll show em all that ain’t nobody can walk all over Henzu Uuichi! Nobody!’
He roars out, airing his frustrations. “Dammit, Deku can you at least tell me what’s going on?! Where in the actual hell are we even going?! Huh?!”
“Ragh?” Wildmutt skirts to a stop, rotating his head around back towards Nue.
They both stare at each other, Nue awaiting a response while Wildmutt eyelessly stares back.
And then the Vulpimancer breaks into a cocky smirk as if to mockingly say: Oh, now you want to listen to me?
“Shut up!”
“Grgrgrgr!” Wildmutt snickers to himself, preparing to take off and follow the trail again as Nue catches up to him.
But then off in the near distance he picks up a new yet similar scent to his own, along with the sound of claws slowly, cautiously dragging along the dirt.
“Grrrrr.” Wildmutt lowers down, listening in carefully for any signs of danger.
Nue smirks down at Wildmutt’s changed demeanor. “Hey what’s the matter, now? Cat got your tongue?”
“Grrrrr!” Wildmutt’s back bristles up, his quills standing on end as the strange similar smells begin to waft in from all sides.
Nue instantly picks up on the signs and peers up, his arm becoming a blade as his tendrils and claws stand at the ready. “What’s out there?”
“Grrrrr!”
They stand at the ready, fangs bared and claws ready with every second Wildmutt becomes more and more on edge. And as a result making Nue more and more on edge himself.
As they hold their breaths and listen, they can both make out the sounds of heavy beastly breathes and growls, quietly echoing out from behind the jagged rock fields surrounding them.
And then just as they’re both about to lose it and make a run for it, they appear.
“Grrrrrrrr.”A pack of feral Vulpimancers with blue-mutated fur and long slender tails stalk forward from behind the rocks and shadows. Each of them growling and hissing as they surround the intruders that dare encroach on their territory.
“More mutts?” Nue scoffs, smirking down at what he thinks is a cowering Wildmutt. “This what you were worried about? Sheesh, what a scaredy cat.” He relaxes, nudging Wildmutt forward. “Well go on, make nice with the other monster dogs. Haha!”
“Raagh!! Raagh! Raaawr!!” The feral Vulpimancers bark and roar into the air, airing their anger and outrage for the entire Null Void to hear.
“Grrrr.” Wildmutt trembles under their fierce roars, but refuses to move, letting them know that he’s not gonna roll over to the likes of them.
Nue backs away, suddenly realizing that this is no playdate. “Deku, what do they want?”
“Raaagh.” The feral Vulpimancers bare their fangs, drool salivating from their maws as their long alien tongues lick at their sharp jagged fangs.
Nue braces himself as the pack begins to circle in on them. “I guess it really is a dog eat dog world.”
“Grrrr.” The feral Vulpimancers growl dangerously before what appears to be the alpha roars out and pounces towards the duo. “RAAAWWWR!!!”
[FLASHBACK]
“ACHOOO!!!”
Henzu nearly jumps out of skin from Izuku’s unexpected sneeze! “Dude, quiet!” He harshly whispers back, peering up, making sure they weren’t spotted or heard.
“Ah, I’m sorry! Please forgive me!” Izuku begs, with a constant stream of tears dripping down his face as his knees buckle and shake with terror.
“It’s fine. Besides, we're basically home free now.”
Izuku snivels, wiping away at his face. “We are?”
“Duh, of course. Just look around you buddy.”
He does even though he already knows that they snuck their way to a used car dealership. It’s a little rundown place attached to a mechanic's garage with old makes and models lining the parking lot while a large glowing sign reads “Bigman’s Cars” hangs high above the dealership.
“All I see are a bunch of old cars.”
Henzu smirks at Izuku’s naivety. “You see cars, but I see our ticket out of here.” Pressing his hand to the asphalt, he uses Osmosis to absorb the ground and turn his own arm into asphalt. “Now which one do we want?”
Izuku nervously looks around for something Henzu would like. “What about that one?”
Henzu follows Izuku’s finger over towards the end of the parking lot, where a beautiful faded-maroon Dodge Charger sits at the corner of the lot.
Instantly dread and uncertainty well up inside Henzu as he eyes the car warily. “Wait a minute, haven't we seen that car before?”
Izuku shrugs. “I don’t think so?”
“Are you sure about that, bros?”
Henzu and Izuku freeze in place, both slowly turning around, their hearts dropping to their stomachs when they find the Tracksuit Mafia waiting for them from across the lot.
The Leader smirks while his three cronies menacingly wield bats and crowbars. “Sup, bros?”
Izuku quivers and shakes, unable to respond as tears well up in his eyes.
Looking like he might fall over, Henzu props him up from behind while trying to gaud the gangster.
“Sup?” He smirks, trying to be snarky. “Mind telling us how you found us?”
“We never lost you, bros” The Leader snickers, his eyes leaning over towards the green-haired kid. “You were easy to track down.”
Henzu frowns. ‘Normally, I wouldn’t be but…’ His eyes drift over towards the cowering Izuku, specifically to his iconic green hair and oversized yellow backpack.
“You bros got something that doesn't belong to you. And my bros and I would like it back.”
Henzu smirks back, trying to bullshit his way to turning the situation into his favor. “Sure, you can have it back. For the right price.”
“Price?” The leader smirks, amused and somehow not insulted by Henzu’s daring offer, almost like he’s impressed that the kid even tried it. “What, you some kind of businessman, bro?”
“I consider myself an opportunistic entrepreneur.”
“Hahaha! Is that right! You got spunk, bro. I like that. But spunk isn't enough to save you.”
In response his fellow bros snicker along with him, each one giving their preferred melee weapons a spin or a pat.
Henzu continues to smirk in a way that says he thinks the gangsters are nothing but an amusing joke. It doesn’t really affect them as Izuku looks like he’s one second away from pissing himself scared.
The Leader ‘s attention drifts back towards the green-topped pissant. “And what about you, bro?”
Izuku jolts up, terrified, wishing he could just disappear and fade out of existence. “M-me?!”
“Yeah, bro. I’m talking to you, Green.”
“O-oh- I-I-I uh-uh-!”
Henzu smirks, stepping forward in order to defend his friend while still antagonizing the gangsters. “Hey! That's Mr. Green to you!”
Izuku jolts in surprise at the unprompted nickname.
“Mr. Green?” The Leader frowns, raising a questioning eyebrow towards Henzu. “And what does that make you?”
“It makes me…” Henzu pauses trying to think of something that would sound both cool and badass. ‘Hmmm, but what?’
Izuku’s mind is racing at hundred miles per second, his thoughts swirling around in a panic as his eyes desperately search for a way out. But with the gangster’s question in mind, he locks onto a grossly pink-colored Elantra that has its hood propped open.
Thanks to his fear and panic he shouts out without thinking. “Pink! He’s Mr. Pink!”
…
“HAHAHAHAHAHA!!!” The tracksuits break into gut wrenching laughter. “Mr. Green! And Mr. Pink! Hahaha! Bros! That's hilarious! HA!!!”
Henzu finally loses his smirk, replacing it with an annoyed and betrayed scowl. “Why am I Mr. Pink?!” He shouts, whacking still terrified Izuku across the shoulder.
“I-I don’t know! It-it was the first thing I could think of!!”
“Why can’t we pick our own colors?!”
“Y-You didn’t for me!”
“You are already green!” Henzu defends, grabbing at Izuku’s head and shaking it around. “It’s decided for you already!” He lets go, turning away with a fold of his arms. “Then at least make me something else. Like Mr….Purple. Yeah, Then how about I’m Mr. Purple?”
Izuku shys away, muttering under his breath. “I don’t think it’s a big deal…”
Even though he said it rather quietly, Henzu still managed to hear him. “If you don’t think it’s a big deal then do you want to trade?”
“I…I don’t want to trade.”
“See!”
Meanwhile, the Leader manages to pull himself out of his fit of laughter and redirect the attention back to himself. “Hey, bros. This ain’t no god damn city fucking council meetin ya know.”
Henzu and Izuku or rather Mr. Pink and Mr. Green quiet down with their full attention back towards the gangsters.
“Now listen up,” The Leader snickers into his hand. “Mr. Pink. There’s two ways you can go about this situation: my way or the highway.” He slides his thumb across his neck as he says highway. “Now what’s it gonna be, Mr. Pink?”
Henzu gives an exaggerated thoughtful expression as he strolls forward through the car-filled lot.
“I think…” He stands beside the pink Elantra, his eyes quickly locking onto the car’s exposed battery. “I think…” He smiles, leaning down and touching the battery. “I’ll take the highway.”
Using Osmosis, he quickly absorbs enough energy to toss a bolt of electricity at the Tracksuits, blasting them back in an array of sparks and electricity.
“Aaaahhh!!”
Henzu immediately spins around and shouts. “Get to a car!”
Izuku spins around and takes off, coming to a stop beside the same Dodge Charger. “What about this one?!”
The sound of cement smashing through glass can be heard, and Izuku snaps his head up as Henzu breaks into a crumby sedan.
“I’m not smashing a 68 Charger, come on!” He defends, unlocking the car and jumping into the driver’s seat.
Izuku hurries over, sliding into shotgun.
He hits the dashboard repeatedly as the dazed Tracksuits wobble to their feet. “Go! Go! Go! Go! Go!”
Henzu rewires the car after a few attempts the car’s engine roars to life. “Hell ya, baby!!” Shifting gears and slamming down on the gas pedal, the car races off and through the lot, leaving the gangsters behind in its dust. “Hahahahaha! So long motherfuckers! Hahaha!” He flips them the bird as they drive off.
In a fit of anger, the Leader roars at his goons. “After em, bros!”
They all rush over to their hidden green vans and trucks that are all labeled with the words “Trust A Bro” in big bold letters. While the Leader himself rushes over and slides into his 1968 Dodge Charger.
Meanwhile, the cheap sedan bounces off the curb and onto the pavement before racing off through the pothole littered street.
“Hahaha! Woah!” Henzu sticks his head out of the window, shaking his head and enjoying the wind in his face as nearly drives off the road. “Woah-Hahaha!” We’re home free now!”
Gripping onto his seat belt for dear life, Izuku gives a terrified shake of his head.
“Oh, come on, that wasn’t so bad. Was it? “
“Y-yes! Yes, it was that bad!” Izuku shakes and quivers, his knuckles turning white from holding the seat belt so tightly. “Also, since when did you have a license?! We’re not even in high school yet!”
Henzu gives him a nonchalant shrug, acting like it’s no big deal. “You don’t need a license to drive a car.”
“Yes. Yes, you do.”
Henzu waves him off, acting like he’s the crazy one.
Izuku finally relaxes enough to sit back, although he shakes his head in disbelief, while dragging a hand down his sweaty face. “I should have never come with you…”
Henzu scowls at him, offended by the comment. But his gaze softens upon seeing just how exhausted and terrified his friend actually seems to be. “Hey, man.”
Izuku turns to him.
Henzu looks him in the eye and gently states. “I got your back.”
Izuku blinks back, not expecting such a touching truth. But it’s not unwelcomed as he returns it in kind. “And…and I got yours.”
A genuine smile stretches across Henzu’s face. “Hell ya.”
He turns back to face the road, his eyes quickly checking the mirror as he does so. Upon checking the rear view mirror, he frowns before becoming visibly worried and pressing down on the gas harder.
The car jerks forward in response, throwing them into whiplash.
Izuku frowns, concerningly. “Why’d you speed up?”
Henzu tries to play it cool despite the fact they are going 80 km/h on a 30 km/h road. “No, reason. Eh eh eh-AHH!!” He screams out as their rearview mirror is shot clean off the car by a well-aimed bullet!
Izuku flips around in response to the gunshot, and he is both shocked and terrified to see the Tracksuit Mafia chasing them down in their vans and Dodge Charger.
The Leader glares at them from inside the Dodge Charger with a pistol held out through his window. “We’re coming for ya, bros!!”
“They’re gonna kill us!” Izuku cries out at the top of his lungs, tears gushing out in waves, and flooding the floor of the sedan.
“They’ll have to catch us first!!” Henzu punches it.
As the sedan races forward, Henzu peers back at the Tracksuits from the side mirror. He glares at them while challenging them. “Come on, bros. Show me what you got.”
[End of FLASHBACK]
“Come on, bros! Show me what you got! Raaggh!!” Nue roars out, catching two pouncing feral mutts by their throats before swinging them back and slamming them into the ground simultaneously.
“Raawwr!!” One of the feral Vulpimancers leaps at Nue’s downed form but it’s bashed away by Nue’s malleable tendrils before being blasted away with a jet of water.
“RAAAWWRR!!”
Peering over he watches as Wildmutt claws and snaps at a trio of feral Vulpimancers.
The three beasts have the mutt surrounded from all sides, but Wildmutt’s far more stubborn than they realized as the mutt holds his ground, spinning round while slashing and biting at them forcing them back.
“Raawwr!!” Another feral beast charges Nue from behind.
Nue spins, slamming his tail into the beast, knocking it forward towards the trio of beasts.
The thrown Vulpimancer slams into one of his packmates, knocking them both away and giving Wildmutt the opening he needs to lash out at the remaining two.
“RAAAWWRR!!” He roars, pouncing and pinning down one of the feral monsters before back clawing the other while growling for it to stay away. “Grrrrr.”
Meanwhile, another feral Vulpimancer slams into Nue’s side, knocking him over before he blasts it away with a powerful wind gust.
“They just keep coming!” He shouts as more and more of the feral aliens get up or appear from within the crevices of the meteor.
“Grrrr.” Wildmutt growls in agreement, backing away from the encroaching Vulpimancers.
Nue backs away too until both he and Wildmutt are standing back-to-back while surrounded by the starving pack. “So, you got any more brilliant ideas?”
“Grrrrr.” Wildmutt does not.
“Grrrrrrrr.” The feral pack stalk closer, despite their prey’s fierce struggling they feel so confident in their numbers and strength that they see no need to back down.
And just as they are about to charge in for the kill, they all freeze in their tracks, their heads snapping up and turning towards the same direction, out into the distance. Even Wildmutt’s attention is snapped away, as he jerks up and looks out towards the same distance.
Nue frantically tries to figure out what’s happening. “What? What’s going on?”
Out from the far distance of the void, amongst the giant meteors and labyrinths of rock and earth, he hears it. He too can hear the rumbling of ground being torn through while a beastly reptilian roar echoes throughout the void, growing ever louder as it approaches.
“Arwoo!!” Whimpering in fright, the feral Vulpimancers take off, sprinting past their prey with their tails tucked between their legs.
Nue and Wildmutt watch them off with odd, perplexed looks. “What was that about?”
“Ragh?” Wildmutt peers up towards the massive labyrinth of rock floating miles above their heads.
“RWAAAAAHHHHHH!!!” A resounding reptilian roar booms out from inside the massive labyrinth and a giant reptilian worm-beast shoots out of the earth. It’s massive jaws filled with fangs so large that they can crush a truck. Its forehead is like that of a hammerhead’s with giant red-eyes protruding out at the sides.
Nue is taken back at the sight of the giant worm as it dives in and out of the earth. “What is that thing?”
The whimpering Wildmutt shrinks in on himself. “Ragh! Ragh!”
And although he doesn't understand a word Wildmutt said, Nue still got the message. “Yeah, I don’t think I want to stick around and find out either.”
And so they both take off in the other direction, hoping to put as much distance between them and the giant worm before it notices them.
But unknown to them, it was far too late for that. The worm slowly raises its head, looking up or rather down from its topsy-turvy position and quickly spotting the fleeing Wildmutt and Nue.
But rather than roaring out and giving chase, it quietly watches them disappear into the distance. It hums to itself as if curious about the odd duo. And as its red-eyes linger over the strangely ornamented Vulpimancer, its left eye flashes to a purplish-pink color, and it remains that way as the worm begins to slither its away across the massive labyrinth, climbing its way down towards the duo’s previous location.
[FLASHBACK]
Gunshots ring out followed by the sound of bullets piercing through metal and glass.
A crying Izuku holds his head as a bullet whizzes past his head. “Why did you have to egg them on?!”
Henzu flinches as his side window is shot apart. “It's called banter! And it’s cool!”
“No! No, it’s not! Aaahhh!!” Izuku screams as one of the vans slams into them from behind. “Wh-what do we do?! We can’t go home now, they’ll find us!”
Henzu manages to slip the car away down an alleyway, drifting as he turns before bolting down the next road over. “I know! I know! Quick take my phone!!” In all the panic he tosses Izuku a little flip phone.
Izuku frowns thinking to himself that this isn’t Henzu’s normal phone and that it must be one he uses for quote-on-quote work. “W-why?!”
“Just do it!”
“O-okay!!” He flips the phone open. “Now what?!”
“There’s only one number on it! Call it!”
“R-right!” He clicks the call button and waits, hanging on for dear life as the mafia’s trucks and Charger crash through the street behind them.
It takes a few seconds before a guy’s shrill voice answers. [“Aw, Henzu buddy-boy! Where are you? You’re late! I thought you’d be here already.”]
Henzu calls out from the driver’s seat. “Hey sorry man! But we’re in a tight spot here.”
[“Hm, how tight?”]
More gunshots ring out, bouncing off the sedan’s sides.
[“Oh, never mind, I think I get the picture.”]
“Listen! I’m gonna try to make my way to the hideout but I just can’t shake these guys!”
[“I got it. I got it. Don’t you worry. Just make your way over here and allow me to take care of the rest.”]
“Thanks man! I owe you one!”
[“One? You owe me several after this. Alright, gotta go I’ll be there soon.”] And with that, Henzu’s unknown “friend” hangs up.
Izuku frowns, nearly dropping the phone when one of the trucks smashes through a mailbox while it tries to ram them. “Who was that?!”
“No one!” Henzu replies, keeping his eyes on the road. “Just a friend of mine.”
Izuku gives him a very suspicious look. “The one that told you about their heist?” he jabs a thumb back towards the pursuing vehicles.
“Yup!”
More gunshots rang out after the Leader reloaded his pistol.
Izuku ducks down, nearly pissing himself as his head rest is blown clean off his seat. “How is he supposed to help though?!”
“Don’t know!” Henzu leans over, roughly grabbing Izuku by his head forcing him to duck down lower. “Just keep your head down and hold on tight!”
Shifting gears he steps on the gas, forcing the car into overdrive.
But despite his speeding getaway the mafia’s green van is still able to keep up, gaining ground on them as the bald driver howls with laughter.
“He’s gaining!” Henzu screams after peering back at the pursuing van. He looks over to Izuku and shouts. “Do something!”
“Uh, uh, uh.” In a panic Izuku looks around until he finally remembers that he has his backpack on him.
He reaches in looking for anything that could help and ends up pulling out a paper bag lunch. He thinks for a moment before an idea pops into his head.
As Henzu swerves the car past a garbage truck Izuku leans his out the window wheels scrambling to open the bag.
“What the hell are you doing?!” Henzu screams, fearing Izuku might get caught away in the rushing wind.
“This!!” Izuku screams, tossing the bag back at the pursuing moving truck.
His lunch bag goes flying through the air, its continents spilling out and splashing across the truck’s windshield in a gross display of chewed meat, rice, and sauce!!
“Waaaahh!!” The largest of the mafia members screams as he tries to turn on his windshield wipers but he only ends up making the mess even worse.
WHAM!!! With his vision obscured, he slams right into the back of a parked delivery truck, causing soda and chips to fly everywhere from the impact.
“Hahaha!” Henzu howls with laughter. “That was great!”
Izuku sniffs as he sits back down. “T-thanks.”
“What’s the matter?!”
“It’s just that…I was saving my leftover Katsudon for later.” He sniffs, holding back his tears despite the great tragedy.
But having the Leader’s car slam into theirs from behind quickly snaps him back to reality. “They’re still on us!”
“Hang on!!”
As they come upon a fenced off construction site, Henzu swerves car right through the fence blocking the site off!
“Ahhh!! Look out! Look out! Move!” Izuku screams as they race past construction material and standing girders. “Ahhhh!!”
Henzu miraculously weaves in and out of the stacks of glass, boards, and cement without crashing into them once. But the mafia don’t have just as much luck as the van instantly crashes into a pile of iron girders, forcing it to a stop while the Dodge Charger is able to snake around and continue its pursuit.
The leader smirks as he too makes it through the construction site. “Ehehe, good try bros.”
Izuku pales as the car jumps over the curb and back onto the main road. “What is with this guy?!”
Henzu’s head snaps up as he spots a familiar route up ahead. And so he turns the steering wheel hard, causing the car to drift before he straightens up and takes off through a narrow alleyway.
He speeds through but it’s such a tight squeeze that he misjudges it, and they bump and bang against the dumpsters and trash lining the sides of the alley. Their clumsiness however clears the way, giving the mafia Leader more room to breathe as he chases them into the alley.
“He’s gonna catch us!!” Izuku screams, watching in horror as the Leader closes the gap.
The Leader breaks into a maniacal grin just a few more seconds and he’ll have them!
However, as Henzu and Izuku race past an opened garage, a massive dump truck suddenly and without warning races backwards, slamming itself against the opposite wall.
“Woooaaah!” The leader slams both his feet onto the brakes, his car’s tires screeching to a stop just inches away from crashing headfirst into the dump truck’s side. “What the heck, bro?!” He shouts, watching on as the thieves' car races away into the distance. “Dammit! Rahh!!”
Izuku peers back and a surprised grin stretches across his face when he sees that the Leader has been cut off from them. “What just happened?!”
Henzu breaks into a wide grin. “My buddy happened. Hahaha!”
Meanwhile, a rat-like being with spiky quills for hair and an orange jacket grins from inside the dump truck as he watches Henzu and Izuku escape. “Ehehe, like I said buddy, you owe me several for this.”
At the same time, the groaning Leader watches on in frustration before he gets a call from inside his pocket.
He answers albeit tepidly. “Hey…boss. Listen, I lost the loot.”
There’s a disappointing growl coming from the other end of the line.
“I know, I know, boss! And I’m sorry but we had some rats messing with our operation.” The leader peaks up as a rat-like person scurries out from the dump truck’s driver seat. “But don’t you worry, boss. I think I know exactly how to turn this around.”
[End of FLASHBACK]
Nue and Wildmutt slide down the side of a floating mountain of rock and alien terrain before Wildmutt rams himself into Nue’s side, shoving them both between a stack of rock pillars.
The two scramble behind the rocks, pressing their backs against the pillars while holding their breaths.
They listen out for the sounds of crumbling earth and a reptilian growl fading into the distance before they finally breathe again.
Nue stays pressed against the rocks. “Do you think it’s still following us?”
Wildmutt’s gills flare, sniffing the air, before he turns and gives Nue an unsure shrug. Sniffs. “Ragh.”
“Great.” Nue rolls his eyes before looking around at all the strange arch formations and pillars adorning the floating mountain of rock. “Ah. Even better, we’re lost.”
Wildmutt raises his head into the air, sniffing around for Kolar’s scent. “Ragh! Ragh!” He grins, becoming excited as he bounds away.
Nue follows after him. “Are we close?”
“Ragh! Ragh!” Wildmutt reaches the end of the floating mountain, finding a floating mass of rock just meters away.
He leaps up, reaching out towards the floating mass of rock.
Midway through his jump, however, the Omnitrix flashes red and times out, leaving Izuku just shy a few inches from grabbing onto the floating mass. “Waaahh!!”
Nue leaps up and over him but as he does he grabs Izuku with his tendrils and swings him over towards the floating mass of rocks. “Dude, that time out feature freaking sucks ass.”
“I know! I know! But there’s nothing I can do about it!”
“Right.” As they land, Nue unceremoniously tosses Izuku onto the ground.
Izuku lands with a thud before propping himself up and dusting himself off while throwing Nue a judgmental look. “You could have put me down softer; you know?”
Nue smirks back. “Yeah, I know.”
Izuku glowers at him but lets it go, not wanting to be dragged into another argument. “Come on, it’s not far.” He begins to lead the way up the vertical side of the giant floating mass. But he stops and turns back towards Nue holding his hand out as if expecting something.
Nue stares down at his hand confusingly. “What?”
“My hoodie?”
Oh, right, he forgot he tucked it away. “Here.”
He pulls it out and tosses it over to Izuku who immediately pulls it over his head. He turns away, continues to the vertical walk while struggling to get the crumbled-up hoodie back on.
And so with his back turned, Nue takes a pause as his gaze lingers over his ex-friend. ‘God he’s so naive. It’d be so easy to kill him.’ His tendrils slowly slither towards Izuku’s back. ‘He’s distracted. No one would ever find him. And he’s defenseless. It’d be so easy.’ His tendrils stop short of even grazing the teen’s aura. ‘So, then why am I hesitating?’
Izuku stops as he can feel Nue’s eyes drilling into the back of his head, he slowly turns around giving Nue enough time to pull his tendrils away.
Being none the wiser, Izuku blinks back at Nue, wondering what could be wrong. “You coming?”
Nue averts his gaze before giving him a curt nod. “Y-yeah…”
Figuring it was nothing, Izuku shrugs, turning his back again to Nue so that he can lead the rest of the way up.
‘Why?’ Nue thinks in frustration as he quietly follows behind Izuku. ‘It would be so easy. So then…why?’
[FLASHBACK]
“Woooaaah wee!” Henzu howls as he parks the getaway car right into a large open-spaced garage with dim lighting and car parts all strewn around in a chaotic mess. “We made it! Hahaha!”
He parks the car, jumps out, and rushes over to close the garage door. “That was a riot! A riot! Hahaha! And the best part, we still got this!” He pulls out the small leather box from his pocket.
A shaking Izuku collapses out of the junked car, his knuckles bone white from gripping his backpack so tightly. “T-that was ter-terrible. I-I thought we were going to die!”
Ironically his face turns green, and so he rushes to his feet and beelines it for a nearby bucket where he proceeds to upchuck the other half of his lunch.
Henzu gags at the smell. “Dude, I know you’re Quirkless but are you sure your Quirk isn’t blowing chunks?” He turns away, walking off to grab something.
A teary eyed and sickly looking Izuku wipes away at his mouth. “I-I hope not. I don’t think I’d like a power like that one.”
“Here.”
Izuku looks up to find Henzu offering him an unopened water bottle.
Henzu gives it a little shake. “Take it.”
Izuku slowly almost begrudgingly reaches up and grabs it, opening it slowly before taking a sip. “T-thanks.” He says rather curtly, averting his eyes away from Henzu.
Henzu frowns, he can hear the hint of anger in Izuku’s voice but the cinnamon roll’s too nice to let it show. But he can tell, he can always tell. “Listen man.” Henzu starts as he turns away while shyly rubbing the back of his neck. “Sorry for dragging you into this. If I had known that it would have gone this way I would have never brought you along.”
Izuku blinks, taking a moment to soak in everything he’s saying.
“I just thought. That it might be fun. It’d be me and you just have some fun.” Henzu defends with a not-so confident shrug as he actually feels a little guilty for dragging the Quirkless Izuku along. “I went too far I guess.”
“Yeah, you did go too far.” Izuku somberly agrees. “I didn’t want to be here. Someone like me…someone like me can’t be here. I’m not like you or Kacchan…”
Henzu lowers his head, hating how Izuku’s already putting himself down despite his own actions. “I know. That’s why I wanted to bring you along.”
Izuku snaps up at him in questioning surprise.
“Look I know I said I thought it’d be fun if you were here, but I also thought that “hey if this does go wrong in a fun way that is it might toughen you up.”
That was his logic. And yeah, it’s kinda messed up but to him it made sense.
Henzu leans down, taking a seat beside his friend so they can be at eye level. He drags a hand down his tired face before rolling his head over and telling Izuku how he really feels. “The world’s a tough place. It likes to keep people that have nothing down. You can’t let it alright. You have to stand up and push back anyway that you can. You hear me?”
Izuku does hear him. He does…but he’s not so sure he wants to hear that right now. But even so the fact that Henzu was looking out for him does touch him. And despite the results he can at least appreciate the intentions.
“Bro, that was some real inspirational type shit right there.”
The duo instantly shoot up to their feet, panicked and scared as they spin around to find the same Tracksuit mafia members inside the dark garage with them.
Henzu groans into his hands. “Seriously?! Again?! Dude, what’s with you just popping into existence?! Seriously we gotta put a bell on you or something!”
The Leader chuckles at Henzu’s rant. “After all the trouble you caused me, you’re still mouthing off, bro? You either got guts or you’re just plain stupid.”
Shrinking away, Izuku mumbles under his breath. “It’s probably the latter.”
“Dude!!” Henzu shouts, feeling betrayed. He shakes it off and turns his attention back towards the thugs. “How’d you guys even find us this time?! I know for a fact we lost you!”
“Oh, you did, bro. But your friend was more than happy to rat you out after we had a little man to rat talk.” Talk as in beat the crap out of the rat until he gave up what the Leader wanted to hear.
Henzu internally yells out. ‘Fuck you, Argit!! I’m gonna punch you in the face next time I see you!!’ He takes a quick breath, preparing himself to do some damage control. “Listen…bro. Clearly Mr. Green and I are way over our heads here. Why don’t we just hand this back to you and we’ll all go our merry ways?” He flashes them the old leather box as an offering.
However, the Leader’s response is the last thing Henzu wanted to hear. “No chance, bro. It’s too late for that. You caused us a lot of trouble, bros. Now the boss bro wants to have a word with you both.”
Henzu instantly turns stock white when he realizes what’s about to happen. “Y-your B-boss?”
Izuku quickly picks up on Henzu’s sudden fear, and as a result he becomes even more fearful and shaken. “Hen-Er, Mr. Pink?”
Henzu tries to play it cool but fails miserably as he cannot hide the distinct fear in his voice. “T-there’s n-no need for that!”
“Sorry bros but this isn't up for bro-gotiations.” The Leader snaps his fingers and from within the shadows of the garage more members of the Tracksuit mafia step out and into the light. Others pour in from the windows, smashing their way inside while others break in through the doors.
“You came into our turf. You stole our property” The Leader cockily smirks while shaking his head. “Not cool, bros.”
Izuku gulps, hugging his backpack close to his chest as if it’ll shield him. “M-Mr. Pink…what's gonna happen to us?”
The trembling Henzu looks over at Izuku, he debates telling Izuku it’ll be fine but when in fact there’s no way he convincingly tells him that it is. And so he tells him with full honesty that it’s not. “Mr. Green. Um, what exactly do you want written on your…tombstone?”
[End of FLASHBACK]
As they weave their way through a narrow winding tunnel, Izuku stops as they approach a tall narrow entrance within the rocks. “This has got to be it.”
Nue frowns. “How can you be so sure?”
“Look.” Izuku points to the side of the wall where a strange alien symbol has been carved into the rock. “Kolar must have put these here to help him find his way back. And look at the ground, look at how worn down it is.” The rock underfoot is smooth with loose dirt kicked to the side making a social trail for them to follow. “He must have gone through here a hundred times.”
“Which means our ticket out of here is just around the corner.”
“Exactly!”
They both break into wide grins before taking off down the winding narrow trail. In his excitement Nue leaps up, jumping off the side of the wall, and leaping ahead of Izuku making it through the exit first and into a wide-open valley. But the moment he enters he stops and turns back, grabbing the sprinting Izuku and throwing him back through the tunnel and pinning him against the wall.
Thinking Nue’s attacking him, Izuku scrambles for his S.A.G.E. Gun. “What are you-Hmph?!”
Nue covers his mouth, but instead of attacking him, he holds a finger to his own mouth before harshly whispering. “Quiet! Do you want to give us away?”
Izuku frowns in confusion as Nue willingly lets him go and they both very cautiously reapproach the tunnel exit and find themselves before a nest of miniature reptilian aliens.
The miniature aliens are running about the place like some sort of hyper weasels or something or other. They have so much energy and mischief in them as they yelp and shriek at each other with their large circular jaws that are just lined with rows of sharp jagged teeth. Despite their size of about three feet they are quite bulky with stout bodies. Their skin is bluish-green all around with black claws and talons on their arms and feet which they happily use to tear apart all the scrap metal lying about the nest.
Nue frowns watching as the little hyper weasels tear into their meal. “What are those beasts?”
Izuku shakes his head, watching in horror as the beasts are clearly chewing away at a large device with satellite looking antennas protruding out of it. “Whatever they are, they're wreaking havoc on Kolar’s machine!”
“They’re what?!” Nue seethes, shoving Izuku aside as he charges right at the little Havoc Beasts.
“Nue, no!” But Izuku’s calls go unheard and in vain as Nue calls the blue-skinned Havoc Beasts out.
“Hey, pudgy gremlins!”
The horde of Havoc Beasts all stop and turn towards the unwanted intruder.
“Get away from all that! You hear me?! Raaagh!!” Nue roars as he throws himself right into the middle of the large horde.
Izuku shakes his head, slapping his own face in the process. “I shouldn’t even be surprised.”
“Raaagh!! Hahaha!!” Nue howls in glee as his fist and tail bash their way through the relentless Havoc Beast horde.
The Havoc Beast let out guttural high shrieks of outrage as they leap and claw over each other to get to Nue.
He bats and blows them away, but they keep coming like an unrelenting wave of claws and teeth.
*PZZZZZ! PZZZZZ! PZZZZZ!*
Green bolts of plasma stun and blast the little creeps away, giving Izuku an opening to run in and take Nue’s side.
Nue smirks down at him as he catches one of the toothy gremlins in his Lodestar-like claw. “Decided to help out, huh?”
Izuku fires his S.A.G.E. Gun at the incoming beasts before responding. “I’m just here to make sure you don’t smash what’s left of that machine!”
“Just be honest. You wanted a piece of the action too! Didn’t ya?”
Izuku huffs and turns away, focusing on blasting the creatures away instead of responding.
“Hahaha!” Nue chuckles at Izuku’s reaction as he turns and slams his fists into the ground, generating a small wave of crystals to crash into a portion of the scurrying and shrieking horde.
The other Havoc Beasts that were not caught up in Nue’s crystal wave let out an ear-piercing shrieks and howls as they thrust their heads forward and unleash streams of fire from their throats.
Izuku leaps back as the tips of his hair are singed away by the flames. “Woah! You guys got some gnarly halitosis!”
He quickly grips the recharged Omnitrix and transforms. Thus, allowing Water Hazard to take center stage.
“Here, have some mouthwash!” Water Hazard quips before he hoses down the fiery creeps away.
The Havoc Beasts clearly don’t appreciate being soaked to the bone and as such begin to shriek even louder and breathe even more fire as they lunge and claw at Water Hazard’s feet.
The Orishan backs away until he’s standing back-to-back with his ex-friend and temporary ally. “There’s no end to them!”
“I know!” Nue shouts as he electrifies a group of incoming Havoc Beasts. “Isn’t it great? Hahaha!”
Water Hazard rolls his eyes as he produces a massive wave that washes away more of the circular jawed monsters.
As they fight, Nue breaks into a fit of maniacal laughter that definitely borders on insanity. “Hahahaha!! Hahahaha!! Hahahaha!!”
And Water Hazard is definitely thinking he’s crossed the line of insanity already. “Just what’s so funny?!”
Nue flashes him a dangerously gleeful grin. “I was just thinking that this is just like old times! Wouldn’t you say, bro?”
While punching a pouncing Havoc Beast, Water Hazard does remember, shivering at the thought while a single tear slides down his cheek. “Please, don’t remind me…”
[FLASHBACK]
“You know whenever I look back at this memory…” Tears threaten to spill out as Izuku whimpers and sulks. “I am going to cry.”
“Hahahaha!” The Tracksuit Mafia break out into fits of laughter, each one jabbing fun and laughing at their captives’ expense.
And why wouldn’t they laugh? After all they got the two little punks tied and bound while riding atop of plastic coin operated kiddie rides. Fittingly they stuck Izuku atop a green dragon while Henzu was, ironically, stuck atop a pink pony.
The kiddie rides slowly sway back and forth as the twenty Tracksuit Mafia members bust a gut while laughing.
“Hahahaha! It’s going and going and going! Hahaha!”
“Ehehehe! I love it, bro! Ehehehe!”
“Bro, look at Mr. Pink! Hahaha!”
“Where’s your tough guy act now? Hehehe!”
“Big strong Mr. Pink riding a pony! Ehehehe!”
“Smile more! This is fun for us too, bro.”
Henzu can only silently glare back at them as they got his hands bound behind his back with a layer of duct tape. And while stewing in his anger, he is busy plotting various ways to punch their teeth in.
Meanwhile, Izuku whimpers in place, shying away in embarrassment and terror with his hands taped to the dragon’s head. His backpack sits just out of reach, discarded and tossed off to the side like it was nothing.
However, much to their relief the kiddie rides screech and break to a halt as the rides come to an end.
“Oh, oh! Again! Bro! Bro put in another yen!”
“We don’t got any more yen, bro!”
Izuku is visibly relieved by the news. “Oh, thank god…”
Henzu, meanwhile, calms down enough to take in their surroundings. And with no big surprise it looks like the Tracksuits brought them to some abandoned warehouse. ‘How original…’
Seriously, it's so standard with newspapers and tarps covering the windows, trash littering the floor, and moth-eaten couches and furniture strewn about. The warehouse looks like it was meant for chemical production as barrels of unknown chemicals and acid sit in massive piles and stacks all across the large building. There is also a second level to the warehouse, where workers used to climb up to in order to access the various machines for chemical production.
But despite all that…it’s still just another warehouse.
“This is a nice place you got here.” Henzu eyes the stacks of rusty, leaking barrels of hazardous chemicals sitting nearby. “Not creepy at all.”
Despite his sarcasm being relatively good humored, one of the Tracksuits guys is constantly offended by his comments. “Hey! Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey! You’re kidding. I know you‘re kidding. So, don’t kid, okay!” He’s clearly irritated, and obviously feels very self-conscious about it as he rants on and on, coming up with excuse after excuse. “Because it was getting very hard to find a place. Now, all warehouses are being converted into lofts! So, how can I get something better?! Huh?!”
The biggest of the group tries to calm him down. “Bro. Bro. Bro.”
The scrawny looking dude cuts him off, slapping his hands away. “But he’s criticizing!”
Henzu rolls his eyes, but he’s grateful for the distraction as he wiggles his hands behind his back. He manages to get his fingers to touch the plastic of the kiddie ride, turning his hands into plastic. And with that he tries to subtly cut his way through the tape but as the arguing gangsters settle down, he quickly tries another attempt to stall for time.
“Can I speak to your manager? This is like talking to furniture.” He scans the crowd until he spots the same Leader guy from before with the skull t-shirt and muscular build. “You look like you got more brain cells than the rest of them.” Henzu comments, drawing all eyes towards him. “Look, I get it. We caused you guys a minor inconvenience. But I mean you guys got what you wanted already. So, why not let us go? We keep our mouths shut about all this. And we all go our merry way.”
The Leader chuckles softly, amused by the fact that the kid’s even trying to pull one off on them. “No deal, bro.” He grips the leather box in his hand, holding it up to admire it before stashing it away into his jacket pocket. “Sorry to tell you this but you two bros caused quite the stir around here.” He turns away as if not wanting to tell them the bad news directly to their faces. And with an almost regretful hush he turns back and says. “So much so that our boss noticed.”
All blood drains from Henzu's face as he gulps back in sudden unbridled fear “You’re B-Boss?”
“Yeah, bro. He’s on his way here right now. And let me tell ya, bro, he isn’t happy.”
Henzu smiles nervously, internally panicking in fear while still trying to talk his way out of this. “Well, I mean if I was in charge of a bunch of moronic dipshits like you I wouldn’t be a very happy person either. Ha ha ha…ha?”
He’s slow to realize his mistake as each and every one of the gangsters are now glaring daggers into his skull.
Izuku shrinks back, leaning over and whispering into Henzu’s ear. “You’re making it worse…”
“Yeah…my bad.”
As Henzu sulks, the doors to the warehouse suddenly swing open. The Tracksuit Mafia instantly go quiet as they all shrink back from the looming shadow before them.
A set of heavy steps stomp forward, echoing out like cinder blocks being dropped to the floor. The crowd of terrified gangsters part ways, allowing a massive stone-wall of a man to march forward.
“Being robbed hurts. Not physically, but from what it does to your pride.” As the wall of a man approaches, he glares down at the trembling teens, while speaking out in a deeply husky voice. “So, congratulations, boys. You two are the first to ever hurt the likes of me.”
Towering over the captured boys is a brick wall of a man with a wide yet muscular build, and a mean scowl on his face. He has a cleanly shaved head, and his skin is as pale and rough as a granite. Heck he even looks like he’s made of granite, since he has such thick stone-like skin. And despite being the boss of the Tracksuit Mafia he himself is wearing biker gang-like attire from the leather jacket, to the leather boots, and even a red bandana wrapped around his neck.
Henzu remains frozen before the man, his fear is so intense that he forgets all about trying to free himself and instead wonders if begging for his life is a better option.
The stonewall of a Boss glares down at the boys, leaning in close as if to get a whiff of their fear. “What's the matter, boy?” he locks eyes with the frozen Henzu. “You look like somebody just walked over your grave.” His eyes then drift over towards the shaking and whimpering Izuku. “And you look like you’re gonna piss yourself.”
Much to Izuku’s own embarrassment… he might have, albeit just a little.
“Do you know who I am?”
Izuku fearfully shakes his head.
“No?!” The Boss man throws his head back in an offended scoff, fainting being hurt. “Now I really am hurt. Did you boys really have no clue who you were stealing from?”
Izuku doesn’t answer. But he’s not sure because of the fear pumping through his veins or it’s thanks to the little self-preservation he has telling him not to answer the man that can crush his skull.
But he doesn’t have to answer as someone else does.
“Teppeki Hakaishi.”
Silence befalls the warehouse as everyone’s attention including Teppeki Hakaishi’s, is drawn towards the scowling Henzu.
Henzu continues on. “You…are the mob boss of Musutafu. The invulnerable stonewall.” Henzu glares back up at the mob boss with a look of fear yet defiance in his eyes. “You’re Tombstone.”
Tombstone’s stone-cold expression breaks for a moment as he smirks at the kid’s response. “That's right. And do you know how I earned my name?”
Henzu gulps, his hands subtly fidgeting behind him as he does. “I’ve heard rumors. The main one being you beat a pro hero to an inch of his life. And when he was recovering all, he could tell the police was that it felt like you were smashing a…tombstone against his skull.”
“Well then let me clear up those rumors. They’re all true.”
The kids and even some of the gangsters gasp with fear.
Tombstone smirks at their reactions. “My Quirk, Granite. Ensures that no one can hurt me. It makes me invulnerable to bullets, fire, and more. Ha! Hell, I bet I could even take A Detroit Smash from All Might himself and still walk away.” He glares down at the boys, eyeing them as if trying to figure out their Quirks. “And what about you boys?” He reaches out, grabbing the fake pony by the head. “Can either of you reckon that you can bare the same?” With one simple clench he crushes the pony’s head to dust.
Izuku gulps in response, imagining if it was his own head.
However, Henzu just glares on, choking back his own fear. “Y-yeah, I recon.”
Tombstone smirks down at him, finding his attitude amusing, like watching a growling puppy act like it’s a guard dog. “You got stones, kid. I like that. Stones like that will get you far. Well, as long as you’re not sent to an early grave that is.”
The teens shiver at the clear and ominous threat.
“Listen here, boys. My gang’s got a reputation to protect. If word gets out that two punk kids stole from us.” He shakes his head at the thought. “Well, that’d be bad for business.” He pauses, taking a moment to think before offering up what’s about to happen next. “You boys got two choices, boys. Option one: we bury you both 6-feet under.”
Henzu chokes back his fear just enough to speak. Or?”
“Or,” Tombstone smirks. “you can work for me.”
A shock courses through the boys as they double take at Tombstone’s offer.
“I’m sorry, what was that?” Henzu asks while raising a very questioning eyebrow.
“This gang needs some new blood. Especially some that’s as insane as you two are.” After all, they did try to steal from the mafia. “What do you think, boys? Think you can run with the big dogs?”
Despite one of the options being certain death, Henzu grins at the prospect of Tombstone’s second offer. ‘A job? With the Tracksuit Mafia? Not exactly the most well-known or respected groups out there but it can work.’ He grins greedily as his mind races with all sorts of possibilities from drug dealing to shake downs. ‘They’ll be a great steppingstone for me.’ Like a nicely set up staircase to walk all over of. ‘I’ll play nice for now, but I’ll have all these chumps under my feet in no time. I’ll make this gang my own. I’ll do what I want! When I want! Ha!! It’s perfect!’ He pauses before considering one other detail. ‘But I’m generous and I‘ll make sure my right hand man’s taken care of too! It’ll be great! Right Izuku-...?!’
Henzu’s mind goes still as he finally looks over and witnesses Izuku's horror-stricken face. He settles down, sitting back into his bonds as a feeling of guilt rides up inside of him like a twisting knot.
Tombstone slaps his shoulder, startling the kid in the process. “So, what’s it gonna be, boys?”
Henzu takes a pause, his eyes darting around the room for a way out.
As they think, the gangsters all silently wait for their answers, even the Leader from before looks interested to hear their response.
After a minute or so Henzu gives in, letting his head hang down in shame.
He looks over at Izuku who shrinks back in fear at the look in Henzu’s eye.
“Sorry, bro… But we ain’t nobody’s lapdogs!” Henzu spins his head back up, shouting right in Tombstone’s face.
Tombstone remains unflinching while his goons are all stunned, gasping out in surprise. Although the Leader smirks, having to hold back a laugh at the kids’ guts.
Henzu smirks allowing his cockier nature to take over. “We make our own rules! And ain’t nobody tells us how to live our lives! You see me and him, we’re outcasts. The freaks. The blacksheeps that just can’t fit in. There ain’t no one looking out for us except us.” He throws a smirk back Izuku’s way, trying to be reassuring and confident. “We’ve always got each other’s backs, no matter what.”
Despite the terrifying circumstances, Izuku is touched by Henzu’s words so much, so he breaks into a tearful smile as snot and tears drip down his face.
In the background, the Leader smiles on, nodding in approval, impressed by the little bros’ brotherhood.
However, Tombstone can’t exactly get behind that kind of loyalty. “I admire your grit, I really do. But you made your choice. Boys!”
Upon his summons, the Tracksuits all gear up with bats, crowbars, and sledgehammers as they lurk closer towards the bound-up punks.
Acting like he’s just dealt with trash, Tombstone turns away and begins making his way out of the crowd of Tracksuits. “Make sure you leave them where no one will find them.”
The frowning Leader of the thugs gives him a curt nod. “Sure, boss bro.”
Tombstone doesn’t acknowledge him any further as he stomps his way back towards the exit.
The biggest of the Tracksuit Mafia thugs steps forward with a chain in hand. “Sorry, bros. But boss’ orders.” Despite the apology he is still flashing them a crooked tooth grin.
Nonetheless, Henzu responds with a nonchalant shrug. “Hey, no sweat man. I get it, it’s just business.” While he says that his plastic-skinned hands finally cut through the tape, and so a cocky smirk stretches across his lips. “So don’t you take this personally either.”
The thug frowns, totally confused by the comment. “What?!”
Henzu lungs out, grabbing the chain and instantly absorbing the metal with Osmosis, his skin turning to metal in the process. Before he swings his fist up and into the thug’s face.
“Gaahh!!” The thug gags in pain when his jaw is punched up towards his skull as a few of his teeth are spat out in all directions.
The other thugs gasp in shock when the biggest of them goes down.
“What?!”
“Yah!!” Henzu leaps up, and when he does, he grabs the kiddie ride and spins around, tossing it right at the incoming thugs.
The headless pony slams into them, knocking them back.
“Time to go!” Henzu reaches over, using his steeled fingers to cut Izuku free of his bonds.
“Ahhh! Okay!!” Izuku scrambles off the plastic dragon, tripping as he does and landing face first on the ground. While he’s down he spots his backpack and with a fearful grin he scurries his way over, grabbing it and holding it close to his chest like it’s a soft blanket.
“Stop lying around and start making a break for it!!” Henzu screams, pulling Izuku off the floor by the scruff of his shirt.
“S-sorry!!” Izuku screams as Henzu drags him across the warehouse and through the gauntlet of stumbling thugs.
As they run, they bob and duck their way through just barely dodging the bats and crowbars being swung at their heads. As they run Izuku scrambles through the contents of his bag, looking for something, anything that can help!
As they run the scrawniest of thugs leaps out, aiming to grab the kids before they can escape.
“Not so fast, bros!!”
Amongst his panicked searching, Izuku grabs something that could help. “Waahh!!” He screams, pulling out the item with his thumb pressed hard against the trigger.
A liquid orange spray dowses the thug’s face, causing his eyes and nostrils to flare and burn. “AAAHHH!”
Henzu shoves the thug back and into the other thugs before grabbing Izuku and running. “Pepper Spray?! You had pepper spray on you?!”
“Yeah, w-well, I never got a chance to use it until now! Ahhh!” He screams while spraying another thug in the face!
They run right towards the exit where Tombstone stands, watching the mess of a fight go on with little to no interest. However, a trio of gangsters cut them off.
“Waaahh!!” The two panic, trying to stop but they end up sliding across the floor and to the side where they both crash into a stack of rusting barrels.
The barrels come tumbling down, crashing against the floor, just barely missing the teens, and spilling out their green oozing contents all across the floor.
The acidic chemicals eat away at the floor, the splashes causing the thugs to scramble back in fear of having their faces melted off. Even Tombstone looks worried as he actually leaps back a bit avoiding just the smallest of splashes that would have landed on his boot.
While pulling himself free of the fallen barrels, Izuku pauses when he witnesses Tombstone’s reaction, but he doesn't have time to think about it as he scrambles back from the pooling chemicals and incoming thugs.
“Wahhh!!” Tears gush from Izuku’s eyes, which splash some of the thugs in the face as he scurries back and away. “We need a hero!”
“Seriously?!” Henzu frowns, shaking his head in disappointment as he slams his metal fist into another thug’s stomach. “Man up dude! Before they kill us!”
“HAA!” A grinning thug swings his bat down on Henzu’s head but the wooden stick snaps in half upon impact.
Henzu turns, throwing a nasty scowl at the thug who shrinks back with a sheepishly apologetic grin.
While Henzu deals with him, one of the bigger thugs approaches the cowering Izuku with a cold cruel smirk. “Whatcha got, bro?”
With a gulp, Izuku slowly raises his fists, but he nearly stumbles over because of his shaking knees.
“Hahaha! Okay, bro.” The thug leans over, lowering his head to Izuku’s level with his chin out. “Give me your best shot, bro.”
Izuku’s fists shake and tremble like a pair of wet noodles shaking in the wind. As he’s about to curl up and cry he eventually notices the heavy weight of his backpack strapped to his shoulders.
The thug grins smugly with his eyes closed and his chin out as he waits for the pathetic paper-soft punch from the kid.
“WAAAAaahhh!!” He gags in pain when, what feels like, a bag of bricks slams into his glass jaw.
He goes down while Izuku jumps back with his swaying backpack in hand.
Henzu’s jaw drops at what he just witnessed. “Dude, what’s in there?!”
“M-my schoolbooks.” Izuku admits before another thug lunges at him. “Waah!” He screams, swinging his backpack like a wrecking ball into the guy’s gut.
“Hahaha!” Henzu laughs, leaping up and jabbing his steeled elbow into a guy’s back before pushing him away. “Keep it up, man! Hahaha!” Henzu then turns towards the rest of the thugs, as well as Tombstone who is indifferently watching from beside the exit. “I thought you guys were a gang, not an afterschool club.”
The rest of the thugs hang back and scowl, however, their Leader doesn’t seem to care as he makes his way through the crowd. “Oh oh oh oh! The boss bro was right, you little bros got some real stones on ya.” He smirks, leaning back and offering a fist bump to several of his goons. “Let’s find out how much.”
The goons grin back and return the fist bump, and upon doing so an orange glow illuminates from what appears to be their brains. The orange glow is so bright and ominous that it outlines the front of their skulls leaving an imprint of orange glowing skulls on their faces.
Despite the clear signal that something is up, Henzu still insists that he can take em on thanks to his steeled skin. “Bring it on, dude!”
Izuku shakes his head. “Hen-er, Mr. Pink, wait! I-I think he’s using his Quirk!”
“So, what?!” Henzu charges in at full speed. “There’s no way they’re a match for my Quirk! Ha!!” he throws himself up into the air, using himself as a heavy projectile with the aim of knocking these punks on their asses.
However, it only takes one of the thugs to reach his hands up and catch Henzu by the shoulders and hold him in midair without breaking a sweat.
Henzu blinks as the thug grins back at him. “WHAT!?!”
“Rah! Hahaha!” The thug cackles as he spins Henzu around and tosses him aside, away from his friend, like he was a sack of potatoes.
Izuku yells out after his friend. “MR. PINK!!!” He suddenly freezes in place, shakily turning around when he realizes that he’s left all alone before the mob of gangsters.
The Leader smirks at the kid’s reaction. “Cool, ain’t it, bro?”
“Is-is that you’re Qu-Quirk?” Izuku manages to choke out through all the fear, his love of Quirks somehow still managing to leak out despite the impending doom. “It-it must be a support type. D-does it amplify other p-people’s strength?”
The Leader whistles, impressed. “You got all that from seeing it once? Wow, bro, you’re really smart. But you're right little bro.” The Leader grins as he offers another fist bump to one of his goons, who returns it and his skull immediately begins to glow. “My Quirk, Fist Pump, allows me to give my bros a little boost. It gets them juiced, making them stronger, faster, and way more dangerous than normal.”
To prove his point one of the skull-glowing goons takes the pipe he was holding and bends it.
Off to the side, away from his friend, Henzu listens in, sweating a little nervously at the sight. “T-that’s cool. But can it make them smarter?”
The Leader actually chuckles at that. “Funny, bro. But let’s see how funny you are after my bros and I are done with you.”
The goon’s all grin and smirk as glowing outlines of their skulls glow brighter and more ominous.
Henzu nervously sweats at the sight as he reaches down and absorbs part of the concrete floor. While Izuku trembles backwards while tears pool in his eyes.
The Leader breaks into a wide smirk before unleashing his gang upon them. “Face it, bros. You’re in over your heads.”
[End of FLASHBACK]
“Face it! We’re in over our heads!” Water Hazard screams while trying to pry off all the Havoc Beasts that are crawling and clawing across his armored body.
Nue lands with a crash before he dowses Water Hazard with powerful jets of water that manages to wash away the swarming Havoc Beasts. “Would you quit being such a spaz?!”
Water Hazard wipes the water away from his face before throwing Nue an offended look. “I’m not a spaz!”
“Huh, yeah you are!” Nue laughs before racing off with XLR8 speed, ramming his way through against the swarm of creeps.
“You jerk.” Water Hazard mutters before having pieces of scrap metal tossed his way.
Shielding himself with his arm he looks over and is stunned to find some of the Havoc Beasts tearing apart Kolar’s large machine.
“Hey! Stop that!” He scares the shrieking Havoc Beasts away with a flood of water before he calls out to Nue in a panic. “We need to defend the device otherwise we’re never getting home!”
Nue looks over just as another group of Havoc Beasts scrambles towards the machine. “Get away from that!! Raaagh!” Nue jumps and lands before the machine, cutting off the terrified Havoc Beasts’ path. “I’ll kill you all! Raaagh!” He roars, scaring them so much that they scurry away out of fear.
With them gone he turns to check on the machine only to find its control panel and satellite antenna busted and chewed apart. “God dammit!! Look at what they did!”
“It’s not too late!” Water Hazard reassures as he slams his fist into several pouncing creeps. “My Dad knows we’re in here. If we can at least secure a base, we can wait it out until he gets here.” Basically, they need to be able to stay in one place and defend it until Hisashi can reach them…somehow.
“Okay, sure, but how long will that take?!”
Water Hazard ducks as a Havoc Beast lunges at his head before giving Nue a shrug. “I don’t know! I’m pulling all this out of my ass! Now are you gonna help or not?!” He shouts as he blasts several of the Havoc Beasts away.
However, with everyone he washes away, more and more slide into view with hungry eyes and salivating rows of teeth.
Water Hazard nervously prepares himself for the fight, backing away so that he can defend the device properly along with Nue. ‘I’m sorry about this Dad. But I promise I’ll be home soon.’
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
‘I promise I’ll get you home soon.’ Hisashi promises as he finishes pulling on his glove and the last piece of his red-cladded Plumber suit.
And with it he finally returns to the large echo chamber containing the old model of the Null Void Projector. Inside he finds patrols of Security Droids all hard at work on repairs like a colony of ants. And leading it all is their queen or rather their king, Magister Nezu.
Hisashi or rather Cinder approaches, making his way through the hurrying droids. “Have you guys made any progress yet?!”
Nezu turns to address Cinder while One-One, Chopper, and Kraab are all at work with welding and rewiring the control panel and nearby circuits. “Your timing couldn’t be more perfect.”
Cinder watches as Chopper places the last panel back onto the control board. “You fixed it?!”
One-One happily shakes his head/body. ^We sure did! Isn’t it swell?!^ He then droops down in a sulky manner. ^Yeah, now can we fix the void that leads to a never ending pit of despair…?^
Everyone just stares in response to Sad-One’s comment, before Kraab sarcastically rolls his eyes. “Wow. Aren’t you a little ball of contradictions?”
^Thanks. I’m so glad you noticed…^
Ignoring them, Cinder turns back towards the white-furred chimera. “Magister Nezu?”
Principal Nezu offers him a reassuring smile. “Yes. This Null Void Projector is fully repaired and functional.”
“Alright, then.” Cinder takes his respirator and pulls it up over his mouth before turning his gaze towards the gates of hell. “Hang on Izuku, I’m coming for you.”
However, Principal Nezu slides in and dashes his plans. “Oh, I’m afraid you won’t be.”
“What?!” Cinder cries out in shock, nearly falling over in surprise. “What the hell?! Of course I’m going after him! My boy’s in there!”
“I’m afraid you miss understood me.” Principal Nezu explains before turning towards the spherical bot. “One-One.”
^Aye aye, sir!^ One-One rolls his way towards one of the nearby control panels where he hops up and plugs himself into a conveniently One-One sized port.
Upon entry a swarm of Plumber-standard drones fly in with white facades and circular, red-spotted eyes.
Principal Nezu smiles up at the drones before explaining their presence. “We cannot risk any more lives entering the Null Void as such we will use these drones to scout out and search for the dear boy.”
“Brilliant!” Cinder gushes before pausing when a problem arises in his head. “Wait, but won’t we lose their signal the moment the portal closes?”
Principal Nezu’s smile turns dour in response. “Yes, we would. That is why we will not be closing the portal.”
The sudden silence and fear is so palpable that one could hear a pin drop as even all the droids freeze in place.
And of course, it’s Kraab that breaks the tension with a sarcastic comment. “I always knew you Plumbers were insane, and now I can say the rumors are true.”
For once, Cinder wants to agree with him. “Magister Nezu there…there must be a better way.”
“I’m afraid there isn’t.” Principal Nezu admits with a sad frown and somber shake of his head. “Your son and my student are trapped in there, and we need to do all we can to bring him home. I understand the risks, that is why I need you here.” He needs Cinder here where he better serve the operation and help save his child. “With any luck he will find the portal before long. But we cannot put all our hopes in that alone.” Principal Nezu then turns to address the rest of the droids such as Chopper, One-One and Kraab. “C1-10P shall monitor and take control of the Projector's systems. Meanwhile, One-One shall monitor the drones’ progress.”
One of the Commando-Security Droids steps forward. ^Sir, what about the rest of us?^
“The rest of you have a very important task.” Principal states before declaring out to the rest of the Security Droids. “Everyone, we need all available droids and combatants here immediately. We need everyone to prepare a defensive perimeter around the projector. We must not let anything other than Izuku Midoriya through.”
The Security Droids all stand at attention and salute. ^Roger! Roger!^
The patrols hurry away, sorting themselves throughout the echo chamber as they prepare themselves to hold the line.
Some of the Security Battle Droids however don’t feel so confident about it as the others, though. ^I got a bad feeling about this.^
^Quiet! And get ready.^
^Okay…^
Using his one claw, Kraab throws himself onto one of the Security Super Battle Droids. “Mind if I borrow this?”
He doesn’t wait for an answer as he’s already hacked his way into the droid, taking it over and causing its eyes to glow yellow instead of red.
As Kraab’s hacked body prepares its artillery, Chopper inserts himself into the control panel and waits for Magister Nezu’s command.
Cinder grips his Amenonuhoko and gives it a roundabout spin between his hands. Through his respirator he controls a wisp of a flame to snake around and ignite the two ends of the spear, illuminating the ends in a red burning glow.
Even Principal Nezu prepares himself to defend the line as he takes up a massive white-metal blaster that’s more akin to a bazooka than a gun.
Principal Nezu then nods his head and gives Chopper the signal. Upon his signal, Chopper activates the projector, summoning forth a massive red vortex before them all.
“Everyone, steel yourselves before the doorway to hell.” Principal Nezu remains steadfast as the pull of the vortex whips about and animalistically demonic roars howl through from beyond the void. “And pray that any devil that pours forth, shall find themselves before God's judgment.”
Upon his declaration, a green grotesque beast appears from inside the void. The monster’s upper body slightly resembles that of a horribly mutated frog, with long muscular arms that are twice its own height with sharp black claws on each hand. Jagged fangs protrude out from the monster’s black lips, while black crystal-shaped spikes extend out from its shoulders, all while being carried on stout bacteriophage-like legs.
The Wigsillian Org Beast unleashes a predatory roar as its hungry eyes settle upon the droids and Plumbers before it.
The Org Beast roars out as it charges forth with his claws swinging forward and a fiery breath plumes from its maw while an entire army of its brethren pours out through the portal.
The army of droids rattle and shake before the howling monsters, but Cinder summons his courage and throws himself before the beasts with his fiery spear being swung around him. “I’ll send you all back to the pits of hell!”
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
“How are there so many of them?!” Water Hazard finds himself once again being swarmed by the nipping Havoc Beasts. “Let-let go!” He flails, thrashes, and kicks trying to shake them off. “There’s too many!”
“Getting tired already, Deku?!” Nue laughs as he blasts away more of the Havoc Beasts with a powerful wind gust. “Come on, I already took out like thirty of these creeps!”
“Please, don’t make this a competition!” Water Hazard whines as he shakes off and blasts away the Havoc beasts that were clinging to him. “And if it was a competition then I want to point out that I already took out like thirty-four of these guys.”
A single Havoc Beast leaps up at him but Water Hazard blasts it away and into the rocks.
“Thirty-five!” Water Hazard corrects a little too excitedly.
Nue growls in annoyance before spotting more Havoc Beasts and frying them with an electrical blast from his tendrils. “Oh, would you look at that, I’m at 35 too.”
Water Hazard glares back, sticking his arm out to the side and washing away five more monsters. “40.”
The two glare at each other as their fiery need to compete takes over and they rush into action.
Nue slams his fist down into a pile of shrieking monsters. “42!”
Water Hazard sprints by and tackles his way through the aliens. “44!”
“49!”
“47!”
“53!”
“55!”
They both go in and blast away the Havoc Beasts with jets of water and electricity while simultaneously declaring out. “SIXTY!!!”
With that, the last of the Havoc Beasts go down, leaving both Water Hazard and Nue in sour moods.
“A tie.” Water Hazard groans while glaring daggers at Nue.
“Dammit!” Nue’s fist smashes itself into the ground. “Raagh! I want a recount!”
Water Hazard rolls his eyes at Nue’s request. “Come on.” He quickly swoops down and scoops up the torn off scraps of metal. “Let’s…just start repairing this thing and get home already.”
“Fine.” Nue spits, using Lodestar’s magnetic pull to gather the scattered pieces.
As he levitates the metal over his head he moves quickly and shoves past Water hazard causing him to trip and fall. “Hehehe, oops.”
Water Hazard bites back his tongue as he stares daggers into the back of Nue’s skull. ‘Dad what’s taking you so long? Cause I have no idea how much longer I can take of this…’
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
Meanwhile, back on Earth inside the Mt. Fuji Plumber Base.
“Magister Nezu!!” Cinder screams as he flips into the air and delivers finishing strikes to several Org Beasts with his Amenonuhoko: Dual Burn. “I don’t know how much longer we can take this!”
The Null Void Chamber is nothing but chaos, like a scene of hell spilling into their own world. Fires rage across the chamber and walls while monstrous Org Beasts and Nullvoiders pour out through the portal. The beasts claw and tear their way through the battalions of Security Battle Droids, leaving most of them in pieces.
^No! No! Ahhh!^
^There’s too many of them!^
^But I just got promoted-Gahhh!!^
“Hahahaha! Isn’t this such great fun? Hm?” A deranged Principal Nezu cackles in maniacal glee as he fires off powerful laser beams into the incoming horde. “Hahahaha!”
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
“They must be so bored without me.” Grey Matter mutters to himself as he rewires the inside of Kolar’s satellite-like machine.
He’s been at it for a while, first as Izuku helping with gathering the chewed up and torn tech and scrap and then after the Omnitrix recharged things really got moving as Grey Matter was able to put his intellect and diminutive stature to good use.
Also…it doesn’t hurt that Nue actually knows his way around machines. Probably thanks to his background in mechanics as it was one of the few non-criminal things he liked back in junior high. And there’s the fact that he does have a little of Grey Matter’s own intelligence hidden somewhere inside that raging ball of muscle and spite.
“Put that flux capacitor in between here.” Grey Matter directs from inside the machine.
“You got it.” Without complaint Nue places the strange misshapen alien device inside the machine allowing Grey Matter to rewire it on the inside.
“There.” Grey Matter claps his hands once the device is in place, sticking his head out up towards the top of the misshapen machine that’s just a hotpodge of various alien tech all strewn together.
Stationed atop of the car-sized machine are an array of satellite-like antennas, one of which seems to be unaligned.
“Now readjust that antenna about 45 degrees up.”
Nue’s tendril slithers up and readjusts said satellite.
Meanwhile, Grey Matter takes a floppy-disc like device that’s as thick as a dictionary and places it into the port located atop the machine. He then tries to shove it in but it won’t budge thanks to the warped porthole. He even tries to jump on top of it to get it in, but he just doesn’t have enough weight or strength to do it.
And so, with a defeated sigh, Grey Matter hops off and directs Nue over to the stuck port. “Here pound this in will ya?”
Nue swings back his fist and prepares to smash the machine. “Raagh!”
“STOP!!!” Grey Matter screams jumping in the way with his arms flailing over his head. “Gently.”
Nue frowns, acting like Grey Matter should have clarified from the start before reaching over and pushing the device into the port with a single finger allowing it to slide in like a cassette player. “There.”
“Perfect. Now onto the next part.” Grey Matter prepares to walk away and start the next job but he hesitates, taking a moment to pause and glance back at Nue with a curious yet somewhat sorrowful look.
Noticing Grey Matter’s odd look, Nue frowns. “What?”
Grey Matter answers him, not in a condescending or spiteful way, but one that’s rather honest and somber. “It’s just that when you’re not trying to kill something, namely me, you can actually follow orders really well.”
Despite the compliment of sorts, Nue still finds a way to be angry about. Taking offense especially after hearing Vilgax’s words in his head again. “Shut up! Another word out of you and I'll squeeze you like a Panic Pete!”
Grey Matter angrily glares back but after a moment his expression softens to that of exasperation and pity. And with a look of judgment on his face he turns his back to Nue in a display of disappointment and annoyance.
Nue scowls in response to the gesture. “What was that?”
Folding his arms, Grey Matter continues to look away. “What was…what?”
“That look. That condescending look. And the fact you didn't say anything. What was with that?” Nue snarls, demanding an answer.
But Grey Matter shrugs it off, still refusing to look Nue in the face. “Nothing. Don’t worry about it.”
That was the wrong thing to say as Nue’s irritation begins to spill over. “Oh, no. You’re plotting something aren’t you? Aren’t you?!”
Grey Matter rolls his eyes in response, finding Nue’s accusations off base and annoying. Because of course he’s not plotting anything, he’s not like that.
But Nue would beg to differ. “I knew it! You were planning on ditching me here after it’s all fixed?!”
“What?! No!” Grey Matter finally reacts, appalled that Nue would think that he, a hero-in-training, would do such a thing. “I’m not you, you know! I wouldn’t do that.”
A part of Nue wants to crush Grey Matter under his fist but he holds back. “You’re right. You’re too much of a goody goody. Always were.”
Instead of responding, Grey Matter finally turns to look at him with his arms folded and with that same disappointed yet judgmental look in his eyes.
“There’s that look again.”
Grey Matter frowns. “This look?”
“Yeah, that look.” Nue growls, leaning in close. “What’s with it?”
Giving in, Grey Matter sighs and tells him what it means. “I was just thinking.”
“Thinking what?”
In response to the question, Grey Matter throws Nue one nasty scowl, one that’s filled with mirth and disappointment in himself. “Thinking about how I could ever have been friends with someone like you.”
Nue’s insides boil while a sharp pain pierces his chest, making his insides twist and churn. “Yeah, me neither. I can’t believe I wasted so much time on a scrawny ass wimp like you.”
“And I can’t believe I allowed myself to be dragged around by a braindead delinquent for as long as I did.” Grey Matter turns away again, unable to look Nue in the eye anymore. “I am so glad I moved on.”
“So, am I, pipsqueak.” Nue turns away as well. “And let me tell ya, I much prefer my new…team over you.”
“So, do I.” Grey Matter glances back at Nue’s monstrous form and spits. “Monsters should be with monsters.”
“Yeah.” Nue jabs his finger into Grey Matter’s back, making the little alien stumble and fall. “I couldn’t agree more.”
Grey Matter glares back but he holds back his tongue as pulls himself back onto his feet. “Let’s just get back to work. The sooner this thing is fixed the sooner we can be rid of each other.”
“You took the words right out of my mouth.” And with that Nue marches away to collect more of the machine’s ripped away pieces while his insides still churn and twist with unfamiliar emotions and bitterness.
With him gone, Grey Matter is finally able to take a breath while massaging the bridge between his eyes. “Just take it easy Izuku. Just fix up this machine, boot it up, go home, and you never have to deal with another psychotic megalomaniac ever again.”
A resounding boom followed by the crashing of rocks caving-in on each other explodes out from the entrance of the rocky valley. And standing atop the fallen rubble is the engineer behind their salvation, Kolar. And he is pissed.
“Get away from my device!!” He roars, leaping down with an assortment of weapons and blasters strapped to his body, most likely the same weapons back from Plumber Base that got sucked into the Null Void when the portal was opened. He looks worse for wear, his body littered with fresh cuts and scrapes mostly gathered during his journey across the Null Void in order to get back here. But the most striking scar is the fresh laser blast located on his face as his upper right eye has been burned away by a well-aimed plasma bolt courtesy of one Izuku Midoriya.
Grey Matter screams out in terror at his sudden appearance. “Waaah!! K-Kolar!!”
Kolar’s three remaining eyes scan the valley, and he quickly spots the Omnitrix’s familiar design strapped to the little Galvan. “YOU!!!” He roars instantly, recognizing the symbol as part of Izuku. “You did this to me!! Raaahh!! I’ll kill you for what you did!! RAAAHH!!!”
Kolar charges forward, his desire for revenge taking him over as he pursues to smash Grey Matter into Grey Matter even if it means smashing his machine along with him!
However, Nue leaps in and catches Kolar’s fists midair, holding him in place between himself and the machine. “Woah! Woah! Woah! Easy, man. I mean I get it, I want to squash the bug too.” He shoves Kolar back, throwing him across the valley. “But if anyone’s gonna off him. It’s gonna be me.”
Kolar rips out the BFG and Lancer. “Fine!! Then you can die with him!! Raaaahh!!”
He open fires blasting an array of lasers and bullets at the two.
To shield them, Nue quickly produces a thin wall of crystals before he turns and shouts back at the little Galvan. “Shit, dude! What did you do to this guy?!”
Grey Matter sheepishly rubs the back of his head in shame. “I…may have sent him back here. Oh, and I may have blinded him in one eye.”
“YOU DID WHAT!?!” There's no way Deku would do something like that! And if he did then, admittedly, that’s kinda badass of him.
“Hey, he was trying to kill me!” Grey Matter defends as laser fire continues to rain down on their position. “And he was gonna send other innocent lives here. I did what I had to!”
*BOOM!!!* Nue’s crystal wall is blasted away into shards of glass.
Nue shields himself as laser fire begins to rain down upon them. “Yeah, well, now we gotta do whatever we can to survive!”
*BOOM!!!*
[FLASHBACK]
“Bros…?” The Leader stares in bewilderment at what he’s just witnessed. It should have been impossible, so much so he’s still not sure if his eyes were playing tricks on him. And if it wasn’t a trick then it had to be one of the most impressive but also weirdest things he’s ever seen.
“How?” That is the question. After all, how did these two punk kids take out all of his pumped-up goons without so much as taking a scratch themselves? “How did you bros win with just a water hose, a ladder, some pepper spray, and a banana peel?!”
Dangling from chains above is a terrified Izuku who clings to the chains like a monkey while a pile of gangsters lie unconscious on the floor below him. “H-Honestly, I-I have no idea.”
Coming up from below is Henzu who seems just as impressed and confused as the Leader is. “Seriously, I don’t think we’ll ever be able to replicate what just happened.”
Leaning against the entrance is Tombstone who watched the events all go down with an amused scowl. “Embarrassing.”
The muscular Leader of the now unconscious group of gangsters pulls out his pistol from under his tracksuit jacket. “I didn’t want to do this, bros. But I have no other choice.”
He takes aim and fires, but the bullets harmlessly spark off Henzu’s steel overcoated body.
“Cut it out!!” Henzu screams as he charges, slapping the pistol away, before his fist collides with the thug’s face.
The muscular Leader stumbles back, holding his jaw and possibly a broken nose. “Damn you, bro!”
“Lame sauce.” Henzu snickers while taking the pistol and bending it, rendering it useless. “You went to your gun so quickly. What’s the matter, did your Quirk run out of juice?”
Izuku slinks up behind him and offers up a nervous explanation. “H-he must not be able to use his Q-Quirk on himself.”
“Ha! Now that’s lame!”
The Leader scowls, rolling up his sleeves as he prepares to throw down, but he’s stopped as a cold stone-heavy hand grips his shoulder from behind. “Boss bro?”
Tombstone grips his underling’s shoulder harder before leaning in and telling him off with such disdain. “Pathetic.”
Just before the Leader can ask him to elaborate, Tombstone lifts him up with just one arm.
“B-Bro? Wh-what are you doing?!”
Tombstone responds with such coldness even for his already deep gravelly voice. “What I should have done from the start.”
He tosses the Leader aside, throwing him against the wall of the warehouse so hard that the siding cracks.
“Gaah!”
“Useless.” Tombstone spits before gazing out towards the rest of the defeated mafia. “Every last one of you.” He lets out a heavy sigh like that of an old veteran who’s seen his fair share of combat and thrills. “But I shouldn’t be surprised. They just don’t make criminals like they used to. Not since All Might took to the streets.” He glances up towards the defiant Henzu and the quivering Izuku. “But you kids wouldn’t know that.” His eyes drift over towards the groaning Leader who is just barely conscious enough to prop himself up. “None of you know. But let me tell ya the time before All Might was a ride.” He smiles at that, the old memories washing over him like the embrace of an old friend. “The world was like an open road with nothing but fresh pavement for us villains to cruise across as we pleased. Everyone felt like they were on top of the world, and if you had the strength then you were untouchable.”
His smile soon disappears as his disappointment makes itself known. “But look at us now? Villains are weak and cowardly; we hide and flee at the mere mention of the word hero. We’re so pathetic now that snot-nosed kids can take out an entire gang!!” He slaps his face at that, it’s so sad that he could shed a tear. But he’s bigger than that, tougher than that. “Back in the day being a gangster meant something, it was terrifying. It had power! But now, now it’s nothing more than an after-school club for twerps and their weakass Quirks.”
The downed groaning Leader scowls angrily at that.
Heck, even Henzu finds it way offensive. “Dude, way harsh.”
“HA!!!” Tombstone bellows with laughter. “If you think this is harsh just you wait and see what’s coming!”
The Leader struggles to get it, holding his aching side and possibly broken ribs. “B-Boss?”
“I ain’t your boss no more. Hell from here on out the Tracksuit Mafia’s done for.” Good he never did like the name anyway. “Big waves are coming soon kids. So big that the boat’s gonna sink and I’m jumping ship before it’s too late.” From inside his leather jacket, he pulls out that old worn out leather box, the very one Henzu and Izuku stole and got them into this mess at the start. “And this is my ticket to a better ship.”
The Leader can’t believe his ears, his boss, the big bad Tombstone, is running away? “Y-you’re bailing?”
“Yeah, I’m bailing. Because there are bigger players out there getting ready to throw stones into the pond. And I’m gonna make sure I’m one of those stones.” However, there’s something he must do before that can happen. Firstly, he got to deliver the loot to his client. And secondly, well it involves getting his hands dirty. “I can’t have any loose ends.” He turns his cold indifferent gaze towards the two teens. “And I’m gonna start with you two.” He slams his fist into his palm and grinds his fists together like taking a whetstone and sharpening a blunt blade. “I’m going to enjoy grinding you both into dust.”
The trembling Izuku clings to Henzu’s arm for safety. “Wh-what do we do n-now?!”
“Isn’t it obvious?” Henzu grins as he absorbs part of the cement floor. “We fight back! Raagh!”
[End of FLASHBACK]
“No!! If we fight back, he’ll end up blowing up our only way home!!'' Grey Matter screams while clinging to Nue’s shoulder for dear life. And he has to as Nue speeds this way and that in order to evade Kolar’s laser fire and grenades.
“Then what do you suggest, wise guy?!”
“You need to hold his attention for as long as you can while I finish fixing the machine!”
“How long will that take?!” Nue shouts out just as he leaps away and a resounding green blast of energy tears through the ground where he stood.
Grey Matter shields his face in front of the blazing heat before responding. “I’ll go as fast as I can, but you have to hurry!”
Nue does, speeding over in a circle to distract Kolar long enough and allow him time to drop Grey Matter atop the machine.
“Now remember to keep him off of me while I work!”
Nue scowls, annoyed with Grey Matter’s taking charge. “Why do I have to do all the hard work?”
“Fine, you wanna switch?” Grey Matter sarcastically asks while gesturing to the misshapen and seemingly unorganized machine.
“I’m good.”
“Thought so. Now get going!”
“I’m going. I’m going!” Using Terrapin's gusts, he launches himself high into the air, taking Kolar’s attention and laser fire along with him. “I’ve been needing a new sparring partner! Hahaha!” He howls with maniacal laughter as he plummets down to the ground with breakneck speed.
Kolar just barely dives out of the way as the massive ball of muscle and alien DNA crashes into the ground with a wickedly mischievous grin.
“But I’m warning you, I don't like to play nice!!”
Kolar backs away and growls out in spite. “E Chu Ta!”
“Raagh!” Having heard that curse come from Psyphon enough times before, Nue instantly takes offense and charges the blaster-wielding maniac.
*BOOM!!!* With a well-aimed shot from the BFG Nue is blasted back and into the rocky walls of the narrow valley just beside the working Grey Matter.
Grey Matter grimaces, hissing in pain just from the sight of Nue getting the shit smacked out of him. “Ooh, that looked like it hurt.”
“It didn’t!” Nue barks, prying himself free and rushing back into the fight.
“It sure looked like it did.” But Grey Matter let’s it go as he gets back to rewiring the busted machine.
As he tinkers and ties some of the chewed-up wiring back together sparks fly out and fry him, cooking him alive before the machine quickly runs out of juice.
The cooked and singed Grey Matter quivers as he shakily let’s go of the fixed wires, his eye twitching as he exhales a puff of smoke. “Okay…now that…hurt. Ow…” And he collapses taking a small break while his body stops twitching.
[FLASHBACK]
“OW!!!” Izuku wails as his forehead smacks into a low hanging pipe.
“Why are you stopping?!” Henzu shouts while grabbing his shoulder and shoving him forward while they both hurry away in a panic!
“Raaahh!!” Tombstone roars, bursting through the pile of crates behind them, shattering the crates to nothing but splinters and nails. “Where are you two going?! Get back here and face me like men, why don’t ya?!”
“N-no thanks! I’m not ready to be a man!” Izuku screams as he and Henzu race through the depths of the pipe and tin barrel-filled warehouse.
“Use your pepper spray on him!” Henzu shouts as they run.
“I can’t!”
“Why not?!”
“It’s empty!”
“Dammit!”
Just as they get enough distance between them and Tombstone, Henzu pulls Izuku behind a large machine and tells him to run. “Split up! He can’t follow us both!”
“What?! Hey wait-!”
But Henzu’s already gone, having already bolted towards the other end of the warehouse.
And so not wanting to have his skull bashed into his neck, Izuku takes off in the other direction just as Tombstone smashes his way through the large machine like an indestructible Kool-Aid man.
“Oh, yeah! Hahaha!” He maniacally bellows before deciding to go after the much whimper and scrawnier Mr. Green.
“Aaahhh!” Izuku screams as he ducks and slides between the pipes and stacks of crates. “Why is he going after me?! Wahh!!”
While Tombstone crashes and stampedes through the warehouse, a lone orange-jacket wearing rat slips inside through a busted window.
Argit dusts himself off as he slips behind a few rusty barrels. “Alright, let’s see what we got in here.”
He didn’t come so much as to help but after being forced i.e. paid to give up Uuichi he decided ‘Hey, maybe I can still get some more money off of this job.’ And so here he is hoping to swipe some more loot and money while the Tracksuit Mafia deals with his friend.
So he’s quite surprised to find most of the Tracksuit guys lying unconscious on the ground, their leader wincing in pain as he tries to hobble away, and finally their head boss, Tombstone, tearing the place apart while chasing down Uuichi and his broccoli-headed friend!
“Ah, geez.” He places a hand on his snout, dragging it down his face in an attempt to wipe away the guilt. “Oh, well I’m sure they got this.”
As he says this he watches as Uuichi leaps onto Tombstone’s back but the much stronger villain throws him back and slams him against the wall.
‘Ow! Maybe not…’ Admittedly he feels a little guilty here, like there’s a small chance this is his fault. ‘Huh, maybe I can still get ahead in this.’ He grins before slipping back outside through the same window.
Upon slipping outside he wipes out a burner phone and begins to dial. ‘After this Uuichi we’re even.’
Back inside the warehouse, Henzu and Izuku are very much struggling against the enraged Tombstone.
“You think you can hurt me, boy?” Tombstone seethes while Henzu bats him with a crowbar.
But the metal bar just bends and twists with every impact against Tombstone’s skin.
“Damnit!” Henzu throws the bent crowbar at Tombstone’s head, but it harmlessly bounces off as he charges forward like a bull.
Henzu just barely dives out of the way as Tombstone’s head smashes into the wall.
With Tombstone temporarily immobilized, Henzu uses Osmosis to absorb part of the cement floor and leaps up, throwing his fist forward.
“Gaahh!!” Henzu wails in pain as his fist cracks against Tombstone’s nearly indestructible hide.
“Haven’t you figured it out yet?” Tombstone questions as he pulls himself way from the crumbling brick wall. “No one and I mean no one can hurt me.” He grabs a loose brick and crushes it between his palm. “Which means no one can stop me.”
While Henzu tries his best to block Tombstone’s devastating punches, Izuku watches on while cowering behind a massive tower of piled up barrels. ‘Nothing can stop him?’
That line doesn't sit well with him. Not at all. There’s no way a Quirk like that, even Tombstone's, is that powerful. And if it was, how come he’s never heard of such a villain before today? No, there’s got to be a way to stop him. ‘All Quirks have a downside to them, and he’s got to have one too, but what?’
And so observing as Tombstone’s fist smash into pipes and crates, shattering them, and all the while he never even flinches in pain.
‘He doesn’t feel pain. And his skin is indestructible, but…’
He watches as Henzu ducks and Tombstone’s fist once again smashes into a pile of crates, however, this time a crate of heavy metal pieces collapses on top of him. And the weight of the crate actually throws him to the ground before it shatters, and he shoves himself back up to his feet.
‘That’s it!’ Izuku thinks with a grin. ‘H-he might be indestructible, but he doesn't have superhuman strength! He’s just really muscly!’
He peers up at the towering stack of barrels as well as the number of chains dangling nearby. ‘W-we can beat him!’
[End of FLASHBACK]
“How am I losing to this guy?!” Nue roars in pain as he takes a nasty shot to the shoulder.
He rushes back, smashing his fists into the ground, breaking enough of the ground free for him to prop up as cover.
While still tinkering with their way home, Grey Matter calls out why. “You’re using your powers all wrong!”
“Shut up! I know what I'm doing!”
“No you’re not! Just listen to me! Okay?!”
“No! I can do this on my own!” He does not as more blasts from the BFG keep him at bay.
“Just hear what I have to say at least!”
“Fine!” Nue spits, speeding by and generating a crystal wall for cover. “What?!”
“He’s firing lasers so just use Feedback’s tendrils to absorb them!”
Nue stares back at him in confusion. “Feed…back? Oh! I remember it’s that tall Cable guy!”
“Yeah, the…cable guy.” Grey Matter sighs before continuing on. “The tendrils. Your tendrils can absorb energy, including lasers!”
Nue scowls, puffing his chest out like his ego took a hit. “I knew that I just forgot is all.”
Grey Matter oh-so wants to roll his eyes at that but doesn’t just cause he knows Nue will pick a fight with him over it instead.
Nue leaps over his crystal wall just as Kolar once again fires the BFG.
His tendrils whip forward, and the conductors instantly get to work, absorbing the devastating blast of energy until it’s nothing but electricity coursing through his veins.
“Woah now that feels good!” He’s so energized far more than just downing three Monster drinks and some quote-on-quote candy. “Now what?”
Grey Matter smirks back and tells him. “Now fire back!”
Nue’s grin widens as he turns and thrusts his arms forward and powerful beams of lightning shoot out from all four of his arms.
Kolar summons all his strength to leap away, watching in horror from midair as the lightning cracks and thunders across the valley, tearing through the ground and blasting it apart in a brilliant explosion of light and thunder!
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In the distance, the giant monstrous worm peers up at the sound of thundering explosions. It scans the floating red horizon until it spots lightning off in the distance.
The monster’s left violet eye gleams voraciously before it begins its journey towards the excitement.
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Meanwhile, Nue is having the time of his life as the lightning dissipates. “Ahahaha! Awesome! That was awesome!!”
Even Grey Matter seems to be having a good time. “See, I told you!”
Meanwhile, Kolar clings to the nearby rock wall, dangling from it like a muscular gorilla. “So you can absorb lasers?” He uses his two free hands to grip the BFG and Lancer. “Then let’s see just how much you can take?!”
Nue grins up at him, his tendrils ready to be fed some more. “I can take anything you throw at me! Raagh!!”
[FLASHBACK]
“Aaah!” The cement coated Henzu is thrown across the warehouse, his back crashing into a steel beam before he collapses. “Ow. That hurt.” He groans as his skin turns back to normal.
“Henz-Er, Mr. Pink!” Izuku calls for him, grabbing him by his collar and doing his best to hoist him up before pulling him along.
Henzu nearly trips while trying to keep up with him. “Izu-Mr. Green? What’s going on?”
“Come on! Just follow me!”
He drags Henzu away, back towards the exit only stopping as they reach a massive stack of chained-up barrels that stretches past their heads.
Izuku peers out, spotting the exit. “Let’s hurry!
But before they can move Tombstone dashes in, intercepting their path. “Where do you think you’re going, boys?” he stomps forward, forcing the kids back against the stack of barrels. “I’m not done with you yet.”
Izuku tries to be confident, tries his best to act like Bakugou and Henzu, but he’s just too scared to pull it off. “Y-yeah, y-you a-a-are.”
Henzu frowns, leaning in and whispering his concern. “Izuku?”
Izuku whispers back. “J-just f-follow my l-lead. I-I think I-I k-know what I’m d-doing?”
“You think?!”
“H-Henzu, y-you…you have to trust me.”
Trust him, huh? Does he even have to ask? “I trust ya.”
Izuku smiles, albeit shaky, but he’s honored that his friend can trust him with life like that.
“Raaah!!” Tombstone charges like a speeding train. “I’ll crush you all!!”
Henzu grips Izuku’s arm, tugging at it, waiting for him to give the signal. “Izuku? Izuku? Izuku?!”
But the greenette holds himself, staying where he is. “N-not y-yet.” He whispers.
Tombstone reels back his fist, his aim is clear: their skulls. “RAAAHHH!!”
“NOW!!!” Izuku grabs Henzu and shoves them both out of the way as Tombstone speeds past.
The massive stonewall of a man crashes into the stack of barrels, causing chemicals to spill out as a few stray barrels slip out and fall to the floor with echoing bangs.
Tombstone struggles to pry himself free from the stack as heavy chains hang down.
Izuku pulls Henzu along before dropping a chain into his hands. “Now pull! Hurry!”
Henzu follows the chain up to the tall stack of barrels and instantly gets the idea. “You got it!!”
He and Izuku pull together with all their might which is just enough to bring the heavy stack of barrels and chains down on the mob boss.
“Raaahhhh!” Tombstone screams as a mountain of barrels cave-in on his head.
They clash and crash against each other, their contents spilling out into pools of chemicals. All the while Tombstone finds himself pinned, unable to move against the burning chemicals, dented barrels, and heavy chains. “Get these things off of me! Ahh! Ahh! It burns! Why is it burning?! Grrr!” He begins to scream as the chemicals slowly begin to cause irritation to his marble pale skin.
Henzu breaks into a haughty laugh. “HA! I guess you’re not as indestructible as you first thought.” He grins over at Izuku, feeling like he's a dad after seeing his boy’s plan workout. “Nice work, Mr. Green.” He says the last part a little jokingly.
A very relieved Izuku grins back at him. “T-thanks, M-Mr. Pink.”
Henzu pats him on the back before walking off to taunt the chained-up gang boss some more. It’ll be a big boost to his ego apparently.
But while his back is turned, Izuku spots a familiar worn leather box on the floor. Figuring it must have slipped out of Tombstone' pocket during the fight, he leans over to pick it up.
While those two soak in their miraculous win, the Leader of what used to be the Tracksuit Mafia throws himself over the side of a busted window before peering back inside. “Woah, those little bros actually took him out.” He’s impressed but also hurt both physically and mentally in regard to his pride. But he was never one that did things for pride, he always saw himself as a businessman in all honesty. And it appears that the Tracksuit Mafia is no longer profitable.
And so, he cuts his losses, wobbling his way to the nearest moving truck, too hurt to even go searching for his own car. He groans in pain as he pulls himself inside.
Once seated he peers out the side window and into the night. And he is so glad he bailed when he did as police lights can be seen far into the distance.
And so with no time left to waste he takes off, speeding around the warehouse and even past his Dodge Charger that’s forced to abandon as the sirens come into earshot.
[End of FLASHBACK]
“Dude! Is it fixed yet?!” Nue yells out as he and Kolar are pitted in a test of strength.
“It…is…Now!” Grey Matter grins, pulling away from the last of the fixed up wires.
He leaps up and around the machine, making his way to the control panel where he proceeds to punch in the appropriate signal. He even punches the activation button but the machine refuses to start. “It won’t turn on! Dang it! It must be out of power!”
Nue blasts Kolar away with a powerful whirlwind from his chest cavities before rushing over to the machine. “Out of the way!”
He jabs his tendrils and Lodestar-like claw into the machine and using both Feedback and Buzzshock’s powers he sends surges of electricity into the machine.
It works as the machine begins to power up.
“Good! Keep that up!” Grey Matter leaps over and slams down on the activation button.
And immediately the machine lights up, its antennas and satellite dishes all shooting upward and begin to while as they pinpoint in on the signal from a Null Void Projector.
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Org Beasts roar into the battle-scarred chamber as the portal to the Null Void swirls behind them while more and more of their brethren pour through. The grotesque beats tear and claw their way through the Plumber Base’s Security Droids but for every five they take down one of their own goes down as well.
“Skraaaeee!! Skraaaeee!! Skraaaeee!!” Nullvoiders fill the air with their shrieks and howls as they descend down upon the resisting droids and Plumbers.
But despite facing a demonic horde the droids remain steadfast before their enemies.
One commander even takes it upon himself to direct his fellow bots. ^Concentrate fire at Sector 11374265!^
One of the other Security Battle Droids pauses in confusion. ^113…7-what was that again?^
^Just fire right there!!^
But even with a little command, there is no commanding this chaotic battle as fire, lasers, and swings fly through the air while the droids and Plumbers go to war.
And what a gruesome war it is. As droids use their fallen comrades as shields and points of cover against the onslaught of claws and teeth. Even more droids go up in flames due to Org Beasts’ flaming breaths. Some droids are all but malfunctioning, damaged and put into a daze as they hobble around looking for their lost limbs. But they are persistent as those that have even gotten themselves torn in half claw forward to fight with their brothers.
A burning red spear slices through the horde, beating them back and away from the control panel. Cinder unleashes spiraling flames high into the air which burn and consume the circling Nullvoiders.
As the burning Nullvoiders drop out of the air and even fall back through the portal, Cinder spins around and shouts over to One-One. “One-One have there been any signs of Izuku yet!”
^None so far!^ One-One responds from inside the port of the control panel. ^He’s probably already been eaten alive…^
From down below, Kraab has his hacked Super Battle Droid mow down some Havoc Beasts that managed to slip through. “Hey, Cinder!” He calls, waving towards the portal. “Something is happening to the portal!!”
Cinder looks over as does Nezu as he just blasts away more of the incoming Org and Havoc Beasts. And they are stunned to watch as the portal phases in and out of existence until the demonic creatures stop pouring through.
“What’s happening?!” Cinder shouts out, not sure what to make of it.
Principal Nezu, however, does. “Hahaha! My that boy is a clever one.”
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Inside the Null Void a portal opens up high above the heads of the rocky valley.
Grey Matter grins up as the portal phases into view. “There it is! It worked! It worked! I can’t believe it worked!’
After generating another crystal wall for cover, Nue pauses. “What?! You didn’t even know if this would work?!”
Grey Matter shrugs. “I did say I had 12% of a plan, didn’t I?”
“Whatever! Let’s just get out of this shithole, already!”
Nue scoops up Grey Matter and makes a jump for the portal, using Terraspin's wind powers to float his way up.
From down below Kolar instantly spots the portal as he follows Nue’s path upward. “A portal? No way am I passing this up!” He grabs several sticky grenades from his belt and tosses them up as high as he can.
The grenades fly through the air and explode just as they’re about to reach the freaky duo. The explosions burn and throw them off course, forcing Nue to come crashing down.
All the while Kolar’s haunting laugh echoes through the air. “Hahaha! Thanks for opening the door for me! I’ll be sure to close it on my way out!”
[FLASHBACK]
After getting his metaphorical kicks in at making fun of a man that can crush him with one hand, Henzu finally leaves Tombstone alone enough to pat Izuku on the shoulder and direct him out. “Alright, Mr. Green. Let’s get out of this shithole already.”
Izuku pockets something away while smiling and nodding in agreement.
“No. No! No! No!! NO!!!” Tombstone shakes with rage from underneath the pile of barrels and chains. “I’m not about to let you walk away and ruin my rep.! NO WAY!!!”
Somehow, someway his rage allows him to summon the strength he needs to rise and break himself free of his bonds like a raging Hercules.
“Run!!” Henzu screams as he pulls Izuku away just as Tombstone lunges at them.
Tombstone’s fist swings forward and smashes right through one of the larger pipes that’s weaved its way through the warehouse.
Steam of oxidized chemical pours out creating a thick mist throughout the entire warehouse like a thick foggy blanket.
Henzu and Izuku duck behind several crates, keeping their heads low in the mist and steam as Tombstone too disappears from view.
They hold their breaths, listening for any signs of Tombstone but instead what reaches their ears are the sound of approaching sirens.
“Police sirens?”
Henzu immediately shoots up to his feet. “We better bail!”
He takes off with Izuku in tow, they dash through the warehouse while keeping an eye out for Tombstone, but they end up spotting the exit first.
They break into wide grins as they spot it but before they can so much as take a step a thick rusty chain whips through the mist and cuts them off.
“Oh, no you don’t.” Tombstone emerges from the mist like a ghost, no like a haunting tombstone appearing within a foggy graveyard. “You’re not going anywhere. Not until I send you both to your graves.”
Izuku and Henzu shrink back as a deafening silence is taken over by the ever-growing hum of haunting sirens.
Tombstone’s grin turns deadly, gripping the chain like a mace, and lurking forward like a stone-cold reaper. “Say hello to the maker for me, will ya?”
He moves to charge when suddenly a section of the wall behind him is smashed in and a glorious heroic light shines in.
“HAHAHAHA! I AM HERE! BREAKING THROUGH THE WALL LIKE A HERO!”
Everyone gasps in shock from Izuku to Tombstone. “All Might?!”
“NO!!!” Tombstone swings around, panic and fear clear in his eyes as he comes face to face with the Symbol of Peace! “I won’t go down like the others! I’m indestructible!!” He screams while throwing his fist forward at the hero’s skull.
But it never connects as All Might nonchalantly catches the incoming fist with one hand. “TOMBSTONE, RIGHT? I’VE HEARD MUCH ABOUT YOU.” His ever-brimming smile turns sarcastic and taunting. “BUT IT LOOKS LIKE I HEARD NOTHING BUT RUMORS.”
Tombstone begins to shake, ironically, he somehow turns so pale one would think he saw a ghost.
“DETROIT SMASH!”
All Might unleashes his signature move, blasting Tombstone through the entire warehouse. His not so indestructible body crashes through the pipes, crates, and barrels without slowing down, not until he smashes through the opposite wall. Where he lies defeated, laying down like a heavy stone in a pile of bricks.
“AND THAT TAKES CARE OF THAT.” All Might grins while scanning across the warehouse and all the unconscious mafia members and dissipating mist. “HUH, I WONDER WHAT HAPPENED HERE?”
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“All Might! It’s really All Might!” Izuku all but drools with fanboy delight while he’s literally dragged away by the back of his shirt. “I can’t believe All Might just saved us! The rumors about him being in town were true!! I knew it!”
Henzu shakes his head as he drags Izuku beside the warehouse and along its parking lot. “I know that’s why we gotta bail!”
“No! Wait! At least let me get his autograph!”
“Shut it you nerd! Before you get us caught!” Henzu drags Izuku into the parking lot but as they make their way between the moving truck and vans, he quickly spots the Leader’s beautiful 1968 maroon-faded Dodge Charger.
And he just can’t take his eyes off of it.
Izuku frowns up at him in worry especially as the sirens and police lights grow louder and brighter. “What’s the matter?”
“Nothing.” Henzu smirks, unable to look away from the car. “I just got a really good idea.”
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Meanwhile, back inside the warehouse Detective Naomasa files into the building with several officers shadowing him.
He stops at the doorway, surprised to see his old friend already inside before giving him a small greeting. “All Might.”
Somehow All Might’s massive grin grows wider. “AH, TSUKAUCHI HOW ARE YOU, MY FRIEND?”
“Good.” Naomasa greets with a tip of his hat. “But what are you doing here?”
“OH, WELL TO BE HONEST I WAS JUST ON MY WAY HOME AFTER HAVING A LITTLE CHAT WITH PRINCIPAL NEZU WHEN I HEARD THE CALL TO ACTION.”
Naomasa gives him a skeptical look. “Call? As in the police scanners?”
“YOU KNOW IT GOOD BUDDY!”
Naomasa smiles, shaking his head in mild amusement. But a part of him has to wonder what he could have possibly needed to talk to Principal Nezu about. ‘A teaching job perhaps? Naw. No way All Might would make a good teacher.’ He can’t help but laugh picturing All Might in a suit and tie while standing at a chalkboard while kids yell and scream. ‘Eh, I bet it’d be entertaining at least.’
[End of FLASHBACK]
“Hahaha! Thanks for opening the door for me! I’ll be sure to close it on my way out!” Kolar’s haunting laugh echoes through the air as he rushes towards the high risen portal.
Using his immense strength he leaps so far into the air he could clear a building.
Grey Matter gasps in horror. “No! We can’t let him through otherwise he’ll just trap us back in here!”
Nue begins to panic as he watches Kolar rise up towards the portal. “Then what do we do?!”
*BEEP!!!* The Omnitrix begins to count down and within the sudden panic Grey Matter comes up with a reckless idea. “Throw me! NOW!!!”
Upon hearing the panic and the tell-tale sign of countdown, Nue doesn’t even hesitate to grab Grey Matter and throw him up like a baseball after Kolar.
“Waaaaahhh…!!” Grey Matter shrieks as he flies through the air, keeping his body straight for maximum distance when he times out and Izuku finds himself flying through the air just behind the descending Kolar.
“Oh, no you don’t!” Izuku clamps down onto Kolar’s, his momentum and weight is just enough to steer him off course and away from the portal. “Ha! Got you!”
Kolar comes crashing back down to the ground, but he catches himself and uses a spare arm to grab Izuku by the collar and hoist him up. “Correction. I have you.” He growls right into the boy’s face.
And like that, Izuku suddenly realizes that his last-ditch attempt at stopping Kolar wasn’t exactly Grey Matter’s smartest ideas.
“No! We got you!!”
Kolar frowns in surprise. “What-GAH!!!”
Nue comes crashing in, his diamond fist slamming into Kolar’s face and slamming it into the dirt while his tendrils wrap around Izuku and pull him away.
Izuku’s head almost spins from the whiplash as he’s pulled away. “N-nice timing!”
Nue smirks as he feels mighty superior about now before he accelerates away towards the high floating portal.
Kolar pries his face out front he ground, and his anger only explodes as he watches the two teens speed away towards their only exit. “No. Not again! I will not…” He rises to his feet, weapons drawn and ready to fire before roaring out for the entire Null Void to hear. “ROT IN THIS HELL FOREVER!!!”
“RWAAAAAHHHHHH!!!”
An earthshaking reptilian roar explodes out as the massive leviathan of the reptilian worm-beast bursts out from the massive rock wall behind Kolar.
The giant worm-monster’s red-eye and purple-eye instantly lock onto the fleeing Nue and Izuku before roaring out and charging forward like a runaway train. Its fangs and weight slamming into Kolar and his weapons as it crashes forward with a shattering roar. “RWAAAAAHHHHHH!!!”
Izuku pales, fearing for his enemy’s life. “Do you think he’s alright?!”
Nue doesn’t even try to sound sympathetic. “I’m sure he’s fine, but we won’t be!!”
He then uses Terraspin’s flight to leap into the air.
“RWAAAAAHHHHHH!!!” The dual-eyed worm-beats slithers after them from below.
“Fly faster! It’s gonna catch us!”
“I’m trying!!”
Izuku looks down watching as they make barely any progress with Nue only using Terraspin’s ability to fly. It’s not enough, they need more of a boost but from what? As he searches for an answer his eyes are drawn to the battery-like appendages sticking out of Nue’s shell-like back. “Use Buzzshock’s powers to zip us up!
“What?!”
“Combine my little battery-guy’s power to become electricity with the flying turtle’s power!”
Not sure if it’ll work, Nue gives it a shot anyway focusing on accessing Buzzshock’s own flying ability with Terraspin’s. And somehow it works as green electricity dances off his body and combined with Terraspin’s flight Nue is able to zoom away as the worm-beast lunges after them.
“Wooaah!! So long sucka! Hahaha!” Nue cheers as wind whips at his face.
“RWAAAAAHHHHHH!!!” The worm-monster roars as it chomps and misses its prey before beginning to plummet back down, unable to keep its air time.
As it falls its red and purple eyes lock onto Izuku and the red-glowing device around his wrist. And with the portal so close as well it gives up and relents as a dark vapor is expunged from its maw, and it's purple glowing eye vanishes becoming a hue of red like the other.
The dark translucent vapor slithers up towards the escaping duo and vanishes among them as they near the portal.
“RWAAAAAHHHHHH!!!” The confused worm-beast comes crashing down onto Kolar’s machine.
“Aaahhh!!” Nue and Izuku cry out as they zoom away through the portal just before the vortex seals away and vanishes.
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Cinder cuts down the last of the Org Beasts while the Security Droids continue to shoot down the last of Nullvoiders and Havoc Beasts. He spins around and watches in horror as the portal begins to phase in and out while the Projector itself begins to spark and malfunction.
“Chopper! What’s going on with the portal?!”
^Wa wa!^ Chopper yells back, trying his damnedest to save the projector before it completely fails on them but it’s just too old of a model, it’s gonna give!
Their fears are only confirmed as the machine begins to shake and tremble like it’s about to go up in smoke.
And in a split second then the swirling portal widens and implodes in on itself, taking any droids and monsters along with it in a flash of bright red sparks and heavy smoke.
The chamber goes silent as nothing but the sound of settling dust and smoke fill the entire room.
Cinder tries his best to peer through the smoke, trying to see what became of the Projector. “Does anyone have eyes on the portal?!”
A low miserable groaning sound can be heard off to his left. “Uh, I don’t.”
He spins around to find Izuku sitting there with a hand to his head. “Ah, I don’t feel so good.”
“Izuku!!” Hisashi rips off his respirator, tossing it aside along with his Amenonuhoko in order to embrace his son in a bone crushing hug.
“H-hey, Dad! Gah! You’re…squeezing me too tight.”
Hisashi sniffs while whipping at his eyes but he never lets Izuku go. “Just let me have this.”
Izuku does and even returns the hug as well as the smoke around them settles revealing the totally demolished Null Void Projector and a massive room filled with defeated monsters and droids.
But before Izuku can ask what exactly happened here an all too familiar cheery voice cuts in. “My oh my what a touching sight this is.”
Izuku looks over to find one white-furred chimera smiling over at them. “Principal Nezu?!”
Principal Nezu smiles on, glad to have his student back safe and sound. “Well, you certainly know how to make quite the entrance, Mr. Midoriya. And might I add that was certainly a marvelous escape.” Heck he’s still wondering if he should be giving him a round of applause for it at the very least.
“Marvelous?” Kraab scoffs, his hacked droid body missing, lost somewhere amongst the rubble and casualties. “That escape was one of a kind! I have never seen anything as badass or batshit crazy as what you just pulled!! Talk about epic!!”
“Thanks, but I don’t think I’ll do anything like that again.” At least Izuku hopes not.
^It sure nice to have you back Mr. Izuku.^ One-One greets with a smile before his more pessimistic personality takes over. ^Is it though? I liked it better when he wasn’t here…^
^Wa wa wa wa.^ Chopper laughs undoubtedly agreeing with Sad-One, albeit with a sarcastically humorous tone.
“I missed you guys too.” Izuku rolls his eyes but he’s still genuinely happy to see them.
While they all reunite with Izuku, the remaining Security Droids all watch on feeling a little confused and left out.
^Who is that?^
^I have no idea.^
^I didn’t know heads of cabbage could talk.^
^Yeah. Weird, right?^
Overhearing them, Izuku looks over to which the droids kindly wave back in greeting.
He returns it but continues to look around at all the defeated monsters and droids, as well as all the battle damage riddling the walls and floors. “What happened here?”
Hisashi gives him a sheepish smile since he doesn’t really want to go into too much detail right now. “I’ll tell you later but first you have to tell us what happened to you in there. How did you survive? How did you escape?! And what happened to your friend?!”
“Um, well he’s not my friend.” Izuku corrects before peering around for said ex-friend. “But he should be right…here?”
No he is not. With the smoke completely gone, Izuku can finally see that there’s no sign of Nue anyway.
Hisashi jerks up in surprise. “Wait, he-he came through the portal too?!” After seeing only Izuku return, he thought that Nue was left behind or ditched somewhere inside the Null Void.
“You didn’t see him?!” Izuku gasps, he could have sworn he flew in with Nue.
Nue was carrying him! So, how did he make it through but not Nue?
Principal Nezu quickly gathers the remaining droids’ attention. “Quickly did anyone see one Henzu Uuichi pass through the portal?!”
The Security Droids shake their heads and give the little mouse-creature confused shrugs.
^I didn’t see anything. Did you?^
^No.^
^No.^
^No.^
^Not me.^
As they all drone on in their own stupidity, Kraab gives them all a deadpan stare. “Wow, that’s a lot of eyes not doing anything.”
Although if they all used their eyes to look up they would have noticed the oddly shaped tunnel in the ceiling.
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
Nue breaks through the surface of the Earth and immediately gulps in the fresh mountain air. He falls to his knees exhausted especially after tunneling his way up.
“Ugh. But wh-what happened?” One second, he was zooming through the portal and the next the portal implodes and he’s inside a secret base?! “A…base?” He says between breaths. “A base…those heroes have a secret base? In Mt. Fuji?”
Damn, that’s annoying but also kinda cool.
But if this is a base then that must mean they have security measures here too.
“Ugh.” Although he’s utterly exhausted, he manages to get back up and begin his trek back through the woods and to his ship.
But he doesn’t get far before he peers back at his cave-ined tunnel that would lead him back inside the mountain. He pauses, considering if it’s worth going back through and doing what he came here to do in the first place. But after everything he’s just gone through…he just can’t bring himself to do it. Not now at least.
And so with his head hung low, Nue makes his way back to his ship but not without looking back and muttering to himself. “I’ll be seeing you soon…Izuku.”
He turns away and vanishes thanks to XLR8’s speed and bit of Buzzshock’s own for good measure, allowing him to zoom away and leave nothing but a trail of dissipating green electricity behind him.
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A medical droid scans Izuku’s arm, using said scan to analyze his injuries and overall health.
And while the droid does its job Izuku is doing his best to get comfortable in his bed, thankfully the Rustbucket’s bunks provide the perfect support.
Too bad he can’t really relax with his Dad worriedly hovering nearby. “How is he, doctor? Give it to me straight. Is he okay? Is he sick?! Is anything broken?! Is he DYING!?!”
The medical droid answers him with a calm robotic tone. ^There are no permanent or life-threatening injuries. There is nothing but a number of minor abrasions.^
“That’s quite the relief.” Principal Nezu stands nearby listening in. “You are either very lucky or you were just that capable at staying alive.”
Izuku definitely thinks it’s the latter. “I… I think I was just lucky. And…I did have someone…watching my back.”
The adults frown and exchange a look of concern and intrigue, but they don’t comment on it.
Hisashi continues on giving his son a relieved smile. “Well, I’m just glad to have you back and in one piece. Seriously, if anything happened to you…” He pales as he thinks about the looming grim reaper’s grasp. “your mother would kill me…”
Izuku frowns at that, giving his Dad a very skeptical look. ‘Would she though? Maybe by drowning you on accident with her tears?’
Principal Nezu smiles up at Izuku. “Well, you had quite the adventure today. And I for one would think you deserved a nice long rest. Doctor?”
^I have nearly treated all his injuries.^ The medical droid responds. ^And once complete I will be stationed nearby to provide further assistance.^
“Thank you.” Principal Nezu turns to address the father. “Mr. Midoriya.”
“Yes?”
“Please, come with me. There’s quite a mess out there and I’d like to make sure everything is tiptop before we depart.”
They already have One-One, Chopper, and even Kraab overseeing the repairs right now. But he, rather an organic being, has a chance to oversee the procedures instead.
“Of course, right behind you, sir.” Hisashi turns back to his son and says. “Call me if you need anything.”
Izuku smiles before resting his head back onto the pillow. “Okay. I will.”
Hisashi smiles and follows Principal Nezu out of the RV. He actually ends up following the little mouse-dog-bear thing through the maze of hallways and tunnels for a little while before he finally decides to address the white-furred chimera.
“So, what exactly is it you want to discuss with me?”
Principal Nezu stops turning back and frowning up at his subordinate.
“I’ve known you long enough to know when you’re making an excuse.” Hisashi explains. “And the only reason you gave the one you did is because whatever it is, you don’t want Izuku to hear.”
Principal Nezu has to give him props, he does know him well. “Please, don’t think ill of me. I didn’t want to concern him because I didn’t want to worry him any further. He needs to rest both his body and mind.”
Hisashi can understand but they are far out of earshot, so he would like an answer.
Principal Nezu’s usual cheery smile is gone, replaced with a somber almost grim frown, but one that is still calculating trying to formulate and plan around invisible disasters. “I’m concerned, worried, about what this all means.”
Hisashi frowns, unsure of which part Principal Nezu is worried about.
“The villain, Nue, his presence here has me very worried about the state of things.” Principal Nezu begins to explain in detail. “How did he know where to find Mr. Midoriya? Is he aware of what’s happening? And is he aware of aliens? And if he is…then is the rest of the League aware as well?”
And most importantly ‘Does All For One know?’ Although Principal Nezu wouldn’t dare say that out loud.
“We’ve always operated with the mindset that our earthly conflicts would remain separate from our own duties. And despite the overlaps we rarely had issues such as this.” Principal Nezu bows his head as if this is a personal failure on his part. “I’m afraid that there’s moving parts that we are unaware of. Gears are turning that we are unable to see. We are but actors upon a stage but we’ve failed to recognize the performance behind the curtains.”
Hisashi thinks he understands. “We’re living in the calm before the storm. But Nue’s presence…was like a stray lightning bolt that struck too early.”
Principal Nezu nods, very much agreeing with Hisashi’s logic. “There are forces at work. Whether it’s Vilgax, The League of Villains, or something else we must take this as a sign.”
“A sign of what?”
“A sign that we shouldn’t become complacent.” Principal Nezu warns. “We cannot afford to procrastinate any further. We must use this as an opportunity. An opportunity to fortify and prepare ourselves for this impending storm.”
“How do you suggest we prepare?”
Principal Nezu takes a moment to think. “Tell me, where is the Null Projector? The more mobile version that is?”
“I have it back inside the Rustbucket but I’m afraid it’s been damaged.” Hisashi explains.
“That is fine. I would like you to give it to me. I will be overseeing the repairs myself.”
Hisashi frowns with concern. “Magister?”
“Leaving it here would be…inconvenient. Especially if we require its services. As a last resort of course but having it at least as a deterrent would be beneficial.”
“Right, I-I understand.” Although Hisashi would like to disagree, after gaining Izuku back he even thought it'd be for the best to keep the Projector in disrepair, but it appears that he assumed too quickly. However, there is one thing he rather not assume too recklessly. “There’s something else I am concerned about.”
Principal Nezu peers up at him, waiting for him to air his concern.
“If by chance, some small chance, that the League does know about aliens…do you think that they also know about the Omnitrix?”
“We don’t even know the Omnitrix.”
“Sir?”
“What do we really know about the Omnitrix?” Principal Nezu asks more to himself than to Hisashi. “I’m embarrassed to say that we hardly understand it or its true function. What is its purpose? Is it truly a weapon? And who created such a brilliant device?”
It’s shameful to think that they don’t have a single answer to any of these questions.
However, Principal Nezu has never been one to leave such intrigues without possible solutions. “But perhaps we can learn something.”
Hisashi perks up, listening carefully to Principal Nezu’s words.
“I have an assignment I’d like you to complete. I will be sending you to I-Island to visit an old colleague of ours so that he may make a proper analysis of the Omnitrix for us. In truth, he’s been requesting I send him the Omnitrix since the Sports Festival, but I’ve been holding out in favor of Mr. Midoriya using that time to properly learn its functions on his own.”
“I understand.” Hisashi thinks the plan over and actually cracks a smile as he looks on the bright side of things. “Heh, a trip to I-Island, huh? That’ll be one way to end the summer. When do we leave?”
“Your trip will coincide with I-Island’s I-Expo which is a week from now.”
“A week? So, we got a little time before then to ourselves.”
“Yes, and if I may I suggest that you do try to stay quiet and not be so indiscreet as you have been during these last few weeks.”
“Hahahaha…” Hisashi sheepishly laughs it off. “D-don’t worry, sir. That shouldn’t be a problem for us.” Hopefully. “Besides this works out, I only had one more stop planned for this summer anyway.”
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Meanwhile, back inside the Rustbucket, the medical droid shuffles away after finishing its tasks of wrapping Izuku’s arms in bandages.
And now the teen can rest, laying back in the bunk and covers. But he can’t rest, his mind won’t let him, because he can’t help but reflect on the day. He thinks about it all: the Null Void, the monsters, aliens, but mostly he thinks about both him and Nue. How they fought. How they cooperated. How they bickered and competed. And how through the whole thing…they saved each other.
‘It…it was kinda like the old days.’ Izuku thinks, raising his left arm up over his head.
He stares at the Omnitrix, not really examining it, but rather looking at what it means to him. But more specifically what it means about him and Nue now.
[FLASHBACK]
A rusted garage doors automatically folds open and the stolen faded-maroon Dodge Charger rolls into the dark and worn down mechanic shop.
“Hahahahaha! We made it! We really made it out of there!” Henzu laughs as the car screeches to a halt and the doors come back down.
Izuku sits in shotgun and has a look around the dark oil-stained shop, grimacing as he spots a rat scurrying away along the wall.
He’s been here before, once before and he made a point not to come back here. The building is actually condemned but it’s owned by Henzu’s quote-on-quote business partner, apparently the guy’s a rat. Izuku assumes it’s metaphorical. Anyway, this partner gives Henzu the run of the place and that's why Izuku doesn’t like to come because it’s also where Henzu gets his “business” ventures done.
“Woah!!” Henzu leaps out the car, he practically skips around the muscle car as he admires its make and figure. “What a score?! Hahahaha!!” He can’t wait to start working on it, it’s gonna be his baby, his magnum opus, his ride!
“Am I right, Izuku-...?” Henzu settles down as he watches Izuku nearly tumble out of the car.
He’s shaking. Or rather he’s shaken by the ordeal. As his adrenaline finally washes away forcing the green-haired teen to finally break down into a trembling mess.
“Hey, Mr. Green-er, Izuku.”
Izuku peers up at his friend, his emerald eyes gleaming with fresh tears.
Henzu shys away from those eyes, there’s even a hint of a blush but he shakes it away and tries to apologize but it just comes out way too awkward and forced. “Look. I, um, don’t-don’t think I’m going soft, kay? Cause I’m not! And I can admit when I screwed up! Okay? But…look, er, you see-Gah! Dammit it, I’m messing this up. Let me start over. Look I-”
Izuku frowns, his head tilting to the side. “Are…are you trying to apologize?”
“Yeah, that!” Henzu grins excitedly before becoming awkward again and struggling to apologize. “Look it’s my fault you got dragged into something you shouldn’t have. This…this was my bad. So, sorry.”
Okay that was nice, well actually it was the worst apology he’s ever heard but Izuku’s still touched. It’s not like he gets a lot of apologies by the scumbags in his life, but Henzu…Henzu actually means it. And he might be struggling to do so but that’s because he means it.
And Izuku can appreciate that so he should be honest with him too. “Yeah, it-it was your fault. And yeah I-I really didn’t want to be here. It was terrifying. And I-I thought we were both gonna get hurt or-or worse…”
Henzu frowns, honestly feeling quite bad and guilty for bringing his less risk-taking friend out for this.
“But…it was exciting also.” Apparently, it was fun too as Izuku actually cracks into a broken smile. “He…he…Hehehehe-Hahahahahaha!!” He bellows with maddening laughter that’s outright disturbing.
So much so that Henzu freaks out and thinks that he might have broken Izuku’s sanity!
But no he didn’t break him, if anything…he helped him to feel stronger than he ever has in his life. “And in a way…it was probably the closest feeling I had to being a hero.” A sad yet happy smile graces Izuku’s lips as he says this.
Henzu pauses, not sure what he means.
“I mean it was like we were going on patrol.” They snuck around the crime-ridden part of town. “We were recovering a stolen item.” They took the leather box that the gangsters stole. “We were in a pursuit.” The exciting car chase. “We had codenames.” Albeit stupid ones but still. “We fought a bunch of crooks.” Okay, Henzu fought most of them but still. “And we sort-of took down a real-life villain.” The infamous Teppeki Hakaishi A.K.A. Tombstone. “And even though it was scary and we almost died…I’m-I’m glad it happened. Because it…kinda felt like we were heroes. So, I guess I should thank you. And I hope…one day we can do this for real.”
That’s a big leap in logic but Henzu doesn’t interrupt, not wanting to dash Izuku’s small sliver of joy. “Ehehe, wow, you must be insane.” He mutters. “Even more than I am.”
“What was that?”
“Nothing.” Henzu teases before feigning disappointment. “I was just thinking it’s too bad we never got away with our original prize. I mean I love the car.” And believe him he loves it. “But we never did find out what was in that box to begin with.”
Izuku smirks, or at least tries too but it’s no way as confident as Henzu’s. “Y-you want to find out?” He pulls out the worn leather box from inside his pack.
Henzu’s astonished! “YOU HAD IT THIS WHOLE TIME!?!”
“Y-yeah, T-Tombstone kinda d-dropped it at one point. So, I…t-took it.”
Henzu smirks in response. “Shit, I gotta give myself credit here. I really am a bad influence on you, aren’t I?”
Izuku snickers at that. “Yes. Yes, you are.” Izuku then takes the box and holds it out to Henzu with a small blush. “H-here…I…I want you to have it.”
Henzu reels back in surprise. “Me? Why?”
“Because…because you …you had my back.”
Well how can he say no to that?
With a smile Henzu gives in and accepts the gift. He takes a moment before opening it, trying to guess what could be inside. Maybe a gold ring, some one-of-a-kind gemstone, a secret flash drive even, and if it is any of those things, how much would it sell for?
Well, there’s only one way to find out.
And so, he rips open the kid and the two have a look inside. But reality has a cruel sense of humor as they are both shocked and disappointed by what they find inside. .
Henzu deadpans as he stares into the box. “It’s…”
Izuku too just stares. “A…”
And then they both mutter out in disappointment. “Watch…”
Inside the old worn leather box is a just as worn vintage Rolex watch. The watch's once silver body has been faded and rubbed down over the years, and the leather straps are chipped and tethered. And even the glass covering the clock is cracked. But somehow the little hands are still ticking away almost like it refuses to give up its purpose.
“AAAAHHH!! SERIOUSLY!!!” Henzu roars while he pulls at his hair in frustration. “WE RISKED OUR LIVES FOR A BROKEN WATCH!?!”
Frowning, Izuku gently pulls out the watch and has a look at it. “Hm? If I were to guess, I think this watch is about 200 years old.” Which would mean it was created the same time that Quirks came into existence. “So-that’s pretty cool. It-it’s nice. R-right?” He smiles, embarrassed and shy as he holds up the watch for Henzu to take, after all it still is his gift to him.
And not wanting to reject a gift, Henzu begrudgingly gives in and takes it but not before teasing Izuku one last time. “Yeah, well maybe I can get some change off of it at the pawn shop.”
“You’re so mean!!” Izuku gasps.
Henzu chuckles at his reaction while flipping the watch over so he can examine the back. He pauses, eyeing the back of the watch curiously. “Hey, Izuku take a look at this. What do you think it means?”
Frowning Izuku leans over and has a look. But not even he can make out what it is…
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Meanwhile, unknown to either Izuku or Henzu, across town where one would think businesses would be closed and silent while their customers are at home and in bed there is still a hint of activity.
A tattoo parlor sits wedged between two overbearing buildings and inside there is only the hum of a single tattoo artist at work.
The artist is solely focused on his task, giving it his full concentration. Unlike the man who’s watching him work without much interest.
The man watching him sits back in one of the empty chairs, somehow not scuffing up his purple business suit and fluffy pale scarf as he does. And despite the no smoking sign posted outside, he still lights a smoke and sticks it between his crooked teeth.
Giran grins, letting the smoke pour through his teeth before pulling the cig away. “It’s too bad about Tombstone. But then again, he hasn’t exactly been a good investment. He was never the smart bet, so I knew it was a matter of time before he was put down.” He looks over to the artist’s true customer, the Leader of the Tracksuit Mafia, who is currently lying ever still on the laid-back chair as the artist works.
He long ditched the tracksuit revealing his sleeveless black shirt and his ripped tattooed arms.
“Still though my client isn’t gonna be too happy that you lost his watch.”
The Leader rolls his eyes in response. “Whatever, bro. That thing was a piece of junk anyway.”
“I know but it was more of a sentimental piece if anything.”
“Well in that case, you tell your bro that I’ll make it up to him one day.”
“And how are you going to do that? Sorry, friend but the Tracksuit Mafia’s done.”
The Leader smirks ever so slightly as to not disrupt the tattooist’s work. “It’s like they say bro, when one door closes. You bro-up and smash your way back through that door.”
Giran smirks, finding the guy’s answer amusing. “Is that right?”
“You bet, bro. This is a new opportunity, bro. With the Tracksuits gone I can finally flex and do things my way. I’m gonna make it big, bro. Just you wait and see.”
“Well even big plans gotta start off small.” Giran grins as he begins to fish for his own opportunity. “And it just so happens that my client is looking for some new personnel. But since I like you I will tell ya that’s more grunt work if anything.”
“No way, bro. I ain’t stupid. There was a reason I was Tombstone’s number two.” And it wasn’t just because he was good at busting heads. “I ain’t gonna be some bro’s pawns.”
“So, then what do you have planned?”
He breaks into a wide grin as the artist finishes allowing him to sit up and have a look in the mirror he's handed. “I’m striking out on my own, bro. I’ve heard rumors of some sweet black-market support items. I’m gonna look into it. Bet there’s gotta be some good business in that.” He smirks down at his reflection before smirking over at Giran. “Be good and I might just cut you in, bro.”
Giran grins back at him before sticking the cig back into his mouth. “Now you, my friend, are a smart investment.” He exhales, allowing smoke to cloud around the ceiling. “So, is this a new start then?”
The Leader moves to adjust his hair, making sure that it stayed up after stopping to get it dyed and shaved. “You got that right, bro.”
“Well a new start means a new outlook. And a new outlook means a new identity.”
“You got that right.” The Leader stands up revealing his new identity to the underworld. And it is striking with a total face tattoo that resembles a skull while his hair has been dyed orange and set up in a spiky mohawk. “So, do me a solid, bro, and from now on call me Fistrick.”
[End of FLASHBACK]
Izuku sighs as he just stares into the Omnitrix, into the alien watch, as he does, he actually cracks into a pained regretful smile. “It’s almost ironic that a watch is what tore our friendship apart…”
Especially when…when it could have cemented their friendship like it did once before. What could have been, he supposes. Maybe there was a way they could have stayed friends. A way to keep Nue out of crime. Maybe. Maybe. All these maybes but the reality is that their friendship is over. It has been and it will stay that way. As long as Nue’s the villain and he’s the hero. That’s just how it is…?
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Vilgax is surrounded by darkness with the only light source being the holographic image of SevenSeven. “I see. Good, I see things are proceeding well. Continue to report back with any new information.”
SevenSeven gives the overlord a nod of his head. “Haey, haey, eevtwhar. M’i lnyo eehr sa a aoemc os eevtwhar.”
Psyphon watches from the background while hidden by the darkness but then light suddenly pours into the hexagon-lined dome.
Psyphon turns his head around to find Nue staring back at him. “Ah, you returned and here I thought we were rid of you.” Darn he really had his hopes up, oh well.
Nue growls but doesn't say anything as he wanders inside and the passageway seals itself behind him, throwing them all once again into darkness.
Upon his entrance, Vilgax glares at Nue dangerously before harshly scolding him with a threatening tone. “And where have you been?”
Nue averts his gaze before answering. “I…went out.”
“I know.” Vilgax looms closer, sending a chill down Nue’s spine. “Why?”
“None of your business.”
“If it puts my plans in jeopardy then it is my business. Now tell me the truth before I peel it out of you myself.” Vilgax’s claws flex and clench, dangerously gleaming in the lowlight.
Nue scowls like he’s gonna snap back but his lower left hand lowers down and pats his pocket. Feeling the circular object inside he calms down enough to respond without sounding sarcastic or spiteful. “I…went to go see an old friend. I-I needed to talk to him, it was nothing.”
Vilgax’s glare narrows dangerously. “And what exactly did you need to speak to them about?”
Nue pats his pocket as he thinks about what to say. And after a moment of contemplating, he gives Vilgax his honest answer. “About what you said earlier. About all that teamwork stuff. About combining our intellect, skills, and adaptability to become an unstoppable force.”
Vilgax doesn’t say a word and instead listens, permitting the young villain a chance to state his case.
“I think I get it now.” Nue explains. “Rather than working against others, I need to work with others. Let them see things and do things that I can’t. And if I let them do what they’re good at. I can do what I’m good at. I see that now.” He gives a jagged fanged grin while he holds his crystal arm up into a blade form while green electricity dances around it
The green light illuminates Vilgax’s face but his expression stays cold and indifferent even as he observes Nue’s progress. But even so he is quite impressed and is priding himself over this potentially unstoppable soldier. “Your friend must be very wise if he was finally able to get that lesson through your stubborn skull.”
Nue smirks cockily. “Yeah, well, it helps that he’s stubborn too.”
Vilgax tucks his arms behind his back as he straightens up. “I will look past your disobedience this time but next time I will deal out the proper punishment. Understood?”
“Whatever you say…boss.”
Vilgax nods his head in approval, “Now gather around we have much work to do.” He then turns away to address the others. “We all do. All eight of us.”
Standing off in the vast darkness are the rest of Vilgax’s recruits from the hologram of SevenSeven, the slinking Psyphon, the tinkering Rojo, the ax-wielding Sunder, the sun scorching Ragnarok, and the looming Techadon.
“Prepare yourselves, all of you. Our real preparations start now. So brace yourselves because when I’m done with you not even the Plumbers will be able to stand before your power.”
Several of them grin at that while others look on indifferently.
Nue is one of the latter as he’s more occupied with counting how many of them there are. “Just eight of us? You really think that’s enough?”
“No.” Vilgax admits before a holographic version of planet Earth appears in midair. “In fact I have my eyes set on one last potential.” He turns his eyes, locking onto the alien signal emitting from the middle of the pacific ocean. “And I shall await to see exactly how they will fair.”
Nue’s not exactly paying attention anymore as instead his mind wanders about this new group or eight soon to be nine. He can’t help but think that this group will certainly have a negative impact on the world. Whether it's now or later this is definitely gonna be something he wants to see play out. But it’s not just them there is still the League…when he was pawned off it felt like things were finally beginning to form up there too. Both alliances have their plans, their goals, and their resources are at work readying the downfall of heroes and society.
One way or another, whether it’s one or the other, society is in for a rude awakening.
As he thinks his lower hand rubs against his pocket once again, and this time he can’t help but pull out the circular item inside. From out his pocket he pulls out a broken silver watch and takes a moment to look at it for the first time in what feels like forever. It still has that broken face and chapped leather straps, but the hands are still relentlessly ticking away even after all this time. And so, with the watch in hand he flips it, turning it over to read the strange inscription on the other side. He eyes it fascinatingly, giving a light chuckle at how fitting it is, as he reads the words, “Tous Pour Un, Un Pour Tous.”
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THE PREVIEW:
Izuku: You know it’s funny, but I never did find out what Henzu-I mean Nue did with that broken watch. I bet he sold it.
Grey Matter: Perhaps he did. But even with a superior intellect such as my own it is nearly impossible to calculate how exactly a mind like Nue’s operates.
Izuku: Yeah…I guess I’ll never know for sure.
Grey Matter: Mostly likely not but I would not focus on such things. What has me concerned is the new alien you just acquired.
Izuku: Huh? New alien? What new alien? What are you talking about?
Grey Matter: I’m talking about the new alien that just suddenly appeared in the Omnitrix. Why not have a look for yourself but please…use caution.
Izuku: Um, sure. Just give me a sec… … … … Whattt? Whattt? Am Iii? This guy doesn’t feel quite righttt. Hehe, but he’s got a cool power thoughhh. I guess some aliens are just a little creepyyy.
Grey Matter: It’s a vast universe with all sorts of possible evolutions living or nonliving organisms can take.
Izuku: I guess that’s something humans and aliens have in commonnn. We’re all a little freakyyy.
Both: Next time: Ch.61 Freak Show!!
Grey Matter: For my next experiment I hypothesize that an incorporeal being is far scarier than any jester.
Notes:
So, was the wait for this chapter worth it? I think it was, I mean so much was set up through this one chapter alone: the Null Void and its inhabitants, Nue’s development, character history, Fistrick’s introduction, setting up the events of I-Island, Vilgax’s plan, and a new alien that’s sure to cause more problems later down the line!
Now let's jump to what you guys really want to hear. Yes, a certain spectral presence will have their official debut next chapter. I know a lot of you have been waiting for this alien to be introduced and now that time has finally arrived. Or at least it will arrive. In truth I have no clue how long the next chapter will take me to write up but it shouldn’t take as long as this one did.
As for next time, it is the last chapter I have for this Road Trip Arc and it will feature a new alien (duh), an old enemy/enemies, and a friend/classmate too.
And then once “Ch.61 Freak Show” is complete we will move on to the “Three” Heroes arc. But more on that next time.
***ARTWORK*** Just a reminder that the artist, Voidv25, has artwork of Henzu Uuichi A.K.A. Nue on his file on Deviant Art.
*I wanna clarify that the timeline of the Flashbacks takes place about a few weeks or so before Izuku finds the Omnitrix.
*This chapter had quite a bit of inspiration from the Hawkeye series especially in regard to the Tracksuit Mafia. They just fit so well since Fistrick talks the same way they do.
Also, I know Wilson Fisk A.K.A. Kingpin is their boss, but I changed it to Tombstone because I didn’t want to do Kingpin dirty like that. So, I went with a Spider-Man villain that I thought would be okay to use once and not use him again. So, to clarify this was Tombstone’s only appearance, at least for what I have planned.
*Speaking of characters that I do have plans for there’s Fistrick. I have further plans for him and his Quirk later on. For now, I wanted to use this as his introduction.
*And finally, there were quite a lot of Star Wars easter eggs here: the Battle Droids interactions and Kolar yelling “E Chu Ta.” There was even a line from Guardians of the Galaxy in there. But the Easter Egg I liked the most was the “Reservoir Dogs” bit with Mr. Pink.
Chapter 66: Freak Show
Summary:
Izuku and Hisashi spend the last day of their Road Trip at a summer festival where they happily run into some familiar faces. However, an old enemy decides to stir things up in not so funny ways.
Notes:
It’s here! It’s finally here! And with it the end of the Road Trip Arc! Finally, would you believe that in my original plan this arc would have ended 9 months ago. Wow, I am so bad at planning out how long it will actually take me to write one chapter. Sheesh. Like for real I wanted us to be past the Overhaul Arc by now. But hey hindsight is 20-20 ya know? Anyway, it’s here! It’s finally here!
***ARTWORK*** Here’s a shout out to “Weeldx” for making some more awesome artwork!! Thank you so much, you and your work are awesome. If you want to see his fanart then please visit him on Deviant Art. Username being “Weeld1” and his artwork of “Truly a Freak.” I love it! Or if you like please visit this story on Archive of Our Own (AO3) where you can find his fanart located at the bottom of this same chapter.
*Speaking of Artwork, I am looking for more fanart submissions from you guys. My awesome and FAN-tastic readers! You see I finally figure out how to post images on AO3 and I would love to show off more of what you guys make. Do whatever you like: draw your favorite scene, scenes of what you think might happen, character interactions, characters, whatever. I want to see your imaginations and creativity on full display! Just be sure to DM me, thank you!!
***IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT WARNING*** I have some news for you guys, but more on that at the end of the chapter.
*There is a side story that is canon to this story and it is called “Heroes Never Die; It’s Hero Time, Anytime.” You will find an assortment of one shots that take place in the canon of this main story. And I provide updates about the main chapter whenever I post an Omake.
*This story has a TV Tropes page so feel free to check it out.*
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
The night is dark and quiet as the Rustbucket slides to a gentle stop underneath the light of a flickering light post, while the moon shines ominously overhead.
Parking the RV, a concerned Hisashi Midoriya looks over towards his passenger who hasn’t been talking much since the incident just a few days ago. “How you feeling, Champ?”
“I’m fine.” Izuku Midoriya admits rather timidly while sipping from a water bottle, but his grip slips and the bottle spills to the floor. “I guess I’m still a bit shaken though.”
Hisashi pats him on the shoulder reassuringly. “Just relax, okay? There’s nothing to be afraid of here.” He tries to reassure him with a cheery smile. “The only thing to have here is fun.”
“What kind of fun?”
Hisashi smiles leaning back so Izuku can get a view from the window of their final stop. “The festival kind.”
Behind Hisashi is the rest of the car field parking lot that leads to the entrance of an ideal summer festival. The entire place is aglow with lanterns and warm lights, illuminated like the sun in the midst of the dark forest surrounding it. Rows and rows of colorful stands, games, and vendors line every stretch of the place while various rides, stages, and events stand amongst them. Crowds of people of all shapes, sizes, and mutations gather inside milling about and enjoying their time with friends and family. Each of them is here to have a wonderful wholesome time.
Hisashi smiles, gesturing towards the inviting festival entrance. “I thought that it would have made for a good send off for the end of our father and son road trip.”
Izuku nods excitedly, he's actually looking forward to some festival fun but then he realizes that Hisashi said something odd. “Would have? Is this not the last stop?”
Hisashi shrugs. “It was gonna be but there’s been a change in plans.” He lovingly pats Izuku on the head, ruffling his already messy hair. “But don’t sweat about that right now, just focus on the here and now. We’re here to have some nice wholesome fun. Where the only excitement will be from the rides and games.”
Izuku smiles as he hops out of the RV and shuts the door behind him.
“Woah woo!!” Chopper wheels in with Kraab perched on his head. “For once I’m actually up for some mindless fun. What about you C1-10P?”
^Wa wop bz!^
Hisashi feins a smile. “I’m glad to hear you say that. Because there’s Jenga, Scrabble, and other games under the seat there. Have fun.”
He hurries out of the RV shutting the door as the two droids shout in protest.
“Wait!-”
Izuku watches on, feeling somewhat bad for the droids. “T-that wasn’t very nice.”
Hishasi smiles guiltily as he hurries them both though the car-filled parking lot. “Hey no offense to them but if they come Kraab will be mistaken for a piece of trash and Chopper a trash can. And besides this is father and son time.”
Izuku’s smile widens, excited to get going, he runs ahead.
Hisashi grins glad to see Izuku warming up to the idea. But as he hurries over to catch up something catches his eye.
Wedged and hidden between the parking lot is a pink Elantra which really stands out amongst the sea of soft or dark colored cars. But what really catches his eye are the bumper stickers. One simply states where the car was purchased from, some dealer in Musutafu called Bigman’s Cars. But the other is what gives him pause as it reads “My Child Is A Hero Student.”
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Cannon Busters Opening - Showdown
(Beginning Instrumentals)
An open road, a bright sun illuminating the beautiful summer day, and the rush of wind in one’s ears as the Rustbucket cruises by moving across the road like a sports car before zooming past with grace.
We got places to go, things to do, people to see, and we got to get it done right away.
Izuku adjusts his hoodie, tugging it down over his body. All before gripping the dial of the Omnitrix and giving it a shine with his fingers.
So if you on the crew, guess we a team. Thicker than thieves and we all tryna help find a way
Hisashi buttons up his Hawaiian short, before grabbing his respirator and dawning it over his maw. He then snatches up a few loose tickets and pamphlets before tucking them away.
If you know the destination, we making conversation. Time is ticking, sun is setting, we got no time for waiting
Chopper latches his leg to his body, readjusting it. Before his arms pop out and flex about making sure they’re working properly.
Might be the showdown, Looks like it's 'bout to go down
Bust through with the cannon, at the hoedown
(Instrumentals)
Izuku slams down on the Omnitrix! In a flash of green the screen scrolls down to reveal his aliens: Feedback, XLR8, Grey Matter, Four Arms, Ditto, Ripjaws, Terraspin, Water Hazard, Lodestar, Buzzshock, Diamondhead, Big Chill, Heatblast, Stinkfly, and Wildmutt.
Transition into title sequence: HEROES NEVER DIE; IT’S HERO TIME
So, we won't fall, until gravity is gone
Izuku grins falling through the air alongside Rath, Wildvine, Bullfrag, Cannonbolt, Upchuck, and Ghostfreak! As the glow of the sunrise illuminates U.A. in the background!
We've been on this road too long, so long
Hisashi and Izuku stand back-to-back looking away from each other as the scene rotates around them.
The scenes flip in rapid succession with characters standing back-to-back!
(Instrumentals)
To Thirteen and Ochaco!
To Ochaco and All Might!
To All Might and Gran Torino!
And to Gran Torino and Hisashi!
And I can't stop, we can't stop
I'm so far away from home
We've been on this road too long, too long
A legion of villains have their backs to the camera but as the camera slides through their lineup, each of them turn to acknowledge the audience.
Kraab’s claw flexes and clamps nearly clipping the camera.
Rojo folds their arms together and smirks as the camera rolls past.
Sunder raises his axe at the ready.
A Techadon stands tall and proud, towering over the camera.
Nue bares a sharp tooth grin, his eyes gleaming with malice before the camera zooms away and up into to the forbidding sky, through the void of space, through the walls of the command ship, before halting before an all observing Vilgax.
Playing with fire (Fire!)
Take me higher
From up in the air Cinder releases a cloud of flames down upon Rojo below! Rojo cuts through the flames before rocketing up and clashing with the hero in midair!
We're on our way, we're on our way
Undivided (-Vided!)
Gran Torino zooms past, his grin wide, as he slams his feet into the Techadon! The Techadon crashes into the ground, kicking up smoke, but it rises again, unharmed.
And ignited
We're on our way, we're on our way, yeah!
From the smoke cloud, Ochaco leaps back in a spin as Sunder soars after her. Sunder his axe at her but she counters it with a Ryou Sphere!
On our way, we're going
Nue grins madly as he stares down Deku who grins back just as determined and manically.
And no mistakes while we're rolling around town
We just came back round
The Rustbucket bursts forth zooming down the highlighted highway, gracefully zooming past Bakugou, Kirishima, Tsuyu, Hatsume, Kaminari, Jiro, Tokoyami, Shoto, Mina, Hagakure, and Ochaco!
You don't wanna show out
Close up of a smiling Hisashi.
Cut to a closeup of Chopper.
Cut to a closeup of Kraab.
Finally, a close up to a grinning Deku!
Might be a showdown
Deku’s hand slams down on the Omnitrix, the alien green light swallows the screen!
Woo!
Freeze on the image of Deku, Cinder, Chopper, and Kraab posing before the setting sun, their shadows casted far off over the ground towards the camera.
(Illustrated by CreateGunner1209)
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Ch.61 Freak Show
The festival is alive with action, cheers, music, and laughs fill the air like a chorus while people of all shapes, sizes, and Quirks. Ranging from your hidden Emitter Types to your clear and obvious Mutant types. And there are a lot of them with such uncanny and seemingly beastly Quirks and appearances. But they are not at all out of place in such a colorful and lively setting.
Izuku smiles watching the crowd mill about between the colorful festival stalls, he himself gets swept up in the music and the smell of freshly fried food. “Quite the crowd.”
“It sure is.” Hisashi smiles before spotting one of the nearby carnival rides. “Hey, wanna go for a ride?” He points over towards the Tidal Wave ride, a pirate ship themed ride that swings back and forth like a pendulum.
Izuku happily agrees and they go.
It was a short but fun ride. Then again it wasn’t really much compared to how fast they’ve gone in Hisashi’s own Razor Crest. But still they can finally say that they went on a carnival ride together. But now needing something closer to an actual thrill they hop around between several other rides, trying to fill the niche. They tried a Drop Tower but that didn’t last long. They tried a Twister ride which was fun but was almost like they were settling at that point.
Eventually they hopped over to try some Bumper Cars…but they got kicked out. Somehow Hisashi, accidentally, found a way to flip over a Bumper Car just by hitting it.
And so they spent the next few minutes walking from stall to stall, window shopping at all the little souvenirs and trinkets for sale. And after a while Hisashi goes ahead and buys them each their own festival mask.
He gets Izuku, a traditional white Kitsune Mask with a round face, red ears and a sun imprint running down the left ear.
He then got himself a red Oni Mask with little black horns and large white fangs.
And of course, they both put them on, and try them out. And admittedly Hisashi’s Oni Mask fits ironically well with his Hawaiian shirt and white pants. While Izuku’s Kitsune Mask is a nice contrast to his black and green hoodie.
“EEEEEeeekkk!!!”
“Waah!” Izuku jumps, grateful that the mask has hidden his scared face before he blushes with embarrassment when he notices the massive Haunted House looming near the edge of the festival grounds.
The Haunted House is huge, nearly the size of a circus tent with a gothic design but on the cheap end with grey tarps and cardboard walls painted to look gothic. Posted at the entrance of the haunted house are three of the Haunted House’s staff, each of them dressed as a classic Universal Monster: a hulking Frankenstein with fake bolts and makeup, a feminine Mummy who is probably just wrapped in toilet paper, and a raggedy Werewolf who’s costume definitely got eaten by moths.
“EEEEEeeekkk!!!” Another high-pitched scream echoes out from inside the Haunted House causing Izuku to flinch.
“Lots of screams coming from in there.”
“Must be one heck of a Haunted House. Wanna check it out?” Hisashi suggests.
“No thanks. I’ve had enough scares as it is.” He’s seen enough fangs and claws in the Null Void to last him a lifetime.
Hisashi doesn’t push it after that, he’s still feeling rather guilty about the whole thing anyway. Scanning the festival, he gets an idea that’ll get Izuku’ mind off of things. “Hey, Champ, how about a wager?”
Izuku is rightfully suspicious, raising an eyebrow under his Kitsune mask. “A wager? What kind of wager?”
“Relax, it's nothing serious. But how about you and I compete to see who can win the most games.” Hisashi grins teasingly from under his Oni mask. “And the loser buys the winner dinner! What do you say?”
Hisashi can almost see the smirk from underneath Izuku’s mask.
“Sure, but don’t feel bad when I smoke you, old man.”
“Old man?!” Hisashi feigns being offended. “I’m only 42!! That’s it, I think it’s time your old man finally put you in your place. Here comes some old-fashioned humble pie.”
“Hahaha!” Izuku laughs, getting into the competitive spirit as they head off for the first game.
As they turn away from the haunted house the guy in the raggedy werewolf costume spots the ball of messy green hair wandering away. The guy pauses, his mismatched eyes lingering on the masked greenette. ‘Was that…?’
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Shining shurikens whiz through the air and pierce into their targets: an array of colorful balloons taped to a wall.
*POP!*
*POP!*
*POP!*
*POP!*
*DING!!*
The carny nods and declares. “40 points you can feel free to pick a prize off the wall here.”
Lodestar smirks, as he takes a stuffed blue bunny that’s stitched to a yellow ducky. He does not feel an ounce of guilt from using his alien powers to win. “Top that.”
Hisashi smirks from underneath his mask but no one would know based on his casual and laid-back posture.
Unlike Lodestar he takes all five shurikens in one hand and tosses them all at once at the balloons.
*POP! POP! POP! POP! POP!*
A row of five balloons all burst apart all at once with each shuriken perfectly impeded into the plywood wall.
“WINNER!!!” The carny joyously shouts. “50 points! Please, take any prize from the top shield!”
He gestures up to the massive stuffed Pokémon toys sitting on the shelf above.
Hisashi smiles, choosing the four-foot Blaziken doll.
Lodestar glares at him while holding onto his Ducky and Bunny. “Dang it!”
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Next up is a game of Yo-Yo Tsuri where water balloons float inside a filled-up kiddy pool and patrons have to use special hooks to grab their rubber bands and pull them out without losing them.
And Hisashi did pretty well for himself, having gotten two balloons out of three attempts. “How'd you do, Champ-?”
He gasps in surprise as Wildvine holds up three unpoped water balloons. Looking closer one could see just the tiniest strings of vines running down the hook and rubber bands.
“Cheater! I raised you better than that.”
“You were never around to raise me!”
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Next up is some good old-fashioned bowling. Well sort of more like you take a giant rubber exercise ball and roll down a lane that has pit falls, obstacles, and pillars but cutsified like a miniature golf course.
Four Arms goes first, taking the massive ball and simply throwing it with all he’s got, smashing the pins apart, getting himself a split with only two pins still standing.
Feeling confident he smirks, folding his arms together as he watches Hisashi go next.
Hisashi takes the ball and actually rolls it, giving it a spin allowing it to curve and swirl around the obstacles before landing him a strike!!
Four Arms’ jaw drops as Hisashi smirks back and says. “It’s all in the wrist.”
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Next up is your classic Water Gun game where you shoot the target to get the little plastic seahorse to rise up first and win the race.
And so Hisashi lines up with two other players while Izuku hangs back and messes with the Omnitrix.
“GO!!!” The carny shouts and they all aim their water guns and fire.
But in a flash of green Water Hazard steps forward and launches a powerful stream of water into the target causing his seahorse to shoot up and win in record time.
“WINNER!!!”
Hisashi puts down the water gun and glares at Izuku from behind his Oni mask.
Water Hazard grins back at him. “Hahaha, guess you can say you’re washed up.”
“Funny. But there’s only one game left. Are you ready?”
“Pft. I got this.”
“Well get ready because this next game will test your precision, skill, and patience.”
Water Hazard confidently crosses his arms. “So, it’s on easy mode?”
Hisashi smirks from underneath his Oni mask.
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“Gaaahhh!!” Ditto (1) screams out in agony as he breaks another one of his candy cards.
A crowd of Dittos are all chipping away at a game of Katanuki where they all have to use a toothpick to chip away and cut out an image of an umbrella, flower, or hammer indented on a candy mold.
Ditto (2) is shaking after breaking another of the molds. “I think I’m getting addicted to this. This is already attempt number 15 for me.”
Ditto (3) frowns becoming very concerned. “Do-do we have a gambling problem?”
As he asks this Ditto (4) is repeatedly banging his head against the table after breaking his own mold.
And the rest of the Dittos aren’t having any luck either.
“Why is this so hard?!”
“It’s a scam! A scam I tell you!!”
“I give up! I-I can’t do this…”
“You said it yourself, kido.” Hisashi smiles, lifting up the mask so he can chew on one of his twenty perfectly cut out molds. “This was on easy mode.”
Some of the Dittos break into years while others grumble and spit back.
“Disown me!”
“You know I’m starting to expect that he played me from the start.”
“Wow, geez what gave you that impression?”
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Hisashi smiles on, pulling the Oni mask back down as he and Izuku continue towards the food stands. “Oh, come on you’re not upset, are you? That was fun, wasn’t it?”
“No, I’m not upset.” Izuku admits with a soft smile, pulling back down his Kitsune mask after taking another bite from some broken candy molds. “And yeah, it was fun. I’m just trying to think of ways to get you back.”
“Hahahaha!” Hisashi laughs as they arrive at their chosen food stand.
There Izuku makes two orders and hands over a plate of steaming Takoyaki. “Well, here you are, you’re prize.”
“Ah, why thank you.” Hisashi smiles while taking his plate. “Aw, Takoyaki, it always tastes so much better when someone else is paying.”
“I’m sure.” Izuku sweatdrops, feeling the sting of defeat as he takes his own plate and marches off for the picnic area.
But thanks to the mask and the fact that he’s not paying attention to where he’s going he accidentally bumps into someone in a dark kimono decorated with flowers and a gold ribbon.
“Waah!” The two gasps as Izuku takes a tumble, spilling his Takoyaki across the ground.
“Oh, my gosh I’m so sorry!” The girl around his age apologizes.
Izuku peers up only to find a cutesy Okame mask staring down at him.
“N-no! I-it was my-my fault!” Izuku apologizes, blushing behind his Kitsune mask. “I-I should have been w-watching where I was going.”
“No, it’s my bad, really.” The girl digs into her money purse. “Here let me get you a new plate.”
“No, no really, it’s okay you don’t owe me anything.”
“Are you sure?”
“Y-yeah.”
“Um, well okay then. I-I’ll see you around I guess.” The girl pauses when her eyes are drawn to Izuku’s messy hair. “Nice hair style.” She then points to her own which is exactly the same but a completely different shade.
Izuku smiles. “Thanks, I like yours too.”
It soon becomes awkward and so the girl waves him away. “So, um, enjoy the festival then.”
“Yeah, you too.”
And they both go their separate ways, the girl to her mother who looks dressed for a wintery hike while Izuku meets back up with his Oni masked dad.
But then the two teens freeze, halting to a stop as their brains finally click. And they both simultaneously spin around and shout! “Hey, wait a minute!!”
Izuku rips off his Kitsune mask as the girl rips her Okame mask too. “Ashido?!/Midoriya?!”
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“Crazy running into you guys here.” Mina Ashido greets them after they all found themselves a secluded picnic table to sit down and talk.
Izuku smiles, tucking the mask to the side of his head. “Yeah, same I didn’t think I’d see anyone I knew here.”
“I did.” Hisashi admits.
“You did?!” Izuku gasps.
“Well, I had a hunch.” Hisashi then turns to the disguised Eirene. “I saw your car’s bumper sticker. But I wasn’t sure if it was from U.A. or one of the other hundreds of hero schools in the country.”
“Yes~.” Eirene Ashido’s voice sings-songs from behind her winter scarf and fleece. “I had thought I recognized your emotional wavelength~. But I wasn’t quite sure due to so many other beings present here~.”
Izuku’s ears perk up. “You can detect what?”
“Emotional wavelengths~. It’s like a signature or a fingerprint of an individual's normal and most influential emotions~.” Her long elegant antennas wave and curl from underneath her winter hat as she senses Izuku’s own wavelength. “For example, you are a mix of curiosity and excitability as well as sheepishness~.”
“T-that’s not true!”
Everyone gives him a look.
“N-never mind.”
Hisashi chuckles. “I never get tired of seeing your powers at work.” he then looks over towards Mina. “And what about you young lady? Have your powers been developing since?”
“Oh, yeah!” Izuku definitely wants to hear more. “Have you gotten better with your Emote power yet?”
Mina sheepishly rubs her neck. “Well, Mom’s been trying to get me to learn. And I’ve been doing alright.”
“Mina please don’t be shy~.” Eirene gently insists before explaining her progress herself. “She’s been struggling but she is making progress albeit at a steady pace~.”
“Mom!” Mina gasps embarrassed while the Midoriya's laugh at her expense.
She glares at them “What about you guys? What have you been up to this summer?”
“Well we-” Izuku pauses, sharing a concerned look with his Dad. “Um, we, uh, did a lot of traveling, you know? In my Dad’s RV.”
“That’s neat what you do?”
“Well, um, I made a new friend, I think. Um, what else, oh we dealt with a fungus problem when we went camping and-”
Hisashi cuts in. “We hooked a real monster of a fish at Lake Nal Hutta.”
“Yeah! Oh, we also made a pitstop when the RV broke down and we met up with some old friends over in Tokyo!”
Mina eyes them critically while her antennas twitch and pick up on their nervousness. “I’m not totally convinced but I have the feeling you two are holding back a lot of details.”
The Midoriya’s justifyingly don’t comment, looking like they don’t want to share right now.
Figuring she won’t get anything out of them Mina tries to move things along before they become too awkward. “I’d love to continue this conversation, but I’d really like to make up for ruining your meal first.” She shoves herself off the bench.
Izuku instantly shoots up trying to stop her. “Oh, no, really Ashido it’s fine.”
She frowns at him, glaring into his emerald eyes. “Just allow me to do this, Midoriya.”
He backs off. “F-fine but I’m coming with.”
“Fine, let’s go.”
And they hurry off leaving the adults alone in an awkward silence which Hisashi quickly tries to break by asking about her human husband. “So, how’s Buuyu?”
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“So, your Emote powers.” Izuku starts, his curiosity getting the better of him. “What kind of training has your mom been having you do?”
Mina shrugs, acting like it’s nothing special. “Oh, well it’s been a little bit of this and that. But mainly I’ve been stuck inside all summer thanks to her!”
“What? Really?”
“Yeah, she gave me this alien toy that reacts to my emotions, kinda works like a mood ring. And then she had me watch a whole bunch of movies, mainly horror and thrillers.”
The idea was that it would help her control her own emotions and influence the emotions that device detected. And she was able to do it right…sometimes.
“That still sounds fun.” Although not for Izuku, he’s not really big into horror movies. “Did you at least go on a trip this summer?”
“Well, I did, Yaomomo invited a bunch of us to go see what was an underwater resort.”
“An underwater resort? That sounds cool!”
“Not really, it sunk…”
He’s gonna assume that she means that figuratively. “Yeah, I can relate. I-I just took an impromptu trip myself recently.”
“And how was that?”
“Honestly, it was…hell.”
Mina is just about to ask him to elaborate but they arrive at a stall that’s selling an assortment of snacks and treats. “So, what do you want?”
“Let me see.” Izuku has a look around while the elderly man working the stall has his back turned to them while he fixes up some loose boxes into a neat stack.
“Excuse me!” Mina cheerfully calls. “We wanna buy something!”
“Sure, be right with you. Huh?”
Izuku gasps as well, staring right back at the just as baffled Mr. Baumann.
“IT’S YOU!!!” They both jump back while pointing an accusing finger at each other and shouting out simultaneously. “What are you doing here?!”
Mina blinks while witnessing their reactions. “Woah, you two are like on the same wavelength.”
Mr. Baumann pouts, folding his arms in annoyance. “Why wouldn’t I be here? Festivals and gatherings like this one are the best ways for me to reach out to other members of our…” He quickly peers around to make sure no one's listening in before whispering. “alien community.”
“Huh?” The teens act confused, unsure what he means.
Mr. Baumann frowns at their lack of knowledge. “Don’t tell me you haven’t noticed yet?”
Izuku tilts his head in confusion. “Noticed what?”
“Look around kids, take a good look at everybody here.”
They do, watching as all the normal and nonnormal humans mill about in kimonos and other festive attire.
“Do you really think everyone here is a Mutant or wearing a costume?”
“Wait, so is everyone here an alien?” Mina gasps.
“No, of course not.” Mr. Baumann confirms. “I’d say that every one out of three people you see here is an alien.”
Izuku frowns. “How’d you come to that conclusion?”
“Well, I’m human, you’re human, and she’s half-alien… You do the math.”
Izuku has to admit it, but his logic seems sound.
Mina peers around watching as a teen couple with overly enlarged brains passes by. “There’s so many. But I thought the alien community in Japan was small.”
“It is.” Mr. Baumann explains. “And because of that there’s not a lot of places they can stretch their arms or other limbs because of it. The only real places they can do that are my store, the Tavern of High Charity, and some other holes in the wall type places. And festivals are the perfect excuse to come out and be themselves.”
Mina cups her chin in thought. “So, like what about people at like Comic Cons?”
“Aliens. Most of them are aliens.” Mr. Baumann confirms. “I mean do you really think someone’s skilled enough to make such realistic and complex cosplay?”
Actually, yes a lot of humans can make such great costumes but admittedly some of them look way too real.
Izuku thinks, offering up another suggestion. “Halloween?”
Mr. Baumann chuckles. “Funny enough some of the more classic monsters we have are actually based on aliens.”
Mina offers up another suggestion. “Furry Conventions?”
Mr. Baumann quickly shakes his head in disgust. “Oh god no, you’d never catch an alien in one of those. Even they stay away from that.” He means no offense but since those costumes usually have distinct designs they usually stay away. “But what do I know? Aliens are like the rest of us, they want to express themselves and have a good time.”
“EEEEEeeekkk!!!” Terrified screams echo from inside the Haunted House, startling Izuku, Mina, and Mr. Baumann.
Mr. Baumann takes a napkin and wipes his forehead after being startled so badly. “No matter how they like to go about it. Who am I to judge?”
Izuku sheepishly chuckles in response. “Hehehe…”
Becoming annoyed Mr. Baumann quickly jabs a finger at Izuku’s face. “But that doesn’t give you the excuse to do whatever you want!”
“M-me?!”
“Yes, you!” Suddenly Mr. Baumann summons a broom from thin air and swings it at Izuku’s head. “I don’t want you anywhere near my stand!”
Izuku ducks, avoiding the broom. “Why would I?!”
“Because you have a pension for the destruction of my property! Now get before you attract any trouble.”
Suddenly down the row of stands the ground shakes and rumbles as something massive crashes through several stands instantly causing a chorus of screams and panic.
Mr. Baumann sighs before throwing Izuku a nasty glare. “Too late.”
Izuku throws his hands up in defense as people begin stampeding by in a panic. “H-how’s it my fault?!”
“What’s going on?!” Mina shouts over the screaming crowd.
“RAAAGGHH!!!” Out from the dust cloud, towering over the stands is a red behemoth.
The red behemoth looks like a Red Hulk combined with a Rancor. With muscular leather skin, long arms that stretch to its feet and four-foot long razor sharp claws. It roars displaying the rows of white fangs as its white eyes dart across the festival in a frenzy.
“RAAAGGHH!!!”
Mina covers her ears as the monster’s roar pierces her eardrums. “What is that thing?! Got to be an alien, right!?”
“It is!” Hisashi calls out running up behind them along with a disguised Eirene. “What the hell is he doing?! Is he insane? This could risk exposing the other aliens in attendance!
Mr. Baumann tries to offer up a reason. “Maybe he drank too much.”
“I hope that’s all it is. I’m going in. And kids…” Hisashi turns to the teens and says. “I’d really appreciate the help.”
Mina looks over at Eirene. “Mom?”
“Go~. This will be good practice for you~.”
Mina grins, grateful that she has permission to help.
“Don’t worry I just need her on crowd control.” Hisashi explains. “Now let’s go!”
Mina quickly follows while shouting out. “I’ll be safe, promise!”
Izuku gets ready to chase after them. “I’m right behind you-Yah?!’
He’s yanked back by his own hood by Mr. Baumann. “You are staying right here.”
“But-”
“No buts! If you want to help you can do it without transforming, got it? Last thing I need is for you to destroy my stand.”
“But what if he destroys your stand?!” Izuku points up at the rampaging red behemoth.
But Mr. Baumann just gives him a glare, shutting him up.
“N-never mind…”
Meanwhile, the red behemoth continues its rampage marching through the festival and causing a panic with every swing of its claws. “RAAAGGHH!!!”
Hisashi rushes over, intercepting the behemoth’s path. “Sir! I need you to settle down and explain yourself, immediately!”
“RAAAGGHH!!!” The red behemoth roars, swinging its massive claw down at the Plumber.
Hisashi dives out of the way, allowing the massive claws to smash into the ground. “Sir, please, let’s use our words not our claws!” From a nearby stall serving grilled squid, he spots several grills still burning with open flames. “I’d hate for things to get heated!”
Putting his face near the grill Hisashi inhales, spins around and exhales releasing a massive wall of flames into the air.
“RAAAGGHH!!!” The red behemoth backs away from the roaring flames.
Meanwhile, staying at a safe distance, Mina is shepherding people away from the scene and towards the parking lot.
“This way! And hurry but don’t run!”
But everyone both human and alien have been whipped into a frenzy, pushing, shoving, and screaming to get to safety.
“Don’t push!” Mina shouts trying to keep them in order, but she just ends up getting shoved around even more. “Stop, please! Everybody, you need to stay calm! Stay calm!”
“Mina darling, if you wish for them to be calm you must express that~.” Eirene comments from the sidelines, staying clear of the rushing crowd.
“I am!”
“No, I mean through Emote~.”
“I’m trying, Mom!” Mina shouts, finally pulling herself free of the stampede. “It’s not as easy as it looks!”
Eirene frowns, standing back and making a point to watch her closely. “Mina, how do you feel right now~?”
“Annoyed!”
“No, not you~. But what is everyone else feeling~?”
Mina calms down, closing her eyes as she tries to focus her Emote. Her antennas shake and bob picking up on the surrounding emotions. “They’re worried. Scared. Fearful. Of him.” She gestures to the rampaging behemoth.
“Yes, but what else~?”
“Huh?”
“Listen~. Listen and tell me what he’s feeling~.” Eirene gestures up towards the beast.
Mina closes her eyes again, trying to focus in and lock into the monster’s emotional wavelength. “He’s…he’s… Ahhh!” She gasps as her face turns pale white and she begins to hyperventilate, she even collapses to her knees as a wave of fear and panic crashes into her like a wrecking ball. “He’s-he’s terrified.”
Eirene sadly nods her head, confirming Mina’s conclusion.
Shakily Mina turns to watch the behemoth continue its rampage. ‘He’s…scared? Scared of what though?’
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“Mr. Baumann, please I have to help them!” Izuku begs trying to pull away from Mr. Baumann’s grip.
“No way!” Mr. Baumann barks while pulling on Izuku’s hood. “The moment you get involved you’ll only make things worse!”
“But Mr. Baumann-”
“No!”
“But-”
“I said no!”
“O-okay…” Izuku gives up, slumping down like a rejected puppy on a tight collar and leah.
“Good.” Mr. Baumann finally lets him go while giving him a scrutinizing look.
Izuku shrinks away while rubbing his neck. His eyes drift towards the back of Mr. Baumann’s stall before he gasps with horror. “Oh my gosh, that guy’s stealing your merch!”
“What?! Who?!” Mr. Baumann spins around, his broom at the ready. “Wait there’s nobody there.” He begins to turn around. “Are you sure you-Hey!!”
He pokes his head out from his stall just in time to see Izuku making a dash for it. “IZUKU!!!”
‘Sorry, Mr. Baumann! But you’ll see! This was the right thing to do!’ Izuku thinks as he rushes towards the fight.
He can see Hisashi doing his best to keep the monster’s attention on him, he’s trying his best to minimize the damage but really he’s only buying time until this gets too far out of hand.
Izuku skids to a stop as he grips the Omnitrix. “He’s big but the bigger they are the harder they fall! And no one knocks them down like Cannonbolt!!”
His hand slams down on the Omnitrix, beginning the transformation sequence.
But this time feels off, it feels stranger, colder, sending a shiver down his spine. He can feel his bones and flesh turning into vapor cueing his heart to race until it stops beating.
“Strangeee. I feel…strangeee.” This transformation feels off both physically and mentally, almost like wearing a glove that’s too big yet restrictive. “This alien, this alien feels…offfff.”
It even sounds off with a faint whispery echo to his voice.
The transformed Izuku looks around for a mirror until he spots a kiddie pool containing a school of goldfish. Peering over he finds a phantom, a grey skinned phantom with black veins that run across his incorporeal body and a single purple eye staring back at him in his reflection.
“Ahhh! A ghosttt! Wait, that’s meee?” He looks closer, taking in his own ghastly reflection. “Am I…deaddd? No, I’m clearly aliveee. So, then what am Iii? And more importantly what can he dooo?”
Meanwhile, Hisashi is rolling and dodging the incoming claws using nearby flames to lead the behemoth back.
With every step backwards the behemoth takes two forward in its frenzy. “Dammit! I’m getting nowhere like this!”
“Then how about letting me give it a tryyy?” The ghost questions as he appears out of thin air.
Hisahsi jumps. “Izuku?! Is that you?”
“I think sooo.”
“RAAAGGHH!!!” While they’re distracted the behemoth swings its claws down at the two.
Without missing a beat the ghost shoves Hisashi out of the way as the claws come crashing down upon him.
“Izuku!!” Hisashi screams, his heart stopping as he witnesses the ghost's death.
“I’m okayyy.” The ghost phases through the monster’s claws. “I thinkkk.”
“RAAAGGHH!!!”
“Woah, easy big guyyy!” The ghost flies up, his body remaining semi-transparent and allowing the claws to pass harmlessly through. “Now what’s got you so worked uppp?”
“RAAAGGHH!!!” The monster just continues to swing away at the ghost, trying to swat it out of the air like a fly.
“I hope you at least feel baddd.” The ghost chastises as he backs away and vanishes from sight, turning invisible.
The monster backs away as its eyes dart around, trying desperately to pinpoint him.
“We’re all here having a good time and here you are causing a ruckus. Not coolll.” The ghost’s voice echoes out from beyond the grave, still invisible to the naked eye.
“RAAAGGHH!!!” The behemoth lets out an earthshaking roar of frustration that shakes the entire festival, causing a few stands to topple over and collapse.
“No need to shout!” The ghost reappears, gliding in close to the monster’s skull, and going in for a punch. “Gahhh!!” His fist smacks into the monster’s nose but it is nothing more than a boop on the nose to the behemoth, if anything it hurts the ghost more than it did the red alien.
Speaking of which, it glares up at him in anger.
“Ehehehe, uh, sorryyy.”
“RAAAGGHH!!!”
“Izuku! Take cover now!!”
Before he can attempt to move a wall of bright flames cuts between the ghost and the behemoth, separating them both.
“RAAAGGHH!!!” The behemoth roars in fear, backing away from the flames, before turning to Hisashi’s direction and charging.
With the monster distracted the ghost vanishes into the night, retreating for now.
As he slips away, Mina slips in, skating across the ground with her acid. “Hey! Mr. M! Mr. M!” She calls trying to catch up to Hisashi. “There’s something wrong with him!”
“I knowww! The guy’s insaneee.”
“No!” Mina slides to a stop. “He’s scared! Wait, who said that?”
“I diddd.” The ghost answers as he materializes before her.
“Waahh!!” Mina jumps back in freight. “M-Midoriya? Since when could you turn into a ghost boy?”
“How should I knowww? Not like this thing came with instructionsss.” As he says this he points to the Omnitrix.
“RAAAGGHH!!!” The monster roars as he’s blinded by a plume of smoke.
Mina gasps as the monster continues its rampage. “Nothing we do works!”
“Ashido!” Hisahsi calls out, dashing towards them while the monster’s distracted by the smoke. “Can you use Emote to calm him down? Maybe then we can put a stop to this.”
“I-I don’t know. I don’t know if I can do it.” She fidgets, her antenna drooping down due to her lack of confidence.
Sympathizing for her, Hisashi leans down to eye level and tries his best to consult her. “Hey. Are you at least willing to try?”
Mina hesitates before nodding. “I am.”
“Good, that’s all I need.” He gets up before gesturing to the ghost who he assumes is his son. “We’ll give you an opening.”
“But how?” The transformed Izuku asks.
Hisashi looks him up and down, a part of him wants to question where the new form came from but he puts it on the back burner for now and instead explains. “You’re going to possess it.”
“Possess ittt?” His one purple eye peers up at the roaring behemoth. “Yeah, right, good one, Popsss.”
“I’m not joking. You’re an Ectonurite, you should have the ability to possess living beings.”
“Possessss? I’m not sure I’m totally comfortable with thattt.”
“It’s fine, just think of it like controlling the strings of a puppet.”
“But the puppet’s aliveee!”
“And you’re not, sort of! But please if you have a better idea then let us know now.”
When he can’t think of one the ghost bows his head dejectedly. “I guess I’ll give is a shottt.” he floats up towards the monster as it continues through its blind rage and panic.
“RAAAGGHH!!!” The monster bellows and takes a swipe at the ghost only for his claws to harmlessly pass right through.
The ghost shivers with disgust before becoming shy and off put. “Sorry, afraid this is my first timeee. So hold still, pleaseee.” He floats closer, phasing through the monster’s claws. “I’m going innn.”
The ghostly alien phases his way into the monster’s body. Not really sure what he's supposed to do he does his best to let the alien’s natural instincts take over but it’s strange. He tries and tries but it doesn’t seem to click like the others and after a moment of working his way to the behemoth’s brain and nervous system he thinks he gets it. Almost feels like slipping into a tight skinsuit.
And the moment he takes control his mind erupts with flashes, images, visions of a towering demonic being with flames surrounding him from all sides. While a surge of the behemoth’s panic and fear pumps into his system, slamming into him like a wave, and giving him a massive headache in the process.
“RAAAGGHHhh!!!” The possessed behemoth let’s out an ear piercing screech as Izuku too begins to shake and panic, grabbing at his aching head.“RAAAGGHHhh!!!”
He stumbles closer, nearly stomping on Mina who shouts out in worry. “Midoriya! Midoriya what’s the matter?!”
“Izuku!!” Hisashi calls, but they only receive a booming roar in response.
The possessed behemoth stumbles and flails about before tripping over a pile of exercise balls used by the mini-bowling course.
“RAAAGGHHhh!!!” They roar out as they come crashing down into the nearby trees boarding the festival.
Like being thrown off a mechanical bull, the ghost tumbles out and crashes into a pile of leaves.
“Now’s our chance!” Hisahsi shouts, signaling for Mina to rush in.
‘Okay, Mina you got this. Just stay calm. Stay calm. Calm.’ She breaths, closing her eyes and places her hands against the monster’s arm.
And the monet she does the behemoths own fears overpower her own emotions causing a shock to her system. “EEEEEeeekkk!!!”
Mina screams out in pure absolute terror.
Her scream jolts the beast awake causing it to panic and swings its claw down at her. “RAAAGGHH!!!”
“Ashido!!” Hisashi shouts, rushing in and grabbing her.
But it's too late as the claw comes down at them, and so Hisahsi holds her close and covers her with his own body in order to shield her from the blow.
But it never comes but instead the claw slowly slumps down beside them, dragging across the ground almost lazily.
The two peer back around to see the behemoth swaying back and forth. It takes a deep breath, almost choking as it does, and falls over to its side into a deep slumber. Upon being put to sleep the behemoth begins to shrink like a balloon losing its air, shrinking as it does, and while also getting turned inside out. Eventually the behemoth is gone having been shrunk down to a pale balloon-like alien with a wrinkly face and fancy attire.
Everyone stares down at the sleeping alien before peering up to see Eirene Ashido in her full glory and without her disguise, standing beside the one-time beast. “My apologies~. But I wished for Mina to gain confidence in her own abilities~. Thankfully I remained nearby just in case~.”
Everyone lets out a sigh of relief as the ghost floats back onto the scene. “What did I missss? Where’d that monster gooo? Did he get awayyy?”
As they catch him up to speed and the sound of police sirens begin to come into range, they fail to notice the three pairs of lingering eyes watching them from the shadows.
The costumed Frankenstein, mummy, and werewolf all watch, but their eyes are instantly drawn to the Omnitrix symbol displayed on the ghost’s form.
The cheap-costumed werewolf smirks. “The boss is gonna wanna hear about this.”
And with that the trio sneak away into the haunting forest.
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After the rampaging alien settled down the cops soon appeared on the scene, but they were quickly intercepted by Hisashi who was quick to get on damage control, trying to reign in their suspicions and investigation.
And good thing too because it allowed the teens and Mrs. Ashido to sneak away along with the now calm alien.
“You have my sincerest apologies. But I really have no clue what came over me.” The balloon shaped alien apologies while his body is still trembling from the experience.
Eirene tries to have him relax, by sitting down. “It’s alright~. Please, relax and breath~.”
“I’ll try. Ugh.” He groans, shivering as he holds his aching head.
Eirene places a gentle hand to his head, her antennae waving above her head as she massages his emotional state. “Something is off I’m afraid~. Such intense fear~. Something must have triggered such an outburst~.”
“I’m trying to remember, but I’m afraid this headache won’t go away. And everything’s a blur, I don’t quite recall what happened.”
The ghostly alien sheepishly rubs the back of his head. “Sorry, that’s probably my faulttt.”
Mina isn’t so sure. “You caused the headache, maybe. But you didn’t trigger him. So, what did?”
The alien doesn’t have a clue. “All I can recall is that I entered the Haunted House. But everything after that’s too much. Ugh.” His headaches with pain as he begins to temple and shake.
Eirene invokes her calming Emote allowing the alien to relax, at least for now. “I’m afraid he is still recovering~. He will need time before he can properly recall what happened~.”
“That’s fine because I just bought us time.” Hisashi calls out as he rejoins the group. “Thankfully the cops are looking for a red giant and not a diminutive balloon.”
“What about the festivalll?” questions the ghost. “Is it canceleddd?”
“Well, there’s the other good news.” Hisashi smiles. “Luckily, that little outburst didn’t actually cause a lot of damage, and nobody got hurt either. And I may have pushed the idea that the red guy may have drank too much so it wasn’t even a villain attack. That said they will be sticking around just in case. I did what I could. Any more involvement might make me look too suspicious.”
“I guess the question is what do we do nowww?”
Mina slides up and elbows the ghastly alien. “How about we figure out what you are?”
The ghost agrees and Mina watches with disgust as the alien’s purple eye travels along the black vein covering its skin until it locks onto Hisashi.
“What did you call me earlierrr?” He asks Hisashi.
Hisashi goes ahead and clarifies. “An Ectonurite. An ectoplasmic lifeform who’s atomic make up is spread out far more than other beings granting them the abilities of flight, density shifting, and more.”
Ina whistles impressed by the Plumber’s knowledge. “Have you dealt with an Ectonurite before?”
“No, this is actually my first time seeing one.” Hisashi sheepishly smirks as he admits a small truth. “The only reason I heard about them is cause even aliens like a good ghost story.”
“Well what I would like is a name for this guyyy. Now what would be a good oneee? Deadmannn? Gentleman Ghosttt? Spectreee? Dark Soulll? Dusclopsss?”
“How about Deku Phantom?”
“Not bad, I actually like it, but it sounds like something I’d see in some crossover fanfictionnn. Also I don’t think it’s really fits this guyyy.” As the ghost says this he pats his chest only for his fingers to slip between the folds of his malleable grey skin.
Curious he rubs his hand over the fold until the skin peels back like a seal.
Mina watches with disgust. “What are you doing?”
“I just realized this, but I think this alien’s skin is covering somethinggg.” The ghost answers while stretching the malleable membrane apart, revealing a dark empty void inside.
“Covering what?”
“I don’t knowww.” He opens it just wide enough for him to peek inside. “Just gonna have myself a peek hereee.” He pokes his eye close to the opening, gazing into his own body before lurching back and tightly sealing the opening closed out of freight.
Mina’s instantly intrigued. “What? What did you see?”
“N-nothinggg!”
“Oh, come on. What are you shy?” Mina teases.
“N-no! I-I mean y-yesss! J-just trust me on thisss.” He makes sure the seal is closed, patting it just to make sure. “It’s best if I keep this to myselfff.”
“Excuse me!” Mr. Baumann barks as he makes a sudden appearance from between the rows of stalls and stands.
“Eeeppp!” The unnamed ghost alien jumps, fearfully tucking himself away behind Mina. Upon his arrival, Hisashi makes a point to greet him properly this time. “Hello Mr. Baumann. Sorry I couldn't properly say hello from before.”
Mr. Baumann happily greets him with a smile. “It’s fine, you had bigger things to deal with. And I do apologize if this is a bad time, but I wanted to ask if it was okay if I borrowed those two for a second?” He throws his thumb towards the teens.
Hisashi shrugs. “I don’t see why not.”
As Mr. Baumann approaches the two, the ghost shrinks back behind Mina, using her as a shield between him and the possibly grouchy old man. “N-now Mr. B-Baumann before you start y-yelling at me I just want to point out that nothing happened to your stallll.” He pauses not actually sure if that’s even correct. “R-righttt?”
“Relax, this isn’t about me and you.” Mr. Baumann clarifies while folding his arms and addressing the kids directly. “I wanted to ask you kids to do me a favor.”
Mina gives him a weird look. “What kind of favor?”
“If it’s not too much trouble I’d like you two to go around and start having fun around the festival.”
The two teens give him perplexed looks. “Huh?”
“Look I’d really appreciate it if you kids played some games, eat some candy, whatever, do whatever you like as long as you're having fun.”
“Whyyy?” The ghost flinches as Mr. Baumann gazes up at him. “Not that I don’t want to, but why are you askinggg?”
Mr. Baumann gestures towards the entrance of the festival where cautious and frightened festival goers are crowded around, too nervous to rejoin the continuing summer festival. “After what just occurred everyone’s too spooked to get back into the swing of things. Everyone’s too shaken to really enjoy themselves anymore. But if they see a pair of kids enjoying themselves without a care then maybe it’ll encourage everyone else to join in.”
“I guess you can say we’ll be raising their spiritsss. Ehehehe-Owww!!” The ghost rubs his aching side as Mina withdraws her elbow.
She glares up at him. “Sorry, but that joke was dead on arrival.” She smirks knowing he won’t do anything back.
The ghost rolls his one eye. “Oh hardy-har-harrr.”
“What do you say kids? Will you help?” Mr. Baumann pleads.
Mina nods, giving him a cheery smile. “Of course.”
The ghastly alien nods his head in agreement. “But first thing’s firsttt. I still haven’t eaten anything yettt. Look at me I’m nothing but skin and bonesss. I’m starvinggg!”
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“I’m starving…!” A hushed nasally whisper echoes through the dark dust filled void. “I need more. I need more!” The shouter slams his fists against his chair’s arm rests, acting like a kid demanding more sustenance. “Bring me more! I need to feed! Now!”
The trio of costumed monsters approach from within the shadows, each of them grinning greedily with anticipation.
The lug of a Frankenstein greets the man with a grin. “Boss, we got something even better for ya.”
The feminine mummy smirks. “Yeah, it’ll make everything taste like an appetizer in comparison.”
“What?!” Their boss barks. “What have you brought me?!”
The Frankenstein shakes his head. “We don't have it yet, boss.”
The horribly costumed werewolf smirks. “Yeah, but don’t worry. He’ll soon be served to you on a silver platter. Hehehehe.”
Soon the tenure trio of freaks break into laughter and all the while their boss remains seated on his throne while a wide crooked tooth grin stretches across his pale face.
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*POP!*
Another one of the duck-shaped targets goes down as it’s pelted by a single BB pellet.
While holding the toy gun out with one arm, Izuku smirks before pulling it down to his side.
Mina whistles, impressed. “Nice shootin’ there, Tex.”
“Thanks.”
“Say, did you ever take those extra lessons from Mr. Snipe? Cause you’re surprisingly good with a gun.”
“Oh, I did. And my Dad thought so too that’s why he gave me one.”
“HE WHAT!?!” Mina screams, covering her mouth afterwards.
Izuku hurries to explain. “Well, it’s not a real gun! It’s actually a blaster!
That’s still a shock to her. “A blaster?! Can I see it?! Can I try it?!” She begs, praying he says yes.
“I don’t have it on me! It’s back in the RV, okay.” He draws up the toy gun. “Besides I don’t think showing it off is a good idea and besides I don’t honestly think I’m that good with it.” He aims and shoots, getting another bullseye.
Mina raises an eyebrow, giving him a skeptical look. “Right, and I don’t look good in a Kimono either.” She brushes her side, drawing attention to her dark-colored kimono..
“But you do.” Izuku catches himself too late, his face turning red with embarrassment.
Mina smirks, finding his reaction oh so entertaining. “Oh, now this is gonna be fun.”
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“Hahaha! This is so much fun!” Mina laughs as she scoops up another goldfish.
Behind her a few people line the stalls, some even watching the teens have their fun, causing them to consider if it’s okay to join in.
“Oh come on!” Izuku growls with frustration as another goldfish slips away.
Mina smirks, laughing at his expense. “Huh, guess we found something you’re not good at.”
Izuku tries again and again and again but the fish always slips away until his paper scoop finally gives out.
“Want me to show you how it’s done?”
“No, thanks.” Izuku drops the scoop and instead reaches for the Omnitrix. “I’ll figure it out my own way.” He transforms instantly before continuing. “And my way is Ripjaws’ way.”
Ripjaws immediately throws his head into the kiddie pool, scooping up all the goldfish into his jaws. “Haha!” he laughs with his mouth full. “I got the catch of the day!”
Mina goes quiet as she looks over towards the guy running the game.
Ripjaws turns around to find the carny glaring daggers at him. “Uhh, do you want them back?”
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“Ehehe-...Ehehehe.” There’s a creepy air around Mina, she’s acting rather disturbingly as she greedily sorts through rows and rows of loose strings like it's her obsession. “Which…is it…?”
Izuku watches from the side, worriedly. ‘And I thought I might have been developing a gambling problem…’
But their problem right now is the game known as the Thousand Line Lottery.
The Thousand Line Lottery is a game where you must pull a line attached to a prize, it’s that simple.
And it’s made even simpler when the person managing the stand is a frail old granny. Sitting there with a far-off look, her entire body shaking it’s so frail, she looks so weak in fact that she might fall over during the next gust of wind.
But that’s not what has Izuku so worried about, rather it's Mina's creepy expression that does.
“Of course, aiming for the grand prize.” Mina grins, drooling over said grand prize, a brand-new gaming system hidden away inside with the rest of the prizes.
She continues to sort through the rows of string, but her keen eyes are focused on the string attached to the prize. ‘This string is more worn out than the others! The grand prize is…the string the one most worn out among all of them!’
She sorts through the strings in her hands and finds the one that’s the most worn out! “This one!!” She cheers and pulls.
However, she only ends up pulling up a pack of pocket tissues.
“Aaaaaaaaaah!!” Mina breaks down, clinging to Izuku like a fallen soldier. “Midroiya-kun, avenge me! I’ll pay for your turn…!”
“Eh…” He gives, going up for a turn. “I don’t have any choice…”
The frail granny cheers him on albeit weakly. “Please go ahead.”
Izuku begins sorting through the rows of strings. “Which one should I choose?”
He grabs one and the moment he does the frail granny gasps in freight and she begins to shake harder thanks to her nervousness. .
Izuku drops the string, and she immediately calms down, turning back to normal.
He frowns and tests her poker face again by grabbing the same string.
Sure enough, she looks like she’s on the verge of panicking.
“Let’s go for this one!”
He pulls but like Mina he gets nothing but pocket tissues.
“Aaaaaaaaaah!!” Mina cries falling to her knees in despair.
Izuku frowns and sneaks off for a moment while she agonizes.
“Granny, is the winning string even there?!” She wails.
The frail granny shakily nods her head. “Of course it is.”
Mina pulls at her hair in frustration. “But I have no one else I can count on!”
“Are you sure about that?”
Mina and the weakly granny turn to find someone strutting their way towards them.
The guy status, walking with purpose while trying to flex his muscles. His entire posture and stance just radiates an epic cool energy as he approaches the challenge.
Or it would be epic and even cool if it weren’t for the fact that’s Grey Matter trying to pull it off.
The frail granny gives him the go ahead. “Go…the grand prize string is there.”
Grey Matter status his way forward, acting cool and suave before he examines the strings.
The old granny sits to the side, seemingly oblivious to Izuku’s ruse. But when in fact she’s been playing these kids the whole time.
‘It’s a business after all.’ She thinks to herself. ‘We work fair and square. But…’ Suddenly her aura changes, her entire demeanor intensifying and becoming alive with a blazing ego. ‘There is something called tactics, youngsters!! At first look, the string attached to the game station looks all worn out. But this is a fake! It’s attached to a string in better shape!!’ It’s all a shame, a game in itself. And she is winning it!
‘Next, my expression for those who can’t decide on a string!’ She internally gloats, striking a pose while her hand is to her face like she's some kind of genius tactician. ‘And my lack of expression is also for fooling you! It’s futile, futile, FUTILE!!! There’s numerous other techniques!! The more you think about it, the less certain you are!! That’s the way to do it-!!”
Grey Matter pulls on a string, claiming the grand prize.
“Aaaaaaaaaah!!” The granny audibly screams in agony.
After gaining their prize, they leave, leaving the con of a granny to sulk in her own shame and misery.
“Yay!!” Mina cheers, holding her prize wheel Grey after rides on her shoulder. “Say, Midoriya?”
Grey Matter doesn’t respond but instead continues to look around, ignoring her.
Rolling her eyes, she sighs. “Grey Matter?”
That gets his attention. “Yes?”
“How did you know which string to pull?”
“Oh, it was quite simple to figure out… I didn’t.”
“You what?!”
“Yeah, after becoming a Galvian I realized that the best way to win these games…” he breaks into a sheepish grin. “Was by not thinking about it at all. Hahahaha!”
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“Welcome to our annual Eating Competition!” An Announcer calls out over the cheers of the excited crowd. “To win, our contestants have to eat their way through mountains of Katsudon!”
The cheers become roars of applause and excitement, happy to see the competition back on after being postponed due to the earlier rampage.
All the contestants vary in size from the skinny to the large, some normal humans, some humans with Mutant Quirks, but there is one alien among them.
Upchuck licks his lips in anticipation. “Oh, boy I can’t wait! I haven’t had a meal like this since we left home.”
“Alright contestants on the count of three.” The announcer cheers. “One. Two. Three!! EAT!!!”
As the others begin to chew away at their food, Upchuck opens his mouth wide and pulls in the mountain of food in one gulp.
He happily chews away, savoring the taste but then stops as a look of disgust crosses his already green face. “PHEWWW!!!”
He spits out the fried pork and rice back onto the table, disgusting everybody watching. “Oh great, I’m a bottomless pit and I can’t digest the good stuff!”
What a rip off!
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The festival is back in full swing now with people all happily enjoying their summer fun as if the earlier rampage was nothing but a short late-night nightmare. And for Izuku it’s a relief to see, it’s something he can feel good about. And good thing too as his stomach growls and rumbles reminding him of just how hungry he is.
“Here you are.” Mina cheers, handing him a Choco Banana on a stick. “Eat up.”
Izuku sheepishly takes it. “This feels like a constellation prize.”
“That’s because it is a constellation prize.” Mina laughs before taking a bite form her own Choco Banana.
They eat their Choco Bananas in silence, but instead listen and enjoy the sounds of the festival from its music, games, and people’s happy chatter.
But after finishing her treat Mina eyes Izuku’s Omnitrix curiously and asks. “So, tell me. Exactly how many new aliens do you have now?”
“Not a lot.” Izuku admits with a shrug, swallowing the last of his snack. “I mean you the ghost guy and Upchuck. Then there’s Wildvine, Bullfrag, and um, oh, Cannonbolt he’s great.”
Mina gives him an odd look. “You call that not a lot? You got like five new powers in the span of a few weeks!”
“A few weeks? Huh, it kinda feels like months have passed by already.” Crazy, it kinda felt like this summer’s been dragging on for a year now. Weird.
“Anyway, do you mind if I check out these new aliens? I wanna see what they’re about.”
“Sure, but maybe after the festival.” As he says this, he nearly bumps into someone wearing a raggedy werewolf costume. “Oh! Excuse us.”
The werewolf just stares, making Izuku very uncomfortable.
When the guy doesn’t respond he and Mina try to go around him but then a large guy dressed as Frankenstein cuts them off. At the same time a woman wrapped in toilet paper shows up behind them, cutting off their last chance to leave.
“Uh, c-can we help you?” Izuku asks nervously.
The werewolf smirks, leaning in so close that Izuku gets a face full of his foul breath. “Yeah, you can. You see kids, the police came to talk to us, and we explained that yeah we caused that guy to lose it earlier.”
The teens steady themselves, feeling rather cautious about all this. “You did?”
The Frankenstein speaks up, his voice deep and slow. “Yeah, but we’re real sorry about what happened.”
The feminine mummy smirks, her long wrapped up hair slithering behind her like snakes. “We put a lot of effort into our Haunted House, but we did too good of a job. Guess we just went too far is all.”
The werewolf snickers. “Yeah, some people can have some bad reactions when they’re scared. Hehehe”
The teens wince as the guy’s foul breath wafts into their faces.
“But listen kids we really didn’t mean to spoil the fun, that’s why we built this thing.” The costumed werewolf gestures to their Haunted House. “We put a lot of hard work into it, and it’d be a real shame if we had to close up shop.”
Mina frowns. “Yeah, I guess it would.”
The mummy flicks back her hair in a show of confidence. “Listen, would you mind doing us the favor and going in? We promise you’ll have a good time. It’ll really help us out, what do you say?”
Izuku tries to back away. “I, uh, don’t know-”
“Sure! Why not?” Mina cuts in sounding a little too excited.
“A-Ashido?!”
She grabs by the shoulder and spins him around before whispering into his ear. “Trust me. This is perfect. This way we can investigate the Haunted House ourselves, and from the inside.”
“That’s true.” Izuku considers.
It would be the perfect chance to see if this place is responsible for earlier. If it is they can deal with it, and if it’s not then they can say for sure that it’s not. He’ll just need to keep his eyes open and make sure there’s nothing fishy going on.
Seeing the expression on his face, Mina gives the trio the go ahead. “Alright, give us all you got. I wanna feel like I’m in a horror movie, got it?”
The werewolf smirks, flashing the teens his grotesque teeth. “That I can promise.”
The smirking mummy’s hair grabs the curtains of the entrance and holds them open. “Step right in.”
Izuku hesitates as Mina leads him in by the arm. “Ashido?”
“Man up, Midoriya. I’ll be counting on you to protect me.” She teases, laughing at his increasingly embarrassed and nervous expression.
She drags him inside and the trio of costumed monsters grin maniacally as they close the curtain behind them.
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The inside of the Haunted House is dark, hot, and humid. The air is filled with fog and the smell of sweat from previous visitors. The hallways are narrow and dimly lit by rows of blacklights, or no lights at all making it all feel that much more claustrophobic.
“Wow, this palace is…really cheap.” Mina deadpans, swatting away a fake rubber bat that’s hanging off the ceiling by an obvious string.
And the rubber bats are probably the scariest thing in there as everything else looks like it was bought after Halloween, when stores want to get rid of everything but all they have left are the cheap things no one wanted. Nailed to the walls are white sheets with faces painted on the. Cartoonish plastic skulls and bones in the floors while glow in the dark bugs are taped onto the floor and ceiling. All in all, it looks like the bare minimum was put in for this haunted house. The only things really adding any atmosphere are the obvious fog machines and the blacklights causing everything to glow.
But it doesn't matter because Mina’s not at all impressed by what she’s seeing. “I wonder if the true terror in this place is actually how much they spent on the decorations?”
“Yeah, maybe-AHHH!!” Izuku jumps back as from out of the wall a rubbery clown mask pops out like a Jack-in-the-box.
Mina immediately breaks into laughter upon his reaction. “Hahaha! What?! Are you scared of clowns or something?”
“N-no!” Izuku defends while a blush creeps on his face. “I-I just had a bad experience with one.”
“Really?” Mina laughs, not at all believing him.
“Y-yes.” He shys away, not wanting to bring it up and not wanting to be made fun of anymore.
They continue on through the Haunted House, strolling past more fake costumes, cheap decorations, and walls. Lots and lots of walls causing them to turn this way and that through narrow hallways.
Mina frowns, tapping the wall where cartoonish skeletons have been painted and a blacklight hangs over them causing them to glow. “Man, if that alien got freaked out by this I’d hate to see how he’d react to something that’s actually scary.” She hangs back, scoffing at the decorations.
Izuku frowns from the front, stopping and waiting for her to catch up. “Do you think we’re overthinking it?”
“Maybe.” Mina shrugs. “But there was something off about those guys, though. They just felt weird to me.”
“Yeah…same.”
Suddenly without warning the hanging blacklights begin to flicker like crazy, they’re flickering so fast it actually makes Izuku feel a little dizzy.
“Hey!” Mina gasps. “What's going on?”
“Must be part of the experience, right?”
And that experience goes completely dark on them as the lights suddenly shut off, throwing them both into complete and utter darkness and silence.
Even in the darkness Izuku’s head continues to spin but he soon snaps out of it just as the lights turn back on.
“Okay, before you say anything I wasn’t scared.” Izuku folds his arms, frowning at the still lights before spinning around towards Mina. “Also, can we please get out of here already? I don’t think this place-Huh?” He’s stunned, startled to see that Mina’s disappeared. “Ashido? Ashido?!”
He calls out but there’s no answer, she’s gone. Leaving the hallway empty as if she was never there to begin with.
“Did-...did she ditch me?” That upsets him a little as he calls out again. “This isn’t funny, Ashido! Come on out! Please…!”
But there’s no answer. There's no Mina. There’s nothing but him and glowing painted skeletons on the wall that look like they’re there just to laugh at his expense.
Izuku peers around and hobbles forward slowly worried that she might have ditched him in this maze of bad props and cheap gimmicks. After a while he eventually spots an emergency exit, clearly labeled just across the hallway.
Still feeling like she’s messing with him, Izuku calls back out into the maze. “Fine, Ashido! You win! You can come on out now!”
But she doesn't come out. There’s nothing.
Izuku scowls, upset, thinking that she might have actually ditched him! Well then fine she can stay here for all he cares; she’ll be fine.
And so Izuku makes his way to the exit, shoving it open and throwing himself out. “Finally!”
The moment he’s out he immediately takes a breath of clean cool night air, glad to get out of that stuffy Haunted House. “Well, I guess no crime was committed here. Except this place is a crime in of itself!” Izuku scowls, throwing the Haunted House an annoyed look. “But whatever, at least I’m out of there now.” He turns away, heading back around the back of the building to get back to the festival. “Maybe some ice cream will cheer me up?”
As he rounds the corner of the Haunted House, expecting to see the lively summer festival with all its warm lights, food, music, and people. But instead, what greets him is something straight out of a disaster movie. As stalls lie empty or torn down on the ground, all the lights have been torn down and smashed casting the entire place into darkness. The only things providing any light for the scattered fires engulfing the abandoned tents and stalls.
But worst of all the place is completely void of life, there are no signs of anyone human or otherwise. No Dad, no Mrs. Ashido, and not even a grouchy Mr. Baumann is there to greet him. Nothing but the chilling night air and the soft glowing moon.
“Hello…? Hello…?!”
But no one answers, not a soul.
Withering with worry, Izuku begins running through the abandoned festival, desperate to find anyone, anyone alive or around. “Ashido?! Dad?! Mrs. Ashido?! Mr. Baumann?!” He slides to a stop and screams out at the top of his lungs. “WHERE ARE YOU!?!”
But once again he’s greeted by nothing but crackling fires and the unforgiving chill of the night wind.
Worried and scared that something might have happened, Izuku rushes away without looking where he’s going. Only to immediately bump into someone large and muscular.
“Oh, another person. Please, sir! Where is everybody?!”
The muscular figure straightens up, turning around to face him.
The moment it does Izuku’s entire expression falls, his face turning pale with fear as he backs away from the, unfortunately, familiar monster.
The crab-armored Nomu from the U.S.J. unleashes that monstrous roar, the very same one Izuku hears in his nightmares. Its massive claws and pincers clashing together like cymbals. It white soulless eyes glare down at Izuku in vengeful recognition.
“You?!” Izuku gasps with unbridled fear, backing away from the monstrosity. “There's no way! You’re supposed to be in prison!”
As he backs away, he bumps into something else, spinning around his heart stops as it comes face to face with rows of needle-like teeth accompanied by giant leathery wings.
“How?!” Izuku screams, his mind flashing back to the Drake’s demise at Stain’s hands. “Y-you-you died! I-I saw it!”
The Drake Nomu lets out a reptilian shriek as its thin lizard-like tail whips and cracks behind him.
Its shrieks are a signal to the others as the other Nomus of the Hosu Incident appear from the wreckage. The Shellshock Nomu’s body cracks with electricity as the Squirlanoid Nomu crawls ups its shell, hissing and snapping its fangs down at the terrified boy.
“No! No! No! No!! No!! NO!!!” Amongst his own terror IZUKU takes off running, the Nomus hissing and shrieking at him as he runs.
But he doesn’t look back, he just run and runs through the never-ending maze of empty stalls and fires. But then from within the fire and smoke arise Dr. Animo’s mutant animals, from his mutant shadow vipers to massive monster frogs. They all appear snapping and hissing, swatting their bloodied fangs and claws at the boy.
Izuku panics, terrified not for his life but for the innocents. What of the people? What of his Dad? The Ashidos? Mr. Baumann? Everyone?! What have the League of Villains done?! Did they wipe everyone out?! What?! WHAT?!
The Drake comes crashing down in front of him, blocking his path.
“Aaaaaahhh!!” Izuku screams, falling backwards and scrambling away.
The Nomus and mutant animals creep closer, surrounding him from all sides.
“No! No! No! No!! No!! NO!!! NOOOO!!!” Despite the fear, despite the tears and terror Izuku summons all the courage he can to stand, to stand and fight back against these monsters!
He transforms, blinding the Nomus and mutant animals before letting out a beastly roar of his own. “No more! Rath won’t let you get away with this! Never!! RAAAWR!!!”
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“Ah, Mina darling~. Has the festival been to your liking so far~.” Eirene greets the annoyed looking Mina with a soft cheery smile as the alien who caused the ruckus from before sleeps off his killer headache on a bench not too far away.
“It was until Midoriya ditched me.” Mina responds with an annoyed pout.
Hisashi perks up from his funnel cake. “He ditched you?”
“Yeah, while we were inside the Haunted House! One second, he was there and the next thing I knew he was gone! That jerk.” She outta let him have it next time she sees him, probably thinks he was slick too. Well, she’ll show him.
Hisashi, however, finds that way out of character for his son. “Ditched you? That doesn’t sound like Izuku?”
Mr. Baumann scoffs from inside his stall. “Oh, believe me it does.” After all, the kid pulled that very thing just an hour ago.
Hisashi still isn’t convinced, maybe they just got separated inside the Haunted House. Speaking of which… “How was the Haunted House? Do you think they have anything to do with our friend’s earlier outburst?”
“It was lame.” Mina deadpans, no signs of sarcasm or teasing can be heard. “There’s no way that place caused this guy to freak out. Had to be something else.”
From within the depths of the festival a tiger’s roar can be heard followed by the sound of a stall being torn apart and then followed up by a chorus of terrified screams.
“Did you hear that?!” Hisashi immediately shoots up from his seat, already grabbing his respirator and Amenonuhoko which he retrieved from the RV while Mina and Izuku toured the festival.
Mina frowns as terrified people both human and alien begin to run by. “Don’t tell me someone else’s gone insane!”
“Let’s go!”
Hisashi heads off with Mina following close behind him.
Eirene gets up to follow as well but Mr. Baumann cuts her off with a gentle hand. “Sorry my dear but I think it’d be best to let them handle this one.”
“But what of Mina~?”
“Don’t worry I’ll make sure she’s okay.”
Eirene can sit comfortably with that, staying back as Mr. Baumann follows the heroes into the panic.
It doesn't take him long to catch up as the others get hung back by the stampede of people who are all screaming and shouting out some variation of the threat.
“It’s a villain!”
“A monster!”
“He’s gonna kill us!!”
“He’s an animal! An animal!”
Mina shivers as her antennas pickup on everyone’s fear. “Sounds like someone’s really trying to attack the festival.”
Hisashi pulls on his respirator and shielding the angry scowl underneath. “Then they must be real stupid if they think we won’t have anything to say about it!”
Hisashi and Mina rush forward with Mr. Baumann following behind but keeping his distance since he’s here more as support than anything else.
They make it to what they assume is the area where this villain is attacking but they don’t see anything but a few smashed stalls and one very angry Rath standing amongst the wreckage. His back is turned towards them and he’s breathing heavily almost like he’s in a rage.
“Hey, it’s Rath!” Mina happily announces before rushing up towards the Appoplexian. “Yo where’s the fight at?!”
But Rath doesn’t respond, almost as if he never even heard her.
“Um, Rath?” Mina reaches up, grabbing his shoulder.
The moment she does she gasps and pulse her hand away as if it was stung; her antenna having been hit by a mixture of fear and anger.
The sting must have stung Rath awake too as he spins around, letting out a horrified gasp when he spots Mina. “You!” He roars in shock and disgust before his scowl turns furious and vengeful.
Mina backs away with her hands up. “Um, yeah it’s me-Waaahh!”
She leaps away as Rath throws a punch right at her.
He misses and his fist smashes into the ground, his claw piercing the dirt and leaving a nasty gash in the rubble.
“What are you doing?!” Mina screams.
“RAAAWWR!” A beastly roar is Rath’s only response as he charges right at her.
However, he never makes it to her as a wall of flames cuts him off causing him to slide to a stop and back away.
Positioning himself before Mina, Hisashi cuts off the flames with a whip of his head.
As he does, Mr. Baumann shouts out from the background. “Izuku?! Just what do you think you’re doing?!”
As the flames die down Rath is finally able to get a good look at them, only to let out another horrified gasp. He even backs away like a lone predator that’s facing a powerful pack.
“Champ? Are you okay?”
He’s not as he draws his claws and lunges himself at them. “RAAAWR!”
Hisashi grabs Mina and manages to toss them both out of the way as Rath comes crashing down just barely missing them.
As the slide to a stop Mina’s antennae are shaking like crazy from the vibes Rath is giving off. “Something’s-something’s wrong with him!”
“Yeah, clearly but what?” Hisashi comments while drawing his spear, making a point to not light it on fire this time. “Whatever it is, it's causing him to go berserk!
That’s only the half of it, as Rath spins around and begins shouting at them. “Let me tell ya somethin League of Villains, Rath doesn’t know what you’re after but Rath is gonna go Plus Ultra on all your heinies!!”
“League of Villains?!” Mina gasps looking around for the villains. “But they're not here!” She turns back only to finally notice that Rath is looking right at her as he says this. “Oh, god…”
It’s finally all clicking together like a really disgusting joke: Rath SEES them as the League of Villains!!
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Yes, from Rath’s perspective he is facing off against Tomura Shigaraki himself!
The leader of the league is down, cowering behind the Hero Killer of all people.
Stain’s long tongue lashes out, dancing along like whips of a flame as he brandishes two of his rusty blood-stain swords.
“Rath ain’t scared of you! Rath will never be scared of someone who took makeup advice from Voldemort! RAAAWR!” Rash charges, swinging his claws in an attempt to rip Stain apart.
Using his blades Stain blocks and parries each slash of Rath’s claws before shoving the alien back.
Rath growls, becoming increasingly angry and worried by the second. “Let me tell ya somethin Hero Killer Stain! Rath is gonna take those swords and slice you up with them, and then Rath will put you back together with gorilla glue just so Rath can slice you up again!!”
But Stain doesn't entertain the beast with banter as he instead turns to the down Shigaraki and says something incoherent, at least to Rath. Shigaraki responds back but once again Rath can't make out what he’s saying.
Shigaraki gets up, looks to Rath and raises his hands in surrender before cautiously approaching him while saying something else incoherently.
Rath hesitates, unsure what the villain could be doing before he spots Shigaraki’s fingers flexing.
Assuming he’ll go in with his Decay Quirk Rath jumps away out from Shigaraki’s reach and clings onto a nearby light post. “Naw uh! Rath doesn’t like being touched. Rath likes to do the touching! Raawr!”
He drops down, ready to slam Shigaraki with a piledriver!!
Shigaraki lets out an incoherent scream before diving out of the way.
Rath roars angry and chases after him but then a wave of shadow black flames cut him off and he comes face to face with an annoyed looking Kurogiri.
The shadowy Kurogiri immediately begins speaking gibberish at a rapid harsh pace while his arms make all sorts of gestures towards the wreckage and the terrified Shigaraki. And even though Rath can’t make out a word the villain’s saying, he knows when he’s being scolded.
“Those are a lot of gestures, but Rath only understands one gesture! And it’s a Fist!!” Rath charges at the portaler but then Stain rushes in and tackles him, knocking them both away and sending them both crashing into a stall.
Stain quickly gets the upper hand, pressing the blunt side of his blades down on Rath’s chest in an attempt to hold him down.
Rath glares up at Stain’s blood lusting eyes and growls. “No one, I mean no one pins down Rath!!” With a mighty howl Rath muscles himself back to his feet while pushing against Stain’s blades with his bare hands.
Once up he shoves Stain away but once he does a sudden swirl of flames circle around him unnaturally.
Rath backs away from the flames, becoming panicked and confused while wondering when the villains got themselves a pyrokinetic on their side.
He gazes out through the flames to the League of Villains just lurking on the other side. Around them the entire festival lies in ruins as smoke and flames fill the air and blood…innocent blood paints the ground.
With his heart racing and his fears amounting, Rath unleashes an agonizing roar. “RAAAWR!!!”
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From everyone else’s point of view, they all flinch back at Rath’s piercing gaze.
“Midoriya! Midoriya it’s us! Stop it!” Mina shouts, desperate for Rath to stop.
“RAAAWR!!!” Rath lets out a beastly roar from behind the swirling flames.
Mr. Baumann shakes his head in disbelief. “He’s lost it! He’s lost his marbles!”
“Lost them? More like he replaced them for crazy pills!”
“Something's wrong. Very wrong.” Hisashi comments, never taking his eyes off Rath who’s acting like a caged animal. “He can’t seem to understand us. Someone must be manipulating him.”
Mina gasps. “Manipulating?! Is he brainwashed?!”
“Maybe, it’s too hard to tell.”
Well, he better figure it out quick as Rath tosses himself through the flames, breaking free and immediately rushing at them.
Hisashi prepares his Amenonuhoko. “Either way he’s too freak out right now! We need to get him to settle down first!”
“Oh, I’ll settle him down.” Mr. Baumann steps forward with an annoyed scowl.
“Mr. Baumann!” Mina gasps as Rath charges right at the elderly shopkeeper.
“Raagh!” Rath charges in right for Mr. Baumann aiming to tackle and maul him to the ground.
However, Mr. Baumann doesn’t panic, nor does he flinch but instead he reaches his hand out to the side of him. There his hand seemingly disappears within an invisible waving veil before remerging with a spray bottle in his grip.
Mr. Baumann immediately takes the spray bottle and squirts it at Rath’s face. “No! I said no!”
Rath hurriedly slides to a stop, flinching at each spritz to his face. “Wah! Gah! Rath doesn’t do water! Ragh!” He swats at the spray bottle, but Mr. Baumann pulls it back and continues spray. “Ragh! No! No water!” Rath swats his hand at the water while hissing like a feral cat. “Rath hates water!” He hisses again with his back arched and hairs standing on end.
Mina watches on with a disbelieving stare. “Are you serious right now? He’s acting more like a misbehaving house cat than a feral tiger. Also, where’d Mr. B get that spray bottle?!”
Hisashi snickers watching as Mr. Baumann expertly handles the Appoplexian. “Well, he doesn’t talk about it a lot but that’s part of his Quirk.”
“Quirk? Oh, yeah, what is Mr. B’s Quirk?”
“It’s called Janitor's Closet. Mr. Baumann can access his own personal dimensional pocket but for some reason he can only store cleaning supplies inside of it. Not very useful for combat since the portals are only big enough for his arm to slip inside but it’s still pretty nifty for cleaning up messes. Although he does actually have to put said cleaning items inside it first.”
“Huh, I guess that explains how he’s always pulling out brooms and mops from out of thin air. It’s because he’s doing exactly that!”
And hopefully he can pull another trick from out of thin air as Rath finally manages to swat away the bottle, sending it flying.
“And we’re out of time!” Hisashi leaps in and manages to parry Rath’s claw, saving Mr. Baumann in the process.
Rath leaps back and away from who he thinks is Stain.
With room to breathe, Hisashi calls over to Mina. “Ashido! You need to settle him down!”
Mina shakes her head. “But-but what if I can't! I couldn’t before!”
“Try!!”
She hesitates, looking over at the raging Rath who looks absolutely exhausted and terrified despite his rageful expression. His hair is standing on end, he’s breathing erratically and it’s clear he’s being gaslit. He’s suffering and he needs her, he needs her now! “O-okay!!”
From Rath’s point of view, a menacing Shigaraki swiftly races right towards him with his hand stretched out in front of him.
Rath quickly leaps away before Decay could take ahold. “Ha! You can’t touch this!!”
“Nooo!!” Mina gasps as Rath leaps away.
Rath lands and immediately begins to rant. “Let me tell ya something, Tomura Shigaraki leader of the League of Villains and someone Rath will never sympathize with! No one, and I mean no one can sneak up on Rath!”
*WHACK!!!*
A broom bonks him over the head and he immediately goes down.
Mr. Baumann scoffs at Rath while leaning the broom over his shoulder. “How would Izuku put it? I really know how to…clean up.” He snickers admittedly, taking some joy from the groan worthy joke.
“Nice swing Mr. B!” Mina cheers as Rath goes down. “And I think I get why Midoriya’s so afraid of that broom now.”
He smirks at that, not at all ashamed to admit that this probably isn’t the first time he’s hit Izuku with that very same broom.
Although Hisashi is a little concerned with Mr. Baumann’s actions.
“Ugh…”
All three of them jump as Rath groans and begins to stir.
“Ow! Which one of you no good palookas whack me over the head?! Huh?” Rath blinks up at them in confusion. “Hisashi Midoriya? Mina Ashido? Mr. Baumann?”
Hisashi hesitantly leans over him. “I-Izuku?”
“Hisashi Midoriya!” Rath cheers, springing up and crushing his Dad in a tight bear hug. “Where were you? Rath thought you all kicked the bucket or something!! Wait!” He gasps, dropping Hisashi and looking around in a panic. “Where are they?! Where is the stinking no good League of Villains! Rath still has to rip out their throats and shove them back down their throats!”
Mina claps her hands, grabbing Rath’s attention. “Midoriya! The League of Villains aren’t here!”
“What?! They escaped?!”
Mr. Baumann shakes his head. “No, boy! They were never here to begin with.”
“Impossible! Rath saw them! Rath also saw the Nomus and the freaky freakazoid animals!”
“They weren’t real!” Mina explains. “I-I think someone messed with your head!”
“What?!” He rubs his head, trying to confirm Mina’s suspicions. “Ugh, Rath’s head does hurt. Maybe Rath got jumped from behind!”
“No, that was me.” Mr. Baumann clarifies as he tucks the broom away back through his invisible portal dimension. “You’re welcome by the way.”
“But then why did Rath see all those Nomus and villains?! The festival was empty too!”
“So, you were seeing things?” Hisashi frowns, considering all the facts. “Looks like whatever spell you were under was broken when you took that hit to the head. That’s probably what snapped you off of it.”
“But what caused him to go crazy like that?!” Mina looks to Rath for answers. “Do you remember what happened?”
“Rath only remembers trying to kick Nomu butt!” Now looking back on that he’s relieved that he never actually caught any of those Nomu; otherwise, who knows what would have happened? “Oh, but Rath does remember getting ditched by Mina Ashido!”
“What?!” Mina scowls, hurt by Rath’s accusation. “I didn’t ditch you! You ditched me!”
“Na uh! Mina Ashido ditched Rath!”
“Hang on!” Hisashi puts a pause on their argument. “Did this happen back inside the Haunted House?”
“Yeah!” Rath confirms before it finally dawns on him. “Oh…” As realization dawns on him he starts to become angry and vengeful. “That lame excuse of a Spirit Store did this!”
“All signs point to it.” Hisashi confirms, thinking they finally need to investigate this personally. “Mr. Baumann, do you mind leading the police over there? Depending on how this goes we may require assistance.”
Mr. Bauman gives him a nod. “Of course.”
“Yeah, call the police!” Rath roars. “Because this is gonna be a murder scene once Rath is through with them!”
They all stare at him giving him very concerned looks.
“Rath doesn’t actually mean that. Hisashi Midoriya and Mina Ashido should know that Rath is mostly talk!”
Mina’s somewhat doubtful about that. “After what I just saw, I doubt it.”
“Come on you two let’s hurry.” Hisashi waves leading them away towards the Haunted House.
They hurry off moving quickly through the empty rows of stalls. Much to Rath’s own guilt since he was the one that chased them all away. But either way they arrive at their destination in record time, but those costumed employees don’t seem to be anywhere in sight.
“Where are those costumed freaks? I have a few words for them.” Mina shouts out, looking around trying to see if she can spot them.
“Yeah! Rath has words for them too. Like payback!”
“This way.” Hisashi walks over to the entrance and pulls back the curtains, holding them open for them to enter.
They step inside, finding themselves once again surrounded by cheap decorations and bad props.
Mina frowns, eyeing the narrow hallway warily. “How should we do this? Go all super spy stealthy like?”
“Raagh!” Rath’s fist and claw smashes apart the nearby wall, creating a massive hole for them to walk through. “Rath chooses to go guns blazing! Raagh! Hahaha!” he bellows with laughter leaping headfirst into the unknown.
The others watch him run off with a roll of their eyes. But they soon hurry after him, not wanting to be separated.
They catch up quick just as Rath slides to a stop and shouts out into the dark backstage portion of the Haunted House. “Listen up you mistimed Halloween cosplayers! Rath will only give ya a light beating if you come out now. But if Rath has to find you then Rath is gonna make sure you won’t ever Trick or Treat again! RAAWR!!!”” He’s out a beastly roar before continuing to shout. “So, come on out and face Rath!”
*BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! *
Rath times out, leaving Izuku standing there feeling mighty awkward and embarrassed. He shrinks back, turning all feeble and cowardly. “O-or you can just st-stay where you are and don’t come out for like, f-five minutes…please!”
Mina slaps herself in the face, embarrassed for Izuku’s sake.
Hisashi however presses on, taking the lead. “We need to keep moving.”
But the backstage of the Haunted House doesn’t make it easy. The place is messy, making it more of a maze than the actual Haunted House. There are crates and constructs of wood all over, holding up the walls of the Haunted House as chains and ropes dangle from the ceiling and wooden pillars. Cobwebs litter the place and dust hangs in the air like a nasty fog. And there’s little to no lighting back there with only one hanging lamp providing the smallest amount of light.
The trio make it to the hanging lamp, standing under its light like a spotlight. But as they look around the backstage they can’t tell exactly where to go thanks to how dark the rest of the place is.
“Which way do we go?” Mina wonders aloud, trying to peer through the darkness.
Izuku frowns as he scans the dark horizon. “Go? Go where? I can’t even see two feet in front of me in this light.”
Speaking of the light, it begins to flicker rapidly as the lamp itself begins to shake as if going through an unfelt earthquake.
Mina gasps as her face vanishes in and out of the flickering light. “The light?! What’s happening?!”
“Hang on!” Izuku fearfully scans for the source of the disturbance. “This happened last time! It’s just like before-”
Everything falls silent as the flickering light goes completely dark, casting the three of them into total absolute darkness.
After a few suffocating moments the light snaps back on, casting light over a lone Hisashi Midoriya.
And immediately something’s wrong as the kids have all but vanished from sight. “Izuku? Champ?! Ashido?! Kids?!” No answer, no sign nothing but silent darkness.
He begins to worry, wondering if they had been snatched up but then his worry become absolute terror as Izuku’s voice cries out through the darkness.
“Daaaddd…!”
“Izuku?!”
“Daaaddd…! Aaaaaaahhh…! Help meee…!”
Hisashi spins around towards the sound of the painful screams and finds a narrow hallway that he somehow didn’t notice until now.
“Hang in there! I’m coming! I’m coming!” Izuku blindly rushes down the twisting narrow hallway, he stumbles, bumping into the walls, as everything starts to spin, giving him vertigo.
And just when his balance is all but gone a trap door gives in from underneath him, sending him plummeting into the dark void below. “Aaaahhh!-”
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
“I can’t believe they ditched me. Again!” Mina shouts as she breaks into an upset pout while wandering through the maze that is the backstage. “Now hang on a minute maybe, maybe this is just like before?”
She eyes the nearby wall before pressing her hands against it, feeling for some sort of switch or pressure point. “There weren’t any visible hallways before, but maybe there was.” That would explain how she and Izuku got separated the first time. “I mean, these kinds of places always have trapped doors and secret passages so maybe-”
As he slides her hand against the wall a panel slides open, and Mina stumbles inside before the panel shuts itself behind her.
“Bingo!”
Mina smiles but it soon vanishes as she takes in her odd surroundings.
It appears the panel has led her into a giant space that resembles that of a little girl’s bedroom only it’s ten times the size and meant for a giant like Mt. Lady.
“H-hello?!”
But of course, there’s no response, nothing but the gentle sway of the curtains can be heard while the soft glow of the moon shines through the giant-sized window.
But even though there’s no response, Mina has the strange feeling that she’s being watched. That there’s a pair of eyes watching her, somewhere inside the bedroom.
There’s a soft thump against the carpet floor, and Mina spins around looking for her potential attacker. But instead, she finds a stuffed toy bunny seated on the floor beside her.
The bunny is blue in color with a red nose, and long, hanging rainbow striped ears. It has large soulless black eyes that just stare up at Mina while its fluffy white tail is pressed against the carpet. The bunny also has disturbingly prominent eyelashes, and it’s wearing a yellow bow on the top of its head.
Actually, the entire room seems to be filled with similar plushies from large bears, to pigs, dogs, and cats. All of them so adorable but kinda creepy in such low light.
“Phew, for a second there I thought it was actually something threatening. Ha!” Mina shrugs it off and continues on, looking for another way out.
As she strolls away, the bunny’s head slowly twitches in place before its entire head rotates, its massive black eyes watching Mina walk away.
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
“How’d I end up back here?” Izuku frowns, swatting away the plastic bat after finding himself back inside the main part of the Haunted House.
There’s a thundering crash from behind him, spinning around Izuku is horrified to find the crab-armored U.S.J. Nomu.
Izuku’s initial reaction is to run and scream but he stands his ground after a quick assumption. “Wait, it’s not real! It’s just my vision playing tricks on me again. Right?”
“Raaaaagh!!” The Nomu releases a blood curdling roar before it slams the back of its claw against the kid’s stomach, sending him flying backwards.
“Waah!” Izuku hits the floor hard, moaning and groaning while clutching his stomach. “Ugh. Nope! It’s real, it’s real!
“Aaahhh!!” He scrambles to his feet and takes off while desperately gripping the charging Omnitrix, praying it’ll work.
But it does not as the Nomu’s hot breath can be felt on his neck as he runs. “Raaaaagh!!”
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
Mina searches and searches but she can’t even find the panel she entered from. And she really really hopes she can find it again because those feelings of being watched are so unsettling.
Giving up on that side of the wall she turns around to continue the search. “Ahh!” She yelps with shock as she finds the bunny seated right behind her again.
“You again?” She frowns, eyeing the bunny, wondering how it could move on its own before realizing how ridiculous that would be. “What do you want? A cuddle?” She laughs.
“Tehehe. Nope.”
Mina’s blood runs cold as the cuddly blue bunny twitches and grins up at her.
“I want you to give me a scream. Tehehehe.”
“Eeekk!”
The not-so cuddly bunny gets up, its body bending and squishing on its cottony self. “Tehehehe! Oopsie, someone’s a wittle scaredy baby. Hooray! That means more screams for me. Tehehehe!”
After taking a moment to process the talking plushy, Mina is quick to retort. “You want a scream? How about I make you scream?!” She throws her hand out, tossing a spray of Acid at the bunny.
The bunny hops and spins away, moving much faster than it has any right to be. “Oh, no no no. If you wanna rough house, then I’m gonna invite all me wittle fwends to pway too.”
“Friends?”
On que the other plush animals begin to stir and twitch as they all become animated. Their dark soulless eyes gleam in the shimmering moonlight like nightmare fiends.
“Now.” The bunny grins maliciously as its friends gather and hover around it. “Let’s hear those screams! Tehehehe!”
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
Hisashi’s eyes blink open and as they do, he winces as all the blood rushes to his head. It feels like he’s upside down and upon his vision clearing up he finds that he is indeed hanging upside down in a large glass tank. He tries to move but his arms are restrained inside a tight fitting straitjacket and his respirator has been taken and been replaced by a muzzle.
Not sure what’s going on or how he got there he tries to peer through the glass for any clues.
A bright light shines in followed by the slim silhouette of a carny stepping aboard the stage alongside the tank.
The carny twirls his hat as the lights turn on all across the stage, illuminating the audience as well.
The stereotypical carny stands with his back to the tank as he makes wild gestures and calls attention to the supposed act. “Ladies and Gentlemen, step right up and witness the Amazing Cinder’s Great Escape!!” He taps his cane against the glass. “This glass is completely bulletproof, and those restraints can even withhold someone of All Might’s caliber! Yes, those are impossible odds! But then better the show, am I right folks?”
The crowd cheers and claps, enthusiastic and bloodthirsty for Hisashi’s unwilling act.
“But of course, what's a good show without some level of tension?!” With a snap of the carny’s fingers water begins to bubble up from the bottom of the tank, rising steadily towards Hisashi’s head much to the excitement of the crowd.
Hisashi tries to plead, looking out toward the crowd for anyone to help, to see that he is in need of help! And there in the stands he sees the familiar yet off putting faces of Izuku and Mina.
They clap and laugh along with the rest of the faceless audience, acting just as enthusiastic as they are.
‘Izuku! Ashido! What’s-what’s wrong with you?!’ Hisashi pleads for them to snap out of their trances.
“Hahahahahaha!” Hisashi, recognizing that more feminine laugh, peers out and is shocked to find his own wife, Inko Midoriya, creepily grinning face laughing back at him alongside their son.
She laughs and jeers along with the rest of the crowd just as the water begins to splash against Hisashi’s messy hair.
“Come and bear witness! Will he escape or will he face…-” The carny turns back at Hisashi revealing his faceless head, yet a narrow grin is stretched across his face, filled with rows and rows of needle-like teeth. “-a most dreadful demise?! Hahahahaha!”
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
“St-stay back! I don’t want to be part of a Five Nights at Freddy’s spinoff!” Mina screams, leaping away as the creepy plushies claw and swat her.
They float in the air or walk around, all grinning evilly as their commander laughs her little cotton head off.
“Tehehehe! And why not?” Asks the plushy blue bunny. “Do you think whittle old us are scary?!”
“No! Eeek!” Mina jumps back as a plushy lizard lashes its tongue at her. “Just creepy! Aaahh!”
The life-sized bear plush rams into Mina knocking her down.
The blue bunny gasps. “Oopsie, you knocked her down, Bearo! Help her up, pwease.”
Bearo gives her a chuckle. “He-yuck! Sure thang Mrs. Cuddles.” The overgrown teddy bear bends down and grabs Mina by the shoulders before throwing her against the giant wooden bedframe.
“Tehehehe.” Mrs. Cuddles gleefully giggles as she approaches the groaning Mina. “It’s nappy time!”
Mina scowls up at the blue bunny. “Good night!”
She springs to her feet, swinging her hand up and spraying out a splash of acid.
Caught by surprise, Mrs. Cuddles still manages to dive out of the way but Bearo isn’t so lucky as he gets completely drenched in the acidic Acid.
Bearo cries out in pain as his body burns and button eyes and nose melt apart. “Wah! Wah! I’m melting! I’m melting! Oh, what a world! What a world-...!”
There’s a long drawn-out silence as all the puppets and plushies stare in shock and mourning at the burning puddle of their friend lying on the ground.
“You killed Bearo…” Mrs. Cuddles’ head and eyes twitch with rage, shaking with disturbing anger as she turns to face Mina. “You crossed a line missy! Teehee-hahahaha!!”
The toys cry out as they all lash out and lunge at the girl but many of them meet the same fate as their all doused in burning Acid.
But no matter how many of them Mina manages to get rid of, each one gets replaced just as quickly with a new rabid plushy.
“Creepy little shits!” Mina yells as she kicks a plush penguin away. “Leave. Me. Alone!!” She screams out letting her emotions get the better of her!
As she opens up her antennas twitch and flex as they pick up on other nearby emotions.
And much to her surprise there only seems to be a few sources, and only one, just one of joy and malicious pleasure is in the very same room as her.
Mina tries to think as she continues to defend herself against the rabid horde. ‘Where are those emotions coming from? They can’t be from the toys, can they? No, there was only one source, not a hundred, so then… Hang on a second?! Rath…Rath said he saw Nomus and the League of Villains, but they weren’t really there.’ She frowns, considering the fact that he did know where to attack though. ‘But we were there. He saw us as the villains. Kinda like he was looking at everything through a filter.’
Eyeing the army of animated plushies Mina goes for broke and swings her hand out, making sure to send acid flying in all directions of the room and not just at the toys.
Despite not being hit Mrs. Cuddles squeaks with pain before scowling up at Mina. “What are you doing?! You’re making a big messy mess!”
Mina smirks with confidence. “No, I’m cleaning up!”
Bringing her hands together, she swings them up spraying gallons of acid up and over Mrs. Cuddles.
And acid splashes across the floor behind the plushy bunny and despite not getting doused Mrs. Cuddles still screams out in agonizing pain. “Waaaaaaaahhh!!” Her scream goes from squeaky and high pitched to low and feminine as the giant bedroom begins to phase and shift out from existence.
The bedroom vanishes revealing the real world to Mina. As it turns out she’s still very much in the backstage area of the Haunted House. With pillars and two-by-fours holding up the ceiling above her.
“You little bitch!”
Mina looks and finds a woman with long tentacle-like hair, black makeup, and black spandex. Her hair and skin is covered with burns while melted and burned plushy are held up by the ends of her tenacle hair strands.
“I knew it!” Mina grins, feeling somewhat proud of herself. “I knew it was fake.”
Frightwig glares over at Mina. “Congrats, you’re smarter than you look.” She hisses, tossing aside the useless toys. “But now you’re gonna have to face reality, kid. Haaa!!”
Frightwig’s tendrils lash out, cracking like a whip as they race towards the pink-skinned girl.
Mina takes off running, running around the pillars as fast as she can.
Frightwig’s tentacles lash and chase after her, smashing their way through the pillars even to get to her. But each time is a miss or Mina fends her off with a splash of searing acid. Her acid even eats away at a few of the pillars before one of her tentacles manage to trip her up.
“Waah!” Mina cries out, falling over and onto the cold hard floor.
Frightwig smirks, proud of her catch. “You should have just been a good little girl and taken your dose of nightmare!”
“If anyone needs anything, you need to fix up those split ends.”
Frightwig’s anger rises and explodes. “I’m gonna make you scream!” Her tentacle-hair slither upward like snakes preparing to strike.
However, despite this Mina still manages to crack a smile while giving the villainess a little wave.
Frightwig frowns in confusion, not sure if it’s a trick or not. “Why are you waving?!”
“Just waving goodbye.”
“Huh?!”
On que the damaged pillars give out, collapsing in on themselves before causing the ceiling to cave-in and come crashing down atop the villain.
“Aaaahh!” Frightwig cries out before being buried alive underneath the falling rubble.
She falls silent, unconscious, and lying still under the piles of wood and nails.
Mina smiles, proud of herself for actually paying attention during the practical portions of Hero Studies. Especially when Midoriya, Yaoyorozu, and even Bakugou were up cause they knew how to think on their feet the best.
‘Now what about the others? How do I find them?’ She tries to come up with something, and thankfully she does. ‘I know!’
She tries to calm down and focus, quieting her mind while her antennas twitch and jerk trying to sense nearby emotional wavelength.
And like a bullet she’s shot with a dose of fear and tension!
“There!” She leaps into action, rushing over to the nearby wall and melting a way through with her Acid.
Jumping through the hole she lets out a gasp at what she finds.
Inside a large mostly empty room is Mr. Midoriya! But he’s all tied up while being hung upside in a tank completely full of water!! Thankfully he’s moving, so he’s alive, but for how much longer she has no clue!
Not only that but some creepy guy with pale green skin and withering frame stands before the tank, laughing and jeering at the pro hero inside.
Mina scowls, jumping into the room and shouting. “Step away from the box!”
Acid Breath jumps while being startled. “How’d you escape?! Where’s Frightwig?”
“Where I left her.” Mina answers with a confident smirk. “Beaten and humiliated.”
Acid Breath scowls. “Like I’ll leave you. Blah!” He spits, releasing a spray of green oozing acid at the girl.
Mina throws up a splash of Acid of her own, and the pink and green acids collide midair, counteracting each other and condensing before spilling to the ground.
Acid Breath scowls. “A fellow acid spitter. A part of me feels some comradery.” He spits to the side in disgust. “But the other half feels disgusted.”
Mina stands at the ready with Acid already dripping from her fingertips. “Oh, trust me I feel totally disgusted.”
“Then may the best acid sprayer win.” Acid Breath spits, releasing another stream of rancid green acid.
Mina slips out of the way with droplets of green acid just barely grazing her dress. As she does, she swings her hand up and tosses up a ball of her own Acid.
The glob misses Acid Breath completely, flying off somewhere behind him.
“Hahaha! You missed!”
Mina smirks up at the villain. “No, I didn’t.”
Within seconds the sound of cracking glass causes Acid Breath’s heart to stop.
Spinning around he’s horrified to find the acid burning away at the glass, causing it to crack and break and then the floodgates come crashing open and gallons upon gallons of water pour down onto the villain, washing him away and knocking him to the ground like he was slammed by a powerful wake.
The water soon settles, washing away, leaving the villain on the ground, coughing up water and rancid spit.
Mina smirks down at him, proud of her handy work. “You’re all washed up.” She pauses, frowning, feeling disappointed in herself. “Shit! I think Midoriya’s been rubbing off on me.”
Meanwhile, Acid Breath growls up at her in contempt. “You little bi-GAh!!”
He goes down after getting kicked in the back of the head by Hisashi. Who’s breathing heavily behind him after ripping the soaked straight jacket and muzzle off.
“Poozer.” Hisashi spits while tossing the straight jacket aside.
“Oh my gosh, are you okay?!” Mina gasps worried that he might pass out.
“I’m okay.” Hisashi confirms, settling her worries. “I could have held my breath for another five minutes or so.”
“Woah, really?”
“Yeah.” He spots his respirator and folded up spear nearby and goes to snatch them up. “My Quirk does rely on my lungs, so I did a lot of training at school to build them up.” He pauses before renting a fun little story. “I once even broke a lung capacity machine when I was in school, it made this really funny sound when I blew into it.” And it exploded because of it.
“Cool! Wait, hang on. I think Midor-er, um, the younger Midoriya-Deku needs our help!”
Hisashi frowns as he pulls his respirator over his mouth. “Any ideas where he is?”
“Aaaahh!”
They jump at the sound of Izuku’s terrified shriek as it’s followed up by loud crashing and the sound of wood snapping.
Mina frowns, worriedly, looking off towards the nearby exit. “I’d wager that way.”
Hisashi gestures for her to go first. “After you.”
She quickly takes the lead, listening carefully for the sound of Izuku’s shrill screams.
“Aaaahhh!!”
“Hahaha!!”
Mina and Hisashi burst into the main part of the Haunted House, looking around the place is totally trashed with the walls all smashed in and toppled over like dominos.
And then there’s Izuku, running away with tears in his eyes as he’s chased by a laughing massive lug with a giant fingernail growing out of his forehead.
“Hahaha!” Thumbskull bellows with laughter as he continues to chase Izuku through the wreckage. “What’s the matter kid?! Scared?! Hahaha!”
“Aaah!” Izuku screams while gripping and flailing with the recharging Omnitrix. “Work, dammit! Work! Aaah!!”
While he fiddles with the watch Thumbskull lunges after him. “Ragh!! Hahaha-!”
Hisashi jets in and tackles Thumbskull completely out of the way and away from the defenseless Izuku.
Izuku spins around, blinking and from his perspective he is stunned to find Stain taking down the crab-armored Nomu with a single blow to the head.
“Aaaaahh!”
Suddenly Shigaraki rushes up to Izuku with his mouth moving but all the words are incoherent.
“Aaah!” Izuku screams before recalling that the villains weren’t actually there before. “W-wait! A-are you fake or-or real?!”
Shigaraki frowns, giving him a deadpan stare, before raising his hand up and slapping the freckled teen across the face.
“Ow!” Izuku whines, rubbing his cheek. “That hurt! Wait.” He pauses, noting that although it hurts, he’s not Decaying into nothing. He peers up at the presumably fake Shigaraki and asks, “A-Ashido?”
Upon figuring it out, his vision seems to fade in and out before he finds a relieved Mina standing before him.
Looking around, Izuku looks over and finds Hisashi standing over an unconscious muscular dude who he assumes was the fake Nomu he was seeing.
Lowering his head in shame, Izuku asks. “It happened again, didn’t it?”
Mina slowly nods her head. “Yup.”
“You can thank this one for that.” Hisashi comments, gesturing down towards the unconscious muscle head.
Izuku cautiously walks over, eyeing the unconscious Thumbskull warily. He doesn’t quite recognize the villain at first but after a moment it hits him like a bad stomachache. “Hey, wait. I remember him!”
Hisashi’s head jerks up at Izuku in surprise. “You know him?”
“Yeah, this guy and his friends were using a circus to help coverup their crimes!” As he says this the other details of that day rush back to him like a bad memory. “Uh oh.”
Mina doesn’t like the sound of dread in his voice. “Uh oh? Why uh oh?”
“The Circus Freaks. The illusions. The traps. It all makes sense! I know who’s behind this!”
“Who?!”
“It’s-”
It all goes dark, all but a single spotlight shining down just meters away. Carnival music plays on a scratching record player from somewhere in the darkness.
And Izuku turns towards the light, backing away in fear as he whispers. “It’s-...Zombozo.”
“That’s right!” In a brilliant explosion of confetti and smoke, the clown of the hour appears. With his black and white, Beetlejuice inspired suit, over exaggerated top heat, and wild red hair. A creepy crooked tooth grin stretches across his face as he greets the teen heroes. “I’m so glad you remembered me. Because I remember you, little jokester! Mwehehehehe!” He lets out a haunting laugh that wheezes and coughs with every breath.
Hisashi doesn’t like this, making a point to stand in his son’s defense. “Izuku, who is this clown? And how do you know each other?!”
Izuku begins to explain. “Zombozo. He’s a psychotic sociopath who-” He jolts up as the realization hits him like a truck. “Who can create mirages!! Ah, I should have figured it out sooner!”
“But you didn’t! Ehehehe!” Zombozo laughs. “And now I can have myself a laugh. Mwehehehehe!”
As he lets out a wheezing laugh, he vanishes in another poof of confetti. And as he vanished from view the darkness gives way revealing that they were inside a massive circus tent with dark and gothic aesthetics.
The trio find themselves at center stage while surrounded by a cheering bloodthirsty audience of ghouls and monsters.
“Now doesn’t this bring back fond memories?” Zombozo calls out, reappearing high above on the tightrope, unfazed and unscared of falling down.
“Not really.” Izuku responds, not liking this one bit.
“Well, it does for me.” Zombozo swoons, admiring the circus layout. “Oh, what memories. But look at me now. Once a great and fantastical ringleader! Now nothing but a humble carny… Oh woe is me.”
Izuku rolls his eyes. “Get over it, I did.”
Rather than becoming angry or offended, Zombozo actually breaks out into a grin almost like he’s glad he’ll have another chance to break the kid.
Hisashi scowls back up at Zombozo, not at all feeling comfortable with that look in his eye. “The jig is up, Zombozo! There’s no point in resisting!”
“Yeah!” Mina shouts. “Just give up already!”
“Give up? Tsks tsk tsk.” Zombozo wags his finger and shakes his head. “Such rotten audience members. Well, do you know what we do with audience members like yourselves? We give them the boot!”
With a snap of his fingers a giant-sized boot about the size of a punch buggy appears in midair and begins to plummet down to the earth.
Mina shakes but stands her ground as the boot falls ever closer. “It-it’s just an illusion! I’ll be fine!”
“NO!!!” Izuku screams, throwing himself at her and shoving them both out of the way as the boot comes crashing down, smashing into the ground hard, causing it to shake and crack.
Mina screams out in terror. “WHAT THE HELL!?! But I thought-”
“You thought right.” Izuku springs to his feet before helping her up. “He creates illusions! That's why I was seeing the League of Villains! But just because what we see is a mirage doesn’t mean there isn’t something there that can’t hurt us. I’m willing to bet that he’s got all sorts of weapons, traps, and tools hidden all over but he’s hiding them just out of view with his illusions. If anything, when he casts them into darkness, he’s preparing the next set of tricks.
“Ah, there you go!” Zombozo poofs down in front of them. “Spoiling the magic behind my tricks!” With a wave of his hand two large cages poof into existence at his sides. “But let’s see how you fare against their tricks. Ehehehe.”
The cages open and out comes a pair of roaring rabid tigers, their fangs dripping with saliva and blood as they hungrily eye the trio of heroes.
Mina backs away from the hungry felines. “So, what? Are they real or not?!”
The tigers roar, making her shake and tremble.
Hisashi gets ready to defend the kids. “I’m not gonna bother guessing!”
Mina looks over to Izuku and says. “Rath would be really fitting about now?”
“Yeah, he would.” With perfect timing the Omnitrix completes its recharge cycle, announcing it to all with a delightful chime.
Dialing up for Rath, Izuku raises his hand and slams it down while shouting. “It’s hero time!!”
He vanishes in the familiar ray of light before it settles down revealing a thin being with wavy limbs and pale grey complexion.
The transformed Izuku sighs. “I’m not even surprised anymoreee.” He drawls, accepting that he’ll have to make do with this new ghost transformation.
Upon witnessing Izuku’s newest form, Zombozo chuckles and jeers. “I heard of knocking them dead! But usually, they don’t come back when I do it. Ehehehehe”
Upon his command the tiger's leap forward, roaring and charging right towards the trio,
Hisashi and Mina split off leaving the Ghost to deal with the cats himself. And he does so by phasing out and allowing the cat’s sharp claws to pass through him harmlessly, as if they were swatting at nothing but air. “You kittys should really be declaweddd. You’re gonna scratch someone’s eye outtt. Well, except for mine of courseee.” As the tigers claw and bite at his translucent form the ghost slams his fist into their skulls only for the tigers to instantly vanish out of existence.
“Geeze, kid, have you no heart for the poor defenseless animals?” Zombozo teases, sarcastically acting as if he had an ounce of sympathy.
“I’ll show you defenseless!” Hisashi shouts unleashes a jet of flames but once again Zombozo vanishes in a puff of smoke and colorful paper trims.
Only to reappear upon the trapeze that’s swinging high above their heads.
The phantom alien’s one eye glares up at the clown. “Why don’t you do your own dirty work for once and stop relying on cheap tricksss?!”
“But I love my tricks!” Zombozo laughs before letting go of the trapeze and landing back on the high-pitched roost. “But this is also personal for me.” A creepy grin stretches across his lips, like a hungry predator. “And I’m gonna take my time toying with you. Mwehehehehe!!”
As he howls with laughter the dark circus from hell all but vanishes, replaced with a massive school room meant for towering giants. And in this preschool setting massive toddlers with creepy grins and faces stand before the trio giving them some real Attack On Titan vibes.
“Play time!” Zombozo calls and the giant feral titans go on screaming rampage. “You’re all on timeout, kids! Mwehehehehehe!!”
They stomp and swing their long-overstretched arms at the trio who dive and roll out of their way. Although the ghost simply phases through them before turning invisible, vanishing from sight completely.
Too bad neither Hisashi or Mina can do the same as they unleash veils of flames and acid in attempts to repeal the freaky man-eating giants.
As the last titan falls to a melting leg and vanishes, the specter that is Izuku floats down behind Mina while berating himself. “Gahhh! I can’t believe he tricked me like he did! I should have realized it soonerrr!” He slaps his forehead complete ashamed that he let Zombozo’s PsyClown Quirk to get a hold of him like it did. “Gah, I’m such an idiottt!”
“Oh, no. You’re no idiot sonny boy.” Zombozo hauntly calls through the encroaching darkness. “Because if you were an idiot what would that make me?”
“A clown?” Mina spits back.
“HA!!! She’s funny. Gotta say I think I like this one better than the last one, kid.”
The transformed Izuku’s never been happier for the lights to go out as it disguises his maddening blush. But then the surrounding illusion changes again turning into a romantic pond side view with all of them standing atop an arched bridge.
“You’re a real lady-killer, kid.” They all turn to find Zombozo standing before them on the bridge while wearing a torn up and moth-eaten tux. “Then again, so am I. Mwehehehehehe!” He wields a bloody ax in his hands and charges, taking a swing at Mina’s head.
Mina jumps back allowing the ax to chop into the floorboards. And while it’s stuck, she swings her hand up, spraying it with Acid and causing it to melt.
But despite losing his weapon, Zombozo remains undeterred as he grins up at the girl. “For you my dear.” From thin air he presents her a bouquet of withering flowers.
Before she can understand what’s happening, the flowers release a spray of noxious fumes right into her face.
“Aaah!” Ashido yelps with searing pain as the tear gas gets at her eyes and nostrils.
“Mwehehehehe!” Zombozo bellows with laughter as he back hands her, knocking her to the ground.
“Ashidooo!” The ghostly alien flies in, shoving Zombozo back. “Keep your hands off of herrr!”
“What about you?!” Zombozo grin and lashes out, grabbing the ghost by the arm and zapping him with an overly powerful joy buzzer.
“Aaaaaaaahhhh!” The ghost withers and shrieks in pain before getting zapped away and tossed aside by a powerful blast of electricity.
“Ehehehe. I bet that was a shock.”
“You’re a real joker, you know that?” Hisashi growls while brandishing his spear.
Spinning around, Zombozo eyes him curiously. “I don’t think we’ve been introduced?”
“I’m his father.”
“Father?! Oh, so you’re Mr. Midoriya. And here I thought you had left to get some smoke and never came back.”
On que the scenery changes again this time to a stormy night hanging over an abandoned gas station.
“Because you’re nothing but smoke, pal! Ehehehe!”
Hisashi doesn’t laugh as he unleashes a stream of flames through his respirator.
Zombozo squats down and jumps away, his legs turning into springs as he goes. “Easy pal! You need to learn to relax.” he lands, spinning around with a giant seltzer bottle in his hands. “Here, have a drink on me!”
He pulls the trigger and releases a powerful jet of water as Hisashi. The water slams into his skull, pushing him back and causing him pain as it feels like he’s getting doused by a powerful fire hose.
While Hisashi’s drowning in water, the ghost sneaks up from the side trying to get a hit on the killer clown.
But Zombozo sees him coming and everything goes completely dark, causing the ghost to completely lose sight of him.
Looking around, he finally gets fed up and calls out into the darkness. “What’s going on here, Zombozooo?! How in the world did you even escape prisonnn?!”
Zombozo’s haunting voice echoes throughout the pitch-black darkness. “I got out for good behavior, that’s how. Mwehehehehe!”
The three peer around, trying to pinpoint his location. But it’s no good so far so the specter tries to keep him talking.
“This isn’t your usual gimmickkk! What happened to all the laughsss? The jokesss? The cliche comedy bitsss?! This isn’t youuu! Whattt? Have you started taking lessons from Pennywiseee?”
Suddenly the ghost and his friend find themselves standing in the rain while in a seemingly normal suburban neighborhood. Mina is even suddenly wearing a yellow raincoat and boots just to match the scene.
From out of the nearby drainage from off to the side of the curb, Zombozo’s head appears from inside the sewer, his usual make up and get up replaced to resemble Pennywise himself. “Lessons?” He scoffs. “Naw, I’ve taken his act and made it my own. Ehehehehe!”
Thunder booms in the background and everything goes dark once again.
Peering around, the transformed Izuku tries to keep him talking. “What happened to feeding off positive emotionsss? You still on that stuffff? Or does your doctors have you on some new medsss?”
“Don’t bring them up!” Zombozo booms with anger and outrage. “They don’t know what they’re talking about! I’m perfectly healthy!” he calms down, and resorts back to his usual creepy but happy self. “In fact my new diet has been making me feel stronger than ever!”
“I can see thattt. What, did you decide to go vegannn?”
“HA!!! Your banter’s gotten better, kid. But no, I found something even more powerful than laughter.”
“Like whattt?”
Mina frowns, thinking about all the emotions she’s felt throughout the day and which ones stood out to her as the most disturbing. And as she realizes the answer, she can’t help but to whisper it out. “Fear…”
Suddenly the scene changes again, and the three heroes find themselves on stage for a typical game show. With light and cheers ringing from all over while a bell rings ding, ding, ding!
“We have a winner!” Zombozo exclaims, while holding a mic in one hand. “Congrats you just won one full explanation and a free trip to the River Sticks! Please, anything you’d like to say to the audience?” He holds out the mic towards Mina.
“Eat shit, clown!”
“No thanks, it wouldn't agree with me. Mwehehehehe!”
Mina tries to punch but once again he vanishes into a void of surrounding darkness.
Hisashi shouts out into the void. “What are you doing here? What do you hope to gain?!”
“What am I doing here?” Zombozo’s voice echoes out. “Feeding, of course. Where else can you get such savory, fattening treats than at a festival?!
“B-but I thought you ate people’s positive emotionsss?!”
“I did but my pallet’s far more refined now. I’ve come to realize that fear is far tastier and more powerful than laughter! After all, it gets more of a reaction out of people! People will do so many things when they're scared! They’ll hurt their loved ones! Betray each other! Give in and surrender! And all out of fear and nothing else!” He squeezes, losing himself to all the savory nightmare fuel. “The screams, they’re so tantalizing!”
Mina scowls, disgusted by the creep’s actions. “And nutritious I bet.”
“You bet right! Ehehehe! And when my Circus Freaks saw you, by chance, wondering about the same festival as us. Well, we just couldn’t pass up the chance to not only feast on your fears but to also savor the sweet taste of finger licking revenge!!”
The ghost shivers, feeling like something’s breathing down his neck. “C-can’t we just forget about all this and go homeee?”
“Forget? How could I forget?!” Zombozo ponders aloud, offended by the ghost for even suggesting such a thing. “I’ve thought of you for every. Single. Day! When I was in prison. Hell, even my therapist knows you!! He said it was an obsession…”
The ghost backs away, totally and utterly creeped out by the clown. “You're insaneee.”
“My therapist said the same thing. And I told him that he was losing his head. And he did. Mwehehehehe!”
None of them want to even think that there’s a chance if he meant that literally.
Hisashi shakes his head in disgust. “You said we won a full explanation. So, how exactly did you escape prison?!”
“It wasn’t that hard. After causing some intense fears for my prison mates I was able to fake my death pretty easily. All it took was to implant a few illusions in some key figures to trick em. Much like I’m doing to all of you. Heck, it worked so well they even delivered me to the morgue!”
Upon his will, his PsyClown Quirk once again causes the environment to change. And keeping with his theme it transforms into a bloodied underground morgue.
The morgue is small and narrow, making it feel claustrophobic while rows and rows of refrigerated bodies line the walls, and several tarped bloody corpses lie ever still on the rows of tables.
Zombozo rises up from behind the tables, wearing a surgical mask and doctor's getup. “The doctor is ready so see you now. Mwehehehehe!”
As he cackles with laughter, he rips off the tarps and reveals the dead corpses of their classmates and friends lying underneath.
Their mangled bloodied bodies are almost unrecognizable as if they’ve been thrown into an augur.
Hisashi’s unable to look while Mina vomits off to the side and even the ghost somehow turns a paler shade than he was before.
“Mwehehehehe!” Zombozo cackles with haunting laughter as he pulls up and starts up a rusty electrical bone saw. “Hold still, there might be some mild discomfort. Mwehehehehe!”
He leaps past the tables, knocking over a few of their friends’ corpses before swinging the spinning bone blade at their heads.
Hisashi sprints forward and using his spear he manages to block the spinning blade which sparks and grins against the metallic spear while Zombozo laughs and spits into Hisashi’s face.
“Mwehehehehe!!”
As they struggle to overpower the other, the phantom alien phased through Hisashi, swinging his fist forward as he does and solidifying and his fist actually connects, slamming into Zombozo’s oversized clown nose.
“Gah!!” The clown reels back in pain before vanishing again into the darkness.
“This is getting us nowhere!” Mina cries out in frustration as she feels around her surroundings.
“The only way we can hit him is if he comes to usss.” And like that the transformed Izuku has a plan.
Quickly he vanishes out of sight much to his friend’s and father’s ire.
“M-Midoriya-” Mina pauses as she feels something or rather someone whispering into her ear.
Soon the whispering leans away and Hisashi jumps as the invisible phantom whispers into his ear.
Mina leans down and closes her eyes as she begins to focus, her antennas twitching over her head slowly as she tries to search for Zombozo’s emotional wavelength. ‘Alright, Mina. This is your moment. You need to focus and be calm. Zen. Relax.’ She inhales and exhales slowly, calming her own heart rate despite the never-ending black void.
And there amongst the darkness she can sense the emotions of delight and maliciousness shine through like a beacon. “There!!” She points up at a 45-degree angle
“He’s mineee!!” The ghost reappears and quickly glides up towards that direction.
“Ah, ah, ah where do you think you’re going?” Zombozo’s voice calls out and the scene quickly changes to a grey grassy field while a raging tornado rages through it.
“Aaaaahhh!!” The ghost is blown away by the powerful winds, being tossed and turned all around them before being launched right back at his friends.
He crashes into them, and they all get knocked down as the tornado passes right over them. “Aaaaahhh!!”
“Mwehehehehe!!” Zombozo cackles with glee as he wipes away the tornado.
And much to his delight he finds both Mina and Hisashi lying face down on the ground, seemingly unconscious.
He grins, floating down to their position. “Oh, don’t tell me you’re all tuckered out?”
They don’t respond, and instead continue to lie face down onto the dirt and grass.
“Hello? Up and at em!”
Still there is no response.
Frowning, Zombozo lowers himself down all the way to the ground and walks over to check if they’re really unconscious or not. “Hey, you still alive or did you all kick the bucket?”
He leans in to check for a pulse when Mina moves ever so slightly.
Grinning, he grabs her by the shoulder and spins her around, causing her to let out a painful groan. “Ugh…”
“Mwehehehe! Aw, was that all too much for ya?”
She’s unable to answer or answer, that last hit definitely leaving some damage on her.
Looking around, Zombozo tries to spot the ghost but he’s nowhere to be seen. “Oh, Midoriya! Or I guess you go by Deku, now. Come out and play! I’m not done with you yet!”
There’s no sign or sound of the kid, not even a clue of where he could have gone.
The clown breaks into a wide grin as he peers down at the defeated hero student. “Looks like he decided to cut his losses and leave you here to die.”
“Ugh…” Mina lets out a groan, keeping her left eye closed as she does.
“Too bad, it looks like he won’t be your hero today. Ehehehehe.”
While lying there and keeping her one eye closed Mina tries to say something but it’s too incoherent and mumbly for the clown to make it out.
“What was that?”
She mumbles it again but once again he doesn’t catch it.
“I’m sorry, speak a little louder, please.” Zombozo fake pleased, leaning in with his ear open.
She tries but she’s unable to speak any louder.
“Out with it!” Zombozo barks and finally loses his temper.
He grabs Man by the collar and hoists her up to eye level and shouts. “Talk!!”
Mina takes a shaky breath before repeating. “Listen…” She opens her left eye revealing its bright purple hue. “I said-”
Suddenly the ghost unposseses Mina and pops out from her chest while yelling. “Trick-or-Treat, freakkk!!”
Before he can even react, the phantom alien enters the clown, taking him over and possessing him. “AAAAaaaaahhhh!!” The possessed Zombozo lets out an agonizing scream as the rookie ghost messes with his head.
The darkness glitches in and out as the clown loses his focus over his PsyClown Quirk, grabbing onto his head in pain while the ghost calls out. “A-ashi-Minaaa! Hurryyy! I-I don’t know how long I c-can hold himmm!”
Springing to her feet after faking that pain per the ghost’s plan, she races forward while chanting to herself to focus. She focuses and focuses, doing her best to keep her own emotions calm and cool. Keeping them calm and relaxed, thinking soothing thoughts and letting that feeling wash over her to the point she almost feels drowsy. And then just as she reaches the withering clown she reaches out and spasm her hand against his side and shouts. “SLEEP!!!”
And like that the possessed Zombozo freezes in place, visibly relaxing as his eyelids become heavy. He even lets out a yawn before he keels over and passes out.
As he falls asleep the ghost releases the position allowing the killer clown to sleep soundly.
As the clown snoozes away, Hisashi takes it easy as he pulls himself off the ground. Looking around he smiles as every illusion vanishes and they find themselves back inside the backstage area of the Haunted House. Only there appears to be more lights than before, undoubtedly hidden by the earlier illusions. While all sorts of junk, crates, rope, and heavy objects litter the floor double what they felt when punching or getting hit by his illusions.
Hisashi smiles over at Mina, giving her a small nod of approval. “See?! I knew you had it in you!”
“T-thanks.” Mina smiles, staring down at her hands and feeling like she has just unlocked a bigger part of herself. “And I think so too.”
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It’s not long after that when Mr. Baumann appears alongside the police. And soon the trio find themselves back outside, watching on as the police quarter off the Haunted House while the festival continues on in the background.
“I sure do love a happy endinggg.” The ghost alien comments as they watch the police at work.
“Yeah, same.” Hisashi nods after promising to give the police a full report later. Hisashi
As they watch the police do their jobs, the Ashidos are off to the side having their own family moment.
“Mina darling, I’m so proud of you~.” Eirene singsongs while holding her daughter. “You’ve taken another step towards mastering your Emote abilities~.”
Mina pulls out from the hug all embarrassed. “T-thanks, Mom. But it was just luck that I was able to pull it off.”
“No, it wasn’t.” Hisashi cuts in, not approving of her doubts. “You managed to use Emote effectively all on your own. No one else can claim that they did it for you.”
Mina blushes, embarrassed but grateful for the kind praise.
Mr. Baumann lets out a hearty chuckle. “Well, I’m just glad no one got hurt. And best of all my stand hasn’t been touched!”
“Seeee!” The ghost chimes in. “I don’t mean to be destructiveee! It just happensss!”
“No. You’re still too destructive for your own good.”
“Whattt?! What kind of destruction have I doneee?”
Mr. Baumann’s eyes trail over the unrepaired stands Rath knocked over.
“Oh, righttt… But, um, that was Zombozo’s fault not mineee.”
“It was still you though.”
The ghost pouts, or at least does his version of a pout, feeling dejected and disrespected by Mr. Baumann.
But he’s soon pulled out of his self-pity as a trio of voices cry out in anger and outrage.
“Hey, wait! Let me go!
“He made me do it, honest! He-he used an illusion on me too!”
“Yeah, same!”
Looking over they see the Circus Freak Trio with handcuffs slapped around their wrists as they’re being led away by a squad of officers. Handcuffed alongside them and actually standing at the front of the line is Zombozo who looks more pissed off than ever before.
Mr. Baumann folds his arms as he watches them get carted away. “Good riddance, we’re finally rid of those bad apples.”
“More like rotten applesss.”
Meanwhile, as they laugh at the villains’ expense, Thumbskull leans over Zombozo’s shoulder and wonders aloud. “What are we gonna do now, boss?”
Zombozo composes himself before grinning back up at the giant lug. “Not to worry I always make sure that I have at least one last trick up my sleeve.”
“Like what?”
Zombozo’s grin widens as he stops and quickly shoves Thumbskull back. The giant muscle head falls over stumbling back into Acid Breath and Frightwig as well as the officers taking up the rear of the group.
“Hey!” The officers that were leading them, draw their guns.
Zombozo spins around and activates his PsyClown Quirk, creating an illusion where his head morphs into a set of massive flesh jaws filled with syringe-like teeth.
“Waah!” The officers tumble back out of freight, giving Zombozo the perfect chance to slip away.
“Mwehehehehe!!” He cackles taking off towards the thick woods.
Hisashi scowls, getting ready to chase after him. “Is he seriously trying to escape?”
“I’ll handle himmm.” The specter floats forward, catching up to the clown quickly and cutting off his escape. “Where do you think you’re going, misterrr?”
Zombozo back pedals a bit before scowling up with a comeback. “With a beautiful night like this I thought I’d go for a little stroll.”
“Yeah, I bettt. Now be a good little clown and let’s put this act to resttt.”
“Act? Mwehehe! Is this an act?!” With one last illusion Zombozo transforms his body twisting and enlarging in on itself to monstrous proportions, until he’s something straight out of a Tim Burton fever dream.
“MWEHEHEHEHEHE!!!” The monstrosity of a clown howls into a fit of booming laughter as he smiles down at the disgusted ghost. “NOW GET OUT OF MY WAY, FREAK!”
“Freakkk? No I’m not a freakkk…” The ghost grips his malleable skin and declares. “I’m a Ghostfreakkk!!”
He rips open his chest and upon doing so a mess of black and white tentacles burst out, slithering about in a tangled slimy mess.
And to any onlookers it would seem like that’s all there is to it, but it’s not as the monstrous clown withers in fear as he witnesses the true horror hidden within Ghostfreak.
“Waaah! WAAAAHHH!!” The illusion breaks, shrinking him back to his normal size.
He screams and shrinks away, turning paler and paler the longer he stares into the nightmarish sight, unable to look away due to just how disturbing and vile it is. “Waaaaah! AAAAAAAAHHHH!!!”
It’s not long after that when the police hurry over and pull the quivering and unresponsive Zombozo away. He doesn’t put up a fight as he babbles incoherently, his eyes filled with pure terror and despair.
Ghostfreak floats back to the others as Zombozo gets tossed into the police cruiser alongside his betrayed cronies. “Ehehehe, now that’s funnyyy.”
Mina frowns up at Ghostfreak curiously. “What exactly did he see?”
Ghostfreak takes a second to think of a good answer. “Something that was truly frighteninggg.”
Mina gives him a look that both finds his cryptic answer amusing yet annoying all at the same time.
But before she can even think of asking him to show her, Ghostfreak times out, leaving behind a smiling Izuku.
Everyone smiles, happy in the fact that the nightmare is over. And to cooperate the moment the festival signals its end with an array of beautiful fireworks that explode into a dancing display of lights into the night sky.
Hisashi smiles up at the fireworks as their warm lights and colors shine down upon them. “Now this is the way to end a festival.”
Mr. Baumann and Eirene couldn't agree more as they too take a moment to enjoy the show.
Meanwhile, Mina playfully elbows Izuku and asks. “So, how you liking the new alien, um, Ghostfreak?”
Izuku wags his head from side to side as he tries to come up with a good explanation. “It’s still kinda weird. I mean it kinda feels like I’m out of sync with him. Kinda like using a lagging controller but that’s probably because I'm not used to him yet.” He then smiles down at the Omnitrix, the very device storing the Ectonurite DNA. “But in the end, I’m sure we’re gonna get along just fine.”
Mina can smile to that and they both go back to enjoying the show.
As they do their shadows are highlighted behind them, stretched across the ground. Mina’s shadow is obvious with the outline of her messy wild hair and hooked-antennas. But Izuku’s is off, it is missing that familiar messy head and instead his shadow has a much sleeker frame to it, with spindly arms and seemingly no legs. And if one were to look closely one could almost see the faintest hint of a silhouette appearing in the head of the shadow, one of a single teardrop eye.
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Artwork created by "Weeld1" on Deivant Art, titled "Truly a Freak."
Notes:
So, you probably noticed that there’s no Preview this time. Sorry but since we’ve finally reached the end of the Road Trip Arc so too did, we reach the end of the Previews. Why? Because from now we begin what I am referring to as the “Three Heroes Arc.” And with it the story is back on the main series’ timeline. So, no real point in previewing what’s next. BUT if you feel differently and want the Previews to continue then please let me know.
***IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT*** So, there’s some good news and bad news. Good news is we are moving onto the “Three Heroes Arc!!” Bad news, it's gonna take me 2-3 months to write. Maybe… Sorry but I want to write out the entire events of this arc and split the entire arc into separate chapters (somewhere between 3-4) and then post them one at a time. This way I can buy myself some time afterwards to get ahead in future chapters. So, by the time I post the last chapter of the “Three Heroes Arc” the next chapter or two will already be done and ready to post.
I will also try to post Omakes and maybe even an OVA on the side story during this time. Those will also serve to give you guys updates on the arc’s progress.
And if you are feeling nervous, don’t be. In fact, I have had the events of this arc all planned out and written in a detailed outline for nearly a year now so writing it might actually be a lot easier than it has been. So, it’d be a good idea to check in on the Omakes cause my 2–3 month timeframe might change for the better.
*References: There were some good ones here. There was a Toy Story 4 cameo/reference in here. And then you had a Pokémon cameo. I tried to hint that some Talosian people from Star Trek were at the festival, but I don’t know if the reference was that obvious. What else? Oh, there was a Demon Slayer reference in this chapter with Izuku’s Kitsune Mask. You had the IT scene. Oh, and my favorite part was that I had 2 “Komi-San Can’t Communicate” scenes. And one of them was also a Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure reference in of itself, so double the references!!
Also, this one is sort of important, the red behemoth/balloon alien the heroes fought was the same alien species as the “Preserver” from “Superman the Animated Series.” If you know you know. Also Mrs. Cuddles was a villain from the “Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles” show. Although the 2012 version is my favorite, this newer version of TMNT is still a lot of fun. And finally, Mina and Ghostfreak’s victory was inspired by how John Constantine and Deadman defeated Dr. Destiny in the animated movie, “Justice League Dark.” And it’s one of my favorite scenes from that movie.
*Mr. Baumann’s Quirk is called Janitor’s Closet. It is a pocket dimension that only he can access but he can only store cleaning supplies inside of it. However, the cleaning supplies does not magically replenish itself inside the dimension. He has to go out of his way to stock up and store it inside the dimensional space. I did not think of this Quirk until now, and I think it suits him well and helps explain why he just randomly has a mop or broom in his hand when it wasn’t there before.
***ARTWORK*** Here’s a shout out to Weeldx for making some more awesome artwork!! Thank you so much, you and your work are awesome. If you want to see his fanart then please visit him on Deviant Art. Username being “Weeld1” and his artwork of “Truly a Freak.” I love it! Or if you like please visit this story on Archive of Our Own (AO3) where you can find his fanart located at the bottom of this same chapter.
*There is a side story that is canon to this story and it is called “Heroes Never Die; It’s Hero Time, Anytime.” You will find an assortment of one shots that take place in the canon of this main story. And I provide updates about the main chapter whenever I post an Omake.
*Speaking of Artwork I am looking for more fanart submissions from you guys. My awesome and FAN-tastic readers! You see I finally figure out how to post images on AO3 and I would love to show off more of what you guys make. Do whatever you like: draw your favorite scene, scenes of what you think might happen, character interactions, characters, whatever. I want to see your imaginations and creativity on full display! Just be sure to DM me, thank you!!
*This story has a TV Tropes page so feel free to check it out.*
Chapter 67: Three Heroes Part I
Summary:
Izuku and Hisashi reach the end of their road trip with a visit to I-island. A place where anything is possible, like meeting friends both new and old. But evil forces are lurking in the shadows, threatening the island's peaceful existence.
Notes:
It is time. It is finally time. IT’S HERO TIME!!! Woooooaaaaah!! How long has it been?! Seriously, that’s a real question. How long has it been since I lasted updated? It seriously feels like forever but here it is!! Although I’m still not done with Part III (it may take another week to finish) Parts 1-2 are more than ready and have been ready for some time. So, let’s stop the clock and get to it!
“Here.”
“We.”
“Go!” – Joker (Keith Ledger) 2008
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
A young girl no older than seven years old peers through the window of her family’s SUV. Her reflection staring back at her as she gazes out to the towering skyscrapers and fantastical buildings. A bright smile stretches across her face as she brushes back her long brown hair away from her face. Pushing up her glasses to ensure she gets to take in everything as much as she can.
“Take a look girls. We finally made it to L.A.!” Her Papa smiles from the driver seat, turning back to smile at his daughters.
Mama rolls her eyes humorously. “Oh, finally I didn’t think this Road Trip would ever end.”
He feigns being insulted. “Ah, what? Why do you say that?”
Her little Sister laughs from beside her. “Because Papa, you kept going the wrong way!”
“No, I didn’t. I was exploring.” Papa laughs, defending himself. “I mean if I wasn't we would have never found Sparksville!”
The young girl laughs at her Papa’s antics. “Papa, that place was a Tourist Trap!”
“I know that, Cathy. But I liked the giant lightbulb!” He defends.
“We know!” Mama exaggeratedly exclaims. “You were staring at that thing forever!”
“I couldn’t help it! I swear it felt like it was alive! Promise!”
Mama snickers, shaking her head at her husband’s antics. “Well, I for one prefer visiting a big city like when we went to New York or Chicago! They’re nothing like our little town of Bellwood.”
“And they were great. But you have to admit, we had a great time in Yellowstone.”
The young girl, Cathy, leans up, chiming in. “I really liked Mt. Rushmore!”
“Me too!” Her little sister cheers. “I loved seeing the aliens!”
“Sweety those weren’t aliens!” Mama chides. “Those were just nice heroes arresting a villain.”
Papa frowns. “But now that I think about it, I didn’t recognize them. Eh, but they did have some cool uniforms. White armor with a single Red Spots, not bad. Simple, but not bad.”
“Don’t you start!” Mama chides. “Not when you wanted to wear that atrocious shirt all summer.”
“But Hawaiian flowers on a red shirt is a classic! I still regret letting you make me leave it at home.”
Cathy and her little sister burst into fits of giggling as their parents jokingly argue in the front. All in all, they couldn’t be having more of a great time than now, just being together.
As they all settle down, Cathy turns back towards the magnificent view of L.A. Her eyes inevitably draw upwards to the clear blue sky that feels like it can go on forever. And then they catch her eye a pair of powerful Bald Eagles are soaring high above the skyscrapers and along with them, seemingly there to join in on their flight, a California Condor!
Cathy watches in amazement as the three mighty birds of prey soar over L.A., their massive wings sprawled out, catching the wind and warm sun. And with it she takes in the calm yet exciting atmosphere the city has to offer.
*BOOOOM!!!*
In the distance just a block away a casino goes up in flames as an explosion rings out, tossing a massive cloud of dust and smoke into the once pristine blue sky.
Papa slams on the brakes causing the car comes to a screeching halt. “What’s happening?!”
Mama shivers. “I-I think it’s a villain!”
And she’s right it is, because out of the smoke a large villain who’s the size of a two-ton truck leaps out from the smoke and begins a monstrous charge through the wide city street. His six massive arms provide him with massive strides while his blue skin, and small red eyes help to sell his monstrous persona so much more than his support vest, jeans, and black mask.
Riding atop of him like a mount is a smaller, thinner villain. A slim man who has blonde hair and a long-pointed nose. He is clad in a red, skin-tight, full body suit designed with white marks and an "R" across the face mask.
“Hahahahahaha!!” The slim villain cackles with laughter while having huge bags of money all piled up behind him.
Cathy grows nervous as she watches the villains charge their way towards them. But her fears are soon washed away as a sudden barricade of police cars enter the scene, cutting the charging villains off.
And then to top it all off, a pair of pro heroes jump onto the scene.
A giant grin stretches across Cathy’s face as she watches one of the heroes fire lightning, actually lightening at the villains.
The villains leap out of the way and the lady hero turns into a cow-like creature and charges right at them.
“Hahahaha!” Even from there Cathy can hear the villain’s cackle, and worse she can see his arms transforming into a pair of cannons before firing out a pair of rocket missiles!
The rockets explode into the ground, nearly taking the Cow Lady with them.
And if that wasn’t bad enough, the massive villain manages to launch himself high into the air, way above the police barricade! And with a single bound they come plummeting back down towards the stopped traffic, towards her family’s SUV.
The realization hits them all like a crashing wave, and when it does it’s too late, there’s not enough time to escape!
“Papa! Mama!” Cathy screams while holding onto her little sister.
“Sis!” Her sister balls while clinging to her.
“Hahaha!” The villain cackles, his voice sending a terrifying shiver down her spine. “Don’t stop! Just crush them!!”
The family, her family, cry out in terror as they watch on helplessly as their last few moments draw to an end.
‘Mama! Papa! Sis! No! Someone. Please. Save my FAMILY!!!’
Just as she’s given up hope, and the warm sun disappears behind the incoming villains, something, maybe a missile, strikes the monstrous villain so hard and fast that Cathy swears it had to be a bolt of invisible lightning!
The villains are propelled away, thrown so far back they fly across an entire city block before they crash to a stop in a brilliant explosion of flames so bright and magnificent it’s like peering into the sun.
And there standing before the flames is someone, a hero, one of which she’s never seen the likes of before. He’s young, on the edge of becoming a full adult. Two bands of his hair stretch over his head in a V, but to her they resemble blonde bunny ears. She cannot see his face; however, she can make out the back of his blue jacket even as the flames and wind cause it to whip around. It reads, PLUS ULTRA.
“Fear not citizens. Everything is fine.” The young Hero grins back at her and her family, revealing his determined young face and deep blue irises. “You’re safe. Because I am here!”
Cathay can't help but to smile, losing herself in utter wonderment and amazement. He saved them. This hero, this hero saved her family! It’s…he’s a miracle!
“Really?!” The slim villain’s shrill cackle causes Cathy to jump. “And just who the hell do you think you are?” The slim villain snarls as his partner crawls out of the flames and debris.
“A hero from Japan.” The Hero answers with a confident grin. “Who just so happened to be passing by.”
“HA!! I’ll send you back home in a coffin!” The L.A. villain’s arms morph into cannon and he fires a barrage of rockets at the hero while cackling. “If they can find your remains!”
“Hiyah!” The Hero folds his arms into an X and then swings out, generating a wind so strong it blows back the missiles, causing them to explode like fireworks. “I’m sorry, what was that threat-?”
But much to the hero’s and Cathy’s surprise, the villains are gone. And after looking around Cathy can see them bounding away atop of buildings.
The Hero frowns, watching them escape. “Running away already?!”
Before he can move, and much to Cathy’s amazement and surprise, a red futuristic rocket car zooms onto the scene while the driver yells out to the hero. “You got ahead of yourself, Toshi!”
Cathy blinks, taking in the other young man in the driver’s seat of the open red vehicle.
He’s young and looks to be the same age as the Hero with straight, shoulder-length brown hair which is swept backwards. He’s wearing a red hoodie under a gray lab coat, with dark gray pants and black sneakers.
The Hero, or if Cathy heard the Driver right his name is…Tooshie or something. ‘Weird name.’
As the red vehicle slides to a stop, Tooshie hops right in while telling the Driver to step on it. “They’re fast. Follow them, Dave!”
“You’re impossible!” The Driver, or Dave, laughs. “Your body always moves before you think!”
The vehicle roars, its wheels screeching as it takes off, making a quick U-turn before rocketing away after the fleeing villains.
Cathy watches in amazement, her eyes glimmering with excitement as she watches them zoom away. Her heart is pounding, racing, like a fire’s been light up inside of her. Compelling her to move and before she even can process it she’s already jumped out of her parent’s car and takes off running after the heroes.
“Cathy!! Cathy!!” Her Papa shouts with worry, as he tries to open his door but to no avail.
Cathy runs and runs but it’s useless, they’re already gone. But she can’t give up, she has to see him. She has to see that hero, The Hero, save the day!
And so she presses a hand to her chest and shouts. “Cathleen Bate can fly!!”
And she jumps, flying up through the air like a fast-traveling balloon.
She rises higher and higher, the wind taking her and carrying her along over and through the city until she finally sees them. Not that it’s that hard since the villains are trying to escape via rooftops.
She watches on as the Hero launches himself off the future car and into the air, his jump was so strong not only does he reach the top of the skyscrapers, but he also sent that car flying back as well!
The L.A. villain snarls and fires more rockets. “You just don’t give up, do you?!”
Cathy gasps thinking they got him, after all he can’t move while in midair!!
But the grin on his face says another story. “Ha! Detroit Smash!!”
He throws a punch, a crazy powerful one at that, into the air, causing a massive whirlwind to burst out and cause the rockets to crash into each other and explode into a brilliant ball of smoke and flames.
The explosion and whirlwind send out a powerful shockwave that nearly trips the villains up and off the side of the buildings they’re clinging to.
As the ball of smoke dissipates, the Hero kicks himself off the nearest buildings, launching himself forward and through the smoke!
But he doesn’t see them, he doesn't see the rockets flying in on the side as he soars through the smoke.
Cathy screams at the top of her lungs. “Look out!!”
Whether he spots them thanks to her is unclear, but he manages to throw another one of those supercool Detroit Smashes and blow up the final rockets. But they’re too close and the explosion swallows the hero up.
“NO!!!” Cathy cries out in anguish.
But then he appears, rolling through the flames and smoke as his jacket and pants burn to ash, only to reveal a brilliant costume with an awe-inspiring cape.
“You just don’t know when to give up, do you?!” The L.A. villains, having had enough, cry out in fury as they leap towards him, aiming to end this chase once and for all.
But despite the odds. Despite his disadvantage. The Hero smiles on, embracing the challenge head on.
Excited to show off, he begins to spin and spin and spin before shouting out for the world to hear him say. “CALIFORNIA SMASH!!!”
His fist collides with the incoming villains, launching them straight downward to the street below.
WHAM!!!
They crash into the ground like a meteor, throwing up tons of debris, dust, and cash into the air.
And as the smoke and wind die down, they reveal the L.A. villains deflated and defeated inside a massive crater, unable to move and unable to resist as their life as free criminals comes to an end.
From the street below people quickly gather around the crater. Their eyes are wide with amazement, still unable to process such power and feats that were just displayed.
Cathy lands nearby, nearly stumbling into the crater as she does.
“Hahahaha!”
Cathy’s head snaps up and instantly she spots the Hero standing atop a rooftop, his cape billowing in the wind as he lets out a hearty laugh.
From all around her people gather and question who he is. “Who’s that hero?”
“I’ve never seen him.”
“But he’s amazing!”
Cathy smiles, grinning up at the Hero. ‘He’s the coolest!’
“He’s an exchange student visiting the states from Japan.”
Cathy and the rest of the crowd look over to find that Dave-guy addressing them from inside the cool car.
“You can call him by his hero name, All Might.”
Everyone turns to stare up at the young Hero. “His name’s All Might?”
“All Might…?” Cathy breathes, taking in that name and engraving it into her mind. “Wow.”
Feeling a set of eyes on her she looks over and starts when she finds Mr. Dave smiling at her.
“Take him in.” He directs mostly to her than the rest of the crowd. “Someday that name will be known by everyone in the world. Someday he will be our world’s Symbol of Peace.”
Cathy peers back up at the Hero, at All Might and breathes. “The Symbol of Peace.”
And from the rooftop above, All Might grins on towards the city like he’s the city’s own personal guardian angel. No, like he’s the world’s guardian angel.
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
“Haha…d-don’t worry…I’ll…buy…lunch.” Toshinori Yagi smiles in his sleep as he loses himself to his memories. Ah, those were the days, him and Dave taking on the world and every villain they could. Oh, to be young again.
“A-All Might…? All Might… Hey, are-...are you asleep?”
Several pokes to his shoulder snap him awake and out of his reminiscing. Rubbing his eyes he looks over to the one that disturbed him. “Something the matter, Young Uraraka?”
Ochaco Uraraka grins up at him, lost in her own excitement as she turns and presses her face to the private jet’s window. “Look, we can see it! It’s right there! It’s really there! I can’t believe it's really I-Island!!”
And how could they miss it? A massive artificial island that stands high above the Pacific, made big enough to support what looks like four separate cities! Three of which are placed in a triangular shape while the fourth city with the tallest of towers stands in the middle. Fresh blue water surrounds the cities while artificial land bridges connect the island together.
Ochaco’s breath is taken away at the sight of it all. “I can’t believe someone like me is really here!”
Toshinori smiles at her reaction. “I’m so glad you’re excited. Glad I invited ya.” He smiles sheepishly, almost nervously. “And I’m glad you accepted.”
Admittedly, there’s still some awkwardness between them. Don’t get him wrong he’s glad, relieved even, that she finally reached out to him. And they were finally able to talk normally, somewhat. It was still very awkward and even now it feels like he’s walking a bit on eggshells around her, not trying to upset her. But they’ve been doing alright so far, having even spent part of the flight catching up about their summers. Like how she nearly drowned in an underwater city and how he himself took down a ridiculous elephant villain that could grow to the size of a skyscraper when he eats peanuts.
“Um, All Might? Are you sure it’s okay that someone like me tags along with you? It’s not gonna be a problem, is it?”
Toshinori waves off her worries. “Don’t even think twice about it. The invitation was clear and I’m welcomed to bring whomever I wanted as my guest.”
“But doesn’t that usually mean a family member or-”
He cuts her off by holding up a finger. “I think you’re forgetting that the two of us are connected by something far thicker than blood, Young Uraraka. We will forever share the bond of One For All.”
Ochaco smiles and nods. “Yeah.”
From over the intercom their pilot announces that they’ll be landing. [“Attention passengers the plane will soon begin its descent to I-Island.”]
Toshinori gets up from his seat and lets out an already exhausted sigh. “This is gonna be monumentally exhausting.” His body begins to shift and expand against his jacket. “Once we’ve landed and GO OUT IN PUBLIC-” All Might rips off his jacket, revealing that he’s already wearing his full hero costume. “I MUST MAINTAIN MY MUSCLE FORM CONSTANTLY.” He grins, not showing any signs that he’s struggling to hold the form for now. “NOW IT’S ABOUT TIME FOR YOU TO CHANGE AS WELL. YOU DID ASK U.A. IF YOU COULD BRING YOUR HERO COSTUME ALONG WITH YOU, RIGHT?”
“Yes!” Ochaco smiles, while hiding her bag, and hurrying over to the back changing room.
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
After landing the two were escorted through the I-Island Airport and its security, which is a moving sidewalk where they just have to stand there while the security system scans and identifies them.
Ochaco shakes with excitement, clinging to her duffle bag tightly as she takes in everything about the high-tech airport. She’s already changed into her hero costume, minus the helmet but she does have her Gyro-Disc attached to her back.
“LET’S TEST YOUR TRIVIA YOUNG LADY.” All Might smiles down at her as the system begins to scan them. “WHY WAS THIS ARTIFICIAL ISLAND CREATED?”
“Oh, well, um-” While sweating bullets Ochaco turns away with a guilty and shameful grin on her face while she pulls out the Island’s brochure from out of her bag. “I-Island was built so that the world’s brightest minds could gather together to research Quirks and develop new hero support items. The island was engineered to be movable in order to protect the scientists and their top-secret research from villains. Its security system is on par with Tartarus Prison and thus crime is virtually non-existent here.” Also, according to the brochure, the island is even divided into separate control systems to ensure no villains or other groups can ever take full control of the island, but she sees no need to add that in for now.
“WOW, YOU REALLY DID YOUR RESEARCH DIDN’T YOU?”
“Ha, ha! Y-yeah!” Ochaco quickly crumbles up the brochure and stuffs it back into her bag before he notices.
[“The Immigration inspection is complete.”] The security system auto recording announces over the intercom. [“The island is currently holding the pre-opening of I-EXPO. An event that showcases research and development projects our teams have been working on. Only those with invitations may attend the preview.”]
As the announcement draws to an end, Ochaco and All Might arrive outside and thus have officially entered I-Island.
And Ochaco is blown away, amazed by all the sights and sounds to be had. Magnificent almost fantastical buildings and attractions are everywhere to be seen. Each one displaying and incorporating technologies she’s never seen and could only dream of. Even the buildings look like they’re entirely made with some high-tech doohickey incorporated into them. The whole place is like someone took a city combined with an amusement park and rolled it up in futuristic tech. It’s a marvel to be had.
All Might looks out noting all the people and visitors to the island. “I CAN’T BELIEVE SO MANY PEOPLE ARE HERE BEFORE THE EXPO’S OFFICIALLY OPEN TO THE PUBLIC.”
“This place is amazing! It’s like I stepped into the future!”
All Might can’t help but to agree. “UNLIKE BACK IN JAPAN PEOPLE ARE ALLOWED TO USE THEIR QUIRKS HOWEVER THEY WISH ON THIS ISLAND.” The points over to some of the nearby buildings. “THE PAVILIONS ARE JAM PACKED WITH ATTRACTIONS AND DEMONSTRATIONS. MAKE SOME TIME FOR THEM LATER.”
“You bet I will!”
All Might stops to check his phone. “NOW LET'S SEE THE HOTEL SHOULD BE NEARBY.”
While he scrolls for the hotel a nice Attendant walks over intending to help them. “Welcome to the I-EXPO-” Her smile fades and soon turns to delightful surprise as she gasps up at the pro hero. “Is that you All Might?!” She asks, her eyes glimmering with glee.
Everyone from visitors, other attendants, and of course camera crews that are all within earshot and beyond hears the news and immediately runs over.
“Is he really here?!”
“Wow! The Number One Hero!”
“We need an interview.”
“Let’s get closer!’”
Soon an entire sea of people has All Might surrounded as they all cheer and sing his praises. Each of them asking for pictures, comments, autographs, and some just wanting to thank him for saving their lives or someone else’s.
“HAHAHA! YOU’RE ALL WELCOME! HAHA!” All Might bellows with laughter totally unaware that his student and protegee is currently being trampled and shoved away by the crowd like a ball being tossed around by crashing waves. “FORM A LINE FOR AUTOGRAPHS, PLEASE!”
The people cheer even louder as more and more of them begin to surround him until not even his hulking form can be seen within the mix of people.
Meanwhile, another odd pair has just arrived on I-Island as well with the youngest running up and immediately losing himself to all the sights and wonders around them. “I can't believe we're here! I-Island!”
“Hahaha. You like it?”
“Like it? I love it!” Izuku Midoriya cheers, spinning around so fast his hoodie bellows behind him. “The photos and magazines don’t do this place justice!”
Hisashi Midoriya chuckles, glad to see Izuku so happy.
“Pinch me, I must be dreaming! OW!!!”
Rubbing his arm, Izuku jerks his head around and glares down at Kraab who’s strapped over his shoulder.
“Look at that you’re not dreaming. Hahaha.” Kraab laughs while flexing his one metal pincer.
“You jerk.”
Kraab shrugs off the insult like it was nothing. “I don’t get what there is to get excited about.”
“You don’t want to see I-Island?!” Izuku gasps, feeling like Kraab’s just trying to ruin his fun. “But it’s the home to thousands of scientists that are all working on the newest of technologies!!”
“Kid, I hate to be the one to tell you this, actually that’s a lie cause I actually do want to tell you this. But honestly you should be embarrassed with Earth’s technological level. Like for real you guys are way behind on the intergalactic level.”
Izuku gets all flustered and embarrassed for all of humanity’s sake. “W-well, that’s cause we lost a lot of t-time when Quirks first appeared!” There were quite a lot of societal issues and chaos that just brought nearly every science to a screeching halt, including engineering.
“Kid, some of you humans still use flip phones. FLIP PHONES!!!”
Losing the argument, Izuku turns to the only person that can save it. “Dad?”
Hisashi really wishes he wasn’t brought into it as he sheepishly admits. “Yeah, he’s technically not wrong. Earth just barely passed Level 5 and according to intergalactic policies Earth can’t really be considered an advanced civilization until at least Level 10.”
Izuku visibly deflates much to Kraab’s amusement.
“Sorry, kid but your world’s greatest minds would still be considered average even for Galvans.”
Annoyed, Izuku pouts and grumbles. “Wow, you know I thought you’d be a little more appreciative that we brought you along for this.” He pauses as the thought sits in his head. “Wait, why did we bring him along?” He turns to Hisashi before his eyes drift to the other plus one hidden behind his legs. “And him?!”
^Wa wa!^ Chopper waves, wheeling out from behind Hisashi.
“What’s the harm?” Hisashi smiles and shrugs. “I would have felt bad if we locked them up in the Rustbucket, so I figured why not bring them along.”
“But won’t people have questions?”
“Nope.” Hisashi turns and faces the artificial island and declares. “We’re on I-Island, Champ! Ain’t no one's gonna question any robots wandering around. And besides I had them checked in as Support Items in Development. Which will help explain any issues they cause.”
“Wa wop.^
“Yeah, C1-10P. He’s talking about you.”
^Bop bo!^
Izuku lets out a sigh, feeling like the magic is somewhat gone from the island. “Not gonna lie hearing how far ahead other aliens are to us it kinda puts a damper on things.”
His Dad gently slaps him on the back. “Don’t let it. I-Island is still a one-of-a-kind place. With all sorts of fun, cool attractions, technology, and privileges. Did you know that we’re allowed to use our Quirks here as much as we’d like? Well, as long as we don’t cause trouble that is.”
“Yeah, that is pretty cool.” Izuku smiles, wondering if he can get some time in as some of his aliens. “Wait, is that why you’re wearing your Plumber suit too?”
Hisashi chuckles, gesturing to his full red Plumber suit, minus the respirator which is strapped to his neck rather than over his mouth. “Well, it’s highly recommended that visiting heroes wear their hero costumes. So, I thought I’d wear mine.”
“Then why don’t I have mine?” Izuku frowns, examining his own plain t-shirt, pants, red sneakers, and iconic Omnitrix-matching hoodie.
But Hisashi just stares at him, his eyes wide and dumbfounded before he finally asks. “Wait, you mean that isn’t your hero costume?”
“DAD!?! Of course, it’s not! Heck I don't even have my support items with me like my hoverboard and Omni-Shield!”
Kraab frowns while listening in. “What about your S.A.G.E. Gun?”
“I left it back in the RV because I didn’t think I could bring it here!” Ah, man, it would have been cool to wear his costume again. It’s been a long while since he last got to wear it.
“Oh, my bad!” Hisashi apologies. “I thought it was! I mean you wear it so often so I just thought-oops.”
“Ah!” Izuku groans while grabbing at his hair in frustration.
“Hahahaha!” Kraab chuckles, finding this all oh so very amusing. “If you feel left out just put on some PJs and put your underwear on the outside. Hahaha!!”
Izuku bows his head in defeat. “Can we just get going already?”
“We sure can!” Hisashi mercifully gets them going by immediately turning in the wrong direction.
Izuku starts, worried he’s heading the wrong way. “Huh?! Isn’t our hotel this way?”
“It is but we’re gonna make another stop first.” Hisashi smiles, not at all worried about getting lost. “There’s someone you should meet.”
For some reason Izuku starts to get a little nervous. “Who?”
^Wa bo-wap!^ Chopper responds while wheeling after his master, but not before purposely bumping into Izuku’s leg.
Izuku frowns in confusion at Chopper's answer. “Thanks, Chopper. A scientist really narrows it down.”
Hisashi pats the excited droid's head before filling Izuku in on why they’re here. “Principal Nezu contacted him about seeing us. So, we can finally get some answers about…that.” He gestures towards the alien watch that’s fused to his son’s wrist.
Izuku immediately feels both excitement and trepidation bubbling up inside. “Answers? About the Omnitrix? Like what?!”
“Don’t know. That’s what we’re here to find out.’
Now Izuku’s excited but he also can’t help but wonder about this scientist. ‘Just who is he? Is he a Plumber? Maybe-maybe he’s an alien?!’
“Well, we’re not gonna get answers by standing here. Let’s go!” Hisashi claps his hands, leading them away.
Izuku follows while asking. “Should we grab a map?”
“Na, no need. I know where I’m going!”
“Are you sure?”
“Definitely!”
And so, they head off into I-Island with their heads held high and hearts ablaze for answers and adventure.
As they make their way through, they spot a large sea of people all crowding around and cheering about something. But there’s so many of them cheering and shoving that it’s kinda hard to make out what they’re saying. But either way they seem excited.
Izuku watches the crowd curiously as they make their way past them. “Huh, I wonder what’s going on over there?”
“No idea.” Hisashi shrugs. “It’s probably not important. Now let’s hurry! We don’t want to keep the man waiting, do we?!”
“Nope!” Izuku cheers and the two hurry off with a wooing Chopper in toe.
As they make their run through the island, Izuku looks off to the distance and spots someone odd. Or rather what they’re doing is odd. For a moment he spots a girl, a little older than he is maybe, hopping by in a high tech looking pogo stick.
He stops watching her go by as her blonde hair bounces in the wind as she hurries along.
“Hey, kid. Stop gawking and get moving!” Kraab warns not wanting to be left behind in a place where he could be mistaken for a souvenir.
“R-right!” Izuku blushes, hurrying after his dad.
“You really need to learn not to stare.”
“S-sorry!” Izuku apologizes, forgetting about the girl already.
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
Ochaco gasps for air, her heart pounding while her sides ache from being shoved and elbowed around so much.
“OH, WOW I DIDN’T THINK I’D GET STOPPED FOR SO LONG. I’M AFRAID AT THIS POINT WE’RE IN TERRIBLE DANGER OF BEING LATE.” All Might grins on, also glad to be free of that massive crowd.
Ochaco frowns up and asks. “Late to what? The I-EXPO hasn’t started yet.”
“AH, I WANTED TO DROP IN ON A DEAR OLD PAL OF MINE WHO I HAVEN’T SEEN IN QUITE A WHILE. SORRY TO SPRING IT ON YOU, BUT WOULD YOU MIND COMING ALONG?”
“You mean I get to meet someone from your mysterious past?” Ochaco smirks, with a glint of mischief in her eye. “How could I pass up the chance?”
“THAT LOOK IN YOUR EYE SCARES ME, BUT I’M GLAD YOU SAID YES!” All Might leans in and whispers into her ear. “THERE’S JUST ONE THING YOU SHOULD KNOW FIRST. I HAVEN’T TOLD THEM ABOUT ONE FOR ALL OR HOW I’VE PASSED THE QUIRK ONTO YOU. SO, KEEP EVERYTHING UNDER WRAPS, OKAY?”
Ochaco gives him a very judgmental look. “And here I thought you were a hypocrite for telling me not to tell Deku about One For All. Guess you really do keep secrets from your friends.”
All Might has enough honesty to feel shame at her comment. “YOUNG MIDORIYA IS AN EXCEPTION. AFTER ALL MY FRIEND DOESN’T EXACTLY REACH THE SAME POWER LEVEL AS YOUNG MIDORIYA. AND THE REASON I NEVER TOLD HIM WAS ONLY BECAUSE DANGER TENDS TO FOLLOW ANYONE WHO KNOWS THE TRUTH ABOUT MY POWER.”
“I know…” Ochaco frowns, becoming somber and serious. “It’s for their safety.”
“EXACTLY.”
*BOING!*
*BOING!*
*BOING!*
*BOING!*
The duo look over following the sound of that odd Boing sound. And as they find the source All Might’s grin widens with joy.
Bouncing her way over on a high-tech pogo stick is a blonde girl with glasses who shouts over at them in glee. “There you are Uncle! Finally, Haha!”
She throws herself forward, grabbing onto All Might in a hug that he happily returns as they spin around and laugh.
“Welcome Uncle Might!”
“HAHAHAHA! IT’S SO GOOD TO SEE YOU, MELISSA!” All Might greets, holding the girl up like she's a kid, while his smile stretches far beyond what Ochaco thought was possible.
“Oh, my gosh it’s been forever! I can’t believe you’re actually here.” The girl, Melissa, giggles.
“I’M TRULY GRATEFUL FOR THE INVITATION. I ALMOST DIDN’T RECOGNIZE YOU. WHEN DID YOU GO AND GET SO GROWN UP?”
“Well, I am seventeen now, you know? Much heavier than the last time you saw me.”
He jokingly lifts her up and down into the air. “ARE YOU? NO.”
They both laugh and All Might finally sets her down where they continue to chit chat and catch up much to Ochaco’s own confusion.
‘So, this is All Might’s old friend? There’s no way!’ Ochaco flips while taking in this Melissa person.
She does have to admit that Melissa is rather shapely and attractive with pale-skinned and an above average height with quite a round face. She has wavy blonde hair which reaches halfway down her back, two shorter pieces she leaves over her shoulders, side-swept bangs that frames her face, aqua-blue eyes with notable upper eyelashes, some slightly longer ones extending on each side and pronounced lower eyelashes. She’s sporting a white short-sleeved dress shirt with plaid cuffs, a large bow of the same design at her neck, and a dark raspberry pink waistcoat. Accompanying these are pale gray Capri pants, under which are a pair of plaid pink socks as well as a pair of heeled brown boots. She’s also wearing a wristwatch and pink, oval-framed glasses.
‘Is she really All Might’s friend?’ Ochaco thinks skeptically, watching the two interact like they’re family. ‘If she is there can only be a few explanations. Like perhaps they met when she was really young. Or maybe she has some Quirk that stops her from aging. But she said she was 17 and not older. So, that leaves only one other explanation. SHE’S ALL MIGHT’S SECRET LOVECHILD!!!’
It feels like she’s cracked the case! And already she’s taking mental notes of every detail. ‘They both have blonde hair. She's about the right age. And they’re acting so casual and familiar around each other! IT’S THE ONLY EXPLANATION!!!’
The sound of All Might’s booming voice snaps her out of her thoughts. “AND DAVE, WHERE’S HE HIDING?”
“Oh, he’s in his lab.” Melissa explains. “He said he’s on the verge of a breakthrough in the research he’s been focusing on for years. Actually, he said this last year has been the most promising for him. Also, he has no idea you’re even here. So, this is just a little surprise to celebrate his work.”
“SO, THAT’S WHAT THIS IS ABOUT. GIVE ME THE SCOOP THEN, WHAT IS HE COOKING UP THIS TIME?”
“Sorry, Uncle Might but it’s very confidential. He hasn’t even told me what he’s been doing.”
“SCIENTISTS AND THEIR SECRETS.”
Meanwhile, Ochaco’s still eyeing the two like she’s trying to connect the dots of a great mystery. ‘I wonder if I should get Todoroki’s help on this?’
At the same time All Might seems to remember that she’s there. “OH, RIGHT YOUNG URARAKA. ALLOW ME TO INTRODUCE YOU TO MY FRIEND DAVE’S DAUGHTER.”
Melissa smiles at Ochaco. “It’s really nice to meet you. I’m Melissa Shield.”
Ochaco eyes her skeptically. “It’s nice to meet you, Melissa.” Ochaco forces a smile while still eyeing the girl. “Maybe this Davie guy’s a front, meant to hide her from All Might’s enemies?”
Melissa tilts her head, not having caught anything Ochaco said. “What’s that?”
“N-nothing!” Embarrassed for saying all that aloud, Ochaco quickly shakes Melissa’s hands. “I said I’m glad to meet ya! I'm a first-year student from U.A.’s hero course, Ochaco Uraraka! But my hero name is Uravity!”
“In the hero course?” Melissa considers before coming to an understanding of sorts. “So, that’s how you know Uncle Might.”
“Uh, yeah. He’s, my teacher.” Technically, that’s not a lie.
“SHE’LL BE A GREAT PRO ONE DAY.” All Might explains with pride.
Melissa beams with excitement. “Oh, I can’t believe I’m meeting someone that Uncle Might teaches. You must have a promising future!”
Ochaco smiles sheepishly in response. “Hehe, y-yeah, maybe. We’ll see. I-I still got lots to learn, ya know?”
Melissa begins to circle Ochaco in order to examine her costume closely. “So, what kind of Quirk do you have, Ura-Uravity?”
“It’s a hybrid Quirk.” Ochaco responds while trying not to be creeped out at how Melissa’s examining her form. “One part gravity and the other power.”
“The costume’s cool. It’s very bright.” Melissa comments before her eyes land on the Gyro-Disc attached to Ochaco’s back. “And is this your Support Gear? It’s so well designed, but it could use some modifications. Maybe a lighter weight material that’s also more durable. And maybe wings to help balance and guide you while you float. Or maybe-”
All Might coughs, cutting her off. “UM, MELISA. SHOULDN’T WE GET GOING?”
“Oh!” Melissa snaps up in embarrassment. “Sorry, I got distracted.” She hurries off, grabbing her high-tech pogo stick which folds up and away like magic into her pocket! “If we hurry, we can surprise Papa in his lab. This way, Uncle Might! It’s right over here!”
Ochaco and All Might share a look before grinning and following after her.
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
Despite the light of the sun illuminating the entirety of I-Island, shadows still seem to linger like cobwebs to remote corners. And in those webs lies a swarm of venomous spiders awaiting their next victim.
That is the atmosphere airing around the pack of strange men. And that is especially true of their leader who’s busy gazing out into the bright buzzing island.
His phone buzzes and vibrates in his pocket to which he answers. “We infiltrated the EXPO without a problem. So, when do the goods arrive?”
[“3 pm.”] A distorted voice responds over the phone. [“You’ll find them at Gate 66.”]
“Then we’ll be waiting.” He smirks as the screen of his phone glows yellow. “All of us.”
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
From inside I-Island’s Central Tower, a man sadly reminisces as he watches an old video of a young All Might taking down the L.A. Villain.
The man is tall and of an average build, with notable wrinkles on his forehead and defined nasolabial folds and tear troughs. He has small sky-blue eyes and short, unruly honey brown hair with two prominent tufts curving outwards from the top of his forehead, a short goatee on his chin and wide-rimmed square glasses on his face.
He’s wearing a plain dark blue shirt with a single breast pocket, the two top buttons left casually undone, and the sleeve-cuffs unbuttoned and rolled up to just below his elbows. Along with a pair of pale gray-blue jeans, a dark belt with a silver buckle and navy-blue sneakers with white soles, decorated with a red stripe near the toe.
The electronically sealed door to his lab slides open and the man’s assistant walks in. “Excuse me, um, Professor?”
David Shield looks up to find his assistant Samuel Abraham standing at the door. He’s an older, heavier man with short blond hair and blue eyes, which are normally kept closed. His typical attire consists of a suit and tie outfit with slacks, suspenders and dress shoes.
“I finished putting the equipment away just so you know.” Sam explains with a kind-tired smile.
David smiles, glad to hear the news. “Already? Thanks so much Sam.”
They both exit the lab and enter the main office of their facility.
As they do Sam offers a suggestion to his boss. “Why don’t you get out of the lab today and go have some lunch with Melissa?”
“Can’t.” David responds. “Don’t you remember? I'm expecting some colleagues to drop by. Although they seem to be running late. And besides, she's busy today at the academy.”
“Oh, I thought they were on break for I-EXPO?”
“Yes, but she’s doing independent research.”
“You know me, I am my father’s daughter.” Melissa suddenly announced from the open doorway “For better and for worse.”
“Melissa? Hey.” David greets, surprised to see her here.
A surprised Sam greets her as well. “Miss it’s so good to see you.”
“Right back at ya, Sam.” Melissa smiles, while hopping into the room. “Thanks for always taking care of Papa since he does nothing but work here constantly.”
Sam chuckles much to his boss’ expense.
“Oh, come on, I’m not that bad.” David sheepishly grins before returning his attention back to his daughter. “To what do we owe the pleasure?”
“Oh, you’ll see.” Melissa teasingly grins. “Since you completed the first stage of your research I invited someone to celebrate with us.”
“Who would that be?”
“A person you dearly love.” Melissa answers while looking back towards the doorway
Confused, David follows her line of sight and lets out one astounded gasp.
“YES! I AM HERE! SHAKING WITH EMOTION FOR OUR HEARTFELT REUNION!” All Might poses before the doorway, his smile brimming like the sun.
“Toshi?” David stumbles, stunned to see him here. “A-A-All Might?”
Even Sam is taken back, not expecting the pro hero to show up out of the blue like this. “Is…is it really you?”
“HAHAHA!” All Might booms with laughter, running up and scooping up his old pal in a massive bear hug. “I CAME ALL THIS WAY JUST TO SEE YOU DAVE OLD BUDDY!” He lets David go, but the man fumbles and falls over, losing his balance to how much shock he’s in right now.
A smiling Melissa peers over All Might’s shoulder. “Well, Papa, are you totally surprised?”
By the expression on his face, yes, he is definitely surprised. “Ugh, yeah.” He takes a breath and smiles. “Completely astounded.”
All Might helps him up to his feet. “WE BOTH HAVE MELISSA TO THANK FOR THAT. MAN, HOW LONG HAS IT BEEN?”
“Ah, now come on. Don’t make me say it, I already feel old enough you jerk.”
“HAHAHAHAHA!!” They both laugh out loud just like the old friends they are.
“YOU DO HAVE A POINT! GLAD TO SEE YOU AGAIN, MY FRIEND.”
“Agreed. I’ve missed you too.” David offers up his fist happily.
To which All Might returns, and they fist bump. “NOW I HOPE YOU DON’T MIND BUT I BROUGHT SOMEONE I’D LIKE YOU TO MEET.” All Might turns back to the door where a young girl in a pink and purple costume has been waiting patiently, not wanting to ruin their reunion. “YOUNG URARAKA, LET ME INTRODUCE YOU TO SOMEONE INCREDIBLE, DAVID SHIELD.”
“David Shield…? David…Shield?” Ochaco lets the name swirl in her head, wondering why it sounds familiar, before it finally hits her, and she lets out an audible gasp. “I know you!” She points in amazement. “You’re…a really famous scientist!!”
Oh, awkward so much so All Might almost wants to shrink away in embarrassment.
David however has no hard feelings about it, in fact he probably finds it really amusing. “Yes, that I am.”
“THAT’S RIGHT. HE EVEN WON HIMSELF A NOBEL PEACE PRIZE! AND HE WAS MY PARTNER IN CRIME FIGHTING BACK WHEN I WAS SCHOOLING IN AMERICA! AND THEN IN HIS SPARE TIME HE EVEN MADE EACH ONE OF MY SIGNATURE COSTUMES!”
“OH! So, that’s why they’re so cliche.” Ochaco says aloud as she recalls the costume, she's seen All Might in from their super bright colors to their massively overdone and impractical capes.
Melissa snickers in the background. “See I told you those costumes were dated.”
“What are you talking about? They’re classics.” Her father defends. “And pardon me for falling into the style of the time.” Despite the insults he’s still smiling humorously.
While they happily reminisce and become acquainted with each other, a group of confused voices echo out from the hallway; their familiar yet unfamiliar voices are muffled by the door but yet perfectly clear to those inside.
“Okay, this is the last time I’m asking this but are you sure you’re not lost?”
“I’m not lost. I’m just…getting the lay of the land.”
“Naw, admit it, Poozer. You have no idea where you’re going. Typical humans.”
^Wa wop.^
“Hey, you’re supposed to be on my side, buddy. Oh, oh, look! See? I told you I’d find it!”
Someone jostles the door from the other side as they grab the handle and swing the door open at full force.
“The life of the party has arrived!!” Hisashi shouts at the top of his lungs while he and Izuku burst onto the scene with massive smiles and exhausted looks.
The occupants of the room just stare in utter confusion as well as the Midoriyas to blink right back, just as confused and surprised as they are.
“Eh?”
“Eh?”
“EEEHHH!?!”
The two holders of OFA yell out in shock. “Deku?!/YOUNG MIDORIYA?!” The two holders of OFA yell out in shock.
“Uraraka? A-All Might too?” Izuku shrieks, astonished to see them.
“Uraraka?” Kraab perks up and looks around and quickly spotting the other Plumber recruit but then his gaze drifts up towards the hulking being towering over them all. “Holy shit! Something’s wrong with that Tetramand! He’s-” Before he could finish Izuku clamps a hand over his mouth to shut him up.
Izuku then turns back to the others and horridly ask. “W-what are you guys doing here?”
“I was about to ask you the same thing, Deku!” Ochaco shouts back.
Melissia frowns at the mention of the strange green boy’s name. “Deku?” Her eyes trail down the boy’s frame from his mop of green hair to his hoodie, down his arm, and finally landing on the strange black and green watch wrapped around his wrist. “Wait, you’re-”
“My guests.” David cuts in, hurrying to cover for the Midoriyas’ sudden appearance.
Everyone including Izuku turns to him in surprise.
“I’m so glad you’re finally here, I was starting to think you were lost, Cinder.” David greets, gesturing for the two to step inside.
“Us? Lost? Never.” Hisashi smiles on, acting like it was all under control.
‘Liar.’ Izuku thinks with a pout.
Hisashi is quick however to change the subject by introducing Izuku to the person they’re here to see. “Izuku please meet-”
“Professor David Shield!” Izuku’s eyes glow bright as his fanboy side takes full control of the steering wheel. “You’re a top scientist in the research world and even received the Nobel Quirk Prize. He was All Might’s partner when he lived in America. And he’s a genius when it comes to costumes and support gear!! I’d never thought I’d meet him in real life!”
David smiles, internally laughing at how the two kids' reactions to seeing him were so different. “It seems I don’t have to introduce myself.”
“Gah! Oh, wow. I’m sorry.” Izuku instantly apologizes out of embarrassment.
“No, don’t apologize. In fact, I’ve been wanting to meet you for a long time now, Izuku Midoriya.
Izuku beams with excitement.
“Wait, wait, wait!” Melissa cuts in all flustered and confused. “I didn’t know they were your guests!”
Izuku frowns at the girl. ‘It’s that girl.’ The one he saw outside when they arrived. “I’m sorry I don’t think we’ve met.”
“Oh, right, Hi, I’m Melissa Shield.”
“It’s nice to meet you, Melissa. I’m-”
“Izuku Midoriya, hero name Deku.” Melissa finishes for him. “I know, I’ve heard a lot about you.”
That’s news to him. “You have?! Like what?!” Suddenly he’s feeling very nervous about what she’s been told.
Melissa giggles, deciding to tease him a little. “Wouldn’t you like to know?”
“Yes, yes I would!” But before that he turns to his classmate and asks. “But, um, why are you here Uraraka?”
Ochaco blushes, becoming nervous and unsure how to respond. “Oh, well I was invited too.”
“Huh?”
“I INVITED HER.” All Might explains. “DAVE AND I GO WAY BACK, YOU, SEE? AND I WANTED YOUNG URARAKA AND HIM TO MEET.”
Izuku lights up for a moment as he recalls that old piece of trivia. “Oh, that’s right you two worked alongside each other back when you traveled to America.”
“YOU GOT IT! MELISSA INVITED US SO THAT I COULD REUNITE WITH MY DEAR OLD FRIEND. BUT IT APPEARS THAT A LITTLE COINCIDENCE HAS OCCURRED.”
“Right, that’d be because of me.” David explains but before he continues, he spots some movement from behind Hisashi’s legs. “Hang on, is that?”
Chopper pokes out from behind his master.
“Ah, it’s you!” David immediately beams.
^Wa wopbop!^ Chopper happily rushes over like a dog meeting his long lost owner.
David kneels down while patting the droid affectionately. “A good old reliable C1-10P, man don’t you take me back?”
Izuku needs a second to process this. “Hang on! You know Chopper?!”
“Know him? I made him.”
“HUUUUH!?!” Izuku gaps, unable to process that at all. “You created Chopper?! Then why’d you program him with such a bad attitude?”
^Wap!^ Chopper slaps Izuku’s leg, hard.
Meanwhile, All Might watches them in confusion, unsure of what to make of all this.
David, seeing everyone else’s lost expressions, goes ahead and tries to clear things up.
“Let me catch you all up. The Japanese Defense Force personally requested several projects from me. And one of them was to develop an AI with the sole purpose of providing its human with mechanical assistance. And hence I developed C1-10P, or as he’s been nicknamed, Chopper.”
Ochaco gasps as if he finally understands everything going on. “Oh, so you guys are here for a droid checkup?”
“Actually, that’s not what’s here for a checkup. But that is.” David points down, right at the boy’s wrist.
“HIS WATCH?”
“That watch…” David pauses before boldly stating. “Is my invention.”
All Might, Izuku, and Ochaco all give him the most blank yet questioning looks. “HUUUUH!?! IT IS!?!”
From over Izuku’s shoulder, Kraab scowls, eyeing the scientist skeptically.
“I’m not surprised you didn’t know, after all it was a request from your father. He asked me to develop a support item that would help you control your Quirk, One Man Army.”
That’s a clear lie and Izuku knows it. ‘So, then he’s not the true inventor.’ But that just about confirms one thing, however. ‘So then… he knows! He knows about aliens!’
“WHAT A SMALL WORLD.” All Might exclaims, totally buying into David’s tale. “YOU NEVER KNOW ALL THE WAYS PEOPLE CAN BE CONNECTED, NOW CAN YOU?” Just as he says this the Number One Hero begins to cough and wheeze, albeit he manages to muffle it before anyone could really notice.
Except for David who immediately picks up on it. “Well then how about this.” He quickly calls attention to himself by trying to get the other away. “Melissa can see them to my lab and begin the system analysis process? In the meantime, I’d still like the chance to catch up with All Might. I’ll join you real soon, don't worry.”
“Of course!” Melissa then turns towards the others. “If everyone would follow me?”
They go ahead and follow the route as Ochaco keeps pace with Izuku and whispers to him. “Why didn’t you tell me you were gonna be here?”
He whispers back. “Why didn’t you?”
“Touché.”
As they leave Chopper hesitates, wanting to hang back with his creator, but he ultimately follows. And as they head out Kraab continues to eye the scientist as if expecting him to stab them in the back on their way out. But it never comes, and they soon disappear into the hallway.
Upon their exiting, David addresses his assistant. “Sam.”
“Huh?” The man frowns.
“You should take a break too.”
Sam frowns but decides to listen and head out.
And just in time too as All Might begins to cough while steam pours off his shrinking body.
“Hey! Are you alright, Toshi?” David cries, making sure his friend’s okay.
A skeletal Toshinori collapses to his knees while wheezing into his hand, using it to catch any blood he may cough up. “Thanks…for catching it… The amount of time I can keep my Muscle Form has gotten even shorter.”
David hovers over him worriedly, acting like one touch might break Toshinori’s weak frame. “You said it was bad in your email, but I had no idea it was this serious.”
Toshinori continues to cough and wheeze much to his friend’s worries…and growing concerns.
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Melissa tinkers with the computer, her glasses gleam with the reflection of the massive screen as she prepares the data analysis process.
“There we are.” She finishes up and turns to the others. “In just a few minutes we’ll have all the data we need.”
Izuku fidgets nervously in his seat while having his left arm resting on a high-tech scanner. The scanner looks close to alien tech, and it probably is as a green beam scans around the Omnitrix in rapid succession. “Just like that?” Izuku wonders. “Won’t something like this take a few hours?”
“Well yes it would but this is just the first round of scanning.” Melissa explains. “Just to get us started. Think of it as if we’re peeling back the layers of the Omnitrix one layer at a time.”
“Like an onion.” Ochaco mutters to herself in the background.
Izuku continues to fidget in his seat, becoming nervous and shy, especially when Melissa leans in way too close for his comfort, making him blush.
“So-so, can I ask f-for clarification? Are you, um, like a Plumber…? Or, um, by chance are-are you, um, do you know-?” He lets the question hang as if testing to see if she knows what he’s talking about.
Melissa, however. knows exactly what he’s trying to ask. “Don’t worry I know all about you and your alien watch.” She giggles before looking over towards Ochaco. “And I actually knew who you were too. But I thought it’d be better if I acted like I didn’t.”
“So, then are you like a Plumber cadette too?” Ochaco asks.
“Not officially, but my Papa is. He’s what you would call Plumber Tech Support. Meaning he has jurisdiction and knowledge of various alien technologies, inventions, and more.”
“Woah!”
“Yeah, he doesn’t really want me to be officially involved with much of it but he does let me help him from time to time.” Melissa gestures to the lab as if to say like right now.
“No way!” Izuku gasps, spinning around towards his father. “Why didn’t you tell me that David Shield was a Plumber?!”
“Because it’s not supposed to be common knowledge.” answers Hisashi. “Mr. Shield has a very special job here so it’s best to keep our connection to him as little as possible.”
“And that job is?” Ochaco asks only for the man in question to step into the lab and explain it himself.
“To guide humanity’s technological level to the next stages of its development.” David answers with a kind hopeful smile.
Chopper jumps up and hurries to his creator to which David happily pats his head. “As you all are probably aware of, Earth’s technology isn’t exactly on par with most of the other civilizations out there.”
“See I told you.” Kraab teases, irking Izuku.
David frowns at the bounty hunter but moves on figuring that it’s not his business. “Well can either of you tell me why don’t the Plumbers or other aliens of authority just gift humanity with their technology?”
Ochaco tries to think of an answer. “Um, because, because… Huh, I-I don’t know? Because it’s illegal?”
Hisashi chuckles that she’s technically right. “But why is it illegal?”
The two teens shrug.
“It’s because humanity’s not ready for that kind of technology yet. Humans as a whole only have a basic understanding of developing technology. For example, years ago a piece of Level 20+ Technology landed in America. Where it was uncovered by three pro heroes. Unfortunately, due to their lack of understanding they perceived the tech as a threat and were unable to defeat it, causing a lot of property damage and injuries. But little did they know that the grand weapon they were fighting was nothing more than a children’s toy for the Naljian species.”
Izuku freezes, unable to fully imagine what kind of kid’s toy could do that. “It was a children’s toy?!”
“It was.” David answers with a sad shameful frown. “Humanity isn’t ready to wield such technology. And that’s where my efforts come in.”
Melissa cuts her weigh in on the explanation. “By developing Earth’s technology, the right way, through hard work and understanding we’re trying to help Earth catch up and eventually reach Level 10!”
“And what happens then?” Izuku can’t help but ask.
“Don’t you pay attention, kid?” Kraab sarcastically asks. “Once a species reaches Level 10 technology, they can join the intergalactic scene. But then again not sure what a dirt hole like this planet can offer.”
David nods. “Your friend there is correct. In fact, it’s my hope that in the next few generations humanity will be ready to reach out to the stars.” Assuming that his work will fast forward humanity’s progress that is. “And with it there will be so many more technologies to help people, heroes, and our own world.”
The others can certainly get behind a goal like that. And why wouldn’t they? Progress for the sake of a better, safer future is always an admirable goal.
However, Kraab seems to be the only one not onboard with this plan. Or rather he can get aboard with the scientist himself.
There is however something Izuku still doesn’t quite get. “But what’s this have to do with the Omnitrix? I mean you didn’t really invent it, did you?”
David is quick to clarify. “No, no I did not. But I’m hoping I can help figure that out.”
Ochaco perks up. “What? Really?”
“I guess I should catch you up to speed.” Hisashi figures before filling Ochaco in. “After our little mishap at the Mt. Fuji Plumber Base, Majister Nezu thought it was high time we finally tried to really study the Omnitrix. And who better to do that than our very own Professor Shield?”
Ochaco pauses, being hung up on the first part. “Back up, did you say Mt. Fuji…Plumber Base?”
Hisashi continues. “So, Principal Nezu reached out and organized for us to come here and deliver the Omnitrix firsthand for the first round of analysis.”
“You-you haven’t answered my question yet.”
And he still won’t. “We’re hoping that by studying and analyzing the Omnitrix might bring to light more info.”
Izuku eyes the watch curiously as the scanner finally goes quiet. “Like what else can it do?”
“Yes.” David gently pulls Izuku’s arm out from the scanner, holding the arm still so that he may personally examine the Omnitrix. “But also, where it came from.”
“Like who created it?”
“Perhaps, but it’ll take some time to go through the data.” David frowns, peering up at Izuku curiously. “Tell me, what do you know of the Omnitrix’s functions?”
“Um, it can transform me into 21 different aliens. Although how I get them, I’m not so sure.”
“Okay. And what else?”
“That’s it.”
Everyone just stares at Izuku expectantly as if he has more to offer than that.
Izuku suddenly becomes very self-conscientious. “What?! I don’t know! I mean all it can do is time out on me at the worst times! Oh, and it doesn’t always give me what I want.” He glares down at the watch as if it could understand him.
David cups his chin in thought. “Hm, strange. I mean it’s amazing but it’s strange. A device like this should be capable of so much more. Tell me have you ever tinkered with it on your own?”
“Huh?!”
“You know? Did you ever just…poke around and fiddle with it just to see what would happen?”
“Uh, is that really a good idea?” Izuku asks nervously.
“Maybe not but sometimes the best way to learn anything is to poke around and see how things tick.” And judging by the playful smile on David’s face he is very much guilty of doing that exact thing. “But it does help when you ask an expert.” He opens his hand, offering to take the Omnitrix for a second.
And so, with a bit of hesitation Izuku offers it up, holding his arm still as David takes another second to admire the alien device.
“Fascinating.” David breathes as he begins to fiddle with the device, his fingers turning and pressing against the Omnitrix’s frame to a chorus of beeps and shifting mechanisms. “I must admit I have been absolutely fascinated by this device ever since Thirteen’s first report about it. I especially paid special attention to how you used it during the Sports Festival.”
Izuku blushes with shyness. “Oh, you saw that?”
“I did.” David admits his eyes never leaving the Omnitrix. “And all I could ask myself is what other secrets does this hold?”
As he twists and turns the dial the faceplate shoots up while letting out several high pitched whistling.
Everyone jumps and stares in awe as the faceplate glows an eerie green while the hourglass symbol shifts into that of a green glowing diamond.
Izuku watches closely, almost in a trance, as the silhouettes of each of his aliens appear within the diamond-symbol one after the other. And before they know it the watch settles down, but the diamond-symbol remains there as does that eerie green glow.
“Did-did we break it?” Izuku blinks, unsure of what to do.
David smiles, finding the result very interesting. Very interesting indeed.
“Raagh!” Kraab launches himself at the Professor, jabbing the scientist’s side with his claw.
“Ah!!” David yelps while rubbing his aching side.
“K-Kraab?!” Izuku panics, grabbing Kraab and holding him back.
“What did you do?!” Kraab barks, demanding an answer from David.
“What did he do?! What do you think you’re doing?!” Izuku shouts back in total disbelief.
“Quiet, Deku!” Kraab swings his claw in the air madly as he tries to escape Izuku’s grip. “This guy’s up to something! I know it!”
David throws up his hands in surrender. “Please, I don’t mean any harm.”
“Quiet! If there’s one thing, I know it’s to never trust a scientist. Especially ones with ambitions like yours.” Kraab growls, his yellow eyes narrowing and glaring into the scientist’s skull.
“I’m so sorry about him Mr. Shield, sir.” Izuku apologies on the cyborg’s behalf. “Kraab can be really grumpy sometimes.”
“No, it’s fine.” David composes himself by pushing up his glasses. “If anything, I might have stepped over a line. We don’t really know what the Omnitrix is capable of. For all we know I may have just set off the self-destruct command.”
Everyone from the droids to the humans all yell out at once. “SELF-DESTRUCT!?!”
David seems to be the only one not bothered by it. “Not to worry. If it was going to self-destruct it would have to charge up first in order to do so. And it’s not giving any clues to a countdown so we should be alright. Then again, I don’t see why any being would install that command to such a device. If it did self-destruct it may have the potential to destroy half the galaxy.”
The entire lab shakes with booming cries of shock. “WHAT!?!”
Kraab continues to glare harder at the Professor. “This is why I hate scientists.”
Izuku, however, examines the glowing Omnitrix very nervously. “So, then what did you do?”
“That is for you to figure out.” David offers up. “Like I said, you should tinker with it on your own. Study it and learn what it can do. And you can start by seeing what it can do now.”
And so, with a shaky breath Izuku raises his hand towards the Omnitrix. He’s so nervous he begins to sweat as shake, unsure of what will happen the moment he touches the watch. Even so his hand continues to move closer and closer until it reaches right past the watch and instead, he pulls his sleeve down over it. “You know what? I’ll just wait until I’m outside. Don’t want to turn into something that’ll destroy your lab.” He laughs sheepishly, trying to hide the fact that he would rather not blowup.
“Yes, that’s probably for the best.” David looks visibly disappointed, but he doesn’t say it. “I have quite the work ahead of me right here as well.” He taps the computer where the screen is already analyzing the scan of the Omnitrix.
David takes a seat, looking rather excited to get started. However, he also looks somewhat disappointed, after all his friend is waiting for him in the other room.
Hisashi, however, notices his conflicted expressions and thus offers up an idea. “How about this? Why don’t Chopper and I go over and sort out the data. And in the meantime, you can go ahead and catch up with All Might.”
David seems to like the idea except for one detail. “And what about them?” He gestures towards the teens.
Melissa, however, is the one to offer a solution. “Why don’t I take them on a tour of the island?”
“Would you really?” Ochaco beams.
“It wouldn’t be too much trouble, would it?” Izuku asks.
“Not at all.” Melissa smiles. “I’d be more than happy to.”
“It’s settled then.” Hisashi beams while taking a seat at the computer. “Go and have some fun.”
“Don’t worry we will!” Ochaco cheers, excited to finally go see the island.
Izuku grips Kraab’s head tightly, making sure he can’t get away “Are you gonna behave yourself if you come with?”
The bot rolls his eyes. “Yeah, I’ll behave. Just get me out of this lab. This place gives me the creeps.”
Izuku scowls but doesn’t say anything, but he does consider Kraab’s backstory and thus figures this is his way of dealing with it. So, he keeps his mouth shut and doesn’t say anything about it, not wanting to upset the cyborg any further.
“Come along everyone.” David grins from the doorway. “I’ll see you all out.”
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
Magnificent buildings, grand structures, and wondrous attractions are stretched across the landscape of I-island. Each of them towering tall under the warm summer sun, causing each one to gleam and dazzle even more than they have any right to be.
“Holy woah! This place is amazing!” Izuku awes finally able to have a good look at it all. “I can’t believe the entire island is man-made, it’s nuts!”
Melissa’s glad to see him so happy especially after that little scare. “And there’s normal city stuff for about everything you could need. The big downside is we can’t travel.”
“Really? How come?” Ochaco asks.
“Scientists and their families have to keep their work top secret. That ensures that there aren’t any leaks.”
Kraab scoffs. “Yeah, wouldn’t want the whole planet finding out about their illegal experimentations.”
Ochaco’s ears perk up and she falls back into her early conspiracy habits. “Like illegal weapons? Or playing god?”
“You both concern me.” Izuku deadpans, not liking that they’re on the same page.
Suddenly the ground shakes due to a heavy set of monstrous stomps.
Curious Izuku spins around and gaps at the sight before him. “Woooah! It’s the Monster Hero, Godzillo!!”
Godzillo, like his name suggests, looks almost exactly like Godzilla. From his giant reptilian appearance, long tail and claws, and dark gray scales. His hero costume consists of a white coat with a high collar, ripped to match its tattered hem, and a pair of baggy white pants. Red flame patterns decorate his collar and most of the lower portion of his pants, all lined with yellow, and he wears a thick, golden belt with similar patterns around his waist. His clawed feet are decorated with bands of spikes, and he also wears silver-plated knee-pads.
Godzillo grins down at the crowd, flashing them a peace sign as he stomps on by.
The crowd immediately eats it up with cheers and applause.
“Wow, I’ve only ever seen him on TV!”
“His Quirk is so insane!”
“Mr. Godzillo! When can we expect your rematch with King Donk?!”
Even Melissa’s surprised to see the hero here. “Nice, I bet his sponsor flew him out here for the EXPO.”
“He’s not the only one, look.” Ochaco points out.
There are many other heroes from all over the world milling about the island.
Like the floating petite woman with green hair that naturally curls up on the ends. And a form-fitting black dress with long sleeves, and four high-cut leg slits that show off her shapely long legs and low-heeled black shoes.
Or the young hero with a blank and uninterested look on his face. Who happens to be dressed in a full-body dog suit with a red collar, with his face showing where the dog's mouth should be.
Then there are hero teams like the 5 Power Ranger rip offs that are based on ice cream flavors.
Or the dynamic duo of a pair of mechanically armored heroes whose suits resemble that of a green tiger and a red bunny.
“They invite heroes to show off new gear and sign autographs.” Melissa explains while watching all the pro heroes walk by. “Looks like the events are in full swing.”
Izuku’s eyes are gleaming with sparkles. “This place is incredible!”
“A lot of the pro heroes will be at the big party tonight. Uh, but I’m sure you both already knew about that. Huh?” Melissa sheepishly grins while rubbing the back of her head. “I mean since you came all this way with Uncle Might.”
‘Oh, so that’s why he emailed me to bring formal clothes.’ Ochaco thinks. When she first got that little memo, she freaked out because she didn't have anything but thankfully someone offered to fix that problem for her.
They continue on their way until eventually finding themselves before one of the preview buildings.
“Let’s go in here.” Melissa suggests, pointing to the building that has UFOs and retro-looking aliens decorated across it. “There’s a lot of amazing things in here especially because it’s being hosted by Lex Corp!” Melissa giggles and rushes inside, and she’s quickly followed by the other teens.
The showroom is huge and filled with alien theming albeit the more romanticized and cartoonish version of aliens but still the place radiates future earth vibes. Especially with all the different machines, gadgets, and inventions all on display to the awestruck audience filling through.
“Hey look over here!” Melissa’s already racing ahead, already getting herself drawn into the excitement of the crowd. “You definitely have to check this out!”
She gestures up towards the massive industrial spaceship being displayed on the platform behind her. Apparently, it’s a hypothetical model of what Earth’s space travel will look like and it’s being supported by the mining company known as Weyland-Yutani.
“So, cool!” Izuku awe.
Ochaco gains awe as well but in the back of her mind she thinks that the Razor Crest is cooler.
Kraab seems to think the same and seems to check out from everything.
But they move on checking out the Tyrell Corporation’s Space Colonization program. Which was actually pretty cool since they had an interactive model of a minute space dome. Where they got to mess with all the high-tech gadgets and appliances inside.
They soon moved on to check out a set of Space Ranger astronaut suits, with green and white color schemes. Which for some reason gave Izuku some very nostalgic feelings.
And after that they strolled by the presentation being done by Oscorp. It was about using biomechanics and engineering to help humans adapt to environments on other planets.
It was all super cool, even with the knowledge that aliens are already out there and have the same equipment if not better. But still it was all in good fun, and it was still inspiring to see how much humanity is progressing. After all, progress never truly stops.
That is the thought going through Melissa’s head especially as they go from one invention to the next. “You know almost everything here was created using different inventions that Papa patented.” Izuku and Ochaco turn away from the machines being presented by the Union Aerospace Corporation in order to listen.
“Wow. I bet you’re proud of him.” Izuku states with a smile.
She is. “These support items will help heroes around the world. Who knows how many people will be effected because of his hard work?” She gestures towards the latest project from the Life Foundation to help prove her point.
Ochaco smiles, ignoring the vat of black goo moving around on stage. “You know, it’s really something when you can look up to your Dad like you do.”
“That’s because it’s my dream to become a scientist just like him.” Melissa states with a proud smile as they come to a stop before Buy-N-Large’s hypothetical space cruise rocket ship.
Izuku seems to recall something. “Oh, yeah? So, does that mean you’re training at the school here on the island?”
“Mm, hm I’m a third year.”
Izuku grins with excitement. “The I-Island Academy is where everyone who dreams of becoming a scientist wants to go.”
Ochaco’s jaw drops in amazement. “You must be like a super genius then?!”
Melissa gets all shy and sheepish at her compliment. “Oh, no I still got a lot to learn. Honestly, I should be studying much more.”
“Then that means we’re all in the same boat.” Ochaco breathes as she stares down at her fists in deep contemplation. “Even though I have okay control over my Quirk it sometimes feels like it’s not enough. It feels like no matter what I may never reach All Might’s level.” She may never be a symbol like he is…
Despite the somber expression on Ochaco’s face, Melissa can’t help but to find it admiral, because of its honesty. “Uncle Might really holds a special place in your heart, doesn’t he?” Ochaco gives her a soft smile in return. “Yeah, I guess he does.”
“And you?” Melissa looks to Izuku. “I bet it’s pretty amazing having Uncle Might as your teacher. Am I right?”
“In a way, it kinda is. But for me it’s a bit different.” Izuku’s sad to say as he thinks about everything that’s transpired between him and the Number One Hero. “But I will admit that no matter how I feel about him, I can’t help but fall for what he stands for. He’s still everything I strive to be…a hero.” And he wants to move past their…problems, he does. But when he saw All Might earlier, he couldn’t even bear to look the hero in the eyes or even properly acknowledge that he was there. There was even a part of himself that wanted to leave the lab the moment his eyes landed on the hero. And that makes him feel ashamed, ashamed that he can’t even see himself stand in the same room as All Might. But even so he does hope, a small part of him hopes, he can finally forgive him.
Melissa doesn't fully understand but what she does know is that they all have their personal struggles that they each need to get through. “We have a lot to live up to, don’t we?”
Ochaco smiles sympathetically at that. “Yeah, we sure do.”
“We’ll make it, I know it. Someday…” Izuku promises softly, almost like he’s whispering a wish. “You two especially.” He washes away his own regrets in order to prove the brightest of smiles to the girls. “You’re both amazing. And I’m sure you’ll each go on to do amazing things.”
Ochaco and Melissa smile, grateful to hear such kind words.
Izuku smiles back, glad to see all their spirits on the rise.
Someone slyly snickers from behind Izuku, making him freeze.
“Check you out. Who knew you could be such a smooth talker?”
Izuku spins around and is stunned to find the master of eavesdropping, Kyoka Jiro smirking up at him with her Earphone Jacks raised. “J-Jiro?!”
“Ahem.” Momo Yaoyorozu coughs, grabbing Izuku’s attention. “You seem to be having a good time, Midoriya.”
Izuku shrinks back, wishing he could just vanish and disappear.
“Yaoyorozu!” Ochaco cheers, rushing over and getting the girls in a big hug. “You're here! You both made it!”
“Of course, we made it.” Jiro smiles.
“Oh, this is so great!”
As the girls greet each other, Izuku and Melissa hang back unsure of what to do.
Kraab in the meantime watches on with mild interest. “Hey, kid. What’s with the sudden harem?”
“Sh-shut up!” Izuku blushes as he stuffs Kraab into his hoodie in an attempt to save what little dignity he has left.
Melissa, who thankfully didn’t hear Kraab, asks. “Are they from U.A., too?”
“Yeah, they’re my classmates.” Izuku explains as he finally manages to shut Kraab up. “And I kinda didn’t tell them I’d be here.”
Ochaco hurries to introduce Melissa to the group. “Everyone, this is our friend Melissa. Who's like really awesome! I mean she’s giving Deku and me a tour of the EXPO.”
“Nice to meet you.” Melissa greets with a warm smile. “My Dad and Uncle Might are really good frie-”
“Waaah!” Ochaco and Izuku instantly cut her off in a panic. Ochaco even grabs her by the hand and ducks her away so she can quickly explain the situation. “Hey, so, could you not bring up that I came here as All Might’s guest?”
“Uh, why?”
“Uhhh-”
“B-because A-All Might’s not trying to show fav-favoritism.” Izuku hurriedly explains while grasping at straws. “I mean I’m okay with it but not everyone might be.”
“Oh, okay. Got ya.” Melissa smiles figuring if they want to keep quiet about it then she shouldn’t pry. “Your secret’s safe.”
And with that Melissa tries to do some damage control by providing the perfect extraction. “How about we all grab some tea at the cafe?”
Both Izuku and Ochaco pray the two say yes.
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
“Wow, you really got to work with pro heroes?! Like out in the field?” Melissa awes as she and the girls have a seat in the terrace of one of the island’s cafes.
“Well, I guess.” Ochaco replies with a shy smile. “I mean it wasn’t anything special, just some summer tutoring with Thirteen is all.”
“Well, I went to the Summer Sonic Festival.” Jiro explains. “But get this, an idiot of a villain tried to take over the place just so he could get, and I quote his “big break.””
Momo gasps. “That sounds awful.”
“Na, he was a real blow hard.” Jiro laughs. “And the festival was still great.”
Momo sighs with relief. “That’s good. After the Aquania incident I was worried that maybe I had ruined your summer vacations.”
Melissa frowns, not understanding what she’s referring to. “Incident?”
“Yeah!” Jiro goes ahead and explains. “So, like some secret government robots attacked the resort we were staying at.”
Ochaco rapidly nods her head while giving Melissa a subtle look. “Y-Yeah, they were so scary we thought they were aliens.”
Melissa’s eyes widen as she picks up on Ochaco’s hint. “Sounds like an experience all the same. And it sounds like no one got hurt so that’s lucky.”
The girls agree and continue to talk about this and that. And Jiro event lets Melissa know that they wanna check out more of the Pavilions and the Academy's exhibit later to which Melissa is happy to share details about.
As they discuss and share their summers, Izuku sinks down at his own table and takes a moment to relax. The girls chatted the whole way here and it was kinda exhausting for him to keep up, especially when they’d kept stopping at every gift shop to do some shopping which he had to carry everything for them. But that was mainly his fault for even offering and Jiro jumped at the chance to have someone be their pack mule for the evening. Hence all the paper bags piled at his feet.
Even Kraab seems exhausted but that may have been because he was getting whipped around so much from Izuku trying to keep up.
And so as Kraab hangs on the back of Izuku’s shoulder and Izuku himself takes a breather a tall cold drink is set down on the table in front of him along with a friendly voice greeting him. “Thanks for waiting.”
Izuku immediately perks up. “I know that voice. Kaminari!!”
Sure enough, it is Denki Kaminari who happens to be wearing a waiter’s outfit.
The girls immediately snap their heads around at the sound of Izuku’s voice and they are stunned to find Denki Kaminari in a waiter’s outfit giving them all an amused grin.
But not only that the next sight nearly gives the girls a heart attack.
“Is that…Mineta?!” Ochaco gasps with worry.
It is. Standing beside his pal and wearing the same waiter’s outfit is one Minoru Mineta. Who can’t help but throw the girls a coy wink.
Jiro can’t believe it. “What are you two doing here?!” She gives Kaminari especially a dirty look. “You following me or something, Perv?”
“I’m not a perv!” Kaminari snaps, offended by her jab. “This is my summer job! They needed extra wait staff so we signed up so we could get a free trip to the island.”
A teasing smirk stretches across Jiro’s lips. “Was your Mom heartbroken with her little “Night Light” when he decided to leave her?”
Denki’s entire face turns red in anger and embarrassment as Jiro uses his mom’s own nickname for him as a weapon. “Jiro! Stop messing with me!”
She laughs in response, nearly falling out of her seat as she does.
Ignoring them, Mineta smirks and begins to act like he's some kind of master strategist. “We get to explore the EXPO on our break, and we make some money.” He smirks at the girls, his lecherous eyes quickly scanning over each of them. “Plus, there’s a chance we’ll have passionate encounters with some of the cute-Woah!” He locks onto the blonde glasses beauty immediately. “Oh, my god I think I’m in love!”
He and Denki immediately grab Izuku and haul him away like he’s always been part of the scheme.
“Hey, Midoriya.” Denki jeers while holding an arm over Izuku’s shoulders. “Who’s that high voltage hottie over there?”
Mineta leers and leans in. “Don’t be greedy, introduce her to us.”
Izuku so badly wishes he could shrink away but Denki was smart in holding him because he definitely would have run off by now. “Well, you see-”
*SMACK!*
“OWWW!!!” Both Denki and Mineta cry out, holding their heads where bumps are already starting to form.
Izuku holds his hands to his mouth in shock while a fuming Kraab has his one claw raised while he looks over the kid’s shoulder.
“Why would you do that?!” Izuku shouts.
Kraab settles down, looking off to the distance with a faraway look, as he tries to actually figure that out himself. “I don’t know. It felt like thousands of angry online commenters were yelling at me to…slap them.”
“What are you talking about?”
“You jerk!!” Both Denki and Mineta yell out before they begin shouting at Izuku for being hit on the head.
And while they demand to know what that thing is on Izuku’s back and he explains it’s a new robot support item he got over the summer, Melissa turns to the girls and asks them for a little clarification. “Are they your classmates?”
The moment she says anything, Denki and Mineta immediately forget about Izuku and Kraab to instead pose before the blonde.
“That’s right.” Denki smirks while trying too hard to look cool.
As does Mineta. “We’re basically pros.”
Before any of them could put them in their place the outcry from a speeding Engine beats them all to it. “Why are you two slacking off?! You wanted to make more money, didn’t you?! But you’re not willing to work HARD!?!” Tenya Iida screams at the top of his lungs, zooming right through the terrace like a race car, and scaring all of them half to death in the process.
“Waaah!” Denki and Mineta immediately fall over and cower, a clear sign that this is not the first time they’ve been berated by their Class President.
Izuku shoots up to his feet in surprise. “Iida?!”
As does Ochaco, who kicks over her chair in the process. “Wait, you’re here too?!”
Iida stands tall as he glowers down at the cowering idiots. “I come from a long line of heroes.” He explains before spinning around with his arms moving up and down at his sides like he’s a dancing robot. “It’s to be expected that we receive an invitation to the EXPO. But my family was busy. So, it’s just me.”
Momo nods, fully understanding the situation. “I wondered if you’d be here. I received an invitation because my Father’s a shareholder in some of the EXPO’s sponsor companies. Like OCP and Roxxon Energy.” She smiles, clasping her hands together. “It’s so fun that we’ll all get to go to the Preview.”
Jiro smiles, grateful for the opportunity to even be here. “Yeah, and she had a plus one, so we basically gambled for them.” Gambled as in had a Rock, Paper, Scissors match between all of Class 1-A’s girls. “So, after a partial game of chance I ended up joining the fun as her guest.” Good old Scissors won her the day.
Momo nods, confirming her story. “I would have liked to bring one more, but my father used the last invitation for himself.”
Ochaco looks around wondering if she’ll see Mr. Yaoyorozu hanging around. “Where is he by the way?”
“Oh, I’m afraid this trip is still business for him. So, he’s off visiting other companies in the hopes of striking up future deals and projects. He’s especially excited to begin business with the Wayne-Powers company from America. But I’m sure we’ll see him at the Preview tonight.
Ochaco turns to the boys and fills them in. “And the other girls are here too, they just can’t visit the Preview.”
Izuku leans against this table as he considers that nearly half the class is already here on the island. “Oh, are they really?”
“Uh, huh.” Momo replies. “We’re all planning to get together and look around once the EXPO opens up to the public, tomorrow.”
Upon hearing this a thought crosses Melissa’s mind. “Here’s a thought. Why don’t I show you girls the sights?”
The girls immediately jump up in excitement. “Yeah, sure. You have time?”
Melissa smiles and gives them a big nod.
“That’s awesome!” The three cheer out.
“Please, take us with you!” Denki and Mineta beg only to be immediately put down by Jiro.
But before she can really lay it into them a booming explosion rocks the entire island. And for each of them, especially the girls, thought the island was gonna sink.
Good thing Kraab is trapped to Izuku’s back as he flails about trying to see where the blast came from. “Take cover! Unknown enemies inbound!”
Izuku ducks down at that and yells out. “What was that noise?!”
They look out to the horizon and smoke a pillar of clear smoke rising from one of the nearby arenas. And so worried that the island might actually be under attack they all rush off to find what the hell is going on.
Thankfully it doesn’t take them long to arrive onto the scene, which happens to be an outdoor arena with a massive rocky cliff face in the middle while a hero, who Izuku recognizes as Amplifier, is announcing for some sort of competition.
[“A clearance of 33 seconds!”] Amplifier cheers the excited audience. [“He’s in 8th place!”]
On the two massive screens hanging above the arena appears the image of a fully costumed Eijiro Kirishima taking on a squad of robots inside the rocky arena.
Ochaco lets out a gasp as they all rush over to the railing overlooking the arena. “Kirishima?!”
Based on her reaction, Melissa jumps to an assumption. “So, I’m guessing he’s from U.A. as well.”
“Yeah, he’s in the same class as us.”
Amplifier calls out over the intercom. [“Please welcome our next challenger!”]
Curious, Izuku leans over the railing to see this next challenger’s appearance. Only to have all the joy sucked out of him the moment he sees him. “Bakugou?!”
Good thing Katsuki Bakugou didn’t hear him as he marches onto the field.
[“The Ability Attack Course has been reset!] Amplifier cheers. [“Ready? Go!”]
The moment she says go Bakugou rockets into air with a savage grin plastered to his face. Racing across the air like a missile he comes across the first bot and blasts it apart with a single Explosion to the head. And with skills only he can do he uses that same blast to ricochet himself towards the next bot and the next. Pinballing around like a bouncing firework display as he blasts apart each and one of the robots to nothing until there’s only one left at the top of the rocky cliff.
“DIE!!!” And Bakugou unleashes a devastating Explosion that rocks the entire stadium and results in the robot turning to nothing but shards of scrap metal for the recycling bins.
[“Look at the time! Only 15 seconds, First Place!”]
And like a boss, Bakugou lands with a cocky smirk on his face almost like it’s only natural he’d get first place. But upon noticing Kirishima grinning at him like an idiot he scowls and turns away, trying to play it cool. Like it was nothing more than an easy task for him to win.
Kirishima grins, ignoring Bakugou’s reaction and instead turns to see the crowd’s reaction. “Hey, isn’t that Midoriya in the stands?”
Bakugou stops dead in his tracks and looks up only to see Deku’s stupid face sheepishly waving at him.
And how does Bakugou respond? Be rocketing himself up at the railing and nearly biting Deku’s head off like he’s a caged lion trying to escape its enclosure. “Dammit!! What are you doing here, DEKU!?!”
Izuku leaps away and yelps. “Oh, uh, hey there B-Bakugou. J-just enjoying my vacation is all. Now why don’t we calm-”
“DON’T YOU DARE TELL ME WHAT TO DO!!!”
Iida immediately cuts in between the two. “Bakugou, behave yourself!” He scolds but it serves nothing other than to provoke Bakugou to yell and throw curses at him instead.
Melissa watches on in the background while finding the ash-blonde’s reaction odd. “Why is that boy so angry?”
Jiro shrugs as if accepting that it’s the sad norm. “That’s just who he is.”
Ochaco glares and states with full seriousness. “He and Deku are fated rivals.” Or at the very least they have a history.
Momo leans over the railing and calls out to their redheaded classmate. “So, Kirishima you two got asked to I-EXPO as well?”
“Naw. Uraraka gave us her extras.”
“Uraraka?” Momo stares at the pink cladded girl in question.
As does Jiro. “You did that? Why?”
Ochaco braces herself, she knew this would come up eventually, but she didn’t think it’d be so soon. “Uh, well I got them because I won the Sports Festival. But by the time I got them all of the girls already had tickets to come.”
Bakugou tsks in annoyance. “So, she pawned them off to us. And then Shitty Hair and to go and drag me here!”
“What?” Kirishima grins sheepishly. “Just be happy we were her first choice.”
Ochaco frowns, not sure what he’s talking about. “Huh? I don’t remember saying that.”
“Huh?”
“Well, my first choice was actually my parents, but they were too busy.” Ochaco admits, and this time it’s actually truthful. “Then I wanted to give them to Deku, but his Dad told me they already got tickets.” She accidentally texted the wrong Midoriya about them, but it ended up working out “Then I asked Iida. And then Todoroki.”
Kirishima smiles nervously. “And then you asked us?”
“Well, that was more by chance since Tsuyu and I happened to run into you both at the beach that one time.” Ochaco mentions offhandedly.
“We were after thoughts?” Bakugou can’t help but be annoyed by that fact. They, or rather he, was nothing but an afterthought in this case. “You offered us those tickets because we were convenient?!”
Ochaco can’t even bring herself to look him in the eye as she tells him how it is. “Well, if the shoe fits?”
“Damn you!!”
Kirishima laughs, not having any regrets, after all they did get a free trip out of it. “You guys gonna do this villain course or what?”
Bakugou growls and grips the railing so hard it bends. “Don’t even try it! There’s no way any of you will get a better score than I did!”
“Yeah, you’re probably right. Yup” Izuku nervously responds, not wanting to get into an argument right now.
Ochaco raises a playful eyebrow and smirks. “Huh, I’m not so sure. I bet we can beat it.”
“Yeah, you’re probably right. Yup” Izuku pauses as he realizes his slipup. “EH!?!”
Bakugou finally leaps over the railing, marching over like a big shot, and shoving Iida out of the way. “Just hurry and get your pathetic attempt over with, you damn nerds!” He leans in quick and screams in Izuku’s face. “Then you get out of here!!”
Well how can he possibly argue with that kind of logic? And so the next thing he and Ochaco know they’re all signed up for the competition.
[“We got several new challengers coming in on the last minute!”] Amplifier excitedly announces before the cheering crowd. [“Will they come out on top? Or will they fail in front of the entire EXPO?!”]
Ochaco takes center stage with a shaky smirk as she tries to disguise her nerves. But as she gazes out towards the rocky cliff face, she focuses and allows One For All to flow, causing her body to glow within a pink aura.
Melissa leans over the railing, watching curiously as the pink aura surrounds Ochaco.
[“The Attack Course is set. Ready? Go!”]
And Ochaco’s off sprint at full speed, pressing her fingers to her arms and making herself weightless, before launching herself into the air like a missile. She zooms forward and slams into the first bot, bounces off and races off for the next one, gelding around easily thanks to the Gyro-Disc propelling her forward.
As she speeds up the cliff face more robots appear from each side. But Ochaco, thinking on her toes, spins and throws out Ryou Spheres in each direction, blasting the robots away.
Melissa watches closely as Ochaco goes through the course. There’s a sense of familiarity and amazement as she watches Ochaco’s Quirk at work. That speed. That power. That flare. It all seems so familiar yet different. ‘It’s just like Uncle Might’s?’
Meanwhile, Ochaco manages to SMASH apart the last bot, completing her run.
[“An incredible run!”] Amplifier cheers as she checks the scoreboard. [“She’s in second place at 16 seconds!!”]
The crowd cheers as Ochaco slowly floats over towards the railing, landing softly to the applause and cheers of her friends and classmates.
Jiro smirks in astonishment. “You killed it girl!”
“That was a spectacular showing, Uraraka!” Iida cuts in, feeling mighty proud of his classmate’s performance.
“Aw, thanks guys.” Ochaco blushes, grateful to have their support.
“What?!” Bakugou snaps in outrage. “That was nothing! You call that good! I swept that score hands down!”
Jiro rolls her eyes in annoyance. “Yeah, but only by a second.”
“You shut your mouth, Earlobes!! There ain’t nobody that can beat my score!!”
Suddenly the entire stadium shakes and rumbles as the temperature takes a sudden plunge. With the way the place is shaking you would think that there was an avalanche pouring down on them and their terror only grows as Amplifier let’s out an ungodly scream.
[“Eeeeeeekkk! This is insane! 14 seconds!! This gentleman has just jumped to the top of the pack!”]
The teens all stare down, their jaws dropping at the sight of the entire cliff face encased in a giant glacier while Shoto Todoroki looks on indifferently as if he didn’t just put a lot of effort into winning.
“Todoroki?” Izuku gasps. “He’s here, too?”
“Um, yeah.” Ochaco frowns. “I thought I implied that earlier?”
Melissa frowns while watching the dual-haired boy. “Another one from U.A.?”
Momo nods. “Yup.”
“Your class is amazing.” Melissa can't help but admire their Quirks and personalities. “You’re gonna be such great heroes.”
The girls all blush and smile in embarrassment, Momo especially. “Oh, please you’re too kind.”
Suddenly it feels like a bomb explodes just feet behind them but instead it’s Bakugou who launches himself back down into the arena. “Out of the way, Icy-Hot Bastard!!”
Shoto turns around with that ever-present indifference, finally noticing Bakugou for the first time. “Bakugou.”
Bakugou slides into a stop as he gets all up in Shoto’s face. “You can’t just appear out of nowhere and show me up?!”
Shoto ignores him in favor of looking past and spotting the rest of their classmates up with the audience. “And I see the others are here too.”
“Don’t ignore me!!” Bakugou snaps before letting out a low growl. “What are you even doing on the island anyway?”
“My father was invited so I’m representing him.”
“Um, excuse me.” Amplifier sheepishly cuts in as she tries to move them both along. “The next person is waiting.”
“Shut up!! I’m doing it again!!” Bakugou screams, freighting the poor women.
“Everyone please stop!” Iida demands as he races onto the arena. “You’re gonna make the world think that U.A.’s full of degenerates!”
As Iida tries to pry the raging Bakugou away Kirishima leaps down to help out as well before Bakugou decides to use Iida and Shoto for his next round of Explosions. Izuku also hops down to help but not before passing Kraab off to Ochaco.
“Hehehehe.” Melissa giggles, enjoying Class 1-A’s variety of characters greatly.
Too bad the girls don’t as they all shrink away with embarrassment.
“Oh, sorry to laugh. I was just thinking you have a whole lot of fun at your school.”
As she says this the massive screens project the image of Iida, Kirishima, and Izuku hauling a raging Bakugou off the stage.
Momo smiles in embarrassment. “Well, it’s…never boring. I’ll say that much at least)
Both Jiro and Ochaco bow their heads in defeat. “True.”
“Let me go! I’m going again!” Bakugou roars while struggling against Iida and Kirishima.
“No way! You already went! Get over it, dude!”
Izuku laughs nervously as he hangs back, figuring that if he jumps in he’ll actually make Bakugou even angrier.
Shoto walks over and tries his hand at small talk. “So, it appears you made to I-island as well.”
“Yeah, my Dad got a special invite.” Izuku smiles.
“Oh, you came with your father?” Shoto scans the audience for the man.
“He’s not here right now. Afraid we kinda did come here on business more than vacation.”
“Really? What kind of business?”
Izuku freezes while his brain scrambles for an excuse. “Oh, um, uh, important…business?” He says rather unsurely, praying that Shoto won’t ask for any more details.
Shoto in response gives him a blank skeptical stare.
From up in the stands, Kraab slaps himself in the face while shaking his head in Ochaco’s arm. “It’s a real miracle no one’s figured it out by now.”
Ochaco shrinks back, feeling guilty because she can agree with him on that.
“Um, excuse me.” A shaken Amplifier nervously approaches Shoto. “Um, so is there by chance you can like clear the stage, please.” She gestures to Izuku. “Your friend here still needs to take his turn.”
“I understand.” Shoto raises his left arm which sets itself ablaze. And then with one swing he emits a massive wave of flames that melt and evaporate all the ice all at once.
“Oh, then we can-” Amplifier grins as she cheers into her mic. [“Get this competition back on!”] The crowd lets out a roar of applause as she gestures towards Izuku. [“Now please don’t feel too intimidated! Those are gonna be some tough acts to follow!”]
Meanwhile, the rest of the teens snap their attention back towards the stadium upon Amplifier’s announcement.
“Oh, cool it’s Midoriya’s turn now!” Kirishima grins as he finally let’s Bakugou go and rushes over to the railing so he can get the best viewing point.
Jiro smirks over at the redhead. “Wanna bet which form he’ll take? I’m guessing Feedback.”
“Jiro!” Iida scolds while karate chopping the air. “Gambling is very much frowned upon! You are going to cause U.A.’s reputation to sink even lower than it already has!”
Ochaco immediately cuts in and excitedly states. “My money's on Rath!” That alien is just so much fun to watch. “Ooh, or maybe Upchuck!”
“Uraraka!!” Iida gasps in betrayal.
“No way.” Kirishima waves her idea off without even knowing what this Rath guy is. “I bet he’s going with his new Plant guy.”
However, Everyone else stares at them in confusion. “What are they talking about?”
Momo frowns and airs her confusion. “I'm afraid we don’t know what you two are referring to? I mean, I don’t think Midoriya even has a plant form.”
“Pft.” Bakugou scoffs while standing back away from the others. “What’s so great about that form? It’s super lame.”
“Wait, you mean-” She and the others turn and stare down at Izuku expectantly.
The greenette becomes shy and nervous under their gazes. “Yeah, so my summer’s been kinda…busy.” And that’s putting it very mildly. “But not to mention, I was gonna go with a different form you guys haven’t seen yet!” He grins excitedly as he announces his next form. “And his name is Cannonbolt!!”
Upon him speaking the name, the eerily glowing Omnitrix glows bright under his sleeve and in an instant Izuku vanishes in a flash of green light.
Upon the flash’s end, a very confused Cannonbolt stands where Izuku stood. “Woah, what happened? I never even touched it.”
Every member of Class 1-A freezes in place, their brains unable to process what they just saw and heard.
They all rush the railing as they begin shouting down at him.
“Wait, what did you say?!” Jiro practically screams, still reeling in shock from Izuku’s new form and odd statement.
Momo’s just as confused. “What do you mean you didn’t touch it? You mean your watch?!”
“Deku!!” Ochaco rushes over the railing with worry written all over her face. “What’s going on?!”
Kraab shakes his head rapidly, wanting to know too.
“Midoriya, what happened?!” Iida shouts. “And what in the heck are you?!”
“I know right?” Kirishima frowns while trying to hold back the oncoming headache. “And I thought that Plant Guy was weird.”
“Plant Guy?” Cannonbolt frowns, throwing Kirishima a questioning eyebrow. “Kirishima, that guy’s name is Wildvine.”
Once again upon saying the alien’s name aloud Cannonbolt vanishes and transforms, being replaced by a surprised Wildvine.
And if his classmates weren’t confused before they surely are now. So, much so even their brains have shut off while trying to process it all.
Even Bakugou’s at a loss for words with his jaw hanging open. Hell, Shoto’s also stunned by the sight as he gazes up at the tall plant creature with pure astonishment.
Wildvine stares at his hands while processing the phenomenon himself. “No way. Did I just transform just by saying what I wanted?”
There’s only one way to test it out and so Wildvine shouts out the next alien. “Grey Matter!”
He transforms instantly into the Galvian. “Diamondhead!”
“Cool.” Diamondhead smirks as his arm turns into a blade. “This rocks!”
Without even saying the next alien’s name he transforms. “Professor Shield must have unlocked some kind of Master Control or something.” XLR8 thinks aloud as he admires his sharp claws and lengthy tail before transforming into Heatblast. “Now I can go hero-” He transforms into Big Chill. “Just by thinking it.” He transforms again and this time he becomes Bullfrag, who smirks as he adjusts his sunglasses. “This is way cool.”
“Um, excuse me.”
Bullfrag nearly jumps in surprise, he forgot Amplifier was even there.
“I don’t know what’s going on but are you ready to begin?”
Bullfrag gives her a cocky smirk in response.
She smiles and gets the course going. [“Great! Here we go everybody! Ready. Set. Go!!”]
Bullfrag vanishes and then a streak of blue zooms forward. And in a blink of an eye XLR8 reaches the first robot, transforms, and Four Arm’s first slams into the bot’s frame shattering it completely.
The red hulk then jumps over to the next bot and transforms in midair back into Wildvine. And before he even lands Wildvine shoots his arms out and grabs a pair of bots, swings them around and slams them into another poor unexpecting target. All the while he’s falling back towards a lone bot.
Before he slams into the bot, Cannonbolt takes his place in a flash and ricochets off the robot, shutting it, and launching himself at the next bot. Upon which Izuku transforms again and this time into Upchuck who immediately gobbles up the robot in one fell swoop. And as the little chubby alien slides to a stop, he fires multiple plasma blasts at the remaining robots before blasting the ground and rockets himself into the air towards the final robot. To which he takes on one more transformation, Rath.
“Rawwwr!!” Rath unleashes a beastly roar as he tears his clawed fist right through the robot’s metal body.
Upon defeating the bot, the scoreboard flashes onto the screens.
[“Would you look at that?!”] Amplifier gasps as she stares at the score. [“9 seconds! He got 9 seconds flat! It’s a new I-Island Best!! He’s in first place! First place!”]
Everyone in the class feels faint, some even nearly stumbling over at what they just witnessed. And as for Bakugou he looks like even the lightest of breezes will shove him over.
Rath grins up at the ash-blonde and really lets his overeager pride get the best of him. “Let me tell ya somethin’, Katsuki Bakugou, A.K.A. Ground Zero, who also happens to be an ex-friend that I am currently learning to tolerate again! Rath just showed you up, big time! Ha!” Rath flexes and grins, greatly enjoying his time on the two massive screens. “Rath is a total stud! Ha ha ha!”
Being made fun of was the perfect thing to snap Bakugou back into reality as he suddenly rockets back down into the arena again. “WHAT THE FUCK DID YOU SAY TO ME, SHERE KHAN!?!”
Rath immediately throws the incoming bomb a finger. “Rath says whatever he wants! You got that, Katsuki Bakugou?!”
Bakugou lands with a reasoning explosion as he gets all in Rath’s face. He’s so enraged he looks like an angry Tiger himself. “I’ll fucking kill you, Deku.” He growls dangerously.
“Ha! Rath can take you on even with both claws tied behind Rath’s back!”
“Then I’ll take those claws and shove em up your ass!!”
“Rath is gonna kick your hinny!!”
As the two shout back and forth at each other everyone else is still trying to process it all. But there is something that is able to cross their minds at least. “HOW!?!”
Melissa frowns, worried that they might have too many questions and decides it’d be best if she reigned in the damage. “In case you weren't aware. But my father, David Shield that is. Created Deku’s Omnitrix, his support item, which helps him control his Quirk, One Man Army. So, we invited Deku here so my father could give him some upgrades.”
A grinning Bullfrag jumps onto the railing, startling them in the process. “Upgrades? This is a game breaking hack!” He transforms back into a grinning Izuku who’s feeling so exhilarated by the sudden rush of power, speed, and skill. Before with the limiter and the recharge it always felt like he had to make the most out of his time as a lien, but now, now he’s free. “With Master Control, I can go Hero Time, All the Time!!”
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But now it’s time for all of them to explore the rest of the EXPO.
And how else should they start their tour then by checking out Invent Co.’s Bubble Transporter? A truly marvelous and admittedly fun machine that encases passengers in a giant soapy bubble before letting them float up and over the island.
Jiro and Momo happily step up to the platform first. They awe as the machine activates and encases them in a foamy bubble before, they’re gently lifted into the air by a controlled air current.
Iida steps up next while Shoto is encouragingly shoved forward by Ochaco. “I rather not.”
Ochaco smiles as she shoves him forward. “Don't be like that! Enjoy yourself, Todoroki!” Besides, they already lost Bakugou and Kirishima all because the former didn’t want to waste time on extras like them.
“It’s perfectly safe.” Ochaco promises as she steps back and watches as Shoto and Iida are swallowed up by a giant bubble.
As she watches them float away, Ochaco turns to Melissa and asks. “It is safe, right?”
“Of course!” Melissa smiles as she and Ochaco step onto the platform. But Melissa pauses as she recalls some earlier incidents. “I-I think.”
Ochaco starts gripping the strap that’s holding Kraab over her shoulder tighter as they’re encased in their own giant bubble.
And up they go, joining the others as they harmlessly float over the island’s many important facilities, high-tech buildings, and wondrous sights.
However, despite the marvelous view Shoto can’t help but allow his mind to wonder. “Wait, who’s Midoriya with?”
Iida starts, becoming incredibly worried that they may have left him behind by mistake!
But a sudden shake of the bubble causes him to stumble and fall.
Shoto helps him up as they both look to find a grinning Stinkfly laughing at them from outside the bubble.
Stinkfly buzzes away and he makes a point to fly in between the rest of the bubbles, figurating around them out of good fun. After circling them he transforms in midair and Terraspin immediately begins to plummet before adjusting himself to hover alongside them.
He lowers down underneath the bubbles and aims up, producing a strong enough gust to propel the bubble up. Not enough to endanger anyone but enough to speed up the gently floating bubbles much to the rider’s delights.
“Woooaaah! Hahahaha!”
After gently being brought down from the bubbles the group decided to check out the Energy Usage Center where it’s nothing but one giant laser show demonstrating the various capabilities and uses of lasers and other forms of energy for various purposes.
And what a shot it is with a variety of inventions and rays on full display for the general audiences. Such as an arc reactor provided by Stark Industries or the many -inators on display from some company from the Tri-State Area.
All in all it’s a wonderful show except for one tiny problem: the infestation of Buzzshocks running around the place.
“Hahahahaha bzz!!” The swarm of Buzzshocks all laugh and jeer as they each go about their own way of enjoying the inventions and lasers.
Some even managed somehow to make their way inside the arc reactor, and they’re being spun around while laughing their heads off as if they were socks in a washing machine. “Hahahahaha bzz!!”
Even more of them are messing around with the giant, ridiculously designed inators. That is until they mess around them so much that they tip over, falling over each other like a set of dominos.
“Hey, what’s happening?!” A long nose pharmacist in a lab coat with a Drusselsteinian accent, cries out as he watches his prized inators come crashing down. “Nooooo! Curse you little electrical beings! Curse you!”
“Hahahahaha bzz!!”
The rest of the teens watch on in horror and embarrassment as Buzzshock makes a mess out of the place. Iida especially is taking it hard, having turned as white as a ghost while his open jaw hangs limp.
“Hahahahaha bzz!!” The rowdy Buzzshocks all gather around several blaster-like machines on display from Aperture Laboratories. “Hahahahaha bzz!!”
The teens immediately rush over before Buzzshock can power up the machines. “No! No! No! No! No! No!”
After rounding up the wild Buzzshocks the teens decided to head over towards the Academic courtyard where students from prestige academies like Xavier’s School for Gifted Youngsters and SFIT get to show off their talents.
And the SFIT displays were definitely worth their salt with such a genius array of tech and inventions being demonstrated.
Although the school’s Lizard mascot was a bit annoying so much, so Ripjaws tried to scare him off, but all it did was have the opposite effect. Apparently, the guy wearing the costume is a big fan of monstrous heroes.
But after slipping away with Ghostfreak’s help the group were free to explore.
Melissa and Jiro were instantly drawn to a Plasma Laser Cutter slicing through layers of brick. They were very much happy enough just watching it work, but then Diamondhead had to squeeze in and see if the cutter could slice him much to the girls’ grief.
The results, no, but it stung, a lot.
After getting chewed out by Jiro, Diamondhead decided to join Momo and Shoto to go inspect a display of chemical compounds being encased into orbs of various bright cheerful colors.
But after the chemicals were processed into orbs they would just sit there.
And their bright colors and odd textures are too hard to ignore especially for a bug like Big Chill who glides closer towards one of the bigger sized orbs and slowly raises a finger to poke it.
Seeing what he’s doing Momo instantly switches into mom mode and scolds him very sternly. “Midoriya.”
Big Chill stops, his hand stopping in place.
“No.”
His hand inches closer ever so slowly.
“No.” She repeats giving him a warning look.
His finger’s only an inch away.
“I said no!”
Even Shoto steps in to warn him. “You better listen to her.”
His finger stops and he even pulse away a bit, much to their relief. But then he instantly goes against the and jabs it anyway.
“Midoriya!!” The two yell out as the orb implodes and splatters a gaseous pink dust all over them.
As the pink dust settles Momo gasps as Big Chill begins to phase away into the ground. “Oh, no. You get back here young man, this instant!”
After losing them both, he decided to test check out a hyper acceleration bike that’s propelled on a pair of wheels that uses electromagnets to increase speed and acceleration. Iida took much interest in it, and even took notes as he watched XLR8 try his luck at out speeding the bike.
And finally Lodestar took a great interest at a kid’s various inventions revolving around magnetism, like his magnetic gauntlets and such. Even Kraab thought it was cool but too bad for him he was stuck to Ochaco who was way more fascinating in the kid’s buddy robot. “He’s like a giant marshmallow!” She squeals in delight as she gives the large white robot a hug.
The friendly bot gives her a friendly pat on the head. ^You are very good. Have a lollipop.^
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A phone vibrates, echoing through the empty 66 dock port. Much like a lone cricket singing its eerie song in the middle of the haunted forest.
From inside the dock’s control area, a man watches his men rush the area for any dangers before he decides to answer the buzzing phone. “I picked up the goods as planned.” He pauses as he listens in to the other person on the line. “What? All Might’s here now? … It doesn’t matter. We can handle him no problem.”
With that he hangs up, holding the phone at his side as he watches his men sort through the shipping container containing their supplies and weapons.
“Of course, he had to show up.” He growls in annoyance.
His phone begins to ring again as the yellow screen turns back on.
The leader pulls the phone to his face and answers. “What is it now?”
He pauses as the phone whispers into his ear.
“Like I told him already. All Might won’t be a problem. … Who is he?” The leader smirks. “Well, let me tell you.”
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David sits back with a heavy sigh as he leans away from his computer as the steady beep from the heart monitor provides the only break in the silence.
Meanwhile, Toshinori lies still inside a cold dark pod while various scanners hum and analyze his health, form, body, and overall power levels. He breathes steadily through his breathing mask and does his best to lie still although he hopes the examination will be over soon since he’s already been lying inside the tank for an hour now.
David’s screen signals the exam’s completion and a graph pops onto the monitor revealing the results.
And they are devastating to see, David can feel his heart plummeting at the sight before him. It’s as if he’s had a part of his world shattered by a terrible truth.
Meanwhile, Toshinori pulls himself out from the pod and sits up as David comes to terms with the results.
“I-I don’t get it, Toshi.” David turns, gesturing towards the graph that’s displaying Toshi’s sudden drop in power. “Why are your power levels going down so dramatically?”
According to the chart in this last year alone there have been several major drops, and Toshinori can recognize each one. Starting with the day he passed on One For All to Young Uraraka to the Final Exam and Young Midoriya’s outburst.
“I know you were seriously injured by All For One but to suddenly get these numbers is absurd. What in the world happened to you?” David asks with a shaky uncertain breath.
Toshinori lets out a blood-stained cough as he thinks about his answer. “I suppose if you’re a hero for a long time your body starts to fall apart.”
David clearly doesn’t like that answer, and neither does he.
‘I wish I could tell him the truth about One For All. But if I did, I’d risk getting him and Melissa caught up in the fight against All For One.’ He can’t do that to them, not to them. It’d be unfair to drag them into his fight, into his dangers.
And so he will have to live with the guilt that he must allow his dear old friend to live on believing that All Might will soon be no more.
“At this rate the Symbol of Peace will disappear.” David quietly breaths in frustration, desperately trying to hold out for some kind of hope or sign. “The only reason Japan’s able to keep its crime rate at 6% is because of your presence. Other countries hover around 20% and some are even worse than that.” Not to mention All Might’s presence alone deters even the world’s alien population from becoming rowdier and more chaotic. And that’s not even including the alien civilizations out there that could potentially see Earth as a target. What will happen when they, aliens and villains, find out that the world’s greatest champion has weakened?
“Honestly, part of me wishes you never left. America could use you.”
Toshinori understands, he understands his friend’s plight, but even so they both have to face the facts. All Might is only a man, not a god. “There’s no need to be so pessimistic, Dave. The world is full of capable pro heroes. Not to mention the good people like you who support them. Besides I can still be All Might for a few hours each day, I’m not dead yet.” He chuckles, trying to lighten the mood with a bad joke.
“Come on.” David scolds airing his frustration and pain. “What if a monstrous villain appears? And you’re not capable of saving us again?”
Sadly, this is something Toshinori, on some level, has already considered and has already come to terms with. “Listen. Just in case that day comes, understand that I have no intention of stepping down.” He knows that one day that every well may…will happen. So, there is no point in denying it, but rather to prepare for it. ‘Besides there’s still hope. For the future of One For All. And the Symbol of Peace. A new generation will rise to take my place.’
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As the sun begins to set, an Automatic Message happily rings out and informs all the visitors and residences across the entirety of the island. [“The I-EXPO Preview will be closing at 6 PM. Thank you for coming, enjoy your night.”]
After locking up the cafe for the night both Denki and Mineta collapse as their exhaustion hits them at all once. “Uugh.”
Mineta lets out an exhausted groan as he collapses beside the electric blond. “The EXPO isn’t even open to the public yet. If we’re this slammed now, will we ever get to rest?”
“Shut up!” Denki cries while holding his aching head in his hands. “I don’t want to think about it.” He sniffs.
“Hey, boys.” Ochaco calls out.
The two groan as they peer up and find Ochaco, Shoto, Jiro, Momo, Iida, and Melissa strolling towards them.
Shoto blinks in surprise, not knowing the two were indeed here.
Meanwhile, Iida flashes them a proud grin as his arm karate chops the air. “You should be proud of the work you’ve done today.” He leans down and presents the pair with two small slips of paper.
To which Mineta and Denki stare at, so exhausted that they can’t even make out the little script of writing on them.
Mineta tiredly looks up at Iida and asks. “What are these things?”
Momo answers. “Invitations to the big EXPO Reception later tonight.”
The duo start in surprise as a great sense of joy begins to riddle up inside of them.
“There’s a party?” Mineta asks in disbelief.
“These are for us?” Denki’s just as taken back.
Even Jiro gives them some sympathy. “Melissa took pity on you for some reason.”
Ochaco nods and chimes in. “She figured you could use a break.”
Upon their praise, Melissa can’t help but feel just a little embarrassed and shy. “I had a few extras. Please, I’d like for you to have them.” She was even able to get one more just for Deku, too.
Mineta’s so grateful he begins to shed tears. “Kaminari…”
“Mineta…” Denki sniffs before they both grab each other in a big hug and cry. “A beautiful angel has awarded us for all our hard work!” They both weep with tears of joy spilling down their faces. “Pinch me! I might be dreaming!”
“Carefulll. You might be having a nightmare insteaddd. Eheheheheee.”
A chill runs down the duo’s spines as the hair on their necks stand on end while a pair of cold dead hands slither around their stiff choked up necks.
They both shakily turn around in morbid curiosity only to be met with a terrifying translucent figure.
“Boooo.”
“EEEeeekkk!! A GHOST!!” The two cry out in terror holding onto each other for dear life.
“Hahahahahaaa!!” Ghostfreak laughs so hard it might actually kill him. Heck his haunting laughter might kill Denki and Mineta, they’re so terrified.
“That’s not a ghost.” Jiro deadpans, already being done with Izuku’s shenanigans at this point. “It’s just Midoriya.”
Mineta still trembles and shakes as the ghostly creature mockingly hovers over their heads. “M-Midoriya?!”
“N-not c-cool, bro! Not c-cool!” Denki shouts in outrage.
“Oh, what’s the matterrr? Can’t take a jokeee? Eheheheee!”
“Waaaah!” The two cower away as Ghostfreak leans in closer.
“Hehehe.” Strapped over Ochaco’s shoulder is Kraab who snickers at how Ghostfreak’s toying them. “Man, I take back what I said. This kid’s a real riot!”
Ochaco’s not sure if she should take his pleasure as a good thing or not.
“Midoriya!” Iida speeds between the three and begins to scold the deathly being without a hint of trepidation. “I have tolerated your behavior up till now because I thought it'd be beneficial for you to get used to your new ability, but this is unacceptable!”
Ghostfreak glowers with a roll of his eye. “Okay, sheeshhh.” In a flash of light, a laughing Stinkfly takes his place. “And here I thought I was a stinker, Hehehehe!”
“Uuggh!!” Everyone gags and retches as Stinkfly’s outride stink invades the air.
Even Shoto’s turning a shade of green at the stench. “Midoriya, your jokes are offending our senses.”
“Hehehe, sorry!” Stinkfly takes off into the air, his wings beating rapidly as they hoist him away along with his stench.
Denki can’t believe what he was seeing as Stinkfly hovers away. “What’s going on here?!”
“Yeah!” Mineta shouts. “Since when could he transform back-to-back like that?!”
Melissa steps forward as if to accept the blame. “My father, David Shield, was kind enough to unlock Master Control on Deku’s support item.”
“What does that mean?”
Stinkfly grins from high above. “It means that I can transform into whoever I want, whenever I want.” He vanishes in a flash only for Big Chill to swoop down and land to a graceful stop. “Cool, am I right?”
“No, not cool!” Mineta cries. “It’s not fair!”
Denki agrees wholeheartedly. “Yeah, I mean you’re not just OP, you’re broken!”
Big Chill transforms into Feedback whose tendrils slither around the duo before lifting them to their feet. “I prefer to say it’s game changing.”
Denki and Mineta immediately begin to shout and argue that it’s not game changing; it’s straight up hacking the system. But Feedback grins on, not letting any of it get to him.
Momo cups a hand to her mouth, taken back by his behavior. It’s so out of character for Midoriya, so much so it’s rather concerning. “Amazing, I never thought I’d see Midoriya let such power go to his head.”
Ochaco isn’t so sure. “I don’t think so, I think he’s just excited is all.” Afterall he was-is Quirkless. The Omnitrix is the closest thing he has to having a Quirk, a powerful Quirk, but still. And with those powers still came a limit, a time limit. So even with powers he was playing on a leash, a long leash but still. Now, now with the limiter gone he’s like an excitable dog that’s finally been allowed off his leash. And now all he wants to do is frolic and play with all that his newfound freedom.
At the same time, Feedback snickers as he jabs Denki’s side with one of his conductors, trying to see if he could absorb the Electricity right out of him.
Kraab gives the poor girl a pitiful glance. “Maybe a little too excited?”
Iida folds his arms as he tries to hang on to some semblance of control and patience. “I hope you’ll at least behave yourself tonight, Midoriya. I heard there’ll be quite a few pro heroes attending tonight’s party as well. So, it’s imperative we don’t tarnish U.A.’s reputation. Understood?”
He transforms again, and Bullfrag flashes Iida a glimmering smile. “Hey, no problem. I’ll play nice.”
“That in no way gives me confidence.” Iida deadpans before deciding to address the others. “We’ll change into our formal clothes and go as a group. Everybody meet at lobby 7 of the Central Tower at 6:30 PM sharp. Don’t you dare be late. I’ll contact Kirishima and Bakugou and share this information. Thank you, you’re dismissed!”
And without anything else to add, Iida immediately races off, his Engines roaring behind him.
Bullfrag smirks as he watches into the distances. “Look at him go. Talk about a smooooth getaway.” He draws out the word smooth, as it plays well with his own smooth voice.
Jiro visibly gags. “Please, never say that again.”
Momo snickers at her reaction before leading her away back towards the hotels.
“Let’s hurry, dude!” Denki shouts in excitement as he grips the two tickets like his life depends on it. “There’s no way we can miss this!”
Mineta’s already running off. “Way ahead of you, buddy!”
Denki hurries after him.”
Shoto decides to follow their lead albeit at a much calmer pace. “I’ll see you all soon then.”
Ochaco waves him goodbye. “Meet you in a bit!”
“Hey, Deku? Uravity?”
Bullfrag and Ochaco stop at Melissa’s call.
The kind girl gives them a bashful smile before making a request. “Can I show you both something before you get ready for tonight?”
Bullfrag and Ochaco share a contemplating look while Kraab eyes the girl suspiciously.
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“Why would I want to go to a party?” Bakugou grumbles as he flops down onto the hotel bed. “It’ll just be a bunch of old geezers I don’t know giving speeches. Sounds like a pretty lame night to me.”
Kirishima walks past, heading over towards the closet. “But we can eat as much gourmet food as we want.”
“Well, it’s not like I brought any fancy clothes with me anyway.”
“I figured you wouldn’t.”
“Huh?”
Kirishima grins, proud that he got one over on Bakugou for once, as he holds up a pair of handsome suits. “So, I brought some stuff for ya!”
“You gotta be kidding, you Spiky-Haired Idiot!!”
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Toshinori lets out a pained cough just as he makes it to the doorway, his costume hanging off his frame like a bag hanging off a stick. “Alright then I’ll see you later.” With a pop and a poof of smoke he takes on his grinning Muscle Form. “LOOKING FORWARD TO PARTYING WITH YOU.”
“Same.” David gently waves back just as All Might turns to leave. “Toshi!”
All Might stops just as he grips the door handle. “YES, DAVE?”
David smiles hesitantly before lowering his hand out of defeat or rather…guilt. “No, uh, never mind. See you tonight.”
“HAHAHAHA.” All Might humorously laughs, figuring David was just getting sentimental for a moment as he takes his leave.
As All Might closes the door behind him, David’s smile falls from his face as his worries and fears amount. The chains of guilt and regret pull him down into his seat providing very little relief or comfort. And whether out of regret or hope he digs into his pocket and pulls out his phone where an image of a younger All Might is gliding through the air as he takes on L.A. villains.
He remembers taking that photo. He also remembers the day they met.
It was back when he was still a college student, he had been experimenting on a personal project all day in his student lab when someone’s experiment went haywire and caused an explosion. He still remembers how his ears rang from being so close to the blast, and he remembers the blistering heat as the fire consumed the entire building.
He was trapped with nowhere to go except to cower and hide under his desk at least until someone, anyone appeared. And then he did.
There he was some grinning idiot in civilian clothes rushing in without even considering the flames. But in reality, he had been considering the flames the entire time, and that grin was a sign that it was okay, that he and everyone else were safe. And that was how David met who had to be the bravest man he’s ever had the honor of knowing.
They were inseparable ever since.
He made All Might a brand-new costume just to show his thanks. It was one of his finest works too, fireproof, tear resistant, it was fabulous, a true work of art. But it didn’t stop there he was constantly making new inventions and gadgets to help Toshi and his work from vehicles, to suits, and more.
And for David it was some of the best times in his life. He had the honor of witnessing Toshi’s or rather All Might’s rise. As he would save countless lives on the daily without a hint of slowing down or feeling burdened.
It was amazing. Every rescue, every villain defeated, was all towards creating a brighter, happier future for the entire world. It gave him hope. It gave him hope that Earth would have it’s Symbol of Peace.
##########(Flashback)#########
“The Symbol of Peace?” Young Dave wonders aloud.
Young All Might grins on, standing proud as he watches the beautiful ocean sunset before them. Its warm glow washes over them like a dazzling spotlight. “I want to see a society where everyone can smile without worry. I want to be the Symbol of Peace. And shine a light on this world.”
########(End Flashback)#######
And he did reach his dream. His light as the Symbol of Peace has reached the entire world, a true beacon of hope. But now that dream…is slipping away. As All Might’s power fades away so too does the Symbol of Peace and all that it’s brought. Soon it will be the end of All Might and the light that he shines.
But he already knew that. But he just can’t bring himself to accept it. This is just like any problem he’s had, and each one he was able to fix with his own two hands. And this one is no different.
And so with a heavy sigh David pulls himself out from under the unbearable heavy chains and sets himself to work. Starting with checking in on the data analysis of the Omnitrix.
“How’s the analysis coming along?” David greets as he enters his lab.
Hisashi doesn’t turn around as he slaves away before the massive computer screen. Chopper is seated beside him, inserted into the computer’s port as he too pours over the data collected.
With a tired sigh, Hisashi slicks back his hair over his head in an attempt to wipe away the exhaustion. “It’s taking a lot longer than we thought it would.”
“Have you been able to make out anything specific as of yet?”
“Not yet. And I do apologize but this isn’t exactly my area of expertise. Really Chopper’s the only one of use here.”
^Bo-wop.^ Chopper folds his arms at his sides while holding his head up expectingly as if saying, praise me.
To which David happily does so showing his gratitude for the droid’s hard work with a pat to the head. “Tell me has the computer been able to locate any DNA signatures?”
“DNA signatures? Like one left behind by the creator?” Hisashi grows ever more frustrated as the computer fails to locate any unique DNA compositions. “I sure hope so. It’s part of the reason I wanted to come here. Your lab is probably the only place on Earth that has the capabilities of finding it.”
“Let’s hope then.” David stares up at the illuminated screen in awe as a massive image of the Omnitrix is displayed before him. “This device. It’s something only a true genius inventor could ever create. The power to take on any form, any race, any ability all at your fingertips. Such a powerful device and yet it’s fallen into the hands of humans. Fascinating. Extraordinary even. I can’t even begin to fathom how it works or how it was even created. How is it able to transform one organism to another? How does it collect and store the DNA compositions? What other capabilities does it possess?” But those curiosities are trivial when compared to the one question of any significance. “But what I’d really like to know is who was the mastermind that created it?”
“That question has been on my mind a long time now.” Hisashi stops typing away in favor of leaning back and admitting his own frustrations over the matter. “I don’t know who made it. But if you ask me…it may have been too irresponsible to create such a powerful weapon.” Whoever designed either never meant for it to be in their hands, in his son’s hands. Or they were incredibly irresponsible. But then again, fate can be a tricky thing.
David can’t take his eyes off the image, as if its secrets are nothing but hidden treasures just waiting to be discovered by him. “Why was it created? Why is it here? Why now? And how can it be utilized?”
Considering how monsters like Vilgax wish to utilize the device, Hisashi isn’t as excited to see such technology fall into anyone’s hands. “I’m afraid we’re not gonna find out for a while longer. This data analysis is gonna take a few more hours, maybe even all night to complete.”
“That’s my fault.” David admits with a heavy sigh as he finally pulls his gaze away from the screen. “I got distracted and so I couldn't oversee the analysis myself. My apologies. Not to mention, I’m afraid it also cut into your father and son time.”
“No, it’s fine. You were catching up with an old friend. I understand, trust me. And besides I’m sure Izuku’s having himself a good time without me. Plus we still got the rest of the week here.”
“Yes, that’s true.” David smiles, grateful for the Plumber’s empathy. “Thank you for understanding. Now it’s getting late, and I have to start getting ready, got a big night ahead of me.”
“Ah, of course, the Preview. That’s tonight, isn’t it?” Hisashi stops to consider another option. “But are you sure you want to leave this alone? I could leave Chopper here if you want?”
^Wa Bz-op.^ Chopper bounces in place, showing that he’s more than eager to help out.
David shakes his head but appreciates the thought, nonetheless. “No, it’s fine. I’ll stop by after the Preview and check up on it.” He turns his gaze back towards the screen, its glow illuminating his glasses, shrouding his eyes behind a lens of light. “By morning we’ll have all the answers we need.”
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A door shuts closed, silencing the muffled groans and cries of the bound up guards inside.
A man with a sword for an arm steps away, his face covered in a steel-made mask and black uniform. The rest of the men gathered across the security room dawn the same attire.
The lead turns away and communicates their status through his com-set. “We found five guards, but they’re restrained now. The plan’s a go.” With a flick of his wrist, his sword reforms back into a normal human hand.
His boss’ voice snickers and calls out from the opposite end. [“Timely work, Swordkil. Keep em bound but don’t kill em. Start working on the security system.”]
Swordkil gives the go ahead to his men.
And one of them a hacker with long grey hair and a red cybernetic eye gets to work on the system. “Yes, sir. Beginning infiltration now.” However, another thought enters the Hacker’s mind. “But what about the Security Sectors?”
[“Don’t worry. Once the plans a go it won’t matter anymore.”]
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And with that the boss hangs up but he never pulls down the phone, but instead he keeps it close to his face as a malicious grin stretches across his lips. He snickers and cackles as he raises a metal fused mask to his face, its parts twisted and meshed together in a horrid display of welding. “Now the fun can begin.”
As he speaks the phone close to his ear once again glows yellow, but the light soon focuses itself and compacts in the middle before expanding once again to form a single yellow circle amidst a black hollow screen. The circle is distorted and warped fittingly matched the equally corrupted and twisted soul to which is belongs to.
To be continued…
Notes:
So, was the wait worth it? It’s okay if it wasn’t. I know this first Part may feel kinda week and predictable, but I promise it all builds up later. I will be adding my own twist to things I just needed the set up to get to them is all.
But either way I hope you enjoyed Part I of the “Three Heroes Arc!!”
Now stay tuned because July 1st we will have Part II!!!
*Just to clarify. I will be updated on a bi-weekly basis. Assuming I can keep up with it.
*Also, I’m looking for more fanart, I’d love to post your guy’s work on AO3 and please if you want to see what others have done then check out this story’s “TV Tropes Page” where you can find links to images there as well as tons of info about this story from characters, aliens, plot development, and more.
*Easter Eggs: Buckle up because there are a ton in this one. And I bet I still missed one. Anyway, these are in order of appearances. Sparksville - Ben Ten episode Tourist Trap. And yes Cathy is from Bellwood the same hometown as Ben Ten. Naijians from Alien Force were mentioned. The Gelato Five from “Love After World Domination” was present on the island. Dog Man from One Punch Man was there too. And so too were Tiger and Bunny.
Companies present ion island include Lex Corp (Superman), Wayland-Yutani (Aliens Franchise), the Tyrell Corporation (Blade Runner), Space Rangers program (Lightyear), Oscorp (Spider-Man), Union Aerospace Corporation (D.O.OM.), Life Foundation (Venom), Buy-N-Large (Pixar/Wall-E), OCP company (RoboCop), Roxxon Energy (Marvel), Wayne Powers (Batman Beyond), Invent Co. (Meet the Robinsons), Stark Industries (Do I even need to say it?), Aperture Laboratroes (Portals), and SFIT or San Fransokyo Institute of Technology (Big Hero Six).
Also managed to sneak in a Doofinshmirtz cameo, been waiting to do that one for a long time now.
Chapter 68: Three Heroes Part II
Notes:
It’s here! The sequel you’ve all been waiting for is here!! Now let’s get to it!!!
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
“This is the I-Academy campus where I spend most of my time.” Melissa Shield happily explains as she leads both Izuku and Ochaco through her school’s illustrious hallways. “And to the left here is my own personal research laboratory. I’m sorry it’s such a mess.”
The automatic door slides open revealing a well-kept student lab with several computers, shelves and storage, and a variety of machines and equipment meant to help in Melissa’s studies and invention making.
“Wow, it looks so professional.” Izuku Midoriya awes, taking in the lab. “I can't believe you get to study in a place like this.”
As he takes in the lab, his curiosity takes him to a cylindrical glass container. The container is as tall as he is with high tech locks sealing the contents inside. The contents being a pile of weird metallic shards.
“Yeah, I can hardly believe it myself sometimes.” Melissa strolls up behind Izuku, leaning down as she takes interest in the robotic head strapped over the boy’s shoulder. “Now may I borrow your little friend for a second?”
Kraab blinks back up at her in surprise. “Who? Me?!”
“Yes, you.” Melissa laughs before looking to Izuku for permission to take the cyborg. “May I?”
Forgetting about the shards, Izuku gives her the go ahead. “Um, I guess.”
“Hey, don’t I get a say in this?!” Kraab barks in protest as Melissa takes him off Izuku’s hands.
She then immediately turns and places Kraab’s head inside a strange copier-like machine.
“Uh, wh-what’s this?” Kraab asks nervously as several wiry claws and prods begin to surround him.
“Don’t worry.” Melissa responds, her smile manipulative as light gleams off her glasses ominously hiding her eyes from view. “Just hold still and it won’t hurt a bit.”
“Hurt?! What will hurt?! Kid! Deku! What is she-” His cries go silent as Melissa shuts the machine closed, trapping the bot inside.
For a moment, Izuku wonders if he’s seen the end of Kraab. “Should I be concerned?”
“Ah, no.” Melissa shakes her head. “In fact, I think he’ll be thanking me when it’s all said and done.”
“Uh, okay…?”
While they talk, Ochaco is busy examining the rest of the lab, her eyes immediately being drawn over to the glimmering academic trophies and awards all on display. “Woah, there’s so many trophies here! You really are a super genius, aren’t you?! Uhh, unlike me, uhhh.” She struggles to even stay awake in class sometimes.
“Well, actually, not long ago I was getting terrible grades.” Melissa humbly explains as she opens a nearby door leading into her lab’s personal storage unit. She then begins sorting through the various storage containers, looking for something specific. “That’s why I’ve been studying so hard lately. I gotta be a good student if I wanna be a hero.”
Izuku pauses. “Um, you mean like a pro?”
“Oh, no I gave up on that dream a while ago. I mean I’m Quirkless after all.”
Izuku’s breath hitches and his body goes cold. “You…don’t have a Quirk?”
“Nope.” Melissa smiles on, not showing any hints of shame or fear. “You know how it is, right Deku? Turned five, still didn’t have a power, and then got taken to the doctor.”
He does, all too well. “And then…they tell you that you’ll never…develop one.” He can still recall just how coldly the doctor reacted too, like he was looking at a lost cause that wasn’t worth the time.
A part of him wonders what that doctor would say now if they ever met again? Bet he’d be in for a shock. Heck, Izuku himself can’t always believe it either, and he knows the real truth. He will never develop powers, the doctor was correct about that, but who could have guessed that his own quote-on-quote Quirk would be handed to him on a silver platter?
That’s how he’s always seen it. He got lucky; he was at the right place at the right time. That's how he feels about it anyway. But how does the rest of the Quirkless population feel? How would they feel to know that someone like them was luckier than they were…? How does Melissa feel?
“It's kinda cool you know?”
Izuku is snapped out his thoughts as a pair of smooth gentle hands raise his arm.
Melissa's eyes sparkle with excitement as she admires the Omnitrix, giving the dial a soft poke. “We’re both Quirkless, and we might be taking different paths, but we have the same goal. We’re changing this world for the better!”
Izuku’s taken back. There is no hint of jealousy or resentment in her voice. No ill will. She’s nothing but supportive and kind, wishing him the best.
As she examines the Omnitrix well-crafted design, Melissa begins to reminisce again. “I definitely was in shock for a while when I found out. Luckily, I had another big goal that was close to my heart.”
“What was that?” Izuku can’t help but to ask even though he probably already knows the answer.
And sure enough, Melissa beams as she looks over to a nearby shelf and states with full confidence. “To be like my father.”
Izuku, and Ochaco who has been quietly listening in, follow her gaze to find a shelf lined with an assortment of photos and frames. One is of David Shield’s wedding, Melissa’s own birth, her father earning his Nobel Quirk Prize, there’s even some with All Might, and a lot of photos of her with her father and academics.
“Papa didn’t have a Quirk that would let him be a hero, but he supports Uncle Might and other heroes with the power of science. He’s still fighting for peace but indirectly.”
That to Izuku, is one of the most admirable things he’s ever heard. “And you want to be someone that does that too.”
“Yup. That’s how I’ll make a real difference. Or at least I hope so.” And with that she continues her search through the rest of the storage containers.
As Izuku joins in her search, Ochaco remains back feeling out of place and a little bit guilty. Ironic, the person with a Quirk is out of place here. She can’t relate to their plights, no matter how much she empathizes. A part of her thinks she’ll never really understand how they’re feeling. After all she herself was never really bashed for her Zero-Gravity, and everyone’s always blown away by One For All. She was born lucky, at least in that perspective. But that doesn’t mean she should look down on others for being less fortunate. She’s never been that way and she’s not going that way now.
“You’ll both be amazing!” She nearly shouts, startling Izuku and surprising Melissa. “I know I can never understand how either of you feel but believe me when I say that you’re both amazing in your own ways! But you’re both so brave! Probably the bravest people I know!”
Izuku’s taken back, startled by her sudden declaration. “Uraraka…? What makes you say that?”
“Because neither of you have given up! And I’ll do whatever I can to support you both!”
They appreciate that, they really do. Especially Izuku who’s still getting used to the fact that he now has people in his life that do in fact support him and his goals.
And Melissia is just as grateful for her kind words. “Thank you, that means a lot. And having friends like you always makes it easier.”
Ochaco beams, happy to be of service.
“But if you want to talk support, then please leave that to the experts.” Melissa gives her a playful wink. “Like me. Kay?” She giggles as she finally locates what she’s been looking for.
She grins excitedly as she turns around and presents Ochaco with a red bracelet.
“What's that?” Ochaco blinks as Melissa wraps the metallic bracelet around her wrist.
“This is a support item I made a while ago after observing Uncle Might using his power.” Melissa explains before pointing towards the activation switch on the bracelet. “Try pressing the button here on the back.”
Not sure where this is going, Ochaco gullibly presses it. The bracelet lights up and instantly expands, wrapping itself around her an entire arm before forming into a red armored gauntlet.
“As far as names go, I was thinking Full Gauntlet.”
“So cool!” Izuku awes, wishing he could get one for himself.
“From what I can understand your power looks like it’s on the verge of breaking loose. Maybe your Quirk is too strong, therefore your body is just barely able to handle its full power.”
Ochaco starts as does Izuku. ‘She figured it out!’
“When I saw you use your Quirk before it kinda looked like you were stressing your body, especially your arms.” Melissa caresses Ochaco’s fist examining her worn and battered knuckles “My theory is that you’ve been able to reign in your power, for now at least.”
“F-for now?”
“Think of it like your body’s a nozzle for a water hose. The nozzle is able to direct the high-pressure water fine, but the power’s so great that it’s only a matter of time before the nozzle cracks and breaks.”
Ochaco starts, the imagery of a nozzle shattering to oblivion as red colored water gushes out like a geyser plays in her mind.
“I made the gauntlet strong, so it should be able to help relieve and reinforce your arm before that can happen. It can even withstand three of Uncle Might’s punches, so I think it’ll be a perfect fit for you too. And you should be able to use your full power when you have it on.”
Ochaco’s jaw drops in amazement. “No way?! Are you serious?!”
She is. “Please, take that with you.”
“Ah, are-are you sure? I mean, I bet this thing is like crazy expensive. And isn’t it important to you?”
“That’s why I want you to use it. Just promise you’ll be a true hero someday. And you’ll never stop helping people in need.”
That’s a promise Ochaco can certainly keep. “I promise.”
Melissa smiles, having no doubts Ochaco will keep it.
*DING!*
[Installations complete.] The sealed copier-like machine echoes out through an automated message. [Operational systems operational. Subject’s systems are fully stabilized.]
Ochaco and Izuku freeze in place as the machine opens and steam pours out.
Kraab’s yellow eyes illuminate behind the thick steam. “I…LIIIIIIVEEEEEE!!!!” Kraab cries out, leaping out all on his own and wrapping his two thin arms around Izuku. “I thought I was gonna die in there!”
“Kraab?! Ah?! You-you…” Izuku pries him off and ends up staring at the bot’s newest claw-like arm and four insectoid-legs. “YOU GREW NEW LIMBS!?!”
The girls both slap themselves in the face, unable to bear Izuku’s mental lapse.
“Not quite. Ehehe…” Melissa sheepishly laughs while adjusting her glasses up. “I just thought I’d help out by installing another arm and some new legs to his frame.”
“Well, how do you like them?” Izuku asks Kraab while setting him down on the nearby lab table.
“Not bad.” Kraab gives his thin wrench-shaped claws a spin, spinning them like a pair of drills before scuttling side to side with his fittingly new crab-like legs. “I mean it’s nothing like my old body, but it’ll do.” He begins to do various stretching exercises, reaching one arm over his head while straightening his legs. “Oh, man! Look at me go! Ha! I missed this!”
Melissa’s so happy to hear that. “Glad you like it! It’s always sad to see an unfinished droid, you know.”
Both Izuku and Ochaco take a mental pause. “Droid…?”
“Yeah, he’s your droid, right?”
“Um…yes?” Izuku lies through grit teeth, figuring it’s probably not a good idea to tell her, a Plumber Cadet, that he and his dad brought a literal killing machine onto the island.
Meanwhile, Kraab is still stretching and even trying to do his own version of jumping jacks while happily chuckling to himself in joy.
Izuku sweatdrops while staring at the former-bounty hunter. ‘I can’t believe I thought he was scary.’
“This is all so cool!” Ochaco awes, going from Kraab’s new legs to the rest of the gadgets and equipment organized throughout Melissa’s lab. “Do you mind? I’d love to see what else you got here!”
“Not at all.” Melissa’s more than happy to show off some more inventions. “Here let’s start with this then.” She gestures a hand towards the cylindrical glass container form before.
Izuku peers over, checking out the small metallic shards piled up inside at the bottom. “What is this?”
“Just a little something I’ve been working on recently.” Melissa answers. “It’s barely into the testing phase but it’s supposed to be-”
She gets cut off by the sound of Izuku’s phone.
“Oops, sorry.” Izuku hurries and answers it without checking the caller ID. “Yeah, hello?”
[“WHAT ARE YOU DOING, MIDORIYA!?!”] Tenya Iida’s voice roars through the phone and right into Izuku’s ear. [“IT’S WAY PAST WHEN YOU WERE SUPPOSED TO BE HERE!!!”]
“Wah! I’m sorry, Iida!! I’ll be there as fast as I can!”
[“HURRY! YOU’RE ALREADY LATE!!”] And he hangs up.
“Ah! The party!” Ochaco screams. “I gotta get back to the hotel like now!”
A green flash floods the room.
“Quick, hop on!” XLR8 lowers himself so Ochaco can jump onto his back. “We don’t have a second to waste.”
Ochaco hops on. “Melissa?”
“Go!” Mellissa responds. “I don’t need to go far. Hurry!”
In a blink of an eye, XLR8 scoops up Kraab and takes off, ripping through the school and away towards the hotels and businesses.
Melissa too takes off, hurrying down the hall in the opposite direction.
And with the teens gone, the student lab falls into a silent hum. Quiet and empty minus the metallic shards, They lie totally still, appearing as significant as a pile of leaves. That is until a few of the shards twitch before going still once again.
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“I’m back!” Hisashi announces as he enters the hotel room with Chopper on his heels. “Ah, so how was your day?”
He looks over and sees Izuku all dressed up in a fancy new suit. He’s wearing a dark green button shirt under a black suit with dark pants and fancy-dress shoes. He even tried, and failed, to do his hair. But right now, it appears that he’s struggling to even get his black tie on right.
“Woah, someone's feeling stylish tonight.” Hisashi grins, admiring the suit and wondering where Izuku got the funds to spend on it.
“Please, don’t bring it up. It was a whole thing earlier.” Kraab explains in an exasperated tone from atop the bed.
“Woah! Looks like Izuku isn’t the only one that got a new style!”
^Op-bow.^ Chopper wheels over, commenting on Kraab’s new limbs.
As the two bots chat away, Hisashi begins to change himself, getting rid of his Plumber uniform before his curiosity gets the better of him. “You going somewhere?” An idea strikes him and he gasps. “That’s my boy!” he cheers all full of pride and joy, before sliding in and playful elbowing his son. “So, where you taking her?”
“Taking who?! What?!” Izuku screams, acting totally confused and oblivious. “I’m going to the I-EXPO Preview party. Melissa was nice enough to give me and some of my friends tickets to go.”
“Is that right? Where’s the party at?”
“Um, the Central Tower I think.”
“Oh, that should be fun.”
“I hope so.” Izuku turns away while his fingers get tied up in his own tie.
Hisashi smirks, watching Izuku struggle with his tie before offering his help. “Here, allow me.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yeah! Trust me I got this.”
Izuku does and stands still, allowing his father to help.
Hisashi takes the tie and lines it up before beginning to fold it while a stupid grin is plastered across his face. ‘This is it, Hisashi. This is a big father and son moment. You’re teaching your boy how to tie and tie! Oh, I’m so happy!’ He gives the tie one last pull. “There, all done!”
The black tie is all scrunched up at the top, making it look ridiculously small. Actually, looking closer it looks exactly the same as how Izuku would tie it himself.
No one speaks a word as they all just stare at the disaster of a tie.
“Dad?”
“Yes.”
“When was the last time you actually had to make a tie?”
“…”
“I better get going.”
“Yeah…”
Deciding a tie isn’t worth it, Izuku flings it aside as he hurries past the bed and over to the balcony. “Don’t wait up!”
“I won’t. Have fun and be safe!”
“I will!” Izuku waves as he leaps off the balcony and transforms.
Hisashi's heart stops as Izuku vanishes but only to relax as a gleeful Stinkfly shoots up into the air.
Hisashi shakes his head in disbelief but he’s unable to wipe that smile off his face as watches Stinkfly leave. “That kid.”
He walks over to the closet, stashing his uniform away before pulling on his Hawaiian button-up. “There that’s more comfortable.” He looks over at Chopper and asks. “So, wanna grab a bite to eat?”
^Wa-wop.^
“I know you can’t eat, but you can still tag along.” Hisashi laughs as he holds the door open for the astro-mech. But before he lets the door close, he takes one last look into the room and notices something missing. “Hey, where’s Kraab?”
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The Central Tower’s door slides open and Stinkfly lands, sliding to a stop as he transforms. “Sorry for holding you up!” Izuku shouts as he transforms back into his human form. “But I’m here now-...uh, where is everybody?”
Looking around the empty lobby, only Iida, Denki, Mineta, and Shoto are there.
“They’re not here yet!” A blue-suited Iida stomps his foot in annoyance. “Does a proper meeting time mean nothing to you people?!”
Denki Kaminari and Minoru Mineta slide up to Izuku with sly smirks and coy expressions.
“Looking sharp, Midoriya!” Denki comments, impressed with Izuku’s suit.
“Going tieless.” Mineta flashes him a bright thumbs up. “And here I thought you weren’t one of us.”
“What does…that mean?” Izuku’s honestly confused, not sure what they’re getting at. In fact, he himself is more interested in how they’re still wearing their cafe uniforms instead of actual suits.
“I’m just glad we finally get to see your normal face.” Shoto comments, while adjusting his red tie before sticking his hands into his white suit’s pockets. “No offense but your transforms can be too much sometimes.”
“I actually am offended by that.” Izuku grumbles, feeling somewhat self-conscious right now.
Once again, the door to the lobby automatically slides open. “Sorry I’m late. It took me a while to get ready.” Ochaco blushes, acting modest in her pink fluffy dress, black leggings, and red heels.
Upon seeing her both Denki and Mineta begin to cheer and thank the heavens that they get to witness such beauty. “Best. Night. Ever!”
If they thought, it was great before then it just got way better as the rest of the ladies arrive.
“Apologies for the tardiness, Jiro’s feeling shy.” Momo Yaoyorozu greets while wearing a beautifully elegant yellow-green dress.
Meanwhile, Kyoka Jiro hides behind the taller girl, too shy to show off her adorable purple dress with dark leggings, and matching purple jacket.
“Jackpot! Yes!” The idiots grin and cheer, mostly to themselves.
But then again even the rest of the guys: Izuku, Iida, and Shoto have to admit it, the girls look damn good.
Jiro shyly pulls on her jacket, using it as a shell to hide into. “This is fancier than anything I’ve ever worn before; it feels like a costume.”
“I’m just glad you’re not in a t-shirt.” Denki foolishly comments.
Mineta too fails to keep his mouth shut. “Even the jacket can’t ruin it.”
Their foolishness comes to bite them as Jiro’s Earphone Jacks snake over and jab themselves into their ears while releasing a high-pitched screech,
“Waaaaaah!!” They both collapse to the ground, holding their ears in pain.
“Shut up!” Jiro barks, her face red from embarrassment.
“Why would you do that?” Denki whines while tears stream down his face. “It was a compliment.”
“No, it wasn’t.” Jiro hisses back, her Earphone Jacks poised to strike again.
She’s not the only one feeling self-conscious, so is Ochaco. “This is my first time in formal wear. I just borrowed something from Yaoyorozu.”
Izuku averts his gaze, acting all shy, but he still tries to at least say something nice at least to be polite. “It looks really good. Like perfect.”
“Oh, Deku stop!” Ochaco grins, acting all convivial and not at all bashful about his polite comment. “You don’t have to flatter me so much!”
“Contain yourself!” Iida demands, worried that at this point he’ll never get them settled enough for them to actually enter the party. Besides, they are still waiting on one.
Speaking of which, the doors to the lobby slide open one last time. To which Denki and Mineta silently turn their attention towards, not wanting to miss a second of this.
“Oh, good I thought I was gonna miss you guys.” Melissa’s blonde hair is tied back in a high ponytail, causing it to bounce and sway as she hurries into the lobby. “Let’s get downstairs to the party.”
But no one responds, not right away, they’re all just so blown away by her beauty.
She’s ditched the glasses and her hair up in a high ponytail that is tied with a large black bow with bangs swept back underneath a red headband, while her face-framing is left loose. She has golden earrings which hang from her earlobes, and she doesn’t wear her glasses. She wears a strapless dress with a sweetheart neckline. The upper half of the dress is a deep blue, while the skirt is a pale powder blue. Separating the two segments is a black cloth belt with a large white rose that sits slightly to her left, covering where the material is tied. The belt matches the black ruffles underneath her knee-length skirt. On her feet, she wears white heels with straps and an open toe. Her toenails have painted a shade of coral pink, the same as her fingernails and lips.
“The headliner has arrived!” Mineta is crying tears of joy, like he’s witnessed the descent of a goddess.
And Denki’s reaction is no better. “Mineta I can’t take this much beauty I think I might actually die!”
Jiro gives them both disapproving glares, muttering to herself that giving those two tickets was a mistake.
“Everyone, please!” Iida scolds, shouting as loud as he can while his arms chop the air at his sides. “I’d like you all to line up and listen as I go over all the proper procedures for the evening! Starting with proper greetings and then going into proper silverware use!”
“Ah, lame!” Mineta whines.
Denki joins in. “Yeah, let’s just get this party going!” He cheers, raising his fist into the air.
“See that, kid gets it! Let’s show these rich bastards what a real party looks like!” Kraab cheers from the small of Izuku’s back with one of his claws raised.
“YEAH!!!” The teens, caught up in the moment, cheer as well before pausing.
They all stare in bewilderment at the spider-crab robot on Izuku’s back. Even Izuku is caught off guard, blinking rapidly as if his eyes were glitching out. But they’re not and Kraab is no mirage, the cyborg actually hitched a ride on his back using his spider-like legs to attach himself to the small of Izuku’s back much like how Ochaco uses her Gyro-Disc.
Seeing all eyes on him, Kraab gives them all a wave. “Sup?”
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“Alright, I’m through the first firewall.” The Hacker grins as he begins to chip away at the tower’s defenses and controls.
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Meanwhile, the party taking place on the 2nd Floor in the Reception Hall is just getting into swing. With entrepreneurs, politicians, activists, and heroes from all across have gathered to mingle and socialize. The pro heroes in attendance seem to be right at home as they rely solely on their popularity and accomplishments to get by conversations. Such heroes include the likes of the eagle hero Takahiro, the hero from Greece, Pankration, The Sudanesian hero Nyikang, and so much more like Mr. Plastic.
But of course, there is one hero in attendance that instantly draws more attention than the rest.
[“Ladies and Gentlemen welcome I-EXPO’s opening night reception.”] A man takes the stage, behind him a giant monitor showcases the island, while he calls out to the guests and heroes. [“We on I-Island hope you enjoy yourselves. Now I’m wondering if we can get All Might, the Number One Hero, up here. He’s visiting from Japan. Wouldn’t you like to hear him say a few words? Come on, maybe a round of applause would help.”]
Every party guest begins to clap, making All Might shy and bashful.
[“Please join us on the stage.”]
All Might laughs nervously as he turns to address his friend. “REALLY, DAVE? COULD HAVE WARNED ME.”
David shrugs and laughs. “This was bound to happen once they found out you were in town.”
“YOU OWE ME ONE.” All Might grins, deciding that he’ll give the people what they want.
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Meanwhile, the Hacker continues on his rampage, tearing through the firewalls like they’re made of paper.
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“It’s no good.” Iida frowns while continuously typing away at his phone. “Neither of them are picking up their phones. Knowing those two they’re just blowing off the party.”
Dammit, they’re already late as it is. Just where the heck are Bakugou and Kirishima?!
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“Moron.” Katsuki Bakugou scowls. “You’re absolutely positive we’re going in the right direction?”
A dressed up Eijiro Kirishima is leading the way, looking this way and that and clearly lost as they make their way through the Central Tower’s many halls. “Yeah, I mean I’m pretty sure we are.”
“You’re pretty sure?!” Bakugou snaps, he better not have gotten all fancied up for nothing!
Kirishima chuckles nervously, feeling kinda guilty and stupid now. “Eh, well I left my phone back at the room so we’re going on instincts here.”
Bakugou has half the mind to slap him for being an idiot. Then again…he forgot his too. “DAMMIT!!!”
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Back inside the Control Room, the Hacker continues to break through each and every obstacle the system can throw at him but he’s flying through them, no sweat. “I’m halfway through now.”
[You’re processing too slowly…]
The Hacker stops what he’s doing and stares down at the oddly shaped phone, with its yellow-glowing techno patterns and the single yellow circle in the middle of the screen.
[Ignore the Security Sectors’ firewalls for now…]
“Huh, are you sure?”
[Yes… With our plan they won’t be of any concern…]
“Okay, whatever you say.” The hacker moves on, with that out of the way he only has a quarter of the system to break through to. “You’re the boss.”
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Against his own wishes, All Might politely takes the stage, taking the mic from the organizer as he does. [“THANK YOU FOR INVITING ME. IT’S TRULY A PLEASURE TO BE HERE. FORMAL SPEECHES AREN’T MY THING-”]
With a beep and a flash the giant monitor behind him flashes red announcing an EMERGENCY.
All Might’s signature smile falters for a moment as the EMERGENCY alarms begin to sound.
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[“This is an announcement from the I-Island Security System. We have received a report that an explosive device was discovered somewhere on the I-EXPO grounds.”] An Emergency Broadcast is announced all across I-Island, playing on every station, radio, phone, and TV on the island.
Even Hanta Sero and Rikido Sato’s meal is interrupted as the dinner’s televisions all turn red and announce the same warning.
Sato’s jaw hangs loose causing the piece of his steak to fall out back onto his plate. “A bomb?!”
Sero can’t believe it either. “Seriously?”
They are far from the only ones disturbed by the news, Hisashi and Chopper just literally walked in as the emergency broadcast began. ‘I got a bad feeling about this.’
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[“I-Island will now be at High Alert Mode. Your safety is our top priority.”] The announcement continues even in the Residential Areas. As it does patrols of security drones are driving around in single file lines, while their lenses glow bright red in alarm.
A trio of teen girls sit in their hotel room before a red screen.
“Oh, man.” Tooru Hagakure shivers in her teddy bear themed hoodie.
“I hope nobody’s hurt.” Mina Ashido worries, having also changed into her pajamas.
Tsuyu Asui nods, sitting nervously at the end of the bed. “We’ll be safe as long as we follow directions.”
Mina visibility relaxes. “Oh, yeah totally.”
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[“Anyone remaining on the street after 10 minutes will be in violation of the law.”] The announcement broadcasts out into the streets as well, causing people to file away as quickly as they can.
Mezou Shoji hurries ahead with his longer stride. “We should hurry.”
Fumikage Tokoyami hurries to catch up. “Of course.”
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The Central Tower begins to seal itself shut with thick iron curtains.
Izuku and his friends are all taken by surprise as they’re all sealed inside the tower.
[“As a cautionary measure most of the main island buildings will now be sealed off.”]
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[“I repeat. We have received a report.”] The Broadcast finishes up, queuing the doors to the Reception Hall to open.
The guests scream and gasp in distress as armed goons with semi-automatic weapons rush the party with thick bullet-proof armor and X-marked helmets that cover their entire face.
People scream and cower as the goons take aim, instantly commanding their eyes and ears.
“In case you haven’t caught on, the security system is under our control now.” A man, their leader, strides inside the twisted metal around his face, serving as a mask, only adds to how deranged yet strategic he is. His auburn hair clashing with the cold silver metal as his piercing yellow eyes gleam like that of a hungry tiger. Dark patches of face paint cover his mouth, nose, and extend across his right eye, and there is also a scar on his left cheek. His large, white coat sways as he enters, hiding the combat gear underneath.
“I know we got a lot of heroes in here, but if you decide to make a scene.” He signals towards the giant screen, and it immediately switches to several views of the island.
Images displayed on the screen are of the red glowing drones surrounded and corralling the oblivious population of I-island.
“I’ll make sure the Security Sentries think the good people they got in their sights are dangerous criminals.” The leader manically grins, obviously enjoying how much he can lord over these esteemed businessmen and heroes. “So, I’d play nice. Because everyone on this island is my hostage. Naturally, that includes all of you.”
All Might is pissed, so much so his signature smile has been replaced by a ferocious scowl.
The leader smears as he leans into his earpiece. “Do it.”
On his signal a number of small ports open up on the floor, glowing bright blue before metallic bands shoot out and wrap themselves around each and every hero several times over.
“CRAP!” They even got All Might but then again even these restrains can’t hold the likes of him.
*BANG!!!*
A single gunshot rings out followed by a chorus of terrified screams.
“Don’t move.” The leader smears as he strolls up onto the stage, his pistol now aimed down towards the other hostages. “If you take so much as a step, I’ll kill everyone in this room.”
All Might scowls. “VILLAIN.”
The villain kicks All Might down, tripping him to the ground.
“There’s a good boy.” The villain taunts before turning his attention back towards the crowd. “You’re gonna follow All Might’s lead and do whatever I say. Right?!”
All Might so badly wants to jump in and deliver this guy to justice but what can he do with so many lives at stake? Looking for an answer he turns and locks eyes with his old friend and once sidekick David.
But the professor gives the pro a subtle yet stern shake of his head. ‘Toshi, you have no choice but to listen to them.’
‘DAVE…’
‘Don’t worry I’ll make sure everyone is safe. Don’t make a move.’
Meanwhile, the leader stands upon the stage, watching with cruel satisfaction as the other pro heroes surrender and give in to their demands. “Hehe.”
[Wolfram…]
The leader, Wolfram, scowls as an echoey whisper statics through his earpiece.
[Now…]
“Not yet. Let them stew in their misery for a minute.” He sneers and kicks the downed All Might again just for the hell of it. “Let me enjoy this.”
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“I’m not getting any signal.” Shoto confirms after trying to make several calls to Bakugou and Kirishima, even tried home too, hell he even tried calling Endeavor, but he got nothing. “Looks like my service is completely blocked.”
Feedback wonders by, his tendrils high in the air as they try to pick up any radio waves. “I’m not getting anything either.”
Mineta begins to quiver with worry. “Are you serious?”
Jiro calls out from the closed elevators. “The elevators’ not working either.”
“What the heck is going on here?!” Mineta cries.
They don’t know, but Melissa is more concerned about what she does know. “It’s strange that the system would go on high alert. That’s not the protocol whenever explosives are discovered.”
After transforming back to human, Izuku’s concern only grows.
“Something definitely not right here, kid.” Kraab whispers from Izuku’s back.
He’s diligently scanning the area diligently for any dangers as if the walls themselves will move at any second and attack. “I’ve seen this before.”
Izuku’s almost too afraid to ask. “What is this then?”
“An incursion.”
Izuku’s heart stops. He knows this isn’t something even Kraab would joke about, and the way he’s acting you’d think someone was targeting him. No, he’s acting like someone’s gonna be attacking them. “Iida. Let’s go to that party.”
Iida starts. “For what reason?”
“Because that’s the place we can find…All Might.”
Everyone but Ochaco and Melissa gasp with surprise.
Even Shoto’s astonished by the news. “All Might’s here?”
“He is.” Ochaco confirms.
Mineta sighs with relief. “Thank goodness, we don’t have anything to worry about then.”
Ochaco’s not so confident in that, and that’s not even considering the fact that All Might is on a time limit. “Melissa, is there any other ways we can get down? Without the elevator I mean?”
“Yeah, sure. We can use the emergency stairs.” Melissa points over towards the doors leading to said stairway. “That will at least get us close.”
Izuku buckles down, bracing himself for what they might find. “We’ll follow your lead then.”
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Tsuyu is becoming increasingly worried and annoyed as her laptop continues to fail. “Our phones don’t have a signal. And the internet’s not working either.”
Even Mina’s becoming exasperated as she continues to flip through channels. “Ahh, what happened to all the channels?” Each one is coming up with the same EMERGENCY Broadcast.
“We’re ruffing it ladies.” Hagakure chimes in with a pack of Uno cards. “But I brought some games along. Who’s in?”
“I’ll play.” Tsuyu agrees.
“Yay! Mina?”
“Sure, I’m in.” Mina turns on the bed, excited to play but before she can even grab her cards she freezes as her antennas begin to twitch due to Emote. “Huh?”
Tsuyu jerks up at Mina's hesitation. “What’s the matter, Mina?”
Hagakure gasps with worry. “Oh, no, did that BBQ place not sit well with you?”
No, that’s not it. Her stomach isn't the problem but this sudden emotion wave. There was always an air of nervousness and building trepidation ever since the alarm was sounded. But this one emotional wave is past nervousness: it's fearful and full of suspicion. Yet it’s familiar to her, it feels like someone full of wariness, yet they are disgusted by that feeling behind a facade of composure, they’re trying to remain in control of their fear, keeping themselves alert and focused. Just like a pro hero. One with a fiery passion yet full of experience to keep them poised.
Mina gasps as Emote pinpoints the emotions and she basically throws herself off the bed and hurries to the balcony, ripping the curtains and door aside.
The two other girls jump in surprise. “Mina?!”
She basically slams into the railing, leaning over it and peering down just three stories. “I knew it!”
“Knew what?!” Tsuyu rushes over, wondering what could have possibly caused Mina to rush out here.
Tsuyu and Hagakure join her and look down.
Hagakure frowns, not sure what the big deal is. “Who’s that?”
“Wait, I know him.” Tsuyu admits.
“So do I.” Mina then cups her hands around her mouth and shouts down to the street below. “Hey! Hey, Mr. M! Up here!”
With a start, Hisashi’s head snaps up as does Chopper and the two other guys with him.
Tsuyu blinks down at the group in confusion. “Look, it’s Sero. And Sato too! Kero.”
Sero gasps when he spots the girls on the balcony. “Woah, is that Ashido?”
Sato gives him a nod. “I think so.”
Tsuyu calls down to them. “What are you all doing out there?!”
Hisashi is the one to respond. “We ran into each other at the dinner and these two recognized me from Parent’s Day. So, I decided to escort them back to the hotel. Coincidence that we’re all in the same one.”
“Yeah.” Tsuyu agrees it certainly is a lucky coincidence.
“Parent’s day?” Hagakure thinks. “Oh, he’s Midoriya’s dad, right?”
“Yeah, he is.” Mina assures but she herself is still worried, mainly due to the waves of worry and suspicion radiating off the Plumber/Pro hero.
The emotions are thick and palpable, hidden behind his friendly smile and composure. But it’s there like a giant alarm that she cannot ignore. “What’s going on?!”
“Like the broadcast said, it’s all under control.” Hisashi responds instantly, not wanting to worry any of them.
“No, it’s not!” Mina shouts in outrage, stunning everyone. “You know something’s wrong! Don’t you?”
Everyone waits with bated breath, curious and confused about what she’s asking. But they all wait for the senior Midoriya to respond. Does he know more of what’s going on than they do?
And the answer is yes. He does. Years of visiting planets with different customs and protocols has taught him to always study up when traveling to a new place. And I-island is no different. And so he studied up on the island’s emergency protocols. So, the moment the Emergency Broadcast announced that there was a bomb threat he knew something was amiss.
The way the Security Sentries are corralling people off. No call ins or requests for heroes on the island to report to Island Security. It’s like the systems trying not to arouse suspicions while strategically keeping every minute variable under control.
The tell-tale-signs of a secret invasion if Hisashi’s ever seen one? And he has.
“Yes. Something is not right here.”
The teens all pause wondering what that could mean.
As they do Hisashi keeps an eye out for the patrols of possibly corrupted Security Sentries out on watch. “Let’s get inside boys. It’s not safe out there.”
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The X-marked goons continue to patrol the Reception Hall, making a point to aim their barrels at the terrified hostages.
Wolfram snickers at their horrified reactions. “Don’t worry, if you stay quiet there’s no reason to hurt anyone. We plan on releasing you safely when the time is right.”
The heroes grow more and more restless with each passing moment, the feeling of feeling so useless being unbearable to them.
So much so some of them begin to snap like Mr. Plastic who demands answers. “What are you criminals after?! Ah!!”
He gets kicked down, forced to the ground as Wolfram looms over him. “Do you not know how to listen? Stay down.”
Before he can really enjoy his fun that whisper returns to his earpiece.
[Wolfram…]
He stops, pressing the side of the earpiece to talk. “What’s up?”
[I’m tired of waiting… Move on to the next Phase, Immediately…!]
“Yeah, I got it.” Wolfram scans the Reception Hall before spotting a possible person of interest. “Hey, tubby. You a researcher here?”
David’s assistant, Sam cowers before the villain. “Y-yes, I am.”
“Perfect.” Wolfram turns to his men and waves them over. “Take this one up.”
“N-no, please, no.” Sam begs as several goons march over to escort him away.
“Stop it!” David shouts, confronting the villains as bravely and as composed as he can. “That man is my assistant. What do you plan on doing to him?”
“Hm?” Wolfram turns around to confront the bastard standing up to him and instantly recognizes the professor. “Aw, the famous David Shield.” He turns back to his goons. “Bring him, too.”
“What if I refuse?” David scorns, not willing to cooperate.
Too bad for him, Wolfram has made sure to do his own twisted research. “Then somewhere on this island you’ll hear a pretty little blonde girl scream.”
It takes all of David’s willpower not to punch this bastard in the face. “Alright, lead the way.”
Wolfram is happy to send his goons to do that very thing, much to All Might’s dismay. ‘DAVE!’
But his internal prayer goes unanswered and unheard as he’s left to remain bound in his restraints. ‘I HAVE TO SUBDUE THESE VILLAINS AND GET THE SYSTEM BACK ONLINE. HOW MUCH POWER DO I EVEN HAVE LEFT?!’ It’s all so frustrating he feels so useless, so many lives, hundreds-thousands-everyone’s lives on this island is in great peril and he can’t think of one way to save them. He can’t save David, not Melissa, and not his two students. But he can’t just give up, he can’t. They’re all counting on him. ‘I HAVE TO FIND A WAY. BECAUSE I AM HERE, THE SYMBOL OF PEACE!’
He struggles against his bonds, but there’s so many wrapped around him they’re actually keeping him restrained. Undoubtedly, they were developed by his own dear friend, David Shield. He’d be proud if he wasn't the one they were being used on.
As he continues to push against the restraints a cold shiver runs down his spine as a deathly hiss whispers into his ear. “Don’t struggleee. You’ll give yourself awayyy.”
All Might nearly jumps out of his skin in freight and surprise. “W-WHO-”
He’s cut off by a cold dead hand covering his mouth, shutting it.
“It’s me, All Mighttt. It’s Midoriyaaa.” Ghostfreak responds, whispering into the hero’s ear.
“YOUNG MIDORIYA?” All Might breaths audibly just barely above a whisper. “WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE? AND ARE YOU INVISIBLE? COOL.”
“Melissa invited meee. Yes, I ammm. And finally, if you can, look uppp.”
He takes the advice and does so, and it takes everything he has not to let out a gasp when he does. ‘YOUNG URARAKA?!’
Ochaco waves down at him from above the Reception Hall, a glass domed ceiling separating them from the 2nd and 3rd floor.
“You can talk, quietlyyy. We’re listeninggg.”
Jiro’s upstairs with Ochaco and the others, with one of her Earphone Jacks pierced into the ground while the other’s attached to Kraab who’s acting as a speaker for whatever Jiro hears, albeit at a very low volume.
But All Might isn’t aware of that but either way he goes ahead and breaks down the situation in full and as quickly and quietly as he can without giving himself away. “SOME VILLAINS HAVE TAKEN THE TOWER. THEY HAVE CONTROL OF THE SECURITY SYSTEM AND EVERYONE ON THIS ISLAND IS NOW BEING HELD AS A HOSTAGE. THAT INCLUDES THE HEROES WHO ARE AT THIS PARTY. IT’S DANGEROUS AND GET AWAY FROM HERE AS SOON AS YOU CAN.”
Jiro and everyone else are horrified by the news, each one reeling back as the reality of the citation comes crashing down upon them.
Even the phantasmal Ghostfreak is overcome with a sense of overwhelming dread.
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Iida stands before his classmates back within the emergency staircase. He keeps himself poised and calm, as any Class President should, ensuring he keeps his thoughts and logic rational and not based on fear or panic. “We received All Might’s orders loud and clear. He’s, our teacher. I suggest we follow his instructions and escape this place. Otherwise, we’ll be going against his will.”
Momo nods, agreeing that Iida’s plan is the most sensible option. “I’m afraid I’ll have to agree with what Iida is saying. We’re still only students, we can’t fight these villains if we don’t have our hero licenses.”
Denki perks up as he gets an idea. “Why don’t we get out of here and tell the heroes outside?”
“It’s not going to be very easy to escape.” Melissa sadly explains. “The security system here is on the same level as that of the Tartarus Prison which is where they keep the most dangerous criminals in the world.”
Denki slumps down as all his hope washes away. “Then all we can do is sit and wait until everything’s over I guess.”
Jiro can’t believe what she’s hearing, has he really given up already? “Are you really okay with that Kaminari?!”
“Well what choice do we have?”
“Don’t you think we should at least try to stop them?!”
“Hey, come on!” A freaked out Mineta cuts in, defending his friend. “Those villains even have All Might trapped. There’s no way we can stop them ourselves if the actual pros are stuck.”
Izuku hates to admit it, but Mineta has a point. Those villains have this all planned out to every detail with every variable considered. They have the island under their control, and they cut it off from the rest of the world. Shit, they’re in some serious trouble here. If only they could contact the outside.
“Too bad we can’t just call for reinforcements.” Izuku grumbles.
Melissa, however, perks up at the thought. “Maybe we can.”
“You…you can call for help?!” Izuku gasps loudly, drawing everyone else’s attention.
“I can't but he can.” Melissa clarifies as she peers over Izuku’s shoulder and towards the small of his back.
Kraab blinks back at her in confusion. “What?”
Melissa smiles down at the bot and explains. “I added a few new upgrades to your system. You should be able to generate your own signal, not a strong one mind you, but strong enough to at least contact C1-10P.”
Izuku instantly lights up. “You can call Dad then!”
“In theory he should be able to.”
Kraab thinks on it before going ahead with it anyway. “Well, we’re not gonna get anywhere just by waiting.”
He goes still and his eyes begin to repeatedly blink on and off as he tries to home in on Chopper’s signal.
As they all wait for any results, Shoto finally decides to ask what’s the deal with the robotic Roomba on Izuku’s back “Midoriya, what is that thing by the way?”
“Oh, uh, he’s a, um, summer project I’ve been working on.”
Denki snickers into his hand. “What do you call him, Crab?”
“Actually, yes. His name is Kraab.”
Mineta gives him a deadpan stare. “Real original, dude.”
“Hey!”
Kraab’s eyes stop blinking. “Connection complete! Get ready in 3. 2. Aaaaand-”
On que Kraab activates his hologram projector only to be greeted by the miniature holographic image of a crying Hisashi. [“IZUKU!!!”]
Everyone jumps, praying that the villains didn’t hear that.
Tears of joy stream down Hisashi’s holographic face. [“I’m so relieved to see you’re alright. I was so worried!”]
“Shhh, keep it down!” Izuku shushes.
[“What’s the matter, Champ?”] Hisashi asks, forgoing his tears and reverberating back into the responsible adult. [“Where are you? Are you all safe?”]
“Not quite.” Izuku is sad to admit that they’re not.
“Mr. Midoriya.” Iida steps in front of the side to address the mini hologram directly. He’s not hundred percent sure if this is how this form of communication works but he can at least assume that Mr. Midoriya can hear him at the very least. “I’m afraid we have found ourselves in quite the dire situation here.”
Somewhere off hologram five familiar voices chime in.
[“Who you talking to Mr. M? Hey, it’s Iida! Hi, Iida!]
[“He cleans up nice. Kero.”]
[“So do Todoroki and Midoriya. Looking good you two!”]
[“Woah, check the girls out. Nice.”]
[“Have you guys eaten yet?”]
The rest of the teens all stare at each other in confusion in response to those recognizable reactions. “Those voices?”
Izuku leans in and asks. “Who-...?”
Chopper must have readjusted his lens because suddenly several more holographic figures join Hisashi such as Mina, Tsuyu, Hagakure, Sero, and Sato.
Jiro gasps in surprise seeing them all together. “No way?!”
Even Shoto’s taken by surprise. “What are you all doing here?”
Tsuyu’s holographic image responds. [“We all got tickets to come out here.”]
Hagakure pouts off to the side in her teddy-bear hoodie. [“Yeah, but we couldn’t get into the Preview.”]
Melissa leans in and asks Momo to clarify. “They’re your other classmates too, right?”
Momo gives her a sheepish laugh in response. “How’d you guess?”
“Yo, Sero. Sato.” Denki grins, while waving hello at his fellow bros. “I wasn’t expecting you guys to be here.”
[“Are you kidding?”] Sero laughs. [“We’ve been planning this trip for months.”]
That’s great and all but they would really like some more important answers, especially Ochaco. “What are you all doing together?”
Hisashi gives her a quick answer. [“We all happened to run into each other. But that’s beside the point. Tell me everything. What’s happening?”]
Izuku goes ahead and explains everything they know from the heroes and All Might’s capture to the villain’s full control over the island. Including that they have the capability to turn the Security Sentries on the island’s innocent population.
[“Are you serious?! There’s no way?!”] Hagakure screams in terror, backing away from the off-screen hotel balcony just in case.
“Afraid, so.” Momo confirms with a grim expression. “Even All Might’s unable to do anything for now.”
A dreadful shiver runs down Ochaco’s spine, after all a group of villains that can give All Might a hard time have to be the real deal. “So, what do we do now?”
Jiro shrugs. “What can we do?”
[“Well, there’s got to be something.”] Sero cuts in.
[“Like what?”] asks a worried and stressed-out Sato.
The holographic Tsuyu taps Hisashi’s shoulder. [“Mr. Midoriya? You’re the pro hero. What do you think we should do?”]
Everyone from the teens present to the ones blocks away all go silent and await his answer.
Hisashi takes a moment to think, doing his best to ignore their intense gazes, not wanting to worry them. They’re depending on him, and he’d better give them the appropriate guidance.
[“I’m afraid calling for help is out of the question.”]
Iida jumps in disbelief. “Why is that?! Your bots have clearly demonstrated that they’re more than capable of doing so!” He gestures towards the still Kraab who’s too busy focusing on his task and can’t respond.
[“The problem isn’t if they can’t or can. But if they can do it discreetly without the villains finding out?”] Hisashi explains while folding his arms and thinking things professionally. [“They cut off all communication. But they’re on an island of technology, they undoubtedly must be monitoring for outgoing signals. Actually, we’re lucky we’re even able to communicate right now as we are. I bet soon they’ll be jamming our signal soon enough.”]
Even if he sent an S.O.S. through his Plumber Badge, there’s still a chance they might detect it. After all David Shield keeps secret stashes of alien tech in his Central Tower lab so who’s to say the villains don’t have access to it as well??
[“The only choice is to do as All Might says. You all need to stay out and hidden. If I can, Chopper and I will try to come and get you and escort you all back here where it’s safe.”]
“But nowhere is safe here on this island!” Ochaco finally snaps. “All those bots out there are using everyone as hostages! And we’ll be one of them!”
[“I’m sorry, kids. But this is something we need to leave to the pros.”]
Considering the situation, that provides no comfort to any of them. Not to Izuku, not to Ochaco, not to any of them.
Not even to Shoto who goes quiet and somber as he ends up staring at his left hand in deep contemplation. “Aren’t we trying to be pros ourselves?”
Momo frowns with worry. “Well yes but we’re not allowed to work as heroes. You know that?”
“Does that mean that it’s right for us to do nothing at all?”
“Well…it’s complicated.” Momo chokes up, not at all confident in her response.
She’s not alone in her doubt as the rest of the teens both present and not present can just feel the weight of the situation on their shoulders. Like water slowly rising up and drowning them as they struggle to stay afloat.
[“Maybe not as much as you think.”] Hisashi cuts in after a moment to think.
The teens all start, turning to him with questioning gazes.
[“As a pro I do have permission to allow those without a license to participate in hero work. Also, if you got involved it would be a result of self-defense. And as another factor, I-Island allows the full use of one’s Quirks.”]
Mina instantly picks up what he’s saying. [“So, they can get involved without getting into trouble!”]
Iida doesn’t like what’s being implied, it seems far too irresponsible and dangerous. “Even so, involving ourselves any further is far ro risky! Think about it.”
They do, casting a foreboding sullen silence over them as they consider the odds and how unfavorable they are.
But even when the chances seem slim there will always be those willing to challenge the odds.
“I want to help.” Izuku speaks up, surprising everyone. “I want to save them.”
Mineta’s eyes bulge out of his sockets as he cries out. “You want to fight those villains!? Did you learn anything from the U.S.J. Midoriya?!”
“This is totally different!” Izuku defends. “We don’t have to fight them. We just need to think of a way to rescue All Might and everyone else at the party without facing the bad guys.”
Denki, however, doesn’t see it the same way. “That’s easy for you to say. I mean you can turn invisible and walk-through walls. But even then, it won’t be that simple.
“I know that! But I still want to try. We’re the only ones that can do anything. We should at least try. We owe it to everyone whose lives are endangered on this island!”
“But how?” asks a very hesitant Jiro. “We can’t exactly just walk around like we own the place. The villains have the entire island under their control. How are we supposed to stop that?”
“Not even All Might can be everywhere at once.” Shoto adds in, bringing up another flaw in Izuku’s hopes. “Even if we freed him, he’d only be able to save those being kept in the Reception Hall with him.”
Melissa pauses at that and thinks, considering. “Maybe he can’t. But we can.”
Everyone stares in confusion at her as Melissa turns to the miniature holograms of their classmates. “The rest of you are all heroes too, right?”
[“You bet we are.”] Mina grins along with Sero, Sato, as well as Hagakure.
[“In-training that is.”] Tsuyu explains, ruining their moment.
Either way Melissa has her answer. “That’s perfect.”
“What’s perfect?” Ochaco asks with an unsure frown.
Jiro and the others are just as lost. “Mind filling us in?”
Melissa goes ahead and does so. “The villains must be small in number, that’s the only way to explain how they were able to get onto the island undetected. And now that they have control of the tower, they have access to the island’s entire system from the Security Sentries to cameras and more.”
“Which is the problem.” Izuku states a matter-of-factly.
“Yes, their control of the tower is major to their plan. However, the true key to success is that they don’t cause a panic across the island.”
Ochaco frowns, not seeing the full picture here. “Why’s that?”
“Because if anyone outside knew what was really going on than the Cutoff Protocol would be initiated.”
Everyone takes a double take, having no clue what she’s talking about. “The what Protocol?”
“The Cutoff Protocol.” Melissa repeats before going into more detail. “I-island is split up between four sectors: Residence, Business, Academy, and the Central Tower. And each one is overseen and monitored by the Control Room right here in this tower. Meaning the island is connected within one giant control system. However, in case of emergencies such as this each sector can be cut off from the main system and grid off into their own Security Sectors.”
“Oh, like a pizza!” Izuku excitedly shares. “I-Island’s a pizza that hasn’t been cut up but each slice we take off is its own Security Sector?”
“That’s a weird metaphor but it works.” Melissa hurriedly admits before continuing. “Going off of that, the Cutoff Protocol is like the pizza cutter in this scenario, it divides each Sector, giving individual control to each and cutting it off from the main system.”
Iida is beginning to see where she’s going with this. “Then that’s why the villains aren’t letting their presence known outside the tower. If the authorities or heroes knew then someone would activate the Cutoff Protocol.”
“Precisely.” Melissa smiles before turning to address Hisashi’s hologram. “Mr. Midoriya I think the best way to save everyone is by cutting off each Sector from the main system. And there’s no one else we can count on other than you.”
He understands and is willing to face the risks. [“How do I activate this Cutoff Protocol?”]
“I don’t know.” Melissa sadly frowns with a shake of her head. “I’m not even exactly sure where it is but I know it’s a manual switch and that it’s located in some sort of secured facility within the Business Area.”
[“The Business Area? That’s gonna be a lot of ground to cover on my own.”] Hisashi’s already wondering how he’s gonna find it. Having Chopper tap into the island’s system might give them away.
[“What if we helped?”] Mina offers, seeing the hesitant expression on the pro’s face.
Tsuyu perks up with worry. [“Mina? Are you sure?”]
[“Yeah, I’m sure! We can’t just sit here now that we know what’s going on!”]
Sero seems hesitant as well, not really sure if it’s a good idea. [“Yeah, but there are robots all over the place. And they’re not gonna just let us walk out of here.”]
Shoto nods in agreement before adding in something else to consider. “Not to mention, I’m sure the villains have considered the possibility that someone will try to cut off each sector so I’m sure the manual override is being heavily guarded.”
“Hey what about us?!” Mineta shouts, calling attention back to himself. “We still got our own situation to deal with here! How are we gonna get out of this?!”
It’s Izuku who responds, declaring loudly and with determination. “By doing something!”
“Like what?! All your plans are crazy!” Mineta snaps back.
“My plans aren’t crazy! They work!”
“That doesn't mean they’re not crazy!!”
As Izuku snaps back others join in, adding in their own concerns and ideas. They’re all shouting over each other in order to be heard and tensions rise as they each divide into their varying ideas from taking action, to remaining hidden, to somehow calling for help, and more. And it’s only escalating.
The only ones not arguing are Ochaco and Melissa. Both looking on with worried looks as their friends argue amongst themselves.
Until it finally spills over and Ochaco snaps.
“ENOUGH!!!”
There’s instant silence, everyone losing their breath as their eyes are all drawn towards the holder of One For All.
She shys away under their gazes but quickly steels herself before declaring her intentions. “I want…no. We need to do something to help. We have to otherwise, how can we ever call ourselves heroes in the future knowing that we sat by and let these villains terrorize everyone?”
No one says a word, some even have their gazes fall to the floor in shame.
“I-I know it’s scary. Heck, I’m scared just thinking about it but I’m more scared of how much I’m gonna regret us doing nothing.” She looks at each of them. She knows them and how they think, and she knows for a fact that they’ll do the right thing. “And I think you all feel the same.”
They do.
And if that doesn't convince them then Melissa's idea just might. “I know where the security system is. It’s on the top floor of this tower. If these criminals managed to take control of it then the authentication locks and password have probably been disabled. We should be able to restart the system ourselves. We just need to stay off the villains’ radar until we get to the top floor. That’s all.”
Hisashi sees it, a plan is forming. [“And if we complete the Cutoff Protocol the villains will lose all their leverage over the situation.”]
Ochaco braces herself, still trying to rally the others. “Then we should do it!”
However, some, like Jiro, still have reservations. “Sure, but how do we keep on the low for that long?”
“The security system hasn’t discovered us yet.” Melissa clarifies matter-of-factly. “That means the villains probably don’t know how it works very well.”
Kraab waves one of his claws in the air, drawing attention down towards him. “And thanks to me we’ll know where we’re going thanks to this.”
The hologram of Hisashi and the others vanish, becoming a massive layout of the Central Tower.
“A map?!” Izuku gaps, surprised to see such a detailed outline.
“I downloaded it shortly after we got inside. Lucky, I did, right?”
“Yeah, lucky.” But Izuku has his suspicions, his eyes turning rather dark and ominous as he glares down at the cyborg. “But why did you download it?”
Kraab suddenly becomes very nervous. “Uhhh, no reason. Certainly not because I was gonna escape the first chance I got! Ehehehe-uhhh.”
Meanwhile, Sero considers the plan and it’s a good one, but what about them? [“Okay, sure you guys got that, but what about the rest of us? I mean not that I’m convinced yet, but if I was then, how are we supposed to even get to the Business Area?”]
Hisashi turns to him and gives him and the other teens a reassuring smile. [“Don’t worry after getting lost this morning I had Chopper download the blueprints to all of I-Island. With it we should be able to locate the manual override and be able to stay out of sight of most cameras and Security Sentries.”]
With more details being added on, Shoto’s starting to seriously consider this plan. “So, we avoid fighting anyone and try to get the place back to normal. It could work.”
The others are considering it too like Momo and Jiro, heck even Denki’s starting to get onboard with it.
“Not bad, what do you think?” He asks Jiro
“Let’s do it.” She states confidently, having fallen for the plan a while ago.
Momo holds her back with a tap of her hand. “But many of our enemies are likely gathered there at the top floor.”
“If we’re fast we won’t have to fight them.” Izuku explains, trying to convince her and the others. “When the security system goes back to normal, All Might and the others will be released. They’ll immediately jump into action and stop the villains, I know it!”
Ochaco jumps in with a cheer. “Let’s do this, guys!”
Izuku starts, not expecting her to shout into his ear. He smiles seeing that it was just her and continues on. “All Might can’t be everywhere at once, but we can. We got the numbers. We’re capable. We’re strong. We’re smart. And we know how to put up a fight. But most importantly we have each other's backs.”
The others smile, their spirits rising with every word.
“My Dad and his team will make sure that these villains can’t use the island as a hostage. And that leaves all of us to take back the system and free the heroes. And if we all work together there’s no way this plan will fail. We can save everyone!”
“Yeah!” Ochaco cheers, fully in on this plan.
Shoto steps forward making his position known. “Midoriya, I’ll go with you too.”
“I’m in.” Jiro reinstates, making sure there’s no confusion about it.
“Todoroki.” Izuku smiles.
“Thanks, Kyoka.” Ochaco thanks, grateful to have them both aboard.
Iida still has his own reservations, but he is willing to join. “The moment I think we’ve gone too far it’s over. If that’s something you can agree to, I’ll join you as well.”
Izuku understands, and if it does come to that he will fully cooperate. “Okay!”
With that promise made, it assures the rest that this plan isn’t maybe that reckless.
“Alright, if that’s the case I’ll go too.” Momo promises to help.
Denki shoves himself off the ground and poses, trying to act cool. “Obviously I’m in!”
[“What about you kids?”] Hisashi turns to the teens stuck with him. Honestly, he would rather they stay here but he won’t deny their feelings if they see fit to join. [“No one’s forcing you to go. And it’s understandable if you don’t think it’s safe. No one will hold it against you. We all have to do what we think feels right for each of us.”]
They all share a look and grin. Mina, especially, after all she doesn't even need Emote to know exactly what they’re thinking. [“If you think we’re gonna miss out on something as cool as this then you’re dead wrong, old man!”]
[“Hahahaha! Sure. Also, I'm not old…!”]
After hearing everyone else commit to the suicide mission, Mineta finally losses it and snaps. “Have you all lost your minds?! Alright, I’ll go!!” He wails, tears of terror gushing from his eyes as he does.
“Thanks, Mineta.” Izuku thanks, ignoring his tears and snot. He then turns to Melissa who’s listening in to everyone agreeing with a grateful smile. “Melissa you can wait down here for us, okay?”
“No, I’m going too.” She states, showing little to no hesitation.
“Eh, but-without a Quirk you’ll be in danger?”
Ignoring the fact that he too is technically Quirkless she instead addresses the rest of the group out loud. “I don’t suppose any of you know how to change the settings on the actual island security system?”
By the looks on their faces, none of them do.
Seeing this Izuku comes up with the first excuse he can think of. “Well either Kraab or Grey Matter could!”
“Okay, then.” Melissa leans down, addressing the cyborg directly. “Tell me Mr. Kraab, can you bypass five firewalls that are constantly in flux and being adjusted by individual AIs that can run over 1 thousand corrects per second?”
“Uuuuhhh…” Kraab’s brain shuts off as Melissa has him totally stumped. Sure, he can hack but he’s nothing on C1-10P’s level.
Seeing this, Melissa feels like she’s proved her point. “It’s better if I tag along just in case anything happens to either of you. Besides, we might need you Deku to help fight off the villains. I know I might just get in your way at least until we get up there to the top floor. But I want to help. People are in danger. Please!”
He sees no point in arguing with her anymore. But he’s not upset if anything he finds it funny. Guess Quirkless people like him just can’t take no for an answer. “Yeah, alright then. Let’s do this. We’ll save everyone!”
Melissa smiles, glad to be allowed aboard. “Yeah!”
[“I wish you all luck then.”] Says Hisashi while getting ready to sign off. [“I’m afraid this might have to be the only time we can contact each other. We can’t risk exposing our whereabouts or ambitions to the villains. So be careful and if the plan goes south promise me you’ll all get ourselves out. Got it?”]
“We got it.” Izuku affirms. “And I promise.”
[“Good.”]
And so with their plan of action fully laid out, Iida goes ahead and calls them forth. “Let’s go!”
They all cheer out, even the holograms in a big boisterous. “RIGHT!!!”
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
Sensing that he’s being watched a bound All Might turns his head upward, ever so slightly where he’s greeted with the sight of a determined duo staring back at him from high above the Reception Hall’s glass ceiling. Their eyes are ablaze with hope and convection, he can see it, even at this distance.
‘NO! THOSE LOOKS IN YOUR EYES. DON’T TELL ME. PLEASE. RUN AWAY!’
As if sensing what he’s thinking the duo shake their heads, determined to follow through with their plan.
‘IT’S TOO DANGEROUS!’
But they have to do whatever they can to help.
‘YOUNG URARAKA! YOUNG MIDORIYA!’
With their message given, they both take off. Hopeful that All Might can hang in there until the time is right
‘THEY’RE NOT GOING TO LEAVE. I KNOW I SHOULD BE INFURIATED, IGNORING THEIR TEACHER’S WISHES.’ Subtly his frustrated scowl does a complete 180. ‘BUT WHO AM I KIDDING? IF THEY DIDN’T ACT RIGHT NOW THEN THEY WOULDN’T BE MY STUDENTS!’ A bit of steam begins to pour off his body, but the fire in his heart has been stoked and so he holds on. ‘‘I’LL JUST HAVE TO KEEP THIS FORM UP. AND HAVE FAITH THAT THEY CAN GET US OUT OF THIS SITUATION ON THEIR OWN. WE’RE COUNTING ON YOU, FLETCHLING HEROES!’
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
They better hurry because the villains have already gotten a head start as David and Sam are lead into the tower’s top floor and Control Room.
There, Swordkil leads them over to the cybernetic hacker who’s monitoring the Central Tower’s corrupted system. “Here's the smart guy.”
The Hacker gets up and holds out the yellow and black phone. “It’s for you.”
With much hesitation, thinking they might pull something, David cautiously takes the phone and holds it to his ear.
Upon doing so he’s immediately greeted by a staticky voice, which even through the phone sounds sickly yet full of malice [It’s a pleasure to finally be able to speak to you directly, Professor Shield…]
David remains quiet, his lips tightening and sealing themselves shut. )
[Now we have some work to do… I hope you are ready…]
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
The streets of I-island are eerily quiet and void of any signs of life or beating hearts. And yet there is movement in the streets, accompanied by a strange red hue that illuminates and breaks the darkness casted over the island’s buildings and pavilions.
Security Sentries patrol the streets of the Business Area moving in tandem of each other in packs, marching or rather rolling in single file lines. Looking like an organized school of sharks out for prey in a glowing sea of blood.
Thankfully the island provides a lot of ground to cover meaning there are often gaps between the patrols of drones but even so it’s never long until the next patrol passes on by.
And yet despite the nearly continuous packs of drones on patrol one seems to be having a rather odd malfunction. It’s all on its own as it follows along the sidewalk. It strays away when it can, avoiding the bigger pockets of drones, making a point to patrol the lesser used routes and such.
However, every time another patrol passes by the stray drone freezes in place.
^Wooo.^ Chopper visibly relaxes as the patrol goes on its way, not giving him a second glance.
He bobs and shakes with glee, admiring his less than stellar but obviously workable new paint job.
Thanks to his build and frame he’s the same height as the Security Sentries and thanks to a coat of red he looks sort-of-but-not-really like them.
^Wa be-op.^
“Nice going little buddy.” An invisible Hagakure quietly pats Chopper on the head. “Keep up the nice work.”
^Be-wop wop.^
Hagakure smiles, looking upwards along the tall buildings and pavilions. She waves, although no one can see it while whispering out the quietest shout she can manage. “It’s all clear!”
Hanging high above the street flights, just out of reach of the red glow of the Security Sentries, hang several silhouettes that are clinging to the nearby buildings and walls.
“I can’t believe that it actually worked.” Sero is in total disbelief here while repelling himself on the nearest building with his tape.
“Ha ha. See? I told you it would.” Mina laughs, her hands and feet stuck to the side of the wall after she melted little footholds for herself. “I’m practically an artist when it comes to makeup so disguising Chopper was easy.”
“I’m just more amazed you had enough red makeup and lipstick to do it.”
“I’m just glad it’s working. Kero.” Tsuyu comments, climbing up to them like any respectable wallcrawler. Tied around her waist is Hagakure’s teddy-bear hoodie. “Although I am kinda concerned that it is. I mean just how reliable is the island’s security to begin with?”
“Who knows?” Sato shrugs while gripping to the building’s side and frame with his grip strength alone, although he has punched his feet and fingers into the sides, providing him some leverage. “Maybe one of the villains has a Quirk that can control technology?”
“That’s a sound theory.” Hisashi comments, leaping down and landing on a nearby streetlamp with expert precision of a well experienced parkour athlete. “But we can only speculate for now.”
The teens all settle down and the pro hero continues to address them in a serious and professional manner. “Brace yourselves everyone, we still have a long way to go.”
They sure do and they better get a move on, they’re wasting enough time as it is, no need to waste anymore.
Out in the distance they hear a woman let out a shocked scream followed by several people cursing and airing how unfair the situation is.
Looking over the teens spot several people being corralled by a patrol of Security Sentries. The drones aren’t doing much except keeping them at bay and in place, not willing to allow them to move or go home.
Mina gasps, what sign as a drone physically shoves a man back away from the line. “What are they doing?!”
“Shit.” Sero frowns with worry. “It looks like those people couldn’t get indoors in time.”
Hisashi came to the same conclusion. “And now they’re being gathered up by the drones.”
“We should help them!” Mina offers, getting ready to jump down and hurry over there.
“We can’t.” Hisashi states with a cruel honesty.
“What?!”
“We can’t afford to.” He explains while trying not to buckle or show how much he rather so as the girl suggested. “If we do anything now, we’ll only be giving ourselves away and then it’ll be that much harder to save anyone. We’d be swarmed in minutes.”
The teens visibly slouch in defeat and even Sato hangs his head low. “So, the sooner we separate the Security Sectors the better.”
“Yes. Now let's hurry,”
And upon Hisashi’s command the teens hurry along, climbing through the concrete jungle in their own ways. All the while making sure to stay quiet and follow the disguised Chopper from above since he’s the only one that actually knows where they’re going.
“Kero.” Tsuyu hops from one building to another, helping Sato and Mina along with her tongue. “I just really hope the others are having an easier time than we are. Kero.”
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It’s exhausting, every step they take makes their feet feel heavier and heavier and with them going up a spiraling staircase some of them are even begun to get dizzy with how much they’re going around and around.
Moving the fastest, Iida leads the pack coming up the landing first. “Level 30.” He states, confirming the floor’s level with a nearby sign.
Sitting on his shoulder, Grey Matter calls back down towards the steps. “Wait, Melissa. How high does it go?”
At the bottom of the stairs is Melissa and the poor girl’s all out of breath as she responds. “200th floor.”
“The what?!” Denki gasps, before throwing a tantrum. “Midoriya! Can’t you just whisk us all to the top?!”
Grey Matter gives him a coy shrug. “I would but what happens if we’re spotted, or they cut us off? I’d be on my own against villains with unknown Quirks. Not to mention I’d accidently be leaving you guys behind. And no way I’m doing that.”
Denki gives him an irritated glare. “That’s all good and all but it’s hard to take you seriously when you’re hitching a ride yourself!”
But Denki doesn’t stop his whining even as they arrive at the 40th floor. It doesn’t help that one of them is doing nothing but instigating.
“Getty up! Move it! Come on, time’s a ticking!” Kraab mockingly cheers, having attached himself to Jiro’s back instead.
Jiro glares at him as she runs up the stairs. “Can you at least try to be a little supportive here?!”
“I am. I’m encouraging you on. Now, mush!!”
Upon his orders they trudge on, continuing up and up for what feels like forever.
Ochaco takes position at the end of the group, wanting to cover their rear, unfortunately some of them are starting to fall behind. “Hey, Melissa. Do you want me to use my Quirk on you?”
“I’ll be fine.” Melissa responds from the lower landing. “Thanks anyway.” She reaches down to her feet and rips off her heels, tossing them aside, before hurrying up the stairs. “Save your power for when we need it. I’m right behind you!”
On and on they go until eventually they reach the 70th floor where they decide to take a quick break. But that’s because they find the way to the next set of stairs blocked off by a large titanium reinforced seal.
“The route’s blocked.” Iida huffs, just out of breath from all the stairs and running.
Everyone’s just out of breath as well, well except for Grey Matter who’s too busy examining the airtight seal from atop Iida’s shoulder.
Ochaco frowns while wiping the seat from her brow. “What should we do? Break through it.”
Grey Matter hops off Iida’s shoulder and transforms.
“I got this.” Four Arms grins, ready to flex and show off his muscles. “Stand back, kay.”
“Wait!” Melissa shouts, having finally arrived at the top. “If we did that, I’m sure the security system would alert the villains that someone's in here.”
“Then why don’t we go through this door instead?” Mineta asks from the back, grabbing the handle of a nearby automated door leading to the rest of the 70th floor.
“Mineta!” Four Arms screams.
“No, don't!” Melissa shouts as well.
Ochaco panics and hurries to grab him.
But it’s all too late as he’s already pulled the handle open with a loud click.
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An alert icon immediately pops onto the screen, starling the Hacker.
Swordkil who’s now posted as his bodyguard looks over when the Hacker starts frantically typing away at the monitor. “Something wrong?”
“A door on the 70th floor just opened.”
Swordkil’s so thrown off by the news he nearly chokes on his cigarette. “What the hell?! I thought you scanned each level, and they were all clear?”
He did and he’s checking them again. And BINGO. Security feeds floods onto the screen, showing a group of snot nosed teenagers running through the Central Tower.
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“Use the barriers to try and trap them on the 80th floor.” Wolfram responds after the Hacker immediately notified him about the situation.
He then signals for three of his goons to head up and attain the brats. “Don’t let those kids escape.”
All Might watches the three villains hurry off after his students. 'BE CAREFUL EVERYONE. VILLAINS CAN BE CUNNING.’
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The giant hallway feels like it goes on forever even as the kids sprint through as fast as they can.
All the while they keep their eyes open for another stairwell or ladder to continue up.
“Is there another way to go up?” Shoto calls out to anyone listening.
Terraspin hovers past with Jiro, Momo, and Melissa on his back, giving them a brief break before they switch with the others.
Kraab sits just above Terraspin’s tucked in head, projecting the map before them so he can check. “According to this there should be another staircase up ahead.”
“Then let’s hurry!” Iida shouts, commanding them to move faster.
Just as they pick up speed they find themselves before a major road block as giant metal gates begin to close up down one by one from just down the hallway.
“The gates!” Seeing this Terraspin slides to a stop and the girls jump off.
Momo, having landed with her back to the others, gasps when she sees the stretch of hallway behind them. “The ones behind us too!”
Iida spots a nearby doorway but the nearest gate begins to lower and cut them off. “Todoroki!”
“I’m on it!” Shoto instantly unleashes a massive glacier that pries the gate open.
With no time to waste Iida’s Engines roar to life as he dives through the gate at full speed. XLR8 soon follows after him and quickly passes him by.
Another gate begins to close, it’s going to cut them off from their only escape. But XLR8 acts quickly, zooming off towards the closing gate and transforming into Four Arms who wedges himself between the gate, holding it open just enough for Iida to speed by.
Iida zooms right through the gate, and with expert precision his Engines roar as he delivers a devastating kick to the doorway, smashing it open. “Everyone quick! We can cross through here.”
Everyone hurries up and over the gate, allowing Four Arms to finally let the gate go and it comes crashing down, cutting off their escape route at least for now.
Once through they find out what exactly the 80th floor of the tower is for. Apparently, it’s to house a giant indoor greenhouse. The place has an open design, it also seems to take up the entire width of the tower and stretches up several more floors. The place is absolutely brimming with greenery of tropical plants and vegetation. And at the center of it stands a single central tower, undoubtedly it’s the elevator shaft running up and down the tower.
Even though they’re on the run, Ochaco still takes a moment to admire the facility. “Woah, what is this? It’s like a giant indoor jungle!”
“It’s a Plant Factory.” Melissa explains as they hurry through. “They research the effects that Quirks have on flora here.”
“Hold on!” Jiro cuts them off with a stretch of her hand, her eyes and Earphone Jacks locked on the elevator doors. “Look the elevator’s coming up.”
According to the little screen hanging over the doorway, it’s already reached floor 56-57-58-and so on.
Mineta’s knees shake and tremble with every climb of the elevator. “Don’t tell me the villains found us!”
Izuku quickly hurries everyone away. “We should hide and let them pass.”
“And what if that doesn’t work?” Ochaco hesitantly asks.
“Then we’ll still have the element of surprise. For when we ambush them instead.”
Ochaco sheepishly smirks, figuring that he’s right.
Iida, however, is quick to remind them that it isn’t their first option. “Remember if we can avoid fighting, we should.”
“We know.” Izuku acknowledges. “But I think we should be ready.”
Either way they all hurry away and slide behind a row of thick tropical bushes that perfectly conceal them. Tucking themselves within the bushes they all wait with bated breath as the elevator continues its climb up.
“I wonder if we could use that elevator to get to the top floor once they’re gone.” Denki offers in a hushed whisper.
“No.” Melissa breathes, not taking her eyes off the elevator doors for a second. “Only authorized people can use the controls and it’s built like a bomb shelter so we couldn’t even break in if we tried.”
“Bet we could if we tried.” Izuku comments while gesturing to himself, Kraab, and even Ochaco.
“Maybe but the villains have full control of the tower. Including the elevator.”
“Of course, we can’t go the easy way!” Mineta growls and shakes with frustration and fear before letting out a squeaky yelp when the elevator arrives with a not-so-pleasant ding-dong.
The elevator doors slide open, and a trio of villains step out. Like the rest of Wolfram’s minions, they’re all dressed in a black combat suit, complete with a full-face mask with a paler X-shaped design patterning it over his face. But two of them have ditched the masks, allowing the teens to get a good look at their faces.
The shortest of the group is a middle-aged man with lightly tanned skin and a round head that appears to merge into his thick neck with little distinction. He has small, black eyes that always remain closed, set close together on his face, notably small eyebrows and a visibly hooked nose. His dark hair is very short and is worn in a round shape on the top of his head with two stripes of hair that go around the back of his head.
Then there’s the tallest and skinniest member of the trio. A strange-looking man with pale yellow skin and a face shaped similar to that of a goat, possessing two small triangular ears and a flat nose consisting only of nostrils. He has thin, dark eyes that are slanted sharply inwards and visibly sharp teeth. His dark green hair is mohawk-shaped and connects around his ears along his cheekbones, and he also has a small goatee.
And finally there’s the third member. There isn’t much to see as he’s still concealed behind his X-marked mask and all they can really see is his long scraggly vermillion hair. He’s of average height and walks with a slight slouch while keeping his hands stuffed in his pockets in a lazy way.
The shortest man glares around at all the plants and vegetation layering the area. “They said the kids came in here.”
The tallest villain growls in an annoyed squeaky voice. “They just had to pick a place with so many hidey holes.”
“We’ll find them.” Comments the third and final member as he reaches to the back of his mask and begins to tear it off. “Daigo. Nobu. Keep your eyes peeled.”
He rips off his helmet revealing his narrow thin face and ruby red eyes. His grin is wide and thin like a slit and when he laughs it’s like watching a Venus fly trap trying to smile. “They’re here. And we’ll deal with them like any other bug. Hehehe.”
Ochaco ducks down even further into the bushes. “They’re after us.”
“Stay quiet.” Iida warns while keeping an eye on the trio of villains.
The atmosphere is tense, no one dares to utter a word or even breath as the seconds go by at an agonizing rate. With each one of them doing their best to keep themselves quiet from clamping their own hands over their mouths or silently praying the villains will give up and move on without noticing them.
“Hey! We see you stupid kids!” Nobu’s squeaky voice yells out, causing all their hearts to stop and plummet.
‘They spotted us! F-fine.’ Out of pure habit Izuku grips the Omnitrix as he prepares to transform. ‘Then we’ll give them a show!’
He’s just about to leap up and attack but a disturbed angry growl holds him back.
“Whacha ya say you bastard?”
The teens all freeze in place, they know that voice! That annoyed angry growl mixed with an air of superiority. It’s unmistakable!
Peering out ever so slightly they are all shocked to find Bakugou and Kirishima out in the open!
“What are you two doing here?” Daigo growls, assuming they’re the kids they’re supposed to find.
“That’s what I wanna know too.” Bakugou scoffs, being as rude as he usually is. “Now are you gonna tell me or do I have to do your fucking job for ya?”
Kraab lets out a hushed chuckle. “Hehehe, I like that kid.”
Meanwhile, the naive Kirishima does his best to stop Bakugou from picking a fight. “Hey, man just leave this to me, okay?” He turns and sheepishly greets what he thinks is the tower’s security. “Um, we kinda got lost looking for this party. Can you maybe point us in the right direction?”
Mineta’s own jaw drops. “How’d they get all the way to the 80th floor looking for the Reception?”
The three villains scowl and glare, Daigo and Nobu turn towards their third member for orders to which he gives them a curt nod.
Nobu’s hand instantly expands, his fingers stretching far beyond what they should while a strange layer of webbing stretches between them. A pocket of air swirls around in his palm before he lashes out. “Don’t lie to me or you’ll regret it!!”
With a swing of his arm, he unleashes a powerful jet of air that screeches through the Plant Factory like a railgun.
“Hey, watch out!” Bakugou screams.
Just as Kirishima realizes he’s being attacked, it’s too late for him to move out of the way. But he doesn’t have to as a massive glacier suddenly engulfs the attack and the villains in just a blink of an eye.
Bakugou stops in place, shocked by the sudden attack and ice. “This looks like-”
Both he and Kirishima follow the glacier down to find Shoto with his right hand pressed against the ground. “Todoroki?!”
Before they can say anything else, loud pounding and shifting can be heard from inside the glacier; a clear sign the villains are going to break out.
Shoto acts quickly turning towards the others hidden away in the bushes. “The three of us can keep them busy down here. Look for a way to get to the top!”
He creates a thin sheet of ice under everyone else’s feet.
“What are you doing?! Ah!!” Izuku gasps as he and the others are carried up into the air by an ever-growing pillar of ice.
“I’m fine! Go!” Shoto shouts, leaving him, Kirishima, and Bakugou behind.
“Todoroki!” Momo calls after him.
“I’ll be right behind you after I clean up this mess!”
She can’t help but be worried but there’s no time to argue, she and the rest will have to trust that he’ll be fine. “Right!”
“Wait, you guys are here too?” Kirishima is so confused, first he’s attacked, then Shoto appears, and why are the others so panicked? “What the heck’s going on, Todoroki?”
“You didn’t hear the broadcast alert?” Shoto’s amazed by their luck, but whether it’s good or bad he’s not quite sure yet.
And judging by the looks on their faces it’s clear they don’t have the smallest hint to what he’s talking about.
“Never mind, some villains have taken over the tower.”
Bakugou starts, having been caught off guard by the news. “Wait, that’s what this is about?” Shit no wonder those punks tried to take out Kirishima, they’re not security they’re freaking mercenaries.
“I’ll explain more when I can. No time now.” Shoto finishes the pillar allowing the others to reach the catwalk high above the Plant Factory.
And just in time too as Nobu’s odd Quirk seemingly evaporates a section of the glacier away, carving a path for him, Daigo, and their third member to escape the icy prison.
Bakugou scowls in contempt at the villains. “What’s with this guy’s Quirk?”
“Stay on your guard!” Shoto warns.
“Shut up! I know that!”
The villain, Daigo, stomps forward not at all liking the kids’ attitudes. “So, you want to pick a fight?!” His body trembles and shakes frantically as his muscles and frame expand and morph, becoming purple and four times bigger than before. Daigo roars like a beast, his skin turning a shade of purple and his hair becoming wild and frenzied. “Then let’s see how tough you really are!!”
A shadow quickly looms over him as a grinning yellow sphere comes crashing down towards him.
“Then show us how tough you are!!” the giant sphere crashes into Daigo, burying him into the ground and causing the floor to shake and crack into a crater.
Shoto, Bakugou, and Kirishima leap back in surprise as do the villains who just watched one of their own be taken down in an instant.
“Sorry to crash the party.” Cannonbolt mocks with a shiteating grin. “But it only seemed fair after what you guys did.”
“Midoriya! What are you doing?!” Shoto scolds, demanding an answer. “You should be with the others!”
“The other’s will be fine. And don’t worry, I’ll catch up after we’re done here.”
“You damn little shits.” The vermillion haired villain growls, his thin slit mouth curling up into a nasty scowl. “I bet you think you’re so cool. Coming in here and ruining our plans. I’ve always hated people like you. Bastards with inflated egos and big heads, think that they’re all that. I hate those that think that way. They all deserve to have their brains scrambled just for that!!”
His ruby red eyes flare up as an electrical aura of crimson sparks from his skull generating several laser-like bands that snake and whip in the air like lightning.
The crimson energy bands lash out and grab onto Cannonbolt’s arms and legs, hoisting him up as if he was in suspension. “Woah, hey! Put me down!”
The crimson-eyed villain, or Scrambler, grins, licking his lips greedily. “Sure, thing.”
His telekinetic crimson-rays swing back and toss Cannonbolt away into the distance.
Shoto, Kirishima, and Bakugou look on in shock as their main muscle is tossed away like trash.
“Raah! Hahaha!” Nobu howls with laughter, dashing forward with his enlarged hands ready to strike. “You kids are in for a spanking!”
But his attack never lands as Shoto fends him of with a barrage of ice. “You’re the ones in the wrong here. Not us!”
Nobu, however, breaks through the barrier, the ice dissipating under a swing of his hand. “Bleh! As if I have morals!!”
*BOOM!!*
A single explosive blast fends Nobu away, as Bakugou grins and mocks him. “You don’t have the looks either. Ha!”
“You little shit!!” Nobu shrieks and charges in, aiming to kill the stupid brats if he must.
While Shoto and Bakugou handle those two Kirishima rushes over to Cannonbolt’s side, checking up on him. “You alright, man?!”
Cannonbolt gets up, shoving himself off from the side of the wall. “Yeah, I’m fine.” He transforms and Big Chill stretches his wings. “But he’s not gonna be.”
The blue moth takes to the air, gliding in low as he charges the villains.
Nobu, having seen him transform, freaks out at the sight of him. “What the hell are you?!” He lashes out, trying to grab and displace the moth’s matter but his hand harmlessly phases right through. “What?!”
“Hands off, jerk! You’re not my prey.” Big Chill glides past, his eyes locked onto Scrambler. “He is!”
Big Chill remains unphased and partly transparent, fully intending on freezing Scrambler where he stands. “You need to chill out buddy-Gah!!”
But much to his surprise a transparent Big Chill finds himself suspended in the air by Scrambler’s crimson rayed telekinesis.
Scrambler smirks, showing off a row of needle-sharp teeth. “What was that about hands off?”
And like that Big Chill knew he fucked up. “Shit.”
He immediately gets slammed into the ground, the crimson energy rays squeezing tightly around his neck. He flails and kicks trying to kick it away. Even transforming into Four Arms and using his strength to break the hold, that is until serval more bands of crimson grab his other arms and pin him down.
Upon seeing him struggle and get thrown down, Shoto and Kirishima call out to their friend. “Midoriya!!”
Bakugou, however, leaps into action. Rocketing forward and immediately blasting the telekinetic hold apart with a massive Explosion.
“Stupid nerd!” Bakugou screams as he and Four Arms leap away. “How could you let such a loser grab you?!”
“It’s not like I let him!” Four Arms defends while rubbing his aching neck.
“Don’t you get it?” Scrambler taunts, his ruby pupils darting across his eyes as the crimson aura around his vermilion hair goes crazy, sparkling like a fuse box going haywire as bands of crimson suspend and uproot nearby trees and rubble. “I don’t care who you think you are, you’re all nothing but dead meat!! Raagh!”
“Raaagh!” Kirishima leaps forward, activating his Hardening Quirk, taking the blows from the incoming debris and shielding the others. blocks)
“Die!!” Bakugou roars, leaping up and blasting away the bands of crimson racing in to strike them.
Ripjaws joins him, using his claws and fangs to tear through the incoming rubble and trees like a knife through paper.
“Haaa!!” Spotting his opening Nobu races in, making a beeline right for Ripjaws.
“No, you don’t!” Shoto cuts him off, making sure that he does his part and defend them from the guy that can vaporize them with a lateral touch.
Ripjaws lands beside his classmates, while keeping his fangs bared towards the villains. “Okay, I admit it. These guys are tough.”
“But they’re not as tough as us.” Kirishima grins, raising up his Hardened arms like a boxer.
“Ha! You got that right.” Bakugou laughs as sparks dance off his palms.
“Careful not to underestimate them.” Shoto warns as a cool mist falls from his right side.
“I know that loser!!”
Ripjaws transforms away into Water Hazard who blasts away incoming telekinetic rays with jets of water. “We better hurry! The others are waiting for us!”
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Meanwhile, Ochaco and Iida are leading the pack as they break and smash their way through every iron gate that dares to get in their way. But even after a few minutes of this they have yet to escape the Plant Factory.
“This way’s blocked as well!” Iida scowls, finding even more gates barricading their path.
“Great!” Mineta sarcastically cries. “So, what are we supposed to do? We’re like helpless monkeys stuck in a fancy cage!”
Denki looks to everyone else for an answer. “Does anyone have any ideas?!”
“Can’t you think of one, yourself?!” Kraab scolds from Denki’s shoulder before he twaps the blonde over the head.
“I have one!” Ochaco points over to a vent high above them. “Maybe we can use that vent?”
Kraab provided the holographic map of the tower, allowing Melissa to check the layout for herself. “I think it runs under the maintenance room.”
Iida grins thinking they have a way. “There’s probably an emergency ladder in the maintenance room, right?”
“Well yeah there is but it’s a manual release so someone would have to be inside to let it down for us.”
“Is this really as far as we go?” Ochaco can’t accept that, she’ll bust down the walls herself if she has to.
“No.” Momo responds with determination, refusing to give up here. “There’s still a possibility!”
Reaching towards the top of her chest, her Quirk activates and glows producing a small disc-shaped grenade. She takes the grenade and throws it, allowing the magnet at its end to guid it towards the vent’s sealed metal door. It pants itself in place before exploding, blasting the vent wide open.
Momo double checks the vent’s layout on Kraab’s holographic map. “Somebody climbs through the vent into the exterior wall, they can get into the maintenance room.”
Iida however brings up a good point. “But who could possibly fit through such a narrow and meniscal space? Not to mention climb the outer wall without any risk of endangering themselves?”
No one answers, after all they don’t need to as they’re all thinking the same thing. They even turn around at the same time at said answer.
Mineta jumps, he’s already beginning to freak out now that all eyes are on him. “You can’t be serious?! No! I can’t! Send that metal spider instead, not me!!”
Kraab is instantly offended. “I’m a crab not a spider!! Also, I can’t go.”
“Why?!”
“Because I'm prettier than you are.” Also, he can’t climb that wall, his new legs aren’t that strong.
“HUH!?!”
Knowing he is the only choice Ochaco begs him to go. “Please, you have to Mineta.”
As does Jiro. “You’re the only one of us that can do it.”
“You idiots!” Mineta cries, terrified at what they’re asking him to do. “Do you have any idea how high up we are?!”
Before they can continue to agree with him, Denki slides in giving them a look that he knows what he’s doing. “If you save everyone and become a celebrity they’ll interview on TV and then you’ll be popular with girls everywhere.” There is literally no shame on Denki’s face, like he’s not at all embarrassed to say it. But that might be because he knows exactly how Mineta’s shameless and perverted mind works. “Just imagine the harem.”
Tears stream down Mineta’s face but even so he reluctantly agrees. “Ah, oh, man. Okay, fine!! I’ll do it or whatever!!”
Denki holds his head high, as if knowing how a fellow degenerate ticks is something to be proud of.
“Good.” Ochaco smiles and approaches Mineta, but there’s a strange air of danger and resentment on her face despite cheerful facade.
She reaches down, grabbing Mineta by the arms, her fingers glowing pink as Zero Gravity makes him weightless.
“Good luck.” She hisses between her forced smile before swinging him around and throwing him high into the air.
“Waaaaaaahh!!” Mineta zooms through the air and crashes straight into the vent where he bounces around before Ochaco releases him from the weightlessness.
Iida shifts uncomfortably as they await Mineta’s return. “Was that really necessary?”
Neither Ochaco nor Jiro miss a beat when they respond with a spiteful yes.
Thankfully her little stunt didn’t seem to slow Mineta down. But that’s mostly thanks to Denki’s one of a kind pep talk, which really lit a fire under him. And so he arrives at the Maintenance Room quickly where he immediately throws down the ladder for them to climb.
They don’t waste any time climbing up, they already wasted enough time as it is.
And with every step they take, Ochaco can’t help but think that they’re climbing further away from their friends. “Hang in there, guys. We’ll stop them, I promise.”
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Swordkil angrily watches the screens looking for any signs of the brats. “What’s the deal? Can’t you find them?”
The Hacker does find them, and the screen enlarges on an image of the teens running through the tower’s halls. But the moment they have eyes on them a girl decked out all in purple attacks the camera with some weird thin appendage, taking it out and leaving them with nothing but static.
“Dammit.” The Hacker tries to find another angle.
Swordkil, seeing that it’s not exactly going smoothly, calls into the squad they sent out. “Hey, 80th floor, you’re letting those dumb kids get away! What’s the problem?!”
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[“What’s the problem?!”]
The hulk-knockoff, Daigo, stirs due to Swordkil shouting into his ear. “Uh, huh?”
Looking around in a daze he’s confused to find himself lying within a massive crater. All he can remember is a giant ball falling on top of him.
He’s even more confused as a giant-dragonfly buzzes past while Scrambler’s crimson-colored telekinetic rays chases after it.
Pulling himself out from the crater watches as the punk with red hair gets tossed aside by Scrambler’s Quirk.
And then there’s Nobu who’s fighting off against the blonde who’s producing Explosions and then there's the dual-haired teen that imprisoned them in ice.
[“Hey, I need one of you idiots to respond!”] Swordkil shouts, making Daigo’s ear split in pain. [“What the hell is going on down there?! Stop those kids already!!”]
“We’re working on it!!” Daigo roars and jumps forward, throwing himself back into the fight. “Raagh!!”
He throws his fist forward at the ash-blonde who barely manages to dodge and get around the purple hulk before unleashing an Explosion into Daigo’s back.
“Raagh!” But Daigo roars, unfazed by the blast, swinging around and nearly bashing Bakugou’s head in.
“Shit!” Using his Explosions, Bakugou manages to propel himself away at the last second.
But Daigo’s not done with him yet, charging in wildly. “Raaagh!!”
But a barricade of diamonds intercept the attack, shielding Bakugou.
“You okay?!” Diamondhead asks with his fist to the ground.
“Shut up! I didn’t need you to protect me!” Bakugou snaps, acting as normal as ever, at least for him.
“I’ll take that as a yes then.”
The barricade doesn’t last long, however, as Nobu breaks through, dispelling the crystals. “Just how many transformations do you have?!”
He lunges for the crystal being, but it vanishes in a flash and then a laughing Buzzshock zips away in a streak of electricity. “22 and counting bzz! Hehehehe bzz!”
Nobu swings his hands after him but misses and while his guard is down Bakugou swoops in and blasts him away. “Aaaah!!”
He goes flying through the air, but several crimson bands catch him, and lower him down safely.
“Stay alert will ya?!” Scrambler scolds before moving his telekinetic Quirk away from Nobu. “These brats are better fighters than I thought.”
“That’s fine.” Daigo growls while pounding his fists together. “It’ll make me feel better when I bash their skulls in.”
Shoto eyes the regrouped villains, trying to sort out what he’s gathered about them from their Quirks and battle techniques. What really has him stumped is Nobu’s apparent disintegration Quirk. How does it work? It should be impossible to disintegrate matter?
But then he finally notices the spheres of diamonds and ice littering the battlefield. Neither he nor Diamondhead made them but then he looks to the barricades of ice and crystals and how Nobu’s Quirk left circular radiuses in the barricades.
“This guy’s not making matter disappear, he's displacing it!”
Buzzshock zips around and transforms into Grey Matter in midair before falling down onto Shoto’s shoulder. “That’s still one dangerous Quirk. But not as dangerous as their strategy.”
Kirishima frowns as he joins them. “Strategy?”
“Just look at them. Their team is composed of a close-quarters combatant, a speedy assailant, and a long-ranged support that can interfere with our own attacks. And it’s proving to be a lethal combination.”
“They have perfect teamwork.” Shoto acknowledges while wary of the villains’ movements.
Bakugou gives them a mad grin, almost like he’s excited to get back into the fight. “Then let’s ruin it.”
Grey Matter hops down but rises back up, stretching over his comrades as Wildvine. “Please, allow me.”
With a flourish of his tendrils Wildvine unleashes a wave of thick thorny vines at the villains, blocking them from view as well as an attempt to restrain them.
“Kill those kids!!” Scrambler roars, unleashing several crimson blasts at the vines.
“Right!!” Nobu and Daigo leap into action, tearing through the vines in no time.
However, as they break through they find Four Arms spinning in place with a hardened Kirishima in his grip. “STRONG ARM TOSS!!!”
With an iconic speedball-like throw Four Arms launches Kirishima forward like a cannonball!
“Hahaha!! In coming!!” Kirishima slams into Daigo, launching them both away and smashing the purple hulk-wannabe into a glacier of ice.
The glacier explodes on impact, shattering and crashing down upon them. But with his Hardening Quirk Kirishima is able to rip himself free of the ice. “Yeaaah!!”
“You assholes!” Daigo roars, breaking free of the ice as well. “I’ll squash you!!”
He brings his fists down but they never hit their mark as XLR8 speeds in and grabs Kirishima pulling him away to safety.
“You’ll pay for that!!” Scrambler howls as his crimson telekinesis tears through the remaining vines with a vengeance.
But his attack is blocked by another ice trail from Shoto.
With his back turned, Nobu leaps in, intending on finishing him off. “Don’t look away!!”
But just as he grazes Shoto’s aura a burning Explosion blasts him away.
“Funny, I was gonna say the same to you!” Bakugou tauntingly laughs as he slides to a stop.
However, his victory is short lived as several crimson bands of light grab him by the wrists and ankles. Pulling him up into the air with his hands pointed up and over his head.
“Do it, now!!” Scrambler roars, leaving Bakugou open and defenseless.
“Hahaha!!” Nobu cackles as he races towards the bound teen. “So long! Can’t say it was a pleasure!”
“Neither can we!!” Bullfrag leaps in and slams his foot into the binds, breaking them.
Bakugou, acting fast, rockets himself away leaving Scrambler and Nobu empty handed.
“We have to end this!” Shoto exclaims Bullfrag and Bakugou land beside him and Kirishima.
“You?! End us?! Don’t make me laugh!!” Scrambler’s ruby eyes glow widely, howling into the air like an unhinged maniac. “I’LL BURN YOU ALL TO HELL BEFORE YOU CAN EVEN TOUCH US!!”
Crimson bands of telekinetic power radiate off of him like wisps of a flame, dancing around him and spreading.
Daigo and Nobu prepare themselves, getting ready to charge in and deliver the killing blows.
“Send us to hell?” Bullfrag scoffs, acting all cool and nonchalant before transforming away into an alien that can take the heat. “Sorry but I’ve already been there, and I can’t say it’s for me.” Heatblast snarkily brags.
“Besides, there's no need to send us there.” Shoto comments as whisps of heat begin to radiate off his left side.
“Yeah.” Bakugou’s mad grin widens and becomes somewhat deranged as mini-Explosions pop from his hands. “Because we’ll give ya hell instead!!”
He unleashes a powerful blast that rockets him forward like a missile. As he goes, he sets off a chain of Explosions, propelling him faster as he spins his body and screams at the top of his lungs. “Howitzer Impact!!”
At the same time, Shoto unleashes his own flames, but he’s surprised to witness them change direction and get absorbed into Heatblast’s outstretched hand.
With his own flames charged up Heatblast aims his other hand out at Bakugou and fires. His flames race forward like a beam and get immersed into Bakugou’s Explosions. The flames veil around him and begin to spiral around creating a horizontal fire tornado that burns and scorches everything unfortunate to be in its path.
The three fiery teens unleash all that they have, feeding the flames on and on until it feels like the sun itself has touched down into the Plant Factory, burning away and causing said plants to burn away into smoke and ash.
All as the teens cry out with fire in their hearts. “SOLAR FLARE BOMBARDMENT!!!”
“AAAaaahhh!!” The villains cry out in terror before the massive flaming purgatory that crashes into them with the power of a burning meteor.
The flames exploded out like a chain of bombs have been detonating causing the flames to complete spread and consume the entire Plant Factory within seconds. The entire tower shakes, alarming everyone within it from All Might to Wolfram and the teens. Amongst the whirling flames every plant crumbles away to ash, water and ice instantly evaporates, metal burns turning red hot and melt away.
And then like that it’s over, with nothing else to consume the flames quickly dissipate leaving a once pristine green Plant Factory as an ash filled wasteland. The walls and floors are burned black, metal has melted and warped away including the elevator door, and nothing is left of the plants or trees except for piles of charcoal and ash, adding to the wasteland while burning embers gently rain down.
And at the center of it all where even the floor’s been melted away lie the villains. Scrambler, Daigo, and Nobu lie defeated their eyes rolled back and their jaws agape capturing their moments of terror and extending it out through their unconsciousness. Parts of their clothes have melted and burned away, but nothing remains of their hair leaving each one completely bald from their scalps to their eyebrows. Burn marks cover their skin, perfect mementos for whenever they think back on their actions.
“That. Was. So. MANLY!!!” Kirishima gleefully roars.
He’s covered in soot and ash, but he hardly notices it or the blazing heat thanks to his Hardening Quirk. “Hahahaha! That was amazing! Damn it, I wish I had a camera!”
Bakugou smirks, heat rises off of him as the top part of his suit burns away, leaving him shirtless. “Hehe. Take that you losers.” He kicks Scrambler’s side and the villain wheezes but doesn't get up. He’s done.
Now that they won, Heatblast relaxes while Shoto eyes the fiery figure with a bit of hesitation and intrigue.
After all, it's the same transformation Midoriya used during the Final Exam, and that wasn’t exactly a pleasant experience for anyone to witness. Shoto himself felt sympathy for his friend, thinking that he’d be far too hesitant to use the transformation again. He's glad to see that isn’t the case and what’s even more impressive is how he was able to absorb flames.
He’s impressed.
But he’s more curious about one detail Midoriya mentioned during the fight. “Midoriya, what was that about being sent to hell already?”
Heatblast’s not exactly sure what he’s talking about before recalling what he said about being sent to hell or rather the Null Void.
He hastily tries to backtrack and cover it up, averting his gaze as if it’ll help conceal his lie. “D-did I say that? I-I don’t think I did.”
“But I heard you-”
“Oh, that! That was just me getting caught up in the…heat of the moment. Eheheh.” Heatblast chuckles at his little joke, but Shoto remains indifferent either because he didn’t get it or he didn’t care for it.
“Icy-Hot. Deku.” Bakugou growls, thrusting his hands into his pocket as he glares up at the two. “So, are you doofuses finally gonna fill us in or do I have to figure it out myself?”
But before Shoto can go ahead and explain everything, police sirens from within the burned Plant Factory.
The teens back away as corrupted Security Sentries flood the room, jumping down from ports in the wall in mass numbers like streams of red waterfalls.
Shoto gets ready as frost covers his right side. “Looks like they’ve gotten serious.”
“This is them getting serious? Are you kidding?” Bakugou mockingly laughs. “This is target practice!”
However, the drones flood the room quickly, surrounding them all in a sea of glowing red and blaring sirens.
Nervously, Kirishima backs away. “Uh, are you sure about that?”
In a green flash, Feedback steps forward to meet the incoming bots. “We can take them.”
“We will. But not you.” Shoto affirms, cutting Feedback off from the robotic flood.
“What?”
“If they sent these after us they most definitely sent them after the others. Run ahead and get to Uraraka and the others. We'll handle things here.”
“But I can’t just abandon you guys here!”
“Abandon us?! What you think we’re like you Deku?!” Bakugou snaps, his eyes bulging out of his head, he's so angry. “You’ll only slow us down if you stick around! So, get out of here!”
Feedback smiles, although it was an insult he can’t help but find Bakugou’s logic humorous. “You’re right I’ll only get in the way.”
In a flash he’s gone as a blue streak zips and tears through the surrounding bots. XLR8 dashes through them, making his way towards the wall, accelerating upwards with amazing speed before taking off to where he thinks the others went.
Kirishima watches him off with a nervous grin on his face. “I hope you know what you’re doing Todoroki. Because we just lost our big guns.”
“What the hell are you talking about, Shitty Hair?” Bakugou smirks as he prepares to battle. “I’m all the firepower you need!” He swings his arm forward, unleashing a devastating Explosion into the attacking droids. “DIE!!!”
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XLR8 reaches the top balcony and speeds away into the nearby hallway. He makes it far but soon reaches a dead-end as no more gates have been broken in.
“Where’d they go?” He wonders before transforming into Wildmutt.
“Raagh.” Wildmutt puts his head to the floor and sniffs, searching for any signs of his friends.
And he’s got it.
There’s a faint scent of engine exhaust mixed in with some cheap colon, but that’s all hidden under a cloud of mixing perfumes and makeup.
“Raaawr!!” Wildmutt howls and begins to climb, his claws tearing into the wall as he makes his way towards the open maintenance door.
Once through he’s met with a squad of Security Sentries but he makes quick work of them, ripping them apart with his fangs. Nothing will slow him down. He will follow the trail up, until he reaches his friends. And anything that dares to get in his way will be met with a grizzly fate.
“RAAAWWWR!!!”
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[“Boss, those are no ordinary kids in the tower.”] The Hacker reports in through his com after identifying the teens through the island’s registry. [“They’re students from U.A. High’s Hero Course. They’re well trained.”]
Despite the news Wolfram isn’t scared or worried, but instead lazily hangs back on one of the table sets while casually swinging his gun around, making the hostages flinch and whimper whenever it happens to be pointed in their general direction. “Those brats are probably trying to restore the security system. Be on alert! You send out Security Drones on the 80th floor, right?”
[“Yes, sir.”]
“And raise any barriers on floors 100 to 130 and let them pass freely.”
[“Uh.”]
“Just do what I say.”
Meanwhile, All Might is listening in, while still trying his best to stop his body from shrinking in on itself, despite the steam pouring off his body. If anything, the steam is the only thing keeping him focused, keeping him alert and his anger for the villains in check.
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“Seems like we’ve gotten pretty lucky.” Denki naively comments as they sprint full speed through the halls. “The path’s been clear since we passed the 100th floor.”
Ochaco noticed that too, but it all seems rather weird, right? “Yeah. Do you think we lost them maybe?”
“I doubt that’s it.” Jiro responds as she sprints by.
“It’s quite possible that they’re leading us somewhere.” Momo suggests.
Iida agrees, finding both their reasoning to be sound. “Likely.”
Ochaco does too, but they have no choice but to press on; trap or not they can only go in one direction: up. “Even so, we have to keep going. We’re so close!”
Kraab having jumped onto Ochaco’s back isn’t so confident. He’s had many bounties nearly escape his own claws, and yet the moment he got them was when they all naively thought they won. “We’re so close. Yet still so far.”
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“Dang it, we’re so close!” Mina hisses as she slides onto the building's side onto the sidewalk below.
The others are hidden away beside her, around the corner of the building, staying just out of sight.
And before them just lying down the street is their destination. At the edge of the Business Area set of large metal doors have sealed off the bunker-like facility. The gate is thick and heavy, undoubtedly weighing several tons and would most likely give even All Might a hard time to open.
But the door isn’t the issue but the sea of red-glowing Security Sentries guarding the facility. Every square foot of the street is littered with drones, each one on the lookout for any intruders like them.
Sero pokes his head, looking past the sea of drones and towards the gateway. “We just have to get past those doors, and we win right?”
“No.” Hisashi states, wishing that were the case. “The facility runs underground, like a maze, and I’m sure there’s even more security measures inside.”
Tsuyu shutters, imagining what could lie inside. “I guess the question is now, how do we get in?”
Hisashi already has an answer, although it may prove to be rather risky. “I think the only real chance we have is for Chopper to unlock the doors for us and we’ll sneak in. But we’ll need to do it as swiftly and as stealthy as possible.”
“Do you really think we can sneak past them?” Sero questions, eyeing the sea of red worriedly. “Shouldn’t we like make some kind of distraction?”
Hisashi gives a frustrated shake of his head. “They’re too well coordinated. If we make a distraction of any kind they’ll only call in for more reinforcements and if we mess that up they’ll alert the villains to where we are.”
“Just don't get spotted. Easy.” Hagakure comments while getting ready to move out.
They all begin to climb back up the wall but not before Sero gives the disguised Chopper a bit of encouragement. “Good luck you robotic-um, whatever you are. We’re counting on ya.”
^Wa wa.^ Chopper bobs side to side in appreciation before rolling out towards the sea of drones.
He makes his way through them slowly but surely, thankfully they ignore him, thinking that he’s one of their own. The invisible Hagakure follows close behind him, one hand on his head so she can ensure that she stays close.
Even as they scale the sides of the buildings the others watch on with bated breath as Chopper and Hagakure slowly weave through the street. They nearly gasp in horror when the two nearly graze a drone’s aura. But they manage to trek closer and closer.
The others make steady progress as well although it’s clear Chopper and Hagakure will get there first. Even so they keep going, doing their best not to be spotted or heard.
As they go Mina continues to make footholds by having her acid melt into the buildings’ walls. And it works rather effectively, even giving the others places to grip and climb. However, the acid that remains continues to drip down while eating away at the side of the wall.
Some of the acid drips onto the rod of a light post that hangs off the side of the building below. The rod melts and bends away with every drip of acid until the rod snaps, swinging down and smashing into the building's side with an echoing crash.
As the glass of the bulb and window shatter sirens and alarms installed fill the street as all the drones are drawn to the noise. Instantly upon their search they spot the five intruders scaling the side of one of the buildings.
Upon spotting the first intruders the Security Sentries instantly scan the area for more. Upon their scan they sense no signal from the painted-red Chopper and instantly ID him as not one of their own. Some even switch to thermal vision and are quickly alerted to an invisible being following behind the imposter.
They quickly draw their stun blasts, aiming to kill if necessary, at the two.
However, a few beat them to the punch and fire out thin cables that wrap around Hagakure's wrists.
“Eeeek!” Hagakure screams in terror as the drones pull her back.
^Waaa!^ Chopper hurried in and slices off the cables with a plasma cutter, freeing her.
“Chopper! Hagakure!” Hisashi leaps away from the building, allowing himself to fall.
His respirator activates, producing a flame, he then inhales and expels the flames a brilliant display of control. The flames race across the sky and land before Chopper and Hagakure, blasting away the drones and allowing them both to run away.
Hisashi lands with a grunt as Chopper and Hagakure hurry behind him.
“I’m sorry!” Mina cries, sliding down to join them.
Several bots race in but they’re swatted away by a tongue lash from Tsuyu. “Apologize later!”
“Shit!” Sero yelps as he ties up a pair of bots with a shot of his tape. “The plan’s a bust!”
“No, it’s not!” Hisashi reasserts, kicking back a trio of incoming Sentries. “Our plan hasn’t changed. We need to get to those doors!!”
Drones flood the street, their stun blasters sparking dangerous as their red eyes glow like flames.
Summoning their courage, Hisashi’s team charges forth, determined to make it through the onslaught.
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
From within the Central Tower’s Control Room, An alert icon pops onto one of the monitor screens.
Already annoyed Swordkil isn’t too happy to see it. “What’s that?”
The Hacker looks over from his monitor and gasps when he sees the alert. “Shit!!” He scrambles for the keyboard and immediately begins typing away, startling Swordkil as he does.
“What?! What’s going on? Hey! Clue me in, will ya?!”
“The Security System’s under attack!” The Hacker explains while not taking his eyes off the screen.
“What?!”
“Someone’s trying to activate the Cutoff Protocol!”
“Well stop them!”
“I’m trying!!”
As he does the screen displays several camera points of view. From them the two villains watch in shock as more teenagers take on their robotic forces.
An alien-looking girl with pink hair and skin melts through the bots like nothing while a frog girl hops off one bot to another, kicking them as she does. Some guy with freaky tape elbows is webbing up the other incoming patrols while the muscular one bashes their husks in with his bare fists. All the while flames consume the other bots and the camera, cutting off the feed.
“More kids?! Don’t tell me they’re from U.A. too!” Swordkil exclaims.
(Another alert pops onto the screen and they’re shown that the teens in the Central Tower have made it to the 130th floor already.
“Gah!!” The Hacker slams his fists onto the board. “Those morons let the kids escape!! What are they doing?!”
“They’re not picking up!!” Swordkil shouts back as he tries and tries to call them through their com set. “Dammit! How are we struggling against a bunch of school kids?!”
Pissed beyond belief, the Hacker goes ahead with his next move. “This will teach them.”
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The 130th Floor appears to be some sort of Laboratory with a massive spiraling generator at its center while various grids and storage devices are sorted below the T-intersecting catwalk. Speak of which, the catwalk is full of Security Sentries that are on guard for any and all intruders.
“So many Robot Sentries.” Ochaco sulks, peering into the room through the portal window on the door.
Iida scopes it out as well and comes to the same conclusion. “The villains aren’t just trying to block us in anymore. It looks like they’re actually trying to capture us now.”
“Or worse.” Kraab comments. “And if that is the case they probably know that you kids are hero course students.”
Momo’s back glows bright upon activating Creation. “If that’s true, no reason to show them what we can do!”
A massive non-conductive blanket springs out, covering them all.
“You’re right.” Iida affirms. “We’ll go ahead and commence with Plan A. Ready Kaminari?”
He is. “You got it! I won’t let you guys down!” Denki holds his fist out towards Iida. “Let’s do this Iida!”
Per their discussion they had on the way up, Iida grabs Denki’s fists and wrists. “Right.”
His Engines roar, spewing out hot steaming flames, as he spins around and around, swinging Denki along with him; making the two of them spin quickly like a blade of a fan.
And with a mighty toss Iida launches Denki into the laboratory.
“INDISCRIMINATE SHOCK: 1.3 MILLION VOLTS!!” Denki howls as he comes crashing down onto the unexpecting bots while unleashing a deluge of electricity.
The Drones shut in on themselves, sealing themselves away from the electricity that sparks and flies around them wildly.
Poking her head out from underneath the non-conductive blanket, Ochaco gasps when she sees the drones unharmed. “They’re resisting it!”
“Fine!” Not willing to give up, Denki unleashes all that he has. “How about we try 2 MILLION VOLTS!!!!”
Lightning dances across the entire laboratory wildly, scorching everything it strikes and clashes with, including the Security bots.
Seeing this Jiro yells out in a panic. “Don’t! If you do that then-”
She’s too late as the electricity fades away and Denki is left with a braindead goofy expression on his face, a result of his brain getting itself fried with his own electricity.
“-you’ll turn stupid…”
“That was Plan A?!” Kraab comedically screams in shock. “Shit! Now I’m scared to see what other plans you kids have!”
They all ignore the bot as they get out from underneath the blanket. They then calmly make their way across the catwalk to join the braindead Denki who’s gleefully laughing to himself while seated on the floor.
The bots are all still even as they’re all tucked in on themselves with scorch marks left by Denki’s electrical attack.
“See Kraab.” Ochaco smiles. “Our plan did work.”
She is quickly proven wrong as the bots all pop back out from their protective forms. The swarm instantly capture Denki in a cocoon of thin cables and wires.
“He he he.” Denki stupidly grins, unaware of his own capture.
“Kaminari!” Jiro shouts, hoping it’ll snap him out.
Mineta hurries back as the bots charge in their direction. “They’re just too strong!”
Iida scowls, bracing himself as the droids race closer. “Right, then. Quick, Plan B!”
“On it!” Momo hurries and produces a dynamite-like stick.
She then hurls it out at the incoming attackers. The red baton explodes, unleashing a cloud of sparkling powder and smoke.
“We can jam their communications with these!” She explains, throwing more and more at the bots.
“Take that! And that!” Melissa shouts, grabbing some herself along with Jiro.
Mineta joins in tossing out his Sticky Balls. “Don’t hurt Kaminari! He’s got a harem to get home to!”
The purple balls stick to the floor, grabbing the droids’ legs as they try to pass by. The first few fall over as the others ram into them from behind, until they crash and jam up across the catwalk.
“It worked!” He cries, surprising even himself.
The droids adapt quickly as they begin to jump up and over their trapped comrades.
“Oh, man!”
Iida’s Engines roar as he prepares to charge in and fight. “Our turn, come on Uraraka!”
“Follow my lead, Iida!” Ochaco shouts as she rips away the pink corsage on her wrist to reveal a metallic red bracelet underneath.
The bracelet activates, glowing as it expands and wraps around her arm, armoring it. ‘One For All and Full Gauntlet!!’
She charges allowing One For All to charge through her arm with all that she has and delivers a single punch towards the oncoming bots.
The bots closest to her fist shatter to pieces under the intense whirlwind of pressure, breaking apart as the others are full across the laboratory.
She’s amazed there’s no stress on her arm at all. The gauntlet is reinforcing her own strength allowing her to contain One For All even better than before.
A braindead Denki is also thrown into the air but he has nothing to worry about as Iida speeds in and catches him. “Jiro! Do they have backup?!”
Jiro is bent down with her Earphone Jacks embedded into the floor. “Yeah, coming from the left!!”
Iida immediately begins running towards the right. “Then we’re heading the opposite way!”
“Right!” The others follow, hurrying as fast as they can.
As they run Jiro admires Ochaco’s newest support item. “Dang girl, what’s with the glove? I love its design.”
“You can thank her.” Ochaco smiles over at Melissa. “It worked just like you said it would.”
Melissa’s so grateful to hear that. “I’m so glad you brought it. You’re a genius, Uravity!”
“Eh, not exactly, I just didn’t know how to take it off. Hehehe…”
“Hehehe.” Melissa humorously giggles back.
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The Hacker calls into Wolfram’s com with worry and stress. [“Boss there’s something interfering with the drone sensors. We’ve lost those kids.”]
“Lose the chatter.” Wolfram asserts, eyeing the bound up heroes suspiciously. “We don’t know if one of those brats has a Quirk that will let them spy on us.”
[“We have one more problem. There are some more kids trying to activate the Cutoff Protocol.”]
“What did you say?!” Wolfram audibly gasps, not expecting to hear that at all.
[“They’re trying to break into the system to cut us off from the Security Sentries outside the tower.”]
That is a problem, but the number of robots outside should be enough to slow them down. “Do what you can. But there’s no need to stress over it, it doesn't matter.”
[“B-boss?”]
“By the time they can do anything it’ll already be too late.”
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“We made it!” Mina sighs when she finally manages to tag the giant sealed gate.
“Get down!” Sato grabs her head and shoves her down as stray taser bolt nearly fries her in the face.
“Pay attention, will ya?!” Sero binds up a few bots with his tape, throwing them in the way to create some sort of cover for them.
More bots flood the street, making their way towards the gate. But they are met with a wall of flames, providing the teens with a brief moment of cover.
“Chopper the doors!” Hisashi commands, hurrying the bot to get going.
Chopper quickly wheels over to the side of the gate, where he finds a panel. He inserts his hacking Rod and begins working away at the lock.
Using fire extinguishers, the literal firewall is taken down and the bots are able to get through. “They’re coming!” shouts Sero.
The nearest bots launch out their thin cables, aiming to capture the intruders.
“Kero!!” Clinging to the wall, just above the gate, Tsuyu whips the cables away with a swing of her tongue.
But as she fends the attack off, she is unable to dodge the incoming taser bolt that strikes her side.
“Gaaah!” She screams, falling to the ground below with a hard thump.
“Tsu!!” Mina and Hagakure hurry to her side and pull her back behind cover.
Sato and Sero grab some more downed bots and pile them in front, providing even more.
Ow.” Tsuyu hisses while clutching her side.
Hagakure hovers over her worriedly seeing if she’s okay.
“I’m fine. Ow.”
Upset that her friend was hurt, Mina hurries over behind their barricade and throws a splash of acid at the bots. The moment she does she’s forced to duck down as taser bolts rain down on their position.
Hisashi unleashes his flames, aiming to create another firewall. But it’s easily broken thanks to the bot’s adaptive AI. And they begin to target him with their cables and taser blasts.
None of them hit as he ducks and moves away, while also burning away in coming attacks with his own firepower.
And although his eyes are focused on the battle at hand, his mind is stuck within its own inner turmoil and regret. ‘I’m a fool.’ He thinks, scolding himself for his own stupidity and rashness. ‘It was irresponsible of me to bring them here. What kind of pro am I? Putting kids like them in danger like this. I’m awful.’ He takes a taser shot to the arm, he winces but refuses to fall over as he fires back, taking another one. Knowing that each one he stops prevents one for the kids from taking one themselves. ‘It’s not just them. Ever since I came home. I’ve been putting Izuku in constant danger too. Some father I am right? I don’t even know if he’s okay right now.’ For a moment he turns his gaze back towards the kids, checking on them.
And it’s not good. Hagakure hovers over a downed Tsuyu who’s struggling to pick herself up, while Sero and Sato both try to act the part of the tough brave guys but in coming fire is too much, forcing them to take cover. And Mina can do nothing but tuck herself against the pile of droids as cables fly in and embed themselves against the gate.
‘These kids were relying on me too and I failed them. I shouldn’t have ever brought them along. My mission now is to get them out of here. And if it means we fail to activate the cutoff switch then so be it.’
Through all the fear and excitement, there’s a hint, no, a blazing fire of determination coming from Hisashi’s core. But it is one of regret and of someone who wishes to make amends. Or at least that is what Mina’s Emote is able to passively pick up on.
She looks up from her cover, towards the hero and notes the desperate look in his eyes as she and her friends cower and hide behind him.
It pains her. Twisting her stomach in shame for falling for the fear. She won’t have it!
“Don’t give up, Mr. M! We haven’t lost yet!” She screams, leaping up and throwing out her arm at the attacking bots.
Her acid melts them away along with the street creating massive potholes that trip up even more of them.
Hisashi’s startled, taken back by her sudden declaration.
“Don’t act like we’re kindergarteners or something!” She screams, refusing to flinch as taser bolts nearly graze her face. “We’re heroes students! We can handle ourselves!”
The others rally with her, having their fires lit by her words.
“She’s right!” Sero affirms, shoving himself away from their cover.
He shoots a strand of tape out towards a nearby light pole, his tape wrapping around the uppermost rod.
“Yah!!” Summoning his courage and strength, Sato rips away the tape and pulls, bringing the lamp down on top of the incoming bots, smashing them.
As more bots roll in, Tsuyu finally manages to will herself to her feet and lash them away with her tongue. “If we gave up now we’ll never be able to look our friends in the eyes again.”
Mina grins, possibly because she's gone crazy at just how dire the situation is. “Even if this looks impossible it’s not! We’ll make it! I know it!”
Hisashi watches on in amazement as the kids, as the heroes-in-training, courageously battle on. ‘Nezu, just what kind of school are you running? Your students are absolutely insane.’ He laughs, assuming Nezu will say something about how unique little mice each of them are.
And so not wanting to be upstaged himself by a bunch of noobies he throws himself back into the fray, lighting the flood of bots up like tinder. He just hopes they can hold out long enough for Chopper to finally get the gate open.
“We can do it!! Give it all you got everyone!!”
“YEAH!!!”
Even though their spirits refuse to back down, there’s still the issue of the army of robots flooding into the street. Each of them is willing to take on the intruders even if it costs them their own lives. They will do whatever it takes to capture and defeat them whether it’s through conventional or lethal means.
But past the flames and the red glow of the Security Sentries, two figures emerge. The two vary in size and height but they walk with purpose through the darkly light streets. Their heads held high with a dangerous glint in their eyes as they approached the raging battlefield.
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“No need to worry, Boss.” The Hacker leans back in his chair with a cruel smirk, feeling rather proud of himself for what he’s devised up to protect the Security System. “Those brats are in for a real surprise.”
To be continued…
Notes:
And that was Three Heroes Part II. What did you think? Did you like it? Was it tedious? Go ahead tell me what you think, I can take it (I brace myself for world of pain). I hope the two-week wait was worth it. I’m sure it was better than waiting an entire month.
Speaking of which, I would like to post Three Heroes Part III July 15th. But the chapter is taking longer than expected. I had a week that was super busy and then this last week I’ve been bed ridden and dealing with a fever that won’t go away. Actually, even while writing this I am still a bit sick. It’s not COVID (I’ve taken serval tests to check) but whatever it is has been hindering my work this entire week. So, I may have to cut Part III in half and make this a 4-part arc instead. I don’t want to do that but if things don’t change, I may have to. Just keep an eye on the Omakes for future updates about that.
*You (The reader): “Hey, Create! Who was that Scrambler guy from? I don’t know what series he’s from?”
Me: He’s not from a series.
You: Is he from a book then?
Me: No. He’s not.
You: Then what is he?
Me: He’s an OC.
Yeah, I needed a way to expand that fight scene and to show off Master Control some more so I evented the Scrambler villain to do that. He isn’t really inspired from anything and he’s a one-off thing for sure. Truth be told the idea started with seeing the Umbrella Academy Season 3 trailer, when Christopher (the cube) uses his powers. The idea sprung from there and evolved over time to this.
Oh that was another reason I am behind of Part III was too busy watching Umbrella Academy.
*Not a whole lot of Easter Eggs and cameos in this one. What did you see?
Chapter 69: Three Heroes Part III
Notes:
It’s here! It’s finally here! Thank you so much for your patience guys! But trust me it’s about to pay off here and now! And guess what? It’s a long one so get some popcorn, a soda, and sit back because this is one hell of a ride! WOOOOAAAAAHHHHH!!”
*Heads up I finished this chapter after midnight last night so if there’s a lot of spelling mistakes that’s why. I didn’t have a chance to properly edit and review it so if it gets weird at times then I am sorry.
My “editors” didn’t even get a chance to read this yet so again it might get weird or feel off at times. I tried my best.
*Also, there is new artwork for this chapter so get ready to look it up because it will be quiet the show to see. More on that later now on to the show!
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Kyoka Jiro listens in through the walls of the 137th floor listening closely for movement other than theirs. “I hear a lot of those Security machines on the floor below us.”
Ochaco Uraraka frowns worriedly. “What about above?”
“No. It should be clear.”
Tenya Iida leads the way while carrying a brain dead yet delightfully blissful Denki Kaminari on his back. “Let’s go!”
And so, they hurry off for the 138th floor which is a massive room field to the brim with large futuristic computer servers. It even extends high above into the next few levels reaching all the way to the ceiling.
The teens hurry across the room, they can see the exit on the other side, they just need to make it there.
Too bad the doors open wide and a flood of Security Sentries flood into the room like a stream.
Iida slides to a stop as the droids stampede towards them. “It’s a trap!”
Ochaco grabs Iida’s arm, trying to pull him forward. “Come on, Iida. We need to get through them!”
“Wait, a sec!” Melissa Shield shouts, holding Ochaco back.
The others stop as well allowing her to explain.
“We can’t damage these servers. It could affect the island’s security system.”
Just as she warns them of this, even more of the bots drop down from the levels above.
Minoru Mineta quivers at the sight of them. “How many of these things are there?!”
Momo Yaoyorozu leans down as her back begins to glow bright with Creation. “We can handle these machines while protecting the servers.”
Iida sets Denki down before turning to address Ochaco. “Uraraka, go. Go with Melissa and see if you can find a different route.”
Ochaco agrees and turns to Melissa. “We better go.”
Kraab jumps off Jiro’s back and onto Ochaco’s. “I got your back.”
Ochaco smirks, rolling her eyes and wondering if Deku’s been rubbing off on the cyborg a little too much.
She and Melissa hurry off heading back the way they came to look for another way up.
And they peeled out at the right moment as the robots are finally upon them.
Iida’s Engines roar, spewing burning blue flames from the exhausts. “RECIPRO BURST!!!”
He zooms across the Server Room, his kicks boosted with the power of rockets as they bash into the bots before zooming through the rest of the flood. It’s like a speeding race car’s been set loose into the Server Room.
Momo gasps for air after creating a massive cannon. “Take over the gun, I’ll make us some soft ammo.”
“Roger that!” Jiro gets into place and fires.
The incoming bots get covered by a weird sticky putty, gluing them in place.
But it does little to nothing to hinder them as they keep charging in closer and closer, some even begin to fire taser bolts in response to the incoming cannon fire.
But none manage to land since Mineta’s running interference with his Sticky Balls. “I won’t let you hurt my ladies!”
“He he he he.” The clueless Denki giggles stupidly in the background, cheering his friends on as they risk their lives.
“Fire!” Jiro yells and the cannon fires more capsules of putty.
Momo stands behind the canon, producing more and more capsules at an exhausting rate.
But even with their best efforts several bots manage to break through the line, shooting out high tension cables as they do.
“Oh, no you don’t!” Jiro’s Earphone Jacks lash out, whipping the cables away with little bursts of sonic blasts, repelling them away.
But the bots are still there, their stun guns ready and poised to fire. But before they can even fire a thin body throws himself at them, knocking them aside.
“Kaminari?!” Jiro and Momo shout in shock.
“No loud…please…!” Denki winces, still feeling the effects of his own stupidity and pounding head, his eyes still a little bit dazed. “My…head buzzing.”
“Look alive, people!!” Iida bursts through the bots, kicking them so hard they go flying across the room, and slam into the opposite wall.
The blue flames vanish from his exhausts and his Engines give out. ‘Stalled!!’
Which means he’s virtually immobilized and a sitting duck, a perfect target for the bots who tie him up instantly in a web of cables.
“Iida!” Jiro tries to fire the cannon again but it’s a dud. “Yamomo, ammo!” She holds her hand out for more but there’s nothing placed in it. “Yamomo?”
Momo’s out of breath, clenching her heart while keeled over. “That’s my…limit with…Creation.”
She falls over in exhaustion, but Jiro hurries and catches her.
Mineta wobbles back, his eyes spinning while blood just pisses down his head. “My scalp is telling me that it’s time to surrender.”
The robots don’t need his permission as they capture him and the girls in cables.
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“Ha!” Swordkil watches in glee from the Control Room as the kids get bound up. “That’s what you get for thinking you can take us.” He slaps the Hacker’s back and laughs. “What about the two that ran?”
The Hacker brushes his hand away and begins searching through the cameras. “We’re looking for them now.”
“Grr. These kids are so annoying.” Swordkil glares at the kids through the monitor, but the rush of seeing them tied up is already gone. Damn it, they deserve more than that, especially after they had them running around like idiots. “Can we control the bots from here?”
The Hacker pauses, wondering what the killer for hire could be cooking up. “We can.”
“Good. Then let’s have some fun.”
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Iida struggles in his binds, trying but failing to break them or shake them off. “Everyone, are you okay?!”
“Not really.” Mineta groans as blood pools around him.
Jiro sulks in the tightly wrapped cables along with the rest. “Yeah, just stewing in soul crushing defeat is all.”
“Damn these villains.” Iida spits in frustration.
A spark of light flashes from the bots, from within the cable ports.
Iida frowns, not sure if he saw that right. “Huh?”
Suddenly a surge of electricity races through the cables and into Iida. “Aaaahh!”
“Iida!!” The others gasp before being treated to an immense electric shock as well. “Aaaaaaahhh!!”
Denki, still in a daze, watches in horror as his friends are electrocuted. “Guys…! Guys…!” He screams, flailing back and forth in his cables, desperately trying to get free and save them.
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“Mwhahahaha!!” Swordkil is having a ball, watching these kids wither in pain and squealing for their little lives. “Think I can make their brain explode if I up it?”
The hacker smirks, playing with the cig in his mouth. “Only one way to find out, right?”
“Hell, yeah!”
The kids’ screaming increases to the point he swears he can hear it from here. But then the surges of electricity vanish, and the kids stop screaming. They even look at each other in confusion.
Swordkil slams his finger against the keyboard but still nothing happens. “Hey! Why’d you stop my fun?!”
“It wasn't me.”
“Huh?!”
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The tied-up teens look around in confusion, wondering why the bots suddenly went still.
“Is it over?” Mineta wonders aloud, afraid they’ll start again.
“Kaminari, was that you?” Jiro asks but he shakes his head no.
Iida, however, is silent watching the robots closely.
Sparks, just little sparks of green dance off a few of them before boom, the robots fall over, burned and fried, as little green sparks zoom across the air along with a roar of shrill staticky laughter.
“Hahahaha bzz! We are here bzz!!” The swarm of Buzzshocks zip around and attack the rest of the bots, blasting them and driving them back.
The teens gap and awe as the Buzzshock clones buzz around them like flies. “Midoriya!!”
“Hahahaha bzz!”
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Swordkil and the Hacker’s jaws drop in astonishment. They can hardly believe their eyes as this swarm of green battery-things turn their bots into haywired tin cans!
But then it gets worse as the battery-things find the cameras.
[“Hey, come look at this bzz!”] One of the Buzzshocks call out, gathering the others. [“Hiii Hahaha bzz!”]
They wave and shout at the cameras, making faces and blowing raspberries at the villains.
One even taps the glass. [“Hello bzz?! Are you villains watching bzz?”]
[“What a bunch of losers bzz! Can’t even do their own dirty work bzz.”]
[“Hahahahaha bzz.”]
They all laugh and jeer before stray sparks cut the live feed.
“Dammit!” Swordkil smashes the screen with his blade, but it still doesn’t stop Buzzshock’s maniacal laughter from coming through. “Just what the hell are these kids?!”]
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The bound-up teens smile, grateful for their savior. “Midoriya!!”
The Buzzshocks continue to whirl around in the air, ignoring their calls.
Roll her eyes, Jiro makes the correction. “Buzzshock…”
The Buzzshocks immediately gather and hover over them, each of them smiling like they were perfect little angels. “You rang bzz?”
Jiro shakes in her binds. “You could un-tie us, you know.”
“Oh, uh, I know bzz.” With a whistle to his clones the Buzzshocks hurry around like bees, freeing his friends from the cables.
“You okay, Class Pres bzz?” Buzzshock inquires worriedly, hovering over Iida as his clones pull him free.
Iida hurries out of them in a panic. “I’m fine, but the others! Uraraka and Melissa went on ahead! You need to hurry!”
Realizing the panic and worry in his voice the entire swarm buzzes away in a hurry.
“Oh, no, that's fine! Leave us!” Denki sarcastically waves. “We’ll catch up.”
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“We can do it!! Give it all you got everyone!!” Mina Ashido stands firm before the sea of corrupted Security Drones.
“YEAH!!!” Her friends and classmates stand behind her, each one ready to fight till the end to defend the massive gate behind them.
The drones’ red eyes glow bright before they all lash out with rounds of capture cables and laser shots.
The teens immediately react and duck away with Rikido Sato using taped up piles of bots as barricades, shoving them forward into the incoming bots, providing him and his friends more room.
As he increases their defenses, Hanta Sero runs forward and uses Sato’s back as a springboard to jump up and shoot down at the bots with his Tape, tangling them in a web of cellophane.
Tsuyu joins him in the air, latching onto one of the drones with her tongue and whipping it to the side and into another trio of drones, smashing them to bits.
All the while Tooru Hagakure and Mina bash, shove, and melt away any bots that sneak between their barricades
But no matter their efforts the flood of drones just keeps on coming with no end in sight.
But the teens are granted a quick reprieve as a wall of flames suddenly springs forth.
Hisashi Midoriya whips his head back, cutting of his Fire Breath. “Chopper, we could really use that exit!!”
^Waaa!!^ Chopper continues to work away at hacking the gate open but the security around it is a lot tighter than he thought.
Either way he better hurry because the drones have already extinguished Hisashi’s firewall and are getting closer. And as they clear the flames they open fire upon the teens, causing teaser bolts to rain down over them all.
They immediately take cover, with Sero and Mina sharing the same hiding spot behind a pile of smashed robots.
Sero ducks his head as several taser bolts nearly singe his ears off. “That was a nice speech and all, but we might actually be in over our heads here!!”
Mina hates to admit it, but he might actually be right here. This was a stupid plan. They’d need a real miracle to get out of this now.
Suddenly like a sudden hailstorm the rain of taser bolts cease and all goes quiet, no cables are shot, no taser blasts are fired, and not a single robot approaches.
“Why’d they stop?” Hagakure wonders aloud, too afraid to peer over the barricades to check.
They listen and in the distance, they pick up on the sounds of drones being tossed around as something powerful crashes its way through them.
Figuring they might be fine; Sato peeks his head over for a look but only sees the back of the drones as their attention is drawn elsewhere. “What’s happening?!”
“They’re leaving!” Hagakure sighs in relief.
Tsuyu, however, is far more skeptical. “Why?”
They look closely, but it’s hard to make out anything in the dead of night even on I-island. But they can see drones being tossed around in the distance as something big and agile crashes through them like a derailed rollercoaster.
Sero frowns, not sure what could be doing this. “What is that?”
Mina watches closely as the shadowy figure snakes through the drones at impossible angles and speed. “Hang on, I think that’s-”
A wave of darkness smashes through the boots like a tidal wave before rearing up and letting out a thunderous roar. “‘Did anyone call for a rescue?!’”
“No way!!” The teens’ jaws drop as Dark Shadow tears through the bots.
“Everyone!”
A tall muscular figure sprints across Dark Shadow’s back before leaping up and landing behind the teens’ barricades.
Mezo Shoji peers up and warns them to get down. “Please stand clear!”
He ducks and his arms unfurl from his back revealing that Fumikage Tokoyami was tucked inside.
“Dak Shadow!!!” Tokoyami calls, signaling for his familiar to attack.
“‘RAAAAAaaaagggghhh!!’” Dark Shadow roars and spins, his claws outstretched, creating an onyx tornado that shreds anything unfortunate enough to be sucked in.
“RAGNAROK HURRICANE!!!”
The special move tears apart the bots, clearing them away from the scene as a powerful whirlwind sweeps the street. Scattering the bots, their shredded parts, and oil splatters across the street and buildings.
Hagakure holds her arm over her face as shards of metal rain down on them. “Shoji?! And Tokoyami too?!”
Sero blinks in confusion. “When did you-”
“We were stuck inside the store a few blocks back.” Shoji quickly explains. “And then we saw all of you creeping around on the rooftops.”
“You saw us?!” Mina gasps.
“We did.” answers Tokoyami. “Honestly it’s a miracle none of the robots did. Now would someone care to explain what’s going on.” Tokoyami asks, looking around until he spots Hisashi at the front of the sealed gate. “What has Midoriya gotten himself into this time?”
Hisashi shrugs, feigning innocence. “What makes you think Izuku has anything to do with it?”
“Because you’re here. He’s nowhere in sight. And he always seems to find himself in the thick of things.”
Tsuyu nods her head, admitted to herself that he’s got a point. “No offense Mr. Midoriya. But your son really needs to learn what self-preservation means.”
“I know…” Hisashi sighs in defeat.
Shoji waves his hand, cutting them off and stopping them from getting distracted. “But that’s beside the point, can someone tell us why you’re breaking the island’s protocols?”
“Because the protocol has changed.” Hisashi explains in a serious and ominous tone. “I-island has fallen under the control of villains. And we’re here to stop them.”
Tokoyami straightens up, figuring that they must be telling the truth, especially since they put all this effort to get here. “How?”
Sero goes ahead and explains the situation. “The others, Midoriya, Uraraka, Todoroki, and them are trapped inside the tower.”
Shoji nods in understanding. “It’s a rescue then?”
“No.” Tsuyu gives him a curt shake of her head. “It’s a divide and conquer. While they scale the tower, we are here to activate the Cutoff Protocol. We need to take away the villains’ leverage over us and the heroes.”
“Okay. What do we need to do?”
“Well first there’s the door.” Sero throws his thumb back towards the sealed gate.
^Wop!^ Chopper calls out just as the gate finally slides open.
Hisashi holds out his hands in disbelief. “Ah, look who finally got the door open!!”
^Bop!^ Chopper waves back at him before jumping up in fright as a taser bolt nearly takes him out. ^Wwoo!^
The Security Drones have regrouped and are marching their way towards them in mass.
“They’re back!” Mina screams, watching as even more of them flood the street.
Hisashi signals them all to get inside. “Quickly everyone inside. Now!!”
They all hurry inside with Dark Shadow providing cover against their capture cables.
Meanwhile, Shoji and Sato grab onto the barricades of taped up droids, dragging them back, providing additional cover against the rain of taser bolts. But the moment they reach the doors they slip inside and scurry to the side as the taser fire increases.
Hisashi pulls them in and presses them against the wall, using his own body to shield them. “Seal the door!”
Chopper hurries to the internal port and thankfully is able to shut the gate closed on his first try.
Upon the gears shifting and locking itself in place, Hisashi turns and unleashes a thin stream of flames along the outline of the gate, welding it to the frame.
Hisashi and the teens step back from the gate as the thunderous clatter of taser bolts and capture cables bounce off of it. Soon loud bangs can be heard, no doubt the drones have begun throwing themselves at the door, each bang causing them to jump in place fearing they'll break in at any moment. But they never do, and the bots must have realized this fact themselves as the chaos from the other side all but settles away.
They all visibly relax, taking a moment to settle their racing hearts and to catch their breath.
As they each settle down, they all look towards the rest of the facility, finding themselves before a large corridor with blinking dim lights. The corridor is dark and damp and seems to stretch forever into the darkness. Pipes, cables, and all sorts of mechanisms and wires line the walls while the sound of heavy machinery can be heard echoing throughout the labyrinth.
Peering around, Mina fails to see their objective. “Where are the switches?”
“They’re not here.” Tsuyu answers, stating the obvious.
“Of course not.” Hisashi steps forward, putting himself between the teens and the flickering lights of the ominous corridor. He stares out into the void as if expecting some hideous creature to come forth and attack them. “Those switches are a last resort. And they’re too important to fall into villains’ hands. They’re gonna be hidden, mostly likely in the deepest parts of this maze. They will be heavily guarded.”
Sato frowns worriedly, turning back towards the welded gate. “And we can’t exactly leave, can we?”
“No.” Hisashi states firmly, knowing full well that this is it. He has officially led them all into a possible trap. He has two missions to save I-island and to make sure that each of these kids get home. He’ll make sure of it. “We’re losing time. Chopper downloaded the layout of this place. Now! Everyone get ready to move, the moment we get the location we move out! Understand?!”
The teens brace themselves, doing their best to mimic All Might by standing tall with their heads held high. “Yes, sir!”
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Ochaco and Melissa burst through the door, and they are immediately met with a powerful gust of fresh air.
Looking up they find that they're outside in a strange yet elaborate windmill system. A column runs up the center of the tower while rows and rows of giant fans stretch from it at every level. Each one spinning like buzzsaws as they catch the wind and gather the kinetic energy.
Ochaco takes a moment to admire the engineering and architecture, before jumping back when she realizes that there’s no railing between them and the tower’s edge. “What are those fans?”
“This is the Wind Power Generator.” Melissa explains while they move away from the door.
“Wind Power?!” Kraab looks around in disbelief at the humans. “Wait, are you telling me you humans aren’t used to using Renewable Resources? Shit! Talk about being behind on the times. That was like the first step for most other civilizations.”
Deciding now is not the time to get into industrialization and technology, Ochaco moves on to what’s really necessary at the moment. “So, what’s the plan now?”
“There are more robots in the tower.” Melissa explains. “Probably just waiting there for a chance to ambush us. But if we climb to the top from here, we’ll avoid them.”
Kraab pulls up the map and checks. “She’s right, there’s an emergency exit we can enter from at the very top.”
She points up and there over ten stories high is the very doorway she’s talking about, highlighted by the catwalk leading right to it.
Ochaco gasps when she sees it. “That’s so high!”
“But we can do it. I know you can get us up there. Your Quick can make anything you touch weightless so this should be easy.” Despite sounding so confident, Melissa’s hands are shaking.
“Hey. Hey.” Ochaco speaks gently, cupping Melissa’s hands into her own, giving her a sense of reassurance. “It’s like you said, we can do it.”
Melissa breathes and smiles, and her shaking hands settle down.
Ochaco’s glad to have to see her this way, calm yet determined, it’s just what they need.
But the moment’s cut short as sirens blare from the doorway and Security Drones rush into the Wind Power Generator.
“They already found us?!” Melissa screams.
“Hurry! We better go now!!” Ochaco grabs her arm and pulls her away.
They both run, run as fast as they can but they’re cut off. An entire squadron of bots drop down from the upper levels, their stun guns aimed and poised to fire.
“No!” Melissa cries. “Th-they got us!”
Ochaco won’t let that happen as she shields Melissa from the bot’s aim. “Melissa, make sure to stay behind me.”
The bots roll closer, their tasers already sparking with high voltages of electricity.
“Don’t worry Melissa. I’ll protect you.” Ochaco braces herself, fist up and glowing with One For All. She is determined to get them through and safely, especially Melissa. She will keep her safe, she has to and she will! “Come on!!” She screams at the charging bots. “I can take you all on myself!!”
“So…?”
Ochaco stops and looks over to the center column and finds Izuku leaning there with his dress shirt untucked and tie hanging loosely off his neck.
The greenette smiles, acting like it’s all fine and dandy. “Should I just let you handle this or…?” He lets the question hang there with a playful smirk.
Ochaco smirks right back and nods.
And so, with her permission he transforms. Lodestar springs up and shoots his arms out sending a massive magnetic pulse throughout the platform.
The magnetic pulse hits the bots like a tidal wave, throwing them all back against the walls and even off the roof where they hurdle down to the ground far below.
In a flash, Izuku smiles and laughs as he takes in his handy work of demolished and damaged bots. “Did I mention how much I love Master Control?”
“Great timing, Deku!” Ochaco cheers.
“I know right?!” He laughs. “I’m two for two now!”
Melissa smiles and nods her head. “Actually, this is perfecting timing!”
“For what?”
“We need a lift up there.” Melissa points up.
Izuku follows her finger and spots the doorway ten stories up. “You sure do.” In a flash, a buzzing fills the air along with a pungent foul odor. “Step aboard.” Stinkfly offers, holding his wings down so the two can climb on.
They girls take the offer, Ochaco using Zero-Gravity on them both before they grab onto his legs.
“Here. We. Go!” Stinkfly takes to the air with his wings beating a hundred times per second.
As they rise reinforcements of bots arrive, their alarms blaring as they try to shoot down the giant bug.
The lasers harmlessly fly by as they continue to climb higher and higher.
“What about them?!” Ochaco questions, pointing down at all the bots.
“They can’t catch us.” Stinkfly chuckles. “I mean how are they supposed to catch us? Fly? Hahaha!”
From below the flood of Security Drones watch on as Stinkfly makes his escape, and their processing codes quickly conclude that they cannot reach him in their current forms. As such they react accordingly. Their frames shift inward, becoming narrow, their legs folding in on their sides as slick fins project out from their sides and their heads rotate upside down allowing their glowing red eyes a full view of the sky. And then they take off, each one rocketing up like a firework, each one swarming around each other like a flood of giant red bees.
As the drones fly up towards them, Ochaco gives Stinkfly a deadpan glare. “Deku, do you remember the Techadon?”
“Y-yeah.”
She slaps his side, hard.
“I deserved that.”
Kraab leaps onto Stinkfly’s head, his pincers yanking on his two eyestalks like reigns. “Stop talking and fly, dammit!!”
“I’m going! I’m going!!” Stinkfly screams, soaring up into the air s the buzzing swarm of drones chase after them.
He bobs and weaves, snaking between the propellers and pillars but the swarm is too maneuverable, slithering past each obstacle like a floating river of water.
Stinkfly zips his way upward, but the swarm anticipate his movements, and they unleash a barrage of taser bolts just forward of his position.
The incoming laser fire cuts Stinkfly off forcing him to zip downward. “These things are relentless!!”
They sure are as they begin to launch out their capture cables.
Stinkfly manages to evade them, zipping this way and that ads the cables pierce the nearby pillars and walls creating a metallic web as the swarm continues its pursuit,
“Deku, get us away from them!” Ochaco screams, while holding onto Stinkfly for dear life, her other hand is wrapped around Melissa making sure she’s secured and won’t be flung away.
“Don’t you think that’s what I’m trying to do?!”
A cable manages to slip in and wrap itself around Melissa’s waist before pulling her away. “Eeeek!”
“Melissa!” Manages to grab her arm and hold her, putting herself in a tug-of-war if the drones.
But then several cables wrap themselves around her forearm, grabbing her as well. “Oh, no!!”
“Melissa! Uraraka! Ahhh!” Stinkfly is pulled to a halt as cables are caught by his stinger.
He struggles to fly away but more and more cables grab him, binding themselves to his legs and neck.
The swarm of drones circle them and begin to pull in an attempt to separate the teens.
While struggling to breathe, Stinkfly manages to cough out a call for help. “K-Kraab h-help!”
He immediately gasps for air as the cable around his neck is severed by Kraab.
“I got ya!” Kraab offers, holding up his sharp pincer. “But I don’t think I can take them all!”
The swarm buzzes around them like a hive of angry bees, their red eyes glowing like hellish embers and the hum of charging blasters fill the air like ominous music.
Stinkfly considers transforming but if he does there’s still a chance he’ll be bound up and if he were to phase away into Big Chill or Ghostfreak he’d risk Ochaco and Melissa being on their own. They’d be sitting ducks if he doesn’t move fast enough. So, then what can he do? What can any of them do?! They’re surrounded!
*BOOM!!!* An Explosion rings in their ears and a glowing heat burns at their faces as a furious Bakugou breaks through the buzzing swarm like a berserker.
“Bakugou?!” The teens all gasp in shock.
“What’s up losers?!” Bakugou lands onto Stinkfly’s back where he shoots his arms up towards the sky and roars. “DIE!!!”
*BOOOOOM!!!*
The Explosion erupts out like a volcano, its power blasts away the entire swarm causing them to scatter and crash into each other and propellers. Even the cables snap under the sheer power of his attack.
But despite the disruption they quickly gather back together but as they form together once again they find themselves met with a chilling wind and a frozen tomb as a glacier of ice entombs them in an instant.
Looking down at the ground below, Ochaco gasps as she pulls Melissa in. “Todoroki! And Kirishima!”
“Go! We’ll keep them busy!!” Todoroki yells up from below as he launches a trail of icicles that skewer the incoming flying drones.
“Yeah, we got this!” Kirishima laughs as he punches and chops down several drones out from the air.
With the cables snapped Stinkfly grabs the floating girls, holding them close so they don’t get separated again.
“Thanks guys!” He goes to fly up but something’s pulling him back. A single drone has its capture cable tied around his stinger again, holding him in place. “I’m still stuck!!”
“Witness me!!” Kraab shouts with some twisted excitement as he launches himself right at the drone.
His claws pierce the drone’s head, prying it off and allowing him to quickly hacking his way into its system before his head replaces the drone’s own, taking it over. With the drone's body under his full control he releases the cable, freeing his friends.
“To freedom! Hahaha!”
But he can’t celebrate for long as another swarm of drones buzzes in.
Bakugou blasts himself into the air to meet them, fending hem off by blasting them to bits. “Hurry it up, Dammit!!”
“I’m going!” Stinkfly begins to rise only to be met with a wall of buzzing drones.
Ochaco gasps. “Oh, no!!”
“What now?!” Melissa desperately pleads.
Stinkfly scrambles to think of something. “Bakugou! Give us a lift!!”
He transforms and Cannonbolt wraps himself around the girls.
“Don’t give me orders!!” Bakugou propels himself at the plummeting ball and fires one of the biggest Explosions he can muster,
The Explosion roars and propels the rolled-up alien straight into the air. Cannonbolt’s body slams and bounces off the propellers and pillars like a pinball before crashing right through the highest part of the Wind Generator area and into the tower. With Kraab flying in right behind them.
“They made it!” Kirishima cheers from below as Todoroki unleashes an inferno of flames upon the swarming drones.
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
“Send Swordkil in! And the others!” Wolfram barks into his intercom and for the first time he’s showing some genuine worry. The whole time he’s acted like everything was under his control but now, it's like he’s letting it all slip through his fingers, like trying to hold water but it’s finally pouring over.
“Defend the Control Room until I can get there!” He hurries away and out of the Reception Hall.
All Might watches him go as more and more steam pours off of him like a thick mist. ‘KEEP IT UP ALL MIGHT. JUST A LITTLE WHILE LONGER…’
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
Cannonbolt bounces and crashes off the walls, his shell spinning in reverse in attempt to slow down but he’s moving too fast, and he only comes to a stop when he crashes head-on into a wall, demolishing it into nothing. Before sliding down and unfolding, allowing the girls to slide off and onto the floor as Ochaco releases them from the Zero-Gravity.
Melissa immediately hurries to the alien’s side. “Deku! Are you okay?!”
“I’m okay.” Cannonbolt or rather Izuku responds, picking himself up and fixing his suit. “I’m more worried about you two. Are you okay?”
“I’m fine, just some scratches.” Melissa admits with a smile, acting like it’s nothing.
Izuku’s relieved, and so is Ochaco.
“I’m okay too. Thanks for asking.” Kraab whines, hovering in place with his hacked drone.
At the same time, Ochaco’s catches movement out of the corner of her eye and she yelps before grabbing Deku and Melissa and throwing them all back as the shink of a sword slices through the air.
A large, jagged blade hits the ground with a loud clang before being scraped off the floor. “Dammit! You brats are so dead!!” Swordkil screams bloody murder as he swings his arm-turned blade.
Ochaco hurries forward and meets the blade with the Full Gauntlet, blocking it.
“You shouldn’t have come here!” Quickly Swordkil, ironically, ditches his blade in favor of a semi-automatic pistol.
Ochaco barely has time to move before she’s zipped away by XLR8. The bullets continue to rain down and follow them, while Swordkil hollows with maniacal laughter. “Hahahahahaha!!”
“Stop it!” Mellissa shrieks, throwing herself onto the villain and grabbing him, trying to force him to stop.
“Get off!!” Swordkil knocks her off and she falls. And without a hint of hesitation or guilt he takes a swing at her with his bladed arm. “You bitch!!”
His blade never connects as Kraab sacrifices his hacked body to block it. “You would know, wouldn’t you?! A mercenary for hire is just a little bitch for hire, aren’t ya?!”
“SHUT UP!!!” Swordkil roars, using his other blade to knock Kraab away before taking a swing at Melissa.
Luckily, he hits her with the blunt side of his blade and although it hardly cuts her it is enough to throw her down and bruise her.
A droplet of blood falls to the floor and something inside Ochaco and Izuku snap upon seeing it.
“You chose the wrong place to play hero kids!!” Swordkil goes for the killing blow, but his blade is stopped, hitting against diamonds of all things.
“Huh?!” He scowls up at the crystal-being that blocked his attack. Diamondhead glares down at the lowly man, the blade being nothing more than a nuisance as it pokes against his chest. “Who’s playing?” He breathes dangerously and full of silent simmering rage.
“We’re not.” Ochaco breathes, just as furious her eyes gleaming with anger while One For All radiates off of her in waves.
Kraab crawls up Diamondhead’s shower, his eyes glowing bright with anger and fury. “And if you think we are.”
Diamondhead’s fist forms into a jagged blade. “Then let’s play.”
The three lean closer, their eyes glowing with fury and vengeance.
Swordkil shakes, his hands shake, but he steals himself. He has too much pride to back down in front of kids, yeah, they’re just kids no way they can take him. He’s stronger than they are. They should be scared of him! “Fine!! Then let’s play you little shits!!”
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
Play time was anything but for Swordkil. He was thoroughly thrashed around the stairway. Having been smashed into the walls and floor several times over, with a broken bladed arm that’s been snapped in half, his face swollen and bruised to the point he can’t even see through his swollen cheeks, and he’s definitely gonna have to eat nothing but pudding and yogurt for the next few months as he has barely any teeth left to chew.
“Melissa!” Izuku and Ochaco run over, checking on Melissa and her arm. “Are you hurt?”
“Don’t worry. Look, it's hardly bleeding.” Melissa promises even showing them the cut on her arm.
“Here allow me.” Izuku takes a piece of his sleeve and rips it off, tying it around the cut, using it as a makeshift bandage. Although the cut probably doesn’t really need it, but in truth he wants to do it. Because he can’t help but feel guilty for letting her get hurt in the first place like that. He should have reacted smarter than he did. “I’m sorry, we couldn’t protect you.”
“I think you mean, thank you.” She means that, she does and she in no way holds it over them.
The two smile back, happy to see her alright.
Ochaco warily glances up towards the stairway. “We’re close now, right?”
“Yeah, we are.” Melissa confirms before sprinting up the stairs.
Ochaco and Izuku quickly follow, skipping steps as they do. Afterall, they don’t have any more time to waste.
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
Something cold and slimy drips down from the ceiling while the pipes lining the walls creak and spew out jets of steam, lights hang from above, but they are either dead or flickering dimly, and cables hang loose off the ceiling and walls like vines. Rats scurry about in the shadows, squeezing themselves between the pipes and wires and vanishing away into the dark as the soft echo of approaching footsteps grow ever closer.
So busy with trying to stay alert for possible threats, Hisashi doesn’t even notice the rats scurrying past his foot as he makes his way through the depths of I-island. “Shoji?”
Shoji’s Dupli-Arms are outstretched and directed every which way, most of them replicating either ears or eyes.
Shoji approaches the next corner, several of his arms peeking around so as to not expose them. “The hallway is clear.”
Upon his go ahead, Chopper moves forward, taking the lead since he knows the way and using his own internal flashlight to light the way. The others follow him around the corner, making sure not to make a sound along the damp cold floor.
Hagakure jumps as a rat scurries past her feet, making her nearly yelp out, but thankfully Tsuyu was ready and covered her mouth with her.
Mina stays close to the wall along with Sero and Sato while Tokoyami takes the rear, making sure nothing will sneak up on them.
More steam spews from the pipes and the sound of water gurgling through the pipes can be heard.
“Just what is all this?” Hagakure asks aloud, gesturing towards all the pipes, cables, and wires.
“I expect it’s all the island’s utilities.” Hisashi explains while keeping pace with his droid. “Sewage, electricity, water, everything. It’s all here, connecting the island. A fitting place to hide the cutoff switches.”
A shiver runs down Sero’s spine as he catches a rat’s red eyes glaring at him from the shadows. “Yeah, and a great place to hide our bodies.”
“Let’s pray that none of us shall meet such a fate.” Tokoyami comments rather morosely from the back.
“Shh.” Shoji signals for them all to stop just as they meet an intersection of corridors his eyes and ears trained towards the dark corridor before them. “A patrol’s on its way.”
“Hide. We’ll let them pass.” Hisashi orders them behind the bulkheads and pipes.
The teens split up, squeezing themselves behind protruding metal bulkheads and pipes. Some take more creative means to hide like Sero and Tsuyu who stick themselves to the ceiling above the hanging lights, keeping them out of view.
Hisashi however joins the rest of the teens behind the pipes and cables before helping Chopper behind them too.
And once they’re all hidden away, they await with bated breath for the patrol of robots to appear.
It’s not for several minutes until they hear the sound of a single robot marching through the corridor. Its movement sounds heavy and slow with each passing second it comes closer and closer to their position.
They are unable to see the bot, the light above them is flickering too much and the rest of the lights in the intersecting corridor have died out a long time ago. And so, they wait for it to appear and hopefully move on.
Hisashi leans over and quietly whispers over to Sato who’s the only one in earshot. “Sounds like there’s only one, think you can take it out quick?”
Not willing to risk giving them away, Sato gives him a slow determined nod.
And so they wait, Hisashi keeping his eyes peeled for any signs of the bot as it rolls closer and closer. He slowly raises his arm, to which Sato watches closely, waiting for the hero to give him the signal.
And with a swish Hisashi drops his arm and Sato goes.
“Raaagh!” He bursts through the pipes, causing steam to pour out as he decks the bot in the head, smashing it in, and taking it out with a single blow.
The bot crashes to the ground with a thunk and the corridor goes silent as the rather large bot lays still on the ground.
“Nice hit, dude.” Sero lowers himself from the ceiling like an iconic webslinger.
“Thanks.” Sato smiles while sheepishly rubbing the back of his head.
As the others slip out from their hiding places, Sato peers down at his handy work with a smile but his smile fades and pauses as he takes in the bot’s large size and odd appearance. “Hey guys.”
“Yeah?” Mina calls.
“This one…looks weird.”
“Weird how?”
“Weird like…sci-fi show weird.”
They all frown, even Hisashi, not sure what that’s supposed to mean.
And then from the darkness of the surrounding corridors the sound of heavy, slow moving bots can be heard making their approach.
And like that Hisashi realizes his grave mistake, it was never just one bot, it was a scout meant to lure them out. “It’s a trap!!”
The lights flicker on and rolling in from all sides is a squadron of strangely designed bots. They are about 5 feet tall with cylindrical bodies and they glide smoothly off the ground. With dome shaped heads framed by two lightbulbs and a long adjustable tube in the middle, acting as their primary eye. Their heads rotate over a thick metallic collar where two metal arms are sticking out. One looks like a metal stick with a futuristic plunger at the end, and the other arm looks like an elongated eggbeater with a tube in the middle. And finally, their entire lower halves are lined with rows of metallic spheres, probably used for some sort of sensory.
Sero’s jaw drops when he sees them. “What the hell?!”
^Exterminate!!^ One of the robots aims its eggbeater at them and fires a deadly laser beam.
“Everyone to cover!” Shoji shouts while grabbing onto Mina and Hagakure, shoving them both down, and allowing the beam to pass over their heads.
The beam burns into the wall, melting away the cables and piping.
“Holy shit!!” Sero screams falling back as water spews out from the broken pipes.
^Exterminate!!^ The rest of the bots open fire releasing equally as powerful beams.
“Dark Shadow provide us with cover!!” Tokoyami summons forth Dark Shadow who immediately lashes out his claws at the ceiling.
Its nails dig into the cement and pull down, ripping out the cables and piping from above. The broken pipes and cables swing down, creating a net-like barrier between them and two of the bots.
Meanwhile, while Hisashi shields Sato and Chopper he unleashes his own beam of flames into another pair of bots. The beam of flames knocks them over but they’re much sturdier bodies ensure that they’re fine.
“Everyone this way!” Hisashi commands them to run with a swing of his arm.
Shoji, never letting go of Mina or Hagakure gets up and runs, carrying them with him.
Sero and Tsuyu follow close behind with Tsuyu leaping ahead while Hisashi helps Sato to catch up. Tokoyami soon joins them, Dark Shadow swinging down and grabbing onto Chopper, carrying him.
The bots, using their laser beams, cut through the barrier with ease while another pair of bots help their fallen comrades back to their feet. And soon the squad of six bots are pursuing the intruders through the I-Island’s labyrinth.
“What are those things?!” Mina screams from under Shoji’s muscular arms. “Aren’t those robots from that like-really old show?!”
Hisashi never stops running but does try his best to come up with a reasonable answer. “It’s an island full of scientists!”
“So?!”
“So, it’s an island full of nerds!” They probably built these and put them here to avoid copyright laws.
“Eeeek!” Hagakure shrieks as a laser beam nearly takes her hand off.
^Exterminate!!^ The Daleks are right behind them and as their catchphrase suggests, they are willing to kill.
Sero can’t believe their luck; this is both so cool yet so terrifying all at once. “This would be kinda cool if they weren’t trying to kill us!”
^Exterminate!!^
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
Izuku, Ochaco, and Melissa hurry up the steps, no longer caring how stealthy they are as their shoes and bare feet clatter against each step.
“They’re here!!” Two masked goons appear at the top of the steps and open fire upon them with live rounds.
Izuku transforms and Upchuck, opens his mouth wide, taking the bullets as his tendrils lash out and rip the semi-automatics from the goons’ hands.
With their weapons gone Ochaco springs forth, slamming her fist into one of them and launching him against the wall so hard that it crumbles. The other villain lunges at her but he’s blasted away by a well-timed plasma ball.
Ochaco gives Upchuck a small salute, thanking him for the save before she catches the massive 200 written on the side of the wall. “The Top Floor.” She breathes, elated that they finally made it to the top of the tower.
The rush through the halls, albeit this time making sure not to cause any noise. Last thing they need is to be found or ambushed again, especially now. But there doesn’t seem any need to be stealthy as they don’t come across any more goons or robots.
And so, after following Kraab’s map and Melissa directions for the Control Room they eventually come across one of the tower’s other facilities.
Just around the corner and down the hall they spot what appears to be a vault of sorts. It clearly is a massive facility but what has them really concerned are the two figures moving around inside.
“Someone’s in there.” Izuku points out with a whisper.
They all scan the open vault, eyeing the figures closely. That is until one of them turns his head ever so slightly as he works and tinkers on a strange pyramid-shaped device.
“Papa!” Melissa gasps.
It is. It’s David Shield and he seems to be okay. But he hasn’t noticed them, and it looks like the villains have him working on something, but what it is they can’t be sure.
Melissa looks out for the villains, but she doesn’t see any. “Why’s he here on the top floor?”
Izuku shrugs and tries to offer up a theory. “Maybe the villains brought him here. They might need something from him.”
“We have to help him!”
“Right!”
They all hurry down the hall, moving warily in case there are any villains around.
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
The Central Tower’s Storage Room looks like it should belong in the matrix. With its cylindrical layout that stretches high above for what feels like ever while thousands upon thousands of vaults line the walls from top to bottom. At the center of the room but unlike the rest of the room that has cool dark colors, the computer is black with yellow techno-patterns painted across it. While a singular yellow circle looms at the center of the giant screen. The circle seems to be moving on its own, staying focused solely on David Shield and his work.
David finishes tinkering with the strange pyramidal device and steps back while whipping off the nervous sweat he’s collected. “There. It’s finally done.”
The circle on the screen moves as a cold mechanical voice wheezes out through the computer. [Excellent…]
“Well, it’s not complete yet. There’s one piece missing.”
[And which would that be…?]
David glowers at the computer. “The one we discussed, the one per our deal.”
[Ah… Of course, Professor…]
*DING!*
With a beep the yellow glowing computer deactivates a lock and one of the vaults just at the top of the steps surrounding the entire base of the room opens up, revealing a protective briefcase inside.
Sam Abraham, David’s assistant, hurries up the steps and grabs the case, opening it immediately to check its contents. He immediately beams with joy when he finds the device inside. “You did it Professor!”
He turns and shows off the device, inside the case sits a strange device that resembles a claw like one would you to scoop up toys in a claw crane. With 6-fingers that look like they can reach around an entire person’s skull.
“Look everything' here. It’s perfect!” Sam breathes a sigh of relief, happy to have it back with them.
“Finally, I’ve gotten it back.” David breathes, his fists balling up at his sides as all his frustrations seep out. “All my research and they just took my device away from me. But now it’s mine.”
“Just like we planned. And it looks like the villains are holding things down.”
“Thank you.” David smiles, feeling hope for the first time in what feels like eternity. “I couldn’t have done any of this without your help Sam!”
“Papa…?”
David’s heart stops and all the air from his lungs vanishes when he stops breathing. He blinks disbelievingly, not sure if his eyes are working or not. But there she is, his daughter, his precious daughter, barefoot, bandaged, and looking like she just ran an entire marathon in a dress.
rough the door)
“Melissa…”
Izuku, Ochaco, and Kraab stare in disbelief, taken back by the revelation.
Sam quivers and shakes when he sees the children. “No… Miss what are you doing here?”
“What does he mean it’s like you planned it?” Melissa wobbles forward as if in a trance of disbelief, her mind unable to even process the truth. “Don’t tell me you’re the one behind this.”
“He is.” Kraab states rather coldly yet decisively. “He was the one that called the villain here to attack the island. He coordinated all of this. Heck I bet he was the one that gave the villain their gear and access codes.”
Melissa freezes, shocked, unable to argue or rebut the cyborg.
“I knew we couldn’t trust him.” Kraab glowers. “These super geniuses are always so narcissistic. Thinking that they know what’s best for anyone else and that they can do whatever they want all because they think that they’re smarter than the rest of us. That’s just how these types are.” Kraab glares over at the scientist with contempt. “Let me guess that device…it was something you weren’t supposed to make. Am I right?”
Melissa shakes her head, tears threatening to spill out. She just can’t accept that. “It…it can’t be true…”
Needles, it feels like needles crawling all over him, lying, lying to her like this…he can’t do it. “Yes, it is…” David breathes unable to meet her tearful gaze.
“Papa… How could you?!”
Sam watches worriedly and tries to explain. “The Professor is only trying to get back what was stolen. The invention inside this briefcase can amplify someone’s Quirk.”
Izuku can’t believe it, that just can’t be. “Wait, is that even possible?”
“Yes. It’s still being tested of course but unlike with drugs like Trigger, this device can magnify a person’s Quirk without doing any damage to their body or brain.” Sam explains, getting excited about the concept, but his smile fades away as he goes into why they had to do what they did. “Despite that…our sponsors confiscated this prototype and our research data. Then they demanded the project be abandoned. They worried that…something like this would drastically affect the structure of superhuman society. Fearing chaos, governments from different nations put pressure on your father to end it… That’s why we did this.”
Yes, that’s why they did this. Although even now David has his doubts. He always had them even when the idea first came to them. But what other choice did they have…?
##########(Flashback)#########
David is defeated, his soul crushed and spirit broken as he stumbles into his lab. Around lie various inventions and technologies of his own making. But they’re useless, they’re all useless, what would even be the point anymore? It felt like he had been swallowed up into an endless void of despair. Anything he works on now is insignificant in comparison to the Quirk Amplifying Device. That device was his last hope, only hope, to save All Might and the world. To bring the Symbol of peace back to his former glory. No, to help him rise beyond it.
But saving All Might is just a pipedream now, a useless, impossible dream. His Quirk is going to die away and with it so will the Symbol of Peace…
He’s about ready to wallow in his despair when the screen on his massive computer monitor begins to illuminate with an eerie glow.
David peers up and frowns at the screen in confusion. ‘A call? No, a transmission?’ His hand slowly reaches for the keyboard before he cautiously accepts the call. “Hello? Who is this?”
There is no response, not at first as the screen glitches in and out. That is until David finds himself staring into a yellow circle.
[Professor David Shield…] A cold calculating voice echoes from the monitor, sending shivers down David’s spine as the being wheezes through the speakers. [Do you know what I am…?]
He pauses, taking in the image of the alien’s silhouette. “I do. What is it you want?”
[What I need is your assistance… And…I believe you need mine as well…]
David hesitates to respond, his years of dealing with shady businessmen and mad scientists have taught him to be wary of these types. But like any scientist his natural curiosity makes it difficult to ignore.
[They took your device… Your creation… Didn’t they…?]
David’s breath hitches. “How do you know about that?”
But the being ignored his question and offers one of his own. [Tell me…do you take pride in your work…?]
“Y-yes. And this one was important to me…”
[I understand… Your device that is… I understand how it must feel… Created by a superior mind but then discarded… Deemed too dangerous to be allowed to exist, even by its creator… But what do they know…? Those fools are far too shortsighted…! They lack the foresight…! The insight to your device’s true potential and purpose…!]
That’s true… In a sense. Sure, they’re concerned are well founded but the benefits, the benefits outweigh the risks tenfold.
[It was wrong for them to send it away… Don’t you think so too, Professor David Shield…?]
“…Yes.”
[Then please allow me to provide my assistance… And in return you will restore me… ]
“Restore you?” David doesn’t quite understand what that means but if it means continuing his work and saving All Might’s Quirk then he’s willing to risk it all. “What do I have to do?”
“We have to do what we must…”
“Sam?!” David gasps, horrified to find his assistant standing at the door. In a panic he tries to cover the screen depicting the alien but it’s too large for him to do anything. “This-you shouldn’t be here! How did you-”
“I’ve known Professor…”
David freezes in place, his ears hanging off Sam’s declaration.
“I’ve known for quite some time.” Sam admits, glancing over at the screen with nervous trepidation. “I know what that thing is. And what you are.”
“Sam, I-”
“Is that why we created it, Professor…? The Quirk Amplifying device? Was it so we can stand up to…?” Sam allows the question to hang there, unable to look away from the alien displayed on the blurry screen.
David doesn’t answer, unable to look his own assistant in the eyes and tell him the full truth of the device’s purpose. But Sam reads his expression wrong, as if David is silently saying that yes, they made the device to defend themselves against such beings.
And now that one of them is offering up help, they should take it. And so summoning his courage Sam dresses the alien directly. “What would we need to do to get our research back?”
David looks on, still reeling from guilt and shock. “Sam…?”
[It’s quite simple in fact I can oversee this myself… It would require hiring out proxies to confiscate the device and data back…]
David stops as he realizes what the alien is plotting. “What? Proxies?! You mean like villains?!”
“No, Professor.” Sam clarifies with a strange other calmness. “We can hire people who can pretend to be villains and have them force us to break in and take it.”
David’s still not so sure.
[You have my word, Professor… If all goes to plan no harm will come to I-island or its inhabitants…]
He shakes his head, still refusing to accept this. “This is crazy.”
[I need your device Professor… I need it to make myself whole… I need it in order to reach my potential…] The alien pauses, swallowing its pride before pleading with the scientist. [I am dying, Professor… And I need you to save me… Be a hero…]
David hangs on those words “Be a hero.” And when he does, he thinks of his daughter, Melissa, and how much she adores him. How her eyes sparkle whenever she tells him that she’ll be just like him. Like her hero.
“Please, Professor.” Sam begs, nearly breaking down before the professor. “Our work is important; we can’t just throw it all away. We need it to save the world. Don’t you feel the same?”
It hurts, the guilt and shame piercing into his skin like burning needles. He grits himself and shoves it all down. They… He has to do this.
And so with a trepid breath David commits. “Yes.”
########(End Flashback)#######
Their alien benefactor oversaw the hiring of the fake villains himself, getting into contact with Wolfram while Sam ensured them their gear and equipment. It was even Sam’s idea to commit the farce during the I-EXPO preview since that’s when the least amount of people would be in the island’s Central Tower.
And it worked, finally they're here after months of planning and communication. He has it back! The key to their salvation!
“The Quirk Amplifying Device is the key to all of this.” David explains being unable to look away from the device. “Once we combine it with this device here. It’ll become even stronger than before. It’ll perfect the being that uses it.” He gestures towards the pyramidal-shaped device beside him as he drones on about how important the Quirk Amplifying Device is.
The teens are stunned and unable to fully process what they just heard. Perfect the being that uses it? What? That’s insane. There’s no feasible way a machine could do that. The Professor…The Professor David Shield has officially lost it.
“I don’t understand.” Melissa whimpers, heartbroken and betrayed by her own father. “There’s something I’m missing, right? You’d never do this!”
The sad truth is he would-...he has. “I’m so sorry…”
Melissa trembles, her knees nearly given out and tears begin to flow as she’s unable to hold them back anymore. “This doesn't make any sense. The Papa I know, and love wouldn’t act like a villain no matter what!! So…so why then?! Why?!”
“I had to for All Might!” David defends, shouting like the answer was right there all along.
The teens and cyborg are taken back, jumping back like he was some dying animal trying to claw at them.
David hates those looks in their eyes so much, so he has to tear his gaze away from his daughter. “You three probably aren’t aware of this but his Quirk is disappearing.”
Ochaco’s heart stops as a cold chill runs down her spine.
“However, if he uses this device, he’ll be his old self. No. His abilities will be even stronger than they were! The Number One Hero. The Symbol of Peace. He can have his strength and light back again! He can keep saving people. Just like he always has!”
Ochaco’s heart is pounding so hard she can hear it in her ears, and yet her blood runs cold with a harsh feeling of dread. ‘He’s… he wants his friend to be strong again. He-he’s doing all this because…because All Might passed his Quirk down to-to…to me.’
Izuku’s realized it too, freezing him in place. ‘He…he doesn’t know.’
“That’s also why I wanted to study the Omnitrix.”
Izuku ‘s heart stops at that very moment.
David goes ahead and continues to explain. “That’s why I invited you and your father here. I wanted to study the Omnitrix and to find out how exactly it works. Imagine the good it would do. Imagine if I could replicate its powers and give All Might with various abilities? The regeneration of a Florauna. The durability of Arburian Pelarota. The speed of a Kineceleran. The world would benefit so much if All Might’s power regained its former levels and more! Imagine it we could have ever lasting peace! Earth would be safe from all threats both earthborn and beyond!”
In his excitement and panic, David rushes the stairs and pulls the case away from Sam and exclaims in desperate pleading. “Please-please just let me hand this device to All Might! There’s no time to remake it!! When he’s better I don’t care what kind of punishment I receive!”
“They risked their lives…”
David is silenced in an instant, all from a mere pained whisper.
Melissa's entire body trembles with a mix of emotions from anger, frustration, betrayal, and sadness. All of it swirling around her, clashing against each other for control and yet, yet it’s her heart that spills out and cries. “Deku, Uravity, and all their friends went through so much! Do you know how dangerous this all was?! How hard we were trying to save everyone on the island?! To the point that we’d all risk our lives?!”
But David is confused, genuinely confused, his expression reading that he has no idea what Melissa is even implying. “No way? What do you mean…the villains are fake?” David turns his attention to Sam and then to the yellow glowing monitor. “It’s all supposed to be an act.”
“Of course, it was a performance.” A hauntingly cocky sneer growls out and everyone is taken by surprise when they find Wolfram and the Hacker at the doorway. “But the real act was pretending we weren’t criminals.”
Izuku and Ochaco both shout out when they finally process who exactly he is. “You’re the boss!!/You’re the villain!!”
They both charge up; Ochaco glowing with One For All while Izuku enlargens into a furious Four Arms.
The duo charge fully intent on finishing the villain off now that he’s right in front of them.
But Wolfram’s quick, slamming his hand to the vault door, sending a surge of blue sparks through it. In an instant parts of the metal floor rip itself out of the ground, creating a thick iron wall between him and the attack teens whose fists smash into with such force it leaves craters.
Four Arms leaps back as two more walls spring up. “His Quirk allows him to manipulate metal!” In a flash, Lodestar leans back and makes himself known. “Sorry pal but that’s not exactly original!!”
With a swing of his arms, he takes control of the metal himself, ripping Wolfram’s barricades out of the ground and high into the air.
With the path clear Ochaco rushes forward, her fist glowing with the power of One For All. “I won’t let you hurt anybody else!!”
Wolfram scowls and activates his Quirk, causing a pillar of metal to rip through the wall and race towards the girl.
Acting fast Ochaco fires a Ryou Sphere down at the ground in front of her, the blast pushing her back just before she could be crushed by the pillar.
The Hacker leans around the pillar, his cybernetic eye glowing bright red before firing a high-powered beam right at the teens. The beam pierces Lodestar’s chest, blasting a hole clean through his torso. His arms go limp, and he collapses, clenching his chest in pain.
“Deku!! Ahhh!” Ochaco is pulled away as Wolfram sends a net of rebar and metal flying into her.
The metal twists around her and slams her against the wall, pinning her there. Kraab, who’s latched to her back, wiggles but can’t get free, his metal frame pressed against the wall along with her.
“Uravity!!” Melissa hurries to Ochaco’s side, grabbing the rebar and pulling on it with all her might but it doesn’t so much as budge no matter how desperately she tries.
Wolfram smirks, watching with interest yet disgust as Lodestar’s chest fills itself in and heals. “I heard about you, but I didn’t think I’d actually get a chance to meet you. You’re just as much of a freak as I heard.”
Lodestar shakes his head. “No, I’m not a freak.” With a flash, Ghostfreak rises his tail end waving around like a wisp. “Now, I’m a freakkk!!”
The Hacker scowls and fires his beam but Ghostfreak floats away, bobbing through the laser fire with ease.
“No!! What are you doing?!” David screams, turning towards his alien benefactor. “You have to stop them!!”
[Very well…]
Through the computer the alien manages to search the Storage Room in milliseconds, locating the very item required for the task. From one of the vaults lies a red high tech belt with glowing blue orbs at its side making the belt appear almost alien and otherworldly. And through the computer the alien activates the belt causing it to produce a blue-illuminating sphere around Ghostfreak, trapping him in place.
“Nooo! Let me outtt! Let me outtt!!” Ghostfreak shrieks and wails, slamming himself into the kinetic energy absorbing bubble. He even tries to phase through but it’s useless.
He tries Four Arms, but his punches only seem to make the field stronger. Buzzshock is next, zipping around the sphere like a bullet as he ricochets around in a blur. Even Heatblast gives it a go, trying to burn his way through to no avail.
“No! What’s the meaning of this?! It wasn’t supposed to go this way!!” David shouts, demanding some form of explanation. “What do you think you’re doing?!”
[Calm yourself Professor… I suggest you cooperate…]
David quiets down, taking the alien’s warning seriously.
[Now, the device…]
“Right away, s-sir.” Sam snatches the briefcase out from David’s hands and quickly hurries over to the pyramidal device at the bottom of the steps.
David is taken back, blinking rapidly like his eyes weren’t working right. “Sam? You were in on this? You were going to hand it over all along?”
You’re the one that tricked me Professor!” Sam growls back with years of frustration that no longer has to be pent up. “I’ve been your assistant for all these years. And you let them take our work. We could have had fame! And fortune! But no! I deserve more. I need to be rewarded!” He turns away, turning his back on the Professor and sets to work on adding the Quirk Amplifying Device into the pyramidal device. “Otherwise, my entire career was a complete waste of time!”
[Enough…! Complete your task…!] The alien barks, his patience waning with ever second.
Sam jumps and gets to work on the pyramidal device, which is a pure amalgamation of other technologies. The device itself though matches the alien in design except with a cooler black frame that’s outlined in green techno-patterns of interconnecting wires and circuits.
Izuku watches with interest and worry as Sam installs the Quirk Amplifying Device into the machine, rewiring it along with the other stolen technology inside. He has so many questions: what is that device for? Why is this alien willing to go so far? What is his goal here? And more importantly… “Wh-who are you?!” He ends up shouting out, his heart pounding so hard he can hear it in his ears.
Everyone pauses, and the alien benefactor finally sets his attention on the boy.
“Why are you doing this?! Why go through all this?! Just who are you and what do you want?!”
The alien pauses, staring back for a moment while in thought. [Izuku Midoriya, wielder of the Omnitrix… I’ve waited a long time to meet with you… And that perfect creation…]
Izuku assumes he’s referring to the Omnitrix, now his worry worsens, and he repeats his question. “Who-who are you…?”
The computer screen freezes in and out as the black and yellow coating begins to melt off the computer. [I’m the one overshadowed and forgotten… Tossed aside, casted away, deemed a curse on my kind by the very being that created me…!] A puddle of black and yellow wired ooze forms at the base of the computer, and it begins to ripple and rise into a ghastly form. [I’m a virus, a mistake, a failed experiment known only as…Malware!!]
Malware stretches up his humanoid form appearing rather emaciated and deformed, like a thin sack of skin hanging off a mess of jagged bones and ribs. With long spindly arms leading to claws so large they could rip through a human’s torso. He’s tall even with his long-skinny neck hunched over leading to a narrow skull. His entire body is a cold black color framed by yellow circuit and wiring patterns, to which all lead up to his one eye, a distorted circle that glows with an eerily ominous yellow.
“Y-you’re a G-Galvanic Mechamorph!” Melissa gasps, stumbling back and pressing herself against the wall out of shock and fear at Malware’s mutated and ghastly form. “But-but I thought your kind were supposed to be green!”
[You have quite the insightful spawn, Professor… Just like you…] Malware taunts with a haunting sneer. [Tell me Professor what is your most perfect creation…?]
David’s too stunned to respond, and Malware’s question only confuses him.
[You’re spawn or your device…? Which is it…? Which is your perfect creation…?]
David, still too confused, hesitates to answer. And by the time he snaps to he knows he should shout and declare it’s Melissa but…he hesitates. Hesitates because he did all this planning and betrayal all for…for a little trinket.
And even though Malware expected such a response, he still shows anger and outrage as if some part of him was hoping David wouldn’t show any hesitation to answer. [My father was the same…! Cared more for his perfect creations, then he ever did for me…! And for what…?! It’s his fault I'm like this…!!]
“H-How…?”
Malware pauses before turning back towards the one that spoke.
Swallowing his fear, Izuku repeats himself. “H-how…? How was it his fault?”
[What do you know of Galvanic Mechamorphs, Midoriya…?]
Nothing admittedly, he’s the first one he’s ever seen to heard about.
[A standard, so-called perfect Mechamorph can take over any technology and enhance it, even mimic it… But as for me I've been proven to be quiet-] He swings his claws at the computer, clashing through it with ease. But then the slash marks seems to corrupt the machine before it explodes. [-volatile…]
Izuku can’t tear his eyes away as the massive computer crumbles to dust. The others can’t either, even Wolfram seems fascinated by the reaction.
[My father utilized a Helix to create all Galvanic Mechamorphs… However, he deactivated the device far too early… As a result my life code was severely damaged and corrupted making me incomplete… Making me a failed experiment…!!] He roars with outrage curing his so-called father’s name.
Seeing that he’s talking Ochaco pipes up hoping to get him to stand down or to at least buy them time until help can arrive. “If-if he created you, then why not have him fix you?”
Malware’s head snaps at Ochaco and his neck lashes out, bringing his skull closer to her own as he shouts in her face. [You don’t think I thought of that…?! Oh, I tried, pleaded with my father for years…! But he never helped me…! He was always too busy, too many delays, and had more important things to take care of…!] His head snaps around, neck snapping into place, as he turns back towards Izuku His single eye trialing down his wrist, towards the infernal Omnitrix. [He had other priorities…]
Izuku frowns wondering what that could mean but before he can even really delve into what he means Malware continues on with his rant.
[But no more… With the Professor’s assistance I will be whole…!] Malware’s claws hover over the Pyramidal-Device but he doesn’t touch it as if afraid he will damage it before its compilation. [With the technology stored here on I-Island, and design stolen by me, we have been able to create a new Helix one that will retore my life code…! And with it I will finally gain what’s rightfully mine and how my father that I am not to be trifled with…!!]
“This is insane!” David finally manages to pull himself together and to at least attempt to stand up to the dangerous alien in outrage. “Yes, I agreed to help you but I never agreed to any of this! Why?! Why did you feel the need to bring in real villains?! I demand you give me an answer!!”
[You are a fool Professor…]
David’s taken back, all his courage washing away as Malware stares him down.
[In my state of being I need to ensure my own safety and capability… I contacted Wolfram and his men from the start, in fact when I first contacted you, Professor, I was right here on Earth already… After which adding your assistant into my fold was child’s play…]
“B-but why me?”
[Why…?! Isn’t it obvious…? Even in space we’ve heard tale of the Plumber’s Professor David Shield… You were in the perfect position for my purposes… A backwater plant, an isolated island filled with this planet’s greatest technologies, and your desperate need to save your precious Symbol of Peace… You suited my needs perfectly…]
“You…you MONSTER!!! You tricked me!!”
Malware lashes out his claws stretching out and grabbing the Professor before reeling him in like a fish on a fishline.
“Papa/Mr. Shield!!” The teens cry out, thinking this is the end for him!
Malware leans in close, snarling into David’s ear. [I’d watch that tongue of yours…! My patience is already wearing thin…!]
David cowers, his heart racing in his chest so hard that it causes his body to shake.
“It-it’s complete.” Sam announces, calling all attention to himself. “It-it's done, sir.” Sam meekly repeats, stepping away from the Helix. “T-the Helix is ready.”
He activates the device, and several antennas rise out from the bottom sides, the antennas glow bright and spark with energy causing the Helix to glow brightly.
[At last, I will be cured…!] Malware shoves David aside and his arms whip out, reaching for the antennas.
“No!!” David shouts. “It’s not ready!” He moves to stop the alien but is cut off by a net of rebar.
Wolfram sneers as he controls the rebar to shove David back. “Just stay back and watch Professor. Afterall, you worked so hard for this.”
And so, he does, everyone watches as Malware grabs onto the Helix’s rods. He begins to absorb the energy from within causing a green aura to surround his ghastly frame.
[I can feel it…! It’s working…! I can feel my life code changing…!!]
However, the Helix sparks and rumbles, its green hue turning into crimson as red sparks dance across its frame. Suddenly the Helix unleashes a beam of energy skyward, breaking through the ceiling above like a volcano of energy. The beam stretches high and red lightning dances across the sky, striking back the island and the tower causing the entire tower to rumble and shake. [GAAAAAAAHHH!!] Malware shrieks in pain as a red aura surrounds him, the crimson energy is too much surging into him far faster than he can absorb. [GAAAAAAAHHH!!]
Wolfram shoves Sam down, his pistol aimed down at the man’s head. “What did you do?!”
The cowering Sam holds his hands up in surrender. “N-nothing! I followed his blueprints exactly!”
David watches on in horror and amazement as the red Helix completely overwhelms the withering Malware. “I was afraid of this.”
Izuku slams his fists on the forcefield, trying to get David’s attention. “Afraid of what?!”
“The Helix it’s not compatible with him! It’s corrupting his life code! It’s gonna kill him!!”
[GAAAAAAAHHH!!!]
The surge of crimson energy reaches its apex, flooding the entire vault with blinding red light and powerful lightning bolts that completely overpower Malware’s own shrieks. Until it falls to the silence and malware’s connection finally breaks.
The massive beam vanishes, dissipating away and the red lighting stops. Rubble comes crashing down from the broken ceiling above onto a puddle of black ooze that was once corrupted Mechamorph.
With the Helix shutting itself down, Wolfram hurries to his employer only to find said puddle. “So, the alien melted away?” He kicks the dark puddle, getting no reaction from it other than ripples. “Good thing I was paid upfront.”
Wolfram may find this funny, but Izuku certainly doesn’t. They just watched a being, a living being, fry itself to death. It brings a terrible withering guilt to his stomach; sure, he was a villain but-but that didn’t mean he had to die. He-he just wanted help…
The dark puddle begins to glow red and every looks on in shock as the black and red ooze begins to restructure itself. [Upgrade. Complete.]
Malware is almost unrecognizable from before. His body has changed drastically after absorbing the crimson energy of the Helix. He’s bigger, healthier looking, but still dramatically different than any normal Galvanic Mechamorph with the circuit patterns on his body no longer being yellow, but a haunting crimson red. But most striking the amber glowing symbol resembling a four-pointed star on his neck just directly below his circular glowing red eye.
[I am complete!!] Malware declares, allowing the power of his newest version to surge through his body. [I am whole!!]
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
^Exterminate!!^
Beams of lasers light up the dark stretches of corridors as the rush of running feet echo alerting more Daleks to their location.
“Ahhhh!!” Hagakure screams as a laser beam nearly takes her and Sero’s head.
“Shit!” Sero nearly stumbles but a running Sato keeps him up by grabbing onto the back of his shirt. “Holy shit! They almost got me!”
“Just keep your head down! Kero!” Tsuyu warns, hopping along, and making sure the lasers don’t hit her.
The situation is less than ideal, Hisashi is trying his best to lead them away but they’re all in a panic as they all run for their lives.
Not exactly easy to do when you have to follow the slow-moving Chopper, who’s the only one with the layout of this place ingrained into his mind. Now to Chopper’s credit he is moving with all he’s got and is actually keeping a good pace as he wheels ahead of the full-sprinting teens.
But with every turn and step they take in the dark their feet clamper and stomp as they crash into the barely visible walls, causing the pipes and cables to clang.
^Intruders detected! Exterminate!!^ A pair of Daleks appear from the darkness before them, their blasters drawn and poised to fire.
“Shoji! Throw me!!” Mina screams while jumping forward.
Shoji grabs her by the back of her shirt and leg, he swings her around, and throws her at the bots.
Combined with the speed of her jump and Shoji’s throw, her Acid hits the bots first before they can fire, melting them to nothing but puddles on the floor.
“They’re toast!” Mina cheers as her Acid continues to eat through the floor.
“No, we’re toast. Look!” Hagakure points ahead where another trio of Daleks have emerged.
“Heads up!!”
“Kero!!”
Sero and Tsuyu slide ahead and kick the bots down, rendering them motionless.
“Don’t slow down!!” Tsuyu scolds before hopping away.
Chopper speeds ahead, leading the way, his flashlight going this way and that as he tries to quickly scan through the darkness.
^Exterminate!!^ A Dalek suddenly appears before him.
^Waaaa!^
A black claw races over Chopper and slams into the Dalek, tearing it apart and tossing it against the wall with a bang.
“They’re relentless!” A running Tokoyami shouts as Dark Shadow reemerges into his body.
Hisashi keeps pace with him as they follow the bot. “Chopper! Are we getting any closer to the cutoff switches!!”
^Wooooo!^
Mina frowns as she follows quickly behind them. “What did he say?!”
“He said STOP!!!”
Hisashi arms snap out to the sides, hitting against Sero and Shoji and forcing them to stop. The others slide to a stop as well, having been caught off guard by the sudden shouting.
As they do, they find themselves before a thin grated-bridge, hanging over a seemingly never-ending pit. Water flows in from all around, cascading down in hundreds of waterfalls into the void below. The air is filled with the stench of stale sea water mixed with dirty dish water and mold as grime covers the grated bridge. Looking up high above their heads is a tiny dome-window which is allowing the tiniest amount of moonlight to seep in. The light reflects off the hundreds of waterfalls and the mist they leave behind. The mist is thick and grey, with an occasional wind causing it to move in a way that a creature might lurk underneath.
Mina looks out over the bridge to the other side where the corridor continues. “Why are we stopping?!”
Hisashi hurriedly tries to explain. “That bridge is too narrow and too long, we’d be totally exposed if we go out there!”
“Well, we’re too exposed here!”
^Exterminate!!^ The Daleks that were pursuing them have caught up and quickly fire upon them from down the hall.
Hisashi ducks as the laser whizzes by. “Good point! Everybody across if we hurry we can cut them off! Go!!”
They don’t need to be told twice as they all instantly take off across the bridge.
Chopper goes first, quickly deciding it was okay to let the rest get burned alive versus him but he’s too slow as Shoji, Sero, Sato, and Hagakure all pass him by.
Hisashi’s behind them, having made sure they got ahead before making sure the last three were following. Mina and Tsuyu hurry after him as Tokoyami takes the rear guard.
^Exterminate!!^ Three floating Daleks appear from the mist below like terrifying birds of prey surrounding a pack of helpless field mice.
“They fly now?!” Sato screams.
“They fly now!!” Sero shouts back.
Shoji shoves them both forward as they run. “Everybody, RUN!!!”
They all crash forward, running a panic as the bots aim down at their position.
They fire and miss but their lasers still hit their mark. They slice right through the center of the bridge before the gash explodes into flames.
“Wooooaaah!!” The teens fall and scramble to grab onto something as the bridge caves-in and breaks.
“Hold onto something!” Hisashi roars just as the bridge snaps.
The two sides break away and swing down to the chorus of screaming teens.
Sero, instantly, fires a rope of tape up at the ceiling as he does Shoji grabs onto his leg while a free hand grabs a falling Sato by his.
Hisashi falls away but an invisible hand grabs him and swings back, his shoulder hitting the hanging bridge with a bang causing the hanging bridge to shake, and Hagakure to nearly let him go out of freight.
Meanwhile from the other side of the pit, the rest of the group is in a similar bind.
^Waaaaaa!^ Chopper plummets, sinking into the mist like a rock, but as he vanishes a grappling hook is fired out and grabs onto the busted railing above.
^Bz-wop!^ Chopper screams as the grappling hook tightens and swings him back against the bridge with a clang.
As he slowly swings to a stop, he finds Tokoyami gripping onto the broken railing for dear life. Tsuyu is up above near the top of the hanging bridge, having used her Frog Quirk to stick herself in place. Her tongue hanging down and wrapped around Mina’s Torso.
^Exterminate!!^
Hisashi’s battle instincts flare and while Hagakure’s holding on to his arm, he swings around and unleashes a devastating plume of flames into the flying bots.
The bots go up in flames, the surge of flames benign so strong it knocks them all back into the chasing waterfalls that grab them and carry them back down into the depths below.
“Climb kids, climb!” Hisashi orders while grabbing onto the bridge himself, free Hagakure up.
Shoji helps Sato right himself up as Sero begins to climb, using his rope of tape as leverage.
A stray laser beam nearly hits the boys.
Peering up, Hisashi spots the pursuing Daleks from before standing over the side of the pit. They seem to be oblivious to the fact that Tsuyu, Tokoyami, Mina, And Chopper are right below them, but the rest of them are perfectly in their sights.
Using his flames Hisashi tries to provide cover but is only able to do enough to force the bots back from the ledge for now.
With the bots pushed back, Hisashi spins around and shouts across the pit. “Ashido! Ashido! Can you get to the wall?!”
While hanging onto the railing, Mina looks over towards the wall just between two crashing waterfalls. She turns back around and nods back at him.
“Burn through it with your Acid, hurry!”
She reaches for the wall, her grip nearly slipping from the swinging railing and her heart stops as she scrambles to tighten her grip. Taking a breath, she tries again and is able to get it, sliding her hand down she melts away the wall producing a gaping hole big enough for her to slip through. Carefully she reaches with her feet and slips through the hole.
Seeing an escape route, Tsuyu slides down and swings Tokoyami inside, he then waits from the other side for her to hop over.
One the three are through and find themselves in another dark corridor they get ready to leave until Mina remembers something. “Guys, what about Chopper?!”
Having forgotten about the little droid, Tsuyu hurries back towards the hole. “There he is!”
She points to where Chopper is helplessly dangling with only a thin cable keeping him stuck in midair.
“I’ve got you!” Tsuyu’s tongue springs forth like a lasso in an attempt to grab the robot.
At the same time the Daleks break through the flames, and they unknowingly knock into Chopper’s grappling hook, unhooking it.
^Waaaaa!!^ Chopper lets out a horrified scream as he plummets into the dark watery void, vanishing from sight.
Tsuyu was frozen in place, her tongue was just inches away. Mina is holding a hand to her mouth, mortified as Tokoyami stares dumbfoundedly down into the abyss.
Tsuyu’s tongue slowly retracts and after a minute she turns away from the hole, wondering to herself how she’s going to explain to the pro hero that they lost his companion.
^Wa wa! Wop-bzz!^
The teens stop and spin around to find Chopper snickering at them as a rocket booster allows him to hover in the air.
They all shake their heads but smile in relief, glad to see him safe.
^Wop-bz!^ Chopper woops as he flies through the hole and lands with a clang.
Mina just laughs and shakes her head; she has no idea what he said but she can only assume he was telling a cheesy one liner.
“Mina! Tsu! Tokoyami! Are you three alright?!” Hagakure’s voice calls out from the other side of the pit.
Mina sticks her head through the hole just enough to see that the others have made it to the top safely. “Yeah, we’re fine!”
“Hey!” Hisashi, cupping his hands around his mouth, calls out. “It’s too dangerous to retrieve you! Take Chopper and get to the cutoff switches!”
“What about you guys?!”
“We’ll meet you there! Don’t worry! Woah!” Hisashi jumps back as the Daleks on the other side of the fallen bridge try to take him out with their lasers. “We have to go but stay safe, you hear me?!”
“Yes, sir!” Tokoyami shouts back having joined Mina at the hole. “We will proceed with caution. We will remain alert at all times and ensure our success.”
Hisashi nods back, he himself is determined to get moving and fast. The best-case scenario is that they run into them halfway to the switches. But even so they better get there quickly because the sooner he does that the sooner he can search for them.
“Good luck, guys!” Sato calls back as Hisashi leads them away.
“They're gonna need it.” Sero can’t help but mutter under his breath as they go through another dark corridor.
Hagakure nervously backs away from the pipe lined walls as a rat hisses at her face. “We’re all gonna need it.”
Meanwhile, after catching their breaths Tsuyu gives Chopper the go ahead. “Which way is it, little fella?”
^Bz-op.^ Chopper’s flashlight flickers to life and he wheels forward, shoving past her and Tokoyami’s legs.
Not sure what that could have meant, the trio all share confused looks.
To which Mina shrugs and gives them her best guess. “I guess that means, follow me.”
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
[I am complete!!] Malware declares, allowing the power of his newest version to surge through his body. [I am whole!!]
Amazing. It’s both amazing and terrifying all at once. He’s changed, transformed, evolved completely from the stalky yellow form to this blood-red and vile transformation. Izuku can’t believe his eyes that this alien was able to undergo such a process without an Omnitrix. It’s both a spectacle and a horror, because if he can do this then just what else can he do? What will he do now that’s he’s even more powerful?
“There!” Izuku shouts, his head whirling from the whiplash between guilt to fear and dread. “Y-you have what you wanted! Now you're just like the other Mechamorphs!”
[Hahaha! What I am is so much more than they. I am superior!]
Malware’s arms stretch out, his large claws ripping through several vaults to reveal various weapons and gadgets such as a futuristic Dominator pistol, a severed robotic arm with T-800 etched into the side, as well as a full robotic exoskeleton resembling that of a man combine with features of an ant, a tag is attached to the robotic body reading 5/01/2015, and other such weapons.
Malware instantly absorbs the tech, draining them away [Yes! This power!] His hands morph into the blasters. [This is perfection!] He turns to the wall and fires, blasting a thin beam of amber right through it. [This is my true form!!]
Everyone from Izuku, Ochaco, Melissa, Kraab, and David all watch on in horror as the beam pierces through the wall like a hot needle through butter. Dread filling their hearts, but the two hero students use it to spur themselves on, struggling against their bonds with all their might. They need to escape, they need to save everyone before Malware turns his power onto any of them!
[Hahahahaha!] As Malware cackles and tests his abilities his fun gets interrupted by a sniveling Sam.
“Ex-excuse me, sir?”
[What is it?!] He snaps, upset that his fun has been interrupted.
Sam jumps but pleads anyway. “It-it’s about my payment.”
[Ah, of course. Wolfram, pay the man what he’s due.]
“You got it. Here’s the payment we promised you.” Wolfram sneers, pulling his pistol up before pulling the trigger.
*BANG!*
David’s breath hitches as Melissa cries out in horror while covering her mouth. “Sam!”
“N-no, why?” Sam whimpers from the floor, blood seeping through his fingers while he clutches the bullet hole in his shoulder. “This isn’t part of the plan!”
Wolfram, however, holds the gun on him and laughs. “Is it not? That’s strange, because it was always a part of mine.”
*BANG!*
“NOooo!!” The teens cry out as Wolfram pulls the trigger, but the cries aren’t for Sam but for David.
David collapses to the ground, his shoulder bleeding, from taking the bullet for Sam. Having used his own body to protect his assistant.
“P-professor… Why?” Sam tears up, not understanding the sudden kindness.
“Get out of here…!” But David doesn’t answer, instead yelling to the kids to run even as his blood pools around him.
“Papa!!” Melissa forgets trying to free Ochaco and runs as fast as she can to her father’s side.
“Stay back!” But David’s warning comes too late as Wolfram backhands Melissa so hard she's thrown back on the ground.
“MELISSA!!!”
Izuku and Ochaco snap. Izuku transforming from one alien to the next: Four Arms, Feedback, Ripjaws, Rath, Lodestar, all of them. Each and every one trying to break free of the force bubble to no success. Ochaco, however, manages to budge the bars around her ever so slightly as her entire body shines pink with power.
Wolfram stomps on David’s back, pressing his foot hard against his wound just out of cruel spite. “Trying to play the hero after all this? Too late for that. No matter what your reasons were, you've dirtied your hands now. Whether we’re real villains or actors is irrelevant, you planned and committed an actual crime here. You’re exactly the same as we are!”
David looks on in horror, staring up at Wolfram’s cruel sneer.
“You can no longer remain a respectable scientist or continue your research without shame. Your life is forever tainted by the darkness of villainy. Hahahaha!” Laughing, Wolfram hoists David up from the ground by the scruff of his shirt. “And if you want a future at all, you’ll be a good scientist and mass produce your device so I can sell it!” With the butt of his pistol, he smacks David’s head, knocking him out. “Take these to the roof.”
Wolfram hands the unconscious David over to the Hacker while using his Metal Manipulation Quirk to rip the Quirk Amplifying Device out from the Helix.
“Got it, boss.” The Hacker shoves David over his shoulder before being handed the Quirk Amplifying Device and stuffing it back into its briefcase.
But before they leave, Wolfram checks in with his own employer. “You don’t have a problem with this do you?”
[It’s as we discussed. The Quirk Amplifying Device and its creator are your rewards. And with us both having what we want, our arrangement is no longer necessary.]
Wolfram smirks, turning away and waving back at the alien. “It was a pleasure doing business with ya. “If you ever need some help invading the world or whatever you aliens do, don’t hesitate to call.”
“No…” A tearful Melissa struggles to pull herself forward, barely able to crawl thanks to her head spinning from Wolfram’s smack. “Give him back…!” She begs, eyes welling up with tears.
With a smirk Wolfram turns his pistol on her. “That reminds me, this will be much easier if I get rid of the Professor’s attachment!”
“Leave her alone!!” Ochaco breaks free of her binds and shoots forward like a rocket.
She moves so fast with such power that Kraab is flung off of her and away.
“SMASH!!!”
Wolfram moves quickly and creates another one of those pesky metal walls to shield himself, and good thing because Ochaco’s fist would have smashed his skull otherwise.
She quickly unfolds her hand, pressing her fingers against the wall making it weightless and then with her left hand she SMASHes the wall causing it to snap and come crashing back onto Wolfram.
The villains’ caught off guard, getting slammed by the metal wall forcing him to force it back as Ochaco pushes against the wall from the other side.
With the villains occupied and distracted Kraab scuttles his way around the vault, circling around towards the device holding Izuku imprisoned in a kinetic absorbing bubble.
Izuku notices Kraab making his way over and knowing he’ll be free soon he calls out for Melissa to run. “Melissa!!”
Melissa’s head snaps in his direction.
“It’s not over yet! We’ll save your father and stop these villains! You can save everyone else!”
With him spurring her on, Melissa manages to brave herself and make a run for it.
“Stop her! Don’t let her escape!” Wolfram roars as he struggles against Ochaco’s attack.
“Right!” Hacker moves to go after her, firing a beam from his eyes that cuts her off, forcing her to stop.
Ochaco quickly releases the wall and shoots away as Wolfram launches the wall back. But he doesn’t find her there but instead having cut off the Hacker from getting to the girl.
Her body cracks with energy, veiled in a powerful pink aura. “If you want her then you’ll have to go through me!”
[That can be arranged.] Malware looms dangerously behind them, his arms transforming into a deadly pair of blasters that surge with red electricity.
Ochaco hesitates, holding her position as she stares down the surrounding villains.
Wolfram takes his pistol and aims at her. “Struggling is pointless. Just give it up kid, this is no place for you.”
[There’s nothing you can do. Your struggling is meaningless.]
“Oh yeah! Well, I beg to differ!!” Ochaco grabs onto Melissa and focuses, concentrating on letting One For All out.
The aura surrounding her expands before exploding forth into a massive sphere of pink-light, swallowing up every vault, villain, and being in the tower’s highest point.
The Zero-Gravity Field swallows them all up and Ochaco swings her fist out with all her might, unleashing a devastating whirlwind.
Combined with the weightlessness and the power of the whirlwind, Wolfram and the Hacker don’t stand a chance and are flung around the room like plastic bags in the wind.
Even Kraab gets thrown around, throwing him around the room until he manages to latch onto the device that’s keeping Izuku trapped.
The only not affected is Malware who’s dug one of his massive claws into the ground, anchoring him in place. [Enough!! This is what real power looks like!!] Taking his free arm, he tries to aim his blaster for the girls.
The Zero-Gravity Field vanishes, Ochaco and Melissa fall to the ground with a hard thud. Malware gets thrown off as well, buying them some time.
Seeing this, Izuku desperately slams his fists against the forcefield. “Kraab! Get me out of here!”
“What do you think I’m doing?!” In that moment, Kraab finally manages to deactivate the device and Izuku goes to action in an instant, vanishing in a flash of green.
[Prepare for annihilation!!] Malware roars and unleashes a burning beam at the girls.
The beam shakes the air, burning everything around it as it crosses the room in seconds, giving the girls no time to react.
But then, without a millisecond to waste, Feedback intercepts the beam, his hands outstretched and absorbing it as it races in. Anchoring his feet as the pure pressure of the beam nearly knocks him over, but he stands his ground until there’s nothing left except for surges of electricity dancing off his own body.
“Phew. Talk about cutting it close.” Feedback smirks, reveling in the power surging within him.
[You escaped?!]
“I had a little help.”
“He’s talking about me!” Kraab taunts while scuttling his way over.
“Yes, yes I am.”
Ochaco breathes a sigh of relief. “Thanks for the save.”
“Don’t thank me yet, we’re only just getting started.” Feedback warns before redirecting them to his new plan. “Kraab you and Melissa head to the Control Room and reboot the system. Uraraka you and I will keep the Magneto rip-off and the evil Digimon busy!”
“Understood!” Ochaco gets up, readying herself by gripping the Full Gauntlet, making sure it’s secure.
Kraab, meanwhile, hops onto Melissa’s shoulder. “You up for this?”
Despite the nervous pit in her stomach, Melissa braves herself for the mission. “Yes!”
“Then let’s do this!” Ochaco shouts, her whole body aglow with One For All.
“Stop acting like you can even stand up to us!” Slamming his hand to the ground, Wolfram causes pieces of shrapnel to form together into several giant lances. “You’re nothing compared to us!!” He launches the lances forward like sets of giant metal arrows.
Feedback releases the stored-up beam from every finger and tendril, firing out his own beams of pure electricity that slice right through the incoming projectiles.
The lances explode and fall apart in blasts of lightning, causing blinding lights and smoke to fill the vault.
With their vision hindered, Melissa takes off with Kraab and makes a beeline for the exit.
But Wolfram won’t let her as he prepares another metal lance.
But through the smoke and settling lights, Ochaco leaps out, glowing bright pink as she prepares a SMASH. “You let your guard down, prick!!”
She throws a punch, and her fist connects with Wolfram’s torso, knocking him away like a tin can.
But while she has her back turned; Malware has his blaster set towards her. [As did you!]
Just as he’s about to fire, black tendrils wrap around his arm and pull it up, causing the laser to shoot up towards the ceiling instead.
“That’s why she’s got me!” Feedback pulls back on Malware’s arm, but the Galvanic Mechamorph pulls back resulting in a tug-of-war struggle. “I’ve got to give you props, dude. Kudos for coming up with such an elaborate plan. You really know how to make a mess of things, don’t ya?”
Malware pulls back against the tendrils and growls in anger. [What are you getting at?!]
“Why come all this way for an upgrade? Huh? Why’s Earth so special?”
[Why Earth? The answer is obvious. Because you are here.]
Before he dares to elaborate a circular device morphs onto Malware’s chest, it glows bright before firing a powerful beam.
The beam slams into Feedback’s chest, blasting him away and into the wall.
Malware basks in his victory, but it’s cut short.
“Venus Smash!!” Ochaco rushes in, aiming to avenge her friend.
However, Malware produces a hexagonal forcefield from his hand, blocking the punch by absorbing the kinetic energy. [Nuisance!!]
Ochaco struggles against the forcefield, putting all she has into her fist.
“Hold her still!” Wolfram gets up, slamming his fist to the ground, and causing shards of metal to spring out and swarm their way at Ochaco with deadly speed. “I’ll skewer her!!”
In a flash of green, Upchuck intercepts the incoming shrapnel, His mouth wide, gulping up the metal in one massive bite.
“Were you not paying attention?!” Upchuck’s stomach rumbles dangerously. “We’re going to stop you!! BLEEEGH!!”
With a belch, Upchuck upchucks and fires a ball of plasma right back at the villain.
But Wolfram manages to block it with a wall of manipulated iron.
“When are you going to take us seriously?!” Upchuck roars before redirecting his attention towards Malware, who's still managing to hold Ochaco off.
Upchuck transforms and Water Hazard gets right to firing off a pair of powerful water streams.
The streams knock Malware away and as a bonus his body short circuits and ripples as a result. [Gaaaaah!]
“You could use a good rinse!” Water Hazard keeps it up, dousing the technological alien completely.
However, using one of the many gadgets he’s absorbed Malware manages to send out a surge of electricity through the crashing water and right into his enemy.
“Gaaaaah!!” Water Hazard howls in pain as he’s blasted away by the powerful electric current.
Seeing that he’s down, Wolfram summons another metallic lance, intending to run the crab-creature through. “You’re mine!!”
“Wrong again, asshole!!” Ochaco lashes out, firing a pair of Ryou Spheres that blast the lance apart and saving Deku.
Malware growls in frustration, growing tired of the children’s stand. [Enough of this! Wolfram! Dispose of them already!!]
“I know what I’m doing!!” With his anger exploding Wolfram summons massive pillars of metal that arch down at the kids in tandem.
Ochaco rushes forward, taking the brunt of the attack, using the Full Gauntlet as a shield.
While she shields them, Malware turns his blaster at Water Hazard who jolts up in alert. [Let’s see you save your alley now!]
He instead turns his blaster onto Ochaco and fires.
Not missing a beat, Water Hazard leaps up, transforms, and Cannonbolt shoots out. The Arburian Pelarota grabs Ochaco and curls up just as the beam and pillar come crashing down upon them. The beam deflects out, burning into the walls and floor as the pillar smashes them into the ground, followed by two more, burying the duo in rubble and explosions.
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Melissa slides into the Control Room and immediately begins typing away at the central computer.
“Hurry!” Kraab shouts, begging her to go faster.
“I’m trying!” Melissa shouts back as she gets the system booted up.
Suddenly the Hacker slips into the room and immediately charges at them “Get away from there!!”
But before anyone can move, Kraab leaps forward and grabs onto the Hacker’s face.
“Hey! Get this thing off of me!!” The hacker screams trying to pry off the cyborg.
Kraab sneers into the guy’s face, as one of his pincers leans dangerously close to the Hacker’s cybernetic eye. “Cool eye.” His pincer begins to spin like a drill, reminding the Hacker of a Dentist's own drill. “I want it.’
“AAAaaahhh!!!”
Melissa tries as fast as she can to reboot the system, trying her best to ignore the hacker’s pained howls behind her.
“Hurry, Kid!!”
“O-okay!” The system turns green. “I got it!!” Melissa cheers as the system reboots itself.
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The system lets out a harmonic hum across the tower, alerting everyone that it’s been reset.
That includes Wolfram who scowls in annoyance and surprise. “She got control of the security system?!”
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The sealed barricades and gates open back up all across the Central Tower. And every bot from the tower to the furthest depths of the island reset, their eyes turning from red back to their soft friendly green.
The flying Security Drones all shutoff, plummeting to the ground with loud clangs and some nearly toppling off the side of the tower.
Bakugou and the others pause as the bots shut down. “What happened?!”
“They just stopped!” Kirishima exclaims.
Shoto pauses, wondering if that could mean-
“They must have made it to the top!” Iida shouts from behind them.
Shoto, Bakugou, and Kirishima spin around to find Iida and the others at the doorway of the Wind Generator area.
“They did it!” Iida grins, looking up towards the rest of the tower, to where their friends are.
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^Exterminaaa…^ The pursuing Daleks shut off and go quiet, some even falling over against the cold damp floor.
Hisashi’s group slide to a stop, unsure of what just happened.
Hagakure hides behind Shoji, poking her head out just enough to keep an eye on the silent bots. “Do you think those guys pulled it off?”
“I’m not sure.” answers Class 1-A’s resident giant as he too keeps an eye out for any more dangers.
“Hey, my phone’s working!” Sero cheers, holding out his phone. But his smile soon fades as the bars go in and out. “Ow, but the signal’s like super weak.” He holds his phone up in search of a better signal.
“Keep trying and see if you can get in contact with Ashido and Chopper.” Hisashi sternly commands, making sure not to mince his words.
From behind, Sato taps him on the shoulder, his expression nervous as he’s not sure of what to do. “What now? Should we head back?”
The pro hero shakes his head. “We have to keep going. If the villains manage to retake the tower it’ll be better if we’re here than anywhere else.”
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From inside the Reception Hall the high-tech binds holding the heroes in place break apart, crumbling away and freeing the pro heroes.
The goons left to guard look around nervously as each hero is freed. “What’s happening-Blorgh!!”
They each get kicked or sucker punched away by one of the heroes like Mr. Plastic or Takahiro.
“Yah-whooo!!” All the businesspeople and scientists in attendance cheer so loud that one would think this was all a big show, but in reality, they’re all just happy to be free.
And that includes All Might. ‘DID YOU PULL IT OFF, YOUNG HEROES?’
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“Talk about annoying, this is why I hate kids.” Wolfram is not in a good mood, having to carry the Professor away himself along with the Quirk Amplifying Device. “I better get outta here before the heroes arrive.”
As he makes his escape, there’s movement from under all the metal rubble and scorch marks. And Cannonbolt soon appears, uncurling and freeing himself from the rubble. “Are you okay? Are you hurt?”
Ochaco groans, holding her arm in place after taking that beating from before. “I’m okay-OW!! M-mostly…”
[Still alive I see.]
The duo freeze in place as Malware stands his ground before them.
[I suppose that’s to be expected.]
Cannonbolt scowls, stepping forward to put himself between Malware and his friend. “What happened to your friend? He ditch you?”
[I no longer require his assistance. And besides you should be more concerned about your own wellbeing!] Malware’s claws stretch out and expand, becoming big enough to grab even Cannonbolt.
“Uraraka! Ryou Spheres now!” Cannonbolt shouts as he turns into Terraspin.
Ochaco doesn’t wait to ask as she whips out one Ryou Sphere after the other.
At the same time, Terraspin unleashes a powerful tornado that sucks up the flying Ryou Spheres and tosses them around. The two moves combine together to become a devastating twister that’s swirling around with a swarm of pink bubbles.
“VENUS BUBBLE STORM!!!”
The combo move crashes into Malware in a brilliant explosion of pink energy and wind that ship across the vault, tearing every storage unit open and those in the direct line of fire are completely torn apart until they’re unrecognizable. The power is so great even Malware finds his body torn apart, being splattered across the room in puddles.
However, despite the devastating blow he manages to pull himself together rather quickly. Peering around he finds a Proton Pack has been ripped out from its storage place. And so, assuming it will provide him with more power, Malware absorbs it until his left becomes a twisted version of the Proton Pack. [I will not be taken down so easily!!]
He fires the Proton pack and a stream of energy whips around wildly across the room, burning its way across the floor and walls before lashing out towards the pair of hero students.
“Deku!!” Without even waiting Ochaco shoves Terraspin as hard as she can just before the beam slams into her left shoulder, burning into her skin and flesh. “Aaaaahhh!!”
Ochaco’s tossed aside by the whipping beam, knocking her into the wall with such force that she passes out.
“Uraraka!!” Terraspin screams, watching his friend get thrown around, his anger exploding as he transforms. “Let me tell ya somethin’ Malware the corrupted Galvanic Mechamorph! Rath’s not gonna stand here and let you kick our patookies! That makes Rath mad! And you won’t like it when Rath’s mad!! RAWR!!!”
Rath pounces and slices his claw right through Malware’s torso leaving a large gash in the alien’s chest.
[Mediocre.] Malware growls as his body reforms and heals itself without any trouble.
“Raaagh!!” Rath tries again with the same result.
[Barbaric!]
“Shut up!!” He slashes at him again and once again Malware heals himself.
[Animalistic!]
“RAWR!!!”
As Rath literally goes animalistic Ochaco stirs awake, her vision blurry until she shakes off her daze to find Rath uselessly slashing at malware’s frame.
With the corrupted alien’s back towards her she shoves herself off the ground with all as she’s got, launching herself at the alien.
“SMASH!!!” She throws her fist right at the alien, but instead of blasting him to bits, his back opens wide and swallows her fist whole, trapping it there.
And like that of a ghostly horror movie, Malware’s head does a complete 180 spin to glare at her. [Amateurish!]
He unwinds, his arms lashing out and knocking the two away with his claws and an electrical surge.
The two are knocked into the air where Rath transforms into Bullfrag. Just before hitting the wall, the frog-alien kicks himself off of it and launches himself towards ochaco. He catches her and safely drops them both down onto the ground.
Despite having been safely caught, Ochaco winces and groans in pain while clutching her burned left shoulder.
“Can you stand?” Bullfrag asks worriedly, helping her to her feet.
“Y-yes.” Ochaco stands up albeit a little wobbly and still clearly in pain.
“We can’t beat him like this.” Bullfrag admits with a frustrated scowl. “He’s tougher than he looks. I also get the feeling he’s studied us. Or at least me.”
“Then we’ll fight him together.” Ochaco offers up, she moves to step forward and continue the fight, but Bullfrag stops her.
“No. You have to go after the villain that ran away.”
“And leave you with this psycho?!”
“You have to! Otherwise, he’ll escape and take Professor Shield with him!”
[Yes. Leave us female.] Malware interrupts having overheard their discussion. He waves her away like she’s nothing but an insect. [Midoriya and I have some personal business to deal with.]
Ochaco hesitates and it’s especially worrisome that the villain wants her gone too. “Are you sure?”
Bullfrag shakes his head. “No, but we don’t have any other choice.”
She should stay, she wants to stay and help but she also knows that she doesn't go now, then Wolfram’s gonna escape and take David with him. They can’t allow that, so maybe if she hurries, she can get back here and help Deku out.
And so, swallowing her pride, she heads for the door, moving slowly due to her pounding head and burning shoulder.
She hesitates before leaving, turning back on last time towards Bullfrag who gives her a coy smirk
“Hey, it’s me. I got this.”
She sure hopes so. “Good luck, Deku.”
She practically throws herself through the door, trying to force herself to move as fast as she can through the halls.
And thus, leaving Deku to face the techno-monster all by himself.
[It’s commendable that you decided to remain here. It is also foolish to think you’ll best me!]
“Funny-” Bullfrag transforms into Four Arms who slams his fists into his palms. “I was gonna tell you the same thing!”
With a roar Four Arms races forward, his fist slamming into Malware’s head. Again, and again his punches land, each one so strong it would knockout a grown man. But Malware is no man and so he takes the punches with ease as if they’re nothing but annoying slaps.
[You’re powerful. But I’m not done evolving yet. Soon, I will be the perfect creation!]
“You keep saying that!” Four Arms grabs the Galvanic Mechamorph and throws him across the room with a splatter. “And it’s kinda creeping me out!”
As Malware reforms Four Arms goes in for a double punch!
But the vile villain is ready, morphing his arm into a blaster and firing.
Four Arms leaps up as he does Stinkfly takes his place and zips across the air.
[An insect? How fitting.] Malware fires again and again each blast just barely skimming Stinkfly’s aura.
While buzzing around this way and that Stinkfly fires back with a rain of goop, that splayer across Malware, pinning him in place.
“Ha!!” Stinkfly laughs. “Guess you’re the real stinker here, Ehehehe!”
Not one to be bested in such a manner, Malware easily breaks free of his liquidly confides. Using the Proton weapon from before to lash out with tendrils of energy beams that scorch the walls and floor widely.
“Wooaah!” Stinkfly weaves in and out of the web of laser beams, just barely evading them.
[You can’t outrun me forever!]
‘He’s right, I can’t.’ Stinkfly thinks with a scowl, just barely ducking his head underneath a stray laser stream. ‘He’s-he’s too strong. And it doesn’t help that he’s some kind of genius. Not to mention a complete psychopath! I need to be careful. I need to deal with him quickly before it’s too late. I need to get to the others as soon as I can!’
Too bad Malware has no intention of letting him do that. [Prepare for annihilation, Midoriya!!]
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Meanwhile from inside the Control Room, Melissa is still tinkering around with the computer system, specifically the security cameras. And as she fiddles around, she spots All Might sprinting his way up the Central Tower’s halls.
She quickly goes for her phone and dials him up. ‘Please, pick up, Uncle Might! Please!’ She begs, praying that he’ll answer.
And he does, filling her heart with hope. [“MELISSA, WHAT’S HAPPENING?!”]
“Thank goodness, Papa’s been taken by the villains Uncle Might!” Melissa checks the cameras, quickly spotting an injured Ochaco limping her way through the nearby hallway. “And Uravity’s gone after them!” She changes the screen back to the vault just in time to see Stinkfly transform into XLR8 before zipping around Malware’s laser blasts. “And Deku’s doing his best to hold the other villain off!”
[“DON’T WORRY-I’M GOING TO STOP THEM!!”]
That’s a promise, she can hear it in his voice. Nothing’s going to stop Uncle Might not until these villains are brought to justice.
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XLR8 speeds across the walls of the vault, just barely sprinting away as Malware’s mechanical claws lash out and smash into the vault’s sides. One hit from them and he’ll be done for.
[Hold still you insufferable pest!!] Malware lashes out again, his claws outstretched like giant whips.
Analyzing the Kineceleran’s movements he’s able to predict where he’ll be next, allowing his claw to expand and block XLR8’s way. [Yes! Victory is mine!]
Not quite. While he speeds forward XLR8 transforms and using his momentum Ripjaws slices through Malware’s claws with his own. “Not yet it’s not!”
He chomps down on Malware’s arm, his jagged teeth piercing through his malleable techno-based flesh.
[Release me!] Malware retaliates by sending a current of electricity through his limb.
The shock is enough to force Ripjaws to release his jaws.
Malware’s arms retract and reform at his sides while Ripjaws stands ready, claws poised for the alien’s next move.
[I must admire your tenacity; you definitely have a handle on the Omnitrix.]
“Guess you can say that I Mastered the Controls.”
[Perhaps. Or perhaps-] His claws morph into a pair of laser cannons and fire out beams of red lightning. [-you’re merely borrowing its power!!]
The lightning cracks and whips forward with blazing speed, and with only a second to react Ripjaws shrinks away and Grey Matter leaps to the floor as the lightning races past and blasts its way through the wall.
Malware, having been distracted by the explosion and lightning, quickly scans for his enemy until he locks onto the Galvan curry across the floor. He freezes, staring into the Galvan in disbelief. [F-father…?]
His anger immediately rises and boils over, his need to prove to his father that he is the perfect creation spills over into a murderous rage. [RAAAAaaaggghhh!!!]
“Aaaaah!!” Grey Matter screams leaping this way and that, avoiding the lightning blasts that storm across the vault at random.
But even as he dodges the incoming blasts his mind hangs onto Malware’s words. ‘Father? What did he say? Wouldn’t his father be the same species? Or-’
A blast of lightning explodes right in Grey Matter’s path knocking him back and shrouding him in smoke.
[The Omnitrix! The Omnitrix belongs to me!] Malware looms over the puny Galvan, he only stops wondering if it’d be more fitting to step on the amphibian or to fry it with an energy beam.
Wincing in pain Grey Matter scowls up at Malware in contempt, refusing to give in especially to an alien sociopath. “The Omnitrix isn’t yours! It’s mine!”
[It is my birthright!!] Malware lungs for the device.
However, his claws never reach it as Feedback catches Malware’s claws in his tendrils.
“Didn’t anyone tell you to never touch live wires?!” Feedback sneers as his conductors pierce Malware’s flesh.
[RAAAAaaaggghhh!!!] Malware howls in pain as his own energy is siphoned right out of him.
With newfound energy surging through him Feedback rises, standing at tall as Malware withers and crumbles under him. “Like I said, I have Master Control.”
The withering pain only increases his anger and his desire for victory, for absolute domination, allowing Malware to reset Feedback’s assault. [Y-yes… Your Master C-Control is proving to be…f-far more difficult than I first t-thought.] He suddenly and without warning jolts forward and his entire claw grabs onto the Omnitrix. [I believe it’s time for a downgrade!!]
He immediately begins to absorb the Omnitrix.
“Aaaaaaahhh!!” Now it’s Feedback’s turn to cry out in pain as it feels like his entire chest is benign ripped open with hundreds of burning needles.
Red circuit-patterns spread all across his body from underneath Malware’s grip as the green energy of the Omnitrix is drained away into Malware’s own circuits.
[Such power! It’s unbelievable! I can feel it coursing through me!!]
“AAAAaaaaahhhh!!” Feedback collapses to his knees, his tendrils flopping to his side as Malware relentlessly tries to take over the device embedded into his chest.
With a howl of maniacal laughter Malware throws his head back to the sky and shouts with such volume it’s like he wants his victory to be heard across the entire galaxy. [Are you witnessing it father?! Are you witnessing my ascension into the Ultimate Being?! Into the PERFECT CREATION!?!]
Feedback can’t make out anything, the pain is unbearable. It’s like he’s having his own heart ripped out by a hook but a thousand strings are keeping it strung to his insides, twisting them around as boiling water bumps into his veins.
His breathing is short and his heart races, beating so fast he swears it’s not beating at all and yet the beat is pounding into his ears like deafening drums. And as he lies there, useless and paralyzed, writhing in agony, he wonders if this is how he’ll die.
[The Omnitrix. Is. MINE!!!]
Or is it.
A sudden flood of green light spews from under Malware’s claw, breaking through his death grip. Malware's grip is broken as a concentrated surge of energy emanates around the Omnitrix, forcing his claw away and breaking his grip as if an invisible guardian has been summoned to protect the device and its wielder. And then the energy explodes out like water breaking through a dam, flooding the entire vault with raw green power.
Malware is torn apart and blasted away by the explosion as is Feedback, both hurled away in opposite directions.
And as Feedback hits the wall and collapses, the Omnitrix settles down. There's a flash of blinding red light and what’s left is a horribly hurt Izuku who still feels like his heart’s being pulled out.
While Izuku lies in agony, Malware’s body reforms once again. [Noooo! Ahhh!] He failed to take the Omnitrix. The device counterattacked his advances and repealed him. It’s both angering and yet somewhat amusing on some level. Like a twisted inside joke on his part. [ Of course, father would have installed countermeasures against me. He was always too smart for his own good.]
Too bad he didn’t get what he wanted. He thinks as he holds up his palm to inspect the damage of the blast. And to his pleasant surprise he finds the mark of the Omnitrix embedded into his claw. It’s almost like a scar, a big red scar in the shape of the Omnitrix. And even though i’s not the device itself he can sense the data and parameters of the device within the scar.
[Perhaps this encounter wasn’t a waste after all.] But that can wait for now there are more important matters to get to.
He turns his gaze back towards the boy and sneers with cruel satisfaction. [Come then. Show me how well you’ve mastered the Omnitrix.]
Izuku won’t take that lying down and gets up despite the residing pain. He knows he has to put a stop to Malware now before he can do any more damage or harm.
And so he quickly thinks of what to do and his first thought goes to Upchuck, assuming that maybe he can gobble up the villain maybe.
But despite thinking of the alien, nothing happens. Instead Izuku just stands there looking really dumbfounded when he doesn’t transform.
And so, he tries again but this time yelling the alien’s name out. “Go Wildvine!”
Once again, the Omnitrix doesn’t activate.
“Heatblast! Big Chill! Ghostfreak!! Diamondhead!!”
He grows desperate as fear drowns his heart into despair and dread. He’s in full blown denial as he calls out the other aliens: Wildmutt, Cannonbolt, Lodestar! But not a one appears; he gets absolutely none of them.
And finally, no longer able to deny what’s happening, he glances down at the Omnitrix and his breath hitches in his throat. “No…”
[Hahahahahaha!!!]
The Omnitrix…red. Whatever Malware did to it, it reset it into its recharge mode. And thus, making Izuku virtually useless against the alien invader.
“The M-Master C-Control is-is…-”
[-Is gone. Amputated like a diseased limb. And now that you are crippled there’s no one that can possibly get in my way now!]
Izuku's heart stops. It’s over. Even if he managed to survive long enough to transform, what could any of his transformations do? Especially in a place like this where Malware has access to a treasure trove of technology and weapons. It’s hopeless. He’d need a miracle to get out of this.
And lucky enough a miracle does intervene, or rather a disaster does. Azure glowing circuit-patterns blink down through the ceiling and claw their way down the side of the vault’s walls. As they do the metal beams, wires, and structures of the tower itself are torn and ripped apart. Pieces of metal rubble even begin to float upwards as if gravity itself has been shut off only to them.
The tower shakes and booms from above and the top of the vault caves in on itself, causing massive amounts of rubble and wiring to spill down like a crashing waterfall of debris.
That’s all Malware and Izuku can see just before it all comes crashing down on top of them.
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
5 MINUTES EARLIER
Wolfram has just made it to the tower’s roof, which is a giant landing pad, where a Helicopter's already prepared and ready to take off.
Wolfram scoffs, propping the bleeding scientist up onto his shoulder while gripping the case tightly in his other hand.
His pilot runs out to meet him halfway. “Boss, what about everyone else?!”
“We’re going before the Security System’s back online.” Wolfram answer without even acknowledging his lackey’s question.
And he doesn’t need to since the pilot's able to take the hint right away. “Y-yes, sir!”
As Wolfram moves the copter, David groans and wheezes in pain, blood dripping down his arm leaving a ghastly trail behind them. “Kill me… Just do it…”
Wolfram’s cruel sneer returns. “I’ll add a few more sins to your heart first. But then I’ll make your wish come true.”
He makes it to the helicopter where he uncaringly drops David aboard, not even caring if the scientist ends up bleeding out or not. And the blood pooling on the helicopter's floor is obviously not a problem for him as he’s just about to step aboard the bloody mess when-
“HOLD IT!!!”
Wolfram pauses before he can take a step aboard, turning around with a bewildered look. And surprisingly, or rather unsurprisingly he finds that overpowered gravity girl leaning against the roof’s entrance.
“Give him back right now!! You hear me?!” Ochaco screeches, doing her best to fight through the pain.
David is aghast to see her. There’s no way she’s gonna live from this, she’ll be maimed, tossed off the side of the tower and her life thrown away all for a waste of space like him.
Wolfram, however, is delighted to see her. Now he has the perfect opportunity to really show off his sadistic side. Who knows, maybe if he breaks her spirit enough, he might squash a future hero and threat? “I wonder, did you come to bring this man back so he can pay for his crimes?”
The man’s taunting voice is enough to make her skin crawl, he’s so smug she just wants to run up and punch that Dr. Doom knock off mask right into his face. “I’m only here to get my friend’s father back!!”
Summoning all her strength she charges, sprinting across the roof with blazing speed.
Wolfram quickly activates his Quirk by slamming his hand to the floor. “Even though he’s a criminal?!”
Beams of metal are torn out from the tower and launched into Ochaco’s path.
Using the combined efforts of One For All and Zero-Gravity Ochaco leaps and bounces herself off the pillars while still running forward. “Shut up!! I don’t need to be criticized by a guy who’s only motive is money!! I’ll save him and stop you no matter what it takes!!”
As the last pillar of iron is flung at her, Ochaco smashes right through it with a powerful right hook. “And before you ask, it’s because it’s what heroes do!!”
“Is that a fact?” Wolfram sneers, taking his pistol and aiming it, not at the girl, but at David Shield’s head.
Ochaco stops dead in her tracks, not willing to risk the scientist’s life.
And neither is David. “Save yourself… Run away!!” His conscious won’t be able to take seeing a child die to save his worthless corpse.
Ochaco doesn’t move, unsure of what to do. Her body is struggling against itself one part wanting to charge forward and take the villain out, and the other is hesitant not willing to risk a ;life.
“Geeze, being a hero seems really inconvenient.” Wolfram jeers, lazily holding the pistol like it was a toy. “I didn’t even use much of my power and yet you’re helpless!”
On his command a pillar of metal shards and wiring slams into the defenseless Ochaco.
Using Zero-Gravity she’s able to roll with the hit but more and more pillars come crashing in. She’s barely able to roll and leap out of their way before he catches her off guard.
The metal panel from under her feet rockets up, launching her straight into the air.
As she’s launched up a pair of pillars spring forth from the tower’s sides, racing in in a pincer-move before they both slam into the airborne heroine before a third pillar rockets straight up and crashes into all three causing a brilliant explosion of shrapnel and metal.
“Doesn’t sound like a very smart way to live to me!” Wolfram laughs as he watches her corpse plummet to the ground.
Assuming she’s done, and that he’s had his fun, he climbs aboard the helicopter. “Take off!”
“Roger!!” The pilot gets the helicopter into the air without delay.
Her head pounding and probably bleeding, Ochaco blinks back the pain and fog just in time to witness the helicopter rising into the air.
With the adrenaline pumping she chases after if, sprinting across the roof as she presses her fingers to herself. And with a kickoff the ground from One For All she shoots up into the air while screaming out. “MERCURY SMASH!!!”
Her body slams into the side of the helicopter, hitting it so hard that it’s flung out of control. Spinning around and around in the air as the villains hold on for dear life.
At the same time, Melissa sprints through the rooftop entrance, just in time to see Ochaco dangling onto the spinning Helicopter. “Uravity!!”
Ochaco holds onto the copter’s landing skid with all she’s got while reaching towards the professor. “Grab on, hurry! I’m here to save you!!”
But David doesn’t move to take it and instead wallows in his own despair and shame. “Stop it! Let me go, Uraraka! I’m not worth it.”
“Can’t you hear her Professor?!” Ochaco screams, begging him to let her save him. “She’s calling for you! Melissa is waiting for you to come home!!”
David’s heart swells and tears prick at his eyes. He can hear her, he can, but how could he possibly look like her in the eye after what he’s done?
“I give you this.” Wolfram cuts in, clinging to the helicopter as it continues to spin in the air. “You act like a real hero,” With a sneer he aims the pistol at her head. “But you’re a real dumb bitch too!”
He fires and having no other choice, Ochaco’s forced to let go of the helicopter and block the bullet with the Full Gauntlet. She’s flung across the air, still floating, but thrown away from the spinning helicopter that’s just getting itself under control.
Refusing to let them escape, Ochaco launches a Ryou Sphere in a last-ditch effort to stop them.
The Ryou Sphere slams into the side of the helicopter, throwing it out of place.
“Gaah!” Wolfram is nearly thrown out, but he holds on. “She’s still not dead?! Since when were kids so hard to kill off?!” He peers out, seeing her floating defenselessly in midair. “Ram her!!”
His pilot hesitates. “S-sir?!”
“I want to see her guts splatter against the blades!! Let her blood rain down over this island for all I care!!”
Deciding it’s better to get paid than it is to linger over morals the pilot moves the helicopter into position, racing forward with the blades in front.
Knowing exactly what the villains are up to, Melissa scream from below. “URAVITY!!!”
Still spinning from being thrown off the helicopter, Ochaco can barely focus on her target as she throws out Ryou Spheres at random.
Most completely miss but a few are on track but repealed by Wolfram eithers shoots them down with his gun or launches shards of metal right from the helicopter.
And with every attack he blocks, the more and more hope Ochaco loses. The helicopter's already so close, she can feel the pressure from the blades spinning through the air. And even if she were to try to move now, it’d be too late. And even if she did manage to slip by, she’d be wide open for Wolfram to shoot. It’s over. She is going to die. It’s hopeless…
“DON’T YOU DARE LOSE THAT SMILE, ALRIGHT YOUNG URARAKA!”
A blur rockets between her and the incoming helicopter and as it rockets past them it leaves behind a powerful gale force that shoves back the copter as well as propels Ochaco away to safety.
“IT’S FINE NOW, DO YOU KNOW WHY? BECAUSE I AM HERE!!” All Might's signature grin shines like the sun against the night sky, presence and power shining down like rays of hope.
“He’s free!” Ochaco cheers, tears pricking at her eyes as she floats down towards the ground. “Melissa, you did it!!”
As Ochaco nears the ground, Melissa hurries over and grabs onto her arm, pulling her down like a balloon. Fitting too because Melissa is absolutely beaming, tears of joy streaming down her face.
“I’LL HAVE YOU RETURN MY FRIEND TO ME, YOU FIEND!”
All Might propels himself down at the helicopter with such force and speed one would think he was a bullet. He rips through the helicopter in a blink of an eye as if the metallic box was made out of paper instead.
The helicopter explodes into a raging fireball that comes crashing down onto the tower’s roof. All the while All Might lands safely before the teens with David safely embraced in his arms.
“Papa!” Melissa rushes to his side while a bleeding and bruised Ochaco follows slowly behind her.
“M-Melissa?” David blinks up at her weakly.
“EVERYTHING WILL BE OKAY.”
Coming from him is a huge sigh of relief to all of them.
Ochaco wipes the blood away from forehead and takes a deep breath. “We did it. It’s over.”
“I’m so sorry.” David tears up. “It’s my fault.”
“DAVE-”
Suddenly a massive pillar of metal and iron slams into All Might, swatting him aside like a fly.
Ochaco screams out. “All Might!!”
“Aaaaahhh!!” David is pulled into air by a web of slithering wires and cables.
“Papa!!/Professor Shield!!” The girls cry out watching as he’s pulled into a slithering tangled jungle of cables, piping, and wiring. He’s swallowed up into the jungle of metal, protected from the raging flames of the burning helicopter.
“I heard Sam! All Might’s Quirk is failing him! He doesn’t have the same unstoppable power he once did!” Wolfram appears within the slithering jungle of metal and flames, like a demon king rising from the depths of hell. And like any king he dawns a crown, this one being the Quirk Amplifying Device.
The device has been activated, glowing blue and causing Wolfram’s Quirk to grow to unbelievable levels. His eyes have gone dark, but his pupils are illuminated in a purple hue. His auburn hair whipping around him wildly as a wicked grin is stretched across his scarred face.
After being battered away, All Might wheezes and coughs up blood as his steam pours off his body in waves. “DAMN, DON’T HAVE MUCH TIME LEFT.” He rises, his muscles clenching under the strain. “YOU REALLY DON’T KNOW WHEN TO GIVE UP, DO YOU?” All Might launches himself forward with such force it shatters the ground underneath him. “TEXAS SMASH!”
The SMASH never lands, nor does it even get near Wolfram as the villain meets it with a massive wall of iron and metal so thick only the shockwave from All Might’s attack is able to power through.
‘WHAT?!’
Ochaco is stunned, there’s no way that’s possible! ‘All Might…!’
“Is that all you got!!” Wolfram taunts as he summons several pillars to shoot out from the wall which nearly skewer All Might, who's able to leap away at just the skin of his teeth.
The tower shakes and rumbles as explosions ring out as every piece of metal, iron, and such is ripped out by an invisible force gathering at the center, around their master, Wolfram. “David Shield’s genius lives up to its reputation! I can tell that my Quirk’s growing more powerful!” Wolfram’s glowing purple eyes illuminate with bloodlust and savagery as cables, gears, and panels all swirl and compact around him. “Hahahaha! It’s really amazing! I’m never taking this off!!”
All Might can’t believe his eyes, David caused all this? How? “DAVE, WHAT IN THE WORLD HAVE YOU MADE?”
Even Melissa’s taken back and shocked by Wolfram’s sudden explosion in power. “I had no idea he created something so powerful.”
Ochaco’s blown away, unable to look away as the tower itself folds under the villain’s will. “And-and I thought the Omnitrix was amazing. But this-...imagine if every villain got a hold of something like this.”
Blue circuitry patterns flood the tower as Wolfram’s power expands beyond what was its natural limits. Each stretch of power rips panels right out from the tower, along with ever gear, cabling and wiring, piping, everything. It all swarms and accumulates together around Wolfram, becoming a slithering jungle of metal shards, cables, and such that rises and expands with every passing second. Massive entanglements of cables stretch out from the towering mass like tentacles. Like a demonic kraken of steel its tentacles swing across the sky dangerously, threatening to knock each of them off the tower and plummeting to their doom.
“Now. I think I know the best way to raise the price of this device. I can charge whatever I want if it was used to kill the world’s Number One Hero!” With a haunting howl Wolfram commands the slithering pillars and tentacles of cables after the Symbol of Peace.
All Might just barely dodges, each pillar smashing into the tower, each hit causes the whole foundation to shake again and again.
But although he’s playing it defensibly All Might tries to slip in for an attack, hoping to end it in one strike. But it never connects as a massive metallic tentacle slams into his fist. It’s force and mass being so great it actually manages to win the power struggle and crash through and into All Might and the tower.
“Waaaaah!” Melissa screams out as she’s thrown into the air after the attack causes the ground to cave-in and from under her.
But Ochaco acts quickly, using One For All to catch her in midair. ‘This is bad!’ Ochaco can see All Might struggling to hold off the massive pillars, he’s using his bear strength alone to hold back the pillars from doing him in, but even so steam is pouring off his body in waves. ‘He’s running out of time!’
“Hahahahahaha!!” More masses of metal come crashing into All Might, the pillars bend and twist as they crash into him, but he holds them back even though his entire body is threatening to give in.
“Is Uncle Might, okay?!” Melissa begs for an answer as Ochaco jumps off the ground again before they’re caught up in the battle.
But Ochaco doesn’t have an answer or rather she can’t answer. Because the answer is grim, hammered in as more pillars and tentacles crash into the hero. The steam coming from his body is like a heavy fog, his muscles are giving in under the pressure, and blood is spat out from his mouth as he bares all that the villain can give.
“Why won’t you just DIE ALREADY!?!” Wolfram roars, sending in a barrage of pillars and tentacles after the Symbol of Peace.
And with that the girls cry out in anguish. “ALL MIGHT!!!”
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
Azure glowing circuit-patterns breach down through the ceiling and claw their way down the side of the vault’s walls. As they do the metal beams, wires, and structures of the tower itself are torn and ripped apart. Pieces of metal rubble even begin to float upwards as if gravity itself has been shut off only to them.
The entire tower shakes and rumbles under Wolfram’s power, the glow of his Quirk spreading further down the structure causing anything of metal to either twist under his will or rise up in an azure aura.
And yet mountains of rubble still lie silently within the vault. Wolfram’s tremors have caused the vault to cave in and bury its attendants alive.
And yet a black ooze slithers its way through the cracks and crevices, moving around and coming together as if they were a metallic liquid being attracted to a single magnet. The ooze puddles together and reforms as red circuity-patterns aglow across Malware’s frame.
Having freed himself from the metallic tomb, Malware peers around and gauges the situation especially as the building’s metallic structure is ripped out and twisted around in an azure circuity-like aura.
[I see that Wolfram has decided to test out the Quirk Amplifying Device. It’s working far better than even I presumed.]
But that means that the pro heroes of the island will undoubtedly be on the way due to just how showy Wolfram’s demonstration of power is.
So, he’d best be on a move on before someone with a Quirk capable of countering him shows up.
And so, he makes to leave, looking around he notices a massive gash in the vault’s north wall, undoubtedly caused by Wolfram’s show. And conveniently Malware can see the Control Room undamaged right on the other side.
Not one to risk losing the opportunity he moves for the Control Room. The moment he’s in reach he slams his claw into the main computer and begins to work away at Melissa’s newly established firewalls. [I shall start by reinstating the Security System!]
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
^Wa wa. Bz-oop. P-wop.^ Chopper happily beeps and whistles as he leads the way through the dark ominous corridors.
“Wow, no way!” Mina nods along, she’s been happily listening to Chopper’s ramblings for a while now, but it doesn’t seem to bother her, at least it’s a distraction from the dark cold corridors and piping.
^Wa wa-wop. Wop.^
“Yeah, I totally hear ya. Hmph.”
Following behind them, Tsuyu watches her friend with a worried frown. “Mina, you’ve been chatting away with that robo-I mean Chopper this whole time. But can you actually understand him?”
“Nope!” Mina responds with no hint of shame. “I have absolutely no idea!”
“I should have figured. Kero.”
Tokoyami moves on ahead, keeping his eyes alert for any signs of danger. “Stay alert, now is not the time to get distracted.”
Chopper stops causing Tokoyami to bump into him. ^Wo!^
The raven-headed teen pauses. “What is it, our little friend?”
^Wap!^ Chopper frantically points ahead, he aims his flashlight up illuminating the form of a Dalek hidden in the darkness.
“It's one of those bots!!” Mina jumps, getting ready to throw out a splash of Acid.
“Wait a second!” Tsuyu cuts her off grabbing her arm before she can run off. “Mina look, It’s been shut off!!”
It is. The Dalek is totally shut down, unmoving, sitting silently still in the darkness.
“Huh, yeah I guess it is.” Mina nervously gives its head a tap with her knuckle and there’s still no response. “Weird.”
Tokoyami offers up an explanation. “I would presume that our classmates have deactivated the security system.”
“I think we can presume correct.” Tsuyu agrees.
And the news is music to Mina’s ears. “Great! So, like, should we look for a way out of here now?”
^Wo wo.^ Chopper shakes his head a-matter-of-factually.
Tsuyu may not understand what the bot’s saying but she knows exactly why they can’t leave yet. “We have to keep going, we don’t know what the situation is out there. For all we know they can turn back on at any second.”
“R-Really?!” Mina jumps away from the Dalek.
“Don’t fret.” Tokoyami assures before turning to the little droid. “C1-10P, how close are we to our destination?”
The hallway lights up as Chopper presents them with the holographic map.
“We appear to be close.”
Mina grins seeing their distention’s right around the corner. “So, if we hurry, we can make sure the villains don’t regain control!”
“Precisely.”
“Then what are we waiting for?! Let’s go!” And with Mina leading the way they hurry through the dark labyrinth.
The corridor is littered with shutoff Daleks that they have to shove and squeeze themselves through in order to keep moving. They’re quite heavy and so squeezing past them becomes a struggle but they're able to make it through thanks to their Quirks with Dark Shadow shoving them aside, Mina melting them, and Tsuyu simply hopping over them.
“There are so many.” Tsuyu comments, sticking herself to the wall so that she can climb over the squad of silent bots.
Tokoyami goes ahead and allows Dark Shadow to pull a few away, clearing the path. “Yes, let’s be grateful we don’t have to fight our way through such a horde.’
Mina follows behind him. “Yeah, no kidding.”
^Wap!^ Chopper wheels ahead, illuminating his flashlight up at a set of giant metal sealed doors.
“Is this it?” Tsuyu asks while eyeing the giant door warily.
^B-op!^ Chopper goes to the nearby control panel where he gets ready to hack the door open.
But just as he begins there’s a sizzling sound coming from behind him, like someone burning a pan of bacon on the stove.
And so spinning around Chopper finds that Mina has melted a whole through the giant metal door. “Sorry, but you took way too long last time.”
Chopper crosses his arms in annoyance. ^Wap!^
And so braving the unknown the teens and their little robotic companion step through the melted hole and into their final destination.
Unlike the rest of the labyrinth this large dome-hexagonal chamber is aglow with soft azure lights emanating the nets of circuits and wiring lining every inch of the walls, ceiling, and floors. A massive computer processor-like machine stands like a massive pillar in the center of the dome with giant cables and wirings reaching out from its bottom like tree roots, lining themselves just underneath the grated metal floor. There are several levels of balconies lining the outer rim of the dome, each one allowing you to climb higher and higher. There are several more sealed entrance ways lining the facility, undoubtedly leading to the other levels of the labyrinth of dark corridors. And finally, squads of shutoff and silent Daleks line the floor below like statues and there’s even more silently sitting on the balconies above making the teens nervous despite them being turned off.
Mina whistles, impressed by layout and architecture. “Now this is a secret underground lair.”
“It’s not a lair.” Tokoyami corrects, gazing up at the large technological pillar at the center. “It’s the home of the Cutoff Switches.”
“But where are they?”
“That must be it over there!” Tsuyu points down to the lowest level, which is one level down from them, there across the way sits a tall hexagonal control panel with a large blue-glowing lever that’s encased in glass.
“Well, that was easy!” Mina cheers and throws herself over the railing and down to the level below.
“Wait for me, Mina!” Tsuyu hops after her, leaving Tokoyami behind.
The raven-headed teen doesn’t follow but instead scans the entire facility. “Where are the others? Have they not arrived yet?”
^Wa wop.^ Chopper shrugs, unsure himself on where they are.
Meanwhile, Mina weaves her way through the horde of frozen Daleks and makes it to the switch. She rips open the glass casing and grips the lever before turning back to Tsuyu with a victorious smile. “Get ready, because we’re about to save the day!”
With a shout she pulls with all her might, the lever shifting downward and lighting up green indicating its activation.
But other than that, nothing happens, there’s no alarms, no announcements, or anything. The entire facility doesn’t react in any way and just continues on with its business.
“N-nothing happened!”
“There must be more switches!” Tsuyu offers back, looking around the Daleks to see if they’re nearby.
“There they are!” Tokoyami calls from the other side of the facility, he points up and the girls follow his gaze up to the other levels where about two more of those switches are laid out on the balconies above.
“You have got to be kidding me!” Mina screams in frustration seeing how high they’ll have to climb.
“No use complaining about it. Let’s hurry! What?!” Just before Tsuyu can jump away she stops as a chorus of machines’ humming pierces her ears.
Suddenly the blinking azure lights lining the walls, ceilings, and floor stop like someone had just pressed the pause button on them. And then with a thunderous clap and shift they all flash into a red, casting the entire room in a veil of crimson.
“What’s happening?!” Mina screams.
^Waaaaa!^ Chopper screams, frantically waving for them to run.
But the girls are unable to translate his actions in time as the Daleks shift and stir.
“They’re waking back up!” Tsuyu cries as she and Mina back themselves against the still green-glowing lever. “The villains must have regained control!”
The Daleks all turn and spot the girls immediately. ^Intruders detected. EXTERMINATE!!!^
They all take aim and prepare to fire, and the girls shrink back in horror, trapped between the massive horde and the bottom of the balcony above.
“Keep away from them!!” Tokoyami crashes down before them, Dark Shadow whirling around like a snake of lightning, striking the nearest Daleks with such force they go flying across the facility.
“Tokoyami!!” The girls gasp in surprise, grateful for the rescue.
But he has no time for small talk as he turns his furious gaze towards the rest of the horde. “Dark Shadow!!”
“‘Up you go!’” Dark Shadow’s claws weave themselves around the girls’ waists before hoisting them high into the air and onto the balcony above, tossing them over the railing before hurrying back down to its master.
“Quickly!!’ Tokoyami shouts as Dark Shadow dives down and smashes its claw into a pair of incoming Daleks. “Get to the other switches before it’s too late!!”
Putting their trust in him, the girls share a look and silently agree to listen. “Let’s go!”
And they run off, sprinting down the balcony towards the stairs.
Tokoyami watches them off before quickly drawing his attention back towards the surrounding enemies.
^You are a foul to take us alone! Now prepare to be Exterminated!^
“You are mistaken.” Tokoyami growls as his familiar swirls around him like a levitating python. “It is you that faces extermination!!”
Tokoyami charges forth, Dark Shadow lunging out with a spin, its claws tearing apart the first line of attack robots.
Meanwhile, from up above Mina and Tsuyu are sprinting their way up the balconies as fast as they can. But squads of Daleks intercept them, forcing them to take action.
“Out of our way!!” Mina melts them away with her Acid clearing the way.
But she missed one and it quickly prepares to fire. ^Extermina-^ The Dalek’s body sparks and goes haywire before shutting down.
The bot falls over revealing that Chopper had tazed it from behind. ^Wa wa!^ He waves for them to hurry and follow him.
The girls chase after the bot with Tsuyu taking the back of the group to cover them.
^Intercept all intruders!^ An entire squad of hovering Daleks crash through the railing and interject themselves between Mina and Tsuyu while another squad runs up from behind the frog girl.
“Oh, no! Tsu!”
Seeing that she’s surrounded, Tsuyu makes a split second decision, “Go! It’ll be faster this way!”
She doesn;t wait for a response and instead she throws herself over the railing as she does her tongue lashes up and onto the balcony above, allowing her to swing her way up higher and higher.
^Exterminate!^ Several of the bots hover after her, firing their rays in tandem.
But she dodges, jumping off the railing and balconies with amazing agility and speed. As a laser nearly grazes her she jumps up and grabs onto one of the hovering Daleks. The bot loses control, spinning around in the air and the others, not caring for their comrade, fire.
Tsuyu jumps away at the last second just as the bot explodes in a ball of fire, before she lands another flying bot and kicks it into the wall as she jumps higher into the air.
Meanwhile, Mina sprinting through the upper balconies at a breakneck pace, with Chopper right at her heels. “Hurry!!”
Lasers and rays are fired after her, and thanks to her frantic running they miss but do burn their way through the walls and flooring. But the Daleks are relentless, continuously pursuing her through the red-light facility.
^EXTERMINATE!!!^
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Chunks of metal shift and fall away into the vault’s floor, a bruised scraped hand reaches out from the cracks and hauls itself out. A bruised and bleeding Izuku is finally able to crawl out of the pile of rubble and throw himself onto the cracked floor of the vault.
His head is pounding, and everything is spinning forcing him to take a minute to recover his sight. And as he does, he finds chunks of metal floating in the air, cables and wires slithering up towards the tower’s ceiling while blue circuitry patterns line the ceiling, walls and floor.
Unsure of what’s going on, Izuku scans for the enemy and soon spots the alien hacking its way through the tower’s security system. “No! Wait!”
Malware turns away from the Central Computer just in time to see Izuku pull himself to his feet. [You’re too late, boy! I’ve already broken through all the newly installed firewalls; in just a few moments I will have full control of not just this tower. BUT ALL OF I-ISLAND!!!]
He’s going to absorb the entire island and take on his final, true form. And then nothing will be able to stop him, not even his father.
“Shit. Talk about ambitious.”
Malware pauses, peering around he finds Kraab scuttling away from the computer.
Kraab smirks up at the Galvanic Mechamorph and snarky replies. “Sorry, but we are unable to accept this transaction.”
His eyes blink rapidly and then BOOM the Central Computer explodes, going up in flames and smoke.
[NAAAaaagggh!!] Malware is blown apart having been standing too close to the explosion.
Izuku is horrified. “You-you killed him!”
Kraab quickly scuttles over and crawls up Izuku’s arm. “I wish! He won’t stay down for long. Now get your lazy ass moving and get yourself out of there. Transform into the Tetramand or something!”
“I-I can’t…”
“What do you mean you can’t?!”
“I-I don’t have Master Control anymore…” He grips the red glowing Omnitrix in frustration, twisting it but knowing that it’s all useless. “Malware he…he erased it.”
Well, that’s not good and neither is the reforming villain.
[You inferior amalgamation of biology and engineering!] Malware’s body reconstructs itself and he is angry. [Can you even fathom what you have done?!]
“Yeah, I just saved the fucking day. You’re welcome!” Kraab snarkily responds.
[Saved it?! You only delayed the inevitable!]
Malware’s body metals into the floor, his body spreading across the floor and walls like black ink while red circuitry patterns take over every piece of machinery and technology around. The tower shakes as the ink spreads slowly throughout the entire tower, from the floor under Izuku’s feet to the levels below.
“Wh-what’s happening?!” Izuku jumps, hopping from foot to foot as Malware’s red circuitry floods past from underneath his feet.
Kraab grips Izuku’s shoulder hard as holds on, not wanting to be absorbed. “We’re in big trouble, Deku!”
“W-why?! What’s he doing?!”
“He’s trying to take over the island!”
“But the Control System’s destroyed!”
“That only would have made it easier for him but now he’s doing it manually! The system is like a highway now he’s taking side streets, it’ll do the same thing, but it’ll take longer. We have to stop him before he takes over the tower!!”
“But-but I…I can’t!” Izuku shakes his head, feeling useless as he clutches the recharging Omnitrix. “I don’t have an alien that can stop him. And-and I don’t have Master Control anymore!”
“How’s that an excuse?! Just get yourself into gear and stop him!”
But he can’t. What can he do against all of this? If Malware is taking over the island, then what can he possibly do to stop him? Which alien would work best? He has to be careful because if he chooses wrong, he can’t just pick a new one whenever he wants anymore. It’s…it’s impossible to win, Malware’s too strong and he’s…he’s just a kid with a broken watch.
It would be so easy for Kraab to whack him over the head and yell at him to get his shit together. But he knows that won’t work. The kids finally felt free and now he’s shackled again, it’s not something that easy to get over. He doesn’t need someone to kick him while he’s down, but someone that’ll offer him a hand to get back up.
“Look I get it kid you lost something that made you feel powerful. And without it you feel weak and useless I bet.”
He does, that’s exactly how he feels.
“Well guess what kid, everyone loses something eventually. You lost the Master Control function. I lost my body. We lose something important, deal with it.”
That’s not at all making him feel any better.
“But sometimes when we lose something we gain something even better.”
Izuku perks up, finally giving Kraab his full attention.
“I may have lost my original body, but I got a new one.” Kraab gestures to the spider-like legs at his sides and his new wrench-like robotic arms. “I lost my rep in the bounty hunting biz, but I gained your respect.” Izuku’s trusted him several times throughout the summer. And he didn’t have to, he could have betrayed the kid whenever he wanted but…the kid’s honest serenity was new to him. It was honest and pure, and it made Kraab feel, for the first time ever, that he had somewhere he belonged. “I lost my lone wolf lifestyle…but I gained…a friend.”
Izuku is at a loss for words. Did Kraab just admit that they’re friends? That-that he’s on his side? If so then that’s amazing, it means that he managed to break through Kraab’s hard shell. He-he made a new alley and friend, didn’t he?
Seeing the fire in Izuku’s eyes light up, Kraab jokingly pesters him. “So, are you going to stop sulking? Or do I need to help you find a new set of balls?”
“No need.” Izuku affirms, getting to his feet and doing his best to hold his head high and not let it get weighed down by his own inhibitions and fears. “I can’t give up. I’ve done so much without Master Control; I know I can get by without it even now!”
“That’s it ki-Deku! Now are you ready?”
“I’m ready!”
On que the Omnitrix lights up with a ding, turning green and glowing brightly like a lantern. Izuku smiles down at it and thinks, recalling that in order to remove Master Control, Malware, the Galvanic Mechamorph, an alien he doesn't have, grabbed the Omnitrix. Which could only mean one thing- “I lost Master Control but let’s see what I gained in return!”
He dials up the watch and raises his hand high over his head. “It’s Hero Time!!”
He slams his hand down and transforms.
His body instantly reacts, he can feel every cell in his body melting away and digitizing into place. His limbs and frame melt away but expand like a gelatinous liquid and traces of energy race through his veins which twist and turn this way and that throughout his entire body. And then when the sequence is complete Izuku finds himself in his newest form.
[Cool! I just got a real Upgrade!] He peers down at himself, admiring how alike he is to Malware but green instead of red. His inky black blob of a body is lined with green circuitry patterns, and he has a single circle on his face, resembling an eye. [So, this is what a real Galvanic Mechamorph is like.] He twists this way and that, checking out the cool green circuitry. [You guys weren't kidding. They really are green. Fitting.]
The tower shakes and rumbles from above and as the chaos up top unfolds so too does Malware’s control over the tower expand.
Upgrade’s head twists around to peer back at his shoulder perched friend. [Uh, so now what?]
“Now you fight back?”
[Right, got it!] Upgrade glares down at the red-patterned ground but then pauses. [How exactly?]
Kraab offers him his pincer and boldly states. “Together.”
Upgrade understands and he melts away, not into the food, but into Kraab. His liquid form takes the cyborg over, coating him in black-ink and green patterns. Upon doing so Kraab’s mechanical body is appropriately upgraded, becoming bulkier with his pincers becoming larger and longer and an additional pincer of twice the length sprouts from the rear. That added with the expanded spider-like legs gives the Upgraded Kraab a scorpion like appearance. A third circular eye wedges itself between Kraab’s now glowing green eyes, and the Omnitrix sits prominently on their head.
[Wooaah, this is cool!] Upgrade admires the newly added tail-pincer, making it spin like a drill. [Hahaha! I can get used to this! But do you really think we can do this?]
Even though his body has been taken over, Kraab is still conscious and able to speak. “Yes.”
And with that Upgrade drives the spinning pincer into the ground as if it were a stinger, and like a stinger his venom spreads through the system, his green circuitry pushing back against Malware’s red.
But it’s not enough, for every inch Upgrade takes over Malware takes back another two inches and so on. It’s a never-ending struggle with Upgrade making little to no progress against Malware’s takeover.
[It’s not working! We’re not enough!]
Kraab peers around, panickily searching for a solution. “What if we used that thing?”
Looking over back towards the vault, Upgrade spots the Helix stuck within the rubble. [The Helix?!]
“Hey, it gave Malware a boost, maybe it’ll do the same for us!”
Upgrade hesitates, weighing the option, it should give them the boost but without the Quirk Amplifying Device it might just be too unstable to use. Then again what other choice do they have?
[I hope you’re right about this!]
His two pincers launch out like grappling hooks, the two grab onto the Helix and reel it in until he’s able to latch it to his back. He immediately absorbs the Helix, its pyramidal shape melding into Kraab and Upgrade, adding onto his already upgraded armor. Their bodies spark and glow bright under the Helix’s effects, charging them up while bolts of green lightning surround them.
[Woah! It’s like a power up!]
His green circuitry spreads further across the floor, illuminating it all in a green hue that forces back Malware’s red. But the ground under which his stinger had pierced sparks and released a discharge of green lightning everywhere blinding Upgrade completely.
[AAAAAAaaaaahhhhh…!!!]
…………………
…………………
…………………
Everything is dark.
Quiet.
And still.
There is no noise.
No light.
Nothing but an empty abyss.
There’s nothing to feel. No movement. No smells. Nothing to the touch.
It’s just empty.
It’s confusing.
It’s terrifying.
What happened? Where is he? Where is Kraab? What happened?
Did-did they die?
Wait a light, a tiny green light is falling from above like a dancing snowflake that’s following an invisible line downward. And then another light and another, no wait, those are numbers and letters like that seen on computer screens. And then there’s a flood of them all raining down in an infinite barrage of text and code. It washes down like rain across the abyss before washing away as quickly as it appeared. As the rain of codes fade away, they leave behind various shapes made out of the same code and text. The shapes left behind form silhouettes of strange towering structures and landscapes. But then with a flash of blinding light the code is gone revealing the shapes to be actual structures and an alien landscape.
“Wh-where?! What’s happening?!” Izuku can finally speak and for the first time move.
His mind is racing, unable to process any of what he just witnessed. He tries to get his bearings, making sure he’s in one piece by checking his arms and legs. “Ahhh!! My hand!!” Although the rest of him looks like normal human flesh his left arm is glowing and outlined in that same green code and text. “Aaahhhh!! Wh-what’s happening?!”
Suddenly something yanks him from the hood of his jacket and hoists him up.
“Aaaahhh!!”
“Ow! That was right in my ear! Calm down! Sheesh you can be a spaz.”
Izuku pauses, he knows that voice. “Kraab?!”
He spins around in the air and he’s so surprised by what he sees that his jaw would have fallen clean off his face if it could.
Kraab is the one hoisting him up but gone is his little spider-crab-like legs and wrench-like robotic arms. And instead, he’s been reunited with his old body, undamaged and un-melted.
“W-wait, but how?! When did you-?!”
“I don’t have my body back.” Kraab explains, putting the kid down and revealing that he himself is actually taller than the greenette.
“You-you don’t?” Izuku frowns, none of this is making sense. “What’s going on?! I thought we were gonna fight Malware!”
“We are fighting Malware, kid. Do you know where or rather what this place is?”
He does not and so he finally takes a moment to take in his surroundings.
The rain of code have reformed and solidified themselves into spiraling towers. Nothing of which Izuku’s ever seen before and the landscape is just alien, so alien with twisted plants and strange architecture lining this exotic…city? He’s not really sure what he’s looking at but there’s something off about it front he dark-black ink coloring on every structure which is lined in crimson-red circuit patterns much like those found on Malware.
“Is-Is this a planet?” Izuku almost can’t believe it. Did they teleport? What’s happening here? It has to be another world because this certainly can't be Earth anymore.
“Actually, it’s not, it’s a moon.” Kraab, however, explains otherwise before pointing his large claw upward towards the sky. “But that is.”
Izuku nearly faints as he looks up, floating high above their heads, in the dark night sky is a massive planet. An actual alien planet, it’s so big and close it feels like he can reach up and touch it but in reality, it is hundreds of miles away. But even so he can make out continents, an ocean, and the foggy atmosphere encasing the planet. But like the supposed moon they ar eon the planet is casted in an ominous red hue.
“Whhhhhhaaaaaaa!! Are we in space?!”
“Not the space you’re thinking of. Deku, let me be the first to welcome you to Cyberspace!” Kraab announces for all the void to hear as if telling the space itself to greet the newest arrival.
Izuku’s head is spinning in confusion, just what the heck is Cyberspace?! “Cyberspace?! What is that like the Matrix?”
“Not sure what that is but if it helps you understand then sure.” Kraab picks a branch off one of the nearby alien trees. “Everything in here is nothing but code and programs. Which can be manipulated and reprogramed which explains why we see ourselves like this.” He gestures to his newly recovered body and Izuku’s meek human form. “Our brains are the computers here and since they have direct access to our personal codes, they automatically download us to look like this.”
“So, this body is like an avatar and its appearance is based on how I see myself.”
“Exactly. See you do get it.”
“S-so, if this place can be altered, does that mean Malware’s already taken it over?! I mean, what is this place supposed to be?”
[It’s my home.]
Thunder clashes in the sky and the ground rumbles and quakes as from between the spiraling towers, glowing red monster of giant proportions slowly crashes its way through the alien civilization.
Izuku stands in total shock-and-awe before the ungodly being. “Malware…”
The villain turns his gaze down towards the green and amber specs. [Izuku Midoriya, welcome to my world! To my domain!]
How dare he?! His ego is so large he dares to call I-island’s own system his own. “I-Island isn’t yours! We’ll stop you!”
If Malware could sneer, a cold malicious one would be gracing his lips. [I wasn’t referring to I-Island.]
The environment around them shakes and shifts, the towers rise higher than before, and they lose their smooth spiral shapes in favor of sharper-edges and grander heights. The landscape becomes more jagged and uneven as mountains and cliffs erupt forth, tearing the alien city apart.
[You are nothing but an insect, who’s only fate will be nothing more than a stain at the bottom of my foot!]
Taking his fist Malware swings down at the duo like an enraged Kaiju.
“Aaaahhh!” Izuku runs just barely able to make it out of the way, the shockwave of the attack launching him off his feet and across the twisted city.
“I’ve got ya!” Kraab catches him in midair before getting away with his rocket boosters.
He rockets through the air, weaving through the constantly morphing city and landscape.
[Yes! Run! Flee! It’s all you can do! You have no hope! MwHahaha! You are only delaying the inevitable!]
“Woah-Aaahhh!!” Izuku screams as they nearly crash into a tower that suddenly shoots up from the ground. “He’s gonna kill us!!”
Malware sends a massive beam after them, forcing Kraab to make a sharp sudden turn between several towers in order to avoid it.
“Pull yourself together, Deku! We need to fight back!”
“H-how-Ahhhh!!” Suddenly they are smacked right out of the air, by a giant crimson hand.
Kraab goes crashing down into the city street below, hitting the ground so hard bits of code begin to float into the air as he leaves a crater in his wake. Deku tries to hold on but loses his grip, hitting the ground hard and rolling across the ground before slamming into a wall.
The colossus that is Malware looms over them with a victorious aura. [MwHahahahahaha!!]
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“Hahahahahaha!!” More masses of metal come crashing into All Might, the pillars bend and twist as they crash into him, but he holds them back even though his entire body is threatening to give in.
“Is Uncle Might, okay?!” Melissa begs for an answer as Ochaco jumps off the ground again before they’re caught up in the battle.
But Ochaco doesn’t have an answer or rather she can’t answer. Because the answer is grim, hammered in as more pillars and tentacles crash into the hero. The steam coming from his body is like a heavy fog, his muscles are giving in under the pressure, and blood is spat out from his mouth as he bares all that the villain can give.
“Why won’t you just DIE ALREADY!?!” Wolfram roars, sending in a barrage of pillars and tentacles after the Symbol of Peace.
And with that the girls cry out in anguish. “ALL MIGHT!!!”
The massive pillars never reach their target as a sudden rush of bone chilling ice freezes them in place.
“Huh?!” Wolfram gaps in surprise.
“Go To Hell!!” Suddenly a barrage of Explosions rain down over the villain forcing him to shield himself with a massive wall of metal.
The flying Bakugou breaks his attack and takes a moment to grip his spraining wrist before He roaring down at All Might. “How can you let yourself get beat by some lame final boss?! Hurry and take him down!!”
All Might grins even as the wright of the pillars continue to bear down on him. “THANKS FOR THE HELP YOUNG BAKUGOU.”
He’s not the only one he needs to thank as Shoto and the others have just arrived from out of the elevator. “We’ll do what we can! We’ll help you!”
Kirishima leaves Jiro to hold up the still dazed Denki in order to step up. Iida let’s knock those hunks of metal out of the sky!”
Iida’s engines roar to life as he gets ready to go. “Yaoyorozu take care of things down here.”
“Right!” Momo responds just before the two race into the fray.
All Might pushes against the metal, the ringing of his student's fist and Quirks clashing against the metal pushes him to fight. ‘WITH MY STUDENTS SO MOTIVATED, THERE’S NO WAY I CAN LET MYSELF BE HELD BACK BY SOMETHING SO FOOLISH AS A LIMIT!’
Kirishima and Iida smash through several of the pillars pushing against All Might while Bakugou holds the villains attention from the air above, blasting any pillars and metal tentacles that get too close. And Shoto is covering for them all, freezing any pillar in place and disrupting Wolfram’s attacks.
‘I NEED TO PUSH PAST BY BOUNDARIES AND GO BEYOND!!’ With a single push he smashes and breaks away the pillars before launching himself through the air like a bullet. “IT’S TIME TO BE PLUS ULTRA!!!”
At the same time, the frozen pillars from before breaking free of their icy prisons and intercept All Might’s path.
But they do little to slow him down as he weaves and smashes through them like a baseball bat through pieces of cardboard. No matter how many are thrown his way he powers through them, smashing them apart and piercing through their attacks like an unstoppable force of nature.
“CAROLINA SMASH!!!” He breaks through the final barrier between him and the iron kraken. The force of the punch ripples through the air and lights up the night, light shining down over the tower like the sun, like rays of hope, as a powerful shockwave shakes the ground and air.
“PREPARE YOURSELF, VILLAIN! RAAAAAAAAAAAHHH-!” But before he can connect All Might’s suddenly pulled away by a web of cables bound around his limbs. “NICE TRICK BUT I-GRHH!”
Wolfram’s iron grip squeezes around All Might’s neck with a sick twisted pleasure. But what has All Might’s concern is how Wolfram’s arm burns to the touch, not only that his entire arm is burning red. It’s aglow like an overheated furnace, and his muscles are bulging with power, shredding through the sleeve of his jacker.
“Prepare myself? Take your own advice!” Wolfram sneers, steam pouring out from between his teeth as his entire body glows burning red. “You’ve underestimated me.”
‘WHERE DID THIS S-STRENGTH COME FROM?!’ He coughs up blood as his throat is crushed but then the villain claws at the wound on his stomach before Wolfram’s burning fingers pierce into his flesh. “AAAAAAAAAHHHHH!!!”
“All Might-Ah!!” Ochaco tries to run and help him but she goes down, the burning pain of her shoulder and the overall strain on her body is finally catching up to her.
“Are you alright?!” Melissa hovers over her worriedly.
“Damnit!!” Bakugou’s not faring any better as he’s just barely able to dodge and blast himself out of the way of the incoming pillars and iron tentacles.
Shoto’s running on fumes as well, he’s barely able to prevent himself from being turned into a dual-colored pancake. So much so Iida and Kirishima have to rush in and defend him.
‘THIS NEW POWER SEEMS TO ENHANCE HIS MUSCLES. HE MUST HAVE MULTIPLE QUIRKS.’ In the distance or perhaps it’s the dread in his heart, All Might can hear the deathly chime of funeral bells. “NO WAY, IT COULDN’T BE.”
“Oh, yes.” Wolfram sneers, his gaze never leaving All Might as he soaks in his deliciously broken and shocked expression. “While we were planning this little plot, I received an intriguing phone call from the man himself. He said he wanted to work with me to help. When I asked him why he’d bother he was happy to explain his interest.”
He can still hear the man, no, the devil declaring his vow before him. “‘If All Might’s friend wants to have a hand in something evil, I will assist in his fall from grace in any way that I can. I regret only that I will ot be able to see All Might’s face twist in pain when he discovers the truth about the Professor.’”
“ALL FOR ONE IS BEHIND THIS?!”
Wolfram sneers in All Might’s face. “What’s the matter? Looks like you finally stopped smiling!”
“NOOO!!!” Fully enraged All Might lets out a monstrous roar that shakes the sky.
But before he can unleash his full fury a massive pillar crashes into him and pins him back against the web of skin-piercing cables all the while Wolfram’s maniacal cackle echoes through the air.
While lost in his own cruel excitement Wolfram sends in a set of compact metal cubes crashing into All Might from every side!
Ochaco’s heat stops, her spirit snapping as she witnesses the blow. She is unable to look away as more cubes of metal and iron smash into All Might, entombing him in a cocoon of floating metal.
“All Might, No!!” The teens cry out in shock as fear pierces their hearts like lightning.
Tears leak from Melissa’s eyes as her heart weeps. “P-please don’t do this…!”
“Farewell Symbol of Peace!!” Wolfram howls with glee and with a swing of his hand he summons forth a barrage of piercing pillars forth.
Their trajectory is upward, towards the floating metal tomb, their aim to skewer the Number One Hero until his corpse is unrecognizable!!
An array of pink spheres zoom through the air like bullets, imploding against the pillars with such force that they break apart.
Wolfram frowns, unsure of what just happened. And wondering who could have possibly ruined his moment.
“I won’t let you hurt him anymore!!” Ochaco screams from the top of her lungs while racing forward before rocketing herself straight at the metal tomb. “VENUS SMASH!!!”
Her fist slams against the metal cocoon, the force of the impact generating a whirlwind around her and her fist. But the metal doesn’t break or buckle as Wolfram’s sheer force of will holds it together.
“You are so damn annoying! Take the hint you brat! It’s over! You lost!!”
“We-haven’t lost yet! It’s not over yet!! We’re still fighting!! Everybody’s still fighting!!”
It’s not just her. All of her friends are here, giving it their all to stop this disaster. There are those here on top of the tower, doing their best to support and assist them! There’s Mr. Midoriya and Mina and the others are all racing against the clock to save all of I-Island! And then there's Deku who will do whatever it takes to save everyone!!
And so, with her spirit ignited from within, her entire body shines as it surges with the power of One For All. And with everyone’s hopes on the line Ochaco declares out and promises to the world. “WE’RE NOT GONNA LET YOU WIN!!!”
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Izuku wakes up with a jolt, his ears are ringing not from being in a daze but from a faraway call. “U-Uraraka?”
He could have sworn he heard her voice there for a moment. But where is she?
And so, fighting through his throbbing headache, Izuku pushes his head up and finally tries to look around only to find himself in the base of one of Malware’s twisted towers.
But he’s not captured because off to his left is Kraab who’s on the lookout for the giant-sized villain. “Kraab what’s happening?”
Kraab starts and peers down at the previously unconscious teen. “Welcome back kid. Thought we lost you there a second.”
“What’s going on?”
“Nothing much, just trying to survive. You know, a normal Tuesday.”
Izuku would ask who he’s trying to hide from, but he already knows. So, hopefully they can keep it up until they can figure out a way to fight back.
[Did you really think you could hide from me?] The tower is torn open, pulled from its roots and leaving the duo completely exposed to crimson death looming over them. [When will you understand? I am the superior being! I am the perfect creation!] His core glows brightly as it begins to charge.
And with no time to spare Kraab grabs the kid and takes off as Malware unleashes a devastating beam after them.
[I am invincible!]
The beam crashes through the city, causing chains of explosions to go off and although they are able to evade the main laser they are caught up by the intense shockwaves and blasts. The blasts force Kraab to a stop, his claws sliding against the ground before Izuku jumps off and rolls to a stop.
Spinning around Izuku is met with Malware’s deathly glare shining down at him from above. And the impossible hanging over his head Izuku shows one last show of defiance. “Y-you’re not invincible! We’ll stop you!”
[And how will you stop me?!]
He doesn’t know. He doesn’t fully understand how this Cyberspace place works. All he knows is what he’s been given: it’s nothing but code. And so far, he has no control of it. Not a one. But-but Malware does. Malware the Galvanic Mechamorph has full control over this place.
And so with one last ditch idea in his head Izuku summons the strength he has left to stand before the so-called perfect being. “It doesn’t matter how.” He reaches down and grips the Omnitrix, activating it and transforms. [What matters is that I don’t give up!]
Upgrade declares with a flourish before sinking his entire body into the ground. His green circuit spreads like a flood taking over the ground and nearby towers with ease.
Malware is taken back, stepping away from the flood of green as if it was a disease. [What is happening?! What are you doing?!]
Upgrade’s voice echoes through the space. [You said this was your world but that also means it’s my world too!] Upgrade reforms atop a nearby tower but his arms and legs remain attached to the circuitry and codes. [This is my domain, Malware! And I’m not gonna let you have it!]
[You think you can stop me?! You’re just like father! He always stood in the way of my potential!] With a crash Malware slams his claws against the ground causing the red-contaminated ground and towers to shift and surge forward like a tidal wave. [And I refuse to let anyone else do the same!!]
Upgrades meets his tidal wave of towers and earth with his own, the forces of red and green clash with such force the entire coded-moon shakes.
[As long as I keep fighting, I won’t let you hurt anyone else!!] Upgrade roars with a newfound fire. [WE’RE NOT GONNA LET YOU WIN!!!]
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‘Keep running!’ Mina charges forward, doing her best not to flinch as laser beams zip past her head from behind. She stays laser focused, focusing on the switch located at the end of the balcony. ‘We’re almost there!’
Chopper is racing by her side, he too is forced on the switch but then a laser burns and explodes just beside him, tossing Chopper over the railing. ^Woooooo!^
“No Chopper! Ahhh!” Mina ducks as more lasers are fired and the pursuing Daleks close the distance between them. ‘Gotta keep running! I’ll help him later! I promise!’
She can see it, it’s straight ahead.
‘I’m almost there! I can make it!’
^Halt intruder!^ A squad of Daleks fly in, smashing through the railing, and blocking the way with their massive bodies.
But Mina can’t stop, she’s moving too fast and she’s too close to stop or change directions. She’s gonna slam into them and they’re gonna have a clear shot taking her out! They’re gonna kill her!!
^Wa wa wa wa!!^ Suddenly, coming in like a freaking champ, Chopper races in on his rocket booster and using himself like a missile he charges right into the Daleks, slamming them out of Mina’s way.
And as if in slow motion, Mina watches as she weaves around the crashing bots as they all smash into the wall. Even Chopper falls to the floor his body glitching out and limbs bent from the impact as sparks ignite from his dead rocket booster.
But she can’t afford to worry about him right now, she needs to focus. And so, she throws herself at the switch. “Yaaaahh!!” She grabs the switch as her body falls, she pulls, turning the switch from blue to green. “I got it!!”
Now with her part done, it’s all up to Tsuyu now.
Speaking of the frog girl is parkouring through the air hopping from wall to balcony to Dalek, going this way and that, up and down, left and right, all to avoid their lasers all the while a battle rages on the lowest level.
^Cease your resistance!!^
Tsuyu jumps onto the Dalek and kicks herself up as an incoming laser blasts the Dalek away. “Last one!!”
As she approaches the last switch on one of the tallest balconies she reaches out with her tongue, letting it lash out like a whip. “KERO!!!”
The sticky appendage wraps around the lever and pulls, activating it before she lands on the balcony.
But nothing happens other than the switch turning from blue to green. Otherwise, nothing changes, the Daleks are still fighting and the red hue of the facility around them remains.
“What?! Did-did it fail?!” Mina cries as she checks on Chopper after having melted away the pursuing Daleks.
“Impossible! Is this is not it?!” Tokoyami frantically looks around while still engaged with the army of robots. That is until he spots it. “There! Look to the ceiling!!”
Their heads snap up and there they find the final switch, it’s a glowing blue orb attached to the ceiling above.
“That must be the final switch!! Kero!”
“Oh, come on! What kind of maniac designed this place?!” Mina whines before the room shakes and rumbles. “Aaaah!”
The rumbling is due to one of the sealed doors being busted open and an army of Daleks flood into the facility, some taking to the air as to not get in the way of their comrades. ^EXTERMINATE!!!^
“Quickly! Everyone to the switch!” Tokoyami orders as Dark Shadow wraps around him, its claws reaching up and hoisting it and its master up, using the balconies to climb higher and higher.
Tsuyu meanwhile tries to jump for it while Mina is forced to leave the damaged Chopper behind. “I'll be back for you! I promise!”
^Wa wa!^
As she sprints away, Chopper’s arms fold out and he attempts to repair himself.
The three teens climb higher and higher, moving as fast as they can as a rain of lasers and robots attempt to stop them. But no matter how close they are to being disintegrated and burned away they keep moving. They keep climbing. For the sake of their friends and for the sake of everyone on I-Island!
“We won’t give up!” Tsuyu shouts as she hops from Dalek to Dalek.
“We won’t let our allies down!” Tokoyami declares as he continues his shadow ridden climb upwards.
“That’s right!!” Mina joins in before they all simultaneously cry out in determination. “WE’RE NOT GONNA LET YOU WIN!!!”
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
“You’re not gonna let me win?!” Wolfram can’t help but find that laughable. “Like I was asking for permission? Hahaha!!” He sends an iron tentacle slamming into the girl, knocking her away from All Might’s metal tomb “You really are an idiot?! What, you think you’re the next Symbol of Peace?! Well guess what!! If that’s the case, then I’m gonna crush two Symbols of Peace right here and now!!”
“YOU’LL NEVER WIN!!!” Ochaco defiantly roars back even as she’s flung across the air.
“CALIFORNIA…SMAAAAASH!!!” A blinding light and a sudden glare force breaks through the metal tomb, blasting it apart like an explosion of light and fire. “DID YOU REALLY THINK THAT WOULD HOLD ME?!” All Might mocks as he breaks free of the entombment.
Wolfram is stunned, he can’t believe what he’s seeing. All Might’s alright and is still able to fight! “What?! No!! Impossible!!”
All Might zips across the air and catches Ochaco, bringing them both down to ground level.
“All Might!!” Ochaco yelps in relief.
“YOU’RE WORDS REALLY LIGHT A FIRE UNDER ME, YOUNG URARAKA!” All Might grins, his smile so bright it fills everyone who looks upon it with hope and determination. “NOW LET’S SHOW THIS VILLAIN JUST HOW BRIGHT OUR FLAMES ARE!”
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
“We won’t give up!” Tsuyu shouts as she hops from Dalek to Dalek.
“We won’t let our allies down!” Tokoyami declares as he continues his shadow ridden climb upwards.
“That’s right!!” Mina joins in before they all simultaneously cry out in determination. “WE’RE NOT GONNA LET YOU WIN!!!”
Their resilience is admirable but futile as Tsuyu’s leg gets caught by one of the Dalek’s capture cables.
“Waaaahh!” She’s pulled away as more cables latch onto her arms and waist.
A laser blasts the railing Tokoyami was gripping to, knocking him away. “AH!”
“‘Fumikage!!’” Dark Shadow wraps itself around its master and swinging them onto a balcony for safety.
But it was for nothing as a squad of Daleks open fire upon them forcing Dark Shadow to curl tighter and tighter around Tokoyami in an attempt to shield him.
“Aaaaaaahhh!” The two yell out in searing pain as the lasers burn their way through.
Mina is the only one left, but she’s thrown off her feet as lasers breakaway the supports of the balcony right from under her! “Aaaaahh!”
She manages to grab what’s left of the balcony as the rest falls away and crashes to the sea of robots below. She tries to hold on and pull herself up, but she is met at gunpoint by a pair of Daleks standing above her.
^Cease your resistance!^
Mina desperately looks for an out but there isn’t one. The balcony below her is too far down. Tsuyu’s been captured. Tokoyami’s trapped and worse is that Dark Shadow isn’t gonna hold out for much longer. They’re doomed.
it’s …it’s over. There's no way out of this. But-but there still has to be a way out of this? There has to be! There must be! Otherwise, it was all for nothing…
And just as she’s about to give up hope, her antenna picks up several Emotional Wavelengths. And all at once Mina is hit with a sense of newfound hope and courage.
Suddenly from one of the sealed entrances away, a loud bang is heard as the doors are busted open. Broken in by a large muscular mass.
“Ugh, I’m out. That’s all I had left in me.” Sato goes down, exhausted and low on sugar, taking a knee as the others step inside.
“That’s alright, you got us this far.” Hisashi strides into the room with a flourish, his Hawaiian shirt dancing in the wind as he gives the kid a pat on the shoulder. “We have it from here!”
The rest of the group stride into the facility with grinning smiles and hearts full of hope.
“Keep away from those kids!!” Hisashi roars unleashing a massive wave of flames upon the army of Daleks, consuming them all entirely in a personal hell on Earth. “Or you’ll regret it!!”
The flames burn and eat away at the Daleks. The flames reach so high that they fend off the hovering Daleks that have Tokoyami and Dark Shadow pinned.
“Tokoyami!!” Hagakure hurries to Tokoyami’s side just as Dark Shadow withers back into his chest.
“Hagakure. T-thank you.” Tokoyami groans, his entire body covered in burns.
“Shh, relax now, I got you.” Hagakure helps him up by slinging his arm over her shoulders.
As they stumble away, Sero zips past them with a swing of his tape. “In coming! Hahaha!” With a laugh he swings himself upward, right towards the webbed up Tsuyu. “What kind of mess is this?!” He shoots out an entanglement of tape over the Daleks. “Let's see if I can make it messier!!”
The tape stick and pull on the hovering Daleks. And in their attempt to pull away they jostle and pull on each other, throwing each other off balance. And with a well-timed kick from Sero they go tumbling away, spiraling out of control and slamming and cutting away their own capture cables as they collide.
“Kero!!” Tsuyu shouts as she’s freed.
As she plummets, Sero swings in and catches her, bringing them down to a rolling stop across one of the higher balconies.
“Thanks for the rescue!” Tsuyu breathes.
“Don’t mention it.”
“But what was with that line?”
“Eh.” Sero shrugs. “I was trying to think of something Midoriya would say.”
Meanwhile, Shoji is making a beeline for the Daleks that are holding Mina at gunpoint, charging forward like an enraged bull as he goes. “Get away from her!!”
With his arms stretched out at his sides he slams into the Daleks, knocking them both over the edge and crashing to the ground below where they smash into pieces.
“S-Shoji!!” Mina gasps while still hanging on for dear life.
“I’ve got ya.” Shoji easily hoists her up with one arm. “You alright?!”
“I’m fine! But the switch! We need to get to the last switch!!” Mina shouts in a panic, pointing up to the orb on top of the ceiling.
But hovering Daleks block the way, taking up the airways like hovering flies.
Shoji flinches under the gaze of the Daleks. “It's too far!! We’ll never make it in time!!”
^Bop wop!^
From around the bend, Chopper appears albeit beaten and scraped up. He’s leaning to one side and one his legs are bent, and his antenna is missing. But otherwise, he’s up on his feet and he’s ready for action.
“Ch-Chopper! You’re okay!” Mina cries in relief before getting a brilliant idea. “I know you can fly up there and get it!”
He shakes his head in frustration. ^Waaa…^ Leaning back he shows her that his rocket booster is busted as well.
“Oh, no! We have to do something!” Shoji exclaims.
^Wa wop-bp!^ Chopper suddenly has an idea, waving his arms around frantically in an attempt to communicate what it is.
“What? What is it he’s trying to say?” Shoji wonders, unable to decipher any of the droid’s whoops and whistles.
But Mina pays close attention, watching at how Chopper swings his arms in a throwing motion.
“Throw?” And then it hits her on what he’s trying to say. “Throw him! Throw him now!!”
“Oh, I get it!” Shoji picks up the little droid and asks tentatively. “Are you ready?”
^Wop.^ Chopper gives him a nod.
“Alright, then. Then here we go!” Shoji spins, swinging Chopper around before launching him straight at the orb. “SPEED BALL!!”
Chopper races through the air like a baseball, racing past the slow-moving Daleks with ease. But despite Shoji’s strength and best-efforts Chopper slows before he even makes it halfway.
“He’s not gonna make it!” Hagakure shouts, watching as she helps Tokoyami to safety.
“Oh, yes he will!” Sero leaps out and wraps Chopper in tape.
Spinning his body, he swings and launches Chopper higher into the air.
“You got this!!” Tsuyu bounces across the sky, reeling her leg back, she unleashes a devastating kick into Chopper’s side sending him rocketing the rest of the way like a high-speed comet!
And this comet soars, flying higher and higher until Chopper crashes into the orb with a thunderous collision. And upon doing so, activating the last of the Cutoff Protocol.
The flashing red lights around the facility suddenly stop and freeze in place as do the attacking Daleks. Everyone, every machine, and every circuit of the facility goes silent as everyone holds their breath. And then it all goes green. The entire room flashes to green and the Daleks fall away, shutting off completely and finally going still and an announcement rings out throughout the entire island.
[The Cutoff Protocol has been activated. The Cutoff Protocol has been activated.]
But what really means one thing to all the teens: “WE DID IT!!!”
They did it. They really did it. They saved everyone!
Hisashi visibly relaxes as a mix of pride fills him. The kids did good, no, these hero students did great. As did his own companion. “Way to go, Chop.”
From the newly formed hole in the ceiling, Chopper peers down and waves in celebration before collapsing as if he actually fainted.
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
Malware freezes as the code in the Cyberspace shifts and closes off. [No.] He peers up and confirms his worst fears. [NO!!!]
The floating planet above is gone. It has completely vanished from sight as did the rest of the starry coded sky. It’s gone completely as if it never existed to begin with.
[Where is it?! Where did it go?! WHAT HAVE YOU DONE!?!]
From across the way, Upgrade smirks victoriously. He knows what the planet vanishing means, it means that Mina and the others did it. It means that the Cutoff Protocol has been activated.
[I told you already, didn’t I?!] With Malware shaken, Upgrade consumes enough code to expand himself, rising above the skyline and meeting Malware’s own gigantic size. [We’re never gonna let you win, Malware!!]
Upgrade unleashes a beam from his eye that tears into Malware, knocking him down a size, literally, as he crashes onto the city below.
[It’s over Malware. There’s nothing you can do now. The Cutoff Protocol’s been switched on. You’ll never take over I-Island now!]
[Do you really think that?] Malware rises from the smoke and fading code. [Izuku Midoriya, I must admit it but you are a far superior challenge than I assumed. I won’t be making that mistake again. You are relentless.] A cold devilish sneer crosses Malware’s face. [But so am I!!]
The red-circuitry ground and towers shift and bend, comparing together as the entire coded moon shakes to its core with thunderous rumbles and explosions. An earsplitting shockwave crashes through the void as the ground tears itself apart, red splitting from green like a limb being ripped from its socket.
[I see now that the only way for me to reach my full potential. Is by DESTROYING YOU, IZUKU MIDORIYA!!!] Malware’s lifted away as the ground and code break away and rise righ into the air like a scene from Inception. [I will not allow you to stand between me and my destiny!]
But Upgrade remains unflinching before the display of power, staring ahead and choosing to face the challenge with all his courage. [It’s like you said Malware, I’m relentless.] He matches Malware’s destruction with his own, tearing away his half of the coded moon with roaring tremors. [So, bring it!]
[How can you be so sure that you’ll win?!]
[Because I’m not alone! I have my friends at my side!]
Surrounding Upgrade from all sides, giant images of said friends dance around him like a swarm. Each of the images were taken from the Island’s own security system. There are images of Ochaco racing off for the escaping helicopter. Videos of Iida, Momo, Jiro, Denki, and Mineta facing off against the Security Drones. Melissa and Kraab hacking into the Central Tower’s mainframe. There’s Bakugou, Todoroki, and Kirishima helping Izuku to take down the villains in the Plant Factory. And there’s images of Mina, his dad, and the others being joined by Tokoyami and Shoji as they raid the underground labyrinth.
They’re all here. Fighting to stop the villains’ plans!
[You’re friends?] Malware pauses and thinks, he considers what a nuisance these humans have been. They have provided support, an offense, and run interferences against him, Wolfram, and their plan. In truth, his allies have been quite effective. So perhaps his own alley can be too. [Yes. Allies can prove to be quite useful.]
With a final roar the two gigantic Galvanic Mechamorphs rip the coded moon apart and reshape them to their liking. The tear causes an explosion of red and green to erupt out in all directions with only the stunned Kraab to witness it all before being blinding by the flashing forces.
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
All Might zips across the air and catches Ochaco, bringing them both down to ground level.
“All Might!!” Ochaco yelps in relief.
“YOU’RE WORDS REALLY LIGHT A FIRE UNDER ME, YOUNG URARAKA!” All Might grins, his smile so bright it fills everyone who looks upon it with hope and determination. “NOW LET’S SHOW THIS VILLAIN JUST HOW BRIGHT OUR FLAMES ARE!”
“Yeah, let’s kick his ass!!”
“AN ALRIGHT WOULD HAVE SUFFICED BUT WHO CARES?! I LOVE THAT FIGHTING SPIRIT OF YOURS!”
Wolfram snorts in contempt. “You think you can take me?! Don’t make me laugh! I’ll crush you all until there’s nothing left!!”
Suddenly and without warning the entire tower shakes so violently it feels like it’s about to collapse from underneath all their feet.
The teens all fall and trip over the violent shaking as Jiro cries out fear. “The tower! Is it collapsing?!”
“Ah we’re all gonna die!!” Denki wails, tears streaming from his eyes.
“No, it’s something else!” Momo shouts over the continuous shaking and shouting.
“What is it?!” Iida demands an answer but before he can get one, he and all his friend are thrown off their feet as the ground gives in from under them.
“Aaaah!”
“Everyone!” Shoto acts quickly by forming a sheet of solid ice that catches them and prevents them from falling.
“Icy-Hot! What’s going on?!” Bakugou roars as he rockets himself down to their level.
“I don’t know!”
As the tower shakes it begins to tear itself apart.
Ochaco grabs onto All Might’s arm for support as she’s nearly thrown off her feet. “All Might?!”
“WHAT IS THIS?!” All Might’s in shock too, especially as he stares at the ground.
The entire tower has turned inky-black while crimson circuity runs every which way like a disease.
Even Wolfram seems perplexed by the sudden predicament. “What the hell?!”
[Wolfram.]
Wolfram jumps as Malware’s red circuitry crawls up the cables and metal and whispers into his ear. “Malware?! I thought our arrangement was over?”
[Change of plans. I require your assistance. And you require mine.]
“I don’t need you! Look at all my power!”
[Impressive, but with my help…it can be so much more.]
Without waiting for permission Malware’s influence spreads into the Quirk Amplifying Device taking it over and putting it under his own will.
“What are you-?!”
[Silence you fool! You wanted power well this is what it looks like!!]
“Aaaaaaahhh!” Wolfram howls in pain and exhilaration, the power running through his system is unbelievable as Malware takes over the device and pours as much power as he can spare into it. The power’s insane, it’s going beyond what even he dreamed of. He can feel his metal manipulation spreading across the entire tower, all the way to its lowest levels. And his muscles, his muscles burn like an inferno. And with so much power rushing through his veins and flesh his skin and muscles burst into actual flames as heat trying to escape a raging furnace.
Everyone watches in horror as the iron kraken flails widely, its cold metal exterior has been completely taken over by the black, red ink. More and more metal are pulled into the kraken like a blackhole, expanding it and allowing the red-circuitry to spread even further.
“What-how is this bastard becoming stronger?!” Bakugou stumbles back as the tower’s structure is torn away.
“Is it the device?!” Shoto asks.
But Melissa knows it’s not, this is something far more dangerous. “No, it’s not. It’s-it’s-”
[It’s Malware!] Upgrade’s head pops out from the ground like a little blob of ink and green.
“Waah! The floor’s alive!” Denki screams in terror.
“Aaa!! Wrong!” Jiro scolds while slapping his arm. “It’s not the floor! Clearly it’s an escaped science experiment!”
Upgrade kinda wants to laugh at that but holds back. [Guys it’s me!]
Ochaco quickly notices how familiar sounding Upgrade’s voice is to Izuku’s original, almost as if Izuku himself is speaking through a faulty speaker. “D-Deku!!”
Iida too quickly recognizes the strange blob. “Midoriya, what is going on?! What’s causing this?!”
[Wolfram’s not working alone! He has a partner who’s causing all this!]
The teens, minus Ochaco and Melissa, are stunned.
Even All Might is stunned. ‘A PARTNER?! COULD HE HAVE ALSO BE IN LEAGUE WITH ALL FOR ONE?!’
Meanwhile, Upgrade continues with his quick explanation. [And well he’s kinda upset that we’re trying to stop him.]
“You call this kind of upset?!” Jiro shakes her hands wildly as the mass of expanding metal and red.
As she does more and more of the tower shifts and is torn apart, pulled in by Wolfram’s Metal Manipulation.
“What’s he-what are they doing?!” Shoto corrects himself mid shout.
“Whatever it is, it can be good.” Kirishima comments, having to use Harden to prevent some of the flying metal from gouging him.
[Everyone listen!” Upgrade cries out gathering their attention. [We can stop him. I know we can!]
“How?!” Melissa asks.
Upgrade pauses and thinks. He doesn’t really have a plan; everything so far has been made up on the fly. And yet he still feels confident, hopeful, that they will win. He knows it because they're; all here.
And so, gazing upon each of them he can only see their talents, skills, and bravery. He even turns to All Might and despite his feelings he knows that they can win.
And so with his heart field by passionate fire Upgrade finally answers Melissa’s question. [Together.]
That’s all Ochaco needs to hear to be on board. “Sounds like a plan to me!”
“That’s no plan!” Bakugou retorts, calling out how bullshit it is. “Gah, I can take these losers out myself!”
“So, then are you out?”
“Hell no! If there’s gonna be any ass whooping, then I’m gonna be part of it!”
Assuming that means he’s in, Kirishima goes ahead and joins in. “Yeah, same here!”
Melissa and Shoto step forward as well to show their support.
All the while Mineta is freaking out that they’re joining in. “You’re all insane! Fine! I’m in, too! Ahh, why do I let you all drag me into these things!”
With a sympathetic smirk Denki gives him a pat on the back. “There’s just no use in fighting it.” Jiro gasps. “Wow, he can learn.”
Even though there is no plan Momo gets sucked into their infectious excitement and determination too. “Everyone, I believe in you!”
Iida however isn’t as open to the full hearty plan as they are. “Everyone please settle down! This is hardly what I call a plan!”
[Iida.]
Iida stops and turns to the transformed Izuku. And even though he can’t read Upgrade’s expression he can tell that he’s staring right into his soul.
[Just trust me.]
“…Okay.”
That’s nearly everybody but there's still one more.
All Might starts when Upgrade turns to him. He’s hesitant to answer not out of fear or concern but pride. These kids are amazing. Even with such impossible odds before them they refuse to buckle. Talk about heroes in the making. “I AM WITH YOU, YOUNG MIDORIYA.”
For the first time in a long time, Upgrade can smile in front of All Might. [Okay, everyone! Hold onto your butts! Because this is gonna be one heck of a ride!!]
And that’s the only warning they get as the green metal around them folds up and consumes them all into a giant metal cube.
The cube breaks apart as it sinks into the tower. As it does, Upgrade's green circuitry cuts and pushes back malware’s red. The opposing circuitries clash into each other like crashing waves, vying for dominance as they both quickly spread throughout the entire tower. Their influence reaches through every level, lab, and computer consuming everything within. Corrupted cables and pillars snap, technology is ripped right from their vaults as both Malware and Upgrade struggle to take what they can and incorporate it as their own from weapons, to gadgets, and more. Not even the building’s structures and foundations are safe as they too are consumed and bent to their will.
The entire tower shakes and crumbles as the opposing forces split and tear the entire tower in two. Both taking what they could get as their own.
But to those Upgrade consumed this is nothing but a chaotic nightmare. Green-circurty gears, walls, cables, and tech fly every which way. Each one morphing in their shapes and functions as they’re taken in by Upgrade while they themselves are thrown and split off from the others and vaulted away as the cube that once held them together divides them and carries them away.
But a few are transported to the same place as Ochaco, All Might, and Melissa are all spat out into a massive black and green chamber. The chamber is tall and wide, illuminated in the same green glow while the walls remain stark black.
“What’s going on?!” Ochaco yelps as she’s thrusted into the room.
Melissa turns her attention to the front of the chamber where a large monitor is surrounded by an array of smaller screens.
She gasps when she sees whos’ on the smaller screens. “Everyone?!”
Their friends are displayed on every screen, there’s one for each of them as each of them have been transported away to a different part of the shapeshifting tower.
They seem to hear them as they all jump with a start at the sound of their voices.
“IS EVERYONE ALRIGHT?” All Might calls out to them, praying they’re unharmed.
[“What is all this?!”] Denki cries out from wherever he is.
[“Not sure.”] Shoto responds while trying to figure that out himself.
[“Deku!! Just what the fuck did you do?!”] Bakugou roars.
Ochaco would like to know as well. “What is all this?!”
“It’s our salvation, kid!”
Their heads snap up to the top of the chamber and there lodged in the ceiling is the black and green-circuitry pattern head of Kraab. He peers down at them with bright green eyes, an indication that he’s being upgraded by Upgrade, while several large pieces of tech in the shape of triangles surround him. Those pieces being what’s left of the Helix, the very same device that gave malware his new form.
“Kr-Kraab?!” Ochaco and Melissa gasp.
“Hurry! Get yourselves into these!” Wasting no time, Kraab lowers down a pair of exo-skeleton like straps front the ceiling above. They’re thin and wiry, meant to lace onto two pilots’ frames.
All Might eyes the suits curiously and with caution. “WHAT ARE THESE?”
From the center monitor Upgrade’s massive circular eye appears. [They’re motion suits: think of them as really fancy controls.]
“Controls?! What are we controlling?!” Ochaco asks.
[Oh, something special!]
If they could see what was happening from above, then they’d all totally buy it.
Upgrade’s half of the tower morphs in and out of itself, crumbling away before reforming and reshaping its incorporated technologies. As parts of the tower sprawl out to the sky and are swung around, they consume any other buildings and structures nearby, ripping them from the ground as their technologies are absorbed by the powered-up Upgrade.
And soon after Upgrade’s absorbed all that he could, then and only then does his half of the tower take shape. A torso forms at the center of the mass, it’s big and bulky as a version of the Omnitrix’s symbol appears at its center. A set of legs pop out from underneath, each foot benign a part of a different building. On its right an arm forms with a set of dual-fists, two hands on each arm for double-the punch. While on the left an entire chunk of the tower itself is used to form a massive gorilla like gauntlet. And then the head, the crown of the machine forms, sprouting out like a mechanical version of Upgrade’s own design with the central point being that of a massive Omnitrix symbol.
[Let’s go!!] The Upgrade controlled Mecha spins and flexes, throwing its hand forward as it declares out to the world its debut. [DEKU EX-MACHINA!!!!]
(“Deku Ex-Machina” by Void25 on Deviant Art.)
[Believe in the Me that Believes in You!!]
“He said the thing! He said the thing!!” Denki gushes like a proper fanboy, peering out from his own, yellow-glossed window into the outside.
Several monitors surround him as well allowing him to talk to and see the others. And a great many cables run around him, having attached themselves to his body.
“This is so cool!!” Kirishima yells out from his own chamber.
“I’m not sure if I should love the name or hate it.” Jiro comments as she peers out of her blue-tinted window.
“Let’s kill them already!!” Bakugou howls in dying anticipation, and despite his yelling the massive grin on his face is a clear indicator of just how epic this is for him.
“Wait a moment!” Momo calls out as she peers out her own ruby-tinted window. “But what of the villains?!”
Their celebration is cut short as they witness Malware and Wolfram’s own transformation. It appears the two Galvanic Mechamorphs had similar ideas but where Upgrade’s Mecha is a combination of him and his friends’ own differences and strength Malware’s radiates a violent energy. Taking on the form of an apex predator that’ll tear through everything in its path.
With a short head with narrow thin eyes like that of a cat as a sharp row of teeth line its underside like that of a shark’s. Blood red claws stretch out at its sides as its bulky form flexes and twists with rows and rows of twisted spines upon its shoulders and limbs. Flames and radiant heat spew from within the twisted black metal as the crimson circuity patterns trace its body like bloody scars.
Mineta nearly pisses himself at the sight of it. “What the hell is that thing?!”
“It’s a monster!” Iida shouts.
“That’s supposed to be Wolfram?! And Malware?!” Ochaco can’t believe it.
Upgrade, however, shakes his head. That’s not Malware nor Wolfram, it’s a hellish combination of the two. It’s nothing but their predatory ambitions showcased in its truest form.
[It’s an Apex!]
(“Apex” from Pacific Rim Black.)
[RAAAAAaaaaaggggghhhhh!!!] The Apex lets out an ungodly mechanical roar that shakes the entire island to its core.
[Everyone. This is it. This is when we make our final stand!] With Upgrade’s words of encouragement each and every one of them braces themselves for the fight ahead. [We’re in this together. I can’t control this all on my own, I don’t have enough power within me to control it without risking it all falling apart.]
At that All Might turns to the motion suits and grips the one meant for him. “SO, THEN IN ACTUALITY WE’RE IN CONTROL?”
[We’re all in control. All three of us. I’m giving this Mecha all the power it needs but it still needs a core energy source. And what better source of power is there than you two?]
Ochaco smiles as she throws the exo-suit over herself. Its frame attaches itself to her spine and limbs snuggly much like the Full Gauntlet. “Say no more! It’s like we’ve been saying! We’ll take them on together!”
“SHE’S RIGHT!” All Might gets into position as well. “WE’LL FOLLOW YOUR LEAD, YOUNG MIDORIYA.”
[Be sure to time your attacks. This Mecha’s too big for even the two of us to control.]
“But what about me?!” Melissa chimes in, wishing to provide aid.
As she asks, a separate set of monitors light up and at their base lies a central computer.
“We need every ounce of help we can get it.” Kraab explains. “No matter if it’s on the frontlines or in the back as support, every role is important.”
Melissa understands and silently promises to do her part as she hurries to the computer. The moment the monitors light up she instantly scans the Mecha’s parameters and vitals.
[“And what about the rest of us?!”] Jiro calls out through her monitor.
[I need you all to stand with me.] Upgrade explains his voice echoing out through the entire Mecha. [To fight with me. Not for our sake but for the sake of all of I-Island! We will give it our all and we will not stop until these villains have been defeated and everyone’s been saved. It’s time to go PLUS ULTRA!] He throws his fist into the air and shouts. [ANNND-]
And then all at once they all cry out for the entire island to hear. [“IT’S HERO TIME!!!”]
[RAAAAAaaaaagggghhhh!!!]
With a roar from the Apex the clash of the titans begins.
Thunderous clangs of metal fists meet iron claws causing shockwaves to ripple through the air with every Collison.
The Deku Ex Machina manages to land its right fist into the Apex’s side and as the Apex reaches out to strike back the second fist collides into the side of its jaw.
However, using its other claw to pierce into Deku Ex Machina’s arm the Apex reels back and back slashes the mech, knocking it back.
“Aaaaahhhhh!!” Nearly every teen cries out as they’re thrown around in their chambers.
“He got us!!” Mineta cries.
“Sorry!” Ochaco apologies as she readjusts in midair from the suspended suit.
All Might scowls as the Apex charges them. “URARAKA, WE HAVE TO BE IN SYNC. NOW LET’S GO!”
“Everyone try this!” Melissa calls out from the control panel, she happenes to notice some of the abilities the Mecha is capable of.
“Stop talking and fight back already!” Bakugou shouts, he’s itching to fight, and he’s pissed that they’re getting their asses kicked.
[You heard the man!] The Deku Ex Machina catches its balance and solidifies its feet to the ground. [Let’s bring the thunder, Kaminari!]
From inside his chamber, Denki is trapped to a massive green-glowing generator, cables running every which way and bound to him as he unleashes a barrage of electricity. “Let’s go!”
And together both Denki and Upgrade cry out their Special Move. [“THUNDERBOLT RAY!!!”]
[RAAAAAaaaaagggghhhh!!!] The Apex howls in what seems like pain as the green lightning burrows into its chest.
But the attack only makes it more enraged as it unleashes a burning laser beam from its maw.
“J-Jiro!” Ochaco screams as she and All Might flex, throwing their chests froward while holding their fists up at their sides.
From inside her chamber Jiro unleashes as much of her sonic waves into the upgraded and boosted speakers and together both Upgrade and her declare out. [“SUPERSONIC SIGIL!!!”]
Every speaker located at the front of its body explodes with an ear-splitting boom. One of which is so powerful it causes one to see the air rippling like waves. It’s so strong that the laser harmlessly bounces off the sonic shield like a dart bouncing off tin.
Enraged and annoyed, the Apex rips the spines from its arms and throws them forward with such veracity that they slice the air and wind.
(Sticky missiles intercept and destroy them/stick them together) [“STICKY FIREWORKS!!!”] As Upgrade and Mineta cry out, several compartments open from the Mecha’s chest and outcome a swarm of missiles.
The missiles intercept the incoming spines and explode before impact, covering the razor-sharp spines in purple goo. Causing them to fall away or stick to each other, throwing each other off balance and away.
“Take that! Hahaha!!” Mineta gloats as he continues to rip off the balls from his head and place them into slots of the missiles coming through a conveyor belt.
But then the charging Apex’s malicious grin breaks through the smoke. “Waaaaahh!!”
[“SHRAPNEL GATLING GUN”] Upgrade and Momo roar as a giant gatling gun opens up from the other side of the chest.
And out from it giant narrow shards of metal are fired out in rapid succession. The metal shards pierce the Apex’s armor and upon coming into contact with the heat they burst and expand, some becoming so twisted they sew themselves into the armor.
The only way they got this result was because Momo’s using the same flame-activated fiber she used against Thirteen during their Final Exam. And clearly it still has an effect as the Apex slows as its gears and mechanics are warped and jammed.
Enraged the Apex manages to break free of its hindrances with sheer force of will and strength, not caring how damaged it becomes as it lunges forward and sinks its claws and fangs into Deku Ex Machina’s hide, flames pouring out from its claws and fangs like blood seeping through the Deku Ex Machina’s wounds.
Melissa hangs onto the panel as the Mecha is shaken and thrown around. “Damage to main haul at 30%!!”
“Activating fire suppressant measures now!” Kraab calls out as he too monitors the Mecha’s systems.
Ochaco grips her own burnt shoulder as the Apex tears into the Mecha’s “All Might?!”
“HANG IN THERE, YOUNG URARAKA!” All Might calls out as he Ochaco time their punches and manage to shove the Apex away. “WE CAN’T ALLOW FOR THIS VILLANY TO STAND!”
Using the Mecha’s giant left arm as an anchor they throw the Mecha’s get into the air and spin, delivering a powerful kick into the Apex’s side.
The Apex stumbles and roars before rushing in like a crazed feral animal.
And the titans clash again, exchanging blow after blow. Malware vs. Upgrade. Wolfram vs. All Might and Ochaco. Apex vs. Deku Ex Machina. Every blow and slash can be heard across the entire island. Every crash and slam into the ground threatens the island’s own ability to float. And every laser fire and missile fired lights up the sky like a nuclear explosion. It’s a fantastical yet terrifying show for every resident of I-island. And that means everyone.
“What the hell’s going on over there?!” Sero’s jaw drops as he helps Sato get back through the main entrance of the underground labyrinth.
The others all watch in shock-and-awe as a battle between a red and green Gurren Lagann rages in the distance, above the skyline.
The injured Mina’s put down by Shoji, allowing her a moment to watch. “It’s like so cool yet terrifying all at the same time.”
Hisashi watches from the back of the group, in his arms a damaged Chopper who goes in and out of consciousness. But even so the two manage to watch on and quickly figure out what or who exactly they’re watching. “Izuku.”
The entire island watches as Deku Ex Machina pounds its fist and fires at the Apex only for it to rebound quickly, repairing itself with Malware’s and Wolfram’s power.
“Nothing's working!” Ochaco shouts before turning up towards the cyborg. “Kraab?!”
Kraab shutters as he analyzes the opposing Mecha. “Hate to tell you kid but they’re repairing faster than we can hurt em!”
[“Then let me have a go at him!”] Bakugou barks from his own chamber. [“I’ll show you all what a real finishing move looks like!!”]
All Might grins before turning to his co-pilot. “WELL, YOU HEARD THE LAD.”
Ochaco smirks as they both get ready. “Get ready, Bakugou!”
[“Finally!”] Bakugou gives an almost maniacal grin as he leans back in his seat. His arms stretched out and lodged into a set of cannon like structures. “LET’S BLOW UP THE BASTARDS!!”
“YEAAAHHH!!” As they reel back their fist, the Mecha does the same. Its massive, towering gauntlet rises up and readies itself back as the Apex howls and charges like a rabid beast.
“GIVE IT EVERYTHING YOU GOT!/LET’S GO!” They swing forward with all their might piloting the fist forward.
Deku Ex Machina roars with the echo of Upgrade and Bakugou shouting out. [“HOWITZER SMASH!!!”]
The elbow of the arm spews powerful flames and the entire arm rockets forward as a giant left hook! Its massive fist crashing into the Apex’s torso. Upon impact the knuckles release an eruption of fiery Explosions. Each one ringing out after the other in a catastrophic chain reaction, lighting up the night like thousands upon thousands of dynamite were set off all at once.
But for the Apex it’s like it laid atop an erupting volcano as chunks of metal fall away, melted or burned by the explosion.
[“Hahaha! That got him!!”] Bakugou laughs.
As the Apex reels back in pain, more and more metal falls from its armor exploding the web of cables inside acting as its veins. And there within the haul of the armor and cables lies an injured David Shield.
The Professor stirs awake, his ears ringing and his face is burned but he’s alive. Waking up he’s stunned to find himself stuck inside the red Apex and a giant amalgamation that is Deku Ex Machina before him.
He watches in awe struck as Deku Ex Machina grounds its massively sized fist. It's so big and heavy that its knuckles crush the ground underneath it, cracking it. But more importantly he spots the Omnitrix symbol embedded into the Mecha’s exterior. “It-it can’t be.”
Meanwhile from inside the Mecha itself, Kraab spots something on the radar.
“Hang on a minute.” Using the outside cameras, he zooms in towards the Apex’s damaged haul. “There! Look!”
The monitor zooms in on the image of a bleeding and injured David ensnared inside the enemy’s mech.
“Papa!/DAVE!/Professor Shield!!” They all cry out before Ochaco drives the mech forward with a scream. “Deku!”
[I know.] The Deku Ex Machina lunges forward. [We need to save him!]
His dual fisted arm launches itself into Apex’s chest, with one of its knuckles piercing through the first layer of armor.
[RAAAAAaaaaagggghhhh!!!] Apex claws and tears at the mech’s arm in outrage but Deku Ex-Machina holds out and fires back with STICKY FIREWORKS and the SHRAPNEL GATLING GUN.
But as they fight the Deku Ex-Machina keeps its fist lodged into its opponent. Good thing as the latch slide open and out comes Kirishima and Iida, both having been on standby and ready to assist any of their friends.
Iida races forward and delivers a zooming kick into the cables, breaking them apart. “Kirishima!”
“On it!!” Kirishima rushes and lodges his Hardened fingers into the cables and rips them away. And with his binds loosened the two help the Professor out of his imprisonment.
“Hang in there, Professor!” Iida encourages as he and Kirishima pull him back towards the latch.
[Where do you think you’re going?] Suddenly a web of wires come to life and grab at David’s ankles. [You can’t leave! We still have a use for you, Professor!]
David can barely move his feet, unable to resist Malware’s pull as the teens try to pull him free.
*PEW!!!* Suddenly a thin beam of green energy slices through the cables in a single shot.
[Gaaah!]
[Keep away from him!] Upgrade’s face appears above the latch, his eye aglow before firing off another laser. [He’s got a daughter who needs him!]
As Malware reaches out with more wires, Upgrade continues to fire back, covering for the three and allowing them to reach the safe unharmed.
But before they enter David stares up at Upgrade in awe. He’s at a loss for words, he can’t fully process what’s happening nor why this child would save him after what he did.
[Go to Melissa, sir. She’s worried about you.]
He starts at that but goes quietly as Kirishima and Iida hurry him inside.
Malware stops his attack, finding it pointless with David now safely stowed away in the Mecha. [You really think you can best me?]
[I know we can.] Upgrade bites back as he finally rips the knuckle out from the Apex’s chest.
Watching him get away Malware lets out an enraged roar along with the Apex. [RAAAAAaaaaagggghhhh!!!]
Like an injured beast the Apex lashes out, uncaring of its own injuries as metal and tech rip away from inside its core. Cables and strands of malleable metals all combine around its back forming into mile long stretches of metallic tentacles laced with red-circuitry and burning heat.
[RAAAAAaaaaagggghhhh!!!]
The burning tentacles lash out from all sides, coming in at every direction with such speed the Mecha has no hope to block them all. They manage to catch two and use the SUPERSONIC SIGIL to repel a few more but the rest break through. Piercing through its entire structure front he arms, legs, and torso causing sparks of red electricity to explode forth through the Deku Ex-Machina’s armor, the heat of the metal burns and melts away its armor from within, exposing its interior structure.
While holding onto the panel for dear life, Melissa reads out the status of the mech. “Damage at 60%! Ah-70%!”
Kraab winces in pain as if he can feel Upgrade’s own pain. “Power Core’s damaged! It’s leaking electricity at this rate we’re gonna go dark and be nothing but a sitting duck for this thing to wail into!!”
[“If it’s power you need! Then I’ve got it!”] Denki calls out from beside the generator-like device.
Upon his request Upgrade shifts it around giving Denki perfect access to the generator’s mainframe.
The blonde attaches himself to the device and fires away allowing all the electricity he can muster to flow through.
[“Is that really enough though?!”] Jiro worriedly asks.
Kraab would shake his head if he wasn't stuck to the ceiling. “It’s not. So, we need to end this as soon as we can! Like yesterday!”
“How though?” ask Ochaco only for Upgrade himself to cut in with a little too much enthusiasm.
[How else? In an epic fashion!] On the monitor he provides the next weapon available to them.
And upon seeing the new toy, the two One For All Holders share a confident smirk.
Seeing their expressions Upgrade goes ahead and gets the weapon ready. [Todoroki!!Are you ready?!]
[“Yeah.”] Shoto breathes, releasing a cloud of smoke and steam that rises above into his own tall and narrow chamber. [“I’m ready.”]
“PREPARE TO FACE JUSTICE VILLAINS!!” All Might mimics reaching over and above his left shoulder as if grabbing at an invisible hilt, albeit both he and Ochaco struggle as they pull through the burning tentacles that are restraining the Mecha. “THIS IS WHAT IT MEANS TO GO PLUS ULTRA!!”
Shoto unleashes all that he has. Releasing dual eruption of fire and ice high above into the Mecha like a crashing flood of burning heat and freezing cold.
And with a flourish the Deku Ex-Machina brandishes its trump card. A massive sky-scraper longsword with an entire building acting as the hilt as rows of metal line the blade. The two sides of the blade infinite with color as one side burns with red flames and the other glows with azure ice.
[“DISASTER BRINGER: TITANIC-POMPEII!!!”] Both Upgrade and Shoto announce as the Deku Ex-Machina swings and slices through the piercing tentacles in a brilliant dance of fire and ice. Embers and crystals trace the blade’s path leaving a beautiful visage of the sword’s path.
[RAAAAAaaaaagggghhhh!!!] Not to be out done Malware and Wolfram match Deku Ex-Machina with their own blade, summoning it forth with Metal Manipulation and using the fallen shrapnel and rubble from the sliced off tentacles and armor.
And so, blades clash causing flames, crystals, and shrapnel to burst out front the points of impact. Again, and again the blades ring out, the noise shattering windows and glass across the island.
[“Wooo-hoooo! This. Is. Epic!”] Denki cheers like a kid on a roller coaster, oblivious to the danger they’re actually in.
[“Why didn’t we lead with this?!”] Jiro questions despite the giant grin on her face.
[“Kick his ass or I’m gonna kick yours, Icy-Hot!! Deku!!”]
Spurred on by their friends Upgrade, Shoto, Ochaco, and All Might all let loose and give it all they got.
*Clash.*
*Clash.*
*CLASH.*
*CLASH!*
*CLASH!!*
*CLASH!!!*
Again and again they crash, parry, and swing at the other vying to kill and destroy the other in a blaze of glory.
But the Apex grows impatient and lunges forth, thrusting the tip of its blade towards Deku Ex-Machina head.
That was its mistake as Deku Ex-Machina’s head evades the blade like a serpent. And with the Apex exposed and its weapon in a vulnerable position, they strike.
*SLICE!!!*
With a single swing the Disaster Bringer slices straight through the Apex’s helm. The helm breaks away with each side consumed by either flames or ice before falling away and exposing the glowing red abomination within.
Inside the core of the Apex lies a howling Wolfram, his body enlarged to monstrous proportions due to the upgraded Quirk Amplifying Device’s effects. His muscles have torn through his own skin and have burned the last of it away as intense heat radiates off of him in waves. His bones simmer and crack under the pressure, the bones of his fingers exposed like claws and even his skull radiated red from the burning flesh. And yet his howls are a mix of pain, laughter, and insanity. His mind is broken, it’s filled with nothing but a pure lust of power.
“More! I need more!” He howls, flames spewing from his maw, like a devil. “I NEED MOOORRREEE!!!”
[So be it.] But the true devil makes itself known as it takes hold of its foolish host.
Malware’s power extends further into the Quirk Amplifying Device pushing far past what it was ever meant to be capable of.
The device suddenly expands, tracing down and outlining Wolfram’s frame before expanding in an explosion of Malware’s own circuitry.
[Yes! The power! It’s EXHILARATING!!] Both Malware and Wolfram cry out in perfect unison as they combine with Malware’s own flesh taking over Wolfram’s. They flail and shake from the sheer pressure and pain, but they power through before becoming a perfect union of flesh and tech. [THIS IS WHAT PERFECTION LOOKS LIKE! THIS IS WHAT WE WERE ALWAYS MEANT TO BE!
With a single swipe from its claw, the Apex smashes right through the DISASTER BRINGER.
Shoto gasps as his chamber’s ripped open from above but he’s pulled away and launched into an escaped pod by Upgrade.
[WE ARE A GOD!]
“You’re no god!” Ochaco admonishes with such venom. “You’re nothing but a vile monster!”
All Might couldn’t agree more as they both simultaneously stand at the ready. “YOU’VE HURT SO MANY ALREADY. AND WE WON’T ALLOW YOU TO EXPAND YOUR WRATH TO ANYONE ELSE!”
[YOU FOOLS YOU’RE EFFORTS WILL BE IN VAIN!! I WILL TAKE THIS ISLAND AND THEN I WILL LAY WASTE TO THE REST OF THIS WORLD!!]
[If you want to hurt this world! Then you have to face ALL OF US!!!] Upgrade roars as the entire frame of Deku Ex-Machina shines like a star as their friends all cry out to them.
“Go get them guys!!”
“Teach them a lesson!”
“Stop them! And let us go home already!!”
“END IT!!!”
Ochaco, All Might, and the Deku Ex-Machina all simultaneously get ready. Pulling their dual-fisted right arm back. The fists begin to rotate at the wrist, spinning faster and faster like a saw blade, it’s so powerful it begins to suck on the air around it like a tornado.
And with their spirits ablaze as brightly as the stars they three heroes summon all the power forth into this single punch. [“WE WILL NEVER LET YOU HURT ANYONE ELSE EVER AGAIN!!”]
The Apex’s claws sin rapidly like a pair of drills as it ounces forth like a mutated tiger. [INSECTS!!!]
[“SPIRAL…GALAXY…SMAAAAASH!!!”] Deku Ex-Machina’s spinning fit glows with the power of One For All itself and mixed with the radiate energy of Upgrade they deliver the smash that tops all other smashes.
Powers explodes forth as the SMASH lands against the villains, blowing the Apex apart in an instant. Its armor and husk vanishing away into nothing as power erupts out like a second Big Bang that ripples through the entire island, ocean, and beyond causing quakes and the ocean to stir.
Having given it all she’s got Ochaco’s Full Gauntlet shatters away to nothing, using its last ounces of strength to hold her own arm together.
At the same time Iida and Kirishima arrive inside the main haul, with David still over their shoulders. The Professor gasps witnessing their courage and determination directly as the villain, as the impossible odds, shatter away to nothing.
And as the power booms across the air, it rises to the sky, parting the clouds and revealing the bright morning sun.
The entire island from pro heroes to scientists, from guests to hero students, they all stare up and marvel at the sight. The villains are gone. The sun is shining down like rays of hope from heaven itself. And the Deku Ex-Machina stands victorious, its fist raised into the air in victory.
They did it.
*BEEP. BEEP. BEEP.*
Izuku times out and Upgrade warps away from the Mecha leaving it bare and dull. Displaying how it’s really just a twisted collection of buildings, tech, and structures all sewn together.
But Izuku couldn’t care about that right now as he falls back onto his rear with a heavy sigh. “Haha. Oh, we did it. Ow. Haha. We did it.”
He’s all messed up: hair’s a mess, his scalp’s bleeding, and blood is seeping through his clothes, and something might be broken, maybe a rib but he’s not entirely sure. But that doesn’t matter either, because right now he feels like he’s on top of the world right now. Especially because he’s setae a top the Mecha’s raised fist giving him the most perfect view of the island and ocean as the warm sun shines the horizon.
“Ugh-ugh…” There a nearby groan and Izuku spins around to find Wolfram propped up on a piece of rebar that’s lodged into the fist.
His form is withered and skinny, like a twisted version of All Might when he’s in his more skeletal form. But in either case it’s obvious that he won’t be a problem anymore. And neither will the Quirk Amplifying Device as it slides off his head and falls to the ground limp and broken with no signs of Malware anywhere to be had.
“Deku!” Ochaco and Melissa’s voices call out in the distance.
Kraab is with them, riding on Ochaco’s shoulder as he waves over at him.
“Melissa! Ochaco!” He calls them over from atop the fist as the two exit through a hatch at the top of the Mecha’s head.
“I’m so glad you’re alive!” Melissa cries in glee as Ochaco lifts her up and floats them both up and onto the fist.
Izuku grins, blood seeping down his face, as he gets up onto his feet to meet them. “Right now. I’ve never felt more alive.”
“Good because you look like you’re gonna die any minute.” Kraab sarcastically states.
As they all celebrate, they fail to notice All Might carrying David out through the hatch. Once free he sets the injured Professor down on a slab of iron, allowing him to rest.
But David is out of it, his vision in a daze as All Might calls his name. “DAVE-Dave!”
He opens his eyes to find an injured All Might smiling over him. But half of his face has transformed back into his weakened form. (“All Might…”
“I came to save you, my friend.” All Might-Toshinori explains.
“Thank you…”
“PAPA!!!/All Might!!”
The two peer up to the kids as Melissa and Ochaco call out to them.
Toshinori smiles upon seeing their own smiling faces wave down at them from above. “If you want to thank someone you should thank Melissa, Young Uraraka, and Young Midoriya.”
From atop, Melissa lets out a choked sob. “He’s okay.” She wipes at her eyes, rubbing way the tears before airing her gratitude. “I can’t believe it. I’m so grateful. And it’s thanks to you guys, you saved the island.”
“We did it together.” Izuku explains and he doesn't mean just the three of them but everybody: Bakugou, Todoroki, Yaoyorozu, Jiro, Kaminari, Mineta, Iida, Kirishima. And then of course there’s those that worked behind the scenes to help them like his dad and chopper, and Ashido, Asui, Hagakure, Sero, Sato, Tokoyami, and Shoji. It took all of them combined to win today. This is their win.
“We only made it this far because everyone played their part and did everything they could to help.”
Ochaco couldn’t agree more. “That includes you, Melissa. You were a real hero today.”
Melissa’s smile has never been so bright. As grateful tears leak from her eyes. She’s so touched. She has never been told that and right now hearing that from her, it means a lot more than Ochaco may ever know.
“Also, I’M SORRY!!” Ochaco collapses to the ground in a bow, tears streaming down her face.
There’s so much tears streaming from her eyes that one would think she stole Deku’s secret Quirk, Tears.
“I can pay you back for the gauntlet! I promise! I-I just can’t pay you right of way, but I promise that I will! I didn’t mean to break it! Waaah!”
“Oh, no! Please, don’t worry about it!” Melissa begs her to stop, while having a hard time holding back her laughter.
“Hey, Deku!!”
“Melissa!”
“Hey!”
The trio look back over the fist to see that Kirishima has smashed his way through the haul of the bot allowing everyone else to escape.
They all wave and cheer at them. There’s Mineta leaping up and down in joy while Shoto hangs back with a cool smile.
“That was so cool! Can we do that again” asks Kirishima.
“That was so exhilarating!” Momo comments.
“How are the others?!” Iida calls out. “Is everyone okay?!”
Deku cups his mouth and shouts back. “We’re fine! All Might and the Professor are okay too!”
“What about the rest of you guys?!”
“We’re good! Mostly!” Jiro shouts back, throwing a worried look over at Denki who once again fried his own brain.
“Alive anyway!” Iida finishes with a smile.
Meanwhile, Toshinori has fully reverted back into his normal skeletal self. But he doesn't care about that right now as he finishes up putting David’s arm and shoulder into a splint. “I heard most of what happened from Melissa.”
David has enough sense to be ashamed, averting his gaze even away from his dear friend. “It’s all true. I was so scared that you’d lose your light. Scared that the peace you built as a hero would fade away with you.”
David pauses, allowing a moment for Toshinori to speak but he never does. Instead, he waits for David to finish what he has to say instead.
“But my ideas and that device were nothing more than a way to maintain the status quo. To ensure that nothing would ever change.” He winces and hisses in pain as he struggles to get to his feet, thankfully Toshinori is there to help him up. “Even though the future was standing right there in front of me the whole time. I just didn’t notice it.”
The two peer up towards the fist where Melissa, Ochaco, and Deku are busy waving down and calling out to their friends below.
“Look at those three. She wants to become my successor, you know that? And you have yours too. You have Ochaco Uraraka and Izuku Midoriya. They’ll take your place one day too. Won’t they?” For the first time in a long time a true hopeful smile graces David’s face and it brings nothing but warmth and comfort to Toshinori’s own.
“They-...we still have a long road ahead.” Toshinori corrects. “But in them shines the greatest potential in those that’ll become heroes.”
“I can see it too, Toshi. Hope. A light like yours. Both of those kids have the heart of a hero.”
“Yes. They do.”
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
Ochaco stops waving down at their friends as she realizes something important. “Hey, Deku.”
Izuku pauses. “What’s up?”
“What did you do with the villain?”
“Pardon?” He blinks back, confused since the Defeated Wolfram is right there.
“No. Malware. Where is he?”
Izuku’s heart stops for a moment as he thinks. Ge frantically searches around before coming to a cold realization. There couldn’t have been a way for Malware to survive such an intense attack. He took that hit dead on and with how much force and power that they used between the three of them there’s a good chance that the alien didn’t make it.
“Malware’s gone.” Izuku admits as a soft, almost regretful whisper. “We kept our promise. He’s never gonna hurt anyone else ever again.”
But that being said. There’s a part of Izuku that hopes the villain, that the living being, isn’t gone. That perhaps he survived and will move on and find peace. But whether that’s in this life or the next, he’ll never know.
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
The ocean is silent and empty. The hot sun shining down with its intense rays causes the surface to boil. Metal shards and junk litter the surface, floating aimlessly in the vast empty ocean.
A loud hum is heard from above as one of Vilgax’s Scout Ships lowers itself just above the water’s surface. A holographic-scanner eyes the surface, analyzing every piece of debris.
And there it finds it, floating along with the debris is a glob of black oil.
As the scout ship hovers closer the oil shifts and morphs, red circuitry patterns illuminate across its mass as a single red eye forms at its center. And upon seeing the piece of high-tech hovering over it, the crimson-patterns glob lashes out towards the spaceship and consumes it for itself.
Notes:
It’s done. It’s finally done. Took long enough, but I think it was worth it especially considering the burn out, getting sick, and a lot of bad luck I had to go through to finish it. Even now I am writing this Author's Note at around midnight last night. Yeah, I Was really pushing to finish this. Heck I’m not technically done with I-Island yet. Cause I was gonna have some more final scenes to show the aftermath of this attack. But that will be for next time. There we’ll have everything calm down, answer any last questions, set up more stuff for the future, and finally transition us into the Forest Training Camp. FINALLY!!!
So that’s all I’m gonna say like I said I’m working past midnight to finish this so I’m not gonna list out easter eggs and stuff this time. But they were in there, trust me. Hell the Deku Ex-Machina was an easter egg to several things: Gurran Lagann, Pacific Rim, and Promare.
*Just to reiterate, the next chapter will deal with the aftermath of this arc. So, a lot of lasting questions you may have will be answered then. Like will we see Melissa again? What happened to the other villains? Is the Forest Training Camp next?
*Also THANK YOU to Void25 for another great piece of artwork! We planned it out ahead of time so we could make it easy for you guys to have an image of what DEKU EX-MACHINA looked like. And I think it’s great and creative! I love it! And I hope you all did too!! https://www.deviantart.com/voidv25/art/DEKU-EX-MACHINA-924076509
Chapter 70: My Sweet Summer is Gone
Notes:
*Sorry for the wait especially since this is a very short chapter. Sorry but I took my time with this one; been trying to enjoy the last bits of summer that I can so I lost out on two weekends to work on this. But hey it needed to be done and I had a great time. And so, with no further distractions let’s get right to it.
*Public Service Announcement* Please do not post spoilers for the manga in a review. And if you do, please don’t do it directly try to be somewhat subtle. I want this story to be accessible to everyone whether they read the manga or not so please respect that. And if you do need to talk about spoilers then PM me personally about it. But please ask to make sure I am caught up first. People have spoiled major things to me before I had the chance to read myself and I know it ruined it for others because they did it as a review. So, please be mindful about what you post.
*There is a small ANNOUNCEMENT at the end of the chapter.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
I-Island’s hospital. It’s a grand structure that houses the latest in medicine and technology. Often used to test the newest of medicinal practices. Hence doctors and scientists from across the globe gather here to witness such miracles. Giving the place a life of its own.
But today the hospital lies quietly, void of nearly all visitors.
Hospital rooms lie silent and empty. Lights are dim or have been shut off casting heavy shadows across its barren silent halls. Not a soul is in sight nor is an eavesdropping ear in range as hushed gasps of shock and horror echo from within the only room with any occupants.
But even though the room is filled with people, not a one speaks a word as they all lost their breath, having been told a mind-blowing truth.
Each of them from Momo to Iida and from Tokoyami to Tsuyu are in shock even Shoto is surprised as he stands towards the back, just behind the rest of his classmates.
Mina solemnly stands to the side beside a pair of beds which are both occupied by the other two Plumber cadets. Both downtrodden and sullen as they hang their heads low, unable to meet their classmates’ eyes.
Not that it matters since all eyes are on the red-cladded Plumber himself.
“I know this is quite the shock.” Hisashi Midoriya solemnly assures. “But I need you all to understand what this all means.”
That’s asking a lot, it’s a hard pill to swallow.
The news is so heavy that even Tsuyu Asui has to take a seat, falling back into the nearest chair. “There’s-...there’s no way.”
“Impossible…” Tenya Iida breathes, his mind still piecing it all together.
Shoto tries to remain as stoic as possible but there’s no denying his suspicious gaze.
“Did you know about this?!” Kyoka Jiro shouts over to Ochaco and Izuku who start before they shrink away into their hospital sheets.
Mina nervously hovers to the side, not sure what to do.
“You’re-you’re lying right?” Eijiro Kirishima dares to ask. “This has to be a joke, right?”
It’s not, especially not to Hisashi. “I swear…it’s the truth. The whole truth.”
“It’s bullshit is what it is.” Bakugou spits, clearly more pissed over the news than confused.
“There’s no way…” Hanta Sero can’t believe it, it’s almost too ridiculous to believe.
Sato nods in agreement as does Shoji.
“For real?” Minoru Mineta gaps.
Tokoyami remains stoic as ever as he calmly states. “Often or not, reality can be quite cruel.”
“Is that really how it is?” Momo Yaoyorozu can’t help but question.
Hisashi gives a solemn nod of his head. “It is. I’m sorry but that’s the way things are.”
“I just can’t believe it.” Hagakure comments.
“Yeah…” Denki sighs, his brain still processing it all before all his thoughts and emotions explode out all at once! “A GAG ORDER!?! THAT’S SUCH BULL!!!”
The hospital room is instantly thrown into an uproar as everyone bad mouths and comments just how stupid it all is.
Embarrassed and red faced, Momo admits that she messed up too. “Even I failed to read the fine print.” She should have read the terms and agreements more thoroughly before accepting the invitation to I-island.
“Hey, those forms were like 3 inches thick. It was as thick as a textbook!” Jiro defends, but really, she’s admitting that none of them read through it.
But according to the agreement they all signed to visit none of them are allowed to leak or speak a word about what happened here. Specially “they are not allowed to share or converse about terrorist/villain assaults and incursions that occur during visitations to I-island.” And if they do happen to say anything well then, the entire international government and their lawyers will be after them.
“No fair! Stupid lawyers!” Mineta whines. “Do you have any idea how epic it would have been if we could tell everyone about this!!”
“Yeah!!” Sero shouts in agreement.
“Is there seriously nothing we can do?” Tsuyu ponders aloud. “Shouldn’t everyone have the right to know what happened here?”
“Listen, I'll face down any villain no matter how terrifying.” Hisashi suddenly turns cowardly, shaking in his boots, like actually shaking so bad his knees are buckling, as he whimpers. “But I will not mess with lawyers, they're a whole other level of t-terrifying.”
Also, it makes sense when you really sit down and think about it. I-island was created with the full backing of world governments. And all of them only agreed to creating such a foundation because of overwhelming public support. If that support is lost due to bad presses, especially a villain insurgence, then it could spell potential doom for the entire manmade island.
But that's not even half of it, there’s more bad news.
So bad that even Iida wants to cry out in frustration. “And to top it all off. The I-EXPO has been canceled.”
“Sorry guys this is all my fault.” Izuku sulks in his bed as a tear sliding down his face and onto the bed. “If I hadn’t messed with the tower like I did none of this would have happened.”
Apparently, there were a lot of secret government projects, inventions, and labs inside the Central Tower. And Izuku demolished, reworked, and damaged almost every single one of them. So yeah, a gag order is probably the most forgiving punishment he could be given.
“Gosh, this sucks.” Jiro slouches in defeat. “Can you at least tell us what happened to the bad guys?”
“Well none of them are gonna be a problem any time soon.” answers Hisashi. “Wolfram’s Quirk was completely drained out of him. Like it was so overused it broke and shattered in on itself. Not to mention it resulted in a terrible strain on his body. Like he’s not gonna be moving around on his own type of bad. He can’t even speak because his vocal cords were burned off by his own Quirk.” Well, his secondary Quirk that is: that burning muscle augmentation. Speaking of, how does a Metal Manipulator have access to a Quirk like that? Hisashi can’t help but wonder. When he dove into Wolfram’s info there was no mention of a second Quirk.
“Ha! Served the bastard right.” Bakugou laughs taking satisfaction that they fucked up the villain real good.
“Bakugou.” Shoto warns sternly.
“What?! The guy was threatening the entire island! What?! Should I have held back or something?!”
Shoto doesn’t bother arguing, after all his logic is sound.
Denki meanwhile brings up another question. “And what about all his cronies?”
“Ah, right, them. I forgot.” Hisashi goes ahead and tells them. “And as for his minions, well most of them are in one piece.” He admits with a nonchalant shrug.
‘Just what exactly does that mean?!’ They all think but don’t dare to ask aloud.
“The whole thing was still so insane.” Jiro comments thinking about their crazy climb up the tower.
“I know, right?” Hagakure chimes in. “They had these nerd robots come after us! With lasers. Real lasers!”
“That’s nothing!” Mineta shouts. “Those villains tried to take us on themselves!”
“Yeah, but we handled them.” Kirishima laughs.
“Did you?” Shoji asks.
“Yeah! You should have seen it. These guys were so manly!” Kirishima gestures over to Shoto, Bakugou, and Izuku. “Those dudes were on fire! Literally!”
“Yeah, I was pretty great.” Bakugou smirks leaning back against his seat.
“But we all defeated them.” Shoto comments with his same indifferent oblivious attitude.
“Shut it Icy-Hot!”
“I didn’t think we’d get through it to be honest.” Mina laughs while chatting away with some others.
Tokoyami folds his arms in thought. “It’s understandable to have doubts. But we made it through.”
Iida smiles in agreement. “Yes, but it wasn’t easy.”
“It might not have been easy, sure!” Denki cuts in with a wide grin. “But it was totally insane!! I mean, Midoriya, that mecha was amazing!” His eyes sparkle with excitement as he turns to the greenette. “I mean I love the new transformation! Not gonna lie, I think it’s my new favorite!”
Izuku sheepishly takes the compliment. “T-thanks but I wouldn’t expect anything like the Deku Ex-Machina again Or at least not at that scale. Sorry but without that Helix-thing to power me up there’s no way I can pull that off again.”
“Awww, man. That sucks.” Denki whines.
Tsuyu frowns and gives Izuku a critical look. “Also, Deku Ex-Machina? Really?”
“What?! I thought it was clever.” Izuku admits, offended that she’s offended.
“It was super lame, you nerd!!” Bakugou barks, startling the greenette.
“Gah!!”
“Hahahahahaha!!” In good spirits everyone lets out a good laugh, maybe because they finally allow the sensation of surviving the ordeal to set in.
But even so, some, like Momo, cut the humor short. “I still have my concerns. If the villains had taken us seriously from the start, who knows if we would have succeeded.”
That is food for thought. There were so many ways they and the villains could have done things differently. And any one of those choices could have led to their victory or to their grizzly defeat.
“What about the other one?” Iida quietly speaks up. “The one that…caused all this?”
Izuku and Ochaco pause, becoming worried, they’ve been fearing this part of the conversation. “You mean…Malware?”
Hisashi knew the conversation would get here eventually, the best thing to do is to answer as confidently as he can. “As of now there isn’t any official information. The authorities will be conducting a full investigation into the villain but as of now they’re coming up empty.”
That’s a lie and Izuku knows it. He knows that his Dad has already contacted Principal Nezu. How does he know that? Because Hisashi told him himself before gathering the rest of his class here. And according to him Nezu didn’t seem to be troubled by the news at all saying something along the lines that he finally gets to use the blackmail he’s had on hand for years now. So yeah, I-island isn’t gonna be finding or at least reporting anything about Malware.
Wondering what kind of blackmail Nezu has sends a shiver down Izuku’s spine. But that’s nothing compared to the cold chill at the thought that his classmates were only minutes away from finding out the real truth. The real truths in fact about Malware, the Omnitrix, and aliens. If any of them made it to the vault at the same time or soon after they would have heard everything. From David Shield being part of the Plumbers, the Omnitrix’s true function, everything. They were only minutes behind.
If there’s anything to take from this is that he can’t take this secret lightly. It’s getting harder and harder as more aliens stir up trouble, especially when they have a pension for murder and destruction. He has to be more careful from now on.
Meanwhile, Hisashi continues to address the teens about the state of things. “So, in any case I’d expect some suits and tie types are gonna wanna speak with all of you. Just give them your honest answers and there shouldn’t be any trouble. Understood?”
The teens respond all at once. “Yes, sir.”
Hisashi glances over to Izuku and they both share a critical look. One of which Izuku immedialty understands: when he talks to the investigators, he better not mention anything about aliens or the Omnitrix. Better yet it’ll be safer to keep the details about the encounter to a minimum.
Shoto is quiet, contemplating the whole thing. “It’s strange, isn’t it?”
Everyone stops talking and turns to him, allowing him to speak.
“What is?” Hagakure asks.
“How is it that,” Shoto turns to Izuku who’s staring back at him in confusion. “you were able to gain an ability similar to the villains?”
Izuku’s heart stops as does Ochaco’s and Mina’s.
“The way you both took over the tower. And even the circuitry patterns on the robots were almost identical to each other, albeit a color swap.” Shoto scowls, his eyes narrowing suspiciously over the boy. “Why is that?”
Izuku is immediately a stuttering mess as he scrambles for a response “I-I, uh, d-don’t know…?”
Not his best answer and it shows as everyone has a look of suspicion and confusion.
He turns to Ochaco and even Mina, praying that they have an answer or can help him. But they got nothing.
“That's right. We just don’t know.” Hisashi answers with confidence, faking honesty so expertly even Plumber Cadets would believe him.
Everyone’s attention is now on the older Midoriya who goes ahead and explains what he can.
“Unlike most of you Izuku and I came here for professional help.”
“Professional help?” Tsuyu asks, sounding worried wondering if it's’ something serious.
But the answer rings in Ochaco’s head. “Professor Shield!”
“That’s right.” That was the exact answer he was looking for. “Did you kids know that it was Professor Shield that developed Izuku’s Omnitrix for him?”
The class gasps in surprise, they had no idea.
“He did?!”
“That’s really one of his inventions?!”
“Why does he always get the good stuff?”
“Y-yeah, it is…” Izuku answers, recalling the same lie from before. In fact, Professor Shield said it himself to help throw All Might off.
With their attention diverted and suspicions evaded, Hisashi continues with the facade. “Professor Shield is one of the greatest minds out there and he’s an expert when it comes to Quirks. As you’ve all witnessed first-hand. Initially, using my own connections, I was able to get into contact with the man and he invented the Omnitrix as a means to help Izuku control his Quirk, One Man Army.”
The official story being the Omnitrix helps Izuku sort through the transformations already in his system by injecting him with a shot of external energy and power in order to activate his quote-unquote Quirk.
“Do you all know what Quirk Mutations are?”
On que several of the teens like Shoji and Tsuyu gesture to themselves.
“No, not the Mutation type of Quirks. Quirk Mutations are rare and aren’t fully understood. Hell, they’re so rare that most professionals in the field of Quirk Studies have never encountered such a case. Now normally a child would have one parent’s Quirk or a mix of the two. Quirk Mutations don’t do this. Instead, those individuals’ Quirks evolve and become something almost completely unrelated to their parents’ own Quirks.”
“So instead of having a fire-based Quirk like you Midori-err I-Izuku has One Man Army?” Jiro asks for clarification.
“Exactly.” Hisashi’s glad they understand. “I’m not surprised that you’re skeptical. It almost sounds impossible but trust me it’s real. It’s rare but there are plenty of instances out there where this is the case for people. And Izuku is one of those instances. So, we’ve been trying all we can to find out more about it to help him control it.”
Shoto’s begging to understand. “So, the gaining of new transformations?”
Hisashi gives him a sheepish smile and a shrug. “Is still an overall mystery to us.” Okay that’s an easy co-out answer but if it works then it works.
Momo, however, takes a step further by offering a theory of her own. “Perhaps it’s a combination of factors.”
Ochaco frowns from her bed. “What do you mean, Yaomomo?”
“From what I can tell, One Man Army usually grants you a new ability when you’re in highly stressful situations. Think about it: the U.S.J., the Sports Festival, our internships, and right now. They’re all similar in that way.”
She does have a point so much, so the others buy it too like Sero. “I get it, so a high tense situation equals a new transformation.”
“Yes. Or at least I think that’s how it is. If anything, perhaps One Man Army works like Monoma’s Quirk and it seemingly copies a version of the Quirks around it.”
Izuku considers the theory. On some level that actually makes sense and might hold true for the Omnitrix. It does seem to have a flare for the dramatic and last-minute saves. But then again how do you explain the likes of Buzzshock, Diamondhead, Wildmutt, Upgrade? Did the Omnitrix grant them because those aliens were nearby or because of stress? Mostly likely he got them because the aliens made direct contact with the Omnitrix itself. But is that really that case? And if so did it gather the DNA, then and there or was it always there and was just unlocked? God there’s still so much he doesn’t understand about this strange device. Just what other secrets is it hiding from him?
Either way, going back to the conversation Hisashi’s still playing along. “That’s an interesting theory but I’m afraid investigation into it will be put on hold for now with the professor under arrest and all that.” He growls in frustration. “Not to mention the data he had on it is long gone so we won’t be getting those answers any time soon.”
But that also means something for Izuku. “Which means I probably won’t have Master Control for a while.” Man, the thought is so sad he’s gonna cry again.
But the others are in shock, they didn’t even realize that he lost it.
“How in the hell did you lose something like that?!” Bakugou is seething, annoyed and perplexed all at once.
“Dude, Did you like leave it in the bathroom or something?” Denki asks with full seriousness.
“That’s not what I meant when I said I lost it!!” Izuku shouts, offended by the idea.
However, not everyone is clued in as the ones that went off for the Cutoff Protocol are comply lost.
“Master Control?” Mina questions aloud.
“What’s that?” Tsuyu wonders too.
Ochaco gasps. “Oh, right you guys missed it.”
Mineta cuts in and shouts out what it was. “It was this insane thing where Midoriya could transform from one thing to another without waiting! It was crazy!”
“Yes!” Iida adds in, confirming Mineta’s claim. “He didn’t require a recharge time and could transform from one form to another on a whim.”
“WHAT!?!” Mina and the others cry out in shock.
“That’s so OP!” Hagakure screams.
“That’s what I said!” Denki joins in on their shouting.
Tokoyami sweats as he tries to comprehend it all. “And just when I thought you couldn’t surprise me any longer.”
Sato can’t believe it either. “For real.”
“I know.” Tears comedically well up in Izuku’s eyes. “I miss it already.”
“Well, what happened to it?” There goes Jiro going in for the big question.
“Uhhh, well, Malware deleted it. Like completely. He removed the function altogether with one move.” Izuku no longer holds back the tears as they stream down in face, “And it was so much fun too. It’s not fair.” He grumbles.
Hisashi gives him a pity-pat on the shoulder. “Sorry but like I’ve been saying without the professor there isn’t exactly any way we can fix that. Guess you’ll have to get used to being normal again.”
Tsuyu frowns in thought. “Midoriya being normal? Was that a thing?”
Izuku’s not sure if he should cry or laugh at her statement.
Momo, however, still has her concerns. “Malware. A villain like him could have easily turned the tide against us.”
Everyone freezes at the thought and the harsh reality of it.
“If he and the others had taken us seriously from the beginning there’s no guarantee we would have succeeded.”
Shoji frowns with worry. “Yeah, maybe but I would like to know where a villain like him even came from?”
Hagakure shivers at the next thought. “Do you-do you think the League of Villains sent him?”
Everyone stops to look at her, eyes wide, taken back by what she just said.
She suddenly shys away when all eyes turn to her. “W-well I mean, what if he’s working with them or something. I mean could you imagine if he had Nomus with him or something.”
“That’s not a bad theory.” Hisashi admits with full seriousness. “But we can’t be sure.”
Just then, Sero decides to chime in too. “Do you think All Might would know?”
Ochaco’s head snaps up. “Where is All Might by the way?”
Izuku also brings up a good point too. “And how’s Professor Shield doing?”
“Don’t you worry yourselves about them.” Hisashi reassures them with a kind thoughtful smile. “They all just need a moment to themselves.”
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
In another part of the hospital security guards line the hallways, on guard for any signs of trouble. But even though they’re supposed to be on the job none of them are exactly standing at attention but instead they all seem calm and relaxed. Some are even giddy with excitement, after all All Might is there and what trouble could there be with All Might around?”
A lot in fact. But this situation works out perfectly for the Number One Hero as it gives him the perfect opportunity to talk to David alone and without worrying about prying ears.
A bandaged covered Toshinori Yagi slouches in his chair, a pained and sad expression is stretched across his sullen features. He wheezes coughing up blood as he does.
David Shield worriedly reaches to help but the handcuff around his wrist is keeping him locked to the hospital bed.
And so he falls back and sits in sullen silence as Toshinori calms down from his coughing fit.
But when he does settle down it is him who airs his concerns. “How are you?”
“Oh, you know like I was shot.” David tries to play off a laugh but it comes off as pathetic if anything. “But that’s nothing compared to how I feel.” He admits with a shameful bow of his head. “I really made a mess of things. Here I was getting so hung up on the past. Thinking I could hang on to it forever.” God he could just laugh at how stupid, him a genius among geniuses, was. “What I should have been focusing in on was the future. I should have done all I could to make sure it’s a bright one. By giving the next generation the proper tools, they’ll need to surpass us.”
That is certainly something Toshinori can sympathize with. “That is a lesson we both had to learn the hard way.”
To hear him say that is a surprise to David. “Toshi…?”
“You’re not the only one that’s made mistakes. I too got so wrapped up in the past that it blinded my judgment. And as a result, I betrayed the trust and admiration of someone that I should have been inspiring from the start.”
David doesn’t know what to say. It’s honestly hard for him to think that All Might made a mistake. No, it shouldn’t be a surprise. He’s not a god. He’s a man. He’s human.
“It’s gonna be hard. We can sulk and feel sorry for ourselves but that’s not gonna do anyone any good. We both need to do better for all of them.” That is a promise.
That’s right. David has to remember that he’s human too. For all his tech, knowledge, and inventiveness he can’t control everything. Especially not the future. And certainly not the world.
*KNOCK. KNOCK. KNOCK.*
With a knock at the door Toshinori immediately vanishes in a puff of steam and smoke and thus leaving a wounded but grinning All Might in his place and just in time as the door slides open.
Blond locks with glasses poke their head inside. “Um, hello. Papa? Uncle Might?”
“Melissa?” David is taken back, delighted but surprised…he wasn’t exactly confident that she’d show.
Assuming there’s no problem, Melissa shyly enters the room. Head hung low and her eyes to her shoes as she shys away under their watchful gazes.
With an awkward cough All Might gets up from his seat and makes for the door. “I’LL GIVE YOU TWO A MINUTE.” He takes his leave but stops at the door before throwing back a word of caution. “DAVE.”
David understands, All Might’s just making sure he keeps in mind what they just discussed.
And after giving All Might a quirk nod the pro hero leaves the Shields alone to talk.
Unfortunately, they both kind of needed him here to help mediate or to at least break the ice. Because neither are able to start speaking to the other, they’re not even able to meet each other’s gazes as both are overtaken by either shame or worry.
But it becomes too much this wall between them, David can’t take it, and so he’s the first to reach out. “Melissa I-”
He’s immediately cut off as Melissa throws herself into her father’s arms, tears streaming down her face, staging his shirt as she holds him like her life depended on it. “Papa! I was so scared! I-I thought I was never gonna see you again!!”
“Melissa…” He’s hesitant but after a moment of listening to her weeping he gives in and embraces her back. “I’m sorry. I’m so sss-so s-sorry.” Tears well up in his eyes until he’s unable to hold them back. “I never meant for any of this to happen. I was a fool I-I thought what I was doing was for the greater good. But I see now that I was just scared. I was terrified about the idea of a world without a Symbol of Peace.”
“Papa…”
They don’t exchange words after that but instead they both hold onto each other. Taking comfort in each other's company.
“I…I understand.”
David’s head snaps up in surprise.
“Uncle Might is…wonderful. He’s amazing. And deserves that title more than anyone. However, after what happened I know we’ll be in good hands.” Melissa truly believes that. She knows it to be true. “Uravity, Deku, and all of their friends were unbelievable. No matter how bad or crazy things got they kept fighting and giving it their all! And it was amazing! Their spirits, their tenacity. They never wavered, not even for a second.” She’s beaming, gone are the tears and weeping and now out comes her bright hopeful smile. “And because of that I know they’ll all become amazing heroes.”
Her smile, her hope, is contagious. “That they will. That they will.” But honestly David is happy knowing that his daughter hasn’t lost her spark. She can still make herself a future that he can be proud of.
But…but what does the future have in store for either of them now?
That is the question at the forefront of their minds one rolls in and casts a dark storm cloud over their reunion.
Melissa’s almost too scared to ask but it’s something they must discuss. “What’s…what’s gonna happen now?”
David understands her worry, but there’s no point in beating around the bush, might as well answer honestly. She deserves that much. “I committed a crime. It’s only right that I face the consequences with some dignity. So, I probably have quite a bit of jail time ahead of me.”
Melissa figured but that still doesn’t make the news any better. “And what about…the Plumbers?”
“They’ve already contacted me.”
“They have?!” Melissa gasps in shock.
“Yes, and as of now I have been suspended.”
“Suspended?! Is that really it?” That almost sounds too light of a punishment.
David seems to think so too. “I’m sure they would like to have me serve some other punishment. From my understanding I’m only getting off light because I am under Earth’s custody. So, trying to retrieve me would be too much of a hassle for them.”
“Oh, I see.” He’s an inconvenience.
Despite the situation a sly smile creeps up on David’s face. “Although a gracious agent of the Plumbers was generous enough to speak with the Plumbers beforehand. With any luck, after I serve my time, I’ll be back to work.”
Well to be more precise, according to Hisashi Midoriya, letting someone as useful and integral as David Shield slip away would be a waste of resources, intellect, and development. The Plumbers would be better off with him on their side than to be casted out.
But when David asked for more answers, specifically on why Hisashi would go out his way for him, the only response he was given was this: “I don’t want to see another family ripped apart because of Plumber HQ's decisions.”
David didn’t ask anymore after that but even so words cannot describe how grateful he is for Hisashi’s intervention.
And neither can Melissa. “That’s wonderful!” She cheers with tears of relief in her sapphire eyes.
“Yes. Although I’ll have to leave I-island behind since they’ll most likely want me to work for them full time.” I.E. work for free and call it donating his time to the Plumbers as a means to serve out his punishment. But hey this way he can still do what he loves and what he does best. “It’s kind of exciting, it’s like I’m starting a new chapter. And although it’s gonna be rough I know that as long as you are okay and that you still believe in our dream then I know that I’ll be alright.”
“I’ll never give up on our dream.” Melissa vows with all her heart, to which grants a smile to her father’s face and a warm fire to his heart.
But as she makes her promise Melissa pauses and steals herself, taking a breath before nervously bringing up her next point. “And Papa.”
“Yes?” He pauses wondering what else there is to discuss.
“This is a new chapter for both of us.” She states a confident yet nervous smile.
David smiles back but hesitates. “Melissa?”
“Papa. There’s something else I’d like to talk to you about.”
Meanwhile, unbeknownst to either of them, Hisashi is listening in and he’s relieved to hear that everything’s gonna work out for them. “A new chapter indeed.”
However, he’s so busy listening that he fails to notice the person coming up behind him. “MR. MIDORIYA.”
“Yes?”
“I’D LIKE A WORD, IF IT WOULDN’T BE TOO MUCH TROUBLE?”
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
Izuku and Ochaco are the only ones left in the hospital room. Everyone else left a while ago for one reason or another, like going to go get some food cause they were hungry, back to their hotels to take a nap or for a change of clothes. And thus, leaving the two to talk about whatever they wish to.
“Upgrade, huh? I like it. It’s the perfect name.” Ochaco comments after hearing all about Upgrade, Malware, and Cyberspace from Izuku. “And I bet it’s gonna be the new ringer. I mean if you can take any machine and turn it into a giant mecha I don’t think anyone can stop you!”
Izuku chuckles sheepishly at that. “Well to be honest I don’t think I’ll be using the Deku Ex-Machina as often as you think.”
“HUH!?! Why not?!”
“Well, I was kinda cheating when I used that thing. I mean I was using that Helix machine Professor Shield made for Malware to power myself and give Upgrade a major power boost. And without it I can’t exactly pull off anything that big any time soon.”
“Ah, man! It would have been so cool if you could.”
“Hahaha! Yeah, I guess it would have been. Hahaha!”
*KNOCK!*
After a single knock the door to the room is flung open along with a cheery shout.
“Hey guys!” Mina is elated to see them with bags of snacks in each hand, just enough for all three of them to share.
“Mina!” Ochaco smiles in greeting.
“Hey! Guess who I ran into along the way.” Pointing back at the door, Mina steps aside allowing the two bots to roll in.
“That’s right folk he lives!” Kraab happily cheers from atop the newly repaired Chopper’s head.
There’s not a dent or scratch on him, in fact he almost looks as good as new. A far cry from how he was after the ordeal.
“Chopper!” Izuku leans over his bed in order to pat the droid on the head. “I heard you got pretty beaten up.”
^Wo wap wa!^
“Yeah, you can’t even tell.”
Mina giggles at their interaction, she still has no clue what the bot said though. “It’s great, isn't it? Melissa fixed him up as good as new!”
“Hey! I helped!” Kraab barks.
“Yeah. yeah.”
“Hahahaha!” They all laugh just glad to have everyone safe and sound, honestly, it’s a huge relief.
But hang on, did Hisashi go to check on Chopper’s repairs?
“Where’s my Dad? I thought he was gonna help with the repairs too.”
“He did.” Mina replies. “I was actually on my way here with the food when I ran into him and these two.”
“Then where is he?” Ochaco asks.
“He said he wanted to check on the Professor one more time Guess he got hung up.”
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
He did get hung up by All Might of all people. After crossing paths All Might led Hisashi here to an empty conference room far away from prying eyes and ears. A point that Hisashi picked up on immediately, this place is perfect for discussing sensitive topics. But All Might was the one to call him here. So, what matter of importance did he summon him here?
Well to begin, All Might politely bows his head. “TH-THANK YOU FOR TAKING THE TIME TO HUMOR MY REQUEST.”
“Of course.” Hisashi smiles back. “Who am I to deny a favor from the Number One hero?”
Despite Hisashi’s attempt at being good natured, All Might isn’t smiling. Instead, a serious and sullen frown is stretched across his face like he’s carrying a heavy weight on his shoulders. No, like an iron lance has been pierced through his very conscience.
“YOUR BOY, HE REALLY IS SOMETHING ISN’T HE?”
Hisashi doesn’t bother to hide the smirk on his face. “He is and I couldn't be prouder.”
All Might nods and tries to smile but he's too hesitant, nervous, almost afraid. It’s like he’s expecting something to happen. Not an attack but rather…consequences.
And Hisashi is picking up on all of it. Becoming more and more concerned wondering if this has anything to do with Izuku or something else.
“TELL ME HAS YOUR BOY MENTIONED ANYTHING ABOUT…HIS SCHOOLING?”
That’s an odd question. “You’re gonna need to be more specific.”
“HAS HE SPOKEN TO YOU ABOUT HIS EXAM?”
And like that Hisashi turns fully serious, listening closely with the intent to take in every word. “No. He hasn’t. Why? Did something happen?”
“Y-YES.” All Might breathes with the pain of gilt as if he was ripping an arrow out from his back. “AND IT WAS MY FAULT.”
With his attention fully grabbed Hisashi sits down, figuring it’s gonna be a long explanation. “I’m listening.”
And so, All Might deluges it all. He explains every detail he can from how he and young Midoriya crossed paths over a year ago. And how well that turned out. He didn’t skim on the details he told Hisashi about Izuku’s very question and how he declared himself as Quirkless. And so, it was quite the shock for All Might to see the same boy suddenly have an entire arsenal of Quirks under his influence. And so, he allowed his suspicions and unchecked paranoia get the better of him, causing him to overlook and misjudge the boy’s intentions and needs. And thus, when it came to the exam it all finally boiled over and blew up in his face. Literally.
“HE REALLY LET ME HAVE IT. RIGHTFULLY SO. AFTERALL IT WAS ALL MY FAULT.”
Throughout the entire explanation Hisashi hasn’t said a word nor has he given any indication to how he feels about all this. Sitting there soaking in every little detail with a look of calm serious ness.
And honestly, it’s freaking All Might out he expects the parent to begin berating and yelling at him. As he should, god knows he deserves it. “I THOUGHT I SHOULD TELL YOU MYSELF. IN AN ATTEMPT TO HELP MAKE AMENDS AND TO ASK FOR YOUR FORGIVENESS.”
Still more tortuous silence follows before Hisashi finally decides to break it. But rather than shouting he speaks calmly, hauntingly so. So, calm in fact All Might’s almost tempted to think that he cares very little about all this. “Has Izuku forgiven you?”
“WE’VE TALKED IT OUT BUT…NO HE HASN’T. I HAVEN’T EARNED IT YET.” He pauses waiting for Hisashi to speak but when he doesn’t, he goes ahead and spills his regrets. “AS A HERO-...TEACHER-AS HIS TEACHER I SHOULD HAVE BEEN FAR MORE SUPPORTIVE AND ATTENTIVE WITH HIM.” He bows his head in shame, his body shaking from the frustration he feels over his own actions. “I FAILED HIM.”
“Yes. You have.” Hisashi scolds coldly with an air of danger about him that makes even All Might, the Number One Hero, The Symbol of Peace, tremble. “You should have been guiding him. As a teacher should. You should have been supportive of him. You should have kept an eye on him. You failed him! You should have been his hero!”
All Might knows that. He knows. But every reminder is like a burning knife jammed into his chest. But he takes it, wincing with every word, because he knows this has been a long time coming.
“And you know what else?! I should have done the same…”
And like that All Might’s head snaps up in shock and bewilderment. Upon peering up he is met not with disdain or anger but one of regret and empathy.
The dangerous air around Hisashi is gone as is his cold fury. And now he stands before All Might, ready to spill out his own heart in return.
“I should have done all those things too. I should have been here guiding him along. Teaching him about the world. Supporting and inspiring him.”
He oh so wishes he can redo it all. Sometimes he wishes he could rewind the clock and fight harder to stay where he was truly needed. Maybe then so much would have been different. Izuku could have been more confident. Maybe they would have moved into a real house. Perhaps he could have trained him to become a Quirkless Hero. Maybe things would have been better. But that’s not how it happened, that’s not how things played out. This is the reality of it. He was never there and so Izuku had to turn to someone else. Someone who could, in a way, be a constant presence and inspiration in his lift.
“I couldn’t be his hero, so he turned to you. And you…”
He can’t even bring himself to say it, but All Might knows; he blew it.
“The truth is…we both failed him.”
This was far from what All Might expected to hear. Sure, he already knew of Mr. Midoriya’s absence but to hear from the man himself about his own regrets puts things into perspective. “WHAT…WHAT NOW?”
“Isn’t it obvious?” Hisashi ponders with a knowing look on his face. “We do better. I’ve been trying and I know you have been to. Otherwise, why would you be here talking to me? We have to do all we can to make it right and to ensure that he knows we’re with him.”
“WE… WE HAVE TO LET HIM KNOW JUST HOW MUCH POTENTIAL HE HAS.”
“Exactly.” Hisashi confirms.
Let him know. Show him that they’re on his side. It will take time, but they will earn his reverence again. But first they need to show their reverence for him. In order to really do that they must prove it with their actions. Words will never be enough, but action might just be.
“All Might.”
All Might turns his gaze back towards the older Midoriya who now stands before him with his hand out to him.
“Promise me you’ll earn the right to be his hero again.”
All Might stares at the hand unsure if he can promise such a thing.
“I don’t mean to save him. But to be his inspiration. We have to set the bar for him and make sure he becomes even greater than either of us. In the words of Isaac Newton “If I have seen further it is by standing on the shoulders of Giants.” Yes. They must be the foundation for Izuku, the hero known as Deku, to stand upon and to rise up and shine his light across not just the world but the sky as well. His light needs to shine throughout the night sky for all walks of life, for all beings to see.
“Let’s make sure we’re the giants, that we can allow now just Izuku but all those future heroes to go further than we ever could.”
All Might doesn’t need long to consider but instead he rises up from his seat and with a look of strong determination he grabs Hisashi’s hand with a firm grip, and they shake. “I PROMISE.”
And if not then Hisashi will hold him to it.
That is a weight off All Might’s chest. It went far better than he had been predicting and it was far more productive and insightful than he ever imagined. It truly gives him hope that he-...they can fix this. “TH-THANK YOU.”
“Thanks, isn’t necessary nor appropriate.” Hisashi states with full seriousness. “But there is something I’d like you to clarify.”
“OF COURSE.”
“I only partly understand your suspicions so tell me.” He stops and gives All Might a suspicious look. “Why would the sudden appearance of a Quirk alarm you?”
All Might’s breath hitches. He had done his best to avoid that topic for most of his explanation, but he should have known that Cinder would have pointed out the missing details.
But now the question is how much should he deluge? Tell him nothing? The bare minimum? Everything?
That wouldn’t be right. If he wants to earn his trust and eventually Izuku’s as well then, he needs to put more faith into others. Cinder has already proven himself a capable and trustworthy ally. Risking his life for others. He’s a true hero. He deserves to know, at least the bare minimum.
“PERHAPS I HAVE ONE MORE TRUTH TO INFORM YOU ABOUT.” All Might admits with a shaky yet heavy breath. Like he’s bracing himself for the inevitable backlash and confusion that is to come. “YOU’VE EARNED IT ESPECIALLY AFTER ALL YOU’VE DONE TO MAKE SURE MY STUDENTS WERE SAFE.”
Now it is Hisashi’s turn to be confused and bewildered. Truth be told he was trying to fish out any suspicions All Might had about the Omnitrix; did he find out about aliens? That doesn’t seem to be the case. No, something else is troubling him. But what could it be?
“PLEASE, TELL ME. WHAT DO YOU KNOW OF THE MASTERMIND BEHIND THE LEAGUE OF VILLAINS?”
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Meanwhile, back in the hospital room empty wrappers and soda cans litter the beds as Izuku, Ochaco, Mina, Kraab, and Chopper all chat away, talking about their summers and especially about the events the previous day. Telling the others about how scary yet exciting it all was.
But the fun is interrupted as a blonde pokes their head into the room. “Aw, good. I’m so glad you’re both alright.” Melissa enters with a smile, relieved to see both Izuku and Ochaco up and at em.
“Oh, Melissa there you are.” Ochaco greets.
^Wa-op!^ Chopper wheels over to her and expresses his gratitude with serval bows of his tin-can body. ^Wa-op!^
“You’re very welcome.” She leans down, patting the droid on the head as if he were a dog.
Kraab waves from the foot of Izuku’s bed. “You’re looking good, kid. Glad to see you’re handling your old man’s imprisonment and trashed reputation well.”
“Kraab!” Izuku scolds, grabbing him and latching his hand over the cyborg’s mouth parts.
“It’s okay.” Melissa reassures while not giving any hints to actually being offended. “Yeah, it’s sad but honestly I think it’s all gonna work out in the end.”
They’re all happy to hear that. Honestly, it’s comforting to see that she’s not letting any of this drag her spirits down. If anything, she seems more hopeful than ever. Strange but a welcomed sight.
However, before she can get comfortable Melissa turns her curious attention to the pink-skinned girl. “I’m sorry but um I don’t think we’ve been introduced yet. You’re one of their friends that activated the Cutoff switches, correct?”
Mina instantly lights up, holding her chin to the air with pride. “You betcha! The name’s Mina Ashido!”
“It’s a pleasure.” After being introduced Melissa goes ahead and has a look around the room noting the lack of hero students there are. “Do mind me asking where everyone else went?”
“Oh well, um, Kaminari and Mineta had to go back to the cafe.” Izuku shrugs, not really having bought the excuse himself. “Apparently a villain attack doesn’t mean you get a day off from work.”
Ochaco nods in confirmation before explaining where everybody else went to. “And everybody else either went to get some food or to help with the cleanup.”
“Clean up?” Melissa asks.
“Yeah, you know, like they’re helping the heroes clean up the mess Midoriya left behind.” Mina answers while throwing an accusing thumb over at said teen who is a wee bit offended.
“Hey, you make it sound like I cause a lot of unnecessary damage on purpose!”
Everybody, all three teens and two droids, give Izuku a critical look that makes him stutter and shrink back in shame.
“I mean…I-I don’t mean to. But still!”
“I wonder how long it’ll take to clean up that mecha?” Ochaco wonders aloud.
Melissa actually happens to know. “Actually, it’s probably gonna be there for a while. After all, with so much technology mixed together in random ways the whole thing has to be reverse engineered and taken apart piece by piece. So, yeah, I'd expect that machine to be standing there for a few years maybe. It all depends on how fast they can get past all the red tape involved with each project.”
Izuku sinks in his bed, shrinking in on himself with an apologetic bow of his head. “I’m sorry. I just didn’t know what else to do. Malware was so strong and powerful. I had to fight back somehow. Heck, he’s probably the most powerful alien I’ve fought yet.”
Mina is instantly alarmed, jolting up in alarm at the open mention of aliens. “Uh, guys…”
“He was so unnaturally strong, especially for a Galvanic Mechamorph.” Melissa adds, while they all miss Mina’s call. “Honestly when he got his hands on the Omnitrix I thought-I thought it was all over.”
Izuku shivers at the thought. “Now that would have been a nightmare.”
“Hey, guys.”
“But at least you got a new alien out of it.” Ochaco adds in, trying to lift the mood. “I wonder if touching the Omnitrix unlocks or gathers the alien DNA into it.”
“I was thinking that too. I mean it’s happened before with Wildmutt and stuff.”
“GUYS!!!” Mina explodes, startling all of them. “You-you just-! She’s-! She heard!”
Izuku instantly realizes their mistake, they forgot to clue Mina in. “Oooh, wait. We didn’t get a chance to tell you yet.”
“Tell me what?”
With a giggle and a skip, Melissa steps before Mina again but this time she properly introduces herself. “Let me officially introduce myself. I’m Melissa Shield. I'm a student here on I-island and I’m a part-time Plumber Cadet.”
“Plumber Cadet?!” Mina gasps. “Does that mean-”
“Yes, my Papa’s a Plumber at least in their Engineering Department.”
Mina quickly spins around to call out the other two. “Why didn’t you guys tell me?!”
“We literally found out for ourselves yesterday.” Ochaco defends.
Izuku slides in with an added comment. “Not to mention, when would it have been a good time to bring it up?”
“Not the point!” Mina barks back.
“Hehehe.” Melissa can’t help but laugh, their interactions are just so funny. “Sorry we didn’t say anything before, believe me I’ve been wanting to meet you too.”
“You have?”
“Yes, we don’t have that many half-human half-aliens running around you now. You’re special.”
Well, that seems to be enough to get Melissa on Mina’s good side because she’s absolutely beaming with pride. “I like her!”
Kraab chuckles. “Yeah, we do too.”
They all share a good, humored laugh, it’s boisterous and loud and oh so joyful. But as they calm down the laughing fades and soon looming questions hang over their heads, putting a damper on their fun.
Melissa is especially affected, her gaze finally dropping away out of guilt. “I’m…I’m sorry about everything.”
Izuku doesn’t blame her, but he too can’t help but feel like this is partly his fault. After all the villains were after the Omnitrix…again. “Yeah…me too.”
“What’s gonna happen now?” Ochaco asks directly while silently praying that it all worked out somehow.
“Everything's going to be different.” Melissa admits with a nervous yet thrilled expression. “For starters…I’m leaving I-island.”
“YOU’RE WHAT!?!” They all explode into a stunned outroar.
“They’re kicking you out?!” Ochaco can’t even wrap her head around at how unfair and unjust that is.
“They can’t do that! None of this was your fault!” Izuku’s outraged, a rare sight, but not one unexpected in this case.
“Yeah!” Mina screams. “It’s not fair!”
“You misunderstand!” Melissa shouts over them, trying to calm them down before they go charging the head dean. “I’m not getting kicked out of I-island!” Taking a breath, she calms herself as much as she can before telling them. “I’m choosing to leave.”
“You are?” Izuku’s stunned, he never thought someone would willingly leave I-island’s program. “But-but what about your dream? What about helping humanity reach the Intergalactic community?”
“I never said I was giving up on my dream.” Melissa confirms with an air of determination and drive. “I still want to create and build so many great things. I want to make all sorts of items and gear and inventions that will help heroes and people, human or otherwise, live safe and peaceful lives.”
And that should be enough of a goal in of itself. But it’s not, she desires more. She doesn't just want to help but to help in the most effective ways possible. But how is she supposed to so that? Well, this experience has given her a clue.
“But this experience, being around you all, has taught me so much. I got to witness it firsthand and see just what it takes to be a hero. The kind of conviction and heart it takes to put your life on the line and pour your entire heart into what you believe in. It’s inspiring.”
So inspiring that it made her decision all the easier to make.
“And it made me realize something. I still have so much more to learn, so much more to experience and see. I need to expand my horizons. That’s why-” She takes a breath and steels her nerves before telling them. “I’m going to be transferring to the Plumber Academy.”
“You’re going to the Plumber Academy?!” Ochaco’s shocked, she never even considered that an option.
“Are-are you sure?” Izuku can’t help but question. “I mean, I bet Principal Nezu wouldn’t mind bring you to U.A.”
“Thanks, but it’s okay I’ve already spoken to him and Mr. Cinder. And he already contacted the Academy for me and got me all registered. I leave at the end of the month.”
Although they just met, even Mina can sense how nervous she really is deep down. “You’ll be so far from home.”
“I know but I’ll be fine. I won’t be able to see Papa for a while anyway. But when he gets out, he’ll be working full time with the Plumbers again.”
“Really? That’s great!” Izuku grins, happy to hear the news.
“In order to be of greater help in the future I need to educate myself more on alien technology and I need to have the ability to meet new people that can teach me even more. So, that way I’ll know exactly how to help everyone. I can create the most perfect inventions and gear to assist any hero and help every person they save!”
They’re taken back, not out of disbelief but at how determined she is to see this through. This could not have been an easy choice. For all they know this might be her way of coping with recent events. It’s a lot to take in: villain uprising, father guilty of crimes, her uncle nearly killed. It’s a lot to deal with but it seems that they won’t have much to worry about. It looks like their own actions have inspired her enough to keep striving forward. And whatever she chooses to do, they’ll support her.
“Whatever you decide, we're with you.” Izuku promises, speaking on all their behaves. “And besides it’s not a goodbye it’s a see ya later.”
“Yeah!” Ochaco happily agrees. “We can still make calls. They got phones up in space, right?”
Kraab shrugs, waving his claw from side to side in a skeptical way. “Well, they’re not really phones but yeah, same difference.”
^Wop wa.^ Chopper comments.
But Kraab waves him off. “Yeah, yeah I know. But still.”
Ignoring them, Izuku moves on and restates their claims. “Just remember if you need anything or start missing home, we’ll be just a call away. We’ll even go up there and meet ya if we have to.”
“You’re all so kind.” Melissa is truly touched, that means so much coming from them. And it is such a weight off her shoulders as well. Part of her was afraid they wouldn’t take too fondly of the news, but clearly her fears were unfounded. “But before I go, is there anything I can help you all with?”
“Huh?” Ochaco pauses, gaping when Melissa turns to her.
“Uravity, would you like me to make another pair of Full Gauntlets for you? It wouldn’t be a bother; I’m sure.”
Ochaco stops to think about it but after a minute she has her answer. “Thanks, but I’m okay.”
That is honestly a surprise to Melissa, she thought for sure she’d say yes.
“Don’t get me wrong, the Full Gauntlet was amazing! And I totally loved it! But…I need to better myself and relying on a tool like that will just restrict my own growth.” It’s like using a trampoline to jump higher; it works but the moment the trampoline is gone she’ll never reach that height if she doesn’t train to do it herself. “It’s like you said, I have a lot to learn too.”
“We all do.” Mina comments, her antenna wiggling over her head.
“That we do.” Izuku sits up straight as he calls out the group directly. “So, let’s make a promise. The next time we meet we’ll show each other exactly how much we learned.”
They all smile in agreement. Especially Melissa who comes to stand before the hero in training with a fiery drive in her eyes. “I’ll hold you to that, Deku.”
“As will I, Melissa.” He smiles back. “Until we meet again.”
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With every encounter of new friends must come the inevitable parting. Each must go their own way. But with every parting there will inevitably be a reunion as paths cross once again.
As is the case here within the walls of a seemingly abandoned warehouse in the middle of the haunting woods. Bare and stripped of parts, holes line the roof as thorny vines entangle the entire foundation. Creatures of the night such as silent mice and chirping insects populate the walls of the warehouse. But they’re all silent as a single light source shines over them. But then they all scurry away as a swirl of shadows forms within the warehouse’s center.
Out from the shadowy vortex steps forth an equally shadowy Kurogiri and at his side is an eerily violet-shaded container that hovers just two feet off the ground.
Kurogiri is met with a blinding light, forcing him to squint and shield his eyes before the light is turned away from his face and he is met with the sight of the Young Master.
“Kurogiri. Do you have it?” Tomura Shigaraki growls from atop a stack of rotting two-by-fours.
Kurogiri places a hand on the container; it is of a strange metallic substance with a viewing port at the head allowing anyone who comes near a peek inside. “It was at the drop-off location as promised along with an added bonus.”
On his que two more figures of varying sizes emerge; one carries himself with a light agile step while the other stomps forward moving in a way that indicates that he’ll crush anything that dares to step before him.
And upon seeing Shigaraki’s hand-covered face, Nue can’t help the mocking smirk from stretching across his face. “What’s up, Handjob? Did you miss me?”
Shigaraki waves a hand in front of his nose. “Ah, great and we just cleaned out the stank too.”
“Ehehehe, real funny.” Nue smirks, he bares his fangs as he brings his face before Shigaraki’s. “But the only thing that stinks around here is your rotting breath. And boy I sure didn’t miss that.”
Shigaraki leans in closer and glares back.
And Nue dies the same albeit with a cocky smirk, satisfied he got a rise out of the creep.
But their staring competition is interrupted by an indifferent yet impatient tone. “If you two kiss I’m gonna burn my eyes out.”
Peering over Nue finds Dabi hanging out near the back along with several others.
“Hehehe! Don’t be mean!” Himiko Toga gleefully laughs, her face flush with red. “They haven’t seen each other all summer long! It’s not fair! I’m sure they just wanna play!”
“Yeah, play, sure.” Charmcaster rolls her eyes as she leans back from atop her perch upon stacks of plywood. “But let’s be real here, none of us are here to play around.”
Kurogiri concurs. “Too true. We have a lot of work to do and much to accomplish.”
On that note Shigaraki takes a moment to examine the container even further. Upon further expectation the container is more like a high-tech cassette if anything else. It has an eerie purple hue about it while a strange blue-liquid drips out from one of the seams.
“Is that the package?”
The other figure that arrived with Nue answers. “Yhe! Htacw hawt uoy allc a ckaagep, alp!”
Everyone stares at SevenSeven with absolute loss before they all turn to Nue in the hope that he’ll translate somehow.
With a sigh Nue translates on the bounty hunter’s behalf. “Yeah, it is.”
“Kurogiri, let me see.”
“Of course.” The shadowy bartender steps aside allowing Shigaraki to look.
The villain leans over the cassette, sliding two fingers across its sugar as he makes his way to the portal window. There he peers in and reels at the sight.
“Nasty.” He gags but doesn’t turn away, seemingly fascinated by the horror inside. “You are one ugly motherfucker.” he growls as if the contents could respond.
SevenSeven suddenly shouts out in excitement. “Ah! I etg ti! Ttas’h a Datorpre eeeerrfnc. Odg i ovle ttah veiom!”
Ignoring him Nue goes ahead and gives the container a tap. “So, are you sending this off to that rejected zookeeper? He’s gonna have a field day.”
“No.” Kurogiri responds. “This one is going to a different facility.”
And with a wave of his hand, he directs his portal to slide over and swallow up the container before it and the portal vanish away to nothing.
SevenSeven nods his head at the sight, seemingly impressed. “Ee’wr otn nnaog ese ttah fofayp ofr a liehw.”
Shigaraki watches the portal vanish with a bit of curiosity and irritation but doesn’t say a word but instead turns his attention back to his leveled-up alley. “So, are you all trained or whatever now? You were off in the Training Arena for a while. What? Did you get your ass kicked every other minute?”
He laughs and his fingers twitch. Honestly, he’s expecting Nue to lash out and throw a fit. He even expects the freak to take a swipe at him. But it never comes; instead Nue, almost humbly, admits to it.
“Yeah, I did. But guess what, now it’s my turn to whoop some ass.” He leans in and growls in Shigaraki’s face. “Just point me at the punks that deserve it.”
To say that Shigaraki is stunned wouldn’t be wrong as he’s taken back by Nue’s admittance. “You’re different.”
“Naw, I just see the bigger picture now.”
“As you should.” Kurogiri cuts in ensuring that things won’t escalate. “Because with your return we are ready to begin.”
“You got that right.” With a wave of his arms to his sides Shigaraki walks backwards towards the single light only stopping just before it. “Our little team MMORPG is about to begin.”
With a snap of his fingers a number of figures step out from the depths of the warehouse, making their own ominous presence known.
With a flourish and a bit of excitement Shigaraki addresses their little vanguard of villains. “Now who’s ready to invade the enemy camp? Ehehehe!”
Notes:
*And that was Ch.65 My Sweet Summer is Gone. See I told you it was short. And again, sorry I couldn’t post sooner but I had a lot of fun things to attend to these last few weekends, so it is what it is. But hey guess what? Now it is finally time for the FOREST TRAINING CAMP!!! I have so much planned you don’t even know! Well, I guess you guys know to a point but still!! We’ll get right into that next time!
*Also, I know people are gonna be disappointed that Melissa didn’t join the main storyline. Sorry but this is what I chose. We already have an engineering character in Mei Hatsume plus I will eventually be bringing in Blukic and Driba. So, having Melissa around would be redundant. That said this is far from the last time we will see her. In fact, some eagle-eyed readers already saw the hint I gave on how I will be bringing her back.
*Also, I wanna point out that All Might does not tell Hisashi about One For All. Just thought I’d make that clear.
*Reminder* Please check out my side story/spin-off of this story. It is a collection of Omakes/OVAs that take place between chapters or within chapters. I also use that story to post updates about this story. So, please go check it out, it’s all in good fun.
*ANNOUNCEMENT* Oh by the way I may change my Profile Name on this site and maybe fanfic’s as well rather soon. So, if you suddenly see this story with a different author name next to it. Please relax, just know that I changed my Profile Name. Thank you.
*Public Service Announcement* Please do not post spoilers for the manga in a review. And if you do, please don’t do it directly try to be somewhat subtle. I want this story to be accessible to everyone whether they read the manga or not so please respect that. And if you do need to talk about spoilers then PM me personally about it. But please ask to make sure I am caught up first. People have spoiled major things to me before I had the chance to read myself and I know it ruined it for others because they did it as a review. So, please be mindful about what you post.
Chapter 71: The Beast's Forest
Summary:
Class 1-A finally set off for the long awaited summer Training Camp. But will it be the dream they've been overhyping all semester or will it be the nightmare of their own teacher's cruel concoction?
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
(Read very slowly and PLAY the following song: “ Until the Sun Dies feat. Fakevinyl ” by Lushlife - Topic)
The city of Musutafu is quiet and serene, not a soul is stirring with everything from the dew of the leaves to the flicker of wind is still and in place. As if the entire city was asleep. But it begins to open its eyes to the welcoming sun that shines over the horizon casting the glow of a new tomorrow over the city.
The sun gently peaks through the curtains, shining into Izuku Midoriya’s face just as his alarm sounds. With a yawn Izuku shuts off the alarm and rises with a chipper smile on his face. He stretches and breathes, taking a moment to enjoy the morning. His hair free and messy with bed head and his pajamas are wrinkled and covers thrown to the floor. But what’s got his attention are the new decorations and items laid out across the room, all of his souvenirs from his summer vacation: like the blue pine tree hat, a massive wood carving, and a weird taxidermy trout. Several ornaments from the temple sit on his dresser beside photos of him and his Dad or Mom enjoying some family memories both new and old.
And it all just fills him with satisfaction as he springs to his feet and gets ready for the day.
He quickly gets to the shower, soaking in the warmth before drying off and jumping back into his pajamas. His hair becomes wild and puffy in the steam as he brushes his teeth with a little sway to his hips as he hums. He’s in such a good mood he glides his finger over the foggy mirror, drawing a smiley face over his reflection.
Back to his room he goes through the parts of his uniform in a set routine. First socks, shirt, pants, tie, and jacket before checking himself in the mirror. Something’s not right, he thinks before deciding that the jacket’s got to go. It's way too hot for that and it anyway. He needs something else.
After thinking on it and trying different ways to wear the uniform from untucked shirt, loose tie, and even no belt it finally hits him as his eye catches a glint of emerald.
Without even hesitating he grabs his green and black hoodie off his chair and loops it around his waist before taking another look at the mirror and admiring himself for his own charm.
With a skip he basically jumps out of the room and into the living room where breakfast is waiting. His Mom’s over the stove getting the food ready and having just put it all on a plate. With a spin and a skip, he glides over and pecks her cheek with a good morning kiss while swiping the plate and sliding into his seat. Beside him his Dad greets him with a smile before turning back to his morning newspaper.
Breakfast is perfect with everything Izuku loves from an American style breakfast: eggs, hash browns, pancakes, bacon, and fruit. Nothing could be better. Well, except for some Katsudon.
He nearly inhales it all in seconds, downing his juice before getting up and wishing his parents farewell with hugs and kisses.
He rushes to the living room, jumping over the couch and grabs his suitcase before hauling it away for the door.
He stops when he’s met with his father’s smiling before the doorway.
Gazing at his pride and joy, Hisashi hands him his yellow backpack, it’s packed, filled to the brim with extra supplies and luggage that he’d thought Izuku might need.
Slinging over his shoulder, Izuku hugs his Dad before shoving his way through the door and away towards the train, nearly bumping into Mr. Baumann as he does.
With a sheepish smile and bow in apology Izuku hurries before the old man could chew him out. But the store owner chuckles and waves it off, finding Izuku’s good mood infectious.
Hisashi and Inko wave him goodbye. His head popping over the stairwell to wave back before he disappears, running and jumping down each stair as he goes.
They watch on, until he’s nothing but a green dot on the street below.
Inko, knowing he’s gone, returns to their home to clean up their meal. But Hisashi stays, his smile fading ever so silently as he can’t help but worry. But shakes it off allowing the good times to return before drawing the door closed.
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“You’ve finished your first semester at U.A High. You’ve had your fun. And you’ve enjoyed your summers. That’s over now. This camp is not a vacation.” Shota Aizawa pauses mid speech, eyeing each of his student’s reactions. They’re a mix of excitement, trepidation, seriousness, or outright oblivious to what’s to come. So, he better set them straight. “Don’t think these will be weeks of rest for you heroes in the making. At this camp we will push you to go beyond your limits. You’re aiming to become Plus Ultra.”
“Yes, sir!” Every member of Class 1-A from Aoyama to Shinso call out in response.
And it was a good thing Aizawa said what he had to as his students immediately begin chattering away again and ignoring him. Understandable since most of them haven’t seen each other during the last few weeks. But they better make the most of it since the buses are already here and waiting to take them away.
“I’m so psyched!” Ochaco Uraraka runs up to Izuku, her smile wide and brimming with excitement. “I’ve been looking forward to this camp all summer, Deku!”
“Oh, yeah! It took forever to get here.” Izuku comments with a pained smile, almost like he never thought he’d make it here. “I was almost starting to think it was never gonna happen.”
Honestly, compared to what he’s had to deal with this summer, this training camp might, in comparison, be easy mode for him. No monsters. No villains. No aliens. Just him and his friends in the big outdoors, far from society, with no one to bother them. Yeah, it’s gonna be a great time.
And it appears everyone else thinks so too as they’re all bouncing around restlessly.
“This is awesome!” Mina Ashido cheers. “Everyone, let's give it up for camp!”
“Camp! Camp! Camp!” Her, Denki, and even Ochaco all jump in and begin clapping their hands with every cheer.
Izuku laughs, falling into their own joy as well. ‘Wow, they’re all sure excited.’
Too bad the moment is ruined by a screeching wail of envy and shameless mirth. “I heard some of Class 1-A is taking extra courses! Does that mean they actually failed the Final Exams?!” Neito Monoma howls with glee, faking a gasp before ranting on with a crazed grin stretched across his face. “That must be so embarrassing! Especially since you’re supposed to be so much better than my class! ALL OF YOU MUST BE WALLOWING IN SHAME-Eek!!!”
With a single chop to the next Monoma instantly collapses to the ground, lying there like a sack of rocks as Itsuka Kendo stands over him with an indifferent look on her face, a clear sign that she’s far too used to this kind of behavior from him.
“Don’t mind him.” She condolences as she grabs his leg and drags him away to the bus while the rest of the entire Hero program watches on.
Reiko Yanagi, a pale-skinned young woman with chin-length, pale gray hair that obscures the majority of the left side of her face, shrinks back as Monoma’s dragged past her and her classmates. “Monoma’s scary.”
Izuku nearly jumps out of his skin, having not even noticed that any of them were right there behind him. “Oh, the rest of Class B!”
Setsuna Tokage flashes him a smile with her sharp lizard-like teeth. “It’s nice to see you outside the Sports Festival, I guess now we’re not technically rivals.”
Yui Kodai nods in greeting as well, her bob-cut hair bouncing a bit as she does.
“Time to get on the bus!” Kendo calls from beside the bus before she drags the unconscious Monoma inside without a care if he hits his head on the steps.
“Okay!” Class B hurry after their Class Pres., with the girls of the class running up to the bus first.
“The girls of Class A and Class B…” Minoru Mineta is literally drooling buckets, his height being a way too advantages for anyone’s liking considering that all the girls are in their school uniforms. “It’s like a buffet of bombshells.”
Eijiro Kirishima has half a mind to slap him. “Dude, get yourself together. For real.”
But Hitoshi Shinso seems ready to actually follow through with his intuition. “Should I tie him to the bumper?”
Kirishima laughs albeit nervously. “L-let’s not resort to that… Yet.”
“Attention Class A our bus is here!” Tenya Iida shouts for the whole world to hear as his arms chop away at the air like he’s a psychotic robot. “Everyone line up in seating order! Aaah!!”
But he’s tossed aside as his classmates completely ignore his orders and flood the bus.
“Order! Please! Everyone! ORDER!!!”
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The bus ride is smooth and going by rather nicely, it’s moving at a decent enough speed so they should be arriving at their destination before long.
Good, that still gives Aizawa plenty of time to get his students ready. “Here’s the deal, we'll be on this bus for an hour before our first stop. Make sure you stay focused.”
But his orders go unnoticed as Denki shouts over him. “Why aren’t we blasting some music?!”
He’s not the only one shouting every single one of them are busy chatting away while all trying to talk over one another. They laugh, they talk, share summertime memories, while others press their faces to the windows and pump their arms signaling the nearby semi-truck to honk their horns.
But then there is the outlier that is Iida who is trying to reign in this circus. “No one should be standing, that is a safety hazard!” Of course, he shouts this while he himself is standing. “Please stay seated! Do not open that window!”
Aizawa’s dumbfounded to say the least, but then again, what did he expect? ‘Why do I bother? Well, I guess this is the only time they’ll have to fool around.’
Mina throws herself over the back of the seat, leaning over Jiro after she’s been eavesdropping. “A music festival?! Jealous!”
“Yeah!” Kirishima leans over from across the aisle. “You have to get us tickets for next time!” “You got it.” Jiro promises. “Heck I’ll bring everyone. Well, as long as the weather holds up.”
Meanwhile, Toru Hagakure is peering over from beside Mina, but her attention is on her conversation with Momo. “No way? Are you serious?”
Momo Yaoyorozu nods in regret. “Afraid so. No matter how many times I block his messages, he still manages to get around it and message me. He keeps asking for all of your numbers.”
“Eww. Jeez, I knew that Billions kid was a creep but for real.”
From the row ahead Ochaco is leaning over Tsuyu’s shoulder while Shoji’s eyeballed arm reaches over.
“Aw, your little sister and brother are so cute!” Ochaco coos.
“That's your grandfather?” asks Mezo Shoji. “By any chance was he a sailor?”
“Yup, Navy. Kero.”
Koji Koda, who’s sitting beside Shoji, chimes in. “I bet you saw all kinds of wildlife!”
“You have no idea.” Tsuyu responds with a knowing smile. “That lake had the biggest fish I’ve ever seen. It was a real monster. Kero.”
Shinso, meanwhile, is chatting away with Shoto and Tokoyami in the backseats. “I heard you were stuck with your old man all summer.”
Shoto Todoroki nods. “Yes. He wanted to show me first-hand the work of a hero.”
Fumikage Tokoyami fully understands, plus he was there. “My mother felt the same way. Albeit through the police force.”
Shinso grabs their shoulders and shivers as a dreadfully agonizing memory plays in his own mind. “I feel your pain, Mr. Aizawa had me running courses after courses in the hopes I’d catch up to you all.” A bone chilling shiver runs down his spine. “I can only imagine what he has planned for us.”
The three peer over to the front and stare holes into the back of Aizawa’s head. And for a moment they could have sworn they saw him smirk.
Tokoyami grips Shinso’s hand in an attempt to comfort him. “Take heart, friend. We shall face the upcoming trials together.”
Having finally gotten Sero and Ojiro to sit down, Iida finally takes his own seat beside Izuku. “So, Midoriya tell me. How was your summer?”
Izuku gives him a genuine smile in return. “It was great. My Dad and I took a road trip together. It was a lot of fun!”
“So admirable!” So much so that Iida is apparently driven to tears. “I know your relationship with your father is strained but to hear you both tried to move forward is nothing short of heartwarming! I bet it was both enlightening and I assume a relaxing experience.”
“Relaxing isn’t the word I would use. More like hectic and stressful.” And that’s just putting it lightly. ‘Honestly, this summer camp might just be the vacation from my vacation.’
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And his vacation can start now that they arrived at their first stop.
Even though it was only an hour everyone was ready to get off that bus. Unlike Izuku who spent the summer in a cramped RV, none of them are exactly used to long hours on the road. So, this break was a much needed one for all of them.
Especially Mineta who’s scurrying around this way and that across the empty outlook. “Let me through, I gotta pee!”
But there’s nothing in sight. They pulled off over a cliffside looking over a thick mountain forest. And the only other thing there is a lone car parked off to the side by the railing.
Kirishima frowns as he looks around for a building or even a bench. “Huh, this isn’t much of a rest area.”
“No. And where’s Class B?” Jiro asks, wondering where they’re bus could be.
“You don’t really think we stopped here just so you can stretch your legs, do you?” Aizawa rhetorically asks, causing all of them to panic internally.
But Mineta’s having a different kind of panic as he grows more desperate as his bladder threatens to fail. “P-please, sir, the t-toilet.”
Before he could even acknowledge the question, the doors to the nearby car swing open and a woman’s voice calls out. “Heya, Eraser!”
With a bored expression, Aizawa bows his head in greeting. “Long time no see. Mandalay. Pixie-Bob.”
“Your feline fantasies are here! Say, meow!” A woman with red banged hair winks and poses at the students while wearing a red-pink costume.
And following her out is a similarly dressed woman in blue and with blonde hair. “Purrfectly cute and catlike girls!”
They both strike a well-practiced pose before announcing who they are to the world. “You can call us the Wild, Wild Pussycats!”
They pause for applause but there is none as everyone just stares. Including a little boy with a Bakugou-like scowl who’s watching off to the side with disinterest.
Class A is at a loss before Aizawa explains. “These are the pro heroes you’ll be working with at the Summer Training Camp.”
And on que, Izuku rightfully nerds out much to everyone’s discomfort. “They’re a four-person hero team who specialize in mountain rescues! The Pussycats were founded when we were kids, like forever ago!”
The two heroines gasp in pain after catching his little spiel.
“This marks their 12th year working as a-”
Suddenly there’s a gloved-paw grabbing his face and even though he can see her he can sense the deadly aura coming off Pixie-Bob. “I’m pretty sure your math must be off!” Her grip tightens around his head, and he can feel the cat-like nails piercing just ever so slightly into his scalp.
“I’m 18 at heart.”
Although she said that with a cutesy voice, her underlying threat was well received.
“U-Understood.”
Kirishima and Denki cringe as they watch. ‘That’s so sad.’
Aizawa, however, tries to move things on. “Everyone, say hello.”
“Hello! Nice to meet you!” The students greet all at once.
With that out of the way, Mandalay gets right to it and gestures towards the valley. “We own this whole stretch of land out here. Everything you can see. The summer camp you’re staying at is there at the base of the mountain.”
“That’s far!” They can’t even make any buildings out thanks to all the sea of thick trees in the way.
A familiar sense of dread warns Ochaco about some devious plot. “Uh. Then why did we stop all the way up here instead?”
Tsuyu starts to back away. “I’m afraid we both know the answer to that.”
Rikido Sato tries to deny it, fully falling into a state of delusions. “That can’t be right.”
Sero laughs nervously as he tip-toes his way backwards. “Um. Back on the bus. Q-Quick. Let’s go.”
Denki is already moving. “Good idea. Load up!”
Nobody dares to say otherwise, not even Iida.
However, Mandalay can't have that. But that’s fine, this was expected in fact. What a delight, this will make this all that more fun. “The current time is 9:30 in the morning. If you’re fast about it, you might make it there by noon.”
The reality sets in, dropping like a ton of bricks over them all.
“No way! Guys!” Kirishima screams.
“Holy crap!” Mina gasps before they all start running away.
“Save yourselves!” Kirishima roars as they all scramble back for the bus
A smirk e stretches across Mandalay’s face, like a feline watching mice helplessly scurrying about. “Kitties who don’t make it there by 12:30 won’t get any lunch!”
Aizawa watches them all run away with a bored and indifferent expression, which is nothing but a facade to hide the glee he gets from watching their terrified reactions. “You should have guessed, students. The training camp-”
They’re cut off from the bus as a too enthusiastic Pixie-Bob lands down before them.
“-has already begun.”
Pixie-Bob slams her hand against the ground causing the earth underneath to shake and glow blue just before the earth itself gives out from underneath and sweeps them all away like a tidal wave!
“AAAAAaaaaahhhhh!!!”
Ochaco can’t believe it, they’re just hurling them off a cliff. A cliff!! “What the heck?!”
“She must be controlling the ground!” Izuku screams as he's hurled past her in the wave of earth and soil.
“AAAAAaaaaahhhhh!!!”
Clay and rock rain down over them as they all crash onto the forest floor below. Thankfully unharmed but shaken and already in need of showers.
“Good news!” Mandalay calls down from above. “Since this is private land, you can use your Quirks as much as you want to. You’ve got three full hours. You should be able to make it to the facility in that time. That is, if you can get through The Beast’s Forest.”
The students all spin around and gaze into the forest. And the view from above did not do the place any justice. The forest is layered with giant trees as thick as cars with such a compact canopy of leaves that hardly any light is peeking through to the nearly bare forest floor.
“The Beast’s Forest?!” Izuku backs away from the trees, figuring it must have that name for a reason.
Even Denki sees that something’s up. “That sounds like a name right out of a fantasy game.”
“Why do we keep falling for Aizawa’s little tricks?” Jiro whines while others around her grumble and dust themselves off.
Shinso glares daggers up at the cliffside. “I swear that guy enjoys torturing us.”
Kirishima lets out a sigh as he cleans up his shirt. “I guess there’s no use complaining. Might as well get going.”
Mineta’s way ahead of him since he’s already ran into the woods at full speed. ‘I held it. Didn’t spring a single leak. Now to find a secluded spot!’
But before he can relieve himself the ground shakes, tripping him up and forcing him to stop as a low beastly growl meets his ears.
And before he can fully understand what it was, something colossal emerges from the brush. A beast, a monster of imposing stature with earth-cladded armor, massive root-like tusks, and rocks for fangs rises over the teen.
“We’re all gonna die!!” Denki and Sero cry out in horror as the earth-armored beast shakes the ground with each stomp of its claws.
Ochaco and Izuku gasp, wondering if it could be one of Dr. Animo’s mutations! Assuming it is, Izuku hurries and transforms.
And although they’re all struck with surprise and fear, Mineta feels relief as his suffering is finally released.
“RAAAAAAWR!!!” The earthly monster lets out a thunderous roar as it raises its claw up, aiming to crush Mineta.
Sensing the danger, Koda rushes forth while calling out to the beast to stop its attack. “Please calm yourself my giant friend! You don’t want to hurt them!”
But it’s no use as the colossal monster goes for the kill.
A snare of vines snatch Mineta right up and pull him away just as the massive claw smashes into the earth.
Wildvine swings himself and Mineta away, but even as he makes his rescue, he keeps his one eye on the beast in case it tries again. ‘Koda’s power lets him control animals, but is this one immune? Or is it an alien?!’
As the monster rips its claw out of the ground, a chunk of its armor crumbles away exposing that it’s nothing more than a hollow shell.
‘A dirt clod?’ A smirk stretches across Wildvine’s face, he should have known that Mr. Aizawa would come up with something like this. Well, he might as well play align then. ‘In that case-’ With a flourish and swirl of his tendrils, Wildvine’s vines rip through the ground like serpents racing through water.
They rip and tear with blinding speed as the earth-bound monster unleashes a devastating roar. “RAAAAAAWR!!!”
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Meanwhile from up on top of the cliff, Pixie-Bob is playfully humming to herself as she controls the monster. Losing herself to her fun and cat-like playfulness.
Mandalay, however, is still a bit skeptical about all this. “Don’t you think you’ve got them on a pretty crazy schedule, Eraser?”
“Yeah.” And he’s proud of it. “We’re hoping we get an entire second semester’s worth of knowledge in them here. That’s going to take an intense amount of work. But the rewards will be worth it. They’ll get permits to use their Quirks if there’s ever an emergency. And provisional licenses that will allow them to work as heroes. Most importantly, with all the villainous activity we’ve been tracking they need to be able to defend themselves.”
Suddenly a thundering rattle of broken earth and trees startle them. They spin around to find a pillar of thorns and vines all spiraled together around the broken and still form of Pixie-Bob’s earth monster.
Aizawa doesn't even bat an eye, sighing as he assumes it’s Midoriya’s handy work. “I trust that I can count on you, Pixie-Bob.”
Pixie-Bob is stunned, terrified since the massive thorns of the pillar are only feet away from her. But soon that shock turns to gleeful excitement at the prospect of a challenge. “Leave it to me! Oh, wow, my fur's standing on end! That little mouse of a Rising Star of yours has a real bite to him!”
Even Aizawa has to acknowledge that fact. “That he does.”
While they watch on as the students' struggle begins the bus gets ready to depart and head down to the camp. After all, it has to drop off all of the students’ bags and luggage. There’s Bakugou’s suitcase, Kirishima’s duffle bag, and more like Izuku’s own yellow backpack. Which is stirring just ever so slightly until it zips itself open from the inside.
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The pillar of vines and thorns tower over the students, its peak having ripped through the canopy allowing light to pour in like a spotlight over Midoriya’s seemingly newest alien. Wildvine grins as he rips his hand free of the thorny pillar and smirks up at the sky as clods of clay crumble down from the monster’s hide. “Ehehe. Now that’s what I call being one with nature.”
He may be laughing but half the class is not at all enjoying this. Most of them stare in disbelief with their jaws hanging off their faces. “SINCE WHEN!?!”
Kirishima, however, recognizes this form. “Hey, it’s Plant Dude!”
“Wildvine!” The transformed Izuku corrects with a snap.
“Right, sorry.”
Hagakure looks over to their friends and asks. “But didn’t he use the word Wild already?”
Jiro shrugs in response. “Yeah, guess he got lazy with the names.”
Ojiro drags a hand down his face in an attempt to shrug off his surprise. “He’s a talking tree now? Shit, that’s both cliche yet cool all at once.”
Denki chuckles as he pats Ojiro’s shoulder. “If you think that’s cool just wait until you see the rest of his new transformations!”
“THERE ARE MORE!?!” Half the class yells out.
“Hey, no spoilers!” Wildvine barks. “I'd rather show them myself!”
A growl from above reaches their ears and peering up they can spot the shadow of a massive, winged monster gliding over the canopy.
Wildvine grins appreciating the monster’s timing. “And Wildvine still has more to show!”
He rips out the pods from his back and slings them forward like spinning discs. The pods pierce through the canopy and explode against the monster causing leaves and branches to shatter and rip away.
“Ha!!” Wildvine cheers assuming the monster was destroyed.
“RAWR!!!” The damaged monster crashes through the canopy, its wings torn but its main body still fit enough to attack.
A pink blur and a fiery boom rocket themselves up towards the monster. And with a combined SMASH and Explosion the monster’s reduced to nothing but rubble and dust.
“Don’t think you can go showing off, Deku!” Katsuki Bakugou shouts. “Idiot! Fucking make sure it’s dead first!”
“Focus! There’s more of them!” Ochaco warns as she floats back down to the ground.
On her warning, more growls and stomps echo through the woods alerting the others of the incoming threats.
“Hey, come on!” Denki whines. “Don’t you think this is a little unfair?”
Mina backs away from the foreboding woods. “What now? Do we run?”
Sato’s not sure but he knows what he’s more concerned about. “Not good. If we don’t make it to the camp fast enough, then we won’t get anything to eat.”
And it seems Momo has the same worry. “He’s right! We have no choice but to cut through these woods using the shortest possible route!”
Tsuyu ribbits and nods as does Tokoyami, Hagakure, and Koda.
“Alright. Let’s go, Class A!” Iida declares getting his class charged up for the fight ahead.
“YEAH!!!” And it works as they all shout out in determined unison.
And they’re off, moving as a herd but splitting up into smaller packs to take on the incoming enemies while making sure they all stick close as one big group.
Using his Dupli-Arms Shoji scans the trees for any and all enemies. “I spot three up ahead. And two flanking each side.”
Jiro is beside him, her Earphone Jack pierced into a nearby tree root. “I hear five more coming from behind us. So, ten total. They’re coming!”
At the same time a dragon-like clay monster breaks through the canopy and attacks.
“All right. I’ve got this one!” Sero swings himself up into the branches where he binds up the clay dragon’s wings in Tape, lassoing them together and causing the dragon to crash onto the forest floor below.
“Sato! Kirishima!”
Sato chomps down on some cubes of sugar that he happened to have in his pocket, allowing him to bulk up, his muscles ripping through his uniform in mass. And Kirishima’s entire body hardens, becoming a jagged fortress of manliness. They both charge the dragon delivering blows to its gut before Sato delivers one hell of an uppercut to its jaw.
As the dragon crumbles away, another colossal monster takes its place, coming from the wood in a full on charge.
“Dark Shadow!” Seeing this, Tokoyami roars, summoning his familiar.
“Got it!” Dark Shadow snakes through the air and tears its claws into the monster, shoving it back before ripping it apart.
Tokoyami’s not the only one bringing the pain as Ojiro slams his Tail into a clay cyclops, knocking it off balance and slamming it against several trees.
“Aoyama! You’re up!” Ojiro calls out as he hurries away.
“Bonjour!” With a wink and a smile Aoyama fires his Naval Laser which totally decimates the clay cyclops.
“Damn it!” Tears are streaming down Mineta’s face even as he charges one of the giant monsters. “If it weren’t for you monsters, my pants wouldn’t be wet right now!”
He’s throwing out Pop-Off balls like nobody’s business causing the monster’s limbs and claws to get stuck to the ground and giant trees.
And with a lizard-like monster pinned in plan Denki runs up its tail and back. “Mineta, get outta here!” He lands on the monster's head and holds on like he’s a rodeo champion. “One Point Three Million Volts!”
He releases a massive discharge of electricity that fries the monster into dust, but it also leaves Denki in a giggling dumbass mess.
But no one can hear his giggling over Koda’s own poetic shouting. “Lovely birds of the forest! Remove this evil beast and restore peace to this wood!”
Forest birds of all kinds are swarming and floating around a single clay monster, causing it to panic and swat at them to no avail.
“Take that!” With its attention diverted, Mina rushes in and splashes the monster’s leg with Acid causing the limb to give out and bring the beast to its knees.
“Oh, no! I’m completely helpless! It’s gonna eat me!” Hagakure feigns fear as she quotes-on-quote runs away from a pursuing clay beast, luring it towards their trap.
Momo smiles from afar as she awaits the ambush. “Good, Hagakure. Perfect distraction.”
Mina runs past Hagakure, and they both share a high five before swapping places. Mina dives between the monster’s legs and splashes its leg too with Acid. Bringing it down to its knees beside its kneeling brethren.
With the two down and stuck in one place Momo calls out to her classmates. “Everyone, quick! Take cover now!”
They all hurry away and just in time as cannonballs explode into the monsters, blasting them apart.
“That was amazing, Momo!” Mina gushes while Momo stands tall beside a massive battle cannon she created.
From the other side of the group, Ochaco is racing through the trees bouncing and ricocheting off of them until she reaches her targets. She slaps her hands against the first monster, leaps away, and touches the second, before jumping again and slamming her powered fist into the third shattering it to bits.
“Tsu! Shinso! They’re all yours!” She calls out, hanging back and watching them do their parts.
“Leave it to us!” Tsuyu calls back as she wraps her tongue around one of the beasts and flings it upward to the sky.
“These things are gonna get annoying real quick!” Shinso yells as he wraps his Capture Scarf around the other creature's tail.
Gripping the scarf, he spins and spins, spinning the weightless beast around before throwing it away into the sky.
“And now, Release!” Ochaco presses her fingers together causing the clay monsters to come crashing back down onto even more of their kind.
“Nice job guys!” Ochaco cheers as the horde of monsters break away.
Tsuyu looks over at Shinso and his Capture Scarf. “I didn’t know you brought it with you.”
“I didn’t.” he admits while gesturing to the scarf wrapped around his neck and face. “Yaoyorozu made it for me. Remind me to thank her when this is over.”
“Will do! Now let’s go!” Ochaco excitedly hurries off to help the others fend off the clay beasts.
Shoji, meanwhile, calls out to the frontlines. “I’ve spotted more of them closing in!”
With a boom Bakugou blasts himself towards the Ankylosaurus like monster just as Shoto freezes its entire right side in place. With it stuck he is able to deliver a round of Explosions that reduce it to nothing but ash and smoke.
Bakugou lands and takes off in full sprint, heading towards the next baddy but he becomes annoyed when he finds Shoto running alongside him and keeping pace. “You’re in my way there, Icy Hot!”
“Then pick another route.” Shoto deadpan responds without missing a beat.
“Well, you’re both in my way!!”
The two have to jump to the side and avoid being run over as a spinning giant ball of death races past them with Iida close on its heels.
As Iida caches up to the giant yellow sphere he calls out and gets ready to launch it forward. “Get ready, Midoriya!” Iida activates his Recipro Burst causing his leg to swing forward with devastating speed and power.
“Not Midoriya! It’s Cannonbolttttt!” Cannonbolt screams as Iida delivers a high-powered kick to his rear, launching the spherical alien forward.
Cannonbolt crashes through the brush, pinballing off the trees and into the approaching hoard to clay monsters, crushing them under his weight and power.
“Hahaha!” Cannonbolt laughs as he smashes into the ground and uncurls himself. “We’re on a roll guys! Let’s race through this and we’ll keep driving them back as we do! Hahahaha!”
Sero lands nearby and lets out a long-drawn-out sigh because he’s already exhausted by Midoriya’s quips and jokes. But mostly by Midoriya’s constant need to surprise them. “Midoriya, just how many transformations did you get since we last saw you?”
Cannonbolt scratches his chin while he tries to count them off. “Um, Bullfrag…Rath…you already saw Wildvine, um, I think it’s about seven.”
Sero sighs and hangs his head in defeat. “Of course.”
“Grrrrr!” More clay monsters appear from the front, their claws and fangs bared and ready to tear into flesh as they let out low beastly growls.
“RAAWWR!!!” One clay monster gets ahead of itself and charges the boys only for it to get obliterated by a pink blur that smashes down on it from above.
“Look alive, boys!” Ochaco yells before spinning around and getting ready to face the rest of the horde. “We still have a long way to go!”
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It may have only been thirty minutes, but Pixie-Bob has not let up at all and is just having a ball with her attacks. “So, you’re gangin’ up on me now? Well, I can fight dirty, too! Pow! Pow! Scratch! Ha, ha!”
The young boy that came with them watches off to the side with a scowl.
He looks to be about five years old with short spiky black hair. His style of clothing consists of a short-sleeved collared shirt with buttons, dark shorts, and black boots. But the most iconic thing is that red hat he wears with two golden spike-shaped horns on the front.
With the students busy and well on their way, Mandalay calls him back over to the car. “Kota, we’re leaving.”
“Idiots.” Kota spits as he watches the stupid teens make fools of themselves against the fake monsters. ‘How pointless. To wanna be a hero.’
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The sun is setting, and the sky has turned to a soft orange. The forest has gone completely dark, nearly pitch black due to the thick canopy.
But for Pixie-Bob, Mandalay and Aizawa it’s not a bother at all. They have no signs of worry or waning patience as they wait before the Wild Wild Pussy Cat’s lodge. They arrived hours ago and yet there still no sign of the students anywhere to be had.
That is until Pixie-Bob picks up the slightest movement in the trees. “Ha! The litter is almost here.”
Mandalay smiles as she too can see them in the distance. “That took a lot longer than expected.”
The first thing they pick up on are the students’ own pained and exhausted pants.
The first to emerge, panting and exhausted with his unformed burned and torn is Shoto who still has bits of frost clinging to the right side of his face.
Next is Bakugou with a strained look on his face as he grips his aching wrists.
Iida limps along behind him, dragging his stalled-out leg behind him.
Ochaco looks like she’s about to puke but her stomach went empty a long time ago so there’s nothing to give now. And overall, she just looks absolutely beaten and exhausted.
And that’s the general state of the class as a whole as they all eventually emerge from the woods with tattered uniforms, sweat and dirt cladded faces, and bruises and scratches all over. Each and every one of them look like they’re all gonna fall over in the next gust of wind.
And when they finally reach the pro heroes some of them actually do, falling to their knees or leaning over each other as they totally run out of steam.
Sero bends over and has to prop himself on his knees to stay up. “You said it would only be, like, three hours!”
“I guess we timed it based on how long it’d take us. Sorry!” Mandalay snickers, not at all feeling guilty or apologetic.
Sato almost wants to cry because he's so tired. “Now you’re braggin’ about how much better you are? That’s so mean.”
From behind them the final member of Class A finally reaches the clearing. The steps are heavy and sluggish, yet it comes from a short statured being with a massively bloated glowing green belly.
“F-finally made it…Ugh.” Upchuck gurgles and holds back a burp, exhausted and bruised he sluggishly drags his over bloated self towards the others. “Ugh… I think something I ate *BLEGH* isn’t agreeing with me-Ugh!” He tries to hold it back but with a disgusting gag he tosses up a pile of wet mud, roots, and rock at his friends feet. “Ow-ugh. And another one…bites…the dust. Ugh!”
Before he can even enjoy his own joke, he falls right over, face first into the biled ridden mud.
Shinso slaps his face, his mind finally breaking along with his body. “8 hours. Eight. Hours. We had to endure Midoriya’s quips for EIGHT HOURS!” He cries, unable to take it anymore.
There was so much from plant puns as Wildvine, Cannonbolt’s forced puns, Diamondhead’s rendition of We Will Rock You, and so much more, The only time they got a break was when he mercifully turned into Wildmutt. Although he was howling a lot, and Koda kept flinching and cringing at every bark.
Even Shoji’s lost his patience for them. “If I hear one more, I’m gonna rip my ears off.”
Tsuyu too looks like she’s gonna keel over. “I’m so tired. I…I can’t even…tell him that…Upchuck’s…a really gross name.”
“Ughhh.” Upchuck whines with his face still stuck in the mud. He’s too tired to defend himself and instead rolls over and groans. “I’m…starving.”
“You’re starving?!” Kirishima gasps. “I’m starving! This is hell!”
“Meow, meow, meow, meow, meow, meow, meow!” Acting all cutesy, Pixie-Bob giggles into her paws. “I thought it would take you kids even longer. But you did much better against my dirt monsters than I thought you would. You guys were seriously great.” She smirks as her leery eyes are drawn towards certain students. “Especially the four of you!”
She points her paw over at the exhausted Iida, Shoto, Bakugou, Upchuck, and Ochaco, who just so happens to be standing by the boys.
“It seems like you all have had quite a bit of experience!” She licks her fangs temptingly. “I call dibs on these kittens! I’ll groom them myself!” She announces before jittering and hovering over them all, acting like a cat trying to bat and play with its prey.
The boys are her main target, and they shield and beg her to leave them alone while Ochaco just unceremoniously gets shoved aside like she’s not even worth considering.
Even Aizawa finds this a little disturbing. “Mandalay. I can’t remember, but has she always been like this?”
Mandalay sadly has to admit the truth. “It’s gotten worse lately. She’s at the age to take a mate.”
Upchuck, stupidly, tries to chime in. “Uh, speaking of people’s ages-”
Like before he finds Pixie-Bob’s claws gripping his head along with her threatening air. “Choose your words carefully, toad.”
He does. “I’ve just been wondering since we got here earlier.” He points back towards the scowling Kota who’s been standing off to the side as of now. “Who is that kid? What’s he doing here?”
Mandalay is actually happy to answer him. “Oh, this little guy? He’s my cousin’s son. He lives with us now. Don’t be shy, Kota. Say Hi to everyone. You’re gonna be around them for the next week.”
But it looks like the kid would rather ignore them during that entire time. His entire scowl just reads: stay away from me and get out of here.
Too bad Upchuck doesn’t seem to get the memo as he tries to reach out to the boy who’s about the same height as him. “Hey there. My names’ Upchuck. Well in this form at least. But my real name is Midoriya. And I’m from the U.A. High School Hero Course. It’s a pleasure to meet you!” He holds his like stub of a handout for Kota to take.
But the boy just continues to scowl as he backs up just a bit.
Upchuck frowns, not sure what he's doing. Maybe he came off as too strong. Perhaps he is shy?
But nope, it’s none of those things as Kota suddenly rushes forward and lands a kick into Upchuck’s swelled up gut, punting him like a soccer ball.
“Midoriya!” Iida cries, speeding in and catching the stunned creature. “Are you alright?!”
Upchuck groans, holding his rumbling and glowing stomach. “Ugh. I think I’m gonna hurl. Bleh.”
He can’t choke it back and he spills his guts in a form of a green plasma explosion!
“WAAAHHH!!!” Iida and everyone unfortunate enough to be caught in the blast cry out as they’re blasted back and pelted by green ooze, mud, and smoke.
Those closest to the blast are lying on the ground. Not unconscious but they’re too haunted to even pick themselves back up.
And finally, the Omnitrix times out allowing Izuku to reappear while lying on top of a dazed Iida who’s hair is standing on end thanks to the blast, scorch marks stain his face and his glasses are nowhere to be seen. “Ughh. *BLEGH! * E-excuse me…”
“You fiend of a child!” Iida somehow shoots up, and starts scolding Kota, accidently tossing Izuku aside like he was weightless. “A surprise attack like that is unforgivable!”
Kota turns away but not before glaring back at Iida with an irritable fury. “The last thing I want is to hang with some wannabe heroes.”
“Wannabe?! How old are you, kid?!”
Although everyone has a pretty rotten view of the kid there is one who can’t but admire the little brat.
“That brat’s got spunk.” Bakugou smirks, enjoying the fact that Deku just got humiliated.
“He’s like a mini version of you.” Shoto comments.
But apparently that was the wrong thing to say as Bakugou immediately blows up in his face. “What are you talking about?! You need to shut your mouth before I blast you all the way to hell.”
Shoto just stares back, not falling for the threat. “Yeah, sure.”
“Enough playing around.” Aizawa calls out, gathering their attention. “Get your stuff off the bus. Once your bags are in your rooms, we’ll have dinner in the cafeteria. After that, you can bathe and sleep. Tomorrow your training starts in earnest. You’d better get a move on.”
“Yes, sir…” The class just barely responds, using what little energy they have left to answer.
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And finally, after all their struggling and getting themselves settled in it is finally time to enjoy their well-earned reward: an entire buffet of piping hot food fit for a king!
Izuku claps hands together before digging into the feast. “It looks so good!”
Of course, it does, it’s like a sea of food stretched across their tables. The entire cafeteria is swirling with delicious odors, causing the students to drool as every dish is brought out. And each one of them is diving headfirst into the sea of flavors, each of them eating away like it’s their last meal on Earth. And who can blame them? They deserve all of this from the fried Gyukatsu, Tempura and Karaage. To the snack sized Gyoza, Edamame and Buta-No-Shogayaki. Along with the incredible side dishes of Natto, diced vegetables, and white rice.
But like any group of friends there are conversations going on even as they eat.
Sero swallows his piece of shrimp before speaking. “So, you girls got stuck in a tiny little bunk room, didn’t ya?”
Jiro nods and looks over. “Why? Is the guys’ room really big?”
Mina overhears and leans over from the other table. “Oh, yeah? So, like can I come check it out later or what?”
“Sure. Whenever you want.”
Meanwhile, it looks like Kirishima took some lessons from Upchuck judging on how fast he’s swallowing up his bowl of rice. ‘It’s so good! I can’t get enough!’
Even Denki looks like he’s gonna cry. ‘My stomach is so happy right now! My stomach is so happy right now! It’s as good as Lunch Rush’s food! I think I might eat until I burst!’ A waft of savory meaty goodness enters his nose causing him to gasp. “I smell beef!”
Kirishima’s head instantly snaps up towards Pixie-Bob who’s passing by with a tray of Gyukatsu. “Hey, wait, you got meat over there?!”
Pixie-Bob gives him a humored look. “Yeah. Jeez, it’s like you guys haven’t eaten in a week or something. Anyway, today’s the only time we’ll be doing this for you. So, make sure you kids enjoy it.”
“Thank you!” Denki and Kirishima gush before diving back into their plates.
While everyone enjoys their food and the heroines see to it that they’re fed, Kota stands off to the side silently scowling at them all unnoticed.
That is until Mandalay calls him over. “Hey, Kota! Can you bring me those vegetables?” She is referring to the random box of vegetables just feet away from the boy.
He silently grumbles and picks up the box before carrying it over to the kitchen.
Izuku watches him leave with interest, his gaze locked on Kota’s permanent scowl.
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And after a warm meal, it’s only right to follow it up with a hot shower and a warm relaxing soak in the bath. And this camp has the perfect thing for that: a hot spring. A giant stone-lined pool filled with hot steaming water, beautiful flowers and a Giant Bonsai tree surround the pool adding color and beauty to the walled off bath. With steam rising into the air that’s so thick it’s difficult to make out those around you.
And that’s perfectly fine since no one really want to see anything. They just want to sit back, soak up the water, and let their aching muscles recover.
Unfortunately, there is one of them that can’t find these accommodations good enough. He wants more. And, of course, he has to let everybody know it.
“The food and stuff is fine, but to be honest, I’m hungry for somethin’ else.” Mineta stares up at the tall wooden wall dividing the hot spring between the men…and the women. “Just one little wall. A few pieces of wood. And heaven’s waiting on the other side. A bath full of boobs and babes ready to be seen by yours truly.”
But nobody's listening too busy lost in their own restful bliss of the water.
That is except for Izuku who was unfortunately the closest one nearby to hear him. “Are you over there talking to yourself again, Mineta?”
Mineta disturbingly hugs the wall and caresses it as if it’ll magically fall away to him. But with his ear to the wall, he can hear the splashing and hums of joy from the other side.
There’s Mina’s voice. “This feels amazing!”
And Jiro’s. “I’m so glad they’ve got a hot spring here.”
And the rest.
Mineta loses himself imagining himself over there. “Bathe, my angels. How stupid of them not to stagger the times that we’d be naked next to each other. I hope they never learn from their mistakes.”
Most of the guys blush, falling for Mineta’s depravity but unlike him none of them are gonna follow through with it.
Denki, however, can’t help but find this all too funny. “It’s too much for him.”
Taking that as a warning, Iida shoots up from the water. “You’re to stop this at once, Mineta!” He marches through the pool, his arms swinging at his sides and splashing water at everyone he passes. “What you’re doing is demeaning! For both the girls and yourself!”
But the perv isn’t listening, drool spilling from his mouth as he loses himself to his fantasy.
“It’s shameful behavior!!” Iida screams.
But his scolding falls on death ears and Mineta has an epiphany. ‘Now I know why I have this Quirk. It’s because walls are meant to be climbed!’ Mineta rips off his Sticky balls and races up the wall with surprising speed, startling everyone. ‘I’m coming for you, ladies, Plus Ultra!’
Not liking where this is going Shinso immediately calls out. “Mineta! Can you take some photos for me?”
It’s a clear lie of statement, just something that would hopefully get someone like Mineta to answer and fall for Shinso’s Brainwashing.
But it’s no use as Mineta continues to scramble up the wall.
“Shit! He’s too far gone!!”
Panicking, Izuku grabs the Omnitrix and transforms, but it’s too late.
Mineta's nearly at the top!
‘All that Quirk training. All the times I almost died. It was to prepare for this shining momen-!’
But before he can reach it, he’s cut off when he’s met with Kota’s scowling face glaring down at him from atop the wall.
Mineta’s is frozen, in place with tears, drool, and snot running down his face which just adds to his overall shameless persona.
“Before you become a hero, you should learn how to be a good human.” Kota slaps his hand away not at all caring that it was enough to shove the perv off the wall.
“I’ll get you for this!!” Mineta cries as he plummets back down to reality.
Unfortunately, reality looks a lot like Iida as Mineta crashes into him, shoving them both into the water with a giant splash.
“Hmph.” Kota humphs taking some satisfaction he showed up as one of these so-called wannabe heroes.
And it appears he gets the honor of being the girls’ hero too as Tsuyu calls over to him. “Mineta really is the worst, isn’t he?”
“Thanks so much, Kota, babe!” Mina un-bashfully cheers.
Without meaning to, Kota turns around and accidentally gets a peek at the heaven Mineta wanted to claim for himself.
“We owe you one!’
“Ah!!” Blushing Kota leaps back and stumbles, his body falling over the edge.
Everyone below gasps in horror as Kota begins to fall.
“Aaaaahhh!!”
“Look out!” Bullfrag leaps up and catches him.
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Mandalay sits down on her rolling chair and pulls it towards the couch.
There she gently lays a wet towel over the unconscious Kota’s head. He’ll be fine if anything he just needs to sleep it off here in the Building Manager Office of the camp.
“The rush from the fall likely caused him to faint. Thank you.” Mandalay thanks.
“Hey, don’t sweat.” Bullfrag assures with a tilt of his shades. “I’m just sorry I couldn’t stop it in time.”
“Eraser warned me one of the boys was a little girl crazy, so I stationed Kota up there to keep watch. I suppose that’s the danger of teaching kids your age.”
Bullfrag’s not so sure how to respond to that, figuring that kind of a stab at him too. “Well, anyway. I’m just glad to see that the little tyke’s all right.”
“You must’ve moved pretty fast to catch him.”
He did but that’s not what Bullfrag is hung up on. Instead, as he stares down at the boy he can’t help but recall what Kota had said when they met: “‘The last thing I want is to hang with some wannabe heroes.’”
That’s such an…odd statement, especially from a kid his age.
“So, um. He doesn’t like heroes much, does he?” Bullfrag asks, acting like he’s walking on eggshells just from asking. “I gotta admit it, but that’s kinda hard for me to wrap my head around. Most everyone I know wants to be one. It’s…my dream.”
But then again there are those who couldn’t care less about heroes like Henzu Uuichi or Tomura Shigaraki. Those two have a passion for hating heroes, one that, admittedly, he doesn't fully understand.
“Then again I do know a few like him. Those that can’t stand the idea of heroes. So, it’s just wild to think that a tyke his age is so resentful towards heroes too. Hates them, even.”
Mandalay leans back in her chair in defeat. “How observant. Of course, he isn’t alone. There are many in our society who don’t approve of us.” Her expression turns solemn and pained as she turns to her nephew, gently parting his hair away from his head. Watching him lie gently, innocently, like a child should. “If he’d had a normal childhood, maybe he would’ve admired heroes like you did growing up.”
Like him? “If you don’t mind me asking, but…what happened?”
“It was Mandalay’s cousins.”
They turn their heads to find Pixie-Bob at the door. She’s quiet, reserved, saddened about what happened. “Kota’s parents, that is. They were heroes, too. But they were murdered.”
Bullfrag’s taken back. He figured something tragic must have occurred but for it to be bad. Poor kid…
“It was a villain.” Mandalay explains sorrowfully. “Two years back, Kota was still so small. They were killed while protecting citizens. Perhaps the most respectable way for any hero to die. But…”
Her voice breaks as she stutters to a stop. Even for her to recall it’s a little much, she can still hear his broken voice, the broken despair there was as he called for Mom and Dad. Calls that would never be answered. His entire world was turned upside down in that moment, and he was helpless to stop it. He could do nothing but watch as others thanked his parents for sacrificing their lives. And his.
“How do you even begin to explain to a child that his parents died honorable deaths? They were his entire world. Everything. But to him, his parents had left him behind. And all the while, they were being praised. Because…their sacrifice was such a noble one.” It hurts, it really does. It’s such a paradox of an honor really. “Honestly, he doesn’t seem to like us that much either. We’re heroes, like they were. I’m sure he feels like he’s stuck here because he has nowhere else to go.”
Bullfrog can understand. Parental figure(s) gone. Feeling like you're stuck. Your world turned upside down by one moment of bad luck.
“Heroes just don’t make any sense to Kota. After all, if his parents hadn’t been heroes, they would still be here.”
Now it’s starting to make sense. That’s the reason Kota despises heroes. Because, in a way, he was abandoned by heroes.
For some reason Bullfrag recalls what Henzu Uuichi said to him all those months ago when their friendship broke apart: “‘In this world…everything is give and take. No one really cares for others. Even those stupid heroes are in it for their own gain whether it’s for fame, money, or attention! The only thing you can trust is that people will use each other to get what they want!’”
It makes him think.
‘I’d heard so many different people talking about heroes over the last few months. I’ve listened to so many different viewpoints. It would be irresponsible to shrug them off.’
Bullfrag recounts the moment over and over in his head. Henzu’s statement felt so odd and out of place back then. But now, he can understand it. After everything he’s learned about heroes he can see where Henzu or Nue was coming from. Like in the case of Endeavor and other possibly other heroes like him. They are certainly in it for their own gain.
But then there are those like his father, Thirteen, Mr. Aizawa, Gang Orca, Mr. Aizawa, Kota’s parents and even All Might who are anything but selfish. They’re not in it for themselves but for others. But…the sad truth is often when they sacrifice themselves to their work to their responsibilities, they fail to realize that they’re sacrificing their loved ones’ lives too. Guess Kota and Izuku are similar in that way, in their parents’ attempts to do the right thing and follow through with their morals both he and Kota had to pay the price.
Sensing the conversation is over and not wanting to bum the student out, Mandalay goes ahead and sends him on his way. “Thank you again for looking out for Kota. We’ll look after him from here.”
“Okay.” Bullfrag bows his head. “And…thank you for humoring me.”
“It’s fine. It’s not something easy to talk about but it’s something you kids should be made aware of.” She waves off his worries with a kind understanding smile. “But that’s a conversation for another time. It’s getting late and Eraserhead wants you kids up bright and early tomorrow.”
“I bet he does.” Bullfrag laughs.
“Oh, he does.” Sly, playfully evil smirks stretch across Mandalay’s and Pixie-Bob’s faces sending a chill down Bullfrag’s spine.
“Ah, you know what-I think I hear someone, uh, Iida-calling me. So, uh, bye!” He suddenly becomes very nervous and quickly peels out of there, leaving the snickering heroines behind.
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‘Uh, jeez, now I’m paranoid.’ Bullfrag thinks, grateful that amphibians can’t actually sweat. ‘I never even thought about it, but Mr. Aizawa planned this camp. Which means-it won’t be a camp at all!!’ He’s so horrorstruck he nearly falls over! ‘I bet he’ll have us swimming upstream in rapids. Or rock climbing in the middle of a landslide!’ Bullfrag lets out a horrified gasp when a terrifying idea pops into his mind. ‘No! He’s gonna chase us down and hunt us for sport like a Richard Connell story!’
Realizing he’s falling into a rabbit hole, he shakes his head, trying to shake off the terror. ‘Chill! Chill. The Wild Wild Pussy Cats are running this camp too and so is Mr. Vlad King. So, yeah, I bet they have something better planned. Or at least easier.’ He’s praying that’s true, he’s not sure he or any of his classmates can survive Mr. Aizawa’s plots on their own.
“Are you a staff member? Or is that you Midoriya?”
Bullfrag jumps around in surprise, nearly screaming out thinking Mr. Aizawa found him. But instead, he’s relieved to find that it was Kendo and the rest of the girls from Class 1-B.
“Oh, Kendo! Yeah, it’s me.” They’re all in their pajamas, so he makes sure not to appear like he's staring and instead notes that they’re each carrying a pillow with them. “Just decided to give this form a stretch. And for future reference if you see this symbol then it’s me.” He taps the Omnitrix to help clarify things.
“Man frog?” Pony Tsunotori questions her Japanese skills mixing up the order of the words.
“Um, I call him Bullfrag actually.”
The girls stare silently judging the name.
“I didn’t come up with the name.”
“I like it.” Reiko Yanagi admits. “But don’t you think that’s copying too much from your classmates? Monoma does that enough already and are you sure you wanna follow his lead?”
“I don’t, but I can’t help it. My Quirk kinda has a mind of its own. If you know what I mean.”
“Yeah, I bet.” Kinoko Komori shrugs, she doesn't really get it but plays along.
“Did your class just get here?” Bullfrag asks.
“Actually, we got here several hours before you all did.” Kendo explains.
Bullfrag’s surprised but then again maybe Vlad King decided to be nice unlike his own homeroom teacher. “Oh, so they dropped you off here.”
“Nope!” Setsuna Tokage laughs, finding the experience humorous. “Get this Mr. Kan kicked us off the bus and we got attacked by a bunch of traps and the Wild Wild Pussy Cats!”
“Yes.” Ibara Shiozaki solemnly claps her hands together and nods. “It was quite a breach in our faith in him. Such dishonesty.”
“So, it wasn’t just us.” He should have figured as much. “So, where you girls heading off to now?”
Komori goes ahead and answers. “We’re heading over to join the rest of the ladies for a heroine girls night.”
“Wanna tag along?” Tokage asks with a teasing smirk and a playful wink.
Bullfrag’s face turns as red as a tomato as Izuku’s shy personality seeps out. “Ehehe…ehehe no-no thanks. I’ll leave you ladies to it. I gotta get back myself, in fact.” He scrambles back nearly tripping over his webbed feet as he does.
“Get back where?” Kendo asks.
“Well, you see before this I was in the…in the…the-” He freezes, face turning stock pale like a ghost’s. ‘Oh, no.’
*BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!*
The Omnitrix’s beeps must be its way of laughing at him as with a flash of red Izuku is left totally “exposed.”
“WAAAAAHHHHH/EEEEEEEEEEKKKKK!!!” The hall is filled with red screaming faces, each of them one of horror and embarrassment, except for Tokage who’s smirking, seemingly impressed.
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‘I’m ruined for marriage.’ Izuku cries, sulking in the corner with his futon over his head.
He ran out of there as soon as possible all the while the hallway echoed with screams. He managed to hide away in a closet when he heard Mr. Aizawa running towards the screams. And he stayed there until the Omnitrix recharged and he was able to use Grey Matter to slip away and get back to the dorm and change.
And that’s where his friends found him, sulking in the corner for some strange reason. Where they left him be…at first.
“Hey, Midoriya, quit hiding in the corner, get your ass over here and join us!” Denki calls over, sitting in a massive circle with the rest of the guys from Class 1-A.
He peeks his head out from the futon and sniffs. “Um, but what about Mineta?”
He points to the opposite corner where a crying yet defeated Mineta is tied up in a ball of rope, tape, and his own futon. All of which meant to keep him weighed down and bound up.
“He’s reflecting.” Shinso instantly responds without an ounce of guilt or shame.
“R-right.”
“Forget about that!” Kirishima calls over. “What do you guys wanna try first?”
He holds up a stack of board games he, Sero, and Denki snuck along like King of Tokyo, Evolution, a deck of cards, Taboo, and more.
They wave him over, all of them, and unable to sulk forever Izuku joins them with a not-so reluctant smile.
And so, they play, hang out, and joke each in their own groups to play something else from Jenga with a shouting Bakugou, to Evolution with Shoji and Koda, they even got everyone together to play a game of Mafia. Apparently Shoto and Shinso are very good at playing the role of the mafia.
“Man, I’m starving!” Denki laughs, falling over and holding his apparently empty stomach.
Ojiro gasps at Denki’s statement. “You ate so much your stomach was bloated! How can you be starving?!”
“Hey, that was hours ago! My stomach’s empty again!”
“Does anyone have snacks?!” Sato calls out, while hugging his backpack which is clearly hiding mores.
“I do!” Izuku pulls away from his game of Uno. “My parents packed some extras for me this morning.”
“Yeah, Midoriya!” Sero cheers. “Look at you, coming in clutch! Hahaha!”
Izuku slides over to his yellow pack and pulls it out from the stack of suitcases and duffle bags. “It’s not much, but it's something. I just need to find them.”
He zips open his pack only to be greeted by a tiny pair of pincers holding up an array of snack bags. “Here ya go.”
“Aw, thanks.” Izuku happily takes the snacks and puts down the bag.
But as he steps away, he freezes, turning pale as he slowly turns right back around towards the open bag.
And peeling out from the inside he can see Kraab’s glowing yellow eyes staring right back at him. “Sup?”
Izuku internally screams, throwing the snacks over at the others. “Here are your snacks!!” He scoops up his bag and dashes away. “I really need the bathroom!!”
The others watch him vanish, unsure of what to make of it.
Well, except for Denki that is. “I guess when you gotta go you gotta go.”
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Izuku locks himself in the restroom and sits down, placing a bag onto his lap. “K-Kraab?! What do you think you’re doing?!”
Kraab gives him a shrug as he makes room for himself in Izuku’s bag. “Well, I’ll tell you what I’m not gonna do. And I am not holding your hand just so you can use the bathroom.”
“What? NO!!! Ew, gross! I mean what are you doing in my backpack! I thought Principal Nezu said it was okay for you to stay in Plumber Base as long as you behaved?”
“Well, that was my plan too. Your old man gave me your family’s Netflix password and I was gonna spend the next few weeks binging everything.”
He’s been hearing from Izuku and Chopper all summer about how good shows like Stranger Things, Avatar, Kipo and the Age of Wonder Beasts, Demon Slayer, and Umbrella Academy were. So, yeah, he’d want to give Netflix a shot.
“So, then why’d you bother to sneak away with me?”
“Your Pops, he’s gotten all paranoid and wanted me to tag along. Said to keep a low profile and just be here in case things go wrong.”
Izuku lets out a heavy sigh. “Dad…!” He whines, honestly, he should have figured that it was him.
“Hey, don’t look at me. I told him you’d be fine but whatever I’m here so deal with it.”
Izuku glares down at the cyborg, annoyed and frustrated. “If Mr. Aizawa or any of the heroes see you; I'm gonna be in big trouble! Jeez, we weren’t even allowed to bring our phones on this trip!”
“Relax! Nobody's gonna know I’m here. In fact, I’ll be so stealthy you won’t even know I’m here.”
“Ugh! Okay…just please promise me you’ll behave yourself.”
“Aye aye, Captain!” Kraab gives him a salute and settles further into the backpack. “You have my word that nothin’s gonna go wrong!”
‘Why do I doubt that?’
With nothing else he can do about it, Izuku gets up with a heavy sigh. Unlocking the door, he heads out, making sure he’s not spotted before slipping out and making his way back to the dorm.
“Hey, I’m back.” Izuku waves as he enters, tossing the bag to the side albeit gently.
“M-Midoriya…”
Izuku’s head snaps up and she’s shocked to find everyone in a miserable state! They’re either stabbing their mouths with their toothbrushes, passed out, or hunched over and trying not to barf up buckets.
“WHAT HAPPENED!?!” Izuku screams looking at all their green and sickly faces. “Shinso! Iida! Everyone! Are you okay?!”
Someone grabs his ankle, snapping his head down and he finds Todoroki sprawled on the ground in agony.
“Todoroki!” Izuku hovers over him, holding his head gently on his lap, and trying not to make him any sicker. “Who-who did this to you?!”
Shoto gags, holding back his dinner before answering with a pained choke. “It was…it was…”
“It was who…?” He leans in close, hovering his ear over Shoto’s mouth.
“It was…it was…” Shoto leans up and whispers. “You…” Unable to hold on any longer he passes out in Izuku’s arms.
Izuku’s aghast, what could that mean?!
Iida tries to reach out, but his strength quickly leaves him. “Y-you’re snacks-they…they were-” His face goes green, and he turns away, sick.
“Snacks? My snack?! What’s wrong with them?! My parents packed them-!” It hits him. His parents packed them. His. Father. Packed. Them.
He scans the dorm and spots the opened snack bags lying on the floor. He scrambles for them, ripping them off the ground, and flipping them around and reads the labels: salted cicadas, pig toes, dried mealworms, and preserved duck eggs.
“DAAAAAAD!!!”
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It’s early, extremely early in the morning. The sun has barely risen over the horizon, casting large shadows across the camp, dew still clings to the leaves and grass like a mist, and the mosquitos are out in droves. But none of Class A has a choice, not when it's Mr. Aizawa who’s in charge of the wakeup call.
The girls of Class A are the first ones out with each of them in a different state of drowsiness. From Ochaco who still has horrible bed head to Tsuyu who looks like she’s gonna fall back to sleep if given the chance.
Jiro lets out a yawn just as she hears the boys coming out to join them. She turns around and is surprised to see their exhausted baggy faces. “Woah, what happened to all of you?”
Each of them looks hungover, with bags under their eyes, slouched postures, and fading consciousnesses.
Iida for his part does his best to look presentable but it’s really no use. “We were poisoned.”
“What?” Hagakure frowns. “But none of us got sick.”
Wondering what they’re talking about, Ochaco turns to Izuku for the scoop. “What are they talking about?”
The greenette jolts up and makes a point to avert his gaze. “I-I, um, put my trust in the wrong person.”
“Huh?”
“Midoriya, you stud!” Mina playfully laughs, running up and throwing an arm around Izuku’s neck pulling him in for a bro-like hug. “How you doing this fine morning, Playboy?”
“Ashido?!” Ochaco and a blushing Izuku exclaim in surprise.
Mina elbows his side. “I never knew you could be so bold. Look at you. I’m almost proud.”
Ochaco blinks, confused. “Mina what are you talking about?”
Oh she is all too happy to share. “Funny you ask, last night Tokage told me that-”
“Look, it's Mr. Aizawa!” Izuku blurts out, cutting off Mina and incidentally snapping everyone’s attention to said teacher.
“Good morning, class.” Aizawa greets, figuring he might as well get them started now that he has their attention.
“Good morning, Mr. Aizawa.”
“Today, we begin a training camp that will increase your strength. Our goal is to increase your skills exponentially, so that each of you earns a Provisional License. This will allow you to face the dangers that continue to fester in the darkness. Proceed carefully. Look alive, Bakugou.”
Aizawa tosses up a ball which Bakugou snatches out of the air.
Bakugou frowns and examines the ball before realizing it’s the same soft ball device used to measure their throwing distance from the start of the school year.
“Try throwing that for me.”
Bakugou understands instantly where this is going. “Yeah, sure. Like in the Fitness Test.”
“That’s right. When you first started school, your record was 705.2 meters. Let’s see if you’ve improved.”
As Bakugou steps forward and takes a moment to stretch, Mina speaks up in excitement. “Oh, I get it! We’re checking our progress.”
Sero grins in anticipation. “A lot’s happened to us since we started. Maybe he can throw it a whole mile now!”
Kirishima’s getting excited, imagining just how manly that would be. “C’mon, get it, Bakugou!”
“I’ve got this. No one blink.” With a cocky smirk, Bakugou winds up his pitch. “GO TO HELL!!!”
*BOOOOOM!!!*
A thunderous Explosion erupts to the sky, splitting their ears along with every creature in the forest while causing a gale of a whirlwind to rip through the air.
Everyone turns away, shielding themselves from the heat and ear-ringing wind. Except for Izuku who stares ahead, dumbfounded. ‘Go to hell?’
Meanwhile, the ball soars through the air quickly vanishing from sight and landing somewhere far into the mountain forest.
Knowing he blew it out of the water, Bakugou waits for Mr. Aizawa to announce his mind-blowing results.
“That was 709.6 meters.”
Bakugou’s stunned, actually letting out a gasp. That number can’t be right. He’s been getting stronger all year. He put everything he had in that Explosion! So, how?!
He’s not the only one ‘s stunned, every one of his classmates, even Shoto, Ochaco, and Izuku are shocked. After all, if Bakugou's Quirk barely improved…what does that say about theirs?
With reality hanging over their heads like anvils, Aizawa finally realizes the truth. “You’ve had a single semester at U.A., and due to your various experiences, all of you have definitely improved. But those improvements have mostly been limited to mental prowess and technical skill. With a slight increase in stamina thrown in along the way. Your Quirks really haven’t grown that much stronger. Not on a fundamental level.”
Izuku’s breath hitches as he finally realizes the true purpose of this so-called “camp.” So long is the theory that this would be a vacation from his vacation
“That’s why we’re now going to focus on improving your powers. This’ll be so hard; you’ll feel like you’re dying.” And Aizawa seems all too excited to make sure that promise stays true if his chilling Totoro grin is any indication. And it is. “Let’s hope you all survive.”
The class freezes, their hearts are beating so fast it's like a cascade of drums. That Totoro smile, that devious glint in his eyes: it's the stuff of nightmares. Just what does this madman have planned for them?!
Unbeknownst to them, Kraab perches himself back into the branches of a nearby tree. Beside him is a can of oil with a straw in it. He grips the can and stirs it as if it were a cocktail drink. “I like this guy. He knows how to have a good time.” He sticks the straw between his mouth and sips while leaning back and getting himself ready to enjoy the show.
Notes:
And that was the beginning of the Training Camp Arc. I know, I know! It wasn’t much. It was straight from the anime. I am well aware; I mean I wrote it. But it’s not without purpose, I’m just strategically putting all my game pieces in place for an epic adventure and thrilling ride. So, basically this chapter was nothing but setup. And that’s kinda the same deal for the next chapter too.
To be honest I am trying to actively make chapters smaller (when it makes sense) so that I can post sooner and on a more consistent basis. So, the next chapter will be about the same length as this one but the chapter after that will be fully original, hence longer. So yeah, there’s things to look forward to. This is going to be fun.
*I changed my name! Relax, it's still me. I didn’t give this story away or anything like that. It’s still me, “CreateGunner1209,” but I felt I needed a change. I got tired of that old name and wanted something a bit easier to remember and use for myself and you guys. So, henceforth I will be known as the Eternal Grandmaster “Guardian_Sigil.”
*A lot of people were confused about what was inside the casket Kurogiri received from Vilgax. If you pay attention to details about the casket itself and to what characters say about it, then you may just figure it out. If not, then I would revisit an earlier arc in the story.
Chapter 72: Training Camp
Summary:
The Summer Training Camp has begun. Now Class A and Class B must endure not just each other but also the savage training set up by the Wild Wild Pussy Cats.
Notes:
*Please check out the side story “Heroes Never Die; It’s Hero Time, Anytime” for fun one-shots that are canon to this story and for updates about future chapters.
*This fanfiction has a TV Tropes page so please feel free to check it out. https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Fanfic/HeroesNeverDieItsHeroTime
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Morning arrives all too quick for the members of Class 1-B. Sure they may have gotten 8 hours of sleep but that trek through the Beast’s Forest yesterday was a real challenge that they’re still feeling the pain from. Everything hurts still and the ungodly hour doesn’t help.
Even so they all do their best to stand at attention, but a few yawns slip out.
Kimori’s so tired she nearly falls over, the only thing stopping her is the fact that Kendo managed to catch her by the arm.
“We’re focusing on our Quirks?” Itsuka Kendo asks, wanting their homeroom teacher to continue his explanation.
“Class A’s already training.” Vlad King states with a low frustrated growl like that of a drill sergeant. “You all need to catch up.” He turns signaling them to follow him through the thick woods. “Last semester, Class A was in the spotlight. Next semester, it’s Class B’s turn. From now on, you’re shooting for the top. Don’t let me down!”
Tears of shame stream down Tetsutetsu Tetsutetsu’s face as he silently airs his frustration. ‘We’re such disappointing students!’
Seeing his overreaction, Manga Fukidashi’s head pops up with a Speech bubble that reads: “You’re crying too much.”
Setsuna Tokage is uncertain about this. “I get you want everyone to improve our Quirks, but we have twenty unique powers in our class. What kind of training will help all of us get better?”
Togaru Kamakiri nods his mantis-like pincers clicking together as he speaks. “Yeah, can you be more specific?”
Vlad King continues his march but allows for an explanation. “When your muscle fibers are overused, they break and grow back tougher, thicker. Quirks are the same way. They improve the harder you push them. Stronger after every workout.” He can see the clearing just up ahead and continues his march. “In other words, there’s only one thing to do!” He steps forward and enters the clearing, holding himself proud before his students and declares. “You’ll have to break yourselves!”
Class B lets out resounding gasps and whimpers of surprise and dread. Before them they see that Class A is already hard at work and it looks like a living hell on earth!
“DAMMIT!!!” Katsuki Bakugou is screaming bloody murder as he dunks his bare hands into a barrel of boiling water before taking them out and sending a massive Explosion into the sky that brilliantly shakes the air.
Shoto Todoroki’s in the same boat, his body soaking in a barrel of water exposing him to his own temperature manipulation as he generates a field office around himself before evaporating it all away with his flames.
And so it goes on from Hanta Sero crying out in agony as he continuously fires out streams of tape nonstop to Koji Koda shouting at the top of his lungs atop a cliff face while Fumikage Tokoyami is locked away in a pitch black cave with a rampaging Dark Shadow. And all the while Tenya Iida is speeding around them, racing this way and that with his Engines roaring behind him. He nearly ends up tripping over as the ground rises up from underneath him like a wave.
The surf of rock tosses around a massive, inflated ball with a green faced Ochaco Uraraka inside before she’s hurled away again by the rocky wave.
Her ball nearly hits the cliff where Tsuyu Asui is climbing. And below the cliff sits Rikido Sato and Momo Yaoyorozu who are using their Quirks while stuffing their faces with food.
Hitoshi Shinso is nearby, his brain sweltering as he pours over every Book that’s ever been written about the Human Brain.
Then of course you have everyone else that’s hard at work. Torturing themselves, bleeding themselves dry, and in some (most) cases, literally. All in the name of improving their Quirks.
Class B is taken back, disturbed by all the curses and groans being slung through the air by their already exhausted and miserable schoolmates.
Hiryu Rin backs away in freight. “Oh, man. This is pretty intense.”
Vlad King, however, remains stoic and unsympathetic to their plights. “Operative types will be raising your limits, maxing out your power. And the rest, you’ll mostly focus on strengthening body parts related to your Quirks. Now normally, these changes happen gradually as you grow-”
“-But we don’t have time for that.” Shota Aizawa cuts in, looking as uncaring as ever to his students’ suffering. “Your class has a lot of work to do.”
Kendo pauses, airing her concern. “Once we team up with Class A, there’ll be 41 students here. That’s a whole lot of Quirks for our homeroom teachers to manage on their own.”
“Which is why we called them.”
“That’s correct!” An overly silly woman with green hair and a yellow uniform literally pops out from nowhere and announces out in a silly voice. “Four kittens in one litter!”
“Your feline fantasies are here!” Mandalay joins in with a wink and a spin. “Say “meow!””
The green haired woman reenters the skit with a crazy fast spin. “Allow us to lend a helping paw!”
“We’re champions serving up justice.” A red eyed man with an intense glare flexes and joins in. “With our tails!”
And finally, Pixie-Bob finishes off the routine. “Purrfectly cute and catlike heroes!”
“We’re the Wild, Wild Pussycats!!” They all pose and shout out in declaration. “Full version!”
“I’m Ragdoll and my Quirk is Search.” The green haired woman introduces with a silly yet welcoming grin. “I can look at up to 100 people and know everything about them. Like their location and weakness.”
Pixie-Bob follows her lead and explains herself as well. “With my Earthflow, I can create the ideal training ground for every student!” To prove her point the wave of rocks crashes on by, bouncing Ochaco along with it.
It’s Mandalay’s turn next. “And my Quirk is called Telepath. I can give advice to multiple people at once.”
And finally, the epically awesome presence of the squad introduces himself. “The name’s Tiger. And I’m here to beat you guys to a pulp.”
Rin stares ahead in confusion. “I have questions about him.”
“All you kids with strength Quirks time for Tiger’s bootcamp!” Tiger swings his massively swol arm over towards said camp. “Class A’s already sweating, so catch up quick!”
The entire class jumps with a start as they look over and find a giant bipedal tiger just a few meters away. How they didn’t notice him none of them are sure. And what they see is certainly weird as the giant tiger is busy working up a sweat while performing weird stretches and movements.
Tiger slides in and starts hounding him like he’s the beast’s personal trainer. “C’mon!! Show me what you got!”
Rath instantly knows what to do and goes in for a punch. “Petrosapien Wallop!!!”
Tiger, using his Pilabody Quirk, bends and twists his body away from the punch before introducing a CAT PUNCH to the tiger’s stomach.
“GAH!!!” Rath’s thrown back against a tree. “Ughh…” He slides down the tree, his head spinning in a daze.
Tiger scowls, disappointed by Rath’s performance. “If you don’t push yourself, you won’t shred your muscle fibers, and then you won’t get stronger!”
Rath’s temper ignites at that. “Let me tell ya something’ Tiger who’s actually really scary yet a very efficient coach, Rath doesn't appreciate being yelled at!”
“Well, if Rath wasn’t so weak!! Maybe I wouldn’t yell!!”
“Well, if Tiger let Rath hit him! Then maybe Rath wouldn't be so ANGRY!!!”
Tiger scowls, meeting Rath’s gaze. “You wanna go punk? Because if so then I don’t mind putting you down myself.”
“Bring it on! Rath’s gonna show you who’s the real top cat around here!!”
“Grrrrrr!!” They both square up, leaning their heads close while glaring daggers at each other like the feral cats they are.
‘They’re scary.’ Thinks Sen Kaibara.
Jurota Shishida fearfully looks away. ‘These guys are way more intense than I expected.’
Scowling at his student’s lack of motivation, Vlad King decides to clue them in on why the Wild Wild Pussy Cats are here. “There’s a lot going on at U.A. So it’s hard for us to spare much staff for the hero course first years.”
Aizawa nods and adds in. “Based on their experience and range of powers these four were the most logical choice to help you enhance your Quirks in such a short amount of time.”
“‘And here I thought we were picked because he missed his old classmates.’” Mandalay’s playful thoughts telepathy echo in Aizawa’s head but he shows no outward reaction.
“Don’t fall behind Class B!” Vlad King barks, jolting his students awake. “Do me proud!”
Class B echoes back. “Yes, sir!”
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“Ugh!” Before they can be assigned their exercises, Class B is startled by Izuku's sudden collapse.
The greenette groans in pain, sweat and grass sticking to his head while he tries to catch his breath. “Wh-why am I even doing this? I’m not even a strength type Quirk!”
“I needed to keep you busy for a little while.” Aizawa, unapologetically, answers.
“Keep me busy? Until what?”
“Until we had enough participants.” Aizawa answers before following it with a question. “Midoriya, tell me, what is the core of your Quirk?”
“My core?!” Izuku gasps, his eyes snapping down towards the Omnitrix.
Worried he might have given himself away he quickly tucks it behind his back.
“Yes. What is its sole function? What is its primary role? Principal Nezu and I have determined that your Quirk’s primary focus is altering your form and developing new ones. We also deduced that you gain new forms when under severe stress and adrenaline.”
Well doesn’t that sound familiar? If Izuku has to guess he’d wager that after hearing Yaomomo’s theory on his Quirk. Hisashi must have gone right around to telling Nezu about it. Probably something along the lines of “that’s good we should use that!”
“So, I gain new powers when I’m in danger?”
“Good, then you understand what we have to do.”
“Do… what?”
A sly smirk peeks out from behind the Capture Scarf. “We have to replicate that scenario.”
Izuku’s heart drops to his stomach as Aizawa calls his classmates over.
“Todoroki! Shoji! Come here.” As the two stop and begin to trek their way over, Aizawa turns back to Class B. “Vlad is it alright?”
The homeroom teacher of Class B gives him the go ahead. “Of course, this will be good for them too.”
Aizawa appreciates the sentiment. “Ibara and Kurorio, if you wouldn’t mind joining us!”
Ibara Shiozaki and Shihai Kurorio both stop what they’re doing and step forward just as Shoto and Shoji join them. They all look at each other expectantly hoping one of them would know why they were called on.
Izuku frowns at them, unsure of why they’re here. “Um, Mr. Aizawa?”
“This is how your training’s going to work.” Aizawa explains with a blunt attitude. “I want you to avoid being caught by these four for the next ten minutes.”
Everyone is stunned, including Class A, but none more so than Izuku himself.
“Mr. Aizawa?” Shoto steps forward looking for clarification. “Are you saying that we’re all gonna be chasing Midoriya?”
“Chase? No. Attack and capture? Yes.”
“Is t-this really necessary?” Izuku asks with a forced smile. “I-I mean can't I just work on my transformations one at a time?”
“We can but we already have 40 other Quirks to work with. Adding your transformations would be adding another 60 or so.” Like always his logic is sound. “Besides, your real strength comes from your utility. If we can get you to generate new forms, then the more practical and useful your Quirk will become.”
“Don’t you think this is a little unfair?”
He knows right away that he shouldn’t have asked, especially as Aizawa’s crooked smirk widens. “Of course. And to make sure these four have proper incentive.” He turns to the four and addresses them directly. “If you manage to capture and subdue Midoriya then you each earned yourself a thirty-minute-long break.”
The four stud-...combatants perk up.
“You can use it now or later. But you must have him immobilized within a ten-minute span. Understood?”
The four don’t even hesitate before they respond. “Yes, sir!”
“Todoroki? Shoji?” Izuku whimpers.
“Sorry, Midoriya.” Shoji bows his head in apology.
“It’s nothing personal.” Shoto adds as if it’ll make it better. “But even I need a minute to rest.”
“TRAITORS!!! Why won’t anyone take my side?!” Izuku settles down before accepting his fate with irate determination. “Fine. You win, Mr. Aizawa. If it’s a fight you want, then I’m gonna make it a good one!” It might be the exhaustion getting to him, but a cocky smirk stretches across his face. Almost like he’s gone mad from the heat of the sun. “You don’t know this, but I haven’t just been sitting around this entire summer. I've been working hard, cultivating my skills, and growing stronger every day!”
Kendo’s eyes widened in disbelief. “Does that mean?”
“Yes!!! I already have new transformations!” Izuku laughs, losing himself to the madness. “They’re nothing like you’ve ever seen! And they will ensure that I achieve victory!” With a maddening grin he snaps his head over at Aizawa. “You want me to upgrade my Quirk? Fine!” In a flash Izuku transforms before their eyes. [Then let’s Upgrade my Quirk!]
Upgrade’s slick onyx and emerald physique stretches before them. His singular eye aglow with spite.
“WOAH!” Class B and some of Class A cry out.
[Yes! Woah indeed!] Upgrade flaunts, his chest puffed out and swelling with pride. [Take a look for this is the mechanical marvel of my entire arsenal! He can take control of any piece of technology. Reshaping it and amplifying its power to create unstoppable war machines!!]
“That’s so cool!” Yosetsu Awase awes, his eyes alight like stars.
“So, unfair.” Rin sobs, mostly to himself.
Juzo Honenuki frowns, eyeing the form curiously. “Just what exactly is it supposed to be?”
“Sooo, what do you call this one?” Tetsutetsu asks with a naive grin.
Upgrade pauses, his moment ruined as he slowly processes Tetsutetsu’s question. [Up-upgrade…his name is, Upgrade.]
“Oh, really?”
[Y-yeah. Didn’t you hear me announce it at the beginning?]
“Oh, I thought that was just a weird rant.”
Upgrade lets out an exasperated breath.
But his breath is cut off as a Capture Scarf snakes around his neck and limbs and pulls him down to meet the red-eyed glare of one Class A homeroom teacher.
“I see you have been busy.” Aizawa growls between his grinding teeth. “So, when exactly were you going to notify me about all your newest forms, Problem Child?”
Upgrade, somehow, begins sweating bullets. [I-I w-was g-going too! I j-just didn’t have a c-chance yet…]
‘That’s a lazy excuse.’ Thinks Class B.
[But don’t worry Mr. Aizawa I promise I’ll work hard. I promise!]
Aizawa eyes him as if considering if the Problem Child’s word is actually worth it. And after a moment he considers it so as he unties the terrified Mechamorph.
While Upgrade rubs his neck, a smirking Neito Monoma strolls up to him with an air of arrogance and cockiness like he knows something that Midoriya doesn’t. “So, you said this guy take over technology and enhances it? Is that right?”
[Yup. You hit the nail on the head.]
“Good. Haha…Haha…! Hahahaha! HAHAHAHA!!!” Monoma loses himself, bellowing out a haunting laugh of victory.
[Uhh.] Upgrade backs away out for his own safety.
“Midoriya.” Kendo taps him on the shoulder.
[Yes, Kendo.]
“Haven’t you realized it yet?”
[Realized…?]
That’s when Shoji decides to speak up. “Midoriya, we’re in a forest.”
[Nani?] Upgrade takes a pause and slowly looks around at his surroundings. And after seeing nothing but a sea of trees and rock he turns back to Class B, grabs his head and collapses while letting out a devastating wail. [AAAAHHHH!! I’M SO EMBARRASSED! AND HERE I AM TALKING MYSELF UP LIKE AN IDIOT! AAAHHH!!]
Everyone just stares with a deadpan expression. ‘Did he just realize?’
[Mr. Aizawa! Do-you have anything I can borrow?! A truck or maybe even a washing machine?] Upgrade snivels, bowing down at Aizawa’s feet in rapid succession.
“I think I failed to mention the other half of this training.” answers Aizawa. “This training isn’t just for you. It’s a way for the others to gauge themselves and to use their Quirks on a sufficient challenge.” His malicious smirk returns. “Oh, and I should mention that I’ve planned to match each of your forms with the best counters?”
Upgrade, fearing for his life, scrambles to find a way out. [Wait! Wait! Wait! Wait a minute! You have to give me at least something!]
Aizawa thinks for a moment before reaching into his back pocket. “Fine.”
[Oh, thank you Mr. Aizawa! You’re a real swell gu….-] Upgrade freezes as Aizawa drops a tiny walkie-talkie into his palm.
. . . . .
[What the hell is this?] Upgrade asks after an extended pause.
Aizawa turns his back and walks away, making sure to stay clear of the battlefield. “Considering it more training. You have to learn to use whatever’s available to you.”
[Nani?!]
Aizawa stops in his tracks and without turning back he says. “By the way, the ten minutes have already started.” He holds up a timer and it shows that they only have 8 minutes left.
[What?!] Upgrade’s head flails around as he scans for anything other than a radio that he can use. And there hidden in the trees he spots Kraab sunning himself with a pair of shades and a little reflective mirror.
[KRAAB!!!] He silently begs.
Kraab lowers his shades and waves before laying back and settling himself in for the show.
[I’VE BEEN BETRAYED AGAIN!!!]
As he flails for anything else, Upgrade spins around and finds Shoto, Shoji, Ibara, and Kurorio are already stalking towards him. Their eyes glow red with a determined fire that he hasn’t seen since the Sports Festival.
[G-guys.]
“It’s nothing personal, Midoriya.” Shoto promises as his right side begins to freeze over with a layer of frost.
Shoji marches forward with his Dupli-Arms forming into a swarm of hands. “Forgive us, but we’re going to give this our best.”
“Kekekeke.” Kurorio snickers albeit with a nervous yet excited grin. “I’m actually gonna fight the Rising Star. Shit, not gonna lie I’m kinda creeped out.”
“Please don’t think ill of our actions.” Ibara pleads with a slight bow. “I so do hate causing harm.”
[THEN DON’T FIGHT!!!]
“But I must!” Despite the pain and guilt in her voice, Ibara unleashes a wave of Vines that tear through the ground like a crashing wake.
The Vines explode from underneath Upgrade’s feet before entirely enveloping him in a tomb of thick powerful thorns.
“You got him!” Kurorio cheers.
“No, she didn’t.” Shoto’s left side begins to burn.
“Huh?!”
A jade laser pierces through the thorny tomb, and with a swing it slices it apart in a brilliant explosion of green flames.
Shoto and Shoji, having expected the counter, braced themselves against the sudden blast of heat and wind while Ibara and Kurorio are thrown off their feet. Too stunned by Midoriya’s sudden display of power. They hurry to their feet but stop as they are met with Upgrade’s furious glowing gaze.
“I might be at a disadvantage. But how easy did you think this was going to be?”
In response, his four opponents stand at the ready.
Without breaking his gaze Upgrade holds up the little radio and before their eyes he demonstrates how his power works. His body melts into the device, coating it and reshaping it to his will. The little walkie-talkie turns sharp and jagged as its shell is rearranged. The antenna turns sharp and extends out becoming a little lance while legs are out from the sides like a spider. The Omnitrix sits on the back while the speaker in the front expands and protrudes out like a cannon.
And through the speaker, Upgrade speaks. “Let’s try to have some fun. Shall we?”
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And what fun they had. After time was up Izuku got himself a quick five-minute break, mainly because they had to wait for his “Quirk” to recharge.
But when it was ready, damn did things get intense. Next up Aizawa had Four Arms go up against Sato and Kirishima. And then rightfully he threw in Tetsutetsu and Shoda into the mix creating a brawl that exuded manliness. There was one point all four opponents had grabbed and were wrestling the Tetramand before the red hulk turned the tables in a fit of rage.
Afterwards, XLR8 was zipping around with Iida and Tsuyu while Tsuburaba and Bondo tried to intercept him with their Solid Air and Cemedine Quirks, respectively. They had him for a minute, but he managed to make a “quick” escape, as it were.
But the most fun was watching an army of Ditto fight each other after half of them fell under Shinso’s Quirk. Leaving Mineta, Tokage, and Manga to sit back and watch before stepping in after the Dittos exhausted themselves.
But they are far from the only ones who are exhausted. Ochaco falls over, exhausted and out of breath. Her face red from the sun while her stomach gurgles with displeasure warning her that it’ll barf again. But the only reason nothing comes up is because her stomach is literally empty. Having puked up everything since breakfast already.
And right now, she’s so tired she can’t even bring herself to eat anything, instead taking the 5-minute break Aizawa graciously gave her to actually rest up.
But there’s something bugging her.
‘I need to keep improving.’ She thinks. ‘I have lots of work to do.’
But then again so does everyone else.
And so unable to rest, Ochaco looks around to observe what her classmates are up to. ‘I wonder how Deku’s doing?’
Wondering this, she looks over to see for herself. And what she sees does not disappoint.
“Raagh!” Diamondhead roars while swinging his crystal hammer down.
Jiro, who was knocked to the ground, rolls away before the hammer smashes the ground with a violent shake.
“Take this!” While springing to her feet Jiro’s Earphone Jacks lash out and pierce into Diamondhead’s downed arm. “Shout for me!!”
“AAAaaahhh!!” Diamondhead screams as Jiro sends a current of sonic waves into his body, causing his crystal shards to shake violently, threatening to break apart.
Not wanting to break away into dust, Diamondhead grabs her Earphone Jacks and pulls with all his might while yelling in a deep threatening voice. “GET OVER HERE!”
“Aaaah!” Jiro is pulled off her feet, flung forward by Diamondhead’s powerful swing.
As she’s hurled forward, Diamondhead gets ready to meet her with a devastating punch!
*CLANG!!!*
His fist, however, never connects as a similarly crystal blade of a Jian design intercepts his strike.
Dumbfounded, Diamondhead peers over at the wielder. Momo stands defiant, glaring back at Diamondhead with a fiery yet nervous gaze.
But his focus is more on the familiar looking 31-inch-long blade. It appears to be made out of the same crystals as himself, cut so thinly one might mistake it as paper. Its hilt is long with an elegantly designed cross guard of onyx black with the original shard gifted by Diamondhead inside.
“Enough!” Momo rips Jiro away from the Petrosapien while parrying his fist away.
“T-thanks Yaomomo!” Jiro breaths, backing away from the imposing alien.
“Be ready! This isn’t over!” Momo shouts, holding her blade up before their opponent.
Diamondhead glowers, standing back and examining the blade. “Is that the Zircon Blade? Haven’t seen that thing for a while. I thought you tossed it out?”
“Why would I? This Training Camp is the perfect place to hone my skills with such a weapon. And not to mention, I’ve been taking swordsmanship all summer.”
“You’ve been practicing? Good.” With a cocky smile, Diamondhead produces a dual set of massive blades of his own. “Then show me what you got.”
With a spin of her blade, Momo takes a Soresu stance, wielding the blade close to the side of her head, preparing to attack or defend at a moment’s notice. “With pleasure.”
They stand before the other, awaiting the other to make the first move. Neither even taking a breath as tension rises until it all just snaps. I
“Raaaagh!!” Diamondhead charges while taking a massive swing at Momo’s head.
*CLANG!!!*
It begins. Momo parries the attack and ducks, allowing the crystal limb to slide over her head before she spins around Diamondhead’s body.
He swings his entire body around with another swing to which Momo blocks again. But Diamondhead’s stronger, forcing her blade away with a mighty blow.
Momo nearly loses her breath and her blade, but she bounces back quickly just in time to lean back and avoid Diamondhead’s next slash. He slashes again but misses allowing her to slip in close and strike him across the chest.
Diamondhead winces as the blade actually leaves a cut. Growing angry he charges forth with a blade over his head.
He swings but Momo side steps, dodging it. With his arm down she raises her blade and swings down at his neck.
Seeing the attack coming, Diamondhead swings himself away causing her blade to miss and pierce the ground. Embedding it in place as a result.
Seeing an opportunity of attack, Diamondhead takes it with a mighty swing.
But that’s when Momo demonstrates what makes her blade so special as a second blade sprouts from the bottom of the hilt and shoots up, intercepting Diamondhead’s own.
Surprised, he's thrown off as Momo kicks the dual blade around, putting distance between them as she grips the hilt, keeping the blades out to the sides.
“Bring it!” Diamondhead roars initiating the next round.
*CLANG!!! CLANG!!! CLANG!!! CLANG!!!*
Again and again their crystal blades clash as they each take swings and stabs at the other only for them to parry and counter. That is until Momo finds herself holding off the giant’s Petrosapien’s blades. Her Zircon Blade’s dual blades struggle to hold up against his massive blades. The weight is too great but even, so she manages to hold her own under the pressure.
Diamondhead’s scowl soon turns to that of an impressed smirk. “You're good.” With a slide of his foot a thin crystal shoots out from the ground and nearly pierces her face.
Momo, surprised, stumbles and falls with a push by Diamondhead.
She falls back, landing with a thud, and as she’s about to pick herself up she’s met with the pointed end of Diamondhead’s blade.
“But I’m better.”
Momo scowls. “And outnumbered. Now, Juzo!!”
Suddenly a pair of arms shoot out from the ground underneath his feet and grab him. And like a cliche zombie horror show Diamondhead is pulled down into the Soften ground.
“Wait? What?!” Diamondhead’s fully taken by surprise, unable to move as his body continues to sink into the Soften muck.
This must be Juzo’s Softening Quirk at play. He must have used it to tunnel underground like a mole-man before creating a sinkhole right underneath his feet.
“Ehehehe!” Juzo’s skeletal head pops out from the Soften ground, he’s seemingly swimming away through the Soften ground as if it were water. “Ehehehe! Surprised you? Just, how easy did you think this was going to be.”
“Hey! That’s my line!” Diamondhead snaps while Momo hurries away from the sinkhole and shouts.
“Kodai!”
Hurrying out from the woods the silent Kodai throws forward a hand-sized net that Momo Created earlier in the fight. As it’s flung through the air, she presses her hands together causing the net to glow bright before expanding out into full size. The heavy chain-mailed net falls over Diamondhead like a sheet.
Not willing to go quietly, Diamondhead raises his blade in an attempt to cut himself free. But he’s held at bay by Jiro’s presence.
“I wouldn’t.” She warns with her Earphone Jacks poised and ready to strike. “Not unless you want your eardrums to bleed.”
Diamondhead stares at her in confusion. “I don’t have eardrums.”
“You know what I mean, Damnit!!”
Diamondhead struggles against his binds, his other arm is stuck, pressed against his body and the Soften ground.
Already starting to feel drained, Momo shrinks her sword and brings it back down to a single blade. She then stands over the Petrosapien victoriously and with proud defiance she states. “It’s over, Midoriya. We have the high ground.”
Diamondhead glowers in response. “You underestimate my power!”
“Don’t try it!” Momo warns but it’s too late Diamondhead has already made up his mind.
Suddenly from beneath the Earth a massive wave of crystals explodes forth and tears through the Soften Earth like it was playdough.
“Everyone, shield yourselves!!” Momo screams as Jiro takes shelter behind her.
Without a moment to lose Momo stabs the ground with the sword and a large crystal wall shoot ups.
Diamondhead’s crystals flood the battlefield, crashing forward like an avalanche. The wave of crystals hammers against Momo’s shield, but they’re all pushed aside and around like high pressure water crashing into a stone.
Jiro holds onto Momo for dear life as Momo herself struggles to hold up their shield.
And even though it feels like hours the crystal wave is over in mere moments leaving a massive piercing wave of crystals frozen around Momo’s barricade.
With the barrage over Momo nearly falls over with a fatigued breath. Thankfully Jiro is there to catch her and keep her on her feet.
“Oh, wow.” Juzo’s head pops out of the ground between Jiro’s feet alongside Kodai. “You Class A guys really are crazy. Ehehe.”
Uncomfortable with where he chose to pop out from, Jiro steps on his face. “We’re insane?!” She considers it for a moment before figuring it to be somewhat true. “Yeah, I guess you’re right.”
“J-Jiro…” Momo breaths between heavy pants.
“Yaomomo?”
“What…what happened…to Midoriya?”
Jiro pauses and stares up at the wall of crystal in confusion. Honestly, she has no idea what happened to the guy, but she can take a few guesses.
They all pause and stare at the wall before Momo gives Kodai the signal to go ahead. Kodai hesitantly reaches out to the crystal wall. Upon her activating her Quirk the wall shrinks away revealing to them a field of flattened crystal. As if the earth itself was frozen in a layer of pure ice. And at its center stands the freed Diamondhead, but he makes no move, nor does he act surprised when he sees them. Instead, it seems like he was waiting for them to reveal themselves.
“Impressive. Most impressive. You’ve grown strong, students.”
“YOU’RE A STUDENT TOO!!” Jiro snaps finding Midoriya’s wise mentor act strange and out of place.
But Diamondhead ignores her in favor of giving his opponents one last time to surrender. “Yield.”
Momo glares back and moves to straighten up. She nearly stumbles, scaring Jiro who hovers nearby. But Momo waves her that she’s fine before gripping her blade and prying it from the ground. And even though she can feel herself going in and out of consciousness she refuses to give before the unstoppable menace. “I will not yield. Not while I still draw breath.”
“Please don’t indulge him.” Jiro deadpans, giving them both an odd look while she wonders why they’re taking this so seriously.
“So be it.” Diamondhead’s arms reform into blades. “Let it not be said that I did not show mercy. Raaagh!”
With a whip of her sword the blade shifts and lashes out like a chain. The chain of diamonds cracks like a whip and wraps around Diamondhead’s neck. With a yank the bind tightens with the edges of the blade cutting into his neck.
“Release me!” With a roar Diamondhead fires forth a crystal trail that shout spout of the ground like Shoto’s own icicles.
Before the others can run for it, Juzo ran right at the incoming crystals.
They all cry out in shock. “Juzo!!”
He takes a stand, holding his hands out as if he’s gonna catch the crystals. The crystal trail crashes into him with such force that he’s pushed back. He’s nearly thrown off his feet and his hands begin to bleed against the piercing crystals, but he holds his own and the crystals soon come to a stop and begin to melt away like ice cream melting in the sun.
“Now’s our chance! Hurry!” He cries while keeping his Softening Quirk on the crystals.
Heeding his advice, Jiro lashes out with her Earphone Jacks.
Diamondhead fires back with a rain of shards, repelling her attack.
Kodai runs in from behind and tosses an array of broken sticks and small rocks. But as she releases them into the air, they glow bright violet under the effect of her Size Quirk and grow to giant proportions.
Even while his neck is bound up, Diamondhead uses his free hand to slice the giant branches in half and bat the incoming boulders. But the large branches and giant boulders break through and crash into him, forcing him to his knees.
With their opponent down, Momo pulls harder on the chain, hoping to keep him down.
Not one to give up, Diamondhead rises up and grabs the chain before declaring out in a deep and threatening voice. “GET OVER HERE!”
“You already used that line!” Jiro shouts!
Momo is pulled forward along with her chain-sword, her strength is completely drained and she’s unable to react in time as Diamondhead knocks her down with a swing of his arm.
She hits the ground hard, and she loses grip on her blade, which shrinks down to the size of a dagger. Clanging against the ground as it falls, discarded.
Momo is entirely exhausted, her body shaking as her vision turns cloudy. She gave it all she’s got but the Zircon Blade is still too much for her it seems. She had thought that using the blade as a conduit to produce more crystals would be the key to victory. And in a way it was, it sure made it easier to produce crystals versus doing it herself. But it would appear to be that the original diamond wielder won out, this time.
Diamondhead towers above her, the others stay off to the side, as he draws his bladed limb over her head. “You’ve fought bravely. Well done. You should be proud.”
“But it wasn’t enough.”
Rather than belittle her, Diamondhead offers a sympathetic yet proud smile. “Don’t worry.” In a flash of red, a scratched up and bruised Izuku finds himself smiling down at Momo. “You’ll get there one day.”
With a kind smile he reaches down to help, offering her his hand.
Momo appreciates the gesture and takes it, allowing him to help her to her feet.
She stumbles a bit, but Izuku catches her, making sure to secure her arm around his shoulders so that she can lean on him. “Don’t worry, I have you.”
“Thank you, it’s much appreciated.”
They both smile, bathing in the glow of a well fought dual.
That is until Mina lets out a high-pitched whistle. “Look at you Midoriya. Acting all smooth and confident! Ha! I love it!”
“Yeah!” Tokage laughs, joining in on Mina’s fun. “You’ve really grown a pair! Hahaha!”
“Ashido!!” Izuku cries, his face beat red.
“Hahahahaha!!” They both laugh, enjoying the fact they made the boy’s face turn so red that he looks like a tomato.
Izuku’s not just red from embarrassment but anger too, so much so he passes off Momo over to Jiro before storming off to tell them to stop.
While Izuku tells them off, Jiro lets out a tired sigh. “Shit, I really thought we had him.”
“Yes.” Momo nods while leaning against Jiro. “Perhaps next time.”
Juzo frowns, scratching the side of his cheek. “He’s a slippery one.”
“He sure is!” Tokage laughs much to Izuku’s embarrassment.
“T-Tokage!! Ashido! S-stop!! Please, I’m begging you!”
“Hahahahaha!!”
The four combatants watch in confusion as Izuku passes out but soon their defeat hangs back over their heads like a dark cloud.
“It’s my fault.” Momo drops her head in shame, her eyes drifting over towards her weapon.
Jiro looks over and spots the shrunken Zircon Blade. It’s so small it could fit in a cargo pocket. Her Earphone jacks snake down and pick it up before placing it into Momo’s waiting hand.
“If I wasn’t so reliant on this sword maybe we could have figured out another way to beat him.”
“Are you kidding? That blade’s so cool!” Juzo is in awe of the blade, his eyes glowing with stars as he examines the crystal creation.
“Really?”
“Yeah!” Jiro agrees while Kodai nods her head furiously in the background. “You were a total badass out there.”
Momo can’t help the smile and sheepish blush from appearing on her face. “Thank you, everyone.”
“I said stop it!!”
“Aw, look at him, he's so cute when he blushes.”
“So, shy. You would never know.”
“STOP IT, PLEASE!!!”
The four combatants stare on, dumbfounded by the scene before them. Shouting and laugher is nonstop. Izuku’s head is steaming, literally, and is several shades of red as Mina and Tokage continuously mock him about something.
Juzo looks over at the others and asks what they're all thinking “So, what exactly are they going on about?”
Jiro shrugs. “No idea.”
Meanwhile, Ochaco laughs at their antics. But mostly she’s impressed by all their hard work, causing her to think about her own training. She’s working on Zero-Gravity right now but what about One For All? All Might passed the Quirk on to her and now it’s up to her to make it her own. She needs to prove that she deserves it because honestly, she’s not sure if she does. Sure, Gran Torino taught her how to use it more efficiently but it’s still yet to feel like her own Quirk. ‘I’ve come a long way in such a short time. It’s up to me to move forward and make this power my own.’
“You Uraraka?”
Ochaco peers up and finds a scowling Tiger, arms crossed, looming over her. “Y-yes.”
“Come with me. Since you're a hybrid Quirk we’ll have you train your physicality with me for the rest of the day.”
“Got it.”
“GOT WHAT!?! Wax in your ears?! I said we’re training so get a move on!”
“Y-Yes, sir!” Ochaco shoots up to her feet in a panic and hurries to Tiger’s Bootcamp.
As she hurries off to train her strength, Aizawa gets Izuku’s next match going. This time he assigns Koda and Ojiro along with Shishida and Rin of Class B to take on the ferocious and feral Wildmutt.
The hairy beast roars before beginning his ferocious assault upon his prey who fight back with everything they got. Shishida fights back like the beast he is while the others feel like the Prophet Daniel trapped in the lions’ den.
As Wildmutt barks and fends them off the Omnitrix glistens under the sun, catching Kota’s eye.
Kota watches from the side, hidden away in the thick brush and trees with a nasty look on his face. He watches as Wildmutt shakes off his attackers before retaliating.
‘Stupid.’ Kota gets annoyed just from watching them and turns to leave. ‘They’re all idiots. Every. Last. One of em.’
As the kid marches away, he passes under the same tree that Kraab is perched in. The little cyborg actually noticed the kid go by and watches him curiously. But he ignores him and goes back to recording the fight as Koji Koda unleashes a swarm of rats and squirrels upon the Vulpimancer.
And he’s got even more to record after that from Stinkfly buzzing around like a fearful fly to Bullfrag springing from tree to tree. This goes on until a thick layer of clouds roll in blocking and provide a much-needed reprieve from the sun for the hard-working students.
But it’s not like they have the chance to actually appreciate it as Mr. Aizawa makes it a point to keep them working. Especially poor Izuku who just can’t seem to catch a break.
“Midoriya. Are you ready?” Aizawa asks while holding a clipboard.
Izuku exhales, not seeing any point in arguing. “Ready as I’ll ever be.”
“Good. Because these four will be your next opponents.” He gestures behind him to a stoic Tokoyami, a nervous Denki, a passive Reiko, and a determined Kendo.
“Hey, guys.” Izuku waves, exhausted but still trying to be friendly.
Denki jerks his head up in hello. “Sup.”
Kendo smirks, folding her arms confidently. “Our turn now. Hope you’re ready.”
“Do we have to?” Reiko shutters. “No offense but you’re creepy.”
Tokoyami can conquer. “Creepy he may be, but he is fierce as well.”
Izuku’s not sure how to take that, was it a…compliment? “Um, right back at ya…?”
Aizawa checks the clipboard, he had Izuku fill it out with all sorts of info on his transformations earlier. “It says here you have a ghost-like transformation. Care to clarify what that means?”
Izuku is more than happy to clarify, even getting all excited about using the alien. “He could walk through walls, disappear, and fly. He’s much more unique than the other guys.”
Aizawa gives him an inscrutable look. “Is that so?”
“Yup.”
“Alright, then let’s see it.”
Izuku gets a little too excited as he joyfully yells out. “Going Ghost!”
With a slam of the watch and a flash of green, Ghostfreak breaks onto the scene. “And I do mean that literallyyy. Eheheheheheee!!”
“No! Not you!” Denki shutters, fear written all over his face. “Please, anyone but him!”
Ghostfreak zooms in, leaning in uncomfortably close to Denki’s face. “Hi, Kaminariii! I missed youuu.”
“EEEeeeeekkk!!”
“Fascinating. Truly fascinating.” Tokoyami cups his chin as he examines Midoriya’s ghastly form. “You impress once again, Midoriya.”
“Please refer to me as Ghostfreak when I’m like thisss.”
“Like I said, creepy.” Reiko shutters and yet there’s a slight intrigued smile on her face.
“Enough, let’s get a move on. We’re losing daylight.” Aizawa exclaims.
“Um, we can’t even see daylight right now.” Denki comments while looking up at the sky. Seriously the clouds rolled in from out of nowhere, completely blocking out the sun as a result.
“Um, sir?” Kendo raises her hand in questioning.
“What is it?” Aizawa responds.
“I was wondering why exactly I’m here. My Quirk isn’t exactly built to deal with someone like him.” She gestures over to Ghostfreak who’s hovering over a terrified Denki. “Especially in this state.”
Aizawa figured this question was coming and so he has a prepared response. “You’re all training to become heroes. You're all going to face threats seemingly outside your capabilities. Use this opportunity to learn and adapt.” He turns away and begins to walk off, off the battlefield. “This training is just as much for you as it is for Midoriya. Now get a move on.” He raises up and flashes them the stopwatch. “The clock is ticking.” With a click the countdown starting from ten minutes begins.
“Yes, sir!”
As Kendo spins around she finds her teammates all bracing themselves for the fight against the haunting spirit.
Denki nervously sweats and shakes at the sight of the ghost. “Y-you w-wouldn’t mind going e-easy on us?”
“Easyyy?” Ghostfreak laughs. “I’m the one that’s getting it easyyy. Watchhh.” He hovers down before gesturing for them to charge him. “Go ahead, I’ll let you all take the first shottt. I won’t move an inch, I promiseee.”
“Really?”
“Reallyyy.”
Denki breaks out in a wide grin. “Okay. But don’t get mad when we win!!”
Denki’s entire body sparks with electricity as he sprints headfirst towards Ghostfreak. “Hahaha! Take this-WHA?!”
His electrified fist passes straight through Ghostfreak’s body like it was made of air.
Denki’s jaw drops. “What?! That’s cheating!!”
“Is ittt? But I kept my word, I didn’t move an inchhh. Eheheheheheee!!”
“Hy-yah!!” Kendo’s enlarged hands swipe and chop at Ghostfreak but he was ready, allowing them to phase through him with little to no harm.
Not one to give up, Kendo keeps up the attacks, striking, kicking, and chopping at the gray spirit in the hopes that there’s a weak point somewhere.
Ghostfreak, however, folds his arms as she continues to attack him. “Go aheaddd. Wear yourself outtt. The faster you tire yourselves out the sooner I winnn!”
Reiko scowls at Ghostfreak. “You may be creepy but who knew you were so cocky too?”
She moves her hands forward, her fingers lurched as if she were controlling puppets, but at the movement of her hands a massive boulder rises from the ground, surrounded by a violet aura. And with another puppeteer-like motion the boulder drops right onto Ghostfreak burying him alive with a loud SLAM.
“Wasn’t that sort of overkill?!” Denki cries, worried that they might have actually killed the ghost.
“Killll? Meee? Eheheheee! Don’t make me laughhh.” Ghostfreak phases upward and through the boulder, completely unscathed and unbothered. “What’s with those facesss? Don’t tell me you’re scared of little ole meee?”
His opponents scowl in frustration as a response.
“Face ittt! Nothing can hurt me when I’m like thisss. I’m literally untouchableee!” As Ghostfreak gloats his singular green eye snakes across his black veins and stops to eye the last combatant. “Oh, Tokoyamiii!”
An observant Tokoyami jerks his head up after being called.
“What’s the matterrr? Don’t you want to take a shottt?”
Tokoyami’s eyes narrow, suspicious of the gleeful specter.
“Oh, don’t be like thattt. What the harm afterallll? Not like it’ll hurttt…well, meee. Eheheheee!”
Tokoyami scowls before addressing his Stand. “What do you think, Dark Shadow?”
Dark Shadow pops out from his shoulder like a parrot. “‘Let me take a swing at him. I’m feeling pretty good about this.’”
“Very well. Prepare yourself, Midoriya! For we will bring you back down to this earthy plane!”
“I’d like to see you tryyy.”
“And so, you shall. DARK SHADOW!!!”
Dark Shadow launches out claws out and with a blood curdling roar. “You’re going to get it!! Raaaaggh!!”
“It’s hopelessss!”
Dark Shadow begins to rise quickly through the air.
“Uselessss!!”
Dark Shadow gains speed, speeding towards the specter like a bullet.
“Victory is mineee!!”
It’s almost there, its massive claws outstretched and ready.
“I’m UNTOUCHA-Bleeehhh!!!”
Dark Shadow’s fist connected with the side of Ghostfreak’s skull. It hits so hard that Ghostfreak swears his skull rattles and is nearly torn free from his paper-thin skin. Everyone stares in shock-and-awe as Ghostfreak is flung across the air like a spinning football with a trail of sparkling painful tears trailing behind him. WHAM, he hits the ground hard, face first and eating dirt with a painful grimace.
Ghostfreak holds his pounding head and groans. But what really has him down is the fact that he was struck. “No wayyy… Dark Shadow cannn…touch meee?!” He spins around in shock over at Tokoyami and his familiar.
Tokoyami and Dark Shadow share a look before playful smirks stretch across their beaks. As Tokoyami folds his arms and smirks, Dark Shadow leans its arm against his shoulder and laughs. “How easy did you think this was going to be?”
“That’s it, I’m trademarking that lineee!!” Ghostfreak rises up from the ground along with his rage. “Looks like I’m gonna have my work cut out for me after allll.” He turns his emerald gaze onto his opponents. “You all had your shot and now it’s my turnnn.” With a furious death glare Ghostfreak vanishes from sight.
“I don’t like this.” Kendo takes a stance, poised and ready for Ghostfreak to reappear from anywhere.
“You don’t like this? I hate this!” Denki cries, cowering away like he’s expecting a jump scare. “You just know he’s going to come after me! Just you watch!”
Tokoyami scans the battlefield carefully. “Calm yourself Kaminari. Stick close and together we shall prevail.”
“Yeah, yeah, you’re right. Okay.” Denki calms down and relaxes. It’s all in his head, why would Midoriya ever target him anyway?
There’s a tug on the back of his collar.
“God damnit, I knew it. AAAaaaaahhh!!” Denki is ripped off the ground, and lifted up away from his teammates. “Let go of me!! Aaaahhh!!” Out of fear rather than thought, Denki discharges a wave of electricity around him.
“Aahhhh!!” The invisible Ghostfreak lets go and reappears, holding his singed hand.
Denki falls, landing on his butt, thankfully the ground was only five feet away.
“You let your guard down!” Kendo’s massive hands grab the distracted Ghostfreak and swing him to the ground.
He hits it with a thud and she goes for an ax-kick at his head but her foot passes harmlessly through his head.
“Right back at yaaa.” With the foot still phased through his face, Ghostfreak grabs her legs and shoves her away.
Ghostfreak rises and prepares to strike but he’s cut off by Dark Shadow, who wrestles him to the ground.
Ghostfreak shoves the shadow away and flies off, but the raven-shadow gives chase. “No wonder they call you a shadowww. You just can’t help but follow me everywhereee!”
The others watch uselessly from below as Dark Shadow and Ghostfreak weave through the air, they clash and soar around like birds of prey, both trying to knock the other out of the sky.
“We have to do something!” Kendo shouts, watching helplessly as Dark Shadow does all the work.
While gazing up, Reiko has an idea and so she opens her hands up towards the sky. “Allow me to give this a try.”
While in the air Ghostfreak is suddenly pulled to a stop as a violet aura surrounds him. “Heyyy! I-I can’t moveee!” He tries to phase through the telekinetic hold but it’s no use.
“‘Incoming!!’” Dark Shadow’s claw slashes him out of the sky.
Ghostfreak chases into the ground, hard. “Ugh, talk about being overshadoweddd.”
As he flips himself around, he finds himself surrounded from all sides by his opponents.
Denki snickers as they surround him. “Now that we have you like this. You’re not so scary.”
Ghostfreak’s jade eye rotates around his body and glares at Denki.
“Eeek!” Denki shrieks and takes cover behind Tokoyami.
“Enough, Midoriya.” Kendo calls out. “How do you expect to win with Reiko and Tokoyami around? It’s pointless.”
“Are you sure about thattt? How do you know that it’s not I who has youuu?”
“Stop with the mind games! It’s over”
Ghostfreak snickers into his hand. “You call these mind gamesss? No, this is a mind gameee.” He rushes forward, and Kendo strikes but it’s useless as Ghostfreak phases through her hands and into her body.
He vanishes inside her and Kendo immediately collapses to her knees. Her body convulsing and jerking in unnatural ways. Like her body’s a sweater that Ghostfreak can’t seem to be fitting into that well.
Denki, Tokoyami, and Reiko all back away, disturbed and frightened.
“Kendo!” Reiko gasps but there's no response. “Kendo!”
Kendo stops shaking but she remains hunched over, catching her breath.
Concerned for her friend, Reiko approaches Kendo from behind and slowly reaches for her shoulder. “Kendo?”
“Eheheheheheee…!!” Kendo’s head snaps up and spins 180 degrees around. Her face corrupted with black veins, her mouth lined with sharp needle-like teeth, and one of her eyes is glowing with an ominous green hue.
“Eeeeekkk!!” Reiko and the others jump back in freight.
“What’s the matter, Yanagiii? Don’t you recognize your beloved friend, Kendooo? Eheheheheee!!” Ghost-Kendo shrikes with laughter as their body jerks and twitches while they get up to their feet.
“Foul Demon!” Tokoyami roars while summoning Dark Shadow to attack.
However, Ghost-Kendo catches Dark Shadow in midair with their Big Fists. “Pot calling the kettle blackkk. Eheheheee!”
The possessed Kendo suddenly goes still and is frozen in place by a violet aura.
“Be gone, spirit!” Reiko glares with her hands and fingers lurched. “Release my friend, she’s not yours!”
“You know what they say, possession is nine/tenths of the lawww.” Ghost-Kendo smiles, flashing her needle-sharp teeth. “But because you asked so nicelyyy! I’ll make an exceptionnn.”
And just like that Ghostfreak exits Kendo leaving her confused and disturbed.
Reiko hurries ot her side. “Kendo! Are you alright?”
“I’m fine.” Kendo shutters, “I just feel so violated.”
While Reiko sees to her, Denki shouts for them to attack. “He’s out!”
Ghostfreak immediately snaps his attention towards him. And just as Denki realizes his mistake the phantom comes chasing after him.
“And he’s after me! Eeeeek-!” Ghostfreak catches him and possess his body. “Eheheheheheheee!” Ghost-Denki cackles as black veins line his face and his left eye glows green.
“Kaminari!” Tokoyami gasps before having Dark Shadow lash out at their possessed teammate.
With a grin, Ghost-Denki repels Dark Shadow’s claw with a slap of his electrified hand. “Eheheheheee! You should never go near live wiresss. Didn’t you know thattt?” They smirk, smile lined with needle teeth as their hands begin to spark wildly with electricity. “Let’s give this a tryyy. 1.3 MILLION VOLTSss!!!”
Electricity surges through their body and out in a wild frenzy in every which direction
Reiko acts quickly, forming a shield of rocks and Earth with her Poltergeist, shielding herself and Kendo. While Tokoyami, who’s too far away is forced to duck and dive away from the cracking bolts of lightning.
All the while Ghost-Denki is cackling. “Ehehehehehee-Ehehee… Aaahhh!” The electricity stops and Ghost-Denki holds their head in pain.
Before long Denki’s body drops to the ground leaving Ghostfreak in the air with his head in a daze.
“What happened to him?” asks Kendo.
Tokoyami answers. “Kaminari’s Quirk has a negative effect on his brain. And Midoriya is less adapted to such voltage.”
Less adaptive but it would seem that he was able to escape the brain surge in time. “Does Kaminari really do this to himself every timeee? No wonder his grades are so lowww. Ugh, my head’s still spinninggg.”
As Ghostfreak recovers the tiniest ray of sunlight manages to peak through the clouds. The ray just skims his elbow but it’s enough to cause it to burn and singe.
“OW!!” Ghostfreak jumps, reeling away and rubbing his arm. ‘What was thattt? A bee stinggg? Or was it Kaminari’s lightninggg? Residual static maybeee?’
The phantom might not have seen it but Kendo sure did. She looks to the sky and notices that the cloud cover will soon blow away with the wind in just a few minutes.
“Ain’t that something?” She grins with a plan forming in her head. “Everyone, we need to coral him!”
Denki shakes his head frantically. “We already tried that. And guess what, it didn’t work.”
“Trust me, this time it will.”
Denki’s still not so confident.
Reiko, however, has full confidence in her Class pres. “Trust me when Kendo has a plan, it usually works.”
That’s enough, at least for Tokoyami. “We are with you.”
Kendo’s glad to have them aboard. “Good. Because here he comes.”
On que Ghostfreak is back in action, having recovered from that mysterious pain he dives down, aiming to attack them head on.
Denki shrinks back, praying. “Oh, please not me!”
Ghostfreak immediately swerves and goes after him.
“God damnit! Is it because I said something?!”
Denki runs but the poltergeist never makes it as he’s the one that gets grabbed by Reiko’s Poltergeist Quirk.
The violet aura suspends him in place allowing Denki to scrabble away.
With their target paused, Kendo initiates her plan. “Alright, now just hold him!! Tokoyami, surround him!”
“DARK SHADOW!!!” Tokoyami attacks and Dark Shadow totally envelopes the frozen specter is a cocoon of darkness. “RAGNAROK: WOMB!!!”
Tokoyami’s Ultimate Move completely overtakes the foul spirit, locking him away in a prison of shadows. The only thing able to escape the coffin is Ghostfreak’s angry howls.
“We got him!” Denki cheers before pausing to think. “Now what?”
“Now we wait.” Kendo responds.
“For what?”
“For that.” With a smirk she looks up towards the sky.
And like the beacon of hope it is the clouds part away with the wind, and sunlight beats down, bathing the entire mountain forest in its bright hot rays.
Dark Shadow immediately begins to wither and shrink away under the intense sunlight.
“Dark Shadow!” Tokoyami gasps, he won’t be able to hold Ghostfreak like this!
But Kendo accounted for that. “No, it's okay. Release him.”
“But he’ll escape!”
“Trust me, he won’t.”
Tokoyami remains skeptical but after watching helplessly as his partner fades away he summons his demon back. Dark Shadow unwraps and slithers away taking refuge in Tokoyami’s body, and thus releasing their captive.
“It’s about ti-Aaaaaahhhh!!” Ghostfreak grimaces under the sun, reeling back and shrinking away as his body withers and burns under the intense light. “Aaaaahhhh…!!”
“It’s working? Hahaha! It’s actually working!” Denki’s so happy he could cry.
Tokoyami, however, is very interested in Ghostfreak’s reaction. “He’s just like Dark Shadow. He can’t handle the light.”
“Not just any light. Sunlight.” Kendo confirms, proud to see that her theory was right. “I wasn’t quite sure but I saw some light rays hit his arm earlier, so I had my suspicions. And it looks like I was right.”
Reiko smiles. “See, I knew Kendo had a plan.”
“Yeah, she did. Go Kendo!” Denki cheers.
Meanwhile, Ghostfreak continues to wither in pain, holding his head and doing whatever he can to shade himself as steam burns off his body.
Kendo stands tall, placing her hands at her hips with her chest out in pride. “Alright, Midoriya time to call it quits.”
He doesn't answer, too busy agonizing over the burning sensation across his body. His head is pounding, and his entire body is searing with pain, flashes of purple flood his thoughts, making it impossible to think.
“Midoriya? Midoriya?”
Denki shakes his head at the show of stubbornness. “Give it up dude it’s over.”
Ghostfreak moans in agony, it’s becoming too much. He can’t think. He can’t speak. Is…is someone calling him? He can’t even tell the pain is just too much. More flashes of eerie purple and then…darkness. And his body goes limp.
Kendo suddenly has a horrible realization. “Midoriya?”
His body begins to shrivel away like rotting fruit left in the sun.
“It’s not weakening him…it’s… KILLING HIM!!!” Kendo hurries to his side, her Big Fists expanding out as she tries to use them as a shield. Holding them over him in the attempt to shade him. “Quick! Cover him! Cover him now!”
“Dark Shadow, quickly!” Tokoyami shouts.
Dark Shadow peeks his head out and winces. “‘Aaaah! That’s too bright!’” But it doesn’t complain for long as it quickly slithers forward, its form is too small to make any significant effect so instead Dark Shadow coils himself around the inflicted Ghostfreak as best as it can.
Denki, on the other hand, has no idea how to help. “What do we do?! What do we do?!”
Reiko hurries to find something, anything to help and then she spots it. Tiger has just pulled up in a large truck with a tarp covering the bed. And without a moment to waste she uses Poltergeist to rip the tarp away, snapping the bungee cords that were holding it down and startling everyone.
“Hey!” Tiger shouts not appreciating being startled.
“Waaah?!” Mina has to duck her head before the flying tarp can hit her.
Shinso has to dive out of the way. The tarp knocks over the towers of books around him, causing them to collapse on top of him. “What the hell?!”
Even Aizawa seems perturbed, not sure of what’s happening.
Reiko immediately gets the tarp stretched out and levitates it up and over Ghostfreak, providing enough shade for the burning agony to finally subside.
“There you go.” Kendo relaxes, watching as the withered and hunched over Ghostfreak begins to slowly recoup. “Thanks, Reiko.”
Reiko nods but refuses to take her focus away from the tarp.
“What happened?!” Aizawa demands along with Tiger and Vlad King while an entourage of curious students like Ochaco, Tsuyu, Shinso, and many others follow behind.
Kendo immediately steps forward to accept the responsibility. “I’m sorry, sir it’s my fault. I had no idea Midoriya’s Ghostfreak form was so horribly affected by sunlight. It was actually hurting him. Killing him.”
Concern finally sets in and Aizawa hurries to the burned specter’s side.
“He seems fine now.” Denki confirms even though steam is still pouring off the ghost’s body.
Aizawa ignores him and kneels down at Ghostfreak's side. “Midoriya, are you alright?”
He shakes, head still close to the ground and he continues to hold himself. But despite the pain they manage to get a choked, yet weak, moan out of him. “The-...the lighttt…”
“Don’t worry you’re okay now. But why didn’t you tell me that light can kill you in this form, Midoriya?” Aizawa wants to scold him, he really does, but he better make sure the kid’s nothing gonna become a real ghost first.
But the sunlight must have really done a number on him as the Ghostfreak remains still and hunched over, with no answer.
“Midoriya?” Aizawa reaches out to help him up.
GRAB. Ghostfreak’s cold dead hand latches onto Aizawa’s wrist. The pro’s instincts kick in immediately sensing danger and pulls back but Ghostfreak has a deathgrip on him and refuses to let go. And just as he’s about to demand what’s wrong, Ghostfreak finally raises his head to reveal, not a jade green eye, but a dark purple iris.
“Midoriya-”
“RRrrraaaaghhhh!!” Ghostfreak suddenly lurches forward, resign to the air and grabbing Aizawa by the neck stunning everyone as he lifts him up into the air and glares threateningly into his eyes.
“Midoriya what are you doing?!” Iida gasps, appalled by Izuku’s apparent actions.
“Grrrrrrr.” Ghostfreak hisses into Aizawa's face.
And Aizawa on his part doesn’t recognize that look on the specter’s face. He’s seen Midoriya lose control before. But this…this isn’t him. It’s something else entirely.
“Raaaghhh!” Ghostfreak drops him as something inside his body begins to slither and press through his skin and then without warning an array of black-and-white tentacles rip through his skin like something out of the Beetlejuice movie.
“What the hell is that?!” Denki screams.
“Raaaaaaagghhh!” Ghostfreak unleashes a blood curdling shriek, and his tentacles lash out in all directions, swiping at everyone and everything. Tossing over jugs of water, hitting Tiger’s truck, and nearly bashing in several of his own classmates. At this point the others that kept with their training couldn’t ignore what was happening anymore and look over in confusion.
“Midoriya!” Kendo ducks down from a swinging tentacle. “What are you doing?!” Seeing her not get a response, Ochaco tries her luck after diving away from another wild tentacle. “Deku! Deku! What’s wrong?!” No answer so she tries something else. “Ghostfreak!!
That does it as Ghostfreak’s head snaps over in her direction.
Ochaco stops in her tracks, taken back by the specter’s single purple eye. “De-...Deku?”
Ghostfreak seems to grow angry, and he lashes out, directing the tentacles at her.
“Uraraka, move!” Denki shoves her out of the way but gets knocked away by one of the striped tentacles.
“No! Kaminari!” Ochaco screams watching him crash into the table of food left out for Sato and Momo.
Kendo turns to Reiko who’s still holding up the tarp. “Reiko! Hold him!”
She hesitates, still worried about the sun but reaches out one of her hands to grab Ghostfreak.
It works, Ghostfreak and his tentacles are frozen in place by a violet aura.
Everyone seems relieved thinking it’s over.
But that's far from the truth as Ghostfreak’s body seems to glitch out of existence before the violet aura is broken through, shattering away like glass.
Everyone's stunned, especially Reiko as they all wonder the same question. “How…?”
Vlad King scowls. “What’s wrong with him?!”
“I don’t know.” Tiger responds while cracking his fists. “But I’m about to set him straight! Rawr!” He leaps up and strikes the ghost with a CAT PUNCH!
The strike launches the ghost away, causing him to crash into Bakugou’s barrel.
“Hey! Damnit, Deku!” Bakugou roars.
Ghostfreak spins around, his purple eye glaring straight into Bakugou’s soul.
“D-Deku?”
Meanwhile, Denki finally picks himself up and dusts himself free of all the food. He looks across the battlefield and finds the raging Ghostfreak rising back into the air
“Midoriya! That’s enough!” Aizawa calls, causing the ghost’s head to jerk in his direction.
They all freeze in place as Ghostfreak’s tentacles slithering and whip at his side like hungry vipers.
Realizing the danger, Shinso hurries to take action. “Midoriya! Hey, Midoriya!”
No response or reaction.
“Hey, Ghostfreak!”
That seems to do the trick as the specter’s creepy eye slithers across his body to glare at him.
Shinso smirks before calling out with his Quirk. “How do ghosts stay in shape?!”
Everyone one pauses, even the ghost, staring at him deadpan like he’s grown a second head.
But somehow it works. “Whattt-?”
The ghost goes silent as his purple eye enters into a haze. And like that his tentacles fall away and shrink back into his body.
Shinso snickers, admiring his handy work. “By exorcizing.” He snorts with laughter, loving the joke, and even playfully elbowing a nearby Tsuyu to laugh along.
But she just gives him an annoyed look and quickly tells him all he needs to hear.
“Yeah, you’re right. It was lame.” He plays it off as a joke but it’s clear he really did enjoy the gag.
“Bonzai!!” Having missed Shinso’s work, Denki rushes in, his hair and body charged with electricity.
“Kaminari!! NO!!!” Everyone screams but it’s too late.
Meanwhile, Ghostfreak’s purple eye fades away and his normal green eye returns. “Ughhh. What happeneddd? Kaminariii?”
Denki grabs him, wrapping himself around Ghostfreak's arms and chest. “1.3 MILLION VOLTS!!!”
“Wait-wait-wai-Gaaaaaaaaahhhhh!!!” Ghostfreak howls in pain as electricity surges through him. His ghostly wails echo across the forest but soon those screams become more human as Izuku’s time as the ghost runs out; leaving him entity exposed to Denki’s electrical assault. And the Omnitrix pinned between their bodies.
And soon Denki’s attack ends and they both collapse to the ground in a heap of charred hair and skin.
They all stare on, relieved it’s over but worried that they might both be dead, well except for Shinso who can’t help but make a snarky remark. “Well, that sure had a shocking outcome.”
Tsuyu slaps the back of his head.
“…I’ll stop.”
“Ughh…everything hurts.” Izuku groans. His hair is standing on end, and he’s covered in burns and his skin is red from all the sun damage.
“You’re hurt?!”
“Aaah!” Izuku’s suddenly pulled into the air by his collar and now he’s faced with a snarling Tiger.
“I should show you what hurt really means!” Tiger roars, spit flying into the terrified teen’s face.
“EEEeeek!!”
“Tiger.”
Tiger pauses, looking over at Aizawa.
Aizawa glares back, his eyes threatening to go red.
Knowing not to get on his bad side, Tiger releases the boy, dropping him on his butt.
As Izuku rubs his sore behind Denki giggles, braindead, and lying on the ground with a stupid grin on his face.
“Midoriya.” Aizawa approaches cautious of Izuku’s response. “Just what exactly was going through your head back there?”
Izuku blinks up at him, not sure what he’s referring to. “What?”
“You attacked us.” Kendo explains “Well I mean that you attacked all of us.” She gestures to everyone and the destroyed tables and training equipment.
“You went berserk.” Reiko explains, shrinking back fearfully.
“I did?!” Izuku looks around and sure enough he must have, judging on all the fear-stricken expressions on his friends’ faces. “That can’t be. It was a normal exercise…”
Tokoyami has a suspicion, but he can’t be sure. “How exactly do you recall things playing out?”
“Um, you had me trapped inside Dark Shadow and then there was light!” He suddenly grabs himself, shuttering. “And it, it felt like I was being burned alive and then-...and then… I…I don’t know. I can’t remember. All I can recall was the searing pain everyone trying to save me. Then, I don’t know. Maybe the pain was too much for me and I…blacked out?” He shrugs, not sure how else to explain it.
Tiger, however, might know how. “Then perhaps it was your instincts.”
“My instincts?”
“Fight or flight, those instincts always kick in when someone finds themselves in a life-threatening situation. In this case your fighting instincts won out and sought to defend you from the threat. Threat being your classmates who were holding you in the sunlight.”
“Oh. Oooooh.” Realization dawns on him. “You mean, I really attacked them, then.”
“You did but whatever the case it’s over now.” Tiger assures, not even angry about it anymore.
Aizawa then decides to chime in. “It might have also been a side effect of your Quirk at play as well. No offense, but I really don’t understand your Quirk all too much.”
“Heh, neither do I.” Izuku admits.
Aizawa still has his concerns, however. That form was…unnatural. More so than any others. It was downright sinister. And those fighting instincts? Sure, the kid’s been through too many villain attacks already but there’s no way he would have developed such a bloodlust already. Right?
“So, is he cool now?” asks Shinso. “He’s not gonna try to kill us.”
“No, I’m not gonna kill anyone, promise.”
Everyone’s relieved to hear it. Looks like they won’t have anything to worry about.
Bakugou snorts. “Hahaha! Nice tan nerd. Hahaha!”
Izuku peers down at his arm and realizes that he’s red with a nasty sunburn.
Kendo, not one to hold grudges, offers him a hand up.
He takes it and immediately flinches in pain when his burned hand touches hers. “Ow!!”
“S-sorry.”
“Come.” Tokoyami stands nearby slowing Dark Shadow to help Izuku up instead. “Let us help you.”
Aizawa agrees. “Come on, kid. Let's get you patched up. I think you had enough for today.” Aizawa follows behind the three as they make to leave.
Overhearing them however, Kirishima breaks out into a hopeful grin. “Does that mean-”
“No.”
“Damnit!” Kirishima curses. “I thought that meant all of us.”
Oh, well. Looks like it’s back to the grind for all of them.
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
“Now, remember what I said? We’re not serving your food anymore!” Pixie-Bob laughs, presenting the exhausted students with piles of uncooked vegetables and food packs.
“Tehehehehe!” Ragdoll giggles at all their sad worn-out expressions. “If you guys wanna eat, you’ll have to make your own meals! Starting with curry!”
“Yes, ma’am.” All the downtrodden students respond.
“Tehehehehe!” Ragdoll giggles in a fit of laughter, finding their expressions oh so hilarious. “Oh, man, do you guys look exhausted! But that doesn’t mean you can coast by making sloppy cat food!”
Iida has an epiphany. “Oh! I see. An important part of saving someone recovering from a disaster is providing for their physical needs as well as spiritual. Ah! This is a great opportunity! Let’s make the most delicious curry in the world, everyone!”
“Yeah, okay.” The students painfully respond while Ragdoll laughs her head off.
Aizawa watches from the side with indifference. ‘Thank you, Iida.’
And so, with the energetic Iida leading the way of this zombie island, everyone slowly but surely gets to work from chopping the veggies to gathering water while others get the fires going.
Shoto for one uses his own Quirk to start the flame under his outdoor stove.
“Hey, Todoroki!” Ashido waves him over hoping he could help. “Can we get some fire over here, too?” Her and Ochaco have been struggling to figure out how matches are supposed to work for the last five minutes, and they’ve already given up.
Watching Shoto light his, Sero gets an idea himself. “Bakugou, use an Explosion to light that.”
“This is so beneath me!” Bakugou might hate it but he does it anyway.
Too bad it’s straight overkill as he pretty much blows up the entire stove.
“Too much!” Tokoyami gasps.
Momo shakes her head in spite of his antics. “Rely on others and you’ll never learn to start a fire yourself. We should focus on acquiring new skills.” She says while Creating a lighter for her to use.
“Ugh.” Jiro pauses, eyeing the lighter, and wondering if she should call Momo out on her hypocrisy or give her props for being so clever.
Meanwhile, Shoto leans down to light up Ashido’s and Ochaco’s oven. “Here. Let me.”
A gentle flame lights up in his hand before he ignites the stove.
“Wow! Thank you so much!” Ochaco gushes.
As does Mina. “Burn, baby, burn!”
“But not too hot, okay?” Ochaco laughs.
Shoto looks at her questionly before realizing it was a joke. And actually, he can’t help but find it ever so humorous.
Seeing him smile makes Ochaco smile in return.
However, he notices her staring. “Is something wrong?”
“Nope. Nothing’s wrong, nothing at all.” Ochaco happily answers. “I was just thinking about how reserved you were about your flames. But look at you, you’re using it like it’s nothing.” Her smile turns soft as he leans her head to the side, her eyes glistening as she gazes into his flames. “I’m glad. Your flames are really pretty.”
He turns his head away, trying not to embarrass himself, but he can’t hide the smile on his face from her.
And so, with the fires burning and everyone doing their part, no one has to wait long for dinner to be served.
“We did it!” They all cheer as they grab their plates of curry and sit down.
Kirishima and Sero are chowing down on their curry like there’s no tomorrow.
Kirishima even nearly chokes but manages to scarf it down. “If I got this at a restaurant, I’d send this crap back. But after today, I’ll eat every bite!”
“Don’t say that!” Sero tells him between bites.
Meanwhile, Mina leans over from her table to talk to Momo. “Whoa, you’re scarfing, Momo!”
Momo swallows before answering. “Yes. My Quirk transforms lipids into brand new atoms to create inorganic materials. That means, the more I eat, the more I can make.”
“Like how poop works.” Sero comments after listening in.
It may have been a harmless comparison, but Momo still takes it hard. Sitting away in silence and shame, embarrassed and hurt.
“Apologize!!” Jiro barks, punching him in the face.
“O-Okay! I’m sorry!!” Sero cries while his cheek swells with pain.
Momo eventually rejoins the table after cleaning her face of tears and goes back to her meal.
But it’s not long before Shinso decides to call her over. “Say, Yaoyorozu, I've been meaning to ask you something.”
“What is it?” She asks, hesitating, especially after what just happened.
“Your Zircon Blade, I thought you couldn't use it without hurting yourself?”
“Not quite but I understand the confusion. You see, the process of generating the crystal is so difficult that it nearly drains all my energy. And thus endangers my health. However, by using the sword as a conduit I can ease the process of generating more crystals and even manipulate the blade’s shape.”
Jiro’s beginning to understand as well. “So, like you can’t make any more crystal weapons because it might kill you. But you can make more crystals by using the crystal weapon you already have?”
“Exactly. Although it still takes quite a bit of energy to make such crystals. But hopefully with enough training I may be able to use the blade without hindering myself”
Shinso nods in understanding. “Oh, I think I get it now.”
As they all go back to their meals, Izuku continues to chew away on his own. ‘That blade is really cool. I’m glad I gave her that shard. Although it was a bit of a pain to deal with, then again compared to afterwards it was nothing.’ He thinks while checking out his arms.
His entire body is wrapped up in gauzes and bandages, and his skin feels slimy from all the Aloe Vera but at least it’s working. He can already feel himself getting better. “Ah, ow…” Well mostly he thinks while hissing in pain.
“Hey, Midoriya can we talk for a sec?”
Izuku’s green hair whips at his face as he spins around. “Kendo. Yanagi. What’s up?”
Kendo bites her lip, hesitating and unsure how to go about this before she suddenly bows at Izuku, startling him. “I’m sorry! I didn't mean to hurt you as bad as we did! If I had known, I would have never used the sun against you!”
Izuku panics trying to calm her down. “Hey-hey, hey! It’s not your fault. I didn’t even know Ghostfreak had that kind of weakness. So…I guess I should be thanking you. I mean that’s not something I wanna figure out when fighting a villain, right?”
“But still, I can’t help but feel guilty.” Kendo admits with guilt and shame.
Reiko feels the same way. “Yeah, I mean we almost killed you. Doesn’t that upset you?”
“Well, I mean, it’s not like you're the first to try and kill me. If anything, you’re the first to apologize. Hahaha!”
Is it weird that he finds that funny? Everyone else seems to, giving him very concerned looks. Especially those that may have had certain adventures with him during their summer break.
“But seriously don’t worry about it.” Izuku assures. “It’s water under the bridge.”
“If, you’re sure?”
“I am, trust me.” Izuku holds up his bandaged arm. “Besides, I've been needing to work on my tan.” He jokes.
The joke may have been bad, scratch that it was terrible, but it might have just been enough to Kendo as she visibly relaxes.
“Thank you.” That’s a serious weight off her chest.
One of which Izuku understands and does not hold against any of them. And now they can all get back to their meals and actually enjoy them without having any lingering guilt.
Ochaco, who was sitting next to him and overheard everything, leans over and whispers. “Hey, Deku. What was with you earlier? I mean the last time you went berserk like that you burned down an entire city.”
“First off, that city was fake. And second off…I don’t really know.”
“You said you couldn’t remember anything? So, were you just blind with anger?”
“Maybe?” he shrugs, not really sure if that was the case here. “I’m just not so sure.”
That’s when Mina decides to lean over and add herself into the conversation. “Whatever the case, you weren’t yourself.”
Izuku and Ochaco reel back before wondering if she knows something thanks to Emote.
“Mina did you…sense something?” Izuku whispers, making sure no one overheard but thankfully they’re all too busy stuffing their faces.
Mina gives them an unsure look. “I-maybe, it was so…unnerving. The Emotional Wave lengths didn’t feel like your usual self, even when angry. It…it was almost as if you were someone else entirely.”
‘Well, that's not disturbing.’ Izuku admits but it can’t be right. The Omnitrix doesn’t work like that. Maybe it was just the alien DNA itself or something like that. A new ability or instinct perhaps. But then again… “Well, Ghostfreak has always felt off. It just feels weird to be him compared to my other all-transformations. Maybe it has something to do with his biology, I mean he’s not exactly “human.”” He makes air quotes with his fingers when he says human.
Either way none of them really have an answer and after trying to think of more theories they all just silently give up and decide to think on it later. Perhaps it was nothing more than a freak accident.
“Kota! It’s time for dinner!”
Izuku jolts up and looks over to see Mandalay at the front of the lodge, shouting for Kota.
“Where are you?!” She yells, hoping he’ll show himself.
Izuku looks around, trying to see if he can spot the kid. That’s when he catches a glimpse of the kid’s spiky hat in the distance. Specifically, he’s marching away into the woods, away from them and ignoring Mandalay. Causing Izuku to worry.
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
A rumbling growl echoes into the night. But not the growling of a hungry beast but that of an empty boy’s stomach.
Kota, however, ignores it as he glares out to the night sky hanging over the dark mountain forest. He sits at the edge of a cliff as a large rocky clearing sits behind him. And at the opposite end of the cliff face sits a small cave, making the perfect hiding spot for him. Too bad it also makes his stomach growls sound even louder thanks to the echo.
“I heard that. You must be hungry.”
Kota jolts up, and glares at the green bean who dares to enter his turf.
Izuku, however, on his part remains gentle and polite as he offers Kota a tray of hot food. “Here, I brought you some curry.”
“No way! How’d you find this place?!”
“Oh, sorry, and well…” He stops and thinks about how best to answer. “Let’s just say a little friend lit the way for me.”
Meanwhile, Kraab sits on a nearby tree. But he’s too busy napping, figuring that this was a private conversation and didn’t need him. After all he did his part, he did Izuku the favor and followed the kid here.
Izuku tries to step forward, moving carefully like he’s trying to rescue an angry kitten. “I thought you might want some dinner before it gets cold.”
“Whatever. I’m just fine.” Kota spits. “Get lost. I don’t wanna hang out with you. So forget about my secret hideout.”
Izuku takes a look around, noting the height of the cliffside and the amazing view. “This is a secret hideout? I like it. It’s got a much nicer view than mine, that's for sure.” Seriously, hasn’t Principal Nezu ever thought about a skylight for the base?
“Hmph. Spending your entire life trying to improve your Quirk.” Kota mocks, turning away and hiding his eyes under his red cap. “It’s dumb! All you want to do is show off. Get lost!”
Izuku pauses, he considers responding but something else has been bothering him and…he’d really like to help if he could. “Hey, about your parents. I was wondering. Were they the Water Hose heroes? With the water Quirks?”
It appears he was right based on the look of horror on Kota’s face, like he just uncovered the kid’s darkest secret.
“Did Mandalay tell you?!” Kota yells.
“No. It’s, um…well… Sorry. But…I heard a little about what happened to them. And based on that information, I figured…” He stops taking a moment before continuing. “I remember reading about that horrible incident a few years ago.”
“Go away.” Kota hides his eyes again under the brim of his doubt, and Izuku suspects he might be hiding angry tears. “Everyone here’s so crazy. Calling people stupid names like “hero” and “villain,” and then killing each other because of it. Always focusing on their Quirks. If they hadn’t been showing off, they’d still be here. Idiots.”
Hearing that, Izuku gets a peek into Kota’s mind, and it only makes him feel even more for the kid. ‘It’s not just heroes. Kota hates Quirks. And this entire superhuman society.’
“We’re done here! Go back to camp with the other losers!”
Izuku falls silent, his hair covering his eyes, giving Kota the impression that he won.
But after a moment, Izuku finally speaks up albeit at a soft whisper. “If he hadn’t been showing off… He would have never left me.”
Kota’s stunned, confused but something about the pain in the teen’s voice strikes a chord.
“Like you my dad was-is a hero too. He was rarely home when I was little and when he was…well to be honest I can’t even remember what he was like back then.” Only a few vague memories here and there but nothing…concrete. “But I do remember he had a mission. He had a duty to fulfill and it…sent him away. And for the longest time I told myself it was…because of me.”
Kota goes quiet, listening intently but still wary, unsure what any of this has to do with him.
“At first I told myself that couldn’t be true. I told myself that he left to protect people. But-....” Izuku hesitates unsure if he should continue but then decides that he should if he’s gonna reach the boy. “He just so happened to leave around the time…that I was declared Quirkless.”
“Huh?!” Kota gasped, not really understanding the gravity of the revelation.
“It’s a hereditary thing. Where a child doesn’t receive any powers from their parents. And these days it’s really uncommon.” Last he checked about less than 20% of the human population is Quirkless. “And even though my dad was a hero and left me behind, I still admired heroes and what they stood for so much. And I wanted to be one. But…you can’t become a hero unless you’ve got some kinda Quirk. But still. I refused to accept that and hoped for a miracle.” He can still remember all those times he tried so desperately to activate his “Quirk” only for him to end up in tears and crying himself to sleep. “I tried to use telekinesis. And to breathe fire. But it was no good. And for a long time, it seemed that I’d never reach my dream. And that…that my dad was right for…leaving me behind.” Izuku pauses, taking a breath and trying to keep himself composed. It’s all true and his heart aches to admit it but also, it’s almost like a noose has been removed from his heart. And even though he knows the truth now it still doesn’t make the past feel any less painful to revisit.
He peers up to find Kota absolutely stunned to silence, but also clearly confused.
“But then again you probably think I’m lying. But it’s true. I have a Quirk Mutation, uh, that means it evolved and became something completely different than my parents. But it didn’t reveal itself until a year ago.” A lie but still technically true when you look at it from a certain point of view. “And now I’m way behind everyone else. They all had a lifetime to develop and use their Quirks. Heck, I can’t even use my Quirk without this device.” He gestures to the Omnitrix and when he does, he pauses, taking it in and just thinking about how such a device has been both a blessing and a curse for him. “And you know what else? Sometimes my own Quirk…scares me.” His mind flashes back to Heatblast burning away a faux city along with All Might, to Ghostfreak’s earlier freak-out, and the many times someone came for the Omnitrix which put his friends and family in danger. “There are lots of different ways to think about how Quirks work. So, we might not be on the same page. But I think that if you reject them completely, it’s just going to make life harder for you in so many ways.”
“Will you just leave me alone already?!” Kota’s had enough of this shit and has completely lost his patience. Who does this idiot think he is telling him all this? Is he trying to make him pity him? What was the point?! “Go away!!”
Izuku flinches and backs off. “I’m sorry. I guess I have a habit of rambling sometimes. Here, I’ll leave the curry.” He gently places the tray on the ground and backs away.
He stops, waiting for Kota to come get it but after it becomes clear he won’t move till he leaves. And so, taking the hint, Izuku finally decides to leave the boy alone and make his way back to camp.
He hikes down the path but stops halfway to turn back around and consider going back up. But after a moment he thinks better of it and continues on his way just as Kraab scurries up his shoulder.
Meanwhile, Kota watches him disappear. “Shut up. All of you. Just stop it.”
The cliffside falls silent and empty once again, leaving Kota all alone with no one to share his pain with. The only noise that fills the night is his own silent tears and the drops of water coming from the side of the rock wall. For beside the cliff a large scar has been gouged into the cliffside, a small crater has been eroded out by blasts of highly pressurized water.
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A blinding spotlight turns on, but instead of illuminating the entire room it only shines at the back of a single figure. Casting a shadow over their face and figure.
“Is it done? Has everything been prepared?” The figure asks into the seemingly empty pitch-black room.
Another spotlight illuminates a second silhouette. “Not to worry. It’s all taken care of.”
A third light turns on and reveals a third figure, this one being much bigger than the other two. “They won’t know what hit em!”
“Tehehehe!” A fourth figure cackles with laughter under their own light.
And finally, a fifth light illuminates at the end of the table, and the final member speaks up. “I gotta say it, this is one devious plot even for you.”
“Worried?” Asks the first silhouette.
“No, impressed.”
“If you’re impressed by that then you may find them even more so.” The first figure drops serval files onto the table.
The others peer over and take in the photos of a freckled face teen with green hair, a caramel haired girl with rosy cheeks, and a kid they mistake for an angry Pomeranian with ash-blonde fur and red-hot eyes.
“I must warn you; they won’t go down easily.”
“That’s just fine.” The biggest silhouette laughs.
“They’re nothing but toys for us to play with.” Remarks the second figure, flexing their fingers and causing the sheen of their claws to be seen.
The fifth figure smirks, licking their lips in anticipation. “But we have the bad habit of always breaking our toys. Don’t we?”
Three of the others smirk back in anticipation as the first silhouette nods in approval. “I’m counting on it.”
"Truly a Freak" by Weeld1.
Published Apr 15, 2022.
This was created by the amazing artist "Weeld1" and I absolutely love it. It's the perfect blend of cool and freaky, appropriate all things considered. Thanks you so much Weeld1 you are amazing!
Notes:
Like I warned about list time, I told you guys this one was gonna follow the anime again. But not to worry the next chapter’s gonna be fully original!! What’s gonna happen? What’s it going to be about? Who were those mysterious figures? And what do they want with our heroes? Stay tuned and you might just find out.
But anyway, yes, you guys are getting a nice original non-filler chapter!! Although sadly I can’t start working on it this weekend and because it’s an original chapter and I am really bad about cutting details out it’s probably gonna take somewhere between 2-3 weeks to finish. Maybe. I will post the status of Ch.68 in the next few Omakes.
*That said, we can have some fun in the meantime. I don’t mind writing out those fight scene we didn’t get to see from this chapter like Four Arms vs. Kirishima, Tetsutetsu and others, Wildmutt vs. Shishida and Koda, XLR8 vs. Iida and Bondo, Ditto vs himself mostly, etc. Seriously, is that something you guys would want to see as an Omake or two over on the side story “Heroes Never Die; It’s Hero Time, Anytime?” Also let me know what you think the other matchups would be like, and keep in mind the same students would have had to fight Izuku more than once. So, which 4 students fought Stinkfly? Grey Matter? Terraspin? Or Buzzshock?
*Zircon Blade. I think there's still some confusion. So just to be clear Momo can use the Zircon Blade without killing herself BUT it does drain her quickly. What actually harms her is the process of creating a crystalized item itself. So hence she will not be creating any more crystal weapons, but she can still use and manipulate the one she does have.
Also, would a drawing of the Zircon Blade help you all to visualize it? Because that can be arranged. Or heck if you have an idea about how it should look then please draw it up and let me know. I love seeing people’s original art.
And that goes for any artwork that involves any aspect of this story. Thank you.
Chapter 73: Trails and Tribulations
Summary:
Izuku, Ochaco, and Bakugou finally take their Makeup Exam. But will they survive the trials laid out for them or will they fail and join those that must now spend their nights with Mr. Aizawa and his condescending ectures?
Notes:
*So as maaaaaaany of you have pointed out. Yes, in the Ben Ten series Ghostfreak’s second skin protects him from the sun. So then why, in my story, does it not work? Because I legit forgot it was even a thing. Like I knew he had a layer of skin over his real form but the detail that it actually served a real purpose totally escaped me. It’s been way too long since I watched that specific episode and I felt confident in what I remembered that I didn’t bother to revisit it. And if you are butt hurt over the fact that Ghostfreak was quote-on-quote nerfed then I am sorry. Just know that it wasn’t my intention, it was just an honest to goodness mistake. In any case I hope you will stick around and enjoy the rest of this story has to offer.
*This story has a TV Tropes page.
*Please check out the side story “Heroes Never Die; It’s Hero Time, Anytime.”
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
“AAAAAAAaaaaaaaahhhhh!!” Koji Koda’s shouting echoes throughout the entire valley but whether it’s of pain or just part of his exercise is unclear.
If anything, it’s just part of the background as everyone agonizes over their individual exercises as the hot summer sun beats down on them.
The remedial group, especially, is feeling the heat. Each of them is just one push away from falling onto the ground and passing out with heavy bags under their eyes.
Sato looks sugar deprived, Denki’s brain is fried from both his Electricity and from studying, Aoyama still tries to present himself as glamorous, but his usual shine is gone, Sero is struggling to keep his head up, while Mina isn’t even trying to ward off sleep, and Kirishima is bent over and ready to collapse.
“Hey, remedial group. Keep at it!” Aizawa’s scarf grabs Kirishima by the head and makes him stand up.
“Y-yes, sir.” Kirishima weaky calls back while doing his best to hold back tears.
Mina can’t take it anymore. “Sorry. But I need more beauty rest.”
Denki lets out a pained moan. “Who knew yesterday’s extra lessons…”
“…Would go on until two in the morning…” Sero whines.
Sato chokes back a sob. “…And start back up at seven.”
“This is most terrible.” Aoyama complains, adding a French accent when he says terrible.
“I told you it’d be tough.” Aizawa scolds, already irritated by their lack of drive. “Remember, you’re not just improving your Quirks, you're also working to overcome the many weaknesses I saw in the finals.”
As the failures yelp and wince in shame, Ragdoll is laughing at their expense. “Tehehehehe!” Meanwhile, Aizawa continues to instill strict discipline. “Think carefully about why you’re more tired than the others before you start whining.” He pulls on the scarf forcing Kirishima to nearly bend backwards. “You have much to improve here.” And with that he finally releases the red head who immediately falls back.
The remedial group winces and groans out a response. “Right. Yes, sir…”
Not one to waste a moment of educating his students properly, Aizawa turns to the rest of the hero course who are diligently participating in their exercises. “Don’t lose focus. Each of you can move faster! And no matter what you’re doing, just remember where you started from. Don’t forget who you were before U.A.”
He observes them each from Bakugou sticking his hands into the boiling barrel, to Todoroki’s bursts of ice and flames, Midoriya’s combat training as Upchuck, and Uraraka’s gravity resilience. “Always keep in mind why you’re sweating, and why your limits keep getting tested. That’s what it means to improve.”
Each of the aforementioned students repeat his words, allowing them to sink in.
From Bakugou. ‘Where I started.’
To Shoto. ‘Who I am.’
To Ochaco. ‘How I got here.’
And finally Upchuck. ‘And where I’m going.’
“That’s all fine and inspiring and whatever-but what’s their excuse?!” Denki cries out in outrage, pointing over towards Bakugou, Ochaco, and Upchuck. Who are a little more than surprised to be suddenly called out for no apparent reason.
“Yeah! They failed their exam too!” Mina whines.
Oh, right. That.
“Hahaha! What’s this?!” Neito Monoma barges over, his usual air of arrogance coming off as waves. “Class A’s star pupils failed their exam?! Hahaha! Oh, what a tragedy! Hahaha! Even the Rising Star failed?! What an ordeal! I bet you feel just oh so-GAAAH!!!” A splat of slime splatters his face making him gag and frantic to wipe it off.
All the while Upchuck plays innocent, a finger to his mouth in a way to make him seem cutsie.
Aizawa throws the chubby amphibian an accusing glare but makes no fuss about it. “In any case you’re absolutely correct.”
The Remedial Group gasps. “We are?!”
“Midoriya. Uraraka. Bakugou. It’s time.”
Ochaco slides out of the inflated ball, her face green, and stomach churning. “Time for what, exactly?” She asks between breaths.
“For your Makeup Exam.”
Upchuck transforms back, returning Izuku to his usual nervous self. “Um, Mr. Aizawa, sir. Who-who are we facing?”
Aizawa sympathizes and quickly reassures the kid. “Relax, you’re not facing All Might. I made sure of that.”
“Oh, good…” He averts his gaze as the guilt and shame from then lingers over him like a cloud.
Aizawa understands his hesitation but even, so the kid needs to take this exam seriously. He can’t afford to be distracted, especially if he wants to improve. “What happened during your Final Exam was, for lack of a better word, atrocious. Both on our account and yours.”
“Sir?”
“We failed you as your teachers. I especially should have made sure that your strife and past trauma wouldn’t play a factor into your Exam. As U.A.’s Teachers we have the responsibility to push you beyond your limits. But we must be aware of what boundaries we cannot cross. And we crossed it.” he should have realized the signs and confronted All Might about them sooner. That was his mistake. “However, that being said, you three, especially two of you, need to learn proper cooperation.”
Izuku and Bakugou start, before exchanging wary looks between each other.
“You don’t have to get along. But we have to ensure that you both will put aside your differences for the sake of others first.” Aizawa’s eyes narrow dangerously. “Do I make myself clear?”
“Yes, Mr. Aizawa!” Izuku responds all too quickly.
“Yeah, we get it.” Bakugou shrugs, while stuffing his hands into his pockets.
“Take these.” Aizawa tosses each of them a backpack.
Ochaco weighs the bag in her hand, it’s light enough but there’s definitely a number of items inside. “What are these for?”
Izuku takes a peek inside his pack. “Are we going on a hike?”
That’s what the items would suggest: there’s a water bottle, a bag of trail mix, an emergency blanket, a knife, a pack of matches, an emergency flare gun, and some rope along with a first-aid kit.
“That’s exactly what you’re doing.” Aizawa then points behind them. “See that?”
The three turn around and spot a metal container about the size of a wardrobe sitting atop a 2-wheeled wood-wagon; one with a pull bar in front to allow someone to push the cart forward.
“Yeah?” The three respond not entirely sure if that’s what they're supposed to be looking at.
“It’s your job to transport this container to the top of that Mountain.” Aizawa turns the opposite way and points to the farthest mountain in the distance, one with an arched peak like a witch’s hat.
“All the way over there?! It’s so far!!” Ochaco gasps, her jaw hitting the floor in shock.
“That’s the point. You’ll have to navigate through the Beast’s Forest, trek across the Valley of Peace, cross over the Anavros River, and then climb your way up Witch Mountain.” He has such a hard time not grimacing as he says those names. “Bring the container to the top undamaged and you’ll receive full marks on the exam. However, if the container is damaged beyond repair, then you fail.”
“Seriously?” Bakugou growls, already done with this shit. “You're having us do a fucking Transport Mission as our Makeup Exam?”
“Good, so you understand. Here’s a map and a compass. You only get one so don’t lose them” Aizawa tosses them over at Bakugou who nearly tears the map apart because he’s so angry. “Feel free to use any of the items we provided for you. You have until sundown to complete the test. Do not disappoint. And good luck.” His haunting Totoro grin flashes before them. “Because if you fail, you’ll be joining your classmates stuck in the Remedial Course.” He points over to said group who all look like Death warmed over.
A shiver runs down the trio’s spine as they watch their classmates collapse one after the other.
“You’re burning daylight.” Aizawa warns. “Or are you dead set on joining them?”
“We’re going!!” Ochaco, Izuku, and even Bakugou blurt out before hurrying away to the wagon.
They scramble to get going with Bakugou and Izuku both taking the pull bar and pushing while Ochaco pushes from behind.
Aizawa, however, remains aloof as they begin their long journey ahead. He watches on until they disappear into the thick woodland.
A set of four voices creep up behind him and snicker.
“Tehehehe. There they go.”
“It would be more sporting to give them a head start.”
“Hehe, I can’t wait to see what kind of strength those three are capable of.”
“Let’s show these kittens what a pride of felines can do.”
Aizawa could care less what they do. “Do as you wish, just make sure they learn something. And that they don’t kill each other.” He walks away allowing the team of four to go on their way.
Besides, he has his own agenda. “As for all of you.” He calls out to everyone else in the hero course. “Listen up! Everyone, follow me and Vlad King, we're going on a run to improve your stamina.”
“Yes, sir!” Class A and B whine in unison.
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Ch.68 Trails and Tribulations
(The Beasts’ Forest)
The Beast’s Forest is still the same as it ever was with massive trees blocking out the sun and ominous shadows creeping around from all corners The only difference this time is that the kids have an actual path to follow and there’s enough of a gap in the trees to allow sunlight to break through and light the way no problem. Although the trail isn’t exactly easy as it keeps twisting this way and that with loose rocks and large roots hindering their steps. Even so it’s still a much more pleasant experience than being hounded by Clay Monsters for several hours.
“This is fucking stupid.”
Well for most of them anyway.
“Why do I have to be the one to lug this giant piece of crap around?!” Bakugou shouts, lagging behind as he’s been left to pull the wagon on his own.
“Because you lost.” Ochaco teases from the front as she makes finger scissors.
“Dammit it!” Bakugou seethes he knew he shouldn’t have picked paper!
“Don’t worry we’ll switch soon; it’s barely been an hour.”
“Then how come we haven’t gotten any closer, damn it?! Deku, just where in the hell are you leading us?!”
Izuku nervously grimaces in response, as he clutches the map and compass. “I-I’m trying. But this map isn’t exactly easy. And the trail keeps going all over the place.”
“That’s it, give me the map! I’ll lead us out of here! In the meantime, you can be useful by turning into something that can pull the cart for us. Like that blind bear-thing.”
“Wildmutt is not a bear. Nor is he a horse.” Izuku clarifies feeling a little bit irked. “And even if I used Wildmutt, I could only pull the cart for ten minutes before I run out of time.”
“I still say it’d be faster!”
“What’s even your rush?” Ochaco asks while enjoying the fact that she doesn't have to do anything for now. “We have all day to complete the test. Besides it’s an easy enough hike.”
“Easy?! You’re not the one pulling the damn cart!” Bakugou shouts as one of the wheels gets stuck between a set of exposed roots.
As Bakugou struggles with the wagon and Ochaco tries to wiggle the wheel free, Izuku takes a moment to really think about the test. ‘Uraraka’s got a point. There’s really no need to panic as long as we keep a good steady pace, we’ll make it up the mountain in no time. But that seems too easy, doesn’t it? Maybe Mr. Aizawa is just testing our endurance? Or maybe our own willingness to even be near each other? Maybe he’s just playing it safe this time?’
Not that Izuku can blame the teacher, not after the disaster he himself caused last time.
{“I bet you’re thinking this is gonna be an easy stroll through the woods. Don’t ya?”}
‘Yeah. Exactly.’ Izuku happily thinks, agreeing with the spontaneous voice in his head. ‘It’s nothing but a nice relaxing walk through the woods.’
He begins to hum along as he, Ochaco, and Bakugou continue on their way.
But they don’t make it far until they all stop dead in their tracks.
The three immediately jump to action, taking defensive positions and their patience finally snapping. Deep down they knew it couldn’t be this easy. No way Mr. Aizawa would ever make things easy. And this is exactly what they needed to finally snap.
“Did you hear that?!” Ochaco asks, scanning the woods for the source of the voice.
“Yeah, we heard it.” Izuku confirms, pocketing the map and compass just in case
“Where’d it come from?” Bakugou scans thick trees as well but comes up empty.
Suddenly that same voice giggles in their heads. {“What’s the matter? You’re all on edge all of a sudden.”}
Ochaco finally recognizes the voice. “Is that-?”
“It is, it’s Mandalay.” Izuku answers before she can even ask. “She’s using her Telepath Quirk to speak to us right now.”
Mandalay’s Telepathic thoughts break through to them again. {“Listen little kittens. Did you really think Eraser was just gonna assign you a simple transportation mission?”}
“I didn’t think that for a second.” Bakugou brags even though they all already knew.
But the other two don’t bother to call him out, figuring now wasn’t the time. Instead, the trio turn their backs to each other and stand guard, standing in a tight triangle, each one covering a different angle in case she tries to pull anything.
{“Good, you understand then. Think of this as your official instructions. Don’t worry I’m not gonna be the one attacking you…yet. Instead, I want you all to think of this test as a series of tests. Or better yet trials.””
“Is she being serious?” Bakugou huffs before being shushed by Ochaco.
{“In these trials we’re going to do all that we can to not only test your abilities but to stop you from succeeding. Sorry but them’s the rules, Eraser’s orders. So do whatever you can to protect your cargo and complete the trials or else you’ll be joining the others tonight at Eraser’s extra lessons.”}
They don’t want that, no sir. They are instantly put on edge expecting Mandalay to show up at any moment and “test” them.
{”And another thing I will not be testing you during this trial.”}
Ochaco carefully leans back and hesitantly asks. “Then who is?”
A giant brown blur leaps out from the canopy and crash lands right between the three teens, knocking them all off their feet.
“Lookie at what I found here.” Tiger maniacally grins down at the fallen teens like they’re nothing but tiny mice he can prey on. “Looks like I got me some new toys to play with.” He flexes his claws, advertising to them that he’ll hold nothing back.
“You wanna play?!” Bakugou shoots back up to his feet, his rage already spilling over. “Then let’s play!! DIE!!” He charges, his palm already Exploding with heat.
“Such spirit!” With a sly grin, Tiger easily bends and side-steps his body away like if he were made of rubber. “I like your moxie, brat!”
Bakugou’s Explosion completely misses, and his arm goes right past Tiger, leaving the boy open for the hero to grab him, spin him up and around, before tossing him aside.
Bakugou is thrown across the trail landing on the back of his head against the dirt and roots.
“Bakugou!!” Izuku and Ochaco gasp as Bakugou is tossed aside like nothing.
“Ehehehe. Get ready little mice, because this is THE TRIAL OF SURVIVAL!!!” Tiger flexes, his muscles bulging and twisting due to his Pliabody Quirk and massively fit physique. “Can you make it through the Beast’s Forest with me in hot pursuit? Let’s find out!”
That’s all the warning they get before Tiger takes off at a full sprint, charging right for them much like his own namesake.
Izuku gasps, stumbling back. “He’s fast!”
Tiger leaps forward, his claws poised to strike. “Look alive otherwise you’re not gonna pass!!”
Like a blur, Ochaco jumps in from behind, acting quickly, not willing to allow the hero anywhere near the cart. “VENUS SMASH!!!”
With a twist of his body, Tiger easily evades the glowing pink fist. “Too slow!”
He strikes her down, slamming her against the ground.
Pressing her head to the dirt, Tiger turns his gaze over to the quivering greenette. “And then there was one.”
“You’re a bad kitty.” Izuku nervously quips while spinning the Omnitrix’s faceplate. “Thankfully I know there’s more than one way to skin a cat.” He locks onto Wildmutt’s silhouette causing him to break out into a wide grin. “And I got the perfect K-9 for the job too! I choose you, Wildmutt!!”
Following his hand slamming on the Omnitrix and the flash of green, Izuku undergoes the transformation. He can feel fur spreading across his body and his limbs expanding. But his base form doesn't really change, instead it seems to grow in size and muscle never adding or removing extra limbs. And he still has his sight. But there’s a familiar static-like tingling across his body, sort of similar to when he transforms into Feedback or Buzzshock.
“Something's not right, Eh?” The transformed Izuku asks permission as the sequence ends.
“Don’t give me excuses!’” Tiger pounces to attack, not caring what form the kid takes. “Show me the results of your training!!”
He swings his fast forward but to his surprise Izuku’s meaty hand catches it.
“Oh, I’ll show you alright.” Izuku grows as electricity dances off his body and with an ape-like screech he unleashes a blast of electricity right into Tiger’s torso, launching him back and into the woods like a pile of smoking meat.
“Hahaha, I guess cats don’t always land on their feet.” The transformed Izuku laughs before peering down at himself. “Speaking of feet, mine are huge!!”
Like ape-sized huge. He looks like a bipedal gorilla in yellow and black fur with grey skinned ape-like hands and feet. The only thing seemingly alien about this guy is that he has four fingers instead of five and there are a set of bolts on both sides of his wrists.
Peering around he uses the reflective side of the container in order to see his own green eyes with black pupils staring back at him. Even his face is ape-like with an out protruding lower jaw, bolts on the side of his skull, and a yellow lightning bolt-shaped horn decorates his forehead like a crown or misshapen unibrow.
“Not bad, Eh.” He admits while admiring the new form. “I like the colour. Although the power is kinda repetitive, Eh?”
Ochaco and Bakugou slowly regroup, their jaws hanging as they stare up at the eight-foot chimp.
“Deku? Is this one new?! Like doesn't have a name yet, new?!” Ochaco asks, jaw agape.
“You betcha. And hey, maybe this one can do us the favour and help us win, Eh?” He holds two of his fingers close together, playing with a spark of static between them. “I think this one’s got some good parlour tricks.”
“What’s with the Canadian accent?” Ochaco bluntly questions.
“Forget that.” Bakugou waves her off. “Why the hell are you Bigfoot now?”
“Not Bigfoot, how about…?” The electrical ape thinks on it for a second before coming up with a brilliant name. “ELECTRICYETI!!!”
Ochaco and Bakugou give him deadpanned stares in response.
However, their judgmental stares go right over Electricyeti’s head. “I know, great, Eh?”
“It’s…not.” Ochaco is sad to admit.
“Then what would you suggest?”
Bakugou scoffs. “Idiot, you can go with literally anything else like…Shocksquatch?” He shrugs as he gives out the first stupid pun that popped into his head.
However, Electricyeti seems to love it. “Oh! I like that one way better. Let’s go with that instead! Eh? From now on this guy will be known as “SHOCKSQUATCH!!!”
“DON’T JUST AGREE WITH THE FIRST SUGGESTION I CRAP OUT!!!”
As the teens bicker and chat away, Tiger takes a moment to recover and psych himself back up just as Mandalay’s Telepathy chimes in his head. {“Well looks like Eraser’s training paid off. The kid really did develop a new form. In that case, it’d be irresponsible of us if we didn’t help him figure out exactly what it’s capable of.”}
A smirk stretches across his face before he dashes away into the thick woods at a breakneck speed.
“Hey look!” Bakugou points him out. “The fucker’s getting away!”
He instantly goes after him, blasting himself through the air with his Explosions.
“Don’t run off on your own!!” Shocksquatch sprints after him, moving quickly with his long stride.
“Guys, wait! What about the cart?!” Ochaco calls but it’s no use, she stays back not sure what to do. She should go after them, but she’d be leaving the wagon unguarded. Oh, what is she to do?
Meanwhile, Tiger is keeping his head start but Bakugou is hot on his heels. Unfortunately, Shocksquatch can’t seem to keep up.
“Wait for me!” Shocksquatch calls after them but there’s no way that’s happening. He has to speed it up. As he runs his upper body begins to lean more and more forward until his swinging knuckles are grazing and ground. And soon after they hit the ground but instead of straightening himself back up Shocksquatch begins to run in a full gallop, using his knuckles like that of a gorilla. “Oh, there we go!” With a grin he gallops forward using the momentum to propel himself off the ground.
Jumping straight into the air he catches a branch and uses it to swing himself forward. Again and again, he swings from branch to branch, even kicking himself off the sides of the giant trees in order to propel himself forward. “I’m on my way!!”
Bakugou looks back and sees the yeti swinging through trees. “You’re falling behind, Deku!!” He turns his attention back towards the pursuit, and with one final blast he closes the distance between them while yelling out. “By the time you catch up I’ll already have this guy eating dirt!! Hahaha!!”
But instead of running away or striking back, Tiger comes to a complete stop and grins back at the boy.
And before Bakugou can even understand what it means, a net springs out from the earth below him and swallows him up, pulling him into the air. “What the hell?!”
“Bakugou!!” Shocksquatch gasps, moving faster between the trees. But just as he leaps from one branch to the next, he is left exposed as a log on a rope swings in and crashes into his side.
The giant ape goes down, plummeting down from the canopy and crashing into the ground with a loud thud.
“What the hell is this?!” Bakugou screeches as he struggles to right himself while hanging upside down in the net.
Mandalay’s incorporeal voice giggles in their heads. {“Oh, I see you boys found yourselves in quite the pickle. Remember when Tiger said this was a Trial of Survival? Well can you navigate this course or will be lost to the Beast’s Forest forever?!”}
Tiger smirks. “Oh, I already know the answer to that. These mice are gonna fail!!”
“Fail?” Bakugou scoffs. “I don’t know the meaning of the word!!” With a small blast he burns the net away and rockets himself at Tiger.
The pro hero isn’t worried and instead greets the challenge with a cruel smile. “Don't worry. I’ll teach you all about it myself.”
The two clash with Bakugou aiming for Tiger’s head but the pro easily ducks away, using his Pliabody Quirk to evade. And using his own elasticity Tiger springs back up and delivers a powerful swipe to Bakugou’s side. Bakugou’s thrown off course but quickly recovers, kicking himself off a tree and blasting himself forward, burning the bark in the process.
Tiger leaps away, avoiding the strike all together. Before backflipping his way up and over a giant downed log.
“Get back here you coward!!”
Bakugou doesn’t hesitate to chase after him, rocketing himself over only to find that Tiger was waiting for this.
Tiger strikes as Bakugou launches himself over, plowing his fist right into the boy’s gut. Despite having the wind knocked out of him Bakugou remains focused and strikes, managing to land a punch to Tiger’s side. He swings again, this time aiming to blast the jerk to bits, but Tiger once again uses Pliabody to twist and evade.
“Hold still!!”
“Hehehe!”
Bakugou swings again but as he does a spherical lump of wood swings in and smacks his arm away. Before Bakugou can react, more and more logs swing in, they’re small no bigger than basketballs but they sure do hurt, forcing him to evade each one. But with his focus on the swinging pendulums, he fails to notice Tiger weaving his way through the very same traps before his fist collides with Bakugou’s face.
And with that strike and the fact that he gets smacked around by a few of the pendulums, Bakugou goes down.
Tiger stands over him, smirking. “Just like a filthy mutt. You’re all bark and no bite.”
“Well, I got some bite for ya!” Shocksquatch leaps down from the canopy, after having climbed his way back up, and in his hand, he carries the same log that hit him earlier. As he plummets, he swings the log like a club before launching it at Tiger. “Move it or lose it!”
Tiger does neither, instead, using his Pliabody and great physique he actually catches the log by its end, using his Quirk he spins around carrying the momentum with him and then like a twisted rope he spins right around only to launch the log back at the ape-man.
Shocksquatch lets out a surprised ape-like yelp just before the log smacks him dead in the face. He goes down, losing his balance just before landing.
“Not the face!” He wails, grabbing at his face, and checking to make sure nothing’s broken. “Dontcha know that’s my money maker?!”
“Hehehe!” With a cackle Tiger makes his leave by leaping away into the brush.
“Dammit!! You’re letting him get away!!” Bakugou sprints after him.
“Oh, no I ain’t!” Shocksquatch joins the chase and they both jump over and into the brush together.
But the moment they land on the other side the ground underneath their feet gives out and they both fall right into a well-placed pitfall trap.
They crash to the bottom with Shocksquatch landing right on top of Bakugou. “Get your hairy ass off of me!”
“I’m trying, but this hole wasn’t made for someone my size ya know!”
“You stepped on me, idiot!”
“OW! Hey! Why’d ya kick me?!”
As they struggle to climb out, Tiger is not too far away, silently judging as he listens to them bicker.
“Move over!” Bakugou shouts.
“I’m trying! Quick, I think we can jump from here. I’ll toss you up!”
They both shout as they leap out of the hole; they’re both pissed off and ready to take it out on their opponent.
But Tiger doesn’t move and instead flashes them one cocky smirk.
And once again as their feet hit the ground they are swallowed up and thrown into the air by a giant net.
The two are dangled in the air, both pressed against each other way too tightly.
“Nice going, moron!” Bakugou barks, choosing to blame Deku for all this.
“Who ya calling a moron? Moron!” Shocksquatch oh so cleverly spits back.
He tries to wriggle himself free, but his fur gets caught in the net’s fibers and gets pulled out.
“Yow!” Shocksquatch yelps as static charges around his body.
“Wait-wait, Deku-!”
Too late as Shocksquatch accidentally electrifies his partner. Realizing his mistake, he quickly cuts off the electricity but the damage has been done as Bakugou’s skin and gym uniform are covered in electrical scorch marks.
“Sorry. My bad, Eh.”
“Deku…you stupid monkey…Ugh.” Bakugou shakes with anger but is too stunned to do anything right now.
“I’m disappointed, boys.” Tiger shakes his head while calling attention back to himself. “Although I do appreciate you both volunteering.”
“Volunteering for what?” Shocksquatch stupidly asks.
Tiger smirks while raising his fists. “For being my next punching bag.”
The two doofuses go pale as they realize just how fucked they really are.
Tiger gets ready to strike, reeling his fist back, but before he can deliver the first punch, he is rudely interrupted.
“Oh no you don’t!” A pink blur crashes between them, forcing Tiger to back off as wind and debris are kicked up. “If anyone’s gonna beat their asses it’s gonna be me!”
“Uraraka!!” The two boys cry out.
Ochaco stands there along with the floating wagon, and she looks mad as she trunks her glare over to them. “What do you bozos think you’re doing?!”
Shocksquatch sheepishly answers while averting his gaze. “Oh, you know just hanging around.”
“We were thinking of kicking his ass!” Bakugou roars, causing the net to swing and shake and as it shakes the rope finally gives out and snaps causing them both to hit the ground hard.
Ochaco watches, unimpressed and embarrassed for them. “Well, it looked more like he was kicking yours.”
Tiger chuckles, finding their arguing funny. “Good, maybe now it’ll be a real challenge!” He presents his claws, challenging Ochaco to a fight.
Ochaco accepts and charges knowing that they have to end this here and now before it can drag on any longer.
Tiger charges to meet her and Ochaco prepares to counter, but it was a fake out as Tiger slips right past her and goes straight for their cargo.
“No! The wagon!”
“Die!!” Bakugou finally breaks free of the net and unleashes an Explosion right into the air between the container and Tiger.
The Explosion doesn't hit but the heat is enough to force the pro hero away.
“Come on, we can take him.” Bakugou growls.
“We can.” Shocksquatch agrees at first, but after a moment he places a hand over Bakugou’s shoulder. “But not like this.”
Bakugou looks like he wants to say something back but after being played and the fact that Tiger just went after their cargo it’s probably for the best to retreat. Although that doesn’t mean he has to like it.
“DAMNIT!!” With a roar Bakugou unleashes a massive Explosion that plumes out a ton of smoke and ash from burning the ground and nearby vegetation.
The smoke whips around in all directions, completely swallowing up the teens, while Tiger is forced back.
The smoke blinds him and gets into his lungs causing him to cough. As the smoke and ash finally settle away it’s then he’s finally able to see again. And right away he sees that those brats escaped. Well for now anyway.
“You can run little mice, but you cannot hide. Ehehehehe.”
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
They really booked it out of there in a hurry and managed to put some distance between them and Tiger without tripping any more traps. And that is really a good thing if Bakugou’s tattered and singed gym uniform is anything to go by.
They managed to hide themselves against a large crevice at the bottom of one of the giant trees while a barricade of bushes and ferns surrounded them, blocking them from view.
Ochaco pokes her head up through the ferns and has herself a look. “I think we lost him.”
“Lost him? Lost him?!” Bakugou growls in frustration. “We should be out there kicking his ass!!”
Ochaco gives him a tired expression as she pulls her head back down. “Right because you were doing a fine job of that weren’t you?”
“Why you little-”
“Woah, woah, woah!” Shocksquatch cuts him off while sitting hunched over, trying to make himself as small as possible while hiding in the brush. “Let’s not say anything that’ll label us as bad as Mineta, Eh. Let’s just admit that we might have jumped the gun back there.”
Ochaco raises an eyebrow at him. “Might have?”
“We did jump the gun.” He corrects. “But we know better now, and we know exactly how Tiger’s gonna fight us.”
“He’s quick and slippery.” Bakugou adds. “Not to mention he can really pack a punch.”
“And he’s smart. Too smart. Not to mention he was able to really take us by surprise thanks to all those traps.”
Ochaco frowns at that. “Not very good odds when you sit down and think about it. Especially since he’ll try to target the wagon first.” She taps the side of the wagon which is just barely exposed over the bushes and ferns.
“He has the home field advantage.” Bakugou continues. “He must know these trees like the back of his hand or paw or whatever. And I’m willing to bet he set all those traps himself, meaning he knows exactly where each one is hidden.”
The yellow gorilla chuckles to himself. “I guess you can say that we’re in the cat’s personal hunting ground then, Eh?”
“Eh.” The other two both reply with indifference.
But after thinking about it, a devilish plot begins to form in Bakugou’s head. “Then let’s change that; if we wanna survive then we’ll make sure that he doesn’t.”
“What do you mean?” Ochaco asks.
“We’re going to trap him instead.”
Shocksquatch’s not sure how that’s supposed to work. “How?”
With a sly smirk Bakugou gets up and grabs the two of them by their shoulders. “You poor idiots, don’t you know the trapper’s trap can trap the trapper?”
The two stare back at him, baffled. “What?”
Even though they don’t understand, Bakugou's zeal never falters. “Just follow my lead and it’ll all work out.”
The brunette and the great electrical ape share concerned looks but then shrug it off figuring they might as well go for it.
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
“Where’d you go little mice? You don’t need to be afraid?” Tiger calls while peering around for any signs of the brats. “Won’t you come out and play?”
He’s been following their tracks for the last few minutes. Midoriya’s ape-like footprints are obvious, and the trail left by the wagon’s wheels just seals their fates as he comes across a large patch of brush and ferns surrounding a deep crevice at the base of one of the giant trees.
“Ah, there you are.” Tiger grins.
It seems he alarmed whoever’s hiding in the ferns as the rush jolts up as whoever’s inside gets startled.
Tiger leans down, taking a crouching position like his namesake, and with his head lower to the ground he spots a little clump of yellow fur stuck on a stray branch. He grabs the little patch of fur and grins, confirming that at least Shocksquatch is inside. “Did you really think you could hide from me? In my own turf?! HA!!! Now that’s a laugh! There’s no use in hiding. So come on out and face me like a man you Darn. Dirty. Ape!!”
“RAWWR!!!” An orange blur leaps out and slams Tiger to the ground before spit flies out a set of fangs hanging just above his face. “Let me tell ya somethin’ Tiger, who everyone’s found themselves both respecting and fearing within the last two days, you need to learn about proper Animal Taxonomy!! Because in case you couldn’t tell, but Rath is no monkey!”
The stunned Tiger blinks up at Rath. “But I said ape.”
“Same difference!!” Rath roars, grabbing Tiger and tossing him aside.
Tiger lands on his feet and slides to a stop but before he can counter Rath is already upon him, slashing at him and forcing him to evade and retreat.
With every slash missed is another tree or branch sliced in half by Rath’s sharp claws.
“Such ferocity! Now that’s what I like to see.” Tiger praises between dodging Rath’s slashes and jabs. “Now show me if you got the Eye of The Tiger.”
“Oh, Rath’s got it alright!” Rath manages to grab him by the leg. “And Rath has you!! Rawr!!”
He swings him up and over and slams him into the ground. With Tiger down, he swings his arm down as if it were a hammer, but Tiger manages to break Rath’s grip and kick his fist away before it lands.
“It’s the thrill of the fight!” Tiger exclaims as he slides behind Rath and grabs him from behind, holding his arms over his own head. “Rising up to challenge of your rival!” He holds tighter, pulling Rath’s arms back even further. “Do you feel it?! Are you hungry for some more?!”
“Rath is hanging tough, staying hungry!” Rath thrashes like a wild bull and manages to shake Tiger off before spinning around and back handing him away. “You can stack the odds still Rath takes to the street for the kill!” With a roar he pounces at Tiger. “Because Rath has the skill to survive!”
“You sure have the guts!” Tiger counters, striking an uppercut to the airborne Rath’s chin. “But you ain’t gonna get the glory.”
Rath shakes off the hit and growls. “You’re just a man with his will to survive!” He charges in and manages to tackle Tiger in low before lifting him up and carrying him back. “But Rath has the eye of the tiger! Who loves the thrill of the fight!!” With a shout he slams Tiger into the base of a giant tree causing the hero to grunt in pain.
He’s not gonna let Rath get one up on him and instead Tiger decides to switch strategies.
“And is too slow on the uptake!” Using Pliabody he manages to slip out of Rath’s grip, kick himself off Rath’s own head and launch himself right at their hiding spot. ‘The others must be protecting the cargo. But if I can stop them here it’ll all be over!’
He takes a swing just as he crashes through the brush and ferns, intending on slashing the wagon apart the moment he sees it. But it’s not there and neither are the kids.
“Rath is slow? HA!” Rath bellows in laughter. “Let me tell ya somethin’ Tiger, master of the Trial of Survival, you’re the one that’s slow on the uptake! It was Rath’s job not to kick your behind but to distract you till Ochaco Uraraka and Katsuki Bakugou could get away!”
Tiger stares back at him with a sweatdrop running down his head. “You…aren’t Midoriya’s brightest transformation, are you?”
“Hey! What is that supposed to mean?!” Rath growls in rage but soon he doesn’t even have a target for his age anymore. “Huh?! Hey! You get back here! What kind of tiger are you anyway?!”
Rath calls after Tiger who immediately took off into the woods, presumably, to hunt down and stop Bakugou and Ochaco.
Rath growls, annoyed that he was ignored, but soon a smirk replaces his scowl as he recalls the plan.
Meanwhile, Tiger managed to climb his way up the trees and is now using the branches as springboards to launch himself across the canopy. ‘Those brats couldn’t have gotten far. And if my memory serves, and it does, there’s only one path they can take with a wagon that size. Anywhere else and they risk damaging it. Which means-’ He lets out a sharp gasp, he can make out their silhouettes down below. ‘That they must be right here!’ He can make out their blue gym uniforms as he gets closer; it must be them.
With his fangs and claws bared Tiger leaps down at them from above. “Get ready for the smackdown of your lives little mice! Because playtime is over!!”
In a blink of an eye there is no hope for the teens to move as Tiger comes crashing down upon them, smashing them to the ground and shattering their wooden figures to splinters.
“Hang on a second.” Tiger pulls back, ripping off Ochaco’s jacket only to find that he only cut up a pair of logs and sticks made to look like the kids. “It’s a-”
“TRAP!!!” Ochaco and Bakugou leap down from the canopy above, only wearing their dark undershirts and blue gym pants.
The two unleash a powerful SMASH and Explosion respectively, causing a thundering blast to roar through the forest.
Tiger manages to slip out and bear the brunt of the blast, but it still did some damage leaving him with scorch marks and burns. He has no time to relax as the dynamic duo pursue after him. Ochaco throws Ryou Spheres at him, but he manages to duck and twist his body out of the way but it was nothing but a distraction as Bakugou slips in and delivers a rather small Explosion to his side.
Tiger is flung to the side but using his incredible acrobatics he manages to twist himself around and land on his feet. “Oh, ganging up on me now?” He laughs, very much enjoying the fight. “Figured out you couldn’t take me alone?!”
“I can take you myself! But this way is faster!” Bakugou barks back.
“Also not like I’d give him a choice!” Ochaco rushes in, her fist aglow.
But Tiger leaps away before she could do him in.
“But you have one.” Ochaco continues, wiping the sweat from her brow. “You can give up!” She charges him again along with Bakugou.
“That’s some mighty big demands, kiddos.” Once again Tiger is forced back, evading this way and that, and now with two opponents he has a much harder time finding any openings to strike back. Well, if he can’t find one, he’ll just have to make one. “Just who in the hell do you think you’re messing with?!” Tiger roars, grabbing Ochaco’s arm just as she goes for a punch, and using Pliabody he twists around and swings her like a bat. Slamming her right into Bakugou. Bakugou is bashed to the side, crashing into a thornbush while Ochaco is tossed away in the opposite direction.
She hits the side of a tree and slides down, the bark digging through her undershirt and into her skin as she falls.
She manages to use one hand to catch herself before she hits her head on the ground. Now with both of them down Tiger in between them both. She sees no other option, they can’t run now, not yet. “Bakugou!!” She throws herself off the ground and fires a Ryou Sphere at the pro.
“I’m on it! I’m on it!” Bakugou blasts himself forward, his palm outstretched and sparking with heat.
“You two aren’t a bad combo. Your powers make for a real Explosive Combination.” With a twist of Pliabody Tiger easily turns his body and allows the two attacks to pass by from wither side. And with a cruel grin he smirks back at the stunned Bakugou just as the boy is about to fly past. “Too bad it wasn’t enough.” With a flick of his foot, Tiger pulls down on a hidden tripwire.
On que massive logs swing down from all sides, like destructive pendulums, crashing through the branches and leaves like trucks through fencing.
“Get down!” Ochaco screams as Bakugou lands before her. She grabs him by the head and pushes them both down as a massive log zooms right over their skulls.
“Heads up!” Tiger weaves through the swinging logs and delivers a kick right to their sides.
The kids are launched to the side, groaning in pain.
“Hey, you-...” Bakugou hisses before ducking his head down as another log swings in and nearly does him in.
Quickly he takes in the scene, the swinging logs are like pendulums swinging back and forth without losing any speed or power. And it looks like more are on their way, swinging back right at them both. “That’s it!”
Seeing no other way out, Bakugou leaps up, his arms outstretched to his sides. “This is it, Uraraka!!”
She understands and quickly presses herself to the ground while covering her head and ears.
“DIE!!!”
*BOOOOOOOOMMMM!!!*
Just as the logs are about to crash into them, the teen unleashes his most powerful Explosion yet. Blasting the logs to splinters and ash that go flying across the forest like rain.
Even Tiger is taken back, glad he was nowhere in that blast. And having been thrown off and with the teens now out of sight he waits for them to appear from the smoke. But nothing moves, there is no noise. And then just as he thinks they’re done, Bakugou leaps out from the smoke and attacks.
But he’s got nothing left in the tank as Tiger catches him by his face. “You must be the most tenacious little mouse I’ve ever met.” Tiger admits, letting the seething Bakugou dangle there before him. “Don't be mad. You should be proud, you almost had me there for a second.” His Claws tighten around the teen’s face. “But almost surviving doesn’t get you squat.”
You would think Bakugou would spit back a nasty response, but instead a cocky smirk of all things stretches across his face.
“What’s with that smile? Ah, shit! Did I hit you so hard that you lost brain function?!” Sure, Eraser gave them permission to go all out but still. Did he overdo it?!
“It’s not that. My head’s just fine.” Bakugou peers through Tiger’s claws, his smirk wider than ever. “But I’m not sure I can say the same about your eyes.”
“What?”
“Just take a look around, haven’t you noticed something’s missing?
Tiger does have himself a look around and after a moment he does realize something is missing, or rather someone. “Where is she?!”
“Finally noticed?” Bakugou oh so wants to laugh at the pro’s face. It really took him this long to notice that Uraraka ran off a little while ago. “We planned for this to be our last ditch effort, in case our first plan failed. I’d hold you off while she takes the cargo and runs off.”
Tiger growls in frustration.
“What’s the matter?” Bakugou teases. “Our instructions never said we had to beat you. We just had to survive. And escaping this dump of a forest is also surviving!”
“Another distraction?!” Tiger gasps. “You kids already tried that!” Frustrated, he tosses the boy aside before running off into the woods. “It didn’t work before, and it won’t work now!” And off he goes to stop her, he can’t allow her to pass, not without a fight at least!
Even though he has to lift his face off the ground, Bakugou still can’t stop snickering as Tiger runs off after her. “Hehehe, what a sucker.”
Meanwhile, Ochaco is hurrying across the woods as fast as she can. But the terrain isn’t making it easy, and neither is her leg. But despite that she runs, despite the limp, trying her best to make it to the wagon. And she needs to hurry, Bakugou won’t be able to hold Tiger off for long so the faster she moves the better chance they have to pass.
“Ah ha! I found the stray!”
‘He found me!’ Ochaco snaps her head back and sure enough she spots Tiger parkouring his way through the trees. She hurries forward, desperate to move faster.
“You can’t escape me!” Tiger bellows, leaping faster from tree to tree.
‘I can make it!’ She keeps moving, her heart beating in her ears as her lungs are ready to implode.
“You’re going to fail!”
‘I’m almost there!’ With every root in her way she has to lurch herself forward.
“None of you will SURVIVE!!!”
‘I-I…I made it!’ Ochaco throws herself forward as hard as she can like a baseball player sliding to home base.
Tiger leaps down like a ferocious big cat pouncing upon its prey with its claws bared to rip and tear through his prey’s bloody flesh. “You didn’t make it!!”
His foot hits the ground first, and the moment it lands a rope snaps around his ankle and rips his feet right from under him. “Waaah!”
Tiger is heaved right into the air by a tight snare trap.
“Rath! Now!!” Ochaco screams.
On her que, a screaming orange furball rushes out from the bushes with a rope in hand. “Let me tell ya somethin’ Tiger, one of our many proctors for this exam!” Rath slips and slides across the forest floor, lassoing up Tiger’s claws and feet before giving the rope a hard yank, bounding his limbs together like he was a bucking horse. “YOU FAILED!!!” Rath roars with a grin as he slings the last of the rope around a nearby tree and ties it around.
Even while hanging upside down, Tiger struggles to break free of his binds but it’s no use, they really got him here. Not even his Quirk allows for any maneuvering of his limbs since they got them all tied up. “I don’t believe it. Beat me at my own game, did ya?”
“We did.” Ochaco states proudly, leaping up to her feet with ease. A clear sign that maybe her limp wasn’t exactly real.
“How? I know where every trap is located. I set them myself!”
“We know that.” Ochaco confirms. “That’s why Bakugou had the idea to make one of our own.”
Tiger gasps. “He did?”
“I sure did.”
They all look over to see that a smug looking Bakugou has just arrived on the scene. “It was easy to find one of your own traps once we knew what to look for. And all the flea bag over here had to do was copy it and set it right here for us.” He gestures over to Rath when he says fleabag, earning an offended growl from the Appoplexian.
Tiger, albeit too late, is finally able to put the pieces together. “So, you weren’t a distraction,” He says looking at Rath. “they were.”
“You got that right!” Rath laughs. “Betcha ya never thought Rath would pull one over on ya, did ya?!”
“No, I did not.” Tiger admits it, the kids got him good. “Well played little-mice…kittens. You’re on your way to becoming top predators.”
“I’m already there.” Bakugou smugly states.
“Not yet. But I’m proud to tell you that you’ve passed the Trial of Survival.”
“Really?” Ochaco beams.
{“Yup!”}
The teens jump, startled by Mandalay’s voice suddenly jumping into their minds.
{“Nice work, you had me worried there for a second, but I knew you’d pull through.”}
“Ha, it was easy.” Bakugou scoffs.
“Yeah, give us a real challenge!” Rath, of all people, agrees earning some points front he ash blonde.
Mandalay chuckles from her hiding spot; she’s close enough to hear and see them but far enough away that they won’t ever find out where she is. After all, someone needs to proctor this exam, {“You didn’t think that was tough enough? Well then, we’ll be sure to up our game from here on out. Go ahead on through the rest of the Beast’s Forest. I’ll give you your next set of instructions once you reach the Valley of Peace.”}
“What is up with these names?” Bakugou questions to nobody in particular.
“Rath likes em.” States the Appoplexian.
“You would.” Bakugou retorts as the three uncover their wagon.
The wagon was nearby hidden by branches, leaves, and mud that the kids themselves plastered to it in order to camouflage it.
After wiping off the mud and leaves the teens get ready to leave while Tiger is still strung up in the air. “Hey! Aren’t you gonna let me down?!”
A cruel smirk stretches across Bakugou’s smug face. “Na, I’m sure you’ll survive on your own.”
“Bwahahaha!! Good one!” Rath laughs, offering Bakugou a fist bump which he actually returns.
Meanwhile, Ochaco is both stunned yet happy about the development. ‘Really?! Being trolls is what these two can connect over?!’ She’s really not sure if she should be concerned or glad that at least they’re getting along now.
Despite this she doesn’t offer to cut Tiger down and instead follows along as Rath takes the wagon and wheels it away.
Tiger, however, is far from upset; instead, he can see the humor in it. “Cocky little brats. Hahahahahaha!”
To be continued…
Notes:
*And that was Ch.68 Trails and Tribulations. Or at least it was Part 1. To be honest, this was not gonna be a two parter, but I didn’t make as much progress as I would have liked. So, I had to split it in two. Hopefully Part 2 will be ready for next Friday, but I can’t say for certain yet. And if you liked this chapter then great news because Part 2 will be more of the same. (>▽<)
*Sooo, I’m gonna go ahead and call it out. Sorry for the forced “Eye of the Tiger” dialogue. I don’t know why but I was just jamming out to the song during that scene and thought it would be fun to work in the lyrics. I know it was cringe, but hey I’m not getting paid for this so I gotta have my fun, ya know? Also, same thing about Izuku using Rath. I know there’s gonna be some of you out there saying “Why didn’t Izuku use Big Chill or Heatblast to beat Tiger?” And that’s because I had more fun writing Rath vs. Tiger. And I wanted to introduce Shocksquatch.
*Speaking of which. Yes, Electricyeti-I mean Shocksquatch is Izuku’s newest alien. I love this alien’s Omniverse design, so I wanted to include him. Congrats if you guessed him showing up soon!
Chapter 74: Trails and Tribulations Part II
Summary:
Izuku, Ochaco, and Bakugou continue with their Makeup Exam. Will they pass or will they fail? Read and find out!
Notes:
Here we go! Part 2 baby! My god, I barely finished this last night so if there are a number of spelling mistakes then I’m sorry. It is what it is. Now let’s get to it!! Wooo!!
*SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT* There is a special announcement at the end of this chapter.
*Also, I wanted to reiterate that you were all warned back in Ch.1 that I would be changing some of the aliens’ powers, abilities, and weaknesses for my story's sake. Just keep this in mind for the future. Thank you for understanding.
*This story has a TV Tropes page.
*Please check out the side story “Heroes Never Die; It’s Hero Time, Anytime.”
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
A draft creeps through cracked walls of the warehouse, stirring up dust as moonlight slips through the sunken roof above.
The heavy set of doors slides open with a loud creak as a teen with pale, dirty ash-blonde hair skips her way inside.
“Hey, hey! Special delivery from Tomura!” Himiko Toga cheerfully announces after leaving a stack of boxes behind her. “He wants us to bring these along when we go, so I’m guessing there’s enough for everyone.”
“There’s enough.” Charmcaster clarifies while leaning against the opposite wall. “Giran isn’t some slouch. Whatever you need he can and will get it for you.” She caresses her smile-embroidered purse, letting a heavy amount of materials inside to weigh her hand down. “No matter how bizarre.”
“Kehehehe, gosh you’re so darn cool!”
Charmcaster rolls her eyes in annoyance, but she doesn’t say anything.
“C’mon. I’m ready.” A massive, cloaked figure growls in frustration, his huge fist clenching at his side. “Let’s hurry up and do this.”
“It’s still too early.” A boy no older than fifteen comments. “Besides, don’t forget, he said we shouldn’t do anything flashy.”
“Yeah.” Dabi roughly hums from atop a stack of crates. “He acted like a spoiled little brat when we first met. But suddenly, he’s begun to take charge.” With his hands in his pockets, he swings onto his feet while looking down at the others, and a small grin lurks onto his face. “This is gonna be nothing more than a warning shot. We’ll pull those false heroes down from their shining pedestals. And in doing so, we’ll create a bright new future for this world.”
The heavy doors slide open again, and this time a person decked out in shiny purple armor steps forth while carrying a strange device.
“Htne i pohe uor’ye adery.” SevenSeven greets before tossing the little device over to Dabi.
Without even trying, Dabi catches it with one hand and takes a moment to stare at it: it’s a tiny device, nothing too special. It’s hexagonal with a metal frame that surrounds a holo-screen. The screen lights up and a holographic map of Japan appears in his hand.
“What is this?” Dabi questions while staring at the blinking green lights that seem to be clustered together in a mountain forest.
“A rrakcet ttas’h eenb tepsu icens het Step Torlnoc hapcert.”
Everyone stares, confused, and unclear.
The boy looks over, wondering if anyone got that. “Anyone have a clue what he just said?”
“Nope.” Charmcaster shrugs, not really caring one way or another.
“Who cares as long as he doesn’t get in my way.” Dabi goes back to staring at the map.
As he looks closer, he notices that the blinking lights are symbols, the same symbol in fact. One of a green hourglass in a black circle.
Dabi chuckles, his Turquoise eyes ablaze with venom. “Get some rest little heroes. It might be the last peaceful night you ever receive.”
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Ch.69 Trails and Tribulations Part II
(The Beast’s Forest)
“That was stupid.” Katsuki Bakugou grumbles, finding the log he’s sitting on uncomfortable.
They might have ditched Tiger nearly an hour ago but they’re still nowhere near exiting the Beast’s Forest. The forest is just such a maze and so dense that it’s been taking them a lot longer to get out than they first thought. And so, after a while they decided to sit down, eat something, and lick their wounds, sort-of speak.
“OW!!!” Bakugou hisses in pain, nearly yanking his arm away from Ochaco. “Damnit, woman! Are you trying to help me or hurt me?!”
“S-sorry!” Ochaco apologizes.
She was only trying to help apply the bandages to him since he could wrap it around his arm all that well with one hand, but she may have put it on a little too tight.
And even though she feels bad for hurting him, she doesn’t appreciate his tone. “But you know if you don’t like it, I could always have Deku bandage you up.”
They look over to see Izuku Midoriya holding a granola bar in his mouth, leaving his hands free to check the packs Aizawa prepared for them. He notices them staring and waves.
“Oh, hell no!” Bakugou barks. “I'd rather bleed out!”
“You don’t mean that.” Ochaco pouts.
“Yes, I do!”
Her cheeks puff out as she glowers at him.
Izuku, on his part, laughs it off. “It’s fine.”
He goes right back to taking the inventory noting what they have left. They only have one rope left, having used the rest to tie up Tiger, all their trail mix is gone now, their first aid kits are half-empty and so are their water bottles. But they still have matches, a compass and map, emergency blankets, and three flare guns, one for each of them.
“We’re going to have to be more careful.” Izuku starts putting away the degree, dividing it all up evenly between their three packs. “That was just the first trial. Who knows what else they have planned for us?”
“What?” Bakugou snickers. “Telling me you're scared, Deku?”
“S-scared?” Izuku breaks into a nervous smile that borders on fear and thrill. “I’m excited.”
And so is Ochaco, apparently. “Sounds to me that we’re ready to go!” She leaps to her feet, accidentally bumping Bakugou’s arm causing him to hiss in pain. But she misses it as she’s too busy trying to make sure they get as pumped up as she is. “Let’s do it guys! Let’s beat everything they throw at us! Because if we don’t-...” She turns away, hiding the haunted look of despair written on her face. “Mr. Aizawa’s going to make sure we live to regret it…”
A shiver of dread crawls up the boys’ spines.
Ochaco shakes off the dread, bouncing back quickly while shouting. “On ward!”
“Y-yeah…” The two boys answer rather meagerly, not quite sure if they should be this hyped up.
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“I’m so bored…!” Ochaco whines, laying back on top of the cart as it’s pulled along.
“WE’VE ONLY BEEN HIKING FOR AN HOUR!!!” Bakugou snaps while seated right beside her. “HELL, WE’RE NOT EVEN WALKING!!!”
“Ragh?” Wildmutt pauses and turns back at them. But seeing that he wasn’t called, he turns back and pulls the cart along again with the last of the rope tied around like reins for him to grab with his teeth.
“I know! But still!” They’ve been hiking through the woods for another hour already and there’s still been no signs of another trial or the Wild Wild Pussy Cats.
“Ragh.” Wildmutt suddenly stops dead in his tracks, his head snapping up while his gills flare, having picked up on a peculiar scent.
Ochaco and Bakugou are instantly alerted with them both getting ready for some kind of surprise attack.
“What is it boy? Do you smell something?” Ochaco asks, acting as if the Vulpimancer was a real dog.
“Grr. Raagh!” Wildmutt suddenly lunges forward, yanking the cart behind him and nearly throwing his passengers off as he sprints through the woods.
“Did you find something?!” Ochaco shouts while holding on to the shaking and bouncing wagon.
Bakugou, however, is grinning with excitement. “I bet he sniffed out one of those damned cats!”
“Rggh!!” With one last jump, Wildmutt slides to a stop, his claws digging in the dirt and roots.
“Alright, where are they?!” Overexcited, Bakugou leaps off the wagon, his palms sparking with fiery rage,
Ochaco has herself a look around. “I don’t think any of them are here.” She gestures for Bakugou to look forward.
He looks and finally realizes what Wildmutt was sensing: flowers.
For real, it looks like they made it to the Valley of Peace and it’s nothing more than a serene and pristine grassland. With shimmering waves of tall grass that bounce with the wind like soft ocean waves. Fields of colorful flowers adorning soft rolling hills. While songbirds of all kind bounce from here and there while singing to their hearts’ content.
“Why didn’t we eat our lunch here?!” Ochaco yells out, wishing that they never stopped hiking until now. “I don’t like it.” Bakugou admits, eyeing the prairie suspiciously. “We better watch our asses out there. Come on, mush! Giddy up, Deku!” He shouts, pointing forward like he’s leading a powerful legion. “Show them exactly why dogs are superior!!”
But he gets no response, not even a little growl from Wildmutt.
“Deku?” Bakugou spins around, ready to piss off at the mutt. “Where in the hell-”
“Awww!” Ochaco gushes, her cheeks going pink. “Adorable!”
Wildmutt is in absolute heaven, rubbing his back against the soft grass and flowers, his tongue hanging out as he just loses himself to all the pleasurable fragrances and mind-numbing sensations.
“ARE YOU FUCKING SERIOUS!?!” Bakugou screams.
But Wildmutt continues to roll around in the grass, acting like the giant dog that he really is while Ochaco gushes and fights the urge to give him a belly rub and ask who’s a good boy.
*BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!*
Well looks like Wildmutt’s fun is over, leaving Izuku to deal with all the grass stains on his gym uniform and bits of grass stuck in his hair. “S-sorry! W-Wildmutt just really likes grass.” Izuku apologizes, his face turning red with embarrassment.
‘But aren’t you technically Wildmutt?’ Ochaco ponders to herself.
“But in any case, we better keep our wits about us.” Izuku suddenly goes all serious, staring out over the valley like it’s a hidden hellscape just waiting to be explored. “There’s no telling what kind of sick twisted horrors lie ahead of us.”
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(The Valley of Peace)
Izuku takes a deep breath, inhaling and exhaling, and just taking in the scent of fresh mountain air just as a light soothing breeze gently brushes his hair.
Ochaco too has lost herself to the serene scenery, having started to pick up wildflowers here and there and taking a moment to admire each and every one.
And Bakugou…is absolutely done with this shit. “I hate it here.”
“It’s not so bad.” Izuku inhales again, allowing himself to relax.
“WHAT HAPPENED TO KEEPING OUR WITS!?!”
{“Oh, boy. Sounds like some people don’t know when to stop and smell the roses.”}
The teens are instantly put on guard the moment Mandalay’s message breaks through into their minds.
“Mandalay?” Ochaco asks, scanning the nearly five-foot tall grass.
Izuku doesn't see her either. “How does she keep hearing us? I thought her Telepathy worked one way.”
{“It does work one way.”} She replies through her Telepathy. {“But I’m cheating; there’s a little microphone in your cargo.”}
Ochaco quickly steps away from the wagon. ‘How much did she hear then?!’
{“In any case I wanted to welcome you to the Valley of Peace! And I am happy to see that you kittens are already enjoying yourselves here.”}
“As if.” Bakugou scoffs.
{“Well then maybe you’ll like this. Your next task, coincidentally, is called the TRIAL OF WITS! And for this trial all you have to do is make it across this valley unscathed.”}
Izuku knows there’s got to be more than that. “What’s the catch?”
{“Oh, trust me when I say that the catch is a real doozy. In fact, I guess you can say it’s a real bombshell.”}
Before any of them could ask what that means the faint sound of something zooming down their way can be heard and then…*BOOOOOM!!!*
A massive pink explosion blasts out from nearby, shaking the earth, and nearly throwing the teens off their feet.
“SHE MEANT THAT LITERALLY!?!” The teens gasp.
{“Yeah, I meant that literally. Good luck!”}
They panic, trying to figure out if the Explosion came from above or below. And then they hear it, the sound of a bomb dropping in from above before *BOOOOOM!!!*
They dive away as pink smoke and dirt are flung in every direction followed by another series of bombs landing nearby, forcing them to flatten themselves against the ground.
“Where are these coming from?!” Izuku screams over the sound of incoming bombs.
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“Tehehehehe!!” Ragdoll is a giggling mess from atop her mounted cannon. “Look at them panic! It’s hilarious!”
The mechanical cannon is mounted atop a cliff that’s overlooking the Valley of Peace. She sits on the controls which are attached to the cannon’s sides, allowing her to rotate with the cannon as it’s posted on a revolving mount allowing her to point in any direction she needs.
Mandalay stands off to the side, watching as she fires the cannon away, launching pink pod-like bombs at the teens which are just little tiny specs in the distance.
“Yeah, they’re definitely panicking.” Mandalay comments while listening to their screams though her earpiece. “This might have been too much.”
“No way! I’m having a blast! Tehehehe!”
“That’s what I’m worried about.”
“It’s fine!” Ragdoll ensures while still firing away. “Eraser said we could use this! I mean U.A. did give it to us just so we could use it for this exam! And these are the same kinds of explosives they used during their Sports Festival!”
So, they’re enough to blast someone off their feet but not cause any real damage to them. Although given enough force it will certainly leave a dent on their cargo.
A wicked grin stretches across Ragdoll’s face. “Although I did add my own special surprise to them, Tehehehe!”
Not sure what else she can do Mandalay goes ahead and heads out. “Just promise me you won’t tear apart the valley too much, kay?”
“No promises! Tehehehe!”
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“This is insane!” Ochaco screams over the sounds of bombs exploding all around them. It feels like a warzone with bombs exploding from every which way, landing so close they’re causing her ears to ring. “They’re borderline psycho!”
“Dammit!” Bakugou screams, pressed against the ground beside her. “We’re too exposed out here!”
Ochaco gasps and turns back towards the cart. “Guys the cart!”
“I’ve got it!!” Izuku rushes through the field over to the wagon despite the incoming fire. “Cannonbolt will shield it!!”
With a flash of green, he transforms while grabbing onto the cart. But before the transformation sequence can finish an explosion swallows up Izuku and the cargo!
“DEKU!!!” Ochaco and Bakugou cry out as he’s swallowed up in a giant dust cloud.
“I’m okay” Terraspin calls out as the dust clears away. He has his flippers holding onto the container’s sides while having his back towards the explosion, shielding it. “It’s like I said, Terraspin will shield it!”
“You said Cannonbolt earlier!” Ochaco is quick to point out.
“N-no, I-I’m pretty sure I said Terraspin.” Terraspin turns away and scowls down at the Omnitrix in annoyance for giving him the wrong transformation.
‘You liar.’ Ochaco thinks.
“Shut up!” Bakugou gets up, waving his arm widely to get Terraspin to take the cart and run. “We gotta move!”
Terraspin remains in place. “I-I can’t!”
Bakugou instantly gets annoyed. “Move it Deku or I’ll move ya myself!”
“You might have to.” Terraspin tries to move but he can’t. “I’m stuck!”
They all peer down to find a pink glue-like substance slathered all over Terraspin's back and legs, keeping him in place.
“What is this?” Ochaco asks, gliding her hand over the substance. “Is this…gum?”
“Take cover!” Bakugou shouts hearing another pink bomb incoming!
Ochaco acts quickly, swinging around and throwing a Ryou Sphere to meet it. The two projectiles explode in midair in a pink dust cloud of pink energy and pink gum.
Seeing how effective that was, Bakugou begins to shout out orders while he examines the gum keeping Terraspin in place. “Uraraka! Keep covering us!”
“I-I’ll try!” She gets up and fires another Ryou Sphere, deflecting away another incoming bomb.
Bakugou leans in closer to examine the gum. “Hold still.”
Terraspin is almost afraid to ask. “Why?”
Bakugou’s hands begin to spark.
“Wait! Now, let’s hang on a second-Aah!!” There’s a flash of fire and heat but it ends in a blink of an eye. And when he opens his eyes, he finds that the gum has been burned away. “Oh, hey would you look at that.”
Bakugou then climbs onto Terraspin’s back. “Now fly, Deku!”
The turtle glares back at him expectedly.
“Are you serious?!”
“Yes.”
“Fly-...” Bakugou growls in frustration before giving in to Deku’s demands. “Terraspin.”
Terraspin breaks out into a wide grin. “We will begin boarding now, please place all carrions in the overhead bins.” He hands Bakugou the rope that’s attached to the cart.
He grabs it while shouting back at Ochaco. “Uraraka! We’re leaving!”
“I’m coming! I’m coming!” With one last Ryou Sphere thrown, Ochaco rushes over, touching the container and making it float as she jumps onto Terraspin’s back.
With all passengers aboard Terraspin tucks into his shell while his limbs propel them off the ground. “Fasten your seatbelts and in case of emergency your seats can be used as flotation deVICES!!!” He screams the last part as an explosion goes off behind them, blasting them forward.
“Idiot!” Bakugou shouts as Terraspin finally begins to fly away. “Quit it with the quips already!”
“They help me stay sane in these insane situations!!” Terraspin shouts back.
He hovers froward, limbs spinning like a fan, moving like a U.F.O. Weaving this way and that avoiding incoming bombs as his passengers hold on and the cart floats along behind them, pulled by the rope.
“Just where is she firing from?!” Ochaco screams between nearby explosions.
“You know which one is attacking us?!” Terraspin ask.
“Well, no but we already fought Tiger so there you go.”
Bakugou cuts in, annoyed. “Is this really important?!”
Suddenly Terraspin dives down allowing a bomb to zoom right past. “Hey, guys I’m not built for speed in case you haven’t noticed.”
“Yeah, we noticed!” Bakugou pokes his head up, trying to see if he can spot where the bombs are coming from.
There in the distance, upon a cliff face overlooking the valley, he can see the glistening of metal followed by a distant bang of a bomb being fired at them.
“There she is!” Bakugou shouts.
“Where?!” Both Terraspin and Ochaco ask, having not seen the glint.
Bakugou is about to answer before he spots an incoming bomb. “Down!”
“She’s under us?!” Terraspin gasps.
“No, dive down-AAAAHHHH!!”
They’re hit, an explosion rings out behind them, throwing Terraspin off balance and causing him to spin out of control. “Mayday! Mayday! Turtle-1 has been hit! Deploying chute!!”
“You have a parachute?!” Ochaco asks as they continue to plummet.
Terraspin spins himself around and grabs onto his teammates, aiming his back towards the ground as he shouts back. “No!”
BAM!!! They crash into the ground, skidding against it like a skipping stone.
“Not my best landing…” Terraspin groans.
BLAM! The floating container hits and bounces off the ground, landing on its side nearby.
“The container!!” Ochaco screams, releasing her Quirk so that it’ll stop bouncing.
She checks it for damages and finds a dent in its side, panicked; she floats it right side up while Bakugou shoves Terraspin onto his feet.
“Oh, no! It’s damaged!” Ochaco cries, finding another dent.
“It’s not too bad. We can still pass.” Terraspin assures.
But then a barrage of explosions begin to rain down around them.
“Fuck! We’re too exposed!” Bakugou shouts, covering his face from flying debris and bits of gum.
“I’ll cover us!” Terraspin hovers in place and moves forward before leaning down and allowing his spinning limbs to tear into the ground like a buzzsaw.
He spins and spins, throwing up tons of dirt and rocks up onto a pile until he’s made a decent sized dugout with a nice big barricade of dirt to shield them.
He lands behind the pile and inside the dugout before bowing. “Ask and you shall receive.” Bakugou and Ochaco hurry down with the cart.
“Why didn’t you start with that?!” Bakugou barks.
“Because I thought we could just fly out of here!” Terraspin argues back.
“Boys!” Ochaco snaps, folding her arms and glaring at them.
They both throw each other a nasty look before simmering down.
More bombs and explosions rain down upon them, but Terraspin’s dugout seems to work as the explosions are blocked by the giant mound of dirt or they just miss the dugout out right.
The trio press themselves against the side of the dugout, trying to make themselves as small as possible as the pink-glue is splattered across the field.
Terraspin tucks his head into his shell in an attempt to protect himself from the blasts
“We’re in a sticky situation here.”
“At least now we know where the coward is hiding.” Bakugou adds.
Ochaco, however, can’t see the bright side. “Yeah, but what good does that do us?”
Bakugou’s only response is to grin maniacally, one that Ochaco instantly knows what it means.
“You can’t be serious?”
Terraspin laughs nervously behind her. “Oh, he’s serious alright. And I’m Terraspin.”
She jabs him with her elbow for making such a lame joke.
“Sorry.” He bows his head in shame. “Like I said, it helps me stay calm.” Even so he needs to focus on the situation at hand and readdresses Bakugou. “But it’s not a good idea.”
“Why not?” Bakugou questions. “If we take her out then we win!”
“Or we can just run away.” Ochaco offers. “I mean she’s like miles away! There’s no way we can just run up on her!”
He raises an eyebrow at her. “Are you really okay with that?”
She’s not and she knows it. She wouldn’t be very satisfied with that.
Bakugou peers up at Terraspin. “Are you?”
He shakes his head as well.
“It’s unanimous.” The mad bomber gets ready to make a sprint for it. “We move on my mark. And try not to get blown up.”
Terraspin grabs him by the shoulder. “Hang on sec. Or rather, wait for ten more minutes.” He explains while peering down at the Omnitrix. “Quickly grab your packs.”
Bakugou and Ochaco frown but do so.
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“This is so boring!!” Ragdoll whines while hanging her body over the edge of her mounted seat. “When are they gonna make a move?!” She looks across the valley to where the kids were hunkered down and activates her Quirk, Search. Upon doing so she can spot two stars shining in the distance within the dugout. “Huh? HUH!?! One’s missing!! Wait-” A third star, brighter than the other two, shines like a galaxy. “Oh, there it is! Oow, just what are they up to?”
In a blink of an eye the stars are gone from the dugout.
“Huh?! Where’d they-” She spots them again and they’re moving like shining meteors zooming across the prairie at high speed. “SO FAST!!!” She grins, getting excited as she leans back into the cockpit. “Tehehehe, so you wanna rumble? Fine! Let’s rumble! Tehehehehe!” She aims and fires, launching another bomb with a BANG.
The pink-explosive flies through the air, spinning like a football, before arching down and coming in for a landing right in the zooming teens’ path.
*BOOOOOM!!!* The bomb explodes, the dust cloud reaching high into the sky as debris and gum shoot out in all directions.
Ragdoll grins, thinking she got them, but her hopes are dashed as a blue blur zooms right through the dust cloud, unscathed.
XLR8 speeds forward, moving swiftly through the tall grass as if it were an ice rink while a floating Ochaco and Bakugou cling to his back like a pair of balloons.
“Wo-woah!! That was close!” XLR8 quickly runs to the side as another bomb lands and goes off. “Too close!” He cries out as the explosion nearly gets them.
“Just get us close, Deku!” Bakugou screams over the rushing wind and incoming blasts.
“Call. Me. XLR8!!” He accelerates forward, moving far faster than any of the bombs.
But their blasts still manage to get close forcing him to zig-zag across the valley as he attempts to close the gap.
“She’s too precise!” Ochaco screams. “She’s gonna hit us!”
“Then let’s make sure she can’t hit us!” As per Deku’s plan, Bakugou pulls out his flare gun, aims towards the air, and fires.
The flare rockets into the sky and with a huge bang it explodes firing off an array of blinding lights.
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“My eyes! Ow!” Ragdoll goes blind from the flares, noting that Eraser must have packed them a non-issued brand.
She rubs at her eyes, blinking furiously before her sight and Quirk return. “Ooh, you’ve done it now! No more misses nice kitty cat!” And she continues to fire!
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XLR8 snakes his way through the incoming bombs, post haste. “I think we just made her angrier!”
“Uraraka!!” Bakugou shouts while tossing his flare gun aside.
Ochaco takes aim and fires her one and only shot.
The highly powerful flare shoots up and explodes into a barrage of dazzling lights, much like a flashbang.
The bombs seem to stop for a moment indicting that Ragdoll was blinded again.
Which Bakugou instantly takes advantage of. “FLOOR IT!!!”
XLR8 does just that and zips forward at blinding speed.
Ragdoll regains her sight and prepares to fire. She homes in on XLR8’s path aiming to cut him off with one final shot.
“Last one!!” Bakugou warns as he takes their last flare gun and fires.
The flare erupts blinding Ragdoll just as she pulls the trigger.
The final bomb goes off course just a smidge but it’s enough for XLR8 to slide right on by before it explodes.
“DEKU/XLR8!!!”
On their que XLR8 grabs his friends and spins before throwing them into the air with all his momentum behind them.
Ragdoll once again regains her sight and fires.
And this time since XLR8 was too busy sliding to a stop, it hits, exploding on impact and encasing him a mess of pink goo.
“Ha! Got ya!” Ragdoll cheers. “Wait! Where are-”
“Hey, Ragdoll!”
Her head snaps up to see Ochaco and Bakugou floating up high above her. “Didn’t ya know?!” With One For All charging her arms Ochaco throws Bakugou like he was a baseball down towards Ragdoll. “BITCHES LOVE CANNONS!!”
Bakugou spins his Exploding propelling down as he roars. “HOWITZER IMPACT!!!”
Ragdoll can only watch in horror as the attack crashes right into the mounted cannon blowing it up in one fell swoop!
XLR8 smiles from below the cliff face as rubble and pink goo fly across the sky like fireworks and a huge dust cloud blocks the sun. Knowing they won he quickly gets to work on freeing himself by moving his limbs around as fast as he can, hoping to wiggle himself free.
Meanwhile, from atop the cliff. Bakugou is reveling in the destruction he wrought. Breathing heavily, he scans the cliff top, seeing the cannon life in pieces and melted away from his Explosion combined with the bombs inside. “We Fucking Did It!!” He howls with laughter as Ragdoll picks herself up, having dove out of the way at the last possible second.
“Yay-bleh-yay!” Ochaco floats down, landing on her butt as her face turns green. Combined with her Zero-Gravity and the fact they were spinning at such a high speed did nothing to help her motion sickness.
“Now.” Bakugou turns his devilish gaze over to Ragdoll. “Time for some payback.”
Cracking his knuckles, he approaches the downed hero.
“Stop!” XLR8 slides in, cutting off his path. “You don’t need to do this!”
“Move it, Deku!” Bakugou growls dangerously. “Or I’ll turn you into boots.”
“Tehehehe! So violent! Hahahaha!” Despite just being threatened and nearly blown-up Ragdoll is in very high spirits, laughing away like this all-good fun
Unfortunately, Bakugou seems to have misplaced his sense of humor. “You think this is a joke?!”
“So serious!” She snickers. “Just relax little kitties! Believe it or not but I’m not really a fighter. That’s more Tiger’s thing after all. And besides it'd be a waste of time to fight me! After all, you all passed the Trial of Wits!”
XLR8 and Ochaco gasp. “We did?!”
“Sure did! The point was to survive against incoming fire. And you did; by blowing it to smithereens! KA-BOOM! Tehehehehe!”
“Sorry bout that.” XLR8 bows and apologizes.
“Hahahaha! Don’t worry about it! Eraser loaned it to us!”
‘Then we really should worry.’ XLR8 and Ochaco dreadfully think.
{“Did I hear that right?”}
The teens jump at the sound of Mandalay’s voice in their heads.
But Ragdoll doesn't seem perturbed one bit and instead leans in close to the little microphone on her shirt. “Yup! They passed!”
{“Wow, that was way faster than we anticipated. Good job, kittens. You’re halfway there!”}
“Just halfway?” Ochaco moans.
{“Hahahaha! Don’t worry, the next one’s a good one. I promise. Get yourselves over here quickly. It’s finally my turn to take a shot at you.”}
Taking that as their que to leave Bakugou turns about-face, back over to the valley. “Well back we go.” They gotta get the wagon which they left miles away in the dugout.
“That’s so far.” Ochaco whines, she can barely make out the dugout from here.
“Don’t worry.” XLR8 assures. “I’ll run you guys over there.”
Ochaco smiles at that before she and Bakugou float their way down the cliff.
XLR8 is about to run off and join them but then notices Ragdoll smiling up at him, like she’s examining a bright and precious gem. Can I help you?”
“Nope!” She giggles. “It’s just nice to meet someone with a special Quirk like yours.”
“Um, thanks?”
She doesn’t say anything else after that for a while, making things very awkward as she just continues to stare.
Um, I'm gonna go now. Bye!” He zips away, vanishing in a blink of an eye.
But even so Ragdoll is able to follow along and watch him zip away across the prairie. “So, bright.”
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
(Anavros River)
Izuku follows behind as it’s Bakugou’s turn to pull the wagon. His mind wandering about Ragdoll’s reaction. ‘I have a special Quirk? She must mean One Man Army. Yeah…but One Man Army isn’t a Quirk?’
And then it hits him; her Quirk, Search, can visualize people through their Quirks!!
‘Does that mean-she knows?!’ Izuku begins to panic, not once did it occur to him that her Quirk could expose him! ‘Wait, but she said my Quirk was bright. Does-does that mean that Search can see me? Or-or does she know about-about me? Does she know about-everything?! She can’t be a Plumber, Thirteen would have mentioned it. God! What did she mean?! Was she just messing with me, maybe?!’
“What do you think, Deku?” Ochaco asks from up ahead.
“I think I’ll just ask her later.” Izuku replies while lost in his own muttering.
“Ask who now?!” Ochaco gasps, not sure what Izuku was implying.
“What?!” Izuku stops and finally realizes that Ochaco and Bakugou were talking, and he definitely wasn't listening. “Oh, sorry! My mind was thinking about…other things.”
Bakugou throws him a smug smirk. “Don’t tell me that cat maids are your thing.”
“They are not!” Izuku is quick to deny while blushing furiously.
“Whatever you say.” The ash blonde snickers.
“Hahahaha!” Ochaco giggles too, betraying Izuku. “I asked, what do you think the next trial’s gonna be?”
“Good question. It’s on a river I think so it could literally be anything. Maybe we have to swim upstream. Or fight off giant mutated piranhas from eating us alive.”
“I regret asking you.” Ochaco admits, terrified of what’s to come.
“How about I just tell you?”
The teens stop dead in their tracks because at the end of the trail is the leader of the Wild Wild Pussy Cats herself.
Looks like her trial is next and like they were told it’s going to take place over the Anavros River.
The river is wide, too wide for a Quirkless human to even think that jumping over is a good idea. Not to mention the crazy rapids crashing against the rocks and fallen trees left to suffer the river’s wake. With only a single narrow bridge allowing any passage from one side of the river to the other where their final destination, Witch Mountain lies.
And guarding that bridge, standing right in the middle of it, is Mandalay.
“It’s your turn then.” Izuku stats as the trio make it to the start of the bridge.
“It is.” She confirms with a nod.
“So,” He peers up towards the mountain that hangs over them on the other side. “that means Pixie-Bob will test us on the mountain.”
“Only if you can get past my trial.”
“And that would be?”
That’s her que, and with a flourish she spins and posses allowing them to take in the scene. “Welcome students to the TRIAL OF TRUTH!! The water here shall purify each of you of your deepest and darkest truths. Those that you’ve hidden and locked away, never allowing anyone a peek! But for today each and every one of them will be exposed!”
…
The teens are rightfully confused.
“Whaaat?”
“I don’t get it!”
“Sounds like you’re just a gossip to me.”
“That’s beside the point!” Mandalay denies Bakugou’s accusation with a smile, a telltale sign that it is in fact true. “So, students. Do you think you can handle the truth?! Answer my questions truthfully and I’ll let you pass unscathed! Fail to do so and you’ll learn first-hand why cats hate water!”
The teens just stare at her like she’s grown a second head. Their eyes then eye the water before they each stare back at each other while mischievous smiles stretch across their face.
Ochaco answers for them as Izuku goes through his Omnitrix. “Sorry, we chose option C.”
“Option C?”
“Yup!”
In a flash of green, Stinkfly rises up and grabs the container from above while Ochaco makes herself, Bakugou, and the container weightless while they grab onto the bug’s legs.
“We’re flying right over!” Stinkfly takes off his wings buzzing in their ears as he shoots up into the air and whizzes across the water.
“Sorry, kids, but that’s not an option.” Mandalay isn’t bothered by this at all and instead looks oh-so-happy as she pulls out a little detonator from her pocket and gives it a press.
And then from beneath the surface of the water giant plumes of gushing water erupt into the sky like geysers along the entire riverbank. It’s a cascade of exploding geysers, each of them reaching high into the sky and raining down buckets of water.
Stinkfly and his passengers are shaken, nearly getting blasted by the geysers.
“What’s happening?!” Ochaco screams.
And then it happens after the first geysers subside a second eruption follows suit and this time Stinkfly is hit from below by a sudden rush of water.
“My wings!!” He instantly loses height as his wings try and fail to keep them airborne. “Oh, not again!!”
As they plummet Bakugou aims his hand out and using an Explosion he blasts them away from the geysers and back over dry land.
They hit the ground hard, landing back where they started.
“How fitting!” Mandalay laughs as the underwater eruptions subside. “You were swatted right out of the air like flies!”
“That was cheating!” Ochaco whines as Bakugou and Stinkfly check the container.
“Sweety, please don’t be a hypocrite, it really doesn’t look good.” She then flashes the detonator, holding it in her hand like it was a flag. “I did say the only way across was by answering my questions.”
The teens throw her some nasty scowls, annoyed that their plan was ruined in a humiliating way.
“And if you don’t then I’m not responsible for what happens next.” Mandalay teases while gesturing to the mountain on the other side. “If you do cross the river then how do you know if there’s more bombs or cannons all set to attack you. Not to mention since I wouldn’t call that as passing the trial means I’ll be coming after you. And I’m sure by now you realized who’s waiting for you on the mountain, right?” She waves a hand at the weirdly arched-peaked mountain. “Now you’ve already seen Pixie-Bob’s Quirk go up against 21 of you. Now what could she do when there’s only three of you, on top of that you’ll have me on your heels?”
They don’t need to wonder. That mountain is like Pixie-Bob’s personal sandbox where she can manipulate every rock and stone to her will. That’s already gonna be tough as it is but adding another pro into the mix. Yeah, their wagon will be as good as destroyed. They might as well start walking back to camp and joining the others in Mr. Aizawa’s extra lessons.
“So, really students, I'm giving you the best option right here.” Mandalay explains. “Play long and answer me truthfully and I’ll let you pass without a fuss. What do you say?”
Stinkfly turns to his teammates, not wanting to speak for all of them. “What are we thinking?”
“She’s bluffing.” Bakugou responds with a huff. “Let’s just destroy the bridge, toss her in the water, and get the hell out of here.”
“We’re…not doing that.” Ochaco shakes her head. “I say we go ahead and answer her questions. I mean how bad can they be? Also, you said it yourself Dek-Stinkfly she can’t read our minds.”
Stinkfly smiles. “I did say that didn’t I?”
And so, with their decision made, they turn back to face the Trial of Truth.
Mandalay is more than happy that they’ll play along. “I see you made up your minds. So, which of you’s going first?”
The three didn’t think that far ahead and are now standing around awkwardly waiting for someone else to volunteer.
Stinkfly, however, is the first to offer up a suggestion. “Ladies first?”
“Yeah.” Bakugou nods, fully agreeing with his logic. “Beauty before age, right?”
“Exactly!”
Ochaco deadpan glares at the two. “Such gentlemen. Who says chivalry is dead?”
Having been quote-on-quote volunteered, she steps up to face the challenge first.
With her first victim chosen, Mandalay explains exactly how this is going to work. “I’m going to ask you a series of three questions. Answer each of them truthfully and we won’t have any problems. Understood?”
“Yes!”
“Good!” Mandalay prepares herself, focusing in close on Ochaco’s expression and mannerisms, as if waiting for the girl to make a move to strike her. But there’s an air of confidence around her like she knows if Ochaco attacked it'll do nothing, her eyes locked on with such ferocity it is like watching a cat stalking a buzzing fly in order to predict where it’s going to land.
And so, she begins. “What…”
Seeing how serious she is, Ochaco prepares herself for the worst.
“Isss….”
Ochaco’s fists clench at her side, nervously.
“You name?!”
Ochaco nearly face faults at the unexpectedly easy question. “Um, it’s…Ochaco Uraraka.” This can’t be right. Is that seriously one of the questions, her name?
But it doesn’t appear to be a joke as Mandalay nods in approval. “What is your…favorite color?”
It’s still weird but Ochaco answers anyway. “Pink.”
Mandalay nods again, approving of the answer.
“BwaHahaha!” Bakugou can’t hold it anymore and bursts out into laughter, startling Stinkfly. “That’s it?! What a joke! I thought this was gonna expose our deepest and darkest truths, but this is nothing! Hahahaha!”
Despite his insults, Mandalay doesn’t seem insulted at all, and steads seems more ready than ever before, making Ochaco nervous. “Now for the last question, Ochaco Uraraka-”
Ochaco braces herself, but then again maybe this is all a joke? Maybe Mandalay doesn’t really have dirt on them?
“-have you been using your Quirk to steal extra snacks from U.A.’s vending machines?!”
The boys pause, staring on in confusion, while Ochaco goes pale.
Ochaco shrinks back on herself, her face going red with embarrassment, before she realizes her mistake of hesitating for too long and panics. “N-no! N-never! I’d never do something like-AAaaaahh!!”
In a blink of an eye Mandalay rushes the poor girl and tosses her right off the bridge and into the rushing water.
“URARAKA!!!” Bakugou and Stinkfly scream while the latter buzzes off after her.
Ochaco is getting swept away with the crashing current but thankfully Stinkfly plucks her right out of the water and carries her back to the bridge.
Once he drops her, she coughs up water as the cold water causes her to shiver.
“What was that?!” Bakugou yells, not sure what to make of it.
“I-I don’t know!” Ochaco gets all flustered, embarrassed, and panicked while quickly trying to deny everything. “She-she’s just making up stories!”
“Oh, I am. Am I?” Mandalay smirks, glad to finally reveal what torment they’re truly in for. “I’m afraid not, little kitty. No, each and everything I’m going to ask you about has been confirmed firsthand by your dear old homeroom teacher.”
Ochaco gasps. “Mr. Aizawa?! But-but how? I mean, I’d wouldn’t-”
“Please, don't act so naive. You’re in high school! You all get into trouble. You all misbehave and do things you shouldn’t. It’s normal! But none of you are actually as clever or subtle as you think! Your teachers see and hear everything! They just don’t say anything until they need to.”
That’s when the reality of the situation hits them all. “Are you saying-”
“Yes! Your teachers have armed me with every little piece of gossip and embarrassing story about each of you! Each of them having overheard you talking, saw something that they shouldn’t, and more! And if that’s not all I’ve specifically trained myself to detect when people are lying.”
That last part can’t be right to which Stinkfly is quick to point out. “But your Quirk doesn't allow you to do that!”
“You’re right. It doesn’t. It’s a skill I had to pick up. I've learned how to read people especially when they’re lying.”
The puzzle finally fits together in Stinkfly’s head. “That’s why you asked those two questions! It was like when they do a polygraph test! You’re gauging how we react when we tell the truth!”
“Wow, impressive! Eraser warned us that you were the observant.”
“But if you know the truth then that means-...” Both boys go pale and turn back to look at a mortified Ochaco.
Stinkfly shakes his head in disappointment. “Oh, Uraraka…”
“It’s not what you think!!” Ochaco continues to deny. “I just…take a little bit extra, okay?” A.K.A. She'll pay for one snack but then use Zero-Gravity to shake the vending machine some more until a few more items come loose. “I-I need to save money on lunch! That’s all!” But it looks like Mr. Aizawa or someone saw her do it one too many times.
Stinkfly is still disappointed and even Bakugou looks embarrassed for her. “Uraraka…”
“I’m…I’m sorry.” Ochaco tears up, bowing her head down in shame.
“Hahahaha!” Mandalay cries out in laughter, enjoying her agony oh so very much!
“This is stupid!” Upset and annoyed by how ridiculous this all is, Bakugou steps up to the plate next. “I’ve got nothing to hide! There’s no way I’m going to be humiliated like this!”
Mandalay accepts the challenge. “You think so? Alright, what is your name?”
“Katsuki Fucking Bakugou!!”
“What is your favorite color?”
“Red! Because it’s just like blood!”
Stinkfly gives him a deadpan stare. “You know that makes sense.”
Even Ochaco was surprised by the answer. “I honestly thought it’d be orange.”
Mandalay’s grin stretches across her face making her look like a Cheshire cat. “Now the final question.”
“Bring it!!”
“Did you…secretly enjoy the Maid Cafe, Sero took you to that one time?!”
“Hell No!!”
Mandalay pauses, stares at him with a judgmental scowl. And just when Bakugou thinks he’s won she throws him into the water with a single slap of her paw.
“NO WAY!!!” Ochaco and Stinkfly scream, they just assumed he was telling the truth!
After Stinkfly plucks Bakugou out of the water the ash blond is keeled over, gasping for air after being thrown into the water headfirst.
“I don’t believe it.” Stinkfly is dumbfounded, staring at Bakugou like he’s seeing him for the first time. “Bakugou…has a fetish.”
“OH, FUCK OFF!!!”
“Guys, this is getting sad.” Stinkfly ignores him while rubbing his head in frustration. “Like really really sad. I mean what’s so hard about admitting the truth? Those are just harmless secrets. They don't mean much.”
“Maybe not to you…” Ochaco grumbles.
“Shut up, Deku!” Bakugou barks. “Also, that bitch was wrong! I didn't like that cafe at all! And I especially hated how they casted a delicious spell on my Omurice!”
‘That was oddly specific.’ Ochaco thinks not daring to say that aloud.
Stinkfly claps his hands, he needs them to focus. “Listen guys I know it’s embarrassing but if we want to have a chance of completing this exam on time! Then we need to be honest with each other.” He gestures to the sky, specially to the sun indicating it’s already 3 o clock or so. “Look, let's just agree that we’ll never talk about anything we hear today. As long as we’re all going to answer her questions truthfully. Are we clear?”
They don’t respond, not right away at least.
But Ochaco does see his point, but even so she is still hesitant. “We don’t really have a choice, do we?”
“Nope.”
“Fine. Let’s try this again.” Sucking it up Ochaco wills herself to try again.
“Back so soon?” Mandalay teases.
Ochaco remains silent and awaits the trial.
“Let it not be said that I’m merciless, so we’ll get right to the juicy part. Ochaco Uraraka-...”
Ochaco braces herself for the embarrassment.
“Have you -”
She swallows back some spit while her heart beats so fast it feels like a drum being struck in her chest.
“-been watching WWE Matches Live during Ectoplasm’s Math lessons?!”
Ochaco freezes but soon realizes there’s no use in denying it. “Y-y-yes!” She breaks down, horrified that people know about that. “I can’t help it! Math is so boring!” She weeps, embarrassed and appalled that a teacher knew this whole time and not once stopped her.
“There there.” Mandalay rubs her head in an attempt to comfort the poor girl. “It’s okay. Doesn’t it feel like a weight’s been taken off your chest?”
“N-Nn–no!” Ochaco weeps as Mandalay sees her across the bridge.
After sitting Ochaco down to wait for the others, Mandalay returns to the center of the bridge to await the next victim. “Alright, who’s next?!”
Bakugou is.
“And the next challenger has stepped forward! Are you ready?”
“Hell, ya!”
“Good! Katsuki Bakugou-”
Bakugou braces himself, ready to admit whatever bullshit she throws his way.
“-do you respect your teammates?!”
Everyone, even Bakugou freezes, not expecting that question of all things to appear. He seems thrown off and his teammates notice, now listening in very closely; curious as to what he’ll say.
Bakugou hides his face underneath his spiky ash blonde hair, his fists clenched at his side as he grinds his teeth together in frustration.
Mandalay patiently waits for him to answer, but her claws are bared, ready to strike at a moment’s notice.
He doesn’t move but he does speak, but whatever he says he mumbles it. His teammates try to lean in over the bridge to hear but the rushing water below makes it impossible.
But whatever he said was the truth as Mandalay smiles and nods, before stepping aside to let him through. “You may pass!”
He goes, never looking up from his feet.
The moment he crosses Ochaco is there, demanding answers. “Hey, Bakugou what-what did you tell her?”
“Nothing!” He snaps, his face clammy a clear indication that he was blushing. “I told her that there's no way I’d respect either of you, morons!”
“Y-yeah, I kinda figured.”
Mandalay snickers, after all she knows the real truth. “Alright, it’s finally your turn.”
Stinkfly marches forth with as much gusto that an insect can have. “I’m ready.”
“What is your name?”
“Stinkfly!!”
Mandalay freezes, not expecting that response. “I, uh, meant your real name.” Although it wasn’t a lie when he said it.
“Oh, woops. My name’s Izuku Midoriya.”
“What is your favorite color?”
“Green!”
Mandalay gives him a deadpan stare. “Really?” That's so cliche, isn’t it?
But Stinkfly doesn’t seem to see it that way. “What?”
“Nothing. Moving on, time for your final question!”
“I’m ready! No matter what it is, I'll be honest with my answer!”
“Are you-”
He’s suddenly nervous wondering if she’ll ask about aliens.
“The one-”
Is she gonna ask about the Omnitrix?
She raises an accusing finger at him and shouts. “-that’s been pranking Neito Monoma this whole school year?!”
His teammates stare on in total and absolute confusion.
“What is she talking about?” Bakugou asks.
Ochaco shakes her head, still processing it herself. “Well, either way that’s clearly not true. Man, Deku got it easy all he has to do is say no”
And yet he still hasn’t answered.
“Deku?” Ochaco peers back up, wondering what the holdup is.
And that’s when they both see the total hypocrisy and guilt written all over Stinkfly’s face as he’s actually struggling to answer.
“D-Deku…? That’s not true…is it?”
Turning red with embarrassment, Stinkfly turns right around and runs for it! Flying off into the air in an attempt to escape! Only to be swatted right down into the water when Mandalay leaps up and flings him in with one swift kick.
“DEKU!?!” Ochaco screams, mortified. “Just what did you do?!”
##########(Flashback)#########
Not much, just a few things…just mostly harmless pranks.
Like using Lodestar to weigh down Monoma’s weights while he’s working out. Watching him run out of breath at just 50 pounds was hilarious.
Then there was the time he used Buzzshock to speed up the treadmill Monoma was using while his classmates were working out nearby. Actually, Monoma was able to keep up with the treadmill to the point Buzzshock was ready to give up. But then got the idea to stop the treadmill and watch on as Monoma was running so fast that he hit the board and flew right over the control panel.
There have been a few times he ran in as XRL8 and drew stuff on his face.
Or the time Terraspin blew away his umbrella while it was raining.
And Stinkfly spraying goop into Monoma’s shoes.
And so much more. BUT HE HAD A GOOD REASON! HE SWEARS IT.
########(End Flashback)#######
Izuku, exhausted and soaked to the bone, is keeled over on the other side of the bridge, his face red from embarrassment but pale from the shivering cold and mortification. “I-I was just trying to make things even!” He cries, tears mixing with his drenched cheeks. “He keeps picking on everyone in Class all the time! Soooo, I thought I could…get some justice this way.” He shrinks, quivering away knowing exactly how guilty he sounds, but well can you blame him? Monoma picks picking on everyone from Hagakure to Kirishima, someone had to do something!
That may be his case, but Ochaco is just appalled he would even try. “I’m ashamed of you. And after you lectured us!”
“I never thought you had it in you to be nasty.” Bakugou snickers, actually having a little respect for Deku. But then an old memory pops into his mind, pissing him off. “Hey, wait does that mean you played a part in the prank spree Uuichi did back in junior high?!”
Izuku doesn’t look him in the eyes. “Um…no.”
“LIAR!!” Bakugou hoists him up by his collar so he can shout right in his face. “I was scraping gum out of my locker for weeks!!”
“Aaaah! H-Henzu made me do it!” Izuku cries, begging for mercy.
“That excuse isn’t gonna save you!”
“Eeeeekk!!”
“Okay, fine!” Ochaco squeezes herself between them, effectively separating them. “You’re ashamed of it. But then why couldn’t you answer any of the other questions?!” She jabs an accusing finger into the guilty greenette’s chest. “I mean, have you ever cross-dressed?! You did! We were all there for it! Me and the girls made you do it as payback for the Sports Festival! It was a Sensory Overload.”
Izuku covers his face in shame and cries. “Please don’t ever bring that back up!!” It was so mortifying and probably the most embarrassing thing he’s ever been forced to do! And Henzu made him do a lot!
“That was painful.” Even Mandalay feels embarrassed for him. “I mean who can’t admit to ever calling their teacher Dad?”
“It was one time!” Izuku weeps, falling over to the ground, wishing it would swallow him up. “And I think Mr. Aizawa was just as embarrassed as I was!!”
Sheesh is this sad, even Izuku has to admit it. But then again maybe this is the result of lying literally to everyone he’s met this last year. From All Might to his own classmates, he’s lied to in one way or another. Then again, he’s always been this way, lying to cover up how he really feels and what’s really bothering him. Maybe…maybe this is just how he is now? Maybe being honest…is an actual challenge for him now?
That’s a hard pill to swallow but maybe…maybe he’s just too shy and nervous to really admit to any of those EMBARRASSING things!!”
Mandalay sighs, feeling sad for the kid. “Well in any case you all, technically, passed the Trial of Truth!” Albeit clumsily. “Congrats, kids! Now there’s only one final trial for you to complete before you pass your Exam! The TRIAL OF COOPERATION!” With a flourish and a wave Mandalay gestures to the towering Witch Mountain before them, one with a massive arched peak scaling high above their heads like that of a witch’s hat. “All you have to do is navigate your way up the mountain before time runs out! Any questions?”
Bakugou doesn't even hesitate to ask. “Yeah, just what kind of sick twisted game do you have set up for us?”
“Oh, come now. Why would I spoil the fun?” Mandalay teases.
Figuring that was all they were going to get anyway, the teens set out, Ochaco grabbing the cart this time as they made their way up the mountain path.
Mandalay waves them off with a cheer. “Good luck kids! I’m rooting for you!” She stops waving and watches as they disappear up the rocky trail. “Gosh, I really hope they make it.” She admits, feeling worried for them. “Eraser came up with these questions himself. So, there’s no telling what he’ll have them do if they fail.”
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
(Witch Mountain)
“We finally made it.” Bakugou huffs while looking up.
“The last trial.” Ochaco adds her gaze following his own.
“Witch Mountain.” Izuku states while taking in said mountain.
The mountain seems to stretch on forever, they can see most of the mountain just from where they are and what they see is certainly a strange sight. Deep cliffs and crevices line the entire mountain like a web of canyons and exposed caves. All while a giant half-moon arch stretches across the sky halfway up the mountain making it look like a giant witch’s hat when far away. The true peak lies behind the arch, the arch being so large it’s hiding it from view.
“Witch Mountain.” Ochaco restates, while staring at the oddly shaped mountain. “I wonder why they named it that?”
Izuku and Bakugou’s head swivel and they stare at her for a few seconds wondering if she was kidding.
“Let’s just get this over with already.” Bakugou shrugs, just wanting to get this done.
And so they begin their hike up the mountain, each one taking a turn to pull the cart and container. Deciding it was best to pace themselves rather than exhaust themselves later. And up they go, working together to move the cart up the steep terrain and over massive boulders that dare to block their way. They either lift the cart over, get Bakugou to blast it apart, or for Four Arms to up and toss the boulders aside. Either way they make great progress for the next two hours until they reach a clearing set before large cliffs and crevices that stretch far over their heads.
The clearing is small with soft grass and a few logs to sit on while an empty fire pit sits in the middle of the clearing. And at the ends of the clearings, engraved into the sides of the cliffs, dividing them apart like the red sea are several paths leading their way up the mountain.
The trio stare at the paths, their eyes trailing up the side of the mountain to the veins of deep crevices, caves, and cliffs.
Without even looking at his comrades, Bakugou asks the obvious. “Are you both thinking what I’m thinking?”
“That it’s a trap?” Izuku confirms while staring up at the mountain.
“Yup.”
Ochaco stares up at it as well. “Should we try…flying over it?”
That question gives Izuku pause. “Probably not a good idea seeing how Mandalay was ready for that earlier. I bet if we did that here Pixie-Bob would make us pay for it one way or another.”
“So, that leaves only one option, doesn’t it?”
“Yeah, we’ll have to play by her rules.”
Bakugou sighs, annoyed by what that means. “Which means walking right into her trap.”
Izuku smirks at him playfully. “But don’t you know that a trapper’s trap can trap the trapper?”
Ochaco gives him a cold judgmental stare. “Stop saying that, it makes you sound deranged…like Bakugou.”
“Hey!” Bakugou snaps, offended.
“Which way do we go?” Ochaco asks effectively changing the subject. “We can’t just test them all or we’ll never make it in time!”
“No sweat!” Izuku assures while giving the Omnitrix a turn. “I’ll just use Big Chill to walk right through the walls and find us the way out. Heck, I can even fly over and have myself a look before Pixie-Bob even knows what’s what.”
“Good idea, Deku!”
Big Chill’s silhouette appears on the Omnitrix. “Alright, here we go!”
In a blinding flash Izuku vanishes from sight and at first his teammates think he phased away through the wall only to realize that if they just look down, they’ll find a mirthed Ditto stomping his foot.
“No. No. No! No! No!! NO!!!” Ditto cries, falling over and throwing a tantrum. “Why?! Omnitrix?! Why?! Why can’t you give me the right transformation?!”
“Quit your whining.” Bakugou scolds.
“I’m not whining!” Ditto shouts back and while he does a clone peels off of him.
“Yes, you were.” Ditto (2) sasses.
Ditto (1) angry turns his attention onto his clone. “I was not!”
“Were too!”
“You calling me a liar?!”
“Well, I ain’t calling you a truther!!”
“Shut it!” Bakugou slaps Ditto (1) on the back of the head causing both to yelp in pain.
“OW!!”
They both rub the back of their heads despite only one of them actually being slapped.
“What was that for?!” Ditto (1) demands.
“You were being an idiot.”
“I’m not the idiot. He is!” Ditto (1) points an accusing finger at his clone who glares right back.
But Bakugou isn’t having any of this shit and gives them a deadly glare. “You wanna another fresh one?”
The two Ditto’s jolt up and shake their heads in fear. “No!”
“Good. Now make yourself useful and scout ahead. You’ll use your clones to find which paths are good and which ones are ass. Got it?”
They both nod frantically before hurrying away both taking a different path while creating more clones to test the other options.
Ochaco watches them go before staring at Bakugou, impressed. “Wow, that was really…smart.”
“ARE YOU CALLING ME DUMB!?!”
Ochaco doesn’t answer instead giving him a cheeky look as she pulls the cart after Ditto.
They soon catch up to their little friend, or at least to one of them, and begin their trek through the stony maze. At every fork Ditto splits off him going one way while a clone or two go the other. All the while they shout and call over to each other in attempt to identify dead-ends versus correct paths.
“Nope!”
“Not this way!”
“Negatory!”
“Ow! My foot!”
“This way is clear-oops! Never mind!”
“Hey, follow me! This path continues!”
Bakugou and Ochaco follow the clones’ directions, finding it way easy to just follow along.
“Man, this is so easy!” And Ditto (15) seems to agree while sitting atop the container.
While pulling the wagon, Ochaco scans the sides of the cliff faces and stone walls carefully. “I feel like it’s a setup. Like there’s got to be more to it than this?”
“You’re probably right.” Bakugou admits while keeping his eye spelled.
Ditto (15), however, doesn’t see the issue, however. “What’s the big deal? We’ve cleared every trial they’ve thrown at us. How could they possibly make things any more difficult?”
“Hey, guess what!” They stop and see one of the clones calling them over from a forked path that makes a sharp left. “I found the exit! It’s right over here!”
The trio grin in victory and hurry up the steady incline and towards the clone. The moment they turn the corner they are met with the shining rays of the sun and so they hurry to reach the exit. Once through they stop, taking a breath of fresh air before taking in their surroundings.
“WHAT!?!” They shout finding themselves back at the same exact clearing from before.
Ditto jumps down from the cart while his clones gather around, all of them looking oh so confused. “Are you kidding me?! How does that even happen?!” Ditto (1) turns to his clones accusingly. “Alright, which one of you jokers is responsible for this?! Who thought this be a funny joke?!”
Ochaco can’t believe it, they weren’t going in a circle, were they? And if they did then how did Ditto not notice? “This doesn’t make any sense though. We were walking on an incline the entire time. We weren’t climbing down…were we?”
“Dekuuu.” Bakugou's mad now, he’s seething with steam pouring from his mouth. “Do you think this is some kind of game?”
The Dittos cower together in fear. “We’ll fix it! Yeah, we’ll get right on it boss! Waaaaa!”
They all scurry away like rats caught inside a kitchen, scampering back into the maze and ready to find the real exit.
With a huff Bakugou leans back against the cart, this time waiting for the Dittos to come get them after they found the right path. “I’m getting a headache.”
Ochaco tries her best to calm him. “Just relax, he'll find the way soon.”
On que, a clone rushes out from one of the paths and into the clearing. “What?! But…?” Upon seeing his friends, he stops, looking back while scratching his head in confusion. “Hang on!” Thinking he took a wrong turn he runs right back in, determined to do it right this time.
But the moment he’s gone two more clone pop out front he same path on the other side of the clearing. “HUH?! But we just-...” They point between the clearing and the path, unsure of what happened. “I’ll go his way. You got that way.”
“You got it!” The spare clone hurries across the clearing and to another path only for him to run headfirst into another clown that was exciting that one. “Ow!!”
And with that Bakugou finally loses it. “WHAT THE FUCK IS GOIGN ON HERE!?!”
“That’s what we’d like to know.” Ditto (4) grumbles as the rest of his clones pour back into the clearing.
Ochaco shakes her head in frustration, it doesn’t make any sense. The Dittos should be perfect for this job, but they keep getting turned around. How? Why?! Just what is Pixie-Bob playing?! ‘Wait!’ She stops and listens, and she hears it, it’s faint but it’s there. “Shush! Do you hear that?”
Everyone, even the Dittos, quiets down and listens.
But after a moment, the clones become restless. “I don’t hear anything.”
“That’s because you were talking.”
“Well so are you!”
“Yeah, but only because you were!”
“Quiet!” Bakugou shouts, silencing the idiot clones.
They immediately shut up and form back together into a single being. And so Ditto motions himself, locking his lips and tossing the key.
And so, they listen. They listen carefully until they can make out the faint sound of rocks falling and crumbling over each other.
“Are those rocks?” Bakugou questions aloud.
Ditto gasps. “Is it a landslide?!”
“No.” Ochaco states finally realizing exactly what’s going on. “It’s Pixie-Bob! She’s-”
Rock walls shoot up from the ground like sprung traps, swirling around the teens and their cargo like crashing ocean waves. The living landslide crashes between them all, forcing them to dive away otherwise face being buried alive! The moment they're separated the twisting rockslide slams into them, shoving them and carrying them across the moving mountain. side
“This is why we couldn’t find the way out!” Bakugou shouts over the sound of crashing rocks and boulders.
“She’s moving the mountain around!” Ochaco screams, holding onto the container for dear life as the ground swallows her up like a giant maw.
In a flash of red Izuku is left to the mercy of the living mountain. “Witch Mountain is a moving Labyrinth!!”
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“Hahahahaha!” Like a cackling witch, Pixie-Bob watches from her perch as the teens are carried far and wide across her sandbox. “Like toying with mice in a maze! Hehehehe! You’re mine now, little kittens!!”
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“Deku! Bakugou! What’s happening?! Waah!!” Ochaco screams as she slides down a smooth damp rock wall before spilling out into a dark cave. “Where am I?”
Looking around she finds herself in a massive cave network, surrounded by giant stalagmites and boulders.
“Bakugou! Deku! Where are you?!”
But there’s no answer. No calls back. Nothing. She’s on her own.
But she’s far from alone…
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“And there’s the trap.” Bakugou brushes himself off after being carried away into another clearing, this one being far more menacing than the welcoming clearing they had before.
The walls and rocks are all arranged in a way to resemble some twisted earth colosseum with no way out.
Hearing more rocks shift and grind together behind him Bakugou grumbles in annoyance. “I swear this is bullshit.” He hates the fact that this trial might actually be more tedious if anything.
A massive chunk of the rock colosseum splits away like a door and out comes a Clay Minotaur. Much like what they faced before but this one being far more details while towering over him at a stocking twenty feet. Its horns are as big as he is and it’s welding a giant rock ax with a root acting as its handle.
“Okay. Now that’s bullshit!”
“MORAWWWWR!!!” The Clay Minotaur lets out a monstrous roar but before it can make a move Bakugou blasts it to dust in seconds.
“HA!!! That was nothing!” Feeling mighty confident he marches away, looking for another way out of the arena.
But while his back is turned the rumbling of rocks and earth picks back up from the pile of rubble that was the Clay Minotaur.
Wondering what it could be now, Bakugou turns around only to find the Minotaur back at full health and looking even angrier than before. “MORAWWWR!!!”
“Now that's some massive bullshit!!”
Taking its ax, the Minotaur takes a swing for the boy’s head. “MORAWWWR!!!”
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“Go away! Don’t you wanna fight Bakugou instead?!” Ochaco screams while zipping through the cave while the floating cart is pulled behind her.
A Clay Harpy slams its talons into the ground just barely missing the girl. “SKREEEE!!!” Its giant wings for arms swipe at the air causing a gale to rip through the cave.
“Seriously?! Fine!” Ochaco’s entire body glows bright, bathing the cave in pink light. “The gloves are coming off!”
In a flash she delivers a powerful SMASH to the Clay Harpy’s face. Turning it from a rock monster to a pile of rocks instead.
“Ha! That’ll teach ya!”
The monster quickly reforms and retakes its former shape. “SKREEEE!!!”
“Or not.”
“SKREEEE!!!” With an ear piercing shriek, it chases after her forcing Ochaco to retreat further into the mountain.
“I really hope the others are okay!”
“SKREEEE!!!”
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“This is not okay!” Izuku cries while ducking and nearly avoiding having his head smashed in by a giant club. “This is definitely not okay!!”
“GRAAAA!!!” A giant Clay Cyclops chases after Izuku through the maze. It swings its giant wooden club widely smashing it into the walls and boulders while chasing the poor Quirkless kid.
“This is just my luck! I have no aliens! No teammates! No weapons!” he ducks as the Cyclops takes another swing. “I’m an easy target!!”
He continues through the maze running this way and that and praying he doesn't run straight into a dead-end. Because if he does then it might be a literal dead-end for him. “I thought this was a Trial of Cooperation?!”
He spots a hole in the side of one of the walls, and so as he sprints forward, he dives through the hole and the Cyclops dives after him but only; it’s arm is able to squeeze through the hole just barely missing Izuku who scrambles out of the way.
“HA!”
The wall shifts and falls away without a fuss allowing the Clay Cyclops to step through.
“Oh, come on!” With the roaring monster on his heels Izuku takes off into the maze. “Cooperation? Wait, is that why she separated us? Is she trying to prevent us from working together?! That has to be it! Which means the only way to win is to find the others!”
“GRAAAA!!!” The Cyclops grabs a boulder and throws it.
Izuku falls to his side and slides to a stop, it works, and the boulder lands just inches from his feet. “If I survive that is!”
“GRAAAA!!!” The Cyclops stomps after him.
And so Izuku springs to his feet and takes off down the nearest pathway. As he turns and follows every path and fork, he tries to pry the Omnitrix to work but it’s still recharging. And then just as he thinks his luck can’t get any worse, he runs right into a dead-end.
“No! No! No!” He turns to run back the way he came but the Cyclops’ head peers over the wall and spots him.
“I’m out of options!” Izuku gasps, finding himself cornered and without any way to defend himself or escape.
But his luck finally changes as the Omnitrix springs to life, glowing green with renewed energy.
A grateful smirk stretches across his freckled face, and he immediately dials up the perfect alien for the job. “Actually, I have four options! As in Four Arms!!” He slams the Omnitrix just as the Cyclops swings down at him with its club.
The club never connects but is instead caught in midair.
“Hey, don’t ya know it’s not polite to attack when people are transforming? People might think badly of ya, don’t ya know?” Shocksquatch gives the club a hard shove, throwing back at the Cyclops’ face, smashing it and causing the behemoth to fall over and crumble.
And now with it gone, Shocksquatch turns away so he can complain to the Omnitrix. “Uughh! What is with you today?! Did I offend? Do you want a polish or something or other? Just tell me what’s wrong, Eh?!”
While he’s distracted the Clay Cyclops has reformed and is ready to take its anger out on him. And so, without warning it takes a swing for the back of the yellow Bigfoot’s head.
But he's not as defenseless as one would think, static electricity dances off Shocksquatch’s fur, making it stand on end in the direction of the oncoming swing.
Sensing danger, Shocksquatch’s instincts force him to jump high as he can into the air.
The club swings right under his feet, missing him.
Now in the air he grabs the Cyclops by the head, flips himself over while throwing it up and over and into a nearby wall, smashing it apart and clearing the way.
Shocksquatch lands and turns to the down Cyclops with a look of confusion but pleasant surprise. “Mighty kind of ya.”
He jumps through the hole and makes his way through the maze just as the monster reforms.
“What was that back there?” He wonders while staring at the fur around his arms. “Did I…sense it coming? Now that’s just weird, Eh.”
More static dances off his fur from the front, an early warning for him to slam his feet into the ground and bring himself to a stop just as a rockwall slams closed in front of him. If he had keep going it would have flattened him.
“What?!” He stares down at his thick yellow matted fur as more static dances off of it here and there. “Now ain’t that peculiar?” He grins, having a small inclination as to what’s going on.
And so, he takes off into the dangerous maze at a full sprint.
The walls and path shift and close every way he goes. Even creating obstacles like pitfalls and flying rocks to slow him down. But they all fail as static electricity dances off his body, his fur and senses picking up on every movement in the air around him. Allowing him to leap, dive, and parkour over every obstacle and wall like it were his personal jungle gym.
With a swing up he lands on the other side of a massive wall that shot out from the ground at the last second, but his senses picked up on it allowing him to predict its movement. “Now this I like!” This ability must work similarly to how alligators sense movement in water. His fur and body must be able to sense minute changes and movements in the air, warning him of incoming dangers and changes to his environment. “I’ve got myself some kind of…Static Sense! … Shock Tingle? Spark Warning? You know what, I’ll workshop it later, Eh!”
*BOOOOOM!!!*
He doesn’t need his Static Sense…Shock Tingle…Electric Alarm-whatever! He doesn’t need an early warning system to tell him that one of his fellow examinees is close by. The smoke and fire will do that for him.
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Bakugou spins through the air and slides to a stop along the ground as smoke rises from the scorch marks painted against the colosseum’s floor and walls. “God damn, you’re annoying.”
He growls up at the Clay Minotaur as it rises from one of the smoke plumes.
“I’m gonna turn you into Barbecue and serve you on white bread!!”
“MORAWWWWR!!!” Angered, the Clay Minotaur takes a swing with its ax.
Bakugou blasts the weapon aside but then leaves himself open to the beat’s fist.
Tossed aside like he weighs nothing Bakugou hits the wall hard. “Now you’ve done it, Ferdinand, when I’m done with you, I’m gonna rip your skull out from its socket and hang it on my wall!!”
“MORAWWWWR!!!”
As the Minotaur lets loose a monstrous roar a yellow furball appears above the stadium and jumps up onto the Minotaur’s head. “Howdy, partner!” Shocksquatch howls in glee while grabbing the Minotaur’s horns. “Let me show ya how we wrangle these bovines back home! Yeehaw!”
“MORAWWWWR!!!” Enraged the Minotaur bucks and thrashes, swinging its fists and ax wildly in protest.
“Yippee-ki-yay!” Shocksquatch howls. “You can’t shake me! I’m gonna stick to you like stink on a Lepidopterran!”
And he does. He holds on with all his might, moving with the bucking bull even as it slams itself into the walls attempting to crush its rider.
With its attention fully on him, the yellow ape-man calls over to his teammate. “Bakugou! I think it’s time we put this longhorn out to pasture!”
Bakugou grins, more than willing to put the beast down. “I. Fucking. Hate. This. EXAM!!!” He unleashes a massive Explosion straight into the Minotaur, blasting it back and blowing it up to smithereens all the while crashing into the wall and smashing it open.
Having sensed the attack coming, Shocksquatch was able to jump away and land nearby. Dusting himself off he whistles while looking around at all the damage littering the arena. “And I thought I was pumped up with a lot of energy. Heh, go figure, Eh.”
“How’d you know where to find me?” Bakugou asks.
“Oh, I had a feeling.” Shocksquatch cheekily remarks as static briefly runs off his furry shoulders.
“What?”
“Yeah, it’s this thing I do now. I can use my static electricity to sense movement! Like an alligator! I call it…Thunder Itch!”
Bakugou stares at him like he just said something profound.
“I’m still workshopping the name.”
Rolling his eyes, Bakugou moves the conversation along. “Then can you use it to find Uraraka? Preferably before that thing comes back?” He gestures to the rubble that’s already starting to reform.
The discolored yeti pauses and tries to feel for any signs of movements or disturbances. He allows his feet to relax and dig into the soil as his fur moves with the wind.
And like an elephant he picks up on faint tremors, echoing through the rock like the tiniest of earthquakes. “She’s…below us?”
Their heads snap down to their feet before they look back up and share a pair of wicked grins.
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Another Ryou Sphere explodes against the cave’s wall as the giant Clay Harpy glides on by having dodged the incoming strike.
“Why won’t you hold still?!” Ochaco is seething, holding her ground.
This cave is impossible to maneuver on her own especially with how dark it is and the fact she’s got to project the container. And this screaming bird lady is making it even worse because even with its size it’s still able to glide around swiftly.
“Just stay down already!”
“SKREEEE!!!” The Clay Harpy kicks off the wall, glides through the stalagmites, and holds its talons out in front as it swoops down at her.
*BOOM!*
The ceiling shakes and cracks before breaking away, the ceiling collapses onto the Harpy as sunlight rushes in.
“Finally!” Ochaco smiles up at the new skylight. “Thanks guys! How’d you find me?!”
Shocksquatch smiles down at her before he and Bakugou jump down to join her. “I had a feeling. A Spark if you will.” He chuckles at his little joke.
But Ochaco just stares at him in confusion before looking to Bakugou for an answer.
Bakugou shakes his head in annoyance before begrudgingly answering her. “He can sense movement. So, he’s workshopping a name.”
“Ah, got ya.”
“MORAWWWWR!!!/GRAAAA!!!” The Minotaur and Cyclops are back, having reformed and are now peering down into the cave.
Shocksquatch backs away and grabs the cart. “Time to hit the road, Eh?”
“Yeah.” Ochaco nods before they all take off running.
“GRAAAA!!!” The Cyclops and Minotaur crash down into the cave just as the Clay Harpy drags itself out from the rubble.
Bakugou leads the way, creating small Explosions in his hands to light the way. “Which way is out?!”
“I don’t know!” Ochaco panics. “I can’t tell!”
“Hm…” As they Shocksquatch tries whatever he can to sense the way. He sniffs the air, calls up on his new sensory thing again and allows for his instincts to lead him; in doing so the horn on his head sparks, making his head snap to the right. “It’s this way!” He takes off into the dark and straight into another tunnel.
They others quickly follow, catching up to him as he reaches another fork. Once there he doesn’t hesitate to go left, then right, and so on, all ways moving in the same cardinal direction.
“How do you know which way you’re going?!” Ochaco calls as she and Bakugou try to keep up.
“Don’t you feel it? There’s a breeze coming from this direction!” He takes a big whiff of fresh air. “I can smell it!”
“You can?!” Ochaco gags.
“He is a Wildman.” Bakugou explains. “Guess it makes sense.”
The yeti makes another random turn while still heading in the same general direction. “It’s coming from the north!”
Okay it was ridiculous before but now it’s really becoming contrived. “You can tell which direction we’re going?!” Ochaco can’t believe it, this place is a maze, and they have no window to the sun.
“My horn. I think…it works like a compass.”
“Huh. Neat.”
They continue their sprint through the caves, following the ape-man’s lead until they reach a part of the cave where they no longer need their own light.
“There it is!” Ochaco cheers, spotting the exit.
As they stop and smile, the tunnel behind them is smashed apart as the trio of monsters crash their way onto the scene.
“And there they are!!” Shocksquatch yells with the container tucked under his arm he takes off for the exit.
Ochaco runs after him. “Run for it!!”
Bakugou sprints after them and quickly catches up as the monster pursues them.
They make a beeline for the exit, but the cave entrance begins to close from above, slowly crawling its way down like some cliche action movie.
“The walls are closing!”
“Keep going!”
They sprint for it, giving it all they got as the cave slowly seals itself.
Worried for the cargo Shocksquatch chucks it forward and through the exit. Not wanting it to be left unguarded, Bakugou rockets himself forward with a single Explosion.
The door’s halfway down, seeing this Ochaco signals Shocksquatch to give her a boost.
As she makes herself weightless, he grabs her, spins and throws her as hard as she can making her fly through the air like a highspeed dart.
And then it’s his turn. The door’s nearly closed, if he slips up, he’ll be trapped! “Yaaaaahh!!” With a roar he throws himself forward, dives across the ground and just barely slides right under the door, the bottom skidding against his horn, before it slams down.
Ochaco’s relieved that he made it. “Phew, that was a close one.”
“Yeah.” Shocksquatch brushes himself off, noting that some of his fur got caught under the door. “It was a real close shave.”
“At least we lost them.”
The cave door immediately shoots back open allowing the Clay monsters to come marching out.
“Pixie-Bob!” Ochaco screams into the air. “Can’t you give us one minute to catch our breath?!”
Shocksquatch grabs the cart and runs off into the rocky maze again with Ochaco close behind.
But Bakugou has the opposite idea. “Where are you cowards going?! “I’ll show these-HEY!!!” He gets yanked off his feet by his collar and dragged away to a set of giant grey fingers.
“No time! Look!” Shocksquatch turns Bakugou around and makes him look up, letting him note how far down the sun’s already gotten. In another hour or so it’s gonna reach sundown.
Seeing this, Bakugou shoves the yeti’s hand away and makes a point that he can run on his own. “Which way’s the exit?!”
The shiny Bigfoot shrugs. “How should I know?!”
“You were just pointing the way!”
“The way out from the cave! I don’t magically have all the answers ya know!” He flicks his horn. “I can only tell where north is, that’s all!”
“RAH! We’ll never get out at this rate!”
Ochaco looks around for an exit but instead spots something else hanging far above the labyrinth. “Oh, yes we will! Remember when we got here? To camp? When Pixie-Bob controlled all those monsters?!”
“Yeah, what about it?”
“She did it from a vantage point meaning she’s doing the same thing now!”
Shocksquatch is beginning to see her logic. “And if she is, there can only be one place she can be!”
They all stop and stare up at the arched peak and sure enough they can spot the tiniest bit of movement of someone flailing their hands about on top.
Bakugou smirks, knowing exactly where this is going. “Think you can lead us there, Fuzzball?”
Shocksquatch pounds his electrified fist into his palm. “Oh, yeah! Also don’t call me Fuzzball.”
And so with their target set they brave the maze once again. This time they’re ready with Shocksquatch pulling double duty on leading the way and carrying the weightless wagon. They jump, dive, and sprint through the ever-changing maze. Pixie-Bob throws traps and obstacles in their way from rockslides, closing walls, pitfalls, and more but they avoid every one or in Bakugou’s case blast through every one, literally.
As they jump, float, and blast their way closer and closer to the towering arch the labyrinth’s traps and obstacles become more and more complex and erratic. From gushing geysers of sand, flying boulders, and swirling mud pits.
Using One For All, Ochaco zips through the sand geysers with relative ease even as more of them erupt from under her. “She really doesn't want us to get any closer, does she?!”
The leaping Shocksquatch used the metal container to block the erupting sand. “I think she’s onto us!”
“Good!” Bakugou grins as he rockets his way past. “Then she knows to be scared!”
They make it across the sand geysers and come to a stop before a large open corridor lined with massive columns. And at t’s end sits the base of the arched peak.
Ochaco backs away nervously wondering if it’s better to jump back into the sand geysers. “I think it’s us who should be scared!”
She points and from behind the giant columns arise their monstrous foes but this time their numbers have quadrupled. They stomp and claw at the floor and pillars, each one wanting to be the first to sink their fangs into their savory human, and non-human, flesh.
Ochaco stares into the waiting horde with a look of annoyance. “When we’re done with this Exam, am I so emailing Principal Nezu about Mr. Aizawa’s methods.”
Bakugou shakes his head in exhaustion, rubbing his eyes before addressing his teammates. “I for one have had too much shit to deal with today,” A devilish grin stretches across his deranged face as sparks fly from his palms. “Guys let’s Fuck these Fuckers up!!”
Ochaco and Shocksquatch can't stop the menacing grins from stretching across their faces.
Knowing they have his back, Bakugou leaps into action. Blasting himself at the incoming horde like a missile!
His Explosion rips through the first wave of clay monsters, destroying them in seconds as a huge dust cloud rises into the air and blocks the horde’s view.
But then Ochaco rushes out from the smoke and runs straight into the horde, pressing her hands against as many of the monsters as she can.
With a number of them weightless and floating in the air, Shocksquatch takes over grabbing a weightless Minotaur by its horn and the Cyclops by its leg before smashing them into their own comrades like they were his personal clubs. All the while he screeches and howls like a battle raging gorilla.
“Yeah!” Bakugou cheers after blasting a Clay Harpy in the face. “Go Shocksquatch!”
The ape alien lets out a shocked gasp. “He said my name? He said my name!! Woo!!”
While he cheers, a Clay Minotaur charges at him from behind.
His Electrical Alarm or whatever goes off, warning him of the movement behind him, he jumps right over the charging bull without even looking. As the Minotaur runs past, he latches onto its horns and pulls, redirecting the beast and forcing it to charge headfirst into a Cyclops.
Meanwhile, Ochaco zips by from above, while weightless and powered by one For All she kicks herself off the pillars allowing her to zip across the battlefield as a patrol of Clay Harpies chase her down.
“Sorry ladies!” Her fists glow, preparing a set of Ryou Spheres. “But no one can fly higher than me!”
She lets the Ryou Spheres loose, blasting the Harpies right out of the sky and causing their parts to come raining down on the arena below.
As the chunks rain down, Bakugou rockets through the air like a crazy missile, blasting his way through three Cyclops’ guts; leaving gaping holes in their middles before they collapse in on themselves. “Hahahahahaha! Deku! Uraraka! The arch!”
They immediately turn their attention to the arch and make a beeline for it and begin their climb up. With Ochaco floating her way up while Bakugou rockets up ahead and Shocksquatch takes the rear, scaling the wall while the floating wagon is pulled along behind him like a balloon.
The remaining monsters all scramble after them but are unable to climb or get blasted out of the air by Ryou Spheres.
Seeing it’s useless they all crumble away in piles of rubble. But then the earth itself rumbles and stirs like boiling water around the base of the half-moon arch.
Sensing the ground move underneath his feet and hands, Shocksquatch spots the rumbling patches of earth. “Heads-up!”
Upon his warning, massive Hydra heads sprout out from the ground, their endlessly long necks allowing them to snake their way up around the arch like monstrous serpents. “REEEEE!!!”
Shocksquatch climbs a bit faster upon seeing them. “Or I guess three heads up, Eh?!”
“REEEEE!!!” One of the Hydra-heads aims for the alien and tries to make him a midday snake.
Sensing the strike coming, Shocksquatch is able to jump and dodge the incoming strike: the Hydra-head’s jaws digging into the arch instead.
The yeti lands on the monster’s head just as it un-prys its jaws.
“REEEEE!!!” It shakes its head wildly, swinging it all around in all directions while Shocksquatch holds on for dear life.
The others are in no better situation as the other heads went straight for them as well. Ochaco tries to fend off the incoming jaws with Ryou Spheres but was instead forced to kick her leg so hard that she generates a strong enough whirlwind to boost herself higher into the air.
All the while Bakugou is ricocheting through the sky with his Explosion as the last Hydra-head slithers through the air after him.
While rocketing himself around he circles the arch only to find Shocksquatch and another Hydra-head in his way. “Die you bastard!!”
His palm slams into the monster’s head before a fiery eruption completely decimates it. Smoke and soot fly everywhere as Shocksquatch is blasts right into the air. “Aaaah!”
“Got ya!” Ochaco swoops in and grabs him, making them both float in the process.
As the two hover in place, Bakugou swiftly rockets his way over, grabs Ochaco by the scruff of her shirt and rockets them all away into the air. “And I got you both!
“But who’s got them?” Shocksquatch points down as the Hydra-heads regroup and launch themselves after them.
They snake and spiral around each other, using each other to gain momentum as they climb straight up. At the rate they're going they’re gonna be having the trio for dinner.
Not unless Shocksquatch can stop them. “Let me go.”
“What?!” Ochaco gaps, holding onto the yeti even tighter. “No! I’m not dropping you!”
“You have to! Trust me.”
“What are you gonna do?!”
“Buy you time!”
She hesitates but she can't see another way out of this. But if Deku can then she has no reason to doubt him. And so, she Releases him allowing him to plummet as she and Bakugou speed upward.
Jolts of static electricity dances off his fur as he spins around to face the incoming Hydra-heads. “All right you big palookas. Get ready to face the thunder!” His electricity surges inward, causing a storm of power to circulate throughout his entire being before being released all at once from within his maw. “THUNDERBOLT DEVASTATION!!!”
An eruption of pure thunder and lightning is unleashed upon the mountain, with bolts of lightning rising into the sky like a pillar of thunder sign light. The Hydras’ don’t stand a chance as they’re completely overtaken by the surge as they’re ripped apart molecule by molecule. Until only the echoes of their horrific roars remain.
The lightning cracks and shakes the mountain, shocking Pixie-Bob who falls back and watches as the tower of lighting shoots past her perch causing her to freak out. “Wh-What the h-heck? Just what are they feeding these kids! They’re-” Before the pillar of the thunder, two devils immerge: one of pink and one of orange. “-MONSTERS!!!”
And then a brilliant Explosion of orange fire and pink energy detonates across the top of the arched peak causing the entire structure to crumble under the sheer power of all the attacks combined.
The arch falls away, it comes crashing down to the ground as it does the maze falls away as well. Crumbling to nothing and eventually lying still as the mountain side reshapes itself back to a regular form. Almost as if a giant labyrinth of crevices, canyons, and caves had never even existed there in the first place.
All that remains of the once great labyrinth is a giant scorch mark in the earth left behind by Shocksquatch’s thunderous blast.
Speaking of whom, the very same alien lies in the middle of the scorch mark, exhausted but satisfied. “And that’s all she wrote…” The Omnitrix times out, leaving a moaning Izuku to finish his statement. “Eh.”
“Great, we lost the fun fuzzball for this fuzzball.” Bakugou bemoans as he lands nearby, standing over Izuku like he was looking down at a pile of shit.
Izuku shoots up in surprise. “Bakugou! What happened to Pixie-Bob?”
“I’m right here.”
He spins around to find her and Ochaco standing behind him. She appears to be all right even after that explosion. “Oh, boy. You kittens sure were something. I totally underestimated you.”
“Pixie-Bob?! You’re okay!”
“Duh.” Ochaco huffs. “We were aiming for the pillar, not her.”
“Speak for yourself.!” Bakugou snaps.
Ochaco rolls her eyes. But she’s still glad that she ordered him to blast the arch itself rather than the pro hero. “Well, I thought that if we brought her down to Earth then she couldn’t control the maze that well anymore.”
“And you were right.” Pixie-Bob confirms with a wave of her hand towards the evenly sloped mountain. “Even though you didn’t escape it you did technically clear the maze. So, that’s a pass in my book.”
Ochaco suddenly gets very excited. “Does that mean?!”
“Yup. You guys passed the Trial of Cooperation!”
“Yeaaahhh!! We did it!” Ochaco cries in a fit of joy as Izuku celebrates along with her. “Wooo!”
They’re so happy pixie-Bob feels kinda bad for ruining it. “I wouldn’t celebrate yet. You still need to reach the top of the mountain and you’re almost out of time.”
They pause, and have a look, the sun is just about to touch the horizon.
Izuku screams. “We better go!”
Ochaco turns to Izuku in a panic. “Quick! Deku! Where’s the container?!”
“It’s right over-” He gasps, holding his hands over his mouth in shock.
Bakugou and Ochaco join him, their eyes like saucers as they stare down at the wagon.
Bakugou clenches his teeth and actually tries not to sock the nerd in the face. “Deku.”
“I-I’m sorry…”
“Hey, it’s okay.” Ochaco assures while forcing a fake smile. “Maybe he won’t notice.”
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
A soft amber hue showers over the mountain top, casting a warm comfortable light as the cold mountain air gently passes through while humming a soft whistle. The evening birds have already settled for the night, having finished their songs, and the crickets and owls prepare their instruments for their nightly orchestral.
And then there’s Shota Aizawa, standing atop the peak like a patient conductor who’s mentally preparing himself for said nightly performance. But he is no conductor of a mighty orchestra, but a master awaiting his apprentices’ humble arrival.
Said students march up to the peak with pride and trepidation, standing in a row and awaiting for his command.
But it does not come, not right away, as he loses himself to the beauty of the valley and the warmth of the setting sun. “You made it. I was starting to think you had gotten lost or worse you all turned on each other.” He turns to face them and quickly draws note of their scars, burns, and bruises. And yet they stand firm and tall, like those that have earned their place in the world and have completed an impossible task. And Aizawa can respect that. “But I’m glad to see that I was wrong.”
The trio’s postures soften, relief washed over them like a relaxing shower and warm meal.
Well until Aizawa decides to pull the rug from under them. “Well barley that is.”
The teens instantly jolt up, even going as far to start sweating buckets a while Izuku tries to play dumb. “Wh-why’s that, s-sir?”
“Because…” He gives them an incriminating glare. “you practically failed to protect your cargo!!”
He points over to said wagon that they were purposely trying to block from view by standing in a row. But he can see it even in this dimming light. The wagon is in shambles! Granted it’s not falling apart, and it is technically in one piece, but it is far from undamaged. It’s charred and dented, it’s barely even standing with its twisted and crooked wheels. And did they use Stinkfly’s goop to try and hold it together?!
“What the heck were you doing with it?! Using it as a battering ram?!”
They shrink back, assuming it’d be best not to admit anything.
Aizawa sighs, dragging a hand down his face in exasperation. “It’s fine. It’s still technically in one piece so it counts. As far as I’m concerned you all passed. Albeit barely.”
The teens hesitate to cheer, thinking he’ll try to pull a last-minute twist on them.
But then the Wild Wild Pussy cats emerge from behind Aizawa, climbing up the last few steps and onto the peak.
Tiger greets them first. “Good job, brats. You really showed us what for.”
Ragdoll let’s out a crazed giggle. “Tehehehe! And gave us a show!”
“Yes.” Mandalay nods in approval. “You were all amazing.”
“Amazing indeed.” Pixie-Bob leers, licking her lips and sending a creepy shiver down Izuku and Bakugou’s spines.
The four trot past the teens, gathering up the wagon from them.
“We’ll take it from here.” Tiger explains as he hauls it away with Ragdoll juvenile sitting atop. “We’ll be seeing ya real soon.”
Confused, the teens watch as the four lead the wagon away down the opposite side of the mountain. They soon disappear into the mountain forest lining the mountain’s side.
And it becomes very awkward soon after as they’re not sure if they should follow or stay here and await Mr. Aizawa to berate them some more.
Thankfully he’s feeling merciful tonight. “You gave it your all out there. You survived every challenge we threw at you. You adapted and were able to turn the tables on your opponents. You kept each other honest and open. And finally, you were able to prove that you can work together efficiently as one unit… Good job.”
The teens hold their heads high but they’re still a little to hesitant to celebrate.
Ochaco slides in needing to hear this for herself. “So, we don’t have to take the remedial lessons?”
Aizawa almost looks disappointed when he answers. “No.”
“Woooooo! We did it!” The tension washes away as the Ochaco lets loose cheering so loud Aizawa has to cover his ears.
“Calm down. You’re hurting my ears.”
With a grin plastered to his face, Izuku approaches their homeroom teacher with a curious question. “Um, Mr. Aizawa, what was inside that container anyway?”
He considers telling him but then he has himself a better idea. “Follow me.”
They all share a look of skepticism before they decide to follow him down. They don’t go far, the mountain forest is only a minute hike down, but it is thick and so dark that for a second they’re worried that Aizawa led them into another maze as some sort of twisted bonus trial. But it’s not because after a few minutes of walking they soon leave the trees and enter a massive clearing.
Where their senses are immediately assaulted by the smell of cooking meat, the sounds of their classmates’ chattering and laughing, and find themselves in an overall fun time atmosphere.
Tiger stands at a grill, flipping patties and sausages. While their classmates wait in line for the best choices. But that grill is huge and oddly shaped and then that’s when they realize that it’s not just a grill. It’s the wagon! It was able to fold open into a grill, stocked with food and drinks to feed the entire hero course!
“It smells so good! I was starving!”
“I love barbeques! They’re so manly!”
“You got that right, Bro!”
“Can someone pass the ketchup?”
“Shinso! You can’t put ketchup on a hotdog! It’ll be an abomination!”
“It’s not for the hotdog, idiot! It’s for my burger! Also, Kaminari, I don’t think you can go around judging people. I mean who puts a coleslaw on their burger?!”
“Yeah, that’s pretty gross.”
“Jiro! Stop taking his side!”
“Hmmm! This was so worth the hike!”
“Yeah! Who knew stamina training just meant we’d go for a run? Haha!”
“Yes indeed! It was quite rejuvenating yet invigorating! Dare I say nothing can beat exercising to your heart's content in such a beautiful landscape!”
“Indeed. It’s so lovely and serene. I do pray we will be granted more days like today.”
As their classmates chat away and stuff their faces, Izuku's, Ochaco’s, and Bakugou’s jaws drop. They can’t believe it.
While taking a bite of her hotdog, Mina Ashido, sensing their presence through Emote, finally notices them. “Oh, hey guys! What took you so long?!”
Izuku shakes his head in denial. “Wait, so our cargo-”
Ochaco gasps with shock. “Was nothing but-”
“A fucking picnic basket?” Bakugou growls, ready to blast the grill out of spite.
Aizawa can’t lie, he kinda wishes he had a camera so he can immortalize this moment forever. “What did you think you were transporting?”
Their heads drop, Ochaco even falls to her knees in defeat. After all they went through all that, all those challenges, all those headaches and pains all so they could act as everyone’s Grubhub service.
The defeat on their faces is hilarious, and Neito Monoma is not gonna let this moment pass him by. “Hohohoho! Oh, my are Class A’s star students that clueless?!” He feigns a concerned gasp. “And look at them! They must have suffered so much just to bring us dinner! Don’t worry, I'll leave you all a tip! How’s 5% sound? Oh, yes! Looks like Class A has finally realized they're nothing more than glorified delivery boys for-BLEE!!!”
He falls face first into his food after Kendo chops him over the head. “I’ll talk to him later. Sorry.”
The trio just stare on, they’re too exhausted to do anything and their brains are just done with the day.
Ochaco gently taps Izuku with her elbow. “Hey, Deku.”
“Yes?”
She bows her head in understanding. “I get it now.”
“G-get what?!” He gets all flustered, feigning cluelessness, while looking around worriedly, hoping no one will find out about his misdeeds.
Aizawa smiles on, laughing internally at their expression. Honestly, sometimes he’s not sure if he should punish his students for their actions or if he should go full Dad and comfort them. Then again humbling them every now and again is just oh so satisfying. But no matter what he’ll make sure these students grow to be their best selves. And until then he’ll be sure to watch over them and make sure that they get there. After all, he is their homeroom teacher.
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
Toga grunts in annoyance while trying to adjust a mask over her mouth. It’s a black mask with silver pipes lining its front, effectively hiding her usual fanged grin from view. the because of her “I do not like this. It’s so not cute!”
But it is practical. She’s weaning her usual schoolgirl outfit but with some new gadgets lining her body. Boxes of knives are strapped around her thighs, and a blue utility belt is wrapped around her waist with more little green boxes attached to it on either side. The most noticeable new feature is the loose black mask she wears around her neck, which is decorated with pieces of pale metal in the shape of a carnivorous grin. Three large silver canisters are attached to the sides of her mask, with needles poking out of their tips and wires on their bases, which connect them to the two larger cylinders strapped to the back of her belt.
“They were engineered for the black market, from what I hear.” Comments some kid who is just a little shorter than Toga. Not much stands out about him but the standard gakuran school uniform but most notably is the green gas mask covering his face while a green air tank is strapped to his back. “You should be worried that they work, not that they look pretty.”
Toga hates that answer, and so she flails her arms up and down as if she were an angry little bird. “Ugh! I’m just saying they could be a little more stylish. Is that too much to ask?!”
“You’re worried about being flashy?” Charmcaster questions while playing with a few clay marbles engraved with purple runes. “Are you stupid or insane? Because like doesn’t your Quirk rely on you being, I don’t know, not flashy?”
“You don't need to be so mean about it!” Toga huffs. “Also, I’m not asking for much! Just a little more color or a redesign!”
“Dluoc eb oserw.” SevenSeven comments while setting a strange high-tech device on the ground. “Uyo dluoc eb ekli em dan eb thernao noersiv fo a ccaarrthe eoppel evlo remo.”
The others stare at him like he just spoke gibberish, because he did speak gibberish.
Dabi for one is completely done with it. “If you survive this you need to start carrying around a pen and paper or something.”
“Hwo od i kolo kiel, Miok-nsa?!”
“Well now, aren’t you all precious? Getting along, are we?”
Everyone stops what they’re doing to greet the new arrivals.
The first one up is a person with quite a wide, muscular build, their hair smooth, shoulder-length, and reddish magenta color, and their rather square jaw is covered thinly with facial hair. Their lips are notably big, and they’re wearing triangular, white-framed sunglasses. Along with these, they’re also wearing a dark orange shirt, left unbuttoned to reveal a white V-neck, blue jeans, and plain dark brown espadrilles.
“Hi, darlings! Sorry to keep you waiting.” They greet while carrying something large and narrow on their shoulders. The time is wrapped in cloth, disguising it.
And they’re followed by someone that looks that should be locked up in Arkham Asylum. “Get to work. Get to work.”
They can’t see his face, as he’s covered head to toe in black straitjacket-like restraints decorated with red spikes. All they can see are his exposed mouth and teeth as clamps from his suit keep his lips open causing him to drool.
And behind him walks in a walking reptile with bright green scales for skin and a face shaped like that of a lizard. His hair is relatively long and swept backward and is a desaturated pink-purple. And he’s definitely not hiding who inspired him to be here since he's wearing his own version of Stain’s own outfit. The only addition are the pair of goggles on his forehead.
Dabi scans the clifftop, taking a mental headcount. “That makes nine of us.”
Their ninth member flexes his finger, his bones and muscles snapping under the tension. “I don’t care. Just let me loose. I’m too pumped up to stand by.” He’s wearing a thick black cloak while a plain looking mask covers his entire face.
“Shut your mouth, you crazy bastard.” Dabi scolds without any concern about the cloaked giant turning on him. “We wait. We’re still expecting four more people to join our little party.”
“And then some!” Toga cheers not at all picking up on Dabi’s vibes.
But the stitched-up vandal ignores her and instead decides that the others need to hear his ultimatum. “The League of Villains made a mistake going after them with a bunch of random thugs at the U.S.J. Better to use a small group of elites.” He peers out over the dark valley, over to the only source of light in the first: the Wild Wild Pussy Cats’ lodge. Where their teachers sit and plan the next day while their precious students sleep soundly in their futons. “The first thing we have to do is take away their sense of peace and show them that their lives rest in our hands.”
Notes:
Finally, Trails and Tribulations is finally done! Man, I really wanted this to be a full chapter, not 2 parts, but it is what it is. Which means that next chapter we’ll finally get the real start of this ARC!!!
Too bad that will have to wait.
*SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT* So, yeah, sorry. But Ch.70 is gonna be…late. By how much? I don’t know. Why’s it going to be late? Well, you can blame your fellow readers for that one. I wasn’t planning to do this but after many reviews and PMs people want another Halloween Special OVA for this year too. And I wasn’t gonna do it…But then I had this awesome idea, and I cannot get it out of my head and I need to get it on paper ASAP!!! So, yeah, I want to have this OVA ready for Halloween which means I need to finish it first and have it ready so I can actually post on Halloween; October 31, 2022.
Once the OVA is fully written I will jump right back into our bi-weekly scheduled program. Until then I will try to make some Omakes and keep you all updated. Until then I really hope you’ll check out the OVA on Halloween and tell me if it was worth the wait. I think it will be. And to give you some encouragement to check it out I will say that an Anur alien will make an appearance. Warning it will be rated M for gore and violence!
* What did you guys think of Shocksquatch’s new Bigfoot Sense…Danger Sense…Shock Warning? Eh, I’m still workshopping the name. Which is why I bring it up. What name for this new power did you guys like best? I personally liked Static Sense the best, but do you guys have any suggestions or favorites?
*Also, what did you think of Shocksquatch’s compass ability? I know it’s odd, but I thought that this combined with sensing movement would be a fun explanation as to why Bigfoot always manages to avoid humans. Like every Bigfoot sighting was just a Shocksquatch wandering around, and they were able to avoid us because they could sense us coming and they never got lost themselves because they always knew which way to go. Also, this helps to give Shocksquatch a different use and ability when compared to the rest of the electrical aliens in Ben’s/Deku’s arsenal.
*Finally, if you’re wondering about the Sensory Overload comment, where Izuku apparently cross-dressed. That was inspired by a comic made by “il-li-an” on Tumbler, called “Sensory Overload.” (https://www.tumblr.com/il-li-an/172229770623/part-4-of-4-is-now-up-this-comic-is-now). There are also several comic dubs of it on you tube. It’s a little MHA fan comic where the girls of Class A get revenge on the boys for the Sports Festival. But fair warning it has a little Deku/Bakugou ship near the end but otherwise it is harmless fun. Besides for my story the events of this comic were cannon adjacent meaning most of it played out the same way but not all. Instead, we’ll say Deku managed to escape on his own by transforming.
Chapter 75: Dark Forest
Notes:
Look! I kept my promise! Ch.70 is here! The big CHAPTER 70. Who knew we would make it this far? And I am ready to keep it going! And I’m sure you are too. So, let’s do it. Let’s get this Training Camp Arc truly started!!
*So, our awesome reader and reviewer, Ray Ethon, has been sharing these awesome Brazilian Dub translation facts about Ben Ten with me for our favorite Omnitrix Aliens. Thanks again Ray! These are so interesting to read. And he had the amazing idea of having me share them with you. And I love it so much that I'm gonna do it! So, from now on I’m gonna try to give all of you one BR-Fact per chapter!! STARING NOW!!!
*BR-FACT* Ghostfreak in the BR dub, his name is "Fantasmático" which is a fusion between "Fantasma,” Phantom, and "Fantastic.” Basically, in English it is Phantastic.
*ARTWORK* New Artwork from our favorite Voidv25! And it's one I've been wanting to share with you guys for a while. Meet "Kraab" over on Voidv25's Daviant Art page.
If you've been wondering what he looks like ever since he got his new body, now is the time to find out!
https://www.deviantart.com/voidv25/art/Kraab-937559263
*This story has a TV Tropes page.
*Please check out the side story “Heroes Never Die; It’s Hero Time, Anytime.” For Omakes, OVAs, Announcements, Updates, and more.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Himiko Toga grunts in annoyance while trying to adjust a mask over her mouth. It’s a black mask with silver pipes lining its front, effectively hiding her usual fanged grin from view. “I do not like this. It’s so not cute!”
But it is practical. She’s weaning her usual schoolgirl outfit but with some new gadgets lining her body. Boxes of knives are strapped around her thighs, and a blue utility belt is wrapped around her waist with more little green boxes attached to it on either side. The most noticeable new feature is the loose black mask she wears around her neck, which is decorated with pieces of pale metal in the shape of a carnivorous grin. Three large silver canisters are attached to the sides of her mask, with needles poking out of their tips and wires on their bases, which connect them to the two larger cylinders strapped to the back of her belt.
“They were engineered for the black market, from what I hear.” Comments some kid who is just a little shorter than Toga. Not much stands out about him but the standard gakuran school uniform but most notably is the green gas mask covering his face while a green air tank is strapped to his back. “You should be worried that they work, not that they look pretty.”
Toga hates that answer, and so she flails her arms up and down as if she were an angry little bird. “Ugh! I’m just saying they could be a little more stylish. Is that too much to ask?!”
“You’re worried about being flashy?” Charmcaster questions while playing with a few clay marbles engraved with purple runes. “Are you stupid or insane? Because like doesn’t your Quirk rely on you being, I don’t know, not flashy?”
“You don't need to be so mean about it!” Toga huffs. “Also, I’m not asking for much! Just a little more color or a redesign!”
“Dluoc eb oserw.” SevenSeven comments while setting a strange high-tech device on the ground. “Uyo dluoc eb ekli em dan eb thernao noersiv fo a ccaarrthe eoppel evlo remo.”
The others stare at him like he just spoke gibberish, because he did speak gibberish.
Dabi for one is completely done with it. “If you survive this you need to start carrying around a pen and paper or something.”
“Hwo od i kolo kiel, Miok-nsa?!”
“Well now, aren’t you all precious? Getting along, are we?”
Everyone stops what they’re doing to greet the new arrivals.
The first one up is a person with quite a wide, muscular build, their hair smooth, shoulder-length, and reddish magenta color, and their rather square jaw is covered thinly with facial hair. Their lips are notably big, and they’re wearing triangular, white-framed sunglasses. Along with these, they’re also wearing a dark orange shirt, left unbuttoned to reveal a white V-neck, blue jeans, and plain dark brown espadrilles.
“Hi, darlings! Sorry to keep you waiting.” They greet while carrying something large and narrow on their shoulders. The time is wrapped in cloth, disguising it.
And they’re followed by someone that looks that should be locked up in Arkham Asylum. “Get to work. Get to work.”
They can’t see his face, as he’s covered head to toe in black straitjacket-like restraints decorated with red spikes. All they can see are his exposed mouth and teeth as clamps from his suit keep his lips open causing him to drool.
And behind him walks in a walking reptile with bright green scales for skin and a face shaped like that of a lizard. His hair is relatively long and swept backward and is a desaturated pink-purple. And he’s definitely not hiding who inspired him to be here since he's wearing his own version of Stain’s own outfit. The only addition are the pair of goggles on his forehead.
Dabi scans the clifftop, taking a mental headcount. “That makes nine of us.”
Their ninth member flexes his finger, his bones and muscles snapping under the tension. “I don’t care. Just let me loose. I’m too pumped up to stand by.” He’s wearing a thick black cloak while a plain looking mask covers his entire face.
“Shut your mouth, you crazy bastard.” Dabi scolds without any concern about the cloaked giant turning on him. “We wait. We’re still expecting four more people to join our little party.”
“And then some!” Toga cheers not at all picking up on Dabi’s vibes.
But the stitched-up vandal ignores her and instead decides that the others need to hear his ultimatum. “The League of Villains made a mistake going after them with a bunch of random thugs at the U.S.J. Better to use a small group of elites.” He peers out over the dark valley, over to the only source of light in the first: the Wild Wild Pussy Cats’ lodge. Where their teachers sit and plan the next day while their precious students sleep soundly in their futons. “The first thing we have to do is take away their sense of peace and show them that their lives rest in our hands.”
Ch.70 Dark Forest
“Keep it going ladies! I wanna see you sweat!” Tiger is overlooking the grounds, standing tall and bellowing out orders like some cruel drill sergeant. “The next punk I see slacking is gonna become my new scratching post! YOU HEAR ME!?!”
“Sir! Yes, Sir!” The students all cry out in agony.
‘There is literally nothing better than watching students going plus ultra.’ Shota Aizawa observes silently as a gentle breeze brushes past his dark locks. ‘So peaceful, so…militant.’
Militant indeed as each student is put through their own personally designed hell. Like Ochaco Uraraka who’s bouncing around all over the place in a giant bubble. The only difference now is that she’s wearing a weighted brace that’s so heavy and strong it’s not only weighing her down but also trying to force her arms and legs closed. Forcing her to push and struggle against the bonds in order to move around the bubble properly.
There’s also Katsuki Bakugou who went from shoving his hands into boiling water to being stuffed into a metallic sauna made of random pieces of scrap metal. The sauna looks like an industrial chimney as Explosions and steam explode from out of its open top while a massive tub of water is boiled right underneath.
And Shoto Todoroki’s in a similar situation having to generate a massive glacier that towers over the tree line only to evaporate it all away immediately in a geyser of flames. And then rinse and repeat that exactly for six more hours.
But Aizawa knows this is good for them. The first sets of training were nothing but warmups. This right here is what will really determine if they can push their Quirks to their ultimate limits.
‘Speaking of which, I wonder how the problem group is progressing.’ He looks over, deciding it was about time to check up on them.
And what he sees is both surprising yet ironically satisfying. He set Midoriya to fight against not four challengers but six, these being the Remedial Group: Sero, Aoyama, Mina, Kirishima, Sero, And Kaminari. He figured having the six of them fight against Midoriya would force them to use their heads and think out their strategies. Well, they certainly are using their heads, but not in the way any of them wanted to.
“The best battle plans are always thought out in excruciating detail. It’s always best to factor in every single variable and consider how everything can affect a battle. Ask yourself, what can I use to help me? What can hinder my opponent? What’s going to hinder me? You need to keep all these things in mind even while under attack. So, remember your ABCs: Always. Be. Calm.”
Grey Matter has the whole setup: the chalkboard and a fold out table serving as his stage while he gives the teens their own personal lecture hall. All the while the Remedial Group are now his students, seated on fold up chairs with notebooks to fill out. They’re trying to keep up, but the little grey frog is going on and on about things they only have a small grasp on.
“W-wait, slow down.” Sato begs trying to jot down the various pieces of advice.
“You’re going too fast!” Kirishima is right with him, meaning he's just as lost about this as Sato.
Denki grabs at his head feeling like it’s about to explode. “Awww! My brain hurts!”
Mina doesn’t need to use her Emote powers to know exactly how he’s feeling. “How did we even get here?! I thought we were supposed to be fighting you?!”
Aoyama shutters in his seat. “Well, this is certainly an intellectual struggle.”
Sero tears up. “Haven’t we been humiliated enough.”
Grey Matter offers them a sympathetic look. “Look, I know this is rough, but I’m only trying to help.”
“HELP!?!” Mina snaps. “You humiliated us by tying all our laces together and tricking us into attacking each other! How was that helping us?!”
“Because it goes along with exactly what I’ve been trying to teach you.” Grey Matter states a matter-of-factually. “Sometimes the side that wins a fight is not determined by who’s the strongest. But who is smart enough to use their strengths in the most effective ways.”
Kirishima lowers his head in defeat. “That sounds…complicated.”
Mina takes a pause when she tries to consider it all, before she dejectedly sinks into her seat. “What if we can’t figure that out?” She is not being sarcastic or joking, she’s benign serious, somberly so. “What if we can’t factor everything in? And we can’t put it all together? What if…we can’t do it?”
Without even hesitating Grey Matter answers confidently. “Then you focus on what you do know and what you can do.”
That takes Mina by surprise, the little grey alien’s words really resonate with her.
“Take in a situation and rather than trying to figure it all out; how about focusing on one part? Take everything in and then decide what you can do in the situation. What is the one thing you can contribute and focus on so that others can focus on what they need to do? Not everyone can solve everything on their own. It takes a team of people to solve big problems. So, use your team. Be useful to your team. You don’t need to outright solve the problem outright. Instead, you help each other to reach a solution. And when one issue is dealt with you move onto the next and the next and eventually you will have solved the problem.”
Grey Matter’s words certainly gives them something to think about, especially Mina. ‘Focus on how I can contribute and help everyone find a solution…’ She thinks on this some more and even goes ahead to jot it down, not wanting to forget it.
As Grey Matter allows them the time to absorb his lesson, he spots his own problem silently judging from the woods. He spots little Kota Izumi watching from inside the trees with that same nasty scowl and annoyed look. The kid notices the tiny frog-thing observing him so with humph he turns and marches away.
Which causes the transformed Izuku to frown in sad dejection. ‘Maybe I should follow my own advice…’
While Grey Matter contemplates what to do, Shoto actually manages to spot the creature’s faraway look. Following his gaze, he spots the kid with the horned-hat marching away. Confused, Shoto stares back over at Grey Matter, watching him curiously.
“Meow, meow, meow, meow!” Pixie-Bob giggles into her paw before breaking out into a joyous announcement. “More importantly, tonight’s gonna be fun! We’re pitting classes against each other in a test of courage. I know you’ve been training hard today. And later, you’ll get to play hard! How’s that for a reward?!”
Itsuka Kendo doesn’t believe that one bit. “It just sounds like more training…”
Kyoka Jiro is right with her on that. “And training in the dark, no less…”
Fumikage Tokoyami’s interest is grabbed when he hears that, while he watches on from inside the nearby cave carved into the nearby cliff side. “Revelry in the dark.”
“Hm?” Ochaco Uraraka does a double take as she rolls on by in her bubble. ‘Did he say something?!’
Meanwhile, the rest of the students continue to grumble about the training like Hiryu Rin of Class B. “How much can we do in one day?”
Neito Monoma has a deranged look in his eye as he fights off his own exhaustion. “Least we get to beat Class A, am I right?”
“Don’t slack now!” Pixie-Bob warns. “Make sure you keep on pushing yourself as you work!”
The students respond all at once. “Yes, ma’am!!”
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It was a long day but even though the training is over for now the teens still have to keep working especially if they want to eat tonight. Thankfully with everyone doing their part making dinner isn’t so much of a daunting task anymore.
Especially when you have people like Bakugou showing off his inner Gordon Ramsay by chopping up the carrots and vegetables with expert knife skills.
Ochaco, who was carrying firewood to the stoves, is shocked to see such culinary skills at work. “Whoa, Bakugou! You’re really good with that knife!! It’s weird.”
“What do you mean “it’s weird”?!” Bakugou barks back, offended. “How can you people be so damn bad at everything?!”
Denki lets out a snicker as he passes by. “Look at that, he’s not blowing stuff up.”
Overhearing this, Kirishima grimaces at the thought. “I’m too tired for this.”
He may be tired, but everyone has to do their part. And they are: you have those peeling potatoes, some prep the water, and you have those like Izuku prepping the outdoor stoves.
Izuku stacks the blocks of wood into the stove carefully making sure that the flames will have good ventilation whenever they decide to start it up.
“What was with that look before?
Izuku pauses and looks up to find Shoto carrying a pot of water and sliced vegetables over. “What look?!”
“Earlier today you had that annoying meddling-look on your face while you were with Ashido and the others.”
‘That’s a look…?!’ Izuku gasps before settling down and realizing that he’s talking about when he was watching Kota. “Oh…well, yeah, I guess I did. Because of Kota.”
“Kota? Who’s that?”
“The boy that’s over there.” Izuku looks over to where he last saw him. “He’s Mandalay’s cousin’s… Hold on. Where did he go?”
He can’t see him. He can’t even spot the kid’s signature honed red-hat sticking out from the crowd. So where could he have gone?
‘Probably to his hideout.’ Izuku thinks, sadly. ‘He really doesn’t like being around everyone.’ He goes back to stacking the wood before answering Shoto’s question. “Anyway, Kota doesn’t like heroes. Actually, he hates the whole concept of superhumans; Quirks and everything. I tried to talk to him, but I think I just made things worse.” Is this how his dad felt when he tried to reach out to him? If so… “I mean, what would you say to him, Todoroki?”
Shoto considers it. “It depends.”
Izuku suddenly realizes he stepped on a landmine; he’s definitely asking the wrong person all things considered. “Of course. Sorry I asked!”
But Shoto’s not offended if anything he’d like Midoriya to hear him out. “To have a complete stranger try to change your mindset sounds like a pretty irritating conversation. What matters are actions. You have to show him what you’re trying to prove. Right? If you’re going to rely on words alone, then they better be incredibly powerful. What you say doesn't matter nearly as much as what you actually do.”
Izuku thinks on it, it really hits home as that’s essentially how his Dad was able to finally reach him. Not through fancy words but just by simply being there. “You’re right. I went about this the wrong way. How can I, a stranger, say anything to him?”
“I don’t know what your goal is when it comes to this child. But it sounds to me like you shouldn’t be sticking your nose in a delicate situation.” Shoto’s reminded of Midoriya’s reckless and prodding actions during the Sports Festival, especially on their heated fight. “You tend to cut to the heart of people’s feelings.” He’s grateful for that but… “It can be annoying.”
Izuku’s head drops in shame as he sweatdrops. “Right. Sorry about that.”
“You guys! Your hands aren’t moving!!” Tenya Iida’s sudden shouting interrupts them. Looking over they see they’re Class Rep berating a trio of Class B students and Aoyama who were lazily peeling potatoes. “We’ll never make the best stew if you stop now!!” Iida shouts, hurriedly snatching the potatoes away and working like a machine to peel them.
Seeing that he’s gonna get on their case if they don’t work, Izuku and Shoto put their conversation on hold. Going back to prepping the stoves and water.
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Darkness has swept the entire valley, swallowing up the entire forest with no plans to let it go. Anticipation hangs in the air like a thick fog as all the teens gather around in a small clearing that’s a good distance from the main lodge. So much so they cannot even make out the building’s roof or lights. Heck the forest is so dark and thick some of the students aren’t even sure they’ll be able to follow the path back, afraid they'll get lost just from trying.
But despite the nerves there are still those like Pixie-Bob who are way too excited to get started. “Perfect! We’ve filled out bellies and cleaned the dishes! It’s time forrr-”
“A totally awesome test of courage!” Mina blurts out, all psyched and ready for some fun and drama.
“We’re gonna win!!” Fittingly her fellow idiots, the Remedial Group, all join in, cheering along behind her.
“Not so fast.” Aizawa’s cold cut interrupting is like a blizzard that freezes the six teens in their tracks. “It pains me to say it, but the remedial class will be having lessons with me tonight instead.”
Mina’s entire completion turns ghost white as she explodes with outrage. “YOU’VE GOTTA BE KIDDING ME!!”
“Sorry.” Aizawa lies before snapping them all up in his Capture Scarf. “Your training during the day didn’t impress me, so I’ll be using this time, too.”
With a pull they all fall over campaign each of them to cry out
“Oh, give me a break!” Denki and Sero whine.
“I just wanna prove my courage!!” Sato and Kirishima cry out as well.
Even Aoyama cries out. “Miséricorde!!”
But their pleas all fall on death ears as no one, not even Izuku or Ochaco, want to put themselves before their terrifying homeroom teacher. All anyone can do is pray that they’ll survive their lecture tonight.
Pixie-Bob, however, is just ready to get going as she points over to the trail head that’ll lead the students down a long path that’ll loop its way back to the clearing. “Okay! So, Class B is going to start out as our “scarers.” When they’re in place, Class A will leave in pairs every three minutes. There are tags with your names on them at the far end of the route. Your goal is to collect those!”
Amongst all the nerves and excitement, Tokoyami remains poised and collected. “Revelry in the dark.”
Ochaco pauses, giving him an odd look from the corner of her eye. ‘Why’s he keep saying that?’
Pixie-Bob calls Class B over. “Now, those who are scarers aren’t allowed to make physical contact. Use your Quirks to terrify the others. Got it?”
Tiger nods in approval before explaining. “The winners are the creative students-WHO MAKE THE MOST PEOPLE PISS THEIR PANTS!!!” He roars with laughter while his teammates give various reactions along with him: Ragdoll gleefully cheers, Pixie-Bob is brimming with crazed excitement, and Mandalay is the mom who’s given up on controlling her rowdy bunch.
Jiro, meanwhile, grimaces at Tiger’s words. “Did we need that visual?”
“I see!” Tenya speaks up, always one to find the reasoning behind these types of activities. “They’re encouraging us to stoke our imaginations as we compete with each other, all while showing us more uses for our Quirks in the process! AS EXPECTED OF UA!!!”
“All right!” Pixie-Bob presents them all with slips of numbered paper. “Everyone draw to see who your partner will be!”
While Ragdoll leads Class B to their positions, Class A line up to figure out who’s gonna be their partners. As they do, Izuku takes a second to check everyone out. Not in a pervy way but in a more innocent curiosity as everyone is wearing casual clothing rather than the normal U.A. uniform he’s so used to seeing them in. Heck he even pulled out favorite black and green hoodie just for tonight. He hasn’t worn it since the end of his Father and Son Roadtrip so it’s nice to have it back on again.
Soon everyone’s spirited into their pairs, you have some upset with their luck while others are grateful for the partners granted to them like Ochaco who’s so glad to be with the calm and reassuring Tsuyu.
But for some reason Izuku’s having trouble finding his partner. ‘Hm? If we’re in teams of two… Wait. There are 21 of us, but six in extra lessons.’
He takes a second to mentally count out the pairings:
- There’s the composed Tokoyami and the cool Shoji.
- An irritated Bakugou and the indifferent Shoto.
- An anxious Jiro with the excited Hagakure.
- The naive Momo with the embarrassed Shinso.
- A jittery Ochaco is thankful to be with the unphased Tsuyu.
- The undisturbed Ojiro is paired with a very disappointed Mineta.
- A willing Tenya is with a grateful yet nervous Koda.
- And then there’s the stunned Izuku who can’t seem to process reality.
‘Okay let’s try this again.’
- There’s the composed Tokoyami and the cool Shoji.
- An irritated Bakugou and the indifferent Shoto.
- An anxious Jiro with the excited Hagakure.
- The naive Momo with the embarrassed Shinso.
- A jittery Ochaco is thankful to be with the unphased Tsuyu.
- The undisturbed Ojiro is paired with a very disappointed Mineta.
- A willing Tenya is with a grateful yet nervous Koda.
- And then there’s the stunned Izuku who can’t seem to process reality.
‘I’m all alone!!’ Izuku pales, shaking with fear and dejection to the point he tries to hide his face inside his hood, pulling it closed until only his eyes and nose are poking out.
Feeling bad for him, Ojiro tries to provide some comfort. “We were randomly assigned. It’s not that nobody chose you or anything.”
Someone grabs Ojiro’s shoulder from behind, startling him so bad he jumps.
It’s Bakugou and he’s angry. “Listen up, Tail. Trade with me!” He jabs his finger towards Shoto who still looks uninterested with all of this.
As Ojiro tries to say no Bakugou out shout him and begins arguing all the reasons why he shouldn’t be with the candy cane prince.
He’s not the only one having issues about his partner, as Mineta is desperate for a female partner. “Shinso…Please switch partners, I should be with her!!”
Shinso blacks the way, rapidly shaking his head no, as he keeps Mineta as far away from Momo as possible. Momo is so disturbed that even Jiro wonders if she should step in and give the pervert a piece of her mind.
All the while, Shoji and Tokoyami watch on, having already steeled themselves for the frights ahead. “Revelry in the dark.”
‘Again?!’ Ochaco gasps. “He said it again!!’
Desperate for a partner, Izuku looks to his only choice, Kraab. Knowing he’s watching from inside the trees, Izuku pokes his head out from his hood. Just enough to show off his puppy dog eyes that are brimming with crocodile tears.
debates leaving the kid hanging but then gives the teen a bone, waving to him that he'll at least tag along out of sight.
Izuku brims with relief but if only he knew that Kraab was going only to film some more blackmail material.
[Artwork: "Kraab" by Voidv25. Please leave them a comment either here or on their DeviantArt page.]
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12 MINUTES LATER
“EEEEEEEKKKKK!!!”
“EEEEEEEKKKKK!!!”
“Next team!” Pixie-Bob gleefully calls from the starting line. “That’s you two kittens, Ribbity and Miss Floater!”
Already scared from all the screaming, Ochaco and Tsuyu make their way into the dark forest.
“EEEEEEEKKKKK!!!”
“EEEEEEEKKKKK!!!”
Ochaco flinches every time a shriek penetrates through the black woods. “I’m getting scared, Tsu. And those screams aren’t helping.”
“That’s Kyoka and Toru, I think. Here, take my hand.” The seemingly unphased Tsuyu offers Ochaco her hand. “Don’t be afraid. We’ll look out for each other. One step at a t-time.” Her facade nearly breaks as another shriek pierces the air but feeling Ochaco’s hand take hers gives her some reassurance too.
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Meanwhile, Yui Kodai stands in the middle of the path wearing a white dress giving her the look of a lost specter wandering the woods.
“Pfft-Nyahahahaha!!” Juzo Honenuki’s head pops out from the nearby bushes. “Nice going, Kodai, you managed to scare everybody so far, ya big creeper!”
Kendo’s head pops out from the other other side. “Yeah, you’re the star of the night!”
Kodai stares at them blankly. “Huh?”
“Nyahahahaha!!” Juzo is still laughing. “Right! I can’t get over how funny Bakugou and Todoroki were! Nyahahahaha!!”
Those two guys were walking around totally unphased by everything Class B’s been throwing at them. But all it took was for Kodai’s head to pop out from the Soften ground to startle them stiff.
“I thought they were tough! Nyahahahaha!”
Kendo is about to laugh along with him until the foul scent wafts past her nose. “Hey… Smell that?”
Juzo and Kodi pause and sniff the air as Kendo explains. “I think there’s something burning nearby.”
“Huh?” Juzo takes a big whiff of the air. “Now that you mention it, it’s kinda smokey out here.” A weird purple haze has started to creep in, wafting at his face. Perhaps it’s just smoke? “Maybe Bakugou and Todoroki got so scared, they…fire…-” Juzo’s eyes droop before he collapses, totally unconscious.
“Honenuki?!” (Kendo gasps before finally noticing just how thick this strange purple must has become. And that’s when it clicks. “Yui!” Kendo’s Large Fist expands and completely envelope Kodai as she grabs her and uses her free hand to cover her nose and mouth. “Don’t breathe in!” She warns, watching as the purple mist becomes so thick it makes it even more difficult to see. “This smoke, it’s poisonous!!”
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Pixie-Bob sniffs the air, suspicious of the strange scent. “What’s this foul smell in the air?”
Mandalay and Tiger sniff the air as well as the remaining teens such as Ojiro, Mineta, Iida, Koda, and Izuku who still has his head tucked away in his hood.
But even from inside his hoodie, Izuku can sense that something’s very very wrong. “You see that?”
Up above the tree line rises stacks of smoke.
“Black smoke.” Mandalay states, giving no doubts about what it is.
Tenya can only presume it was an accident. “Has something been set ablaze?”
“Maybe a fire on the mountain?” Ojiro offers up.
Watching from the trees, Kraab isn’t so sure. Smoke now? When all the kids are spread out and alone? That’s no coincidence. This was no accident. This…was planned.
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Dabi has his scarred hand pressed against a tree as blue flames spill out from under his fingers. All around the azure flames reflect in his turquoise eyes, causing them to shine with deadly zeal. “Now. It begins.”
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Back at the clearing, a fuchsia aura surrounds a surprised Pixie-Bob, lifting her off the ground and yanking her away like a fish on a line. “Hey, what’s happening?!”
“Pixie-Bob!!” Mandalay calls after her, unable to do anything else.
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Dabi breaks into a wide grin as the purple mist begins to swirl around the azure flames. “Take them down. Those who believe they deserve the title “hero.””
From within the azure flames, stands an array of shadows all hunched over in the canopy and brush with their narrow yellow eyes gleaming under the burning light of the flames.
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Somewhere on the trail a fearful Ochaco and Tsuyu wonder the woods, oblivious as to what’s going on.
They feel like they are being watched. A chill runs down their spines as a disturbed giggling rings like an ominous song from within the pitch-black forest.
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Dabi grins widely as his shadows begin to move, prepping to take to the sky. “We, the Vanguard Action Squad of the League of Villains, will tear them off their pedestals.”
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Back at the clearing, a villain with magenta hair and triangular, white-framed shades is holding a thick metal bar, wrapped in cloth, against Pixie-Bob’s bleeding head. Having bashed the bard against her skull, the villain is now pressing it down and keeping her out of the equation. “First, let’s get rid of these feral cats.” The magenta-haired villain grins, pressing the bar harder against the unconscious heroine’s skull.
“What? No Way!” Mineta cries out in terror. “I-I t-thought they made sure no one could find us. So, why the heck are there villains attacking this place?!”
The magenta-haired villain is not alone as a villain with a lizard-like appearance is right at his side.
“Pixie-Bob!!” With his hood still up, Izuku tries to run in and help but is stopped by Tiger who shoves him back.
Mandalay is there too, blocking his way so he can’t rush in. “This is bad.”
“Oh, no.” Izuku realizes that she’s distracted; she’s not just worried about them. And neither is he. “Where’s Kota?!”
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He’s at his secret base, atop the cliff face, and he is mad. Sitting there brooding over the fact he’s trapped here with no good wannabe heroes. He’s curled up in on himself as he sits at the edge of the cliff face. As he sits there and sulks his mind begins to wander until a previous memory of his comes to mind. Where it came from, he can’t be sure but now that it’s here he can’t stop replaying it in his head.
[FLASHBACK]
Mandalay is speaking to him just in front of the lodge. She had just tried to air her concern about his behavior, but he snapped back about how unfair it was for him to be here with heroes.
But she tried to reassure him, to help him understand that someday his view will be different. “Trust me, Kota. It will happen. You’ll meet someone, and you’ll finally understand why we do what we do.”
He turns away, tilting his hat over his eyes, not wanting to hear this.
But she’s not offended, instead she offers him a sympathetic smile. “Someone who’ll risk their life, put others first. Someone who will be…”
[End of FLASHBACK]
It makes him mad just thinking about it. “No one like that really exists.”
But before he can really let that reality sink in, the scent of smoke snaps him out from his brooding.
Worried, Kota looks out over the valley, and he sees it all: azure flames, stacks of black smoke, and a cloud of purple mist has the entire forest entrapped.
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5 MINUTES LATER
“Aw…! We wanted the chance to face off with all the others!” Mina tears up as she and the others are led away by Aizawa’s Capture Scarf like it were a leash.
“I thought Pixie-Bob said we’d be getting a reward.” Kirishima whines.
“This is more like torture.” Denki grumbles. “We want our treat, Mr. Aizawa!”
Sato, Aoyama, and Sero all nod along, agreeing with him full heartedly.
“Do you want me to tighten your bindings?” Aizawa glares back at them just as they arrive back at the lodge.
“For tonight’s lesson, we’ll be talking about how to behave in an emergency.” He explains as he finally releases them only to usher them into the building and then towards the classroom. “If you don’t become more aware that you’re falling behind your classmates, then the gap will keep growing.”
‘But I know more than all of you so I’m really you’re all behind me.’ Although Mina would never say this aloud: 1. She’s not supposed to say anything about aliens. And 2. No way she’s ever say something like that to Mr. Aizawa’s face!
But Aizawa actually does feel sort0of bad for them. But this needs to be done. He won’t let any of them go down the slippery slope of falling behind in progress. “In a broad sense, this knowledge is your reward. How’s that for a treat?”
They all hang their heads low, finding the treat a disappointment.
Kirishima almost wants to cry. “I knew I shouldn’t have gotten my hopes up.”
Even Aoyama’s usual calm and eccentric facade is breaking. “Hope can be a dangerous thing. No?”
They arrive at the classroom and the moment they open the door they are met with this.
“Oh, strange! Now, who do we have here?!” They are greeted by Monoma’s stupid grin while Vlad King looks on in embarrassment for him. “Six members of Class A bombed the exams?! And look, there’s only one guy from Class B!!”
“You failed, too, idiot!” Denki shouts back.
But Monoma’s too far gone, lost to his delusions. “Hahahahaha!!”
They all file inside, taking a seat at one of the desks, Kirishima sits down grumbling about Monoma. “He tried to get under our skin the same way yesterday.”
Mina sits beside him with a huff. “At this point, I’m kinda worried about him.”
“So, Vlad.” Aizawa approaches Vlad King at the front of the room. “Why don’t we start with practice maneuvers?”
“I was thinking the same thing.” Vlad King responds. “Perhaps we should pair them up.”
While seated there, Mina’s antennas twitch as Emote picks up a tidal wave of fear and unease. The emotions crash into her, overwhelming her senses to the point she shoots out of her seat in fear and anxiety. “Something’s wrong!!” She cries out, startling everybody.
Everyone gives her a strange look, even the teachers aren't sure what she’s on about.
But before anyone can ask what’s wrong there’s a sudden jolt in their brains before Mandalay’s voice infiltrates their minds. {“Everyone!!”}
Kirishima jumps in his seat. “It’s Mandalay’s Telepath.”
Denki rubs at his head, feeling kinda uncomfortable about that. “It’s sort of annoying that it only works in one direction, though.”
Mina continues to stand there, her antennas twitching rapidly, picking up on growing fears radiating from outside. “T-there’s s-something going on out there…”
Aizawa eyes her, concerningly, but he needs to focus on Mandalay right now. “Stop talking.” He holds a hand to his ear as if he was holding a com set, but really just trying to listen as carefully as possible.
{“Two villains attacked us.”} explains Mandalay’s panicked mind. {“It’s possible there are more coming. Everyone, return to camp immediately. We’re regrouping. Do not engage any enemies.”}
“I’ll look after the other students!” Aizawa quickly tells Vlad King before he takes off for the exit. “Protect them!”
He zips down the hall, moving swiftly and with urgency. ‘If it’s a full-scale attack…’ He stops dead in his tracks the moment he reaches the outside. There in the distance he can see the glow of azure flames rising with the stacks of black smoke. ‘We’re in big trouble.’
“Looks like your concern has you distracted, Eraser.”
Caught off guard, Aizawa turns to face the intruder only to find the scarred and stitched hand of a villain raised towards him. “VLAD-!!” He’s cut off, engulfed in a burst of burning blue flames.
A cruel smirk stretches across Dabi’s features, his smile threatening to break the stitches holding his face together. “You pros oughta lay off. We haven’t come here for any of you, so just stay out of our way.”
And he does mean we as yellow-eyed shadows glide in from the smoke-filled sky.
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Izuku glares at the magenta-haired villain and his lizard partner from behind his classmates. His hood pushes his hair down over his eyes, masking his appearance in the dark.
The lizard villain steps forth, showing off his Stain cosplay and apparel. “How are you this evening, U.A. High School?” The lizard makes a show of it, as if talking to a grand audience. “We are part of the Vanguard Action Squad of the League of Villains!”
“The League of Villains?” Ojiro frowns, his mind racing back to the U.S.J. attack. “What are those guys doing here?”
Izuku clenches his fist in jealousy when he considers his organization’s name. “And why do they get such a cool name?!”
Ojiro looks back at him in shock. “Are you serious right now?!”
The magenta haired villain smirks at the little kiddies, using one hand to press his metal bar against Pixie-Bob’s bleeding head. “I could crush this kitty’s head so easily. How about it dears, should I?”
“You get away from her!” Tiger roars outraged and wanting nothing more to claw the villain’s face off.
“Now, now. Hold on, Big Sis Magne.” The lizard steps in, holding the magenta haired villain, named Mange, back. “You too Tiger, calm down. When deciding if someone should live or die, we must be careful that we’re abiding by Stain’s principles.”
“Stain?” Izuku’s worry grows, these must be some of the people influenced by that Stain Video.
Iida comes to the same conclusion, putting him on edge instantly. “So, you’re the ones he ended up inspiring!”
“At your service. That’s us!” The lizard proudly confirms. “And you, Four Eyes, I believe I recognize you. You’re one of the self-righteous brats who attacked Stain in Hosu City.” He reaches behind his back, grabbing a large hilt of a massive blade that’s strapped to his back. “Let me introduce myself.” He rips the blade off his back only to reveal a massive great sword that’s made up of hundreds of knives and blades all welded and strapped together with belts and rope. “Call me, Spinner! I’m here to make Stain’s dreams a reality!”
“I don’t care who you are. You’re criminals!” Tiger steps forward, desperate to reach his defenseless teammate and friend, Pixie-Bob. “That woman lying there is named Pixie-Bob. She’s a pro hero who’s saved countless lives. She’s giving her all for these young heroes, pushing them to reach their full potential. She’s looking for a mate, but otherwise she’s content.” His paws flex and then his sharp claws unsheathed, glistening dangerously in the moonlight. “WHAT GIVES YOU THE RIGHT TO CUT SUCH A HAPPY LIFE SHORT!?!”
A fanatical Spinner charges, somehow his lanky frame is able to carry his crazy mesh of a great sword. “Didn’t anyone ever tell you it’s not a hero’s job to be happy?!”
“Tiger!” Mandalay calls out. “I’ve talked to everyone! Trust the safety of the other students to Ragdoll! You and I will stay here! We’ll hold them back!” She turns to Iida, Izuku, and the others. “You return to camp! Class Rep, you’re in charge on the way there! Don’t engage anyone!”
Iida understands quickly taking on his role. “Leave it to me. Let’s go!”
Iida leads them away to which Ojiro, Koda, and Mineta are happy to do but Izuku hesitates, unable to look away from Mandalay. She’s still distracted, she’s still worried about Kota.
Tenya notices that he’s not following. “Midoriya!”
“Go on ahead without me!” Izuku runs off towards the heroes.
“What are you saying?!”
“Mandalay!!” Izuku shouts.
Mandalay turns to look at him, ready to yell at him to run.
But he beats her to it. “Kota! I know where he is!”
Her eyes widen with hope.
“I’ll get him to safety! I promise!”
“Wait, Midoriya!” Iida shouts after him but it’s too late, he’s already sprinted off into the forest and brush.
Spinner and Magne’s heads perk up when they see the green-and-black hoodie kid run off into the woods. As he vanishes, they share a look of frustration like they just missed a big opportunity
Meanwhile, Izuku just takes off moving his way through the trees and brush without a care to his own safety even as he crashes through invisible branches and thorns.
“Hey kid! We got a problem!” Scuttling out from the ferns is Kraab who intercepts Izuku, leaping onto the back of his hood as he runs.
“Kraab!” Izuku’s glad to see, he can help. “Quick! Contact U.A.! My Dad! Thirteen! Anybody! The camp is-”
“Under attack I know! But I can’t!”
Izuku gasps, nearly tripping over as he continues to run.
“Someone’s jamming our signal. We’ve been cut off!!”
So, no help is coming! Nobody's coming. Not unless they can call for help. “O-Okay. D-do you think you can track the jamming signal?!”
“Maybe. It would have to be somewhere high up.”
“Then hurry! You need to disable it!” Without stopping Izuku peers back at Kraab, staring right into his eyes. “Can I count on you?!”
“Yes!” Without any hesitation Kraab leaps off the kid’s shoulder, scuttling away quickly to where he thinks the signal is coming from. “Just make you stay alive until then!!”
‘Alive? I need to make sure Kota’s okay first! I need to get to him right now!’ Without thinking over it he slams the Omnitrix, transforming.
“RAAAGH!!!” Wildmutt takes off into the woods at full speed, displaying his agility and acrobatics with expert precision now able to sense all that’s around him.
He can sense the foul scent of the mist, the thick choking smoke, and the unfortunate still scents of his classmates scattered throughout the dark woods.
He can't sense Kota from here. He’s still too far away but at least as Wildmutt he’ll be able to tell if Kota ran back to the lodge or not. Either way once Kota’s secured, he can go sniff out for the rest of his friends.
He bounds across the woods moving ever faster, claws tearing at the ground and bark. “RAAAGH!!!”
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The purple mist has the entire forest in its grasp, polluting it with its vile stench and ominous hue.
Kendo is coughing into her hand, trying to keep the mist out while using her other hand to keep Kodai covered. Even while enveloped in Kendo’s enlarged hand Kodai does her best to hold her breath while also carrying the unconscious Juzo.
“Kendo!”
Kendo stops to l find Tetsutetsu coming out from the brush. He’s wearing a gas mask and so is Ibara who is unfortunately lying unconscious in his hands. “Tetsutetsu! Ibara! And…Shinso?”
Sure, enough Shinso’s here too, running up behind Tetsutetsu with a gas mask of his own. “Where’d you get those masks?”
“Yaoyorozu gave them to us.” Shinso explains, showing that they’re carrying more clipped to their belts. “She sent us off to deliver them to others.”
Tetsutetsu can confirm this. “Yeah! But don’t worry Awase’s taking her to the rest of our class since he knows where they are.” He turns offering her his extra masks. “Take some. We brought a bunch.”
“Great thanks.” Kendo takes one and throws it on while Shinso helps Kodai put hers on too. The two then get a mask on Juzo before the mist affects him even worse.
Kendo scans the woods trying to see if she can spot anybody else. “We need to get back to camp fast. Who knows how many villains could be roaming through the woods?”
“No.” Tetsutetsu stands up, moving away from them. “I’m goin’ to fight.”
His classmates and Shinso are stunned, wondering what could have gotten into him all of a sudden.
“You guys make sure these two get back to camp.” He gestures towards the unconscious Ibara and Juzo, while he stares out into the thick purple mist.
Kendo can’t believe this. “What? Mandalay told us to retreat!”
“You’re always getting on Monoma when he talks about the differences in our classes, but you feel it, don’t you? We’re not the same.”
Kendo quiets down…listening.
As does Shinso, listening intently to what Tetsutetsu has to say.
“We all got into U.A. with the same exam. We studied the same curriculum. So why are they better? Isn’t it obvious? Class A has been through crisis after crisis and turned each one into an opportunity. They’ve had so many chances to prove themselves. And come on, Kendo. A real her doesn’t turn his back and run from a bad guy. Fighting villains is what we do!”
Kendo doesn't like where this is going. “Yeah, but…-”
“Don’t try to stop me. We’re in the hero course. If we don’t stand up now, then when will we?”
“Right now.” Shinso responds, surprising both Tetsutetsu and Kendo. “I understand exactly how you feel. “I might be a part of Class A now but…I sometimes feel like I’m not really one of them.”
That worries Kendo but before she can air her concern Shinso cuts her off.
“Not that they’re excluding me or anything. But I’ve seen exactly how strong they are firsthand and up close, how well they perform under pressure.” He can see it by how they carry themselves during training exercises. Or how Yaoyorozu and Todoroki composed themselves in order to pass their Final Exam. “I’m sure it’s because of what they’ve been through. I wasn’t there to stand by them before but…we get to now.” From out of his pocket Shinso reveals his own Capture Scarf, the one he snuck into camp even though he was told to leave it behind. “And I’d like to show them that I have what it takes to be like them. I want to be a hero that people can rely on too.”
Kendo’s stunned yet sympathetic to his plight. And Tetsutetsu sees where this is going and he’s all onboard.
With a nervous yet excited look in his eyes, Shinso holds the Capture Scarf at the ready. “We’re goin’ to find these villains-”
“-And show them what we’re made of.” Tetsutetsu finishes the statement as his arms flex, becoming coated in shining Steel.
They might be ready to throw themselves into danger, but Kendo and Kodai are hesitant; unsure of what to do.
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A shocked Kota looks out over the valley, and he sees it all: azure flames, stacks of black smoke, and a cloud of purple mist has the entire forest entrapped.
He has no clue what’s happening? Or what’s going on? And what was Mandalay’s Telepathic message talking about? Villains? He-he doesn’t understand. What’s it supposed to mean?!
As Kota watches out over the burning forest, a massive figure stomps their way up the cliffside. Their cloak billows in the wind as he towers over the defenseless child from behind.
To be continued…
Notes:
Yeah so, I will be the first to admit that Ch.70 wasn’t really anything that special. BUT all the pieces are in place for the excitement to truly begin. So, get ready because you’re all in for some huge surprises from here to the Kamino Ward Arc.
Now will Ch.71 be done in time? I’m not sure. I hope so but my daily schedule is gonna be changing soon so I can’t guarantee how well I can fit time into my days for writing. But I am excited for next time. And I’m sure you are too.
*ARTWORK* New Artwork from our favorite Voidv25! And it's one I've been wanting to share with you guys for a while. Meet "Kraab" over on Voidv25's Daviant Art page.
If you've been wondering what he looks like ever since he got his new body, now is the time to find out!
https://www.deviantart.com/voidv25/art/Kraab-937559263
Chapter 76: My Hero
Summary:
Izuku hurries to Kota's aid just as a cause of Kota's own misery arrives, looking to cause the innocent child even more harm. Can Izuku fight off the villain and save Kota? Or will he fall as will Kota's hope for the future?
Notes:
Here we are 3 years later. That’s right. As of November 26, 2022, this story has officially become THREE YEARS OLD!!! Wow! Amazing right? I will admit I thought we’d be further along than this but hey at least we’re still going. Thank you all for another amazing year. You guys are the real reason I’m able to write and update as I do. So please I hope you’re all willing to come along for another fantastic ride this year.
*BR-FACT* - Ditto is a cool one! His first name was literally Clone. Clone has the same meaning in both English and Portuguese. So, he was renamed as "Idem"! And this’s cool, because they have a saying, when someone says that they want to be part of something. Something like: "I hate the winter." and the other one says: "Me 'Idem'!" So, it is a form of saying “Me Too.”
**ARTWORK** New Artwork from our favorite Voidv25! And it's one I've been wanting to share with you guys for a while. Meet "Kraab" over on Voidv25's Deviant Art page.
If you've been wondering what he looks like ever since he got his new body, now is the time to find out!
https://www.deviantart.com/voidv25/art/Kraab-937559263
*This story has a TV Tropes page.
*Please check out the side story “Heroes Never Die; It’s Hero Time, Anytime.” For Omakes, OVAs, Announcements, Updates, and more.
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Everyone needs to go into their Account Settings and set "Email Opt-in" to Yes. Otherwise, you will not be getting alerts or emails about chapter updates from my story and all other stories on this site.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
[FLASHBACK]
Mandalay is speaking to him just in front of the lodge. She had just tried to air her concern about his behavior, but he snapped back about how unfair it was for him to be here with heroes.
But she tried to reassure him, to help him understand that someday his view will be different. “Trust me, Kota. It will happen. You’ll meet someone, and you’ll finally understand why we do what we do.”
He turns away, tilting his hat over his eyes, not wanting to hear this.
But she’s not offended, instead she offers him a sympathetic smile. “Someone who’ll risk their life, put others first. Someone who will be…”
[End of FLASHBACK]
It makes him mad just thinking about it. “No one like that really exists.”
But before he can really let that reality sink in, the scent of smoke snaps him out from his brooding.
Worried, Kota looks out over the valley, and he sees it all: azure flames, stacks of black smoke, and a cloud of purple mist has the entire forest entrapped.
He has no clue what’s happening? Or what’s going on? And what was Mandalay’s Telepathic message talking about? Villains? He-he doesn’t understand. What’s it supposed to mean?!
As Kota watches out over the burning forest, a massive figure stomps their way up the cliffside. Their cloak billows in the wind as he towers over the defenseless child from behind.
Ch.71 My Hero
Using Telepathy, Mandalay calls out in a panic. {“Kota! Kota!! I hope you can hear my voice. Hurry up and come back to camp! I’m sorry, I can’t come to you! I don’t know where you’re always running off to! Forgive me. Just get back home, fast!!”}
Kota would like to do nothing more than to run back and hide in his bed. Stuff his pillow over his head while buried in warmth and soft sheets. But his feet won’t move. His heart is racing even though it feels like his lungs are gonna cave in on themselves. Like the grim reaper himself has struck the child down with paralyzing fear.
And like the grim reaper, a white masked figure of massive stature and disguised in a black-cloak towers over the boy. “I came up here scouting for a nice vantage point, and here I find someone who’s not on our list.”
Even from behind the mask, Kota can sense the chilling grin on the man’s face, like a wolf finding itself a lost rabbit.
“By the way, nice hat, kid. I like it. Why don’t you trade me for this lame mask, huh?” The massive grim reaper points at his own mask. “They made me wear it ‘cause I’m new.” He grabs the mask, unlatching it from its place and slowly pulls it off. “Said they couldn’t get a shipment of the good ones in time.”
“Y-WAAAaah!!” Kota yelps, scurrying away in a panic.
“Ah, well.” The massive grim reaper rips away the mask, tossing it aside, before zipping up and around the kid, cutting off his past with unbelievable speed.
“Wah!!” Kota yelps, horrified.
The man’s bare arm stretches out from the cloak, fleshy veins sprout out from his wrists and joints, encasing his entire arm in fleshy muscle fibers. “I think you and me should have some fun up here, kid. Ready?!” The man’s murderous grin can be seen from under the billowing cloak.
Kota nearly collapses in shock as the cloak rips away revealing the monster’s true expression. He knows that face. It’s the same face he sees when he closes his eyes. When he thinks about his parents. It’s the face he sees when he thinks of…death.
[FLASHBACK]
[“Water Hose.”] The announcer on the TV speaks cordially, almost without emotion as they deliver the day’s news. [“Two heroes sharing one name. But this couple’s bright future was cut short. Ended by one criminal’s heinous actions. A truly tragic story.”]
It was a dark afternoon, with Kota hidden away, alone in the living room, brooding while the TV plays overhead.
[“The villain in question is still at large, though police and heroes are on his trail, hoping to apprehend him soon. The suspect is extremely dangerous and has a power-up Quirk.”]
A mugshot of the villain pops onto the screen, revealing an extremely muscular man set wide with short, spiky, and sandy blond hair with small black eyes. The bottom text reads: Goto Imasuji A.K.A. Muscular still at large.
[“If you see this face, contact the police immediately. Do not approach him.”]
[End of FLASHBACK]
“It’s you.” Kota’s in tears as that news caster’s voice still plays in his head.
[“Additionally, the suspect sustained a major injury to his left eye during his fight with Water Hose…”]
Muscular’s cloak flies away. And Kota’s eyes are instantly drawn to the large scar, the one left by his parents, going across the left side of the villain’s face.
“P-Papa! Mama!”
Muscular’s prosthetic eye shines like fire, as he takes a swing at the defenseless child with his overly powered up fist.
Kota shuts his eyes, crumbling to the ground. Knowing that…nobody’s gonna save him.
But then something sharp and warm grazes his neck, grabbing onto his collar before hauling him away just as Muscular’s fist smashes the ground in a burst of shattered rock.
Kota is flung away, dropped to the ground before a hairy snarling beast with no eyes and matted orange fur. “What-what are-...” He stops spotting the recognizable Omnitrix adorning the beast’s fur. “It’s-it’s you?! What are you doing?!”
Wildmutt gives the kid a look, one that says that he’s here for him. But then he turns away, snarling at the surprised villain in deadly warning. “Grrrrr!”
Muscular stares at the beast in confusion like he’s not sure what that faceless animal even is. “Huh. What the hell are you supposed to be? I don’t recognize you from our list.”
Wildmutt makes a point to put himself between Kota and the villain. His gills flaring, ignoring the smoke and far off foul mist in the distance. Right now, all his attention is focused on the villain, Kota, and the sheer cliffside hanging over the forest.
He was able to sense how fast this villain could be just by the lingering scent trail alone. So, running away isn’t an option. Or at least not for him…
“Grrrrrrr!!” Plus, he tried to hurt-...murder a child. He can't let that stand, not ever!
A thrilled grin stretches across Muscular’s face. He knows a challenge when he sees one and being challenged by a wild monster is definitely an enticing thought.
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Katsuki Bakugou lets out a frustrated grunt while holding hand over mouth. “Damnit.”
He and Shoto have been marching through the purple-misted forest for a while now and they have yet to run into anybody, friend or foe.
Shoto Todoroki is much calmer although the heavy air and unknowns of the situation is seeping in, keeping him alert while carrying an unconscious Kosei Tsuburaba of Class B, who appears to be in agony due to the foul-smelling mist. “There must be some sort of gas villain out here. I’m worried about the others who’re still in the forest. But I don’t see that there’s much we can do now.”
He thinks back to how the heroine, Ragdoll, surprised them back at the checkpoint earlier. Where they grabbed the now long forgotten tag that they were requested to grab. “Hopefully, Ragdoll can take care of everyone else.”
“Don’t tell me what to do Icy-”
They both stop, spotting a figure on the path ahead, hunched over with their back towards them.
“Crap. Who’s that?” Bakugou eyes the figure, they’re wearing some twisted black straitjacket outfit but that's not what catches his eye. No, it’s the hand and small puddle of blood sitting at the intruder’s knees. “Hey. Which group was in front of us again?”
Shoto sees the severed hand too. “Tokoyami, I think and Shoji.”
Then that means the severed hand at the figure’s knees…is one of theirs.
“So pretty.” The villain chokes out a nasty gargle. “No-have to work. C-can’t.” The villain forces himself away from the severed hand, like someone ripping themselves away from a buffet. “But it’s so delicious, beautiful flesh. Don’t tempt me.” He finally turns around to reveal his hooded face, with only a port revealing his jaws which are pulled open by tortuous braces. “I have a job to do.”
Bakugou grins but it’s more of a facade to hide away just how freaked out he truly is. “No fighting, is that the rule?”
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Within the clearing, Spinner charges Mandalay with his Frankenstein Monster of a great sword. “You fake heroes only care about yourselves and your glory! We’ll purge you from this world!”
But it’s a swing and a miss as Mandalay displays some awesome acrobatics, flips back and away.
As she lands, she activates her Quirk, speaking directly into the attacking Spinner’s mind. {“Spinner even though you’re a villain, you’re still pretty cool. Totally my type.”}
“Uh-!” Spinner freezes in mid-swing, his green scaled face turning pink, blushing.
With him frozen, Mandalay easily slips in close to strike. “Are you really blushing? How cute!” She claws at his midsection just as he snaps out of it.
He mitigates the blow by moving with the slash. “That was a dirty trick to pull. Don’t toy with me, cat!”
Before Mandalay can retaliate, a fuchsia aura surrounds her and rockets her away towards the waiting Magne.
“Over here, my little kitten.” Magne uses his Magnetism Quirk to pull her in with his metal bar ready, while Pixie-Bob lies unconscious at his feet.
Mandalay can’t break free of the hold, she’s moving too fast, she’s gonna be taken out just like her friend!
Not unless Tiger has anything to say about it. Coming in and punching Magne's bar away at the last second, breaking the spell. “I won’t let you use the same trick twice!!”
Mandalay falls to the ground as Magne’s Quirk breaks.
And with Magne’s concentration broken, Tiger goes in for a Cat Punch!! But the villain easily dodges and soon it becomes a boxing match with Tiger throwing punch after punch only for Magne to sidestep and avoid each one. “Kenji Hikiishi. Villain name, Magne! Wanted for nine counts of aggravated robbery, three murders, and 29 attempted murders!” Tiger roars before delivering a devastating uppercut!
But with both hands Magne catches his fist, holding it back with surprising strength. “Ooh, does that mean I’m famous?” Magne teases while pulling fist down.
“What the hell did you come here for, criminal?!”
“Tiger!” Mandalay shouts over while keeping Spinner at bay. “Something’s wrong! I still haven’t heard from Ragdoll. It isn’t like her not to report!”
Tiger’s stunned, what could that mean?
But Magne is thrilled by the news. “Uh-oh, I wonder what happened to her.”
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Within the dark forest sits a stone altar. It was nothing more than decoration to fit in with the Test of Courage. Where Ragdoll would meet the students and hand them tags with their names on them.
But Ragdoll is nowhere in sight. Tags are strewn across the alter and ground with splashes of crimson blood staining its top.
All the while a massive figure of various limbs and a large stature stomps away, their tail and tendrils swaying behind them, wrapped around their bloodied prize.
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“What are you saying?!” Tiger roars, fearing the worst for his teammate. “What do you know?! Answer me!! Just how many of you are there?!”
But Magne just smiles on, adorning the fact he knows far more than the already clueless heroes.
Unlike Iida who is still unsure of what route to take. ‘What do we do?!’ Iida and the others like Mineta, Koda, and Ojiro are still there unsure of what to do and waiting for Iida to make a decision. But he’s still reeling in confusion and shock after seeing Midoriya run off with little to no explanation. ‘Midoriya ran off! But I can't just leave him. And the others? I can’t leave them behind either to search for one can I?” He’s unsure of what to do. Should they go after Midoriya? Or should they escape themselves?
But soon the decision isn’t his anymore as Mandalay makes it for him. “Iida! What are you still doing here?! Run!!”
“But Midoriya! He-”
“I know but there’s nothing we can do!” She dives out of the way of Spinner’s giant blade. “Get the others back first and let Eraser know what’s happening! Can you do that?!”
Iida hesitates to answer but having an authority figure making the call for him easily sways his mind. Although perhaps he can go out on his own and find Midoriya after leading the others to safety first. “R-right! Everyone, we need to move quickly!”
Mineta’s ready to get going, terrified of the villains. “Lead the way, Class Rep!”
Fearing for their lives they run off as quickly as they can back towards the main trail.
Magne sees this and tries to interfere with his Magnetism but with Tiger cutting him off there’s no way he can concentrate. “Oh, darn!”
Iida leads them all away quickly, hoping to make it back to the lodge and maybe send out reinforcements.
*PEW-PEW-PEW-PEW-PEW!!!*
A cascade of red lasers scorch the ground, cutting off the kids' path, and forcing them to stop.
“Waah!! Mineta nearly runs headfirst into the laser fire only for Iida to grab him and yank him back. “What now?!”
Ojiro follows the laser fire and throws a finger upward. “Up there!”
Out from the scorched canopy, a slick purple cladded figure comes crashing down. Their jetpack slowing their descent right before they crash onto the ground in a hard superhero landing pose.
Iida’s heart plummets, eyes wide in shock as a sense of cold recognition washes over him. “No. Not you.”
The figure slowly rises its armored arms reforming from blasters into a set of razor-sharp claws.
“That’s impossible!!”
Magne can’t help but grin at Iida’s horrified reaction. “It's about time you showed up! One of them got away thanks to you!”
SevenSeven turns to face the teens and the ongoing battle, flexing his claws letting them all know he means business. “Eerv aredh fo einbg shafoiabyln etal?”
A stunned Iida stumbles back, arms outstretched trying to hold Kota and Ojiro back as well. “It-it’s is you…”
Ojiro looks to the Class Rep in shock. “Iida you know him?!”
He never takes his eyes off the purple-clad assassin, his mind racing with how deadly SixSix had been. “He was there. At Hosu. But I had no idea he was with the League of Villain! The Hero Killer kill–...fought him. I-I thought-”
“Ysea istkeam.” The armor on SevenSeven’s left claw reforms, morphing into a wide arm blaster. “Ym rrohteb nda i okol a tlo lakei.”
While fighting Spinner, Mandalay spots the newest villain, and her worry worsens. “Tiger! The kids!”
Tiger turns away from Magne to look. “Who is that?!”
Before Tiger can make a move, Magne is the one to cut him off. “Did you really think they’d send only two of us to deal with pro heroes?” He turns to call out to the kiddies. “Listen up darlings! Say hello to our dear acquaintance, SevenSeven! He came highly recommended, I’ll have ya know! Not much of a talker though.”
Iida stops, confused, is this not the same assassin. “SevenSeven…?”
SevenSeven interrupts him with a dialogue of incomprehensible growls and gurgles. “Tno’d uyo tge ti? Uyo’er ealngid with het tetsal odlem!” He then draws his arm-blaster at the kids and fires.
He unleashes a rapid fire of laser bolts upon the teens, who dive out of the way at the last second as the burning bullets of plasma race through the air, nearly hitting the pro heroes and his own allies.
Spinner uses his giant blade as a shield against the incoming laser bolts. “Hey! Friendly fire! Friendly fire!”
But SevenSeven doesn’t heed his warning, instead bringing in his second arm-blaster into the mix. “Ym dba! Tgo na tihcy ggrriet gnerfi!”
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“Grrrrr!” Wildmutt stands his ground, making sure he shields Kota from the villain’s murderous gaze.
“What the hell are you supposed to be? Some kind of mutant bear?” Muscular frowns finding himself weirded out by the strange looking dog. “What? Did one of the hero brats not want to leave their puppy at home?”
“Grrrrr!” Wildmutt lowers his head, fangs bared, while his fur stands on end.
Despite the clear aggression, Muscular couldn’t be bothered to find any of it intimidating. “You think you’re some kind of guard dog do ya? You know what? How about I put you down like the dog you are?!” Muscular fibers begin to spread across his left arm. “But first, a little torment. Show me your blood!!” With blinding agility and force, Muscular launches himself at the pair, and takes a swing aiming to crush their skulls with one blow!
Sensing the incoming blow, Wildmutt can only throw up his arm in an attempt to block it. The force of the punch is too great, launching him right off his feet and smashing him right into the cliffside.
“Whoopsie!” Muscular laughs. “Oh, yeah. Hey. Maybe you can help me out a little bit first. A bloodhound like you ought to be good at sniffing out kids, right? I still have a job to do, after all.”
With a shake of his head, Wildmutt rids himself of rock and rubble before pausing at Muscular’s statement. He’s after someone? “Grrrrr! Ragh!” A growl and a show of fangs is enough to get the answer across.
“That’s a no then? Well, if you’re gonna be useless.” Muscle fibers coat his arm again and he moves to put the mutt down. “Then I’ll just turn you into a throne rug!!”
“Raagh!!” Wildmutt dodges the fist allowing it to smash the ground before leaping up and slashing at Muscular’s arm, tearing away the muscle fibers.
Muscular pauses, actually having been caught off guard by the beast’s defiance. Staring at the torn flesh like it was a rare occurrence for him.
“Grrrr! Rawr!” Wildmutt remains hunched down ready to tear off more of Muscular’s flesh.
Muscular stares at the beast before spotting the hour-glass symbol. “That symbol.” He grins as the muscle fibers reform. “Don’t tell me you belong to that Midoriya brat?!” Letting his bloodlust lead him on, Muscular rushes in once again.
And even though Wildmutt can’t technically see, he can tell that Muscular’s moving with blinding speed, delivering a powerful strike to his side before he even knows what’s up.
Wildmutt goes down but manages to swiftly pull away just as Muscular's fist comes crashing down again. With his fist lodged in the ground, Wildmutt jumps up latching himself to Muscular’s hide.
“Raaaagh!” With a roar Wildmutt viciously chomps away at the villain’s arms, tearing away the fibers like taffy.
Despite having his own flesh torn away, Muscular couldn’t be more thrilled. “Still got some fight in ya? Let’s change that. Show me your blood!!”
He turns the tables, grabbing Wildmutt by the gills and throwing him down, smashing him so hard against the ground it cracks and fissures.
“Rggggh!” Wildmutt lets out a yelp before a cackling Muscular delivers blow after blow to the dog’s head.
Kota can only watch on in horror as the wannabe-hero’s head gets bashed into the ground over and over. Terrified beyond belief he can’t bring himself to move, his legs are frozen, glued in place with his heart beating so fast it feels like it’s going to explode.
His heart stops as Muscular kicks Wildmutt so hard he’s sent flying across the platform and crashes into the cliff face with a horrible thunk.
“Rggh…” Wildmutt looks like he’s been thrown into a meat grinder, blood seeping out from his gills and wounds, staining his matted fur and making it sticky with grim and dirt. His entire body shakes in searing pain, struggling to even get up and face the villain.
Muscular actually looks disappointed thinking the dog had more fight in him than that. “That was it? And here I thought I was in for some fun.”
“Rhhhg…” Wildmutt collapses, head spinning while the taste of salty copper floods his maw. And as he collapses the Omnitrix too gives out, transforming the beast back into a beaten and bloodied boy.
Witnessing the red flash, Muscular is stumped. “What the hell? So, you were a student?” He stares blinking down at the kid with green hair matted with blood, bruised arms, and dirtied black and green hoodie. “It’s you.” An excited grin stretches across his murderous face. “You really are a freaking shapeshifter.” Looks like Shigaraki wasn’t kidding, guess he should have paid more attention during the briefing.
Izuku can’t hear a word he’s saying, blood is leaking from his forehead, his head is spinning, possibly suffering some broken bones and his ears are running feeling like a bomb just exploded in his ears.
“What a let down!” Muscular laughs finding this both amusing and disappointing. “Out of everyone on the list I wanted a go at you the most!” His grin falls away becoming a nasty angry scowl. “But instead of bringing out your fire powered guy or that four-fisted form, you give me a stupid mutt?! Come on kid. Give me a real fight!! I wanna see you squirm after I demolish your strongest fighter!!”
Izuku can’t hear a word he’s saying. Even through his blood-stained locks he can see, albeit in a haze, Muscular’s mouth is moving but the ringing in his ears prevent him from making anything out. The ringing is so piercing that it feels like his ears are gonna bleed. All he can do is endure it while struggling to get up, staring on as Muscular marches towards him.
Then and only then does the ringing subside enough to hear what Muscle has to say. “-I have a job to do. But no one said I can’t play with ya first!!”
Panicking, realizing he’s about to attack, Izuku throws himself to the side with a sudden burst of adrenaline, and just in time as Muscular smashes the ground. Acting fast and remembering his old tricks, Izuku snatches up some loose dirt and immediately throws it right into the villain’s face.
“Gaaah!” Blinded, Muscular swats for him but misses as Izuku falls and scurries away from the flailing villain.
With the villain temporarily debilitated, Izuku rushes over to the frozen Kota, shaking him as he grabs him by the shoulders. “Are you okay?!”
Kota jumps, startled, blinking up at Izuku in utter disbelief like he’s been snapped out of a horrid trance.
“Hey-hey!” Izuku tries to sooth him, hurriedly as he’s worried that Muscular’s gonna be back in action soon. “Look-look at me.” He holds the kid, letting him settle until he finally locks eyes with him. And despite the situation Izuku does his best to seem confident, self-assured as he tells the boy with as much ease and comfort that he can muster. “Everything will be okay.”
Kota flinches, blinking.
But Izuku doesn’t falter nor react, instead he makes a promise. “Because I am here.” He slowly lets the boy go and turns around to face the recovered villain. “I’ll save you!”
Muscular scowls, having just wiped away the last of the dirt out of his eyes. “Save him? Bleh, you really are a wannabe hero. Always spitting on about justice. Don’t you know none of that matters?! All that matters is raw strength!!” With a boisterous roar Muscular lunges for the innocent duo.
Like a feline protecting its cub, Izuku snatches the boy up and jumps out of the way at the last nanosecond. “Kota run!” As they fall Izuku throws Kota ahead before he himself rolls to a stop, willing to throw himself at the villain to slow him down. “Run, Kota!!”
But Kota’s too petrified to move, tears streaming out his eyes.
“What the hell was that?!” Muscular howls as he goes in for another strike. “Fight me, dammit!!”
“I’m not trying to fight you!” Even as he tries to dive out of the way, Izuku quickly glances over at the petrified boy. ‘I’m trying to save him!’
Unfortunately, he doesn’t move fast enough as Muscular’s fist manages to land, striking the teen in the torso and knocking him away.
As Izuku collapses again, Muscular can’t help but find this all so lacking. “You’re a fucking disappointment. I wanted to see you bleed, but this is pathetic! Maybe I’ll have better luck with the others on our list.”
Even with his head spinning, Izuku was able to pick up on that. ‘L-list…?’
“I know. Why don’t you tell me where they are? I bet that kid with the Explosions will put up a good fight or how ‘bout that chick with the crazy space Quirk? Where are they hiding?”
Izuku immediately goes on high alert, eyes snapping wide in shock and dread. ‘Kacchan?! Uraraka?! They’re-they’re after them?!’ With a burst of adrenaline Izuku launches himself back to his feet. ‘What's he want with them?!’
The much faster Muscular strikes first, and Izuku is barely able to avoid the hit, but the power is so strong that he gets caught in the shockwave that explodes out from Muscular’s fist. As an explosion of rubble, rock, and dirt knocks Izuku off his feet again.
Muscular grins down at the teen, knowing full well that there’s nothing he can do to fight back. “What was it you said? That everything would be, okay? How’s that working out for ya?!”
Not good. Actually, that’s an understatement, and Izuku knows it. ‘That muscle Quirk of his is too powerful. I need a plan. If I worry about Bakugou and Uraraka right now, I’m dead.’ Izuku knows he has to fight; he needs to last until the Omnitrix is recharged. ‘I have to focus on the enemy in front of me!’
He readies his left fist and takes a swing. With Muscular underestimating him he takes a shot for his good eye, hoping to blind the villain. But as his left fist is caught in the villains’ crushing grip, he knows all hope is lost.
“What?” Muscular chuckles. “Is that seriously all you got?” His hand squeezes down on the boy’s arm causing it to crack under the pressure. “My Quirk increases my speed and strength so exponentially that my muscle fibers can’t even be contained by my skin.” As he states this, muscle fibers sprout out from his skin and begin to coat his arms in a set of thick fleshy gauntlets. “I know I’m bragging a bit. But I mean, c’mon! I guess what I’m trying to say is… You’re nothing when compared to me!!”
Izuku, fearing for his life, pulls and claws at the villains grip to no avail.
“I can’t help but laugh at you, kid! You really think you’re a hero, don’t you?!” With a roar he crushes Izuku’s left arm, snapping it like a twig.
“AAAAAHHHHH!!!” Izuku lets out a bloodcurdling wail, he can feel the bones in his arm snapping away, his hand crushing in on itself as it feels like his arms being burned alive while hundreds of stitches are being ripped out from his skin.
As he cries in agony Muscular lets him go allowing him to collapse to his feet with a horribly mutilated arm.
Muscular basks in the kid’s pain, reveling in it like the only joy in the world is the ability to harm others. To watch them crumble under his strength. To watch as the light in their eyes fade to nothing but despair. “How are you gonna save him, huh?! Don’t make promises you can’t keep! Live up to your words or they don’t mean anything!”
He peers down at the pathetic hero observing his messed-up forearm and how black, bruised and bloodied it is with the bone offset from within his own skin. The kid looks utterly and totally pathetic. Defeated. With his stained hoodie, blood matted hair, and crippled limb. The only thing seemingly in one piece is the weird metal watch strapped to his left wrist.
“You’re no hero-you’re just a fraud.” He raises his muscle fiber coated fist into the air, raising it up like a giant meaty hammer; one that will strike down the final nail to the teen’s coffin. “And you’ll die that way!!”
But before Muscular can finish him, a rock pelts him in the back of the head giving him pause. Peering back, he sees the brat standing there with snot and tears running down his furious face.
“Remember, Water Hose?” Kota chokes back a sob but fails tearing up even more as terror and grief grip him tight. “My mom…and my dad. Did you torment the two of them, too? Before you killed them?”
As Kota calls the villain out, Izuku panics, fighting through the searing agony coursing through his arm, in order to get up. Before it’s too late!
“Huh? Seriously? Those losers were your parents?” A cruel malicious grin stretches across Muscular’s face. “Well then, this must be fate. The Water Hose heroes, they’re the reason I have an artificial eye in my left socket right now.” He gestures to said eye, with its twisted macabre metal outline and design.
Kota trembles before the monster’s gaze, desperate for answers. Desperate to know why it had to be them. Desperate for it all to make some kind of sense. “T-this is all your fault. Nothing in the world is right anymore and it’s because of crazy people like you!!”
“Little kids are always so quick to say it’s someone else’s fault.” There’s no sympathy to be found in Muscular’s voice. No hint or trace of compassion or regret. Those concepts are foreign to him, never once having crossed his mind. “Don’t get the wrong idea. It’s not like I took them out ‘cause I was mad about the eye thing. I wanted to kill people, it’s as simple as that. And those two tried to stop me.” He can still remember the feeling of their warm blood stained against his knuckles. The damage he wrought. The crunch of their bones. It was thrilling. “What happened was the result of all of us doing our best. The real travesty is promising to do something you aren’t able to do! THAT’S WHY YOUR DEAR OLD MOMMY AND DADDY DIED!!!”
Kota cries out, fearing for his life as the villain lunges for him.
“You ruined his life, and you won’t take the blame?!” Izuku suddenly grabs onto Muscular’s fibers from behind, holding tight with his only working hand. “How dare you?!”
“What’s your next move?!” Muscular swiftly bats him away, knocking him away like he’s nothing. “You can’t hurt me!!” With a roar the villain chases after the annoying teen.
Izuku wants to scream from the pain, but he bites his lips and rolls the landing before springing back up and charging right back in without a care for his own safety. “It’s not a matter of whether or not I can do it!” Upon his declaration the Omnitrix lights up, shining brightly upon his busted arm.
Kota jolts up in shock, Izuku’s words striking him hard as a blinding green glow overtakes the sprinting teen.
“A hero’s job is to risk his life, to turn his promises into a reality!!” Mid sprint, Izuku slaps the Omnitrix, not giving it a second thought despite the pain and the risk. Vanishing away in a blinding flood of neon green.
Muscular hesitates, blinded by the light. ‘What? What’s with this light?!’
And from within the illuminating veil of green a deep-almost monstrous growl roars out with the might of a thundering mountain. “SMAAASH!!!”
A huge explosion of power smashes into the cliff top, causing the ground to explode in a geyser of rubble and earth, shaking the entire cliffside as it does and generating a devastating whirlwind.
The whirlwind sweeps Kota right off his feet, propelling off his feet and over the cliff’s edge. “Aaahh!!” Pure terror chokes Kota’s heart as he finds the ground vanishes from underneath him leaving him plummeting to his death. “WAAAaaah-!!”
He stops, hitting something muscular and fleshy. His heart stops for a moment thinking Muscular grabbed him out form the air, but…as he rubs his hands against the massive arm, he notes the sensation of rubbing his hands over smoothed-out sandpaper, cold yet smooth much like tough scales.
“Wah!” Finally prying his eyes open the boy yelps, finding himself suspended high over the mangled canopy and hard forest floor. But what really has him shaken is the giant hand holding him in the air. It’s massive to the point he can sit in it if he wanted to. With giant meaty fingers that are tough yet gentle to the touch; coated in bronze-painted scales.
“GOTCHA. SORRY ABOUT THAT.” A rumbling deep voice takes relief as the massive arm pulls the boy back onto the clifftop.
As he’s brought around Kota is blown away by what greets him.
Gone is the plain faced teen with messy green hair and annoying freckles; now here stands a twelve-foot-tall DINOSAUR! It's a humanoid with giant bulky arms that are so long they nearly touch the ground, legs so thick yet stumpy they look like scaly tree stumps, and a thick sweeping tail that could crush a man if not careful. Big broad shoulders frame the dinosaur’s body while propping up an almost comically small-sauropod head.
The hulking dinosaur stands tall, slowly swinging his head around towards a newly formed crater in the cliffside. Rubble having caved in at the center, entombing Muscular inside. “EVEN IF HE HAD TWO EYES, I BET HE STILL WOULDN’T HAVE SAW THIS COMING.”
The transformed Deku’s impressed by his new form’s strength and stature. It’s strong. He can feel the weight behind every movement almost like he could crush a car if he just stepped on it. And even though his broken arm transferred into this new form he can still feel just how muscular this alien is.
But he can figure out this alien later, right now he has to get Kota back to the lodge before anymore villains arrive. “LET’S GET BACK TO CAMP. IT’S NOT FAR.”
The crater entombing Muscular explodes open, as the villain rises out like an undead monstrosity.
‘NO WAY. IT CAN’T BE. HE WAS ABLE TO TANK THAT?!’
“Ugh.” Muscular rolls his shoulder and arms as ribbons of muscle fibers dance off his flesh like licks of flames. His shirt’s been ripped away as did his prosthetic eye, leaving a massive hole in his face. “Heh! Now that’s more like it! You were holding out on me. What?! Was I not worthy of your power?” With a maddening grin the villain stomps forth, showing no hesitation despite marching right towards a living titan lizard. “Or are you seriously that weak?!”
“STAY AWAY!”
“Naw, attacking sounds more fun.”
Not good. This guy’s like a tank; he can dish out hits and take them no problem. Worst of all he’s fast and has no qualms about killing. Deku can’t risk letting Kota run off on his own, this alien can’t be that fast in comparison. If Muscular goes after an unattended Kota there’ll be nothing he can do.
All he can do is buy sometime until he can figure out a little more about what this alien is capable of. “TELL ME. WHY HAVE YOU COME HERE?! WHAT DOES THE LEAGUE WANT FROM US?!”
“Doesn’t matter to me, I’m just glad they finally let me off the leash. Long as I get to use my Quirk all I want; I really don't care.” Muscular reaches into his pocket and drags out another prosthetic eye. “Remember what I told you earlier? We’ve just been playing around. Having fun. Until now. Now, I’m serious! Recess is over. I’m coming at you for real!” He lodges the faux eye into his socket, revealing a metallic frame encasing a ruby eye glowing with bloodlust. “Cause truth be told, you’re pretty strong. I see that now.”
It’s no use. Muscular’s strength and speed are too much especially when out in the open here atop the cliff top. Peering back the giant dinosaur eyes the canopy below and thinks that perhaps it’s time for a change of scenery.
“Show me exactly what you’re MADE OF!!” Muscular roars, lunging for the dinosaur like a psychotic savage!
“HOLD TIGHT.” The transformed Deku warns Kota, holding him closer to his chest before he throws himself right off the cliff’s edge!
“Raaagh!!” Muscular misses, his fist smashing the ground so hard the rubble shoots off the edge as the side of the cliff crumbles upon impact.
The giant dinosaur shields Kota with his body as they plummet, crashing through the canopy and landing on the ground with an earth-shaking impact. Hitting the ground hard that a whirlwind rips through the forest, clearing away nearby leaves and loose rooted brushes, leaving a decent sized clearing upon the area of impact.
Deku’s both relieved and grateful that his gamble worked, looks like this alien is pretty sturdy. But he pays that no mind, peering up as rubble and rock rain down.
‘IT’S LIKE HIS QUIRK HAS BEEN SUPERCHARGED. IT’S COMPLETELY INSANE.’ He scans down at himself and at his own muscular build. ‘BUT SO IS AM I.’
Well things are about to get a whole lot crazier as Muscular follows them down, leaping off the cliff top with a metaphorical fire in his metallic eye. “Running away?! We’re just getting started!! HAHAHA!”
Deku braces himself for the fight, wincing in pain as he tries and fails to move his left arm. Even as an alien it’s still nastily bruised and bloodied, with the bone still out of place.
“You heroes always handicap yourselves!!” Muscular howls through the whipping wind, reeling his fist back to deliver one hell of a finishing blow. “How do you expect to win one busted arm and the other cradling a WORTHLESS KID-!?!”
“LIKE THIS!!”
*SLAM!!!* With a twist of his body and a swing of his massive tail, the behemoth hammers Muscular into the mountainside like a giant fly swatter.
As he pulls his tail away, a satisfied grin stretches across the dinosaur’s face until an enraged Muscular pries himself out from the rubble. “Like I said: how do you expect to win?”
‘THIS GUY’S RELENTLESS!’ The transformed Deku steps back and recalls; how indeed? He can’t let Kota run away on his own; he’s too much of an easy target. And this alien probably isn’t fast enough to lead the villain back to Mr. Aizawa. Heck even if he could run, he’s too exhausted from today’s training to keep a steady pace. So, he can’t run. He certainly can’t hide. And thus, there’s only one option left to him. “HOW DO I EXPECT TO WIN?” It’s more of a statement to himself then it is to the villain, sounding like the start to a self-made vow. “BECAUSE I HAVE A REASON TO FIGHT. BUT YOU-YOU’RE A ONE NOTE PSYCHO WITH TWISTED DELUSIONS OF HOW THE WORLD WORKS.” His busted left arm tightens painfully as his fingers squeeze against his agonizing palm. “YOU THINK THAT BECAUSE OF YOUR POWER. THE ONE GIFTED TO YOU AT BIRTH, THAT CONSEQUENCES MEAN NOTHING! THAT THE WORLD IS NOTHING MORE THAN YOUR PLAYPEN! WELL, I’M HERE TO CORRECT THAT.”
Despite the pain, despite the agony, and the desire to cry out the hulking dinosaur muscles up his broken left arm. He fights through it all the sensation of his blood vessels burning while his already bruised flesh worsens and darkens even more with leaks of blood. But despite all that he manages to grip Kota, freeing his only working arm, while keeping the boy close to his chest. Willing to use his own broken body to shield him.
And thus, the twelve-foot dino unleashes a thundering roar of agony and might. “I’M GONNA STOP YOU IN THE NAME OF EVERYONE YOU’VE EVER HURT!! I WILL PUT-” With a crushing stomp the aliened Deku crashes towards the villain. “-AN END TO YOUR RAMPAGE!!!”
Muscular accepts the challenge, charging right at the stampeding dinosaur with a maddening grin. “You really think you can protect him?!” He lunges reaching his muscle-fibred claws right for the innocent boy.
“Ahhh!” Kota shoves his face into Deku’s chest, not willing to look.
“RAAAAGH!!” The giant knocks the villain away, landing a solid punch to his side.
Muscular goes down but gets right back up and diving out of the way as the dinosaur tries to smash him with his giant foot. Again and again, he stomps but Muscular just barely avoids them before lashing out and striking the dinosaur’s thick hide. With a spin the alien swings his arm and bashes his fist into the villain’s side. And this goes on and on with them each exchanging blows while evading or blocking incoming strikes.
After the alien bats him away with his tail, Muscular digs his fingers into the ground, scaring the ground as he slides to a stop. Only to immediately leap right back into action. “I’m gonna rip your ribs out and use ‘em to stab your eyes out!!”
“LIKE I’D LET YOU?!” With his busted arm still holding Kota the transformed Deku whirls his body round as hard as he can, aiming to crush the villain with a final swing of his tail.
But Muscular sees the attack coming, planting himself and bracing for impact. *WHAM!!* He catches the tail in a bone crushing hold with his fibers flaring up. “I’m gonna skin you alive!! Hahahaha!”
With a maddening cackle Muscular hauls, the twelve-foot alien around and tosses him around, launching right into the woods.
“AAH!” He folds in on himself, making sure to shield Kota as he crashes through the unsuspecting trees. The trees explode into splinters as their trunks gauge into the behemoth’s scaly flesh. Causing waves of pain to shoot up through his already broken arm. “AAAAAHHH!”
All the while Kota lets out a terrified shriek of his own. “Aaaaah!!”
“Hahahaha!” Muscular leaps after them, sprinting through the woody debris and earth like a rampaging bull. “You’re dead!!”
Acting fast Deku leaps up and grabs the nearest weapon, a downed tree. And with a swing of this 2-foot-thick oak, he bats Muscular away like he’s a speeding softball. “YOU’RE OUT!!”
Muscular begs to differ. Even as he skids and crashes against the ground a psychotic grin stays plastered to his face; his muscular fibers acting as shock absorption mats protecting him from the impacts. “Hahaha! Now this is what I’ve been dying for!” With unlikely acrobatics and speed, he catches himself and beelines it right back towards the dinosaur. “Show me more!!”
“RAAAGH!” The transformed Deku takes another swing of his twenty-foot bat.
But unlike before, Muscular’s fist smashes straight through the thick tree. “Show me more blood!!” Rather than aiming for the dinosaur himself he aims for his precious cargo.
With one hand on the kid, and the other still in the air the dinosaur has one choice but to throw his head down, delivering a solid headbutt that throws the villain back. “YOU KEEP AWAY FROM HIM!”
“Then make me!” His muscle fibers spiral and coil around his fist turning it into a thick fleshy whip. “It’s not like you can stop me!!”
The giant alien manages to catch his incoming strike, gripping it tight as he leans in and growls. “YES I CAN. YAAAAHH!!” With a roar, he flings Muscular around and gives him a taste of his own medicine. Throwing him so hard that he goes crashing through the thicket of branches and bark.
And boy did it do some damage as Muscular’s fibers actually got ripped apart leaving him with a variety, albeit mild, scrapes and cuts. He licks the side of lips, lapping up the tiniest bit of blood. Only to act like it was an addictive drug, getting him high on bloodlust as he charges right back in for more.
“LET’S SEE YOU GET THROUGH THIS!!” Sweeping his tail into the earth the alien summons forth a crashing wave of earth and rubble; in an attempt to entrap and maybe blind the villain again.
“Easy! Come on!” Like a missile, Muscular breaks through the incoming landslide with ease. “I can take more than that!!” He chases through the other side landing just below the unguarded behemoth. “But can you?”
With a cruel grin Muscular practically stabs his fist into the dinosaur’s lower left side, just between his stomach and kidney.
“RAAAAAAAAAHHHH!!!” Deku howls in pain at such volume that Kota has to cover his ears, although it didn’t break the skin the blow sent a sharp burning sensation up his spine and limbs. “GRRRR!” Fighting back the pain the dinosaur tries to retaliate by swinging his fist down in a hammer punch.
But this time, it’s Muscular’s turn to catch the incoming fist. Catching it as it slams down into his shoulder even as the ground underneath him crumbles and sinks. “You’re big. But you really don’t know how to throw your weight around.” His fingers claw into the dinosaur’s scales as his muscle fibers’ tighten. “Compared to me you’re NOTHING!!”
In another impressive feat of strength, he gives the massive alien a throw, this time towards the cliff.
“Waaaah!” Kota howls in terror as his wannabe rescuer gets thrown into the cliff. Hitting it hard causing it to shake and rumble as a sharp-pain spikes through his broken arm making it feel like thousands of needles are tearing away at each cell.
Muscular pounces, his tongue out as if tasting the blood in the air while fibers of flesh dance off his hide like wisps of flames. “When I’m done with you, they’ll think you were a fossil!!”
The downed dinosaur just barely rolls out of the way, hauling himself quickly as Muscular crashes into the cliff causing it to shake.
“AND YOU’RE A SAVAGE!” The behemoth delivers a devastating punch into Muscular’s backside, smashing him into the cliff even more. As he does the rock face gives out from above; causing a rockslide that comes crashing down and burying the villain alive.
“Raaagh!” A muffled shout echoes from within the rocky tomb, as the rocks and earth shift against Muscular’s thrashing.
“STAY DOWN!” Deku quickly presses down on the rubble, trying his best to keep the villain down.
But it’s no good. His legs are far too exhausted after training and the fight. His left arm is shaking as the burning pain flares with every movement. And blood is still leaking from his head due to the villain’s earlier blows. Speaking of which, he’s shown no signs of slowing down. With every hit and cut this murder rises again, his Quirk keeping him in the fight.
Whereas Deku can’t keep this up for much longer.
“KOTA, RUN!” Seeing no other options the alien drops his left arm, lowering it slowly despite the fact he just wants to let go due to all that pain. But he holds on, stretching it out and dropping Kota away from the struggling giants.
As he’s dropped to the ground, Kota stumbles and falls. His entire body quivers as his little heart beats a thousand times per second. “Y-you’re attacking him a-again?” He stares back in disbelief, tears just barely pricking at his eyes. “You can’t do that! Let’s just go! Come on!” His heart stops as Muscular’s fiber-coated claw breaks out from its tomb. “You’ve barely hurt him earlier, remember? Besides, your arm is busted up! And you’re hurt! And-”
“IT’S GOING TO BE FINE.” The wannabe hero promises, doing his best to give off an air of confidence and security.
But that air turns sour as Muscular breaks free of his prison. “Oh, is it?!” He lunges, not for the hero, but for the kid.
However, he doesn’t get far as the dinosaur catches him by the leg and hauls him right back!
*WHAM!!!* With a thundering crash Muscular is thrown right back into the cliff.
Kota loses breath, petrified as the murderer jumps right back in.
“OKAY. IT’LL ALL BE OKAY!” The transformed Deku promises as he and Muscular exchange blows. Their fists clashing in midair to thundering results. “I WILL NOT LET HIM GET PAST ME!” With a roar he charges the villain only for Muscular to catch him and the two grapple and struggle to push the other back. “KOTA, RUN!!”
But he can’t. He’s petrified.
“GO NOOOW!!!”
“Still looking after him?!” Muscular side steps out of the way, causing the hero to lose his balance. As he nearly falls over the villain leaps up and behind the dinosaur and puts him into a headlock. “Oh, man! You’re somethin’ else, aren’t you?!” He squeezes with everything he’s got. His arms are like a pair of car crushers, entrapping his neck into a bone crushing deathgrip.
“SHUT UP, DAMMIT!!” Like a dinosaur he thrashes about trying to fling him off. He reaches back to grab him but this alien’s not that limber. And with Muscular closing up his windpipe it’s hard to fight back as the villain bats his hands away.
All he can do is thrash about like a twelve-foot bull. But his body is drained and each flail of his arms and body are only draining his already depleted stamina. His moments begin to slow, his breathing becoming heavy and labored, and his vision begins to darken.
Tears pool at Kota’s eyes making his vision clouded. “But why…?!” He sobs, watching uselessly as the weakening giant’s strength slowly fades.
Muscular pulls tighter, yanking on the dinosaur’s neck so hard that the skin stretches to its furthest point. His bloodlust drives him insane; he can almost envision the geyser of blood that’ll explode out after he rips the beast’s head off. “Show. Me. You’re. BLOOD!!!”
He can’t fight back. His lungs are collapsing just as his arms give away, falling to his sides. His legs give out and the dinosaur’s hide crashes into the cliff. And yet the villain never let’s go, blocking off his windpipe completely as his bones begin to crack.
His consciousness begins to fade, his vision going dark. ‘MOM…DAD, FORGIVE ME… I TRIED MY BEST.’ He can’t even bring himself to speak as everything, even his broken arm and bleeding head, goes cold. ‘I’M SORRY…EVERYONE.’
“I’M GONNA TEAR YOUR HEAD OFF!” A cruel sociopathic grin stretches across his face giving him the appearance of a fleshy gargoyle as he whispers into the dinosaur’s ear. “And the kid’s next.”
And with that Deku’s vision goes dark and everything falls to silence…
*SPLASH.*
A gush of pressurized water rains down on the transformed Deku’s face. Giving him enough stimulus to reawaken.
He’s not the only one taken back, even Muscular is confused by the sudden blast of water. “What the? Is that water?”
“S-s-stop.” Kota chokes, his hands outstretched and ripping with water while tears soak his face. “LET HIM GOOO!!!” The boy screams, begging for mercy before the murderous villain.
The giant hears the boy’s cry. “KO…TA?” Something within him sparks, like a tiny flame has just been reignited.
“Hold on, there, ‘kay? I’ll kill you after I’m done with-” The dinosaur’s flesh pushes back against his arms, threatening to break his grip as his neck seemingly expands. ‘Crap! I was distracted.’
The villain tries to hold tight, tries to choke him out but he’s actually struggling to hold the dinosaur back.
As his body rumbles and quakes Deku is able to take the smallest of breaths but it’s just enough to reawaken his flame. “I WON’T LET YOU HURT KOTA!”
Kota’s splash of water was more like a splash of gasoline to his spiritual flame. Igniting it beyond what it was meant to be. Spilling out in the form of his body expanding beyond what it should be capable of.
But what’s most bizarre is how his features are slowly becoming more pronounced, with the plates on his shoulders and arms separate giving him a more ferocious look. While a bony crest takes hold of his forehead, stegosaurian-like plates begin to protrude from his spin.
Muscular’s arms can’t even reach around the dinosaur’s neck anymore. He’s so stunned and in disbelief that he barely resists as the towering behemoth flings him off. “DAMMIT! How are you getting stronger?!”
“YOU WON’T LAY A HAND ON HIMMM!” The 60-foot goliath roars, his howl rips through the valley and rattles the canopy. And even though his arm is still broken and limp at his size his sheer stature and weight more than compensates for the weakness. Even his tail is a threat, demonstrated by how it crashes through the trees with ease as the goliath takes an earth-shaking step forward.
Muscular’s usual thrill and murderous intent is gone, replaced with a burning fear. His instincts force him to leap out of the way just as the ten-ton goliath’s fist comes crashing down onto the earth like a meteor.
His own insanity is his downfall as a frustrated Muscular tries to fight back. Leaping up at the giant only to smacked right out of the air like a pesky fly. *WHAM!!* He hits the ground with a splat, his muscle fibers nearly ripping apart from the sheer power of the impacts.
“Raaagh!” He howls in pain, in genuine pain before his muscle fibers reform around him. As the 60-foot giant turns back to him the villain spots the innocent child still rooted in place.
Thinking that a hostage is the way to go, Muscular rushes for the boy. But he doesn't make it close at all as the dinosaur’s heavy foot squashes him into the ground.
“YOU REALLY THINK YOU CAN STEP ON EVERYONE? DON’T YOU?!” The building-sized dinosaur booms, crushing the villain under all his weight.
“GAAAAH!!” Muscular howls as all that weight comes bearing down on him. His Quirk is just barely able to keep his organs from becoming jelly under the alien’s strength.
With one arm free he's able to rip himself out from under the giant’s foot, but many of the fibers that were covering his hide are ripped away, left pinned under the goliath’s foot.
“You’re All. WEEEAAAKKK!!” Muscular’s lost all rhyme or reason, lashing out like a rabid dog that needs to be put down. “YOU’RE ALL NOTHING COMPARED TO ME!!!”
A crack of the tail is enough to put him down, flinging him back so fast one might think he was shot out of a cannon.
“YOU’RE THE ONE WHO’S NOTHING!” The dinosaur charges as Muscular crashes into the cliff.
The cliff shakes with each one of the giant’s steps before nearly crumbling away as the humongous hero digs his entire hand into the bottom of the cliff next to the downed savage. Burying it in place with his palm open like he’s grabbing a chunk of piled up snow.
“MURDERERS LIKE YOU-” He swings his giant-sized arm upwards, ripping out a semi-truck of earth right out from the cliff. And with astounding strength he throws it straight into the air with a thunderous roar. “-SHOULD ALL GO EXTINCT!!”
As he lies beneath, even Muscular is in awe of the hero’s presence. Of his size. Of his power. He can only watch as the earth itself comes crashing down upon him. And the impossibly sized dinosaur’s roar rattles said earth as he declares his Uravity-inspired Special Move. “EXTINCTION!!!”
The giant chunk of rock and earth plummets down like a meteor from the heavens. Like a thunderbolt from the gods the meteor crashes into the villain with such force it explodes upon impact. Releasing a brilliant display of power and might before the backdrop of azure flames and a star filled sky.
Kota falls off his feet just from the shockwave. He’s left in shock-n-awe before the villain’s godly defeat. And yet it feels like a dream, or rather like he’s waking from a long nightmare that he’s been forced to endure for a never-ending night. “Why?”
That’s his only question. It was the same question he asked after his parents were taken from him. And yet he knows the answer as it was the answer given to him by Mandalay herself all that time ago: “‘Kota. Your Mom and Dad, the Water Hose Heroes. It’s true that they ended up leaving you behind in this world. But they saved so many lives through their sacrifice, you’ll see that someday.”’
Tears blind him but he’s too stubborn to let them fall, desperate to fight them back. “Why did you risk your life?”
He has to wonder. As the 60-foot giant keels over, gasping for air, and the memory Mandalay’s words continue in his head. “‘You’ll meet someone, and then you’ll understand why we do this.”’
He sobs. “E-Even though…you don’t k-know me at all. Wh-why did you try to sa-save m-e?”
“‘Someone who will risk their life.”’
The dinosaur slowly rises, his scared muscles rippling under the starry night.
“‘Someone who’ll be…’”
‘…a hero.’ Kota gives in. His heart finally letting the grief go as the tears he’s long held back finally can flow like gentle streams.
The humongous victor raises his head to the sky and lets out a roar for the entire planet to hear. Letting them all know that there is one less menace to this world.
‘My Hero.’
Notes:
I really hope it was worth the long wait. Because we got it! We got Muscular vs. Deku. or rather Muscular vs. HUMUNGOUSAUR!!! I’ve been dying to do this exact fight for THREE YEARS now!! Seriously, I've had this specific fight between Humongousaur and Muscular for 3 years!!! And I finally got to show it off! WOOOOOOOOO!!!!
Again. As of November 26, 2022, this story has officially become THREE YEARS OLD!!! Wow! Amazing right? I will admit I thought we’d be further along than this but hey at least we’re still going. Thank you all for another amazing year. You guys are the real reason I’m able to write and update as I do. So please I hope you’re all willing to come along for another fantastic ride this year.
Hopefully I can keep the momentum going. But we’ll see I still have to finish Pokémon Scarlet. And I’m gonna be running around all weekend soooo I probably won’t be ready for next week. I’ll keep you posted. Might have to cut the next chapter in half just to ensure an on-time update.
*Muscular is alive. Just wanted to make that clear before you all assume that Izuku just killed a man.
**ARTWORK** New Artwork from our favorite Voidv25! And it's one I've been wanting to share with you guys for a while. Meet "Kraab" over on Voidv25's Deviant Art page.
If you've been wondering what he looks like ever since he got his new body, now is the time to find out!
https://www.deviantart.com/voidv25/art/Kraab-937559263
Chapter 77: A Long Night
Summary:
One villain may have been defeated but there's still an entire league of them still in play. How will the hero students deal with these new threats? Can they survive the night or will only the strong and luckiest of them survive?
Notes:
Happy New Year everyone in the world!! It’s 2023!! Or at least…I will be!! Soon. Like tomorrow soon. But I don’t post on weekends so this is the closest I’ll get to saying this. And now we have a whole new year to look forward to. I don’t know about you, but I am ready to leave 2022 behind and look forward to the future along with all our favorite characters and aliens.
*BR-FACT (provided by RAY ETHAN)* - Humongousaur’s name in Portuguese translate to the same name. The Portuguese version being called “Enormossauro.” And this name is a joke as well, much like Ditto’s! Being the fusion between “Enorme” (Big, massive, gigantic and... humongous. And “Dinossauro” (Dinosaur).
*This story has a TV Tropes page. https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Fanfic/HeroesNeverDieItsHeroTime
*Please check out the side story “Heroes Never Die; It’s Hero Time, Anytime.” For Omakes, OVAs, Announcements, Updates, and more.
*Fanfic is undergoing some maintenance issues. Mainly that every 90-days or so everyone's account will reset and the "E-mail Notification" or "Email Opt-in" will be turned off.
Everyone needs to go into their Account Settings and set "Email Opt-in" to Yes. Otherwise, you will not be getting alerts or emails about chapter updates from my story and all other stories on this site.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Yokohama City is far from any signs of nature, forests, or mountains. The closest thing this night light city can produce are weeds in the sidewalk while rats and roaches traverse the concrete jungle.
But even they stay away from the shadows as even here there are far more dangerous hunters.
Although said hunters seem to be lying in wait within their den. Shigaraki sits at his bar with nothing but a deck of cards and a game of solitaire; he’s not even wearing his usual getup of severed hands. All the while Kurogiri watches on from behind the bar while wiping away at his glasses and wares.
Unable to hold back his concerns any longer, Kurogiri puts down the glass he’s been
meticulously cleaning for the last hour. “You’re sure they’ll be alright on their own?”
“I’m a non-playable character this level. They’ll make it work without me.” Tomura Shigaraki responds with a calm collected smile as he slowly plays a game of solitaire. “Besides, this game has totally changed. I’ve been thinking of it as an RPG. We had some pretty good equips, but we challenged the big boss while still at Level One.” It was an instant kill for them, a speedrun to Game Over all because he skipped the tutorial. “Really, it’s more of a simulation game. I’m the player. And I’ll use all my little pawns to smash through the heroes’ ranks. But first, I need to make cracks in the superhuman world. That’s where the Vanguard Action Squad of the League of Villains comes in. Who cares if these guys win or lose? The heroes will be scared just because they showed up.”
“They’re sacrificial pawns?” Kurogiri almost sounds concerned.
“Come on. Do you really think I’m that heartless? I’d never underestimate their strength. They may have different goals than me, but they’re comrades, nonetheless.” He slides his finger over the deck of cards, snapping up just one card. “In a society bound by ridiculous rules,” He peers at the card which is in fact a photo of Katsuki Bakugou. It’s him during the Sports Festival with an enraged expression as Explosions flare from his palms. “villains aren’t the only ones who are being oppressed. Let’s hope they can pull this off.”
“Yes, let’s.”
That being said, Shigaraki takes another card from the deck. “It’s always a good idea to have some characters in reserve.”
He presents Kurogiri the playing card.
The bartender hesitates but takes the card and flips it only to find a set of coordinates written onto the Ace of Spades. “What is this?”
“Sensei’s doctor located an old experiment of his. Go and fetch it.”
“As you wish, Tomura Shigaraki. However, may I ask what this will all accomplish?”
A slow grin stretches across Shigaraki’s face before he answers. “Chaos.”
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Ch.72 A Long Night
“I’ll look after the other students!” Aizawa quickly tells Vlad King before he takes off for the exit of the lodge. “Protect them!”
He zips down the hall, moving swiftly and with urgency. ‘If it’s a full-scale attack…’ He stops dead in his tracks the moment he reaches the outside. There in the distance he can see the glow of azure flames rising with the stacks of black smoke. ‘We’re in big trouble.’
“Looks like your concern has you distracted, Eraser.”
Caught off guard, Aizawa turns to face the intruder only to find the scarred and stitched hand of a villain raised towards him. “VLAD-!!” He’s cut off, engulfed in a burst of burning blue flames.
A cruel smirk stretches across Dabi’s features, his smile threatening to break the stitches holding his face together. “You pros oughta lay off. We haven’t come here for any of you, so just stay out of our way.” Unfortunately, he knows that he missed. “Nice move.” He peers up towards the top of the entrance way where Aizawa managed to leap up and hold himself there just barely out of reach of the flames. “Guess you really are a pro.” His hand shoots up ready to burn the hero to nothing.
But the red flare of Aizawa’s eyes prevents that from happening. “Not so fast!” His Capture Scarf slings out and in one hit binds the villain’s arms to his torso.
With the villain’s arms restrained Aizawa pulls Dabi in while he launches himself down. As the two meet in midair Aizawa grabs Dabi by the back of the head and pulls him into his knee. After being kneed in the face Aizawa throws the villain down and slams him into the ground, pressing his face into the dirt while his left arm grips the villain’s wrist.
Aizawa makes sure the villain can’t escape by pressing down on his other arm and back. “What do you want, and where are your friends hiding?”
“My what?” Dabi grunts while trying to pull his face away from the dirt.
“You’re right arm’s next.” With a chilling snap, Dabi’s wrist is snapped in two with a simple flick of Aizawa’s wrist; causing the villain to grunt in pain.
“Be logical about this.” Aizawa warns. “At least save your legs. It would be a real pain to have to carry you off to jail without them.”
“You can take your time, Eraserhead.” A tiny azure flame ignites from atop Dabi’s head.
But having Aizawa break his other arm also breaks his concentration.
But then a thundering crash that shakes the entire valley breaks his, causing Aizawa’s head to snap up as an explosion of rubble and earth erupts in the distance. “What’s that?!”
And then in the distance a building-sized silhouette of a giant emerges. Blended into the night sky and smoke-filled air the massive titan lets out a monstrous roar that shakes even him to his very core.
While Aizawa’s heart drops at the sheer size of the mysterious monster, Dabi uses the distraction as a means to escape. He slips out of the hero’s hold and makes a break for it. But he doesn’t get far as Aizawa has enough sense to tighten his scarf’s hold, lassoing the villain in place.
‘He’s good. I won’t be able to take much more of this.’ Dabi snarls, struggling back against the binds. “That’s exactly the performance I’d expect out of a U.A. teacher. Tell me, hero.”
Frustrated and worried, Aizawa yanks his scarf, hoping to throw the villain back down. But instead, the scarf seemingly slices through the villain’s torso as it falls away like mud.
“You worried for your students?” Dabi mocks as his torso melts away.
Aizawa’s stunned. ‘The fire that he shot earlier wasn’t his Quirk?’
“I wonder if you can save them in the end.” Even as his entire body melts away Dabi is grinning in anticipation. “See you soon.” Just as his face melts away to a pile of mud the fake-villain’s eyes glance up towards the sky.
Panicked. Aizawa follows the gaze up towards the sky, towards the pillars of rising smoke. There soaring high above the treetops, blended into the dark backdrop of the smoke-filled night sky is an entire flock of narrow-bodied silhouettes. With wingspans as long as the trees themselves and their narrow yellow eyes glow in the darkness. All the while they all let out unnatural-beastly shrieks. “SKREEEEEEEEE!!!”
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“Come on, Dabi! You got your ass handed to you! By a magic scarf!”
A rather well-built man wearing a black and gray bodysuit that’s covering his body completely, lets his complaints be heard. The white eyes of his mask expand and stretch comedically to his flourishes and with the mask being two different colors: upper-half grey and lower-half black, really helps accentuate the look. He’s also sporting a pair of red and green wristbands.
Dabi leans against a nearby tree after setting more of the forest aflame with his azure fire. “How weak. That happened fast, huh?”
“Huh?! Don’t say that. Better to frame this as the pro being too strong.” The dual-colored villain states going from a loud bombastic taunt to a professional considerate tone. “It’s important to mind your self-esteem, even on a perilous mission.”
But Dabi doesn’t want to hear it. “Whatever, Twice. Just make another one of me. We need to keep those pros occupied.”
The villain, Twice, grips his wristband and pulls revealing a stretch of metallic measuring tape. “Another small fry, comin’ right up! Leave it to me!!”
“Make it quick, will ya?” Dabi looks out towards the distance, towards where that freaking Godzilla looking rip-off appeared. “If we’re gonna succeed we’re gonna need all the firepower we can get.”
“HA! Good one! That was so lame.”
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Despite the exhaustion and pounding in his head, the 60-foot dinosaur keeps his head raised to the sky after letting out an earthshaking roar. His left arm hangs uselessly at his side with an out of place bone and nasty blackened scales with leaks of blood dripping down his boulder-sized fingers.
But despite the behemoth’s beaten state, Kota is in awe of the creature. Where a cliff once stood now lies a mountain of rubble with Muscular, the same villain that murdered his parents, is buried underneath.
The massive dinosaur tumbles back as the drain on his body kicks in. With his stamina completely drained the 60-foot giant begins to shrink back into his standard twelve-foot stature. Letting out a winded gasp for air, the transformed Deku nearly falls over as a wave of strain saps his strength away.
Peering down at his new height the alien can only conclude that his Growth must take up a lot of energy and stamina. Considering he’s already drained due to training and the battle; he doesn’t have enough stamina to keep such a giant stature.
“Hey!” Kota gasps in concern, moving to the dinosaur’s side only to realize that there’s not much support he can give the giant.
The behemoth may not be able to go to full size right now but he’s still a mighty dinosaur, and one that still has a job to do. As such he takes a step, turning away from the buried villain only to stumble and nearly fall over, only stopping himself by using his one good arm to catch himself. “EVERYTHING’S OKAY… GIMME A SECOND…AND THEN THERE’S SOMETHING I HAVE TO TAKE CARE OF…”
“But you’re all beat up! What more could you have to do now?”
“I KNEW HE’D BE STRONG. THAT’S WHY I HAD TO TRY TO DEFEAT HIM HERE.”
Kota’s not sure if he should be amazed or concerned. On one hand this guy’s still focused on the danger but on the other he’s a walking punching bag that really needs a sewing kit.
“SERIOUSLY UNDERESTIMATED HOW POWERFUL HIS QUIRK WAS. BUT THEN AGAIN…” The dinosaur gestures to his own size. “HE DID THE SAME TO ME.” Propping himself up he looks out into the distance, just barely over the treeline, towards the glow of blue flames, rising smoke, and the mysterious purple fog. “IF EVERY VILLAIN ATTACKING US TONIGHT IS ON THE SAME LEVEL, ALL OUR LIVES ARE AT STAKE. ON TOP OF THAT IT SOUNDS LIKE THEY’RE AFTER SOME OF US STUDENTS.” Like Bakugou and Uraraka. Heck they might be after those with heroic family ties like Shoto or Iida. “I HAVE TO LET MR. AIZAWA AND THE PUSSYCATS KNOW THAT’S ONE OF THE REASONS THEY’RE HERE.” With one big push he rises back to his feet. “I MAY BE INJURED, BUT I’M NOT DEFEATED YET. THERE ARE MORE PEOPLE I CAN SAVE.”
Kota’s in disbelief and yet…he’s not scared.
“WE’LL LEAVE THIS VILLAIN HERE FOR THE TIME BEING.” The dinosaur sways his head towards the mountain of rubble. “HE’S NOT GONNA BE GOING ANYWHERE ANY TIME SOON…” He pauses and then corrects himself. “HE’S NOT GONNA BE HURTING ANYONE ANY TIME SOON.” He cracks a smile at the thought, letting a brief moment of satisfaction take in before refocusing on the matter at hand. “FOR RIGHT NOW, I JUST NEED TO MAKE SURE YOU’RE SAFE. I’M WILLING TO BET FRIEND AND FOE ALIKE SAW ME BACK THERE. MOST LIKELY THEY’RE ALL FREAKING OUT ABOUT A POSSIBLE MONSTER ON THE LOOSE.” So, probably a good idea to get back and let them all know he’s a friend. But of course, there are other threats to consider such as the fire. “WE MAY NEED SOME HELP FROM YOU AS WELL.” The dinosaur explains peering down at Kota before turning back to the distant wildfire. “THE FOREST HAS BEEN SET ON FIRE. THAT MEANS MY FRIENDS COULD BE TRAPPED BY THE FLAMES. BUT WE HAVE HOPE. YOU’RE WATER QUIRK CAN PUT THOSE FIRES OUT.”
Kota begins to shake, unsure if he can ever do what this titan’s asking him to do.
“KOTA? YOU HEAR ME? WE NEED YOU.” The dinosaur smiles reassuringly letting the boy know that as long as he’s with him, no one’s gonna hurt ‘em.
And so, after braving himself, the young boy gives a hesitant yet determined nod.
“NOW, HOP ABOARD.” The dinosaur lowers his arm. “WE NEED TO GET YOU TO CAMP, FAST.”
“You sure you can carry me?” Kota asks as he gingerly climbs into the giant’s right hand. “You’re all busted up.”
“NO NEED TO WORRY.” The alien affirms, seating the boy on his shoulder; thus, freeing his arm. “YOU’RE RIDING A LIVING DINOSAUR, KID. AIN’T NOBODY’S MESSING WITH US!”
After pulling off that great one liner, the twelve-foot behemoth charges through the trees, plowing his way through with ease. However, his mind wanders back to what Muscular had said: ‘“I know. Why don’t you tell me where they are? I bet that kid with the Explosions will put up a good fight or how ‘bout that chick with the crazy space Quirk? Where are they hiding?”’
‘I’VE GOT A BAD FEELING ABOUT THIS.’
He looks out to the sky again, towards the black columns of smoke but then as he follows the stars back towards the height of the lodge, he notices figures. An army of silhouettes swoop down from the pitch-black sky while unleashing monstrous shrieks and calls that even he can hear from this distance.
Listening closely and watching how the figure’s massive sharp-wings flap and flutter, along with those inhuman shrieks, the alien comes to a single conclusion. ‘ARE THOSE-’
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‘-Mutant Bats?!’ Aizawa backs away, Capture Scarf weaving around his head like serpents preparing to strike.
Appropriate considering that an entire swarm of giant mutant bats are shrieking their way across the smoke-filled air. With narrow bodies and wings twice as long as they are, they tear through the sky at blazing speed. Razor sharp talons line their wings as monstrously jagged fangs pierce out from their ling-hinged jaws. Their beady yellow eyes glow in the darkness with ferocious savagery as drool and spit spew from their maws as they screech. “SKREEEEEEEEE!!!”
Aizawa leaps up and kicks one of the man-sized bats right out of the air but soon has to duck as a duo swipe past his head. He manages to catch one by its feet with his scarf and swing it back at another only to dive away as a fifth mutant nearly takes his arm.
“SKREEEEEEEEE!!!”
Back and forth they go with the hero managing to strike one before three others nearly do him in. The only thing keeping him alive is his expert acrobatics and agility. ‘They’re just like before.’ Aizawa thinks as he throws his head back and away from a set of bloodthirsty fangs. They’re just like those mutated fish and serpents that attacked the U.S.J.!’
“SKREEEEEEEEE!!!”
He’s outnumbered, there has to be at least thirty of them and those are just the ones he can see. Who knows how many more are out there? Thankfully they don’t seem that powerful, if anything these are nothing, but cannon fodder meant to distract him. “Pests!”
“Skreeee!!” But then again, these pests have teeth, and they know how to use them. Which is well demonstrated as one of the bigger ones swoops in for a bite.
And it sure receives its fair dosage of blood, as a congealed wave of it snatches the beast right out of the air.
“When dealing with pests it’s always best to call an exterminator.” Vlad King growls, crushing the mutant in a case of solidified blood before.
Aizawa gasps. “Vlad?! You’re supposed to protect the students!”
“We saw that giant villain, and figured you’d appreciate a hand.”
Aizawa pauses. “We?”
“SKREEEEEEEEE!!!” More mutant bats dive bomb the teachers.
“Stay away from our teacher!” Mina Ashido screams out throwing a splash of Acid at the flying rodents.
The trio of mutants shriek in pain as the Acid burns through their mangled fur. With painful shrieks they take off back into the woods.
“You rats with wings are better off back in your caves!”
As more of the swarm circles in the air some of the rodents find themselves webbed up in a ball of tape.
Hanta Sero smirks as his Tape tangles around more of their wings and talons. “Sato!!”
Just like the U.S.J. Rikido Sato rips off Sero’s tape and gives the mutants a new flying experience by spinning them around before launching them high into the air with a resounding roar. “Raaaaghh!!”
“No mercy for you!” Yuga Aoyama winks and gleefully twirls as he fires off several Naval Lasers.
The sparkling lasers pierce through the circling swarm, blasting several right out of the sky.
“Magnifique.” Aoyama winks, basking in his glorious display.
All before a trio of bats decide to greet him in person. “SKREEEEEEEEE!!!”
“EEEeeeekkk!!” Aoyama shrieks in terror.
“Raaaagh! Hahaha!” A Hardened skinned Eijiro Kirishima and an Electrically charged Denki Kaminari manage to intercept the trio and fend them off with their respective Quirks.
“They can’t touch us!!” They both declare out for all the mutants to hear.
“Skreeee!!” Too bad one of them decides to challenge their bravery by swopping in from behind.
“Waaahhh!!” Caught off guard the two cry out in terror.
There’s a slap of a hand on Kirishima’s back before a blonde-figure rushes past and bashes their Hardened fist into the monster’s face, busting its fangs and nose.
“Hehehe. Typical of Class A hogging the spotlight for themselves.” Neito Monoma smirks, his Hardened fist poised over the unconscious flying rodent. “Don’t you idiots realize just how outnumbered we are?”
He might be acting all cocky but it’s clearly a face to hide the fact that he’s shaking to his core at the sheer size of the swarm.
Aizawa doesn’t like the looks of it either. “You’re allowing them to use their Quirks?!”
Vlad King huffs as he finally drops the poor unconscious mutant. “Believe me I didn’t want to. But with the current situation I thought it best to take action. HAA!!” He manages to swat another out from the air before turning to his colleague and asking. “Wouldn’t you agree?”
Aizawa frowns, uncertain of what Vlad King is suggesting.
“My kids are out there, the same as yours, they need us out there.” Vlad King pauses before correcting himself. “They need you out there. You’re faster. And your Quirk is far more useful out there than against some flying rats. We’ll keep the lodge safe as you collect the others.”
Aizawa doesn’t know what to do. Should he leave the students he has here? That fire villain made it very obvious that he’d be back. But what about the rest of the students? Will they really be fine on their own? What is he-
“Mr. Aizawa.”
Aizawa stops, looking over to see a terrified yet Mina stare up at him with determination in her dark eyes. “Everyone…is so…afraid. But we can do this.” She steels herself even as her antennas twitch and sway with every ounce of fear emitting across the forest. “Please…save everyone!!” She cries out.
And with that his mind is made up. “Everyone stay on your guard! I’ll be back!” He takes off, sprinting past the man-sized mutants before vanishing into the brush.
Seeing that the show is his now, Vlad King gets to rallying the troops. “Listen up! Today there is no Class A or Class B. Today I want you all to show me what the First Year Class of U.A. can do! Do you understand me?!”
“SIR, YES, SIR!!!” The entire remedial group cries out in unison.
“I want at least fifteen bats downed by each of ya! The losers have to clean the latrines.”
“ARE YOU SERIOUS!?!”
Meanwhile, Aizawa continues through the darkness taking heart that he knows they’ll be in good hands, but he still has his worries. ‘That villain. He must have been fighting someone, a student? If he decides to set his sights on the lodge everyone will be sitting ducks.’
He changes directions heading off towards the risen or rather collapsed cliffs.
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He’s slowed down, no longer is the dinosaur crashing through the forest but instead lumbering forward, causing the ground to thump with every heavy step. His breath is labored but steady as the transformed Deku tries to conserve his strength.
But another reason he slowed down was the boy fidgeting on his shoulder. Kota’s been uneasy for the entire trip, constantly scanning for anything scary while shaking with fear.
The alien feels guilty, the kid shouldn't have to go through this. He needs to distract him, get his mind off the danger. “I COULD USE YOUR HELP.”
Kota’s head snaps down at the dinosaur. “Huh?”
“I NEED YOUR HELP TO COME UP WITH A NAME?”
Kota stares, not sure if he heard him right. “What?”
“YEAH. I NAME EVERY ONE OF MY TRANSFORMATIONS. YOU ALREADY SAW WILDMUTT. AND THEN THERE WAS UPCHUCK. BUT THIS GUY’S NEW. SO, I NEED A NEW NAME.”
Kota gives him a deadpan stare. “That’s dumb.”
‘SO, HARSH!’
But despite the jab, Kota still takes the time to think about it. “I-...I don’t know. How about…Fossil Fighter?”
“HM. I DON’T KNOW. I LIKE SOMETHING MORE CREATIVE. YOU KNOW, BRANDABLE. LIKE…DINO MIGHT! OR MAYBE DEKU-REX? MT. CRETACEOUS? OH! OR HOW ABOUT, DINOROAR?! I LIKE THAT ONE!” The newly dubbed Dinoroar nods, grinning from ear to ear, proud of his creativity. “WHAT DO YOU THINK?”
Once again, Kota gives the giant a deadpan look. “Those are the lamest names I’ve ever heard.”
‘SO, HARSH!’
But either way Kota does try to at least offer something up, but nothing sounds right. All he can think about is how humongous this dinosaur is. “Maybe…Humongous? Humungou-...saur? Humungousaur?”
“HUMUNGOU…SAUR?” The dinosaur considers the name and smiles. “HUMUNGOUSAUR…? OH YEAH THAT’S THE ONE!” He inhales and then bellows out his newest title. “HUMUNGOUSAUR!! YEAH! THAT’S GOT SOME REAL WEIGHT BEHIND IT.” Humungousaur grins up at the kid on his shoulder. “IT’S PERFECT.”
“Yeah. I guess.” Kota shies away but a tiny smile manages to slip out.
Humungousaur’s glad he could help; hopefully this experience won’t be that traumatizing.
A sudden rustling of leaves and branches alert them to nearby movement, instantly putting them both at edge.
Kota immediately cowers into the dinosaur’s neck. “What was that?”
Humungousaur gently grabs him and tucks him close to his chest, keeping him safe from whatever's out there. “KEEP STILL.”
They watch the shadows closely as an ominous silence befalls the forest. Every soft rustle of leaves and twigs sets them more and more on edge, the behemoth becoming more paranoid with every dragging second.
Like a serpent striking at its prey, a flash of a tendril or thin tentacle shoots out from the brush and makes a beeline for the terrified Kota.
Humungousaur swats the whip away. “HE’S MINE!” He tucks the kid closer, shielding him completely from view. ‘NOT GOOD! THEY’RE AFTER KOTA!’
One after the other these mysterious tendrils lash out and whip at the dinosaur’s hide. Forcing the giant to tuck himself in, ensuring Kota’s safety first and foremost. But the more the barrage of whips strike at him the more and more panicked he becomes. With one arm on Kota and the other broken, not to mention how exhausted he is, he can’t risk another one-on-one fight with some unknown villain. But at this rate he’s nothing but a giant sitting duck!!
Just as he’s considering using the last of his stamina to go humongous, the mysterious tendril wraps itself around his neck with a crack as a set of feet land on his shoulders. His head is then pulled back by with a snap, nearly choking him as he’s forced to face his attacker.
“Let the child go. Or you’ll find out what happened to your ancestors.” A pair of glowing red eyes glare down at the dinosaur as a wave of black hair dances off the man’s head like ebony flames.
Humungousaur instantly recognizes his attacker, not as a villain but as a hero. “MR. AIZAWA! IT’S ME!”
Aizawa pauses, his red eyes going dim as he takes a second to let his eyes adjust to the darkness. “Midoriya?” He spots the Omnitrix, realizing his mistake before he unwraps his Capture Scarf and hops down. “Apologizes. I thought you were-” He cuts himself off, his breath escaping him as he takes in just how busted up the teen is.
This may be an unfamiliar form to him but it’s clear that this dinosaur is not supposed to have a black and twisted arm, a bruised hide, or an inflamed eye.
But despite all that, Humungousaur’s just relieved to see him. “YOU’RE HERE. THANK GOODNESS.” He lowers the shaken Kota down, allowing the boy to slide off his hand. “I NEED TO CATCH YOU UP ON WHAT I’VE LEARNED ABOUT THE VILLAINS, BUT-WE-DON’T-HAVE-MUCH-TIME.”
“Hey-”
With his adrenaline pumping from the scare, the transformed Deku barely gives himself a second to breathe as he spills over the details. “PLUS, I-NEED-TO-FIND-MANDALAY. THERE’S-SOMETHING-I-HAVE-TO-TELL-HER!”
“Hold on!”
“PLEASE, TAKE-CARE-OF-KOTA-WHILE-I’M-GONE!”
Aizawa scowls as the giant-sized student rambles on. ‘This kid is running on pure adrenaline.’
“I’LL-BE-BACK-SOON!”
“Wait, Midoriya!!”
He nearly took off into the woods, but he finally has enough reason to stop and listen.
Aizawa sighs in exasperation. “Those injuries… You went too far again, didn’t you? Have you forgotten about Hosu?”
“UH…” Humungousaur thinks back on what Chief Tsuragamae has told him and his friends after the fight with Stain and SixSix: “‘That’s why it’s against the law for uncertified people to use their Quirks to cause injury. None of you had the authority to harm the villain.’”
“NO. I HAVEN’T.”
Then he understands. “Go. But tell Mandalay something for me, too.”
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Back in the clearing, the Wild Wild Pussy Cats are engaged with the League of Villains and are having a rough go at it.
Magne is expertly blocking and dodging every one of Tiger’s Cat Punches, his claws just barely wheezing past her head. “No fair! Back off! Let me equip my item!”
Her metal bar is left discarded, lying beside an unconscious Pixie-Bob.
Tiger spins into the air, and throws a rolling kick followed by an array of powerful Cat Punches, but the villain easily dodges and ducks through each one before leaping away. ‘Damn it! How is she predicting my Cat Combat?!’
But if he thinks he’s got it bad, then he might have some tiny solace in the fact that he’s not the only one struggling with his opponent.
“You’re not-” Spinner takes a swing with his collage of swords. “A real hero!!”
Mandalay just barely dodges the blades with only milli-seconds to spare. ‘He’s not letting me through!’
As she leaps back her eyes trail over towards the main path, where Iida had led the other students away. That’s when she spots a purple-armored figure blocking their way.
“Tiger! The kids!”
Tiger turns away from Magne to look. “Who is that?!”
Before Tiger can make a move, Magne is the one to cut him off with a sly smirk. “Did you really think they’d send only two of us to deal with pro heroes?” She turns to call out to the kiddies. “Listen up darlings! Say hello to our dear acquaintance, SevenSeven! He came highly recommended, I’ll have ya know! Not much of a talker though.”
Horrified, Tenya Iida comes to a stop, confused. “SevenSeven…?”
SevenSeven interrupts him with a dialogue of incomprehensible growls and gurgles. “Tno’d uyo tge ti? Uyo’er ealngid with het tetsal odlem!” He then draws his arm-blaster at the kids and fires.
He unleashes a rapid fire of laser bolts upon the teens, who dive out of the way at the last second as the burning bullets of plasma race through the air, nearly hitting the pro heroes and his own allies.
Spinner uses his giant blade as a shield against the incoming laser bolts. “Hey! Friendly fire! Friendly fire!”
But SevenSeven doesn’t heed his warning, instead bringing in his second arm-blaster into the mix. “Ym dba! Tgo na tihcy ggrriet gnerfi!”
Just before he's about to fire Iida leaps into action, reacting instantly to the danger.
“MOVE!!!” With a boost from his Engines Iida boosts forward and manages to sweep up all three of his classmates in his outstretched arms and hurry them all aside just as SevenSeven unloads his blasters.
Iida dashes across the clearing with violet laser bolts hot on his heels.
Seeing that they’re inches away from being turned to ash, Mashirao Ojiro shoves himself away from Iida. Giving himself a spin of his body, he manages to slap a lone rock right off the ground with his tail and shoot right back at the stationary bounty hunter.
*WHACK!!* The rock hits his arm dead on, deflecting it away much to SevenSeven’s annoyance. “Yhe! Tchwa het aintp jbo!”
Unable to carry them all, Iida slides to a stop against the rocky earth with Minoru Mineta tumbling out of his arms.
“I t-think you made him angrier.” Mineta cowers, hiding behind his Class Rep.
“Help us, my feathery friends!!” Fearing for their lives, Koji Koda cries out into the nearby woods.
Just as SevenSeven’s about to shoot a small flock of pigeons and crows swarm him. Pecking and cawing at his helmet, hindering his vision.
“Mnitad! Trisf atbs, own irbds! Yhw peds hits uthroa ikel sinug anmiasl os ucmh?!” He swats and swipes at them only for the birds to just barely evade his claws.
With the villain distracted, Ojiro sees this as their opportunity to counter. “Now’s our chance! He’s just one guy! We need to fight back!”
Mineta is quick to air his panic. “Are you crazy?!”
Koda seems hesitant but is also considering it. “But-they need help!”
“We need help!” Mineta cries.
Seeing that this is going nowhere Ojiro turns to give the Class Rep. the final say. “Iida!!”
But he doesn’t know what to do either. He’s hesitating to rush to a decision, despite the situation needing him to act quickly. Of course, he’d like to assist the heroes as much as possible. The last thing he wants is to abandon them and leave them to deal with three villains and whatever else is out there like that roaring giant they saw.
But his mind races back to Hosu City and how he and his friends were admonished for their…his actions. He cannot in good conscience disobey the law, but his conscience will not let him rest if he were to turn tail and run. But he can’t risk his classmates' lives either?!
“Aaaah!” Iida’s mind is racing, swirling with fears and indecision to the point that it feels like his head is going to explode.
“Cissinoed. Cissinoed.”
Iida’s head snaps up just in time to witness the bounty hunter brutally cutting down the flock with a high-tech sickle.
The villain grips the sickle by the hilt with the blade itself projecting out as a violet-colored plasma that sparks in the dark lit forest.
“Khnti reacllfyu own. Ro uyo imhgt utjs osel uory ahde.”
“Kids!!” Mandalay screams and quickly tries to make a move to get to them.
“Don’t look away!!” Enraged, Spinner takes another swing, this time grazing Mandalay’s aura to the point that he manages to slice off a few of the acrobatic heroine’s hairs. “You brought this on yourself, girl!!” He raises the massive great sword over his head and takes a massive swing down at her.
Mandalay once again barely dodges as the great sword smashes into the ground with grizzly effects. “Jeez, you’re persistent!”
“As are you!!” The lizard pounces after her with the great sword at the ready. “But it’s time to knock you off your false throne!!” With her in the air, he prepares the killing blow!
“SMAAASH!!!” A giant fist crashes through the brush and totally shatters the collage of blades to nothing much to Spinner’s horror and Mandalay's surprise.
Even Iida and the others, along with SevenSeven, are taken back as a twelve-foot-tall dinosaur stampedes onto the scene at full speed.
“MANDALAY!” The behemoth roars with abandon. “KOTA! HE’S SAFE!”
Mandalay’s head snaps up just as she spots the familiar hour-glass symbol on the dinosaur. “You found him?!”
“AND I’VE GOT A MESSAGE FROM MR. AIZAWA!” Humungousaur slides to a stop, his momentum and weight too great for him to properly slow down. “WE NEED YOU TO USE TELEPATH!”
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Aizawa is dashing through the woods at full speed, even with the terrified Kota clinging to his chest he ensures that every step is quick and light, ensuring himself a quick return. The only weight on his mind is that of the villain Dabi’s words: “‘Tell me, hero. You worried for your students? I wonder if you can save them in the end.”’
That statement made it all too clear. ‘His words made it clear to me that our students are the targets. So, it’s unavoidable. They have to protect themselves. And each other. Go ahead and use your training. I’ll take the heat.’
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Humungousaur roars out Aizawa’s message with the ferocity of his ancestors. “TELL EVERYONE IN CLASS A AND CLASS B THAT ERASERHEAD HAS GRANTED THEM PERMISSION TO ENGAGE IN COMBAT WITH THE VILLAINS!”
Mandalay instantly understands. {“Everyone in Class A And Class B!”} Her Telepathic message goes out and floods the head of every student in the entire valley. {“In the name of the pro hero, Eraserhead, you are granted permission to engage in combat! I repeat. Use your training. You may fight these villains!”}
Iida’s head snaps up in shock. Before a cold realization dawns on him.
Meanwhile, Mandalay may have given the message, but she still has her reservations. ‘I hope you know what you’re doing, Eraser.’
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He does.
‘Future heroes. Do not let this night be the end of your journey!’ Aizawa takes off faster through the brush and thickets, while making sure Kota is safely secured in his arms. ‘I forgot to tell Midoriya to come back right away. This is bad. The only reason he’s still going with those injuries is because of the endorphins pumping through his body. It’s temporary. Once he’s accomplished his goals and calms down a little, he won’t be able to move at all.’
“M-Mister.” The terrified Kota chokes back a sob as he clings to Aizawa’s shirt and buries his face into his scarf. “Is he gonna be, okay?”
Aizawa hesitates to answer. Instead giving the boy a chance to air his regrets.
“I…I sort of kicked him before. And still, he got beat to a pulp just so he could protect me.” With a sob his little fist tightens into Aizawa’s scarf. “I-I never ap-apologized. Or even th-thanked him. Please tell me… He’s not gonna get hurt more, r-right?”
Aizawa surely hopes not but on the other hand… “Don’t worry. He sustained those injuries because he has no intention of dying. Though, as his teacher, when this is over, I’ll have to scold him for acting without my permission.”
Kota peers up at the hero in confusion. “Really?”
“Anyway. You’ll get your chance to talk to him again. And when you do, put more emphasis on the “thank you” part.”
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With the message sent, Mandalay returns to worrying about the students’ safety. “Get back to camp right now!” She jumps and delivers a kick to Spinner’s side. “Those injuries aren’t normal!”
“I’M SORRY. I CAN’T!” Humungousaur rises and quickly, or as fast a heavy dinosaur can, runs for the forest. “YOU NEED TO SEND ONE MORE THING! THE VILLAINS, I KNOW TWO REASONS THEY’RE HERE!”
His classmates gasps, freezing in place as their hearts come to a stop.
Even while in combat with Tiger, Magne’s ears perk up at the news. “Huh?”
“THEY’RE AFTER KACCHAN AND OCHACO! PLEASE, YOU HAVE TO LET THE OTHERS KNOW!”
“Kacchan?! Who’s that?! No! Wait! Stop!” Her calls fall on deaf ears as the giant rushes past and back into the woods just past the brawling Magne and Tiger.
Magne is instantly put on edge at the sheer presence of the monster. ‘That rumble in the ground earlier. Only three people in our group fight with that kind of power. And sounds like one of them talked. Could it possibly have been Muscular? Don’t tell me this fossil is more powerful than him! In that case-...!’ Magne shoves tiger away and yells out to her teammate. “SevenSeven!!”
With blazing agility, SevenSeven rockets across the battlefield, plasma sickle whipping around in his claws as he prepares to slice up the giant meat shield. “Ll’i utc uoy wond ot zesi-!!”
But he’s the one cut off, as a rock-hard knee to the helmet bashes into his side and knocks him away. “Didn’t you hear Mandalay?! Mr. Aizawa has given us permission to use our Quirk!!” Engines roar to life as Iida sends SevenSeven flying. “I refuse to let you harm anyone else!!”
With SevenSeven held back, Humungousaur is able to crash through the forest unhindered before vanishing into the dark underbrush.
While combating Tiger, Magne snarls at the annoyance. “Darn, kid!”
As she and Tiger clash fists, Ojiro swings around Tiger to deliver a strike with his tail, landing it into Magne’s side and shoving her away.
Magne nearly tumbles over as she’s knocked back. She snarls as Ojiro takes a karate like stance beside the cat-posing hero. “My mistake I meant to say, darn kids. Spinner stay on your guard!!”
“Of course!” Spinner shouts back while quickly back peddling away from an onslaught of purple balls. “But if only I can keep my balance!”
“Waaaah!!” Snot is running down Mineta’s face as he throws Sticky Ball after Sticky Ball at the villain. “Damn you villains! This was supposed to be a test of courage where I’d finally get to witness some superb gothic beauties!!”
“You’re absolutely aberrant! Clearly this society has poisoned you! GAH!!!” Spinner gets the wind knocked out of him as Iida zooms in and delivers a high-speed kick right into his gut.
“We are not poisoned!” Iida shouts, zooming away from the stumbling lizard. “We simply wish to protect our friends and mentors!”
Mandalay is blown away by these kids as she’s left stunned at their bravery. “These kids…”
Suddenly a chorus of flapping wings, feathers, and caws crash their way through the leaves and treetops as a wave of angry eyed birds floods over the forest clearing. All accompanied by Koda’s shouting. “Defend your home my magnificent flying friends! Help us save everyone!!”
His cry pierces the birds’ minds and hearts as they all caw and dive bomb the villains.
*PEW! PEW! PEW! PEW! PEW! PEW! PEW!*
A rapid fire of red laser bolts forces the flock back as SevenSeven comes racing into view with fury in his eyes. “Lrihgta, meit ot elt osoel!”
With a roar he sprints into the fray just as the flood of birds decide that he’s to be their first target.
But he repels them away by tossing up a handful of grenade pelts that explode causing blinding lights and bangs to dance in the air.
“My eyes!!” Tiger goes blind too along with the panicking birds.
He swipes at his eyes, trying to regain his vision but as he does, he’s met with SevenSeven’s violet sickle.
SevenSeven slashes at his head, but the hero's reflexes are just milliseconds faster as he just barely throws his head back. The sickle slices up through the air and if he had been a moment to late the blade would have sliced right through his chin and up through his skull.
“Haaa!!” Ojiro rushes to Tiger’s aid, leaping through the air to deliver another strike of his tail.
At the same time Tiger rebounds and prepares a devastating right hook!
The strikes do land, but too little to no effect as SevenSeven has caught their incoming limbs within his claws. Gripping them tight his rocket pack explodes to life, rocking them all into the air.
The two scream as they’re ripped right off the ground only for the bounty hunter to start spinning at high speed before letting them go and launching them away.
“AAAHHH!!” Ojiro screams watching as the ground comes closer and closer.
“Ojiro!!” Iida zips across the battlefield, his eyes locked onto Ojiro’s falling form. He turns and manages to catch the Tailed Teen in his arms but their momentum’s too great causing them to slide before falling to a stop with Iida still holding onto Ojiro. “Are you alright?!”
He is but has other concerns. “What about Tiger?!”
“I’m fine!” Tiger shouts from across the clearing as he slides to a stop with both hands and feet on the ground. “Cats always land on their feet.”
As Tiger recovers, they all look to the sky where SevenSeven hovers in the air before them. His sickle out and ablaze as his left arm returns to its blaster form. All the while Spinner and Magne regroup just below him.
But despite the villains’ display the students don’t show a hint of wanting to back down. Sure fear is there but their resolve keeps them standing shoulder to shoulder with each other.
Which is of course something Tiger can greatly respect. “Here’s the deal, kitties! We’re going to give these villains all we got! But the moment things turn for the worse I want you all out of here! No exceptions, you hear me?!”
“We’re with you crazy catman!!” Mineta screams with tears still dripping off his eyes while he clutches a pair of Sticky Balls
“I wish to be of use.” Iida calls back as he and Ojiro prepare to defend themselves. “I am willing to do what I must as Class Rep!!”
“All talk!” Spinner spits back venomously. “Nothing but hot air from fake heroes!!”
“Nuoghe” SevenSeven roars as a set of blasters shoot out from his ribs like thin tentacles. “I anwt ot hpoc uoy lal pu, fof eerncs!!”
Meanwhile, Mandalay is at a loss as she's debating going after the giant student but knows it’ll be a waste of time since he’s already gone. ‘Can’t stop the boy, but I can relay his message.’ Her Telepath Quirk goes out once again. {“Listen, we’ve discovered two of the villains’ targets! One is Ochaco Uraraka. And the other student’s named Kacchan.”}
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“SKREEEEEEEEE!!!” Even through all the shrieks and the flapping of giant wings those left defending the lodge can hear Mandalay’s message as clear as day.
Kirishima’s own head snaps up in worry at the message. “Bakugou?!”
Mina slides in next to him in a hurry after avoiding a swooping mutant monster. “Ochaco, too?!”
Denki frowns with worry as sparks continue to dance off his body. “What do they want with them?!”
{“Uraraka. Kacchan. You should try to avoid combat. And stick to a group.”}
“Aw, damn it!” Out of frustration, a Hardened Kirishima clobbers a bat right out of the air, smashing its fangs into its hideous face.
“Skreee!” With a wail the flying mutant losses control and crashes against the ground before sliding to a stop just before the tree line.
As the bat crumbles before the forest, a looming figure lets a cruel smirk stretch across his stitched-up features as his turquoise eyes light up under a light of azure flames.
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{“I hope you both can hear me!”}
A crazed grin is stretched across Katsuki Bakugou’s face as races down the forest path. “I could focus if you got out of my damn head!” He’s charging right at the black straightjacketed villain with the intent to fight. “I can take care of myself!!”
The villain’s jagged teeth jitter and shake in the villain’s pried open mouth. And with the sickening clashing of metal scraping metal, his teeth jet out to form webs of sharp metallic blades.
Bakugou’s moving too fast, he’s going to be skewered!
An ice wall shoots up and takes the hit, causing the elongated web of blades to embed themselves into the ice.
“Don’t rush into this fight carelessly!” Shoto Todoroki scolds while carrying a passed-out Kosei Tsuburaba on his back.
The villain, known by his allies as Moonfish, rises into the air. His Quirk, Blade-Tooth, allowing him to generate a web of sharp and elongated blades against the ground and raise him up into the air by his own jaws. “Have to keep going… Have to work… Do my job…!” He lets out a pained moan almost like he’s starving.
Shoto really doesn’t like the looks of this. “Weren’t you listening to Mandalay? They’re here because they’re after you.”
Bakugou’s so frustrated that the blood vessel on his forehead looks like it’s gonna pop! “Telling us not to engage and then changing their minds. I don’t know how, but I got the feeling this is Deku’s fault.” With a bloodcurdling scream Bakugou leaps out from the cover and charges. “Well, I don’t care what anyone says!”
Before he can make a move, the bladder-teeth that are still lodged into Shoto’s ice wall suddenly explodes into a net of blades that nearly slice away Bakugou’s face and hands.
Shoto quickly expands the ice, generating a glacier that manages to entrap the bladder teeth before rising up towards the villains.
But Moonfish demonstrates some amazing technique as he uses his own teeth to propel himself through the air, leaping and bounding away before vanishing into the canopy.
“Dammit!” Shoto glares into the canopy. “He’s good at moving through this terrain with his Quirk.”
Bakugou spits. “This freak, he looks like a scrawny little sidekick to me! C’mon, ya bastard!!”
Moonfish answers the challenge by rising high above the canopy with his blade-teeth like some kind of twisted metal-arachnid.
Shoto backs away in hesitation. “This clearly isn’t his first battle.”
Moonfish let’s out a starved moan. “Show me… Show me your exquisite flesh…!”
Bakugou’s palms immediately begin to spark and pop with heat and fire.
“We can’t start fires around here because the flames will spread!” Shoto warns seeing the azure flames already burning said forest in the distance. “Everyone could die if we aren’t careful. Do you understand me?!”
Bakugou snuffs his Explosions. “Yeah, I get it! I’m not stupid!”
The dual-haired teen peers back down the path, back towards the purple-mist that is infesting the forest that they just escaped from. ‘Even if we try to retreat, there’s poison gas everywhere. They’re obviously trying to drive us into a corner.’
He hates to admit it but…perhaps Bakugou had the right idea. The only thing left for them to do…is fight.
“Show me your flessshhh…!!”
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Tetsutetsu Tetsutetsu dashes through the purple-clouded woods, grinning from ear to ear behind his gas mask and running ahead with a gas mask. “Did you hear what she said? We’ve got permission to punch people!”
“Wait, Tetsutetsu!” Itsuka Kendo and Hitoshi Shinso chase after him with a masked Kendo begging for him to stop. “Do you understand how this gas works?!”
Thankfully, he does come to a stop but only to remark back at her. “Yeah, it’s dangerous. Give me some credit, Kendo.”
Shinso slows to a stop with an annoyed glare that pierces through his gas mask. “That wasn’t what she was referring to.”
“Huh?!”
“Listen!” Kendo shouts, trying to be louder than the gas mask can muffle her voice. “Mandalay didn’t say anything about the gas in her message. That means it must not have spread to wherever she’s broadcasting from. But that doesn't make any sense. This gas is moving really slowly. Normally it would spread out more, right? This is staying in one place. Not acting naturally. And look.” She points gestures towards the west where the purple mist is obscuring everything from view. “It’s definitely denser here than it was in the area we just ran away from.”
“Okay. So what?” It’s still not clicking in Tetsutetsu’s head.
“Take two seconds and think about it.” Shinso deadpans. “She’s saying that it’s swirling around a single source. Somewhere nearby. Like the eye of a storm.”
Kendo agrees with that statement. “If that’s true, there should be someone who’s producing the gas at the center of the storm. A villain who’s controlling it.”
And like that the pieces click together causing Tetsutetsu to beam in amazement. “Oh! I get it now! Oh, man, Kendo! You’re so amazing!!”
Although she appreciates the praise, she’s also a bit concerned with how long it took him to put it together. “I figured you’d miss the signs.”
Even Shinso’s a bit miffed by it. “Knowing people like you beat me out in the Entrance Exam is kinda insulting; not gonna lie.”
“Okay.” Kendo draws her attention back towards the swirling mist. “The closer we get to the center of the swirl, the thicker the poison will be. That’s a problem. There’s a limit to how much gas these things can filter. And the denser the gas, the shorter the functioning time.” Not to mention they only have one extra mask to share between them. “That means-”
“Ah! We run head-first into the center of the storm and punch whoever’s there!” Like his usual fashion Tetsutetsu runs off, leading the charge straight into the mist.
“Well, technically, yeah.” Chasing after him with Shinso, Kendo groans in her mask. ‘He’s a little one-note, but he’s not wrong.’
“Shiozaki and our other classmates suffered because of this villain’s stupid power. Stuff like that really pisses me off!” The Steel-skinned teen peers back at his teammates even through the thickening purple fog. “Let’s teach this bad guy a lesson, Kendo! Shinso!”
“Heh!” Kendo smirks behind her mask. ‘I can’t say that I don't like this side of you.’
“This confirms it for me.” Shinso comments running along beside her. “Everyone. And I mean everyone in the hero course is insane.”
“That includes you too, ya know?”
Shinso smirks behind his mask. “Yeah. I know.”
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At the center of the forest a massive swirling typhoon of purple mist is slowly towering over the canopy. Like an ominous tower of death with waves of smog and poison that pollute into the air and innocent students’ lungs. The swirling mist is thick like floating venomous soup, hiding anything within from view.
“Three-no. Two people are headed straight for me.” A young asthmatic voice softly hums out from the short-statured villain located at the center of the typhoon. His school uniform remains unwrinkled despite all the gas expelling from his form. But thankfully his gasmask is screwed tightly around his head ensuring his own safety. While a canister of air is strapped to his back, that way he can spend hours hidden away in his own toxic Mustard Gas.
“I guess a few of them avoided my gas and realized I’m here. I should have expected that from a prestigious school.” And despite sensing several intruders he is not at all perturbed or disappointed, in fact he sounds almost amused. “But then…no matter how wonderful their quirks may be…-” The young villain, known as Mustard, reaches inside his school jacket for something just as Tetsutetsu leaps through the thick mist!
“I found you!!” Tetsutetsu screams, going right for the young villain.
“-they’re still only human.” Mustard quickly draws his hand out from his jacket with an item in hand.
*BANG!!!*
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Humungousaur’s head shoots up in worry. ‘THAT SOUNDED LIKE A GUNSHOT. OCHACO! BAKUGOU! YOU BOTH BETTER BE OKAY!’
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The barrel of Mustard's six-shooter pistol is smoking while a cruel amused smirk is hidden behind his mask. “Ah. I saw you on TV during the Sports Festival. You can make your skin hard.”
Tetsutetsu’s head has been thrown back, but he’s alive with his entire body coated in Steel. Unfortunately, that gunshot to the head shattered his gas mask, leaving his face exposed to the toxic air.
“That means you’re bulletproof.” Mustard laughs.
Tetsutetsu stumbles back, holding his face. He might be bulletproof but that still hurt. It feels like his brain is getting rocked around in his own skull.
“Eh. That doesn’t really matter. Because now, it’s just a matter of how long you can hold your breath in this toxic miasma.”
Tetsutetsu holds a hand to his mouth, trying to prolong the inevitable. ‘Seriously? He pulled a gun?! And he took out my mask with one shot. What’s this shorty’s deal? And why is he wearing a school uniform?!’ He charges, feeling the need to end this before he’s down and out! ‘He’s probably my age!’
*BANG!!!*
Another shot, this time to the arm, repels him back again.
“What, do you think you’re the Terminator?!” Mustard mocks while tapping the side of his helmet. “Even if you can Steel yourself, charging straight in is a fool’s move. Shouldn’t you be smarter if you go to U.A.? Don’t be so rash!” He aims his revolver but not at Tetsutetsu. Instead he takes aim just below his left arm, aiming it towards his left flank. “Use your head.
Tetsutetsu panics, for hidden in the mist is Kendo who was planning on sneaking up on the villain’s left flank.
*BANG!!!*
Tetsutetsu leaps in the way of the defenseless Kendo, taking the shot instead. “GAH!!”
“Or you’re not worth killing!” Mustard howls with laughter as Tetsutetsu collapses.
“Tetsutetsu!” Kendo screams from behind her mask, seeing a crack in his armor just above his eye causing bits of blood to seep out.
Even the bullheaded Tetsutetsu knows when to call it quits. “It’s no good. Retreat!”
“Hahahahaha!!” Mustard’s laugh howls through the polluted air like a venomous taunt. “Two against one, and you were banking on a surprise attack! Haha! What a simple plan. I expected better. I’m producing and controlling this gas, yes. But that’s not all. The gas is showing me your movements with its fluctuations. In other words, you can’t hide from me.” To make his point clear he himself vanishes into the miasma, disappearing completely from the two students’ view.
“You arrogant U.A. students. Why didn’t you figure that out, huh?! You’re shattering the image I had of your school.”
They can’t see him, but they can hear him taunting them from within the thick swirling fog. They scan, searching the mist but they can’t pinpoint where he’s coming from at all.
“What a shame! Perhaps…-” Mustard comes back into view, appearing right behind the oblivious Kendo with his revolver aimed right at the back of her skull. “-you don’t deserve to be part of that school.”
Before he can shoot, a rogue Capture Scarf whips out and snags the gun away, tossing it aside and into the mist.
“WHAT!?!” Mustard spins around only to find, much to his shock, Shinso leaping out from the mist. “You…-Gah!!”
Shinso’s foot meets the villain’s gut, shoving him back.
“Someone like you has no right to call out someone else's character!” Shinso roars as his Capture Scarf lashes out again and binds his arms and waist together.
Mustard stumbles back but he finds himself tethered in place unable to move anything but his legs and wrists. But more than that he is seething with rage. “No way! How in the hell do you do that?! I can sense any and all movement in my Gas. So why couldn’t I sense you?!”
“It was nothing that complicated.” Shinso admits with a smirk from behind his mask, all the while the Capture Scarf hovers and swirls around his head like a serpent. “Just like them, I worked hard to get here.”
##########(Flashback)#########
The spring sun beats down on a lone empty soda can. Causing its tin to shine under the surprisingly spring day as birds chirp sing the last of the flowers on the trees fall away. But a lone Capture Scarf breaks the silence as it cracks in the air but completely swerves and misses the can by a mile.
Shinso lets out a loud groan, slumping in defeat while the Capture Scarf is wrapped around his neck.
“Again.” behind him stands Mr. Aizawa himself, watching critically of Shinso’s every movement and action.
They've only been training for nearly a week and the boy’s made great progress, but he still has a lot to work on before he’s ready to join the hero course.
Shinso tries again, and the Capture Scarf does move swiftly and cover the distance but once again swerves out of the way.
“Again.”
Shinso stomps his foot but has to bite his tongue as his fists squeeze in on themselves.
Not one to ignore such illogical emotions, Aizawa dresses it with his usual tact or lack thereof. “Is there something you’d like to say?”
“We’ve been doing this for hours!” Shinso finally snaps. Before realizing he’s yelling back at a teacher. “Sorry. But how can anyone use this thing? It’s a cloth! How am I supposed to throw it?” He clenches his scarf in frustration. “I’m doing everything right. I’m giving it enough power and speed so what?!”
“The air.”
“Huh?”
“You’re not considering the air.” Aizawa explains. “The wind. The shift in currents. You have to consider all those things and read ‘em.” He holds a strand of his long locks and explains. “Why else do you think I have such long hair? Trust me it’s not just because I’m lazy.”
‘I don’t know. That still feels on brand for you.’ Shinso thinks because we all know he’d never say that aloud.
Conveniently, Aizawa’s hair shifts and sways with the gentle breeze. And with it he steps up to take a shot at the tin can. “Read the air. And determine where it's going.” With a crack his capture Scarf zooms through the air and knocks the can right off its perch much to Shinso’s surprise. “Only when you can get your surroundings to work with you will you hit your target.”
########(End Flashback)#######
And using that same experience Shinso was able to crawl and snake his way through the fog. Moving with the wind and hiding along the swaying grass and ferns in order to get close and sneak up on the villain. It was a gamble to be honest as he wasn’t sure if it would work but obviously his instincts did him right.
He can’t wait to rub in Mr. Aizawa’s face later. Especially, after they spent so much time training on it.
Meanwhile, Tetsutetsu stumbles to get up as it becomes clear that he’s running out of breath. His hand even tightens around his mouth, like he’s trying to plug his own nose and mouth from opening.
“Tetsutetsu!” Seeing this, Kendo rushes to his side.
“Kendo!” Shinso calls while keeping a firm grip on the scarf, not daring to let it loosen. “The mask.” He gestures to their last gas mask which is strapped to his side.
Kendo immediately snatches it up and hurries back to her friend, holding the mask close to his face. “Here. Put it on.”
He does, slapping it on quickly with Kendo’s help. Tetsutetsu gasps for air and soon catches his breath. “Thanks Kendo. And you too, Shinso. That sneak attack was awesome!”
Shinso gives him a thumbs up in response. But he doesn't let go still, and good thing as Mustard begins to struggle against his binds. “You said you expected more than a surprise attack? That we were shattering your image of our school?” He holds the scarf a little bit tighter, pulling the villain slightly closer. “Is that image still shattered? Or are you still disappointed?”
Mustard goes still, staring silently back at Shinso through his red-eyed gas helmet.
Which is not exactly the response Shinso wanted, considering he was trying to activate his Brainwashing. ‘Damn, he knows about my Quirk.’
Even Kendo realizes this as well as she looks back between Shinso and the young villain.
As they question how the villain could know, the poisonous fog rolls back in, this time swallowing up the villain. Mustard vanishes from view, but Shinso can still feel him tied up at the end of the scarf.
Kendo backs away from the swirling mist. “That’s a lot of smog. We need to subdue him.”
Shinso pulls on the scarf, tightening the tension between him and his prisoner. “Be my guest.” He gives her the go ahead. But just as he takes a step all the tension in the scarf shifts.
“Huh?”
Kendo immediately stops in her tracks. “What is it?”
With a snap of a rope being sliced, all the tension in the scarf vanishes as it falls to the ground like a forgotten piece of rope, much to the trio’s shock. “How did he?!”
“Idiots.” Mustard's amused yet annoyed voice echoes through the mist. Like an incorporeal ghost hidden within the smog. “You’ve really messed up now. Did it ever occur to you that I’m the lynchpin to this whole plan?!”
There’s a shift in the air, a low rumbling of a deep growl followed by a heavy set of footsteps set the trio on edge.
“So, why would they just give me a stupid gun and call it a day?!” Mustard laughs. “Naw. They decided to give me a different toy to play with.”
“Graaaaaah.” From within the mist a giant creature with mint-greens skin emerges.
It’s large and has an extremely muscular physique with six retractable arms protruding from its back, with massive chainsaws gripped in each claw. It has only one extra pair of free hands with skinny reptilian-claws that fold inward, looking useless much like a T-rex’s arms. A massive crocodilian tail slides across the dirt with massive scales and leathery hide. With its only attire being a pair of ripped black pants and kneecaps. Its brain is also exposed but most of it is protected by a shiny, purple helmet with two red visors. The helmet also stretches across the monster’s entire face, encasing it’s entire snout which is over two feet long.
Tetsutetsu balks at the sight of the monster. “What the hell are you?!”
Kendo at a loss. “Is that…A NOMU!?!”
“Graaah!!” The Chainsaw Nomu roars, raising one of its arms and chainsaw high above its head.
“Nooo!!” Tetsutetsu throws himself in the way, shielding her as the chainsaw connects with his side.
The metal teeth grind and cause sparks to fly off his Steel-coated skin, tearing his shirt to shreds of yarn in the process.
“Aaahh!!” Tetsutetsu screams as the metal grinds against him.
Kendo screams. “Tetsutetsu!!”
“Stop!” Shinso cries out, letting his Capture Scarf fly and wrap around the Nomu’s arm. With a pull he yanks the muscular arm and chainsaw away as he tries to use Brainwash. “Do you really think this is okay?!”
“Graaah!!” With a roar the Nomu slashes at Shinso, snapping the scarf.
‘No effect?!’ Shinso thinks as he hurriedly dives out of the way before he can be turned into spaghetti sauce. ‘Guess there’s not much of a mind in there to begin with.’
Mustard’s laugh echoes out from the mist. “The only one it takes orders from is me!! This Nomu’s here to do what I say! And I say, show these wannabe heroes that they’re nothing!”
The Chainsaw Nomu rises at Mustard's beckon call. “Show them that their school is nothing special!!”
“GRAAAHH!!”
Kendo dives out of the way, just as a chainsaw slices off a few strands of her ponytail.
Frustrated, the beast swings its body, swinging its giant tail at the girl.
Able to read the Nomu’s movements, Kendo’s hands expand and stretch just in time to catch the incoming tail. She struggles to hold it back, her fingers gripping tightly to the scale-covered flesh. “Ugh! You’re a big fella, aren’t ya?!”
“Graaah!!” With a growl it lifts its tail and thus hoists her up.
“Wooaah!!”
Shinso throws his scarf, it snatches her by the waist, and he screams. “Tetsutetsu!!”
“I know! I know!” Tetsutetsu grabs the scarf and together they pull, yanking her away just as Nomu tries but fails to slash her apart with two pairs of chainsaws.
The two manage to catch her with Shinso checking if she’s alright. “You good?!”
“No!!” She points back at the monster.
It charges them with its arms and weapons flailing in the air to the chorus of Mustard's disembodied laughter. “Hahahahaha!!”
“GRAAAHH!!!” It swings down with all its might but Tetsutetsu leaps in to stop it.
Chainsaws meet Steeled-hands causing sparks to fly as the metals grind against each other
“Damn you!!”
“Graaah!!”
Tetsutetsu gags. “Even behind a mask I can still smell your breath!” As Tetsutetsu holds it at bay Shinso leaps up and over his shoulder, delivering a high rolling kick to the monster’s helmeted face and shoves it back as a result.
As the two engage with the monster, Kendo stops as she takes in what Tetsutetsu said. ‘Mask? Breath?’ An inspired idea pops into her head and she excitedly declares out. “Tetsutetsu you’re a genius!!”
“I am?!”
With no time to explain, Kendo hurries to address the other boy. “Shinso. Think you can handle the villain?”
He stares back at her worriedly. “Why?”
“Just trust that we can handle the Nomu. Kay?”
He does. Giving her a nod before he disengages and runs off into the mist, in the hopes of locating Mustard.
Kendo steps forward, taking Tetsutetsu’s side as they both get ready to face the monster alone.
“You ready?” She asks with a nervous smirk.
To which Tetsutetsu is more than happy to go align with. “You bet!! But I don’t exactly know what we’re doin’!!”
“GRAAAHH!!!”
They charge, taking on the chainsaw wielding Nomu alone.
All the while Mustard watches from a safe distance and while hidden away in his own Gas. But that said he isn’t just standing around instead he’s wandering the mist, keeping his gaze towards the ground as he searches for his pistol.
“You morons. None of you stand a chance.” He stops as he senses the slightest bit of movement in the Gas. “You’re all so predictable.”
On que he turns away into the mist just as Shinso leaps out and tries to sock it to him. Only to realize that the villain managed to slip away at the last second.
“You really think you can hide from me?!” Shinso calls out but there’s no answer. It would appear that the villain has gone silent again so as to not fall for Brainwashing.
“Graaah!!”
“Shit!!” A chainsaw nearly slices Shinso’s head off as he senses the incoming strike and images to roll forward and away from the psycho Nomu.
With his concentration broken Mustard has no problem airing his thoughts from within the mist. “You know I watched you during the Sports Festival. It’s how I know about your Quirk.”
Even as he evades the Nomu, Shinso scans the typhoon of poison and yet he can’t see hide or tail of the punk.
“You know I was really able to sympathize with you. You do know that don’t you?”
“Graaah!!”
Shinso ducks but stumbles back leaving him wide open for an attack.
“Hey!” But before it can deal the finishing blow, Kendo rushes in from out of nowhere and grabs onto its neck and pulls. “Aren’t we enough?!”
She pulls, choking the monster with her giant Battle Fists causing it to flail at her while she desperately holds on.
“We got this!” She yells back at Shinso as Tetsutetsu joins in. “Go! Waah!!”
He does. Scurrying back into the mist with his Capture Scarf at the ready.
He searches and searches but all he finds are Mustard's blatant taunts.
“Your Quirk it’s so…useful. Too bad its weakness is oh so obvious.”
Shinso spins around; he could have sworn he sensed something behind him. But nobody is there.
“You’re an outcast. Aren’t you, Hitoshi Shinso? Had to play dirty and sneak your way into the Hero Course. I admire that.” From within the mist Mustard comes to a stop as he steps onto something hard. Looking down he smiles as he finds his pistol. “But was it really worth it?”
Shinso keen ears pick up on the familiar sound of a cocked pistol. Without hesitating he throws his body to the ground just as Mustard takes the shot.
*BANG!!!*
Kendo and Tetsutetsu’s heads snap up. “Shinso!”
“Graaah!!” With a swing of its arms the Nomu shoves Tetsutetsu away, launching him against a tree.
“Shit!” Tetsutetsu groans. “You bastard!!” He charges, fists at the ready. But his mind wanders somewhere else. ‘I swear Shinso if you died then I’m never gonna let you hear the end of it!!’
Meanwhile, Shinso pulls himself back up to his feet. But he doesn’t stay still, making a point to move around in case Mustard tries that again. He needs to stop him before this goes too far and so he needs to rely on Brainwashing one more time. “You know a lot about me. Isn’t it only fair if you share who you are?!”
*BANG!!!*
Another shot, and he dives away but the ringing in his ears is still enough to break his concentration allowing Mustard to speak freely.
“Who am I? Like it matters. I don’t go to some prestigious school. I’m not some superstar. I’m a nobody.” There’s a shift of bullets clinking against each other. Hinting that Mustard is reloading. “But for the sake of conversation you can call me Mustard.”
Shinso can’t help but snicker. “Mustard? Like the condiment?”
*BANG!!! BANG!!!*
Shit! He really shouldn’t upset the guy with the gun.
“Funny.” Mustard calls back. “What? Is there a special class where you guys learn to throw quips?”
“Not a class. But we do have a tutor.” Shinso can’t help but wonder if Midoriya let out a sneeze from wherever he is.
*BANG!!!*
Another shot forces him back to the ground and he rolls away as he tries to vanish Mustard’s line of sight until he hits the bottom roots of a tree.
“I really do have to admire you. You’re so cool. An outsider, an outcast weaseling his way to a place he doesn’t belong. It’s almost tragic.”
*BANG!!!*
Taking cover behind the tree the bullet harmlessly bounces off the thick bark. But with his position compromised Shinso swiftly hurries away as Mustard contours to talk.
“I don’t get it! Why would any of you want to become heroes?! Especially you, Shinso!! We both looked into the abyss, Shinso! Both of us!!”
As he dashes through the mist, Shinso can’t help but wonder what this so-called abyss is. ‘Just what the hell is he talking about?!’
“Just look at them.”
Shinso hesitates but looks just to the left just as the smog dissipates just enough so he can see Kendo and Tetsutetsu holding their own against the Nomu. They move swiftly and with purpose, attacking with precision and full utilization of their Quirks. It’s like watching a ballad displaying a great battle between man and horrific monsters of old.
“Look at their Quirks. Look at what class they’re in. Look at how good they have it! They don’t know what it’s like. They don’t know what it means to be forced to face the abyss. To stare into the dark deep depths of being overlooked. Of shame. Of neglect! Of disrespect! You know what it’s like don’t you?!”
Mustard suddenly appears before Shinso with the barrel pointed right at him.
*BANG!!!*
The bullet skids the Brainwasher’s shoulder just as he throws himself to the side. He rolls across the ground, grabbing his bleeding shoulder as he takes off and away from the gun wielding maniac.
“We’re the same, Shinso!! We’ve both been ridiculed! We both know what it’s like to live with villainous Quirks!!”
*BANG!!! BANG!!!* Bullets fly after him, hitting the ground just inches from his heels.
“We’re not the heroes of this story! Guys like us don’t belong with them!!”
Shinso slows to a stop, looking around desperately. He’s out of breath and the bleeding in his shoulder is getting worse. He’s becoming frantic, looking for any way out.
Sensing that he has no more fight in him, Mustard appears before him. Strolling out for the gas with the pistol raised and ready to fire at a moment’s notice.
Shinso freezes, grateful that the mask is hiding his face from view.
Mustard stares back at him, before shaking his head with utter disappointment. “It doesn’t make sense, we both looked into the abyss. So, how did you end up so different?”
“Well for one…I can aim.”
“Grrr.” He aims and fires one last shot.
*BANG!!!*
As the bullet flies through the air, Shinso doesn’t feel fear or regret. Instead, he feels proud and almost cocky as he throws himself down to the ground.
The bullet zooms past his purple locks, tearing through them but not stopping, instead flying through the mist until it comes upon the battle between the Nomu and the kids.
And with a sickening slice through flesh and bone the bullet rips right through the Nomu’s kneecap.
Causing it to collapse to one leg with a painful shriek. “Graaah!!”
“No!!” Mustard cries out in shock as he watches his bodyguard get crippled.
“Now’s our chance!!” Kendo shouts.
“I’m on it!!” Tetsutetsu charges as per the plan. “Bring it on you wannabe horror show!!” The steel on his body glistens and grinds against each other as he dashes forward. “Give me everything you GOT!!!”
“GRAAAHH!!!” It’s more than happy to oblige as it finally utilizes all its chainsaws in order to strike down the pest of a teen.
All 6 chainsaws come flying in from all directions completely surrounding the Steel-cladded teen.
But with a clash instead of falling to his death, Tetsutetsu stands his ground catching the chainsaws in his arms. Holding five of them against himself even as their chains spin, heating up his metal and causing sparks to fly across the mist. Even his gas mask shatters away as a saw slices at his face. But he stops it, holding the bar of the blade between his iron-jaws.
‘You really think this can stop me?!’ It’s like a fire’s been lit up from under him, because his iron will refuses to break under this monster’s assault. ‘Don’t make me laugh!!’
“Yaah!!” Kendo leaps in, jumping high above her classmate. “Take this you monster! This is for all those with a one-track mind!!” With a spin and an expansion of her fist Kendo smashes her knuckles into the beast’s helmet, smashing it apart in a single blow!!
Her fist breaks through the helmet and connects with the side of the Nomu’s exposed face. It’s gator-like with a long snout and rows of sharp teeth. It eyes water as it meets the poisonous air, and its lungs burn as it gasps for breath.
Kendo delivers a chop down onto its arms, breaking its connection from Tetsutetsu. “Now take it all in!!”
“Graaahh…” The chainsaw-wielding gator Nomu or rather “Chainjaw” chokes on the Gas, its primitive mind not letting it realize its own error as it obliviously inhales the poison. It chokes and coughs, grabbing at its throat as it stumbles away into the fog and collapses somewhere out of view.
“You. Bastards!” Mustard rages, still in shock from what he just saw. “You fucking BASTARDS!!! It’s not fair!!”
Tetsutetsu claps a hand over his mouth just while a tiny trickle of blood seeps out from the corner. But he doesn’t even care, instead glad to see the punk frustrated and angry. “Why so upset? Oh. Is it because we used your own Quirk against you?”
“You think you’re some kind of badass?!” The punk takes aim with his gun. “Let’s see how badass you are when you’re SEVEN-FEET UNDER!!!”
“Enough!!” Not one to waste a villain being distracted, Shinso leaps in and manages to pull the pistol right out of mustard’s fingers before tossing it back and away towards his teammates.
“What?!” Mustard doesn’t even have time to process it before he finds his arms bound once again to his sides by Shinso’s Capture Scarf.
And with a final pull by Shinso, the bind is set. “You’re done.”
“No…” Mustard is shaking with anger, resulting in more and more Gas spewing out from him. “I won’t let anyone look down on me, again! Not ever!”
Despite all the gas it does nothing to them. As Tetsutetsu holds his breath and the rest enjoy their undamaged gas masks. If anything, the attempt at a struggle is rather sad and pathetic as Shinso is barely pulling back on the scarf.
“This is all wrong! This doesn't make any sense!! Why would anyone wanna be a hero?!” Mustard cries out almost like he’s lost his mind and has become delusional with reality after losing. “For people to fawn over someone like you, one-trick ponies, just because of where you went to school! THAT’S WHAT’S WRONG WITH THIS WORLD!!!”
Shinso and the others stare back, thinking that this punk kid did really lose it. Or maybe he never had a sound mind to begin with.
Either way what he did was wrong and Shinso is gonna make sure he sets it straight. “You said we’re alike. But you couldn’t understand why we’re different.”
The young villain stops, glaring back at the wannabe hero with anger and confusion.
“There is a difference between you and me.” Shinso leans in close as he wants to look the villain right in the eye, to ensure he fully understands. “We both looked into the abyss but when it looked back at us-” He yanks the scarf in hard, pulling Mustard with it as he scouts. “you BLINKED!!!”
He throws his knee up and Mustard’s helmet smashes into it, shattering to pieces as the knee digs through and crashes right into the punk’s face.
That one hit was too much for him as he instantly collapses backwards, and the Gas immediately dissipates to nothing.
Shinso stares down at the punk, ripping off his mask so that he can get a good laugh in. “You were all talk. Nothing but hot air, weren’t ya?”
There is of course nor response as Mustard lies there in his school uniform, defeated and broken.
“Stupid kid.” Tetsutetsu snarls after finally being able to get some fresh air. “Using a gun and wearing you’re own stinking school uniform is just telling everyone ya can’t fight. No wonder you needed a bodyguard. You can fight for shit!” He spots the 6-shooter and picks it up. Giving it a nasty glare like it’s something disgusting. “Besides this was a peashooter compared to what we’re capable of.” He puts the pistol between his teeth and with a chomp and a twist he snaps it in two before giving it a chew and swallowing. “Next time, bring some real firepower.”
“Hehe.” For some reason, watching Tetsutetsu say something so corny while eating the punk’s own weapon, makes Shinso laugh. “Dude, that’s metal.”
“Hehehehe.” The Steel-user finally sheds his Quirk after swallowing the gun.
Kendo can’t stop smiling, she’s just feels so proud of their efforts and knows that they helped and maybe even saved their friends. “You guys. We really did it.”
Tetsutetsu smiles back. “Hell ya! We took out the punk bastard and his bitch.”
“Speaking of which; where’d it go?” Kendo scans the now clear forest clearing for it, but Chainjaw is nowhere in sight.
“It fell this way, didn’t it?” Tetsutetsu looks around, wandering over to where he thinks it fell.
Meanwhile, Shinso searches on his own and soon comes upon the spot where it initially collapsed. But there’s no Nomu instead there’s a set of large tracks retreating back into the woods with a large tail print trailing behind each clawed step.
And unfortunately, a terrifying truth sinks in; they may have stopped the Gas but this horror show is far from over.
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
Humungousaur crashes through the woods, rushing along as quickly as he can despite his size and weight. ‘KACCHAN AND TODOROKI WENT SECOND IN THE TEST OF COURAGE. IF THEY DIDN’T GO BACK TO CAMP YET, THEN THEY MIGHT STILL BE AROUND HERE.’
Hopefully he can find them and then run into Uraraka and Tsuyu on the path back to the lodge since they’d be closer to there anyway.
*BEEP. BEEP. BEEP.*
In a flash of red, Izuku stumbles forward as he nearly falls over into the brush.
‘What?! Now?! Must have already been ten minutes. Damn. I thought I had more time. Huh?’
From the front a slithering dark mass lashes out at him.
Sensing the danger, Izuku tries to run but the pain in his broken arm sends a shock of pain up his system. The pain is too much, forcing him to freeze in place and unable to react as the massive shadow comes crashing down upon him.
But a set of strong warm hands snatch him right out of the way just as the mass smashes into the spot he was just occupying.
Confused, Izuku slowly peels open his eyes to find himself wrapped up in Mezo Shoji’s arms and pressed against his back like a backpack. “Shoji! What happened?” He instantly notices that one of Shoji’s limbs is bleeding profusely from the tip.
Shoji’s out of breath and Izuku can feel that he’s covered in sweat, no doubt he’s been running away from some villain or other.
But whatever the case Shoji’s just glad he was able to save Midoriya just in time. “With those injuries…you should be laid up in bed recovering. But you wanna save your friends. No matter what the cost.”
“Am I really becoming that predictable?” Izuku half-jokes, half-sighs. “Besides you’re injured, too.”
“Yes. We were ambushed by villains, and I covered us. But the attack triggered Tokoyami’s Quirk, even though he was desperately trying to hold it back.”
Izuku freezes as he thinks back to what Tokoyami had told him back during the Sports Festival: “‘My Quirk’s offensive ability gets stronger when I’m in darkness. But that makes Dark Shadow aggressive and difficult to control.’”
“No… Don’t tell me!”
Shoji hates to admit it but it’s true. “Yeah. If we wanna get through here,” he turns them both towards the looming darkness of the forest and states the obvious. “we’ll have to face Dark Shadow first.”
“RAAAAAA!!!” Dark Shadow lets out a booming roar. Its entire mass has expanded, becoming a terrifying monster like that of a cross between a raven and a kraken with massive shadow claws and tendrils thrashing about. All the while keeping a desperate Tokoyami himself as its core.
Fumikage Tokoyami spots his classmates and panic quickly sets in as he struggles for control. “Stay away…from me! You’ll die!!”
“Tokoyami, no!!”
“RAAAAAA!!!”
To be continued…
Notes:
Again, Happy New Year everyone! Hope you have fun and stay safe out there. And I hope this was a good chapter to end the year on. I liked it. Gave Shinso some time to shine and finally got to start showing how things are changing in this version: the mutant bats, SevenSeven, Mustard and the Nomu. And those are only the appetizers. Yeah, you read that right. That’s nothing compared to what’s really in store for you all.
That being said, I hope we can finally catch up with our favorite gravity girl next time and see what she’s been dealing with this entire time. But that being said I think I’ll have to cut the next chapter short again. So, it might be a Part 2 type of chapter or something. And it will for sure take 2 weeks to get here at the least. Sorry guys but my schedule does not lend itself well to where I can devote that much time in a week to this story. I do try but it is what it is
*The Chainsaw Nomu or as I like to call him, Chainsaw. Is a Nomu that has been fused with the DNA of an American Alligator.
*Also, I wanna apologize for last chapter. I made a mistake with Magne. I felt unconfident about calling them a “she” and when I looked it up on the MHA wiki it referred to them as a “he.” And not until after did I do more research and others helping to point it out that I made a mistake. And so hence forth Magne ‘s pronouns will be “She/her.”
And yes, I am aware Thirteen is a girl too, but I am keeping the pronouns “they/them” for them. Since when I started this story, their gender had yet to be revealed and as thus I am saying that for this story those are their preferred pronouns.
*This story has a TV Tropes page. https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Fanfic/HeroesNeverDieItsHeroTime
*Please check out the side story “Heroes Never Die; It’s Hero Time, Anytime.” For Omakes, OVAs, Announcements, Updates, and more.
*Fanfic is undergoing some maintenance issues. Mainly that every 90-days or so everyone's account will reset and the "E-mail Notification" or "Email Opt-in" will be turned off.
Everyone needs to go into their Account Settings and set "Email Opt-in" to Yes. Otherwise, you will not be getting alerts or emails about chapter updates from my story and all other stories on this site.
Chapter 78: Monsters in the Dark
Summary:
Izuku rushes into the chaos in the hopes to save his friends. But what kind of monsters are there lurking in the dark? And can Izuku and his friends survive against their onslaught?
Notes:
So, I am not having a good start to 2023. Finally got COVID for the first time. And yes, I am fully vaccinated. Damn, it still got me. Thankfully it wasn’t that bad, but I was bedridden for a few days. But I guess there was a benefit. I was able to work on this chapter during quarantine, so I guess something good came out of it. Actually, I finished this chapter last Friday, but I like to have a few friends read it over first so, obviously, I didn’t post it then. I also figured if I waited another week then maybe I’d get ahead on the next part. Now, don’t get used to a faster upload schedule. I’m sure some of the upcoming chapters are gonna hold me up for a while. There are some big things coming! Just wait and see.
*BR-FACT (provided by RAY ETHAN)* - Wildmutt’s name is both a joke and yet still creative. That name being “Besta.” Which can have several translations such as “Indomable Beast, Wild Animal, Monster, Creature.” But it can also translate to “Stupid, Dumb, or Low Intelligent Person." So, this name/word speaks both about Wildmutt’s, or rather Besta’s, animalistic instincts AND his low IQ!
*We have a new OP by the fabulous “Drag0n5on!” So, please send them your regards or leave a review for them here to thank them for their hard work and creative mind. Thanks again, “Drag0n5on,” for putting together a new OP scene for us!!
*This story has a TV Tropes page. https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Fanfic/HeroesNeverDieItsHeroTime
*Please check out the side story “Heroes Never Die; It’s Hero Time, Anytime.” For Omakes, OVAs, Announcements, Updates, and more.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
“RAAAAAA…!!!”
Even through this thick dark forest, the ringing of distant roars catches his ears. And he peers over the tree line into the distance past the glow of azure flames and the dissipating purple smog.
“Sounds like everyone’s having fun out there.” He growls, remaining surprisedly patient.
He wipes the blood off his hands while Kurogiri prepares to take his leave through a waiting Warp Gate.
The shadow master waits for him to follow but when he doesn’t join his side, he becomes concerned. “Don’t do anything rash.” He warns, his yellow eyes narrowing dangerously.
“Don’t worry. I’ll play nice.”
Kurogiri eyes him warily for a moment before contemplating to himself. “You are not a pawn…”
He blinks back in confusion, not sure of what Kurogiri’s talking about.
“You are a powerful asset that we can rely on.” Kurogiri explains. “And we cannot risk losing either you or me in this operation. We are to stick to Shigaraki’s plan.”
“Yeah. The Plan. Don’t worry, I know my role.” Which is staying back and only to provide support incase those bastards fuck up.
“We all have a role.” Kurogiri explains before he stops to consider a potentially bad idea. An idea that could potentially be catastrophic or perhaps be just the right amount of chaos to ensure the plan’s…to ensure Shigaraki’s plan’s overall success. “I still have one more to fulfill. So, I trust you won’t make too much of a ruckus while I’m gone.”
It takes him a second to understand what Kurogiri means until he watches the shadow man approach the portal without him. “Really? You’re letting me off the leash?” Not that he’s complaining but he has to wonder. “I thought we were just supposed to be the backup on this one?”
“We are. But we can still play an active role.” Kurogiri peers back at him and warns. “You have until I return.”
The Warp Gate washes over the shadow man, transporting him away and leaving him to his own devices.
“Ehehehehe.” With a grin, he turns facing the direction of the distant roars. “Then I’ll have to make the most of it.”
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[PLAY “ My Hero Academia Season 3 - Opening | ODD FUTURE ”]
I Keep My Ideals, Sorezore
Izuku Midoriya and Henzu Uuichi are standing back to back facing away from each other as their story of transformation from friends to enemy's flashes between them.
No Tenmei Wo Ooo
The camera P.O.V. zooms upward, traveling through space at lightspeed.
What's going through? (Instrumental)
The Omnitrix glows green, floating between a pair of Galvan hands.
Subete Wa Mi Kara Deta Sabi
Izuku runs out of Mr. Baumann’s store before jumping on his hoverboard with the man chasing after him angrily.
Haburi Yoku Fuyashita Kuro Rekishi
He begins laughing as Megawatts swarm around him and into the bright sky.
Arito Arayuru Mono Wo Sutetari
One of the Megawatts glides past Ochaco Uraraka who lets out a cheer as she leads Class A around a running course.
Mi Ni Oboe No Nai Unmei Ni
Katsuki Bakugou begins shouting as he tries to overtake her, but she just runs faster, earning his angrier.
Korosare Kaketa Koto Mo Attashi
Principal Nezu walks in front of the U.A. staff along with the WWPC before passing by a pillar. Leaving just him along with Thirteen, One-One, and Gran Torino before passing another pillar.
Shinda Me Wo Shite Ikita Jiki Soredemo Kyou Mo Ikasareteru
The pillar moves to reveal Nue standing in front of Vilgax's Legion with the League of Villains standing behind him.
Tte Koto Wa
SevenSeven appears in front of the camera P.O.V. and shoots the screen.
What's going on? Mada Sou Yari Nokoshiten Darou
Ochaco Uraraka and Tomura Shigaraki stand back-to-back as their respective mentors look down at them before the two begin to walk away from each other.
Syuusei No Shiyou No Nai Hibi No Naka Demo
Izuku looks on at a photo of him, Inko, and a faded-out figure before closing his eyes as All Might appears behind him. All Might fades out leaving Hisashi in his place. Hisashi turns and let’s loose a torrent of flames.
What's going on?
Xylene leaps from the flames, her eyes aglow with Telekinesis as she launches multiple boulders forward.
Hito Towa Chigau To
Tetrax stands firm, a wave of diamonds swallow up the nearby flames as he glares into the camera with a stoic look.
Mitometa Ue De
The diamonds melt together to reveal Lucy Mann smiling as she jumps forward to deliver a flying kick through the flaming air.
Kanousei No Rutsubo Hiraku, Ah
The fire forms a circle to reveal Cinder smirking up at a snarling Vilgax; the two glare each other down.
Dreaming
The two enemies clash creating a shockwave destroying everything around them.
Ishi Gyakusou Shikakui Sora
Civilian's runaway in panic as animalized Nomus terrorize the city all the while All for One looks on from his tower.
Kokoro No Sukima Umenu
Suddenly Pro Heroes from across Japan appear and fight the beasts head on.
Akenu Yoru Kara
All for One looks on before looking up to see something coming at him at high speed.
Nukeyou~
All Might roars as he lets loose a furious punch at his nemesis.
Mirai
The opposing powers clash creating a giant explosion of power!
No Kaizou Do Sage Bokura Wa
Zooming out it’s revealed that the explosion is a clash between orange and azure flames courtesy of an enraged Shoto Todoroki and a deranged Dabi.
Me Wo Sorashite Wa Naritai
All around them Class A & B fight the Vanguard Action Squad head on;
Bakugou uses a Howitzer Impact against Moonfish.
Iida Recipro Bursts past SevenSeven.
Tsuyu hopes over a knife wielding Toga.
Mono Nante Naito Uso Buita Hibi Wo
A pink glowing Ochaco races towards a grinning Charmcaster. As massive violet-runed tendrils curl and spiral around her form.
I Keep My Ideals; Sorezore No Jinsei
A red hued Nue and green highlighted Izuku charge at each other as chaos ensues around them.
Ai Mo Yume Mo Kiken Na Hodo Kantan Ni Hi Ga Tsuichau Nosa
The two opposing colors spark and clash like thunder and lightning across the battlefield, with Izuku transforming between Shocksquatch, Humungousaur, and more.
The two back away from each other before charging once again this time both of them in their human forms as their foreheads clash with each other.
Gongu Nari Sorezore No Tenmei
HEROES NEVER DIE; IT’S HERO TIME
Silhouettes of past Izuku and Henzu are walking with each other, with Henzu's arm flung over Izuku's shoulders.
Wo ~
All highlighted with neon green Deku, Uravity, Ground Zero, Pinky, Kraab, Tetrax, Cinder, and All Might stand in a line before the all red highlighted Nue, Ragnarok, Sunder, Rojo, SevenSeven, Techadon, Malware, and an imposing Vilgax towering over them all.
(Illustrated by Drag0n5on)
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Ch.73 Monsters in the Dark
TEN MINUTES EARLIER
{“Everyone!! Two villains attacked us.”} Mandalay’s Telepathic voice rings out in a panic all through the woods, alerting everyone to the danger. {“It’s possible there are more coming. Everyone, return to camp immediately. We’re regrouping. Do not engage any enemies.”}
Unfortunately, it’s unavoidable for some of them, Tsuyu Asui thinks as she and Ochaco have already encountered another villain. “Ochaco, is your arm, okay?”
Ochaco Uraraka winces, standing beside her while holding her bleeding left arm. A nasty gauge has been sliced through her sleeve and skin, causing it to bleed but thankfully it’s nothing that severe. “Yeah, I’m fine. It’s just a scratch.”
“Mm…Hm.” A Blonde girl in a school uniform and a bane-like mask is blocking their path. But she doesn't seem that interested in them yet, instead her feline-like eyes are intensely focused on the thin splashes of blood staining her knife. “Shallow. Not much blood.”
Tsuyu grimaces at the remarks. “What kind of person slashes people out of nowhere? Just who do you think you are?”
“I’m Toga~.” Himiko Toga happily announces while pointing the knife back at them. “Jeez, you two are super cute. Uraraka and Asui.” Her knife points from one to the other as she says their names, putting both on edge.
Especially, Ochaco. “How does she know who we are?”
“Maybe from the sports fest?” Tsuyu offers. “We know nothing about her, so we’re at a disadvantage. Stay on guard”
“There’s not enough blood.” Toga reaches behind her head, specially, the back of her large loose black mask she wears around her neck, which is decorated with pieces of pale metal in the shape of a carnivorous grin. “Normally I’d suck it directly from the cut to make it flow, but there’s no time.” She presents a metal cylinder that’s attached to a thin tube leading to a strange machine strapped to her back. “Don’t worry, girls. This machine will start pumping it out as soon as I stick it in you.” With a press a sharp long syringe pops out from the cylinder like a hidden dagger. “I’ll get my fill and move on. Who’s first?” Impatient for an answer, the villainess charges, knife and syringe in hand and ready to draw blood.
Ochaco gasps in surprise, but soon steels herself. Not one to roll over, she gets ready to charge in herself before Tsuyu’s long tongue wraps around her waist and hoists her away!
“Ochaco!” In a panic, Tsuyu lifts her away and tosses her as far as she can. “You have to get back to camp! Just like Mandalay said! We’re not supposed to engage the villains!”
“Tsu, come on!”
“I’ll be right behind you!” Tsuyu releases her, letting Ochaco fly off just as she herself turns to face the villain.
She turns back in time to find Toga’s knife just inches from her face.
She only has a second to react, parrying the knife away with her tongue. Unfortunately, cutting it in the process causing blood to gush out.
“Tsu?” Toga comes to a stop and despite the mask over her face Tsuyu can see the hints of a blush forming on the girl’s face. “Tsu~.”
“Kero…”
“What a cute nickname~.” Toga gushes, pulling down her pipe-lined mask to reveal an almost deceptively cute grin even with her fangs and blushing expression. “I think I’ll call you that, too!”
“No, you won’t! Don’t even think about it! Only my friends get to call me that!” Tsuyu tries to hop away, hoping to escape too.
But Toga’s reflexes are too fast as she throws the syringe which catches the braid in Tsuyu’s hair and pins her against a tree much to Tsuyu’s dismay but Toga’s delight. “Yay!! That means I must be your friend, too! Hahahaha!”
“I’m coming!” Ochaco rushes in after landing far off thanks to Tsuyu’s throw.
But she’s too far, giving Toga enough time to lean over the defenseless frog. “Aw, you’re bleeding, Tsu~. You couldn’t be more adorable~. I just love blood.” Toga blushes with extasy, leaning in closer towards the blood leaking out from the corner of Tsuyu’s lips. “We’re gonna be such good friends~.”
“Get away from her!!” Ochaco’s body roars with pink energy as OFA surges forth.
But a sharp pain in her thigh cuts off her focus, and forces to one knee. Peering down she finds that Toga launched one of the syringes at her.
It’s pierced her thigh and even though it’s still been lodged in for a brief second, it’s already pumping away at her blood, she can see it flowing down the thin tube quickly like a robotic mosquito.
“Ochaco!!” Tsuyu screams, while still trying to wiggle her head free.
Whereas Toga is literally jumping for joy. “Yay! That’s it! Adorable~!”
Ochaco quickly slaps the syringe away, snapping it.
But despite that Toga seems delighted with the results. “Wow~. These really do work. It was only in there for a moment, but I have so much blood now~. Yay!”
“You’re insane!”
“Hehehe~.” Toga’s blush turns a brighter shade of red
“Listen! You don’t want to fight me.” Ochaco warns, letting her fists glow pink.
“Oh~?”
“If you did see us in the Sports Festival. Then you have to know what I’m capable of. Do you really think you can stand up to me alone?”
“No~. Of course, not silly~!” Toga’s eyes flash dangerously like a feral feline that’s discovered a new bloody toy. “That’s why I brought a friend too~.”
“What?!”
On cue, a mysterious cloud of sparkling purple pixie dust slowly rains down from above, coating this entire section of the forest path like a mystical fog.
The pixie dust is almost mesmerizing but just as the sparkling dust touches the trees and dirt it sets off a chain reaction of small fiery explosions. The chain of explosions swallow Ochaco up, knocking her around as a chain of chemical reactions warps and twists the nearby trees an earth to a violet palette with macabre allure.
It’s like this section of woods was transported away to an entirely different realm. Every tree and plant are unrecognizable, each one bending and twisting like a Dr. Seuss drawing but with a lean towards the horror genre and an affinity to the color purple.
“Ochaco!!” Tsuyu screams watching as the trees bend and twist unnaturally like they’ve been cursed and manipulated.
The pixie dust soon fades away and the miniature explosions come to an end, much to Ochaco’s relief.
She collapses against the now violet colored earth; her body aching all over with small burns and bruises. She struggles to get up, her eyes burning from the searing dust. “What…was that?” That dust seemed…familiar?
A familiar venomously sarcastic voice hums in the air causing Ochaco’s breath to hitch. “Sorry, but did I steal your spotlight? My bad. But then again, you were acting so immature. Look at you. Sprawled on the ground, covered in dirt, and bleeding. After talking such big game.”
Ochaco’s head snaps up in shock to find another teen with long silver hair, and amethyst eyes. Wearing a magenta coat with purple trims and dark purple latex pants and boots. All the while a monstrous-looking purple bag with the zipper acting as a mouth and loose buttons as eyes is strapped to her waist.
“I can’t believe I ever lost to a Little Girl like you.” The older teen smirks as she remains perched upon one of the now twisted trees, having been warped and bent to look like a brown and purple candy cane that’s been twisted around.
Ochaco gasps. “Ch-Charmcaster?!”
“Hoho, the Princess of U.A. remembers me.” The Charmcaster sarcastically teases. “I’m sooo honored. Oh, a lowly witch like me is nothing compared to you.”
“Why are you here?! What’s your game?!”
“My game? Hehe.” She reaches through the purse’s mouth and juggles out a number of clay figures. “It’s nothing that complicated.” She explains while lazily letting the figures fall from her fingers and tumble down to the ground. “The League of Villains wanted some good old fashion payback on the kids that humiliated them. And so do I.”
From the ground where the clay figures fell the ground shifts and contorts as large golem-like creatures sprout forth. With purple runes lining their bulky gorilla-like frames.
Ochaco scampers to her feet, quickly backing away from the monsters.
“What’s the matter, brave hero?” Charmcaster teases, as her new and improved Golems come to life. “Can’t you handle a little witch like me?! Ehehehehe!”
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Meanwhile, someone else is facing their own troubles. Specifically, Kraab he’s been constantly on the move since splitting from Deku, but his trip has not been going well. Why?
["Kraab" by Voidv25 on Deviantart]
“Curse, these little legs! They’re useless!!” Kraab screams, mostly to himself as he continues to run.
Or rather scuttle across the ground. Thanks to Melissa Shield’s upgrades he can move but now he has to scuttle across the ground like a real crab, walking along sideways with his pincers up.
“I'm glad I can move around on my own, but this is ridiculous!! A Gatlian can outrun me!! Was it too much to give me a rocket booster? Or a grapple?! Seriously?! Anything would have been nice!!”
He must not just be complaining to himself as the faintest sense of being watched sets over him. Being an ex-bounty hunter he’s more sensitive to these things, going on high alert.
“What? Who’s there?!” He calls out, pincers raised towards the pitch-black darkness of the forest. “I know you’re there! I know when I’m being hunted! Now come out and face me like a crustacean!”
But there’s no response.
No movement.
No presence.
Perhaps he’s just going paranoid? Maybe the fact that there’s a number of unknown assailants is getting to him?
And so Kraab continues on his way, but he doesn’t make it a few steps before his own shadow launches up and snatches him away into the woods. “Aaaahh!!”
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{“Everyone in Class A And Class B!”} Mandalay’s Telepathic message calls out again into the valley. {“In the name of the pro hero, Eraserhead, you are granted permission to engage in combat! I repeat. Use your training. You may fight these villains!”}
“Mr. Aizawa said that?!” Tsuyu gasps between pulling on her hair but the syringe is still keeping it pinned to the tree.
Toga giggles in delight, having heard the announcement as well. “Does that mean you’ll stay and play with us?! Huh, Tsu~?!”
“Stay away from her!” Ochaco screams, zipping past the gorilla-like golems like a pink blurr.
Toga’s eyes narrow, flashing dangerously like a cat’s before leaping away. And just in time as the pink blur, that is a glowing Ochaco, rips Tsuyu free and dashes away.
Meanwhile, Mandalay’s Telepathic call continues. {“Listen, we’ve discovered two of the villains’ targets! One is Ochaco Uraraka. And the other student’s named Kacchan.”}
Ochaco and Tsuyu slide to a stop, both stupefied by the news.
{“Uraraka. Kacchan. You should try to avoid combat. And stick to a group. I hope you both can hear me!”}
“You’re all really after Ochaco?!” Tsuyu gasps.
From atop her perch, Charmcaster seems hesitant to answer, averting her gaze before coming to a decision. “Of course. It’s like I said. I want payback!!” Grabbing a pair of knives entwined with a feather each, Charmcaster’s Alchemy dusts over them as she launches them forward.
The knives and feathers emerge from the sparkling dust cloud like flying razorblades, shooting through the air at blinding speed.
Ochaco grabs Tsuyu before throwing them both to the ground letting the ethereal-looking blades slice fast the overhanging warped branches and roots. “Tsu!! Are you okay?!”
“I’m fine. Kero.”
“Well, you won’t be for long. Crush them!” Charmcaster screams from atop as her minions sets themselves upon the girls.
The hulking golems are only six feet tall with stubby legs and thick frames, it’s almost cartoonish but their strength speaks for itself as they easily shove and crash their way through the transmuted forest.
With a chorus of growls and snarls the purple-clay Golems attack. Throwing slashes and fists at the girls, who respond in kind.
Tsuyu manages to kick one in the chest, launching it back and into its brother; both crumbling away to rubble.
While Ochaco manages to leap back as another Golem swings its fists down in an attempt to crush her. With its arms down she slaps its arm making it float in the air.
As the first Golem floats upward another Golem charges only to be crushed when Ochaco releases her Zero-Gravity on the first.
“You stupid monstrosities!” Charmcaster screams before throwing out more of the tiny clay figures. “There’s only two of them!!”
Tsuyu bounces off one Golem’s head and to the next before landing beside Ochaco.
“What are these things?!”
“They’re golems!” Ochaco explains while managing to cripple another one by floating it up and dropping it. “Stupid clay golems! But they used to be smaller! And…cuter in that scary kinda way.”
“You like ‘em, Uravity?” Charmcaster calls out while still watching from her perch upon the highest warped-tree. “These are my new and improved minions.” She holds up another clay figure and looking closely one can see bits of animal fur mixed in said clay and stone. “Dr. Animo hooked me up with some gorilla DNA which makes for some powerful foot soldiers!”
“Powerful?” Ochaco scoffs as she crushes one of the soldiers under her glowing fist. “They still break the same!”
“Grrr. Crush them!!” Charmcaster shrieks.
“Grrrr!” Her wish is their command as her minions set after the girls once again.
Tsuyu lashes up one of the golems in her tongue before swinging around into another squad, crushing them all. “She really doesn't like you.” She comments, long tongue sticking out, back at Ochaco,
Ochaco fist’s smashes straight into a golem’s chest before it explodes in a flash of pink light. “Yeah, well I nearly got her arrested during my internship. But that was after she betrayed my trust! And lied to me about her evil Uncle!!” She shouts the last part, loud enough for Charmcaster to hear.
But instead, someone else was listening in.
“Oooh~. Tell me more!” Toga suddenly appears from seemingly thin air, her face still flushed with red even while she’s thrusting her knife at the girls. “I wanna hear about Charm-chan too~!”
“Ochaco!!” Tsuyu’s tongue grabs Ochaco and swings her away before she herself hops after her. “Stay away from her! Leave us alone! Kero!”
“Heheheh~.” Toga slips back between the warped-branches.
Thinking she can take out the villain, Tsuyu chases her, hopping over a downed warped-tree only to find nobody on the other side. “Where’d she-”
“Grrrr!” From behind one of Charmcaster’s Golems attacks but it gets blasted to dust as Ochaco smashes down on it from above.
“Tsu! What happened?!”
“The villain, Toga, she’s gone!”
“What?!” Ochaco scans the warped forest but there’s no trace of the assassin. ‘Does she have some kind of vanishing Quirk?’
“Grrr!” More Golems attack but they don’t stand a chance against an angry Ochaco’s Ryou Spheres.
They fall one after the other, crumbling away under the power of the energy projectiles. Blasted apart to sand and rubble that float in the air, hindering the view of the other incoming enemies.
All except Charmcaster who refuses to come down from her perch. “You’ve gotten really good with that move.” She stretches her hand over the side allowing her Alchemy Quirk to wash over the forest floor. “But I learned some new tricks of my own!”
From below the pixiedust engulfs the already warped roots, they twist and bend before lashing out like purple-striped tentacles.
The living tentacles nearly grab Ochaco, but she ducks, and dodges even punches a few away with OFA.
Tsuyu does her best to help as well, hopping over the tentacles, using her tongue to grab one and lash it around another, binding them together in a knot.
But there’s too many, the tree sized tendrils overwhelm Ochaco, wrapping around her and binding her in place despite her struggling.
“I have her!” Charmcaster calls out. “Take her out! Now!”
“Yay!” Like a serpent taking to jungle vines, Toga springs upon the tentacles, running across them with a knife and syringe in hand. “Let’s be friends, kay~?! So, share your blood!”
“No thanks! I don’t like to share!” Ochaco’s body explodes with OFA, generating a Zero-Gravity sphere around her like a bubble. The force of which shreds the tentacles apart before the bubble implodes and blasts Toga and her weapons away.
“Hey, that was mean!” Toga pouts, waving her arms in the air in annoyance.
“Kero!”
Toga’s eyes shoot open to find a golem being flung right at her by a long pink tongue.
“Woah!” She jumps away, falling backwards into the warped-trees before the golem smashes into her previously occupied spot.
After tumbling away, Tsuyu hops onto the scene and quickly scans for the villain. “She’s gone.”
Ochaco growls in annoyance. “How does she keep doing that?”
Seeing an opportunity, Tsuyu grabs her hand and pulls, forcing both of them to sprint away. “Quick. We need to get out of here while we can!”
Ochaco nods and they go. With one villain doing a disappearing act and the other leading an army of monsters, it’s best to escape and get help.
“Wait!” Toga leaps out from the front, ambushing them and jabbing her knife at their heads. “I wanna get to know you both some more!!”
The girls barely have time to dodge the incoming knife. Tsuyu even swatted Toga away as the two slid to a stop along another downed warped-tree.
But before they can make another move, they find themselves cornered. Every angle is a web of warped purple-branches and roots, and in that web crawl out an entire squadron of gorilla Golems; all snarling and growling at them with rabid ferocity.
“We’re surrounded!”
“Hehehe~” Toga stalks out from behind the army, somehow having circled all the way back around the forest in order to greet them. “You’re both so cool~. I…love it~.”
Ochaco balks at Toga’s deranged expression, the way her fangs glisten and the way her eyes are a mix of insanity and bloodlust are too upsetting. They need to escape but with all directions blockaded there’s only one way to go.
“Tsu! Hold on to me and don’t let go!!” Pressing a hand to Tsuyu’s back and to herself, Ochaco’s fingers glow before they both begin to float up into the air.
Realizing where this is going, Tsuyu quickly wraps her tongue around Ochaco’s waist just as the gravity girl unleashes a devastating midair punch right towards the ground.
The simple swing of her fist, combined with the power of OFA, generates a whirlwind that rockets them both up high. Far away from the Golem army’s reach and Toga’s knives.
“No! Don’t go! I haven’t collected enough blood yet! Come back!”
Charmcaster sees this and quickly reaches into her purse for supplies. “They’re not going anywhere.”
From her purse she procures a collection of gloves entwined with feathers and painted with a variety of unrecognizable chemicals.
“Let’s give my Mage Claws a try.”
Throwing them up in a cloud of pixie dust, Charmcaster’s Alchemy transmutes the items until a squad of levitating claws spring out from the mist.
It’s like a squadron of living Victorian-styled gloves have come to life. Tainted in dark colors and purple glowing runes, the 4-feet big claws tear through the sky in order to get their clutches on the innocent heroes.
Gasping in surprise, Ochaco kicks in the air. Propelling her and Tsuyu away but the Mage Claws change course and continue the chase. Off they go zipping through the air, making a beeline for Ochaco and Tsuyu no matter how much Ochaco redirects them.
She swerves and dives, even blasting a few out of the sky with Ryou Spheres as Tsuyu lashes back, whipping them out of the air with her tongue and well-timed kicks.
All throughout the girls hold onto each other, not willing to risk being separated. Not wanting to leave the other behind. No matter what.
But this is their downfall as one of the Mage Claws slips past their maneuvers and latches onto Ochaco’s leg slowing her down.
“No!”
“Hang on Ochaco!” Tsuyu swings over in an attempt to pry the flying glove away, but another Mage Claw grabs her by the arm and yanks her away. “No! Let go!!”
Ochaco tries to pull her friend free. “Tsu! We have-Hmpf!!” A Claw latches onto the back of her head, its long finger draping over her mouth and shutting it.
More of the Mage Claws swarm in, latching on wherever they can and weigh the girls down.
“Did you really think it’d be that easy?!” Charmcaster shouts, looking on with vile glee in her eyes. “I told you, this is payback!” Throwing up tubes of chemicals into the air, her Alchemy Quirk washes over them leaving behind a set of thin floating masses of glowing amethyst-crystals. “This is for standing in my way, URAVITY!!!”
The narrow clouds compact and fire out like amethyst missiles, swerving and snaking in the air like magical comets, and coming from all sides before imploding upon impact.
“AAAAaahhhhh!!” Ochaco and Tsuyu cry out as they and the Mage Claws are caught in an explosion of sparkling purple fire and smoke.
All the while Charmcaster, Toga, and their minions watch on with ecstasy. Their vile eyes shining under the brilliant show of fireworks above.
“Goodbye, Little Girl.”
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It’s dark. Pitch black. He can’t see or feel anything. It’s like the shadows themselves have swallowed him up. He can’t even see his pincers in front of his face. But he knows they’re there. He knows that someone or something is moving him around, dragging him through the forest and blazing speed. Undoubtedly to his death. But shadows be damned if Kraab’s not going out without a fight.
“Not again! I will not be someone’s plaything that gets locked away into a cabinet for comedic purposes! No! I’ll kill ya! I’ll cut your throat! Rip out your vocal cords and shove into your mouth! Come at me! I’ll make you watch as I scoop out your eyeballs!! I’ll tar out your ribs and use 'em against your ass to play the drums!! I’ll-”
“So violent!” A feminine voice gasps somewhere in the pitch-black void, far beyond what Kraab can see. But she sounds close, almost like she’s right there. “And such foul language. How’d you capture such a villain?”
A male's voice, this one closer, maybe his capture, explains. “He’s tiny. Kekeke. Heard him wandering around when I was scouting ahead.”
A third voice, another male, this one meeker and more polite then the first chimes in. “Tiny, huh? How dangerous could they be?”
The captor speaks up again just as the pitch-black void shifts around. “Here I’ll show ya. He’s feisty though.”
Suddenly light finally enters the void, well a dim, very dim light as Kraab is back in the forest, dropped onto the forest floor like trash.
Well, he’s not gonna stand for that. “Oh, so now you wanna fight?!” he puts up his claws like he’s gonna box. “Alright, but just warning you. I used to be known as the Cancer of the Galaxy!”
The third voice pauses and asks in bewilderment. “Like the constellation?”
“Yes, like the constellation.” Kraab answers before pausing himself, he spins around expecting to find a trio of villains but instead…he finds them. “Hey, wait a minute! You’re just a bunch of kids!”
More specifically it’s Momo along with two members of Class B: Awase and Kuroiro. The latter being the one who captured him.
“And I know you!” Kraab points at Momo. “You’re that rich chick that hangs out with gravity girl and Deku.”
Momo Yaoyorozu eyes Kraab suspiciously before finally recognizing him. “I remember you, but I don’t recall you being so violent?”
“I’m a crab of many mysteries.”
“Awase, Kuroiro, there's no reason to be alarmed. This robot belongs to Midoriya. If I remember correctly it’s-”
“-His!!” Kraab corrects.
“Apologies. His name is Kraab.”
Yosetsu Awase and Shihai Kuroiro look at each other in confusion. “Midoriya?”
“Really?” Kuroiro scowls, unsure of any of this and finding this all too suspicious. “What’s green bean doing with a robot? And why is it-he here? We weren’t even allowed to bring our cellphones on the trip.”
Kraab glares up at the living void and explains. “In case you couldn’t tell, I’m way more smarter than any smart communication device. I can make my own decisions.”
That may be true but Awase’s a little taken back. ‘More smarter…?’
Meanwhile, Kuroiro glares back at the offending bot. “Doesn’t that go against like your programming or something?”
“My programming?!” Kraab gags, offended on his and every other droid’s behalf. “Listen here you one-shaded silhouette!! Believe it or not but I actually snuck into the camp on purpose! Had to make sure Deku wasn’t gonna get himself killed… Okay saying that aloud I just realized I might have failed in that but whatever! I’m here and I’m gonna save all your asses, that's what's important!”
Momo frowns with interest, wondering what Kraab’s implying. “What do you mean?”
“Before Deku and I split up I was able to pick up on some jamming signals.”
Awase blinks, not sure if he fully understands this. “Jamming signals? Like the thing that happens in sci-fi where someone cuts off communication?”
“The exact kind.” Kraab confirms. “I’m on my way there to cut off the source. Cut off the source and there’s nothing stopping us from calling for backup. Like the Plu-I mean, the police and heroes.”
Momo stops to consider Kraab’s plan, while cupping her chin she can’t help but comment on how risky it is. “I’m amazed Midoriya set you off on your own. But then again he’s probably trying to help save his friends.”
Kraab doesn’t even try to defend the brat. “That kid. He’s gonna get himself killed before he learns to prioritize his own health.”
“Where is this jammer?”
“Further up this way. From what I can tell the signals coming from atop that cliff that’s overlooking the forest.”
The three hero students stop and look at each other, silently considering the same idea in their heads.
And Kraab doesn’t like being left out of the loop. “What is it? What do you know that I don’t?”
“It’s Ragdoll.” Momo explains, worriedly. “We think a villain has her and took her to the same location.”
“Ragdoll? The hero with green hair?”
“Yeah.” Awase confirms. “Not too long ago we saw some crazy looking villain running past carrying her in his tentacles!”
He can still remember it; the villain was huge with four arms and two tentacles running off his shell-like back. The guy didn’t see them which is amazing considering he had more than two eyes. But one second, he was there and the next second he was gone. Having sped away in a blink of an eye despite his size!
Kuroiro goes ahead and explains the rest. “But they were moving too fast for us to catch up and rescue her. So, I went ahead to see if I could find them again.”
Kraab’s starting to see the big picture here. “And that’s when you found me. So, you think she might be at the same location as the jamming device?”
“We hope so.” Momo nods, albeit hesitantly, likely because she’s trying to be hopeful. “That is why we are coming with you.”
“Oh, no you ain’t! I ain’t letting you all tag along! No chance! The old man’s gonna rip my new legs out if I do.”
Hisashi already threatened to melt him down if he betrayed Deku so there’s no telling what he’ll do if he finds out about this!!
Kuroiro doesn’t seem to care, however. “Well, you’re probably gonna get your legs ripped out by some villain first if we don’t tag along.”
“You got a point there.” Damn, Kraab really wishes he had his old body back. If he did, he could have handled this whole situation all on his own…okay maybe not all on his own but still! But as he is now… “Are you sure this is what you kids wanna do…?”
Momo checks with the two boys first, both silently nodding their heads firmly.
“Yes.” Momo reaffirms, trying to sound as confident as possible. “We wish to help everyone! We want to save our friends. And calling the pro heroes will ensure everyone’s safety!”
“Can’t argue with that.” Kraab peers around the canopy, and there through the leaves he spots their destination towering over the forest in the distance. “Alright, kids. Follow me. And stay alert. Who knows what kind of monsters are lurking in the dark?”
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Humungousaur crashes through the woods, rushing along as quickly as he can despite his size and weight. ‘KACCHAN AND TODOROKI WENT SECOND IN THE TEST OF COURAGE. IF THEY DIDN’T GO BACK TO CAMP YET, THEN THEY MIGHT STILL BE AROUND HERE.’
Hopefully he can find them and then run into Uraraka and Tsuyu on the path back to the lodge since they’d be closer to there anyway.
*BEEP. BEEP. BEEP.*
In a flash of red, Izuku stumbles forward as he nearly falls over into the brush.
‘What?! Now?! Must have already been ten minutes. Damn. I thought I had more time. Huh?’
From the front a slithering dark mass fires out at him.
Sensing the danger, Izuku tries to run but the pain in his broken arm sends a shock of pain up his system. The pain is too much, forcing him to freeze in place and unable to react as the massive shadow comes crashing down upon him.
But a set of strong warm hands snatch him right out of the way just as the mass smashes into the spot he was just occupying.
Confused, Izuku slowly peels open his eyes to find himself wrapped up in Mezo Shoji’s arms and pressed against his back like a backpack. “Shoji! What happened?” He instantly notices that one of Shoji’s limbs is bleeding profusely from the tip.
Shoji’s out of breath and Izuku can feel that he’s covered in sweat, no doubt he’s been running away from some villain or other.
But whatever the case Shoji’s just glad he was able to save Midoriya just in time. “With those injuries…you should be laid up in bed recovering. But you wanna save your friends. No matter what the cost.”
“Am I really becoming that predictable?” Izuku half-jokes, half-sighs. “Besides you’re injured, too.”
“Yes. We were ambushed by villains, and I covered us. But the attack triggered Tokoyami’s Quirk, even though he was desperately trying to hold it back.”
Izuku freezes as he thinks back to what Tokoyami had told him back during the Sports Festival: “‘My Quirk’s offensive ability gets stronger when I’m in darkness. But that makes Dark Shadow aggressive and difficult to control.’”
“No… Don’t tell me!”
Shoji hates to admit it but it’s true. “Yeah. If we wanna get through here,” he turns them both towards the looming darkness of the forest and states the obvious. “we’ll have to face Dark Shadow first.”
“RAAAAAA!!!” Dark Shadow lets out a booming roar. Its entire mass has expanded, becoming a terrifying monster like that of a cross between a raven and a kraken with massive shadow claws and tendrils thrashing about. All the while keeping a desperate Tokoyami himself as its core.
Fumikage Tokoyami spots his classmates and panic quickly sets in as he struggles for control. “Stay away…from me! You’ll die!!”
“Tokoyami, no!!”
“RAAAAAA!!!”
Izuku holds his breath, watching in horror as Dark Shadow rages through the forest, blindly and without purpose. “But… How did he get this way?!”
“Keep it down.” Shoji shushes him, holding him closer to his back with his multiple arms. “After Mandalay told us what was happening and that we shouldn’t engage, we were both on high alert. Still, one of the villains got the drop on us.”
It was some freak with blades for teeth, his Quirk nearly skewered Tokoyami if he hadn’t shoved the raven out of the way. But it was at the cost of an arm, literally, the villain’s blade slices through his hand much to Tokoyami’s horror.
“I hid in the bushes and tried to cover Tokoyami, even though one of my arms was cut off.”
“Really?” Izuku looks down and finally notices that yes, one of Shoji’s Dupli-Arms is in fact bleeding.
“It looks bad. But it’s not like it’s lost forever.” Shoji explains, not giving it a sweat. “My Dupli-Arms are capable of making duplicates upon duplicates. One of those was cut off.” But it still hurt like hell though. “Thing is, he couldn’t stand seeing me injured like that.”
Tokoyami that is. He went ballistic, total outrage. And accidently released Dark Shadow along with his pent-up anger and regret.
“The Quirk he’d been suppressing began to rage and take over.”
“RAAAAAA!!!”
Izuku quivers as Dark Shadows roar shakes the entire forest. “The darker it is, the less control Tokoyami has. I had no idea his Quirk could explode like this.”
“It’s probably fueled by his righteous indignation and regret. He’s tried to hold it back, but they made it wilder.” On the point, Shoji tries to slink away, taking a step back while using the trees for cover.
But he missteps, snapping a fallen twig in two with his foot.
The instant the twig snaps, Dark Shadow lashes out at them. His claw tearing apart the trees. But thankfully Shoji was able to sprint away and hide them again before Dark Shadow could spot them.
Ironically it appears Dark Shadow can’t see too well in the dark. So at least they have that going for them.
It started lunging at any sound or movement, a beast lashing out with indiscriminate attacks.”
“RAAAAAA!!!” Dark Shadow crashes through trees, not anywhere near them but it is certainly searching for them.
“Forget about me…!” Tokoyami cries out, still struggling to break free his ethereal shadowy binds. “Go…!! Find our…classmates!! Help them instead!! Stop this!! Calm down, DARK SHADOW!!!”
Shoji hates to see him like this, it must be painful. “His Quirk has a weakness to light. Is your Quirk recharged enough to bring out Heatblast or Buzzshock?”
“No. It’s not.” Although he really wishes he could. “I just timed out before I ran into you.”
Shoji figured as much but he really wished it wouldn’t come down to this. “Alright, then. If we can lead them to a fire or back to camp, we can contain it.” Unfortunately, that in of itself is risky, they’re far from the camp and the nearest fire is burning out of control thanks to an unknown villain. Also…there’s another problem that needs to be addressed. “Midoriya. I know these are strange circumstances, but I can’t just leave a suffering friend behind. You forced your broken body to get you here because you were worried about Uraraka and Bakugou. If you still wanna save them, I’ll distract Dark Shadow for you. And you can run.”
Izuku winces in pain as he tries to adjust himself on Shoji’s back. “Hold on. Enacting reckless plans is my thing. And besides, the fire and camp are both pretty far away. You’ll be in danger if he-”
“RAAAAAA!!!” They’re being too loud as Dark Shadow lashes at them again.
Shoji dodges, ducking down and running off as Dark Shadow’s claws and tendrils crush the trees under their weight and power. “I know that. But to save people, you have to take risks. That’s what makes a hero, a hero.”
Shoji stops, hiding behind another stand of trees, while never keeping his eyes of a defeated Tokoyami and his rampaging familiar. “Will you stay with me and help Tokoyami? Or will you rush to their side? You have to make a choice. Right now.”
It’s not an easy choice. Nothing ever is. In fact, Izuku hates the fact he even has to make a choice between who he can save. If he could…he’d like to save everyone. But then again…why not?
Heroes take risks. So why not take a bigger risk?
“I already have.”
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“Fleeesh… Pieces of meat…!” Suspended in the air by his own bladed-teeth, Moonfish lets out a starved moan. “FLESH…!!!” The web of blades explode out, bashing and piercing down and through the mountains of glaciers below.
Shoto counters, shielding them with ice but the blades break through. They’re thin but sharp and flexible enough to pierce through even his ice walls. Nearly stabbing him and the unconscious Kosei Tsuburaba in the process.
“Teeth attacks? Seriously?!” Katsuki Bakugou snarls, watching uselessly from the side. “It’s time to blast this freak with everything I’ve got!”
“You can’t!” Shoto scolds.
“If the trees burn then just cover them with ice, stupid!”
“A big explosion will impair my vision, though. I may not be able to see the fire! And how are you gonna get close to him anyway?”
On cue, the nearby blades that were wedged in the ice expand and contort, nearly slashing Shoto’s and Bakugou’s sides.
“Grr.” Bakugou hates it when Todoroki’s right. It’s so annoying.
*BOOM…!!! BOOM…!!! BOOM!!!*
Bakugou’s head snaps up in shock, those distant explosions aren’t coming from him. No wait those aren’t explosions, something big is rumbling through the trees. But what?
That’s when both he and Shoto hear it; the faintest of shouting mixed in with the crashing and tearing of trees and earth.
“There. I see ice! They’re fighting!”
Even Moonfish is curious, wondering what all that noise could be. “Uh…?”
From his height he can see it, trees are ripped right off the ground, their canopies exploding into splinters and leaves as something BIG crashes right through them without a hint of reservation. Almost like a speeding train is blasting right through them.
But it’s not that. It’s just some kids running away from a giant shadow monster!!
Shoji is panicking, his usual cool persona gone now that he has Dark Shadow on his heels and a just as terrified Izuku strapped to his back. “Bakugou! Todoroki! One of you! Give us some light!!”
“More flesh…!!” Moonfish won’t squander an opportunity like this, he’ll have his fill of meat even if it kills him! “FLEEESH!!!”
His Bladed Teeth whip and crack through the air, racing towards the incoming victims.
The rampaging Dark Shadow, however, can’t be bothered by insects like Moonfish. Even as the blades pierce through its massive claw and form it easily crushes the blades and the glaciers of ice under its grip. “RAAAAAA!!!”
It lashes out wildly, its claw slamming into Moonfish, smashing apart his blades before throwing him to the dirt with a sickening splat.
Bakugou and Shoto are left in shock as Dark Shadow’s flailing tendrils and claws level the forest, clearing it of trees, earth, and ice.
“RAAAAAA!!!”
All the while Tokoyami weeps, unable to stop the rampaging monster.
It hurts to know that his friend is in so much pain, but Izuku knows it’s for the best. And soon the pain will be over.
##########(Flashback)#########
“Shoji. I have a plan. It’s not perfect, but it might work.”
Shoji stares back at him in confusion, not sure what this crazy plan could be. “What?”
“If Dark Shadow reacts to sound, then make duplicate arms to bait him, so he’ll follow us without attacking our actual bodies.”
Shoji gets it but he’s a little concerned here. What would be the purpose of doing all that?
“We can lead Dark Shadow to Bakugou. He’ll be able to weaken him with an explosion. I don’t want to choose one or the other. I want to save them both!”
########(End Flashback)#######
‘It was a good plan but dammit! I’m never gonna let Midoriya talk me into another crazy plan like this!’ Shoji thinks as he beelines through the forest, his Dupli-Arms outstretched far from his sides each one leading to a cloned mouth so can keep confusing the mindless shadow.
With Dark Shadow on their heels Izuku yells out for help. “Bakugou!!”
But Bakugou remains rooted, stunned by the display.
Even Shoto is confused until he’s finally able to make out the fleeing pair. “Shoji and Midoriya. And is that…Tokoyami?!”
“RAAAAAA!!!” Dark Shadow continues his chase, crashing through the trees without ever slowing down.
“We need some light now!!” One of Shoji’s duplicated mouth cries out for the end of a stretched arm. “He’s out of control-!!”
The limb goes silent under Dark Shadow’s claw, having blindly slashed it after hearing it make noise. “RAAAAAA!!!”
Shoto quickly puts the unconscious Tsuburaba down and prepares to fight. “He’s attacking blindly. I’ll use my fire.”
Bakugou stops him, holding a handout in front of him. “Not so fast.”
Moonfish’s living corpse slowly rises off the ground, his web of blades prying him off the ground like a horrific spider. “Flesh… Slabs of meat… No good… Can’t allow it… I’m the one who gets to slice them open… DON’T STEAL FROM ME!!!”
His blades pierce the monster’s hide but they’re nothing to Dark Shadow.
“You don’t matter. Insignificant bug!!” The raging beast crushes the blades under its claws with ease.
And a cruel smirk stretches across Bakugou’s face. “Now finish him.”
“RAAAAAA!!!” Dark Shadow takes Moonfish, smashing past his blades and grabs the villain. And with a roar prepares to do him in!
But then a massive blur of a figure dashes out from the remaining trees. It zooms right into Dark Shadow leaving a blazing trail of green electricity in its wake before snatching Moonfish right out of its grasp.
“REEEeee!!!” Dark Shadow shrieks with agony and fright, its mass temporally shrinking under the light of the sudden lightning bolt.
Everyone’s shocked, frozen by the appearance of the intruder. But none are more upset or shocked than Bakugou and Izuku.
Bakugou’s fists clench at his sides, his nails digging into his palm in an attempt to stop himself from shaking. “What are you doing here?”
“Oh. What's the matter, Blasty?” Nue flashes a jagged tooth grin, his limbs flex as his tendrils and tail whip through the air. “Weren't expecting me? Ehehehehe!!”
["Henzu(Monster)" by Voidv25 on DeviantArt]
To be continued…
Notes:
Yeah, I know. Why Guardian-Sigil? Why another F*ing cliffhanger!?! I know I suck. But this is the best way I feel to end a chapter on. And to be honest this chapter was originally gonna be twice as long, which is why it feels like this chapter felt more like it was setting up the last few matches. So why did I feel the need to split the chapter? Well like I’ve mentioned before I am trying to shorten and split these chapters to save myself time and sanity. Speaking of which, the next chapter is coming along nicely. So, I hope to have it done and ready for next Friday if not it will for sure be ready for the following Friday. I’ll try to post an Omake if it ends up being the latter.
Also, just if you’re curious we only have about 2-3 more chapters left after this chapter until the Training Camp Arc is over. And you all know what that means, right?
*I apologize if you are getting lost and confused between the constant scene changes in this chapter. I am trying my best to have it all flow naturally and to be as clear as possible when we jump from one fight to the next. So please let me know if you were able to follow along or if you have any advice to help with this. Especially since the next chapter is gonna have the same issues. And so will the following arc or two.
Chapter 79: Bleeding Shadows
Summary:
The Hero Course students are pinned against the various colorful members of the League of Villains. With Izuku and friends up against his old friend-turned-enemy Nue. To Ochaco and Tsuyu stuck in an unwillign cat fight with Charmcaster and Toga. How will our heroes prevail? Can they survive the night? Or will they bleed out in the dark?
Notes:
Guess what. Your boy is all clear of COVID and doing a whole lot better! Though the weather surely isn’t helping. Everyone please make sure you stay warm and safe out there.
*BR-FACT (provided by RAY ETHAN)* - Upchuck in Portuguese is known as “Glutão” which means "Hungry, Glutton, and/or Overeater."
*This story has a TV Tropes page. https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Fanfic/HeroesNeverDieItsHeroTime
*Please check out the side story “Heroes Never Die; It’s Hero Time, Anytime.” For Omakes, OVAs, Announcements, Updates, and more.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
This forest is a tangled mess of vines and thorny branches. The trail that once existed here has long been forgotten and abandoned, with roots and weeds invading the once open space.
And yet Kurogiri manages to traverse the terrain with ease, moving across the landscape like the living shadow he is. He’s searching, searching for something valuable, something that has been long lost in these woods.
“Aw, there you are.”
He’s found his destination. Hidden within these thick woods sits a massive sinkhole. A crater where the earth decided to swallow up an entire section of this dark forest.
Rubble and boulders line the bottom while the limbs of dead trees and decay stretch out from underneath their rocky tombs.
The site has been barred off as well with torn police tape encircling the entire sinkhole. And forgotten excavators and bulldozers lie dormant at the bottom, almost like they were pulled into the collapsed sinkhole.
Kurogiri eyes the scene warily, still in search of his prize.
That is when he spots the smallest of shifts within the rocks and decay.
“Be calm my friend.” He speaks gently, listening carefully as something large drags itself across the bottom of the sinkhole. “Do not be afraid. I was merely wondering if you’d like to come out and…play?”
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[PLAY “ My Hero Academia Season 3 - Opening | ODD FUTURE ”]
I Keep My Ideals; Sorezore
Izuku Midoriya and Henzu Uuichi are standing back to back facing away from each other as their story of transformation from friends to enemy's flashes between them.
No Tenmei Wo Ooo
The camera P.O.V. zooms upward, traveling through space at lightspeed.
What's going through? (Instrumental)
The Omnitrix glows green, floating between a pair of Galvins hands.
Subete Wa Mi Kara Deta Sabi
Izuku runs out of Mr. Baumann’s store before jumping on his hoverboard with the man chasing after him angrily.
Haburi Yoku Fuyashita Kuro Rekishi
He begins laughing as Megawatts swarm around him and into the bright sky.
Arito Arayuru Mono Wo Sutetari
One of the Megawatts glides past Ochaco Uraraka who lets out a cheer as she leads Class A around a running course.
Mi Ni Oboe No Nai Unmei Ni
Katsuki Bakugou begins shouting as he tries to overtake her, but she just runs faster, earning his angrier.
Korosare Kaketa Koto Mo Attashi
Principal Nezu walks in front of the U.A. staff along with the WWPC before passing by a pillar. Leaving just him along with Thirteen, One-One, and Gran Torino before passing another pillar.
Shinda Me Wo Shite Ikita Jiki Soredemo Kyou Mo Ikasareteru
The pillar moves to reveal Nue standing in front of Vilgax's Legion with the League of Villains standing behind him.
Tte Koto Wa
SevenSeven appears in front of the camera P.O.V. and shoots the screen.
What's going on? Mada Sou Yari Nokoshiten Darou
Ochaco Uraraka and Tomura Shigaraki stand back to back as their respective mentors look down at them before the two begin to walk away from each other.
Syuusei No Shiyou No Nai Hibi No Naka Demo
Izuku looks on at a photo of him, Inko, and a faded out figure before closing his eyes as All Might appears behind him. All Might fades out leaving Hisashi in his place. Hisashi turns and let’s loose a torrent of flames.
What's going on?
Xylene leaps from the flames, her eyes aglow with Telekinesis as she launches multiple boulders forward.
Hito Towa Chigau To
Tetrax stands firm, a wave of diamonds swallow up the nearby flames as he glares into the camera with a stoic look.
Mitometa Ue De
The diamonds melt together to reveal Lucy Mann smiling as she jumps forward to deliver a flying kick through the flaming air.
Kanousei No Rutsubo Hiraku, Ah
The fire forms a circle to reveal Cinder smirking up at a snarling Vilgax; the two glare each other down.
Dreaming
The two enemies clash creating a shockwave destroying everything around them.
Ishi Gyakusou Shikakui Sora
Civilian's runaway in panic as animalized Nomus terrorize the city all the while All for One looks on from his tower.
Kokoro No Sukima Umenu
Suddenly Pro Heroes from across Japan appear and fight the beasts head on.
Akenu Yoru Kara
All for One looks on before looking up to see something coming at him at high speed.
Nukeyou~
All Might roars as he lets loose a furious punch at his nemesis.
Mirai
The opposing powers clash creating a giant explosion of power!
No Kaizou Do Sage Bokura Wa
Zooming out it’s revealed that the explosion is a clash between orange and azure flames courtesy of an enraged Shoto Todoroki and a deranged Dabi.
Me Wo Sorashite Wa Naritai
All around them Class A & B fight the League of Villains’ Vanguard Action Squad head on;
Bakugou uses a Howitzer Impact against Moonfish.
Iida Recipro Bursts past SevenSeven.
Tsuyu hopes over a knife wielding Toga.
Mono Nante Naito Uso Buita Hibi Wo
A pink glowing Ochaco races towards a grinning Charmcaster. As massive violet-runed tendrils curl and spiral around her form.
I Keep My Ideals; Sorezore No Jinsei
A red hued Nue and green highlighted Izuku charge at each other as chaos ensues around them.
Ai Mo Yume Mo Kiken Na Hodo Kantan Ni Hi Ga Tsuichau Nosa
The two opposing colors spark and clash like thunder and lightning across the battlefield, with Izuku transforming between Shocksquatch, Humungousaur, and more.
The two back away from each other before charging once again this time both of them in their human forms as their foreheads clash with each other.
Gongu Nari Sorezore No Tenmei
HEROES NEVER DIE; IT’S HERO TIME
Silhouettes of past Izuku and Henzu are walking with each other, with Henzu's arm flung over Izuku's shoulders.
Wo ~
All highlighted with neon green Deku, Uravity, Ground Zero, Pinky, Kraab, Tetrax, Cinder, and All Might stand in a line before the all red highlighted Nue, Ragnarok, Sunder, Rojo, SevenSeven, Techadon, Malware, and an imposing Vilgax towering over them all.
(Illustrated by Drag0n5on)
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Ch.74 Bleeding Shadows
“RAAAAAA!!!” A rampaging Dark Shadow crashes through the forest. Its massive claws and limbs thrash throughout the brush, crushing the trees in its wake and shattering them to pieces causing a rain of splinters and leaves to fall from the sky.
Moonfish’s living corpse slowly rises off the ground, his web of blades prying him off the ground like a horrific spider. “Flesh… Slabs of meat… No good… Can’t allow it… I’m the one who gets to slice them open… DON’T STEAL FROM ME!!!”
His blades pierce the monstrous Dark Shadow’s hide but they’re nothing to it.
“You don’t matter. Insignificant bug!!” The raging beast crushes the blades under its claws with ease.
While holding Shoto back, a cruel smirk stretches across Bakugou’s face. “Now finish him.”
“RAAAAAA!!!” Dark Shadow takes Moonfish, smashing past his blades and grabs the villain. And with a roar prepares to do him in!
But then a massive blur of a figure dashes out from the remaining trees. It zooms right into Dark Shadow leaving a blazing trail of green electricity in its wake before snatching Moonfish right out of its grasp.
“REEEeee!!!” Dark Shadow shrieks with agony and fright, its mass temporally shrinking under the light of the sudden lightning bolt.
Everyone’s shocked, from the injured Izuku to the stunned Shoji, they’re all frozen by the appearance of the intruder. But none are more upset or shocked than Bakugou and Izuku.
“Oh. What's the matter, Blasty?” Nue flashes a jagged tooth grin, his limbs flex as his tendrils and tail whip through the air. “Weren't expecting me? Ehehehehe!!”
Bakugou’s fists clench at his sides, his nails digging into his palm in an attempt to stop himself from shaking. “What are you doing here Uuichi?! You got a death wish or something?”
Izuku can feel the cold sweat dripping down his body, despite all his nerves and instincts screaming for him to run despite his exhaustion.
But Nue seems to be loving this, those expressions are exactly what he wanted to see. “Ehehehe. Why so tense? Aren’t you happy to see your old friend?”
“No. Not particularly.” Izuku responds, his voice switching between a cautious whisper and an angry growl.
“Man, when did you all turn into such buzzkills?” Nue teases, his tendrils whipping this way and that between the two. “Especially you Blasty? Wanting to cut the fun short? I thought for sure you’d be up to throw down. Ehehe. It’d be just like old times.”
“HUH!?!”
Nue certainly knows Bakugou’s triggers because he’s instantly set off. “What’s wrong with me? What in the fuck is wrong with you, Uuichi?! You got a death wish or something? Cause I’ll fucking kill you, you ugly BASTARD!!!”
“Ehehehe.” Nue smirks back, as his extra arms set the shaken but recovering Moonfish down. “Believe it or not I’m actually in a good mood right now. Out of everyone I wanted to see today I found my two most favorite people.”
Izuku shrinks into Shoji’s arm. None of this is good. This only confirms what Muscular said, they really are after the students. They’re after Bakugou and Uraraka? But why? What’s their endgame?
Bakugou snarls, his palms snapping with tiny Explosions. “I hate to disappoint you, but you’re not gonna be pulling any bullshit with us! Not unless you want us to tear your extra arms off and use ‘em to beat your ass?”
“You guys made your point!” Izuku quickly interrupts, clinging desperately to the chance that maybe, just maybe, they can all get out of this confrontation. “The villains are stronger and more organized than we thought. We get it! We’ll pass on the message.”
Everyone from Shoto to Shoji are stunned by his words.
Even Bakugou’s at a loss. “Deku what are you-”
“Listen you got your friend back, let us get ours, and then we’ll be on our way.”
His friends are stunned but they soon understand Midoriya’s intentions. He’s trying one last time to appeal for mercy. But even so none of them relax knowing full well it’s not gonna play out like they wish.
In fact, Nue looks almost like the plea for mercy was nothing more than a punchline to some sick joke. “Ehehe. You hear that Moonfish? They want us to let them go and go back to their friends.”
Moonfish shakes in his binds and lets out a starved moan. “No… We have job… Have to WORK…!!!”
Nue shrugs back in reply. “Sorry boys but my coworker’s a real stickler for the rules. Look I totally get it. You all want to be together. So…” With a flex his muscles contrast and bulge, tendrils crack the air, and his bloodlust drools out between his mangled fangs. “I’ll take all five of you.”
‘Well, nobody can say that I didn’t try.’ Izuku thinks with a grimace.
He takes a moment to quickly survey the scene: Dark Shadow’s recovering from Nue’s electrical shock and will soon be rampaging again. And Todoroki is guarding an unconscious Kosei Tsuburaba who’s lying on the ground beside him, leaving his arms free.
‘We could make a run for it. But we’ll have to deal with Dark Shadow first and then grab Tokoyami. That’ll take too long. And we have Tsuburaba to worry about and Todoroki isn’t the fastest especially if he has to carry another person. And Shoji can’t carry all of us.’ Damnit, if only he wasn’t so exhausted and injured, he might be more of a help. ‘If only the Omnitrix would recharge already!’
Sharing a look with his allies it all appears they’ve come to the same conclusion. That they can’t run from this. Not from Nue.
Steeling himself, Shoto attempts one more time to end the conflict with ice starting to coat his right side. “Think carefully. We have you outnumbered.”
“Outnumbered?” Nue scoffs sarcastically. “I thought you were the educated types. Why don’t you try counting again?” Raising his arms to the side, his sides begin to stretch like putty before a complete duplicate of Nue’s entire form comes into being. “I’ll raise you. 1. 2. 3!!”
“Ehehehehe!” With wicked howls and laughs three monstrous Nues stand before the teens. Their claws and fangs all sneering with cruel and vile intent.
Accompanying them, Moonfish’s Bladed Teeth stretch out, pierce the ground, and using the leverage his body begins to rise as the web of teeth expand.
“RAAAAAA!!!” And like a rising behemoth from the depths of hell, Dark Shadow rises again in the background; his rampaging ready to begin all over again.
And even though the students couldn’t find this situation any more disastrous, Nue and his clones find it nothing short of perfect.
“Ehehehe!! Let’s get this party started, boys!!”
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Before the remaining safe haven that is the WWPC’s lodge, a swarm of giant mutant bats are shrieking their way across the night sky. With narrow bodies and wings twice as long as they are, they tear through the sky at blazing speed. Razor sharp talons line their wings as monstrously jagged fangs pierce out from their long-hinged jaws. Their beady yellow eyes glow in the darkness with ferocious savagery as drool and spit spew from their maws as they screech. “SKREEEEEEEEE!!!”
*PEEEW!!!*
A glittering laser beam pierces through the air and shoots down several of the flying monsters. Causing them to plummet right out of the sky like shot down planes.
“J’en peux plus! There’s no end to them!” Yuga Aoyama cries out as he continues to fire beam after beam into the air but soon his stomach shakes and growls causing him to whimper. “But there’s an end to my bowels! Ow…!”
Rikido Sato slides past, using all his strength to pull a mutant bat down by its talons while its wings flap desperately in an attempt to escape. “We’re almost through them all!”
Well, that’s not entirely true. A good number of man-sized bats are still flapping around in the air. But seeing their comrades get beaten down the ones remaining are more hesitant to attack.
“Ooh, man!” Denki Kaminari whines, holding his head in his hands as sparks fly off his body. While a squad of mutant bats try to snap at him through the veil of electricity. “I don’t know about you guys, but I don’t know if I can keep this up for long…”
From across the shriek-filled battlefield, Mina Ashido’s antennas twitch towards the west, alerting to someone’s overwhelming fear and anxiety. “Sero! Quick! Give us cover!”
She points towards the trees to the west.
“O-okay!” Hanta Sero aims and fires, creating a net of Tape that sticks to the top of the trees and stretches to the ground creating a protective corridor of Tape between the forest and the lodge.
And right on time too as Yui Kodai rushes out from the woods with an unconscious Ibara Shiozaki, and Juzo Honenuki slung over her shoulders.
A Hardened skinned Neito Monoma lets out a gasp when he sees them. “It’s Kodai and she has Shiozaki and Honenuki!!”
“Good eyes Ashido!” Sero throws Mina a big thumbs up. “I never even knew they were there.”
Mina smiles back albeit sheepishly and with some reservation as her antennas continue to twitch with Emote. “Y-yeah…”
Kodai is struggling to run while trying to carry both Ibara and Juzo, but she stumbles over the weight and falls.
“Skreee!!” Seeing an opening the nearby monsters dive in, shredding through the tape before lunging for the poor girl.
“HAA!!” With a roar Eijiro Kirishima rushes in and body checks the monsters away with his Hardened body. Running in like a living battering ram. “Keep moving!” He grabs the unconscious Juzo off her hands. “I’m right behind ya!”
Kodai nods, taking Ibara in her arms and runs for the lodge with Kirishima hot on her heels.
Safeguarding the lodge like a savage guard dog, Vlad King uses his combat experience and Quirk to fend off and bash in any mutants that dare encroach the structure.
Catching a mutant bat in a clot of hardened blood, Vlad King calls Kodai and Kirishima over! “Quick! Inside! Take ‘em inside!”
They rush in but Vlad King stops Kodai before she does. “Kodai. Did you happen to see anybody else?”
Kodai hastily nods her head while letting out little awkward squeals and hums. “Hmmm! Hmmm!”
Vlad King let’s out a sharp gasp. “What?! Kendo and Tetsutetsu, both ran off with Hitoshi Shinso of Class A to take care of some kind of smog villain?!”
Kodai frantically nods her head in confirmation.
Meanwhile, Sato is taken back by their bizarre conversation. ‘He understood her?!’
Vlad King stops to think, growing frustrated at how little they know. ‘Smog? I didn’t even know that was an issue. Just how much do we not know about the situation? Is that the reason why no other students have returned? Are they unable to?!’
Kodai looks horrified, frantically looking around as if the rest of Class B or A will suddenly appear.
“Damn villains.” Vlad King says aloud with a growl, crushing the captured mutant bat with a sickening crunch. “This attack is more organized than I thought.”
“Still underestimating us, hero?”
That cold tone yet burning with malice sends a chill down Vlad King’s spine.
A villain seared in scars and stitches steps out from the shadowy forest with the kind of attitude one has when walking into a bar versus a battlefield.
“Don’t you know that arrogance can burn down the world, hero?” Dabi smirks, his turquoise eyes gleaming blue under the light of his burning azure fist.
Vlad King steps in front of Kodai, shielding her and the unconscious Ibara in her arms. “Kodai. Get inside and take care of your classmates!”
Kodai hesitates, looking conflicted, but decides to listen and rushes inside.
Standing off against the villain, Vlad King cocks his fists like he’s Henry Cavil and marches forth ready to give the beat down of his life.
But Dabi simply smirks back and waits for the hero to make the first move.
“Raaah!!” Vlad King charges with his fists ready to fly.
Dabi responds in an instant, unleashing a stream of blending azure flames. But Vlad King turns his body just barely grazing past the searing flames and continues to charge. And with his speed he’s able to react first and land a solid punch into the villain’s torso.
He can feel the villain's ribs breaking under his knuckles but soon that texture of flesh and bone melts away becoming like tar and mud. And with a knowing smirk the clone melts away to nothing.
Vlad King is astonished by this, he’s at a loss but before he can make sense of it the sudden wave of burning heat rushes him from the side.
Acting fast he unleashed a veil of hardened blood, shielding him from the sudden eruption of azure flames. But the pressure is too much as he gets launched back. Landing hard on his back against the ground with burns scorching his frame much to the surrounding students’ horror.
“Better stay on your toes.” Somehow another identical villain appears from the forest, much to everyone’s shock.
As Dabi enters the clearing before the lodge he finds his arms bound to him by a net of tape. Looking over he finds a kid with some messed up looking elbows pulling him back with a strand of tape.
“Not sure how you pulled that trick! But you’re not going anywhere!” Sero yells, sweating beads as he knows full well, he can’t do much against fire.
And Dabi knows it too. “Oh really?” He teases, turning the tape to ash with a simple spark of flames.
But Sero was just a distraction allowing Mina to run up and give her hand a try, throwing a splash of Acid at the villain.
Despite having permanent burn scars all across his body, Dabi doesn’t want to add anymore, quickly rolling out of the way. As he rolls back onto his feet, he prepares to return the favor but just as the flames expunge from his palms a glittering laser zooms in and snuffs the flames out.
While clearly suffering from painful bowels, Aoyama fires another Naval Laser foreign the villain back while also giving Mina a chance to put some distance between them.
“Annoying brats.” Dabi growls, finding himself surrounded from all sides by Aoyama, Sero, Mina, and a quivering Denki.
Meanwhile, Sato and Monoma have rushed to Vlad King’s side.
Monoma slides under the hero’s arm in order to help lift the hero back onto his feet. “Sir. Can you stand?”
“I’m fine.” Vlad King growls in pain but does his best to bear it as he pulls his arm away from Monoma. “Steel yourselves, we'll need all our might to take this villain down.”
Despite holding himself well up to now, Dabi doesn’t like the prospect of being surrounded even by wannabe heroes.
“So, annoying.” But like a kid getting a mischievous idea, his hands shoot out to the sides and suddenly an eruption of blue flames completely takes the villain.
“Waaaah!!” The students scream and jump back, the flames so hot that their hairs begin to singe and burn off.
Vlad King acts quickly using his Blood Control to shield Sato and Monoma, the two closest students and hurl them back away from the flames.
The flames expand in bursts, forcing the students to run away. The heat is so intense that the nearby trees turn ablaze.
And Dabi is absolutely enjoying himself, thrilled by the students' panicked and terrified reactions. “What’s the matter, heroes?! Can’t take the heat?!” The flames rage all around him, surrounding him in an inferno of azure. With the students unable to do anything to get near him.
“This is what it means to be a hero right?! To fight awesome villains?! Come on! If you can’t handle me then none of you have much of a future!!”
Just as he’s about to unleash hell on earth for these punk kids, his personal hellfire vanishes. Simply cuts off and vanishes into thin air leaving nothing but him surrounded by nothing but still hot air. But he’s not surprised and quickly assumes the cause. “Oh, you’re back.”
Shota Aizawa leaps over the villain, with a terrified Kota Izumi clinging to his back. “They do have a future!” He spins and his foot lands squarely into Dabi’s jaw, snapping it and causing the villain’s form to melt away to tar. Aizawa lands just beside the pile of tar with a nasty scowl. “I’ll make sure of it.”
“Mr. Aizawa!!” His students and even Monoma cry out in relief, they’re so grateful to see him to the point that Denki even has tears streaming down his face.
As he sets Kota down, Aizawa glares down at the offending pile of tar. “Damn, villain. I was really hoping that was his real jaw.”
The students pause as sweatdrops appear on their heads. ‘So violent.’
Denki looks over to his classmates with a grimace and comments. “Not sure who’s worse, him or the villain?”
A burning branch falls and nearly scorches his head causing the boy to jump and shriek. “Wahh!! Shit! The fire’s spreading!”
Although the flames haven’t spread far they’re still turning every tree bare that they can reach.
But without a word or having to be told, Kota simply but hesitantly walks over and dowses the flames with streams of water.
Seeing the flames retreat and blowup steam, Sero gives the little dude props. “Nice job kid.”
Kota gazes at him with annoyance but soon relaxes and decides not to be a snarky kid for once. “Don’t mention it.” He goes back to focusing on the flames, which are already starting to die out.
With the fires contained and the few mutant bats left still too nervous to take on the collect group, Aizawa turns to his coworker for a status report. “Catch me up.”
“Only three students have returned.” Vlad King regretfully explains. “One of the villains was producing a poison gas to incapacitate the others. But Kendo’s leading a team to subdue said villain.”
Well that only confirms both of Aizawa’s worst fears: the students have been attacked and the rest are fighting back. “The students are taking a more active role than I’d like but considering the situation that might be for the best.” But then again. ‘Or it might be for the worst.’ Aizawa thinks as his mind flashes to the clearly injured Midoriya.
After having gotten Juzo taken care of and Kodai setup inside the lodge, Kirishima re-emerges from the lodge and runs to Aizawa’s side the moment he sees him. “Mr. Aizawa! Are they really after Bakugou?!”
Mina rushes over too. “What about Ochaco?! Is she okay?!”
Aizawa so badly wants to tell them that they’re both okay and safe. But he can’t bring himself to lie like that to their faces. They deserve the hard truth, they all need to know the full depth of the situation no matter how dire it is. “I don’t know…”
Judging by the looks on their faces that was clearly not the answer they were looking for.
“I’m sorry. But I promise you I’ll make sure to bring them home.” With that he turns back to Vlad King and speaks. “I’m going back out there. I’ll bring back whomever I can and return.”
“Very well” Vlad King nods in understanding, already forming a plan of defense with the students he has available. “Be careful.”
He nods back and prepares to head up but another glow of blue arises from within the woods once again.
“Leaving so soon?” A cruel smirk stretches across Dabi’s stitched up face as four more identical clones follow close behind him. “But I just got here, Eraser.”
The students all cower or brace themselves before the clone army with Kirishima scooping up Kota and shielding him in his embrace.
Aizawa’s frustrations mount but he keeps a level head as his hair begins to rise. ‘Hang in there, everyone. I’ll be there as soon as I can.’
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
Charmcaster looks on with vile glee in her eyes. Throwing up tubes of chemicals into the air, her Alchemy Quirk washes over them leaving behind a set of thin floating masses of glowing amethyst-crystals. “This is for standing in my way, URAVITY!!!”
The narrow clouds compact and fire out like amethyst missiles, swerving and snaking in the air like magical comets, and coming from all sides before imploding upon impact.
“AAAAaahhhhh!!” Hovering in the air, entrapped in Mage Claws, Ochaco and Tsuyu are helpless to the explosion of sparkling purple fire and smoke.
All the while Charmcaster, Toga, and their minions watch on with ecstasy. Their vile eyes shining under the brilliant show of fireworks above.
Too bad it was all for not.
“Damn. You just couldn’t let me have this could you, Little Girl?”
Scorched and clearly burnt by the attack, a clearly injured Ochaco and Tsuyu slowly land off to the side of the warped-forest. They’re alive but clearly injured with both their skin and clothes being covered in scorch marks.
And although it was quick, Charmcaster saw what happened. Right before impact Ochaco managed to wiggle her arm free and unleash a Ryou Sphere back at the Mage Claws. Causing them to explode prematurely. But obviously the explosion still caused some damage.
“Tsu~! Ochaco~! Just look at you!” Himiko Toga gushes, in complete awe of the burns and cuts littering the two girls’ bodies. “You both look so adorable~!”
“God you’re twisted.” Charmcaster admonishes but when she says this there’s an almost impressed look on her face.
To which Toga blushes in response. “Teeee~.”
Meanwhile, Ochaco and Tsuyu finally reach the ground, nearly stumbling as they do but they’re able to catch and support each other, preventing them from collapsing out right.
“Tsu. Can you stand?”
“Y-yes. Kero.” Tsuyu responds, despite her wobbling legs.
“G-good.” Ochaco hovers over her making sure she won’t fall over.
“Ochaco. We should run.”
Ochaco blinks, taken back. “What?”
“We have to escape. We can use our Quirks to defend ourselves but I’m sure Mr. Aizawa meant that we should use them to get back to the lodge. We should go.”
“W-we tried that.” They just tried that and it failed. “Running away is no longer an option.” Although she wishes it was. “There’s only one way out of this.”
“But Ochaco-”
“We don’t have a choice.” Ochaco’s heart is beating a thousand times per second; honestly it feels like it's going to explode. And yet she tries, she tries to keep herself from showing it. Staying stock still as she turns her gaze towards the villains and their minions. “Even if we ran away they might come after us or they might go after Bakugou or someone else. We have to stop them here, while we can.” It’s what Deku would do, too. Knowing him he’s probably running around out here doing that very thing.
But Tsuyu still seems unsure and instantly scared of the prospect. But also deep down…she knows that their only chance to survive this is to fight back.
“Charmcaster!!” Ochaco screams, her entire body illuminates with the power of OFA. It radiates off of her like waves of pink as she channels her best Bakugou impression. “What was with that shitty lightshow? Was that supposed to be your fucking Trump Card?! Talk about lame!! DIE!!!”
Everyone’s stares back in awe and/or confusion at the girl.
Tsuyu especially blinks twice wondering if Bakugou’s spirit possessed Ochaco for a second there.
Actually, Ochaco finds it cringe as well. But it’s all she can think to do. Bark loud enough and maybe their attackers will back off. Maybe. “We can take anything you throw at us! Oops. Wait, that was everything you had. Wasn’t it?!”
That was the wrong thing to say as a Cheshire smirk stretches across Charmcaster’s face. “No. It wasn’t.”
Shit. Ochaco was really hoping that wouldn’t be the case.
From out of the mouth of her grotesque purse, Charmcaster reveals a clay orb of sorts that’s lined with purple glowing orbs making it almost look like a twisted version of a Pokéball. Undoubtedly the capsule is filled with vial ingredients and chemicals, but what Ochaco has no idea. And so Charmcaster throws it to the ground and the orb explodes into a cacophony of violet sparks and smoke, as Alchemy takes its hold over the ground, the gorilla golems, and Charmcaster herself.
“Honestly I’m glad you survived. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have an excuse to bring out my real Trump Card!” Charmcaster laughs and rising out from within the massive cloud of smoke are a set of swirling clay tentacles.
They are as long as the very buses that brought the students to this camp. And they’re as thick as the warped trees that surrounded them. A trio of tentacles stand out being larger than the others with spade-like ends tipped with thin feathery crystals of violet. These feathered tips wave in the air along their respective arms as sparks of violet bio-electricity dances off of them.
And then as the smoke finally clears, Ochaco and Tsuyu are stunned to find a giant clay jellyfish floating above the transmuted forest. Its grey and brown claimed body is thick but somehow spongy, waving and convulsing in the air. Purple glowing runes decorate its body, allowing it’s hue to overtake the surrounding darkness.
And finally fused to it all is the witch herself. Charmcaster stands floating within a bubble at the center of the giant “Scyphozoa.” Protected by the monster's garbage truck-sized bell and a web of thin electrified tentacles that are holding the pink illuminating bubble in place.
Toga watches on with admiration before breaking out into a fit of giggling and cheering. “Yay~! Yay~! So cool~. Tehehehe~!”
Meanwhile, Ochaco and Tsuyu rightfully cower before the levitating menace, they’re bodies shaking with fright.
And for Charmcaster it is an oh so delightful sight to behold. “What’s the matter, Little Girl? What happened to that kickass attitude of yours? Was it all talk? Or do you really think you can stand up to ME!?!”
*WAAAaaaaa…!!* The Scyphozoa lets out a low rumbling wail as its sparking tentacles rise and prepare to deliver a devastating onslaught.
Tsuyu pulls on Ochaco arms begging for them to run. “Ochaco, we don’t stand a chance!”
“Yes, we do!” Ochaco shouts back more to convince herself than anything. “We have too…”
She takes a breath, steeling herself. “If we run away then these villains will only turn their attention to everyone else! We can’t allow that!” One For All reignites within her, coursing through her arms and legs like a set of glowing boots and gauntlets. “We have to do what we can to get everyone home!”
Charmcaster’s grin widens, this is exactly what she wanted.
“CHARMCASTER!!!” OFA rockets its holder forward, allowing her to fly like a pink comet as she lets out a righteous roar. “VENUS SMASH!!!”
A surge of pure power is unleashed upon the massive Scyphozoa as Ochaco’s fist slams against its head releasing cloud of smoke and wind.
The gravity user whizzes by and lands, sliding against the ground before turning back assuming she done the monster in. “Looks like I know magic too. Because I just made your monster disappear!”
“Don’t get cheeky with me!”
With a swing of its massive tentacle, the Scyphozoa washes away the smoke to reveal that it’s completely unscratched by the attack.
“But if you wanna be my magical assistant then how about we start by cutting you in half?!” *WAAAaaaaa…!!* With a wave of her arm the Scyphozoa mimics its master’s movements and launches several tentacles at the girl.
Ochaco leaps to the side, away from the incoming tentacles but they’re moving too fast, they’re going to catch her. And so in order to defend herself Ochaco fires back a Ryou Sphere in an attempt to blast the incoming tentacle away.
It hits, stopping the tentacle much to her relief, but it’s short lived as the tentacle remains unscathed and quickly shakes off the effects of Zero-Gravity to Ochaco’s horror. ‘My attacks! They’re-’
“Nothing! Hahaha!” Charmcaster gleefully howls from inside her protective bubble. “That’s the beauty of my Scyphozoa!! I created her specifically for you, Uravity!! This beast is immune to the effects of Zero-Gravity! And physical attacks are harmless to her!” And all it took was a combination of a Jellyfish corpse, some feathers, chemical mixtures, and some ingenuity. “You might as well be punching a bag of water! Hahaha!”
“Ochaco!” Witnessing her friend find herself in an unwinnable situation, Tsuyu finally decides to jump into action. Hoping to maybe lash up the monster’s tentacles together with her tongue or anything really to give Ochaco a fighting chance.
“Wait, don’t go!” Toga suddenly appears, cutting off Tsuyu’s path. “Let’s play~! Let’s play~! “Let’s start with a makeover~.” Toga blushes while flashing a knife in one hand and a syringe in the other. “You’ll look so cute with just a little more blood~.”
“Tsu!!” Ochaco tries to rush to Tsuyu’s side, but a set of tentacles block her path.
Using OFA she tries to charge right through, but the flexible and kinetic energy absorbing limbs holds and propel her back while also delivering a nasty violet shock.
“Aaaah!” Ochaco shrieks, being forced back by the agonizing shocks.
“None of your tricks are gonna work this time, Little Girl! There’s nothing you can do that can harm me. You might as well be a Quirkless nobody!!”
Spinning around Ochaco finds herself surrounded from all sides by the sparking tentacles, and above her floats the evil sorceress and her leviathan of a pet.
And with a merciless howl Charmcaster sets the monster upon her. “How’s that for a TRUMP CARD!?!”
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Chaos. That’s the word to use when describing this scene.
Trees lie crumbled and scattered across the battlefield as flicks of embers and small flame begin to spread, throwing up clouds of thick heavy smoke.
As the repetitive bangs of consistent Explosions echo throughout the battlefield.
Bakugou unleashes another blast of heat, blasting his opponent while simultaneously rocketing himself backwards. Putting some distance between him and his monster of an opponent.
Out from the smoke and heat, Nue [1] leaps out and is ready to give the punk a good thrashing. “Hahaha! I’ve been waiting a long time for this, Blasty!! Hahahaha!!” He goes in for a dual fisted punch, but Bakugou leaps away.
Following him Nue [1] fires a stream of water after him.
“No kidding? So have I!!” Not risking his Quirk being weakened Bakugou quickly rockets away but not before shouting back.
Normally he’d temper his Explosions, like Todoroki warned him earlier, but considering that Dark Shadow smashed most of the trees and now they’re up against a freak like Uuichi, Bakugou figured this could be the exception.
And so, launching himself at Nue [1] and swerving around the jets of water, he manages to unleash a giant Explosion upon the villain with a mighty roar. “DIE!!!”
The Explosion hits and actually manages to blast Nue [1] back until his shell hits a burning stump of a tree.
And despite having been put on his ass, Nue [1] couldn’t look more thrilled. “Hahaha! Just like old times, hey!”
With smoke rising from his palm, Bakugou smirks. “I'm pretty sure I kicked your ass back then too.”
“Hehehe, did I give you concussions back then? Because that’s not how I remember it!!” With a roar Nue [1] jumps right back into the fight with savage energy.
“RAAAAAH!!!”
Oops. it appears they forgot about the monster rampaging within the darkness. Using the smoke and trees to shield itself from the burning light of the flames and Explosions, Dark Shadow’s claws whip through the branches right for Bakugou and Nue [1].
The two are forced to leap away as the giant claws sink into the ground.
“Wait your turn!” Nue [1] barks over to the rampaging Dark Shadow. “I’ll deal with you afterwards!”
“Yeah!” Bakugou slides to a stop and immediately rockets himself right back at Nue [1]. “Right after I make this freak’s face uglier than it already is!!”
“Hahaha!!”
A thunderous clash roars through the forest as a fiery Explosion meets an electrical beam. Causing literal sparks of fire and lighting to fly across the scene.
The sparks ignite more sparse fires through the crumbled forest, and Shoto even has to duck as sparks of electricity nearly graze his head. He’d move but with an unconscious Tsuburaba lying beside him, he’s not too keen on moving or leaving him there.
Acting quickly, he tries to contain the fires, putting up barriers and trails of ice where he can. “Bakugou, the fires! Shit. It’s all a mess out here.”
“Good!” Having just leaped past one of Dark Shadow’s claws, one of Nue’s clones, Nue [2], smashes right through Shoto’s barrier of ice. “That’s just how I like it! Hahaha!”
“Monster!!” Shoto tries to freeze him in a glacier but Nue [2] dashes away with a quick burst of XLR8 speed.
“Hahaha!”
Shoto slaps the ground, causing a sheet of ice to wash over the ground. And it works as Nue [2] dashes right over the ice.
Only it doesn’t slow him down or throw him off course like he hoped. Instead, the clone swerves and dashes across the ice with full control. “Oh, so close! But no cigar!!” It’s all thanks to XLR8’s ability to manipulate friction, ensuring that the thin slippery ice isn’t a bother one bit. “If you wanna stop me you're gonna have to go all OUT!!!”
Upon his proclamation Nue [2] unleashes a crashing wave of diamonds, hoping to bury the dual-elemental teen in an avalanche of crystal.
Holding his ground, however, Shoto counters with his own wave of giant icicles.
The two crystalline forces crash into each other like mountains of glass.
“Hohoho!! That’s it!” Nue [2] howls in amusement before the shadows in his peripheral begin to shift and move. “Huh? GAH!!!”
One of Dark Shadow’s giant flailing limbs bats the monster clone away and lets out a monstrous roar before turning its attention to Shoto. “RAAAAAH!!!”
But the attack never reaches Shoto as he’s forced to use a burst of flames to repel the shrieking monster. “Hang in there, Tokoyami!! We’ll save you soon!”
“Aaaaah!’ Still bound to his own demon, Tokoyami howls in pain as he so desperately struggles to contain it.
And while this is all going on, you have Shoji and Izuku dealing with their own monster: Moonfish.
“Job to do… Have to WORK…!!!” Webs of bladder-teeth bend and twist, propelling Moonfish forward as his elongated blades act like spider legs. Spider legs that nearly impale a fleeing Shoji and Izuku at every turn.
“He’s right on our tail!!” Izuku screams, still too injured and exhausted to run on his own, so all he can do is pray that Shoji can outrun the psycho.
“I know! I know!” Shoji yells back as he runs for his life, with his only free limbs turning into extra sets of eyes to keep a look out for every blade coming their way.
“Flesh…! I want your FLESH…!!!”
Shoji ducks and dives them both out of the way as webs of bladed-teeth pierce the ground and air. A few stray blades manage to graze them but barely.
All the while Moonfish approaches closer and closer before he’s directly above them.
Seeing this Izuku screams for Shoji to dodge. “Shoji!”
“Fresh… bloody…FLESH!!!” Moonfish lunges for them, trying to sink his maw into their heads but only for a shadowy claw to intercept his path.
“RAAAA!!!” Dark Shadow shrieks and wails, his limbs flailing and forcing Moonfish back.
The villain demonstrates some expert acrobatics, twirling himself away from the pursuing claws.
“RAAAA!!!”
Moonfish isn’t the only one who needs to worry about Dark Shadow as the monster turns its claws onto the kids.
“Shoji! The embers!”
With a big wave of his arm, Shoji flaps air down into a burned log. The embers reignite and with a whoosh, hot flames burst into the air.
And just in time to repel the attacking claw. “RAAAA!!!” And with a wail Dark Shadow retreats into the smoke, turning its attention to someone else.
“This situation, it’s gotten far too chaotic.” Shoji breathes, exhausted as he backs away front he flames he himself reignited. The smoke it’s producing is already getting to him and his extra senses. “I’m afraid to say, but your plan’s gone awry.”
Izuku knows. Frustratingly so.
“What are we supposed to do now? Do we grab Bakugou and Tokoyami and make a run for it?”
“We could but I don't think Nue is gonna let us walk away. Especially not when he has a grudge against me and Bakugou. Also, we’d have to deal with Dark Shadow first.”
“Not to mention Todoroki’s defending Tsuburaba. Looks like something got to him already.” Even though the Class B student is unconscious it’s clear that he’s in pain and having trouble breathing. Whatever happened to him, couldn’t have been anything good. “So, then. What’s left for us to do?”
“Set me down.”
“What?!” Shoji stares back at him in betrayal. “I’m not leaving you here.”
“It’s not that. My Quirk should have recharged by now. If we can turn me into Wildvine I’ll be able to heal myself and have enough stamina to get us all out of here.”
The way Shoji’s looking at him you’d think Izuku just said something groundbreaking. “You’ll be at full strength. And have enough limbs to carry us all!”
“Exactly.”
Shoji hurries to set him down, albeit with a gentle touch but even as he sets Izuku down the boy hisses in pain as Shoji accidentally grazes his broken arm. “Sorry.”
“It’s okay. A little pain never killed anybody.” Izuku jokes even though the searing pain is really unbearable.
Not believing him for a second, Shoji slowly and gently grips and raises Izuku’s left arm making sure not to hurt him again. “I’m afraid I don’t exactly know how your support item works.”
“It’s fine. This is good.” With his arms free, Izuku is finally able to grip the fully recharged Omnitrix. He hurries, spinning the dial, trying to find Wildvine’s silhouette. “I just need the right transformation. And then…we’ll be safe!”
He jinxed it.
Nue [3] leaps out right behind Shoji, breaking through the barricade of smoke and flame like a demon. Izuku can only watch in horror as Nue [3] speeds past Shoji’s form and slams a giant clawed hand right onto Izuku’s exposed wrist.
“Midoriya!!” Shoji cries out as Izuku screams in pain just as his entire body’s swallowed up in a ball of green light.
Shoji quickly spins around to address the attacker but a strong backhand from Nue [3]’s throws him aside. “Stay back, octopus!” He turns his sneer back down at the little midnight snack. “This meal is mine!”
“Ha ha… I get it. You’re a real funny guy.” Upchuck snarls and tries but fails to get to his feet. Left to still suffer from his cuts, bruises, and broken arm. Even so he tries to keep up that little spunk of an attitude. “But no one’s gonna make a meal out me!”
Nue [3] smirks back, happy to find that the little punk still has some bite to him. “You didn’t really think I didn’t know you’d try to pull some twisted morphing trick? Why would I allow you to transform into what you wanted?” He reels back his fist and roars as he goes in for the killer punch. “Sorry, but you don’t get a choice!!”
Before the fist lands, Shoji rushes in and scoops up the helpless Gourmand before making a mad dash to escape.
“I thought I told you to stay out of this, octopus! Oh, well.” With a shrug Nue [3] nods over towards the nearby pillars of smoke. “He’s all yours.”
“Ugh…” The smoke whips away with the wind, to reveal a salivating Moonfish being suspended in the air by a web of Bladed-Teeth. “Your flesh…. Give to ME….!!!”
With a starved moan, he lunges for the fleeing duo once again. Leaving Nue [3] behind to watch and laugh at their inevitable impalement.
Shoji is running at full speed, moving across the smoke-filled battlefield at breakneck speed. While swerving and diving out of the way of Moonfish’s pursuing blades.
“Flesh… Let me taste…!!”
“Are you kidding?!” Shoji screams, his arms swinging at his sides with a dizzy Upchuck tucked underneath. “Pretty sure it’s bad form for a psycho to ask permission?!”
“Raaa…!” With a groan Moonfish dives down allowing his Bladed-Teeth to get ahead.
They extend and pierce the ground of Shoji’s path, creating a net of sharp knives.
“Waaa!” Shoji’s forced to a stop but before he can react more and more blades spring down, entrapping them completely from all sides with a hungry set of jaws drooling overhead.
“No run… Eat… Complete job…!!”
But before the villain can complete his job, a set of long stretchy tongues propel out and pry a section of the bladed net apart in seconds.
Moonfish and Shoji are left speechless as Upchuck swallows the blades whole, chewing them up like pieces of crunchy cereal.
“My body might be weak. But my stomach is not! BLEEEGH!!” With a belch Upchuck unleashes an explosive glob right back up at the villain.
Not sure what’s happening, moonfish spins himself away but his blades get caught by the glob, which explodes and breaks apart his Quirk causing him to plummet.
“Hehehe.” Upchuck smirks like he’s done something wicked cool even though he’s being carried around like a book under Shoji’s arm. “Looks like he didn’t have the stomach to face the likes of UPCHUCK!!! Hahahaha-Ow! Oh, everything still hurts…”
“Well, I see your mouth is working just fine.” Nue [3] approaches, having watched the somewhat gross display. “I’ll fix that real quick!” He charges, zooming straight for Shoji and Upchuck.
Shoji leaps into action, quickly shoving Upchuck onto his shoulder like he was a bazooka. “Say hello to my little friend!!”
“BLEEEGH!!” With a squeeze Upchuck fires, launching an explosive glob right at Nue [3].
With a grin, Nue [3] takes it, blocking the impact with his crystal arm. “I want you to spill your guts, Deku!!” With a swing he launches a rain of shards back at the teens. “Hell!! I’ll spill them myself!!”
Shoji holds Upchuck out like a Proton Pack only for Upchuck to swallow up the incoming shards like an overpowered vacuum cleaner.
Licking his lips, Upchuck rubs his glowing belly. “Mmh, delicious. But a little bitter.”
Nue [3] scowls in response.
But that only makes Upchuck’s smirk grow wider. “BLEEEGH!!! BLEEEGH!!! BLEEEGH!!!”
With Shoji directing him, Upchuck rapid fires explosive loogie after loogie at Nue [3].
The clone panics, forced to dash away and dodge the incoming explosives. But he gets caught, getting himself blasted away in a burst of green goop and power.
Seeing this, Shoji finally allows himself to hope. “We have him on the ropes!”
“BLEEeeegh…” He spoke too soon as Upchuck tries to upchuck only to find out that he’s out of ammo.
It couldn’t have happened at any worse time as a starving moan screeches through the nearby smoke. “Job… In the way…!!”
Like a bug that just won’t die, Moonfish makes his return with his metallic pincers out and ready to devour his next meal alive. “FLESH…!!!”
They were distracted. Giving Moonfish the time he needed to get close and lung in, giving them no chance to flee. His Bladed-teeth are already half–way through the air between them, with each of their razor-sharp tips aimed for their heads.
With literally no time to spare, Shoji reacts off pure instinct doing the very first thing he can think of. He throws his free arm up and at the same time duplicates more and more flesh arms over his own limbs. And just in time too as the Bladed-Teeth pierce their way through the fleshy limbs, causing massive amounts of blood to gush out like a sprinkler.
“Shoji!! No!!” Upchuck screams, watching in terror as Shoji’s Dupli-Arms squirm and flex as more and more limbs stretch out to intercept the web of expanding blades.
Shoji winces but holds his ground, staying firm all throughout. “If you’re willing to break your body. Then someone like me should go even FURTHER!!!”
Twisting his pierced limbs, the thin blades snap and bend away with the opposing strength, creating a big enough window between Shoji’s fist and Moonfish’s open maw.
With one arm still holding Upchuck, Shoji’s upper three left arms squeeze and twist together while growing hand upon hand before spiraling together with eight fists at the end.
“COMPACT PUNCH x8!!!!” With a mighty swing Shoji’s twisted combo of fist smashes through the last of the blades and right into Moonfish’s open jaws. Giving him exactly want he wants his fleshy knuckles crash into the villain’s jaw so hard it instantly snaps and maybe even his skull too as his head is thrown right into the dirt with such force one might think an anvil was just dropped onto it.
Moonfish goes still, jaw dislocated as bits of broken blades lie scattered around him. All the while little croaks and moans of pain wheeze out from his unconscious corpse.
Coming down from his adrenaline high, Shoji takes a step back, lowering his arms which are absolutely stained with his own blood. But thankfully because of his Dupli-Arms, his extra limbs were enough to sacrifice in order to protect his main body leaving him with nothing but horrible blood stains with only a number of minor cuts littered across his webbed arms.
With a shaky breath, Shoji raises his head, peering down at the villain with cold disdain as he delivers the final line. “Chew on that. Villain.”
Despite his friend’s recklessness and bloodied arms, Upchuck can’t help but smile; impressed by both Shoji’s iron will and his killer one liner. Maybe he should jot it down in his notebook so he can try to use it later?
Too bad not everyone can be just as impressed. “You assholes!!” Outraged Nue [3] plunges himself right back into the fray, charging straight across the battlefield and making a beeline right for them. “When I’m done with you they’ll need to run a DNA test to identify the bodies!!”
“Mi-Upchuck!!”
“I know! But I have to refuel first!” Upchuck hurries, his tongues lapping up any nearby debris, mainly burning logs and branches before chewing them up and swallowing them whole.
“If you’re starving for a fight? Then how about a knuckle sandwich?!” Nue [3] shrieks with killing intent as he makes his final approach. “Give up! Not even two of you can beat me!!”
Despite his claim, Upchuck doesn’t deter. In fact, he only grows more confident. “But what about three?”
“Huh?!”
Taking a page from Moonfish’s playbook, a crazy eyed Bakugou leaps out from the wall of smoke and fire. His hands are already sparking with Explosions that only swallow up the nearby flames in giant bursts. “DIEEEE!!!”
He unleashes one hell of an Explosion, one that completely overtakes the flanked Nue [3].
No matter how tough his hide is, he feels the fire burning into him as he’s blasted off his feet and away.
Bakugou lands behind Shoji and Upchuck, swearing all the while as smoke bellows from his colling palms. “Take that you rat Bastard!!”
“God, I hate you!” An enraged Nue [1] appears right after Bakugou, leaping over the wall of smoke and fire. “Why can’t you just crash and burn?! Gah?!”
Moving in midair, he’s caught off guard when he’s greeted by a cool collected Shoji.
Shoji smirks underneath his mask as he holds Upchuck out like he’s a machine gun. “Boom.”
“BARFING BEAM!!!” Knowing his que, Upchuck belches out all he has left in the tank, firing off a beam of devastating explosive goop.
The beam splatters into Nue [1] at point blank range, sending him fly back across the smoke-filled battlefield. And right into a distracted Nue [2] who was smashing his way through Shoto’s newest lair of icicle walls. With an explosive boom Nue [1] slams into his clone, propelling them both back and crashing into the woods much to Shoto’s shock and relief.
Watching a resounding green explosion occur in the distance, Bakugou throws Upchuck an uncharacteristically impressed smirk. “Ehehe. Nice.” Still being held underneath Shoji’s arm, Upchuck smiles back and gives the blonde a big thumbs up.
With the coast clear the three hurry to Shoto’s side just as the dual-haired teen props the unconscious Tsuburaba back onto his back. “Thanks for the assist.”
“Assist?!” Bakugou roars, offended. “I could have handled those bastards all on my own!”
“Of course, you could have.”
Shoji leans down, offering to take the unconscious Tsuburaba off his hands. “Here. Allow me.”
“Thank you.”
Moving together they gently transfer the Class B student onto Shoji’s back. While keeping the still injured Upchuck propped up with one arm and his shoulder.
As they complete the transfer Shoto spots movement from Nue and his clones in the tree line. “He’s…they’re watching us.”
Shoji’s arms stretch out, forming eyes at the ends that immediately start scanning the smokey landscape. “Probably staying back since we were able to regroup.”
“Midoriya. Bakugou. You two’ve known him the longest. Have any clues to beating him-them?”
Bakugou responds, answering Shoto with full seriousness. “Yeah, just one. Kill him.”
Shoto gives him a deadpan stare while sarcastically remarking. “Enlightening.”
Upchuck, however, takes the assignment seriously and thinks it over. “Is it me or was Nue…weaker?”
They all pause and stare at him like he’s gone insane.
“I mean they all seem physically weaker than the original. And if he can clone himself then why not make more? Does he have a limit?”
Shoto thinks on it, considering how Nue is a copy of Midoriya’s own powers. Like how Monoma can gain other’s Quirks albeit a slightly weaker version. “He’s splitting his power.” Shoto realizes.
“That’s it!” Upchuck confirms with a nod. “When he divides, he must also be splitting his power. Which means-”
A superior evil grin stretches across Bakugou’s face. “Individually, his clones are weak.”
“Which explains why Nue was so quick to allow Moonfish to fight in his place.” Upchuck thinks, recalling how Nue [3] could have fought them one on one at any given moment. “It also explains why Nue wasn’t moving as fast as XLR8 and how we were able to out pace him at times. It’s because he’s not as fast.”
The others are putting it together as well, like Shoji. “He’s limited. The more clones he throws out the weaker they all are.”
“Exactly. Together they equal a fully powered Nue. But individually they only have ⅓ of his power.” Upchuck explains before considering. “Even so, they’re still dangerous. And from the way they’re acting. It seems like they still have their core personality and memories.”
Bakugou considers that, taking personal measures to note it. “Do they…?” But before he can think too much into it he spots movement from within the plumes of nearby smoke. “Huh? Hey! Look out!!”
They all have barely enough time to dodge as a giant shady claw nearly buries them all into the dirt.
Shoji watches, frightened as the giant claw drags itself across the ground, gauging at the earth as it retreats. “We still have another problem.”
Upchuck scowls as he sees the Nue clones rushing back in for another round. “Make that three more!”
As a rampaging Dark Shadow rises over the thick black smoke the teens are left wondering which problem, they should deal with first: the razing shadow demon or the chaotic devils?
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It’s a slippery slope. Literally. The slope is steep and rocky, with barely any support, threatening to have any of their knees or hands to go sliding out from under them. It also doesn’t help that neither Momo or Awase can go ahead and try to stand up thanks to the thick layer of tangled branches and thorny vines hanging just over their heads. And so, they’re forced to crawl along the ground, slipping between the bases of the trunks and roots.
Awase peers back, feeling hesitant about moving. “Are you sure this is where that signal is coming from? OW!!” He lets out a sharp yelp as Kraab scuttles up from behind. .
“Yes. Now move your ass or I’ll move it for ya!” Kraab waves his pincer in the air, threatening to pinch Awase again.
And it works as Awase turns back around to keep going but he lets out another yelp as the shadow in front of him moves on its own and rises.
“Kekeke!” Kuroiro’s head springs out from the shadow, like a whack-a-mole, looking not at all guilty for scaring his classmate. “Don’t worry. There’s a clearing just up ahead.”
Awase relaxes, letting out a sigh. “Aw, finally.”
Kuroiro was true to his word as they all have the chance to stretch when they come upon a open clearing atop one of the smaller mountains. It’s a rocky cliffside, wide and clear of trees or shrubs with a perfect outlook over the entire valley forest.
Momo cautiously approaches the edge, but falling is not her concern, but what she sees in the distance. “Just look out there.”
They can see the glow of the WWPC’s lodge, and the purple smog from before is gone. But, unfortunately, not too far away they can see that a section of the forest is being ravaged by blue flames. Hell, further away from there they can spot pillars of smoke rising from campfire sized flames, all the while some monstrous creature shifts around in the darkness. And finally, somewhere between the dark monster and the burning blue flames, another monster is floating in the air, seemingly bouncing slowly as bursts of violet and purple blasts discharge around it.
Kuroiro quivers and shakes as he takes in the scenes below. “It's complete chaos down there.”
A part of Momo wants to make a comment, to lie and say that everyone’s okay, the heroes will make sure everyone’s safe…but she can’t bring herself to lie like that. But if she wants it to be true then they should do what they came here to do. “Kraab. Where is this jamming device?”
Rotating around, Kraab quickly scans for the device. “It’s somewhere right around here.”
“This is the place?” Awase looks out, finding nothing but larger boulders and an uneven clearing. “There’s nothing here.”
“And where is Ms. Ragdoll?” Momo points out. “There’s no sign of her either.”
Nobody has an answer for her. Because…they can’t.
Feeling the weight as well, Kuroiro looks out one last time to the clearing only to finally spot something of use. “Hey, look! Right over there! Is that it?”
They all look over, peering over the nearby rocks and quickly spot what caught his attention. A device that’s no bigger than a basketball is sitting right there unattended atop a nearby boulder. It’s almost egg shaped with stubby tripod legs, and surrounded in a purple almost armor looking design, with a thin antenna rotating at its top.
“That’s it!” Kraab immediately declares. “That’s the jamming device!”
“Then why are we just staring at it?!” With a smile Awase runs off for the device with a cackling Kuroiro sprinting right behind him. “Kekekeke!”
“Wait a moment!” Momo calls after them. But then she notices movement as something massive crashes through the nearby brush and she screams in panic. “LOOK OUT!!!”
“GRAAAHH!!” Whatever that thing is it immediately lunges for Awase, its huge, long set of jaws snapping through the air and right at his head.
“Aaaahh-!!” Awase can only scream as he’s met with rows of teeth, all before Kuroiro tackles him and throws them both to the ground, allowing the giant set of jaws to clamp shut together.
The attackers speeds past, having been moving far too fast, skidding across the ground before quickly crawling away to protect the device.
Momo hurries over as Kuroiro pulls Awase away. “Awase! Kuroiro! Are you both alright?!”
“Barely!” Awase screams while rubbing his neck. “That thing nearly took my head off!”
Kraab eyes the ambusher disdainfully. “What is that thing anyway?”
Momo looks and nearly stumbles back in pure absolute horror as her mind flashes back to the U.S.J. Attack.
Before them a Nomu with mint-green skin and an extremely muscular physique is scuttle across the ground before them. Six retractable arms are protruding from its back, with only two holding up chainsaws, while the other four are supporting the beast. Extending out like legs, seeing as how the monster’s own left kneecap appears to have been shot.
Behind it a massive crocodilian tail slides across the rocks with massive scales and leathery hide. With its only attire being a pair of ripped black pants and kneecaps. Its brain is also exposed, acting like a crown over a grotesque face of a deformed alligator.
“It-It’s a Nomu!!” She exclaims.
The boys and the cyborg are stunned, their eyes going wide in horror.
“A Nomu?!” Awase repeats. “Like one of the ones that attacked Hosu?”
“The very same.” Momo confirms, grimly.
Kraab eyes the snarling beast, like it’s a feral animal that needs to be put down. “So that’s a Nomu? Nasty piece of work.”
“Graaah!!” Seemingly growing impatient, the Nomu, or rather Chainjaw, roars and flings itself forward. Its arms flailing widely, dragging it forward as the two free arms swing the chainsaws without any coordination.
Despite having to drag itself, the Nomu’s moving at a breakneck pace, forcing the teens to dive out of the way as it stampedes on by.
“It’s like a wild animal!” Kuroiro shouts, having melted into the ground and letting the beast run on by.
“Graaah!!” Seeing a living shadow pop out in front of him the monster decides to kill it, swinging one of its chainsaws down at the apparition.
Using his Quirk, Kuroiro ducks back into the shadows just before the Nomu can slice his head off. It misses but the roaring chain hits the rocks, causing the metal to grind and spark.
The sparks illuminate the dark clifftop and causing the nearby shadows to vanish and thus launch Kuroiro out from his cover.
“Tsk!” Kuroiro gasps, shocked to find himself exposed.
Taking advantage of the situation, Chainjaw lunges for him again, this time coming at him with both chainsaws!
“Awase, now!” Coming up from behind the monster, Momo and Awase rush in and throw a massive blanket over the creature, getting it tangled and giving Kuroiro and them enough time to flee.
“Graaah!!” Chainjaw quickly gets to severing apart the blanket, but the material was specially designed by Momo, causing the threads to rip apart and stretch into the very gears of the chainsaws as they spin. All before they become a tangled mess, becoming so clogged that the chains aren’t even able to move.
“Mindless. Absolutely mindless.” Kraab watches as the Nomu struggles to break free of the tangled mess that itself created. “It can't even think for itself. All it knows is what it’s told to do. And that is to…”
As he speaks the monster tears free of its binds.
“Kill.”
“GRAAAHH!!!” Chainjaw barrels towards them, its chainsaws flailing in the air despite being jammed.
Already having formed a plan, Kraab leaps up and latches himself onto Awase. “Run kid!”
He doesn’t need to be told twice. Sprinting off in the opposite direction of Momo and Kuroiro.
“Oi, Leatherface!!” Kraab calls out in an attempt to distract the beast. “I’ve got your stereotypical horror movie teenager right over here! Come and get him! Slice up all his juicy bits!!”
Awase can feel the betrayal like a knife in the back, and what’s worse is that he comes to a horrible realization at the same time. “I’m the DISTRACTION!?!”
“Graaah!!” A responding roar from a now pursuing Chainjaw is all he needs for an answer.
“Ahhhh!!” Awase takes off, running frantically with the rabid Chainjaw hot on his heels.
“Quick!” Kraab calls out to the others from Awase’s shoulder. “Now’s your chance to go for the device!!”
Momo seems hesitant but realizes that the sooner they stop the device the sooner they can help Awase and Kraab. “Quick, hurry!”
She goes with Kuroiro beside her.
Acting like it has some kind of sixth sense, Chainjaw’s head snaps back towards them and it immediately gives up chasing Awase for them, Turning away slowly as it skids to a stop.
Awase, noticing the shift in attention, comes to a split-second decision. “Where do you think you’re going?!” He slaps his hand against the monster’s ankle and ground, Welding the two materials together and gluing the creature in place. “HA!!!”
Unable to move, and angered, Chainjaw takes a swing back at him. “Graaah!!”
Much to Awase’s surprise, the chainsaw never reaches his skin thanks to Kraab jumping in the way. Using his hard metal head to take the full force of the blow. But it’s too great, and although Kraab takes it without much issue, the power behind it is enough to launch both him and Awase away.
Seeing this Momo stops and calls out their names. “Kraab! Awase!!”
Kraab’s eyes blink in and out of focus, as sparks fly out from the new dent in the side of his head. “G-Go!”
Awase is beside him, feeling just as dizzy. “W-we got this!”
“You heard them!” Kuroiro pulls her away, hurrying them along.
“Graaahh!!” Like a guard dog that doesn’t know it’s on a leash, Chainjaw lunges and lunges for the pair but with its leg welded to the ground itself it’s unable to budge even an inch forward.
But with its preset orders driving it mad, the beast roars and does what a beast does when trapped. It sacrifices a limb.
Holding down the trigger, one of the chainsaws manages to snap free of the tangled yarn, causing it to rev up at full gear once again. And without a hint of reservation the Nomu swings down and slices off its own leg.
“GRAAAHH!!!” With a howling roar the chainsaw tears away at its flesh and bone, causing blood to splatter and spray across the overlook. And then finally with a sickening crunch the bone gives away and the last of the muscle is torn off, freeing the monster.
“GRAAAHH!!!” It takes off, moving without remorse or a hint of pain even as its stump of a leg is dragged across the rocky earth.
Realizing that they can’t outrun it, Momo lets Kuroiro go as she prepares to fend it off herself. “I’ll cover you! Get the device!”
“Are you insane?!” Kuroiro shouts. “That’s a giant monster!! What can you do to stop it?!”
But Momo just holds her ground, her hand reaching down slowly behind her back as she does, her hand slowly clutching around the hilt of her weapon.
“GRAAAHHH!!!”
“YAOYOROZU!!!”
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“OCHACO!!!” Tsuyu’s scream explodes through the air, desperate and helpless, as she’s unable to do anything but watch as her friend is whipped across the dark sky.
*WAAAaaaaa…!!* Sparks of violet bio-electricity flash with every whip and swing of the Scyphozoa’s arms that manage to connect with Ochaco. Which are most of the strikes.
And with every strike and shock Ochaco struggles to turn the tables. Using a combination Zero-Gravity on herself and producing gusts of whirlwinds with midair OFA punches and kicks are enough to keep her in the fight. And the only way she’s been able to, or at least try to, evade the incoming attacks.
“AAAAAAH!!” She howls in pain, as one of the sparking tentacles manages to swing in from the side and strike her down.
Ochaco’s body bounces off the ground, with her head facing down, she struggles to shove herself off the ground but the sound of tentacles whipping through the air alert her. And using Zero-gravity and OFA she manages to shove herself so hard off the ground that she rockets straight up, evading the incoming tentacles at the last second.
However, another set of tentacles are already on their way to her. Hoping to catch her in midair.
Acting fast, Ochaco greets them with a VENUS SMASH. The attack connects and the tentacles whip violently but remain relatively unharmed and unphased. Wiggling they shake off the kinetic force of the attack and resume their attack.
“EHEHEHEHE!” Charmcaster’s derange cackling fills the air, chiming in with the sounds of Ochaco’s own screams and the cracks of the tentacles whipping through the sky. “Yes!! Fight! Fight back! I want to see you struggle! I want to see you BREAK!!!”
‘Not good!’ Ochaco thinks while zooming up in the air to dodge one tentacle and then letting herself free-fall to avoid another. ‘I-I can’t keep this up! But I have to!! I have to stop her!!’
She chants this over and over in her head. But it’s not enough she can feel her limbs straining, her body growing exhausted, even more so with every OFA powered punch and Ryou Sphere she uses. And she’s becoming slower and slower because of it. And so she’s relying on the tactic of flying up and then removing the Zero-Gravity on herself to plummet and avoid more attacks.
But it all catches up to her during her last plummet when a lone tentacle manages to grab her by the left arm and send jolts of bioelectricity into her system.
“AAAAAhhh!!” Ochaco cries out in agony as an aura of violet electricity surges through her system.
“Hahahaahaha! Yes!!” Charmcaster howls, gleefully cackling from inside the Scyphozoa. “This is it! The moment I see the fire in your eyes. Die. Out.”
With a snap of her fingers the Scyphozoa’s tentacle cracks and tightens like a chain wrapped around a stick. And with a horrible snap Ochaco’s arm lets out a horrible crunch.
“WAAAAAAAAHHHH!!!” Pain. Pain. Pain. it’s all she can feel. She can’t hear anything. She can see anything but violet sparks. All the while it feels like her entire arm’s been set ablaze and chopped up. But in reality, it was her entire arm snapping.
Soon the electrical surge subsides, and Ochaco’s left dangling in the air Unable to react. Unable to move as her head goes in and out of consciousness. Her vision blurring, unable to focus. Left hanging by her arm like a broken doll. Her arm horribly mangled, having already turned black with internal bleeding and bruising.
It’s a gruesome sight, but one Charmcaster relishes in. “That’s it. That’s what I wanted to see. But it’s not quite perfect yet.”
Ochaco’s vision returns, but barely, a still fuzzy mess but her focus returns just enough to watch Charmcaster raise her arms up to her sides from within her central bubble. On the witch’s motion, Ochaco can see the monster’s massive tentacles surrounding her from all sides, becoming a sort-of torturous birdcage.
“All we’re missing… Is a Crushed Spirit!!” With Charmcatser’s declaration the Scyphozoa closes the cage.
But like a lightning bolt a pink fleshy rope shoots up and grabs Ochaco by the ankle and quickly pulls her down and away just as the crushing tentacles close together with a thunderous clap.
“NO!!!” Charmcaster is seething with rage, watching as Tsuyu’s tongue quickly pulls Ochaco down to ground level. “Give her back! She’s MINE!!!
The Scyphozoa launches into action, redirecting all its tendrils at the frog girl.
“No way! You’re insane!” Tsuyu shouts back, carrying Ochaco along in her tongue, she hops and leaps across the warped forest, with the tentacles falling all around her like bombs from the sky. But none manage to hit.
“Squirmy Little Frog, aren’t you? Well try to avoid all this!!”
Tsuyu’s movements and evasion tactics are nothing like her friend’s. Able to quickly change direction and react faster than Ochaco can in the air and especially without her Support Item. Using her tongue to pull them in last minute directions or sticking to and leaping from seemingly impossible angles. Tsuyu is able to stay ahead of the tentacles and make it to a section of the woods that had not been warped by Charmcaster’s Alchemy Quirk.
*WAAAaaaaa…!!* The tentacles snake through the trees and try to snatch the girls away but Tsuyu’s too quick, managing to stay inches away from them. But much to Charmcaster’s frustration and irony the Scyphozoa’s much too large to fit through the trees, and with the canopy so thick as it is she can’t even make them out once their away from the glow of her electrified limbs. “Raaa!! Come back here! You can't hide from me forever!!”
But Tsuyu will sure try her damned best to do so, holding Ochaco to her back, she takes off running for the lodge.
Stirred by the jostling and distant screaming, Ochaco fades in and out of consciousness but still aware enough to know what Tsuyu did for her. “T-Tsu… T-Tha-...Than-”
“Save your strength.” Tsuyu cuts her off, her focus keeping her on high alert. “We’re not out of woods yet. So stay focused. Kero.”
Despite the searing pain and agony coursing through her, Ochaco cracks the smallest of smiles and the weakest of chuckles.
Thinking she’s lost it, Tsuyu quickly becomes concerned. “What is it?”
But Ochaco continues to giggle before choking out an answer. “You said…a pun; out of…the woods. Eh eh…”
Tsuyu rolls eyes but she can’t help but smile, taking comfort in the fact that Charmcaster did, in a sense, fail. Ochaco’s spirit’s still intact.
But their bodies might not be as Tsuyu spots the shine of a small blade swinging out from behind a thick tree.
Acting with reflexes she didn’t even know she had, Tusyu manages to slide right under the blade and spring up, latching herself to a trunk of a tree.
“Ooh~! Girl talk? I wanna join in~!” Toga bashfully cheers, acting all sweet and cutesy despite dashing for them with a bloody blade and a large syringe in her hands.
“Stay away from us!” Tsuyu pulls herself and Ochaco away, leaping away from the blade.
“Aw~. Don’t be mean!” Toga, ironically, begs while actively trying to stab the both of them.
With a lash of her long tongue, Tsuyu strikes Toga’s wrist. The force and shock of the strike breaks her grip, and she drops the knife.
Left with only the syringe Toga takes a stab at their backs but Tsuyu, now knowing Toga’s preferred method of attack, easily sidesteps and allows the syringe to sink into the side of a tree instead.
And with one weapon gone and the other disabled Tsuyu strikes back using her tongue like a whip to slap Toga away!
The strike shoves her back, but Toga quickly recovers. Taking a moment, she contemplates going for her knife before remembering she has more on her. But with Tsuyu aware of her combat she runs off and away into the woods, quickly vanishing under all the cover and darkness,
Tsuyu stops, already knowing how this game will play out. And so, she holds her ground staying on high alert especially since Ochaco can’t move. Heck she’s not even sure if Ochaco’s even conscious but the hot labored breath on her neck and the slight shift of Ochaco’s head on her back is enough to tell she is.
“Where’d…she…?” Ochaco tries to ask but the pain is too much, her arm dangling uselessly at her side reminding Tsuyu that they’ll need to wrap that up soon.
“I don’t know. S-she might have some kind of camouflage or teleporting Quirk?”
And so with all that in mind they stay on high alert, eyes peeled for the smallest hints of movements or disturbances.
And it comes in the form of a single leaf. Just a plain simple leaf gently making its way to the ground, dancing through the air innocently.
But without even thinking Tsuyu takes Ochaco and throws her as far as she can. And spinning around Tsuyu has just seconds to grab Toga’s wrists before she can impale her with her second knife.
The two collapse, with Tsuyu on her back and a grinning Toga on top, both struggling against the other to get the knife to go the opposite direction.
“Hiya, Tsu~!” A feline-like grin stretches across Toga’s blushing face, sending chills down Tsuyu’s spine.
“TSU!!!” Ochaco’s adrenaline rises up giving her enough strength and motive to prop herself up and throw a single Ryou Sphere.
To which Toga demonstrates some surprising acrobatics, flipping up and through the air and letting the sphere fly away and implode against the canopy, creating a gaping hole.
Ochaco throws one more, a smaller weaker one, but it still flies after Toga. But it never reaches as the villainess vanishes once again into the unknown.
Suddenly the canopy is ripped open, the top branches cleared away in seconds by some invisible blade. But it was not a blade but a set of massive sparking tentacles ripping their way through the forest.
“There you are!!” Charmcaster laughs, having spotted the explosions of Ochaco’s Ryou Sphere, “Did you really think you could escape ME!?!”
The Scyphozoa launches its tentacles after them each one winding through the forest and branches like deadly serpents.
Despite the pain and haze, Ochaco’s adrenaline reaches its highest peak giving her enough energy to prop herself against a tree and pick herself up even with one arm. ‘Not yet. We’re not done yet!’
Her right arm glows bright with One For All as the power congregates at her fist. “VENUS SMASH!!!”
Ochaco throws her fist, not at the incoming tentacles, but to the ground. The power of the attack is enough to generate yet another whirlwind. With this one to the ground, it rips and crashes in all directions, washing past the tentacles before reaching the main body of the Scyphozoa. The raging wind sweeps through the Scyphozoa causing its levitation to falter. As a result, its attacking tentacles waver and veer off course.
Ochaco lets out a sharp gasp of surprise. ‘It worked!’ Perhaps the wind disturbs the creature’s own flight and it’s unable to keep its balance. Before when she was generating whirlwinds, they were small and precise, meant for single targets. But what if the wind was directed towards the main body? What if she covered a larger area? “VENUS SMASH!!!”
Ochaco releases one last OFA powered punch in the direction of the Scyphozoa. The wind rips through the forest, clearing away leaves and branches and bits of bark, the wind howls and races past the tentacles before crashing into and past the Scyphozoa’s head.
And like a paper bag in the wind, the Scyphozoa struggles and falters, seemingly losing balance despite floating in the air. Even Charmcaster’s thrown off, confirming Ochaco’s suspicions.
The body can take physical attacks and her Ryou blasts, but the main body also serves as a hovering pad and the wind is enough of a disturbance to throw off. Which means that there is a chance!!
Summing the last of her strength, Ochaco’s entire body glows bright, illuminating the entire forest almost like it was on fire with pink flames. “RAAAAAA!!!”
But before Ochaco can release all she has; a knife flies out from a nearby bush and embeds itself deep into her thigh.
“Aaaahh!!” She falls to her knee, concentration broken and her fist swings off course. The wind thrusts towards the ground instead, and with all the power she put behind it the raging whirlwind is enough to knock Ochaco right off her own feet.
“Sorry, O~cha-co~.” Toga giggles, blushing all the while as she admires Ochaco’s bleeding leg and broken arm. “But Charm-chan really wants to play with you~. Teehee~.”
Oh no. That was all she had. Ochaco can’t even move anymore. The strain on her arms and body are too much, feeling like painful cramps preventing her from moving an inch. She’s helpless to resist as one of the Scyphozoa snakes in and hoists her up.
“Ochaco, no!!” Tsuyu cries out, unable to do anything as Toga cuts her off.
“Got you now.” Charmcaster hisses, a wide grin slowly stretching across her face as she reels Ochaco in close until only the transparent shield of Charmcaster’s bubble’s between them. “I’ve been waiting for this. I’ve had to wait and watch as you and your little friends played “hero.” But look at you now. You’re nothing but a little doll for me to abuse and tear apart!”
Ochaco tries to move. Tries to summon One For All. Tries to move her fingers to make herself weightless. But she…she can’t summon the strength to do it. Her injured arm. Her exhausted body. Her bleeding leg. It’s…it’s too much.
“Soak it in, Little Girl! Let the suffering sink in!! And then, tell me. How does it feel? To have finally LOST!?!”
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Chainjaw stampedes across the clifftop clearing, both of its chainsaws flying through the air widely despite only one of them able to actually rotate its chain.
And yet Momo stands her ground, facing the monster with determination despite Kuroiro’s shouting for her to run. Her hand trailing to her back where she clutches a hidden weapon.
“GRAAAHHH!!!” Not fazed by the prospect of a free kill, Chainjaw swings forth it's spinning blade,
CLANG. Metal meets diamond as Momo brandishes her Zircon Blade.
She pulled it out from behind her back, its shape small like that of a dagger but the moment she brandished it the blade expanded, popping open and stretching to its full size in milliseconds.
The two weapons clash, spinning blades grinding against the crystal with sparks flying in all directions.
Momo holds her ground, her grip shaky but able to bear the brunt. Thankfully her training during this camp is paying off. And she’s extremely glad she stowed her blade away with her during the Test of Courage. She didn’t think she needed it but she liked to keep it on her person ever since the start of camp.
However, the Nomu’s superior strength soon reveals itself, causing Momo’s grip to shake even more as the chain slowly slides down the crystal blade, towards the hilt of the sword. “Kuroiro hurry! Get the device!”
But the shadow teen is stuck in astonishment, frozen in place with his jaw left hanging open.
Momo shifts her weight and shifts her blade allowing the chainsaw to slide up and away from her hands, and with a swift swing the chain breaks away, rendering the chainsaw useless.
“Kuroiro, now!!”
Whether it was the snapping of the chain or the roar of her shouting, Kuroiro isn’t sure but he snaps out of his stupor and scrambles for the device, which is only yards away now.
“Graahh!!” Somehow sensing their intentions, Chainjaw ditches its broken chain in favor of backhanding the girl, tossing her aside before charging after the shadow.
“No!” Momo screams, hurrying to pick herself up. “Kuroiro! It’s after you!!” She thrusts her blade into the ground causing the blade to shoot out a thin train of crystals after the monster. But the trail’s not fast enough, it’ll never reach it before the Nomu reaches her ally.
Kuroiro, while still making a mad dash for the device, shrinks away into the shadows, zooming forward quickly covering several yards in a few seconds.
But as he zooms across the clearing the Nomu swings its last Chainsaw down, smashing it against the ground but it’s enough to have the metal grind and break apart, sending sparks everywhere.
And with the parks lighting up the area, Kuroiro is kicked out from the shadows and forced to run. “Shit! Shit! Shit! SHIT!!!”
The Nomu is hot on his heels with its long set of jaws snapping at his legs. All the while a thin crystal trail races to catch up.
“SHIIIIIT!!!” With no time left Kuroiro dives for device and actually manages to tackle it right off its perch.
“Graahh!!”
With Chainjaw right over him Kuroiro spins around and holds out the device like a shield. And just in time as the monster’s giant claw slams into the device knocking them both back.
Kuroiro hits the ground hard, hissing in pain, but most of all he’s shocked to find the device is completely unscathed; having withstand the force of the blow. “So much for breaking it…” He quickly examines the device without spotting an obvious off switch, dial, or anything. “Wait… How do you even shut this thing off?! It’s completely alien to me!!”
“Graahh!!” With a snarl Chainjaw lunges for the boy but is caught off as Momo’s crystal trail finally catches up. Creating a thin wall between it and its prey.
“GRAAAHHH!!!” It roars and claws at the crystal wall, smashing its fists against it and even trying to bite through it. It then tries to climb on over only for the wall to expand upward even more.
While keeping her concentration on maintaining the barrier, Momo observes from the monster’s actions from afar. ‘Such madness. It’s mindless. A mindless beast!’
Kuroiro nervously watches the beats mindlessly attack the transparent barrier. “It’s ferocious…”
“Try savage.” Kraab pops into view, scuttling over to Kuroiro in a hurry. “Quick! The device!”
“R-right!”
Kuroiro sets it down giving Kraab the perfect chance to examine the purple-cladded device. ‘That tech…!’
He recognizes it. However, he can’t think much of it as Kuroiro interrupts his thoughts. “Weren’t you with Awase?!”
“GRAAAHHH!!!” With a final roar it smashes through the thin crystal wall like a car smashing through a window.
“Aaahhh!!” Kuroiro and Kraab jump as the monster lunges for them, but it can’t reach them.
“GRAAAHH-... !!!” Chainsaw seems just as perplexed, unable to move forward, struggling as something is holding it back. Peering back it finds that its limbs have been Welded into the crystals.
“Try getting out of this!!” Awase declares, rushing it and welding more and more of its extra arms to shards of crystals and earth.
“GRAAAHHH!!!” Outraged, it tries to break free, its muscles bulging and ripping, its feral programming forcing it to try and rip its own arms off just to have the ability to move. Even without its arms it can still rip their flesh apart with its massive jaws.
Unable to stand by and watch, Momo charges in from behind her Zircon Blade poised high over her head. As she rushes in, the Zircon blade shifts and morphs until it becomes a crystal warhammer. “I will not! Allow you! To hurt my friends anymore!!”
She brings the hammer down on the monster’s exposed brain sending a shocking jolt down the monster’s entire nervousness system.
At the same time Kraab, with his hacking rod of a pincer inserted into the device, prepares to deactivate the jamming signal. “And neither will I.”
Together the device goes dark just as the Nomu stumbles and collapses, left hanging in a prison of welded crystal, too stunned and too damaged to move.
With both the device and the Nomu going silent the teens and the cyborg are left in sudden silence. Each of them out of breath and yet holding their breaths in anticipation as if expecting something else to happen.
“That’s it?” Awase frowns, thinking that there’d be some kind of big single or explosion once the jamming device was shut off.
“I was expecting more.” Kuroiro comments, thinking it was all rather anti-climactic.
“Quiet!” Kraab shushes them, he’s trying to focus, as his eyes blinking rapidly like a telegraph sounder.
Momo quickly assumes Kraab’s actions. “Kraab, are you contacting the police?!”
“I’m contacting everyone!” Kraab explains in a hurried pace. “The police. The heroes. Everyone from here to Musutafu’s gonna be alerted.” And that includes the Plumbers.
But for Awase and the others it also means something else. “Then that means…”
A wide grin stretches across Kuroiro’s face. “We really did it.”
Momo is nearly brought to tears of relief. That means that soon the nightmare will be over. The villains will be caught and arrested. And everyone will soon be safe and sound. “Everyone…help’s on the way.”
Kraab looks up, probably to say something snarky albeit out of good fun, but his expression takes a hard turn downward when he peers up at the teens. “No… We’re too late…”
The teens stop, dread rising within them with Kraab’s warning, and with much hesitation they stop and follow his gaze towards the darkened night sky.
Awase frowns since he’s not sure what he’s looking at. “Is that…a storm cloud?”
Kuroiro shakes his head in but is still unsure himself. “That’s one weird cloud then. You think it’s one of Midoriya’s?”
It is not. Momo knows it’s not. She recognizes that swirling dark mass in the sky. It’s the same phenomenon, she herself and her classmates fell victim to during the U.S.J. Attack.
And with a whisper she answers back with faltering resolve. “That’s not a storm cloud.”
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Leaning against a tree, Dabi seems at ease even as the forest burns all around him. Leaning back, he gazes into the sky, toward the swirling shadowy mass. “Already? Shit, this is taking too long.”
Twice immediately cuts in way too abruptly and shouts. “It’s your own damn fault! Hey, you’re trying your best.”
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Up in the sky, soaring high above the forest and the mountain valley, a swirling mass of pure darkness eclipses the entire sky.
“As I have promised.” Kurogiri boasts, glaring down at the forest and all the chaos unfolding underneath his piercing gaze. “A new playground just for you. Now go! Play to your heart's content!”
From out of the Warp Gate a giant mess of a mass creeps through. Its massive size rains down across the forest like an avalanche!
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Nue gets blasted back by a combination of Shoto’s flames, Blasty’s Explosions, and Upchuck’s loogies. Despite the setback his other two clones remain in combat with the squad of annoying teens all the while Dark Shadow continues to rampage in the background. And yet as he’s thrown across the forest, he remains undeterred, enjoying himself far too much.
However, before he can reengage, he spots the Warp Gate in the sky, just as it closes away and vanishes. “Shit. Out of time.”
“Time to go.” Right on cue, Kurogiri appears behind him with that same poised yet condescending demeanor.
“Is it too much to ask for five more minutes?”
Kurogiri’s eyes narrow in warning. “I’ve already allowed you to play longer than what was permitted. Let the others have a turn.”
‘What’s with all the talk about playing?’ But Nue shoves that thought aside and instead turns back towards the raging battle. “Not until Deku pays!”
“Calm yourself friend.”
Nue and Kurogiri stop their bickering, both turning their attention towards the interrupter.
A mysterious man stands perched upon the nearest pine, his silhouette outlined by the light of the full moon and obscuring his appearance.
The man of mystery gives the two villains a tip of his top hat and bows like a performer that’s just taken the stage. “This is a performance. This forest is our stage, and we are the performers. Good Nue, if you’d be so kind as to perform a vanishing act, I can assure you it will put our dear audience on the edge of their seats.” He gestures towards the raging battle, implying that said audience members are the wannabe heroes themselves. “Let their fear and uncertainty plague their minds. And let our guest-star shine and perform for them! And that is when I will perform the closing act.”
A part of Nue wants to slap this thespian loving dude out from the tree, but he thinks better of it. Figuring it wouldn’t do any good, especially with Kurogiri watching him like a hawk right now. “Yeah. Yeah. I more or less wanted to stretch my legs. I had my fun.”
With a whistle his clones stop engaging in combat with the teens. The clones taking to the forest and vanishing in the burning smoke so the teens can’t see them speed around and fly back to their original host. Once together the two clones reemerge into the prime Nue.
Cracking his neck and rolling his arms from the soreness, Nue gives Kurogiri the go ahead. “Kurogiri get us out of here.”
Kurogiri nods and turns back to their mysterious ally. “We’ll leave the rest to you.”
The man of mystery graces Kurogiri with a smile from behind his white mask. And with a flourish the villain poses like that of a great performer, meanwhile, all around him globs of orange moss begin to grow and spread across the forest. “Believe me this will be a show that no one will soon forget.”
Notes:
And with that we have Ch.74!! So, what did you all think about the different fight scenes? I hope it wasn't too confusing when we switched from scene to scene.
In other news, we only have 1 chapter left until the Forest Training Camp is over and done with. And then we begin the KAMINO WARD ARC!!! WOOOO!! It’s gonna be good!!
That said, the next chapter will take a lot longer to post and the next Omake will not be until the week before I post (unless the chapter is already done). I am going on a trip real soon and I will be without wi-fi for all of it. So, no computer for me. Which means I can’t work on the chapter. So yeah, don’t expect any updates any time soon
But there is something I need to ask you guys, and this will determine future updates: Would you guys prefer Sooner Updates with shorter chapters or Slower Updates with longer chapters?
I think it’s clear that I cannot do longer chapters in the span of two weeks. Longer chapters take between 3-4 weeks to write for this story. So, I need to know if people want half chapters that leave on awkward cliffhangers or a full chapter with a beginning, middle, and end?
*I know some of you wanted a very personal fight between Bakugou and Nue. Sorry you didn’t really get that this time but trust me they’re gonna have a rematch in the near future (in the next arc or so). And that’ll be a far more personal fight between the two. Promise.
Chapter 80: Curtain Call
Summary:
Izuku and his friends continue to whether this brutal attack at the hands of the villains. Will they make it out alive or this curtains for them?
Notes:
It’s here. It’s finally here! The end of the Training Camp Arc!! Sorry it took so long but as you know life happens. But hey we’re here now so let’s enjoy a chapter that’s been a long time coming.
Also I wanna wish you all a well-wished Good Friday and a Happy Easter! I hope you're all staying safe out there, especially my fellow Americans. This string of awful weather and storms have been nightmare for a lot of people here so I'm praying that you're all safe and sounds this Easter Sunday.
*So, in response to the vote about chapter lengths from last time. I have decided to go back to FULL (longer) chapters. So that will mean slower updates, but you will get a more fulfilling and longer chapter as a result.
*Also, I wanna address a mistake I made last time about Twice’s powers. I forgot that during these events in the timeline, Twice was mentally unable to make more than one clone of anyone beginning at any time. So, let’s just agree to ignore that little mistake from last time and move on as if this was always the case. He can only make one clone at any given time. At least until he gets over his hang-ups.
*Also, I meant to announce this sooner, but we have even more Artwork from the budding artist, Smoking-Gun-275! of Deviant Art!! https://www.deviantart.com/smoking-gun-275/gallery/all
They are also known as Omnitrix Wielder while here on fanfic. They went out of their way to draw up not one, not two, but THREE new pieces of artwork for us!!! So, please swing on over to their gallery on Deviant Art and give them a look.
*This story has a TV Tropes page so feel free to check it out. https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Fanfic/HeroesNeverDieItsHeroTime
*Disclaimer I do not own the rights to Ben 10 or MHA.
**Also it's been brought to my attention that some readers can't read this story due to the language barrier and they're forced to use Google translate in order to read this. Here's a solution. Download the Fanfic App and make an account. The App can auto-translate entire chapters and stories for you with a simple press of a finger.**
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Heroes Never DieIt'sHeroTime_Deku Meets Deku 10000 by Smoking-Gun-275
Heroes Never Die It's Hero Time_ Hisashi Midoriya by Smoking-Gun-275
Heroes Never Die It's Hero Time_ It Started When by Smoking-Gun-275
“Hey! Back off! This isn’t fun anymore!” Magne nearly stumbles back as she blocks yet another Cat Punch. But this fight’s been going on for too long, and she’s starting to lose steam as her guard nearly breaks with every strike.
“Fun?!” Tiger roars. “You think putting the lives of children in danger is a game!? Damn you, Villain!! Taste my CAT PUNCH!!!”
Magne blocks but is knocked back and her arms, having absorbed the attack, give away leaving her exposed. And with her guard broken, Ojiro slips in and spins around delivering a massive swing of his Tail.
“YAH!!!” Ojiro’s Tail hits Magne dead on, knocking the villain back even further.
Magne gasps, clutching her stomach as she reels in pain. “Two against one? Not fair! Spinner mind giving me a hand?!”
“I’d love to!” Spinner shouts back, sweating bullets as he desperately uses the few blades, he was able to recover as a makeshift shield against Mineta’s onslaught of sticky balls. “But I’m not Twice ya know!!” With a swing of his broken blades, he takes a swipe at his attacker. “Stay back, you fakes!!”
With a yelp and a cry Mineta hurries away as an irritated and frustrated Mandalay leaps back, moving out of range of the blades.
With a frustrated growl Spinner throws shots at their third member. “Grrr. Ya know. I thought having some hired help was supposed to even the odds!”
“Nto’d ipn hits no em!” SevenSeven shouts back, clearly angered by Spinner’s jab. “Hyet odtl em uyo reew ropssefonilsa!”
But he doesn’t have time to talk as he’s surrounded by a swirling vortex of birds and insects, courtesy of one Koji Koda. He swings his two purple plasma-sabered sickles to no avail as the birds and bugs swarm all around him.
“Raaaahh!!” Tenya Iida bursts through the vortex of feathers and wings to deliver a devastating Engine-powered kick.
SevenSeven quickly defends, parrying the kick with one of his sickles, bouncing Iida’s now singed shoe away.
Iida quickly snuffs out the smoking shoe by stuffing it into the dirt, as he grits his teeth and glares back at the villain. “We will not stop! We will put an end to your wicked ways, villain!!” His Engines roar as he gets ready to charge back into battle.
“YRRAAAHHH…!!!” A distant roar slices through the tension, putting an instant stop to all the fighting within the clearing.
Ojiro peers out over the darkness of the tree line and despite there being no wind he could almost swear that some of the treetops in the far distance look like they’re moving. “What. Was. That?”
Mandalay quickly turns her attention back at the lizard man. “Spinner!! Just what is this?!”
The gecko smirks back at her, no longer afraid of their impending defeat. “The thing that will put an end to you fake heroes.”
“Cghghghghhrrr…”
The faintest sound of rustling leaves catches Mineta’s ears, causing him to snap his head towards the nearby bushes. “Huh?”
To his shock, a squad of short mushroom men stumble out from the brush with puffs of spores spewing from their tops. Their eyes aglow with fury as more and more of these freaky Goombas crawl out from the woods. With several mouths lining their bodies, their many rows of sharp teeth click together to make some strange chattering like noises. Cghghghghhrrr!”
“Waaaah!! Monsters!!” Mineta shrieks, quickly scurrying away from the encroaching abominations.
More and more of these twisted Goombas crawl out of the woodwork, hobbling and skulking in from all sides, encircling the entire clearing like mindless pawns on a chessboard.
“Cghghghghhrrr! Cghghghghhrrr! Cghghghghhrrr!” With their fangs bared and with spores fogging up the air like a thick mist the mutant mushrooms rush the clearing, with no care for their own safety as they lunge for the heroes and students.
The pros easily cut through the incoming Goombas like paper to a shredder, but with their numbers they’re quickly overwhelmed. The students try to help from Mineta sticking them in place, to Ojiro obliterating them with his Tail and combat skills, and even Koda as his birds and insects pecking and buzzing at their eyes. But yet the flood of Living Mushrooms seems to be never ending.
“They’re everywhere!” Iida cries out, jetting around the battlefield, tearing his way through the Goombas as he does. “Mandalay! We should retreat! Waaaa!!”
Iida ducks as a purple blazing sickle nearly takes his head.
Sliding to a stop and spinning around he finds SevenSeven cutting off his path with an air of arrogance and mirth.
“You.” Iida gasps, his worries amounting as more and more Goombas surround them.
SevenSeven takes a deep inhale, before sighing in satisfaction, all the while giving his two sickles a spin, clashing them together before slicing them across the ground. “I ujts ovle het lemsl fo ARFE!!!”
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[PLAY “ My Hero Academia Season 3 - Opening | ODD FUTURE ”]
I Keep My Ideals; Sorezore
Izuku Midoriya and Henzu Uuichi are standing back-to-back facing away from each other as their story of transformation from friends to enemy's flashes between them.
No Tenmei Wo Ooo
The camera P.O.V. zooms upward, traveling through space at lightspeed.
What's going through? (Instrumental)
The Omnitrix glows green, floating between a pair of Galvins hands.
Subete Wa Mi Kara Deta Sabi
Izuku runs out of Mr. Baumann’s store before jumping on his hoverboard with the man chasing after him angrily.
Haburi Yoku Fuyashita Kuro Rekishi
He begins laughing as Megawatts swarm around him and into the bright sky.
Arito Arayuru Mono Wo Sutetari
One of the Megawatts glides past Ochaco Uraraka who lets out a cheer as she leads Class A around a running course.
Mi Ni Oboe No Nai Unmei Ni
Katsuki Bakugou begins shouting as he tries to overtake her, but she just runs faster, earning his angrier.
Korosare Kaketa Koto Mo Attashi
Principal Nezu walks in front of the U.A. staff along with the WWPC before passing by a pillar. Leaving just him along with Thirteen, One-One, and Gran Torino before passing another pillar.
Shinda Me Wo Shite Ikita Jiki Soredemo Kyou Mo Ikasareteru
The pillar moves to reveal Nue standing in front of Vilgax's Legion with the League of Villains standing behind him.
Tte Koto Wa
SevenSeven appears in front of the camera P.O.V. and shoots the screen.
What's going on? Mada Sou Yari Nokoshiten Darou
Ochaco Uraraka and Tomura Shigaraki stand back-to-back as their respective mentors look down at them before the two begin to walk away from each other.
Syuusei No Shiyou No Nai Hibi No Naka Demo
Izuku looks on at a photo of him, Inko, and a faded-out figure before closing his eyes as All Might appears behind him. All Might fades out leaving Hisashi in his place. Hisashi turns and let’s loose a torrent of flames.
What's going on?
Xylene leaps from the flames, her eyes aglow with Telekinesis as she launches multiple boulders forward.
Hito Towa Chigau To
Tetrax stands firm, a wave of diamonds swallow up the nearby flames as he glares into the camera with a stoic look.
Mitometa Ue De
The diamonds melt together to reveal Lucy Mann smiling as she jumps forward to deliver a flying kick through the flaming air.
Kanousei No Rutsubo Hiraku, Ah
The fire forms a circle to reveal Cinder smirking up at a snarling Vilgax; the two glare each other down.
Dreaming
The two enemies clash creating a shockwave destroying everything around them.
Ishi Gyakusou Shikakui Sora
Civilian's runaway in panic as animalized Nomus terrorize the city all the while All for One looks on from his tower.
Kokoro No Sukima Umenu
Suddenly Pro Heroes from across Japan appear and fight the beasts head on.
Akenu Yoru Kara
All for One looks on before looking up to see something coming at him at high speed.
Nukeyou~
All Might roars as he lets loose a furious punch at his nemesis.
Mirai
The opposing powers clash creating a giant explosion of power!
No Kaizou Do Sage Bokura Wa
Zooming out it’s revealed that the explosion is a clash between orange and azure flames courtesy of an enraged Shoto Todoroki and a deranged Dabi.
Me Wo Sorashite Wa Naritai
All around them Class A & B fight the League of Villains’ Vanguard Action Squad head on;
Bakugou uses a Howitzer Impact against Moonfish.
Iida Recipro Bursts past SevenSeven.
Tsuyu hopes over a knife wielding Toga.
Mono Nante Naito Uso Buita Hibi Wo
A pink glowing Ochaco races towards a grinning Charmcaster. As massive violet-runed tendrils curl and spiral around her form.
I Keep My Ideals; Sorezore No Jinsei
A red hued Nue and green highlighted Izuku charge at each other as chaos ensues around them.
Ai Mo Yume Mo Kiken Na Hodo Kantan Ni Hi Ga Tsuichau Nosa
The two opposing colors spark and clash like thunder and lightning across the battlefield, with Izuku transforming between Shocksquatch, Humungousaur, and more.
The two back away from each other before charging once again this time both of them in their human forms as their foreheads clash with each other.
Gongu Nari Sorezore No Tenmei
HEROES NEVER DIE; IT’S HERO TIME
Silhouettes of past Izuku and Henzu are walking with each other, with Henzu's arm flung over Izuku's shoulders.
Wo ~
All highlighted with neon green Deku, Uravity, Ground Zero, Pinky, Kraab, Tetrax, Cinder, and All Might stand in a line before the all red highlighted Nue, Ragnarok, Sunder, Rojo, SevenSeven, Techadon, Malware, and an imposing Vilgax towering over them all.
(Illustrated by Drag0n5on)
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Ch.75 Curtain Call
“RAAAAAA!!!” Dark Shadow’s booming roar rips through forest like thunder, shaking the earth and trees as its tendrils and limbs crash through the rock and trees.
Through Dark Shadow’s flailing claws, a blur of sparks and ash-blonde hair zooms across the smoke-filled air with expert acrobatics and a foul temper.
“Hey Birdboy! Control that damn thing would ya?!” Katsuki Bakugou barks, blasting himself away from the rampaging Dark Shadow’s reach.
“DARK SHADOW!!!” Fumikage Tokoyami struggles against Dark Shadow’s binds, unable to move with tears streaming down his face in sheer agony and guilt.
“Everyone stay on guard!” Upchuck warns, still too busted up to walk on his own but thankfully he’s small enough for Shoji to haul around like he’s some kind of potato sack. “Where’d Nue and his clones go?!”
“No idea!” Shoto Todoroki calls out, dashing up alongside them as they all avoid Dark Shadow’s rampage. “Think he ran off?”
“I saw his clones take off!” Shoji explains as they make a mad dash for cover. “But why I don’t know!”
‘Maybe he’s switching targets? Like Uraraka!!’ Upchuck thinks worriedly, not sure why else he’d suddenly give up on them.
“RAAAAAA!!!”
Dark Shadow’s roar snaps Upchuck out of his worries, reminding him where his worries should lie at the moment. “Todoroki! That’s enough! Save Tokoyami!”
With a sense of finality, Shoto unleashes a massive pillar of fire right into the air. The heat breaks through the smoke-filled air, allowing the blinding light to wash over the raging monster.
“RAAAAAA!!!” With a shriek Dark Shadow tries to retreat into the night but is cut off by a grinning Bakugou who unleashes a barrage of Explosions.
“RAAAaaaaaa…” With a pathetic cry Dark Shadow finally shrinks and vanishes away, retreating back into his exhausted and humiliated host.
Now free, Tokoyami collapses to his knees, exhausted, letting out ragged pants as sweat drips down his brow.
Bakugou scoffs, keeping his palm alight with sparks. “Huh light really is a terrible matchup for you, Birdboy.”
Even so, Tokoyami is grateful it is the case. “Thanks. You saved me.”
Shoto scans the destroyed forest, wary, thinking Nue might return for a second go at them. “Even though Dark Shadow was on a rampage. I don’t think we would have stood a chance without him. Ironic enough. But yet where did Nue go?”
Bakugou throws a nasty glare at the woods. “Did the coward run?”
With a beaten Upchuck propped over his shoulder, a disheveled Shoji approaches looking worried yet relieved to see Tokoyami in one piece. “My friend. Are you okay?”
He is but he can’t bring himself to meet his gaze out of shame.
“You did what we needed you to.”
[FLASHBACK]
It was when Dark Shadow was chasing Shoji and an injured Izuku through the woods. Tokoyami so desperately wanted to hold Dark Shadow back. To be left behind to deal with the monster alone.
But yet Midoriya insisted on the opposite. “Good, Tokoyami! Don’t fight against it! Give up your control for now and just let it take over-trust me!”
[End of FLASHBACK]
“Shoji. I apologize. You, too, Midoriya. I’m still far too immature.” Tokoyami regret stares down at his shaking, trembling hands. “Anger consumed me. And I let my Quirk take over. The influence of the darkness, combined with my fury, spurred Dark Shadow into a frenzy. Until…it got so strong, I couldn’t contain it. And I ended up hurting Shoji.”
“We’ll deal with that later. That’s what you’d say if our roles were reversed.” Shoji reassures, not holding any ill will towards the already regretful raven.
Tokoyami’s taken back, in disbelief that he’d be forgiven so easily. And yet he knows it to be true when he meets both Shoji’s and Upchuck’s kind and welcoming gazes. And so, with a nod and a soft smile, Tokoyami’s back to his calm stoic self.
And now that he’s officially joined their party Upchuck hurries to explain the full situation. “Okay. I don’t know if you heard from Mandalay, but I found out the villains are after Kacchan and Uraraka.”
Tokoyami considers the news. “Bakugou? And Uraraka? Are they trying to kill them? Why?”
“I’m not sure.” Upchuck answers. “But I think we need to hurry. Nue might have gone after Uraraka. So, after we find her, we should get to camp. It’s the safest place now, so long as Vlad King and Mr. Aizawa have regrouped there.”
“I understand. So, our mission is to get Bakugou and Uraraka back to safety by serving as their protectors.”
“It’s possible the Pussycats are still fighting in the clearing. Going that way would draw the attention of the villains. Uraraka and Tsuyu left after Bakugou and Todoroki, so we’ll need to cut across and find her.”
Bakugou stands there stunned, looking dumbfounded like he can’t comprehend the fact they’re planning to “protect” him. Or maybe he’s thrown off by the fact that they’re virtually ignoring him and not even bothering with his opinion.
“We don’t know how many enemies there are.” Tokoyami warns “We might come across some by chance.”
Dragging the unconscious Kosei Tsuburaba out from his hidey-hole, Shoto airs another concern. “And we still don’t know where your old friend, Nue, is either.”
“We can use Shoji’s search ability.” Upchuck explains. “And Todoroki’s freezing power. And, if Tokoyami’s okay with it, we can always use Dark Shadow now that we can actually control him.”
The others don’t seem to have any reservations as Shoto props Tsuburaba up onto his back and Tokoyami pulls himself to his feet. Shoji turns towards their destination while keeping Upchuck securely seated over his shoulder like a bazooka, while Bakugou still looks dumbfounded by them all.
Looking back at his friends, Upchuck can’t help but feel the most confident and reassured he has all night. “Honestly, with a badass group like this, we could probably even go up against All Might.”
After that the dumbfounded Bakugou snaps out of his stupor. “I’d be fine by myself! I don’t need any of your protection, dammit!!”
“YRRAAAHHH…!!!” A shrill distance roar cuts him off, while also quickly dashing whatever confidence the group had just obtained.
Shoto looks back at Bakugou dryly. “Are you sure about that…?”
Upchuck quivers and shakes as a sense of familiarity washes over him. “That noise…?”
“What is it?” Shoji inquires.
“It…I feel like I’ve heard that roar somewhere before.”
“Deku.” Bakugou calls out softly, his spooked gaze now solely focused on the source of the distant roar.
“Yeah?”
“I recognize it too.”
Upchuck’s breath hitches and quivers as all the puzzle pieces in his mind click together. “We need to go now!!” He screams, panicked and worried.
Shoto flinches, taken back by the sudden shouting. “What?”
“Uraraka! She’s in danger, hurry!! Run now!!”
Not needing to ask anything more, Shoji takes off, sprinting towards the source itself to Upchuck’s command. Bakugou and Shoto follow quickly with Tokoyami taking the rear. All running in unisons; running headfirst into danger.
“We’ll get everyone back safely!” Upchuck assures. “If we can do that, that’s all that matters.”
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Oh no. That was all she had. Ochaco can’t even move anymore. The strain on her arms and body are too much, feeling like painful cramps preventing her from moving an inch. She’s helpless to resist as one of the Scyphozoa snakes in and hoists her up.
“Ochaco, no!!” Tsuyu Asui cries out, unable to do anything as a blushing Himiko Toga cuts her off.
A wide grin slowly stretched across Charmcaster’s face as she reels Ochaco in close until only the transparent shield of Charmcaster’s bubble’s between them.
Ochaco tries to move. Tries to summon One For All. Tries to move her fingers to make herself weightless. But she…she can’t summon the strength to do it. Her injured arm. Her exhausted body. Her bleeding leg. It’s…it’s too much.
All the while Charmcaster’s cackling with glee. “Soak it in, Little Girl! Let the suffering sink in!! And then, tell me. How does it feel? To have finally LOST!?!”
“YRRAAAHHH!!!” An earthshaking roar slices through all the tension and fear, creating an unnatural pause over the massacre.
“No! Not yet! It’s too soon!!” Upon hearing that shrill of a roar, Charmcaster grows worried and panicked, acting as if she might have just had her victory stolen from underneath her.
Soon the sound of trees being uprooted and knocked over echo through the night. And soon it’s accompanied by the thundering of what sounds like a tsunami crashing through the forest. The rumbling grows louder with every second, and the ground shakes more violently right as a literal tidal wave of orange floods the warped battlefield with a ringing roar.
“YRRAAAHHH-Yaaaay!!” The giant orange wave suddenly stops as it reaches the girls, and a tiny child-like face emerges from atop the living flood of orange moss. “Hello! Hi! Hi there! Whatcha doin? Whatcha playin!? I wanna play!! Let’s play tag! No Hide-N-Seek! Oooh! No! We’ll play both! Yay! Yay! Yay!!”
The living mass of orange moss is totally naive of the situation, flailing around like everything’s nothing but a silly game. His voice is shrill and squeaky, reminiscent of an annoying giggly child. “Hehehehehehaha!!”
“No!!” Charmcaster screeches, her giant Scyphozoa backing away from the even bigger interloper.
However, that was the wrong move as the intruder’s almost comedically tiny head snaps over at her, before quickly spotting the broken and semi-unconscious Ochaco in the jellyfish’s grasp. “Ooow! Cool! A new action figure!” A wave of orange moss slams into the jellyfish, shoving it back as another tendril of orange goop swipes the broken girl away. “My turn! My turn! Let’s play Pew Pew Laser Ship! Wait… Aw! You’re broken… That's okay! We can still play! Hehehehehehaha!!”
“Put her down!”
The giant child-monster stops, his gaze snapping down towards the ground where a little frog girl is shouting at him.
“You wanna play too, Froggy Lillypaddy? Okay!! Heheheheheha!!” His tendrils lash out at her but Tsuyu is quick to flee as the mossy tendrils give chase.
She leaps and bounds through the forest and incoming tendrils, before leaping up and whipping her long tongue up towards the monster’s captive. Her tongue snags itself around Ochaco’s exposed leg and pulls, snatching her away from the insane man-child.
“No! That’s MINE!!!” With a roar he gives chase, his body of ooze flooding the forest as his tendrils lash out, smacking and shoving back the giant Scyphozoa as they do.
Charmcaster braces herself from within her infused bubble as her golem jellyfish is thrashed about. “You stupid BRAT!!!” She tries to strike back but her creature’s electrified tentacles don’t seem to cause him any harm. His body is too massive and fluid for her to be able to do anything to him.
With her shouting and attacking him, the monster’s quick to turn his attention towards her. And immediately his face lights up like a kid on Christmas morning.
“Oh, no.” Charmcaster gulps.
“A Squiggly-jellyfish?! Yay! I always wanted one!”
As he approaches Charmcaster quickly tries to fend him off but once again the jellyfish’s attacks prove useless against the giant living flood.
“Heheheheheha!!” With a giggle the child-like monster’s entire body latches onto the giant jellyfish before swinging it around this way and that like a giant pillow. “Heheheheheha!! This is fun!!”
“This is so not fun!!” Charmcaster screams as she’s thrown this way and that from inside the floating golem.
With no other choice, the bubble that’s encased around her collapses and she drops to the forest floor below before quickly scurrying off as the monster’s orange flesh completely swallows up and absorbs her golem whole.
With the thing distracted Tsuyu takes off with an injured Ochaco slung over her back.
Unfortunately, she didn’t move fast enough out of the monster’s sight as he caught her in his peripheral.
“Hey! Where you going, Froggy Lillypaddy?!” The monster’s fluidic body shifts and washes away, pursuing the girls.
Hidden away in the warped forest, Charmcaster watches as her prey escapes. “She was mine! I had her!”
Toga appears beside her, giggling, and not at all perturbed by the outcome. “Tehehe, oh well, better luck next time, Charm-chan~.”
“I can’t believe Shigaraki thought it was ever a good idea to bring in this freak. Whatever. Stay close, we’ll get another chance.”
Toga grips her blades, ready to give chase at a moment’s notice, however, a flash of green catches her attention in the distance towards the monster.
A glowing green ball of sludge soars through the treetops before exploding into a ball of green plasma against the monster’s mossy side. “YRRAAAHHH!!!”
Tsuyu stops, looking back in shock-and-awe, unsure of what just happened.
“Stay away from them!!” Upchuck roars as Shoji carries him into view. “I knew it! It really was him!”
Bakugou and Shoto soon arrive on the scene, each taking witness of the horrid monster before them. “I thought we killed this bastard?!”
The monster stops at the sound of Bakugou’s shouting, its eyes blinking down at him in disbelief. “Sparky Sparky Boom Man? Is that you?! I missed you!” His sudden cheery disposition quickly fades away as sharp needle-like teeth flash within his maw for a split second. “And I’m angry with YOU!!!”
Upon his roar he lashes out, firing several mossy tendrils at the squad.
But with a howl of pain the monster’s forced back as Bakugou and Shoto release a wall of flames, burning its tendrils away to ash in the process.
“Be careful it’s Fun Gus!” Upchuck warns, as the villain roars and whines about how unfair and what cheaters they are.
“We know it’s fungus!” Shoto calls back, not taking his eyes off the massive villain for a second.
“No! Fun Gus!!”
“YRRAAAHHH!!”
With Fun Gus’s attention now on them, Tokoyami takes the unconscious Tsuburaba and sneaks around to where Tsuyu and Ochaco are before calling them over to hide in the brush. “Asui! This way!”
Surprised but relieved to see him, Tsuyu hurries, hopping over to his position. Once there they both hurry to hide their injured comrades. As Ochaco’s body is thrown around and then gently pulled under the brush she begins to stir ever so slightly, peeking her eyes open just enough to witness Fun Gus towering over the forest, his tendrils flailing around everywhere like a rampaging squid.
As Shoji dodges and dashes through the forest with Fun Gus’ tendrils hot on his heels, Upchuck tries, or rather begs, for the villain to stop. “Fun Gus! Stop this! This isn’t right!”
“How do you know my name Little Green Barfy Baby?!” Despite willing to answer back Fun Gus lashes out, nearly crushing Shoji and Upchuck in the process.
Seeing that it’s no use, Upchuck accepts the final resort. “Shoji, get me in close. I should be able to handle him.”
“Right.” Sliding to a stop, Shoji grips onto Upchuck tight like he’s a devastating machine of war.
With a smirk Upchuck declares to the heavens Fun Gus’ defeat. “It’s time we put this brat on TIME OUT!!!”
*BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!*
With a red flash, Izuku is left awkwardly sitting there with no means of fighting back. “I meant a time out for Fun Gus! Fun Gus! Not you, OMNITRIX!!!”
Meanwhile, both Charmcaster and Toga mange to stay hidden while also dashing along the outskirts of the skirmish. But as the Omnitrix times out Toga finds herself freezing in place as she takes in Izuku’s horribly injured form.
“Huh~...?” Her feline eyes quiver, unable to look away as a rosy-blush creeps across her infatuated face.
Fun Gus freezes, utter shock written on his face when he spots that familiar mop of green hair. “You…? YOU.” Fun Gus’s Mycelium side peeks out again with a low growl. “You’re Mr. Fake-Froggy Broccoli Baby! You stole all of my TOOOYS!!!”
He lashes out again only to meet yet another wall of flames, courtesy of Shoto.
Shoto holds up his wall as Fun Gus shrieks and slithers away. “He really seems to hate you! Why?! Is he an old friend of yours too?!”
“Just because I had one friend turn evil does not mean all of them did!” Izuku defends.
“Not like you had any.” Bakugou snidely remarks.
The nasty looks Izuku throws at Bakugou doesn’t have any effect so instead he turns it back to Shoto. “To answer your question, we might have…dropped an entire cave on this guy.”
Shoto blinks at him, not sure if he heard that correctly. “You what?”
“YRRAAAHHH!!”
Hidden in the thick of the forest, Charmcaster scowls and watches on enviously as Fun Gus has his way with the obnoxious hero students. But even against such an overwhelming foe, she does have to grant it to them, they’re good. They’re speed and power and coordination are on another level than theirs. Even if somehow Fun Gus cooperated with them, they wouldn’t stand a chance against such powerful and strategic Quirk users.
“Dammit, there’s too much of a crowd now. We lost our chance.” Swallowing her pride, Charmcaster turns to Toga and signals for her to retreat. “Hopefully the bratty-freak will finish them off for us. Let’s go. We got what we needed anyway.” She is of course referring to the vials of blood Toga was able to acquire.
Speaking of whom, Toga doesn’t seem to have heard her. Her gaze fixated on the battle, with a light blush on her face accompanied by a far away and almost awe-struck look. Like this she kinda looks like a lost kitten who just found a new toy mouse to play with.
But then a gentlemanly voice calls out from behind them. “It’s so nice to see such nice young ladies getting along.”
Charmcaster instantly spins around, her guard up until she finds a man in magician cosplay greeting them. “Oh, look who decided to show up. You’re late.”
“Guilty as charged my dears.” The magician waves with a flourish, taking a bow while typing his top hat. “Simply, setting the stage for my grand entrance as it were. Now I suggest you exit stage left and allow me to steal the show as it were. But not to worry I will need my two lovely assistants back on stage real soon. Hahahahaha.”
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“Enough!!” Aizawa kicks the Dabi clone to the ground, wrapped in his Capture Scarf so he can’t move.
All around them trees have been burned away but yet the fire is contained thanks to the efforts of the boy, Kota, and his Water Quirk. With Kirishima personally guarding him from Dabi’s attacks and with Aizawa’s quick take down on the clone the boy was able to calm the flames quickly and before they could reach the lodge.
His foot presses hard into the clone’s skull, threatening to crush it. “What do you hope to gain from all this?!”
“At the moment,” The clone grins against the bottom of Eraserhead’s boot just as he begins to melt away. “I want to see all hope leave your eyes. Ehehehehe…”
Aizawa’s foot slips through the goop and hits the dirt, his Capture Scarf sprawled on the ground and stained in muck. “Bastard.”
With the clone gone, the fire contained, and the mutant bats defeated, the students all begin to relax. Taking a moment to catch their breaths and assess the situation.
“Is that all of them?” Neito Monoma inquires, keeping his body Hardened with Kirishima’s Quirk just in case.
“Hehe, we kicked ass!” Hanta Sero cheers, howling into the air in premature celebration.
“Y-yeah I guess we did.” Rikido Sato comments before bending over exhausted, sweat dripping off his body while his muscles tremble and give, having reached their limit.
“Don’t celebrate.” Vlad King warns with a growl. “We’re still missing nearly our entire classes.”
On the note, Mina Ashido’s antennas begin to shake and quiver violently as a wave of mixed anger and insane joy flood her senses causing her to cry out like someone just jabbed her brain with a knife. “AAAAahhhh!!!”
Eijiro Kirishima’s snaps around to see Mina clutching at her head as her horns continue to shake and tremble. “Ashido?! What’s wrong?!” He runs over, hovering over her, unsure of how to help.
“Villain!!” She exclaims.
“Huh?!”
Sero jumps back, away from the woods. “Another?!”
Aizawa prepares, gripping his scarf. Listening closely until he hears the subtle yet ever growing rumble of trees being uprooted and knocked over. “Quick get Kota inside!!”
Yui Kodai sees to the boy, grabbing his hand and quickly pulling him back into the lodge as the others prepare for the next wave of villains.
“On your guard!” Vlad King calls, blood already pooling around his fists as the rumbling grows louder and louder. “Whoever it is, they’re no match for us!”
The rumbling reaches its climax and then out from the trees like tentacles breaching the ocean’s surface as what feels like hundreds of orange tendrils crash onto the scene, nearly striking several of the students as they whip and flail about.
Kirishima freezes, instantly recognizing the tendrils. “No. Nononononono NO!!! Not you! Anybody but you! Not again!”
Sero leaps back, firing off lashes of tape in the hopes of slowing the almost liquid moving limbs. “Again?! You know this thing?!”
“Oh, yeah, we got real familiar with each other over the summer.” Kirishima explains with a horrible grimace. “Dammit, I was picking fungus from places where it shouldn’t be!!”
The tendrils whip and crash against the earth and trees, ripping through the leaves and branches like blades. The students and heroes dash and weave their way through the random onslaught of varying sized tentacles, but just barely.
Yui and Kota watch from the safety of the lodge, peering through the windows while keeping their heads down as to try not to attract the army of tendrils. Behind them in the large cafeteria Ibara and Juzo are lying down, unconscious and unresponsive to the world thanks to Mustard’s poison.
Kota flinches as Kirishima gets knocked aside by one of the tendrils. “What…? What is that thing?! It kinda looks like…cheese?”
With a hum Yui gives a little tilt of her head as if to say, ‘yeah it kinda does.’
They watch as a flood of orange fungus begins to ooze its way through the forest while their friends are too busy dealing with the onslaught of tentacles.
“They’re…they’re going to be overrun!” Kota cries, wishing Deku would just reappear and save them.
Yui rapidly shakes her head in fear, wishing she could call someone, anyone for help.
*RING!!! RING!!! RING!!! RING!!!*
They instantly spin around, staring towards the kitchen as the lodge’s phone continues to buzz and ring.
Meanwhile just outside, a squad of tendrils fuse together to form into a giant tentacle that immediately lashes out at the black-haired pro hero.
Aizawa’s eyes flash red, canceling the villains’ control over the tentacle, causing the moss and fungus to break apart and crumble on the ground lifelessly.
But just as he thinks he has the situation under control another squad of rope-thin tendrils lash out and strike out against him.
“It’s not the main body?!” The pro quickly leaps away before using his Capture Scarf to swing himself away as another giant tendril smashes into the ground.
“Mr. Aizawa!” Kirishima calls out, screaming over the panic and chaos. “Fun Gus is one crazy powerful mutant! He can control mushrooms and shit even from a distance!”
“Not good. Hang on. How’d exactly did you deal with him last time?!”
“I-I didn’t! It was Bakubro and Midoriya who did most of the ass kicking!”
Of course. And it’s just their luck that neither are there. Maybe he should have dragged Izuku back here when he found him after all. ‘If only I could contact him.’
“Hmmm! Hmmm!”
Hearing the high pitched and panicked hums, Aizawa looks over and spots Yui Kodai running out of the lodge, frantically waving around a phone in her hand.
“Hmmm! Hmmm!”
Hearing her panicked squeals, Monoma translates for the hero. “Eraserhead! Kodai says the phones are working!!”
His head immediately snaps up just as Yui throws the phone through the web of whipping tendrils.
The phone bounces off one of the thinner tentacles but thankfully Mina was nearby to grab it and hurry it over to her teacher. Aizawa snatches it and quickly brings it to his ear.
[“Mr. Aizawa!”]
“Yaoyorozu? How-”
[“We disabled the villains’ communications jammer!”] Momo explains, speaking rapidly through the phone like she’s on a time limit. [“We already called for help!”]
He wants to ask her so many questions. Like where did she get a phone? Creation perhaps? Or how did she manage to get a signal through? But for now, he needs to focus on the important details. “Where are you right now?”
[“Awase, Kuroiro, and I are located on a cliff top Northeast of the lodge, we have a perfect view of the valley. And Mr. Aizawa…everything's in chaos.”]
“I’ve noticed.”
[“Listen! We can’t reach anyone else. But the creature that’s attacking everything seems to be focused near the center of the trail where the Test of Courage is. And I believe the Pussycats are engaged in battle with some villains. Not sure but we’re seeing a lot of purple lights and sparks. But listen, the creature it’s massive. It’s taken over nearly the whole forest! I-I think it’s focused on someone!”]
Having been close enough to overhear, Mina listens in closer as Momo explains.
[“I’m afraid our friends and classmates are too exposed! It’s going to crush them!”]
Mina’s throat closes in on itself as she chokes.
[“We have to help them!”]
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“We can help you! Come on, Fun Gus! Fun Gus, please! Calm down!” Izuku begs, holding on tight to Shoji as they race and weave through the tendrils and trees. “I’ll-we’ll play a game with you!”
“Oh, like hell we will!!” Bakugou barks as he rockets by with his Explosions.
“Okay!” Fun Gus giggles evilly. “I never did get to play Ring-Around-The-Rosie with you, Mr. Fake-Froggy Broccoli Baby!!”
Fun Gus’ entire mass rises like a wave and begins to spin all around itself like a sloshy tornado, spew goop and fungus everywhere as this cyclone of ooze crashes through trees after them. All the while Fun Gus giggles and sings. “Hehehehehahaha!! Ring-a-ring-a-rosies~. A cave full of bodies~. Ashes, and rashes~. You all fall DOWN!!!” His spinning tendrils swing pout and crash through the thick trees before nearly slamming into the Shoji, Izuku, and Bakugou.
Shoji stumbles and falls but manages to catch himself and Izuku before taking off again. And Bakugou nearly crashes but manages to land on the ground before blasting apart another incoming swinging tendril.
Seeing that they survived enrages the insane freak even more. “You’re all still stupid dummy head CHEATERS!!! YRRAAAHHH!!!”
Despite their struggling to keep ahead of the massive monster, they are doing a great job of distracting the villain, giving Shoto, with the unconscious Tsuburaba, and Tokoyami a chance to hurry to Tsuyu’s and Ochaco’s aid.
“Asui!” Tokoyami calls, sliding over to their position.
“Tokoyami! Todoroki! Am I glad to see you two!” Tsuyu admits with a relieved smile, although her worried gaze never leaves the rampaging Fun Gus.
Shoto slides in as well, frowning as he gazes upon Ochaco’s broken arm and bruised body. “Uraraka…”
“She’s hurt real bad.” Tsuyu chokes, holding her gently and trying to make sure she’s as comfortable as possible.
“Quickly.” After placing his passenger down, Shoto creates a chunk of ice and then rips open his shirt and quickly places the ice inside. Together they gently wrap the cool sling around her arm, wrapping it nice and tight. “This should help with the swelling.” He explains, tying it as gently but as tightly as he can while still keeping an eye on the battle.
He then uses extra pieces of the torn shirt as extra bandages, freezing them partly as to help keep them cool.
“Be fast.” Tokoyami warns as he helps Shoto and Tsuyu tie the frosted bandages to Ochaco’s bruised legs and arms. “I’m unsure how long they can distract that monster.”
The cool bandages seem to be helping as Ochaco fades back into consciousness, not enough to move or speak but enough to be aware. To watch her worried friends' faces hovering over her all the while a giant orange mass roars, consumed by its vengeance for a rocketing ash-blonde and an injured green-mop.
“YRRAAAHHH!!! Stop it! Stop it! STOP IT!!!!”
“Ha! Ha!” Bakugou howls with laughter, rocketing through the air as tendrils uselessly whip around him. “Stupid brat! Just go ahead and DIE!!!” The next Explosion he releases resonates through the air, blasting away the incoming tendrils and earning a painful shriek from the mutant.
“YRRAAAHHH!!!” Enraged Fun Gus tendrils lash out in all directions, but his main body slinks away in fear of the burning heat.
Ducking away from the burning heat and bits of flying moss, Shoji shields himself and Izuku behind his web of arms. “He sure is mad.” Shoji comments, swinging his arm aside to wipe away the gross bits of burning moss.
“HA! This is nothing!” Bakugou drops down beside them, looking mighty impressed with himself. “Trust me things could be a whole lot uglier!” Sparks pop from his palms and his grin widens in excitement.
“Meanies!! Bullies! POOPY-HEADS!!!” Fun Gus’ face contorts and expands, rows of needle-like teeth pop in and out of view from within his contouring maw and his voice cracks and breaks becoming deeper and thunderous. “I will have my vengeance upon you ALL!!!”
His full Mycelium side has come out, grotesque and mutated with rage and insanity as tendrils thrash across the forest.
Meanwhile the kids watch on gobsmacked and horrified only for Izuku to break the tension. “Okay. Now things have gotten ugly.”
“RAAAAHHHH!!!” Fun Gus, no, the Mycelium lets out a massive roar as it restarts its attack.
Meanwhile, as the three stay, they do their best to keep the monster distracted Asui, Tokoyami, and Shoto hurry to hide their injured amongst the thick trees and brush.
After making sure Ochaco’s comfortable, being propped up against a tree, and that her arm and leg are wrapped up all nice and tight in cooled bandages. Shoto and Tokoyami turn their attention back towards the ensuing chaos.
“Asui, can you watch them both on your own?” Shoto asks, his gaze never turning away from the chain of Explosions and monstrous roars. “They need our help out there!”
Tsuyu frantically nods her head as she checks Ochaco’s bandages one more time. “I’ve got them! Go!”
“Tokoyami we’ll need Dark Shadow!” Shoto exclaims as he takes off back into the proverbial fire.
“Right!” Not daring to bring shame on himself for abandoning his friends, Tokoyami follows swiftly behind him.
As quickly as they entered the fray Shoto is just as fast, quickly spotting Shoji running away with Izuku on his back as a trail of tendrils race after them.
Assuming that Bakugou must have ditched them in favor of attacking the main body, Shoto quickly comes to the rescue and unleashes a devastating wall of flames. The fire consumes the incoming tendrils, burning them to ash while also earning the Mycelium’s irre.
“RAAAAHHHH!!!”
“Keep up the pressure!” Izuku shouts as Shoji comes to a stop beside Shoto. “He’s no match for us if we work together!”
Shoto quickly turns his flames onto the monster’s main body, burning away at its mossy flesh. Howls from the beast rise into the air along with burning embers and smoke and yet its rage keeps it intact, as it continues to thrash and push its way through the flames.
Shoto keeps his flames focused on its center but it’s not enough, the Mycelium is ever expanding his body, overtaking his flames like a slow-moving towering wave. “It’s not enough! Bakugou! Finish him!!”
There it is his que. The moment to swoop in and be the badass, by finishing this monster off in one giant eruption of flames and fire. Undoubtedly, he’ll come from above to deliver a mushroom cloud of power.
“Bakugou?!”
But it never comes. There’s no epic Explosions. No cursing and someone yelling the word DIE. Nothing except the Mycelium’s slow encroaching.
‘Where is he?’ Izuku's heart races as he frantically scans for the ash-blonde or a familiar ring of Explosions going off. This way and that, he looks and looks but there’s nothing but trees, forests, the moon, and a man dressed in a top hat and coat! Wait.
“Look!!”
Everyone’s heads shoot up towards the treetops where a lone figure stands before the moon light, like It was his personal spotlight.
“Nice trick, eh?” The mask wearing villain inquires with a bit of slight pride laced in his tone. “I took the lad you're looking for with my magic.”
Everyone’s stunned, staring up in shock at how this could have slipped by them.
“He…took…them?” Ochaco’s wheezes, her eyes peeling open painfully, her legs shaking with effort.
The villain tilts his hat as a lone shining marble dances between his fingers. “A talent like his would be squandered were cast as a hero. We’ll provide him with a grander stage where he can truly shine!” The villain, Mr. Compress, announces with a showman’s fervor, flashing the marble to them, indicating that it is indeed their dear friend.
“Give him back!” Izuku shrieks, his lungs burning with agony and rage.
“Give him back? What an odd thing to say? Bakugou doesn’t belong to anyone. He’s his own person. Don’t be so arrogant.”
“We’ll stop you!!”
Shoto wants to step in and do just that but the fact that he has to hold the still rampaging Mycelium keeps him from doing anything else.
“Why the aggression?” Mr. Compress ponders aloud as if he didn’t already know the answer. “We merely wish to show him that there are other options beside the fanatical world of heroism he’s drowning in. It’s important to choose a path that aligns with your core values after all.”
As Mr. Compress lectures on about opportunities and paths, Shoji was busy keeping a lookout in case this was nothing more than a distraction for more villains to attack. But in his wariness, he notices that no one has in fact appeared but instead that another has vanished. “It’s not just Bakugou! Tokoyami’s gone!”
‘He’s snatched up two of our strongest classmates without a sound. What power is this?’ Shoto snaps his gaze back towards the villain, his fire intensifying as he does much to the Mycelium’s dismay. “If you're monologuing because you think you’ve beaten us, you’re mistaken!!”
“A bad habit of mine.” He admits as he plays with the marble, which undoubtedly has Bakugou trapped inside. “I was once an entertainer, you know. Taking Tokoyami was a bit of improv on my part.” As he rolls Bakugou’s marble in between his fingers, he cups his hand before opening it again to reveal a second marble dancing between his fingers.
With everyone keeping their focus on him nobody notices the poor girl struggling to get to her feet. Her balance shaky as she leans her entire body onto a tree for support.
“Moonfish. Our dear Blade-Tooth. He may not look it but he’s a dazzling death row devil whose last appeal was denied. When I saw the avian take him down so easily; and, not to mention, how violently he struck back at Fun Gus and yourselves, I decided he should join our troop.”
Izuku finally loses it and snaps. “You bastard! You can’t take them!!”
“Midoriya calm down.” Shoji warns, and not because Izuku just screamed into his ear.
Even though Shoto’s flames are holding the Mycelium back, the creature’s rage wills it through as a lone-tendril swings down and through the flames, nearly crushing the teens and Mr. Compress alike.
“Apologies!” In a feat of great acrobatics Mr. Compress twirls away, leaping through the air while still keeping a hold of his passengers and top hat. “But Sleight of Hand and escapology are my specialties, not combat. I’m not foolish enough to fight hero candidates from U.A. Or the monstrous yet delightfully chaotic Fun Gus!” With the grace of a bird, he lands atop the opposite tree line as if it was nothing more but an extension of a glorious stage.
“Now what will you do?” He inquires back to the group. “Chase me down and get back your companions? Or retreat and lick your wounds? Then again you still have him to deal with.” he gestures towards the withering monster. “What a predicament this is? My, my, what to do? None of you are quite at the top of your game. Certainly not worthy of a good performance? But yet can you really stand aside as I exit stage left with not-so welcoming gifts?”
They don’t want to. Especially Izuku who weakly scraps and grabs at the Omnitrix but that familiar low hum of it charging reminds him that it’s impossible to do so.
Not waiting for an answer, Mr. Compress leaps off into the night. “What will you choose? I cannot wait to find out~. The suspense is captivating!”
Shoji screams, his extra eyes never blinking as they watch the villain escape. “They’re going to take them! Our friends…!”
“They can’t!!” Izuku shouts behind him only to be outshouted by a furious Mycelium. “RAAAAHHHH!!!”
“You’re right!” Shoto agrees as he desperately tries to hold the villain back, but he’s been at this for too long as his firewall is starting to weaken and die out. “But we still have him to deal with!”
“We have to go! He has our friends!” Izuku exclaims. “Let Fun Gus chase us, that'll give Asui and the others a chance to escape! The rest of us will go after the villain and get our friends back!”
Shoto peers back at the monster and quickly realizes that he won’t be able to hold him back for long. But then again Fun Gus is clearly not on one side, he’s a wild card, so perhaps they can potentially turn him on the villains if he were to follow.
So, with their options considered, Shoto lets it be known what he prefers. “Okay!”
With his cooperation secured, Izuku turns to Shoji who only needs to nod in approval before he finally turns to Tsuyu and the others. “Tsu! We’re leaving them in your hands!”
“O-..” She seems hesitant, scared, and would much rather they stay and go get the pro heroes. But considering the circumstances… “O-okay…! But please be careful!!”
Shoji squares up, getting ready to run as he secures his hold on Izuku. And Izuku on his part braces himself, a grip on the Omnitrix, ready to dial up the next alien for when it’s recharged. And with them both ready they slowly turn back to give Shoto the go ahead.
With a shaky breath Shoto, sets his feet and gets ready to run, and taking a breath he prepares to cut off his flames and run.
But before he can make his move one of the mycelium’s tendrils breaks through the flames and makes a beeline right for Izuku and Shoji.
Neither have a chance to react as it barrels towards them, they only have seconds before it crushes them flat like pancakes.
Tsuyu gasps but because of the tendril but because of the pink blur that shoved right past her.
“SMASH!!!” A bandaged Ochaco leaps and smashes her left fist into the tendril, blowing it up and shattering it to bits with the sheer force of One For All.
The boys stand in shock-n-awe as bits of Fun Gus splash down everywhere, and on them.
The girl collapses to one knee as she lands but with the resolve of a mighty queen she gets back onto her feet, determined not to let the villains win. “Y-you’re not…leave me…behind!” She declares, One For All coursing through her despite how bloodied and bruised she is.
The equally broken, however, disagrees. “Uraraka! You’re hurt!”
“And so are you! If you’re going then I’m going!” Stumbling her way forward she falls but Shoji catches her with a spare arm. As he pulls her up, she presses her fingers onto herself and Izuku, causing them to float. “Now hurry! We’ll move faster if we’re weightless!”
Izuku shakes his head, shocked in disbelief and amazement at the same time.
Sensing that he’s looking at her, Ochaco turns to meet the Omnitrix wielder’s gaze. “Let’s show these villains what happens when they mess with U.A..”
He’s gotta admit it, he’d really like to do just that.
And it seems the rest of them feel the exact same way. And so, with one last turn to Todoroki the teen takes and breath and releases the beast.
“RAAAAHHHH!!!” With Shoto’s flames gone the Mycelium crashes forward, his tendrils thrashing and whipping, trying to grab the teens that have already taken off in the opposite direction.
“Over here! Come and get us!” Ochaco shouts.
“Don’t you wanna play some more?!” Izuku cries out too. “How about Tag?!”
“COWARDS!!!” As predicted the Mycelium takes the bait and launches after them, completely overlooking Tsuyu and the unconscious Tsuburaba.
Tendrils crash through the trees, smashing them to confetti of splinters and leaves. His massive body crashes through the forest like a tsunami of orange goop, bulldozing everything in his path. But the teens don’t care; they keep on running, never looking back even with the Mycelium hot on their heels.
And witnessing all of this from afar is Mr. Compress, who’s still leaping his way atop the treetops like an expert acrobat. But of course, he’s not exactly trying to escape as fast as he can.
“Vanguard Action Squad, I’ve acquired our target.” He announces, calling the other members through the com-set located in his mask.
They all hear it from Magne and Spinner who are still in combat, to Toga and Charmcaster who are already on their way back.
The message even reaches those laying defeated out in the woods such as the tied-up Mustard, the unconscious Moonfish, and the buried Muscular.
“Our little show is about to come to a close. Meet me at the retrieval point in the next five minutes for the final bow~!”
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“Hey, Dabi, did you hear the radio?! I’m so pumped up! Our boy, Compress, totally got the job done!” Twice is ecstatic, feeling he won a million bucks, he’s so happy he keeps flailing and moving his arms all about to the point he could give Iida a run for his money. “The man certainly took his time. I was starting to get bored.”
“Don’t be a pain. He did a good job.” Dabi drones as they just casually stroll away from the massive wall of azure flames burning behind them. “Now we just gotta wait for everyone to regroup here.”
“You’re the pain! Forgive me.”
“This place was supposed to be hard to find because of the wall of flames and poisonous gas. But looks like the gas is gone.” Dabi comments as he looks for said gas, he can probably assume the little shit got his ass handed to him by some pro hero. “Things never go according to plan, do they?”
“For real! This is the plan! But, uh, what did Mr. Compress mean by taking the final bow? Do you think he’s got something else in mind?”
“Who knows?”
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“It’s moving!” Awase calls out, pulling down the binoculars after keeping a lookout from atop the clifftop.
He was keeping an eye on the giant orange mass with the binoculars Momo provided, but now that giant blob is moving!
“Where's it going?” asks Kuroiro, running over to have a look.
Awase hands him the binoculars “I think it’s chasing someone.”
“Who?” Momo worries as she has a look too.
Seeing the blob crashing through the forest, Kuroiro calls over to Kraab. “Yo! Robot! Do you have some kind of zoom-in and enhance feature or something?!”
But Kraab can’t answer him since he’s too busy staring off somewhere else and speaking like he’s on the phone with someone. “Hurry! We got freaking Nomus and villains running around all over the place! ... Well How should I know?! … He ran off! … Well since when was that my responsibility?!”
“Kraab!” Momo calls again.
“Huh?!” The little bot jumps, pincers raised in defense. “Whaddaya need, kid? Can’t you see I’m on the phone?!”
“Attitude.” Kuroiro grumbles.
But Mono ignores him and continues. “Kraab, who exactly are you contacting? Did you not contact the police?!”
“Of course, I did!” Kraab explains before peering out over the valley again. “But they’re not gonna make it here in time.”
Well, that’s not ominous at all. But before they can inquire further Awase notices a shift near the captured Nomu.
He turns expecting to find Chainjaw still entombed in rock and binds and that is what he finds, but he also finds a swirling black void slowly opening before the beast. “What is that?!”
The others all spin around and spot the void as well, with Kuroiro even shouting. “It’s trying to escape!! We have to stop-” He makes a dash for it, but Momo stops him.
“No! Stop! That’s a warp gate!” She explains her mind flashing back to the events of the U.S.J. and how that very same Quirk separated her and her entire class. “I’ve seen it before it could take you anywhere and we’d have no way to get you back!”
Kuroiro stops, albeit unwillingly, still looking like he wants to jump and stop the beast’s escape.
‘Come on, think! What would the worst-case scenario be Momo? And what’s the smartest thing you can do right now?’ Her mind is racing with ideas and weapons, but none seems suitable, the monster would shrug it off before long. She needs to consider the facts: they might have captured Uraraka or Bakugou. Yes. That’s why they’re retrieving their monster. It has to be, so if this battle has been lost then…
With determination Momo uses Creation to create a little button of a device before shoving into Awase’s hands. “Awase, use your Quirk to attach this to that monster!”
“I don’t know what’s going on but okay!!” Awase takes the mechanical button and runs right for the captured Nomu. The portal has already swallowed up half of the creature so he hurries and slams his palms into its back, digging the device as far as he can as he activates Weld.
And just in time too, snapping his hand back just before the portal shuts closed. “No way he’s getting that thing off.”
“Good job.” Momo nods, now finally taking a breath of relief.
Kuroiro looks between them wondering why now the Nomu was taken away. “But what…what does this mean?”
Neither Momo nor Awase want to say it, they don’t want to be the ones to admit the horrible truth.
And so…Kraab takes it upon himself to be the bearer of bad news. “It means…that they got what they wanted.”
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“Come here, kitty kitty kitty!” Mange calls, pulling Mandalay with her Magnetism Quirk.
“Mandalay, no!” Tiger swoops in and grabs her, pulling her free from Magne’s Quirk.
“No fair she was mine!” Magne looks over and sees the unconscious Pixie-Bob left unattended to the side and grins. “Well, I guess I’ll have to settle for her!” Aiming her Support Item, she begins to pull the helpless Pixie-Bob in.
“Oh no you don’t!” After dropping Mandalay, Tiger rushes back and punches Magne back, interrupting the Quirk and again while also intercepting and catching Pixie-Bob.
Tiger doesn’t drop her as he goes in for another strike at the villain.
“Cghghghghhrrr! Cghghghghhrrr! Cghghghghhrrr!” However, a squad of Goombas interrupt his attack, forcing him back as he becomes outnumbered.
“Staaaay baaaack!!” Mineta cries, throwing so many Sticky balls at the incoming creatures that his head is bleeding. “The only ones that are supposed to throw themselves are dazzling babes!!”
“My friends!” Koda cries out into the open. “Please, protect us and shield us from their wicked intent!!” His call is answered by the birds and squirrels of the forest.
The army of fur and feathers flood the Goombas, tearing and pecking at their eyes and flesh. But as they rip and tear the Living Mushrooms begin to release plumes of spores into the air.
“Cghghghghhrrr! Cghghghghhrrr! Cghghghghhrrr!”
Every bird and squirrel becomes slow and still as they each fall to the sleep-inducing spores. Either falling in place or scurrying off to hide from the thick cloud of poison.
“No! My furry fr-…friends…” Koda’s eyes grow heavy as he accidentally inhales the spores, and before long he passes out too.
“Koda!!” Ojiro bounds over, presses his fingers to Koda’s neck. “He’s out! They-they knocked him out!” As the cloud of spores rains down, Ojiro shields his mouth and nose behind his hands. “Everyone! Don’t breathe in the spores!”
“RECIPRO BURST!!!” Iida zooms in, a trail of blue blazing behind him as he unleashes a gale-generating kick! The resulting whirlwind sweeps away the spores, clearing them from the battlefield. “Quickly get him to safety-Gah!!”
“Class Pres?!”
“It’s…no good.” Iida grimaces, unable to move as puffs of smoke spill out from his mufflers. “My Engines…they’ve finally stalled out!”
That’s too bad for them but that’s great news for Magne. “Hehe! You kiddies tried your best but you’ve run out of luck! Now swarm them!”
Either by her command or the drive of their mindless instincts the Goombas have their heroes and students surrounded from all sides, their little claws and teeth chattering about as they examine their master’s potentially newest toys. “Cghghghghhrrr! Cghghghghhrrr! Cghghghghhrrr!”
Although these creatures are of great concern, unfortunately, the monster hovering above them is what truly has them scared.
Peering up they find a deadly bounty hunter, SevenSeven, hovering over them with his jetpack. The villain sneers as his arm transforms into a multi-barreled blaster. “Uyo anc lalc em Ufn Usg, oto. Eecuasb m’i uhcs a Unfig.”
“Cghghghghhrrr!”
Suddenly something grabs SevenSeven by the leg and weighs him down. And much to his iire he finds that the determined and chaotic little Goombas have climbed atop each other to make a pyramid of sorts to reach him.
“Cghghghghhrrr! Cghghghghhrrr!”
They claw and nip at his leg only for the hunter to kick them back before he unleashes a barrage of lasers, turning them into goo.
He’s not the only one having issues as the other Living Mushrooms have also turned their attention to Magne instead, their beady eyes locked on her.
“Hey! What’s the deal?!” Magne pulls back as one of the Living Mushrooms takes a bite at her hand. “Ahh!! No, not us! Get them!”
“Cghghghghhrr-...!!”
With a single slice the little squad of monsters fall away, minced to pieces, to Spinner’s feet. “Magne!” Spinner shouts as swings his last remaining blade at the chaotic horde. “We should regroup with the others!” Spinner continues while struggling to keep the Living Mushrooms back.
“Oh! But we were winning!” Magne wines before getting interrupted by a chorus of chattering fangs.
“Cghghghghhrrr!!”
Spinner throws his partner a skeptical look. “Are we?”
“Damn!” Not willing to be left behind to become mushroom chow the two take off, slicing and shoving their way through the flood of minions.
“They’re leaving?!” Mineta cries, almost sounding relieved.
Mandalay doesn’t like it. “But why?” Admittedly, the villains were winning.
“Running away?” Tiger growls. “Cowards!”
“It’s called a tactical retreat!” Spinner spits back. “SevenSeven! You better come with us! Unless you wanna be left behind!”
SevenSeven hesitates, pausing to consider if he should disobey and fight the heroes or if he should stay on the job and follow the League’s orders. And after a moment of consideration, he seems to think better of it and cut his losses. “I huolds illk uyo lal ihgtr eehr nda own. Utb het auhtro esnto’d anwt nyonea llekdi fof…ety. Os, Yeb~!!” With an almost cheery bounce, SevenSeven waves goodbye before zooming away into the night leaving the heroes behind to deal with the Living Mushrooms alone.
“Where are they going?! Did-did we fail?!” Iida chokes, stumbling back as the Living Mushrooms creep closer.
“Not yet we haven’t!” Tiger reels his fist back, his arm curling around itself like a spring before he unleashes the most devastating CAT PUNCH he’s got. His fist slams into the nearest Goombas, shattering them to bits of goo and chunks of spongy flesh. “We still have to get our wounded to safety! Come on now! These are our woods! Our hunting grounds! We’ll tear through these creeps and go after our true PREY!!! RAAAAGH!!!”
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“RAAAAHHHH!!!” Crashing across the forest like a tsunami the heroes students are only inches away from being swept away in the tidal wave of orange goop and fungus.
Tendrils crack through the air like whips and vines, slicing through trees and brush like arrows as they lash out at their potential victims.
Shoji, now with two weightless passengers, is able to move a lot faster than before, unbound by their drag and weight as he holds both Izuku and Ochaco close to his sides.
“YAAAAHHH!!!” With Shoji holding her secure, Ochaco uses her only functional hand to fire Ryou Spheres back at incoming vines. The energy balls race through the air, blasting away the incoming vines; blowing them apart until it’s raining goop.
“Shoji, dive to your left!!” Izuku warns, giving Shoji enough time to dive out of the way as a wave of orange goop nearly crushes them underfoot.
Using his extended arms Shoji lashes out and grabs branches ahead of their path before slinging himself forward giving him greater speed then before.
And good thing too as the tendrils are hot on his heels.
But the clashing sound of ice shards assures him that Todoroki has his back as much as Uraraka and Midoriya do.
Despite freezing the path behind them, the Mycelium’s massive form easily overtakes and plows its way through the ice forcing Shoto to run ahead.
And despite their predicament Shoto can’t help but worry about his two injured classmates. ‘They’re both in bad shape. I wouldn’t be surprised if they passed out any moment now.’ More tendrils appear out his peripheral and he doesn't waste a second to turn them into ash with glowing flames. “Midoriya! You should have stayed behind!”
“I can do this!” Izuku insists, despite one his eyes are barely able to stay open at this point. “The first chance I get I’ll recover as Wildvine or even Lodestar! Beside…I don’t even feel anything!” Well except for the bubbling anger and spite he has towards the villains actions.
“Such tenacity. Such vigor. It’s a most remarkable display!” Mr. Compress acknowledges with admiration like a true showman providing support for a new act. “But can you really keep this act up for much longer? I wonder.” And with that he bounds across the treetops, far from Fun Gus’ reach but still in the teens’ line of sight.
“RAAAAHHHH!!!”
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Charmcaster’s head whips back towards the forest, startled and confused, before shrugging the worry off. “Boy, that sounds close…”
“Huh? Lame.” Toga whines as they both return to the pickup location. “We’re the only two here.”
“Hey, crazy?” Dabi greets while sounding not at all offended that she just overlooks him. “Did you get the blood? How many different kinds?”
“Two people’s~!”
“Just two?!” Twice chides. “Hey, what gives?! Weren’t you supposed to get at least three?!”
“That’s just the way it went down.” Toga explains, not feeling at all guilty about it. “I thought those brats were going to kill me.”
Charmcaster rolls her eyes at the comment. “Please, that monster would have killed us first if it had the chance.”
Twice lets out a stunned gasp. “What monster?! Sounds terrible! Yay, cool! You’re looking a little too happy about now. Strange. Shouldn’t you be full of shame?”
“Tehehe~.” With a joyful smile Toga turns away, hiding her blushing face from the rest. “Yeah, but I made some great new friends!! And I found a cute boy I’m interested in~!”
“Is it me? No thanks, babe! I love you too!”
“Both of you shut it.” Dabi growls softly. “You’re too loud.”
Charmcaster snickers at his reaction. “Well at least you can’t say they don’t know how to have fun.”
“Good. Then they should both enjoy the fun surprise I brought you all!”
The scarred pyro and the magenta witch both peer up just in time to spot Mr. Compress bounding onto the scene, literally. He lands gracefully before them like a swan gently touching down into a still pond.
“Especially you Dabi.” He tilts his hat in greeting towards the pyro as if he already understands his stage ques. “I highly suggest you get yourself warmed up for an encore. Your audience demands it!”
Dabi frowns…even more so. “What are you blathering about? What?”
“Take a hint and add some culture to your life! I’m saying that we’re about to have an audience. And not of the friendly kind.”
Before Dabi can give the magician a smack over the head for being so vague he soon has his answer as a massive orange wave literally smashes its way through the trees with a thundering roar.
“RAAAAHHHH!!!”
“Give Kacchan and Tokoyami back to us!!!” Izuku screeches as he and the others charge the scene with the Mycelium right on their tails. “GIVE THEM BACK RIGHT NOW!!!”
Surprised is an understatement as Twice scrambles back in a panic. “Hey, wait, what’s this?! Who are they?! Oh, wait, I know these kids. Who are they?!”
“Out of the way.” Finally picking up on his que Dabi shoves the cloner aside and throws out a roaring stream of azure flames.
The teens are forced to dive out of the way of the incoming flames, Shoji even throwing Ochaco and Izuku aside, allowing the stream of fire to collide into Fun Gus’ massive form. “RAAAAHHHH!!!”
The monstrous Mycelium withers and writhes in pain and agony, his flesh burning to ash instantly.
“AAahhhh!!” Izuku can’t blame the monster for crying out, just being near the flames is enough to make his skin feel like it’s peeling off.
“My arms are burning!!” Shoji cries out as he dives away in the opposite direction.
As Dabi turns his flames to the forest, to create a barrier of flames between them all and the monster, Shoto calls out to his burned classmates. “Midoriya! Shoji!”
“Todoroki!!”
Upon Ochaco’s heads-up, Shoto spins around to find one of the villains taking a shot at them both, running over to them while ripping out strands of measuring tape from his two wristbands. The silver tape snaps and bends before straightening out to become a set of angular blades.
“The beat-up little boy in you! And the annoying little gravity girl! You’re both on Shigaraki’s kill list. No, they weren’t!” Twice switches from howling to deadpanning his statements as he dives into attack.
Snapping to their defense, Shoto counters with a piercing glacier that propels Twice away from them both.
“Too hot!!” Twice squeals as he’s propelled upward.
Ochaco’s fist glows pink, preparing a, admittedly, small Ryou Sphere. She prepares to throw it when a crack of a flaming whip catches her ears.
“Round Two, bitch.” Charmcaster’s gleeful smiles, thrilled at the prospect of having another go at her favorite plaything. “You must have a death wish. Do you really want me to kill you that badly?”
Caught between a witch and a hard place, Ochaco and Shoto glare at their opponents not wanting to give them the satisfaction of seeing them fall to despair.
Meanwhile, a sharp syringe-like device is thrown across the air. The sheen of its needle and the whip of the trailing tube is the only sign that it’s even coming his way, giving Izuku barely any time to move his head before it can lodge itself into his eye.
“Hi, Izuku~! My name’s Toga~!” The psychotic girl rushes over, her arms flailing around like she’s skipping across a field as the syringe reels and whips its way back into place in the holder beside her neck.
“Tehehehe!!” Despite her petite frame, Toga easily grabs the boy and tosses him down before pinning him in place with a devilish giggle. “I’ve been thinking since I saw you~...” An edge of a knife flashes from her hand, much to Izuku’s shock and horror. “That you’d be so much cuter if you bled a little more! I can help!”
“Midoriya!!” Shoji throws himself over him, knocking both Toga and her blade back with a slap of his hands.
Her light frame did nothing to stop how far she was thrown back, but with feline-like control she expertly rights herself and lands with her feet, sliding to a stop across the dirt with her knife still in hand. “So, that’s how it is…” Her detective glee from before is gone, replaced by a cold-deadly whisper. “You want to come between us. To be honest you’re not really my type.” She turns her cold piercing gaze onto Shoji, her eyes deadly as the light from the azure flames dances off of them. “But I’ll cut you anyway.”
Shoji instinctually shields Izuku with his arms, putting a barrier between him and her despite the distance. “She’s crazy.”
Meanwhile, Shoto’s having no better luck in trying to pin down his opponent somehow Twice is able to stay just steps ahead of his pursuing icicles.
“Ha! Ha! This is easy!” Twice laughs as he rips out his razor-like measuring tapes once again. “Give me all you got!” In a single slice he tears through Shoto’s largest glacier yet, like a badass. “Hey man! Cut me some slack!”
Shoto growls in frustration. “What the hell’s with this guy?!”
Watching this all from the side, Mr. Compress happily applauds away at the teens’ valiant struggle. “For a squad of unrehearsed amateurs, they sure know how to put on a good show.”
“What the hell, Compress?” Dabi growls yet still sounding indifferent. “I thought you said you had him.”
“Are you calling me a liar? Tsk tsk. I was merely saying that he’s taken the bait, hook and all.”
Right on que, Izuku spots Mr. Compress and immediately calls out. “Give them back!”
Mr. Compress can’t help but smirk underneath his mask almost as if this is exactly what he wanted. “Very well. If you wish for their safe return, then I will allow it on one condition.” Like a magician he reveals the two marbles, juggling them between his fingers almost tauntingly: like appetizing bait on a hook. “I’ll trade you one Bomber and one Black Avian for…” He purposely pauses for dramatic effect before revealing his offer. “…one Green Menace.”
Izuku freezes as do the others, each coming to a stop as they fail to process the villain’s words. But they heard him loud and clear, they know of his demands, and yet…they cannot fathom them at all.
And yet Mr. Compress seems to find delight in their stunned states, afterall he’s effectively taken his audience’s breath away. “What say you, Izuku Midoriya? Would you be so dear as to trade your soul for the souls of your classmates? What will you choose…? The suspense is killing me.”
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
Tendrils of orange randomly thrash across the forest and air, striking at the scattered teens with fury. But despite their ferocity they fall away and collapse to piles of goo when they fall under Aizawa’s gaze, his Erasure Quirk’s enough to destabilize the villain’s control but yet the tendrils keep coming. Without the villain's main body Aizawa’s Quirk can’t be totally effective.
“Kirishima!” Aizawa calls, while barely able to keep ahead of the incoming attacks. “You have to know something. Anything will do!”
“I told you all I know!” A Hardened Kirishima shouts back as he struggles against a pair of vines trying to pull him in. “Other than the fact this guy is really messed up in the head! He acts like some kid that likes to throw a tantrum but he’s like this gruesome flesh-eating monster! The dude’s so bad there’s even ghost stories about him!”
Sero swings over, kicking the vines and freeing Kirishima before asking the big question. “A ghost is right! How are we supposed to fight something that doesn’t have a body?!”
More tendrils lash out from an unknown source, this time rocketing right for the duo before they can react.
Shoving them aside, Vlad King takes the impacts, using a Blood Controlled Shield to stop the attacks dead cold in their tracks while responding back to Sero’s question. “With all we got!!”
A spark of azure ignites the night as an indifferent yet eerily voice calls out. “All you got huh?”
Vlad King barely has time to shield them all with his Blood Shield as a stream of burning blue hellfire bursts out from the forest.
“Are you sure it’ll be enough?” Another clone of Dabi inquires.
“You again?!” Aizawa’s eyes flash red instantly canceling the clone’s Cremation Quirk; giving Vlad King the perfect opportunity to rush the villain and grab him.
“I’m tired of you underestimating us.” Vlad King growls, his Blood Control Quirk oozing across the clone’s form, keeping him perfectly bound.
In spite of being captured the clone is rather composed, in fact he’s not worried at all but…thrilled. “Are you sure? You're acting exactly like I expected. You’ve already been defeated regardless of what happens from here on out.”
The others have stopped struggling, each teen taken back and confused by the villain’s words.
And the villain on his part has to admit that he might feel some sick satisfaction for having some responsibility for the terrified expressions on their faces. “The two most trusted pillars of Super-Human Society are linked together: U.A., the pinnacle of hero education, and All Might, the Symbol of Peace. What embarrassing incidents have damaged the world’s trust in you both. Sloppy management keeps allowing villains to slip in and attack. People are so shaken that they almost lost all faith in you. Imagine how they’ll react when they find out you let a student get kidnapped.”
Aizawa’s composure falls as his worst fears strike true like lightning.
“You shut up!!” Kirishima snaps his skin Hardening. “That’s not gonna happen!!”
“Not while we’re here!” Sparks fly off an exhausted Denki in protest.
“Don’t be naive.” Dabi comments not at all phased. “It only took a handful of us to separate you from the pros and start picking you off.”
“That’s enough!!” As Vlad King smashes his fist into the clone’s skull as another barrage of tendrils crash through the forest.
They rip through the air in a blink of an eye, reaching the lodge and piercing through its walls. The tendrils quickly begin to branch out, oozing their way across the lodge’s frame, coating it in orange in seconds.
“Ha ha…” The clone fades away, laughing as the fungus does its work.
“Kota and the others are inside!” Denki scrambles back to the lodge, gripping the ooze and frying it away with a discharge of Electricity. But yet no matter how much juice he puts into it the vines and ooze spread all until his sparks become weak and fade more and more. “I’m…I’m running out of juuuuice…-!” And just like that Denki reverts back into his dumbass-self, thumbs up and all. “Eh eh eh eh…”
“Kaminari!!” Mina rushes over, spraying Acid across the ooze as it quickly regenerates back.
Acting fast, Yui Kodai rips Denki away from the wall before the regenerating ooze can grab him.
“I’m...done too…” Sato chokes, collapses to his knees in exhaustion as he struggles to breath. “No more…sugar.”
And Aoyama’s right behind him as he holds his stomach in vain. “I…need the… bathroom.”
Monoma leaps in covering them by Naval Lasering away the incoming tendrils. But as his five minutes run out Monoma quickly calls out for help. “Mr. Kan! Mr. Aizawa! We’re dropping like flies out here!”
“Get them inside!” Aizawa focuses his gaze onto the lodge and in a snap the ooze falls under Erasure, clearing the way. “Hurry!”
Somehow Fun Gus’ anger reaches even here as another wave of tendrils shoot out from the forest, this time making a beeline for Aizawa’s exposed back.
“Mr. Aizawa!!” Mina screams, unable to act.
He doesn’t have time due. They’ll strike him down before he can even react… They got him.
*CLANG!!!* A clash of metal or rather Steel, catches the vines in an iron grip and a steel bear trap. “What the hell is this stuff?! Living spaghetti?!” Tetsutetsu Tetsutetsu sharp teeth hold the vine in place his Steeled arms catch the other vines. With a rip and tear of his arms and jaw the vines break away to orange slop. “Ew, gross!” He spits, trying to rid of the bitter taste. “Nasty!”
Yui and even the brain-fried Denki are shocked, happily so. But their relief is startled as a pair of large appendages snatch up the collapsed Sato and stunned Denki.
Kendo holds the two up as she calls out to Yui. “Kodai! Quickly! Let’s get them inside!”
Brightening in relief Yui quickly follows, grabbing Aoyama’s hand as she does and leading him inside.
The remaining tendrils flail about aimlessly yet dangerously only to be rounded up in a spare Capture Scarf.
“We made it!” Shinso pulls the tendrils down, slamming to the ground until they break apart.
“Shinso!!” Kirishima’s so happy to see him as is Mina. “Where have you been?!”
“Dealing with this creep.” With a tug Shinso reels in an unconscious Mustard out from the ferns. “But what have you been doing? I’m gone for a few minutes, and everything went to shit!”
Spotting more tendrils on the way Vlad King interrupts their catching up moment. “Stay alert! We have to protect the lodge!” In a flash of fury, he demolishes the incoming vines only for more to take their place. “Raagh. This is getting us nowhere! Where’s the main body?!”
Frowning, Mina can't help but think how convenient that would be. And yet it’s hard to think since Emote has been picking up on everyone’s fear and anxiety for the last hour or so. If…if only they could bring the villain to them. Hang on…maybe they can? “Kirishima!”
Kirishima shoves back the vines before responding. “Y-yeah?!”
“Does this thing have a main head or something?”
“Well, it’s a…what did Midoriya call it? A Mycelium. So, yeah I think so!”
“And you said he has a short temper?”
“Yeah? But why’s that matter?”
“Oh, okay. I-I think that-” Frantically she spins around until she spots who she needs. “Mr. Aizawa! If you can get a good look at its main body, do you think Erasure can shut it down?!”
Flipping away from more piercing tendrils, Aizawa lands in a squat and ducks away from the next onslaught. “Yes! But unfortunately, I don’t believe its main body is anywhere near us.” With his Capture Scarf in hand, he uses it like a lasso to bind up more of the tendrils along with Shino.
The two pull the vines down allowing Tetsutetsu to rush in and bulldoze right through them.
Breathing shakily Mina only takes a second to consider the implications of what she’s about to do, but the thought of her friends' lives being at stake when she can do something of value is enough to get her going. “Well then, let’s give it a reason to come here!!”
Without proper warning she sprints right towards the forest, with no Acid or people to defend her.
Kirishima’s eyes pop open. “Ashido?! What are you doing?!”
“Ashido! STOP!!!” Aizawa screams, fearing the worst.
“Trust me!! Just like I’m trusting you!!” Those are her last words as the vines and tendrils lash out, grabbing her from all sides before pulling her away into the dark of the forest.
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Like a magician Mr. Compress reveals the two marbles, juggling them between his fingers almost tauntingly: like appetizing bait on a hook. “I’ll trade you one Bomber and one Black Avian for…one Green Menace.”
Izuku freezes as do the others, each coming to a stop as they fail to process the villain’s words. But they heard him loud and clear, they know of his demands, and yet…they cannot fathom them at all.
“Would you be so kind as to come with us?” The villain stretches out his hand like a magician asking a volunteer to step onto the stage. “And I'll guarantee you that I will not harm your fellow performers.”
Izuku’s stunned, this was all…for him. They came for him? They were after him? All the pain tonight was to get to him? This whole time…
“What are you talking about?!” Ochaco snaps, nearly stumbling before Shoto catches her. “What is all this?! What does this have to do with Deku?!”
Mr. Compress bows his hat to the poor confused girl. “My dear, he has everything to do with this.”
“Thanks to Mandalay’s Telepathy we know you’re well aware of our other targets.” Dabi explains while gesturing towards Ochaco and Shoto. “But of course, you heroes are missing just enough details to give us the edge. That wasn’t a priority list, but a kill list.”
Everyone’s shocked, their breaths escaping them as a cold dose of reality hits them.
“A list Shigaraki provided, letting us know exactly which pawns we can take out if we feel like it.”
“Tehehe~. But there’s only one person we’re here for.” Toga giggles, flashing her knife towards her current infatuation. “And the Handy-Bossman said we couldn’t kill you. But we sure can make you bleed~. Teehee~.”
Charmcaster cuts her off, not willing to let her chase him off. “He also explained that we’re taking you all because of your…power.” Whatever that means…honesty she doesn’t fully get it but he’s the boss.
“My…power?” Izuku breathes, his eyes darting towards the Omnitrix, which is now fully recharged.
“Yes, my dear boy.” Mr. Compress continues. “We came for you. We came because your power is wasted on the heroes. Don’t you see? This little performance we put on here today…was all for you.”
“I don’t get it.” Shoto growls. “If you were after Midoriya the whole time then why didn’t you take him before? Why take Bakugou and Tokoyami?!”
“Like I said before, my specialty is sleight of hand, not combat.” Mr. Compress repeats. “And I certainly wasn’t going to pit myself against the likes of a boy that can throw mountains and melt stadiums. With you sticking so close to the others, on account of your injuries, I couldn’t exactly get close especially with that one watching.” He gestures towards Shoji, before revealing the two marbles again between his fingers. “So, I changed my tactics. I scooped up poor innocent Bakugou as he zipped alone in the air. And for an added bonus I plucked Tokoyami as he loyally followed you all into battle. They were the perfect bait, drawing you away even further from any semblance of help. Out here you’re even more alone. No one can find you. And now you find yourselves up against the likes of us.” With a swing of his arms, he signs to his allies to which each prepares to strike with flames, Alchemy, knives, and blades. “I do certainly find these odds much more favorable. Don’t you?’
They most certainly do not. And yet not one of them knows how to react. Or how to escape the situation. If anything, they’re finally beginning to regret their rash actions…
Witnessing their hesitation and perplexation, Mr. Compress makes one last offer. “I’ll ask you one last time. Will you simply allow us to walk away with your friends or will you hand yourself over to our custody? Sorry to say but either way you look at it, it’s a lose-lose no matter what. But he can take solace in the fact your sacrifice will save everybody here. And isn't that what heroes are all about? Sacrifice for the supposed great good?”
Dammit, he’s got Izuku pegged. What’s he supposed to do? Should…should he take Mr. Compress’ offer? Would…would that at least give everyone a chance to go home? Maybe…?
“Don’t do it, Midoriya.!” Shoto snaps him out of his thoughts, almost like he knew the villain had him. “We don't know what their game is!”
Once again Izuku’s gaze trails down to his watch, his now green watch. It glows like a small comfort, a candle in the dark, a sign that there is a small chance. And he’s gonna take it. “Then we have to make sure they play ours.”
‘But how?’ He thinks as the azure flames continue to burn.
Briefly gazing over towards the massive firewall encircling the area, Izuku can make out just a hint of Fun Gus’ silhouette on the other side. As the monster continues to rampage and struggle to find a way to get to them.
“And I just happen to know someone who’ll be more than willing to play along.”
“Quit your stalling.” Dabi warns. “Come on, we’re not exactly known for our patience.”
Glaring back at the villains, Izuku whispers to Shoji who hasn’t moved himself away from his defensive stance. “Shoji. Help me stand up, please.”
“Midoriya…” Shoji stares at him in shock and betrayal, almost as if Izuku has just asked him to kill him. “You’re still injured and…”
“Just…trust that I know what I’m doing.” As Izuku struggles to his feet, Shoji has no choice but to help him up.
And now with Shoji’s body blocking the villains’ view, Izuku quickly dials the Omnitrix. (Grips and dials Omnitrix to exactly what he needs. The others notice, their eyes briefly going wide in realization before they put on their best poker faces.
“Uraraka. Todoroki.” Izuku whispers as Shoji pretends to hover over him in worry. “When I say when I need you both to clear out the flames.”
The two are stunned, confused and alarmed. “Wh-why?”
“If we play our cards right then every last one of us is getting out of here. But you all will have to trust me.”
Silently, but reassuringly, they do.
And so, stealing his courage, Izuku prepares to face the villains.
Mr. Compress chuckles while continuously juggling the marbles between his digits. “So, what will it be?”
“Do you promise to let my friends go?”
“I won’t touch a hair on them. I swear it.”
“Then…I’ll agree to your terms.”
“Ata lad.”
And so, with the will to do what needs to be done, Izuku stumbles forward with Shoji following close behind in case he stumbles.
Mr. Compress approaches as well with Dabi hanging back just in case.
As they approach each other, Izuku checks one last time to confirm if Fun Gus is still behind the flaming barrier. And seeing that he is gives the boy an ironic sense of hope.
And so, the two sides meet at the center of the clearing, standing across from each other warily with a metaphorical line in the sand dividing them.
“Hand them over.” Izuku demands trying to sound braver than he actually is.
“Of course.” Carefully Mr. Compress holds out the marbles towards Shoji, but he gestures for Izuku to step across at the same time.
And so, with a shaky breath…Izuku crosses the line just as the villain stays true to his word and hands the marbles over to Shoji who snatches them right up, protectively.
“Well done my boy.” Mr. Compress congratulates before gripping the boy by the shoulder, a not-so-subtle way of warning him not to run. “You’ve all been a wonderful audience but now I’m afraid it’s time for us to take our final bow.” He raises his free hand and snaps his fingers.
He timed it perfectly as a swirling dark vortex opens before them all. The shadows rise before a pair of piercing yellow gazes back at the terrified teens. “Hello children. A pleasure to see you all again.”
“This guy! He was at the U.S.J!” Shoto exclaims.
Izuku stumbles back, only for Mr. Compress to hold him forward. “The Warp Villain.”
Kurogiri takes in the scene, noting the children but also looking quite pleased to see that they do in fact have Izuku Midoriya in their possession. “Well done. All of you. Shigaraki will be pleased. And thank you, Izuku Midoriya, for your…cooperation.”
The villains gather around the portal with Dabi nodding his head in a way to signal the kid to step through first. But Izuku holds his ground as he turns back towards Mr. Compress. “Release your Quirk, first.”
Dabi growls. “Keep moving.”
“Not until you release them.” Izuku holds his composure, never turning away from the magician. “Do it.”
“You’re a very prudent young man. But your timing is abysmal.” With a wave of his hand the marbles light up in Shoji’s hand before a pair of icicle chonks burst out.
Shoto’s taken back. “Is that my ice?!”
It is, which means…
“LIAR!!!” Enraged Izuku spins around and slams his hand onto the Omnitrix, however, the instant his body flashes green he vanishes; shrunken away into a tiny blue marble, curiosity of Mr. Compress’ quick reaction.
“Like I said. Your timing is abysmal.”
“You went back on your word!!” Ochaco is seething, One For All pouring off her while also blinking in and out.
But Mr. Compress waves her off. “Of course, I did. I’m playing the role of a villain. It’s what we do. Besides, I am keeping true to my word. I did say that I wouldn’t harm them. They’re perfectly safe, I assure you.”
“Bastards!!” Shoto roars, flames threatening to spill but a quick flash of fire from Dabi keeps him at bay.
Mr. Compress waves his finger at the fiery teen. “Ah ah-ah. Don’t be so reckless. But since I feel somewhat guilty for swindling you, I will reveal my hand. Let me explain a basic tenant of magic. If I’m flaunting something shiny,” He slowly reaches for his mask before pulling it away just enough to reveal his smug expression. “it’s because there’s something else, I don’t want you to see.” And out from his mouth he rolls out his tongue revealing the true pair of marbles inside.
The teens let out a sharp gasp, from where he is Shoji can even see miniature versions of Bakugou and Tokoyami hovering uselessly inside the tiny Pokéballs.
Mr. Compress’ smirk grows ever more superior at their reactions. He has them beat and all without ever throwing a punch. This has truly been one of his best acts yet.
“Wowww… You’re one terrible magiciannn.”
“Huh? Who said-GAH!!!” His body suddenly trembles and contorts, his arms flailing in angels they shouldn’t be causing him to drop his mask, as a chilling grip takes over his body. “GAaaaahhh!!”
“What the hell’s wrong with him?!” Charmcaster demands, backing away from Mr. Compress’ contorting form.
Suddenly the man stops moving, his body hunched over with his head hanging down.
The villains freeze, not sure what to make of it.
And then that’s when their allies head snaps over towards them, revealing a wicked grin and that one his eyes have turned a shade of emerald-green. “You’re not the only one that has a few tricks up his sleeveee. Hahahaaa.” Ghostfreak howls in laughter from inside the villain’s body, taking satisfaction in knowing he just threw the villains off with a single move. His gamble worked, he assumed that Ghostfreak would be able to phase right through the marble once captured and oh boy did it pay off.
“Shoji, catchhh!!” The possessed Mr. Compress flings the marbles back at Shoji, and as the multi-armed boy catches them, Ghostfreak releases the Quirk’s hold, thus releasing a very confused Bakugou and Tokoyami. “TODOROKI, NOWww!!!”
“I hope you know what you’re doing!!” Shoto slams his right foot down towards the flames, and a wave of cold ice crashes through the clearing and over the flames, extinguishing them in seconds. And the instant the flames go down an opposing wave of orange and moss comes roaring onto the scene.
“RAAAAHHHH!!!” The Mycelium roars out one last time before reverting back into his more notable form. “No Fair! No Fair!! NO FAIR!!! Where are Mr. Fake-Froggy Broccoli Baby and Sparky Sparky Boom Man?! TELL ME!?!” His body and tendrils invade the entire clearing swiping at both friend and foe alike without any restraint or composure.
“QUICK!!! TO THE LODGE, NOWww!!!” Upon his command Ghostfreak’s friends take off for the forest.
But before he himself can follow Toga tackles her possessed ally to the ground. “What in the hell’s gotten into you?!”
“His conscious finally became too much for him to ignoreee.” Ghostfreak jokes before expelling himself from the unwilling body. “Or maybe it was just meee!”
His appearance, albeit still battered and bruised with a darkened arm and nasty splotches of ink-like blood staining his form, is enough of a shock to cause Toga to flinch giving the specter ample time to escape.
“Grab him!” Dabi commands.
Twice leaps through the invading vines with his metal measuring tapes out. “You're mine! No, let him go!” He slices but Ghostfreak simply phases through no problem. “Hey, that’s cheating! Fair enough.”
“Hahahaaa, grab meee? Yeah, good luck with thattt!” With a web of vines between the villains and his fleeing friends, Ghostfreak has no trouble catching up.
Clinging to Shoji’s arms, Tokoyami blinks up at the specter in utter confusion. “Midoriya! What-”
“Explaiantion laterrr. For now, we runnn!”
And together they go flee, evading the last of the vines as they escape into the cover of the forest.
However, they weren’t subtle enough as Fun Gus spots them through the canopy. “YRRAAAHHH!!! Come back here!!”
And like a giant mountain the blob of goop chases after them, his mass completely plowing through the forest like a speeding glacier.
“No! He must not escape!” Upon Kurogiri’s command the villains bound after the stampeding blob. Meanwhile the Warp Gate user hangs back, without proper visual or coordinates he cannot effectively sweep the teens up and away. And thus, not willing to risk his own capture he awaits his comrades to do their part.
Meanwhile, Bakugou rips himself free of Shoji’s grasp in favor of rocketing himself through the air instead. “Deku?! What the hell’s going on?! Why are we running away?!”
“If you wanna stop, be my guesttt!”
Peering back, he sees nothing but a speeding wave of orange death right behind them. And beyond that a pack of villains running behind on the trail of destruction left by said wave.
“Fucking Dammit!!” With a roar he speeds ahead, blasting apart incoming tendrils as he does.
The teens bob and weave through the trees while simultaneously keeping out of the reach of the angry tendrils and ooze. Ochaco, making herself weightless, is piggy backing on Shoto as he generates a trail of thin ice along the ground as a means to propel himself forward. Using her legs to lock herself in the place she is able to blast back incoming attacks with admittedly weaker but still effective Ryou Spheres.
Shoji moves the slowest, but still just ahead of the wave with Tokoyami still in his grasp. But as the wave crashes forward, Fun Gus’ power and speed snaps away the trees into explosions of splinters and leaves. As a result, an entire tree trunk gets flung ahead, spinning in the air as it comes dropping right down towards Shoji.
“DARK SHADOW!!!” Taking a risk Tokoyami releases the rogue familiar, to which Dark Shadow makes quick work of the massive trunk, swatting away with ease.
*Boom! Boom! Boom!* Just then Bakugou rockets past, his Explosions providing enough light to ensure Tokoyami’s control. It’s like a chain of destructive fireworks have been unleashed into the forest as Bakugou weaves his way through the air covering all his classmates when needed.
All the while Ghostfreak takes the rear for himself, phasing in and out of existence in order to defend against Fun Gus’ attacks.
All in all, it’s total chaos. Messy, unorthodox, chaos. But it’s working…for now. Izuku knew the risk, he did but hopefully this gamble will pay off too. With Fun Gus on their tail and acting as unpredictable as he is, the villains will be forced to keep their distance. Most likely they’re hoping Fun Gus will catch them and they’ll be right there to snatch them up. So, if they stay ahead of this monster they should be good. But they can’t keep this up for long. Even though he doesn't have legs or a main body he can still feel his body growing weaker and weaker with every second, and the pain is finally starting to set in. They…they need to end this and fast. But how…?
The lodge! They-they need to find their way back to the lodge right this second.
“Everyone, we need to change courseee! Head for the lodgeee! We win if we can lead them back to Mr. Aizawaaa!”
The others instantly understand, with one look Mr. Aizawa will put a stop to Fun Gus’ rampage and if everyone else is there too then the villains will be outnumbered. It’s perfect!
“We’ll make ittt! Just stick togetherrr!! We’ll use Fun Gus as cover for as long as we cannn!!”
Unbeknownst to them, there is a shift in Fun Gus’ attention and then like most plans it takes a hard left turn. Literally, as Fun Gus suddenly and inexplicably takes a hard 90 degree turn and races off for another part of the forest, leaving the teens entirely exposed to the pursuing villains.
“Where's he going?! We’re over here!” Shoto yells, watching their plan fade away just like that.
“And without cover!” Ochaco cries out as the villains, seeing their chance, seize the moment to pounce.
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
“Ashido!! They took Ashido!!” Tears pool in Kirishima’s eyes as he desperately searches for an answer. “Mr. Aizawa what do we do?!”
But he’s just as stunned as he is, wondering what she could have meant and why she would willingly throw herself into danger. ‘Trust her? What…what did she mean? What?!’
“Eraserhead, focus!” Vlad King barks, trying to snap him out of his stumper. “Now’s not the time to falter, we have to rescue her!”
Sero nods in agreement. “Yeah! Let’s go get her!”
Shinso couldn’t agree more. “Then what are we waiting for?”
Kirishima runs past, already having his heart set on her rescue. “Let’s go guys!!”
“No wait!!” Aizawa roars but there’s no need as the distant sound of rumbling reaches their ears.
It starts off soft but then quickly grows louder with every passing second until the ground itself is shaking and the roar of trees being turned over and crushed echoes across the air.
“You all hear that?” Tetsutetsu ponders, looking around for the source.
Yui let’s put high pitched hums while frantically pointing for Kendo to look.
Kendo does and sounds the alarm. “Something’s coming this way!!”
“Prepare yourselves!” Vlad King warns as he creates gauntlets so blood over his fists. “It sounds big.”
“Is it that giant from before?!” Monoma cries out in worry, thinking back to that sudden godzilla looking thing from before.
And then that’s when they hear the screaming. Or rather the roaring of a monster and the screams of a girl, all intermixed. “YRRAAAHHH!!!/Waaaaaaahh!!”
And then a tsunami of orange goop smashes through the tree line, towering over them like a tidal wave. A small face glowing within the tsunami of orange as Mina Ashido is caught up in the mess, her body being flung around as her antennas shake and tremble with vigor.
“Ashido?! And-” Kirishima freezes in place when he sees the monster’s face. “F-F-F-FUN GUS!?!”
“Mr. Red-Red Boy!!” Fun Gus is overjoyed to see him. “YAY!!! I know you’ll play with me!! Won’t you?!”
“No! No way! Never again!! Aaaahh!!”
Wedged within the creature’s mass, Mina yells out for them all to act. “Mr. Aizawa! HURRY!!!”
Aizawa has a lot of questions but there’s no time, this is the exact opportunity he’s been looking for. That mass has a face which means it’s the villain’s main body!! Which means, Erasure will work!!
And it does As his gaze turns red and his hair floats up Fun Gus’ massive size and weight begins to falter and shrink, collapsing in on itself as if he were melting.
“Whaaaa…?! Wha’s happe’ing to m’...?” He gurgles and chokes as his Quirk finally fails him until he’s nothing but a massive puddle of orange goop and slime. “Cheat’rs! Big fa’ cheat’rs! I h’te youuu-...!!”
Sensing weakness, the violet haired boy decides to put an end to this charade. “Do you want to play another game?”
“YRRA-...!!!” Fun Gus freezes, going quiet as his expression turns into a daze.
“Let’s play the Quiet Game. Shall we?” Shinso smirks while laughing at his own quip.
With Fun Gus pacified, Mina is left wallowing in orange goop and muck. But she can breathe easy and finally allow Emote to calm down, no longer does she have to focus on the emotions of anger and irritation in order to influence Fun Gus to come this way. Now she can allow herself a moment to catch her breath and to wipe away all the gross and sticky gunk.
“Ashido!” Kendo and Yui run over, quickly moving to scoop her out of the mountain of moss. “Are you alright?! What happened?”
Aizawa watches on with intrigue and concern. ‘What happened indeed…?’
“That was totally awesome!!” Tetsutetsu beams. “We totally showed this punk what for!!”
“Hell ya!!” Kirishima cheers. “We totally got this!!”
The others’ spirits seem to have risen too and yet Mina can still sense doubt permeating the air, especially from one source: Mr. Aizawa.
Aizawa can't admit victory yet after all… ‘Midoriya hasn’t returned with Bakugou and Uraraka yet. Where are they…?’
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“Why can’t things ever just go as planneddd?!” Ghostfreak whines as he zooms through the trees, literally.
“Why do they have to be so persistent?!” Shoto barks back as he continues to propel himself and Ochaco forward with bursts of ice.
With their cover gone, the villains have the perfect opportunity of attack. They’re forced to flee through the trees while also dodging a barrage of flames, knives, pixie-dust, and blades all while at the risk of being turned into helpless marbles.
A syringe nearly pierces Ghostfreak’s hide, but he quickly phases out, allowing it to pass through.
“Izuku, please don’t go!” Toga blushes as she chases after them. “We were just starting to get acquainted!”
“Ahhh! N-no thanksss!!”
“Keep your hands off of him!!” Ochaco roars as she tries her best to blast the villainess away with a Ryou Sphere.
Charmcaster rushes past the explosion of pink with a sickening grin. “Feisty! You still got some bite to ya!” With a flourish she produces a set of seemingly magical whips, the whips lurch and sway as they form into a hybrid of whips and hissing serpents.
“Well so do I!” Charmcaster slings her snake-whips at them, the serpents snapping their fangs as they’re flung across the air.
But Dark Shadow manages to grab the living whips in his claw, stopping them dead in their tracks.
“Foul witch!!” Tokoyami seethes.
But then Dark Shadow is the one put down as Dabi releases a burst of azure flames, weakening the beast, “This wasn’t the plan.”
“It is now. No, it’s not!” Twice paradoxically comments as he rushes past the pyro.
Meanwhile, Mr. Compress bounds across the treetops while looking for a good opportunity to strike. “You’ve upstaged my performance! I cannot allow that to stand! Therefore, I’ll make sure this is curtains for you!! GAH!!!”
An Explosion knocks the villain off course as Bakugou rockets away. “Save the act for the birthday parties, will ya?!”
“We can’t keep this up for long.” Shoto admits with a shudder. “Uraraka, use your Zero-Gravity on us! We’ll have Midoriya fly us out!”
“You got it!” His passenger quickly reaches out and places a hand onto everyone except Bakugou and Ghostfreak.
“Flight to U.A. now departinggg!” On her mark, Ghostfreak swoops down and grabs them all with Shoto clinging to his left arm and Ochaco hanging on him, while Shoji has a hold on Ghostfreak’s side while using his other free hands to hold onto Tokoyami. Together the weightless squad skedaddle away right into the air.
“Stop them!” Upon Mr. Compress demand Dabi releases a stream of flames.
“Pathetic!!” Bakugou shields them, countering the flames with his own Explosion before bursting himself away.
“Damn!” Dabi growls, watching uselessly as they begin to break their way through the canopy.
“We made it!” Tokoyami exclaims with relief and excitement with hope rising in the back of his throat.
Shoji can’t help but cheer along as they break through the canopy. “We’re home free!”
“Hahahaa!” Ghostfreak laughs along too, feeling as free as a bird as the fresh night air cools their faces. They’re homeward bound now; the lodge is just a hot skip and a step away like this. Not one of these villains can fly which means they’re in for an easy time now!
But as they premature celebrate they fail to even notice the singular figure hovering before their path. The interloper raises a single arm presenting forth a purple blaster,
*PEW!!!*
“Gaaaaaahhh!!” The violet laser strikes Ghostfreak dead on, shocking him to his course and causing to let go of his friends.
“Deku?!” Seeing this Bakugou rockets back to an attempt to catch them, but then an aura of blue surrounds him and he finds himself behind propelled downward. “What-the hell?!”
“Aaaaahh!!” He and a pink-aura glowing Ochaco slam into each other in midair, the force of which propels them both down. They crash into the ground hard along with Ghostfreak and as a result her hold over Zero-Gravity breaks resulting in others plummeting as well. “Aaaahhhh!!”
They each hit the ground hard, crashing through the branches and trees until they hit the solid earth underneath. Landing hard with undoubtable bruises and potentially broken bones. Even Ghostfreak’s gone silent as he lays sprawled on the ground with his face to the dirt, a clear sign that he might be passed out.
“What’s-?!” Shoto, despite the pain of all the bruises cover his body, move to get up only to be greeted by a blade held in front of his face.
“Hero spawn.” Spinner spits in contempt. “Your escape was futile.”
“Sorry darlings.” Magne waves, arriving on the scene, acting as if this was always normal. “But we can’t have you running away on us, can we?”
SevenSeven hovers down and lands, his blaster still trained on the teens. “On ew nnoatc.”
With all the fall damage they’ve taken the teens struggle greatly to even prop themselves up before they realize that the villains have already surrounded them from all sides. In fact, there’s only a few feet separating them and the villains, they’re practically on top of them now.
“Enough. Stay down.” Dabi warns, his hand ablaze with burning flames. “You cannot possibly have any more fight in you. And if you do, well, do you really think you can escape now?”
They can’t. Not at this range and not when they’re all this tired and injured. But…there has to be a way out…somehow.
“The painnn…”
It sounds off but that was definitely Ghostfreak as he withers on the ground, his body still bruised and oozing bloody ink from all his previous injuries. “The painnn…”
SevenSeven approaches slowly, his arm blaster reforming to become a spotlight-like device. “Na cEontuiter? I nwok xcaelyt owh ot aeld ihtw uyo.” Aiming the ray gun down he fires, releasing a seemingly harmless light, and yet steam evaporates off Ghostfreak’s body the instant the light surrounds him.
“Aaaahhhhh…!!” The UV rays burn through his skin, boiling him from within. But he can do nothing but wither and wail as his strength quickly leaks away.
“No! Leave him alone!!” Ochaco begs with tears streaming down her pale, sweat soaked, face. “You’re hurting him!”
“Tehehe~.” Toga seems to find delight in that fact as the blush on her face reddens.
Not totally understanding how SevenSeven can keep this ghoul in check like he is, Dabi figures it’s best to move on and hurry with their initial plan. “Compress, grab the kid. Now.”
“Of course.” Mr. Compress steps forward, pulling on his glove like a doctor that is about to perform a surgery. “Mr. Midoriya I do believe it's time to go.”
“The painnn… The painnn…!”
“Do not worry, it’ll all be over soon.” Mr. Compress leans over him, his hand stretched out and awaiting the moment the specter to pass out from said pain.
“D-Deku!” Ochaco screams.
“No!” Shoto roars.
“Midoriya!!” Shoji and Tokoyami yells out as well.
“DAMMIT-” With a thundering roar Bakugou blasts himself forward, not giving a damn for consequences.
“Bakugou, no!!” Ochaco cries out but it’s far too late.
“DIE!!!”
Reacting in a split second, SevenSeven spins around and on reflex he quickly snatches up a specialized grenade to launch back at the kids.
But at the same time Bakugou blasts him back with an ear-splitting Explosion. The blast knocks SevenSeven back and at the same time he loses grip of the grenade. The bomb falls and the moment it hits the ground it detonates, releasing a highly pressurized shockwave that tears through the nearby area.
Everyone, friend and foe, are blasted right off their feet by the invisible force and tossed aside like bags in a windstorm. And down they all go.
“Come on nerds!” Bleeding from the forehead, Bakugou gets up and ushers them along. “Now’s our chance!”
Stumbling to get up, Shoto hurries along too. “Let’s go!”
“Deku! Where’s Deku?!” Ochaco scans the area before quickly spotting Ghostfreak laying on the ground this time moving and picking himself up with his head still facing towards the ground. “Deku! We-we have to go now!”
But he doesn’t respond, nor does he move instead he drones on about one thing… “The painnn…”
“D-Deku?” Something’s…something not right. He…he doesn’t sound right?
Slowly Ghostfreak raises his head and as he does Ochaco is able to lock eyes with not green but with a single purple eye. “Painnn… KRAAAAAAHHH!!!”
Ghostreak releases a banshee like wail that rattles everyone to their core, the shriek feels like it’s distorting the air like a smog, making them choke. As he screams Beetlejuice-colored tentacles rip through the aberration’s body like rabid serpents and spikes. The tentacle fly out everywhere, whipping around without aim but with deadly force as they rip and tear through the nearby trees and branches.
“Midoriya! What are you-?!” A tentacle slams into Shoji’s gut as another pierces through the webbing between his arms.
“Shoji!!” Tokoyami hurries to his side, forced to use Dark Shadow to shield them from more attacks. “Midoriya! Have you finally turned?!”
“KRAAAAAAHHH!!!”
The heroes aren’t the only ones confused, so are the villains.
“He’s attacking…his own friends?” Magne asks, pulling up her glasses as she blinks in disbelief.
“Something’s not right.” Charmcaster comments as she repels one of the offending tentacles with a purple dagger. “Something’s not right at all.”
Dabi shrugs, not affected by this in the slightest. “Who cares? If the kid’s gone off the deep end then better for us.” He raises his hand, preparing to fire again.
Ghostfreak’s violet eye snakes around his body and quickly spots the villain’s incoming attack. “Painnn!!”
Some of the tentacles redirect and turn on Dabi, slamming into his ribs with a powerful swing. “Gah!!”
The tentacles don’t stop as they swing around and turn back towards the other fire user.
Shoto defends by generating a shield of ice, which thankfully fends off the attacking limbs. “What’s happening?!”
“It’s like before! Back when we were training!!” Ochaco explains in a panic as she ducks and covers from Ghostfreak’s rampage. “The same thing happened! I- think it's triggered when his life is in danger!!”
“That's some defense mechanism!”
“Deku stop, this! Please!” Ochaco begs but she’ll soon regret ever speaking up as several tentacles grab her by her arms and legs. “Aaahhh!!”
She screams as he pulls on her broken arm and bruised limbs all before the ghost throws her down with all his might.
“Uraraka, No!”
With the danger becoming too much, Shoto unintentionally reacts by trying to burn his rampaging classmate. But the specter simply phases through the fires before releasing the poor girl and sending the same tentacles flying at Shoto.
Shoto tries to lock them with another ice wall but it’s no use as the tentacles phase right through this time forcing him to dive out of the way. But not fast enough as one of the tentacles manages to hit him, stabbing its tip right against the side of his shoulder. “Aaahh!!”
With him outta the way Ghostfreak returns his attention back onto the girl. He swiftly approaches preparing to possess the wounded girl. “Paaaaaaiinnnn!!”
“DEKU!!!” Like some action movie savior, Bakugou rockets in and body checks into the ghost; saving Ochaco from a ghostly fate but in exchange he succumbs to it himself as Ghostfreak enters Bakugou’s body instead.
“What are-AAAAAHHH!!!” Bakugou lets out a blood curdling howl as his body painfully bends and controls in ways it shouldn’t. He can feel the ghost’s cold fingers reaching into his mind and yet with a bite of his tongue he is able to fight him off, turning this into a battle of wills. “AAAAHHH-GAAAH!!!” Even without access to his mind the ghost continues to bend and twist the ash-blonde’s body to the point even tears begin to weave up in his eyes.
“RAAAAAHHHHH!!!” Not able to take it for much more, Bakugou's survival instinct subconsciously takes over foreign him to activate Explosion!
*BOOM!!! BOOM!!! BOOM!!!* Bakugou’s body flies everywhere, ricocheting around with every uncontrollable Explosion.
The villains, after reeling from the sudden shock of it all, finally act as they lunge and grab for the struggling teen. But with the Explosions blasting them back before he’s rocketed away in a direction out of his control. All the while screaming and wailing from the unwilling contortions all the while his body is rammed into trees and earth.
“Deku!!/Bakugou!!” Ochaco and Shoto cry out as Shoto hurries to intervene.
“AAAAHHH-RAAAAAAGHhh!!!” His screams turn into an echo of themselves, overpowered by Ghostfreak’s own as his will finally wins out. He has a hold over the Mad Bomber with a single eye turning violet as a sign of proof.
“Painnn!” The possessed Bakugou’s violet eye locks onto Ochaco and Shoto, and he immediately reaches his hand up towards them in response. “PAAAAAAAIINNN!!!”
A raging ball of fire Explodes forth from his palm, the heat tearing through the trees then ash in mere seconds.
“Uraraka!! Todoroki!!” With the last of his strength Shoji rushes in and grabs the two of them, throwing them out of the way of the searing inferno.
But he doesn’t stop, instead of putting them down he carries the two away before the possessed Bakugou can realize that they’ve missed.
“No! We can’t leave them!” Ochaco begs, too weak and too tired to even struggle at this point.
“There’s nothing we can do for them now!” Tokoyami runs up looking mighty ashamed of their actions. “Not like this!”
Shoto glares, not at Tokoyami, but in response to his own admittance. “They’re right. We should regroup and wait for an opening.”
“RAAAAAAGHhh!!!” The possessed Bakugou finally seems to have control of his aching, bruised body. Lurching forth from the smoke and fire like a purple-eyed zombie fueled by a mysterious rage. “PAAAAAAAIINNN!!!”
“Ttah’s nuohge!” In a flash, SevenSeven breeches through the flames, his blaster locked onto the back of the zombie’s skull. “Tle’s vesa het oghts fftus ofr a atrel rca!”
He fires a single stun blast right down into the teen’s head. WHAM Bakugou goes down, his body shaking from the sudden high-powered jolt, the force of which expels Ghostfreak as well.
The Ghostfreak lays beside the unconscious boy, his own wounds finally overtaking him. “P-painnn… AAAaaahhh!!”
He cries out as SevenSeven reignites his UV ray and shine sit down upon him, causing the ghost to wither and squirm like a tortured worm.
With the specter contained, Dabi approaches through the smoke and flames with still an indifferent look on his face. “Believe me there’s more pain on the way.”
Ghostfreak seems to register his words and glares back with righteous hate all before the Omnitrix timeout, mostly likely in response to trying to save Izuku’s life.
In a flash of red, Izuku is left defenseless and withering on the ground, his wounds having turned black and purple with blisters already forming along his skin from the previous UV burns. And with the timing out of the Omnitrix, so too did his consciousness leave him as a silent wounded-corpse on the ground.
“Finally.” Like the shadow man he is, Kurogiri reappears as a swirling vortex. “Quickly, before the heroes arrive.”
Not wasting anymore time, Dabi grabs Izuku by his broken arm, with the Omnitrix locked in his stitched-up grip. He drags him to the portal but stops to address Twice. “Take him, consider it payback.” He gestures his head back to where the unconscious Bakugou is.
“Don’t tell me what to do! Okay.” Twice hurries over, swinging the unresponsive Mad Bomber over his shoulder.
Nodding in approval, Kurogiri prepares the Warp Gate. “Now let us depart before there are any more complications.”
“Yay! We did it~!” Toga cheers, stretching her arms back like a cat that just decided to quit its nap.
“Barely.” Charmcaster comments as the two hurry through the ominous looking portal.
Magne and Spinner are the next to approach with Magne looking around for their other teammates. “Hey, where’s dear Mustard and the others?”
“Who knows?”
Dabi hangs back with Izuku as others escape, he looks over towards the forest and through the dancing shadows casted by the nearby flames he can see the kids watching helplessly from a distance. Exhausted and broken they cannot hope to recover their friends now. “Nice try, heroes. But it looks like-” For the first time tonight his indifference falls away for a split second of twisted glee and mirth. “you just weren’t good enough.”
“DEKU!!! BAKUGOU!! NOOOO!!!” Ochaco screams her lungs burning as the Warp Gate washes away to nothing.
They’re gone.
Exhaustion finally takes down the defeated teens. Shoji collapses to his knees, his legs giving out from under him, no longer able to support his own weight. Tokoyami’s left reeling in a terrible mixture of stunned shamefulness and bitter regret. Grinding his teeth in frustration and with his locks draped over his eyes Shoto punches the ground out of anger. Small wisps of fire burst out every time his knuckles hit the dirt, but it does nothing to soothe his pain.
And Ochaco falls to complete despair, she can’t even register how much searing pain there is all across her body or how her broken arm has gone numb. All she notices is the cruel silence and empty space left behind after the villains stole away her dear friends. And with her spirit broken, her broken body too gives away and she completely collapses backwards onto the ground with a shocked and pale expression.
She stares lifelessly towards the smoke-filled sky as the villain’s wall of flames continues to burn in the distance. Gone are the stars, hidden away behind a shroud of inky black and ominous despair.
But…there’s movement. Way on high, the smoke parts away as if an invisible jet has just flown through them. Her hope rises but then falls as she realizes that help has arrived…but far too late.
Hovering high above, unnoticed by the rest, the portal door of the cloaked Razor Crest slides open to reveal a distressed Cinder. Fully decked out in his uniform, the Plumber scans the forest below for any signs of life or struggle and that’s when he spots Ochaco laying defeated on the ground far below.
Even from this distance she can actually tell what he’s thinking… Where’s Izuku?
Tears trickle down the side of her face, her heart shattering as she witnesses the look of absolute anguish that washes over the father’s face. As he finally comes to realize that…he was too late.
Ochaco’s consciousness fades in and out before she completely gives in to her exhaustion. But before her mind subsidies her shame and guilt ring out in cruel declaration.
They lost.
Notes:
Well, I certainly hope this was worth the wait. And I really really hope it was. If this wasn’t your taste, not to worry. I do plan to really shake things up in the coming arcs. It’s going to have everything. Drama! Suspense! Action! Aliens! And so much more!!
So, please everyone, I must ask you to be even more patient with me. I know I do this to you a lot, but I can’t thank you enough for all your support and patience. It really means a lot when I’m gone for a while and to hear how patient and in anticipation you all are. I HOPE that during this summer I can update a little bit more.
*Also, I might as well address this now, but Ze’Skayr will not be appearing during the next two arcs or so. Just don’t start thinking he’s gonna show up out of the blue when shit is already hitting the fan for our characters. But don’t worry we’ll get him soon enough, promise.
*Also, I meant to announce this sooner but we have even more Artwork from the budding artist, Smoking-Gun-275! of Deviant Art!! https://www.deviantart.com/smoking-gun-275/gallery/all
They are also known as Omnitrix Wielder while here on fanfic. They went out of their way to draw up not one, not two, but THREE new pieces of artwork for us!!! So, please swing on over to their gallery on Deviant Art and give them a look.
Chapter 81: Stolen Treasures
Summary:
With Izuku and Bakugou missing. Our heroes both professional and not, have to pull all their determination and resources together in order to save their stolen treasures. At the same time the League of Villains try to coax some truths out from the two boys. Will our heroes make it in time or are their fates sealed?
Notes:
6 weeks. Sorry guys this chapter would have been done sooner but, of course, I got busy. Also doesn’t help that my computer broke and I was without one for two weeks. Then when it arrived, I couldn’t use it right away because I was gone all weekend. And then I had to set it all up, get used to it, and so on. So yeah, sorry guys but at this point we should almost expect one update a month. Sorry but I will keep trying to get them out sooner but I can no longer promise anything. If you’re expecting weekly updates then I’m sorry to say but I think those days are over. Sorry again but thank you for understanding.
*BR-FACT* (By Ray Ethan) Shocksquatch’s name in the BR dub is the exact same. However, “Electricyeti” instead translates to “Yeti-Electro.”
*NEW pieces of Artwork from the budding artist, Smoking-Gun-275 on Deviant-Art. Please go check their stuff out! They’ve already created 3 whole pieces of art for this story alone!! I seriously love any and all artwork that comes my way or that’s inspired by this story. It’s truly great to know that it can inspire others to create something themselves too. https://www.deviantart.com/smoking-gun-275
*This story has a TV Tropes page so feel free to check it out. https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Fanfic/HeroesNeverDieItsHeroTime
*Disclaimer I do not own the rights to Ben 10 or MHA.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
*CLICK. CLICK. CLICK.*
[“Welcome back once again to NHN. You’re just in time to hear about our top story which has got to be the attack on U.A.’s Training Camp!”] A square chinned American remarks with cold yet precise declaration. His red tie popping out even while tucked into his well-tailored suit. He pushes back his thin square glasses with its temple tips brushing into his graying brown hair.
He continues promulgating forth with the spirit of Paul Revere. [“This strike was coordinated by the infamous League of Villains. Which if that name doesn’t sound familiar, then it should! This is now the second - that’s right - second, attack on U.A. with the exact. Same. Students. That were involved in the U.S.J. Attack! This time, both of U.A.’s freshmen classes have been the unfortunate victims of U.A.’s negligence and blatant overconfidence.”] He shakes his head in cold disappointment, like that of a parent not surprised by a tempered child’s behavior.
A panel slides onto the screen over the man’s shoulder, showing footage of aircrafts extinguishing azure flames while ambulances and police cars arrive onto the scene of the WWPC’s Lodge.
[“Now thankfully emergency services were able to respond quickly after a group of students managed to contact the outside world for help. And thankfully the fires were contained while ambulances arrived on the scene and the police quartered off the entire area.”]
The announcer claps his hands hard together before shrugging away like the applause meant nothing at all. [“But help came too late! Listen to this. 41 students went to this camp with high hopes and the expectation that they’d be in a safe learning environment, while enjoying the serenity of nature. HA!!! But instead, a quarter of them are now unconscious and under constant surveillance in the nearby hospital! Oh, but what about the other students? Surely the heroes were able to save them? Well, you would think. But in truth, I’d argue they’re worse off! Nearly every student that didn’t get knocked out by the initial attack now have varying degrees of injuries and trauma inflicted by the hands of the villains.”]
The panel changes showing the likes of an unconscious Kyoka Jiro and Toru Hagakure being carted off by EMTs. [“And just when you think it couldn’t have gone worse…it does!”]
The panel changes showing two images: one of a teen with ash-blonde hair and a permanent scowl, and the other of a plain-faced boy with freckles and green-hair. [“Not one but two, TWO, students were taken right under the heroes noses! Speaking of which one of these heroes is in critical condition after a severe blow to the head. And another is missing. Just missing. With little to go on! Now the villains did take a hit as well.”]
The images blink away this time doubling as the images of the defeated villains appear. The first of a broken Muscular being hauled away in massive binds, his form completely battered and covered in bits of earth. The next image is of a spiritually broken Mustard. The third is of a missing-toothed Moonfish. And finally, the last image is that of a massive vat filled with swirling orange goop. [“Thanks to the efforts of the brave heroes we now have at least some villains in custody. Hm?”]
The anchorman stops, looking somewhere off screen as some imaginary character tells him something.
[“Oh, what’s that? … The heroes didn’t capture them? THE CHILDREN DID!?!”] He shouts, his voice dripping with sarcasm. [“Yes, folks. You heard me! The heroes, your supposed protectors, did not defeat a single villain, no, instead these budding heroes were thrown into the front lines with no training or experience. Talk about negligence!! And there’s the issue here; negligence. How could U.A. and its heroes, our heroes, allow a group of ragtag, untrained, murderous villains the ability to coordinate an entire assault on CHILDREN!?! If they cannot even protect the next vanguards against evil, then can they really protect us?!] He pauses as if waiting for the viewer to answer. [“Or will we be the meat shields to which our “heroes” can hide behind? Or-]”
*BZ-shhhhhh.*
The TV shuts down with a click of the remote, going silent and dark and revealing nothing but the downtrodden expression of a poor girl dressed in a hospital gown with one arm in a massive cast and so is her leg, while the rest of her body is layered with more bandages like that of a mummy.
Sullenly Ochaco Uraraka turns away from the dark screen, her head sliding along the stiff pillow as she does. Her mind still clouded in a haze of deliriousness and exhaustion added to the fact she can barely move in this state, she can’t help but let out a choked sob as she recalls Shigaraki’s words from the Kiyashi Ward Shopping Mall.
[FLASHBACK]
“Why?” Ochaco chokes, gripping her now free neck as Big Chill hovers protectively between her and the villain. “Why do you hate heroes so much? Why do you hate…this world?” This world of heroes?
Shigaraki pauses, stopping within the bustling oblivious crowd, pondering the question. His hand flexes towards his pocket as a wave of haunting memories flood his mind as he peers back at her, his eyes piercing into Uraraka’s very soul.
Ochaco gasps at the sight, for a brief second she saw a flash in his eyes, a flash of pain and fear.
“Because this society is a lie.”
Ochaco’s lips tighten, her mind plagued by his meaning.
Big Chill too takes a moment to pause.
Shigaraki turns away. “But here’s a little word of advice, friends. Be careful. The next time we meet,” His gaze drifts from Uraraka up to the transformed Midoriya. “I'll likely have to kill you.”
And with that threat proxying a goodbye, Shigaraki disappears from within the bustling crowd like a stone lost to a churning stream.
[End of FLASHBACK]
Laying there in defeat, the blankets and casts feeling like a sleep paralysis demon has her pinned and is now dragging her down into despair.
A single, painful, tear runs down her once rosy cheek before more water pools down her face.
The Summer Training Camp they’d all be looking forward to, couldn’t have been more of a disaster…
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[PLAY “ My Hero Academia Season 3 - Opening | ODD FUTURE ”]
I Keep My Ideals; Sorezore
Izuku Midoriya and Henzu Uuichi are standing back-to-back facing away from each other as their story of transformation from friends to enemy's flashes between them.
No Tenmei Wo Ooo
The camera P.O.V. zooms upward, traveling through space at light speed.
What's going through? (Instrumental)
The Omnitrix glows green, floating between a pair of Galvin’s hands.
Subete Wa Mi Kara Deta Sabi
Izuku runs out of Mr. Baumann’s store before jumping on his hoverboard with the man chasing after him angrily.
Haburi Yoku Fuyashita Kuro Rekishi
He begins laughing as Megawatts swarm around him and into the bright sky.
Arito Arayuru Mono Wo Sutetari
One of the Megawatts glides past Ochaco Uraraka who lets out a cheer as she leads Class A around a running course.
Mi Ni Oboe No Nai Unmei Ni
Katsuki Bakugou begins shouting as he tries to overtake her, but she just runs faster, earning his angrier.
Korosare Kaketa Koto Mo Attashi
Principal Nezu walks in front of the U.A. staff along with the WWPC before passing by a pillar. Leaving just him along with Thirteen, One-One, and Gran Torino before passing another pillar.
Shinda Me Wo Shite Ikita Jiki Soredemo Kyou Mo Ikasareteru
The pillar moves to reveal Nue standing in front of Vilgax's Legion with the League of Villains standing behind him.
Tte Koto Wa
SevenSeven appears in front of the camera P.O.V. and shoots the screen.
What's going on? Mada Sou Yari Nokoshiten Darou
Ochaco Uraraka and Tomura Shigaraki stand back-to-back as their respective mentors look down at them before the two begin to walk away from each other.
Syuusei No Shiyou No Nai Hibi No Naka Demo
Izuku looks on at a photo of him, Inko, and a faded-out figure before closing his eyes as All Might appears behind him. All Might fades out leaving Hisashi in his place. Hisashi turns and let’s loose a torrent of flames.
What's going on?
Xylene leaps from the flames, her eyes aglow with Telekinesis as she launches multiple boulders forward.
Hito Towa Chigau To
Tetrax stands firm, a wave of diamonds swallow up the nearby flames as he glares into the camera with a stoic look.
Mitometa Ue De
The diamonds melt together to reveal Lucy Mann smiling as she jumps forward to deliver a flying kick through the flaming air.
Kanousei No Rutsubo Hiraku, Ah
The fire forms a circle to reveal Cinder smirking up at a snarling Vilgax; the two glare each other down.
Dreaming
The two enemies clash creating a shockwave destroying everything around them.
Ishi Gyakusou Shikakui Sora
Civilian's runaway in panic as animalized Nomus terrorize the city all the while All for One looks on from his tower.
Kokoro No Sukima Umenu
Suddenly Pro Heroes from across Japan appear and fight the beasts head on.
Akenu Yoru Kara
All for One looks on before looking up to see something coming at him at high speed.
Nukeyou~
All Might roars as he lets loose a furious punch at his nemesis.
Mirai
The opposing powers clash creating a giant explosion of power!
No Kaizou Do Sage Bokura Wa
Zooming out it’s revealed that the explosion is a clash between orange and azure flames courtesy of an enraged Shoto Todoroki and a deranged Dabi.
Me Wo Sorashite Wa Naritai
All around them Class A & B fight the League of Villains’ Vanguard Action Squad head on.
Bakugou uses a Howitzer Impact against Moonfish.
Iida Recipro Bursts past SevenSeven.
Tsuyu hopes over a knife wielding Toga.
Mono Nante Naito Uso Buita Hibi Wo
A pink glowing Ochaco races towards a grinning Charmcaster. As massive violet-runed tendrils curl and spiral around her form.
I Keep My Ideals; Sorezore No Jinsei
A red hued Nue and green highlighted Izuku charge at each other as chaos ensues around them.
Ai Mo Yume Mo Kiken Na Hodo Kantan Ni Hi Ga Tsuichau Nosa
The two opposing colors spark and clash like thunder and lightning across the battlefield, with Izuku transforming between Shocksquatch, Humungousaur, and more.
The two back away from each other before charging once again this time both of them in their human forms as their foreheads clash with each other.
Gongu Nari Sorezore No Tenmei
HEROES NEVER DIE; IT’S HERO TIME
Silhouettes of past Izuku and Henzu are walking with each other, with Henzu's arm flung over Izuku's shoulders.
Wo ~
All highlighted with neon green Deku, Uravity, Ground Zero, Pinky, Kraab, Tetrax, Cinder, and All Might stand in a line before the all red highlighted Nue, Ragnarok, Sunder, Rojo, SevenSeven, Techadon, Malware, and an imposing Vilgax towering over them all.
(Illustrated by Drag0n5on)
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Ch .76 Stolen Treasures
It’s a hot summer day with clear blue skies without a cloud in sight to hinder the bright sun. The sound of cicadas and birds fill the air as do the soft rustle of leaves. It’s almost the most perfect summer day…and yet it’s not a joyous one as an uproar of demands and a chorus of questions explode before U.A.’s fortified gate.
“When are you going to open the gates?!”
“We hear your silence! Why can’t we expect an official statement from U.A.’s Administration?!”
“Has anyone been in contact with the families of the children you allowed to be endangered?!”
Swarms of news outlets and reporters have flocked to the school, demanding answers and explanations. And yet not a single one dares to cross the sealed gate in fear of the school retributions. And yet they are determined to be heard and answered.
“You owe the country an answer!!”
“What are you doing to ensure the rescue of your students?!”
“Where’s All Might?!”
And yet not a single one of their grievances reaches a teacher’s ear. In fact, not a word of their uproar can even reach the main school. Like a sanctum of solitude the U.A. towers stand firm and silent, with no signs of life or noise or students within its halls, or stairwells, or even classrooms.
And yet much is being said, much is being discussed within a single confined room, the Conference Room.
“That training camp was meant to prepare students to handle villain attacks. The irony is shameful.” Principal Nezu states, not sugar coating the topic and affirming that what is to be discussed is of the utmost importance. “We knew the League would resurface, but we lacked a fundamental understanding of their plans… They aim to destroy hero society. And they’ve already started their war.” He pauses, looking out before those gathered at the appropriately U-shaped table: to his left sits Midnight and Toshinori, and to his right are Snipe, Present Mic, and Thirteen.
Out of this collection of trusted staff and friends, it’s Midnight who speaks first. “Even if we had understood, could we really have avoided this attack? They’re moving pieces we didn’t even know they possessed. Besides, All Might put an end to most organized crime. We’re all rusty.”
“We’ve definitely gotten complacent during peaceful times without realizing it.” Present Mic confirms while leaning back in his seat guiltily. “I guess deep down all of us thought we’d be riding the sweet life for good.”
And if he didn’t feel guilty before then Toshinori Yagi feels especially more guilty after their recent comments. “I will never forgive myself for such cowardly ignorance.” He grumbles, depressed, with his head hanging low over the table. “While our students were fighting desperately for their lives, I was just…having a relaxing soak in the bath.”
“We shouldn’t have had the Sports Festival right after the U.S.J. attack.” Snipe admits while leaning his cowboy hat over his masked face. “We wanted to show we were still strong. To have not one but two students kidnapped is our greatest failure as teachers. They’ve taken Bakugou and Midoriya, AND society’s faith in heroes away from us.”
All true points, so much so that not even the illustrious Principal Nezu can deny it. “I agree. Every news outlet is currently condemning U.A. High.” Having prepared for this meeting, the little white chimera presents a tablet and a newspaper, both with current articles about the recent villain attack and kidnapping, specifically with photos of Bakugou during his time in the Sports Festival. “If Bakugou was one of the main targets it’s likely because the villains noticed his violent tendencies during the Sports Festival broadcast. If he ends up joining the side of villains…that will be the end of U.A as a school.”
“And what of Midoriya?” Thirteen finally chimes in, their worry finally getting the best of them. “Why take him? He’s hardly the destructive type.” Silently, they’re dreading that maybe they took him for another reason but…they won’t bring it up in front of them, not here.
But going off their last statement, everyone sinks down in their seats, especially Toshinori who looks even more guilty and devastated as they all silently remember just how destructive Midoriya was during the Final Exam.
Realizing that they might not have had put up the best case, Thirteen sinks back down in defeat.
And yet Midnight decides to chime in anyway. “That is a good question. Objectively speaking Midoriya is probably…no, he is the most powerful first year. Everyone knows that everyone has seen that, especially the villains on more than one or two occasions. Perhaps this was personal, a vendetta, take him out while also destroying people’s trust in us.”
“While we’re on the topic of trust, there’s something that has to be voiced now.” Present Mic cuts in looking serious and tense all at once almost like he doesn’t want to say what he has to but knows that he has a duty to do so. “At this point we can’t deny it anymore, can we? There’s a traitor at…this school.”
The others all flinch back in response to Mic’s statement, disbelief yet truth written all over their faces. Except for Thirteen and Principal Nezu who stay composed yet silent as they both share a knowing glance between each other.
“Only the teachers and the Pussy Cats knew where the training camp would be.” Present Mic continues, shooting out of seat in defiance. “Don’t you think that’s a little suspicious?! I guess a kid could have used a phone to message the villain but-”
“Stop this Mic.” Midnight chides, not willing to hear this.
“What’s the problem?! We have to find who the leak is!!”
“Could be you for all we know.” Snipe interrupts, throwing the argument right back at his face. “You got any proof that you're 100% innocent? Can we know that any one of us in this room is an ally?”
His logic seems to work as Present Mic plops back down while throwing a nasty glare back at his co-worker.
Ignoring his glares, Snipe continues. “If we start doubting each other we’ll just destroy ourselves from the inside. Accusing a traitor isn’t something we should take lightly.”
Thirteen couldn’t agree more, especially since there’s a good chance…that there isn’t a spy to begin with.
[FLASHBACK]
“How? How could they have found the camp?! How could they have found Izuku?!” Hisashi Midoriya slams his hand against the platinum-white table, located deep inside Plumber Base; he can let loose all he likes without anyone overhearing. He clearly needs to blow off steam, his hair’s a mess and he’s already forgotten to shave as the hints of stubble have already creeped in. The bags under his eyes are a clear indication that he’s lost a lot of sleep and the faintest whiff of cigarettes in his breath is a clear hint that he’s started smoking again.
“Someone answer me!!” Hisashi snaps.
Despite his frustrations, Magister Nezu remains composed and calm, extending his sympathy to the Midoriya family. “How indeed…? This was a severe oversight on our part…” His gaze stretches across the room where he, Hisashi, Thirteen, and their two droid companions surround a single device: a purple communication-jammer device which lies dormant on the table. “It’s clear that the League of Villains have somehow managed to align themselves with a new terrifying ally. One that’s not concerned with Intergalactic law and regulations.”
Thirteen shrinks in their seat, spine going tense. “You mean…?”
“Yes. I’m afraid I do… the League of Villains are working with Vilgax.”
“RAAAAGHH!!!” Hisashi loses it, grabbing his chair and chucking it at the wall, thankfully the chair is sturdy enough it bounces right off with a dent. the room. “How could this have happened?! HOW!?! We scrambled all bio-signals and frequencies! They couldn’t have known where the Omnitrix was!”
“Perhaps we’ve overlooked something…?” Nezu turns around his seat, looking at the giant sets of computer monitors and control panels. “Months ago…right before you returned to us. An intruder managed to infiltrate this very base, at the time we had thought we caught them before they could hinder our operations. But perhaps we caught them just after…?”
Hisashi’s eyes grow wide as he comes to terms with the implications. “Chopper! Run a thorough scan on the system, and I mean thorough. Check every program, file, and every single text of code, leave no stone unturned!”
^Wa-wa!^ Chopper gives his master a salute before wheeling off, taking the initiative and not daring to whine about it.
^Not to worry Mr. Cinder!^ One-One chimes in. ^I shall personally post myself on monitoring duty. The moment Mr. Deku uses the Omnitrix we will know exactly where he is.^
^It’s a lost cause…^ Sad-One comments before the two scurry away for said monitor.
“Best to hurry.” Nezu comments. “We have to meet with the rest of my staff and discuss future steps and ramifications. After which we will have to conduct a public statement.” Despite his intellect and wisdom, he cannot see a single way that this broadcast and interviews will result in any goodwill. “In the meantime, you should return home. You are needed there.”
A look of guilt flashes on Hisashi’s face before he silently nods in obedience.
“Get some rest…if you can. You’ll most likely be called upon for the students’ rescue.”
“I’ll go too!” Thirteen immediately interrupts. “I’d be happy to provide my expertise and skills for this mission.”
“I admire your determination. But no. You are to remain on standby. We don't know what the League or Vilgax are planning. And if he is making a move then the residences of Earth, both alien and human, will need our aid. If we can do some matter of damage control then we will be relying on you as well.”
“I…understand.” Thirteen solemnly lowers their head, sympathetic to Nezu’s reasons but still frustrated that they themselves cannot help a little more directly.
“It’s a delicate situation. One that we have to treat carefully or risk the worst possible outcome.”
They all fall silent, considering for a moment what the worst outcome would in fact be? The reveal of their operations? Destruction of Hero Society? The loss of two innocent lives? They all sound like the worst-case scenario…
Hisashi, however, comes to one conclusion: desperate times call for desperate measures. And this is certainly one of those times. “Magister Nezu. I’d like to make a request.”
They all stare up at him in anticipation, wondering what he could need.
“I’d like to request the withdrawal of item C60-NV .”
[End of FLASHBACK]
Principal Nezu gives a sad smile in response, he would like to dash the idea of a traitor here and now, but that would lead to some unfavorable discussions and perhaps make even more distrust. No, he will have to play along with this scenario for now, at least until C1-10P and One-One have completed their diagnostic of the Plumber System. “At the very least I trust everyone sitting at this table. Though there’s no way to prove to all of you that I am innocent. For the moment, what we must do as a school is to concentrate on guaranteeing the safety of the student body. This is a good time to implement something I’ve wanted to put in place for a while. You see I-”
*A PHONE CALL IS HERE! A PHONE CALL IS-!*
An embarrassed Toshinori shoots up and scrambles to shut off his phone. “Scuse me everyone, I have to take this.”
“We’re in a meeting. At least set it to vibrate.” Present Mic hisses under his breath.
A sweatdrop forms over Midnight’s brow. ‘He’s his own ringtone?’
Toshinori makes sure to close the door softly, entering the dark and empty hallway of the ominous empty school. And without any prying eyes he can’t help but all for a moment of weakness, to allow himself to wallow in his own regret. ‘What Symbol of Peace can’t even keep his students safe from harm? And Young Midoriya…Why do I keep failing you?’ His fist tightens at his side as he thinks of how much he’s failed that poor boy… it’s been far too many times.
He stands there for a moment, soaking in the silence before finally bringing the phone to his ear.
“Sorry. What is it, Tsukauchi?”
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Naomasa Tsukauchi smiles into his phone, glad to be delivering some good news for once. Behind him sitting in the police station’s debriefing room is Officer Sansa along with Aizawa, and Vlad King who are patiently waiting at the desk behind him.
“We’ve finally finished taking comprehensive statements from Aizawa and Vlad King. And I think we found something.”
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[“It’s possible we have a lead on where the League of Villains is hiding.”
“Really?” Toshinori perks up, albeit hesitantly. “Are you serious?!”
[“Yeah. About two weeks ago, I sent an officer around to gather information. A bystander pointed out that he’d seen a man with a patchwork face entering a building that was supposed to be vacant. The man looked to be in his twenties, but we didn’t find any plausible matches when we checked criminal records. We spoke with the owner of the building though and found that there’s some sort of hidden bar there. My man thought it was unrelated to our kidnapping case and didn’t investigate further. But remember the description of that villain from the attack? He had a patchwork face.”]
He can almost feel it… is this really a chance?
[“Given the profile of this crime, we’ll move as soon as we get the green light. This is top secret. I'm only telling you because it’s you. We plan to ask for the cooperation from many pro heroes for this rescue and inevitable cleanup mission. All Might…we need your power.”]
Toshinori goes silent, wallowing in the emptiness of the hall as his friend's words echo in his head.
He must have been quiet for too long since Tsukauchi started getting worried. [“All Might are you still there?”]
“Tsukauchi, you’re a WONDERFUL FRIEND.” His muscles begin to bulge and stretch against his suit as steam pours off his skin. “AND I KNOW JUST WHAT I’LL SAY WHEN I FIND THEM.” All Might’s grin beams with resolution as he states. “I AM HERE. TO MAKE YOU PAY FOR WHAT YOU’VE DONE.”
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[“It would appear that the principal offenders behind the U.A. High Training Camp Attack call themselves the League of Villains Vanguard Action Squad. The League was previously involved in the U.S.J. Attack and the Hosu Incident.”]
*CLICK.*
[“The youngest victim in the training camp attack is reportedly the son of pro heroes, Water Hose, who were killed by Muscular in a tragic-”]
*CLICK.*
[“Disaster strikes U.A. again! AGAIN!!! I’m telling ya this is-“]
*CLICK.*
[‘I’m not sure who to blame? The teachers? The heroes? Or the hall monitor! *Hahahaha!!*]
*CLICK.*
[“If my child wanted to be a hero there’s NO WAY I’m letting them enroll into U.A.”]
*CLICK.*
[Welcome back once again to NHN. Continuing off from before break, we were discussing U.A.’s clear lack of proper management and preventive action! I mean what kind of school, or more precisely a HERO school, allows a ragtag group of killers and criminals to straight up walk in and have the run of the place?! Take what they want? And then just leave?! Just what were these “heroes” doing?! What if it was you?! What if some villains decided to attack your child’s school? Or your place of work? Are you expected to fight them off yourselves? Or will the heroes rise to the challenge? … Or will they stand aside and allow these horrible atrocities to occur? We need answers! Which is why I will personally see to it that we get those an-”
*BZ-shhhhhh.*
The TV shuts down with a click of the remote, going silent and dark and revealing nothing but the almost elated expression of a pale young man, hidden behind a severed hand for a mask. His scraggly gray-blue hair dangling over his head as he leans over the well-polished bar counter.
“Ehehehe.” Tomura Shigaraki turns away from the screen, looking past his collection of villains known as the Vanguard Action Squad.
Members of which include the indifferent Dabi who’s standing off to the side with Spinner and Twice. Across from them Himiko Toga is also seated at the bar, playfully leaning over it like a cat while Kurogiri busies himself with a dirty glass. Off to the side stands Mr. Compress and Magne, both doing their best to ignore SevenSeven who’s been rambling on incoherently for some time now in a mix of low shrieks and inapprehensible growls. And, finally, lurking in the back is the ever-monstrous Nue, silently and patiently awaiting his handler’s orders.
“I’m so grateful to the media for all the free publicity lately.” Shigaraki continues, looking past them all to one of the few individuals that truly has his interest. “Right? Isn’t it nice? Katsuki Bakugou?”
Katsuki Bakugou glares right back, the weight of the chains around his wrists shake and clang against his heavy seat. His fingers clench and dig into himself, unable to do anything from inside the thick iron shackles encasing his entire hands and wrists. They so desperately want to be let loose, to release a cacophony of Explosions and fire.
Unfortunately, he’ll have to bid his time, he’ll have to play his limit cards right otherwise he’s gambling both his…and Deku’s life.
Just to his left, locked into a seat of his own is Izuku Midoriya. But…he’s not moving and even from this angle, Bakugou can tell that he’s not in good shape. Now with proper lighting and the calm of the moment, Bakugou can finally see how truly busted Deku is. In short, he’s a mess and it was truly a miracle he didn’t pass out earlier during all the chaos.
His left arm looks mangled, a nasty shade of purple with stained blood, probably his own, and clearly broken. The arm is dangling uselessly at his side, weighed down by a high-tech shackle, provided by the purple creep, that’s keeping Deku’s stupid watch locked away.
Covered in dirt, bruises, and dried blood Deku looks like he’s been through a war zone and lost. Sweat and dirt drench his face and judging by the light paleness of his face and his labored breathing there’s a good chance he’s running a fever too. And his hoodie, that stupid yet signature hoodie, is all frayed and stained with mud and blood, but somehow it still has its usual robust colors of green and black.
And now here he is, having never woken up since his freakout. Even the villains don’t see him as a threat, especially with his watch locked up, they just plopped him in the chair next to him without any more chains or shackles.
“Heha ha ha Hahahaha!! HAHAHAHAHA!!!” Nue breaks into a cackle, almost like he’s realized what Bakugou’s realized.
They’re prisoners, and there isn’t shit they can do about it.
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She couldn’t do anything. That’s the thought that’s been haunting Ochaco ever since she woke up in the hospital. Her arms and legs are numb, mummified in bandages after having her casts removed just a few hours ago.
All things considered it’s a big improvement from how she was when she first woke up 3 days ago. When she awoke she was delirious with fever and suffered seizures. At some point Recovery Girl showed up to heal her and fix her up but it clearly happened when she was passed out. The cops and Mr. Tsukauchi arrived later apparently but she can’t remember how that conversation went. She knows he apologized for what happened and that they’re doing all they can to help but after that…it’s all a blur of mumbling and feeling guilty for what happened.
Speaking of guilt…turning over in her hospital bed, she spots a little plate sitting on the counter nearby. Sliced apples with colorful toothpicks lie in wait for her to eat along with a little note that reads: “When you wake up, please eat this and call us. With All the Love in the World, Mom and Dad.”
Another pang of guilt, she can only imagine how they must feel. How worried they must be.
But…then again. Imagine just what Mr. and Mrs. Midoriya are going through…
*KNOCK. KNOCK. KNOCK.*
The door slides open gently and quietly before revealing a rather solemn looking Denki Kaminari who immediately lights up upon seeing Ochaco’s eyes open and awake. “Uraraka! Good, you're finally awake!”
He enters revealing that he was just the first of an entire precision of visitors. It’s fifteen in all with Denki of course leading the way before being joined by Hitoshi Shinso, Hanto Sero. Behind them it’s Tenya Iida with Koji Koda, Rikido Sato, and Minoura Mineta who’s carrying around a nice clean melon. Next is Tsuyu Asui who immediately goes to Ochaco’s side as Yuga Ayoama and Mashirio Ojiro fill in. Next a stoic faced yet relieved Shoto Todoroki enters along with a beaming Eijiro Kirishima, and practically latched on to his back is a timid looking Mina Ashido, who looks so relieved to see that Ochaco’s okay but yet she cannot meet her gaze out of pure guilt. And finally, Fumikage Tokoyami holds and closes the door for Mezo Shoji since his arms are wrapped in layers upon layers of bandages and casts which only remind Ochaco of just how badly they were all hurt.
“Did you see the news?” Denki immediately asks. “Reporters are all over the school right now.”
“It’s worse than last time.” Rikido Sato comments, thinking back to when the reporters invaded the school right before the U.S.J. Attack.
“I brought a present!” Mineta announces while presenting her with the melon. “We’ll actually it’s from all of us. It’s a melon!”
Sero throws him a look. “What are you talking about? That old shopkeeper with the sweet muscle car gave it to us for free. Remember?”
“I’m…happy to see you all.” Ochaco greets, not realizing till now just how hoarse and weak her voice really is. Has her throat always been this dry? “Did everyone from Class A come to visit?”
“No.” Iida sadly admits. “Jiro and Hagakure are still out. They were knocked unconscious by that villain’s poisonous gas. And Yaoyorozu was pretty shaken up by the Nomu. She’s hospitalized here although I just found out that she’s back on her feet yesterday.” Apparently she was pitted against a Nomu of all things and was forced to use her technique, the Zircon Blade, in defense. “So, it’s just us. Though obviously we wish the whole class could be here…” Even just implying it brings not just sorrow and regret to him but the entire group as all their smiles and relief shimmers fade away.
Tokoyami takes it upon himself to continue and spare Iida the heartache. “Only 15 of us made it.”
“Because Midoriya and Bakugou are gone.” Shoto finishes sounded as indifferent and stoic as always been, even so it’s clear to them all that he’s just as if not more so bothered by that fact.
As he states this, Mina tucks herself away further behind Kirishima and towards the back of their group as silent tears begin to leak out from her eyes.
Ochaco shrinks in on herself, her mind flashing back to those last moments. ‘Dabi hangs back with Izuku as others escape, he looks over towards the forest and through the dancing shadows casted by the nearby flames he can see the kids watching helplessly from a distance. Exhausted and broken they cannot hope to recover their friends now. “Nice try, heroes. But it looks like-” For the first time tonight his indifference falls away for a split second of twisted glee and mirth. “you just weren’t good enough.”’
At her side, even though all the numbing pain and bandages restraining her arm, her fist clenches in frustration.
Still tucked away behind Kirishima, Mina shrinks back and gives a weak little whimper. “I’m…I’m…” She breaks down, cracking at the seams, covering her face in a vain attempt to hide her tears. “ It’s my fault…” She sobs, thinking how her diversion of Fun Gus’ attention consequently played a part in the kidnappings. “I-I’m sorry…!” She sobs, crying and sniffing.
Tsuyu hurries to her side, holding her and comforting her much like she would for her own siblings when they’re sad or upset.
Ochaco sits there, silent, unsure of what she means…she wants to ask but now doesn’t feel right… It does, however, get her thinking, how each of them were forced to stand up and fight back. To survive. They had to do whatever they could to save each other. But yet…was their best really not good enough…
“All Might told me that there will always be people beyond our reach…” Ochaco finally speaks, her voice coarse and dry yet somber and heavy. “That we can’t protect. Even though we want to… Which is why we have to save the people we can reach.”
And with that, a single tear runs down her pale cheek, and like a dam breaking she cracks. “But I couldn’t reach them…!” She chokes, her throat burning from her raised voice. “I couldn’t do anything! Mina…if you want to blame anyone then blame me!! I was there! I could have done something different!” She could have done so much, anything but then…her body gave out. It wouldn’t move anymore, and all she could do was lie there and watch. And now…they're gone. “I was…I was useless.” She admits while staring down at her mummified limbs, the very same ones that would often glow with the power and might of One For All… “Why should I have this Quirk if I can't even save my own friends…?”
Everyone’s thrown back and simultaneously putdown, Mina sobs harder and leans into Tsuyu, as the others hang their heads low in shame and regret. Afterall, they have Quirks too and yet…they failed.
However, there is one of them that’s refusing to let that weigh him down. But instead, a determined Kirishima marches through the crowd, putting himself right before the weeping brunette and announcing his intentions without any reservations. “Alright, then let’s go get them.”
Everyone, especially Ochaco, is stunned. All except Shoto who seems to have expected Kirishima’s intentions, almost as if he already knew about it.
“I was here yesterday too.” Kirishima clarifies before going into more detail. “And so was Todoroki.”
[FLASHBACK]
Having just entered the hospital, Kirishima was more than surprised to find a certain someone already there. “Why are you at the hospital?!”
“I could ask you that.” Shoto responds, not defensively.
“Well…I…couldn’t just sit at home. So, I figured I would…come here.”
Shoto pauses and then… “Me too. I felt the same.”
And so coming to a rather somber understanding they both make their way through the massive medical facility and right for Uraraka’s room. However, as they wander the halls a familiar muscle-bound figure with blonde hair shaped in a V instantly catches their eyes.
Down the hall they can clearly see All Might in citizen clothes beside a Police Officer in a brown trench coat and hat. Both of them having just entered Yaoyorozu’s hospital room.
Curious, the two quickly saunter over and peek in to find All Might and the detective conversing with Momo who’s still bedridden yet now clearly recovered with her Zircon Blade sitting at the foot of her bed along with a still inanimate orange-disc that looks almost metallic with strange wires and gears sticking out of it.
It appears that they had just asked Momo some questions as she goes on to explain the events of that night. “With the assistance of Awase of Class B, I attached a tracking device to the Nomu that attacked us.” From her hand she holds up a little radio-like device. “This is the Creation that will receive that signal. I hope it helps your search.”
All Might takes the device gratefully, holding it firm yet gently like it’s the last piece of hope they have. And he couldn’t be more proud or grateful for it. “PREVIOUSLY, AIZAWA SAID YOU LACKED THE SELF-CONFIDENCE AND JUDGMENT NEED TO MAKE QUICK DECISIONS. WELL LOOK HOW MUCH YOU’VE GROWN. YOU HAVE OUR THANKS YOUNG YAOYOROZU.”
“But the classmates are still endangered… It’s frustrating that I can't help you more than this… I hate it”
“THAT PAINFUL FEELING IS PROOF YOU’RE WORTHY OF BEING A HERO.”
Momo’s head snaps up in astonishment and uncertainty.
“PLEASE DON’T WORRY. YOU CAN LEAVE THE REST TO US.”
[End of FLASHBACK]
Upon hearing their story, Iida quickly comes to the decision that this is far from appropriate or reasonable. “This means you’re going to have Yaoyorozu make another receiver for you, doesn't it?”
Neither Shoto nor Kirishima respond, not that they need too.
But even so Shoto can’t help but bite back. “What if it does?”
Iida’s frustration grows, fists clenching as his mind thinks back to Manual’s words after the Hosu Incident.
[FLASHBACK]
Manual sheepishly smiles in the background, his eyes welling up with tears. “Either way, we’ll need to take responsibility for being negligent as supervisors…”
[End of FLASHBACK]
“You should listen to what All Might said!!” Iida shouts, frightening everyone as he does. “We have to leave this to the professionals! It’s not the right time for us to get involved! IDIOTS!!!”
“MAYBE BUT ALL I KNOW…” Kirishima snaps back before quieting himself with his hand painfully clutching at his chest. “That at camp I couldn’t do anything!” All he did was swat a few pests out of the air and nothing more. They weren’t even able to rescue a single person, everyone else was left laying helpless in that damned forest. And then, Mandalay’s call went out… “I heard my friend was targeted and I couldn’t get to him. Helpless! So, if I standby and do nothing now, how am I supposed to call myself a hero or a man?!”
Denki hurries to silence him, placing a hand on his shoulder. “Kirishima calm down. We’re in a hospital. There’s a better time and place for this, dude.”
“Yeah, and what Iida said was true.” Tsuyu gently adds and yet it does nothing to calm Kirishima who’s shaking with frustration.
“All of you…just listen to me for a minute. I know what you’re saying is right, but STILL!!!” Kirishima turns back to Ochaco who’s now sitting up, propped up against her pillows. “Come on, Uraraka. They’re still within your reach!”
Everyone goes tense, reeling back in shock at the implication. Each of them, minus Shoto, are staring at the red head in disbelief. Well, all except Ochaco who is certainly listening.
“We can save Bakugou and Midoriya.” And that statement’s no fairytale wishing either, he means it, it’s a promise.
And yet not everyone can bring themselves to believe it, what he’s implying…it’s so…
“So, let me get this straight.” Mina timidly breathes while wiping away the tears. “You’re going to get Momo to make you another receiver, track a bad guy, and then try to save Midoriya and Bakugou all by yourselves?”
Slowly, yet firmly, Kirishima nods. “Yeah.”
“The villains who attacked the camp planned to kill some of us.” Shoto explains, taking over for his red-haired classmate. “But they ended up taking Bakugou alive. What we don’t know is how long they’ll let him live. Same goes for Midoriya… They said that they came to the camp for him. But why? That’s why we’re going after them. The longer we standby the more likely…that neither of them will ever come back.”
“HAVE THE TWO OF YOU LOST YOUR MINDS!!!” Iida finally snaps, his entire body shaking in anger and frustration.
“Hey. Calm down.” Shoji steps in, placing his bandaged arms between Iida and the others. Upon seeing his injured arms, Iida backs off allowing Shoji to intervene. “I get how frustrated Kirishima is. And how Todoroki feels. I’m upset too. But we can’t let out emotions get the best of us. Right?”
Mina flinches at that before looking away guiltily. “I…I don’t… don’t think we should do anything reckless… I mean, Midoriya told us, during training, that if we don’t…if we don’t have the big picture then we should only focus on what we can do… I listened and…” She chokes back a sob, she really did try to take his advice to heart. And she did, she took action and did what she thought was right…but if she did have the big picture then maybe…she could have handled it differently and both Midoriya and Bakugou would still be here. “I’m sorry, but maybe this time, all we can do is…-” Her voice trails off, unable to bear the fact that she wants to give up.
Tsuyu holds her tighter as even Shinso both extends a comforting hand to her shoulder.
“Um, we should just leave this to All Might.” Aoyama timidly suggests. “Mr. Aizawa only gave us permission to fight and use Quirks at the training camp.”
“Aoyama is correct.” Tokoyami confirms with a stoic yet regretful bow of his head. “Though I’m part of the reason we failed. So, I can’t talk.”
Despite his admittance it does nothing to comfort Mina.
Shinso takes a breath and adds. “We need to think about this rationally. We have to make the right judgments.”
Kirishima can’t believe this, well he knew but he had certainly hoped that some of them would be more onboard. “You guys…!”
“Listen.” Tsuyu interjects, hoping to stop them from doing anything reckless. “We’re all shocked that Midoriya and Bakugou were taken from us. But we have to be rational. It doesn’t matter how noble your intentions, if you go out there trying to find the bad guys, knowing you’re breaking the rules then you’re acting like villains. Not heroes.”
That gives everyone pause, they’re heroes and yet they have to follow the rules and regulations before they can act… Because if they do act, if they do go after their friends without approval… Then are they really like the villains in some sense? Willing to bend and break the law for their own…benefit? It sounds almost hypocritical and yet…
*KNOCK. KNOCK. KNOCK.*
They all jump, startled by the unexpected knocking of a doctor just poking their head in. “Sorry for interrupting you guys but I need a moment alone with Uraraka.”
They all fall silent, nervous as if afraid they might have heard what they were walking about.
But trying to make things look normal, Sero goes ahead and gets everyone moving again. “Sure. Let’s bolt. I wanna see how Jiro and Hagakure are doing.”
“Good idea.” Ojiro agrees while nodding towards Shinso.
Shinso nods back before getting the quiet pression moving.
Ochaco tries to wave them goodbye before stopping against the weight of the cast and bandages. “Th-thanks for coming by…everyone.”
As everyone files out, Kirishima uses the moment to approach Ochaco’s bedside. “We talked to Yaoyorozu yesterday, if we’re doing this…it’s tonight.”
As he takes his leave, Iida slows down, his ears burning as his teeth grind together in silent resentment.
Grabbing the back of his neck in guilt, Kirishima hesitates to continue before deciding to go ahead with it. “Look I know you got some pretty hardcore injuries. So, I don’t know if you can go. But I wanted to invite you since you probably feel the worst.”
She hangs head away, confirming his assumption.
“We’ll meet in front of the hospital after dark.”
And that’s the last Kirishima has to say before he’s forced to leave. And the Doctor with the messy brown hair and permanently tired and deadpan expression that could rival Mr. Aizawa’s goes ahead and leads Ochaco off for the Orthopedic surgery room.
And one surgical removal later and the cast is gone, leaving Ochaco’s arm exposed to the fresh air as her other bandages are removed by the nurse so that they can be replaced with new ones. Now with her arm free Ochaco can finally see the lasting damage left behind by Charmcaster’s assault on her body. A massive scar is gauged across her elbow and stretches halfway down her forearm and part way up her upper arm. And then there’s the long narrow scar on her thigh, left by Toga’s knife. It’s already healed up thanks to earlier stitching and Recovery Girl’s efforts but it’s still pretty noticeable as it runs down her leg. In all they’re nasty looking, permanent reminders of her failure, and thus the sight of them brings her back down further into the horrible pit feeling in her stomach.
But the Doctor doesn’t seem to pay her mental troubles any mind as he reads off his report. “Recovery Girl performed some pretty strong healing of your arms and leg while you were unconscious so you should be able to move them around fairly well. But don’t take this lightly you were seriously pushing past your Quirk Limiters which could have led to permanent damage.”
Ochaco snaps away from staring at her new scars, blinking up at the Doctor, unsure what she heard. “I’m sorry, but what do you mean?”
He’s not fazed by the question, instead he seems to have anticipated as he quickly goes into a nice lecture. “Usually, a person’s body has Quirk Limiters to keep them from using 80% of its power at any given point. But given in a crisis situation it’s possible for those limiters to fall away, allowing someone to use 100%. We call it Hysterical Strength. The reason we have those limiters in the first place is because our bodies can’t handle that type of strain.”
“And…I had this Hysterical Strength?”
“No. But it came close, probably because your leg was so injured and thus you subconsciously held back since your mobility was severely limited. Honestly it’s a miracle you or any of your classmates didn’t reach that point, especially you.”
Ochaco pauses at that, her head tilting to the side as she tries to make sense of his report.
The Doctor picks up a little clipboard and begins flipping through it. “I took a peak at your charts, courtesy of Recovery Girl, and you undergo some strain after extended use of your Quirk. Reportedly it’s mild but you have the added effect of getting nauseous as well. However, that is because of your body’s natural limiters keeping you in check. And it’s a good thing they are so attuned because if you were to ever reach the point of Hysterical Strength your body will, simply put, shatter.”
It feels like a shatter of lightning has just struck her, as pure bewilderment takes her.
Seeing her stunned expression, the Doc figures that he should explain a bit further. “If your body overcharges for an extended period, especially with such a powerful and destructive Quirk like yours, it not only could lead to you rupturing your muscles and bones, but also your ligaments. And damage to those can’t be fixed, not by the best medicines or abilities like Recovery Girl’s. Basically, judging on how you use your Quirk, if you ever reach Hysterical Strength or even recklessly extend the use of your Quirk there’s a real risk that you’ll lose all function across your entire body.”
If it felt like lightning had struck her earlier, then now comes the storm of horror and trepidation.
He checks the files again. “You’ve been very lucky so far. Judging on how you use your Quirk, if your limiters hadn’t been functioning or present since starting U.A. I would say that by now your arms and legs would either be close to or past the point of disrepair.”
‘Past the point…’ Ochaco stares down at her new scars, now not just reminders of her failure but now warnings of what could have been. As she dwells on it her mind recalls how All Might had first warned her that the power of One For All would shoot off her limbs if her body was unprepared. ‘I guess…the risk never went away. My body could still fail me…’
The Doctor drops her charts onto the nearby table, which snaps Ochaco out from her thoughts. “For now, focus on rehabilitation. Use them a lot, even if it hurts. We’ll leave the rest to U.A. I’ll discharge you today so you can go home and take it easy. Take this seriously.”
Ochaco’s can’t meet his gaze, feeling like a small child who’s just been scolded. “Right… Th-thank you…”
The Doctor…actually returns her with a kind sympathetic smile, not one of pity but one of genuine care and respect. “Recovery Girl’s fed up with you, but, hey, I get the impression that’s nothing new especially when it comes to any U.A. student. She said it herself, "you kids are reckless and stubborn…but it’s best you learn your limits now this way you know exactly how to be the best heroes you can.”” His smile softens, becoming gentle yet sorrowful. “I know you lost your friends. And I am sorry. But just hearing about how you and your classmates stepped up in a seemingly hopeless situation tells me exactly the kind of heroes you will be.”
Ochaco stares up at him in shock-in-awe, not exactly sure how to take his words.
“Healing begins in the mind, try not to worry, stay positive.” The Doctor waves, taking his leave so the nurse can reapply some new bandages. “And try not to believe everything the media spouts. They just love poking the hornet's nest as it were.” And with that the Doctor exits leaving Ochaco to her thoughts as the nurse re-bandages her arms.
Once the new bandages are wrapped around her limbs and forehead, the nurse sees Ochaco back to her room and lets her know that she can roam around for a while, while they sort-out her release forms.
And so, tired of being in a hospital gown, Ochaco changes into the clothes left behind by her parents. It’s a set of simple clothes, a red T-shirt with a tiny gold star over the chest. And a pair of brown denim shorts. After tying her hair back, thirdly, she throws on the plain gray hoodie, leaving it unzipped since it’s not exactly that cold out yet. Before slipping on her dark-pink sneakers with white soles.
But her body moves on autopilot as she slowly throws everything on. Moving like a lagging robot but even then she finds herself all too quickly back in the unbearable silence and loneliness of her hospital room.
And so, not wanting to feel entirely alone to stew in her thoughts, Ochaco leaves to wander the hospital in the hopes of finding some sort of distraction.
She wanders aimlessly going from the lobby to random stretches of hallways. But no matter where she goes or what she does, the day's events and revelations all eventually begin to swirl in her mind. From Kirishima and Shoto’s admittedly stupid yet tempting plan. To the Doctor’s severe warnings. But also, everyone’s kind words and concern for her…
Through it all she still can’t help but wonder…what if? What if she had done just one thing differently? Maybe if she had run away from Charmcaster sooner she would have been in better condition to fight later? Or maybe she should have kept a better eye out for Toga? Maybe she should have kept an eye on Bakugou? Or…or maybe she should push herself even further…? Maybe…maybe she should have pushed past her limits…? Would the risk have been worth it? Is losing the function of an arm or a leg worth it…? Would she have been able to reach them? To…save them. Should…should she go and try again, despite her injuries…? Or…or will she be a hypocrite? Will she be just like…the villain? She’s just not sure. She’s not sure of anything anymore…
‘What…what would you do, Deku?’
*SOB. SOB. Sniff… HICCUP! SOB…*
Ochaco freezes, her ears buzzing as they catch the faintest sound of crying mixed with choked hiccups. She’s heard this kind of crying before. It’s one ML-E does when she’s upset. A child is crying!
Ochaco’s head snaps up and she quickly realizes that she’s somehow found herself just before the stairwell leading to the roof. Without much thought she slowly climbs the steps and approaches the door and listens, sure enough she can hear more sobbing just on the other side. And so she gently shoves it open so as to not scare off the poor child.
But the hospital’s roof is empty, bare of all life. There are some chairs and tables to the side along with a tall fence surrounding the entire perimeter. The sun has already begun to set too as the sky is just barely begging to turn into a beautiful shade of orange. Honestly the view from atop here is beautiful and yet there’s no one in sight.
*HICCUP!*
Wait, that was from behind her!
Ochaco spins around and quickly spots the source, tucked away against the side entrance of the rooftop entrance she spots a small boy, curled in on himself with a tear-stained face. So much so he hasn’t even noticed her yet.
He looks to be no older than ML-E is but maybe a little bit taller. With matted spiky dark hair, tucked away under a signature red hat with a pair of sewn-on horns.
Ochaco gently squats down, holding her knees up and together as she tries to get eye level with the crying boy. “You’re…Kota right?”
Kota Izumi sniffs and then starts in fright when he finally sees Ochaco. And quickly realizing he’s been caught he scrambles to wipe away the snot and tears, but it’s all in vain as his sour tears keep flowing…
Not wanting to upset him, Ochaco hesitates to poke him for answers and yet a child alone is still a concerning thing to find. “What are you doing up here?”
He stares up at her in non-recognition, and then turns away in defiance but whether it was out of embarrassment or shyness, Ochaco can’t tell.
“My name’s Ochaco…Ochaco Uraraka.” She officially introduces, trying not to scare him while also clearing things up. “I’m one of the hero students that… Are you here with your aunt, Ms. Mandalay?”
Kota just glares into the distance but after a moment she can see the hints of it softening and he gives the tiniest of nods in confirmation.
“How…how are you? You weren’t hurt were you?”
He shakes his head slowly before folding himself even more, doing his best to shrink away from the world.
“That’s good. That’s good. I’m glad you weren’t hurt.”
He stays folded in on himself, but before long Ochaco can see his lower lip trembling before his entire body begins to shake like he’s fighting some painful urge… And then he breaks, breaking back down into full on sobs and pained chokes as he cries into himself.
“Hey, it’s okay.” Ochaco quickly hurries to his side, sitting down and pulling him in towards her. To which he surprisingly accepts as he tucks himself away into her hoodie, trying to hide his tear-stained face. “You’re okay. You’re safe now.” Ochaco coos, petting his hair gently as she lets him cry his heart out. “I know it was scary but…it’s all over now.”
He chokes hard for a second and he continues to sob for a good minute before he finally starts to calm down enough to respond. But it comes out as more of a mumble and it’s so quiet that she almost misses his response.
“No *SNIFF* it’s not…”
Ochaco's heart drops, taken back by his honest response.
“They took him…” Kota sobs, squeezing himself harder against her side. “Mr. Teacher said that he’d be safe *SNIFF.* That he’d come back. But he didn’t… Just like THEM!” He angrily pulls her hoodie as he cries out. “Where is he?! Why’d they steal him away?!”
Ochaco goes quiet with the words clogging in her throat.
“It’s not FAIR!! Why does everyone get taken away?! Why do they have to LEAVE?!”
Ochaco’s not sure what to do. What to say? So, so, she tries. She tries to comfort him, to reassure the hurting child. “The heroes… The heroes are going to bring Deku back… I know it.” For some reason…she can’t bring herself to believe her own words.
“But what if *SNIFF* what if they can’t *SOB*?!”
And once again the words get caught in her throat. Almost like her own conscience can’t bring herself to lie and just tell him that she’s an adult and knows what she’s talking about. That wouldn’t be right and it’s certainly NOT what he needs to hear…
“I was so mean to him.” Kota chokes between sobs and streaming tears in an attempt for his young fragile mind to make sense of it all. “I-I hit him, and he-he saved me from the evil man! But no one saved him! I-I never even got a chance to apologize!” From his pocket he grips something hard before ripping it out. “But they said I could!!” he slams his fist against her leg and clutched between his little fingers is a single piece of crumpled paper. “Mr. Tiger said that he’s going to help other heroes get Ragdoll and Deku back. He even told me to write everything I wanna say in a letter so I couldn't forget… But-but what if he never gets the chance to read it?! What if they all fail again? What if the adults are wrong? What if they’re lying?!” Lying about how things will work out. Or how things are okay?! Or like how they lie and say that they’ll be home, that they’re coming back… “Adults are LIARS!! None of them are coming back!! They always leave me behind-”
In a split second he’s cut short as Ochaco swiftly embraces him, holding him tight as she fights back her own tears.
Kota’s unsure of what to do. Thrown off by the sudden show of empathy that he doesn’t know how to respond.
But Ochaco never let’s go, almost as if she lets go then she’s going to allow his last bits of hope escape through him. “You’ve been through so much haven't you?”
He stays quiet but slowly sinks into her embrace, hiding his gaze under the rim of his favorite cap.
“The truth is…adults always lie. But I think you know that already.”
He does although he also didn’t want it to be confirmed…
“They lie. And they keep secrets.” Like the Plumbers do about their operations and responsibilities. Or All Might and One for All. Even Deku…has become prone to lying. And yet…it’s never out of malice.
“But that’s because they don’t want anyone to worry. Especially you. They don’t want to see you scared. So they tell you what you want to hear. They want to keep you smiling.” However,… “But heroes never lie.”
Kota’s sobs halt at that and he takes a moment to stare up at her, confused yet…hopeful.
“Heroes always keep their word. And…they’ll push past their limits to keep them.” They’ll risk life and limb to save others, to do the right thing, to make people smile… “If a hero makes a promise to save people then they’ll do everything and anything they can to do it.” she pauses as she thinks on how hard Deku fought to protect them. How hard everyone fought to protect the lodge. To fight the villains. All because they made a silent vow, one they may not have known about, but it was to make sure they could all walk away, alive. “We’ll give everything we can to keep our promises.” She pauses, pulling herself back so she can look Kota directly in the eye without ever truly leaving their embrace. “Deku promised to keep you safe didn’t he?”
Kota doesn’t have an answer, not truly remembering if or when Deku ever said the word “promise” itself.
“Even if he didn’t say it out loud I know that he did. And so did everyone else… Everyone promised to keep each other safe. To fight back so that we could all go home. We, everybody, gave it their all, because we all wanted to keep smiling, with our friends and families…” But right now there are two families that can’t have that right now… “Just because a hero fails doesn’t mean they’re liars. They never lied; they’ve always meant to keep their promise. But sometimes…sometimes bad people want to make us break them. But we can’t let them, because it means that others will be sad.”
For some reason, Kota thinks back to his parents and the day they…left. They had promised to come home, to see him but…did they promise that everyone that day would go home too. Did…were they trying to keep everyone happy? Did…did they always want to come home? They-they did promise…
“Kota.”
Startled, he stares up to find a pair of hazel eyes gleaming down at him, the rays of the setting sun reflecting off them giving them the visage of an awe-inspiring painting.
“I’m going to make you a promise.” She gently pulls back his fingers, freeing them and allowing Kota to hold up his little letter. “I promise you; Deku is going to read that letter. And I'm going to make sure of it…”
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
“Hey, Boss!” Burnin’ calls out, hurrying to Endeavor’s desk with an office phone in hand. “Got some Detective on the phone. Said he’s gotta talk to ya!”
Without a single word the flaming hero, Endeavor, takes the phone and holds it to his ear before turning his gaze towards the glass walls of his deluxe office. “I’m listening.”
Detective Tsukauchi’s voice rings out from the other end with a very simple request. [“We would like to request your assistance, sir.”]
And thus began Tsukauchi’s recruitment of heroes, summoning those he deemed the most suitable and most capable. Reaching out far and wide…
From the bustling cities…
“I’ve received an emergency summons. I must leave this place in your hands. Be strong as heavyweight denim without me. Smart as tailored suits.” Best Jeanist [No.4 Hero] parts back his stylish hair with a polished flourish as he addresses his legion of well-dressed sidekicks. “Keep the fabric of society safe.”
His sidekicks cry out in unison. “You got it, Best Jeanist!”
A similar air of determination stretches across the cityscape. As a hero with an affinity towards ninja and martial arts makes their way across the rooftops. As the Ninja Hero, Edgeshot [No.5 Hero] leaps from building to building with graceful agility.
And even those of less grace yet full of worthy experience are called. Such as Gran Torino, who despite his years, holds himself like a proud veteran. Showing no fear or hesitation as he takes to the street. Clearly, ready for a war.
To the raging seas…
“An invasive species has disturbed our reef.” Growls the Killer Whale Hero, Gang Orca [No. 10 Hero], his ebony cape billowing behind him as he exits the Ushimitsudoki Aquarium. “The villains have taken a precious treasure from us. We will not let this stand.”
“Ehehehe! I can’t wait to chew ‘em out.” A walking sharkman cackles from behind his boss. A bit of drool already salivating from his shark-toothed maw. “It’s going to be a bloodbath. A real feeding frenzy. Ehehehehe!!”
“Behave yourself Fuka.” His fellow sidekick, Dholak warns with his crustacean-like appearance giving him an intimidating glare. “Remember recovering the kids is our top priority.” Almost like an ambush predator anticipating a meal, Sholak’s long crab-like limbs extend out like a pair of powerful lances. “But we’ll make sure the villains get our point.”
“Ehehehe. When you mess with the fish you get the school.”
And the resting mountains…
They’re not the only ones out for blood.. Tiger is on a warpath. Marching away his head high, leaving the hospital behind as a concerned Mandalay hovers over a nervous Kota. Both silently wishing him and the other heroes the best of luck.
All of them converging to a single point…
And finally rounding out the heroes there’s Kamui Woods and Mt. Lady arrived at the police headquarters in the same car. Both hoping out and hurrying inside.
All the while they are being watched, observed from atop the headquarters by a single hero clad in slim red armor. The hero has bags under his eyes, his mop of dark hair grazing across his head with the wind, as a rare cigarette is locked between his lips.
Soon the rest will be here, at least the ones that have answered the call to action. These champions of Japan will have to prepare themselves, the air is thick, the sky is pale, and there is no wind like the retreat of the atmosphere before leading in a crashing storm. It’s going to be one hell of a night.
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But unbeknownst to the heroes, their future replacements have begun to gather as well. Converging before the hospital, Kirishima and Shoto wait anxiously for the others’ answers. But most importantly they’re waiting for Momo’s, because without her cooperation they have nothing…
[FLASHBACK]
A still bedridden Momo stares up at the two of them in disbelief, unsure of what to make of their plan. “You want me…to make a new receiver?”
Kirishima gives her a slow but firm nod. “Yes, please.”
Shoto is standing behind him, having come as well to explain. “You must know what we’re planning.”
Momo turns away in consideration. “I do. Let me think about it…”
[End of FLASHBACK]
Well, she’s had time to think about it so all they need now is her answer.
“I wonder what Yaoyorozu decided.” Kirishima comments, trying to mask his nerves.
To which Shoto fully understands. Because without Yaoyorozu’s consent their little rescue attempt won’t even make it through the hospital doors. “No matter how much we wanna go after him. It’s her choice.”
On cue the hospital entrance doors slide open with a ding, drawing their attention.
“She’s here.” Kirishima instantly brightens up upon seeing Yaoyorozu at the door, with a special guest right behind her.
“Uraraka?” Shoto blinks, he knew she’d feel the need to join but he honestly thought that her injuries would have helped influence her decision. As he reels back his eyes lock onto the long narrow scar on the outside of her thigh, and he winces upon seeing it his hand going to his own scar he stares at her, and her many bandages still wrapped around her arms.
And yet she looks determined in her. Holding her head high despite the bandage around her forward and the white cloths wrapped around her arms. She looks like she’s on a mission, one that she’s refusing to back down from.
But she’s not the one they’re relying on. “So, how ‘bout it? You decide?” Kirishima asks, his attention solely on Momo.
Momo hesitant, rubbing her dree pocket, the one carrying the shrunken Zircon Blade inside. “I think that…-”
“Hold on.”
They freeze, turning towards the main courtyard entrance to the hospital where they find their Class Rep. approaching them with an angry scowl on his face.
Kirishima takes a step back in surprise. “Iida…”
Ochaco shrinks down but holds her determined gaze. “Why are you here?”
“You…” Iida grits teeth, looking between Ochaco and Shoto. “Why’d it have to be you two of all people? The ones who stopped me when I acted recklessly. Who received amnesty with me after Hosu. Why are you trying to make the same stupid mistakes I made?! Didn’t you learn?!”
Kirishima’s taken back, not understanding what he’s saying at all. “What are you talking about?”
But Shoto grabs his shoulder and stops him, silently telling him that now is not the time to ask.
“We’re still just students, and U.A.’s in a bad position as it is.” Iida continues, his voice low and clearly frustrated. “Anything we do will reflect on our school. Don’t you get that?!”
“Of course, we do!” Ochaco defends, snapping back while one of her hands goes towards her back pocket where she rubs a little piece of paper. “But we can’t just lie down and wait forever! It’s frustrating! Don’t you get that?!”
“I’m frustrated too!! And concerned, obviously!! I’m the Class Rep., dammit! I’m worried about all my classmates!” Iida roars before breaking down, holding his head in despair. “When I saw your injuries, all I could think of was my brother in the hospital. What if your bodies end up unrepairable just like his?! Because I didn’t step in?!” He chokes back a sob, startling the others, but he rants on. “Have you not stopped and think about where I’m coming from?!” He begs, grabbing her shoulders as he falls to despair once again. “Or are you saying…that you don’t care how I feel?”
“Of course, we care, Iida.” Ochaco breathes, wrapping her arms around him in comfort. “We don’t want to worry you… That was never our intention.”
“Iida.” Shoto interjects, offering some clarification. “You’ve got it wrong. We don’t expect to face them head on and win.”
Iida stops and stares back, confused and alarmed all at once.
“We’ll get them back without fighting.” Shoto explains although it does little to reassure.
“Yeah, we'll be stealthy.” Kirishima adds. “I’m talking covert Ops here. We can rescue them without breaking the rules.”
Momo holds hand to chest, trying her hand to reassure their shaken classmate. “I’m trusting Todoroki’s judgment but…still things could always go wrong. So, I’ll join you as backup. I’ll stand behind my classmates.”
Iida can only stare back at them in shock, he’s in other disbelief. “You can’t be serious?”
Kirishima’s reaction, however, is the complete opposite after hearing Momo’s official answer. “You’re the best.”
“I know I’m hurt…but I’m not ready to give up yet.” Ochaco pulls away, looking down at her clenched fist, that holds a special piece of paper. “All I want to do, is be there to help…if I can.”
Iida shuts his eyes, taking their answers in, for a second they think he’s going to explode again but instead he stays alarmingly calm for a moment. “I’ll never agree… So, I’m going to come with you.”
Everyone lets out a gasp of surprise. And rightfully so. They almost had the suspicion that he’d run off and snitch on them. But this is both a pleasant yet disturbing surprise.
“Are…are you sure about this Iida?” Ochaco hesitantly asks.
“No. Not at all. But what I am sure of is that I can’t stop you. So, at the very least I can try to keep you out of as much trouble as I can.”
Shoto blinks in surprise but ultimately accepts the conditions. “Iida.”
Momo looks between the two before turning to the others for their reactions. “We’re really doing this then?”
“Yeah, we are.” Kirishima grins, just happy that they’ll get the chance to go.
But Ochaco, not wanting to leave room for doubt, wishes to confirm with them all. “Then let’s make a promise.” She sticks her hand out, waiting for them to add theirs. “We’re all in then. We’ll do what we can but…within reason. If we can help we help and if not then we leave it to the pros.”
“I can swear to that.” Kirishima excitedly throws his hand over hers.
“Yes. That sounds fair.” Momo nods, gently adding her hand to the stack.
“As long as we don’t act rashly there shouldn't be any issues.” Shoto comments as he steps up and adds his hand and dedication in too.
But it’s not their dedication that’s in question, but Iida’s.
Seeing their expecting faces, Iida sighs giving into their whims. “Remember I only wish to ensure your own safety.” Still feeling some hesitation, he approaches before slowly adding his own hand to the team. “And if this can guarantee it, then so be it.”
Ochaco nods, a swirl of hope and gratefulness as she enjoys the company of her friends. “We’re in this together everyone.”
They each stare down at their stacked hands as if making a silent vow to each other to keep each other safe and to do the best they can. But as they’re about to break, a fifth appendage adds itself into the mix, a thin orange pincer stretches over their hands and adds itself to the mix.
“This is a terrible idea, and it’s going to blow up in our faces. But what the hell. Let’s do it!! Hahaha!”
Everyone stops and stares down at the metallic crustacean perched on Momo’s outstretched arm, each of them letting out a dumbfounded gasp. “Huh…?!”
“Tada!! I've been here the whole time, bitches?! Hahaha!!”
“WHERE’D YOU EVEN COME FROM!?!” Iida screams as Kraab continues to laugh at their expressions.
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“Finally, made it.” Toshinori breathes a sigh of relief as he steps out of his car and stares up at the Police headquarters building.
“Toshi! Good you made it.” Naomasa Tsukauchi Greets him, waving him over from the side-entrance.
“My apologies, the meeting went on longer than expected.”
“It’s fine, just hurry and get into “costume,” everyone else is here.”
Toshinori hurries inside, moving swiftly past the conference room just as Gang Orca and two of his fishy sidekicks enter. He has no time to greet them however as he quickly makes his way for the changing room.
However, as he hurries along and nears his destination he passes by a glass door that leads outside into the side courtyard where he quickly spots someone cladded in red.
Toshinori stops and looks back, and sure enough there’s someone standing outside, hunched over the railing and looking out over the grassy courtyard with a cigarette between their teeth.
It’s Hisashi Midoriya, and although their interactions have been limited up to now, Toshinori can seriously say that he’s looked better. He’s clearly lacking sleep and probably a shower or two, and a shave for that matter. And yet he looks eerily calm yet far off, like this isn’t the first time he’s dealt with something like this.
Toshinori can’t help but wonder if something similar to this occurred shortly after he had to leave his family the first time…
Summoning his courage, the weak stated All Might hesitantly approaches the exit and gently opens the door, giving a soft yet almost delicate greeting. “H-hello,,,”
Hisashi looks back, and after seeing a skeletal stranger there, he turns back around not really giving a care.
After a minute of no response, Toshinori almost expected him to tell him to scram or to buzz off but instead the ragged hero offers him a box of cigarettes.
“You need a smoke, friend?”
He blinks back, caught off guard by the technically kind gesture. “Ah, no. I don’t smoke.”
“Neither do I…usually.”
“…Bad habit?”
“Unfortunately, so. One I thought I shook off years ago…”
“Bad habits die hard…”
“…They sure do.” Hisashi goes quiet again as he enjoys his cigarette, but his eyes, his eyes are in a daze, staring far off, not into the courtyard, but towards the sky, almost as if the clouds themselves were his enemy.
An sullen silence falls over them, both standing there with Hisashi over the railing and Toshinori standing stiffly against the wall, fidgeting in place as he summons up what to say. “Um, Mr. Midoriya.”
Hisashi turns back to look at him, giving him an incredulous look as he does.
“I’m sorry.” The weakened stated All Might didn’t even think to say it, the apology having slipped out without warning. But it doesn’t offer much comfort as Hisashi just stares back in confusion at the skeletal man’s sudden sympathies.
Bowing his head lower, Toshinro hurries to correct the confusion. “My name’s Toshinori Yagi, I’m All Might’s secretary.”
“Secretary? Then what are you doing here, can’t the Big Man take his own notes?”
Toshinro chuckles at that. “He can. But on the side I’m also a consultant for the police. I’m also here on behalf of U.A. as to scribe the meeting for my dear friend, Principal Nezu.”
Hisashi straightens up slightly yet keeps an eye on this man who looks like he might fall over at any second. “You’re a man of many talents, and of unique company.”
“Thank you… … … Mr. Midoriya. I’m-I’m so sorry about what happened.” But for what exactly, he wonders As Toshinori’s mind flares with memories displaying his negligence and failures to properly look out for the boy. “I’m so sorry about everything. You and your family have my sincerest apologies…”
“I…appreciate the gesture. But why are you apologizing, it’s not your fault.”
‘Isn’t it though?’ Toshinori can’t help but think and throw back at himself. “Thanks to my position as All Might’s secretary, I’ve had the privilege of attending some of U.A.’s lectures and exercises. And I’ve had the greatest of honors in meeting and talking with your boy, Young Mido-er Izuku.”
Yes it truly is a privilege to know the boy. To have the opportunity to teach him. A privilege he does not feel like he should have the right too, all things considered.
“He’s…a very spirited boy. Full of such youth and initiative. I’ve seen what he can do in the field firsthand and might I just say that he’s quite the brilliant young man.” Brilliant. Resourceful. Driven. And with such potential… Too bad he couldn’t be the same for his sake… “In truth, he’s amazing and the thought of him being taken away, well, frankly makes my blood boil.” It’s not just that he was taken, but that he was hurt not just by the villains, but by his own shortcomings to protect and guide him… Perhaps it’s time to finally make amends. “His spirit is like a roaring flame, one that must not…will not be extinguished.” Toshinori pauses, looking Hisashi directly in the eyes, the same emerald eyes he gifted to his son. “I promise you, sir, I will ensure that he gets home to you in one piece.”
Hisashi…is in a loss for words. Not at all expecting such a frail yet lengthy man to approach him and talk about his boy in such an admirable way. There’s something about this man…? “That’s a lot to promise, Mr. Yagi. Are you sure you want to commit to it?”
Toshinori straightens up, his focus never wavering as he gives his answer without a hint of hesitation or trepidation. “With all my heart.”
Hisashi can only stare back in wonder and bewilderment at this stranger. There’s just something about him despite his skeletal frame and definitely weak constitution. In truth it looks like a cat could beat him in a fight. And yet there’s this unnatural confidence and sincerity in his words that’s both reassuring and comforting. Like a warm comfortable flame in a cold winter night. Just like how a hero’s presence can shine a light and provide a sense of safety even in the most chaotic of times…
“Mr. Yagi I-”
“There you are!!”
Toshinori jumps as the glass door is slammed open, the door nearly swinging into him before it hits the wall and a Police Detective, that bears quite the resemblance to one of his own students, barrels her way into the courtyard.
“What are you doing out here?! The meeting’s about to start!” Inspector Tezuka chides, her black beak clicking in disapproval as she waves Hisashi to get inside.
Hisashi turns back away, leaning over the railing with about half his cigarette left to smoke. “I was just on my way.”
Inspector Tezuka pauses, staring at him like he’s just grown a second head. “Are…are you smoking again?”
He doesn’t answer, causing her to shake her head in disappointment and exasperation.
It’s then that she finally notices the startled Toshinori, quivering on the side. “Who are you?”
“Oh, I’m-’
“Doesn’t matter. Get inside, now.”
“Yes, mam’!” Toshinro immediately zips away back through the door, but as it closes he stops and looks back one last time at Hisashi’s back. ‘I swear to you, I will make things right.’
And he’s gone, leaving to change into “costume.’
Meanwhile, Tezuka hangs back, waiting for Hisashi to finish his cigarette in silence. But she’s clearly allowing her irritation to get the best of her as her eyes drill holes into the back of his skull.
“You shouldn’t be here.” it’s supposed to be a reprimand and yet it comes out weak and more…sympathetic than it probably was meant to.
Hisashi doesn’t even turn around to give his response. “He’s my son.”
Tezuka looks about ready to say something snappy but she leans back and softens. “I know… But regulations say that a relative of the victim cannot take part in their case. You know that…” Although a part of her wishes it wasn’t the case… “We can’t risk personal feelings that might jeopardize the mission’s success…or everyone else’s safety.”
“I’m a liability then?”
“You are…” She pauses before continuing in full determination. “But only if I let you.”
He finally turns back to look at her, as if seeing her for the first time as a fellow parent. As someone who understands.
“I’ll take it upon myself to make sure you don’t do anything too reckless out there. The last thing we need is for you to put yourself in danger too.”
“You’re babysitting me then?”
“No. I’m just looking out for you…”
“Looking out for me?” Hisashi actually cracks a smile for the first time in what feels like months now. “That’s a new one. Could have sworn that was my line to some rookie cop back in the day.”
“What can I say? Kids change you.” Despite her beak and raven-like facial features, she cracks the smallest hints of an understanding smile.
Hisashi smiles in return, pulling the cigarette from his lips. “That they do.” And with a flick he tosses the unfinished cigarette into the nearby cigarette receptacle before leaning down and pickup a large almost bulky briefcase that’s silver in color and completely covered in a number of high-tech lock combinations. “I’m ready.”
She holds the door for him, allowing him to lead the way back to the conference room.
Upon their entering they can finally see the colorful collection of heroes Tsukauchi managed to recruit. One of them being Endeavor.
Hisashi and Endeavor pause, both locking eyes with each other as a look of disdain flashers across their faces for the briefest of milliseconds. And yet the knowing that they have a responsibility as heroes reigns them in, allowing them both to do nothing more than to ignore each other.
And so Hisashi, or rather Cinder, takes his place along the cast line-up as Endeavor holds himself higher. More out of pride if anything, as if silently saying that he will not fail, not because of sentimental or some feeling of sympathy, but because he is indeed a hero. And a powerful one at that. It’s all fine to Cinder, if it means Izuku’s safe return then he’ll team up with anybody.
On cue, Tsukauchi renters to room with a lineup of detectives and police authorities seated before the heroes. “We’ve gathered some of our finest heroes here today.”
He pauses, taking them all in from the rookie heroes of Kamui Woods and Mt. Lady, the rugged Tiger, the cool collected Best Jeanist and Edgeshot, the furious Gang Orca and his underlings, to the veteran hero, Gran Torino, followed by the Number 2 Hero Endeavor, to the victim’s own father, Cinder, and finally the one and only All Might. Who looks eager to get going thanks to his ever-present grin.
The detective smiles, grateful to all of them for coming. “Now let’s talk strategy.”
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“I’ll ask you one more time, Katsuki Bakugou, aspiring hero. Will you join the League of Villains?” Shigaraki asks once again, leaning back against the bar counter as he and the rest of the League of Villains await his answer. “Or will you throw away your potential?”
Bakugou pulls against his shackles, but the heavyweight prevents him from moving them, but despite the hindrance he still has some fight left in him. “Go throw yourself into traffic.”
“HAHAHAHA!!!” Nue immediately bursts into a fit of laughter, hitting the backwall with his fist as he does. “You’ll never change! HA!! Oh, you’ve always been a riot.” Nue’s mutated eyes narrow as he leers at the imprisoned ash blond. “Eh, Blasty?”
“And you can go choke on a cock!!”
“Ehehehe.” Nue chuckles while baring his Ripjaws-like fangs. “Careful what you say. Maybe I’ll rip off your balls while I’m at it.”
Bakugou glares right back, but still unable to do anything.
“Kinky.” Charmcaster jokes, earning a giggle from Toga.
Twice exaggeratedly shakes his head. “No, it’s not! Make sure to delete your search history.”
Bakugou raises an eyebrow at Twice’s odd…reaction. “So, this is the League of Villains, huh?” he looks around eyeing each and every one of them like he’s trying to calculate which of them is the weakest link. “You guys were just some circus clowns before. But look at you now, got yourself a real line up for the freak show, don’t ya?”
“Such defiance.” Mr. Compress comments, taking offense to his remark. “It’s unbefitting of your position, I’ll have you know.”
“Relax. The kid’s all smoke anyway.” Dabi assures not really giving a damn.
Too bad Bakugou does. “You would know, right, Scarface?”
A flash of anger crosses Dabi’s turquoise eyes. “Careful, brat. Or you’ll end up matching me.” He raises his palm just as the faintest hints of smoke begin to rise from it.
“Enough.” Shigaraki commands while still trying to hold onto a facade of friendliness. “We’re here to show him that there are other prospects in life other than being a hero. Let’s not start making threats…yet.” He chuckles lightly before turning back to the prospective recruit in question. “Think of this as an interview. We discuss. We talk. We ask questions.”
“Then answer me this.” Bakugou growls back, his eyes briefly drifting towards his fellow prisoner. “What in the hell did you fucks do to Deku?”
“We didn’t do anything!” Toga gasps as if she’s offended by his accusation. “And besides he looks way better like this~. So cute~!”
Bakugou blinks back, a look of disgust crossing his face. “Next question. What the hell’s wrong with her?”
Spinner sweat drops at that. “Honestly…we’re not exactly sure.”
Standing beside him, SevenSeven gives a shrug in response. “Ew own’t nwok ofr ures ntilu ew etg ot Nsseao Vefi!”
Bakugou visibly shows his confusion, starting at SevenSeven in complete bewilderment. “Scratch that, what’s wrong with him?” And he throws an imaginary finger at the bounty hunter.
“Hyw ouy ttille itsh?! ” SevenSeven snaps, obviously angry, and rushes forward to strike the kid.
A hand from Mr. Compress holds him back. “Easy friend. Please behave yourself.”
“Yeah.” Magne chimes in. “Remember, you’re only a subcontractor after all.”
Charmcaster watches as SevenSeven backs off, but she can’t help but wonder the same thing. ‘Seriously though, what is that guy even?’
Shigaraki, seeing that this course isn’t going anywhere, tries to bring attention back onto himself and the matter at hand. “Let’s back peddle a bit. You asked what’s wrong with your friend here. It’s simple really, we don’t exactly have a convenient healer on hand and to be honest I’m not exactly okay patching up a monster like him.”
“A monster?” Bakugou scoffs at the idea, sure Deku’s a pain in the ass. But a monster? Yeah, when pigs fucking fly. “Take a look around dumbass, you’re literally hanging out with monsters right now. Ain’t that right, Uuichi?”
Nue throws him a disdainful glare but instead of lashing out he seemingly goes quiet and…somber? “If only you knew…”
“Huh?! You got something to say?!”
“He doesn’t. But I do.” Shigaraki answers, his eyes never peeling away from Bakugou’s, like that of someone who wishes to reveal a most horrible truth.
Not bothering to wait for his prisoner’s reaction, Shigaraki signals Nue forward. “Nue, why don’t you give your old friend a little wakeup call?”
Nue grins as his four sets of claws and fingers flex at the thought.
“Keep it within reason.” Kurogiri warns, finally speaking up from behind the bar. “We need him alive.”
“I know. I know.” One of his back tendrils slowly snakes around his body, the Feedback-like cable tip sparks with electricity and with a poke he stabs Izuku’s side.
“AAAAAHHH!!!” Izuku wakes with a jolt, screaming out as he’s suddenly thrown back into the world of the living, kicking and screaming.
Even though it was just a quick shock, it was enough to have him winded and gasping for breath, swaying in his chair as he does. After a moment he blinks up, exhausted and hurt, but conscious and at least aware enough to tell that something's off.
“Deku!” Bakugou calls out a weird mix of anger at the villains and genuine concern.
“Bak-...Kacchan…?” He tries to raise his arms to wipe the sleep from his eyes, but they barely move, the strain and injuries are still too great. And so with a shake of his head the blur in his visions fades away. “Is…is that you? Where are we?”
He finally has a look around and nearly jumps out of skin when he finds himself face to face with eager eyes of the League of Villains.
Dabi goes silent, folding his arms and leaning against the wall while watching Izuku closely as if examining him for the first time. Almost like he’s contemplating something…
There’s Toga, blushing away and waving at him with a Cheshire grin.
There’s that alarming SixSix look-alike, SevenSeven, who stands back alongside Dabi.
And of course there's his ex-friend, Henzu Uuichi, glaring down at him with hate yet amusement while his tendrils and tail swish behind him like serpents.
And then there’s him…
“Glad you can join us, Izuku Midoriya.” Even behind the severed hand, he can see a genuine smile creeping across Tomura Shigaraki’s face, looking like someone who just won the fricking lottery. “We have a lot to discuss.”
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“Soooo, let me get this straight.” Kirishima starts, rubbing the back of his neck as they all start their trek away from the hospital. “You “snuck” into Midoriya’s bag because you felt left out and you wanted to go camping too?”
“Uh, yeah, that’s r-r-right.” From in Momo’s grasp, Kraab grimaces at his own response. But that was the cover story he was supposed to stick to if found so he has to go with it.
“Why do you sound so unsure?” Shoto ponders, looking down at the failure bot from the I-Island incident. “Also isn’t that considered disobeying orders? How can a robot express that kind of thought processes and personality?”
“Chalk it up to some good damn programming. When they made me, they broke the mold.”
Ochaco snickers at that. ‘I bet.’
“In any case, we wouldn’t have been able to call for help without Kraab’s help.” Momo explains, carrying Kraab along as they walk. “He had as much of a role to play as any of us. After everything happened he asked me to keep his presence a secret, so I told the police he was a makeshift drone I created to help scout out the forest for the jamming device.”
“I see…” Iida nods in understanding, staying relatively quiet as they walk.
“Well, I’m just glad we got more help.” Kirishima remarks with a smile.
However, Momo’s more focused on Iida’s sullen form and response. “I have some concerns, Iida. What exactly is your justification for changing your mind and joining us?”
Iida stops, thus foreign everyone to stop and await his answer because they’d be lying if they didn’t want to know too. “To be clear, I’m coming because I don’t condone your behavior. It’s as simple as that.” He looks away, almost awkwardly, but still tries to hold onto some form of professionalism as he pushes up his glasses. “If there’s even a hint that physical combat might break out, I’ll make you retreat immediately. So in other words,” He jams his finger right at Ochaco’s face and forcibly announces. “I’m your Watchmen!”
Ochaco’s cheeks puff out in a pout but she doesn’t argue.
Shoto. However, acts like he accepted that kind of answer. “Exactly what we needed.”
“The same goes for me.” Momo adds. “Rescuing Bakugou and Midoriya is the job of the pros. Objectively speaking there’s no reason to go after them. However,” From her pocket she fishes out a second radio transceiver device. “I understand how each of you feels so I’m compromising. Don’t forget that.”
Shoto nods back in response. “Right.”
As does Kirishima. “Understood.”
“She has a point.” Kraab chimes in with a knowing tone. “If things go bad, I’m not gonna hesitate to contact the authorities.” The authorities being anyone of the Plumbers.
But despite not knowing that, the teens all nod in response before continuing on their way.
As they go Momo stays back, holding Kraab, and watching the Reckless Four head off on their own. ‘A rescue without us fighting… It’s not plausible. The others are so driven by frustration that they’re blinded. But…once they see the situation firsthand and realize how difficult it will be they should understand that their plan is completely unrealistic.’
“You have your blade, right?”
“Huh?” She stares down at Kraab, having not heard him properly the first time.
“Your diamond sword.” he explains. “You have it right?”
“Of-of course I do.”
“Good. It’s best to be prepared.”
She almost doesn’t want to ask. “Prepared for what exactly?”
But Kraab doesn’t respond right away, instead he stares out at the forms of the other teens. “Those looks in their eyes. Afraid to say it but I’ve seen it too many times on Deku, too. They’re not gonna back down. Not one of them.” he turns back and looks up at the poor taken-back girl. “So be prepared for what you have to do.”
She has no words in response, her bit of hope for a peaceful resolution now on a thread. But even so she will hold tight to that thread and follow behind, wishing for the best. As they all make their way to the train station.
They arrive at the station in record time, and even get a chase to grab some snacks and food for the road. Mainly some candy, rice balls, and a serving of cold soba for Shoto. It all goes quickly, and they manage to get a train car all to themselves thanks to the already late hour.
As they wait for the train to reach their destination, Momo goes ahead and checks the transceiver once again. “The coordinates indicate Kamino Ward, Yokohama City in Kanagawa Prefecture. Our travel time will be about two hours from here. We should arrive around 10 tonight.”
Ochaco nods before leaning back in her seat which is right across from Shoto and Kirishima, with Iida and Momo across the aisle.
As she sits there, watching Shoto eat, she can’t help but wonder about their other classmates. “Hey, does everyone else know what we’re up to?”
“Yes.” Shoto responds, almost too quickly. “And they tried their best to talk us out of it.”
Kirishima can confirm this as well. “Yeah, even Mina tried to talk us out of it.”
[FLASHBACK]
“I-I don’t know about this, guys…?” Mina whimpers with tears still staining her face even after leaving Uraraka’s hospital room. “What if you’re not seeing the bigger picture? What if you just make things even worse?”
[End of FLASHBACK
Ochaco can sympathize, she herself has been wondering the same thing but a quick tap of her pocket reminds her why she’s here. “I wonder how Deku or Bakugou would feel if they knew what we were doing…?” Would they be grateful? Angry? Sad? A bit of each? Knowing Izuku he might feel guilty and blame himself for them risking their lives to save him. And Bakugou, well, he might be the same but maybe more out of pride if anything else… But then again, wouldn’t they do the same if their roles were flipped? Maybe.
Shoto speaks up, pulling her away from her thoughts. “Just to make sure. You do know we’re completely going against everyone’s wishes and being completely selfish by doing this. We can call this off if you want to.”
Kirishima quickly barks back. “Does it look like I wanna turn back?! Bakugou wouldn’t think twice about going after the villains if he were here.”
Having his answer, Shoto turns to the brunette for hers. “What about you, Uraraka?”
“They’re…my friends.” She admits while thinking about All Might’s words: “‘Meddling where you don’t technically have to is the essence of being a hero.”’
Remembering that she stares down at her fresh scars in deep thought. ‘All Might gave me this Quirk. It’s mine to wield it for the sole purpose of saving others. To reach them. I’ll push past any limits before me.’ She knows her answer. “I refuse to turn back. I made a promise.”
“I see. Alright then.” Shoto is satisfied with that and resumes to enjoy his meal.
As he does, Momo quietly looks down at Kraab who’s seated right across from her.
He immediately knows what she’s thinking. “You see it too, don’t you?”
She does.
And thus they all fall into silence, all of them mentally preparing themselves for the night ahead, with only the wind of the speeding train filling the silent void.
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2 HOURS LATER…
“Welcome to Kamino Ward, supposed home of the League. I guess.” Ochaco warily announces as if they’ll just jump out from the nearest alleyway.
But it's unlikely considering just how bustling with life this city is, despite the time of day. The sun has long set and yet there are bright lights everywhere from the neon signs and buildings showcasing the city’s nightlife. From the restaurants, bars, clubs, shops, and more with people wondering about everywhere they look.
“So crowded.” Shoto comments after they’re nearly trampled by a giggle party of bachelorettes.
However, Kirishima’s more focused on the darker parts of the city. “Those villains are hiding somewhere in this city… Just tell me where to GO!!!” He immediately takes off running, like a bull not knowing where its going.
“WAIT A SECOND!!!” Momo snaps, already taking up the role of group mom. “From now on we’re going to have to be extremely careful. These criminals already know what we look like, remember? We have to consider that we can be attacked at any moment.”
Ochaco lets out a sharp gasp before getting very excited and giddy. “Oh! So we have to like go into Stealth Mode, right?! Kraab, can you do something like that?! Make a hologram or something to keep us hidden?!”
The little cyborg throws her a credulous look. “Listen I’m good but covering up a disaster like that will take a miracle.”
Ochaco, Shoto, and Kirishima all blink in response while cluelessly tilting their heads to the side. “What do you mean?”
Iida frowns, cupping his chin as he thinks. “We won’t be able to scout effectively if we’re recognizable.”
“Okay, so what should we do?” asks Kirishima.
However, Momo already has an idea if the light blush on her face and shy fidgeting is any clue. “I have an idea, though it is a bit old school.” She points behind her to a bright giant sign displaying a nearby thrift store called, Dirt-Cheap Donki Oote.
To which Ochaco’s excitement explodes.
And soon they’re off grabbing whatever they can off the rack before throwing it on to make some kind of last-minute disguise in this impromptu fashion show.
Ochaco goes first, going in and out of the changing room in a flash. Now wearing a flashy fake-fur white coat along with denim black pants and leggings. Along with a large yet narrow framed set of sunglasses with a black trim and white lenes, kinda giving her a domino-mask like look.
“Who’s ready to light it up?!” She lowers her voice, her best impersonation to get into some semi-character, like she’s some drunk college girl.
Next is Shoto who’s forced to put on what Ochaco and Momo specifically picked out for him. Which is a white dress shirt with a black vest, and a gold necklace. But seeing that his hair clashes and stands out with it they throw him a jet-black wig just for good measure.
“This is me, incognito.” He deadpans, not understanding how handsome he really looks.
Momo and Ochaco, however, couldn’t be happier, acting like they were in bliss as trickles of blood drip from their noses.
Momo’s next and she goes with a simple maroon dress, flashy necklace, and simple sunglasses. As well fluffing up her hair and tying it up into a giant wavy ponytail. “Now we’ll blend in perfectly.”
Then there’s Iida who looks like he just jumped off an 80’s commercial with his tucked in dress shirt, rainbow collared suspenders, and ridiculous bowtie. Somehow the girls even managed to convince him to slick back his hair and throw on a fake pencil mustache.
“I feel so ridiculous.” He admits while pulling on the ends of the bowtie.
Yeah but he looks so hilarious.
And finally, it’s Kirishima’s turn and in all honesty he probably has the simplest yet coolest one yet. A simple burgundy jacket, white shirt, black pants, and to help seal that it’s not him they just threw on some fake flimsy-looking horns.
“I don’t know, I kinda dig it.” he grins, happy with his disguise.
Now they’re ready to take on the night, slowly walking their way out of the store while trying to hold character.
“Wooo!! Let’s have a good time!!” Ochaco cheers, pretending that they’re going to some rager.
But Kirishima doesn’t buy it and chides her. “No! You gotta be more selfish than that! Think that it’s all about you.”
“Who’s ready to get wasted?! I know I am!! Hahahahaha!!”
“That’s it!!”
Iida, who’s always one to get lost in his roles, goes off the rails too. “We’re just some scoundrels cruising for some hot girls!!”
“Close enough.” Kirishima gives him a thumbs up as a participation award.
Momo for one is very happy that they decided to do this. Smiling along with a very satisfied expression. “Great disguises. We’d stand out in this district, dressed like kids.”
“You are kids.” Kraab corrects, having just been slung around her shoulder with a spare strap so he can look like some metallic hand purse.
Shoto, however, still can’t really see the point in it though. “Yaoyorozu, couldn’t you have used your Quirk for this to save money?”
She immediately gets all embarrassed and defensive while scrambling to defend herself. “Well technically but that’s against the rules! If I started making everything, think of the impact on the economy! We must ensure the flow of commerce!” She says it's like it’s some big responsibility and honor. “That’s right! It’s our civic duty! As citizens!”
“Sure.”
Kirishima, however, sees right through it. ‘So, the rich girl just wants to go shopping. Huh?’
Kraab throws the girl a skeptical look. “You're very proud of yourself aren’t ya?”
Ignoring him, Momo hurries them along. “Everyone, our destination is this way.”
“WOAH, it’s U.A. High!!”
Momo freezes, jumping up while growling in frustration. Have they been made already?! They just got here!!
Thinking the same thing, Ochaco hurries to salvage the situation by playing along and acting dumb.
“Woah, really? Where?!” She looks around, pretending to look for some random U.A. kids too but then she spots what the bystander was really referring to and it makes her blood run cold.
There on a giant screen overlooking the street, is Principal Nezu, Mr. Aizawa and Vlad King all dressed in their best suits with their heads bowed before the many cameras stuffed into a conference hall. With the bottom text reading “U.A. High School Emergency Press Conference.”
Along with an anchorman’s voice confirming as much. [“Let’s return to a short clip from the U.A. high School press Conference that just wrapped up.”]
The squad moves closer, weaving through the already gathering crowd that are also curious to listen.
“It’s Mr. Aizawa.” Ochaco gasps.
“Vlad King and the Principal too.” adds Momo.
Aizawa looks clean and actually handsome, he really does clean up well, but the sullen atmosphere takes away from all of it as he speaks directly into the camera. [“We are here to apologize. A recent incident allowed harm to come to 28 first year heroes. We staff members were ill-prepared. We take full responsibility for any trauma caused by our negligence. It’s our duty to train heroes.”] On that cue all three of the U.A. teachers bow their heads low. [“But also to protect heroes in training.”] In the background, hundreds of camera shutters and flashes go off, a clear sign that it’s a packed conference hall.
Kirishima can’t believe what he’s seeing, Eraserhead on TV? “This is crazy. He hates being on TV.”
[“I’ll take the first question.”] Some rando reporter announces before diving right into it. [“Since the beginning of the year, U.A. students have had four encounters with villains. This time there were students who were gravely injured. How did you explain this to their families? And what are some of the specific steps you’re taking to ensure their safety in the future?”]
Ochaco’s taken back. ‘What…what do they mean? Everyone knows U.A.’s stance, don’t they? So why ask?’
For once, Principal Nezu is without a kind smile on his face but instead a serious somber frown as he answers the rude reporter. [“We will increase patrols around the school grounds. And review security measures within the school. The safety of U.A. students are our main priority, make no mistake about it.”]
Oh there’s no mistaking it, everyone around them understands it perfectly, or at least they think they do.
“Ugh, what are these dudes thinkin’?” Some punk jokes.
“They’re gonna get those kids killed.” Another laughs.
And others join in from there until the entire crowd is bustling with whispers and criticisms.
“They should be ashamed.”
“Increase patrols? Give me a break.”
“What about the rest of us?!”
“Those poor kids!”
The four teens stay stock still, for some reason feeling like they’ve just found themselves in a witch hunt. They’re not sure what it is but they can sense the shift in the air, the change of the tide. They can feel that…people are turning on heroes. And that this is only the start of the incoming storm.
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Shigaraki mutes the TV, leaving Mr. Aizawa to speak silently into the camera, unknowing that his students are even watching. “Isn’t that strange? The heroes are becoming the bad guys. Seems that they’re not dealing with this very well at all.”
‘They’re not.’ Izuku hates himself for agreeing but even he can tell that the conference probability didn’t do much to calm the rest of Japan. ‘Those reporters, they know U.A. stance since they didn’t cancel the Sports Festival. They’re…they’re treating them like villains!’
“So much criticism.” Shigaraki continues, very much enjoying the results of their recent excursion. “But everyone makes a mistake or two, right? It’s not like they’re supposed to be perfect. Modern day heroes sure have it rough. Don’t you think, Bakugou? Or how about you, Midoriya?”
The two captives glare back, one in anger and the other in defiance.
Spinner adds in his two cents, trying in his own way to convince them over. “Once a hero receives payment to protect people, they aren’t a real hero anymore. That's what Stain’s actions taught us.”
Izuku winces at the name and for the first time takes a real good look at Spinner; noting the on-brand Stain cosplay he has going on.
“A hero in this current system only cares about money and glory.” Shigaraki continues, still trying to weave together some brilliant story, while rolling right off of Spinner’s thoughts. “And since society buys into those idiotic rules, anyone deemed a loser is shoved aside. We can all relate to that on some level.” He gestures to his fellow misfits and criminals as his ruby eyes lock onto the emerald pair before him. “And from what Nue’s told me, you can certainly relate to that, right, Izuku Midoriya?”
Izuku's blood runs cold and even Bakugou’s facade cracks for a split millisecond.
“Afterall your main tormenter is sitting right next to you.”
Bakugou grits his teeth and glares back.
And Izuku, well he tries to keep his eyes from drifting over to him, but instead he throws a nasty look Nue’s way. “You…you’ve gotten real talkative, Nue.”
Nue grins back, maliciously. “Unlike you, I ain’t got no secrets.”
“Like what?” Bakugou scoffs at Nue.
Unbeknownst to him, Izuku flinches and shrinks back nervously at his question.
“Secrets… What kind of secrets? Now that’s a question.” Shigaraki nods, acting like it’s some big philosophical mystery. “We want to propose some questions, too. What is a hero? What is justice? Is this society truly fair? Soon everyone will be asking. That’s when we’ll know that we’ve won.” A cruel smile stretches across his hidden face once again as he turns his gaze back towards the Mad Bomber. “And you like winning, don’t you?”
Bakugou oh so wishes he can slug the guy with a punch, but with the weights and shackles on, he can’t even stand up.
“Dabi. Let him go.”
The pyromaniac stares back at his boss questioningly. “You know he’ll just fight.”
“It’s fine. We’re recruiting him so we’ll treat him as an equal. Besides he’s smart enough to know he can’t take us all, especially with an injured friend nearby. Afterall, U.A. students are so clever.” Especially these two.
Knowing this will go wrong, Dabi’s quick to delegate the task. “Hey, Twice. You do it.”
“Sure thing! No way.” Twice shakes his head, not wanting anything to do with it.
“Do it.”
“Aw, man.” And like that he gives into Dabi’s whims. Poor guy really needs to stand up for himself.
As Twice gets to unlocking Bakugou’s shackles, Mr. Compress politely speaks up from the back. “I do apologize for such forceful methods, but please understand that we’re not some kind of unruly mob committing crimes without a third act in mind. We didn’t kidnap you by accident.”
Feeling some unknown sense of guilt and fear, Izuku quietly speaks up in a whisper. “How though…?”
“Hm?”
“How’d you find us…?” He looks to Shigaraki specifically. “How’d you do it? We…we were so close…”
“You don’t remember?” Mr. Compress takes a mental note of that. “Why my dear boy you’re the sole reason we succeed in the first place. That was quite the rampage you displayed. A truly ghastly display. Are you sure you don’t want to be a villain, you have quite the flare for it.”
“What…?” That can’t be right, sure things were going bad, but Ghostfreak should have been enough… Ghostfreak. “Bakugou, what’s he… What did I do?”
As Twice pulls the last of the shackles away, Bakugou stays quiet before his eyes drift away, not wanting to meet Izuku’s.
Shigaraki chuckles at the sight. “Even though our backgrounds are different, everyone here has suffered.”
Dabi makes a poignant look towards Izuku as Shigaraki says this.
“Because of people.”
Toga blushes, giggling all the while behind the bar.
“Rules.”
Spinner scowls and narrows his eyes.
“And heroes who try to hold us back.”
Charmcaster’s hands flare with pixie-dust as she caresses her freaky little component bag.
Shigaraki approaches the now freed Bakugou as the kid grips and stretches his wrists. “I’m sure you’re the same.”
The moment he’s in arms reach, however, before he can extend a hand to the potential recruit a thundering BOOM fills the room along with a flash of heat and a cloud of smoke as Bakugou, without any hesitation, unleashes an Explosion right into Shigaraki’s face.
Although it doesn’t knock the villain back, it does knock off the severed hand that was clinging to his face.
“BAKUGOU!!!” Izuku screeches in shock and horror.
As does Twice. “Shigaraki!!”
“I’m done with your endless talking.” Bakugou growls, acting like a tiger that’s just been freed from his cage. “Can you not get to the point or do you just like your own voice? Basically, what you're saying is that you wanna cause trouble and you want us to join you. “Well screw you!”
[FLASHBACK]
“Did you see what he just did?!” A tiny Katsuki cheers excitedly, peering through the window to the electronic store. He and his friends had just gotten out of school and went off to play when they spotted the TV through the window playing a new clip of All Might fighting against a foursome of evil monsters and villains.
“Man, it doesn’t get any cooler than All Might! “That’s why he’s the greatest! No matter how much trouble he’s in he’s always the winner!”
[End of FLASHBACK]
This time, a malicious grin stretches across Bakugou’s face instead. “I like to win, I wanna win just like All Might. No matter what you have to offer. That will never change, do you understand?!”
‘Kacchan…’ Izuku’s eyes shimmer, for once admiring Bakugou’s defiance and unshakable spirit for the first time in what feels like forever.
Shigaraki, however, isn’t listening, instead he seems to be in a daze, his gaze locked not on the kids but on the severed hand thrown across the floor.
‘Father…’ A blinding fury begins to rage from inside of him as his fingers clench and stretch.
Izuku shrinks back, expecting the worst, he tries to move but it comes off more of a sway if anything.
But nothing ever comes their way as Shigaraki lets his anger roll off his back like water over a stone. “Sorry but I think you’re the one that doesn’t understand.” he locks back onto the Mad Bomber and tells him straight up. “I only wanted you to join us.”
Bakugou pauses, perplexed by the statement. “What?”
“Truth be told, you were just a bonus prize we managed to scoop up. The real trophy was him.” he gestures to Izuku who’s broken into a cold, nervous sweat. “Or rather what’s on his wrist.”
His heart stops beating for a split second, his blood running cold, and it feels like the entire world has just zoomed in on him with baited breath.
A fang-filled grin stretches across Nue’s face while the other villains all look to each other confused and alarmed, like they’re just getting the news themselves.
Shigaraki almost breaks into laughter himself at the sight of their bewildered looks. “You said you’ll win just like All Might. But tell me, what if All Might was up against someone who wasn’t even human? Could you win against something so inhuman, so unnatural that you couldn’t even explain its existence? Could you still win then?”
It’s clear, it’s so clear to him now what he’s up to. He’s not here just to recruit but to tear Izuku down. It feels like a thunderstorm of agony is swirling within Izuku. His heart thumping like thunder with every word Shigaraki speaks. Tears threaten to spill out like rain as bolts of fear and dread course through his system shouting for him to move! To stop Shigaraki! To stop everyone from knowing the truth!
“Tell me Katsuki Bakugou. Can you win against an…alien?”
Notes:
6 weeks. I really hope the wait and bad luck was worth going through for this chapter. I think it sets up some things nicely. Also, I have a really funny Omake I wanna do that’ll take place during this chapter so expect to see that soon on “Heroes Never Die; it’s Hero Time, Anytime.”
Also just wanna reiterate that let’s lower our expectations and say I’ll get one update a month. I know it’s not ideal and trust me I wish I could do more, but this is more realistic and reasonable.
Chapter 82: Courage and Fear
Notes:
*Check out the side-story “Heroes Never Die; It’s Hero Time, Anytime” for cannon one-shots, Omakes, OVAs, Announcements, and Updates.
*This story has a TV Tropes page so feel free to check it out. https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Fanfic/HeroesNeverDieItsHeroTime
*Disclaimer I do not own the rights to Ben 10 or MHA.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
[“We are here to apologize.”] An earth protector under the name of Eraserhead looks right at the camera with Japan’s Magister to his right and his coworker to his left.
Admittedly the champion doesn’t look like much, however, he knows that warriors can come in all shapes and sizes.
Intriguing. And so, with a flick of his hand another holographic screen glides over, replaying videos of Eraserhead utilizing his Quirk and skills against Mutant Bats and Dabi clones.
Meanwhile, Eraserhead continues. [“A recent incident allowed harm to come to 28 first year heroes. We staff members were ill-prepared. We take full responsibility for any trauma caused by our negligence. It’s our duty to train heroes. But also to protect heroes in training.”]
On that cue all three champions bow their heads low; some human form of requesting forgiveness it seems.
“Amusing. Very amusing.” Vilgax grins from behind his respirator, watching closely while seated upon his throne overlooking Earth. “I never truly understood why humans enjoy sitting before screens. day. But now I understand. This is entertainment! Who knew the populace could be so critical of their own protectors? I had considered running a misinformation campaign, but the planet’s own media is already accomplishing this without me.” Vilgax leans in closer as more and more screens swirl around him each displaying the media’s views and opinions. “What next protectors? How will you salvage the situation? Will you earn back the people’s trust or fall before them? As have many others.”
Watching his master sit and remain inactive, Psyphon loses his patience and speaks up. “Master, pardon my place, but why do you only watch? You wield such power and strength. No champion of theirs could possibly stand up to you! So, why do you sit here? Why wait and allow these “Humans” to their own vices?”
“Watching the rodents scramble and quarrel amongst themselves is not only amusing but it is essential to this planet’s eventual assimilation. Let the humans grow suspicious of each other. Let them lose faith in their own guardians and saviors. Strength can defeat your enemies; however, cunning can be even more devastating. Words can raise armies and topple nations. So, let the humans speak. Let them discuss and argue about truths whether they’re based on facts or not. Let them seed the field of chaos themselves. All so I can reap the rewards of their labor.” Vilgax grins at that and breathes. “And reap them I shall.”
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[PLAY “ My Hero Academia Season 3 - Opening | ODD FUTURE ”]
I Keep My Ideals; Sorezore
Izuku Midoriya and Henzu Uuichi are standing back-to-back facing away from each other as their story of transformation from friends to enemy's flashes between them.
No Tenmei Wo Ooo
The camera P.O.V. zooms upward, traveling through space at light speed.
What's going through? (Instrumental)
The Omnitrix glows green, floating between a pair of Galvin’s hands.
Subete Wa Mi Kara Deta Sabi
Izuku runs out of Mr. Baumann’s store before jumping on his hoverboard with the man chasing after him angrily.
Haburi Yoku Fuyashita Kuro Rekishi
He begins laughing as Megawatts swarm around him and into the bright sky.
Arito Arayuru Mono Wo Sutetari
One of the Megawatts glides past Ochaco Uraraka who lets out a cheer as she leads Class A around a running course.
Mi Ni Oboe No Nai Unmei Ni
Katsuki Bakugou begins shouting as he tries to overtake her, but she just runs faster, earning his angrier.
Korosare Kaketa Koto Mo Attashi
Principal Nezu walks in front of the U.A. staff along with the WWPC before passing by a pillar. Leaving just him along with Thirteen, One-One, and Gran Torino before passing another pillar.
Shinda Me Wo Shite Ikita Jiki Soredemo Kyou Mo Ikasareteru
The pillar moves to reveal Nue standing in front of Vilgax's Legion with the League of Villains standing behind him.
Tte Koto Wa
SevenSeven appears in front of the camera P.O.V. and shoots the screen.
What's going on? Mada Sou Yari Nokoshiten Darou
Ochaco Uraraka and Tomura Shigaraki stand back-to-back as their respective mentors look down at them before the two begin to walk away from each other.
Syuusei No Shiyou No Nai Hibi No Naka Demo
Izuku looks on at a photo of him, Inko, and a faded-out figure before closing his eyes as All Might appears behind him. All Might fades out leaving Hisashi in his place. Hisashi turns and let’s loose a torrent of flames.
What's going on?
Xylene leaps from the flames, her eyes aglow with Telekinesis as she launches multiple boulders forward.
Hito Towa Chigau To
Tetrax stands firm, a wave of diamonds swallow up the nearby flames as he glares into the camera with a stoic look.
Mitometa Ue De
The diamonds melt together to reveal Lucy Mann smiling as she jumps forward to deliver a flying kick through the flaming air.
Kanousei No Rutsubo Hiraku, Ah
The fire forms a circle to reveal Cinder smirking up at a snarling Vilgax; the two glare each other down.
Dreaming
The two enemies clash creating a shockwave destroying everything around them.
Ishi Gyakusou Shikakui Sora
Civilian's runaway in panic as animalized Nomus terrorize the city all the while All for One looks on from his tower.
Kokoro No Sukima Umenu
Suddenly Pro Heroes from across Japan appear and fight the beasts head on.
Akenu Yoru Kara
All for One looks on before looking up to see something coming at him at high speed.
Nukeyou~
All Might roars as he lets loose a furious punch at his nemesis.
Mirai
The opposing powers clash creating a giant explosion of power!
No Kaizou Do Sage Bokura Wa
Zooming out it’s revealed that the explosion is a clash between orange and azure flames courtesy of an enraged Shoto Todoroki and a deranged Dabi.
Me Wo Sorashite Wa Naritai
All around them Class A & B fight the League of Villains’ Vanguard Action Squad head on.
Bakugou uses a Howitzer Impact against Moonfish.
Iida Recipro Bursts past SevenSeven.
Tsuyu hopes over a knife wielding Toga.
Mono Nante Naito Uso Buita Hibi Wo
A pink glowing Ochaco races towards a grinning Charmcaster. As massive violet-runed tendrils curl and spiral around her form.
I Keep My Ideals; Sorezore No Jinsei
A red hued Nue and green highlighted Izuku charge at each other as chaos ensues around them.
Ai Mo Yume Mo Kiken Na Hodo Kantan Ni Hi Ga Tsuichau Nosa
The two opposing colors spark and clash like thunder and lightning across the battlefield, with Izuku transforming between Shocksquatch, Humungousaur, and more.
The two back away from each other before charging once again this time both of them in their human forms as their foreheads clash with each other.
Gongu Nari Sorezore No Tenmei
HEROES NEVER DIE; IT’S HERO TIME
Silhouettes of past Izuku and Henzu are walking with each other, with Henzu's arm flung over Izuku's shoulders.
Wo ~
All highlighted with neon green Deku, Uravity, Ground Zero, Pinky, Kraab, Tetrax, Cinder, and All Might stand in a line before the all red highlighted Nue, Ragnarok, Sunder, Rojo, SevenSeven, Techadon, Malware, and an imposing Vilgax towering over them all.
(Illustrated by Drag0n5on)
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Ch.77 Courage and Fear
An American in a well-tailored suit stares coldly at the camera holding a microphone close to his square chin as he announces. “This is Will Harangue of the New Harangue Nation Broadcasting Service reporting live from U.A.’s pathetic attempt at trying to calm the masses.” He accusingly voices this out as loud as possible among the other reporters and journalists before turning away from the camera to reveal Mr. Aizawa, Vlad King, and Principal Nezu all seated before the jury of media. “Eraserhead. You spoke about keeping the students safe. But according to my information you encouraged the children to fight during the attack on the Training Camp! Putting them in grave danger! If you ask me that’s mighty irresponsible and potentially life ending. What was your reasoning for this?” he quickly holds up the mic not willing to miss Aizawa’s potential slipup.
Aizawa, however, remains composed and alert, speaking clearly and carefully. “I concluded that because we didn’t know the full situation, allowing them to use their Quirks would help avoid the worst possible outcome.”
“And what would that outcome be? Do you think 28 victims and 2 kidnapped children is a win for U.A. High? A culling of the herd perhaps?”
“I assure you that things could have gone much more poorly. I feared every student would be tortured and killed in the end.”
Witnessing the blatant shaming and targeting, Principal Nezu speaks up in an attempt to divert the questions to his person instead. “Most of the victims were harmed by the gas attack. We’ve determined it to be the result of a poisonous Quirk used by one of the villains. It’s thanks to the quick actions of Ms. Kendo, Mr. Tetsutestu, and Mr. Shinso that injuries were kept to a bare minimum. Additionally, we’re providing mental health counseling for every student, though at the moment we do not see any signs of serious psychological damage.”
Will Harangue frowns, giving the heroes a very unimpressed look. “So you found a bright spot in this tragedy.”
“We’re relieved that an entire class of verging heroes still has a future.”
“Can you say the same thing for those abducted, Katsuki Bakugou and Izuku Midoriya?”
It’s a potent question, one filled with malice, and accusations so much so it throws the heroes off for the briefest of seconds.
“Let’s start with Katsuki Bakugou.” Will explains after seeing that he’s perfectly captured their attention. “He enrolled in your school with high marks and tons of talent. And before that he survived the attack of a powerful Sludge Villain who eventually had to be taken down by All Might. Funny, how All Might’s had to save him and his classmates twice already… In any case! The boy is obviously strong and heroic… But on the other hand, the violence he displayed during the Finals of the Sports Festival showed us all that he cannot control his temper. Dangerously so. I don’t know about you Eraserhead, but I wasn’t exactly comfortable watching his Explosions going off in my ears just meters above our heads.”
The teachers’ stares harden, it’s subtle, the hintest of glares are there and yet they remain silent and listen.
“And then there’s Izuku Midoriya. Enrolled into U.A. from the same Jr High as Bakugou. And even managed to get first place in U.A.’s Entrance Exam. He’s also credited for the apprehension of the Hero Killer, Stain. A feat that no “Pro Hero” can claim. Thus, dubbing him as U.A.’s “Rising Star.” Obviously the boy’s well inclined for heroism.”
Aizawa’s knuckles tighten from under the table and yet he manages to keep his voice from sounding even the smallest bit furious. “What exactly are you getting at here?”
Harangue’s lips curl for the briefest of seconds. “Tell me Eraser, are you aware just how prone Izuku Midoriya is to act of vigilantism?”
There is a shift in the room, a general moment of shock before the sea of reporters settle again and listen in even more intently with their mics and pens at the ready.
“People may not remember this little incident but over a year ago the still missing villain known as Dr. Animo was apprehended by dear-old All Might in Kiyoshi Mall. However, that’s not what our sources say. Our sources talk about a speeding blue raptor saving their lives along with a girl with brown hair and a young man with dark hair and a shady deposition. Later they claimed that the last two kids were then seen with a spinning flying-turtle. I don’t know how exactly perspective you are Eraser, after all villains did sneak up on your camp, but those descriptions sure do sound a lot like two of Midoriya’s own transformations. Wouldn't you say?”
The teachers don't respond, nor do they outwardly react. But the situation in question is one Principal Nezu is well aware of. Thirteen reported on the situation soon after, and it was the first meeting of the Omnitrix Wielder and the future Bearer of One for All.
“This incident was of course before his enrollment at U.A. Untrained. Unsupervised. But these acts didn't stop there. Even before he was well known across the country the boy had also been rumored to be involved in several other cases. Apparently he stopped a gang of criminals that were using a circus and later a carnival to disguise their thefts and criminal activities. Fought a villain with a deposition for fungus. Caused major havoc and property damage across beautiful Tokyo when being pursued by two unaffiliated villains within 24 hours of each other. And!!
There’s even a rumor that he did not receive official permission to use his Quirk against the villain Stain until afterward. Meaning, he blatantly disobeyed the law on multiple accounts all to pursue glory and fame. And not once did he ever have any fear of repercussions. Which is really saying something considering how reckless and rash the boy really is. Proving to us all that is a clear danger to himself and others.”
Principal Nezu doesn’t like this. He’s allowed for this man to go on for far too long and it’s becoming far too dangerous. The glares, the looks, the atmosphere of just these reporters are enough of a signal to know how the rest of the world is reacting. “Mr. Harangue might I please know what your inquiry actually is?”
Will Harangue stares back, clearly annoyed but willing to let the heroes have it. “During the Hosu incident, The Hero Killer proclaimed Midoriya a “True Hero.” But can we really believe the words of an obvious sociopath and murderer? How much do we really know about Izuku Midoriya? Or what of his Quirk? Which in case you weren’t aware, developed late and didn’t appear until his teens. Perhaps the power of his Quirk has allowed him to believe that he himself is above the law he claims to protect.” He pauses as if in deep thought, but it’s all a facade, an act to grow drama before he turns his steely glare back at the heroes. “Maybe he’s not as heroic as you might think? Maybe he’s more defiant than you think? What if he has other motives? And maybe this is what the villains saw in him? So, knowing all the facts. What do you think would happen if U.A’s Rising Star becomes its Falling Star?”
Principal Nezu can’t allow this anymore. “We are aware of these facts. However, we have the benefit of knowing Mr. Midoriya’s deposition and nature. And he is not what you oh so heavily like to infer as.”
A smile, a cruel smile appears, and Harangue looks like someone who just won a perfect game of chess. “His deposition. Then please explain his nature as he rampaged across a faux city, nearly burning his classmates alive, while managing to fight off All Might and all of you?”
There is general shock, not just from the reporters, but from the heroes as well as they all stare wide eyed at Harangue.
“Surprised that I know?” Harangue taunts. “You shouldn’t be. You run a HIGHSCHOOL! One of the worst places to keep a secret.” Perfect for him though. Gotta love the old rumor mills of teen gossip and social media. Honesty he thought it as nothing of a rumor himself but after hearing how that brat held his own against the likes of Muscular then why not take a gamble and see how the heroes react. ‘And it looks like my gamble worked if Eraser’s and Vlad King’s furious stares are anything to go by.’
“Here’s my inquiry, Principal Nezu. What will become of our society when the villains manage to recruit not one but two new dangerous and powerful allies? Ones that can potentially hold their own against even the Symbol Of Peace? What if this is the real reason the villains kidnapped both Izuku Midoriya and Katsuki Bakugou? What if they’re brainwashing them both right now? Pulling them into the path of evil. Can you really sit there and tell us that either of them still have a future?”
Vlad King sits still, feeling like they’ve taken a real slugfest of fists that he’s not allowed to retaliate against. ‘This reporter knows exactly what he’s doing. He’s trying to antagonize us so we say something damning.’ Vlad King’s worst fear comes to forwishen as Aizawa shoots up from his seat. ‘ You can’t fall for it, Eraser! He probably knows how much you hate the media.’ Just look at that smug look of his that’s oh so punchable. ‘Don’t let him trick you!!’
But instead of an uproar of slurs and fury, instead they are all greeted by the sight of Aizawa lowering his head in a bow along with the most respectful yet determined of tones. “As Katsuki Bakugou’s teacher I take full responsibility for not taming his violent behavior. However, his actions during the Sports Festival were born of his deep-seeded convictions. He’s trying harder than anyone in his pursuit to become the top hero. If the villains think they have a chance with him, then they are grossly mistaken. I can guarantee you that much.”
Harangue is thrown off by the response, this was not the answer he expected nor wanted. Surely Eraserhead would have cracked by now? “But can you really claim the same for Izuku Midoriya?”
“Izuku Midoriya…” Aizawa pauses, considering the name and what it means or rather who it’s attached to and what it means to everyone that knows him. “He’s reckless. Rash. Has no sense for self-preservation. And wears his heart on his sleeve. Never in my career have I had a student give me as many gray hairs in such a short time as he has. He’s a real Problem Child.”
A silence has fallen across the room as everyone stares in confusion. They had expected Aizawa to defend the boy, not admit his flaws outright. ”
And yet there’s the tiniest of smirks hidden across Aizawa’s features. One that only Nezu can see.
“That kid has not once considered anything but being a hero as an option.” Aizawa affirms, looking directly at Harangue as he states, quite frankly, the obvious. “He has no ulterior motives. No villainous side. No need to feel superior. In his mind, he has nothing to gain. But has everything to lose. And in all my years as a pro hero, I’ve only met one other person willing to put it all on the line to save someone.”
“And who would that be?”! Harangue snaps clearly not enjoying how Aizawa managed to flip this story.
“All Might.”
There’re gasps as everyone reels back, taken back by Aizawa’s bold statement.
“You say he’s falling, That they’re both going to fall into the dark. But you couldn’t be more wrong, those two students…those future HEROES are going to shine brighter than anything we’ve ever seen before.” A taunting grin stretches across Aizawa’s face right before the world as he boldly finishes. “And god be damned if both of them aren’t giving the villains a hell of a fight as we speak.”
Silence. Nothing but silence. No clicks of cameras. No barrage of questions. Nothing but stares and startled looks.
That is until Harangue manages to compose himself with a push of his glasses. “That doesn’t amount to any real evidence though. You’re giving us opinions, not facts! I didn’t ask you how you feel, I asked you for concrete information!”
Principal Nezu couldn’t find this evidence more concrete than it is. But either way it’s time to try and deescalate the situation. “We’re doing our best with the intel we currently have available. I have no doubt the police will break this case very soon.”
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
[“We won’t rest until our missing students are returned to U.A.”] Principal Nezu continues, his voice slightly distorted by the old television set that’s sitting at the corner of this small bar.
Bakugou, who was still taken back by Shigaraki’s ridiculous statement, snaps in alarm and breaks into a wide, almost nervous grin. “HA! Did you hear the teachers? They get me more than I thought. I’ll never join your League of Bastards!!”
Still though he can’t afford to let his guard down. ‘They went through the trouble of mounting a huge attack all to what bring back Deku?’ His gaze quickly glances at said target, who looks pale and shaken. Deku looks to be in a state of shock for some reason. Dammit, is he not paying attention? Shigaraki must have really gotten under his skin. Because if he hadn’t Bakugou was sure Deku would be making a plan of his own or at least trying to find a way to snap that lock for his watch off. Instead, his gaze is locked on Shigaraki who still hasn’t reacted after Bakugou blasted that severed hand off his face.
‘I’m a bonus prize huh? These idiots told us exactly what they wanted. And that stupid talk, monsters and fucking aliens?! What was that about? They really are just a bunch of unhinged rejects.’ He almost laughs out loud at how ridiculous it all is. ‘The good news is we got a chance. They’re not gonna try to kill us. No, they want something from us. If I can break that lock on Deku’s fucking watch we can blast them all right to hell and get the fuck outta here.’ And with a roar Bakugou declares as much to the League of Bastards. “We may not be at camp!! But we’re still allowed to fight!!”
But Deku doesn’t snap awake, he doesn’t move, and he doesn’t react almost as if he forgot Bakugou was even there.
The villains, however, don’t take kindly to his clear rebellious attitude, especially Magne. “He must have figured out that they’re important to us. What a clever boy.”
“No, he’s a fool.” Dabi mutters.
Toga claps her hands together with a light blush across her face. “Let me stab him~.”
Mr. Compress shakes his head in disappointment. “A clever performer would have acted like we were winning him over. Now that he’s broken character he’s finished.”
SevenSeven nods and lets out a low growl in agreement. “Ot eb onehts, i ttoughh eh’d oinj het lliiansv akcb henw htis eeposid irstf irdea.”
“I only do whatever I want to!” Bakugou barks, a mad grin still on his face. “And I won’t even pretend otherwise. And I’m tired of being surrounded by a bunch of lame ass wannabes!” He throws a particularly accusing look at Shigaraki, but the League of Villains’ leader doesn’t notice as his gaze stays honed in on the severed hand that was thrown to the floor.
Shigaraki’s hands twitch dangerously at his side like he’s riding a great itch. “Father…”
Spotting the shift of anger, Kurogiri instantly moves to intervene, “No Tomura Shigaraki! Be calm!”
However, Shigaraki doesn’t lash out; instead as his cold furious gaze falls on the kids, paralyzing them for a moment, he holds up his hand, keeping the other villains back and away. “Don’t lay a finger on them. Any of you.” He bends down and gently places two fingers on the severed hand picking it up and placing it back on over his dry and gaunt face. “These heroes are still a valuable piece.” Especially Bakugou. “I wish you would have listened to what I had to say. I thought you and I could come to an understanding.”
As Bakugou stands before the villains his mind reels back to his time at Best Jeanist’s agency and the words Best Jeanist had to say. ‘“Heroes and villains are cut from the same cloth.”’
Is that same sentiment what Shigaraki’s banking on?
“What, you think we're the same?” He scoffs. “Not a chance. Mr. Aizawa said it himself. There’s no way in HELL WE’RE EVER JOINING THE LIKES OF YOU!!!”
Much to Bakugou’s own relief, Deku finally seems to snap back to reality, but the moment of potential rebellion is cut short by Shigaraki’s cruel grin and laugh.
“Eraserhead sure had a lot to say, didn't he. He seems to take pride in the knowings of his students. Too bad he doesn’t know everything. Right Izuku Midoriya?”
It feels like cold needles have embedded themselves across his entire body as Izuku goes stock still, panic filling him from within as his mind fails to come up with a solution.
“Do you think Eraser would even think of you as a hero if he knew what you really are? If he knew the real you?”
So many questions run through Izuku’s head. ‘How does he know? Did Nue tell him? Did Nue know more than he led on? But how?’ But if he asks if he dares to prod he’ll only give himself and his secret away. He can't react, he can’t give himself away, otherwise… Even if his heart feels like it's going to implode as it twists and falls in his chest. “Sh-Shigaraki…you’re insane.”
“So, I’ve been told. But crazy still is your deep dark secret.” (Taps the shackle)
“S-secret…? I-I don’t know-”
“It’s a little late to be playing dumb. But I guess there isn’t much else you can do. We got you in a real bind here. Must be confusing.”
It is, and for Charmcaster too. “I’m the one who’s confused. Seriously, does anyone understand what hell he is getting at?”
Dabi shrugs, not giving a damn, or so it seems. “Who knows? Perhaps we just signed up to join a bunch of conspiracy theorists.”
Twice excitedly interjects. “Of course, you didn’t!! But then again.”
Mr. Compress shakes his head in disapproval. “So, you really think our leader would be so delusional? My word.”
“He’s not delusional.” Nue snaps with some bite before slowly stepping forward. “The only ones that are delusional are those that fall for the crap Deku and his shitty friends have smeared over everyone's eyes.”
The League is definitely confused, and even Bakugou’s a little curious but he’s much more focused on figuring out how to blast Nue’s hideous face off. Izuku, however, is using all his willpower to not show any signs of reacting despite the cold sweat now forming over his brow.
“I didn’t always look like this.” Nue explains solemnly, gesturing to his heavily mutated form. “Ya know. I was human. Once. I had a Quirk. But not anymore.”
Charmcaster frowns, eyeing Nue’s form and really taking in the details. “I just always assumed you looked like this.”
“Not always.” Nue then locks eyes with Bakugou’s. “Tell them, Blasty. We went to the same school after all, you remember how I was. How I looked, especially whenever I beat your ass.”
Bakugou grimaces back, his teeth grinding as he holds back the urge to lash out.
“Well, care to explain how someone as handsome as I was could become something like this?! Something that looks oh so similar to Deku’s supposed transformations?!”
Bakugou…hesitates and actually considers the thought. He did always think it strange when Uuichi arrived at the U.S.J. with some twisted version of Deku’s Quirk.
“My Quirk, Osmosis allowed me to absorb matter and energy and convert to my own needs. But then one day. He betrayed me.” Betrayed his friendship and trust. “His lies! His secrets! His fault!” He pauses and peers back at the frozen teen, “It’s all his fault.” In a flash and a burst of XLR8 speed Nue towers over Izuku, grabbing him and his chair and throwing them back against the wall. “You turned me into this FREAK!!! I can’t use my Quirk anymore! I’m not human anymore! All because of you!!”
It hurts, his body jolts with pain as his back hits the brick and he coughs. But more importantly his heart aches, his consciousness, he…he never meant for it to happen. But…he-he too blames himself for Henzu’s…change. “I-I never meant for this to happen…”
Nue seems to hesitate for a briefest of moments, but in a blink of an eye it’s gone and replaced with a burning fury, “Like you didn’t mean to send me to the Null Void?”
Izuku starts with a jolt, his eyes flashing wide as he recalls the hellhole.
“Shut the fuck up.” Bakugou growls, gathering everyone's rabid attention. “Listen, I never really cared when you and Deku were braiding each other's hair. And I really couldn’t give an ass to care about your breakup. But let’s be real, fucker. You were always a freak. A monster. Now it’s just easier for all the other losers to see it too.”
For a moment the League and even Izuku thought that they just saw Bakugou’s last moments on Earth. Surely convinced that Nue would end the poor bastard right then and there in a horrific display of gore and blood.
But instead comes something even more terrifying. A smile.
Nue finally releases Izuku, and the boy falls back onto his chair as the monster lumbers back towards his other victim. “Ever hear of irony, Blasty, because that’s what this is. Talk about me but the media just explained that they know exactly what you are.” He leans in close and whispers. “A ticking time bomb.”
Bakugou frowns in response, a cold sweat forming over his brow as he tries not to falter before Nue’s piercing gaze.
“Speaking of the media that broadcast sure was something.” Shigaraki comments, interjecting himself back into the discussion.
He goes digging through his pocket before pulling out a little device. One that causes Izuku's heart to drop. The design of the device, the almost blood-red color, the sharp edges of the metal, the single illuminating red sphere at the end. That device…it looks a lot like Vilgax’s robots!
“They were mainly spinning threads, sewing together a tall tale as it were.” Witnessing Izuku’s realization, Shigaraki can’t help but grin in glee. “But I prefer some concrete evidence.”
With a press of a single finger, it feels like Izuku’s entire world has shattered. As images of his various adventures, conflicts, and shenanigans all flash before his eyes, but also before the League of Villains.
Images, holograms, projections all play out before them all. Dancing in the air holographic screens float and hold in the air showing various places and events in action. And Izuku recognizes almost all of them.
There’s Thirteen managing Plumber Base before a line of new resident aliens. Mr. Baumann packing up tentacle-based groceries for ML-E and her mom. Ragnarok rampaging through Tokyo. The RazorCrest taking off over a forest before vanishing into thin air. Four Arms with Lucy as her entire body melts away and reforms into a Golden Retriever. Stain and SixSix clashing blades over a group of petrified teens. Xylene when she looked back at Gran Torino before boarding her spaceship. A full-bodied Kraab attacking a burning campground. Sunder wielding a great axe against Uraraka and Thirteen while zipping around Plumber Base. Hordes of aliens hanging out at the Tavern of High Charity. The Techadon facing off against Diamondhead at a shrine. Rath ripping out Vulcanous’ head. A giant red alien rampaging through a carnival before being stopped by Deku and Mina.
And more.
Stunned and horrified aren’t even the right words to describe Izuku’s expression as all the images swirl and dance around them. Everyone else is looking on in a mixture of amazement and confusion. Some are bewildered or ignorant to what’s being truly shown while others are slowly beginning to realize what’s at stake. And this group includes the still Bakugou.
Mr. Compress is so blown away he’s holding his hat as if it’ll blow away. “What kind of show is this?”
Magne lowers her glasses as she stares up at the holograms. “Wait, are those SPACESHIPS!?!”
Dabi, goes quite, his turquoise gaze falling over the greenette’s frozen form,
“Oh, look.” With a wave of his hand, Shigaraki guides over a selection of displays and holograms. “These must be yours. You know, the ones that allowed you the opportunity to copycat them.”
Before Izuku, Bakugou, and the villains it’s like a pile of damning evidence has just been placed for the judge. So much so they can hear the heavy gavel hit the podium.
And for Izuku it feels like he’s just been sentenced to death as scenes he remembers all too well play out.
A swarm of Megawatts giggling and tearing their way across power lines. There’s Tetrax speaking before him at the U.S.J. Xylene programming the Omnitrix and granting him his Upchuck form. There’s a Piscciss Volann Plumber gliding his way through the ocean trenches while fighting off a group of mysterious Techno-Squids. XLR8 and Ochaco taking ML-E to the circus. That rogue Vulpimancer that managed to grab his arm and drag him across the woods. And then there’s two giant mechas, one of red and the other of green, clashing atop I-island.
“And people think our governments here at home are good at invading our privacy.” Shigaraki jokes before spotting the way Izuku’s gawking at his little gift. “Wondering where I got this?” He holds up the alien-device like it's a treat. “It’s a little present given to me by our new sponsor.”
He doesn’t wait to see Izuku’s expression before holding his arms up before the fantastical show. One collected slowly over time by their sponsor’s drones and spyware. “Look at them all. Living their lives right next to humans with no one being the wiser. Living carelessly with smiles on their faces! Who would have ever have guessed that ALIENS LIVE AMONGST US!?!”
Certainly not any of them. And certainly not…Bakugou.
“This-this is all fake!” Izuku blurts out, panicking, scared, and desperate for it to end. “It has to be! Photoshopped! My-My Quirk, O-One Man Army, it-it works by copying other people! I-I just kept it to myself as to not scare people! I-I didn’t want to scare anyone! My Quirk is a shapeshifting type! An emitter! It’s ONE MAN ARMY!!!”
“Is it?” Shigaraki teases. “But what kind of Quirk can only be activated when using a little watch of all things? Come on, that’s ridiculous and even if you needed a support item your “Quirk” would have appeared in other ways. I mean you can transform, surely you’d still have some control or hints of mutations. People would have noticed small changes in your appearance at least!” He grins over at his best witness for proof. “Right, Bakugou? Surely you would have noticed when things changed?”
‘When things…changed.’ When Bakugou thinks on it he doesn’t consider anytime Izuku changed appearances, changed hair color, or grew fangs. No, he changed, everything changed that day. The day the Sludge Villain attacked. The day Feedback rescued him. That’s when he noticed things changing.
“You know it. I know you do, deep down. That One Man Army is nothing but BS. Izuku Midoriya didn’t develop a Quirk late, because he never had one at all. He’s been lying to everyone, including you, right to your faces. Right from the start he kept this secret to himself. Why? Because maybe he thought he was superior that he knew more than the rest of us.”
“That’s not true!!” Izuku screams.
“True?! You want to talk about what’s true?! Hahahaha! Then let’s talk about what’s true! The truth is, you’re just an ordinary kid that happened to find an alien device. A device so advanced it makes everything we have on Earth look like toothpicks in comparison. A device so advanced it can alter your very form and DNA in the blink of an eye. A device that can transform you into any being across any galaxy that you want!!”
The silence is deafening as the lightning bolt of truth strikes down upon them.
Charmcaster whistling, doing her best to play it cool despite how freaked she really is. “And people call me crazy for believing in magic.”
Even Toga’s in disbelief. “It’s crazy! Impossible!”
“Crazy? Yes. Impossible? Far from it.” Shigaraki answers. “I know I’m insane but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t listen. Take a good look everyone! From here on out the League of Villains are more than what we seem! We aren’t just a threat to heroes, to humans, but to everything that breathes!!”
“This is insane!” Spinner screams. “Do you have any idea what you’re saying?!”
But Shigaraki doesn’t snap back, in fact he understands the hesitation. But he’s willing to push them over the cliff and let them fall into reality. “If you need more convincing then how about I let the loaner properly introduce himself?” He waves SevenSeven over.
The bounty hunter, up till now hasn’t really been paying attention to Shigaraki’s slideshow, but even so watching the target squirm and panic has been all too enjoyable.
“Oh, that’s right you two haven’t officially met. Izuku Midoriya, it's my pleasure to introduce you to SevenSeven. Alien Bounty Hunter for hire and a real piece of work. I believe you know-...knew his brother, SixSix. You know the other alien bounty hunter you killed.”
Izuku starts at that. “But I-”
“Quiet! SevenSeven, I think it would do everyone some good if you showed us your brilliant smile.”
“Hist si nnoag eb a oitr.” SevenSeven growls back before complying.
A brilliant smile? Well, brilliant is certainly a word for it. As his helmet releases fumes and shifts out of place before folding away to reveal his hideous mug. A horrifyingly ugly face with pale-yellow skin, robotic eyes, and protruding jaws lined with jagged fangs greets the villains. His tongue snaking out like an eel as his fangs drip with ghastly drool. Before letting out a haunting shriek. “HREHRE!!!”
The reaction is instant, the villains back away out of fright with Twice even threatening to puke. “Please don’t prob me! Give it to me already!!”
“Take a good look.” Shigaraki commands. “Not even a mutation Quirk can make something like this. Not to mention all the alien tech he’s got strapped to his body, that should’ve been a big clue to you all.”
Well the curtains have been lifted and now none of them can ignore the blinding light before them.
“They’re…real.” Magne breathes unable to look away from SevenSeven, the holograms, or the maybe-not human kid.
Spinner’s almost at a loss for words. “Aliens are real.”
“Yes.” Kurogiri confirms. “They are real. But we understand if your minds cannot wrap the idea.”
Wrap around the idea? Not only do their minds wrap around it just fine but it’s all tied up in a little bow. Like finding a present, they can’t help but smile in excitement.
“Tehehehe~.” Toga giggles, hiding her blush behind her sleeves. “They’re here? And Izuku can turn into any one of these cuties~?”
Dabi can’t seem to look away, specifically from the kid. “Interesting. Very interesting.”
Mr. Compress takes his hat off to the display. “It appears that we will be performing before a much larger audience than I had assumed.”
“This proves nothing!” Izuku yells, trying desperately in vain to salvage the situation. “You’re lying-!!”
“You must have felt so special, right?” Shigaraki interrupts, cutting Izuku off while simultaneously shaking him to the core. “You must have felt soooo small before all this. Before you got lucky. And happened to stumble upon the Omnitrix. Felt so special as you used the greatest weapon ever known to beat up villains. Rescue your friends. And even stand up to the likes of All Might. Hahahaha!” He cackles thinking back to Harangue’s leak about Izuku’s little outburst with All Might. “Wish I could’ve seen that.” He can only assume just how devilishly awesome it was. “And now just because you have superpowers you think that you’re no ordinary kid, Midoriya? Go on, deny it. Deny how special you feel. Deny how much pain having the Omnitrix has caused to others. Mr. Baumann. David Shield. Henzu Uuichi. Hisashi Midoriya. Thirteen. Principal Nezu. Ochaco Uraraka. Your classmates. They’ve all had to risk their lives for what? All because of the target you painted on your own wrist. Can you really deny how much trouble you caused? Even now?!”
Izuku can’t respond. What could he even say? Everything Shigaraki is saying…is true. It’s all true. How can he deny any of it? The Omnitrix…it does make him feel special. But it has caused pain to a lot of people he cares about.
Shigaraki seems to be pleased; he can almost see the boy’s fortitude cracking. “Can you deny the grief you’re causing to all the heroes, to U.A., to All Might? Because of you this Hero Society is shaking and it’s beginning to buckle under its own weight. Imagine what would happen when they realize how much you betrayed them.”
The boy shrinks back, his head hanging in defeat. Silent as he imagines that very scenario.
“I understand that’s a loaded question so let’s make this easier.” Leaning in close Shigaraki asks for one simple question. “Do you, Izuku Midoriya, have a Quirk?”
“Ye-”
He’s cut off as Shigaraki’s cold hand latches onto his face, and for a second he thought he was dead until he realizes that the villain’s pinky is hovering just above his freckles.
Shigaraki is fuming, and finally starting to lose his patience as his grip titans against the sides of the boy’s face. “I said, do you have a Quirk?”
“…N-”
“Wait.” Shigaraki cuts him off again, looking excited as if he just had a brilliant idea. “I want you to say it to him.” Forcing Izuku’s head to turn, he turns him to face Bakugou who’s been silent and still for a while, his gaze fidgeting across the holograms, the villains, and now Izuku. “Look him in the eye and say it. Do you, Izuku Midoriya, have a Quirk?”
He doesn't answer. The words choked in his throat as green meets red. The two captives stare on, searching each other's souls as if this is the first time they’ve really seen each other. As if the other is some mysterious creature that they don’t understand. That they should fear.
A single tear runs down Izuku Midoriya’s pale face as he’s forced to give his answer. “No…”
And the look, the expression he receives back is not one of anger or rage but…something else entirely. Betrayal? Confusion? Izuku’s not sure and it scares him, he scares him to his core so much, so he finally breaks down. He’d rather Bakugou shout and scream at least this way he’d know if he was angry. If he was processing it. If he was betrayed. But this…this is worse.
But how can Bakugou feel angry? How should he feel? To him it’s like all of his suspensions have finally come together in a puzzle. But as the puzzle finally emerges the terrible picture left behind doesn’t leave satisfaction but instead shatters his reality. Deku’s…an alien. He can’t even keep his thoughts together with those images still swirling in his head. Did he see Uraraka in there? How many others know? How long? Aliens? Villains? How is any of this possible/
It, somehow, feels so clear now yet still foggy and messed up, like a running through a winding maze and finally reaching the end only to find, not treasure, but instead finding an even more terrifying swamp of thick trees, mysterious ooze, fog, and monsters waiting for him in the dark. It’s frustrating, yet confusing and sad all at once. Just what is he supposed to do with this?
“Look at those faces!” Shigaraki gleefully taunts, whipping his hand away from Izuku’s drenched face. “It’s exactly what I wanted to see! I officially brought down U.A.’s Rising Star!” he pauses and gets a terrifically terrible idea. “Now imagine what would happen if I took your precious Omnitrix from you. Such a waste for a kid like you to be wielding the universe’s greatest weapon. Why don’t you hand it over? Or better yet I can pick out from you ashes.”
Izuku…can’t even look up to see any of their faces. He can’t bear the idea of seeing that look in Bakugou’s eyes. And yet, with his will shaken, and fortitude broken he cannot resist any longer. “It-it’s…it’s bound to me. There’s no way to get it off and even if you did…it’s synced to my DNA signature only… It’ll be useless to you.”
“Just like you would be without it.”
Izuku shrinks down lower at that.
“Don’t look so upset. I have some good news for you, Izuku Midoriya. We still have use for you. Our rather my teacher has some use planned for you.”
The boy jolts up, eyes wide with horror.
And with that Shigaraki shuts off the slideshow as SevenSeven finally resets his helmet. The League seems to snap back to their senses and yet they stand on edge, moving a little further away from SevenSeven and even Izuku.
Meanwhile, Shigaraki waves his Nue over. “Nue. Help our guest to his feet. My Master would like to have a word with this Space Invader.”
Nue grins, stomping forward and grabbing the kid by his shoulder and hoisting him to his feet.
Izuku doesn't even bother resisting as he’s shoved to his feet and thrusted towards the bar’s backdoor.
Nue guides him forward as he does, he brushes past SevenSeven. “You too.”
With his helmet back in place, SevenSeven turns and trails behind Nue and their captive.
Bakugou hesitates, hesitates for too long and slowly reaches for his fellow teen. “Deku…”
“Dnhas fof!!” SevenSeven snarls, his arm whipping up into a blaster that glows red before the kid’s face.
Feeling the literal heat, Bakugou’s forced to backoff, held at gunpoint as Nue and SevenSeven lead Deku through the back doorway. Adn with the other villain nearby, there’s no hope for him to make a move. He’s…he’s useless in this situation. He can't fight back. His reality’s been shattered. Broken. Shaken and then tossed to the ground in ruins.
But Deku’s in ruins. Deku’s the one that’s broken. And he can tell from the look. The look Deku has as he peers back through the doorway, that lost and defeated look of his broken gaze is the last Bakugou sees as the door slams shut.
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
Kamino Ward, Kanagawa Prefecture
Momo Yaoyorozu is leading the way with her radio tracker in hand. They’ve been making their way through the city for a while, so much so that the streets in this part of the city are far less crowded or noisy. “Okay, this is the spot the tracker is broadcasting from.”
Peering up they find themselves before a mid-city warehouse. A normal two-story looking building surrounded by other warehouses, apartments, and darkened buildings.
They all stay behind the nearest corner, with Eijiro Kirishima eyeing the building warily. “So, that's their hideout. Not a bad one I guess.”
“I’ve seen better.” Ochaco Uraraka spits in full seriousness.
Kraab chimes in as well. “Doesn’t even crack the top 10 for me.”
Shoto Todoroki doesn’t even turn to look at the bot as he deadpan states. “I don’t even want to ask.”
“Quiet. There is still a chance the villains aren’t here.” Momo warns with a hush. “They could have removed the tracker, or this is something else entirely.” She checks the device again. “But according to the tracking history the villains haven't left this location for the past three days. But that’s all we know. One villain is hiding here but that’s all that can be it. They might have Bakugou and Midoriya somewhere else or even separated into two different locations. We’re going into this operation completely blind for the most part. Please try to proceed logically.”
“I don’t like this.” Tenya Iida admits once again for the hundredth time that night. “None of us are good at sneaking around. We need Hagakure or Jiro here. If I think things will be the least bit dangerous then we’re done. I won’t hesitate to call the police either to make sure my friends are safe.”
Ochaco gives him a nod. “Understood. But you forgot something too.”
She then starts to try and explain what that something is but Iida’s mind has already started to wonder. ‘That’s right, I forgot, once you set your heart on something there’s no swaying you. You won’t stop. Susceptible but…there must be boundaries. And someone has to make sure you don’t cross them. This time I’ll protect you!!’
“Iida? Iida? Did you hear anything I said?”
He snaps from his thoughts and immediately addresses Ochaco’s concerns. “Yes. We shall sneak in as close as we can but prepare to escape in a moment's notice!”
Ochaco stares at him in complete bafflement. “Um, no. I said we should let Kraab do it.”
She holds up said Kraab who waves and gives a tiny salute back.
“I’m the ultimate spyware!!”
Iida’s head falls both out of embarrassment and shame. “Oh… I guess that is the most logical option. Isn’t it?”
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
“Why should I clean up U.A.’s mess?” Endeavor growls not caring at all that the others can obviously hear him. “I’m a very busy man as you know. Why should I risk my standing, for someone else’s spawn?” He throws a nasty look back at the progenitor in question.
Cinder glares back, his grip tightening around the silver briefcase labeled as C60-NV.
[“Get off your high horse.”] Best Jeanist hisses from the monitor. [“You are a U.A. Alumni.”]
Through the monitor they can see Best Jeanist's group clearly which includes him, Gang Orca and his two sidekicks, Tiger, Mt. Lady, and other local heroes such as X-Less.
And judging by the hardened glares it seems that Best Jeanist wasn’t the only one bothered by Endeavor’s clear lack of sympathy.
“Don’t bother reasoning with him.” Cinder waves with a frown from behind his respirator. “He doesn’t understand the first thing about respect or gratitude. It’s nothing more than kindling to him.”
“Watch your mouth.” Endeavor snaps, his flames brightening and erupting slightly. “If anything, you’re the ungrateful one. You should be thanking me for even picking up the phone. The only reason I came was because I like the idea of having one over you.”
“You son of a-”
A light tap in his gut from Inspector Tezuka cuts him off. He throws her a glare but a look and a shake of the head from her gets him to calm down and reign himself in.
“Enough the both of you.” Naomasa Tsukauchi warns, sternly. “We can’t call in any heroes away from the school. There’s a bigger picture here, Endeavor. Just in case you have too much smoke in your eyes to tell.”
“Tch.” Endeavor tsks, noting missing Tsukauchi’s little jab.
“HA-!” All Might bellows before slapping a hand over his mouth, but he was too late because Endeavor definitely heard .
Gran Torino frowns before turning to his old intern. “Same goes for you, Midoriya.”
Cinder frowns, peering down at the little veteran in silent questioning.
“You're not the same punk kid I used to tutor anymore. Don’t go charging in guns blazing.” His gaze falls towards the briefcase. “We’ll get your boy back, don’t you worry. But the moment you let your own temper flareup it’s over.”
“…Yes, sir.”
“Same goes for you!” Gran Torino snaps his attention back to his other student, who jolts up in a flash of fear. “And be sure to stay on your guard.”
“YES, SIR.” All Might responds, parroting Cinder.
Tsukauchi turns to heroes, standing firm before these mighty Olympians as he delivers an important message. “It’s possible this incident is the beginning of the end for hero society. We’ll stop at nothing to solve this successfully.”
Best Jeanist nods from the other end of the monitor. [“During the internships I invited Bakugou to my agency to try and reform him. I met very few as stubborn as he is, I imagine he’s fighting back. We need to hurry.”]
After him, Gang Orca approaches the camera. [“It’s as Eraserhead said, Deku's reckless but he’s clever. Very clever and crafty. He’ll hold out as long as he can but with a fiery spirit like Bakugou’s there’s a good chance they’ll both be fighting very soon.”]
Fuka smirks, his rows of sharp teeth glimmering in the light. [“The kids are gonna make a splash.”]
The crabby Dholak, however, isn’t that excited about the possible outcome. [“Yeah, but let’s hope it doesn't turn red.”]
[“My comrade Ragdoll was also taken.”] Tiger adds with a burning determination for justice. [“This is my chance to get her back.”]
“That it is.” Tsukauchi agrees. “Thanks to the tracking devices set by one of the students we now believe there are two separate hideout locations. We know from our investigations where the kidnapped victims are located. We’ll send the bulk of our forces there, retrieving Midoriya and Bakugou is our priority. At the same time we’ll gain control of the other hideout. This will cut off their paths of retreat. We’ll arrest them all at once!”
That’s a whole lot of pressure, thinks Gran Torino. “All Might. If they’re recruiting old men like me then-”
“WHAT ARE YOU SUGGESTING? YOU’RE STILL GRAN TORINO. AND WITH SUCH STAGGERING STAKES AT HAND, WE CAN BE SURE HE IS INVOLVED.”
Cinder, having been overhearing, mutters a single name under his breath. “All For One.”
Gran Torino starts, looking at Cinder with a surprised expression. “You know?”
“HE DOES.” All Might affirms, showing no signs of guilt or shame for doing so. “WITH SO MUCH AT STAKE IT’S ONLY RIGHT HE KNOWS WHAT WE’RE IN FOR… FOR WHAT YOUNG MIDORIYA MIGHT BE ENDURING.”
The old veteran understands, asking nothing more of it. “Let’s bring the kids home.”
“We have the element of surprise!” Tsukauchi shouts, gathering the heroes’ attention before giving them his final commands. “These villains will not succeed! At the press conference earlier. We had Principal Nezu act clueless to deceive the villains. He feigned ignorance on camera as if we didn’t have leads!”
The rows and rows of riot geared police stand tall under his gaze.
“After hearing his words, the villains won’t expect us to rush in on the very same day! We’ll retaliate! It’s time for a counterattack!!”
On that the heroes and police rush out from their positions and holdout, entering the streets before quickly forming up before their predetermined destination.
“Remind the world of what you can do, HEROES!!!”
All Might grins up at the building, and the seemingly innocent bar inside. A fire of justice and righteousness raging from within his sapphire eyes.
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
A Few Minutes Earlier
Meanwhile, another rescue team is doing their own reconnaissance. But for such inexperienced rookies all that means is that they all gathered in front of the street vending machine placed across the street from the League’s warehouse.
Really it’s their attempt to not look suspicious while also trying to see as much as they can while they wait for Kraab to return.
“We’ve gotten pretty close, but we haven’t seen any movement.” Momo whispers, pushing up her sunglasses as Ochaco pretends to order some Kit-Kats.
“And not a single light is on.” Kirishima adds. “It doesn’t look like anyone’s home.”
Shoto eyes the building as carefully as he can. “They’re hiding this lair in plain sight. It looks like any other abandoned warehouse.”
Ochaco nods, her finger hovering over the vending machine’s keypad. ‘Hopefully Kraab finds something. Anything. Then we’ll-’
“Hey~!!”
Ochaco jumps back as a hand gets way too close to her and Momo.
Spinning around and expecting the villains, the kids are almost relieved to find nothing but a couple of drunk office workers both looking red in the face from a night of bar hopping.
“You looking for a real man darling~!” One of them, the shorter of the two with a balding head, asks while trying to wave the girls over.
Momo instantly backs away. “I’m good!”
“So-so am I!” Ochaco adds hurriedly.
“Aw, ditch these losers and come drink with us~.”
“HA!” His drunk companion slaps the back of his head. “Come on, don’t go picking fights!”
“Hahahaha~!!” The drunk laughs it off before continuing to pester.
At this point both Iida and Kirishima put themselves between him and the girls with Iida repeating the same lines from before while Kirishima threatens a brawl, in an attempt to scare them off while also staying in character.
But it’s not working. If anything, it gets louder and louder and more pestering as the drunks laugh it off while still trying to persuade what they think are two legal age women over.
Shoto, having had enough, while also wanting to end this quickly, hurries to interject and snuff the situation out. “Sorry.” Almost as if he’s done this before he smoothly gras the girls and pulls them into his sides, while still keeping that same in different yet unamused expression of his. “They’re booth spoken for.”
The drunks are caught off guard, and so are Ochaco and Momo who both begin to blush profusely.
But Shoto keeps his cool and somehow it works.
“Damnit! I hate pretty boys! Bleh!”
“Come on, let's go before you wake up in the gutter. Hahaha!!”
“Yeah, shit…”
And with that the drunks leave and Shoto, not missing his cue, pulls the girls away with Kirishima and Iida in toe.
The girls just let him lead them away, both just blushes messes behind their sunglasses.
Only as they round the corner does Shoto let them go before checking to see if they’re okay. “Are you two alrii-BLEH!!!”
There’s a loud clap as both sides of his face are met with sharp slaps. So hard his cheeks are left with two different handprints.
“We were just fine, thank you. We had it all under control.” Momo states with a cross of her arms, fuming.
“Yeah, we can take care of ourselves.” Ochaco snaps, turning away in defiance.
Shoto blinks, honestly, confused and not sure what brought this on. “I don’t get it. Did I say something wrong?” He asks his fellow boys.
Kirishima, however, grimaces. “Kinda. I think you made them both happy and mad.”
“That’s a literal Paradox, Kirishima.”
“That’s just how women are, man.”
Both Momo and Ochaco’s eyes flash red as the latter sharply asks. “What was that?”
“Care to repeat that?” Momo questions dangerously.
“N-NOPE!” Kirishima yelps back like a dog who knows he did something wrong.
“Come now, everyone!” Iida shouts in an attempt to wrangle them all in. “This is no time to get distracted! We must not draw attention to ourselves!!”
“Oh, kid, that ship sailed the moment you bought those clothes.”
Ochaco immediately lights up, peering down to find a little cyborg at their feet. “Kraab! You’re back.” She bends down and lifts him up for everyone to see.
“How did it go?” Iida asks.
Kraab rubs the side of his head as if he’s too nervous to say. “Remember when I said this place doesn't even make my top ten hideouts?”
Kirishima responds cautiously “Yeaaah?” Kirishima responds cautiously.
“Well, I’m officially changing my answer.” Kraab’s eyes light up before he projects a full 3-D holographic image of the warehouse and its entire interior.
Kirishima grins, having seen this same kind of hologram after the I-Island situation. “That never stops being cool.”
Momo, however, is more concerned with what the hologram is displaying. “What kind of facility is this?”
“It looks like a real lair!” Ochaco excitedly compares. “All it’s missing is a lava pit and some sharks.”
Shoto places a hand on her shoulder. “Uraraka, please. We’re already trying to rescue two others. Please don’t make us have to rescue you from insanity.”
She throws him a pointed look but takes it back as she figures that it’s best to stay focused.
Kraab gestures to rows and rows of cube-shaped tanks lining the warehouse and says. “See those vats? They got Nomus in there.”
Dread fills the students as Iida fearfully asks. “Did you say Nomus?!”
“I did. I think this is where they make ‘em. It’s some real Frankenstein shit.”
That’s not good. Nomus will be a real problem but… “But what about Deku?” Ochaco asks.
“And Bakugou?” adds Kirishima.
But Kraab sadly shakes his head. “Sorry, kids. I’ve been scanning for Deku and Baku-brat since we got off the train and nothing… They’re not here.”
And like that it feels like the single candle flame of hoping that was keeping the going shrinks, just a breeze away from dying out.
“But there is one person inside.”
The candle flame ignites as Kraab explains further. There’s some creep lurking in there. A real quack. He just keeps monologuing to himself as he checks on all the Nomus.”
Shoto contemplates this before making a suggestion. “Let’s have a look, then at the least we can get some more info for the heroes.”
After a moment of thinking Iida eventually agrees. “Agreed. But we do it carefully.”
“The guy won’t notice us, even in those getups” Kraab clarifies. “But either way I know exactly where to go to have a look.” he points at the hologram, signaling out a window off the west side of the building. “There’s a perfect window right here.”
Well, if a plan in mind and a way to achieve it they hurry towards the west side of the building. Unfortunately, Kraab’s scouting did not account for the tiny gap the kids would have to squeeze through between the two buildings. Forcing them to slide in sideways and shuffle through one by one. It’s a tight squeeze and some are feeling it more than most.
“This is so narrow, I might get stuck.”
“Yeah, me too.”
Kirishima’s face turns red as he tries to distract himself from the girl’s conversation. ‘Keep it together, man.’
*WACK!*
“OW!!” he glares up at the passenger on his head. “What was that for?!”
“You know what it was for.” Kraab retorts in full seriousness while holding onto Kirishima’s fake horns for support. As they keep going Kraab eventually calls for them to stop. “There. There’s our window.”
They all peer up and sure enough there is a window for them except there’s no light inside the building and it’s 5 feet above their heads.
“We’ll be blind in the darkness.” Shoto warns.
Momo, however, has a solution. “One second I’ll make a night vision scope.”
“Wait.” Kirishima fishes through his pocket and pulls out a camera recorder. “No need. I actually brought one along with me for this.”
“Woah, really?” Ochaco awes.
“When I thought about what we’d have to do. I figured we might need it.”
“That was a good call, kid.” Kraab hops onto the kid’s arm and fishes out several cords from his side and plugs them into the camera. “Now we can all have a look inside.”
Ochaco smiles, glad to have Kraab along. “Sweet.”
Shoto peers around Kirishima to address Ochaco. “Uraraka. If you like you could float up there and see inside for us.”
“I’m on it.” Ochaco takes the camera, pressing it between her fingers, before letting it go and letting it float up to the window like a balloon with Kraab’s cords acting as the string.
With the camera in place, Kraab activates the feed, projecting a hologram of the camera’s view.
The camera is set to night vision but the layout of the indie’s the same as Kraab’s map from before. They can see the vats of Nomus, and the sight makes them jump and gag when they see their exposed brains poking out from the water.
“Nomus…” Momo gags.
“Who is that?” Kirishima points at the screen just as a lanky figure limps into frame.
“He seems familiar…” Ochaco frowns, eyeing the shambly old man with such a sickly complexion and long locks of shambly gray hair.
“Shhh!” Shoto shushes. “Quiet. He’s saying something.”
They all quiet down listening closely through the camera’s mic. Thankfully they don’t have to listen very hard since the villain has an obvious love for monologuing, loudly.
[“Systems? Fully operational! Vitals? Stable! Development? On schedule! My current deposition? Utterly outrageous and UNREWARDING!!”] The skinny old man throws down his clipboard before pulling at his remaining hair that tapers out of his red framed goggles. [“Oh, what has become of me? I was on the verge of dramatically shifting the world order! And yet here I am, finding myself as nothing more than another’s intern! A mere assistant?! A FLUNKY!!! Me?! Well, how dare they! Do they not realize what true power I possess?! Well, I’ll show them. I’ll show them all what happens when you underestimate DR. ALOYSIUS ANIMO!!! Mwa-HAHAHAHAHA!!!”]
As Dr. Animo cackles to his braindead audience of Nomus, the kids stare on not sure what to make of the quack.
“This guy’s a real wack job!” Kirishima exclaims. “And who does he think he’s monologuing to?”
“He’s clearly insane.” Iida comments like he’s some hard studied psychologist. “He clearly suffers from some sort of inferiority complex.”
“We have to be careful.” Shoto warns. “We have no idea what he’s capable of.”
“It’s not him you should worry about.” Ochaco explains. “It’s his pets that are the problem.”
Momo doesn’t miss that and grows suspicious. “Uraraka, are you familiar with this villain?”
She nods. “I am, but I thought he was in jail. His name is Dr. Animo.”
Kraab stares at her. “Yeah, we kinda heard him shout it out for no reason.”
“I know, but listen, Deku and I and…a friend had a run in with him before U.A. He attacked a mall with an army of monster animals. Like giant frogs, birds, and I think there was a three headed dog at one point.”
Iida starts, surprised by the familiarity. “Animals?! Like the ones that assisted the villains during the U.S.J. incident?”
Kirishima starts as well. “And the giant bats at the camp!”
“Yes.” Ochaco confirms grimly. “Those mutant monsters must have been his! The League of Villains must have recruited him.”
“And now he’s making Nomus for them?” Momo frowns, glaring at the image of the doctor who’s still monologuing. “Just…just what are these Nomus?”
“Well maybe if we watch we’ll find out.” Kraab offers and they all lean in to listen.
And, obviously, they don’t have to wait long to get some answers.
[“But I shouldn’t freight! Oh, yes, I’ll help cook up more Nomus, sir! Of course I’ll humbly volunteer to do so… As if!! But it’s for my own benefit. Despite how it pains me to admit it, these Nomus are quite the biological-engineering marvels! Knowledge is power, so I must learn as much as I can. Be like the great animal kingdom: adapt and evolve! And evolved I have. If I do say so myself.”]
With a grin Dr. Animo glides his fingers over his domed cranium. He has indeed received some upgrades since Ochaco’s last encounter with him. Gone is that makeshift helmet of is, now replaced by a glass dome over his skull which keeps his brain exposed yet protected. And out from his brain stick out two exposed antennae. His clothes, no longer raggedy, but now he dawns an eerie green lab coat that’s fitted with all sorts of trinkets and devices, obviously meant to help in his work.
Dr. Animo grins, exposing his rotting teeth, before declaring to the world. [“No one can keep the likes of me hidden away forever! Mwa-Hahahaha!!”]
As he cackles and laughs he approaches one of the Nomu tanks and reaches above it pulling down a horrific-device of many spider-like arms with needles and prods at the end. With a snap of his finger the Nomu from within the tank awakens and rises.
The kids flinch expecting some horrific mutant monstrosity. But instead, this Nomu, albeit still mysterious, lacks any animalistic features. Instead it almost looks completely humanoid minus except for the gray skin, dead looking gaze, and hanging jaw.
[“I shall bid my time, soon the League of Villains’ day will come and go.”] He activates the device as well as his own Quirk, Animal Mutation, and from both his head and the device rays and shocks of red pierce the oblivious Nomu.
“GROOOOOO!!!” The Nomu lets out a pain filled howl and yet it doesn’t resist as its entire body is shocked and tinkered with.
With howls and howling filling the lab, Nomu’s body begins to shift and expand, morphing into a living nightmare. Sharp wings pierce out from its back, its eyeballs are forced apart and manipulated to expand. Its arms stretch and bend as a set of pincers pierce through its cheeks.
Dr. Animo’s grin is hideous, maniacal as he watches the birth of a fully developed Nomu. [“And that’s when I, Dr. Animo, will take my rightful place at the TOP of the Food Chain! Hehehehehehe!!!”]
“GREEEeeee!!” The Dragon-fly Nomu lets out a piercing howl, as it rises up before its current cackling master, and much to the horror of the teens.
[“Mwa-Hehehehehehehe!!”]
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
“Hahahahahaha!!” Even with Izuku gone for now, Shigaraki’s still reeling in the thrill of it all. Those reactions were priceless, if only he had a camera. “How’s that for a show?! Oh, the poor brat has no idea what he’s in for. But what about you, Katsuki Bakugou? Do you have any ideas on what’s going to happen to you now?”
‘What happens now?’ Well, that’s just one of the many questions filling poor Bakugou’s confused head. ‘Aliens are real? And Deku’s one of them? But where’s Deku now? He left with Uuichi and that purple alien freak. What are they gonna do with him? What are they planning? Fuck! What is all this?!’
“Face the facts. You can’t escape us.” Shigaraki explains, trying to quell any more thoughts of defying him. “You can’t hide, run, or fight your way out of this. But do you really want to?” It’s a poignant question especially after considering all that’s just transpired. “Do you still think the heroes, who have no idea about what’s really out there, can win? Do any of the implications of what you’ve learned even make sense to you?”
‘None of this makes sense.’ Bakugou, frustratingly, admits. He’s trying to make sense of it all. He really is but this is a lot to ask. It’s terrifying. Terrifying to think Deku’s had that kind of power all along. Terrifying that they’re out there. But…it’s even more terrifying that villains, that these villains, know about it. And even scarier is that he has no idea what they’re doing with Deku now. ‘Who is this Master? And what’s he want Deku for?! Shit! Focus, dammit! He’s distracting me. I-I need to get out of here. I need to fight! I need to get Deku-’
*KNOCK. KNOCK. KNOCK.*
Silence. Stillness. Everyone stops, no one even breathes, as they all stare at the door as some lost delivery boys mumbles on. “Hello? I got a pizza delivery here.”
Everyone snaps back to reality, growing on edge. Spinner for one backs against the wall while slowly reaching for his nearest knife-*CRASH!!!*
“SMASH!!!” Bursting through the wall like a berserk Cool-Aid Man, All Might smashes through wall, throwing Spinner to the ground as bricks fly across the bar.
“WHAT DA?!” Spinner screams as he’s thrown off his feet and to the ground amongst a cloud of dust and brick.
“Kurogiri!! Gate!” Shigaraki screams.
Kurogiri’s form expands, hurrying to do so before they’re all done in.
But he’s too slow, as Kamui Woods swings in from above All Might’s head and announces his presence. “Pre-emptive Binding LACQUERED CHAIN PRISON!!!” His arms branch and extend out at an explosive speed, wrapping themselves around every single villain in the room, binding their limbs together and completely immobilizing them in mere milliseconds.
Dabi, however, thinks of it as nothing more than a setback, as small blue flames begin to sprout from his body. “That’s easy-”
*ZIIIIIP! ZIIIIIP! ZIIIIIP!*
A flash of yellow zips through the gap, bouncing off the walls before BLAM Gran Torino’s foot collides with Dabi’s skull.
“Don’t do anything foolish!” The old veteran warns as Dabi’s thrown down and out into a daze. “It’s in your best interest to cooperate with us.”
“JUST WHAT I’D EXPECT FROM A COMPETENTE NEW HERO. AND A VETERAN PRO WHO MOVES FASTER THAN THE EYE CAN SEE. YOU CAN’T RUN ANYMORE LEAGUE OF VILLAINS! UNDERSTAND?!” With his grin intact and his spirit a flame, All Might stands before the League like a man on a mission, one he intends to succeed. “BECAUSE WE ARE HERE NOW!”
Mr. Compress can’t believe it, this is too soon. “Right after the press conference? They had this ruse planned the whole time!”
Twice struggles against his binds. “Treeman, you're hugging me too tight. Harder!!”
Toga yelps, trying to slip free but it’s way too tight.
Even Charmcaster’s stuck, unable to reach for her bag of tricks.
“One tends to neglect defense when you’re on the offense.” Edgeshot announces as his 2-D form slides through the shut door. “But we didn’t come alone.”
The door glows red, then orange before a stream of flames breaks through and melts away the rest of the door. Cinder leaps in, respirator on and his Amenonuhoko spear already drawn and aflame. “And we didn’t come with any mercy.” He growls, with a silver briefcase latched to his belt and thigh.
And behind him stands Inspector Tezuka and a squad of riot police.
Inspector Tezuka has her pistol out and locked onto the villains. “Just look outside, villains! You’re surrounded by the police and even more heroes outside! Stand down!”
They really really should, although Endeavor sure would love a scrap.
“Tsukauchi!” Endeavor roars, while standing guard uselessly from outside along with the rest of the police force. “Why does Edgeshot get to rush into the fight while I’m stuck here with you?!”
Tsukauchi barely has time for this, but he humors the Number Two Hero anyway. “Because if someone slips out we’ll need you to capture them immediately.”
“GAH!!!” Endeavor angrily snarls back, hitting the fact he can’t argue with that logic.
Meanwhile, All Might couldn’t feel more elated. They’ve got the villains right where they want them, and they’ve got Bakugou back. “AH, YOU MUST HAVE BEEN SCARED BUT YOU STAYED STRONG. I’M SORRY. YOU'RE SAFE NOW, YOUNG MAN.”
Bakugou stays quite mainly because he doesn’t want to let it slip, especially in front of All Might, that he…he was scared. Or that he’s still scared… Deku.
Shigaraki is seething in his binds, unable to press his fingers against the tree-hero and turn him into dust. ‘After I went through all the trouble of preparing this, the Final Boss goes and shows up on my doorstep. Everyone’s been restrained, there’s no easy way to escape… It can’t be helped. So they got back up, huh?! Well, we do too!!’ With revenge in mind, Shigaraki calls for immediate action. “KUROGIRI!!! Warp over as many as you can!!”
However, All Might was waiting for this. “THE NOMU, RIGHT?”
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
1 MINUTE EARLIER
The teens have been listening to Dr. Animo’s monologuing for so long that they’re actually starting to doze off. As they listen, however, Kirishima hears what sounds like a truck’s weight shifting and he looks over to find a surprise waiting for them back on the main street. “Hey! Guys look!”
They do and just in time to watch as a pickup truck is hoisted off the ground by a giant foot lodged into the bed.
The unaware Mt. Lady lifts her leg straight up and over the warehouse before bringing it down and delivering the world’s biggest Axe-Kick!!
Like a wrecking ball falling from the sky, her kick smashes through the building's frame, rendering it to dust and splinters.
Having been so close to the point of impact the kids brace against each other as they’re nearly knocked off their feet by the resounding blast and shaking.
“Waaaah!! What is this?!” Dr. Animo cries out, terrified as the streetlights flood the facility.
“This is a raid!” Gang Orca exclaims, grabbing the villain by the neck and hoisting him up. “And
your unlucky day.”
“Gang Orca?!” Dr. Animo gulps and offers up a weak smile. “Heh, eh. Would you believe I’m a fan?”
“Doubt that!” Rushing in, Fuka tackles the vats, toppling them and their Nomus over.
The instant they're exposed they’re grabbed, wrapped and bound by shimmering threads, crab pincers, and giant grips.
As Best Jeanist, Dholak, and Mt. Lady attain the monstrous beasts.
“We have control.” Best Jeanist announces with suave and elegance. “The Nomu are neutralized.”
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Shigaraki blinks, the Nomu should have been flooding the area by now. “What are you waiting for dammit?”
Kurogiri isn’t waiting, something is very wrong. “I’m sorry Tomura Shigaraki. The Nomus were supposed to be in a fixed location, but…they’re gone.”
“Huh?!”
All Might walks over, his guard down, but rightfully so as he places a meaty hand over Bakugou’s shoulders. “IT SEEMS YOU HAVE A LOT TO LEARN SHIGARAKI. YOU’RE STILL GREEN.”
If All Might wasn’t under Shigaraki’s skin before then he certainly is now.
“YOUR LITTLE LEAGUE UNDERESTIMATED ALL OF US. THE SOUL OF THIS YOUNG MAN. THE POLICE’S DILIGENT INVESTIGATIONS. AND OUR RIGHTEOUS FURY.”
Cinder gives his Amenonuhoko a spin, the flames illuminating and burning at the villain’s heels. “Our burning fury.”
Dabi, whose head is still spinning, has enough sense to perk up at the mention of burning.
“ENOUGH IS ENOUGH!” All Might announces, his mere presence and the air of justice and righteous emanating from him is enough to put the fear of god into them all. “YOUR GAME HAS COME TO AN END. TOMURA SHIGARAKI!”
Spinner is scared for his life, left trembling on the ground like a coward. “All Might, please! You’re the only hero Stain respected! You are worthy!”
Worthy? Not in Shigaraki’s eyes. “You think it’s over? Don’t be stupid. I’ve only just begun to play.” Despite the binds he manages to resist, struggling against them and having enough strength to rise to his feet. “J-justice? Peace? You created a garbage society by lifting up such ridiculous ideals. That’s why I targeted you, All Might. It’s why I started gathering people to my cause.” His piercing red gaze staring straight into All Might’s sapphire. “You think this is the end? Then you’ve lost. KUROGIRI!!!”
In a flash a whip of a thin red string pierces Kurogiri’s chest and the villain goes down.
“What just happened?!” Magne cries out, having just witnessed Kurogiri keel over from her position on the floor. “I couldn’t’ see anything! Did they just kill him?!”
The red string loops up and out from the villain’s body and responds. “I played around with his insides, and he fell unconscious.” The string sews itself together, reforming into Edgeshot’s head and face. “THOUSAND SHEET PIERCE.” That was his Ultimate Move and obviously it deserves that title. “Such a nuisance. He had to sleep.”
“Weren’t you listening earlier?” Gran Torino rhetorically asks. “You’ll all be better off if you take us seriously.” Gran Torino scans the villains before landing on Magne’s prone form. “Kenji Hikiishi.”
Magne jumps with a start at the sound of her own name.
From there Gran Torino goes down the list starting with Mr. Compress and moves down the list to Twice. “Atsuhiro Sako, Shuichi Iguchi, Himiko Toga, Jin Bubaigawara. Though they had little time and information the police worked through the night to discover your true identities. Do you understand? There’s nowhere left for any of you to run?” And so he finally turns to Shigaraki, the fake head of this minor League. “So, Shigaraki? One question. Where is your boss hiding?”
Shigaraki stumbles in his binds, his mind triggered by the hate and rage phasing through his system.
It’s just like back then. Just like that dark alley… The day he found him.
[FLASHBACK]
“No one’s come to save you have they? You’ve had a hard life, Tenko Shimura.”
…
“He’ll be fine. Eventually the heroes will help. I’m sure that’s what everyone thought as they looked away and ignored you. The world shouldn’t be so unforgiving.”
…
“You didn’t do anything wrong.”
…
“Don’t worry. I am here for you.”
[End of FLASHBACK]
“No… This is…not over. Just you wait. The game is still mine!”
All Might’s had enough. “YOU’LL TELL US WHERE HE IS RIGHT NOW!”)
“Go away… Disappear!”
‘The boss?’ Bakugou swivels around towards the sealed back door. “He’s in there! The boss is in there with Deku!!”
Cinder doesn’t hesitate, immediately rushing for the door. He’s kept his cool for now, assuming they were keeping Izuku at the Nomu Factory. But if he’s here with that devil, well then, he has no time to waste!!
“Cinder, wait!’ Inspector Tezuka calls but Cinder’s already unleashing an Ultimate Move.
“BREAKING FLARE!!” His flaming Amenonuhoko pierces the door before he unleashes a trail of flames through the spear, the heat piercing through the door and blasting it apart.
“Izuku!!” Cinder leaps through the doorway, spear raised and ready to fight. But the room…it’s empty. Bare and empty. It’s small, dark, and void of any decoration, except for the single television showing nothing but static.
“NOOO!!!” Cinder roars, burning the TV before kicking it against the brick wall. “WHERE IS HE!?! WHAT HAVE YOU DONE WITH HIM!?!”
The villains stay silent, no one daring to answer. Some, if not all, of them wince back fearing his flaming fury. But there is one, one that can’t help but have some satisfaction. Even if the smile hurts his stitches.
“WHERE ARE THEY!?!” All Might roars joining alongside the father.
“This is your fault.” Shigaraki breathes shakily, his focus solely on the Symbol of Peace. The very reason he’s here. The very reason any of this has happened. “I HATE YOU!!!”
“Raaaw…! Ryeee…!” Bursting out from nowhere, a pair of gray Nomus spill out from seemingly thin air at either of Shigaraki’s sides. Taking both the heroes and villains by surprise.
Foul ooze splashes across the bar as more Nomus claw their way out from the summoned pits, their dead eyes immediately locking onto the heroes and police. “Raaaw!! Ryeee!!
Kamui Woods gasps, but he doesn’t break his hold. “Nomu?! How'd they get here?! What is this?!”
“Dammit!” Gran Torino zips back and away from the swiping monsters. “Edgeshot!! Stop Kurogiri!!”
Edgeshot, however, is already checking the villain. “He’s still out, this isn’t his doing!”
“RYEEEE!!!” With shrieks and howls the Nomus just keep crawling out of the woodwork!!
“They keep on coming!” Gran Torino shouts.
All Might quickly turns to address the rookie hero. “DON’T RELEASE THEM UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES, GOT IT?!”
Kamui Woods’ got it. “Right!”
“BLEH!!!” With All Might’s back turned, he misses the foul ink that’s started pouring out of Bakugou's throat. As it chokes him and begins to swallow him up. ‘Aw, crap!!’
“BAKUGOU!!!” All Might hurries to grab him, but his fingers uselessly slip right through the ink and before they know it, the ink shrinks away and vanishes, along with Bakugou. “NOOOOOO!!!”
Cinder stumbles back, shaken, taken off guard and he panics to come up with a solution. “Shigaraki!! Where?! Where did you send them?!”
But he doesn't answer, the villain’s too preoccupied watching the heroes and police struggle with the sudden squad of Nomus.
Acknowledging their struggle, Kamui Woods hurries to call for backup. “Endeavor! Help us! Huh?!”
Swarms of Nomus have snuck around them. Pouring out from those inky-portals and taking the entire police force and Endeavor by surprise.
“N-NOooo!!”
It’s chaos. The police are scattered, gunshots ring out from all over, while the shrieks of the Nomus’ tearing their way through their forces echo through the city. And they show no sign of stopping. “RYEEEEEE!!!”
A flaming fist burns away at a Dragon-Fly Nomu’s head, completely incinerating it. “Tsukauchi! Evacuate the area!!” Endeavor calls out before another Nomu rushes up to challenge him.
But the poor detective’s at a loss, the villains have completely sabotaged their supposedly-efficient raid. “They’re from the other hideout. That location should be locked down.” He scrambles for his radio and tries to signal the other group. “Come in Jeanist! What the hell is going on over there?” But there’s no answer. All he hears is the chaos already unfolding around him. “JEANIST!?!”
Meanwhile the heroes inside the bar aren’t fairing that well either as they all do their best to stay out of the reach of the assaulting Nomus. “RYEEEEEEE!!!”
As a Nomu swipes for the veteran hero, Gran Torino zips up and back down, striking its spine and nailing it down before ricocheting away to All Might and Cinder’s side, both having just taken down their own Nomus. “All Might! Cinder! What now?”
“THEY SHOULDN’T HAVE BEEN ABLE TO WARP NOMU HERE. AND THIS BACKUP CAME TOO FAST.” Which could potentially mean one thing… ‘I FEAR THAT…HE HAS MADE A MOVE.’
He has made a move. And it is glorious. So much so, Shigaraki can’t look away. The dripping ink of blackness, The shrieking monsters. The frightful police. The panicking heroes. Only one man is capable of crafting such wonderful chaos. “Master…”
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2 MINUTES EARLIER
Mt. Lady’s Axe-Kick sure did a number on the building. And to the kids too. That pressure threw them right off their feet and onto the ground.
It was so strong that Ochaco lost her jacket and sunglasses. “Ow…” She groans, checking to make sure she’s alright and finds her red shirt with the yellow star on it still intact.
Iida gets up too, holding head. “Did the building just come down?”
Shoto groans and nods, having lost his wig as well.
Once the teens have gathered themselves they hurry back together, gathering up Kraab and the camera, before peering through the window again.
And the sight is a huge relief. Best Jeanist has almost every Nomu lied up and leashed in a web of glimmering threads. Gang Orca has Dr. Animo hoisted up by his throat. Mt. Lady gags as she wrangles any nearby Nomu. While Tiger rushes to a victim’s side and Gang Orca’s two sidekicks hang back on standby, although Fuka does have one Nomu locked in his jaws.
Kirishima couldn’t be happier to see them. “Gang Orca and Mt. Lady? Woah, even Best Jeanist is here!”
“And Mr. Tiger too!” Momo points out as they continue to watch.
“Ugh!” Mt. Lady gags while the Chainjaw Nomu squirms in her giant grip. “Are these gross dudes really alive? I thought we’d be in for a fight, but this was super easy. Maybe we should have left this to the police and gone with All Might?”
Best Jeanist “Difficulty and importance are two very different things, rookie.” Best Jeanist chides before addressing their legion of riot police. “Riot Squad! Get the transports ready! There could be more of them. Be on you guard!”
“Yes, sir!” And the police set off as per their instructions.
Meanwhile, Tiger is clutching Ragdoll, who seems awake but unresponsive. Laying limply in Tiger’s arms with only a blanket. “Come on, Ragdoll, wakeup for me.”
Dholak hurriedly scuttles over with a first-aid kit in hand. “Quickly.” He reaches up and presses a finger to her wrist, feeling for a pulse. “She’s breathing, that’s good. I see no signs of severing injury except for her shoulder, but it’ll heal over.”
“Yes but look at her!” She hasn't even acknowledged their presences. She seems completely broken and out of it. “What have they done to you my friend?” But, unfortunately, he does not receive a response.
Gang Orca, however, has another way to get answers. “Speak, villain. Tell me exactly what you’ve done.” demands to know)
“I have done nothing to her!” Dr. Animo exclaims. “But I did have plans to feed her to my pet!”
With the snap of his finger a massive blast erupts from the other side of the factory. And a giant mutant frog emerge and immediately pounces for the heroes.
“Yes! Obey your master! Devour these heroes! Body and soul! Mwa-Hahaha!!”
Gang Orca, however, doesn’t even flinch as he releases a piercing sonic blast. *SKREEEE!!!*
The high frequency blast does its work fast as the shock ripples through the frog’s entire body, completely stunning it.
With a heavy thump the giant frog is down and out.
Annoyed, Gang Orca turns his deadly gaze back towards the villain, who’s still in his clutches.
Dr. Animo smiles sheepishly. “You know, maybe I acted too hastily? W-why don’t we start over? My my, I n-never even introduced myself! And while we’re on the subject would you like some t-tea? And, oh my goodness, this place is such a mess. Here allow me to-”
“Be quiet.” The gangster growls. “One more word out of you and I rip out your throat.”
Dr. Animo gulps, whimpering helplessly while nodding in submission.
Although the doctor’s spirit is crushed, the teens’ spirit couldn’t be higher.
“It’s fine.” Iida sighs, happy and relieved that it’s all over. “The heroes were on top of this way before we were.”
Kirishima, who lost his fake horns, couldn’t be happier. “This is great!”
“Now then, let’s get back home. At least we won’t have to explain ourselves.”
Ochaco finally relaxes too, so relieved that tears start collecting in her eyes. “So then, All Might must have rescued Deku and Bakugou.”
Kraab hops over to her shoulder and comfortly pokes her cheek. “And don’t forget Cinder’s there too.”
Momo lights up at the mention of the heroes. “With All Might on the scene there’s no reason for us to worry. Let’s go, quick.” With that she begins leading the way back out the narrow alley.
“Right.” Shoto agrees and follows, as do the others.
Ochaco takes the rear of the group, taking solace in the fact that it’s all over. The League’s defeated, the Nomus are gone, and their friends are with the heroes. They are all safe and-
FEAR. A primordial fear freezes Ochaco in her tracks, her heart rate accelerating as her instincts scream of danger. But of what she…she has no idea. And yet, somehow, she does know… There’s some kind of…presence nearby. She can feel it.
Meanwhile from inside the destroyed factory, a quiet set of footsteps echo through the pitch dark of the shadows, alerting the heroes to the same presence. “I’m sorry, Tiger. But Ragdoll’s Quirk is so useful.”
Tiger and the other heroes are immediately put on edge, peering back at the dark but unable to spot the interloper. Although by the look of Dr. Animo’s sudden pale complexion, they most certainly have much to worry about.
“I just had to take it. How could I not?”
“Are you with the League?” Gang Orca questions,
Tiger turns and calls over to the police. “Somebody get us a light!”
“Since my body was mostly destroyed I haven’t been able to stock up on Quirks.” Meanwhile, the steps echo closer and closer until the intruder’s visage is just barely in focus.
“Stop there! Don’t Move!!” Gang Orca orders, his claws and fangs bared and ready to draw blood.
But this figure. This presence. Show no signs of even recognizing Gang Orca’s request as an order, like he simply can’t bother himself to listen. Instead, he emerges from the shadows, fully revealing himself to the hero.
The moment the man steps out from the shadows, Best Jeanist instantly lashes out, webbing up the figure in a body squeezing bind of sharp threads.
And yet the presence doesn’t even react nor resist against the tightening wires. Like it’s not a bother at all.
Well, it certainly bothers Mt. Lady. “Hey! You can’t attack like that! What if he’s just a bystander?!”
“Think about the situation!” Best Jeanist explains, despite the man not outwardly resisting he’s somehow struggling to contain him. “A moment of hesitation could decide the fight! We can’t let these villains try ANYTHING!” With a pull more threads cocoon around the figure and tighten, threatening to break bones and flesh.
And so how? How could red sparks of lightning emit from inside the threads. How could the threads break away? How could anyone stand up to the resulting blast?
*BOOOOOOOM!!!!*
Smoke. Fire. Rubble. Kamino Ward is showered by it all as red lightning flashes through the flattened factory. Buildings shake and topple over, reduced to piles of rubble in mere milliseconds. They’re gone along with the hero’s fight as they’re all left laying limply on the ash covered ground,
The teens…the kids are frozen. Frozen in fear. Like little deer they’re instincts cry for them to not move. To hide and stay still and hope the threat goes by. But they know it won’t. He won’t.
The dark suit makes him look like a businessman, like the devil goes out and about conducting his hellish rule like a CEO would. All in all, it’s rather standard. Except for the navy blue, skull-like gas mask on his face. The helmet covers his entire skull with angular tubes at the top, a wide collar-like life-support system around his neck with additional pipes connecting in the front and back, presumably to help him breathe. A perfect combination of business and monster.
This man, no, this devil standing before them is a true menace. “Tomura has finally started thinking rationally and making decisions by himself. I do wish you hadn't gotten in his way.”
They had no time to react. No time to stop him. No time to even more. It all…he happened in an instant. In a microsecond he had them all quaking in fear. And in that moment, the teens, for almost the first time, truly knew what it meant to have a brush with death.
They can almost picture it, their lifeless corpses left abandoned on the ground in pools of their own cold blood. It’s oh so vivid and clear.
[FLASHBACK]
Toshinori takes a moment to get up from his seat, walking over to the windows allowing the setting sun to bathe him in its light. “So, now you know. The entire purpose of One For All is to defeat All For One. As its holder, you may one day have to fight against this great evil yourself. Because I failed…”
[End of FLASHBACK]
Ochaco claws at her chest. It feels like it’s compressing in on itself as if her own heart wants to escape. ‘What is this? It’s not true, is it All Might? Don’t tell me that this…! This is…All For One…?!’
The Symbol of Evil radiates shadows and ash, levitating above that he razed like a demon. “Now then, shall we begin?”
To be continued…
Notes:
AH!!! Who saw that coming?! Everyone…everybody did. Yeah, I know. And I know a lot of you thought Vilgax was gonna drop out of the sky and appear…don’t worry. He’s gonna make his move really soon, but that chair of his is really comfy. And it’s universal knowledge that all aliens love TV soooo, yeah. ;)
But real real things are gonna get good (I hope).
*Yes, Will Harangue is here and in all his “glory.” I’ve been planning to have him be introduced here for so long so I hope you all enjoyed his intro. Also, I should explain this because I’m not sure if it’ll ever be relevant to the story itself but here goes. My cannon for Harangue is that he has a Quirk called Silver Tongue, an Emitter Quirk which allows him to plant suggestions into people’s heads even through TV and speakers. Caveat is that the person has to be open to suggestions. Most of the time he doesn’t use his Quirk during day-to-day or at work. BUT he still used it to his advantage during key times in his life, work, and career. Eventually the U.S. media and people found out he used the Quirk several times while on air. So, after a court order and a few slips of Silver Tongue from Harangue he avoided his name being smeared and the knowledge of his Quirk form becoming widespread. However, he was forced to leave for Japan and start a NEW Harangue Nation. Which yes he did use Silver Tongue to help get it produced.
*Also DR. ANIMO is back!! I missed him. That’s it. One day I will type up an OVA where he and Deku fight during the Road Trip Arc. Buuuuut that’ll take some time to write up.
Chapter 83: Courage and Fear Part II
Summary:
The Heroes battle for their students back. However, dark forces are playing them like a chess board and moving pieces the heroes have no clue that they have
Notes:
I’m back. Finally, back with the end of the Kamino Ward Arc. Finally, took forever to get here. And again, sorry about that but life is gonna happen. Now before we begin I just want to warn you all this might not be exactly what you’re expecting. How so? Well, you’ll soon find out why I say this. But please give me a chance and it'll all make sense in the end. Thank you.
*Please forgive any errors like spelling or grammar. I finished this all up at midnight just to get this out on time so please forgive me.
*Check out the side-story “Heroes Never Die; It’s Hero Time, Anytime” for cannon one-shots, Omakes, OVAs, Announcements, and Updates.
*This story has a TV Tropes page so feel free to check it out and google it. On this page you will find a list of all of Izuku’s aliens, plot points, arcs, funny moments, artwork, and more.
(https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Fanfic/HeroesNeverDieItsHeroTime
*Disclaimer I do not own the rights to Ben 10 or MHA.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
All is quiet amongst the stars, after all no one can hear you scream in space. And yet Psyphon just seems to air annoyances and noise no matter where he skulks about. And right now, as he enters the command center of the ship, he seems even more jittery than usual. “Master the League of Villains have upheld their end. I shall ensure the drones set a course for Vilgaxia immediately.”
He turns to address said drones but is cut off by a quiet…
“No.”
“M-Master?” Psyphon turns towards his master who has yet to even face him. His master has been seated before the holographic screens for hours now, watching the lowly humans be berated by their own kind, and has yet to move from that spot. All with his back still turned towards him.
Instead, with a wave of his claw, he gives Psyphon a list of commands. “Have Nue and SevenSeven deliver the gift to the medical bay and oversee their condition. Contact Ragnarok and have him prepare for the DNA extraction. Finally, send word to Rojo and Malware to prepare my vehicle for launch.”
Psyphon starts at that, taken back by the commander’s orders. “B-But Master? We have what we-I mean you c-came for. Surely you don’t intend on catering to these humans do you?”
That might have been the wrong thing to say as his Master shifts dangerously in his seat. “Watch your tongue, Psyphon. Before I tear it out and feed it to my pets.”
Psyphon gulps at the thought of all those freaks they have locked away in their detention block. Even he’d rather bear with one of his master’s punishments than any of them.
“I intend to keep my end of the bargain. I do believe this new partnership will be very…lucrative for us.” His Master rises from his seat and stomps towards the windows where he proceeds to stare out over the blue and green sphere that is the planet Earth. “I’ve been denied my prize for too long. However, without it in my position I have grown greedy. “All For One taught me much and I plan to use that knowledge for myself.”
Without any signs of hesitation, the commander turns and marches away, nearly stepping on Psyphon as he exits.
“M-master?! Where are you going?!”
“I crave more, Psyphon. I desire more power. But there will be no more agents. No more soldiers and tools that do as I wish. For this prize…” He turns, and Vilgax towers over the minion, his eyes beating with desire and hate as his rippling muscles and tentacles crave for battle. “I will see to this task myself.”
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[PLAY “ My Hero Academia Season 3 - Opening | ODD FUTURE ”]
I Keep My Ideals; Sorezore
Izuku Midoriya and Henzu Uuichi are standing back-to-back facing away from each other as their story of transformation from friends to enemy's flashes between them.
No Tenmei Wo Ooo
The camera P.O.V. zooms upward, traveling through space at light speed.
What's going through? (Instrumental)
The Omnitrix glows green, floating between a pair of Galvin’s hands.
Subete Wa Mi Kara Deta Sabi
Izuku runs out of Mr. Baumann’s store before jumping on his hoverboard with the man chasing after him angrily.
Haburi Yoku Fuyashita Kuro Rekishi
He begins laughing as Megawatts swarm around him and into the bright sky.
Arito Arayuru Mono Wo Sutetari
One of the Megawatts glides past Ochaco Uraraka who lets out a cheer as she leads Class A around a running course.
Mi Ni Oboe No Nai Unmei Ni
Katsuki Bakugou begins shouting as he tries to overtake her, but she just runs faster, earning his angrier.
Korosare Kaketa Koto Mo Attashi
Principal Nezu walks in front of the U.A. staff along with the WWPC before passing by a pillar. Leaving just him along with Thirteen, One-One, and Gran Torino before passing another pillar.
Shinda Me Wo Shite Ikita Jiki Soredemo Kyou Mo Ikasareteru
The pillar moves to reveal Nue standing in front of Vilgax's Legion with the League of Villains standing behind him.
Tte Koto Wa
SevenSeven appears in front of the camera P.O.V. and shoots the screen.
What's going on? Mada Sou Yari Nokoshiten Darou
Ochaco Uraraka and Tomura Shigaraki stand back-to-back as their respective mentors look down at them before the two begin to walk away from each other.
Syuusei No Shiyou No Nai Hibi No Naka Demo
Izuku looks on at a photo of him, Inko, and a faded-out figure before closing his eyes as All Might appears behind him. All Might fades out leaving Hisashi in his place. Hisashi turns and let’s loose a torrent of flames.
What's going on?
Xylene leaps from the flames, her eyes aglow with Telekinesis as she launches multiple boulders forward.
Hito Towa Chigau To
Tetrax stands firm, a wave of diamonds swallow up the nearby flames as he glares into the camera with a stoic look.
Mitometa Ue De
The diamonds melt together to reveal Lucy Mann smiling as she jumps forward to deliver a flying kick through the flaming air.
Kanousei No Rutsubo Hiraku, Ah
The fire forms a circle to reveal Cinder smirking up at a snarling Vilgax; the two glare each other down.
Dreaming
The two enemies clash creating a shockwave destroying everything around them.
Ishi Gyakusou Shikakui Sora
Civilian's runaway in panic as animalized Nomus terrorize the city all the while All for One looks on from his tower.
Kokoro No Sukima Umenu
Suddenly Pro Heroes from across Japan appear and fight the beasts head on.
Akenu Yoru Kara
All for One looks on before looking up to see something coming at him at high speed.
Nukeyou~
All Might roars as he lets loose a furious punch at his nemesis.
Mirai
The opposing powers clash creating a giant explosion of power!
No Kaizou Do Sage Bokura Wa
Zooming out it’s revealed that the explosion is a clash between orange and azure flames courtesy of an enraged Shoto Todoroki and a deranged Dabi.
Me Wo Sorashite Wa Naritai
All around them Class A & B fight the League of Villains’ Vanguard Action Squad head on.
Bakugou uses a Howitzer Impact against Moonfish.
Iida Recipro Bursts past SevenSeven.
Tsuyu hopes over a knife wielding Toga.
Mono Nante Naito Uso Buita Hibi Wo
A pink glowing Ochaco races towards a grinning Charmcaster. As massive violet-runed tendrils curl and spiral around her form.
I Keep My Ideals; Sorezore No Jinsei
A red hued Nue and green highlighted Izuku charge at each other as chaos ensues around them.
Ai Mo Yume Mo Kiken Na Hodo Kantan Ni Hi Ga Tsuichau Nosa
The two opposing colors spark and clash like thunder and lightning across the battlefield, with Izuku transforming between Shocksquatch, Humungousaur, and more.
The two back away from each other before charging once again this time both of them in their human forms as their foreheads clash with each other.
Gongu Nari Sorezore No Tenmei
HEROES NEVER DIE; IT’S HERO TIME
Silhouettes of past Izuku and Henzu are walking with each other, with Henzu's arm flung over Izuku's shoulders.
Wo ~
All highlighted with neon green Deku, Uravity, Ground Zero, Pinky, Kraab, Tetrax, Cinder, and All Might stand in a line before the all red highlighted Nue, Ragnarok, Sunder, Rojo, SevenSeven, Techadon, Malware, and an imposing Vilgax towering over them all.
( Illustrated by Drag0n5on )
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Ch.78 Courage and Fear Part II
“RYEEEEEEE!!!” Nomus crawl and shriek into the bar, pulling themselves through veils of gushing inky globs. “RYEEEEEEE!!!”
All Might winces back in shock. “THEY SHOULDN’T HAVE BEEN ABLE TO WARP NOMU HERE. AND THIS BACKUP CAME TOO FAST.” Which could potentially mean one thing… ‘I FEAR THAT…HE HAS MADE A MOVE.’
He has made a move. And it is glorious. So much so, Shigaraki can’t look away. The dripping ink of blackness, The shrieking monsters. The frightful police. The panicking heroes. Only one man is capable of crafting such wonderful chaos. “Master…”
“BLAH!!!” Toga coughs, choking on the sudden spillage of bubbling ink pouring out from her throat.
And it’s not just her as the entire League of Villains have the same substance pouring out from their maws as well, choking them as the ooze quickly consumes their bodies.
In an attempt to get to the fleeing villains, Gran Torino tries to zoom up and around the Nomus. “Stop them! Before they all disappear!!”
“Don’t let them!!” Cinder screams he tries to dash for the villains but another Nomu plops into his way.
“DAMMIT! YOU WON’T ESCAPE, SHIGARAKI!!” All Might screams, lunging after Shigaraki’s shrinking form. “TAKE ME WITH YOU!!”
But like a replay of what happened with Bakugou’s vanishing, All Might’s hand uselessly slips through the ooze with no solid contact.
“NOOOOO!!!” He’s failed again.
And Kamui Woods feels the same, after all they all vanished away even while bound up in his branches. “No! NO!!! I’M SO SORRY!!!”
“This wasn’t your fault.” Edgeshot assures as he leaps up into the air, away from a lunging Nomu. “None of us were able to do anything.” His body stretches out into a single red thread that pierces through the Nomu’s head, making its body go limp. “Kurogiri’s Quirk opens up Warp Gates that allow anyone to pass through.” He explains as his head reforms above the downed monster. “But this was targeting specific people.”
“RYeee! RGraaaa!!” More Nomus pour and attack without reservation, much to the heroes’ and police’s grief.
*BANG! BANG! BANG!* Inspector Tezuka’s pistol goes off, gunning down two Nomus with a multitude of shots only for two more to take their place. “Monsters! They just keep coming!”
Gran Torino ricochets off the walls before slamming the two Nomus away. “ALL MIGHT!!!”
He’s busy, All Might’s got 3 Nomus latched onto him, but not for long. “OKLAHOMA SMASH!!!” He spins, like Tornado Alley, propelling the Nomus away with such force that they’re launched right through the walls and ceiling of the bar to the streets below.
Tezuka gasps, watching the Nomus smash through the infrastructure. “I really hope that wasn’t a load bearing wall!!”
The outside isn’t any better, as the three Nomus crash on the ground they land right into the middle of an all-out war zone of police and heroes all in a panic against the sudden army of Nomu.
“On your left!!”
“They’re everywhere!’
“Look out!”
“Medic! We need a medic over here!!”
Bullets fly and screams and cries fill the night air as everything goes to shit.
“What are these things?!”
“They’re monsters!”
A pair of pursuing Nomu’s go limp as they’re consumed by a hot red flame. “More of them?!” Endeavor growls, throwing a punch and kick into the extra crispy Nomus. “I thought we were supposed to have a handle on these?!”
Naomasa Tsukauchi’s still trying to radio through to the other heroes, but he still hasn’t gotten anything. “Jeanist isn’t answering me anymore! It’s possible they failed at the Nomu Factory!”
“This is putting a lot of stress on my power!!” Endeavour shouts while holding a Nomu by the face and burning it to ash.
“ENDEAVOR!”
“Huh?” He peers up at the bar, finding All Might and a spear wielding Cinder looking down at him from the gaping hole in the wall.
Cinder glares back, watching as Endeavor tosses the fried Nomu away. “Stress on your power? Don’t tell me you’re burnt out!”
“Does it look like I’m having any trouble?!”
“STAY CALM FRIEND.” All Might tells Cinder with a hand to his shoulder before re-addressing the Number Two Hero. “ARE YOU KEEPING UP?”
“Worry about your own responsibilities, you fool!” Endeavor shouts back while burning down a set of flying Nomu. “If you’re going to go after them now’s the time!”
“RIGHT.” He turns, looking towards the ironically starry sky “I’LL LEAVE YOU TO IT.”
As All Might prepares to go after the League, Cinder too prepares for what he has to do. Clutching the C60-NV silver case at his side. ‘We’re coming, Izuku. We’re going to bring you home.’
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Kamino Ward, Kanagawa Prefecture
A city in ruins. The glow of creeping fires blaze in the distance as pillars of smoke begin their travel upward. Ash and dust fall all around the demolished buildings. And yet not a sound is heard. No animals. No people. No life.
And yet the slow ring of clapping, of one man clapping slowly from within ash filled air. Unbothered by the hazardous clouds thanks to his monstrous black helmet and mask.
This is All For One, and he’s applauding Best Jeanist’s efforts, even if they were ultimately in vain.
The heroes have been defeated, a swift blast from a combination of Quirks saw to that. Mt. Lady is barely able to keep her head up while Gang Orca and his sidekicks have been launched far to the side with various injuries. Tiger’s entire body is trembling in pain, having used it to shield his teammate Ragdoll. And then there’s the man of honor himself, Best Jeanist, laying limply on the ground, his breathing labored and weak, and yet his will keeps him alert.
“I see why you’re the Number 4 Hero, Best Jeanist. That blast should have annihilated the lot of you. But you were able to manipulate everyone’s clothing and pull them out of the way just in time. Quick thinking.” It was so fast in fact that he almost couldn’t have sensed it. “Consider me…impressed.”
Best Jeanist can’t believe his eyes, this man-devil appeared like a shadow and then had them all beaten an inch of their lives in seconds. ‘I-It’s him…’ The one the police tried to warn them all about.
[FLASHBACK]
It was back during the briefing one of the police commissioners had lectured them about this man.
“We believe there must be an architect behind the League of Villains. It’s likely his strength is comparable to All Might’s. He will be crafty and cautious. If he doesn't feel like his safety’s guaranteed he will not reveal himself. So, you must capture Shigaraki and the others quickly, THEN move onto their leader.”
[End of FLASHBACK]
‘It’s w-wasn’t supposed to go like this… But that doesn’t matter…!’ Unable to move his body, Best Jeanist commands shards of threads stretch out from the black of his jacket’s collar, helping him to prop his head up albeit with some difficulty. “A True Hero Doesn’t Believe in EXCUSES!!!” His entire jacket stretches and lashes out into lances of thread, all gunning for the well-suited villain.
But it’s of no avail. As the lance threads are torn asunder by a simple flick of the finger and a blast of gale force air.
The blast not only slices through the lances but punches a hole into Beast Jeanist’s gut, spewing blood and causing the hero to retch and collapse into the agonizing pain of unconsciousness.
And yet the villain never seems to care or react to the hero’s sudden quiet form. “Now I see, your strength comes from practice and practical experience, Not raw power. I don’t need your Quirk, it wouldn’t pair well with Tomura’s disposition.” Despite the helmet covering his entire face one can tell that this monster is smiling.
“Disposition?!” Dr. Animo shoves over a crumbling section of wall with a kick, luckily it didn’t come back at him, but he’s overall fine. A little scratched up and bruised but he got lucky that he was thrown out of the blast range. Even so he’s certainly not happy. “What about my disposition?! Do you have any idea what you-”
“Silence. Doctor. Or do you wish to become a Nomu yourself?”
Dr. Animo’s mouth clamps shut with a quivering gulp. “R-right. M-My mistake. Just on edge, ehehehe.”
Dr. Animo’s not the only one fearful for his life as the naive but terrified kids are still pressed against the crumbling section of wall that was once part of the Nomu factory.
Shoto Todoroki can hardly breathe, his blood running cold and not because of his Quirk. ‘Who is this guy? What just happened?’
Even the usually hardened and determined Eijiro Kirishima is shaking. ‘H-He took out the pros-in an in-instant.’
Momo Yaoyorozu’s holding her breath as if the demon would be able to hear it. ‘We have to run! I-I know that but-...’
Tenya Iida feels the same, but he’s frozen like a statue. ‘I'm so scared that my legs-...’
‘My body won't move…!’ Ochaco Uraraka trembles, her entire complexion pale and shaking.
Even Kraab, an intergalactic bounty hunter, who’s gunned down a number of jobs…is frozen. All his instincts, programming, and experience are all telling him that the moment they make themselves known-they're all dead.
Suddenly the sound of splashing followed by a sudden fit of coughing and gagging breaks the tension, followed by a familiar curse. “*Cough! Cough!* Dammit!”
Ochaco snaps at attention, her ears burning; she recognizes that voice.
“The hell? *Cough! Cough!*” Katsuki Bakugou gags as the last of ink pours away and vanishes leaving him here amongst the rubble and dust.
‘BAKUGOU!!!’ The kids realize to great surprise.
But All For One isn’t surprised at all. “My apologies, Bakugou.”
“Huh?!”Bakugou spins around and immediately throws a nasty glare at the villain, having no clue of what power he’s capable of wielding. But he has realized one thing. ‘This must be the Big Bad Boss, that Master Shigaraki was going on about. Is he an alien too? Wait, does that mean Deku’s here too?’
“Wondering where your friend is? Maybe if I told you a day ago you might not have believed me.”
‘Just who is this guy?’ Hoping to get some kind of answer he quickly takes in his surroundings and then he finally realizes the wasteland he’s been portaled to. Everything’s in ruins. Smoke and ash fly everywhere and… ‘Are those Pro Heroes? What are they doing here? Wait, is that Best Jeanist?! Is he even breathing?! What did this guy do to them?! The Hell?!’
More splashing sounds echo across the rubble, putting Bakugou on edge especially as Shigaraki and hsi League are dropped onto the scene through veils of inky globs.
Spinner is immediately on ground gaging and pulling up the last of the ink.
Even Toga, the bloodsucker, is holding her mouth and wiping her tongue of the disgusting taste. “So, gross!”
Twice lets out a grossed-out gag. “This black stuff reeks! I love it!”
“Aw, there you all are.” Dr. Animo excitedly hurries over. “It’s about time you all came and got me.”
“Who are you? Of course, we’d never leave you behind!”
They’re all here. They all made it, even the unconscious Dabi and Kurogiri, but there’s only one individual Shigaraki is paying any attention to. “Master.”
“So, you failed once more, Tomura.” All For One strides forward, past Bakugou without a worry that the Mad Bomber may attack him. “But you must not be discouraged, you’ll try again. That’s why I brought your associates back with you. Even this child, because you judged that he was an important piece on your gameboard.” He holds his hand out to his apprentice, his palm encompassing a single hole in the center of his palm. “Start over as many times as it takes, I am here to provide you with help. All of this is for you.”
Shigaraki can only stare up in awe at the gesture and words, still reeling from the shock of the hero’s ambush.
Bakugou’s on edge, nervous. He’s not sure about this guy or his capabilities anymore. Is he an alien? Human? No, he’s…he’s something far worse than either of those… he needs to get out of here but if he has a teleportation Quirk well then he’s not gonna get far. Fuck!
‘Don’t panic. Don’t panic. Don’t panic.’ Ochaco chants in her head despite how much her body is screaming for her to run and hide, cold sweat pouring down her brow making her feel like she’s in a freezing storm. And yet the only reason she’s not running is the fact that her friends need her to be here. ‘W-what would D-D-Deku do? He’d…he’d take in the situation! O-Okay… They-they don’t know we’re here otherwise they wouldn’t be talking like this in the open. B-Bakugou’s right there, if me or Iida ran we could grab him but…everyone else wouldn’t be able to keep up. Then they’ll capture us all or worse!’
Iida hands whips out and grabs Ochaco by the shoulder as his forearm also pressed against Shoto’s chest. He’s shaking, undoubtedly sticking his arm up was a reflex just in case they decided to run in. ‘I-I will…p-protect you.’
Momo holds her breath while clenching tightly to Kirishima’s jacket. ‘I-I have to…focus.’
And as their bodies and minds continue to tremble with fear they both simultaneously come to the same conclusion. ‘We have to get away…’
“Aw, there you are.”
The kids’ hearts stop, thinking this is the end. This is it. Their journeys are over. Little do they know that hope is on the way.
And All For One is looking right at it, specifically the little spec barreling its way through the starry night sky.
Like Superman flying through the sky, a raging All Might comes flying in like a speeding bullet. Suddenly a thundering crash as fist and palm meet, resulting in a sudden shockwave of destructive power that breaks the earth and shakes the air. “I’LL HAVE YOU RETURN MY STUDENTS! ALL. FOR. ONE!”
“Have you come to kill me a second time, All Might?” All For One taunts, while holding back All Might’s fist with seemingly little to no effort.
Their overwhelming strength pushes further, past the breaking point of the surrounding structures and earth as more shockwaves crash their way through more buildings, causing even more destruction.
Bakugou and the League of Villains are forced to the ground, bracing themselves and clinging to whatever they can as the wind whips in their faces. And the teens, while still hidden, huddle close against the wall, praying it doesn't collapse onto them.
Eventually the struggle subsides as the two forces pull away and prepare for another confrontation.
‘Is that really him?!’ Ochaco internally gasps, trying to take the quickest of peeks through all the swirling smoke and dust. ‘All-All For One…?!’
“It took you long enough to find us.” All For One comments while flexing his wrist as if he sprained it. “It’s only 5 kilometers from the bar to here. And yet it was at least 30 seconds after I sent the Nomu that you arrived.” He observes the hero’s muscular form and commanding presence even through all the smoke and ash. “You’ve gotten weaker, All Might.”
“YOU’RE ONE TO TALK, IT’S KINDA DIFFICULT TO IGNORE THAT FANCY LIFE SUPPORT MASK YOU GOT ON.” All Might responds with a nasty growl. “AREN’T YOU OVEREXERTING YOURSELF?”
Bakugou watches from his position on the ground, taken back by, not All Might’s strength, but the villain’s. ‘He held All Might back with his bare hands. This guy is the boss villain.’
Meanwhile, All Might hops from one leg to the other, like he’s getting ready for a grueling marathon run. “I WON’T REPEAT THE MISTAKE I MADE 5 YEARS AGO. YOU HEAR ME? “I WILL TAKE YOUNG BAKUGOU AND YOUNG MIDORIYA BACK.” His fists clench at his sides. “AND I WILL MAKE CERTAIN YOUR LOCKED UP FOR THE REST OF YOUR SAD LIFE!’ His entire body tenses up as his muscles begin to bulge in a raging fire before he explodes forth with all his fury. “RIGHT ALONG SIDE YOUR DESPICABLE LEAGUE OF VILLAINS!!!”
Raising his palm, All For One’s entire arm bloats up like a balloon as red sparks dance off his veins. “Sounds like you got your work cut out for you. This will be hard for us both.” Like a bazooka he unleashes a devastating blast of wind that catches All Might’s form and fist just inches away from his extended palm. And like that All Might is blasted away, thrown across the sky and sent barreling through a literal city block with each he’s smashed through to come crashing down under the sudden force.
Causing All For One to grin. “Me? Locked up? Taking back the children? My All Might, you have become delusional. You can’t even see it, can you? You’ve already failed to save everyone. Especially your students.”
As smoke clears, Bakugou's stunned and shocked face is revealed after having watched his hero, THE HERO, get thrown out of sight. “All Might?!”
“Don’t you worry. It’ll take more than that to kill him.” All For One reassures, although he wished it wasn’t the case, before turning his attention back to that who matters. “Get off the battlefield Tomura. And take that child with you.”
Lifting his hand, his fingers turn onyx black with red veins running down them. The fingers lash out, turning into jagged tendrils that pierce right into the unconscious Kurogiri’s chest, causing the portaler to bleed and his body to convulse. “Kurogiri, warp them away.”
“Be careful!” Magne warns, not liking the way Kurogiri’s body is reacting to whatever those tendrils are doing. “One of the heroes messed with him and he’s unconscious. I’m not sure what’s going on anymore, but if you can teleport, why can’t you get us out of here?”
“My Warp power is still new, Magne. There is still much I need to learn about it. Its distance is limited while he can teleport to specific coordinates, I only transport people to and from my own location. Or with focus, to and from someone I am very familiar with. That is all. It’s easier to have Kurogiri do it.”
Kurogiri’s body stops moving but then his head expands before enveloping his body and creating a massive swirling vortex of a portal for all of them to escape through.
“Forcible Quirk Activation!” All For One states as his tendrils retract and his fingers return to normal just as he re-addresses Tomura. “Leave this place.”
“What about you?” Shigaraki asks with worry laced in his voice.
There’s a sudden BOOM in the distance, from the same direction the devil had launched All Might. And sure, enough even from here they can spot the Olympian’s form blazing through the sky, right back towards them.
The demon slowly rises into the air, levitating up gracefully and without any effort in order to meet the challenge. “You’re not thinking, Tomura. There remains much room for you to grow. So much more…”
“YOU’RE MINE!” All Might roars just before the two clash again: fist to palm.
Similar results as before occurring once again, forcing back the villains and the kid. It’s a clash of titans, of Courage vs. Fear. The two challenge the other in midair, like two elementally different forces of nature colliding all at once to destructive results.
“M-Master?” Shigaraki tries to fight the wind and blasts but it’s too much, it’s like fighting against a hurricane.
“Let’s go, Shigaraki!” Mr. Compress calls over while collecting the KOed Dabi into a marble. “While our masked lead is keeping All Might entertained. Take your prize!”
Suddenly Bakugou finds himself at the center of attention, and he doesn’t like it, although he can’t let them know that. “Puh! This is gonna be fun.”
All Might, however, doesn’t think so and tries to repel away from his opponent to be at the boy’s side instead. “YOUNG BAKUGOU! DON’T-RRRR!!!”
But he’s intercepted by All For One’s nasty black and red tendrils.
Ochaco can’t bear to watch. It’s obvious to everyone but…All Might is losing. Or at least he can’t operate at his full strength! He’s too buddy trying to reach Bakugou, but he can’t! His focus is divide, at this rate the villains are gonna take Bakugou away, again!!
That said, Bakugou isn’t exactly going to go willingly. He blasts the ground apart in order to keep Toga and her knives away. ‘These guys know I’m screwed. It’s seven against one. And they’re willing to drag me out of here by force this time!’
He spots Mr. Compress trying to come up at him from behind, undoubtedly, to capture him again.
But with another Explosion, he rockets himself up and over the masked villain. ‘Can’t let that Magician lay a finger on me!’
“Such ferocity.” Dr. Animo compliments while tapping his fingers together. “Only a creature of the animal kingdom can match it!” Looking around he just so happened to spot a rat scurrying away from the chaos.
Pressing his fingers against the jar over his brain Dr. Animo’s goggles and technology lights up in pink as a mutative ray fires out at the rodent. “Mutate. Evolve! And obey me! My wonderfully horrible abomination! Rise and do your master’s bidding!” as he chants the rat’s form contorts and expands becoming monstrous and five times larger than before with horribly mangled sharpened teeth and with several tails whipping around.
Dr. Animo smiles at the sight of the creature’s form. “Go! My pet! Go and unleashes your-”
*BOOM!!!* The mutant rat falls dead on its back, hands and feet curled up towards the air after Bakugou Explodes his way right past the rodent,
“OOOOH!!! Curse you Katsuki Bakugou!!” Dr. Animo shakes his fist angrily as Charmcaster fires a set of violet Missiles at the evasive teen.
“I’M COMING FOR YOU!!” All Might tries to run over and help again but he should know better than to turn his back on this villain especially. As he’s thrown to the ground by AFO’s tendrils piercing the small of his back.
“I don’t think so, because I am here!” His tendrils reel the screaming All Might back before flinging him aside and into the side of another building.
Every crash and shockwave is another hammer on the nail, digging deeper into the kid’s hearts as they watch uselessly from the sidelines. Terrified for their lives. And yet all Ochaco can think of is how badly she wishes to help. To stop the fighting. To help! To be like Deku! But… She recalls Police Chief Tsuragamae’s words: ‘“That’s why it’s against the law for uncertified people to use their Quirks to cause injury. Whether you were up against the Hero Killer or not, none of you had the authority to harm the villain.”’
Then there’s Shoto, thinking back to their classmate’s concerns, especially Shoji’s: recalls: “‘I’m upset too. But we can’t let out emotions get the best of us.”’
Tsuyu’s words echo in Kirishima’s mind: “‘If you go out there trying to find the bad guys, knowing you’re breaking the rules then you’re acting like villains. Not heroes.”’
Even Iida’s mind is plaguing him, plaguing him with images of Aizawa swallowing his pride as a teacher and hero, bowing before the critical reporters’ accusations.
‘Deku! Where are you?! What-what should we do?!’ Ochaco silently begs for an answer, fearful tears streaming down the sides of her face. Throwing her head back as she looks to the sky as if it’ll hold any answers.
Surprisingly, despite the pillars of smoke and rain of ash…there lie stars in the sky. Clear bright stars and the soft glow of the guiding moon, all a light far above the chaos…
Ochaco gasps, an idea sparking within her. “I…I know what we need to do.”
Iida’s body snaps his arm snapping up and grabbing her arm before pushing her back. “Y-You c-can’t go out there! I-I won’t let you fight!”
“I know. That’s why-that’s why-listen please! We’re not gonna fight, we’re going to escape! And we’re taking Bakugou with us!”
Iida let's go with a gasp while Shoto looks on wondering what her idea could be. “Tell us your plan.”
Ochaco frowns, something else has been on her mind for a while and well… “To be honest, when we came I…I have this feeling that Bakugou and Deku wouldn’t want us involved. I can already hear them both shouting at us to get away or that we’re idiots… Neither of them would want this. And I was afraid that we might make things worse. But that’s only if we were the ones to offer a hand.” She gestures to Iida, Shoto, and Momo. “B-But Kirishima…you’re the only one here who can reach him.”
Kirishima doesn’t understand but he doesn’t ask as Ochaco soon divulges them with her idea.
Meanwhile, All Might throws another punch but like before AFO catches it with very little effort, despite the resounding shockwave exploding from the clash.
“Are you holding back against me? Trying to keep the boy from being blown away?” AFO questions as his hands spark with red energy.
Sensing the danger, All Might leaps back and away before AFO could pull any tricks.
“You’re in quite the predicament. So, how will the hero prevail? How will the Number One hero defeat that which is to come?!”
“WHAT ARE YOU BLABBERING ON ABOUT NOW? WHAT ARE YOU PLAYING AT?!”
Despite the mask, All Might can just sense the villain’s cruel mocking grin hidden just behind the metal and leather. “My my, they really did leave you out in the dark. Didn’t they?”
All Might grows frustrated, hating how much he’s being taunted. But that's what it is, nothing but words, distractions from his true goal. ‘YOUNG BAKUGOU…’
He better act fast, even though Bakugou’s staying ahead of the villains for now, he’s barely keeping his lead for them. And he knows it. ‘It’ll be hard for All Might to kick his ass as long as I’m here! Dammit!’
Meanwhile, Ochaco has finished explaining her plan and judging by her friend’s faces it might not be the brightest plan she’s ever come up with. Then again these kinds of plans were always more Deku’s forte.
“Are you out of your mind?” Iida asks, questioning her state of mind rather.
“Bakugou’s not an idiot.” She explains. “He knows All Might’s holding back because he’s here.”
“I agree.” Shoto confirms. “All Might’s playing defensively, keeping that…devil away from Bakugou. But he’s doing the same to him. I think it’s worth a shot.”
While perched against Ochaco’s shoulder, Kraab nods seemingly in favor of the plan is worth a shot as well. “If we don’t hurry, the Pomeranian will be back in the kennel. And then maybe even put down. This is probably our best chance at rescuing the mutt.”
Momo isn’t so sure, maybe because there isn’t much for her to do but still. “Iida?”
“It is a gamble.” Iida admits with some frustration. “But all things considered there’s not much risk to us. But more importantly it could change the tide of this fight.” He thinks and thinks and thinks, trying to come up with another solution while the others wait for his response. But after a brief moment he has his answer. “I’m in.”
They get ready, following Ochaco’s Midoriya-like plan to a tee. First Ochaco presses her fingers against the nearby wall, weakening its structure with Zero-Gravity before turning right around and making both Iida and Kirishima weightless too.
Iida has the weightless and Hardened Kirishima in front, almost wielding him out like a giant living shield. On Ochaco’s mark, Iida’s Engines roar with the activation of his signature RECIPRO BURST!!!
And like a missile, the two crash through the weightless wall in milliseconds, clearing the path just as Shoto unleashes a massive wave of ice! The ice propels to the sky, generating into a massive ramp in just mere seconds, Shoto’s fastest time yet! As well as a great shock for the villains, especially Shigaraki!
The villains watch on in shock and awe as a pair of heroes…no kids have somehow gotten the jump on them literally! They do nothing but watch as Iida rockets both him and Kirishima right off the ramp and into the sky, far from their reach!
AFO, however, won’t allow such interference. However, the shoe’s on the other foot as All Might breaks the villain’s attention. By delivering a solid sideway SMASH, giving the devil a chance to taste the pavement.
Bakugou’s gaze is on his classmates too. Shocked, stunned by their sudden appearance. But it’s Kirishima he’s watching. Kirishima the one he’s fought beside with, studied with, the one who’s built the most solid bond with him. His friend.
A friend that he’ll listen to!
“COME ON!!!” His friend calls, extending out his hand from the sky above.
Not willing to lose his prize, Shigaraki lurches for the blonde, with the intent to kill at this point. If he can’t convert Bakugou the very least he can do is turn him to dust and stir even more trouble.
But…he’s too late as he’s met with an EXPLOSION of fire and heat!!
In a blaze of glory, Bakugou’s form rockets through the air, gliding forth with red hotspeed. Soaring high above the battlefield before clamping down onto his equal’s open hand.
“YOU IDIOTS!!!” The blond roars with a wide, ecstatic grin.
“WHAAA!?!” Spinner gaps, while the rest of the villains watch uselessly from below.
“Bakugou!” The weightless Iida calls. “On my mark, could you give us a giant-”
“Don’t tell me what to do, damn you!!” Bakugou snaps, reverting back to how he normally is.
“It’s not the time to fight you guys!” Kirishima shouts back as they continue to fly through the air.
Meanwhile, Shoto, Momo, Kraab and Ochaco watch from below with relief all over their faces.
Shoto’s impressed, the plan is working perfectly. “Just as we thought, all eyes on them. This is our chance.”
“Let’s go!” Momo agrees before they all run off back through the now crumbled alleyway.
Shigaraki is pissed, watching them soar away with gritted teeth. There’s movement in his peripheral and his gaze darts over and for the briefest of seconds he locks eyes with one Ochaco Uraraka. ‘Why do you keep showing up everywhere?!’
All Might…is grinning? Having witnessed the kid’s grand escape to the starry sky. “SERIOUSLY? YOU KIDS…”
“Don’t let them get away!” Twice barks and Mr.. Compress runs by.
“Who can do distance?!” He asks while holding down his top hat.
Spinner answers in a panic. “Kurogiri and Dabi! But they’re down!”
Magne waves them over as a blue magnetic field begins to form between her open palms. “You two come here.”
The two hurry over, leaning into each other with Compress backing into Spinner as the two become surrounded in a blue aura of Magne’s magnetic field. Closing together the villains bring their North Poled-fields closer and growing the pressure as a result.
“Ready?!” Magne doesn’t wait for a response as she releases her Quirk and Mr. Compress is launched right into the air like a cannonball! “REPULSION BREAKUP: NIGHT-FLIGHT CANNON!!!”
“TITAN CLIFF!!!” Mt. Lady’s injured form rises out from the rubble, gigantifying quickly and intercepting the villain’s path.
It all happens so suddenly and quickly that Mr. Compress has no time to react as he slams headfirst into the hero’s giant forehead.
The two gasp and wail in pain as Compress is thrown back and Mt. Lady begins to tumble.
“Woah! She did it!!” Ochaco gasps, running below and past Mt. Lady’s falling form.
“The rescue’s-priority…” The heroine weakly mutters as her giant form slowly begins to fall to the side. “Go home you dumb kids…”
Ochaco gasps and has seconds to react, leaping back as Mt. Lady’s giant body crashes down before her! Kraab, having been perched on her shoulder, loses his grip and is flung off, rolling away and out of sight.
Meanwhile, Shoto and Momo dive forward and tumble to the ground, away from the landing. But now separated from Ochaco.
“Uraraka!!” Momo, unable to see a way around Mt. Lady’s unconscious form.
Shoto pulls her back and away from a collapsing chunk of a building. “We have to move! Don’t worry she’s not alone, she’ll be right behind us!”
After some hesitation Momo goes, praying Ochaco will be soon behind them.
Fortunately for Ochaco the villains are so focused on Bakugou’s escape that none of them have noticed her ducking and hiding behind a pile of rubble and earth.
“Damn, fake heroes!” Spinner seethes. “Someone stop them!”
“I believe that is my cue!” Dr. Animo cackles with a conniving grin while digging through his pocket. And out from his grody-green lab coat, like a magician’s sleight of hand, he pulls out a poor confused pigeon.
“Time to go to work my dear.” Dr. Animo sings-songs while transmuting the poor creature into a vile car-sized monster. Grinning like a lunatic, the doctor hops aboard the abomination and points to the sky. “Up! Up! And away!!”
The monster pigeon lets out an ungodly scream before taking off into the air with a powerful flap of its four wings.
The League of Villains watch in awe as the Mutant Bird soars after the rocketing kids.
“Way to go Doc!” Toga cheers. “Get ‘em! Get ‘em!”
Even Charmcaster’s impressed. “They’re bird seed.”
However, the Mutant Pigeon doesn’t keep on their trail, instead it veers away!! Dr. Animo has it fly off with him to god knows where!
The villains are in disbelief, he just flat out LEFT!!!
“What the hell?! He’s blowing the coup?! Now?!” Spinner screams, watching the monster pigeon vanish from sight.
Twice shakes his fist at the sky. “Coward! Take me with you!”
“We can still catch them! Come on you two!” Magne calls the two over, hoping to try that “Repulsion Breakup: Night-Flight Cannon” move again.
Twice hurries over, but then a blur of yellow crosses his view and then next he knows there’s the ground and then darkness. Same for Spinner who feels a smack of pain to his chin before he too hits the dirt. And then a few blows to Magne and suddenly in a blink of an eye three villains are down, all the while Gran Torino hovers over them all with a dissatisfied scowl.
Charmcaster glowers at him, recognizing not just from the bar but from their encounter at Dathomier City. “I’m really getting tired of you, Old Man!” She shouts as her Alchemy Quirk rages from her hands as fiery plumes of sparkling violet flames. “I think it’s about time you retire! Or better yet-just up and DIE!!!” Bringing her hands forth she throws the chemical mixture like a violet-colored flamethrower.
However, the violet flames never reach their target as they’re pulled away by some invisible force. The violet flames snake back before turning red and spiral around a leaping figure..
“Are you kidding?!” Cinder scowls, rushing in with his Quirk Fire Breath full at work. The flames spiral around him as he flips up and over the girl like a fiery acrobat. “That Old Man’s too stubborn to die. He’s gonna outlive us all!” He lands in front of her, and she has no time to react as she’s whacked and thrown back by a swift strike of his flaming spear.
Charmcaster is thrown back into Toga, who catches and is now holding up the unconscious villainess. She quickly goes for her knife but falters under this rando hero’s fiery gaze.
“Don’t do anything stupid. Or you’ll definitely gonna go long before he does.”
“Tch!” Gran Torino tsks. “Whatever happened to respecting your elders?”
Meanwhile, far from their view, Ochaco is army crawling her way through the rubble and trying to stay out of sight. However, the moment she heard their familiar voices she just had to take a peek. “Gran Torino! Mr. Midoriya!”
They made it! They’re here! But where are her friends? They-they must have escaped by now. Good. She’ll be right behind them as soon as she can. But admittedly she’s a little turned around in all this broken debris and rubble to really know which way she’s going.
Meanwhile, the two new arrivals take a standby All Might who can’t help but comment on their arrival. “YOU’RE TOO SLOW.”
Gran Torino retorts. “You’re just too fast, hot shot!”
“All Might!” Cinder calls out, his Amenonuhoko still burning at his side. “Just what exactly are you teaching those kids?” A faintest of smiles peak out from under his respirator. “Because that was some A+ material right there.”
“Don’t compliment him!!” Gran Torino snaps. “Those brats should get a good whopping for just being here! But I guess you would approve either way.” He admits with a disappointed yet almost nostalgic expression.
Cinder smiles but it fades quickly as he switches his attention onto important matters. “Did they get Izuku? Did they save him?”
All Might frowns, frustrated more at himself if anything as he responds with a regretful no. “NO. I’M AFRAID, HE’S NOT HERE. I’M SORRY, BUT I HAVE NO CLUE WHERE HE IS.”
A flash of fear crosses Cinder’s jade eyes but they soon steel themselves, burning with fury as they lock onto the devil responsible for his son’s capture. “Well, then, you don’t mind answering a few questions for us. Do you, All For One?” Cinder rhetorically asks, brandishing the flaming spear like he was Darth Maul.
“Aw, you know of me do you?” With his suit still spiff and pan, AFO rises from the rubble, annoyed by the inconvenience and yet satisfied to find the new arrivals, especially the Plumber. “Well, I suppose you are a more…enlightened individual. At least more so than our dear Symbol of Peace is.”
As All Might glowers back at the devil, Cinder hesitates the pit of his stomach stirring for some unknown reason.
“And is that Shimura's old friend? Oh my, time certainly has not been kind to you. Has it?”
“IT’S SHAMEFUL I NEEDED THEIR HELP.” All Might admits before returning his attention to the devil himself. “BUT NOW, I DON’T HAVE TO PULL ANY PUNCHES AGAINST YOU. YOU’RE FINISHED!”
“Two left over here. We’ll handle them.” Gran Torino turns his focus back on the other villains, specifically the seething Shigaraki and the jittering Toga, who has Charmcaster’s arm slung over her shoulder. The trio stand back, their backs to Kurogiri’s swirling Warp Gate.
Gran Torino prepares to fight as does Cinder, who grips his spear tightly before they both charge the villains.
Toga cowers back, clutching the unconscious Charmcaster tightly. “Tomura, I don’t want to die in this place!”
Shigaraki couldn’t agree more, his fingers flexing, itching for a kill.
AFO, however, agrees with Toga’s plea far more. “They got us. Turned the tables of this fight with a single move.” His fingers turn black and shoot out in his sharp tendrils again. The tendrils slash through the air before piercing their way into Magne’s chest. “FORCIBLE QUIRK ACTIVATION: MAGNETISM.”
Meanwhile, Gran Torino is shooting again, getting ready to kick in the charging Shigaraki’s face in.
“You’re dust-gah!!” Shigaraki’s head is suddenly pulled back by a magnetic force, and just in time as Gran Torino’s foot swings just inches past his face!
“Huh?” Toga’s baffled as her entire body and Charmcaster are surrounded by a pink aura, watching on cluelessly as the rest of the blue-glowing League fly in her direction by the magnetic pull. “Huh? Eh? HEH!?! Hey, watch out you guys, you're coming at me too fast!”
BAM!!! Their unconscious bodies crash into the girls' flinging them all through the portal and away from the battlefield.
However, Shigaraki resists the pull, clawing at the ground despite his body dragging closer and closer to the swirling vortex. “Wait. Don’t! Master!”
Gran Torino zooms after him, not willing to lose the capture. “Not so fast!”
Cinder rushes up beside him, his spear out and ready to skewer them alive!
AFO, however, won’t allow it, as his tendrils lash out and snatch away the heroes up and away, while simultaneously using his spare tendrils to toss Magne through the portal along with the others.
Shigaraki, however, can’t resist for long, the lower half of his body is already through. “Your body is too damaged!” Is all he can say before he finally loses his grip and thrusted back into the abyss, his mind flashing back to all those years ago.
[FLASHBACK]
…
“Don’t worry. I am here for you.”
A hand…a single hand reaches out to him.
[End of FLASHBACK]
And he reaches for it now, but there’s no one there. “No, I-...won’t go!”
“Tomura, you must continue to fight. Survive. Adapt. And prepare for what’s to come.”
Those are his Master’s final words before the portal shrinks away to nothing, leaving only All For One and the opposing heroes behind. And yet AFO can’t seem to find a more ideal situation. “Fear not Tomura, I will find my way to you again. Until then, you must learn to navigate this new world of ours.”
“RAAAAAGH!!!” All Might roars, sprinting headlong towards the devil, his fist ready to deliver the kill.
Realizing that now AFO no longer has to protect his own protege, Cinder quickly comes to terms that this villain won’t hold back either. As such he preps for the alternative end. He unhooks the silver briefcase from his side before his fingers trace over the locks. The locking system activates, scanning his DNA before unlocking with a click. However, just as the briefcase unlatches a rotten boiling taste bubbles through his throat and out from his mouth before ink spews out from the sides of his mask.
To his side, Gran Torino too keels over as that same nasty ink from before vomits out of his mouth. The ink swallows them both up, teleporting them away to AFO’s convenience.
“Warping + Shock Inversion!!” And under his will they are as both heroes are portaled right into the path of All Might’s fist.
SMASH!!! All Might’s fist collides into their frames, with Gran Torino taking the brunt of it and getting thrown back into Cinder.
“OLD MAN!!!” Cinder cries out as Gran Torino is slammed into his gut. And now, with the combined momentum and power of All Might’s strength they are both sent flying back across the ground. Tumbling and rolling atop each other, with cinder trying to shield the old man as they skip across the dirt like stones across water. Unfortunately, between the pain and trying to hold onto his teacher, Cinder loses his grip, and the briefcase goes flying out of his hand and out of sight behind a pile of rubble!
“I’M SORRY!” All Might begs for forgiveness, but it’s a mix of groaning in pain as his arm is flung back, his muscles screaming in pain as blood spews from his scars and veins. Undoubtedly, AFO handsome kind of kinetic reversal Quirk in play just then to hurt him while simultaneously hurting his friends.
“I only came to save Tomura. But if you say you’re going to fight then I’ll face you as you wish. In the past your fist crushed one after another of my comrades. Many were forced into the shadows, underground while you were extended as the Symbol of Peace. What a grand view you must have had from atop our sacrifices. A hero standing on the mountain of our defeats!” The memories of which burn away at him from within, however, the burning flames settle and resource with a change in the wind. “The tides are changing All Might. More so than you realize. Soon I will take my throne upon a world of pestering heroes. And all it will take is having the right comrades. Ones that even you can’t reach.”
“DETROIT SMAAAASSH!!!” All Might has had enough, no more! No more of this villain and his ways! He will end it now!!
His rage explodes but AFO’s fury is stronger as the Number One Hero is blasted back by another one of AFO’s Air Cannons.
All Might manages to catch himself, landing but sliding across the ground with a determined fury.
AFO, however, doesn’t look at him but instead the faint lights in the distance. The lights that All Might bravely put himself between AFO and his devastation. “You still won’t fight me at full power, huh? Because doing so will endanger all those people you’ve sworn to protect.”
Even without eyes he can sense all the pro heroes running around all across the destruction zone. Foolishly they rescue those not strong enough to help themselves. Provide first aid, keep them from being crushed or burned, or just simply trying to comfort a crying child. Insignificant their actions are in his “eyes.”
“YOU SHUT UP.” All Might growls, growing past the point of being just plain pissed off. “ALWAYS TOYING WITH PEOPLE. PROBING THEIR WEAKNESSES. YOU STEAL. BREAK THEM. MANIPULATE AND DISCARD THEM! YOU SCOFF AT INNOCENT PEOPLE. WHO ARE JUST TRYING TO LEAD HAPPY LIVES!!! RAAAGH!!!”
“Their lives are insignificant. And pretty soon you will realize why that is.” AFO holds his hand out with sparks flying off his arm dangerously. However, All Might, not falling for his tricks, grabs the villain's wrist and pulls it up and away causing the villain to unleash his Air Cannon towards the sky instead. “THIS CANNOT CONTINUE!” All Might roars once again, slamming his fist into AFO’s torso! “I WON’T LET IT!!!”
AFO meets All Might’s fist with a flick of his hand and the resounding shockwave deflects most of the impact’s power! However, it was still enough to launch him back with the resulting gale wind, but he quickly comes to a stop, his fancy shoes hovering just inches off the ground with his composure fully intact. “What’s wrong?” AFO taunts, finding All Might's tantrums oh so amusing. “You seem to be worked up about something All Might. I’ve heard that exact same line before though. Hahahahaha!”
All Might’s facade falters: instantly he knows who he’s referring to.
“From the person who had One For All before you, Nana Shimura.”
All Might’s taken back as a flood of memories boil to the surface before bracing himself and throwing a furious glare back at the helmeted villain. ‘I MUST REMEMBER, WHERE I STARTED…’
[FLASHBACK]
He can still remember that day clearly. It was cold, in the middle of winter, and it had just begun to snow over the quite almost lifeless city. And yet beneath the ominous grey sky and before the silent despair of the city, stood them both. Both him and his master…
“I want to make a world where everyone smiles and lives together happily. For that to happen, people need a symbol.” A young and scrawny blonde teenager explains.
“A symbol?” A woman asks, her gaze still out towards the empty city.
“A symbol of peace.” He explains again while trying to summon more of his confidence. Which isn’t much considering that he’s just a scrawny 15-year-old who doesn’t even have a Quirk… But still. “The reason crime’s on the rise everywhere is because citizens have no one to believe in. But they need to rely on someone. That’s why I wanna be the pillar that gives people hope!”
The woman sighs, not as a way to shrug off his dream, but as if inhaling it and taking it for what it’s worth. “So, that’s what drives you to become a hero. Even though you’re Quirkless.”
“Yes.” The teen proclaims, this time showing no signs of hesitation.
“Hehe.” She seems to like that. And turns to face the young teen.
She’s a beautiful woman, tall with a curvaceous figure, and at the same time, she’s well-built, as befitting a One For All user. She’s fair-skinned and has a small mole below her bottom lip, centered to the right, and sharp, intelligent eyes with long eyelashes. Her hair is dark and straight, kept shoulder-length, with the exception of a clump of short bangs hanging above her forehead that’s styled in a half-up-half-down bun.
Her hero costume consists of a dark, sleeveless bodysuit with a high collar, yellow elbow-length gloves, and white knee-high boots. Around her waist is a belt with an angular golden buckle with a small cape attached around the back which hangs down to her knees, and over her shoulders is a longer cape, buttoned to the shoulders of her bodysuit.
Nana Shimura smiles down at the hopeful teen with a hopeful look in her own eyes. “Toshinori Yagi. Is that right? Those are some pretty funny ideas, you’re kinda crazy.”
Young Toshinori’s not sure how to take that. A part of him thinks it’s a compliment but he’s not exactly sure.
But judging by her smile, he can assume it's good. “But maybe your brand of crazy is exactly what this world needs.”
[End of FLASHBACK]
All Might seems to snap his focus and composure falters for the briefest of seconds. Enough so that it signals to Cinder that something is off.
While caring for the dazed Gran Torino, Cinder watches on with interest and concern. ‘Nana Shimura? That name…sounds familiar. Wait, didn’t Gran Torino know her? Yeah, said they were great friends back in the day until she was…murdered.’ And like that it clicks together realizing that this Shimura must have been someone both Gran Torino and All Might admired. And that this devil was the one that took her from them. They all have a history. ‘Not good. All For One’s getting to him. He’s throwing All Might off with his games!’
Even though he’s wearing a helmet, they know that the devil is smiling. Grinning down at the pro upset hero like he were a child throwing a pathetic tantrum that was just so amusing and precious.
‘Nana Shimura?’ Ochaco whispers to herself while army-crawling away from the main fight. Doing her best to stay low and outsight by crawling through the immense labyrinth of rubble and debris. ‘Who is that? Is…is she the one that gave All Might One For All? Was she…a wielder, too?’
While she wonders about who Nana Shimura is, Ochaco isn’t paying attention to the environment around her. As a stack of debris, rebar, and rubble begins to wave and lean like a bad tower of Jenga.
She only finally notices as bits of bolts and dust fall into her hair and she scurries forward before BLAM!!!
“Aaaahh-Mmmmmf!!” Ochaco slaps her right hand, her only free hand currently, over her mouth in order to muffle her screams.
A piece of rebar is pinned onto her left wrist while the rest of the rubble is laying over her legs. It doesn’t feel like anything; is broken but it’s definitely gonna leave a lot of bruises.
‘Dammit.’ Ochaco tries to pry the rebar off, but it’s cemented into a chunk of concrete that’s too far from her reach to Zero-Gravity.
Seeing that it’s a lost cause, she turns her head to see if she can float the debris on top of her away. But there's a chance there’s too much and she can’t reach it all without breaking the foundation and having it all collapse on top of her. ‘Don’t act reckless.’ She thinks despite knowing how hypocritical that is at this point. ‘I-I can…I have to get out of here before they notice.’ She pulls at the ground and even tries to dig her legs free to no avail. ‘I-I really really hope everyone else made it out okay…’
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Meanwhile, the rest of Kamino Ward is undergoing a massive evacuation. Sirens and alarms blare all throughout the city and even though it’s far from the chaos it feels like one wrong move will trigger a massive stampede of panicking people. Thankfully the heroes and police are there, directing the flow of foot traffic away from the smoke and the glow of flames in the distance.
“Kirishima! Are you three safe?” Shoto almost shouts into his phone as he and Momo are forced to move with the bustling scared crowd.
As they march with the flow of traffic, Momo tries her best to scan the massive wave of people for any signs of Ochaco.
[“Yeah, we’re fine.”] Kirishima responds before Iida cuts in.
[“We’re stopped in front of the station, thankfully we managed to avoid the previous shockwave.”]
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Kirishima peers over the train station again before leaning back into the phone. “Yeah, Uraraka’s rescue plan was flawless!”
That little comment annoyed Bakugou and of course he just has to let it be known. “A rescue!? That’s not what happened back there! You idiots just happened to be my best escape route!”
“You’re welcome!” Kirishima smiles and is just happy to have Bakugou back and intact.
“I had to get out of there so All Might could destroy that guy.”
Iida nods, understanding Bakugou’s logic. “Yes, well I'm just relieved it worked without any issue.”
[“Iida?”] Momo’s voice interjects from the phone, sounding worried. [“I-I’m afraid that’s not exactly t-true.”]
Their breaths hitch, each staring wide at the phone with nerves.
[“It’s Uraraka.”] Shoto starts, hesitantly. [“We-...we got separated when Mt. Lady fell.”]
“You WHAT-!?!” Iida screams, startling nearby pedestrians.
Even Bakugou is stunned, his heart racing and feeling like it’s going to Explode.
After seeing people jump at his shouting, Iida simmers his voice down and continues harshly whispering into the phone. “And you just left?!”
[“It was stupid I know, but we couldn’t get to her without drawing attention to her and ourselves. I’ve been trying to reach her but she hasn’t answered.”]
[“But she’s not alone!”] Momo quickly explains. [“Kraab is with her, they probably haven’t contacted us yet because he’s not exactly a subtle communication device.”] Using Kraab like a cellphone might freak some people out, plus Uraraka won the Sports Festival, if she stands out people are going to recognize her so she’s probably staying silent on purpose. At least for now.
[“We’ve been on the lookout.”] Shoto explains. [“But we’ve been swept up in this crowd, there’s no way for us to move back. I can only assume she’s swept up in all this too.”]
That still doesn’t give Iida any comfort. “I sure hope you’re right.”
For some reason, Bakugou has the sneaking suspicion that isn’t the case at all and they’re all idiots for thinking she’d even try to leave.
But before he can tell them off and start yelling at them to go back and get her, a squad of helicopters cut through the sky. Their loud propellers silencing him and the entire crowd as they race towards the chaos.
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Hearing the blades of the helicopters coming closer, Ochaco claws at the ground even more desperately. She-She knows the consequences if they spot her and recognize her as a U.A. student. She needs to get out of there and fast… But still, she can’t tear her eyes away from the battle either. She knows that right now she’s witnessing a clash of the light vs. the dark.
Meanwhile, All For One watches the helicopters' arrival with satisfaction as if their arrival was all according to his plan. “You have so much in common with Nana Shimura.” He explains, taunting the Number One Hero further. “The utter waste of a human who passed One For All onto you.”
And like that the villain is officially under All Might’s skin, crawling around like an infuriating parasite.
[FLASHBACK]
“Be proud Toshinori!” Nana Shimura explains as the winter season washes away to become a beautiful spring day. “You went down a long hard road to earn this power. Of course, it’s gonna take a lot of work to master it.”
[End of FLASHBACK]
“MY MASTER IS A TRUE HERO. KEEP HER NAME OUT OF YOUR FILTHY MOUTH!”
“A woman with no skill and a grand idea she couldn’t live up to. How embarrassing for me, the creator of One For All, to see her inherit the power.” Like a mouse inheriting a lion’s set of fangs, it was insulting to him the creator of said fangs. “And the way she died was so pathetic. Shall I tell you all about it?”
“ENOUGH!!!” All Might roars, officially losing his patience and charging the villain with all his anger and rage!
All For One is ready though, swinging his arm up to blast the hero again with another shockwave!
“All Might!!” Like a fiery bullet Cinder rockets himself in, and tackles All Might from the side, rocketing both away from the villain’s sudden blast!
The Air Cannon rips through the battlefield, tearing it asunder with earth shattering results.
“He’s toying with you!!” Cinder screams as he propels All Might away. “He’s toying with your emotions! Trying to make you mess up! Trying to make you lose focus!”
All Might frowns, realizing how true Cinder’s words are.
“He’s right, Toshinori!” Gran Torino zips in, helping the two to slow to a stop. "It's just like last time! Six years ago he pulled the same thing on you and what happened?! Or did you forget all about that hole in your stomach?!”
All Might winces at the mention of his wound, his hand hovering to his stomach.
“The moment you let him get under your skin is the moment he wins. And remember, you need to stay strong, otherwise however do you expect to save the kid.”
His gut and heart wrench and not from his wounds. They’re right, if he acts stupid then he’ll be in no shape to save Young Midoriya. If he loses his strength or worse One For All, then any hope of saving the boy goes right align with it. He needs to keep his head in the game!
“His fighting style and Quirks are completely different then last time.” Gran Torino explains while keeping his gaze locked onto the villain. “Be on your guard and use your wits!”
“And don’t forget. We’re here too!” Cinder roars as a breath of fire leaves his lungs. “We’re heroes too! We’re standing right beside you, All Might!!”
All Might nods in understanding, grateful to have these heroes at his side. “AND I AM AT YOURS.”
Meanwhile, as the heroes and the villain remain in a standoff, the young reporter watches from above as his helicopter circles the ruined battlefield.
With a nervous gulp he begins commentating through his mic while his camera man tries not to shake the camera too much from the fear and nerves. [“The scene below is straight out of a nightmare! Half of Kamino Ward was destroyed in a single horrifying instant! All Might is currently fighting a villain who appears to have caused the blast.”]
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Principal Nezu watches in horror from inside U.A. alongside a stunned Shota Aizawa and Vlad King.
[“I can’t believe it!”] the reporter cries as the camera zooms in on All For One’s form. [“How is one person so powerful?! He’s destroyed the city and is holding his own against the Symbol of Peace!!”]
‘Our plan has been thwarted!’ Principal Nezu exclaims, his little fist clenched as he prays for the heroes’ success. ‘It’s up to you now, All Might!’
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And it is not just them watching. The giant screens littering Kamino Ward’s buildings all light up to reveal the devastating scene just a mile away.
Bakugou and the others are stunned, shocked, and horrified to witness such a destructive display. And it’s not just them that are taken back, but for some reason they can all just sense the rest of the world’s watching with horrified reactions.
“Oh, man, that looks terrible.” One person comments within earshot.
Meanwhile, Mina Ashido watches from home, her face pale with tears as her alien mother tries to comfort her.
“All Might looks kinda beat up.”
Tokoyami Fumikage’s jaw has dropped, he’s unable to look away from the computer screen. This evil it’s pure darkness…
“I’ve never seen him like this.”
Minoru Mineta’s soda spills to the floor as his tiny body trembles and quakes with fear.
“Where’s Kamino Ward again?”
Tsuyu Asui is in tears, holding her hands over her mouth; too afraid that she might throw up as she watches the scene with the rest of her family.
“Why aren’t the other heroes helping?”
Mr. Baumann drops the glass cup, letting it shatter as he stares up at his monitor all the while all of his alien customers from ML-E and her mom, to Bubble Helmet, a flock of Megawatts, and even Argit watch on with equally fearful reactions.
“Man, these villain attacks are getting insane!”
Thirteen’s eyes are as wide as dinner plates as they, One-One, and Chopper watch from inside Plumber Base.
“That or the heroes are just slacking off.”
Not all groups seem to find this attack all that hopeless, such as the armored figures seated around a gloriously designed round table. Who watch the scene with great intrigue.
“They’re getting soft. I mean I hate to say it, but it’s true.”
A lone man watches from inside his clean almost laboratory-like bunker that so sterile that you can see your reflection off every surface, his surgical gloved hands hold a lone scalpel that he dances between his fingers.
“Looks bad, sure but All Might’s the best! He’ll win in the end…right?”
Everyone watches, even the prisoners of Tartarus watch on. But as some of the imprisoned villains cheer for All Might’s ass-whooping there are those like the woman in violet who remains all but silent.
“It’s not over! R-Right All Might?!”
Bakugou can feel it. No, it’s not just him, the others can sense it too. There…there was a shift, a great shift like that of the waves suddenly pulling them all away into another direction. The tides are changing, and they’re going to drown the heroes in their wake…
“Uraraka… Deku…” Bakugou breathes, unable to look away from All For One’s image displayed across the giant screen. ‘Where are you guys? You need to get out of there… NOW!!!”
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‘I need to get out of here NOW!!!’ Ochaco squirms, kicking and clawing at the rubble but’s no good. She tried making the rebar weightless which didn’t do anything thanks to all the rubble weighing it down from each end. She’s stuck!! For a second she considers using One For All to break free but the chill of knowing that All For One is right there stops her from doing so. For now she’ll have to keep an eye on the fight and hope she can make her escape. Maybe Kraab will somehow find her and give her a hand?
Well truth be told, Kraab hasn’t been faring any better than she has. After being flung off her shoulder he was bounced around here and there by the battle’s shockwaves. At some point while being thrown around he lost an arm! No big deal except for the fact that he’s lost and has no idea what to do now!
“Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! FUCK!!!” Kraab chants as he scuttles quickly across the uneven ground. He crawls up the side of a massive pile of rubble to get his bearings only to spot helicopters in the sky, their lights and cameras all shining down at All Might and his opposite, facing off at the center of it all. Along with Cinder and Gran Torino not far off.
“Nope! I’m out!” He states, throwing his one claw up in surrender. “Maybe…maybe it’s time I hit the road. Yup, planet Earth is a dud. I have heard that Alderaan is lovely this time of year.”
But before he can scurry away to his impromptu vacation something shiny catches his eyes in this dark and dismal scene.
“Huh?” Curious he scuttles over, moving cautiously, but then becomes even more confused when he finds a silver briefcase hidden amongst the rubble and damage.
But what’s odder still is the massive energy signal he’s picking up from inside the case. “What da?”
Hoping over and nearly tripping thanks to the off-balance of a missing arm he soon reaches the briefcase and reading its label: C60-NV.
“There’s no way…” Reaching his open claw in, he flicks the briefcase open to find the Plumber’s secret weapon inside. “Holy. Shit. Cinder you’re a mad man…”
Now there’s just one problem, how does a one-armed cybernetic crustacean get this to the Plumber? “Fuck me…”
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Back at the center of the battlefield, the standstill finally reaches its climax as both sides lose their patience.
Cinder strikes first, actually, unleashing a triple Fire Breath at the villain. “SCORCHING RAY!!!”
The devil doesn’t bat an eye against the incoming inferno, deflecting them awa with sheer blasts of wind and air.
“RAAAAGH!!” All Might slips in from the side, moving incredibly fast and having used Cinder’s strikes as cover to get in an attack!
However, AFO must have some kind of 360-degree prescription as he easily out maneuvers and evades the SMASH with a quick jet of his levitation Quirk to propel himself away.
“You can’t evade us forever!!” Gran Torino ricochets off the pillars of rubble and rock before rockets towards the villain with the intention of driving his foot into the devil’s helmet.
“I don’t plan to.” However, with a flick of the wrist Gran Torino is sent flying away with some kinetic force redirection.
“FIRE LASH!!!” There’s a crack and then a whip made of pure fire slashes through the air, controlled by Cinder’ Firebreath.
AFO easily sidesteps it however and smiles down at the seemingly normal hero. “Hisashi Midoriya, I admit for someone of your position you’re not what I was expecting. I can only imagine how effective your Quirk truly is in your line of work. I can’t imagine you don’t have much room to breathe up there.”
Cinder’s eyes pop wide and if he didn’t fear this villain before due to the power of his strength, he is definitely fearing the power of his knowledge,
All Might, however, misunderstands and calls out the villain as he charges in for another go! “HOW DARE YOU?! THE QUIRK OF THE HERO DOESN’T MATTER, BUT THE DEDICATION IN THEIR HEART!”
All For One, would beg to differ. “This is a private conversation, All Might.” He taunts as he rockets upward and away from the hero’s fist. “This is a discussion between two enlightened individuals.”
All Might glowers, not understanding at all what he’s getting at. After all this is the first time All For One is even meeting Cinder. Hell Cinder didn’t even know AFO existed until he told him! ‘NO. FOCUS. HE’S JUST PLAYING ME.’
“By the way, your boy and I had a very nice chat.”
Cinder goes still, his heart stopping in response. Even All Might turns pale instantly assuming the worst.
“You raised quite the smart lad. Reckless and stubborn, but a good head on his shoulders. Not surprising though considering all the…responsibilities he’s forced to juggle.”
Even though he just told All Might to keep his cool, Cinder absolutely loses it and unleashes hell on earth. “GIVE HIM BACK TO ME!!!” Causing an eruption of flames, he rockets himself up after the devil.
“Hisashi, No!!/MIDORIYA NOO!!!” Gran Torino and All Might scream but to no avail.
Cinder slashes his burning spear at the villain, aiming right for his neck.
However, the dark tendrils fly out to meet him, shoving him away before launching him right back onto the dirt, where he belongs. “I’m afraid I can’t complete your request. I’ve already hand delivered him to my newest associate and partner.”
All three heroes gasp, with Cinder and Gran Torino’s minds instantly coming to the same conclusion while All Might’s mind races for answers.
‘NEWEST ASSOCIATE? PARTNER? WHAT IS ALL THIS? NONE OF THIS IS MAKING ANY SENSE ANYMORE… WHY THE SUDDEN INTEREST IN MR. MIDORIYA’S LIFE? AND…HE HANDED YOUNG MIDORIYA AWAY?’ All this time All Might had assumed that…maybe AFO wanted to collect Young Midoriya’s One Man Army Quirk for himself. ‘IS…IS THAT NOT THE CASE? WHO IS THIS PARTNER?!’
“You allowed it to happen, you know.” All for One continues, purposefully ignoring All Might’s look of clear confusion. “Perhaps the boy would have some self-preservation if his father were around? Perhaps if he had a proper father or even a proper role model,” That latter jab was obviously meant for All Might, and the hero knows it. “Then maybe at least he wouldn't deal with forces far greater than even the likes of me. But I certainly can't blame you for leaving, after all, what kind of HERO would want a Quirkless heir?”
“THAT’S NOT TRUE!!!” Cinder roars, and from his breath he summons a giant pillar of fire that erupts forth at the villain. “I love my son and I will do anything to protect him!!”
AFO blasts the eruption away before gliding away with incredible ease. “Protect him? How? By giving whatever tools you can? My, my we do think alike. However, even I must admit, giving a boy so young the universe’s most powerful weapon wasn’t such a wise idea.”
Just when he thought his heart couldn’t plummet any further, Cinder could almost swear he felt it plummeted all the way down to Dante’s Inferno.
And if All Might wasn’t confused before then he certainly is at a loss now.
Witnessing his befuddlement is a cause for great joy in the villain. “I told you already, you're in the dark All Might! And those two are the ones keeping you there! You truly have no idea what greater powers there are then you or any force here on EARTH!!!”
Gran Torino’s broken into a cold sweat, growing more frustrated too. “Shove it, already! Raaaghh!”
Gran Torino leads the charge as a fuming Cinder and a shaken All Might leap after him , to join in the delivering smackdown.
“Can’t you accept that you’re all nothing but grains of sand? And I’m the impending wave that will sweep you all away to the depths?” With a flick, the black tendrils return, stabbing the heroes and propelling them away like annoying flies.
“I find myself conflicted.” The Symbol of Evil admits while readdressing his polar opposite again. “Tomura’s been the one to chip away at society’s trust in heroes. So, is it fair that I should land the final blow? You know All Might as much as you hate me, I think I probably loathe you more. I killed your master, sure, but you took away so much from me. Everything I tried to build, that’s why I want you to suffer until your last breath and die broken and disgraced,” As he raises his right arm it bloats up, inflating with sheer pressure and power and red lighting dancing off his muscles. “For all the WORLD to see!!”
“Big one's coming! Dodge and counter!” Gran Torino warns before zipping along with Cinder into the air.
All Might turns to follow but the villain’s next words make him freeze.
“Not everyone’s so fast!” He turns his hand away from them and towards the far off piles of rubble.
All Might follows his gaze and his blood runs ice cold when he spots Young Uraraka struggling to free herself from under a massive pile of rubble and rebar. And in that moment all he sees is his master's back to him as she propelled him away as she prepared to face her final moments…
“I will obliterate everything you’ve PROTECTED!!!” And with a devastating boom he unleashes an entire hurricane worth of power right at the girl!
“URARAKA!!!” All Might doesn’t hesitate, not for a second, he doesn’t wonder why she’s still here or if he should scold her for coming. All he cares about is saving her and stopping this monster from hurting another one of his precious students.
He immediately zips across the battlefield in a desperate attempt to reach his precious predecessor first.
Only when he starts running towards her is when Gran Torino and Cinder spot her too. It’s only then Gran Torino understands All For One's game. But they’re too far; there's no chance they’ll reach either of them in time.
For Ochaco it takes a moment, no less than a second to realize what’s happening. It feels like the grim reaper himself has chosen her to die in this crashing gale storm while All Might, her teacher and mentor, races to deny it. It all happened so quickly and yet so slow all at once. Like a nightmare you can’t wake up from and are forced to watch over and over again.
Just meters away, All Might manages to throw himself in the way and meets the oncoming force of nature with a mighty-filled SMAAAAAAASH!!!
The resounding shockwave feels like a nuclear bomb has gone off! As the wind and debris rips across Kamino Ward for what feels like miles!
Gran Torino and Cinder are blown off their feet. The rubble pinning Ochaco down is the only reason she too isn’t blown away, but some of the pile does break away and flies off as if whisked away in a tornado. All the while the blasting winds carves at the ground from All Might’s steaming and bloodied form!
Eventually the storm subsided, leaving massive tranches carved into the earth at either Symbol of peace’s sides. However, despite tanking that blast, the hero…is looking worse for wear. No, he looks far worse than that. He-he-he’s in shambles…
And that’s exactly what All For One wants. “First to go is your self-respect and your ridiculous public image. Show the world how pitiful you really are. Symbol of Peace.”
Cinder props himself up along with Gran Torino. His spinning head snapping towards the impact of the blast and he stops, his breath hitches as he finds All Might…standing there? ‘Wait, what…what happened to him? That’s-that’s not All Might? That-that’s Toshinori Yagi!’ The fella who came up to him at the police station. He looks like a real mess with his fist forward in the air, bloodied and shaking, more blood oozes from his head, mixing with his sweat and shaggy blond locks. And that costume he’s wearing makes it look like he’s swimming it in ‘What’s he-?’ But seeing the familiar costume draped over the skeletal man’s shoulders is enough to silence him and let it all fall into place. ‘Is that really you, All Might?!’
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It’s not just Hisashi who’s in disbelief but almost the entirety of Kamino Ward and the world, and maybe even beyond, has the same reaction.
Bakugou’s usual fire is gone, his eyes soft yet shocked. Even after learning about aliens, Deku, and the League’s plans none of it can compare to the earth-shattering reality that is All Might’s truth.
All Might…has been weakened.
And it’s the same reality everyone else around them is coming to.
“He looks like a skeleton.”
“What’s wrong?”
[“Is-is everyone else seeing this?”] The reporter continues, and it’s surprising he’s not at a loss for words as he struggles to comprehend what’s happening. [“It looks like All Might’s been shrunk somehow!”]
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All Might…Toshinori knows. He’s a fool if he didn’t know already, but the world is aware now. They’re aware that their Symbol of Peace…is broken.
And AFO takes much glee in that fact. “Hollow cheeks and sunken eyes, to think that you’re their greatest hero. Now the adorning public knows your true form, try not to be ashamed.”
“Al-All M-Might…” Ochaco chokes and whispers, the start of tears starting to form as the reality sinks in. His injury. His time limit. That blast and her being here was enough to break his focus and lose his hold over One For All. He-he cans surely, hopefully, re-summoning it but…it’s too late. The damage has been done. And it’s-it’s-it’s-... “I-I’m so sorry…!” She wails while falling to despair.
“In this world, the ones always smiling are the ones who are the strongest…” Toshinori echoes, almost at a whisper, and yet she heard it.
She pauses and tries to choke back her sobs as she blinks up at All Might…confused and scared.
“You have nothing to apologize for, Young Uraraka.”
She stares up at him like he’s crazy, but maybe that’s true. No, it definitely is true, his Master told him as much. It’s funny, Young Uraraka reminds him of his Master in so many ways. Maybe she’s how he imagined Nana to be when she first started. Young, inexperienced, just trying to do her part to make the world a better place alongside her friends… Yeah he chose good. He’ll make sure she doesn’t have to face this devil, the Symbol of Evil, ever.
Hopefully she’ll get out of this unscathed and without trouble, maybe all the smoke will keep her out of sight of the media. Good. He’d hate for her potential to be dashed by his disgraceful negligence.
“Put all the blame on me. This is my responsibility. It’s because of my actions that Young Midoriya was targeted. Why Young Bakugou was taken, And it’s why you are here now. And I’m not going to rest until you’re all home.” He turns away, locking his sapphire gaze up towards the menace with a determined fire. “That's the only way I can make it up to any of you.”
“You are a fool. Lying to her like that, how cruel. Then again you have no idea what big of lies she’s hiding from you.” Lies that could potentially have catastrophic consequences to even his own operations but it’s a necessary risk. A gamble but one he knows he can win big with. “This is a necessary move, with you out of the way the floodgates will be opened for all my comrades!” Both of Earth and not. “But first I must get rid of you. What say you All Might? Shall I grant your own student the honor of witnessing her Master’s death just like I did for you?”
He’s not going to let him play with his emotions anymore. Instead, he will take his rage and put it behind his fists. “Even as my body rots and grows frail. Even as you expose my weakened state, in my heart I remain the Symbol of Peace.” He raises his fist, and his palm begins to glow, the light pouring out from between his grip like a shining torch or pure rainbow light. “And there’s nothing you can do that can take that from me!”
“Is that so? Aw, well I forgot how stubborn you are. I guess I’ll just give up.” All For One feigns a shrug like he’s quitting and even turns away as if to walk off; before stopping. “Oh, but there is one thing you might be interested to know. Tomura Shigaraki, my apprentice, he’s Nana Shimura’s grandson.”
Silence. Nothing but silence.
Toshinori remains still as does All For One, although the latter is just awaiting the former’s reaction. And so he waits until it finally gets through the hero’s thick skull.
And it does. Thunder could almost be heard as Toshinori’s sunken eyes somehow grow even deeper, his tiny sapphire eyes somehow losing all their color and shine.
“I kept wondering what would annihilate your golden heart. And so, I found Tomura, groomed him to hate you and watched you smile so proudly as you beast your master’s descendant.”
“T-that’s a lie…”
“Oh, come now, you know it’s the truth. That’s clearly something I would do.”
It is. He…this monster. This devil born of man, he would-he did as he claims. He stole his precious Master’s grandson away just to get back…at him!
“Huh. Well, well, strange All Might. Where is your smile now? Haha haha hahaha!”
[FLASHBACK]
“If you have to save someone, that probably means they’ve gone through something terrifying.” Nana explained, during his first spring of training. “They’ll be frightened. Remember, that real heroes don’t just save lives, they save a person’s heart too. You know what I think. No matter how scared you are, you should smile to show them it’ll be okay.”
She turns to him, smiling, and presses her two index fingers to her cheeks before lifting them up to help make her smile even bigger and sillier. “In this world, the ones always smiling are the ones who are the strongest.”
[End of FLASHBACK]
“Y-you-...bast-ard…”
“Haha haha hahaha! How very entertaining. I think I’ve taken a piece of you after all.”
“He’s my M-Master’s g-grandchild?” Toshinori chokes, whimpering to himself as his entire frame shakes and buckles under this truth. “My god, what would she say if she knew how we turned out? AAAAAAAAAAHHHH!!!” He wails, his hope, his spark, his drive leaving him all at once with one pained howl of grief and regret.
“All Might…” His own predecessor reaches for him, but still stuck under the rebar and rubble her hand only touches smoke and ash. Like a nightmare, she cannot reach her goal, it’ll always stay out of reach… What torture but in truth All Might it’s the one being the most tortured. ‘Tomura Shigaraki is Nana Shimura’s grandson?’ That-that's so messed up… What kind of demon would do that?! Is this really what All Might has to face? Is this the evil he forced himself to face alone? It-it can’t be… But it is. And-and she’s helpless to stop it… “A-All Might…!” She wheezes fighting through the aches and pains so he can hear her voice. “D-Don’t give up! It’s not over yet! You can-you can still save the day! WE STILL NEED YOU, ALL MIGHT!!!”
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They do. They’re all relying on him. Not just the people of Japan, not just the humans or the aliens. But all of them. Every being of every walk of life still needs their pillar of support. Their Number One Hero. Their one and only Symbol of Peace.
And yet…it’s clear to them, maybe even for the first time. All Might…is not a god. He is a man. Human. A human with limits and…they’ve finally witnessed his.
“He’s frozen!”
“This is bad…”
“Beat this guy…” Bakugou whispers, unable to look away.
From most of their perspective all they saw was All Might shielding some poor civilian from All For One’s attack. And even though her face couldn’t been seen through the smoke he knows who it is. Uraraka’s stuck on the battlefield because of-because he couldn’t Fucking save himself… And now, and now All Might’s…
From all around them, people’s faiths are shaking as their hope slowly fades away like All Might’s facade had.
“No way, what next?”
“Is he gonna lose?”
Bakugou, Kirishima, and Iida stare ahead, unable to even process any of this as some, potentially delusional, hopefuls hold onto the last ounces of hope they have.
“He’s always been able to win before so he can do it again right?”
“Y-Yeah! Even if he looks totally different he’s still the same All Might!”
And with that the whole crowd is in an uproar as everyone cries, screams, and cheers as loud as they can for their Symbol of Peace to get back up and to keep going!
“Come on All Might!”
“You can do it!”
“Beat this sucker!!”
It’s like a mad chorus, a chorus of desperate, terrified pleas of beings who know they're witnessing history. Witnessing the end of an era. And have yet to accept it at all. They refuse to.
“Beat him!!” Bakugou roars, refusing to believe the same! “COME ON ALL MIGHT!!!”
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As if he can hear their calls, or maybe he can, their hopes and please charge One For All like a generator as his right arm expands and becomes muscular as before with yellow lighting surging off his veins. “Fear not, my student. I’m not done yet.”
Ochaco-stares in awe as One For All surges through her teacher, it feels…it feels like someone placed a warm blanket over her and is telling her that it’s going to be alright.
“You were right.” Toshinori admits to the smug AFO. “A hero has so much to protect in this world.” As One For All surges and collects at his fist, the light emanating from it grows brighter and brighter just like a beacon as the Number One hero proudly declares. “Which is why, I will defeat you!”
Almost like a whisper in his ears he can still hear his Master’s voice: ‘“Toshinori, when you think you can’t go on anymore. Look inside.”’
‘I must remember-...’
‘“Remember why it is you clench your fist.”’
‘...where I started.’
‘“Your past, remember where you came from. Keeping your origin in mind will help push you past your limit.”’
‘My origin…’ He can still remember his own words, the words of, at the time, a foolish and yet hopeful teen: ‘“I want to make a world where everyone smiles and lives together happily.”’
In all honesty, All For One should have expected something like this. It’s almost like a requirement for every wielder of One For All had to be stubborn beyond a doubt. “I must admit, I’m surprised you still have a hold over One For All. I seemed to have miscalculated how much power I was putting behind my attacks. My mistake I won’t make that mistake again.” But first a little more fun is to be had. “Do you know that even now, I sometimes dream of you charging at me with your entrails strewn across the ground.” He’s ready to make that dream come true as his arm sparks with red. “Not to worry you will still be a Symbol to the people of this planet. A reminder of what will befall them all if they should challenge my will.” He raises his arm and aims down at the hero. “Goodbye, All Might. It wasn’t a pleasure.”
All Might holds his ground, knowing that if he moves he’ll just target Young Uraraka again. But before either side could launch an attack a sudden eruption of blinding orange flames cuts its way right towards the demon!
Acting fast, AFO blasts the flames away. Perturbed by the intrusion.
“Are you serious?!” Endeavor lands with a loud thunder, his flames raging off his body in waves as he finds himself before the disastrous scene. “What the hell’s going on with that WEAK LITTLE BODY!?!”
A spinning thread lands down beside him before uncurling to form into the ninja-like Edgeshot. “Looks like we made it in time.”
[FLASHBACK]
Back at the villain bar, the Police finally managed to get all if not most of the Nomu subdued and rounded up. With Inspector Tezuka overseeing most of it. As Tsukauchi was still in a panic as he told them to go.
“We got the Nomu under control! You have to help All Might!”
[End of FLASHBACK]
“Tsukauchi must have expected this.” Edgeshot concludes as he spots All Might’s skeletal frame. “He feared for his friend’s life.”
“Those Nomu weren’t particularly strong, but I’m still impressed you handled them so quickly.” All For One mocking applauds, not meaning a word he says. “As expected from the man who clawed his way to the Number Two spot.”
“Damnit, All Might.” Endeavor growls, growing more and more pissed off the longer he stares at that tiny, weak skeleton of a man. “I did everything I could to get ahead of you, but the harder I worked the more obvious it became just how much of a widening gap separated the two of us. The stronger you got, the angrier I became.” Anger that brought anguish to his children, his wife, and his son-...sons. Did all that anger, all that rage and work amount to…nothing? No. No. No! NO!! “STAND UP AND SHOW THEM WHY YOU’RE BETTER, ALL MIGHT!!!”
‘Endeavor…’ Toshinori stares back, spurred by Endeavor’s…encouragement?
‘Enji…’ Finally snapping out of his initial shock but still fighting through the pain, Cinder slowly rises to his feet, using his spear for leverage. “All Might!!”
Toshinori’s eyes instantly snap towards the father.
“You-you made a promise!! You promised that you’d bring Izuku home, didn’t you?!”
Toshinori stares back, his will surging forth along with One For All.. “With all my heart…”
Meanwhile, All For One grows annoyed, his moment with All Might’s been interrupted and he certainly doesn't appreciate that. “If the only reason you’re here is to cheer him on, I prefer for you to remain silent-!” He prepares another blast but then he’s forced back as he’s nearly skewered by a spiral of dark threads.
“Think again, mad man!” The dark threads unravel to form back into an airborne Edgeshot who immediately retaliates with a barrage of shurikens. “We’re here to assist!”
As the heroes keep the villain occupied, Kamui Woods swings on from afar but not to attack but to save. His branches reach across the battlefield, plucking out the fallen but unconscious forms of Best Jeanist, Gang Orca, his sidekicks, and Mt. Lady out from the rubble.
“That’s our job as heroes!” He reels Mt. Lady in close, thankfully after a minute of benign battered by shockwaves her frame shrunk down to normal size. “You did your best, Mt. Lady.”
Toshinori’s astonished, grateful that they’re all here. “All of you came…”
“Of course, we did.” Tiger stands while still holding onto his unconscious teammate, Ragdoll. “We can’t do much but if we can just help a little then we have fulfilled our duty.”
“Thank you…”
Tiger hurries to Ochaco’s side, helping her pull away the rubble. “You have to stop him, All Might. This personification of evil. Pros and citizens everywhere are praying for your victory! No matter what you look like! YOU’RE STILL EVERYONE’S NUMBER ONE HERO!!!”
Even as Tiger digs her out Ochaco can’t focus on herself or them, but only on All Might. She can only think about how true Tiger’s words are. He is still their Number One Hero. He’s hers. His students’. Deku’s… They all still need him. There’s-there’s so much he can teach them… But he needs help! They all need help.
A somber reality that is. Even the greatest of people and heroes need a helping hand sometimes. If-...if only she could help. But what is she supposed to do? She can’t reach him. No matter how much she wants to, she can’t go to him, and it’s not just because of the rebar and rubble pinning her down. It’s the knowledge that she’ll be a liability… She can’t stand by his side, can’t help him fight… But maybe-that doesn't mean she can’t support him.
She stretches her arm out, hoping, desperately trying to reach him-maybe she can lighten his load. Maybe… Her fingertips glow softly as a spark of One For All fuses with her Zero-Gravity. And from it she summons the tiniest of Ryou Spheres. It’s nothing impressive, it's small, tiny, and seemingly insignificant. But…it’s beautiful in its own right. Like a glowing bubble it slowly drifts from her hand, dancing with the soft easy wind. Almost unnoticeable by all.
Except to Toshinori. He sees it. The tiny little bubble, the delicate precious little thing. He watches it approach, bouncing through the air like a child’s innocence, before reaching him. And like a soft kiss it presses against him before popping softly. The instant it does he can feel Zero-Gravity taking its effect all across his body. His muscles ease and his blood flows as if relieved of building pressure.
“Thank you, Young Uraraka…” Honestly, it never feels like enough. A simple thank you for a student helping their master, there’s nothing he can do to make it up to her. Or to any of his students. Especially him… But he’ll die first before he doesn’t give it his best try.
“Am I really everyone’s Number One hero? No, I’m not. Young Midoriya…I have failed you for the last TIME.” One For All surges, glowing brighter, as yellow lighting dances not just off his arm but his entire body. He hasn’t lost OFA yet, in that moment, it feels like fuel’s been added to the fire. An entire tank of gasoline has been poured on turning the little torch into a full-on inferno! “I will bring you home. I will ensure that you have a bright future! I will make sure you become the hero-You Were Always Meant To Be!!” His entire body rises, expanding and shifting into an almost complete transformation. It’s strained, broken, but it’s All Might. And even though half his face is left in his weakened state, it’s clear to all that the Symbol Of Peace’s will is far from broken. “So, Have No Fear, Because I Am Here!!”
As the entire world watches and cries out in joy, Gran Torino doesn't hear any of it. Too locked in on All Might’s words…
He does have enough sense to move, however, finally summing enough strength to zip away and to get to the girl. But his mind is solely on her predecessor. ‘Toshinori…’
[FLASHBACK]
“Toshinori Yagi?”
What an odd name for an even odder kid. But Shimura must see something in the kid if she’s raving on and on about him this much.
“He’s an interesting guy. A little crazy” She declares, happily while they watch over the quieting city just as the sun begins to set over it. “For instance, he thinks that crime hasn’t gone down because the citizens don’t have anyone to rely on. That the world needs some kind of pillar of support. And he says that’s what he’s going to become one day.”
[End of FLASHBACK]
At the time he thought it was such a foolish idea. A stupid kid’s stupid dream. Funny how time works though. Look where he is now, look what became of that dream, and look what became of that kid. It’s not foolish. It’s not a waste. No, it’s worth so much more. So, much so that he’ll do anything to keep that magnificent dream alive.
‘Toshinori, you are a pillar. One that must not be broken…’ He lands beside All Might’s student but it’s not him she’s paying attention to, instead she continues to scream and cheer for her hero.
‘You are the Number One Hero…’
And it’s not just her that's cheering. All across Japan, people are reaching out to him.
Such as his dear colleagues like Principal Nezu, Shota Aizawa, and Vlad King who cries fill the entirety of U.A.’s halls.
‘You can hear them can’t you…?’
Even from their homes, his students are crying and screaming as loud as their lungs will let them. Praying that All Might wins. Praying that he and their friends come home from all this. That they can go back to school and help each other grow.
‘Even after everything he’s done so far the entire world continues to cheer you on.’
More than just this world even. As every alien, being, and creature in Mr. Baumann’s store is in a frenzy of calls, chants, and shouting. All directed at their holographic screens. All directed at All Might. All wishing for their Symbol of Peace.
‘Their united forces cry out for your victory! That includes your students who’s admiration knows no bounds! Who smile with their whole hearts to be like you!’
it’s faint, or maybe it’s his mind playing tricks on him, but he can almost swear he heard the entire planet cry out as one united force. “ALL MIGHT!!!”
“How pointless!” Having enough with this ridiculous defiance, All For One rises high above them all with a sinister air. “Let’s stop dwelling on heroism and start focusing on reality.” His right arm begins to expand once again but this time it begins to behave erratically as it begins to stretch and shift and bend in odd unnatural angels as a multitude of Quirks bubble to the surface. “Spring-like Limbs + Kinetic Booster x4 + Strength Enhancer x3 + Multiplier + Hyperideal + Rivets + Air Walk + Spear-like Bones!!”
The heroes watch in disgust and shock as All For One demonstrates his true terror. His access to Multiple Quirks. Leaving his body, especially his arm, as the true centerpiece of this bodily horror show. As his arm is now bigger and longer than he is with all sorts of twisted scales, spikes, veins, and pulsating muscles all the while red spark ripple across his frame.
“The shockwaves up till now have been to simply mean to ware you out. I knew it would take much more than that to kill you. In order to put you down for good, I’ll punch you with the ultimate combination of Quirks I have stored up in my right now! This will end you.”
He unleashes another of his devastating shockwaves yet again, this time towards the ground allowing the wind to flood across the ground but this time he mixes it in with bolts of red lighting that crash across the earth leaving it scorched.
No one can escape the incoming blast as Edgeshot, Endeavor, and Cinder are all blasted, not just off their feet, but are sent soaring. All three crashing into the debris and rubble as a result as red lighting thunders around them.
Just as Tiger frees Ochaco’s leg he’s sent flying too, forced to curl around Ragdoll in order to protect her, unfortunately leaving Ochaco.
However, Gran Torino happened to just make it to her side and managed to hold onto the rebar just as AFO’s blast rocks the earth around them. He shields her as best as he can, unfortunately that means he takes the full brunt of AFO’s lighting and power.
“Gran Torino!!” Ochaco screams, her hair whipping at her face as red lightning flashes past.
Unbeknownst to any of them, Kraab is caught up in this too. He just happened to scuttle on top of a nearby pile of rubble where he spotted Ochaco and Gran Torino all before he too was sent flying by AFO’s gale wind! “Not again! Doesn’t this guy have any other attacks?!”
The thundering gale force ends soon after, and AFO is left satisfied with his handy work. Not only did he send those pesky heroes away, but he even managed to show All Might what real strength is like. After all, he’s no longer in sight. Perhaps his last summons of strength was a ruse, a last-ditch facade to make a grand last stand.
“DETROIT…SMAAAAASH!!!”
Suddenly All For One finds All Might's fist against his chest and then the next second his body is buried in the ground as All Might now takes his place high in the air.
“How?”
“You Call Them Weak. Insignificant. Grains Of Sand. “That’s Where You’re Wrong, All For One. Each Life You Dare Look Down On, Is Always Worth Protecting!! Now Let Me Show You the Strength Of Those You Dare Deem Unworthy!” With a kick All Might rockets himself down like a mighty eagle that’s locked in on its prey.
However, this prey is a predator himself. “Believe me All Might, if you knew half of what I knew you’d realize how true that statement is!” He throws his fist forward, knowing fully well that one single hit is all it will take to demote All Might back to his proper status.
However, just before his spiked and overly muscled fist can connect All Might zips to the side and in a blink of an eye the heroes’ knee is to his neck! And he’s launched away once again!
‘Impossible! He should be as weak as an insect! How could I have miscalculated so poorly?! One For All should be nothing but embers! But his power it’s still comparable to that of a furnace. But how?’
He watches closely as All Might seemingly dashes through the air, generating kicks so strong they propel him through the air even at his great mass. It would almost seem like he’s floating in space…
‘The girl.’ He gazes down at the battlefield below and spots said girl as she tends and cries for Gran Torino to wake up but he remains unresponsive. ‘Her Quirk, Zero-Gravity makes anything she touches nearly weightless. She’s responsible for this. She’s made it easier for All Might to move around, allowing him to move faster, more agile even in his weakened state. Very clever of her. I better dispose of her now before any more heroes decide to get any bright ideas.’
He quickly aims his massive arm towards her, figuring a devastating thunderstrike combined with spike-missile would do the trick perfectly, But his strike never fires as All Might uppercuts his wrist and sends the silver-spike flying up with a trail of crimson lightning.
“Keep Your Focus On Me, All For One! Don’t You Dare Harm Another Of My Students!!” All Might is relentless, delivering punch after punch to AFO’s body and making the villain pay for all the hell he caused.
However, the devil can’t be bothered to show just how much it’s really affecting him. He does fight back, firing Quirk after Quirk from Spiked heat-seeking missiles with red lighting trails, to blasts of gale winds, and iron-cladded punches. However, none of them seem to land. But just because physically he can’t hurt the hero doesn’t mean he can’t affect his mind.
“Why are you so worked up, All Might? Is it really because you care for her wellbeing? Or are you afraid that if i get to her first that’ll mean the end of One For All?”
All Might’s half-skeleton face goes pale for the briefest of seconds. Before masking itself in his best poker face.
Unfortunately, that’s all the demon needed. “You’re so easy to read. Ochaco Uraraka, she’s the child you passed One For All onto, isn’t she?!” The look in the hero’s eyes are all he needs to confirm his suspicions. Oh, how delicious of a treat this will be, “I bet she came here without your asking. You have no control over her do you? Or any of your students.”
All Might breaks his hold over him, and lands another SMASH to the villain's center, launching him back th way they came before changing after him. “Don’t You Dare Say Her Name From Your Filthy Mouth!!” With All Might thrown off by AFO’s realization, the villain manages to grab him before using Air Walk to launch them through the remaining of standing walls, right after the other, shattering each to pieces with All Might as the battering ram!
“My, not only do you have no control. But there’s a sheer gap in respect between the two of you, and you’re so clueless about the secret she carries with her.”
“S-Shut Up…”
“How are you so blind?! Do you even understand why we took Izuku Midoriya from you? It's because of that same secret! The very secret your own apprentice hasn’t granted you with!!”
“Quit Your Games! That’s Enough!!”
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“Gran Torino! Please, you have to wake up!” Ochaco, begs shaking the little old man but he’s out cold and all the other heroes are out of earshot.
They’re all, including her, too focused on the fight. But not one of them can get close; not Cinder, not Endeavor, not Edgeshot. Not with All Might and All For One moving do fast and leaving behind trails of destructing wind and lightning or other.
It’s pure chaos and she has no idea what to do! Should she take Gran Torino and run? Get help? Fight?! She has no idea!!
“Hey-...! Hey! Hey, kid! For flarkin’ sake will you just pay attention already?!”
Ochaco jumps spinning around before spotting a little orange crustacean hobbling his way nearby. “K-Kraab!!” She immediately lights up before spotting his missing claw. “Your arm!”
“Aw, you do care.” He sarcastically remarks as he drags a device that’s unfamiliar to Ochaco behind him. “But forget the arm. Here!”
As he reaches her he slings the device into her open hands, giving her a good look at it. But all she sees is some strangely designed gin laid in her hands.
“What-what is this?”
“A goodbye present for Tall-Dark-And Gruesome over there.” Kraab responds while gesturing towards All For One who fires another round of heat-seeking missiles at All Might. Curtoesoly of Cinder, I assume.”
Ochaco immediately grows worried at the thought of exposing the alien blaster, especially in front of all these heroes and helicopters. “But-But All Might-”
“Just listen to me, okay. This is the real deal here. Forget about subtly. Forget about the secrets. Lives are at stake. Deku’s life is at stake! We have to do our parts to make sure he doesn’t die in some hellhole, ya hear me?!”
She does. And…she understands the risks involved. She might live to regret it some of it, but right now All Might needs her. Her friends need her. “Tell me what to do.”
“Now we’re talking.” Kraab quickly scuttles up and perches himself on her shoulder before going into details. “Just wait for my signal, understand? We’re only going to have one shot at this…”
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“Blind and deaf. How very sad I guess your injury did as much damage to you as it did me.” The helmeted villain jokes just as All Might throws his fist forward.
However, AFO ‘s own fist meets it and the two clash before being repelled back by the resounding shockwave. “Why choose her out of all the others? You had the benefit of choosing the best out of the litter and yet you chose the runt? Oh my, I can only imagine what was going through your head. What was it? Her childlike wonder? Can-do-attitude? Or was it that she reminded you so much of your own Master, Nana Shimura? Was that it? Was it some sort of guilt-trip for you? A way to make things right?! You allow your emotions to cloud your judgment All Might! One For All is wasted on people like her, like Nana Shimura!!”
“I Said That’s ENOUUUUUGH!!” Once again, All Might’s rage rears its ugly head, and he sprints straight towards the danger with his fist ready to meet it!
“It sounds as though you’ll die full of regrets All Might!! As a hero and as a teacher!!”
Their firsts, their power, CLASH blood splatters from both arms, waves of power resonant of them both as red and yellow lightning respectively as howling winds surge across Kamino Ward, causing even more destruction than before.
But All Might’s power never fades. It never wanes or shakes. He refuses to let it happen. Not until the job is done and everyone is safe. If anything, his will, his spirit grows stronger as he faces his nemesis, his polar opposite, face to face for what might hopefully be the last time…
“You’re Right. I Am A Failure As A Teacher.” He’s far too soft on his students. And in truth he never truly made their education his priority. Not that he doesn’t care, he did but looking back he could-should have done more. Hell, his first day teaching he used notecard-NOTECARDS!! Some educator he turned out to be. Young Uraraka and the others’ actions today are a direct result of his example. He should make it clear and lead them to understand just how dangerous their actions are. He should-will reprimand them, not out of spite, but so they can grow to become better. But first he must ensure that his class has full attendance and that starts by brings his missing student home. “But My Students Are Everything To Me! They’ve Inspired Me Far More Than Any Of Them Know!”
That’s why One For All hasn’t vanished from him. It’s why it refuses to do so. For them. Young Uraraka taught him to be attentive and more mindful. Young Bakugou’s ferocity is something to behold, such determination. Young Todoroki’s growth and development from the indifferent loner to quiet yet mindful friend has been moving, Iida’s diligence. Yaoyorozu’s leadership. Kirishima’s kindness. Ashido’s enthusiasm. Shinso’s hard work. Asui’s honesty. And Young Midoriya… Young Midoriya…is just simply…amazing. Far more than All Might ever gave him credit for. .They all have their gifts, their precious gifts that make them who they are outside their Quirks. Each one of them is like a star in his eyes. Stars that must continue to glow far past his own time on this Earth!
“I Will Make It Up To Them!! I Won’t Just Be Their Hero!” One For All surges forth with far more power than ever before, its excess radiates off of him not just as yellow sparks but as a blinding almost white light. Like a halo radiating off every color of the rainbow as All Might prepares to end his feud here and now. “I WILL BE THEIR TEACHER!!!”
And like a meteor he launches right for his destiny.
“You are a fraud! Unimportant to the great scheme of things!” All For One soars forward, his own fist aglow with dark crimson matter, “And by ending you I will show the world just how insignificant their Symbol of Peace really is!!”
From below Ochaco takes aim and watches as All Might puts all of spirit into his fight,
With only moments before they clash All Might doesn’t hear the cheering, or the taunts, nor his students’ cries. No, instead he hears his master’s words, the words she told him the day he received the torch that is One For All: “‘This power has been passed on from hero to hero. Each pray that’ll bring joy and peace to humanity. That One For All will give the world hope. And now it is your turn. Do your best, Toshinori…”’
He can feel it all, he can feel them all, every wielder of One For All, every moment they carried and passed on this torch. It all led to this. The day this growing power can finally return to its source as the greatest weapon to defeat it. As a shining symbol and a mighty roar.
“UNITED STATES OF SMAAAAAAASH!!!”’
Power. Wind. Thunder. It’s like nothing before as All Might’s glowing hot fist just overpowers the villain!! The punch slides up the grotesque arm and lands point blank into the villain’s skull, smashing the helmet to bits and exposing the fleshy scared face inside to a ripping whirlwind.
The earth shakes as the sky trembles under the sheer power of One For All, and All For One, its maker, is sent flying backwards!!
“Now, kid!!” Kraab screams and Ochaco fires.
It’s a split second but All Might sees it all. Through the rising smoke and rubble, he spots Ochaco holding a gun of all things. When it fires, however, it doesn't launch a bullet but instead a red beam. The beam misses, flying behind All For One before POP a swirling portal appears, intercepting the villain’s path.
And although it only takes a few seconds he watches All For One’s mutilated face turn from a mixture of shock and fear to one of acceptance. In seconds he’s come to terms with his defeat and is perfectly fine with the results. After all this hardly means the end for him. If anything, this spells a new exciting chapter in his ever growing ambitions. “This is not the end, All Might… This is only the beginning of what’s to come. Let’s wait and see how prepared you are for the fallout, shall we?” And just as he passes the threshold of this mystery vortex the red portal seals itself shut and vanishes, as if it has never had been there at all.
It wasn’t a taunt. It wasn’t a threat. It was an honest warning, one earned but lost on the hero.
Who now finds himself floating within the air, exhausted, bleeding, and confused. His gaze shifting from where the villain vanished and then to his apprentice down below.
Although her position is mostly masked by pillars of smoke and dust, Ochaco’s grip over the Null Void Projector loosens, and it nearly falls from her fingers as she locks eyes with All Might.
In that moment he recalls AFO’s words: ‘“There’s a sheer gap in respect between the two of you, and you’re so clueless about the secret she carries with her.”’
It doesn’t make any sense. ‘A secret she carries with her? Is that it? A weapon…’
‘“How are you so blind?! Do you even understand why we took Izuku Midoriya from you? It's because of that same secret! The very secret your own apprentice hasn’t granted you with!!”’
‘It doesn’t make any sense. But does it need too?’ He wonders as he continues to stare back at her.
But Ochaco, unaware of just how much turmoil he’s going through, smiles. She gently smiles and mouths the words “It's over.” And she collapses to her knees, exhausted mentally, physically, and emotionally.
And for the first time in what feels like hours, All Might can breathe. Forget the secret for now. All For One…is gone. Which means he-...they did it. Finally… There will be time for answers later. For now, he can relax knowing it’s done.
Gran Torino finally wakes up, battered and bruised and very much confused. ‘Where’s All For One?’ He wonders and looking around for him. But instead, he’s shocked to find Ochaco beside him with Kraab and a Null Void Projector at her side. ‘Cinder…what did you do?’
Cinder saw it, it was click, a split second but he saw it. The Null Void, All For One was sent into the Null Void. Forever. Thank goodness he brought it with him. And thank God someone found it. Must have been Gran Torino…
But as those two come to terms, the rest of the world is still catching up. They all watch on slowly from their screens, computers, and phones. All their eyes are on All Might…
And he knows this. He knows this all too well. And even though he doesn’t fully understand it. He knows it’s over. All For One…is gone. Which means…
Instead of speaking, All Might stops to run towards the now rising run and with it he raises his left fist high into the air while his body continues to float from way on high like a proud Olympian who went to hell and back to earn this victory.
And that’s all anybody needs to see in order to understand.
[“All Might, wins!!!”] The reporter half-cries half-cheers into his mic for all the world to hear.
And somehow he isn’t drowned out by the millions and millennials of people all screaming and cheering, and crying for All Might’s win. The whole entire world is crying for joy!! From Japan to America, to Europe to Australia. Everyone is celebrating. And although they can’t see the villain’s body, assuming it’s somewhere off screen, they know for certain that All Might has won the day!
And now every man, woman, and child of every species and walks of life are in pure absolute joy.
[“The villain’s been defeated! Blasted away to kingdom come!! All Might stands victorious! He saved us yet again!!”]
All Might’s form finally breaks, his focus gone, and he reverts back and now Toshinori Yagi is left floating in the air; tired, weak, and bloodied. But his body slowly begins to float down as the battered Edgeshot, Endeavor, and Cinder watch on.
“What was that? Did the villain escape?” Endeavour scowls, after witnessing that strange portal appear and disappear in just seconds.
“Don’t worry.” Cinder explains while falling back onto his butt with a heavy, tired, sigh. “This was always the plan or at least the backup plan. Had an agent stationed in the area that would portal the villain away to a specialized prison. Kept it a secret till now so there’d be no risk of him finding out. Plus, we were scared he’d sense the agent and take their Quirk for himself so we stationed them far from the battlefield. They used the fighting as a distraction to sneak in close.” He visibly relaxes now while folding his spear away. “He’s gone. Locked away forever. Where he can’t harm anyone else ever again.”
Meanwhile, they all watch as Toshinori reaches the ground and whatever weightless spell that was over him vanishes away, and he nearly takes a tumble.
Gran Torino watches on from beside the girl. He can’t look away right now he knows he’s witnessing history. A turn into a new era… ‘Toshinori…All Might, you can’t afford to relax. Although, this is most likely your final act as the Symbol of Justice and Peace, and the Number One Hero. There is still one task left for you to complete…’
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Bakugou and the others watch on with tears as the entire city cheers All Might’s glory from all around them like an anthem.
“ALL MIGHT! ALL MIGHT! ALL MIGHT! ALL MIGHT! ALL MIGHT! ALL MIGHT! ALL MIGHT! ALL MIGHT! ALL MIGHT! ALL MIGHT!” They roar, they cry, they celebrate.
And yet somehow, through this massive crowd Kirishima spots two familiar figures lost within it. “Hey guys, look!” (Kirshiam0
Iida’s head snaps at the point of his finger. “Todoroki! Yaoyorozu!!”
Shoto and Momo’s heads snap up and swerve until they spot Iida waving at them while charging through the crowd, making a beeline for them with Kirishima and Bakugou right at his heels. “Iida! Kirishima!” Momo exclaims with relief.
Even Shoto looks at ease seeing Bakugou run up with a…smile of relief? Wow, that is strange. “And Bakugou, too.”
“You guys made it!” Kirishima practically throws himself at them, holding them both in a tight hug. “Man, guys I was so worried! But did you see it?! All Might kicked that villain’s butt so hard he was sent flying to the other side of the country!!”
Momo nods, relief swelling in her chest for the first time since camp. “Thank goodness.”
Iida feels very much similarly. “Now there’s nothing stopping the heroes from rescuing Midoriya! It’s over!”
Bakugou’s smile wanes and soon fades away as his gaze turns away from his friends, from the screens, from the city, and to the sky above. It’s turned orange as the sun just barely begins to rise, meaning he can still see the night filled sky relatively easily. However, there is a party of the image that shouldn’t be there. That definitely doesn't belong on Earth either. His heart races, beating faster with every second this strange silhouette plummets closer towards them.
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“You stupid girl! What were you thinking coming here?!” Gran Torino is fuming and rightfully, so which is why Ochaco is just kneeling there and taking it. “What in the hell made you think this was a good idea?!”
She bows her head in shame along with Kraab who’s tucked himself away behind her. “I’m sorry but I…had to do something.”
“Tsk! What a terrible excuse! You know better and don’t tell me otherwise! You outta be ashamed of yourself… But…thanks for coming anyway…” They literally couldn’t have won without her.
Ochaco immediately brightens up until she is properly scolded again by another hero.
“Wipe the smirk off your face.” Tiger demands, summoning his inner drill sergeant. He’s just returned after that last fight and is still holding onto his dear teammate, Ragdoll. “You’re still in a lot of trouble, ya know!”
She flinches back before hanging her head in shame. Accepting her due punishment.
However, all she receives is a pat on the head by the intense yet kindly hero. “Don’t fret too much though. We’ve got you now.”
“T-thank you…” With her worries softened for now Ochaco takes a moment to take in the scene.
Helicopters hover above but their soul focus is still on All Might. Who is now in his weakened form, having lost so much steam during his last fight.
And the heroes seem to know this as waves upon waves of them arrive to help with rescues and cleanup.
“He sure is something.” Tiger comments, watching the Number One Hero take his place in the light. “Our Symbol of Peace. I don’t know what we’d do without him.”
‘Neither would I…’ Ochaco agrees.
She zones out, watching the scene unfold before her and she stops listening to all the commands and shouts of all the newly arrived heroes as they all scramble to get to work. It quickly becomes chaotic but organized as the heroes begin searching the rubble for survivors.
However, Ochaco can’t focus on that as her ears pick up the faintest sounds of a high pitched…whistle? No, not a whistle…it just sounds like something falling through the air… Curious, she looks up.
Still seated upon the rubble, Cinder relaxes as Endeavour and Edgeshot begin to oversee and organize the new arrivals. However, even in his relaxed state he hears it as well and instantly he’s on high alert. His head snapping up towards the sky.
Ochaco stares up towards the sky with an obvious yet confused look. “What is that…?”
Frowning Gran Torino looks up as well, the moment he does he spots it and his blood runs completely cold at the sight.
In that instant, from both sides of the battlefield, both Gran Torino and Cinder cry out with panicked starts. “EVERYONE TAKE COVER!!!”
Every hero stares at them in confusion or outright ignores them, but it doesn't matter. None of it matters as suddenly a great massive weight plummets right out of the sky and smashes into the ground amongst them all!
*BOOOOOOM!!!*
It’s like a meteor has struck the Earth! Going off like an atomic bomb that rips through Kamino Ward in seconds.
“AAAAAaaaaahhhh!!!” Screams fill the air along with the rush of wind and flesh tearing shockwaves. Helicopters are blown off course, some crashing, some too damaged to stay aloft. All the while very hero, that wasn’t standing at the point of impact is sent flying right off their feet and this includes the likes of Endeavor Edgeshot, and Cinder. With only the latter able to prepare himself and to brave himself against the ground. Toshinori especially can’t take it as he’s flung out of sight and into the abyss of swirling smoke and dust.
Thanks to Gran Torino’s warning both he and Tiger managed to huddle together and shield both Ragdoll and Ochaco, as well as Kraab. And together they’re blasted off the ground but as one with Tiger taking the full brunt, purposefully to shield the others.
Even from afar, Bakugou and the others felt the ground shake at the time of impact, they felt the shockwaves, and they all watch on in sheer horror and despair as a giant mushroom cloud rises over all of Kamino Ward.
Soon the winds settle and then begins the soft rain of thick ashes and dust as the massive dust cloud slowly falls apart, obscuring everything in a terrible haze. Making it nearly impossible for heroes to see each other even when just feet apart.
There’s only silence. As each hero awaits an attack but soon confusion takes hold as whispers and questions begin to fly.
“Is everyone okay?!”
“What was that?”
“Did anyone have eyes on it?!”
“Is anybody injured?!”
“I can’t see!”
From nearby one of the lesser-known heroes pauses as his ears catch the sound of faint whirring noises, like that of a machine starting up and trying to turn on. .
“Hm?” He frowns, following his ears. He hears a shift then the bursting sounds of a rocket followed by a sharp whistle that grows closer and closer…
It’s then he releases how screwed he is. “Holy Fu-GAAAAH-!!!” A missile, a red missile launches out from the smoke and ash and totally obliterates the hero! Burning his flesh away in a blink of an eye and sending his bones scattering in a terribly burning explosion.
The heroes are immediately thrown into a panic as they try to spot the murderer. “Another villain, everyone stay on your-AAAAaahhh-!”
The hero is cut off or rather crushed as a massive red sphere literally steamrolls him! The crimson sphere is massive, it’s as big as a bus with massive red spikes protruding out of it from all sides for maximum damage.
And they work as they turn the poor hero’s flesh into ground beef and spaghetti.
Next what follows is something only seen from Genndy Tartakovsky's Primal show. As hero after hero are just steamrolled by this mysterious red sphere, their blood painting to its already red hue as their guts and bones are smashed to powder by the sphere’s massive weight and great speed. And if it weren’t bad enough several of the spikes fire off, and race through the air like missiles before blowing apart unsuspecting heroes.
“AAAAaahhh-!”
“NO! Go-go away! Gaaaah-!”
“Help! Help m-!!”
One after the other, screams and cries echo from all around. None can escape and none see it coming as this sphere slams and speeds through the smoke and raining ash.
However, that doesn’t mean that some aren’t putting up a fight as a hero with rocket fists launches his pathetic attacks at the rotating sphere. Which harmlessly bounces off. “Nothing we do is working?!”
“Step aside!” Endeavor stomps forward with an infuriated aura. “Let a real hero show you how it’s done. Raaaaghh!!” He unleashes an entire eruption of flames from out of his single fist, and this vertical pillar of fire slams into the sphere with a roaring crash.
However, the sphere holds on, and continues to rotate, albeit slower, this time resetting its course into the flames and towards the Number Two Hero.
“The hell?” He adds his second fist into the mix and lunches even more flames, greatly increasing the size and scope of his eruption.
But it’s no use as the now burning sphere forces its way through the flames before finally gaining speed. And now Endeavor can only watch and continue with his flames as the rotating ball of death sprints closer.
“ENDEAVOR!!!” Cinder beats the sphere there, and just time as he throws himself as his former friend, shoving them both out of the killer orb’s path.
As the sphere continues its rampage a spiraling thread that is Edgeshot takes a shot at it, to no effect. He’s unable to pierce through its armor. “This metal! I’ve never seen anything like it, it's impenetrable!!”
The sphere launches several missiles at the airborne ninja, however with some quick reflexes and the help of his Quirk, Edgeshot is able to fold away and evade the worst of the blasts.
Gran Torino pulls away from his group and witnesses the deaths of several heroes. “Quick! The Proje-” A shar gasp. The Null Void Projector lies broken and wasted, having been blown away and then seared by a stray missile. “NOOOOO!!”
“Gran Torino!” Ochaco screams, unable to see much thanks to Tiger who’s purposely trying to shield her eyes. But that leaves her ears perfectly exposed to the screams of terror echoing through the dark. “Wh-what’s happening?! What is that thing?!”
“It’s a monster!” Tiger shouts back as he’s unsure of what to do next.
‘It’s worse than that.’ Gran Torino thinks before giving his next orders. “Quickly get her to safety! Now!”
“Y-Yes, sir!” Tiger quickly hoists the girl up, and unknowingly Kraab too, in his other free arm. “Come on!”
Ochaco tries to shake free. “No, wait! All Might he-”
“He’ll be fine, let’s move it!” And with that he whisks her away with the goal to put as much distance between them and whatever that machine is.
“Gran Torino!!” Ochaco cries but it falls to deaf ears as Gran Torino zips away into the fray.
He ricochets off the rubble and earth, snatching up heroes that are too slow to move out of the sphere’s path. Thankfully saving them just as the rotating spikes were at their heels.
Watching his old mentor be chased down, Cinder rushes through the thick smoke to confront the threat head on.
“ENOUGH!!! Now, give my son back to me!!” He launches his spear at the orb and follows it up with a jet of flames which propels the spear forward like a burning lance. All before Cinder cries out. “ALL MIGHT!!!”
Like a resurrection, a half-baked All Might leaps out from the smoke and meets the flying spear half-way. He catches it, not caring for the burns, and summons just enough strength of OFA to launch it right at the sphere! “SEATTLE SMASH!!!”
He throws it right at the sphere, giving it a spin making the trail of fire spiral behind it before with a piercing clang the spear pierces the center of the sphere’s armor.
And like that the sphere, although it barely looks damaged, stops moving. Slowing to a crawl before stopping in place in the middle of newly lit fires and pooling puddles of crimson.
Those remaining, albeit as few of them that there are hold their breath at the sight, unsure of what to do. But they can sense the start of something terrible and as such they prepare as best as they can. But not to great effect.
The sphere…shifts. And a thin line appears at its center, splitting it in half with a high-pitched whistle of air and pressure being released as this mysterious pod begins to shift open.
The pod’s two sides expand out to the sides revealing a metallic cockpit inside, at its center. It’s large and cylindrical but big enough to hold at least ten grown men. However, as the hatch rises open they find no man inside but a great terrible titan of a being.
This titan rises, not at all bothered by their stares, the smoke, or stains on the ground. Their heavy set stomps onto the Earth, shaking the ground while disturbing the nearby pools of red.
And there standing before them all is the grandmaster of this entire battle. Of this chaos.
VILGAX.
Fearing that this green tentacled villain might pull something, a trio of heroes roar out in desperation before launching forward to take down the villain themselves.
Gran Torino calls out to them to retreat. “Wait, no-”
It’s too late. As one of the young heroes gets near he’s met with the titan’s backhand. And although it didn't seem like much, the sheer power of that one swing rips his upper half from his lower half with his upper half being sent flying back into a large piece of rubble.
The second hero, a woman, gets grabbed out of the air. The villain’s arm rips itself apart, unfolding to become a mess of muscular tentacles that snatch her right out of the sky. Her wings buzz quickly in an attempt to escape but his sheer grip strength causes her to cry out in pain before her bones snap and crunch before she goes still. And only then does the titan release her, letting the crumbled body fall limply to the dirt.
And finally the third hero, realizes too late he stands no chance, tries to redirect his sprint and scurry away, however, the moment he turns his back he finds his skull between the ground and the villain’s foot before SPLAT. He’s left as a red stain under the titan’s foot.
The titan glowers at the rest, daring them all to challenge him, but none step up. None are willing. But all are afraid. Which is exactly what Vilgax wanted. “Greetings, Champions of Earth, do be afraid…because I am here. MwHa Ha Ha Ha Ha.”
All Might’s grip tightens, but his form is shaking, and steam washes off of him like waves. He doesn't have the strength to keep this up. He-He’s reached his limit… But if the fight should go on? Then so be it. “Wh-why? W-Who Are You?”
Vilgax’s gaze lands on the Number One Hero, he takes a moment to examine him. To truly see him for what he’s worth. And what he sees is…exceptional. “I am who All For One said I was. And more.”
For the briefest of moments, All Might recalls that foul AFO’s words: ‘“How will the Number One hero defeat that which is to come?! My my, they really did leave you out in the dark. Didn’t they?”’
“W-Who Are You?” He repeats, unable to wrap his head around any of this.
But before he can answer, Cinder’s voice cuts through the falling smoke and ash. “MONSTER!!!”
Said monster seems to brighten up and is even delighted to find Mr. Midoriya glares at him with a fiery hate. “Aw, the Firebreather. It’s been far too long. And here I thought you perished in the mines of Kessel.”
An obvious fury burns within Hisashi, but he bites it back, trying to peel Vilgax for info. “You should know that it’d take a lot more than that to kill me. Guess I should have figured the same about you? Last I heard you were blown up. What? Did you go through some intense plastic surgery or something?”
“You always did like to run your mouth. From what ‘ve been told, your progeny possesses the same flaw.”
All Might’s interest is immediately peaked, and his heart begins to race with a mixture of dread and hope. “Young Midoriya-”
“Is in my possession, now.” The titan responds, cutting the Number One Hero off. “As those were the terms of my partnership with All For One.”
AFO’s words rush back to him once again: ‘“The tides are changing All Might. More so than you realize. Soon I will take my throne upon a world of pestering heroes. And all it will take is having the right comrades. Ones that even you can’t reach.”’
“Why Are You Here Now? Come To Finish What He Started?”
“You’re not wrong for thinking as much. However, I crave more than destabilization.”
Cinder, although keeping his distance in case All Might decides to clash with this titan, let’s out a puff of burning fire. “You’re not getting anything out of us!!”
As the three exchange words, the rest of the heroes watch on; confused, horrified, or bewildered. Such is the case for Endeavor whose gaze goes to and from the giant octopus and back to Cinder. As if he’s trying to piece together exactly how the two know each other.
“This is not up to you, Firebreather. This is up to All Might, the so-called Symbol of Peace.”
“Me?” All Might questions, his mind swirling with more and more questions.
“Yes.” Vilgax approaches, taking slow yet rumbling steps towards the Pillar of Justice. “Don’t you want to know? Don’t you want to know what I’ve done with the child? Don’t you want to know where he is?” He stretches out his claw as if he’s offering All Might his help. “Don’t you want to save him?”
All Might instantly understands. This monster has Young Midoriya locked away in god knows where. He must stop this villain. Unfortunately, he accidentally lets his intentions be known as his body tries to re-spark with OFA.
“Save your strength. You’ll need it.” Vilgax warns.
“For What?”
“For what comes next.”
“Which Is?”
“A choice, you may depart with me and be reunited with the boy. Or I do what All For One wasn't capable of.” On that cue his pod-machine shifts again, this time expanding out even more as the latch seals itself shut. The spikes on the armor begin to glow red, all-in unison to an ominous hum all before a holographic screen pops in front of the pod showing strange almost illegible numbers of a clock. But it’s clear to anyone that looks at it, it’s a countdown like that of a bomb. “Come with me All Might or I shall wipe Kamino Ward off the face of the Earth.”
He’s serious. All Might can tell. Whatever that device is, whatever this villain is, he’s willing to do it. And All Might, for some reason, has the sneaking suspicion that he’s very much capable of doing so. “You-”
“Mastermind.” The titan corrects him before he can call him mad. “I’ve been playing this game far longer than you or your nemesis.”
Said nemesis’ words come rushing back one final time: ‘“I’ve already hand delivered him to my newest associate and partner. Perhaps if he had a proper father or even a proper role model, then maybe at least he wouldn't deal with forces far greater than even the likes of me.”’
“Who-What Are You?”
“I am…inevitable.” The octopus-like titan responds, leaning in dangerously close to All Might’s form. “Now, what is your choice, Symbol of Peace?”
All Might…considers his options.
“Don’t listen to him, All Might!” Cinder screams. “He’s a monster! A cruel, unforgiving monster! Don’t give him the satisfaction! He can’t be trusted no matter what!!”
“He’s right, Toshinori!” Gran Torino yells. “He’s capable of far more than you realize!”
That may be so but…what if there’s a chance? What if there’s a chance he can protect everyone again? He can’t risk putting so many innocent lives at stake. Not his fellow heroes. Not Young Uraraka, gran Torino, or Cinder. And what of his students? They must surely be in the city and thus will be caught in the blast. However, if there’s a chance, even a small one, that this will take him straight to Young Midoriya. Then that means the boy can be saved. He can save him. He can bring the boy home. The choice is simple.
Vilgax grins from underneath his respirator as he watches All Might’s already weakened buffed form deflate back into his true skeletal self.
“Wise choice, All Might.”
Toshinori eyes the titan carefully, but he stands his ground, shaking and beaten and attained with blood. But determined to see this through till the end. “Take me to him…”
“You have my word, and my word is law.” Vilgax reaches for his belt and presses an activation key which seems to start some strange process as both his form, the bomb’s, and All Might’s begin to glow with a strange transparent hue that sparkles yet is ominous all at once.
As his frame begins to phase in and out of transparency, some deep part of his subconscious makes it aware to him that this might be it. This might be his last act as the Number One Hero, as the world’s Symbol of Peace. OFA is weak, he can feel it, that furnace from before has died out leaving it as nothing more than a collection of embers. And his body…oh his poor body. This might truly be it, the last remaining step of his journey. Hopefully he can do one last act of good before handing this responsibility off to the next generation…
He turns and looks for her and somehow, someway, perhaps a magnetic pull he fulls thanks to his hold over OFA for so many years but he’s able to spot Ochaco for the briefest of moments through all the towering pillars of smoke and ash.
She clings to Tiger tightly but her focus, her focus is still on him even as she’s forced away.
And although she may never hear it from his lips himself he has one last message for her. One last thing to tell her. “Now… Now, it’s your turn…”
In a flash, All Might, Vilgax, and his weapon of mass destruction are gone. Teleported away. To a place none of them can follow.
And yet Ochaco desperately wishes to follow as she cries out uselessly for her teacher. “ALL MIGHT!!!”
Notes:
And that is the end of the Kamino Ward Arc… Yeah so I should probably address a few things. Number 1: Aliens are still a secret! Mostly.
But obviously some…important players have to and will find out. Especially next time we meet. But yeah I never intended on the world finding out about aliens during this arc. I always thought it was better to save that for later, because I wanna build some things up more and introduce new plots, characters, and stuff that’ll help raise those stakes. Like introducing Undertown, a fully operated Plumber Base, as well as adding in new foes and allies, etc. I mean if this chapter was anything to go by then I have a lot of fun stuff planned for us.
Number 2: I was gonna have Vilgax fight All Might during this chapter. But it wasn’t gonna work because I’d be splitting screen time and interaction time with All For One. Basically, the chapter was gonna be a lot more original but I had a really hard time with it and thus had to make it easier on myself. BUT that said we will still get an All Might vs. Vilgax fight. Promise.
Number 3: So, what is this all leading towards? Well, we are about to enter what I like to call the Abduction Arc. Basically our characters are gonna come together (again) and go after Deku and his captors (again). Yeah, I know that’s repetitive. And honestly this was the risk I was mentioning to many of you over PMs and reviews. I always planned for this that the heroes would go after Izuku at Kamino Ward, fail, and then try one more time during this Abduction Arc.
That probably doesn’t sound like the most exciting thing. BUT I can promise it will be exciting to read in of itself. I got a lot of things planned but basically it’s the Plumbers and their friends vs. Vilgax and his agents. All the while Deku confronts Vilgax, learns some new lessons, and grows stronger for it. All in all I think it’ll be well worth it in the long run.
*And for those about to complain that we focused on Ochaco for too long. 2 points of notes here. 1. She is the secondary main character. So of course, she’s going to have chapters that focus on her perspective and development. 2. We’re getting Izuku back next time so just relax and enjoy the ride.
*Bad News. Next chapter won’t be for a long while for several reasons. 1. I’ll be going on a trip soon. 2. Life in general. 3. Might have to rewrite it if it doesn’t work. 4. Got roped into DMing a DnD campaign for some friends so yeaaaah… I need to work on that. And 5. A reviewer made a very good suggestion for an OVA/Omake I should do for next week, involving Deku’s birthday July 15th. Sooo I think I might try to make something for that first before I get to work on the next chapter. So yeah keep an eye out for that, it’ll be posted to the side story “Heroes Never Die; it’s hero Time, Anytime.”
Until then I hope to hear from you, and we’ll see you next time.
Chapter 84: Missing Pieces
Summary:
With Deku missing and All Might gone too. Ochaco must make a decision that can potentially lead to ruin of their world or her friendships.
Notes:
Finally, it is ready. Been working on this for literal months now. Sorry for the long delay but I did say I wanted to get this right. And I think I got it. And it’s a long one so it should make up for the wait. I do wanna apologize for lack of updates and Omakes, been extremely busy and this took a long time to write. So, much so I rather worked on this main chapter than spending time writing up an Omake. Hence why you haven't heard from me in a while. But it’s here the beginning of the Abduction Arc!! Full warning, this is gonna be one crazy ride.
*Check out the side-story “Heroes Never Die; It’s Hero Time, Anytime” for cannon one-shots, Omakes, OVAs, Announcements, and Updates.
*This story has a TV Tropes page so feel free to check it out and google it. On this page you will find a list of all of Izuku’s aliens, plot points, arcs, funny moments, artwork, and more. There is a link located on this chapter if you visit this story on the “Archive of Our Own” site.
(https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Fanfic/HeroesNeverDieItsHeroTime
*Disclaimer I do not own the rights to Ben 10 or MHA.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
A dark chamber sits locked away from the rest of the outside world. And yet quiet incorporeal whispers echo throughout its unknown space. The whispers themselves originate from the almost-ghostly silhouettes lining the chamber’s space, there is a great number of them of twenty or so as they all discuss amongst themselves with great disquiet and turmoil.
“This is unacceptable! Vilgax’s actions are a clear and obvious violation of the cease fire!”
“And what would you have us do?! Declare all-out war?!”
“We kin ke’u rä’ä keye’ung to tsampongu. We kin be tsun.”
“He is gathering Weapons of Mass Destruction! Surely that is strong enough grounds to declare as such.”
“luq! ghu’ ghaH ‘e’ wlchaw’ ‘e’ wlchaw’!”
“We have no proof Vilgax would be able to harness the weapon’s power. It may destroy him in return.”
“And what of his actions? His actions took place on Earth, a planet that is not of the coalition. When taking that into account Vilgax’s actions took place on neutral grounds and are of no violations.”
“Are you condoning the titan’s actions?”
“No. But we must remain logical and keep our emotions out of this debate. Before we recklessly commit to a path that will lead to the end of that we wish to protect.”
One of the silhouettes, one of a tall yet slim stature, peers gently down at the one that called upon their council and asks in a soft almost sympathetic voice. “And what is it you seek to protect?”
“Life…” answers Principal Nezu with a breath of reservation. Despite being unable to see the silhouettes’ true forms he does manage to meet their eyes and to remain unwavering even before these great authorities.
He must remain calm and resolute as all gazes turn to him.
Until one of the silhouettes addresses him directly. “Nezu of Planet Earth, Magister of the Plumber’s Japan Branch. We of the Plumber Magistratus have reviewed your report and your request in seeking additional aid in combating the overlord Vilgax and rescuing the youngling, Izuku Midoriya, and Earth’s mightiest hero, All Might. After much deliberation we have come to the conclusion that we must…deny your request for additional aid and support.”
To say he has the rug pulled from under him would be an understatement, as it feels like his entire existence has just been flipped inside out and twisted. And yet he holds his composure, hoping to rectify the decision. “May I have the right to know why the council has come to such an…unfavorable decision?”
“Vilgax, Conqueror of Nine Systems, is an individual that provokes and retaliates with merciless abandon. He has raised an empire and razed many more. He’s calculating and cunning especially on a grand scale.”
One of the Magistratus, the one sympathetic to his plea, asks, “Magister Nezu, are you aware of the current situation of things?”
Before Magister Nezu can respond, however, one of the other Magistratus interrupts him, speaking with an arrogant and mighty superior tone. “Perhaps not. He is after all so fascinated by the simple-minded Earthlings and they’re primitive world.”
The Magistrata scowls at the conceited Magistratus but moves on. “Vilgax’s forces are beginning to move and gather at the edges of his territory in mass along the systems bordering their own such as the Anur, Piscciss, and the Aeropela systems.”
Another one of the members takes over the explanation. “In response, the Incursians, Triceratons, and several other empires are gathering their own forces and readying themselves for a potential invasion. Which leaves much of the systems under our protection exposed and ground zero for potential conflict.”
The conceited Magistratus speaks up once again with the same level of indifference as before. “We do not have the resources to spare for an insignificant rescue mission that will amount to nothing but the rescue of a youngling and a haughty warrior far past their prime.”
“It is much more than that!” Principal Nezu snaps, his fur is standing on end like a rat’s when they find themselves before a pack of hungry cats. “Izuku Midoriya is a Plumber Cadet! He falls under our jurisdiction! He is our responsibility! And All Might is-…was Earth’s greatest champion. He was the sole reason Earth never experienced invasion or major alien threats! He was the reason you pulled our own Hisashi Midoriya, the father of Izuku Midoriya, and one of our most prized Plumber agents, away for over a decade in the name of peace! His and All Might’s work has brought about peace to our system and to many others. They have both dedicated their lives to protecting the innocent! The very innocent we ourselves have pledged to protect! And now a child, a Plumber Cadet, is in Vilgax’s custody. Alone. And unprotected. And you wish to seal his fate for the worst? And after the decades of service his father and his teacher have done?!”
Not one of the many members bothers a response, most stand there indifferent and cold with only a few shrink in shame or regret.
Although one Magistrata has the nerve to speak up. “The Magister’s words ring true. Agent Cinder has been of great use to our organization. Surely we have a responsibility to aid him in his time of need.”
“Your emotions cloud both your judgments.” The conceited Magistratus chides as if he were speaking to a mere child. “We must always proceed with the most logical actions. We cannot afford to go off of one’s own whims and individual sense of right and wrong. No, for the greater good we must look at the bigger picture.”
“Bigger picture? This is about the future!”
“Of whose future? Of the boy’s? Your school’s? Earth’s? Or the entire galaxy’s?” The conceited Magistratus shakes his head at how ridiculous such an endeavor would be. “The boy is not worth the risk in resources and personnel. The most logical action is to not provoke Vilgax or his forces and instigate an all-out intergalactic war. All for the sake of two Earthling lives! I’m sure you all can see how organizing a direct assault on him and his own ship would spark devastating conflict.”
Magister Nezu is speechless; he can't believe what he’s hearing. Surely this must be some kind of mistake?!
But it is not as even other members of the Magistratus speak their own minds. “The boy…is not recognized as an official cadet.”
Magister Nezu is taken back so much so he nearly stumbles as the member clarifies their point. “He has failed to attend the official Plumber Academy and its official courses and regulations. As such he cannot be officially recognized as a cadet and isn’t under contract with our regulations and responsibilities.”
“That is ridiculous!” Magister Nezu shouts, actually shouts, finally losing his temper and patience. “Izuku Midoriya is an official cadet! He is undergoing training and an education!”
“Education that solely focuses on Earth’s own needs.” Replies the same troubling Magistratus. “He knows nothing of intergalactic law or our place in it.” Even through the illuminated hologram, Nezu can feel the Magistratus’ gaze burning into his skull. “He has only fallen under your agenda, Magister Nezu.”
“M-my agenda?” Nezu has no clue what the Magistratus is talking about. He’s at a loss for words.
“Your agenda to catapult Earth into the galactic forefront!” The conceited Magistratus accuses. “Yearly broadcasts of your school’s gladiatorial matches. Training armies of champions at your favor. Idolizing the strength and power wielded by All Might. Is it all not to promote and display to all the existence of Earth’s might and supposed greatness? Perhaps you were grooming this youngling to become an even greater “symbol” than All Might ever was. If you have truly aligned yourself to the Plumber’s values and goals then you would have transferred responsibility of the boy and the Omnitrix to the proper channels.”
“Y-you have severely misunderstood my intentions! Without proper resources or manpower, I have been forced to find alternative ways to keep potential threats like Vilgax at bay!”
“And yet it has done nothing but attract what you apparently wished to avoid.” The conceited Magistratus scoffs. “One might think you wished for Vilgax to conqueror your planet and use its abominations as a means to propel Earth’s own standing.”
Nezu can't believe this, this being is accusing him of ambitions that are not his nor were they ever. “If that were true then what of All For One?! If I truly wished to be this grandmaster to Earth’s glory then why throw away an allegiance with a being as powerful as All For One?!”
“Why indeed?” The Magistratus faux consideration. “Who can really say what you…younger species are thinking? But there is one detail that interests me. Did you not report that this All For One has some kind of alliance with Vilgax?” With a flick of his hand a holographic screen appears showcasing All Might’s fight with All For One.
“Y-yes.”
“And you and All For One have been in conflict before. Correct?”
“Y-yes…”
“So, perhaps an illogical grudge has clouded your judgment. If you were so desperate to protect Earth and its assets then perhaps you should have sought this one’s aid instead.”
“You are bluntly disregarding my own standing! I only desire-.”
“The rescue of an insignificant youngling and of your fallen champion. As well as the return of the weapon known as the Omnitrix. Unfortunately for you, they are no longer our or your concern. To attempt any such feat will only welcome utter ruin for those that actually contribute to the greater intergalactic state.”
The Magistrata from before finally loses her patience and slams her fist down on some invisible desk. “You cruel-... Then you are sealing the boy’s fate! You’re throwing away his future! His life!!”
“If it’s for the greater good…then so. It. Shall. Be.”
Devastation. The sense of absolute despair washes over Principal Nezu and nearly sweeps him off his feet as the Magistratus’ words strike down like a heavy gavel.
“This is what it takes to lead such an organization, Principal Nezu. We are not your pro heroes who make arrests and hand out tickets. We are the Plumbers. We eliminate all potential threats. We do as needed.” The Magistratus pulls the screen closer to their form, and pauses the screen as it zooms in on All For One’s dark and menacing form. “We use the resources available to us.”
With another flick the screen vanishes and the Magistratus signals the end. “You have our verdict, Magister Nezu. I suggest you make peace with the consequences of your actions. This meeting is now adjourned.” And without another word or at least a condolence the Magistratus’ hologram blinks out of existence.
With their exit the others quickly follow suit and begin to vanish away, making the empty chamber feel even more vast and empty.
As Principal Nezu stares on in abysmal defeat one Magistrata remains. The very same one that was brave enough to express her concern. She watches Nezu with a sorrowful gaze. “I’m-I’m so sorry…Nezu.”
The Principal doesn’t respond, he can't even bring himself to meet her gaze.
Feeling like she cannot provide him with any comfort the Magistrata regretfully signs off but not after much hesitation. “Please, reach out if there’s anything I can do…”
Nezu nods slowly but doesn’t outright answer.
With nothing more to say, the Magistrata logs off leaving Principal Nezu all alone in the vast dark chamber.
With the last member gone the system’s protocols activate the sound of automatic doors unlocking can be heard. As per Plumber protocols the doors wouldn’t have broken open for him until the meeting had adjourned.
Suddenly the door slides open as the last lock is finally released, and stumbling through falling to the floor is a broken Hisashi Midoriya. He collapses, his fists bloodied and bruised, a clear sign he had been banging on the door in a desperate attempt to break in. The man’s will has been lost.
From the doorway stands Thirteen, One-One, and Chopper all of which were listening in along with Hisashi. Not one of them speaks a word as they’re all still reeling back from the shock and the sense of betrayal.
As for Hisashi, he can do nothing but stare up at Nezu with pleading desperate eyes.
But how is Nezu supposed to tell him to give up? How is he to tell him that his son is lost? How is he to help him? For once in Nezu’s life he has no clue on what to do next…
Ch.79 Missing Pieces
(A new OP Theme will be added later)
[“It still feels like a nightmare. A terrible horrible nightmare. And although the danger has passed, this nightmare is still going on for those here at Kamino Ward.”] A young reporter pops onto the tiny screen with the logo of NHN inscribed at the screen’s corner. [“We’re still live on the scene here at Kamino Ward where rescue heroes from all over are hard at work, cleaning up the wreckage that resulted from last night’s brutal attack. Thankfully our Symbol of Peace, All Might, was there to save the day and to stop the villain! However, shortly after All Might’s victory over the rumored villain known as All for One, I’m afraid that another threat emerged. Unfortunately, our cameras were unable to catch anything of the following battle, but we have prepared a clip from last night’s battle.”]
The screen changes to show the POV of a camera that was mounted on one of the helicopters during the Kamino Ward attack, and at the moment that camera is homed in in all All Might’s weakened form just as he launched that villain, All For One, out of frame. [“The villain’s been defeated! Blasted away to kingdom come!! All Might stands victorious! He saved us yet again!!”] The helicopter reporter cheers into his mic as other heroes begin to gather onto the scene below. [“He did it! All Might! All Might! He’s our hero! He’s our-”]
Suddenly something falls from the sky and smashes into the earth, causing a thundering shockwave that crashes into the .
[“AAAAAAaaaahhh!!!”] The reporter and his cameraman scream for their lives as their helicopter is sent spinning through the air and plummeting with the camera cutting out just before they hit the ground.
The NHN logo reappears and the young reporter emerges back onto the screen, they cup their hands in a grateful prayer as they bow their head back at the camera. [“We are grateful to report that our helicopter crew survived and are making proper recoveries. However, the same cannot be said for a number of pro heroes. Interviews with the heroes who witnessed this villain’s power have been…unreliable. We only have rumors and stipulations of a villain appearing with a bomb and a machine of death. And nothing more. There are even rumors that All Might willingly departed with the villain, however, we have received word from the police and U.A. that All Might is safely back in an undisclosed hospital to recover from his injuries. And of course, we wish our Number One Hero a speedy recovery.”] The reporter smiles as if assuming All Might himself is watching, however, the smile quickly fades as they get ready to deliver dire news. [“However, the bad news doesn’t stop there. Not only are casualty numbers still coming in as well as missing people reports. There are still those missing, those that started all of this. The League of Villains and Izuku Midoriya are nowhere to be seen. The heroes have confirmed that they failed to rescue the Hero Student, Izuku Midoriya, from the League of Villains. And the League seemingly has gone into hiding with no arrests made to their core group. And as they vanish and hide we as a society are left with many questions. Who is All For One? What exactly was this mysterious new villain? What is the League planning? Where is Izuku Midoriya? And…what will become of our world now that the Symbol of Peace is gone?”]
Ochaco’s been wondering the same exact things for the last day or so. Even at the hospital while Recovery Girl and Tiger were berating and chastising her for her actions, she couldn’t focus on any of it, all she could think about was All Might and Deku. Are they okay? Where are they? What’s going to happen next…?
That was all hours ago. She was released this morning to her parents who brought her straight home to Endori in a barrage of hugs, kisses, and worry.
And although they’ve been super attentive and alert of her needs, Ochaco wants to do nothing more than to shut herself in her room and watch the news on her phone. And all of it has been the same thing: mysterious villain, All Might weakened, All For One gone, and what happened to the League and their captive?
“Deku…”
There’s a gentle rap at the door before Ochaco’s mother peers through the door. “Ochaco, sweetie. A-are you hungry?” She asks gently, not wanting to worry her.
“No…I’m fine.”
Her mother frowns clearly not convinced but doesn't want to push it and accidentally upset her daughter. However, hopefully someone else can help Ochaco feel better. “Okay. Well then I hope you don’t mind but there’s someone here to see you.”
For the first time Ochaco finally looks away from her phone with her hopes naively rising thinking that maybe, just maybe, the visitor is All Might or Deku or at least someone who can give her some answers.
But much to her disappointment yet understanding, a worried Mina Ashido is the one that steps inside with a concerned look as her antennas wiggle and twitch. “I…figured you might want some company…”
“Mina…” Ochaco settles back down, slumping down while seated on her bed she goes back to staring at her phone and goes quiet.
Mina stands there awkwardly, not sure of what to do or what to say, but after a moment she takes a seat at Ochaco’s desk chair and waits. She waits for Ochaco to say something first but the girl just continues scrolling through her phone with a lost stare.
So, awkwardly trying to get the ball rolling, Mina pats the desk lightly with her hands before awkwardly starting at what's on her mind. “So, you all really went…”
The brunette doesn’t answer, not that she really needs to since Mina wasn’t exactly asking.
“I can’t believe Iida couldn’t stop you but then again could he have? … I-I heard from Kirishima that you guys got Bakugou away. Wow…that’s awesome, right…? You guys saved his life.”
Tucked in on herself, she still doesn’t answer, but she is listening at least although Mina would feel much better if she answered.
“Everyone else is checking on the others. We figured you all must be….” Mina gazes down at Ochaco’s phone as well spotting the various news articles and clips depicting the events of last night. Mina pauses, unsure of how to say or rather ask this delicately, but even she can’t stop the urge of worry and curiosity eating away at her insides. “We, um, we-...we all saw it. All Might’s fight, you know… You saw it too right? I mean, you saw it.”
Ochaco doesn’t meet her gaze but instead flips the phone down so Mina can’t see it.
“And then that last attack. What was that explosion? Do you think it was…y-you know?”
Ochaco lowers her head mainly because she's unsure herself if it was something…alien.
“The news said Midoriya wasn’t there… That the heroes didn’t save him.” Mina shutters, blinking back tears as Emote picks up on the waves of guilt and regret radiating off her friend. “I’m-I’m so sorry, Ochaco. I’m-I’m so-so sorry.” Mina hugs herself while trying to blink back tears of her own guilt. “I should have-... Ochaco, please, please tell me you’re okay? Please.”
She doesn’t answer or at least not immediately but after reminding herself that Mina can in fact sense her emotions she tries but fails to give a confident answer. “I’m fine…”
Mina shakes her head. “No you’re not. And I don't need Emote to know that. Ochaco…you’re eating yourself up from the inside.”
Ochaco immediately turns away, unable to meet her friend’s gaze.
“You can’t blame yourself for what happened.” Mina continues while trying to be as gentle as possible. “You had no control over it… None of us did. It’s not your fault.”
“YES IT IS!!!” Ochaco snaps, spinning around and finally meeting Mina’s gaze to which her own is blurry and foggy with tears. “It is my fault! It’s my fault Deku was taken! If I was able to reach him! If my body didn’t quit I could have saved him before the League could pull him away! And none of this would have happened! All Might would have never lost his strength! None of the heroes would have gotten hurt or died! Deku would still be here! But instead, he’s gone! That villain-that monster has them both! And there’s nothing I can do! It’s my fault! It’s my fault… It’s my fault that Deku and All Might are…gone.” Her facade finally breaks down in tears as she sobs and cries.
Mina hurries to her side and offers a shoulder to lean on as Ochaco cries and chokes on one of her sobs. “Hey hey hey, it’s not your fault. It’s not your fault. They’re going to be okay.”
“But what if they’re not?! What if-what if the League has them?! Or worse?! I-I think that villain, the one that killed all those heroes was-was Vilgax, Mina! And he has Deku and All Might! He has them both!”
Mina holds her closer as she tries to hold back her own fear and tears. “Y-you don’t know that for sure. T-they might be alright.”
“But what if they’re not?! What if…” She eyes her phone which once again displays the hero’s lack of knowledge of the situation. “What if the heroes can’t save them?!”
Fear flashes through Mina's system, taken back by the outburst and the sudden jolt of hopelessness she felt through Emote. Causing her to pull her hand away.
Noticing, Ochaco goes quiet, feeling guilty for making her friend suffer through her own pain as well.
The two sit awkwardly and with uncertainty, both feeling nervous and guilty for pushing the other.
After another moment of not making eye contact or communicating, there’s a soft knock at her door again as this time Ochaco’s father slips his head in. “Hey, girls. Sorry for interrupting but your Mom wanted to know if either of you like something to eat or drink?”
They stare at him, as if unable to process what he said. Ochaco frowns, turning away again as she hugs herself. “No, I’m okay…”
He figured she’d say that and so with a soft smile he gives Mina a knowing look.
Assuming he wishes to speak to his daughter, Mina slowly gets up and feigns stretching. “Actually, I’ll have some tea. If that’s alright?”
“Of course. My wife is in the kitchen, she’ll get you whatever you like.”
“Th-thank you.” Mina slips out the door leaving the father and daughter duo to themselves.
He closes the door behind her, granting them privacy as he now turns his attention towards his sulking daughter. With a soft understanding smile he stands at the door, acting as if nothing’s wrong at all, yet still speaks gently so as to not upset her. “Hey, there kiddo. How are you feeling?”
“I’m fine.” She responds rather curtly and while barely acknowledging him.
And yet he seems unphased and even chuckles at her response, almost like he planned this all out. “Then it’s okay if I sit here right?”
Before she can tell him no, he plops down beside her anyway, so she makes a point to turn away while holding her knees to her chest.
They sit there in silence as her father patiently waits for her to acknowledge him. But she’s determined to sulk, using her phone as a distraction as she scrolls through more articles and posts.
After a moment, her Dad remembers something and whatever memory crosses his mind it can’t help but make him laugh. “Ms. Recovery Girl was really mad at you. What you did was really reckless. I thought she was gonna knock your eyes out with how hard she hit you with her cane. Ha ha!”
Ochaco tucks in on herself some more. She remembers her berating and scolding very clearly, after all it was last night when it happened. It occurred shortly after everything happened at Kamino. Tiger made sure she got home personally along with her friends but not before U.A. sent over Recovery Girl to check up on her and to patch her up. It’s why she slept in for so long this morning and why there’s a good-sized bump on her head from how mad Recovery Girl was with her actions. What they did was stupid and reckless… And that statement couldn’t be more correct, much to Ochaco’s shame.
“She even recommended that we have you grounded for the next month. Can you believe it?”
Ochaco certainly can. “Is that my punishment then…?”
“No.” He smiles with sympathy as if he understands her situation better than even she does. “I think you’re going through enough as it is.”
Is she going through enough? How else can she suffer? She’s lost her friends. Her mentor. Her teachers’ trust in her. And maybe even her friends’ trust too… It’s not fair but also it could have been prevented. If she had done one thing differently, just one then maybe, just maybe, none of this would have happened. Maybe if she listened to Tsuyu about not confronting Toga and Charmcaster? Maybe if she partnered up with Deku instead? Maybe if she was just a bit faster or stronger… And yet she did none of that. Not one.
“Why do these things happen…?” She mumbles, mainly to herself as she presses her head to her knees.
“That’s because life is about struggling.” Her father answers, not blinking an eye as he answers her openly and honestly.
She finally meets his gaze and it’s one of bewilderment and with little clarity.
However, he is more than happy to clarify his answer for her. “Take us for example, most of the time we barely have enough money to scrape by, we have to work long hours and we don’t always have the luxuries that everyone else has.” It does sadden him to think about the many times they had to go hungry for a night or skip out on laundry day or air conditioning just to save a few bucks. “We’ve struggled a lot just to make sure we keep the lights on. But after struggling so much our victories, even the small ones, feel that much more special to me.” He leans over her, pressing his shoulder to her back as he smiles down, bashfully remembering when she was just his little girl. “After a long day of hard, often backbreaking work. I love the moments I’d come home to find you there waiting for me. You’d smile and laugh, making me smile along with you. Before we played all your favorite games like Rescue Hero or Floaties~.” He singsongs, gushing at the memories.
Ochaco breaks her sulking, becoming embarrassed and blushing. She remembers those games how she used Zero-gravity to save her Daddy from an avalanche of pillows that he floated over himself into a pile. Or how they’d use both their Zero-Gravity's to make each other float and bounce around the room while he caught her and she giggled like there was no tomorrow. “Dad…I’m not a kid anymore.”
“I know, you’re growing up. A concept I’m struggling to accept but it’s also something I’m so proud of.” He smiles on and thinks about her question. “Why do these things happen? Well, answer me this, why do we fall?”
Ochaco can’t, she just can’t. “Please don’t go quoting Dark Knight right now.”
“Actually, it’s Batman, but…fine. But answer this instead: do you understand gravity?”
She gives him a look like he’s crazy.
“Humor me.”
Turning away she answers with a stiff. “…Yes.”
“What is it?”
“…It’s the force that pulls us down.”
He smiles as if this is exactly the answer he wanted. “True. But wrong.”
She starts but doesn’t turn back around as he happily explains it to her.
“Gravity is the universal force of attraction acting between all matter.” He nods his head along as he says it, like it’s a silly song to sing. “At first glance it’s by far the weakest known force in nature. You fall. Rocks fall. Rain falls. Simple and straightforward. Not exactly remarkable or significant. Buuuut on the other hand it can influence the destiny of the stars.”
Now he has Ochaco’s attention as she slowly rotates herself around, she doesn’t meet his gaze, but she is at least looking forward and listening which is progress.
“Gravity affects everything, pulls everything to its own destiny. It holds our entire existence together: to the Earth, the stars, the galaxy, the entire cosmos.” There's a wistful look in his eyes as he peers up at the ceiling which is plastered with stickers of stars and comets. “Gravity has the ability to create the most beautiful things in existence. It pulls us down and yet we fight against it and rise again. Your Gravity can do the same.” He smiles at her like she’s the most beautiful thing he’s seen.
But it doesn’t make sense to her at all, how can her “gravity” do the same? Her gravity repels, not pulls.
But that’s exactly how he sees it. “Your gravity can pull others to you.” He explains. “You pulled your friends together in order to do what you all thought was right. You all pulled together to defend and save one another. Even now your friends come to your side to help. Your gravity calls to them.” He takes her hands in her own, his fingers rubbing over her little finger pads. “Not only does it pull them towards you but you can use it to lift them up. You can help them defy gravity and rise above the pain and hardships. You can help them fly.”
For the first time since she had been dragged home, pained and lost and full of sorrow, her eyes brighten with hope albeit hesitant.
“To answer your earlier question. The reason these things happen is so we can try again. Do better. To lift ourselves up. These are the moments we live for, that we struggle towards. We work hard and never give up because if we do then we went through all that for nothing.” He nods to himself as if reinforcing what he already knows. “Life is about overcoming obstacles, of enduring the bad times, so that we can cherish the good ones.”
She doesn’t answer but she certainly sees his point. Life will always be suffering, be pain, but…the moments they feel truly alive are when they’re surrounded by joy, love, and warmth… She lost her classmate and a teacher. A friend and a mentor. The world lost its Symbol of Peace. But the Midoriyas lost a son… “But what about his family…? Can-can they endure this?”
Her father tightens his lips as he thinks on it. “I don’t know. But I do know that you can help them make it through this.”
She starts, picking up on what he’s hinting at. “Are-are you sure it’s okay for me to…?” She slowly gestures to the door as if nervous that he’ll change his mind if she says it aloud.
But it’s exactly what she thinks he means.
He stands up and offers her a hand.
She stares at it, not really sure, but decides to take it and he lifts her up to her feet. “Go. Use your gravity to help them. And take your friend with you. I’m sure they would really appreciate both of your company.”
She stares back at him, tears welling in her eyes, as she doesn't know what to say. She has mixed feelings of guilt for leaving so soon, surely they’ll worry, but on the other hand she can’t help but worry for them either. She feels both guilty yet full of gratitude. And so she hugs him, hugs him tight in thank you for understanding.
“Ochaco. My sweet little girl.” He hums, embracing her back with his chin to her head. “No matter what you do or where you go just know that I’ll always be proud of you.”
She presses her face to him harder as she tightens her embrace so much that her fingers press to his back and they both begin to float…
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Meanwhile, Shoto is at home, sitting quietly in his traditional Japanese home. It’s a usual tranquil setting when he sits himself out in their garden and pond but today is no such luck as the sounds of thrashing and burning flames echo through the manner.
He knows it’s his father, and he can only assume that he’s taking his fire and rage out on his own gym equipment. Not that quite of a surprise for Shoto especially considering the new orders the No. 2 Hero had received that very morning.
[FLASHBACK]
After ensuring that Bakugou got to the police, Shoto left or rather escaped Kamino Ward for home. He had actually beat Endeavor home and it wasn’t until the next morning till his father, Endeavor, arrived home. But what really surprised Shoto was the officer that just so happened to pay his old man a visit.
“Detective. Might I ask why you bothered to come to my doorstep?” Endeavor growls, annoyed by the officer's appearance.
Naomasa Tsukauchi frowns back but joins Endeavor in his traditional living room. “I figured it’d be best to give you this order in person. But the Hero Public Safety Commission has decided that all heroes that were present at Kamino Ward are hereby placed under a gag order.”
“What?” Endeavor growls threateningly as if the detective was threatening him.
Shoto’s interest is piqued. Curious and concerned, he follows the two men to their family’s traditional living room. He presses himself against the fusuma, grateful at how paper-thin it really is, allowing him to listen in.
Meanwhile, Tsukauchi presses on with the order. “You are not to reveal or share any details of the events that took place: nothing about the fight, the mission, All Might’s fight, or the unknown villain that arrived late onto the scene. The “official” story you’re allowed to share is that although Izuku Midoriya’s rescue was unfortunately never completed. All Might was able to repel the mystery villain along with you and the other heroes. And as to explain his lack of media appearance, the “word” is that All Might has been relocated to an undisclosed hospital for recovery and treatment.”
“This is ridiculous! Those are all lies! You don’t really expect me to stay quiet about this?! To stay on the sidelines while some villain with tech and power like that I’ve never seen is running around, do you?!” Endeavor slams his fist onto the table, his fist flashing with flames as it does. “And All Might in recovery? Bullshit! We all saw his state! He’s a skeleton! He was-has been for a long time! And because of that he couldn’t even lift a finger when the villain wanted to take him away! Even if All Might managed to pull off one last miracle and escape that villain’s clutches, do you really think this cover up will last?!”
'Official story? All Might was taken?! And they’re covering it up?!’ Shoto is shocked, what could this all mean?
“No.” Tsukauchi answers with full-seriousness. “We can’t stop rumors from spreading, but that’s why I wanted to talk to you directly.” He sighs exasperated as if admitting that he didn’t want to do this either. “It’s one thing for a sidekick or a local hero to leak information. But it’s another issue if you or another top hero were to break this seal. Do you have any idea the panic it would cause if people knew that the same day the image they had of the Symbol of Peace was wrong and then find out he was so weak that he had to surrender completely to a potentially even stronger villain?! Forget losing faith in U.A. or heroes! People would lose all faith in hero society, entirely! Do you get what I’m saying, Todoroki?!”
Endeavor remains silent, glaring angrily at the detective. It’s his own way of saying that he understands the situation.
“And don’t think we aren’t just sitting by and doing nothing. We currently have every detective and officer on the case to find All Might and Izuku Midoriya. We will find out who this villain is and what they want. And once we know where they are you can trust that you’ll be the first one I call to take them down. But for now, rest, get yourself prepared, and stay silent about all this until then. Do I make myself clear?”
“…Crystal.”
“Good. Until then, Endeavor. Be sure to take care of yourself.” Tsukauchi gets up to leave, grabbing his hat as he does.
But before he can turn to leave, Endeavor calls out in a low growl. “Tsukauchi.”
The Detective turns back to face him with a curious look.
“How much exactly do we know about this villain? Who or what was he?”
“We…we have nothing.”
Endeavor’s eyes widen slowly. “What?”
Shoto nearly lets out a gasp, clasping a hand over his mouth as he listens.
“We have nothing. No records. No origin. Not even a name.” Tsukauchi lowers head in shame, even hiding his gaze under his hat. “Not a thing… But I promise you we will find out everything and bring him to justice.”
Endeavor considers the news, contemplating what it could mean, before asking. “Did you debrief Cinder yet?”
“We gathered a basic statement from him for now. I will be speaking with him for a more thorough and detailed report. I figured for now it’d be best if he had some time to process…”
Endeavor scowls but remains quiet about the topic of the missing brat, but instead moves onto what’s most important. “He knows.”
Tsukauchi blinks in confusion. “What?”
“They knew each other. The villain and Midoriya. They recognize each other.” Endeavour explains. “This wasn't the first time Cinder has met that monster.”
Now it’s Tsukauchi’s turn for his eyes to widen. “How do you know that?”
“Because the villain said so himself.”
From behind the fusuma, Shoto shoots to his feet in astonishment. ‘Mr. Midoriya knows?! But who is this villain? What’s going on?!’ He presses against the fusuma again, hoping to learn more.
“I will speak to him directly on this.” Tsukauchi gathers himself making a note to use his Lie Detector Quirk when he finally pays Cinder a visit. “But it’ll have to wait, I have a meeting at U.A. to attend to. I need to discuss this gag order with them as well and figure out how we will proceed. I’ll contact you with when we have any further news.”
“You better.”
And with that Shoto hurries away before the detective makes his leave.
[End of FLASHBACK]
That was only a couple hours ago, it’s nearly noon and that meeting has been the only thing on his mind ever since.
It’s all so confusing and suspicious. ‘Who’s this villain? And was he so strong that it forced All Might’s hand? And what would this villain want with All Might and Midoriya?’ So many questions, so little answers. However, there is a way to get answers. Only one way and only one place to get them. ‘Hisashi Midoriya, just what exactly are you hiding? And what does it all have to do with Izuku Midoriya and his power?’
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
They’ve arrived. After a long train ride and walk, Ochaco and Mina have finally made it to the Midoriya’s apartment. Actually, they arrived over a minute ago but have been too nervous to knock. But after an encouraging nudge from Mina, Ochaco slowly steps forward and gently raps the door before stepping back and waiting.
At first there’s no noise or movement but after a moment or two of waiting the doorknob begins to wiggle from the other side. The door opens slowly and the girls half-expect to find Mrs. Midoriya crying her eyes out but instead they are met by the soft gaze of the Midoriya’s neighbor, Mr. Baumann.
Ochaco blinks back, startled. “Oh, um, sorry, Mr. Baumann, we must have knocked on the wrong door.”
“No, you had the right door.” He explains, greeting them with a gentle understanding smile as he steps aside to allow them into the Midoriya’s home. “They’d appreciate you both for stopping by.”
“T-thank you.” Ochaco enters first and is immediately met by Mrs. Midoriya herself, and by no surprise she is a mess.
She looks outright tired and her cheeks red with wiped tears, she clearly hasn’t been able to sleep and looks a little paler and a bit more disheveled than normal. But yet she greets the girls with a kind smile, truly happy to see them. “Ah, Uraraka and Ashido, it’s wonderful to see you.” She greets, completely hiding how exhausted and worried she really is.
“M-Mrs. Midoriya, it's nice to see you too.” Ochaco greets, speaking carefully.
“T-thank you for having us.” Mina greets, looking like she wants to say something more but opts to stay quiet instead.
Inko immediately checks them over as if looking for injuries and such. “I heard what happened. Are you alright? Are you okay? You’re not hurt are you? Do you need anything?”
Ochaco shakes her head. “N-no, I-I’m fine.”
“Oh, good.” Inko smiles; she’s genuinely grateful to hear that. “Come in, come in, you both must be hungry! Let me get you something.”
“N-no, we’re okay…”
But it’s too late, she’s set her mind and hurries the girls inside to sit down while she prepares some snacks. Ochaco and Mina go along with it, as not wanting to be rude, while Mr. Baumann shuts the door and follows them to the living room.
Once the girls enter the living room behind Inko, they both stop dead in their tracks as they realize that there’s more people here than just them and Mr. Baumann.
“B-Bakugou…?” Ochaco chokes.
Katsuki Bakugou’s head snaps up at attention as he spins around, his eyes popping open in surprise. “Uraraka?”
Next to him is Eijiro Kirishima who shoots out of his sea in surprise. “Uraraka?!”
“Kirishima?” Mina gasps.
“Ashido!” Kirishima grins.
“Kirishima?!” Now Ochaco gasps.
“Uraraka!”
“Kirishima.” Bakugou growls, annoyed.
But Kirishima laughs it off and exclaims. “Bakugou!”
“Katsuki!”
Bakugou jumps, spinning around to find his own mom exiting from the kitchen.
“Behave yourself.” Mitsuki warns him with a look before turning her attention to the new arrivals. She smiles softly, patting the girls’ arms gently and checking them over much like Inko had done. “How are you both holding up?”
“W-we’re okay.” Ochaco lowers her gaze. “T-thank you.”
“No.” Mitsuki rubs her arms and has the girl look up to meet her kind grateful smile. “Thank you. For everything.” Her gaze shifts over to Katsuki who turns away and sinks back into the couch.
Ochaco watches him for a second before turning back and giving a nod of understanding.
Inko rushes out of the kitchen like a waitress working the lunch rush with a tray of steaming tea while Mr. Baumann helps out by producing a tin box of cookies from his shop.
“Please, sit. Sit. Sit. Eat something.” Inko insists on having the girls sit down on the opposite couch of Bakugou and Kirishima before serving each of them a cup.
After they each have a sip and take a cookie from Mr. Baumann does Inko join the girls on the couch with a heavy tired breath. She looks expectantly between the teens, happy to have them and waiting for them to speak, but the moment is more awkward than anything else. As no one really knows what to say, they each sit there not making eye contact, specifically Ochaco and Bakugou who both find their shoes the most interesting things in the room apparently. Leaving Inko, Mina, and Kirishima to look between them with uncertainty.
After another moment, Inko smiles on happily and offers another treat. “Can I get you kids anything else? Have you all eaten yet? If not I can make you all some katsudon, it’s Izuku’s favorite!”
The kids, especially Ochaco and Bakugou, flinch at the mention of Deku with both of them having looks of guilt and regret.
Inko’s smile softens and for a moment the kids fear that she might break down. But she doesn’t, instead she takes a breath and smiles on watching them close like a mother hen worried about her chicks. “I heard about what you all did.” She pauses waiting for the teens to react but when they don’t she presses on, speaking softly yet with purpose. “You all…wanted to help. And you did. You brought Katsuki home.” She smiles, genuinely smiles. “We couldn’t be more grateful. Thank you. All of you. You were so incredibly brave.”
Ochaco shrinks in on herself, still unable to face her. “B-but…we-...we couldn’t bring De-...Izuku home too…”
Inko wraps her hand around Ochaco’s and holds it tight, grabbing the girl’s attention. Ochaco can feel her grip tighten like she’s holding onto Ochaco for dear life like she’s afraid that she’ll be the one to fall into despair and not her. “But you tried. Didn’t you?” Inko questions with a compassionate smile. “I’m not sure if Izuku told you, but I assume you probably already know, but he…didn’t have many friends growing up.” A sad truth, one that she often feels guilty over. “There were only a few…” Her gaze darts over to Katsuki before she looks back at the brunette. “But now, because of all of you my boy has never been happier. He’s never been so outgoing getting into trouble. Making memories. And has a chance to be himself. It’s all because he has all of you. And I am so grateful that you all care so much for him that you’d risk life and limb for him.”
“Well, he would-...has done the same for us.” Ochaco corrects thinking back on all the times Deku’s rushed in to help them. “I…I miss him.”
“So, do I…” Inko admits her smile shrinking as she stares down at her lap. “I worry for that boy…” Her body shivers for a moment as her worry and fear begins to break through the cracks, to which Ochaco holds her hand tighter, not daring to let go. “Will, will you all keep looking out for him? Will you all be there…for my boy?” She desperately asks while choking back a sob. “P-please…”
Ochaco doesn’t need to think twice about it, she already has her answer. “Of course.”
Inko nearly breaks down as she cups a shaking hand over her mouth and tears threaten to spill. “T-thank you…”
“Mrs.-...Mrs. Midoria I-”
There’s a click from the door and then the sound of wood creaking as the front door slowly swings open.
Everyone stops and turns to look to see that Hisashi Midoriya has finally returned home after long hours of assumingly rounding up Nomus and investigations. They each hope to hear good news but their hopes are quickly stomped when they see just how much of a broken state he’s in.
He hasn’t shaven nor slept and at this rate they can almost assume that he hasn’t eaten either. He looks almost sickly with how pale he is and how dark it is under his eyes. His suit is filthy, still covered in battle scrapes and dust. And there’s no purpose to his step, no fire, the way he stumbles in just cries of a broken soul. A crushed spirit that’s fallen to despair. He’s a defeated man, that much is obvious.
“Hisashi!” Inko’s smile breaks away to that of a look of worry yet excitement as she oh so desperately clings to hope. “How-how was the meeting?! Did-Did they find Izuku? Is he okay?1 When-when will come home?!”
He can’t do it. He can’t look her in the eye and say it. He won’t lie but he can’t tell her the truth either.
And she knows it as she nearly faints and collapses.
Mina, having sensed the sudden change in emotions though Emote, reacts first and catches Mrs. Midoriya just as she finally breaks down and wails. She lets it all out, crying and sobbing into Mina’s shoulder while Ochaco still holds onto her hand, trying her best to comfort the poor heartbroken mother.
Mitsuki hurries over to help while Mr. Baumann hangs back, his head hanging low in sadness.
Kirishima falls back in his seat, confused and alarmed, and unsure how to take news. He looks to Katsuki but he is at a loss. The ash-blonde is staring off into space with a perplexed look of utter uncertainty.
Inko wails and sobs. “Wh-where’s my boy?! Where’s my Izuku?!”
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
U.A. is closed. Empty, dark, and quiet.
It’s a much needed quiet for Principal Nezu especially after that less then fruitful, and rather dispiriting council. And dispiriting is putting it mildly.
It’s a frustrating, chaotic mess in Nezu’s mind as two thoughts of his brain conflict with the other. The more…animalistic side of Nezu wishes to forgo the orders and regulations for the sake of his teacher and student. And yet the more logical side of him can’t help but understand the council’s standing, no matter how much it disagrees with him. Neither option sounds ideal or the most logical route. Risk the safety of the planet and the galaxy for two individuals? Or stand back and keep the peace for the greater good? It’s not an easy answer even for one as highly intelligent as himself. Frustrating…
But he can’t or rather shouldn’t focus on it right now. He has another meeting to prepare for, one with the rest of his teaching staff and Detective Tsukauchi. Thankfully due to All Might being so integral to their staffing, the detective and Nezu are permitted to discuss the true, or most of the true, nature of All Might’s disappearance and the coverup that soon followed. They will certainly not take the news well but hopefully with a trusted face like the detective around they will hopefully not jump to rash action.
Then again what could they possibly do if they knew the truth? A truth that even now Magister Nezu refuses to share…
*KNOCK. KNOCK. KNOCK.*
Principal Nezu’s ears perk at the sound of knocking at his officer door, for a moment a spark of hope makes him delusional in thinking that All Might or Izuku will stroll right in. But his hope is quickly dashed as he summarizes that it is nothing more than the good detective. “Detective Tsukauchi, you’ve arrived sooner than expected. Please come in, I'd like to you-...” Nezu’s greeting fades away and for a moment animalistic dread seeps in as two new presences enter his territory.
At first glance the presence of the first is nothing impressive, at least not physically. The one to enter is nothing more than a middle-aged woman with a stoical and steely expression on her face. Despite her age her gaze is sharp and narrow as if inspecting every twitch and breath of those caught before her, with turquoise eyes that pierce right through you. Her ash blonde hair is slicked back giving her a more professional appearance that pairs well with her dark suit jacket and dress along with a purple shirt and necklace.
She is followed inside, escorted by a man twice her stature. A brute of a man marches in with a steely look and a hard expression of a well-seasoned soldier. His blonde hair, shaved to the sides and parted slightly up, help frame his strong chined face. A long scar stretches across the soldier’s face, from the tip of his left brow to the top of his right cheek. Yet he seems to hold it up like a medal, something that was earned and well fought for. He is dressed in a navy-blue military attire, full on riot gear minus the helmet, and a bullet-proof vest with the letters H, P, S, and C written out at the chest in yellow.
Out of the two, Nezu knows exactly which one he should truly be wary of. “Oh, my, I would have certainly appreciated a warning, I don’t think my little heart can take any more surprises I’m afraid… Now to what do I owe this visit from the Hero Public Safety Commission, Madam President?”
The Madam President herself approaches the other side of Nezu desk, and stares down the tiny chimera with what can only be described as sheer cold indignation and yet respect for the little Principal. She stands firm, standing steadfast and with full professionalism before confronting the highly intelligent rodent. “We are here to discuss the terms of our agreement…Magister Nezu.”
Principal Nezu does not fail to recognize the clear and obvious incitement, and quickly his demeanor gives. Gone is his welcoming smile, replaced by a tired and already frustrated expression. And yet he holds his own temper back and addresses the Madam President as professionally and as curiously as he can. “Terms? Agreement? I’m afraid you’ve lost me Madam President. Perchance what exactly are you referring to?”
She scowls at that. “Skip the games, Magister. I’m not in the mood.” And from what she can tell, he isn’t either. “We’ve done as you asked, we’re covering up All Might’s disappearance at that alien’s hand.”
Principal Nezu goes quiet as he cups his paws together and listens to the woman’s report.
“We’ve implemented the gag order and are keeping a close eye on all the heroes as to ensure none of them slip. However, this is not the first time we at the Hero Public Safety Commission had to help cover for your repeated incidents.” Folding her arms she frowns in annoyance of it all like all of this is nothing new or of any advantage to them. “To put it bluntly you have quite the tab built up and we’d like to be paid back for all our efforts.”
Principal-…Magister Nezu sinks back into his chair and for once a crack of exhaustion seeps its way through. “I knew you’d come eventually.” He sighs. “Although I already know your answer, is there by any chance albeit slim that we can discuss this after the current situation has been resolved. After all, I do have a staff member and a student missing from my care.”
“We are well aware of the situation; however, this cannot wait any further Magister.” Her eyes narrow: analyzing, calculating, the chimera’s reactions and response. “Especially not when an alien battleship is orbiting Earth’s moon as we speak. I highly suspect it’s our “mystery villain” and if I were to wager it’s where it has both All Might and Izuku Midoriya imprisoned.”
Magister Nezu should be shocked but after everything he just can't bring himself to be. “I’m surprised, you know.”
The soldier scowls, clearly visiting the rat bothers him. “Don’t look down on us, rat. We’re under constant vigilance, especially when in regard to those things.” He growls in disgust as he refers to the aliens as things and clearly he has no qualms about referring to them as such in front of the Magister.
Magister Nezu would almost find it humorous if he could. “Oh my, then can you tell me when exactly you identified this ship?”
The soldier scowls in embarrassment as Nezu caught him red handed. “We detected it only after the thing launched his attack pod onto the city.” His fists clench at his side and for a moment Nezu fears the man might try to smash one of his prized possessions. “However what I really hate is that you knew that this alien overlord or thing was there! Hovering over our heads this whole time! And not once were we notified!!”
Nezu stares at the soldier blankly, not reacting, and appearing seemingly indifferent to the man’s ire. “You were never notified because it was and is not your concern. It is not a necessity for you to be aware, nor is it your jurisdiction. So, please, before you throw around accusations I would prefer that you be aware of where your rank lies, Lieutenant.” he spits out the word lieutenant much like the man had with the word “thing” before.
And unlike Nezu, the Lieutenant does not take the jab at his pride well as the man’s steely glare digs into Nezu’s skull.
“That is where I see things differently, Magister.” The Madam President interjects with a cold and calculating tone. “As far as I’m concerned my jurisdiction is anything that regards the national security of Japan and its allies. If Earth is being targeted for invasion then it is certainly a necessity that we are made aware of such incredible risks.”
The Lieutenant scowls in agreement. “For starters we don't even know how many of those things are living on Earth, let alone Japan. It’s a risk to national and global security.”
The Madam president then adds. “To be frank the way you Plumbers run your operations only creates more security risks to this nation and its people. You purposefully keeping us out of the loop instead of incorporating us which has finally led to the disaster you find yourself in now.”
The Magister scowls in response, a look foreign to a face such as his. “I’m sorry but I thought you came here to discuss terms, not to air your grievances with our methods.”
“That is exactly what we’re here to do.”. She leans in over the desk, staring Nezu right in the eye with a dark look on her face. “I want to be in the motherfucking room where it motherfucking happens.”
Magister Nezu on his part remains still and silent, completely stoned face.
“I want your organization’s full cooperation with the Hero Public Safety Commission.” The Madam President explains. “No more secrets. No more redactions between us. Granted we are still willing to help with cover ups and tampering of data when necessary. We want to know the alien population you have in Japan. We want monitoring systems in place. And we want full access to your technology,” She eyes him warily from her peripheral as she adds. “and weapons.”
Almost instantly the Magister has a response. “Denied. As per galactic law and Plumber regulations I cannot and will not divulge such access of information to you and your agents. Nor will I ever hand over weapons humanity is not ready for.”
The Lieutenant scoffs at that. “And yet you’re willing to hand them to a kid?”
“This game you're playing is a losing one, Magister.” The cold woman shakes her head in disbelief. “I find it ridiculous. Why deny our assistance? We could have great service to you and those who went missing under your care. And yet you follow your superior’s orders even after they’ve forbidden you from acting.”
Now Nezu shows some surprise as he generally did not think they’d be that knowledgeable of his current situation. “I wasn’t made aware that you knew about that.”
“If you’re thinking that you have a mole then you’re wrong. Call it intuition. Or the fact that it’s an obvious order. If you did have permission…or a spine, you would have confronted this alien and his forces months ago before any of this could happen. You’re clearly following a superior’s orders. And although I can appreciate the mindset,” Her gaze drifts towards the Lieutenant. “It goes completely against the mission.” And she will not tolerate that, not for anything. “Your priority-our priority should only ever be our nation's and our planet’s security and progress. Nothing else should matter when compared to that.”
“You misjudged me Madam President. I care very deeply for humanity and what happens to our home very much!”
“But you’re not doing anything to secure its well-being or its future. With your mind and resources available to you, you should be leading Earth’s progress and development. And yet you wish to sit back and hope for the best. That humanity will miraculously stumble its way forward.” Honestly she’s almost disgusted by the idea. “You’re not protecting the mission, you’re ignoring it.”
This is not the first time she’s mentioned this mission, and Nezu for one would like to know what it entails for her. “And what would you do to complete this mission?”
“One word. Anything.”
Nezu certainly doesn’t like the sound of that.
“Unlike you I am willing to cross whatever line there is before if it means the mission’s success. I’ll use whatever tool, weapon, or damned rock I find on the road to complete it. I am willing to do whatever it takes for the mission. But what about you, Principal Nezu? What are you willing to do for you?”
Principal Nezu sits there in silence before spinning his chair away from the two and staring off through his panel windows that overlook the school’s empty courtyard.
“I am not someone to be trifled with Magister.” The Madam president continues. “However, I know you and I are the same in that regard. You will have no worries about us exposing your little secret.” Which is a strategic move on their part, if they end up scaring the aliens away too soon then they will take their technology with them. Which means she won’t have a chance to place it under their custody. “And I have no intentions of rounding up your precious aliens either.” At least while it’s not necessary to do so. “I would hate to stir the hornet’s nest as it were. However, I don’t appreciate our own hive being attacked and having our honey stolen by a foreign creature either. That cannot happen again.” her eyes flare with warnings of disaster as she instates her final verdict. “So, either you take action, or I will.”
The Principal doesn’t turn around, instead he stares off into space, thinking… “I will not involve you in Plumber business, Madam President. I’m afraid you will not be allowed in the room.”
She scowls but in all honesty she figured as much anyway. There was never a chance Nezu would willingly cooperate.
But much to her surprise, or perhaps not, Nezu will cooperate in another way. “But I can agree that it is unfair for me to make such requests of you without ever compensating for your…kindness.” He spins around, his face emotionless and expressionless as he addresses the Hero Public Safety Commission Directly. “I will divulge a small shipment of higher-level technology to the Hero Public Safety Commission. However, I refuse to hand over any weapons or items of harm. And will not be providing detailed analysis nor instructions on how the technology works. I will require that you have your own men to reverse-engineer the technology themselves.”
“We can agree to those terms.” The fact that he's actually handing it over so willingly is a gift in itself.
“What about that portal gun?” questions the Lieutenant. “The one your agent used on All For One? Grant us access to that too.”
“Absolutely not!” Nezu snaps, surprising the soldier. “That weapon will never fall into anyone else’s hands! Understand?!”
“Tsk. Can’t blame me for trying.”
“Magister Nezu.” The Madam President calls for his attention. “I understand and respect your decision not to involve us. However, it is still necessary that you provide us with information. I am not asking for details into your organization nor the alien population. But instead I wish to learn only about one thing so that we may be able to understand that situation more accurately.”
“And that is?”
“I want you to give me all the information you’ve collected on the alien weapon known as the Omnitrix.”
Under normal circumstances, Principal Nezu would be shocked at the reveal but right now…nothing’s phasing him anymore. “Your informants are impressive, Madam President.”
The Lieutenant gives a big cocky smirk. “It wasn’t that difficult, Principal. After all, the brat literally wears it on his wrist and literally announces it to the world when he’s going to use it. It wasn’t hard to put the pieces together on what that weapon can do.” His smirks turns cold as it shifts into a big nasty scowl. “Don’t you find it’s at least a bit disturbing that a Quirkless punk is packing firepower like that? Just imagine what kind of damage he can do with such a thing.”
Principal Nezu doesn’t need to imagine. He already knows.
Suspecting he might back out, the Madam President uses her final card. “If you do not agree to this term then I cannot promise our cooperation in the future. You will be left to deal with coverups and redactions on your own and with your…limited staff.”
Not good, they have Nezu in a bind and they know it as the Lieutenant is quick to point out. “What now, rat?”
Now…Nezu does something he hasn’t done in a very long time, give up. “You will have your technology when everything is said and done. And as for your last request…” he turns away, looking back through the glass and towards the sky and its infinite expanse. An expanse so wide it can truly make a man or animal feel small.” You shall have it.”
The Madam President cracks a smile as this was her goal the entire time. “Thank you Principal Nezu. You’re making the right decision.”
He certainly hopes so.
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
The Midoriya household is quiet despite being full of people, not a soul makes a sound. All they can hear are the faint sobs from Mrs. Midoriya coming from down the hall after Hisashi and Mitsuki led her away to compose herself.
And so the teens are left sitting there, unsure of what to do next while Mr. Baumann gathers their now cold tea and heads for the kitchen.
After another minute of awkward silence Mina finally tries to break the tension by telling Kirishima something that’s been on their mind since they arrived. “I-I didn’t expect to find you two here…”
“Yeah, well I was already at Bakugou’s place.” Kirishima explains with a sheepish yet guilty look.
“You were?” Ochaco asks.
To which Bakugou answers. “The moron thinks he’s a bodyguard. He’s worried I’m gonna disappear or something.”
Mina bobs her head in understanding. “After everything…I can’t blame you.”
“Yeah…” Kirishima nods back.
The awkward silence returns and this time it’s more frustrating then anything, especially for Ochaco who’s been eying Bakugou occasionally ever since Inko broke down. She fidgets and looks about ready to say something to him before giving up entirely only to try again and give up.
This happens a few times to the point Bakugou, who has been watching her too, finally gets annoyed enough to call it out. “I know what you’re going to ask. And the answer is that I’m fine.” He says rather blankly and without meeting her gaze.
To which Ochaco responds rather awkwardly as she doesn’t know what to say next. “Oh…”
No one says anything again but after a brief second Bakugou surprisingly takes an awkward initiative. “How are you…?”
“I’m f-...I could be better…” Ochaco corrects after a slight pause.
“Same…”
Ochaco sits there, fidgeting again, she wants to press him for more Ask what happened. If he saw Deku. If Deku’s okay. But also…she knows he’s not okay and maybe she can help lift up any grief or regrets he has. “Bakugou-”
*DING-DONG!*
With the sudden sound, everyone jumps, startled for a moment before calming down to realize it was just the doorbell ringing. Ochaco nearly jumped out of her seat but Bakugou actually did, looking shaken and horrorstruck for a moment before realizing what it was and taking his seat again.
“I’ll get it.” Mr. Baumann states while waddling past. He reaches the door and peeks through, not allowing the others to see who’s at the door but they can pick up on some of the conversation. “Hello-Oh? It’s you all. … Yes, it is. … I understand, you’re not the only ones to arrive actually.”
Mr. Baumann steps aside and now it’s Mina and Ochaco’s turn to be surprised by new arrivals as in walks-ins Shoto and right behind him is both Tenya Iida and Momo Yaoyorozu.
Ochaco frowns, questioningly. “Todoroki?”
Shoto stops, finally just realizing she’s there. “Uraraka?”
Mina shoots up from her seat as well. “Momo?”
Momo stops and greets her back. “Mina.”
Kirishima blinks while watching Iida enter. “Class Pres?”
“Kirishima.” Iida greets.
Shoto scans the room and quickly spots the surprised looking ash blonde. “ Bakugou.”
Bakugou furrows and greets him back. “Icy-...Todoroki.” He corrects before turning back away on the couch.
Everyone pauses, unsure if they heard him correctly, but they don’t dwell on it for long as pretty soon a much more composed Inko is led back into the living space with Hisashi and Mitsuki at her side.
Inko quickly wipes at her face for any remaining tears before welcoming the children with the warmest smile she can possibly muster. “Y-you’re Iz-Izuku friends. W-welcome, thank you for c-coming.”
Momo kindly returns the gesture with a proper and well-respecting bow. “T-thank you for having us, ma’am.”
Iida follows her lead, bowing his head in respect. “Pardon our intrusion but…we wished to express our…condolences.”
Inko nods her head shakily as she’s still recovering from her earlier breakdown, but she genuinely appreciates their words. “T-thank you. Coming here means a lot.” As she examines the new trio her gaze soon falls on Shoto, and her eyes widen with recognition. “You’re Rei’s boy. Correct?”
Shoto’s taken off guard for a moment but remains composed and gently responds. “Y-yes…”
Inko cups the right side of his face and smiles warmly. “You have her eye. And her hair.” She giggles.
To which Shoto’s not sure how to respond so he just nods quietly.
“Shoto.” Hisashi finally speaks up, stepping forward to meet the teen. “I’m a bit surprised to see you here. I’m surprised your…father would allow you to come visit.’
“Well, he doesn’t know I’m here.”
Hisashi nods but doesn’t say a word about it while Inko welcomes them all inside.
“Please have a seat.” She insists before offering them drinks or food.
Mitsuki sighs and goes for the kitchen to help. “We’re going to need more cups.”
“And cookies.” adds Mr. Baumann as he follows her to the kitchen.
The three new teens join their classmates with Momo joining the girls on the couch while Iida opts to grab one of the chairs from the dinner table.
As they take a seat, Kirishima speaks up and asks. “Didn’t expect to see you three. Were you all hanging out?”
“No.” answers Shoto. “I was already on my way here when we all ran into each other.”
“Yes.” Iida nods before clarifying a little more. “We all happened to come across each other at the train station in fact.”
Shoto opts to stand but moves over towards where Bakugou’s sitting so they could talk. “Bakugou.”
“What do you want?”
“Did-...Are you okay?”
“I’m fine!” Bakugou shouts back, not meaning for it to sound so loud and angry but now he has everyone’s attention.
Iida pushes up his glasses before addressing his classmate. “Well, I’m relieved to see that your ordeal didn’t drastically change you.”
“Yeah, yeah, I’m fine.” Bakugou growls back sounding annoyed but still unable to meet any of their eyes.
Kirishima pats him on the back. “Hey, I am glad we were able to help you though… We got you back.”
“Yeah…” Bakugou goes quiet as the others talk amongst themselves, he folds his arms in and sinks into the couch, uncomfortable and uneasy as the night’s events plague his mind. The events, the knowledge, it all replays in his head. His mind also weighs on the fact that if one thing had gone wrong, had gone different, during their escape attempt that each of them would not be here. “You’re all idiots.” He breathes under his breath but unfortunately everybody heard and goes quiet. “You should have never come for us…for me.”
Safe to say that everyone is caught off guard and even hurt by his statement. Leaving Kirishima to slap his shoulder and exclaim. “What are you talking about man? We had to come for you.”
“No, you didn’t.” Bakugou growls, finally snapping around and letting his frustrations and regrets out. “You morons! Think about it. What if you got caught or worse?! What if the villains took you too, then what?! Did any of you think of that?!”
Ochaco flinches but fires back. “We d-did and they were never going to get us. We-we had it handled!”
“Really?! Ha! That’s rich. Because from what I saw you guys were flying off the seat of your pants!”
“Well, it got you out of there didn’t it?! We couldn’t stand by and do nothing. Not after everything! We-we had to do something before you or Deku got hurt!”
“THAT’S NOT THE POINT!!! THE POINT IS THAT YOU COULD HAVE BEEN KILLED AND IT WOULD HAVE BEEN ON ME!!!”
Everyone's in whiplash right now as they’re taken completely off guard. Inko looks to be ont he verge of crying again as does even Bakugou’s own mother. Mr. Baumann looks on trying to look stoic but clearly alarmed as is Hisashi, as the teens all lose their breaths from the shock. All the while Bakugou hides his face behind his hands as even he is almost about to let the tear ducks flow.
“All of you.” He chokes on a sob as he addresses each of them. “Kirishima. Iida. Yaoyorozu. Todoroki…Deku. You could have all died because…because I was useless…”
“Bakugou…” Ochaco blinks back her own tears and tries but fails to reach Bakugou.
“Deku…he…he was there. He was right there! We were-we were tied together. They had us! They had us right where they wanted us… I wanted to fight. I-I thought we could but then…”
“Bakugou…” Ochaco reaches out to him, but he turns away.
“And then they…he took him away. That villain he…he took Deku!! And I couldn’t do anything! They have Deku because-because I wasn’t strong enough!! All For One he handed Deku over to that monster!!”
Simultaneously, Inko and Mitsuki rush to the young man’s side. Holding him tight as his entire body begins to shake as he forcibly tries to hold back his own sobs and tears to of no avail.
However, Hisashi albeit concerned for the young kid, is more hooked onto what Bakugou was saying. As such he rushes over, trying to get the boy to look at him as he begs him for answers. “Bakugou?! Katsuki! Are you sure?! Did he take him?! Are you sure that’s what happened?!”
Suddenly there’s a pull on his shoulder and Hisashi is spun around and met with Shoto’s alarmed yet suspicious gaze. “You do know something.” It’s not a question, it’s a statement.
About now Bakugou’s managed to compose himself a little and now everyone’s more focused on this odd confrontation as Shoto stands up before Hisashi. “Mr. Midoriya, although I am sorry for all that’s transpired. I must apologize and admit that…I had other reasons for coming here today.”
Everyone pauses, watching curiously yet worriedly. Wondering what Todoroki could mean.
To which he explains. “Detective Tsukauchi showed up at my home today, he wanted to speak with…my father.”
Hisashi composes himself, he becomes more tense and stands straighter, watching the kid suspiciously but he is listening. Shoto has his full attention.
“I wished to be delicate when bringing this up, but I think it’s only right for you all to know so you understand.” Shoto continues while his gaze drifts over his classmates. “But the police have issued a gag order on all heroes that were present during the end of the Kamino Ward attack and that might have witnessed…All Might’s disappearance.”
It feels like a flash freeze just hit the tiny apartment as every last soul is thrown into turmoil. All Might is gone? That’s impossible. Utterly and totally impossible.
It’s so bizarre that Iida can't just sit by and let Shoto spread such false rumors. “Todoroki! Please, watch what you say! It was reported that All Might is simply recovering, most likely at U.A. with Recovery Girl.”
Ochaco heard that report too, but she unlike Iida she’s not so sure she can just blindly trust the media on this…
And neither does Shoto. “That’s just what the police want the general public to think. To keep them calm, but the truth is that the villain that appeared so suddenly…took All Might away.” it pains even Shoto to admit it, he almost still doesn’t like this is all some grand lie. And yet he knows it isn’t. It’s not. “And apparently they believe that the same villain has Midoriya.” he continues causing everyone to gasp, but all Shoto cares about is Hisashi’s own reaction. “And apparently you know-you know who this mystery villain is. Don’t you?”
If it was a flash freeze before then now they are at death’s doorstep as everyone’s heart stop for the briefest of seconds. Each of them locked onto the scene unsure, confused, or too scared to know what to do or how to take the revelation.
Inko seems on the verge of shattering, standing back and shaking as a result of the accusations. “Hisashi…?”
Hisashi doesn’t answer, instead he seems to be the only one holding it together but it’s a facade. A facade to seem calm and thus a poker face even as sweat drips from his brow and his hands begin to tremble.
“None of it makes sense to me” Shoto rants on becoming more and more emotional with the more he reveals. “Why target Midoriya? Then again this isn’t the first time it’s happened. At the U.S.J. Tetrax came for his watch, the Omnitrix. Then SixSix went for the support item at Hosu. And then there are the events at Tokyo, then I-island… Now this. There’s more going on here! Why would villains target a kid for his support item? What’s with Midoriya’s power? How can he transform and take on such crazy abilities? What does it all mean?!”
Ochaco looks between the two, her mind racing as she does know the answers to Shoto’s questions. And honestly looking back it's kinda a miracle no one's dug into any more or has questioned it until now. And yet can she really just tell him? Maybe…? “Todoroki, what are you saying…?”
“The villain, the one the media calls All For One, he…he had multiple Quirks. He was able to use all sorts of powers…just like Midoriya.”
He doesn’t say it but the implication is clear. Did Midoriya receive his powers through All For One? And that thought…scares them.
“Mr. Midor-...Cinder you know more than you’re letting on. I know you are. You know who the villain is. You know why they want the watch. You know the reason Midoriya can transform like he can! What’s going on?! Who is this villain?! Why would he take All Might?! Why’d he steal our FRIEND!?!”
A swirling silence of astonishment and dread cascades into the tiny apartment. As they all now mentally ask the same questions. With only those in the know hanging back with expressions of guilt and shame.
Inko is at a loss as she now desperately looks to her husband for answers as well. “Hisashi…?”
But he remains poker faced, holding his best to feign control and composure.
“Explain!” Shoto seethes when he doesn’t get a response. “I want answers! I think we deserve them!”
“Todoroki!” Iida scolds, unable to stand by as an authority figure gets yelled at. “That is enough! I’m sure Mr. Midoriya has his reasons for remaining discreet. And I’m sure that he’s already explained everything to the heroes and police! Isn’t that correct, sir?!”
There’s no answer as Hisashi lowers his head, hiding his eyes under the shadow casted by his disheveled hairline.
“S-sir?” Iida asks again, shakily. “You have told everything you know to the police, correct?”
Again there’s no answer as he’s unable to meet anybody’s gaze.
It’s now to the point that Inko begins to quiver with worry and fear. “Hisashi…?”
Mitsuki scowls, suspicious and upset that he’s upsetting his own wife. While Mr. Baumann shakes his head in regret. And the teens are left waiting with bated breath for a response.
But after what feels like hours Hisashi’s gaze stays locked to the ground as he speaks just barely over a whisper. “Even if I told them…there wouldn’t be a thing they or any hero could do about it.”
Cold realization washes over Bakugou as the combination of what he knows and Todoroki’s inquiries finally piece together. “YOU KNEW!?!” He roars, nearly blasting out of seat with a burning Explosion. “That’s where you’ve been?! All this time?! You weren’t even on the FUCKING PLANET!?!”
Concerned and startled by his outburst Mitsuki snaps back at Katsuki in confusion. “Katsuki! What are you talking about?!”
Now all eyes are on him as he stands there seething and trying to think of the best way to explain. “Before they took Deku. Shigaraki started talking…”
“T-talking about what?” Kirishima’s almost too afraid to ask.
“Shigaraki…he-he told me things. Talked about crazy-insane things that I’d never believe. But then…but then he showed me. He showed me the truth about what’s really going on!” He glares up, locking eyes with Shoto’s mismatched eyes. “You want answers, Todoroki? I got em, courtesy of the wackjobs that kidnapped us!” he glares over at Hisashi who’s finally broken his poker face to reveal an expression of fear and panic. “They told me exactly why they came after Deku. It’s because they made a deal with that villain to-”
“Bring him the Omnitrix.” Hisashi finishes for him, sounding defeated and shattered.
Lightning strikes as reality hits them. Hisashi does know the villain. He does know what they took Deku and All Might. And he’s seemingly not doing a thing about it.
“This is on you! It’s because of you that Deku was ABDUCTED!!!”
Despite being screamed at and interrogated, Hisashi can’t bring himself to argue or deny them the little answer he can give. “It’s much more complicated than that.”
“How so?!”
“You wouldn’t understand…”
“Understand what?! That you’re a lousy father?! That you do nothing but lie!! That you’d abandoned your family just to play space cowboy?! This is all on you! You abandoned Deku! You’re abandoning him again!!”
“I AM NOT ABANDONING HIM!!!” Hisashi finally snaps, losing all composure he’s oh so desperately trying to hold onto as it feels like he’s losing the tiniest amount of control he had left. “You don’t get it! There’s nothing we can do!”
They can hear his heartache, that his soul has just shattered but has been shattered and that the earlier stoic expressions were nothing more than his attempt to mask the pain. To hide it from them to prevent them from feeling it too.
“Do you really think I want to sit here and have a pity party while my son, MY SON, is facing that monster alone?! You don’t think I understand what’s at stake here?! You listen to me, out of everyone in this room, hell, on this planet, I’m the only one that knows exactly the danger we’re all in!!” He nearly collapses, stumbling and having to use the end of the couch to stand up right as tears stream down his face. “And the worst part is…there’s nothing any of us can do…”
Inko is nearly in tears herself, the only reason she hasn’t started sobbing herself is because of how worried she is for Hisashi. And yet, she can’t make sense of it, what is he saying? “H-Hisashi you’re scaring me. Wh-what are you saying? What’s-what’s the truth?”
“The truth?” With tears clouding his vision he looks to each of them, conflicted and desperate, wanting answers himself and yet unsure if he should answer theirs. “The truth is…no one’s going to rescue him. No one’s coming to save our boy.”
Momo steps back, fearful and worried. “But All Might-”
“Is powerless…” And Hisashi feels the same about himself as he slips his iconic Plumber Badge from his pocket. He stares at the red dot one that is often filled with him pride and purpose, but he feels none of that now. All he feels is betrayal and regret. “I spent years in service for a greater cause, I gave everything to the system. My whole being. My purpose. My life. And when I ask them for help THEY SAY IT’S NOT WORTH IT!!!” He grips at his hair as he screams, pulling at it as fast further into despair. “They said my service was not important enough to be repaid! They said Izuku wasn’t worth the risk! They said it was all for the greater good!! And that I should just…-” He freezes, relieving the pain as he hears the Magistratus’ words. “-...move on and do nothing about it.”
“B-but you gave them over a decade of service!” Inko cries in utter disbelief. “They’re the reason you couldn’t be home with us! I-I can’t believe the Self-Defense Force s-said that!”
“No, they didn’t…” Hisashi stays quietly while turning away feeling guilty.
None of this makes sense to Inko, she doesn’t know what to say or how to take it and so she breaks down feeling scared and confused.
“You’re right about me, Katsuki.” Hisashi admits feeling defeated and lost. “I am a liar. That’s all I am… I lied about who I really worked for. I lied about where I was going. I lied to my son! My wife! My friends and neighbors…! Even now, I’m still lying… lying to myself that there’s still hope.” And with that his legs give out as both his mind, body, and soul have been utterly crushed by the wait of guilt, regret, and sorrow. As it all just weighs him down and brings him to his knees. “I lost my only child…and there’s no hope in saving him.”
Devastation. That’s all anyone feels. Shoto stumbles back and actually regrets ever asking. Even Bakugou collapses into his seat as he stares off into space with a far off look with Kirishima collapsing down beside him. Ochaco begins to tear up as well as Mina as they both let the true reality of Hisashi’s words sink in. The Plumbers have turned their back on Deku without a care. And if the Plumbers can’t do a thing then…they really have lost all hope of saving Deku.
“Perhaps there is still hope.”
Everyone stars, turning to Mr. Baumann who’s been quietly listening in the corner. The older gentleman has a considering look on his face as if he’s come to another conclusion.
But Hisashi doesn’t see it, shaking his head in denial. “Mr. Baumann I-”
“Stop overthinking it, Hisashi.” Mr. Baumann states rather exasperated. “You know, you weren’t always like this. I remember the punk kid that would run head first into danger if it meant saving a friend. You didn’t care about the rules or the regulations or what any authority figure told you. You did it, because it was the right thing to do! And right now you know exactly what the right thing to do is.”
“But-...do you realize what you’re telling me?”
“I do. And these kids-...sorry, these young heroes, are more than capable to deal with it.”
Realizing what he’s suggesting, Ochaco steps up, ready to cling onto any hope she can. “We are capable. We can accept the truth.” She looks to Mina and smiles before adding in. “We already have.”
Her antennas twitch as Mina picks up on the slightest hints of hope and nods in understanding.
But Bakugou isn’t happy, he’s been watching the four and it finally sets in what Uraraka is implying. “You knew?! This whole time?!”
“Yes. Deku told me…” Ochaco answers, showing no hesitation as she assumes that Bakugou must know already too. “Mr. Midoriya, you said there’s nothing we can do. That anyone can do. Because they ordered it so. But-but I’m not ready to give up, none of us are. And neither are you. I know it. And Deku wouldn’t give up either. There’s always something we can do. And-and I know we already broke the rules once but-but that’s because we had to! And we’re willing to do it again!”
“Uraraka, please!” Iida insists already knowing where she’s going with this and assuming the worst. “We have already risked enough as it is! We’ve disobeyed the heroes, the police, and our teachers and now you wish for us to do it again?!”
“This is more than that!” Ochaco exclaims with a cry. “This isn’t just about saving our friend! But to save everyone!! It’s about saving everyone from VILGAX!!!”
Those unfamiliar with the name blink in confusion.
“V-Vilgax…?” asks Momo.
“That’s the villain.” Ochaco answers while turning to Todoroki. “The villain, the one that took All Might and has Deku…his name is Vilgax.”
Shoto’s eyes widen in shock as if he’s seeing Ochaco for the first time. “Who is Vilgax?”
Before she can answer, however, she is cut off by Hisashi who wants to make sure she’s truly willing to bring them into their world. “Uraraka. Do you realize what you’re doing? What you’re dragging them all into?” He just hopes she understands the consequences that might come with it. “Are you sure you want that? Or that after they know the truth that they’ll regret having you tell them?” he shakes his head in warning, not because he doesn’t want to tell them, but because he fears what that knowledge might do. “Not everyone's cut out for this life. If you tell them then whatever happens becomes your responsibility. Do you understand that?”
She considers his words of warning, but she doesn’t take long to make her decision. “I do.”
Kirishima can’t take it; they’re talking all cryptic and it’s too confusing. “Can someone just finally tell us what’s going on?!”
“We can…will explain everything.” Hisashi answers before turning to his wife, the wife he owes so many answers to. “It’s time I finally told you the truth. But not here.”
“And why not here?” Mitsuki glowers, already finding this all suspicious.
“Because you wouldn’t believe us without proof.” Hisashi answers.
But Bakugou isn’t going anywhere, not without being told first. “And where are we going?”
“All the answers you need are at U.A. We need to talk to Principal…Magister Nezu.”
Iida frowns. “Magister…?”
“Nezu…?” questions an equally stumped Shoto.
“We need him to help…explain. And not just him.” Hisashi turns his gaze to Mr. Baumann.
To which the older gentlemen understands. “I need to make a few phone calls.”
“And so do we.” Ochaco adds as she and Mina dig out their phones.
With no clue what’s going on Momo seeks answers from her friends as they go along and text numbers she doesn’t recognize. “Ochaco. Mina. Wh-what’s going on? I’m so confused. W-why are we going to U.A.?”
“We’ll explain everything I promise.” Ochaco replies, praying that they’ll understand. “Just-just trust us, o-okay?”
“I trust you.” Bakugou answers with a bit of hesitation but he does truly mean it. “You may be a liar too but…you did save my ass. So, I’ll hear ya out. It’s the least I can do.”
Shoto thinks on it for a moment but considering how long he’s had these questions about Midoriya he’s willing to hear them out. “I want answers. But if it’ll also help save my friend, then I’m coming.”
Momo frowns while cupping her chin in consideration. “I’m still not sure what’s going on but I won’t lie and say I don’t want answers.”
Iida let’s out a heavy sigh. “I’m coming too. But only so I can witness Principal Nezu talk some sense into all of you.”
Kirishima nods along with all their statements before simply shrugging. “Well if you’re all going then I might as well too.”
“Thanks guys, just be patient.” Ochaco turns to address Bakugou and Shoto directly as she makes a promise to them both. “Everything will make sense soon.”
Meanwhile, Hisashi pulls Inko aside so they can talk. “I don’t deserve your trust but if you may just grant me one chance to explain… And I’ll do whatever I can to make it up to you. But if you can’t forgive me…then I understand.” He’s hurt just from saying it but he’ll respect her wishes no matter what.
Inko is clearly still hurting but she’s not so unfair as to toss aside his own feelings. As such she is willing to come along. “Let’s…let’s not assume anything for now. But just now…that it better be one good explanation.”
“For all our sakes, I hope it is…”
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
Detective Tsukauchi is tired, he hasn’t slept since before their failed raid on Kamino Ward and at this point he’s lost track of how much coffee he’s digested. But he carries on with his duties: communicating with his officers, supervising several investigations, and issuing gag orders. After everything he can certainly use a shower, a shave, and a cozy bed but he’s made up his mind that he'll rest once he knows All Might is back.
Until then he has to see his job through till then. And right now that involves reporting to one of the pillars of their society, U.A.
“As previously stated we managed to capture a great deal of Nomu however extraction of any information from them has brought up virtually nothing. As for their masters, the League of Villains are still unaccounted for with their whereabouts unknown.”
He turns his head up from his notes and meets the gazes of all the teachers and heroes that Principal Nezu had summoned to the conference room. Eraserhead looks tired and sullen, more so then usual. Midnight seems cold and wary but listening intently. Even Present Mic doesn’t have his usual air of jovialness about him, instead sitting there quietly with his arms folded. Same as the other teachers like Snip, Cementoss, Vlad King, Recovery Girl, Power Loader, Ectoplasm, etc. Then of course there’s Principal Nezu himself who brought along the Rescue instructor Thirteen too.
After giving his report each of the heroes pause in contemplation as they digest everything.
Midnight cups her chin in thought before speaking up and asking. “And what of the villain, All For One, where is he being held?”
Tsukauchi shrugs in exasperation while shaking his head in annoyance. “Unfortunately, we received word from the Hero Public Safety Commission that his prison location is to remain disclosed and redacted from all records to ensure proper security.”
Cementoss nods in understanding of the situation. “Makes sense, I can see why they would believe this is a concrete plan to ensure the villain’s incarceration.”
That might be true but Snipe sees it a bit differently. “Makes sense but then again…I can’t shake the feeling that this is all too fishy. Something just ain’t right here.”
“It feels like there are ulterior motives.” adds in Vlad King. “The Commission didn’t even know about All Might’s condition until it was revealed to the entire world. So why bother trying to cover it up now?”
Tsukauchi reiterates. “The gag order came directly from the Commission. As stated before it’s to help prevent any panic or fear that might spread.”
“To prevent?” present Mic scoffs. “Too late for that buddy, it’s not gonna take the public long to realize what happened. Even with a gag in place, word is gonna get out, one way or another. And when it does, well, it’s gonna be a disaster.”
Shota Aizawa slouches in his chair, his locks hanging over his head as he airs his own thoughts. “For once I agree with Mic. If you ask me this sounds like the Commission knows something that we don’t and are acting on that knowledge.”
Snipe folds his arms over as he takes in Aizawa’s implications. “Are you saying they’re in cahoots with that villain that kidnapped All Might?”
Honestly not even Aizawa’s that sure of his own suspicions. “Maybe. Or maybe they are aware of how dangerous this unknown villain is.”
“Then perhaps we should hold our own investigation.” offers Ectoplasm. “Find out who this villain is and what kind of information the Commission has on them.”
Midnight frowns, unsure of what to do. “Hmm, I don’t know. What do you think about all this, Nezu?”
They all wait for the little dog bear mouse to give them words of encouragement and advice with his usual chipperness and sincerity.
But it never comes, alarming the teachers as they all slowly rotate around back towards the end of the conference table where Principal Nezu sits alone and with a far off look to his little rodent face. He doesn’t even acknowledge them almost like he’s in a trace and is unable to hear them as he stares down at the long stretch of table with no interest.
“P-principal Nezu…?” Recovery Girl repeats to no avail as the little chimera continues to stare off into space.
Everyone grows concerned but none more so than Thirteen who walked the dear-old Principal in here. The Principal hadn’t said anything since the Hero Commission paid him a visit. And that isn’t even considering the disastrous meeting he had with the Plumbers. Thirteen is especially worried about that considering they haven’t forgotten it either. Orders to stand down and comply weigh on them like chains. But even so they have to keep going for Midoriya’s sake at least. “Um, sir?” Thirteen taps him on the shoulder.
“Hm yes?” Principal Nezu finally snaps up to attention, a bit slow like he had just woken up from a nightmare.
The other teachers frown with worry as Midnight asks if he’s feeling okay. “Sir, are you okay?”
“What? Oh, yes-yes. Please continue detective.” Principal Nezu puts on a smile but it is clearly forced.
They can all tell and based on how they all look to each other they can only assume that they all see it too. But they each chalk it up to stress and fatigue, and so Tsukauchi continues on with his report.
“There is some good news. Thanks to the actions of All Might and your students. We were able to successfully recover Katsuki Bakugou from the villains’ clutches.”
Recovery Girl gives a huff, crossing her arms in annoyance as she does. “Oooh, those kids. Thank goodness they weren't hurt but they were stupid for going! Eraserhead I hope you intend on disciplining them!”
“Don’t worry, Recovery Girl.” Aizawa frowns as he thinks about his students’ rash actions. “I’ll make sure they understand the severity of what they did.”
Even for Midnight a punishment at Eraserhead’s hands sounds too far. “Don’t be too hard on them. They only did what they thought was right. And we couldn’t have rescued Bakugou without them anyway.”
Power Loader has to agree as he adds in to her thoughts. “It's thanks to them that we achieved a small semblance of a victory then.”
“Did we though…?” Thirteen asks as their gaze falls.
“We might as well call it a defeat.” asserts Snipe; not even trying to sugar coat it. “We got Bakugou back. All For One is gone. But we still have one student missing along with All Might. And some powerful villain shows up out of nowhere and claims to have them both. Somehow it feels like we’re way over our heads here.”
Vlad King scowls, irritated with the fact that this villain is seemingly mysterious. “Surely we must have something on this…mystery villain?”
Tsukauchi sighs, tired of repeating a line from earlier in his report. “Unfortunately, we don’t. Me and many other officers have been on the case, but not one of our leads have brought up anything. It’s almost as if this villain never existed until that very night.”
Thirteen watches on in concern unsure of what to say, after all as far as Earth itself is concerned Vilgax actually didn’t exist in the public concussion until that night. But they can’t just reveal that… They can’t.
As Thirteen sits there quietly their cellphone buzzes. They check only to spot a text message from one of their Plumber recruits asking them to meet them at the front gate. Unsure of what it is but figuring it had to be important if they’d be willing to come here now, Thirteen gets up and gently announces to the room that they’re leaving. “My apologies, please continue without me. But I need to take this.”
They hurry out, calling the number back so they can discuss.
“There are too many unknowns.” comments Cementoss, continuing on as Thirteen commanded. “Where are our missing? Who is this villain? What’s their connection to All For One?”
“Why take All Might?” adds Ectoplasm.
Aizawa responds with a curt growl. “Why not? I mean, why bother taking a student for that matter? It’s one thing to make U.A. seem incompetent but now…it seems like Midoriya was targeted for a reason. Otherwise why go through all this effort The League attempting to convert Midoriya was one thing but now what could this new player possibly want with the kid?”
Snipe shrugs, throwing out the first idea in his head. “Perhaps All For One wanted his Quirk.”
Midnight frowns at this. “Then why didn’t All For One attempt to go after All Might’s Quirk too?”
“None of this makes sense.” Vlad King echoes. “With All For One imprisoned, what use would this new villain have for All Might and his power?”
“It can’t be for anything good.” comments Recovery Girl with a sadden tone. “As you all know, All Might’s power has been diminishing. And I’m afraid what’s left at this point is nothing but dying embers.”
“Not to mention the villain’s weaponry.” Power Loader interjects while flipping through the various reports and witness statements. “I can’t even fathom a guess where this kind of machinery came from. I don’t think I-island has anything like what was described.”
Present Mic shakes his head at all of this as an unsettling feeling in his stomach takes hold. “I don’t like this. I don’t like this at all.”
And neither does Aizawa, he out of most here feels the most frustrated. Afterall it was his students that were taken. They are his responsibility but because of forces out of his control the chances of them getting Midoriya back are slipping away with every question that appears/ “There’s so much we don’t know.”
Nezu sits and allows the turmoil to unfold all around him. Unphazing and seemingly stoned faced with little to no expression as his trusted and precious staff hound each other with more and more questions, Questions he has as well and questions he can so easily answer. And yet he remains silent, and passive. Why? Because for the first time in his long career, Nezu has no idea what to do next…
“Excuse me everyone.”
The teacher and the detective all stop mid-discussion to find Thirteen poking their head in from the doorway looking mighty nervous and concerned.
“Apologies for interrupting our discussion but…we have some visitors who, um, are really persistent. And they want to speak with all of us.” Thirteen explains, while keeping said guests out of view.
“Absolutely not!” Aizawa snaps, already frustrated with the current situation. “We are prohibiting all visitors until further notice! We don’t have time to deal with the press until we have answers!”
“That’s the thing, this isn’t the press, it’s…well.” Figuring there’s no point in hiding anything at his point, Thirteen slowly opens the door to reveal the guests to the rest of the staff.
And in walks a group of nervous and uneasy teens are led in by Ochaco. She walks in with purpose or at least tries to but under all her teachers’ stares she buckles. Walking in behind her are her classmates: Mina, Shoto, Bakugou, Kirishima, Iida, and Momo. They are then followed in by a trio of adults that every teacher has mixed reactions on. Most of the teachers have pits of guilt and shame as Midoriya’s disheveled parents walk, with Hisashi looking particularly perturbed, while Bakugou’s mother remains glued to Inko’s side to give her friend some much-needed support.
There is no Mr. Baumann present with them as he peeled away from the group shortly before they arrived at U.A.’s front gate.
In any case, the teachers all stare on, surprised to find their students here and now. With the Detective eyeing Hisashi particularly, remembering Endeavor’s insight into the man’s potential knowledge.
Midnight leans back, frowning as she folds her arms and takes in this odd group of characters. “Well, this is unexpected.”
Snipe tips his hat down in disbelief. “Why isn’t it the guilty party themselves. Now that's mighty coincidental.”
“It’s not a coincidence.” Aizawa rises, getting up to meet the group at the doorway. “I was hoping to scold you all as a class, but this will have to do.” He hisses, his eyes flashing red with Erasure causing the teens to shrink and cower. “Do you have any idea what kind of trouble you put yourselves in?! What you did was rash, stupid, and irresponsible! “I expected this kind of action from most of you but Iida and Yaoyorozu…?! I can’t say I’ve ever been more disappointed.”
Iida is personally wounded by the statement to which he begins stuttering in defense before giving up. “M-my ap-pologies s-sir. I-I-I….”
After witnessing Iida’s defeated response, Bakugou glares back at the teacher in his Class Rep’s defense but a hand from Shoto pulls him back.
Even Momo hangs her head in shame with only Kirishima and Mina propping hands on her shoulders to give her some comfort.
Feeling sorry for them, considering all they've been through, Midnight tries to smooth it over and justify her colleague’s response. “You have to understand, you all have broken our trust. It was one thing to defend yourselves at the camp, but another to go out of your way to put yourself into the line of fire on purpose.”
The kids do actually feel shame for that, not even they can argue against how stupid their decision was.
Their expressions of shame must be enough for Aizawa, however, as he takes a breath before calmly explaining why he thinks what they did was wrong. “I understand why you did it. Why you all went. That you have the urge to help. That you wanted to help your friends. But…we live in a society. A society with laws and regulations. Laws that are in place for this sort of action and it can have real consequences! I thought you all would have learned that during Hosu.”
The teen shrinks back further in shame while Inko looks on guiltily and Mitsuki looks just as murderous as her own son does.
Hisashi chokes, he wants to step up in the teens’ defense but his confidence buckles and stumbles. His feet become heavy as lead and he’s unable to move as he throat feels like it’s closing in on itself, making him unable to speak.
However, a hero ironically arrives to save the teens from their heroic teachers. Speaking with confidence and wisdom gained over many years. “Don’t be giving the youngins too hard of a time. Afterall, they might be our only way out of this mess.”
Another group part to allow an elderly man through, the old man hobbles forward with his cane as his little yellow cape drags behind him on the floor.
Ochaco beams, finally a ray of hope. “Gran Torino!”
He looks beaten and bruised, with bandages around his arms and forehead. But he’s moving around just fine after a trip from Recovery Girl and a goodnight’s rest.
He seems to be the only one there not despairing over their loss, but instead he hobbles in with confidence and a calm that they desperately need.
That said, Recovery Girl is still quite upset to see him up and about. “You are supposed to be at the hospital resting! What do you think you’re doing here?!”
“I am here…because this one called me here.” he swings his cane, pointing it right at Ochaco with the end stopping just inches from her chin. “And she has one hell of an idea.” He puts his cane back down, holding it out in front like a wiseman that is about to deliver a powerful sermon. “One that can save Toshinori and Midoriya.”
Everyone let’s out a collective gasp from the teens, to the parents, and to the teachers. With the only ones not reacting being Bakugou, Hisashi, Mina, and Ochaco herself. Although Principal Nezu has yet to react as he continues to stare off into space like he hasn’t even noticed all of their entrances.
Sensing this, and after having everyone’s attention, Hisashi finally summons his will to move, stepping forward to address the chimera directly. He barely makes it as Tsukauchi instinctually stops him with his arm.
The father stares at the arm pressed to his chest before peering up and locking eyes with the confused and trepidated detective. They stare for an intense few seconds as Tsukauchi silently asking whether this man should be trusted.
But after a moment of searching for any suspicions or ill-will Tsukauchi releases him allowing the suspect to approach the Principal.
Hisashi leans down, speaking gently so as to not startle the poor chimera. “Principal…” He pauses and corrects himself mid-sentence. “Magister Nezu.”
Most of the occupants stare on in confusion, unsure of what the man called their Principal. However, it seems to do the trick as Principal Nezu finally peers up, blinking in recognition. “Midoriya…? I thought I told you to go home…?” He scans the room, finally noticing that they have more visitors than just Hisashi. “What’s going on…?”
“Magister…” Hisashi begins before looking back at the group as a whole before pressing on. “We-we need to talk. All of us…with them.” he gestures to the group as he hangs his head for a moment, coming to solace with what he’s about to recommend. “We can’t do this on our own.”
“We have our orders, Midoriya…” Principal Nezu echoes, sounding like a robot who’s following his basic programming.
The teachers reel in shock, bewildered that the two know each other but the implications that Nezu is receiving possible orders is jarring.
Tsukauchi snaps, alarmed by the possible implications. “Midoriya! What is going on here?!”
That is honestly the same question everyone wants an answer to. One they’ve been begging to know since they left the Midoriya’s abode.
To which all Hisashi answers is with a short statement. “That’s what I’m trying to explain.” His gaze drifts to his wife who shivers and shakes with nerves and fear. He closes his eyes, takes a breath and turns back towards his Magister. “Sir, I know what the Magistratus’ orders are, sir. But I believe them to be ill-advised.”
Nezu says nothing, instead his gaze and his spirit falls once again.
“It’s wrong!”
Nezu snaps up, startled by Ochaco’s sudden outburst.
“Uraraka!” Midnight scolds her for yelling but the young girl has none of it.
“He has our friend!” She exclaims with no regard for subtly. “Our classmate! Our teacher, too! I-I know what we did was wrong! I know we weren’t supposed to get involved but we did-we are involved! And it’s too late to take it back! We want to save them!”
Everyone stares in shock and a bit of admiration. Bakugou especially looks ready to fight as Iida, Shoto, and the others think about how far they’ve come already and how it’s too late to turn back. Even Thirteen picks up on her intentions before sharing a look with a knowing Hisashi to confirm their suspicions.
“We want to save them.” Ochaco repeats, pleadingly. “We have too. No matter what.”
Nezu is especially taken back by her words. Not that he should be surprised, but still after everything’s he has to consider he’s still unsure… For assurance he looks to his trusted staff and friends for guidance only to find none as none of them are truly aware of their situation. And so he looks to the youth and despite their lack of knowledge or understanding they do have the convictions to see this through. They don’t regret involving themselves but rather regret upsetting those around them. They wish to help. They will complete the mission, no matter what it takes…
Still unsure but seriously considering their options, Nezu looks to the students for answers. “Ms. Uraraka, are you sure? Are you absolutely sure this is what you desire? And if so, then are you prepared…? Are you prepared for what happens next? And the consequences that may follow? Once we pull back the veil there will be no turning back…for any of us.”
“…I’m sure.”
A gong rings, signaling the change of fates which they all unknowingly feel. The teachers are especially bewildered as they look between their boss and their student, now finally realizing that the two are more acquainted with each other then any of them would have first assumed.
“You said that they betrayed our trust.” Thirteen hums, turning to their colleagues with sympathy and with thoughtful understanding. “And they have. They betrayed ours. However, are we not guilty of doing the same?”
The question gives them, especially Aizawa, pause.
Gran Torino sees exactly where Thirteen is going with this and thus adds in his own criticisms. “We asked them to trust us, to keep them safe and we didn’t.” He patiently explains. “Trust is a two way street. We should abide by it…” He shares a look with the young Plumber Agent.
To which, Thirteen turns and locks their gaze with their Magister as they tell him what he needs to hear. “And so should we.”
With a bow and a slight smile, Nezu accepts the inevitable while promising himself to instill proper guidance for them all to ensure no poor outcomes. “…Very well.” He slides out of his chair and hops down, before strolling away and moving on with his returned steadfast calmness and guiding atmosphere. “Everyone would you be so kind as to follow me?”
But none follow as Aizawa questions what’s happening. “Nezu…what’s going on?”
“The world is changing my friends.” Nezu states with a bittersweet smile. “Everything we know is about to change.”
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
With that ominous statement the teachers, students, and parents are all left with lots of questions. However, none are answered as Principal Nezu just strolls away with Hisashi, Ochaco, Mina, Thirteen, and Gran Torino acting as his loyal entourage. So, driven by concern and the need for answers the off crowd of heroes and innocents follow the group out of U.A.’s main building and out towards the rear gate that leads right into the local woods. There’s an increasing tension as they walk and with every passing second that there’s no explanation.
As they enter the woods, Momo tugs on Ochaco’s arms, hoping for answers. “Ochaco…where are we heading? What exactly were you and the Principal talking about?”
“I too have questions.” Iida hushes, clearly disturbed by all the ominous talk and speeches. “Please! You’ve refused to answer us since we left the apartment.”
Shoto scowls in annoyance. “It’s pretty conceited of you to assume we’ll go along with this without you providing us with any context.”
She knows that they’ve been remarkably patient with her; they deserve answers. “Just…trust me on this, guys. There’s…a lot going on here then what you realize and…it’s going to be a lot to process.”
Bakugou frowns, suspicious yet growing in nervous anticipation, giving him a mix of excitement yet trepidation.
The same feeling Ochaco is having as her heart races more and more with every step that gets them closer to their destination. “Honestly, this might be a bad idea and you might hate me after it’s said and done. But…” Her gaze falls as she begins to feel guilty for what she’s about to do…
Sensing, without Emote, how much turmoil she’s going through internally, Mina grips Ochaco’s hand in her own. Giving it a squeeze in comfort. “Please guys give her-...us a chance. Just one and then, you’ll understand.” Mina asks, feeling just as scared and nervous, because if they go through this…they’ll have to find out about her secret as well.
Kirishima might not understand the gravity of the situation, but he does quickly pickup on how uneasy and scared the girls seem. And so like the gentlemen he is, he gently grips Mina’s free hand and gives it a firm grip, letting her know he’s here for her. “I really don’t get what’s happening, but I know you guys. You wouldn’t hurt us. So the reason you can’t say anything right now has to be important.”
Bakugou sits on Kirishima’s comments before coming to the conclusion that the rockhead is right. “So, do I. You’re not the type to lead us on unless it’s for a good reason.”
“Guys…” Ochaco couldn't be more grateful for their patience.
Meanwhile, the adults are having their own discussion with Mitsuki growling at Hisashi from behind. “Hisashi, what are you planning?”
Inko holds onto Mitsuki’s arm tighter out of nerves. “Hisashi…I’m scared.”
He stops in his tracks and rotates around to address them. He places his hands gently to his wife’s arms with a remorseful caress. “I…I know. I know you’re scared but…please hold out a little longer. I don’t deserve it but please j-just hold out. And everything-everything will make perfect sense.”
That seems to be enough for Inko as she doesn’t press it but it still clearly bothers her.
Overhearing the conversation Tsukauchi grows suspicious and wary.
“Tsukauchi.”
The Detective peers down to find Gran Torino hobbling by his side. The older hero and trusted ally speaks sternly and with full seriousness as he addresses the officer. “Your investigation into All Might and Midoriya’s disappearance is about to end.”
Tsukauchi gasps, nearly making everyone jump as he does.
“However!” Gran Torino warns. “I highly recommend against reporting this to your superiors.”
Tsukauchi blinks, stunned by the…command? “What?”
“Tsukauchi, what you are about to see may disturb you. It may shake you to your very core and make you question everything you know. However, you cannot allow that to happen. You understand me?”
He knows the veteran is fully serious, his Truth Detector Quirk is making that blaringly clear, and yet what kind of secret could that be to warrant such confidentiality?
He is not the only one as Snipe airs his own concerns. “Principal N-Nezu? Sir? …Where are we going? Why are we leaving U.A.?”
Principal Nezu doesn’t stop, however, instead he continues along the well trodden path through the ever-darkening woods. “I’m afraid none of the answers will or can be properly explained within the walls of our dear school.” He peers up and back at the group, looking past them and back at his castle known as U.A. High. “I treasure this place dearly and all it represents. The honesty. The heroism. The pride. And justice. The public and all of you see U.A. as one of our pillars of hero society. A place for our best and brightest to learn and grow in a safe environment. However, for others this pillar means so much more than just producing the next batch of heroes.”
“And was is that?”
“A chance.” Principal Nezu responds just as they find exactly what they set out for.
Down the hiking path stands a shamble of an outhouse. With its rotting boards and creaking panels, its frame leans to one side and flies buzz about near the tin roof. It looks like it’s one breeze away from toppling over and honestly kinda looks like the set up of a bad slasher film.
Bakugou’s face scrunches up in disgust at the sight and half-jokes half-insults the structure. “A chance to take a shit?”
Oddly enough a bit of laughter echoes through the odd crowd, somehow Bakugou’s comment breaks the tension for a short second.
Even Principal Nezu and Gran Torino chuckles but move on and quickly shepherd everyone inside.
Almost every person eyes the abandoned looking outhouse warily, only going in after Ochaco steps in looking oddly comfortable and familiar with the disgusting facility.
They slowly fill in, very much surprised to find that the inside is a loooot bigger than it appears from the outside.
through the threshold
Looking around, Bakugou’s face scrunches up in disgust as he stupidly peers into the open toilet that has some strange moss and green ooze leaking from its side. “This some kind of joke?”
Present Mic shutters at the sight of a crawling cockroach before responding. “If it is, it’s not a very good one.”
But Gran Torino shushes them. “Quiet the both of you. For now just stand back and listen.”
As they step inside, Aizawa enters alongside his junior Thirteen who he’s been carefully analyzing since they left the conference room. It seems that Thirteen, the usually kind and thoughtful junior to the entire U.A. staff seems to be aware of everything Nezu, Cinder, and Uraraka were talking about. And the fact that he missed some potential connections doesn't sit with him well especially when it concerns his students as well. “Thirteen, how much are you not telling us? How exactly does this relate to anything?”
“It relates to everything…” Thirteen ominously answers as they shut the door, locking everyone inside.
It’s surprisingly not a tight fit as everyone stands shoulder to shoulder with everyone looking around in confusion at the odd outhouse and wondering if maybe this is some elaborate joke or something.
But seems almost at ease now, like the stress of it all has started to wash away because he’s accepted the truth. That this has to be done. And so with a guiding smile he peers up at one of his students for assistance. “Mr. Kirishima.”
Kirishima starts, nearly jumping as he’s addressed directly by their principal. “Y-yeah? What’s up, Principal?”
“Would you be so kind as to pull that string please?”
“This one?” He grabs the pulley that flushes the moss ridden toilet.
“Yes, that’s the one.”
“O-okay?” He pulls it and everyone holds their breath, expecting something to happen.
When nothing happens they all relax but jump as the toilet makes a gross flushing sound and then the floor shifts out of place, causing nearly all of them to stumble. With Inko nearly taking a tumble before Hisashi swiftly catches her.
Before anyone has time to question if that was an earthquake the floor begins to lower slowly, taking them down with it and leaving the outhouse rousing above their heads and exposing a clean dark metallic tunnel as they descend.
Gran Torino smirks at their reactions, muttering to himself that it never gets old.
The teachers stare on at shock-and-awe as they descend as daylight shrinks and shrinks, becoming a tiny dot over their heads. Inko, Mitsuki, and even Tsukauchi are in awe but not as fearful, assuming that this must be a part of U.A. that the public must not know about. But then there are the students who look between the adult figures to each other, looking for answers.
“Uraraka…” Bakugou grips the girl’s arm, more out of fear than anger, as he begins to shake with anticipation.
Ochaco, calmly, places her hand over his in an attempt to calm him down. “Hang in there. It’ll all make sense soon.”
[The elevator reaches its end, coming to a full stop before a set of thick automated doors. With baited breathes they all brace themselves as the doors begin to slide away revealing the entire underground facility that’s been hidden away, underneath their very noses. What greets them is a large room illuminated by green neon lights giving the place a quiet glow to it. With everything from the architecture to the furniture and appliances appearing to be part of some highly advanced technology to the point it’s nearly unrecognizable. Rows of metallic desks line this high-tech lobby of sorts, with the centerpiece being a mountain of holographic monitors and screens. Above them on the ceiling corners are large metallic frames, they are big and bulky, but it's unclear whether they are there for support, aesthetics, or perhaps in security. All the while massive curving pillars pitch upwards in rows, keeping the entire facility up and from caving-in.
The astonished arrivals slowly wander inside, unable to look away from the strange hidden base.
Ectoplasm takes it all in with a mixture of wonderment and bafflement. “I never knew this facility was here…”
“Are we…under U.A.?” asks Midnight as she stares up towards the high ceiling.
“We are.” confirms Cementoss. “Far down, if I were to guess at least 15 stories deep.”
Meanwhile, Power Loader approaches one of the metallic desks and hovers his hand over its top, unintentionally activating the strange machine as it powers on and holographic displays with symbols unbeknownst to him or anyone else pop into view. “This…layout. This architecture. This…tech. It’s like nothing I’ve ever seen.”
Vlad King is stunned, Power Loader has worked with the best technicians and engineers out there, even those of I-island fame. “How is that possible?”
Recovery Girl would like to know too. “Principal Nezu, I believe it’s finally time for some answers. What exactly is this place?”
“It’s home.” Someone just out of view answers.
Everyone is instantly on their guard as Mr. Baumann strolls out of the nearby passage and into the lobby.
“Who are you?!” Aizawa shouts, getting into a defensive stance alongside his fellow heroes and Tsukauchi.
“Relax, you kids are all too quick to act.” Gran Torino scolds as he hobbles forward to meet the store owner.
Tsukauchi frowns. “Gran Torino, you know this man?”
“Of course, he does.” Mr. Baumann retorts. “Don’t you know that all old people know each other. Speaking of which, hi there Chiyo. How’s tricks?”
Recovery Girl nods back, both pleasantly surprised and having no clue what’s going on. “Confused and not quite sure how a local market owner is doing here.”
“I came here for the Midoriyas. I’m their neighbor you see, and after hearing about how I can help well I had to run ahead to gather them all up.”
Aizawa’s eyes narrow suspiciously. “Gather who?”
Mr. Baumann smirks, pushing up his glasses in response. “Well, all of them.”
On his cue, an entire crowd of people emerge from the backrooms and nearby passageways.
Bakugou nearly jumps at the sight of them, his palms at the ready as he keeps a close eye on all of them.
All of the cloaked individuals approach and watch the heroes warily and with trepidation even. They all appear to be human in nature, most wearing thick clothes that cover nearly all their features. There are families present such as the mother and daughter pair that are both in matching raincoats. Another individual is lugging around such a huge backpack that it’s nearly dragging on the ground while his massive bodybuilder of a buddy stands nearby. A family of flannel wearing lumberjack like folks stand near the back, while a married couple between an obese but stout bi-speckled man in a Hawaiian shirt huddles with his skinny gale-green skinned wife. And those are just a few of the many many strange looking individuals that have come to meet their guests. All of them huddle within the center of the lobby like a herd tightening their ranks for safety.
However, one individual is brave enough to leave the safety of the herd. A woman cladded in full on winter gear and a pink scarf, preventing anyone from seeing any of her features other than her long black hair, steps forward and bows her head in greeting. “Welcome, heroes to our sanctuary~.”
Kirishima perks up at the sight of her as a comfortable feeling of familiarity takes over. “Hey, I know you. Mrs. Ashido is that you?!”
Eirene smiles gleefully from under her scarf. “Why yes it is, dear Kirishima~. It’s been a long time hasn't it~? Tell me, how are your mothers doing~?”
“They’re doing great!” he cheerfully responds much to her delight.
“Wonderful~.”
Aizawa grows suspicious of the exchange or rather of this parent. Another parent in on some big secret? Not only is it suspicious but it grows on his ever-increasing frustration and distrust.
But before he can act on any of his emotions, Eirene smoothly interjects for him to stand down. “Please, calm yourself, Mr. Eraserhead~. We mean you no harm~. Not that your Quirk will do you too much good in our presence~.”
Aizawa blinks back, a bit startled by the fact that she read him so easily.
However, others like Shoto, were quick to pick up on her words of choice. “And who exactly are all of you?”
She gives him a kind smile and much to everyone’s embarrassment, she begins to disrobe and remove her wig. Many like the teachers and the students blush and try to look away but they can’t as they are met with a gorgeous, and not erotic, sight. Ashido’s mother is elegant, yet strange, in ways they can’t define. Graceful yet inhuman even though she has a clear humanoid body. Her features are soft, her skin pale as fresh snow, her attire alien yet sleek like a veil made of unearthly silks practically floats off her body. Her blush-pink hair is lush and runs down her sides and past her shoulder blades, as two smooth yellow antenna protrude out her head, and curl ever so slightly back, almost waving in the air like they’re underwater.
She is beautiful…uncanny but why none of them can tell.
That is until the ever-growing suspicions of Bakugou finally make him ask the million dollar question. “What are you?”
“She’s an alien.” Ochaco responds carefully, wary of his reaction, as she too takes in the crowd before them. “They all are.”
Understanding her meaning, the crowd of strange individuals shed their disguises and reveal just how strangely odd they truly are.
Many familiar faces stand within the crowd such as Eirene Ashido to the sweet ML-E and her mother T8-M. A few Megawatts spark their way out from a nearby computer as Bubble Helmet rips off his trench coat. And of course, even Chopper and One-One managed to sneak their way in and push their way to the front of the crowd.
The muscle builder from before suddenly reveals a second pair of muscly red arms as his friend removes his backpack to reveal that he’s a slug-like being. The married pair remove their fake mustache, glasses, and wigs to reveal a wary Jamba and a nervous Pleekly. A nearby house plants curls up and reshapes into a hippie-looking Florauna. While the lumberjacks shed their flannels and remove the ties holding their beards to reveal a family of Wookies. And a seemingly normal family shed away their holographic disguises to reveal an assortment of colorful Atrocians. And even the pink bunny of an alien is hiding away towards the back, poking his head out from between other aliens’ legs or appropriate appendages.
Others stand firm as if to intimidate Earth's champions such as the creatures of the Covenant, a squad of Pickaxe Aliens, and a pair of Vulpimancers who growl and snarl in warning.
A plethora of other species are mixed in as well such as the Quarren, Twi’lek, a few Salamandrians, there’s a married pair of Kornans near the front along with a whimpering Boov, some one-eyed Unopans are towards the back, and even a few Namekians are here.
All in all, the assortment of inhuman and the seemingly impossible appearances of these aliens are enough to have the heroes, teachers, and students stumbling back out of shock-and-awe.
Everyone last one of them is taken back, doubting whether or not this is real or some dramatically planned out fable.
“What is all this? I don’t understand!” Iida half-whispers, half-shouts as beads of nervous sweat drip down his brow.
Mina frowns, worrying for him and her other classmates. “Take a look. Don’t some of them look familiar?”
She points towards ML-E specifically, and the cute little girl happily waves back while still clutching her mother’s claw-like hand.
“Hahahahaha bzzzzz!” From above a swarm of Megawatts buzz past, laughing up a storm as if this is the funniest thing they’ve ever seen.
Then there’s the hippie-looking plant alien that looks a lot like Midoriya’s Wildvine form.
There’s also a little kid version of Stinkfly, named Buzz, hovering over the pair of Vulpimancers. And of course, there’s the muscular Tetramand alongside a female-version of Ditto.
Momo quickly spots the many similarities and speaks on them. “Are they relatives of Midoriya as well?”
Her question makes Hisashi snicker into his knuckle. “It honestly baffles me how many times anyone bought that explanation.”
Inko pulls on his arm, her nerves threatening to take the best of her. “Hisashi, what is all this? Why-why do all these people look like Izuku?”
Hisashi’s gaze softens as he’s unsure how to proceed. “There’s so much I have to explain to you. So much…”
^Wa-wop^ Rolling up is the ever faithful and loyal Chopper who pat’s Hisashi’s leg in support.
To which Inko and Mitsuki backup from the robot as they are unsure of what it is or what it wants.
Midnight turns to their potentially not-so trusted Principal for answers. “Prin-...Nezu. What is all this? What is this place? And who are all these…people?”
The little principal lowers his gaze as he considers how to best explain this. “So, many questions with so many answers, but with such a short amount of time… We should approach this in a delicate manner… I shall start from the beginning.” He pauses, closing his eyes as he thinks long and hard about what to say. “In the beginning there was no life. The planets were forming… BOOM!!! The planet shivered with earthquakes! Mountains forming! Oceans boiling! AND THEN-all is quiet. A little pool of water forms, in that pool 2 tiny amoeba, the start of life~.”
“THAT’S TOO FAR BACK!!!” Everyone from the teachers to the students and even the aliens cry out in anguish.
All the while One-One watches on gleefully as his Glad side chimes in. ^Hehehe! Our Magister sure love his history. It’s very important.^ His Sad side, also known as Sad-One, scoffs at Glad-One’s comment. ^Those that fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it…^
After everyone has settled down, Nezu takes a moment to collect himself before going into proper detail this time. “When you look to the stars, what is it you think about? Our existence? Our time? Infinity? Or if we’re truly alone in the universe? The answer is we are not alone. We never were.”
There’s an array of reactions from the humans ranging from disbelief to suspicion, and complete astonishment as their little minds are blown away.
“Look around.” Hisashi commands. “All of these beings. All these races. These people, they’re not of this world. Literally.” He chuckles at his little joke, but no one is laughing.
Midnight backs away, unable to process this. “Are you saying what I think you’re saying?”
Thirteen bows their head as they try to navigate the situation as delicately as they can. “Everyone, please understand that we’re not kidding when we say that everyone you see here…is an alien.”
“An alien?” Present Mic repeats with a raised eyebrow and a not-so-convinced frown. “Like E.T. go home? Or like Independence Day aliens?”
Thirteen pauses, sweat dropping as they’re not really sure what kind of answer he’s looking for. “Um, yes to the first and for the most part, no, to the second.”
The more and more they say and the more they observe these supposed aliens the more and more true it slowly becomes.
And even though Shoto of all people has been pleading for answers, not even he can process this level of absurdity. “You must all be insane…”
Even the usually joyful Kirishima is at a loss. “Yeah, man, you’re crazy!”
“No way any of that is true!” Snipe snaps. “Come on, they’re just normal people with Mutant Quirks!”
Mr. Baumann shakes his head in disappointment in response to their reactions. “You would think so.”
With a scowl, Gran Torino addresses the Class 1-A homeroom teacher directly. “Eraserhead.”
Aizawa somehow manages to snap his gaze away from the creeping E.T.s and towards the veteran instead.
“Why not test out your Quirk on these fine folks. I want you all to see what happens.”
Realizing where he’s going with this, Aizawa suddenly grows very wary. “Are you sure?”
But a firm response from Nezu holds him to it. “Yes.”
Aizawa turns his eyes back towards the aliens, to which they understand what they must do as they each demonstrate their natural abilities from lifting nearby structures to sparking around like lightning, or in ML-E’s case zipping around until she’s nothing but a little blue and pink blurr.
They all hold their breaths as Aizawa summons his courage before closing his eyes and then opening them to reveal a set of glowing red eyes.
The teachers, students and parents expect at least half the group to reel back as their Quirks disappear… But it never happens. The Tetramand still has the heavy metal desk held over his head, the Megawatts are still buzzing around, and ML-E is running around so fast and uncontrollably that she leaps up and snatches away Aizawa’s goggles right off his neck. His Erasure unable to do anything about it.
Aizawa spins around, looking for goggles, that is until ML-E zips to a stop at his feet.
“Hehehe! Here you go.” She holds out the goggles to him.
“T-thank you.” He gently reaches for them, moving slowly as if she might bite.
In a blink he snatches them up and away, but nothing happens. Instead she giggles and laughs at his ridiculous expression. “Hehehe! You’re funny, Mr. Hoboman!”
Every single person is left stunned at the display, well, all except Present Mic who suddenly fell into a fit of snickering at ML-E’s innocent comment.
But overall, no one knows how to take in this revelation as they are seriously questioning everything they know and understand.
But for Bakugou, who’s already had time to think on this, only has one question. “What Shigaraki was saying was true then…?”
“Yes.” Ochaco confirms. “Aliens are real. But they're not the monsters you think!” She quickly defends,
“They’ve traveled the cosmos to be here.” clarifies Thirteen. “Each for their own reasons: some came for safety.” Like Eirene Ashido. “Others a new chance at life.” Such as the Kineceleran family. “Or for opportunities… Just like us.”
This is all so confusing, especially for those not even in the hero business like Mitsuki. “Are-are you actually serious? None of you are joking are you?!”
“They’re not.” Tsukauchi confirms with a scared but stony expression. “Not one of them is lying. Otherwise, my Quirk, Lie Detector, would have sensed it.”
They all let out a sharp gasp, as the implications really sink in.
Gran Torino sighs. “Of course, we’re not lying. The only reason we couldn’t tell any of you was because we all swore an oath of secrecy.”
“Oc-chaco…?” Momo is shaking, looking to her friend for comfort and for one last chance that this is a lie.
But a solemn nod back from Ochaco causes the teens to shiver.
Inko grips Hisashi’s arm tighter as her entire being begins to shake and quiver. “H-Hisashi…?”
At this point, Midnight is so over the confusion and mixed feelings that she feels like she’s gonna have an aneurysm at any second now. “Let’s pretend that we do believe you. How does this explain anything? Then what does that make all of you?”
Thirteen picks up on her questions and answers light heartedly. “If you are asking if we are human or in my case a creature of Earth,” Such as in Nezu’s case. “then yes we are!”
Mina grimaces at that though. “Well most of us anyway.”
It takes a second but soon Momo, Kirishima, Iida, and even Shoto are left stunned with their eyes widening in cold realization as their heads swivel between looking at Mina and then to her mother and back.
However, Nezu takes this moment to address the confused audience directly, speaking with purpose and a flourish as he dramatically reintroduces to those that only know him as principal. “Welcome everyone! I am Magister Nezu! And those here are my agents and recruits. We are part of an organization that holds up intergalactic laws and peace. We protect the innocent and ensure security across countless worlds and systems.”
Shoto’s face scrunches up with utter . “So, like you’re all some kind of-...Space Cops?”
“Yes!” Thirteen happily agrees. “Or rather, Space Heroes rather.”
“Space Heroes?” Kirishima repeats as he suddenly becomes excited about the prospect. “Wait, do you guys have spaceships?! And laser guns? And all kinds of other cool stuff?!”
“Yup!” Magister Nezu laughs. “I’d be happy to show you our collection if you’d like!”
As everyone bring up their own round of questions and accusations, Inko is quiet. Too quiet as she holds onto her husband’s arm for dear life as she takes in everything she’s just learned and places the pieces together.
“Is-is that where you’ve been?” She asks. “All this time…you weren’t even on the same planet as us?”
Here it comes, the moment he finally gets to tell her the painful truth. “Yes.” he closes his eyes, unwilling to see her broken expression. “I am one of these agents. And for the last decade, high command has tasked me with missions all across the galaxies. All in the name of the greater good…”
Magister Nezu frowns worriedly and hurries to inject and mediate the impact. “Mrs. Midoriya, your husband is the best Plumber we have, maybe even the best recruit to come out of U.A.’s doors. And one of the best and most renown agents in our entire organization. We are very proud of him, him and your son.”
Inko blinks back her tears in response to the resounding words of praise as she tries to make sense of it all.
“Hang on.” Shoto’s expression hardens as he latches onto one of Nezu’s choice o words. “What did you call him? A…Plumber?” he gives a look, suggesting that he’s assuming that he just heard him wrong.
But even Present Mic heard it. “A Plumber? What, you fix alien faucets and pipes?”
Ochaco blushes, as she gets all sheepish and embarrassed. “That’s the name of the organization. We’re the…Plumbers.”
She is met with the same deadpan expressions from everyone, much to her own dismay.
“I didn’t come up with the name, alright?!”
“Yeah!” chimes in Mina with an angry shout. “If we did, I would have gone with Alien Force! Or Starfleet! Or even Space Rangers!”
That's all interesting but Momo is hung up on the hints Mina was dripping to her heritage. “Mina… Are you…?” She nervously gestures between Mina and her alien mother.
Emote senses the uncertainty coming from Momo as Mina calm down and tries to tell her straight. “Yes, I am an alien.”
Momo gasps, surprised as are the others.
Although Midnight has a thoughtful look. “So, the name Alien Queen was accurate.” She’s of course referring to the time Class A had to decide on hero names.
“Well, half-alien anyway.” Mina corrects before flashing a smile and posing cutely. “I’m half-Emotlyst!”
“Emotlyst?” Kirishima repeats.
“Yes~.” Eirene interjects with a hum. “We are beings of pure emotion~. We can sense and manipulate others emotions at will~.”
The teachers understandably flinch, concerned that perhaps they are being manipulated emotionally.
“But fret not, you are of your own free will~.” She assures.
“It’s how I sometimes sense things coming.” Mina points to her antennas for emphasize. “It’s also how I got Fun Gus to come to us at the camp.”
Aizawa’s interest is snapped up as he recalls how she threw herself at the villain only for the head of the fungus flood to crash onto the scene a few moments later. “You baited him to us by manipulating his emotions through your…alien powers.”
“It’s called Emote, actually. Not a Quirk but I like to think of it as a second one.”
“Almost like, Todoroki.” Iida comments while giving Shoto some skeptical side-eye.
Which is a look Shoto really doesn’t appreciate. “I’m not an alien, if that’s what you’re thinking.”
Iida freaks, getting all defensive while his arms karate chop the air like a haywire robot. “Of course not! But you cannot possibly fail to see why we would have such doubts!”
Kirishima sweat drops, watching as Iida moves around inhumanly. “Iida…are you sure you’re not an alien? Or a robot for that matter?”
^Wa-Wop!^ Chopper beeps, possibly offended by the comment.
“Fascinating.” Power Loader leans over him, observing him closely before receiving a slap to the hand by the annoyed Chopper.
^Wa-oo!^
Seeing as they’re getting off track, Thirteen tries to pull the conversation back. “Please understand everybody. But these aliens mean us no harm at all. They simply wish to live their lives in peace.”
Hisashi nods before adding in the fact that they’re essentially cops. “And if they did they’d have to deal with us.”
“Then why come to Earth?” asks Recovery Girl very poignantly.
Gran Torino steps forward and offering up an answer. “Earth is what most would consider a backwater planet. Out in the boonies as it were. Makes it an ideal place to get away from the harsh realities and turmoil going on all across the known galaxies.”
Mr. Baumann nods along before adding to Gran Torino’s explanation. “Some of them are refugees. Others are looking for second chances. But all of them are honest and willing to abide by our laws.”
That gives the humans things to consider and process. Albeit slowly as they really do try to make sense of this all. But it’s still crazy. Aliens? Real aliens? Are here and living amongst them. It’s almost too much. And yet they’re here. They exist…
However, this brings in so many other concerns especially for the good and incredible patient detective. “That's all well and good.” Tsukauchi begins, trying his best to remain as calm as possible and not…instigate anything. “But how does this relate to Midoriya’s or All Might’s kidnapping?”
And like that it feels like everyone takes a punch to the gut, especially Inko who threatens to spill over in tears.
The only one not to reel back is Magister Nezu who is now prompted to go into detail. “The reason we brought you all here is because this has everything to do with Young Midoriya’s and All Might’s abductions.”
All eyes are on him, ones of fear and regret from both teachers and students alike.
“Throughout our own investigations we have come to the conclusion that the League of Villains have themselves a new alley. One that is dangerous beyond measure and as power hungry as All For One. Although we do not know the full extent of their…partnership. We now know that the League is well aware of aliens and were hired by this new alley to capture Young Midoriya.”
Now that’s a revelation, finding out that your polar opposites have been aware and working with such beings is certainly a thought that’ll make anyone’s blood run cold.
Yet it’s Iida who dares ask the burning question. “Who is this…p-partner?”
“The same one that turned the raid on Kamino Ward upside down.” Magister Nezu answers with a tone of grim and warning. “The same one that killed a number of heroes with little challenge. And took All Might without a fight. An alien overlord, an emperor, known for his cruel and conniving ways, the Conqueror of Worlds, Vilgax.”
A shiver runs down their spines as their imaginations run wild with how menacing this titan could be.
But Hisashi only grows angry at the name, as if it’s a trigger for all his pent-up emotions. “He has them both. He’s got All Might. He has my son.” He shares a look with his wife one of guilt and shame for his own failures. “He has him, Inko. And it’s all my fault…”
A quivering Inko holds him tighter, afraid that he might fall under the guilt.
“But why?” Recovery Girl asks, wondering about what should be obvious. “Why target Midoriya? He’s just a child.”
“A child with a power like anyone thought he did.” The Magister responds ominously. “All of you up until this point have been living with the falsehood that Young Midoriya’s Quirk is a powerful one dubbed as One Man Army.” He shakes his head at the lie. “However, that was merely the cover up explanation that Thirteen and I fabricated over a year ago now.”
People take stumble, from Aizawa to even his students as they’re left stunned and speechless. “What…?”
But Bakugou had already knew that… “Deku…is Quirkless.” He whispers just barely loud enough for them all to hear. “He always was and always has been…Quirkless.”
Gran Torino frowns, eyeing the boy up and down and examining critically. “So, you are aware.”
“Aware of what?” asks Mitsuki who is just lost and seriously wondering what all this craziness is. “What are you aware of, Katsuki?”
“One Man Army isn’t real.” He explains before repairing his last statement. “He’s Quirkless. He always was and always has been…Quirkless.”
“Yes.” Thirteen affirms. “It was spring of last year. Vilgax was pursuing an escaping space cruiser through our system. That space cruiser was carrying precious cargo, one that they jettisoned from their ship and towards Earth for safe keeping. It washed onto shore, onto a local beach where a boy found an alien watch that stuck itself upon his wrist.”
Shoto repeats the word in his head: Quirkless, Quirkless, Quirkless, as he thinks back to all the hints and pieces of knowledge he’s collected on Midoriya’s supposed Quirk up till now. That is until the pieces all click together to creature the perfect picture. “The Omnitrix! His support item! Are you telling me that that device is what actually allows Midoriya to transform?!”
Ochaco gives a humorous, albeit small, smile thinking that it’s appropriate that Todoroki be the one to piece the conspiracy together. “It is.”
“Then that means-.”
“Yes.” Gran Torino reaffirms. “Izuku can transform into any alien and grant any superpower. Making him no ordinary kid.”
“The Omnitrix,” Magister Nezu breathes out the word like it shouldn’t be taken likely, and it really should not. “is the most powerful weapon in all of existence. It can grant its wearing the ability to become any alien race they wish with the capability to wield all their abilities and powers. That is why Vilgax targeted…has been targeting Young Midoriya all this time. He has sent agent after agent after him to no avail. Or at least until now…”
Midnight frowns, unable to pull this all together without so many other questions. “Hang on, something’s not adding up. If Midoriya really is Quirkless and that…watch thing really the source of all our problems. Then why haven’t you confiscated it or taken it off of him already? Seems unsafe and irresponsible not to. I mean if it’s some great weapon then why have a kid be in charge of it?”
^We’re afraid it’s not that simple.^ Answers Glad-One which makes the heroes jump as they were not expecting the bowling ball to answer. ^The Omnitrix is bio-genetically linked to Mr. Deku. It’s bonded to his DNA itself, fusing them together.^
^In other words,^ continues Sad-One, One-One’s other half. ^Taking the watch would be like tearing off the kid's arm… So, you’re probably right that we should have least given it a try.^
“One-One is correct. Well mostly.” says Thirteen.” We simply don’t have the means to remove Level 20 technology like that. Not to mention we’ve been kinda having a shortage of new Plumber recruits and such.”
Aizawa looks around once again, noting that no one else, not even the aliens, look like they have any sway or authority here. “Speaking of which, you said your part of this giant space organization. But this place is looking kinda empty. Where are the rest of your um…P-Plumbers?”
“I’m afraid this is all of us.” Thirteen is sad to say. “Or at least here at the Japan branch. But none of the other branches are going to help us, not after our recent orders…”
“Orders?”
Inko gasps as she recalls the horrible revelation back at their home. “H-Hisashi! Is-is that w-what you were sp=speaking about earlier?!”
“Y-yes…” He admits defeatedly. “The Plumber Magistratus-er, our bosses, have “decreed” that attempting a rescue for Izuku and All Might is…ill advised. And that we are restricted from any actions or attempts to save them…. They’re afraid it’ll spark intergalactic war and turmoil between the Plumbers and Vilgax’s forces. And so they’ve banned us from pursuing the case further…”
Now the initial shock wears away as several of the teachers and students become openly angry and suspicious. It’s sad to know that even higher beings can succumb to selfish politics and walls of procedure too.
“We’re on our own.” Hisashi continues with no spirit left in his heart. “We don’t have the higher ups’ support. No back up. Limited resources. And we’re up against the biggest threat in the galaxy. The reason we called you all here and told you all of this is because, well, we’re desperate. If Vilgax successfully takes the Omnitrix for himself I fear that he will turn his sights onto Earth itself. And thus bringing an end to our society and way of life. That goes for us Earthlings and those not of this world. We need your assistance. We need all the support and allies we can in order to rescue those we’ve lost. Please, will you all help?”
Much to Hisashi and Inko’s dismay, no one jumps on the opportunity to help. They’re all too hesitant and still taken back by everything. Honestly it feels like the Plumber is asking them to dive down into the trenches of the ocean with him without suits or any knowledge of what monster’s they’ll cross to get there. As such they all remain silent, unable to meet the pleading parents’ gazes…
Ochaco’s heart clenches, she frantically wonders what to do or what she can say to convince them. That is until she remembers her father’s words, to use her gravity to pulley hem together. To help them rise out of this tragedy. “I know this is weird.” She speaks, startling some of them as she quietly grabs their notice. “I know this isn’t normal or easy to swallow. It feels like everything you know is in question and maybe none of your actions have mattered. You probably feel betrayed that none of us,” She gestures to herself and then to the rest of those that were in the know already. “trusted you all sooner. That your feelings don’t matter. But none of that is true… It’s because we have such faith in you all that we’re telling you this now.”
Now they are listening, every last one of them from the grateful Inko to even the somber and wary aliens.
“There’s a lot more we have to explain, and we will. But right now…Deku and All Might need us. I know you all feel like we’ve failed. At the camp. At Kamino Ward. That we could have done more or done something different, just one thing and they’d be here with us. I know because…I feel the same way.” And she doubts she’ll ever feel differently about it. But wallowing in defeat is not gonna bring her friend back. They need to step up and take action. “I don’t blame you if some of you are angry or upset that…I instigated this. I don’t blame you if you can’t accept it either. But just know that we didn’t tell you because we don’t trust or care about you but it’s because we do care that we didn’t.”
No one can look away. They’re all gravitated towards her words and conviction like hooks barbed to their very spirits.
“We all want to do the right thing. Whether we’re human, alien, animal, or even a droid.” Her voice rises as she addresses each type of individual within the grand structure of the Plumber Base. “We all want each other to live with smiles on our faces. So, please, will you help us get our friends back?” And with that she bows, bows as low as she can, even kneeling to the ground with her head pressed to the floor.
A gesture that catches many of the humans off guard.
They all stutter with their response, unable to speak or move.
That is until Aizawa feels a tug at his pant leg. His head snapping down he spots little ML-E peering up at him with big-ole pleading eyes. “Will you help us, Mr. Heroman? D-Deku is my friend. I don’t want him to get hurt.”
The question makes Aizawa’s breath catch as the other aliens begin to plead for the heroes to help such as Eirene Ashido. “We have made this planet our home~. We’d hate for any harm to come to it~.”
“Please, help.” pleads a green skinned Twi’lek who speaks with a light French accent. “If Vilgax got one of us then he’ll come for all of us.”
“We live in Japan, too!” calls out one of the Unopans. “We love our home here, we don’t want to leave!”
“Gre’greb gre’greb…”
“You’re our heroes, too!” cries one of the terrified aliens.
“Yeah!” cries a Namekian. “We don’t care that you’re human or anything! The only reason any of us can smile is because of all of you!”
“puqlI' QumwI'lIj. bImatlhqu' 'e' DatuQnISbe'.”
“All Might was our Symbol of Peace too!” exclaims the little pink bunny alien. “Without him…we’re sc-scared.” He sniffs, his tiny pink body shivering in freight as he does.
Mr. Baumann lowers his head in trepidation of the future. “Without him, there won’t be anybody left that can deter villains like Vilgax.”
Together the alien residences of Japan follow Ochaco’s lead and lower themselves to their knees, or their equivalent of leg joints, and bow before not only the champions of Earth but the heroes they too love and depend on. “Please, heroes! Will you save us?!”
To say the scene doesn’t feel like a bizarre dream would be denying the very reality of this situation. These aliens…these people are scared. They’re worried about their friend. About their hero. About their family, friends, and neighbors. They truly wish to live lives of peace and now there's a looming storm cloud threatening to wash that all away from them…
Bakugou can’t take it, as his consideration turns to an indignant scowl. “Will you all shut up already?!” He barks, startling them all, that is until he continues. “Of course I’ll fucking help. After all…“it’s what Deku would have done.”
Ochaco raises her head, locking eyes with Bakugou’s ambers and finding not hate or spite but genuine trust and support. “Bakugou…”
“Don’t get me wrong.” He continues, putting on the facade of a tough guy. “I hate the fact you all knew about this and kept it to yourselves. But I get it. If the average fucker knew about aliens they wouldn’t be as levelheaded about it as I am.” Upon seeing Ochaco’s grateful smile he blushes and snaps his head away quickly out of embarrassment. “That said, don't get all sentimental about it. I have a more selfish reason for going. And that's I owe Deku one.” He pauses thinking back to way back when this mess all probability started… “He saved my ass from that Sludge Villain last year. And I’m willing to bet it was the same day he found the stupid watch. Fucking hell, two minutes into having an alien gismo strapped to himself and he can’t stop himself from being the hero.” He doubts the nerd was even all that scared of the device once he knew what he could do with it… And that’s being a hero. “If I rescue Deku, that’ll make us even. And I'll be able to get payback on the League for all the shit they put us through.” He smirks as he makes Ochaco and the others a promise. “When I’m through I’ll make sure that every alien invader thinks twice about messing with my goddamn planet.”
“Bakugou…” Ochaco’s nearly in grateful tears.
“Today has been a whiplash…” Iida comments quietly almost like he’s still unsure about all this. “I never expected any of this. But meeting you all,” He gestures towards the now rising aliens. “I understand why Midoriya would risk everything. You are people just like anyone else.” He closes his eyes in thought. “I should be upset. I should be scared and alarmed. And I am. However, I shouldn’t act with malice. Midoriya taught me that when he saved me from myself at Hosu… I owe it to him. It’s my turn to make sure he doesn’t get hurt! And that he comes home safely!”
“Iida…”
“He’s still the same Midoriya right?” Kirishima asks even though he already knows the answer. “I mean if he was actually dangerous then why is he like the nicest guy we know?” He smiles just thinking about all the times Midoriya would help them with their homework or give tips on how to best utilize their Quirks in training. “He’s so manly! I mean, think about it guys! If Midoriya has been using an alien device all this time doesn't that mean he’s U.A’s first Quirkless student?! I don’t know about you all but that’s manly as hell! Or Alienly? Yeah! He’s alienly!”
Mina shutters, cringing at the new phrase. She really hopes it won’t be a thing.
“And it wouldn’t be alienly of me to leave him hanging! Just because he’s not what we thought doesn’t change who he is! He’s still the same Midoriya!”
‘The same, Midoriya.’ Momo echoes the phrase in her head as she reaches into her pocket where she caresses her shrunken Zircon Blade. The blade that was made possible due to Midoriya’s kind support. “On the surface one wouldn’t think much of him. He’s a normal boy with amazing gifts, and yet humble beyond belief… He’s always been there for us. Done what he can to help. He’s an inspiration to our entire class. We’ve all seen it during the U.S.J., the Sports Festival, I-Island, and during our trainings.” She needs to be more like him. But more importantly she needs to make sure that he’ll be back. Back in class with them and the rest of their friends. “I will do all that I can in the hopes that we can rescue them!”
“Momo…”
Mina is beaming, and nearly has to stop herself from pouncing on Momo and giving her a big whole hug. “Midoriya taught me that I need to focus on what I do know and what I can do.”
She deflates at his words as she recalls his lecture again. “He told me, as his little Grey Matter form, Which yes is also an alien… he said I need to take in a situation and rather than trying to figure it all out; how about focusing on one part…? I tried that and it got him caught… I wanted to help, and I made things worse. But…I want to make up for it. He said it himself; it takes a team of people to solve big problems. So, use your team. Be useful to your team. You don’t need to outright solve the problem, outright. Instead, you help each other to reach a solution. And when one issue is dealt with you move onto the next and the next and eventually you will have solved the problem.” She inhales as if letting his tutoring sink in. “If you are all willing then I know we can solve this and get both him and All Might back!”
“Mina…” Ochaco sighs gratefully before holding her breath as she turns to the last member.
Shoto has been quiet, listening to all their points while contemplating his own. In the end he has only one conclusion. “All this time I’ve wondered and had so many questions about him. About how he does what he does. Why does he meddle? About his Omnitrix. And now that I have the answers all I can think is how was he able to carry on with it all? How can he do what he does with such a target on his wrist?” It’s both terrifying and amazing to think about as he recalls all the times Izuku has been targeted. And thinking back now he can only assume that the likes of Tetrax and even Ragnarok must have been aliens too. Not only that but he still went out of his way to help others…like him. “Midoriya…has done more for me than he’ll ever know. He meddles when he doesn’t have to. It’s only fitting that I do the same.” He looks right into Ochaco’s soul as he makes his declaration. “I am with you, Uraraka.”
“Todoroki…” Ochaco cries, gears spilling out as she holds her hands to her face while all the aliens smile gratefully for the young heroes’ determination.
Watching from the sidelines, Midnight has never been so moved. Watching these kids is a true pleasure and being their teacher has never been more of an honor. “You kids…”
As she awes at their unity, their homeroom teacher makes a very ominous step forward. His presence snapping out of their moment and into a sense of dread that cares them to their cores.
“I am against this.” He states bluntly and without remorse. “You are all already on thin ice as it is. You’ve already disobeyed us. Acted rashly and put yourselves in danger needlessly. And here you are ready to do it all again!”
They all wince and reel back from his scolding. Even going as far to shut their eyes tight as they expect to be chewed out even more.
“Which is why, this time, I’ll be right there to make sure you all stay in one piece.”
Their eyes pop open in shock, but sure enough Aizawa wasn’t kidding in the slightest.
“Midoriya is my student. My responsibility. My problem child. If I had no clue about the true nature of his Quirk-er-powers then it is on me for not being diligent enough to figure it out on my own.” He always suspected something, but he never leapt on his gut feelings. That was his mistake, one that he will not repeat. “His abduction is just as much my fault as it is anyone else's. You all feel the same and knowing you all, I’ll be unable to convince you all not to get involved. But I’ll be damned if I let you run off without my supervision again.”
The students stare up at him like they’re seeing him in an all-new light.
“Mr. Aizawa…”
“Sir…”
“Th-thank you.”
His gaze softens as he cracks a rare but genuine smile. “We’ll get him back. We’ll get both of them back. And that's the truth.”
His students smile back, smiles that he had worried they had lost.
Suddenly a leather sleeved arm sling itself around his shoulders and nearly topples him down, but it’s just Present Mic who’s grinning from ear to ear with an ecstatic smile. “Well there you have it! Can’t be making Eraserhead a liar now can we?”
Midnight chuckles. “Nope. Wouldn’t want that.”
“Haha! You know once you’re over the initial shock of it all it’s actually pretty amazing to think that there’s more life out there!” Present Mic beams as he approaches the crowd of strange and colorful beings. “Hahaha! Talk about first contact! Say do you guys even listen tot he radio waves we’re sending up there?”
One of the aliens, the female Ditto, lights up. “Oh absolutely! We absolutely love TV and radio! I especially love your talk show, you’re so funny and your music choice is out of this world!”
“HA! You guys hear that?! My radio is out of this world! Literally!”
As the other teachers smile on, chuckling silently as their co-worker’s reaction. One of the aliens, the hulking red Tetramand, approaches Midnight nervously looking more like a excitable fan than a bodybuilder. “E-excuse me Ms. Midnight. I-I know it’s not an ideal time, but CAN YOU SIGN MY BOOK!?!” He holds out a tiny purple book titled “Little Purple Women by Nemuri Kayam.”
Midnight instantly recognizes the book as her own, a little novel she wrote in inspiration of the book called Little Women by Louisa May Alcott. “Oh, my, why of course!”
“Thank you!”
“Hehehe, my you’re so sweet~.”
Other aliens summon the courage to approach their favorite heroes too. Some happen to have merchandise such as T-shirts and clothing that are based on their favorite Earth heroes.
And the teachers of U.A. definitely fall into ease as the image of the aliens acting and being regular people cements just how innocent they are.
Aizawa, who most of the time hates fan interaction such as this, can’t help but smile. As a genuinely nice human moment occurs between them and these kind visitors. “Aliens or not, if we gave up now we’d be walking away from everything we stand for.”
The other teachers pause and nod in understanding as they all come to a unified resolution.
“You read my mind.” Snipe comments, standing forward to accept the challenge ahead.
Vlad King crosses his arms in a determined huff.
As Present Mic grins on with sheer excitement.
Thirteen can’t take it, their colleagues, their seniors, people they’ve looked up to for so long have opened themselves up to their plea. They’ve never been so touched. “You guys…”
“Thirteen.” Aizawa stands before them, placing a firm hand onto their shoulder to help hold them steady. “You’ve been guiding these kids all this time, haven’t you?”
“Y-yes, sir…” The sniff.
“You’ve done a fine job keeping them safe. Let us help you from here on out. Okay?”
Thirteen nods, grateful for the support.
But they are from the only ones in tears. “Th-thank you. Thank you! Thank you!!” Inko wraps as she finally breaks and cries tears of pure joy and gratitude. Thank you! Thank you!! Thank you!! Thank you for doing this for my boy!”
Hisashi and Mitsuki hold onto her tight as they too hold back tears of joy.
As they help her to her feet, Ashido’s own mother wishes to greet the fellow mother herself. “Mrs. Midoriya~. Please, do not shed tears~. Your child is caring and selfless, I’m sure he would not want you to cry~. Instead remains strong for his sake~. And be ready to embrace him when he returns home~.”
Inko stares up at the beautiful woman and is met with her kind caring smile. So with a sniffle she allows her family to help her up just as her neighbor comes over to address her.
“She’s right.” says Mr. Baumann. “That boy of yours is stubborn. And too smart for his own good. I wouldn’t worry about him too much. I bet right now he’s making a mess of things up there and giving the mad titan hell for what he’s done.” He chuckles at the image and prays for it to be true.
“Inko…” Hisashi gently caresses her chin, wiping away her tears as he turns her face to look at his. “Nothing I say will be enough but…I’m sorry for everything. For the lies. For being away. For everything. I-I always thought I was doing the right thing. That I was protecting our home. Protecting you and Izuku. But it was wrong of me. I should have never lied to you or make our son lie to you as well. It’s on me. This is on me. And I will understand if you can’t forgive me…or if you want to leave me.”
“Hisashi…” She looks away, at first unsure of what to say, that is until she leads with her heart. “It’s not gonna be easy. I-I’m not sure I-I can forgive you, at least not right now. And I can’t help but feel betrayed. I can't help but feel like you wouldn't trust me. And it hurts… But I don't understand. I understand why you did it. And now that I know the truth we can move past this together… I now understand what you have to do. And right now, what you are going to do is bring our son home to me. You will bring him home, no matter what. No matter what gets in your way. AND!” She stops and looks to the children, Izuku’s dear friends. “You’ll make sure they do too. Do you understand that?”
He doesn’t stop the tears from rolling as he responds with a heartfelt. “Yes, ma’am.”
Unfortunately, leave it to Aizawa to end the happy moment by approaching their dear Magister Nezu with a serious concern. “We may have agreed to help, but I’m not sure how useful we’ll be. We’re all in way over our heads here.”
Recovery Girl agrees. “He’s right, Nezu. Not to mention this may not be enough of us here to really prove efficient.”
Tsukauchi sighs, taking a deep breath as he’s still processing all this. “Perhaps…we should call in more heroes? Like endeavor?”
But Magister Nezu is quick to put those thoughts to rest. “That won’t be necessary.” He activates a nearby monitor under One-One’s guidance and has the little bot pull out a list of familiar faces. “The Plumbers may not be at our side; however, I know a great many that will happily come to our aid.”
On the monitor displays a number of images, images of those that Deku and his friends have already partnered with.
Ochaco eyes the list wishfully and with a beaming smile. “Have no fear, Deku and All Might. We’ll be there.”
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It’s cold. And dark. And yet it feels like he’s floating. Not in air but in a liquid. Not water, however, it's far too thick making his limbs feel heavy yet weightless. Air is pumped to his lungs while it feels like his hair is swaying slowly on his head like a bed of seagrass. But as he begins to stir and try to identify his own situation, exhaustion washes over him once again returning him to the vast darkness of unconsciousness.
A massive claw presses against the glass cylinder. The being glaring into the massive vat of liquid with piercing red eyes. The titan pulls back but never removes his gaze from the eerie green glow emanating from within the healing vat. “Welcome, Izuku Midoriya. Welcome to the end.”
Notes:
And like that we will be returning to everyone’s favorite green haired boy. What did you guys think of this chapter? Was it worth the long wait? What are your thoughts? Should I have spent even more time on it? Let me know. And I want to thank you all for your patience and taking the time to read this story of mine. It really means a lot to me that you do.
*Did you catch all the cameos and easter eggs? We’re back to it since now aliens are officially revealed. And I got a lot more next time too. Literally can’t wait.
*I will be trying to do some Omakes again. I have some fun ideas in the works.
*As for the next update. Not sure when it’s gonna be. It will probably take another month because again I really want to get this Abduction Arc right. But I will try to do better to keep you all updated.
*That being said, October is also next month. Which means Halloween is too. Which also means it’ll be time for our annual Halloween OVA Special. I will be holding tradition and writing up another one for this year. I have one idea but I’m not sold on it yet so if there any ideas you guys have then feel free to share. Thank you.
*Also I want to apologize if I never respond to your PMs. Been so busy with life and trying to work on the chapter itself I just lost time to do so. So please forgive me and don’t take it personally if I don't respond immediately.
Chapter 85: Abduction
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
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It’s hazy. Everything is dark and hazy. His mind a fog, his body heavy, as nothing but darkness surrounds him.
His eyes, they won’t open. Nothing but floating darkness greets him. But then a crack in the void, and light slowly fades in but it’s still a blur. It’s hazy but now it's light. But with slow blinks he is unable to clear his vision. A warm heavy liquid surrounds him, making it impossible to move his limbs, in fact he can’t even feel the ground.
Dark shapes of red and black come in and out of view through the liquid before his consciousness fades away and he falls back into that eerie darkness.
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His body suddenly jolts with a lurch as his body is ripped up and out of the heavy liquid. His body slumping with exhaustion and fatigue as figures surround his form just before everything fades out again…
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His feet are being dragged across a cold metal floor. His entire body is cold and for a moment he swears he can see his own breath, albeit weak and tired. He doesn’t resist the pull as he is dragged away against his will. And his consciousness falls away to a hazy darkness once again…
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…
“Ugh…” With a groan Toshinori Yagi slowly pushes himself off the cold metal floor. His head is pounding and he’s beyond exhausted and yet he feels…refreshed? And his body isn’t aching or at least not as much as it usually does. Which just adds to the many questions he already has.
Such as where is he?
He appears to be…in some sort of cell? It’s large, large enough to hold a rhino, although it’d be very cramp for said beast. The walls are thick, far thicker than what’s reasonable and made of some kind of metal and cement combination that Toshinori has never seen, it’s dark in color with a rough texture. And the door, well the door is also like nothing he’s ever seen. It’s a force field of some kind, red and transparent but clearly visible under a dangerous red glow. This confirms it, he has been utterly imprisoned.
He has even been stripped of his hero costume and gear. But it appears his captors have a sense of fashion as he finds himself in a sort of zero-suit that’s red in color with white wire-like lines outlining the frame and meeting at the test in a sort of A like design.
He tries to get his bearing, recalling what happened such as the unknown villain’s sudden appearance, his strength, and his declaration. “Young Midoriya, must be nearby…”
He approaches the laser shield door, leaning in close but not so close that he risks burning his own face off.
It appears he was right about this being a cell because he’s found himself in a prison of sorts. The prison is narrow yet large, like it was made with the purpose of corralling giants into their cells. Speaking of which, the prison is lined with three rows of cells that are all stacked over the other, with cell doors of all sizes which all lead towards a central command tower that sits above the prison, overlooking all the cells and their inhabitants.
Speaking of which, Toshinori can take some comfort but also some fright as he finds that he is far from the only prisoner held here against his will.
Peering through the laser shield, he examines the first seven cells that are installed across from his own.
The first cell contains a sentient black ooze that splatters against the forcefield repeatedly while letting out a strange angry shriek.
In the next cell over, is a creature just as…alien. A large, almost dog-sized, purple star fish with a beady red eye clings to its cell wall as it slowly but desperately claws for a way out.
All the while, its neighbor, a predatory looking mutant with dreadlocks and mandibles is howling upwards with utmost rage towards the cell above his own. Where another mutant creature of an humanoid-like stature with a skeletal physique, black skin, and a large ovular head that arcs backwards. Its jaws open revealing a second set of jaws that lash out like an eel while it hisses back at the Predator with equal hatred.
And adjacent to those cells, there’s a seemingly regular looking human, like him, inside. Well except for the number of cybernetic implants coming out from their body. They have a plaid skin color that makes the assimilated victim look even more sickly when matched with the dark cybernetic armor, bald head, ingrown face wiring, and a single glowing red cybernetic over his left eye. All the while he stares off into the prison with an indifferent and emotionless look.
But the strangeness only begins from there, and Toshinori really comes to realize just what sort of alienating place this is.
Like for real?! There’s an entire cell dedicated to holding a chicken. A Chicken?! Sure, it doesn’t look like a normal chicken with its orange triangular beak, angry red eyes, and blue wattle. But what’s really disturbing is how it actually looks like it’s trying to plot out in its head how to best kill everyone in this hellhole.
But then stranger yet is the huge dinosaur man sitting angrily. It kinda looks like one of those Triceratops-things, but on two legs and wearing a bulky and black jumpsuit.
And he doesn’t even want to think about why a giant cell was installed to hold a seemingly normal looking fighter jet. What would be the reason for that?! It’s not like it can just transform and walk away?!
“Just what kind of place is this…? And more importantly where is here?” Toshinori wonders before jumping in fright as the purple starfish pounces at the laser shield as if it were trying to get to his face. “And what are all of you?” He ponders before redirecting his attention back towards his not so accommodating accommodations.
He stares at his fist and then back at the walls in contemplation. After a moment of thinking it over and considering his options he tries to summon One For All.
It works, although it comes in slow and painful at first, as his fist expands and soon so does the rest of his body.
With a frown All Might turns towards the laser shield, reels back his fist, and launches it at the red doorway.
SMAAAAAASH!!! His fist crashes into the laser shield, causing it to ripple and shake but it fails to break. However, the slam was strong enough to send a thundering clash throughout the entire prison, startling the other prisoners.
From one of the nearby cells, a man with hawk wings on his back and a golden helmet is leaning against the cell wall with his arms folded and without a care. However, seeing the human struggle brings him a bit of joy. “So that’s Earth’s mightiest hero?” The hawkman chuckles. “You don’t look like a worthy warrior at all. I’m willing to wager that you would easily fall to my hand. Hahahaha!”
There’s a snarl from the next cell over from a one-armed man with long messy hair that certainly hasn’t been groomed in decades. He’s sporting a ragged old leather jacket and has two goggle lenses embedded over his eyes.
“Let’s agree to disagree.” The animal man snarls disgustingly. “You’re no greater warrior than he is! Heck, even he could pluck your feathers, you damned turkey.” The one-armed man glares over at All Might before flashing him with his gnarly fang filled smile. “But if it were me I’d have you both stuffed and cooked for dinner.”
“Be silent!” Roars the Triceratops looking mutant from his cell which is way too cramped. “You are all pathetic worms! Nothing more to be conquered and trampled upon by the mighty Triceraton Empire!”
“Oh, shut the fuck up already!!” Shouts a grey-green insectoid humanoid that kinda looks like a walking, talking fly with orange eyes and a foul mouth to boot. “No one wants to hear that propaganda bullshit from someone whose brain is the size of a grape! Seriously, you’re just as fucking stupid as those two!”
From another cell, two aliens that looks suspiciously like Invader Zim but much much taller, have a spit take in response to being called out.
“Hey! I resent that!” shouts the red cladded mutant.
“Yeah, we don’t need to take this!” agrees his purple colored equal.
“Hey, isn’t he from Earth?” asks the red one when he finally spots All Might.
But the purple one is already bored. “Eh, who cares?”
“But isn’t that where we sent Zim?”
“Who? Hm. Oh, yeah! Zim! We hate that guy!”
“Yeah! Haha Ha Ha! We sure do!”
“Be quiet!” Orders a human shaped robot that has a giant pink brain stuffed into its gut. “Be quiet in this palace where this palace is here right now so that the ones referred to as prisoners which are prisoners in this place can proceed to think of ways to escape this place which is here.”
The insectoid humanoid flicks the brainy prisoner off. “Fuck! Your voice is so annoying! It’s worse than the gerbil’s!”
A gerbil-like mutant with a red cape begins shrieking from his cell as he has a full-on tantrum. “I am not gerbil-like! I am HAMSTER LIKE!!!”
More and more prisoners begin to join in, throwing insults, roars, and declarations of war and conquest at each other resulting in an orchestra of indecipherable noise and chaos.
Dejected and taken back by all the strange sights and unfamiliar languages, All Might deflates as steam just starts to roll off his body. The zero-suit is shrinking with him and keeping its tight form.
He hangs his head but glares at the shield, wondering how else he can make his escape and rescue Young Midoriya.
“I wouldn’t bother trying, my friend… There is no escaping this place.”
Toshinori jumps with a start. That sounded close. Too close almost like it was…coming from right next door! His head snaps from wall to wall until he spots an opening at the bottom sides of his cell walls.
He kneels down and places his head to the floor and finds a long but narrow three-inch gap in between the walls, allowing him to peer into the next cell over. And through it he can see a set of humanoid feet, both clouded in thick boot wear but undeniably human in shape albeit on the bulkier side.
“Who are you?” He asks. “And what are we doing here?”
“I’m a prisoner here, same as you.” Answer the neighbor. “And as to what we’re doing here, well in short, it’s to suffer…”
Toshinori frowns, a pessimist is not what he needs right now. He needs to focus and get out of here… ‘Hm, maybe my other neighbor will be more cooperative.’
He bends down again but this time looks to the cell to his right.
There is some movement, the sound of claws and pads scraping the floor can be heard as something paces back and forth. And then the figure stops, turns towards him and then.
“BARK! BARK! BARK!” A set of fangs suddenly try to squeeze through the gap and snaps at Toshinori who jumps back and away from the slobbery set of teeth.
“Grrrrrr!” The beastly neighbor rips its head away and seemingly struts away to the other end of its cell, leaving Toshinori alone.
“I’d leave that one alone” comments the neighbor. “It’s been here far longer than anything else in here and it has the attitude to back it up.”
Toshinori picks himself up and dusts himself off as he responds. “Well, aren’t you just full of helpful tips?”
There’s a pause before the neighbor solemnly answers. “I’m not much help to anyone these days…”
That gives Toshinori pause; he can only assume that this man may be another kindred spirit. One that wished to do good but…is now resigned to a fate he did not wish for. “How long…how long have you been here?”
“Not sure… It feels like months but…I’m vaguely sure it’s been only a few weeks.” There's a heavy sigh as the neighbor recounts his capture. “I ran my luck out, and I was finally hunted down and dragged back right here. Back to suffer for my crime…”
“And what crime did you commit?”
There’s another pause, this one longer than the last that leaves Toshinori waiting for far too long before there’s finally a soft and regret-filled response. “The crime of standing in his way.”
“Who’s way? You mean…that villain’s?”
“Villain? … Yeah, I guess you would call him that… Tell me, how much do you know?”
“Nothing. And that’s the problem…” He doesn’t know a lot right now like who is this villain, what is his motive, what is his connection to All for One, and why did he take Young Midoriya? “I don't know where I am, where we are, or what’s going on. I don’t fully understand any of this to be frank but I had to come. I need to be here because he took my student. He took him away when I wasn’t there to protect him… He has Young Midoriya.”
“He what?!” The neighbor suddenly speaks with urgency and as he moves it kinda sounds like shards of glass rubbing against each other. “Dank farrik! If he has him then that means-” The neighbor gasps and cuts himself off before he says anymore.
But Toshinori caught that and immediately jumps on it. “No! Keep talking! You know something! Tell me! Explain yourself! Just who are you?! Who is this villain?! Where is young Midoriya?! TELL ME EVERYTHING!?!”
But what Toshinori failed to realize is that the reason his cell neighbor stopped was because they have an unwanted guest listening in.
“Wow! And here I thought All For One was yanking my chain when he said you were getting weaker. But look at ya! And just when I thought you couldn’t get any lamer. Hahahaha!!”
Toshinori’s blood runs cold as it feels like the entire cell is spinning as he finally locks onto the sneering gaze of one Henzu Uuichi, A.K.A. Nue. “Y-you…! W-why are you here, Nue?”
Nue couldn’t be happier to tell him as he mockingly answers the former Number One Hero. “I’m moving up in the world. Unlike you. Hehehehe! I had to see it for myself but look at ya. So weak. So fragile. Oh, how the mighty have fallen. Hahahahaha!!”
“I get it now.” Toshinori scowls, determined not to break in front of this degenerate punk. “This is what it’s come to then. The League of Villains want to make me suffer? Or are you expecting me to reveal where All For One is? Is this just good old-fashioned revenge?”
But much to his surprise Nue bursts into laughter like he found the hero’s words just that hilarious. “HAHAHAHAHA!!!’
“W-what’s so funny?”
“You are.” Nue snarky remarks. “You really have no idea what you’re in for…Heeero.” With a whip of his tail on the door the laser door shuts off and Nue stomps inside, forcing Toshinori to jump back at the ready. “Now you’re coming with me.”
“And-and why would I do that?”
Nue makes a show to shrug it off like it’s no big deal. “I mean you don’t have to…BUT if you don’t I can’t guarantee that you’ll be seeing Deku ever again.”
Toshinori’s eyes widened with hope. And although this is clearly a dangerous situation and there’s a ton of unknown factors, he has to at least confirm that Young Midoriya is alright. That he’s alive. And if he is, then there’s still a chance to save him..
And so the Symbol of Peace resides himself to his fate.
“Atta boy.” A nasty grin stretches across Nue’s face as he waves for him to follow.
Toshinori goes quiet, keeping his gaze down as he begins to follow. But before he can step over the threshold of his cell, his neighbor calls out to him.
“All Might…”
Toshinori freezes, not recalling a point when he told the prisoner his name. But even so he has his full attention.
“All Might…you can’t let him have Omnitrix.”
Toshinori frowns in confusion. “What…?”
But the neighbor just repeats the last line, “You can’t let him get it, no matter what. E-even if…even if it means you can’t save Midoriya.”
To say he’s beyond confused is an understatement, as Toshinori stares back at the cell with utter betrayal and startling shock. But after a moment he resolves himself and makes a declaration. “I’m a hero. And I’m his teacher. It’s what I intend to do.” And with that he’s forced away by Nue and the two march off to face their destiny. Leaving the regretful prisoner alone once again…
“But you don’t understand… You have no idea what kind of world you’re stepping into.”
As Nue leads Toshinori away they each fail to notice the set of yellow eyes following their movements from above. Between the ceiling pipes and bulkheads, Kraab scuttles as quietly as he can through the prison, watching the two carefully and with purpose before turning and eyeing the neighbor's cell in consideration…
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[PLAY: “ Dr. STONE NEW WORLD - Opening Song | "Wasuregataki" by Huwie Ishizaki ” - link can be found in this chapter on the AO3 site.]
(Instrumental~~~)
The camera shows Izuku Midoriya with his head hanging down before zooming up to show Vilgax’s battleship floating over Earth's moon.
Sou kore kona itami ga~
Ochaco Uraraka gazes up to the sky as the title appears from above her.
Sujikaki no nai monogatari ni wa~
She begins to walk forward as her friends slowly fade into existence: Mina Ashido, Katsuki Bakugou, Shoto Todoroki, Momo Yaoyorozu, Tenya Iida, and Eijiro Kirishima.
Hitsuyou fukaketsu nanda~
Inko Midoriya holds a picture of her family as she cries and is comforted by Mitsuki Bakugou and Eirene Ashido.
Yoru no umi ni wa Tsuki ga isuwaru~
Unseen to them Cinder is at the door. He looks up with determination as he heads out to rescue his son.
Sugita kunou wo~
Katsuki Bakugo holds an old All Might card as an image of him and Deku as kids cheering as they hold their cards out appears behind him.
Bikasuru hima ga~
Nue looks down at a watch as an image of him and Izuku in middle school laughing appears behind him.
Aru nara ima dake utsuseyo~
The screen splits between the two, both standing back-to-back, and with determined glares they both march away in opposite directions.
Ororkamono demo shoujiki te itai~
Panels shift and fold away, creating a portal, that reveals Izuku bound in an iconic ring of metal as Toshinori Yagi stares up at it in a mix of shock-and-awe and despair.
Haato ga sawagu yo~
Vilgax the Conqueror makes himself known from atop his throne. As he peers down at his inferiors with an air of ominous superiority.
(Instrumental~~~)
Below his throne his minions have been assembled: Psyphon, Malware, Sunder, Ragnarok, SevenSeven, the Techadon, Rojo, and Nue.
Tatoe dareka wo kizutsuke tato shitemo~
Cinder unleashes a wave of flames as he mows through Vilgax's drone army with his blazing dual-edged spear! Before swiftly speeding away as the Techadon gets pulled in by Thirteen’s swirling Black Hole!
Yuzurenai hikari ga arunda~
Mina slides across the narrow hallways as Iida races by. They’re followed by a sword wielding Momo and a Hardened Kirishima. Before the screen is consumed by pillars of fire and ice with Shot’s eyes piercing back.
Mushi kaesu tsumori wa betsu ni nari keredo~
Ochaco smashes through the ice before unleashing a wave of glowing gravity in every direction causing the army of silhouetted aliens to be blasted away.
Kono seaki de kono sekai de~
Bakugou rockets past her in a blaze of a Howitzer Impact that crashes into a grinning Nue like an exploding meteor.
Wasuregataki naru niwa mada hayai~
Vilgax looms menacingly over the Rising Star and the Symbol of Peace as nine dark threads of fate swirl through and around his form.
Yume migachi na shinisokonai sa~
Toshinori looks on at the teen with a look of shame that soon transitions to that of determination. And in a wave of smoke a scowling All Might rises to meet the Mad Titan.
Zero kara hairiagare sora ga waretatte~
Vilgax’s tentacles reach for the defiant Deku as the Omnitrix begins to spark and glow with inspiring green lightning.
Ano sekai e ano sekai e~
A massive discharge of green explodes outward, overtaking everything and swallowing up everything in a brillant show of green light.
Nanjyukkai nan byakkai~
Deku gazes out towards the vastness of space from the portal window of his prison cell.
nanzenkai nomikonde~
While Uravity gazes out into the star-filled sky through the windshield of the RazorCrest.
Nanjyuunen~
Deku slowly raises his left fist towards the shrinking window.
nanbyaku nen~
Uravity slowly raises her right fist towards the expanding window.
nan zen nen~
The screen splits between the two, zooming in on their fists just as they gently connect. And the camera is blinded by flashes of green and pink before washing away to white.
sakimidare~!
A still Omnitrix lays on upon the moon, alone and in the dark, before the Sun majestically peeks out from behind the Earth over the edge and shines its rays of hope down upon it.
(Illustrated by Drag0n5on)
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Ch.80 Abduction
“Ugh… *Cough!*”
His throat feels so dry and unused, and his eyes feel so heavy and tight like they haven’t been opened in over twenty-four hours. Gone is that strange feeling of suspension and water, now he feels nothing but the chilling embrace of still cold air.
It’s enough to stir him, however, and Izuku Midoriya’s vision slowly begins to return. “*Cough!* *Cough! Ugh…*”
Izuku blinks back the fog but he is still unable to make out anything around him, but it’s not because of his own sight but because of how dark and empty this giant chamber is.
“Where…-?” He tries to pull forward but neither his arms or legs budge an inch and that’s when Izuku realizes what a bind he’s found himself in.
Literally. He’s found himself suspended in the air in the middle of a giant metallic ring. His legs and right are bound in rays of suspended animation, keeping them frozen while his left arm and the Omnitrix are completely encased in a massive metal brace. Meaning that any attempt to escape via brute force is out.
His breath hitches as his heart begins to race and a cold sweat begins to form over his brow as he panics and tries to put everything together.
The first thing he notices is that he doesn’t feel sick anymore nor is his body sore or hurting. Was he healed up at some point? He can’t be sure.
But someone definitely tampered with him since all his clothes are gone from his hoodie to his red shoes, all replaced by a tight fit zero-suit with a jet-black design and green stitching that kinda resembles the patterns on Upgrade but more symmetrical.
“What-what happened to me…?”
He tries to recollect the most previous events, unfortunately none of it is good: he remembers the ambush at the training camp and all it entailed, he remembers the feelings of fear and dread as Tomura Shigaraki exposed his secret to Bakugou and the rest of the League of Villains, and he remembers…something. It’s hazy and not all there but he…he spoke? Spoke to All For One…? But what did he say? What did he do? Everything’s just…dark after that. “Just what exactly happened to me? Is-is everybody else…safe?” His mind races to his classmates, his friends, his teachers, and family. “Are they…okay?”
With little to no hope of escape all Izuku can do is wait, suspended in this dark empty chamber, alone.
However, he doesn’t have to wait long as soon he has company. A small section of the chamber’s wall folds in on itself creating a hexagonal portal that allows blinding light to pour in like a spotlight. And shoved in through the spotlight is the sickly and skeletal form of a very distraught Toshinori Yagi.
“A-All Might?!” Izuku gasps, feeling a mix of relief and dread from the mere sight of his weakened presence. “A-are you okay?! W-what are you doing here?! Is Bakugou safe?! What about everybody else?!”
As the portal shuts closed and casts them back into darkness, Toshinori actually cracks a smile, relieved, and almost happy to know that even while bound and captured, that Young Midoriya is still looking out for others. What a lad. “I’m *Cough!* fine. Honestly, I’m just glad I finally found you, Young Midoriya. And don’t worry about Young Bakugou, he’s safe. And you will be too. I swear it, you will be home soon.”
Izuku sighs with relief and visibly relaxes at the news.
But that relief is short-lived as they come to find that they are not in fact alone.
As a bone chilling manifesto echoes through the pitch-black darkness. “Hope. Can be a powerful weapon. A single spark can ignite the fire of rebellion.”
Slow heavy stomps clank across the chamber as a massive figure slowly encroaches through the very little light provided by Izuku’s binds. Revealing the terrifying visage of the mad titan himself, the commander of the Chimeran Hammer , with his piercing red eyes and towering mass looming over them as his tentacled arms flex and pulse at his sides. “But when hope remains out of reach, just inches from your fingertips, it can generate the greatest of despairs.”
Vilgax declares with a cold and controlled fury as he presents himself before the hero and student the latter of which has Vilgax’s full and undivided attention.
“At last, we meet, the being that has caused me so much trouble.” He leans in close to the point that even with the respirator Izuku can still smell the stink of the overlord’s breath, as he names the source of all his troubles. “Izuku Midoriya.”
Izuku reels back, it feels like a nightmare turned into a reality. He is finally face to face with the source of his problems, his concerns, and his many fears; Vilgax.
“You keep away from him!!” Toshinori barks, definitely and with righteous anger. “He is my responsibility! And I won’t let you hurt him!! That boy, that young man, has a bright future ahead of him! I’ll make sure of that!!”
Vilgax has no outward reaction to the champion’s declaration. Instead, he holds that cold analyzing gaze as he observes Toshinori’s resolve. “Coming from you, I’m sure that’s what you actually believe.” He turns away from the boy and with just two steps he finds himself looming over Earth’s mightiest hero.
And to his credit, Toshinori bravely holds his ground before the titan.
“You should be honored to be in my presence, All Might. Not many a being have earned this privilege.”
Toshinori scowls in disgust. “You make it sound like I had a choice.”
“No. You never did.” He doesn’t bother to deny the accusation, however, he’s sure these two creatures are cooking up something in their little minds as they speak. “But I’m sure that even now both of you are resisting your fears. And plotting how to best me and escape. Foolish. But admirable. You humans have proven to be far more resilient then I had first given you credit for.”
A bone chilling shiver courses down Izuku’s spine as the far too familiar sense of dread begins to resurface like an aftershock.
Toshinori, however, feels more annoyance than dread, but still, he is wary. That said the more he keeps this villain talking the more answers he should get, “The way you talk, makes you look like you have heck of a god complex.”
“I am no god. I know my place.” Vilgax spits back. “I am superior. Far superior than anything your planet has to offer.”
Now Toshinori’s nerves are starting to get to him, just how can this man speak so confidently and with such an ego. “Just who are you? How can anyone be so insane?”
“No. You are simply misinformed. Deceived by those you hold close. Including…your students.” The capturer’s gaze turns and redirects itself, accusingly, at the shivering Izuku who freezes up in response.
Toshinori, of course, sees his reaction but can only assume it’s from fear. “I won’t fall for a villain’s mind games.”
Vilgax’s frame twitches like he’s holding back a laugh before stating the truth. “No games. No lies. No myths. I only work in the realm of truths and reality.” He pauses and gives a sarcastic shrug. “Or at least when it suits me.” He leans back, locking his gaze back onto the boy’s, to which his gaze shifts upwards and towards the metal brace that’s containing the Omnitrix from view. “You hold the key to a power struggle so ancient, so vast! It is beyond your feeble comprehension.”
Izuku flinches but tries to look as brave as he can but he can’t stop the sweat from collecting over his brow.
Toshinori grows more and more irritated, he needs to keep the boy calm and make sure this villain doesn't get under their skin. “M-maybe, but you can't hold us here forever. The pros will come. They will stop you.” Now it’s Toshinori’s turn to look Izuku in the eye and give the young lad a reassuring and confident smile. “They will come for us, we just have to stay strong until then.”
Despite Toshinori’s expectations the results are far from what he desired as Izuku doesn’t smile back, doesn't give a sigh of relief, or show any signs of reassurance. Instead, the boy…looks guilty and sad, turning away and unable to meet the hero’s eyes.
Which causes his own confidence to drop. “M-Midoriya…?”
Izuku winces, tightly sealing his eyes and wishing that he’d wake up from this nightmare.
But the nightmare has only begun as Vilgax bursts into a fit of booming convulsion. “MwHahaha MWHAHAHA!!! And here I thought the child would be the naive one! What you fail to realize is that your precious heroes will never be able to find us! And even if they could, they would never reach us! MwHahahaha!!”
This shakes the hero’s confidence to his core, as an ominous and unknowing dread finally begins to emerge. “J-just where in the world are we?”
“We are in no world.”
Suddenly dim lights of red flash across the perimeter of the chamber, illuminating just how large of a dome they are trapped in. Before every panel that’s encompassing this massive dome begins to glow and pixelate together to reveal an awe inspiring yet terrifying visual: Earth.
Planet Earth glows through the hexagonal panels, massive, giant, and blue while the moon sits just out of frame and looming dangerously close to the ship. Meanwhile the surrounding chamber illuminates to show the vast emptiness of space with its expanding void and swirling galaxies.
Reality strikes down like Thor’s hammer upon Yagi Toshinori as he is unable to peel his eyes away from the world altering sight.
And Izuku…is Izuku is in shock-and-awe of the sight feeling a mix of emotions; on one hand he is amazed by the beauty of it, the sheer awe, however, on the other hand…he feels nothing but pure and utter terror.
“Humbling is it not?” Vilgax asks blithely and without sympathy. “I remember the first time I looked back at my own homeworld. I thought it small and its flaws minuscule…” He raises his claw towards the Earth, however, hands over the blue orb from his own perspective. “But then a moment of clarity came upon me and in that moment I became more I became something far greater than what I was.” He closes his fist around the image before declaring to them both exactly who it is they are to fear. “I am the Mad Titan of the Stars! The Grand Destroyer! I am…Vilgax the Conqueror of Worlds!! And I am here to fulfill my destiny!”
‘Of the Stars…? C-Conqueror of…Worlds.’ Like a rusty clocktower the gears begin to grind together signaling the thundering bell to toll. While Toshinori watches on and thinks about how small Japan, his home, seems from up here. How one swirling mass of clouds can obscure it from sight or how it looks like it might just fall into the Pacific Ocean. It looks so…vulnerable from up here.
“What sort of thoughts must be going through your heads?” The Mad Titan ponders with an air of haughtiness and superiority. “What do you see when you look out into the void? Are you inspired or have you fallen to despair? …I wonder.”
Toshinori’s mind is racing to make sense of it all. This image. The implications. There's only one conclusion he can come to. ‘This villain…he’s not human. So then, what in the hell is he?’ He’s at a loss for words, left a hollow husk of swirling questions and doubt.
And the boy is no better. He’s terrified and once he’s actually able to prie eyes away from his own planet he very hesitantly looks over to see All Might’s reaction. And he can instantly tell that the man is broken and falling to despair with undoubtable disarray in his mind. The hero has no idea what’s going on, no clue what this really is or what it’s about…but he does. He does know. He knows what’s at stake. He knows what this is. And he knows that…he knows that others will be here to save them. “T-the P-Plumbers will come… Th-they w-will s-stop y-you-…”
Their reactions are slow mainly because they barely heard him, especially Toshinori who is really unsure if he heard the lad correctly.
However, Vilgax clearly understood what the youngling was saying. And he has this small look of mirth on his face like a gladiator who was just tossed a delicious slab of meat. “I know.”
“And when they come they find themselves outgunned, outmanned, and out-witted.”
A shiver runs down both Izuku’s and Toshinori’s spines even if the latter doesn’t fully understand.
“The Magistratus will not authorize an official assault on me or my ship, the Chimeran Hammer.” The Conqueror of Worlds pauses, pondering the results of such an order. “I suspect your father and Magister Nezu will disobey their orders and attempt a rescue with their limited resources.” His tentacle wrapped arms flex at the thought as if they’re begging for the chance to taste blood. “I have had enough bouts with your father to know he is not to be taken lightly. If anything I suspect he’s borderlining hysteria and desperation at this point. And a desperate man can be a dangerous thing.”
The Grand Destroyer stomps away, arms behind his back as he strides across the illuminated dome which is about the size of a football field from every angle. He arrives before the paneled wall, the side that’s depicting the Earth. He stops and stares at the blue orb before a devilish-spark gleams across his eyes.
“Fortunately for me I had the foresight to procure myself the perfect contingency.” With a click of his claws a section of panels on the floor slide away to reveal about nine pits as the sound of an elevator rises echoes from each of them. “Izuku Midoriya. All Might. I shall grant you the honor of being the first to witness the might and terror of those I have collected under my reach!”
As the strange elevators begin to rise the two humans catch glimpses of those being lifted in but at first they can only make out the tops of their heads such as a white dorsal fin and the liquid metal head of a being of black with red cybernetic lines.
“These are the worst the galaxy has to offer.”
The next elevator rises with two beings with similar features of lock silver locks and an attire of red.
“They are products of greed and pride.”
A armor of purple shines and whirls while a Samurai helmet of blue and silver gleams under the ominous light.
“Their wrath knows no bounds and no limits.”
The final elevator rises revealing a woman of red and tech, and a monster so menacing and familiar that it causes Izuku to let out an audible horrible gasp.
“Now behold the might of the elite squadron of warriors that shall become my nine arms of destruction! All must fear the NEGATIVE NINE !!!”
Standing together with menacing gazes and auras is Vilgax’s Negative Nine with the members consisting of himself and his most trusted underlings such as the groveling Psyphon, the menacing Malware, the greedy Sunder, the mysterious Ragnarok, the enigmatic SevenSeven, the ominous Techadon, the rebellious Rojo, and of course the nightmarish Nue.
The latter of which cracks a devilish grin and menacing cackle. “Admit it. You can’t look away. Hahahahaha!!”
It’s a monstrous sight as complete devastation courses through the two prisoners as they look upon Vilgax’s elite squadron. Izuku of course recognizes most of them, but Toshinori only knows about two of them. But recalling just how powerful Nue and Malware were back then he can only assume that the others are on equal par. And if so, if Vilgax really assembled a menagerie of monsters, then why? What is this all for?
“Just what are you after…?”
“I am Vilgax the Conqueror!” The Mad Titan repeats before declaring his true intent. “And I have come for the Omnitrix.”
“The Omnitrix?” Toshinori pauses before recalling the name and his head spins around so fast that it might just snap off, as he locks eyes onto the metal brace that’s containing Midoriya’s strange green watch. “The support item?”
“It is no support item.” Vilgax growls, almost angrily as if offended that such a highly unique device has been compared to such primitive tech. “It is the source of Izuku Midoriya's power. The entire reason he has come so far in his short time with it. For it is the greatest weapon in the universe!” He stops and takes a breath before directing this next statement directly to All Might and delivering the next fact with potent intent. “For it can grant its bearer the ability to transform their very DNA into any alien species from across the known galaxies.”
“A-alien…?” this guy has to be crazy, thinks Toshinori. But… He gazes out towards the Earth and again, before he settles on the visages of Nue and Malware. He thinks for a moment that yes they both resemble some of Young Midoriya’s transformations but surely that can’t be the explanation.
“Noticing the family resemblance?” Nue taunts.
However, Malware, who is in his second form, can’t help but grumble with disgust. [Family, such a primitive notion.]
“Consider the truths laid before you All Might.” Vilgax interjects while setting a scene to help the hero understand. “A young child born without any gifts in a world full of them, one day stumbles upon a device that can grant them their very wish. They overcome many challenges with relative ease. Stand out before the selection with great promise. And yet strange events soon begin to happen around this lucky child. Strange and unworldly enemies appear with technology beyond what your world has to offer. Suspicions of traitorous intent and betrayal loom. And secrets are withheld.” He throws a knowing look at said child who freezes and quivers under his piercing gaze. “And then a visitor from the stars appears and abducts the child and the asset away.” He turns back to the once glorious hero and smirks. “Don’t you see All Might? There are far greater threats before you then All For One.”
A thunderstrike booms from within Toshinori Yagi’s core as the cackles and laughter from the Negative Nine fills his ears. ‘Aliens…? Aliens…? Aliens… It can’t be but…’
As he tries as might to deny it his mind replays all the pieces together:
Such as their first encounter; ‘“Can someone without a quirk…become a hero like you?!”’
Then suddenly that same kid shows up out of the blue at several villain attacks and then proceeds to dominate the Entrance Exam with unexplainable powers and incredible ease. Then there was Nue’s strange morphing into an abomination of all of Midoriya’s transformations. Speaking of Midoriya, he always seems to reappear with a new alie-transformation almost every other week it seems. The appearance of the unknown bounty hunter, SixSix at Hosu with Stain. The immense destructive firepower during the Final Exams. The mecha battle between them and Malware. And the attack on the summer training camp…
But what truly hammers it in are All For One’s own words: ‘“I told you already, you're in the dark All Might! And those two are the ones keeping you there! You truly have no idea what greater powers there are then you or any force here on EARTH!!!”’
“……Young Midoriya…?”
The boy slowly, and with trepidation, faces his old favorite hero. And the expression All Might has on his face is enough to shake his very soul.
“Is-is…is what he is saying…true?”
Izuku looks away feeling guilty, his mind racing for ideas on how to explain this or cover it up. But how? How can he possibly talk his way out of this? How can he even hope to escape in all this? The answer: he can’t. There’s no fighting this. No running from this. Lying his way out is no longer an option. There are no more cover ups. No. More. Secrets.
After a long pause Izuku tells the hero the very thing he did not wish to hear. “Yes…”
That is the final strike, the final blow to All Might’s reality: aliens are real and they’ve been abducted by them. What a world-shattering reality.
All Might’s reaction is that of utter devastation, one of which brings joy to Nue’s own face. “And there goes any respect your hero had for you. Hahahahahaha!!”
Izuku flinches and in a panic he tries to explain himself. “It-it was an accident! I didn’t know what it was-...! I-...I didn’t know what it would mean…”
“Exactly.” Vilgax interjects. “The Omnitrix was never meant to fall into your hands. It was created to serve a higher power, one with a grander purpose than playing hero.”
Psyphon cracks a smirk at his master’s words. “You understand, human? You aren’t worthy of the Omnitrix. You never were.”
The Negative Nine break into maddening laughter as Izuku hangs there in utter dejection and misery while his old hero refuses to meet his gaze. Which causes his heart to squeeze and tighten.
“However, not even I can deny your success until now.” Vilgax admits as suddenly hundreds of holographic screens pop into midair, swarming all around them with images and videos of Deku’s and his friends’ many adventures. “Your many exploits have proven just how skilled for someone so young is. If given the chance you might actually prove yourself a challenge to me one day.”
Izuku and Toshinori’s eyes somehow grow wider as they absorb all the visual information all at once.
There’s images of Class 1-A’s Entrance Exam. Izuku’s first match against Bakugou as Water Hazard. Him chasing around Megawatts through U.A.’s campus. Diamondhead clashing with the Crab Nomu as the U.S.J. The entire Sports Festival. His fight with Stain and SixSix. Heatblast’s meltdown at the faux city. Rath ripping out Vulcanus’ head. Wildvine and Bakugou vs. Fun Gus. Bullfrag and Tsuyu avoiding the jaws of a Krakken. His many fights with various members of the Negative Nine. With images of his otherworldly friends too. Even Ochaco is there fighting against Sunder in one screen. And of course, there are images of the clash between Galvanic Mechamorphs on I-island.
And these images bring nothing but a sense of absolute failure and shame on Izuku’s part. “You-you’ve been monitoring me? But Principal Nezu-!”
“Is one of the greatest minds in the galaxy. However, not even he can decrypt a virus so elusive that not even droids can find it.”
Then that means, the signal jammer program never worked. It was a failure from the start!
“Ew acn tlhna ym rBo orf ttha!” Interjects SevenSeven while he stands off to the side, trying to look cool and intimidating. “Uhh, i ndorew woh eh’s oingh.”
“I never lost sight of you for a minute, Izuku Midoriya.” Continues the Grand Destroyer. “I know your habits, your mind, your relationships, even your school syllabus. Doing so was a simple task.” That being said, there were still many complications. “However, a problem did occur, you proved to be far too good at slipping through my claws.” He raises his flexing claws and bulging tentacles at this statement as if he is holding back his fury and frustration. “When that became clear to me, it’s when I officially put the League of Villains under my employment.”
Shock, and Izuku let’s out a sharp gasp. “The attack on the camp… Y-you orchestrated the whole thing!”
Vilgax gives him a slow, acknowledging, nod. “That I did. During the Hosu Incident I had Psyphon track down the League of Villains in order to make first contact.”
“It was remarkably easy.” Comments a smirking Psyphon. “But I’m not surprised your inferior earth security force couldn’t track them down.”
Izuku’s starting to get the full picture here and maybe his mind is just looking for a distraction, but he goes along and keeps these villains talking. “And then…you told Shigaraki and All For One…everything.”
Toshinori slowly perks up as the truth settles in again. “All For One…knows?”
“All For One is more illuminated on the subject then you, yes. Once we made contact, All For One made his ambitions and convictions clear to me. And thus, we struck a deal. A partnership as it were. Power in exchange for power.”
Izuku is struck with a wave of remorse as he comes to understand that the League Of Villain only attacked the camp, his friends, and Kota because of him. Because of the target he’s been carrying around and thus putting his own friends in the line of fire. It’s his-
“Enough!!” Toshinori snaps, unable to take it. “I don’t understand! And I have so many questions….” He takes a breath, his body shaking and quivering before slowly settling itself as his hair hides his face from view. “However, I will not lie here and let you put down my student.” “If-...If what you say is true then this young man,” He locks eyes with the boy as a gaze of sapphire meets that of emerald. “is far braver than anyone has given him credit for. Carrying a burden far beyond my knowledge.” With a push Toshinori slowly rises to his feet, to stand down the Mad Titan with the bravery of the true hero he is. “I refuse to let you tarnish him any further.”
Izuku stares, wide eyed and shocked.
As Vilgax gives a hero a laudable look. “All Might, would you fight for this child? Would you risk your own power if it meant this child would live?”
Toshinori steadies himself before delivering his answer directly to the alien’s face. “…Without a doubt.”
“A-All Might…” Izuku chokes, even after everything he’s learned All Might is going to stand up for him? But-but how can he be so brave? So, defiant in the face of it all? “All Might…”
“Then you will not refuse me.” Vilgax continues. “As All For One and I have exchanged power for power then so too will you.”
Toshinori doesn’t like the sound of that but he holds his ground and prepares for the ultimatum.
“All Might you shall face me in one-on-one combat. I wish to test my might against what the Earth’s best can offer. If you manage to defeat me then I can guarantee the freedom of yourself and the boy’s back to Earth. Fail and you both shall never see the light of your sun again.”
Now that’s a surprise, and Toshinori is now questioning the logic and sanity of this supposed alien mastermind. “What’s your game?”
“Like I have already stated, I play no games.” The commander offers his hand to the hero. “Do we have an accord?”
Toshinori hesitates, eyeing the clawed tentacles with extreme prudence. “Except when it suits you.” Even with the respirator over his maw, Toshinori can practically see the alien smirking at him.
“I need not handicaps.” Vilgax enforces while pulling hand back. “Do not fear for your injuries. Ragnarok oversaw your recoveries himself, although admittedly we were unable to fix such long-lived injuries.” Such as the severe wound on All Might’s stomach, something like that would require far more time and resources, and a biology for that to be recoverable.
Ragnarok scowls, annoyed that he had to obey such an order. “It took incredible strength not to vaporize you both when you were in such a pathetic state.” They were entirely defenseless while suspended in Vilgax’s healing tanks. “It would have been so easy. Tsk.”
“Why would you do that?” Toshinori ponders, directing his question back at Vilgax. “Not sure how you do things on-…on your planet but healing your opponent before a fight sounds like an ill-advised plan.”
“A good commander does not fear battle, but they must deter battle however they can.” Vilgax explains with the confidence of a grand philosopher. “Your legacy reaches far beyond your solar system, once word reaches the stars that I, Vilgax the Conqueror, have defeated the great and powerful All Might. Then others will fall at my feet before I can even raise a hand. Your vanquish will serve my goals greatly.” That is the game he is playing.
‘Serve your goals, huh… But what are my goals right now?’ Toshinori ponders this question. Through all the confusion and fear of the knowledge that aliens exist he swallows it down like a hard pill as he considers what it all means. ‘Has all my actions up till now been for not? Is One For All…? No, even this…alien understands the role of the Symbol of Peace. But is that my goal right now? To honor my status and role as the Symbol of Peace or… Is it for others' sake? Yes. My only goal, my only wish, has always been and always will be the case!’
His sapphire eyes lock onto the boy who is trembling within his binds. Despite the fear and tears streaming down the lad’s freckled face, his body is jerking and moving in a way that he is trying, subconsciously, to break free. To run in and help even a sorry excuse of a protector as him.
‘That boy… My goal is to see that this young man-this young hero gets home. To the world he belongs.’ But that’s not all he wants to do. He wants to-...has to make it up to the boy. This boy has been fighting a battle under his nose this whole time. ‘I’m a failure of a teacher. How could I have been so blind? There’s no wonder why I was never in the loop. But I see it now.’
Toshinori steals his body which goes from a slight quiver to a steadfast stillness. ‘This is all so insane, it’s crazy, and has completely taken me by surprise, however-...!’ He smirks just a bit. ‘What can I expect from such an amazing student? Young Midoriya, I made a promise to get you home and when I do I swear I will become the teacher you deserve!’
“I know exactly what is needed of me.” Steam begins to flow off Toshinori’s body as his muscles begin to shake and pulse. “Vilgax the Conqueror, huh? That’s a mighty title you’ve got yourself there.”
Vilgax’s red stare pierces back at the hero’s blue which stands firm and unshaking before the titan.
“Prepare yourself. To face THE SYMBOL OF PEACE!” All Might rises up the billowing cloud of steam with an inspiring grin, although half of his face remains sunken-in and meek. His red zero-suit stretching with his muscles, and not hiding the steel-like muscles and brimming determination.
Izuku can’t breathe; it feels like all the air has escaped him out of disbelief and utter devastation. ‘He-he’s going to fight?! But his injury! And-and look at him! He’s losing his strength-One For All is-HE’S RUNNING OUT OF TIME!!’
However, a glance from the Number One Hero settles him down.
“TAKE HEART AND HAVE NO FEAR, YOUNG MIDORIYA. FOR I AM HERE.”
Izuku is not sure why but drops of tears began to trickle down his cheeks.
“And so, it shall be.” Vilgax snaps his wrist and upon his signal the panels holding the Negative Nine slide away, carrying the monstrous squadron away and upwards and out of the fight.
They each grin back, excited to witness such a fantastic show.
“In this universe only one thing matters above all others, power.” Vilgax monologues as his cybernetic upgrades give off steam and begin pumping through his muscular system.
All Might stands his ground, squatting a bit while raising his fists up like a boxer as he prepares for a second life-defining battle.
“Who will be victorious, the Number One Hero or the Grand Destroyer?!” Suddenly the panels underneath Vilgax’s feet shatter and crack under the sheer force of which the titan launches himself at the hero. “Let's discover that answer together, All Might!”
And thus their battle has begun, and already All Might is on the defensive since he barely has enough time to sidestep Vilgax’s incoming claw. “SOME HOST! WON’T EVEN ALLOW ME THE FIRST STRIKE.”
“I believe in honorable combat, however, when engaged in battle the superior mind and body conquerors all!” Vilgax’s claw and arm unravel, unleashing a web of incoming tentacles. “Now give me all your fury!!”
All Might just barely evades the tentacles that pierce through the air like arrows that spear into the ground and wall. As he dodges and evades the onslaught of tentacles, All Might tries to quickly access his options, ‘I HAVE NO IDEA WHAT TO DO OR WERE TO GO. NOT TO MENTION THAT ONE FOR ALL IS ON ITS LAST LEGS.’ he can feel it it’s nothing but an ember now, one that will go out within this immense storm.
‘THIS ARENA, I’M NOT SURE HOW IT WORKS OR WHERE IT LEADS.’ He glances at the surrounding panels which are still displaying the slow revolving Earth and moon. ‘IF I SMASH THROUGH THE WALL THERE MIGHT BE A CHANCE THAT I SEND US ALL FLYING INTO THE VACUUM OF SPACE. THEN AGAIN I BET THE WALLS ARE THICK OTHERWISE HE WOULDN’T RISK US FIGHTING OUT HERE.’
With the last tentacle piercing the panel at his feet, All Might takes off at a sprint to the side. To which Vilgax gives his arm a swing and having the still embedded tentacles suddenly slice across the floor and walls after him, cleaving off the panels in a shower of rubble and shrapnel in the process. To which the panels are quickly replaced with new ones.
‘I HAVE ONLY ONE OPTION.’ He stops and spins around to meet the incoming wave of tentacle without an ounce of fear to show. ‘I’LL USE ALL THAT I HAVE TO DEFEAT HIM!’ His fist shakes and glows with the power of One For All as he begins his counterattack. “SMAAAAASH!!!”
The force of the resulting whirlwind completely breaks through the surging tentacles, breaking their charge completely and sending all responding rubble and shrapnel away. So much so that despite being elevated up high the Negative Nine are forced to shield and brace themselves against the blast.
“Such power,” Vilgax marvels as his tentacles retreat and merge back together at his sides. “but I suppose that is to be expected of the Quirk known as One For All.”
All Might and Izuku let out gaps of surprise, although it seems that the Negative Nine did not hear what was said due to the incoming shrapnel and whipping wind.
“HOW DID YOU-?” All Might frowns as he quickly comes to realize the answer. “ALL FOR ONE.”
“Yes, he was quite informative. For despite my own surveillance and even through the use of your planet’s media I was unable to procure such insight into the source of your power. And once I was gifted with such knowledge, well, it only confirmed what I knew of this planet.”
Neither Izuku nor All Might like the sound of that. What exactly does that mean?
“Now show me, Symbol of Peace! Show me exactly the kind of power you wield! Give me all your fury!!”
“WE HAVE THIS OLD SAYING ON EARTH,” The half-faced All Might speeds across the arena with such force it leaves dust in his wake as he cries out with a righteous fury. “BE CAREFUL OF WHAT YOU WISH FOR!!!”
Vilgax stands his ground, watching as the incoming fist races closer and closer. But then with effortless speed the massive titan swerves and sidesteps away as he unleashes a web of tentacles around the speeding hero.
“WHAT?!”
The web of tentacles come down around him, binding him before Vilgax uses the hero’s own speed to thrust him forward and then swing him around.
All Might braces for the impending impact and it comes with a thunderous CRASH as he’s sent slamming into the upper panels, and right in line with the image of Earth below. The impact is hard enough that All Might spits up a platter of blood and spit, which causes Izuku’s heart to stop and the Negative Nine to cheer and boast.
All Might’s body peels away from Earth and he falls, landing with a loud thud. *Cough!* he chokes back the blood and shakily begins to rise again with one knee up. “HOW DID YOU-...?”
“As powerful as you are, you lack a strong sense of strategy.” Vilgax boasts. “Do you not recall what I said? I have been monitoring the boy’s actions and movements for an entire year. And that includes all potential allies and threats he has gathered around himself. And that includes you All Might.”
“AND YOU’RE PROUD OF THAT?!” All Might launches himself forward again at a breakneck speed. “GLOATING ABOUT SPYING ON A KID?! YOU PERV!!”
However, not one fist manages to land as both his wrists are grabbed out of midair and pulled upward by the titan’s tentacles: stopping him dead in his tracks.
“Don’t mock me.” Vilgax growls menacingly before he slams the hero down against the ground, shattering the panels underneath like a vase. He releases the hero soon after, standing over him with an air of superiority. “I will do whatever’s necessary to guarantee my own success and victory.”
Growing angry, All Might launches himself right off the floor and at Vilgax’s head.
However, the Grand Destroyer meets the attack with a cool confidence. “I know your attack patterns.” With a massive swing, Vilgax’s own fist strikes first like a blur. Completely cutting off All Might’s own focus and momentum with a bone grinding crunch to his side.
“Your preferred fighting style!”
And another strike to All Might’s head has the hero dazed and stumbling
“You’re weaknesses!!” With a mighty roar and sickening squelch Vilgax’s claw stabbed itself right into All Might stomach and wound.
There’s no scream no cry only blood as blood not only spews out from his stomach but his maws as well in a horrible, horrible display.
“A-All Might…” Izuku watches helplessly as he witnesses a wave of steam explode from All Might’s body as his focus is completely shattered and Toshinori falls to a heap on the floor with One For All flicking like a candle within him. The sight , the strike, causes his mind to flashback to when he himself pulled that very move: when Heatblast plunged fire into that same weakness during the Final Exam. “N-no… NoNoNoNoNoNo-NOOOOOO!!!!”
Nue watches Izuku’s expression and falls to despair from above and it brings a massive grin to his face. “Mehahahaha!”
“Is this truly all Earth has to offer?” Vilgax ponders aloud as he looms over the coughing hero. “For all that bolster, all that power, this is all it amounts to.”
Toshinori can barely hear him through the ringing in his ears and him trying to stop any more blood from rushing out. But already he feels far weaker.
“In my studies of your world I have come to realize the sheer scope and size of your influence. Your sheer presence, your light, burns away the shadows. Leaving the villains scurrying away for cracks and holes like roaches.”
Toshinori has stopped spitting up blood and it seems that the red zero-suit has some congealing-like features as it holds its form even against the wound, preventing any more loss of blood. Despite that he lacks the strength to stand up to this monster.
“And yet when faced before me your light is nothing. Your legacy was so fast that you were seen as nothing close to god-like. But you are no god. Nothing worth the worship. You are an imperfect being. A human.” He says with disgust and mirth. “You're all nothing but greedy flea-bitten vermin.”
Izuku breaks as the tears don’t stop, blinding him and causing him to choke on his own sobs. He’s crying because this is all his fault. It’s because of him that Vilgax will have the Omnitrix. Why his classmates were hurt and attacked by the League of Villains. Why All Might might end. It’ll be because of him that Japan, that Earth, loses their Symbol of Peace: a pillar of their society will crumble and he’s the hammer upon which Vilgax will use to demolish it. ‘There-there’s no way he can win. It’s-it’s impossible. He’s-…I’m only human. A weak Quirkless human. And nothing more…’
“You’re right.”
Izuku’s head snaps up so fast his neck might break but he desperately tries to blink through the tears in order to spot a shaking yet determined Toshinori rising to the occasion.
“I’m no god.” Toshinori admits as he wipes away the blood from his lips with a swipe of his arm. “Never saw myself that way, not once. I don’t need the worship either. I never wanted that. Instead, what I am is a man. A man who makes mistakes, who can’t see what’s obviously in front of him, like how much bigger the world really is or how amazing his students really are.” He can’t help but smile at the thought of his students, of his predecessor, and of Young Midoriya cheering him on with shining smiles and brimming hope. “I am a human. But I’m a human that became a symbol to all. Why? Well, I guess humans are just greedy. Take me, I only ever desired a world where people can live their lives with smiles on their faces.” One For All flickers within him as the candlelight begins to brighten. “And I will do all I can to achieve that dream. That is my light!”
The candlelight is blinding as a warm glow washes over Toshinori. Like a blanket it feels familiar yet empowering as the words of his late master, Nana Shimura visits him: “Toshinori, when you think you can’t go on any more. Look inside.”’
‘I must remember…’
‘“Remember why it is you clench your fist.”’
‘Where I started.’
‘“Your past, remember where you came from. Keeping your origin in mind will help push you past your limit.”’
‘My origin, of course: “I want to make a world where everyone smiles and lives together happily.’
Yellow sparks of and lightning dance off Toshinori’s right arm as it goes beyond his weak form to become an almighty fist.
Izuku can’t believe it, he’s going to keep fighting. But he’ll-he’ll die at this rate. One For All is-is fading! He can’t summon his muscular form anymore! It’s over… “All Might. NO!!!”
Vilgax acknowledges the Number One Hero’s tenacity with due respect however his convictions are nothing but a dream. “How incredibly flawed. A world like that will never exist.”
“Maybe but I guess my dream is like me. It’s imperfect.” Despite his sunken appearance and bloodied wounds, Toshinori is willing to press on and he says as much as an unflinching grin soon stretches across his face; even as the fire that is One For All grows weaker with every turn. It’s a flicker, nothing but a feeble spark that’s about to put itself out. “But I’m human, we’re not exactly known for being realistic. But that’s what makes us great! It what gives us the drive to Go Beyond!”
Izuku perks up, his eyes wide as recalls All Might’s words to him the first day they ever met: ‘“It’s not wrong to dream. However… you need to be realistic, kid.”’ He understands, this is not All Might calling him out or degrading him, it’s him trying to make amends. “A-All M-Might *Sob*…!”
“That we can agree on.” Both of Vilgax’s arms rip apart to form masses of whipping tentacles that snake and spiral around his frame . “So, allow me to pull back the curtains of your fantasy!!” With a slam the tentacles all clasp together and lash forward with a devastating spin like a giant drill that can pierce even diamond! “YOU AND YOUR POWER WILL FACE YOUR END HERE!!!”
“RAAAAAAGGHH!!!” With a roar Toshinori’s fist meets this incoming devastation. The two forces collide at a single point causing their wills of green and yellow to clash against the other as a spiral of energy thunders between them before unleashing such a shockwave that it rocks the entire spaceship.
And yet it’s not enough as blood begins to spew from Toshinori’s buffed up arm and his footing is compromised as his entire body is forced back even as he holds his fist against the sheer force of the tentacle tornado.
And in the face of impending doom, Toshinori is still bearing a mighty grin.
Izuku can’t believe his eyes, how can All Might still be smiling?! ‘How…?!’
“How can you be smiling!?” Vilgax too questions.
“How? Simple.” Toshinori grins back even as he’s constituted to be shoved back.. “Because no matter how scared I am, I will smile to show that everything’s going to be okay!” Through the shrapnel, wind, and blood Toshinori locks eyes with Izuku from across the arena.
And in a moment, a single moment that they lock eyes it feels like all of time has come to a still as Toshinori Yagi the former Number One Hero, gives his precious student a reassuring smile. “Because In this world, in our world, the ones who are smiling are the STRONGEST!”
“That accursed smile, I’m beginning to understand why All For One despised it so!”
“Very well,” A set of spare tentacles branch out from the main spiraling drill and begin slicing away at the ground panels causing shrapnel to rain across himself and All Might. “then I shall tear it away!”
The power, the strength, and the shrapnel hailing down upon him, breaks through the hero’s arm as blood spouts from his veins and his footing is lost, spelling his doom.
However, before he hits the ground a memory, an echo, hums in his heart from within the flickering flame. “‘When you think you can’t go on anymore. Remember,””
“I’ll beat you, not because I’m a symbol but because I’ll do what my master did for me. Until I’ve finished training my students!” And with the images of both Young Midoriya and Young Uraraka in his heart and mind, the hero locks his foot and brings the alien’s advance to a sudden halt! “Until they’re ready!” With that declaration Toshinori’s left arm begins to spark with yellow lightning.
“Surrender! You have nothing else to give!”
“I won’t!” In a puff of steam, his left arm takes on a muscular form that’s brimming with sparks.
“What is this?!”
“I refuse-!” Toshinori breaks their clash allowing the spinning drill of death to graze just millimeters from his frame. “TO DIE!!!” With a mighty declaration All Might delivers an empowered left hook right into the base of Vilgax’s skull!
The resulting punch knocks Vilgax back and away! Forcing the villain to break his own attack and to use his tentacles to pierce the ground and bring himself to a slow halt after ripping apart his own arena in order to do so.
Izuku and almost the entirety of Vilgax’s Negative Nine release sharp gasps in surprise.
“Master!!” Psyphon cries out in anguish even though the strike wasn’t that devastating.
However, those like Ragnarok are incredibly impressed and intrigued. “He struck him? Hm.”
Rojo smirks at the image. “Heh. He sure did.”
“But how?” questions Sunder. “I couldn’t see it.”
‘But I did.’ Thinks Nue who is not smiling nor jeering but instead taking the battle seriously and paying it his full attention. ‘He transferred whatever power he had left to his other arm to deliver that sick punch. In other words-’
‘He used his right arm as bait!’ Izuku realizes the same and a glimmer of his fanboy self-wishes to peek out. ‘He’s never done that before! Amazing! He-he can still fight! He really hasn’t given up yet!’
However, there are forces out there that believe that they can change that. “Perhaps you’re more strategic than I gave you credit for.” He rips panels out from the ground and walls before combing his tentacles again into a drill but this time with massive shards of rubble and shrapnel protruding out, promising a very bloody clash. “But I am disappointed.” With a ground shaking start, Vilgax the Conqueror stampedes at The Symbol of Peace with all that he has!! “I WAS SO LOOKING FORWARD TO A MUCH BETTER SHOWING, ALL MIGHT!!!”
However, that grin remains unflattering as Toshinori’s left arm begins to steam and fade away.. “That’s because, I didn’t put my back into it that time!!!” He swings back his bloodied, purple shaded, and clearly broken right arm back into the air, almost as if he were reaching for something.
And he is. It’s a light, he’s reaching for that brilliant light of colors that race through the never-ending void like a comet of white then blue then red, to green, to orange, to purple, magenta, and finally yellow. Before they all merge to become a blinding flare that’s brimming with color and light! This cultivated power connects him to all others that have called this power their own, all those that have carried this torch so that one day it can bring about a bright future for all.
In the words of his brilliant master, Nana Shimura had put it best. ‘“This power has been passed on from hero to hero, each praying that it’ll bring joy and peace to humanity. That One For All will give the world hope. And now it is your turn, do your best, Toshinori.”’
And he grabs that power from her echo, he clutches that ball of light like it’s the greatest treasure known to man. And it empowered him, giving him the flames that he needs to transform himself one last time.
Vilgax falters in the face of such light and fearfully places his spiraling tentacles between himself and the Number One Hero.
“RAAAAAAAAAGH!!!!” But cheap tricks are no match for All Might’s truth and purpose! His fist crashes through the tentacled attack, shattering it completely like a flaming hammer through noodles all before his fist collides with Vilgax’s skull once again! The flame of One For All combusts beyond its frame, beyond its containment and goes PLUS ULTRA and lighting The Symbol of Peace’s way. And with it All Might delivers a world-shaking punch. “UNITED STATES OF SMAAAAAASH!!!”
Like Vilgax’s own pod of death had delivered onto Kamino Ward, the same occurs here with the roles reversed. Vilgax’s image is nothing but a blur that is sent crashing across the arena and right through its heavily padded walls causing a massive detonation of devastating wind, electricity, and shrapnel!! The Negative Nine try in vain to hold on but they are sent flying off their platforms in a gust of raging wind and sparks. Izuku can do nothing but hold on as the wind whips at his face and his suspended prion violently shakes and trembles. A piece of shrapnel pierces the brace containing his left arm, ripping a section off and exposing an underlayer of damaged circuits.
And amongst the glorious destruction…Toshinori stands alone at the eye, his grin finally waded as he delivers a mournful goodbye. ‘Goodbye, One For All.’
With a gentle breeze, the warm little candlelight…is gone.
Astonishment, nothing short of it is felt across the arena and all its dwellers. The Negative Nine are so shaken they’re silent with their jaws left agape.
Izuku is especially emotional, unable to look away as his hero bleeds but stands proudly before them all.
Sensing that he’s being watched, a wounded Toshinori grants the boy a smile as if to say that it’s all going to be alright. That there’s no reason to have fear. They’re going home.
And with that tears begin to stream as Izuku wails with joy and sorrow. “ALL MIGHT!!! Waaaaaaaah!!” All at once he’s never been so full of emotions, of joy and relief of the hero-his hero saving his life but of sorrow that he had witnessed All Might’s final clash. And yet, it was glorious.
Toshinori lets him cry it out since he is unable to reach him as of the moment. Mainly because his body won’t let him. His body, his muscles are exhausted and in so much pain, his arm especially feels like it’s going to fall right off. Not to mention, One For All is gone.
‘But it was all for a good cause.’ Toshinori thinks with a sigh. ‘If my sacrifice means that it gives him a chance to escape and make it home. Then it was all worth it.’ He stares up at the arena and out to the image of the spinning globe. “Beautiful… What a beautiful home we have…now it’s time we return to it.” He turns back to his student and gives him a big old grin. “Wouldn’t you say, Young Midoriya?”
Izuku…smiles back, through the tears and sobs he can’t help but smile in relief as his brimming hero shines bright in the dark. However, through the darkness a shadow rises its limbs slithering out like serpents to feast on their prey. And with it Izuku’s expression falls to devastation before Toshinori’s eyes.
Sensing the danger, Toshinori spins around but is left frozen in place by the terrible sight that looms over him.
“Impressive. Most impressive. But not quite enough to defeat the likes of me.”
Toshinori lets out a horrified gasp as Vilgax skulks out from the billowing black smoke.
“I now understand why All For One coveted such power! I must admit it, but I’m almost ashamed we couldn’t have crossed paths sooner! You are a worthy opponent. Our battle would have been legendary! Hahahaha!”
“No way…” Toshinori is shaken to his core, his blood running cold at the sheer sight. “That’s impossible. I-I put-”
“Everything you had into that strike. Believe me I am still reeling from the pain.” Vilgax rolls his left arm as he uses a free tentacle to adjust his respirator as well as to tend to the newly formed cut of green blood leaking from his forehead. “All that for a drop of blood?” Now this brings a smile to his face.
Toshinori’s legs buckle and he collapses to his knees as the weight of all his efforts proving to be vain falls upon him.
‘All Might!!’ Izuku continues to cry and scream in his head. He desperately tries to twist and shake his body free but his imprisonment is unshakable!
As the two stare on in horror, the panels Vilgax had been previously thrown through begin to slowly repair and replace themselves back into place. As the gap in the wall shrinks, an orange crustacean scuttles its way inside. It scans the arena before quickly spotting the bound greenette and hurrying off for him.
“You are finished. You have no strength left do you?” Vilgax menacingly growls before the fallen hero, his tentacles slowly snaking towards the man’s weak frame as to crush him. “Do not feel ashamed you were a worthy opponent! Not even I can deny that if we had fought each other while in your prime then I would have surely been defeated.”
“L-leave him alone!”
The monster’s tentacles cut short of reaching their target, pausing before retracting themselves back into the titan’s powerful limbs. “Aw, the youngling speaks. And here I thought that you’d forgotten how vocal cords work. Do not fret, I am not without mercy.” He returns his gaze back towards the former Number One Hero and states.
“W-what is it you want from me…? Was this not enough…?” Toshinori questions his voice just barely above a weak whisper. “Please…release the boy. You can do all you want with me after…” He knows the request is in vain but still…there’s no more he can do.
“I think not. I still have use of you and the child.” Folding his hands behind his back the Mad Titan strolls away, not fearing any retaliation at all. “As you have already put together, All For One and I have ourselves a…deal of sorts. Each promising the other resources and knowledge. Would you care to see the results of such a union?”
Neither Toshinori nor Izuku would like to see it but it’s not like either of them have a choice.
“Psyphon. Bring the abominations forth.”
“As you wish, Master.” While Psyphon is lowered down from their perch, he clicks away at the buttons on his wrist band and upon doing so another set of panels .
Like before when the Negative Nine had first entered, more ground panels open away allowing a cacophony of snarling growls to rumble out from below.
“GRAAAH!!! RAAAWWW!!! RYEEEEE!!!” And out from the pits rise a trio of grotesque and never seen before Nomu with their terrible pitch-black skin and hideously exposed brains.
Izuku trembles in his binds. “N-Nomu?!”
Toshinori’s face pales when the trio. “What? But the police-and the heroes. They-”
“Did not capture all of the League of Villain’s Nomus. After everything you’ve witnessed, you should not be surprised that your intel was…incomplete.”
“W-what are you p-planning…?”
“If you think that I simply requested a pack of mindless minions to use at my disposal, then you are gravely mistaken. No, that is why I have all of them.” He gestures to said minions perched high above on the viewing platform.
Psyphon greedily bows before the statement. “It’s an honor, Master.”
Sunder lets out a grimace in response to Psyphon’s groveling. “Brown nosing parasite.”
SevenSeven gives a nonchalant shrug in response. “Ohw oends’t ikle ogod ldo xtteoorni?”
Ignoring them, Vilgax continues with his explanation. “No, I was given these Nomu so that I may harvest their gifts.” And from out of the corners of his respirator, a face breaking grin peeks itself out from underneath. “As well as yours.”
That look. That smile. Those words. It brings a cold thundering stroke of fear to the former symbol’s heart.
After sharing another look between himself and his minion, Psyphon begins initializing yet another entryway into the arena.
From the northwest corner of the arena, another doorway folds away causing blinding lights to flood the massive dome. And from it a squadron of red drones march each lifting up a piece of heavy alien-machinery like it were a heavy palanquin.
The machine itself is massive, it’s as big as a pickup truck. With a metallic triangular front that leads to a giant battery-like structure of blue and silver metal and circuits. Which all ends with an tripod-like exhaust system at its end.
It’s an imposing machine as the drones place it down with a heavy rumble.
“I call this the Charlotte Project!” Vilgax greedily declares with an air of excitement. “This device was inspired by All For One himself. It was specifically made with the purpose of transferring one being's power into another!! And with it I shall claim your power as my OWN!!! HAHAHAHAHA!!!”
Now it all makes sense. Why he took All Might from Kamino Ward. It was all so he can claim One For All his own in and this machine. This hellish machine contains the same curse as All For One?
“T-that’s impossible…!” Toshinori is shaking like a leaf in a thunderstorm before this all -terrifying device.
“For me, nothing is impossible. However, it has yet to be tested although it was guaranteed that it will not result in permanent termination, although my inventor did use the term loosely.” The titan smirks at his own little reference. “And now All Might I grant you the honor of becoming my first test subject.”
“N-no-..!” Toshinori can’t bear the idea of anyone falling to such a device. ‘I have to destroy that machine. It cannot be allowed to exist! But-’ He can’t lift his arms nor his legs, his entire body has given up on him. ‘my body, it refuses to move!’
Vilgax’s humanoid drones grab the weakened All Might and pull him away towards the Charlotte Project.
“NO! All Might! All Might!!” Izuku almost can’t bear to watch. ‘This is horrifying. But One For All-it’s not within All Might anymore. It’s with Uraraka! So, when Vilgax realizes that-’ His blood runs cold. ‘Will he go after her next?!’ That thought alone is enough to make his heart drop dead. “ALL MIGHT!!!”
“Shhh! Keep it down kid or you're gonna give us away!”
Izuku's head snaps up, it shakes violently as it tries to find the source until he spots it perched right on top of his floating imprisonment. “K-Kraab?!”
“Shhhh!” The cybernetic crustacean shushes him as he scuttles over to the main circuit board.
Izuku bites his lips and looks around to make sure no one heard but it seems that everyone’s attention is on the Charlotte Project. “How?!”
“I snuck aboard Vilgax’s death pod.” It seemed like the most beneficial thing to do, especially after he was thrown off Uraraka’s shoulder. Plus, it was surprisingly easy especially while Vilgax was too busy killing off those poor unsuspecting heroes. “Sorry it took me so long to get to ya. I couldn’t find a way in until now.”
“Quick! You have to save All Might!”
“Can’t. They’ll see me.” Kraab explains as he starts prodding and digitally hacking at the metallic ring’s system. “I’ll release you first and then at the right moment you need to grab him and me and run for it. I know where the ships are. We might just have a chance to make a break for it if you can smash us a way out.”
Izuku understands and he’s all for the plan, but they need to act fast. “H-hurry then!”
The drones force Toshinori to his knees before the Charlotte Project's glowing barrel. It sparks with a menacing hum, roaring to life like a hungry lion about to sink its fangs into a bloody feast.
While its master places himself at the opposite end, his tentacles coiling themselves against the tripod-like handles, ready to absorb the incoming power. “Say goodbye to what makes you the Symbol of Peace!”
But there is no struggle, no fight, as Toshinori looks doom right in the eye. ‘That’s the thing Vilgax…I’ve already said my goodbyes.’ The machine roars and a blast of light pierces Toshinori’s very soul as it begins to drain away what makes All Might, All Might!
“AAAHHH!!” Toshinori cries out in anguish, the power, the absorption, feels like his own veins are being ripped right out of his body! “AAAAAAAAAAHHH!!”
“HAHAHAHAA!!” Vilgax can feel the energy coursing through the machine, as it begins stocking up the Quirk! “Yes! YESS!! The power is-”
The machine’s roaring suddenly shuts down and enters a soft hum before becoming dormant. Much to Toshinori’s relief.
“What?! NO!!!” That energy, that power, it’s washed away to nothing. “Why did it not work?!”
Psyphon hurries to inspect the machine itself while Ragnarok leaps down from above and starts a diagnostic of its systems. After a moment he has his answer. “No. The machine did its work.”
Vilgax gives him a dangerous glare. “Are you playing me for a fool?”
“No. It’s simply that…” Ragnarok pauses and gives the former Number One Hero a look of disgust. “He has no power to give.”
A long dramatic pause washes over the arena, Vilgax remains still and in clear shock of the revelation. “RAAAAGH!!!” Without warning he smashes his claws into the wall, causing the dome to shake and rattle and even the images of Earth and the moon to vanish, plunging them all into darkness.
Not a person or thing speaks a word, each too afraid that they’ll be the commander’s next murder victim if they so much as breathe.
Much to their shock, Vilgax does not rage into an uproar but instead he begins cackling at a maddening rate. “MwHahahahaha!! HAHAHAHHA HA!!! ALL FOR ONE!!!” He is both irritated yet amused, the devil pulled a fast one over him and used him to shame his own mortal enemy in case he should fall. And Vilgax played his part, oblivious to any real reward. “It would appear you left out a great many details, All For One. Well played.” He slowly turns, his giant mass making creaking shifting sounds as muscle grins against muscle. “Your power, it has been extinguished has it not?”
Toshinori bites his lip and refuses to meet the alien’s eye as if afraid that he’d turned to stone under it.
“It did. You used all you had of it during our match. But why would you risk-?” An internal gasp and it clicks. The titan slowly approaches the hero, leaning down to eye level with his tentacles just inches from the man’s face as he breathes. “Unless One For All was never at risk. You passed it on already…didn’t you?”
Again Toshinori refuses to meet his gaze while Ragnarok and Psyphon look on since neither were able to catch anything that was said.
“If you had, then it must be a student, a child, one of those you protect. I wonder which one it is.” He pulls away, standing tall above them all as he makes a menacing proclamation. “Perhaps I have one more prey item to abduct before all is said and done?”
Bolts of fright course through the two helpless humans, as their minds are plagued with images of Uraraka’s bloodied, torn body coiled within the Gran Destroyer’s bone crushing tentacles.
“But before I can claim the power for myself I am still in need of a test subject, thankfully I have three.” With a snap of his fingers the drones pull Toshinori away as the three newly acquired Nomu step forth before the Charlotte Project. “Prepare the machine!”
Psyphon grimaces at his master’s request. “But Master-”
“Do it!”
Psyphon considers the order before complying and resetting the machine once again.
And once again it roars to life, humming with a thunderous core.
And like a javelin the resulting beam pierces all three Nomus causing them all to shiver and wail with great pain, and yet their minds are incapable of having them move out of the way. “GRAAAH!!! RAAAWWW!!! RYEEEEE!!!”
The power surges forth like a tidal wave siphoning its way through a tiny tube at full force before crashing into its final destination.
“RAAAGH!!!” The surge courses through the Mad Titan, his entire body is engulfed with blazing energy causing his muscles to convulse and burn. “RAAAAAAAGH!!!”
Upon seeing his master cry out in rare pain, Psyphon panics to get control of the situation. “Shut it down, quickly! It’s too much!”
Psyphon and Ragnarok move to shut it down, but they’re cut off by the very one they’re trying to save.
“NOOOO!!!” The Mad Titan roars, his pride and stubbornness keeping him locked in place. “I shall claim this world and its gifts as my OWWWWWWN!!!”
The surge reaches its climax as the entire Charlotte Project glows an ominous blinding light that erupts like a volcano. The Nomu, under the effects of the beam, collapses looking just as withers and broken as Toshinori while Vilgax’s entire body is a glow with red burning scars and steam plumes from his veins as the machine settles down, its job entirely complete. It’s like thousands of needles are sewing themselves to his body on a molecular level, rearranging and trying to piece together this foreign power into a system it was never meant for. And with the procedure done, the Conqueror of Worlds lets out low pained groans, his breathing is choked even behind the respirator, and he stumbles forth his entire body aflame until he collapses to his knees.
“Master?! Master?! Are you alright?” Psyphon is instantly at his master’s side as the rest of the Negative Nine hop down and quickly gather around their leader.
Meanwhile, Izuku has had enough of feeling useless and watching helpless as his hero is tormented. And with the entire ship’s attention on Vilgax now is the best time to escape! “Kraab now! Please, while he’s down!”
“I’m trying!” Kraab’s been trying for the last few minutes, but this thing is locked down tight. He pokes at another circuit only to be met with a discharge of sparks that cause him to flinch. Turning away he then notices the damaged casing of the brace and watches as sparks fly from it too.
“Aw screw this!” He gives up on the latch and instead scuttles over to the sparking gap, prying it slightly more open; he then shoves his claw in causing a surge of electricity throughout the brace and the ring.
Izuku pales, he can feel the electricity practically from inside the brace. “What are you-?!”
Before he can finish, a shock of energy courses not just through his system but the brace’s as well. As it does he can feel his left arm convulse, stretch, and shift until the sensation spreads across his entire body.
Meanwhile, the Negative Nine hover over their fallen commander without any clue on what to do.
“Hey, you okay there boss?”
“Has he perished?”
“Heh! I sure as hell hope so.”
“Eh. He’d have it coming. But he ain’t dead.”
[Are all flesh bags so delicate?]
“Eh’s otn nnaog ied. Eh’s het noshTa fo hist tosyr.”
“Quickly! We must get him into one of the healing tanks so that he can recover!”
“Get away from me…” Vilgax’s suffocating inhales return as he struggles to lift his own body. And yet his pride won’t allow him to accept any form of assistance even though it’s obviously needed. “I do not-…need your-…assistance!” He finally rises to his full stature and takes a moment to observe his seemingly unchanged body And yet he can feel the newly acquired power coursing through his veins. “It worked. I can feel the power. The Quirks swirling around me and becoming attuned to my biology. It was a success which means,” In a flash his gaze locks onto the captured Number One Hero. “your power is truly gone.”
A shiver runs down Toshinori’s spine as Vilgax marches forward.
“I’m afraid that means I have no further use of you anymore, All Might.”
Toshinori can’t move, the drones’ grip are too tight, not that he even has the strength to resist them anymore. But…he can’t perish here. There’s still so much he needs to do, so much to make for…! There has to be a way out. There has to!
“Have no fear, because I am here.” Vilgax taunts, grinning evil from under his mask. “To put you out of your misery.” He finishes while raising his convulsing claw. “Your death shall not be in vain, All Might. Your death will be felt all across the cosmos!!” With a swing he brings his ferocious claw down like the judge’s hammer, aiming right for the hero’s head with a savage roar. “WRAAAGH-!!!”
“SKOOKUM KNUCKLES!!!” From out of nowhere, a statically charged fist of yellow and grey swoops in and clobbers the Mad Titan right in the dome. A thundering blast of lightning is unleashed and Vilgax is blasted back and right into the Charlotte Project!
Toshinori and the negative Nine watch with utter shock as Vilgax is ricocheted off the machine and into the far off wall with a shaking BOOM! Taking him out of the count for now.
The two drones have their heads smashed together before Toshinori finds himself being plucked up by a big and hairy arm that’s covered in yellow patchy fur.
“Soaree boys, but we gotta bounce!” Shocksquatch shouts as makes a mad dash away from the villains with Toshinori under one arm and Kraab latched to his shoulder.
“Master!!” Psyphon falls to anguish as Vilgax’s form remains unmoving.
Sunder’s jaw drops and his eyes go wide as he watches the giant ape man run for it. “The kid got loose but how?!”
“Who cares?” Nue grins his tendrils snaking as he runs his tongue over his fangs. “After that fight I’m itching for some action!”
“GET THEM!!!” Cries out the now pursuing Negative Nine.
Fortunately for Shocksquatch he has a huge head start giving him ample time to make a beeline for the opposite end of the dome. ‘That’s the spot where All Might entered which means it’s our ticket out of this kerfuffle!’
“Y-Young Midoriya…?!”
“It’s me, All Might. This is one of my new transfo-...aliens.”
Toshinori jumps a bit, although he already knew that it’s still a shock to hear it.
That looks hurts but he understands, which is why he needs to do this! “I’m soaree about everything, All Might. But I swear,” He throws himself at the wall, his fist reeled back to deliver another Skookum Knuckles! “I’ll explain everything once we’re outta this gong show!!”
Ge throws his fist forward but without any signs of warning his arm shrinks and stretches, becoming thin and bony before slamming into the unaffected wall.
*THUNK!!!*
“YAOOO!!”
“Young Midoriya?!/Kid?!” Both Toshinori and Kraab gasp as Shocksquatch’s arms turn slim and slimy.
“What-what just happened?” asks Kraab.
“You tell me.” Replied Bullfrag as he shakes his aching fist. “One second I’m an ape and then the next I devolved into an amphibian! Kraab, you mind explaining?”
The cybernetic bounty hunter pauses before bluntly replying. “Oops.”
“Oops?! Why oops?!”
“I was trying to overpower the system that held you so it would malfunction and release you. But I might have put too much juice into it. And now that watch is causing you to mis-transform at random!”
“At random?! That’s gonna be a huge pain!”
“But not as much pain as you’re gonna be, IF YOU LET THEM CATCH US!!!” The cyborg screeches as the Negative Nine descend upon them like a pack of starving wolves.
With the monstrous Nue leading the charge. “Don’t go croaking on me yet Deku!! The fun is only just BEGINNING!!! HA HA HA HA!!!”
“Sorry, but we gotta bounce!” With a salute Bullfrag hops him and the others up and away, evading Nue’s fist which goes ramming right through the panels.
He lands but is forced to leap back again as they’re nearly blasted with several laser beams.
Psyphon is enraged, frothing at the mouth at their insolence. “You’ll pay for placing a hand on my Maste-GEH!!!”
“You really need to branch out, man!” Bullfrag comments as he delivers a leaping kick to the alien’s skull-like face. “Try being your own boss for once! W-Woah!” No time to relax as he’s forced to pull Toshinori back and away from the incoming blade. “Hey, what’s your deal?”
“Uyo llidek ym rrothbe! Wno l’il akte ym eeevnrg!” SevenSeven is seething with rage as he slashes away at the frog, hero, and cyborg trio with his plasma sword.
“It was a figure of speech, my guy!” Bullfrag prepares to retaliate with a tongue lashing before once again his body shifts and turns, becoming smelly and multi-legged.
Stinkfly is left there, deadpan and startled by his own summoning. “You know what, I know a buzzkill when I see one!” With a buzzing of his wings, Stinkfly races off into the air with Toshinori still clutched under his arms. ‘If I can stay up here maybe I can-’
A stray purple laser bolt nearly takes his eye. His eyes stalks flip back around to spot an incoming SevenSeven chasing him up high with his jetpack! “Hey, that’s not fair!”
“L’il wats hist lfy! Nda laspttre yuro utsg lal ervo het rrdaee’s crenes!” With an animalistic screech SevenSeven races after the bug and quickly closes the gap.
“Ahh!! Stay away from me!” Stinkfly begs before his form changes to that of Upgrade whose left hanging in midair with Kraab and All Might. [On second thought-catch me!!]
Unable to slow down, SevenSeven crashes into the liquid bodied alien! The hit is strong enough that Upgrade loses his grip on the hero and cyborg.
SevenSeven’s shrieks are muffled and weak but the intention is clear, he’s shouting for Upgrade to get off! But the Galvanic Mechamorph isn’t going anywhere even as SevenSeven claws and pulls at his robotic flesh.
[Cool armor. Mind if I try it on!] And like some kind of cybernetic symbiote, Upgrade has completely taken over SevenSeven’s armor, making the villain a personal hostage to boot.
“AAaaaahhh!” Toshinori screams as he and Kraab plummet to their deaths.
[I got you!] The Upgraded SevenSeven shouts as he races down and plucks the two of them out from midair. And brings them to a hover just feet off the ground. [Phew. That was intense.]
Toshinori stares back at his student with wide eyes, as if he’s seeing him truly for the first time. But then his gaze shifts slightly behind the alien and his eyes grow wide with panic. “Midoriya, look out!”
[Woah-!!] Upgrade acts fast, he ejects himself out and away from the bounty hunter. And just in time as a giant robotic mighty fist comes swinging in and slams into his own teammate’s maw.
[No. Not you.] Upgrade whines as he stares up at the mechanical menace. [Just what are you made out of?!]
The blu-armored samurai of the Techadon towers over the glob and his allies. Gripping its sword and unsheathing it in an epic display.
[You want another go, big guy?!] Upgrade shoves Toshinori and Kraab away just as the Techadon’s sword slices into his nanite body.
The sound frequency produced by the tuning-fork like katana rip Upgrade’s body apart causing it to splash and splatter.
[Damn you-] Thankfully his body shifts and convulses again giving him enough strength to kick the blades away. “This time I’m putting you down for good!” Feedback rages. His tendrils spiral and swirl before lodging themselves right into the machine’s heavy blue armor. “Face my wrath! POWER GRID: TOTAL BLACKOUT!!!”
From his two head tendrils lightning blasts itself into the Techadon’s armor, while his fingers and tail drain the lightning and all excess power back out. This cycle roars and roars with bolts of lightning flying out between the connections! It’s too much for the Techadon’s wiring and circuitry to handle as its screen goes dark and its body goes limp.
Feedback cuts the circuit but not before draining the last bit of energy for himself, allowing the android to fall to its knees. “Take cover under this for now!” He orders, leaning the shutdown Techadon over Toshinori who’s politely holding Kraab in his hands. “If you get a chance, run for it!”
“Young Midoriya, wait-!!”
But Toshinori can’t get through since Feedback’s already thrown himself right back into the fray.
[Your Conductoid form is precious to you. Is it not? Then I shall rip it from the Omnitrix and feed upon its corpse!] Malware, red with his second form, has his arm shift into a blaster which begins firing upon the incoming cyclops.
Feedback doesn’t blink, racing through the rain of lasers without an ounce of fear. “Malware?! I thought you turned into pixels back on I-island!!”
[Foolish human! You cannot limit me to your own inferior Galvanic Mechamorph form!]
“And here I felt guilty about-Grrr! So, what?! Now you’re some tyrant’s lapdog?!”
[I am no servant. I am a partner! A partner to a being with access to technology beyond my own imagination!] His body morphs and shifts becoming that of a massive laser beam cannon. [With him, I am INVINCIBLE!!!]
Feedback’s form shifts into that of a glaring Lodestar. “You’re a monster.” With a flick of his claw he releases a magnetic pulse at the mutated Galvanic Mechamorph. The magnetic pull instantly has an effect, Malware’s form breaks apart and begins to splatter and thrash around like a fountain of gushing water.
“So much for being invincible.” Lodestar comments before a sharp shink slices past where his neck should be.
Peering down with a jump he finds a glowing red ax-blade lodged into the ground. Hooked on a chain that runs through under his skull. “Hey! Mind giving me a heads-up next time?!” His head spins around following the chain up to the grey goblin flying up high on a high-tech glider.
“Finally! The Omnitrix!” Sunder cannot stop grinning as he pulls back on his chain, whipping the Null Void charged ax back to his hand. “After all this time I finally have it in my sights!!”
Lodestar blinks back before his head falls to the side and he asks. “I’m sorry, but who are you? Ragnarok’s little brother or something?”
“I am Sunder, the finder of rare and precious objects!”
“So, like you’re a dumpster diver?”
That pisses the grey goblin off so much a tik mark grows out of his forehead. “DON’T YOU DARE MOCK ME!!!” He chucks his ax, and it spins like a boomerang as it races towards Lodestar’s head.
But Lodestar doesn’t dodge, instead he reels the ax in with a magnetic pull before catching it between his pincers. “You need a hobby, my guy. Might I suggest coin collecting?”
“Enough of you!!” Sunder roars, firing a pair of rockets from his glider.
Lodestar prepares to repel them when suddenly he shifts yet again just as the rockets miss his form and strike the ground, causing a blast of smoke.
“Where did you go?!” Sunder roars, reeling his ax back in and failing to notice the extra weight it had gained.
He searches the smoke to no avail, gliding around in a circle when suddenly. “Woah-Aaah!!”
His glider is going haywire, letting out smoke and firing at random. His rockets and bombs fall to the arena below causing the other members of the Negative Nine to run for duck and cover.
“Hey!” Rojo shouts. “Get a hold of that thing!!”
“I’m trying!” Sunder shouts back, panicking. “But something’s gone wrong! Waaah!!” His own glider spins and chucks him right off much to a little alien’s delight.
“Actually, everything is going exactly right.” Grey Matter lets out a massive grin as he tinkers away at the glider’s wiring. “A little alien knowhow and the glider becomes a toaster!”
He fires more rockets, splattering Malware again along with the squadron of drones.
Amongst the chaos Ragnarok runs through the onslaught of bombs with rage painted across his face. “That youngling is such a pest!”
Rojo runs past, aiming her arm cannon up at the crazy glider. “Then let’s exterminate him, already!”
Together they fire beams of solar and heat but the glider’s too slippery and small to hit.
“Nice try, Miss! But don’t go underestimating me!!” Grey Matter screeches in triumph, turning the glider’s aim at them both and diving at them like a fighter pilot willing to Kamikaze!
Grey Matter jumps off and the two villains are forced to run but it’s too late: the glider crashes between them with a BANG, detonating upon impact and sending them both flying in opposite directions.
“He’s insane!” Rojo shrieks as she deploys a small bubble forcefield to shield herself from the shrapnel.
“He’s a child.” Ragnarok rages. “One that I plan to put down permanently!!” Before he can make a move however, his body suddenly turns cold and stiff. “What?! No!!”
“You really aren’t the brightest bulb around are you?” Big Chill comments as he fades into existence, admiring his own handy work of burying Ragnarok in a sheer block of ice. “Now this is the second time I put your plans on ice.”
Meanwhile, Toshinori isn’t sure what to make of the scene. On one hand he so desperately wants to help and protect his student but on the other with all eyes said student now is the perfect time to move out and seek an escape route. “This is insane.”
“The kid can handle himself!” Kraab protests while perched onto Toshinori’s shoulder. “We just need to find the way out so we can all bail.”
“Agreed.” They watch closely as Big Chill morphs into Wildmutt who begins clawing and biting away at anyone who dares get near. “He’s doing well for now but…that’s only a matter of time.”
“KRAAAB!!!”
The two spin around finding an enraged Psyphon with a bloody lip and seething expression. “You traitor! How dare you side with the enemy?!”
Kraab glares back, not willing to give this creep the satisfaction. “Hey, it's not my fault the kid pays me better!”
Psyphon is left stunned. “What?! AAAH!!!” And then he’s left flat on the ground as Wildmutt leaps onto him before bounding off again with a beastly roar.
‘The kid’s doing great.’ thinks Kraab. ‘But the old fart is right. He’s getting lucky but that’ll soon change…when Vilgax gets up.’ If that happens then…he’ll have to consider his options.
“RAAAAAWR!!!” Wildmutt lunges at Rojo but she jumps back and dodged but she’s unable to evade the beast’s backhand which knocks her back.
“Grrr! You little BITCH!!!” Rojo unleashes a hell storm of laser beams at the dog just as its body shifts and convulses. And with a ZOOM a blue blur zips away from the incoming fire.
“Last-time-we-fought-was-on-the-racetrack!” XLR8 voice runs itself at high speed as he zips around the edges of the arena. “But-we-never-had-ourselves-a-proper-race!” He changes trajectory, and like a bullet he races right at Rojo. “Let’s-find-out-what’s-faster, my-feet-or-your-AIM!?!”
Rojo continues to rain down bolts of laser but XLR8’s too fast even as he launches a powerful beam!
The speedster drops to the ground, using his momentum to slide right up under Rojo’s defenses.
“SKIDMARK DAZER!!!” He kicks his feet up so fast at Rojo that they're nothing but a series of blurs and afterimages, as he delivers nearly a hundred kicking jabs to her upper body and face!
“GLAAAAH!!!” It’s too much for her to take as the series of blows knocks her right off her feet.
XLR8 watches her fall before with a zip and spin he’s back on his feet in a blink of an eye and looking mighty proud of himself to boot. “Hehe. And-here-I-thought-the-Negative-Nine-was-supposed-to-be-tough.”
“Young Midoriya! Don’t let your guard down!”” Toshinori warns from the sidelines before his eyes grow even wider with panic. “Look out behind you!!”
“Behind-me?”
An arena shaking SLAM crashes down behind the raptor as a snarky growl rumbles behind him.
Nue’s menacing figure shadows over the alien like that of a crocodile overlooking a tiny lizard. “Long time no see, Deku. You having fun yet?”
“N-Nue.” XLR8 slides back, wary of the monster’s many tricks. “How’ve-you-been?”
He shrugs, feigning a friendly smile. “Oh, I’m doing great. You?”
“Ehehe, um, well-it-could-be-going-better.”
“Yeah, well, it’s about to get- A WHOLE LOT WORSE!!!” He lunges, baring his fanged filled maw as he swats at the speedster away with the back of his Lodestar-like pincer.
It’s an easy feat for XLR8 to zip out of the way, however, and begins his own onslaught of speeding jabs and slices, zooming all around Nue’s frame and attacking him from every angle imaginable.
“You’re so annoying!” Nue roars he swats XLR8’s zipping form to no avail, even firing off blasts of water and shards after him.
But the onslaught keeps on coming, however, it’s nothing more than knives attacking the shell of a heavily armored tank.
“You think something that weak is gonna hurt me? Bring it on Deku! Give me everything you got!!”
“You-want-it. Then-take-it!!” XLR8 begins spinning around, forming a ring with Nue at its center. The ring begins to close in, as XLR8’s sharp blade stick out like a wall of spinning blades.
“Alright, I admit it, this is pretty good.” However, XLR8 has an obvious weakness. And with a flick of his pincer, the magnetic pull generated un-lodges the panels in XLR8’s path.
“GAH!!!” His foot slams into the panel and throws him right off course like a dummy crash pilot! But then with a crack he’s whipped up by Nue’s tendrils and pulled in like a fish on a hook.
“Hehehehe. Checkmate, Deku.”
“Ugh…” XLR8 doesn’t know how to respond to this but, fortunately, Four Arms knows exactly what to say. “Round 4, Uuichi! Raaah!!”
Using his free hands, he grabs Nue by the tendrils and pulls him in, throwing the giant off balance before pummeling his face with a pair of punches. It’s a One Two One Two of punches as Four Arms keeps the mutant off balance by pulling and whipping his enemy’s limbs round while simultaneously attacking.
“Hey Nue! You having fun yet?!” Four Arms asks as he begins spinning Nue around by his tendrils and arms. “Because I sure am!!”
“You bastard!!”
“Hehe! Hey, you remember this one?! It’s my, STRONG ARM TOSS!!!” He spins and spins and with the build up momentum Four Arms throws Nue with all his might. Right. At. The. WALL!!!
“RAAAAAHHH!!!” Nue is sent crashing right into the wall, with a deafening boom that sends shrapnel and panels flying everywhere!
“You no good bastard.” Nue growls in pain as he un-lodges himself from the wall. “You’ll pay for that.” From the side he spots Toshinori backing away from the Techadon as the android begins to regain power. “Oh, Deku!”
“Hm?”
“Try stopping this!” His right tendril coils itself around his crystallized right arm which prepares to fire shards of diamonds as electricity begins to discharge across the improvised ammo.
Four Arms gets ready, all four of his arms up and ready to catch the incoming projectiles.
A sly evil grin stretches across Nue's face as he swings his aim not towards Four Arms but towards the exposed Number One Hero instead.
“NO!!!” Four Arms panics and rushes towards the attack as Nue open fires upon him.
Toshinori is left stunned, exposed, and unable to act as the electrified shards fly with the intent to kill. Not even Kraab has time to react as Four Arms suddenly rushes in, his back to the shards, as he scoops up the two of them.
“All Might!” As Four Arms shouts his form morphs to that of Terraspin and just as the electrified shards pierce into his back with detonating sparks. “AAAHHH!!!”
“Young Midoriya!!/Kid, hang in there!!’
But Terraspin takes it, holding Toshinori tight in his flippers. “I’m fine. Are you okay…?” He asks, trying to grin and bear it with little to no success.
Toshinori can almost admonish him for that. “Don’t worry about me! Worry about-”
“GAAAH!!”
SevenSeven’s purple blade slices against the turtle’s shoulder before he and the others are kicked aside by the hovering assassin.
Thrown off balance and left stumbling, Terraspin is totally exposed when Sunder rushes in and clobbers him with the chain of his ax wrapped around his fist.
He’s barely thrown off to the side before Rojo rushes in, in her own gauntlet firing up and powering her charged fist that sends Terraspin off in the opposite direction!
Through all this he somehow manages to keep his footing but it’s all for not as a beam of solar energy blasts him from behind, thanks to the smirking Ragnarok.
“GAAAAAA-!!!” His, Kraab’s, and Toshinori’s wail before they are left frozen in place and caught is suspension by one of Psyphon’s stasis beam.
This leaves them all totally and utterly useless before the massive stature of the Techadon. Malware soon joins the machine with what might be a smug smirk. [I find revenge comes best with a side of irony.]
Malware’s body oozes over the android before combing himself with the mecha-monster’s fist causing it to upgrade into a demonized gauntlet. [Now have a taste of our RED DEATH SMASH.”]
The demonized arm erupts with flame-like energy before the spiked fist comes SMASH down onto Terraspin like judgment’s hammer!! Knocking them all right out of stasis and crashing into the center of the dome with an eruption on flying shrapnel and panels!!
And with that strike, Terraspin is left lying on the ground, limp, and with his friends still protectively clutched in his arms.
“Midoriya!!” Toshinori tries to shake the lad but he’s not responding. “Is he-?!”
“He’s alive.” Kraab confirms, using his scanners to check for a pulse just as Terraspin begins to stir. “But-…”
They may not be for long as they find themselves encircled by the ravenous and bloodthirsty band of the Negative Nine. Like sharks to blood they find themselves surrounded by these vile, red-eyed fiends, their bloodlust unquenched and unsatisfied.
As Toshinori runs through their options, the turtle stirs and begins to rise, letting the man slide off to the side as he prepares to fight on.
But Toshinori refuses to let go of the flipper, begging Terraspin to stop. “Young Midoriya…please, you’ve done enough.”
“No, it’s not…” Terraspin coughs back while working through the pain. “This is my mess…I’m the one that needs to fix it.”
‘Young Midoriya…’ Toshinori is left in shock-and-awe of this young man’s resolve. And yet his heart won’t let him be rest assured. ‘Even after everything he’s gone through, through all the struggles. He’s grown stronger, but…I’m holding him back. I’m a burden!’ And the sad truth is it may have been this way far longer than this; perhaps he’s been a weight on this young man’s shame for a long time… ‘He’s trapped here because of me.’ He should have abandoned him, he should have escaped without him and run back to his friends and family. But he won’t do that, that’ll be the last thing he does. How does he know? Well, he knows this young hero, and his protective nature. This is what’s running through the former Symbol’s head as Terraspin places himself between him and the red eyed villains, ‘How ironic, saved by the very first alien I ever encountered.’ He thinks recalling the second time he met this brave young soul. He was always so determined even in the face of despair he always gave it his all, always moved forward no matter the obstacles that slowed him down. Like the turtle he’s not about speed but the will to keep going, to learn, to grow, and never give up. ‘Then that must make me the hare, the hare that was so caught up in his own glory to realize the wider world around him.’
So, now there’s a choice before him: does he finish this race to the end of the line, or does he sit and watch as the turtle crosses first?
He doesn’t even think of an answer as his body moves on its own, throwing itself in front of his precious student with arms up wide. “STOOOOP!!!”
Surprisingly the Negative Nine are brought to a sudden halt, because despite the man’s weak constitution, that air that presence still feels like they’re staring into the ferocious gaze of All Might, The Symbol of Peace.
Even Terraspin is in shock-and-awe of the man’s amazing resolve and courage. “All Might…”
“YOU WILL NOT LAY ANOTHER FINGER ON HIM!!!”
None of them dare to make a move, none of them blink nor breath.
However, only one has the defiance, the will, to stand before such a legend. “Fine.” Nue’s crystalized arm shifts and stretches becoming a massive scythe of diamonds. “He’ll watch as your blood coats this ship.”
Toshinori doesn’t flinch, he doesn’t blink, nor does he give in to his fear as Nue raises the scythe over his head.
However, a quivering Terraspin can’t stand by and allow this to happen but as if in slow motion he watches as the scythe begins to slice down at All Might. He begins to race forward. To stop it. To catch his hero. To save his life! But he’s not gonna make it!!
“Enough.”
And like that it’s like someone hit the pause button on the remote, and Nue’s crystalized scythe comes to a complete stop with the tip just barely piercing the unflinching Toshinori’s scalp.
The Mad Titan slowly rises, his breathing choked and labored which can be heard through the static of his respirator. “Not one of you…are permitted…to finish them. That honor…that privilege…BELONGS TO ME!!!”
The Negative Nine instantly step back, their preservations are so strong that they will not risk earning the Grand Destroyer’s ire.
And yet is he really capable of much? His body is pulsing with some foreign energy. His muscles are inflamed and begin to glow with red hot irritation, almost like his blood is on fire as his own biology betrays the foreign DNA that’s been injected into his system.
None look away, not even as the Omnitrix finally powers down with a set of low beeps, and in a flash of green Izuku Midoriya is left standing before this massive titan.
‘Not good. Heck of a time to timeout.’ he reaches for the watch only to stop and blink in confusion at the still glowing green dial. ‘Must be because of that energy surge. It must have gotten some extra energy off from that!’ He grips it tight and prepares to dial up a new form. ‘I need to act quick before he-’
“Izuku Midoriya.”
His breath hitches. His blood runs cold. And his heart stops as the Grand Destroyer speaks to him directly.
“Why are you humans such a frustrating lot?” He questions, not ironically nor to taunt, but of genuine interest. He wants to know. “For years the Firebreather has been breathing down my neck and turning my operations to ash. And then his own progeny acquires my ultimate prize and keeps it out of my reach no matter how many soldiers I send after it.” He turns his gaze to the dome above and even though the image of Earth is no longer there he knows it hovers just below his ship. “And then there’s their home. Their planet, this wretched world. So vast with champions that stand against any chaos. All led by a protector so powerful it even forced the likes of me to limit my movements.” His claws tighten into a bleeding fist as his muscles and veins pulse like a raging fire. “Frustrating. Why are you humans so frustrating?! Well, No more! Here and now, I shall bring an end to all those that STAND IN MY WAY!!!” His claws unravel becoming a web of tentacles with glowing veins and rippling scarlet energy. “Face me now, Izuku Midoriya! Or you shall never see tomorrow!!”
Izuku, Toshinori, and Kraab are left in a shambled daze of utter despair.
However, amongst all those gathered only Psyphon finds the will to speak up. “But M-Master you are not fit for battle! Y-you’re not s-stable! The power, the Quirks they-”
“Are within me.” Vilgax resummons his arms, allowing his muscles to flex and stretch. “They are mine to command.” He can feel them, this new surge of power and strength, it’s a marvel of pain that he has not felt for centuries and yet it’s so exhilarating. “And what better opportunity to test this new strength than against the being that has been the pain in my side after all this time?” After all these months of healing, plotting, and failures it’s finally come for him to unleash all the rage he’s harbored for this accursed planet. “Come, Izuku Midoriya. Come and face your DOOM!!!”
A part of Izuku, that small child in him, wants to run and hide, to cry for help. But his body refuses to back down from even this immense threat. ’Vilgax the Conqueror of Worlds… This is the first time we’ve met but…it feels like you’ve always been looming over me. From the beginning,’ He recalls every moment from when he found that watch hidden away in the trash, meeting Thirteen and Principal Nezu, his first encounter with Ochaco, the Entrance Exam, and his first few days of classes.
‘So much has happened up till now, I’ve grown so much, made so many friends.’ His classmates’ and friends’ faces flash in his vision from Ochaco, to Todoroki, to Iida, to everyone else. And of course, to his Mom and Dad, Thirteen, All Might and all his teachers.
‘So many wonderful memories.’ Like the Sports Festival, his Internship, and his Father Son Road Trip.
‘Bad ones too.’ Like Uuichi’s betrayal, the U.S.J., Stain and the Hosu incident, his terrible Final Exam, the attack on I-island, the raid at the Training Camp, and now this.
‘I’ve been hurt and sad and angry, but…for the first time in my life I’ve finally been living my dream.’ Of being the hero, of saving others with all he’s got. All so they can live their lives with smiles on their faces.
‘I’ve saved others. I’ve inspired and helped them. I’ve made mistakes but I’ve been learning from them all!’ He grips the Omnitrix ready and willing to put it all on the line for everyone else’s sake! 'Everything till now has been leading up to this. Leading to this moment!!’
“Choose wisely.”
The adrenaline vanishes and he’s left frozen once again before the Mad Titan’s speech.
“Choosing the wrong form could mean the difference between survival and tragedy.”
This leaves the boy stumbling for a moment, his mind unable to process what to do.
“Young Midoriya…” Toshinori’s voice reaches him, causing the boy to hesitate as the old warrior begs him to stand down. “Please, I may not fully comprehend what’s happening but please don’t fight.”
The boy is left shocked, unable to process the request.
“If you do…you may never…” A shadow lingers over Toshinori’s face as he’s unable to finish his own dark statement.
And Izuku understands he does, he knows the risk however… “But if I don't stand up to him, who will?”
The question makes the former Number One jump with a spark, a tiny almost unnoticed spark of hope.
“All of our friends, teachers, and family are down there. If I don’t stop this titan here then what will stop him from hurting all of them? I can’t sit by as others are hurt. I want to save them all. And be able to smile.” He stops keeping his gaze locked onto the alien conqueror with his back to Toshinori. But even from behind the old, wounded warrior can sense the sparkle in this kid’s eye. “That’s something I learned from you…All Might.”
Tears…begin to slide down the old man’s sunken face. He knows he can’t stop this; he can’t stop anything as the young man grips his watch with the convictions of a true hero.
“It’s Hero Time!!” That iconic flash of green becomes a flare of fire as Heatblast explodes onto the scene with a rage only comparable to that of one Katsuki Bakugou. With the will to fight raging in his heart Heatblast thrusts his arms forward in order to unleash a devastating blast. “LORD EXPLOSION MURDER!!!”
The resulting fire blast is a glorious display of a beam of flames with billowing heat that results in a cacophony of explosions followed by a path of melted heated metal. “When I’m done you’ll be nothing but a plate of fried calamari, Vilgax!!”
“Such firepower. Such tenacity.” Vilgax speaks with a gentle calmness even as the eruption of flames grows ever closer. And yet his eyes, his eyes begin to gleam with an almost supernatural red glow. “Such an utter waste.” Suddenly a pair of ruby red beams of pure energy project from his eyes and pierce that eruption of flames until it’s nothing but clouds of wisps and embers before blasting into the Pyronite’s chest and releasing a detonation of explosions of their own.
“AAAAHHH!!!” Somehow Heatblast feels like he’s on fire as he’s blasted back and away through the arena.
“Midoriya!!” Toshinori cries out with his heart dying because he can’t help.
Even Kraab wants to get in there. “We have to help him! He’s not gonna-”
“Oh, no you don’t!” Nue grabs the two of them, wrapping them up in his tendrils as he drops a heavy Water Hazard-like arm over the former hero’s skinny shoulders. “You’re gonna stand back and watch with the rest of us. Hehehe!”
Meanwhile, Heatblast manages to correct his course, using his flames to stabilize his unwilling flight. ‘That attack, it wasn’t his own. It was a Quirk!’
“Omega Beams!!” Once again Vilgax unleashes his new power and another round of ruby rays charge after the alien-child.
Heatblast sees them coming and manages to rocket himself to the side much like Bakugou. “Explosive, but easy to read!! Huh?!”
The beams don't explode into the ground like he expected but instead they suddenly make a sharp zig-zagging turn right at him!
“No way!!”
‘They’re following me?!’ The beams give chase, literally pursuing after him as he rockets and flies about the arena. But they don’t stop, they don’t fly off course, they stay hot on his flaming hot heels no matter how much he tries to juke them. ‘All For One, just what kind of Quirks did you juice those Nomus with?! Just how many are there?!’ He tries his ebay to counter by unleashing his own beam of condensed flames.
“Turbulent Exhale!!” The front of Vilgax’s respirator slides open allowing him to release a massive gale wind from his lungs so powerful that it blows the flames away.
Heatblast sidesteps the incoming wind with a grudging irritation. ‘Damn it! After watching his fight against All Might I thought keeping my distance and making this a long distance fight would be to my advantage but at this rate I won’t even tickle him!’ His feet melt the panels as he suddenly races forth like a blazing race car. ‘If I want a chance to win this then I’ll have to get up close and personal!’ His fist is set ablaze with a roaring passion. “RAAAGHHH!!!”
With an easy flick of his arm, Vilgax’s tentacles catch the incoming fireball with ease, stopping him dead in his tracks along with his flames. “Pathetic. Is this really all you can do with the Omnitrix’s power at your disposal.”
“Let me go! I said…LET ME GO!!!” Heatblast’s fire flares as he pulls and pries at his binds but Vilgax doesn’t even flinch in the face of all this burning heat.
“It’s insulting to think that such a primitive being has been slipping through my grasp after all this time.” His free claw slowly inches closer towards the Omnitrix and no matter what Heatblast does he can’t stop what’s about to happen. “I will show you exactly what it’s capable of.” His single claw touches the Omnitrix’s faceplate and in that moment the alien device flashes green.
And in that flash, the overwhelming fire vanishes and Izuku falls to the ground, accidentally slipping through the titan’s grip. Coughing and choking on the residual heat and smoke left by his previous form. “I-I’m human? H-How did you-...? But Master Control! It’s-”
“I require no Master Control function.” Vilgax explains with a cold eerie vexation. “Don’t you see Izuku Midoriya? You never truly understood the Omnitrix power. Only I am worthy of wielding such a weapon!”
Izuku is shaking, hesitating, as his quivering fingers subconsciously rise towards the watch.
“Go ahead. Choose another alien. This will only bring a smile to my face if you are giving this battle your all.”
His nerves finally cause him to snap as he slams the Omnitrix with a deafening wail. “AAAAAAAHHHH!!!” And from it a giant ball of marigold rolls and races across the arena like a giant out of control bowling ball.
“So, you’ve chosen your Arburian Pelarota form.” Vilgax comments watching closely as Cannonbolt’s body rolls and rolls all across the dome.
After gaining enough speed and power the living bowling ball collides into Vilgax’s side. The Grand Destroyer takes a swipe at him but his claws slide off the spinning shell with little purchase. All before Cannonbolt is off again to pick up more speed.
“I must admit it, but I never knew such a peaceful race could deliver such devastating attacks. I commend you for your creativity and adaptability.”
Cannonbolt tries not to give him a chance to finish when he suddenly launches himself up into the air before plummeting down like a meteor.
The Conqueror counters, he lifts his hand and generates a golden laser shield. It’s massive and see-through, hexagonal with a slightly medial-shield like design. And it holds perfectly against Cannonbolt’s assault, absorbing the impact while holding the spinning Cannonbolt back. ““However, you are reckless! Your inexperience and naivety of youth limit not just your strength but your mind!” He raises his opposite fist high, and it becomes encased in a bone made gauntlet. “Bio-Fist: Marrow !!” He brings the fist down onto the Arburian Pelarota’s shell with a sickening crack and a thundering slam into the floor.
“Ugh…” Cannonbolt unfurls, laid dazed on the ground with his soft underbelly completely exposed. But instead of going for the kill Vilgax instead presses his claw into the Omnitrix again; causing the armored alien to revert back into his human self.
“If you had any ounce of wisdom you’d realize how futile it is to stand against me. You lack understanding of what’s truly at stake here.”
“Why are you doing this…?” Izuku begins to push himself off the ground as bits of blood drips out from the side of his lips. “What is this all for?”
“Something greater than yourself.”
“Raaah!!” Growing frustrated Izuku doesn’t even take a second to look at who he dials next, because in a flash Diamondhead rises to face the challenge ahead. “Eat diamond, creep!!”
“Seagle Shield!!” Once again Vilgax generates another golden laser shield to intercept the rain of flesh piercing shards. “The Omnitrix may have merged with your DNA, but it does not make it yours!” With a thrust and a swing, he dissipates the attack before lashing out with his vile tentacles.
Diamondhead’s too slow to evade as the tentacles grab him from all ends.
“All you’ve been doing is using it as a play toy! As a means to play a hero!!”
Diamondhead struggles and tries to produce spikes of crystal from his hide and forearms to pierce through the tentacles. But it only spurs the Mad Titan’s rage further.
“Inflame!!” His muscles burn with pain but it’s all a consequence of power as his muscle’s strength grows tenfold; his tentacles squeeze down on the Petrosapien with such immense strength that his spikes of crystals begin to shatter and break.
“AAAAH!!” Cries in pain as he’s lifted into the air.
“You hold the key to a power struggle so ancient, so vast! It is beyond your feeble comprehension! Raaahh!!” With a roar the Grand Destroyer throws his victim down, burying him into the ruined panels below.
“Then explain!” Diamondhead bellows after tanking that throw. “Explain what its full potential is!!”
Oh he’ll be very pleased to explain. “Picture an entire army. Each in command of an Omnitrix and under my command! I will be invincible! I will rule the UNIVERSE!!!” He holds his fists in triumph as he makes this mighty declaration to the cosmos. “And the only thing standing between me and my destiny is you.”
He holds his claw out to his side as a dark inky liquid oozes from between his muscles and veins, all pouring out and converging to his palm where this inky ooze merges together in the form of a deadly onyx scimitar. “Infernal Sword!!” Vilgax delivers a devastating swing to Diamondhead’s side, totally bodying him to the ground where he belongs.
“AAAAAAAHHH!!” Diamondhead wails in pain, as his frame goes down.
With a crack Vilgax’s tentacle whips out and slashes the Omnitrix, once again reverting the poor boy back to his meek human form. The force of the whip was so strong that the boy is sent back, skidding off the ground like a pebble over water.
“No! Please!” Toshinori cries out, Kraab too is in utter shock and unable to peel his eyes away. Toshinori is desperate, however, desperate to stop this madness but he is unable to escape from Nue’s bone crushing grip. “Nue! He was your friend! You have to stop this!” Toshinori begs, with tears in his eyes and a bleeding heart.
However it only seems to trigger the mutant's own fury. “He was never my friend! He never was…” There’s some slight hesitation as his spare arm hovers over his pocket back pocket and caresses that old cracked watch. His expression softens as he thinks back to the watch’s significance but then he buries those weird emotions down in favor of a crazed and malicious grin. “And why should I stop this? Afterall, it’s everything this Quirkless loser’s ever deserved. Hehehehehe!”
“Y-you're a villain…” Izuku is choking on his own mirth and bile, puking at his own feet as he struggles to get back up. “I’ll stop you….! I won’t let you bring harm to my home…! That’s what I’m going to do…! That’s what All Might would do!!” A fire has been lit and it will not burn out so easily. “I am the hero known as Deku! And I will defeat you, Vilgax!!”
With another slam of the watch, Wildvine sprouts into existence and unleashes a wave of vines and tentacles of his own at the monster!
But just like when he was faced with flames or death by crush, Vilgax is again unflinching before this danger. “You speak of All Might with such admiration. But of course, you would. He’s the Symbol of Peace. The Number One Hero! Such grand titles those are!” His gaze unleashes another round of ruby rays, this time so fast Wildvine can’t even process them as they pierce his head and incinerate the top half of his body! “Can you even understand what kind of weight titles can have?!”
Somehow through the darkness and earring pain, he can hear him, Wildvine can make out the Mad Titan’s words even as his entire body regrows, although returning with a splitting headache. But just as he recovers Vilgax once again strikes the Omnitrix with another flick of his reach.
This is getting really really frustrating for Izuku before he lunges back as a jaw snapping Ripjaws.
“I am Vilgax the Conqueror of Worlds! The Mad Titan! The Gran Destroyer! You think I bestowed these titles upon myself?!” His fist morphs once again into a Bio-Fist but this time it takes on the makeup of a spiny conch shell before plowing it into the lunging Ripjaws’ spine.
Ripjaws gasps for breath as he’s struck and as he bounces off the ground he is greeted with whip of tentacles to the chest that sends him flying back and reverting back to human.
“You think All Might granted himself his titles?! Even All For One is known across Earth’s underworld as the Symbol of Fear!! No! Our titles were forged through battle! Through fire and blood! Through bitter and unrelenting SACRIFICES!!”
Izuku skids and bounces off the ground but through sheer willpower he flips himself over even as he’s knocked back and actually manages to grab and active the Omnitrix before falling again. And as Big Chill he finally has enough sense to think. Even for a moment to phase through the ground, however, even when intangible his back still hits the ground hard confirming that it is indeed impossible to run away. And so with no other choice, his wings unfurl and he races back into danger and releases a freezing blizzard back at his opponent.
“We bear them like trophies after conquering many great feats! After overcoming struggles that would break someone like you!!”
He waits for the blue moth to get close before summoning his Infernal Sword.
Big Chill becomes intangible in response but it’s useless when the dark black strikes his back and slams him down. With the bug unmoving, Vilgax lifts him up and flicks him away while simultaneously resetting the Omnitrix again. Big Chill is thrown across the arena and is sent crashing into the wall. A cloud of frost and shrapnel explode out, completely obscuring him from view as the Omnitrix reverts its host again.
“But what of you?!” Vilgax asks while waiting for his victim to reemerge. “What great feats have you accomplished?! What titles have you earned?!”
“RAWR!!!” Rath appears, bouncing out from the frost and dust like a vengeful beast.
“You never earned the name Deku; it was a name given to you by arbitrary means! And as for the Omnitrix,” His muscles Inflame, becoming that much stronger before delivering a powerful punch to the maneater’s skull.
Rath falls at the titan’s feet. And is useless to stop Vilgax’s tentacle from slithering under and reverting him back to a boy.
“It was never yours! It never belonged to you! You never earned its power!”
Still unwilling to surrender, Izuku lunges up, slamming the Omnitrix again, and delivers a bellowing roar as his lungs morph and expand. “RAAAAAAWR!!!” Humungousaur rises, towering over the likes of Vilgax as he brings his fist down like a giant hammer!
“The only one who’s earned the right to wield it is MEEEE!!!” Summoning his Seagle Shield Vilgax stops the incoming slam before using his Turbulent Breath against the dinosaur’s face.
The skin-peeling wind blast smacks into Humungousaur causing him to stumble back and be tripped up by Vilgax’s tentacles, causing him to fall.
Toshinori and Kraab let out sharp gasps as the Negative Nine smirk and jeer, sensing the end of this match. They can almost already see the blood that will soon be pooling at the bottom of this dark hellish-arena.
But much to their surprise and even Vilgax’s, Humungousaur is not down and out yet. “I’M…NOT…DONE YET. I…WON'T…GIVE UP! NOT EVER!!” With a painful howl the nine-foot behemoth begins to rise albeit with shaky legs and an even shakier constitution. But even so his body begins to grow and grow, slowly but surely towering over the Mad Titan as he takes on his gigantic form. “RAAAAAWWWRRR!!!”
“Such spirit. I must admit it but you remind me of someone…” Or rather a version of a certain someone. “He was a naive fool as well.” Until that fateful day that everything changed, and a new being was born from the ashes.
Ignoring the growing behemoth at his front, Vilgax turns his attention to his most loyal lackey. “Psyphon, now is the time!”
Psyphon, for once, does not argue or complain instead a cruel smile stretches across his black lips and he begins typing away at his wrist pad. Resulting in a section of nearby panels to slide away and begin to reveal some other strange machine.
Vilgax awaits its arrival, however, his moment is interrupted by the roar of the behemoth-sized Humungousaur.
“RAAAAAAWR!!!” His giant fist comes hurtling downward, like a meaty meteor that’s soul desire is to crush those under its weight.
“Inflame!! Bio-Fist: Fangs!! Seagle Shield!!” Vilgax releases a combination of Quirks, his muscles flare, his fist becomes coated in animalistic fangs and teeth with the Seagle Shield projecting from his fist.
The two opposing forces collide into a brilliant shockwave of gold and green aftershocks, both unwilling to back down. However, it’s too much, the mixing of these Quirks are too great even for the likes of such a beast. As Vilgax gives a mighty roar of triumph as he his burning arm extends forth and breaks through Humungousaur’s assault. “RAAAAAAAAGH!!!”
Humungousaur’s fist is thrusted aside, and he can only watch as this amalgamation of Quirks barrels into his side, right in the same spot that All Might’s own wound sits. And he unleashes a blood splattering roar as the golden glowing fang-bared fist digs into his stomach. “RWAAAAAAAA!!!”
Toshinori witnesses the fall in slow-motion, he sees the dinosaur’s knees give out from under such weight and pain, and he falls, collapsing backwards like a giant redwood chopped down far before its end. The resounding fall is dome shattering and ship shaking.
And like salt on a wound the Omnitrix tiredly times out. *BEEP! Beep! Beep…*
The giant is swallowed up in a flash of red, vanishing, and leaving a bloodied and bruised Izuku Midoriya lying in his previous form’s massive imprint as he lays there motionless and in defeat.
With such a behemoth down Vilgax has ample time to inspect his newly arrived weapon. It’s another large device, with a cylindrical design with a green globe on its top while it’s being stood up on a set of claw-like legs. His tentacles wrap around the Extraction device gripping it at its center while a single tentacle clings to the control handle. He then marches over the still conscious boy, looming over him like a giant.
“You-*Cough!*” Still sprawled on the ground, Izuku gags while trying to deliver one last act of defiance. “The Omnitrix-*Cough!* will never be yours…*Cough!* It’s bound to me *Cough!* DNA…”
His act of defiance is admirable but oh so amusing to the Grand Destroyer. “For some time now, I have been wondering what kind of legacy you would leave behind when you're gone. But now I know.”
Suddenly he thrusts the device down at Izuku, almost as if he’s going to impale him on those claw like stands but instead of striking flesh the claws pierce the ground around the boy’s left arm, thus surrounding the Omnitrix. “When my work is complete. Not a soul will remember your name. No one will know of the pitiful being known as Deku!! Not one being in this entire universe will call you a HERO!!!”
The machine bursts to life and suddenly the Omnitrix unleashes a sphere of green light that propels the device back.
“Gaah-RAAAAGH!!!” Not so easily deterred, Vilgax brings the device back down, breaking through the orb of light with shattering strength. And from the center of the device’s base a large needle-like mechanism jets out and locks itself to the Omnitrix faceplate causing an array of green lightning to discharge across the dome.
“AAaah! AAAAAAAH!!! AAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!!!!” It hurts, it hurts so much, the Omnitrix…it feels like his own heart is being ripped right out of his chest! That every surge of energy is lighting his blood on fire causing him to choke and tear up as his ears begin to ring. But even through the ringing he can hear his own wails, his own cries, but not just his there is an echo and an echo of a scream as if the Omnitrix itself was screaming in pain. “AAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!!!!”
“NO!!! Stop It!!! PLEASE, SPARE HIM!!!” Toshinori thrashes, or at least tries to, in a desperate attempt to escape Nue’s grasp.
But neither he nor Kraab have the strength to help. “He’s just a kid! STOOOP!!!”
One final wail pierces their ears as the Omnitrix’s band begins to split and it struggles to stay bound to the boy’s flesh. “AAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!!!!”
“YOUNG MIDORIYA!!!”
With a chilling snap the Omnitrix is forcibly released and inhaled right into the extraction device before ejected out and into the glowing globe at the end of the machine. And just like that the dome falls to silence as the Omnitrix is left in suspended animation within its new prison.
It. Is. Done.
“Yes. Yes! Finally!! HAHAHAHAHAAAA!!!”
Vilgax’s laughter rages across the entire ship as the Negative Nine watch on with either great interest or chilling fear. Nue grins, releasing Toshinori who falls to his knees in despair and so too does Kraab fall. Both unable to look away from the weak, teary eyed boy who lays motionless after being dealt such a defeat by the hands of Vilgax the Conqueror of Worlds.
“After all this time! The Omnitrix, is MIIIIIINE!!!”
Notes:
Like our dear heroes, I hope you all have been transported away to an unknown world that's full of terrifying truths but also wonderful new adventures! Well, I guess in Deku and All Might’s case it’s not so wonderful now is it? Will our heroes be able to escape Vilgax’s ship? Will their faith in each other continue to fall or rise? Who was All Might’s jailcell neighbor? Are there others coming to save them?! And what is to become of the Omnitrix now?! These are all important questions!!
Let’s all find out together! Next time!
*So, Vilgax has Quirks of his own now…SURPRISE!!! Now most are variants of his UAF powerset but with plenty (A lot) of change ups. In my defense over half his powers in that era was some variation of a laser beam and I thought that was…boring. So coming up with new powers was the obvious solution!! And here’s a list to show what his new powers are (you can pretend that Present Mic is announcing all these):
1. Omega Beams = he shoots out a pair of ruby rays that can change direction mid flight in order to pursue any target he wishes!
2. Turbulent Exhale = allows him to generate a powerful whirlwind that can knock any house down!
3. Bio-Fist = turns Vilgax’s arm into a battle gauntlet that’s made of any material he chooses. The catch is that the material has to be a product created through biological means such as bone, coral, teeth, bark, shells, horns, feathers, fur, and more!
4. Seagle Shield = a transparent laser shield with a golden shine! Able to stop any and all incoming attacks!
5. Inflame = causes his muscle cells to burn and thus expand his strength tenfold!
6. Infernal Sword = summoning an inky darkness from within, Vilgax can use this black ink to create a massive sword of destruction!
7. ???
8. ???
9. ???Hey, I gotta have some surprises for you guys. I already know what the last 3 Quirks are. But revealing them now wouldn’t be fun at all. Well at least not for me >;)
*There were a lot of Easter Eggs/Cameos in this chapter. Especially in that opening part. And I don’t just mean the Ben Ten Classic references and such.
This what we had today: a Symbiote from Marvel Comics, Starro and a Thanagarian from DC comics, a Yautja from the Predator movies, a Xenomorph from Aliens franchise, a Borg from StarTrek, the Space Chicken from Courage the Cowardly the Dog, a Triceraton and a Kraang from TMNT, a Decepticon from Transformers (but which one?), a Boglodite from MIB, a Gromflomite from Rick & Morty, the two Tallest from the Invader Zim TV show, and Dr. Hamsterviel from Disney’s Lilo & Stitch.*If you were confused about these two devices that Vilgax used in this chapter then this should help clear that up. The Charlotte Project machine was the power extracting machine Vilgax used in the Ben Ten Ultimate Alien series. Which allowed him to take and transfer aliens’ powers to himself.
Then the Extraction Device he used to remove the Omnitrix is from the classic Ben Ten series. Kevin and Vilgax used it the same way after Ben got a hold of the Master Control function. I don’t think either machine has an official name. If they do, can someone please tell me? Thanks
Chapter 86: Induction
Notes:
*I am not a professional writer. I never even took a writing course, and I tried writing two other stories before this. And one of them was for MHA as well. But for my first story I lost 3 whole chapters before they could be uploaded, and I lost interest. And my MHA Next gen was going nowhere. But then one day I decided to revisit Ben Ten and then I thought of this question “What if Deku had the Omnitrix?” I then spent months coming up with ideas, sorting the aliens, plot, characters, etc. Before I wrote the first chapter around the time the Invader Zim movie came out. And then on this day 4 years ago I took the chance and posted this story. Thinking at the time that this is for fun and that I probably won’t get that many readers. But I did have the goal to keep going even as I barely got one review per chapter. And 4 years later…my expectations have been completely BLOWN OUT OF THE WATER!!!
Words cannot describe how happy I am that I am still going with this and it’s all thanks to your guys, my readers and reviewers. Any and all feedback I have gotten through every chapter and event is literally the only thing keeping me motivated to keep going. And I plan to. Sure, I had hoped I would be further along, but I think the quality of the chapters speak for themselves. Anyway, I just wanted to say thank you all for joining me on this story and I hope you’ll be around as we continue on. Thank you.
And in celebration we have a new BR-Fact and a new piece of artwork so look for the link below.
*BR-FACT* Thanks again to Ray Ethon for providing these. Today’s BR-Fact is Big Chill. Now Big Chill has two names in Portuguese. The first being "Calafrio” which literally means "Chill." The name even has "Frio" in its name, which means "Cold." On a whole, it means Cold shiver/chill/thrill. And yeah, sometimes Calafrio is used in the same context of Thrill.
Now the second name is "Friagem," which also means Chill in a literal translation, but hold on! "Friagem" is used in the same context of a cold wind. "Get back indoors! You're catching “Friagem!" It is also a superstition, because before, people thought that being in a cold environment makes you catch a COLD more easily. So, this one word has a lot of strange meanings...Cool! PUN NOT INTENDED!
*ARTWORK!!!!!* We have a new piece of fanart to celebrate this story’s 4th Year Anniversary! It’s called “Heroes Never Die It's Hero Time - 4th Ani Poster” by the artist “1206787” on DeviantArt or as they go by on fanfic. net “Vasto-Lorde-Ash-Ketchum.” Here is the link below.
ARTWORK LINK: https://www.deviantart.com/1206787/art/Heroes-Never-Die-It-s-Hero-Time-4th-Ani-Poster-996387409
Check it out now. BEFORE YOU READ! PLEASE!!! It is amazing. Like for real, I had a rough week last week and 1206787’s artwork has been the highlight of my week and it's constantly bringing a smile to my face every time I look at it. I have a hard time believing it was made in four days. But it was! And it is amazing!! I see something new every time I look at it and it's so fun to guess and then get correct who is who. Seriously, I can go on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on!!!!!!! Because that’s how much I love it!
So, go and check it out. I will post the link again and again through the chapter and Author’s Notes. Go view it and give it a comment. And check out this story’s other fanart. You can see them all over on this story’s TV Tropes Page. Which I WILL provide the link here too. Also if you want to see your own fanart here then don't hesitate. Just send it my way and I'll be happy to share it.
TV TROPES LINK: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Fanfic/HeroesNeverDieItsHeroTime
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
“ Heroes Never Die It's Hero Time - 4th Ani Poster ” By the artist “ 1206787 ” on DeviantArt or as they go by on fanfic. net “ Vasto-Lorde-Ash-Ketchum .”
“To understand what I’m about to tell you, you need to do something first. You need to believe in the impossible. Can you do that? Good.”
“Now I guess I should start at the beginning, his name is Izuku Midoriya. And his story is a very simple one, his whole life he’s dreamed about nothing else than becoming a pro hero. A hero that can save anyone with a smile on his face. Just like his hero, All Might.”
“There’s just one problem, he’s Quirkless… Yeah, bummer… It almost seemed like the whole universe was telling him to give up on his dream and he almost did…”
“But then after one day, he experienced something unexplainable, something unimaginable, something impossible.”
“He found a watch that randomly washed up onto a beach near his home. And before he knew it, it stuck itself upon his wrist. And after that moment a whole new world was open to him.”
“Now what was that watch? Well it’s called the Omnitrix. What does it do? Well the first thing it can do is bind itself to the wearer’s DNA making it near impossible to take off. But that’s not the amazing part is it? No, the amazing part is that this device can transform its wearer into any alien species they wish. Giving them full control of their powers and abilities with no negative side effects. But that’s all we know about it.”
“We don’t know who created it or why. All we do know is that it is the most powerful weapon in the entire galaxy. And he wants it.”
“Vilgax the Conqueror of Worlds has come to Earth to claim it for himself. Why does he wants it? Who knows? Probably for world domination…just a hunch.”
“But getting it was never easy. Luckily for Deku, he found others who were ready to accept him to spur him on. Using his new powers, he got into U.A. He joined the Plumbers as a cadet. He led us through the U.S.J. attack. And then he took on the hero name Deku. He helped to take down the Hero Killer. We all teamed up to defeat Malware. And through it all he made friends, rivals, and enemies… He lost. He won. He grew. And he learned. We all did…”
“Now after months of plotting and scheming, Vilgax the Mad Titan, the Grand Destroyer! Has finally abducted Izuku Midoriya and our world’s Symbol of Peace, All Might.”
“What he is doing to them…we do not know. All we know is that they’re trapped on his ship, the Chimeran Hammer. But we do know that those two are not going to lie down and take it. Vilgax wants to claim the Omnitrix for himself. The only advantage we have is that even if he manages to remove it, it will not work for him since it is bound to Deku’s DNA. But then again, he wouldn’t have taken them unless he had a plan. And that’s what worries me…”
She finally runs out of breath. And Ochaco is left hanging her head before the entirety of her friends, teachers, and Plumbers.
Her friends: Shoto, Bakugou, Kirishima, Momo, and Iida stare on with a mix of wonder and nerves. While seated across from them with their arms and hands folded onto the conference table are their respected teachers who do their best to pay attention while also appearing indiscriminate. Although the occasional “Woah” can be heard escaping their lips.
All the while the Plumbers, Mina, and Ochaco stand at the front of the Plumber Base’s conference room with the intent of filling their allies in on all their secrets.
This of course includes Mr. Baumann and the three mothers (Inko, Mitsuki, and Eirene) who are standing in the back opposite of the Plumbers with Mitsuki clutching the nervous Inko’s hand while Eirene stands nearby ready to offer any and all support with a calm yet serene grace. Which just leaves Detective Tsukauchi seated at the head of the table. His brow furrowed and concentrated.
Seeing as no one is speaking up, Thirteen tries their best to settle any silent unrest. “I know that was a lot to take in. And I know you all still have a ton of questions. So, please bear with us as we try our best to answer.”
Silence as everyone processes Ochaco’s or rather Izuku Midoriya’s story.
Bakugou especially seems more reserved, unwilling to meet anyone else’s gaze.
And yet it’s the one seated beside him, Eijiro Kirishima, that speaks up first. “Yeah, okay, that was a lot. And yeah I have like a million and one questions.”
The Plumbers from Magister Nezu to even the droids hold their breath, their bodies going tense as they await the inevitable backlash and truthful accusations.
“So, like…what happens to Midoriya’s clothes when he transforms?!”
The tension snaps and the Plumbers are left staring in utter disbelief. “Nani?!”
“I mean some of his aliens wear clothes and others don’t!” Kirishima goes on like it’s the most bizarre thing to think about. “When he goes alien his clothes either change or disappear! But when he goes back to being human his clothes are back! And sometimes they’re banged up too! Even when his alien didn’t have any on!! What’s up with that?! I mean do they transform with him or something?!”
Okay now the Plumber’s souls have just left their mouths while waving tiny white flags.
This then prompts Momo Yaoyorozu to speak up. “I too have questions. If aliens have been living in Japan all this time then can we attribute modern technology to them? Or perhaps modern medicines?”
Recovery Girl jumps at the mention of medicine and the thought of how advanced it might be, “And if that's the case! Why have I been working so dang hard?!”
“Pray tell!” Tenya Iida shouts a little too loudly as his arms chop the air in an attempt to grab everyone’s attention. “I too have many curiosities! For example, what exactly is the political landscape of this across intergalactic territories and such? It’s important we understand the law even those not of Earth’s.”
“Do aliens like TV?” Present Mic offhandedly asks. “I feel like they do.”
“Are you sure he’s Quirkless?” Shota Aizawa asks a little too pointedly. “Afterall he seems to attract trouble to an unrealistic degree.”
Shoto Todoroki lets out a rare gasp as the conspiracy driven part of his brain runs at overdrive. “A Trouble Magnet Quirk?”
Ectoplasm frowns while cupping his chin in thought. “How exactly have you been able to keep the existence of aliens a secret for so long? Do you have any means of wiping people’s memories? What is the protocol here?”
“Tell me, which planet has the most gorgeous races and luxurious beaches?” Midnight ponders with a flourish and a show. “And on an unrelated note, I’d like to use some of my Vacation Time.”
Meanwhile geysers of tears are threatening to flood the entire base from the back of the conference room. “My boy! I’m so worried yet proud of him for being so brave! My boy!”
“Such emotions~.” Eirene singsongs. “From fear to courage to hope it’s all a blinding array of color, is it not~?”
“What exactly do the Plumbers do?” The ever-professional Tsukauchi asks. “You said you're a police force so then what's the chain of command here?”
Meanwhile, a few things of interest have caught Power Loader’s eye. “Can I borrow this robot for an afternoon? I’m curious about its programming and processing power.”
^Wa-Wa!!^ Chopper hurriedly slaps the hero’s hand away.
“What’s with crop circles?” Snipe asks curiously while trying to appear serious and professional. “Is that really the best way for aliens to communicate?”
“Does anyone want any Mata-fruit? They’re about to go bad and I need to sell ‘em. What about you Mrs. Bakugou?”
“Mr. Baumann…did that fruit just wink at me?!” Mitsuki screams, pulling away from the blinking pink fruit.
Ignoring them, Cementoss tries to move the conversation along. “If aliens are coming here then why don’t we ever see U.F.O.s and such?”
“Is U.A. curriculum really appropriate for this?” Vlad King ponders while looking over a spare syllabus he just so happened to have in his pocket. “Shouldn’t your cadets be taking some kind of cultural awareness and sensitive courses? Or even several or rather a hundred different language classes?!”
“Can I fly the RazorCrest?!” Mina gleefully asks, trying to sneak in her own request amongst the sea of questions and noise. Which only continues to grow louder and louder as everyone desperately tries to speak over each other.
Although this leaves most of the Plumbers nervous, Magister Nezu takes it in stride with a cheery and appreciative smile. “It appears we have much more explaining to do. Alrighty then! Let’s take it from the top once again!”
“Ahhhh…” Hisashi Midoriya, Thirteen, Ochaco, and even One-One all let out a disgruntled moan. Even though they half-expected an outcome like this they didn't think it would go off the rails like this.
Principal Nezu “We have plenty of time to answer all your questions!” Magister Nezu assures with a wave as he stands firmly atop the head of the table. “After all, we are still waiting for our dear visitors to arrive. Hahahahaha!!”
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[PLAY: “ Dr. STONE NEW WORLD - Opening Song | "Wasuregataki" by Huwie Ishizaki ”]
(Instrumental~~~)
The camera shows Izuku Midoriya with his head hanging down before zooming up to show Vilgax’s battleship floating over Earth's moon.
Sou kore kona itami ga~
Ochaco Uraraka gazes up to the sky as the title appears from above her.
Sujikaki no nai monogatari ni wa~
She begins to walk forward as her friends slowly fade into existence: Mina Ashido, Katsuki Bakugou, Shoto Todoroki, Momo Yaoyorozu, Tenya Iida, and Eijiro Kirishima.
Hitsuyou fukaketsu nanda~
Inko Midoriya holds a picture of her family as she cries and is comforted by Mitsuki Bakugou and Eirene Ashido.
Yoru no umi ni wa Tsuki ga isuwaru~
Unseen to them Cinder is at the door. He looks up with determination as he heads out to rescue his son.
Sugita kunou wo~
Katsuki Bakugo holds an old All Might card as an image of him and Deku as kids cheering as they hold their cards out appears behind him.
Bikasuru hima ga~
Nue looks down at a watch as an image of him and Izuku in middle school laughing appears behind him.
Aru nara ima dake utsuseyo~
The screen splits between the two, both standing back-to-back, and with determined glares they both march away in opposite directions.
Ororkamono demo shoujiki te itai~
Panels shift and fold away, creating a portal, that reveals Izuku bound in an iconic ring of metal as Toshinori Yagi stares up at it in a mix of shock-and-awe and despair.
Haato ga sawagu yo~
Vilgax the Conqueror makes himself known from atop his throne. As he peers down at his inferiors with an air of ominous superiority.
(Instrumental~~~)
Below his throne his minions have been assembled: Psyphon, Malware, Sunder, Ragnarok, SevenSeven, the Techadon, Rojo, and Nue.
Tatoe dareka wo kizutsuke tato shitemo~
Cinder unleashes a wave of flames as he mows through Vilgax's drone army with his blazing dual-edged spear! Before swiftly speeding away as the Techadon gets pulled in by Thirteen’s swirling Black Hole!
Yuzurenai hikari ga arunda~
Mina slides across the narrow hallways as Iida races by. They’re followed by a sword wielding Momo and a Hardened Kirishima. Before the screen is consumed by pillars of fire and ice with Shot’s eyes piercing back.
Mushi kaesu tsumori wa betsu ni nari keredo~
Ochaco smashes through the ice before unleashing a wave of glowing gravity in every direction causing the army of silhouetted aliens to be blasted away.
Kono seaki de kono sekai de~
Bakugou rockets past her in a blaze of a Howitzer Impact that crashes into a grinning Nue like an exploding meteor.
Wasuregataki naru niwa mada hayai~
Vilgax looms menacingly over the Rising Star and the Symbol of Peace as nine dark threads of fate swirl through and around his form.
Yume migachi na shinisokonai sa~
Toshinori looks on at the teen with a look of shame that soon transitions to that of determination. And in a wave of smoke a scowling All Might rises to meet the Mad Titan.
Zero kara hairiagare sora ga waretatte~
Vilgax’s tentacles reach for the defiant Deku as the Omnitrix begins to spark and glow with inspiring green lightning.
Ano sekai e ano sekai e~
A massive discharge of green explodes outward, overtaking everything and swallowing up everything in a brillant show of green light.
Nanjyukkai nan byakkai~
Deku gazes out towards the vastness of space from the portal window of his prison cell.
nanzenkai nomikonde~
While Uravity gazes out into the star-filled sky through the windshield of the RazorCrest.
Nanjyuunen~
Deku slowly raises his left fist towards the shrinking window.
nanbyaku nen~
Uravity slowly raises her right fist towards the expanding window.
nan zen nen~
The screen splits between the two, zooming in on their fists just as they gently connect. And the camera is blinded by flashes of green and pink before washing away to white.
sakimidare~!
A still Omnitrix lays on upon the moon, alone and in the dark, before the Sun majestically peeks out from behind the Earth over the edge and shines its rays of hope down upon it.
(Illustrated by Drag0n5on)
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Ch.81 Induction
The hexagonal hallway is long and pristinely clean and usually void of much life or commotion. Except for today as many visitors are filing through as they make their way to the base’s hangar.
“I still have so many questions.” Momo airs with a hint of wonder as she takes even the simplicity of the hallway’s alien-architecture. “If Midoriya can really transform into different species with different evolutionary lines. Then is it really okay for him to eat human food? I mean what happens to anything he consumes? What if a certain tea or something as trivial as chocolate proves to be fateful for one of his aliens? Would he perish because it’s already in his digestive system or does the Omnitrix make him immune to such afflictions?”
“I don’t know!!” Ochaco has lost count of how many times she’s had to answer with that same line in the last few hours. Although she left most of the answering to Principal Nezu, Thirteen, Cinder, and even One-One, Ochaco still tried her best to clarify what she could. Unfortunately, it seemed like with every answer more and more questions popped up. The only saving grace was when One-One announced the arrival of a ship.
At the very least her friends are all caught up on everything now.
“What about the names he gives them?” asks Shoto. “Are those their alien names then?”
The brunette sighs in exasperation. “No. Those are just names he gives them.”
“Ah, well, maybe he should have just stuck with their real names then.”
Ochaco sweat drops and laughs thinking that maybe they’re not as caught up as she had previously assumed.
No one says or asks anything else, not until they all gather around inside Plumber base’s main hangar. It’s wide and huge, able to store a great many supplies, ships, and vehicles and yet the only vehicles here of note are Hisashi Midoriya’s RazorCrest and…RV? Weird.
As they stand there and wait for the new arrivals, Ochaco’s nerves begin to stir. She had just pulled her friends into this. Unwilling in fact. What if…what if they aren’t… “Listen guys I’m really happy your here…but I understand if…this is all too much.”
They remain silent, unable to meet her gaze since she has her back to them. And yet she can practically feel Iida’s steadfast gaze piercing the back of her skull.
“I admit it’s…a lot.” Iida quietly admits while observing the groups of aliens hovering nearby throughout the hanger. Most of them are being reassured by Eirene Ashido to be patient and calm. “But then again you are providing a public service for these people. When you think about it you aren’t doing anything nefarious or drastically different from hero work. If anything, I must commend you for your actions!”
That makes Ochaco smile although her worries refuse to go anywhere.
To which Iida is quick to reestablish. “However, I must admit that I am still hurt that we were left in the dark for so long!”
Momo can’t help but agree. “Would…would it be alright to tell the rest of our class?”
Kirishima agrees. “Yeah, shouldn’t they know?”
Thankfully Ochaco is spared from answering by the most hostile member of their group.
“You idiots.” Bakugou scolds from the back. “If that was the mentality then all of Japan would fucking know by now too. Besides,” He pauses as if to pick his next words carefully and with a bit more tact but then again that’s never been his way… “they brought us here because they’re desperate.”
A heavy curtain falls across everyone from the students to the pros as the truth behind Bakugou’s words sink in.
And yet Magister Nezu sees this as an opportunity. And opportunity to clarify just what kind of position they are in. “You are correct, Mr. Bakugou. We are desperate. And you all have my sincerest gratitude for being so accommodating for us. Despite what we have forced upon you today.” With a somber smile the little chimera gazes up towards the ceiling as if waiting for something. “But do not think that we are simply relying on you alone. We have reached our hands out to others for help as well.”
Everyone waits for him to clarify. But an explanation never comes as there’s suddenly an echo of machinery and gears shifting out of place from high above their heads.
Everyone’s head snaps up and just in time to watch as the hanger ceiling begins to open wide. Sunlight and fresh air pour in from above and wash over them all. Causing the heroes and kids to shield their faces. Although the aliens and Plumbers look on unaffected, too used to similar scenes such as this. But from above a spaceship, a real spaceship, with a sleek and narrow design begins its slow descent into the hanger. The ship is bigger than a semi-truck and its cargo with teal armor that’s framed by smooth green markings. All in all this sleek design for a spacecraft is a real sight to behold.
“Haha! Now that’s some next level shit! Yeah!!” cheers Present Mic.
Snipe blows out a long-impressed whistle while tilting back his hat for a better look. “That’s one hell of a ride.”
Meanwhile, Kirishima’s eyes are sparkling in excitement. “So, Alienly! So Alienly!!”
“That’s not gonna catch on!” Mina chides yet she too is in awe of such a cool-looking U.F.O.
Everyone is amazed by it, even Eraserhead has lost his breath just from the sheer sight of it.
Nezu spins around, the ship to his back and his charges to his front as he addresses them. “My students. My teachers. My friends. I wish for you all to meet those that I call dear allies and friends!”
The awe-inspiring ship’s engines roar like a pair of mighty lions, kicking up a whirlwind that wipes across their faces as the U.F.O. slowly descends and lands with a soft and elegant grace.
“Although they are not many, each of them have answered my call without hesitation. But do not think they are simple volunteers. No! These fine ladies and gentlemen are exactly the people we need to succeed. Each one of them is in a class all of their own. They are the best of the best!”
The bay doors to the ship release gusts of air and pressure that hiss.
“They are the elites of their fields!”
The ramp slowly begins to fold down, and an inspiring light of hope pours out.
“The bravest of souls!”
Every breath is being held, not a soul dares to breathe as they wait for this hero’s great reveal.
“Geniuses of their craft!”
The rap touches down and through the blinding light of hope they see a figure. A massive, inspiring figure that could even rival that of All Might’s own prestige!
“Please welcome our HEROES!!!”
The figure makes a move to step forward, and through the light…. Only to immediately collapse in on itself with clanks and tinks of metal before falling all apart causing gears, wires, and mechanical joins to go scattering across the floor.
Leaving the heroes and students staring on with stunned questioning. They all watch, eyes popped, and jaws open as a little gear bounces off the ramp and rolls away before circling around Ochaco’s feet where it slowly tumbles to a stop.
“HA!!” Bakugou can’t help but bellow.
He chuckles and snorts as everyone else stares in utter shock and horror. Each unsure if this was intentional or not. Their minds only snap back into place once some unfamiliar voices begin arguing away from atop the ramp.
“I knew it! I knew it! I knew it! I told you those hyper coil-links were on backwards! Ugh! This is going to set us back months!”
“You never said that.”
“I specifically remember that I did.”
“No, you didn’t. If you had, I would have remembered.”
“But you didn’t remember!”
“No, you just never said it.”
“What?! Yes I did!”
“No, you didn’t.”
“Yes, I did!”
“No, you didn’t!!”
“Yes. I. DID!!!”
It takes a minute of searching and scanning the entrance of the ship until they all finally realize that the sets of voices are not in fact disembodied but that they are coming from below their own knees.
Shoto stares down and raises an eyebrow so far up that it vanishes under his red hair. “This is….your elite squad?”
Arguing at their feet is a pair that look offlay like Deku’s Grey Matter form. Except one is stubbier than his lanky and tall (for his species) friend. The shorter of the two is wearing the standard Plumber armor, mini edition. While his friend looks like an alien version of a grease monkey, he even has a little trucker hat on, alien-edition.
It honestly looks like Hisashi’s jaw is gonna fall off the moment he realizes who these two are. “BLUKIC!?! AND DRIBA!?!”
The two Galvans, Blukic and Driba, instantly spin around in alert as if now just noticing their much taller and bigger audience.
The tallest of the two, Blukic, grins happily at the sight of Hisashi. “Look Driba! I found the missing boy, Midorky!”
“That’s not him, Blukic!” Driba, the shorter one, chastises. “That’s just Plumber Agent Cinder!”
It takes Blukic a second to realize. “Oh, but he looks so much like him!”
Hisashi can already feel a headache coming on. “God damn, tech support… Hey, guys. It sure has been a while. And just so you know the name’s Midoriya and secondly the reason we look alike is because he’s my child.”
Both their eyes go wide as if they're now just realizing this. “Ooooooh.”
They both pause, sharing a look before happily smiling as Driba congratulates the Plumber. “Well, congrats on the new tadpole!”
“Yeah!” Blukic happily cheers. “So, is it a boy or girl?”
“He’s a boy! And he’s not a baby!!” Hisashi is already growing infuriated, having to slap his own face to prevent himself from losing it. “Ugh…”
Deadpanned, Hisashi turns to his higherup. “Out of everyone you could have called, you called THEM?!”
Magister Nezu innocently chuckles. “Hehehe. Yes! Isn’t it delightful?! Hahahaha!!”
It’s not for Hisashi but it is for the Galvans as Blukic is quick to answer. “It is!”
“We so missed Earth!” says Driba.
“We sure did! Aw, it’s good to be back.”
Hisashi’s gonna lose it. “Look guys it’s…great to have you back. But…I thought you were transferred to the Methanos system.” Which is conventionally, and strategically, thousands of lightyears away.
Driba frowns in confusion. “What? Oh, no, we were transferred shortly after arriving! They sent us to the planet of Alfa 177 instead.”
Blukic frowns in annoyance at that. “No. They transferred us to the Bith system instead.”
“No. The Bith system was after we were stationed on one of Almerac’s moons.”
“But what about the planet of Bolovax Vik?”
“That was right before we were stationed on Zeenu.”
“Was it?”
“Pretty sure.”
As the two go on and on, Thirteen too begins to feel the onset of a headache. “I’m somehow both annoyed and nostalgic all at once.”
Momo frowns, observing the two tiny aliens curiously. “I thought Grey Matters were supposed to be…intelligent.”
The two Galvans give her a quizzical look.
“Um, yes, we are grey.” Driba assures. “But we are also highly intelligent geniuses.”
“Yeah!” Blukic nods. “And we’re smart!”
“HA!!!” Bakugou can help but bellow out. “We are so screwed!”
From the depths of the ship an elderly voice with a county-tang calls out as two sets of footsteps echo through the chamber. “Don’t you go counting us out of this game yet, sonny boy. Who knows? We may just surprise you.”
And out from the ship steps forth the Ripjaws-relation that is Magister Patelliday and behind him is the ever indifferent and cold Xylene.
“Hey!” Kirishima lights up at the sight of the old fish. “You’re like Midoriya too! Ripjaws! What’s up with that?!”
Iida is quick to admonish him, taking his statement as rude. “Kirishima! Please pay attention! He is clearly of the same race as Midoriya’s Ripjaws form!”
Patelliday gives the boys a nod. “That's right. And my, you whippersnappers sure are a lively bunch.”
Momo gasps. “Mr. Patelliday, sir! You were an alien the whole time.”
“That I was, but it’s nice to see that your friends finally clued you in.”
Momo smiles at that. “Yes, it is… WAIT!” With a start she spins around to address said female friends. “Were we fighting alien squids that whole time?! When we were trapped underwater?!”
Ochaco and Mina quickly turn away, feigning innocence as they each whistle a harmless little tune.
Meanwhile, Present Mic slides in from the side, seeming lost. “Are we missing something here?”
Both Aizawa and Shoto give simultaneous nods of agreement.
At the same time, Xylene glides forward and presents herself to the Plumbers first and foremost. “It is nice to see you Red Sp- I mean Plumbers, again.” She bows, intending to give them respect.
However, Hisashi and Thirteen are not buying it. “Don’t try to cover up what you were about to say.”
“No one's buying it.” Thirteen adds with a deadpanned glare.
Mr. Baumann makes himself known, greeting the lady with a welcoming smile. “Xylene, why, you don’t look a day over 75.”
Magister Nezu is also there to give her a hello. “Welcome my dear. It’s so wonderful to have you.”
“Greetings to you all as well. It’s a pleasure to see you all once again.” She leans to the side so that she may have a better look at a certain individual. “Especially you my Flying Temptation.”
Gran Torino has his eyes closed as if bracing himself for what’s to come before addressing her like an old acquaintance. “Hello, there Xylene. It’s been a minute.”
She smirks at that, strutting forward so she can speak to him directly. “Is that how you humans say hello?”
He smirks back. “It is but it’s not how I say hello?”
“Then show me, how.” Without warning she grabs him by the collar and hoists him up so their lips can meet.
The reactions are instantaneous, mostly gagging or general shock. While Mina and Midnight clutch hands as they giddily giggle and gush.
Even Tsukauchi is at a loss for words. ‘I’m not sure what will blow Toshinori’s mind more? Aliens or this?’
Bakugou, however, seems to be the only one not bothered by the PDA, although he just probably doesn’t care. “Oy! Who is this, Lizard Lady?”
Still reeling from the scene, Ochaco tries her best to give a straight answer. “Her name is Xylene. She's partly the reason why the Omnitrix landed on Earth.”
That immediately snaps everyone out of their funk as her friends, teachers, Inko, and the Tsukauchi all let out cries of astonishment. “WHAT!?!”
Xylene finally pulls away from the dazed and blushing Gran Torino in order to properly address the wondering crowd. “Yes, my ship was shot down by Vilgax. Forcing me to jettison the Omnitrix to Earth. Although it was never my intention to have such a weapon to end up in the hands of a mere human hatchling.”
Scanning the crowd Xylene soon spots a woman with hair that’s a familiar shade of green and eyes brimming with an unnatural amount of tears already dripping out. All while Bakugou’s own mother comforts the poor shaken woman.
“Are you the boy's mother?” Xylene ponders as she slowly approaches, as to not startle the poor thing.
Inko jumps, becoming very nervous at the prospect of an alien addressing her, but it’s more so out of fear that she’ll say something unintentionally rude or offensive to someone with a culture and customs she knows literally nothing about, “Y-yes, I am.”
“Hm, I cannot fathom what you are going through.” Xylene explains with what Inko assumes is genuine sympathy at least until Xylene adds in this next part. “Mainly because in my species we abound our young the moment they hatch from their eggs.”
“Oh, I see…”
“But know this although I never intended for the Omnitrix to fall in your hatchling's hands. I must say that you should be very proud of your offspring.”
Inko is taken back, but in a good way, it is rare for her to hear such praise about her wonderful baby boy over the years, especially from strangers; she’s both shocked and touched.
“He’s demonstrated great ingenuity and skill far past then some of the greatest warriors I’ve had the pleasure of disemboweling. Clearly the product of superior genes and good breeding.”
“Um, t-thank you…?” That certainly is…something to think about. And although it was odd, Inko understands the woman’s intentions. And in all honesty it means more to her than Xylene or anyone probably realizes. “I worry about him, I do, especially now, knowing what I know…but I also couldn’t be happier for him.” A soft smile shyly peeks as Inko takes in the kids, the teachers, and heroes that have all assembled together without hesitation, all for her son’s sake. “I’m happy because I just seeing how many people are here to save my boy. I couldn’t be happier that he has so many wonderful and amazing people in his life.” The heart warmest smile beams across the sweet woman’s face as her heart pours out admiration and love like geysers of tears.
The smile, her words, her heart so sweet it drowns everyone in pure and utter sugar causing their hearts to race with warmth. “SHE’S SO PURE!!!” Everyone particularly Present Mic, Kirishima, Iida, and Mina cry out forcing Aizawa to cover his ears.
“Don’t you worry Momidoriya! We’ll have your precious baby boy back before you can even say YEAAAAAH!!!!”
“Yeah, that’s right! Just leave it to us!”
“There’s no need to worry, ma’am! We will not fail you! That’s a Class 1-A guarantee!”
“That problem-er, your boy is tougher than people give him credit for. He’s gonna be fine. And he’ll be back and ready for class so that he can keep making you proud.”
“Please, don’t cry, Momidoriya! You’re too sweet for that!”
“Oh, my!” Inko blushes as light tears prick at her eyes before an even warmer smile graces them all. “Aren’t you all just the sweetest dears?!”
Clutching their hearts, they all collapse to the floor, unable to take on such a truck load of sugar.
Only for Bakugou to bellow out another one at their expense. “HA!!”
Even Eirene is amused. “Hmhmhmhm~. Oh my~. It’s always wonderful to witness what such pure emotions can bring to others~.”
As those sugar crashed drunks flop on the floor like fish-out-of-water, a literal fish-out-of-water takes the time to officially greet his old colleagues and friends. “Magister. Gran Torino. Baumann. It sure has been a hop, a skip and a beat. How you old hounds doing?”
Principal Nezu “Magister Patelliday! It’s so lovely to have you! I hope you have been doing well. I must admit though these last few days have certainly taken a number off my years..”
Gran Torino gives him a shrug in greeting. “Eh, been better. Though my arthritis is acting up.”
Mr. Baumann can relate to that. “Last week I dropped a quarter and when I went to get back up I couldn’t get back up! Took hours before someone came by to help.”
Thirteen, Mina, Kirishima, Bakugou, and Tsukauchi all watch the interaction take place and they all have the same thoughts about it. ‘They’re all such old farts…’
Hisashi approaches the speckled Ripjaws and gives him a proper bow of respect. “Magister Patelliday, it’s an honor. Thank you so much for coming.”
He receives a warm, but fang filled, smile in return. “Of course, I'd never refuse a call for help from friends. You got yourself a good kid from what I hear, Cinder. Ain’t no way we’re gonna let Vilgax hook and gut this fish.” He means for that analogy to be reassuring but it might not come off as assuring as he might have liked.
Even Thirteen feels unsettled by it. “Can we try not to use such grim metaphors today, please.”
^Wa-Bz-Bp!^ Chopper offer which only upsets Thirteen even more.
“No! You can’t say that stuff either!!”
Shoto observes the new arrivals with great interest but also wariness. And if he’s being honest as of now…he’s not really impressed by these quote-on-quote aliens. “Is this really all of your reinforcements?” He asks a little too bluntly but thankfully he seems to catch his mistake. “Oh, I mean no offense.”
“Hang on there, Icy-Hot!” Bakugou barks out. “He’s right, all we got is an old flounder, a lizard, and two idiot frogs! I thought we were getting the best of the best?!”
“Katsuki!” His mother scolds. “Don’t be rude!”
Even Kirishima’s embarrassed for him. “Yeah, they’re here to help after all.”
Meanwhile, Blukic and Driba share looks of confusion.
“Idiot frogs?”
“I think he’s referring to them.” Blukic jabs a finger over towards Present Mic and Aizawa.
Upon inspecting their odd attire, Driba has to agree. “Hm, I see.”
Unfortunately for them, their little comments don’t go unnoticed. “Why do I get the feeling your transfer was on purpose?” Aizawa growls.
“These little grey dudes sure know how to push buttons.” scowls Present Mic.
“I mean I kinda get it.” agrees Mina, not the idiot part, but the part where Bakugou is right about this being all of their help. “Like I thought there would be more too.”
“Well what were you expecting?” Midnight asks curiously.
“I mean I guess I was expecting some, you know, handsome hunk with a flashy smile and awesome powers! You know!”
“Oh! I do know!” Midnight gushes and the two share a moment to bask in their overly wild imaginations.
“Oh, my~!” Eirene gasps, her antennas are waving more erratically causing her usually snow-white face to blush so much that she could actually be mistaken for her own daughter,
But as if sensing the opportunity to make an impactful entrance, one final voice, this one male and very familiar to all, calls out from within the ship with a cool and suave grace. “Hehehe. Oh, so then, were you two waiting for someone like me?”
Expecting another alien to emerge everyone is in for another rollercoaster of a shock! But not because of some weird and strange alien stepping out but because it’s not an alien that appears! It’s a human! A human teen! He’s tall for his age and very handsome even with that burn scar over the left of his face. His hair, slick and shiny, with one half white like snow and the other red like roses. His eyes of silver and turquoise gleam with affection and charm.
“I have arrived.” Shines the Handsome Todoroki. “My lovely butterflies?”
“EEEEEEEEEeeeek~!!” All the single women in the hangar let out earsplitting squeals of delight and awe. None are immune to his handsome face’s charms, not Midnight, Momo, nor Ochaco!
Meanwhile the men are all left speechless and Shoto is left frozen looking like he’s just had some kind of twisted close encounter.
But at least one person finds this all amusing. “HA-OW!!”
“Stop that!” Mitsuki colds her hand red from hitting her son’s skull so hard.
The sound of that slap was enough to snap everyone out of their daze, but it soon results in a complete and total uproar. “ANOTHER TODOROKI!?!”
“No.” Tsukauchi frowns, picking up on the fact that something, something is very off with this version of Shoto. “Something’s not right here.”
Hisashi’s impressed but then again he is a detective. “You noticed then.”
“Why hello there, handsome.” The Handsome Todoroki practically struts up to his stunned look alike and takes his hand and cups it under Shoto’s chin as if to inspect him for imperfections. “Might I say that it is a delight to see such a familiar face during these trying times.”
“Y-yeah…” Shoto’s not really sure how to respond nor react, he’s not exactly a social butterfly but even an extrovert would have trouble navigating this. All we can do is stare back at this “imposter” and watch them. He watches how they breathe. How they speak with his voice. How they smell a bit like wet clay. How that whenever they blink their eyes turn completely fuchsia every now and again.
That last observation takes Shoto a second before all the pieces click together nicely. “I guess it is nice to see a familiar face.” He stops to remember her name. “I’m sorry but Ms. Mann was it?”
The Handsome Todoroki’s smile stretches far beyond what bones and skin should allow it. “So, you do remember me! Eheheh! *Snort!* Eheheh!” His voice changes becoming higher pitched yet softer, but the most horrific part is that his face begins to melt! Like actually melting into globs of brown and purple mud!
“Drop the Miss part! It’s just Mann, Lucy Mann!!” With a spin and a fashionable flourish, the mud that once made-up Handsome Todoroki reforms itself into the image of a teen girl. One with porcelain skin, gold-blonde hair, and fuchsia-colored eyes. And an attire that’s made up of a black polo-dress with a red collar and a red star on the chest. With white knee-high socks with black and red converse.
At this point the rest of the humans aren’t sure if they should even act surprised anymore almost as if this kinda thing is already becoming normal to them. Even so they would still like to know who this sudden shapeshifter is.
“Lucy Mann.” Shoto repeats as if letting the name cement itself into his mind. “So, that story about you being Midoriya’s cousin then?”
“It wasn’t a total lie!” Hisashi interrupts while sheepishly interesting himself into the conversation. “I do in fact know her extended family very well.”
Lucy smiles and nods. “Yeah, he even went to my cousin’s wedding. Sheesh, that sure was a dramatic one too. Things sure got real muddy.”
Inko frowns, thinking back to about five to six years ago. “Oh, I think I remember that wedding.” She vaguely remembers it. She remembers that they didn’t take Izuku since he was sick, so Mr. Baumann watched him for them. But she does remember the in-laws from both the groom and bride’s sides absolutely hating each other. And then to top it off a villain, who was the bride’s ex-boyfriend, attacked the wedding too. Thankfully her own husband, Hisashi, was able to cool things off with his Fire Breath. She can somewhat remember the flower girl going down the aisle with similar gold-blond hair and freckles.
Too bad not everyone has such a history with Lucy.
“Hang on, I’m confused. Who are you?” asks Mina.
“The name’s Lucy Mann! But you can call me Lucy! And I’m a Lenopan! And just to keep things simple that means I can transform to look like anything and anyone I like!”
Shaking off the initial astonishment, Iida politely but also very aggressively makes his introduction known. “It’s a delight to meet you my name is-”
“Tenya Iida, right?!” Lucy asks while her body shifts to look exactly like Iida, albeit with blond hair, starling him in the process. “I know exactly who you all are! Eheheh! *Snort!* Eheheh!”
“You do?!” Iida’s at a loss for words, and not just because he's suddenly talking to a blonde version of himself, but because of the fact that she really knows who they are.
“Yeah!” The Fake-Iida smiles before pointing over at the red-haired friend of manliness. “You’re Kirishima!” Her form shifts into that of Kirishima but instead of red his hair is silver like Tetsutestu’s.
“Yaoyorozu!” Then she becomes Momo but instead of raven black her hair is snow white.
“Ashido!” This time she’s Mina but instead of pink she’s a baby blue in color.
“Uraraka!” Huh, Ochaco kinda looks good as a redhead.
“And-” She turns back into her regular Lucy form and sticks her tongue out like a cat as she points a pair of teasing fingers at Bakugou. “You’re Sparky Sparky Boom Man!”
“DON’T CALL ME THAT!!!” Bakugou roars!!
But she just smiles and laughs it off. “And of course I've already met Todoroki over here.”
Okay, now Ochaco is really curious. “How did you two meet exactly? And how do you know Deku?”
“Midoriya, Todoroki, and your raven friend, um, Tokoyami, really helped me out in a pinch while I was in Tokyo.”
“That we did.” Shoto confirms. “Although we had no idea you were an alien at the time.”
“Well, duh! But anyway, they really saved my ass. Not to mention your world’s too.”
“Hm.” Shoto nods in agreement but he was only half listening, so it takes him a few seconds to process what she was implying. “Wait, what?”
“Oh, yeah! You remember Ragnarok? Well, he was gonna absorb your sun.”
Suddenly the whole hanger feels like it’s going through a second ice age with how frozen stiff everyone becomes.
Shoto’s almost too nervous to ask. “W-what do you mean…absorb?”
“You know. He was gonna steal it! Suck it away. Steal its power and cast your entire solar system in darkness until all life as you know it collapses into darkness… Did they not tell you about that yet?”
Almost immediately everyone’s heads snap and throw glares back at their unphased and still smiling Principal.
“Do not fret, apocalyptic scenarios and alien invasions are a constant in this line of work. Hahahahaha!!”
“THIS IS NO LAUGHING MATTER!!!” They all shout.
And to his credit, Magister Nezu does compose himself soon after. “You are correct. I should be taking this more seriously after all our dear guests have traveled quite the ways to assist us. It’s only right that we treat them with the utmost respect. Treat them as you would one of your own!” He pauses, his expression thoughtful as he turns to address Xylene. “Although I must admit I too had hoped that more would have answered my call.”
Xylene expression falls, becoming akin to shame. “I’m sorry, Magister. After departing Earth last time, I followed Cinder’s instructions and tried to contact the rogue known as Tetrax Shard. However, all of my calls have gone unanswered.”
“Tetrax Shard?” Shoto perks up at that name, recognizing it almost instantly. Only for his expression to turn tired and deadpanned. “You mean even aliens invaded the U.S.J.?” He sighs in exasperation. “Did we do anything this year that didn’t involve an alien?”
“Hey!” Thirteen takes offense at that. “Don’t be mean about it! Tetrax ended up helping us out a lot that day! He wasn’t there to hurt us!”
Recovery Girl speaks up, not sure of who or what they’re talking about. “Who is this Mr. Shard?”
Expecting an answer from either Nezu or Thirteen, everyone is a bit startled at first that it’s actually Ochaco who gives them an explanation. “He’s an alien bounty hunter.” She starts, hesitantly, making sure that they are all paying attention. “He broke into the U.S.J. coincidentally at the same time the League of Villains did. At the time he was hired by Vilgax to steal the Omnitrix but in actuality he was trying to keep it safe.” Although he did attack both her and Todoroki but then again they did attack him first. But after sorting all that out the trio headed off to help Deku fight off the Nomu. “After seeing that Deku could take care of himself, Textrx offered to lead Vilgax’s army on a wild goose chase through space by using a fake Omnitrix signal or something.” But that was months ago and they had never heard back from him since. And if Xylene couldn’t reach him then…what does that mean?
After hearing her story, Momo turns to Mina for more clarification. “You knew of this as well?”
“No!” Mina shakes her head wildly. “I, literally, just found out about this. But then again I was finally put into the fold about a month ago.” She throws a look at her own mother, who happily and gleefully waves back at her despite sensing the annoyance radiation of her own offspring.
Ochaco is not the only one with growing worries, Thirteen too has their concerns. “He took it upon himself to be bait, but if hasn’t answered then…” They stop and share a concerned and yet understanding look with Magister Nezu who keeps his own agreeing concern silent.
Even though he had never met the alien, Gran Torino has heard of this bounty hunter mainly from Nezu. “Petrosapiens are a hardy bunch. Even if they’re near extinct they don’t just go down without putting up one hell of a fight. Still though if he was willing to lead on Vilgax then he must have considered the risks…”
A terrible churning sinks into her stomach and Ochaco turns a bit sullen and worried. ‘Tetrax is missing…and so are Deku and All Might.’ That churring worsens, mixing with the bitterness of fear. ‘Have I even considered the consequences?’ Sure, Principal Nezu asked her before but did she? Sure she considered what if her friends reacted badly to the truth but… Is she ready to deal with the fact that her and her friends are about to face off against such inhuman monsters? What if even one of them…doesn’t make it back?
That churning turns cold.
Meanwhile, off to the side, Hisashi scotches over to Patelliday for a quick and private conversation. “Hey, Magister Patelliday.”
“Yes. What is it?” Patelliday responds.
“Did you stop off at the Academy like I asked? I thought there’d be at least one more with you. I couldn’t imagine that he said no when he heard the request was from me.”
“Oh, we did go to the Academy. But I’m afraid they were right in the middle of their exams so I was unable to reach anybody, not even the instructors. Sorry, but my fins were tied.”
“Oh. No, it’s fine…” If it’s fine then why does Hisashi seem so disappointed?
“So, Lucy Mann and Textra Shard are aliens.” Shoto eyes the Plumbers of their group with suspicion and a bit of exacerbation. “Is there anybody else that we know that are actually aliens in disguise?”
“Hmmm.” Mina thinks on it for a second. “No. I don’t think so.”
“Well actually,” Hisashi sheepishly slides in, making sure to keep a distance just in case this gets ugly. “She's not an alien. But Melissa Shield is a Plumber Cadet too!”
At this point the teens just collapse, face faulting to the floor out of the sheer exhaustion this whole situation has been.
“Yes!” Patelliday reaches for his back pockets in order to fish out a pair of new Support Items. “But she said she wouldn’t be too much help as it is. But she did give me some gifts for Ms. Uraraka and Mr. Midoriya. Hm? Say where is the young lady?”
But only Patelliday and Ochaco’s friends seem to notice her missing presence too as the teachers and other Plumbers are too busy chatting away and answering any more questions that are still burning them.
However, only Bakugou is able to catch a glimpse of a bob of hair slinking away back into the hallway.
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
She just…needs a minute to be alone. Which is why after wandering away Ochaco finds herself back at the conference room, now empty and feeling so much lonelier now that everyone’s gone and left for the hangar. But who can blame her? After hearing about Tetrax…she’s grown nervous, and her heart is full of dread for this mission. But then again, she’s almost positive everyone’s feeling the same way, deep down… But then again she’s not really sure how any of them feel about all this. Will they regret following her…? What are their feelings about all this? She has no way of knowing.
In her hands, she clutches a letter, a letter containing the feelings and thanks of a little boy who never got the chance to tell his hero how sorry and grateful he was. And now it’s on her to make sure those feelings are delivered. This may be a bigger responsibility then she first imagined…
“There’s an entire secret base right underneath U.A. It’s full of E.T.s, alien tech and a ton of junk I can’t even explain. And yet the weirdest thing I’ve seen today is you sulking like a broody emo!” Bakugou leans against the doorway looking like he just walked into some shitty scene, and yet despite his glare and scowl his expression is…softer than usual.
“I’m not brooding.” She pouts. “I’m just…thinking.” The letter tighter crunches together underneath her fingers from how hard she’s holding it.
“A dangerous pastime.”
She chuckles a bit at his half-assed attempt at a joke. “Sorry for just taking off, after seeing everybody there it just got to me… I-I needed a minute.”
“Yeah, I get it. Those extras are making my ears bleed. Going on and on asking your alien-buddies the dumbest of questions: Did aliens make the fucking pyramids? Is the moon really made out of cheese? And what’s with aliens’ fucking fascination with probing?! SERIOUSLY WHAT’S UP WITH THAT!?!”
For some reason Ochaco has the sneaking suspicion that’s his own personal gripe. “I think…that’s just a false rumor.”
“Anyway.” His pupils trail down towards the scrap of paper between Ochaco’s fingers. “What is that? Some kind of alien device that looks like paper?”
“Yeah, it’s a communication device. It’s really complicated though. You have to write in a whole other language and then trust someone else to deliver the message for you.”
“Hm. Sounds complicated.”
“Sounds meaningful.”
A sullen silence falls between them with Bakugou blocking the doorway as Ochaco leans hunched over in her seat. They can sense every second of silence by making feel dragged on as the silence grows heavier and heavier.
“Uraraka.”
She slowly meets his softened amber gaze.
“What are we-...getting ourselves into?” He wonders, looking sullen and for the first time, in Ochaco’s memory, nervous. “Can we…really do this?”
“Bakugou…this doesn’t sound like you.”
“Yeah, well today’s a weird fucking day. Been having to wrap my head around all this, shit. And come to terms with that fact that we’re gonna be going up against a space overlord or some bullshit.”
She pauses, her mind aching to have answers for her earlier concerns. “You scared?”
“HA!!! I’m fucking thrilled.”
She gasps. “You are?!”
“Heh, think about it, Cheeks.” A determined grin that should only belong to a psycho stretches across his face. “I just found out that aliens are real, and they got some crazy powers. And it was revealed that the guy I knew since childhood is also an alien. Or at least he is sometimes. Of course, I’m excited. Because that means I’ve not just kicked human ass but alien ass too!” Sparks pop from his palms as if his own blood was itching for a fight. “And my blood is pumping to deliver a fucking Supernova of an Explosions right up Vilgax’s tentacled ass!!”
Ochaco should be concerned but to be honest this is probably his most honest answer. “Well, I’m glad you're still the same. After everything…” Her head droops and her eyes are casted over by the shadows of her hair.
The sight is pitiful, and the mad bomber doesn’t like it one bit. “Don’t tell me you’re blaming yourself for what happened?”
Startled, her head snaps up. “What?”
“Listen here, moron!” He roars and jabs a finger at her face. “The only reason Deku and I got snatched was because we were weak! It was our own goddamn fault! You couldn’t have done anything different so stop thinking about the what ifs! Because it doesn’t fucking matter!” That said they could’ve taken care of themselves if the villains were such cowards to attack them while they were training. “We lost. We won. And we lost again. So what?! That’s life! WE GROW STRONGER FROM THIS JUST YOU WAIT AND SEE!!!”
A bell of truth rings through her ears and Ochaco recalls her own father’s words: ‘“The reason these things happen is so we can try again. Do better. To lift ourselves up. These are the moments we live for, that we struggle towards. We work hard and never give up because if we do then we went through all that for nothing. Life is about overcoming obstacles, of enduring the bad times, so that we can cherish the good ones.”’
“If you want to win, then you better grab it yourself!” Bakugou declares with a burning passion. “So, come on!” He offers his hand to her, willing to be at her side as they dive headfirst into the unknown. “Let’s go abduct ourselves a couple of nerds! And then you can deliver that shitty alien message.”
She smiles, genuinely smiles as she takes his hand. “You really are something, Bakugou.”
“You fucking know it.” He grins, pulling her to her feet before leading her back through the door.
She happily follows along, letting him get far ahead.
But he stops as soon as the doorway slides open. “Get a move on! We’re all waiting on ya!”
And there getting her on the other side, are her dear and wonderful classmates.
“Hey! Why’d you run off like that?!” Mina whines.
And Kirishima is right there along with her. “Yeah! We were worried ya know!”
“It’s improper to wander.” Says Iida, pushing up his glasses. “We have to prepare ourselves, do we not? We need to stay focused and prepare ourselves for what’s to come!”
Momo sincerely agrees. “I know this is nerve racking but I’m more afraid of what happens if we do nothing at all. I’m ready!”
With his arms folded Shoto lets his opinion be known too. “If you didn’t think that we couldn’t handle it you wouldn’t have brought us here. We know what we’re signing up for. As long as you and the others are there to lead us.”
“You guys…” Her father’s words echo in her mind once again: ‘“Your gravity can pull others to you. You pulled your friends together in order to do what you all thought was right. You all pulled together to defend and save one another. Even now your friends come to your side to help. Your gravity calls to them. Not only does it pull them towards you, but you can use it to lift them up. You can help them defy gravity and rise above the pain and hardships. You can help them fly.”’
She’s almost brought to tears, but even so she wipes furiously at her face as hope rises in her chest like a warm comforting flame.
“So, this is where you all ran off too.” Aizawa calls out from down the hall.
And he’s not alone as all the other teachers and Plumbers are there with him as they make their way through the halls of Plumber Base.
With a smile and a skip in their step Thirteen takes the lead and waves everyone away down another hallway. “I hope you all are ready for this.”
“Thirteen, please, no more surprises.” begs Tsukauchi, who's not sure how much more they can take of this.
“Oh, don’t worry, this is a good one.” Thirteen explains before coming to a stop before a large set of doors that are locked up tighter than Fort Knox.
Excitement radiates off Thirteen as they insert their badge into the key scanner and locks on the door begin to turn and fold away.
Recognizing this door from her first ever visit to Plumber Base, Ochaco reels back as if hitting an invisible wall. “Hey, wait! You said this place was off limits.”
“Yes It was.” With a final turn, Thirteen steps back as the heavily armored door folds away to reveal the jackpot of armories.
It’s like a gold mine of alien blasters and weaponry in here! Not only are there standard issue Plumber suits and blasters organized throughout but there’s a blaster of every shape, size, model, and color line every square inch of this massive wardrobe of assault and tactical equipment. An entire section of the armory is reserved entirely for weapons made by the Covenant races like Energy Swords, Plasma Pistol and Rifles. Then there’s a whole wall dedicated to the DC series like the DC-15S blaster carbines, the DC-17m Blaster Rifles, and DC-17 hand blasters. And the amazing arsenal goes on and on from there with Reverberating Carbonizer guns, Series 4 De-Atomizers, PKD Blasters, Assault Dominators, and a Magnopulser has a whole podium to itself. It’s the treasure trove of weapon piles!!
“Oh, hell yeah.” Upon witnessing such a mass of potential destruction, a shit eating grin stretches across the mad bomber’s already wicked face. “This shit is gonna have nuts in it!”
It’s time to suit up.
[Play this song/video on REPEAT: “ The Runaways - Cherry Bomb ”]
Spotify Link: https://open.Spotify.com/track/7cdnq45E9aP2XDStHg5vd7?si=41f50a1df927428f
From in the locker room, Ochaco examines the red Plumber suit she’s been lent, along with her Gyro-Disc, and as she does Thirteen walks in and drops a folded black and pink uniform in front of her. “Try putting this on instead.”
Ochaco, hesitantly, takes it and holds up the uniform which unfurls in her fingers allowing herself to have a good look at it.
It’s her costume but with a slimmer belt and a new wrist gauntlet that’s narrower than before with new sets of high-tech control panels attached to them. All in all, though, it looks exactly the same.
“Oh, wow, it’s-”
“Capable of withstanding the vacuum of space.” Thirteen explains much to Ochaco’s sudden astonishment. “We’ve been meaning to give them to you for a while.”
Ochaco smiles, grateful to have such a gift. But she pauses when she realizes that a key component is missing. “But how am I supposed to breathe?”
“With this.” Thirteen smiles and presents the package Patelliday had meant to deliver.
𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞
“The Omnitrix cannot fall into Vilgax’s hands.” Magister Nezu announces with all he’s got as he strolls across the long pearl white table, with his hands behind his back. “If it does there will be no force on heaven or earth that can stop him.”
Uravity walks past, dragging in a floating holographic screen behind her. “All he has to do is erase Deku’s DNA from its system and slap it on his wrist. Then WHAM all our friends, the Pros, the Plumbers! Everything will be gone!”
Cinder then finishes the line by stating. “So, Vilgax cannot claim it as his own!”
𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞
Bakugou shoves the last piece of the red Plumber into place. And he can’t help but be disappointed in the lack of flare and power it has. That's when he has the bright idea of shoving his grenade gauntlets over, combining them perfectly. As he clips them into place a stack of orbs catches his eye and he finds a number of blue-colored alien spheres left unattended and right for the taking.
𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞
On the screen, Uravity just rolled in, a general image of Vilgax’s ship appears to which Magister Nezu is quick to draw attention to. “The Chimeran Hammer is one of if not the most heavily armed ship in Vilgax’s entire fleet. Meaning that it is not the fastest, a weakness we are going to exploit.”
Cinder points at the screen and when he does small images of Xylene’s ship and the RazorCrest appear. “Xylene will clear the way to the Chimeran Hammer. Allowing my craft and the RazorCrest to enter the hull.”
Red Riot raises his hands and speaks up. “Won’t there be hundreds of aliens and killer robots inside?”
Bakugou tsks as if that was a joke. “I think of drones as paper-mâché.”
Red Riot grins and laughs only for them both to yelp in pain as Chopper gives the back of their knees a good whack.
𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞
Mina’s admiring herself in the red Plumber and how well it hugs her form. Satisfied she puts on the gloves Thirteen lent her, they’re just like the ones Thirteen uses, meant to open up and allow her to shoot out acid. Apparently it’s all they have since they weren’t really anticipating this. But it'll work for now.
But admittedly she would love to have some more alien tech to play with.
*Knock. Knock.*
There’s a knock at the door and there’s Ochaco holding a familiar looking flying-device that certainly doesn’t belong to her.
𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞
“Once we are all aboard.” Uravity continues. “We will be splitting into four teams! And each one will have their own objectives!”
𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞
Momo was given a slightly alternate version of the red Plumber suit. This one’s chest plate is shorter leaving her stomach area exposed with nothing but the black underlayer to cover her. This will do so she doesn't have to rip off the entire spacesuit in order to use her Quirk. And if she can’t utilize her Quirk well then…
She puts on the Plumber suit and preps her shrunken Zircon Blade and grinds it against the arm brace as if to test the armor’s durability.
She’ll always have her sword.
𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞
Cinder picks up from there and runs through the plan. “This team will secure our landing zone. As they do this will create the perfect distraction for Lucy to slip away to the ship’s command center.”
LANDING ZONE TEAM :
Midnight
Present Mic
Ectoplasm
Red Riot
Ingenium
A snort escapes Lucy’s lips. “If you want espionage and sabotage then I’m your girl!” She winks before giving a twirl and reshaping herself as one of Vilgax’s red humanoid-drones. Which tries to jokingly pose tantalizingly for her audience.
To which Midnight whistles. “I like this one.”
𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞
Iida must admit but this red Plumber suit fits him perfectly, he’ll be sure to wear it with honor.
“You seem like the responsible one of the group.” Patelliday comments. “Why not, try this on for size.” He presents Iida with a high-tech silver vambrace.
Iida recognizes the vambrace it’s the item Deku wore during the Hosu Incident. “This is Midoriya’s. Are you sure I should be using it?”
“Well, he can’t exactly use it right now, can he?” Patelliday drops it into the lad’s hands. “I’m sure he’d appreciate it if you got some use out of it.”
“Thank you, sir. I shall make you proud!”
The old Plumber nods in approval before he goes fishing for another item. “Good and if it’s not enough to do the job, you can use this!”
Patelliday’s expression is stone cold as he delicately holds up the tiniest of blasters. A tiny, barely bigger than the palm of Iida’s own hand with a needle-nose for a muzzle and a tiny trigger that feels like it’ll snap when he pulls it.
Iida’s entire body goes stiff as he examines the tiny seemingly harmless blaster that’s been laid out before him. “I’ll…use it wisely…”
𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞
Thirteen finally cuts in to explain their part in all this. “Meanwhile, my team will be heading straight for the ship’s power core. We take it out, we take out the ship, his drones, and his toys.”
POWER CORE TEAM :
Thirteen
Snipe
Shoto
Bakugou
Creati
Blukic and Driba
“Why am I on this team?!” Bakugou shouts in complete irritation, finding it a complete waste of his own skills and talent. “I should be in the front turning that tyrant’s face into calamari!!”
Shoto gives him a look that says quite down. “Maybe it’s because your Quirk is naturally suited for this.”
“HUH!?!”
Eraserhead pulls Thirteen and Snipe aside so they can speak privately. “Make sure to keep an eye on that one. Last thing we need is him blowing up the ship while we’re still on it.”
𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞
Shoto may be able to produce ice but he’s pretty sure he can't resist the cold of deep space so he’s grateful to have the red Plumber suit available to him. “At least there can’t be any more surprises after this.”
As he leaves the locker room, a worried Thirteen hurries by while carrying a strange battery-shaped container that sparks wildly with electricity.
“What is that?” He dares to ask.
“Oh, it’s just a little surprise I’ve been cooking up.”
And as Thirteen hurries off Shoto is reconsidering his previous statement.
𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞
Cinder moves on to the next step of the plan. “With all the chaos created by the other teams, it will create the perfect window to allow the Rescue Team to do what they must. We will slip away to the Chimeran Hammer’s prison and break our boys out.”
RESCUE TEAM :
Cinder
Gran Torino
Magister Patelliday
Eraserhead
Tsukauchi
Uravity
Pinky
Chopper
“Once we have them it will be a race back to our landing zone for immediate extraction.” He pauses and shares an understanding look with his old mentor. “We will get our boys home.”
Gran Torino nods and smiles in appreciation.
“Of course, we will!” Uravity cheers along with Pinky and Chopper. “Yeah!/Wa-bop!^
“You’re tagging along on this one, Eraserhead?” asks Tsukauchi.
“Of course, that Problem Child and that Big Oof are both my responsibility.” Eraserhead grips his Capture Scarf so tightly his knuckles begin to creek. “If I’m going to scold them it’s gonna be when they’re both on solid ground again.”
Tsukauchi smiles nervously assuming it’s his own way of caring.
𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞
The teachers, having dawned on their own white Plumber suits, are all lined up and waiting for the Gran Torino to hand them each a weapon best suited for this mission.
Gran Torino hands Midnight a deactivated, black-metaled hilt of an electrified-laser whip. He then gives Snipe a Needler and tosses Detective Tsukauchi a Phaser.
Next is Aizawa but the underground hero is skeptical. “Are you really sure this is necessary?”
“We’re going up against drones programmed to annihilate all organic beings and although rare your Quirk will not be an asset up there. You need these.” The old warrior then presents the young hero with an iconic looking blaster.
It’s a one-handed blaster with a circular frame that’s a soft-green in color. With a black trim, red highlights, a white metallic underlayer, and a sturdy grip providing a good grip for its wielder.
“It’s a S.A.G.E. Gun. And it actually belongs to Midoriya, but his father thought it’d be more useful in your hands then his.”
"Deku's S.A.G.E. Gun" By the artist “Voidv25” on DeviantArt.
Aizawa hesitantly picks it up and slowly gives a spin around his fingers before catching it again. “I don’t remember approving this.”
“Eh, it was a souvenir he got over the summer.” With the last hero armed and ready, Gran Torino hobbles off to get ready himself.
“Wait!” Aizawa calls. “What are you using?”
“Me?” Grano Torino smirks. “I’d never use something so uncivilized.” And with that he makes his exit but from his opposite hand Eraserhead swears he saw the old man holding a strange high-tech silver hilt that should probably be accompanied with a sword or saber.
𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞
“Remember the goal is retrieve and rescue.” Magister Nezu is strict to remind. “Under no circumstances are you to engage Vilgax! Rescuing our student and teacher is our top priority!”
Xylene scowls at this, finding the mission illogical. “And what of the Omnitrix? Surely we are not leaving it in Vilgax’s claws?”
“It’s with Deku.” Uravity quickly answers, her soul focus remaining on the task at hand. “Vilgax can't remove it. And if he did he’d have to discontent the DNA link between Deku and the Omnitrix. So, when we save Deku, we save the Omnitrix.”
𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞
Kirishima loves the red suit; it matches his aesthetic perfectly and the best part is that it’s flexible enough for his Harden not to tear through it. “Now this is manly! Hahaha!!” He laughs pounding his hard rock fists together so hard that they spark.
He leans down to pick up the giant high-tech warhammer that Thirteen left for him. He gives it a kick at the head, so it spins up and lands over and onto his shoulder where the massive head whirs with some mysterious power. “Now this is Manly.”
𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞
“That is the extent of our plan.” With a clap of his paws, Magister Nezu finishes the debrief. “Now are there any questions?”
“Yes!” Power Loader exclaims. “You assigned everyone else to a role but what about the rest of us?” Specifically, himself, Vlad King, Cementoss, Recovery Girl, and even the Principal himself.
Mina frowns as she considers another issue. “Hey, he’s right. Also how are we all getting up there. We can't all fit in the RazorCrest?”
A chilling, thrilling smile stretches unnaturally across Magister Nezu’s face. “Well, I am so glad you asked.”
𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞
Now it’s strange enough on its own that Magister Nezu asked them all to step outside. But it’s even stranger that he actually meant for them to wait out behind U.A. out on its forested hillside.
They each silently beg Nezu for an answer on why they are out there and half scan the sky expecting something to fly down. But no. Before anyone can even ask, the forest itself parts away as the hillside and the outside split apart like the Red Sea as the thunderous roar of engines shakes the ground and air around them. And everyone is left in utter shock-and-awe as the entirety of Japan’s Plumber Base slowly rises out from the ground and to finally reveal it’s true form!!
The massive spaceship is truly a sight to behold. Looking like a Firefly Class Series 9 that’s been outfitted and has had many additions added to it over the years. Creating a perfect blend of that old rustic ship design but upgraded with Plumber tech and engineering. Its massive engines roar with an ablaze of emerald. A single Red Spot glows brightly on the harbor and port sides of this mighty well armored craft. As its inscribed name glimmers under the sunlight and it reads: The Plus Ultra. Truly it is the empathy of a Plumber Command Ship to Nezu’s own liking of course.
They’re all speechless from the heroes to the students, but the only ones capable of speech are two of the original cadets.
“THIS WAS HERE THE WHOLE TIME!?!” Uravity and Pinky are beyond flabbergasted and are now in full on hysterics.
“YOU NEVER KNEW!?!” Their teachers and friends scream as Thirteen and Cinder blush and act all sheepish since they in fact did know and for once forgot to tell them.
Although, Magister Nezu is greatly enjoying himself as The Plus Ultra continues to rise. “Hahahahahaha! I do so enjoy a good twist! Hahahahaha!!”
FLIGHT TEAM :
Magister Nezu
Xylene
Vlad King
Power Loader
Cementoss
Recovery Girl
One-One
𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞
Cinder is a man on a mission. His armor is polished, his respirator is locked, and his spear, the Amenonuhoko, is freshly sharpened to the point it’ll year through the Octopus’ flesh like a hot knife through butter.
But as he strides through the halls of the base a nervous and wary Inko confronts him. “T-this is all…b-beyond me.”
Cinder-....Hisashi comes to a stop, removing his respirator before holding her tight. “Nothing is beyond you or Izuku…”
“You…you kept all this from me.” She weeps.
“I…I did.”
“And my baby…!”
“We’ll bring him home and then…I’ll make it right by you. No matter what.”
She sniffs, wiping away the tears as she clutches so tight to his armor that he’s afraid it might crack. “Just…just do one thing for me.”
“Anything.”
“When you find my baby, tell him that I miss him sooo sooo much and that I love him with all my heart.”
The warm fire in Hisashi’s chest swells and with a solemn yet determined smile he vows to do so.
“Also tell him…that he’s grounded for 5 months.” She states rather affirmably despite how scared and worried she really is.
Hisashi chuckles, figuring that 5 months is actually an extremely light punishment, all things considered. “I’ll do you one better and make sure you get to tell him that himself.”
She smiles back but there is some hesitancy. “You’re so sure you’ll succeed…”
“Of course, I am.” Hisashi turns his and her gaze down towards the end of the hall. “When our boy and his friends come together they are INVINCIBLE.”
From down the hall, Uravity strides down the hall as if in slow motion in her new Hero suit. It’s almost exactly the same as before except for the slimmer belt and wrist bands. But what truly stands out is the rabbit-ear like headpiece on her head. It’s clearly high-tech and slim, a signature marvel from the mind of Melissa Shield.
As she strides through the hall she is soon joined by her fellow, red-armored cadets. To the left a red-cladded Bakugou cocks his fists back to ensure that his Grenade Gauntlets are locked on.
Then to her right strides out a cool and collected Shoto.
Pinky slides in from overhead before kicking off of Deku’s hoverboard before she catches it and tucks it under her arm.
At the same time Creati gives the expanded Zircon Sword a swirl before sheathing it to her back.
Ingenium has a red version of a Plumber helmet over his head, fitting since it somewhat resembles his own. And then to his left he brandished Midoriya’s Omni-Shield from the silver vambrace on his arm.
And finally Red Riot rounds them all out with a shark-like grin and with a massive hammer slung over his Hardened shoulder.
𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞
With their entire attack force suited up, armed, and loaded there’s nothing left for them all to gather around in the ship’s command center. Each gazing out from the massive windows as the Plumber Command Ship slowly rises in a grand whirlwind of power. That kicks branches and winds across the faces of Inko, Mitsuki, Eirene, Mr. Baumann, ML-E, and many of the other alien citizens down below. They all wave and cheer wishing the heroes the best of luck and prayers of hope even as the ship vanishes from sight underneath a powerful cloaking device.
“This is really happening, huh?” Kirishima half-jokes, growing more and more nervous as the cloaked ship slowly climbs further and further from the ground.
“This is it everyone.” Nezu begins from atop his command chair. “This is the moment we deliver justice. This is the moment we defeat evil and return hope. This is the moment that shall prove how strong our bonds are. There is nothing more I can ask of any of you except for one thing.” Looking out to the sky ahead, Magister Nezu announces the following with all his heart. “To Go Beyond!”
Not one person doesn’t have a smile of confidence, reassurance as they all shout out as one defining force. “PLUS ULTRA!!!”
[STOP PLAYING “Cherry Bomb - The Runaways”]
And together they are off, and they all brace together as the ship begins to break through the burning atmosphere. Towards the stars above.
“Hang in there, Deku. All Might. We’re on our way.”
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
Izuku Midoriya is left bloodied and bruised across the floor with his previous form’s massive imprint cratered into the ground.
Vilgax marches forth with the Extraction Device in hand as the boy coughs and sputters.
“You-*Cough!* The Omnitrix-*Cough!* will never be yours…*Cough!* It’s bound to my *Cough!* DNA…”
His act of defiance is admirable but oh so amusing to the Grand Destroyer. “For some time now, I have been wondering what kind of legacy you would leave behind when you're gone. But now I know.”
Suddenly he thrusts the device down at Izuku, almost as if he’s going to impale him on those claw-like stands but instead of striking flesh the claws pierce the ground around the boy’s left arm, thus surrounding the Omnitrix. “When my work is complete. Not a soul will remember your name. No one will know of the pitiful being known as Deku!! Not one being in this entire universe will call you a HERO!!!”
The machine bursts to life and suddenly the Omnitrix unleashes a sphere of green light that propels the device back.
“Gaah-RAAAAGH!!!” Not so easily deterred, Vilgax brings the device back down, breaking through the orb of light with shattering strength. And from the center of the device’s base a large needle-like mechanism jets out and locks itself to the Omnitrix faceplate causing an array of green lightning to discharge across the dome.
“AAaah! AAAAAAAH!!! AAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!!!!” The boy wails in pain, unable to act. And neither is the former hero. “NO!!! Stop It!!! PLEASE, SPARE HIM!!!” Toshinori thrashes, in Nue’s grip but to no avail.
“He’s just a kid! STOOOP!!!” Kraab begs from within Nue’s claws.
One final wail pierces their ears as the Omnitrix’s band begins to split and it struggles to stay bound to the boy’s flesh. “AAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!!!!”
“YOUNG MIDORIYA!!!”
With a chilling snap the Omnitrix is forcibly released and inhaled right into the extraction device before ejected out and into the glowing globe at the end of the machine. And just like that the dome falls to silence as the Omnitrix is left in suspended animation within its new prison.
It. Is. Done.
“Yes. Yes! Finally!! HAHAHAHAHAAAA!!! After all this time! The Omnitrix, is MIIIIIINE!!!”
Vilgax’s laughter rages across the entire ship as the Negative Nine watch on with either great interest or chilling fear. Nue grins, releasing Toshinori who falls to his knees in despair and so too does Kraab fall. Both unable to look away from the weak, teary eyed boy who lays motionless after being dealt such a defeat by the hands of Vilgax the Conqueror of Worlds.
The Negative Nine draws in close, awestricken at the sheer marvel of the Omnitrix, at how small it is, how seemingly simple, yet that power. It’s all too enticing.
“Dare to touch it and you will find your hands separated from your body.” Vilgax warns his eyes glowing a ruby red as his muscular tentacles bulge burning red.
They instantly backoff, taking the hint and forgetting about any ideas of betrayal…for now.
But Vilgax does not seem worried as he holds up the electrified yellow globe. “Not like you can get to it anyway. This orb is ray shielded and encoded to only open for me. This will be the closest any of you will be to holding it.”
“Why not just equip it already?” questions a skeptical Sunder. “Be done with it. And with us…”
“Not yet. There are other uses I wish to utilize.” Vilgax explains as the Omnitrix slowly rotates from within the globe as it remains trapped in a suspended state. “The potential. The power. None of you even realize the true significance of it all.”
Izuku remains on the ground, cold, defeated, and out of breath, the pain is too much. Not the pain of his exposed empty wrist or the pain across his body but the pain of defeat is eating him from the inside out. He searches for help, for hope, but the fallen expressions of Toshinori and Kraab more than quell his wishful thinking.
“No longer is the Omnitrix a plaything. To be used by the whims of a child playing pretend. Now it can serve its true purpose.”
It’s like a hammer breaking a dented nail. It’s useless, he…he has no powers. No Quirk. Nothing… He had his chance to stop Vilgax. He had his chance to save his friends. His home. But he failed. And like that his chances at becoming a hero are gone. The Omnitrix is gone, out of his reach. He’s back to being nothing more than a useless, Quirkless Deku…
‘I’m useless…’ Toshinori falls to despair, he desperately claws at the ground, tries to claw toward his crying student but he can’t reach him. He can’t grab him. He can’t save him. It’s the same, it’s always been the same. He’s never truly been able to reach that boy and hold him up like he should have been all this time. And now, he may never get the chance… ‘Young Midoriya…’ He no longer resists, and instead falls to his knees as he’s completely fallen to despair.
So much so with a taunting smirk Nue lets him go, letting him fall to the ground, defeated.
The Negative Nine, particularly Rojo smirk, amused and taking a sickening enjoyment at the sight of the fallen champion.
“With the ultimate weapon in my grasp and with Earth’s mightiest defender fallen. Claiming this planet for myself will be effortless.”
Psyphon grows excited at his master’s declaration, however, an alert over his earpiece puts a damper on the celebration. “Master!”
Vilgax never turns his gaze away from the Omnitrix as he addresses his underling. “What is it now, Psyphon?”
“Word has come from the command center, there is a ship breaking Earth’s orbit.”
He pauses at that. “A Freighter class?”
“No, Master.” Psyphon seems almost nervous as he responds. “It’s a Carrier class.”
Now he has Vilgax’s full attention. “Show me.”
Psyphon activates the dome arena from his wrist pad and immediately the hexagonal panels light up once again like they had before. But this time they don’t just reveal the Earth and the moon but instead it zooms in towards a massive spaceship breaking through the Earth’s atmosphere.
Instantly the villains’ eyes lock onto the Plumber Red Spots decorating the The Plus Ultra’s wells armored sides.
Izuku slowly blinks at the image, in disbelief of what he’s seeing he accidently asks aloud. “W-what is that…?”
“That.” Vilgax responds with mirth and hate. “Is the feeble attempt at a counterattack from your allies.”
Izuku’s, Toshinori’s, and Kraab’s heads snap up so fast that one might think they had all just woken up from a nightmare. But like how most nightmares end you only find yourself in a dark room with little around to comfort your fearful heart as Nue’s haunting laughter fills the void.
"Henzu(Monster)" By the artist “Voidv25” on DeviantArt.
“Hahaha! The Plumbers are coming? Here?! Hahaha! With just one U.F.O. between them?! HA!! They all must really want to die together!”
Vilgax, however, is far more skeptical and not so easily misguided. “No. The Firebreather is not so reckless to attack alone without a plan.” He keeps his eyes peeled on the rising ship as if anticipating some Plumber-like scheme or twist. “They are not alone.”
Izuku’s not sure why, maybe it’s a gut feeling, or instincts but…he doesn’t like the thought of that. If that is true then…who exactly is on that ship? Who’s risking their life for them…? They have no idea the danger they’re in, they could be-
“Not to worry Master.” Psyphon types away at his wrist pad. “We shall jump from the system before they get into range.”
Vilgax watches the ship as it breaks through the last reach of the planet’s atmosphere before giving Psyphon his verdict. “Belay that order.”
Psyphon does a double take. “But Master-?!” A single red glowing glare from his master silences the minion.
“I do not wish to exit from this system quite yet.” Vilgax turns to his subordinates, raising a hand to them as if he’s imagining himself holding them up like shining trophies. “I have crafted the perfect legion of warriors and they are yet to prove themselves in battle.” He trunks back towards the Plumber Command Ship with a newfound sense of thrill. “This will be the perfect display of power. We will not leave. We will stand our ground and fight until all of them are crushed beneath our feet.”
The promise of battle, glory, and violence. How can any of the Negative Nine say no? The answer: they can’t. And the shit-eating grins on their faces are proof of that.
“But I am not so conceited as to not take precautions. Ragnarok, transport the Omnitrix to the lab and prepare for the next procedure as we discussed.”
Ragnarok gives a bow as Vilgax willingly hands over the glowing globe containing the Omnitrix. Ragnarok takes it, holding it gingerly in his hands as the electricity of the orb threatens to turn his hands into ash if he dares to tamper with it.
“And remember. Attempt to betray me in any way and I will make your vaporization a slow and painful one.”
“There is no need to remind me.” Ragnarok scowls. “I know my place.”
“As you should. And take the Charlotte Project with you.” Vilgax gestures to the massive machine he just used minutes ago in order to take the powers of the Nomus which now lie on the floor motionless like corpses. “Keep it safe, it is…a prototype after all.”
Ragnarok gives a bow to confirm his standing before taking his leave with the globe in hand and as a legion of drones follow him out as the last squad of robots carry out the Charlotte project behind him like it were the arc of the covenant.
Nue skeptically watches the solar powered freak leave with the Omnitrix, and he doesn't like it, not one bit. “Next procedure?” he questions. “What are you talking about?”
“All For One delivered me what I was promised.” Well for the most part, but even so, he was promised power for power. “However, I have still yet to hold up my end of the bargain.”
Now this is news, Nue can only assume it was part of their “discussion” from when the two first met. “And what exactly are you giving him in return?”
“The same thing we are going to deliver upon these vermin that are foolish enough to challenge me.” He pauses as he gazes up once again at the approaching ship before he gives an ominous resolution. “Calamity.”
The prisoners’ hearts drop in response, so much so their breaths escape them.
Which only grabs the attention of the alien villains like Sunder. “What should we do with these two?” asks the smirking grey goblin. “I mean it’s not like they’re much of a threat anymore.”
Rojo scoffs in response. “We got ourselves a withered old man and a powerless runt right here.”
“They…are no longer of any use to anybody.” Vilgax exposes his back to the two weak humans without any hint of worry. “Keep them locked away in here and post a squadron of drones to oversee them.” He lifts his gaze once again to the display of the Plumber ship before declaring. “Let them watch as their comrades’ corpses float away into the abyss.”
“You son of a BITCH!!!” Kraab spouts while trying and failing to slip through Nue’s claws.
"Kraab" By the artist “Voidv25” on DeviantArt.
Vilgax’s gaze glows red once again but they soon dim away, figuring that this pest is beneath him. “And send that traitorous piece of filth where it belongs.”
“I nwok xacelyt heerw uyo lognbe.” Even with his helmet on, everyone can tell that SevenSeven is smiling underneath it as he snatches the struggling Kraab from Nue’s grip. “Nad os odes nya trSa arWs nfa.”
Izuku weakly but desperately reaches for his friend but not even his legs bother to move at his command. And he’s left watching as SevenSeven’s claws dig into Kraab’s plating.
Meanwhile, Vilgax does even bother to give the boy a second glance.
With a sniff and a swipe at his tearing face Izuku can do nothing but choke and sob. “You’re…you’re a…”
“A monster? A villain? I am much more than any of that.” He finally acknowledges the boy only to glorify his own existence. “I am Vilgax the Conqueror!! And once I have destroyed the last of the resistance Earth has to offer, your planet and all its potential will be mine! Hahahahaha!!”
That terrible laughter will haunt their nightmares for years to come. But then again will they have that long? Both Izuku and Toshinori are left to wonder as they watch as their friends and the last of their hope slowly rises towards the never-ending void.
To be continued…
“ Heroes Never Die It's Hero Time - 4th Ani Poster ” By the artist “ 1206787 ” on DeviantArt or as they go by on fanfic. net “ Vasto-Lorde-Ash-Ketchum .”
Notes:
*Ch.81 Induction is complete. Sort of, I was hoping to start some of the combat and stuff but I wanted to post this in time so I cut it where I could. I still think it works. But yeah next time we will be seeing how the Rescue Team invades Vilgax’s ship, how they split up, who they fight, who was All Might’s cell neighbor, and more. It won’t be the big finale of the arc or anything, but it’ll be the start! So get ready.
Although I will admit that because of Thanksgiving I haven't had time to start the next chapter yet. Sooo, yeah. I’ll get on that next chance I get.
In any case, thanks again for enjoying this story for the last 4 years.
*So, I had a lot of Easter Eggs and even more things to set up in this chapter too. The new recruits got new toys to play with. They won’t keep them, but I’ll be using these as avenues to give them new gear later down the line. Oh, and yeah the Plumber Base was a spaceship all along. I had that planned for literally over 4 years now. Yes, I had this planned since I posted Ch.1. Don’t believe me? Well, I tried my best to describe the interior of the Firefly when Izuku first visited Plumber Base. Except that Nezu’s version of the ship is waaaaay bigger and adapted more for combat and carrying other smaller ships. In any case did you catch all the easter eggs and references? Let me know.
*ARTWORK!!!!!* We have a new piece of fanart to celebrate this story’s 4th Year Anniversary! It’s called “Heroes Never Die It's Hero Time - 4th Ani Poster” by the artist “1206787” on DeviantArt or as they go by on fanfic. net “Vasto-Lorde-Ash-Ketchum.” Here is the link below.
ARTWORK LINK: https://www.deviantart.com/1206787/art/Heroes-Never-Die-It-s-Hero-Time-4th-Ani-Poster-996387409
Check it out now. BEFORE YOU READ! PLEASE!!! It is amazing. Like for real, I had a rough week last week and 1206787’s artwork has been the highlight of my week and it's constantly bringing a smile to my face every time I look at it. I have a hard time believing it was made in four days. But it was! And it is amazing!! I see something new every time I look at it and it's so fun to guess and then get correct who’s who. Seriously, I can go on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on!!!!!!! Because that’s how much I love it!
So, go and check it out. I will post the link again and again through the chapter and Author’s Notes. Go view it and give it a comment. And check out this story’s other fanart. You can see them all over on this story’s TV Tropes Page. Which I WILL provide the link here too. Also if you want to see your own fanart here then don't hesitate. Just send it my way and I'll be happy to share it.
TV TROPES LINK: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Fanfic/HeroesNeverDieItsHeroTime
Chapter 87: Irruption
Notes:
Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays everyone! Since you’ve all been good this year I figured I’d give you a new chapter as a present. It’s not exactly full of merry and cheer, nor does it have gumdrops and sugar canes, but it is fun like a Home Alone movie.
It finally begins, we all finally get to see the start of The Negative Nine vs. the Plumbers! Hope you’re ready because it’s Naughty vs. Nice!!
*TV TROPES LINK*: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Fanfic/HeroesNeverDieItsHeroTime
There is an Author's Note at the end of the chapter.
Chapter Text
Trembling. Everything feels like it’s trembling. But is that just her unsettling nerves growing more and more intense as they approach impending doom? No. It's the spacecraft, The Plus Ultra, its entire haul shakes and trembles violently whenever it breaks through another layer of the atmosphere. Not like she can confirm this thanks to the sealed-up bay doors and the lack of windows the large and darkened hanger provides.
It’s so cold too, so much her knuckles are turning white. But is that also nerves or is that because of just the sub-zero temperatures of space? Again, she is not sure and doesn’t want to think about the possibility of a leak.
Either way, one way or another, Ochaco Uraraka cannot get her heart rate to calm. So much so she is kinda jealous of just how calm the others are, especially her teachers.
“These suits aren't exactly slimming.” Midnight comments as she inspects her white armored Plumber suit, which like Momo's it leaves much of the black under armor exposed.
“They’re not supposed to be.” Eraserhead chides. “They’re meant to protect us from the vacuum of space.” He says that but he still ditches the chest plate of his suit in favor of staying more limber and flexible. Although Thirteen did clarify that the under armor is specialized to survive the vacuum of space for a minimum amount of time.
“Space. Ha! Still wrapping my head around this one!” Present Mic all but shouts and yells excitedly. And he too is wearing white Plumber armor. “But come on! This is rocking! Oh, I should have a segment on my show just for those rocking aliens we met! I’d bet they’d love it!”
“This all has me nervous.” Snipe comments before giving his Needler gun a spin in his hand like it were a 6-shooter. “But then again it does seem to have its perks.” Even with his cowboy hat and mask he still looks cool in that Plumber armor.
The other teachers like Vlad King, Cementoss, Power Loader, and Ectoplasm seem to be of the same mind as they each inspect their weapons and gear one last time.
“They’re right.” Eijiro Kirishima A.K.A. Red Riot is grinning like an idiot and looking very macho in his matching red Plumber suit. The giant high tech warhammer over his shoulder also boosts just how manly he’s looking right now too. “I can hardly believe it either. For real, man.”
“But it is.” Shoto Todoroki once again inspects his red suit, noting the temperature regulation capabilities within it. “It’s all real.”
“It’s so exciting yet scary all at once!” Mina Ashido A.K.A. Pinky slides over with Deku’s Hoverboard folded up and locked against the red Plumber suit’s belt.
“Yes, it is.” Momo Yaoyorozu A.K.A. Creati nervously yet calmly agrees, making sure that her shrunken Zircon sword is locked in place against her thigh. “I just hope we’re ready for this.”
“We’re more than prepared!!” Tenya Iida A.K.A. Ingenium races over to the squad, his armor fitting him so perfectly it’s almost an entirely red version of his regular hero suit and it even comes with its own helmet that’s similar to his own.
He slides to a halt, his Engines humming in anticipation. “I’m positive this plan will go off without a hitch! However! We must remain sharp and vigilant at all costs!”
Shoto agrees. “I hope you’re right.”
“Glasses has the right idea! So, don’t start slacking now or you’ll have to deal with me you damn extras!!”
Everyone stops chatting and looks over to find a red armored Katsuki Bakugou stomping across the hanger. His Grenade Gauntlets clash with the red armor but he doesn’t care about that shit. And then strapped across his belt and bandolier is a collection of blue spheres, most likely a weapon he snatched up from the armory.
“We’re gonna fucking murder everyone in that flying saucer!” He grins maniacally, almost too excitedly.
So much so that maybe everyone else has a reason to be a little bit concerned.
However, one person sees it a little differently. Finding it encouraging rather than not. So much so that she finally leaves the corner and steps forward to join the warmth of her friends. “If you mean murder their plans, then yeah. We’re gonna kill it!”
The teens pause and look over to find Uravity smiling back at them with an expression that’s a mix of honest nerves yet sheer determination.
But what really watches their eyes is her new hero costume. It’s the same relative design and color scheme as before, however, The belt around her waist has been minimized, no longer having a center. And her headgear no longer has a visible visor and has been split into two parts that sit over her ears with pink extensions sticking up and kinda making them resemble pink bunny ears. And finally, her arm gauntlets have been altered. They are narrower yet longer than before and it seems they have been suited up with wrist pads that are most likely for communications and other purposes. No doubt this suit was made with Plumber tech and materials so there’s no doubt that this space suit has some surprises in store.
Pinky lets out an impressed whistle. “Girl! Check you out!”
Uravity blushes and gets all sheepish, not exactly comfortable with all their awed staring. “It’s not too much is it?”
“No way~!” Lucy Mann slithers by, her from twirling and swirling until it becomes her standard human form. “I couldn’t wear it any better myself.” She winks.
“I love the new look!” Pinky reaffirms with a grin.
“As do I.” Creati agrees, admiring its material especially. “It’s quite lovely.”
“It’s so you.” Lucy winks before a mischievous glint in her eye draws itself towards the boys. “What do you think, boys? Doesn’t she look good or what?”
“It is indeed excellent! It is both practical and inspiring!”
“It’s very wom-er, manly!”
“It suits you.”
“Tsk. Who cares?!”
They all may have given a response and yet none of them can meet her gaze instead they all have their eyes locked up towards the ceiling while also praying that their blushes aren’t that obvious in the low light.
Even so, she still appreciates the comments. “Thanks guys. But guess what! This costume was made with space in mind. It's a zero-suit so it should survive the vacuum of space. And my wrist gauntlets have some tricks too! Although I’m still reading the manual.” Her belt also has a few spare compartments now too, perfect for storing spare supplies, an important letter, and a special gift.
As the girls, mainly Lucy and Pinky, pester the boys for better answers. And Ingenium requests to see the manual. And Shoto and Bakugou go over some of the red suits’ features, they are being watched over by their teachers and allies who take in some warmth from the innocent scene.
“Aw, to be young and naive.” Midnight gushes and squirms with a passion.
“Please don’t start.” Eraserhead deadpans as Present Mic laughs it off.
“Is it really that wise to bring hatchlings into battle?” Xylene questions as she too watches the scene from the other end of the hangar bay. “Especially, into a battle such as this?”
Gran Torino doesn’t get up from his seat, instead he sits there with his eyes closed as to rest and mentally prepare for the hardship ahead. “You’ve seen the girl fight. The others are just as tenacious. I don’t doubt any of them for a second.”
She smiles, getting nostalgic for the old days. “Like you didn’t doubt your student?”
“Still haven’t.” He finally opens his gaze and gets a far off look across his elderly face. “He’s a fighter.”
She smiles and stays quiet as they both reminisce.
However, they are far from the only ones drawn into silence. The lone detective, Naomasa Tsukauchi, has secluded himself to the far corner of the hangar. Seated atop a stack of strapped down metal crates and alien supplies. He’s not paying attention to anyone or anything but instead there is a faraway look on his face as he stares down at the Phaser gun sitting in between his hands.
“You’ve been quiet for some time now.”
Startled, He nearly jumps, only to visibly relax when he sees that it was only Recovery Girl coming over to greet him.
“How are you feeling, deary?” She asks with a gentle and warm smile.
He debates, for a second, of just telling her that he’s fine but… “Honestly, I'm a bit lost and confused. And conflicted… I had my suspicions all this time, and I’m sure Principal Nezu was aware that I was conducting my own investigation as per All Might’s request. And yet he did nothing to stop it.” Or perhaps he did stop it, by manipulating the situation past his own understanding. “I can’t help but feel like I was set up. But then again maybe it was for the best… Whenever I take on a new case I wonder just what kind of dangers we’ll find ourselves in. So I half expected that I’d disturb a hornet’s nest when I opened this can, however, I never would have guessed that I would have fallen head first into a rabbit hole instead. It’s…all a bit much.”
Well she can certainly see why he has his hangups, she certainly has them too, however… “That is what conducting an investigation calls for though; finding clues, following leads, and unearthing discoveries.” She looks out towards what would have been the results of such an investigation and stares questioningly at the RazorCrest and the alien weapons they’re all equipped with. “None of us saw this coming, not a one, certainly not me. But their intent was never ill-will or intended to disrespect us or our trust in them. Instead, we should feel honored that they trusted us with this.”
“Why’s that?”
“Because they did tell us.” She replies with a firm confidence. “It shows that the Principal, Thirteen, those kids, they all value your opinion. They all respect you too much to keep this from you or us any longer.”
That may be true but is it really all that? What’s the point of including him into the fold? He’s not a hero. He’s not a space cop? So, why?
“Heroes come in all shapes and sizes.” Recovery Girl continues as if senses his innermost worries. “Whatever they’re doctors, policemen, or teachers. They understand that each and every one of us will set aside our fears and answer the call of duty. To do what is right. And to help a friend.”
Friend…help a friend. That strikes a chord within the detective as he gazes down at the Phaser in his hands. To which his fingers slowly but firmly grip the hilt.
Meanwhile, Shoto is still obsessed with the suit as he continues to examine the technology incorporated into it. “These suits really are something, aren’t they?”
Ingenium couldn’t agree more as he makes sure that his helmet is locked in place nicely and securely. “Yes, it’s impressive that the principal had such adjustable armor at the ready.”
“It’s only logical we would.” Thirteen’s voice calls out as they enter the hanger alongside Cinder, Patelliday, and Chopper. “There are millions of different races out there with all sorts of body types and needs. So of course, our armor can be adjusted to suit them all.”
“Huh. look at that.” Red Riot comments as he Hardens his arm and watches as the armor and zero-suit stretch with it.
Eraserhead hastily makes his way to the front, on edge and alert for any danger. “Thirteen. Is there an emergency? Are we getting close?”
Everyone tenses up, awaiting the Plumber’s answer.
“No emergency.” Thirteen explains. “No danger. Not yet anyway.”
“We came down for a different reason.” adds Cinder as he and the other two guide everyone to stand before the sealed bay doors.
“That being?” Ectoplasm asks with a hint of hesitation.
But Thirteen’s gentle gaze calms his and everyone else’s worries. “There’s something Majister Nezu thought you all would like to see.”
Patelliday peers down at the astro-mech and gives him permission to do as they discussed. “Chopper, mind doing the honors?”
^Wa-bop!^ With a skip in his step, Chopper wheels over to beside the bay doors where he plugs himself to the ship’s mainframe.
Eraserhead watches as the little droid programs away at the circuits, curiously. “What is this about then?”
Thirteen replies with an honest keenness. “We wanted to indoctrinate you all, the right way.”
In perfect timing with Thirteen’s words Chopper finally unlocks the bay doors, resulting in the hangar doors to shift outward before parting away, breaking their seal between the earthlings and the vacuum of space.
The guests all brace themselves, their hearts skipping a beat, fearing that they might be sucked out but nothing of the sort occurs. Before realizing that there’s a transparent electrical field in place between them and opening giant doors.
Once their hearts have begun to beat once more they stop once again but this time not of fear or despair but that of sheer wonderful awe.
As the hangar bay doors part away the heroes and students are greeted by a vast and endless ocean. One that twinkles and glimmers in the dark, the endless darkness is showered in light creating beautiful hues that should be impossible to create. And yet there it is stretching out to the infinity with every star floating freely to their own wonderful destinies.
They are not sure how they felt before. Whether seeing this would hammer in the fact of how alone and small they are. But in this moment, before this beauty, none of that matters. Not their worries. Not their fears. Only their hopes and dreams light up before them. For if the universe as beautiful and vast existence then so too can their own ambitions.
At least that is Uravity’s thoughts and emotions, it’s a wonderful feeling one that she can drift away into forever. But a glimmer, a speck of red fading in and out beside the glowing moon catches her eye. That red sinister dot flickers in and out, ruining the beautiful canvas.
A sense of dread and nervousness well up in her throat at the sight of it.
“That’s where we’re headed.” Cinder strides up beside her, his stern gaze locked onto the red speck as well. “That’s where they’re holding Izuku and All Might.”
Uravity’s body tenses, her fists tightening, and One For All sparks across her arms.
Watching as two of his mentees’ expressions turn grim and sour, Gran Torino let’s out a sigh in exasperation. “Such serious looks on your faces. You two need to learn to smile more.”
Cinder gives him a look asking if he’s actually serious about that. “Why would we smile at a time like this?”
The question only causes the old man to chuckle. “In the words of a friend, it’s to show everyone that everything’s gonna be okay.”
A sense of familiarity strikes Uravity's memory, she can almost hear All Might saying something similar to that. And it does bring a smile to her face. “It will be okay.” She affirms, turning her smiling gaze to her awestricken friends and teachers. “Nothing’s impossible, not when we have each other's backs. We might be training to become heroes but today, right now that’s what we are.”
Pride and excitement well up in her friends who all grin back in eager yet nervous anticipation.
To which Uravity’s grin stretches further. “And as another friend would say-”
Punching her fist into the air everyone joins in to shout out. “IT’S HERO TIME!!!”
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[PLAY: “ Dr. STONE NEW WORLD - Opening Song | "Wasuregataki" by Huwie Ishizaki ” - link can be found in this chapter on the AO3 site.]
https://_youtu._be/eKeoHejslp0?si=hrwFYRRwMIgQs6Ym
(Instrumental~~~)
The camera shows Izuku Midoriya with his head hanging down before zooming up to show Vilgax’s battleship floating over Earth's moon.
Sou kore kona itami ga~
Uravity Uraraka gazes up to the sky as the title appears from above her.
Sujikaki no nai monogatari ni wa~
She begins to walk forward as her friends slowly fade into existence: Pinky Ashido, Katsuki Bakugou, Shoto Todoroki, Creati Yaoyorozu, Tenya Ingenium, and Eijiro Red Riot.
Hitsuyou fukaketsu nanda~
Inko Midoriya holds a picture of her family as she cries and is comforted by Mitsuki Bakugou and Eirene Ashido.
Yoru no umi ni wa Tsuki ga isuwaru~
Unseen to them Cinder is at the door. He looks up with determination as he heads out to rescue his son.
Sugita kunou wo~
Katsuki Bakugo holds an old All Might card as an image of him and Deku as kids cheering as they hold their cards out appears behind him.
Bikasuru hima ga~
Nue looks down at a watch as an image of him and Izuku in middle school laughing appears behind him.
Aru nara ima dake utsuseyo~
The screen splits between the two, both standing back-to-back, and with determined glares they both march away in opposite directions.
Ororkamono demo shoujiki te itai~
Panels shift and fold away, creating a portal, that reveals Izuku bound in an iconic ring of metal as Toshinori Yagi stares up at it in a mix of shock-and-awe and despair.
Haato ga sawagu yo~
Vilgax the Conqueror makes himself known from atop his throne. As he peers down at his inferiors with an air of ominous superiority.
(Instrumental~~~)
Below his throne his minions have been assembled: Psyphon, Malware, Sunder, Ragnarok, SevenSeven, the Techadon, Rojo, and Nue.
Tatoe dareka wo kizutsuke tato shitemo~
Cinder unleashes a wave of flames as he mows through Vilgax's drone army with his blazing dual-edged spear! Before swiftly speeding away as the Techadon gets pulled in by Thirteen’s swirling Black Hole!
Yuzurenai hikari ga arunda~
Pinky slides across the narrow hallways as Ingenium races by. They’re followed by a sword wielding Creati and a Hardened Red Riot. Before the screen is consumed by pillars of fire and ice with Shot’s eyes piercing back.
Mushi kaesu tsumori wa betsu ni nari keredo~
Uravity smashes through the ice before unleashing a wave of glowing gravity in every direction causing the army of silhouetted aliens to be blasted away.
Kono seaki de kono sekai de~
Bakugou rockets past her in a blaze of a Howitzer Impact that crashes into a grinning Nue like an exploding meteor.
Wasuregataki naru niwa mada hayai~
Vilgax looms menacingly over the Rising Star and the Symbol of Peace as nine dark threads of fate swirl through and around his form.
Yume migachi na shinisokonai sa~
Toshinori looks on at the teen with a look of shame that soon transitions to that of deterPinkytion. And in a wave of smoke a scowling All Might rises to meet the Mad Titan.
Zero kara hairiagare sora ga waretatte~
Vilgax’s tentacles reach for the defiant Deku as the Omnitrix begins to spark and glow with inspiring green lightning.
Ano sekai e ano sekai e~
A massive discharge of green explodes outward, overtaking everything and swallowing up everything in a brillant show of green light.
Nanjyukkai nan byakkai~
Deku gazes out towards the vastness of space from the portal window of his prison cell.
nanzenkai nomikonde~
While Uravity gazes out into the star-filled sky through the windshield of the RazorCrest.
Nanjyuunen~
Deku slowly raises his left fist towards the shrinking window.
nanbyaku nen~
Uravity slowly raises her right fist towards the expanding window.
nan zen nen~
The screen splits between the two, zooming in on their fists just as they gently connect. And the camera is blinded by flashes of green and pink before washing away to white.
Sakimidare~!
A still Omnitrix lays on upon the moon, alone and in the dark, before the Sun majestically peeks out from behind the Earth over the edge and shines its rays of hope down upon it.
(Illustrated by Drag0n5on)
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Ch.82 Irruption
Magister Nezu watches the wonderful view from the command center of The Plus Ultra, standing at its front just before the massive windows leaving him just inches from the stars outside. Meanwhile, One-One is locked into place of his usual command posting but this time acting as the ship’s main and only pilot. And a graceful one at that as they float amongst the stars.
“These systems are incredible!” But of course, they are not alone up here. Which is proven true with Power Loader leaning over his monitor with a gaping jaw. “We have to incorporate them into U.A.’s system first thing when we get back! This will greatly improve our own security measures and then some!”
Seated beside him is Vlad King, who certainly doesn’t share his colleague’s enthusiasm. “I’m still not so sure. These weapons systems are a little complicated.” He adds while fiddling with his own monitor and console.
Across from them both sits Cementoss who’s looking over and familiarizing himself with the ship's radar ad systems. “Better learn fast. We don’t have much time.”
“There never is.” Nezu all but whispers to himself, however, the others catch it and they all go stiff at the implication. “I am sorry I kept this from you all.” Nezu starts, addressing them while he continues to stare out at his own reflection. “But I hope you understand my reasons.”
“I understand why.” Vlad King starts. “But I won’t lie and say I have my hang ups about this.”
A pregnant silence fills the command center as his words sink in for Nezu who can acknowledge that he will have to address his and everyone else’s concerns at another time.
And thankfully Vlad King understands this as well. “But right now isn’t the time for trivial whining. Now's the time for action.”
Nezu greatly appreciates the patience and the focus. He has truly assembled the best for his school. “Thank you. And you are right. Time is not on our side, however, I have complete faith in each and every one of you.” he then turns to address the tiny droid that's inserted into the ship’s main command console. “One-One.”
One-One spins in his port with Glad-One being the side of him to respond first. ^Yes, Magister, sir?^
Sad-One then chides. ^Can’t you see I’m busy?^
“Please message the others, let them know that we will be making our approach.”
^Okey-dokey! We’ll get on it like we’re cherry on a pie!^
^I hate pie, it’s because my sensors can sense taste.^
Glad-One activates the speaker systems and begins his announcement all throughout the ship. ^Excuse me passengers this is your Conductor One-^
^-One.^
^And I wanted to inform you all that we’ll be approaching the wicked kraken’s ship very soon. Hooray! I’m so excited that I’m shaking!^
^That’s the fear setting in.^
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Glad-One’s voice rings through the hanger, snapping the heroes’ attention away from the view. [^Please board your assigned spacecrafts and prepare yourself for the excitement ahead.^]
[^I suggest preparing by writing a last will and testament.^]
Taking that as a direct order, Xylene gives a salute as she alone heads to her ship. “Take care Sorahiko, I wish you honor and glory in this battle.”
Gran Torino acknowledges her back. “Thanks, you take care out there.”
She smirks, taking that as a joke. “You should be praying for my enemies.”
He smirks back.
“This is real. This is really happening.” Tsukauchi locks the Phaser into his holster that should be for a normal gun. “This is it.”
“It is.” Thirteen confirms as they stand before the ramp leading into the RazorCrest.
“Seems too much for me… I’m just a cop.”
“You’re a detective.” Thirteen firmly corrects. “And a good one at that. One that we all trust. One that All Might trusts. And now we’re asking you to trust us.”
Tsukauchi pauses his mind recalling Recovery Girl’s own words of encouragement. ‘“They all respect you too much to keep this from you or us any longer. They understand that each and every one of us will set aside our fears and answer the call of duty. To do what is right. And to help a friend.”’
“Then I’ll trust you to get me there.” And with less hesitation in his step, Tsukauchi begins to climb the ramp followed by others that are just as determined like Snipe, Ectoplasm, and Lucy Mann.
Although some more ecstatic about the sci fi elements if anything like present Mic who’s geeking out as he takes in everything inside the RazorCrest. “This is so cool! HAHA!!!”
“Mic, keep your voice down!” Midnight scolds. “I don’t want to be sucked into space.”
“Oh don’t worry.” Patelliday waves off the concern as he enters the craft alongside Chopper. “These crafts are the perfect cultivation of engineering and science. This is not some old jalopy your grandfathers used to drive.”
Thirteen enters last but not before throwing the kids and the others an encouraging thumbs up.
A grin, a genuine excited grin, is stretching so far across Bakugou’s face that the others are afraid it’s going to rip his cheek apart. But then again, who can blame him for being so excited? “That’s fucking cool.” He admits while admiring the RazorCrest’s shining frame and build.
Cinder chuckles, sliding up next to him while folding his arms up in pride. “I know, right? She’s a beauty.”
Bakugou is about to agree before realizing that Cinder is not talking about the ship. Following his gaze he realizes that the old man I was referring to the literal rust bucket of an RV! “WHY’S THIS EVEN HERE!?!”
He’s not the only one wondering this, so too is Red Riot. “Um, dude? Why did you bring your RV along?”
The smirk on the Plumber’s face couldn’t get more alarming. “Why? Well. Because that’s our ride.”
It takes a second for each of the kids to register his words, but eventually…- “WHAT!?!”
Even Uravity’s flabbergasted. “We’re taking the Rustbucket?!”
“Well, we all can’t fit on the RazorCrest.” Cinder explains as if it were obvious. “And don’t worry, I’ll drive.” With a wink he flips up his keys and gives the automatic starter a press, causing the RV to beep several times before unlocking.
“That’s not my concern!!” Uravity screams.
However, Shoto is more concerned with another thought. “Wait, if you’re driving that thing then who’s flying the-”He peers up and his heart stops when he sees Chopper waving back at him through the cockpit of the RazorCrest.
Pinky winces and lets out a low hiss. “Yeah, I’m not so sure about this carpool, guys.”
From the cockpit Thirteen shoves Chopper down from view and takes the driver seat instead but even so the kids are still nervous as they step into the rickety earth vehicle.
Recovery Girl stands beside the door, wishing to see them all off before they go. “Good luck to all of you. Be safe and don’t get hurt out there or you’ll have to deal with me when you get back!”
She watches the kids enter one by one starting with Uravity, Bakugou, Pinky, Shoto, Red Riot. Creati, and then Ingenium. After they’re in she gives Blukic and Driba a boost with her cane so they can climb inside before Gran Torino hobbles his way in next while Cinder hops through the driver door and into his seat.
But the final person to enter is the one that throws her off the most. “Eraserhead, you’re tagging along in here too?”
“Of course.” Eraserhead calmly but stoically admits. “These are my students, can’t be leaving them unsupervised not even for a second.”
She nods in approval with a soft understanding smile. “You really are a softy deep down. Aren’t ya?”
She doesn’t expect an answer, but it does give her confidence that these children, these young heroes, will be well looked over. Hopefully their fates are sealed just as tightly as the door as it closes shut.
The kids weren’t too sure what they would find inside the Rustbucket but they kinda expected something…nicer. In a word it’s…tacky. And old. The carpet that was once red and orange is worn out and faded. The leather seats are no longer soft and firm but thin and sunken. And all the appliances look several decades out of date. All in all, the only thing special about the RV is wondering exactly how it’s managed to stay running after all these decades.
“So, how is this supposed to work?” asks Red Riot, looking around as if thinking it’s all hidden under some kind of hologram. “I bet this baby is gonna transform into a haunting spaceship, right? Right?! With awesome laser guns and missiles!!!”
Blukic and Driba start, questioning the red head’s inquiries.
“Transform?” Driba questions.
Driba sadly shakes his head. “How simple minded. Can’t these earthlings identify their own engineering when it’s right in front of them?”
“Sad, ain’t it?”
Ignoring them both, Cinder goes ahead and addresses Red Riot’s concern. “This old girl has class. She doesn't need anything that fancy.”
Ingenium can only defend the Plumber’s authority for so long but this is really pushing it. “So, how pray tell, are we supposed to get over there?!”
Cinder chuffs. “Easy. We’re hitching a ride.”
He times it perfectly, from outside the windows they can see the RazorCrest rising off the hanger floor. Amazingly it hovers gracefully just feet off the floor without having to speed forward or have the engines roar to the point their ears pop. But even more amazing is how delicately it hovers over the Rustbucket and with a spark and snap the RV is hoisted right off the ground and locked magnetically in place to the RazorCrest’s underside.
^Ba-Ba-Bwa!^ Chopper announces that they’re secured.
Although it’s kinda cool, Bakugou finds it more annoying than anything else. “We’re fucking cargo?!”
“Yeah, you get it.” Cinder confirms.
That seems to make them more nervous. And so they each take a seat, hoping that something firm might at least let them brace themselves. Pinky, Red Riot, Creati, and Ingenium take the seats around the table while Shoto and Bakugou hang back by the bunks. Uravity and Eraserhead stay standing but hold tight to whatever they can as Gran Torino remains seated in shotgun as a grinning Cinder grips the wheel.
They’re ready.
They all watch from inside the hanger as the Plus Ultra flies closer and closer to the moon, using it as cover before they reveal themselves to the enemy ship. And as they approach one final speech echoes for all to hear.
[“Everyone.”] Magister Nezu announces through the RV’s radio and RazorCrest’s holophone. [“The moment of truth. Often depicted as a momentous occasion, romanticized as the defining moment that one’s true character is revealed. Whether that moment is now or in the future I am uncertain. However, what I am certain of is that we cannot fail. Not just for our own sake. Or for our home. But for those that are counting on us to save them. On those calling upon for a hero to save them. That is the moment, this is our moment. So go forth! Go forth and show these villains just what Earth’s Mightiest Heroes have to offer!!”]
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Said villains have already begun to move although their own patience is far greater than the heroes’ own.
The battle arena’s walls have been projecting the image of the Plumber’s Command Ship for some time now. Even as they pull behind the moon they are still quite aware of their position. They will be upon them soon.
And so not wanting to waste time Vilgax had sent Ragnarok away with the locked away Omnitrix and Charlotte Project for safe keeping. Psyphon too has left to personally oversee the command center.
Leaving Vilgax and the rest of his Negative Nine to watch with great anticipation.
“What should we do with these two?” asks the smirking Sunder. “I mean it’s not like they’re much of a threat anymore.”
Rojo scoffs in response. “We got ourselves a withered old man and a powerless runt right here.”
They are of course referring to the trembling and powerless Izuku Midoriya and Toshinori Yagi.
“They…are no longer of any use to anybody.” Vilgax exposes his back to the two weak humans without any hint of worry. “Keep them locked away in here and post a squadron of drones to oversee them.” He lifts his gaze once again to the display of the Plumber ship before declaring. “Let them watch as their comrades’ corpses float away into the abyss.”
“You son of a BITCH!!!” Kraab spouts while trying and failing to slip through Nue’s claws.
Vilgax’s gaze glows red once again but they soon dim away, figuring that this pest is beneath him. “And send that traitorous piece of filth where it belongs.”
“I nwok xacelyt heerw uyo lognbe.” Even with his helmet on, everyone can tell that SevenSeven is smiling underneath it as he snatches the struggling Kraab from Nue’s grip. “Nad os odes nya trSa arWs nfa.”
Izuku weakly but desperately reaches for his friend but not even his legs bother to move at his command. And he’s left watching as SevenSeven’s claws dig into Kraab’s plating.
Meanwhile, Vilgax doesn’t even bother to give the boy a second glance.
With a sniff and a swipe at his tearing face Izuku can do nothing but choke and sob. “You’re…you’re a…”
“A monster? A villain? I am much more than any of that.” He finally acknowledges the boy only to glorify his own existence. “I am Vilgax the Conqueror!! And once I have destroyed the last of the resistance Earth has to offer, your planet and all its potential will be mine! Hahahahaha!!”
That terrible laughter will haunt their nightmares for years to come. But then again will they have that long? Both Izuku and Toshinori are left to wonder as they watch as their friends and the last of their hope slowly rises towards the never-ending void.
“Do not hold back! Launch ALL FIGHTERS!!! Let their blood shower their planet like rain!!”
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Bakugou lets out a sharp tsk, even though the enemy craft isn’t in sight yet nor the fact that they haven’t launched their own ships yet, he’s already acting like the fight is nothing. “This loser needed criminals to do his job for him. So, how tough can this shitbag actually be?!”
With the RazorCrest and Rustbucket still safely tucked away in the hanger, The Plus Ultra finally rounds the moon’s orbit and there Vilgax’s ship appears.
The Chimeran Hammer is massive, far bigger then any of them expected, looking like it can fit an entire city inside. Its armor, dark and that of copper but stronger then any steel known to man. Alien in design, seemingly inefficient yet terrifying with its blood red cores and panels left exposed as if a warning to those that would dare challenge such a bloodthirsty beast. Its fangs of red plasma strike like lightning between its protruding jaws that threaten to slice any ship within reach into two. It’s a menacing visual, one that shakes them to their core.
And Bakugou says it best. “Oh…shit.”
“Hey! Something’s happening.” Red Riot spots what he thinks are hanger doors on the massive ship opening.
Pinky panics, growing scared. “Are they firing at us?!”
[“Get ready!”] Thirteen calls from their individual com sets that are built into the wrist pads of their armor. [“Brace yourselves! Chopper’s picking up on incoming fighters!”]
Activating her com, Creati asks back. “How many do they have?!”
“Who cares?!” Bakugou huffs. “They’re gonna need all of them to take us out!”
From the hangar bays what appears to be a massive swarm of red emerges. Like hornets attacking an invader the swarms of red race through the void without any fear of death or remorse.
The scarlet Vulture Droids whirl and buzz, their metallic frames just barely grazing each other as their laser guns charge and prepare to let loose.
“I think that’s the problem!” Uravity cries out just before the massive swarm overtakes the entire Plumber Base Ship!!
Like hornets the Vultures shower the entire ship in a rain of red lasers! They fire and fire while racing through the void and blinding speeds. Like a wave of red and metal they’re never ending and ever swarming!!
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“Shields holding at 100%!” Cementoss lets out a sharp gasp as the number changes on his screen. “Now 99%! 98%!”
“Nezu, sir!” Vlad King calls out with sweat dripping from his brow. “We’re sitting ducks out here! They’ll chip away at us until there’s nothing left!”
“Do not wait on my account!” The Magister responds. “Let’s show these invaders what kind of fire power we’re equipped with!”
One-One takes the hint and activates the necessary program. ^Weapons systems activated.^
Vlad King’s monitor flights up as the keypad transforms and shifts into a set of handles and levers.
^Targeting systems operational.^
^Ion levels fully charged.^
^Safety protocols offline.^
^Happy hunting.^
Vlad King gives a sharp toothed grin before he takes the handles and presses down on the twin triggers!
Azure lasers from every side of The Plus Ultra shower across the blackness into the swarm creating a brilliant lightshow of red and blue accompanied by a symphony of explosions and ripping metal.
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“Check out the fireworks!” Present Mic woods and whistles, grateful that that electrical field is still in place between the Vultures and the RazorCrest.
Midnight, Snipe, and Ectoplasm are not so amazed by the show but instead growing weary by the seemingly never-ending assault.
Detective Tsukauchi braces himself against the wall. “Can the ship handle this much incoming fire?!”
“Yes.” Thirteen responds with a cool calmness from the pilot's seat. “Those are Vulture Droids, they're fast but not that powerful. They are designed to swarm and overwhelm.”
“But what about that battleship?” asks Midnight. “Won’t it fire?”
“Not while their fighters are surrounding us.” Patelliday explains. “That would be a poor use of resources if they did.”
“So, the U.F.O.s out there are our shields?!” Tsukauchi’s not so sure if that makes him feel any better.
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“Yes.” Magister Nezu responds after hearing a very similar questions from his own crew. “One-One will pilot the ship and try to close the gap as much as we can before we launch our agents. Mr. Cementoss you are in charge of monitoring our shields while Power Loader is in charge of our power and systems. Meanwhile, I will oversee command allowing Vlad King to focus on depleting their numbers.” He turns, gazing back out at the whirling swarm of red and metal. “We will push this command ship to the limit and that’s when we will launch our attack.”
That’s all good but there’s one detail the magister overlooked. “But how are two ships supposed to make it through all that?” asks Power Loader.
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“Xylene will clear the path.” answers Cinder. “Her ship is faster and more powerful; she will provide us cover as we fly.”
“We’re heading right for the enemy’s hangers.” Gran Torino adds. “Once we’re in we’ll clear the evacuation zone and claim it for ourselves. We’ll then break into our predesignated teams and commence with the divide and conquer.”
The entire command ship rumbles and shakes violently as a layer of the shields breaks down.
“If we make it that is!” Uravity cries as they all brace themselves against the shaking.
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Izuku and Toshinori can't look away from the projections, it’s terrifying the massive ship is being swarmed, it’s like watching feeding frenzy of piranhas onto a single slab of meat! And yet the cascade of lasers deflect off the ship’s surface with only a few managing to break through and scorch the armor.
“It’s holding.” Izuku comments. “T-their ship is holding. I-I don’t think it’s taking any damage.”
“It’s not?” Not even a bit of relief that brings can get Toshinori’s heart to calm down.
“No, it is not.” Vilgax too has come to the same conclusion. “The Plus Ultra. I have never heard of such a vessel. Most likely it has never been seen combat until now. Well then, let’s test its steel, shall we?!” With a flourish Vilgax roars out across the ship and into Psyphon’s awaiting ears. “Ideon Cannon!!”
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From the command center, Psyphon grins maliciously as he prepares the weapon. As he does the ship’s massive protruding jaws ignite with an internal fire! The fangs of red lightning grow chaotic and convulse at the center of the ship’s bow.
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Power Loader lets out a sharp gasp. “Principal Nezu, sir! The enemy ship! Something’s happening! An astronomical amount of power has been diverted to its front!”
“What are they doing?!” shouts Vlad King.
“Sacrificing their pawns!” Magister Nezu all but screams. “Quickly! One-One! Evasive maneuvers!! We cannot be caught in the blast!!”
Just as One-One begins to maneuver the ship down and away. Discharges burning red plasma collect and accumulate from between the Chimeran Hammer’s jaws like a star of blood red fury.
And then as the star couldn’t grow any bigger without melting the haul, it compacts, shrinking to a fraction of the size. And as all sound vanishes a devastating BOOM erupts forth a burning beam of scarlet races across the void, bathing it red!
Nezu and the others barely have time to brace themselves as the Beam just barely skims past the ship’s rear. While also taking out a significant portion of the enemy’s own forces!
Even though it wasn’t a direct hit, the sheer power and force of the beam rattles the entire ship causing every screw, weld, and circuit to shake and tremble.
“AAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!!!” Everyone is holding on for dear life as RazorCrest and RV shift and shake. Eraserhead tries his best to cover the kids with his body as Shoto and Bakugou and Uravity brace themselves against the Rustbucket’s walls. Unfortunately, this leaves Blukic and Driba bouncing around the air in suspended motion.
Even the teachers are knocked off their feet.
But mercifully the beam fades away, vanishing into the bleeding stars.
Meanwhile, Cementoss was gripping his monitor so hard the screen cracked but thankfully it still operating. “Shields! Shields drops to 78%!!” That was a drastic drop, just what was that beam?!
^Thankfully it seems we avoided most of the damage.^ One-One comments but somehow even this little droid looks like he’s sweating.
“But we can’t take a hit like that!” says Power Loader. “Just one blast might be the end of this ship!”
“Principal!” Vlad King calls. “What do we do now?!”
The Magister is unsure of what to do. He is sure of what will occur. “We cannot afford to get any closer. Doing so will only leave us open to more attacks from their fighters and gunners. Any closer and we also hinder our chances at evading that beam, we can move much faster from out here!”
“So, what do we do?” Vlad King repeats.
He’s thinking! He is! And maybe…he knows exactly what to do.
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“It missed!” Izuku cheers, tears pricking at his eyes. He was so scared but they’re okay and the swarm of red isn’t as big as before.
“They’re alive.” Toshinori sighs, allowing himself, for a moment, to feel hope.
“That should have finished them.” Vilgax admits although he doesn’t seem all too upset. As if ending the hunt now wouldn’t have been enough sport for him. Although he is still furious with the lack of efficiency. “That charge has been stockpiling for months and it missed.” He could twist Psyphon’s head off for that. However, there will be more opportunities. “The Ideon Cannon will take time to recharge. But when it does, your friends will be nothing but a fleeting memory!!”
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“What was that?!” Pinky screams.
“Is anybody hurt?!” asks Ingenium.
“Are we hit?!” Shoto leans against the nearest window, looking for any signs of damage. “What’s going on?!”
[“We have encountered an unforeseen obstacle.”] Nezu announces through all their coms. [“The enemy ship possesses a plasma cannon! One strike and the Plus Ultra is no more. We cannot hope to bring the ship any closer until it is disabled!”]
Blukic lets out a sharp gasp. “A Ideon Cannon?!”
“That’s illegal in five galaxies!” Driba explains.
“Six actually.” Blukic corrects.
The Magister continues with his explanation. [“Another team will need to separate and disable the cannon immediately or we cannot hope to assist you.”]
Cinder pounds his fist into the dashboard. “Dammit! Already the plan’s getting turned on its head.”
“It’s too early for that!” Uravity shouts, determined not to let this one hiccup get in their way.
[“Nezu! Sir!”] Thirteen calls through the com system. [“How should we proceed?”]
[“It’s now or never.”] The Magister responds with steadfast resolve. [“That beam needs time to recharge and that last blast took out a portion of their own forces. If we are to succeed the time to act- IS NOW!!!”]
Their orders are clear. Their objective is obvious. And their resolve is unshaking. As the RazorCrest’s and Xylene’s ship’s engines roar like beasts locked in a cage, ready to be let out to hunt. Even the Rustbucket unleashes a resounding roar of the engine, a rumbling of a beast that’s bound for revenge.
“Well, you all heard the rodent.” Cinder grips the wheel before peering out his window and over at Xylene’s hovering spacecraft. “Lady’s first.”
They can almost hear Xylene’s smirk from over the radio. [“With pleasure!”]
Her ship, elegant and strong, rockets up and out of the hanger with such ferocity it rocks the RazorCrest and the attached Rustbucket.
And into the fray she dives, charging right into the cascade of red Vulture Droids. She open fires, demolishing and vaporizing squadrons upon squadrons of droids within seconds, leaving behind a cacophony of dazzling fireworks.
Now with a path open, she screams. [“Move now!!”]
“Right behind you!!” With Thirteen at the helm, the RazorCrest and its added cargo take off without a second of hesitation. Taking them all into the burning unknown, together!!
Almost immediately there are swarmed flashes of red and metal whiz past like angry hornets from every angle. Racing past them all at such breakneck speeds. Cascades of laser fire shower down from all directions, some hitting but most missing but still just as terrifying. Like a rollercoaster the teens and heroes can do nothing but ride it out while their senses are being overloaded;. Explosions and shockwaves rattle the ships from the outside as Chopper and Xylene fire back at their ravenous attackers. Vlad King provides as much cover as he can, causing blasts of azure to implode just meters away from his allies. Thirteen the ship, diving and climbing and spinning so much that they lose track of which way is up. But no matter how far they race with every turn with every blast of an enemy their numbers never seem to decrease. They never seem to get closer. As the swarm of scarlet continues to descend upon them. And yet the two ships race on through the storm of havoc and chaos!! And into the eye itself!!
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“That ship…” Izuku recognizes it, even through the explosions and sea of red he can make it out even from here.
And so too can Vilgax as the two both cry out in unison. “The RazorCrest!!/THE RAZORCREST!!!”
“Oh, and the…Rustbucket? W-WHY!?!”
“So, that is their game.” Vilgax’s whole form is shaking but from rage or anticipation is any one’s guess. “All fighters forget the carrier and intercept those ships’ paths!! Do not let them through!!”
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From above the moon’s orbit, the swarming droids back off and race away from the Plus Ultra as well as its two ally ships. And instead race back towards their point of origin.
A move that Creati is quick to notice and point out. “They’re not attacking?!”
“Look!” Pinky points. “They’re forming a barricade!!”
They are. The droids. The vultures. They’re swarmed together, forming an ever moving barricade that stretches so far beyond them that none of them can even see the Chimeran Hammer anymore. They have successfully blocked their path!
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Nezu has noticed the move too, however, and is quick to respond. “Quickly! Concentrate all firepower on the blockade!!”
“Sir!!” Vlad King roars and unleashes all the firepower this ship has upon the moving wall.
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As azure lasers fly past their ships and implode against the barricade, so too do the RazorCrest and Xylene’s ship join in and fire upon it. They fire and fire and fire but the barricade, the swarm, it never seems to shrink. The enemy’s formation is flawless!
[“It’s not enough!”] Thirteen cries as they race closer and closer. [“At this rate they’ll win!”]
Ingenium is astounded by the show of sheer precision and strength. “It’s like they know exactly what our plans are!”
“It’s because we’re too predictable!” Bakugou shouts back from the rear of the RV.
His response was so unprecedented yet astounding, it gives the likes of Uravity, Shoto, and even Eraserhead pause.
“We need to throw them off their game and into ours!!” He explains with a burning rage. “We need an ace! A wildcard! Something that these assholes won’t ever see coming!!”
“A wild card, huh?” Cinder has an idea, a scheming, but wonderful idea. “Chopper.”
[^Bop.^]
“It’s time.”
[^Bobopopop!^]
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Chopper seems really excited about something because he’s practically hopping in place in the already cramped cockpit. And then he does the unthinkable, through the port he forgets about the weapons system and hijacks the controls of the RazorCrest for himself.
Thirteen notices right away when the handles stop responding. “Chopper!! What do you think you’re doing?! Have you lost it?!”
^Ba-wo! Wop!! Wawawawawa!!^ Chopper all but laughs as the RazorCrest suddenly rockets towards the barricade, throwing everyone back and off their feet.
“I knew it! I knew it!” Present Mic screams while buried underneath Midnight and Snipe. “I knew A.I. would eventually kill us all!!”
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“Time for what?!” Pinky screams, she was nearly thrown out of her seat from how fast Chopper hit the thrusters. “Just what are you planning, you psycho?!”
Even Gran Torino has to agree with the statement. That thrust nearly threw out his back. But before he can question his student he spots the cocky grin on his face, the same one he had when he first arrived at his agency all those years ago.
“I’m planning- to do something really STUPID!!!” With a few clicks at the radio’s buttons and switches the entire Rustbucket undergoes a change.
Although they can’t see it, the wheels fold away and the antennas too. Revealing a number of rocket thrusters. Wings project out from the rear lights acting as extra stabilization as a metallic shield unfolds and covers up all windows, using just a hologram to reveal their front. And the grill of the RV shifts and protrudes outward, becoming wider with metal extensions with an infused ray shield that turns the armored grill into an electric battering ram!
Red Riot can’t believe his eyes, this is insane! “I thought you said this thing can’t fly?!”
“It can’t.” Cinder smirks before calling up his partner in crime. “Chopper on my mark, release the locks and follow me!!”
[^Be-wa!^]
“Release the locks?!” Eraserhead does a double take. “Just what are you planning?!”
“You’ll see!! Chopper punch it!!”
[^Woooooooo!^]
Under Chopper’s command the RazorCrest races forth, outpacing Xylene’s own ship, much to her dismay.
“What is that fool up to?!” Xylene screams, unable to process just what he’s thinking.
Even Vilgax and the Negative Nine are confused. Just what is this earthling planning?! He must want them all to die.
But Nezu knows, he trusts his staff, and so he’s the only one smiling on as his teachers and friends watch on in frozen horror.
“It’s time for-” On Cinder’s cue, Chopper releases the magnetic locks on the RV, throwing it forward with all its momentum. “THE MIDORIYA SPECIAL!!!” With a push of the lever and a shift of his gears the rocket boosters roar like thunder, thrusting the RV through the stars like a laser beam!
And like a laser the Rustbucket pierces the barricade, racing through it without any hindrance the unfortunate vultures in its way are repealed off the electrified battering ram. Repelling them away like bugs on a windshield!
The enemy drones try to blast out of the sky but with such speed and force their attacks miss, striking their allies or are bounced right back, causing a chain of explosions across their ranks!
“This is insane! You’ve lost it!” Shoto screams watching in terror as hundreds of droids whiz past just inches away from the RV’s frame.
“Mad! You’re completely mad!” Ingenium cries out.
Gran Torino is so tense his knuckles are turning white against the arm rests. “I knew one day one of my old students would get me killed! I just never knew it would be because of two of them!!”
Meanwhile, Bakugou is laughing up a storm. “HAHAHAHA!!! HELL YEAH!!! NOW THIS IS WHAT I’VE BEEN TALKING ABOUT!!! HAHAHAHA!!!”
Even as she holds onto the fridge’s handle for dear life, Uravity can’t help but cry. ‘He’s lost it!!’
In a blink of an eye they’ve broken through to the other side of the barricade with a blaze of fireworks and explosions behind them! Now clear of their one and only obstacle, and with nothing left but the wall of the Chimeran Hammer left before them, Cinder hits the thrusters one last time! Combined with the momentum they’ve already built up they fire forward and SMASH through the Chimeran Hammer’s armor like a rock through paper!!
They smash, crash, and bulldoze past layers upon layers of steel, pipes, wires, and circuits. Sparks and shrapnel fly!
“AAAAAAAAHHHHH!” Everyone is screaming, Blukic and Driba are thrown across the air, and Cinder is a grinning mess as the Rustbucket smashed through each and every wall in their path.
“YES!!! HAHAHAHA!!!” Bakugou is laughing like a maniac as the Rustbucket scrapes and smashes against the various layers of foundation. They smash through hallways taking unexpecting Bioids with them! All before they’re sucked out into space! And all while Bakugou’s laughter echoes through the halls! “HAHAHAHAHAHA!!!”
With one final SMASH The Rustbucket has crashed its way right into the ship’s hanger! Where with a slam of the brakes the RV skids to a screeching, burning halt that nearly tosses them all out of their seats. And with one final whiplash of the vehicle coming to rest do they all catch their breaths.
“YES!!!” Bakugou cheers, raising his hands over his head as if this was nothing but a trip to Six Flags. “HAHAHAHA!!! YES!!! HAHAHAHA!!!”
Uravity and Shoto have been thrown to the ground, thankfully unhurt. But as they catch their breaths they both share a look of concern about Bakugou. But that concern soon turns into smiles as Uravity comments on their entrance. “Just like All Might.”
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They all felt the crash. The Negative Nine especially even though they're so far away from the crash site.
“That pilot is insane!” Sunder can’t take his eyes off the projection. “He just flew them straight to their deaths!”
Nue huffs humorously. “I bet all their guts are squashed.”
[Maybe it was empty? A decoy.] suggests Malware.
“So, that was a landing?” asks Rojo.
Izuku blinks in rapid succession, a sense of familiarity rising within him after witnessing such a reckless and stupid move. “The Midoriya Special…”
A frozen Toshinori’s ears perk up but he’s not sure if he heard him right. “The what?”
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The Chimeran Hammer’s portside hanger is a mess. Flames and rubble have been thrown everywhere, causing the place to fill quickly with smoke. Thankfully no supplies or oxygen has been lost, thanks to the safety ray shield protocols in place, acting as a barrier between the inside of the ship and outer space. A squadron of Hover Drones quickly inspect the damage and make moves to assess the mysterious vehicle that now resides inside their base.
The Rustbucket remains still as the Hover Drones inspect it. The machine seems unalive, quiet and still before suddenly it’s all turned on its head!
The door to the Rustbucket is kicked open and like Pandora’s Box a legion of monsters are unleashed upon the world!
“DIE!!!” Bakugou strikes first, blowing up five of the drones all at once!
“RYOU SPHERE!!!” Uravity is right beside him, launching power spheres with pinpoint accuracy.
“You’re in the way!” Shoto is right behind with a wave of ice at his beck and call.
“Remember they are just robots!” Ingenium speeds across the hanger, kicking one drone into another, smashing them both to pieces. “So, there’s no need to hold back!!”
“You got it! YAAAAH!!!” Red Riot’s Hardening proves effective as he slams his knuckles into the drone’s weak frames.
“Take this tin cans!!” Pinky’s Acid rains down on more of the drones, melting them into puddles.
“Just vile things.” The Zircon Blade slices through the remaining drones in seconds, leaving Creati unscathed and unimpressed. “They will not stop us!” _
The teenagers stand together, readying themselves to take on anything as courage blooms within them from just knowing that they each got their backs.
Gran Torino hops out of the passenger door and takes a moment to admire the kids’ efficient work. “Impressive work. They move fast and efficiently. You must have been putting them through the wringer, haven’t you?” He asks, directing the compliments towards Class 1-A’s homeroom teacher.
Eraserhead nods, but he can’t take all the credit. “Yeah but I think that right now, they’re more highly motivated than ever to succeed.”
“Such violence.” Driba shutters as he hops out of the door and onto the step and then finally the ground. “Typical of such low intelligent species.”
“Too true.” agrees Blukic. “But you have to admit, they are effective.”
“Too true. Too true.”
Cinder’s impressed by the kid’s quick action but they’ll soon have to prove themselves again when he spots movement through the smoke and rubble. “Everyone! Stay alert!! More drones are incoming.” He rips his folded spear off his belt and with a click his shinning Amenonuhoko pierces the air as he gives it a sharp flourish. “Prepare yourselves!”
“SIR!!!” They all respond back, like well loyal determined soldiers.
Bakugou especially is ecstatic as Explosions spark between his palms. “This is just like the Entrance Exam! They’ve got nothing on us!!”
From the smoke and flames rises a trio 40 foot drones that loom over the heroes’ heads. Their beady bug eyes glowing red with hostility, their claws long and menacing, as sets of rocket launchers protrude from their shoulders, ready to take fire.
Red Riot just gives Bakugou the most exasperated look. “Dude. You have got to stop saying stuff like that.”
The Mad Bomber has half a mind to slap him.
“Hold your ground!” Cinder shouts, racing to the lead so that the gigantic drones will target him instead. “We need to secure the area! We can’t afford for them to cut us off from our exit! We cannot afford to let a single one of our enemies through. Do you understand me?!”
They do and they’re ready. They’ll crush these bots. They’ll smash these walls. And they will NOT STOP!!! NOT UNTIL-
^WOOOooo!!^
Out from the tunnel they themselves created, the RazorCrest races through and lets off a trio of laser blasts that completely hinder the gigantic droids to melted metal. Their skulls are blasted away, along with a claw or tow and they collapse all to their sides like beaten pinatas.
“Hey-hey! Nice entrance Chop!” Cinder waves.
^Be-wop!^ Chopper waves back from the RazorCrest’s cockpit as it comes down and lands beside the Rustbucket.
“Dammit!! You didn’t save any for me!!” Bakugou rages.
From the smoke and flames an entire legion composed of Hover Drones, little red humanoid Bioids, and 3 more of those Gigantic Drones appear. With all their weapons and rath locked onto their reckless intruders.
And immediately everyone turns on the loudmouth blonde. “BAKUGOU!!!” They all shout, pointing the blame on him.
“What?!” He defends, not understanding how this is anyway on him!
“Stand back!” Eraserhead races forth at the same time the ramp to the RazorCrest slams open. “Let us have a go!”
“YEEEEEAAAAAHHHHH!!!” Leaping out from the ship, Present Mic unleashes space shaking sonic boom!! The sonic scream demolishes through rows upon rows of drones like a tidal wave, shattering them all!
Which creates the perfect pass for Eraserhead to rush through the center of their ranks. With the S.A.G.E. Gun in hand he focuses on the task at hand unleashes a round of green plasma that blasts apart and through the oncoming Bioids. Ectoplasm follows him into the fray, multiplying into the Plumber’s personal clone army with each member equipped with a DC-15S Blaster Carbine! And thus, as they line up and shoot the entire hanger is filled with the burning blue rain of their laser shots!
Midnight weaves her way through the ranks of hover drones, moving swiftly and dancing with the electrified whip with grace and agility. Her swift movement combined with her precision with a whip allows her slice through the enemy, splitting them all apart until they’re nothing but cubes.
Bioids and Hover Drones rush in to take her on, but Snipe and Tsukauchi provide her with cover. Snipe’s Needler combined with his Homing Quirk one shots each and every Hover Drone. As the Detective’s Phaser pierce through each and every Bioid until they’re a crumbled mess on the ground.
This leaves nothing but the 3 gigantic droids, that lurch over their destroyed allies as they make a move to smash their foes to pieces.
However, Thirteen intercepts their path and unleashes they’re iconic BLACKHOLE!!! Which sucks them all in, turning them to dust and particles until there’s no trace of them left. And with a clink of their gloved finger closing, the enemy has been soundly subdued and beaten much to their students’ amazement.
“WOOOOAAAAH!!!” They all gape. “They’re so cool!!”
Shoto takes in the precise, clean, destruction, noting just how little damage the heroes actually caused to the rest of the ship despite the large numbers they handled. “They took out all those robots in an instant.”
Ingenium couldn't agree more with that assessment. “Yes, especially when we could only take down a few at any time.”
“Don’t let it get you down.” They all turn to see Lucy Mann leading the likes of Patelliday out from the RazorCrest. She too had witnessed the display of action and is just as impressed as the students. However, she is not one to get hung up on the details. “There’s a difference in experience here. But don’t go thinking you have nothing to contribute.”
‘She’s right.” Says Patelliday as he holds up a large barreled rifle, and even though it’s made of chrome silver metal, it looks closer to an alien-shotgun if anything. “Just think, they wouldn’t have allowed any of you to come unless they didn’t have faith in you.”
The students take their words to heart, promising themselves that they’ll just have to make sure that their faith isn’t unfounded.
“Yo! Now this was worth the price of admission! I’m loving this all-inclusive trip to space!” Present Mic is nothing but smiles and glee while surrounded by his and the others’ handy work.
“Stay sharp, Mic. Don’t get distracted.” Eraserhead warns as he cruelly blasts the head off a bisected Bioid that was desperately crawling away.
“I won’t! Sheesh!”
Midnight examines her whip and is amazed by its control and deadliness. “These weapons are far more effective than I realized.”
“Are they?” Ingenium pauses, and pulls out that tiny tiny blaster Patelliday gave him from before. It can barely fit in his own hand but if those weapons are that powerful then…just what kind of power is this one hiding? He wonders.
“We now have another issue.” points out Detective Tsukauchi, keeping his Phaser up and ready. “That cannon needs to disabled too.”
“Who do we send?” asks Patelliday while keeping a lookout for any more enemies, but it appears that they’ve secured the hanger for now.
“I know who.” answers Thirteen. “Snipe, Creati, and Ingenium. You three will make your way to the cannon, disable it and then make you’re way right back here to our evac-zone.”
Creati’s startled, already becoming nervous. “U-us?”
“Yes.” Thirteen reaffirms confidently as they show Snipe how to pull up the holomap on his wrist communicator. “A smaller group will move faster, and I need to get this device to the Power Core.” They gesture towards the large battery-shaped bomb strapped to their side for emphasis. “We can't afford to pull anyone else from the other objectives. We still need to defend this area and break our friends free.”
“I see.” Ingenium considers the plan, and it certainly does makes sense even if it means their numbers will be limited.
“We’ll come too!”
Ingenium snaps out of his thoughts to find Blukic and Driba standing at his feet.
Driba cockily smirks up at the human. “You earthlings would get lost in this battleship without us.”
“Yeah!” Blukic chuckles. “And besides we’re the only ones that can understand the complexities of alien programming anyway.”
“Oh, well, um, I guess this means welcome aboard.” Ingenium leans down, presenting the two with his arm like a ramp sot hat they may hop aboard his shoulders.
“Things are going to get hairy.” Snipe gives his six shooter and Needler a spin in each hand. “Just make sure you two stick close to me.”
Both Ingenium and Creati stand at attention. “Yes, sir!”
“If they’re going on their own then that means we’ll be a group of three as well.” comments Shoto as he looks between himself, Thirteen, and Bakugou. “Then that’ll leave us to take out the ship’s power core.”
Thirteen nods. “Correct.”
Bakugou scowls in response. “Then it’s a race to the finish then.” Good, that’ll make things somewhat interesting then.
“Everyone.” Cinder spins the Amenonuhoko, he then ignites its ends, adoring them in fire before slamming the spear down like a staff. “This is it!” he announces with a righteous, burning fury. “There’s no turning back. No option to retreat. Failure is not an option. Only victory. So…” He looks to each and every one of them and he doesn’t find an ounce of hesitation. But even so he still has to ask. “Are. You. Ready?”
One look says it all; they are.
The likes of Red Riot, Present Mic, Midnight, and Ectoplasm hang back to protect the hanger as everyone else rushes for the nearest passageway.
A maniacal smile once again graces Bakugou lips as he laughs and announces for the entire ship to hear. “Show Time, A-Holes!!!”
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[“Master.”] Psyphon calls down from the bridge. [“The drones have reported in, the Plumbers have captured the second hanger and are now infiltrating the rest of the Chimeran Hammer.”]
That is a nuisance but not a surprise, if anything it’s welcoming news to Vilgax’s ears. “An annoyance but perhaps a blessing in disguise. It’ll be so much more satisfying to hear their bones snap personally.”
He calls out through their own coms so that all members of the Negative Nine, whether they’re in the arena or not, can hear his declaration. [“The enemy has infiltrated our territory without fear of extermination. We must show them and all others that will oppose us why we should be feared. Negative Nine proceed to your battle stations! Show these champions of earth why we reign supreme!!”]
They got the message loud and clear. It’s time to greet their guests. And so every member of the Negative Nine that hadn’t left before makes their way for several different ends of the dome. The panels all fold away creating a portal for each of them to exit.
Izuku desperately tries to rise, but his legs give out on him once again and Toshinori is no better. And so, they are forced to watch as the Plus Ultra is continued to be swarmed.
Nue, however, stays behind and watches in glee as the projects shift from the Plus Ultra to reveal the images of the Plumbers and their friends running through the halls of the Chimeran Hammer.
To which the captured duo can feel their hearts drop at the sight of Izuku’s classmates and teachers running through the walls beside their alien allies.
Anticipating the chaos that’s about to ensue. With a fang filled grin and burning glee, Nue announces out for the entire ship to hear. “Show Time, A-holes!”
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The Plumbers and their allies are racing against the clock, all 17 of them move as one single unit through the Chimeran Hammer’s wide hexagonal halls. Their wrath and determination is proven unstoppable for every squad of drones and Bioids that stumble in their path are left behind as scraps of metal.
“So many robots!” Pinky throws a splash of Acid onto the oncoming Hover Drones, melting them to nothing but puddles of goo. “There’s an entire army in here!”
“And then some!” Cinder speeds past, his burning spear having pierced through three of the Bioids like a shishkebab. “They might not be strong, but they’re designed to overwhelm and outnumber. As long as we keep our cool and don’t let them swarm us we should be fine!”
Patelliday takes cover behind a nearby bolt head that’s protruding just enough off the walls to provide some cover. “Hear that! Order and Precision will win us the day.” He then takes aim with his laser rifle and fires, shooting off a scatter shot of lasers that blast apart the incoming bots. “So, no showboating!”
Lucy Mann whizzes past, her oozing form like a whip as she splashes onto several of the Bioids, weighing them all down before using her increased mass to swat them together into a ball of wires and scrap.
It’s a shared fate of all the bots as they’re either frozen, melted, exploded, burned, slashed, kicked, blasted, and pummeled.
And Chopper is happily observing it all, wheeling behind cheerily and without a single care.
^Wa!^ He calls out just as they reach an intersection of 4 hallways, and he projects a hologram of
the Chimeran Hammer’s interior.
“Alright this is it.” Cinder slides to a stop just as the last of the drones are taken out by Gran Torino’s ricocheting kick. “This is where we split up.” With the hallways to the hanger at their six o’clock, Cinder points at the hallway on their three o’clock. “This corridor will take us straight to the prison.”
Those determined to go stand at attention. Uravity especially tenses up as Pinky, Gran Torino, and Eraserhead take to her sides. Patelliday ensures his rifle is at full charge as Tsukauchi’s Phaser hums dangerously.
The Red Plumber then points to the one at their 12 o’clock. “That one will eventually lead to the power core.”
Thirteen, Shoto, and Bakugou look ahead as if staring into the jaws of a wild beast.
And finally, he points to the one to their left. “And that one…should take you to the cannon.” Snipe pushes up his hat with the Needler as Creati grips her sword and Ingenium activates the Omni-Shield, which startles the cowering Blukic and Driba.
“Good luck everyone,” Cinder begins, looking at each of them as if some part of him is afraid that this will be the last time they see each other. “Make sure no matter what, that you’ll make it home safe.”
Just as the Cannon Disabling Team is about to head out, Uravity calls out to them one last time. “Good luck, Ingenium. Creati.”
“Thank you.” Ingenium waves, his red armor shining and well fit.
“And good luck to you as well.” Creati bows, her Zircon Sword extending to its full length.
Uravity nods back and turns to head out herself when Ingenium calls her back.
“Uraraka.”
She stops, peeking back and meeting Iida’s blue eyes. “Bring our friend home, please.”
She doesn’t even hesitate to answer. “I will!”
“You all better come back in one piece!” Bakugou spits out, his back turned to them as he struts towards the center passageway. “If you don’t I’ll blast you to oblivion.”
Uravity smiles and laughs at his threat. “Try not to blow up the ship before we get off it, kay?”
“No promises!!”
“Don’t worry, I’ll keep an eye on him.” Shoto promises as he follows Bakugou out.
“And I’ll keep an eye on you both.” Thirteen gives them both a thumbs up as they wait for the two of them at the entrance. “Let’s roll.”
And with their initiative, they begin the parting of each individual team.
Lucy pries at one of the many pipes that’s lining the steel walls, once she manages to pry one of them loose and expose the center hole she gives everyone a cheery wave and a wink before literally diving into the pipe. “Into the vents I go!” And she vents right in front of them, fast traveling herself to the command center.
Snipe inspects his bullets, making sure each chamber of his six-shooter is ready and fully loaded. “Principal Nezu is counting on us. Ingenium.”
The blue-haired teen stands at attention with his arms straight at his sides. “Yes, sir?”
“You take point.”
They can sense the grin on Ingenium’s face from behind that red helmet. “Yes, sir!”
His Engines roar as he suddenly takes off down the passageway at a breakneck speed!!
While the poor Galvans hang on for dear life. “SLOW DOWN!!!”
But their cries go unanswered as Ingenium leads the way to victory!
And that just leaves the Rescue Team themselves behind.
“Stay alert!” Cinder warns as he takes off down the last hallway. “As the biggest group we’re the ones most likely to run into trouble! No doubt Vilgax will send most of his forces after us. So, stay on your guard! And watch each other’s backs!”
“This place is a maze.” Eraserhead comments as he and the others chase after the Plumber. “How are we supposed to find our way through?”
Cinder points back at Chopper who’s managing to keep up with them so far. “Chopper here is mapping out the entire ship and I gave Thirteen and Snipe a holomap that are also acting as extra sensors. Meaning that as we spread out we collectively assemble an entire blueprint of this ship. Also, it helps that I remember the layout from last time I was aboard.”
Tsukauchi’s ears caught that instantly. “Last time?”
“This isn’t the first time I’ve infiltrated Vilgax’s ship.” Cinder explains as they race through the hexagonal and pipelined hallway. “It’s not even the first time we’ve clashed! I specialize in infiltration and combat. Meaning I was often sent on solo-missions. Not to mention, I helped to establish resistances against his forces all across the galaxy. So, naturally I’m on his most hated list. I’m sure he predicted our arrival. And is taking the appropriate countermeasures. So be careful! Because to him there is no such thing as going past the line.”
Pinky shudders in worry. “Scary.”
“We’re facing off against an alien overlord.” Eraserhead keeps a calm demeanor as he addresses her. “But that’s no reason to let your nerves get to you. Keep focused on what you can do for now.”
Pinky starts, recalling that those were Grey Matter’s words to her back at the camp. It’s a shame those were the same words that indirectly led to Midoriya’s and Bakugou’s capture. But then again she understands what she can do a lot better. She knows what the stakes are. What the situation is. Which means, she can play her part to perfection this time!!
She takes the folded up Hoverboard and throws it. It unfurls and activates, floating just off the ground before she jumps aboard and races off, taking the lead for herself!
Unfortunately for her, another squadron of Bioids have taken to block their path. But she’s determined to succeed, not slowing down she races up and over their heads, leaving a trail of Acid behind her that rains down onto the bots. And like a horror movie their outer shells are melted away till their metal skeletons are left exposed and sparking.
Not to be outdone the rest of them quickly get in on the action as more and more droids intercept their path.
Cinder’s flaming Amenonuhoko is like a burning tornado as he spins it this way and that, slashing and piercing through every obstacle.
Patelliday’s, Tsukauchi’s, and Eraserhead’s firepower rains bolts of blue, orange, and green down on the enemy. With Eraserhead taking his Capture scarf to pull in and kick apart any drones that get too close. Even using the scarf to lasso up some of the Hover Drones and pull them down so Patelliday can deliver a crushing bite or slicing slash.
“There’s more!” Tsukauchi calls out, spotting a squad running up to them from behind!
A whir of pink zooms past, and Uravity’s entire arm is aglow with might as she races to face this legion alone. “MERCURY SMAAASH!!!”
One strike, one strike and a blast of wind and the bots are no more. Vanished from sight with nothing but scraps falling away like leaves.
^Wooooo!^ Chopper cheers, impressed yet terrified all at once.
Pinky flies overhead and stops just shy of the Uravity’s shoulder. and overhear head. “I’m loving this board! I got to get one for myself! Hm, maybe Christmas?”
Uravity grins up at her, knowing all too well how freeing it feels to fly. “Yeah! It suits you!”
“Midoriya’s been carrying this kind of firepower?” Eraserhead questions as he inspects the S.A.G.E. Gun. “Is that really the most responsible thing?”
Cinder stays silent but there’s no hiding the shame nor the nervous sweat on his brow.
“We can deal with the morality of it later.” says Tsukauchi as he aims his phaser down the hall and fires upon yet another legion of enemies. “We have more incoming!”
“This is taking too long.” Gran Torino calmly and coolly hobbles to the front, not a hint of worry or stress to be seen. Like this attack is nothing more than a walk in the park for him. “Allow me.”
“What are you-?!” Uravity gasps as Gran Torino reveals the alien weapon he has chosen for himself.
Like a bullet Gran Torino takes to the air, meeting the charging legion of Bioids alone. But his friends have nothing to fear, instead they are left in astonishment as the veteran equips the silver hilt from his side and to his hand. And with a click the hilt ignites, unleashes a dazzling aqua blue energy blade from its top. Combined with his blinding ricocheting, Gran Torino is like a living laser that slices through every bot in a flash of blue and heat. He speeds through them all, sliding to a stop with the blue saber still ablaze. The enemy is left motionless and silent before their frames fall apart, melted, and cut to pieces.
The others are left slack jawed and amazed, when Gran Torino suddenly addresses them.
“What are you all waiting around for?! An invitation?! Get moving already!!”
They don’t need to be told twice as they race for the finish!!
With every legion they smash through. With every Hover Drone they blast out of the air, they race closer and closer to their destination! And soon it’s within sight, the finish line. The end of the tunnel. It’s right there! Guarded by 2 sentries of 40ft gigantic droids that’ll do all they must to stop them from getting through the set of gigantic durasteel gates behind them.
With her body weightless, Uravity’s Gyro-Disc is able to propel her forward with incredible ease and speed. Coming up beside her, Pinky and the Hoverboard are able to keep pace and then some.
The two girls share an ecstatic look, their minds melding as one.
“Pinky!” Uravity reaches out her hand to her.
“Uravity!” Pinky reaches and grabs for her hand.
The two clasp and lock together and their flying devices continue to propel them forward. Combined with their momentum the two begin to spin and spin and spin and with every spin they gain more and more speed. As they hold on they stretch their opposite hands out with Uravity’s fist a glow with One For All and Pinky’s trailing behind a cascade of Acid. Together with their spinning and speed their forms become a rocketing tornado of pink light and acidic wakes. And the two girls cry out in courageous unison. “PINK CAROUSEL!!!”
The 2 sentries lash out to stop the incoming storm but it’s for naught, for not even the iron gate they guard slows them down. They are left shattered and broken beyond recognition before the spiraling pink storm of destruction. Like a drill the strike burrows through the gate in seconds leaving behind a massive pile of melted iron and ore.
And the girls finally unlock their grips, leaving them hovering over the entirety of Vilgax’s personal dungeon.
Cinder steps through the nonexistent gate and announces to them all. “Welcome to the cellblock.”
Uravity floats down, joining the rest on the ground. “This is where Deku and All Might are being held?” She asks.
“Yes.”
“But there’s so many cells.” observes Pinky as she takes in the rows of rows of laser shielded cell doors. “How do we know which one they’re in?”
“We look.” answers Eraserhead a-matter-of-factually.
It is the best plan they got so they get right on it with all of them splitting up in order to complete their objective as quickly as possible.
And unfortunately it’s not going as smoothly as they’d like, Vilgax is quite the collector apparently. It’s a mess of lifeforms of all shapes and colors in this prison, with each level of cells seeming more like framed prizes than anything else. Nothing but trophies and reminders of his own conquests.
As Tsukauchi covers the exit, Gran Torino zips himself up and through the air, quickly reaching the third and highest level of the open layout prison. There he zips past a cell with a hissing Xenomorph. He ricochets away and lands before a grumbling Gromflomite. One final ricochet away to the other side and he slides to a stop before a cell with two slim figures inside, both looking humanoid but too far back for him to get a proper look.
Wanting to make sure it’s not Toshi or Midoriya he slaps the unlock switch and the electrified laser door vanishes.
The two figures quickly snap to their feet and rush forward into the light to escape, revealing themselves as just a pair of antsy and villainous Flaxans.
“Sorry. You are not the prisoners we’re looking for.” Gran Torino trolls them with a smoke before slapping the switch again and watching as the two Flaxans run headfirst into the laser wall.
Eraserhead has his Capture Scarf tight in his grip as he checks every cell along the second level. Only stopping when he and a masked Yautja make eye contact. The two eye each other, Eraserhead’s eyes flashing red out of habit and in warning as the alien snarls back.
Meanwhile, Chopper is just casually rolling along the bottom level and not even giving the Borg, Utrom, or the random jetfighter a second glance.
Pinky is kinda enjoying herself too, feeling like she’s in some kind of morbid zoo especially when she finds a trio of cells holding a collection of spiny furballs, it’s neighboring cell has what looks like to be a group of vantablack gorillas, and the last cell has an adorable little gerbil who's wearing a little red cape.
“Aw~!’ She gushes at all of them.
In response, the Critters suddenly launch themselves at the door with their little teeth gnawing and snapping at her as the Space Gorillas snarl and show off their glowing fangs, and Hamstervelle throws a tantrum to end all tantrums.
Which all earns a terrified shriek from the poor girl. “EEEK!!!”
Cinder’s on edge, this all feels wrong, and it’s not just because he has so many hateful glares coming his way. It's a gallery of familiar faces, races and species that either he himself has fought or that Vilgax has subjugated like the Triceraton, Boglodite, and Thanagarian. All three of which are staring the Plumber down so hard that their looks could kill if they could.
Seeing as they all got this, Patelliday pulls back to make a call. “I’ll contact Magister Nezu and let him know we arrived.”
Finally, that leaves Uravity who’s floating softly around and trying her best to scan each and every cell, but with how big this prison is it feels like there’s hundreds of them in here. All the colors and shapes and sounds are overloading her senses but she takes in what she can with a quick scan like the alien starfish, there’s a living glob of black ink, and a bunch of floating green transparent brains with fangs dangling underneath. And that’s just a top of the iceberg with how many cells there are in here with all sorts of alien creatures and monsters tucked inside.
She comes down for a landing right in front of a larger cell and almost immediately upon landing a giant mutant bug with a set of giant pincers as its head charges the laser door, hissing and screeching.
“Ah!!” Uravity leaps back away from the horse-sized bug and backs away into the intersecting wall between two cells.
The giant Bug slashes and leaps at the door to no avail, but it can’t seem to determine what is hindering it and so it keeps lashing out with no success to be had.
Sighing, realizing it can’t get to her, Uravity allows herself to relax when-
“Grrr! BARK! BARK! BARK!”
With a sharp gasp she pulls away from the cell to her right, spinning around she tries to see what exactly barked at her when suddenly she loses her breath as she spots the neighboring cell instead.
That cell is empty, with no laser shield to be seen, and with no prisoner to be had. And yet this cell is smaller than the others, cold and empty, it can house just one person, maybe two…
“Deku… All Might… Where are you?”
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“That’s quite a lot of noise out there. I hope our poor dearies are alright.” Recovery Girl comments as she finally arrives at the Plumber ship’s bridge with all the others.
Explosions and laser fire still echo from the outside but thankfully the shields are holding, leaving them like a snapping turtle chomping away at schooling minnows.
From outside the windshield, Xylene’s ship whizzes past and a chain of burning Vulture Droids are left in her wake.
All the while Majister Nezu stares ahead, his eyes locked onto the Chimeran Hammer and its deadly cannon. “They are making steady progress. Magister Patelliday has just informed me that they’ve arrived at the prison block.”
Recovery Girl smiles in relief. “Good. Hopefully they can grab our dear boys and escape that dreadful place.”
“Yes. I hope so too.” After a moment of silence, the little chimera turns to ask the others. “Status report.”
“Shields back at 80%.” answers Cementoss.
“Power is stable.” says Power Loader.
“Weapons are still fully functional!” roars Vlad King who’s still firing away at the swarming droids, whose numbers are finally beginning to dwindle. They are admittedly not much of a threat, fast sure but their fire power has much to be desired.
They will never know how much that little bit of good news was such a weight off the Principal’s shoulders. And the fact that the cannon hasn’t fired again is yet another good sign, they must still be charging. “Good. Keep moving One-One we can’t afford to remain stationary not even for a second.”
Glad-One starts. ^Roger-^
^-Roger.^ finishes Sad-One.
A thundering boom suddenly echoes across the ship as the entire Plus Ultra shakes and rumbles.
The heroes brace themselves as the bridge is knocked this way.
“Shields! Down to 75%!!” Cementoss roars as the ship begins to settle.
“We’re hit!!” shouts Vlad King. “Was it the Chimeran Hammer?!”
Power Loader is checking the systems. “I’m not sure! Nothing showed up on our scanners!!”
[“Magister! Magister!”] Xylene calls in sounding panicked and worried.
“Xylene!” Magister Nezu calls her back. “What was that?!” Magister Nezu
[“There’s a ship out here! I don’t recognize it. But-it was hidden behind the swarm! And it’s close, too close!! You need to get out of there! Now!!”]
“Xylene!! What kind of craft is it?! Do you have visuals?!”
^S-sir!^ One-One shakes in his port as he gazes out space.
There’s a whizzing sound before another thundering boom has the entire ship shaking again.
“Shields 70%!!” Cementoss yells.
“Who’s firing at us?!” questions Vlad King as he looks for a shot.
Magister Nezu looks out to the illuminating red void and what he sees brings the little chimera’s heart to a stop. For that is when he sees the nightmare that is an approaching enemy ship.
It’s like gazing upon a floating horror show, the incoming craft is like nothing he’s ever seen. Or rather it’s an amalgamation of many kinds of ships he has seen. The base is that of a Covenant Phantom carrier with Triceraton raptor-ships wired and melded to its sides. Chrome tentacles wiggle and whip from the tail end of the ship as oozing light spreads across the frame, an indication that a Krang scout ship was also used in this nightmarish puzzle. And that’s just the beginning parts of many of ships from many other races have been incorporated into this abomination: Borg technology, Yautja ship armor, Thanagarian weapons, and many many more have been used to make this Frankenstein monster of starships.
But there is no question of how this enemy craft came to be. No question of what kind of abomination can command its own abomination. That red shade, those black veins, only one creature in all of existence is capable of such a feat.
[Flesh Bags! You will all perish at the hands of MALWARE!!!]
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Missiles of red and ire rocket from Malware’s amalgamation of starships and explode into a brilliant lightshow of explosions. And although they can’t hear nor feel the blasts, Izuku and Toshinori can see the Plus Ultra’s frame visibly shaking as it tries to outmaneuver the much faster ship.
(Nue taunts All Might and Izuku about his new team has a line in each section.)
“Atta boy, Malware! Ha ha!” Nue laughs, acting like he’s watching a sports game. “That’s pulling your weight! Hahaha!” He nudges Izuku so hard with his elbow the boy tumbles to the ground. “What do you guys think? I really upgraded, didn't I?! The League of Villains’ got nothing on this!! No parlor tricks! No scheming! No lurking in the shadows! We only follow one rule! One law!”
With his back to his prisoners, Vilgax finishes Nue’s statement with a cold and calculating glare. “Only the powerful succeed.”
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Bouncing back up into the air, weightless, Uravity desperately calls out for her friends. “Deku! All Might! Where are you?!”
Her shout echoes across the prison, making many of the prisoners jump and shift. But there is no answer.
She becomes dejected and is about to float herself back to the ground when…
“U-Uraraka…?”
“Young Uraraka…?”
Uravity’s head instantly snaps up. “Deku?! All Might?!”
She scans the cells and then, there at the third level she spots a human hand desperately pounding at the laser shielded door.
And from it she hears Deku call out. “Uraraka…it’s us. P-please, open the door…” He sounds weak and sickly, which only spurs Uravity to hurry.
Racing to the cell she yells out to the rest. “Over Here!!”
Gran Torino’s head snaps up at her from the second level. “You found them?!”
“Yeah! Quickly! How do I get them out!” She lands with a stumble that transitions into a run and then a sprint right for the cell’s lock pad.
Pinky’s Emote sensing antennas are flaring off with activity, and immediately the girl is screaming. “NO!!! URAVITY, DON’T!!!”
But it’s too late she’s already unlocked the door and ran in front to greet her friends. But instead of finding them she finds a iron knuckled gauntlet to the face that throws her back and into the railing, denting it with a thundering boom and a red flash. “AAAhh!!”
As she screams in pain a figure zooms out of the cell and over her head, whining away atop a grey glider and its snickering rider. “Hehehe!!”
Fighting through the pain, Uravity looks up and spots the grey goblin riding atop the glider. “Sunder?!”
Sunder smirks and soars over their heads, free of their range and free to do as he wants.
Uravity goes to get up but then a second figure calls out to her from inside the cell.
“Long time no see, Little Girl.”
Uravity’s blood runs cold and slowly she turns around and spots a face she never thought she’d have to see again.
A red armored woman smirks down at her, flashing the girl a little wire box and speaker that is definitely some sort of voice modifier. “Hey, Little Girl. I still owe you for what happened last time we met, ya know!!”
From above, Sunder presses a button on his wrist pad and in doing so several other cells open away and a flood of, not alien, but more of Vilgax’s Hover Drones and Bioids emerge. Which immediately engage the heroes and sends the entire prison into a screaming uproar.
“I've been dying for some payback!! And guess what?! Payback’s a BITCH!!!”
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“This is so lame!” Red Riot kicks the skull of a nearby Bioid, but it remains unmoving, just like all the rest. “Why am I always holding down the fort? I can help too, ya know.” Not to mention he never got the chance to use this high tech hammer he brought; he still has no idea what it does by the way.
“Don’t take it personally, Red Riot.” Midnight consults while standing atop a stack of no longer flaming drones. “Eraserhead told us all about what you kids did at the Training Camp. It’s because of you that your classmates had somewhere safe to retreat to.”
Red Riot stares ahead, mulling over her words.
“We all have a role to play, but do not think of yourself as a barricade that’s left to conduct traffic.” She places a confident yet assuring hand on his shoulder. “You are a fortress! One that your friends and allies are depending on to keep them safe.”
“Yeah… You’re right!” he flexes, his arms Hardening as he hoists the hammer of his head. “It’s not manly to cry about it! This is no time for sulking! I can do this! YEAH!!!”
Present Mic smiles, enjoying the scene. “Well, you sure bounce back quickly.”
“Good thing too.” comments one of Ectoplasm’s many clones, all the others of which are spread across the hanger and taking up various defensive points. “We can’t afford to be shaken too soon.”
*BOOM!!!* An explosion of violet erupts from the sealed off passageway. The gate is blasted away, taking out several of the Ectoplasm clones, leaving a plume of purple smoke to rise.
Having been taken by surprise, the four defenders can only watch as a purple armored alien stalks through the smoke with an entire legion of gigantic drones silhouetted behind them.
“Htaw’s pu ithcseB?!”
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Izuku and Toshinori witness this all happening as sections of the arena’s dome give them the perfect angels to watch it all unfold. They see a red armored Iida racing through the ship’s halls. There’s Sunder hiding within the prison cell. Malware attacking the Plus Ultra.
Even Nue is watching closely, he’s particularly eyeing the screen with Bakugou, Shoto, and Thirteen on it.
“Don’t you understand?” questions Vilgax. “Your allies willingly entered my domain. Thinking that they can take what is mine. But did they think I would not have the proper pawns to face them in battle?!”
Izuku and Toshinori’s hearts drop when they see Ochaco get herself blasted back by a kinetic bursting gauntlet.
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Uravity is unable to keep her eyes off her attacker despite the chaos taking place 3 levels below her. “Rojo?!”
Rojo’s smile stretches. “You remember me. Good. I was almost afraid a big shot U.A. celebrity might have forgotten all about a lowlife like me.”
Said celebrity nervously stumbles back and props herself up with the busted railing. “What-what’s someone like you doing here?!”
“I’m not some crook anymore, Little Girl!” Rojo rages, offended and mirth by the girl’s blatant question.
“Really?!” Uravity scoffs. “You tried and failed to kidnap me? What? Decided to give it another try? You’re still just a crook!”
“I’m so much more than that.” Rojo raises her fist and her knuckles tighten and the red high-tech gauntlet glows dangerously with a burning red light, even the knuckle spikes glow red hot with anger. “I’m DANGEROUS!!!”
Rojo’s fist rockets forth and slams into the girl’s side, the moment it does it explodes, releasing a shockwave of crimson that sends the girl flying across the prison, over the gap, and to the opposite level!
“URAVITY!!!” Pinky and Cinder cry out, both racing towards the lift but they are cut off, literally, as a section of the floor is ripped out of the ground and teleported away to the Null Void. As Sunder launches his repaired Null Void Axe down at them. The axe’s glowing red blade slices the ground before their feet, before swinging around and reeling back up into the air where Sunder catches it. Grinning he grips his repurposed axe, satisfied to find that trading the hilt for an elongated chain was definitely worth breaking it the first time.
“Taste my steel, Plumbers!” Sunder launches his axe down at them again from way on high, this time giving it a spin as to give it a more unpredictable path.
“Stand back!” Cinder shoves Pinky back while keeping his spear ready to parry.
But the two weapons never get to clash as Gran Torino zips in and bats the spinning axe away with a flick of his saber. “Don’t let the blade touch you! If you do you’ll be teleported into a hellhole even worse than this!!”
Cinder and Pinky are about to move again but then they find themselves surrounded by a squad of armed Bioids.
Meanwhile, Uravity forces herself to her feet again, fighting through the shock and pain just as Rojo snickers from across the gap. “You have no idea how long I’ve been looking forward to this!”
“Just what is this?!” Uravity shouts back while being simultaneously hissed back at by the jailed up Metroids. “Why are all the villains I fight always out for revenge?!”
“He! Who knows?! Maybe we just gravitate towards ya, LITTLE GIRL!!” Rojo’s rocketpack ignites and she’s propelled up and over the gap, and with her gauntleted fist raised above her head.
Uravity leaps to the side, rolling herself away. Leaving Rojo to crash into the balcony with an explosive red shockwave,
“Stop calling me that!” She screeches. “I’m not like before, Rojo! I’ve changed!”
“Oh, yeah.” Rojo smirks dangerously as her high-tech armor shifts and releases puffs of steam, from her elbows and shoulders sets of mini-rocket launchers and sharp melee-weaponry sprout forth that whirl and hum with life. “So have I!!” She launches herself at the girl once again as a swarm of rockets the size of darts are fired from her shoulder pads.
Uravity dodges the first rocket dart but then fires a pair of Ryou Spheres at the rest, the resulting implosion knocks them all away but fails to stop the merciless villain who nearly socks her again with a shock-powered punch.
“You missed!”
Rojo’s expression is so grim and gleeful it causes the overconfident girl to freeze. Emerging from her sides, near her ribs 2 pairs of insectoid legs appear. They’re not long or strong enough to walk on, however they’re sharp and the tips are ignited with dangerous sparks of electricity.
And Uravity finds out firsthand how painful they are when the all 4 spikes pierce her sides and deliver the nastiest of shocks right to her system.
“AAAAAAAAAHHHHH!!!”
“Feel that?! That pain! That’s payback! Because if it weren’t for you I would have never been caught! I would have gotten away!” Rojo reels back her fist in preparation. “And I’d never would have become that damned squid’s pawn!!” She delivers another booming punch to Uravity’s side and this time it launches her down towards the center of the prison where she crashes into the bottom level in a heap of smoke.
“Leave the girl alone!!” Gran Torino races through the air in order to the reach the girl but his path is interrupted. “Ahh!!” A rain of laser fire cuts him off before he redirects himself and slices through the interrupting Hover Drones. ‘Dammit, we’re outnumbered. Before it was easy since they could only come from two directions but now we’ve been caught out in the open!’
Which is why they’re all having such a hard time Patelliday and Tsukauchi are covering the doorway, but they’ve been forced behind cover as another legion tries to break through the busted gate. Cinder is holding his own, but Pinky is currently being chased through the air by a pack of Hover Drones. Chopper is screaming his little head off while Eraserhead uses his scarf to throw the Hover Drones into the oncoming Bioids.
They all have their hands full right now which means Uraraka’s gonna have to win this fight on her own!
Meanwhile, as the smoke and dust clears away, Uravity is revealed to be sprawled o the ground. Sensing that Rojo’s watching her from high above she spins around onto her back and fires a cascade of Ryou Spheres back at the villain.
Her aim is not great and Rojo’s an expert in reading them. The villainess gives and leaps away using her various tech like her rocketpack and wire grapples to swing and reel herself away from the pursuing implosions. She swings onto the second level and with her back turned, Uravity leaps to her feet and fires her one last Ryou Sphere. This sphere, slightly bigger than the rest, speeds through the air like a bullet but this villain is used to reading speeding opponents. She easily side steps the attack and jumps off the balcony using the following explosion to give her some extra thrust!
“Is this all U.A.’s got?!” She roars. “I thought you got stronger?!” Rojo rockets down, her Shock Gauntlet out stretched and ready!
“You want to see my strength?’ Uravity stands her ground as her entire body ignites with the power of One For All. “Here it is! VENUS SMASH!!!”
Their fists collide in midair! One of flesh, the other of metal, one of pink and the other of red. The two forces of body vs. technology rage causing the ground to shake and break.
“Is that all you got!!” Rojo roars against the raging shockwaves.
“YAAAAHHHH!”
As Uravity gives it her all Rojo’s gauntlet quivers for the briefest of seconds before BOOOOM an explosion of crimson blasts the two women away!
Rojo is sent flying into the wall behind her while Uravity is flung into a laser shielded door. “AAAAAhhhh!!” She screams, her entire body undergoing electrification once again.
There’s a sharp gasp of worry and…recognition from inside the cell but this is not a detail Uravity notices.
Her ears are ringing, and her vision is blurry as she tries to see what happened to the villain. But all she can make out is the pillar of smoke and dust, her friends fighting, and that the cell next to her is the same one as before. The one that was empty and bare, the one that might have held her friends…
“God! You are such a bitch!” Rojo groans as she pulls herself out from the broken metal wall. “You almost destroyed my gear back there!” Her gauntlet’s fingers flex and rebend into place and there’s some weird internal whirring sound but she can only assume that it’s nothing. “But almost doesn’t cut it.” She stumbles but catches herself and then makes her way forward, ignoring the fighting and blasting going on in the background.
Uravity watches her approach carefully while considering her options. Last time she rushed into a fight Charmcaster and Himiko Toga took advantage of her recklessness and stupidity. She can’t make the same mistake again, no, she needs an opening. Get her in close, off her game. Maybe keep her talking. That'll give her time to think of a work around. She needs a way to turn this around in one move. But how?
The sound of shifting glass quietly echoes from within the cell behind her. And with curiosity getting the best of her Uravity spares the briefest of glances back. And what she sees causes her heart to race.
“Don’t look away!” yells Rojo as she stomps her way closer. “I’m over here!!”
“Where-....where are they…?” Uravity asks weakly, her head still spinning from that last sudden surge of power. “Where’s All Might…? Wh-Where’s…where’s Deku?”
“Deku?” Rojo smirks to herself. “Oh, yeah him. Ya know, did he tell you about our little encounter this summer?”
Uravity glares, her entire form trembling in anger and pain as Rojo finally reaches her.
“Yeah, that’s right, I had a little tussle with that boyfriend of yours too. And he was a real challenge. But you-you’re off your game, Little Girl.” The villainess pulls back her fist as her electrified spikes reel back in anticipation and her shoulder pads get ready to launch. “You’re making this revenge, unsatisfying!! Give me the challenge that I’ve been dreaming of for the last YEAR!!!” She goes in for the kill!
Which is the exact moment Uravity’s been waiting for. She dives for the cell’s lock and in a single motion, she swipes it open.
Before Rojo can react or pursue her, she suddenly finds herself in a deluge of crystals! An entire wave of diamonds crashes across the lower level, demolishing every Bioid and drone in its path like a tidal wave. Pillars of diamonds reach into the air, smashing through the high-rise balconies. They stretch and spread so high that it’s impossible for anyone to tell what happened to Uravity and Rojo. Even Sunder is forced back and away, having to use his axe in order to slice away those same pillars that would have him skewered. As for the heroes they are in no danger nor threatened by the crystals, instead a rain of diamond dust fills the entire facility, making it shine and glimmer all around them like shards of hope.
Rojo coughs up a bit of blood and a tooth, her armor is cracked, and she lost two of her electrified spikes. Thankfully her rocketpack remains undamaged and was fast enough to get her out of that assault. But more importantly it’s given her a chance to enact some revenge on the bastard that interrupted her vendetta.
“She’s not making your revenge satisfying enough? Then perhaps,” Like a character straight out of JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure, the prisoner struts out of his cell and takes a stand before the villain. “you will find me a more suitable opponent!!” The prisoner roars, his resolve unbroken just like the diamonds he commands.
Meanwhile, a smile, a huge smile stretches across Uravity’s cheeks, thrilled that Tetrax Shard has officially joined the party.
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
Meanwhile up on the bridge, a lone Bioid has just walked through the doors. As it enters it briefly cans the room and picks out an empty monitor near the back corner. It’s unfortunately a distance away from the exit but it’ll do.
The Bioid doesn't draw attention to itself nor does it make a noise as it robotically walks past other Bioids and their stations. It soon reaches its monitor where it sits down and begins its operation.
“Master, the Ideon Cannon is at 80%.” Psyphon stands at the head of the bridge, his back towards the Bioids and their stations so that he may focus on overseeing the ship as a whole. “We will be firing in approximately five minutes.”
[“Excellent.”] Vilgax’s voice responds back.
The Bioid watches Psyphon closely, he’s several stations away but even so she’ll have to be careful. Those are the thoughts going through Lucy’s head as she sits before the monitor. ‘I’ll need to be more subtle about this, robots are one thing but a living person. He might pickup that something’s wrong. If I give myself away too soon then I won’t be of any help. I’ll have to do this carefully and precisely. I just hope the others can hang in there without me.’
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
“Mr. Shard… You have no idea how happy I am to see you.” Uravity’s so happy in fact she’s almost brought to tears. “Thank you. And I’m sorry, we couldn’t help you sooner.”
He shakes his head, his body sounding like shattering glass as he moves. “Don’t apologize. I was well aware of the risks. But it is still a pleasant sight to see you once again, Ochaco Uraraka.” He stands tall and proud at her side as he directs his attention back at the glowering villainess. “Your control over your power has improved, I see. However, I think your combat skills could use some work.”
“She took me by surprise. It won’t happen again.” Uravity gets ready for the fight ahead, raising her fists up in defense.
“Good. I’d like to see just how much you’ve improved since the U.S.J.”
“You bastard!!” Rojo looks frantic and crazed; she's become totally enraged as she screams. “Go Away!!” Her shoulder pads shoot up and fires a barrage of whizzing rocket darts at the duo,
Tetrax retaliates with a rain of shards, most miss the incoming darts but it’s enough to cause them all to prematurely explode. Which provides the perfect cover for Uravity to race ahead and get in close!
Rojo takes a swing at the girl, but Uravity slips past her and as she does, instead of a SMASH, she slaps Rojo’s side with her five fingers.
As Rojo goes to spin around and throws a red gauntleted punch, the force of the thrust launches her off her feet and her weightless body is sent flying backwards. Where she is then clotheslined by Tetrax’s outstretched crystal arm.
“Gaaahh!!” A splash of Rojo’s blood goes floating through the air as her weightless body is sent spinning into the pillar of crystals. She lands with a full impact just as Ochaco releases her Zero-Gravity.
“Give it up!” Tetrax’s aims his spiked fists down at her from afar. “You’re outmatched!”
As Rojo props herself up, she spits at the ground before yelling out. “She’s mine! Revenge was mine! I won’t let you STEAL THIS FROM ME!!!”
Just as she declares her revenge, the section of diamonds behind her vanishes in a blink of red and in a roar of thunder.
“URARAKA!!!” Sunder zooms onto the scene with the axe spinning at his side and ready to launch. “I will not be humiliated by a little girl! NOT AGAIN!!!”
Like slow motion, Sunder spots a blur movement to his left. And it’s the spinning form of Eraserhead. The hero had leapt down from one of the pillars and gave himself a spin as to build up momentum, and now with perfect precision and timing he delivers a roundhouse kick right into the back of Sunder’s skull! And the alien goes down, his glider spiraling with him as it all comes crashing down at the enraged Rojo’s feet.
“So, you’re an alien?” Landing with a cat-like grace, Eraserhead glowers over at the grey goblin’s sprawled form. “I’m not impressed. You’re just like any other crook on Earth, a push over.”
“So, cool!” Uravity gushes.
Eraserhead peers over, spotting his students standing alongside an alien that looks almost exactly like Midoriya’s Diamondhead form. “Uravity, who is this? A prisoner you freed?”
“Mr. Aiza-er, Eraserhead! This is Mr. Shard!” She introduces with a shy yet gleeful smile. “You know, the one we talked about!”
“Is he?” He eyes the alien suspiciously.
Tetrax eyes him back before a wave of recognition comes over him. “I remember you, you’re the brave soul that took on that monster alone.” By monster he is of course referring to the crab-like Nomu that attacked U.A. along with the League of Villains.
“So you were at the U.S.J. Have to say I don’t appreciate someone breaking into my school.” Eraserhead eases up but he remains wary of the hunter. “I would very much like to know how you did that.”
“If we survive I’ll go ahead and show you exactly what I did.”
Rojo has her guard up, her rocket launchers are ready and waiting for the heroes to move in, but she’s holding her ground for now, giving Sunder a chance to recover. “Sunder.”
The grey goblin peers up at her with a scowl.
“It’s time. No more holding back.”
A cruel malicious grin stretches across his face and he quickly sends a signal through his wrist com.
Rojo jumps and nearly preemptively fires another round of rockets as the rest of the Plumbers and heroes swoop in from above the pillars to rejoin their friends.
“Ochaco!” Pinky flies in from above as Gran Torino flies Tsukauchi up and over the diamonds.
Pinky quickly spots what she thinks is Diamondhead but after a quick second she realizes that it’s not Midoriya. “Who’s that?!”
As Gran Torino and Tsukauchi lands, so too does Chopper who rocketed himself over.
Patelliday is clawing his way up and over as Cinder launches himself up with a stream of fire from his mouth. Cinder lands and quickly takes in the scene and then addresses the unfamiliar face. “So, you're the infamous Tetrax Shard.”
Tetrax immediately recognizes that red armor and that fire. “And your Cinder. Never thought we’d meet like this. At one time I was even considering taking on your bounty.”
“Heh, are you saying we need to pay to be on our side?”
“No.” Tetrax takes a step towards the villains and with a shink his arms morph into a pair of maces. “This hunt is free of charge.”
“Fuck!” Rojo can’t believe her luck; it wasn’t bad enough that the one cell the girl opened happened to be the one with an ally inside but now all of the other heroes survived too. What in the hell! “I hate this! Why’d you have to go and prove the squid right?! We told him we didn’t need the back up! But you’ve forced our hands!”
The rumbling of heavy machinery hums throughout the prison, the sound of hidden trapdoors sliding open can also be made out, causing the rumbling of machinery to grow ever louder. The heroes all gather together like a herd for even through the crystal walls they can almost make out the gigantic shapes marching along the other side.
“THIS IS ALL ON YOU, HEROES!!!”
With the roar of engines and power, a legion of gigantic drones crash onto the scene, clawing up and over the crystals and smashing their way through the prison with vigor and wrath.
But these are not the same red clad gigantic drones from before. Although they are of the same design and height of 40 ft, the 9 drones that emerge are all of different colors and unique weaponry!
“This is our leader’s DOMINATION PARADE!!!”
These Dominator drones take to action quickly with the most armored cladded one, the one with Bronze armor, takes the charge, its frame bigger and heavier than the others. Its claws replaced with giant drills swing with a destructive force as its hammers down at them from above!
Patelliday fires back but his blasts deflect off its heavy armor. “Take cover!!”
“Get behind me!!” Tetrax slams his fists to the ground and a barricade of crystals intercepts the massive screeching drill.
“You did it!” Pinky cheers but a sharp gasp escapes her lips as a high frequency pitch rattles nit just their bones but the crystal wall!
In a quivering boom the wall shatters away like glass revealing a Purple Dominator with speakers on his arms so advanced it’s able to generate high sonic frequencies.
“A sonic attack?!” Eraserhead gasps just as the White Dominator launches its own attack.
From its hands it fires thin rays of cold, which slathers the entire floor in ice that encases the hero's legs and feet.
^Brbrbrbrbr^ With his entire body entombed by ice, Chopper is left shivering and frozen in place.
“So cold!” Even through the suit, Uravity can feel the sub-zero temperatures sinking through.
Growing frustrated, Cinder unleashes a blanket of flames across the ground, melting the ice away and freeing them. Once they’re all out he turns his stream of fire onto the Dominators.
But the Blue one counters his flames by holding them down with a geyser of water.
“What the hell?!” That’s when it clicks for Cinder as he takes in these new machines’ weaponry, the prisoners, Rojo’s Equipped technology, it was all stolen. This had always been Vilgax’s way, steal, conqueror, and meld for his own uses. There’s a reason he keeps such a collection, why he takes what he does, it’s all in the name of creating the most efficient weapons!
The Red Dominator unleashes a stream of flames from its eyes to which Cinder bends to his will an with a breath and his spear he rotates the flames up and away from them all. ‘It’s all in the name of conquest!!’
The entire prison is thrown into disarray, this parade of Dominators keeps them on their toes with every blast of fire, ice, and electricity.
Not to be left out, Sunder gets back in there and is already running their defenses as he slices away sections of Tetrax's pillars, granting the Dominators much more room to rampage. Eraserhead and Gran Torino race to stop him but they are cut off by the Yellow Dominator that has pairs of electrified cables whipping across the battlefield.
“Hey buddy!” Pinky shouts, the hoverboard roaring as it hoists her high into the air after him. “Watch where you aim that thing!!” With a swing she tosses an entire pool of Acid at the alien.
He scowls and pulls away on his glider. “You have a fire. I’ll be sure to put it out!” With a roar he gets ready to launch his axe when he receives a hard kick to his arm.
“You’ll try, that is!!” Gran Torino zips away, using his saver to parry the incoming Null Void Axe.
But he has to stay on his guard as an Orange Dominator lashes out at him with a 10-foot-long energy blade of its own.
It’s a madhouse in here now, as Dominators roar and assault the heroes with their various attacks, all the while the prisoners roar and jeer from their cells.
The Green Dominator matches Pinky’s Acid with its own vile toxic Acid. Forcing Tetrax to shield it all with another pillar of diamonds.
\The Silver Dominator generates a vacuum current that pulls Cinder off his feet, dragging him closer and closer to its swirling fan blades.
Wanting the kill for itself, the Bronze Dominator once again goes it to crush the hero with its drill.
However, a few rounds from the S.A.G.E. Gun by Eraserhead is enough of distraction for it to miss and for Cinder to use its own drill to kick himself free of the vacuum.
Rojo takes it all in and is both thrilled and disgusted by it all: her gear is damaged, she bloodied and bruised, and the Dominators won’t care if she ends up as collateral. ‘If life has taught me one thing, holding my ground isn’t worth my life.’ She slides against the wall, keeping herself tight against as she tries to slide away, ‘Time for me to bail. I’ll figure out my next move later.’
“ROJO!!!” Uravity snakes through the chaos, flying her over with her Gyro-Disc working double time. “You’re gonna tell me everything! You’re gonna tell me where they have my friends!! And you’re gonna tell me what’s going on here!!”
She crashes into Rojo, dragging them down across crystal encrusted ground.
“Why are you doing all this?! What’s the point?! Why are you working with Vilgax?!”
“I don’t have a choice! This is just the cards life’s dealt me!” Rojo struggles to shove her away her electrified spikes flailing but failing to find purchase. “He turned me into a weapon! A weapon for his Negative Nine to use!”
“Negative…Nine?” She’s distracted, it’s enough so that Rojo’s able to break her grip and hurry away.
“It’s what he calls us. Me. Sunder. The others…” She says, coming to a stop after putting some distance between them, “We’re all his little puppets, his chess pieces, while he sits at the top as the king.” As a cruel violent king, one that wouldn’t find their deaths meaningful but an excuse to replace them with someone better, stronger. “I am not gonna die here!! But if you’re gonna stand in my way! Then be ready for a beating!!” Her shoulder launcher prepared to fire but a speeding Ryou Sphere blasts it apart to nothing.
“Where are they?!” Uravity screeches, racing forward like a pink bullet she tackles Rojo to the ground. “Where’s Deku and All Might then, huh?! Where?!” She begs, shaking the villain by the collar.
Frustrated and angry, and knowing she can’t win, Rojo can only smile back in cruel and vile spite. “They’re dead!”
The confession makes Ochaco’s heart stop, and her grip loosens, but Rojo is so lost in spite she doesn’t even realize.
“Vilgax he tortured them! Slaughtered them right before my eyes! You’re already too late! Ha ha ha!”
That laughter rings in the poor girl’s head as her fortitude begins to crumble to despair.
However, it doesn’t last long when Tetrax calls out.
“She lies!” He roars while forcing back the Brown and Purple Dominators with a wave of crystals. “All Might! He was here! I never saw the boy but they’re both alive, I know it!”
“Shut up!” Rojo is seething but unable to stop him.
“Vilgax would much rather keep them alive and tormented, granting his enemies death is too merciful in his eyes.” With a big inhale Tetrax exclaims. “They are still HERE!!!”
Gran Torino zips past, his saber slices apart one of the Yellow Dominator’s electrified cables. “Any ideas where he’s being held?!”
“His arena.” Cinder answers with a haunted look. “He must have been both in his arena.”
“Yes, I believe so.” agrees the bounty hunter. “And if Midoriya’s there then that means that the Omnitrix is there as well.”
That's all the Plumber needed to hear. “Change of plans! Forget the prison, we need to fight our way to the ship’s top level!”
“Love to! But we got a problem!” shouts Tsukauchi as he desperately tries to Phase the rampaging drones. “Nine problems to be exact!”
Nothing seems to be slowing these Dominators down. No matter what they do. That White Dominator keeps freezing their surroundings and no matter how much Cinder tries to melt the ice away his flames get hosed down by the Blue one. Only for the Red robot to come in and fire upon them all with its own flames.
Tetrax is holding off the Orange and Silver dominators with another barricade of crystals as Eraserhead and Patelliday keep the Purple one distracted. All the while the Green Dominator shoots geysers of Acid up at the flying Pinky and nearly melting Sunder in the process too.
The Orange Dominator has its eyes set on Uravity as it swings in its massive orange glowing blade.
She’s not gonna be able to move out of the way! It’s too fast!
But then her teacher’s scarf grabs her around the waist and pulls her away, allowing the blade to slice the air between her and the stunned Rojo.
Eraserhead catches her and drags her away as the Orange Dominator chases after them. “Does anyone have any ideas?!” He shouts.
^Wa!!^ Chopper seems to as he wheels away to go enact it.
“Chopper!” Cinder shouts. “Don’t run away! Get back here!”
^Bo-pop!^ He waves him away and scans for a counsel or port.
There, he’s spotted one near the far end of the prison and he quickly weaves his way through to get there.
Tsukauchi shouts over the uproar and chaos. “Just what is that little robot planning?!”
Chopper reaches the console where he quickly inserts his hacking rod into the designate port. As he begins to hack away at the system he finally calls out an answer to the big question. ^Wop! Brrr-op!^
All the color from Cinder’s and Patelliday’s faces drain away.
Cinder screams. “Are you malfunctioning?!”
As Patelliday cries out. “That’s not just reckless! That’s suicide!”
Their reactions drag everyone into a panic as they all start shouting with questions all at once.
“What is?!”
“What’s he doing?! Is he going to suck us out into space?!”
“Is he going to blow us up?!”
“I knew it…”
But no, Chopper isn’t after a self-destruct sequence nor is he planning to fling them into freezing space. No he has other plans, plans that they are soon clued in on the moment that every laser shield that’s blocking every cell flickers before vanishing away.
Everyone stops: the heroes, the villains, even the Dominators freeze in place with hitched breaths and stunned expressions. Silence swallows the entire prison, everything is still, not a sound is made nor heard…
“FREEDOM!!!” But then just as fast as they all stood still, they are all thrown into chaos as every corner, every cell, every alien and every section of this prison explodes into an uproar of chaos and violence!! Tentacles go flying! Roars and shrieks of unholy sorts fill the air! And weapons are fired off at all cylinders!
Forget order and precision, let havoc and chaos reign!!
A swarm of Metroids is released and they immediately clamp down and gnaw away at the Green Dominator’s head. As a pack of chittering Critters become a feeding frenzy upon its insectoid legs.
“Face the wrath of the Triceraton Empire!! RAAAGH!!!” The Triceraton stampedes out of his cell, head down, he skewers the Purple Dominator’s side and begins pushing it back and away. But not to be taken down lightly the Dominator releases a high frequency blast that only serves to rile up the already growing chaos!
“YAH!!! Foul machines!” The Thanagarian lets out a joyous battle cry as he swoops out from his cell, his massive wings taking him to the air.
The White Dominator fires blasts of cold after him but the hawk man is far more agile then he appears despite his bulky build.
“Those that dare clip my wings! Will not be spared!! YAH!!!” He slams into the White Dominator with a bang, knocking it back!!
The Dominator stumbles, tumbling before one of the larger cells. Ready for an attack the Dominator rises but pauses it finds nothing more than a still fighter jet parked inside the cell. It whirs in confusion when suddenly with a leap and a bound the fighter jet springs to life! Its entire frame and parts transform into a humanoid robot!
“Freedom is mine!” The Transformer gloats with a sharp and unique voice. “You powerless inferior machines! For you are powerless before the mighty-OW!!!”
He takes a rogue electrified cable to the face as the Yellow Dominator lashes out after the ricocheting Gran Torino and the rampaging escapees.
“WAAAAAAA!!” The two Tallest Irkens are flailing about the battlefield, screaming their heads off as explosions and roars ring around them.
“Out of my way!” Screams the purple Tallest while accidentally shoving past his equal.
“No! You get out of my way!” The red Tallest shoves him back.
“Don’t shove me!”
“But you pushed me!”
“But you-AHHHHH!!!”
They are both enveloped by flames, courtesy of the Red Dominator.
They are not the only aliens trying to make their escape. The dog-sized purple starfish is dragging itself along the ceiling towards a nearby vent. The red-eyed Space Chicken calmly yet angry marches off but not before plucking a blaster off the ground.
The inky Symbiote slithers away like a living puddle while Hamstervelle desperately scampers around and tries to avoid being stepped on by the many other aliens all making a dash for it.
“Chopper! You really did it this time!!” Cinder shouts while fighting off the flesh craving Boglodite with his spear. “When we get out of this I am so gonna reprogram you!!”
^Bwo!^ Chopper clearly doesn’t care, waving it off as nothing more than an empty threat.
But his tune changes the moment a silver-bodied android with a brain stuffed into its torso draws a found blaster on him.
“Astro-mech that is in the place that is the place that holds the prisoners. Gratitude is not given to you, which is the one that freed Krang!” The Krang open fires on the little droid, sending him whirring and running for his life.
^Wawawawawawaaaaa!!^
The Krang fires after him but his plan for annihilation is cut short when a crystal blades cuts through his neck.
The android falls and the tentacled brain in its gut bursts out, retching and squealing before scurrying away, fearing for its life.
“Disgusting.” Tetrax shakes his blade back into its normal form before wiping his hand off his suit. After wiping away the goo he looks at the quivering droid that he just saved. “You’re welcome.”
^Bp-op!^
They are not the only ones having robot troubles as the cybernetic Borg advances on Eraserhead and Uravity. “You will be assimilated.” it chants over and over with that same robotic and lifeless tone.
Eraserhead and Uravity prepare to face off against it as it draws closer and closer.
But then it stops, not willingly. Rather it seems like an invisible force is holding it in place. And then with seemingly nothing in sight it is hoisted off its feet and a set of claws pierce their way through its spine and torso and with a slash the Borg is split in half, raining a mix of oil and fluids onto the invisible form of a large muscular humanoid form with grotesque mandibles and a mane of dreadlocks.
The Yautja snarls like the Predator it is, it decloaks and stalks forward, its body language signaling a challenge to the pro hero.
Eraserhead quickly picks up on it. “Uravity, stay back.” He grips his scarf in one hand, his hair floating high as his eyes flare red, and in his other hand he wields his student's own signature blaster. “Come on! I’m here!!!”
“RAAAAAAAHHH!!” The Predator lunges and takes a swing at the pro’s head.
Who ducks and delivers a series of jabs to the alien’s side.
The alien hisses but doesn’t reel but instead takes a back swing at his chosen prey.
Eraserhead rolls across the ground, letting the swing fly right over him before he makes a run for it to put some distance between him and the fighter.
“RRRRrrrrr!!” With a snarl the Predator spins around and swipes a dropped blaster on the ground from one of the busted-up drones. It then takes aim with a single hand and fires a succession of laser bolts!
Eraserhead throws his Capture Scarf to the railing above and pulls himself away! But the Predator keeps his sights on him as he fires and fires. But this hero is too slippery even in midair the pro expert wields his scarf like an extension of himself in order to swing himself around all across the open layout prison.
“RAAAGH!!!” The Predator reaches down and buries its claw into the back of a ripped apart Bioid and with a single swing it chucks the oil spilling bot after the hero as if it were a baseball!
Seeing it come from a mile away Eraserhead makes a move to swing out of its path, however, that’s when the Predator no-scopes the Bioid with a single shot!
BOOM!!! The Bioid explodes and the resounding blast knocks the hero off his balance, pulling him back down to the ground.
“Ugh!” Eraserhead hits the ground hard and with a groan, struggling to get up as his dark mane of hair dangles over his face.
With its mandibles clicking, the Predator stomps over the stumbling hero before grabbing him by the shoulders and yanking him to his feet like a wrestler who just can’t stand the idea of his opponent quitting too soon. “RRRRrrrrr!!”
“Arh!!” Eraserhead snaps back into focus, and he struggles against the Predator's weight and build. He pulls and struggles to shave it back as it lifts him higher and higher.
In a last-ditch effort for some purchase, he grabs the sides of the alien’s helmet and uses the leverage to kick his feet up against the alien’s chest. And with a hard thrust he manages to break the alien’s grip but in doing so he manages to rip its helmet clean off.
The Yautja reels back in a mix of pain and shock before it braces itself and turns to the pro hero with its horrifying face fully exposed from its protruding forehead, scaly skin, wild mandibles, and sunken creature eyes. “RRRRrrrrr!!”
Eraserhead stands there, disgusted and horrified. “You are one ugly motherfucker!”
“RAAAAAAAHHH!!” The Predator lunges at Eraserhead, intending to dig its claws into torso chest and rip out his spine in one go!!
However, it misses its mark yet again as the pro expertly weaves out of the way, and instead it finds its entire fist wrapped in the hero’s binding cloth.
With a pull and a twist, the Yautja finds its arm bending a way it shouldn’t. And then as it's about to pull against its binds, the S.A.G.E. Gun is brought to its elbow with a single PEW its arm is blasted clean off!
“RAAAAAAAHHHH!” While stumbling away in agony and rage, glowing green blood spills from the severed limb as it hisses and howls.
With splashes of glowing blood on his suit and face, Eraserhead stands grim yet steadfast before his enemy. “If you bleed, then I can beat you.” He holds the S.A.G.E. Gun steady as his eyes flash dangerously red.
“RAAAAAAAHHHH!”
That howl stretches across the entire prison, and even reaches the ears of Sunder who’s overseeing the chaos, out of reach, and safely from atop his high-tech glider.
Sunder watches as the prisoners rage a war against the Dominators. As the Plumbers desperately try to keep ahead of both sides. He watches as Patelliday guns down the badmouthing Gromflomite. And as Gran Torino ricochets off the floating Metroids. It’s truly a feast for the eyes, a true show! A horror show that is.
And it will be especially worse for him if the heroes manage to slip away in all this chaos. He needs to strike them down with swift precision and before they realize his incoming attack amongst all the madness. “I’ll make this quick and leave before things get worse!”
“Well, it’s too late for that!!” Through the pillars of smoke Pinky shoots up after him once again with the Hoverboard whirring underneath her feet. “Your luck’s about to get so much worse!!”
“Stupid, girl! This is way above your head!” Sunder launches his axe at her but she evade letting the chain zip past.
“Maybe! But that’s no reason to give up!”
He sees his opening and with a crack he whips the chain to the sides, causing the chain to whip the side of the girl’s head!
“Ahh!!” She’s losing control, she's spinning out! But before she loses her footing she manages to jump and grab onto the wing of Sinder’s glider.
“Woah!” he’s taken back as the glider falls a good distance before stopping. “You’re an amateur with that thing!! You think you can fly at my level?!” He roars.
“No! But I can drag you down to theirs.”
He’s taken back and that’s when he realizes that they’re hovering parallel to the third level balcony.
“HSSSSSS!!!” With one of its capturers in reach, the horrifying visage of a Xenomorph makes its terrible presence known!
It pounces into the air and latches itself to the glider causing it to spin out from the sudden weight and motion.
“Get off, creature!” Sunder grapples with the thing but it’s stronger than its skinny frame would suggest, and it gives him a fight!
And so, wishing to end that swiftly Sunder readies his glowing red axe.
And that’s what the moment, Pinky knew to act. “Nope!”
With the glider spinning this way and that, she somehow manages to hoist herself up and grab onto the axe’s hilt before falling, her weight combined with her grip is just enough to pull the axe and its chain right out of Sunder's grip.
“What?! NO!!!” Sunder tries to snatch it back but the Xenomorph lunges for his head as its claws sink into the glider causing it to spark and go berserker.
“Aaahh!!” Pinky falls but thankfully she was thrown off the speeding glider at an angle allowing her land on the second level with a hard thud.
“Ugh!” She groans her back aching as the axe bounces across the ground beside her, the chain falling at her heels.
Meanwhile a midair battle rages above her.
“HSSSSSS!!!”
“RAAGH!!! Away with you!” Sunder finally manages to out match the alien and manages to Spartan kick is right off the out-of-control glider.
“HSSS!!!” The Xenomorph falls away and is thrown onto the second level opposite of Pinky.
With a feral growl it scans its surroundings and quickly spots a large vent installed into the wall. With a tilt of its head and a snap of its fangs, it extends its claws out towards its escape.
Now with his attackers gone, Sunder manages to regain enough control over the sparking glider and bring it back to a stop near the third level. And now that he’s back in control he figures the next step is to retrieve his weapon of choice.
“My axe. Where is my axe?! Where is that girl-” He lets out a sharp gasp as a large shadow barrels towards him from below.
The swerved crumbled head of the Purple Dominator comes hurling towards him.
He kicks for the glider to move but it stalls from the earlier damage and Sunder is left wide eyed and stunned as the massive head slams into him, crying across the air before crashing and impeding itself into the furthest cell frame, trapping Sunder completely inside.
“Ha-za!!” The Triceraton cheers from atop the busted-up body of the Purple Dominator. “HA HA HA!!! Such is the fate that dare oppose the Triceraton Empire!! All shall fall!! HA HA HA-GAH!!!”
A sudden wave of crystals crashes into the Triceratops-alien, silencing him for now.
With Sunder temporarily imprisoned, Pinky allows herself to catch her breath. She looks around and she cracks a smile when she spots that the Hoverboard happened to land nearby. She grabs it and gets up but then pauses as she looks down at Sunder’s abandoned axe with a curious expression.
From the sidelines of the chaos, Rojo has managed to keep out of sight by sticking close to the cells and by shadowing the fallen debris and Dominators. At first she was sneaking up for an attack but after seeing Sunder get himself taken out she redirected her sights on the exit. Battered and bruised she shakily but quickly makes for her escape. After throwing herself across the busted gate’s threshold she turns back at the chaos one last time before thinking better of it.
“Next time, Little Girl. You won’t be so lucky.” She growls before dragging herself away.
Uravity meanwhile is floating high above the chaos. Scanning the battlefield for Rojo but amongst the mayhem she’s lost her and instead is forced to watch as her friends fight off the escaped prisoners and rampaging robots.
“RYOU SPHERE!!!” A trio of pink balls whiz downward like bombs before imploding and taking out the some of the escapees like the Critters, Metroids, and that black inky glob.
She scans and scans looking for any sign of the villainess.
But there’s no sign of her. She watches as the prisoners savagely take each other down: the Triceraton and Thanagarian are battling it out, horns vs. wings. And the Critters have chewed through Green Dominator’s leg! Causing the massive bot to fall and break, shutting it down and causing its vats of green acid to spill and leak across the floor that is quickly eaten away exposing a large portion the ship’s inner workings and massive vents.
“We need to get out of here!” Cinder calls over the uproar and chaos from atop the second level balcony. He waves his spear, trying to get his allies’ attention. “Everyone! This way! Ah-Dank Farrik!!” He’s cut off as the giant Transform’s claw nearly slashes him into two.
‘This is crazy! And I know crazy!’ She continues to search and search and that’s when she spots a commotion at the bottom level.
A pack of Space Gorillas are surrounding one of the unlocked cells, the same cell that sat to the left of the one that presumably held All Might, but it itself is not the same one that held Tetrax Shard.
The creatures of vantablack fur and neon fangs screech and howl and snap at someone from inside the cell. Clearly the person inside is putting up a fight based on the amounts of barks and snaps that are coming from inside.
‘They’re in trouble!’ Without even thinking on whether this prisoner is evil or anything, Uravity zips down, plummeting like a painted pink rock.
“MERCURY SMASH!!!” Like a flash of pink hued lightning, Uravity SMASHES through the feral pack knocking them all away with broken bones and bruised tempers. And before she even realizes what she’s done, she’s already looking out for the prisoner she just saved. “Hey! Are you alright?! Can you fight?! If you can, please listen! Can you help us?! If we all work together we can all beat Vilgax!!”
“Bark!”
She freezes, that bark it’s too familiar. Sure, she heard it before when she first entered the prison. But it’s different. It’s not alien or beastly at all. Or rather it is beastly but not in that way. There’s a light panting followed by another bark and there’s a swish of fur being swung side to side with cheer and glee.
Slowly she crooks her head around, nervous and wary but then her entire body goes slack with both relief and shock.
“Bark!” A dog, a dog is smiling back up at her!
No, it’s not an alien dog. Or a horrifying mutant. It’s a dog! Just a plain ordinary dog. It looks like a mix between the two best breeds of dogs: it’s a Golden Retriever–Labrador Retriever mix. It has big old doe eyes that just scream “love me,” floppy ears that seem oh so warm and stretchy, and a coat of chocolate fur that seems so soft and inviting.
It’s just an ordinary dog…well except for the fact that it's wearing a freaking SPACE SUIT!!! Like a full-on astronaut suit, with the fishbowl helmet and everything, the helmet is half open so its face is exposed. Speaking of which, there’s no gloves or boots so the doggie’s paws and tail are free and exposed. And on the dog’s chest the letters JAXA are stitched in red.
“A dog?!” Uravity is totally confused! ‘How did a dog get in here?! Did Vilgax abduct it? Why? Is he a dog person?!’
“Woof!” The Space Dog happily yips back, its tail swishing furiously with naivety and glee.
“SKREEEEE!!!”
That hellbent screeches snaps her attention away from the dog and instead towards the massive Bug squeezing itself from its own cell and the crystal pillars that were keeping it trapped inside.
The Bug shakes and hisses, its massive guillotine like mandibles snapping all around before it locks onto its previously attempted meal: Uravity herself!
“SKREEEEE!!!”
Her body reacts on its own, she grabs the Space Dog by the middle and yanks it and herself away, in a flash the Bug has descended upon them, its massive jaws missing by a literal hair!
“SKREEEEE!!!”
“Bark! Bark! Bark!”
Uravity takes off as fast as she can, she does her best to keep a grip on her passenger but she has no idea which way she’s going. She’s just moving as the Bronze Dominator stomps overhead and laser fire is hot here and there by the Space Chicken and the two cowering Tallest.
“SKREEEEE!!!” The Bug charges past, it bats the Tallest Irkens aside like nothing before slipping past the rampaging Dominator, before making a beeline for Uravity’s heel!
“Bark! Bark! Bark!”
‘This bug won’t give up!’ As she dashes by, Uravity slaps her hands against chunks of shattered crystal which immediately begin to float up and around, forming a makeshift floating wall.
She stops just short of it, in order to pull this off, she needs to time this perfectly.
“SKREEEEE!!!” The Bug barrels right through the floating wall, causing a portion of the diamonds to bounce and scatter.
And that is her moment. “RELEASE!!!”
In one motion, the still floating chunks of diamond plummet right onto the Bug, taking it down and crushing it like the insect it is. It goes still underneath the weight, crushed, and leaving nothing of its presence except for the oozing green and yellow slime leaking out from between the cracks.
“Ugh!” Uravity releases the breath she was holding and despite the situation she allows herself to take a breather.
Too bad the Space Dog won’t let her as it begins to wiggle and bark with urgency. “Bark!! Bark!!”
“What is IIIIITTTTT-?!?” The massive leg of the Bronze Dominator slams into her from behind!
The robot stumbles back, its front damaged and blasted open presumably by one of the escapees.
Uravity tries to peel herself and the dog away but she loses her footing! Quickly she realizes that she happened to be standing right next to the massive hole left by the leaking acid from the Green Dominator. And down she and her companion go! As the massive frame of the Bronze Dominator collapses and seals the hole with its own smoking husk.
“AAAAAaaaahhh!!/ Aroooooooo!!” She screams, hugging the howling dog tight as they fall, and although it's a short fall the fact that she lands inside the vent on her back and with the dog on top of her chest is enough to wind her for a second!
And while she catches her breath, they both begin to slide backwards, the vent is installed on an angle and so she ends up sliding away head first away into the pitch darkness of the vents! “AAAAAaaaahhh!!/Aroooooooo!!”
“URAVITY!!!/OCHACO!!!” Her friends and allies cry out after having just escaped to the second level.
“I’ll get her!!” Shoving Sunder’s axe into Patelliday’s hands, Pinky takes the Hoverboard and quickly makes a move to get to her friend.
When Cinder suddenly grabs her and yanks her back. “Wait!!”
Thankfully he acted fast enough because the Yellow Dominator soon comes crashing down before them, its head smashing into the second level balcony just feet away from where they are.
“Eeek! That was close!’ Pinky screams.
“This is too much!” Eraserhead shouts while yanking Pinky and Cinder to their feet. He;s covered head to toe in some kind of green glowing slime but he doesn’t care about that, he’s only worried about them! “This is nothing but a distraction, neither Midoriya nor All Might are here. We have to keep going!”
“But what about Ochaco!?” Pinky all but cries. “We have to save her!”
“Ashido!” Mr. Aizawa grips her arms, steadying her, and while looking into her eyes he does his best to reassure her. “We will get her back but right now we can’t help her unless-”
“Unless we help ourselves.” Pinky finishes with somber understanding.
He nods back although there is a fair amount of guilt and shame around him. He’d much rather go after her too but with no idea where she ended up it’d be best for them to get their bearings first before attempting another search and rescue.
“Come on!” Cinder pulls them away towards the busted entrance of the prison as the prisoners continue to riot. “We’ll contact Lucy! She can guide Uraraka back to the RazorCrest!”
That sure gives Pinky some relief but still…
“Don’t you worry, youngin’.” Patelliday runs up beside her having already tied the massive axe around his back and shoulder. “She can take care of herself.”
“She is a capable warrior.” Tetrax agrees, running up behind them both with Chopper tucked under his arm.
“She’s a tough one.” comments Gran Torino as he zips overhead. “There’s nothing in here she can’t handle.”
Pinky slowly nods back but she still has her hangups. “Yeah, you're right. But I can't help but worry.”
“Same here!” Tsukauchi calls out, worried that they lost both the previous and current uses of One For All.
‘Neither can I.’ Eraserhead thinks as they sprint for their own escape. ‘But the Plumber is right! Uraraka is stronger than anyone gives her credit for.’
Escaping the prison, the Plumbers are with heavy hearts. Not only have they failed to find their missing friends, but they’ve managed to lose track of another. With any luck they’ll save all three of them before it’s too late.
To be continued…
“I hope this fable has brought you delight~
I apologize for its duration; the deadline was tight~
I toiled and I typed~
I pondered and I thought~
How to best wrap this for you, so that everything comes out alright~
This chapter was to be longer, but the bell rang true~
And so here we sit, hurried and crude~
I hope this tale was enough for you~
And so I say to you that may read~
I say have a Merry Christmas with sweet melodies~.”
- Guardian-Sigil 12/21/2023
*If you couldn’t tell from the poem, this chapter was supposed to be a bit longer, but I really really really wanted to have this out by Christmas Eve. So, it had to be cut short so I apologize if the ending felt awkward. That being said we have roughly 3 more chapters to go through till the end of this arc. It’ll probably take me another month or so to write the next one because I really do want to get these right. But next time we’ll see how everyone else is holding up? Did Kirishima finally get to use his new weapon? What is Ragnarok doing with the Omnitrix? Will Nue get off his ass and go fight Bakugou? And Deku finally be reunited with his friends and family? Only time will tell. So, stay tuned!
*Full disclosure, one reason the next chapter is gonna take so long to write is because I am going to make a New Years OVA/Omake for the side story, “Heroes Never Die; It’s Hero Time, Anytime.” I was inspired to write this last minute, so last minute that I barely started it. So, I can’t even say if I will have it ready for New Years Day itself. But I am going to try! It’ll be a short little thing, but it will be considered canon to this story. So, look forward to that!
*EASTER EGGS*: Did you guys think that the Easter Eggs and Cameos from last time would only get one second of screen time? HA!!! Not this time! I wanted all of them to be in the fray for this. And it probably won’t be the last we see some of them during this arc. And maybe some stuff here after. We had a lot this chapter and here’s the finalized list, although I wouldn’t be surprised if I missed one or two: Xenomorph from the Aliens franchise, Gromflomite from Rick and Morty, Flaxans from Invincible, Yautja from the Predator franchise, Borg from StarTrek, Utrom/Krang from TMNT, Critters from the franchise of the same name, Space Gorillas from Attack on the Block, Hamstervelle from Lilo and Stitch the series, Triceraton from TMNT, Boglodite from MIB 3, Thanagarian from DC comics, Starro is also from DC comics, Venom from Marvel comics, Metroid from franchise of the same name, a Bug from Starship Troopers, the Transformer was obviously Starscream specifically from the Transformers Prime series (Fun Fact: both Starscream and Vilgax are voiced by Steve Blum), the Tallest from Invader Zim, and the Space Chicken from Courage the Cowardly Dog show.
*Oh there was one more cameo in here that was probably pretty obvious considering how much attention they got. Let’s just say that Uravity’s new pal is gonna be sticking around for a while ;P
TV TROPES: Heroes Never Die It's Hero Time (Fanfic) - TV Tropes
Chapter 88: Acclamation
Notes:
*6 months…6 months without an update. Oh, my god. It just hit me that the last time I posted was at Christmas Time! Holy S***!!! I. Am. So. Sorry. I knew this would take a while, but I did not think it would take THIS long!!
A lot has been going on in my life that have just kept me away from this story. And not from a lack of trying. I would at least get a page done of this story at least once a week, and that’s if I was good about it.
Now that said I haven’t actually completed writing this entire Abduction Arc yet. But I have 75% of it complete. That said, the last 25% are gonna take a while to complete. But more on that later (at ending Author’s Note).
For now, I want to thank you all for your support and patience. You guys are the only reason I can continue putting in the time to write these awesome chapters. So, thank you from the bottom of my heart. And let’s get on with the show.
FINALLY!!!
*TV TROPES LINK*: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Fanfic/HeroesNeverDieItsHeroTime
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
“RAAAAAGH!! What’s going on out there?! Why haven’t I received any UPDATES!?! I need to know exactly what’s occurred, YESTERDAY!!!” Psyphon is in a rage, his usual pale face now red hot with rage.
The Chimeran Hammer’s bridge is in an uproar of alarms and reports as all around him, humanoid Bioids work and toil away at their monitor stations, each overseeing the ship’s various systems, weapons, and troops.
“Bring up the monitors! NOW!!!” His impatience has reached its utter peak causing him to slam his fists onto the command counsel.
From all around him, Holographic screens seemingly appear from out of nowhere displaying the various events and confrontations happening across their mighty warship.
The Plus Ultra is still fending off their swarm of Vulture Droids and Malware’s Frankensteined ship. A squad of heroes with an army of clones have sieged Hanger Number 7. A large number of drones are offline; probably destroyed and scattered across the ship’s halls. Prisoners are tearing through the Dominator bots before pouring out of the brig. All the while more and more drones and bots go offline.
Little does Psyphon realize that he’s not the only one paying attention, ‘Dank farrik. Looks like they’re having all sorts of fun out there.’
Disguised as a Bioid, Lucy Mann has no worries about being discovered, especially if she keeps up the act like she’s just a normal droid manning its post. As a precaution she took over one of the stations nearest the massive entrance way to the bridge, giving herself the shortest distance to escape in an emergency but also far enough away to remain subtle while still within earshot of Psyphon.
“Rah!” He slams his fists into the console again. “Rojo you worthless bitch!! You were supposed to hold the enemy in the prison! Capturing them was supposed to be a simple endeavor! And now we have prisoners starting to run amuck across the ship! Raaagh!!” He turns to address the Bioids closest to him. “Deploy reinforcements to the prison immediately!! I want every prisoner and Plumber back in their cells!! Quickly!”
One of the Bioids addresses him, ^Sir, the closest troops are proceeding with their assault upon Hanger Number 7, should we divert some of their numbers to the prison?^
“Yes! Let SevenSeven deal with the intruders! Let him earn his pay!” He turns to the next Bioid. “What is the status of the Ideon Cannon?!”
^Ideon Cannon is at 75%.^
“Good. The moment it's charged I want us firing upon that infernal ship! If Malware doesn’t want to be struck down he’d better move.”
‘Sorry, Psyphon but you’re gonna have to account for some mechanical errors.’ Lucy types away at her monitor, quickly accessing the ship’s power system where she starts redirecting the flow of power to the shields instead of the cannon. It’s a temporary fix, one they will surely realize in a few minutes but even adding five minutes is more time for her friends to succeed.
Psyphon scans the monitors before concluding that not all the intruders are accounted for such as that annoying pink human, the fast one with Engines in his legs, or that one brat with the pension to blow up all that he touches. “Locate any other humans aboard! I want them pinned and eliminated! I don’t want any more surprises!!”
That’s Lucy’s cue to switch tactics as she begins shutting down monitors. She knows they’ll be located in the passageways leading to the cannon and power core; she can’t have them discovering Iida’s or Bakugou’s operations. So, she shuts down any cameras in those sectors. Hopefully, this will be enough to guarantee their success.
Suddenly her earpiece begins to buzz, [“Firestarter to Purple Stuff. Firestarter to Purple Stuff. Do you copy?”] It’s Cinder and he sounds panicked.
Like the trained spy she is, Lucy shows no outward reaction to the buzzing in her earpiece. “I copy.” She reports. “But I thought we were going to go with Violet Terror, not Purple Stuff, ugh!”
Ignoring her complaint Cinder continues with his hurried report. [“We’re in kind of a pickle here!”]
“So, I’ve heard. It’s the talk of the entire ship. But hey it’s a great distraction. Most of their forces are heading over there to stop the prisoners.”
[“That doesn’t matter right now! We have another problem! It’s Uravity, we’ve been separated from her!”]
Lucy’s facade nearly breaks at the thought of the human girl running around lost and confused within the massive warship. “Any ideas where she could be?” She immediately begins scanning the ship’s monitors herself for any signs of her.
[“I can only assume she’s lost within the lower levels of the ship, below the prison wing. If you can contact her, guide her back to the RazorCrest while we go after Izuku and All Might.”]
“Copy. I’m on it.” Lucy hangs up as she begins her own search. This will surely be interesting: she has to divert power from the cannon, scramble their scanners and monitors, hinder their communications, and divert their resources while simultaneously trying to locate one human girl inside this entire mess. ‘Ugh! I sure got my work cut out for me. Well no one ever said this job was gonna be easy.’
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[PLAY: “ Dr. STONE NEW WORLD - Opening Song | "Wasuregataki" by Huwie Ishizaki ” - link can be found in this chapter on the AO3 site.]
https://_youtu._be/eKeoHejslp0?si=hrwFYRRwMIgQs6Ym
(Instrumental~~~)
The camera shows Izuku Midoriya with his head hanging down before zooming up to show Vilgax’s battleship floating over Earth's moon.
Sou kore kona itami ga~
Uravity Uraraka gazes up to the sky as the title appears from above her.
Sujikaki no nai monogatari ni wa~
She begins to walk forward as her friends slowly fade into existence: Pinky Ashido, Katsuki Bakugou, Shoto Todoroki, Creati Yaoyorozu, Tenya Ingenium, and Eijiro Red Riot.
Hitsuyou fukaketsu nanda~
Inko Midoriya holds a picture of her family as she cries and is comforted by Mitsuki Bakugou and Eirene Ashido.
Yoru no umi ni wa Tsuki ga isuwaru~
Unseen to them Cinder is at the door. He looks up with determination as he heads out to rescue his son.
Sugita kunou wo~
Katsuki Bakugo holds an old All Might card as an image of him and Deku as kids cheering as they hold their cards out appears behind him.
Bikasuru hima ga~
Nue looks down at a watch as anJusi image of him and Izuku in middle school laughing appears behind him.
Aru nara ima dake utsuseyo~
The screen splits between the two, both standing back-to-back, and with determined glares they both march away in opposite directions.
Ororkamono demo shoujiki te itai~
Panels shift and fold away, creating a portal, that reveals Izuku bound in an iconic ring of metal as Toshinori Yagi stares up at it in a mix of shock-and-awe and despair.
Haato ga sawagu yo~
Vilgax the Conqueror makes himself known from atop his throne. As he peers down at his inferiors with an air of ominous superiority.
(Instrumental~~~)
Below his throne his minions have been assembled: Psyphon, Malware, Sunder, Ragnarok, SevenSeven, the Techadon, Rojo, and Nue.
Tatoe dareka wo kizutsuke tato shitemo~
Cinder unleashes a wave of flames as he mows through Vilgax's drone army with his blazing dual-edged spear! Before swiftly speeding away as the Techadon gets pulled in by Thirteen’s swirling Black Hole!
Yuzurenai hikari ga arunda~
Pinky slides across the narrow hallways as Ingenium races by. They’re followed by a sword wielding Creati and a Hardened Red Riot. Before the screen is consumed by pillars of fire and ice with Shot’s eyes piercing back.
Mushi kaesu tsumori wa betsu ni nari keredo~
Uravity smashes through the ice before unleashing a wave of glowing gravity in every direction causing the army of silhouetted aliens to be blasted away.
Kono seaki de kono sekai de~
Bakugou rockets past her in a blaze of a Howitzer Impact that crashes into a grinning Nue like an exploding meteor.
Wasuregataki naru niwa mada hayai~
Vilgax looms menacingly over the Rising Star and the Symbol of Peace as nine dark threads of fate swirl through and around his form.
Yume migachi na shinisokonai sa~
Toshinori looks on at the teen with a look of shame that soon transitions to that of deterPinkytion. And in a wave of smoke a scowling All Might rises to meet the Mad Titan.
Zero kara hairiagare sora ga waretatte~
Vilgax’s tentacles reach for the defiant Deku as the Omnitrix begins to spark and glow with inspiring green lightning.
Ano sekai e ano sekai e~
A massive discharge of green explodes outward, overtaking everything and swallowing up everything in a brilliant show of green light.
Nanjyukkai nan byakkai~
Deku gazes out towards the vastness of space from the portal window of his prison cell.
nanzenkai nomikonde~
While Uravity gazes out into the star-filled sky through the windshield of the RazorCrest.
Nanjyuunen~
Deku slowly raises his left fist towards the shrinking window.
nanbyaku nen~
Uravity slowly raises her right fist towards the expanding window.
nan zen nen~
The screen splits between the two, zooming in on their fists just as they gently connect. And the camera is blinded by flashes of green and pink before washing away to white.
Sakimidare~!
A still Omnitrix lays on upon the moon, alone and in the dark, before the Sun majestically peeks out from behind the Earth over the edge and shines its rays of hope down upon it.
(Illustrated by Drag0n5on)
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“EEEEEKKKKK!!!” If one were to guess they’d assume these screams were from a girl on a roller coaster, screaming her head off in terror and excitement. If only that were the case, Uravity thinks as she slides backwards along the labyrinth of vents!
The vents are big enough to support her weight. But they were built on a downward angle or maybe the ship is slanted to the side. Either way the smooth grimy metal gives her back no traction to slow down, forcing her along for the ride.
“AAAAAAHHHH!!!” She screams, hugging tightly to her furry passenger who howls and yips as they race through every twist and turn of the vents. “Hang on!!”
“Aroooooooo!!!” The Spacedog howls in a fearful response.
“Aaahhh!!” Suddenly there’s a wash of dim light as the feeling of cold metal on her back vanishes, that’s when she realizes that they’ve been shot out of the vent in midair. And before she can make out where they are she finds herself plunged into a cold vat of water and sludge.
*SPLOOSH!!!*
The smell, the taste, the sensation of something sticky and oozing between her fingernails is enough to make her want to scream.
With frantic splashing Uravity gasps for fresh air but instead her lungs are assaulted by disgustingly putrid fumes: smelling of rust, rot, and other god forsaken odors. Making her gasp for breath as the mucky brown water stings her eyes. “*Cough! Cough! Cough!*”
Her new friend isn’t faring any better, as the Spacedog hurries out of the horrid pool and onto some solid albeit unstable ground of scraps, trash, and sludge. With its fur and spacesuit completely drenched the dog has no qualms about shaking it all off although Uravity would have preferred it if it didn’t do so anywhere near her face.
“Ugh…”
Sensing her discomfort, the hound spins around and hovers its nose around her face as if trying to encourage her.
“Ugh… T-thanks.” Uravity gives the dog a light pat as she pries herself up and out of the muck. Her face scrunches up in disgust from the smells and the sticky water that's gathering around her ankles. “UGH!!! What is that smell?! Ew!! Where are we?!”
In a word, they’re in a dump.
That is literally the best way she can say it. It’s a literal dump, an in-spaceship landfill, a trash collector, whatever it is it serves only one purpose; to hold the entire ship’s waste!! No wonder it’s so gross and smelly. And that vent wasn’t for air, it must have been a trash shoot.
The room itself is small in width but yet reaches so high that one of those Dominators could stand up in here, albeit if they remained bent down. Mountains of trash, scrap metal, sludge, and muck are collected along the edges of the room like a shoreline to a circular lagoon. A lagoon that is filled to the brim with water that just oozes slime and microbial horrors.
A shiver of disgust runs down Uravity’s spine. “Ew!! Gross! Why?! Just why?!”
She jumps and flails for higher ground, desperate to get her feet out of the sludge. But the mountains of trash are unstable causing her to slip right back where she started. “Ugh! Ugh! I can taste the smell!! Ugh!!”
The Spacedog lets out a whimper and a defiant huff before swatting at its far more sensitive snout.
Uravity instantly gets the message. “Oh, yeah, I guess this is even worse for you isn’t it?”
The Golden Retriever–Labrador Retriever mix smiles up at her before it instinctually brushes the side of its collar with its paw. Hitting a switch, it’s fishbowl of a helmet closes, sealing the airtight while pushing out the foul odors.
“Huh, nifty. I wish I had something like that.” Brushing her damp and sticky hair back, her fingers brush against her new headpiece provided to her by Thirteen.
“Oh! I do!” She elates and glides her fingers over the sides of the headpiece.
She tries to feel out where the switches are and after a moment she feels the unmistakable texture of a lone button.
Her ears perk up at the sound of a click. And then her entire vision turns pink as her own version of a fishbowl helmet surrounds her head. Touching the helmet; it’s some sort of tempered pink glass, and although it doesn’t look like it, it’s slimmer when it first appears. It feels like there's inches of space between the glass and her face but in actuality it’s only centimeters away. Meaning that Melissa Shield designed this helmet not just to be form fitting but also comfortable and durable enough to handle anything.
“Ah~!” She takes in the fresh lemon scented air with a huge sigh of relief. “Much better. Thank you, Melissa!” She pats the helmet, making sure it’s on tight before doing a spin and posing for her new companion. “What do you think?”
The Spacedog gives her a smile, its tail wagging happily as it sticks its tongue out to the side.
“Oh, what am I doing?!” Uravity instantly deflates, nearly falling to the ground but stopping herself since she doesn't want to sink any further into the horrid water.
“I’M SO DESPERATE TO IGNORE THE SITUATION I'M IN, THAT I’M TALKING TO A DOG!!!” With a groan she covers her face, or at least tries to against the helmet.
She wobbles in place unsure of what to make of all this: one moment she was in the prison, then there were robots, then rioting prisoners, and now this! It’s insane, but…it’s nothing to get upset over. She needs to keep her head or else she’ll be trapped in this trash heap forever.
“Sorry, I’m just…lost.” She admits in an attempt to comfort herself more so than to inform the precious pooch.
Sensing her distress, the Spacedog hums and presses its helmet to her hand as if trying to comfort her.
“Hehehe. Thanks, you’re a good boy.”
“Bark!”
“Oops! I mean girl.” Uravity corrects before giving the hound a once over; noting its JAXA labeled space suit. She has a lot of questions about this dog. Like where did it come from and why is it here? And why does it seem smarter than your average dog? But maybe she should start with a simpler question? “So, do you have a name?”
The Spacedog trots up beside her legs, turning her body to the side and giving the human access to her collar.
Leaning down she slides her fingers over what she presumes to be the dog’s given name. “Cosmo.”
“Bark!” The hound barks happily, her tail wagging so hard it's disturbing the air.
“Cosmo the Spacedog.” Uravity hums, sing-songing the name. “That’s got a nice ring to it, don’t you think?”
With her tongue hanging out, Cosmo tilts her head as if in consideration.
“Well, it’s nice to meet you Cosmo the Spacedog, my name’s Ochaco Uraraka. Or I guess at the moment you can call me Uravity.” She holds her hand open and much to her surprise, and to her delight, Cosmo places her paw in her hand.
“Bark!” Cosmo’s tail wags even faster.
“Well now that that’s out of the way. How do you suppose we get out of here?” She scans their trash prison until she spots the rusted and heavy looking portal door just in the middle of the wall before them.
Making her way to the door, she has to step carefully because of how unstable the shoreline of floating trash and metal really is. As she makes her way over she manages to hoist herself forward a ways by stepping onto a thick rubber pipe as Cosmo trots over it.
With all the trash and metal, they must climb over, neither notice as the rubber pipe slowly and quietly slithers back into the water.
“I think we’re locked in. No handle. No control pad. And no other way out.” Uravity states while examining the heavy door. There’s not even a handle or window to look through, no doubt this place was never designed to let anything out. “What do you think we should do?”
Cosmo scratches at the door in response before giving her an unsure look when it doesn’t open.
“Sorry. Just trying to distract myself. And I’m not gonna lie, this would be way easier if you could talk. Hm, maybe if I had Koda around.”
*Splash…*
Cosmo’s ears jerk up and she instantly spins around. Her entire form goes tense as her muscles tighten while baring her fangs back at the seemingly empty trash filled lagoon. “Grrrrr!”
“Hey, what’s the matter?”
“Grrrrr! Bark! Bark!”
A sense of being watched causes the hairs on Uravity’s neck to stand on end and she spins around, expecting to take on a stray Drone or something. But there’s nothing, nothing but the polluted lagoon and shores of trash and rust. There’s not a sound except for the trash shoot occasionally creaking from some unseen moving weight. And yet the dog is snarling and snapping as if someone or something’s there, just lurking out of sight. Leading Uravity to one conclusion, they’re not alone in here.
If that is true then where is this threat going to come from? The trash piles? The lagoon? Is it invisible? Is it even dangerous? Just what is it? And where?
Water drips from the ceiling. Cold and grotesque. And yet unlike water it burns at the metal below like dripping acid. To which Uravity and Cosmo assume it’s nothing but acid leaking down from some unseen pipes.
Unbeknownst to them, however, a skeletal mass stealthily slinks its way out from the trash shoot from above, the same one that shot them into this very compartment earlier.
Meanwhile, a hint of movement, a tiny scrap of metal rattles for the briefest of moments from the right side of the lagoon.
Uravity and Cosmo spin on a dime with fists and fangs bared for the incoming attack. But the mountain of trash is still once more, and nothing out of the ordinary catches their eye: not the rusted metal, sludge, or strangle bundle of black and green cloth wedged between some rusted pipes.
Uravity blinks, pausing when she spots the strange cloth as a sense of familiarity washes over her. “Is that?”
Uravity moves across the shore of trash and towards the cloth with Cosmo’s growling turning into a series of ferocious and alarmed barks.
But Uravity doesn’t dare look away, she needs to know for sure if it is what she thinks it is. She’ll snatch it quickly and run back before anything happens. She’ll be in and out in no time. As long as she-
A crushing cold grip latches onto her wrist like a vice causing the girl to scream! She attempts to yank herself away, but she is unable to break free of the iron grip. She pulls and pulls as she follows that black skeletal hand upwards along the wall.
“Hsssss…” A black skeletal mass has hooked itself to the wall like a nightmarish spider. It hisses and growls, its lanky limbs clawing across the metal with ease as it bares its fangs and secondary jaws at her. Saliva drips from its two maws in excess as its large, crested head curls up to meet hers.
Uravity gasps, “Not you again!!”
“HSSSSSS!!!” The Xenomorph slithers the rest of the way out of the vent and hoists her up by the arm and towards it maws.
“YAH!!!” Not wanting that secondary set of jaws jamming their way through her skull she swings her body up and delivers a solid kick to the creature’s chin.
With a hiss the alien lets go, and Uravity is dropped into the scraps of floating trash. The poor girl hisses in pain as scraps of metal scratch and sharply poke at her back, thankfully this new suit is far more durable then her last so she doesn’t need to worry about infection since it doesn’t break through, but it does nothing to dull the sharp pain.
The nearby pile of trash rattles and the bundle of cloth shifts as something within begins to stir.
“Hsss!!” The Xenomorph drops from the wall, landing on all fours before rising to a stature that could rival that of All Might’s. It prepares to strike, raising its razor-sharp claws back like it were playing with daggers. “Hsss-!!”
“Bark! Bark! Bark!” Cosmo puts herself in between the alien and the human with fangs bared threateningly despite the glass around her head.
Even so the sheer boldness of such a move has the alien flustered and reassessing, it backs away hissing and snarling in return like a bear trying to scare off a loyal hound. But man’s best friend isn’t moving an inch, instead she holds her ground with ferocious intent. And then, like a lightbulb going off in her head, Cosmo stops barking and closes her eyes. She shudders and lowers her tensing body as if in a trance, as if focusing, with all her might.
Without any alarming barks coming its way, the Xenomorph is able to recompose itself. Before pouncing forward, its jaws ready to tear into the mutt until it’s a bloody mess of flesh and fur.
“No!!” Uravity lunges and makes it to the dog first! Like before she grabs Cosmo from the side before diving below the Xenomorph as it lunges past.
Its claws nearly scrape their helmets before the alien crashes into the shore of trash. “Hsssss!!” Its tail whips across the air, batting against the piles of metal before spinning around and lashing out at the two with its spinney knife-like claws.
Acting fast, Uravity brushes her fingers over the rusted surfaces of the scrape beneath the two of them. Then with just one mean kick, the weightless pieces of metal rise creating a barricade of sharp rusted ends that drip with sludge and polluted water. Amongst the floating debris the bundle of black and green cloth hovers between them, but a heavy weight from within the folded cloth drops and plops to the ground with a metallic thud.
The Xenomorph backs away from the wall of scrapes before realizing it’s nothing more than meaningless junk. With a hiss and a howl, the creature leaps through the floating wall, crashing through the rusted scrape with a ferocity like no other. It doesn’t flinch nor hesitate as its hide is sliced, causing drips of acid blood to splash everywhere.
With Cosmo still in her grasp, Uravity pulls her foot back to deliver a swift kick to its snapping jaws.
*WHAM!!!* Her foot connects but it’s not enough, it’s hungry for more and it will devour-!! “HSSSSS!!!” Suddenly, its entire body goes rigid and flails as jolts of electricity dance off its skin.
Uravity reels back in shock and confusion before turning away from the blinding flashing lights.
The withering, hissing Xenomorph flails and thrusts about. Its tail nearly bashing Uravity over the head. But that’s not what has her concern, instead her attention’s on the orange disc latched onto the Xenomorph’s spine.
“KRAAB!?!”
Kraab is clinging for dear life to the monster’s spine as his hacking rod jams into its back to deliver a series of electric shocks. It’s a valiant effort for him to hold on; he looks worse for wear, busted and broken, with an eye missing. Even his voice sounds scratchier and full of static than usual. “I-zz can-zz-t hold on f-zz-r long-zz!!”
Shoving Cosmo off, Uravity springs into action with a OFA charged fist!
“Hsss!!” With a whip of its tail Kraab is slapped away and the creature spins around ready to go after its original prey.
“Get away from us you BITCH!!!”
Instead of sinking its jaws into bloody flesh, a pink glowing fist sinks into its skull. With a burst of energy that blasts it across the trash containment. It’s sent rocketing over the polluted lagoon before crashing into the mountain of trash and scrapes on the other side with a thundering clash that brings the entire mountain down onto the writhing monster. Metal clangs and splash into the lagoon, causing waves of sludge to crash until all falls silent. The creature remains unmoving, buried underneath the trash pile.
Uravity gets ready in case it decides to come back for a sequel. “Is it gone?”
Kraab slowly and wobbly scuttles up the nearest pile of rubbished pipes. “I-zz I think so-zz…”
Uravity lets out a deep sigh, grateful that she has a moment of peace. Even Cosmo relaxes, becoming less tense without any signs of movement coming from the collapsed mountain.
“Hey, Kraab are you-”
“HSSSSS!!!” The Xenomorph rises again, crashing through the collapse like a zombie rising out from the grave for delicious brains! “HSSSSS!!!”
Uravity, Cosmo, and Kraab are caught completely off guard! The creature’s moving far too fast, thrashing across the polluted water far faster then they can react!
“HSSSSS!!!”
*SPLASH!! SPLASH!! SPLASH!!*
The Xenomorph is suddenly brought to a screeching halt, its entire body somehow having been pulled back by a web of withering rubber pipes that just suddenly shot out from within the depths of the lagoon!
The rubber pipes, no, the tentacles constrict around the shrieking alien like pythons before lifting it high into the air then plunging it down into the thick murky depths in a blink of an eye. The water gurgles and bubbles as the alien thrashes for freedom or purchase of any kind, but it’s no use as the black oozing pool becomes still and silent.
. . . . .
“THIS SHIP IS A NIGHTMARE!!!” Uravity cries out in anguish.
“You don’t ev-zz-en know the half-zz of it…” The wobbly Kraab grumbles as he takes his thinner claw to his throat area and begins adjusting and repairing his communication box. “Aw, much better…” That static voice effect is gone now.
“Kraab!!” Uravity wails as if just remembering that he’s even there!
“Hey, kid.”
“Kraab…” She tears up as she gently lifts him out of the trash.
“It’s good to see you, kid…”
“What-what happened to you?!”
“Let’s-let’s not worry about me, we need to get out of here first. Okay?”
“O-okay! Yeah! Before that thing comes back!” Uravity gestures nervously towards the quiet lagoon.
“That was a Dianoga,” Kraab explains. “They like to stowaway on ships. Don’t worry…they have a slow metabolism, so it won’t be back for a while. Hopefully…”
“Oh… Are you okay?”
“I am, thank you…”
“For what?”
“For coming to look for me…” If Kraab could tear up he would, he’s touched far beyond what he’s ever felt before. “I know I give you humans a hard time, but…just…thank you. It really means a lot. I’m so grateful. Thank you.”
Uravity may be granting him a smile but it’s nothing but a FACADE! She can’t even look him in the eye as her body trembles with a sense of shameful guilt.
. . . . .
“YOU ASSHOLE!!! YOU DIDN’T EVEN NOTICE THAT I WAS GONE, DID YOU!?!”
“I’m dealing with a lot okay!! My mentor and best friend were kidnapped right in front of me!!! Plus, if you were gonna sneak aboard then why didn’t you say anything!?”
“DON’T YOU DARE FLIP THIS ON ME!! I HAVE JUST AS MUCH TO LOSE BY BEING HERE JUST LIKE YOU DO!!!”
That comment gives Uravity pause, and it seems that Kraab is also taken back by his own confession.
“He…has my friend.” Kraab almost shyly admits, turning away as if hiding a blush, while simultaneously gesturing towards the fallen bundle of green and black cloth.
Uravity slowly, almost fearfully grabs the item in question, and raises it up allowing the bundle to unfurl to reveal the back hoodie with the stitched in symbol of the Omnitrix sewed onto the left breast.
‘Deku’s hoodie!!’ As she takes in how tattered and worn it is, her mind races with theories on what could have happened to her dear friend: Is he alright? Is he hurt? Why is this here? Just what are they doing to him?!
She turns to Kraab, hoping he has answers, but she stops when she takes in just how damaged he is. He’s missing an eye, his usual shiny shell is scraped and dented, one of his claws is missing too with only a tangle of wires fringing out from within.
“They really did a number on you, didn’t they?”
“Not just me…” The memory alone of what Vilgax did to the kid is enough to shake him.
And even though he leaves it unsaid, Uravity can already assume that whatever Kraab knows will not do a thing to alleviate her worries.
So instead, she’ll make sure they move fast enough to put an end to Deku and All Might’s suffering. “Then we need to hurry!” She takes the hoodie and ties it around her waist for safe keeping. “Now, how do we get out of here?”
Kraab half-hazardly waves over towards the door. “You can try the door, but good luck, it’s made out of reinforced durasteel.”
Uravity approaches the door, setting Kraab down to the side as she examines it. “Is there really no way to open it from this side?”
“Nope.”
“Then I’ll make one!” Uravity steps back, her fist reeling as it glows blindingly with energy before charging forward with all her might.
*DIIIIING!!!* The door barely rattles but yet it echoes across the room with a toll so heavy it rattles the polluted water and its surrounding shore of trash and muck.
“Owww!!!” Uravity grips and waves her throbbing hand.
“Idiot!! I could have told you that would have been the outcome!!”
Cosmo lets out a whimper as if embarrassed on the girl’s behalf.
The three, however, silence their whining as they spot a small amount of bubbles rising from the bottom of the lagoon. And as the bubbles rise, their hearts drop as they come to the same conclusion; she might have inadvertently rung the dinner bell.
“I thought you said it wouldn’t be back for a while!?”
“I never said I was an expert!!”
“YAAAHHH!!!” Not wanting to drown in what has to be the grossest and foulest water to ever exist, Uravity immediately tries to break the door down again, it rattles in place and once again releases a thundering toll. *DIIIIING!!!*
She tries again and again and with every toll the amount of bubbles in the water increases.
Meanwhile, Cosmo begins to pace, unsure of what to do as Uravity goes at it. But the hound soon stops and has a look like she’s just reached clarity. The pooch settles down, standing in place with her head down, her face scrunching up with her head twitching as she concentrates on something unseen.
But neither the human nor the cyborg take notice as both begin to panic.
“That’s not gonna work! Did you seriously come here alone!?”
“What?! Of course not! Mr. Midoriya, Principal Nezu, and everyone else is here too!!”
“Then call them for help!!”
The lagoon is like a rumbling geyser now! Bubbles and water are splashing up as the Dianoga is undoubtedly racing towards the surface.
“Ahh! No time!!” She states while taking a sturdier stance by digging her feet between the hard metal debris and sludge for support as her fist glows brighter than the punches before.
Cosmo follows suit, focusing so hard that she doesn’t even notice the slimy tentacles slithering out from the bubbling surface.
“SMAAAAASH!!!”
“AROOOOOO!!!” Cosmo releases an ear-piercing howl that matches the ferocity of Uravity’s own roar, her eyes flash with something ominous and ethereal, almost wondrous as an invisible force rushes past Uravity and Kraab. This invisible shockwave rattles the entire hall, even rippling the crawling tentacles, shattering them into atoms as this invisible force crashes into the door along with Uravity’s fist.
*BAAANG!!!* And with that the heavily reinforced door is sent flying off its very hinges.
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
A silent damage alert pops onto the monitor, alerting anyone that notices that a trash compactor has been damaged. However, this alert seems to go unnoticed by most of the Bioids since all their attention is derived to surveying the ship for intruders and maintaining order. But one Bioid is not like the others, and she quickly takes notice of the alert.
‘A trash compactor door has been breached? Odd, none of them should be operating right now.’ Lucy frowns, pondering the circumstances, which leads her to assume only one thing. ‘It has to be Ochaco!’ Her Bioid disguise forms an out of place grin as she hurries to shut off the alert. ‘I found you~.’
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
Uravity blinks in disbelief, almost like she didn’t actually expect the door to be blasted open. “We’re free…? We’re free~!!” She cheers joyfully. “I did it! I did it! I did it!”
“No way… You did it…” Kraab can’t believe it either, the disbelief is almost sickening.
Cosmo smiles, her tail wagging happily as Uravity cheers and sings her own praises. The tethered and ripped up remains of the tentacles squirm and jerk but a quick growl from the hound has them hastily retreating back into the lagoon.
“Come on Cosmo! Hurry up girl! Before that monster comes back!”
“Bark!” Cosmo hurries and follows Uravity out.
As she passes by Kraab, the little cyborg hops onto her back like she was a horse. “What’s with the pooch?”
“What’s up with you?” Uravity frowns as they find themselves back in one of the ship’s many hallways. “Time for answers. How’d you get here? Where’s Deku and All Might? What happened to all of you?!”
“I want answers too ya know! What happened after Kamino?! Are there really only 6 other Plumbers on this whole ship?! Just what was your plan?!”
“So, yada yada yada…” Uravity immediately goes into a spiel about everything starting with the aftermath of the Kamino Ward and the coverup that followed like why and how she went about revealing the truth to her friends, or the totally bullshit reasons the Plumbers refused to send help but also how their Plumber friends came anyway, and then she goes over the overall plan to storm the castle and save the king and prince of U.A.
“Sheesh! Sounds like I missed a lot of plot development!”
“You did. But now it’s your turn to catch me up!”
“So, yada yada yada…” Kraab immediately goes into a spiel about everything starting with Vilgax’s crash landing in Kamino Ward, about how he stowed away on Vilgax’s ride and followed them to All Might’s and Deku’s location, and how Vilgax managed to gather up a crew of insane psychopaths that are calling themselves the Negative Nine.
“The Negative Nine? That’s such a cool name!” Uravity gushes for a moment at the name which causes Kraab to face fault to the floor. “But in all seriousness that makes sense, or at least that explains why Rojo and Sunder were here. But Nue’s here too? And Malware? Damn, those two alone are gonna be enough trouble as it is. We better warn everyone.” Uravity goes for her come set on the side of her head piece when she notices a little red-light blinking, indicating that someone from somewhere is trying to hail her.
[“Purple Stuff to Pink Cheeks. Purple Stuff to Pink Cheeks. Do you copy?”]
‘Who came up with these codenames? Bakugou?’ Uravity grumbles before answering the call. “Lucy? Is that you? It’s Uravity.”
Lucy lets out a sigh before muffling it so as to not get caught by those potentially listening in. [“Thank goodness. Cinder called saying you got separated. Are you alright? Are you in a safe location? Do you need any assistance?”]
“I’m alright, smelly but alright. I fell into a vent, and it shot me out in a trash collector. But the good news is that I managed to locate Kraab.”
“Bark!” Cosmo lets out a sharp bark.
“Oh, and Cosmo too!”
[“Who?”]
“Kraab’s Deku’s cyborg friend and Cosmo’s a Spacedog!”
[“...Oh, never mind. Anyways, now that I have your location I will guide you back to the RazorCrest as per Cinder’s orders.”]
As Lucy gives Uravity her next orders, Kraab remembers a key detail he failed to relay to Uravity earlier. “Oh! That reminds me the Omni-”
“Hang on!” Uravity shushes Lucy and subsequently Kraab too. “Listen! Thanks to Kraab I now know where All Might and Deku are being held! They’re being held in the arena against their wills. And Nue, a member of the League of Villains, is with them! And so is Vilgax!”
Kraab nods along before trying to interject his vital piece of info. “Yeah! And also-”
[“Well that’s not ideal. But it does explain why I haven’t had eyes on Vilgax yet, I’ll see if I can locate this arena and scout out what’s waiting there for us. If we’re not careful our guys might be walking right into a meat blender.”]
“We have to hurry! We have to get to them before the villains pull anything!”
[“I agree. I’ll notify Cinder and Magister Nezu right away.”]
Kraab, at this point, has lost all his patience after being ignored for so long. “HEY!!! I HAVE SOMETHING TO SAY!!!”
Uravity spins around and immediately chides him. “Then say it! No need to shout.”
He gives her a seething look of annoyance before he finally lays it all out. “It’s not just Deku we have to worry about. We have another issue at large: Vilgax. Has. The Omnitrix!”
One could hear multiple hearts dropping in that second, catching them all off guard with their breaths escaping them.
“There’s no way…”
“Way…” Kraab reaffirms. “He had a device tailor made to extract the Omnitrix right off of Deku on a genetic level. Their connection was completely severed!”
[“Oh god…then…then that means, Cinder and everyone else will be fighting a multi-superpowered Overlord.”] Lucy’s breath shakes across the com-set. [“The Mad Titan…”]
“Yes and no. There’s more to it!” Kraab exclaims. “He didn’t put the Omnitrix on himself, instead he gave it to one of his minions to take to the science wing!”
Uravity frowns. “What for?”
“I don’t know, but it can’t be good. But that’s not all Vilgax had. He had this machine, he called the Charlotte Project and these Nomus.”
“Nomus?!” Uravity’s in disbelief, just how much were All For One and Vilgax working together? How did any of them never find out about this? Just how far did it go?
“Nomus.” Kraab confirms. “And he managed to take their Quirks!”
A wave of fear nearly shoves Uravity to the ground, “L-like…like A-All For O-One?!”
“I-I guess, all I know is what I saw! H-he was wielding some crazy p-powers! He was stronger, s-scarier, and deadlier than before…there wasn't anything Deku could do to win…” Kraab shakes and shivers violently, his loosened bolts rattling against his dented haul. “It was like watching a lamb take on a lion.”
Uravity can’t believe her ears. How can a machine steal Quirks? Just what kind of machine is it? How can something like that even exist?
Lucy must be thinking the same thing as she struggles to come up with an appropriate response. [“I’ll…I’ll inform the Magister immediately. And Cinder…! And Patelliday…! We’ll figure this out. We-we just need time to figure this out.”]
“We don’t have any time!” Uravity shouts, not caring at all if she’s heard.
[“But we can’t rush into a fight we can’t win!”]
“But what if we could?!” She insists, desperate and grasping for answers. “What if we got the Omnitrix back?! And what if Deku was able to team up with Cinder, All Might, and everyone else?! Then what?!”
[“Well that would certainly improve their odds.”] But Lucy doesn’t sound convinced.
Kraab however… “I see where you are going with this. But there’s just one thing, we don’t know where this science wing is. And she can’t guide us to and from the place while also reporting back to everyone else.”
[“I can locate the lab and send you its location. But there’s no way I can guide you and keep you away from patrols while simultaneously diverting power away from the cannon and interfering with surveillance.”]
“That’s just great. So, then, what do we do?!” asks Kraab who really doesn't expect a good answer. “We can't just wander around and hope for the best!”
Uravity hates to admit it but the cyborg’s right. They can’t just run in blind, especially not alone. Kraab is currently useless in a fight and if they’re spotted before they get there, that’ll mean less time for her to get the Omnitrix back to Deku. If only there was an efficient way for her to find the science wing, get the Omnitrix, and then Deku. But what?!
“Wrrr. Wrr. Woof!”
Uravity peers down at the dog who’s jittering in place with an excited tail and lol of the tongue. “Hey, girl…not now.”
Cosmo frowns, and lets down a whimper, her tail failing. But then she rudely jams her snout into the hoodie wrapped around the girl’s waist.
Startled, she shoves the dog’s head away. “Woah, hey!”
“Grr. Bark!” Not deterred, Cosmo suddenly clamps down the black cloth and pulls, tripping Uravity forward.
“Cosmo! Stop it!”
Lucy, having heard the panic in Uravity’s voice, calls out in worry. [“Uravity, what’s wrong?!”]
“Cosmo, she-...” She pauses as the dog whips the hood around like a chew toy before letting go and taking off down the hall.
Cosmo sprints and stops just ten feet away before looking back at the girl expectantly. “Bark!”
“I…I think she wants me to follow her.”
[“Excuse me?”]
Kraab is watching the dog too, carefully observing its path. ‘That way won’t lead us to the arena…’ He starts to consider the possibility. “Ya know. The Omnitrix was bound to Deku for a long time and was bonded to his genetic code. Which means-”
Uravity suddenly lights up in excitement. “It would have his scent!”
“It would be reeking of his scent.” affirms Kraab.
“Cosmo!” Uravity turns to the dog who is happily wagging her tail. “Can you lead us to the Omnitrix?!”
“Woof!” She woofs as if answering back with a firm Yes.
With excitement that this can be done, Uravity quickly speaks back into the com set. “Lucy!”
[“I understand. I will report everything we know back to Cinder and Magister Nezu. And in the meantime-”]
“We’ll go to get the Omnitrix back.”
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THE PREVIEW:
Ch. 84 Adaptation/Evolution
‘Such a short amount of time yet it will surely feel like an eternity.’
“We might not have the skills or the powers to sneak past them all. Nor the knowledge necessary to tamper with alien technology. But as for you two...”
“I know, I was there. But that doesn’t mean that I agreed that we would do it! Honestly! Primates are so quick to presume!”
“So, that’s what it does.”
“You’re capable, far more than we or yourself give you credit for.”
“I trained All Might. I think I can handle a pair of teen girls.”
“Ha! Take that you samurai-cosplaying weeb!!”
“Let’s hurry! No doubt those humans aren’t faring too well without us.”
“This is it everyone! We must make for one final push!!”
Notes:
*Sooooo I will be the first to admit it. But this chapter…was probably not what you were all looking forward to so much. At the time the idea of Ochaco fighting a Xenomorph was so cool. And now…I realize that I probably could have cut this whole thing out and combined it with the next chapter. Buuuut it took a month to write the whole thing so I wasn’t going to just toss it! It was a matter of pride at this point. So, here we are. But I promise the next chapters are gonna be something else. Especially if the preview (as seen above) for the next chapter is anything to go by!
*UPDATES* So, this is how the updates for the next 4-5 chapters are going to work. I will post a new chapter every other Friday. So Ch.84 will be posted June 28. Ch.85 will be July 12. Ch.86 will be posted on July 26. Ch.87 on August 9. And, finally, if all goes well, we will see the finale of this arc with Ch.88 on August 23. OR it ends on September 6 depending on if I need to make the final chapter a two parter. *NOTICE* This finale is subjected to change based on how the last 25% of this Arc ends up.
*Like mentioned earlier, the last 25% of this arc is not complete (honestly I barely started this week because of how busy it’s been). My hope is that by posting every 2 weeks I can buy myself more time to work on the finale. Plus, I want to hear feedback and see what you guys are excited to see. So yeah that is my plan. But like always “life finds a way” and I am going to be extremely busy the rest of this summer: like I am losing all my weekends from here on out. And that is literal. I am straight up gonna lose my weekends, not because of anything bad, but just for my own life’s sake kinda deal. Either way the weekends have been when I can get the most writing done. And since I will be losing them from here till August, I cannot promise that I will even have the finale of this arc ready to go by the deadline of August 23/September 6. So, please bear with me and I hope to hear from you all as our dear friends rescue Deku and All Might.
*TV TROPES LINK*: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Fanfic/HeroesNeverDieItsHeroTime
Chapter 89: Escalation
Notes:
*Soooooo thanks to Fanfic F*ing up their Email Alerts. Some of you may not have realized that I posted a new chapter 2 weeks ago. So, you might want to get on that before you jump into this chapter.
*Also I may have respond to your PMs so make sure to check your inboxes too. Fanfic is failing to send alerts for that too.
*Speaking of this chapter, this is how I really wanted to get back into posting. This one is action packed, hardcore, and waaaaay longer then the last chapter. So, hang on to your butts because this ride has no safety features!
*TV TROPES LINK*: delete the spaces (_) within the URL below in order to get the full link.
https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Fanfic/HeroesNeverDieItsHeroTime
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
They say that we know more about space than we do about our own oceans. Many believe that there is more life down there than there is up here. That is what people believe to be true. What they believe to be the definitive difference between the stars and the ocean; the ocean has life; it’s teeming with unknown species and creatures. Down there where graceful whales sing their songs while schools of lively fish splash about, their scales twinkling like stars against the light.
But that is further from the truth than they will ever know.
Because up here armored whales of metal and steel rocket through the void with roaring thunder, as waves of bloodied fish swarm like piranhas searching for a feast.
These red drones batter and fire upon the massive haul, hoping for a break or a crack, a single deficiency to occur for them to eat the massive ship from the inside out.
However, a shark of red and black breaks into the frenzy, releasing a devastating strike against the armored whale.
The whale’s metallic shell screeches in pain but thankfully its calls are answers.
From amongst the sea of stars a speedy marlin, one that leaves fish adrift in its wake, blazes through the void and delivers a sharp strike to the shark’s snout.
Xylene’s ship streaks overhead, her ship’s belly just feet above the haul of Malware’s corrupted warship. Speeding past, she continues to fire, changing her targets to the swarm of Vulture Droids in her way. They are blasted away like dust in the wind, unfortunately, their numbers are too great and as she’s forced to break off the attack as more and more of these drones decide to retaliate.
Her ship bucks and swerves, nearly flying off course before Xylene manages to get it under control.
Malware’s guns take aim and fire shells of explosive plasma.
Xylene hurries to redirect power to the lower shields but the switch is fried, shocking her with sparks of electricity before a devastating *BOOM!!* rattles her ship.
“Dank farrik! Ah!! Magister! I don’t know how much longer I can take this! At this rate my wings will be clipped, and I’ll be as defenseless as a newly hatched Moa!”
[“I understood.”] Nezu’s voice replies over the intercom. [“Please proceed with caution and retreat to the hanger. We will provide you cover.”]
“Thank you, Magister! I appreciate the support.” *BOOM!!* Another strike to her rear haul and she’s lost an engine. “If I can make it!!”
*BOOM!!*
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Despite the situation, Magister Nezu holds an air of calm and rationality from atop his post. And although his little chair looks more akin to a booster seat he exudes a confident yet almost comforting aura as he takes command of his ship. “Everyone hold steadfast. Our time will come. Now, give me a status report.”
Cementoss starts, his eyes never leaving his screen. “Principal, shields are holding at 65%.” A miracle considering that the nightmarish ship out there hasn’t let up yet.
A snarling Vlad King meanwhile fires away with the guns, his face scrunched into a fierce scowl as he preys upon the swarming drones. “Nearly 15% of our cannons are gone!” He gasps and his scowl falls away. “20%! Those robots are blasting them apart!”
Not good, at this rate they will be amputated and unable to provide any support.
“And what of the cannon?” Nezu squeaks, unable to hide his nerves for the briefest of seconds.
Power Loader wipes at his face in a sad attempt to clear away the buckets of sweat dripping down his face. “It’s charging rate has slowed but at its current rate, the cannon will be ready to fire in ten minutes.”
‘Ten Minutes.’ Nezu thinks solemnly. ‘Such a short amount of time yet it will surely feel like an eternity.’ He gazes out through the ship’s front facing windows, out past the void, past the swirling army of red, past Malware, and out towards the single ship that’s five times their size: the Chimeran Hammer. The host to their companions and the prison of their heroes. It would be a truly terrible fate for any one of them if it were to become their tomb.
He prays that it will not come to that. ‘Hurry heroes. We’re counting on you to succeed.’
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[PLAY: “ Dr. STONE NEW WORLD - Opening Song | "Wasuregataki" by Huwie Ishizaki ” - link can be found in this chapter on the AO3 site.]
https://_youtu._be/eKeoHejslp0?si=hrwFYRRwMIgQs6Ym
(Instrumental~~~)
The camera shows Izuku Midoriya with his head hanging down before zooming up to show Vilgax’s battleship floating over Earth's moon.
Sou kore kona itami ga~
Uravity Uraraka gazes up to the sky as the title appears from above her.
Sujikaki no nai monogatari ni wa~
She begins to walk forward as her friends slowly fade into existence: Pinky Ashido, Katsuki Bakugou, Shoto Todoroki, Creati Yaoyorozu, Tenya Ingenium, and Eijiro Red Riot.
Hitsuyou fukaketsu nanda~
Inko Midoriya holds a picture of her family as she cries and is comforted by Mitsuki Bakugou and Eirene Ashido.
Yoru no umi ni wa Tsuki ga isuwaru~
Unseen to them Cinder is at the door. He looks up with determination as he heads out to rescue his son.
Sugita kunou wo~
Katsuki Bakugo holds an old All Might card as an image of him and Deku as kids cheering as they hold their cards out appears behind him.
Bikasuru hima ga~
Nue looks down at a watch as an image of him and Izuku in middle school laughing appears behind him.
Aru nara ima dake utsuseyo~
The screen splits between the two, both standing back-to-back, and with determined glares they both march away in opposite directions.
Ororkamono demo shoujiki te itai~
Panels shift and fold away, creating a portal, that reveals Izuku bound in an iconic ring of metal as Toshinori Yagi stares up at it in a mix of shock-and-awe and despair.
Haato ga sawagu yo~
Vilgax the Conqueror makes himself known from atop his throne. As he peers down at his inferiors with an air of ominous superiority.
(Instrumental~~~)
Below his throne his minions have been assembled: Psyphon, Malware, Sunder, Ragnarok, SevenSeven, the Techadon, Rojo, and Nue.
Tatoe dareka wo kizutsuke tato shitemo~
Cinder unleashes a wave of flames as he mows through Vilgax's drone army with his blazing dual-edged spear! Before swiftly speeding away as the Techadon gets pulled in by Thirteen’s swirling Black Hole!
Yuzurenai hikari ga arunda~
Pinky slides across the narrow hallways as Ingenium races by. They’re followed by a sword wielding Creati and a Hardened Red Riot. Before the screen is consumed by pillars of fire and ice with Shot’s eyes piercing back.
Mushi kaesu tsumori wa betsu ni nari keredo~
Uravity smashes through the ice before unleashing a wave of glowing gravity in every direction causing the army of silhouetted aliens to be blasted away.
Kono seaki de kono sekai de~
Bakugou rockets past her in a blaze of a Howitzer Impact that crashes into a grinning Nue like an exploding meteor.
Wasuregataki naru niwa mada hayai~
Vilgax looms menacingly over the Rising Star and the Symbol of Peace as nine dark threads of fate swirl through and around his form.
Yume migachi na shinisokonai sa~
Toshinori looks on at the teen with a look of shame that soon transitions to that of deterPinkytion. And in a wave of smoke a scowling All Might rises to meet the Mad Titan.
Zero kara hairiagare sora ga waretatte~
Vilgax’s tentacles reach for the defiant Deku as the Omnitrix begins to spark and glow with inspiring green lightning.
Ano sekai e ano sekai e~
A massive discharge of green explodes outward, overtaking everything and swallowing up everything in a brilliant show of green light.
Nanjyukkai nan byakkai~
Deku gazes out towards the vastness of space from the portal window of his prison cell.
nanzenkai nomikonde~
While Uravity gazes out into the star-filled sky through the windshield of the RazorCrest.
Nanjyuunen~
Deku slowly raises his left fist towards the shrinking window.
nanbyaku nen~
Uravity slowly raises her right fist towards the expanding window.
nan zen nen~
The screen splits between the two, zooming in on their fists just as they gently connect. And the camera is blinded by flashes of green and pink before washing away to white.
Sakimidare~!
A still Omnitrix lays on upon the moon, alone and in the dark, before the Sun majestically peeks out from behind the Earth over the edge and shines its rays of hope down upon it.
(Illustrated by Drag0n5on)
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Ch.84 Escalation
A pair of Bioids are patrolling through one of the ships’ many hallways. Armed with standard issued blasters they are on the lookout for any intruders. But nothing has disturbed this place, despite the radio feed coming in calling in for reinforcements at the hanger.
^Do you hear that?^ One of the Bioids stops, his head perking up, listening. ^It sounds like an engine.^
Its partner gives it an incredulous look. ^Your sensors are fried. That’s just the metal settling.^
^No. Listen… It’s getting louder.^
They both listen. There is something there. A hum. A…scream?
“…aaaaaaaaAAAAAAAAHHHHH!!!” From down the hall a crimson rocket races past so fast it leaves nothing but a blur of blue flames in its wake!!
“RECIPRO BURST: ENNNNNND!!!”
Like a high-speed train, a red armored Ingenium crashes onto the scene with his roaring legs plowing right through the unsuspecting Bioids. In a blink of an eye, their bodies shatter to pieces and their heads are knocked away like soccer balls.
They bounce across the hall, stopping short of the last bulkhead.
^Just the metal settling, huh?^
^Shut up…^
Meanwhile, the living race car skids to a stop, the blue flames from his Engines die out and begin to smoke while releasing a smoldering hiss.
“Five minutes…that was five minutes.” Ingenium breathes, inhaling deeply, bending over he rips away his helmet allowing himself to breathe. “I must…keep…going. They’re…counting on us.”
Inhaling and exhaling quickly he eventually settles into a steady pace. And by the time he’s good and calm the others have managed to catch up.
“Ingenium!” Creati shouts after him, she’s at a full sprint but to Ingenium it’s like a mild jog, but that's just a matter of perspective as she stumbles to a stop and keels over, drenched in sweat. “We…finally…caught up…to you.” She states between exhausted breaths.
Snipe soon joins them too, but he seems to be handling the long-distance sprint much better than either student. He observes the demolished droids, impressed, and figures that there’s no need to use the Needler or his six-shooter. “You sure live up to your legacy, your brother was just as efficient.”
Iida lights up but refuses to show it considering the seriousness of the situation. “Thank you, sir!!”
From atop Snipe’s 10-gallon hat, a pair of grey frogs sit up; both dizzy and nauseous from all the running.
“Ugh… Curious,” Driba rubs his chin in thought as he peers down at Ingenium’s cooling legs. “Who would have presumed having Engines in your legs would increase one’s speed and agility?”
“Not me.” answers Blukic.
With one final exhale, Creati manages to compose herself. “Ingenium, can you move?”
“Y-yes.” He’s shaky but determined. “I can. But I won’t be able to use another Recipro Burst for some time.”
“You shouldn’t need it.” Snipe insists. “Our trip’s been incredibly smooth sailing as of now. Which means the cavalry’s distraction is working perfectly to our advantage.”
Driba leans over the brim of Snipe’s hat so that he can address the hero more directly, “For now, but the moment we rush in for the Ideon Cannon is the moment the entire ship will be upon us.”
Blukic joins him over the brim, “And if you couldn’t tell, not all of us are built for combat.”
Creati considers that. “So, then we should shift from speed to stealth moving forward.” Not gonna be easy with this red armor, but she’ll have to make do. “But time is still of the essence. We must hurry!”
None of them need to be told twice before heading out. Moving hastily but cautiously, freezing at every little sound or crack emanating from the alien machinery. In no time at all, they arrive at their destination.
Snipe approaches the wide doorway first, leaning against the wall he waves for the two students to follow. Ingenium and Creati carefully make their way over before pressing themselves against the wall. They hold their position as Snipe scopes out their destination.
The room to the Ideon Cannon is more of an elaborate series of decks and catwalks. Set up as a grid with walkways so thin it seems like they might break away under any real strain or weight. And of course they are without railings because why would anyone care about safety? But what really draws their attention is the number of large almost egg-shaped power cells located between each and every grid point. The massive power cells are like sentries, blockading every which way in a uniformed fashion. Each lighting up in succession of each other as bursts of electricity surge out from their tops and towards a collective power unit that leads the power outwards, undoubtedly towards the giant barrel of the Ideon Cannon.
At first glance the maze of power cells seem unattended but after a moment of watching they manage to spot the squad of Hover Drones patrolling from overhead the power cells, each floating about just meters away from discharging electricity. And almost every walkway has an armed Bioid standing guard.
But then straight down the hall, directly across from the doorway and down to the center of the grid sits a control panel that’s being monitored by a pair of unarmed Bioids.
Snipe takes aim at them but stops as a massive metal insectoid-limb blocks his line of sight. A single White Dominator is overseeing the 2 Bioids and after seeing that they are working diligently it continues its march through the labyrinth of power cells and sparks.
Snipe shakes his head and backs off, “Too many. There’s no way we can clear them all out before one of them sets off the alarms.”
Ingenium frowns from underneath his helmet. “Could we perchance sneak in and disable the weapon without any of them noticing?”
Now it’s Blukic’s turn to shake his head. “Not likely.”
“See that control panel?” Driba points to said control panel in the distance. “It’s sitting in the center of the entire platform, exposed from all ends with no blind spots. You’d be spotted the moment you took your first step inside.”
Blukic nods in agreement, “The only way you could sneak in is if you turned invisible.”
Driba gives a deep sigh of disappointment. “Sad to say, but none of you have the right tech or powers to do this.”
Blukic couldn’t agree more with that grim fact. “Besides, even if you did manage to reach the control panel none of you have the know-how to do anything significant.”
‘That is a conundrum.’ thinks Creati.
On one hand, they can go in with a full assault and try their best to move fast enough without alerting the rest of the ship. Or they can sneak in and pray that they don’t provoke the drones inside. Both options have their risks and their unknowns, especially that giant white drone. Just what is that monster capable of? She has no idea. All she knows is that any engagement with that thing could lead to disaster. They’ll need to slip in undetected. But then again, the Galvans bring up a good point. Even if Mr. Snipe, or Iida, or her managed to make it to the control panel; what could that do? The only ones here with any knowledge of this technology would be Blukic and Driba themselves.
She pauses and her eyes up towards the pair of Galvans that are now casually sitting atop Snipe’s hat with their feet dangling off the side.
“We might not have the skills or the powers to sneak past them all. Nor the knowledge necessary to tamper with alien technology. But as for you two...”
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“This is beneath us.”
“No, we're beneath it.”
Driba gives his partner an incredulous look. He is so done with Blukic’s remarks. And he’s so done with this plan! Heck this so-called plan is nothing more but these two making their way to the control panel by crawling underneath the catwalks like a pair of Earth geckos. Sure, it seems to be working as the Bioids and the Dominator march just above them without any hints to their presence.
But even so, Driba can’t help but argue back with Blukic over the most minute details. “That’s not what I meant.”
“Then what did you mean?” asks Blukic.
Driba lets out a long-drawn-out sigh. “I mean, I can’t believe they would have us risk our wellbeing with such a reckless and dangerous plan.”
“But Driba you said that this plan was the best route of success.”
“I know, I was there. But that doesn’t mean that I agreed that we would do it! Honestly! Primates are so quick to presume!”
“Maybe, but you have to give them credit for creativity.”
“No, I don't.”
Meanwhile, the primates take turns to watch from the doorway. And eventually after what feels like forever they can spot the tiny aliens crawling up their way around the edges of the catwalk and hurrying themselves along the bottom of the control panel. They can’t see them well but judging from the squirming and gesturing of their bodies they are struggling to remove the nearest access panel but with a little elbow grease the tiny panel seems to pry loose and the two aliens squirm their way inside.
“They’re in.” Ingenium confirms, leaning back and away from the door.
Snipe turns towards Creati. “Think they can pull this off?”
“Yes.” She states confidently with her armored chest puffed out and her head held high. “Midoriya’s proven that his Grey Matter form increases his intelligence tenfold, no, a hundred-fold. Therefore, I have no doubt that the combined forces of those two will certainly win us the day.”
Well at least one person here has any confidence because Blukic and Driba sure don’t.
Surrounded by circuits and wires, Driba pokes his head through the technological web and gasps. “What are you doing?!”
“I’m disabling the alarm.” Blukic states a matter-of-factually.
Driba scowls, “No you’re not! You must remove the link wire first before tampering with the colion wire.”
But Blukic doesn’t see it. “That’s not right. First you need to disconnect the wii-modifier and then reroute the wizzle cable.”
“That’s completely wrong!”
“No, it’s not.”
“Yes it is!!”
“No, it’s not!!”
“Yes it is!!”
“No, it’s not! Watch! I’ll show you!” Blukic turns away in spite and he begins fiddling around with what he thinks is right. But one cable is stuck in place and so the skinny Galvan pulls and pulls before the cable finally snaps.
And the moment the cable gives way is the moment that many of the lights on the nearby circuits flash red and a blaring alarm sounds from outside the control panel.
From outside and amongst the grid of power cells, every droid comes to a stop and turns towards the control system. They almost seem baffled by the alarm.
As do the heroes who are just stunned by the events, jaws dropped as Snipe facepalms himself. Hard.
Blukic blinks in confusion down at the loose cable before slowly putting two and two together. “Oops.”
Driba smirks with his nose sticking in the air. “See. I told you I was right.”
“I’ll never doubt you again, Driba.”
There’s a screeching of metal and the side of the control console is ripped open. The two Galvans turn to find themselves staring back at a pair of confused and angry looking Bioids.
Blukic gives them a sheepish smile, “Um, did someone call for tech support?”
The two humanoid droids lunge for the two idiots.
But their hands never make it inside when suddenly a barrage of purple crystals pierce their skulls before imploding in a cloud of violet sparks.
The two droids collapse to the ground, dead, revealing Snipe at the end of the grid with the doorway to his back and the Needler in his grip. “So much for stealth. Take them all out, fast!”
“Yes, sir!!” Ingenium and Creati rush past him like wolves on a hunt.
Snipe provides cover, shooting down every Hover Drone that stupidly enters his crosshairs. And those that try to evade can only dive down where they find themselves in reach of Creati’s razor-sharp Zircon Blade.
^Surrender Humans!!^ A squad of Bioid guards rushes out to meet them, their blasters poised and ready to fire.
‘My Engines are still stalled. I can’t outrun them.’ Ingenium thinks as he races forward at a lower gear, but then he recalls one of the special items lent to him by the Plumbers. ‘But I don’t need to!’ With a roar he grips the Omni-shield and activates it, creating a solid barrier between him and the Bioids. And then like a charging bull he smashes right through the droids. Each one smashed and crushed under Ingenium’s speed and power.
As the humans slash and bash their way through the oncoming enemies, Blukic and Driba make a run for it by diving deeper into the control panel’s inner wiring.
A Hover Drone divebombs Ingenium but the hero-in-training swings the Omni-Shield up and bashes it away like a fly. It’s flung up and over one of the power cells, where it pops like a balloon when it crashes into one of the discharges of electricity.
The towering Dominator doesn’t seem to appreciate the sudden firework show as it lurches through the maze of flashing power cells with its frost-covered claws raised.
“You’re a big one. But you won’t stop us!!” Doing what feels natural Ingenium tosses the disc-shaped shield like a frisbee and despite the weapon’s size it’s plenty strong. Bouncing off the robot’s head with such force it throws the robot’s head aside, throwing the entire thing off balance.
The White Dominator stumbles, granting Ingenium just enough time for his Engines to begin revving at full gear once again!
“Yes! I will not let anything get in our way!!” His engines roar, and Ingenium is off to the races at a blazing speed.
Recovering, the White Dominator aims its armored gauntlets at the ground and from the cables connecting its arms to the vat on its back shoots out geysers of freezing nitrogen that freeze the ground in a thin sheet of slippery ice.
“Woooaaahh!!” Ingenium loses traction, his feet slip right from under him before crashing into the side of one of the power cells.
“Ice?!” Creati gasps before she and Snipe dive away from the Dominator’s incoming cold ray.
“Damn, robot.” Ingenium pries himself away from the power cell, surprisingly there’s very little pain from the impact, undoubtedly thanks to the integrity of the red plumber armor. However the armor can only take so much and he’s sure that it’ll do nothing against the Dominator’s overall weight and strength.
“I can’t get close and there’s no chance I can run across this ice without it catching me.” And with the Omni-shield nowhere in sight he has no real way of stopping it.
He grabs at the armor, patting hoping for some sort of hidden feature or miracle: he finds one. From his side holster he rips out the hilariously tiny needle-nosed blaster that Magister Patelliday handed to him before they left. It’s tiny and silver, it’s barely bigger than his own palm. But it’ll have to do.
“I have no idea what this does… but no better time to test this out than now!” There’s no way it’ll do any sort of damage. But maybe it’ll buy Snipe and Creati just a little more time. “Hey! Over here you mechanized menace!!”
He half expected the thing to march on by but much to his surprise it stops and spins around, staring right back at him.
“Oh no…”
With a mechanized whir the Dominator lunges for him, its frostbitten claws aiming to crush him.
With a scream Iida aims the tiny blaster up, his finger on the miniscule trigger as the claws come bearing down on him. “I really hope this works!”
He pulls the trigger. And what immediately follows is an explosion of sound and power that neither Ingenium nor his target was expecting. The resulting blast sounds like distorted cricket chirps that’s amplified a thousand times louder. The recoil of the Noisy Cricket flings Iida off his feet while the blast rips apart the Dominator’s head along with its frozen claws, shattering them like glass.
With a groan Ingenium sits himself up and watches as the Dominator’s headless and limbless body falls aside and over the catwalk, getting itself stuck between the power cells and the bottomless pit below them.
With the current threat eliminated, which was far easier then he expected, Iida peers down at the perfectly silver Noisy Cricket still wedged in his hand with both awe and fear. “So, that’s what it does.”
“That shot was dead-on.”
Ingenium looks up to find Snipe offering him a hand up.
“That was a good showing, Class Rep.”
Ingenium smiles and takes the hand.
Creati hops over, holding out the Omni-Shield for Iida to take. “Here you go, Ingenium.”
He smiles. “Thank you, Creati.”
“No time to rest, we got a job to do.” Snipe ushers them towards the control panels.
Once there, the cowboy slides open the side panel revealing a cluster of tangled wires, circuits, and cables. And amongst it all are a terrified Blukic and Driba, both huddled together and clinging to each other for dear life. “Blukic, Driba, have you two disabled the cannon yet?”
“W-we can’t!” Driba exclaims, worriedly.
From underneath his helmet, Iida frowns. “What? Why not?”
“Because of the failsafe.” explains Blukic.
Creati’s face scrunches up in confusion. “The failsafe?”
Blukic goes on to clarify. “There was a failsafe attached to the alarms. The failsafe prevents any tampering or changing of the cannon’s systems; we’re locked out.”
“Which means…?”
“It means,” Driba begins. “That this control console is utterly useless now. Even if we destroy it the cannon will continue to charge. And it will fire the moment it’s ready!” The pudgy Galvan scowls and turns it to his greatest enemy, his best friend. “All because someone got their wires crossed.”
“Sorry, Driba…” Blukic apologizes.
Snipe slaps his knee in frustration. “Darn, we’re gonna need a new plan then.”
Creati frowns, unsure of what to do or how they can complete their mission now. Her eyes wander over the controls, wondering if maybe they can still work. But as she stands there she gets the sense of eyes burning a hole in the back of her skull; she turns to find Ingenium staring intently at her. “What is it?”
“You have a plan.” It’s not a question, he’s certain she has one.
She, however, does not. And she’s just about to tell him as much when her eyes begin to wander over the power cells. Her eyes trail the electricity hopping from one power cell to the other, as each jump increases in size and strength. Power that cannot simply vanish but be transferred…
“I have a plan!” She exclaims, before turning away in a hurry.
Ingenium and Snipe frown, confused of what she’s doing but soon their confused looks turn into embarrassment and panic when she suddenly pulls up the under armor around her stomach.
Like gentlemen they both instantly turn away, red faced and flustered. “Wh-what are you t-thinking?!”
“I have a plan!” She explains.
While their backs turned, they see a bit of light glittering from behind them, indicating that Creati must be activating the lipids around her stomach.
“If destroying the console won’t accomplish anything then we must simply disable the cannon itself!”
They then hear what sounds like tin cans falling onto the catwalk. Clanging and rolling against the thin metal floor, one rolls away and bumps against Iida’s leg. Looking down, the sight almost causes him to jump away as a timed bomb lays next to him.
From inside the console, Driba frowns, and contemplates her implied plan. “Crude, but effective! In order for this to work we will have to attach each of these bombs to every one of these batteries in order to ensure that the cannon’s out of commission.”
Blukic nods and adds in his own analysis. “If just one of these power cells survive it’ll still have enough power to damage the Plus Ultra.”
“We need to work quickly then.'' Sweating from the stress, Creati continues to pump out more and more explosives with her Quirk. And with the last one made she throws back down her under armor much to her teammates’ relief. “Once they’re in place, we’ll set them off with a remote detonator. Believe me, we don’t want to be anywhere near here when they go off.”
The group sets to work quickly with Creati distributing the explosives and making more as needed while Ingenium carries all that he can in a satchel she made. He works as fast as he can, magnetically locking a bomb to every power cell that he can.
Meanwhile, the Galvans try to tinker around with the controls and wiring just in the off chance that they can get it working again.
Which leaves Snipe to guard the door. “There’s no time to waste! I have no doubt reinforcements will arrive any second! So, hurry!! They’ll be here any minute!”
What he fails to realize however, is that reinforcements will not be coming. They will not be rushing in, charging the main gates, and storming the castle like brave yet foolish cannon fodder. Why do that? When instead all it takes is for a single brave knight to lie in wait for his quarry.
From the rafters above, hidden among the bolts of electricity and power. A set of living armor watches on, its blue shell gleaming with every flash of lightning.
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
A blazing spear pierces through two Bioids, skewering them like a kabob against the hallway’s metallic wall.
Rushing forth, Cinder rips his spear out from their husks before shouting back at the rest of the squad.
“I just got the report from Lucy!” Cinder calls out. “Snipe’s group made it to the Ideon Cannon!”
“Excellent!” Gran Torino zips and ricochets off the walls before landing beside his old intern. “Hopefully they can provide us with some much-needed assistance!”
“Unlikely. They set off the alarms. And I wouldn’t doubt if an enemy engages them soon.”
Tetrax spits in frustration, “Dank farrik. I was hoping they could meet up with Uravity and provide her with some assistance.”
So, too did Eraserhead. “Things just never work out the way they should.”
Patelliday gives a solemn nod in agreement. “That they don’t.”
Cinder then explains Lucy’s report back to the rest going over everything from Uravity’s separation, her finding Kraab, and then finding out Izuku’s location. And of course that she’s planning to go to the Science Wing alone in order to retrieve the Omnitrix back from Ragnarok.
“She cannot hope to defeat Ragnarok on her own.” Tetrax states, grimly, fearing the worst possible outcome. “I know of the Sleemo, he’s a grade A psychopath with no remorse.” He considers their options before coming to a confident decision. “I’ll go and assist her; my crystals can redirect his solar beams.”
“No, don't!” Cinder reaches for him, grabbing him by the arm before he can escape. “Your knowledge of Vilgax and his tactics are also valuable. Your crystals and skills will be absolutely necessary to keep our boys and us alive!”
Pinky pales, breaking into a cold sweat as she nervously asks. “Th-then what do we do?”
Chopper immediately gives her a snarky remark. ^Wa. Bop-wa.^
Cinder snaps at the droid, “No! I am not sending her off on her own!”
Mina blinks, startled and confused by the droid’s seemingly random beeping. “What?”
Patelliday frowns, giving her an apprehensive look like he’s going to regret what he’s about to say. “The droid’s saying that we oughta send the little missy.”
“M-me?!” Mina asks.
“No!” Cinder states fiercely. “We’ll figure this out! Just give me a second to think!”
Pinky takes a second to think on it too, but the longer they take to make a decision the less time they have to help Uraraka and save Midoriya and All Might. And then there’s Grey Matter’s words: the same ones she tried to act on back at the camp: ‘“Take in a situation and rather than trying to figure it all out; how about focusing on one part? Take everything in and then decide what you can do in the situation. What is the one thing you can contribute and focus on so that others can focus on what they need to do? Not everyone can solve everything on their own. It takes a team of people to solve big problems. So, use your team. Be useful to your team. You don’t need to outright solve the problem, outright. Instead, you help each other to reach a solution. And when one issue is dealt with you move onto the next and the next and eventually you will have solved the problem.”’
‘Focus on how I can contribute and help everyone find a solution…’ She knows what she has to do. “I’m going to go help Uravity.”
“What?” Cinder’s taken back along with the rest of the rescue squad, except for Eraserhead who looks apprehensive yet knowing.
“Listen!” Pinky exclaims. “She needs help but it’s clear that I am the weakest link here! I can’t match against Vilgax. But maybe I can help Uravity get the Omnitrix! That’s how I can contribute!”
If she was expecting praise and cheers then she is surely mistaken. Instead, she is met with looks of uncertainty, and disapproval, shattering any hope she had of helping. Maybe she’s still missing the bigger picture but…even so she has to help in the way that she can. Right…?
“She should go.”
Pinky’s head snaps up and her eyes are wide with surprise as she looks up and meets her teacher’s.
Cinder hesitates. “Eraserhead?”
Aizawa steps forward, addressing his student, and only his student. He doesn't seem scared, or worried. In fact, he’s calm in that indifferent sort-of way that he always is. And yet there’s a sort of confidence there, not confidence in himself…but in her.
“Ashido.” He begins.
“Mr. Aizawa?”
“You’re not the strongest. Or the fastest. And your grades aren’t exactly praiseworthy.”
“Wow… Thanks for the vote of confidence.”
“But you’re an ace when it comes to evasion and creativity.” He continues. “You have heart and the ability to adapt quickly. You go with the flow and in this case you’re able to adjust quickly to the tide of the fight. You’re capable, far more than we or yourself give you credit for.”
“Mr. Aizawa?”
“You can do this. You can and will help your classmate. However, that doesn’t mean I want you going alone.” He turns to the only other veteran teacher present in the group. “I’m relying on you to get both my students back to safety. Think you can handle that?”
Gran Torino smirks up at the youngster. “I trained All Might. I think I can handle a pair of teen girls.”
“Don't be so sure, this new generation of heroes are something else.”
Everyone smiles at that, not in a condescending way, but in a way that fills them all with pride.
Patelliday chuckles at the interaction. “And here I thought reminiscing was a privilege for the old folks.” He then calls out to Pinky. “Here!”
Mina only has a second to react before Patelliday is tossing her a big red blade attached to a rope of chains. Getting a good grip she quickly realizes that it’s Sunder’s Null Void Axe.
“Figured you could use the extra edge.”
She appreciates that. “Mr. Aizawa. Mr. Midoriya. Please bring them back.”
Eraserhead looks right in the eye and says. “We promise.”
They watch them go, racing away back the way they came in the pursuit to help their friend.
And as they watch Cinder can’t help but comment. “You know that Axe would have been really handy against Vilgax.”
Patelliday shrugs. “Eh, you really think he’ll let you get a shot in?”
“…Good point.”
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
“17…! 18…! 19…!” Ingenium’s boots leave skid marks across the catwalk as he slides to a stop beside Creati. He reaches into the satchel and pulls out his last bomb before placing it onto the power cell next to them. “Make that 20.”
“And this makes 21.” says Snipe having placed the last of his bombs on the surging power cells. He started helping out after realizing that reinforcements wouldn’t be coming. “How many more do we have?”
“This is the last batch.” Creati answers while dumping the last 9 bombs into Ingenium’s satchel.
At this point the two Galvans have given up on repairing the control panel and have opted to oversee their progress. “Nine remaining.”
“And with barely any time to spare.” Blukic comments: he’s been monitoring the Ideon Cannon’s power levels and if he were to guess he’d say it’s about 90%, maybe even 91% charged.
“No time to waste then,” says Snipe. “Once we have these installed we’ll need to evacuate immediately.”
“Understood!” Ingenium salutes and takes back his satchel which is now heavy with the last 9 bombs. “I can attach these faster than anyone else! You four should make for the exit. I’ll be right behind you!!” With a roar of his Engines, he takes off for the other end of the grid where the last 9 power cells are stationed.
“You all heard the man, let’s move it!” Snipe gathers the Galvans onto his hat before making a run for the exit.
Creati follows suit, her mind already wandering ahead past their current mission. ‘We’ve completed our part faster than anticipated. Excellent! Hopefully we can spare a hand to the others. We can do more!’
The Galvans hold on tight to the brim of Snipe’s hat and as they do Blukic does his best to get comfortable, squirming this way and that. He even cranes his head upwards in an attempt to get himself stable. That’s when he spots something of great interest from above. “Hey Driba.”
Driba rolls his eyes in exasperation. “What is it now, Blukic?”
“We’ve got what the humans would call a party crasher.”
“Hm?” Frowning, Driba turns and follows his friend’s gaze, before letting out a terrified scream. “AAAAAAHHH!!!”
Snipe and Creati jump at the sound of Driba’s screaming rushing to a stop. And just in time too as a heavy mass of metal comes crashing down just paces ahead of them. The sudden impact rattles the catwalks threatening to snap and break off.
Too focused on keeping her footing, Creai fails to see the massive blue fist speeding towards her skull.
Without thinking Snipe jumps in the way, taking the brunt of the attack to the ribs.
“Mr. Snipe!!” Creati screams.
Snipe is tossed away between the power cells and out of sight, his hat flying off and carrying the two screaming Galvans with it. “AAAAAAHHHH!!!”
From the other end of the maze, Ingenium screeches to a halt, alarmed by what he thinks sounded like screaming…
“Mr. Snipe!!” Creati calls again but to no answer. Gripping the crystal hilt, the blade of her sword expands, becoming the shape of a scimitar, the perfect blade to slash yet thick enough to be a shield. “You fiend! How dare you!”
Her blade slices through the air like a blur, but with a metal clang it comes to a stop against a shell of blue armor.
From the sidelines, Blukic and Driba poke their little heads out from under the hat with Driba spotting the attacker first. “Oh, my…”
Blukic pales, gulping. “Driba is that…?”
“Y-yes, I’m afraid s-so… It’s a Techadon!!”
The Techadon towers over the girl, its massive figure blocking the entire pathway, And with how its maedate is crested makes it looks like it’s giving her a permanent scowl.
"Com - Techadon Robot (Blue)" by RZGmon200.
Commissioned by BlueRanger-Lyric on Fanfic.
Creati’s frozen in place, terrified, her blade didn’t so much as leave a scratch, and the goliath doesn’t even seem to have noticed that it was struck.
It moves, which alarms her so much that she jumps back. But instead of striking her, it turns it back to her as if not even considering her a threat at all. It marches away closer to the exit. The golem then seals the doors and seemingly locks them down before turning around and standing firm, guarding the entrance way.
Creati steps back, alarmed and assuming a defensive stance with her blade. And yet the armored warrior doesn’t make a move, it stands there, seemingly unarmed and uninterested in her or her blade.
“You okay, kid..?” Snipe groans coming around the bend without his hat and with a hand to his side.
“Mr. Snipe, you’re okay!!”
“Yeah, this armor’s the real deal.” He raises his cape and shows her the side of his standard issued Plumber armor. It’s cracked and broken, clearly it won’t be able to stand another attack like the one before. But at least it did its job and kept him from any serious or permanent injuries. He then turns his attention onto the samurai-looking warrior blocking their way. “Who is that?”
“I-I don’t know. He’s just standing there, menacingly!”
Menacing and unmoving; yet Creati can’t shake the feeling that it’s watching their every move.
“They’re blocking the exit. They must want to keep us here.” A surge of dread begins to fill her stomach. “They must be aware of what we’re up to!”
“I don’t like this. We don’t need some alien mucking up our plans.”
“That’s no alien! It’s a Techadon!”
Perring down the humans spot Blukic and Driba scurrying up Snipe’s hat tarped over them as if it was a shell.
Snipe takes his hat back as Creati asks. “I’m sorry, but who did you say that was?
“Not a who, a what.” Blukic corrects. “It’s a Techadon!”
“It’s a literal killing machine!” adds Driba. “And depending on which series it is, they can have a wide array of intelligence and weapons!”
“Although this one is of shoddy workmanship, I must admit it’s ability to adapt is superb.”
“Indeed.”
“Adapt?” Momo’s heart drops. “It can learn?”
“Yes and it is highly specialized in-”
With a whir, their heads snap up as the Techadon’s hands reform into a pair of massive cannons.
“-COMBAT!!!”
They have only seconds to dive out of the way before bolts of red-hot plasma are fired their way.
The shots rip through the air, forcing the heroes to take cover behind the power cells. It has them pinned down with its heavy barrage of power.
Assuming it’s not that intelligent to have spatial awareness, Snipe slips around his power cell, using its great size as a cover until he’s flanking it.
“One shot is all I need.” With his pistol cocked he fires squarely at its head. But with a light ping the bullet bounces off like a harmless nat.
The Techadon stops firing as it turns its head and stares back at him as if silently asking if he really thought that was a good idea.
“…Shit.”
The mechanized warrior aims its left cannon at him and fires!
Snipe dives ungracefully back behind the power cell by flopping onto his belly allowing the plasma bolts to race over his head.
He scrambles to his feet, forgetting the pistol and instead equipping the Needler. “Let’s see what you're made of!” He aims and fires unleashes a rain of violet crystals that home in on the massive target.
Snipe half-expects them to bounce off but much to his surprise and delight the rain of flying crystals pierce the machine’s massive arm. They embedded across its cannon like porcupine quills before the collection of spikes explode in a cloud of violet energy!
The Techadon stumbles back. Its heavy gauntlet left lying limp on the ground as a pile of smoking rust.
“Ha! Take that you samurai-cosplaying weeb!!” says the wannabe cowboy.
Creati pokes out from behind her hiding spot and watches in glee as the Techadon stumbles back against a power cell.
However, hiding behind her foot Driba and Blukic share a look of horror. “Uh oh.”
Her smile vanishes. “Uh oh? Why uh oh?”
Driba cowers behind her boot. “T-Techadons are clunky, slow moving, and b-bulky. They’re wa-walking t-tanks. And they can learn.”
Blukick’s so scared he’s shaking. “B-b-but that’s not w-what makes them t-t-terrifying.”
She frowns, her eyebrows furrowing. “If you consider that resume to be minor accomplishments, then what exactly makes them such a threat?”
With a final gulp, Driba answers with a terrified squeak, “T-they’re s-self-repairing…!”
Picking up its arm, the Techadon casually locks its severed limb back in place allowing its vein like cables and metal to branch in and weld the gauges and bent metal back into place. Once locked and recalibrated, it flexes its newly attached fingers and hand, testing its grip with grim satisfaction.
Snipe’s arms drop at his sides as he exasperatedly says, “Oh, now that’s just bullshit.”
With its arm reformed, the Techadon stands firm as rocket launchers eject out from its broad shoulders.
Using a combination of his Homing Quirk with the Needler’s own target-seeking needles, Snipe fires and manages to shoot down the incoming projectiles. The rockets explode like fireworks but still a trio of missiles make it through the chaos.
Snipe prepares to dodge when an armored Creati shoves past him and stabs her Zircon Blade right into the ground, piercing the catwalk! And from the blade, a thin wall of crystals springs up, shielding them from the explosions. “You can’t hope to break through my wall! It is as hard as diamonds!”
More and more rockets fly in to test that theory, they explode against the crystal barricade causing the wall to rattle and shake. But the heroes hold out.
The loud booms that were just hammering away at the crystals soon die down. The heroes wait with bated breath expecting the robot to reload before starting up its onslaught once again but nothing of the sort happens. Silence falls over the battlefield except for the hum of the charging power cells. What could the robot be doing?
*SHINK!!!*
A swift cut slashes the air cutting apart the crystal wall shatters showering the heroes in shards. The Techadon grips its blade as if a valiant samurai staring down its challengers. With its Resonate-Blade in hand, the six-foot sword vibrates subtlety giving off a soft yet ominous hum.
Stunned and unable to process what happened, Creati throws her blade into the ground again, hoping to create an even bigger barricade than before. But it's for nothing against the Techadon’s sharp steel. The resulting shockwave from the Resonate-Blade not only shatters the wall but launches her away. She was lucky, however, if the blade was any longer it would have taken her head clean off.
“Hey! Over here!” Snipe fires his six-shooter at the bot, knowing full well it won’t do a thing but hopefully it’ll shift its attention to him instead.
Luckily, it seems to have taken the bait as it directs its gaze towards the cowboy. Snipe prepares for a chase, but instead the Techadon projects its knee forward. Before he can question it, a metal sphere shots out from its knee guard directly at him. The orb flies through the air before exploding into a web of thin cables.
“Ah! Ah!” The cowboy isn’t quick enough to dodge. The mess of uncuttable netting entangles around his arms and torso causing him to lose his balance and fall onto the gangway.
Desperately pulling at the binds to no avail, he attempts to pull out the Needler. Unfortunately, the blaster’s trapped in its holster by the unbreakable threads. He can do nothing as the Techadon wanders over towards the downed girl, who’s struggling to get up and shake away the ringing in her ears.
The Techadon raises its Resonate-Blade up and prepares to swing down like a guillotine.
“Creati!! Get away!!” Snipe pulls and pulls at his blaster, screaming for her to run.
And then-
“RAAAAAGH!!!” Metal smashes against metal, releasing a resonating shockwave throughout the air shaking the catwalk. And yet Ingenium holds firm, keeping the Omni-Shield up and against the tuning-fork of the vibrating blade.
“Ingenium!!” His teammates cry out in a mix of shock and cheers, but he can’t hear them. It’s a struggle for him to hold his ground against the machine’s massive strength, and it’s taking up all of his concentration.
The Techadon itself seems confused but quickly adjusts by pressing the vibrating blade down harder onto the little shield until it begins to crack.
Creati, predicting the gruesome outcome, hurries to act. Getting to her feet, she grips the Zircon Blade, channeling her Quirk through it, and wills the blade itself to grow long and more flexible until it's like a chain-like whip with thin edges. With a swing of the chain-whip, the Techadon’s knee is wrapped in a rope of crystal before a sudden pull gashes the sharp edges into its calf.
Losing balance, the Techadon drops to its knees, forced to use its blade as a crutch in order to keep itself upright.
And as it begins to rise again, it finds a thin needle-nosed blaster aimed squarely at its face.
“Boom! Headshot!” Ingenium watches in slow motion as the invisible blast of his Noisy Cricket tears through the Techadon’s helmet and upper torso. Ripping it apart like a lawn mower to a water balloon, spraying metal and oil all across the platform.
Despite anticipating the powerful recoil, Iida is still knocked off his feet. All the while the Techadon’s decapitated body lies limp with its chest gauged open and its blade lying on the floor.
The Galvans hurry to Snipe’s side and get to work deactivating his binds by having the cables unwind back into the capsule.
Meanwhile, Creati rushes to her classmate’s side. “Iida!”
She grips the sides of his helmet, unlatches, and rips it off before checking his face for any signs of damage. But all she can make out is his disheveled hair and cracked glasses.
“I’m fine!” He insists but doesn’t bat her hand away when she offers it. Together they pull him to his feet. “But at least I was able to take out that machine. That should give us plenty of time to complete our mission.” He pats the satchel at his side which still has all nine bombs tucked away inside of it. He had forgone the current mission in order to rush back and help his friends, but with the current threat neutralized they can get right back to it.
“I’m afraid not…” Blukic croaks nervously.
Iida is just about to ask why that is when he spots movement from the robot. Its wires begin to slowly slither around, searching for stray parts that it can use to repair itself. “Is that robot alive?!”
Driba shakes his head. “No, but it will unalive us if given the chance!”
Creati steps back but cannot help but examine the robot’s self-repairing mechanisms. “It must have a weakness we can exploit.”
The stubby Driba folds his arm and states with a firm tone. “Nope. From what we can tell this Techadon is part of the JLU series.”
“Yeah!” Blukic chimes in. “It's a JLU S1:EP29 model!”
“I’m afraid you’re mistaken. It’s obviously a JLU S2:EP07 model.”
“No, it’s not.”
“Yes it is.”
“No, it’s not!”
“Yes it is!!”
“ENOUGH!!!” Creati snaps, already she’s tired of this running gag. “You two mentioned before that it can learn. How?!”
Driba answers. “This robot is from a series of Techadons that can construct new weapons and strategies based on the assigned target it was sent after. Cinder had a report about this same model a few weeks back and it developed a whole armory of weapons to deal with the Omnitrix.”
Iida perks up, his interest fully hooked now. “Hang on, Midoriya fought this thing?”
“So did Ms. Uraraka.” Blukic adds. “But what I remember from the report is that they barely escaped with their lives.”
Understandable considering that the Techadon’s leg has already welded itself back together and it is now repairing its dents while its chest slowly pieces itself together.
Iida steps back, worried that it might just jump up and start attacking them again. “How are we supposed to fight something that even Midoriya struggled against?”
Creati knows. “Blukic, Driba.”
The Galvans blink up at her, “Hm?”
“Can we simply shut it down? Like with an EMP?”
“Ehhh. Not likely.” Driba answers with a grimace. “It has its own internal power source and because of its self-repairing it’ll bounce right back like nothing happened.”
“Hm. I see. So then, tell me, how familiar are you two with the Techadon’s internal systems?”
Driba waves off the comment and yet he can’t help but smile. “I wouldn’t call us experts.”
“But the methods used by the Weapon Masters of Techadon are on the same level as our Galvan Elementary Education.” clarifies Blukic. “We used to re-engineer and reprogram their older models as part of our junior engineers course.”
“Aw, the memories.” Driba smiles, reminiscing.
“Yeah.” Blukic reminiscences too before he focuses back on Creati. “But why do you ask?”
She gives them a look that says it all.
“Ooooh.” The realization hits them both at the same time; and it’s terrifying.
But before they can object, Creati scoops them up and hands them to Iida. “Quickly! Before it realizes what we’re up to!”
Ingenium understands what’s needed to be done. His Engines roar to life propelling him down the catwalk with the screaming Galvans firmly in his grasp. “WWWWAAAAAAHHHHH!!!”
The Techadon shifts in place beginning to rise again even without a head.
“WWWWAAAAAAHHHHH!!!” The Tech Support duo can do nothing but hold on for dear life as the room blurs past them in seconds. Then, before they can blink, the pair find themselves lodged right into the Techadon’s exposed head and inner workings!.
“Good luck you two!” Ingenium rips his arm away just as the Techadon’s helmet begins to close. “I have faith in you both!!”
Before the helmet fully seals, all Iida sees is the two Galvan’s terrified expressions.
With an angry whir, the Techadon reaches for the boy. Only to quickly reel its hand back when a stream of violet crystals stab its arm.
“Run! Iida!! Run!!”
Upon his teacher’s calls, Ingenium takes off sprinting past the Techadon before turning and zooming away into the maze of power cells. As the fully repaired Techadon rises back to full height,
Ingenium makes it back to his teammates. “They’re in!”
“Then we hold out!” Snipe prepares the counterattack. “We need to buy them time before we can escape! Keep your distance! Don’t let this thing near you or get a hold of you.”
“Yes, sir!” Both students prepare themselves. Creati draws her blade, ready to defend or strike at any given notice. As Ingenium readies the Omni-Shield like it’s second nature to him while his free hand grips the Noisy Cricket.
The Techadon, itself, readies for combat, brandishing the Resonate-Blade before aiming the tip at its next targets. Silently declaring it’s ready for Round 2.
With an angry whir, the Techadon attacks, shaking the catwalk with heavy steps as it sprints forward.
Summoning his courage, Ingenium charges forth to meet the behemoth.
The Techadon intends to slice him in half with its 6-foot blade. However, Iida turns his body. Easily dodging the blade, he continues his mad dash as another burst from his Engines. The added propulsion pushed him past the giant. Not before leaving a deep gauge in its side from the outstretched Omni-Shield.
Following his path, the bot aims its knee and launches a pair of Cable Capsules at the speedster.
Yet, before they can even release their contents, the two capsules are shot out of the air by a pair of bullets.
The android redirects its focus onto Snipe to prevent any further interference, but as soon as it turns, it is met with a barrage of canisters that are not its own. Upon impact, the canisters explode coating the behemoth in a gum-like substance. Its arms and limbs stick together while Creati creates more canisters to lob at the trapped robot.
Quickly determining a counter, the Techadon’s entire body glows orange with heat causing the gunk to bubble before melting away. However, before it can begin its counterattack, Ingenium races up behind it to strike the back of the head with a swinging kick. The powerful strike is enough to hurl the robot to the floor.
Catching itself, robotic samurai hurries to fire a missile from its shoulder. Only for another bullet to interfere, blowing the rocket up in its face just as it was launching.
Spotting an opening, Creati rushes in holding the Zircon Blade low as the blade shifts and expands into that of a crystal axe. “Yah!!”
She swings in a downward motion, but she was too slow allowing the bot to block the swing with its arm. The axe lodges itself only an inch into its armor but it’s enough to pin it in place. With her weapon temporarily disabled, the robot launches forward, aiming to clobber her into the ground with a swing of its free hand.
“YAOYOROZU!!!” In a blur, Ingenium lifts Creati in his arms before dashing away.
Giving up its initial action, the Techadon’s arm morphs into a cannon. Though, rather than aiming at the fleeing students, the cannon is swung around in the other direction to fire off shots back at where it calculated Snipe’s position. The programming is correct as the plasma bolts force Snipe to take cover, granting the android the window to fire another Caple Capsule! The capsule flies and bursts into tens of cables that latch around Ingenium’s leg like vines.
“Waaaahhh!!” Ingenium goes down, tucking Creati in close so he can bear the brute damage of the fall. His armor screeches and sparks against the metal before they slam into the massive haul of a power cell.
Creati hurries to her feet and pales when she sees the Techadon aiming its cannon at them. Acting on instinct, she generates a flashbang into her hand and tosses it back at the behemoth.
*BANG!!!* It goes off right in its face, blinding it.
Using her Zircon Blade as a dagger, she slices off the cables around Iida’s legs and the two hurry behind cover before the Techadon can spot them again. They move through the maze of power cells, using their massive size and bulk as cover.
And thankfully they were fast enough this time as it seems to have lost them. Following its programming, the machine marches through the maze slowly and meticulously.
“It’s parrying all our attacks…” Iida whispers, his back pressed against one of the giant batteries.
“So studious.” Creati’s both impressed and terrified by the notion. “It’s already been able to read our fighting styles, and it’s adjusting its attack patterns accordingly.”
“Should we make a run for it? We can escape and wait for Blukic and Driba to disable it?”
“We could, yes. But it locked the entrance and even if we could open it we’d have to get past it first. And it’s clearly not going to give us the chance.”
She hushes up as the Techadon approaches. It tilts its head as if listening in but with no signs of movement it carries on and away from them.
“Even if we disabled it,” Creati continues, speaking in a much quieter tone. “that won’t guarantee victory. We would need to do a great deal of damage to prevent it from returning.”
“Like an explosion?” The students nearly jump but soon break into smiles as Snipe rounds the corner and joins them. “Then maybe our best course of action is to fall back on Plan A.”
Creati turns to Iida who had the satchel of bombs. “Where are the bombs?”
“I have them right here.” His satchel is still strapped to his side and Momo couldn’t be more grateful that she made the shells for the bombs so durable.
Snipe peers into the bag. “Nine left. Which power cells do you have left?”
“The ones over there.” Iida points to the far side of the gridded catwalk.
Which coincidentally happens to be exactly the same area the Techadon has decided to patrol.
Well there seems to be only one real solution to this problem.
Snipe reloads his pistol and Needler. “We’ll provide you cover, just grab them and apply them as fast as you can.”
Determined to succeed, Ingenium locks his helmet back on and crouches low, preparing to run like an Olympic dasher.
Creati considers the Zircon Blade. Now that some of the initial adrenaline has worn off, she’s starting to realize how much of a strain it's putting on her. Her body feels like it’s on fire with her muscles burning and her lipids exhausted. And so instead she opts to Create more Flashbangs.
“Get ready…” Snipe holds his weapons at the ready. “Get set..” His fingers feather the triggers. “GO!!!”
Everything takes off in an instant. Bullets and violet spikes fly into the air. Behind them flashbangs twirl and spin. And sprinting amongst them all is a red blur followed by a trail of flaming blue.
The Techadon’s sensors are overwhelmed by the incoming projectiles and explosions. It can do nothing but brace itself for the barrage.
Giving Ingenium the time and space he needs to race on by.
However, despite the blinding onslaught, the Techadon remains vigilant. Watching as Ingenium makes it to the first power cell, the one right behind the Techadon, then immediately sets the first of nine bombs in place.
“One!!!” And he hurries off for the second one.
The Techadon quickly scans the room quickly realizing that there are 21 other bombs sorted onto every power cell. A fact that makes it whir with incredible fury.
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Meanwhile, through all the thick armor and unearthly metal, the explosions and bangs from the outside seem distant, simply background noise that seems too far to disturb them.
And yet the Galvans seem to be at a loss, crawling through the Techadon’s inner workings like mice through a cardboard maze.
“Now what?” Blukic rubs his head after banging it against a low hanging circuit. “Should we just start by ejecting wires and compromising its armor?”
“No, we must be strategic about this.” Driba answers as he carefully maneuvers around the vein-like cables. “If we just start pulling random circuits and connections the Techadon is bound to know we’re here! And besides, it would quickly repair itself.”
“Then what do we do?”
“I don’t know!” Driba snaps, already having lost his patience. “I didn’t think that far ahead!”
“Hm, what a conundrum.” Blukic looks around, swiveling his head around all the exposed circuitry and inner processing units. “Hm, what if instead of disabling it, we reprogram it?”
“Blukic that idea is incredibly-...” Driba stops, his eyes popping wide as the idea really hammers in. “Genius!!”
“Aw, thank you.”
“If we can reach its central programing units we can reprogram its parameters! Maybe even erase its factory settings!”
Blukic grins in excitement. “We can make it harmless! Like a kitten!”
“Let’s hurry! No doubt those humans aren’t faring too well without us.”
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“Two!!”
“Three!”
Ingenium is making his way through the maze in record time, locking the bombs in place one after the other. He’s at 3 already with 6 left to go.
He grips bomb number 4 and races to plant it. “Four!!”
However, just as he locks it in place, a literal flying fist rockets through the air and rattles his skull with an obliterating punch.
“Ingenium!!” Creati cries but neither Snipe nor her have any time to help him as the Techadon turns its one remaining fist at them.
The teacher and student dive away avoiding the rocket fist which smashes into the haul of a power cell leaving a sizable dent.
The two fists then speed back to their main body with the one fist that struck Iida holding the satchel tight.
Snipe gasps. “It has the bombs!!”
“How frustrating!” Creati is absolutely astounded by this machine’s powers of observation. It’s already figured out their plan and is countering it perfectly. Meanwhile, the cannon must be close to completion. It’s going to fire any minute now, for sure! All this machine will have to do is hold them here and their mission will be a failure!
Her judgment of the situation is right on point.
Instead of attacking them, the Techadon keeps the satchel of bombs close and draws out its sword, awaiting the heroes to take the clear and obvious bait.
“We need to get those bombs back!!” Snipe starts firing, aiming to hinder the monster somehow or at least grab its attention.
It works, sort of, but it begins to turn its body so it can take the blows with its arm in front.
Hearing the roar of Engines growing louder from its flank the Techadon moves surprisingly agile, leaning its body and prize away from the charging Ingenium who zooms past without so much as grazing his hand over the satchel’s reins.
The heroes grow even more frustrated. They need those bombs back. They only have minutes to spare. Maybe even less time. Oh, just what are those Galvans up to. Why haven’t they disabled it yet? At this rate the Ideon Cannon’s gonna-
*WHIIIRRR….!!!*
A thundering hum rumbles above them as the power cells discharge more and more power into the glowing cables above that roar louder, glowing brighter with surging power.
“Oh no…”
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“PRINCIPAL!!!” Springing out of his seat, Power Loader lets out a scream as his knuckles turn white against the monitors.
But he already knows, he already knows: the worst scenario has come.
“The cannon it’s-!!”
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“Ready to fire.” A cruel excited grin stretches across Psyphon’s marble skin. He turns excitedly to the drones nearest the captain’s seat. “Move the ship in position! Have the Vulture Droids coral the Plus Ultra! I want to watch as the Plumbers burn out of the void!”
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Snipe doesn’t need any confirmation. “We’re out of time! Forget the plan we need to leave, now and hope what we got is enough!!”
“But we haven’t set all the bombs yet!!” Creati points out. “If we don't, the cannon will remain operational!!”
“And what of Blukic and Driba?!” asks Ingenium.
With a gasp they dive away as a round of missiles fly their way.
“I’m sorry kids but this mission is lost. We’ll get those two out but once we do we need to bail!”
And believe him, the Galvans would like to do nothing better than to scram.
“Ohh, hurry Driba!” Blukic is sweating buckets as he and Driba hurry to finish their work. They arrived at the central systems a minute ago and have already started fiddling around with anything and everything they could get their grubby hands on.
They don’t remove wires or cables, but they have been tampering and reworking the central circuits and data analysis boards as quickly and desperately as they can.
“I’m trying! This isn’t as easy as it looks!” Driba scrambles to work faster, even plugging in his portable data drive in order to reprogram the Techadon manually. “Ah ha! I knew Weapon Master intelligence couldn’t stand up to the genius of a Galvan. Hopefully that should stall out its processing units and computing processors. And for the final touch, I should be able to reprogram its default parameters!”
Hopefully he’s quick because the Techadon’s on the move.
Forcing its way through the barrage of bullets with its arm out to block the incoming spikes, the robot barrels toward the heroes, raising its blade high in the air like a war flag. Marching closer, it prepares to deliver a blow that’ll surely cut Snipe in half. But before it can bring down its wrath, its entire body freezes in place, stalling, before falling to its knees like the wind was just knocked out of it.
“They did it!!” Creati doesn’t waste a second on opportunity.
She brings forth the Zircon Blade and holds it over the small of the glitching and whirring Techadon’s back.
Ingenium joins her and together they put all their weight down onto the blade.
As the blade sinks down into the metal armor, they hear the faint sounds of surprised yells coming from inside. “Waaaahhh…!”
Together the students pull down on the blade, using it as leverage in order to rip open the Techadon’s shell just enough for the Galvans to come scurrying out.
“Hurry you two! The cannon’s-”
“About to fire!!” Driba shouts after taking one look at the glowing cables above and the surging power cells. “Hurry before we’re all vaporized!!”
Ingenium gathers the aliens together as Snipe calls for them to run. “Let’s go!”
Ingenium moves to follow but Creati holds back, eyeing the forgotten satchel that’s filled with bombs. She doesn’t even stop to consider their options, instead she rips it from the Techadon’s grip and hurries off.
“Creati!” Snipe calls her back. “What are you doing?!”
“Completing the mission!!” She shouts, grabbing two bombs she latches them to two separate power cells. “Five! Six!!”
She dashes for power cell number 7 but the glitching Techadon is finally able to move once again. It kneels up and aims its knee out in order to fire a Cable Capsule.
“No!!” Ingenium speeds towards the Capsule and with a wide rolling kick he bats the capsule away like a soccer ball before it can release its contents. “You damn killing machine!!” With a roar he slings his Noisy Cricket and fires!
The blast rips apart the Techadon’s left side and blasts Iida off his feet. But that buys enough time Creati desperately needs to apply the seventh bomb!
With its left side temporarily out of commission, the Techadon aims its right arm cannon at Creati’s exposed back.
“Leave her alone!!’ Snipe roars, firing his Needler.
But the Techadon was ready, its body heats up tricking the spikes into exploding prematurely from the wave of intense heat.
“No!!”
The Techadon fires!!
“YAOYOROZU!!!”
“RAAAGHHH!!” A knight in shining red armor bursts back onto the scene with a circular green shield in hand.
*BLAM!!!* The plasma bolts explode upon impact neither the Omni-Shield nor Ingenium break. “Go! Yaoyorozu!!”
Quickly planting the second to last bomb, she screams, “Eight!!”
The Techadon scans the room. Its scanners glitch in and out of focus, unable to read anything, until finally it manages to read that only one power cell remains unmarked. And if it fails to stop her in the next few seconds then its mission will be a failure.
Rocket engines, similar to Iida’s own, appear between its shoulder blades. Roaring with power, the Techadon’s massive frame rockets forward.
Ingenium tries his best to stand in its way, but that last blast took too much out of him. He’s lost too much strength and speed as a result the machine plows right through him and his shield. “GAAAH!!”
Knowing she can’t stop, Snipe and the Galvans can only yell out in warning. “BEHIND YOU!!!”
She doesn’t turn back to look, she knows it’s upon her, she just keeps running. She can hear the accursed hum of its Resonate-Blade undoubtedly in its grip as it prepares to do her in. But she keeps going.
She’s so close. So close!
Just one more. Just one more!
Determined, she pushes forth with on last ditch effort. By tossing the satchel as far from her as she can!
The Techadon spots the target and changes the trajectory of its swing at the last possible second. And with a single blow its Resonate Blade tears through the satchel like wet paper. But there’s no explosion, no clang of a canister falling out or the cries of failure. No, nothing of the sort occurs except watching the tethered pieces of the once whole satchel fall away to the ground: completely empty.
“Nine!!” Creati practically cheers! Her gamble worked, by tucking the bomb in her arms and throwing the bag as a distraction gave her the moment she needed!
Angered, the machine aims a missile but a barrage of spikes blow up in its face and just as it's about to start its repairs it begins to glitch out again, causing it to collapse to its hands and knees.
“Hurry! This is our last chance! Run for it!!” Snipe screams, making sure his students run ahead of him.
And they go, sprinting for the sealed doors.
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At the same time, under Psyphon’s command, the Chimeran Hammer has managed to align its haul towards the swarmed Plumber ship.
^Sir!^ One of the Bioids calls. ^The Plus Ultra will be in range in about 10 seconds.^
Psyphon grins. “Perfect. Prepare to fire the Ideon Cannon on my mark.”
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They’ve made it to the sealed doors.
Ingenium hurries the Galvans to the locking panel. “Quickly!”
“We’re going! We’re going!” Driba insists but he just stands there, his eyes scanning over the panel in confusion and panic. “Alright the first thing we need to do is determine if the code is based on the Ekaynokal numerical system or the Folúpu numerical system-”
“Yah!!” With a shout, Blukic shoves past Driba with a tiny wrench in hand. With a swing he bats the control panel open and begins ripping out any and all wires he can reach.
“Blukic you-!”
Almost immediately the doors slide open for them.
“-absolute genius!!”
“Thank YO-WWOOO!!!”
The Galvans are plucked away as the heroes run through the door.
“Get behind me and get ready to seal the doors!” Snipe warns as he takes aim with his pistol at the furthest bomb he can spot.
Creati hovers her hand over the working panel and prepares to seal it upon his command. If she had any time she’d seal the door and create a remote detonator, but time is of the essence. That machine is already back on its feet and rushing towards them.
The Techadon looks like a bloodied raging bull as it struggles across the catwalk due to its glitching systems. Its vision, targeting systems, and power systems are all losing steam, but its directive refuse to let it relent. With the power of its Rocket Engines, the relentless robot rockets forward again and at the speed it’s traveling it will surely smash through the doors even if they seal them.
Ingenium fumbles for his blaster but it’s no use with a pair of panicking Galvans in his arms And Snipe is too focused on his target.
And so, knowing it’s up to her, Creati grips her Zircon Blade and pierces it into the ground. This will take out the last of her strength, but it will be worth it!! “PILLARS OF RETRIBUTION!!!”
A trail of crystals explode forth, forming into long thin spikes.
Using the behemoth’s weight and speed against it, the crystal spikes easily pierce through its armor, hide, and helmet leaving it gauged and bleeding of oil.
“FIRE!!!” Creati screams and Snipe fires.
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Psyphon grins maniacally as the Chimeran Hammer shadows over the Plus Ultra like a predator looking over its weak and feeble prey. And with no remorse he gives the order, “FIRE!!!”
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The Ideon Cannon begins to charge, it’s about to fire. The cables and power cells are all lighting up as one massive unit.
All the while a single bullet soars through the air, past the Techadon’s head, past the surging electricity, and straight through and into a single explosive with an almost anticlimactic ping.
But then like a warehouse full of ammunition all it takes is one stray spark and the entire grid explodes with lights, fire, and thundering explosions! Each and every bomb goes off in a chain reaction triggered by their neighbor’s own exploding shrapnel and heat!
The wave of fire and devastation rushes towards the doorway which Iida hurries to seal.
The Techadon thrashes against its confines attempting to break free before its entire body is consumed in exploding flames.
The doors close slowly. The heroes can feel the intense heat growing. It’ll surely vaporize them! But then just as the flames begin to lick at the threshold, the reinforced doorway seals itself tight before the entirety of the entire ship rocks violently with a volcanic-like eruption.
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The entire ship rumbles and roars with metallic agony.
Psyphon holds on for dear life as monitors around him flare with sparks and alarms.
But what has him so distraught, so horrified, is the view he has of the ship. He had seen it, the Ideon Cannon had just exploded from within, ripping apart the front of the ship, breaking apart its jaw like design and sending debris and unknowing droids into the void.
It’s a horrible sight for the screaming minion. “NOOOO!!!”
From her monitor near the doorway, a disguised Lucy has to hold herself back from celebrating. ‘They did it~!’
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Principal Nezu is all smiles, back to his usual composed self he watches with pride as a portion of the Chimeran Hammer’s front maw floats away into space above them.
“Let us not waste this opportunity!” He proclaims. “Undoubtedly their weapons systems will be offline. One-One navigate us closer. Vlad King prepare to deliver a barrage of laser fire; I wish to see their remaining guns neutralized. This is it everyone! We must make for one final push!!”
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THE PREVIEW: Ch.85
“Look there’s the Omnitrix! It’s right there!”
“Too much noise. I find it hard to believe that the Mad Titan would allow rats to scurry around his domain. What is the galaxy coming to?”
“What of you little mouse? Are you lost? Are you hurt? Or did you come here to PERISH!?!”
“You must be in such pain. Your body is such a delicate thing. Imperfect and soft. Like a twig. Tell me… What’s it like to live such a miniscule existence?”
“Give me your best shot, sunny boy!”
“I was so worried! Don’t you dare leave us again!”
“Your species is young, you have yet to realize that the only way to gain real power is to TAKE IT!!!”
‘I’m sorry I couldn’t save you in the end…’
“Because I made a promise to a little boy.”
Notes:
*See! I promised you guys this chapter be 10 times better then the last chapter! Hahaha! How’d you all like the Techadon? Or Iida’s new gear? I thought this chapter was a ton of fun to write, especially whenever the 2 Galvans were in play! Hahaha!
*ARTWORK* New artwork commissioned by BlueRanger-Lyric on fanfic. It's titled "Com - Techadon Robot (Blue)" by RZGmon200 on deviant art. Go check out their other artworks, they are really something.
*UPDATES* So, this is how the updates for the next ~5 chapters are going to work. I will post a new chapter every other Friday. So, Ch.85 will be July 12. Ch.86 will be posted on July 26. Ch.87 on August 9. And, finally, if all goes well, we will see the finale of this arc with Ch.88 on August 23. OR it ends on September 6 depending on if I need to make the final chapter a two parter. *NOTICE* This finale is subject to change based on how the last 25% of this Arc ends up.
*Like mentioned earlier, the last 25% of this arc is not complete (honestly I barely started this week because of how busy it’s been). My hope is that by posting every 2 weeks I can buy myself more time to work on the finale. Plus, I want to hear feedback and see what you guys are excited to see. So yeah that is my plan. But like always “life finds a way” and I am going to be extremely busy the rest of this summer: like I am losing all my weekends from here on out. And that is literal. I am straight up gonna lose my weekends, not because of anything bad, but just for my own life’s sake kinda deal. Either way the weekends have been when I can get the most writing done. And since I will be losing them from here till August, I cannot promise that I will even have the finale of this arc ready to go by the deadline of August 23/September 6. So, please bear with me and I hope to hear from you all as our dear friends rescue Deku and All Might.
*TV TROPES LINK*: delete the spaces (_) within the URL below in order to get the full link.
https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Fanfic/HeroesNeverDieItsHeroTime
Chapter 90: No Update
Chapter Text
Sooo in case you are unaware, but I also post this story on fanfiction.com. And I make it a point to update both websites at the same time. However, fanficiton has been having a lot of issues for the last few months. Mainly it has not been alerting people that the stories they love, and follow are updating. So, in my case these last 2-3 chapters have gone unnoticed for the most part over there. And last night right as I was gonna pre-upload the next chapter, the fanfiction.com site went down for everyone across the world. I have no idea what's going on over there but because of it I will not be uploading a new chapter this week. And the site is still down this morning so yeah, it's a no go.
Due to these issues, I will NOT upload the latest chapter until next Friday, July 19th. But then again if fanfic continues to have these issues, I may push the uploaded schedule back even further. That said, I am going to try to get back into really short Omakes again in my side-story. So, be on the lookout because I use those Omakes to give UPDATES on the real chapters. be sure to check them out.
New Uploaded Schedule (subjected to change):
July 19 - Ch.85 Intervention
August 2 or August 16th. - Ch.86 and/or Ch.87 (Still being written, been too busy to properly start it, so I might need more time.)
Chapter 91: Intervention
Notes:
*Man, what is going on with fanfic right now? The email alerts are still not working! And last week the site was shut down!! What sucks even more is that so many followers and readers have no idea that I’ve been updating. Like for real if you are unaware I posted 3 new chapters now, this on and 2 others before it. So, if you are just now jumping in then you might want to check those chapters out first.
*Side note before diving in this chapter I just want to state that I tried something a bit different with the layout. Just keep in mind that this chapter was originally supposed to be combined with the last chapter so there will be sections that are copy-and-paste of the last chapter for the sake of the timeline.
*ARTWORK* We have new fanart!!! Thank you to SpeedDemon099 on fanfic and DeviantArt for the beautiful piece of fanart! Everyone! You need to check it out it’s called “Hisashi Midoriya: Heroes Never Die: It's Hero Time” by SpeedDemon099 on DeviantArt!
Link to Artwork:
https://www.deviantart.com/speeddemon099/art/Hisashi-Midoriya-Heroes-Never-Die-It-s-Hero-Time-1075484519*UPDATE about posting schedule at the end.
*TV TROPES LINK*:
https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Fanfic/HeroesNeverDieItsHeroTime
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
"Hisashi Midoriya: Heroes Never Die: It's Hero Time by SpeedDemon099 on DeviantArt"
(See Author's Notes for more details)
“Bark! Bark!”
“Woooah woo!! Run like the wind Cosmo! Hahaha!”
Holding Cosmo’s collar like the reins of a horse, Kraab is having the time of his life as Cosmo sprints through the ship with her tongue hanging out and her ears flapping about.
“Cosmo! Kraab! Shush!” Uravity races after them, shushing them with a stern look. “We don’t know if anyone’s around! They might hear you!!” She shouts a bit too loudly to the point that both Kraab and Cosmo give her a judgmental look to which she takes offense to. “I’m only shouting because you were both being so loud!!”
Kraab chuckles and leans into Cosmo’s ear. “And I thought you were the bitch.”
“I heard that you little-!!”
“Bark!” Cosmo shushes them, her ears perk up towards the end of the hall.
Quickly the trio press themselves against the wall, behind protruding bulkheads and just in time as a squad of Hover Drones speed past.
This pattern continues: following Cosmo and trusting her keen senses to warn them of incoming threats. Her nose works overtime, sniffing out the Omnitrix’s scent straight towards a set of highly reinforced doors that look like an over exaggerated vault door mixed with alien influences.
“Is that it?” Uravity whispers. “Is this the science wing?”
Cosmo straightens her stance, her nose pointed right at the doors in confirmation.
“What do you think is in there?”
Kraab answers. “If we’re lucky: the Omnitrix but also that Charlotte Project I was telling you about.” But there’s another problem that they can’t see, which is the problem in of itself. “If we run in we might be running right into a trap. If only we could get some eyes in there.”
“Hm. Maybe we could.” Uravity looks around until she spots exactly what she’s looking for, a vent.
And she figures that maybe it’s time to steal from the Xenomorph’s playbook.
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[PLAY: “ Dr. STONE NEW WORLD - Opening Song | "Wasuregataki" by Huwie Ishizaki ” - link can be found in this chapter on the AO3 site.]
https://_youtu._be/eKeoHejslp0?si=hrwFYRRwMIgQs6Ym
(Instrumental~~~)
The camera shows Izuku Midoriya with his head hanging down before zooming up to show Vilgax’s battleship floating over Earth's moon.
Sou kore kona itami ga~
Uravity Uraraka gazes up to the sky as the title appears from above her.
Sujikaki no nai monogatari ni wa~
She begins to walk forward as her friends slowly fade into existence: Pinky, Bakugou, Shoto, Creati, Ingenium, and Red Riot.
Hitsuyou fukaketsu nanda~
Inko Midoriya holds a picture of her family as she cries and is comforted by Mitsuki Bakugou and Eirene Ashido.
Yoru no umi ni wa Tsuki ga isuwaru~
Unseen to them Cinder is at the door. He looks up with determination as he heads out to rescue his son.
Sugita kunou wo~
Katsuki Bakugo holds an old All Might card as an image of him and Deku as kids cheering as they hold their cards out appears behind him.
Bikasuru hima ga~
Nue looks down at a watch as an image of him and Izuku in middle school laughing appears behind him.
Aru nara ima dake utsuseyo~
The screen splits between the two, both standing back-to-back, and with determined glares they both march away in opposite directions.
Ororkamono demo shoujiki te itai~
Panels shift and fold away, creating a portal, that reveals Izuku bound in an iconic ring of metal as Toshinori Yagi stares up at it in a mix of shock-and-awe and despair.
Haato ga sawagu yo~
Vilgax the Conqueror makes himself known from atop his throne. As he peers down at his inferiors with an air of ominous superiority.
(Instrumental~~~)
Below his throne his minions have been assembled: Psyphon, Malware, Sunder, Ragnarok, SevenSeven, the Techadon, Rojo, and Nue.
Tatoe dareka wo kizutsuke tato shitemo~
Cinder unleashes a wave of flames as he mows through Vilgax's drone army with his blazing dual-edged spear! Before swiftly speeding away as the Techadon gets pulled in by Thirteen’s swirling Black Hole!
Yuzurenai hikari ga arunda~
Pinky slides across the narrow hallways as Ingenium races by. They’re followed by a sword wielding Creati and a Hardened Red Riot. Before the screen is consumed by pillars of fire and ice with Shot’s eyes piercing back.
Mushi kaesu tsumori wa betsu ni nari keredo~
Uravity smashes through the ice before unleashing a wave of glowing gravity in every direction causing the army of silhouetted aliens to be blasted away.
Kono seaki de kono sekai de~
Bakugou rockets past her in a blaze of a Howitzer Impact that crashes into a grinning Nue like an exploding meteor.
Wasuregataki naru niwa mada hayai~
Vilgax looms menacingly over the Rising Star and the Symbol of Peace as nine dark threads of fate swirl through and around his form.
Yume migachi na shinisokonai sa~
Toshinori looks on at the teen with a look of shame that soon transitions to that of deterPinkytion. And in a wave of smoke a scowling All Might rises to meet the Mad Titan.
Zero kara hairiagare sora ga waretatte~
Vilgax’s tentacles reach for the defiant Deku as the Omnitrix begins to spark and glow with inspiring green lightning.
Ano sekai e ano sekai e~
A massive discharge of green explodes outward, overtaking everything and swallowing up everything in a brilliant show of green light.
Nanjyukkai nan byakkai~
Deku gazes out towards the vastness of space from the portal window of his prison cell.
nanzenkai nomikonde~
While Uravity gazes out into the star-filled sky through the windshield of the RazorCrest.
Nanjyuunen~
Deku slowly raises his left fist towards the shrinking window.
nanbyaku nen~
Uravity slowly raises her right fist towards the expanding window.
nan zen nen~
The screen splits between the two, zooming in on their fists just as they gently connect. And the camera is blinded by flashes of green and pink before washing away to white.
Sakimidare~!
A still Omnitrix lays on upon the moon, alone and in the dark, before the Sun majestically peeks out from behind the Earth over the edge and shines its rays of hope down upon it.
(Illustrated by Drag0n5on)
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Ch.85 Intervention
%%%%%%%%%[MEANWHILE]%%% %%%%%
“This is the last batch.” says Creati while dumping the last 9 bombs into Ingenium’s satchel.
The two Galvans frown with worry. “Nine remaining.”
“And with barely any time to spare.” Blukic comments. He’s been monitoring the Ideon Cannon’s power levels and it’s 90% charged.
In the meantime, Ingenium salutes before taking his bomb-filled satchel and running off for the last 9 power cells. “I can attach these faster than anyone else! You four should make for the exit. I’ll be right behind you!!”
“You all heard the man, let’s move it gang!” Snipe gathers up the Galvans onto his hat and runs for the exit with Creati in toe.
The Galvans hold on tight to the brim of Snipe’s hat and as they do they spot trouble from above and they let out a terrified scream. “AAAAAAHHH!!!”
Snipe and Creati jump at the sound, and they hurry to a stop. And just in time too as a heavy mass of metal comes crashing down just paces ahead of them.
And there before them as a massive wall of metal and iron stands the mighty Techadon. It towers over the heroes, its weight so vast it threatens to break the catwalk, while its sheer bulk blocks off their path. And with a threatening whir of machinery it attacks, poised to crush all that stand in its path!
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The vent is certainly a tighter fit than the garbage shoot, but it’s enough for Uravity and Cosmo to shimmy their way through. And although it felt like she was being squeezed out of a toothpaste bottle, it was all worth it. Because now they have a perfect view of the lab from the inside.
The vent is located on the furthest wall away from the doors, sitting just above the floor and beside a collection of heavy lab equipment and storage units that obscure the duct perfectly.
The lab itself is unlike the rest of the ship. Unlike the Chimeran Hammer, which is massive, dark, and foreboding, the science wing is neat, organized, and sterile. The floors are a pristine sheet of white, the equipment new and well maintained, and the lights above are nearly blinding leaving no shadows a place to linger. Machinery and laboratory equipment are neatly organized in a sort of spiral with the larger appliances and experiments nearest the walls before decreasing in size as they circle around towards the center.
Kraab notices the Charlotte Project’s massive haul sitting dormant halfway through the spiral, surrounded by other apparatuses.
Experiments both forgotten and new are monitored by automatic systems, systems all run by, what Uravity assumes, to be one central computer. A computer that sits midway through the spiral. It’s a massive holographic screen that floats in the air designed to shift around the room as per the user’s discretion.
But at the end of the spiral, at the exact center of the entire lab, stands a large extraction machine. It looks like a high-tech shrine with cables and automations acting as offerings to a idol of worship, a shining orb that sparks dangerously on occasion with high volumes of electricity acts as such an idol. And why wouldn’t this machine, this containment unit, not be a place of worship? After all, the greatest weapon in the galaxy sits atop it.
“Look there’s the Omnitrix! It’s right there!” Uravity is almost relieved when she spots the Omnitrix floating inside the electrified orb. It’s like seeing an old friend after so long, but she’s worried, seeing it float there without its wielder and with its cuff ripped open, it’s like seeing that same friend on a hospital bed.
“Grrrr.” Something has Cosmo’s attention as she growls lowly towards the lab.
Kraab quickly spots the problem. “Yeah, and so is he.”
From between the spiral of equipment and science that’s beyond human understanding, strides a lone member of the Negative Nine: Ragnarok.
A holographic screen is following him around allowing him to work and walk around freely. The screen shifts showing an outline of a horizontal bar that slowly begins to fill in with color.
And although Ochaco can’t read any of the symbols or text she can recognize a download bar when she sees one. “What do you think he’s doing?”
“Looks like…some kind of data transfer.” Kraab answers, skeptical of all this.
“Data transfer? But what kind of data is he transforming?”
“No idea.”
“Whatever it is, he’s too focused on it. This is our chance to grab the Omnitrix and go before he even notices.”
“Woah. Hey now. That’s not happening. See that orb?” He points at the yellow glowing sphere sitting atop the central extraction machine. “It’s an electrified ray shield. So, unless you like the smell of fried chicken, you ain’t getting to that watch.”
“Can you disable it?”
“Maybe…” He’s hesitant to answer especially considering his current state which includes a severe lack of well working appendages. “Yeah, yeah I got this. Just…get me over there.”
“Will do.” Pressing her fingers to the vent, the once heavy vent becomes weightless and so much easier for Uravity to unlock and swing open without a sound.
She plucks Kraab off Cosmo’s back and tucks him in close like a football. And as she gets ready to slip out, Cosmo leans forward as if to run for it before Uravity puts an arm out in front of her. “No, girl. You stay here.”
“Rrrr…” She begs.
Uravity scowls, sternly. “Sit.”
Cosmo is reluctant, jittering in place, until she eventually complies.
“Now stay.” Uravity orders while backing out of the vent slowly. “Staaay. Stay.” With one last command, Uravity sneaks away, crouching down and crawling in between the spiral of equipment leaving Cosmo inside the duct, dejected and whimpering.
Uravity makes her way through the science wing, making sure she stays low by using every nook and cranny between her and the Omnitrix for cover. Which is made even harder with Ragnarok choosing to wander around himself; it would seem he’s a pacer, unable to work unless he’s moving around. Thankfully he’s easy to spot thanks to the holographic monitor that's hovering over his head like a neon sign.
Movement in the corner of his eye catches his attention. But he doesn’t react, instead he continues with his work, as if he saw nothing.
“Rrrr…” Ragnarok lets out a deep sigh that sounds more like a frustrated growl. “Too much noise. I find it hard to believe that the Mad Titan would allow rats to scurry around his domain. What is the galaxy coming to?”
Uravity slides against the extraction machine, it’s bigger up close, taller than her at full height, but it’ll make for some good cover. Silently she places Kraab beside it and without a word the cyborg gets to work, looking for a place to hook himself in and begin breaking down the systems firewalls.
Seeing that he’ll be fine and unseen thanks to his size, she moves away to find a better and less exposed hiding spot.
That’s when he decides to make his move. “It appears that a mouse has snuck its way in.”
She jumps, nearly screaming, when she finds Ragnarok standing there, menacingly, between sets of massive test vats.
“What of you little mouse? Are you lost? Are you hurt? Or-” His fists begin to burn with solar energy. “Did you come here to PERISH!?!” He fires, his solar beams bright and burning like the sun.
Uravity dives away behind a metallic desk. Just in time too as the beam melts the top half away.
“Keep going!” She screams before running away further into the lab.
Kraab hesitates, the moment she was called out he was ready to abort the mission but if she can keep Ragnarok distracted…
He gets to work, determined to see this through till the end.
“Scurry away little mouse.” Ragnarok taunts. “It’s all you can do.” He fires beams after her, melting and blasting more equipment without a care for repercussions.
‘I just need time! Time for Kraab to unlock the watch!’ For now she’ll run, run the villain ragged, keep his attention on her no matter what until that ray shield is disabled.
Using a monitor as leverage, she leaps into the air and spins, throwing a pair of Ryou Spheres back at her attacker.
Ragnarok easily blasts the incoming orbs out of the air with a simple swish of his wrists. “Such a persistent little mouse. You cannot hope to survive for long.”
“You know for someone that’s all about absorbing sunlight you really are a downer.”
“And you are hopelessly confident.” He fires and the blast tears through a rack of canisters filled with chemicals.
As she sprints through the spiral, Uravity tries her best to recall anything Deku, Shoto, or Tokoyami said about this guy. They happened to mention running into him over dinner at the training camp, but they kept it brief due to Mr. Aizawa’s listening ears. Other than that she’s got nothing else other than what Deku managed to tell her in secret.
“So, tell me something!” She calls out, making sure the villain sees her. “Heard you were some bigshot commander of his own doomsday weapon! So, what happened? Did you get tired of being your own boss?”
“That is none of your concern!!” That seems to have done the trick as he fires at her once again.
‘Oh boy! He’s touchy!’ Uravity thinks as beams of light zoom past her head. ‘Come on Kraab, hurry!’
“You are here for the Omnitrix? Ha! It will do you no good little mouse! Even with its power the boy couldn’t hope to defeat us. He suffered. Was humiliated. And put in his place by forces greater than himself!” Another blast from his wrists explodes through the lab like thunder. “Or perhaps you are here to claim it for yourself.” He smirks at that, entertained by the idea. “You are so prideful that you’d come alone and claim that of which was never yours. Such pride, I admire that.”
“Pride? Me prideful…? I guess I am.” She smirks. But rather than thinking of herself, she remembers those that came on this crazy mission with her. “I am proud, proud of my friends. My family. My teachers.” She stops running, spinning around to face her pursuer. “I’m proud of them all! And Deku, I’m proud to be his friend! And my pride won’t let me roll over and listen while you disregard his value!!”
Ragnarok scoffs. “Pride of your allies? It appears I was right.” Slowly he raises his fist in her direction. “You are hopelessly hopeful.” His fist begins to charge with power.
But Uravity remains unnerved, unflinching, and ever resilient. “And you…are incredibly narcissistic.”
His fist burns brighter and brighter, the heat so intense it causes Uravity’s brow to sweat, as he prepares to fire upon her! And then-
“BARK!!!” A ball of fur crashes into Ragnarok’s side and a set of canines chomp down onto the villain’s wrist with a sickening tear.
“RAAAGHHH!!!” Silver blood spews from his arm as he reels back his wrist and misfires his charged beam up at the ceiling causing the roof to erupt with bursts of light and melted metal.
In a panic, Ragnarok flings Cosmo off. The dog hits the ground hard, but quickly recovers and glares back at the alien with a ferocious snarl.
Uravity can't stop the feeling of relief knowing that she has a faithful protector on her side. “Good girl, Cosmo.”
Cosmo stops growling just to turn and smile back at her human with a happy wag of her tail before focusing back on Ragnarok. For a second Uravity assumes she’s going to go after the villain again but instead Cosmo quiets down and closes her eyes, with an intense look of concentration. For what? Uravity has no idea. And unfortunately, she misses the air around Cosmo’s head beginning to ripple subtly.
“Ragh!! Foul creature!!” Ragnarok snarls and seeing that the animal isn’t attacking he makes a move to fire with his uninjured arm.
Uravity gasps, “No!!” Sprinting forward, she tackles the dog disrupting the rippling air which makes the phenomenon vanish with a soft burst.
The beam explodes across the lab, launching debris, equipment, and smoke everywhere. Giving Uravity the perfect cover to hurry the dog away.
“Raagh!” Ragnarok snarls in disbelief that he missed and what’s more frustrating is that he’s lost sight of the two rats.
However, with the rats currently gone, he quickly checks back on his original task, and he is very much delighted to see that the download has reached 100%. “Excellent.”
He begins to move towards the Omnitrix but hesitates, he contemplates whether he should pursue after the intruders or complete the task given to him by his master. After a moment, he decides on the latter believing Vilgax’s wrath will be far worse than that of a child or a mutt.
He moves with purpose, not caring if anyone sees him, until he reaches the extraction machine that is containing the Omnitrix. He types away several commands into the holographic monitor until a pill-shaped data drive ejects from within the machine with a pop and a burst of steam. The flash drive is large about the size of a pear with an outer blue shell and a light green trim.
“This had better be worth it…”
%%%%%[MEANWHILE]%%%%%
Ingenium is making his way through the maze like a red streak, locking the bombs in place one after the other. As he does a literal flying fist rockets through the air and rocks his skull with an obliterating punch.
“Ingenium!!” Creati cries but neither she nor Snipe have any time to help him as the Techadon turns its one remaining fist at them.
Snipe and Creati dive away and the rocket fist smashes into the haul of a power cell, denting it.
The two fists then speed back to their main body, and the fist that struck Iida comes back with the satchel tight in its hand.
Snipe gasps. “It has the bombs!!”
“We need to get those bombs back!!” Snipe starts firing, he’s panicking now especially with the cannon so close to firing.
*WHIIIRRR….!!!*
A thundering hum rumbles above them as the power cells discharge more and more power into the glowing cables above that whir and whir louder, glowing brighter with surging power.
“Oh no…”
The Ideon Cannon is about to fire!!
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
Clipping the data drive to his side for safe keeping, Ragnarok begins his search again, not wishing for them to interrupt his work any further. But what he’s unaware of is that he’s already fallen for their ruse. If Uravity and Cosmo can keep his attention on them for just a little longer Kraab should be able to finish his hack.
However, after diving and scurrying away they lost sight of the alien madman. So, instead of wandering around and getting themselves lost, the duo regroups behind a massive machine that is so large it’s as big as a pickup truck. With a metallic triangular front that leads to a giant battery-like structure of blue and silver metal and circuits ending with a tripod-like exhaust system at its end, it’s certainly a unique machine.
It looks very imposing…and expensive.
And so they wait, look, and listen for what feels like hours but in reality was nothing more than a few measly minutes. Yet, there’s nothing. Maybe he left or had gone into hiding in order to set up an ambush?
Uravity pokes her head out, looking for Ragnarok. “Where is he?”
“Grrrrr.”
Uravity scans for him but there’s no sign of him. The only thing she notices is Cosmo’s ears are perked back towards the vent that led them into the science wing.
Leaning down she whispers, “What is it girl?”
“Grrrrr.” Cosmo growls softly as if in warning.
Uravity listens and hears something, there’s a low rumbling that’s getting louder and louder by the second.
*BOOM!!!* The science lab shakes violently as flumes of fire erupt from within and out through the vent.
Uravity yelps as equipment falls around her. Parts of the walls crack and burst with flumes of steam and flames all the while the ship continues to shake thunderously.
“Hang on!!” Uravity hugs Cosmo to her side before huddling against the massive blue machine. “What’s happening?!”
*BOOOOOOOOM!!!!* An explosion rocks the entire ship and blasts away a portion of the wall, sending a shockwave crashing through the entire lab like a tidal wave that sweeps everything and everyone off their feet! And then-!!
Nothing.
%%%%%[MEANWHILE]%%%%%
(1 minute earlier)
The Ideon Cannon begins to charge, it’s about to fire, the cables and power cells are all lighting up as one massive unit.
All the while, Snipe fires a single bullet. His shot soars through the air, past the Techadon’s head, past the surging power cells, and straight through and into a single explosive with an almost anticlimactic ping.
But then like a warehouse full of ammunition all it takes is one stray spark and the entire grid explodes with lights, fire, and thundering explosions! Like dominos each and every bomb goes off, triggered by their neighbor’s own exploding shrapnel and heat!
The wave of fire and devastation rushes towards the doorway which Iida hurries to seal.
The Techadon rages, struggling to break free of the still impeded spikes of crystals before its entire body is consumed in exploding flames.
The doors close slowly, Momo, Iida, Snipe, and the Galvans can feel the intense heat growing, it’ll surely vaporize them! But then just as the flames begin to lick at the threshold the reinforced doorway seals itself tight before the entirety of the entire ship rocks violently with a volcanic-like eruption.
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
“Ugh…” Everything’s spinning, her ears are ringing, and something’s definitely broken…
“Ow!” Yup, something’s broken. Just what the heck was that? An explosion? Was that Bakugou? Did he take out the power core? No, she can see lights struggling to flicker above her head, there’s still power. So, what was that? Did Principal Nezu ram the ship? Did Vilgax blow up his own ship? Just what exactly is going on out there?
The science wing is a disaster. What was once clean, pristine, and orderly is now anything but. The once white floor and walls are now black with soot and scorch marks. Equipment lies broken and toppled all around her. The blinding sterile lights flicker, just barely clinging to life. Smoke fills her vision as her head continues to spin, and then within the mist she spots a shadow, a silhouette limping through the smoke. She can’t make it out, her vision is too fuzzy, and the heat of the flames hurts her eyes.
“Poor little mouse.”
Her blood runs cold despite the heat as the silhouette’s arms begin to glow like a pair of burning stars.
Ragnarok can’t find any pleasure in this scene. It’s like finding a wounded animal on the road, just barely alive after being run over. “You must be in such pain. Your body is such a delicate thing. Imperfect and soft. Like a twig. Tell me…” He leans in closer making sure she can see his skull-like face as clearly as possible. “What’s it like to live such a miniscule existence?”
She spits, there’s a mix of blood, and grits her teeth. “I don’t know. What's it like being Vilgax’s little bitch?”
If that struck a nerve, it doesn’t show instead all she’s met with is a fist flaring with solar energy. He has her dead to rights; it’ll take all but one blast to melt her skull into a puddle. And he’s going to make sure he enjoys this as much as possible. “Goodbye, proud little mouse.”
*Knock. Knock. Knock.*
Ragnarok halts his action; his head snaps towards the once sealed doors that now hang loose in place with dents and gouges from the explosion.
And from one of those gouges a little face with a domino mask and a white beard pokes his head through with a senile yet friendly smile.
“Hello, there. Hope I’m not intruding, sonny.” Gran Torino hobbles in slowly, his body trembling with delicate age.
“Another one?!” Ragnarok thunders. “An old rat?”
“I’m not old. I’m well aged. Ho ho ho!”
Frustration turns into an opportunity, one that Ragnarok surely will not fail to miss. “Look upon your elder, child.” Raising his arm, he changes his aim from the girl to the cheery old man. “Watch as I end his decrepit life.”
Like a fuse reaching gunpowder, Ragnarok’s solar beam fires like a cannon with a big loud BANG!
Gran Torino’s reaction is instant. In a blink of an eye, seemingly faster than the beam itself, he’s gone. Sprung into the air and ricocheting around with sharp, precise movements, too fast for Ragnarok’s eyes to follow. And then suddenly there’s a blunt strike to the villain’s skull and then the other side of his head is against the cold metal floor.
“Pinky!!” Gran Torino roars before zipping away as the downed Ragnarok makes a move to backhand him.
From the doorway, the gauged hole begins to widen, the metal melts away making enough room for a blur of pink and red to zoom across the air upon Deku’s Hoverboard.
“Ochaco!!” Pinky cries, adjusting the chains around her shoulder as Sunder’s Ax rests against her shoulder blades.
“Mina!” Uravity cries.
Ragnarok snarls with rage, “It seems that the entire ship is infested!! Then it would seem that I alone can exterminate this plague! Raaagh!!!” With his rage flaring he unleashes a barrage of burning beams.
However, not a single beam meets its mark.
Drawn from his belt, Gran Torino’s laser sword ignites and with swift expert movement the beams are reflected away like flies to a swatter. “Give me your best shot, sunny boy!”
“Raaagh!!”
Ragnarok movements are furious and powerful, his beams shooting out nonstop tearing apart the science wing. And yet not a single shot hits their intended target. Gran Torino is far too quick. Like a hummingbird, he zips from one spot to the other, flipping this way and that with the blue saber illuminated between the beams. Deflecting them with such grace and poise. For Ragnarok, it’s like dealing with a flying strobe light, one that he can’t shut off.
With Gran Torino providing the perfect distraction, Pinky is able to glide over to her friend in haste.
“Ochaco! I was so worried! Don’t you dare leave us again!” She jumps off the hoverboard and dives into a fierce hug that causes Uravity to choke from the bruises.
“I’m sorry.” Ochaco groans, smiling. She truly is happy to see them. But she has others to worry about too. “How’s Kraab? Where’s Cosmo?”
Pinky blinks, “Who?”
Hearing her name, Cosmo comes bounding over from between a pair of knocked over chemical vats. “Bark! Bark!”
Pinky gushes, “Aw! You have a puppy?!”
“Yeah! Oh! And Kraab too! He’s trying to disable the shield for the Omnitrix!”
Pinky quickly scans the lab and spots the extraction machine containing the Omnitrix. The Orb is shining like a beacon while the machine itself looks unscratched and still locked in place despite the explosion. “Then we need to buy him time. Can you move?” She offers her a hand up.
Uravity takes her hand and rises. “Better than that.” Pressing her fingers against herself, she begins to float as the Gyro-Disc on her back begins to whir to life. “I can fight!”
Gran Torino is like a blur amongst the rays of light. The villain is giving him no windows to strike and so he’s on the defensive: dodging and parrying is all he can do but not like it’s a struggle for the old timer. If anything, Ragnarok is the one losing steam first as he takes a wild swing at the veteran hero, but his frustration only implodes upon missing.
The villain’s defenses are down, and Gran Torino takes advantage of the window. Like a bullet through the air, he flies swinging the glowing blade with a mighty roar, his eyes locked on to Ragnarok’s fully exposed neck.
Ragnarok can feel the heat of the blade growing close, unwilling to fall to a guillotine, he blasts the floor upon where he stands with an explosive solar beam. The resulting explosion blasts the air with heat and shrapnel. It’s not enough to cause harm but it’s enough to force Gran Torino to flinch and his blade to miss and slice through an entire shelf of organized chemicals.
“Filthy rat!”
A fist lodges itself into Gran Torino’s gut, knocking the wind out of his lungs, before the knuckles begin to burn with light. And a bone chilling smile of glee stretches across the victorious Ragnarok’s face. But his moment is ruined by another pink blur greeting the side of his face.
*SMASH!!!* He is sent crashing through a collection of toppled cryo-chambers before slamming into the laboratory's scorched wall.
He’s still for a moment but it’s more of shock then pain before glaring back up at his attacker.
Uravity’s fists glow as she hovers over a grateful Gran Torino. Pinky soon joins her atop a hoverboard, nearly zooming by since she is still getting used to the controls. And finally a mutt in a spacesuit trots over, taking a defensive as the vanguard of the group.
“Correction. It’s a whole horde of filthy RATS!!!” Slamming his arms together side by side he unleashes one of his biggest solar beams yet. The blast ripples through the air, burning through every machinery and rubble in its way.
The squad of heroes scatter allowing the beam to pass between them.
His eyes are drawn to the original intruder redirecting the beam to follow her. But with his attention only on one, he fails to see the incoming Acid that splashes across his thigh, burning it.
Roaring in pain he turns to blast that pink-skinned girl out of the air when his ears pick up that iconic whir of a saber approaching from behind. Spinning to the side, Gran Torino and saber zoom past, he just barely dodges as the tip of the saber burns the tiniest of cuts along his cheek. In revenge the villain aims to shoot the hero down when a Ryou Sphere blasts him back against the wall. The implosion from the pink sphere causes him and any nearby debris to float.
Unable to move as he pleases, he can do nothing as Pinky glides in from above. The heroine snips through the air with the help of the hoverboard before descending over him with her leg outstretched to deliver a powerful axe kick to his shoulders. The kick sends him plummeting into the ground so hard that his weightless body bounces off of it like a kickball. Just as his body leaves the ground and begins to float up again, a blur of yellow zips across and slams into his ribs, launching him across the lab as Uravity cries out, “Release!!”
Hurled across the science wing like a stone on water, Ragnarok crashes against the fallen machinery and debris before slamming into the opposite wall with a burst of dust and smoke.
Uravity shuts off her Gyro-Disc and lands shakily on her feet. She’s struggling for breath due to pain and exhaustion but is determined to keep pushing. Unfortunately, so is her breakfast as she finally hurls from her Quirk use, the overall adrenaline of the situation, exhaustion, and the pain in her side.
Putting the ass beating on hold, Pinky, Gran Torino, and Cosmo hurry to her side.
Meanwhile, Ragnarok is spitting up his own fluids except it’s not his lunch but a bit of blood. However, with a wipe of his arm it’s over. He struggles to pull himself across the ground, grim and ash carpet the floor dirtying his usually pristine outfit. This battle is not going well. Where are his reinforcements, he wonders. Are they still struggling with the prison break? Are they too distracted by that explosion?
He growls in frustration and then pain as he rises to his feet. Using a nearby machine as support, he leans against it grateful for its massive blue frame. It allows him a moment of reprieve to catch his breath while he stays out of sight. It also gives him a moment to check on that data drive.
It’s intact, unscratched, there’s not even a smudge on it. Which is lucky.
He sighs in relief, if this were to be damaged the Grand Destroyer will surely break his spine. And that is where the frustration lies, he was hoping to hand deliver this himself, but that plan is forfeit now.
He scans the nearby rubble, if he remembers correctly there were a few assistant droids stored away in the lab. There!
Grabbing the edges of a massive slab of rubble, he flips it up and over and pulls out a metallic box from underneath. Unlatching the top of the storage unit he reveals a droid lying dormant inside. It’s a LED servant droid, a tiny humanoid looking droid with rabbit-like features with a tiny round head and bunny-ear like antennas. It’s nothing special nor does it have any means of combat. Its only purpose is to provide any other droid or scientist assistance while in the lab.
He kept it shut off while he did his work since he finds them so annoying, but he clearly has use for it now.
Activating the robot, the little LED droid’s eyes light up with life before it lets out a little scared shriek at all the smoke and rubble.
Producing the data drive, Ragnarok makes his instructions low and clear. “Deliver this to Psyphon upon the command deck.”
The LED blinks from him to the data drive.
“NOW!!!”
With a cry the droid snatches the data drive and sprints for the exit, navigating the maze of rubble as quickly as it can.
Taking a breath Ragnarok leans back against the machinery. He pauses, observing the large machine he’s been leaning on. After a moment he recognizes that odd-shape and blue haul as the Charlotte Project, the same machine Vilgax used against those earthling abominations. It seems to be intact which means it might still be operational… His gaze shifts towards the center of the smoke-filled lab, towards the yellow beacon shining like a taunting lure. But now even with soot filled air this machine, the Charlotte Project, seems immaculate, perfect and oh so alluring. A devilish spark ignites within his mind as his hands trace over the machine’s controls.
Meanwhile, Uravity’s finally stopped blowing chunks much to her and everyone else’s relief.
“You okay?” asks Pinky, gagging at the rainbow-colored barf.
“I’m fine-*cough!* The adrenaline and pain are finally catching up with me, I guess…”
Cosmo sniffs the sparkling barf curiously before reeling their head away in disgust.
“Try to power through it.” Gran Torino advises. “We’re not out of the woods yet. Now where is that bastard?” They had lost sight of him when Uravity went down; now they have no clue where he is.
Pinky steps back away from the patches of flames and stacks of smoke only to accidentally bump against a collapsed assembly line. A sharp pain pokes at her back and the heavy cold weight around her shoulder rattles and buckles against her red armor. Gripping the chains wrapped around her shoulder and waist, Pinky peers back at the glowing red edge of Sunder’s Null Void Axe. Staring at it in contemplation she begins to unravel the chains as the others keep a look out for the villain.
Gran Torino scans the demolished area carefully, peering past the columns of smoke and equipment, and then he sees it: movement. “There!!”
Instantly, they spot the rabbit-like LED droid waddling away like a penguin trying to outrun a leopard seal through the maze of destruction.
Pinky blinks, cautious of the robot. “A droid…?”
“Rrrr?” Even Cosmo seems confused.
Uravity eyes the fleeing droid up and down. It appears to be holding something: a pill-shaped device with an outer blue shell and a light green trim. “What's it carrying?”
Not a single one of them has a clue.
Shrugging, Uravity has half a mind to go after it but before she can consider it a burning bright light illuminates from the opposite end of the laboratory.
“Get down!!”
That was Gran Torino, he must have been the one to shove her to the ground. Good timing. She can feel the air above them burning with heat before fading away again. Snapping her head up she has a clear line of sight at the villain. That last solar beam melted a path straight towards them gives him a clear line of sight.
“No more meddling, little mouse.” Ragnarok doesn’t strike, instead he runs, spinning around he runs towards the opposite end of the lab.
Furious, Uravity sprints after him with Gran Torino shouting at her to wait!!
But she can't hear him, her head is buzzing with fury. She can hear Cosmo growling beside her and then passing her by and reaching the villain first.
But Ragnarok was ready, the moment Cosmo bites at his heels he spins around and clocks her with his foot, kicking her aside where she drops beside a melted pile of containment vats, unmoving.
Seeing red, Uravity charges forward, throwing her fist like how a pitcher would throw a baseball, launching a Ryou Sphere at his form.
Spotting the projectile, Ragnarok meets it with his own, shooting it out of the air.
There’s a resulting blast of light from the collision, blinding them like a flashbang, and as Ragnarok’s vision begins to return he spots Pinky zooming across the air with Sunder’s Axe in hand.
With a yell she dives at the creep, swinging away with the axe that’s way too heavy for her. But without a proper hilt her grip is weak, and her balance is abysmal. Ragnarok easily back hands the side of the hoverboard causing Pinky to veer out of control.
“Woooah!” Down she goes crashing off to the side and losing hold of the chain-strewn axe which bounces away before landing beside the hulking blue machine.
Unable to get the youngin’s to cease their attack and now watching as their attacks fail, Gran Torino hurries in to end this quickly. Zooming across the air with his blade poised, the tip burns across the floor as he prepares to thrust the burning blade straight across the monster’s torso.
But Ragnarok side steps the flying old man while simultaneously blasting the ground beneath him with a solar beam. The resulting explosion of heat and light not only blinds the veteran hero but throws him off course too. And thus, his saber completely misses its mark.
He’s about to let out a roar of frustration when the air in his neck is cut off by a sudden grip.
Sneering in his face, Ragnarok’s grip tightens around the old man’s neck. He contemplates snapping his delicate spine but flinches as Gran Torino takes the burning saber and makes a swing for his head. Quickly he slams the elder against the soot covered floor, pulls him up, and slams him down, again and again and again. Each with sickening bangs until the saber falls from the elder’s grip. The light of the blade vanishes as the silver hilt bounces off the ground before going still. And then, and only then, does Ragnarok release the still and silent veteran.
“Gran Torino!!” Uravity cries, devastated.
Smirking, Ragnarok steps over the still body before sauntering away with his hands behind his back as if this was nothing more than a formal affair.
Uravity pales, her feet moving so fast that in a blink she’s on knees and sliding to a stop beside her mentor. “Gran Torino?!”
He’s breathing, but it’s clearly a struggle. His neck is bruised and blood oozes from his forehead. Luckily, he’s alive.
“How is he?” Pinky arrives next. Kneeling down near his head, she gently holds his head up and straightens his body allowing him to breathe easier.
Coughing up blood and spit, it’s enough to clear his airways and take a much-needed inhale that sounds more like a painful wheeze than relief.
“Are you *cough!*...both okay?”
“Y-yes.” Uravity could almost laugh, of course he’d be more worried about them than his own wounds.
He tries to nod. “The…villain *cough-cough*…? Where…?” He tries to blink his eyes open but the dirt and blood sting too much for him.
“He’s up ahead. Don’t worry, he has nowhere to run-” As Uravity tries to wipe away the smudge of blood on his face a haunting whir fills the smoke-filled laboratory.
Like a warhorn, it’s low and ominous, calling out a warning to her that doom is upon them.
Ragnarok is locked into a massive machine with coils latched onto him as the machine’s massive blue barrel aims down at them.
Uravity’s blood runs cold, recognizing that machine as the one Kraab pointed out when they first snuck in: it’s the Charlotte Project, the machine that STEALS QUIRKS!!!
And Ragnarok fully intends to use it for that explicit purpose. “Thank you, little mouse. Thank you for your contribution to my future success.”
The Charlotte Project roars, and an electric blue beam explodes forth without any mercy.
“RUN!!!” That’s all she can say, it’s all she can do, it’s all the time she has for before the beam collides with them.
It burns, it feels like the light itself is piercing through their very skin and latching onto their very souls with hundreds of needles. These needles tug and pull, trying to rip away that of which should never be severed.
Screaming Pinky and Uravity collapse, curling in on themselves as Gran Torino howls in both frustration and agony.
From the center of the lab, Kraab is still desperately trying to unlock the containment unit that is holding the Omnitrix. But the firewalls have been too expansive and difficult. He’s ignored the battle up till now, he even worked through the explosion, but that whir of the machine was too familiar. And now it’s too late to act, he’s too far away, and too damaged to move, or to do anything else but watch as Ragnarok attempts to take their powers for his own. “NOOO!!!!”
“YESSS!!! Hahahaha!!” Ragnarok can’t believe it’s working; this blasted machine is working! Slowly but surely their powers, their abilities, will be his. Sure, they are not the most ideal or the most powerful but he can certainly make use of them. Perchance he can acquire the Omnitrix for himself as well. But why stop there? Why not take the Charlotte Project too and harness more powers for himself? Enough powers to overthrow, to outshine, the Grand Destroyer himself! “You humans! Such tiny beings and yet you've been gifted such grand powers! Powers that you did not earn! Your species is young, you have yet to realize that the only way to gain real power is to TAKE IT!!!”
This is awful, it’s the worst outcome. Her body…it feels so heavy, like hundreds of gallons from a relentless waterfall are pelting her all at once and keeping her down.
‘This is bad… One For All…it’s going to be-’ Her heart races with dread and her vision blurs with the threat of tears. ‘This Quirk. The power I inherited from All Might will be gone…’
It’s going to fall into the hands of this freak. This is how she loses the torch, not passing it on willingly herself, but by force. This machine is a nightmare.
Her mind races with memories, moments, of inheriting One For All. Of struggling with it. Of overcoming it. And making it her own. All the help she had, the guidance, the friendships…it’ll all be taken away. ‘No…’
She thinks of Kamino Ward, of how courageously All Might fought on. She remembers the horror of watching as his facade fades away in a puff of smoke, exposing his real form to the world. But then it was quickly followed up with an overpowering sense of dread as she feared what it could have meant for One For All. When he won she had hoped, hoped to god that she could see him again. And reassure him that she’ll carry his legacy. However,…‘After he put all he had left into stopping All For One-I’m going to lose it all because of how stupid I was!!’
Beside her Pinky collapses and soon she knows she will be joining her as the pounding weight of the beam begins to make her faint.
If she had just thought a little more before acting. If she had grabbed Gran Torino and ran. If she didn’t fall for Ragnarok’s obvious baited trap then none of them would be… ‘I’m sorry All Might…! I’m sorry I wasn’t a better successor…!’ Her vision blurs, fading between light and darkness, her gaze becoming unfocused, unsure if the floor is getting closer or further away. ‘And Deku…’ Her consciousness begins to fade… ‘I’m sorry I couldn’t save you in the end…’ Darkness slowly surrounds her vision and like falling asleep she prepares to fall away…
A light. A shimmer. Just in the corner of her periphery she spotted a faint light. And then a shadow maybe…? She must be hallucinating, her vision’s playing tricks on her because for a second it seemed like someone was standing there…
Now a whisper, it’s so soft and weak that she almost missed it but it’s there. Someone…someone’s whispering into her ear, they’re close, she-...she can almost feel their hot breath against her skin… She’s losing it.
And yet, it’s like a hum, an almost silent cheer. It’s…encouraging her. Encouraging her to…get up. She tries to ignore it…
But somehow, for some reason, she can’t ignore it. Her body…begins to move on its own. It’s slow but she begins to rise against the burning weight. She can’t think, she can’t react, she’s not even sure if she’s on or off the ground but she knows she’s standing. She doesn’t even remember pushing herself up, it instead feels like a pair of unfamiliar hands have grabbed her by the wrists and pulled her onto her feet.
She feels disjointed, unconnected, like her body’s stuck in a cutscene and she’s watching from a third person point of view.
And yet something inside is burning, like a flame inside her just refuses to die out. And then that same flame surges across her entire body, illuminating her like a brilliant pink star. ‘What is this?!’
Wisps of smoke radiate off of her in an array of spectrums: she sees a gentle pink, then a powerful yellow, an inspiring magenta, calm purple, rough orange, silent green, violent red, heroic blue, and then finally a kind white. They’re like flames, creating a sort of barrier between her and the beam, protecting her. It’s as though a weight has been lifted off her shoulders, giving her the strength to stand on her own.
“WHAT?!!” Ragnarok is in total disbelief. “You should be withering on the ground like the others! So why?! HOW!?!”
Another whisper…and she takes a step. Another whisper. Then another step. Again, and again and again… Until she’s marching, following behind the spectral colors that push back against the beam. And slowly but surely, like she's fighting through a storm, she marches ever closer.
From afar, Kraab is teetering between shock and awe. She is unstoppable. She keeps pressing forward like a machine unable to understand when it’s being attacked. Soon she is far enough ahead of her allies that the beam is solely on her, leaving them alone. Both Gran Torino and Mina stop writhing and visibly relax with color returning to their faces and their breaths steady.
They haven’t lost their Quirks! But they pray that they haven’t lost their minds by what they’re witnessing through heavy eyelids.
Finally shaking off that kick, Cosmo gets up with a stumble before stopping, stunned by the light show before her.
Uravity’s almost to the barrel of the Charlotte Project, the beam has totally swallowed her form and yet between the beam’s rays, a spectacular show of colors can still be seen emanating from within.
Ragnarok’s panicking, he fiddles with the controls in the hopes of increasing the power! It has to be taking her power, it has to be! If he fails to harness their powers he will forever be at Vilgax’s beck and call, his lap dog, a toy he can break whenever he tires of him. He must take the power for himself. He must have it in order to burn like the sun!! “RAAAAAGHHHH!!!”
Step after step, she begins to move forward on her own rather than in a trance. She doesn’t understand it but it’s like hands are on her back, pushing her forward. And she doesn’t fight them! She gains some speed and then she’s running; dashing through the beam and letting it wash over her as the imaginary hands continue to propel her forward. The whispers encourage her more and more. Together, they hurl her forward while crying out with unyielding echoes. “SMAAAAAAAAASH…!!!”
Piercing through the beam, her fist collides with the barrel and like an overfilled bottle the Charlotte Project pops like a balloon! It’s a brilliant explosion of light and power the beam, washing away as an array of colors overtake it before that too is engulfed in an aura of pink!
Ragnarok roars in agony as the discharge from Charlotte Project explosion moves from the barrel to the cables hooked to his chest. The surge of pure energy fires into him causing him to scream out in an unrivaled pain! Shocks of power and energy course through him before in a flash all that energy is released with one final burst!
The Charlotte Project is no more. Although 45% of it is still intact, the rest is left looking like a tin can that was thrown into a lawn mower; torn and ripped apart and left smoldering. And then…there’s Ragnarok. He’s beaten, limp, and wobbling on his feet. His body is cooked and broken. With the machine gone so too is his will to fight and thus, he falls.
Uravity, however, is only a fraction better. Her entire body aches, her ears are buzzing and her eyes sting. Closing her eyes she takes a moment to reflect. The weights against her back are gone. And those lights, the colors are gone too. A part of her wants to consider what that was but…that might just drive her insane. She just can’t bring herself to analyze it right now. Partly because her head is still spinning and pounding with a migraine. But also, she can’t afford to get distracted. Not now when they’ve come so far. For now, she chalks it up to her subconscious playing tricks on her. So, slowly she turns her back to the busted Charlotte Project and the assumedly unconscious Ragnarok in order to return to her friends.
Ragnarok does remain still, motionless and fallen, but after a moment he begins to stir. His hand twitches and grazes a cold metal hilt. His gaze pries itself open and he locks onto a glowing red blade. And his last chance…
Meanwhile, Pinky’s knees buckle before giving out. Catching herself, she takes another moment to catch her breath. Gran Torino, meanwhile, remains still but breathing, he seems to be having a harder time recovering. But they’re alive and that's all any of them can ask for.
Cosmo trots over, her tail wagging in relief. She sniffs at Pinky’s face, gives a quick lick, and then trots over to Gran Torino and nudges his side gently.
And then her ears perk up at the sound of a sharp inhale. Her head snaps to attention, and she watches as Ragnarok’s form rises like a shark breaching the water and lunges at Uravity’s exposed back. “RAAAAGH!!!”
She wants to move; she wants to chomp down on his face and tear it off but instead she’s still. A spark, a shock, rages through her system from within and the air ripples around her.
Uravity has no time to react, no words, no screams, as Ragnarok descends upon her with Sunder’s Axe in hand!
“YOU RATS!!! I WILL SLAUGHTER YOU-AAAAGH!!!” Suddenly he’s thrown back by an invisible force. It was like he ran straight into a fist of an unseen gorilla and now that invisible force has him pinned against the busted haul of the Charlotte Project. And its hold is tightening.
Uravity and the others are just as surprised. Pinky and Uravity give the other a questioning look but they both go unanswered. Uravity didn’t strike him, she didn’t make a move. So then who…?
They can almost hear their jaws dropping to the floor at the sight of Cosmo the Spacedog.
Snarling and growling in place, her sharp eyes are full focus as the air around her head ripples subtly yet violently as a result of her Telekinesis!
Ragnarok makes an attempt to move, to shoot them, to hurl insults. But the powerful grip shifts into a tightening pressure and then both he and the Charlotte Project are lifted into the air! This pressure it’s too great, he can barely move his own neck. He can only wonder why the air around him ripples like water and how could the ground be ten feet below him? He can only assume it’s the humans’ doing.
Fueled by petty revenge, he manages to lift the glowing axe up with his wrist alone. If he could graze the girl, if he could just graze the rat, she’d be gone forever!
“Grrr! Bark! Bark!” With Cosmo’s focus now sharp and keen, she locks onto the chained hilt of Sunder’s Axe.
The chain springs to life like a serpent and with a flick of her head Cosmo commands the chain to bind itself around its own wielder. Around and around it coils before tightening with a sharp metallic snap that causes Ragnarok to cry out.
“RAAAGH!!!” He attempts to struggle; to push against the floating binds but he might as well be a mosquito stuck in a spider’s web. “No! NOOO!!! I will not be made the fool! I will take what is mine!! I deserve it!!”
With the Charlotte Project floating up above, Uravity spots the end of the chain dangling before her, she follows it and takes particular notice of how tightly Ragnarok’s gripping the blade. Slowly she reaches out and catches it. “You deserve everything that’s coming to you…”
The realization strikes Ragnarok harder than the Spacedog’s Telekinetic blast. He attempts to release the blade but he’s far too late.
With a finishing warcry, Uravity pulls on the chain with all her might! And the blade…slices cleanly through Ragnarok’s flesh and bone.
Ragnarok prepares to let out a roar but in a blinding flash of red that floods the entire laboratory he vanishes without a trace. Both he and that accursed machine are gone, nothing was left behind except for the weapon that did him in, and the still hand lying on the floor with a glowing red cut where the blade had struck him.
He’s gone.
With the danger having passed Cosmo releases her Telekinetic hold and the floating chains fall to the floor. Happily, she wags her tail and spins, smiling at her new pack with glee.
And her pack in turn had their minds completely blown. “YOU HAVE A QUIRK!?!”
Cosmo happily barks back, “Bark! Bark!”
‘Well, this is something.’ Ochaco thinks, after all it looks like she found herself a superpowered dog, well that’s certainly unique.
“Ugh…”
“Gran Torino!” Suddenly remembering that the older hero was hurt bad she rushes to his side. He’s unconscious now, breathing, and alive but clearly he’s in bad shape.
“Mina!”
But Mina is too stunned to answer, she’s still trying to wrap her head around what she just saw. “The dog…has powers.”
“Yes, she does, but later! Right now, Gran Torino needs our help!”
Mina snaps out of her wonderment, putting it on pause till this is all over. She quickly hurries to find the hoverboard she was borrowing.
Realizing what she’s looking for, Cosmo uses her Telekinesis to levitate an entire pile of rubble, revealing the hoverboard underneath. She then uses her powers to levitate the device over Mina.
“Huh,” Mina smiles in thanks. “Handy.”
“Woof!”
With Cosmo levitating the hoverboard in place, Mina and Ochaco carefully lift Gran Torino as gently as they can onto the floating stretcher. They set him down and not wanting him to fall off, they make sure he’s nicely secured. Once they do, Mina pulls out a med-kit from one of the armor’s pockets.
Together they start to work on bandaging him up and making sure he doesn’t bleed out.
As they work Mina’s eyes dart up and away from Ochaco in worry and curiosity, “Ochaco…what was that?”
Ochaco’s cheeks puff up in annoyance, she told Mina that they’ll talk about Cosmo later. “If I were to guess I’d say that Cosmo’s like Principal Nezu. You know?”
“No, not that. I mean,” Mina pauses and makes a small gesture towards where the Charlottle Project once stood.
“I’m not sure…” Everything was so disjointed. She was in control but also had no control, it was like she was trying to pilot her own body but someone else was grabbing the controls. It kinda felt like rowing a canoe but the person rowing with you is unknown and while you propel the boat forward they’re steering the direction of the canoe. It was so strange and foreign yet…comforting. Somehow it was both unfamiliar and familiar. She didn’t know who was behind her on that canoe specifically, she can’t even picture their faces, but it feels like she knows them. How? She couldn’t say…
Dwindling sparks flash from the center of the lab, and Ochaco’s head snaps when she spots that the electrified orb is beginning to fade, glitching in and out of existence.
“Kraab!” She makes a move to go to him but hesitates and looks to Mina for permission.
“Go. I have him.” Mina assures, finishing up the bandages around the elder’s head.
Appreciating that she can handle it, Ochaco hurries over to Kraab and the waning orb.
He’s right where she left him, tucked against the containment machine with his exposed wires now entwined with the machine’s innerworkings, through a gap he certainly cut out with his one remaining claw.
He would wave up at her if his hands weren’t so full, “Hey, kid. That was one hell of a show.”
“Hell is right. Now, please tell me you’ve made progress.”
“I’ll do you one better.” His eyes blink rapidly as the electrified orb blinks out of existence.
Gone is the barrier, gone is the bottled-up lightning, and gone is any doubt. The Omnitrix is free, it’s theirs, she can get it back to Deku. But…something’s off.
The Omnitrix seems to be in one piece but…it seems faded, less color than usual. Slowly she reaches forth to grab it, ready to move her hand back as if it was an animal that could strike in an instant. But nothing of the sort occurs, it remains still, silent, and dim. It feels cold in her hands and that iconic hourglass symbol isn’t glowing with life anymore. The tint of green that is there is barely noticeable, almost grey. It’s like the watch itself is just barely clinging to life.
“What’s wrong with it?”
“Your guess is as good as mine. Who knows what they did to it? Well, I guess he would have known.” Kraab is of course referring to the owner of the severed hand now left behind on the soot-covered floor. And for a moment he swears he saw it move. “Yeesh. You’re two for two now.”
“Sorry…”
“Don’t be! It was either you and your friends or him. Believe me, you made the right call.” Especially considering that he is part of that “friend” list too.
“The right call…” Ochaco should probably be more disturbed about the fact that she sent another villain straight to hell. Or an equivalent. But right now, her mind is hanging on the fact that the Omnitrix isn’t reacting to her touch at all. She figured that since it was bound to Deku’s DNA anyway that it wouldn’t work for her. But she still expected the watch to react in some way. She guesses that there might have been a part of her that hoped that the Omnitrix would just fly off and reattach itself to Deku like that magic hammer from that old marvelous superhero movie she watched once. Or maybe the Omnitrix would suddenly come to life and tell her where its wielder is and take her to him. All of those sound-like fantastical daydreams now that she thinks about it…
“Awesome you got it!” Mina is beaming despite an unconscious Gran Torino floating on the Hoverboard behind her.
“How’s Gran Torino?” She unlatches Kraab from the machine and holds him over the veteran hero.
Kraab’s eyes illuminate as he scans the man’s body from head to toe. “He’s alive obviously. This old man really knows how to shake off the grim reaper. But barely, he has several fractures and some internal bleeding. He needs medical attention right away.”
The brunette’s blood runs cold, they need to hurry. “We better get him back to the Rustbucket!”
“And the Omnitrix too!” Mina adds.
Ochaco pauses, confused, and seeing this Mina picks up with an explanation. “We got your message from Lucy. Mr. Midoriya, Mr. Aizawa, and the others are going to rescue Midoriya and All Might. Gran Torino and I were sent here to help you and get the Omnitrix back to the ship!”
“Back to the ship…?” Ochaco asks. That doesn’t sit well with her.
She thinks back to how Ragnarok was talking about Deku and Vilgax. It sounded like Deku fought the Mad Titan and lost, royally. She assumed, no, knew he was powerful especially after witnessing first hand what he did in Kamino. But the Charlotte Project’s existence changes her presumption; it’s even worse now. He has powers, Quirks now, if she trusts Kraab’s earlier statements. And she does. So, there’s no telling what he’s capable of now. The heroes will be running head first, not into an inferno but into a volcano. They won’t stand a chance on their own. But maybe this can change the tide for them… “Change of plans.”
Mina’s heart drops, “What?”
“Kid, what are you doing?” Kraab asks warily, not trusting that look in her eye. It’s that same look he witnessed all summer but just on someone else.
Without his consent, Uravity gently sets Kraab onto the Hoverboard beside Gran Torino.
“Kid?”
She ignores him and instead kneels down to be at a similar level to the patient hound. “Hey girl, thanks for everything.” She slides her hand over Cosmo’s head and ears, the former of which greatly appreciates the gestures. “Can I trust you to help them back to Hangar 7?”
“Rrr… Woof!” She barks as if making a promise.
“Ochaco…?”
“I need to return the Omnitrix back to Deku.” Uravity affirms, trying her best not to sound shaky or weak both for her and Mina’s sake. “That’s the only way we’ll win. None of them know what they’re walking into. Vilgax, he's stronger than Cinder or Principal Nezu realize! They won’t win on their own. But if I can help, if I can get the Watch back to Deku and support All Might. Then we have a chance!”
What can they say to that? Mina’s mouth opens and closes like a fish, she can’t even start. She wants to refuse her so much, to say that one thing that’ll convince her to come back with her. But she can’t think of that one thing to say.
Unlike her, however, Kraab accepts this fact, “You’re right. But you’re not going alone.”
“Yes, I am.” Uravity states with a firm glare. “You’re too damaged to come along and Gran Torino’s out cold.” She addresses Mina and Cosmo simultaneously. “Your job is to get them both back to the Rustbucket and RazorCrest.”
None of them, not even Cosmo, like this plan. It’s risky and the thought of having her run around alone in this massive ship isn’t exactly comforting to think about.
But maybe Kraab can do something about that? “Then take this.” His eyes flash as he transmits directly into the com-set that’s built into her headgear.
There’s a ping and a notification icon appears in the corner of her pink hued helmet. “What’s this?” With a click the entire glass before her face lights up, highlighting a path across the ground like a videogame route and checkpoint.
“My body might be damaged, but my mind is still intact. I’ve been mapping this whole place out. I’ve pinged the arena for you, just follow the route I set and it’ll take you straight there.”
“Thank you.” They’ll have no idea how much of a relief it is to have this map. They probably don’t want to hear that she was actually planning on running off and hoping that she’d just find Deku. But now she knows she can do this.
Pressing her fingers to her arms, she begins to flair at the Gyro-Disc whirs and preps to launch her away.
“Hey!”
There’s a tug at her wrist and she lowers down to meet Mina who can’t meet her gaze in a poor attempt to hide her worry. “Don’t… Make sure you all come back, alright.”
She offers her a kind smile, “Don’t worry, we’ll make it back.”
“…How can you be so sure?”
She pats her pocket, the one hidden beneath the black and green hoodie tied around her waist. She can feel the light bulge of a folded-up letter inside and beside it the cool metallic touch of Melissa's gift for Deku. "Because I made a promise to a little boy."
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
THE PREVIEW: Ch.86
“Such tenacity. Such determination. It’s quite enjoyable to watch, I see why the masses of your planet find your exploits so fascinating.”
“You’ve always moved forward, jumping in to help before you could even think. Like a hero should…”
“And the biggest lie you ever told was telling yourself that you’re the HERO!!!”
“They’re c-coming. T-they w-won’t let y-you get away with t-this…!”
“I-I’m not like Midoriya. My Quirk has limits. I-...I can’t keep up with something so in-…inhuman.”
“Listen to me… Listen to the words I am saying… You. Can. Do. This.”
“My students must be rubbing off on me. In the past I would have never made such a gamble.”
“DIIIIIEEEEE!!!”
“I’ll show everyone that I can stand by them! That I can be a hero just like THEM!!!”
Notes:
*And that brings us to the end of Ch. 85 Intervention. Now the Omnitrix is back with the heroes, but can Ochaco get back to Deku in time? Can our heroes save Deku and All Might from Vilgax’s clutches? But what about Bakugou and his group? Where are they? And just what other surprises do I have in store? Stay tuned to find out!
*ARTWORK* We have new fanart!!! Thank you to SpeedDemon099 on fanfic and DeviantArt for the beautiful piece of fanart! Everyone! You need to check it out it’s called “Hisashi Midoriya: Heroes Never Die: It's Hero Time” by SpeedDemon099 on DeviantArt!
Link to Artwork: delete the spaces (_ ) within the URL below in order to get the full link.
https://www.deviantart.com/speeddemon099/art/Hisashi-Midoriya-Heroes-Never-Die-It-s-Hero-Time-1075484519*I’m gonna nip this in the butt now but I am basing Cosmo the Spacedog off of the MCU’s version of the character. Yes I know they’re supposed to be male in the comics, cartoons, and games but I love the Guardians of the Galaxy movies so sue me! Either way she’s a good girl. Yes she is! *Sigh* Man, I miss having a dog. In any case, I’m gonna nip this in the butt too. But YES she will get the ability to talk later. I got it all planned out. Oh, the fun to be had. (Side note I already plan on giving specific characters their own pets/companions later on so that’s gonna be fun!)
*Also, I apologize if the chapter threw some of you off with the “Meanwhile” sections. When I first wrote up this chapter it was supposed to be combined with Ch.84 Escalation. So, I copy-and-pasted some of those sections in for things to make sense like the explosion and what not. In any case, can’t wait to hear from you guys’next time! Peace!
*UPDATE* No seriously, we might have to wait… Because fanfic is being such a pain these last few weeks I am getting disheartened that not as many people are seeing these new chapters. And there’s nothing I can do about it. So, my schedule for updating may change once again. For now let’s still plan on updating every 2 weeks but this may change to 3 weeks depending on my progress and if fanfic’s alert system is working again or not. This should give fanfic site more time to fix their shit and it’ll give me some more time to prep the final chapters of this arc. If I do not post in 2 weeks then I’ll try to squeeze in an Omake or 2 on the spin-off story series, “Heroes Never Die; It’s Hero Time, Anytime” located on my profile but we’ll see what happens. It all really depends on fanfic (and my progress) right now. Sorry.
TV TROPES LINK*:
https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Fanfic/HeroesNeverDieItsHeroTime
Chapter 92: Devastation
Notes:
*It’s finally here. Ch.86 Devastation. A week late but it was worth it. I think this is the best chapter yet so enjoy! Now that being said, fanfic is finally working again and sending out notifications. Or at least I think so I got a flood of emails last night that I should have gotten months ago so here’s hoping. That said if you are just hopping in then you may want to know that there are at least 4 other chapters you need to read first before you can read this chapter. But if you are all caught up…then GREAT!!! Let’s get right to it!!
*We have a lot of artwork in this chapter so I will try my best to provide URLs. Worst case please visit this story on AO3 the links always work there.
**ARTWORK** We have new fanart!!! Thank you to SpeedDemon099 on fanfic and DeviantArt for the beautiful piece of fanart! Everyone! You need to check it out it’s called “Hisashi Midoriya: Heroes Never Die: It's Hero Time” by SpeedDemon099 on DeviantArt!
Link to Artwork: https://www.deviantart.com/speeddemon099/art/Hisashi-Midoriya-Heroes-Never-Die-It-s-Hero-Time-1075484519
**NEW ARTWORK** OH BOY!!! SpeedDemon099 has done it again with another amazing piece of fanart! Everyone! You really need to check out their works, especially this new piece called “Way Big vs AFO | Heroes Never Die: It's Hero Time!” by SpeedDemon099 on DeviantArt!
Link to Artwork: https://www.deviantart.com/speeddemon099/art/Way-Big-vs-AFO-Heroes-Never-Die-It-s-Hero-Time-1077053429
*TV TROPES LINK*: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Fanfic/HeroesNeverDieItsHeroTime
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
[ARTWORK: "Hisashi Midoriya: Heroes Never Die: It's Hero Time by SpeedDemon099"]
[ARTWORK: "Way Big vs AFO | Heroes Never Die: It's Hero Time! by SpeedDemon099"]
This place is a nightmare. No. It’s a series of nightmares, each one playing out all at once in quick succession. No matter where he looks, no matter how hard he tries to look away, his vision is plagued with horrors of fire, war, and destruction.
As his father leads a band of marauders through battalions of enemies.
Fire consumes passageways, incinerating all that are trapped within.
Monsters, creatures, and beings of the dark rampage through the enemy’s kingdom all for the name of freedom.
And an assassin of purple clashes with a warrior of red while opposing armies wage all out war.
It’s chaos. It’s pandemonium. It’s. A. Nightmare.
“Isn’t this glorious? Isn’t it a sight to behold?”
Izuku doesn’t dare look; not willing to meet Vilgax’s intimidating gaze that he knows is burrowing through his skull.
But it certainly is a sight of terror. It’s all he can even see while within the black void of Vilgax’s personal arena. Only the hexagonal panels tiling the wall provide any light within their prison, displaying various scenes across the entire Chimeran Hammer. And every scene is worse than the last… More nightmares.
“This is a party! Hahaha!” Nue cackles watching as a Dominator wrestles with Ectoplasm’s giant clone. “All we’re missing is the music and drinks! Hahaha!”
“You’re sick…*Cough!-Cough!*”
Izuku winces at every cough, guilt chokes at his own throat as bits of spit and blood sputter from the corners of Toshinori Yagi’s bruised lips.
The former Symbol of Peace is kneeling beside him and although their arms and limbs might be free they might as well be shackled by the guilt and shame weighing them down.
Izuku can’t even picture it, even though he’s right there, kneeling just beside him. But he never thought he’d witness just how…defeated All Might could look. The Symbol of Peace, the Number One Hero has been reduced to this. The man is a shell of himself silent, quiet, broken… With his eyes glazed over it gives his already sickly appearance an even more skeletal nature. It was like having an inspiring golden statue withering and crumbling to rust before his very eyes.
‘And it’s all my fault…’ Izuku thinks as his head falls.
“Don’t you dare look away!” Vilgax barks at them both, causing both to flinch and straighten their heads. “I don’t want either of you to miss a second of your allies’ destruction.”
“Hahaha! Hey Deku!”
Peering up, Izuku is met with a row of jagged teeth all lined up into a nasty mutated smile.
“Look who’s decided to join the party!! Take a guess! You’ll never guess who!”
Izuku follows Nue’s Lodestar-like hand towards one of the displays. The display in question appears to be broadcasting a chain reaction of small explosions running across a hallway. He can only assume some sort of internal wirings have been fried. But no, that’s no chain reaction. Those Explosions aren’t random. They’re controlled, measured, and being generated by a single source. By a single person, and it’s the last person Izuku ever expected to be here.
Katsuki Bakugou is a man on a mission. Like a spirit of fiery vengeance, he rockets through the ship, his red armor shining with every burst and spark of heat. The picture zooms in on his face; a face that’s a mixture of fury, determination, and utter thrill. “SHOW TIME MOTHERFUCKERS!! HAHAHA!!”
“Kacchan…?!”
“Hahahaha!” Nue can’t stop smiling at the screen, his tail and tendrils swishing behind him in excitement as surges of electricity dance off his shell. “Now this is a real party!! HAHAHAHA!!!”
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[PLAY: “ Dr. STONE NEW WORLD - Opening Song | "Wasuregataki" by Huwie Ishizaki ” - link can be found in this chapter on the AO3 site.]
https://_youtu._be/eKeoHejslp0?si=hrwFYRRwMIgQs6Ym
(Instrumental~~~)
The camera shows Izuku Midoriya with his head hanging down before zooming up to show Vilgax’s battleship floating over Earth's moon.
Sou kore kona itami ga~
Uravity Uraraka gazes up to the sky as the title appears from above her.
Sujikaki no nai monogatari ni wa~
She begins to walk forward as her friends slowly fade into existence: Pinky Ashido, Katsuki Bakugou, Shoto Todoroki, Creati Yaoyorozu, Tenya Ingenium, and Eijiro Red Riot.
Hitsuyou fukaketsu nanda~
Inko Midoriya holds a picture of her family as she cries and is comforted by Mitsuki Bakugou and Eirene Ashido.
Yoru no umi ni wa Tsuki ga isuwaru~
Unseen to them Cinder is at the door. He looks up with determination as he heads out to rescue his son.
Sugita kunou wo~
Katsuki Bakugo holds an old All Might card as an image of him and Deku as kids cheering as they hold their cards out appears behind him.
Bikasuru hima ga~
Nue looks down at a watch as an image of him and Izuku in middle school laughing appears behind him.
Aru nara ima dake utsuseyo~
The screen splits between the two, both standing back-to-back, and with determined glares they both march away in opposite directions.
Ororkamono demo shoujiki te itai~
Panels shift and fold away, creating a portal, that reveals Izuku bound in an iconic ring of metal as Toshinori Yagi stares up at it in a mix of shock-and-awe and despair.
Haato ga sawagu yo~
Vilgax the Conqueror makes himself known from atop his throne. As he peers down at his inferiors with an air of ominous superiority.
(Instrumental~~~)
Below his throne his minions have been assembled: Psyphon, Malware, Sunder, Ragnarok, SevenSeven, the Techadon, Rojo, and Nue.
Tatoe dareka wo kizutsuke tato shitemo~
Cinder unleashes a wave of flames as he mows through Vilgax's drone army with his blazing dual-edged spear! Before swiftly speeding away as the Techadon gets pulled in by Thirteen’s swirling Black Hole!
Yuzurenai hikari ga arunda~
Pinky slides across the narrow hallways as Ingenium races by. They’re followed by a sword wielding Creati and a Hardened Red Riot. Before the screen is consumed by pillars of fire and ice with Shot’s eyes piercing back.
Mushi kaesu tsumori wa betsu ni nari keredo~
Uravity smashes through the ice before unleashing a wave of glowing gravity in every direction causing the army of silhouetted aliens to be blasted away.
Kono seaki de kono sekai de~
Bakugou rockets past her in a blaze of a Howitzer Impact that crashes into a grinning Nue like an exploding meteor.
Wasuregataki naru niwa mada hayai~
Vilgax looms menacingly over the Rising Star and the Symbol of Peace as nine dark threads of fate swirl through and around his form.
Yume migachi na shinisokonai sa~
Toshinori looks on at the teen with a look of shame that soon transitions to that of deterPinkytion. And in a wave of smoke a scowling All Might rises to meet the Mad Titan.
Zero kara hairiagare sora ga waretatte~
Vilgax’s tentacles reach for the defiant Deku as the Omnitrix begins to spark and glow with inspiring green lightning.
Ano sekai e ano sekai e~
A massive discharge of green explodes outward, overtaking everything and swallowing up everything in a brilliant show of green light.
Nanjyukkai nan byakkai~
Deku gazes out towards the vastness of space from the portal window of his prison cell.
nanzenkai nomikonde~
While Uravity gazes out into the star-filled sky through the windshield of the RazorCrest.
Nanjyuunen~
Deku slowly raises his left fist towards the shrinking window.
nanbyaku nen~
Uravity slowly raises her right fist towards the expanding window.
nan zen nen~
The screen splits between the two, zooming in on their fists just as they gently connect. And the camera is blinded by flashes of green and pink before washing away to white.
Sakimidare~!
A still Omnitrix lays on upon the moon, alone and in the dark, before the Sun majestically peeks out from behind the Earth over the edge and shines its rays of hope down upon it.
(Illustrated by Drag0n5on)
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Ch. 86 Devastation
This ship is a hellscape of cold metal and red shadows. Its passageways seem to stretch on forever before reaching a web of identical intersections just to make navigation that much more confusing. Pipes and bulkheads cast shadows across the iron walls, and with the flicker of lights those passing through see movement and shapes that were never there.
This ship, the Chimeran Hammer, is a labyrinth but it’s navigational especially for those with a certain disposition.
^Woo.^ Chopper wheels ahead, his antenna spinning as he maps the route forward while scanning for threats, traps, and dead ends.
“How much further?” Eraserhead sprints alongside the robot’s master; the green gleam of his blaster stands out in the red light. He keeps the S.A.G.E. Gun at the ready in one hand while his other grips the end of his Capture Scarf.
“The arena isn’t far.” Cinder answers while still keeping a running pace.
“Good!” Detective Tsukauchi runs along at his other side with the Phaser locked into his grip. “But are you positive that they’re there?”
“You heard it from Lucy herself.” answers Patelliday, who’s opted to take the rear of this vanguard. “Miss Uravity confirmed it herself we’ll find our cadet and your champion waiting for us right where she said.”
“Yes, but this Lucy also warned us that Vilgax would be waiting for us.” Tetrax Shard growls in a mix of anger and frustration. “No doubt that steaming pile of poodoo is plotting to annihilate us the moment we step inside.”
“That much is obvious.” agrees Cinder. “Just take a look around, we haven’t run into a squad of Bioids or Hover drones or anything for a while now. Wanna wager a guess as to why that is?”
Eraserhead wagers, “It’s because he wants us to get there.”
Well that’s an unsettling thought. They should be the ones setting the trap, hunting their prey, tracking their quarry, not the other way around. But then again should they really be so surprised when they’ve run headfirst into the lion’s den. Of course they’re running towards a trap. What else could it be?
“If we’re running head first into a trap, wouldn’t it be a good idea to think of a new plan?” Eraserhead ponders aloud.
“Sure, you got one?” asks Cinder.
Eraserhead glares at him in annoyance. “Must be genetic…” He mumbles.
“What is?” asks a curious Detective.
“I think I finally understand why Midoriya’s so irrational and reckless.”
“Hahaha!” several laughs escape their throats.
“Reckless we might be but we’re never without a plan.” Cinder clarifies. “Vilgax has always fallen for his own pride, he likes to gloat. He’s vindictive and vengeful. So, we'll use all that to our advantage. He’ll have his eyes particularly on me and you as well, Tetrax. You betrayed him and delayed his plans; he's not going to let you get away with that. This will be particularly dangerous for you; you aren’t obligated to help us. You don’t have to risk your life.”
The being of diamond mulls over the Plumber’s words, “The moment I decided to finally stand up to that monster was the day I finally decided to fight for something greater than myself…” He pauses looking sullen yet steadfast. “I’m with you till the end; I’ll make sure the Mad Titan pays for what he’s done.” That might sound heroic, but he can’t lie that it wouldn’t feel oh so satisfying to run the monster through with the edge of his bladed arm.
“Remember the goal isn’t to win.” Eraserhead states almost in warning. “This is a rescue mission first and foremost. The logical plan should be for the majority of us to hold the villain’s attention. That should give Tsukauchi and the droid plenty of time to free All Might.”
Detective Tsukauchi considers the plan, “I get it. If we get All Might back then not even Vilgax can win!”
Cinder gives the teacher a playful smirk, “Heh, are you sure I’m the reason why Izuku’s so reckless?”
Eraserhead smirks back equally as playful.
“Tsukauchi,” Cinder addresses. “That also means we’ll be relying on you to get Izuku back to the Rustbucket. We’ll make an opening for you both to escape ahead of us. This way if we have to retreat it’ll be one less thing to worry about. We can’t let Vilgax have any sort of edge over us.”
“You can rely on me!” That’s a policeman's promise.
“This plan is well and good, but I’ve always been a fan of pack hunting.” comments Patelliday. “By chance do you think we can give Gran Torino a call? If they have the Omnitrix maybe he and a few others could give us a hand?”
Cinder is just about to vocalize his agreement when all their com-sets buzz in their ears.
[“Come in Firestarter, this is Purple Stuff. Come in, Firestarter.”]
Cinder clicks his communicator on. “This is Firestarter, go ahead Purple Stuff.”
[“Frag, I hate this codename even Sludgepuppy would have been better…”] Lucy Mann’s voice sighs from the other end of the call. [“Listen, I just received a status report from Cheeks. Seriously, who came up with these names?”]
When Eraserhead thinks back he does remember Thirteen handing Bakugou a name chart and assigning him to come up with communication handles.
[“Anyway, they just reported in that they managed to retrieve the package.”]
Tetrax releases a breath he didn’t know he was holding as the others smile and celebrate in brief victory.
Cinder practically cheers into the mic, “That's excellent!” He grins, giving the rest of them a big thumbs up.
But if they were listening closely they would have picked up on the fact that Lucy wasn’t exactly as thrilled as they were. [“Yes but there were complications. Old Man and Raccoon Eyes will be unable to rejoin you due to…complications.”] She’s trying to avoid outright saying what the issues are due to the fear that one of the ship’s many drones or villains could be listening in on this frequency.
But even though she’s being vague, Cinder is able to piece it together. “Not good, we could have used the extra help to combat Vilgax.”
[“About that Cheeks managed to find a stowaway that was more than forthcoming with some much needed information.”] She sounds hurried, worried even, and maybe scared. [“Our intel is incomplete! There’s…Cinder…it’s not good.”]
What could that mean, they wonder. How much worse could the Grand Destroyer be?
Cinder clicks on the com-set once again, “Go ahead, Lucy. We’re listening…”
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“Such tenacity. Such determination. It’s quite enjoyable to watch, I see why the masses of your planet find your exploits so fascinating. Wouldn’t you both agree?” Vilgax turns away from his screens in order to get a good look at his two prisoners who slowly shrink away as to not meet his gaze.
Satisfied with their reactions, he goes back to observing the many scenes playing out before him. In the hanger there’s SevenSeven tossing a flash grenade and flying away before he’s torn apart by Present Mic’s sonic scream.
More and more prisoners are making it further away from their confinements and are running through the halls searching for an exit.
Fires rage across other sectors of his ship which just adds to the mayhem.
And yet there are faces missing from the screens, and not just of the heroes but four members of his Negative Nine are unaccounted for. He’s tried hailing them via his com-link, buzzing each of them and waiting for an answer. Again and again, he gives them each a ring but not one of them answers.
He decides to call upon someone else, “Psyphon.”
Almost instantly like an automated message, Psyphon responds over Vilgax’s personal com-link. [“Yes, Master?”]
“Divert power from the engines and transfer it to the communications array. I want you to broadcast a signal jammer.”
[“But Master, the communications array was damaged when the Ideon Canon was destroyed. Granted it’s still operational but it will hinder our own communications as well!”]
“Then so be it. Just be sure to keep the signal running to the arena intact.”
[“But Master-”]
“We’ve already lost communications with Sunder, Rojo, Ragnarok, and the Techadon. Our forces are in disarray. And chaos has spread across the entire ship. Let’s just guarantee that this chaos works in our favor.”
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[“Alright.”] Lucy takes a breath before gathering her thoughts. [“Cheeks told me everything she could but Vilgax, somehow, stole Qu-”]
Like a television dying mid-sentence, Lucy’s voice is cut out and silenced.
“Purple Stuff? Purple Stuff?! LUCY!?!” Cinder calls but there’s no answer, only static.
“What happened?” asks Tsukauchi.
Chopper rattles and quivers, clearly upset about something. ^Bo-wop! Bz-op!^ His antenna’s stopped working, he’s not receiving any signals.
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“Principal Nezu!” Cementoss cries out from behind his monitor.
The Plus Ultra’s bridge goes silent despite the rain of lasers coming from outside and the occasional tremor of their ship from Malware’s laser assault.
“What is it?” Magister Nezu asks.
“Our signal’s jammed!”
They all gasp. “What?!”
“Curses!” Xylene is seething with rage, if her ship hadn’t been damaged she could still be out there fighting.
“We’re being jammed!” Cementoss shouts once again. “We’ve lost all communications with those on the inside!!”
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Meanwhile, Hangar 7 is in complete disarray. It looks like a warzone has broken out in the middle of the ship with Hover Drones firing from the air as an army of Bioids try to push for more ground. Dominators are towering over the battlefield before toppling over when they are met with a supersonic scream. Which adds more fuel to the already spreading fires.
“Stay alert!” warns Midnight. With a crack of her electrified whip, she minces an incoming swarm of Hover Drones. “There’s no end to them!”
An army of Ectoplasm clones charge forward, each armed with a DC-15S Blaster Carbine.
They’re sudden rush forward forces SevenSeven’s hand, and he guns them down in quick succession of each other.
“I thea loesnc!!” SevenSeven lets out an ungodly shriek as he guns down more approaching clones.
“Raagh!!”
The bounty hunter quickly leans forward, and ducks away from the incoming slab of red rock.
But it’s no rock, that solid red slab that just flew over his head was in fact an arm, an arm so Hard that it might as well be made of living stone.
“Raagh!” Red Riot lunges at the freak, if he can grab him he can give Midnight the chance to knock him out for good!
“Pneo!” SevenSeven’s jetpack ignites and launches him away into the air. “Uoy’er oto mnlay ofr em.”
“Raagh! Stop flying away you coward!!” Red Riot rages but can’t do a thing as SevenSeven flies further away and vanishes into a column of smoke.
SevenSeven observes the battlefield, despite their numbers he’s hardly made any progress. Heck the Plumbers’ ships remain virtually untouched as do the heroes themselves. He’s also noticed that less and less drones have been coming his way. He’d really like to know what’s going on and what exactly is delaying his reinforcements. Perhaps it’s time to swallow his pride and ask for some assistance?
Activating the comlink on his wrist pad he signals an S.O.S. “Ot em ym Ngetavei Inne!”
But much to his shock there’s no reply; not from Psyphon nor his master.
“Mnda ti! Ddi i rogfte ot ayp ym phoen ilbl…?”
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‘Dank Farrik!!’ Lucy nearly slams her fist into the monitor, but she manages to hold her composure.
The last thing she needs is to expose her disguised self to Psyphon and all the Bioids around her.
But what’s even more frustrating is the fact that she can’t just simply shut down the jammer. If she did that then it would be pretty clear that someone was here on the bridge causing snafus. And she needs to be on the bridge in case they try to pull anything else.
She’ll have to find other ways around it to help.
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“Lucy?!” Uravity is racing through the ship with the chains of Sunder’s Axe clang against her shoulders as she tries to call Lucy through her helmet. “What’s the status? Are they waiting for me? Did Mina and Gran Torino make it back yet?”
As with everyone else, she receives no answer.
“Lucy? Mr. Midoriya? Principal Nezu?! Thirteen?! Can anybody HEAR ME!?!”
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Izuku can hear her. And he desperately wants to call out to her, to all of them. He wants to warn them, tell them to run and escape, to forget about him… But he doesn’t bother, though, he knows his words will never reach their ears. It’s useless. He’s useless… “I’m sorry, everyone…”
“Young Midoriya…?” Toshinori wasn’t sure if he heard the young lad apologize or not but it doesn’t take long for him to realize just how defeated the boy is.
He never had the chance to admit it but the boy always had a spark to him; a sense of righteous bravery and determination that ignited a fire in all of those around him. But that spark, that fire, it’s gone. No, it’s not the fact that his Quirks, or rather his watch, is gone. His confidence, his sense of duty, has been shattered.
He has to reach out to him, he has to inspire him, that’s what All Might does. But then again can he really make such a bold statement, is it really his place? He never once managed to encourage the boy, is it too late to try…? No, it’s not but… What can he say? What can he tell him? After all, his own world, his pride as the Symbol of Peace, has been shattered as well. “It’s…it’s- not your…fault.”
“Isn’t it though…?” Izuku whispers, not meeting the broken man’s gaze.
Toshinori has no idea how to respond. So instead, he listens.
“This is all on me… If I had just…been more realistic.”
Toshinori winces, watching as the boy tries to blink back the tears pricking at his eyes.
“It all started that day… Y-you…t-tried to set me st-straight. A-and I know it wasn’t…out of malice.”
‘No, but I could have been more empathetic…’
“And then I found the Omnitrix.” The boy cracks a smile, it’s broken and small, but just as quickly as it appears it vanishes. “I was so happy, I thought that I finally had a Quirk. I had all the Quirks I could ever dream of, but look at where that’s gotten me… If I had never gone to that stupid beach that day would we even be here? Would any of this have happened? If it weren’t for me then the League of Villains would have never attacked the camp… If it weren’t for me my friends wouldn’t constantly be in danger! Maybe Nue would have never turned into a monster! Maybe Vilgax would have left Earth alone!! And maybe you would have been-…!!” He stops, the words catching in his throat before he dares to finish that statement.
But Toshinori knows. He knows what the boy is thinking. “…Would the Symbol of Peace still be standing?”
The boy quivers in place.
“I think…the answer is…no.”
Izuku’s head snaps up, his teary eyes wide and full of shock.
“Whether…you found the Omnitrix or not. Whether Vilgax got involved with our home… All For One would have seeked my downfall one way or another… I’ve given it a lot of thought, ever since the U.S.J. I’ve thought about how things could have been different. What if I was on time? What if I never received this injury? What if I was faster? What if? What if? But no matter how much I run different scenarios in my head the result is always the same… I fail.”
The truth sets you free? Well in this case the truth feels like chains choking around his frame…
“The League of Villains still would have attacked the U.S.J. They still would have attacked the camp.”
“B-but they came after me!!” Izuku snaps, nearly crying.
“And they took Young Bakugou too. And attempted the same with Young Tokoyami. No matter what the League was always going to come after you and your classmates. Vilgax just…gave them an edge.”
“A-All Might…”
Toshinori peers up, his sapphire gaze falling upon the scenes of chaos and fire displayed across the arena’s walls. “All of this is just an unforeseen consequence of my actions. This is on me for not being more aware, more dutiful, to both my duty as the Symbol of Peace but also…as your teacher. Th-this…is all on me…”
Izuku wants to say something. He wants to tell the hero that it’s not his fault. It’s his. But…
“Young Midoriya I can barely imagine what you’ve been dealing with all on your own? I can only imagine how much of a burden I unknowingly drop onto your shoulders?” Shoulders that somehow look even thinner and weaker than his own, but that might just be his perspective. After all it should be the adults, the heroes, the teachers to lift the burdens of those under their care. ‘And yet, I couldn’t do any of that…’
“All this time, you’ve been fighting battles without anyone’s knowledge. Without proper support and yet…you’ve always kept going. You’ve always moved forward, jumping in to help before you could even think. Like a hero should… Young Midoriya, you are far stronger than you give yourself credit for…”
The boy’s mind is blank, but for a moment a comforting warmth gives him light, however the cold touch of despair quickly seeps back in, doubting him. “All Might… I’m-”
[*BOOM!!!*] A sharp explosion screams in their ears, making them jump, but it was nothing more than one of Bakugou’s Explosions rocketing too close to one of the surveillance systems.
[“Come out!”] Bakugou cackles while rocketing through the air. [“Show yourselves you alien scumbags! You’re do for some overdo dissections!!”]
It seems the thundering Explosions and shouts have caught Vilgax’s attention as well. With a swipe of his claw the display shifts to the foreground and upon enlarging the image he reveals that it's not just Bakugou running around. “Seems that these young warriors have become quite restless.”
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“COME ON!!!” Bakugou releases one last Explosion that rattles the nearby bulkheads and pipes running along the hall.
His boots hit the ground hard, leaving skid marks along the ground before coming to a stop by pressing his hand to the floor. “I thought this was an alien spaceship! So, where in the hell are all the fucking aliens at?!”
There’s not a drone, Bioid, or alien in sight. In fact, he hasn’t seen a single threat or an ounce of action since they split up from everyone else. Talk about a rip-off, he brought all those blue-colored grenades for nothing! Now he looks like a red easter bunny carrying around a bandolier of blue eggs. Heck he even brought his grenade gauntlets all the way up here but those have been useless too. “I'm gonna go crazy with boredom at this rate!”
“Going to be? I thought you already were.”
“Shut your mouth, Icy-Hot!!”
Shoto Todoroki gives a rare smirk, finding some humor despite the situation. With a splintered ice trail underfoot, he slides to a stop. He’s almost impressed with himself for being able to keep up with a flying Bakugou in such narrow conditions, but he’s more impressed with the red Plumber suit he was lent. It’s circulating his external temperatures perfectly; he rarely felt any cold as he propelled himself forward with bursts of ice. It makes him wonder just how much this suite can really take against more extreme conditions.
“Stay focused Damnit!” Bakugou snarls. “Last thing I want to do is drag your ass outta here when you bite it!”
“Why would I bite?”
“Now now you two. There’s no need for that.” Thirteen goes from a sprint to a light jog before coming to a rest between the boys, acting as a buffer between them. They bend over, propping themselves on their knees, out of breath. “Save the cutthroat attitude… for the…bad guys. Phew! You guys are fast.” They say between breaths, normally they are much more limber than this but that might have something to do with the strange battery-shaped container strapped to their back.
Bakugou, however, is quick to point out a flaw in Thirteen’s logic, “What bad guys?! Ain’t nobody here!”
“Isn’t that a good thing? It means the plan is working.” At least that’s how it looks to Shoto. “Afterall it means that the Rescue Team and the Hanger Team are doing exactly as promised and diverting away the overlord’s army, leaving our path free and clear.”
“I know that!!” Bakugou snaps, before grumbling to himself. “I’m just craving for some action.”
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However, that wasn’t as much to himself as Bakugou would have thought.
“So, the young warrior wishes for action. Then I shall grant that desire.” Vilgax shifts away from the overhead display in order to address his nearest minion. “Nue see to it that our guests are well entertained.”
Nue is more than pleased to do so, after all their last fight was interrupted by too many party crashers and a flood of goo. “With pleasure.”
He stomps past Izuku and Toshinori, his tail nearly whipping their faces as he heads for the now opened portal door. His claws and tendrils flex, his muscles shuttering, as if awakening from a deep sleep as he takes in the not-so-fresh air. Before he steps out of the cold void of the arena he pauses and grants his former friend a malicious grin. “Smile Deku. Even you have to admit, Blasty deserves everything that’s been coming to him.”
Izuku doesn’t dare to openly acknowledge the threat. Instead, he turns away, not wanting to watch the inevitable disaster that is soon to follow…
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These hallways are such a bore. It’s the same thing over and over: it’s bulkheads after bulkheads with exposed piping and wiring acting as wallpaper, some random red lights indicating problems, and the sensation of being watched. It’s all the same. At first it was ominous and trippy, but now it’s doing nothing but driving him insane.
“I’m so bored!” Bakugou announces like it’s the worst thing to ever happen to him. “Just how much further is it?!” He shouts back, yelling louder than the Explosions carrying him forward.
“It’s not far!” Thirteen shouts while hanging onto Shoto’s back and shoulders as they ride a wave of ice like a pair of surfers. “The Power Core’s just up ahead!”
“Tsk!”
Shoto peers up at the blonde while resisting the urge to flinch away from the blinding blasts of heat. “What’s your hurry?”
“What’s my hurry?!” Bakugou’s in disbelief, he can’t believe the Icy-Bastard just asked him that. “The longer we take the longer it’ll be till I can shove that bastard's tentacles down his own throat!” With rage fueling his fire, his Explosions roar and rattle the halls. “Not just that, but I am going to make sure Deku knows that this Vilgax guy is nothing!! I’m going to make the freak pay for all the bullshit he’s caused us!!”
Shoto contemplates his classmate’s words, Bakugou may be talking the usual smack but there’s some underlining to it.
He prods for more insight, “Will it be that simple? We’re not going up against petty thieves or psychos here. We’re fighting aliens… Hasn’t that registered for you yet?”
Bakugou, however, is unwilling to give in. Opting to pretend that he didn’t hear him.
Shoto continues, “We’ve gone up against Midoriya and his aliens before and it’s always been a challenge.” Just look at how he did against Heatblast alone in the Sports Festival or Bakugou did against the same alien during the Final Exams. “It takes everything we have just to compete. And now…we’re fighting aliens that have more experience with their powers, while on their turf, on their terms, meanwhile we hardly understand what we’re up against. They’ve nearly outplayed us on every turn without us even realizing it. Doesn’t that worry you…?”
Again the bomber ignores him, but he knows he’s listening. His silence, his lack of a reaction, speaks for itself.
“How can we even fight beings like that…?” The question hangs in the air, unanswered, uncertain, and heavy with dread.
“I wouldn’t count yourselves out like that.”
Shoto nearly jumps, he had almost forgotten that Thirteen was right there, listening.
Thirteen continues, “You both might have lost to the same alien but you each grew from that experience. Todoroki, you've been using your flames more openly since the Sports Festival. And Bakugou you are much more cooperative since the Final Exams. You’ve proven yourself to be a real team player and leader when it comes down to it.” They aren’t sure but they think Bakugou’s blushing. “You’re all students, you are meant to be pushed, to be challenged. So, when you do succeed, it’s earned. It’s yours.” And they’ll be there watching with pride. “Just because someone has a stronger Quirk than yours doesn’t mean you are any less valuable or unique. Each of you can do something that the other can’t. You just have to find it. And sometimes you’ll have to look outside the box to find that answer.”
‘Look outside the box…?’ What could that mean they both think to themselves. How can they look past their own Quirks? Their limitations? It’s like asking someone to see through a brick wall without any windows; how can they see through to the other side?
“We’re here.”
Thirteen’s words snap them out of their heads and that's when they find a set of massive doors that stretch three stories towering before them. This is it. This is what they were gunning for: the Power Core.
“RAAAGH!!!” Bakugou rockets ahead and blasts right through the gates, leaving a gaping hole in his wake.
As the smoke and heat fade away Bakugou finds his vision assaulted with flashes of blue. As the others enter they take a moment to observe their surroundings. And although it is certainly the power center of the ship it somehow feels like they’ve entered another dimension; where before they were surrounded by a world of cold metal of red and darkness, now they are surrounded by a chamber of cool blues and ever-present light.
The chamber is cylindrical is shape and it is massive, probably about ten stories tall and as wide as a baseball field, although you wouldn’t know it at first glance. Whereas, the rest of the ship is laid out in a sort of organized chaos, the power core itself is the very definition of symmetry and efficient organization. Catwalks from all cardinal directions intersect at the center, allowing those entering to monitor and maintain the rows and rows of servers and electrical conduits below. Between each catwalk is a set of arches used to link cables from one end of the chamber to the other. More cables and electrical conduits have been intertwined up the walls like vines, they loop and hang off of strategically built vertical arches, and bulkheads which support the cables on their climb up towards the top of the chamber.
Halfway up the chamber a collection of nine generators are set against the wall about half way up the cylindrical chamber. They each sit upon a track that rings around the outline of the chamber’s mid column. They spin in succession of each other, with their husks just barely scraping past each other as they go. They’re comparable to watching nine sets of blue school buses being spun around in midair. And as they spin they seem to be continuously generating power that surges through their systems and up towards the shining Power Core above.
At the top of the chamber sits the Power Core itself. The Power Core is massive, looking like an upside-down dome that’s constantly illuminating a burning blue light. It’s like Vilgax has his own artificial sun stuffed away into its own special corner, glowing magnificently with energy. Energy that will forever fuel this entire ship.
“What a dump!” Bakugou barks, disgusted by the overly clean and organized assembly.
Shoto and Thirteen give the teen a pair of deadpan stares as they oh so casually stroll through the gaping hole Bakugou left behind in the doorway.
“At least we’re alone.” Shoto comments.
*PEW!!!*
He and Thirteen duck just as a laser bolt flies over their heads.
“You were saying!” Thirteen shouts, pointing up at the squad of Hover Drones descending upon them from between the cable-linked arches.
Bakugou couldn’t be more thrilled to see them, “FINALLY!!!”
The drones fire upon them, their lasers like rain, but for Bakugou it might as well be a drizzle. Rocketing through the air, it’s like he’s dancing in the rain, before blowing away the storm of drones with a single Explosion!
*BOOM!!!*
The resulting fireball lights up the chamber before extinguishing and volleying a shower of unrecognizable parts that were once killer drones all across the chamber.
Like a red blur, Bakugou skids across the ground to a screeching halt with his hands hanging low and an annoyed scowl on his face. “Is that it?! I was expecting more!!”
As if this was all scripted, another dozen or so squadrons of Hover Drones emerge from several entrance vents near the upper walls. A legion of Bioids emerge from between the massive servers from below like an army of the undead. And finally crawling down the walls like giant spiders a pair of sentinel drones descend upon the catwalk before standing up and towering over the valiant heroes with dangerously glowing red eyes that make even Bakugou shutter.
Moving up to Bakugou’s right, Shoto can’t help but ask, “Happy now?”
The blonde bites his tongue in frustration.
Even if he had something to say he wouldn’t have the time to get it out as every single murder drone prepares to fire.
It’s a choir of blaster fire as every drone unleashes their pay load upon the teens. Who, in turn, prepare to dodge and block the incoming attacks. However, the rain of laser bolts miss their intended targets completely. It’s not as a result of bad aim or miscalculation, but due to the sudden air vacuum that’s so powerful that it diverts their vectors.
An air lock must have been breached because every air molecule, every loose piece of metal and cable are suddenly pulled in one single direction. Turbulence picks up as every laser bolt is sucked away past the boys’ heads. The drones desperately hold their ground but their armor, their joints, their very atoms, begin to rip apart until they’re nothing but dust and debris that vanishes within an endless void. Thirteen seals Blackhole away only after every spec of their enemy has been erased. Leaving the teens in a mix of shock-and-awe.
But after a moment Bakugou shakes off the astonishment and spins around in a huff, “Hey! They were mine!”
Thirteen is devoid of humor, instead glowering, taking their job point blank efficiency and professionalism. “No. That’s yours.” Thirteen corrects and points up towards the blinding Power Core. “All that matters is completing our mission. We don’t have time for fun and games.” Suddenly sparks of electricity surges into Thirteen from behind and they let out an ungodly scream. “AAAAAHHHH!!!”
“THIRTEEN!!!”
The surprise zapping extinguishes, leaving Thirteen as a partly burnt husk, the hero’s body sways before they lose consciousness and collapse revealing a pair of elongated tendrils pierced into their spine. The tendrils rip themselves off like a pair of leeches that retreat back towards the blast hole in the doorway.
“What a buzzkill. Luckily for you guys,” Two pairs of red hands grab the edges of the gaping hole and pry it apart. The metal shrieks as a monster of twisted proportions pulls its hulking body through with a vile smile and foul intentions. “I have all the time in the world. Hahahaha!!”
[ARTWORK: “Henzu(Monster)” by “Voidv25” on DeviantArt: https://www.deviantart.com/voidv25/art/Henzu-Monster-883288185]
“UUICHI!!!” Bakugou roars. “You fucking coward!!”
His outburst makes Nue chuckle, “Hey, don’t be like that. I even got rid of the one shot wonder out of the way for us. After all, I don’t want our rematch to be interrupted again.”
Shoto scowls, “A rematch? I seem to recall we had you on the ropes.”
“Pft! Did you hit your head? The only reason you got the edge last time was because you called all your little friends to help. But trust me, things won’t play out the same way this time.”
Bakugou’s face hardens in confusion. “What are you talking about?”
Concerned, Shoto clicks down on his com-set and tries to hail a response. He hears nothing but static. “Bakugou! Communications are down! I can’t reach anyone!”
Bakugou spins around in disbelief, “What?!”
“Haha!! Typical Blasty. Always so egotistical. Never a team player. If it’s not about you, you don’t care. Why give a fuck?”
“Don’t act like you know me.” He growls.
“Oh?” With a grin Nue’s chest holes begin to spew out a whirlwind of air that soon has him launching straight into the air. “Don’t I?!”
Shoto recognizes the bait, and he hurries to stop Bakugou. “Bakugou, wait-!!”
Unfortunately, as Nue predicted Bakugou bites down on that hook and is reeled in for a fight. The Mad Bomber rockets after the mutant freak with reckless abandon up towards the rotating cylindrical-generators.
“No! Comeback!” Shoto prepares to launch himself into the air with a pillar of ice, however as the ground beneath his feet begins to freeze over a spit of fire burns away his foundation. “Aah!”
A legion of nine multi-colored Dominators roar out from between the servers and catwalks. It’s a full “Domination Parade” with one of every Dominator subclass now locking onto a single target.
It was the Red Dominator that melted his ice but it’s the Orange Dominator that’s the most eager to draw blood. It scuttles forward quickly and with its size it’s upon the dual-typed teen in seconds with one arm raised back with a burning laser blade.
Reacting quickly, the boy shields himself with the sudden appearance of a glacial burst! The ice wall nearly swallows up the giant’s entire frame, leaving only its head and laser blade freed.
Just as he thinks he’s earned an edge; the air begins to vibrate and a high pitched whistle grows louder and louder until the ice begins to crack and inevitably shatter as a result of the Purple Dominator’s sonic waves.
“I wanted to do this cleanly. But if you’re this insistent then I have no alternatives!” With a roar the young Todoroki unleashes an entire geyser of flames. The flames threaten to burn and melt them all and that’s just what he intends to do…however, two separate springs of water and ice douses his flames from either side. And as his flames vanish into clouds of steam two Dominators, one of Blue and the other of White, make their presence known. More and more of the Dominators step forth to form the complete line up of the live-wired Yellow, the acidic Green, armored Brown, and humming Silver.
The Brown Dominator lunges for the boy, a drill takes the place of its fist since it intends to bury the boy alive.
Quickly said boy unleashes another ice wall but it’s only a smokescreen, allowing him to quickly dive away out of the robot’s vision. And good thinking too because that massive drill combined with the bot’s heavy weight make quick work of the flimsy ice.
Shoto’s in a bind. Not only is he outnumbered, but these robots are too highly specialized. They can counter his powers perfectly. But also, it’s not just himself he has to worry about.
He peers down at the still form of Thirteen who lies unconscious just a few feet behind him.
He has no choice; he’s going to have to stand his ground and find a way to defeat these monsters while keeping his downed ally safe.
The Dominators truly live up to their Domination Parade, stomping forward each eager to for a kill; all in the name of their Master.
As Shoto glares at their towering figures a part of his brain thinks back to Midoriya, specifically how he’d handle such a situation. For some reason he has the sneaking suspicion that he would lead in with some clumsy one liner… “Please form a line. It'll be a pleasure to take you all out.”
Nailed it.
The Dominators look at each in confusion before resuming their assault.
Meanwhile, as chaos ensues on the ground, the air is a storm of fire and wind.
“Raagh!” Bakugou lets out a roar with every Explosion that fails to land.
But Nue is all smiles, leading Bakugou on like a jumping frog with every burst of air and kick off the walls. “What’s the matter?! Did your aim get worse since the bootcamp?!” He lands on one of the generators as it rotates around the outline of the chamber. “Or are you still in shock of all this?!”
“Don’t give me that!” Bakugou rockets towards the creature who speeds up the wall as a blur with XLR8’s speed before stopping atop another generator that’s three rows up. “It doesn't matter! Alien! Human! I know what you are! You’re a monster!!” He rockets after him just before the second rotating generator can knock him off the first.
“I knew you’d say that.” Nue lashes out a tendril that swings him away much like Sero or Eraserhead.
And once again, Bakugou’s Explosion misses. “Don’t act like you know me!”
“Oh, but I do, Blasty. I know exactly who you are! I told Shigaraki not to bother with you! I knew you’d never take his offer! But I never expected you to join Deku’s little Space Club either.”
“Why? Did you think I couldn’t handle it?!” Anticipating the trajectory of Nue’s path, he unleashes a blast so strong it shakes the entire generator rod.
“Exactly right!!” While in mid-swing, Nue takes aim at him with his lower pair of arms and fires a barrage of water blasts to which Bakugou weaves through like a fighter jet. “It’s in your nature!” Nue’s tendril lets go and he plummets, whizzing past the boy before he can react and then chases after him. “You never cared about anyone but yourself!” He blasts a gust of wind down which springs him up quickly.
Not anticipating such a move Bakugou is defenseless as Nue spins and strikes him with a hammer-shaped crystal fist! The boy’s vision blackens for a moment, and he swears he sees stars as he’s flung across the air and into the wall. Thankfully a generator rod was rotating around the chamber slow enough to catch his fall.
“And yet here you are! Why? To save Deku of all people! Ha! Yeah right! You’re here because you wanted to patch up your bruised ego!”
“S-shut up…!!” Bakugou wheezes but refuses to show any weakness. “Last thing I need is to be criticized by a hypocrite!”
That gives Nue pause, “Me? A hypocrite?” He’s offended. “I was always honest about what I was. But you… You’ve always been a LIAR!!!” His lower claws stretch out and as they do the Feedback-like tendrils coil around them, feeding electricity into the water bubbling at his palms. “And the biggest lie you ever told was telling yourself that you’re the HERO!!!”
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
Izuku can hear every word and he has the perfect view to witness Nue unleashing a blast of electrically charged jets of water at Bakugou.
The idiot stands his ground, unleashing his own Explosion against the incoming strike. The resulting blast causes an eruption of steam and electricity to fill the air, temporarily hindering the camera’s view for a few agonizing moments.
“Stop…”
Vilgax grows annoyed, not out of pettiness but that the boy can’t command himself. “Speak up, Izuku Midoriya.”
“…Please, stop.” Izuku begs while fighting back tears. “You have the Omnitrix. You have your weapon. You have your powers. You have everything you wanted. Why not just…leave us alone? What do you have to gain from all this?”
“You probably believe that I am after a trivial end goal: revenge, satisfaction, and the like. Perhaps a hint of those. But no, my purposes are far more elaborate than petty squabbling.” The titan considers the youngling’s question. “I will humor you. I am the Conqueror of Worlds. A title that we already established was earned.”
It’s salt in the wound for the boy that called himself Deku as he’s reminded why his body and heart are hurting so much…
“I have spread my conquest upon worlds with minimal obstructions. Granted, nearly all of them fought back one way or another, some proved more resilient than others of course. But I always succeeded.” He peers out past the holographic displays, past the projected images of the Plus Ultra, past the moon’s surface, and straight towards the giant blue sphere below. “But now I face a planet so seemingly insignificant that it’d be lucky if it was even documented on a bygone era’s star charts. And yet somehow its inhabitants managed to elude my hold one way or another. And just as astonishingly they wield powers far more versatile than any other race that I have ever encountered. Pyronites can be weakened with a simple compound of Sodium bicarbonate. Remove a Piscciss Volann from water and they’re gutted. A Lepidopterran’s entire nest can be burned away with a simple candle. One weakness. One flaw. Is all I ever needed to exploit. But those rules don’t apply to you humans. I may drown out one’s fire with water. But one that can command water can drown my flame. I can gas the planet. Only for those that can command the air to dissipate my attack. I can lead an entire army of drones to attack your cities. But a single human with the ability to control technology can halt my entire advance. And bombarding your planet from space does not suit me. Like I said, I earn what is mine.”
The boy’s head falls, his efforts for peace were in vain. But he knew that from the start…
Toshinori however, needs answers as well, he needs to know what this is all for. So, he repeats the boy’s question, “But what do you have to gain?”
“Everything.” Vilgax answers, his voice rumbling with a sort of dark eagerness. “I am presented with an opportunity here.”
He gestures towards the many holograms displaying various battles that have or are raging across his ship: from the attack on the hangar, the prison fiasco, Malware’s assault on the Plus Ultra, the Techadon’s last stand, Nue’s ambush, and so forth. “Did you simply think I was recording everything because I wish to be entertained? No. In truth, I am taking a page from your very own Magister Nezu’s book.”
Both Toshinori and Izuku perk up with nervous curiosity.
“I am in fact broadcasting this entire feed out into the universe for all to see!!”
Izuku is stunned. He couldn’t be? That can’t be right!
Toshinori’s just as stunned, so much so his maw hangs agape. “Y-you’re w-what…?”
“What is the earthling saying? When life gives you lemons.” Yes, such a profound proverb. “You may destroy my ship. You may defeat my army. But none of that will matter when I triumph in the end. When I am the one standing over your bodies with my fist in the air, declaring my victory!” Oh, it will be legendary. There is no doubt about that. “Many worlds are aware of you humans, especially you All Might. The “former” Symbol of Peace.”
If Izuku felt salt on his wounds before then Toshinori was just burned with fire…
“They have already witnessed first hand the power I wield. The power that defeated Earth’s greatest Champion!” A new display appears, showing a recording of All Might and Izuku’s fight with the Mad Titan. “And now they will see for themselves that the Plumbers they depend on so dearly have no hope against me.” The other displays illuminate as more and more holograms begin to broadcast edits of the day’s on goings. “This broadcast will strike terror in all those that even think of opposing me. And it will influence others to flock to my side! And once I show this to all the humans! No one on Earth will be willing to stand against my rule!! You say I have everything I want. That is incorrect. There is one more thing I want.” He doesn’t need to say it and yet he does as he looks out towards his significant prize. “Earth.”
This can’t be. They cannot believe their eyes or ears and yet they know it to be true. Once Vilgax has his army collected, his ship repaired, and his weapons prepared he will let his presence be known to the entire Earth. Their home. He’ll destroy everything they’ve ever known…
The Grand Destroyer seems bored of this conversation now as with a simple wave a portal opens along the dome wall and a squad of four armed Bioids march into the arena. The Bioids follow their master’s silent orders: two of which begin to bind the humans’ wrists in electrical cuffs linked by a single device while the other two prepare a matching set of metallic muzzles.
But neither of them have the strength or will to fight. Toshinori especially is in complete disbelief. “N-no…”
“M-my D-dad will s-stop you…!” Izuku all but cries in a desperate attempt to cling onto any wisps of hope. “They’re c-coming. T-they w-won’t let y-you get away with t-this…!”
Vilgax remains still, his gaze never leaving his prize as he answers with a low eagerness, “I’m counting on it.”
And if his calculations are correct they shall be arriving here very soon.
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
Whether it’s because they haven’t seen any enemies in a while or the fact that the growing anticipation is killing time, but Cinder and his crew have switched from the guns-a-blazing approach to a black-ops stealth mission.
Cinder and Patelliday take the lead, checking corners and every blind spot for an ambush they just know is coming. But it never does, they find no traps, no enemies, no signs of danger. At least not until they’ve reached their destination.
Cinder just barely leans his head out from behind the bulkhead but those two Bioids might as well be blind. Even though they are on guard duty for the large portal-shaped gate they in no way spot him.
Turning back around, Cinder signals the others to get back and hide before he points two fingers at Chopper and swings his fingers back towards the direction of the Bioids.
The little astro-mech understands his orders, and while a little salute he’s off to make history.
^Woop-wo! Woop-wo! Woop-wo!^ Chopper speeds out from behind their hiding spot with his hands up and his head spinning like he’s doing his own version of an idol dance. Or maybe it’s a call for help. But either way it grabs the Bioids’ attention immediately.
^You there, halt!^ One of the two bots orders.
^Bp-oop!^
^How dare you!^
^No one says that about our creators!^
^Wawawa!^ Laughing, Chopper wheels away taunting them.
They take the bait. ^Get back here you piece of recycled metalloids!^
^Wowowow!^ Chopper turns the corner and vanishes from sight.
But the Bioids are right on his heels. ^We have you now!^
The moment they turn the corner one Bioid has its skull completely ripped into ribbons by a set of sharp claws. While the other gets wrapped into a Capture Scarf and then bashed into exposed pipes lining the wall.
The two bots fall apart before a poised Patelliday and stoic Eraserhead.
Seeing them work so efficiently, Cinder couldn’t be more honored to be here with them both. “Good work, men. Now, what do you say we thank our host for his gracious hospitality?” He gestures back towards the now unguarded gate.
To which, every member of his party gives an eager grin.
“Tetrax, if you would do the honors.”
The Ex-Bounty Hunter grins enthusiastically, “With pleasure.” His hands turn into hammers as he approaches the portal door. “RAAAGH!!!” With a single strike the portal falls apart into hexagonal-shaped pieces.
But there’s no time to focus on the small details as Cinder, Patelliday, Eraserhead, Tsukauchi, Tetrax, and Chopper all rush into the dome.
The arena is just how Cinder remembers it: large and dome shaped but pitch black like a seemingly endless void. The only light is what they’ve brought in with them via their weapons and the red light pouring in from the shattered gate. But yet despite the darkness, they sense nothing; there are no signs of their friends or Vilgax. Not one soul is seemingly in here.
Eraserhead’s eyes flash red from behind his goggles as his grip tightens around the S.A.G.E. Gun. “I got a bad feeling about this.”
Detective Tsukauchi gulps, “So, do I.” Aiming his Phaser out towards the darkness he scans the arena for any signs of movement. “There!! Look!”
Somehow they missed them, lying on the ground in the distance are the bound and muzzled forms of his dear friend and missing student.
“Izuku!!/All Might!!” The father and the detective immediately run to them with Chopper right on their heels.
Eraserhead, Patelliday, and Tetrax hang back out of pure suspicion.
Eraserhead remains ever vigilant as he continues to search for any signs of danger, “This isn't right. Where’s Vilgax?”
“Izuku! Izuku!” Cinder drops to his knees, and hovers over his son.
He’s been gagged and bound. And he seems to be out cold, with nasty bruises covering his broken body. But he’s breathing. Same goes for the skinny hero lying beside him.
“All Might…” Tsukauchi hovers a hand over his friends as if afraid that if he touches him then he might just crumble to dust. “What have they done to you?” Finally, he reaches for his friend’s shoulder but only for his hand to go straight through his friend like he was nothing but air. “What?”
The holograms vanish into thin air and the entire dome flashes red as every accent between each hexagonal panel glow with alarm. Meanwhile, the shattered pieces of the portal door summon themselves back into the place, sealing them in.
Patelliday screams, “It’s a Trap!”
A portion of the dome wall retreat back to the floor revealing that the heroes had only been occupying half of the true arena.
“Greetings heroes, welcome to my domain.” Announces a being far more terrifying than either Eraserhead or Tsukauchi could envision. He is the definition of a monster, a titan that can call upon their destruction with a single thought.
“Have you come to face your doom?” Vilgax smiles from underneath his respirator.
Izuku and Toshinori are kneeling beside him, both gagged and with their hands bound behind their backs much like their holograms.
Their eyes are pleading, praying for them to run, to forget them… They’ve given up so much so they don’t even make an attempt to run to them, but that might be because of the four Bioids posted around them.
The sight of his bloodied and bruised son sends Cinder over the edge, “VILGAX!!!” He roars, flames spitting from the end of his maw-mask.
But Vilgax’s response is far calmer, like someone who’s seeing an old friend after years spent apart. “Firebreather, it’s been too long.”
“Not long enough.” Cinder spits.
Vilgax smiles at that, “Tell me, did you enjoy my surprise entrance at Kamino? I learned that maneuver from you.”
“The art of making a grand entrance… Somehow I am not honored that you copied me.”
“Honor? I don’t honor you.” His tentacles and muscles pulse with bloodlust as he calmly states. “I pity you.”
Cinder’s knuckles crack and turn white against his Amenonuhoko spear.
Sensing a fight, Patelliday gives one last go at diplomacy. “Mr. Vilgax, sir. I’d like to state for the record that this is a clear violation of the Intergalactic Peace and Law Accord. This will be considered a violation of the truce between you and the Plumbers. If you do not submit to the terms of the truce then you will have the entire Plumber Armada descending upon you!”
Vilgax considers the Plumber’s ultimatum and calls his bluff, “That’s the biggest tail that’s ever been spun. I am well aware of the Accord. And might I remind you that it is “you” that is in clear violation of the cease fire. Not to mention this mission is completely un-sanctioned by the Plumbers and therefore out of their jurisdiction. As far as the law is concerned, I am a law-abiding citizen.”
“INNOCENT!?!” Tetrax roars. “You are anything but!! You’re-....you’re-”
“A villain.” Vilgax finishes the statement for him, and it seems that he’s quite proud to wear this new title. “I suppose that I am. Now Heroes, are you ready to die at my hand?”
It seems that diplomacy has failed. There’s only one course of action now.
Tsukauchi steps back, his Phaser aimed and at the ready. “Is there really no other way?”
The ends of the Amenonuhoko spear ignite with fire as Cinder gives him a malicious yet somber answer. “There never was.”
The rest of them take their ques: Patelliday readies his blaster rifle, Eraserhead readies his Capture Scarf and the S.A.G.E. Gun, while Tetrax steps forth with his hands as maces, and even Chopper prepares himself chopping the air with his little hands like he was a karate master.
The sight of all of them is truly amusing. “I am going to enjoy ripping each of you apart.” He marches forward away from the prisoners, his heavy steps echoing across the entire dome. “Now, which of you is brave enough to face me first?”
No one is brave enough to answer the challenge. They wait with bated breaths, for one of their own to make the first call. For Vilgax to make the first move. But it doesn’t come; Vilgax doesn’t even seem to be guarding himself. Instead, he stands there, chest out and arms behind his back like he were standing upon a podium.
As the fire across his spear crackles, Cinder’s temper burns hotter and hotter, but he does his best to quell his raging flames. But it’s all for naught.
“RAAAAGH!!!” Upon Cinder’s roar the others join in and rush the imposing titan. “Claws off my son, VILGAX!” Cinder throws himself at the villain, his spear overhead and poised to skewer the monster’s skull with his special move, “AMENONUHOKO: DUAL BURN!!!”
“Fire Breather!!” Vilgax’s claw cracks upward and catches the flaming spear.
Wishing to see his claw burn like BBQ on the grill, Cinder Firebreathes down at the spear causing the flames to flare.
Vilgax’s augmentations steam as his tentacles unreal and wrap themselves around the spear, squeezing out the flames as his muscles bulge and strain.
Cinder’s stunned, this amount of flames would have scarred him, it certainly had in the past. “Just when did you get so buff?!”
“I think you will find that I am much stronger than our last encounter, Firebreather!” A tentacle grips Cinder’s arm and with him and his spear locked Vilgax whips him back at his own comrades like a flying bowling ball. “Much STRONGER!!!”
His left arm bulges and shifts as if something living inside his own skin is squirming to get free, and like blood an inky darkness spills forth from the monster’s veins. But unlike blood it does not pool to the ground but instead pools around his tendrils and towards his claws forming between his grip as an Infernal Sword.
It’s like watching him wield a sword right out of a nightmarish realm. One that comes crashing down from above as Vilgax swings it down at their heads like a guillotine.
To say the heroes are in shock is an understatement; they’re minds are stunned. They only snap out of their trance when Eraserhead, the only sensible one, shoves Tetrax and Patelliday aside before tackling the others away. And just in time as the Infernal Sword crashes just inches from their heels.
The muzzled Izuku and Toshinori watch on in horror as the extended arm unfurls around the sword and the muscular tentacles snap through the air, knocking the heroes in all directions.
Two of which quickly recover, Patelliday springs into action, chomping down on one of the slithering tentacles as Tetrax catches another two between his arms.
“Valiant. But useless.” The veins in his muscles flare red before that burning glow travels down his limbs and to the tips of his tentacles, generating waves of heat that flare like fire.
Patelliday’s mouth sizzles as the tentacle overpowers him and launches him upward before slinging him off.
Tetrax braces himself, the burning muscles doing nothing against his diamond skin. But when it comes to strength he’s outmatched, he’s pulled in like a fish on a line. And met with Vilgax’s horn-encrusted Bio-Fist that nearly dislodges his jawline! And down the bounty hunter goes!
Cinder can’t believe his eyes: this kind of power and strength not seen on Vilgax before. Since when?! Why wasn’t he warned about this? No matter! He’s got to be stopped one way or another. “Take him out!! I want him stir fried!!” With a roar he unleashes a spinning inferno of flames upon the unmoving and unnerved titan. “FIRE TORNADO!!!”
Eraserhead and Tsukauchi take to his sides and unleash their blasters’ entire payloads. Tetrax and Patelliday recover and soon unleash their own barge of shards and laser bolts. Even Chopper gets in on the action by launching little jolts of electricity.
It’s an explosion of heat and smoke as all their fire is concentrated onto one target.
Cinder holds up his fist, “Hold your fire!”
Pulling their fingers away from their triggers, they hold.
Silence. Then an eerie stillness. Smoke rises from where Vilgax stood, and yet there’s no movement. No signs of the villain. He must be ash by now.
“He’s cooked.” Patelliday assumes and Cinder’s almost inclined to agree. If it wasn’t for one thing: he’s Vilgax.
They each spread out, encircling the smoke column with their blasters aimed. There’s no way he survived all that. There’s absolutely no way he-
There’s a shimmer, a golden shimmer of light, transparent yet solid, firmly planted within the smoke. Astonishment and horror wash over the heroes as Vilgax remains untouched and protected behind a golden force shield, the Ziegel Shield. “Did you really think victory would come so easily?”
A powerful gust of wind erupts from the smoke from seemingly nowhere. Propelling them all back without any hope of bracing themselves.
Shocked beyond belief, Cinder’s body nearly stumbles against the fierce wind which vanishes just as quickly as it arrived. “How…? You shouldn’t…”
Vilgax’s Ziegel Shield remains shining as his left fist coats itself with scales and his right fist grips an Infernal Sword. His gaze glows red with fury as the air trembles around his covered maw and his veins burn with rage. It’s like witnessing a creature claw its way out from their nightmares, here to sack retribution upon them all. “Poor deluded fools. You have no idea what horrors I’m capable of!!” As his eyes glow brighter, he unleashes twin beams of burning light!
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“Hahaha!! You have no idea what horrors I’m capable of! Hahahaha!!” Nue cackles in glee as his tendrils rip through the air with cracks of lightning.
Jolting forward he unleashes a barrage of lighting that dances around Bakugou who rockets through the air before stomping against the wall mid-air.
Catching some loose cables and an edge of a metal paneling, the ash-blond holds himself in place as he shouts back. “What’s with that corny line?! No way you came up with that on your own!”
Suddenly the metal panel pries itself off the wall, flinging him against it like a flyswatter.
The air ripples around Bakugou, he can feel Lodestar’s magnetic pull reel him in towards Nue’s waiting claws.
“Raagh!” With a roar he slams his hand against the panel and rocks the air with a smoke-billowing Explosion!
“You’re mine now!!” Nue cackles as the smoke billowing panel races near, with his four arms outstretched he catches the panel and presumably Bakugou in a bone crushing hug that crumbles the steel panel.
“Hm?” Or not, with the smoke gone he can clearly see the gaping hole in the center of the crumpled panel.
“Hahaha! Sucker!!” Bakugou howls from above; he’s rocketing himself up past the rotating generator rods and right towards the glowing Power Core.
He unleashes a sudden series of Explosion as he gives his body a spin, increasing his speed tenfold! He intends on finishing the mission right here, right now. And after that he'll kick in Nue’s jagged teeth right down his throat!! “HOWITZER IMPACT!!!”
This is it. This will be enough to finish the ship off!
However, Nue is just slightly faster. A blur of red and black speeds up the wall, weaving past the rotating rods and right to the center of the Power Core before stopping and falling.
“Ah, ah, ah! Not in my house!” Nue grins, aiming his chest down he unleashes a whirlwind mixed with dual geysers of water, creating a waterspout that drowns the boy in midair! Launching him away in a deluge of watery bullets.
“You think you’re hot shit!” A single Explosion tears a hole in the waterspout, giving Bakugou his escape. “If you wanted to stop us you should have shown your ugly mug sooner!”
“You think you’re the only one who’s been going to class?” Nue splits into three and the newly cloned trio plummet from above. “I’ve learned a few valuable lessons myself!”
Bakugou dodges the first, but he gets caught in the second clone’s tendril.
“Like how to crush a man!”
Bakugou blasts the tendril away before it can stun him. And then he takes to the air once again.
“To let him see his goal, the light at the end of the tunnel, only to have it all taken away from him before his very eyes!”
Bakugou’s too slow as the third Nue body checks him, making sure to put his diamond encrusted shoulder forward. Bakugou is knocked out of the air and sent crashing onto one of the large generator rods, denting it.
Nue lands on the opposite end of the generator rod, his clones soon join him and reemerge together. “Face it, Blasty. You’re out of your league here!!”
Bakugou groans, grateful that the red Plumber armor is more durable than it looks. “*Cough!* Believe me Uuichi *cough!*” He smirks cockily. “Everyone’s out of your league.”
Nue’s smile drops. “I am going to rip your face off!! RAAAGHH!!!” He lunges forth, maw wide with gruesome fangs intending to do exactly what he promised!
Meanwhile, things are going just as ugly for Shoto as well. He’s stuck between a rock and hard place, forced to fend off the incoming Dominators while shielding the unconscious Thirteen with all his strength.
The Dominators move in sequence with each other with the Yellow Dominator striking at him first with electrified cables.
Shoto barely jumps back before shoving the robot away with a glacier of icicles.
But then he has to quickly construct another wall to his left in order to block the Green Dominator’s geyser of corrosive acid.
“Bakugou! Bakugou!” He shouts to no avail. He can barely make Bakugou zipping around up there. “Dammit!” He’s on his own.
More Dominators are inbound and leading the charge is the armored Brown Dominator, plowing through the glacier walls with brute force.
Knowing he can’t hope to stop it in its tracks, Shoto grabs Thirteen and launches them both away with an icicle trail. They race across the catwalk as the Brown Dominator makes several attempts to crush them with its drills only to miss as Todoroki uses an ice slide to move up into the air like Marvel’s Iceman. Taking to the air, Shoto loops them over the grid of servers as the Red and Blue Dominators launch rays of fire and water at them.
Shoto spots the gaping hole they left behind in the gateway, without another thought, he launches them towards it. But the White Dominator reads their trajectory and uses its cold ray to freeze over the entrance way.
Acting fast before they can crash, Shoto’s trail turns into a wave of ice and like a surfer he completes a 180-degree turn. Only to be met with the imposing figures of the Orange and Silver Dominators.
Shoto is about to slide him and Thirteen away when the air itself pulls him right off his feet. The vortex pulls him towards the Silver Dominator’s outstretched claws.
With their target immobilized by the silver robot’s vacuum, the Orange Dominator swings its laser swords.
Not willing to make it easy for them, Shoto unleashes a veil of flames. The flames blind the Orange Dominator making it miss, and the Silver Dominator reels back as it now accidentally sucks in the flames.
Shoto and Thirteen bounce off the ground, hard, before sliding to a stop against one of the cabled arches.
Struggling to get up the boy barely has time to pull both himself and Thirteen out of the way as the Purple Dominator shatters their section of the catwalk with a trailing sonic blast.
Acting quickly Shoto blocks the Purple Dominator’s path of destruction with a massive ice wall. Deciding that he needs a second to hold out, Shoto quickly constructs a fortress. Generation walls and walls of ice all around himself and Thirteen.
The Dominators immediately siege the fortress, clawing, bashing, and attacking the walls with all they got. Slowly chipping away.
‘This is futile!’ Shoto tries to reinforce the ice walls with more layers but they’re breaking their way through. ‘It’s not enough!’ There’s only so much he can do. There’s…so little he can do. He’s outmatched and outnumbered. They have more power, more Quirks than he does. His Ice isn’t enough. His Fire isn’t enough. “My Quirk…isn’t enough!!”
From beside his feet, Thirteen begins to stir, “…Todoroki?”
%%%%%%%%%[MEANWHILE]%%% %%%%%
*BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!* Explosions light up the air like fireworks that are traveling higher and higher into the air. Bakugou’s desperately trying to reach the Power Core and blast it to bits, but Nue’s defense is too strong: swatting him away every time.
“Ugh!!” Bakugou bounces off one of the rotating generator rods only to land on the one below just as it passes by. “You, damn, bastard! You ugly pile of shit! Do you really think you can stop me?!”
Using his tendrils and claws to hook himself against one of the tracks of a generator, Nue grins down at the defiant blonde. “Awful brave talk for a deadman.”
Bakugou snarls, “I’m not dead yet.”
“You’re right. My watch is about ten seconds fast.” A generator rod follows the track towards Nue who slices through the generator rod’s base with a simple swipe of his claw. Before grabbing it at the sliced end and launching down at Bakugou.
The giant projectile crashes into Bakugou. The force of the hit crushes the generator rod he was using as a platform, snapping off its connection line to the track. And the two rods discharge with massive bolts of electricity as they crash and plummet down to the floor. Crashing into the servers below causing them to explode with electricity and rubble. Giving even the Dominators pause for concern.
But thankfully Bakugou wasn’t in that mess, he somehow managed to squeeze his way out and get himself stuck in a web of loose cables which keeps him dangling in midair at the exact center of the entire chamber. All around him the remaining generators rotate, their massive frames spinning around him just barely out of reach.
“Damn.” He whistles down at the explosion of electricity. “That would have been nasty.”
Nue lands with a thud at the end of the rod, which rotates him 360 degrees around the boy. “Look at you! Fighting so hard for a cause!” It’s almost laughable. He knew Bakugou would always strive to be a hero but to actively pursue the safety of others, now that’s a surprise. But then again… “No that’s not it. You’re not here out of the goodness of your heart. You’re here to get even. You need to get even. Save the Quirkless freak and then make him pay for playing you! Haha! What a riot!”
“You’re the only freak here, Uuichi!!” Bakugou bites back, he struggles to straighten himself up; but his ankles are tangled and so too are his Grenade Gauntlets.
“You always were determined. And stubborn.”
“Be quiet!!”
“Come on, you can tell me. What’s your stake in all this? Huh?!” Nue mocks while slowly being rotated around the exhausted boy. “Are you trying to make it up to your childhood best friend? Maybe this is to make it up to him? Apologize for all you did? HA! Ya, right!”
“Shut the fuck up!!”
“I remember seeing your face at the U.S.J. I could see the hate in your eyes! You hate the fact he’s stronger than you. Faster than you! Smarter than you!! …Better than you.”
“SHUT UP-!!!” Bakugou’s shouting seizes up as Nue grabs him by the throat and squeezes down on his windpipe.
“Oh~? What’s the matter, Blasty? Can’t handle the truth?”
Bakugou’s eyes flare with rage as he struggles for breath. All the while Nue smiles on, enjoying not just the show of despair in his grip but also the show of futility that’s occurring down below.
%%%%%%%%%[MEANWHILE]%%% %%%%%
Shoto is desperately trying to keep up with every crack in his fortress walls; he reinforces them each with expansive sheets of thick ice. Only for the Dominators to burn and bash their way through them too. He tries and he tries, but his own internal temperatures are reaching their limits as frost has begun to form across his face and skin. At this rate, the robots will be upon them both and he’ll be helpless to stop it.
“Todoroki…”
“Thirteen!” Spinning around the dual-haired teen is more than relieved to find Thirteen awake and talking. “Can you stand?!”
Thirteen’s body quivers in pain, it's like they’re whole body’s been paralyzed with numbing jolts of pain; it’ll take some time to pass. “That shock…really took it out of me.” They explain between wheezes of pain.
“Dang it!” Shoto uncharacteristically shouts in frustration. “I can really use your help! I can’t do this on my own!”
“You got this… I-...I believe in you…”
“No, I don’t!” Shoto cries.
The sudden outburst catches Thirteen off guard, but instead of addressing it Thirteen figures that it’s better to listen.
“I-I can’t keep this up. They’re too much for me…” Shoto admits with much regret and shame. “T-Thirteen I-I’m not like Midoriya. My Quirk has limits. I-...I can’t keep up with something so in-…inhuman.” His head falls, “I can’t do it…”
“…That’s bullshit.”
Shoto nearly jumps when a hand clamps onto his collar and roughly pulls him down.
Thirteen, despite the pain, manages to reach up and pull him in close with frustrated determination. “Listen to me… Listen to the words I am saying… You. Can. Do. This.”
Shoto’s breath hitches; coming out as a puff of white.
“You are more capable than you realize… You have so much potential… You all do. But you’re never gonna realize it until you actually try to reach for it…” Their grip breaks and Thirteen’s arm falls but that fire in their eyes never dissipates. “If you can’t beat them with power… Then beat them with smarts… If they’re smarter, beat them with brute force… If neither works then you need to think outside the box!”
“You don’t get it!” Shoto roars. “I’m not like Midoriya or Bakugou or Uraraka! I can't think outside the box!”
“Then break out of the box!!” Thirteen snaps. They had hoped the boy would understand but judging by his face he clearly can’t wrap his mind around it. “You’re always going to fight enemies stronger than you… More powerful. Smarter. More dangerous… But it's a hero’s job to stop them… And you will.”
Shoto’s not sure how to respond, he’s not even sure what they mean.
“Don’t say you can’t keep up… Don’t say you’ve reached your limit… Don't ever give up!” Thirteen tries to blink away the fading lights, but it’s getting harder. “That’s what it means to go…Plus…Ultra.” The pain’s pushed them too far and they fall quiet once again.
“Thirteen? Thirteen!!” But it’s no use, they’re already out cold.
And he’s alone once again. Alone against the army literally knocking at his door. And he has no idea what to do about it. All he has is the teacher’s advice.
‘Think outside the box. Think outside the box. Think outside the box.’ He chants the phrase in his head again and again. But it’s hard to focus with the Dominators’ claws bashing against the ice and the frost crawling up the right side of his body. Normally, the Half-Hot part of his Quirk would regulate his body temperature, but with how much he’s been relying on his Half-Cold in the already cold spaceship has pushed his body's limit. Maybe if he had a way to more efficiently regulate his temperatures he’d be more effective.
He holds himself, gripping his elbows in comfort as he strains to think. His hands rub over the Plumber’s red armor, taking comfort in its warmth. ‘Warmth…?’
Shoto pauses, peering down at his own frost covered hands and towards the frost free armor. The armor’s internal temperature regulation system must be next level, or maybe several levels, because not a single ice crystal is stuck to the armor; the only frost around is what's on his exposed skin.
This realization loops again and again in his mind until it finally comes together into a single idea, a crazy and maybe stupid idea.
“Break out of the box.”
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“I am going to break you!!” Tetrax roars over the chaos of battle and charges the Mad Titan. His mace shaped fists clashes against Vilgax’s metal claws, putting them in a contest of strength. “You took everything!” Tetrax seethes, “You destroyed everything! Everyone!” Taking a step, he manages to shove Vilgax back just an inch. “I am not going to let you do the same to Earth!!”
But the villain is undeterred, “Such courage. Such chivalry. Tell me Tetrax Shard where was this bravery and honor when I came to your world?”
If Tetrax’s face could turn red with rage then it certainly would, “You betrayed me! And you still expected me to be your dog?!”
“You are the only traitor here, Tetrax Shard. But if you miss your people so much then do not worry.” Vilgax’s eyes begin to burn red. “I shall reunite you with them.”
Before the Petrosapien can react he’s blasted in the chest and sent flying across the arena via Vilgax’s twin Omega Beams. The beams chase and bash into Tetrax again and again before drilling him into the paneled wall.
“You will shatter just as they did.”
With his back turned, Vilgax is left exposed and unaware of the firing squad lining up behind him.
Eraserhead takes aim with the S.A.G.E. Gun and tells Patelliday, “On your mark.”
To which the Plumber roars, “Fire at will!!”
To which he, Eraserhead, and Tsukauchi unleash all that their blasters can handle. Bolts of green, red, and orange fly, racing towards a single target.
Unfortunately the sudden appearance of a transparent golden wall stands in the way.
Protected by his Ziegel Shield, Vilgax inhales and then exhales, unleashing a Turbulent Exhale of devastating winds that knocks the three away!
“Meaningless. You would waste less time if you turn the heat onto yourselves.”
“Now that wouldn’t be any fun now, would it?!” Cinder bomb-rushes the Grand Destroyer as the dragon-inspired fangs around his respirator shift, creating several layers of slit openings. “RED HOT BULLETS!!!” In rapid succession, quick small wisps of flames are fired out from between the slits, zipping through the air just as the name suggests!
Vilgax swings the shield around, blocking the searing bullets, “RAAAGHH!!!”
He takes a swing at the Red-Spot, who leaps away, and he strikes the floor instead; smashing it and creating a fissure between the shattered panels.
Landing in a squat, Cinder whistles, impressed. “Those augmentations are really working out for you. I hate to admit it, but they suit you.”
“They have.” Vilgax agrees as the cybernetic augmentations whir and steam across his body. “But I find that my new powers suit me even more!!”
Every vein is his body glows red and transparent waves of heat cause his muscles to ripple and strain from the Inflame. Activating his Infernal Sword power an inky ooze coaks his arm before forming into one massive Warhammer. “RAAAAA!!!”
Using his Amenonuhoko for leverage, Cinder stabs the spear into the floor and uses it as a pole vault to spin himself away from the crushing force that shakes the ground. “Been meaning to ask! Where’d you find a few spare powers lying around? Did someone leave it in a drawer?”
“Not found, taken.” Vilgax fires his Omega Beam, the laser zig-zags through the air, targeting Cinder’s heart.
But the Plumber deflects the beams with a few swings of his burning Amenonuhoko. “First you steal from me and now you’re stealing All For One’s gimmick. Have you no shame?”
“I hold no guilt, Firebreather. Just is the fate of all things in the known universe, all is in my right to be taken!” Pursuing the Plumber once again the titan swings a shell-armored Bio-Fist down at the fleeing hero. “Nothing will escape my reach!” His Inflamed tentacles lash out and although they miss the dodging Cinder they strike the side of the arena so hard that it leaves gashes. “Nothing is out of my reach!!”
Izuku watches on in despair and horror, unable to move and unable to help while being guarded by these Bioids. Which have made no attempts to aid their master, undoubtedly they were commanded not to by said commander. And yet Izuku wishes, prays, that his friends just realize what those powers are.
As the Conqueror of Worlds makes his claim over all things, Detective Tsukauchi is recovering from being tossed around like a salad. Groaning he witnessed the entire exchange with gritted teeth and fearful resentment, “This guy…this monster. He’s just like…All For One.”
Helping him to his feet is Eraserhead who pauses at the Detective’s observation. ‘Just like All For One… I wonder how far that goes?’
“Eraserhead…? Eraserhead, stop!!”
Aizawa ignores Tsukauchi’s cries, not that he doesn’t understand; he must look like a mad man, charging up to the unholy being like he is. But if his hunch is correct then it may just turn the tide!
Izuku and Toshinori have the perfect view, they watch in awe and horror as Eraserhead makes a beeline straight for Vilgax. His dark locks begin to flow up as does his scarf, both floating in the air as if he were underwater. Still racing ahead, his gaze, that not once leaves the rampaging titan, illuminates like red lanterns in the night from behind his yellow goggles.
Cinder is down and he’s dropped his spear. And now he is left defenseless at the feet of this towering menace.
Vilgax has his Inflamed arms hoisted over his head, both merged together into an Infernal wrecking ball of a mace with spikes of Bio-Fist generated horns laced within. However before he can bring this fatal blow down on his archenemy the inky ooze evaporates away, the horns around his fist fall off, and the burning strength in his body vanishes.
“What?!”
With great acrobatic ability, Eraserhead jumps and lodges his elbow into the side of the squid’s skull. And with his entire weight behind it along with his momentum, he brings the giant to the ground in a single move. The titan falls like a red wood, crashing and landing with a thunderous rumble.
“My students must be rubbing off on me. In the past I would have never made such a gamble.” Eraserhead stands atop Vilgax’s chest, his hair flowing like a mane of black fire as the S.A.G.E. Gun’s barrel glows green with energy. “I’ll teach you what I try to instill into my students; Quirks aren’t everything.” Although he never takes his gaze off the monster, he prays that the Problem Child can hear him.
Laying there on his back, Vilgax looks from the blaster to its wielder, as if weighing his options. “I concur. One must always rely on their own might. Their own warrior skills and knowledge.”
A disgusted shiver slides down Eraserhead’s spine; he hates the fact that a monster such as this is agreeing with him.
Tetrax can’t believe his eyes, a mere human is holding the Conqueror of Worlds at gunpoint. He never thought he’d see the day. “What’s going on here? How are you doing that?”
“My Quirk, Erasure, cancels out any Quirk when I look at my target.” Eraserhead admits while recalling Midoriya’s Final Exam. “Looking back, I should have realized something was up whenever Erasure failed to work on Midoriya. Clearly alien powers can’t be considered Quirks; I can’t erase their powers. But I can erase yours.” He states with finality at the squid laying underneath his feet.
Patelliday doesn’t quite know what to make of this, “But how is that even possible? Aliens can’t have Quirks.”
^Wa-bp!^ Chopper rebuts.
“You’re right, Chop.” Cinder responds, “Aliens can’t have Quirks but half-alien half-humans like Ashido can.”
Tetrax snarls in disgust, “Last I checked this pile of Banatha dung was anything but human.”
That leaves Tsukauchi to beg the question, “Did All For One have a hand in this?”
“Not sure. Let’s ask him.” Eraserhead locks the gun closer to the titan’s skull.
And yet the titan himself remains unfazed despite the circumstances, “I must commend you for your efforts, Eraserhead.”
The underground hero shutters in genuine surprise.
“Yes, I am well aware of who you are.” The commander’s gaze shifts towards the collection of holographic monitors displaying the various battles raging across his ship, and around the ship of his enemy. “As well as those that command that vessel.”
The end of the S.A.G.E. Gun glows brighter in warning. “Is that a threat?”
“You should be less concerned with their survival and more concerned about yours-RAAAGH!!!” Faster than any of them can anticipate, Vilgax’s arms unravel and thrash out in a tornado of slimy green limbs.
The heroes take action to defend himself, with Cinder hiding behind Tetrax before they’re both bashed away. Or Patelliday who takes a hit to the chest and is tossed aside and into Tsukauchi. But worst of all as his tentacles lash out, Vilgax manages to spring himself upward with nothing but his core muscles.
The sudden movement shoves Eraserhead off but the pro hero keeps his gaze locked on, preventing any use of the stolen Quirks.
But his focus is divided as each and every tentacle shifts directions and loops back towards him. The withering limbs are coming from all directions, it seems hopeless, if just one grabs him it’s over.
‘He’s trying to force me too look away!’ Somehow someway with nothing but his other senses and peripheral vision he manages to weave his way back and through the web of tentacles, however, they don’t clap or squeeze together. No, they pierce the air right past where he once was like arrows. ‘No, he’s trying to kill me!’ Just one of those stabbing limbs would have skewered him.
The Mad Titan rises to his feet, his tentacles writhing at his sides like living vines. “A Quirk such as yours would suit me well, surrender, and perhaps I’ll let you live long enough to witness the conquest of your world.”
“Sounds like a rotten deal. No thanks!” He had hoped to god that this would end with an arrest, but that’s clearly no longer an option. And so, taking the S.A.G.E. Gun, he fires a single bolt of burning green plasma. He shouldn’t be able to block this, not without that forcefield Quirk, and he’s too close to dodge the bolt too. One shot, and it'll be over.
But he knows better than to assume anything would be that easy.
As if on Vilgax’s silent command a section of the floor in front of the villain shoots up as a set of pillars.
The plasma bolt burns against the sudden wall and explodes in a brilliant flare of greenlight.
“Ahhh!!” It’s too bright, too sudden, and way too close. It’s burning at his eyes and with how unexpected it was Eraserhead’s concentration slips, and his eyes begin to close. ‘No! No! NOOO!!!’ His vision, for the briefest of milliseconds, goes dark.
Not a millisecond later that his eyes close is he struck with the power of a tornado that sends him sailing across the arena. Despite it being just air, it feels like he’s being run over by a truck. He’s flattened and dragged across the ground by this invisible force that rips away chunks of his armor, his goggles, and the S.A.G.E. Gun which bounces across the dome before landing near the Turbulent Exhaling kraken.
“ERASERHEAD!!!” Everyone screams in worry and outrage; Izuku freezes in his binds, his heart stopping. Toshinori pales, he makes a move as if to run to him but a quick shove from the drone’s blaster sets him back.
Vilgax extinguishes the whirlwind as his arms reform back at his sides. “You were a worthy obstacle, Eraserhead. You not only abide by your own rules, but you enforce them. Quirks are not everything. Only one’s might and intelligence matters. That is why I will win. That is why, only I have the right to wield such power!”
Stomping forward his foot knicks the comparably tiny green blaster. The sounds of its shell hitting his toe catches the kraken’s attention almost immediately. The way his head snapped downward so fast is as if he recognized that sound itself. When he finally spots the item in question, his eyes widen with a hint of exhilaration.
“A Super Advanced Green Energy Gun?” He stops and takes the time to reach down and pick up the device between his claws, taking great care to be as gentle as he can be with it.
[ARTWORK: “ Deku's S.A.G.E. Gun” by “Voidv25" on DeviantArt : https://www.deviantart.com/voidv25/art/Deku-s-S-A-G-E-Gun-908079453 ]
“I have not seen one of these since the Gilgamesh Epic.” A single tentacle slides over the green and red casing like one would de-smudge a trophy. “Such fine Galvan craftsmanship. It’s in perfect condition. I’ll have you know that it was this very weapon that gave me the appreciation for Galvan Technology. So adaptable. So powerful. But more importantly,” His tentacle wraps around the center grip of the S.A.G.E. Gun and unexpectedly the blaster’s entire form begins to glow. Its entire frame becomes highlighted in a neon green as the casing itself begins to remold and reshape itself. “It is so incredibly deadly.”
[ARTWORK: “ SAGE-BAZOOKA ” by “ Voidv25 ” on DeviantArt: https://www.deviantart.com/voidv25/art/Sage-Bazooka-1084646652 ]
The blaster looks nothing like it once did; it still holds its same green, red, and black design, but that doesn’t change the fact that it’s almost five times larger and is a completely different shape than before. It’s like the two halves of the ring-shaped gun have merged together and then was stretched forward and then enlarged to become a single-barreled bazooka. The red and white rods that made up the grip protectors have woven together creating a pair of intertwined and branching handles. Creating the perfect set of grips for Vilgax’s tentacles to securely lock themselves in place by intertwining between themselves and the branching handles to the point that it would seem that the bazooka has become part of Vilgax’s own arm.
Vilgax admires the new design with a mix of pride and nostalgia. Before he turns his attention back towards the heroes, its large barrel burning green. “Care to see why?”
He fires and the S.A.G.E. Bazooka explodes with power, launching a green bolt so large it could be compared to Uravity’s Ryou Spheres.
The single bolt flies like a cannonball and soars straight towards the groaning Eraserhead, who remains sprawled across the floor with shattered armor and a bleeding forehead.
“Never again!!” Tetrax roars and summons a wall of crystal, it shoots out from under his palms and races forth before springing up and shielding Aizawa from the explosive force that detonates like dynamite against the shards.
Disappointed that his shot was blocked, Vilgax fires his Omega Beam at the annoying Petrosapien. Who is quick to form a second wall for himself. However, what he was not ready for was for the pair of red laser beams to suddenly make several 90 degree turns around the crystal wall before slamming into him.
“Ahhhh!!” Tetrax is blasted away and a slight crack forms in his crystalline armor.
“You ink-spraying varmint!!” Patelliday leaps up and grapples the titan from behind before chomping down on his shoulder.
Despite the set of fangs digging into his flesh, Vilgax bites back the pain and instead wraps his entire claw, which coats itself in a thick layer of sharp coral, over the Plumber’s head.
Patelliday’s muffled screams are barely heard through the layer of coral. But with his jaws slackened, Vilgax rips him off like a leech before throwing him to the ground with a sickening crunch.
The poor Plumber has the wind knocked out of him, and with the fish gasping for breath, Vilgax raises his foot in order to crush him.
His foot never lands, however, as a jet of fire strikes his knee and throws his foot off course.
With a growl, the villain locks eyes with the Firebreather’s.
Cinder holds his ground, gripping the spear he twirls it before readying himself for a duel.
Vilgax accepts the challenge, he holds the elongated S.A.G.E. Bazooka out to his side like a fencer, and as he does his Quirk, Infernal Sword, activates. That inky ooze returns, crawling down his arm before coating itself around his tentacles and the bazooka-blaster. And what forms is a nightmarish gunlance of a cannon for an arm.
“…Now that’s just not fair.”
“All is fair in hate and war, Firebreather. Now…PERISH!!!” With a swing the tip of gunlance bursts with an explosion of devastating green energy.
With the others holding Vilgax’s ire, Tsukauchi hurries towards the downed teacher. “Eraserhead! Quickly! We need you!”
The pro hero hisses in pain, his eyes sting from the blood dripping in. And something is certainly broken, maybe a rib or two, either way it’s an effort to move. “H-Help me up.”
Tsukauchi gets behind him and grabs him from underneath his arms before hoisting him up into a sitting position. With his head now up Eraserhead can take a moment to scan for his target. He finds him and he locks on, his hair floating up and his exposed eyes glowing red as a result.
Vilgax makes another explosive swing for Cinder but then the Infernal Sword evaporates away leaving him with nothing but the corrupted S.A.G.E. Bazooka. Scanning the battlefield, he spots the one responsible for the interference.
Tsukauchi panics, his heart beating so fast it hurts, thinking that the alien is about to turn the weapon on them.
But no, instead of turning the weapon onto them, but instead every panel across the floor becomes highlighted in red. And with a whir, random sections of panels; creating a maze of pillars that shoot up and retreat back down before repeating the cycle again and again. More and more panels join in the chaos and soon Eraserhead can’t keep his gaze locked in as Vilgax’s form vanishes behind the repairing pillars.
“Shit! Where is he?” Tsukauchi’s breaking into a cold sweat, half-expecting the monster to show up right behind them.
However flames and shards of crystals are flying across the air, a clear sign that both Cinder and Tetrax have engaged the enemy. But even so he doesn't like the fact that he doesn’t have eyes on said enemy.
^Wa-WA!!^ Chopper is racing through the shifting maze, his clunky body is too slow and less maneuverable than everyone else so he’s helpless against the reappearing pillars that shove him this way and that. ^Waaaaa!!^ Chopper shakes off the harm before realizing he landed beside the detective and underground hero. ^Bp-bz. Wawawawawa!^
Tsukauchi and Eraserhead frown; neither of them understand what the little droid is saying.
“Are you understanding any of this?” asks Eraserhead.
Only for the detective to respond with, “Not a thing.”
^Brrrr…^
“He says we can’t win!!” From between the shifting pillars, a banged up Patelliday hurriedly limps towards them. “The droid is right. We’re getting nowhere fast!”
“Are you saying it’s hopeless? That we’re giving up?” Eraserhead’s not buying it, if the fishman is serious about this then he must be joking.
^Wop! Bp!^ Chopper shakes his head angrily before beeping off about something neither human can understand.
Said humans look to the Plumber to translate.
“You fleshbags don’t get it! Are you morons or something?”
^Pb-op!^
“There’s no hope in us fighting him alone. We need more muscle. Duh!”
^Wa-bpop!^
“Like one big musclehead! One that’ll beat the ever living shit out of that Poser!”
The humans stare, put off by the Plumber’s words.
Patelliday shrugs, “Hey, you asked me to translate.”
That they did and they understand. Eraserhead can only think of one musclehead that can turn this battle around. And he’s currently bound and gagged.
“Tsukauchi. Droid.” Eraserhead starts, “Go get our boys. We’ll need them both if we want any chance of making it out of here.”
Tsukauchi hesitates, “What about you?”
“I got him.” Patelliday offers, “You just go get them.”
Tsukauchi hesitates but decides that it’d be more helpful to get All Might than to waste any more time. “Hurry, robot!”
^Waaaa!!^ Chopper wheels after him in a hurry.
Meanwhile, Patelliday takes Eraserhead’s side and with one hand he hoists him up, wrapping the hero’s arm over his shoulders. “Let’s get you back in there, champ. Just lean on me, I’ll be your legs.”
“Wonderful…”
Chopper leads the way, using his scanner he predicts when and where the panels are going to shoot up, and guides the detective straight towards their friends. And as a bonus the shifting pillars provide the perfect cover for them both to rush the four Bioids that are guarding the captured duo.
Chopper shocks a Bioid from behind until its circuits are fried as Tsukauchi uses his Phaser to blast two others. That leaves the fourth angrily aiming its blaster but it never gets to fire a shot as it takes a Phaser to the face and an electrical jolt to its back.
Izuku and Toshinori jump in their binds and gags, not expecting the bomb rush but still grateful to finally see some friendly faces.
Tsukauchi’s happy to see them too, he was so worried and he’s sure they were too. “Don’t worry, we’re here to help.” He fiddles with the futuristic gag, but the controls are a little too complicated for him.
Thankfully Chopper’s there and with a simple flick of his wrench-like hand against the binds do they shut off and peel away.
Toshinori rubs his wrists, grateful that the heavyweight and slight shocking sensations are gone. “Tsukauchi… What are you-”
“We came for you! We came to help!” Tsukauchi explains in a panic, he can hear that bazooka blaster of Vilgax’s going off from here. “And we need your help! We can't beat him on our own! We need you, All Might! Help us!”
He expected the Symbol of Peace to return. To rise amongst the chaos and part the storm clouds like an angel from high on above to deliver heaven’s glorious work. He expected that sense of hope and inspiration that only All Might himself can bring just with a smile. But there is no such reality here…not anymore.
“All Might?”
“You shouldn’t have come for us…”
This is wrong. Something’s wrong. No, something is missing. “All Might…?”
“I…I don’t have it anymore.”
“I-I know, All Might, you passed it on to-”
“No, Tsukauchi…” Toshinori shakes his head in anguish. “The embers, the little I had left of One For All is gone. My torch…has been snuffed out.”
Tsukauchi nearly stumbles in devastation, “T-that can’t be t-true… It can’t be…! You’re still All Might! You’re still the Symbol of Peace!!”
Toshinori can’t bear to meet his friend’s gaze, he’s afraid it’ll hurt too much. “No, no I’m not…” “Toshi… ”
Izuku remains kneeling and shrunk into himself; wincing at every word exchanged between the two, his heart aches with a heavy guiltiness. One For All is gone… The Symbol of Peace is gone… The Omnitrix is gone… All because of him.
Peering up he gazes out as Vilgax’s Omega Beams sear across the ever-shifting arena, sending shards of ruble and heat to rain down on Cinder and the others.
That’s what makes this so much worse for him. It’s the fact that everyone’s risking their lives for him. For his mistakes. His rotten luck. For his recklessness.
His father. His teachers. His friends. Even Bakugou, who hates his guts, is here to help. But…it’s hopeless. How can they win? They can’t. It’s-it’s- “Impossible…”
Tsukauchi is on the verge of tears, “Come on you two! It’s not over yet!”
“Yes it is…” Izuku hangs his head, and with it the small threads of hope he’s been clinging to begin to slip away.
But these threads aren’t ready to drift away, desperately they cling to his unwilling fingers like webbing.
From one of the holographic monitors, the one showcasing the Power Core, the camera feed becomes hazy, foggy. Not because of a faulty signal but due to the sudden fog that’s appeared within the core itself. It’s so thick that Izuku can’t see the Dominators ramming Todoroki’s ice fortress anymore, but there is a light. A single light illuminates through the mist like a candle of hope in a vast ocean of despair.
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A mysterious mist has settled across the Power Core. It appeared from seemingly out of nowhere; silently, swiftly, and as thick as smoke. Nothing but an ominous white surrounds the towering Dominators, making them feel smaller and more exposed then they truly are.
There’s a shifting within the mist, heavy steps along with what sounds like cracking ice.
The Orange and Silver Dominators stay close to each other while scanning the fog warily. The echoing steps get closer and closer, but they are unable to pinpoint a location. But then that’s when the Orange Dominators spots it, a small red gaze shines ever dimly through the mist, staring back at the robot that it is being watched with contempt.
Its Laser Swords whir to life across its arms before it charges and takes a swing down at the pair of eyes. But its burning blades strike nothing but condensed air and an empty catwalk. It listens closely for the ice-cracking steps that seem to be moving away from it now.
*Pstzzzzz…! CRASH!!!*
The Orange Dominator jumps and spins around, it expected to find its Silver companion standing guard, but it appears to have vanished within the mist. Staying on guard, the Orange mecha marches forward, searching for its alley.
Its insectoid leg bumps into something large and mechanical, it halts and peers down where it finds its mutilated alley.
The Silver Dominator is virtually unrecognizable, laying on the floor as a pile of partly melted metal. The center of its armor has been completely melted away from some external heat source. Its internal systems seem to have burst internally thanks to the liquid mercury and internal wiring being overheated. From there it seems that the entire bot was cooked alive from the inside out leaving it as an empty husk of itself, like a poisoned bug that was left to curl up dying on the dirt.
The Orange Dominator’s eyes blink with light as it beeps and whirs a signal of warning to its squad mates.
This puts the other Dominators on edge, with each of them taking up arms. And slowly they scan, waiting, and searching. But not for their prey or for some unexpecting target…but for their enemy. For their hunter.
The White Dominator would be perturbed by this realization if it had the capability to feel any sort of emotional data. But even so it remains on high alert, ready to blast any target with its locked-in cold guns.
There’s a slight shift, those ice-cracking steps return. But from where?
It searches and then it sees it: that red gaze of contempt.
It wastes no time in firing, unleashes twin streams of ice. The red gaze vanishes, assumingly consumed by the cold, which is confirmed as a glacier begins to form out from the mist.
The White Dominator holds its fire and leans in close in order to inspect the ice. Something, albeit small when compared to its own size, is inside the ice. It seems that the threat has been thoroughly neutralized. It should move on and shift its focus to eliminating the human currently in combat with the commander above. Yes, it shall-
A hand. A left hand of ice breaks through the glacier as if it were a part of it and locks itself right between the Dominator’s eyes. But instead of cold or the feeling of ice merging around its head, the Dominator senses nothing but a burning heat as the palm of this icicled hand begins to glow with the intensity of magma.
With a pop its entire head bursts into flames so intense its eyes explode and its hydraulics snap. The Dominator tries to lurch away but it’s too late, its mechanical body whirrs in agonizing pain, as the heat travels down its spine, igniting every gear, wire, and circuit on its way. The tanks of liquid nitrogen on its back explodes, coating itself in ice that begins to bubble and shatter against its burning armor. And then with one final choke of a shriek the White Dominator folds in on itself as a pile of bubbling metal.
And standing before it is a living man of ice. Thick layers of ice have besieged a set of underlying red armor. Part of this red armor remains exposed, but its joints and weakest points are encoded with layers of icicles, creating a sort of suit of ice. These icicles even encase the wearer's entire head like a helmet, leaving their face barely visible with nothing but a burning red-hot gaze as any proof of life underneath.
[FLASHBACK]
Back on Earth, Shoto stares skeptically at the armor while it sits in pieces atop of the locker room bench. The underlayer looks too thin to keep out the cold, and the plating looks awkward and clunky. How is this supposed to protect him against anything in space? “Does this really have an internal temperature system?”
“That they do.” Thirteen replies after handing him the armor. “We need to be able to survive the sub-zero temperatures of space after all.”
Shoto stares at the armor intensely, “Will these really protect us?”
“If you’re asking if they’re that advanced, then yes. These suits are made to be universal for any species. A Pyronite, er-someone like Heatblast, can wear one and his flames wouldn’t be snuffed out. Or an alien like a Polar Manzardill would still feel like they’re on their arctic home.”
Shoto raises an eyebrow, “This little suit can accommodate for all that?”
“Oh, you bet they can! I even heard of some Plumbers like Methanosians customizing them for their own uses. Why do you ask? You got an idea for something?”
“No, not really…”
[End of FLASHBACK]
Shoto releases a breath so thick that it adds to the already thick mist. As he announces his newest form, “PLUTO’S WHITEFIRE.”
It would seem that his gamble on the Plumber’s Suit’s thermal systems has paid off immensely.
This plated armor of ice is heavy and cumbersome but well balanced and thick. And thankfully, it’s not as difficult to maintain as he presumed. Once he fed it enough Cold and ice, the Plumber suit did all the internal working itself, and it is now regulating the ice for him. Now that may be maintaining the ice armor, but it does not regulate his own internal body temperature. Thankfully with no need to control his Cold output he can focus all he can to his Hot, allowing him to walk around in this suit of ice without any issue. Plus, he can do this.
Touching the glacier that he just broke out of, his hand glows and boils the entire glacier in seconds; it evaporates and adds more mist to the fog.
He cannot shoot out flames like this but having such intense heat trapped inside the ice with him has created a strange side-effect of making all that he touches melt and burn. Hence the burning hands and the glowing red eyes. Kinda like Mr. Freeze’s suit from The Batman (2004) show.
“I wonder how far beyond I can go.”
He’s about to find out as from out of the mist the Brown Dominator comes barreling through.
Unable to properly use his ice and with such a heavy weight across his body, Shoto is unable to react. And with a thundering WHAM from the Dominator’s giant drill he finds himself buried 6-feet deep.
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Watching from the holographic monitor, Izuku lets out an anguishing cry at having to watch his friend be buried alive. There’s no way someone like him, a human, could survive that!
However-
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With such a direct hit, the Dominator assumes victory. However, its drill begins to glow with heat before melting away like butter.
Quickly it pulls away as if in pain only to find that Shoto’s PLUTO’S WHITEFIRE has kept him completely unscathed.
Shoto is just as surprised. It would seem that ice combined with the suit has become extremely compact and dense which has increased his defenses tenfold while sacrificing his speed and long-distance attacks!
It’s a relief to both him and to anybody else that’s watching. Such as Thirteen who has just begun to stir.
Despite the fog, Thirteen can make out Shoto’s Whitefire form perfectly. The internal fire from within the ice ensures that. “Todoroki…!”
Shoto takes a moment to admire the ice plated to his arms, “This new technique is amazing. With it I’m more efficient. Stronger. More capable. I-...I can do this! I can help my friends!” His eyes burn red with a courageous fury to which all Dominators should fear. “Thirteen! I’ve broken out of my box! I broke it! I can GO BEYOND!!!”
The pro swells with pride, “So cool.”
They have no doubt that Shoto can’t handle things down here. Even as the remaining 6 Dominators make to cut him down!
The Dominators unleash all they have from fire, to lightning, to acid, sound, and water. The combined elements clash into their target, but they all prove useless against the Pluto’s Whitefire armor. The only real effect they have is causing more mist to spew across the Power Core.
Up and up the fog travels, like columns of smoke, higher and higher towards the rotating generator rods. The momentum of which keeps the fog back.
However, condensation begins to collect across Bakugou’s brow, although that may just be the sweat from struggling to breath.
Nue has his throat in a tightening grip, one that with just a flick can break his neck. “Aw. What’s the matter, Blasty? Getting choked up?”
Bakugou grabs and pulls at Nue’s arm, but it’s no use, he’s got an iron grip. His mind races for anything to do like maybe grab at one of the blue alien grenades he took back from the Plumber Base. Or maybe-...but then he loses the strength in his arms, and they fall to his sides. With his strength waning and his breath fainting, he still tries in vain to hurl one final insult.
Wanting to gloat, Nue pulls Bakugou in close to his ear, “Oh, what was that? I couldn’t hear ya.” He loosens his grip just enough for the boy to speak.
“Go…to…hell.” Like an old western Bakugou draws his hand up and aims one of his Grenade Gauntlet right at the monster’s bare chest. And like a western, he fires before the no-good crook has a chance to fire back. “DIIIIIEEEEE!!!”
*BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!!*
Nue is blasted across the air and thrown against the opposite wall as a beam of Explosions plow into his chest. “AAAAAHHHH!!!”
Bakugou falls, but lands on one knee against the now stalled out generator rod. He coughs and wheezes profusely, his lungs working overtime to catch his breath. And he better hurry. Because, although he wished it weren’t so, he knows that that hit wouldn’t be enough to put the freak down.
With a groan, Nue pries himself out from the burning wall with a singeing burn to his chest. “You…Bastard! Pulling a dirty trick like that! It’s PATHETIC!!!”
“*Cough! Cough!* You’re-*cough* pathetic…”
“What?!”
“You heard me.” Bakugou spits, his saliva coming out red. “You’re pathetic. You’re more of a waste of space, then any of us!”
That sets off the mutant who lets out a roar before leaping across the chamber, “RAAAGH!!!”
Bakugou smirks, ‘Sucker.’
Like a rocketeer he takes to the air, launching himself up and away from the incoming Nue.
Nue crashes onto the once occupied generator and roars after Bakugou’s flying form. “The only waste of space are the likes of you and Deku! You’re both worthless!” Combined with Terraspin’s whirlwind boost and Four Arm’s leg strength he launches himself after the brat!
Bakugou lands against one of the rotating generators, to which he clings to the side of. Quickly and with his back to Nue he hurries to set something in place. The only warning he has of incoming danger is Nue’s enraged shouting.
“You still don’t get it do you? I’m better than you!”
Bakugou rockets himself down and away just as Nue crashes into the generator.
“I’m faster!” He chases after the flying brat who once again lands against a generator, sets something and rockets away again.
“I’m stronger!” Nue’s claws and fists leave craters against the generator’s haul. Before he once again zooms after his prey. “I’m better than you!!”
And again, and again the cycle continues with Bakugou leading him by the nose as they both ricochet this way and that across each and every generator rod. “No one can stand up to me! Not you! Not All Might! And especially not DEKU!!!”
Bakugou smirks, he’s got this freak dead to rights. “You really got a hardon for hating Deku, don’t you?!” He blasts himself away just seconds before Nue can rip his face off. “I don’t buy it.”
“WHAT!?!” Nue is stunned, he expected Bakugou to fly away again but instead he's flying right back!
*BOOM!!!* An Explosion right to the face rocks his brain. So much so he can barely hear the crap coming from Blasty’s mouth.
“I never understood it! Never!” Bakugou flips up and over the gasping villain while his hands spark with power. “He was weak!”
*BOOM!!!*
“Aaahhh!!” That explosion was right to his skull and sent him plummeting down past the generator rods.
“He was a wimp!!” Bakugou screams while rocketing after him like a missile.
Expecting another blast, the plummeting Nue throws up a crystal shield.
“He was QUIRKLESS!!!”
And although he has a shield up it does nothing to protect Nue from the force itself. And he’s sent crashing into the side of the wall while in midair.
“And yet you stayed by his side!”
Prying himself from the wall, Nue reacts and splits into two more clones of himself. The two new clones swing and fly into the air respectively to meet the Mad Bomber.
Having familiarized himself with Nue’s fighting style up to now and the fact he’s witnessed how Deku fights with each alien, makes the task of reading their movements a breeze.
“You two were practically joint at the hip!” Rocketing past Bakugou blasts the swinging’s Nue’s tendril at his own clone. The tendril accidentally latches onto its partner and now with a off handed made slingshot, Bakugou lands on top of the outstretched tendril and blasts it dead center, sending both clones plummeting out of the sky. “But you turned your back on him!”
Nue zooms across the wall like a blur and collects his two clones back into his body in mere seconds. “He turned his back on me!!”
“Why? Because he turned you into a monster? News flash, you already were one. Now everyone can see it.”
“Raaagh!!” Electricity dances off Nue’s entire body as the wind around him surges, and then like a rocket himself he launches into the air with a burst of Four Arm’s strength and XLR8’s speed. “What about you?! You two were practically raised as brothers?!”
He’s too fast, and he strikes the zooming Bakugou like a cannonball.
The kid spins out of control but manages to catch himself with some hanging cables.
“Then what happened?! He wasn’t good enough for you?!” Nue roars, his claws digging into the side of the wall until he comes to a total stop just stories above Bakugou’s head. “Did the toy wear out its luster? Did he stab you in the back? Did he even fucking stand up to you?!”
Bakugou bites his lips, not that he needs to, he doesn’t even have an answer…
“No. Of course he didn’t. He was singing your praises. FUCK! He looked up to you! Worshiped the ground you stood on! But you treated him like dirt!! RAAAAGHH!!!” Nue lets out a howl so loud, so agonizing, it makes Bakugou wonder if it’s really for himself. “That’s not what a heroes supposed to be!”
“…Careful you sound just like the Hero Killer.”
“Met the guy, not a fan. But he had some good points.” Nue snarls in disgust. “A hero’s supposed to be selfless! Not out for glory or to beat up villains! They’re not supposed to be fucked up shits like you!” He is seething with rage, a rage he’s not too sure where it’s coming from. “You didn’t get the bond between me and Deku. Well, I never understood the fucked-up relationship you had with him either!! You are a terrible person! You disrespect everyone! You look down on everybody! You're the biggest piece of shit to ever exist! So why?! Why can’t anybody see that?! Why did Deku choose you over me?! Why am I the bad guy!?! What makes you so special!?!” With one final exhale he exclaims in full anguish. “WHY DOES EVERYONE PRETEND THAT YOU’RE A HERO!?!”
His words ring out like an echo, one that repeats in Bakugou’s ears like a haunting rhyme.
Nue waits for a response…any response. These questions have been clawing at his mind for what feels like forever. But it’s true. Deku was always so awestruck by anything Bakugou did back in Jr. High. No matter how much he got bullied because of it, Deku was too stupid or stubborn to let reality sink in. Same with the teachers and other extras, they all worshiped the brat that couldn’t even bother to remember their names. It’s infuriating to watch.
That’s why he just had to say something. He needed, no, wanted more than anything to pummel some reality into Bakugou. It’s been a long time coming: to crush him, to put him in his place, and make him see just how meaningless he is!
“Well, LET'S HEAR IT!!! Just what do you have to say for yourself?!”
“…You’re right.”
Nue’s freezes, a smile begins to creep.
“But you’re so wrong.”
The smile vanishes as Bakugou begins to speak his piece, “Yeah, I’m a piece of shit. I can acknowledge that. And yeah, I look down on others…” Especially those he always thought of as weaker to him… “I always thought I was better. That I was on top, better than everyone else.” Talk about a shitty mindset. “It’s almost funny to think about how pathetic that is. But that all changed, the moment I enrolled at U.A.”
Nue’s taken back, the last thing he expected was…this.
“Ever since day one, that mindset of mine was challenged. No, it was beaten down, picked back up and put into the ground again and again. When I was a kid I always pictured U.A. going so differently for me.” It’s would always be constant praise and acknowledgements of his power: cheers as he took the medal for the Sports Festival, the spotlight would be all on him, and his classmates would be worshiping him as the one that’ll surpass All Might. A child’s fantasy those were… “But nothing has gone my way. Not a goddamn thing.”
Thinking about it he recalls their very first day of hero training and how Shoto Todoroki froze over an entire building with no effort at all.
“My classmates have better Quirks than I do.”
He recalls Ochaco Uraraka nearly demolishing the whole building with a single punch.
“They’re stronger than I am.”
Tenya Iida speeds across the faux building with blinding speed.
“Faster.”
Momo Yaoyorozu’s breakdown of every match.
“Smarter.”
Eijiro Kirishima’s smile and praise for Bakugou’s efforts despite the loss.
“And more open minded.”
Hitoshi Shinso had to fight to get into the hero course.
“They don’t let anything stand in their way.”
And then, he recalls just how much he’s had the honor of watching Deku surpass every challenge.
“They have proven time and time again why they’re going to become true HEROES.” He lets go of the cables and falls before landing atop one of the rotating generators. “And it pisses me off. It pisses me off that they’re better. It pisses me off that they’re more capable. And It pisses me off that I can’t stand by them!” His head snaps up and he locks eyes with Henzu Uuichi’s own. “But that’ll change! I’ll show everyone that I can stand by them!” He aims his hands down as his palms begin to spark. “That I can be a hero just like THEM!!!” He takes off like a rocket ship as he roars with all his might. “JUST LIKE ALL MIGHT!!!”
Nue’s very soul quivers, it's a similar feeling that he felt when he met the Hero Killer. Not the bloodlust, not the deranged proclamations. No, it’s that sheer willpower he fears. It’s those convictions. And without even thinking about it, reacting straight from out of fear, Nue takes off running across the wall.
“No matter what gets in my way, I will become the Number One Hero!” Bakugou gives chase, calculating and predicting where Nue’s going to be. “I’ll blow past every obstacle in my way!”
*BOOM!!!* An Explosion rocks the air and nearly cooks Nue’s tail.
“I won’t let anything hold me back!!”
*BOOM!!!* This one struck his tendrils, he’s right on his back now!!
“I’LL GO BEYOND!!!”
*BOOOOOM!!!*
“GAAAAAHHH!!!” Nue is blasted right off his feet and his body strikes the side of several generators. Bouncing off of them like a tennis ball before being thrown towards the center of their spiraling frames.
“Why did Deku choose me?!” Bakugou’s voice rains down from high above Nue’s falling form. “What makes me special?! Well, I’ll tell you, Nue!!” Taking his last Grenade Gauntlet, Bakugou aims it down at its intended target. “IT’S BECAUSE I’LL NEVER GIVE UP ON TRYING TO BECOME A HERO!!!”
Nue panics but in a split second, he relaxes. With his speed and flight, he can dodge the incoming beam easily. No, sweat. The moment the brat fires he’ll just skirt himself out of the way with a little of XLR8’s speed and Terraspin’s flight. He’ll be fine.
No. He won’t.
It took a second but in that same moment, sparks of twinkling lights catch Nue’s eye. His heart plummets faster than his body as he recalls Bakugou’s earlier flying around; it seemed so random, so chaotic. But that couldn’t be further from the truth, it was all calculated. Glued to each and every generator rod are a number of Plasma Grenades, all planted in place and blinking with lights just like stars in the night sky.
And then just like the stars they inevitably implode and release a big bang of energy! Blue explosions, one after the other, rock the entire Power Core. Each one bursts a hole into their respective generators causing the spinning rods to break and snap away as their integrity falls. And thus, their collected power is released with thundering bolts of lightning bring uncorked and striking down upon a single central point: Nue himself.
“AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!!!” It’s too much to bear! His vision’s going blurry…! But he has enough consciousness to spot Bakugou’s smile, that cocky shit-eating grin, looking down on him.
And with a single pull of a pin…it’s over. “Die.”
*BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!!*
The searing beam rains down on Nue consuming him entirely, like heaven’s judgment. And like Icarus who flew too close to the sun, Nue too is brought back down to earth with a single blow. The beam carries him straight down to the bottom of the Power Core and plows him right into the ground with an epic Explosion. One of which is so strong that the fog dissipates, blown away in an instant by a searing whirlwind.
As the arena clears, the melted husks of every Dominator can be seen, each one more mutilated than the last. But even so the armorized Shoto’s gaze is drawn towards the beam of light that’s raining down. It’s both awe inspiring and terrifying all at once. But he can’t look away. However, he has enough sense to rush over to Thirteen’s downed form and shield the hero with his armored body. But with his focus solely on Bakugou’s attack, he misses the fact that Thirteen is back from unconsciousness.
Thirteen watches as the burning beam begins to fade and embers begin to rain down, mixing with the little condensation there is left in the air. It’s a beautiful mix of elements that should never be. And yet when they do it can create something truly incredible. But what’s even more amazing was getting the honor to witness these young heroes take another leap towards their bright futures. “You two…are amazing. You all are.”
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Izuku cannot believe his eyes or ears. He heard it all: Shoto’s hope, Nue’s anguish, Bakugou’s convictions, he heard every word. He saw what they did. They each turned it around, they looked the impossible in the face and said, “screw you, we’ll do it our way” and won!. They’re both so…so…amazing. They really are heroes. The kind of heroes Izuku always wanted to be, the kind that never gave up and smiled through it all…
That last thought gives him pause. Has he given up too quickly? He peers over to the skeletal All Might and Tsukauchi, the latter of which is still begging his dear friend to try, to try to fight back. To not give up. To give them hope!
‘Hope…’ Izuku hangs onto that word.
Meanwhile the others are still in combat with the Mad Titan. Cinder and Tetrax are holding his attention with a combination of hit and run attacks of fire and crystal. Giving enough of a window for Patelliday to get the injured Eraserhead to the best vantage point possible.
“You ready?”
“Always.”
Patelliday leans Eraserhead against himself so the pro hero can have the best possible chance to keep his gaze on the monster. And in a flash of red from the man’s gaze the kraken’s inky great sword fades away from the S.A.G.E. Bazooka.
“You again!!” Vilgax turns his attention towards the underground hero.
He takes aim with the S.A.G.E. Bazooka, and thankfully the two targets are perched atop a column of pillars, leaving them perfectly exposed to his wrath.
“VILGAX!!!” A mace of diamonds strikes the tentacles wrapped around the S.A.G.E. Bazooka. The sharp spikes dig in, and pry the tentacles loose around the branching, twisting handles and with a powerful swing Tetrax manages to rip the bazooka right out of Vilgax's hold.
The weapon soars through the air, flung aside before landing just a distance away from where Izuku sits.
The boy spots the weapon instantly as its shell begins to sit and shrink back into its more familiar standard formation.
Eying it, his mind replays Bakugou’s striking words: “‘I’LL NEVER GIVE UP ON TRYING TO BECOME A HERO!!!”’
“…”
“I have had enough of you!!” Meanwhile, Vilgax grabs the bounty hunter and swings him around like he were a mace himself, and smashes him right through a set of shifting pillars. The toss was so strong that Tetrax is thrown right against the pillars that are holding up Patelliday and Eraserhead. And with such a hard strike the two fall over and the Eraser Quirk breaks.
With his powers returned, he then turns his attention onto Cinder. “And as for you, I will have your head mounted on that spear of yours!!”
Cinder holds his ground and meets the villain with his burning Amenonuhoko readied. “I’d like to see you try!!” He shouts.
“Please, All Might! We need you!” Tsukauchi is begging, pleading, crying for any signs of hope. For a glimmer. For anything.
But what can All Might do? ‘What can I do?’ Toshinori thinks. ‘I couldn’t save my students. I couldn’t stop Vilgax. I can’t even save my friends… What can I do? I’m Quirkless after all… Maybe if they can just save Midoriya. If he can help with that, then maybe something good will come from all of this. Maybe…that’ll be enough?’
“AAAhhh!!” Cinder is down, half of his spear lands beside his head while the other half sits between Vilgax’s Inflamed claws.
“Surrender, Firebreather! There is nothing more you can do.”
“I-GAH!” Gritting his teeth he struggles to stand up despite his spinning vision and bleeding lip. “I-...I can do this all…d-day.”
“You certainly cannot. Consider this a mercy, you shall take your final breath while your planet still holds its freedom.” Once again he turns his gaze towards the blue sphere, displayed above. “Take heart, Firebreather. Your home will become the shining jewel upon my crown! It will be a symbol to those across the universe that my reign is INEVITABLE!!! HAHAHAHAHAHA!!!”
‘No…’ Toshinori loses breath. ‘It can’t be… No. everything we’ve fought for. Everyone we care about… He’ll destroy them all. And there’s nothing I can-’
*PEW!!!*
A single green plasma bolt strikes Vilgax’s forehead, causing the villain to cry out in pain and shock. “GAH!!! Who dares to strike at me?! Who-?!” He stops mid-sentence from the surprising development alone.
And it’s not just him; Eraserhead, Patelliday, Tetrax, Cinder, Tsukauchi, and even Chopper are in shock.
Standing defiantly from across the arena, Izuku has his S.A.G.E Gun locked in on the Grand Destroyer.
Toshinori’s head snaps to his right but sure enough Young Midoriya isn’t kneeling beside him anymore. Instead, the young man is standing there with full defiance and nothing else but a tiny weapon and a dream. But he looks so determined yet scared all at once, the boy knows what’s at stake, he knows what he’s doing. What the risks are, And it terrifies him. And yet he’s summoned enough courage to act. Or maybe…his body just moved on his own. Maybe his heroic spirit couldn’t keep him on the sidelines anymore…
“You still defy me, Izuku Midoriya?” Vilgax asks with an almost terrifyingly calm expression. “Have you not learned just how hopeless your situation truly is?”
“I-it’s…i-it’s not hopeless… My-my friends are here… My friends…together we’ll stop you.” He seems to gather more courage; his stance becomes straighter and the grip on the gun becomes firm. “I’ll stop you. Quirk or no Quirk. Omnitrix or no Omnitrix… Title or no Title!!” With one finale exhale he proclaims to the world above. “I WILL BECOME A HERO WHO SAVES EVERYONE WITH A SMILE!!!”
Toshinori reels, as if the wind itself has given him breath.
Vilgax, however, is not amused. Instead, he seems annoyed and rather tired of these trivial matters. “You are truly…hopeless.” His eyes begin to burn red as he prepares to fire his Omega Beam at the boy.
Who of which, despite his quaking legs and shivering spine, stands his ground and keeps his blaster trained.
“Good riddance to you, Izuku Midoriya.” The Omega Beams race forward, zipping between the shifting pillars and rubble like a pair of glowing eels. They turn and they spiral but they never lose their target all the while gaining speed as they race closer and closer.
They are coming in too fast! Too fast for the boy to react! He hurries to fire but even that won’t stop them. It’s too late! They’re already upon him! They blow a hole right through his chest and it’ll be over! He’s going to-
A Hand. A hand that’s both fragile yet firm and so full of strength shoves him away from the small of his back. Down he goes, flung away just moments away from becoming a corpse.
And yet the Omega Beams strike something, that searing, burning sound of heat against flesh fills the void. Someone was struck, someone was slain, and Izuku can feel the unmoving body lying on the ground just behind him.
He dares not look. He dares not to breathe. And yet…he has to know. He has to know who would have thrown their life away for…him.
And so with his heart clenched and his breath trembling, Izuku turns around…and looks back with a horrible realization.
“ALLLLL MIIIIIGGGGGHHHHHT!!!”
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THE PREVIEW: Ch.87
“I guess I’m on my own… Well, it can’t get any worse.”
“Do you see now, heroes? Do you see now that it is pointless to resist?”
“I’m here!! I have it!!”
“IT’S NOT OVER!!! NOT UNTIL I SAY SO!!!”
“Go!! Reach him! You have to reach him!! We will get you there! Now GO!!!”
“I will reclaim what is mine!”
“… well, I hope I’m there catching some of the light coming off of you that day.”
“You’ve taught me more than you realize.”
“I’m Deku!! Deku-...!!”
Notes:
Just when you thought I couldn’t make a more gripping cliffhanger I go ahead and give you this! Just as the tide was turning Vilgax says “Nope this is my house bitches” and rings them all in. Oh, where is the humanity?!
But how was this chapter? We got the long awaited Bakugou vs. Nue fight all good and proper. Shoto’s got himself a new move. And Ochaco is still on her way to deliver the Omnitrix. Oh, what is to come next in this epic tale?!
**Speaking of epic tales. My Hero Academia has officially come to its end. Now I make a point to not go into spoilers in this story for the sake of new readers, new MHA goers, and those that don’t read the manga. So, I will not go into too many specifics. But I will say that it’s both heartwarming and sad to see this series go. MHA came in at a time of my life that I needed it the most. This series encouraged and spurred me on throughout the years in ways I didn’t even realize at the time. And I’m just so grateful that we had the opportunity to go on this epic adventure with Deku and his friends in Class 1-A and to see their stories come to a close. And all I want to say is thank you to Horikoshi for braving through his own struggles and failures to bring about a story that’s inspired so many of us to create, to explore, and to feel. Thank you from the bottom of my heart.
Now was the ending 100% satisfying…no. But as a fanfic writer I kinda have a bias here. I personally like the open endedness because it allows us, the fans, the readers, the viewers, to continue the stories on our own. To make our head cannons of how these heroes keep going beyond. How their stories turn out. How they achieve their own happiness. And I for one cannot wait to see others share on this site or on AO3, DeviantArt, Instagram, or anywhere else how they believe the story continues.
Not to mention I’m pretty sure this is NOT the last time we’re gonna see Deku and his friends. You can take my word for it. They’ll be back and we’re all going to rejoice. Just like a reunion with friends we’re all gonna be in tears. And I for one cannot wait for the day that we cross paths again with our dear friends.
Now for SPOILERS!!!!:
I called it!! I knew Deku would become a teacher!! Hahaha! Oh man, I should have bet money on that!
I was also right about the fate of OFA and that we’d see that Daki kid once again in the end. Again, I should have put money down on this
There should have been a clearer status between Deku and a certain someone. But honestly I blame the fans for being so toxic when it comes to ships for this one. I blame us as fans for making death threats to this great man for how to write HIS story. There is a reason why I, myself, don’t want to touch ships with a ten-foot pole in my own story. Because as a fandom we participate in this “Shipping War” and we all forget that in a war all sides LOSE.
There are rumors that MHA is contracted to have a total of 10 movies. And we’ve only had 4…sooooooo here's hoping!! Plus, Horikoshi was a fan on how Naruto did their later movies too*Speaking of the next outing. The next chapter for this arc is in the works. I believe we are in for 2 more chapters for sure. And we are for sure gonna see Deku reunite with the Omnitrix next time. So get yourselves ready for some thrills and action!
*S.A.G.E. Gun. So, obviously there’s more to the S.A.G.E. Gun then first meets the eye. My head canon is that the S.A.G.E. Gun is an older model of what the Proto-Tool is meant to be. The only way it can “transform” is by which alien species happens to be wielding it. So for a human it remains as its standard S.A.G.E. Gun form. But for Vilgax and his species it becomes a S.A.G.E. Bazooka. My rule of thumb is that the weapon the S.A.G.E. Gun becomes must incorporate into the alien’s form, powers, and uniqueness. So, maybe we get a S.A.G.E. Knuckle for Four Arms. A S.A.G.E. Mace for Humungousaur where it becomes a ball around his tail (an homage to the reboot’s powers for him) and so on. On this note I will be dropping the Omni-Shield concept. But I think Iida’s gonna pick up a version of it.
ARTWORK: check out the S.A.G.E. Bazooka by “Voidv25” on Deviant Art. They made this for me last minute and I really appreciate their hard work to getting it out on time. Please go check them out especially since they have done other works for me.
https://www.deviantart.com/voidv25/art/Sage-Bazooka-1084646652
*I want to talk about Shoto’s new skill his Pluto’s Whitefire. I wanted to give him an edge of his own especially as he faces stronger and stronger opponents of the inhuman kind. So I came up with this little beauty. For now, I will state that this version of the Pluto’s Whitefire is undeveloped on purpose. Shoto will continue to train and build up this new skill over time.
Chapter 93: Recalibration Part 1
Notes:
*I want to say this off the bat, but this is not the full chapter. This chapter was three times as long originally, but it was brought to my attention yesterday that it was waaaaaaaay too long. So, to make the chapters more digestible this is how things are gonna work. I will post Ch.88 Recalibration Part 2 tomorrow morning. I’ve been working on this finale for so long and I really want to show it to all of you ASAP. So, this is the solution I came up with especially since I won’t have access to the internet for the rest of the today. You’ll get this half today and get the last half tomorrow.
*Responses to Guest Reviews from Ch.86 will be at the end of this chapter.
*TV TROPES LINK*: delete the spaces (_ ) within the URL below in order to get the full link.
https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Fanfic/HeroesNeverDieItsHeroTime
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
“Which way…?” Ochaco Uraraka hurries through the twisting halls of the Chimeran Hammer. Sprinting at full speed she keeps one eye on the map projected on the screen of her helmet while the other looks ahead for hazards and danger.
“Kraab, you’re a lifesaver!” For real, she would have made several wrong turns that would have sent her to who-knows-where, which would have delayed her mission further.
Which is to get this Omnitrix back to Deku!
The Omnitrix lies cold in her grip, its casing still limp and flopping as she runs; while the once glowing green dial remains dim and colorless.
“Come on, why aren’t you working?!” She gives the Omnitrix a poke. Even trying to activate it, but it doesn’t so much as buzz or give a whir of life. “Ooohhh.”
She needs to hurry! Her Gyro-Disc works overtime, speeding her weightless body across the hall in seconds while the black and green hoodie tied around her waist waves in the wind. Chains clang together as Sunder’s Null Void Axe dangles around her shoulder.
In any other situation, she would look like a badass action hero on the run to a fight but right now she looks anything but. Her uniform is tattered and filthy with stains of muck, grim, blood, and vomit. Her body is bruised, and her stomach is unsettling.
Trying to give her Quirk a break, she Releases her Zero-Gravity and then nearly stumbles onto the ground before catching herself against exposed pipes before taking off down the next corner.
“Where are they?” She was praying that maybe she'd run into Cinder’s group before they arrived at the arena but there’s been no signs of them anywhere! Is she too late?
Pressing a finger to the com-set on her helmet she tries to call them. “Mr. Midoriya! Mr. Midoriya!”
No answer, so she tries again.
“Principal Nezu? Iida? Momo?! Mina?! …BAKUGOU?!’
Static. Static is all she hears from the other lines. She had hoped that maybe communications would be back by now and maybe get some updates on the Ideaon Cannon or if Mina got Gran Torino back to the hangar or if Bakugou maybe blew up the Power Core yet? But it seems that getting an answer at all will be a miracle at this rate.
“I guess I’m on my own…” Letting out an exasperated sigh Ochaco prepares herself for what’s to come. The arena is just around the corner now, so she’d best be ready. “Well, it can’t get any worse.”
She rounds the corner and stops dead in her tracks.
Floating within the hallway like a school of jellyfish is a cloud of floating green transparent brains with giant fangs protruding from their underbellies. These Metroids float about pulsating with bio-electricity as their fangs twitch and chitter and their bodies bounce lightly yet ominously across the hall like a terrible fog.
Checking her map it confirms this is the only way through and so with a heavy sigh Uravity flat-out deadpans. “Fuck me.”
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[PLAY: “ Dr. STONE NEW WORLD - Opening Song | "Wasuregataki" by Huwie Ishizaki ” - link can be found in this chapter on the AO3 site.]
https://_youtu._be/eKeoHejslp0?si=hrwFYRRwMIgQs6Ym
(Instrumental~~~)
The camera shows Izuku Midoriya with his head hanging down before zooming up to show Vilgax’s battleship floating over Earth's moon.
Sou kore kona itami ga~
Uravity Uraraka gazes up to the sky as the title appears from above her.
Sujikaki no nai monogatari ni wa~
She begins to walk forward as her friends slowly fade into existence: Pinky, Bakugou, Shoto, Creati, Ingenium, and Red Riot.
Hitsuyou fukaketsu nanda~
Inko Midoriya holds a picture of her family as she cries and is comforted by Mitsuki Bakugou and Eirene Ashido.
Yoru no umi ni wa Tsuki ga isuwaru~
Unseen to them Cinder is at the door. He looks up with determination as he heads out to rescue his son.
Sugita kunou wo~
Katsuki Bakugo holds an old All Might card as an image of him and Deku as kids cheering as they hold their cards out appears behind him.
Bikasuru hima ga~
Nue looks down at a watch as an image of him and Izuku in middle school laughing appears behind him.
Aru nara ima dake utsuseyo~
The screen splits between the two, both standing back-to-back, and with determined glares they both march away in opposite directions.
Ororkamono demo shoujiki te itai~
Panels shift and fold away, creating a portal, that reveals Izuku bound in an iconic ring of metal as Toshinori Yagi stares up at it in a mix of shock-and-awe and despair.
Haato ga sawagu yo~
Vilgax the Conqueror makes himself known from atop his throne. As he peers down at his inferiors with an air of ominous superiority.
(Instrumental~~~)
Below his throne his minions have been assembled: Psyphon, Malware, Sunder, Ragnarok, SevenSeven, the Techadon, Rojo, and Nue.
Tatoe dareka wo kizutsuke tato shitemo~
Cinder unleashes a wave of flames as he mows through Vilgax's drone army with his blazing dual-edged spear! Before swiftly speeding away as the Techadon gets pulled in by Thirteen’s swirling Black Hole!
Yuzurenai hikari ga arunda~
Pinky slides across the narrow hallways as Ingenium races by. They’re followed by a sword wielding Creati and a Hardened Red Riot. Before the screen is consumed by pillars of fire and ice with Shot’s eyes piercing back.
Mushi kaesu tsumori wa betsu ni nari keredo~
Uravity smashes through the ice before unleashing a wave of glowing gravity in every direction causing the army of silhouetted aliens to be blasted away.
Kono seaki de kono sekai de~
Bakugou rockets past her in a blaze of a Howitzer Impact that crashes into a grinning Nue like an exploding meteor.
Wasuregataki naru niwa mada hayai~
Vilgax looms menacingly over the Rising Star and the Symbol of Peace as nine dark threads of fate swirl through and around his form.
Yume migachi na shinisokonai sa~
Toshinori looks on at the teen with a look of shame that soon transitions to that of deterPinkytion. And in a wave of smoke a scowling All Might rises to meet the Mad Titan.
Zero kara hairiagare sora ga waretatte~
Vilgax’s tentacles reach for the defiant Deku as the Omnitrix begins to spark and glow with inspiring green lightning.
Ano sekai e ano sekai e~
A massive discharge of green explodes outward, overtaking everything and swallowing up everything in a brilliant show of green light.
Nanjyukkai nan byakkai~
Deku gazes out towards the vastness of space from the portal window of his prison cell.
nanzenkai nomikonde~
While Uravity gazes out into the star-filled sky through the windshield of the RazorCrest.
Nanjyuunen~
Deku slowly raises his left fist towards the shrinking window.
nanbyaku nen~
Uravity slowly raises her right fist towards the expanding window.
nan zen nen~
The screen splits between the two, zooming in on their fists just as they gently connect. And the camera is blinded by flashes of green and pink before washing away to white.
Sakimidare~!
A still Omnitrix lays on upon the moon, alone and in the dark, before the Sun majestically peeks out from behind the Earth over the edge and shines its rays of hope down upon it.
(Illustrated by Drag0n5on)
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Ch.87 Recalibration Part 1
A storm was rolling in. Dark, menacing, and unnatural. It came crashing forth with danger and indifference.
A lamb, a small innocent lamb lays limp and broken before its path, mewing for help.
But the storm encroaches ever closer. Casting darkness over the land, snuffing out all the light and life. But then there was courage, beautiful all-inspiring courage. As suddenly, a ferocious lion thunders across the plains towards the lamb. It pounces, not to strike the lamb but to defend it. With a roar the mighty lion defends the innocent lamb before the foreign storm; showing no fear or hesitation before its scale and power.
In that moment, justice was to be served. Justice was to be brought by the symbol of courage itself. The lion was ready to be that symbol and defend those that need him.
But then the storm, that dreaded storm, strikes down with thunderbolts of red.
And that mighty lion falls silent.
And the storm thunders as if laughing, enjoying, the poor lambs expression of despair.
“ALLLLL MIIIIIGGGGGHHHHHT!!!”
Izuku doesn’t know what happened! One moment he was there, standing his ground and then the next moment he’s on the floor and the sounds of muscle tearing followed by the foul smell of flesh burning filled the air.
He can’t look away, he can’t. This sight, the wail, this image will forever haunt his mind.
“AAAAAAHHHHH!!!” Yagi Toshinori’s has never felt such pain except only one other time and it was his first ever permanent wound. And like that wound it was dirty, bloody, and crippling. And oh so painful.
He grabs at the wound, trying to hold himself, but…only one arm wraps around him. Only one hand grips the burning wound, the burning bloodied wound. And despite the searing pain he tries to move his hand, his left hand, he tries to raise, to make a fist, to wiggle his pinky even but…he doesn’t feel a thing.
And yet his left arm, his left hand is within reach, it’s right there. Lying on the ground, black, crisped, and shot clean off his own body.
“ALL MIGHT!!!” Izuku wails, he is in such agony and shock that he collapses to his knees; his earlier privado having fallen away and forgotten alongside the S.A.G.E. Gun. He can’t look away; All Might’s arm is gone. All that is left is a stump, a fleshly red stump just shy of his shoulder that seems so much more gruesome against Toshinori’s red zero-suit prison outfit.
Nobody moves. Not Cinder. Not Tetrax. Not even Eraserhead. None of them. Not because they’re just as horrified as the young boy, but out of pure unadulterated fear. Fear that the moment they move, the moment they speak or even breathe, that they’ll meet their end by Vilgax’s hand.
Naomasa Tsukauchi’s brain can’t even process what’s happened. He’s never seen Toshinori move so fast outside his True Form. It was like his body moved on its own. Without thinking, without hesitation, he ran without warning. No he sprinted across the arena and shoved the boy aside without ever considering his own wellbeing. And then he watches as the Omega Beams ripped through his arm like a toothpick. That hand…that hand that’s reached out to so many. That’s saved so many. That’s fist that would rise to the air as All Might would say that He Is Here. And yet There It Is…smoldering on the floor, lifeless.
After hearing Toshinori cut off his own wails does the Detective snap out of the horror just enough to act. He hurries to his friend's side and practically slides to his knees. Ripping the belt off his Plumber suit he prepares to make a tunicate. But despite the limb having been cauterized by the beams, blood is leaking out from between the scarring. Panicking he reaches for a first aid-kit but his worry has him flailing. “Q-Qu-Quickly! W-we need to b-bandage the wo-wound!” He still can’t find the first-aid!
A partly busted Chopper wheels over in a hurry, his wheels squeaking loudly as he struggles to move against his dented shell, but he makes it to the detective’s side. Once he makes it a side compartment of his pops open and ejects a Plumber issued med-pack.
Tsukauchi scrambles to put on the device, but he’s never used such an alien device before but it seems to lock itself into place; clamping down around the bloody stump the device begins to illuminate, activated it begins to seal the wound, slowly.
And painfully given by the crumbled Toshinori’s resulting wheezes of pain as the severed limb continues to ooze with blood and smoke.
Tears prick at the boy's eye. He did this. His foolish bravery-...brought this.
“Do you see now, heroes? Do you see now that it is pointless to resist?” Vilgax seems to be the only one unaffected by his own gruesome display. Instead, he seems rather poised and professional, like this was always meant to be the outcome. “ If you continue to choose to stand against me then I will have no choice but to crush you under my heel. It’ll be a fruitless endeavor.” He pauses to turn to each stunned Plumber and Hero in turn before asking them. “Do you really wish to perish at my hand?”
They wish to say something defiant. To spit in his face and resist his terrible offer. But the truth behind it, the weight, the reality keeps their lips sewed tight. His power, his strength, his….he is far too strong. Far too dangerous and deadly…for any of them. It’s their instincts, their instincts to live, their sense of self-preservation, is what is keeping them tethered in place with their breaths hitched and their blood frozen.
The scrapped up Patelliday holds tight to the leaning and injured Eraserhead, both stuck in terror. While Cinder remains frozen in place with only half of his spear left in his not falling grip. And Tetrax’s mind is filled with horror, memories, of his planet’s final days. And how futile it all was in the end…
Satisfied, Vilgax continues with his torment, “I thought not. It has finally dawned on you all that this mission was a folly. It was always doomed to fail. There was never any hope of success.”
‘There was never any hope…’ That line tolls like death’s bell in Izuku’s ears. ‘Could that be true? Has that always been true? Was there any hope at all? For him? For his friends? Their home? Is hope just a lie? A lie to torment them and to make their fall into despair that much worse? It-...it-...it-’
“Face the reality, heroes. No one can save you.”
*SMASH!!!*
Oh but there is hope and it just crashed through his wall like a bulldozer! Pummeled Metroids come crashing in, beaten, by a glowing fist. As light floods in through the newly made entrance, shining the perfect spotlight onto the new arrival.
“URAVITY!?!” Everyone cries out.
Toshinori’s gasps, “Young Uraraka?!”
Vilgax is just as stunned as the rest and yet intrigued, “Such strength…”
“DEKU!!!” She’s too hurried to notice their reactions. Instead, she scans the arena quickly before spotting her extremely distraught friend. “I’m here!! I have it!!” Without thinking she holds up the Omnitrix as if expecting Izuku to somehow reach halfway across the arena to grab it.
“The Omnitrix?!” To say that Vilgax was seething in anger would be an understatement. ‘It was supposed to remain in the Science Wing. Oh, when I get my claws on Ragnarok he is going to be begging me for death!’
‘The Omnitrix… There it is… It’s so close and yet so far…’ Even though they’re yards apart, even though it’s nowhere in reach, Izuku can’t help but feel drawn to it.
He was shocked to see Uraraka here. Even more so that she’s presented him with the Omnitrix. And now it’s like the device itself, despite its lifeless coloration, is calling out to him.
And so, even while yards apart, he slowly holds his hand out as if to summon it to his hand.
But…just as he’s about to open his hand, he pulls away and retreats back into solemn regrets.
Uravity’s hopes falter, Izuku’s usual spark…is gone.
“That Omnitrix is MINE!!!” Vilgax stampedes after the girl, his claw outstretched as his feet thunder across the arena. “Return it to me and I shall slaughter you last!!!”
Clutching the Omnitrix back, Uravity freezes at the site of the giant titan crashing towards her.
All the while, Izuku and Toshinori cry out. “URARAKA!!!”
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The echoes of Explosions still resonate through the Power Core. And yet it couldn’t be more still; generators lie on the ground far from their perches above. Cables that once lined the walls have been severed and are now dangling in the air like rotting vines. Dominators that once rules this place now lie across the battlefield, mangled and melted; they can hardly be considered corpses. And at the center sits a crater and therein lies a monster, Nue, lying unconscious and defeated amongst the rubble and billowing smoke.
And overseeing this razed arena is the shining figure of a victorious Katsuki Bakugou. The Power Core itself remains intact but it shines upon the hero like the heavens. His wrists are aching, his throat is sore, and his heart feels like it's going to Explode. And yet he’s all smiles. He can certainly get used to this view. “Heh, take that…you…loser.”
It seems that gravity has caught up to him and with his exhaustion he can’t resist it as he begins to plummet. ‘Shit!’ His palms spark but there isn’t so much a puff of smoke. ‘I haven’t built up enough sweat yet! That last blast used all I had up!’ The ground is getting closer, and those shards of rubble are looking really sharp. And he can’t react in time, his head, it’s still spinning from that last beating. “Aw, CRAAAAAAAP!!!”
The sound of ice breaking rapidly approaches and then just when Bakugou expected to hit burning metal he instead lands into a cold yet secure embrace. Followed by the calm but somewhat distorted voice of his classmate. “Don’t worry, I got you.”
Normally Shoto would have used a glacier of ice to slide Bakugou out of danger but with his WhiteFire Armor he was more than capable of catching his friend in bridal style.
Bakugou needs a second to react. This is Icy-Hot? What’s with this armor? And why does he look so badass? “Let go of me!!” Flustered, Bakugou scrambles out of Shoto's arms. “I don’t need any rescuing! I was gonna catch myself!”
Shoto takes the chiding in stride. “Sorry. I thought you could use a hand.”
“Shut up! And what’s with the getup?! You look like a mascot for a popsicle Ad!”
“Is that so?” He honestly has no idea how he looks. Is there a mirror nearby, perchance?
“You two…are amazing.”
Shoto and Bakugou jump; they suddenly remembered that there was a third member with them.
But there they are, Thirteen is back on their feet albeit wobbly. They’re using a claw of a Dominator for support and their voice sounds weak yet stable.
“Thirteen!” Shoto hurries to the heroes’ side, hovering over them as if unsure how to provide help. “You should rest.”
“I’m fine. Uh,” Thirteen throws a nasty glare over the smoking crater and the unmoving husk of what was Henzu Uuichi. “Cheap shot. Shocking me while my back was turned.” Then again the kid was always a street punk, of course he’d play dirty. “But I’m fine. Better than ever actually.” Seeing the two of them fight like they had was…awe inspiring. It’s got their blood pumping! “You two were impressive. Most impressive.”
“Of course we were! We had this in the bag!” Claims the ever-cocky Bakugou despite his singed armor and slightly dazed expression.
“You sure did.” Instead of rebutting, Thirteen smiles and instead goes ahead to finish their part of the mission. They remove the device from their side, it’s large about the size of a watermelon. It looks like a giant battery-like container that’s sparking wildly with electricity, and yet it doesn’t seem to be damaged at all. So why is it sparking so wildly like that?
Curious, Shoto asks, “What is that?”
“A bomb.” Thirteen answers oh-so-casually.
“A BOMB!?!” Both students scream.
“Hang on!!” Bakugou makes the timeout signal. “You were carrying a bomb this whole time! The entire time!! Are you crazy or something?!”
Shoto can’t help but see a pot and kettle, “How is that any different than working with you?”
“Shut your mouth!! Tsk!”
Thirteen makes sure the battery bomb is secure. As they do they seem to be moving cautiously around it as if afraid that’ll detonate early. “Let me just arm it and then it’ll be read to release its payload.” And thus they all gather around, watching closely as Thirteen starts arming the device.
They have no need to be on edge or on guard, all their enemies have been defeated. There’s no reason to be concerned.
And yet, they should be.
*Gasp…!* Nue’s lungs expand, the air is burning and yet a relief for his body. ‘That hurts… Everything…hurts.’ The mutated Grey Matter eye spins about before locking onto Bakugou’s exposed back. ‘He hurt me… He beat me! ...And that’s not RIGHT!!!’ His body is in agony, every muscle is on fire just from the strain it takes to move! ‘Not after all the bullshit I’ve been through! All the treachery! All the abuse! I won’t let it all be for nothing! I will get what’s MINE!’ With the little strength he has left all he can do is use Terraspin’s windblast to launch himself forward. He doesn’t even craft a weapon instead aiming to smash the bastard face in with a diamond encrusted fist! “BAKUGOU!!!”
They’re all caught off guard, eyes wide in horror, with little to no time to react.
“IT’S NOT OVER!!! NOT UNTIL I SAY SO!!!”
Bakugou’s defenseless. His hands spark but the Explosions are like poppers. They’re nothing! He’s going to die, and no one can stop it!
However, Thirteen shoves Bakugou aside and throws themselves forward while swinging the battery-shaped bomb up and butts it against Nue’s incoming chest. With their hand locked on the handle they turn it and with a VRRRRRRROOOOOOM thin bolts of lightning blast the creature away!!
Nue’s entire body is stunned as he’s thrown into the opposite wall but the twin pair of lightning bolts. Nue lets out a groan and prepares to launch himself again only for the twin lightning bolts to magically zoom back around and blast him again!
“AHHH!!” The twin blast buries him further into the wall before the two sparks spin away, laughing.
“HAHAHAHAHAHAbzz!!” The two lightning bolts stop in midair and convert into two tiny battery-like beings that now hover in the air while laughing at Nue’s comeuppance.
Shoto’s glowing red eyes widen from behind his frozen helmet, “Buzzshocks?!”
“They’re Megawatts.” Thirteen corrects. “The same species as Midoriya’s Buzzshock form.” A shiver runs down the hero’s spine. “Little menaces.”
“Wait, so at the beginning of the school year. Was that-”
“Yeah, it was them, not Midoriya.”
“Huh, and he had to serve detention for that.”
“We’ve all had to make sacrifices.” Summoning their courage, Thirteen hesitantly whistles the Megawatts over.
The 2 tiny menaces zip over, laughing, eager to cause mayhem.
Thankfully, that’s exactly what Thirteen was counting on. “You two remember our deal?”
The Megawatts smile and nod.
“I’m keeping my end. And as promised; have at it!!” Thirteen shoots their finger to the air, to the glowing Power Core.
“HAHAHAHAHAHAbzz!!” And upon their command the Megawatts zip up and away towards the light. And with a zap they both zip themselves into the Power Core itself.
Nothing seems to change at first other than, a few light sparks popping off here and there.
And then more sparks. Then more. Now they’re getting bigger. Now more sporadic. And soon the entire Power Core seems to be bursting with power that it simply can’t contain.
It’s becoming so bright that the heroes are forced to shield their eyes.
“What are those fuckers doing?!”
“They’re job!” Thirteen exclaims. “Megawatts love hijacking technology and eating electricity! Not to mention they have the ability to cellularly-divide!”
“Which means?” Shoto asks.
“It means that we don’t want to be anywhere on this ship! Those little monsters are going to tear this ship apart from the inside out!” And they do mean that literally as grids of loose and snapped cables begin to spark wildly, and they even begin to snake and thrash about as if possessed. “We need to leave, now!!”
“What about Nue?!” Bakugou snaps. “We can’t let him-...” He points over to the wall but stops and his usual fire falters. “-…escape.” Nue’s gone, the bastard, fled when they weren’t looking. They need to chase him down before he can get-
A section of the wall bursts apart with flying sparks and the resounding laughter of more than a few Megawatts. Meanwhile, the Power Core is surging with even more energy to the point it's releasing entire bolts of lightning across the chamber.
Thirteen takes cover as a piece of sparking metal nearly takes their head. “We can’t afford to go after him! We have to get out of here! The moment the Megawatts eat through that Power Core this whole ship is going down!!”
Bakugou and Shoto seem to agree for once and wish to defy Thirteen’s suggestion. But another nearby burst, this time coming from out of the floor, dissuades them quickly.
With no other options, they sprint off the way they came in the hopes of getting themselves off this soon-to-be sinking ship.
As they run they pass by the sparking head of a fallen Dominator. It’s in no way a threat or even capable of moving thanks to its mostly melted body but as they finally retreat from the Power Core the sparks from the Dominator release and reform into a single being. Nue, battered, bruised, and singed coughs and wheezes in pain. Holding himself as electricity is not easy especially considering his size and density but all the training with Buzzshock’s powers have finally paid off. Then again, the payoff was to help him hide like a fucking coward. Not that it matters now. This ship is doomed. And like the street rat he is, he knows when to jump from a sinking ship.
And so summoning the little stamina he has left he hurriedly wobbles himself out of there and just as the Power Core’s power begins to rumble.
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“The Omnitrix!!” Vilgax roars and his outstretched claw bursts at the seams to become a tangled mess of Inflamed tentacles! “Get your filthy hands off of my Omnitrix!!”
Clutching the Omnitrix, Uravity is frozen in fear; it's like watching a hurricane crashing towards her. She can fight, she can run, she can hide but it won’t matter. It’s going to catch her one way or another.
But that doesn’t mean they can’t buy her any time!
Tetrax launches himself in between the innocent girl and the incoming catastrophe. With his back to Vilgax he crucifies himself in place with a massive wall of diamonds, creating a barrier so dense that Vilgax’s tentacles crash against it like tidal waves. The Inflamed tentacles threaten to smash through, but Tetrax holds the barrier against this back, and braces himself against his pain and exhaustion.
“Go!!” He shouts. “Reach him! You have to reach him!! We will get you there! Now GO!!!”
Her mind hesitates for a second before she bounds away from the barricade of crystals. As she does Tetrax lets the wall go, allowing the strengthened Tentacles to break through. Spinning around his own shattered wall, Tetrax launches a wave of diamonds right back at Vilgax.
The Grand Destroyer summons a Ziegel Shield that’s just large enough to counter the solid wave. But he has not lost sight of his prize, and there it goes running across the battle-scarred arena.
Not willing to give his victims a fair warning, Vilgax fires his Omega Beams that zip and turn through the air and are racing right for her spine.
They would hit their mark if it weren’t for the twin streams of fire meeting them half-way.
Uravity is sent flying off her feet from the resounding explosions, but she’s alive and it’s thanks to Cinder who grabs her and hoists her by the Gyro-Disc on her back before pushing her forward. “Go! Go to him!!”
He has no time to do more before unleashes another pair of twin flames at more incoming Omega Beams.
Not wasting time, she goes, sprinting as fast as she can despite her burning muscles.
Enraged, Vilgax wheels away from the crashing crystals, using his shield to propel himself away he locks down on his long-time enemy with absolute hate and rage. “FIREBREATHER!!!”
“VILGAX!!!”
With a deep inhale Vilgax unleashes a spiraling Turbulent Exhale!!
Taking a deep inhale of his own, Cinder not only calls upon the flames of his mask but so to the fires breaking out around the arena, the wisps of flames merge centrally before his maw before with BANG they shoot out as one massive inferno!
The two elemental forces crash upon impact, both whipping around and struggling to overcome the other as shrapnel of heat and wind tear through the arena. They seem to be almost evenly matched. Or so it would seem. But for Cinder he has yet to relinquish the other flames, even as he unleashes an inferno he continuously summons the heat and flames from nearby fires. Soon every loose flame in the arena is floating through the air before melding into his already raging inferno. The more and more it grows, ever expanding, before it engulfs and consumes Vilgax’s breath. “ONIBI’S VENDETTA!!!”
The flames travel upwind, consuming every air molecule in its path before detonating right into the Grand Destroyer!!
The resulting Explosion would make Bakugou jealous as Vilgax’s entire body is consumed just as his Turbulent Exhale was. Gone is he from Cinder’s view, vanishing behind waves of flames.
Exhausted Cinder collapses to his knees while gasping for air, his lungs feel like they’re on fire, and they probably are. His Quirk, Firebreath, has reached its limit. A sensation he hasn’t felt in years. That final move is always a gambit since it always takes the wind right out of him. But a gambit that’s certainly paid off.
And yet, it hasn't. For Vilgax comes crashing through the flames, and like a demon seems virtually unscathed as he charges past his old foe and races for Uravity and the Omnitrix.
Cinder, too exhausted and out of breath, can’t even shout to her in warning. His lungs won’t allow it.
But at the rate he’s going that monster will soon be on her heels. Scratch that he’s on her heels, he’s just one swing away from stopping her.
“I will reclaim what is mine!”
Claw outstretched, his Bio-Fist emerges encrusted with Chameleon-like mucus, making the claw like a sticky sludge, the perfect adhesive for catching little bugs. He swings for her arm and he is about to have her when a thin scarf wraps itself around the girl's waist and pulls her away at the last moment.
Uravity cries out in surprise but stops short when he lands beside the one and only Eraserhead.
“Reckless. When this is done I want every one of you to write me an essay about self-preservation.” He chides but it almost seems good humored. He's injured, sure but seeing his student on the line must have given him a second wind since he no longer needs Patelliday as a crutch.
Speaking of which he seems ready for action too as he cocks his laser-bolt shotgun and aims it at the villain. “The first paragraph oughta be about avoiding him!”
Vilgax roars and prepares to charge the heroes, his Infernal Swords oozing out as a massive great sword.
Eraserhead scowls, “If only we had a weapon that could match him.”
Uravity pauses, “We do!” Between her grand entrance and running for her life she hasn’t had a chance to use it yet. But she still has Sunder’s Null Void Axe wrapped around her shoulders. “Here!” Making it weightless she hands the now floating Alien Weapon over to her trusted teacher. “You can give him hell with this!”
While wrapping the chain around his neck, Eraserhead examines the glowing red blade before responding. “I’ll do you one better, I’ll send him to hell.”
Feeling confident now, Uravity gets ready to make a dash for it. .
However Vilgax has no desire to have her escape so he instantly makes a move for the girl only to back off the moment the red Axe decides to cut off his path. Literally as the blade skins the ground a chunk of the panel flooring vanishes, teleported away to the Null Void.
With a pull and a swing Eraserhead swerves the Axe back towards Vilgax who deflects the weapon with a quick, and lucky, summon of his Infernal Sword.
However, the Axe proves to be the superior blade as the top half of Vilgax’s black Great Sword vanishes just as the floor had.
Letting the ooze fall away he’s forced to pull up a golden shield only for that weapon to fade away the instant Eraserhead activates his Quirk. With no weapons or Quirks at his disposal Vilgax is forced to brace himself as Patelliday open fires with his laser shotgun.
Eraserhead flies the weightless blade out towards Vilgax’s head. Acting fast, the massive villain rips a chunk of the flooring out from the ground and uses it as a makeshift shield. Sacrificing the collection of panels for his own sake. With the Null Void Axe in play, he is forced to play on the defensive. He is well aware that one scratch, one prick, from that blade will send him and his ambitions straight to hell. However, the real challenge is the fact that Eraserhead’s Quirk is still in play. And with the girl trying to reunite the weapon with its original master, he only has so much time left. He cannot afford to give her the chance!
Thinking swiftly, he stomps his foot against the ground with such force that debris, dust, and smoke burst out. This sudden cloud instantly shrouds Vilgax into the darkness and like a fog the smoke encroaches on Eraserhead, Patelliday, and Uravity as well.
Feeling uneasy, the three quickly stand back-to-back, preparing for an ambush. Eraserhead with his blade raised, Uravity with her fists glowing pink, and Patelliday with his angler aglow, in an attempt to see through the light, as he aims his shotgun out for Vilgax’s reemergence.
“I can sense your fear…” Vilgax’s voice echoes from the void. “Be not afraid, I guarantee you that your ends will be swift.”
Sensing that the battle will not remain in their favor, Tsukauchi, who has been tending to Toshinori up until this point, grabs his Phaser and after making sure that his friend isn’t going to bleed out, hurries away to assist the others. Figuring that the only way out now is to keep Vilgax off of their most vulnerable players.
Izuku watches it all unfold, frozen, still reeling from what’s already transpired but he can’t look away as the devastation plays out around him. To Izuku, he might as well be in another world. He can’t hear their screams nor see their desperation. The arena, to him, is silent with only faint echoes in the distance. And yet he can feel the wind whipping at his hair, the intense heat waving around him, and the ground trembling underneath his feet. He watches as Uraraka tries to make a break for it, to sprint across the arena just to get to him. He should go to her, he should be putting in an effort, his body wants to but, there’s this fear. This primal fear that is chaining him down, keeping him locked in place like a prisoner of his own mind. His spirit, his spark, which had just only ignited is starting to go cold…
Having been laying so close to the ground as Vilgax’s rampage initiated, Toshinori was left almost untouched. His stump, although sealed, is still stained with his blood, as his red and white zero-suit. He feels lightheaded, and the pain is excruciating, although this alien med-pack works wonders it appears that it sacrifices comfort. But that doesn’t matter. Right now, all that matters is the boy. His heart, his body, his soul refuses to let him give out now. Not when the boy still needs him!
‘Everyone…I’m so sorry. I tried…I really did.’ Izuku weeps, tears washing down his face. ‘But I guess, I only make things worse…’ His wails go unanswered amongst the raging chaos as those around him, those fighting on his behalf, are punished for their actions. ‘I tried… I tried my best… But I couldn’t do it… Everybody was right about me. I’m not a hero. I can never be a hero. I only make things worse. I only get in the way. I’m a waste of space! I’m hopeless! I’m not worthy-...!!’
A hand, one so weak and thin yet feels so strong and firm grabs his wrist in a tight deathgrip. As if it were to let go it would lose him forever.
Snapping up, Izuku gasps, finding that Toshinori’s used his one good arm to drag himself across the floor just to reach him. A thin trail of blood stains the ground behind him making the boy panic with worry.
But Toshinori’s firm grip silences his concerns; he practically shakes the boy when he tells him. “Don’t… Don’t you dare…give up.” Toshinori wheezes, fighting through the pain with gritted teeth. “Young Midoriya…there’s…*cough!*-something you *cough* need to hear.” He cries out in pain as he hoists himself to his knees.
Izuku wants to force him to lie down, but the man is insistent as he looks the boy straight in the eye.
“Young Midoriya, don’t you dare drag yourself down. Not anymore.” The boy is frozen, but based on his eyes, Toshinori knows he’s listening.
At the same time, with the Axe ready, Eraserhead scans the smoke for any signs of movement. There! Right in front of him! He lashes out with the Null Void Axe like a whip! It cracks but then with a thud it locks in place within the smoke and the chain goes taught.
“I always did find this weapon inequitable.” Vilgax emerges, and in one motion the blade melts in his claws with a quick Omega Beam. The once glowing blade melts through his claws, falling away to the ground like lava.
Despite the loss of their best weapon, Eraserhead keeps his mindset on the main goal. “Uraraka! Go now!”
Now that they know where he is Patelliday and Tsukauchi fire upon the villain giving Uravity the window she needs to bail!
“I think not!!” Vilgax’s tentacles crash through the air after her.
Clutching the Omnitrix to her chest, she acts fast by spinning around and throwing an effort-ridden punch! “SMASH!!!”
In one strike the tentacles are blasted back while she’s simultaneously launched forward.
Vilgax’s tentacles recoil back, but the titan finds himself stunned. He had always known the girl possessed a great power, but now he wonders just how powerful it is…? Although, he has no time to dwell on it. With one massive roar he charges after her as the heroes do all they can to get her to her destination!
Meanwhile, the boy still seems extremely unnerved, Toshinori needs to rein in that doubt if he’s going to get through to him. “Look at everything you’ve accomplished up till now. Despite the odds you earned your spot in Class 1-A. You defended your classmates valiantly against the League of Villains…thrice now.” Not exactly an accomplishment to brag about considering the circumstances. But he still has a point. “You’ve been defending the innocent away from the public eye, without a care for recognition or glory. Whenever people are in trouble your body always moves on its own before you can think!”
Izuku…is at a loss for words. It doesn’t feel real. It…feels like a dream. And he’s not sure why tears are streaming from his eyes and not sure if it’s from fear, sadness, or…joy? He’s almost afraid, afraid that this is some cruel joke meant to twist his emotions one last time.
But it’s not.
“You’re amazing, Young Midoriya. And it’s not because of the Omnitrix.” Reaching up his hand grips the boy’s shoulder so tight one would think he still had One For All as he declares into the boy’s face. “The Omnitrix is just a watch, a watch that can’t even tell time.” He chuckles at his little joke before wincing in pain from his lack of an arm. But he braves on, past that inconsequential pain. “In any one else’s hands it’s a weapon, one that could hurt so many. But you made it into a symbol. A symbol to all of us that there’s always a way out. A way to succeed! A symbol is what you are, Young Midoriya. Look at your friends.” He gestures towards the holo-projectors and to those around them. “You’ve brought them all here because you mean something to them. They’re risking it all not for the Omnitrix, not for themselves, but for you.”
Izuku’s at a loss. He’s never been so touched by someone’s words before, never has it ever sunk in how much others could care about him. It’s so foreign, so ironically alien to him, that he can't help but deny it. “B-but…but it’s t-thanks to m-me that…our planet’s lost its g-greatest hero…” He whimpers, weakly, trembling as he speaks as he desperately tries to hold back his tears. “It’s because of me that Japan lost its…S-symbol of Peace. And it’s because of me that you’re not the Number One Hero anymore!!” He snaps as frustrated that they’re not frustrated with him.
Toshinori is certainly taken back, but he waves away the boy’s concerns with a simple reply. “Those are just titles.”
This seems to take the boy by surprise as he seems to settle down. But Toshinori refuses to let go, something he will never do again.
“Titles are forged and not all of them withstand the test of time.” He explains. “What matters is what you do with said title. I became the Symbol of Peace in order to help people. To inspire and to remind them that they have nothing to fear when I am here…” He seems downtrodden but accepting of his fate. “My time as the Number One Hero has come and gone. I can’t-...I haven't been able to fulfill my duties as the Symbol of Peace for a longtime now. It’s time I put the title to rest and allow others to make their own.” He looks to both the dutiful young man in front of him and to the brave young woman racing through a storm for them. And for a moment he wonders what kind of symbols these two will become. “Don’t you see? What matters is what kind of symbol you and your title will represent to others.”
The boy still seems uncertain. And so, with his hand moving on its own, Toshinori cups the boys left hand in his own to reassure that he is there for him, 100%.
“You listen to me, Izuku Midoriya!” It’s time for him to be far more direct, far more reaching, and a far better hero than he has ever been to this young lad. “You got the makings of greatness in you, but you gotta take the reins and charge your own course. Stick to it! No matter what! And when the time comes you get the chance to really test a cut of your heart and show what you’re made…” He gets lost in the moment as he envisions a bright and shining future for him. “Well, I hope I’m there catching some of the light coming off of you that day.”
“All Might…” There’s no point in stopping the tears now. They come out unfiltered, flowing down his freckled cheeks and dripping onto their joint hands. “A-all M-might…”
Ochaco is running not just for her life, but for everyone’s sake. Everyone’s efforts have bought Uravity enough time and distance since she’s now in her last leg of her sprint. Izuku is just straight ahead, the finish line as it were. With the adrenaline keeping her going she thrusts the Omnitrix out like a baton ready to be passed while screaming. “Deku!! We need you!” She cries, totally winded from her run, and begins to fall as she grips the Omnitrix by the face dial and stretches it out towards his exposed left wrist.
But the two might as well be on another planet, because it’s just the two of them as the Symbol of Peace holds the boy’s left hand and with a smile he sincerely tells the boy exactly what he should have said all that time ago. “Young man, you too can become a hero.”
Izuku’s spark flares, suddenly the cold and looming darkness is washed away by a warm and welcoming flame.
At the same time, the Omnitrix fits itself right back onto his wrist!
Almost instantly upon contact, the once grey and lifeless device begins to hum and spin, glowing brightly the face dial begins to spin and whirl like a lunatic.
Uravity holds tight, pressing the face dial down with all her might as he declares out to her best friend. “YOU CAN DO IT!!!”
The green faceplate slaps down onto his wrist and like a spark to gas…Boom.
A sound of thunder and bolts of crackling jade lightning erupt like a beam from the heavens as the Omnitrix dial rotates and surges back with newfound life!
The display is so awe inspiring that all the chaos within the arena is brought to a complete and utter stop.
Toshinori, Ochaco, and Izuku are in sheer awe as jade lightning dances all around them, concentrated in a radius with the Omnitrix as its focus.
For Toshinori it’s absolutely astounding, this light, this warmth, just radiates hope. Hope that everything will be alright. That they will get through their struggles today and enjoy tomorrow.
For Ochaco it’s both a relief and a wonder. What an adventure it’s been till now, to get to this point, her body feels so weak and exhausted like it can finally breathe knowing it's done its duty.
That must be why there’s this strange shocking-sensation running up her arm and throughout her entire body. For a split second, it feels like every cell in her body is undergoing shock therapy. But she puts on a brave face, if not for her then for Deku’s sake. She shutters as traces of green energy spark up her arm before dissipating.
And as for Izuku, it’s like a missing piece of his soul has just been put back into place. He feels whole, complete, and yet different. Maybe it’s from All Might’s speech but he feels a change. It’s like this part of him, this piece of his soul, has or is undergoing some sort of recalibration.
Vilgax, however, couldn’t be more furious that his prize has just been ripped away from him. “NO!!!” He roars so loud that it shakes the arena. “You think this will guarantee you victory?!” Vilgax, looks upon them all with severe loathing. “Look at what you all wrought!” He gestures to the still playing holograms displaying their friends scattered across the razed ship. “You’ve brought upon nothing but chaos, destruction and mayhem! That is all the likes of your kind are capable of!” His rage boils over, his muscles tremble as Inflame spreads through his veins. Ink oozes and drips from his tightening claws and the air around him begins to stir as his eyes begin to burn red. “You cannot hope to bring about order or peace! Only I can grant the universe peace!” In his rage he unleashes an explosion of destruction: a torrent of power and destruction led by his Omega Beams.
For Izuku, it’s all in slow motion, from behind Ochaco’s helmet he spots the approaching catastrophe grow ever nearer. And without thinking, his body moves on its own, shoving past both Ochaco and Toshinori just as his free hand meets the Omnitrix’s dial.
Just as the catastrophic beam strikes there’s not a flash of green but a glow of jadelight. And then with a devastating boom, power erupts from the spot as the Omega Beams land their mark with a burst of heat and smoke.
Breathes hitch at that moment, as everyone from Cinder to Chopper fear the worst.
Vilgax is the only one who’s satisfied with the outcome. But there’s a shimmer, a bright and colorful luster. Rainbow-like colors pierce through the smoke before it’s all blown away as a vibrant beam of pure energy breaks through the darkness.
An alien cyclops stands as a guardian; firm and steadfast before them all. Standing tall this guardian of purple stone remains steadfast against the Grand Destroyer. His body, encrusted with crystals, dancing with brilliant lights.
Everyone is stunned, none more especially than Toshinori. “Young Midoriya…?”
“Have no fear. Why…? BECAUSE I AM HERE!!!” The crystal-guardian cries out with a new found courage and purpose.
The others smile feeling a relief not too similar to what Class 1-A felt that day when All Might arrived at the U.S.J. Incident.
“Have no fear, because I am here!” The stone-cyclops gives the two behind him a thumbs up.
To which the two smile in joyful glee.
Smiling he calls over to the Conqueror of Worlds. “But you, on the other hand, will learn to fear me.”
“You dare to spur me on?” Vilgax would almost find this amusing. “Very well. I took the Omnitrix from you once already. But I made a mistake keeping you unharmed. This time.” His eyes glow red with fury before unleashes another devastating Omega Beam. “I WILL RIP IT FROM YOUR COLD DEAD HANDS!!!”
“YOUNG MIDORIYA/DEKU!!!” Toshinori and Ochaco cry out in fear, but…there’s no need.
Because the crystal-guardian stands in place with his hands on his hips and takes the beam straight to the chest without so much as flinching. And even more surprising is that the beam seems to merge into his stone chest, as the crystals across his body ignite with all sorts of brilliant colors. Within moments the pair of Omega Beams have been completely absorbed into the alien’s body, without leaving so much as a scratch on his frame.
The crystal-guardian feigns a yawn as he waves a hand over his mouth. “Yawn. That sure was boring. But now…it’s time for the fun part.” Locking his fists forward, the crystals across his body illuminate brighter as all the accumulated power siphons through his body and then erupts out through his fists in brilliant fireworks display of power.
A rainbow-colored beam, like before but far more destructive, zooms through the air with such power and speed that to Vilgax it seems like a supernova is playing out before him.
Acting fast the tyrannical titan summons his golden shield and although it protects him from the beam's effects it does not nothing to save him from the beam’s power. As the light rays pound against the Ziegel Shield they force the villain back; it’s taking Vilgax a great amount of effort from being shoved back but fortunately for him he’s survived the onslaught. Good thing too as his shield falls away and he stumbles back in shock.
As Vilgax stumbles back, surges of yellow electricity begin to spark across the arena’s dome. The sparks seem to be sporadic and random but growing.
Seeing an opening, the aliened Izuku starts to run, ignoring the electricity that begins to spark from the floor. “I’m not done with you yet! You hurt my friends! You hurt my family! You’re nothing but a villain!” He gains speed and although he’s made of stone his steps seem to be getting lighter and lighter. “I’m going to stop you!” As more sparks fly, he doesn’t even feel the ground anymore, he’s practically gliding. “Why?!” The sparks grow increasingly sporadic as the stone-cyclops flies through the air and delivers a SMASH that’s out of this world! “BECAUSE THAT’S WHAT A HERO DOES!!”
As his glowing fist connects with Vilgax’s skull, a chain of electrical explosions ring out throughout the arena as dozens of Megawatts zip across the air like confetti.
Shaken but not stirred, Vilgax summons his Infernal Sword and takes a swing at the alien’s side. It lands, but the blade doesn’t seem to be sharp enough to break crystal, instead it ends up swatting the stone alien away.
The aliened Izuku is sent spiraling through the air before re-balancing himself in midair, albeit wobbly. “W-woah! He-hey! I’m n-not used to this yet.” After a moment of wobbling in the air he regains himself and prepares to fight back.
A few of the Megawatts zip past to observe the floating stone man. To which, the stone-cyclops asks them, “How are you guys so good at this?”
He has no time to get distracted, however, because this time, instead of beams, Vilgax launched a Turbulent Exhale at him.
Knowing what this’ll entail, the transformed Izuku is more than prepared to fly up and away, allowing the whirlwind to completely miss his person. He even grabs the nearby Megawatts, protecting them from the blast. “You’re gonna have to try harder than that!!” The crystal-guardian shouts back as the Megawatts zip away to cause more chaos.
“Such courage. Tell me,” His tentacles coil at his sides like they were winding up. “Where were you hiding this fire?” His tentacles unwind so fast they’re a blur and as they wipeout they strike the ground and unleash a cloud of dust right into the air. With his tentacles disturbing the air and with a quick Turbulent Exhale Vilgax expands his smokescreen across the entire arena.
The flying alien bats away at the smokescreen but it’s no use, it’s too thick and it’s already begun to mix in with the smoke; making it extremely hard to see through.
He can’t see Vilgax. He can’t see his friends. He can’t even see his own hand right in front of his face. The only source of light are the sparks of electricity coming from the Megawatts but they’re too sporadic and random to count on. But maybe this’ll work in his favor. If he can't see Vilgax then…Vilgax can’t see him!
Oh, how right he is. But oh so wrong. Chimes. He can hear them. 8 different chimes, 8 different tones, are ringing through the arena from scattered directions. Some of the chimes shift directions and tone; some picking up tempo while others decelerate as if trying to calm the tension. But there’s one chime, coming from the air, ringing like a bell.
Vilgax can hear his prey’s heartbeat.
Through the darkness a tentacle lashes upward and latches onto the stone-cyclops’ leg. And before the alien can realize what’s happening his body is pulled down to the ground so hard that it shakes.
WHAM!!! Down into the ground he goes, sparks of electricity fly as Megabytes are knocked right out of the panels.
Quickly, with the tentacle gone he shoves himself to the side, hoping Vilgax will strike again and miss.
Through the smoke, Vilgax hears it again. That bell tolling, shifting away to the left. This time, summoning his Infernal Sword as a hammer he swings the black-inked weapon, seemingly blindly, through the smoke when WHAM he’s struck gold.
And the poor stone-cyclops is launched across the arena, his body bounces hard off the ground, like a stone skipping over water before he crashes into the opposite wall with another explosion of electricity.
“Ugh…” His eye is spinning, he couldn’t make heads or tails of anything. “H-how…? How did you…?”
“Were you not paying attention, youngling?” As the smoke finally begins to dissipate, Vilgax makes his presence known as he begins to slowly march towards his downed quarry. “I told you, those Nomus each had 3 Quirks. And yet…I have only shown you so many.”
“SIX!!!” The transformed Izuku realizes; his mind begins racing as he counts them all off in his head. “There’s Omega Beams Turbulent Exhale, Bio-Fist, Ziegel Shield, Inflame, and Infernal sword. There’s 3 missing! But what are they? Well, your seventh must be night vision. No. The smoke was too thick. Maybe smell? No, the smoke would have blocked that too. Then you must have been using sound. Yes, your seventh Quirk is sound related, a radar sense!”
Vilgax is surprisingly not perturbed by the lad’s muttering but instead he congratulates him on coming to such a near precise answer in such a short time. “Not radar. I sense what no living being can live out.”
The crystal-guardian’s heart, or whatever he has for one, is racing. It’s beating hard against his chest as he tries desperately to put this puzzle together. But with beat after beat after beat of his heart is the nail driven home. “My heartbeat… You can hear my heartbeat! You have-!”
“A Heartbeat Sense.” Vilgax seems almost elated that the boy figured it out. “Not the most offensive Quirk but one that I believe serves a purpose. After all, to hear the chimes of fear in their hearts undoubtedly brings a smile to my face.”
“You're a menace.” With a groan the crystal-guardian rises and shakes off his recent beating. “I’m going to stop you! This time, I’m going to teach you a lesson!!”
With a burst of speed, the crystal-guardian races forward to deliver another rainbow-powered punch.
However, it is him who gets socked in the gut by a shell-encrusted Bio-Fist. With his arm powered by Inflame, the stone-cyclops stands no chance before he’s sent right back where he started: in the wall.
“No, it is you that must be taught!” Vilgax roars as his opponent tumbles out from the him sized crater in the wall. “I see now that you have learned nothing from our previous battle. Therefore it is my responsibility to teach you another lesson. In humility and defeat.” His arms become a pair of monstrosities as Infernal Sword mixes with Bio-fist to create a true horror of nature and the supernatural.
“That’s where you’re wrong, Vilgax.” The crystal-guardian bravely wobbles to his feet. And catching his breath he looks that monster right in the eye and states. “I did learn something in our fight.” Slowly he reaches his hand up, not to the sky, not to Vilgax, but over his chest, right above the Omnitrix.
Realization hits Vilgax just as the stone-cyclops’ revelation hits his ears. “And that’s how to piss you off!!”
In a dazzle of green the crystal-guardian’s entire body shifts and re-morphs as Izuku undergoes a mid-transformation. And then with a bang a mighty and unique voice roars out. “Lemme tell ya somethin, Vilgax The Mad Titan! The Grand Destroyer! And the Conqueror of Worlds! Rath doesn’t care about your fancy-pansy titles!” With a menacing glare, the mighty Rath stands his ground while holding up his shining claw to the light. So bright and sheer is his claw that Vilgax can see his own raging reflection on it. “But Rath does care about a proper education! However! The only lesson Rath cares about is the lesson Rath is gonna give you in serious buttwhooping!! RAWR!!!”
With a roar Rath leaps across the arena and charges headfirst at the enemy.
With his fists already mutated Vilgax makes a strike on the incoming beast. “I am a titan, you dull creature!! And I will not be bullied by some-”
As Vilgax’s overcharged swing is about to strike, Rath throws himself up and spins around the incoming death punch. His claw digs into the inky fist to allow him enough leverage to rotate himself around and pounce back up at Vilgax’s face.
Grabbing the titan by the back of the head he shoves his knee right into the monster’s skull with such force that the giant falls like a redwood.
Rath doesn’t stop there even before the titan’s body hits the ground he’s wailing into his with one fist after the other. “Is that all you got! Huh?! Is that all you got?!”
“Get off of you flea-bitten vermin!!” Vilgax roars from underneath Rath’s fists.
Rath stops mid punch in response. “Who you callin’ vermin?” He pauses to think of a good comeback. “…Vermin!!” Nailed it.
Unfortunately, his hesitation was his mistake as Vilgax gets a claw around The Appoplexian’s ankle.
“Uh, oh.”
“You still have not learned?” Vilgax rises once again while holding Rath upside down by the ankle. “I’ve studied all your moves!” With a swing he slams Rath into the ground and what results are more sparks of scattering Megawatts. “All your techniques and abilities.” Again, he picks him up and swings him the other way and again more sparks. “Even your newest form can’t save you.” Frustrated Vilgax tosses the feline away like he was something vile and dirty.
With a growl, Rath picks himself up before spitting some red spit to the side. Wiping his maw he lets out a most vindictive growl.
“But please if you have anything else new to show me then I welcome it.”
“Alright, but remember, you asked for it!”
Pounding the Omnitrix, Rath triggers another mid-transformation. And although he feels his stamina draining the new surge of power taking over him is exhilarating. It’s magnetic. His body expands past what it is. His fur and hair fall away for gritty stone and dirt. His core feels ignited yet whole, controlled, and even.
As the dazzle of jade vanishes it is revealed that a golem of clay and earth has taken over Izuku’s entire being.
And although he himself requested as much Vilgax was certainly not expecting the lad to have access to a Galilean. Even the Plumbers and heroes are surprised to see Izuku pull out another new alien! And a Galilean at that! Even Patelliday, the oldest and most long running Plumber here has only ever crossed paths with a Galilean once. But those walking-living-planets of an alien are unmistakable.
“How is this possible?!” Vilgax sputters, utterly shocked by the development. “This shouldn’t be! How have you gained access to even more power?!”
The transformed Izuku doesn’t respond instead, stretching his hand a band of pink conjures up around his wrist. This band is see-through and laced with a strange pink-ish energy. And with a flex of the being’s fingers, Vilgax finds his entire body bound and heavy, but yet he’s not touching the ground, instead he’s pulled further and further away from it as if Gravity itself is attacking him.
The alienized Izuku gives a smile so wide and big it can stretch across a planet. Because it does. Because that’s what he is. A living, walking planet. Standing just shy of Humungousour’s shoulders it’s a being made of crust and rock, with a wide smile, and large wide hands that could mold the very earth.
“That’s your problem, Vilgax. You like to talk all big and mighty but at the end of the day, you’re beneath us.” Using both hands, the Galilean manipulates the gravity to pull Vilgax down, down into and he means into the grrroouuunnndddd. Down, down, down. He goes, through the panels, through the floor, through every level of this god-forsaken ship. It’s like the ground itself has swallowed the titan whole, as even he, like all beings, can never escape gravity’s hold.
Silence, as the golem releases his hold, silence follows. There’s no chaos. No alarms. No signs of a threat or danger. Vilgax has been put down.
And so, with the danger gone and with his stamina drained, the Omnitrix resets and Izuku is turned back into his normal human self with another dazzle of green lights.
There Izuku stands, tall and at the edge of the sinkhole. A group of Megawatts hover around him and the hole, observing both in awe and wonderment. But Izuku’s face remains stern yet his eyes are ablaze with new life as the Omnitrix glows at his side. Slick and new, gone is its old black-and-white design. Gone is the bulk and weight but instead replaced with a sleek design of green and black that perfectly matches Izuku’s black-and-green zero-suit.
It was as if upon its return both he and the Omnitrix underwent a recalibration.
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“Restart! Restart the programs!” Psyphon is in a panic, shouting and screaming he tries to reign in any semblance of control as each and every Bioid are rushing to minimize the already growing damage. “Come on youruseless sacks of tin and scrap! Why can’t any of you follow the simplest of orders?!”
One of the nearby Bioids speaks up from its station. ^Sir, the Power Core is experiencing an unprecedented power surge! And it’s spreading across the entire ship. The power output is far too much then what the power grid was built to handle.^
“Quickly then! We have to release the express power!”
^We can’t sir.^
“Why not? Are we not the masters of this ship?! Is your programming defective?! No! So when I say discharge the excess power to the shields you do it!”
^That’s not the issue sir. The issue is that we have no sway over the excess power, it’s like it has a mind of its own.^
“It WHAT!?!”
Suddenly the control council beside Psyphon bursts with sparks of electricity as a pair of tiny beings pop out. “HAHAHAHAHAHAbzz!!”
“No… NOOOOO!!!” Psyphon cries out in agony.
Across the bridge monitors and computers are bursting apart in brilliant shows of electricity. And with every burst more and more chattering Megawatts zip across the room; causing even more chaos as Bioids are blown apart by their antics.
“Nosedinians?! How did they get aboard?! Get away! Get away! Shoo you statically-charged pests! Be gone!” But it’s no use, they just keep on coming and now that they’ve gone through most of the control panels the Megawatts have turned their attention onto the scrambling Bioids.
Psyphon falls against the controls and despairs at the scene; there is no hope for his survival now. “My Master will be most displeased with me…”
A robotic hand reaches past him and begins to type away at the still somewhat functioning controls.
Peering up Psyphon is taken back to find a Bioid casually standing there and working at the controls while it’s totally unalarmed by all the chaos,
“What are you doing??”
The Bioid snorts, “There’s like no point in being subtle anymore. So, I figured it’s fine if we turned communications back on. Seriously, it’s killing me that I’m not getting any gossip.”
“Too true. Yes!” Psyphon straightens, reaching up to the smallest glimmer of hope. “Shut down the signal jammer if we can reinstate communications then we might have a chance at salvaging the situation!”
“Exactly!”
“Yes! I will single handedly restore order upon the Chimeran Hammer and when I do then my Master will surely reward me.”
The Bioid stops, shifting in place awkwardly like it has a guilty conscience. “Oh, aw, shsss, oh man I think we’re both on the opposite spectrums here.”
Psyphon raises an eyebrow at the robot. “What do you mean?”
*WHAM!!!*
And Psyphon goes down as the Bioid reels back its oozing brick-shaped fist. The brick of a fist re-molds itself as the rest of the Bioid’s body eases into a mud-like texture. “Hahaha *snort!* hahaha!” Lucy Mann in her Leopterrain form takes the stage with a candid smile and go-get em attitude. “Aw finally! I needed a stretch!” Stretching her arms up she spins around and starts strolling for the exit.
Casually walking by, she watches on as the swarm of Megawatts continue to cause havoc on the Bioids and controls.
“Good work fellas! You’re the true MVPs!”
“HAHAHAHAHAHAbzz!!”
Lucy gives them all a wave as if she were strutting across a showroom.
However, her exit will not be so elegant.
“Where do you think you’re going?!”
“Oh?” She stops and throws back a cocky smile. “That didn’t knock you out?”
“Of course not!” Psyphon rages. “I’m much more durable than I appear.”
“But you sure are oblivious.”
“You conniving no-good shadow. I’ll make you pay for making a fool out of me!”
“Are you sure you want to do this? I mean…come on.”
“Oh, y-y-yes.” A cruel grin stretches across Psyphon’s onyx lips. “I would like to do this very much.” His limbs bleed red as his skin across his arms open apart like compartments revealing an array of oversized blasters and rocket launchers that should have no right fitting into such small confinements. Either way it’s both an impressive and terrifying collection of weaponry that are all aimed at her. “You should have left when you had the chance.”
Lucy only has a second to react before Psyphon opens fire and blows apart the bridge even more so than the Megawatts!
“MWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!”
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The entire Plus Ultra rumbles and lets out a whale-like moan as blaster fire pounds away at its weakening shell.
Magister Nezu may have led them to thinning the herd sort of speak when it comes to the once massive swarm of vulture droids. But their numbers are dwindling into pathetic proportions making their assaults feel more like annoying gnats than attacking wasps.
However it’s their mother ship that they still need to worry about; Malware’s frankensteined battlecruiser is unrelenting. Again and again, it assaults the Plus Ultra with a barrage of laser fire. And again, and again even with their best evasive actions they cannot keep ahead of the devastating onslaught.
“Quickly! Focus all firepower on disabling his engines!!” Magister Nezu exclaims from atop his post.
“Right! Yes, sir!” Vlad King roars and open fires, his monitor blinking red in rapid succession as he fires continuously at the enemy.
Magister Nezu then directs his attention to Cementoss. “What is the status of our shields?!”
Cementoss gray skin turns sickly. “Shields holding but sir they’re only at 28% integrity!”
“No, good. Xylene, my dear, we may need you to provide additional support for us. Do you think you can fight off our pursuer?”
Xylene frowns, realistically one strike and her ship will go down but it’s not like they have many other options. “My ship is smaller and faster, he’ll have a flarking hard time shooting me down.”
“Then prepare yourself for-”
^Mr. Principal Nezu! Mr. Principal Nezu!^ Glad-One suddenly interrupts, his entire body is shaking with excitement as he rotates around in his lockport. ^Something spectacular is happening!^
^Everything is dying.^ deadpans Sad-One.
Principal Nezu snaps around to look past the bridge, past the windows, and through the void until it lands on a scene that should be considered utterly fantastical.
The Chimeran Hammer, a grand vessel that charters the infamous tyrant through the stars has become a symbol of power, fear, and impending doom. And yet this grand magnificent spaceship is in shambles.
The once mighty maw of this ship has long since fallen thanks to their friend’s earlier efforts but now it seems like entire lightning storms are occurring all across the ship all at once. The ship is totally ravaged, even its engines appear to be disabled causing the ship to begin to drift and be pulled by the moon’s gravity.
Power Loader looks owlishly at the sight. “The ship…it’s…”
“Sinking?” Vlad King can’t believe his eyes. “What did it hit an iceberg?”
“No, it was sabotaged.” Xylene remarks before spinning around onto Nezu. “We must act quickly!”
“We must!” Magister Nezu full-heartedly agrees. “Quickly, One-One we must reestablish communications! We must find out where our heroes are at once!”
As One-One prepares to reestablish their links, Xylene quickly makes to leave the bridge. “I’ll prepare my ship for launch! They may require an escort for their escape!”
“I’ll come too.” Recovery Girl tries her best to hurry behind her. “No doubt there will be those injured among them. Such poor dearies.”
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“WAAAAAHHHHH!!! Idon’twannadie! Idon’twannadie! IDON’TWANNADIEEEE!!!” Pinky is in a total panic mood; sweat and tears streaming down her face while her heart rate beats so fast she swears it’s thumping against her chest. Sprinting so fast it could win her gold, she blazes through the ship’s hallways. Lights, exposed cables, and circuitry light up all around her as a chorus of high-pitched laughter echoes across the ship.
Cosmo is right on her tail, galloping close behind with her tongue hanging out and flapping around this way and that.
“Slow down!! Where’s the fire?!” Kraab begs as he clings on for dear life to Gran Torino’s cape.
With the Hoverboard set to autopilot the device has been able to keep pace with Pinky even with an unconscious passenger aboard.
As the ship continues to rattle and release bursts of lightning and bangs, Gran Torino begins to stir. “Eh… Where…? What…?”
“YOU’RE ALIVE!!!” Pinky doesn’t stop running even as she pulls a Midoriya and unleashes springs of tears from her eyes.
Kraab scuttles up the cape until he’s perched atop the elder’s forehead. “Oh, good you didn’t croak. Had us worried there for a minute old man.”
Moaning and feeling groggy, Gran Torino weakly asks. “Where’s…Girly? …Toshinori?”
“Uraraka! She’s fine!” Pinky unnecessarily shouts back. “She went ahead to help All Might and the others!”
“Uh… That crazy brat…does she have a death wish?”
Kraab shrugs, “Eh, probably.”
“Bark! Bark!” Something’s caught Cosmo’s eye from up ahead.
Pinky is brought to tears, again, when she spots the very hangar doors they left all that time ago. “Hang in there, Mr. Gran Torino, sir! We’re almost there!” They all speed up; racing as fast as they can towards the finish line. “It’s the home stretch!! Once we make it through those doors we’re safe! Come on! We’re almost-!!” They’re through, a bright comforting light washes over them, blanketing them and transporting them away into another world.
A world that has been thrown into chaos, its landscape scarred as a scarred by war, and even now a battle rages on.
Two armies collide, one of clones and the other of Bioids and alien prisoners. Both sides face casualties, as the clones shoot down the incoming droids they are left exposed to attack by the smaller prisoners such as the gremlin-like Critters that scurry up and chomp down on the poor unexpecting clones; tearing them to pieces in the process.
Although mountains of drones stain the ground, it seems that the escaped prisoners such as the Flaxans, the Borg, and a few Utrom have finally ravaged their way here. Biting tooth and nail they each desperately try to break through the hero’s line but a powerful and sonic powered “NOOOOOOOOO!!!” from Present Mic holds them back.
But so too do the drones try their hand at breaking the line. In a flash, however, and with a chorus of sickening cracks the swarm of Hover Drones that were once surrounded a poised Midnight fall away to pieces under her dazzling dexterity with their gifted electrical-whip.
Meanwhile the youngest of the hangar defenders is seemingly the worst off. Red Riot is forced to hold his ground as a pack of vanta-black Space Gorillas sink their teeth into his rock Hard skin from all sides. Red Riot takes the unrelenting swarm of fangs like a total champ, they don’t hurt but they sure are strong enough to hold him back. He’s got this!
But then the large Triceraton prisoner stampedes forward, smashing through the defenseless Bioids in its way before it plows right through the Space Gorillas and into Red Riot!
Pinned between its three horns the Hardened lad is taken for a ride as the humanoid-Triceratops continues its rampage.
Pinky and the others pause at the door. Standing there with goofy expressions as they watch the mayhem unfold.
“Oops~!” Pinky singsongs while bumping herself on the head like she made an oopsie. “It seems we made a wrong turn somewhere. Shall we head back and retrace our steps?”
“WE DIDN’T MAKE A WRONG TURN!!!” Kraab all but screams!
Even while pinned against a trio of horns, Red Riot picks up on all the shouting. “Woah! Is that Ashido?! BLEH!!!” With an earth-shaking BAM the Tricteraon slams Red Riot right into the opposite wall. “Grrr!” Kirishima tries to shove the dino-alien away but to no avail. “Give us a hand! These…ETs are trying to jack our ride home!!”
It takes Pinky and Kraab a moment, but they can confirm it; the aliens are gunning for the Razor Crest and Rustbucket, respectively.
They get close, just barely scraping the frame with their claws before one of the heroes forces them back. But it’s clearly a losing battle because with each attempt the prisoners inch closer and closer to freedom.
Realizing that they need help Pinky grabs the Hoverboard and after making sure that its passenger won’t fall off she races in to help.
So perhaps she should start by helping Red Riot who still can’t seem to shake off this dinosaurian brute. “Ragh! Back off, will ya!”
“I will crush you like a pebble, human!” roars the Triceraton. “May your remains be grounded into dust in the name of the Triceraton Empire!” He then increases the pressure and crushes Red Riot’s body further into the reinforced wall.
Red Riot is barely holding on when suddenly all that weight and strength is gone, pulled away in an instant and allowing him some much-needed breathing room. Only for his breath to escape once again when he spots the Triceraton dangling helpless in midair, looking scared and panics while flailing helplessly as if a giant invisible hand has plucked the dino by the tail like it were a doll.
Or rather like a chew toy as the air vibrates around Cosmo’s head the Triceraton is flung across the hangar and out of sight. The only sign they get of its landing is the cacophony of muscle crashing into scrap metal in the distance.
Kirishima can’t believe his eyes, did that mutt just… He stares at the dog who plops down before him, looking expectantly at him.
“Um, good…dog?”
“Woof!” Pleased, her tail wags happily with gratitude.
Meanwhile, with the pros too busy with other drones and prisoners a Gromflomite prisoner tries his shot to sneak aboard the RazorCrest but his plans are foiled by the one and only Pinky.
“Acid shot!!”
The prisoner leaps back in horror as a spray of Acid nearly melts his face off.
Pinky slides in his way and holds her hands out threateningly. “Stand back unless you want to have your skin melted off!!”
The Gromflomite seems hesitant, however, he’s soon joined by the Boglodite and Thanagarian prisoners. And now it’s Mina who’s nervous. The three imposing humanoid males smirk with cruel intent as they crack their knuckles and prepare to punish this little girl.
However, Midnight jumps in for the rescue, brandishing soft and fluffy fan Midnight perfumes the trio with her Quirk, Somnambulist. The purple fumes do their work and put the trio of male aliens to bed.
“It doesn't matter if they’re an alien or a man~! They all fall the same to my wilds!” Standing proud and eloquently looks back and offers Mina a wink.
Pinky is at first stunned but then the water works begin to emerge again as he leaps at the teacher. “Ms. Midnight!” Mina clings tightly to Midnight’s waist and tears as she’s overtaken by the sheer amount of relief and security that she hasn’t felt in so long now.
“Oh, sweet thing.” Midnight doesn’t push her away but instead embraces her, patting her fluffy head gently as she tries to sooth the trembling girl. “You’re alright, you made it. You’re safe.”
“Um.” Present Mic slides overlooking mighty serious. “I hate to play into the stereotype that the media reports nothing but bad news buuuuut…we’re not safe yet!”
It may be bad news but it is the truth. They’re surrounded; it seems that the drones, bots, and prisoners have come to a sort-of temporary alliance and have surrounded them and their rides. Leaving the heroes to circle up with their backs towards the RazorCrest and Rustbucket while drawing an imaginary line in the sand before this hotpot of an army.
And the commander of this makeshift army watches from high above near the rafters of the hangar.
SevenSeven remains ignited with fire, keeping him securely hovering in midair, and allowing him to observe the ensuing chaos in moderate safety,
The heroes are putting up a valiant effort, but it’s useless. Even though their numbers are dwindling they still outnumber these heroes 10 to one. Plus, the heroes are already exhausted from their earlier clashes, no doubt they cannot endure this onslaught for long.
Which means he can just sit back and watch as the rabble take themselves out. Talk about the perfect job, let the bounty collect themselves. Easy-peasy. Just sit back and relax… or he would if it weren’t for the fact that the hangar’s walls and lights keep sparking with random busts of electricity. The ship keeps making strange noises too like it’s slowly collapsing in on its own weight.
“Hnet gaani…” Then again maybe he should hightail it out of here. If he blows up with the ship then there’s no him to collect the bounty. Nope. Can’t have that. “Shti ojb nit’a orhtw het verotmei.” Quickly he rockets away from the battle.
“Utb hnet gaani…” Suddenly he comes to a stop and turns back to observe the battle. Then again he does have to consider that he’s been struggling with these humans this entire time.
“Hety’ev eenb a aipn ni hsi sas rof 7 onthsm won!” No way is he gonna let that slide!
His arm shifts into that of a cannon.
It’s about time he made them pay and he’s not leaving until he’s drawn blood!
And so, cocking his arm-cannon he takes aim down at the heroes, with his internal guiding system his crosshairs quickly scope onto Midnight’s skull. “Woh botua ew lilk ehr fof ealyr?”
From below a trail of violet spikes zip upward and pierce his jetpack with such force that they burst into a violent eruption.
“FTW!?!” Screaming, SevenSeven plummets. He’s racing to the ground too fast so he’s desperate to regain control, but his jetpack’s lost all function and control! He’s going to crash!
But instead of being flattened, his fall is cushioned by a firm mattress-like platform. Strange considering that a moment a ago it was not there. But before he can really process it the platform springs up and launches him to the side.
“Hatw het lehl?!” Thrown off his balance and game SevenSeven is left exposed to the mercy of others as a hand speeds in, grabs him by the belt and zooms him away in the opposite direction.
“You should be ashamed, villain!!” Ingenium’s roars over his twin Engines. “A sneak attack from behind is incredibly disgraceful!!”
“Uoy pohycrtei!!” SevenSeven wails, he struggles to regain any semblance of balance or control but it's no use.
“Red Riot!!” Ingenium calls out to Kirishima. “TOGETHER!!!”
As Iida shifts directions towards him, Kirishima quickly braces himself with Hardening by crossing his arms up in front. “I’m ready! Do it Class Rep!!”
With Ingenium speeding up the two cry out in unison. “Combo Move: RED-DUTCH RIDE!!!”
With the speed of an unstoppable force carrying him right into an immovable object, SevenSeven is flattened against the Hardened wall in brutal fashion. His gear and armor shatters upon impact, leaving his armor cracked as bits of his gear snap off. And with Iida letting go at the last moment and with how hard he struck Red Riot, SevenSeven’s body fling away where he lands hard across the laser scorched ground where his body crumbles like a bug that’s gone belly up.
After witnessing their unlikely commander taken out in such a brutal and swift manner the remaining prisoners halt their assault to now direct their attention at the newcomers.
Ingenium speeds back around to the hangar entrance where he slides to a stop beside Creati, who has her Zircon Blade poised for battle, and Snipe who’s armed with a six-shooter and Needler. Meanwhile, both Blukic and Driba stand upon his hat and try their best to look intimidating.
The alien prisoners all prepare themselves for a two-front battle, however, there may be no need for that,
“Attention all unearthly beings from the stars!” Ingenium starts, calling all attention to himself. “Thank you for your time! But I must insist that you all leave immediately!!”
They all stare blankly at him from the aliens to the remaining drones, and even his own friends.
Creati, however, sees his vision. “Listen to us! This is only one of seven hangars there are just ahead along with an assortment of escape pods!”
“Yes!” Ingenium picks back up, arms karate chopping the air. “Leave now and I promise that you will all escape unharmed.”
“But if you must insist on fighting…” Both of their demeanors change as Creati’s blade extends to that of a katana and as Ingenium raises his cracked yet still sturdy Omni-shield. “Then you must be ready to face the consequences.”
At first it seems that the escapees won’t heed their warning. But after a moment or two they eventually relent. It starts off slow with the two tall Irkens fearfully slinking around the heroes before they scurry away to another hangar. Others soon follow and pretty soon they all make their leave with some even picking up their unconscious comrades on the way out such as the Boglodite and Thanagarian. Although a large robot-alien sprints away towards the open hangar bay doors where he leaps out and transforms into a jet fighter that quickly speeds away into the void of space.
As the transformer sprints by SevenSeven regains enough consciousness to know that if he were to escape now it would be his first and only opportunity. Spotting a vent in the floor, he decides it’ll be his best option for survival. And so dragging his crumbled body across the floor he tears the vent away with his claws before sliding head first into the unknown.
Soon all of the enemy aliens have all cleared out leaving nothing but a miniscule number of droids behind.
Said droids and bots seem unsure of what to do now with their commander and reinforcements gone but a few shots from Snipe and Ectoplasm quickly take care of them.
“Is…that all of them?” Kirishima is almost too nervous to ask, after all they’ve been clashing with these guys since they landed, it feels unreal that they’re just…done.
But a quick nod from Midnight confirms it. “That’s all.”
“Augh…!” Both Kirishima and Mina fall to their knees and bums respectively.
Kirishima tries to pull on his collar to cool himself a bit. “I thought they’d keep coming till forever.”
“Ohhh, I’m so glad it’s over…” Mina grumbles.
“Ashido. Kirishima.” Iida pulls off his helmet so that he can offer them each a relieved smile. “I’m so glad to see that you’re both alright.”
Momo nods in agreement as she too walks up beside him.
“I’ll say,” Present Mic leans over the two with his arms slung over Iida’s and Momo's shoulders. “I heard your rocking concert all the way from here! That was way epic, yo!!”
Driba shivers at the memory. “Epic is not the word I would use.”
“Yes it is.” interjects Blukic.
“No, it’s- oh nevermind! This gag is getting old.”
…“No, it’s not.”
“RAAAAGH!!!”
As the kids get reacquainted, Snipe takes a moment to check in on his fellow pros. “I apologize that we couldn’t bring the cavalry sooner. We had to face some challenging…complications.”
“We managed on our own for a while.” Ectoplasm reassures.
“Yes, but barely.” Midnight admits with an exhausted grimace. “In the end there, we might have had to seriously consider surrendering the hangar.”
“Ah, no way!!” Kirishima slaps a hand to his flexing bicep. “We rocked this! We were never gonna let those punks take an inch from us!!”
A raspy yet well humored chuckle can be heard from atop the floating hoverboard. “Beaten and bruised yet still full of drive…oh how I admire youth…” Gran Torino wheezes but he smiles on in appreciation of the moment.
Ectoplasm leans over the elder and begins to look him over. “How are you feeling?”
“Like I got tossed around in a royal rumble, but I’ll manage.”
“I’ll say.” comments Kraab. “You don’t go down easy, do ya?”
“Hehe, that I don’t.”
Present Mic slides in front of Ectoplasm, his eyes locked onto the little drone perched beside Gran Torino’s head. “Yo, look! It looks like we missed one!!”
“Wait!!” Both Mina and Momo cry out. “He’s friendly!”
“He is?!/I am?!”
Momo reaches the cyborg first; she leans down in order to speak to him at eye level. “Kraab, I had no clue you were aboard.”
“You and everyone else it seems. Geez thanks guys I’m really feeling the love here.”
Mina blinks up at Momo. “Wait, Yaoyomo, you know Kraab too?”
“Yes, he assisted me and Awase and Kurorio in contacting the police when the League attacked the camp.” Gosh that feels so long ago now but it’s only been a few days since…
“You were there?” Midnight eyes the bot skeptically.
Kraab throws her a look of his own. “Hey now what’s with that look? Didn’t you hear the kid? I saved all their asses back there! You should be praising my efforts, ya know! Heck, I wasn’t even getting paid out of this. So, you’re welcome.”
“Paid? Why would someone pay you?”
Kraab smartly shuts up, figuring it’s best not to mention to a group of heroes that’s technically a gun for hire.
“Hang on, something’s not right here.” Snipe silences them all with just his tone alone. They each tense up, fearing that perhaps he’s noticed something that could potentially threaten their lives.
“Where’d the stray come from?”
With their eyes as wide as owls they all crank their heads down at the sweet pooch that’s been happily scampering around them. Like she was extremely excited to be surrounded by a hoard of new human friends.
“Woof! Woof!”
Mina sweat drops as she tries to answer the teacher. “I…I’m not really sure actually. She was with Ochaco when I ran into her. So, I just assumed she was friendly. But she’s a good girl~. Aren’t you~?” Mina gushes in the end, squeezing Cosmo’s fuzzy face between her hands.
“Woof!” Cosmo happily licks her arms in a show of affection.
Although the puppy is cute, Midnight stays focused on the real concern here. “Ashido, why did they send you back on your own? No way Eraserhead would have allowed this.”
“He didn’t! I was with Ochaco!” She explains.
“Uraraka?” Kirishima picks up and frantically looks around for her. “Wait, is she here?” If she is, he can't seem to spot her. “Where is she now?”
Mina shrinks under all their gazes, but she’ll try her best to explain. “About that…”
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‘Is this the other side?’ It’s colder than he imagined. Smaller too, like he’s in a cell. Instead of stone he’s surrounded by distorted metal and instead of the screams of the damned he hears nothing but the rumblings of a sinking ship.
Sunder awakens with a painful moan; his skin is charred and he’s half-sure that he has several broken bones across his body. His vision is blackened but that must be due to the lack of light then any real issues with his vision. He appears to be trapped inside one of the prison cells with the doorway blocked by rubble and his own busted glider. And despite being in total darkness, he looks around for his main weapon of choice only to recall that those humans pinched it off of him.
Groaning as he gets up, he examines the wall of rubble before locating a point that shifts the most under his hand, and then with all his weight leaning against it the entire blockage collapses away.
Down the rubble goes falling three stories to the ground where it mixes with the fallen carcasses of once imposing Dominators.
Thankfully the balcony is still intact, mostly, so he can hobble his way down to the ground level without too many issues. Although part of the railing snapped off its posts and he nearly took a three-story tumble.
Observing his surroundings, it seems that not one prisoner was left behind since each cell is bare and empty. The prison seems so barren yet haunting all at once with the corpses of fallen drones and Dominators littering the entire scene.
The rumbling in the distance continues as does the odd stray sparks of electricity that seem to zip past through the walls and cables on occasion.
“Ugh…h-h…help.”
Sunder stops just short of the exit; freezing in place he quickly scans his surroundings. A red dot, a little blinking red dot is illuminating oh so weakly against the frame of the giant doorway.
Approaching cautiously, he finds his combat partner beaten, broken, and left for dead at the base of the doorway.
Rojo looks worse for wear, like she was trampled by a stampede of bulls. Her armor is cracked and broken; her weaponry busted with only the blinking light of a scope still working.
She’s barely holding onto consciousness as she slowly, desperately, reaches out to him. “H-h-help…me.”
He stares at her, not in contemplation, but in disgust like she was diseased. Instead, he marches on making a point to give her a wide berth.
Although they’re meters apart, Rojo’s hand follows him in silent prayer that he’ll show her just the littlest of sympathy. But her prayers fall upon deaf ears and blind eyes as Sunder unceremoniously leaves her behind without so much as a sideways glance.
“You… rotten…bastard. You…bastard!!” She wails, using the last ounces of her energy to curse him. “I hope you rot in hell!!”
She knows it's in vain, he’s not coming back, nobody’s coming back. Not her allies. Not her handler. And certainly not the heroes.
And as darkness begins to seep in her last thoughts are of how they've all left her behind, to rot in this god forsaken hellhole.
Just as her consciousness is about to fade out she spots a shadow, a large imposing shadow leaning over her. Assuming it’s a prisoner back for revenge her consciousness slips away.
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There Izuku Midoriya stands tall and at the edge of the sinkhole, he shows no fear with his feet just inches from the black pit he himself created. A group of Megawatts hover around him and the hole, observing both in awe and wonderment at just how far deep he sent that tyrannical maniac.
And Izuku couldn’t be more satisfied with himself and this outcome, staring deep into the abyss he throws one last declaration. “Lesson over.” … … … ‘Oh gosh was that a cool enough line?! I hope it was cool. Oh no! Maybe I should have just kept my mouth shut! Would that have been better?! Oh man did I ruin the moment-?!’
“DEKU!!!” A pair of arms throws themselves into sides so hard that he nearly slips into the hole.
“Uraraka?!”
“You’re okay!” She’s weeping, tears and snot smearing her face as she bubbles with such relief and joy. “I was so worried! I thought-I was-I thought you were-… I’m so glad, you’re okay…!”
“Uraraka…”
“Izuku!!” Ochaco’s not the only one who’s been brought to tears, Hisashi is proving to be just as much as a crier as his wife and child. “Izuku!! My boy!!”
Hearing his call Izuku’s eyes widen with recognition. Ochaco too comes to a realization and lets him go as they both run towards the weeping father.
Hisashi weeps tears of joy as he runs to embrace his son with open arms.
Only for said son to run right past him and over to a one-armed Toshinori who’s being helped up to his feet by Tsukauchi. “All Might! I’m so sorry! Are you okay?! Can you stand?!”
Hisashi is brought to tears once again but this time it’s for more somber reasons.
“Young Midoriya…don’t you worry about me.” Toshinori tries his best to assure the boy. “Believe it or not I’m feeling lighter than I have for a while.”
Izuku frowns, he certainly doesn’t understand, nor does he believe him after all he’s missing an arm…
But it’s true, Toshinori feels far lighter and more uplifted than he has in a long time. It’s like he’s finally shed a weight of guilt off his shoulders. But more than that watching this boy-this young man take it upon himself to rise up to unimaginable odds has been such an inspiration. ‘Amazing… Young Midoriya…you’re simply amazing.’ He coughs, spitting up blood as he wheezes for breath.
He nearly stumbles but thankfully his good friend, Tsukauchi, is there to catch him. “I got you, Toshi.”
“Tsukauchi…you came.” Toshinori peers up at them all with such gratitude and pride. “You all did. Thank you.”
Patelliday tips an imaginary hat at the former Symbol of Peace. “No, need for that. Service to others is what it’s all about. Not that I need to ask you, you know all about that. Don’t ya?”
That he does.
“Hey are you all ignoring his arm!!” Tsukauchi snaps, he hovers a hand over Toshinori’s stump of an arm that’s still sealed within the portable med-pack. “We have to get him out of here before his condition worsens!”
“He’ll be okay.” Hisashi assures. “Those beams cauterize the wound and the med-pack’s already sealed and disinfected the wound. But unfortunately, it can’t replace what’s been…lost.” The technology does exist but it can be a long and even dangerous process, and with Toshinori’s condition as it is it may result in some severe consequences. “I’m sorry. We couldn’t… weren’t… fast enough.”
Toshinori looks towards where his left arm would be, and honestly it concerns him more that he isn’t that concerned about missing a limb as he is. “It’s not a huge loss… I’ll learn to cope with it.” Honestly, in a way, it’s like he’s paid for his sins to the boy and what he’s done. Like he’s done his due.
“A-All Might…” With tears still staining her face, Ochaco approaches, and she really wants to hug him but she’s hesitating, fearing that if she did that he'll snap like a twig.
“Young Uraraka…” With her head hanging so low Toshinori can’t help but place his one hand on her head. “You are so brave. The bravest young woman I’ve ever met.” He looks upon his student with such pride and joy. “You came so far. Fought so hard. Faced terrors…I never even knew existed. But…You. Did. It.” He affirms by looking her straight in the eye. “You made it. You’re here. You did it.”
And with the confirmation of her mission complete, Ochaco breaks down letting the water works flow openly as her mentor embraces her in a comforting hug.
Izuku steps back, allowing them their moment. Which opens him up for Tetrax to greet him. “It’s good to have you back, kid.”
“Tetrax?!” Izuku lights up. “It’s been so long! H-how a-are you…?” He awkwardly lets the question die realizing that it’s not exactly the best time to ask.
Tetrax however takes it in good faith. “Believe it or not, I’ve never been better.” He peers over to the massive pit that the boy left behind. “It looks like I was right about you. You became a real warrior while I was away.”
Izuku smiles at the compliment.
“You’re all giving this problem child too much credit…”
“Mr. Aizawa!?!” Izuku jumps in freight, he doesn’t even need to look to know that his homeroom teacher is pissed. Even so he manages a sheepish smile in an attempt to redirect the conversation. “Hehe… So, I’m guessing this explains a lot…huh?”
If looks could kill. “If you think this will placate me then you are mistaken.” Shota Aizawa hasn’t even activated his Quirk, but his eyes are practically glowing red with simmering anger. He even confirms as much. “In fact I’m livid. You were keeping information locked away that was not only important to your development but to the safety of you and your classmates. It was irresponsible and reckless of you to instigate an alien villain.”
Izuku shrinks back at the underground hero’s words; he knows that he’s right. He of course had his reasons but even so he cannot deny how much of a headache these secrets have been. For him, his mentors, and friends…
However, the relief of not only finding but rescuing his student after everything brings Aizawa more relief and gratification then the boy will ever know. “That being said, I’m glad you pulled through.”
Izuku’s head snaps up in response.
“You’ve clearly taken all your lessons to heart. And managed to beat the villain all on your own. And although your technique needs work I think we can move forward from here. Good job.”
“Mr. Aizawa…” Izuku’s so happy it almost brings tears to his eyes. “Thank you, sir!”
Eraserhead simply nods back before addressing Izuku’s, well, dresswear. “Now, care to explain the new…look?”
Izuku shivers in place more out of embarrassment than the cold. The zero-suit he’s been given keeps all external temperatures out like the cold and heat. So all-in-all he’s actually fairly comfortable albeit he could do without the black and green-lined suit being so form fitting.
Sensing his discomfort Ochaco quickly recalls the item currently wrapped around her waist. “Here.” She offers him back his own green hoodie. “I found this…lying around.”
“T-thanks!” Putting the hoodie back on feels so familiar and so right Izuku can perfectly ignore that weird smell coming off of it. He’s just so happy to have it back, his watch back, and to be back with those that care about him. “Really, Uraraka, thank you. For everything.”
“Hey,” She smiles and shrugs. “It’s what heroes do.”
He smiles at that.
*BEEP. BEEP. BEEP.*
Startled by the sudden foreign beeping, everyone jumps only to realize that the noise is coming from Izuku’s wrist.
Reeling his wrist up Izuku stops to both examine and admire the Omnitrix. Gone is its bulky and more classic design, remade into a newer sleeker design. The brace is a fraction of the size it was before, and instead of the frame being black and white it is now a primary green with black trims and a silver faceplate. But yet it is still the same Omnitrix, it still feels like the part of him that was ripped away. Even the hourglass faceplate is still the same as it was before.
But its appearance is not what startled Izuku initially but instead it was the robotic version of his own voice emanating from the device that spooked him.
*Recalibration: Complete.*
*Optimization: Complete.*
*Data Recovery: Complete.*
*DNA Stabilization: Complete.*
*DNA Acquisition: Complete.*
*Status: Nine DNA Samples Acquired.*
Everyone is stunned, especially Izuku who raises up his wrist and leans forward, hesitantly to whisper to the Omnitrix like it were alive. “O-Omnitrix…is…are you…?”
He waits for a response, any response, but the watch remains as silent as the inanimate object it would seem.
Unsure and wanting to confirm everything is truly operational as it should be, Izuku gives the faceplate a slight squeeze. And like it had always done the dial pops up but unlike before instead of showing each alien’s vague silhouette across the faceplate itself, it shows a hologram of the crystal-guardian projects out from the faceplate itself.
“Woah!!” Izuku jumps back as the little holograms pop into view. Looking at the small yet detailed hologram he notes that it’s entirely complete display of the crystal-guardian Izuku was before, although obviously not as big. The hologram is only as tall as his hand, completely green in color but transparent thanks to the nature of the hologram, and the way it’s standing makes it look like it’s standing atop the Omnitrix’s dial like a platform. Kinda like those All Might figurines he used to have on display.
Curious, turning the dial counterclockwise the holograms changes into Humungousaur, turning it again the next alien it shows is Shocksquatch, then Upgrade, Ghostfreak, and so on.
Turning the dial back the other way, he comes back to the crystal-guardian and upon doing so Izuku pauses to consider a certain detail. “9 new DNA samples?”
Curiosity gets the better of him and it appears that it’s gotten to everyone else too. They all watch very closely as Izuku turns the dial clockwise. What they see is exactly what was stated: 9 new aliens! After the crystal-guardian they see a slender cat-man, followed by more aliens Izuku can’t even recognize.
Wanting to double check, turning past the living-planet Izuku is delighted to see Feedback, XLR8, and the others still in the Omnitrix’s lineup.
“I don’t recognize any of these guys.” He states while turning back to the living-planet alien.
“That one there’s a Galilean.” says Patelliday. “They’re peaceful folk but I recommend never riling them up. They’re known to manipulate Gravity so trust me you don’t want to ever shake one of them up.”
Ochaco’s in awe it’s an alien with a similar, but admittedly more powerful, version of her own Zero-Gravity. “Cool! We match now!”
Izuku chuckles at that. “Yeah, I guess we do. Now just what do I call this guy?”
“He attacks with Gravity, right? Sooo, how about Gravattack?!” She likes it, it kinda works like how she came up with her own hero name.
“Gravattack?” As Izuku considers the name he fiddles with the dial enough to shift the hologram back to the stone-cyclops again. “And this one?”
Hisashi finally rejoins the group, leaning in, he squints at the hologram. “I…have no idea. I’ve never seen an alien like this one. How ‘bout you Patelliday?”
“I got nothing, sorry.” Patelliday shrugs. “I’m as lost as a minnow in a sewer drain.”
Hisashi addresses the only other one that may have an idea, “Hey, Tetrax, do you by chance recognize this alien?”
Tetrax seems hesitant, he keeps eyeing the alien like it’s something familiar but yet so unfamiliar in his mind; like there are pieces of this puzzle missing and he has no idea what the image should even be. “S-sorry, but I’m at a loss…”
“Hmmm.” Examining the alien Izuku considers the alien’s properties: it can absorb energy and redirect it as a beam of colorful proportions and yet it’s a being of stone and crystal. “Chromastone.” He breathes, letting the name roll off his tongue. “Gravattack and Chromastone. Heh, now that sounds like a franchise.”
Cutting into the moment, sparks and Megawatts go flying as a burst of electricity shatters a section of the arena wall.
^Wo-bp. Blo-bzz!^ Chopper wheels over beeping frantically.
“The droid’s right.” Tetrax reaffirms. “We’ve wasted enough time. We better escape before this whole ship takes us down with it.”
Using Tsukauchi for support, Toshinori gives Tetrax the go ahead. “Alright then, lead the way, friend.”
Collecting back the S.A.G.E. Gun, Eraserhead makes a point to all out some concerns. “It’s going to be impossible for us to move quickly. Not with these injuries.” They’re all bruised, battered, exhausted, and in various levels of injuries. Moving quickly or efficiently is going to be near impossible for most of them.
But judging by the look of elation on the problem child’s face he knows that he’s in for a work around.
“Maybe I can help with that.” Grinning, Izuku gives the Omnitrix’s dial another turn.
As they prepare for their escape, they ignore the pit just feet away. A pit for the damned they fail to realize the slow yet inevitable awakening of the demon down below.
As a red gaze pierces through the darkness the chiming of bells rings in the demon’s ears.
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In space, nobody can hear you scream. But they can hear your ship blowing up as the Plus Ultra takes damage to its haul.
“Direct hit!!” Cementoss screams. “Shields down to 15%!”
“And they’re barely holding at that!” exclaims Power Loader as he desperately tries to reroute power to wherever it’s needed.
“Everyone brace yourselves! We must endure!!” Magister Nezu presses them while simultaneously working with One-One in reestablishing communications. “One-One have you made contact with any of our teams as of yet?!”
One-One spins around in his control pad so fast he’s spinning. ^Nothing as of yet Mr. Magister Nezu! But afraid not we shall find them!^
^No we won’t.^ comments the ever-pessimistic Sad-One. ^It’s too late.^
Suddenly, Glad-One lets out a sharp gasp. ^We have something!^
^Focusing on that signal and punching it through now. But I wouldn’t get my hopes up.^
For a minute there it feels like Sad-One was right, they shouldn’t get their hopes up, there’s nothing but static. But then something starts to break through.[“Pr-......are you-….Can…Principal Nezu…! Can you…hear me? Are you there?”]
“We have contact!” everyone aboard the Plus Ultra cheers.
Even Nezu is swept up in the celebration. “Yes, Ms. Midnight. It appears thanks to everyone’s efforts we have communications back. But please we’ve been in the dark for too long. What are your current statues?”
Midnight gets right on it and reports on everything so far. [“As of now we have both my team, Snipe’s team, plus Ashido and Gran Torino reconverged back at the hangar.”] From her side of the com they can hear barking and someone shouting that they better not forget “him” again. Midnight is soon back on the com to correct herself. [“We also have a few extra…strays. In any case, we have yet to see any signs of Cinder’s or Thirteen’s groups.”]
Magister Nezu looks to One-One who immediately understands that they better begin working to change that fact.
With Midnight’s side of the report finished, Snipe decided to clue Nezu in on his side of things. [“On the plus side, we managed to take out their Ideon Cannon and then some.]
[“But we also picked up some injuries along the way,”] Interrupts Ectoplasm. [“Gran Torino in particular, he’s stable but he’s going to need medical attention.”]
“Understood.” Magister Nezu affirms. “We are preparing a ship now that shall provide you cover during your escape. However, we must time this correctly. You will have to launch the moment Thirteen, Cinder, and Lucy Mann arrive.”
Cementoss frowns with worry. “The only issue we have now is finding out where they are exactly.”
Thankfully it seems that One-One’s work is paying off as Thirteen’s coms start calling in. [“...Are…hey…Are my ears ringing? Or are you all talking about me?”]
“Thirteen!” Everyone from the hangar to the Plus Ultra exclaim.
[“Stop shouting into my ear!”] Bakugou barks through the com set. [“You're all too damn annoying!!”]
[“Bakugou! You’re alive!”] Iida exclaims.
[“I thought you blew up with the ship!”] screams Mina.
[“What did I just say?! Damnit!!”]
Kirishima grins. [“Yeah, he’s fine.”]
Nezu is grinning too. “Thirteen we can see the ship undergoing the effects of the Megawatt Bomb. What is your current status and location? Are you approaching the evacuation point?”
[“We’re making our way over now!”] answers Thirteen. [“But we’re still too far out, we’re practically on the other side of the ship.”] The ship moans in pain and shifts again. [“Sir, I don't think we’re gonna make it in time. We’re gonna have to jettison outta here in an escape pod. And if we do-”]
Nezu understands. “You will need cover and a pickup. We’ll have Xylene see to you.”
[“Excellent!”]
“Now if we can only make contact with Ms. Mann on the control bridge?”
Once again, One-One has worked his magic. ^Mr. Magister Nezu we found Ms. Lucy Mann!!^
“Oh, how timely! Please, put her through!”
^You’re in.^
“Ms. Mann! Might I say it's a delight to have you back in the fold. Quickly, we have much to discuss.”
[“Er, ah, AH!! What?! Oh, hey fam! Um, WOAH!!”] There’s a loud explosion from her end followed by the tell-tale ringing of blaster fire. [“Um, look. I’m a bit-”] Another explosion rocks the entire communication link. [“busy at the moment. So, I’m gonna have to call you back if that’s alright? Aaah!!”] They can hear missiles zooming through the air while someone laughs maniacally in the background.
And despite the concern Nezu has to press on. “There’s no time for that. Most of our forces have already retreated to the evacuation point. But we have had little to no contact with Cinder’s group.”
[“I’m not surprised. They went after Vilgax, and from what I heard last Uravity was making her way over to help with the-AAAHHH!!!] Another explosion.[“Look I really gotta go but I promise I’ll find my own way out. This is Purplestuff signing off!]
However it seems that Lucy hung up too soon as it seems that many of them have questions. [“She what?!”]
Momo is especially worried. [“Ochaco ran off on her own? Why would she do that?”]
[“It’s like I said earlier!”] Mina explains again. [“Ochaco insisted that the only way for us to win was to get the Omnitrix back to Midoriya! So, she ran off to do so!”]
That leaves only one question and leave it to Shoto to ask. [“Then…did she make it in time?”]
That’s the million-dollar question and unfortunately not one of them wants to even consider the worst outcomes. But considering that there’s been no answer, they may have to assume the worst.
But then everyone of their earpieces begins to ring with static and buzzing until a familiar voice calls in. [“Oh, she made it alright. And just in the nick of time!”]
Everyone lights up at the Plumber’s voice, with Thirteen especially feeling relieved. [“Senpai! Oh, you have no idea how much a relief it is to hear your voice.”]
[“Same, Thirteen, same.”] Cinder responds.
[“Mr. Midoriya!”] Iida suddenly screams into the mic much to Bakugou’s chagrin. [“What about everyone else?! What about our classmates?!”]
[“Are they alright?”] inquires Momo.
[“Did you win?!”] asks Kirishima.
[“Did those chumps bite it?”] Bakugou asks with a little too much tack.
They all expect Cinder or at least one of their friends to answer, but instead this unfamiliar guy with a fast-talking Aussie accent responds instead. [“Crickey! Ya don’t seriously think we’d go down that easy, did ya? No wuckas, fellas. We’re no drongos.”]
Nobody knows what to make of any of that. Not only does this guy not make any sense but they don’t even know him!
[“Um, who was that?]
[“Did someone hack or line?!”]
[“No, wait, I think that’s…”] Getting excited, Iida quickly asks for confirmation. [“M-Midoriya, is that perchance you?!”]
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“Good on ya, mate! You hit the nail on the bloody head, ya did. But please, call me,” The transformed Izuku pauses for effect even though it does nothing but make the sound of rushing wind be heard across the com-sets. “Fasttrack!!”
Even while at semi-full speed Fasttrack is living up to his name. A blue speedster just like XLR8 he’s a tall and slender catman with spiky blue fur and a just as spiky attitude. His facial features and body shape is more of a walking cheetah if anything with blue fur. From his cheeks to his eyes and up past his ears his dark fur stands on end kinda like a domino mask with sharp fins. The look kinda reminds the catman a bit of Bakugou’s own hero mask. Meanwhile, his suit is perfectly suited for speed being so skintight yet flexible, his claws are razor-sharp to the point they can claw away bark, and his tail being so long and thin as it is, whips behind him like a rope. All in all, Fasttrack is built for one thing and that is speed.
‘He’s alive!’ His classmates and friends are so happy that they don’t even care about the lame jokes or confusing slang!
[“It’s about fucking time you nerd!!”] Bakugou may sound harsh but Izuku knows that he’s smiling. [“Things were getting boring without ya.”]
“I bet!! But it’s great to be back on the saddle!!” Fasttrack continues to sprint through the halls as he presses a finger down on the com-set he was lent. “But enough abou me. Tell us, what’s the John Dory?”
“Ignore him.” A hand reaches down and takes Fasttrack’s claw off the com-set. “He’s just overly excited.” states Eraserhead as he hovers over Fasttrack’s head.
[“Mr. Aizawa! Are you all alright?”] asks Momo.
But instead of their teacher, Ochaco takes a turn to answer. “Hey guys! We’re all here! And we’re okay!”
[“Ochaco!”] Mina is almost brought to tears again just from hearing Ochaco’s voice. [“Oh, I’m so happy you’re alive!”]
However the next one to join the call brings such a radiating hope to them all they all can’t help but weep. “Yes, we’re all alive.” Toshinori speaks. “We’re all alive. And we’re all gonna make it out of here. Why? “Because we are here!!”
His confidence shakes them to their core, literally, as he shouts he accidentally throws off their entire floating balance. As it stands he, Cinder, Ochaco, Eraserhead, Patelliday, Tetrax, Tsukauchi, and Chopper are all clinging together while simultaneously floating in the air thanks to Uravity’s Quirk. And by using Eraserhead’s scarf as reigns they’re all tied down to Fasttrack who’s carrying them away and through the halls at an amazing speed.
But calling it fantastic is far too much for Tetrax who is certainly not used to being bounced around like this. “Would you please slow down! Wo-woah! I’m finding this too crammed!”
“Well this is certainly no carousel ride but it’s certainly effective!” comments Patelliday.
“Ow!” Ochaco yelps. “Hey! Chopper, watch your motors! They hurt!”
^Wa-wa!^
“Toshinori make sure to hang on tight!” insists Tsukauchi who hovers closely to his friend and to his missing arm.
“I’m fine, just enjoying the ride.”
Shushing them all, Cinder gets back on the call. “We’re all still alive and kicking, Nezu. Now, what have you worked out?”
They all quickly catch him and the others up about their missions’ successes and mishaps. But most importantly that they’re all mostly waiting for their arrival before they jettison out of there.
“It sounds like you’ve all had quite the adventure.” Cinder comments as he clings to the scarf as Fasttrack speeds through several turns and jumps over rubble. “But don’t be afraid, with this last race we’ll be drawing this adventure to a close!”
[“But what about Vilgax?”] Nezu inquires. [“Did you manage to stop his tyrannical takeover?”]
Grinning, Fasttrack goes ahead and answers quickly. [“We had a blue with the bloke. But he's gonna hafta call an ambo to save his sorry arse.”]
Cinder rolls his eyes, he can almost hear everyone giving each other confused looks. “Vilgax is down. And although we weren’t able to apprehend him we are making our escape. And we’re making good progress, so I anticipate us making it back to the Rustbucket in a few minutes.”
Suddenly, spotting a hazard up ahead, Tsukauchi yells out. “Look out!!”
Fasttrack digs his heels in as his batch of floating friends hold on to his shoulders and the scarf for dear life. But thankfully they all slide to a stop just feet away from a section of piping that collapses down from the ceiling in a burst of flames and rubble. Electricity dances off the pipes and rubble before vanishing but more rubble and shrapnel slides down from the gaping hole in the ceiling, effectively blocking their way.
Seeing this and after taking note that more explosive bursts of electricity can be heard in the distance Cinder gets back on the com-set to correct himself. “Never mind. It’s going to take us a lot longer than I first thought.”
As Fasttrack tries to rotate them around he pauses when his ears begin to twitch and pick up on a faraway hum. “Hm? Say do any of ya hear that? Sounds like moozie’s flying around.”
“Hm?” They all quiet down and try to listen, but they don’t hear a thing.
Worried that they’ve stopped talking, those back at the hangar try to get them back. [“Hey guys.”] asks Mina. [“What’s going on?”]
[“Are you all, okay, do you need help?!”] asks Present Mic.
“Shhh!” Ochaco shushes them over the call. “Give us a second, guys.”
Eraserhead joins in, whispering. “Midoriya’s picking up on something.”
They all settle down once again and listen closely.
Fasttrack’s ears remain perked, but they keep shifting this direction and that, like they’re searching out the source itself or rather like his ears are following it as it makes all sorts of impossible directions.
Concerned, Toshinori leans in and does his best not to interrupt his focus. “Young Midoriya…what are you hearing?”
“That.”
They hear it now, a slight hum, a burning hum that grows louder and louder. It’s getting closer and fast, and as it does they keep their eyes on the hallway they just ran through for anything. That's when they see the end of the corridor begin to illuminate red with something burning approaching quickly from the other end.
It only takes a millisecond for Fasttrack to realize what it is. “Tetrax!!”
Having realized the threat at the same time, the floating Tetrax embeds his fist into the nearby wall. Immediately he generates his own wall of crystals between them and the burning red glow racing towards them. And thankfully he manages to shield them all without a second to spare as a pair of burning Omega Beams crash and deflect away against the crystal barricade.
“Was that-?!” Ochaco begins but is cut off by the sound of metal benign ripped apart and bashed in.
Suddenly from the other end of the hall, a rampaging hulk of an alien with green skin and tentacles pouring down his face crashes down through the end of the hallway while roaring out in a thunderous rage. “Did you think I was finished?!”
Frozen in shock and fear, Cinder gives a gulp before making one last call. “Um, hey, things just went from bad…to worse.”
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He’s a rat. A nasty, dirty rat. And he knows it. He knows it and to some degree he’s proud of that. He’s always been a street rat at heart. And right now, he’s a rat on a sinking ship and he’s going to bail.
That’s why Nue’s is making his way to the outer edges of the ship verses inwards where he knows Vilgax, his current commander, is located. He hasn’t called in, hasn’t confirmed anything about his mission. Nothing.
What would he even say? Would he tell the alien warlord that he lost to a grade school punk and that he allowed that same punk to blow up the warlord’s own ship. “Fat chance. Nope. We’re getting out of here. Unless you have any better ideas, Red?”
The weight on his shoulder begins to fall, Rojo’s unconscious body hangs there unmoving and breathing slowly.
“Yeah, I thought so too.” Shifting his shoulder, Nue readjusts her before continuing through the sparking corridors. “This place is cooked. No point in sticking around now. My only gripe is that I didn’t snatch up some of those awesome tech-weapons. Oh, well, I guess…” Then again Red here looks like she’s wearing some high-tech shit as armor so maybe he can at least get some cash for it even if it is broken. But still it would be nice to go back to the League with something to show for all his time and effort here.
As he approaches the next corridor he spots the smallest hints of movement, stopping Nue freezes in place as does the rabbit he’s spotted. No, not a rabbit, but a rabbit-like droid, the LED Droid to be specific.
It freezes in place looking much like a deer in headlights would do. Frozen in fear before this mutant of a behemoth, it clutches onto the data-drive with all its life. But it seems the droid doesn't feel like sticking around for a conversation as it tries to duck away and flee the scene.
But in a blink of an eye, it gets snatched up in Nue’s vice-like hand. “Where you going little guy?”
The droid whistles and beeps at him in a panic as it desperately begs him to let it go.
Noticing the device clutched in its robotic hands Nue can’t help but be curious. “What ya got there?” Using his lower pair of arms, he takes the device from the droids.
The LED Droid is too terrified to do anything, so it goes quiet, too hesitant to answer but after giving it a “light” shake it spills all the tea in a series of whistles and beeps.
“Sooo, you were supposed to deliver this to Psyphon, huh? But because the ship started
blowing up you got lost.” Sounds like he’s bailing out at just the right time then. But why? What’s on it?”
The little droid explains that it honestly has no idea and that it doesn’t ask questions of its master, which in this case was Ragnarok who gave it its mission in the first place.
“So, Ragnarok was downloading…something and he gave this to you to deliver to Psyphon.”
The droid nods.
“So, we can assume that whatever’s on here is important. Or maybe even…valuable?”
The droid nods, hesitantly.
“Sweet.” With a quick pink of his pincers Nue crushes the droid and tosses it while never taking his eyes off his new prize. “Maybe I’m not leaving as empty handed as I thought. A little insurance if you will. Hehehe.” Pocketing the data drive he sets off once again for an escape. “Come on, Red. We can’t lay around here forever.”
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Things have certainly gone from bad to worse, Vilgax is like a hurricane smashing through the rubble, sparks, and heat of the hallway with reckless and uncaring abandon.
“Uraraka!!” Cinder shouts.
“Release!!”
Upon Zero-Gravity breaking the squad of heroes land and take defensive positions with Cinder leading the way. “Quickly! Take him out!!”
They each prepare their various weapons, but their efforts prove useless as Vilgax plows right through them with a speeding train. “I’LL DESTROY YOU ALL!!!”
As they’re all thrashed aside, Bakugou of all people starts shouting in their ears for confirmation. [“Hey, Deku! Uraraka! Anybody! What’s going on?! What’s happening?!”]
Having been thrown to the ground, Fasttrack takes a second to answer with a press to a com-set. “We’re in a real bind here, that we are!”
He sure is as Vilgax’s tentacles wrap around Fasttrack’s entire frame before ripping him off the ground and swinging him against the wall’s bulkheads. “AHHH!!!”
[“Deku?! Deku?! DEKU!!!”]
“Did you think you could escape my reach?! Did you think you could just run away with my prize?!”
“Um…yeah.”
“Grr.” Vilgax’s tentacles squeeze against Fasttrack’s frame, any harder and he’ll be crushing his bones. “You thought wrong.”
With everyone having been thrown across the hallway so hard and far, Uravity is the only one anywhere near the two. In fact she was thrown just off to their side and right underneath Vilgax’s hoisted bicep. She panics and looks to the others for help but they are either too far or too injured to move quickly. It’s up to her.
Fighting through her own pain and exhaustion she rises up as One For All begins to course through her. That familiar surge of power quickly envelops all around her as an aura of pink giving her a new second wind of energy to fight on! And so with heart set on teaching this villain a lesson for hurting her friends she throws her fist forward with a mighty. “SMAAASH!!!”
However, when she expects a display of pink fireworks launching Vilgax through the wall instead the power of One For All…retreats? She can still feel it, in fact her aura remains but it feels like the power itself has…reeled itself back. So instead of an awesome show of destructive power her little fist bumps the side of Vilgax’s side without a hint of strength behind it.
Vilgax stops, his head slowly turning to glower at her and her defiance. “What’s the matter child? Too frightened to face me? Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha!”
While being helped up by Tsukauchi, Toshinori watches on and upon seeing her struggle he panics that not only is something may perchance be wrong but that his dear student is now up against the Grand Destroyer without any help!
Panicking, Uravity hits her fist against his side again and again but to no avail. “Oh, come on! Come on!” She’s doing everything right. She’s focused, allowing the power to flow. Even the aura around her frame is still present so why isn’t anything happening? She hits him one last time and even presses her fist into his side but…nothing.
“Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha!! Is that all Earth has to offer?! I never seen an attack so utterly-”
Suddenly, the power of One For All rushes forth and blasts Vilgax so hard that it’s like a warhead was set off.
“AAAAAHHHHH!?!/AAAHHH!!!” Both Vilgax and Uravity cry out in shock and pain.
For Vilgax, it’s having his side feels like it was just torn into by a rocket boosted bulldozer that sends him crashing right through, not one, not two, but three layers of iron walls, pipes, and circuitry.
And for Uraraka, it’s because of the sudden and agonizing pain rushing through her arm. It’s fully intact, not bruised or seemingly broken. However, it’s extremely painful, both numbing and stinging her nervous system. The aura around her arm even starts disrupting erratically like the power was glitching out. It’s all too painful so much so that she drops to her knees while cradling her glitching arm.
“Uraraka?” Fasttrack, after having been dropped by Vilgax, blinks in confusion, wondering what’s going on.
Ironically, it’s Toshinori who’s faster, after shoving past Tsukauchi, he rushes and falls at his student’s side.
“Young Uraraka!! What happened?! Are you hurt?! What-what…what happened?” He whispers as to not give away their shared secret.
Uravity’s not sure herself as the glitching pain finally subsides. “N-no. I-I think I’m g-good but…” One For All is acting differently… She’s not sure how but…it feels different? Something’s wrong and she has no idea why or what it is.
Groaning, Vilgax pries himself out of several layers of wall and pipe. He nearly stumbles but quickly composes himself like nothing ever occurred. However, something had, something devilishly revealing. He watches at how worriedly the former Champion of Earth hovers over a seemingly random and insignificant youngling. How she appears to trust him full heartedly. And that power, that grand power it’s-it’s-it’s- “His power…!! I found it. One For All. She has it.’ It’s almost laughable, so much so he’s almost tempted to show it. ‘What a foolish choice for a successor. I would have chosen a warrior far more impressive and with much more glorious feats than her. But perhaps his blunder is my salvation!’ With a roar Vilgax’s tentacles lash out like a tornado of vines at the poor unguarded duo.
“AHHH!!!”
“Yoink!” In a blink of an eye, Fasttrack swoops in and snatches the duo up before dashing them away to safety just as the tentacles pierce the floor and wall like sharp lances.
Angered, Vilgax prepares to chase them down when a wall of crystals gets in his way. Wall after wall, Tetrax sets several barriers in the way in an attempt to hold him off, even temporarily so.
“That’ll hold him.” he declares with full confidence.
However the sound of crystals shifting and metal being pries away proves him otherwise.
Tsukauchi even states as much. “You’re lying.” And he doesn’t even need his Quirk to confirm that.
Although Chopper fully agrees with him. ^Bz-oop!^
Uravity’s still put off by OFA’s earlier…resistance in favor of focusing on the problems before them. “Wh-...what do…we do?”
“We can’t do much.” Eraserhead admits while still having to be supported by the kind Patelliday while using his free hand to grip the S.A.G.E. Gun. “We’re all too injured, exhausted, nor strong enough to fight him off.”
Patelliday sees the pro’s points and agrees. “We’re running out of options!”
“No.” Stepping up Fasttrack puts Izuku’s strategic mind on full display. “We still got one option: we’re hitting the frog and toad!”
The others give the catman very confused looks.
Rolling his eyes, Fasttrack reclarifies. “We can still run away.”
They immediately shoot that idea down, however.
Cinder especially. “Izuku, you can. But we can’t. Even if Uraraka used her Zero-Gravity again we would only slow you down especially with the ship collapsing in on itself.” More sparks fly from some exposed wiring as if to prove his point.
“I know that but ya don’t understand. I’m running but so are ya.” Seeing their confused faces, he continues knowing that it’s not his accent that’s confusing them. “Look here, that bloke’s after me and the bloody Omnitrix. What he’s not after is a group of bludgers like you.”
After considering his words Tetrax has to admit the truth. “He’s right. Vilgax will prioritize the Omnitrix over any of us.”
Uravity doesn’t like the sound of this at all. “But what about Deku?! He can’t go on his own!! We just got him back! What if something goes wrong?!” She looks to their homeroom teacher to back up her points. “Mr. Aizawa, tell them!”
Stepping up, or at least as best as he physically can, Eraserhead addresses his student’s concerns directly. “You can’t beat him. Not alone anyway.”
Fasttrack’s face drops with disappointment
“But you can out speed him.”
He perks back up as Eraserhead continues.
“If you can just stay out of his grasp and retreat when the time is right then we’ll all be able to get away unscathed.”
Uravity doesn’t like this, this is not how she thought this discussion would go. “But-but what if-what if you-?”
By settling a hand on her shoulder, Fasttrack is able to calm her down and provide her some reassurance. “Hey, I’ll be fine. I promise. The moment I know ya’ll are safe I’ll turn into Big Chill and stroll on outta here.”
“That sounds good and all, but what about your time limit? Won’t he catch you then?!”
“I admit I thought that too but look at me. I’ve been Fasttrack for a good few minutes now and before that I was Chromastone, Rath, and Gravattack all without having to recharge. So, I think this new recalibro works differently than it used to.” Although he has no idea how different. For all he knows maybe the limit is just longer? He has no idea, but he’ll have to figure it out one way or another. “Either way, I have to do this. I’m the only one that can keep this bruiser distracted enough for ya’ll to scram.”
Not one of them seems to agree with this plan. As each of them air their concerns and why this plan is a terrible one, they only grow more panicked as the nearby wall of crystals begin to rattle and shake as the sound of metal and crystal being pried away grows closer. Which seems to only spur them to argue louder and more chaotically.
It’s only when the former Number One Hero steps in, do they all settle down. “Young Midoriya,” Wanting to approach the boy, Tsukauchi helps his dear friend to do so. Now standing before the lad, Toshinori looks towards the others and declares. “I believe in him. He can do this, we just need to have faith in his abilities. Like I do.”
Fasttrack can’t stop the smile from forming on his face. Hearing this, honestly, feels like a dream come true.
And it seems that the rest of them seem to have come to an agreement after considering that this is truly their only way out.
Eraserhead pats a fist to Fasttracks’ shoulder. “Don’t do anything reckless. You hear me or you’ll have to write me an essay about self-preservation when classes start back up.”
Fasttrack chuckles at that as Patelliday helps Eraserhead away.
Stepping forward Tetrax has a turn at addressing the lad. “The day I first met you I considered you to be the worst candidate to wield the Omnitrix. But I’m honored to say that my first impressions were wrong.” He holds his hand out and they both share a firm and respected handshake.
As Tetrax steps back, Chopper takes his place. Looking up at the much taller being, the little droid clearly has some nasty words to say. ^Wo-wop. Bz-pop! Wrr.^
But despite that, Fasttrack is just happy to see him. “Yeah, I love ya too man.”
Pausing, Chopper stares before quickly hugging Fasttracks’ legs before zipping away like it never happened.
The catman finds this all so amusing, but his smile softens as his own father steps before him.
It’s admittedly awkward, the two of them have never been the best at the whole touchy-feelings and embracing each other. They just finally really started to be comfortable around each other.
And yet this is still such a somber moment for Cinder. “I just got you back.”
Fasttrack understands the unspoken words. “And now you gotta let me go…”
Cinder chuckles weakly. “Ironic, isn’t it?”
“Yeah….
There’s not much else to say as the two embrace. For Hisashi it’s especially sobering, with how tall Fasttrack is it feels like he’s hugging a grown-up version of his kid. A kid he’s admittedly barely known due to his absence. And now it feels like he’s just admitted that his little boy has grown to be a man he can forever be proud of. “I love you, son.”
“I love you too, Dad.”
Pulling away Cinder looks upon his boy one last time and although this form is not truly him, his eyes are all his.
Finally, that only leaves Uravity left who’s still uncertain about all this.
He doesn’t rush her, ironically, he waits patiently for her to address him. And after a moment she finally gives in and asks. “You really got this?”
“I got this.” He holds out his fist to her.
She considers it but after a moment a soft smile breaks free from her and she lightly taps her fist against his. “You got this.”
That he does. “Now get going. Before I run ya outta here myself.”
Nodding she goes, helping Tsukauchi with Toshinori as the others lead the way down a different corridor; one that isn’t collapsed in or on fire.
Watching them go Fasttrack feels both lonely yet excited because for the first time in a long while he feels useful. He can help and that he’s not the one that needs saving but does the saving. And it’s a big moment for him. But it’s also important and a life threatening one: so much so that he better think of a plan quickly in keeping Vilgax’s attention on him.
“IZUKU MIDORIYA!!!” Vilgax tears and smashes his way through the crystal barricade, ripping it off its base while prying away the metal walls and floors to get through. “YOU ARE MINE!!!”
Fasttrack smirks “That’s the idea!” Fasttrack smirks before dashing around and past Vilgax in the opposite direction that his friends are going.
Vilgax takes the bait, his tentacles lashing out in pursuit of the speedster.
Nearly tripping over himself, Fasttrack nearly takes a tentacle or two to the face but after a moment he starts to get used to the rush. “Hahaha! You slowpoke! Is that all ya got?!”
He spoke too soon as one of the tentacles sweeps his legs and down the speedster goes rolling across the corridor headfirst. As his body hits the ground his fur pulses with blue jolts of energy, but the pulse dissipates quickly as he slides to a stop. “Oof… Oh man, ya do pack quite the wallop.”
“That I do.” Not caring to physically pursue the annoyance Vilgax retaliates with a pair of tracing Omega Beams!
Getting back up, Fasttrack speeds away down the hall where of course the Omega Beams follows. He turns the right corner, but they’re still there. He makes the next right corner. They turn again without losing any speed. He makes another right turn! They’re on his heels!! But as he makes his final right turn he ends up back into the same hallway just on the opposite end from where Vilgax is facing!
Dashing forward Fasttrack zips right behind Vilgax where he slides right between his legs and watches with a smirk as Vilgax is shot in the back by his own heat vision!!
“Ahh!!” This time it’s the titans turn to eat dirt while Fasttrack looks on smugly. “Like I said, ya do pack a wallop. Hahaha!”
“Enjoying this? Good. Please, I insist that you do. It’ll make your last moments so much more pitiful!” Rising back up the Grand Destroyer unleashes such a vortex with his Turbulent Exhale that it sweeps the entire corridor like a funnel!!
Not wanting to be blown away Fasttrack races off in an attempt to out speed the whirlwind. But he’s too slow as his tail followed by the rest of his body are swept away in the vortex.
“Woooaaah!!” The catman is helpless to do anything as he’s sent spinning across the rubble filled corridors. As he’s flung into the walls and as debris flies into him pulses of blue energy ripple across his fur. The pulses only grow more intense with every strike and ricochet of debris and his own body until he’s sent slamming into a dead-end where his entire body flares with one big pulse.
“Uhh. Okay, maybe I should have gone with XLR8 instead. He’s definitely faster, no way a breeze like that would have caught him.” Harsh to say but it’s the truth. “But this new bludger has got to have some kind of gimmick? There’s gotta be something to give me an edge!”
Hang on, his body, his fur, his…energy feels different. He feels like he’s somehow regaining some energy, some stamina. His fur feels pricklier and spikier than it had before. And there’s this strange hue of pulsating from the end of his rope-like tail. The very tip of it is sparking with this blue energy making his tail seem more like an ignited fuse than anything else.
“What’s this?” Raising a finger he gives the fluctuating energy a light poke. And much to his surprise the energy flicks his finger away so hard that his whole hand is thrown back. “Huh? What is this…?”
He tries to recall if he had done anything strange or different up till now. But all he can think of is how much of a beaten he’s been taking and how much he’s been thrown around and hitting everything…
“Hang on. Could that be the gimmick? Am I absorbing kinetic energy like a dingo devours a roo? That’s got to be it! The more I’m bunged on a blue the more rocked up I can be! Now there’s just one question? What can I do with it?” Eagerly, Fasttrack focuses his attention back at Vilgax who seems to be waiting for him to make a move. “Time to find out!!”
With a ZRRRRROOOOOMMMMM Fastrack dashes straight down the expansive corridor leaving a trail of blue light behind as he goes.
“Coming to face your doom head on. I congratulate you, Izuku Midoriya, the galaxy will know that you did not die a COWARD!!!” Instead of throwing up a Ziegel Shield, Vilgax sees this attack as an opportunity to deliver some real damage by using his Infernal Sword to create a mace so massive that it takes up most of the Fasttrack’s path leaving no room for the speedster to maneuver around.
Not that he can if he wanted to, he’s locked into such a beeline sprint that he can’t turn like he would as XLR8! But he doesn’t need to, he trusts himself to make it through this!! The end of his tail ignites like a fuse line as the sparks begin to travel down his tail.
“Vilgax!! You’re nothing but a bloody wanker! And I will not allow you to get in my way anymore!!” The sparks speed down his tail and as they reach his spine Fasttrack’s entire body ignites with kinetic energy that sends him bursting with so much speed that he breaks the sound barrier!! A sonic boom travels behind the ignited speedster as he delivers a “HOT ROD BLUE!!!”
Throwing his fist forward as he runs, Fasttrack’s fist collides and SMASHES through the Infernal Mace. By doing so it feels like he sent off a detonation as a Sonic Boom explodes from his fist with all of the collected kinetic power behind it!!
This blast of speed tears through the Infernal weapon like confetti before barreling down on an all too shocked Vilgax. But thanks to his Quirk taking the brunt force of the strike he himself manages to brace himself against the quick but violent sonic boom.
Even so he can do nothing but hold his ground as Fasttrack speeds past like a blur. Sliding to a stop far behind the villain, Fasttrack needs a moment to catch his breath and to reel back from the excitement. “Crickey! That was gnarly!! Hahaha!! Let’s go for round 2 then!!”
He excitedly zooms right back the way he came, fully intending on landing another Hot Rod Blue onto Vilgax directly this time!!
However, he’s not moving as fast as before. So much so, Vilgax has enough time to put up an actual golden shield this time.
And like a tennis ball to a racket, Fasttrack slams into the Ziegel Shield without moving it an inch. “Bloody hell?!”
“You insolent pest!!” Vilgax rages, thrusting the shield and thus Fasttrack away.
Not wanting to be caught prone on the ground, Fasttrack relies on his catlike reflexes to finally land on his feet and swiftly speed back a ways putting some distance between him and his enemy. “What was up with that whisky dick of a fight?! Don’t tell me I only got one round in me!!” Not that can’t be right. Checking the tip of his tail he finds that the collected fluctuating energy is gone. The stored up kinetic energy is gone! “What the hell?! I blew my load all in one go?!” That’s not good! It may be an effective technique but right now it’s also unreliable because ain’t no way he’s gonna allow Vilgax to thrash him around just so he can be strong enough to get one hit in. No sir!
Deciding that he was overzealous by getting into a fist fight right at the start anyway, Fasttrack spins around and tries to hightail it out of there.
Realizing that he’s fleeing, Vilgax smashes the ground with a combination of Bio-fist and Inflame making a ground smash so strong that every panel across the corridor breaks away under the force.
The resulting tremor tears apart the floor as if something underneath were chasing him! And it might as well be as Fasttrack tries to put the pedal to the metal! But the metal of the floor catches up to him first and before he knows it there isn’t even a floor to stand on anymore!
This would be fine; he’ll land onto the next level below…except there is no lower level. He’s forgotten one crucial fact, this is Vilgax’s ship. He knows it. It’s his domain. So, he’s far more aware of where things are and what’s waiting for them. And right now, that appears to be the ship’s expansive and vast inner workings.
And so down Fasttrack falls, swallowed up into the pitch-black darkness of the Chimeran Hammer’s bones.
To be continued…one last time.
Notes:
Like I said at the beginning of this chapter. This ending was not my original plan. But as you have already seen this chapter is a loooong one. But don’t worry, Part 2 will be posted tomorrow morning. Heck, maybe I’ll update it tonight if I can swing it! Otherwise, I can’t wait to hear from you all next time.
*RECALIBRATED OMNITRIX It finally happened. The Omnitrix has finally recalibrated. So, you can all stop asking me if it’s gonna happen!!
So, to be clear the Omnitrix no longer has a time limit but an energy limit much like Alien Force had. Injuries will remain to carry over between aliens to Izuku. And he can transform from one alien to the next but it’s not a pure Master Control. So, he can still revert back to human at the wrong times if he doesn’t manage his own stamina and transformations.
He also has all of the aliens he has collected up till now, which is why we had Rath appear just to help solidify that part, and yes I saw Deadpool and Wolverine right before being inspired to write that part. Actually, that movie might have also been an inspiration as to why Fasttrack now has an Aussie accent. In any case, Deku now he has an added set of 9 NEW ALIENS.
1: Chromastone
2: Fasttrack
3: ______
4: ______
5: ______
6: ______
7: ______
8: ______
9: GravattackAny guesses on what the other 6 might be?
TV TROPES LINK*: delete the spaces (_ ) within the URL below in order to get the full link.
https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Fanfic/HeroesNeverDieItsHeroTime
*S.A.G.E. GUN So, I briefly mentioned that I cut some things out for time. And one of those items was the S.A.G.E. Gun. I know I introduced a new function in the last chapter but with 9 new aliens to introduce, all the characters, the fights, etc. I decided to not incorporate the S.A.G.E. Gun for now. Plus, I’ve been so busy I haven’t had proper time to design new S.A.G.E. Gun forms for each alien.
In the meantime, check out the S.A.G.E. Bazooka by “Voidv25” on Deviant Art.
Link to Artwork: “SAGE-Bazookaby Voidv25” on Deviant Art
https://www.deviantart.com/voidv25/art/Sage-Bazooka-1084646652Link to Artwork: “SAGE-GUN by Voidv25” on Deviant Art
https://www.deviantart.com/voidv25/art/Deku-s-S-A-G-E-Gun-908079453*ONE FOR ALL I am well aware that people have issues with Ochaco having One For All. It was a combination of me trying to skip through other character’s development and taking shortcuts in an attempt to focus more on what I actually wanted to write: action, fights, aliens, etc.
But my hope is that after this chapter we can really begin to address those issues. As we kinda saw OFA act a bit strangely during this chapter. There are reasons for this, reasons I will delve into later on. But for now just know that she’s gonna have to really work or rather reign in OFA. And also, in case it wasn’t hinted to or suggested enough, Ochaco will no longer die from having OFA after this chapter as well. And yes the two events are related to each other. (Again, more details about them later).
Chapter 94: Recalibration Part II
Notes:
*It’s here. The finally. The climax. The finisher. Is. Finally. HEEERRREEE!!! I know that my scheduling was…off. Like way off. And I know I had to split the chapter in half. But this chapter is one of if not the LOOOOOONGEST chapter that I’ve ever created. But here it is. Where everything finally comes together. You’ve all been riding nothing but rollercoasters till now, but now you’re all gonna be strapped into a rocket ship and sent to the Moon!! Let’s get right to it!! We’re picking up EXACTLY where we left off yesterday.
Let’s get a going in: 3. 2. 1. BLAST OFF!!!
*We have a lot of artwork in this chapter so I will try my best to provide URLs. Worst case please visit this story on AO3 the links always work there.
**NEW ARTWORK** Everyone please make sure to thank Voidv25. They really came through to make not one but 3 pieces of artwork for these last 2 chapters. We saw the S.A.G.E. Bazooka last time (link at the end) and this time we’re gonna get two new pieces of artwork. And 1 in particular I am very excited about so keep an eye out for it. Everyone! You really need to check out their works: Voidv25 - Hobbyist, Digital Artist | DeviantArt
*TV TROPES LINK*: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Characters/HeroesNeverDieItsHeroTime
Chapter Text
Fasttrack tries to grab something, anything, but there’s nothing to grab onto! He’s falling way too fast, so much so he can only assume that there’s nothing but pitch-black darkness all around him. He falls for what feels like forever but in reality was only a few agonizing seconds before his back slams into something cold, slick, and more importantly solid.
Fasttrack hits the landing so hard he bounces and when he lands again, Izuku takes his place in a glow of jade light. “Ugh…” That hurt, he’s definitely gonna feel that in the morning. It knocked the wind right out of him too but at least it’s quiet. Maybe he lost him…? Or maybe he thinks he’s dead? Either would be a good outcome.
But maybe it’d be best not to lie around and let any of those come true. And so, picking himself up Izuku is surprised to find himself sitting atop a massive pipe-like structure. It’s so big that Cannonbolt would probably be able to perform some gnarly tricks if he were inside. Maybe this is a fuel line between the Engines and the Power Core or something? Which explains everything else: this place is like a jungle gym turned labyrinth. The entire place is so vast and wide yet so narrow and cramped all at once. Massive pipes like the one he’s on seem to stretch on forever until they vanish into the darkness. Cables leading to mysterious destinations swing and dangle within the void like vines. Some strange whirs and sounds of electricity buzzing can be heard somewhere in the darkness. And finally, there’s a stray fire here and there that seems to only illuminate their nearest facilities, but he can’t tell if they're that small or huge but small in perspective. It also doesn’t help that the ship itself keeps rumbling and shifting in direction, most likely from Bakugou’s earlier explosion.
“This place is truly hell…” Hopefully his friends are far enough away by now. Who knows, maybe he really did lose Vilgax?
*CRAAASH!!!* The entire pipe rumbles and shakes violently as something large and menacing lands upon it.
Never mind.
“Still running?! You know it’s useless, just give me the Omnitrix and I promise to tear your arms off as quickly as I can.”
Scrambling to his feet, Izuku backs away with the imposing villain. “Um, no thanks! I like the watch and my arm where they are. Attached to me!!”
Vilgax obviously has no remorse nor care as he summons his Infernal Sword to perform such a task! “RAGHHH!!!”
Scrambling away, Izuku slaps the Omnitrix without looking and transforms while jumping backwards and away from the incoming blade.
His glowing body spins backwards through the air, nimbler and faster than his normal human body would. And when he lands it’s not 1 pair but 3 pairs of limbs that touch the ground. His tail whips behind him joyfully while his throat releases a series of excited monkey-like chittering.
“SPIDERMONKEY!!!” Spidermonkey is revealed to the world, looking exactly as he broadcasted himself; a blue monkey with six limbs, six eyes, and a mean but somewhat playful disposition. “Yeah there was really no need to debate a name for this one, ook-aak!.”
Although it appears that his upper torso and face leans more towards the baboon-side of the family, but it still fits the theme.
“Why won’t you perish?!” Lifting his Infernal Blade Vilgax swings the mighty blade in an arch in an attempt to decapitate this chimp!
Spidermonkey proves to be far too acrobatic as he swiftly backflips away and out of danger, “Oo, that’s a swing and a miss, Ha-oo-oo!” He jeers while running across the expansive pipe.
“Raagh!!” Vilgax takes another swing but once again he misses as Spidermonkey leaps up and manages to grab onto one of the hanging cables.
“Eeek-aak, don’t feel bad. Practice makes perfect, oo-oo!”
“That it does.” Even Vilgax must admit that even though these powers have come somewhat naturally to him he is straining himself to use them. His use of them is not efficient or flowing, it’s like he’s straining muscles he’s never used before in order to even activate such power. “Even if my skills with these Quirks are lacking, can you say that you are not as ill-prepared? Do you really think you can escape my clutches with DNA you know nothing about?! Are you prepared to risk everything on-HMMM!!!”
A glob of webbing splatters across Vilgax’s face, mainly around his respirator and where his nose would be.
“Oh finally! I was getting tired of your lectures, oo-aa.”
Ripping off the webbing Vilgax lets his rage erupt! “ENOUGH!!!” His Bio-fists shift into that of twisted bone and spiked horns respectively, but his fists split apart with his tentacles creating a mess of gauging whips that all stampede across the darkness.
“I will have your head on a pike!!”
Spidermonkey swings away, using every cable and protruding pipe to his advantage to escape an unstoppable onslaught that rip and tear away at his previous platforms like nothing.
“Your body will be torn asunder!!”
Aiming his tail, he fires a string of webbing into the vast darkness, Spidermonkey is grateful when the line goes taught and he’s able to swing himself away before his entire body can be skewered by five of the spiked weapons.
“And I will personally drag your spirit to the bottom trenches of Sheol if I must!!”
“You’ll have to catch me first! Oo-aa-EEEK!!!” Spidermonkey screams as a pair of Omega Beams come blazing his way.
Frantically he swings and darts up and away the nearest pipe, running upside down as the Omega Beams quickly approach. He lets go and falls but of course the beams follow. But upon landing back on the milelong pipe again Spidermonkey sprawls against the cold metal as the Omega Beams quickly approaches from above. Thinking fast, he aims a web shot to the side with a pull he slingshots himself away at the last second, allowing the Omega Beams to burst against the pipe instead of into his skull.
“Ugh, boy.” Groping his neck, Spidermonkey tries to swallow his fear. He’s grateful that the resulting explosions threw up enough of a smokescreen to cover him for now. “Note to self, don’t antagonize the alien warlord.”
But then again that is what he signed up for. Checking his com-link there still seems to be no confirmation from his friends that they made it out safely. So here he stays. But Vilgax has a point, he’s relying too much on these new guys to help him hold his own. Is that really a smart idea? Probably not, but then again if Vilgax really knows his entire roster as well as he says he does then these Nine wild cards will have to be more than enough to throw him off. He just needs someone that’s a little wilder, a little more random, a little more powerful to throw him off.
“Well, I guess it’s time to let another rookie up to bat, eek-aa.” Flicking the Omnitrix with one of his extra hands Spidermonkey exploits just as quickly as he arrived only to be substituted in by one of Izuku’s other new aliens!
As he transforms Izuku takes note of how heavy and dense his body becomes and yet his center of mass feels so light and empty. That emptiness soon fills with what he can only describe as gas. “Woah, nelly. Ugh, oh, boy.” He groans while grabbing at his stomach. “It feels like my gut is rotting from the inside! Ugh, I feel so gassy.” An accurate description considering that instead of a stomach his lower torso is a glass-like vat revealing his insides to be nothing but a tank of unknown and probably smelly fumes. “So, um, hi there, um, Gutrot. Tell me new buddy, what exactly do you do? You a slugger or are ya a chump?” He waits for an answer, maybe from the Omnitrix, maybe from some omnipotent being, but it never comes. “Eh, go figure.”
As Gutrot wallows in self-pity Vilgax makes himself known as he emerges from the residing smoke.
“You waited for me? You have my gratitude.”
Staring up at the much taller alien, Gutrot’s overcome with such an overwhelming sense of dread, and he unintentionally releases streams of gas through the portholes all across his body. Basically, it’s his equivalent of wetting his pants.
“Uh, well, ya know, I am a gentleman.” As he quivers and shakes, the fumes he’s released begin to well-up across the vast darkness, filling it to the brim with clouds of purple gas.
“Another smokescreen? Have you forgotten? You cannot escape me as long as I possess Heartbeat Sense!!” Standing his ground, Vilgax’s gaze begins to glow red as he prepares for one final finishing move.
“I know that! That’s why it’s not a smokescreen, it's a cloud of chlorine trifluoride. Just don’t ask me how or why I know that. But what I do know is that his gas is highly-”
Vilgax gives him no time to finish as he unleashes another set of burning Omega Beams! Which instantly ignites the highly FLAMMABLE gas, causing an explosion that would make Bakugou either jealous or proud!
The resulting fireball swallows the two aliens up before cascading across the ships’ innerworkings like a chain reaction.
Speaking of reactions, Gutrot is screaming his head off as he’s blasted right off his feet and through a wall he didn’t even know was there! Landing hard against his back he’s so happy to find himself back in a new hallway that he almost passes gas…again. “Ugh, that was an explosive one. Oof-ugh!”
Winded and worn out from it all, Gutrot’s time runs short as he vanishes in a dazzle of green leaving Izuku to deal with the pain instead.
Sitting up Izuku checks up on the Omnitrix again and sees that it has not dialed to red yet again. “Why’d you time out now? Is it because of my own stamina or my health or what?”
There is of course no answer, but he’d like to pretend there was.
After being blasted off to who-knows-where he decides to quickly take in his surroundings. It then he realizes that the section of wall opposite from which he was forcibly entered is mostly glass allowing him to peer out into space. And although it is still a beautiful sight he’s more hung up on the fact that he was so incredibly lucky, like stupid lucky, because if he smashed through just one more wall he would have been floating into space and that would be it! Sure, maybe some aliens can survive the vacuum of space, but he doesn’t know which ones! He’s never tried! And he’s not willing to try right now.
Through the glass he can see the Plus Ultra smoking from one of its engines as a monstrosity of a red ship howls down on it with a barrage of laser and missile fire.
This gets his blood pumping with dread, now realizing he’s back on the clock he quickly formulates his next move. ‘It looks like I really lost Vilgax this time, especially considering that he hasn’t melted me alive with one look. But it won’t last long, he won’t be far behind with that sensory Quirk of his. I better get moving, I just need to stay ahead of him until everybody is safely off this ship!’
The ship rumbles and shakes while metal around him settles and quivers under the weight.
“Guys, please, get off this ship. I really hate it here!!”
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“I really hate it here.” Nue spits as he trudges through the abandoned hallways. Alarms are blaring in his ears and sparks fly from every light and exposed circuit.
On occasion a Megawatt zips by, laughing it head off before causing another little explosion of electricity that makes Nue flinch as sparks fly at his face. “Damn! Annoying little things.”
“HAHAHAHAHAHAbzz!!”
“Grrr!!” After adjusting the unconscious Rojo over his shoulder, he keeps pushing forward until he finally spots what he’s been looking for, the escape pods.
There’s only a handful of them left because it looks like most of them have already been launched.
Smiling upon his luck he immediately claims the escape for himself and his plus one. Opening the hatch he tosses Rojo inside before preparing to climb in himself.
As he does the distant noise of crashing metal, and a fiery explosion catches his ears.
Hesitating he stops and stares back towards the corridors, into the ship.
There’s a feeling, a sense of insight, like he knows exactly what or rather who is at the center of the chaos. He reflects for a moment before deciding better of it and taking to his escape.
As he does, a whisper, a low, soft, almost inaudible whisper escapes his lips. A whisper to which no one will ever hear, not even the one that it was intended for.
“Good luck…Deku.”
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Izuku stops and looks back. He frowns, he could have sworn he heard something. But there’s nobody there, nothing, maybe all the tension and anxiety getting to him. Shaking it off, he continues on his way through the collapsing ship that continues to creak and moan.
This place is creepy, well it always was but now here alone surrounded by stray sparks and tiny fires amongst a maze of deserted hallways, Izuku can't help but feel…lonely.
Maybe…maybe he should have stuck with everybody? Or maybe…he just wishes he could have someone here to at least talk to. To at least tell him that it’s going to be alright…
[“You doing alright there, kiddo?”]
“Dad!!” Izuku’s mood immediately brightens as he presses down on the com-link he was lent. “I’m here! I’m alright! Just…feeling the mode.”
Ochaco’s voice rings through the communications next. [“Feeling the what?”]
“The Omnitrix, it finally timed out…I-I think that maybe it’s linked to my own…energy? My stamina? I’m not sure but I think the timer is gone.”
[“Huh…”]
[“Izuku.”] Cinder starts again. [“Where are you? What’s your situation?”]
“I’m somewhere along the outer levels of the ship.” Izuku explains while looking out towards the Plus Ultra through the large windows. “I can see Japan from here. And is…is THAT PLUMBER BASE!?!”
Eraserhead sternly chides the boy. [“Midoriya, focus.”]
“Sorry.”
Cinder continues. [“We are making our final approach to Hangar 7. We should be there in a few short minutes now.”]
“Really? Does that mean?!”
[“Yes, you did it, son. You did it.’] Cinder’s so relieved that he almost spills out tears. [“You played your part and now we can all go home.”]
Izuku, however, lives up to his name and lets the tear ducts flow.
As the Midoriyas have a good cry, Patelliday instructs Izuku on what to do next. [“Now listen, here whippersnapper. Your Necrofriggian form is perfectly suited for space travel. Actually it's evolved to do so. Just flick that Omnitrix of yours and phase yourself right out. We’ll rendezvous at the Plumber ship.”]
Elated, Izuku wipes away the tears before trying to dial up the Omnitrix for Big Chill. “Then this E.T.’s going home.”
*CRASH!!!* A portion of the wall opposite of the windows bursts open.
Panicked, Izuku slams down on the Omnitrix and just in time as a heavy strike thrusts him away mid-glow!
His com-set falls out of his ear as a result, bouncing off the ground as large heavy claws crash through the hall.
[“Deku?! Deku?!”]
[“Izuku!!”]
[“YOUNG MIDORIYA!!!”]
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In her sludgy form. Lucy Mann winces at the sound of Toshinori screaming into her earpiece.
Noticing that she faltered, Psyphon takes advantage that his slippery quarry has stopped in place. “Don’t get distracted now, Sludgepuppy, or you’ll be nothing but stains on these walls!!” He fires a swarm of missiles that all whizz through the destroyed and rubble ridden command center like hornets.
“I’m not distracted!” Lucy sprints towards the incoming missiles, her less than solid body making it easy to slip and slide through the incoming missiles with extreme ease. “I'm multitasking!!”
Reaching Psyphon she lands at his feet where she melts into a puddle of mud. That puddle then rushes up like a wave that throws Psyphon up and off his feet and flings him back and away into his busted and fried command post.
Shaken by that last move, Psyphon leans up against his busted command post and takes in the scene around him. The bridge is all but abandoned, each of his bionic minions have been left as corpses in their stations or on the floor, left forever outstretched for an exit they will never reach. And although the Megawatts are long gone to other stretches of the ship, many exposed circuits and monitors are still bursting with live wires and electricity. “Why you… You nuisance!! You saboteur!! You’ve ruined everything!!”
“I’m a spy. It’s what I do.”
“And I…am the servant of the Grand Destroy. So, I will do what I must.” Clearly struggling to even stand, Psyphon tries once again to aim his wrist blaster.
Lucy, however, doesn't seem worried. In fact she seems done with this, standing there with a hip to her hand. “Look, as much as I love giving a good asskicking, I also don’t like being blown up. And I’m sure you feel the same. I mean, is this really worth it?”
She half expects Psyphon to write her words off and to throw a fit of rage but instead he looks away rather dolefully. “You don’t understand… You have no idea what horrors he’s capable of. I’ve failed my mission, I’ve failed my master, if I don’t provide him with results…or a scapegoat then…my hide is gone.”
Lucy feels for him, she really does. After all there is a reason Vilgax has to surround himself with drones and robots, it’s because most individuals are too terrified to be near his presence. “I’m sorry. But I'd rather you save your hide while you still can.” Knowing that forcing him to run will only slow her down from her own escape she opts to force his hand another way.
Her body melts to the ground where it begins to drip away into some exposed piping in the floor.
“No. Nooo!!” Psyphon scrambles after her when he realizes that his only scapegoat is fleeing. “Come back here! You coward!!” He screams into the pipe, shaking it in desperation that he can somehow siphon her out.
Lucy calls back through the pipe, her voice echoing through the tube like a megaphone. “While I was ruining your fun, I memorized your ship’s schematics. We both know there’s escape pods nearby. You should hop into one and go…”
Psyphon, unsure of what to make of that, sits there kneeling in defeat knowing full well that the saboteur, who was hiding under his nose the entire time, will not be returning. And so with no prisoner, no scapegoat, and with nothing of progress to report, Psyphon is left there alone and deflated.
He contemplates what to do, if he should even bother escaping the moaning ship or not, but as another far distant explosion shakes even the bridge his cowardice takes hold. Slowly he gets up and with much hesitation he makes way for an escape pod that is hopefully waiting for him.
Meanwhile, Lucy is making her own escape or at least she thought she would be but her mind traces back to everything she was able to eavesdrop on between Izuku and Cinder’s group. It sounded like the kid was in trouble somewhere along the outer edges of the ship’s haul. And considering they were escaping the arena and heading to Hangar 7 originally she can take a guess on the area where he is. And based on how well she memorized the ship’s schematics the Power Core was even further away from their evacuation zone or the arena.
Slithering to a stop inside a pipe trap, Lucy reforms her mouth enough to make a call. “Hey, Thirteen. You on an escape pod yet?”
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“Your luck is incredibly…infuriating.” Vilgax rumbles, his initial attack via his Bio-Fist had made contact but the boy’s reaction time was faster. And thus, his shell-armored fist collided with another shell.
“I have to concur. My luck certainly is mind boggling.” Admits the transformed Izuku who couldn’t be more grateful that not only did he roll with the punch but that this new form comes with a shell. A crab shell to be specific.
Taking a quick peek, it appears that this new alien is a large crab, but not like Kraab the alien bounty hunter crab but like a crab he’d find scuttling across Dagobah Beach while he was cleaning it. Just with a large and wide cranium with a pair of green skar-like blemishes running down his eyes. He even has long narrow claws that don’t seem like they could grab anything and yet they seem so precise and sweeping.
“Appropriate you’ve turned into a Cerebrocrustacean. They remind me of the crustacean-like livestock on my own planet. Such delicacies they are. I’ll be sure to enjoy ripping you out of your carapace.”
“Oh my, I see you have quite the refined palette. But I must warn you, I may be too piquant even for your foul tastes.” His cranium parts into two, revealing his enlarged cerebrum that surges with electrified electrons so powerful it all comes out as a discharge of electricity.
With a wave of voltage heading his way Vilgax thinks quickly and injects his tentacles into and through the metal walls. And with a flick his Inflamed tentacles pry out an array of cables and pipes within the walls to swiftly create a barricade of makeshift lightning rods that easily catch the incoming surge.
However, it also serves as a barrier between the two, allowing the highly-intelligent crab precious moments to think. And to say he overthinks could not even describe what he does. To Izuku it feels like that scene in the Lego Movie where Emmit can see the cereal codes, dimensions, and info of every seemingly random item, object, or movement that could possibly be analyzed. From the dimensions of the twisting hallways, the spacing between the bulkheads and pipes, to the few Megawatts attracted by the sudden collection of power, the integrity of the walls and floors, and to the ever-distant sounds of Explosions. This info all surges through and is absorbed into his supercomputer-like mind in mere milliseconds before coming to a multitude of conclusions. But only one guarantees his long-term survival.
“I thank you for your gracious hospitality. But I find your presence repulsive and atrocious therefore I’ll be taking my leave. Good day.” And with a quick 180 degree turn this crab makes his Earthly brethren proud by scuttling away like his life dependent on it.
Because it does!!
“IZUKU MIDORIYA!!!” With the electricity dissipated Vilgax crashes through his barricade with renewed vigor and rage as he pursues after the crab. “I'm tired of these games boy!!”
“A shame, I was just starting to enjoy this rousing game of tag!”
If this is tag then Vilgax must be IT as he Vilgax makes a reach to smash in the crab’s enlarged skull from behind.
But the Cerebrocrustacean anticipated this, he knew that his own stride could not match the titan’s, but his keen eyes could. He spots one a cable along the wall pulsating with electricity and so with a quick snip of his claw as he scuttles by the cable begins flailing across the hall as a living wire. And out from its snipped end an array of Megawatts are spewed out like confetti. “HAHAHAHAHAHAbzz!!”
Vilgax is forced to slow down by the electrical gremlins as he tries to swat them away but he only succeeds in smashing up the nearby walls instead. And as the Megawatts get the message they flee to reveal that they bought enough time for their crabby friend to pull some distance ahead.
Seeing as he’s pulled ahead, Vilgax inhales and then releases a mighty wind through the hall like he had before!
But this time the alien knew it was coming. Stopping, the crab eyes the panel of flooring and systematically pierces the weakest points with his claws and feet. Before prying the panel up with relative ease towards the incoming winds.
The whirlwind, intended to destroy instead carries the panel and subsequently the crab up like a wave. And like a wave the crab surfs these turbulent winds by hanging on to the airborne panel. With the panel as support, he’s launched straight through the corridor at a blazing speed that is until he reaches a T-intersection of corridors. But he planned for this, so he quickly leans the panel back and towards the incoming wall. And using a bit of physics the whirlwind caught between the panel and the wall compact to create enough of an air cushion to soften the crab’s landing. Although still taking a tumble the crustacean is completely unharmed and free to scuttle away down the hallway.
Vilgax is genuinely astonished by the maneuver, but with his quarry escaping he has no time to admire. With the greater stride at his advantage, he reaches the intersection quickly where he throws his body forward in order to put as much power behind the swing to his Infernal Sword as possible. Aiming low his swing bashes against the floor before slicing into the pipes, bulkheads, and wall with devastating results. However, it seems he swung far out of his target’s hitbox.
Because as before the crab anticipated such a reckless move and thus after vanishing around the corner he wisely took to the ceiling, crawling up the pipes and cables in order to cling to the vents and lights above before scuttling further away and only dropping to the ground once it was safe.
“No more. No more.” Furious that all his attempts have garnered nothing, Vilgax unleashes a pair of Omega Beams to boil this crab, alive.
Said shellfish only has seconds to react as his doom invades his vision. “Oh, my.”
The Omega Beams blast into their target in a burst of heat and sparks that smolders the metallic floors, causing the air to become thick with steam.
“I am the Conqueror of Worlds!!” He declares in a furious declaration so loudly that it shakes the entire hall. “That is my title!! And you are nothing!! Who do you think you are?! How could you possibly think that you could ever best me?!”
“I think therefore I am.” The crab definitely announces, as the smoke and steam clears, it is revealed that he veiled himself in a barrier-dome of brain powered electricity that almost-perfectly shielded him from being turned into seafood. “I think, therefore I am BRAINSTORM!!!”
With courage Brainstorm shifts from defense to offense as he converts his barrier of electricity into a spear of lightning that strikes down on the ill-prepared titan.
“AAAHHH!!!” Screaming through his respirator, Vilgax’s muscles contract and tighten as millions of volts rush through his cybernetics and veins.
This electricity is excruciating, but he can hold it off. With his blood pressure rising, his veins pulsate through his skin, his face and skull are especially strained as he rises against the increasing shocks. His head throbs uncontrollably with pain as he wills his body to its feet. He is going to fight through this. No matter the pain, no matter how much it feels like its brain is being fried. He will not let this insolent whelp best him! Not like this! HE WILL NOT ALLOW IT!!! “RAAAAAGH!!!”
Almost the strain. Amongst the analogy and sweltering of his mind, a kindling, an ignition from deep within the Mad Titan’s mind ignites. And from it an inferno, no, a flare erupts. A flare that’s nearly invisible to the naked eye rushes past and through the incoming electricity like it weren’t even there. It doesn't repel the lightning nor redirect it, the two forces simply pass right through each other like the other isn’t even there. But this flare this invisible flare only has a presence when it collides with Brainstorm’s exposed cerebrum.
“AAAAAHHHHH!!!/Aaaaahhhhh!!!” The moment this invisible flare makes contact between the two their minds are flooded with eldritch images. Like a TV gone haywire images both familiar and alien flood their minds causing the two great agony and torment: alien worlds on fire, nightmarish monsters invade, women and children screaming, emotions of despair, jealousy and hate consume every image, as a haunting devilish smile laughs at their shared torment. All the while this agonizing experience pierces their minds with such deliverance that it can only be described as knives being carved directly through their brains.
And like that it’s over. The flare dissipated having only lasted a measly millisecond, and yet it felt like hours to them.
Both aliens retch and collapse to whatever would be their knees. They’re both shaken with agonizing migraines as their brains throb against their cases.
Despite knowing that his head will be aching for hours to come, Brainstorm at least has the benefit to allow his grey matter some much needed air, giving it space to swell and settle.
Vilgax, however, does not have that luxury. His mind, his head, it feels nothing short of on fire like his skull was dipped straight into the molten lava lakes of Mustafar. It’s sheer agony that to a lesser being it would make them beg for death. “You-…FILTH-!!! What-?! What-have you done to ME-!?!”
Brainstorm has honestly no idea. He was so busy with focusing his energy to producing such a powerful shock that he didn’t even realize that his mind was also under attack. He had assumed that Vilgax had done something to retaliate but if it were not him then what? Perhaps it was one of his newly acquired Quirks? Perhaps some are more passive in nature? Even with his super genius intellect, he cannot be certain.
“Enough of this, please, I implore you. You…your ship is falling apart around us. Your fleet is lost. Your army is devastated. Your allies are gone. And I have reclaimed the Omnitrix from your clutches. You cannot possibly believe that you are still on a path to victory.”
“You…want me to yield? To forgo all of my endeavors? Who do you think I am…? Who Do You Think You Are?”
That question makes the boy think…
As they stare at each other, waiting for the other's response, Vilgax begins to rise once again. It’s clear he is far from recovered from the previous brain blast and yet his imposing figure soon dwarfs the crustacean. And then the nightmare grows, extending out like black ink into the form of a giant battle axe that the villain raises high above the poor creature like a guillotine.
They gaze at each other, like looking between reflections, Vilgax comes to the answer of his own question. “You…are nothing.”
“You took the words right out of my mouth. Ya jackass.”
Oh no. Heartbeat Sense. His concentrate broke, he didn’t hear it coming.
“DIE!!!” An epic Explosion sucker punches Vilgax’s moment and sends him flying in a ball of fire.
“Kacchan?!” Brainstorm exclaims.
“Deku!!” Landing, Bakugou barks back at the crab. “Finally! Finally found ya! I’ve had to put up with a lot thanks to you. Now, pretend your ass is on a seafood buffet and move!!”
“Insufferable welp!!” Vilgax roars. “You’ll pay for your interference!!” Rushing forward he swings his Internal Guillotine with his aim square on the brat’s neck.
But it never reaches its final destination, instead the guillotine coms to a stop with a clang before the sound of simmering liquid metal bubbles through the hall.
The Guillotine metals away against the hand of Pluto’s Whitefire, melting into a puddle of black ooze against Shoto’s armored hand. Releasing a breath of mist, Shoto’s glowing red gaze narrows. “So, you're an alien overlord? I have to say, I’m not impressed.”
“Todoroki!!” Brainstorm stops and takes a second to admire the icicle armor up close.
Shoto looks the crabby alien up and down before responding. “It’s good to see you again, Midoriya.”
Brainstorm smiles back in appreciation.
“I see now.” Vilgax rumbles. “I see now that the younglings of your planet don’t understand the concept of discipline.” His eyes begin to burn red. “Then it’s my responsibility to teach you.” His twin lasers fire out, following zig-zagging paths towards the children who brace themselves for a violent end.
But a figure cladded in white dashes forward like a brave knight and guards them with a shield of immeasurable power. “BLACKHOLE!!!”
The Omega Beams may be strong but against the power of a Blackhole they too become literally nothing. Dissipating into thin air and vanishing into the summoned void within the Plumber’s hand.
“Thirteen!!” Brainstorm cheers. He can’t believe they're all here! They came for him! Bakugou, Shoto, and Thirteen have come to save him!
Bakugou smiles, somewhat sincerely at Brainstorm before turing it into a smirk back at alien warlord. “Calamari and crab legs? He. I didn’t know we were ordering seafood.”
Shoto’s glowing red eyes blink in confusion. “Why would someone order seafood at a time like this?”
“Don’t ruin the moment, Icy-Hot.”
Thirteen smiles at the two. “It’s really nice to see how close as friends you two have become.”
“S-shut up!!”
“Aw, so there is a shepherd.” Vilgax comments while addressing Thirteen specifically. “And here I thought the lost lambs were here for slaughter.”
“Shut your piehole!!” Bakugou roars, offended. “From how I see it you’re the reason our camp was cut short is that right? So, it’s your damn fault the League of Losers caught us off guard. Oh, man! I’m gonna enjoy fileting you.”
“Your insults are as tasteless as your behavior. I have nothing to fear from you.”
“Hehehe.” Smirking, the ash-blond reaches for the remaining pod on his bandolier. “I’m gonna make you eat those words.” With a roar he pitches the Sticky Grenade as hard as he can straight at the titan.
However, Vilgax blocks the incoming explosive with a simple summon of his Ziegel Shield. “Did you really think you could take me by surprise a second time?”
That devilish smirk on the lad’s face almost makes the villain shutter. “Yes.”
Blue hues burn from below, near Vilgax’s feet. Looking down he’s stunned to find at least 3 more Sticky Grenades glued to the ground. The boy must have stuck them there during his initial surprise attack. It’s too late to react as they each explode into a brilliant burst of blue plasma.
Watching the villain stumble, Bakugou rockets ahead with his hands bursting with volcanic rage. “DIE!!!”
*BOOOM!!!*
With Vilgax engaged it gives Brainstorm time to collect his thoughts. “Thirteen, Todoroki! How in the world did you locate me?”
“Lucy.” Thirteen explains while keeping an eye on the explosive fight just meters away. “She was monitoring the communications between you and your dad. Which reminds me.” Reaching into their pocket they quickly produce a small earpiece. “Here’s a new com-link, try not to lose this one.”
Taking it Brainstorm inserts the earpiece to…whatever or wherever his ear is located.
Shoto almost wants to ask but instead he’s far more concerned with how easily Vilgax is tearing away walls of the ship as he tries to get his tentacles onto the rocketing Bakugou. “Midoriya. This guy just took several explosions without flinching. Please tell me that your big brain…um, bigger brain has some idea to take him down.”
Pausing, Brainstorm considers everything around them; from their location, the ship’s weakening integrity, his allies’ own strength and weaknesses, and the strange purple mud oozing its way out from a nearby pipeline.
Brainstorm pauses in thought as the mud seemingly refuses to drain away and a brilliant plan lights up in his head. “Now that you mention it…”
As Brainstorm indulges the others with his brainchild, Bakugou is busy staying just second ahead of death. And he’s just barely pulling ahead as not even his Explosions seem to be capable of keeping Vilgax’s claws and tentacles away for long.
“You've traveled a long way for what, boy. Even after your entire world has been shattered you’re still willing to risk your meager life for someone you’ve deemed as wretched. Pray tell.”
“You creep! What?! Have you been spying on us?! Huh, I guess aliens are just big ol’ pervs!” With a spin the Mad Bomber releases a cacophony on Explosions in order to propel the Thorn-encrusted Bio-Fist away. “And watch your mouth! I didn’t come all this way to save his ass but to kick yours!!”
“Is that so?” Gripping a nearby bulkhead, Vilgax’s muscles burn with Inflame as his cybernetic enhancements work double duty, giving him the strength to rip the heavy support beam right out from the wall.
Bakugou only has a second to react before that bulkhead comes swinging his way. He tries to propel himself back with a blast but he’s just a milli-second too late as the bulkhead slams into his gut with the force of a train behind it.
His armor shatters having taken most of the impact but still blood and spit spew from his throat. All before he’s flung away like an annoying gnat.
“Then you’ve traveled far for nothing.” Raising the bulkhead Vilgax prepares to finish the lad off but then a pipe slams into his back before shattering into a burning puddle of heated metal. “RAAAH!!” Roaring with anger and pain as his skin boils under the heat, Vilgax swings the bulkhead back and around at his attacker.
However, Pluto’s Whitefire is proving its worth. As it allows Shoto access to strength he didn’t know he had. Bracing himself with his burning frozen armor Shoto is able to take the strike with only the first few layers of ice shattering away.
Having caught the bulkhead Shoto presses his hands into the metal causing the entire weapon to heat up before melting away between his and Vilgax’s fingers.
“Get away from my classmates.” Shoto warns, his hands releasing a great volume of steam as his heated palms mix with the ship’s cold air.
“Like, good job, Todoroki!” Brainstorm chuckles and snorts from behind his frozen savior. “Just keep it up and we’ll like have him! Hahaha *snort!* Haha! BTW I love the new getup. Very snazzy.”
“Um, thanks. I like your look…too.” Deciding not to linger on that awkward interaction, Shoto decides to try out the added strength of this new technique.
Reaching over to some of the exposed pipes he melts two ends of a pipe before ripping it right off the wall. And then like a pole vault he throws that heated spear right at the titan.
Knowing that an attack is coming this time, Vilgax quickly deflects the burning projectile with his golden Ziegel Shield. “You believe this can harm me?! I’ve tested my metal on the lava rivers of Nevarro. Your fire wouldn't even be considered kindling to me.”
“You bastard…” With a boom so strong that it shakes the glass wall, Bakugou leaps into the air. With blood staining the corner of his mouth, he lets out a blood curdling roar as he makes to strike the tyrant down from behind.
However, nothing but a simple backhand of his tentacles is able to swat him away. “Nor does yours.”
Although Bakugou survives against the strike his armor does not. The durability of his armor finally breaks away: the armor shatters completely leaving the boy with nothing, but the dark zero-suit laced underneath.
“I must concede this however, I do admire those fiery spirits of yours.” Turning his attention back at Shoto and Brainstorm the Grand Destroyer marches towards them both like he were walking down a grand hall before his subjects.
Shoto makes an attempt to stop him, but a pair of swift Omega Beams blast him back and away. Between the pair of heat vision and the following impact Shoto’s armor cracks and almost completely shatters, leaving only icicles around his right arm and right side of his face.
With his last guard gone, Brainstorm is all but defenseless when Vilgax grabs him by the torso and hoists him up like a trophy
“Too bad they weren’t enough.” With his quarry in hand Vilgax boasts for the younglings to look. “Watch young ones. Watch as I snuff your friend’s fire out first!!” With the power of Inflame and his enhancements combined, Vilgax piledrives Brainstorm straight into the ground so hard that he splatters into a purple goo across the floor!!
Wait…purple goo.
“What is this?” Vilgax is rightfully perplexed, the crustacean should be a pile of mashed grey matter and broken shells, not a pile of mud.
Staring at the mud, he’s disturbed to see that it's staring right back at him. “This is the end. For you, dipshit!!”
Lucy’s body erupts like a geyser splashing mud across Vilgax’s eyes and face with such force that it shoves him back. She doesn’t allow him to regain any balance, as she weaves in and out like a fast-striking serpent: leaping and striking at him from every direction as fast as she can from off the floor, the ceiling, the wall, and the massive windows.
Growing with anger Vilgax attempts to swat and stomp her away but her liquid body just oozes past his claws.
“You septic of liquified bacteria!! Where is Izuku Midoriya?! Where is my Omnitrix?!”
“Here am I!” Answers a guttural articulation, thick with a Russian Accent.
“AAAHHH!!” A glowing crimson beam suddenly burns a hole into Vilgax’s hide, causing him to roar out before lashing out at his attacker.
His Infernal Sword lashes out in the shape of a scythe. But its inky blade snaps away when it collides with armor so thick and heavy it could only be compared to that of a tank.
A tank is right, this armor is so heavy and thick that the being inside clearly has to put a lot of effort into their movement. Despite the fact that the armor looks like it was made of scrap metal that was just slapped together in a hasty attempt to weld something together, the metal itself is something that not even Vilgax can confidently identify. But what has him more intrigued and wary is what kind of being is wearing such attire. Four portholes allow the wearer to see through the dense helmet, organized into a diamond pattern the port holes glow red from whatever being is locked inside.
And whoever that being is, they are pissed as they declare out with a thick Russian Accent. “Do not have the fear for here is NRG!!” The transformed Izuku declares with such vigor and courage that even through the thick armor the entire hall begins to radiate with heat. “Now prepare to burn in the hell, Vilgax!!” Through the 4 portholes in the helmet NRG fires a crimson beam so hot that it’s blinding.
Not wishing to experience that burning sensation yet again, Vilgax barricades himself behind his Ziegel Shield.
The crimson beam shoots off of the shield, but it keeps the pressure on, creating a lightshow of crimson and gold as Vilgax holds his ground. “New tricks. Yet no new outcomes. Like my impending victory!” While holding the shield the titan fires his Omega Beams in retaliation.
The pair of lasers zip up and over the shield before barreling forward and colliding into NRG’s breastplate.
*POW!!!* NRG’s knocked right off his feet and sent barreling backwards, his heavy arming denting the floor when he lands.
With the threat knocked prone, Vilgax dissipates his shield only to quickly regret that decision as a recovered Shoto unleashes a torrent of flames upon him. Shoto roars his left side blazing so bright that the remaining pieces of Pluto’s Whitefire begin to crack and melt away.
Vilgax quickly returns his shield, but the flames are so large, so intense, that they nearly wash over the shield.
With his guard drawn somewhere else, a battered but not beaten Bakugou launches an attack from the flank. Rushing up he slaps his palm to Vilgax’s side and delivers a critical Explosion. That sends the titan reeling to his knee.
While still keeping his shield up against the flames Vilgax roars and lashes out to crush Bakugou’s skull.
However, Lucy whips her stretchy mud arm around Bakugou first and pulls him away at the last second.
Which makes plenty of room for NRG to barrel past as fast as his heavy legs can take him. With his arm outstretched the entire metallic limb burns red as he clotheslines Vilgax’s as hard as he can.
He’s down, he’s open, and he’s defenseless. And so together they unleash all the fiery hell that they can with NRG taking the first shot with crimson beams that are soon joined together with Shoto’s torrent of flames and rounded out by Bakugou’s cacophony of Explosions!! Together the three focus all their fire power on the titan who is struggling to keep the flames at bay with his waning Ziegel Shield.
“You said you snuff out our flames?” NRG roars. “You thought we could not have the hope! But you are wrong! Our spirits will burn bright to the heavens!!”
Although their spirits have been ignited and their flames burn so hot that those outside the Chimeran hammer could see the flames illuminating through the windows, it’s all nothing but lights from candles in compression to Vilgax’s own burning wrath.
Slowly the titan rises, pushing against the intense heat and flames as his muscles strain against Inflame and his enhancements. The shield can only protect him so much as the heat and radiation pours around the edges of the golden forcefield. And so, he sacrifices a few of his tentacles; they slither around the edges of the shield, making it wider before inky darkness oozes forth and his Infernal Sword coats the edges of the shield and tentacles to create a barricade of gold and darkness that all but halts the flames in its tracks.
“You are mistaken if you think I will burn! My will, my empire, will never be turned to ash!!”
“You are right, Vilgax. You will not burn.” They can all almost hear NRG smirking from behind his helmet. “But you will still turn into the ash.”
Perplexed by this statement Vilgax is left unawares and undefended as Thirteen rushes out from a nearby hallway. Having been lying in wait this entire time, as per Brainstorm’s plan they’ve been waiting for the others to open Vilgax’s blind spot to them. Between their constant attacks, the rush and whipping of fire and the fact that he’s after Izuku and the Omnitrix specifically made it more difficult for Vilgax to focus on any number of them or to use his Heartbeat Sense.
And so, with his backside totally exposed, and being a safe enough distance away that they won’t harm their own students, Thirteen demonstrates one of the true horrors of outer space. “BLACKHOLE!!!”
The sudden pull, the sudden vacuum, it’s inescapable terrifyingly so. Loose bolts, pipes, and rubble are pulled into the void first. Soon bits of his Infernal barricade begin to break away allowing the hellfire on the other side to breach before they too are pulled towards the Blackhole.
Vilgax knows he only has seconds, before he’s turned to dust. Only seconds to slither out of this. Yet despite that he has no fear. No regrets. No trepidations. There’s no need for that. After all his decades of conquest he’s learned all too well that any victory can be snatched away with one decision.
And so, looking through the Ziegel Shield, and through all the dancing flames, he locks eyes with NRG who by some chance meets his gaze. And from what the boy sees in that split second, he sees Vilgax cracking a smirk from under his respirator.
Everything goes into slow motion despite it all occurring in less than a second. As Vilgax’s gaze turns red and his heat vision zips away not up around the shield nor back at Thirteen or them but instead it zips away and blasts apart the window stretching across the entire hallway.
And reality strikes with a thundering whoosh as the pull of outer space takes over them all!
Flames are sucked away to nothing, glass cracks away and begins to rain away into the void, as everyone scrambles for some kind of purchase.
Thirteen thankfully was close enough to a nearby bulkhead that happened to catch them before they were pulled away. The kids, however, were not as lucky. Having been some distance away all four of them are dragged through the corridor as all the oxygen and loose rubble pull away from them. The pull is too strong even for Bakugou to rocket them away and with Pluto’s Whitefire now scrapped Shoto lost all the surplus strength that he otherwise would have had.
And so acting fast and with him being pulled in first by the void, NRG digs his molting red gauntlet into the ground. Between the heat of his hand and the pull of the void NRG’s hand is dragged back leaving the floor to melt away into a gaping hole that leaves the underworkings of cables exposed. Cutting off the fire the metal cools quickly enough providing NRG a handle for him to hold onto as he calls out to Shoto, Bakugou, and Lucy. “Grab on to me!!”
Thankfully, with Lucy using her body as a rope she lashes around the two boy’s waists and splatters herself like glue onto NRG’s chest.
“Quickly!!” NRG roars over the rushing high piercing wind. “Get in here!!” He gestures towards the newly added hole in the floor.
Quickly, fighting against the rushing air, Shoto and Bakugou use NRG as a railing to pull themselves inside. Once in Lucy releases NRG so that she too can snake her way in.
“Alright! Make the room!” NRG begins to drag himself forward but he’s struggling and so Bakugou and others grab onto his arm and pull with all their might. And he nearly has a leg inside.
However, it was never meant to be as a pair of Omega Beams, unhindered by the pull of gravity, streak back and through the ever-widening gap in the haul before zipping right into NRG’s back.
“GAH!!!” With a calamitous boom NRG loses his grip.
Leaving Bakugou and Shoto utterly devastated as they watch their classmate slip right through their hands once again… “DEKU!!!/MIDORIYA!!!”
Those are the last words he hears before suddenly all sound is gone, his body floats further and further away with no hope of control, as NRG’s totally embraced by the cold touch of outer space.
“DEKU!!!” Bakugou makes a move to lunge after him but Lucy, being the more experienced of the three, grabs him and holds him back. “Let go of me you muddy bitch!! Deku is out there!!”
“I know! But what can you do?! Your Explosions won’t work out there and your suit is broken!!”
Shoto is unsure of what to do or say. He’s stunned, stuck between helping his friend or listening to reason. He soon chooses reason and slapping his hand to the floor he unleashes a wave of ice that smashes into the gaping hole, sealing it shut.
They can all feel the air rushing back to their lungs, but for Bakugou it just gives him more wind to voice his outrage! “Let me go! Let me go dammit!”
“Let’s go!!” Thirteen screams, springing past the already cracking glacier before barreling into them. They don’t stop instead grabbing them each by the arms and hauling them away. “That ice isn’t going to hold! So, MOVE IT!!!”
Together with Shoto and Lucy’s help they all manage to pull the rabid Bakugou into the next hallway and just in time because the moment Thirteen slams the seal doors shut the glacier and the remaining glass on the other side gives away! The entire long stretching glass wall falls apart, ripped away in a blink of an eye leaving the entire corridor to now be part of the void, forever.
Finally, Thirteen can breathe knowing that at least they’re all still alive to do so.
“You bastards!!” Bakugou finally manages to rips his arms free from Shoto and Lucy. “What about Deku?! He’s still out there!!”
“I know!” Thirteen snaps. “And we’re not gonna be able to help him while we’re stuck in here! But right now, we have no shot in even reaching him! What we can do is get to the escape pods as quickly as we can and hope that we make it to him in time!”
“That’s it?!” Bakugou completely refutes. “That’s your plan! I thought you were the space agent here?!”
“I am. But not one of us has a spacesuit that’s still intact or strong enough to handle the cold vacuum of space. And the only way out is through this door.” Thirteen slams a fist into the door that eerily makes no sound against the void. “If we want to help Midoriya the best way is to find a safe way out. You hear me?”
Bakugou doesn’t want to admit it but they’re right. His suit is in tatters, Todoroki’s too, and Lucy isn’t even wearing one. Going out there would only get them killed along. “I hear ya…”
Understanding that he is not lashing out from a place of malice, Thirteen tries their best to comfort the lad. “Don’t stress over it. If anyone can survive the horrors of outer space, it’s Midoriya.”
“I sure hope you’re right…”
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
“Deku! Deku!! Can you hear me?!” Uravity’s been screaming into her com-link since they first lost contact with Izuku, but it’s been nothing but static since then.
Cinder is pulling her along making sure she doesn’t fall behind as they continue to flee through the sinking space cruiser. “No luck?”
“No. Nothing! He’s not answering!”
Tetrax jobs beside them and offers a theory. “It's because his com-link was cut off. Maybe try a different frequency.”
As Uravity starts fiddling with the com-set, Cinder looks back at Chopper who’s just on their heels. “Chopper, you too.”
^Wo-bz.^ Chopper tries to search for other frequencies but his antenna was bent earlier making it spark and jerk in place.
Toshinori is hobbling along, even with Tsukauchi’s help he’s moving along as fast as he can near the rear of the group. “How much further?! Young Midoriya won’t be able to hold off that villain alone forever!”
“We’re almost there.” Tsukauchi assures while making sure his friend has his one good, remaining, arm over his shoulders.
“The ship is just around the corner!” shouts Patelliday while he too is helping a limping Eraserhead along. “Don’t you worry. Once we’re in our state of the art spacecraft we’ll go pick up the lad ourselves!”
Toshinori perks up at the sound of a spacecraft. He hasn’t really let it sink in that he’s inside a U.F.O. considering how huge it really is he’s basically chalked it up to a nightmarish cruise ship in space. So, the thought of laying his eyes on a classic U.F.O. or flying saucer. Is kinda exciting amongst this chaos.
They approach the hangar doors quickly and upon making the turn Toshinori looks past the battle scarred and metal corpse laden hangar to instead lay eyes on this majestic craft. “Is…that an RV?”
“Yup!” Cinder responds a little too cheerfully. “Isn’t she beautiful?”
Toshinori stares at him like he’s crazy. ‘Did he just rocket his home into space?!’
As Cinder’s group arrives, those already in the hangar have started to gather and make their way into the RazorCrest for departure.
As Mina is about to hop aboard, her antennas pick up on an array of emotions coming from the hangar entrance making her peek over and spotting their friends immediately. “Ochaco!!”
Immediately everyone stops in place with their heads snapping over to the new arrivals. Said arrivals hurry over as Ochaco’s classmates excitedly greet them half-way.
“Uraraka, you made it!” Kirishima is all smiles despite looking like he was doused in oil and set on fire. Considering all the carnage that probably happened.
“Uraraka!!” Iida cuts ahead of the group just to inspect her for injuries. “Are you hurt? Are you injured?! Have you been exposed to any microbial bacteria or alien viruses?!”
Not wanting Ochaco to become unnerved, Momo gently moves Iida aside so she can address her friend directly. “We were all so worried about you. I’m so relieved to see that you’re alright.”
“Ochaco!!” Mina throws herself at her friend with tears streaming down her flushed pink face. “Where were you?! Why’d you take so long?! What happened?!”
Ochaco pats her friend’s back in comfort while replying with a simple. “A…lot.” It’s probably best not to go into details about how almost ruinous it all was. “But hey, I made it back just like I said.”
“You sure did, kid.” Kraab scuttles up Mina’s back before perching himself onto Ochaco’s arm. “I mean I had my doubts but, hey, set a low bar and you receive less disappointment.”
“Wow, such optimism…” Ochaco sarcastically chides before a warm soft body rubs itself against her leg. “Oh, I missed you too, girl!” Kneeling down Ochaco rubs Cosmo’s head and ears.
“Bark! Bark!” Cosmo’s tail wags so hard that it claps against Kirishima and Iida’s legs.
Toshinori needs a second to process what he’s seeing. “You brought your dog to space? Wait, do you even own a dog?”
A gloved hand rests onto Toshinori’s shoulder, looking up the former Symbol of Peace sees that both Snipe and Ectoplasm are there to greet him.
Snipe tips his hat in greeting. “Welcome back, partner. We sorely missed you.”
“You had us worried.” admits Ectoplasm.
“YO! Hahaha!! You made it! Way to go, Eraserhead!” Present Mic slides over to Eraserhead and Patelliday with finger guns slung towards the underground hero. “I knew you would pull it off!”
Eraserhead groans. “Quiet, Mic. I’ve got a big enough headache as it is.”
Listening in, Tetrax smirks in amusement. “No need to stress. He’ll be fine.”
Realizing that there’s a new hunk hidden away in the crowd, Midnight immediately makes her presence known. “Oh, he’s not the only one who’s fine~.” She leers Tetrax up and down. “Uraraka, where did you pick up such a tall shining man~?”
Tetrax, becoming uncomfortable, starts backing away from the overbearing woman. “Um, what is this?”
“Sorry, just trying to make friends~. After all, diamonds are a girl’s best friend~.” Midnight winks before fluttering her eyelashes.
Having been in earshot, Ochaco looks over to her fellow girlfriends for clarification. “Is that true?”
Momo shrugs while examining her crystallized Zircon Blade. “Perhaps.”
“Um excuse me!” Driba flails his arms wildly while jumping across the brim of Snipe’s hat. “We’d hate to be the bearers of bad news but-...”
“We need to vamoose!” Interrupts Blukic just as the entire ship begins to rumble with a chorus of explosions and sparks accompanying it.
“This ship is on its last legs!” screams Driba.
“Yeah!” Blukic holds on to his friend for dear life. “It’s going belly up and we will too-!”
“-IF WE DON’T LEAVE NOW!!!” They both simultaneously cry out.
As they do the entire ship lurches and roars of metal tearing apart along with the echo of thousands of Megawatts laughing all the while.
With the ground literally giving away from under them Cinder hurries everyone into the vehicles. “Everyone listen to those little einsteins and get on that rocket ship!” He hurries to the RazorCrest himself. “Chopper! With Thirteen gone I’ll have to pilot the RazorCrest! You stick with the Rustbucket, you got it?!”
^Wa wa!!^
Meanwhile, Patelliday hurries Eraserhead towards the RV with Tsukauchi and Toshinori in toe. “All injured and children in the Rustbucket! There are more beds for the injured and it’s more durable than the RazorCrest!”
While halfway to the camper, Iida and Kirishima meet Patelliday and Tsukauchi halfway.
“We can take them from her, sirs.” Iida offers a hand.
As does Kirishima. “Yeah! You can rely on us!”
Patelliday doesn’t even question their conviction, he trusts them full-heartedly. “Thank you kindly.” Carefully he hands the leaning Eraserhead off to Iida as Tsukauchi helps Kirishima to get a grip on Toshinori.
“Hang in there, Mr. Aizawa.”
Eraserhead lets out a pained wheeze as Iida hurries him along. “Hey, Class rep.”
“Yes, sir?”
“Good work, today.”
From underneath his red helmet, Iida is smiling.
Together both Iida and Kirishima lead their injured teachers into the RV, they nearly fall over as the entire Chimeran Hammer tremors and shakes causing jars, spices, and food to shake in and out of their cabinets while the appliances and furniture are mercifully bolted down.
Trying as they may not to tumble over, the two students manage to get their teachers towards the back of the RV, towards the bunks, where one patient is already waiting for them.
“Well, it’s about time you showed up.” Gran Torino smiles, while barely able to lift his head up from the pillow.
“Gran Torino, sir!” Toshinori nearly falls over, trying to shove himself forward to reach his precious mentor. “What happened?”
Although it hurts like a mothertrucker, Gran Torino is nothing but smiles when he lays his eyes on his student once again. “I came to save your sorry ass.” he laughs but breaks into a coughing fit that makes Toshinori’s heart drop.
But it’s Gran Torino’s heart who risks a heart attack when he finally sees that Toshinori is in fact missing his left arm, fist and all. “Toshi…I’m just sorry we couldn’t make it here sooner. I’m sorry I kept you out of this world. I thought…I thought it was the best way to keep you safe. I’m sorry…”
Tears leak from Toshinori’s shining sapphire eyes as he takes Gran Torino’s hand into his own, “You came. That’s all that matters right now.”
At the same time Cinder is busy making sure the kids are ushered into the RV while the adults take to the RazorCrest. As Ochaco is just about to hop aboard Cinder gets a call from his com-link. [“Cinder! Cinder! Senpai are you there?!”]
He immediately answers in a hurry. “Thirteen we’re here! But where are you? We need to evacuate quickly so Izuku can escape himself!”
[“We, including Lucy, are heading to the escape pods right now! And also we-”]
“Forget the escape pods! Find an access hatch and send your location to Nezu, he can have Xylene pick you up! You hear?!”
[“I hear you. But that's not the issue! It’s you son! We found him and-”]
“You found Izuku! Oh, Thirteen thank you! I was so worried!”
Ochaco relaxes as well, but she stiffens when Thirteen cuts the celebration short.
[“Oh, um, well you see the thing is that after we found him we sort of…lost him.”]
“You WHAT!?!”
Ochaco’s heart drops and she hurries over to Cinder, and he allows her to listen in closely.
[“Midoriya, it all happened so fast but your son he’s…gone.”]
Cinder almost doesn’t want to ask. “You mean he’s-?”
[“No not that! I mean he’s not in the ship anymore!”]
“He’s not on the ship?! Then where is he?!”
Frowning, Ochaco happens to glance through the hangar bay and through the transparent shield separating them from the endless ocean of space. She sees nothing but rubble, pieces of the Chimeran Hammer floating away, amongst laser fire of blue and red being traded between battleships. But there amongst the chaos, amongst the destruction, she spots a sign. “Um, Mr. Midoriya, I think I know where he is.”
Following her gaze, Hisashi spots it; amongst the mayhem and carnage is a star, a tiny little twinkle of green floating away amongst it all.
Holding up the com-link he responds with an exasperated sigh, “We found him.”
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
NRG is tripping. Or at least that’s the best way for him to describe this. He thought space would be colder, hell he thought he would suffocate, and his eyes would pop out of his head. But it looks like whatever NRG’s species is capable of withstanding and even surviving in space. Gosh that would be such a breath of relief if there was any air to breath.
Not that this is really a moment to relax, although his body continues to spin at a steady pace all around him is a cacophony of colors and lights. Red and blue laser bolts fly through the air between the Plus Ultra which moves through the stars like an injured whale while the Malware-infected battleship hunts it down with an array of firepower. Meanwhile, the Chimeran Hammer continues to “sink” away as fires and lightning discharge all across its frame. Waves of Megawatts flood their way out from the ship and zip away as a giant cloud away from the chaos. Silent explosions go off all around him as scraps of demolished Vulture Droids float away in every direction.
It’s pure chaos out here and it’s somehow even more disturbing without any sound to accompany any of it. It’s almost ethereal in a way, all this mayhem, all this destruction, all this malice so close and yet, without sound to accompany it, it all feels so far away. So distance. And with the moon so close and glowing so softly the entire scene seems paradoxically peaceful.
*WHAM!!!*
Peace is over as he’s struck from behind like a gong and sent spinning through the endless void with no way of slowing down.
‘Woah-woah!’ NRG internally screams as his thick armor collides through the debris field left by the imploding Chimeran Hammer.
Trying to get his bearings even as he’s pun around he spots his attacker propelling their way through the void. The cybernetics in Vilgax’s calves and legs hiss, releasing streams of air that propel him forward and allowing him to direct his scaled-encrusted Bio-fist into NRG’s haul.
*WHAM!!!*
NRG is struck again and his body lurches back but then he’s whiplashed back into place as Vilgax catches him with his tentacles. Reeling the armored being in close, Vilgax appears to be roaring and shouting at him but with no air present not a sound can be made.
NRG makes a phone call hand gesture and shrugs while pointing at where he thinks his ears are located before shaking his head in denial.
Having received the non-verbal message Vilgax fiddles with his respirator and with the control pad on his attire. As he does, NRG’s com-link starts up with static before an ethereal menace reverberates into his ear. “You impudent, uncivilized animal!! Return to me, MY OMNITRIX!!!”
Realizing that Vilgax has opened his own communications to an open channel, NRG is more than happy to share his thoughts. “Or what? You shall grant me the mercy?”
“MERCY!?!” Whipping the helpless alien around Vilgax smashes NRG into a floating chunk of the Chimeran Hammer’s armor. “The only mercy you shall receive is that you will die before you witness your planet’s destruction!!” His claws turn razor sharp as Bio-Fist mixes with his Infernal Sword to create sets of claws so sharp and thick they could rip meat from bone. With Inflame burning his muscles Vilgax rips his claws between the armors joints and begins to attempt to pull the armor apart like a walnut.
“What are you doing?! Let go of me!!”
“I am Vilgax the Conqueror! I am not merciful! I am not gracious! I am all POWERFUL!!!”
[“You’re all talk is what you are!!”]
“Huh?!”
A pair of headlights and then Vilgax’s is face to face with a grill, and he’s struck by what feels like a truck! And it might as well be a truck because the Rustbucket sure hits like one. Ramming into Vilgax so hard that he releases the poor NRG while Cinder yells out through the open channel. [“MIDORIYA SPECIAL: SPACE ADDITION!!!”]
The RazorCrest rockets past with the Rustbucket magnetically locked underneath. And stuck to said RV’s grill is a very pissed off warlord.
“FIREBREATHER!!!” Vilgax roars while clinging to the Rustbucket’s bumper and frame.
He tries to pull himself up against the speed and pressure and as he does he comes eye level to the RV’s windshield. Peering inside he’s met with the angry and determined faces of Uravity, Pinky, Ingenium, Creati, Red Riot, Eraserhead, All Might, Gran Torino Cosmo, and Chopper.
Red Riot chokes on laugh at the sight of the villain pressed against the window. “Ha! Truck-kun strikes again!!”
^Wop!^ Chopper gives his hacking rod a spin inside the RV’s console and immediately activates the Rustbucket’s defenses.
An electric jolt courses through the RV’s outer frame, stunning the titan and allowing the joint vehicles to speed ahead as he finally lets go.
With their quarry exposed and away from their friend, the RazorCrest spins around for another go at the villain.
Cinder locks in and shouts for Snipe, who’s manning the gunner, to fire.
Snipe fires and makes his mark, too bad Vilgax’s Ziegel Shield is nigh-impenetrable.
“Go and get him guys! Ha ha!! Yes!” NRG cheers while floating away and watching as the RazorCrest lights that villain up. “Woo-oo! Yes! Teach him the lesson! Huh?”
A large imposing red shadow emerges blocking the nearby moon as it rises behind the RazorCrest and Rustbucket.
In a panic NRG hurries to warn his friends. “Dad! Everyone! Look out!! Behind you!!”
The red amalgamation that is Malware’s frankensteined spacefaring monstrosity emerges through the darkness with every one of its turrets and armaments locked in. [Vengeance comes swiftly and painfully for you all, fleshbags!!]
He fires a rain of red laser bolts that scorch the RazorCrest and Rustbucket’s hauls, forcing Cinder to fly them away and forget all about Vilgax. Around the debris field they go, zipping this way and that and gaining some distance between them and the much slower ship. But it’s no use, Malware’s range is too far reaching, and his aim is impeccable. The only thing saving them all is the RazorCrest’s and the RV’s combined ray fields but at this rate they’re not gonna hold out for very long.
[Hahaha!! Yes! Yes! You will all succumb to my power!!]
[“No.”] Another call interrupts the open channel. [“You will succumb to ours.”]
The rear of Malware’s haul lights up with incoming laser fire that become a glorious fireworks show of blue bursts and blasts that knock the monstrous ship aside. And making room for the Plus Ultra to soar high and mighty amongst them all.
Magister Nezu calls out through the open channel, not giving a hoot if the enemy overhears him. [“Be not afraid my previous students and friends. We will not let this virtual pathogen overwhelm us! Now push on! PUSH ON!!!”]
The Plus Ultra continues to open fire, laying on all it has while allowing the RazorCrest to pull away to safety and simultaneously pissing Malware off.
[Fleshbags!! You know not of what you speak!!]] In his fit of rage Malware unleashes coils of red and black veins that rip right through his own haul and armor. These coils lash out like tendrils back at the Plus Ultra where they latch on and pierce its haul. Acting like parasites the coils begin to drain the Plus Ultra of its own power causing its engines and laser fire to falter before these tendrils start injecting their venom in the form of Malware’s own dominance over technology. [Hear my declaration, meatsuits! Your power is nothing when compared to MINE!!!]
With the coils deeply embedded, Malware pills the Plus Ultra in like a kraken pulling in its prey towards its waiting jaws.
Meanwhile, those in the Rustbucket and RazorCrest are in a panic. With Cinder flying them back around with the intention of assisting their friends aboard the Plumber Ship. However, a pair of crimson beams zig and zag across the debris field before barreling into the RazorCrest’s side and nearly taking its wing.
Everyone aboard the vehicles scream and hold on for dear life as the ship is tossed through the stars before once again another beam smashes into the right flank. Then from the left. And the right again. This way and that way, they are knocked around like a tennis ball.
“Congratulations, Firebreather!” Vilgax calls through his radio, his eyes aglow with another Omega Beam. “You thought that you brought them all to save your spawn but instead you brought them all with you to die a most grizzly death!!”
Despite radiating such heat and energy NRG couldn't feel colder or more drained. It’s his worst nightmare come true; his friends are going to perish at the hands of his worst enemy. And he’s doing nothing about it but watching on like a helpless brat. They’re all going to be blasted into oblivion!! ‘I won’t let that happen. Not now. Not ever.’ Caressing the faceplate atop his chest, NRG hesitates. “Alright, newly fitted Omnitrix. You’ve been full of surprises so far. So how’s about another?” Placing a heavy hand over the dial, NRG’s entire form falls away under dazzling green energy.
Vilgax is savoring the moment, hovering close to the temporarily disabled RazorCrest as Cinder, Chopper, and Kraab hurry to restart the engines and weapons. But with Vilgax at their doorstep, there’s utterly no point. ““I’ve envisioned this day for a long time, Firebreather.” Drawing his claw out to his side he summons forth his jagged yet razor thin Infernal Sword that draws itself long enough to slice through even the RazorCrest. Holding it out he prepares to bisect them all with one fell swing. “The day I finally get rid of you is now!” With his muscles Inflames, Vilgax swings his blade through the infernal night. “Oh, how I’ve dreamt of this moment!!”
“Then keep on dreamin’!!”
*PEW!!!*
In mid swing, a single magenta colored laser strikes the perfect bullseye on the Infernal Sword which rips apart under the sniper shot.
Vilgax’s moment is ruined ; he will make whoever it was that interrupted him pay for their transgressions. “Who dares?!”
“I dare!!” A blur of red and yellow streaks into and past Vilgax, spinning him like a top before coming back again and again to bat him around like he had similarly done to the RazorCrest and Rustbucket.
“Enough!! I will not allow anyone to interfere with my glorious triumph!!” His Omega Beams race after this swift blur but the red and yellow streak is far too quick as it shoots the beams right out of the air with its heat vision of its own.
Everyone is stunned, including Vilgax, as they lay their eyes on this streak which finally slows down enough for them all to see that’s an alien stingray with red skin, yellow wings, and magenta glowing eyes. But it’s that smile, that big ol’ grin on his face that just reassures them all that it’s going to be okay.
“Sorry about that.” quips the stingray. “But snatching victory out of the jaws of defeat is what I do!”
Seething with rage, Vilgax fails to notice the green faceplate embedded into the alien’s skin. “And just who are you?”
“In this form…call me, JETRAY!!!” Jetray’s smile is infectious, wide and beaming; it shines almost as brightly as his own lasers.
“MIDORIYA!?!” All those inside the Rustbucket are in awe, Jetray’s out there! Flying around in space like he’s swimming in the ocean. Like he was born for this. It’s amazing!! A real wonder!
“Is that really him?!” Red Riot awes. “Man, he looks so cool right now!”
Clinging to the back of the passenger seat, Ingenium can’t look away. “Uraraka, how many new aliens did he receive again?”
Uravity leans forward in the driver seat as she recounts the Omnitrix’s announcement in her head. “Oh yeah, the Omnitrix gave him nine new aliens.”
“NINE!?!” Her friends shout.
Uravity nods, unable to take her eyes off the show they’re about to witness. “Come on Deku. You can do it! Use your Nine new aliens to beat him!!”
Having seen them out from his periphery, Jetray flashes them a smile and a thumbs up in encouragement. To which they all return the gesture.
Feeling like he has approval, he zips away in one moment and in the next an array of magenta blasts are detonating off of Malware’s haul.
Jetray beams a burning line across the top of Malware’ ship causing it to burn and detonate with power.
[RAAAHHH!!!] Crying out in pain and anger, Malware lash out with a bombardment of laser fire and missiles.
But despite his high-quality instruments and targeting systems Malware has no hope of striking down such a small and swift target. Jetray makes it look like a breeze, gliding through the incoming laser fire and missiles that don’t as much graze his aura. And those that do make it close are blasted out of the air by the alien stingray’s own heat vision. “Hahaha!! This! Is! AWESOME!!!”
%%%%%%%%%[MEANWHILE]%%% %%%%%
“Well, done young warrior. Send those Flarkin bastards to Sheol!!” Xylene eyes the fireworks show out of her own periphery, and it should be her second focus as she’s too busy maneuvering her ship against the fallen Chimeran Hammer which is being pulled in by the moon’s gravitational pull.
Placing her ship vertically she seals her ship against one of the Chimeran Hammer’s air locks, making sure she’s sealed in as to not be pulled into space. Once she knows that her ship isn’t going anywhere she quickly climbs down her seat to the latch against the floor and with a press of her hand it opens.
And immediately Bakugou comes barreling in. “About time! We were waiting her forever!!”
“Apologies, I had to move stealthily as to not draw fire to our location.”
Bakugou scrambles up to the passenger seat as Shoto slides in after him along with Lucy and Thirteen.
“Who cares about that?!” Bakugou barks while looking over the controls of the ship as if somehow he’ll just know which is the launch button. “Now come on, Deku needs us!!”
Hovering up to him, Xylene assures that everything’s been covered. “No need to stoke your fire, young warrior. Mido-...Deku has the situation well in hand.”
%%%%%%%%%%%% %%%%%
That he does.
Jetray’s like a living bullet, flying this way and that while blazing a trail of destruction behind him. Malware’s haul is barraged by his volley of magenta beams causing the entire ship to shake and groan with twisting metal.
Which only serves to anger the scarlet Galvanic Mechamorph into unleashes its coils after his flying attacker.
But Jetray’s far too agile for even Malware’s coils to grab. He zooms past while blasting them apart with pinpoint accuracy.
Jetray zips towards the coils connecting Malware to the Plus Ultra and fires a beam that blasts them apart. “Woo!! Yeah, baby!! Hahaha!!” He cheers as he spins away through the explosions and debris.
[RAAAAH!!! Curse you Izuku Midoriya!! Curse you!!] Malware fires after him but it only incentives the flier to come around for another go.
“Hahahaha!!”
%%%%%%%%%[MEANWHILE]%%% %%%%%
This escape pod is small but roomy enough for Nue to fit his sorry ass inside alongside the still unconscious Rojo. But for an escape pod it's incredibly slow, it’s practically drifting and doing nothing but being pulled in by the Earth’s Gravitational pull. Thankfully it does come with an autopilot meaning Nue’s not just gonna crash into some nightmarish landscape, like New Jersey. Nope! it’s Japan or bust.
But right now, that’s not Nue’s focus. No, instead he has his head pressed against the little portal window so that he may stare out back at the glorious scene before his eyes.
From here, Jetray looks like a laser pointer being whipped around this way and that at incredible speeds. Making it difficult for Malware who’s forced to fire randomly into the stars with bolts of red. With the Plus Ultra slowly recovering as it pulls away and begins to fire back at its attacker. All the while in the background, the Chimeran Hammer splits apart into three while falling apart at the seams with pillars of explosions, lightning and rubble as it drifts closer and closer towards the moon.
“Damn, Deku. When did you become such a showoff?” He’s got to give him props here; he’s lighting up Malware’s ass real good. Literally as Jetray just blasted one of Malware’s engines clean off. “I guess you do know how to party. Hm?”
Wait there’s something floating towards them, it looks humanoid and armored in purple attire that has definitely seen better days.
“Well all be?” Nue grins as the damaged and probably unconscious SevenSeven comes floating into view. “What do you think, Red? Think we should pick up another hitchhiker?”
%%%%%%%%%%%% %%%%%
“Woo-oo!! Go get ‘em, Deku!!” Uravity playfully points finger guns at Malware and his attacking coils to which Jetray coincidentally blasts apart at the same time she “pulls” the trigger. “Pew! Pew! Hahaha!!”
“Bark! Bark! Cosmo happily wags along with her antics.
Creati is in awe of the magenta and red fireworks display. “Amazing!”
Red Riot pumps his fist into the air with gusto. “Kick their butts, Midorya!”
Iida squints at the opposing ship and specifically focuses on its red and black markings. “Hang on a second. Is that the same villain that invaded I-Island?! Was it an alien this whole time?!”
Groaning, Toshinori winces as he pulls himself along the stationary seats and counter from the back of the RV to the front.
“All Might!” Uravity gasps. “You should be resting!”
He stops her with a hand and a shake of his head. “No. I need to see this.”
He insists and he keeps to his word, watching as Jetray shoots down Malware’s incoming missiles as the recovered Plus Ultra begins to open fire onto Malware again while Xylene’s own ship races past to join the fray.
“This is next level.” Toshinori breathes, watching as Jetray spins and jets between a web of incoming coils. “He’s amazing.”
“He unstoppable!” Uravity cheers. “Nothing can stop him now!”
Red Riot shrugs although he can’t stop smiling. “Well, except for his time limit.”
Uravity waves it off though. “Oh, that’s not a problem anymore.”
“It’s not?”
“No, it’s not.” Eraserhead replies after pulling his way up too before collapsing onto the mounted table. “The Omnitrix recalibrated; he doesn’t have a ten minute time limit anymore. But it still has a limiter, based on his own staying power or something.”
Pinky nods in understanding. “Oh, then it’s a good thing he can breathe out there.”
Uravity blinks. “Say what now?”
“Well, he’s got gills!” She gestures to her own bare neck with her hands opening and closing to mimic gills. “But his normal-human form doesn’t so it’s a good thing you gave him a helmet so he can breathe.”
For a split second Uravity forgets how to breathe as all the air in her lungs suddenly vanishes…
Creati suddenly gets a very bad and ominous feeling. “Ochaco… You did give him the proper gear…correct?”
As if to check, Uravity hurriedly digs through her pockets and sure enough, much to her own horror, she pulls out the very specific item she was supposed to give to him! At first glance it’s nothing more than the very same mouthpiece Deku always wears on his costume. But considering that it was tailor made by Melissa Shield must mean it’s high-grade tech.
“I forgot to give this to him!!”
Everyone from her teachers to her friends scream. “WHAT!?! HOW!?!”
“I didn’t mean to! Between all the peril and excitement, it must have slipped my mind!”
A shiver runs down Red Riot’s spine. “So, then…what’ll happen when he runs out of energy?”
Not waiting to find out, Uravity scrambles for the RV’s radio. “DEKU!!! CAN YOU READ ME!?!”
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
[“Deku!! You have to listen to me!! IT’S IMPORTANT!!!”]
“Hey! Uraraka!” Jetray replies over the com-link as he weaves his way through the debris field. “You made it out! Phew. I was really worried.” Especially considering that the Chimeran Hammer has been blown into several massive chunks that are all begin to breach what would be the moon’s imaginary atmosphere. “So, what’s up?”
[“Come to the Rustbucket you need your hel-”]
“Ahhh!!” Sharp, iron claws dig into Jetray’s shoulder before pulling him into a tight, backbreaking hold.
Vilgax grips him tight against his chest as he attempts to wrangle this swift foe. “I will not be forgotten! You are my quarry!”
“And you’re an eyesore!!” Jetray blasts him point blank with his laser vision.
Tow which blasts Vilgax off and away from him. The villain is sent spinning back but with some quick adjustments of his cybernetics he manages to right himself.
But it’s not long after that he’s the one that’s grappled from behind as Jetray swoops in and claws into his spine.
“Let’s get up close and personal!” Jetray pulls them both into a dive, right towards the broken haul of the imploding Chimeran Hammer that is just mere kilometers from striking the moon’s crust. “Coming in hot!!”
As they approach Jetray drops Vilgax hard against the top of the falling ship before zipping away and leaving him there.
However, he was not so quick to escape one of the titan’s tentacles which wrap around his tail and slams him down onto the ship.
“You are…nothing!!” The enraged Vilgax pulls him in as he draws his Infernal Sword. “You were-are my prisoner! The Omnitrix is my prize!”
In a panic, Jetray accidently fires a laser from the tip of his tail, which strikes Vilgax square in the chest, making him falter. Which gives the stingray the chance he needs to scramble free.
Shaking off the shot to his shoulder, Vilgax forgets all about decapitating the nuisance. Instead, he swings his Infernal Sword down he slices apart the haul of the ship which sends shrapnel and chunks of metal into the void. “I earned it! I always get what is rightfully mine!! Always!!” using the same Infernal Sword he strikes the back of the floating debris with all his strength! And with no drag or friction in the way, the projectiles might as well be shotgun shells.
Realizing that Jetray can’t possibly be that durable, Izuku quickly mid-transforms into a previously discovered alien. “GRAVATTACK!!!”
Gravattack emerges and he quickly produces a hand forward. A pink ring quickly summons around his wrist allowing him to manipulate the gravitational pull of the incoming projectiles. He tries to cast them aside but instead he pulls them up and around himself, quickly with his free hand he summons them back, trapping them in a ring of gravity around himself. Around and around, they go as his pull on them grows stronger. So strong in fact that he pulls his own feet and arms towards his core, and thus folding himself into a living planet. The rings around his wrists merge together forming a planetary ring around himself as the racing debris orbits around him.
Vilgax is taken back, he’s not sure what to make of this phenomenon.
But Gravattack knows what to do.
“Like you said, you always get what’s yours!!” With beginner's luck he launches the spinning projectiles right back at their launcher.
Vilgax is pelted by the high velocity projectiles with such speed and force that they actually manage to dent and crack his armor. Drawing his Ziegel Shield he blocks the incoming projectiles and charges forth intending to finish the gravity wielder up close.
However, with a flick of the wrist gravity wells up around the titan, holding him in place. “You just never learn.” Gravattack snarls as he prepares to flatten the Mad Titan against the haul of his own ship.
“Foolish child, I never make the same mistake twice.” Vilgax’s eyes burn and unleash Omega Beams that slam squarely into Gravattack’s exposed core.
“AAAHHH!!!” Out of reflex Gravattack swats Vilgax back and away with a swell of gravity but the villain digs his claws in, preventing him from leaving.
“You cannot destroy me! I am Vilgax the Conqueror! I forged my empire with my own two hands! And like me it will never fall!!”
Fighting through the burning sensation in his chest cavity, Gravattack stands his ground as he stretches his hand out far behind him as if grasping for something invisible. A ring of a rosy hue emanates from around his outstretched wrist and a pulse is sent out, a pulse that stretches out kilometers into the sky to catch onto the other half of the floating Chimeran Hammer. “WANNA BET!?!”
With a mighty swing Gravattack brings the monstrosity of burning metal down upon them both! And Vilgax can only watch in shock-and-awe as a fiery beast of metal swallows them both in its gigantic jaws.
“I’LL KILL YOU!!!” With a roar Vilgax charges.
Gravattack releases his hold, and they clash, locking grips as they struggle to overwhelm the other. Just as trillion tons of metal crashes down all around them causing explosions ring, metal to spit apart, and oil to bleed out as the two-halves of the same ship plummet towards the moon.
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“DEKU!!!” Uravity cries out into the com-link as the entire two-halves of the same ship plummet towards the moon. “Why are we just sitting here! We have to help him!”
[“We cannot.”] Magister Nezu regretfully admits. [“Any closer, any mistake, and we risk becoming part of the wreckage. We cannot get close.”]
Uravity and the others are left appalled by the idea of sitting back and watching but with the sheer pandemonium outside they have no choice but to hope and pray for the best.
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As the two-halves of the same ship crash and plummet, Vilgax finds himself falling yet pulled forward and back all at once! Against his own will his body is thrown through layers of metal, flames, and piping before being pulled back in through another collapsing wall.
He blasts the wall away with an Omega Beam just to reveal the earth-crusted fist awaiting his arrival.
“You’re finished!!” Gravattack roars as he socks the bastard right in the face.
Vilgax is launched back through the ship. He’s batted against hallways, pipes, and exposed cables as the entire ship collapses all around them like a movie reel playing on face forward. And yet with every strike, every ounce of pain, only serves to fuel his own rage. “I will not fall to the likes of you!!” Kicking in an entire healing pod, Vilgax demolishes his way through the ever-falling ship with nothing but a constant stream of Omega Beams lighting his way. The beams are more intense than before, like flamethrowers they pour endlessly out into the hellscape, not even bothering to avoid the many falling obstacles in their way they blast right through everything with no mercy! All just to burn right through Gravattack’s head.
Releasing that he won’t be able to handle such an onslaught, Gravattack prays for another miracle as he slams a hand down onto the Omnitrix!
“CHROMASTONE!!!” The crystal-guardian emerges and immediately shields himself with his arms crossed into an X in order to take the incoming beam like a champ.
“You villain!!” With his new surge of energy Chromastone blasts forward and flies his way through the collapsing vessel. Screaming he plows into Vilgax, tackling him and pulling him along into and through sections of hallways. “Is this what you wanted?! Total destruction?! TOTAL ANARCHY!?!”
Raising his fists Vilgax hammers them into the guardian’s back, bringing them both down. Smashing through a set of massive doors they crash their way into a room filled with scorched and trashed lab equipment and machinery.
Vilgax recognizes the location as his science wing, but that holds little significance anymore. “I am no animal. I am no monster. And certainly not some random blade. I am necessary.” Summoning his Infernal Sword, the inky-ooze reforms itself into that of a giant axe. “ I am a tool of precision!! One that will cut out all those that afflict my domain!!” His massive blade slams into Chromastone who tries his best to tank the hit but is ultimately overpowered and tossed against a sparking wall.
Chromastone tries to counter with beams of light, but the axe is too thick. Sure, he peels away its layers but by the time Vilgax reaches him again it’s too late to act as the villain plows into him and they crash their way back into the plummeting hallways.
Realizing he can get away, Chromastone tries to fly up and away, but Vilgax is not done toying with him yet. Locking a tentacle around his leg Vilgax pulls him in and shoves him down as they rapidly approach a horizontal intersection!
*SMASH!!! Crashing their way through the floor they end up in a massive area with large almost egg-shaped power cells that are all laid out in a sort-of grid amongst a series of catwalks. Or at least they were before some sort of fireball worked its way through here.
Chromastone uses his free hand and jabs it into one of the dead power cells, the force of which yanks him free of Vilgax’s grip. With the villain now plummeting he lets go so he may use both fists to fire a beam straight down at his spine!!
Crying out in agony Vilgax is blasted straight down into and through several of the power cells that burst like fireworks with the little power they had stored. The explosions of electricity rock Vilgax, scorching him and his cybernetics before blasting straight out of the Ideon Cannon’s power grid and through the gaping hole in the side of the ship.
Not willing to allow his quarry to escape, Chromastone rockets after him. It appears that the gaping hole led them back outside the plummeting ship. However, more and more sections of the ship are breaking apart making it difficult to tell which way is up as entire sections of the Chimeran hammer fall all around him. It’s then spots Vilgax clinging to a web of twisted and burning cables that are linked with yet another one of these plummeting sections.
Racing after him, Chromastone lets out a curdling war cry as he slams into Vilgax’s side. They tussle in the air as they both fly straight into the ship’s outer hangar doors. They land against the wall of the hangar that is down sitting sideways, horizontally, all around them corpses of defeated droids and Sentinels are flung about. Fires rage in the little pockets of air there is left. But Chromastone doesn’t care, the only thing that matters is crushing the creature in his hands. “You’re a monster! You’re nothing but a weapon of mass destruction!!”
Shoving the crystal-guardian off Vilgax is then nearly crushed by a massive metal ball from behind. Spinning around Vilgax is pleased to find that it is in fact his personal Spiked-Pod has survived, it’s the same battle tested vehicle he used in Kamino Ward, but it seems to have taken some damage. But that matters not as it gives Vilgax a new weapon. Summoning his tentacles they stretch out and around the pod before oozing with an inky darkness that spreads across the entire husk of the pod. He tries to raise the makeshift weapon, but he’s forced to summon the power of Inflame and his cybernetics in order to do so, And so with his tentacles acting as a burning hilt, Vilgax reveals to the hero his black and crimson mace of destruction.
“I am an instrument of destruction! And one that CANNOT BE STOPPED!!!” Vilgax unleashes his new toy onto the poor hero; it’s like a wrecking ball straight from hell. One strike may just spell his doom if he's not careful.
And so rocketing himself up with a blast to the ground, Chromastone spins away as the hellish wrecking ball comes crashing down in front of him.
Realizing that this weapon is too heavy, Chromastone goes for the attack assuming Vilgax won’t be able to react in time. “I’ll stop you! I will!!” He goes in for the punch as his fist illuminated with every color of the rainbow. “Because I am a hero!!”
“No. You’re not.” The wrecking ball is suddenly pulled in, using the combined tension of his tentacles and Inflame, Vilgax reels in that heavy weapon like a yoyo and with a swing he slams it right into Chromastone’s back.
Despite controlling the swing, he cannot control the direction as thew wrecking ball barrels past and smashes Chromastone right into and through the thick walls of the hangar bay.
Using the weight to carry him, Vilgax follows his prey back out into space, where broken off prison cells are falling all around them like rain.
And flying amongst them is the crystal-guardian himself. “Who do you think I am?” Firing Omega Beams Vilgax doesn’t aim for the crystal-being instead he blasts apart the falling cells, making them explode with shrapnel that pelt away at Chromastone’s hide. “I am the Conqueror of Worlds! The Mad Titan! The Grand Destroyer!!” With every declaration he blasts apart any and all empty prison cells that Chromastone is near, herding the youngling in closer as a result.
“Those are my titles. My Crowns!!”
Chromastone is caught totally off guard when Vilgax’s mace crashes into his side and knocks him away like a baseball. It’s a homeroom as he’s thrown right back into the place it all started, the domed arena. Gone is the darkness from before, now merely a husk as almost every panel has been torn away by gravity and the powers of destruction.
Said power then comes barreling towards him with a vengeance! “They perfectly exemplify who I am!” The Mad Titan crash lands beside Chromastone who immediately begins to fire a beam.
Using his free hand, Vilgax blocks the beam with a Ziegel Shield. “They’re a declaration of what I am!” He continues as he attempts to grab the guardian with a fang-encrusted Bio-fist. “And what I always will be!”
He manages to grab the alien, however, Chromastone quickly breaks his hold by releases a pulse of light rays all around himself. Breaking the villain’s hold, literally, as the pulse breaks the fangs apart.
“I do not yield; I do not submit!” Ignoring the damage to his hand, Vilgax swift by firing Omega Beams. The beams zip up and behind him and around the wrecking ball where they blast it back in the opposite direction!
Unable to dodge in fast moving projectile, the crystal-guardian braces himself as it slams into him from the front and knocks him out of the plummeting arena.
Again, using the weight and momentum of the weapon to his advantage, Vilgax is carried out after him. “Every planet. Every army. Every pathetic attempt for supposed peace I have crushed!! Like I will crush you here and NOW!!!”
The moon’s surface is only kilometers away now. Sections of what was the Chimeran Hammer have already made impact. And soon Chromastone will be angst the wreckage if Vilgax has any say in the matter, and he does.
“WHAT TITLES HAVE YOU BEEN CROWNED WITH!?!” He spins the wrecking ball away from Chromastone who attempts to shoot down his attacker.
The beams of light burn at Vilgax’s muscles and shoulder, clearly doing damage, but it’s not enough to stop what’s coming.
“WHAT TRIUMPHENTS ARE TO YOUR NAME!?!” With a spin and with Inflame burning at all cylinders Vilgax launches the Spiked-Pod straight down at his enemy. “JUST WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE!?!” Unleashing yet another rage fueled Omega Beam the burning beam slams into the plummeting wrecking ball, launching down so fast that it becomes a meteor!
Chromastone desperately fires all that he has at the meteor but his power, his waning strength, is not enough and with a horrible SLAM he’s caught in the meteor’s wrath. And sent strength down into the moon’s crust as the severed Chimeran Hammer comes crashing down all around him.
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“DEKUUU!!!” Uravity wails but to no answer as everyone has been shaken to their very cores; with jaws clenched and hearts full of dread. No one peeps a word as silent explosions and shockwaves scar the moon’s surface.
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Watching from on-high, Bakugou has shoved his way into the cockpit alongside a stunned into silent Xylene. He scans the wreckage, looking for any signs of a struggle. “Come on… Get your ass up, Deku…”
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Even from this far away, Nue was able to spot that falling green star strike the moon. Witnessing it was like hearing the gong ring, he knows that no matter what happens next will spell the end…
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This is the end. Or at least that’s how Chromastone’s body feels. The impact. The falls. The destruction. It’s all been too much. Everything is hazy and gray and he’s unsure if it's his own vision or the clouds of grey moon dust billowing above him. There’s a ringing in his ears and his entire body feels like it's bleeding but thankful there is no blood to bleed in this form. Lights dance in his vision, white lights that he tries to blink away only to realize that the white lights are bleeding from his body, through newly formed fractures along his chest and body.
Groaning he tries to get up, but his body won’t let him as his head soon collapses back onto the bottom of the newly formed crater.
And although he doesn’t hear through the void of space, with his head so close to the ground, he can feel the ground rumbling increasingly so as a giant shadow approaches before taking form in his hazy vision as a green tentacled menace.
He shoots his fist up in an attempt to fire a shot but with a quick flick Vilgax swats that hand away.
Utterly exhausted Chromastone is left helpless at the foot of this titan who seems to be reveling in the boy’s defeated state.
“You have no power. No worth. No name. No titles to call your own.” Vilgax looms over him while talking to him like he was a poor wounded animal that must be put down. “You’ve earned nothing, not your own name, not your accolades. Even with “Nine” new sources of power at your fingertips you are useless against me. In the grand scheme of this universe… You. Are. NOTHING.”
His words ring out thunderously in his ears, down to his heart and through to his very soul. And a part of him, that weaker lonely child part of him would like to agree. It would be so easy to. To give up. And say that it was all worthless.
“You’re…right.” Chromastone admits with a tearful breath. “I don’t have a Quirk. And I grew up thinking…that I had no worth. I had nothing to my name; not my father, not friends, and no power to call my own. I was…nothing special.”
If only he could hear the hearts breaking at his own admittance. His friends, his teachers, his heroes are stunned into silence. Their hearts ache for the boy, defeated and crushed they can only assume that his will has been shattered; pounded into dust and left to drift in the wind. Tears begin to well up in their eyes as they find their will to fight on lost as well.
“But…I don’t think that anymore.”
Hope rushes back. They all snap back to reality, and silently cheer on as Chromastone slowly yet steadily gets back onto his feet.
“It took me a while to figure out but…the real reason I was so down on myself. Why I lacked to recognize the real me…was because I was alone. My world was so small. So tiny. And lonely. But not anymore.” Finally on his feet he looks up towards the sky towards the three starcrafts drifting miles above his head. “The Omnitrix didn't just give me powers but it gave something even better. A chance. A chance to widen the world around me. It gave me friends. Family. A sense of purpose. And a chance to make my dreams come true! A chance to be better. A chance to be a hero!” With confidence surging and courage spurring him forth, this brave crystal-guardian stands his ground before the seething Mad Titan, ”You talk about titles. You question who I even am. Well, Vilgax the Conqueror of Worlds, I finally have an answer for you.” With a fist over the Omnitrix, he takes a deep breath before making a declaration to the entire universe. “I’m Izuku Midoriya! And I am the hero known as Deku!! DEKU 9!!!”
Like a salute he pounds his fist against the Omnitrix, and his entire body is consumed with radiating green lights!
Realizing that this child will not go down quietly, that this flame will spread like wildfire if not contained. Vilgax launches into an attack in an attempt to snuff this flame out once and for all!! But he’s stopped, he’s struck back with such a force that not even he can match. It sends tremors throughout his entire body, making his muscles tighten and his limbs to squeeze in place.
No, he wasn’t knocked back, he was grabbed! Grabbed in a mighty fist so large it can hold him like a child’s plaything. The air is knocked out of him as this fist raises him into the air so fast that it makes his inner ears bleed. Entire pillars of moon dust rise with him as what feels like an entire skyscraper has just sprouted out of the moon’s crust, leaving Vilgax in sheer awe and horror.
[PLAY SONG: “ My Hero Academia - You Say Run | Epic Plus Ultra Cover!! ”]
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Whereas all of Deku 9’s friends are left in awe and wonder. They watch as a giant of being rises from within the dust to a stature so large and tall that it simply takes their breaths away.
Watching on from Xylene’s ship, Shoto’s eyes could be compared to an owls as he watches this magnificent being rise to heights of
Way Big glowers at the bug between his fingers like he’s contemplating if he should squeeze down and end it. But the idea of getting goop all over himself is so foul he’ll not have it. And so, he does what everyone does with a piece of trash, HE THROWS IT AWAY!!!
And throws him he does! With a full swing and the flick of the wrist he launches Vilgax across the moon surface like a stone skipping water before BLAM he’s crushed into the side of a literal mountain !
Despite how devastating the impact was Vilgax managed to survive that final landing with a Ziegel Shield although parts of his armor and cybernetics have broken away and he’s sure he’s bleeding blue blood somewhere underneath his cracked breastplate.
He wheezes for breath; it seems that his respirator has taken some damage as well. But he has no time to catch his breath with Way Big running across the landscape after him.
As the colossus races closer, it becomes clear that he’s winding up for a kick.
For once panic and fear surges through Vilgax’s veins and using Inflame he manages to leap far enough away to not be kicked to oblivion! Which certainly would have been his fate as Way Big’s kick totally demolishes the mountain into a canyon!!
“How. Dare. YOU!!!” Vilgax’s eyes burn red as he locks his gaze onto the giant’s Achilles tendon. “Prepare to fall you-”
He’s cut off completely when Way Big backhands him with little to no remorse.
And away he goes flying off back in the direction he came from! And this time Vilgax isn’t able to pull off a Ziegel Shield before he’s thrown through several layers of his own ship.
Explosions ring in his wake as he’s unwillingly thrown through layers of metal, cables, and rubble before coming to an explosive halt back through the other side and near an array of broken ordinances.
If he wasn’t sure that he was bleeding before then he for sure is now. And that fact alone sends the titan into an uproar! He’s prepared to rampage, but his calculating mind keeps him reigned in and observant of his surroundings. Taking in the number of ordinances around him he notices a massive cannon, a turret meant to shoot down enemy ships lying prone nearby. This turret, which is the size of several semi-trucks, was supposed to be on the haul of his ship but it seems it has broken away after the crash.
It appears to be intact for the most part and still loaded to the brim with plasma shells. Which gives Vilgax an idea.
But he better act fast since Way Big is already making his way over, sprinting so fas that he leaves pillars of moon dust in his wake!
Vilgax latches onto the massive torrent, his tentacles spread out to help leverage the machine. His entire body burns from within as he uses Inflame to help lift and aim the heavy cannon. And when he’s locked in he fires, unleashes a bombardment of hell onto the giant. “Mwahahahahaha!!!”
With a storm of fire coming his way, Way Big screeches to a halt just as he reaches the edges of the Chimeran Hammer. He’s too big to dodge and too big to move out of sight or range. So, instead he grabs onto a piece of the Chimeran Hammer’s outer shell and pulls it free to make himself a shield.
It works perfectly; the haul albeit damaged is just thick enough to be pelted by the concussive blasts without any issue. But the onslaught is coming in too fast and too hot for him to even think about moving closer or away. He’s at a loss as to what to do.
Shifting in place his foot bumps into something round yet sharp. Peering down that where he spots Vilgax’s personal Spike-Pod rolling beside him. It must have survived the crash although it is heavily damaged with missing spikes and an indent that’s shaped too much like Chromastone. Looking at it from this height kinda reminds Way Big of the softball he used on his first day at U.A. Which gives him the perfect idea.
Vilgax is having a blast, this is so exhilarating. Sure it’s slow but at this rate he’ll have this giant as part of the moon’s landscape too. And it appears he’ll have his chance as Way Big pokes his head out from behind his own shield.
Vilgax is ready, with all his strength he aims the turret accordingly even as it continues to fire away.
But he was not fast enough as Way Big pitches a red projectile back at him! The projectile is a blur, moving so fast that if he blinks he’ll miss it. And that’s exactly what happens because in one mili-second he’s holding the cannon and in the next the cannon is gone. Vanished from thin air, with only pieces of floating shrapnel left in midair acting as any proof that it even existed at all. Just like any confidence Vilgax had left.
“I HOPE YOU HAD FUN. CAUSE IT’S MY TURN!” With emphasis he makes a T-shaped formation with his hands which seems to release particles of golden light between them. “SPACIUM BEAM!!!” With a roar, a devastating golden beam is unleashed upon the moon! This concentration of cosmic rays sources the moon’s mantle as it carves a path right towards the titan.
Summoning his golden shield, Vilgax hopes to stave off this attack but it’s for not as the Spacium Beam totally consumes him! Roaring out in pain and agony he wraps his burning tentacles around the shield’s frame and like before summons forth his Infernal Sword and Bio-Fists to help strengthen his shield.
But this only serves to postpone his defeat which is proven as the sheer force behind this power begins to push him back across the landscape.
Realizing that standing his ground won’t be enough the titan fights to reach the edges of the beam to which he dives away and with an Inflamed jumped that’s boosted from a whip of his tentacles against the ground, launches him right at Way Big. With his combination of the Ziegel Shield, Infernal Sword, and Bio-fist in front Vilgax bashes the amalgamation of powers against Way Big’s skull.
Way Big’s head snaps back with the strike to the forehead and he nearly stumbles and falls back until he plants his foot in place.
With the momentum carrying him, Vilgax was bounced up and over the giant, and now in the alien’s blindspot instead of firing he prepares his ultimate finisher!!
“Never! I will never fall!! Not to the likes of you, Deku 9!!” He begins with his Infernal Sword. “It is impossible!!” He roars as his fist turns into an array of claws and fangs that soon spread across the hilt of the blade as his tentacles intwine themselves around the blade. “I am Vilgax the Conqueror!”A golden hue surrounds the entire jagged dark blade, making it three times the size. “The Mad Titan!” A pair of Omega Beams race around the edges of the blade at impossibly fast speeds of light. “The Grand Destroyer!” Inflame consumes his entire body making it burn red from within, and that same burning hatred courses up his tentacles and into the blade, turning its array of hues into a single crimson red. “I AM THE ONE THAT BRINGS FEAR TO ALL BEINGS!!!” .
Standing his ground, Way Big prepares to finish this nightmare once and for all. “HAVE YOU NOT BEEN PAYING ATTENTION?” Reeling his fist back he cocks it like a gun as he awaits for the right moment. “I WILL PUSH PAST MY FEARS! BEYOND MY RESERVATIONS! TO PUSH FORWARD!!
Watching from places on high his friends, teachers, and family are all caught up in the moment as they all cheer out as one.
“KICK HIS ASS!!!” roars Bakugou, Shoto, and Thirteen.
“DO YOUR BEST, DEKU 9!!!” Uravity and the others scream as Cosmo howls along.
“STOP THIS VILLAIN!!” shout his teachers!
And together they all sing out alongside Way Big. “TO GO BEYOND; PLUS ULTRAAAAA!!!”
His fist burns ablaze with a golden surge of cosmic power and with a roar his fist rockets across the sky like a golden meteor to meet Vilgax’s blade! “TERRA-NOVA SMAAAAASH!!!”
These two titans clash in the air; a cosmic fist to a hellish blade. The impact sends shockwaves throughout the stars causing the moon to experience earthquakes like never before.
“You cannot defeat me! My conquest is inevitable! I am everlasting! MY RULE WILL BE FOR ALL TIME!!!”
“YOUR TIME IS OVER, VILGAX!” His SMASH makes headway as the titan’s blade begins to crack.
“IT’S OUR TIME!”
The villain’s straining so hard against his own power that his veins begin to bleed across his body.
“IT’S HERO TIIIMMMEEE!!!” Sheer willpower overtakes Way Big as his blazing fist SMASHES through the Quirks, shattering the blade to oblivion, before his fist envelopes Vilgax’s entire frame! And with an eruption of pure unchained power Vilgax’s body is torn apart as he’s sent flying through the sky like a shooting star! Off and away, he goes, rocketing away in agony and defeat until he vanishes completely from sight into the infinite darkness of space. And out into the universe he was so ambitious to conquer.
Astonishment. Sheer astonishment has everyone silent. They dare not look away as their minds slowly begin to process what’s happened. It feels almost unreal, like a dream, a mirage perhaps. But could it be…?
They watch with silent intent as Way Big falters in place. His fist, no longer a glow with cosmic rays, seems cold and stiff in comparison to as it was before. His arms drop to his sides as he stands back with his head fallen back as if he’s trying to inhale a breath that isn’t there. And for a moment they all fear the worst, that perhaps it was too much for him, too much for his body, and maybe too much for his soul.
But Way Big…doesn’t fall. His head, yes, but not his body. Even so he hasn’t faltered. Instead with his back towards the giant blue orb in the sky, he slowly raises his left fist as high as he can into the air. And with a steadfast spirit Way Big remains firmly in place as he strikes All Might’s signature pose.
Immediately the impact is felt as every human, alien, and droid present lets out cries of celebration! Their cries and cheers are so loud that they could be heard back on Earth and Way Big swears he can see the Rustbucket and RazorCrest shaking from all the excitement.
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“We did it! We did it! WE DID IT!!!” Mina, Momo, and Ochaco hug it out while jumping in place.
“That was totally EPIC!!!” Kirishima pumps his Harden fist in excitement. “Dude! Did you see what he did?!”
“Yes!” Pushing up his glasses, Iida is all smiles as his hands karate chops the air. “It was most spectacular!!”
^Wo-wop! Wo-wop! Wo-wop!^ Chopper spins around them all in celebration, not caring at all if he stumps any toes.
A soft smile adorns Aizawa’s tired face as he leans over the dashboard and out towards that shining star standing upon the moon. “And just when I thought you couldn’t become a bigger headache, Problem Child.” He means that in the sincerest way possible. Too bad his moment of peace is interrupted by Cosmo who’s running around and giving everyone a quick doggy kiss.
The cat lover manages to shove her away, but Cosmo’s not bothered. She just bounds away, bumping into Toshinori as she goes.
“Young Midoriya…you are truly one of a kind.” A tear of celebration rolls down Toshinori’s sunken cheek. “Well done young hero.”
As she celebrates, Ochaco and Toshinori lock eyes and they have a moment to silently recognize this significant and glorious moment. “He did it.”
Sharing this moment, they look out towards the stars, towards their home, and to the glorious icon just outside their window.
However, not everything seems to be as right as rain because Way Big’s once firm pose is fading. He wanes, wobbling slightly in place as his arm drops to his side while his chest labors for air that doesn’t exist.
A wave of dread sweeps away all the wind from Ochaco’s sails. ‘He’s exhausted! The Omnitrix’s gonna dial him back to human while he’s still out there!!’
In a panic she screams into her com-link. [“Mr. Midoriya!!”]
She hears static before Cinder answers. [“What’s up, Uraraka?”]
She can hear a lot cheering in the background but thankfully she can hear him loud and clear. “I have to get this item to Deku immediately! “How do I do that?!”
Hearing the rush in her voice, and trusting that it must be dire, he goes ahead and tells her exactly what she needs. [“The restroom. It acts as an airlock. Pull the handle up instead down and it’ll shoot you right out.”]
“Right! I’m off!!”
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‘IT’S OVER… IT’S FINALLY OVER…’ It’s such a weight off his shoulders, the chains have been broken and he’s free once again. And yet with the danger gone, his body, his spirit, begins to collapse from it all. He’s out of breath, his vision is turning hazy, and his entire body is aching with pain he wasn’t aware of up until now.
‘THE…OMNITRIX…’ It won’t be long until the Omnitrix loses its charge and he’s back to being human while on the moon. Especially with how completely and utterly drained of strength he is. He’s so utterly exhausted that he cannot bring himself to even raise his voice to call for help or even lift his foot in an attempt to reach a ship. What a way it woud be to go: defeated an alien overlord in one moment and the next his entire body implodes in on itself. Oh, how cruel fate can be.
But the thing about fate is that she is a fickle mistress.
“DEKUUU!!!”
That voice, it’s Uraraka’s. But where’s it coming from? Oh, yeah the com-links…
“Deku!! Deku!!” Ochaco cries as she glides through the air. Her Gyro-Disc is working overtime propelling her forward especially considering her earlier injuries. But thankfully her suit and new bubble-domed helmet are still intact enough for her to fly through space.
“I’m coming, Deku! I’m here!!” In her hand she holds out his hero costume’s mouthpiece.
“URArakaaa…?” Way Big begins to fade, the last of strength is gone and he begins to slowly collapse backwards as the Omnitrix’s charge begins to fade and his entire body is enveloped in green energy.
That’s when Ochaco reaches him, she latches on fast as Way Big’s body begins to shrink and she slaps the mouthpiece to where Izuku’s head should be. And it appears she reached him just in time as Izuku takes a deep inhale of contained air.
A dark green visor has unsheathed itself from out of the mouthguard which has perfectly sealed itself around Izuku’s face as a pair of earpieces cover his sides. His head and hair are left exposed but a transparent forcefield glitches over it, protecting it and him from the cold vacuum of space.
[ARTWORK: “ DEKU Helmet V.1 ” by “Voidv25” on DeviantArt.]
Izuku gasps for breath. As he does, a pair of holographic rings display on his visor, they shift and squeeze into themselves as they mimic his own expression from underneath.
“*Gasp!*” After a minute or so he starts to finally catch his breath again and relax despite floating aimlessly above the moon. To which the holographic rings widen in shock-and-awe of the sight.
But Ochaco’s got him, she holds on tight ensuring him that he’s not gonna drift away.
“T-thanks…Uraraka. Really…thank you…”
Ochaco smiles, relieved to have him back. “Thank Melissa. It’s a gift from her.”
He smiles playfully and the ring displays reflect as much. “Well, remind me to thank her.”
She returns the p;ayful banter. “I’m sure she’d appreciate that.”
Smiling, they just take a moment to catch their breaths. Floating there together, in an embrace as nothing but silence and the stars surrounding them. It’s peaceful. A long and hard earned peace that they’ve so dearly missed. And it’s a beautiful peace at that with them floating above moon without a fear of falling as the Earth shines down upon them, and stars twinkle in the distance as if in celebration of a great evil’s defeat.
“Thanks for coming after me, Uravity.”
“Any time, Deku 9.”
[ARTWORK: “ DEKU 9 UNLEASHED ” by “Voidv25” on DeviantArt.]
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It’s happened. It’s over. Wow. So much has happened. So much was built up to this. Essentially the entire story has been accumulating to this and it’s finished. It’s over. I would say that’s all she wrote. But it’s NOT!!!
There’s still so much more ahead of us! So, many more adventures! Like what’s gonna happen to Nue and his new friends? How are things going to change now? What’s going on with OFA? Is Vilgax really gone for good? What exactly does the future hold in store?!
But for now, the question is: What happens next? We just got the epilogue to this arc to get through and we’ll officially have ended this arc once and for all. Any ideas on how I should end it? Anything you’d like to see? Let me know and let’s see what we cook up.
Please keep in mind that the rest of the world, heroes, and class 1-A should not be made aware of aliens…yet.
*NEXT UPDATE. I would like the epilogue to be relatively and comparably shorter than this chapter. So, hopefully I can have it out within the next month or two. But I also have to write up our yearly Halloween Special chapter in my side story: “Heroes Never Die; It’s Hero Time, Anytime,” which may delay the next chapter’s update. So, maybe I will post the epilogue after on the day of this story’s fifth anniversary. We shall see how things play out.
*DEKU 9 After this point onward Izuku’s hero name will be Deku 9. I know it doesn’t exactly roll off the tongue, but this is actually how I’ve been referring to my version of Deku since this story’s conception and I always wanted to establish it here.
His name references not just his 9 new aliens but the fact he started with 9 aliens at the beginning, as well as the fact that in canon he is the 9th holder of One For All. While still being a call back to the name that started it all, Ben 10.
*RECALIBRATED OMNITRIX It finally happened. The Omnitrix has finally recalibrated. So, you can all stop asking me if it’s gonna happen!! I always planned for it to happen here and I think it worked perfectly.
So, to be clear the Omnitrix no longer has a time limit but an energy limit much like Alien Force had. Injuries will remain to carry over between aliens to Izuku. And he can transform from one alien to the next but it’s not a pure Master Control. So he can still revert back to human at the wrong times if he doesn’t manage his own stamina and transformations.
He also has all of the aliens he has collected up till now, which is why we had Rath appear just to help solidify that part, and yes I saw Deadpool and Wolverine right before being inspired to write that part. Actually, that movie might have also been an inspiration as to why Fasttrack now has an Aussie accent. In any case, Deku 9 now he has an added set of 9 NEW ALIENS as seen in Voidv25’s “Deku 9 Unleashed” artwork.
- Chromastone
- Fasttrack
- NRG
- Brainstorm
- Spidermonkey
- Gutrot
- Jetray
- Way Big
- Gravattack
*Now I know each of these aliens are capable of doing more than what I was able to convey in this chapter. Like yes, am aware that NRG’s armor can open but Izuku doesn’t know that yet. Had to cut some things out for time after all. I promise that I will dive into their individual powers, abilities, and techniques on a late date. But for now this is just their intros along with the rest of Deku 9’s alien friends.
*OMNITRIX ALIENS And with the end of this chapter our dear Deku 9 now officially has 33 aliens! If you want more details on said aliens including their names, species, powers, and abilities then check out this story’s TV TROPES page where you will find all of them listed and more.
TV TROPES LINK*: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Characters/HeroesNeverDieItsHeroTime
- Feedback
- XLR8
- Grey Matter
- Four Arms
- Ditto
- Ripjaws
- Terraspin
- Water Hazard
- Lodestar
- Buzzshock
- Diamondhead
- Big Chill
- Heatblast
- Stinkfly
- Wildmutt
- Rath
- Wildvine
- Bullfrag
- Cannonbolt
- Upchuck
- Ghostfreak
- Upgrade
- Shocksquatch
- Humungousaur
- Chromastone
- Fasttrack
- NRG
- Brainstorm
- Spidermonkey
- Gutrot
- Jetray
- Way Big
- Gravattack
*S.A.G.E. GUN So I briefly mentioned that I cut some things out for time. And one of those items was the S.A.G.E. Gun. I know I introduced a new function in the last chapter but with 9 new aliens to introduce, all the characters, the fights, etc. I decided to not incorporate the S.A.G.E. Gun for now. Plus I’ve been so busy I haven’t had proper time to design new S.A.G.E. Gun forms for each alien.
In the meantime, check out the S.A.G.E. Bazooka by “Voidv25” on Deviant Art.
Link to Artwork: “SAGE-GUN by Voidv25” on Deviant Art: https://www.deviantart.com/voidv25/art/Sage-Bazooka-1084646652
*ONE FOR ALL. I am well aware that people have issues with Ochaco having One For All. It was a combination of me trying to skip through other character’s development and taking shortcuts in an attempt to focus more on what I actually wanted to write: action, fights, aliens, etc.
But my hope is that after this chapter we can really begin to address those issues. As we kinda saw OFA act a bit strangely during this chapter. There are reasons for this, reasons I will delve into later on. But for now just know that she’s gonna have to really work or rather reign in OFA. And also in case it wasn’t hinted to or suggested enough, Ochaco will no longer die from having OFA after this chapter as well. And yes the two events are related to each other. (Again more details about them later).
**NEW ARTWORKS** OH MAN!!! Voidv25 has really come in clutch for me. They created not 1 but 2 different pieces of artwork for us! Of course, you have the Star-Lord inspired helmet, “DEKU Helmet V.1” which will be incorporated into Izuku’s hero costume. I will show this later but the helmet, since it was created by Melissa Shield, has the ability to shrink in and out of the mouthpiece like her pogo stick and gauntlet.
Link to Artwork: https://www.deviantart.com/voidv25/art/DEKU-Helmet-V-1-1103593526
But we also have the biggest artwork yet. The “DEKU 9 UNLEASHED” that reveals Deku 9 has his brand-new alien designs! I know some (most) are really basic with extremely minor changes but this was a lot of work to pull off and took a lot of time to do so. Voidv25 put a lot of effort into this, and I am just so appreciative of it. Please, everyone, send them your love and take some time to check out their works, especially this new piece called
Link to Artwork: https://www.deviantart.com/voidv25/art/DEKU-9-UNLEASHED-1103605595
*Finally, I will not be responding to Guest Reviewers from Ch.87 during this chapter. Instead, I will answer Ch.87’s reviews along with Ch.88’s reviews next time since these chapters are technically one big chapter anyway.
Chapter 95: Please have Patience
Chapter Text
I was supposed to post today but the universe said NOPE. And my brain and emotions can’t really handle anything else. So, I’ll save you the long details and just get to the point that all my progress for the next chapter is gone. Erased. Vanished. Gone. And now I have to start ALL OVER. (Please do not bombard me with questions, I really don’t have it in me to explain all the tedious details).
I know this was supposed to be this story’s 5th anniversary and this is a sad way to celebrate it but in this case life dropped the birthday cake, ruined the pinata, smashed the presents, and set the party zone on fire.
But I am not giving up. Like I said I will and have started the chapter all over. BUT I have no idea how good it will actually be since I am starting from scratch and my notes for the chapter are gone too. Soooo yeah my motivation is kinda snuffed because of this, talk about having the wind knocked out of you. It’s especially frustrating since it was gonna be posted today.
So, it’s probably gonna take another month to redo the entire thing. If I can, and I kinda doubt it, I’ll try to post on X-mas or New Years.
Please be patient, thank you.
Chapter 96: Sorry again...
Chapter Text
I’M ALIIIVE!!! Sorry for such an unexpected and unannounced hiatus guys; it was not my intention. If none of you have ever dealt with the surge of writer’s block that comes right after having weeks upon weeks of work vanish it is a real deluge of demonetization. So, I really needed to step away for a while there before I could even acknowledge that I had a story to write. Also didn’t help that I was traveling around for a while visiting family and friends right after the holidays.
And then after a few weeks of hiatus I was ready, ready to jump back into it. And just when I was about to start writing again one of my siblings introduced me to a Minecraft mod known as Cobblemon… annnnnd all of my creative focus went right into that for like over a month. Gosh my builds and Pokémon collection were so cool. But then some of my add-on mods updated and there was an error, and a lot of my structures were deleted and now I’ve lost motivation in that. Soooo that means I am officially ready to get back onto the saddle. I have already started to rewrite the next chapter but I’m about 35% - 45% through. And because I’m kinda writing from scratch here it’s been slow going but I’m making steady progress. So, I’m not sure when the next chapter will be up so please check in every Friday from here till then and I’m sure it’ll pop up. Take care and thank you all for your kind patience, support, and understanding.
Chapter 97: Resolution
Notes:
*It’s done. It’s here. So. Let’s. FINISH THIS!!!
*NOTICE!!! There is an Announcement at the end!! It’s very IMPORTANT!!!*
*TV TROPES LINK*: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Fanfic/HeroesNeverDieItsHeroTime
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
“Hold still now, dearie.” Recovery Girl lips pucker up before elongating from her face and smearing them against an angry blonde’s scuffed cheek.
“NO! I already told ya, I’m fine!!” Katsuki Bakugou howls in disgust even as his scrapes and bruises begin to vanish.
Eijiro Kirishima rushes in and latches himself to Bakugou, just in case he decides to get violent. “Come on, Bakugou! She don’t bite.”
“Yes she do!!”
Seated on a nearby cot, Shoto Todoroki watches as Bakugou finally pries himself free. “Maybe get him under a cat-scan. He might have a concussion.”
“Shut your mouth, Todoroki.”
Kirishima gasps in horror. “He’s losing it!! He just used Todoroki’s real name!!”
A few chuckles and a few concerned gasps echo across the vastness of the Plus Ultra’s hangar. Spread across the wide, open space are rows of cots and crates of which everyone is either using as beds, chairs, or tables. Not exactly state of the art but with the chaos over with, everyone just naturally reconvened down here with a ray shield acting as a wide open window for them all to stare out into the stars whenever they want to.
Although not everyone is here to enjoy the sights, the more critically injured like All Might, Gran Torino, and Eraserhead were all carted away to the actual infirmary. Recovery Girl actually just came from there just to make sure everyone else was patching themselves up correctly.
Izuku Midoriya sits back against his cot and watches as everyone shuffles around the hangar, checking in on each other and having various conversations.
Anan Kurose A.K.A. Thirteen has their helmet off along with their torn up costume leaving them in their zero-suit. With their injuries already patched up they are in deep conversation with an overly excited Mina Ashido and an inquisitive Momo Yaoyorozu.
At the other end of the hangar, Tetrax Shard is seemingly being interrogated by Detective Naomasa Tsukauchi and the pro hero Snipe. It sounds like someone let it slip that he was there at the U.S.J. attack. Hopefully nobody mentioned that he traded blows with Todoroki and Uraraka. But it seems Tetrax is not exactly forthcoming.
Unlike Tenya Iida who seems to be spilling his guts, explaining every detail from their bad decision to hunt down the Nomu Factory to being led into Plumber Base. Principal Nezu and Midnight listen closely, adding in their opinions from time to time but ultimately expressing their pride in the Class Rep and his friends.
Meanwhile the rest of the Plumber agents and pro heroes are in their little groups either resting or chatting away.
“It sure is something. Isn’t it?”
Izuku nods, leaning back and turning ever so slightly towards his neighbor. Ochaco Uraraka is seated on the next cot over. She ditched the helmet, letting her hair run down and free with bandages wrapped around almost every part of her limbs, waist, and head. Cosmo leans against her leg, refusing to leave her side with her head snuggled into Ochaco’s lap in order to keep her warm.
Ochaco combs her fingers through the dog’s softs fur. “How are you…taking all this?”
Looking out, Izuku listens as Power Loader excitedly interviews Blukic and Driba as they both work on an ungrateful Kraab and Chopper. “It doesn’t feel real.”
“They’ve peeked behind the curtain.”
“And they can’t unsee what they found on the other side.” It sounds almost ominous when he says it like that.
And she must think so too. She even feels guilty because it was her that raised said curtain. But at the time, it felt like the right thing to do. Only time will tell if it was.
She shifts in her seat when the sound of paper crunching in her pocket catches her attention. Reaching down she pulls out the very wrinkled but still legible letter, one that she promised young Kota that she would deliver. Perhaps she can finally see it through.
“Was it the right call?”
She hesitates at his question, and she becomes unsure of how to answer or to proceed when a third person voices his opinion.
“I’d say so.”
Slowly twisting himself around, Izuku offers a soft smile at their eavesdropper. “Hey, Dad.”
With a beaming grin, Hisashi brings his boy in for a hug, not caring if it does stimulate his own injuries and broken ribs. “My boy. I was so worried.”
“S-sorry about that.”
“No, I’m sorry. If I had just gotten to you sooner…none of this would have happened.”
“Hey, Dad. Sorry, but I’m kinda tired of the whole blaming ourselves thing.” Especially after everything, he’s just so exhausted from it all. “Can’t we just say it was the villains’ fault?”
Hisashi chuckles, not mockingly, but in genuine relief. “Sure.”
A few people approach, hesitantly, afraid that they might be encroaching on a private family moment.
But Izuku is happy to see his friends and classmates gathered around looking just as relieved and anxious as he feels. “Hey…”
“Hey…” Iida is the first to offer up any form of a response.
“So, um, I guess I should thank you all for…everything.” It’s an awkward exchange between them all, especially for Izuku who’s uncertain how to proceed or to even start. “Look I can’t even put into words how grateful and happy I am. You guys went beyond the line to help and I’m not sure if I can ever really make it up to you all for it. And-”
“Listen, man.” Kirishima interrupts rather gently. “You don’t owe us anything.”
Shoto affirms his classmate’s statement. “We chose to do this of our own volition.”
“And besides you would have done the same for us.” A smile crosses Iida’s face as he begins to reminisce. “You have done the same.”
“Thanks guys.” Izuku truly means that. He does. He just…can’t bring himself to say it into words. Honestly, there might not be any words that can truly describe how grateful and touched he truly is. “And I have to say you guys have been taking this extremely well. I mean the moment I found out about all this I had a ton of questions. Talk about overwhelming. But you guys just seem…whelmed.”
“Oh, we’re anything but whelmed.” Iida admits and it seems all the tension he’s been building up finally snaps, exploding out all at once! “WE’VE BEEN HANGING OUT WITH AN ALIEN SHAPESHIFTER THIS WHOLE TIME!?!”
Momo claps her hands together in excitement. “I have so many inquiries!! How does the Omnitrix work exactly? Where did it come from? How come it changed forms? Can it change back?”
“How many aliens can you transform into?” asks a grinning Kirishima. “Which is the strongest?! Have you been to other planets?! What’s the weirdest and grossest planet you’ve ever been to?!”
Iida gently grips Izuku's arm in order to properly examine the watch. “Does the rule of mass and matter play a factor into what you can and cannot transform into?
“Have you been to other planets?” inquires Shoto. “Is the Goldie Locks theory true then or can life sprout from conditions? Also, I’ve been meaning to ask but when you become an alien do you undergo a sort of personality disorder or change?”
“Did you see us in action? Did we look cool?!” Mina gloats. “Also, can I keep your hoverboard? It’s so rad!!”
As the others gather around and continue to talk Izuku’s ear off, Bakugou hangs back on his cot, quietly listening with a hardened expression.
The adults watch on as the children let out cries of laughter as Cosmo excitedly hops between them, her tail slapping their legs as they try to pet her. More and more laughter soon enters the conversation as they playfully ask more questions about the Omnitrix, aliens, and the more.
“Aw, now ain’t that a sight?” Present Mic may wipe a fake tear from his eye, but he truly is touched by the scene. “It’s exactly why we do what we do.”
“Speaking of which, what do we do now?” Midnight peers down at their bear-dog-mouse of a boss. “Sir, we’ve put off our…concerns up till now for the sake of this mission. But I think it’s time we’re given some real answers.”
“And to discuss…what happens next.” Present Mic doesn’t make an attempt to hide his inquiring look over at Thirteen and Cinder who both nervously shrink back.
“What happens next…indeed. Your words are true, there is much indeed we need to discuss in length.” Principal Nezu takes a moment to think, to process such a question. “But right now our bodies are tired, our spirits are enervated, and our minds overwhelmed. Let us rest for tonight, have yourselves some nice meals, sleep in our own beds, and return to the familiarity of U.A. There will be no mandated time for arrival or when we begin, we will discuss when you are rested and ready.” And with a curt nod he finalizes the plan.
“And the kids…?” Snipe asks with a tip of his hat.
“I’ll see them home.” Cinder, or rather Hisashi Midoriya promises. “I mean, I don’t think they’ll want to split up quite yet after just being reunited.” And neither does he.
And it seems to be that everyone else feels the same since none give any arguments.
And besides he can bus them around in the Rustbucket, a down-to-earth vehicle would be much appreciated after an out of this world adventure.
^Attention passengers. Attention everyone!^ One-One, specifically his Glad-One side, calls them all through the ship’s intercoms and announces their landing. ^We are now beginning our descent through Earth’s atmosphere. So, please, hold on to your friends or at least something solid! Hahaha!^
^If not,^ the Sad-One persona interrupts, ^then good luck dealing with the vacuum of space.^
Despite that grim possibility, nobody can be bothered to be brought down by them. After facing out of this world threats, it doesn’t really seem like anything else can phase them. They’ve braved the storm and survived and now they all get to enjoy a vast ocean of twinkling stars and hopes.
And so they gather together, leaning on each other, tired yet filled with renewed peace as they peer down at their home’s blue beautiful oceans, lush greens and colors of earth as the moon shines over them amongst the stars.
And with a hand on his son’s shoulder, the father smiles thinking to himself that all is right. “Let’s go home.”
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[PLAY: Billy Joel - You're My Home (Audio) ]
The roads are empty, dark, and quiet. For anyone else they'd be a sign to stay away and to hide. It’s a lonely site. It’s a sight of despair after what’s occurred just a few short days ago and yet for a single group of people, they couldn’t be happier or more at peace.
With warm amber lights to guide their way across the quiet humble roads, the Rustbucket glides gently through Japan’s cities with a light rum of its engine. Like a lullaby it brings a peaceful rest to those inside. And at peace they are, sitting in silence they watch as the sleeping city passes by through the windows their heads leaned against the glass and the leather of the seats.
Bussing through Japan until they reach every single one of their homes.
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Everyone is hugged and waved goodbye, Momo Yaoyorozu leaves with her fingers entwined and with a bow before strolling up her mansion’s long driveway. Her father, Hiroshi Yaoyorozu, graciously but sincerely waves to her from his balcony.
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Tenya Iida’s family manor is large yet reserved, perfectly in theme with the Iida family. Speaking of which, his mother and dear brother, Tensei Iida, are joyfully awaiting his arrival with open arms and massive smiles.
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Speaking of embraces, Eijiro Kirishima is enveloped in a bone crushing hug between his two muscle bound and homely mothers.
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Mina Ashido’s home is just as lively. Her Papa swings her around in his arms making them both a blur of spinning bubble gum as her mother, the beautiful and ethereal Eirene smiles on, enjoying the scene before her with a joyful blush. All the while the family’s fluffball of a Pomeranian, Osushi, yaps happily away while darting between his family’s legs.
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The Todoroki minka is, as expected, less joyful and celebratory. But Shoto Todoroki doesn’t seem to mind the peace and quiet. But even so, a part of him wishes he could have stayed in that RV a little longer…
But to his surprise he turns back to his home; he's both shocked yet secretly delighted to see his older sister, Fuyumi, greeting him. Stepping aside she waves him in as the fragrance of freshly made soba wafts out into the cool night air.
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Ochaco’s careful when she gives her goodbye hug, making sure not to hurt Deku. Before giving Bakugou a polite nod and a salute to which he brushes off, yet he fails to hide his smile. With her goodbyes said she makes her way up to her family’s apartment with a cheerful Cosmo in toe.
As she reaches her door she looks back to see the Midoriyas and Bakugou politely waiting for her to enter.
Knowing that they won’t go home until she’s safe and sound, Ochaco opens her door and is immediately jumped by her family. Her parents are in tears of joy as they embrace her and immediately barrage her with inquiries and concerns.
She’s happy to see them too, and she just can’t help but tear up too along with them. All the while the Space Dog sits quietly, her tail sweeping the floor happily, as she watches her new family reunite.
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Last but not least is the Midoriya household itself. After parking the RV beside Mr. Baumann’s beloved muscle car, the odd trio make their way up the open staircase until they reach the Midoriya apartment.
Hisashi never leaves his son’s side, he keeps a hand on his shoulder and holds him close as he knocks on the door.
Katsuki Bakugou hangs back, leaning on the railing, expecting Auntie Inko to burst out with tears splashing everywhere. But instead, it’s his own mother that opens the door. It appears she was ready to scold away some pesky intruder but her gaze softens and turns to elation when she sees her son and surrogate nephew at the door.
Stepping aside she hurries them in towards the living room. But as her son passes she stops him with a hand on his shoulder and a proud smile on her face. A smile that only grows when her son doesn’t swat her hand away.
Hisashi leads Izuku inside, not that he has to, the boy is in just as much of a hurry as he is. But the moment they walk in, his mother, dear sweet Inko, shoots up from her seat, sending the piles of tissues falling onto the tear-stained floor.
Izuku doesn’t wait, he rushes to his mother and they both embrace with those Midoriya tears spraying across the room. Swaying side to side they hold each other as she kisses his cheek and rustles his hair, while he takes in her warmth and comfort.
Hisashi tries to stay back, letting this be their moment, but he’s shoved from behind and forced to join. Looking back, he smiles down at the little droid that was too stubborn to stay in the RV.
Chopper beeps and whistles in delight.
Masaru Bakugou joins his wife and son in the hallway where they silently witness this family’s long-awaited reunion. They themselves hold each hold onto one of their son’s shoulders and squeeze in comfort to which he leans back in, accepting their own reunion.
%%%%%%%%%[MEANWHILE]%%% %%%%%
Thirteen’s tired, drained, and more importantly starving. That’s how they’ve found themselves at their favorite Ramen Shop. A little hole in the wall, its homey, quiet, and warm, the perfect hide away from all the chaos they just endured.
So for the rest of the night, they’re just Anan Kurose; there’s no suit, no Plumber badge, nothing to indicate their importance. Right now, they're just a lone commuter looking for a warm broth and some delicious noodles.
After sitting down and ordering, the noodle master drops not one but 7 other bowls beside them. Kurose’s confused at first until her senpai sits down in the neighboring seat.
Nemuri Kayama offers her a warm smile as does Hizashi Yamada, Sekijiro Kan, Ken Ishiyama, and the other teachers.
Kurose welcomes their company and together they all gather around for a hard-earned meal.
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Meanwhile, Recovery Girl sits at her nurse’s desk at U.A. drinking herbal tea as her patients rest in the beds nearby. But not one of them is at rest, at peace yes, but resting far from it. Instead Toshinori Yagi is sitting up, bandages around his stump of an arm as his mentor Sorahiko Torinoi sits at the end of the bed. Together the two exchange no words as they look on up through the medical room’s massive windows and up towards the stars. Laying in the bed across from them, Shota Aizawa does the same.
In fact, the only one that seems to be able to rest at all is Kraab who’s been perched on the nearest cabinet for a few hours now.
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They’re not the only ones curious about the stars. Momo sits in her family library with her elbow on the window ledge and her chin resting on her hand.
A book of astronomy sits open on her lap while an old dusty file she borrowed from her father’s office sits on the coffee table beside her. The file has a faded label that she can just barely read out but she’s certain the letters are as follows: J, A, X, and A. But what has her in such deep contemplation is the photo she dug out from the thick folder, the photo of a little chimp and a much younger raven-haired girl.
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Tenya sits at his family table, expressing his joy and relief at being home. But even more so he divulges his friend’s own safe return home. And although he cannot share the exact details of what he knows his family, especially his brother, couldn't be happier or prouder of the responsible and caring man their youngest is turning into before their very eyes.
As they talk, Tenya does inquire his brother of his opinion about adding a new addition to the Ingenium arsenal.
%%%%%%%%%%%%
Mina, however, doesn’t have that issue; she can tell her folks all about what happened. And she does; she makes a whole show of it, embellishing a few things here and there to make her friends and teachers seem cooler than they already are. She even has her little Pomeranian stand in for the bad guys, And to the little guy’s credit he tries his best to be menacing. But he’s too cute for that~.
%%%%%%%%%%%%
They’re not the only ones enjoying a fluffy family member, the Urarakas are more than happy to accept the new puppy their daughter brought home. They’re so delighted by Cosmo’s antics and expressions they don’t even question out loud the odd little space outfit she’s wearing. It’s just that adorable~!
As her parents spoil their new baby, Ochaco leans back and thinks. Digging through her pocket she caresses the letter she has yet to deliver. But with an easy smile she knows for a fact she’ll get her chance very very soon.
%%%%%%%%%%%%
But right now this night is about them, it’s about their families reuniting. One family in particular doesn't even bring up the events of the last few days. They push them aside in favor of enjoying the moment, of reveling in the peace and unity they have now in this moment. Tonight is about celebration and about each other. There’ll be more time to talk all about that tomorrow.
[*Record Scratch!!* - END SONG]
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
[“Let’s talk, people!”] The announcer with the populous air about him sits tall behind his desk. His suit is clean and freshly pressed and his red tie pops over his blue suit as Will Harangue makes himself known to the world. [“Welcome back to New Harangue Nation Broadcasting Service. Now since we were last on the air we were able to confirm that due to an off the books operation that consisted of a joint effort between U.A.’s own pro heroes and a legion of underground heroes that they were able to resolve the kidnapping of All Might and his student. Thanks to the reports provided by the illustrious Principal Nezu of U.A. High School we can firmly state that All Might is now safe and sound, and now recovering in an undisclosed location for obvious reasons. And I think I speak for everyone when I say that all our hearts and prayers go out to All Might for his full and speedy recovery.”]
“For sure…” Ochaco is curled up on her parent’s couch and watching TV, specifically the news, and although the small TV barely provides a focused picture it's enough for her to see the little displays popping over Will Harangue’s shoulder. “I haven’t heard anything from him yet. So, I hope he’s okay.” Ochaco holds her phone close, waiting for said message.
Her phone buzzes but it’s not from her mentor, instead it’s a text from Mina.
[Watching the news]
[🐭 works fast!]
[Sure does]
[Any ideas on how he explained it all?]
[🤷♀️]
Well then again anything that doesn’t involve implosions, decapitations, or explosions would certainly be an upgrade compared to what they all had to deal with.
Sensing her unrest, Cosmos leans her head over the foot of the couch, and offers a sympathetic look as she nestles her head into Ochaco’s lap.
Appreciating the warmth of her fur and breath, Ochaco scratches her behind the ear and uses her free hand to respond to Mina’s text.
[He prob came up with something cool]
[Oh, hey]
[Might want to check the class group text]
[We got some fires to put out🔥🧯]
Suddenly growing nervous, Ochaco quickly swipes over to the Class A group text or at least that’s it's unofficial name since they gave all managing power of this group chat to Mina. An idea they’re regretting by now.
Swiping over to the chat labeled as TEENAGE MUTANT SUPER HEROES, Ochaco’s phone suddenly floods with alerts and messages. She hurriedly scrolls through them and quickly gets the gist that everyone is watching the same program as she is. And that they’re all asking for details on Deku.
Pikachu: [Yo! Is this true?! Midoriyas back?!]
Beats: [i guess so anyone hear anything]
Doc Oc: [no. class rep. have u been told anything?]
President Responsibility: [I have been given some details. Although I cannot disclose much, I
have it on good authority that Izuku Midoriya made it home safe and
sound.]
Not Him: [Phew. I was worried there 😌]
Keroppi: [We all were I’m glad to hear he’s alright 🐸]
Emo Phase: [Yes but what of his mental state? He was plunged into the abyss so surly it left an
effect on him]
SpoderMan: [Guys Midoriya is part of this group chat]
[Y not ask him?]
Puppet Master: [Ill do it.]
[@Broccoli Boy, we’re happy to hear that your home. How are you hanging in
there? Do you need anything?]
Not Him: [DON”T ANSWER HIM MIDORIYA!!! U’LL B BRAINWASHED!!! 😱😱😱]
Puppet Master: [@Not Him, FU u purple smurf!!]
Upper Management: [Shinso, please. We agreed to no profanity here.]
Puppet Master: [Really]
Guy Fieri: [@Broccoli Boy, do u like 🎂? whats ur fav? ill make it]
Bedazzler: [Not cake, he needs finer cuisine than that!]
Kung Fu Fighting: [How about some rice balls?]
Hide N Seek: [what a normal answer…]
Kung Fu Fighting: [😔]
The Rock: [@Broccoli Boy, How about some chili fries? I know you love that! 💪]
Animal Crossing: [How about I bring Dr. Colosso over 🐇 You can pet him]
Koji Koda sends a pic this time it’s of a fluffy white with gleaming red eyes glaring at the camera.
Hide N’ Seek: [I love him!!🥰]
Pink Lemonade: [He’s so cute!!! Maybe I can bring Osushi over too! 🐶]
Keroppi: [can i bring Habuko? 🐍]
Hide N’ Seek: [A floof party!💗]
Upper Management: [I see the appeal but I’m afraid that may be impractical]
Zuko: [WHAT IS A FLOOF PARTY?]
Keroppi: [@Zuko, Todoroki you have the caps lock on again]
Ochaco chuckles, leave it to their classmates to cheer her up by just being themselves. Maybe they’ll love a photo of Cosmo, she can come to this floof party too! But before she can take the photo another message comes in from someone who normally if ever responds to the group chat.
Sparky Sparky Boom Man: [STOP FLOODING MY PHONE!!!
Deku’s fine he’s at home with his parents
He can’t answer the phone I took it from him the stupid press have
been emailing him all morning and the ringing was annoying!]
Pikachu: [Guys! I think my phone’s broken!
It says that Bakugou is willingly hanging out
with Midoriya…]
Guy Fieri: [no u read that right]
SpoderMan: [Mr. Murder Hobo playing babysitter? I gotta see that]
President Responsibility: [Bakugou! This is most gracious and splendid of you! I am so proud
and happy to hear that you are taking up a caretaker roll in this time
of hardship for our dear friend! Good show! Jolly, good show!!]
The Rock: [I’m proud of u man!]
Emo Phase: [His plunge into the abyss has surely affected his mind.]
Zuko: [I NEVER KNEW YOU HAD EVEN A CONCEPT OF KINDNESS.]
Keroppi: [ur caps lock is still on]
Puppet Master: [R u lying? I feel like u’r just F-ing with us]
Upper Management: [SHINSO!!! No profanity, please!]
Puppet Master: [REALLY!?!]
Sparky Sparky Boom Man: [SHUT UP!!! HERE’S PROOF!!!]
He sends a photo of an oblivious Izuku looking tired, disheveled,and…depressed. He doesn’t even notice that a photo has been taken of him instead he’s locked onto a TV screen with Will harangue on it.
Bedazzler: [Tre bien! He’s stunning as always!]
Keroppi: [@Sparky Sparky Boom Man, Please give Midoriya our love. Kero.]
Upper Management: [Yes, we all wish him a speedy recovery as well.]
Animal Crossing: [Tell him that we can’t wait to be back in class with him!]
Beats: [yeah it wouldnt b the same w/o him]
Not Him: [Hey, does something about Midoriya seem different?]
Doc Oc: [I imagine so. He was just kidnapped]
Kung Fu Fighting: [Was his watch always that green?]
Ochaco has to choke back her laughter, she so missed their class dynamic even if it is in text. But they got her thinking, Bakugou’s the worst messenger. He’ll never admit if he’s fine or not, or at least none of them can be sure if he’s being truthful or not. Maybe someone should check up on Deku…?
A letter in her pocket crinkles.
Stealing herself, she sends out the text.
Strawberry Mochi: [b heading over later so Ill pass on ur 💗]
As a round of cheers and approval flood her phone, Harangue's broadcast picks up again, catching hers, and assumedly everyone else’s attention.
[“Now I’m sure this is a great breath of fresh air for all of us. I couldn’t even sleep at all last night just because of this. But even after I found out, I still couldn’t sleep. I know it’s tempting to sweep this under the rug, to move on and pretend that everything will go back to normal. But it won’t. Why? Well, let’s go over the facts. Let's take a walk down this path and see what we find. Now I believe it’s important for us all to go over all the details that have led up to this terrible tragedy that’s befallen our great nation!”]
Doc Oc: [he really likes to draw it out]
The Rock: [hes ruining the moment!]
Puppet Master: [and ppl say im a downer]
[“And what better way to start than going over the catastrophe that unfolded before our very eyes?!”] A clip plays over Harangue’s shoulder, specifically it shows a vid of All Might clash with All For One. [“We all saw All Might, our great and powerful Symbol of Peace, become crippled at the hands of this villain here! The mysterious Grandmaster of the League of Villains!!”] The camera zooms in and pauses on AFO and his Darth Vader inspired helmet.
Hide N’ Seek: [Scary🙈]
Pikachu: [U said it]
Beats: [The Devil Wears a Suit and Tie]
Ochaco’s stomach twists at the image and for a moment she had felt nauseous. She can still remember that sense of overwhelming death and despair that loomed over her as AFO took down the pro heroes and the chaos that was unleashed soon after.
[“But in a glorious moment of triumph!! Our dear Symbol of Peace pulled out a win and put the villain back in his place! Leading to the villain's arrest and imprisonment in an undisclosed location.”]
That gives Ochaco some relief. A little pride as she replays the scene of her and Kraab blasting that devil back to hell A.K.A. the Null Void.
[“But that moment of victory was quickly tarnished because a split second later a new challenger appeared!”] The image changes, not of a video, but to an artist rendering of what appears to be a Cthulhu like being. [“Now we don’t exactly have footage of this villain, unfortunately almost every camera was cut off so we only have eye witness reports as testimony.”]
SpoderMan: [now thats scary]
Not Him: [That’s some real tentacle hentai there]
Puppet Master: [@Upper Management, Y dont u yell @ him?!]
Emo Phase: [This figure is an eldritch terror, one that is a patron of greed and evil)
Kung Fu Fighting: [Midoriya if u need 2 talk, wer here 4 u]
[“After appearing this menace murdered several pro heroes in cold blood and then proceeded to humiliate OUR Number One Hero! He made him bow at his feet and give up! Why you may be asking? Why would All Might, even as weakened as he is, just give up?”]
An overwhelming, and terribly familiar sense of dread pulls down at her chest. Making her heartbeat so fast that Cosmo’s head and ears snap up with concern.
[“Those are some mighty fine questions. But it’s not a why, but a who? Who could bring All Might down? Who could expose him? Who would endanger our Symbol of Peace? Well, that person can only be…IZUKU MIDORIYA!!!”]
And like that the rug is pulled out from under her and it feels like her entire spirit is in freefall into an inky abyss.
The image changes to that of Deku during the Sports Festival, specifically during a fight where he was exhausted and bruised. [“As a first-year student of U.A.’s Hero Course Izuku Midoriya stood out during the U.A Sports Festival with his unique Quirk of One Man Army. He then proceeded to make a bigger splash! While interning with Gang Orca, he foolishly took on and luckily defeated the Hero Killer, Stain! After which he became “U.A.’s Rising Star.” If you ask me, we must have been seeing stars after being knocked in the head with that load of lies!”] The image changes to that of a dressed-up Eraserhead, Vlad King, and Principal Nezu all bowing to the press from the public announcement they made just a few days ago. [“U.A. promised us that they would project our children, Our families. But instead, they allowed the League of Villains to kidnap not just Izuku Midoriya but also his classmate Katsuki Bakugou! But let me guess you’re probably saying, OH but Will we can’t blame the victims for being kidnapped. It was the League of Villains that abducted them. Yes it was. But do you know WHY they were there? So they could take Izuku Midoriya, who’s powerset is suspiciously as versatile and deadly as their Grandmaster, back with them in order to convert him to their side! Hm, funny. Izuku Midoriya was there when the League first made themselves known.”] The image changes to a birds eye view shot of the U.S.J. [“He was there during the Hosu Incident and proceeded to garner fame for his “actions.”] News articles detailing Deku’s fight with Stain splatter across the screen. [“And now this?! What a coincidence, is it not? NO!!! It’s not! We have many testimonies of his transformations running all across Japan during, coincidently, U.A.’s Summer Break!! And even before then some descriptions of his forms match those seen in unrecorded incidents.”]
A whole montage of clips, photos, and eye witness accounts play across the screen: each one describing or showing brief but recognizable moment from Deku’s adventures, some blurry and some are in focus: Water Hazard with some black haired teen in a grocery store, a red guy with 4 arms moving trash off a beach, Stinkfly chasing off a swarm of bugs, a fiery being wandering a burning campsite, newspaper article about Fun Gus, a blurry photo of what kinda looks like a sea serpent and a green man maybe Bullfrag, a grey specter floating above a festival.
There’s a lot of images and admittedly she only recognizes the ones that she herself took part in a blue blur speeding through the Kiyashi Ward Shopping Mall, Ripjaws wandering near a creepy circus, Cannonbolt rolling through Tokyo’s subway, Diamondhead facing off with a metal samurai at a shrine, and so much more, or the blurry photo of two giant robots towering over the photographer.
[“Just how many incidents is he going to have?! When are we going to start asking the bigger questions?! Who is this kid?! What is he after?! And is there more we’re not seeing?”]
Her phone feels like a bomb with how much it's buzzing!
Sparky Sparky Boom Man: [THE FUCKING BASATRD!!!]
President Responsibility: [What is this?! He is making Midoriya seem like a delinquent who cannot follow authority!!]
Doc Oc: [These are taken out of context! It makes it seem like Midoriya’s going out of his way to start trouble!]
Kung Fu Fighting: [He’s making it seem like he’s connected to the villains]
Upper Management: [What a deplorable man!! How can he do that?]
Guy Fieri: [Y would he do that?]
Beats: [For the ratings he’s throwing Midoriya under the bus for ratings]
Puppet Master: [it’s what ppl do, they twist the other’s image to suit their needs]
Not Him: [what a creep. Why can’t he just stay away and respect boundaries]
SpoderMan: [pot meet kettle]
Zuko: [Perception. It’s all about perception. And he’s trying to muddy ours.]
Pikachu: [But he’s wrong! Midobro was helping not hurting!]
The Rock: [that’s so low]
Pink Lemonade: [Midoriya don’t listen to him, k?!]
Keroppi: [We know the truth]
Hide N’ Seek: [We see right through you, Harangue!]
Animal Crossing: [Dr. Colosso says that this is a man most foul]
Emo Phase: [That he is. But it shows an underlining flaw in our world. Those with a limited view can be cruel and right now that view is trying to push our friend to the edge]
That last message strikes a chord for Ochaco; fearing that it might be truer than most of her class can ever know.
But what really worries her is Mr. Harangue’s insinuations: this is gonna put a light on Deku and not in a good way. He’ll be prodded and put under a microscope if people are gullible enough to listen. But why wouldn’t they? Even knowing what she knows, seeing the facts like this does make it seem very incriminating.
It seems like some of the others have picked up on this too, which is why you have those like Momo and Kirishima begging Bakugou to make sure Deku is well cared for. Then there’s those asking for details, proof to show that Deku’s not a risk. Todoroki even says he’ll ask his father for any details that the media isn’t privy to.
It’s a lie but she’s sure that he’s just trying to quell the growing flames of anxiety and worry. It seems those like Iida and Momo picked up on it and are trying to help alleviate their worries.
Worries. It feels like she never gets to stop worrying. ‘I guess that’s just part of growing up…’
And that feeling of never knowing quite what to do must be part of that deal too.
But she knows one thing for sure; that silver tongued newsman probably struck a chord with Deku. He’s probably taking his words to heart and no doubt he’s putting himself down. Well, not on her watch. Shooting up from the couch she makes sure the letter’s secure before hurrying for her jacket.
“Mom! I’m taking Cosmo for a walk! I’ll be home later!”
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
The tv screen fades from one clip to the next, each one showing some sort of chaos unfolding while a strange creature with a familiar hourglass dial is seemingly running amuck: a swarm of floating green batteries are flooding out from a circus tent. A video of a living plant sprawls through a cave of orange moss and mushrooms. A blurry photo, taken by a train computer, shows a black and yellow figure in a subway. And an image of a feral tiger has his fist and claws deep in the hood of an imported and a very expensive looking American muscle car.
[“Just look at all these so-called mere incidences!”] Will Harangue fumes as more clips appear over his shoulder such as a blue lizard dashing around a speeding moving truck while a froggy family watches on.
[“Public disruption!”]
The image changes to that of a blue mothman fleeing the scene of a collapsed apartment building.
[“Property destruction!”]
The image changes one more time to that of a turtle flying his way through a mall while debris and products fly all around him.
[“And clear insubordination for rules and regulations. When will it end?! When is U.A. going to reign in this public nuisance?! When are we going to demand some real answers?! Just who, or rather, WHAT is Iz-!!”]
“Shut that damn thing off!” Katsuki Bakugou presses the power button down so hard that the remote cracks before it ultimately shatters when he tosses it onto the coffee table. “That guy has no idea when to shut up. But you!” He roars at the target of all this annoyance. “Need to learn when to talk. Like right now.”
Izuku fights the urge to shrink back against his seat but instead he braves himself in agreement to Bakugou's very direct order.
All around him his family have gathered, his mother is seated the closest on the couch with a box of tissues at the ready on the end table beside her. His father sitting just adjacent to her and looking mighty apprehensive in his Hawaiian shirt.
It’s a very tense and awkward air especially with the extended Bakugou family here too. Although Mitsuki and her husband make a point to stand back in the hallway, far enough away as to not be involved but their inert curiosity, and concern, keep them in earshot.
Too bad their son feels the need to directly sit himself across from Izuku.
For her part, Mitsuki tries to pull him away. “Katsuki we shouldn’t impose.”
Her son snarls as is about to say something undoubtedly distasteful.
Fearing an explosive outcome, Izuku quietly yet effectively shuts it down. “No, it’s okay… Kacchan should hear this…”
And like that Bakugou anchors himself to the seat with his arms crossed, ready to hear the whole story.
But it's not him Izuku’s concerned about, well a small part maybe, but mostly it’s her he’s worried about.
Sensing his hesitation, Inko tries her best to egg him on. “Izuku…he’s right. I…I need to hear about…everything.” Braving her own nerves she peers over to her husband with apprehension yet brave determination. “And I mean everything.”
Hisashi looks her right in the eye as he slowly nods his head in a silent promise.
Rubbing his hands together Izuku tries to sort the story in his mind, he debates in a muttering storm of where to even begin but his muttering goes for so long that he’s only snapped out of it when Inko reaches over and places a hand over his own.
He struggles to speak to even breathe but her grip remains soft yet firm all at once, leveling his anxiety with a mere touch. And so, after taking a deep breath he shuts down the chaos in his mind and allows his heart to write the script.
“Mom…thank you. Just…thank you. For everything. For just…everything. We’ve been through a lot. It's been shaky but thanks to you I’ve been able to stay steady. You are my rock, but I’ve been keeping this secret from you.” His soft gaze drifts from their joined hands to the green watch bound to his wrist. “And I didn’t mean to ever hurt you. I just told myself that this was never my secret to tell but I think that maybe I was just clinging to that as an excuse.”
He stops to gauge his mother’s reaction, but she remains silent yet gently firm as she patiently waits for Izuku to air out everything he has to.
“This watch.” Izuku continues softly. “It gave me the…Quirks I’ve always dreamed of having. More than that, it gave me a chance to fulfill my dream of being a hero.” A soft smile graces his lips as he reminisces. “I was no longer a burden but someone that others could rely on. And it's been amazing, his lifelong dream but…it’s become a nightmare.” His mind flashes with images of his friends struggling against the monsters, against that squid’s forces and allies. “One that I never wanted to drag you into.” The thought of if Vilgax or even the League decided to turn their attention to her to get to him sends a freezing dread down his spine.
He must have been shivering because it takes his mother’s words to steady him. “Izuku…I may not have realized what exactly was happening, but I knew there was a change. I knew there was something you were hiding but I never said anything because you were so happy. You were smiling more than you ever had before. And after what just happened I can see why…” When Izuku was taken she was so scared, she thought her little heart couldn’t take it, it felt so empty and void. But then that sweet girl and those kind people all came together…just for him. “This device didn’t just give you a Quirk…but it gave you friends. People, other than me, that care and support you now. They learned the real you, and came to love you, like I do.”
“M-Mom…” Tears prick at his eyes, but he doesn’t wipe them away.
“I can see just how much this new world you’ve found has made you happy. And although it’s scary I can see just how exciting it is for you. And that it brings you happiness. This I understand.”
“Mom…”
“But what I don’t understand is how your father comes into all this…” Deciding that her son needs a reprieve she turns to the one she truly wants answers from.
Hisashi looks rightfully guilty, but he knows this was inevitable and he refuses to lie anymore. “That’s because…this was my burden…first.” He releases a tired exhale, not of frustration, but that of a man that's been carrying a cross for far too long. “I’m sure it doesn’t have to be said, but I also know it wouldn’t be exactly a real answer if I don’t at least acknowledge it but…I don’t work for the Self-Defense Force. I never have. No, instead I’ve been employed to an intergalactic peacekeeping force known as the Plumbers. As one of their best agents.”
“Intergalactic…” Inko looks sad as she takes in his explanation. “I always knew your work took you far away but I never imagined…just how far apart we really were.”
Shame and guilt write up in Hisashi as Inko takes her time to process this.
“How long…?” She asks, nervously, like she’s afraid of the answer. “how long…have you kept this from…me?”
He hesitates. “Since…before we met.”
That sends an uncomfortable amount of remorse down her throat. “So, that long… twenty-five years… And I was that oblivious.” She hangs in defeat at the revelation. “I always knew your work was special… And I was-am very concerned for you, always. But whenever I poked for answers you always shut it down, under the guise of its classified or sensitive info… So, I tried my best to respect your work, to not pry so as to not get you stressed out… And even with the little details you did share…I knew it was never the full truth, not really. But I told myself not to get involved…” Oh how much she regrets that now… How much would have been different? “But what I want…need to know is- Why…? Why did you have to leave? Why couldn’t you stay? Were other…planets! More important?! Why couldn’t you share this with us?! Who was stopping you?! Why do you even?! What was I?! What were we?! Were Izuku and I…just a cover for you-?!”
“ABSOLUTELY NOT!!!” Hisashi shouts far too loudly than he ever should to his wife. And he knows it, he bites his tongue so hard and fast it bleeds like a ketchup pack. Hissing in pain he powers through it with a calming breath. “I….yes. I lied. I lied to you a lot about my-...what I did. But I never lied about us. I love you, Inko. I always have and I always will. Those feelings, those moments together are not lies. Did I lie about my work? Y-yes. But I have always appreciated you, you’ve always been a shoulder for me to lean on. It’s something you're exceedingly good at. Taking care of us. And I failed to do the same.” And it’s a mistake that will weigh on him forever. “I never meant to lie with the intention of hurting you, but I did and for that I am sorry.”
Tears stream down his wife’s sorrowful eyes and unable to bear the sight he takes her soft trembling hands into his scarred and quivering but gentle grasp.
“Inko, I made a promise to you, I vowed that I, Hisashi Midoriya, would love you till the stars lose their shine. That I’d be by your side like the moon orbits the Earth.” Caressing her cheek, he gently wipes away her tears with his thumb. “You and Izuku are my world. You’re my light. And my heart would freeze without either of you. I don’t want to lose you and…if stepping away from this life will prevent that then so be it.”
It takes everyone a second but when his implication finally hits, it hits them like a wave.
Especially for Inko. “H-Hisashi…?”
“Just say the word.” He reconfirms, showing no hint of fear or hesitation; he’s committed to this, to her. “I won’t argue. I won’t fight. Just say that you want me to stay and I promise I’ll never leave your side again. I’ll walk away from the Plumbers. Just say the word.”
“Hisashi…” She wants to second guess him but he’s serious. She may not know as much as she thinks but she knows this for sure…he will walk away if she wants him too. But…can she even in good conscience make him walk away from all the good he does. Yes he lied but she’s not so oblivious to understand just how important to him and to others being a hero is… Can she really ask him to walk away from all of that…? “I-…I want you…stay by our side. There’s clearly a lot I don’t understand, I still have so many feelings and questions but…I won’t pull you away from this. Now that he’s part of it.” She gestures to her…their son standing wide eyed in the corner. “Now that we are part of it. I won’t pull you away.”
If Hisashi is surprised, he hides it from most years of working in and around chaos has developed him to hide such distraught. But he can’t hide that spark, not from her, that little spark in his eye that tells her that he’s more than a little surprised.
“For such a long time I wished we’d be a proper family, that we’d be together as one unit, and I don’t want this to cause a rift. But I also know that your duty as a hero is important to you…” Slowly she turns away to address their boy. “to you both.”
Izuku doesn’t bother to hide his astonishment, but even so he remains quiet as his mother readdresses his father.
“So, promise me this. You will always stay by our side: you will no longer lie to me. And you will keep an eye on our son forever.”
Rain causes a haze over that spark, but Hisashi does nothing to stop his tears. “You have my word, always.”
Inko is hesitant, but she manages to crack a genuine smile.
“Mom?” Assuming they hashed out what they need to for now, Izuku approaches with some trepidation. But it’s more like he’s sensitive to his mother’s worries. “Are you really okay with…?”
Inko turns and cups his face in her hands, her thumbs gently rubbing over his freckles. “Izuku, my baby boy, you said it yourself. I’ve always been behind you; the last thing I want is to hold you back. Just promise that you’ll always come home to me.”
“I will, always.” He embraces her and she holds onto him tight as he whispers in her ear. “I love you, Mom.”
“I love you too, Izuku.” She pulls away, whipping away the last of her tears before straightening herself out. “And just know I will feel bad for you these next five months.”
He blinks, “Pardon?”
“Izuku.” She composes herself like a sympathetic judge that’s about to pass a sentence. “You’re grounded for the next 5 months.”
“What?! Why?!”
“I am your mother.” She states gently but firmly. “You don’t get to keep secrets from me. Not anymore. I should have stepped up a long time ago, so I am going to get more involved now! You hear me?”
He’s stunned, but more than anything he’s elated as he tells her with a humorous smile. “I hear.”
“Tough break, kid.” Hisashi slams a hand on his boy’s shoulder. “Hate to be you right now.”
And with that Inko quickly turns all her ire on him. “You’re not off the hook either.”
“Huh?!”
“Izuku’s schedule might have just been emptied but that’s because yours is now full! There’s about fifteen years worth of chores and work you need to catch up on!”
“Ugh, like what?!”
“Like what?! How about that RV of yours?! When was the last time you washed it? Heck, did you even clean it out before taking it out of storage? Keep in mind it earned that name of Rustbucket for a reason.”
“Oh, but that’s what gives her character. What if I just cooked dinner from now on?”
Both mother and son instantly turn on him. “ABSOLUTELY NOT!!!”
The entire family freezes, taking a moment to process what they had just done before all three break into a fit of laughter and glee. They laugh so hard their stomachs' hurt but they embrace, their smiles never ceasing as they sway together in their home.
As one family reconciles another watches on in admiration and warmth, Bakugous stay just pout of sight in the hallway listening partly to make sure nothing turns for the worst. But upon hearing the Midoriya family’s laughs they visibly relax.
Figuring it’s best to leave the Midoriyas alone, Mitsuki attempts to distract her own clan. “Katsuki, I have my own questions.”
Her brat scoffs. “Like what old hag?”
She’ll ignore that attitude for now. “This space hero group-”
“The Plumbers.”
“Er, yeah, like what’s their hierarchy?”
“What you mean?”
“I mean from what I’ve gathered Principal Nezu is like the chief of police on Earth but then who’s the commissioner?”
“I ain’t got a clue but I bet they’re a real grade A bastard.”
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
[“Magister Nezu you are nothing but a scandalmonger.”] A conceited Magistratus is seething from beyond his silhouette framed within the holographic screen. Even with his features hidden it is no secret just how much contempt he feels for the poor chimera at the center of this council of faceless authorities. [“You have been brought before the Magistratus for an official court martial and disciplinary hearing for violating the terms of the truce set by us and Vilgax but for purposefully and willfully disobeying direct orders. Were you somehow unaware or inattentive to our decision?”]
Nezu isn’t fazed by the berating; instead, he remains poised and counters with the perfect response. “I recognized the decision of the Magistratus but due to the ill-conceived nature of your logic I elected to ignore it.”
Another member of the Magistrata fails to hide her snickering, earning herself an irritated glare from her conceited colleague.
Not wanting to admit that he was gotten to, the conceited Magistratus continues. [“Nezu of Earth does your feeble Earthling mind even grasp the scale of what you and your subordinates have wrought?”]
Principal Nezu continues to smile like he’s exchanging pleasantries with a dear friend. “Why of course, we successfully executed a rescue mission of our dear recruit and ensured the Conqueror of World’s downfall.”
[“You mean you stoked the fires of war!! The cease fire is over! Turmoil has sprouted in every sector and system! War! Rebellions! And demonstrations are occurring at alarming rates! You dare to mock our council when your vision is far too narrow?!”]
“My apologies then, Magistratus.” The little chimera gives a polite bow. “But you are the one in fact who is narrow sighted.”
[“Excuse me?! Nezu of Earth, what makes you-”]
The friendly Magistrata interrupts suddenly with grace and control against her colleagues’ words. [“I believe that MAGISTER Nezu is correct. Your statements appear to be far more biased and selective then you’d care to admit.”]
He glares from beyond his screen. [“Are you making excuses for this rodent?!”]
She shakes her head. [“No excuses, just stating the facts. Pray tell, in which sectors are these turmoils occurring? Where are these wars and rebellions sprouting from? My sectors are clearly in line and yet you make such bold claims.”] She pauses allowing the rest of the council to address whether they too have experienced descent.
But judging by their awkward looks and postures they too have nothing to add.
Except for one member of the Magistratus who confirms the friendly Magistrata’s estimation after a rattle of his mandibles. [“Klklkl. According to our reports, these disturbances are occurring on planets and systems that are…were under Vilgax’s rule. Klklkl.”]
The Magistrata moves her pawn. [“And what of our own forces have they engaged in any conflict?”]
Another council member provides an answer. [“Other then minor incidents none of our agents or operations have entered any conflict with Vilgax’s forces.”]
[“Yes. Klklkl. Many outposts have even begun receiving communications with systems long thought to be cut off. Klklkl.”]
[“That does not excuse his actions!”] The conceited Magistratus roars with such rage it puts all on edge despite the light years between them.
[“But it does.”] The friendly Magistrata corrects, moving her figurative bishop. [“Due to his own egotistical nature, The Grand Destroyer sewed his own empire’s collapse. We all witnessed his own, self-provided, broadcast of Earth’s brave champions storming into his domain and challenging his rule. And not only did they defy him, but they also succeeded with astounding results.”]
[“Vilgax’s defeat was never confirmed!! We only have this rodent and his own loyal flea’s biased reports to support such claims! You saw, as we all, that the broadcast was lost when the Chimeran Hammer fell! Not a soul in the universe witnessed the Grand Destroyer's fall!!”]
The Magistrata strokes her chin. [“Aw, yes the Chimeran Hammer, a vessel so feared that planets have surrendered all rule to the Mad Titan upon it entering their atmospheres. The same vessel that you yourself can confirm had fallen at the hands of younglings. A feat not even our most elite Plumbers could dare to imagine.”]
The conceited councilman winces in anger, his pieces have been flanked. And the rest of the council have noticed.
And now the Magistrata begins to close the noose. [“Even with the ship’s destruction confirmed, word of mouth has already spread like a virus across the cosmos that this Deku 9, a mere Plumber Cadet from an unknown planet, with minimal experience and lifespan, single handedly defeated the galaxy’s biggest threat in hand-to-hand combat. An impressive feat. Which can only be confirmed by the warrior’s own continued survival. After all, there has been no word of Vilgax but we all know the boy to be alive and well.”]
At this point the entire council knows that the smile on Magister Nezu’s face has not been to save face but to confirm what he has already known. He’s just been patiently waiting for the rest of them to catch up. “As far as the cosmos are concerned, there was one survivor in this clash and it was our own, Izuku Midoriya.”
That’s it. It’s over, their pieces are in place and they're ready to take out the King.
And so, the Magistrata moves her Queen. [“Deku 9’s actions and those of Earth’s brave Plumbers have steered the tides for the better. Uprisings on Scalpasc have already pushed out most of Vilgax’s forces. Protost armies are retaking the rest of their system. And even the Appoplexian and Lewodan delegations have begun talks of an alliance in order to protect themselves from Vilgax’s retreating forces.”] And that’s only the tip of the iceberg of the coming change; these agents, these heroes, have caused quite the wave to surge across the sea of stars. [“Magister Nezu your actions and those under your command have seen to change for the better and for that you have our humblest of thanks..”]
[“THANKS?!?!] The conceited Magistratus shoots out from his off-screen seat as he goes into an uproar. [“You show this insubordinate weasel gratitude?! This is supposed to be a disciplinary hearing! Not an award ceremony! Therefore, I will be initiating a push for increased monitoring, management, and oversight of Earth’s Plumbers!!”]
He expects push back, arguments, and maybe even a discussion that takes them long into the hours.
But instead, the friendly Magistrata smiles on and proclaims a checkmate. [“Agreed. Magister Nezu you can expect an increase in personnel to be reassigned to Earth as well as the necessary resources you will need to manage them. You can expect them to take their responsibilities seriously and effectively with no room for disobedience or the breaking of protocol. They will be there to ensure your own compliance and to bring the Earth Plumbers standards up to those we expect of our organization as a whole. Magister Nezu do you consent to these terms?”]
He doesn't even try to hide that smug of a smirk. [“You will hear no complaints from me.”]
She returns the smirk before addressing the council. [“All in favor then?”]
Before the conceited Magistratus can counter with a rebuttal the other council members quickly interject with an almost unanimous agreement.
[“ Aye!”]
[“Aye!”]
[“Nay.”]
[“Klklkl. Aye!”]
[“Nay!”]
[“Aye!”]
[“Aye!”]
[“NAY!!!”]
A victorious Magistrata flicks her finger as if tipping over an invisible king. [“The Aye’s have it.”]
Game set and matched.
With nothing else needing to be discussed and with many other duties calling for them the council of Magistratus began to cut to other matters.
The conceited Magistratus is angry, no, he’s pissed. This is not how he anticipated this hearing to go. He was tripped, the rug was pulled from under him, allowing these two to run circles around his argument. He’s been played for a fool. And he can’t have that. [“I am warning you…Magisterrr. Break protocol again and there will be consequences.”]
Magister Nezu throws the Magistratus a bone. “I will take your words under advisement.”
Having had enough of a verbal lashing the conceited Magistratus retreats with a blink of his screen, leaving just the Magister and the Magistrata to converse.
[“Well done Magister. You showed much grace and brilliance.”]
“I shall say the same to you, after all I hardly had to defend myself.”
[“Nonsense, you are an artist. Your advisement to reach out to our outer-rim outposts personally and to highly encourage them to send their reports to upper command directly was splendid. Not to mention you predicted the exact manners of this hearing to the letter. I am very impressed. I look forward to seeing what exactly you can accomplish with more tools at your disposal.”]
“Not tools, ma’am.” Magister Nezu politely corrects. “I only work with heroes.”
She smiles at that. [“May your stars shine bright.”] With a final farewell she logs off, leaving Magister Nezu alone in this dark foreboding chamber.
But then again he may not have been as alone as the council may have realized.
“That certainly went a lot smoother than I expected.” Magister Patelliday comments from just ahead of the open doorway. “And here I thought they’d have us floundering like catfish on a line. But you and the Magistrata seemed to be on the same page. Right from the start.”
“Me and the good Magistrata have a clear understanding of reaching the most optimal outcome for all parties involved. It’s as simple as that.”
“As simple as it was to have reports about All Might and Izuku Midoriya’s rescue before sun up?” Patelliday scans said report on his electronic pad one more time. “Such detail, mostly fiction but even I can follow along with what happened. You’re quite the writer.”
“Thank you. But I made sure that the media and police understood that it was thanks to the brave work of all of you that we succeeded.” Magister Nezu looks past his colleague and towards those gathered at the chamber’s doorway.
His most trusted teachers and staff from the humble Thirteen to the boisterous Present Mic, even their honest detective, have assembled here. Those missing are those that bore the greatest injuries such as Eraserhead and Toshinori to which Recovery Girl is currently attending to. But for those that were able to be here, they are admittedly a bit put off after hearing what they assume was supposed to be a highly confidential conference. The only ones that don’t seem to be perturbed are those of alien descent such as Lucy Mann, Tetrax Shard, One-One, and of course the two imbecilic Galvans.
“Sir, was it really okay for us to…listen in?” Cementoss nervously inquires. “It feels like something that would get you in trouble.”
But Principal Nezu merely smiles it off as he strolls over and past his coven. “No trouble for me. If I am being truly honest I am feeling even more empowered now that I no longer have to hide this part of my work from all of you. You’ve all earned my trust many times over throughout the years and I always felt guilty for never truly opening up how much I am keeping away from you all. But that is no longer the case.” And with a smile he begins to stroll off to oversee other matters.
However, that does little to relieve any of them, especially for Midnight. “Um, Principal Nezu…sir?”
“Yes?”
“What…now?”
He stops and turns to allow them all to air their concerns.
To which they take advantage of starting with Detective Tsukauchi. “How do we move on? How do we go forward? Do we just…walk away and pretend this never happened?”
Snipe then chimes in. “Are we expected to take on new…assignments from you?”
“What of the alien residences here?” asks Midnight. “Do we open our courses to them, even to the hero course?”
“What about other pro heroes?” inquires Vlad King. “Are we expected to bring more into the fold?”
“And what of their technology?” Power Loader curiously asks. “Can we integrate with U.A.’s grid? Are we even allowed to interact with it?”
With a worried frown, Present Mic addresses the big question. “Are…are things going to change?”
There’s a long pause before the Principal of U.A. and the Magister of Plumber Base gives them a direct answer. “Yes. Change is slow but sometimes it can happen in a blink of an eye. Our world is changing, it’s gotten so much bigger than any of you were able to imagine just a short day ago. But it’s happening. And I don’t have an answer for you because…I am witnessing the changes myself along with you. But with whatever comes I am sure we can brave it.”
Talk about a paradox of words somehow they're both optimistic and foreboding all at once, but right now they’re all feeling the weight.
“There’s no going back, is there?” asks the humbled Present Mic.
“No.” Thirteen responds with as much directness as possible. “Not for any of us.”
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
“I-...I-...I am heeeeerrrrre!!” The sliding door slams open and with a whirr a pink rosy cheeked blur dashes inside. “During visitor hours!!” Ochaco Uraraka nervously yet enthusiastically cheers as she slides to a stop with her arms out and raised with fanfare.
“Bark! Bark!” Cosmo rushes in after her, her tail wagging furiously as she playfully bounces off the walls in her little space suit.
“Be quiet!!” Recovery Girl snaps around in her chair so fast it nearly unscrews itself from its base. “I may be allowing visitors, but I won’t tolerate any disturbances to my patients! Got it?!”
Ochaco and even Cosmo instantly go pale with fright. “Y-yes ma'am!! Sorry ma'am!!”
A robotic chortle comes out of the orange disc sitting atop of the corner cabinet. “Talk about tripping up on arrival.” Kraab mocks with some amusement.
“Where does all that energy come from?” Xylene jokingly questions from her seat beside one of the three bedsides.
“Hehehe.” A gruff chuckle escapes from the bandaged up old man on said bed. “That’s just how the youngins on our planet are.”
An equally mummified man with long black locks grumbles in annoyance from behind his own secluded corner. “All that energy’s a substitution for life experience and a lack of courtesy.”
Ochaco let’s out a gasp of relief as the disheveled man steps out. “Mr. Aizawa, you’re up and about already!?”
Shota Aizawa rubs a piece of his hair so as to not make eye contact. “Surprisingly, my injuries weren’t that bad not compared to what I sustained at the U.S.J.”
Ochaco flashbacks to the snap of his arm at the Nomu’s crabby claw before she shakes off the memory. “Either way I’m just glad to see you in one piece.” She then turns to Gran Torino, Xylene, and of course Kraab. “Same for the rest of you.”
Kraab snaps away in faux indifference. “Yeah, sure I’ll just pretend that I’m not an afterthought.”
Ochaco offers the newly repaired cyborg a soft smile. “You’ve never been an afterthought.”
If the cyborg could blush he most certainly would have been caught.
With one hand in Gran Torino’s own, Xylene uses her free hand to grab and examine some of the various medicines and prescriptions on the nearby shelf. “You humans are so…delicate. On my planet an injured individual only needs to rest for a half a cycle before they can hunt again.”
Aizawa raises an eyebrow as he asks. “And what happens if they can’t recover in that time?”
“Then they will be too weak to defend themselves against the packs of Fyrnoks that inhabit the planet.”
“Hm. Then it’s a good thing we have you huh?” Aizawa comments to Recovery Girl. “I’d hate to be left behind to become chow.”
The elderly woman gives a hearty chuckle. “Ain’t that right. You’d all be minced meat without me.”
“No kidding.” agrees Ochaco. “But I think I can say the same for all of you and the rest of the heroes, we’d all be goners without you all.”
That reminds Aizawa, “Speaking of which, where are the rest of my colleagues? I haven’t seen them all morning.”
“They’re all down in that fancy high tech basement Nezu and his Plumbers built out back.” Recovery Girl replies.
“Hm, then I better join them.”
Ochaco’s eyes widen. “Going back to work already?”
“Yes. There is still so much we need to discuss and figure out. Not to mention I want to know exactly how this will affect our work moving forward.”
“I better tag along too.” Kraab scuttles up the hero’s leg until he can wedge himself into the man’s scarf. “I need One-One to download a copy of my memories, I’m sure the Magister’s gonna want to see and hear about everything I witnessed too.”
“Good call. Maybe I can use that to provide some feedback on my students’ actions.”
“Oh, I have notes. Like did you know that pink cheeks over here can’t dig her way out of a trash heap to save her own life?”
“Do tell.”
Ochaco steps aside from the door, grateful that they’ll be taking their criticisms down the road rather than here.
With those two gone, Gran Torino sees fit to have their own discussion. “So, what brings you all the way out here? Something tells me you didn’t leave your comfy slippers and warm blanket for some sterile floors and the smell of antiseptic.”
“I, uh, just want to talk…”
“Hm… Xylene, mind getting me a coffee from the cafeteria? I need something stronger than tea.”
Xylene practically jumps to attention with furious determination. “I shall procure this coffee with post haste! It will not escape me nor my fury in this arena you call a cafeteria.” And like a soldier marching to war Xylene leaves for what she probably assumes is a hunt.
Recovery Girl watches the woman go with a certain level of worry. “Was that a good idea?”
“It’s fine.” Gran Torino shrugs like it’s nothing. “She’s gonna take a while to figure out the coffee maker. Which was the point. Because I’m sure whatever it is you need to discuss is…” He addresses towards Ochaco. “-a sensitive matter.”
It is. “Where’s…All Might?” She hasn’t seen or heard of him since she arrived after all; he should have been here.
“He’s here.” Recovery Girl replies softly. “He just…his mind is very occupied right now.”
She gestures towards the end of the infirmary where the last curtains around the last bed are still drawn closed.
With some delicate encouragement from the two elderly heroes, Ochaco approaches said curtains while Cosmo hangs back with the kind nurse. Gripping the fabric, Ochaco carefully slides the drapes open to find exactly who she’s looking for: Yagi Toshinori. But he hasn’t noticed her, or anything for that matter, instead he’s solely focused on the little phone in his…hand. His only hand.
She’s staring right at it. How can she not? It’s right at eye level; his arm is gone. All Might’s left fist is gone. Just shy of his shoulder is a little stump all wrapped nice and tight in clean white bandages.
She has to pry her eyes away but when she looks to her mentor he remains glued to his phone. As she wonders how he could not have noticed her, that's when she notices that he happens to be wearing earbuds. Curious as to what he could be listening to, she peeks around his left shoulder, which is now very easy to do, and sees that he is watching the New Harangue Nation Broadcasting Service. Will Harangue is on screen, as always, and seems to be ranting on and on about Deku and All Might’s seemingly magical rescue. And it seems to be getting to the dear old All Might…
She backs up and gives the curtains a gentle kick allowing them to flutter and to finally catch his eye.
He snaps to attention and after looking around he finally spots her. “Ah, Young Uraraka?!” He quickly stows away his phone in an attempt to hide the screen. Meanwhile his left stump fiddles in the air as if invisible reaching for the earbuds.
Both mentor and mentee pause in solemn silence as Toshinori slowly reaches up for the earbuds with his only hand. “W-hen…when did you arrive…?”
“I-I just got here.”
“Oh, okay…” Toshinori awkwardly scans the infirmary, only noticing that the only ones present are the ones in the know, except for the dog but he’s sure she can keep a secret. “Where’d Aizawa go?”
“You know him always working.” Ochaco awkwardly jokes.
“Yeah. If he's capable then he should…” Another awkward air as once again Toshinori uncomfortably gestures to his missing limb.
Ochaco tries her best, but she too can’t stop herself from staring.
With an awkward inhale Toshinori tries his best to move on. “But enough about him, tell me Young Uraraka how are you?”
“I’m…fine.” She doesn’t bother hiding her lack of confidence. “I just needed to get out of the house.”
He can concur with that as he peers out to the open window beside his bed. “It’s a beautiful day, perfect for a walk.”
Upon hearing the word walk, Cosmo bounds over, happily sticking her nose against Toshinori’s good hand.
To which the gentleman is more than happy to give her pats.
An awkward silence consumes the little hospital as both seemingly forget how to hold a conversation. But Ochaco knows why that is, and…she needs to address it, the elephant in the room and no it is not about the missing arm…
“I’m…sorry. Sorry for, well, …everything.”
She’s being vague, but then again Toshinori understands her perfectly. “You’ve been holding onto a big secret.”
“Yeah, I have…” She may be admitting it but she cannot meet his gaze. “Looks like the cat is out of that bag.”
Cosmo’s head perks up. “Er?”
“Not literal.” Ochaco assures, allowing the mutt to relax. “How are you…taking all this?”
He almost breaks into a chuckle at that. “Well, it’s not the first world shattering knowledge I’ve been privy to. But it certainly gives me a new…perspective.”
“I bet…”
“Young Uraraka…This is gonna be hypocritical of me but… Why? Why didn’t you let me in on all this?”
“I believe that question should be directed at me.” Gran Torino sitting up in his bed with a mild groan, tries his best to appear at attention.
“Gran Torino…you knew?” Toshinori stops when he thinks about it for two seconds. “Of course you did. So, how long have you kept this from me?”
Gran Torino inhales through his nose before responding. “Since just after sending you away to the United States…”
Toshinori’s gaze softens, he understands the implication, but still, he allows his teacher to say his piece.
“When you left Japan I was…not in the best of places. The small number of heroes were swamped, we were running ragged and pushed to the limits of our endurance. It just seemed like we all had the worst of luck, like there’d be no end in sight, and for me, well, my luck took me to the wrong place at the wrong time… I came upon what I thought was a mutant woman in distress. Ehehehe,” he chuckles lightly. “but imagine my surprise when both her and her attacker weren’t even human. That sure took the wind out of my sails. It was then I was enlightened about everything: the Plumbers, aliens, all of it. Nezu told me everything.”
And there’s his answer. “So, it was Nezu who decided to keep this from me?”
“No, it was mine.” Gran Torino corrects. “Like I already said Japan at the time was in a depression of hope. Finding out that otherworldly beings were running around added a mix of uncertainty and confusion to everything. And then when you finally returned, you got to work. You fought day and night, tooth and nail, to become the man you are now, the Symbol of Peace. And I witnessed it all, your strength, your courage, your…struggles. It was exhausting work, it wasn’t easy, and you were already strained beyond your limits and yet like the stubborn goat that you are, you kept going.” Just remembering all those struggles makes him feel exhausted. “And so I kept it all in. All for your own sake. I never wanted to add more weight to the entire globe you were already carrying on your shoulders.” He shakes his head at the thought. “Even after what we thought was All For One’s downfall, I still kept it to myself especially after your new…limits.” His gaze falls towards Toshinori’s stomach, towards the spot of that terrible terrible wound and scar.
But right now, Toshinori’s feeling a new scar on his heart. “S-so…so y-you kept this all locked away because…you thought I was too w-weak? That my constitution was already…waning?”
“No, I kept it locked away because I care… Toshi, losing Nana and sending you away were two of the most difficult things I’ve ever had to experience in my life. It was…” He chokes on his words as emotions from long past bubble to the surface.
So much so that Toshinori tries to reach out to his dear teacher only for his own wounds and pain to trip him. Thankfully Ochaco is there and helps her teacher to reach his own. Together they sit him at the foot of Gran Torino’s bed.
There Toshi allows his teacher to compose himself before continuing.
And with a sniff he does. “Nezu…wanted to bring you into the fold since your return but I denied him.” He shakes his head furiously. “I never wanted this for you… I never wanted you to be burdened with so much more but…that’s not how life works. Is it?”
“No, it’s not.” Toshinori agrees. “Life is messy, it’s hard and exhausting with little to no reprieve. Life only takes.” It’s taken his health, his stomach, youth, time, peace of mind, and now his arm and with it…his strength. “Life takes everything…”
Gran Torino nods in solemn agreement, he’s too tired, too old to argue. Even the motherly Recovery Girl cannot bring herself to refute either of them.
But she need not worry, the young are more than capable of speaking. “But isn’t that why we give?”
The elders do a double take towards the young woman who seems rather flustered by the sudden shift in attention.
“W-we give each other our t-time…” She preaches. “Our care… Our hearts. We give each other whatever we can because we can’t expect life to give us anything… Except each other.”
Well she’s certainly giving them all food for thought.
“You’ve both given me so much.” Toshinori admits with honest truth. “Gran Torino you guided me during a time I needed it the most. You protected and shielded me from so much even against threats I never imagined even existed until a few days ago. I can never hold anything against you, not ever. And I’m sure that if my master was here she’d be more than proud of you.”
A tear wells up in the old man’s eye, “Toshi…”
“And Young Uraraka. Sweet. Young Uraraka. You’ve given me far more than you realize. So much so there’s a bigger discrepancy than you even realize. I have not been the best of guides or protectors, I have taken my duties for granted but I promise to give everything I have moving forward. You, Gran Torino, to my fellow heroes and to my dear students are the light of my world. And if I should take anything from this is that my world just became a whole lot bigger.”
No one can stop the tears from coming, Ochaco lunges at her teacher and gives him a big old hug. To which he hisses in pain but soon it breaks into a hearty, healthy laugh, as Gran Torino too breaks into smiles and slaps the blonde man’s back.
Recovery Girl doesn’t bother to wipe away her own tears as Cosmo happily sits beside her like the loyal companion that she is.
“We’re alive,” Toshi announces with an air of celebration. “we’re together, that's more than enough of a reason to celebrate.”
A light bulb pops into Ochaco’s head in that moment causing to reel back at a brimming idea.
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
It’s the next day and although it’s only the tenth hour one would think it’s two in the afternoon based on the scorching heat of the summer sun beating down on the asphalt. The lack of shade isn’t helping matters, and neither is the constant hum of cicadas.
But Hisashi isn’t exactly a stranger to the heat after all he is a firebreather. And admittedly with this heat his Hawaiian shirt and sunglasses aren’t at all out of place.
Too bad he’s not using his time in the sun to relax. “Soap!!” With a shout he tosses down a bucket of soap and water onto the sizzling roof of the Rustbucket. “There’s the soap! Now hose her down!” He shouts as he hops off the ceiling along with the cascading soap and bubbles.
And with his father clear Izuku stands before the RV with his new and improved Omnitrix in hand. Giving the dial a press a hologram of his aliens appears and with a single slam he transforms.
“Water Hazard!!” The red shelled Orishan takes the stage and immediately hoses down the retro RV down with twin blasts of water.
Water sprays across the hot alleyway, splashing everywhere and onto everyone.
“Fuck!” Bakugou barks after getting splashing soap in his face. “Don’t get me wet, dammit!”
“S-sorry” Water Hazard awkwardly apologizes. “I forgot that water not agreeing with you”
“Be quiet! I’m only here against my will. The old hag said I had to!”
“Settle down boys.” Hisashi warns. “Try to get along, at least while they’re watching.” He gestures back up towards the upper walkway that leads to their apartment. And perched like a pair of hawks are the boys’ respective mothers.
“Fine.” With a tsk Bakugou slaps the windshield with a rag and gets to scrubbing.
Sighing, Water Hazard peers up towards his mom and tries to offer up a wave to which she returns.
She watches on as her boy, her alien boy, hoses down the rest of the metal deathtrap.
“Strange ain’t it?” Mr. Baumann waddles in from behind with a handful of cups and a pitcher of lemonade. “I remember when I was first brought into this new world. Hehehe, talk about a dive into the deep end. It was quite the splash. Hehe!”
“Is this story time Mr. Baumann?” Mitsuki Bakugou teases.
“Hehehe, for another time perhaps.”
“You’re right though, it is strange.” Inko continues to stare as her boy shoves the RV back a bit in order to grab a fallen sponge. “I mean that’s an alien but it’s still my sweet little boy.”
“Not so little anymore.” Bakugou’s father, Masaru, follows Mr. Baumann out with a tray of sandwiches. “Neither of them are.”
“Is this right?” Inko ponders aloud. “I mean this is really right for him? For my family? For us? Is this…normal?”
Neither of the Bakugous have an answer, in fact they seem to be hoping for one as well.
But Mr. Baumann’s not so sure if he can provide any of them with an answer that will…suffice. “Aliens, humans, unicorns… We grow, we learn, we live. Some are good and some are bad. Some live normal lives going to the grocery stores with their families and others well they like a little more excitement…”
Mitsuki frowns, “You make them sound like our neighbors.”
“They are our neighbors.” He clarifies. “Seriously, the Fukitsu family downstairs are from the planet Korugar.”
Inko pauses when she thinks about the purple skinned family of five. Just the other day they offered her some of their spare tangerines after hearing of her boy’s kidnapping. And during the last holidays they made sure everyone in the building received a batch of Christmas cookies. “You…don’t say. I had no idea; they just seem so-”
“Normal.” Mr. Baumann smiles. “Hehe, you wouldn’t think that if you saw what they eat, they’d make your husband’s pallet seem gourmet.”
“Is that right…?” This is giving the poor woman mixed feelings here.
“My point is, everyone has their own normal. There are similarities but what makes us special is what makes us weird. Everyone’s weird and that’s what’s normal. There are infinite stars out there and each one is unique despite what others might say. And your boy, he’s by far the strangest star I’ve ever seen.” He offers the mother a kind and generous smile. “You should be proud of that.”
“...I am. I just…wish I could show him just how much I care.”
That gives Mr. Baumann pause. “Well,” He pulls out his phone and slides the screen to his email. “Someone we know was thinking the same thing.” He hands her the phone, and she quickly reads that the sender is from an email listed as [email protected].
She begins to read away and her heart begins to swell with every sentence.
Mitsuki frowns with curiosity. “Something good…?”
“Yes, it’s something…worth celebrating.”
Meanwhile, from down below Water Hazard’s been able to power wash almost every square inch of the Rustbucket leaving puddles of soap and rust particles everywhere.
“Alright, that’s enough!” Hisashi calls out as he tosses Bakugou a towel. “Time to dry!”
Water Hazard cuts off the water. “Enough with the hose and now for the fan!” He slaps the Omnitrix on his chest causing his form to glow with green.
“Terraspin!!” The bipedal turtle’s greater weight and size causes a shift in the air. And he causes even more of a shift as he whips up a tornado right at the rickety RV.
The Rustbucket rattles and shakes against the wind so hard Hisashi pales with worry but thankfully his baby holds and with a flourish the Rustbucket is left dry and spotless. It’s almost showroom ready with its bright sheen and retro charm.
“Ha!” Hisashi throws his dry and now useless towel over his shoulder. “Look at her! She looks ten years younger!”
“Ten?” Bakugou scowls in disgust at the sight of the patches of immovable rust. “Doesn’t mean much when it’s over a hundred.” But either way, even he has to admit that they did one damn good job.
Several pairs of footsteps can be heard coming down the outer stairs from behind them and even though they can guess who they are, Mrs. Midoriya quickly confirms their work. “It’s coming along nicely boys.”
“Look Inko!” Hisashi gushes with glee. “She’s spotless and clean, just like I promised!” He playfully expects that this will bring her much joy and thus he awaits for a kiss on the cheek.
But instead, he’s handed a plastic bucket full of lysol, windex, and detergents.
“Huh?”
Inko giggles at her husband’s stupid expression to which she responds with a sweet smile. “You didn’t forget to clean the inside did you?”
“Oh! Uh, well…-”
“Use a wet vacuum for the carpet. And throw out anything in that fridge that has legs or better yet if you can’t find it in a store at all then toss it. Make sure everything gets disinfected and wiped down, and please change the sheets. You know what, it’d be better to just burn them and get new ones. Also, either you fix that fridge or get a new one.”
Hisashi tries to get a word in edgewise, but it seems that his wife can ramble on just as much as their boy can, leaving him flustered and put off.
Meanwhile, both the older Bakugous and Mr. Baumann come down the stairs with stuffed tote bags in hand.
“Where are you all off to?” asks Bakugou.
The three adults, plus Inko, share a look before Mitsuki answers her boy. “We’re going grocery shopping. We’ll see you boys later.” Grabbing Inko by the arm, Mitsuki practically has to drag her away before she talks Hisashi’s ear off.
“When will you be back?!” Terraspin calls after them.
“In a few hours,” Inko responds as she climbs into the Bakugou family’s car. “Plenty of time for you all to finish.”
And with that they drive off with Mr. Baumann leading the way in his roaring muscle car.
Turning to his troops, Hisashi tosses Izuku a box of latex gloves and Bakugou a spray bottle and rag. “Alright men, back to work.”
Bakugou throws the rag to the ground. “This is bullshit! This is gonna take forever with just three of us!”
“I’ll call in some help.” Terraspin insists before vanishing in a green glow. “Ditto!!” An army of clones quickly floods the inside of the RV with cleaning supplies in hand. Together with Hisashi and Bakugou they all get to work, hauling appliances out to clean with the hose to digging out ketchup packs in the glove box and vacuuming every inch of the place from the carpet floor to the beds.
“Aren’t you overworking yourself there, son?” asks Hisashi while scrubbing down the indoor shower.
One of the Ditto’s, the one currently scrubbing down the sink, replies. “Don’t you worry. I’ve got one of me’s on break!” He points out the window where a single Ditto is chilling on a beach chair with a good book and a glass of lemonade in hand.
“That’s not how that works!!” As Hisashi, hypocritically, tries to explain a proper work-life balance to his boy, Bakugou’s phone begins buzzing in his pocket. Leaving the rest of the window up to two other clones he sees that he’s got a text addressed to both him and…Mr. Midoriya. And it’s only for them two.
And so, he waits for Hisashi to leave to get more disinfecting wipes and that’s when he hands him the phone.
Hisashi, hesitantly, takes it in silence and he’s grateful that he had as he reads the instructions. He quickly texts back a response before handing Bakugou the phone back. And with a clap he gets the Dittos’ attention. “We’re out of wipes! And paper towels!” He lies. “And it’s about lunch time so what do you boys say to a quick trip to the grocery store? I mean we’re basically done so why not take this baby out for a quick drive?”
The Ditto currently repairing the sink sticks his head out from under said sink. “But Mom said we weren’t allowed to leave till we finished.”
A clone is currently scrubbing the carpet chimes in. “But we do need more stain remover.”
Another clone leans in close to the mysterious stain. “Seriously, what is this stain made of?” He leans his nose in closer and sniffs.
Another clone gags. “Ew, don’t sniff it!”
The clone laying out on the beach chair calls out. “I could use a break!”
This instantly gets a rise out of the army of clones. “SHUT UP!!!”
Laughing, Hisashi spins the keys around his finger before catching them. “I think we could all use a break. So, let's take a little drive.”
And with someone finally making the call they close up shop sort of speak and get going. It’s not a long drive to the store but it’s a slow drive. Hisashi is really in no hurry, cruising around town in such a relaxed state that it’s a miracle that no other drivers ever honk their horns at the freshly cleaned hunk of junk.
But honestly a car horn would be better than the thick awkward silence fogging up the back of the RV. Because Izuku and Bakugou have nothing to say to each other! Or more like they don’t know what to say to each other. They’ve been kinda outright avoiding direct conversation since…well, since everything. Sure they’ve politely tolerated the others' presence till now but that’s mainly because their folks were around. But now stuck sitting at the table they’re kinda forced to interact.
But Bakugou seems to be looking anywhere else but at Izuku, well, he throws a quiet glance every now and then before clicking his tongue in annoyance, but Izuku’s not sure if that’s supposed to be directed at him or not.
Not like Izuku has done any better, he’s been doing nothing but fiddling with his phone since they drove off. And even last night and this morning he didn’t really want to speak to him… Maybe because…he’s afraid of what he might say…
But then again, they can’t sit here in silence forever so maybe… “So…um, how’s your summer been?”
Suddenly Izuku now knows to whom all that irritation is directed at.
“R-right, sorry…”
Well, it seems like talking is out of the question. So instead, he’ll just watch, stare out the window till they get there.
The Rustbucket’s brakes squeak to a stop at a red light. Izuku watches as the passersby of Musutafu enjoy their summer day. That gives him some relief, it seems people aren’t so bothered by the previous week’s events. But then again…past the walking figures, past their busy faces, and through the windows of a television shop are the words U.A’s Rising Star has Fallen back to Earth.
A bolt of panic courses through Izuku’s spine. Has the media found out? Do they know the truth about Vilgax and his ship?
Taking a second to read he realizes that all the other screens are broadcasting a different news station, and each one seems to be on the same wheel of topics: The events of Kamino Ward and the resulting rescues. He reads the following “When will All Might Return?” “Mysterious Villains at Kamino Ward,” “All Might’s Victory and Defeat,” “Heroic off-Screen Rescue,” “Hero and Student Rescued,” and so on.
Snapping his head away Izuku, once again, finds himself fiddling with his phone but this time he actually checks the screen. It’s open to a forum, an old form he used to be on daily until his crash out during final exams. But recently, late last night when he couldn’t sleep, he logged back into his favorite All Might forum. The entire forum’s been nothing but chatter and speculations about All Might’s win against the masked villain but also his kidnapping at the hands of a mutant villain, but mostly the other users are all about his weakened state and his unknown status as a continuing hero. Is he set to retire or is he going to make a comeback. Most seem hopeful, or maybe delusional to the idea, that he’ll return but…Izuku knows better. He knows for a fact that after everything…there’s no way All Might, The Symbol of Peace, and continue on with his torch. And it’s all because he-
“Hey! When are we gonna get there?!” Bakugou blurts with such rage and annoyance that Izuku nearly drops his phone.
Panicking, Izuku shoves the phone away like he’s been caught doing something he shouldn’t.
As he shoves it away, Bakugou seems to…relax? Relief maybe? As he stares back through the window just as the Rustbucket pulls forward.
After another few minutes of driving through town they head east side of town towards Dagobah Beach but after a quick turn to the left they make their way through the eroding warehouse district. But not until they’re in front of their destination does Izuku finally peace together where they’ve been going. “Hey, that’s…Mr. Baumann’s store.”
“That it is.” Hisashi replies as he brings the RV to a stop. “What? Just cause it’s for aliens doesn’t mean there aren’t products for us too.”
“Fair enough…” But is it fair for him to feel so uneasy all of a sudden, it’s finally occurred to him that he’s been haunted by the opinions of the humans of Japan that he never even considered how the alien community must feel. Will they be just as skeptical of him? Do they know what happened? Will they be upset? Scared? He doesn’t know, he can’t be sure and-
A shove from behind kicks him from the RV’s doorway and nearly has him tumbling onto the sizzling pavement of the parking lot.
His backside hurts and he’s pretty sure the imprint of a shoe is there. And turning around he can confirm that it was Bakugou who just booted him out of the RV.
“Tsk.” With his hands in his pockets, Bakugou lurches away indifferently, or so it would seem if that sideways glance is any indication. “Don’t just stand there, it's hot out…” He insists almost gently.
Izuku’s really not sure how to take any of this. Is Bakugou being…supportive? Maybe in his own way…? No. he’s just…being awkward. For the first time in his life…
Hisashi stands at the giant doorway and waves for the two of them to hurry up! “Hey come on!” He cheers while opening the iron doors. “We’re here!!”
“Yeah, we know that.” Bakugou mumbles as he stomps past the Plumber.
Hisashi smiles it off and waits patiently for the youngest Midoriya to come along. And after realizing that he’s waiting on him, Izuku eventually gets a move on, but while dragging his feet.
Entering the warehouse with his head down he stops when the levels of light from sunlight dim dramatically. The lights are off in the store and it’s quiet…too quiet. Why would that-
“WELCOME HOME!!!”
Upon a roar of cheers Izuku is flashbanged by all the lights turning on at once. And then he experiences a whiplash as he does a double take towards the large crowd of alien neighbors, teachers, heroes, and…his CLASSMATES!?!
“MIDORIYA!!!” One second he’s gawking at his entire class, the next they’re all dogpiling him in hugs and cheer.
A set of sentient clothes clings to his arm with incredibly soft hands. “You had us worried there for a while!” Toru Hagakure exclaims.
Koji Koda is fighting back tears after embracing Izuku. “We-we weren’t sure if…We’re so glad you’re back!”
A heavy hand presses on Izuku’s shoulder as Mezo Shoji leans over his shoulder. “It’s such a relief to have you here in front of us.”
There’s a kick to Izuku’s shin as Minoru Mineta wails from below. “Never do anything like this again!! We can’t take the stress!!”
Stumbling back Mashiro Ojiro catches him and stops him from falling. “Careful. But you look good, man.”
The raven-headed Fumikage Tokoyami nods in agreement. “It is a relief to see that you were able to climb out of the darkness.”
Hitoshi Shinso couldn’t agree more. “Well, at least you're in one piece.”
“He looks magnifique!” Yuga Aoyama proclaims with a flourish. “That new montre is slimming! Ha ha!”
“Have you been eating?” Rikido Sato asks concerningly. “You look skinny. Here!” He tries to shove a bag of cookies into his hands.
“Leave him alone, aboleta.” Hanta Sero playfully mocks.
Tsuyu Asui is hanging back towards the end of the group, she seems hesitant and off put but she’s just as genuinely glad to see that he’s okay. “We all…really missed you.”
He missed them too but his brain is still trying to process the fact that they’re all here in Mr. Baumann's secret store.
His teachers, the pros that came to rescue him are here, even All Might is here with a cast over his missing stump of an arm. And beside him is Gran Torino with Xylene. Speaking of aliens they’re all here too from ML-E and her mom to Eirene Ashido to Jumba Jookiba, Blowfed, Zim, and Whalium are all here with so many others of their alien neighbors to the point half the store is filled with them. They practically have half of the galaxy represented here from members of the Covenant, to the Quarren, Twi’leks and Togruta, to Unopans and Turians, and so much more. And mixed in their ranks are the Plumbers of Earth and their close allies such as Patelliday, Blukic and Driba, Lucy Mann, Tetrax, and Xylene. And standing with them is his own family, including the Bakugous, even Detective Tsuakuchi too. Even the robots are here, and there standing beside Chopper…is that Melissa Shield too?!
Izuku can’t believe it. “You’re here…? You’re all here.”
“Why of course!” Iida shouts a little too loudly and awkwardly as his arms chop the air. “Your entirely related and totally supportive extended family made the trip to visit you at Mr. Baumann’s totally ordinary human store!!”
“T-thanks for clearing that up, Iida…” Izuku nervously laughs, noting that Iida might accidentally blow the metaphorical whistle. “But what are you all doing here?! I mean it’s great you’re all here! But-…why?”
“We’re here to party!” Denki Kaminari shamelessly shouts with little to no sensitivity.
Kyoka Jiro’s Earphone Jacks rise up like snakes towards his face.
He flinches away, “AW! I-I m-mean we’re here to party with you!”
Her Earphone Jacks retract, “Yeah, we heard what happened.”
Izuku freezes, “You did?”
Momo Yaoyorozu steps forward. “Of course, about the heroes rescuing you from the mysterious villain.”
Shoto Todoroki adds in. “And how the attack on Kamino Ward was coinciding with an off the books rescue mission from a third location.”
Eijiro Kirishima then shoves his way to the front with a grin. “And about how you kicked ass out there. You taught those villains a lesson!”
Izuku smiles sheepishly, if they were gonna lie then maybe they should have lied about his involvement. “T-thanks.”
“Thank Uraraka.” Mina Ashido corrects. “This was her idea.” With a pull she drags a shy but smiling Ochaco to the front.
“You organized all this?”
“Well, I-, uh…” She blushes nervously. “I thought that you…that we could all use a reason to celebrate.”
Izuku blinks, “Celebrate? Celebrate what?”
She suddenly becomes bashful, jittering as she holds her face as she tries to answer in a way that won’t sound so…awkward. But in the end, she stays honest. “The return of the two best heroes I’ve ever known…”
Izuku blushes as Toshinori Yagi chuckles embarrassedly in the background which causes everyone else to smile.
But Izuku is still somewhat…hesitant to the idea of a party, especially after everything… “But…is this really a good time?”
Gathering that he needs a push, dear old, Principal Nezu speaks his mind. “These latest events have been harrowing to say the least. Even that word seems incapable of describing what’s occurred. We’ve suffered great injuries, change, and uncertainties. Shadows are beginning to claw their way out of the void so it’s up to us to keep the lights aglow. We must create our own warmth and what better way than to do that together? Today we begin the process of enjoying even the smallest of moments. So, let us celebrate the return of a precious student and an honored hero!!”
“YEAAAH!!!” Everyone, especially the students, cheer probably a little too enthusiastically. But who cares?
“IT’S TIME TO PARTY!!! YEEEAAAH!!!” In the blink of an eye and the ringing of ears, Present Mic is hyping up a storm from behind the DJ booth. “DJ PESENT MIC’S IN THE HOUSE!!! Now I want you all to be your freaky little selves and have fun!! And I’ve got the best playlist lined up for you freaks tonight! All recommendations of our very own Earphone Jack!! YEEEAAAH!!!”
Jiro blushes from the sudden attention back thankfully music drowns out any comments that come her way.
They really made use of all the space in Mr. Baumann’s store, shoving shelves to the side, they got rows of tables set up with food and drink that’s (mostly) of Earth origin. They even had time to set up party decorations like balloons and banners. But clearly they must have left that to some of the aliens because half of the balloons are off theme with phrases like “It’s a Girl!” and “Happy 5th Birthday!” and “Congrats Grad!” But no one seems to mind. Because they’re all too busy dancing, eating, and mingling about. Conversations are going on everywhere between unknown humans and king aliens, Plumbers, pro heroes, and so on.
Heck right now Mina’s busy introducing one of the aliens to her friends. “Hey guys! I want you all to meet our good friend, Lucy Mann!”
Tokoyami recognizes the blonde instantly, “Ms. Mann, It’s good to see you again.”
“Same!” Lucy cheers. “How’ve you been birdy?!”
Tokoyami’s taken aback. “Birdy?”
Seeing that his classmate’s in a state of confusion, Shoto tries to give some comfort. “I don’t think she means anything by it.”
But this only adds confusion when Lucy turns her attention to him. “It’s good to see that you’re still as cool as ever, Todo.” She winks cutely.
Now it’s Shoto's turn to be taken aback. “Todo?”
Adding to the confusion a pair of ominous airs emanate from behind them,
“Tokoyami./Todoroki.” Mineta and Kaminari are glaring up a storm with their eyes glowing red with envy. “How do you two already know this hottie?!”
Shoto’s a little weirded out but he does his best to provide an answer. “She, uh, we, including Midoriya, provided her with some assistance in Tokyo a few weeks back.”
“ARE YOU SERIOUS!?!” They both slump in the corner like delinquents on the streets crying about school rules.
“Tsk. Typical.” Kaminari spits. “Of surprise that our resident princely type, emo type, and golden retriever type already got some action with the FL!!”
“It’s not right.” Mineta growls. “Damn these shoujo-manga tropes!!”
Watching them, Shinso can’t help but pass judgement. “I think you two are misreading the situation.”
Chuckling nervously, Hagakure awkwardly tries to get the conversation back on track. “Mission you say? Are you by chance a hero student too? From America maybe?”
Lucy smirks, cheerfully. “I may not look like it but I’m an Underground Hero like your teach!” Tsuyu, who’s still been hanging near the back, chimes up shyly. “You already have a hero license…? But you look to be our age.”
“I’m sixteen.” Lucy clarifies, cheekily. “And let’s just say I have a way of sliding my way up the system. Hahaha! Snort Hahaha!!”
A bit of drool begins to spill from Mineta lips. “Slide…~”
Seeing this, Sero slides away with disgust written all over his face. “You’re gross, dude.”
Most of class 1-A at this point have gathered around a pair of tables and seeing that she should say hello, Inko decides to come on over.
“Excuse me, everyone. I hate to interrupt but you all must be hungry.” She presents them a plate of assorted dango. “Here, please help yourselves, they’re freshly made.”
“Why thank you, Mrs. Midoriya.” Momo along with several others go ahead and take a skewer of dango each and after just one bite they're all gushing with praise. “This is delicious Mrs. Midoriya!”
Ochaco’s tooth is going crazy. “So tasty~!”
Even Shoto’s impressed although he has a hard time showing it. “It’s not soba but it’s good.”
Aoyama is glistening with joy at the delightful flavor. “You should open your own restaurants! It would be magnifec!”
“Hehe, well, if you think that’s good.” Her husband slinks over, carrying a plate of what they assume is oatmeal cookies. “Then try these! I made ‘em myself. And they’re out of this word!”
Some of the kids like Koda, Kirishima, Jiro, and Iida all reach for one while saying their thanks but the plate is suddenly pulled away and launched into a waiting Inko’s hand.
They all stare wide-eyed in shock, but Inko plays it off with a kind smile that sweetly suggests that nothing is a miss. And then without saying a word she walks away and dumps every last cookie into the nearest trash can.
“HEY!!” whines her husband. “Why’d you do that?!”
A dark aura slowly begins to creep out from behind her sickly sweet facade. “Because no one here wants a mealworm cookie.”
“But they’re so rich in protein!!”
As Hisashi begs for permission to go make some more, Izuku's left to deal with his classmate’s curious and perturbed gazes. “Ehehe, my Dad…is a survivalist.”
“Ahh!” They all exclaim as if that totally makes sense.
Needing a second to recover from the embarrassment, Izuku steps away towards one of the shelves that’s been shoved aside and he joins Sero who’s leaning against the shelves with a snack bowl in his hands.
Sero breaks into a grin as Izuku approaches. “Your parents are great, man.”
Izuku smiles sheepishly. “I know.”
Chuckling Sero goes ahead and scoops up what looks like green gummies from the bowl before shoving them in his mouth with a squish and a crunch.
Looking over curiously, Izuku can’t quite tell what that lima bean colored “What are you eating?”
“Jellybeans! Hm! Want some?”
“Sure.” Izuku reaches in, noting that these jellybeans are really thicker and squishier than any he’s had. But damn they are good. “Hmmm! They got a lot of flavor!”
Sero offers Izuku the bowl. “Here, have some more.”
Taking the bowl, Izuku is just about to dive in when he stops. Because for a second he could have sworn something in the bowl moved. Wait, one of the jellybeans just moves. And another and…oh god. Izuku goes green as the entire bowl of Kanzlok begins to squirm and wriggle around like the grubs they are.
Realizing the horror, Izuku panics and he tries to come up with a way of preventing Sero or anyone from finding out what this is. So, in a panic he grabs the Omnitrix and transforms. “UPCHUCK!!!” Upon entering into the world, the little green gummy bear immediately devours the entire bowl, literally.
“DUDE!?!” Upset, Sero gasps. “Why’d you do that?!”
Feeling queasy upchuck tries to feign ignorance. “Oh, oh no! I’m such a glutton. Oh and you’re all out! Just wait here I-I’m gonna go get you a refill!! Hahaha! Yeah…” He quickly curries away and out of sight down an empty aisle.
Sero stands there confused, only to jump when a small explosion and a flash of green is spotted just in the short distance.
After a second, a green-faced Izuku wanders back with a guilty smile. “I, uhhh…couldn’t find any more.”
“Right…?”
As the fun continues more and more of the party goers start to intermingle like Eirene Ashido fitting into a conversation with both Inko and Mitsuki. Or how some of Class 1-A are checking in with a one-armed Toshinori.
And then there are the aliens like ML-E who’s playfully teasing Cosmo with a tennis ball. “Get the ball! Get it!!” And with a high-speed spin she throws the ball with all her might down the store.
Standing by the punch bowl, Ochaco watches the two play as Hagakure and Jiro join her for a drink.
“I didn’t know you had a dog, Uraraka.” comments Jiro.
“Yeah, I just got her.”
Hagakure beams, “Oh, she’s a rescue!”
Ochaco laughs to herself. “Ah, more like she rescued me.”
“Aw~.” Hagakure gushes. “That’s so cliche.”
Meanwhile, the tennis ball bounces across the store like a bullet, ricocheting this way and that off of shelves, cans, and signs before commenting right in their direction.
But before the ball can strike the punch bowl it comes to a stop in midair, and after hovering there for a second the ball zips away right into Cosmo’s waiting maw.
Hagakure and Jiro’s eyes bulge wide in shock as Comso just simply drops the ball with a wag of her tail.
Causing Ochaco to laugh at their expressions. “No, it’s literal.”
Hagakure blinks, “A dog with a Quirk… What could be weirder?”
Jiro shrugs while jokingly saying. “It could talk.”
“Hahahaha!!” And all three burst into laughter.
As they laugh a chubby Toydarian fixes himself a cup of punch before his little wings fly him up and away for some food.
Ojiro watches the alien fly on by before commenting down to Izuku. “ I never realized just how well you get along with those with mutant quirks.”
Sato also pipes in. “And some of them are your relatives, right?”
“Yeah, we’re all distant relatives.” says Izuku, lying through his teeth. Which causes Kraab, who’s perched on his shoulder, to chuckle.
As he says this they watch as Blukic and Driba argue over how to properly fix a chocolate fountain before they accidentally cause it to explode, spraying chocolate everywhere.
Grimacing, Izuku corrects himself. “Very distant.”
“Like a million lightyears distant.” Kraab whispers, humorously.
“And them?” asks Shinso while pointing up towards a pair of cackling Megawatts that are zipping around the hanging lights.
“They're…from America.”
“Oooh.” They all nod as if totally understanding.
But then they all duck down as the cackling Megawatts dive bomb their heads and nearly zap them.
“Hahahahabzz!!” The Megawatts zip through and past the crowd before being swatted away by a thick white glove.
“Go away!!” Thirteen howlers as a shiver of disgust runs down their spine. “Why?” They ask Ochaco. “Why did you invite them? They’re so…Bleh!”
“They helped us escape Vilgax, it’d be rude not to.” The gravity girl defends.
“What do you even have against them?” asks Shoto. “Did they scar you?”
Bakugou scoffs. “They’re small and annoying, so I get it.”
Now Ochaco is just getting curious now. “Just what is the story here?”
“Well…you see-....” And so, Thirteen finally goes into great excruciating detail on their history with the pests that are Megawatts.
Too bad most of the story can’t be heard thanks to Present Mic suddenly deciding to play some Daft Punk.
“So, Melissa, how's that fancy new academy treating you?” Kirishima winks at the somewhat unfocused hologram of Melissa Shield.
[“It’s going very well; I love it here!”] She gushes through a slight audio filter but hey Chopper may have gotten repaired after the battle, but he wasn’t upgraded, so this hologram is the best he can do while trolleying nearby so she can interact with everybody.
[I’ve made so many new friends here, most of which I think you all would get along famously with!”]
After admiring the work of the hologram, Jiro goes ahead and says what she assumes they’re all thinking. “Too bad you couldn't get a plane ticket over here in time.”
Not one to blow their cover, Melissa plays along. [“Yes, I’m so sorry I couldn't be here in person. But you know how slow air travel can be.”]
They all laugh it off, but Kirishima’s laugh is a bit more forced since he’s still not exactly used to this secrecy and quick lies.
As they chit chat a fourth person chimes in, sounding tired yet relieved. “It’s nice to see you three getting along…”
[“Uncle Might!”] Melissa immediately spins around with a smile and is greeted with a tired but genuine smile from dear old Toshinori.
“Hello Melissa,”
As Melissa is about to start, she hesitates as her eyes linger on his missing arm causing the two to fall in a short silence.
Seeing as they need a moment, Jiro gives Kirishima a light jab of her elbow and gestures for the two of them to go.
He nods and they gently leave, saying to Melissa. “We’ll catch up with you in a little bit.”
Melissa might need more than a little bit considering all the guilt and nervousness she’s suddenly filled with. Here now, she can finally see the direct result of their secrecy and… it hurts. [“Uncle Might… look I-”]
“I knew you were a genius.” Toshinori starts, not sounding at all harsh or mean. “But to be galactic level, now that’s something.” He smiles, proud of the young woman she’s become. “I bet David’s really proud of you.”
Everyone kindly gives the two some privacy by staying out of earshot but that does not mean some are at least curiously observing like Ochaco and Shoto.
“I might have lost my chance to talk to her.” Ochaco admits. “I need to thank her for my new helmet. I would have been dead without it.”
“I would like to speak with her too.” admits Shoto. “I’d like to recommend a new suit.”
Ochaco gives him a curious look. “Suit? What kind of suit?”
And so Shoto goes into a retelling of his, Bakugou’s, and Thirteen’s adventure on the Chimeran Hammer. To say it’s enthralling would be true if Shoto was at all an entertaining story teller. Which he is not.
As he retells his story Kraab and One-One scuttle on by both in conversation about one thing or another. As they go about they bump into Izuku’s legs but he pays them no mind since he’s currently being chewed out by a gang of pro heroes.
“Now Midoriya, let me state for the record that we’re all very glad to have you back safe and sound. And that we are looking forward to seeing you back in class. However, I have to make it clear,” *CRACK!* The demoness’s dark hair flows like fire with her eyes glowing red with rage as her fangs shine in the dark light. “Lying to your teachers is extremely naughty!” *CRACK!* “Naughty boy, just how long did you think you could get away with it?”
Izuku jumps back, pleading. “I-I-I’m so sorry Ms. Midnight! Please, I meant no disrespect!”
Snipe nearly bursts into laughter, but he manages to bite his tongue. “Relax kid, she's just busting your-uh, leg.”
“She was just worried about ya.” admits Ectoplasm. “We all were.”
“You gave us quite the scare.” adds Cementoss.
Bashfully Izuku smiles, finding this both flattering and regretful all at the same time. “Sorry about that. Guess I just…like to keep you all on your toes.”
Present Mic immediately bursts into a fit of laughter. “HAHAHA!!! You’re a real comedian! Seriously, your one-liners have gotten way better! Yo!”
“No, thanks to you.” Snipe playfully jabs to which they all break into laughter.
Izuku’s touched, truly. In all his life he never had a teacher care or even show him an ounce of respect. But now the entire academic staff of the one and only U.A. High is on his side. Gosh, he can’t even explain how…good it feels.
“We really missed you.” Midnight smiles while extending a long finger out. “Him especially.”
Unsure of who she means, Izuku shifts his head around to see that Mr. Aizawa is hanging back away from the crowd like the emo introvert he is. At least he seems to be enjoying the punch or whatever’s in that red cup of his.
An arm slings itself around the kid’s shoulder, and Present Mic brings him in for a side hug. “The polite thing to do would be to go say hello. You hear me, little listener?”
“I hear you.” And with a nod, the teachers watch him go with smiles and goodwill.
Although he’s not exactly confident in his approach. More like he’s cautiously trying to tiptoe his way closer to a feral animal that might just decide to scratch him if he’s not careful.
“H-hi, Mr. Aizawa. T-thanks for coming. I didn’t expect that you’d come to something like this.”
“I was dragged here.” he states all too bluntly. “Mic kidnapped me and shoved me into his car the moment I let my guard down. Rookie mistake.”
“Oh, I see…” Standing there awkwardly, Izuku really has no clue how to take it from there.
Thankfully he doesn't have to. “Your…Omnitrix changed.”
Raising his wrist, Izuku grips the green and newly slimmed down watch. “It did…”
“I heard it allows you to quick change.”
“It does.”
“Good. That means your efficiency in training can’t be burdened by a timer anymore. I expect your progress to ameliorate. And if it doesn’t then I promise you, you’ll wish you stayed on the moon.”
To anyone else they would see this as a threat. But for a member of Class 1-A this might as well be singing-praises. “I promise! I’ll work hard!”
“I know you will. Now go away. I need to rest. This music is giving me a headache.”
Frantically, and full of joy, Izuku bows to his sensei. “Thank you sir!” Before running off to rejoin everyone else.
No one can see it but Aizawa is smiling behind his scarf.
“SERIOUSLY!?! WHAT WAS THAT!?!’
Aizawa visibly grimaces as the most annoying duo imaginable decide to ruin his day.
“Seriously, Erasure? That’s all you could say?!” Present Mic mocks, teasingly. “Why can’t you just tell the kid “hey! I missed you! The classroom won’t be the same without your energy!”
Midnight giggles into her wrist before feigning concern. “Come now, Mic. You should know better than to pick on the tsundere.”
Aizawa so wishes he hadn’t come. “You two are just as mature as my students.”
“Aw! Love you too buddy.”
A crowd of aliens and students have gathered around one end of the store, cheering on a certain pink athletic girl with a talent for skating.
“Woooo!!” Mina slips and spins like a breakdancer on cardboard only her “board” is floating five feet in the air. “Check me out!!” After one last flip she props herself up with a one arm handstand. “Look! No feet!! Hahaha!!”
There’s a roar of applause, even the aliens are impressed. Among them are her friends who are just begging for a turn.
Sero steps up to the plate. “Let me give it a shot, bet I nail it on my first try.”
“I’m next!” cheers Hagakure.
“I want a turn too!” shouts Kaminari.
A blue blur suddenly rushes past Sero, and in a blink of an eye, ML-E is magically standing there in the front of the line. “I’m next! I was first!”
As the girl’s babysitter, Ochaco feels obligated to step in and snatches her up. “Nope! Not you.”
ML-E immediately deflates in her arms. “Ah, man.”
“Hehehe.” Sero laughs. “Sorry, kid. Maybe next time.”
Chuckling From atop Chopper’s head, Kraab’s eye jots out like a camcorder. “Oh, I’ve got to see this. Gotta save it for a blooper reel.”
Struck with disbelief Tetrax so wishes for something alcoholic. “Well, I’m glad to see my old hoverboard is doing a good job entertaining children. You know I once hunted down a mutant Kraggon for three cycles through the volcanic canyons of Elpis. And now, it’s for party tricks.”
He’s currently hanging back with the old buddies of the Plumbers such as Magister Nezu, Gran Torno, Xylene, and Patelliday. They’re good company and making use of Mr. Baumann’s selection of drinks.
Principal Nezu can certainly see the irony in this fact. “You have such experience. Such talents. Skills. It would be a shame to see you waste all that on petty bounties.”
Tetrax feels the same, shamefully so. “When I was young it was exciting. Thought it was the perfect gateway to let me see the stars. I was a stupid kid.” He admits while watching Sero nearly face-planting off his old hoverboard as everyone laughs but cheers for him to try again. “I made so many mistakes and it cost me… everything.” Despite being made of diamonds, this old bounty hunter has never looked so tired and wrinkled.
Gran Torino has certainly found himself a kindred spirit. “Age tames us all. We can't help but see our early mistakes in the young.”
Xylene concurs. “Mistakes that can lead them to ruin.”
“That’s why we have to be there.” Principal Nezu turns to the Tetramand with an expected and purposeful look. “To help them through their own mistakes.”
“Magister… Are you asking me to stay?”
“I’m offering you a new home. And a chance to help it.”
Tetrax hesitates, it’s like a dream he never knew he was allowed to have has been opened to him. And maybe if he works hard it's one he can hold dear. “It’s a chance I won’t take lightly.”
“You’re upping recruitment now?” With a beer in hand Hisashi slides his way over. “But I thought you said we were about to receive a whole army?”
“An army still needs its generals, sunny.” explains Patelliday. “This place is going to be really uppity once they get here. Should be fun.”
“Sounds like a ton of paperwork.” Hisashi admits. “And trouble if you ask me. Things are gonna get real crowded here real soon. We’re not going to be that charming little backwoods town anymore.”
“Don’t you worry, I’m not leaving you minnows out to dry.”
Hisashi raises an eyebrow. “You transferring, sir?”
“Transferring?” Patelliday gives him a jagged tooth smirk. “I’m officially your superior as of this morning. Handed in my transfer papers right as I walked in through the doors. This is officially my first day of work here on Earth.”
“Is that right?” Grabbing a beer from out of the nearby cooler, Hisashi hands him a cold one. “Well, in that case. Here’s to your first day.”
Using his tooth to pop the cap, Patelliday bangs his drink to his. “To my first day.”
And they toast.
Seeing them reminds Nezu that he spoke of the same thing to Xylene earlier. “And what of you my dear? Will you be taking permanent residence here as well?”
Xylene has thought it over and she’s come to one conclusion. “I’m not one to remain…stationary.” If she notices Gran Torino’s subtle dejection then she doesn’t react to it but instead continues to explain her reasoning. “And I despise leaving my goals unfinished. And right now my mission is to find answers. Who created the Omnitrix? Why create such a weapon? And where are they now?”
Tetrax frowns with suspicion. “You’ve been searching for this creator for months, surely you must have some kind of lead?”
“I’ve scoured and searched but I only ever found one potential rumor.”
Hisashi frowns, curious as to her implication. “A rumor?”
“Well, it’s more of a legend.”
“Legend? What legend?”
“The legend… of the Sculptor of Worlds.”
The reactions are mixed mostly of disbelief, confusion, and disregard. Especially from Hisashi. “The Sculptor of Worlds? They’re nothing but a myth. Like Hercules and Odyseeius, they’re fantastical poems, fables meant to be shared in a classroom.”
In the past, Xylene would agree but then again, can they really rule it out? “Perhaps but do we not all know that even your earth’s myths have some truth?”
For Principal Nezu it certainly is worth the consideration. “The Omnitrix is a device that could only be created in myth and theory. Does that not mean its creator is of equal or greater legend?”
Well that certainly is food for thought.
As if sensing a change in the air, Izuku sits up and spins around in his barstool seat, towards the conversing Plumbers. He’s curious about what could have been so enthralled, but he’s distracted when a cold glass touches his arm.
“Here you go.” Mr. Baumann shoves him a cold drink from behind the counter.
Taking it, Izuku eyeballs it worriedly. “Uhhh…”
“Relax, it’s just a soda.”
Izuku immediately lights up. “Thanks.” And he chugs it down as if it was a shot.
At the counter beside him is Lucy Mann and of course, his first mentor, Thirteen.
Thirteen has ditched their helmet, allowing them full access to the food and drink. But right now they’re in conversation with the disguised Lenopan. “What about you Ms. Mann?” asks Thirteen. “Will you be transferring to Earth or going back to being a solo act?”
“Well technically I’m not even here right now.” Lucy winks, while playing with her hair. “I’m technically investigating an illegal spice ring in Promethea right now. And I’m closing in on a lead.”
“I’m sure you are.” And with that the two clink their glasses and share a toast.
Leaning over Izuku innocently asks, “Is that a soda too?”
“Nope!” Thirteen smiles and downs the whole thing, finishing it with a satisfied exhale. “So, how you hanging in there?”
“I’m…it…this all feels like a dream.” Izuku admits while watching as Power Loader gets into a deep conversation about power couplings and converter coils with Melissa and One-One. “It’s unreal.”
“Hm, this sounds like it’ll require more alcohol.” Thirteen waves Mr. Baumann over who politely but judgefully refills her drink.
And Izuku shares his judgement, “Should you really be drinking that much?”
“Hey, don’t judge me. Mark my words, the moment you and your little friends are old enough you’ll all be drinking each other under the table.” Honestly the thought of that is absolutely hilarious. “You're all a rowdy bunch, that’s for sure.”
“You think so?” Izuku jokes before realizing the irony of the moment Kirishima crashes after attempting to ride his hoverboard. “You might be right.”
“Hahaha! That’s just to say that you and your friends really are something.” Thirteen looks wistful like a mother bird proudly observing her flock. “They’ve gone far and beyond for you.”
With a chuckle, Izuku can’t help but throw out a cheesy one liner. “You could say they’ve gone, to infinity and beyond.”
“Oh, Ha. Ha.” Thirteen fake laughs before enjoying their drink once again.
Swishing around his own drink, he watches how the bubbles fizz to the surface. “But you’ve gone far beyond for me too. Really, all this is thanks to you.”
“Nope. It was all Uraraka’s idea.” Shaking their head, Thirteen prepares to take another sip.
“Not that…I mean you were the first one.”
Thirteen pauses, the drink just centimeters from their lips.
“You were the first one to show me any kindness.” Izuku almost seems tired, just the memory of that day seems to bring about a heavy weight. “When we first met I was…not great. I thought my dreams were crushed. I was confused and lost. My life was over…”
Thirteen…puts down their drink. Their face remains impassive but they are listening.
“When I found the Omnitrix I was so scared. I didn’t know what to do. Where to go. Who to turn to.” There’s a shift in his voice, in his expression, it’s becoming lighter, happier even. “But then you came and guided me in the right direction. Thanks to you I learned how to use the Omnitrix. Thanks to you I got into U.A. Thanks to you I found a place that I can be useful to people.” He makes sure to look them right in the eye as he states what he should have said a long time ago. “Thanks to you, I get to live my dream.”
Well, they’re certainly flattered, “You’re giving me too much credit.”
“No, I haven’t been giving you enough. And it’s selfish but I hope you will keep guiding me. I still have so much to learn from you.”
“As long as the stars shine, I will be there.” Thirteen promises full heartedly, before enjoying the last of their drink that warms their stomach as much as Izuku has warmed their heart.
Just as they are about to wave Mr. Baumann over for a top off, Thirteen spots a certain someone awkwardly hanging back at the end of the counter. “Here’s your next lesson,” They start and Izuku sits up with attention. “When you see a cute girl at the bar. You talk to her.” And with a shove they push Izuku to turn around to see Ochaco sheepishly waving over at them both.
Startled, Izuku jumps back. “Are you drunk?!”
Laughing Thirteen hops away, “Yup!!”
Standing there, Izuku, suddenly feeling very awkward and shy, fidgets in place much to Ochaco’s amusement.
So, he aims for an obvious target of conversation. “Thirteen can hold their liquor. Who knew?” he shrugs, exaggeratedly.
It works as Ochaco immediately finds the idea oh so amusing, “Crazy right?! I hope I’m that high tolerant.”
Izuku chuckles and they share a quick laugh that quickly shrinks away and they fall into another awkward exchange of silence.
Leaning back, Izuku twiddles his soda as Ochaco simply folds her hands behind her back, uncertainly. She clearly has something to say or maybe give him but is unsure of how to go about it. But after considering it she eventually grows a spine. “I have something for you.”
Well, that’s not really a surprise, honestly. “You already threw me a party. Got me a new helmet. Not to mention you rescued me from space. And you still have more?”
“Well, this is more of a favor to someone else.” And from behind her back she holds out a little letter. It’s crumbled, stained, and worn but she’s holding it so delicately and with care like it was made of a fragile crystal.
He takes it, holding it just as gently. “What’s this?”
She smiles, “A letter. From your new biggest fan.”
Curious, he unfolds it and makes an attempt to read it but this letter is almost illegible. Like it’s been shoved into a dryer, ran over by a car, and then dunked into a swamp.
“Sorry it kinda got…wet.”
Not sure what that means, he goes back to unwrinkling the letter before finally giving it a read.
Ochaco observes him closely, and admittedly a part of her wants to peer over his shoulder and give it a read too. But those words are not for her, they’re for him, from a kid who so desperately wanted to say thank you.
And judging by the tear rolling down his cheek, Kota’s words must have been just that. Wiping it away, a small smile forms along with a light chuckle. “You have got to be the galaxy’s greatest messenger.”
“I try.” And truthfully it’s a relief that she was finally able to deliver it to him. It seems to be exactly what he needed. Ever since he stepped into the store she knew he must have been having some…hesitations, worries, and guilt. But hopefully this letter, Kota’s words, and seeing everyone here is exactly what he needed.
[“This is all, Izuku Midoriya’s FAULT!!!”]
Izuku’s blood runs cold as he jumps away from the counter in freight, and spins around to find that the TV hanging just above the counter has been turned on and coincidentally tuned into the New Harangue Nation Broadcasting Service. Where one Will Harangue is blasting him on live air.
[“If it weren’t for him we’d still have our Symbol of Peace!! Why won’t U.A. allow Izuku Midoriya to release a statement? To be questioned? What is he hiding?! Just who-”]
Will Harangue suddenly freezes as the pause icon appears in the corner of the screen.
Looking mighty guilty with that remote in his hands, Mr. Baumann drops it on the counter like it personally betrayed him. “Sorry about that. I just wanted to listen to something other than this hip and hop.” he waves annoyedly towards Present Mic and his obnoxiously loud DJ booth.
But Izuku isn’t focused on him but on the TV, on that hateful scowl, and most important those words frozen on the headline: Izuku Midoriya, Threat or Menace!?
Izuku’s fingers tighten against the letter to the point he may accidentally tear it. And in a panic he swerves around seeing if anyone else had overheard the news anchor as well. But it’s clear that they have, many of the aliens overheard and are staring at him with a mix of sympathy and pity. But they quickly look away, trying to pretend they had not heard a thing to avoid upsetting him.
Izuku rips his gaze away so as to not let them show that their reactions, albeit unintentional, got to him. But as his gaze turns away he accidentally locks eyes with a pair of vexed red eyes.
Standing alone with his arms crossed in silent judgment, Bakugou keeps his gaze locked on Izuku as if observing him, as if he’s looking for something. It’s not a harsh look, but it’s enough to make Izuku doubt himself and his composure. He feels hot, his lungs feel tight, and the ceiling seems to be getting closer and closer.
Hurriedly, he stuffs the letter into his pocket as he suddenly, and without warning, heads for the exit.
Jumping with concern, Ochaco calls after him. “Where are you going? You alright?”
“I-I j-just…need some a-air.” He tries to sound convincing but not even can lie to himself. “And I’m not going far, there’s a beach just down the road. I’ll be there if you're looking for me.”
“Um, okay. If you’re sure…” She certainly isn’t sure about this but she’s uncertain if it’s really the right call to force him to stay here…
It’s not like he’s waiting for her permission, he goes, making a point as to not make anymore eye contact with Bakugou who hasn’t stopped staring at him. And so, with his head down he hurries away.
Ochaco reaches for him, but she holds herself back, unsure of how to help him any further…
She watches him leave, shoving the large doors aside as quickly as he can before vanishing into the evening light. And she’s forced to look away in the direction of where Bakugou is. The two of them lock eyes but he averts his gaze back towards the door, back towards Izuku. The two stand there, not exchanging a look or glance but after a moment, Bakugou shoves himself forward and heads off…
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
It’s quiet, serene with only the waves rhythmically pushing against the sand providing any ambiance. It’s warm too, not as hot as the blistering noon or as cool as the night, just warm, the soft light of the setting sun providing comfort like a blanket. Dagobah Beach has never felt so pristine.
“This place is a dump.”
Leaning backwards and propping himself on his elbows, Izuku peers back and spots Bakugou standing atop of the retaining wall that’s looking over that beach.
On any other day he’d humorously remark that this place “used to be a dump” but he’s not exactly in the mood for conversation. Electing instead to not aggravate the bomber but to sit back up and stare back out to the endless ocean in silence.
He half expects Bakugou to snap at him for ignoring him or to say something in an attempt to set him off, especially as he hears his steps crunching against the sand and growing closer. Izuku braces himself for whatever verbal explosions coming his way, he even holds his breath in anticipation.
Only for it all to die away for sheer bewilderment as Bakugou sits himself down just a few feet away. He doesn’t say a word, doesn’t breath a peep, he just sits there and looks out towards the setting sun.
Unsure of what to make of this, Izuku remains silent and waits, watching the horizon. And so they both sit watching the orange sky grow just dim enough for the stars to just start barely peeking through the sky.
“Was this the place?”
The question itself doesn’t catch Izuku off guard but the fact that he even spoke gives him a little start. “What?”
Instead of being offended Bakugou simply repeats his question. “Was this the place where you found that…watch? The Omnitrix?”
He hesitates to answer. “Yeah, it is.”
“Huh.” And with a nod Bakugou quiets down once again.
As they sit there Izuku’s mind wonders back to the first few days of finding the device. Specifically, how he handled himself around Bakugou, especially as they entered U.A. together. How a part of him felt some sense of responsibility or obligation to tell him that he wasn’t lying about having a Quirk his whole life. How it came to be. And what it means for them. It’s a feeling he buried during their first Hero Course Training but now it’s resurfacing.
“It was washed up here in a pod.” He starts in a soft, almost hushed tone. “Right over there.” He points just fifteen feet away, near the water. “ In a junked-up pod.”
Bakugou chortles, “Only you would be dumb enough to reach into trash.”
Izuku smiles softly, “Yeah, only me.”
“Yeah, only you would stumble across something so Earth shattering.” Bakugou shakes his head at the notion. “Still wrapping my head around all this. For fucks sake I knew something was up but not in a million fucking years would I have guessed this.”
“Yeah…no one in a million years would believe us.”
Bakugou laughs, outright laughs, heartfully. “Hahahaha! This is insane! Just a day ago I thought the top had an end! That the peak was right there! Now to know that it’s even further it’s-”
“Scary…?”
“Na.” Bakugou shakes his head with a grin. “It’s exciting.”
Izuku’s brain freezes, stunned by his answer.
“Forgot Japan, forget Earth, I now got a chance to be the Number One Hero in the fucking galaxy!” He howlers, jumping to his feet as he declares it to the world. “When that happens, I’ll have surpassed even All Might!” Bakugou proclaims with such passion and confidence it could be considered either as inspiring or insane. Maybe both.
The notion really takes Izuku back, back to simpler, easier times. Before they knew how the world really worked, how tough it can really be. Back when they used to collect hero cards together and celebrate in gears when they each drew that special All Might card. Back when they each made promises to become heroes. The Number One Hero. Just like All Might.
Bakugou especially was ambitious. Izuku’s known that his whole life and for so long he chased that ambition, it led him like a rope, he was always staring at Bakugou’s back. Until he was finally ready to let go and chase after that ambition himself. And when he did he thought he’d never thought he’d be chasing that dream shoulder to shoulder with Kacchan.
Grinning, Bakugou spins around to give Izuku a heads up. “Don’t think that just you have a head start in all this that I won’t catch up. Just watch I’ll blast right past ya if you’re not careful!”
Now it’s Izuku’s turn to laugh, “Hey you’re the one with the head start at least people here don’t hate you.” He immediately bites his tongue, realizing his slipup. And what’s worse he just reminded himself of why he needed to walk out in the first place. He’s been harassed, bullied, and looked down his whole life but this feels different. It feels terrible.
“Fuck the haters!”
Izuku snaps up, “What?”
“Fuck em!” Bakugou repeats. “Who cares what they think? Who cares what anyone says about you or me or any of us? We know what we are.” With a wild grin, he glares out towards the setting sun as if challenging it to a fight as he proudly declares. “We’re heroes. And we’re a force to be reckoned with.”
His words hit Izuku hard. ‘Heroes. Yes. That is what we are. That is what we are going to be. No one ever said it was going to be easy. If anything they’ve all told us that from the start. From Thirteen, to All Might, to Mr. Aizawa, to their friends and family. They all said it’ll be tough but not to discourage us but to push us forward.’
“It’ll happen just you wait and see, Deku 9!” Grinning Bakugou spins around and looks Izuku right in the eye and says. “This world ain’t gonna be ready for what we have in store for them!!”
Smiling Izuku admits aloud, “We still have a long road ahead of us until we get there.”
Chuckling, Bakugou plops himself back down, this time facing his old childhood friend. “Then tell me, what will we do in the meantime?”
Thinking on that, a sly smirk begins to form on Izuku’s face.
[PLAY: The Hives - Hate To Say I Told You So ]
A tidal wave of carnivorous insects flood a prison, attacking guards and officers without remorse as prisoners like the Sludge Villain, SAM, Hex, Zombozo, Apex, and others attempt an escape. All the while Clancy walks amongst the chaos with a maniacal grin and laugh.
𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞
Deep beneath the waves of the Pacific the damaged but still intact head of the Techadon lies at the bottom of a dark trench. Which is illuminated on occasion by the Techadon’s visor occasionally starting up with a glitching spark.
𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞
A round table of armored knights surrounds an illuminating map of the entire planet. Upon it a number of cities, countries, and targets are highlighted.
One of these knights draws his sword and with a mighty swing he's run his sword straight through the image of a smiling Deku 9.
𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞
Dr. Animo manicaly laughs as he stands before his creations, a horde of mutated animals from across the globe all bow in respect to their master.
𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞
Tomura Shigaraki leans against a rotting desk while surrounded by his League of Villains which consist of Kurogiri, Dabi, Himiko Toga, Charmcaster, Twice, Magne, Spinner, and Mr. Compress. They have all gathered around as Nue makes his trumpet return to them by smashing through the door, literally. Nue greets them all with a jagged fang grin as his new recruits, Rojo and SevenSeven, follow him inside.
To which upon seeing them all, a cruel and sadistic grin stretches across Shigaraki’s chapped features.
𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞
In the depths of an immobilized star cruiser a pair of frogmen cower and jump at every shadow. Their blasters may be drawn but they might as well be holding sticks as a hunter lurches out from the shadows with his pet in toe. And with a blood curdling roar the huntsman lunges at his prey!!
𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞
A virus or rather a shadow stirs from within the Omnitrix. Chains snap. Codes break. Walls crash. And protocols are smashed. As a specter of grey and of a purple gaze claws for its freedom.
𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞 𝄞
Within the offices of the Hero Public Safety Commission, Lieutenant Steel has reported into the Madam President, who is currently briefing him on his next assignment. As she does, a number of dossiers with various names and photos have been strewn across her desk. And each one has been stamped with the same engraving of Task Force X.
[PAUSE MUSIC]
Back on the beach, a smiling Izuku shrugs at Bakugou's question. “I don’t know. I guess get our Hero Licenses.”
Bakugou blinks, “Oh, yeah… I forgot about that.”
(RESUME MUSIC!!!)
ROLL CREDITS!!!
It’s done. It’s over. It’s finished. For now. Yes, this was the end to the Abduction Arc. Now I know many of you wanted to see more or wanted the characters to go more in depth and address certain events, themes, and character arcs. But truth be told I am going to go more in depth with those topics in the next installment. Not the next chapter. Not the next update. The next story. Yes. “Heroes Never Die; It’s Hero Time” has come to an end. It’s time has come. Which means in due time “Heroes Never Die; It’s Hero Time VOLUME II!!!” will have plenty to work with!!
I am going to call this story as complete and reset myself with a brand new fic that will continue our journey with Deku 9 and his friends. I know this seems unfair after all it took me over a year to finish this last arc. Well that was unintentional, it was NEVER supposed to take this long. That being said, for the longest time I was already planning to take a long hiatus after I finished Volume I of the story. I need time to recoup but mostly I need to plan everything else out. I mean come one this is Chapter 89!! I think I earned this. Plus, I had the entire story up until this point all planned out but with MHA manga having come to an end and with more time having passed I can finally outline and plan out the rest of my story from beginning to end.
This will also be the time I need to re-organize all the suggestions you, my dear readers, have listed out for me over the years. So, I’m gonna be diving into those comments sections for a while. That’s gonna be fun. And speaking of which I know a lot of you, and I do mean a lot of you, have a lot you want to see in this story as well. Well, I would like to add a means of more direct contact. Fanfic’s DMing system sucks majorly. So, I am debating about getting a Discord server started or an Instagram going. I’m not really sure yet what I should do since I am not overly familiar with either of those. Either way this is all in an effort to bring you guys the best possible story that I can.
And that takes time to figure out. This will be the time to cement that road this story will take in the future. How long will this process take? I don’t know. Maybe six months. Maybe a full year. I need time. Also I would like a chance to work on a smaller fanfic or two during this time. I do have a few ideas I wanna do like an MHA x Slugterra crossover or maybe some MHA one-shots, or short stories in the realms of Harry Potter, How to Train Your Dragon, or whatnot. These would be nothing big, just something for me to vent out my creative juices. Plus, I still have “Heroes Never Die; It’s Hero Time, Anytime” too. So, I’m not completely gone. And I have NO plans on abandoning this story. I’ll still be around, and I hope you guys will be too.
I still plan on updating to this story but that’ll just be me answering comments, maybe making announcements, and such. And when I return, oh trust me, Volume I is gonna get a new chapter. Think of it as a trailer. But I’m getting ahead of myself here. I just want to thank you all for just the overwhelming support you have given to my fanfic over the years. It’s truly been an experience, and it’s become a part of my life in ways I didn’t think it would. So much of myself, the fandom, our characters, and the world have changed since we started our Alien Academia but if I have to be on this rollercoaster ride then I am so glad I’m strapped in with all of you. You’ve all been so kind, supportive, thoughtful, insightful, and patient with me. Through your reviews, written comments, thoughtful feedback, inspiring fanart, theme songs, informative facts, essay’s worth of suggestions, thousands of questions, and even setting up a TV Tropes Page. I can truly never repay any of you. And for all that you are all HEROES in my book.
Thank you and I can’t wait to hear from you next time.
Love,
Guardian-Sigil
Notes:
GENERAL NOTES:
*I want to address Deku 9’s new name. I know it’s not everyone’s cup of tea. I know I get it. So, I wanted to address it. For starters I think it’s okay if you all want to read Deku 9 as Deku “Kyu” which is Japanese for nine. Or maybe you read the 9 as “nine.” Basically I say that you decide how you want to read DEKU 9 as either Deku “Kyu” or Deku “Nine.” I mean I'm pretty sure they use the number 9 in Japan too so I don't think this is that crazy. What do we think of this idea? I hope it helps somewhat.
*The Omnitrix is fully recalibrated now to the Omnitrix we see in Ben Ten Alien Force. At this point it contains the DNA of 33 alien species. Yes, you read that correctly despite recalibrating Izuku still has ALL of his aliens. Somehow a lot of you missed that detail despite Rath slipping his way into that last battle against Vilgax. If you want more details on said aliens then check out this story’s TV TROPES page. But either way here is Izuku’s full alien lineup as of Chapter 89 Resolution:
1. Feedback
2. XLR8
3. Grey Matter
4. Four Arms
5. Ditto
6. Ripjaws
7. Terraspin
8. Water Hazard
9. Lodestar
10. Buzzshock
11. Diamondhead
12. Big Chill
13. Heatblast
14. Stinkfly
15. Wildmutt
16. Rath
17. Wildvine
18. Bullfrag
19. Cannonbolt
20. Upchuck
21. Ghostfreak
22. Upgrade
23. Shocksquatch
24. Humungousaur
25. Chromastone
26. Fasttrack
27. N.R.G.
28. Brainstorm
29. Spidermonkey
30. Gutrot
31. Jetray
32. Way Big
33. Gravattack*TV TROPES LINK*: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Fanfic/HeroesNeverDieItsHeroTime
You can read up on plot points, characters, fanart, theories, aliens, and more right here in the link above.
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Kabaneri on Chapter 3 Sun 15 Aug 2021 06:04AM UTC
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Adam29 on Chapter 3 Sun 17 Jul 2022 01:24PM UTC
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SenSlice on Chapter 3 Fri 14 Oct 2022 07:58PM UTC
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Guardian_Sigil on Chapter 3 Fri 14 Oct 2022 10:04PM UTC
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SenSlice on Chapter 3 Fri 14 Oct 2022 10:06PM UTC
Last Edited Fri 14 Oct 2022 10:06PM UTC
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Guardian_Sigil on Chapter 3 Fri 14 Oct 2022 10:07PM UTC
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Pedro (Guest) on Chapter 3 Sat 29 Oct 2022 04:14PM UTC
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Pedro (Guest) on Chapter 3 Sat 29 Oct 2022 04:22PM UTC
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Guest (Guest) on Chapter 3 Sun 23 Apr 2023 02:36AM UTC
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BakuBossBitch on Chapter 3 Fri 26 Jan 2024 08:24AM UTC
Last Edited Fri 26 Jan 2024 08:24AM UTC
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BakuBossBitch on Chapter 3 Fri 26 Jan 2024 08:25AM UTC
Last Edited Fri 26 Jan 2024 08:25AM UTC
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Wolfie61 on Chapter 3 Sun 05 May 2024 06:00AM UTC
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knowAll on Chapter 4 Sun 29 Dec 2019 09:04PM UTC
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Jake_Witt on Chapter 4 Thu 09 Apr 2020 09:07PM UTC
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Guardian_Sigil on Chapter 4 Thu 09 Apr 2020 10:21PM UTC
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Nolivar on Chapter 4 Mon 18 Jan 2021 06:06AM UTC
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Adam29 on Chapter 4 Sun 17 Jul 2022 01:26PM UTC
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TheAdminOfTime on Chapter 4 Thu 02 Mar 2023 05:20AM UTC
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knowAll on Chapter 5 Mon 30 Dec 2019 06:36AM UTC
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Guardian_Sigil on Chapter 5 Thu 02 Jan 2020 10:22PM UTC
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ChimpThrownOutAPlane on Chapter 5 Tue 16 Jun 2020 01:06PM UTC
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Nolivar on Chapter 5 Mon 18 Jan 2021 06:24AM UTC
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DukeOfDragons1 on Chapter 5 Wed 03 Mar 2021 02:51PM UTC
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Guest (Guest) on Chapter 5 Tue 02 Jul 2024 05:33PM UTC
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valkrus on Chapter 5 Wed 05 May 2021 05:45AM UTC
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Guardian_Sigil on Chapter 5 Wed 05 May 2021 10:12AM UTC
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valkrus on Chapter 5 Wed 05 May 2021 11:09AM UTC
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MagnumMenace on Chapter 5 Wed 09 Jun 2021 12:02AM UTC
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